Chapter 2

2

A man will mind his own affairs only until what he cherishes is threatened.

~ Tenegarus Grittorik, lieutenant of the Righteous and Virtuous

The sky was a deep green. That couldn’t be right.

From her back, Kaylina gazed up at it, picking out stars here and there between the shadowy branches that partially blocked the view. Where was she? Still in the preserve? Her memories were fuzzy, but she recalled touching something, then collapsing.

A dark figure came into view, head cocking to the side as it gazed down at her. As he gazed down at her. Vlerion. He wore his leather armor and ranger blacks, with his sword belt at his waist.

“You’ve done something unwise,” he remarked calmly.

“As we’ve discussed, I’m prone to that.”

“Indeed. It’s probably your youth.”

“You’re only a few years older than I am.”

“True, but I was forced to grow up young.”

When his brother had died—been killed by rangers because he’d turned into the beast. Vlerion didn’t say that, but she knew he was thinking about it. They’d come to know each other well these past months.

“It’s fortunate that you and your wisdom are here to guide me,” Kaylina said.

“And my sword is here to protect you.” He tapped the hilt, then knelt beside her, touching her shoulder. “It would have done so more effectively if you’d told me you were coming out here and had invited me along.” Though his touch was gentle, his tone was stern.

“You’re in exile and supposed to stay on your estate.”

“Yet I would have come if I’d known you needed protection.”

“I know, and that’s the problem.” Kaylina clasped his hand. “This is a strange dream.”

“Because I’m admonishing you?”

“No, that’s perfectly normal, but you’re not usually wearing so many clothes when you feature in my dreams.”

She’d lost count of how many times she’d awoken from a sexual dream about him, disappointed to find herself alone, disappointed every time she remembered that they couldn’t be together in the real world. The dreams, alas, were never long enough, never satisfying enough.

“Ah, yes. I understand.” His blue eyes gleamed, the sternness replaced by humor. “You’re not clothed at all in my dreams.”

“Not at all? Even at this chilly northern latitude?”

“Never. Once you were partially wrapped in a bear hide for warmth.”

“The epitome of fashion.” Kaylina imagined her southern, island-living family having sarcastic words about such a clothing choice.

“Fear not. I soon removed it.” He touched her cheek.

She longed for more and reached up to him, but he patted her on the shoulder and leaned back.

“This time, I’m here to protect you until you wake,” Vlerion said. “And until he comes.”

“He?”

“You called someone.”

Her memory remained fuzzy. “Called?”

“Yes, loudly. Like a Kar’ruk raider blowing a war horn.”

Now, she remembered the magic flowing out of that sphere. But who had she called?

Something jostled her, and Kaylina woke. Her eyes were gritty with exhaustion, and she groaned at the effort that opening them took. The back of her hand throbbed. Had it been doing that the whole time she’d been out?

Around Kaylina, the world had grown dark, with stars out in the night sky. At least it was a normal night sky, not a green-tinted one.

An owl hooted nearby, and crickets chirped. As in the dream, she lay on her back, but, this time, she noticed the discomfort of pebbles underneath her, and pain asserted itself all over her body. Her head ached, and she could feel a lump even before she touched it. She must have cracked her head on something when she’d fallen.

She looked around for the pedestal and ruins, but she was by the lake now, lying on the pebbly beach. Two men sat in the dark at her side, and two taybarri lay on their bellies nearby. Levitke and… was that Crenoch?

“Vlerion?” she asked the larger figure, night’s shadows hiding both of their faces.

“She’s awake,” Frayvar blurted with relief.

“Yes.” Vlerion rested a hand on Kaylina’s shoulder, not unlike he had in the dream.

Or… had that been a vision?

“And asking about you .” Frayvar harrumphed like an old man. “Kay, I’m the one who risked my life to drag you out of those loathsome vine-sprouting ruins.”

“I thought you said Levitke got her out.” Vlerion pointed at the taybarri.

“She did after I attempted and failed to do so because vines were hissing at me like cobras. But I still risked my life.”

“Did they hiss at Levitke too?” Vlerion asked.

“Yeah, but she’s fast and could dodge them and get to Kay. Dragging her out was dicier.”

“Dragging?” Kaylina mumbled.

Maybe that was why her entire body hurt. She envisioned the taybarri tugging her by the scuff of her neck over ruins.

“Yes, we were afraid to leave you there,” Frayvar said. “Looking back, I think the vines were protecting you, but I didn’t know what happened . You didn’t answer, and you were out for hours. After Levitke got you, she ran back for help. Taybarri are very good companions.”

Levitke lifted her head, swished her tail, and whuffed. Crenoch yawned and rolled onto his back with all four legs in the air.

How late was it? It had been afternoon when she’d touched the sphere. And Vlerion...

“You’re supposed to be in exile,” she whispered, afraid he would get in trouble for coming out here.

“As you might imagine,” Vlerion said, “when your taybarri showed up at the estate without you, I was concerned.”

“I actually asked Levitke to get Doc Penderbrock,” Frayvar said. “Taybarri may be good companions, but they have minds of their own.”

The crickets stopped chirping. Vlerion noticed right away, and his hand dropped to the hilt of his sword as he gazed around.

Levitke rose and padded over to gaze solemnly down at Kaylina.

“Maybe she thought I needed a protector rather than a doctor.” Kaylina rolled to her side, wincing at the pain from so many parts of her body. Had someone been there offering her healing draughts, she wouldn’t have rejected them.

Vlerion helped her sit up. “Something’s out there.”

Crenoch also rose, stance rigid as he looked toward the trees behind the ruins.

Kaylina remembered the part of the dream about how she’d apparently called someone. When she’d touched the sphere, she’d hoped she could somehow reach out to her father, but, if he lived at all, he was probably halfway around the world. After all, he’d met her mother on the sun-drenched Vamorka Islands, where monkeys chattered in the trees and lizards scuttled over warm rocks above sandy beaches.

“I’ll get my sword.” Kaylina pushed herself to her feet, Vlerion’s hand under her elbow supporting her.

He always supported her, the moon gods bless him. When he protected her, it touched her, but when he helped her achieve the things she desired… that made her love him. A word she needed to speak aloud to him one day.

The grass and leaves between the trees rustled.

One day when they weren’t in trouble.

Was that the wind? Or an animal? Or something more dangerous than an animal?

Thanks to her druid heritage, Kaylina didn’t usually have to fear forest creatures, but if the Kar’ruk had returned to the preserve, they wouldn’t be mollified by her blood. If anything, they would want to use her— it —because they believed it could convey some power.

A wolf howled in the distance.

“There are people out there.” Vlerion gazed toward the trees where the rustling had originated, but he also glanced toward the opposite shoreline, keeping an eye on everything.

“Human people?” Kaylina asked as the two taybarri shifted, also facing the trees. Their large floppy ears twitched, no doubt hearing more than she could.

“What other kind of people would there be?” Frayvar whispered. He’d crept closer to Vlerion.

Kaylina had her sword out, too, but she couldn’t blame her brother for believing an experienced ranger would be better able to defend them. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten the Kar’ruk.”

“Oh. No, but I thought they were gone.” Frayvar glanced toward the ruins and the trees, shifting his weight nervously. “I don’t have my cast-iron pan.”

Vlerion looked at Frayvar.

“His weapon of choice,” Kaylina explained. “He smacked one of my kidnappers with it.”

“Yes, I recall you mentioning his heroism.” Vlerion’s attention returned to the trees.

“It’s possible he was defending his cherry-mint glaze rather than me,” Kaylina said, “but it was a heroic action.”

“Both were in danger,” Frayvar said.

“Ranger lord,” came a call from the trees, the female speaker hidden by shadow. “Few of your kind have entered the preserve since the Daygarii determined you enemies of this place.”

“I’m aware,” Vlerion said.

“Do you defend she who has returned to the land of our ancestors? Or do you imprison her?”

The voice sounded human—the speaker didn’t even have an accent, except for a faint drawl that wasn’t common in the capital. But who was she who has returned to the land of our ancestors ? Kaylina? She was the only female on the beach, but…

“I protect Kaylina Korbian and enforce the law.” Vlerion sounded a touch pompous. Was he implying that he believed the speaker was a criminal? “Who are you?”

“Loyal kingdom subjects who mind the mountains and the preserve.” The female speaker and three men stepped out from the trees. The darkness made it hard to see faces or determine if they were armed, but they had shaggy forms. Did they wear furs? “We heard the call,” she added, taking a few steps closer, but the group stopped twenty yards away.

“Uh,” Kaylina said. “I wasn’t trying to call them .”

She had no idea who they were but was surprised normal humans would have sensed whatever magic that sphere had sent out.

Her brand warmed, and she frowned down at it.

“Mountain men and women.” Vlerion lowered his sword but didn’t sheathe it. “They’re usually hunters and trappers. They have villages in the Evardor Mountains, but I didn’t know they entered the preserve. I trust they don’t hunt here.”

“We would not be so foolish,” the woman responded, though Vlerion had spoken softly. “Some of us have an interest in these lands and visit them, but even we do not dare go against the wishes of the Daygarii. We have not forgotten what they desire—or that they punish those caught by the sentinels remaining in the area.”

The sentinels? Like the plant in the castle?

With her hand still warm, Kaylina scrutinized the shadowy people, wishing for better light. Maybe it was her imagination, but now that they were closer, she sensed something about them. Something unusual. The people of Jirador didn’t rouse her brand.

“Even you, you said?” Vlerion asked. “Are you special?”

“ We like to think so,” the woman said. “We are not noble, of course, in the way of the kingdom, but our ancestors were in these lands before gold was discovered and outsiders flocked to the area and built the great capital.”

With those words, Kaylina realized what was different about them. What was special , as Vlerion had asked. She didn’t know how she knew, but with certainty, she whispered, “They’re descended from the druids as well as humans.”

Vlerion eyed her. “Like you?”

“I… maybe?”

“Are you drawn to them, Crenoch?” Vlerion asked.

The taybarri yawned, then ambled over to nudge Kaylina’s pocket.

She had treats in there for Levitke, to thank her for carrying all the honey, but doled out a couple for Crenoch. After all, he’d brought Vlerion all this way to help her.

“Not as much as to you, apparently,” Vlerion said, answering his own question.

“My pockets may be more interesting than hers,” she said.

“Are you certain you are her protector, ranger lord?” one of the men asked.

Was he looking at Vlerion’s sword?

“Your kind have no reason to love those with the blood of Daygarii flowing in their veins,” the man added, pointing at Kaylina.

She shifted, uncomfortable that strangers knew that about her. But if she could sense that something was unusual about them, maybe they could tell the same about her.

“I believe he is different,” the woman said before Vlerion could answer.

“He is cursed ,” another man said.

“He is Lord Vlerion,” the woman said. “A respected ranger and a descendant of the Havartafts, they who once ruled the kingdom. His squad came through our village last winter and helped Keenor and Draks hunt down the rabid malikar that leaped over our wall and slew one of our children.”

“That does not mean he’s suitable for or interested in protecting her,” the man said. “She has called for the help of her kind. We cannot leave her in anything but trustworthy hands.”

Kaylina opened her mouth to vouch for Vlerion, but the snap of a branch came from the forest behind the ruins. Rustling followed, along with heavy footfalls that caused more snaps.

“The zenlevars will determine if the ranger truly protects her and if he is worthy of doing so.” The man pointed in the direction of the snaps.

“Uhm.” Kaylina lifted her finger. “That’s not necessary. Vlerion and I are friends. He protects me and does it well, thanks.”

The group looked in her direction but didn’t respond to her statement.

A chilling roar came from the trees. The woman shifted, drawing aside her fur, and produced a lantern. She un-shuttered it and turned up the flame, then set it on the ground and backed away. The men followed her lead, also moving away from the light.

“The zenlevars will decide,” she agreed.

More snaps came from the woods. Whatever zenlevars were, they didn’t pad silently among the trees like cats or wolves. Kaylina dug through her memory for a picture to go with the name, certain they were described in the ranger handbook.

“These people must be anrokks ,” Vlerion said quietly, “and have the ability to command animals.”

“Well, I have that ability too.” Kaylina willed whatever was in the woods to go away.

It was the taybarri who responded to her comment—and her will. Levitke and Crenoch growled, wide tails swishing on the pebbly beach in agitation, and moved to stand with her.

Vlerion noticed they chose her instead of him and gave Crenoch a sad look, but he didn’t say anything. Kaylina hadn’t forgotten his admission early on that he’d grown up adoring the taybarri and that it disturbed him that they, fearing the beast, did not adore him .

“Help Vlerion ,” she whispered to them as shaggy dark creatures padded out of the woods. “Please.”

The taybarri growled toward the new animals and opened their jaws to reveal their fangs, to show that their amiable demeanors and floppy ears didn’t keep them from being powerful predators.

As more and more zenlevars came into view, the lantern light doing little to provide help for human eyes, Kaylina worried her side was outmatched. With wide-set eyes, stub ears, and broad faces and jaws, the four-legged creatures were as large as horses and as muscled as oxen. They didn’t move as lithely as felines, but they emanated power.

If Vlerion turned into the beast, he might be able to handle them, but Kaylina didn’t want that. Already, too many people knew about his secret. She’d worked hard to keep it from her brother and those she’d interacted with. If Vlerion turned in front of these people, they might tell every villager in the mountains.