Sunny - Mona Lisa Blossoming

Dontaine kicked off his shoes, peeled off his socks, and cast a cocky grin my way. "I would hope to change your mind, milady."

"Trust me. This is not the way to do it."

Amber unbuckled his sword, handed it to Aquila, and stepped out of his shoes. "What shall it be, Dontaine?" Amber growled.

"Two-legged form. Upright," Dontaine answered. "I'll even let you keep your dagger, Lord Amber. Non-silver."

Generous of him, but not as much as allowing a silver dagger would have been. Wounds inflicted by a non-silver weapon healed almost magically fast, while wounds made with silver healed human slow.

"Challenger sets the rules," Aquila murmured to me from my left. The others had joined us.

"That doesn't seem fair," I muttered.

Aquila shrugged. "The defender is presumed to be stronger."

Amber drew the dagger Dontaine had allowed him. Light glimmered off the knife's edge and the sharpness, the lethalness of the blade, made me shiver. "They're not allowed to kill each other. Right?"

Silence.

I turned to look squarely, demandingly at Aquila.

"It happens at times, though rarely," Aquila admitted.

I suddenly found it hard to breathe. "What?"

"Where's your dagger, Dontaine?" Amber asked, drawing my attention back to the inner circle.

"I shall not be needing one," Dontaine replied, and a sudden wash of hot energy filled the air. It was similar to what he had done when he had kissed my hand. But more. Much more. Waves of incandescent energy started pouring out from him, and Dontaine's image suddenly wavered slightly, as if a pebble had been cast into a pool of water and was rippling the clear, unblemished surface of his skin. It was like the wind blowing over a field of grass. Like a trick of light that made you want to rub your eyes and make sure that what you were seeing was real. That the sight of bones snapping, stretching, and reshaping was reality. That the image of nerves, tendons, and muscles all glistening wetly was not an unpleasant dream. That the fur suddenly flowing over his skin, and the snout that was slowly distorting Dontaine's face with an obscene crackling of shifting bone was not something in a nightmare.

Dontaine's beautifully tailored dress slacks were beautiful no more as he grew taller and yet taller, the sucking wet sound of muscles and flesh and ligaments stretching and popping, realigning, making me nauseous. The sturdy cloth ripped with a sharp sound and the tattered hems of his pants came up to his calves like little boy's britches, much too small. The top button had popped off and the lower seams had split right up the sides. The zipper, though, was still holding valiantly, sturdy thing.

I'd seen others change into their animal form before. It had been quick, beautiful, and natural. A shimmer of energy and light and it was complete. This was nothing like that. This change was slow, painful, and obscene. A stretching out, slowing down of the process, arresting it in an unnatural state. And the result was monstrous.

The creature—for that was what it was—threw back his head and howled. Pure liquid joy. Something wild freed. A wolf on the hunt, only he wasn't a true wolf. It was as if Dontaine had arrested the transformation halfway to completion so that he stood even taller than Amber, massive in height and weight. Half-beast, half-human. I'd seen something similar once before, but that had been down in Hell. This… this thing that lurched before me was covered with fur, truly more beast than man. He wasn't quite as big, as bad, as ugly as the alternate form the demon dead took, but it was close.

Dontaine's hands abruptly shot out to the side and spasmed briefly. Great hooking claws popped out from the tips of his fingers, making my heart stop.

"Dear God," I breathed. "What is that?"

"Half Change," Gryphon said quietly. "A rare ability."

I remember embracing my beast. I had done so for the very first time a few days ago, loosing the tiger within me that I had caged all my life. I had called it forth to save my brother and when I changed, I had broken free of the demon chains that had bound me. Chains that I could not break free of in my human form. We were stronger in our animal form. And I had a terrible feeling Dontaine was harnessing that greater power in his Half Change state.

With a roar, Amber rushed him. They sprang in the air, flew at each other and met with a stunning, reverberating impact that had to have been felt by everyone there. They thudded to the ground, shaking the earth, lifting dust into the air, rolling, grunting, growling, claws raking, dagger flashing. Blood flowed like thick black liquid under the silvery moonshine and screams of pain rent the night, both Amber's and whatever Dontaine had become.

"Stop it! Make them stop," I said, clutching Gryphon wildly, my eyes on those terrible claws, remembering vividly how with one swipe of claws like that, a demon's head had rolled onto the ground, severed from his body. That was one of the ways to kill a Monère, taking out the head or heart.

"Challenge has been given and accepted." Gryphon's eyes, dark in the night, watched the battle without emotion. "I cannot stop it now."

"He's stronger than Amber, isn't he, in that form?"

"Yes."

"But that's not fair."

"They abide by the rules set."

I wanted to scream. "Can Amber do that?" I asked. "Change halfway?"

"No."

Gryphon might have lied to me in the past, even slept with another. But he'd done so to save my life. In his own way, he was honorable; true blue like the color of his eyes. He followed the rules. I turned to another beside me who was less honorable. One who did not follow the rules set by others.

"Help me," I said to Chami, my chameleon. My assassin.

"What would you have me do, milady?" Chami asked quietly. Before I could speak, he lifted me and carried me swiftly back several yards as Amber and the beast—it was hard to think of him as Dontaine—tumbled mere feet away from us.

This close I could see Amber's heavy bunched-up muscles straining as the wolf man slammed him down into the ground. Both of Amber's wrists were trapped in his grip, pinned, the dagger useless in Amber's right hand. The creature's claws were contained, busy restraining Amber, but he still had another weapon that Amber did not have, not in his human form. The wolf beast snarled, his lips curling back. Blood and other fluids glistened on his wicked, sharp fangs. He lunged with those deadly teeth for Amber's throat and my scream of horror ripped through the air.

With a massive effort, Amber twisted to one side and those sharp, ripping teeth missed, just grazing his skin, leaving a sharp line of blood like a liquid necklace to pool around his thick neck. Another bunching of his muscles, a heavy grunt, and Amber lifted Dontaine just enough to get his feet between them. With a sudden heave from both arms and legs, Amber tossed him off and was on his feet, magically fast. He crouched and sprang after Dontaine.

I gripped Chami's hand urgently. "Help me stop them."

"Do you wish me to kill Dontaine?"

I blinked. "No, I don't want anyone dead. I want to stop them before someone dies."

Chami hesitated. "If you are going to break a rule, it should be done cleanly, completely."

"I don't want you to kill Dontaine, Chami."

He looked at me, his narrow face tight and troubled. "Milady, I do not know how to stop him without killing him."

I blinked my eyes and it was as if I suddenly saw clearly what was before me, like a blind man regaining his vision. Wiry, slender Chami stood before me, a fragile looking creature compared to the monster I was asking him to face. Chami's strength lay in his stealth, in his ability to creep upon his victim undetected. His strength was in killing his prey unseen, not in fighting.