Chapter 32

32

Students know far in advance which tests will challenge them most.

~ Lady Professora Nila of Yarrowvast, Port Jirador University

For beings without thumbs, the taybarri had no trouble tying Vlerion and Kaylina to a boulder and sitting them close enough to touch each other. Close enough for Vlerion to kill her…

Admittedly, they'd allowed it. Being the noble ranger he was, Vlerion had even helped with the knots. Kaylina hoped that meant he was confident that he could resist changing into the beast during whatever this test entailed. She would have felt better about it if he hadn't worn that concerned look when it had first been proposed.

"Are you nervous?" Vlerion must have noticed her expression—or the way she was rubbing her wrist, tempted to dig at the knots to loosen them in case she needed to flee.

Kaylina lowered her hand and looked toward the young male taybarri using his fangs to gently unwrap the hide-covered whatever. "No."

Vlerion's eyebrows rose. "Are you lying to me?"

"Certainly not, my lord. Mead makers are known to be honest, trustworthy, and stalwart individuals."

"Including Jana Bloomlong?"

" Southern mead makers are honest and trustworthy. My grandma never lies. Even if you wish she would. She's blunt and says what's on her mind."

Strange that recalling negative attributes of family members could make Kaylina homesick. She caught herself envying Levitke because she'd been able to visit with her kin. Maybe the homesickness was due to predicament after predicament that Kaylina kept landing herself in. All the danger and chaos made her long for the world she'd found oppressive not two months earlier. Now, she would have basked in the mundanity and predictability of life at the Spitting Gull.

Except, if she hadn't come north, she wouldn't have met Vlerion. And he, even if magic drew him to her and vice versa, was someone she enjoyed knowing. He truly had become her protector. And he didn't even think she should be more normal.

"I am nervous, Vlerion, but as much because of my behavior when we're together." Kaylina waved her fingers between them, making vague circles in the air. He knew.

Vlerion eyed the taybarri watching them, the blue-furred youths as well as the elders. "I am hoping this test will involve keeping my equanimity in battle or under physical duress. I'm practiced at that."

Kaylina bit her lip. The way the female elder had looked back and forth between them made her believe she knew exactly what was likely to cause Vlerion to lose his calm and change. Kaylina didn't know how the taybarri would test that, but she worried it wouldn't be pleasant. For either of them.

"I'm also not inclined toward libidinous moods with forty taybarri watching," Vlerion murmured.

"No? You didn't mind when the rangers were watching."

"I minded it."

"But you were tempted to continue anyway."

Vlerion's lips pressed together, but he didn't deny it, other than to mutter, "I think you would have let me."

"Yeah. That's the problem." Kaylina smiled sadly at him.

Vlerion clasped her hand across the boulder. He mustered a reassuring look for her while glowering defiantly at the taybarri.

The test is ready to begin . You will each consume four wazistar berries. The female elder pointed her snout at the flat rock.

After unwrapping the hide, the male taybarri had stepped back to join the others. He'd revealed a few bunches of shriveled berries smaller than but reminiscent of cherries. Desiccated cherries on the verge of turning to dust.

"Are you sure it's safe to eat those?" Kaylina asked. "They look… past their prime."

They are dried to enhance their hallucinogenic potency. You will suffer no harm from consuming them. They are from altered plants harvested by the sandsteaders, and you will find that, in addition to giving vivid dreams, they allow one to see more than human eyes can normally see. A wider spectrum of light. I am uncertain as to this, but you may also find that they, for the time you are influenced by them, will allow you to see through the magic of the altered lithop powder to the Kar'ruk beneath.

Vlerion's eyes sharpened. He removed four for himself and chewed them down. "Do you have more? If there's a remote possibility that these will help us in battle with their kind, I would like to give them to the rest of the rangers."

Let us first see if you pass the test. I'll admit, it was contemplating the lithop and how it might be combatted that prompted me to remember that these exist in our cave of alchemy and herbalism.

"Meaning we brought this test upon ourselves?" Kaylina asked.

The means of enacting it, yes. The female gazed at her. You must both swallow the berries, then grip each other's hands.

Kaylina wasn't as quick as Vlerion to snatch up the dried berries, but she doubted the taybarri wanted to kill her, so she gingerly placed them in her mouth. They tasted like chalk more than anything else. She wished she had a cool goblet of cyser to wash the powdery gunk down.

Though she couldn't guess why they needed to hold hands, especially when they were already tied to the same boulder, Kaylina threaded her fingers between Vlerion's. As she waited for the berries to take effect, she did her best not to notice the strength in his callused grip, the strong line of his jaw, and the corded muscles of his arms and shoulders. She did let herself admit she took comfort in having him close. Even if, in this case, she shouldn't have.

The female turned her backside toward them and laid the tip of her tail across their clasped hands.

Considering her concerns about Vlerion, her choice to be that close was surprising, but was it possible she could affect their hallucinations that way? With some taybarri magic?

While Kaylina contemplated asking, the lighting shifted, growing brighter. No, that wasn't quite it. It grew more colorful.

Where before, Kaylina had interpreted sunlight and shade as little more than bright or dark, she now saw gradations. Pinks, purples, blues, and reds. She was so intent on noticing them that she didn't realize her surroundings were changing. At least, her eyes believed they were.

The valley and the taybarri disappeared, leaving her standing beside a sandy white beach lining a sparkling lake. At the end of the beach, muddy shallows supported reeds and lily pads, their greens so vibrant it almost hurt to look at them. The scenery reminded her of the lake in the preserve—the one that had inspired Vlerion's brother's painting. Thankfully, no druid ruins stood in sight. She'd had enough of those.

A warm breeze whispered past, teasing her bare skin.

Kaylina blinked as she looked down at her very bare skin. Her only coverings were snips of white fur that were more for decoration than privacy. They curled around her breasts without hiding their swell or her nipples and dangled to her pubic area.

"What in all the altered orchards is this?"

When she looked around, she expected to see taybarri, but she couldn't remember why she expected that. Her thoughts had grown muzzy, and she couldn't recall where she was or how she'd come to the lake.

Shadows stirred among aspen trees that rose beyond the beach. A naked male human walked into view, the dappled sunlight slipping between the leaves to draw attention to his powerful muscles. He wasn't adorned with fur.

His head was almost shaven, auburn hair so short as to be bristly, and scars marred his cheek and drew down the corner of one eye. He shouldn't have been handsome, but Kaylina's body hummed with awareness at his approach.

Vlerion , came a whisper from the back of her mind. She knew him. And she knew she wanted to mate with him.

Mate? A strange word that she wouldn't use. It sounded like something for animals.

She wanted to have sex with him.

And from the heated way his gaze traveled over her body, she believed Vlerion wanted to be with her too. His muscles rippling in the sunlight, he strode straight toward her. Lust sparked in his blue eyes.

Wait, there was something besides the lust… something dangerous.

Then she remembered. If Vlerion lost control of his emotions, he would turn into a beast. A deadly beast that could kill her.

Despite the danger, she stood naked before him, decorated in tufts of fur that drew the eye—drew his eye—to her female anatomy.

"We can't do this, Vlerion." Kaylina backed down the beach.

The vague memory that someone was controlling the situation came to her. This was a test . One they dared not fail. Because if he became a beast in this vision, he might become a beast in reality too. And he would kill her.

"I will have you," Vlerion growled, his gaze roaming her body, lingering on her breasts but also on her hand.

A plant-shaped brand glowed from her skin. Kaylina stared. It had never done that before, not that she'd seen, but a distinct green light emanated from the mark. More, a barely visible glowing tendril stretched from the back of her hand through the air to Vlerion. It ended at his chest and, like a fishing hook on a line, drew him toward her.

"In general, I'd be agreeable to that," Kaylina said, "but not now."

She kept backing up, but Vlerion was gaining on her. Her heel came down on softer ground. She'd reached the end of the beach, and the reeds and mud threatened to bog her down if she continued. Meanwhile, Vlerion prowled closer, like a panther about to spring on his prey.

"We're being manipulated." Kaylina lifted her hands. "Don't you remember? It's a test. The taybarri are testing us. They're testing you ."

She might be a part of it, but this was about Vlerion. They were using her to test him, to try to make him fail. That irritated her, but she didn't know how to stop it.

Vlerion's brow furrowed, as if she'd reminded him of something, but he couldn't quite remember.

"You'll turn into the beast, and the taybarri won't help us. They'll run away, and you'll have only me, and you might kill me."

"I will not kill you, but I will have you," he growled, coming ever closer, his hard body as dangerous as it was appealing.

She couldn't look away. He was mesmerizing, and if he kissed her, if he touched her in any way, she would forget herself and give in to his desire. Their desire. Even now, his savage lustful gaze made her body heat and tighten with longing, with the certainty that he would give her greater pleasure than she'd ever known.

"No." Kaylina wrenched her gaze from him, glimpsing her brand again, the tendril drawing Vlerion closer. Was that always there, but this was the only time she'd been able to see it?

Less than five paces away, Vlerion crouched, poised to spring, to take her to the beach under him.

Even as her body reveled at the idea, excitement making her long to rush to meet him, she spun toward the mud. She snatched some up and slathered it over the back of her hand.

At first, her only thought was that if she covered up the brand, the glow might stop, the magical pull it had on him would go away. Then it occurred to her that he might not find her as sexy if she were entirely covered in mud.

She waded into it, the cool stuff sucking at her feet, and used both arms to grab handfuls. She slathered it over her breasts and thighs while flinging off the fur decorations. Lastly, she rubbed it in her hair.

Vlerion, still poised to spring, watched. That furrow had returned to his brow.

She smeared more onto her hand, wishing she could rip the brand off. At least she no longer saw the glow or the tendril of power drifting from it.

Wary of his reaction, Kaylina looked into Vlerion's eyes.

"Are you trying to… cover up your allure?" he asked.

The savage glint in his eyes had faded. He seemed more like himself.

"Among other things, yes." She put her hand behind her back. Then, spotting a few reeds, she snatched them up and thrust them into her muddy hair like bug antennae.

Vlerion smiled, amusement replacing the lust. His taut body suggested it hadn't disappeared entirely, but maybe, with the brand covered, he wasn't so enamored with her—with the druid magic.

His gaze drifted to the reed antennae. "You're a unique soul, Kaylina Korbian."

"Yes, I am."

"And you keep trying to help me." His gaze shifted to her face, a fondness in his eyes that warmed her in a different way than thoughts of being intimate with him.

"I like you, pirate."

He snorted.

"I'm also tied to a boulder with you back in the real world."

"So you've slathered yourself with mud and reeds merely for self-protection purposes."

"Naturally. And because it feels good. I think it's healthy for your skin." She grabbed another handful and held it out to him. "Care to try?"

Only when his gaze narrowed and drifted lower again did she realize inviting him closer wasn't a good idea.

But he took a deep breath and turned his back on her, pointedly looking toward the trees. "For your future edification, slathering your naked body in mud doesn't make it as unappealing as you might think."

"Really?"

"It makes me want to come over there and clean it off." He made rubbing and cupping motions with his hands.

That prompted her to imagine his strong fingers caressing her breasts, and a fresh flush of heat surged into her. She made herself quash it. There was no way she would be the one to ruin this for him.

"What about the reeds?" she asked. "You can't find those sexy."

"No, they're silly."

"Perfect. And flinging away the tufts of fur had to be the right decision too."

"Most certainly." Vlerion waved toward the trees. "Do you know how we escape this… hallucination?"

Was that truly what it was? Or did the female taybarri have the power to control what they saw? Maybe the elders had more than the flash magic their kind were known for.

"I think we…" Kaylina trailed off because the world shifted, and she could once again see the valley and the observing taybarri. Some were observing. The elders. All of the blue-furred youths must have grown bored, because Levitke was the only one who remained, watching with concern.

Kaylina and Vlerion were still holding hands, though the elder had removed her tail and stepped away. Kaylina looked at Vlerion's face, wondering if he'd come out of the hallucination too.

He nodded at her, then smiled slightly. Thinking of reed antennae?

You have passed the test , the female taybarri said.