I walked sluggishly
back to my room, beat and exhausted, ready for one of my many cat
naps. Raf greeted me with the usual sideways glance as he devoted
most of his attention to his latest puzzle book. I crawled under my
bed sheets and didn't say a word. Sleep was great and it helped me
to know that I wouldn't be dragged out at awkward times to go
through another test the Whitecoats had devised. This bed was a
little bit of heaven inside a hell hole.
My dreams varied in
nature most of the time I had good ones …like right now my dream
was pretty harmless. It was a bright sunny afternoon and I had just
arrived from home from school, my backpack laden with books. Well
isn't this pretty…My house…if you asked me about it I could
tell you everything about it...it looked the same it always had. For
an instant I felt like I was home all over again and my current
situation was just a vision that rolled around in my head while I was
in a coma or something. Everything in this dream happened like a
movie, I was living the American dream…that was until my parents
arrived and the dream turned bad. Not right away…it was slow at
first then escalated. My brain played a montage of images that made
no sense. Some were from the present, past, and future and they just
switched places back and forth. It seemed like my subconscious made
up its mind and stopped as they hauled me into Lab 7 for the first
time…kicking, screaming, and cursing…favoring the "f" word.
Everything was new and foreign to me and it was beginning to look
like a bad teen Sci-Fi novel…nothing like this should happen to me?
What did I ever do? Mom? Dad? Where are they? Let me go! I'm not
supposed to be here….I told myself that for a very long time…hoping
against all odds that my parents would be there to bail me out…I'm
not supposed to be here…..I'm not….I"M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE
HERE!
I opened my eyes quickly and sat up with a start. My
headache was at it again and I didn't bother to try and soothe it.
I gripped my sheets tightly, as sharp knocks on the door startled me.
My fur bristled and I growled. Reluctantly I slid out of bed and
answered the door.
"What do you want?" I asked sleepily.
"I
came here to give you your next assignment," Kane said handing the
envelope out to me. I plucked it from her fingers and opened it.
Anxious to get my brain focused on something else.
"Are you
alright?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said wiping away
two small tears that had perched themselves on the corners of my
eyes.
"It's getting to you isn't it?" she asked as I
leafed through the contents.
"What?" I asked distractedly.
"Your job…your line of work?"
"Oh no…I just had a
bad dream, that's all," I replied.
"Do those happen often?"
she asked.
"Nope, not often."
"You mean you don't
dream about the people you capture?"
"No, not really…" I
sighed and leaned in the doorway…looking at the targets photo, then
crossing my arms. "In all honesty…Kane, I don't dream about
them, because I don't really care what happens to them. They're a
job like anything else…it's better if you don't think of them
as individuals or as people for that matter." There was a long
pause and I waited for a rebuttal or a slap in the face, but none
came. Kane gave me a look of disgust and stormed off. I smiled and
looked through the papers and whistled, "Well that shut her up
quick." I closed the door and sighed again throwing the envelope on
my bed and laying on top of it. The room was quieter than usual and I
turned my head to see that Raf wasn't there. His puzzle books were
laying there scattered in all directions. What I told Kane was a lie
just to get her to leave. I think that little bit about me not
thinking of the targets as humans, was a little over the top. But hey
she already thought I was a cold heartless cad anyway.
In
actuality I DID dream about the targets we captured, mostly the ones
that I had some relationship with, like Card. But I didn't let my
work get to me...there was nothing I could do. I had to keep playing
Jeb's sick little game and keep playing and pretending to play
until the very end. I got up, collected the envelope and left the
room in search of Raf. I had a good idea of where he was. So I headed
towards the parking deck on the lower floors. Jeb was right about the
experiments being tougher than anything we had faced and
unfortunately none of them came quietly. This also caused damage to
our lovely vehicle. After our first mission we had gone through
several more cars borrowing them from various labs in the areas we
were stranded in. After our sixth replacement Chase, the happy
eraser, put his foot down and told us that this one was our last car
so if it got destroyed we were going to have to walk from now on. As
I made my way to an elevator I heard some commotion in a hallway not
to far away. I poked me head around the corner. There were several
Erasers at the scene shouting and cursing, an experiment squirming in
their grip. I quickly moved on and made it to the parking deck. Raf's
feet were sticking out from under the car and a bunch of tools were
scattered sloppily beside him. He obviously was never taught
organization. I kicked his shoe and he slid out, his face and claws
were dirty.
"Hello there…have a nice nap?" he asked.
"It
was okay." Raf grabbed a tool and crawled back under.
"What
are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm fixing the car what does it
look like I'm doing. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be
fighting with Kane or something?"
" I guess…but I made her
mad so she left me alone. She came by and dropped off another
assignment envelope."
"Who's our next victim?"
I
pulled out the data sheet and rattled off the details, "Real name,
Sonya Murdock, type…bird kid…specialty …unknown?"
"That's
creepy," Raf remarked.
"Yeah, it was like that time we got
that one experiment…Bones…we never did catch him did we?"
"No,
that was the night, that other experiment was caught," Raf replied.
"Anyways she was last sighted in a town outside of Death
Valley…she's close…that's creepy too. Maybe she has a
personal vendetta with one of the Whitecoats here. To bad we are
going to have too put a stop to it."
"Yeah too bad," Raf
mused.
I sighed and looked at the photo "She's kind of cute."
"Uh huh…" Raf said ignoring me. "That should do it…"
He crawled out and began to clean up.
"Where did you get those
tools?" I asked
"Chase gave them to me."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Why do you care so much about this thing
it's not even yours?"
Raf looked a little hurt, "Because…I
like this car, regardless wither its mine or not. Plus we need a form
of transportation and I will be darned if it breaks down or does
anything funky while we're on the road."
I held up my hands
"Okay, okay, just asking."
Raf snorted "Are you hungry?"
"Yeah…you?"
"Uh huh"
"Alright then let's go
get some food." I said...
After eating and getting a
good night sleep, Raf and I headed for the parking deck first thing
in the morning, to get a jump on our new assignment. Much to our
surprise and my displeasure, Kane was waiting by the car with her
notebook, disdainful stare and travel attire.
"What are you
doing here?" I asked. She turned her nose up at me and kept her
chin high.
"Jeb wants another report…to see how you apply
your new skill," she said her voice taut and airy, with an
underlying layer of restrained malice.
"Okay," I said
shrugging dismissively." Hop in." We drove to the small town
indicated on the information sheet and on the way Raf and I discussed
strategy…which only took about two minutes. We agreed on fighting
Sonya on the ground as much as possible and confronting her head on,
regardless of the number one collector rule: don't make a
scene…because it never worked. Kane was unusually quiet; I guess my
remark earlier really upset her. I would have to make it up to her
some how. Although the thought of doing something for her made me not
even want to try. Raf pulled into a small parking lot and parked.
"Alright, Kane you stay here with the car. One of us will call
you when we need you," I said.
"Make sure to contact me as
soon as you sight the target. Jeb wants a very detailed report,"
Kane said.
"Okay."
Raf and I stepped out and walked
toward the streets." Man you must have said something pretty bad,"
Raf remarked as we walked. "She had the social skills of a clam."
"Yeah…I'll have to apologize to her or something" I mumbled.
"Hey maybe we should set a new record for shortest capture."
Raf
made a smirk, "Yeah."
We stepped onto the sidewalk and the
search ended just as soon as we began when the ground began to shake
beneath our feet……
What a time for an
earthquake, but then again it just comes with the territory. Raf and
I struggled to keep our balance as a large crack lacerated the
asphalt. People were running around screaming with hysteria. I think
we were the stupid ones …just standing there in the middle of the
street. However something was off about this quake. On average
earthquakes don't last very long but this one was going on five
minutes. Suddenly the earth opened up under me. I quickly reached out
and grabbed a chunk of the street, but broke in my hands and I
continued to fall, but I was suddenly stopped as Raf grabbed my arm.
I looked down in the pit bellow. It was dark and I suspected that I
would've gone "crunch" if I had fallen. Then a flash of
movement caught my eye. It was fast what ever it was and big too. Raf
heaved and pulled me up back onto the street.
"You okay?"
"Uh huh," I said looking down into the hole. Then just as
suddenly as it began everything was still and not a person in sight.
"What's wrong?" Raf asked.
"Something's down
there," I said, "Something BIG." The ground wretched in a
single violent jolt, knocking us off our feet, and buildings started
to fall apart. More cracks marred the street and the ground exploded
beneath us, sending us high into the air and then crashing to the
ground. I hit the street hard on my shoulder and rolled. I heard the
sound of screeching metal as Raf grasped a lamp post and slid down
it, claws embedded on either side. Dirt rained down on top of me and
so did a few rocks, fortunately none of them were big. Then the
shaking stopped again. Large clouds of dust fogged up the air making
it difficult to see, but I knew something came out of that explosion.
I shook my self off like a dog and got to my feet. Raf joining me a
few seconds later. I rotated my shoulder …it seemed to be okay. It
was tingling; my special ability was taking affect.
"What—."
"Shh." I said. A low growl could be heard from behind the
shroud of dust and then snorting noises, along with the thick
whooshing sound of something large and heavy, being swung. I
swallowed hard and my worst fears were confirmed as the dust cleared.
"Gozbud," I breathed. He was bigger than I remembered, and he
looked different too, but his eyes and the way he waved his tail was
all the evidence I needed. His skin color was different, muddy green,
patched dark brown. Large spikes pierce his back and huge plates of
hardened skin covered his back, forearms, and shoulders. His hands
and feet were no longer webbed and his claws hard grown to enormous
proportions and looked like they were used specifically for digging
as well as hacking and slashing. Gozbud's head hadn't changed
much and still had the forward facing eyes and crocodilian snout. He
glared at us for a minute his eyes burning with anger.
" PC
it's nice to see you again," he said. I don't know why he said
"nice" because it was evident he didn't look very happy to see
me.
"You escaped?" I said.
"No…someone let me go…"
"Lilac"
" Yeath the she-wolf," he said.
"Why
are you here? Shouldn't you be back east telling everyone you are
okay?"
" I am going to do that, but after I take care of
you," he growled.
"Listen Gozbud, We can talk this out," I
said nervously. Trust me if you were standing there with me in front
of him you wouldn't want to fight him either.
" No we can't
…you killed my brother there is nothing to explain…Lilac made you
confess. You also had me captured and LOOK AT WHAT THEY'VE DONE!"
Gozbud turned and swung his tail. Raf and I dodged it and we watched
as it slammed into a building and demolished it. Good thing there
were no people around. I bet Gozbud created the quake to empty the
area.
"Raf, I need you to do something for me," I said
transforming. "Call Kane…We're going to need her and whatever
you do stay out of this."
"You got it," he said, then ran
off to find a safe spot. I bounded forward and on all fours and
dodged Gozbud's tail a second time, and then clinked to it. Gozbud
whipped it around in the air trying to shake me off. I jumped onto
his shoulders before he could slam me into anything. I barely avoided
being skewered, by his spikes, then sunk my teeth into his skin, but
it didn't draw blood and Gozbud just moaned in annoyance.
Frustrated, I bit down as hard as I could and this time he felt it.
Gozbud roared furiously and grabbed me, his animosity building.
Before I knew it, I was heading straight for his mouth. Desperate, I
grabbed his lower and upper jaw and held them. He roared and tried
tossing his head. I buried my claws into his skin to get a better
grip.
"You're not going….to ….eat…me." I grunted. I
looked into his Gozbud's eyes he was furious. I felt his fingers
begin to tighten around my torso and it was becoming difficult to
breath. "You can squeeze…. me all you …WANT…I'm…not
…letting go." Man his breath was rank, what ever he had been
eating he was eating it raw. Suddenly a chunk of asphalt broke on the
side of his head. Gozbud dropped me and turned angrily on Raf. I
breathed heavily gulping for air. "
PC! GET OUT OF THERE NOW!"
Kane's voice echoed. I moved away quickly as a large net came
whooshed over me head and knocked Gozbud off his feet. Another nifty
piece of equipment that we kept in the car, it was used for larger
experiments and was strong enough to restrain two elephants. I walked
up to Gozbud as he thrashed around in vain.
"Come on, don't
bother," I said. "Nothing has been able to break this net."
"You miserable maggot…nothing can hold me."
"There is
no need to call me names Gozbud…I need you to under stan—." One
of Gozbud's hands wriggled free.
"I understand plenty," he
said maliciously, throwing me like a rag doll, and I slammed into
Raf. Then we watched as Gozbud pulled the net apart with his bare
hands.
"This is not…good," I said stating the obvious, "We
need to get out of here…while we still can."
"I concur."
Raf tensely.
"GOZBUD!" another voice shouted. It was firm and
authoritative. He turned his head angrily and then his expression
softened as a young girl with dark hair dotted with black feathers
walked casually down the road towards us. Mercy? What was she doing
here?...
Today was just full of
surprises…unfortunately none them were good. There was no sign of
our real target and I had feeling we would never even see her. If she
was taking residence in this town, she probably had booked it by now
and I was going to have to hear about it when I returned to the
School empty handed. Gozbud seemed happy to see Mercy…was this a
set up?
Mercy stopped beside him, "Hello Gozbud, I'm glad to
see that you are alright….sort of."
Gozbud growled softly,
"Yes, once I am finished here I plan to return…What about you?
What are you doing here?"
"I would like to know too," I
said crossing my arms over my chest. Mercy smiled at me and pulled
her lighter out and began to play with it in her hands.
"My
business is with you…PC," she said conversationally. This was
definitely odd. Mercy and I didn't really have a close relationship
so for her to expend the time and energy to seek me out was
irregular.
"Is that so," I said.
"Yes…You're a very
hard person to track and I see you have done plenty of damage since
you left the Network."
"I never left the Network…I was
removed."
"That's one clever way of putting it. But no
matter how you say it… the fact remains that you are no longer one
of us and work for Jeb now."
"Let's quit the small talk,
Mercy. What do you want?" I asked impatiently.
She raised an
eyebrow. "I have been charged with getting rid of you."
"Whose
order was that? Reynard's?"
"No" she said calmly, putting
her lighter away and folding her hands in front of her. "It was
Breeaka's." The revelation was startling and I felt a tightness
in my chest. At that instant a part of me just dissolved and for once
I felt even more alone than I had ever felt.
"No! I don't
believe you," I said.
"It's true, PC. I didn't travel
over a thousand miles ON FOOT to tell you a lie…Now I must complete
my mission."
Gozbud snapped, "He's mine. He killed my
brother!"
"GOZBUD!" I shouted. "I didn't kill your
brother."
"You lie! Lilac made you confess!"
"That
was a-a lie," I said.
"RARRRHHH! Another lie and for what to
save your own skin."
"Come on Gozbud! Do you think you
would've had the guts to tell someone that to their face?"
"If
you didn't kill Lyle…than who?"
"It was me," Raf
admitted. "Guilty as charged."
"You?" Gozbud said. "Some
skinny little nobody?" Raf didn't seem to take offense to the
remark and said nothing more. He kept looking at Mercy. I don' know
why. It was like he was trying to figure something out. Mercy seemed
to eye him analytically too.
"It was an accident…Lyle was
never supposed to die that day," I said defensively. "And you
were never supposed to be captured." There was silence. I was
hoping that I was getting through to him.
"I don't believe
you!" Gozbud thundered. "Even if it is true…how can I believe
anything you say…PC you have changed. You're a full fledged
liar…you may not see it but you are just as low as Jeb, perhaps
even worse. You tell lies to protect yourself and you tell lies to
protect the wrong kind of people. You're a hypocrite."
"WHAT-DOES-IT-MATTER!" I shouted angrily. "Your brother is
dead and there is nothing you, I or anyone else here that can change
it! I didn't join the School just because I got bored and decided
to see what it would be like to be a bad guy for a while!"
"I've
heard enough! I kill you and your little friend!" Gozbud roared and
was about to charge forward when Mercy stood in his path. "Out of
my way!"
Mercy cocked her head and narrowed her eyes, her voice
became dark "This is official business now, stay out of it…if it
pleases you …I will let you have what's left of him." Gozbud
looked shaken and slightly afraid of Mercy, who was half his size and
not nearly as strong. He nodded and backed away. A tranquilizer gun
cocked behind me
"Kane, lower your weapon," I said making a
lowering gesture with my hand, not taking my eyes off of Mercy.
Thankfully she listened to me.
"Raf," I whispered.
"Yes?"
"Stay out of this…it could get messy."
"Oh I assure
you, PC it will get messy," Mercy said. She shot here left arm
forward and I felt an unseen force grab my spinal cord. I cried out
and fell to my knees, as it threatened to tear it out of me. I had to
block Mercy out and quick, if not… she was going to pop me like a
zit. The pain escalated as it traveled to my brain. I held my head
and I saw both of Mercy's arms outstretched, her fingers tucked
into tight fists. I held up my hand to Raf, who was about to make a
move.
"Wait," I said my voice strained. The pain was the
first hurdle…it's a powerful deterrent. Gradually, I blocked it
out, telling myself that there was no pain and searched for Mercy's
consciousness that had temporarily merged into my own. Then a mental
tug-of- war began, Mercy's telepathy was incredibly strong. I
growled aloud and gnashed my fanged teeth, it seemed to help. I heard
Mercy start to groan as my resistance grew stronger. Her nails began
to dig into her palms then I let out a feral roar merged with a
shrill bird cry and Mercy screamed in pain, falling backwards. Gozbud
growled menacingly but didn't attack. Then Mercy slowly got up
after a few minutes and she looked very displeased.
"You
telepaths think you're so great…" I said getting to my feet as
well. "You think the world is your toy…well how does it feel to
be beat at your own game?" Mercy coughed and spit up some blood
then wiped her mouth.
"PC…there is more to me than my
telepathy." She suddenly broke into a run, coming at me with
incredible speed and I readied myself to stop her. Mercy grabbed two
chunks of asphalt and hurled them at me expertly. I caught one and
swatted the other away. Before I knew it, she was right on top of me
and unleashed a punishing kick into my stomach. I grunted and slid
back a few feet. Then she was on to me again, coming at me with quick
jabs and kicks. From a distance she didn't look all that animated.
I caught Mercy's leg and pushed her back. She fell to the ground
and took the opening, coming at her on all fours. Then I jumped high
into the air and brought my fist down, which missed her head as she
rolled away. Mercy made a lifting gesture and two huge chunks of
earth rose and came barreling towards me. I ducked from one and got
smacked by the other. She continued to hurl things at me using her
telepathy and I dodged them. Mercy tried getting inside my head
twice, but I effectively barred her from my thoughts. I started
throwing things at Mercy, but she blocked them and sent them right
back at me. Frustrated, I hurled as many objects at her as I could at
once, hoping that while she was distracted with blocking them, I
could get closer to her. BIG mistake! As the projectiles came at her
Mercy didn't bother blocking them like I had hoped and teleported
instead. She instantly appeared behind me and planted her heel in the
side of my face, sending me flying. I tried getting to my feet
quickly to counter, but she had disappeared again.
"You're no
match for me, PC. I'm too quick for you… even if I can't read
your mind or control you." My eyes scanned my surroundings trying
to track her movements. But as soon as I caught a glimpse of her, she
would vanish. I thought I would never say this but,
"Quit
fooling around and fight me!" I snarled.
"As you wish," she
said sweetly. Suddenly a huge chunk of road came falling from the
sky. It fell on top of me and knocked the wind out of me. But this
was no problem; I had been trapped under things worse than this hunk
of asphalt. So I began to push it off when a pain pulsed from my leg.
From what I could see a piece of metal or something had pierced my
calf muscle and had pinned me there. I gently began to push anyway,
but the chunk of road was becoming drastically heavier than it should
have been. Mercy stood over me her hand extended. Little witch, she
was using her powers to make the object heavier than I could lift.
"It's been fun…PC. Just to let you know this isn't anything
personal...It's strictly business."….
Uh…not again! She's got him pinned. What do I do? I know that sounds like a real stupid question. You'd think the answer would be obvious. But there was something about Mercy. Something…familiar. I couldn't quite put my finger on it at the moment, but I knew there was a strange connection between us. Every time I stared at her it felt as if a thousand needles were shoved into my stomach. Who was she? She knew PC and she was about to crush him like an egg. PC grunted as he struggled against Mercy's telepathic power, which held him down.
She's suffocating me ….not only is she using her
telepathy ,she's standing on top of me.
"How does it feel to
get beat at your own game?" Mercy asked mockingly. I couldn't
afford to upset her.
"It's very humbling….what was I
thinking trying to fight you?" A shadow moved not to far away and I
held my breath, had she noticed. Mercy chuckled softly and slammed
her foot on the piece of road that had my leg pierced. I yelped.
"Flattery only gets you so far with me, PC…now that you have
come to your senses. Will you lay down die?"
I shook my head,
"Sorry, I can't do that yet, Mercy." Suddenly, a shard of glass
zipped threw the air and struck Mercy's outstretched arm. She
screamed in pain and surprise then whirled around to face her
attacker. Raf was a few feet away with glass shards flanking him.
"So you want to play with me too? Little nobody?" she said,
picking things up with her mind. Raf snapped the glass to into tinier
pieces.
"I was feeling left out."
Familiar to me
or not I wasn't going to let her kill the only friend I ever had.
If I hadn't known PC for as long as I have, I might've had the
gall to leave, but PC had risked his neck several times for me…so
why not return the favor once again. My wings were aching even though
I never flew with them unless I needed to and that was just as
infrequent…because of the Whitecoat's warning. To prevent me from
giving in to temptation I had wrapped my wings with bandages to keep
them closed. Mercy turned to look at me; she yanked the shard of
glass out of her arm and picked up larger projectiles. I
swallowed…she's scary.
"I was feeling left out," I said
quietly.
"Well then I will be happy to oblige," Mercy said to
me. Instantly she hurled the levitating objects at me. I brought up
the glass quickly to protect myself, as I expected it broke into
smaller piece and I sent them at her. We continued to throwing things
at each other with increasing speed. But it was difficult for me to
dodge the objects that got through my glass shield. Remember I don't
have telepathy, all I have is my glass. As long as there was glass
around I could fight her and have a fair chance of winning. I needed
to get closer though…no one ever won a battle from afar expect
telepaths and people with guns. I ran at Mercy, shards flanking me
and swung my right hand. The glass darted forward swarming like a
bunch of angry hornets. While she was occupied I gained distance and
swung my left. Mercy cried out in surprise as more than hundred a
shards raked across her body. For some reason I didn't have the
heart to run her through with them. Mercy sat there on her knees
panting, scratches and cuts bleeding.
"Are you finished?" I
asked …I didn't want to hurt her.
Mercy gave me a murderous
stare and unsteadily rose, "I take it back… your not a skinny
nobody….You're a stupid nobody." There was the sound of ripping
cloth as two wings erupted from Mercy's back.
"I only keep
these in case of an emergency." NO! Not an air battle. …..Fine…I
have to take a chance. I reached back and pulled the bandages off and
extended my wings.
"So do I," I said. We both took to the
air…..
I told him to stay out
of this….but I would have probably done the same. Now that Raf had
Mercy distracted, I could take care of myself. Slowly I began to left
the hunk of road off of me…I felt my muscles trembling as I
attempted to move it. Kane came to my side.
"PC are you
alright?"
"Help me….get this….thing…off," I said
through my teeth. Kane grabbed a hold and began to push. But it was
still incredibly heavy.
"Alright…alright…Place it down
gently…I need a break." I laid back for a minute panting.
"Is
anything broken?" Kane asked.
"Besides my pride…no."
"Okay, let's try again," she suggested. We tried again
pushing as hard as we could. Suddenly, Gozbud let out a ferocious
roar and came charging at us like a huge tank with teeth. Kane
quickly grabbed the Trapper gun and shot another net at Gozbud.
"Kane!" I shouted irritably. In her move to slow Gozbud down,
she let go of the piece of road and left me to hold it up. My arms
were shaking and my elbows were against the ground. Kane dropped the
Trapper and helped me put it down again. I laid back to pant so more.
"You know that net won't hold him for long," I said. No
sooner had I said it we heard Gozbud rip the net apart.
"Quick
help me get this thing off…Kane…KANE!"
"Give me your
arm," she said.
"What why?"
"Shut your trap and hold
out your arm "she said crossly. I extended my left. Kane took it in
her hands and ran her fingers across it as if searching for a vein. I
cried out as she sunk her teeth into my arm, drawing blood. WHAT WAS
SHE DOING? She let go, just as I yanked my arm away. I looked up at
her confused.
"Are you crazy? What are trying to do!" I
shouted. Kane shakily got up and stood in front of me.
"I'm
protecting you," she said. Gozbud roared and was approaching
quickly. Kane hunched over and began to sway awkwardly, her skin
becoming pale. Then I heard the all too familiar sound of joints
cracking and rearranging themselves. Muscle began to swell under
Kane's skin and she screamed falling on to her knees. Then she
started to grow in size and became more beast like. When the
transformation ended, Kane, if she stood on her hind legs was as tall
as Gozbud and was covered is steely gray fur. She had a wolf's tail
and lion's head…her grey wings were now tuffs of feathers between
her shoulders, her body was lean and muscular and her eyes were
bright orange. Kane looked incredibly lethal and even Gozbud stopped
in his tracks at the very sight of her. She growled at him, her large
canines bared, and ears flat against her skull. Kane paced in front
of me snarling and gnashing her teeth, her tail raised, one of the
wolf's signs of aggression. Gozbud growled back at Kane and swayed
his tail slapping it on the ground, hissing. Kane roared, which
sounded like a variety of animal sounds merged into one, deafening
and intimidating sound.
"You don't scare me, little girl"
Gozbud said. "PC is mine to dispose of." Kane crouched down and
extended her retraceable claws.
"Come and take him from me
then," she said, her voice was deeper and distorted by the growls
in her throat. I felt stupid and very small at this point, trapped
under this mix of concrete and debris. While Kane stood there
guarding me as a ferocious monster of some kind, all that ferocity
and power from my blood. I realized then… that I had horribly
underestimated her……
