No Regrets

by Jan Stryvant

  Then there was Daelyn and Cali! He roared again, and this time the pain burning through his body was diminished by the sole horror of what his stupidity might have done to them! Rolling onto his back, he poured power into his claws and tore the metal apart above him, ripping it like it was paper. He had to get out, and he had to get to his wives!

  Daelyn had just gotten Cali's foot free of the wreckage when she heard the roaring and the tearing of metal. All of them heard it.

  "Oh, yah, he's pissed alright!" Daelyn said with a snort as claws tore through the floor just by where the fuselage was bent. Then there was a bloody paw, followed by another one, as the hole got wider and wider. Arms came into view, bloody, torn arms that were missing fur, skin, and in some places even muscle. Then Sean's leonine head came into view. He was a mess, bloody, dirty, half of his mane was gone, there were pieces of torn flesh hanging from his face, but his eyes were blazing, and as more and more of his body appeared as he dragged himself out of the hole he'd dug, the wounds healed as quickly as he got them from the jagged edges of the metal all around him.

  He grabbed each of the lycans in turn as he pulled himself by them, and Daelyn noticed that each of them blinked and looked down at their bodies as they healed. When he got to her and Cali, he dropped to the floor, panting. The glow disappeared from his eyes as the roaring and growling suddenly stopped.

  "You okay, Hon?" Daelyn asked.

  "No. I hurt. How are you and Cali?"

  "I'm okay. Cali needs healing. You got any?"

  Sean shook his head and winced. Everything hurt. But not as bad as it had been. Looking up, he saw Cali, who was staring at him with her eyes wide.

  "Love you," he said, then looked over at Daelyn. "Both." Focusing on Cali's foot, he growled, "We need to get her home, and soon. How are you otherwise?"

  "Are you sure you are okay, my Husband?" Cali asked.

  Sean snorted. "No, but I will be." He looked at Daelyn next. She had blood on her face, hands, and parts of her dented armor. "I thought you said you were okay?"

  "Ach! I've had worse," Daelyn said, grinning back at him.

  "Anyone else, I'd say they were lying. You…" Sean shook his head, then looked at the others. "How many did we lose?"

  "I lost Casey," Travis said, "and I'm guessing the pilot and copilot?"

  "Crushed," Sean said with a wince. "I guess the shockwave from the blast drove us in nose first. We need to get out of here. I told the First where we are, so I'm sure they'll have something up here soon, but there's djevels around here, and we really can't stay."

  One of the surviving crewmembers looked at Sean, then back at the hole in the bottom of the plane.

  "But, you survived…maybe…?"

  "No one could have survived that. I'm sorry," Sean said, slowly getting back to his feet.

  "But, you…"

  "I'm a god," Sean growled, still angry at his own stupidity.

  The crewmember, a lycan jackal, shivered and nodded, eyes wide. Sean noticed that except for Daelyn, everyone was staring at him with wide eyes and expressions he wasn't sure of, other than he knew he didn't want to know.

  "Let's go," he said, picking up Cali and ducking down low to get out of the ruined hatch.

  "Well at least ya' have an excuse now for using yer rage against the djevels." Daelyn snickered softly as they picked their way up the hillside.

  Sean shook his head. "I should have sent someone else. Another of the lions. I risked your lives for nothing. I was stupid," he growled.

  Cali bopped him on the nose, surprising him.

  "Stop beating yourself up, my Husband. Stop being so angry. You were not meant to be angry. Don't be like your father, who is always angry."

  Sean would have stopped if he'd been able to.

  "The First? Angry?"

  "He hides it well, but he can no longer hide it from me. He is angry, and the only times he isn't angry is when he is sad."

  "I, I had no idea."

  Cali nodded. "His wives know, maybe some of his children. He hides it well."

  "We've got djevels heading this way!" Trevor called out.

  Sean sighed. "Great, just great. Let's get up the hill a ways and see if we can't find some cover."

  Moving Cali to an over the shoulder carry, Sean quickly moved uphill towards the trees. He'd lost his armor, all his weapons, everything on him in the crash. The two surviving crewmembers only had the sidearms they were required to carry by his edict.

  Everyone else had their weapons, however, and as they made it into the trees, he was momentarily shocked when Cali fired her rifle back down the hill.

  "Stop jerking, my Husband!"

  "You could have warned me!" Sean said defensively.

  "Fine, I am shooting at the enemy, you have been warned!" Cali giggled.

  Everyone else was concentrating on climbing, but as Cali was being carried, she didn't have to worry about it. Thinking about it, Sean should have guessed she'd be shooting.

  One of the wolves raced up ahead, and a moment later was calling to them to head his way. When they got there, they could see why; there was a nice ledge to lay down on and pick off the attackers from.

  "Keep going, Sean," Travis said. "We'll hold them off here and give you cover to get to the top of the ridge!"

  Looking at the situation, it didn't take Sean long to size things up; there were a fair deal of djevels on their tail.

  "We'll head up the hill another hundred yards, find a place to cover for you, then you fall back to our position and we'll do it again," Sean told Travis. "Understand?"

  Travis nodded and joined the other four bodyguards who were now picking off the attackers. From here they looked to be solely gnashers, and nothing bigger than that. But there were more than enough of them that Sean still didn't want to be caught by them.

  "You two lead," Sean said to the two crewmembers. "Dae, you're next; I'll bring up the rear."

  "But you're carrying Cali," Daelyn said.

  "Who is able to shoot behind me," Sean said with a smile, then winced as Cali took another shot. "I miss my earplugs," Sean grumbled as Daelyn laughed and took off after two crewmen.

  When they got to the good spot further up, Daelyn whistled to Travis, who got his four together and quickly ran up the hill. Sean had set Cali down so he could borrow one of her pistols and slowly pick off any gnashers that got to close to Travis' team as they ran up the hill to their position.

  "Has anybody raised anyone on their radio yet?" Sean asked.

  "I think we're still too far down in this valley," Travis replied.

  "Great. Well, hold this as long as you can or until we call you up," Sean said and, picking Cali back up, he put her over his shoulder again, and waved the others on.

  "I'm running out of ammo," Travis told him when he caught up with them at the next stop.

  "Great," Sean sighed. "Cali?"

  "I'm getting low, too, my Husband."

  Sean looked down the hill. The gnashers were still coming, but more slowly and cautiously now.

  "Everyone, let's see how far up we can make it before we have to stop. With any luck, we can get high enough to get some fire support in here. Now, go!"

  The next twenty minutes were hard on everyone. The slope was steep here, and the ground was slippery, with lots of loose rocks. Fortunately the gnashers were having just as hard a time going up the hill as they were. Cali had run out of rifle rounds and taken back her pistol, which he was sure she was using with her usual deadly accuracy.

  "I got someone!" Travis called.

  "Great! Get them over here, and have them hose down the hillside!"

  "They're on their way. I think we better keep moving, we need to get up out of these trees so they don't shoot us as well!"

  "Good point!" Daelyn said between breaths. Sean came over, picked her up, threw her over his other shoulder, and ran as hard as he could. He slipped and fell twice on the way up, but the ground was steep enough that getting back up was a lot easier than h
e would have expected. The hard part was not sliding back down.

  The first helicopter made its pass then, a small, fast gunship that lit up the woods just beneath them with machinegun fire. It quickly doubled back and gave a second round as a larger helicopter with a door gunner joined the fray, peppering the side of the mountain as well.

  Sitting down, Sean caught his breath, as Travis joined them and immediately started waving in a third helicopter. Checking his mana, he saw he'd recovered enough that he was able to cast a small healing spell on Cali's mangled foot, cutting down on the bleeding, but it would still need to be taken care of by someone with more skill and power than he had at the moment.

  As the helicopter Travis was talking to came in close to take them off, Sean checked the progress of the gnashers that had been chasing them. At this point they really didn't seem like much of a problem. But what really caught his attention was when he looked to the northeast were Truckee had been. There was a new 'lake' that was quickly filling with water, and a forest fire was raging beyond that.

  "Think we got 'em all?" Daelyn asked as the helicopter came in to pick them up.

  Sean shook his head. "No. We got most of them, but I doubt we got all. Their army hadn't caught up yet, and is fleeing before the flames. If you squint and look off into the distance, you can see them. I'm sure there are also some west of us, that continued on past the town, and weren't caught in the blast."

  "So what next?" Daelyn asked as they hustled into the helicopter and got seated.

  Sean looked out over the mountains as they lifted off, the last member of their team dropping into a seat.

  "Deep thoughts, my Husband?" Cali asked.

  "Very deep thoughts," Sean said with a resigned sigh. "I'd hoped one day this would end. That one day we could all go home and forget all about this. Well," Sean shook his head, "that's not going to happen."

  "So let the First run things," Daelyn said with a shrug. "If nuthin' else, I think you've earned a break. I think we've all earned a break."

  Sean snorted, and then grinned at her. "I ain't lettin' the First run shit, Dae. He'll just fuck it all up, and he knows it! No, he gave me this job, and I'm gonna see it through. But you're right about one thing."

  "I am?"

  "We're not going to do the fighting anymore. We got all these other people to do it. I'll send Adam out to do the fighting, and I'll take the nice, cushy figurehead job!"

  Daelyn laughed, and Cali smiled.

  "I think that is the best news I have heard all week, my Husband," Cali said.

  Sean nodded. "But there are a few things I need to do, like find us a new place to live."

  "I know just the place," Daelyn said with a smile.

  "I'm sure you do."

  Sean dropped Cali off with the healers; literally, as he wouldn't let anyone else carry her there. She'd shifted back to her normal self by the time they landed, so she wasn't drawing looks anymore. Well, not any more than usual.

  "Are you okay?" Roxy asked, catching up with them at the healers.

  "I'm okay," Sean said, "but Cali needs healing, and Daelyn needs to get checked out."

  "Wha? I'm fine, Lion-boy!" Daelyn grumbled.

  Sean looked down at her and scowled. "If you don't sit down and let them look at you, I'll sic your grandmother on you!"

  Daelyn winced. "Okay, okay, I'll let 'em check me over."

  Sean smiled and bent over to kiss her. "Good. And keep an eye on Cali."

  Stopping to give Cali another hug and a kiss, he led Roxy out of their small hospital.

  "Are you sure you're okay?" Roxy asked.

  "Mostly, why?"

  "Oh, I don't know, maybe because you're naked and covered in dried blood?"

  Sean looked down at himself. "Yeah, but I make it look good," he said and, looking up at her, he smiled a moment, and then winced. "I had a few moments of self-realization up there, Rox. Actually, I think I'm still having them."

  "Oh?"

  "I'm a god now, Rox. All this time I've been trying to deny it, but I think it's finally getting through my thick skull. I've got the powers—hell, I think I'm even starting to get the obnoxious 'do as I say or else' bit down."

  Roxy grinned at him. "Oh, you've have that last bit down for a while now. But I don't know if you're a god now, Sean."

  "That's what bothers me, Rox. I do. Oh, and guess what?" Sean said and smiled at her.

  "What?"

  "Cali can still shift and get her wings and all that. You know what that means?"

  "Umm…" Roxy looked at him uncertainly.

  Sean leaned over and, wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close and kissed her. "It means," he whispered in her ear, "that you're my goddess!"

  Roxy blushed and squirmed a little against him.

  "You think so?"

  "Probably," Sean said as he set her down.

  "Ugh, it also means now I'm all covered in blood!"

  "Go warm the shower up," Sean said with a wink, "I'll be there soon enough."

  "Where are you going?"

  "I need to talk to the First. Oh, and tell Deidre we need a plane to fly to Washington ASAP. If you see Chad before I do, tell him he's coming."

  "Sure thing, Hon!" Roxy rose up on her toes and, grabbing his mane, she pulled his head down and gave him a kiss. Releasing him, she ran off.

  Sean went straight to the First's quarters and knocked on the door.

  "Come in, Sean," Keairra called out.

  Opening the door, Sean went inside. The First was there in lion form, stretching as he woke up. Dienna and Nibisa were sitting on the couch in hybrid form, reading something, but all the rest—except Keairra, who was cleaning a rifle—were in lion form, lying on the floor around the First.

  "You're a sight," Keairra said, glancing over at him. "Bad one?"

  Sean nodded. "Does it always hurt so much?"

  "Depends, but we all felt you drawing on the pool, so yeah, it does."

  "So what brings you by?"

  "Dad says I'm an F1 now, and I'm guessing Stell?" Sean looked over at the First, who nodded.

  "Cali can still get her wings, Dad. So I'm wondering what Rox and Peg got."

  "I'm sure we'll find out in time," the First said. "Don't be surprised if they turn up on the mountainside. Now, why are you really here?"

  "I'm going to fly to Washington; they're still having that big Summit meeting there, and I'm going to lay down the law."

  "Oh? Whose law?" the First asked.

  Sean looked at him a little guiltily. "Mine, Dad. I'm going to tell them how it's going to be with things here, and yeah, things in Europe. You might want to warn Raban and tell him to let me know if he has any requests."

  The First looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Are you sure you want to do that, Son?"

  Sean gave a wry laugh and shook his head. "Want to? No, of course I don't want to. But that's why I'm here, right? Why you picked me? You can either go back home and lie in the sun, or go to South America and help 'em down there. Or, I don't know, do whatever the hell you want to?

  "The truth is, I don't need you to help me anymore, Dad. I finally figured it out. I know what you want."

  "And that would be?"

  "To not have to worry about any of this shit anymore!" Sean growled. "I get it, cause I don't want to deal with it either. I can just imagine how it must suck to have to deal with this mess for as long as you have. I hate it already, and it's only been two years!

  "So go, have fun, take a load off. I know where to find you if I need you."

  "They grow up so fast." Keairra sighed.

  "France! I want to go to France!" Sasha said, popping up to her feet. "I want to see if our beach is still there!"

  Shifting, the First stood up, came over to Sean, and gave him a hug. "I'd ask if you were sure about this, but honestly?" The First grinned. "I don't care. And for the record, this wasn't just my idea, it was all of ours."

  "Really?"

  "Of course it was," Keair
ra said. "We've been fighting those damned demons for tens of thousands of years and never got anywhere."

  "There's an old saying," the First said. "If you keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, you're crazy."

  "So we decided to do something different," Peym said.

  "What about nuking the US?" Sean asked.

  "Well, you don't go putting all of your eggs in one basket, now do you?" Dienna said, looking up.

  "You don't think I come up with all the plans, do you, Sean?" the First said with a laugh. "If you think your wives are mean when you ignore them, just think of how bad they'll be after a couple thousand years of practice!"

  "But we do make him take the fall," Keairra said. "So we let everyone believe it's always his idea and he never listens to us."

  " I'm glad you got a handle on this, Son. Good luck in Washington, and try not to treat them like I would."

  "Oh, I won't. That's why I'm not asking you to come along!" Sean said with a grin. "But I will warn you about one thing."

  "Which is?"

  " I'm going to blame it all on you. Just to keep the tradition going."

  "That's the spirit!" Peym said, and all the wives laughed, while the First just sighed.

  Laying Down the Law

  "Sean!" Steve said as Sean came into Steve, Terri, and Tisha's apartment. Sean hadn't been to this one before; it was in the same building as their new offices here, and had a heliport on the roof. "Great to see you! You too, Chad!"

  "Aren't the girls coming?" Terri asked, looking around as they closed the door behind them.

  Sean exchanged a hug with Steve, and then hugs and kisses with Terri and Tisha.

  "I'm not staying long," Sean said. "In fact, I'm hoping to leave by tomorrow night."

  "What's this about wanting to address the Summit?" Steve asked.

  "I need to tell them what's going to happen in Europe. I also need to see the president and tell him what's going to happen out west."

  "Oh? What's going to happen?" Terri asked.

  Sean smiled. "That's what the three of us," Sean motioned to Chad and Steve as well as himself, "are going to decide. Tonight. In the morning, I'm going to tell them how it is."