Finally getting to the good stuff.
Happy Yule
"I'm bored," Hale announced to the small knot of soldiers huddled around their
camp fire.
"Then go back to the keep," Kristin rumbled, cleaning the grit out of her
claws. "You're the only one that doesn't have to be here."
Hale rolled his eyes. "Oh you know full well why I'm in the arse end of
nowhere," he said, gesturing at the small hamlet they were camped at the edge
off. It was so small no one had even gotten around to naming it yet.
"Why are you here?" Raff, house cat morph and proud of it, interjected.
"None of your-"
"He's hiding from the Duke," the tiger growled.
"Krissy!" Hale protested.
"What, half the keep knows?" she said, shrugging.
"Yeah, but you don't have to keep telling people," he protested.
"Why's the Duke after you?" Raff cut in, saving the company from another
sibling row.
"He's pissed off because I won't play currier for him," Hale explained,
lounging back and almost fell off the log.
"You play currier for anyone who pays," Raff said, raising a quizzical brow.
"You delivered a letter for me last week."
"Yeah, well don't tell him that," Hale replied, shrugging. "He'll be annoyed
when he figures out he just has to pay me more."
"Shouldn't have taken the salary," Krissy sighed.
"He wanted to pay me the same as everyone else," Hale protested. "Why should I
get the same money when I'm a hundred times better than they are?"
"Hey!" one of the horse morphs protested. "I used to be a runner."
"And yet you still had me carry your parcels," Hale said with a dismissive
wave. "Face it, I'm better than you."
"Hale," Krissy growled. "You asked me to tell you when you were pissing people
off."
"That doesn't sound like something I'd say," he replied, frowning.
Kristin slumped. "It was after that tavern brawl you started. You know, with
the guy build like a siege engine."
"Oh yeah," Hale said, snapping his fingers. "Well in my defence, he really did
look like a pig."
"Oi!" the boar morph protested.
"Not as much as you of course," Hale amended, aiming for an apology and not
even hitting the same fief.
"Hale you're annoying me now," the tiger rumbled. "I know you're bored, but
can't you just name stars like the rest of us?"
"It's just so pointless," he exclaimed, standing. "Why are we even bothering to
guard this pathetic little hamlet?"
"Orders!" the tiger bellowed, also rising and towering over the irate man. "And
some of us actually care enough about rules to follow them."
"They're stupid," Hale shot back poking Krissy in the chest. "There's not a
bandit for twenty miles."
"Not with all this yelling," the hare, not bunny, muttered. It was odd, the
whole patrol was animal morphs, not an age or gender among them; it wasn't
impossible, just unlikely.
"I was attacked six miles from here," Krissy snapped. "This is not a safe
country."
Hale shrugged "All the more reason to cut and run then."
"Have you no sense of loyalty?" Kristin muttered.
"Yes," Hale replied with a simple nod. "You're the most important thing in the
universe to me."
"Oh just go away," she replied, pushing Hale backwards and he flickered a
moment, then was standing at the edge of the firelight.
"I shouldn't have left you alone last time," he said to the trees, not looking
at Krissy.
"I have a bloody huge sword," she snapped, hefting the greatsword one handed.
"And I was fine last time."
"You don't want my help?" Hale asked in a deadpan tone.
"You brand of help gets us chased out of town by an angry mob," she replied,
scowling. "I'll help myself if you don't mind."
"Be that way," he murmured. "I'll stop looking for that cure then." And he
disappeared without a whisper.
Kristin's eyes widened, first in shock and then in anger. How dare he suggest
he could fix this? He couldn't do anything. It was his blasted fault that she
was guarding a twenty building village in the cold side of nowhere. If it
wasn't for him she'd be safe and warm by her parent's fire for Yule rather than
shivering in the snow in a gods forsaken wasteland! No, worse than that. She'd
be lucky to shiver, the fur coat he'd gotten her deadened the cold quite nicely
thank you very much.
"Hale! I'm not finished with you. Come back here you bastard!" Her voice
degenerated in a roar of rage that shook the snow from the trees and she struck
out at the wood pile, which splintered as Bloodfall bit deep.
"Kriss-" Raff began, as the big cat rumbled.
"You can shut up and all," she snarled. "I'm going to sleep. Wake me before my
watch and lose an eye."
Kristin stalked away from the fire and found a shrub that offered at least a
little protection from the snow and shifted to full form to curl up beneath it.
The fact she did this without a second thought no longer bothered her. The fact
that she'd just yelled at her squad mates was just a passing concern. She had
not a care that any of that would have been unthinkable just a few months
before. She just tried to settle down and think non-Hale dissembling thoughts.
"Huh," Raff said, breaking the stunned silence around the fire. "Must be that
time of the month."
He had to duck to avoid a tree branch hurled at him.
***
To say Krissy was annoyed to be roused by someone yanking on her tail and
yelling, "found another one," would be an understatement. Despite the old adage
pulling a tiger's tail is one of best way's to risk life and limb and even Hale
had given up after his fifth trip to the infirmary. Within an instant, and
bellowing in consternation, she was on her feet and pulling the culprit close
with his lapels.
It came as a bit of a shock to find herself face to face with a masked man and
a terrified pair of eyes, Kristin had been expecting Raff, but a quick glance
at the leathers and the wicked knife at his belt had her moving in an instant.
The open handed blow caught the guy around the side of his head and her claws
bit deep, tearing out chunks of flesh, and he went down screaming in pain and
clutching a ruined eye.
"It's awake!" another masked man bellowed, and Krissy charged the knot of
people dragging the other unconscious keepers away. She didn't draw her sword,
for some reason she knew it wasn't in her scabbard, and leapt into the air too
late as a ceramic pot shattered on her muzzle.
Kristin barrelled into the crowd as her legs just stopped listening, sending
the bandits flying like ninepins as she crashed to the ground. Her arms
wouldn't move, her eyes wanted nothing more than to close and be done with it
but inside she was roaring in protest, which translated into a low whimper.
"And that's why you should always check to see if the pelts are dead," a man
declared, standing right next to her head. Any other time Krissy would have
tried to take a chunk out of his leg, but it seemed just too much effort.
Instead she gazed up at the petty mage; taking note of the threadbare robe and
pots of what she hoped was just knockout gas on his belt.
"The bastard took out my eye!" the rather foolish other man screamed.
"Bitch," the mage corrected, rolling his eyes.
"I don't care, she'll pay for that."
Krissy, if she had been lucid enough to be worried, would have panicked at the
sight of a man, clutching at his ruined face, brandishing a knife that could
only be called overcompensation. But he was stopped in his tracks as a flash of
flame from the mage almost took off his eyebrows.
"She is worth a lot more than your pride," he warned. "There's a lot of mages
who'll pay a boat full of gold for a specimen like this. And even more nobles
would pay for the hide."
"Oh shit," Krissy thought just before unconsciousness claimed her. "Well, at
least Hale will save me."
***
She woke up caged. It wasn't the first time, and after the first dozen cells,
'private suites' and tallest towers Kristin had begun checking out the escape
routes as a matter or course. This situation didn't look so good though, she
was in a low metal cage that looked as if it had been designed to hold bears
from the size of the bars and there was a pair of guards by the doors.
That was pretty bad even by their standards.
On the plus side it didn't look like she'd been moved any further than the
village chapel, which just raised further questions really.
Kristin rumbled as she dragged herself onto all fours and sank into a full
animal form as she realised she'd been stripped.
"Eup, big guy's awake," one of the guards said to his partner. Krissy
recognised them both as from the hamlet, Johnson and Jameson if she recalled
correctly, though which one was which was beyond her drugged mind.
"What the hell?" she muttered, shaking her head to try and clear the cobwebs.
"Hey, no talking!" the larger guard snapped, rapping on one of the cages and
Kristin growled as the clang echoed in her ears.
"Can you hear this?" Raff asked from the next cage over, almost inaudible even
to the tiger.
"Just," Krissy replied, just moving her lips. One of the guards frowned but
didn't stop them.
Raff nodded. "Good. You know what's going on?"
"I think they're selling us to a mushroom kingdom or something," Kristin said,
shaking her head. "I'm not quite sure they got me full in the face with that
sleep drug so I was pretty out of it."
"Selling us seems to work," he admitted, thinking about it for a moment.
"Explains why they were so eager with the sleep gas bombs."
"What happened?" Kristin asked. "I was already asleep."
"They got us as we changed patrols," he explained. "A half dozen pots and we
were out of it. Damn, we're never going to live this down once we escape."
"Was it bandits?"
"No, the bloody villagers," he hissed, and one of the guards shot them a
suspicious look which the cats met, both trying to appear the picture
innocence.
"I think this whole place is a set up," Raff continued, crab walking to the
edge of the cage and staring out through the bars. "Think about it. Brand new
hamlet, a bowshot from the curse border, just guys and a few wispy girls who if
I'm any judge are 'for hire'."
Krissy rolled her eyes; he would be the judge of that.
"It's a set up," Raff repeated. "And we've got to get out of here. What about
your brother?"
"I don't know, this church been sanctified?"
"They did some prayers here," Raff admitted, shrugging. "Don't know if that
counts, why?"
"Means Hale can't get in," she sighed. "Long story, but we're-"
"How dare you accuse me of going behind Kratans back!" a rather whiney voice
protested. "I am under direct orders to check the prisoners, and I'm sure you
don't want their escape on your heads."
Kristin couldn't hear the reply, but a moment later the man who thought
catching a tiger by its tail was a good idea stormed in. Krissy smirked as she
saw the bloodstained bandage wrapped over the side of his ruined face.
"You two might want to step outside," he said to the pair of guard, who just
glanced at each other. Not moving.
"Now, or you'll be asleep just like them," he snapped, gesturing at the
sleeping keepers.
"We'll be right outside," they warned, and left.
"Yeah, but the lock's on the inside," he murmured, waving his hand over the bar
and slid it into place without a sound.
"Shit, mage," Raff murmured.
"Oh awake are you," the one eyed man said, rounding on the cats. "I told
Kratans that we should have tested the mix on something other than dogs. Well,
all the better."
He strode down the row of cages, unsheathing a dagger, and two pairs of silted
eyes followed him.
"Huh, pathetic," he said, squatting in front of Kristin who bared her teeth.
"Can you even speak?"
"Can you even see?" she shot back, and the man bristled.
"I'm not the one in a cage," he growled, rattling the blade against the bars.
"Ah, but at least that's not my fault."
"Err, Kriss," Raff murmured. "Might not want to make this guy angry."
"Yeah, listen to the moggy moggy," the man snapped, jabbing the dagger into the
cage. Krissy didn't flinch, just focused on the steel point, waiting. "I'm
calling the shots here."
"So, eye for an eye is it?" Krissy said.
"What the hell are you doing?" Raff hissed.
That was a good question. Kristin didn't know with all honesty. Antagonising
her captors had never been part of the pattern, but for once she was tough
enough to stand a chance against them, and this guy had already lost round one.
"I think the eyes are a good place to start," the man said, glowering. "And
then maybe a few other things. I hear there's a good market for tiger parts."
"Bring it."
The dagger darted through the bars and a quick as a flash Kristin caught his
hand in one paw. There was a moment's pause as the guy realised just how bad a
decision he'd made and then the blood began to run in rivulets onto the straw.
With a yell he ripped his hand out of Kristin's claws and clutched at the
ruined appendage as Krissy dragged the discarded dagger deeper into the cage.
"Wow, you're bad at this," she said, and Raff covered his eyes.
"You'll pay for that bitch," the man bellowed, as fire wreathed his hand.
"Hey, why is this locked?" one of the guards yelled, hamming on the door.
"Oh shit," Kristin exclaimed. "Look, I'm telling you this in all good faith.
Don't do it."
"You'd like that wouldn't you?" he rumbled, the wildfire around his hand
mirroring that in his eyes, and the bars of the cage began to glow.
Krissy backed away. "It's not me I'm worried about," she admitted.
"You're not going to do anything," he said, manic grin spreading across his
face. "Except burn."
The wash of flame leapt through the bars and in an instant Kristin had vanished
in a wash of magical heat and smoke. Raff yelled, pressing himself against the
far wall of his cell as his fur began to singe, back-pedalling to get as far
away as he could from the manic mage.
Then it was over and the tiger was left crouching it her cage.
"That was really, really stupid," Kristin said, shuddering.
"What the-" the man said, eyes widening.
"I'd run," Krissy said, claws scoring deep furrows in the wood as her fur
colour rippled through the spectrum. "Really, just go."
There was a boom as the door was blasted off its hinges and the mage, Kratans,
rushed in.
"What the hell is going on in..." he petered out as he saw the green tiger in a
flowering cage.
Quicker on the uptake than the junior mage who was staring in open mouthed
horror, Kratans was back out the door and dragging the guards with him as the
magical ground zero began to spread. The flowering boards were giving way to
melting iron which became red sand before it hit the ground and Kristin stood,
shrugging off the remnants of the cage.
"Please," she gasped, clenching and unclenching her fists as she fought the
magic flowing through her. "Run."
"Why wont you just die," the man roared, throwing another fireball that bounced
off Kristin's chest, not even ruffling her fur.
The blast knocked away the blocks Kristin had on the torrent of magic as if
they were cobwebs and in an instant she went jet black as the power flowed
through her.
"Raff, run!" she screamed, as a moment later sound vanished from the word and
she saw the cat squeeze through the warping boards of the chapel. The stupid
mage was screaming soundless curses at her as he hurled more fire that was
absorbed into the maelstrom of magic Kristin was trying to hold back, but they
were mere drops in the ocean.
As black tendrils wrapped their way around the building Kristin hoped this
would be one of those spells that was all show and didn't do much. Okay, so
none of the other magic she'd let lose had been anything but destructive, and
she had as much control over what happened as she did with the changing of the
tide, but maybe this time, because her squad mates were lying unconscious mere
feet away, the magic would be lenient.
The dawn's light vanished as the tendrils thickened and blocked out of sky and
Kristin frowned at the wannabe mage.
"I don't know if you can hear me," Kristin said, she couldn't hear herself but
there was always an off chance. "But I just want the last thing you hear to be
the truth. You're a moron."
The darkness descended like a rock and then Kristin was left alone in a void.
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