The Dark Ages of the Synakoy; The Past Forgotten, Wolfheart [top ebook reader .txt] 📗

three stay with you, too. I need…to put him out of his misery.”
Riviera looked horrified. “But –“
“This is my decision, Riviera. I know it’s not the way your people do things, but he is in pain.”
She sighed. “Fine; We will wait here.”
She looked away.
I don’t get them. I just don’t understand it.

Looking around, Ky saw a smaller cave. It was difficult to see, but away from everybody and not too far.
“Here.” Kai handed me her gun. “It’s got three bullets left. I hope you don’t need all three of them.”
“What is that?” Tenzik asked in near awe.
“It's a weapon of our world.” Ky told her quietly. “If I do this right, Tempest won’t feel a thing.”
As Ky turned and headed for the cave, she heard Riviera say something about praying for her to return.
It was the strangest thing she'd ever heard, and made her hope the world wasn't as dangerous as the warrior leader made it seem.

It was a short walk that took around a half hour. Tempest became more and more difficult to keep moving; his ankle was swelling, and there were huge paw prints in the snow that resembled a great cat. As they came closer to the cave, they became more frequent. All Ky could think was that at least he wouldn’t rot, and his body would fuel whatever lived in the cave. Finally, they were shadowed by the cave.
Kiyoshi pulled down Tempest’s head and reached into her pocket. They were the last bit of oats she’d been saving for him as a treat. She scattered it into the snow. Hungry, the horse bent down to eat.
Ky cocked the gun; put the barrel against his skull, right behind his ear. She looked away and, tears rolling down her cheeks, and the girl pulled the trigger.
There was a neigh of shock and pain as the horse fell, and a quiet thud. He was dead before he hit the snow. The shot echoed through the mountains. From here, she could hear the other horses spook.
Ky fell to her knees and lay against the carcass. Blood pooled everywhere. It covered her knees. Exhausted, crying, Ky fell asleep against the body already nearly cold, in a pool of the blood she brought.

It was dark when she woke, shivering. The blood on her – from when she had rolled off Tempest – was frozen onto her. Standing, she realized the cold didn’t bother her. But as she looked around, the world somehow seemed…different. The shadows were different, and the colors were strange. Her sense of smell seemed…stronger. Wasn’t the snow deeper before she’d fallen asleep?
Yawning, she stretched. Fear gripped her as instead of hands stretching upward, massive white paws stretched across the ground, releasing claws raking away ice like butter. They were at least six inches long. They reminded her of a huge white lion paw.
But that’s me! Why are they lion paws?!
She opened her mouth to speak and growled.
What the hell was going on?!
Another growl answered her from the direction of Tempest’s body. Only she actually understood it.
“Fall asleep near a kill, lioness, and expect a starving male to leave it alone? You didn’t take even a bite!”
Whirling in shock, Ky gaped at the magnificent lion that stood over a half-eaten carcass. It was the color of snow, and its eyes were as gray as the brilliant winter moon. Something about him drew Ky toward him, but she kept her distance. When she didn’t reply or move, he cocked his head to the side.
“Why aren’t you fighting me? Aren’t you hungry?”
“I will not eat that.”
He snorted. “Cubs…”
“I am no cub.”
He bit into the flesh. It took all of Kiyoshi’s will not to lunge at him for doing so; Ky could see his ribs, and knew he needed it. Tempest was a memory alone. He was gone.
He swallowed. “Why did you growl at me?”
“I was testing my voice.”
He blinked at her as she was insane.
“Really, I was.” The growl this time was real. She didn’t like the way he was treating her. Knowing she had to return to the caravan – even like this – Ky shrugged and turned toward the camp. She put a mocking purr in the way she continued “Besides, it’s clear you need that entire horse a whole lot more than I do.”
He was suddenly in front of her, snarling. Ky’s body reacted to the threat instantly by raking its claws down his shocked muzzle.
“Stay out of my face!” She snarled, covering her reaction.
He pushed his muzzle into the snow, growling. Ky seemed to feel the sting of the wound in snow. She snorted. “Yes, because that disinfects the wound.”
He glared at her. “It’s not like you know a better way to clean it!”
Purring, Ky answered. “Actually, I do. I’ve studied herbs.”
“What the hell are herbs?”
Rolling her eyes, she turned away from him and headed for the camp. “Figure it out yourself! Enjoy the feast – I killed it for lions who can’t find their own prey!”
The sound of him following Ky unnerved her. What if he attacked the caravan?
“Stop following me!”
“Show me how to hunt…”
Shock stopped her paws. How the hell would she do that?!
I’ve got to find a way around this!

“Do I look like your mother?” She demanded, glaring at him over her shoulder.
“No. But you’re female. Your mother showed you how – I’m male.”
“What's your point?”
“I can fight.”
“I can too.” She snarled angrily. “Haven’t I already shown you that?”
“I wasn’t expecting it. A lion attacking you in your condition will slaughter you.”
What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Ky turned and kept walking. “Go back to your pride! Leave me alone!”
“I…don’t have one.”
He’s following me! I need him to go away!

“Then go make one!”
“How? The humans have killed all the females of our sacred grounds.” He was walking beside her now. “Well, except from you, beautiful. And if you won’t travel with me, at least teach me to hunt so I can find another female in the foothills.”
“Humans kill us because they’re afraid of us.” Ky told him, careful to not say ‘we humans’ and ‘you lions’ because it was clear she had somehow become one.
How did this happen? Why am I a giant white lioness?

“I don’t want to get killed! That’s why I attack them!”
I can see that.

“Then don’t follow me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Because I protect a group of humans, that’s why!”
He stopped in his tracks. “Why?” He snarled furiously.
Quickly, Kiyoshi thought up a reason. Then she realized all she could do was hope he believed the truth. “That horse was mine. I rode him, fed him, and trained him. His name was Tempest.”
The lion just stared at her, obviously believing she was completely insane. “He broke his ankle, so I was forced to kill him or let him die slowly. I did it there so my friends – who I thought were my family until recently – didn’t see it. I fell asleep by his side human. When I woke, I was a huge white lioness.”
For a moment Kiyoshi thought she’d honestly have to fight him. His muscles were tense, and the look in his eyes was of pure fury. Then, slowly, they filled with understanding.
“What is your name?”
“Kiyoshi.”
“What's your last name?
What is my last name? Oh…it can’t be what I thought it was, since I’m not from…where I grew up…

Ky thought a moment.
“Well?”
What did Riviera call me? Wasn’t it something like wolf…wolfstone…no. It was Wolfshard!

“I apologize. I grew up away from my family…but found somebody who told me this…it’s Wolfshard.”
The lion rose on all four paws and bowed to her.
Anger pulsed through her. “You don’t have to mock me.” She bore her huge fangs.
“It is an honor to meet the last Druid. You have helped our kind in many ways, and for that I give you my thanks.”
“What's a Druid?”
He looked up as if in amazement. “You don’t know?”
She felt her tail twitch. “No. I told you…my parents didn’t raise me. It’s been a long time since I saw this much snow…and I just found out that the people I’ve known my entire life aren’t my real family.”
“It would be hard for you, then. I could…travel with you. Are you still with your human pride?”
“Yes. They await my return.”
“Then…I wish to accompany you. There is nothing left for me here. I cannot hunt. I have no pride…and it would be an honor to help you understand the world around you.”
“I think we’re leaving the mountains.”
He shrugged. “It does not matter. I will adapt. And I will learn as I teach you.”
Ky cocked her head to the side curiously. “What is your name, lion?”
His purr was full of humor. “Of course, my queen; it is Zenic.”
Ky walked forward to put her paw on his shoulder. By the time she reached him, she was human again, wearing the same clothes as before, completely in tact. Shivering, she gasped at how much bigger he was than an African Lion.
“You’re so big!”
His growl was full of amusement.
Our minds are bonded.

It was his voice, in her head. Somehow, it only made her feel more drawn to him.
Get on my back and guide me to your people. Then it is up to you to explain what is going on! I can’t speak to them like you can!

Laughing, Ky mounted him. He stood, and took off like a bullet in the wind.

****

Levin watched as the sun rose in sorrow. Riviera stood, placing her hand on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Levin. If she made it through killing Tempest, she couldn’t have made it through the night. The lions would have found her by now. They live in prides of ten to twenty.”
“There are lion in the mountains?”
“Yes. Where do they live in your world?”
“The hottest, dries plains in the world.”
She thought about that. “They’d be smaller than ours, then, and with thinner fur.”
“Anyway…I think she would still be alive…” Levin said hopefully.
He couldn’t take his eyes from the cave he’d seen the flash. Champion had calmed down, but kept looking that way nervously. Ivory and Kai were sleep by the fire Riviera had built. They had tears in their eyes – the gunshot had both upset them to tears, knowing what Kiyoshi had done, and done alone.
“Levin…you want her to live. But…it’s not possible. We need to move on.”
He looked at her and saw genuine regret. A roar cracked through the air.
That’s the second one in an hour. It’s so close…

“Can we wait a little longer? Maybe…maybe she made it, and she is just sitting a vigil. Tempest meant a lot to her.”
“You think she'd really sit a vigil?” Riviera looked toward the cave. “Alright; we’ll wait until the sun has fully risen. Then we will continue on. It doesn’t take long to get from here to the cave. At the rise of the sun, we will go there to find her – dead or alive – and that will be all. If I were you, Levin, I wouldn’t put too much hope into it. It just hurts more when you never see them alive again.”
Her words were of