Sure enough, orange flames spun among the throng of invading imps. They attacked her fiercely, but her hide was standing up to their stingers and claws.
"I'm coming," Aiden said as he activated his glider with a thought. This time, he had no doubts whatsoever. He was going to save Amara.
He kicked off the ground, focusing his commands to the suit. He flew fast and pulled up short of the wall above the landing. The landing squirmed with imps, and he fired. Energy bolts rained down upon the little devils. He was careful not to get too close to Amara. He knew how to work the gun, but he wasn't confident in his aim. The imps were so concentrated, though, that his ability to hit a mark didn't matter.
Imps stopped pouring into the cavern, and between Aiden and Amara, the landing was soon clear of living imps. Aiden landed next to the orange-flamed hellcat. Up close, he noticed a few deep wounds beneath the flames. She looked at him, confusion in her eyes.
"What?" Aiden asked. "I saw you in trouble, and I came to help."
She blinked at him, nodded her head once, and started toward the fighting. Hundreds of imps had made it into the cavern. Hellcats were fighting them off, but more than a few had perished. Dozens of imps had made it past those at the base of the plateau and were now climbing upward toward the stone structure.
Aiden pressed his lips together, unsure of what to do. He wasn't a fighter. What he'd just done…it was little more than shooting fish in a barrel.
Amara paused, looked over her shoulder, and came back to him, nudging his back with her muzzle.
"You want me to fight with you?" Aiden asked, somewhat surprised.
Amara nodded once more. She turned and bounded off; she wasn't going to wait for him to decide now that she'd made herself clear.
He ran after her, gun at the ready, exhilaration building up inside his chest. As Amara entered the fray, he stayed in the wake of her destruction. Whenever he could get a clear shot, he focused his gunfire on the wall of the plateau, picking off climbing imps one by one.
Once she was in the midst of them, the other hellcats worked with Amara, but they seemed to do it grudgingly. Even as they fought off the imps, they managed to throw disgusted glances at her orange flames, their blue ones higher and brighter and hotter than hers.
She was also smaller, and not only compared to the males. But she had more nerve and was more precise in every strike. Whereas other hellcats might go for a limb to grab and throw an imp, she went for the throat first, and if her jaws clamped down on a limb it was to tear it off completely.
One of the hellcats beside Amara bucked as an imp managed to claw out its eye. Another devil sliced open the hellcat's throat as it reared its head, and the magnificent creature fell unmoving. The same pair of imps went for Amara, managing to claw at one eye, though they didn't manage to claw it out. Amara roared and began to rear back as well. Using his gun like a club, Aiden hit the imp going for Amara's throat as hard as he could, knocking it over the side of the walkway to land mangled on the ground far below. Amara took care of the one that had scratched her, pinning it with her paw and ripping its arm from its body.
She bounded toward the bridge now, and Aiden followed, shooting a few more climbing imps before the bigger gun ran out of juice. He used it to knock more imps off the bridge as they began their way across it, and then he took off in the air once more, pitching the big gun and pulling out two of the smaller ones.
Amara roared below, but it sounded different; it sounded distressed. He followed her line of sight to see an imp with a kitten in hand, swinging over the edge of the plateau and quickly making its way down. Demetrius came out behind it, snapping at its foot, barely missing the imp as it swung out of his reach. Roaring angrily, the hellcat turned from the edge and tore apart two imps coming over the edge toward the structure. More hellcats arrived and blocked the entrance, flinging a few imps over the plateau's edge before taking up guard.
They might have given up on the kitten, but Aiden had his eyes on the imp who'd taken it.
"No you don't, you little devil," he said as he zoomed toward the wall of the plateau at the descending imp, holstering one gun to free up a hand. He pulled up short behind the imp and snatched the kitten while aiming the gun point-blank at the imp's head. He pulled the trigger, and at the same time, a hot, sharp pain pierced his side. The imp fell, but not before leaving a twelve-centimeter stinger lodged in Aiden's side.
Gasping, he fought to keep from passing out, fought to make it to the plateau's surface. If he lost consciousness, his suit might hover and save his life, but he would no doubt drop the kitten to its death. His consciousness was slipping from him, and the suit was inching upward slowly and with jerky movements. It was all he could do to concentrate on keeping hold of the kitten, now clinging to him, its little claws barely able to hold onto his suit.
"Demetrius!" he said as loudly as he could, hoping his words carried. "Demetrius! The kitten!"
Demetrius's head appeared over the edge above him. His eyes widened. "The imps are gone from the plateau. Keep coming! Keep coming!"
Amara joined Demetrius at the plateau's edge. Aiden's vision blurred.
"Tell the kitten…tell it to let go. I'll lift it up…" Aiden dropped his gun. His body was numbing. He was close to the edge, close enough to pass the kitten off.
"Concentrate! Stay awake," Demetrius said. "You must not succumb to the poison of the stinger."
Aiden dislodged the kitten from his suit and held it above his head. He could no longer think straight. His suit had stopped moving and hovered in place. Amara stretched her open jaws toward the kitten, and as numbness over took him completely, the small weight of the kitten was gone.
Everything had gone black.
His last thought was that he couldn't tell if Amara had taken the kitten or if it had fallen from his outstretched hands.
Aiden groaned. His side ached. His chest ached. His head ached.
Does anything not ache?
The answer was no. Absolutely every part of his body felt as though it had been torn apart and then pieced back together again by someone who did not know what they were doing.
He blinked. The light, dim though it was, was not welcome. He was in the dome, from what he could tell. He still wore his suit, but he vaguely remembered Demetrius telling him to take off his shield, telling him to swallow some kind of bitter liquid.
"You may live yet." Demetrius's voice made it through the pounding in Aiden's head. "And perhaps even find some hellcat willing to undergo the Fusion with you. You fought well. You were brave and selfless, and you've shown yourself to be worthy."
Memories of the imp attack flooded back to him, and he forced his eyes open.
"The kitten?" he asked, his voice hoarse. His lungs burned with the effort of speaking.
"Alive and well, thanks to you," Demetrius said.
"And Amara?"
Demetrius grunted. "Also alive."
"Is she here?"
"I've allowed her to stay for now, yes."
"Allowed…Demetrius, she fought for you."
"As did you," Demetrius said. "This isn't your home, and it can't be hers. And it was surely her defense of you that spurred this attack."
"But…you said they've attacked before."
"Not recently."
"Demetrius—"
"It is useless to speak of this further. I will tell her you are awake. She will say her goodbyes, and leave." Demetrius left him, lifting a paw and entering the code with one protracted claw.
"Should've known you'd be able to get in here," Aiden said.
"Yes," Demetrius agreed before leaving. "Yes, I suppose you should have."
Minutes passed while Aiden stewed in his anger. He couldn't even enjoy the fact that Demetrius had approved his request to undergo the Fusion. Aiden had the feeling that Demetrius's word carried weight with the others; it was almost a sure thing now. He would return with a hellcat. He would become a Defender.
But Amara deserves more than th
eir dismissal. She's a good and decent creature. She showed just as much bravery and selflessness as I did, more even!
The door whooshed open and Amara walked in. A three-pronged scratch ran over her swollen eye, and she had a slight limp. But overall, she looked okay.
She seemed to hesitate as the door closed behind her.
"Amara, I'm glad to see you."
She came closer and sat beside his bed, looking down on him with a mix of emotions in her bright blue eyes.
"I wish I could speak with you," Aiden said.
Amara rested her head on the bed next to his hand, and Aiden scratched behind her ear. After a while, she raised her head and gently nuzzled his uninjured side. She turned to go. She had said her goodbyes.
"Wait!" Aiden fought through the pain to sit up. "Amara, I want to undergo the Fusion with you."
She stopped as if frozen but did not look at him.
"I know Demetrius won't approve it, but it shouldn't be his choice. When I recover, I will leave here with a hellcat at my side, and I want it to be you. They don't see you. People back home…they don't see me, either. But you and me, we're more than what we've been labelled. And together, I think we can really be something." Aiden had never in his life spoken with such passion, never felt so strongly. He knew it was right, for him and Amara to bond.
But Amara lowered her head, shook it once, and made to leave.
Before she walked through the doorway, Aiden spoke, choking back the emotion in his voice. "Just think about it? If you don't come when it's time for the decision to be made, I'll understand. But…I hope you're there. I hope you become my hellcat, and I become your Defender."
She looked back at him, stared at him for a long moment and then was gone.
It was two weeks and two dozen more bitter concoctions before Aiden was strong enough to undergo the Fusion. He winced as he thought of his family back home in the city. Surely they counted him as dead by now.
At least they'll be happy to see me. I hope.
He still wasn't sure exactly what would happen when he returned. He still wasn't even sure he'd survive the Fusion, though Demetrius seemed not to be too worried about it, which could have been because Demetrius would sleep well that night whether Aiden lived or not.
As Aiden dressed in a suit he'd found in the dome—one without a hole in it—he thought about Amara. He hadn't seen her since the day he'd asked her to undergo the Fusion with him.
Part of him wondered if he would go through with the Fusion if she didn't show. Now that he'd been among the hellcats for some time, he couldn't imagine sharing the rest of his life or fighting in the war with any other. It was with her that he'd discovered he could fight. She had drawn him to purpose, had inspired him to do something that mattered.
I would get to know a different hellcat over time, wouldn't I?
The records showed—
Damn the records.
Aiden sighed and strapped on his face shield.
He left the dome and found Demetrius waiting on the walkway just outside.
"This is a momentous day for you," the hellcat said. "Come. There are three hellcats who have stepped forward, willing to undergo the Fusion with you. That is a great honor, Aiden."
"How am I supposed to choose between them?"
"You will know," Demetrius said. "Follow me."
He led Aiden down the walkway to the bottom level of the cavern, over a bridge on the molten river, to stand far below the entrance landing. Tucked away behind a rock wall was a smaller cavern filled with blue fire, swirling inside, somehow contained. Aiden had never seen anything like it.
Three hellcats waited for them there, lined up before the entrance. Amara was not one of them.
"This is the hellcat fire," Demetrius said. "Here, the first hellcat was born, and here, a human with a hellcat spirit may bond with one of us in the Fusion. But if a man or woman steps beyond the threshold into the sacred fire with a hellcat by his side and he is found wanting, the fire will consume his soul instead of bonding it with his chosen companion." Demetrius walked before the three hellcats. "These three saw you fight, and these three think you may be worthy. To be bonded with a human found worthy by the fires is an honor for our kind, just as it is an honor for yours."
Aiden approached the three, taking a moment to look each of them in the eye, trying to find some connection. They were each powerful, majestic beasts. Each of them embodied the chance for him to return from this adventure victorious. But none of them were Amara.
Demetrius was right. He did know. He knew with every fiber of his being that if he entered the fires with one of these three, he would perish. And he knew that even if he didn't, it wouldn't be right.
He looked into the swirling fires beyond the mouth of the smaller cavern. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and prepared to turn down the chance of a lifetime.
"Demetrius—"
A familiar, wonderful roar filled the cavern from somewhere above them. Tears of relief sprung up as Aiden turned and ran out into the open to confirm what he thought he'd heard. Amara was sprinting along the upper walkway, running so fast, she was a blur of orange fire. She roared again, and Aiden shouted with abandon, throwing his hands in the air and laughing with joy.
Demetrius came up beside him. "What is she doing here?" he asked, his tone low and angry.
Amara ran to him and buried her big head into his chest, letting him hug her to him.
"She's choosing me, and I'm choosing her." Aiden looked at Demetrius. "This isn't your choice; it's ours. And if it doesn't work, I'll die, right? What do you have to lose?"
Demetrius ground his paws into the dirt. "If you die, she dies."
Amara pulled back, and so did Aiden.
"What? That's not how it goes, Demetrius."
"It is this time." Demetrius growled. "And I'm only allowing this because we owe you for saving the life of our young, Aiden."
"Amara, you can't—"
She walked up to him and gently nudged him toward the cavern. When she looked into his eyes, he knew this was what she wanted. She wanted to undergo the Fusion. She wanted a chance at a different life just as much as he did, and the only chance they had of that was to do it together.
"All right," Aiden agreed, but his joy was turned to trepidation.
They approached the mouth of the smaller cavern, and though he wore his suit, he could feel the heat. That alone made him a bit nervous. He rested one hand on Amara's head, and they walked into the fires together.
Something grabbed at Aiden's innermost being and yanked his soul right out of his body. Fire scalded him from head to toe, and yet his skin did not burn. He screamed, and at the same time, Amara roared. A moment of fear, and then he was floating above his own body. And beside him, he sensed a presence he could not see but recognized: Amara.
He reached out to her and could feel her reaching out to him. The Fusion began in earnest. Aiden felt everything he'd ever done, all his memories, all that he loved, and all that he hated being pulled from him and into her. At the same time, he absorbed her essence. He saw her struggle to find her fire, saw her lose faith in herself, saw her lose faith in everything. And at the same time, he saw her cling to hope, saw her keep that last sliver of faith, until it was rekindled by his words in the dome.
He knew Amara.
And Amara knew him.
The Fusion completed, Aiden's peaceful spirit drifted back into his body.
He looked at his hellcat. "Amara?"
She looked up and met his gaze with her own.
"Let's make them see us. What do you say?"
Her voice rang crystal clear in his mind, a strong, feminine, honey-like tone that felt right and familiar, like coming home, like hearing the voice of a friend long-lost. "I say, I'm ready to show them what we're made of."
Aiden rested his hand once more upon her head, and they walked out of the fires, side by side. Demetrius stood motionless where they had left him, his eyes wide. It was strange to see
a hellcat look so shocked.
“How is this possible?” Demetrius asked, his tone a mixture of awe and anger.
“The world is about to meet a new kind of Defender, Demetrius,” Aiden said as he and Amara walked past the older hellcat. “You might not be ready for it, but we are.”
B.K. Boes has been creating stories since she was old enough to hold a pencil. She always drifted toward the fantastical, though she loved most every genre that crossed her path. Now, she writes epic fantasy and science fantasy, transferring worlds and characters from her imagination to the page.
Find out more at bkboes.com.
63
Daybreak in Defiance
By Tameri Etherton
An abandoned kitten destined to die finds hope, love, and murderous joy in the company of a cursed ogress.
The first thing I remember is the last thing I’ll forget. The touch of my mother’s paw pulling me in tight against her warm belly. That sense of being loved, protected—it’s what kept me alive in those terrifying days when I was lost and alone.
I lived in constant darkness. My life, in peril. I had known love, but in the slow stretch of a heartbeat, I was without anyone who loved me or for me to love. My eyes hadn’t fully opened yet. I was too young to understand what was happening to me. My mother—she was gone. I never knew my father.
Sounds of the forest tore at my fragile hearing. Fear became my constant companion. Each day brought more hunger, each night the grave beckoned.
Scents of the forest cradled me, but every so often, I was shaken by a familiar smell. I didn’t have a name for it, but I knew it was responsible for my plight. Each time a whiff scratched my nose, I burrowed farther beneath my den of twigs and branches. I came to know the fragrance as death.
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