Kane sat back in his chair, stroking his beard as he turned over my proposition in his mind. While I was bringing danger to his people, I was also offering them prestige and a new position of power within the naturi hierarchy. Was he willing to take a chance on a new life for his people, or would he prefer that they spend their last days hiding in the mountains away from Aurora?
“Let me just add a bit to chew on that Nyx left out,” Rowe said unexpectedly, strolling out into the clearing. “Assume that you don’t join Cynnia. Eventually, Aurora will come looking for her darling sisters, and without the help of the animal clan, she will wipe them out. And when our queen is done, she will turn her attention to the rest of the groups who have broken from her. At that point you will either be forced to bow before her, just before she removes your head for treason, or you will be forced to fight her without the assistance of Cynnia’s army. One way or another, you will fight Aurora.” With his piece said, the dark-haired naturi sauntered back over to the tree he had been leaning against as if he hadn’t spoken at all.
After a couple minutes of tense silence, Kane finally looked up at me with a dark grin crossing his face. “My people will join Cynnia in her fight against Aurora. We would like a new place within this world we have returned to. We would like to finally live a life of peace. But nothing is given without it first being earned among our people.”
“And how do I earn your assistance?” I dreaded the response.
“Beat me in a fair fight and the animal clan will join your growing armies.”
My stomach dropped and my heartbeat suddenly began to race as I looked over Kane once again. He was a behemoth, and it had been too many years since I had taken on someone like him. The animal clan members I had been forced to pursue recently were lean, sinewy creatures, with speed but not strength. Kane could crush me without straining himself. But I had to agree.
Ten
Hardening my jaw, I reached down and unsnapped the loop that held the whip at my side. I walked across the clearing and placed it in Rowe’s hand, who looked at it with confusion filling his one good eye. But he said nothing as he tightened his grip around the horrible weapon. Kane had said a fair fight, and that wasn’t possible with the whip.
As I returned to the center of the clearing, Kane pushed out of his seat, letting the bearskin slide off of his back to reveal acres of tanned skin and hard, bulging muscles. I could only hope that all those muscles would steal his speed from him, giving me a slight edge in that category. Otherwise I might finally be outmatched. Until this moment only Rowe had ever been able to beat me in a fair fight. But then, that had always been simple sparring as we honed our skills.
“What are the rules of engagement?”
“Rules?” Kane repeated with a chuckle. “There are no rules. We fight until one of the combatants yields or dies.”
“May I use a weapon?”
“I’ll permit you two daggers.” Kane waved his hand. “No swords. No crossbows or any other little tricks that you might have. No magic.”
I removed the two swords hanging from my body and tossed them to the side of the clearing, out of my reach. “Agreed.”
That one word was all he was waiting for. With a great roar that seemed to make the air tremble, Kane launched himself at me. Within two steps he had gone from running on two legs to four as he shifted into an enormous black bear. I gasped before diving to my left. I hit the ground and rolled to my feet with a knife in each hand. Clearly, Kane could shapeshift into any creature he wanted, and in the blink of an eye.
The bear growled as it turned and charged again. I scampered out of the way as one massive paw swiped at where I’d been kneeling. Black claws slashed through the air, the tips catching on the edge of my shirt before I could escape. I pulled free and ran to the far end of the clearing. Around me, members of the naturi clan were hooting and cheering their leader on, calling for my head. This wasn’t a simple fight where I would yield if I was trapped and couldn’t escape. I either beat Kane or I was going to be killed. I needed to end this as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately, Kane didn’t give me time to think or formulate a plan. As soon as I got my feet planted with my weapons at the ready to take on the massive black bear, the black bear melted away to reveal a sleek mountain lion with some of the sharpest fangs I had ever seen.
Lightning might make him a little wary of you. Rowe’s suggestion surprised me. But then again, he would never be free if I were killed.
I streaked to the other end of the clearing as Kane ran at me. He missed me again, sending up a spray of dirt as his back paws dug into the earth and quickly changed directions. In the form of the cat, Kane had the advantage of both speed and strength. He lunged at me with both paws extended, claws ready to rip my face open. I knelt down on one knee and dug my feet into the earth as much as possible to steady my position. With my right hand, I blocked one paw, while I dodged the second so it only scraped along my shoulder. At the same time, I buried my blade into his side, sending a feral scream through the night. Kane snapped at me with his strong jaws, narrowly missing my throat. His hot breath danced across my cheek and a quick look in his eyes revealed that there would be no last minute act of mercy. He was going to kill and eat me.
Pulling my blade free, I pushed the giant cat off me with a grunt, but the growing pain in my shoulder weakened me. Kane’s paws slid a little in the dirt, but he was already catching himself for another pass. I remained kneeling on the ground, waiting for the attack. As he launched himself into the air, I pushed upward, jumping as high as I could while forcing my wings to explode from my back. The pain was excruciating. Between the wound in my shoulder and the force needed to expand my wings so quickly, my body screamed. In fact, the pain nearly kept me from summoning up the wind I needed to lift me a few off the ground and out of Kane’s reach.
I circled the clearing, blood dripping down on the field of battle as it rolled from my shoulder. For now, I was buying myself time, which was exactly what Kane didn’t want. Overhead, the clouds began to churn and the sky grew dark as the moon was blotted out. A storm was brewing, though the first rolls of thunder had yet to be heard. It took time, energy, and concentration to summon up a lightning storm, something I couldn’t do while I was running from Kane every second.
Unwilling to give me even a moment’s rest, Kane quickly switched forms again, stunning me. I had assumed that the animal clan leader would go for something large like a condor or some other taloned raptor. But Kane was trickier than I gave him credit for, flashing into a griffin. With the body of a lion and the wings of an eagle, the creature was able to easily launch itself into the air after me. My only advantage was that I was the one controlling the wind. I swooped away from the beast as its talons streaked two long gashes along my legs.
Reaching upward, I gave a large sweep of my wings, pulling me straight up into the air. At the same time, a large beak clamped onto my right ankle, snapping bone. I bit back the scream as I focused my attention on the storm. I was taking a big risk, but I didn’t have much chance of winning this battle otherwise. As I exhaled, a lightning bolt sizzled down from the clouds. It washed straight over me and down through Kane before it finally pummeled the ground. Kane immediately released me and fell.
Spreading my wings, I glided slowly down to the earth, where I landed on my left foot while keeping my right foot up in the air. My wings were spread, holding me balanced, as I couldn’t put any weight on my broken ankle until it mended.
Kane lay in his natural form in the center of the clearing. Smoke rose from his large naked body as he slowly shifted. I had no doubt he was merely stunned, but a part of me was hoping that this was enough to win him over to Cynnia’s camp.
“Do you yield?” I demanded, trying to keep my voice even and free of the pain pulsing through my frame.
“Kane will never yield to the Dark One!” shouted one of the members of the animal clan that surrounded me. The cry was repeated by several others, until two
coyotes finally ran onto the field of battle. Knife in hand, I managed to slash one in the chest as he lunged at me, but I couldn’t reach the other as it jumped onto my back and bit deeply into the bones of my wing. My scream echoed through the forest as pain filled my frame. The wings of a wind clan member were some of our most sensitive parts. Broken wings were nearly impossible to mend and could not be fully retracted until they were.
Blinded by pain, I slashed again at the coyote before me, gutting him up the center. I tried to reach the other one on my back but stepped down on my right foot and crumpled to the ground with the coyote on top of me. I was preparing to shove my knife into the stomach of this creature as he opened his jaws and dove at my throat. But before either of us could act, a large black boot caught the coyote on my back under the chin, sending it flying across the clearing. I looked up to see Rowe standing over me, my whip tightly clenched in his right fist and one of my swords in his left.
“I thought this was going to be a fair fight,” he shouted. “Do you doubt the abilities of your leader so much that you must break the rules of engagement?”
“Kane?” Locke asked.
Kane was pushing into a sitting position as I saw his second in command step around the throne. Kane had started this fight, and right now he was the only one that had the power to keep things from turning ugly. I had a dark suspicion that Locke would let the animal clan tear us apart regardless of any earlier agreements. The scent of blood was in the air, and they were ready for the attack.
“Just a scratch,” Kane growled. I looked up at Rowe and nodded, signaling that I was still strong enough to continue. Not that I had much choice. I had to beat the leader of the animal clan or die.
We both pushed to our feet. For now, Kane remained in his natural form, eyeing me warily, while I still balanced on my left foot. The bone in my right ankle felt as if it was mostly healed, but it was still too weak to put any pressure on. At the same time, my right wing hung limp at my side. The hollow bone had not been broken, as I initially feared, but the wound was deep and throbbing painfully. It was going to be a while before I had the ability to completely retract my wings again.
“You wish to continue?” Kane asked, one side of his mouth quirking in a smile. At the moment I was the only one who was bleeding, since the single knife wound I inflicted had already healed on him.
I tightened my grip on the knife. “I will not fail Cynnia. She wishes to have the animal clan at her side, and that is what I will deliver no matter what it takes.”
“That’s what I thought,” he grunted. “The Dark One did not become a proficient fighter because she backed down when the odds were against her.”
Still grinning at me, Kane transformed into the shape of a mountain lion again, knowing he had the advantage of both dexterity and speed in that form. He stalked me, circling to my left, forcing me hobble away in an effort to keep a comfortable distance between us. The skies overhead gave a foreboding rumble and lightning flashed as it streaked between clouds. Kane snarled, but hunched away from me as if expecting yet another strike. He was at least wary of me, but that only meant there was a fresh urgency now to take me out before I had a chance to call down more lightning.
A low growl rumbled from Kane as he shifted his weight to his back paws. I knew what he was going to do and I was prepared for it. The mountain lion leapt at me, claws extended as he aimed for my upper body and face. At the exact moment, I fell flat on my back. Pain screamed through my system as I smashed my wounded wing into the ground with my body weight, but I pushed through it as the mountain lion overshot me by nearly a foot.
As his paws hit the earth on either side of my head, I plunged one knife deep into his stomach and pulled upward, opening up a long wound. I pressed the other knife against his throat with enough force that blood splattered down on my forehead. If he moved the wrong way, I had the ability to gut him and slice his throat all at the same time. He was trapped.
“Do you yield?” I asked in a deceptively soft voice. The clearing had becoming eerily silent as I held the life of their leader in my blood-covered hands. Kane growled softly at me but didn’t move a muscle. “How are you going to call this one, Locke?” I called out. “If he moves the wrong way, I will kill him before he can get a tooth or claw on me.”
Locke paused for only a moment. I didn’t know if he was either communicating telepathically with Kane or honestly weighing whether he wanted his leader to live. A few quick slashes from me and he could not only claim leadership of the animal clan, but also consort to the next queen. Luckily, Locke didn’t strike me as the power-hungry type. Otherwise, I don’t think Cynnia would have offered herself up so quickly to what could become a very dangerous situation.
“The fight is over,” Locke declared in a loud voice. “You have defeated Kane.”
With amazing slowness I withdrew both weapons from where they were pressed within the mountain lion. However, they were still tightly clenched in my hands and held at the ready as Kane looked down at me with his narrowed gold eyes. He was not happy about the outcome, and I was waiting to see if he would abide by Locke’s declaration. He paused over me for a tense moment, then limped into the center of the clearing.
I painfully pushed up into a seated position in time to watch Kane shift back into his natural form. There was a long cut along his stomach, while a second wound stretched across his neck, leaving his front covered in blood. There was a low murmur of conversation among the other naturi surrounding me, and none of what I could catch sounded good. Kane was the one that had demanded this fight. He had promised that his people would help Cynnia if I were to win. Now they seemed extremely reluctant to accept that I had beaten their leader.
A frown pulled at the corner of my lips as I tried to weigh my next plan of attack. If the rest of the animal clan attacked, I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to fight. I wouldn’t be able to take to the sky and I still couldn’t run, so I would be forced to fight every last one of them, along with any animals in the area they might summon.
Call forth your wings. I don’t trust Kane, I whispered across Rowe’s brain.
You can’t fly, Rowe countered.
I’ll manage.
Pointing to the bearskin draped over the chair, Kane waved to Locke to bring it over to him as he pushed to his feet. The beast of a man was still shaking his head as he walked over to his throne. He wrapped the warm bearskin around him and resumed his seat before his eyes finally fell on me. I had yet to rise from the ground, and my face remained smeared with his blood.
“You have lived up to your reputation,” Kane said with a heavy sigh and a slight groan as he shifted in his chair, trying to find a more comfortable spot, considering his wounds. “You are fearless, quick, and smart. And despite the . . . zealous nature of some of my people, you also kept it a fair fight. I didn’t think the Dark One was brave enough to allow the whip to leave her side.”
“At Aurora’s command, I put aside what honor I had so I could abide by her wishes,” I admitted. “I am now trying to take a little part of that back each night. The whip would not have been a fair weapon in a fight that was not supposed to be to the death.”
Kane smiled broadly at me. We both knew he would have killed me the first chance he got. I was just lucky that I was a little faster and maybe a little smarter.
With a laugh and a clap of his hand, Kane announced, “You have won back a shred of your honor tonight. You have beaten me, and we will join Cynnia in her fight against Aurora as I promised.”
I regained my feet with some struggle and returned my blades to the sheaths along my body. I felt broken and sore in too many places. My right wing hung limp on my back, while my left wing was folded forward around my left shoulder as if protecting me. Kane’s blood had soaked into my clothes and covered my exposed hands and face. I was a mess, but I had completed one of my tasks for Cynnia. However, as I glanced over at Rowe, I wasn’t sure that I had completed all of my tasks. The powerful naturi still needed t
o be won over to the young princess’s side.
“Thank you for your promised assistance, Kane,” I said with a bow of my head. “Please bring your people to the outskirts of the city called Savannah, where the Fire Starter makes her domain. Rowe and I will meet you there. When I sense you have arrived, I will arrange a meeting for you with Cynnia so the proper planning can begin.”
“Agreed,” he said, thumping the arm of his chair.
I bowed my head to him one last time and started to limp across the clearing toward Rowe. I was exhausted and sore in too many places to count, but we had to get out of Kane’s immediate domain before sunrise if we were going to find a safe place to spend the daylight hours. I didn’t think Kane would send his people after me, but I didn’t trust some of his more zealous followers not to come looking for me.
“You’re leaving?” Locke demanded, surprise filling his voice.
“It’s best that we make some further progress tonight,” I replied. “We will make camp at sunrise.”
“We are comrades now!” Kane declared, pushing carefully to his feet as the last of his wounds healed. “We will fight Aurora’s army together! That means that you will make camp with us tonight. You must heal so that you are at full strength when you continue your journey.”
“We are traveling at night when I am at my strongest,” I hedged.
“Then we will protect you both while you sleep during the day, and have food for you when you awaken tomorrow night,” Kane quickly offered.
I resisted the urge to look over at Rowe, who was now standing beside me. If we were staying in the animal clan camp, I wouldn’t be able to use the sleep spell on him or they would know he was my prisoner rather than my comrade in arms. In my moment of weakness, I might not only lose Rowe, but also the assistance of the animal clan.
I’ll behave myself for now, Rowe promised as if reading my thoughts. Besides, a weak you means that I don’t have proper protection. We rest. You heal.
Burn the Night Page 10
