Revenge

Taran stretched his neck, straining against the claw touching his delicate skin. He looked to see that Livie had also been immobilized. It was an unexpected turn of events for the nobleman, and he did not like it.

The leader of the abominations was surrounded and had been tricked. Even his own sister had seen it before himself. Taran had been fooled.

"Surrender," he heard Aurora demand, "now."

"No," Taran gritted his teeth.

"You are surrounded. You would choose death over capture?" The Empress stared hard at Taran.

"You will kill me anyway." The man sneered.

Zan spread his hands. "You will get a fair trial..."

"And then lose my head. Either way death is the end result." Taran jerked away from the white wolf suddenly, and Junayd's claw ripped a tear across the man's cheek.

Taran was stronger than the advisor had anticipated, so they both fell forward to the ground. Realizing his error, Junayd quickly scrambled to recapture the prisoner. They stood once again.

Blood streamed down Taran's face. He held a wide, malicious grin.

"I didn't mean to," Junayd panicked. "It was an accident," he told the Empress.

"I know," Aurora furrowed her brow.

The idea of forcing Taran to transform and suffer like his men had been suggested during the meeting in the land of the elves. But the Empress and Emperor decided that it was only going to be used as a last resort in order to subdue the nobleman.

As the man was already apprehended, there was no need to carry through with the threat.

Yet, Taran had forced Junayd to scratch him. The situation was rapidly changing.

"Do you want to be a wolf, Sir Taran? If not, I very much hope you have allowed Dania to make an antidote." Aurora said evenly.

"Why would I want an antidote for greatness? As for a wolf, you should be so lucky." Taran spat at the Empress. The liquid hit the ground, appearing with a strange purple intermixed with the regular clear spittle.

The Empress immediately felt something was off. Although it was still very early in the process, Taran was not experiencing the signs which Devrim and Renat described would happen if he were scratched.

Taran seemed fully in control of his body. He did not seem the least bit concerned or disoriented. The injury was on his face, so a wave of nausea should have been hitting him at any moment.

But Taran stared at her defiantly with a twisted grin. "Something wrong, Your Majesty?"

Aurora didn't answer. Alvar passed the cape back to Zan as both males watched the nobleman carefully. From his cloak, the Chief drew three swords and passed two to the general and the he-elf. Together they formed an impenetrable wall between Aurora and the captured nobleman.

"I have to give you credit for tricking me, Aurora," Taran chuckled darkly, "Though I should not be surprised. The only way you have kept control is by fooling those around you into blindly serving you."

Nurlan flexed his hand on his sword. "We've heard enough."

Junayd tightened his furry arm around Taran's throat, cutting his air supply short. The nobleman strained against the restraint. His skin turned more grey than the Emperor's eyes.

"Your plan would have worked too," he rasped, "If not for one thing…"

His voice fell to barely a whisper.

"I've already transformed."

With a quick nod to Livie, Taran's teeth extended as he bit deep into Junayd's hairy forearm.

"Zan!" Aurora gave the order. In less than a moment, the Chief Councilman pulled a small packet from his cloak, ready to throw it at the unruly Taran.

In it was the last bit of sleeping powder Gandr had from his time with the gnomes. He had held onto it for safe keeping for a time such as this. As he entrusted it to the Guardian before leaving, Zan gripped the pouch with all he had.

Unfortunately, this powder was only meant to be used at short range. Taran was already at that limit, and time was running out.

Zan tossed the powder at the unruly nobleman just as Alvar's wind magic bolstered its range. Taran lurched to one side and the bag hit Junayd in the face as the packet and its contents burst into the air in a cloud of fine dust.

Taran held his breath as the white wolf went limp.

"Junayd!" Aurora was held back by Nurlan from helping the advisor.

As the dust cleared, Taran's nostrils flared. His eyes grew eerily dark as his two pupils grew into pools of darkness. For a moment Aurora thought she might fall into one of the all consuming pits before she blinked. She pulled back from his trance at the last moment.

"Get him!" The Empress ordered the world into action.

Immediately a blinking red ball went flying from a nearby tree.

But no one paid attention to it. All eyes were on the captive. For already something about Taran was different. His angular shoulders had lowered and his overly thick back was stretching out behind him.

'Stretching?' Suddenly Aurora's orders changed. "Watch out!"

Two wings, made of a thin membrane of skin pulled taut over a network of bones, cartilage, and muscles, pushed out of Taran's clothing like a butterfly from a cocoon. They were incredibly long, knocking over the abominations on either side of him as they flexed.

Taran hissed, discarding his shoes as he leapt into the air and flapped his wings. His feet had sharp talons, and without any effort, Taran lifted the bleeding white wolf into the air. Above the trees, Taran screeched a cry of warning.

"We are under attack!"

Arrows flew from the trees at him from every direction narrowly missing both Taran and his prey.

Angrily, he dove and threw the unconscious Junayd at the attacking army before flying away.

The heroes below were so focused on their abducted comrade that they didn't see it for what it was, a feint.

For in their midst, Livie's wings burst forth from her specially made dress as she cast aside her captor. She surged forward directly at the Empress.

Oddly enough, Livie respected the powerful woman, but that did not mean she would let her live. This meeting had been a long time coming.

Livie aimed her sharp teeth right at Aurora's neck. A lust for blood filled her, and she would be satisfied.

Her mouth opened wide as an unnatural screech deafened those surrounding her. That is when something grazed her nose, cutting her soft grey flesh and sending blood into her eyes. She wiped at the wound with her hand, trying to discern what had happened.

Her hypersensitive hearing could now pick up the chattering from the trees. People were talking—and shooting—from above.

She took her eyes off of Aurora for only an instant to observe her attackers when a gust of wind pushed her wings off course. When she had righted herself, the Empress was gone. Alvar had whisked her to safety, leaving a cut on her arm from his sword as he passed.

Infuriated, Livie nearly let the fire in her stomach take over. But years of having to keep her emotions hidden barely kept her from disaster.

Narrowing her eyes, Livie navigated through the trees searching for the missing ruler. Her movements were so seamless that it seemed the trees were the ones shifting around her and not the other way around.

Although this was her first real time flying, it felt as natural as breathing. The creatures she was mimicking were meant to fly, not walk, and her ease of motion now proved why. The lightness she felt with her feet tucked up under her was freeing.

Not that she noticed. Her head was full of hate. When Aurora could not be immediately found, Livie took to the sky and flew above the massive forest and out of the range of the imperial arrows.

They had to be imperial. Any archers Taran had had been left behind with her in Oblivion and lost.

Below, the battle had already begun. Peering through the dense foliage, Livie could see multiple skirmishes were already ongoing, stirring up the dense fog into a frenzy.

They looked like ghosts fighting on a battlefield of snow. How did it all happen so fast?

Other winged humans joined her. They hissed and screeched before looking to the lady for direction.

"Take out the leaders, kill as many as you can. The Empress is here, and likely the Emperor as well. We can end this today!" Livie pointed to where she had last seen Aurora.

In a flash, the winged abominations plummeted toward the ground, ready to shed blood and more. Their teeth itched, and they could think of only one way to relieve the pressure on their minds.

Letting them go, Livie turned her attention to the trees themselves. If she couldn't kill the Empress, she would have to settle for the next best thing.

The archer who had stolen her victory. She dove directly at the tree from where the arrow had come.

Lifting the little menace from her perch, Livie took to the skies to exact her revenge.

The archer would die.