Once Dan had finished eating dinner with Pam and the two little Kitsunes he called for the healers and Geoff. He needed any and all information they had on the female wolf so he could see about contacting Amaratsue. When Geoff walked in he smiled and gave him a good nod. "Have a seat Geoff and have something to drink. The others I called for should be here shortly. I am going to get all the information I can on the wolf, where she might have come from, and what was done to her. I was considering meditating on it and trying to contact Amaratsue but I decided I have a better connection sitting on my lap." Dan looked down at Amariah as he stroke her ears.
She looked up at him and smiled.
*I would like to see mommy and daddy. It hasn't been long but I's miss them.*
She went back to the sewing she was doing. It wasn't great but she was learning and really enjoyed it. In this case it was fixing a tear in a shirt.
Geoff had to smile. "I don't blame you for missing them. I miss mine when I have to leave for a while and I am all grown up." He reached over and tickled an ear only to get growled at. Geoff pulled his hand back and settled for taking a sip of his coffee. "How are you feeling Dan? I know it has been pretty rough on you."
He shrugged. "Actually I feel pretty good. I couldn't even begin to tell you what my Mistress did for me but I actually feel very good. I am more tired than normal but that is to be expected. Have they found anything out about the room? What about connections to any of the staff or officials?" He hadn't seen inside the room so he had no idea what might be in there.
Geoff snarled something in Kitsune. "We have barely had a chance to really start examining the room but it is steeped in evil. Just walking into the room is enough to make me want to shower and vomit. The layers of pain, suffering, and death in the room speak of long term suffering and use. I have contacted Mother and she is going to send several of our best down. It might be a good idea of you contacted the other clans and have them send their experts down as well."
Dan raised an eyebrow and covered Amariah's ears. "Geoff please there are innocent ears in the room." When Geoff recommended contacting the other clans he had to pause and think about it. "Ah, the Leader of the Clans bit right? I will do that once we are done here. I think I am going to task some of the Kitsune warriors to ride heard on the pups since they are still searching. There are several more locations that Amarish has identified. Right now from what Pam said earlier, as they are doing their mouse hunting any place that feels wrong gets noted. Amarish is being extremely careful when they encounter any of those locations. As soon as one is sensed he notes it in the map he is making and then reports it to Maric."
Geoff nodded as Dan talked. "That is a very good idea. The room was the central source of the plague of horror in the palace but those other locations are still dangerous. Once they are identified then we can start removing them. What I really want to know is who or what is the source of this pestilence. It is very old and steeped in evil. This has been decades if not generations in the making. Whatever the source is the disparate magic varieties indicate a great deal of training. I can't even identify half of the magic's involved." That was said with a rather grumpy tone.
Dan leaned over and gave Geoff's arm a gentle squeeze. "Believe me I know how you feel Geoff and there will always be something you don't know no matter how long you live. I am over two hundred years old and still learning new things. I have to agree that this has the feel of a very long term game. Someone with a very long life has a grudge against someone and has been taking his time to set things up. I also get the feeling that whoever is behind this isn't close. There is a sense of distance to the individual."
Right about then the others he called for walked in. "Have a seat ladies and gentleman. I am going to keep this simple and on point. I want descriptions and drawings of the injuries to the female wolf's body. I also want detailed reports on what magic's appear to have been used as well as impressions of why it might have been done. Make sure you differentiate facts from feelings. Both are valid but I don't want them mixed together. I need them as soon as possible so get to it and I will be waiting." It was abrupt but Dan just couldn't help but feel that there was a time crunch, for the woman if not the rest of the people.
They stood and all but the senior surgeon left. He pulled a file out and handed it to Dan. "These are the drawings; report on the injuries, and impressions. I had a feeling you would be wanting them so I made sure to bring them with." With a nod he left the room.
Dan looked down at the folder and was impressed. "Have you looked at this Geoff?" He rested his hand on it and could feel a disturbance and frowned. He really didn't like the feeling he was getting from it. "Put your hand on it and tell me what you feel."
Geoff shook his head. "No, I haven't had time to look at it with helping to clean up the spiritual mess as well as recovering myself." He leaned forward and pulled the folder to him and did much as Dan did and frowned. "I feel a disruption but it is more of an echo of what was done than anything else." He flipped the folder open and looked at the pictures that had been taken of the woman's body and hissed. "Amariah leave the room now."
Once she had left he started spreading out the pictures and drawings that had been made and hissed again. "This is in high Kitsune that has been corrupted. This is not good at all." He looked up at Dan with concern in his eyes. "You haven't encountered it yet but High Kitsune is essentially the language of the spirit lords. We have been taught some but it is only for the most senior Kitsunes in the clans."
"Different clans have their own variations of the language and usage. It is what gives us the connection and powers related to our color. In your case you would be taught parts of the language for all the clans that look to you. It is one of the reasons Lords and Ladies of the clan's are so rare. In the last thousand years there have only been a total of four of which two are in existence right now. The reason it is so rare is once you have been taught the language you can draw power from the spirit's of all the clans." He really hated having to drop this on Dan all at once.
Dan had to blink and then sighed as he rubbed his temples. "Great, just frigging great, all I have wanted was to be a good Alpha and live a long life with my mate and children. I have never wanted to be some major power player. I can't help but wonder what the gods and goddesses are thinking about me right now. From the sounds of it between Pam and I, we are simply some of the most powerful people in this section of the world." He rubbed his face before giving Geoff a wry grin. "So would you like me to carve out a bit more territory for you to the east of your country?"
Geoff stood up and walked to the sideboard and poured Dan a rather large shot of Tequila and brought it back over. "Honestly other than the Moon Goddess you probably scare the crap out of them. Part of that is because you are literally an unknown factor. You were not born in this world so your fate wasn't fixed in this world. You can do things due to that others simply can't. Your fate in this world is totally up to you." When Dan offered to expand Geoff's country he snorted. "No thanks. I really would hate to have that discussion with mom. I can see it now, 'Oh mom, for all the help you have given Dan he is giving you a gift of more territory'." He shuddered and then shared a laugh with Dan.
~~~
She looked up and then looked at the folder and poofed from Dan's lap. This wasn't good and she was going to talk to her mother. She knew that Danny wanted their input but the feel she had gotten made her think of when Dan was hurt and that scared her. When she appeared in her mother's lap she gave her a big hug. *Momma I's scared. I's felt icky stuff from girl wolfie like I felt from Alpha Danny.*
Amariah hadn't realized she had appeared during the middle of a meeting with one of the other senior spirit Kitsunes. It was one that her mother didn't care for since he was a pompous ass and grew up when females were more a possession than anything else. That was one drawback to the incredibly long lives of the spirits. If they chose not to keep moving and growing it took forever to get them out of a position of power. Being long lived had some advantages as well such as the ability to keep learning as well but it was how the individual handled it.
The elder cleared his throat to get Gin No's attention so they could continue their conversation. "Just a moment elder since this sounds like it might be of critical importance." She looked up at him and when he started to frown she let her eyes start to swirl and change colors. That was usually a bad sign since she only did that when she was starting to feel annoyed. As of now she had been seriously annoyed with him before her daughter had arrived.
"Surely it can wait till this meeting is completed? This is important since it deals with questions on your mates..." He tensed up and her eyes flared silver with her power. He could feel a constriction around his neck and he was frozen in place.
"I asked you for a moment elder and it hadn't been a request. My children know not to disturb me unless it is something they feel is of importance. They aren't always correct and when they make the wrong decision they are educated. I will be with you in a moment." She looked back down at Amariah and stroked her ears. She could feel another small surge of power and Amarish popped up on the desk.
He didn't look happy and looked around and ended up glowering at the elder before looking at Amariah. "What has sissy so upset?" He was wearing his mouse hunting uniform with sword and everything. He walked across the desk and leaned forward and petted her ears. "Someones bothering you sissy?"
She shook her head and tilted her head as he petted her ears. Their mother smiled at them before speaking. "Now show me what you are talking about hun and we will go from there." When Amarish settled down next to his sister and held her hand she waited since they were going to do something together. It didn't take very long before an image of the woman appeared.
It was from earlier when Dan was trying to calm her down. At this point she was completely nude and the scars and torture were clear. The black staining was blatantly obvious as well and Gin No had to take a sharp breath. "You are dismissed Elder since this does not involve you but is of great importance." As she was speaking she was mentally manipulating the image for close up views of some of the wounds.
"Well excuse me." He stood up and stomped out of the room. "This is why females should be taking care of houses and babies, to damn flighty for real responsibilities."
Amariah beat her to the punch with her tail of doom. She wasn't in any mood to deal with stupid people and she magically removed a tail from him and handed it to her mother. "For Danny if he wants it."
The elder screeched when she removed the tail since she hadn't done anything to block the pain of loss. He staggered for a moment before turning and his face was glowing with rage. "Why you little..." Before he could say anything else Amaratsue had appeared and his hand was wrapped around the male's neck.
