Hidden in the war room deep in a snoring slumber rested the lizard man. It seemed like nothing would rouse the oaf, not the priestess, nor the dark elf when she spoke to them just the rise and fall of his chest and his snoring like something from a great beast. However the commotion a little later did make him stir from his slumber long enough for the lizard to roll over and fall back asleep now that he was more comfortable. It would seem his tail, a seemingly mundane part of the beast, would be the one to betray him.
As Merik slumbered in the war room dreaming of rolling in fields of bright flowers, his long muscular tail moved back and forth betraying the fun he was dreaming of. Chasing rabbits and small children through the bright warm field and being able to play without worry brought him joy. So much so that his tail finally caught a leg of a nearby book shelf causing the shelf and its contents to cascade down and make a mess of the war room.
With the sudden assault of books he was almost immediately up on his feet in the middle of the room ready to fight. For a moment he was confused, normally it’s just the elder magic man that attacked him with books. Merik could only look at the mess he made with annoyance once he realized he wasn’t being attacked and just broke something in his sleep again. The echo of the elder telling him why he can’t sleep inside small rooms rolled through his mind for a moment.
As he thought of something to do he soon began to hear a commotion within the keep. It did take him a moment to pick up on what was going on in the rooms above and below him. His animal like hearing slowly adjusting after waking up. The giant slowly opened the door and crept out into the hall. There were many sounds and smells in the hall. The sounds were much clearer now, an attack of some kind was all he could piece together. Something about “
intruders” and “
find them.”
One thing this lizard knew about was that mammal’s had a lot to do with smell, from sweat, to blood, to perfume, and excrement. This hall way was filled with many things but most were faint. Nostrils flared the lizard began to take in the smell of his surroundings. A faint smell of flowers, he noticed the guards liked using it when they haven’t bathed for some time and it smelled like some of the flowers he smelled on the way to this city. The faint smell of the sewers and battle lingered but was not strong.
Yet there was one scent that lingered that he only somewhat recognized. Fresh sweat with a heavy but subtle scent of something he couldn’t make out combined with subtle smells of the forest. Strange the only ones that should have been in the forest where….
“Orcs.” The word slipped from his maw with a low growl. Returning to all fours he quickly followed the scent towards the outside of the keep. He didn’t take his weapons or armor just his loincloth and the prince’s sigil that he used as a sort of belt buckle.
The trail although unique was difficult to follow that combined with the chaos of the celebration and call to arms made his progress a bit slow. On top of that he broke his concentration when he got to the keeps wall when a loud boom came from the inside of the keep. Merik turned toward the source for a moment but then continued. He brushed off the occurrence as the elder messing up one of his spells and continued his trek. It wasn’t until he was close to one of the barracks did the scent really start to pick up but only for a moment. Whoever it was, had slowed down and now the scent was getting mixed in with the rest of the guards and soldiers.
Then he lost it, he couldn’t pick up on the subtle smell with everyone else around. He stood puzzled for a moment before he heard a familiar voice. His wrestling friend was nearby, the gruff voice of the large lycan was hard to mistake and he sounded upset. Within a few quick steps Merik found himself standing behind two cloaked humanoids and one unhinged looking lycan. The one closest to him was still just outside of his reach but Manald was already holding one.
Tilting his head to the side for a moment he soon found the scent once more. The strange scent still eluded him but these were definitely who he had been following. His instincts told him to kill but he knew he would get in trouble for it. Instead Merik bore his sharp teeth towards them and lunged at the one closest to him. The man was more than a few steps away from his friend but he was sure that he could reach him with this lunge and not worry about knocking his friend down. His aim was to subdue and injure but not to kill.