The Dragon’s Daughter and the Winter Mage by Jeffe Kennedy
~ 22 ~
They were taking too long.
Gen paced up one side of the hall and down the other, lashing her tail and flexing her claws. The slight click of them with every step made her feel ever so slightly better. She’d be happier to be slashing something with them, but that was the saber cat thinking. Isyn wouldn’t want them to actually harm any of the folk, and so far they’d managed to simply terrify them into barricading themselves into the alpaca enclosure.
Every once in a while, a straggler or five showed up and attempted a bold attack, but the four shapeshifters had managed to herd those valiant but misguided warriors into various attached rooms where an eye could be kept on them. Other than that, after their arrival and the initial roundup and containment of the folk, there hadn’t been that much to do. Which gave her too much time to worry.
Stella had said that if Isyn’s injury was as bad as Gen had guessed, then it would require breaking and resetting the bone to get him in good-enough shape to withstand an escape, especially if they ended up fighting their way out, and that it would take time.
But wasn’t it taking way too long?
She paced back up the hall, cocking her keen ears for sounds from Isyn’s room, gleaning nothing more than she had in the past while. However long it had been. Saber-cat brains weren’t great at time either. She considered yet again attempting to talk to Isyn mentally—it should work with her in animal form—and she discarded the idea yet again. He could’ve spoken to her, and he hadn’t. There must be a reason for that.
Hopefully it wasn’t because something had gone terribly wrong, and that was why it was taking so long. She growled deep in her chest. From his guard rounds on the other side of the room, Rhy cocked his head at her. An enormous black wolf with blue eyes, he’d been quite effective in sending the folk running for cover. Conversely, Zeph had been too terrifying. The folk had frozen at the sight of the gríobhth, so Zeph had removed herself from their vicinity and was outside patrolling the skies while Astar did likewise on the ground in grizzly form. All they needed was an alter-realm attack, so both were on the alert for trouble besides from the folk. The folk themselves couldn’t be discounted either. They would have to be plotting their own escape and overthrow of their monstrous guards. The longer this dragged on, the more likely the folk would come up with something clever.
Really, it shouldn’t be taking this long to heal Isyn. Should it?
Stella had been concerned about the prospect of breaking and resetting the bone. She hadn’t said so, but her eyes had gone dark and thoughtful, a silver glimmer hinting that she might be checking the potential future outcomes. Gen hadn’t needed Stella to explain everything that could go wrong. Bone splinters. Blood clots. Marrow poisoning the bloodstream. Magical healing was miraculous, but it wasn’t a panacea. So much could still go wrong, especially for a man in Isyn’s weakened condition.
She eyed the narrow staircase that led to the upper hall where Isyn’s room was located. No way she could fit through that. Maybe she should try to mentally speak to—
The doors to the alpaca enclosure flew open precisely when she was at the farthest point of her patrol and Rhy midway through his, both of them too far to respond effectively. Careless of them—she could just hear her father’s sour review of their strategy—and deviously clever of the folk. Especially as a dozen of them had mounted the alpacas and were yodeling with high-pitched cries of war as they galloped in a phalanx bristling with makeshift spears. Taking advantage of their guards’ distraction, the stragglers poured out of their alcoves, attacking from the sides.
Rhy wheeled and charged the flank of the main force, leaving Gen at the point of the V—and with spears pointed straight at her as they closed with startling speed. Moranu take her, she was not going to harm the alpacas. Losing even one could jeopardize the survival of the folk. Letting out a roar to summon Zeph and Astar, she took a vicious glee in scattering the alpacas, too. That’s right, I’m the apex predator, she thought at them. Fear me.
She roared again, swiping a paw through the air, making a display of her lethal claws. The phalanx dissolved into a melee of panicking alpacas and screaming folk, furry bodies tumbling across the floor as they were flung from their wildly bucking steeds—only to right themselves with surprising agility given their stocky appearance, recovering and regrouping.
Rhy had one group of folk separated, snapping and dodging like a sheepherding dog sending armed sheep back to the fold, but the lion’s share—or, rather, the saber cat’s share, apparently—remained her problem. Where in Moranu were Zeph and Astar?
The folk had divided themselves into two forces, one on either side of the hall, with her in the middle, and they began advancing on her, spears leveled. She recognized their leaders, too, unfortunately, Jasperina at the fore of one and Gizena—where had she gotten her harpoon?—leading the other.
An arrow whizzed through the air and thunked into her hindquarter. Moranu take them, that stung! Gen had zero intention of discovering how the harpoon felt hitting a smaller body with no water resistance to lessen its force. She might not want to injure any of Isyn’s folk, but she was running out of options. A single saber cat couldn’t do much herding, and Rhy was still occupied with the other group. From the fierce expression on Jasperina’s furry face, she had a pretty good idea who Gen was, and she wasn’t taking any prisoners.
Another whizz-thunk, and an arrow embedded itself in her shoulder. Roar, that hurts! Gizena leveled the harpoon at her as they steadily advanced.
Where were Zeph and Astar??? For the first time, she became concerned. What if they had—
A slit opened in the air above, as if an unseen hand had sliced a dagger through it, a disconcerting shimmer of several realms kaleidoscoping by on the other side of it… until it stopped and a tentacle monster fell through, landing on the floor with a mighty plop. A black-fleshed blob made enormous by its cloud of thousands of stinging tentacles, it waved them furiously—and a hail of monkey lizards stormed through the rift, shrieking and falling on the folk and Gen with equal hatred.
No time to think. Gen whirled into a fury of claws and saber-sharp fangs. At least these creatures she could kill or maim with impunity. Unfortunately, contending with a tentacle monster along with an entire herd of monkey lizards—and two arrows embedded in her sides!—was more than even a saber cat could handle. At least it was only one tentacle monster? But it had several folk wrapped up in its waving tentacles as it rolled in that disconcerting octopus style straight toward Gen.
With a snarl, Rhy leapt through the air, gripping a tentacle that had one of the folk tightly wound up in his jaws and ripping it clean through with his momentum. The tentacle relaxed, allowing the member of the folk to roll clear, and they immediately charged back into the fray, howling in high-pitched fury.
Gen clawed and bit at the monkey lizards mobbing her, trying to make her way to help Rhy with the tentacle monster. There had to be a way to kill it. The monkey lizards hung all over her, pointed teeth chewing through her thick fur, not inducing great harm—yet—but distracting as a cloud of stinging flies. Rhy yipped in pain, a tentacle wrapped around his midsection slicing deep so that blood flew, his huge teeth wreaking havoc on another as a third snaked around his throat. The folk were in disarray, and a white-eyed alpaca galloped into a wall trying to flee the several monkey lizards hanging off of it.
That was it. They needed reinforcements. Hopefully Isyn would—could—answer.
“Isyn,”she called mentally. “Tell Jak we need help. We’re under attack, not the folk. Tentacle monster and monkey lizards. Tell Stella to call Astar. I can’t reach him.” She held her breath, afraid there’d be no reply, biting a monkey lizard in half to relieve her anxiety. Ugh, they tasted like bitter algae. No answer. No answer. Was he dead?
“We’re on our way,”Isyn replied tersely.
Relief flooded her, followed by immediate concern. “You shouldn’t—”
“Fight. Don’t talk.”
Hi. Nice to hear from you. You’re welcome for the rescue. I love you, too,she thought grumpily to herself, but a monkey lizard chomped on her ear, and she roared, sending it, along with a chunk of her ear, flying.
“This is why you should be fighting, not talking,”Isyn said in her mind with grim amusement. “And I do love you, and we’ll talk about you coming back for me, but this would be a saliently more effective rescue if we all survive to leave this place.”
He did have a point. As rescues went, this one was pretty weak. She forced her way toward the howling and snapping Rhy. It seemed hopeless.
“While we’re alive, everything is possible,”he reminded her. “Stay alive.”
“You too.”In a way, that exchange felt every bit as powerful as trading I love yous.
Then a dagger flew through the air, severing the tentacle around Rhy’s midsection. A black jaguar leapt into the other tentacles lashing at Rhy, Stella swiping with claws to free him. A voice called loudly over the fray—Isyn, at the top of the stairs, glowing with health and gloriously steady on two legs as he held the Silversteel sword before him. His ivory hair waved around his fierce visage, his eyes green bright even from a distance as they unerringly fell on her. He called out again in the language of the folk, and they paused, hesitating only briefly before converging on Gen.
Only her utter trust in Isyn kept her from defending herself—and good thing, too, as the folk began removing her monkey-lizard barnacles, using knives, spears, and teeth to rid her of the unwelcome burden. Isyn fought his way toward her, the Silversteel sword cleaving through the monkey lizards, and he seemed like a hero of old, invincible and shining with nobility.
She did her part, rendering and severing the fallen monkey lizards with fang and claw, permanently removing them from the battle. Isyn made it to her, placing a hand on her shoulder as he smiled at her. “Magnificent,” he said, then pointed the sword at the tentacle monster, where the jaguar, Jak, and a profusely bleeding Rhy were desperately severing tentacles as fast as they could. “How do we kill it?”
“We haven’t succeeded yet. How did you kill the one before?”
He shook his head. “We didn’t. The folk say it went the way it came.”
“Stella can vanish it—but she needs to be back in human form, and she needs the Star of Annfwn.”
“We can arrange that.” He set his jaw. “To me!” he called in Common Tongue, Stella and Rhy immediately following the command in his voice, Jak following a beat after.
Isyn pulled a severed piece of the golden net from his cloak pocket. “Stella, use your sorcery to remove that beast.”
She took the rope in her teeth, transforming to human, Jak handing her the Star with one hand as he fended off a monkey lizard with the other. “I can’t do sorcery inside the alter-realms, but I do have an idea. Keep the folk clear.”
Jak guarded her flank as she faced the quickly approaching tentacle monster. Isyn spun to Gen, holding out the rope. “Shift. Heal.”
“Rhy first,”she told him. Before he could argue, she turned her head to snap at the arrow protruding from her flank. Catching it in her fangs without breaking it off wasn’t easy, but fortunately it wasn’t barbed and slid out with a sharp tug. A bright pain in her shoulder alerted her, and she swiveled to find Jasperina there, a scowl on her furry face—and the arrow in her hand that she’d pulled out for Gen. Jasperina clucked something, then dashed off.
Isyn held out the rope. “She wished you luck,” he said, sounding as bemused as Gen felt. Nearby, Rhy—a healthy wolf again—grinned at her in canine amusement, tongue lolling, then charged to help Jak keep the tentacle monster off Stella while she concentrated on whatever she planned to do. “Hurry,” Isyn advised.
She clamped her teeth on the rope, shifted to human, and—even though they couldn’t afford the time—seized Isyn’s face in her hands and kissed him hard. Then she was back to saber-cat form and leaping to join Rhy in worrying at the tentacles reaching past Jak’s guard.
“When I have time, you’ll pay for that,”Isyn promised, his mental voice so firm and full of sensual mischief that it brought joy to her heart. He stepped up beside her, his still weaker leg brushing her flank, and she realized he trusted her to guard that side. He was good with the sword, too, the Silversteel flashing in arcs timed perfectly with her own slashing claws and slicing fangs. They worked well together in way she hadn’t even known to dream.
“Stand back!” Jak shouted, sweeping Stella into his arms and jogging back. Isyn repeated the command to the folk, who all scrambled away, one tugging a recalcitrant and terrified alpaca along. Rhy, Isyn, and Gen also all turned their tails and ran—just as a rift opened in the floor beneath the tentacle monster. It fell through, the rift closing again. The complete cessation of fighting was almost disorienting.
“Astar and Zeph need us,” Stella said. “It’s the intelligence.”
“Let’s go,” Jak snapped, taking off at a run, still carrying her.
Rhy cocked an ear at the upstairs, whining.
“He’s wondering about Lena,”Gen told Isyn, understanding Rhy all too well. “We shouldn’t leave her behind.”
“Lena is up there, in my room,” Isyn told him, and Rhy took off running. “Can he find her?” he asked Gen.
“Wolf nose,”she replied, and he nodded.
“Let’s go to the aid of Astar and Zeph, then.”
“Want a ride?”
He gazed at her in such consternation that she felt a little shy. Was he revolted? Afraid? Then he grinned. “Briar Rose, you never cease to amaze me.” Gingerly, sheathing his sword, he clambered onto her wide back, lying low against her and winding his fingers through the fur at her ruff. “Too tight?” he asked, his mouth near her thankfully now-intact ear.
“Squeeze with your knees. There, like that.”
He huffed a breath of surprise as she leapt into an easy lope out of the hall. “I won’t let you fall,” she promised. “I’ve got you.”
“I love you, too,”he replied, proving that he hadn’t forgotten. Not that she’d expected him to, but… “I didn’t expect white.”
“?”She sent the wordless question as a cold blizzard wind hit her the moment they made it outside. Lifting her muzzle, she sniffed for the others.
“Saber cat,”he explained, letting out a yelp as she took off toward the beach. “When Lena said you were in saber-cat form, I didn’t expect white with shadow patterns. You’re beautiful.” His fingers massaged through the fur at her ruff. “Soft, like your inner thighs.”
“You’re distracting me, Isyn.”
“Sorry. I don’t know why I’m thinking about sex with you under these circumstances.”
“Side effect of the healing.”Which she knew, so she shouldn’t read into it too much, but she loved that he still wanted her, that he could want her even when she was big, furry, and lethal.
“Side effect of that kiss. I missed you, Briar Rose.”
She was on the verge of saying the same, when he continued.
“But I wish you hadn’t come back for me.”
