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AN: This is the most reviews I've ever gotten for a story. Huge thanks to every single one of my reviewers. I hope you all enhoy this chapter.
Rei lifted the lid of his chest, fingers wrapping around the hilt of a sword that lay under several layers of clothing. His father had given him the sword not long after his eighth birthday and had hired someone from the city to train him. He pulled the sword out of the chest, sliding the blade from its sheath with a soft ringing sound.
The scabbard was fine black leather, edged with silver. The pommel of the sword was shaped like a tiger head, fangs bared. The handle was wrapped in leather, providing a grip. The crosstrees were shaped like the tail of a tiger, the blade shining blue in the low light.
The sound of someone entering the tent caused Rei to spin around, his sword lashing out at the intruder. The echo of steel hitting steel echoed through the tent. Kai smirked, his dagger hilt locked with the hilt of Rei's sword. "Be a little more careful next time Rei." The younger shifter blushed and slid his sword back into its scabbard, laying it to rest back in the trunk. "Sorry Kai." Kai sheathed his dagger.
Kai removed his cloak and dropped it on his chest before moving to stand next to his mate. On an impulsive move, Rei rested his head against Kai's shoulder, needing the comfort. Kai wrapped an arm around Rei, drawing him closer. "The mage's army is about three days from here. The scouts returned not to long ago." The neko-jin nodded, golden eyes falling shut. "I'm not ready Kai. I don't want to live with the thought of that army for the next three days."
Mahogany eyes lit up, a plan to help his mate forget for the next several hours. He released Rei and gently pushed him away, fingers stroking lightly along his mate's cheek. "Let me help you forget Rei." Rei's eyes widened slightly, a light flush creeping over his cheeks. "Kai, the others." The slate haired shifter pulled the other shifter close, placing a light kiss on Rei's forehead, nose, a final one on the slightly parted lips. "Who cares."
Kai nibbled at Rei's neck, tongue darting out to lick at the mark on Rei's neck. A moan slipped from Rei's throat and his fingers clenched in his mate's shirt, drawing the older shifter closer. Kai pulled back briefly to pull Rei's shirt off before returning to leaving kisses along Rei's neck and collarbone. Before Rei knew it, he was on bed, Kai's fingers trailing over his sides.
Kai bit down lightly on the lobe of Rei's ear. The neko-jin shuddered, his eyes falling shut. "I love you."
*****
Kai was grateful when the north wind came up. Though it was only mid spring, the sun was beating down on the plains making the day nearly unbearable. With the upcoming battle, people would tire easily, without the added affect of the heat. He heard the grass rustle and found an unwanted smile creeping up.
Rei was kneeling down on the grass, idly drawing designs in a small patch of dirt that was visible. He knew that Rei should be on his feet; waiting for the battle, but Kai didn't want to deny his mate this one small act of innocence. There was a very good chance that it would be Rei's last act. Tala crept up next to Kai and smiled at the neko-jin's antics. "Everything's in order." Kai nodded, mahogany eyes sweeping out to the south. Just barely visible on the horizon was the mage's army, moving at a fast clip.
Rei stood, and turned looking at the assembled shifters. They were standing in somewhat straight lines, though there were small clusters of shifter standing together talking. He was glad to see that the impending war had helped form a relationship between his and Kai's tribes, though he wished that it had happened under peaceful circumstances. A warm hand settled on his shoulder, long fingers, working the muscle in his shoulder.
"How are you doing?" The neko-jin leaned into the soft caress, golden eyes falling half shut. "To be honest Kai, I'm scared shitless. I never thought that I would have to deal with this. My father should be the one leading the White Tigers, not me." Kai, in an unusual show of compassion hugged his mate close, placing a feather light kiss on the tan skin. "I know Rei. None of us ever thought we would have to deal with this."
Tala nodded his head to the south and Kai reluctantly released his mate, turning to face the approaching army. They were a lot closer then they had been five minutes ago. "Bastard used magic to move them." A sharp breath was drawn from somewhere among the gathered shifters. The mage's creations were hideous. They all walked on two legs, though their heads were twisted into the caricatures of common animals. The redhead shifter laughed blue eyes as hard as ice. "This is going to be interesting," he nodded to Kai and Rei. "I hope to see you both after this."
Tala melted back into the shifters, not disrupting the ranks. Kai placed a last kiss on Rei's neck. "Love you.
*****
Kai's toothy grin widened as the creature's crude, chipped dagger bounced off his armored hide, leaving the black and green mottled plate untouched. Clawed fingers dug into the creature's neck, severing the muscle. The creature's head fell to the side, a pitiful gurgling sound coming from the windpipe that was slowly being crushed under the head's sudden weight. Mahogany eyes glowed with battle rage as a second creature attacked him from behind
*****
Rei dodged under the creature's axe, hamstringing the bear like animal with a swipe of his claws. The creature fell to one knee bellowing in rage, lashing out wildly with its axe. The neko-jin stayed just out of range, white fur stained with red though none of it was his own. The bear stumbled forward in an attempt to reach him and Rei sunk his claws in, rending muscle. The axe fell from limp fingers and Rei sunk his fangs in, black blood oozing out of the wounds.
*****
Tyson swooped down and caught the bison creature, pulling it's struggling form into the air with him. He dug his claws into the animal's side, head twisting on its sinuous neck to tear into the creature. Within minutes pieces of the creature were falling to the ground, slightly burned. Tyson folded his wings against his back and plummeted, navy eyes focused on the back of the mage's army, where untold numbers of the enemy stood in a huge group. Flame raked the group, a cloud of black smoke billowing to fill the sky.
*****
Tala staggered back as the club caught him above his eye. The creature in front of him seemed to multiply, along with the club that was rapidly descending again. By the grace of some god, Tala later decided Rahee; he managed to dodge the impending blow. As his vision slowly cleared, he was able to focus and latched onto the creature's leg, breaking bone. Just as he let go, a second blow landed across his back and all went black.
*****
Max jumped forward, sharp teeth digging into the hard flesh that covered the rhino creature's arm. The creature flailed its arm in an effort to remove him, but Max bit deeper, blood trickling to land on the already stained ground. His own fur had lost it's white color and was slowly turning black from all the blood, and was drying on his shell. He landed on the ground, blood stained fangs visible as the creature clutched it's limp arm.
*****
Rei shifted back to human, trying to ignore the heavy stench of blood that hung in the air. He was slammed into from behind and nearly fell. He picked up a dagger from the ground and spun around to find Max and Tyson standing behind him, both of them looking worn and spattered in blood. He lowered the dagger and managed a small smile, glad to see that his friends had lived when so many had fallen. "I'm glad to see that you two survived. I have a favor to ask of you."
Max leaned back against Tyson, the navy haired shifter wrapping an arm around his mate. "What do you need?" Rei ran a hand through his hair, golden eyes focused to the south. "I need you two to gather up the shifters that are uninjured and start cleaning up the bodies. Take the injured to the healers and Shamans, kill any of the wounded creatures and gather our dead to be burned." Tyson and Max nodded and left, quietly talking.
Rei started walking through the battlefield, occasionally stopping to nudge a body with a toe. As he passed each fallen shifter, he murmured a quick prayer, praying to Rahee to watch over his and Kai's tribe. Something caught Rei's eye and he rushed over, the red hair looking familiar. He shifted aside one of the mage's creations, eyes widening.
Tala was sprawled on the ground, a huge bump with a cut visible under the caked blood. Rei hastily searched for Tala's pulse and found it, sighing in relief at the strong beat. Blue white smoke formed next to him, resolving into the form of Wolborg. The wolf licked at the bump of his partner's head, clearing away the blood. The cut started to ooze blood again but Wolborg just nodded. "We can't be sure if the weapons were poisoned. The blood flowing will help clear it out, as will my saliva. I'll take him to the healers."
Rei nodded and watched as the wolf headed towards the healers, his partner's body draped inelegantly over his body like a human cloak. The neko-jin resumed his search, his hopes of finding any other shifters alive rapidly diminishing. By this time he had made it to the ridge that lay to the south of the camp. The bodies were thickest here, their limps bent at odd angles, severed body parts lying on the ground.
Rei turned around, dagger coming out of its sheath in one smooth movement. Golden eyes slid shut in concentration, tiger ears peeping out of disheveled black hair. The sound of rasping breathe came to his ears and something grasped weakly at his leg. He sprang back, eyes searching the blood soaked, body covered ground.
A hand scrabbled against the wet grass, breathe becoming hoarse. "Lord Rei?" Rei moved closer, a gasp escaping. Renal lay on the ground, one arm shattered, lying across his slashed stomach. His right eye was swollen and a cut ran from the crown of his head down under his chin. Rei dropped to his knees, heedless of the blood that soaked onto a second layer of blood.
"Renal." The older shifter smiled slightly, touched by the concern that rested in his leader's voice. Renal knew that he had made life hard for Rei, especially with the matter over Kai. Yet here the younger shifter was, not holding anything against him. Renal coughed, his throat momentarily blocked by blood. "Lord Rei, I want to say that I'm sorry about Lord Kai. You had no choice in your mate. Forgi…." He started to cough again.
Rei rested his hand light on Renal's forehead, brushing back some of the grizzled hair. "You're forgiven Renal. Rest well." Dark eyes slid shut, chest slowly falling still. Rei got to his feet. A warm nose nudged at his hand and he looked over to find Driger standing next to him, green eyes fixed in the distance.
"You need to…" The great tiger was cut off by a sound of a grunt behind them. They turned. Behind them one of the mage's creations was stumbling to its feet, lowing in pain. The cow like animal got to its feet, head swinging back in forth, trying to catch their scent. Black eyes focused on them and it began moving forward in a shuffling manner.
Driger's lips curled back in a silent snarl, four inch fangs bared. He crouched down, muscles tensing like a spring. With a quick soundless movement the tiger slammed into the cow creature, fangs sinking into the creature's neck, snapping the spine. With slow dignified movements Driger got off the creature, pink tongue clearing the black blood off.
"How does it taste Driger?" Rei had to smile. Wolborg was picking his way over the dead bodies, Tala leaning heavily against him. A bandage was wrapped around the older shifter's head, the spot above his eyebrow stained red. "Tala, should you really be up?" The redhead shrugged, fingers tightening in the fur of his partner. "Probably not. I was wondering if you've seen Kai."
Rei shook his head and sheathed his dagger, eyes scanning the plains. He could see the shifters of his and Kai's tribes working together, piling the bodies of the shifters in one pile, for the pyre and the bodies of the magifigures, as the mage's creations had been dubbed, into another pile. Tyson was standing by in dragon form, ready to immolate the bodies.
Tala stood next to Rei, blue eyes glazed slightly with pain. "I don't think he's hurt. Dranzer would have told either Wolborg or Driger. Something's wrong. I wouldn't put it beyond the mage to take him hostage." Rei turned around and headed for the camp, changing as he ran. Driger paced him for several steps before slowly disappearing, green smoke swirling in the wind. Rei came to a stop and slowly shifted back, tears welling in his eyes.
Varie was kneeling on the ground, her mate's dead body clasped to her chest. He knelt down in front of her, drawing her attention to him. "Varie, I need you to look over the tribe's for me. For your cubs. Something's happened to Kai, and I fear if we don't find him this war is going to continue." The older shifter slowly laid her mate back down, long fingers closing staring eyes. She got to her feet and drew Rei up with her. She hugged him close and kissed his forehead. "For my cubs and you. Go find him."
Rei slowly made his way back to where Tala stood. Wolborg, Driger, and Dranzer stood together, conversing quietly. Dranzer stood back and looked his partner's mate over with critical brown eyes. The phoenix nodded once, ruffling his feathers before settling them back down.
"Dranzer, do you know where Kai is?" The phoenix shook his head, eyes dilating briefly. When he spoke his voice held the crackling of fire. "Some where south is all that I can tell you. There are heavy wards that I cannot pass through. You will be forced to follow the blood bond." Without another word Dranzer disappeared in a cloud of red smoke.
Tala handed Rei a small leather bag, the bag clinking as Rei took it in hand. "I figure sleeping out every night wouldn't be good for us. We can stop in towns along the way." The younger shifter nodded and dropped the bag to the ground. His tan skin darkened, becoming the colors of the lesser roc. Tala quickly followed suit. Blue met gold and the two shifters picked the bags of money up. They slowly made their way into the sky, circling several times before heading south.
Driger and Wolborg looked after their partners for several minutes before returning to their own plane for rest and planning.