Stand On It

by Jan Stryvant

  "Well after this," Nguvu said with a smile, "we should have a lot of time together again."

  "Poor Sean, we must make sure to drive him crazy for agreeing to this," Mtawala laughed.

  "I wonder if that is why our father picked us for the job?" Nguvu said with a sly grin as they headed off to the parking lot and Nguvu's waiting rental.

  "I wouldn't put it past him!" Mtawala chuckled, "He does seem to like this Sean a fair bit, surprisingly."

  "His grandson, Mallia's boy, the one who infected him, told me that Sean sasses father as much as we do."

  "Ah, so he definitely did this to get even with him!"

  Nguvu laughed, "Come, let's be on our way. I checked the traffic before picking you up. There are a lot of accidents on the road today, so traffic will be heavy."

  "That's not a problem for us, is it? We only have," Mtawala looked at his watch, "four hours?"

  "About that, but it's not too far from here. We'll make it with time to spare."

  "Are they expecting us?"

  Nguvu shrugged as they got to the car, "I didn't call them, did you?"

  Mtawala shook his head, "I don't have their number. Besides, what fun would it be if they were expecting us?"

  "True! What fun indeed?"

  Samis followed Roloff out the gate, the Lyon gate was at the base of Lyon peak, well out of town, the road leading to it being very old and not in the best of condition. But the gate was wide enough for a couple of smaller vehicles and Roloff's men were already checking them out to be sure that they were functioning properly as his Grandmother Robin, his Aunt Valerie, and his cousin Gunter, plus the other healers got out of the golf carts that they'd used to transport them all the way over here.

  "Any word from the scouts you sent out?" Samis asked Roloff.

  "They've spotted a number of mages so far, there are several gathered at each of the key exits they're blocking and at least one at each of the minor exits. I want to get a count on them before I order any attacks, so I know what I'm up against."

  "Well, as a councilor I would urge you to start off with a non-lethal response. Remember, a war is the one thing we're all trying to avoid."

  Roloff nodded, "I know, and I understand. However it does make me uncomfortable that they know all of our regular gates into town. We need to do something to protect them better."

  "As well as relocate some of them," Samis agreed, "just in case we do end up in a war."

  "There is that," Roloff agreed and then checked in with his men using his radio. "Okay, it's clear. Get everyone loaded up. We're going to head north to fifty, then take it west until the cut off for Virginia City."

  "Won't that take us longer than going through Carson?"

  "Traffic's all messed up on five-eighty," Roloff said with a frown.

  "That's not good."

  "No, it's not. I'm going to send two squads with you, just in case."

  "Maybe we should call Claudia and borrow one of her helicopters?" Samis suggested.

  Roloff shook his head, "We don't have any magic users of our own to protect it from any magical or physical attacks, and if they're going to all of this trouble, you can be sure they're not going to hesitate to shoot down a helicopter."

  Samis nodded, Roloff was probably right.

  "Well, let's get going," Samis said and helped his grandmother and aunt into one of the cars, while a couple of the men helped load up all of the stuff she was bringing. Besides her, his aunt, and his cousin, there were three other healers coming along, two of which were just as old as his grandmother.

  Apparently, whatever it was she had to do to Sean, it was going to be very difficult.

  Samis got into the driver's seat as his friend Wilhelm took the passenger seat, while his cousin Gunter also got in the back. Putting the car in gear, Samis let two cars full of warriors pull out first, and then he followed, with the other car of healers falling in behind him, and two more cars with dwarven fighters behind that.

  "How long will it take us to get there?" Grandmother Robin asked from the back seat.

  "Two hours," Samis sighed.

  "That long?"

  "Well we can't go that fast until we get past Virginia City, and then they're saying traffic in Reno is really messed up today."

  "Well, try not to take more than three, we're running out of time here, Son."

  Samis nodded, "I knew we should have brought him back to our place."

  "Yes, you're right. We should have. I think it's time that the council announced just where we stand in all of this, and stop trying to pretend like we're not involved."

  "Old habits die hard, Grandmother."

  "So do old dwarves," she laughed, "but we're not afraid of change, and neither should you. I'll be expecting you to make that clear to them as well."

  Samis smiled, "Yes, Grandmother," and concentrated on his driving. The road they were on now was dirt, and if they went too fast, they'd kick up a dust cloud that would be visible to anyone looking from miles away.

  Things picked up when they got to the highway, but they only went a couple of miles on that before turning north onto a smaller two-lane road. It would take them an hour going this way, to get to five-eighty, but hopefully they'd miss any of the now very suspicious traffic jams that had suddenly sprung up in the last hour.

  Unfortunately, a lot of people had decided to take the same route they had, so by the time the got to five-eight, almost an hour and a half had gone by. Wilhelm was using his radio to talk to the other cars, and his phone to check the traffic.

  "It doesn't look good, Samis," he said looking up from his phone.

  "There are that many accidents?" Samis asked, incredulous.

  "There's a major one just up the road from us, police are directing all of the traffic onto Virginia. I wouldn't even bother getting onto the highway. Traffic gets better in five miles or so, but those five miles are going to be a headache. After that, well we'll figure out a better route as traffic opens up."

  The ambush hit them two miles later. As ambushes go, it wasn't a deadly one, unless you were a tire. Someone dropped several large boxes of screws out onto the road ahead of them, and suddenly everyone had at least one flat tire, if not two.

  "I think it's safe to say that they've seen us," Samis said looking for a safe place to pull over as he started to drive down the side of the road, not giving a damn what he ran over in the process, all of the other cars now following his lead as they made for someplace safe to fix their tires. The last thing he wanted to do was become sniper bait.

  "We're running out of time, Son," Grandmother reminded him.

  "I know, Grandmother, I know...."

  Pulling out his phone, Samis called the compound and got Daelyn on the line.

  "What's wrong, Uncle?"

  "I think they spotted us, we all just hit a bunch of screws dropped in the road, and everyone's got flat tires. Most of our cars, and at least half of the other drivers on the road."

  "Where are you?"

  Samis told her where they were.

  "Damn, you're not really even in Reno yet."

  "No, and the traffic's a mess."

  Daelyn thought a minute, flagging down Roxy who was pacing back and forth, looking about ready to pull her hair out.

  "What?" Roxy asked.

  "I'm gonna send them to the bunker," Daelyn said, holding a hand over the phone so they couldn't hear her.

  "What? That's a half hour from here!"

  "They've been spotted and are running into problems. If we turn them around, send them to the bunker, that'll give us a chance to get Sean down there."

  "And just how are we going to get Sean there, if there are all these people on the road looking for us?"

  "In my car, how else?" Daelyn said looking Roxy in the eye. "They're never going to make it here in time, even with the traffic, most of which is blocked heading north, I can get us there in twenty minutes, and that's taking the long way around."

  Roxy growled but nodded.
>
  "Uncle Samis?" Daelyn said, uncovering the phone.

  "Yes?"

  "Turn around and head to the bunker. I'll let them know you're coming, you'll be safe there."

  "You sure?"

  "Very, now go!"

  Samis turned to Wilhelm as he cut across the stopped traffic and turned south, grimacing as he felt the flat tire shredding on the rim. "Tell everyone we're heading south. There's an old bunker that we're going to set up in."

  "You sure about this?"

  "As sure as any of us can be."

  Roxy grabbed Sean, throwing him over her shoulder and headed out the door at a trot, Daelyn was already firing up the 'cuda. Placing Sean in the back seat, Roxy then climbed into the front seat, the door slamming closed as Daelyn peeled out and headed for the driveway. She was almost to the gate when she saw a late model sedan coming up the road, the plates marking it as a rental.

  "What the hell?" Roxy growled and Daelyn slowed down as the other car suddenly came to a stop, the front doors flying open. Swearing, Daelyn locked up the brakes and slammed the car into reverse.

  "Looks like we're going out the back way!" And turning to look over her shoulder she was just about to punch it when she felt Roxy's hand on her arm.

  "Stop!"

  "What?" Daelyn asked turning her head around, and saw Roxy was pointing.

  "Lions!"

  Roxy looked at the car in front of them and sure enough, there were two lion lycans walking towards them. The guards at the gate were just standing there, gawking as Roxy jumped out of the car.

  "Where the hell have you assholes been!" she screamed at them.

  One of the lions looked at the other and Daelyn could hear him say something about cheetahs and their lack of patience, as the other one nodded and grinned.

  "Did you know they were coming?" Daelyn called out to Roxy.

  "No, but now that they're here, they're gonna catch shit for being late!" Roxy growled.

  "You must be Roxy, Sean's senior wife," one of the lions said, as he walked up to her. "I'm Mtawala, this is my brother Nguvu."

  "Can you save him?" Roxy asked, cutting directly to the point.

  "Of course, that is why we are here. Now, let's go back up to the house, we need to do this out of sight, in private."

  "Meet us up at the house, Dae," Roxy said and closed the door, as Daelyn backed the car back up to the house.

  "Why didn't anyone tell us you were coming?" Roxy growled as she walked with the two of them.

  Mtawala shrugged, "No one can stop us, if they do not know that we're on the way, right brother?"

  Nguvu nodded, "Very much."

  Roxy took the time to look the two of them over. They were both tall, over seven foot, but she could see streaks of gray fur on their muzzles, and even some silver strands in their manes.

  "Where did you come from?"

  "Mtawala came from Santiago," Nguvu said.

  "Nguvu came here from Barcelona."

  "Do you always talk for each other?" Roxy grumbled.

  "Only to annoy our parents," Nguvu laughed.

  "I'm not your parent."

  "No, you're not," Mtawala said.

  "Yet," Nguvu said and they both laughed.

  Roxy growled at the two of them, "We are going to have words when this is done. My mate is dying and I'm in no mood for jokes."

  "We are here now," Mtawala said as they walked up to the car where Daelyn had parked it and Nguvu carefully got Sean's unconscious body out of the back, "everything will be fine."

  Daelyn led them into the house as everybody around just stopped and looked. None of them had ever seen two lions together before, and if you counted Sean, that made three.

  "Who are you?" Louise asked, coming up to them as they came in the door.

  "Ah, you must be Sean's mother," Mtawala said, looking her over as he moved out of the way of Nguvu who followed Roxy to the bedroom.

  Louise nodded.

  "My name is Mtawala, I am a friend of your son. I must say, your son was right, Sampson was an idiot for never making you his," Mtawala smiled, making Louise blush.

  "How do you know my son?" Louise asked, her face now red.

  "We all know each other, Mrs. Valens. We are lions after all, and your son is now the one who leads. Now, if you must excuse me, my brother and I have work to do. It was a pleasure meeting you. Perhaps someday we will meet again."

  Leaving Sean's mother to stare at him, Mtawala joined his brother in the bedroom, where Sean was now laid out on the bed.

  "Everyone, leave us please," Nguvu said.

  "What? That's our husband," Daelyn said, Jolene, Peg, and Cali nodded.

  "And he is our brother. But you must wait outside. This will not take long, but you can not stay here."

  "I'm not leaving," Roxy growled and glared at the two of them.

  Nguvu looked at Mtawala who gave a small nod.

  "Okay, Roxy, you may stay, but the rest of you," and Nguvu pointed to each of them in turn, "Jo, Dae, Peg, Cali, you must go. And go now. We can not wait much longer."

  The four of them blinked. "How did you know our names?" Jolene asked.

  "What one knows," Nguvu smiled.

  "We all know," Mtawala laughed. "Now, out. You are holding us up."

  The four of them took one last look at Sean's unconscious body, and then quickly left the room, Cali closing the door behind her.

  Immediately the two of them began to strip.

  "What are you doing?" Roxy asked.

  "We have to shift, the clothing will just get in the way," Mtawala said.

  "Don't be alarmed at what you are about to see," Nguvu warned. "You've talked to The First, you have an idea of what we are, so don't be upset when this is over."

  "What? What are you going to do?"

  As Roxy watched, the two of them suddenly shifted into their full lion forms, one to either side of Sean, then they put their forepaws on him, one on his head, one on his heart, one on his chest, and one on his stomach.

  "Is there anything I need to do?" Roxy asked.

  Mtawala looked at Nguvu, who shrugged.

  "Convince Jolene to have a couple of lions perhaps?" Mtawala said.

  "Oh, yes," Nguvu nodded with a smile, "she'd make a very good mother. Especially if she had twins."

  "What are you talking about?" Roxy asked.

  "Shall we brother?"

  "Yes, let us begin."

  Roxy watched as they looked into each other's eyes, which suddenly started to glow. As she watched their manes started to rise and fluff out, as if they were both full of static electricity, but rather than sparks, the glow from their eyes started to spread. First their faces, then their heads, then their manes, followed by their bodies.

  Taking a step to the side so she could see their paws more clearly, Roxy noticed that not only were they glowing, but Sean's body was starting to softly glow as well.

  That was when she heard the growling. Looking back at the two lions, their mouths were now open, and light was starting to shine out of their mouths, their eyes were so bright, that it was almost painful to look at them. Looking back at Sean, she could see that his eyes were starting to glow, quickly getting brighter as his body started to twitch and jerk on the bed.

  She was about to step forward and touch him when suddenly both of the lions raised their heads to the ceiling, blindingly bright light pouring out of their open mouths as they roared loudly.

  Roxy put her hands over her ears as the sound filled the room, she could feel the floor vibrating under her feet as everything in the room shook from the volume.

  And then it stopped, the light went out, and the two lions fell over.

  Dead.

  She heard a pained gasp as Sean sucked in a deep breath, and moving to his side, she pushed the body of Mtawala out of the way and looked down at Sean, who was looking up at her, a sad smile on his face.

  "Yes, I fucked up," he gasped, obviously weak, but the hole in his chest was gone, the bullet w
ounds were all healed, as well as the burns on his body.

  Crying Roxy grabbed him and hugged him tight.

  "I'm going to punish the hell out of you," she laughed, and kissed him. "But not until you're better, I promise!"

  "Thanks, Rox. I love you and I'm never going to do that again. The First threatened to do all sorts of nasty things to me if I do."

  "The First?"

  "That's the name of the lion spirit that lives in my head; the one that you figured out and talked to. He's usually pretty nice to me, though we've had words on occasion. He's the one that asked Nguvu and Mtawala to save me."

  Sean sighed and looked at the bodies, "They're both dead, aren't they?"

  Roxy nodded.

  "I thought they were pulling my leg when they told me this would happen."

  "Wait, you knew them? How? You were in a coma?"

  "It's complicated, but apparently I really am a lion, not just infected with one. Which means I get to talk to all of them, not just the one in my head."

  "I'm not sure I understand," Roxy admitted.

  "We can talk about it later, but don't tell the others, okay?"

  Roxy kissed him again, "Okay. What do we do with them?"

  "We'll bury them next to the house. But first, how about helping me up and taking me to the kitchen, I'm starving!"

  "Right after I let the others in so they can enjoy the fact that you're alive my love!"

  Sean smiled, "For them, I can postpone eating. At least a little while," Sean amended as his stomach growled.

  Back in the Saddle

  Sean was just sitting down to eat when Roberta, of all people, came running into the room, robes flying, and started to hug and kiss him.

  "I just heard! Nobody told me!" she shot Roxy a glance, who had the good graces to look embarrassed. "What happened? Are you okay? I thought they said you were dying?"

  Smiling Sean kissed her back.

  "I'm hungry, I need to eat. Let me stuff my face for a few minutes, then we can talk. I'm sure Rox will be happy to answer your questions and render an apology."

  Sean grabbed a sausage on the plate in front of him and stuck it in his mouth then, and keep shoveling food into his mouth, only stopping when he had to switch to a fork. He honestly considered just going full lion for a moment, as then he could eat even faster.