by Clayton Wood
“You think so?”
“Yeah,” he confirmed. “Probably just end up looking like a really hairy woman.”
“Ass.”
“But seriously, I felt the same way when my wings were coming in,” Hunter confessed. “I totally freaked out…I even told Xerxes to rip them off.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I thought I’d made a terrible mistake. I just wanted to be me again, and not something else. I was scared shitless.”
She paused, staring at his wings.
“Would you go back?” she asked.
“Not a chance.”
“So you’re happy with them?” she pressed. Hunter smiled.
“Did you see me out there?” he replied.
“So if you had to do it again, you would?”
“Without question,” Hunter confirmed. Still, Sukri looked unconvinced. He put a hand on her shoulder. “Look, I’m still me,” he explained. “And I still have you guys. Yeah, I’m not exactly human anymore, but it doesn’t really matter.”
“Yeah, well you still look human,” Sukri retorted. “I’m gonna look like a cat.”
“And you’ll still be you, right?”
“That’s what Kayla told me,” Sukri admitted. “She said my mind was stronger-willed than my appearance, so they chose wrappings that would be somewhere in-between, so I’d change appearance without getting a cat-brain.”
“Thank god,” Hunter replied. “Cats can be assholes.”
He thought about Charlie then, his own cat back on Earth. She’d been his faithful companion for the last few years, the one creature he’d been able to love unconditionally. The only one that hadn’t let him down.
“I had a cat back on Earth,” he ventured.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I miss her,” he admitted. “Hell, I even miss my dad. He turned into a drunk after Mom went through the Gate. He thought he’d let her die. It…broke him.”
Sukri nodded, not saying anything.
“I blamed him for years,” Hunter mused. “And now I can’t even apologize to him. I can’t tell him that Mom’s still alive.” He sighed, shaking his head. “God, I was such an asshole to him.”
“But you took care of him?”
“Yeah,” he replied. “I guess I was always waiting for him to take care of me for once.”
“That’s what you’ve got us for,” Sukri replied, putting a hand on his shoulder, then slipping it off rather quickly.
“Thanks,” he murmured, forcing a smile.
“You’re welcome.”
“So,” he stated, looking around. “What do we do now?”
“I dunno,” she replied. “Kinda wanted to take off these dressings.”
“I thought…”
“Kayla said I could take them off after a day or two,” Sukri interrupted. “She said since she used the needles, the wrappings didn’t need to stay on longer than that.”
“You used the needles too?”
“Yeah,” Sukri admitted. “Hurt like a bitch. I was really drunk.”
“Well, it’s been what, a day and a half?” he asked. The sun was nearing the horizon, signaling the rapidly approaching sunset.
“Two days,” Sukri corrected.
“Wanna take them off?”
Sukri hesitated, then shook her head.
“Not today,” she replied. “I’d rather do it tomorrow.”
“Nervous?”
“Hell yeah,” she confirmed. He smiled at her.
“I’ll still like you, cat or not,” he declared. “Hell, if you look anything like Kayla, I’ll like you even more.”
“She was hot,” Sukri agreed. Hunter hesitated, eyeing her for a moment.
“Seems like you guys were pretty good friends,” he ventured. “More than friends, actually. That kiss was something else.”
“Yeah,” Sukri murmured. “It’s…complicated.
“How so?”
“Kayla gave me my first out,” Sukri explained. “A way to finally be free of all the shit, you know?”
“By becoming a citizen of the Kingdom of the Deep?”
“Yeah,” she replied. “And she…it was good. She was good to me.”
Hunter didn’t say anything, even though every inch of his being wanted to ask what that meant.
“I don’t know,” Sukri continued. “I mean, a part of me wants to go back. A big part. But I don’t know if I’d just be going back because it’s safe, or because I really want to be there.”
“With her?”
Sukri glanced sidelong at him.
“Yeah,” she admitted. “And it wouldn’t be fair to Kayla if I was just going back because it was safe.” She sighed, kicking a nearby stone. “I’ve spent my whole life trying to be something I’m not. I don’t want to…I can’t do that anymore.”
“Well, I don’t want you to be anything but yourself,” Hunter stated. She grimaced.
“Yeah, well if you really knew me, you wouldn’t say that.”
Hunter put a hand on her shoulder, and she flinched away from his touch.
“Sukri…”
“Forget it,” she muttered.
“But…”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she insisted. “I’m not going to talk about it.”
Hunter sighed, then nodded.
“All right,” he muttered. “Guess we should get back to the caves then.” He hesitated. “Want me to fly you back?”
Sukri glanced at his wings, then his helmet.
“I’ll walk,” she replied.
* * *
By the time they reached the huge cavern that served as the chamber for the queen of the Ironclad, Vi was already there, standing by the edge of the pool talking with Neesha. And there, standing beside Vi…and utterly dwarfing her…was none other than Xerxes.
“Hey bro!” Hunter greeted, breaking away from Sukri and giving the big guy a big hug. “You’re okay!”
“FINE,” Xerxes agreed. He glanced down at Hunter and Sukri. “YOU…GOOD?”
“Yeah,” Hunter replied. “Just fine.”
“SAW…YOU FLY,” Xerxes admitted, raising one pair of arms up as if he were flying himself. “LIKE BIRD.”
“You shoulda seen me today,” Hunter replied with a grin. “I’m getting a whole lot better.”
“What happened to Dio?” Sukri asked. “You kill him?”
Xerxes shook his head.
“HE…FLEE. JUMP…IN RIVER.”
“That’s a long drop,” Hunter ventured. “He probably didn’t survive it.” But Sukri didn’t look convinced.
“Don’t bet on it,” she grumbled.
“We were just discussing our strategy for the upcoming war,” Neesha interjected. Everyone turned to face her. Even with them standing on the cavern floor and her wading in the pool, she was still taller than anyone but Xerxes, whose head was level with hers. “Xerxes will start preparing his troops tomorrow, and we’ll attack the morning after.”
“What’s the plan?” Hunter asked.
“A two-pronged attack,” Vi answered. “We’ll send a small portion of our army to the military base in the Deadlands, and make a real big scene taking it out. That’s the distraction.”
“All the while sending the bulk of our army under the wall around Tykus,” Neesha added. Hunter blinked.
“Under?”
“We’ve been digging tunnels under the Deadlands for weeks,” Neesha explained. “The wall extends ten feet below-ground. We’ve managed to dig below it.”
“So while Tykus is distracted by the attack on the military base – and sends reinforcements to help – the rest of our army will come right out of the ground inside the city, taking it by surprise,” Vi finished.
“But what about the Acropolis?” Sukri interjected. “There’s a wall around that too.”
“DIG,” Xerxes replied.
“Blue’s right,” Vi agreed. “Once we take down everything outside of the Acropolis, we’ll have plenty of time to dig undernea
th the wall.”
“And then we confront Tykus,” Neesha concluded.
“Confront?” Hunter asked. “You mean kill, right?”
“Not necessarily,” Neesha countered. “Tykus and I had an…agreement,” she explained. “He agreed to let my people be, and I agreed not to attack his kingdom. But when he gave the dukes the order to wipe us out, he broke that agreement.”
“Ok…”
“I’ve given him ample time to explain himself,” Neesha continued. “But he hasn’t done so. My only recourse is to attack before the Kingdom does, and face him directly…through Vi.”
Hunter turned to Vi with a questioning look.
“I’m going in under the wall with Xerxes and the second group of Ironclad,” Vi explained. “We’ll storm the Acropolis and I’ll confront Tykus.”
“Why not just have Mom go?” Hunter asked.
“I’m a Legend honey,” Neesha explained. “I can’t risk exposing others to my will.”
“All right,” Hunter conceded. “What do I do?”
“What do you mean?” Mom asked.
“I’m not sitting here while everyone else goes to war,” he clarified, crossing his arms over his chest. “I want to help. I have to help.”
“Hunter…”
“I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer,” he insisted. “The Kingdom screwed me over. It tried to turn me into an addict, then Dominus tried to kill me…and Vi.”
“Remember what I said about revenge,” Vi warned.
“This isn’t about revenge anymore,” Hunter retorted. “It’s about protecting my family from these assholes. And making sure that they never do this to us – or someone like us – ever again.”
“It’s too dangerous,” Neesha countered.
“I can fly,” he reminded her. “I can shoot down archers and take out key targets without having to risk fighting on the ground.”
“You need more practice kiddo,” Vi said.
“I’ll get plenty tomorrow,” he countered. “You can flog me all day.”
“Don’t need permission to do that,” she countered. But she nodded, facing Neesha.
“It’s reasonable,” she admitted. “Hunter’s pretty good. With a little practice, he’d be an asset. And with Zaggie, he’ll be lethal.”
“Fine,” Mom decided. “Have you swallowed your brother’s goo?” she asked Hunter.
“Uh, yeah,” Hunter answered.
“How many times?” Neesha pressed.
“Once.”
Sukri glanced at Xerxes, then at Hunter.
“Something you boys wanna tell me?” she inquired, arching an eyebrow.
“It’s…I’ll tell you later,” Hunter grumbled.
“Do it again,” Neesha ordered. “Vi, continue training Hunter.”
“Anything I can do to help?” Sukri asked.
“You’re not trained up yet, so we’re not putting you in this one, sorry,” Vi answered. “We’ll take off your wrappings tomorrow and I’ll start training you too, but for now, just focus on getting lots of rest. You’re going to need it.”
“All right,” Sukri agreed. Everyone said goodbye to Neesha, and Hunter, Xerxes, Vi, and Sukri began the long journey back to the entrance to the Ironclad lair. They emerged from the cave, passing the Ironclad guards all around them.
Then Sukri froze.
“What?” Hunter asked, stopping beside her. He followed her gaze, spotting someone standing beside a tree to their left. A very familiar woman. Well, cat-woman, anyway.
“Hello Sukri,” Kayla greeted, walking languidly toward them. She stopped in front of Sukri, leaning in and embracing her.
“Kayla!” Sukri exclaimed.
Chapter 25
The next morning, Sukri stood at the top of the hill they’d spent most of the day yesterday on, Vi and Kayla at her side. They watched as Hunter leapt off the top of the hill, flying high into the air. He gained altitude quickly, flying straight, then circling around, flying back toward the white circles Vi had painted on the tree trunks nearby. Each circle had been painted at different heights, and Vi had instructed Hunter to hit all of the targets in one pass. Sukri watched as he soared toward them, feeling a familiar jealousy come over her.
Should’ve picked the bird, she thought for the umpteenth time, watching as he shot arrow after arrow at the trees. He zoomed by overhead, having struck two of the five targets.
“Again!” Vi shouted, watching as Hunter circled around again, dropping to the top of the hill and going to retrieve his arrows. His mother had ordered the Ironclad blacksmith to make Hunter a new breastplate, one that would accommodate his wings. The dull black metal reflected none of the bright sunlight streaming down from the sky; it was designed to make him harder to see at night-time.
“He’s learning quickly,” Kayla noted. The cat-lady had apparently witnessed what had happened at the bridge, and had helped Xerxes track Hunter and Sukri back to the Ironclad lair. She’d offered to stay a while to help Sukri. And, Sukri suspected, to try to convince her to go back to the Kingdom of the Deep to become a citizen there.
“He’s a good student,” Vi agreed. “Now that he knows how to listen.” She turned to Sukri then.
“All right Sukri, time to take off those wrappings.”
“Great,” Sukri muttered. She looked down at her arms, feeling suddenly apprehensive. “You sure we should take them off now?”
“It will be fine,” Kayla reassured. “The transformation will continue now, with or without them.”
“I don’t know…” Sukri mumbled.
“You’re afraid of the unknown,” Vi stated. “And the longer you put off facing your fear, the longer it’ll have power over you.”
Kayla put a furry hand on Sukri’s shoulder, giving her an encouraging smile.
“You can do this,” she insisted.
Sukri sighed, then nodded.
“All right.”
Vi grabbed Sukri’s wrist, then took a dagger from her own belt, sliding the blade across the wrappings covering Sukri’s forearm. Sukri flinched, but the blade cut through her wrappings without touching her skin. Vi unwrapped the wrappings there, exposing Sukri’s forearm.
Sukri’s breath caught in her throat.
Her forearm was beet red, a thick carpet of small gray hairs springing from her flesh. She stared at it, swallowing past a sudden lump in her throat.
Shit.
Vi unwrapped Sukri’s hand next, revealing a furry palm with small pads of skin showing in the center of her palm and on the tips of her fingers. While her fingers had only had three parts to them before – with two joints – now she had an extra joint beyond her fingertips. This was pulled all the way back, nestled within short hairs sprouting from the backs of her fingers, and at the end of each was a long, curved claw.
She stared at her hand, feeling slightly nauseous.
“Damn,” she mumbled.
“You okay?” Vi asked.
“No,” Sukri replied. “Think I’m gonna throw up.”
“Sit,” Vi ordered. Sukri did so, hunching over and staring at the ground. Then she glanced at her exposed hand again.
“Oh god,” Sukri mumbled. “Oh god oh god…”
“Sukri…” Kayla began, but Vi held up a hand to stop her. Vi squatted down in front of Sukri and grabbing her by the shoulders.
“Look at me. Look at me.”
Sukri did so, gazing into Vi’s eyes. She realized she was hyperventilating, and tried to slow her breathing. But the feeling passed quickly, a serene calmness washing over her. It was Vi, Sukri realized; she was absorbing the woman’s emotions.
“That better?” Vi asked with a smile. Sukri nodded. “Good. You’re a sponge for emotion too, just like Hunter,” Vi noted.
“Yeah.”
“This is scary shit,” Vi conceded. “I get it. But you’re going to be okay. You’re going to get through this.”
“Okay.”
“Let’s do the other hand, okay?” Vi prompted. Sukri
nodded, and Vi cut the wrappings at her other forearm, unwrapping them and exposing her other hand. It was identical to the first, complete with the claws at the end. Sukri stared at her hands, turning them over. Then she stretched her fingers out. The fourth section of each finger swung forward, the claws swinging forward and downward with them.
It felt weird.
“Those are some great weapons,” Vi noted. “I’m sure Kayla will teach you how to use them later.”
“Of course,” Kayla confirmed. She knelt beside Sukri, giving her a warm smile. “It gets easier,” she assured her.
Sukri nodded absently, relaxing her hands. Her claws retracted.
“I’m going to unwrap your arms now,” Vi warned.
“Damn it!” came a shout from above. Sukri looked up, seeing Hunter swooping by; three arrows were sticking out of the trees, two having struck their targets, while the third was just above its painted circle. He landed, going to retrieve the arrows.
“Again,” Vi called out, returning her focus to Sukri. She unwrapped Sukri’s arms up to the shoulders, tossing the wrappings aside. Her arms were also beefy red, and were covered with the same thick carpet of hair, so short that they barely protruded from her skin.
“I’m hairy,” Sukri groaned. “I hate hair.”
“And yet you chose a cat,” Vi noted.
“Regretting it now,” Sukri grumbled. Then she glanced at Kayla. “No offense,” she added hastily. Kayla smirked.
“None taken,” she replied. “The in-between stage is always ugly. It will only get better from here.”
“Uh huh.”
“Hey,” Vi interjected, grabbing Sukri by the shoulders. “You’re going to be okay. No matter how you look, you’re still you. You’re not in Tykus anymore. You’re with us. And no matter what, we’ll accept you and support you. Got it?”
Sukri swallowed past a lump in her throat, moisture blurring her vision.
“You sure about that?” she muttered.
Vi frowned at her.
“What’s up?” she asked. Sukri shook her head.
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit,” Vi retorted. “Something’s eating you up inside.”
“I’m fine,” Sukri insisted, trying to pull away from Vi’s grasp. But Vi’s grip was like iron.