Panthers of Brigantia Shifter Box Set

by Lisa Daniels

  Rosaline did as she was told. Ignacio locked his fingers in hers and closed his eyes. She watched him intently as he began to mumble something in a language she didn’t know. The warmth of his soft hands made it difficult to focus, and she found her eyes drifting to the connection. When he let go, a chill went down her spine.

  “The magic is being drawn from you, and is probably making you feel a little cold. You will start to warm up soon, just give it a few seconds.” His eyes were closed, and as soon as he was done explaining, he returned to muttering in the strange language. Rosaline closed her eyes and listened to his voice. Over time it got harder to hear him, so she opened her eyes. There were thin blue lines stretching as far as she could see to her left and right. The lines stretched out like a grid and ended at Ignacio, who was slowly walking backwards away from her. His words were flowing faster and his voice rose, causing the lines to hum. The assassin took a large step back and pulled his hands back quickly. The blue lines shot past him and moved along into the distance. The entire world looked like it existed on a grid now. Rosaline walked toward a small beach. She could see the lines running out into the water, but they appeared to stop only a few miles from the shore.

  “Now we need to head to the west to see if Orion was right about their location.”

  “Why did we come east if we are going west?”

  “Because the corresponding magic on this side of the country is stronger than on the western side. That is why the druids live on the eastern side, and why your abilities are stronger the further east you go.”

  “Oh, they are making sure that we can see results, but don’t get lazy. We have to work to do magic, but not as hard. I’m glad that it was a little easier for you since you have spent days preparing.”

  Ignacio gave her a mirthless smile, “I’m an assassin, so I don’t use life magic.”

  Rosaline mouth opened a little, “Then… we should have started on the western side.”

  “It was easier to draw your magic out and cut it off when the grid was ready.”

  “But wouldn’t it have taken less time?”

  “No, the process isn’t a quick one, no matter what the base magic.” He began feeling the air in the spaces between the grid.

  “But it would have been easier for you.” Rosaline followed him, passing through the blue lines as they moved.

  “And it would have been painful for you.”

  “If it would have hurt me, then you could have told me. I could have managed it.”

  “I couldn’t have. Ah, here we are.” He wiggled his fingers, then brought them together. Slowly, he spread them apart and a hole began to open in the air in front of them.

  “What is that?” Rosaline wished for a moment that she was brave enough to stick her hand into the space, but she wasn’t.

  “Follow me.” Ignacio stepped into it. She could see him walking away on the other side. Rosaline looked back at the beach and frowned. Taking a deep breath, she stepped through.

  Ignacio was touching some of the lines. This time they ended on land. “Everything past this belongs to our lovely neighbors.”

  “I didn’t know we had neighbors.”

  Ignacio let out short laugh, “I’m not surprised. Please come over here. I need to make sure that it isn’t still drawing from you.”

  Rosaline did as he asked. As she approached him, she noticed that he wouldn't look at her. “Are you mad at me?”

  “No,” his eyes moved to hers for a moment, “not mad. I have never been mad at you, even when you were at your most frustrating.” He moved his hands around her body, and she could feel the movement around her. She closed her eyes for a moment and imagined what would happen if he accidently brushed her. Shocked at the thought, her eyes flew open.

  Rosaline stepped away. “What can I do to help?”

  “Just stay nearby.” Ignacio walked toward the hole and closed it.

  “What was that?”

  “A time hole. Like the ones that the Unwashed used, but one which was completely controlled. I noticed that time is not flowing the same way in different places, and that would explain why. The Unwashed are opening and leaving the holes everywhere. At the moment, Darius and Itzel are destroying a nest in Solona because they have moved past several time holes. What felt like three weeks to them was only about one and a half for us.”

  “Why are they destroying a nest? How do you even know?”

  “Because of Darius’s ability.”

  Rosaline shook her head, “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “And it is not my place to explain it. He saved Itzel and himself, and they will return in less than two weeks.”

  “Will we be done looking for Unwashed by then?”

  “Absolutely. We will be done by the end of tomorrow.”

  “So, we can go home?” Rosaline wasn’t sure that was quite what she wanted, but she knew that Ignacio was acting weird. That made her nervous.

  “No, that isn’t my mission.”

  “We were asked to find out if they have managed to slip into the country. If we find them, we are going to need to get help to eradicate them.”

  “Good idea. I will let you devise the plan.”

  “Okay!” Rosaline sat down at a little picnic table. “It is really nice over here. It is a shame that we don’t spend time here. The fresh air is nice, and the scenery is so beautiful.” Her eyes wandered over the horizon.

  “I’m sure the panther shifters would be happy to hear that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Panther shifters live on this side of the country. They keep the restless neighbors from invading. If they didn’t live here, druids would spend a lot more time at war. Instead, the panthers protect the life the druids have grown accustomed to living.”

  Rosaline watched him for a while. The way he talked was almost robotic, and the druid began to get a feeling about his past. “Did you grow up on this side of the country?”

  “Yes.”

  “Your parents died fighting in one of the wars.”

  “Yes.”

  “Who raised you?”

  “No one person. I was passed around for a while, until I reached an age where I could take care of myself.”

  “How old were you?”

  Ignacio stopped what he was doing and looked over at her, “Why do you want to know?”

  “Because I am curious.”

  He turned back around, “You can ask Orion. I really do not care to relive my past.”

  “Isn’t it good to talk about things if they bother you?”

  “Yes. But I have faced my past, and there is nothing else for me to learn. All it can do is refresh the wounds.”

  Rosaline had lost her father at a young age, but she had always had her mother. Even though her mother was not a high priestess, they never wanted for anything. It was difficult to imagine that someone as capable and competent as Ignacio hadn’t had anyone to guide him.

  “I want to know,” she whispered to her hands, knowing that he could not hear her.

  Rosaline tried to stay busy, getting water for both of them and planning how best to get people to listen to them while Ignacio looked for the Unwashed. The priestesses were going to be furious, but with the threat in their own country, they would have to accept her disregard for the rules.

  As he had said, Ignacio found them the next day in the early morning. “Alright, time to show them that they have overstepped their abilities.”

  “Right. I have a plan to convince them to start sending people to take care of the Unwashed. It might take a bit, and I know that no one is going to listen to me. But if you talk to them, I’ve worked out how we can get people moving within a week.” She smiled at Ignacio.

  “You have done well,” he flashed a smile. “Time to get you back home.”

  “I need to know where they are so that we can send people down to face them.”

  Ignacio simply shook his head.

  “Did you want to tell them? That
is probably best, since they aren’t going to listen to me.”

  Ignacio looked down at her, “Be careful with the path you choose because you can’t undo the past.”

  Rosaline frowned at him for a second, then a thought occurred to her. “Oh, you are going to be sent, too, aren’t you? But you haven’t slept at all in days. You will need to rest up well before you go.”

  He simply patted her on the head, “I can’t open the hole near your home, but it won’t be more than a couple hours’ walk.”

  “Okay. I think we should be alright to walk for a few hours. I won’t ask you to shift because I know you must be tired.”

  “Not particularly.” He held out a hand, “I’ll lead you through.”

  “I’ll follow you. Like last time.” She smiled at him.

  “No, I’m not going.”

  “What do you mean? We have to let them know that the Unwashed are here.”

  “Yes, you do. But my mission does not end with notification.”

  It felt like someone had kicked her in the stomach as Rosaline realized what he meant. “No, Ignacio, I swore to Orion that I would protect you. You have to come back with me and convince them of the problem.”

  Ignacio started to laugh, “Tell the druids that their lands have been invaded? And how long do you think it is going to take them to accept that? Think about how long it took them to agree to send someone to another country after receiving an invitation. Druids don’t do anything quickly, and in this instance, it will get everyone killed. Orion knew the risks, and there is a reason why he knew it had to be me. Assassins work with druids, but that doesn’t mean we trust you, or that we have to do what you say. Now please, step through the portal before I have to force you through it.”

  Rosaline felt something slide down her face, and she brushed it away. “You can’t force me to go back without you. If you did, you would never be allowed back into the druids’ realm.”

  “You mean I wouldn’t be allowed back into that little prison?” His eyes were cold as he looked down at her. “The druids may claim Marlyon, but it is the panther shifters who protect it. We are the ones who manage the people and the problems outside of your little compound. I can live with never stepping foot in that place again.”

  Rosaline was at a loss for words. When she shook her head as he tried to usher her through the hole, Ignacio began to get impatient.

  “There is no reason for you to stay with me. You have no ability to use your own magic, which was the only reason Orion insisted on you coming with me.”

  “You knew that I couldn’t do anything, but you brought me anyway.”

  “I knew that I could use you to create the grid and to make sure I ate. If you weren’t here, I would have skipped meals, which would have slowed me down.”

  “You wanted to have me with you so that you could confess how you felt.” She narrowed her eyes, “Orion gave you a situation where you could say what you wanted to say and then get rid of me if I said no.”

  Ignacio looked away, “I told you that I was being selfish. You were the one who didn’t want to believe me. Now you know, so please step through and go let them know.”

  “No one will arrive in time to help you. Darius isn’t there to tell, and I… don’t believe that any of the druids will do anything for a while.”

  “I don’t need help.”

  “They killed Legend, Ignacio. Legend. You wanted to be a champion because of him, but he lost against the Unwashed. They found and managed to kill Kendra. Both of them had centuries, and they still failed. I swore to Orion, and I’m not going to watch you walk into your own death.”

  Ignacio looked at her, his green eyes much colder than she had ever seen in person. “I will not force you through the hole, but I won’t leave it open for you either.” With a smooth flow of his hand, the hole was closed. He walked toward another small section of the grid.

  Rosaline looked around, “The lines are getting fainter.”

  “They are no longer required.” He stood with his back to her so that she could not see what he was doing.

  Rosaline watched him, wondering what he planned to do. “Are they a long way from here?”

  He shrugged, “Depends on how you define a long way.” Ignacio turned and looked at her. He stretched out his arm, “If you walk that way for a few days, you will return home. You can probably start to use your magic with a little more ease in a day to a day and a half. I broke a couple of the bindings around it, so moving east will make it easy for you to finish removing them if you are willing to accept the consequences. If not,” he licked his lips, “it will only take you an extra year to reach the point in your path where you won’t be able to go back. So you know, I have no intention of dying, so you don’t need to feel guilty if that happens. Farewell, Rosaline.” Before she could move, he fell backward into a small hole that had been behind him. By the time she realized what had happened, he had already closed it.

  “No.” Rosaline’s eyes looked at the place where Ignacio had been until a few seconds ago. “No. No. No!” She ran forward and tried to find any sign of the hole through which he had disappeared. “NO!” she yelled into the air. Rosaline had no idea where he had gone and no way to follow him physically. “This is not what I agreed to. You kept encouraging to do things my way instead of a way that someone else chose, and then you do this!” She clenched her fists, “I don’t accept this path.”

  Lying down on the ground, she forced her mind into a state of rest, which took far longer considering her emotional state. When she was finally able to separate herself from her body, Rosaline looked for Ignacio. It took almost no time at all to find him, and he was already striking down Unwashed with a coldness that seemed surreal. No emotion showed on his face as his blades danced through man after man. As Rosaline drew near, she noticed that he was not entirely unhurt, though. There were cuts in the cloth, but the dark material made it impossible to see any blood. Unable to tell how serious his wounds were, she pulled more of herself out of her body.

  There didn’t seem to be an end to the number of Unwashed. Her head turned to a cave, and she knew that they had managed to create a foothold. “They were able to do it here. The druids were so certain it was impossible. Perhaps they aren’t far beyond the boundary, but they proved that they could do it.”

  The druids had believed that they would be safe, but she knew that they would not act in time. Ignacio had gone in alone to face them and kill as many as he could on his own.

  She felt something flowing down her cheeks, but knew it couldn’t be real tears. Too much of her body was miles away. Stretching out her hand, Rosaline attempted to impede a small group trying to prepare a couple of rows of archers against the assassin. Of course they were prepared for something like an assassin—the Unwashed were in assassin territory. That was what Marlyon really was—it was the panthers’ lands. They let the druids live there, not the other way around.

  The magic seemed to fizzle before anything could happen. Rosaline pushed her consciousness close to them, then tried again. All of the time around them seemed to slow, causing the men to look more like statues than people. “Ugly statues,” she muttered as she tried to figure out how to get rid of them. Adjusting their positions, Rosaline made sure that any of the archers ready to shoot had their weapons pointed at another member of the Unwashed. Of course they could see what they were about to do, but all she had to do was allow time to flow as it was meant to.

  Pulling away from them, she watched as more than half of the archers shot each other. The remaining men were looking for her. She began looking around for other threats to Ignacio. With so many choices, she decided the best thing to do was to try to get near him. If she could slow time around him, he wouldn’t get hurt again.

  Ignacio had managed to make his way close to the cave opening. He shifted and launched himself toward a ledge on the rock over the cave. Arrows tried to hit him, but he was too swift. He managed to reach a tree and climbed to a solid branch. Ro
saline could tell that his injuries were beginning to hurt him as his gait and movements began to show fatigue and pain. He shifted back into his human form and stretched out a hand. With his eyes intent on the mountain, he did not see the men running toward him. One of them notched an arrow and shot it at him. It landed well under his position, but the archer was already notching another one. Suddenly rock around the cave began to shudder. All eyes turned toward it. Rosaline’s eyes moved to his hand, which was slowly closing into a fist. As if in response, the mountain began to crash in on itself, with indents that looked like they were made by large fingers. A sigh echoed around the area right before the entire rock fell into the ground, leaving a crater where it had once been.

  There was a loud shriek from the remaining Unwashed because everything they had done to establish a foothold had been undone.

  Too many of them remained for him to be able to take them all down. Pushing herself as much as possible out of her body, she began to materialize near the base of the tree. The Unwashed knew about Ignacio, but they did not that he wasn’t alone. The first few rushed out of the undergrowth and faced an enraged Rosaline. She had no desire to put them in a time loop or give them a chance to repent. A hot flash shot out of her body and plowed through the men. Unfortunately, the tree was within range. Realizing too late, Rosaline stretched a hand out toward Ignacio, who was plummeting toward a large fire. His fall was broken as she created a large water bubble around, extinguishing the fire as soon as he struck it.

  Rosaline turned her attention back to the next round of Unwashed, starting to peek out from the places where they were when the fire nearly took them.

  “Rosaline!”

  She turned to see Ignacio flying at her. He struck her, pulling her to his body. They stopped rolling on the hard-packed ground. His vision looked unfocused. Rosaline looked down at him, “What’s wrong? Your eyes! Ignacio, what’s—”

  Before she could finish, he reached behind her and shoved her through into the storage space.

  Rosaline froze for a minute, trying to process what had happened. Her subconscious was locked in a strange cosmic storage area while her body lay unconscious miles away. Now that she was more aware of it, every part of her ached.