Chapter 9 #2
After I’d quickly shifted into panther form, we moved forward, using Fenris’s compass as a guide to navigate the forest in the proper direction.
I trotted through the forest silently on four legs, and though there was the occasional crunch of a twig or leaf beneath Annia’s or Fenris’s boots, for the most part we traveled soundlessly.
There was evidence that humans had passed through this area, from footprints on the ground to the occasional bead or button from a piece of clothing.
We even passed by the remains of a campfire in a clearing that was a few days old.
I spent several minutes sniffing around the blackened wood and stones, hoping to catch a whiff of Iannis’s scent, but his familiar mix of musk, sandalwood, and magic was nowhere to be found.
We made it several miles into the forest before I caught the fresh scent of humans, and I stopped dead. Fenris and Annia went still behind me as I lifted my head, trying to discern where the scent was coming from and any other information I could glean.
“There’s a group of humans up ahead,” I told Fenris. “At least three of them, all men.”
“It might be a scouting party,” Fenris warned. “We must proceed with caution.” He relayed the message to Annia.
“You two wait here,” I said. “I’ll go ahead and check it out.”
“You shouldn’t go alone,” Fenris protested.
“I’ll be fine on my own against a couple of humans, and I want you here with Annia so I can report back to both of you on what I find. Besides, I doubt these humans will think I’m anything other than wild animal.”
“They may try to kill you,” Fenris warned. “Most humans see wildcats as a threat.”
I gave him a slow wink. “Then I’ll just have to make sure they don’t see me.”
I slunk through the trees, silent as a wraith as I followed my nose toward the strangers.
The sound of their voices grew louder as I approached, and a tingle went down my spine as I realized they were speaking Northian, not Coazi.
Were these men from the camp the shaman had told us about?
Or could they be some of the missing delegates?
I crouched behind a tree, peering through the leaves into a clearing.
Three men dressed in dirty khakis sat with their backs up against the trees, legs extended as they munched on what looked to be an early lunch.
They boasted red armbands tied around their upper right arms – the classic mark of Resistance members.
My heart sank: so it really was the Resistance behind Iannis’s disappearance.
“Say, d’you think we can finally get back to camp now?” the fellow closest to me asked around a mouthful of food. He had curly blond hair and a scruffy, tobacco-stained beard. “I figure we’ve combed these woods long enough. There’s no one out here but us.”
I held back a snort at that, glad that this particular scouting party didn’t seem to have any shifters in it. If it had, they would have scented us already and we’d have been forced to fight.
“We gotta wait until Daresh’s done sniffing around,” another of the men said. “You know how fussy he is about this crap. Wants to make sure no stone is left unturned.”
The blond rolled his eyes. “Can’t we just leave his tiger-striped ass here? Surely he can catch up with us on those four legs of his.”
I froze. So there was a shifter in their party after all. My senses went on high alert, trying to determine if there was a tiger shifter in the area, but I didn’t scent or hear anyone other than the three humans before me.
“Fenris,” I called as I began to creep away from the clearing. “We need to get out of here. There’s a tiger shifter on the prowl, and if he finds us –”
The wind shifted, and I stiffened as I caught the scent of a tiger male.
The rustle of a bush was the only warning I got before he sprang out of the undergrowth, claws extended and mouth open in a ferocious snarl.
I leapt to the side, and he sailed past me, landing a good ten feet away.
Heart pounding, I took off running at full speed before he had a chance to turn around, making sure to head away from Annia and Fenris.
There was no way I was going to stand and fight a shifter who was three times my weight, when I was three times faster at top speed.
Unfortunately, the forest terrain meant I couldn’t run at top speed, so I could hear Daresh crashing through the underbrush behind me.
Sailing over a fallen tree log, I gave one last burst of speed, then took a flying leap into a tree.
I scrambled up until I was out of the tiger’s reach, digging my claws into the bark for purchase, then clung to a thick branch and changed back into human form.
The tiger shifter came into view just as the white light faded from my eyes, and I watched as he skidded to a stop in front of the tree.
His orange eyes glowed malevolently as he snarled, but before he could jump up into the tree after me, I shot out my hand and shouted a Word.
Ice blasted from my palm, and the tiger yelped, jumping back out of the way before the stream of magic hit him.
It hit the ground instead, and a sheet of ice crackled across the surface like the top of a frozen lake.
Except this was summer, so the ice started melting immediately.
Okay, so maybe using ice wasn’t such a great idea. I would have preferred fire, but I didn’t want to risk catching the entire forest ablaze.
Growling, the tiger shifter stretched a tentative paw toward the ice. He yelped as his pads came into contact with the frigid ground, then snatched the paw back and growled at me again. I lifted my hand threateningly in the air again, magic glowing around my palm, and he froze.
Stalemate.
Fuck this, I thought as the ice on the ground rapidly melted into a puddle of water.
Iannis had been training me to rely on Words to cast spells, but my Loranian repertoire was limited, and that shifter’s friends were going to be arriving soon.
I could already hear them blundering through the woods, though still some way off.
So instead I aimed my glowing hand at the shifter and willed him with all my might to freeze in place.
Magic shot out of my palm and blasted him straight in the chest. A blue-green glow rippled over the tiger as he froze in place, mouth still open in a soundless snarl. He stood stock-still, like a statue carved from orange, black, and white marble. If marble were fuzzy. And had really long fangs.
A ripple of fatigue washed over me, which was typical whenever I pulled magic directly from the well inside me instead of using Words.
But I pushed it back, then used an illusion spell to make myself blend in with the tree.
I watched the three humans charge into the clearing, weapons drawn as their eyes darted around anxiously.
“Fenris,” I called out mentally, scenting him and Annia nearby. “Hang back. I’ve got this.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Stay back unless I call for you.”
“What the fuck is going on?” the red-haired man snarled as he caught sight of the tiger shifter. “Daresh, why the hell are you just standing there?”
“Whoa,” the blond said, crouching down in front of the tiger and waving a hand in front of his face. “He’s like a statue or something.”
“By the Ur-God.” The third man, a stocky guy with long brown hair pulled back into a tail, grabbed blondie by the belt and dragged him away. “Someone’s cast a spell on him! There must be a witch in this forest.”
“It must be one of those shamans!” the redhead howled. “Daresh must’ve run across the Coazi, and now look what’s happened!”
“Are they still somewhere around here?” Blondie swiveled his head around frantically.
“I dunno, but I’m not gonna wait to find out! I knew this was a bad idea, having them send us out without any kind of protection against these magic-wielding savages. You guys do whatever you want, I’m getting out of here before they come back and turn us all to stone!”
Red sprinted from the clearing as though his pants had caught fire, and his companions quickly followed, not even sparing a glance at their shifter comrade. I arched an eyebrow at the tiger shifter, who was still capable of glaring daggers at me – his eyes were practically shooting flames.
“Guess your buddies aren’t real big on loyalty, are they?”
Surprise radiated from the tiger – he’d been so shocked by my spell he hadn’t realized he could still use mindspeak. “Their loyalty is to the Resistance, not to me specifically,” he growled. “I don’t blame them for running from an abomination like you. What the fuck are you?”
I dropped from the tree, landing in a crouch about ten feet away from the tiger, and gave him a taunting smile. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“A hybrid.” Disgust rippled through his words. “I’ve heard rumors a shifter with mage powers existed, but I thought it was a legend.” He didn’t sound impressed.
Ignoring him, I turned my head in the direction I’d scented Fenris and Annia from earlier.
“You guys can come out now. It’s safe.” Sitting down, I rested my back against the tree, then drew my knees to my chest and rested my forearms across them as I waited.
A few minutes later, Fenris and Annia entered the small clearing.
Their eyes widened at the sight of the frozen tiger shifter.
“Is that guy still alive?” Annia asked, awe in her voice as she crouched down in front of the tiger shifter and waved her hand in front of his face, much like his companion had done to him earlier. “He looks like a taxidermist went to town on him.”
“Tell her to get her hand out of my face,” Daresh growled.
“Or what?” I sneered. “You’ll bite her hand off?”
The tiger shifter said nothing, but the scorching fury burning inside him was so palpable I thought he’d set the tinder-dry forest on fire.