Awakening the Beast (21 page)

He stalked around the vulture waiting for Vorhan to make a move. He raised his bow again and Christopher tensed. The arrow was about to be let loose, when he leapt onto the vulture leader and knocked him into the fire behind him. The flames wrapped their arms around him and pulled him into the blaze. Vorhan screamed and shrieked where the fire licked at his skin and soon he stopped struggling.

Satisfied, Christopher sat back on his heels and raised his muzzle to the sky, howling a triumphant call. Others followed. With a renewed vigor, he turned and started tearing into the remaining cougars. He took down another three and survived the damage. Vultures and ravens littered the ground. Some of them had returned to human form and fought, but most of the cougars were dead or retreating. They were going to get their home back.

He heard another hiss and turned to see a cougar leering down at him from a tree branch. Before it jumped upon him, he felt a stab of pain in his back. He fell and could barely move from the blinding pain. Looking up, Christopher saw Vorhan over him. The twisted smile spread on his now burnt face. Vorhan raised the bow, and Christopher felt the arrow enter his body. The agony overwhelmed him, he fell to the ground, unable to move, and waited for it all to be over.

* * * *

Ohanzee felt the earth roll and was nearly lost in the power of it. Every time he breathed he felt the soil ripple. He stretched out his senses and sensed the beings that lived within the earth. The rocks called out to him to carve them, but he ignored those and kept helping Illiana. He knew when she shifted her focus from the earth to the other elements because there was a small space in their connection. All he needed was reach out and touch her consciousness to gain her attention, but there was something else.

The earth pulled him deeper and stretched his awareness. When the wolves and cougars clawed the earth, it felt like they raked his chest. When blood was spilled he tasted it in the back of his mouth. Being so entrenched with the stubborn element, he sensed how vast the forest. If he followed the roots found where the earth ended at the sea. When the earth cracked and swallowed a couple more cougars, he knew it was hungry for more carnage and blood. It might not have admitted it, but it wanted the fight. Somewhere deep within the earth’s memory, it recalled when it was raw and the land was bulging with creation. That surge for vengeance and the lust for blood overwhelmed him. It was only his devotion and love for Illiana that made him stay. Then he felt something else. Pain. A cry came from his lips, but it was not his. Belik. Something had happened to him. His eyes snapped open. He untangled himself from the earth and felt the closeness with Illiana slip away.

“Is everything okay?” Daruk asked.

“Belik’s hurt. They’re coming after her.” He glanced at Illiana. Her face was lined in concentration. She had not pulled away from the other elements. Her influence was upon the air that caressed his cheek so that she was aware of things going on.

“I’ll protect her. Go and find the others.”

“No, I’m going to fight with you.”

Daruk pulled out a short dagger from his waist and handed it to him. “You know how to use this?”

He smiled. “You stab things with it.”

“Funny. Yes, but you’re not a warrior,” Daruk commented.

“True, I’m not trained, but I can defend myself. They’re coming. Are you sure you don’t want to change into your bigger form so you can just open your mouth and snap your jaws on them.”

“I could, but I’d rather stretch my muscles. Sometimes there’s more to being a dragon than eating my enemies. Sometimes it’s good to feel blood flow. Maybe it was the way I was raised.”

“You had an intriguing childhood before you were exiled.” Ohanzee ran his fingers over the dragon tooth blade. The dragon scale handle was the hardest element he had ever worked with. Daruk has heated it so he could mold it. And he was not looking forward to doing it again.

“My childhood was very different than yours. I’d love to show you my homeland one of these days,” the dragon said.

Ohanzee tightened his grip on the dagger, reading for the vultures and the cougars. He closed his eyes and prayed to the spirits that everything would go in their favor. At first he heard the flapping of the vultures’ wings. The cougars came behind them. It seemed the whole conclave was approaching, but the wolves were behind them. They were surrounded by cougars.

Daruk smiled and glanced over at Ohanzee. “This looks like better odds than I thought. We really are in for a fight.”

“You are one interesting man. Why aren’t they attacking?” He watched the cougars and the vultures. The wolves had not yet appeared.

“Because they’re waiting for me.” The cougars parted and Vorhan stepped into the clearing.

The man was red and blistered all over from being burned in a fire. He lifted the bow and stared at them. Ohanzee saw the pure evil in the man. There was no goodness in his dark soulless eyes. This man was going to kill them all or die trying. “I’ve come for the witch. Let me have her and I’ll let you live.”

Daruk laughed. “She’s no witch and you’re not going to hurt Illiana.”

The air stirred again. It formed a bubble around Ohanzee and them. Something wet trickled his feet. Glancing down, he noticed a small stream had starting running around them blocking them off from the vultures. He was not sure if it would actually keep the enemies away, but he trusted Illiana. No matter what she was doing, he would protect her. He assumed the show of the elements was keeping some of the others away because the water grew into an even wider stream. The cougars backed away. He had no idea how Belik or Christopher fared, but this was the last stand.

“The elements bend to her will. That makes her a witch in my eyes. She’s a powerful force. If you step aside, I will let you live and you’ll no longer be under her spell,” Vorhan grinned.

Ohanzee wanted to wipe the smug smile off his face, but if he moved, Vorhan would fire an arrow from the bow. He did not know if he was fast enough to get to him. The stream was wider than before at least four feet and flowing faster. “Leave this place and take what remains of your people. The wolves and ravens have already decimated your people.”

“There are always more. What you see here is not the real ranks of those who follow me.”

Vorhan lied because the corner of his eye twitched.

“Really? Then why do the cougars back away from us? The vultures have already flown because they’re not so confident that they can defeat or rather that you can defeat us.”

The vulture laughed. “Defeating you isn’t going to be a problem. You think that with this witch controlling the elements that you have some advantage. I see your large beast has gone and flown off. Dragons are never reliable.”

This time Daruk growled at the vulture. The air pressure changed in the bubble that surrounded them. Ohanzee glanced up at the trees outside of that bubble and saw the branches bending to the force of the wind. The vultures hung on for dear life. Inside there were was nothing happening. What was Illiana feeling and experiencing? The ground pulsated. The temperature was rising around them.

“I wouldn’t say that. They stick around more than you think, vulture. This is your last warning. Leave this place or you’ll find yourself my next meal. If you want to keep leading your tribe, fly them out of here.”

The vulture rolled his eyes. “Or what?”

A cougar leapt down from the tree above and landed on the big man’s back. He cried out and fell to the ground trying to pry the beast off him. Vorhan laughed and set his eyes on Ohanzee. Vorhan raised his bow and shot at him. The pain of the arrow entering his shoulder took him by surprise. Ohanzee dropped the dagger and fell to his knees. Vorhan stood over him and took up the dagger. He pressed it to Ohanzee’s neck.

“Where’s your witch now?”

Ohanzee wondered the same thing because Vorhan should have been able to see Illiana.

* * * *

Illiana had the earth vibrating underneath her feet and filling her with more power than she had ever felt before. The air whispered to her more so she could almost understand its words. She could feel the fires of the life around her even in the plants. She reached deep within the soil and found the water urging it to come to the surface. It was happy to oblige. It was grew a stronger the more that she concentrated on it. From the fire Daruk had given her, she could feel it building within her. She used that power and built up the temperature in the bubble. As all this was going on, another part of her was walking the different paths of the future and what the decisions she had to make.

She knew the vultures and the cougars were coming for her. Vorhan would face her two guardians. The wolves would follow and they would fight. After that, there were too many other possibilities that she could not follow. Her concentration was so focused inward that what she did not know was that the wind had gathered around her so tightly and so close it was like a second skin. All she wanted was no one to interrupt her until she was ready to make her move. Illiana searched the different paths of the future and in many of them death was the end.

Monitoring the elements, she became aware Vorhan and the others were here. There was discord among his the ranks. There was uncertainty among the cougars if they should follow them. On their heels were the wolves and ravens. Their numbers were lower than before, but that did not mean that they would stop their assault on the wolves and the ravens. The only way to stop them and was to kill Vorhan. Daruk stood up to him. Ohanzee also protected her. Too many events occurred at once and were converging.

Danger encroached upon her. Illiana opened her eyes, stood, and saw a cougar had jumped on top of Daruk. The dragon shifter wrestled with the animal to get it off him. She gathered the wind and forced it in the direction of the cougar. It shook the beast from the dragon’s back and blew it off. The cougar hit a tree and its spine bent at an odd angle. Illiana heard another cry. When she focused her attention on that, Ohanzee was on his knees with an arrow buried in his shoulder. An audience looked on. She noticed the weather around them was inside was calm and outside the wind was raging the stream around them was widening by the second flowing around them in a barrier. It seemed the elements were taking care of her and the ones who were closest to her.

Vorhan stood behind Ohanzee holding him by the hair. She pulled the dagger from her waist and gripped it. “Where’s your witch now?”

“Right here,” she said. A blast of air sped out around her and cleared the atmosphere.

The vulture turned and smiled. “There you are, witch. One move and this one gets it.”

No matter what choice she made, someone was going to die.

“Don’t listen to him, Illiana.”

Her gaze did not leave Vorhan or Ohanzee. The elements all were on her side. All she had to do was think about the element and it would spring up. She gripped the hilt of the dagger and decision lit up in her mind. Daruk plunged the dagger into the center of Vorhan’s back. His expression went from a sneer to shock. He dropped his knife and staggered backward. Vorhan reached around and tried to get the dagger from his back. Illiana stepped toward him with her dagger in hand. A vulture swooped down and raked his talons over her arm. She cried out and dropped the dagger. A burst of wind came up and forced it off her. Vorhan tried to get up, but she stood over him.

“I will spare your life, but you’ll take the rest of your vultures and cougars and leave this place.”

The vulture leader stood up slowly. He was paler than he was before. He smiled and grabbed her chin. “You really think that will get rid of me?”

She tried to get out of his grip, but he held her fast. His nails dug into her skin. “I can get rid of you. So if you don’t let me go, I’ll make sure that things get a little hot for you.”

“Plan to light me on fire? All I need from you is to snatch that heart from that pretty chest of yours and I’ll be healed. I’ll have your power. There won’t be anything else you can do about it.”

She chuckled. “You won’t be able to take my heart in the time I could light you on fire. So take your hand away off me and get the hell out of my forest.” The wind enveloped her trying to keep the temperature down. But she grew hotter and hotter and she focused on the environment. In her dreams, the forest had gone up in flames and she wanted to avoid that from happening. It was still a possibility from the branches that she could see in her mind.

Vorhan reached around his back and pulled out the knife. He raised his arm to plunge it into her heart. She wriggled out of his grasp and jumped back far enough that he swiped at her again, but missed. Her wolf was close and she let the wolf completely take over. Illiana leapt at him and wrapped her jaws around his throat. At that moment, she also felt the stab of the knife when she landed on him. It hurt, but she was more worried about him. Vorhan struggled. She kept her jaws around his neck and with one final crunch he lay still beneath her. Illiana slipped back into human form and pulled the knife out. It had hit her shoulder. Daruk grabbed her shirt, wrapped it around the wound to staunch the bleeding.

“Thank you,” she said to Daruk.

“It’s not bad. It should be okay.”

Illiana stood before all naked. Those vultures and cougars who remained had fear in their eyes. The wind had died down and the earth was quitted. “Your leaders are dead. Heed this last warning. Leave the forest, free any remaining wolves or ravens you have, and go back to your own villages. You have until tonight to gather whatever you have and get out of our homes.”

“What if we don’t?” a brave vulture asked.

“Then I’ll personally eat you.” Daruk stepped toward him.

The crowd murmured. They started to slink back into the shadows until they were all gone and all that was left were her protectors and a few wolves.

Chapter Fifteen

Belik opened his eyes. Paid radiated up his arm and all over his body where he had hit the branches. Everything seemed to be working except that he was stiff. He got up slowly reached out with the bond that he shared with Illiana and felt that she was hurt. He made his way toward her and he found Daruk tending her wounds. Next he went to working on pulling the arrow out of Ohanzee’s shoulder. He did not see Christopher anywhere. He knelt beside his two mates.