Snippet #1669262

Song had made her way into the forests, just like the others, but she had made sure she distanced herself from them. She knew that it was going to be expected she worked with a team once she passed this test, but she preferred to work alone. Not only did it gave her time to think, she wouldn’t be distracted, or worse, accidently poison somebody. She touched one of the needles, for now safely tucked against her wrist.

She tried to recall what she had witnessed just minutes ago. The imps in the cage had surprised her. Of course, she had read about monsters and knew what was expected of her in ASCO, but to see these... well these creatures for real. The imps, as the Mexican woman had called them, resembled little winged demons, with their dark gray skin, sharp claws, horns and evil black stares. She didn’t know her poisons would work, but if they didn’t, she was going to be in big trouble. Then again, she probably wouldn’t have been considered for this job if they thought her poisons wouldn’t work.

She walked under a couple of trees, trying if she could hear anything. She cursed at her lack of tracking skills, but still tried looking for any sign on the ground. Some of the flowers, lovely little violets, were trampled, though Song couldn’t tell what kind of being, human, animal or imp, had made it. Having nothing else to go on, she followed the trail. Then she couldn’t believe her luck. One of the creatures was standing right in front of her, in a patch of ferns, eating a small rabbit. The poor thing had been ripped apart, only the head still identifiable. The imp was gorging it down, less aware of its surrounding. Song approached the creature as quiet as possible, carefully opening the pouch around her waist. She had expected to kill the creature with her poisoned needles, but then remembered the first rule. She had to get the freaking thing back to the meeting place. Not wanting to drag the creature all the way throughout the forest, she decided to use a different kind of poison. Made from Opium poppy, ginger root, Wild Angelica, Borago and Calla Lily, the poison she was reaching for would make the creature groggy. Hopefully it would prevent it from running off or attacking her, instead letting her steer the monster to the place she wants it to go. Song wasn’t sure if it would work, but it could save her a lot of time.

She just had to get the creature to swallow the poison, but that wasn’t going to be difficult. She saw a piece of the rabbit lying on the floor, apparently tossed aside by the creature in its frenzy. Song opened the vial and drenched the piece of meat, possibly a leg, with the poison. Now, it only need to eat this. Just then the creature noticed her, looking at her with a malicious stare. They both stood there, standing still for five seconds. Song could feel her blood quickening, not from fright, but from excitement. She had never expected to feel so alive. Then, without warning, the imp ran off. Cursing in Chinese, she ran after it. Okay, this might be a bit more difficult than I had expected.