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run in different directions. He had no idea where the others had fled to. That had been the day his life had fallen apart.
    It had been a frightening time. The worst day of his life. The man who'd seen Terra had run screaming from the room and they could never have stopped him. The guards would have been called within minutes. They knew that. It wasn't that he'd been a bad man or an informant. It was just that he'd been scared. To not tell the guards immediately would be seen as helping them. And when the priests found out he would have been interrogated and likely beaten and killed. To shelter a wildling was a death sentence.
    There had been no time to pack, no time to plan. They could only run, leaving everything of their lives behind. And even as they'd taken to their heels he’d still had to buy time for his family to escape. He was the only one that could. So he'd shifted and let himself be seen and heard while his family escaped in the confusion. They’d gone one way, he’d gone the other.
    That had been the first time he'd ever used his gift in public and despite the fear he'd enjoyed it. Until then he'd been cautious with his gift, never wanting to be seen. Still his alternate shape was a dappled panther. On four feet he was powerful, fast and deadly. To finally release his gift and wander the city openly had been a thrill.
    It had worked too. Running around the city and every so often shifting into his cat form and letting out a roar to bring the soldiers running had created all the chaos they needed. And with his father also summoning other small beasts and letting them roam free, the entire city had been left in a panic as they saw wild animals on the loose. People had screamed and run, soldiers had been everywhere, and the serf who had seen his sister bending light had for the moment been ignored. Wild beasts in the streets took priority over everything else.
    Dorn had watched his family escape along the west road maybe an hour after he had started the panic, and had celebrated. Eldas the Fortunate had been with him – with them all. But still there had been no time to waste. With his father gone he had been the only wild animal stalking the streets. And while his family had been outside the city walls they were still a long way from safety. So he'd spent the rest of that day leading the soldiers a merry dance across the rooftops. There were so many places within a city that a panther could hide and then emerge from to strike fear into people. And they were scared. Every time he emerged people screamed and guards came running. The black priests with their ropes and torches not far behind them.
    Later that night he had escaped the city; a dark shape in the darkness sprinting as no other could, and making sure to knock a few guards over in his rush. Some had thought to send crossbow bolts after him, but only a few of them had even scratched him and he'd laughed at them. Though in his panther form the laugh sounded more like a blood chilling roar.
    After that he had begun the difficult job of leading the hunters away. As a panther he'd known he had the best chance of doing that. But once the dogs had been set on his trail he'd been hunted day and night for weeks. There had been no time to double back and check that his family were all right. But even if he had had that chance he wouldn't have done it. With the dogs tracking him he would have just brought the hunters back to them. So he'd just had to hope.
    Once he’d finally given his pursuers the slip and it had come time to meet up again at the Foxtail Inn in Aldershot, it was to find his family weren't there. There had been no way of finding them or knowing what had happened to them. He'd seen them leave the city but that didn't mean they hadn't still been caught and burnt. He'd hoped not, and he'd prayed to all the gods he knew that it hadn't happened. But he hadn't known. He still didn't.  And he couldn't go back to check. Too many people knew his