by Michele Hauf
"Yes, but she is also a woman."
"Means nothing."
Instinctually, he knew she was right. Male. Female. It mattered not when matched in battle who was strongest or most skilled. Endurance would see the winner of this fight, and he wasn't sure who possessed it most. He was not full strength thanks to his and Rissa's love making. But after a shift, he always experienced renewed vigor. He hoped it held out.
He wrapped his fingers about the sword that hung on the wall above the doorway. The first sword he'd forged. It was not perfect, nor was it a thing of beauty. Faded leather wrapped the grip. Yet the blade was sharp, and made of iron, a faery's bane. It was all he had. It would serve.
"Please." Rissa rushed to him and put her head against his chest. Kai swung the blade outward to avoid it touching her. His lover's heartbeats fluttered against his, pleading for his resignation in the face of what she must expect his sure death.
He tilted up her chin and kissed her, burnishing her mouth with the intensity of love he felt for her. Marking her as his. The wolf inside him howled. And the man he was would not see this day end with tears in her eyes.
"Wolf!" the faery champion called from outside.
Rissa clung more desperately when he took a step toward the door.
He smoothed a hand down her hair, remembering how he'd initially thought it like a spun candy treat. "Malrick promised your freedom if I defeat Ooghna. It will be done. And you will be mine."
And he walked away from her, and out onto the stones before the stream. The faery champion wielded but the short crystal blade, but Kai suspected she would utilize it in remarkable ways. He'd studied for years with his father, learning the ways of the medieval knight and fashioning those moves into modern methods. Yet he'd never faced an opponent beyond playacting on stage.
This fight would test his mettle.
"Bring it," Kai said.
His sword soughed through the air. The faery cackled at sight of the pitiful weapon. She cracked a wicked grin. “I will take your challenge, wolf.” The Unseelie champion approached Kai at a run.
He gripped the iron sword, not wanting to actually fight a woman. But she wasn't a real woman, he chided his conscious. A faery charged him. So it wasn’t the same. Was it?
Hell, Rissa was as real as they came.
The meeting of swords was unlike anything Kai had experienced in his previous matches. Crystal blade clanged against iron. The weapons screamed as if banshees claiming their dead. A flicker of brilliant light glinted at the connection point.
And the power behind the thrust? Immense. This woman was stronger than any man he’d stood against. Which meant he could not afford to let his guard down.
She was his height and her eyes glowed vibrant violet. Faeries loved the fight, and went at it with vicious acuity. They did not blink to shed blood or ichor. Bending, Kai dodged a return swing of the deadly crystal blade. Yet he had the advantage of distance.
“Rissa's heart will not be yours,” he declared, and swung up his arm to slash the blade under hers. A cut at her elbow sprayed iridescent ichor across the stones. The fairy hissed as iron burned her painfully.
Tracking the slippery ground with ease, the champion managed to slip around behind Kai. He turned and shifted his hip to avoid taking a cut. The move set him off balance, and he managed to turn into his opponent and grip her shoulders. They both went to ground at stream's edge. Water splashed up around them. Her weapon slid across the wet grass.
She laughed, but did not try to escape his clutch. He shook his head, flinging the wet hair from his face. She kicked him off and soared through the air, hovering below the treetops with her reclaimed weapon. Ooghna had the advantage of air and speed and of coming at him from, literally, any angle.
“Well met, fine warrior,” she called, before zooming toward him, her blade aimed for his throat.
***
Rissa winced as she held vigil, watching the two battle it out before the stream. It had been hours since they'd started, and now moonlight beamed upon the stones. The pale illumination glinted in the blood that spilled from Kai's chest, his arm, and the corner of his eye where the faery champion had delivered a bone-crunching fist.
Yet the faery bled as much as her opponent dripped blood. Her body glittered with the spilled ichor, and a gaping wound at her hip seemed to give her trouble, as she limped on that leg when she was not in flight. The iron was weakening her, or so Rissa hoped.
Kai managed to defend himself against air strikes as easily as he did the ones from the ground, but he was also tiring. Most fights lasted a few minutes, maybe ten at the most. Opponents generally tired that quickly, and their wounds weakened them further. If the killing blow had not been delivered or a winner hadn't been determined by now, Rissa couldn't imagine how much longer they could last.
Kai must become the victor so she could truly be his, and not have to worry about draining away his life.
But would it be worth it? He was suffering, straining to stand upright, to swing the heavy sword. He grunted more now with each swing. And the moments between metal-singing clashes were growing longer. Yet neither showed signs of dropping or walking away.
***
Well past midnight, Rissa yawned and settled against the log wall of Kai's house. The combatants stood in the knee-deep stream, their blades clashing intermittently. Since landing on his back and going under the water, Kai had emerged with new vigor. He'd needed that drink and the cold water to re-energize his waning strength. Ooghna's wings were fading and hung down now instead of out and erect.
Rissa nibbled her lip, anticipation keeping her from falling asleep.
"I love you," she whispered to her werewolf warrior, hoping he would hear those heartfelt words and take them into his soul.
By dawn, she wandered to the stones that edged the stream. Across the water the opponents knelt in the long grasses before an oak tree whose massive canopy of leaves hung over the stream. They huffed and groaned from their wounds. Kai's face and chest were streaked with his blood. His blade glistened with ichor.
In a flash of blue, the Unseelie king appeared at Rissa's side, sporting Glamoursiege tilted over one shoulder. "They could go on for eternity."
"Make it stop," she pleaded. "It's not right! They'll both die from exhaustion before they manage to finish off the other."
"I don't wish my champion dead, merely defeated," Malrick said. "I've the eternity such a task might require to wait."
"I do not!"
Rissa grabbed Glamoursiege from Malrick and rushed across the stream. Kai was recovering a swing of the blade, bent forward, his back to her. Ooghna twisted a crooked smirk at Rissa.
Rissa yowled a mighty warrior's cry as she swung the blade across the surprised faery champion's throat. It cut deep, far deeper than she had intended, and toppled the faery's head from her neck.
She dropped the sword in the grass, stunned that she had been capable of such violence.
Not ten feet away, Kai blinked through streams of blood and, swaying, gasped out, "Why?"
"I could not bare it any longer. She needed to die." Rissa stepped back, her heart sinking and her limbs trembling. A glance over her shoulder marked Malrick on the opposite side of the stream. His foul look needed no words. "I just…wanted it over," she whispered.
Seeking her lover's gaze, she saw him nod. Whether or not that was an accepting or admonishing nod, she could not determine. He dropped his weapon into the grass and tilted back his head.
"I love you, Rissa." Kai closed his eyes, his shoulders slumping and his body finally relaxing after an entire day of battle.
The cut of Malrick's wings across Rissa's arm as he settled into the grass beside her hurt little when compared to the ache in her heart. Could Kai accept what she had done? She'd stolen his means to heroism, to saving her. And in turn, she may have just ended her life.
"I am not pleased," Malrick stated in a cool tone.
Rissa shivered, and sensing the need for obeisance, she fell to h
er knees before Malrick. "Forgive me, my liege."
"You've done much to try my patience, Rissa. First the affair with the Summer knight, and now you've destroyed my only champion."
"Leave her alone," Kai muttered. He reached for his blade, but it was apparent he was exhausted and he slapped the grass more than a few times before his fingers finally landed on the blood- and ichor-soaked leather grip. "You got what you wanted, Malrick."
"Did I? I merely wanted my champion defeated. Shamed and humiliated by a common werewolf." Malrick tipped up Rissa's chin and stared hard into her eyes. "Not murdered by one who could never stand an equal to my champion's skills."
"She is equal to my heart," Kai croaked, weak from the fight, "and that is what matters most."
The faery king thrust out an arm, in his hand, Glamoursiege, preparing to dash it toward Rissa. She chirped and closed her eyes, unprepared for such a sudden and rash assassination.
"No!" Kai rose to his feet, shakily assuming a commanding stance with the blade held before him in challenge.
Malrick paused, giving the wolf his regard.
"If you must claim recompense for the loss of your champion, then take my heart," Kai pleaded. "I owe my heart to Faery because, at birth, the promised boon was not fulfilled. And yes, I fell in love with a faery. But if she is not alive for me to love then life will not be worth living."
"No," Rissa gasped as Glamoursiege brightened and Malrick swung it toward Kai. "No, let him live!"
Malrick's black and colored wings shuddered in annoyance. He exhaled and the wings flicked out, once, twice, an angry motion that Rissa felt chill up her spine. The Unseelie king stepped over to Kai. The men stood eye to eye. Her brave, proud werewolf, who stood at grave's edge at this moment, would not show his defeat.
Malrick drew the tip of Glamoursiege up Kai's belly and stopped over his heart. Kai held stoically, yet he glanced to her. "I love you," he said. "My love is real. I know it."
Tears spilled down her eyes. She did not know how to change this, to erase the wrong she had served this valiant man. And the wrong she had served her liege. Ooghna's headless body lay in the grass, her wings shivering as they slowly dissolved with the fading life energy.
About to speak, to beg for her lover's life, her plea was silenced by an angry gesture from the faery king.
Malrick pressed Glamoursiege's tip into Kai's chest. Blood trickled out to purl amongst the drying blood and ichor that painted his chest as if war markings.
"This is a fine blade," Malrick said. "It was created because you were inspired by Faery. So you see…" The faery king glanced over his shoulder at Rissa. "You did do a good thing, my fickle one. And now this fine weapon is mine to wield. I should be less than honorable should I destroy the one involved in its creation, or the one who gifted me such a valuable weapon."
"It wasn't a gift," Kai said. "It was a means to buy me and my sister's freedom."
"True." Malrick's brow quirked. "Do you not now beg for your life, wolf?"
"My life is worth nothing without the woman I love by my side. I'm sorry, Rissa. If I could change things…" He bowed his head, yet suddenly smirked. "I would not. Knowing you has given me the best days of my life."
"Love." Malrick chuckled. "It's always love that wins the day, don't you know?" He flicked the sword tip away from Kai's chest. "So be it. I grant you your life, wolf. And, despite her transgressions against me, I remove her curse. A deal is a deal. I should have been more specific regarding my champion's condition at the end of the fight. Though, I will not allow you to return to Faery, Rissa. Should you, I will hunt you down and take your head as you did Ooghna's head."
She nodded furiously in agreement.
"Very well then. To love!" And with that, Malrick shivered away into the atmosphere, and beyond, to Faery.
Kai's powerful build wobbled, his eyelids blinked, but he managed a smile. Rissa ran into his arms and caught him as his knees buckled and they both went down in the lush summer grass.
Epilogue
The following summer, Rissa kissed the forehead of her newborn baby girl and tickled her belly with the tip of her nose. The infant squealed in delight and her tiny wings, but a few inches in length at her back, fluttered.
"You may be daddy's little girl," Rissa whispered, "but you've got mommy's wings. Let's go out and see what the big bad wolf is up to, shall we?"
Nestling the warm bundle of sweetness against her shoulder, Rissa padded outside, barefoot, and wandered across the thick summer moss and up behind where her husband stood. She stopped twenty paces away, for fear he wouldn't scent her and might swing the sword too close. He'd fashioned a new blade over winter, and this one did not sing, but it did shine like the finest treasure, and he'd inlaid the hilt with a large ruby gifted him by his parents upon their daughter's birth.
He stopped mid-swing, tilting the blade over a shoulder. From behind him, Rissa could see his smile grow. "My two favorite girls," he said with a gesture for her to join him.
"You've been working all day." She nuzzled against his warmth. When he turned to kiss the infant's bald head, the babe's wings fluttered in joy. "You need a break."
"In bed?" he suggested with a waggle of his dark brows.
"Casanova."
"That's me. There's not a woman in this town who has—""What? Tasted your prowess? Ugg."
"No." He kissed her on the mouth. "Who has won my heart like you have. There's only one woman for me, and that's you. Although…"
"Although?"
"I've made room for the newest girl in my life, my sweet Daisy Blu. Are her wings getting bigger?"
"Not sure. She'll be flying in a few months surely."
"Really? We're going to have to babyproof the house in ways I never thought necessary. What if she flies up to the ceiling and won't come down?"
"I'll go up after her," Rissa reassured. "She's going to try her daddy's patience, that's for sure."
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
Wrapping his arms about them both, Kai kissed Rissa deeply, lingering with reverence for the love they had forged. And then he jutted his hips against hers, alluding to the erection that she felt beneath his jeans.
"Want to make another?" he asked.
"I want to make a whole pack with you, my werewolf husband."
"Then we'd best get to work."
"You think making love to me is work?"
"The kind of work a man is happy to do and never complain about. Let me tuck Daisy in for a nap. I'll meet you in the bedroom."
He nestled their daughter in the crook of his arm, carrying her like a football, as he'd been taught during their parenting classes. The big hunk of wolf was a natural with her, and Rissa blinked away a tear at the sight. They'd come together as a means to serve their own selfish desires, and yet, love had something else in mind for the two of them.
No longer were they Faery cursed, but from this day forth they and their children would be Faery blessed.
The End
I hope you've enjoyed Kai and Rissa's story. If you're curious about their parents' struggle to be blessed with children, look for MOONSPUN. As well, read how Blu and Creed initially got together in HER VAMPIRE HUSBAND.
Also Rev and Bree's story is called, CRUEL ENCHANTMENT. All titles can be found at your favorite online retailer.
Stop by michelehauf.com for more info about all my stories.