by Clayton Wood
“The longer you put off facing your fear…” Vi prompted. Sukri wiped the moisture from her eyes, meeting Vi’s gaze.
“The longer it’ll have power over me,” she muttered.
“Right.”
Sukri glanced at Kayla, who was watching her with those big golden eyes.
“Can you give us a minute?” Vi asked the cat-woman. Kayla hesitated, then nodded, standing up.
“Of course,” she replied. She turned about, walking away from them. Far enough away that even with her cat-ears, she wouldn’t be able to hear them. Sukri watched her go, then turned to Vi, who was staring at her intently.
“Talk to me,” Vi pleaded.
Sukri sighed miserably, lowering her gaze.
“You’ll hate me,” she muttered.
“Why?” Vi inquired. “Did you kill one of my friends?”
“No.”
“Did you steal my shit?”
“No,” Sukri repeated.
“Then we’re good,” Vi concluded. Sukri shook her head.
“The Guild of Seekers,” she stated. “They made us…they made me do some bad shit.”
“You had to kill your fellow students, then murder a few rich kids,” Vi stated. Sukri’s eyes widened, a chill running down her spine. She stared at Vi incredulously.
“How…?”
“I was a Seeker for the guild, remember?” Vi explained. “I did all that shit too. And a whole lot worse.”
“You…did?”
“Oh yeah,” Vi confirmed. “And believe me, it fucked me up. Made me wonder if anyone would ever love me if they found out. That’s the whole point, sweetheart. The guild’s a cult. And the first thing a cult does is separate you from everyone else. Not just physically, but emotionally.”
Sukri swallowed, unable to speak.
“They played you, Sukri. They used guilt to control you. And the sooner you learn to forgive yourself, the sooner you’ll be free of them.”
Sukri nodded mutely, tears welling up in her eyes. She blinked, and they rolled down her cheeks. Vi leaned in, embracing Sukri.
The dam broke.
Horrible sobs came out of her, her shoulders heaving with each one. Vi held on to her, holding her tightly.
“It’s okay,” she soothed. “You’re okay.”
Sukri continued to cry. And cry. For how she’d fought with Kris before he’d died. And for what she’d done to Gammon, a man who’d loved her for years, and when she’d finally offered to love him back, he’d refused.
And for herself. For the girl who’d always dreamed of being something special, and had ruined her life – and so many others – chasing that dream.
After a long, long time, the tears slowed, then stopped. Sukri pulled away from Vi, wiping the tears from her cheeks and giving the woman a smile.
“Thanks,” she murmured. Vi smiled back.
“You’re welcome.”
“Hunter was right about you,” Sukri said. “You’re pretty awesome.”
“You have no idea,” Vi replied with a grin. Sukri chuckled despite herself. Vi stood up, and Sukri joined her. Vi got to work unwrapping Sukri’s other arm. “Okay, time for the body.”
“Uh,” Sukri began. “I’m kinda naked.”
“Kinda hoping you were,” Vi replied with a devilish grin. There was a series of thumps in the distance, followed by muffled cursing. Hunter landed on the hilltop, retrieving his arrows, then walking toward them.
“Hey, whatcha doing?” Hunter asked. Vi turned to glare at him.
“Go away,” she ordered.
“But…”
“Go,” she repeated. “You can stare at your hairy friend later.”
“Wow,” Sukri muttered. “Low blow.”
Hunter grimaced, but obeyed, launching into the air for another run. Vi unwrapped Sukri’s chest, revealing her upper chest, and then her breasts. Normally Sukri wasn’t shy in the least, but now she wanted nothing more than to cover up. For her chest was just like her arms…as was her belly.
“Fuuuck,” Sukri muttered, shaking her head. “Just…fuck.”
“Well, you got a nice rack, I’ll give you that,” Vi noted. “It’s gonna look better once the hair comes in all the way.”
“Oh why did I do this?” Sukri groaned. Vi ignored her, making her stand up, then unwrapping her pelvis and legs. More red skin, more hair. And something else.
“Oh,” Sukri gasped, putting a hand over her mouth. She felt dizzy again, and would’ve fallen if Vi hadn’t grabbed her by the hips.
“Just a tail,” Vi reassured. “It’s alright.”
Sukri twisted around, staring at her butt…and the long tail poking out from just above her butt cheeks. It twitched, utterly by itself.
“Throwing up now,” Sukri notified, and promptly kept her word.
There were four thunks as Hunter swooped by, and another round of swearing. Sukri barely registered him landing.
“Go away,” Vi snapped. “Go fly somewhere far away. We’ll finish your training later.”
“You okay Sukri?” he asked.
“Go!”
Hunter hesitated, then nodded, leaping off the slope and flying away.
“It’ll grow longer,” Vi reassured. “Your tail, I mean.”
“Great.”
“Your feet will make great weapons too,” Vi noted. Sukri glanced down at them; they were just like her hands, except her big toe sprouted from the side of her foot now rather than the end. Her foot-claws were even bigger than the ones on her hands, extending and retracting in the same way. “Not to mention you’ll be a great climber.”
“Awesome.”
“Alright, last part,” Vi warned. She pulled the mask from Sukri’s face, unwrapping her head and neck. Then she stared at Sukri for a long moment.
“Don’t tell me,” Sukri muttered. “I really don’t want to know.”
“Actually you look pretty cute,” Vi admitted. “You kept your long hair. It’s coming in gray and black at the roots.”
“Least I’m not a blonde anymore.”
“Your ears are pointed,” Vi continued. “Cute button-nose too.”
“Are you just saying that to make me feel better?”
“Hell no,” Vi scoffed. “If you looked hideous, trust me, I’d tell you.”
“You’re so comforting.”
“You want comfort, go to Hunter,” Vi replied with a smirk. “I don’t sugarcoat anything Puss.”
“Puss?”
“Your nickname,” Vi explained. “You prefer Pussy?”
“It’s not bad,” Sukri replied. “But I prefer dick.”
Vi chuckled, slapping Sukri on the shoulder.
“That’s the spirit,” she encouraged. “Alright, let’s get Kayla over here and have her show you how to use those claws.”
* * *
Sukri clung on all fours to the base of a wide tree branch some five meters above the forest floor, her eyes on Vi and Kayla standing below. They were both looking up at her.
“It’ll be fine, just jump down,” Vi urged.
“And break my leg?” Sukri shot back. “No thanks.”
She’d managed to climb up the tree using her claws…a process which had been both easier and harder than she’d imagined. Pulling herself up the tree had been surprisingly easy, but getting used to retracting and extending her claws at the proper times had been tougher. Now she understood why cats had a hard time climbing down things.
“You’re not going to break anything,” Kayla reassured. “You’re a cat.”
“I’m not done changing yet,” Sukri pointed out.
“Your ass says you’re ready,” Vi replied.
“What?”
“Your ass,” Vi repeated. “Have you looked at it recently? It’s spectacularly developed. It means your legs are ready. You can jump higher now, and fall farther.”
“I’ll climb down.”
“Do that and I’ll break your leg,” Vi shot back.
Sukri stared at Vi, suddenly
unsure if the woman actually meant it.
“Fine,” she grumbled. She retracted her claws – which she’d been using to grip the branch – then sat back on her heels, taking a deep breath in.
Okay.
And then she jumped.
She cried out, falling like a stone toward the ground beside Vi and Kayla, and landed on all fours. Without any pain at all.
Sukri stayed there for a moment, then got to her feet, brushing off leaf-litter from her palms.
“See?” Vi stated with a grin.
“Wow,” Sukri murmured. “Yeah, you were right.”
“Get used to it,” Vi replied with a wink. She turned to Kayla. You think she can jump back up there?”
“Easily,” Kayla answered.
“All right,” Vi decided, turning back to Sukri. “Jump back up to the branch you just fell from.”
“I jumped from it,” Sukri countered.
“More of a hop and fall. With a scream.”
“You’re asking me to jump all the way up to that?” Sukri asked incredulously, pointing to the branch. It was five meters up; that would be like jumping to the second story of a building. Higher, even.
“Yep.”
“That’s impossible,” Sukri protested. Vi rolled her eyes.
“We gonna have to do this every time?”
Sukri sighed, then looked up at the branch. She squatted down, then jumped…about a meter off the ground.
“Don’t hold back,” Kayla urged. “Jump as high as you can.” With that, Kayla crouched down, leaping upward…impossibly high…and landed right on the tree branch. She smiled down at Sukri. “Come on,” she prompted.
Sukri nodded, squatting down again. She took a deep breath in, then pushed off the ground as hard as she could.
And sailed upward nearly five meters, her fingertips brushing up against the bottom of the tree branch!
She fell back to the earth, landing on all fours, hardly believing what’d just happened.
“I did it!” she cried, leaping to her feet and spinning around to grin at Vi. “Did you see that?”
“Good job Sukri,” Vi congratulated. “Next time land on the branch.”
Sukri felt her excitement wane, and she sighed, looking up at the branch. It seemed far too high up to jump onto. But then again, it’d seemed far too high to even touch with her hands, and she’d done that. She crouched, then leapt, seeming to fly upward. She managed to grab the top of the branch, and extended her claws, clinging to it, her legs dangling in the air.
“Made it!” she cried.
“Land on your feet on the branch,” Vi corrected. “Like Kayla.”
Sukri retracted her claws, dropping to the ground with a thump.
Again and again she jumped, each time getting a little higher. Once she got over the fear of jumping higher, she found she could make it all the way to the top of the branch pretty easily. Landing on top of it, on the other hand…
She sailed toward it on her sixth attempt, striking her ankles on the side of the branch and promptly flipping head-over-heels, falling head-first toward the ground. She cried out, whipping her tail around and twisting her torso, and landing harmlessly on all fours.
“Whoa,” she breathed, staying there for a moment, then standing up. “You saw what I did with my tail?”
“It’s a reflex,” Kayla explained from her perch on the branch. “It turns you around so you’ll always land on your feet.”
And that changed everything.
Without having to worry about landing wrong and breaking her neck, Sukri got bolder, leaping up to the branch with abandon. It turned a frightening task into an absolute blast, seeing just how far she could push herself. By the time Hunter returned from his long flight away, she’d leapt from the ground to join Kayla on the tree branch multiple times.
It felt awesome.
“Hey guys,” Hunter greeted as he landed a few meters away. Sukri hopped down from the branch, and his eyes widened as he noticed Sukri’s nakedness, his gaze immediately drawn toward her more interesting bits. “Damn.”
“You like?” Sukri inquired.
“Oh yeah,” Hunter replied. Sukri did a little turn for him, and he gave a low whistle. “That ass,” he murmured, shaking his head.
“I know, right?” Vi piped in.
“Saw you jumping all the way up there,” Hunter ventured. “Pretty awesome.”
“Please,” Sukri shot back. “This from the guy who can fly.”
“Can’t climb up a tree though,” he pointed out.
“Enough blabbing,” Vi interjected. “Hunter, go hit those five targets. No eating until you do.”
“Yes master,” Hunter replied, bowing deeply, then flying away. Vi turned to Sukri.
“I’ve seen cat-people jump six to seven meters,” she stated. “With a little practice and time to finish your metamorphosis, you’ll be able to too.”
“Awesome.”
“Those claws aren’t just for climbing,” Kayla pointed out. She leapt down from the branch, landing beside Sukri. “They’re very effective weapons. Try using them on that tree trunk,” she prompted. “Give it a few swipes.”
Sukri walked up to the trunk, then extended her claws, putting them on the trunk and sliding them down. It felt surprisingly good, kinda like the eargasm she got when she used a little stick to scratch the inside of her ear canal. But in her fingertips.
“Harder,” Kayla ordered.
Sukri swiped the trunk harder, raking the bark.
“Harder.”
She lunged at the trunk, tearing at the bark. Hunks of it tore off; she half-expected to feel pain in her claws, but she didn’t.
“Nice,” Vi stated. “Now imagine what you could do to someone’s face.”
Sukri did so, and it was a sobering thought.
“Cats go for the face and the throat,” Kayla explained, walking up to the tree trunk and slashing at it with one hand…and leaving deep gouges in the bark. “Take out your opponent’s eyes. Claw them out. Then tear through the vessels of the neck and the windpipe.”
“Ugh,” Sukri muttered. “Sword seems a bit cleaner.”
“Go ahead and use a sword,” Vi stated, “…but if you lose it, or if an enemy gets in too close, you’ll need to learn how to fight close-range. Your claws are a natural weapon.”
“And don’t forget your feet,” Kayla piped in.
Sukri glanced down, extending the claws on her toes.
“When I kick, it’s to create blunt-force trauma,” Vi explained. “You can do that too – especially with your highly-developed leg muscles – but you also have the option of using them to totally fuck up your opponent. If you’re knocked on your back, shred ‘em with your feet. I’ve seen a cat-lady disembowel a man in a few seconds that way.”
Kayla nodded in agreement, and Sukri gave a low whistle.
“Wow.”
There were four thumps, and Hunter swooped by, cursing loudly. He landed, grabbing his arrows, then trying again.
“You can also jump really high, which means you can leap over your opponent, or on top of them. People have a hard time defending attacks from above. And they usually don’t realize they can dodge out of the way until it’s too late,” Vi lectured.
“Got it.”
“You don’t ‘got it’ until you’ve done it,” Vi retorted. She reached down to a pack lying next to her, withdrawing two practice swords and throwing one to Sukri. “Enough talk. Time for the pain, Puss.”
“Great,” Sukri groaned. “Had enough of this shit from Dio.” Vi snorted.
“Dio ain’t fit to wipe my ass,” she retorted.
“Really?”
“Damn right. Camilla had me teach him for a while, actually.”
“Was he good?” Sukri pressed.
“I’ll give him credit, he wasn’t bad,” Vi admitted. “But his head was all screwed up. Everything he does is for Camilla’s love…and Camilla doesn’t know how to love. I tried to teach him how to love himself, b
ut Camilla wouldn’t allow it. So I quit training him.”
“What’d he do?”
“Camilla manipulated him, of course. Compared him to me all the time, and never favorably. He vowed to get better than me. Practiced all day every day since then.”
“Wow, that’s messed up,” Sukri muttered.
“Dio’s going to spend the rest of his life trying to earn something Camilla can’t give him,” Vi declared. “And he’ll never love himself until she loves him. That’s why you’ve got to find a way to forgive yourself, kiddo. Because you won’t be able to love yourself until you do…and if you don’t, you’ll end up just like him.”
Sukri swallowed past a lump in her throat, lowering her gaze to her feet.
“Enough talk,” Vi declared, readying her own sword. “Let’s see what you’re made of, Puss.”
Chapter 26
The entrance to the secret tunnel passing far beneath the Deadlands to the Kingdom of Tykus was well-hidden, a slight gap in the rock wall of a large hill. It had been covered by bushes that Dominus had been forced to push through to get inside. A series of ancient traps similar to those protecting Dominus’s ancestral shrine had to be navigated, and luckily Tykus had taught Dominus how to do so before Dominus’s trek to the Castle Wexford the week before. Now he walked down the pitch-black tunnel, torch-in-hand, making his way back to the Acropolis.
For kilometers the tunnel extended, forever forward and angling slightly downward, toward the crypts deep beneath the ancient fortress. Dominus felt uneasy knowing that he would soon be in the presence of the great king. And at the same time, he yearned for it.
The beekeeper has returned to his hives.
At long last he spotted the end of the tunnel ahead, a rough stone wall. He walked up to it, then turned, stepping heel-to-toe away from it, counting his steps.
Ninety-one, ninety-two, ninety-three.
Coincidentally, the age Tykus had been when he’d died six thousand years ago.
Dominus leaned against the leftmost wall, feeling around for a slight depression there. He felt a stone within the wall give inward, and then a trapdoor above opened up. A guard appeared above the trapdoor, peering down at Dominus. It was one of Tykus’s Royal guards, the most skilled warriors in the Kingdom.
