Daine awoke the next morning, bleary eyed, to harsh morning sunlight streaming through the window. She groaned and sat up rubbing her eyes. Then she smiled. It would be fair wondrous to have another mission. She had been so busy during the Immortal War, it felt strange to not be busy.
Pulling her clothes on, Daine called to Kitten before launching herself out the window. It was a new tactic Numair had been having her practice. Shifting in the air was slightly more difficult, because she knew if she messed up she would be splat on the ground.
Mere seconds into the freefall, she succeeded in shifting into an elegant golden tailed hawk, Kitten trailing behind her, her small wings outstretched.
Daine smiled to herself. She was proud of how much Kitten had grown in the past few months, even though now she was only able to fly for a few minutes at a time, and it was difficult for her to start without an advanced freefall.
As they were soaring over the palace outskirts, she saw a guard signal to her by raising his hand. She landed behind a pillar, and pulled on the robe that Kitten was clutching in her mouth.
Daine approached the guard.
"Do you have a message for me?" Daine asked him.
He nodded his head, and beckoned for her to come closer. She approached cautiously, trying to get a good look at his face which was shrouded in darkness from the deep cowl of his hood.
Suddenly, Kitten began trilling furiously, and Daine took a hasty step backwards, but not in enough time to get away from the dagger the man suddenly pulled from beneath his cloak.
He still didn't speak as he rushed towards her, the only sound a low and guttural animal noise. Daine reacted quickly, shifting into a strong lynx, before she could pounce, Kitten flew out from behind her into the man's facing, flapping her wings and clawing at his shoulders with her new talons. Daine quickly shifted back and pulled her robe back on, before rushing forward and grabbing some rope from the pocket.
The man lay on the ground, dazed from Kitten's attack. Daine quickly and efficiently bound him up, just as other guards began running towards her.
"Mistress Daine!" one of them shouted. "What is it?"
She quickly told them what had happened, and one of the guards moved towards the man to pull off his hood.
They all gasped when his face was revealed. It was not a man's face at all, but the face of an immortal. An immortal Daine had never seen before. His face and body were human shaped enough, but his skin was black and reptilian, his eyes large bulbous sockets full of dark orbs. He grinned at them, revealing long incisors.
"Who are you?" Daine asked, trying to get a connection with the immortals mind. She struggled, sweat pouring down her face. The thing seemed to be too human for her to communicate.
"My name is Srix, I am an Urk." The thing hissed, it's voice barely human. "We are the most powerful immortal species to ever grace this lowly realm."
"It was you," Daine exclaimed. "You injured the unicorn!"
Srix laughed, his chest shaking despite the restraints around his wrists and ankles. "We will bring about the downfall of this world. It is ours now."
Daine was shaking with rage at this immortal whom had injured the poor unicorn. Before she could react, hurried steps sounded from the pathway behind her.
She turned to see Numair and Alanna, who was here for the King's meeting this afternoon, rushing towards them.
"What happened? What is this thing?" Alanna called, sword already drawn.
One of the guards started to explain to her as Numair rushed towards Daine.
He gripped her cheek with one large hand, his face and eyes taut with concern. "What happened Daine? Are you ok?" He asked, noticing the scratches on her cheek. In one moment his face changed from concern to anger and he whirled to face Srix.
"Did you hurt my wife?" He asked the creature.
Srix laughed again. "My species will hurt you all in time. Not even your precious wife will be safe anymore."
Numair shrugged his wide shoulders. "We'll face you, just like all the other immortals who have caused problems. Guards, take him to the dungeons. The King will want to question him more."
The guards around Alanna started to move, but before they could, Srix lunged sideways towards Daine, so fast he was a blur in the air.
"I will die before I betray the secrets of my clan. And I'm taking this bitch with me." He grabbed Daine's shoulders and launched sideways off the perimeter wall, taking Daine with him.
Daine's scream was lost among the cries of those above. Alanna was yelling something incomprehensible, Kitten was trilling loudly, and Daine could tell she was trying to magic something out of her capabilities. Numair yelled her name with such pain that it caused Daine to focus in the brief seconds of freefall.
The world around her froze. This was just like her dives off the ledge of their room, only now she had to get rid of a heavy seven foot scaled immortal.
Daine acted quickly, transforming her legs into a bears strong hindquarters and kicked, the immortal fell from her grasp at the same time as Numair's black colored magic raced down the face of the wall to knock the immortals face back. He plummeted to the ground with a sickening crunch, propelled by the force of Daine's kick and Numair's magic. This would not be like the time in the Realm of the Gods when Daine fell off the cliff, she could shift here.
It would be a mere second till she hit the ground herself, and she shifted into a brilliant bald eagle, pulling out of the dive with ease and grace. She thought she felt a warm caress around her body, and suddenly she was being hauled back up to the people on the wall. Her eagle body sparkled with Numair's gift, and she knew if she hadn't shifted he would've been just in time to rescue her.
As Daine perched on Numair's shoulder she realized she had almost never seen him or Alanna that livid. Numair was only beaten out by the time he had rescued her from the spidrens.
Numair barely paused to let her land before he was racing off in the direction of the palace. Alanna wasn't far behind, stopping briefly to give the guards orders.
Numair ducked into their rooms, Daine still perched on his shoulder. He left her in the bedroom for the few seconds it would take for her to shift and put on clothes.
When Daine emerged from the bedroom, she was accosted by both Numair and Alanna.
"Come here Daine, I have to heal you," Alanna said, beckoning her forward.
"I'm fair fine really." Daine said. "It was just a few scratches. I gave him a good fight."
Numair stood by solemnly the whole time Alanna was healing her scratches. Daine hated when he got like that sometimes. So much more protective than he needed to be. She saved herself before his gift even had time to intervene.
Finishing, Alanna reassured Daine she would see her later at the King's meeting and exited, with a meaningful glance at Numair.
As soon as the door clicked shut, Numair swept Daine into a tight embrace. "That was so scary," Numair whispered into her ear, stroking her hair. "Never do that again."
"Numair," Daine mumbled into his shoulder. "I didn't do it on purpose!"
He pulled back, staring at her. Surprisingly he chuckled as he led her over to the couch in the sitting room. "You should nap quickly before we have lunch. After a mental scare like that the regenerative properties of a nap are quite effective. One researcher noted-"
He stopped as Daine groaned. "If I take a quick nap will you promise to not tell me what that researcher said?"
He laughed and grabbed a book from the table beside the couch before sitting down.
"I thought I was supposed to nap?" Daine asked, her arms crossed.
Numair simply patted his lap, as a gesture for her to lay her head there. "I'm not letting you out of my sight for the next few days." Noticing her look, he continued. "I know I know, I'm a crazy old badger but you'll just have to get used to me I suppose."
Laughing she laid her head down contently and fell asleep.