Marsheila Rockwell - Legacy of the Wolves

The next barn held dairy cows-magebred, by the size of their udders. He could not tell what the third held, as the chicken coops had been located beneath the only accessible windows, and he couldn’t risk disturbing the noisy hens by climbing on top of the wooden cages. But he doubted the birds could sleep so calmly if there was a tiger prowling just on the other side of the wall, so that left the fourth and final barn.

As with the other barns, the doors were closed and barred, but a window showed a faint light burning inside. There were no convenient barrels, so he pulled out a series of tubes and quickly assembled them into a long S-shaped contraption with mirrors located in the angled pieces. With it, he could view the inside of the barn, though his field of vision was quite limited.

Placing the tube up to his eye, he saw several empty cages, stacked boxes, barrels, and, at the edge of his vision, a blanket spread out over a bed of hay and two pairs of legs entwined.

Unable to see more, regardless of how he angled the tube, he pressed his ear to the barn wall and strained to hear.

Two voices, a male and a female, probably human. Laughter. A low growl, and a sudden note of fear in the female’s voice. As he looked back through the tube, the slimmer set of legs disappeared from view, followed quickly by the other pair. The male voice, pleading.

Realizing what was happening, Greddark quickly disassembled the tube and shoved it in a pocket, then hurried to the barn door, just as it opened and a pretty human female stormed out, still buttoning her blouse. A bare-chested male with bright copper hair hurried after her, trying to pull on his boots as he followed her out of the barn. The Mark of Handling was a black swirl across his shoulder.

“Gaida, I’m sorry! You know I’d never let her hurt you … Gaida!”

The girl turned to face the dragonmarked handler, and even Eyre’s waxing light could not hide the flush of anger that stained her cheeks.

“No, Kyrin. I’m done with this. You said you brought me out here to comfort me, and instead you let that … that thing … watch us …” She trailed off, her rage momentarily too great for words as d’Vadalis finally got his boots on and caught up to her. When he reached for her, she slapped his hands away. “No! How am I supposed to forget about Demi, when that thrice-damned cat is just staring at me like it wants to eat me? Forget about him? I feel just like him!”

With that, she spat full in the handler’s face, then turned and stomped off to the house. Kyrin just stood there and watched her go, not even bothering to wipe the spittle away.

“Bitch!” he hissed with sudden venom and whirled around, heading back to the barn. Greddark had to hurry to get inside before d’Vadalis closed the door, slamming it home with a muttered curse.

Greddark waited until the handler had turned his back to the door before speaking.

“Kyrin d’Vadalis, I have a few questions for you regarding the death of Demodir Imaradi.”

Kyrin whirled, his hand going for a scabbard he no longer wore.

“Who-?” He caught sight of Greddark, who had materialized when he challenged the handler. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“I’m an inquisitive from-” Greddark began, only to be interrupted.

“Maellas has no authority here. This is House Vadalis property.”

“-from House Kundarak,” Greddark finished. He wasn’t here on House business, of course-far from it-but it wouldn’t hurt to let the man believe he was. “So don’t think I’ll be frightened by threats of your House’s wrath. I’d wager Vadalis needs Kundarak a lot more than Kundarak needs Vadalis-at least when it comes to running this little operation.”

Kyrin’s eyes narrowed to green slits.

“Who sent you? Imaradi didn’t have any ties to Kundarak.”

“That you were aware of.”

The man paled. Good. At least he was smart enough to be afraid of facing House justice, even if he held the local authorities in contempt.

“Why don’t you tell me what happened? Everyone knows you and Demodir were after the same girl. Did you decide to take out the competition?”

Kyrin’s jaw flexed, but the man said nothing as Greddark continued.

“Because if that’s what you were trying to do, you should know your job’s not quite finished. Gaida has at least another handful of suitors you’ll need to get rid of. Unless you’re planning on using your pet tiger to take care of them, too?”

Greddark had hoped to goad the handler into a confession, but as an oily smile spread across Kyrin’s features, he realized he’d made a mistake.

“Maybe. But first I’ll have her take care of you.” The dragonmark on d’Vadalis’s shoulder glowed. “Sharihon! Attack!”

A big mistake.

Another growl sounded, this time from above. The tiger, it seemed, was not caged.

Greddark threw himself to the side as the magebred ghost tiger leapt down from the loft, its claws digging into the dirt floor where he had just been. As he rolled to his feet, the black and white-striped tiger wrenched its claws out of the floor, spraying dirt, and turned to face him, baring its preternaturally long teeth.

The big cat advanced, eerily silent now as it slunk toward him, its tail lashing back and forth in anticipation.

“I don’t want to hurt your pet, boy,” Greddark said, unsheathing his alchemy blade and priming it as he backed away from the tiger. With the push of a button, alchemist’s fire would course down grooves in the blade and set it aflame. “Or should I say, King Boranel’s pet?”

He risked a glance over at d’Vadalis, who had run back to the hay to retrieve his own weapon-a longsword, Greddark couldn’t help noticing, and just the right length to have caused the wound that killed Demodir.

He looked back at the ghost tiger-too late!

Sharihon sprang, her front paws landing in the middle of his chest, knocking him to the barn floor with enough force that his blade flew from his hand. On his back and weaponless, he watched as the tiger’s head dipped down toward him, her jaws wide and slavering. His arms free, Greddark waited until she was in range, then cocked his fist and punched the tiger in the mouth as hard as he could. He felt the crunch of breaking bone as teeth shattered. The tiger rocked to the side, momentarily off balance. Greddark used the opportunity to snatch a charm off his bracer. A bell grew in his hand-he could only pray it was the right one.

As the tiger shook her head, showering him with warm blood, and came in for another bite, Greddark shoved the golden bell straight down her throat, slamming it to one side to activate the clapper even as the great cat bit down on his arm, stiletto-like teeth puncturing his flesh.

Greddark felt more than heard the resonating sonic blast that blew out the back of the tiger’s skull, lifting her heavy body off him and propelling her ruined head across the barn, almost taking his arm with it as her jaw clamped down in a paroxysm of death. But he was able to twist his arm, dislodging the sharp teeth just enough that they only scored his forearm to the bone as the skull that bore them flew backward.

Behind the tiger’s head, the bell’s tone had blasted a hole in the side of the barn, taking out one of the support beams. The sound of timbers creaking, breaking, and crashing to the ground almost drowned out Kyrin’s desperate shout.

“Sharihon! No!”

The dwarf climbed slowly to his feet as Kyrin ran over to the tiger’s now headless body, blood still pumping from what was left of her neck. Greddark replaced the bloody charm on his bracelet, wincing with pain as he did so, and removed another, this one shaped like a small silver leech. In his hand, it doubled in size and began to wriggle. He placed it on the ruined flesh of his forearm, where it sought out a severed artery and began repairing the blood vessel. The magical leech would not be able to stop the bleeding completely, but Greddark hoped it would at least reduce the flow enough for him to take care of Kyrin.