Chapter 11

11

After error, verity a rarity.

~ Ganizbar, the poet

"I did determine that there were more than two sets of tracks by the lake." Vlerion flexed his shoulders, wrestling with the vines suspending him several inches above the ground. Like this, he was defenseless. If the Kar'ruk charged into the ruins, they would be able to kill him easily. "I'm still flummoxed as to how so many Kar'ruk could have slipped past the rangers in the watchtowers. The city may be in grave danger."

Kaylina was far more concerned about Vlerion than the city. As the breeze carried the Kar'ruk's musky odor toward them, panic surged through her. It renewed her strength, and she hacked at the vines with fresh vigor, chopping tiny gouges into their rubbery flesh. But it wasn't enough. She wanted to call again for the taybarri, but if the Kar'ruk were close, they would hear her and know she and Vlerion were in trouble. That might bring them more quickly. Even the noise from her blows worried her.

"Stop," Vlerion whispered. "I appreciate your effort, but it's not working."

"I know." Sweat stung her eyes, and Kaylina dragged her sleeve across her forehead. "But I don't know what else to do."

"Hide."

" You can't hide. You're out in the open."

"If you get away, you can find the other rangers and bring help. I should have sent you to look for them right away."

Kaylina glared at him in exasperation. "Even if Targon gathered men and came as soon as Jankarr got back to the city, they'd have to be hours behind us. Besides, I can't leave you here alone."

She looked around, hoping to spot blue taybarri fur.

"You need to get away," Vlerion said firmly.

The musky odor was growing stronger, and was that a clipped voice speaking in the distance?

"Go and hide." It was an order.

"Not without you."

If the two taybarri returned to help, the three of them could make a stand and protect Vlerion. Her sling rounds might not do much, but their claws and fangs did genuine damage. But where were they?

"Leave, Kaylina. Please. If they hurt you…" Vlerion closed his eyes. "I wouldn't forgive myself for not forcing you to return to the city with Jankarr."

"I wouldn't have forgiven you if you had forced me to do something."

"I would accept your anger if it came with your safety."

" Vlerion ." Kaylina glared at him, but his eyes were closed, so he missed it.

He was trying to keep his emotions under control. Maybe he shouldn't…

Nervous at the idea that came to mind, she licked her lips. "If you turned into the beast, would you be strong enough to break free?"

She'd seen him throw two-hundred-pound men twenty feet in that form.

"I don't know." His eyes opened but only so he could look warily at her.

"I bet you could," she whispered.

"This isn't the time for experimentation."

The voices were drawing closer. The Kar'ruk had to be along the lake, not far from the ruins. Their words were unintelligible to her, but they sounded excited. Like they knew they were on the trail of their enemies…

A war horn blew, the musical blast traveling over the lake—and probably for miles in all directions. A call for more Kar'ruk to come? It had to be.

"No, it's the time for desperation ." Kaylina stepped close to Vlerion and rested her hands on his chest.

Even on tiptoes, she couldn't reach his mouth to kiss him, but his forbidding expression didn't suggest he was amenable to that anyway. She loosened his armor—the bindings would break when he turned anyway—and slid her hands under his shirt, scraping her nails over the taut muscles of his abdomen.

"Go hide," he whispered, more tension than arousal in his eyes. "I can speak a few of their words. I'll attempt to bargain with them, get them to release me in exchange for… something."

"That's not going to work. Even I know that. They hate humans. They hate you ." Remembering his words about her beauty, she stepped back and unbuttoned her shirt. She didn't want to disrobe with enemies about to charge in, but she showed the skin of her stomach and touched her breasts, hoping to draw his eye. If there was a chance he could, as the beast, free himself and defend himself…

"Stop," Vlerion whispered harshly. "I'm not going to get aroused like this, and the beast is too dangerous to deliberately call forth." Despite the words, his eyes tracked her movements. "Hide," he repeated. "If I do turn… I could go after you as readily as them."

"You could have killed me in the dungeon, and you didn't."

"You don't know what I wanted to do." Vlerion squinted his eyes shut, his face aggrieved. "I don't always remember much of what happens afterward, but sometimes there are snatches of memories, and I recall…" His eyes opened. "Hide. Please."

Kaylina paused, remembering the beast rasping, " My female ."

His mother had hinted of encounters with her husband in beast form. And she had those scars on her neck. Kaylina might survive the beast taking her, but would Vlerion forgive himself afterward? And would she… still want to be with him? It sounded like his mother hadn't had a choice about marrying his father. Would she have stayed if she had?

The Kar'ruk voices sounded again, closer, and she shook away the worries. If she trusted that he would change as soon as his life was in danger, she could stand back and let the inevitable occur, but Vlerion didn't lose his equanimity when he fought on his own behalf, not that she'd ever seen. She couldn't be sure.

"Bring out the beast," she whispered. "To save yourself."

Before he could object, she stepped closer again, pushing his shirt up and his armor aside to kiss his stomach. She ran her hands over his hard muscles, scraping her nails over his flesh, trying to make her touches as enticing as possible. As erotic as possible. She didn't dare loosen his belt and lower his trousers when enemies approached, but she held him, stroking him through his clothing.

"Kaylina," Vlerion rasped. Was that desire in his voice? Lust? "Go, damn it. If they hurt you…"

Yes, that was what had made him change in the past. Fear for her. The need to protect her.

She should have realized that would motivate him more than the need to save himself. And it would be more likely to prompt him to change than this. She shouldn't have disrespected his wishes and touched him when he didn't want it.

She bit her lip with regret, afraid she'd made a mistake, one he would resent her for. Wary, she looked up and met his eyes.

That dangerous glint was there, a full gleam, the promise of change imminent. It sent a fresh shiver of fear through her, not fear of the Kar'ruk this time. Fear of him. Of what he could become, what she was trying to cause him to become.

His gaze dipped to her bared abdomen and the swell of her breasts above her bra. She saw the spark that flared in his eyes, the instant when the change was initiated.

He threw his head back and roared, an inhuman beast of a roar.

Kaylina sprang back as he changed, the same as he had in the dungeon under the royal castle. His muscles grew larger, tearing his clothing, as sleek auburn fur sprouted from his flesh.

When he roared again, his human teeth had changed into fangs. Claws extended from hands that transformed into something closer to paws. His feet bulged in his boots, and he kicked them off.

Kaylina wanted to stay and make sure Vlerion could break away, but when his head lowered, the savage animalistic rage in the fiery depths of his eyes terrified her. There was no sign of Vlerion in that gaze, not anymore, and when it swept over her body, the fear of what he might do to her scared her every bit as much as the Kar'ruk.

She turned, grabbed her pack, and sprinted away. She wouldn't go far, but she wanted to make sure she was out of the beast's view so he would focus on the approaching threat, not on her.

Snaps came from behind her, and she paused, not certain what that was. Had the Kar'ruk reached him and started firing a weapon?

Ahead, a jumble of fallen stone slabs caught her eye. She dropped her pack at the base and scrambled up the mound as a Kar'ruk call of surprise echoed through the camp.

From the top, careful to keep her head low, she peered back. The height gave her a view over the ruins, and she was in time to see the beast snap the last of the vines in half. He dropped to the ground, free and able to defend himself.

That was a relief, but would it be enough?

The beast spun toward four Kar'ruk who were approaching him with their axes raised. They didn't appear alarmed.

The beast roared, the thunderous noise echoing from the ruins. Vlerion's sword lay at his feet, but he ignored it. He ran toward the Kar'ruk like an animal—a predator —and sprang to the top of a six-foot-tall slab overlooking his prey.

This was what Kaylina had hoped for, but she couldn't help but fear for his life. Especially when she saw the Kar'ruk calmly ready themselves to face him as a team.

Afraid their powerful axes would outmatch the beast, Kaylina readied her sling. Her fingers shook, and she worried she was too far away to hit the Kar'ruk, but she had to try.

Fearless, the beast sprang from the slab toward the warriors. Axes swung toward him. He twisted in the air, defying gravity to dodge the attacks as he slashed with his claws. The blades glowed blue from their powder coating, but even magic wasn't enough to allow the Kar'ruk to strike the equally magical beast.

By the time he landed in their midst, he'd drawn blood from two enemies. Before they could recover and surround him, he sprang at one, landing on him and sinking fangs into the warrior's neck.

As he tore his enemy's throat out, the beast spun the Kar'ruk about so that his back was to another warrior—another warrior swinging an axe. Instead of hitting the beast, the Kar'ruk struck his own comrade in the shoulder, burying the blade deep. The doubly wounded warrior crumpled to the ground.

One of the Kar'ruk carried a bow. He swung it off his shoulder and stepped back, making room to aim at the beast.

On the slab pile, Kaylina rose, standing straight, and aimed her sling. While the Kar'ruk waited to get a good shot at the beast, not wanting to hit his own comrades, Kaylina hurled a round over the ruins and toward the fray. The archer was about to loose his arrow when it struck.

Distance affected her aim, and the round hit his bowstring instead of him. She was lucky she hadn't missed completely. He fumbled his arrow in surprise and whirled to see where the round had come from.

Kaylina squatted down but was too late to avoid notice. When the archer nocked his arrow again, he aimed it at her.

Before he could fire, the beast escaped the skirmish and sprang, landing on the archer's chest and knocking him to the ground.

In that form, Vlerion had as much muscle and mass as the eight-foot Kar'ruk. Maybe he had more, because his foe couldn't shove him aside to rise, couldn't escape. The beast clawed into the Kar'ruk's abdomen as his fanged maw bit down into the warrior's neck.

Horrified by the blood that spattered everywhere, Kaylina looked to the other warriors, afraid they would take advantage of the beast's distraction. She loaded another round, ready to shoot.

But they were already down— dead —with their throats torn out, the same as the one the beast was finishing off. A snap sounded, the breaking of a neck, and silence fell upon the preserve.

The beast whirled, blood matting his fur and dripping from his fangs. When those wild blue eyes met Kaylina's, a jolt of utter fear shook her.

She backed away to escape his view, but he sprang onto one of the slabs, powerful muscles rippling under sleek fur, and looked right at her. She couldn't tell if his savage eyes were full of lust or the desire to kill, but she knew without a doubt that she didn't want him to catch her.

As he leaped from the slab, loping through the ruins toward her, she scrambled down from the rock pile. She grabbed her pack but had no idea where to run. Belatedly, she realized it hadn't been a good idea to turn off the druid's alarm system, if she'd truly had anything to do with that.

As she ran around the rubble pile, she spotted a gap between two broken slabs that leaned against each other. She peered into a dark nook that they made. Could she fit? It would be close. Too close a fit for the beast. But what if he tore the stone slabs away with that great strength?

The sound of heavy footfalls drew closer, promising she didn't have time to run anywhere else. Dropping to hands and knees, she squeezed into the gap. Rock scraped at her shoulders, and as she pushed deeper, a jagged corner caught her shirt. The fabric ripped as she squeezed in tighter, then turned, wanting to face the beast instead of being dragged out by her ankle.

Something thudded above her. Him. He'd landed atop the rubble pile.

Realizing she'd left the pack outside, she risked squeezing partially back out so she could grab it. She yanked it inside with her.

Two furred feet landed inches away from it. A shriek of pure fear escaped her lips, and she cracked her head on the rock as she scrambled back from the entrance, dragging the pack after her.

The beast bent low and peered into her dark nook.

In the tight, quiet spot, Kaylina could hear her heartbeat throbbing in her ears. Throbbing so rapidly that she might have been sprinting up a mountain.

"If only," she whispered as those paws shifted.

Claws wrapped around the edge of one of the tipped stones, pulling. Dust wafted down over the entrance, but the tons of weight from the rest of the stones in the pile kept the beast from tugging the slab free.

Kaylina started to open her pack, thinking to read to him, but it was too dark in the nook to see words, especially when his body blocked the light from the entrance.

"What'd you do with your boots, Vlerion?" Kaylina called softly, struggling for a reasonable tone, a friendly tone. "It says in your book that rangers are supposed to keep their gear, clothing, and weapons in good condition at all times."

The beast dropped to all fours, shifting so he could look in at her. Most of his clothing was missing too. Whether the change had shredded it or he'd torn it off, she didn't know, but only the leather torso piece remained on him, flopping about since the fasteners had broken.

He sniffed, nostrils more like a wolf's than a man's. Then he growled, a very animalistic growl, then rasped, " Female ."

"Yes, I am."

" My female ." He clawed at the stone, again trying to pull it free. When that didn't work, he reached a long muscled arm in.

Kaylina drew back as far as she could, her back and butt jammed against rock. "Yes, I'd like to be with you but the Vlerion side of you. Please change back."

He snarled, clawing at the ground. Digging, she realized with another jolt of fear. Yes, that might work. If he made a hole large enough, he would be able to reach her.

Though she couldn't remember the lyrics of his song, she attempted to hum it for him, willing it to soothe him.

He snarled and dug faster. " My female ."

Kaylina trembled, knowing that if he got her, she would have no one to blame but herself. She'd wanted to help him fight off the Kar'ruk, and she couldn't regret that she'd roused the beast, but…

A roar came from the forest.

The beast paused and whirled, crouching with his back to her as he faced the threat.

"That was a taybarri." At first, Kaylina was relieved that one of them had come back, but she remembered Vlerion saying that Crenoch didn't respond to him as well as others because Crenoch sensed the danger in him, knew about the beast. And knew the beast was a threat to taybarri. Vlerion wouldn't forgive himself for killing Crenoch. " Your taybarri, Vlerion. He loves you and is loyal to you. You can't hurt him. Just as you can't hurt me."

Another roar sounded. Was Crenoch, or maybe that was Levitke, trying to distract the beast? To save Kaylina?

The beast snarled and shifted his weight back and forth. Kaylina caught a glimpse of genitalia that suggested killing her wasn't what he'd had in mind.

"He's a friend, Vlerion," she said, hoping that repeating his name would remind him of who he was. "He won't hurt you, and neither will I. You dealt with the Kar'ruk, which we're very grateful for, and now you can change back into a man." She crept closer as she spoke, trying to make her voice soothing, hoping he would pass out, as he had in her dungeon cell under the royal castle. If the beast believed the threat was gone…

Though it felt like sticking her hand in a cobra's nest, she reached out and touched the side of his furred calf. His muscles quivered, but he didn't jerk away, nor did he turn back toward her. He sniffed again. Tracking the location of the taybarri by scent? She hoped he hadn't caught a whiff of more Kar'ruk in the area.

"It's all right, Vlerion." Kaylina stroked the side of his leg, the fur soft and supple over the taut muscles. "You can relax. It's all right."

A low growl sounded in his chest.

"I apologize for not listening to you earlier, for trying to make you change when you wanted me to be safe. I couldn't leave you, but… that wasn't a good way to handle things. It was all I could think of at the time, but I'm sorry, okay?"

Surprisingly, he went down to one knee. One paw-like hand curled into a fist to support him as he leaned forward.

"We can talk about it later," she murmured, suspecting the curse was winding down.

With a soft moan, the beast collapsed.