The beast of Moressley chapter 4 - 24 by SandrellaH on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

The next day at dawn they take the road towards the south and the kingdom. Whitakere has constructed a convincing framework of trafficking between the king's subjects and the Dark Elves as well as possible motivations.

But there are many gray areas. First of all, the beast itself. Is it a simple coincidence that an animal never seen before appears and attacks peasants with a ferocity also never seen before? As a rational man, Whitakere is wary of coincidences but he cannot fit the beast into a coherent pattern.

Its presence can only hamper illegal trafficking by drawing the attention of the authorities to the province. Neither the Viscount or other traffickers nor the Dark Elves have any interest in it.

Whitakere also wonders why the Dark Elves told him through Aewyn about the illegal purchase of parts of their loot although he presented himself as an envoy of the king. They surely know that it is forbidden by the laws of the kingdom so why tell him about it? Are they trying to manipulate him for some obscure reason? He is tempted to ask Aewyn but refrains. He believes he can trust her in tracking down the beast, but it is completely different with the Dark Elves. It is sometimes said that Dark Elves and Wood Elves hardly get along, but he has noticed nothing of the sort. On the contrary, he has the impression that Aewyn is very close to the Dark Elves.