Chapter 285: A Sneaky Fugitive in the Swamp

Meanwhile, somewhere deep within the dark, damp crevices directly beneath Syris’ imposing obsidian castle, Vex had already made himself comfortable.

He was currently lounging in a hidden, subterranean cave carved directly into the castle’s foundation. It was a secret little den he had meticulously, quietly chiseled out himself right under the Snake King’s nose. Every single time Vex had been invited to the swamp to consult on a job or trade goods, he had secretly chipped away at the stone.

The Fox Shaman possessed many hidden dens scattered entirely across the forest and beyond. With his extensive list of enemies, it was never, ever safe for him to stay in one place for too long.

Everything so far had been going flawlessly according to his grand plan. Just as he had gleefully anticipated, the Golden Eagle Prince had followed Ren all the way to the swamp. Vex hummed a cheerful, melodic tune, popping a dried berry into his mouth.

He genuinely wondered how the bloody outcome of that little domestic dispute would be.

Golden Eagles were positioned significantly higher up on the food chain. They actively preyed on snakes. Vex was oh-so-curious, maliciously wondering if the arrogant Snake King would be forced to submit to the giant bird.

Vex didn’t know much about the Golden Eagle Prince’s personal history, but he was royal blood; he simply had to be terrifyingly strong.

Behind Vex, a weak, raspy groan echoed in the small cave.

Vara shifted uncomfortably on the small bundle of furs that made up her makeshift bed. Her eyes blinked open, blurry and entirely unfocused. One bright red eye and one piercing golden eye darted around the dark, rocky ceiling. The hidden cave was quite small and completely open on one side to the murky, foggy swamp water. The freezing, damp air of the marsh drifted in easily, making the pregnant tigress shiver terribly.

Vex gracefully stooped down beside her with a wicked smirk, adjusting the blankets and mockingly tucking her in like a dutiful nurse.

Vara’s vision slowly cleared. She looked at the smirking fox, her chest heaving. “Where… where are we?”

Vex’s three fluffy orange tails swished gently behind him in profound amusement. “We are in Syris’ castle, my dear.”

Vara’s mismatched eyes widened in absolute, unadulterated terror. Seeing her sudden panic, Vex threw his head back and laughed. Syris absolutely hated both of them to death; if the Snake King found them in his castle, he would definitely skin them alive!

Vex reached out and patronizingly patted the top of her white-haired head. “Do not worry, little kitty. We are not prisoners down here. We are special guests.”

Vara batted his hand away weakly, her fangs bared in a trembling snarl. “Why would we possibly be special guests in Syris’ home?! He wants to kill us!”

Vex chuckled, withdrawing his hand. “We are not his special guests, Vara. We are his mate’s special guests. We simply cannot be too far away from Ren.”

Vex’s orange eyes darkened slightly as he looked at her swollen belly. “Whatever magical properties are hidden in her food is the only thing keeping you and that cub alive right now. But just barely. You are fading again. Maybe you need larger amounts… I will simply have to steal some more from her.”

Vara swallowed hard. She didn’t want to die. Vex had already coldly informed her that the feral, mutating genetics of the cub would absolutely destroy her body, and she would undoubtedly die immediately after giving birth.

“Please,” Vara pleaded, her voice cracking as she slowly, painfully pushed herself up to sit upright on the furs. She grabbed Vex’s wrist, begging him to help her live. “I will give birth to the child. And then I will leave this forest for good! I will disappear! I will give you the cub, Vex! Just let me live!”

Vex laughed quite boisterously, the sound echoing off the damp cave walls. Vara was speaking as if she actually had a single shred of choice in the matter! She was going to give birth, she was going to die, and he was going to take the powerful hybrid cub, completely regardless of how she felt about it!

Seeing the total lack of empathy in his wicked orange eyes, Vara’s survival instincts forcefully kicked in.

With lightning speed, Vara reached down and grabbed a sharp, jagged obsidian slab that had chipped off the wall. She violently aimed the razor-sharp edge directly at her own taut, swollen belly.

“I will kill it!” Vara threatened, her red and gold eyes burning with manic desperation. “I will kill the cub right now!”

Vex kept a perfectly calm, amused expression plastered on his handsome face, though on the inside, he was profoundly irritated.

However, the mutating cub currently growing in her womb was entirely too important to his grand, centuries-old schemes. He decided he would have to play along with her pathetic demands for now.

Vex gave her a smooth, sly smile. He raised a hand, tracing an ’X’ over his own chest. “I promise, cross my heart, that I will ensure you survive the childbirth.”

Vara didn’t believe the trickster fox for a single, solitary second. Her hands trembled, keeping the sharp stone pressed to her skin. “Offer me a favor to a friend,” she demanded through gritted teeth.

Vex’s sly smile instantly twisted into a dark, lethal scowl. In the Beast World, a ’favor to a friend’ was a binding, mystical verbal contract.

His tone dropped all of its playful velvet, becoming terrifyingly serious. “Drop the slab, Vara.”

But Vara absolutely wasn’t backing down. She pressed the sharp tip of the obsidian harder against her taut skin until a thin, bright bead of blood welled up. Vex could clearly see the wild, manic, nothing-to-lose look in her heterochromatic eyes. He honestly didn’t trust that she was only bluffing.

Vex had absolutely no reason to keep Vara alive after she gave birth, and worse, he had absolutely no idea how to keep her alive. Everything he had been doing so far with the hybrid genetics had been entirely theoretical. All he knew for absolute certain was that Ren was the key.

“Fine,” Vex hissed, his fluffy ears pinning back in pure annoyance. “I offer you a favor from a friend to a friend.”

Vara grinned, a crazed, triumphant smile splitting her face. “I accept. The favor I want… is to survive childbirth.”

Vex quietly tsked his tongue, turning his back to her in disgust. He reached into a small slot in his loincloth and pulled out the tiny piece of plastic—Ren’s pregnancy stopper—fondling it thoughtfully between his long fingers.

He was the most brilliant Fox Shaman in existence. He would figure absolutely everything out, even if it took him another entire century wandering the Beast World.

Meanwhile, on the furthest opposite end of the obsidian castle, a horrifying swamp monster had just dragged itself onto the clean stone docks.

Viper had finally arrived.

The snake guard was breathing incredibly heavily, completely coated from head to tail in thick, foul-smelling muck, green algae slime, and the dark, pungent blood of several angry swamp beasts he had been forced to fight on his long, agonizing swim.

His sleek black hair was plastered wildly to his face, dripping with muddy water. His breath misted heavily in the freezing air of the castle entrance.

Two snake guards instantly slithered forward, their jaws dropping at the pathetic sight of their King’s elite warrior.

“Viper! What happened?!” one guard gasped, raising his spear. “Where is the boat?! The King’s mate just arrived, and she said you were right behind her and the giant bird! She said you just didn’t want to ride on the eagle!”

Viper’s reptilian eyes narrowed into absolute, murderous slits.

“The Fox Shaman of the forest, Vex, stole my boat,” Viper announced, his voice a raspy, furious hiss that spat swamp water onto the floor. “He has gotten to the swamp ahead of us.”

The snake guards were immediately alarmed. They looked around wildly. “But… we didn’t see him come to the castle! No fox has approached!”

“He is a trickster,” Viper growled, aggressively wiping a clump of green slime from his cheek. “He must be hiding somewhere out in the swamp.”

The younger snake guard immediately turned toward the inner corridors. “We must alert the King immediately!”

“No!” Viper snapped, his hand shooting out to tightly grip the guard’s shoulder, stopping him dead in his tracks.

Viper took a deep, shuddering breath of the cold air. “Our King is already in an incredibly foul, unpredictable mood. If we tell him Vex stole his boat and is trespassing, he will execute us all for being worthless. We will absolutely not say a single word of this to our King.”

Viper glared at the two guards, “We will find the fox ourselves, and we will do it quickly, so as to not anger the King. Understood?”

The snake guards vigorously nodded their heads.

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