by Clayton Wood
Just as yet another one leapt right at his throat.
Dio dropped into a backwards somersault, the creature flying over him as he did so. Then he leapt to his feet, spinning around and slashing the thing’s throat.
Something slammed into his back, knocking him forward toward the water.
Dio caught himself, whipping his staff around at his attacker, but it’d already backed out of range. Ten of the enemy were still alive, keeping just out of striking distance.
He clutched his side, gasping for air, feeling suddenly lightheaded. His legs felt weak, and began to shake uncontrollably.
I’m going to die.
The thought came to him without fear, nor surprise. It was a statement of fact, the realization that he had been bested. Uninjured, he could have annihilated these things. But through a series of unlikely events, reality had chosen a different end. He was going to die today.
But he would not go alone.
One of the beasts lunged at him, then drew back…just as another did the same…and a third leapt at him from the side, raking at his shoulder. He thrust his staff at it, knocking it backward…or rather shoving it. His arms were weakening.
And two more jumped on him from the front as he did so.
Dio tried to whip his staff around to take them both out, but he was too slow, and they collided with him, knocking him onto his back on the wet sand. The back of his head sank into cold water, and he gasped, trying to twist to throw the beasts off of him. But they were too heavy.
They raked at him with their claws, slashing at his chest and belly.
Dio bent his knees and dug his heels into the ground, then pushed himself backward, trying to throw himself into the river. The beasts pinned him down, two more grabbing his legs and dragging him back toward the forest. His staff was torn from his hands, his arms and legs pulled taught by four of the things.
And a fifth loomed over him, its grotesque face covered with patches of thin bark, its lips parting in a vicious snarl.
Dio stared at it silently, letting his body go lax.
It was time.
The beast on top of him reached out with one hand, wrapped its long black fingers around his throat. Dio felt its long, sharp claws dig into his flesh on either side of his windpipe, gripping it firmly. The creature leaned in, its breath hissing from between its teeth.
“You are worthy,” it rasped. “Join…”
THUMP!
The ground trembled beneath Dio, screams piercing the air ahead of him. The creature twisted around, then leapt off Dio, running forward…and then flying through the air as something massive slammed into it from the side. Dio gasped, struggling to sit up.
And saw a huge silver serpent with innumerable legs rear its head back, lunging forward and snapping up two of the creatures in one gulp.
The horned serpent had burst through the forest, a line of downed trees evidence of its passage. The black creatures swarmed over it, raking at its thick scales. But it was futile; the serpent’s hide was far too thick and strong for them, impervious to their attacks. It ended them all, eating, crushing, and trampling them to death until none remained.
Dio stared at the carnage in disbelief, then collapsed onto his back, staring at the bright blue sky above.
Thump-a-thump, thump-a-thump…
He heard the telltale sound of a horse approaching, heard it stop nearby. Someone dismounted. He tried to turn his head to see who it was, but he could not. His body felt numb, and far away, as if it belonged to someone else.
A figure crouched over him, a face filling his vision. A woman with long, dark hair, beautiful eyes and full lips.
A memory came to him, of the same face looking down at him. Of hands reaching for him, spattered with blood. The blood of the men that’d killed his parents.
I’ve got you, she’d said. You don’t have to be afraid anymore.
Dio stared up at the woman, feeling her hand cradle the back of his head.
“Mother…” he gasped.
“Shhh,” Camilla soothed, stroking his hair with her other hand.
“I…failed,” he mumbled. “I…”
“It’s okay Dio,” she reassured. “I forgive you.”
“But…”
“Close your eyes,” she said, stroking his cheek. She leaned in, kissing his forehead gently. He obeyed, feeling her warm fingers against his face.
“Mother…”
“It’s okay Dio,” she insisted. “I’ve got you now.”
Chapter 32
Sukri crouched down on all fours on the wide tree branch she’d climbed up to, some eight meters above the forest floor. She perched there, eyeing a branch from a nearby tree. It was a good three meters away, and a meter lower than the one she was on.
You can do this.
She readied herself, then sprang forward, sailing through the air…and coming up a little short.
Uh oh.
Sukri stretched her arms forward, extending her claws, and managed to grab onto the branch, swinging forward and nearly losing her grip. Her claws saved her, and she waited until she stopped swinging, pulling herself up onto the branch and crouching there.
“Damn,” she muttered.
Looking around, she spotted another branch nearby, the same distance away as the first.
Okay, she told herself. You got this.
She readied herself, then leapt, her powerful legs launching her upward and forward. This time she reached the branch easily, landing feet-first on it…and nearly stumbling off, her momentum carrying her forward. She dug her feet-claws into the bark, pinwheeling her arms, then catching herself.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” she murmured.
Sukri tried again, leaping to another branch, then another, each time managing to land a little more gracefully, until she was leaping from branch to branch fearlessly, barely pausing between jumps. Once she got the hang of it, it felt good. Like she was flying through the trees.
At length she stopped, perching on one of the tree branches, eyeing a piece of fruit hanging from a nearby tree…right above a wide tree branch.
“Oh I’m gonna smack the shit outta you,” she promised, extending her claws.
Then she leapt at it, sailing over the forest floor and slashing at the fruit with one paw. She nailed it, sending it flying in a spray of juice…and overshot the branch, careening toward the ground far below.
“Shiiiit!” she yelled, spreading her arms and legs out wide, then flipping her tail sharply. This righted her, and she landed on her hands and feet with a grunt.
Completely unharmed.
Sukri got to her feet, glancing up. She’d fallen a good eight to nine meters…a height that would’ve killed her ass if she’d been human. Or completely human, anyway. She smiled, shaking her head.
“Oh I could get used to this,” she said.
She crouched, then leapt up six meters, reaching the tree trunk and using her claws to climb up rapidly. Within moments she was on the tree branch she’d missed, perched on all fours. Searching for another fruit, she found one…but with no branch to land on underneath.
“Eh, what the hell,” she told herself.
Sukri sprang forward at it, slashing it right from the tree, cutting it to shreds. And plummeted toward the ground, landing on all fours just like before.
Again, unharmed.
“Damn Sukri,” she murmured. “You are awesome.”
She heard leaves crunching behind her, and spun around to see Hunter walking toward her. He was dressed in a plain brown shirt and pants, his helmet – as always – on his head.
“You know you do that butt-wiggle thing before you jump,” Hunter told her with a grin. “It’s adorable.”
“Hunter!” she cried, running up to him and leaping into his arms.
“Claws!” Hunter exclaimed, pulling away from her.
“Oops,” Sukri replied, retracting her claws. “Sorry.” She held him at arm’s length, realizing she was grinning stupidly.
“How’d it go?”
“Well, I didn’t die,” Hunter answered with a grin of his own.
“I noticed.”
“We got to Tykus,” Hunter said. He told her about what’d happened…and about Zagamar and the Svartálfar. Her eyes widened with each revelation.
“I can’t believe there’s more than one Tykus,” she stated. “You’re saying they’re all over the place?”
“One’s working with us now,” he replied. “He’s with Vi and Xerxes.”
“And Zagamar’s making a bunch of clones of himself like Tykus did.”
“Right,” Hunter confirmed.
“So we kill the clones and then kill Zagamar,” she ventured.
“That’s the idea.”
She stood there, considering this. Then she looked down at her hands, extending her claws.
“Guess I got more training to do,” she muttered.
“Vi’s going to train you some more,” Hunter reassured. “I need to fly Dominus to Camilla’s place so they can coordinate with the Kingdom of the Deep.”
“Wait, what?” Sukri blurted out. “You’re actually gonna go back to that bitch?”
“Unfortunately yes.”
“But…”
“Dominus says she won’t try to hold me captive like before,” Hunter reassured. Sukri gave him a sour look.
“You really gonna trust him?”
“Of course not,” Hunter retorted. “But she won’t go against me. If she does, I’ll just let Zagamar out and kill her.”
“God I hope she tries then.”
“Kinda hoping that too,” Hunter admitted.
“So what now?” she inquired. Hunter raised an eyebrow.
“I seem to remember you promising me something,” he answered. “Something about how you’d let me give you my goo if…”
“I remember,” Sukri interrupted.
“So…?”
“If we do this, I have to tell Kayla,” Sukri warned. “I think she still has feelings for me.”
“Ah,” he replied. He paused for a moment. “Do you?”
Sukri sighed, lowering her gaze.
“A little,” she confessed. “I mean, she was really kind to me. The first person that’s been kind to me in a while. And…it was good,” she added. Hunter gave a rueful smile.
“I know,” he admitted. “I might of, ah, absorbed that memory too.”
Sukri’s eyebrows went up.
“Oh really,” she replied.
“I understand it if you…” Hunter began, but Sukri stepped forward, putting a finger to his lips.
“Shut up,” she ordered. He obeyed, his mouth snapping shut. “I like Kayla. Being with her would be…nice. But I’ve put a lot of thought into this, and I think I want to try us.”
“You ‘think?’”
“I haven’t tried it yet,” Sukri pointed out.
“Maybe you could have both?” Hunter offered, waggling his eyebrows. “We could all…”
“No.”
“Worth a shot,” he mumbled.
“Hunter, I’ve spent my whole adult life going from one relationship to the next,” she admitted. “Kris was right about me, you know.”
Hunter grimaced. Kris had been one of her best friends…and Sukri had argued with him right before he’d been killed by an Ironclad.
“He said I was controlling. That I pretended to be this cool chick, but inside I was so scared that I tried to control everything, and pushed everyone away.”
“Sukri…”
“Do you know why?” she pressed. “Because I’m terrified that it won’t work out if I’m myself. That being myself won’t be enough.”
Hunter put his hands on her shoulders, smiling down at her.
“Sukri, I know you,” he replied. “I can know you better than anyone else.”
“You know how terrifying that is?”
“My point is, I want you. Just you. Be yourself, and we’ll try that out. If it works, great. If not…well, at least we tried.”
Sukri nodded.
“All right Hunter.”
She stepped in, and he wrapped his arms around her, spreading his wings and enclosing her within them. He leaned in, pressing his lips against hers.
The world faded away.
They kissed for what seemed like an eternity, until Sukri pulled away, staring up at him.
“What now?” she asked.
“I have a few ideas,” he replied with a twinkle in his eye.
“Oh yeah?” she said, giving him a little smile. “Like what, dirty boy?”
“I could show you.”
“Please do,” she replied, standing up on her tip-toes and kissing him again. Then she grinned.
“What?” he asked.
“Just glad kissing you isn’t like kissing my brother.”
“You have a brother?” he pressed.
“No, but I’ve kissed a few guys and it felt like, I dunno, making out with my dad.”
“You made out with your dad?” he shot back, a disgusted look on his face. She shoved him backward.
“You wanna get lucky or not?”
“Uh…really?” he replied. “Don’t you want to get to know me better first?”
“Gotta know if you’re any good,” she retorted. “Unless you don’t want to do it.”
Yes ma’am,” he replied.
“Then take off your pants,” she ordered extending her claws. “Before I cut them off.”
* * *
Hunter grunted, rolling off Sukri and laying on his back, staring up at the ceiling of the small shack they were in, trying to catch his breath. It was a cozy wooden shack built for him by the Ironclad, a single room with a bed of animal skins on one side. And after everything he and Sukri had done, it was oppressively hot.
“God damn,” he gasped, sweat trickling across his temples. “Wow.”
Sukri rolled onto her side, draping a warm, furry arm over his chest, tracing her fingers over his pecs.
“Right?” she replied with a grin.
“Uh huh.”
“Tell me that was as good for you as it was for me,” she said. He glanced at her, grinning stupidly.
“Fuck yeah it was.”
“You just telling a girl what she wants to hear?” she inquired.
“Nope,” he answered. “That was…wow.” And it had been. Her smell, her taste, the way she moved…the way she seemed to relish every second of touching him and being with him. It’d been incredible. Better than just sex.
It’d been something bigger.
“Mmm,” Sukri murmured, leaning in and smelling his arm, then kissing it. “You smell good Hunter.”
“So do you.”
“Sorry ‘bout all the hair,” she ventured, looking down at herself. She had short hair all over her body, even her face, and big golden eyes now. Even more golden than they’d been earlier in the day. She was changing before his very eyes.
“It’s a little itchy now,” he confessed. “But when it grows in it’ll be softer.”
“Did I chafe you?”
“Only a little,” he said with another grin. “Totally worth it.”
“So you don’t mind the hair?” she pressed.
“First of all, it’s not hair, it’s fur,” Hunter corrected, sliding a hand down her arm. “And no, I don’t mind it.” He smirked. “Glad your tongue didn’t turn rough, by the way. I was worried about that.”
“Told you I was soft on the inside,” she replied. While her tongue was soft, she did have longer and sharper canines now. Apparently they’d used needles at the base of her gums to make that happen.
“Yeah you are,” he agreed. “Got no complaints about your mouth.”
“Bet you don’t,” she agreed with a smile. Then she leaned in, kissing him.
There was a bang, and the door to the shack burst open.
“What the…” Hunter blurted out, scrambling to cover them with a blanket. Vi stepped in through the doorway, standing before them and putting her han
ds on her hips.
“Alright,” she declared, gesturing for them to get up. “Playtime’s over kids.”
“Could you freakin’ knock next time?” Hunter yelled, glaring at her.
“Nah. Kinda wanted to see what you were up to.” She wrinkled her nose. “Gawd, it wreaks of sex in here. Tell the Ironclad to put in a goddamn window or something.”
“Get out!”
“Sure thing lovers,” Vi replied with a wink, for once actually listening to Hunter and stepping out of the doorway. “But don’t make me wait…we got work to do.”
She shut the door, and Hunter got dressed, stepping outside with Sukri. He glared at Vi.
“You always know how to make an entrance,” he grumbled.
“Come on love-bug,” Vi urged. “Dominus is waiting by the front entrance to your Mom’s house.” She turned to Sukri. “And you and I have a date.”
“Oh really?” Sukri replied.
“I need to up your training,” Vi explained. “I take it Hunter told you everything?” Sukri nodded. “Then you know things are about to get real dicey around here. We need everyone to be able to handle themselves.”
“I’m up for it.”
“You better be,” Vi warned. “I’m not gonna go easy on you.”
“Good.”
“That’s the spirit Puss,” Vi encouraged. “Now get outta here Hunter.”
“Gimmee kiss,” Hunter requested. Sukri smiled, leaning in and kissing Hunter, giving Vi quite a show. Until Vi couldn’t take it anymore.
“All right all right,” she grumbled. “Go, Hunter.”
Hunter smiled, waving at Sukri, who waved back.
“Bye bye Crispy. Be a dear and kill Camilla for me.”
“Only if she gives me another reason to,” Hunter countered.
And then Hunter spread his wings, leaping into the air and flying away. Vi and Sukri watched him go, until he disappeared behind a hill in the distance.
“Wish I could do that,” Sukri confessed.
“Not gonna lie, he sells it pretty well,” Vi replied. She turned to Sukri then. “All right Puss, enough chatting. Kayla’s waiting for us. Time to get to work.”
