She wasn't intimidated- which really could have had something to do with Skye's presence behind her. As nice as these guys had been so far, it was still comforting to boast a sidekick who had tromped Lord Angelo with one seriously lethal hissy fit.
"Kou- Devlyn- lived in this house for months before…the war," Tag said. "It's only been sitting for a short time. There are no spiders."
It didn't take a genius to hear the hesitation in his voice.
Before the war, huh?
Ashlyn glowered. It was difficult for her to decide whether to be angry with them for using her house without her permission, or relieved that they had kept it spider-free in her absence. She chose not to comment at all. "Lead the way, then," she told Kou, jerking her chin towards the basement with as much dignity as she could muster. "But if I follow you down there, I better get some answers."
He turned without another word and started down the steps. Ashlyn had the uneasy feeling that he wasn't very happy with her, but she wasn't exactly in the best mood herself, so it seemed fair enough.
She glanced over her shoulder, making sure that Skye was right behind her before she made her way down the steps. "Hey," she said, skipping two steps at a time to catch up with the Toryn man, "when can I see my dad?"
Kou turned when he reached the bottom of the stairs, moving aside to let her pass. "He's not here," he said.
"Not here?" Ashlyn stumbled forward a little bit as Skye brushed past her to inspect the room. "What do you mean, not here? Not in this house? Not in Toryn? Not on the island?"
"Not in Toryn." Kou motioned for her to take a seat on the circle of mats arranged in the corner, and Ashlyn flopped down gracelessly, too irritated to care about manners and etiquette.
"Okay. I'm getting seriously pissed off here. I have questions, and you're the only man that seems to know the answers, Devlyn," she said, putting emphasis on the name that he had kept hidden from her for the past several days. "So here's how it works. I ask, you respond. Once I'm satisfied, then we can get down to whatever it is you want from me. Not before. Got it?"
He sat in front of her, his face emotionless. "I understand."
Ashlyn was about to spit out the angry retort that was on the edge of her tongue, before she realized that he hadn't even tried to argue with her. Glancing at Skye, who was staring at the huge cage in the center of the room. It wasn’t Ashlyn’s- Kou must have put it there himself.
"Fine," she said to Kou, trying not to show how confused she was by this entire scenario. "What should I call you? Devlyn?"
"My friends call me Kou," he replied.
"Your friends, huh. What's your name? Your real name."
"Koudai Devlyn Lunai, of the clan Lunai," he answered promptly.
"That's a mouthful," Skye muttered.
"Not for a Toryn," Ashlyn told him. "I have eight names."
The look the swordsman gave her said he really didn't care. Ashlyn rolled her eyes.
"What did you mean earlier when you said I wasn't exposed?" she asked Kou.
There was a pause.
"Uh," Kou said eloquently.
"We've recently discovered that specific Toryn bloodlines are immune to the effects of certain stanes," Tag said, leaning back against the door as he folded his arms across his chest. "We haven’t tested this theory on you yet."
"Stanes?" Ashlyn repeated. "Bloodlines? Wait- my dad- is he okay?"
"Yes," Tag said.
"No," Kou said at the same time.
"He is exposed," Tag said firmly, glaring at Kou. "But be assured that he is in good health- the exposure isn't fatal."
"In good health? What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Ashlyn snapped. "If my father is ill, I want to know about it."
"It's not what you think, Ashlyn. Tag and I have been exposed to this magic as well," Kou said. "And as you can see, we're perfectly fine. But we won't be that way forever."
"This is an exposure- more of an addiction- for which there is no cure," Tag said. "We've brought you here because we hope you can help us find one."
Ashlyn narrowed her eyes. "Just tell me what you're talking about."
"I can show you," Tag said, pushing away from the door. He suddenly looked eager, excited. "Here, stand back against the wall. Kou?"
Tag let himself into the cage, latching the door behind him. As Skye and Ashlyn watched, Kou walked over and secured the bolt with a heavy padlock.
"Okay, this is a little creepy," Ashlyn said, laughing nervously. "What are you guys doing?"
"Apparently Tag thinks it might be better for you to see this before you ask any more questions," Kou said. He walked around the cage and stood beside Skye, his mouth set in a grim line.
Tag folded back the sleeve on his right arm, exposing a silver armband bearing a single green stane. He braced his feet about shoulder-width apart and held out his hands, taking a stance that Ashlyn guessed was meant for spell-casting.
"Stand back," he said, grinning at her. In the flickering lamplight it looked more like a sneer than a smile.
Suddenly Tag’s entire body pulsed. He groaned and stumbled to the edge of the cage, falling to his knees.
"Is he okay?" Ashlyn demanded, taking a step forward. Kou reached over and blocked her way with one arm, shaking his head at her and motioning for her to move back again. She complied, giving him a confused look.
Tag screamed and collapsed to the floor, spasms racking his body. The stane in his armband glowed a blinding green, brighter than Skye's eyes, brighter even than Lord Angelo's had been. Tag's skin began to ripple, changing in texture. As Ashlyn looked on in shock, his thick hair began to expand, spreading to engulf his entire head as he twisted and writhed on the stone floor. His clothes strained against muscle, finally tearing at the seams as the pressure proved too much.
"What the hell?" Skye said from beside her. "What the hell is going on?" The bulging muscles beneath Tag's clothes were also covered in a wiry mat of hair. It was dark and coarse, like an animal's.
Tag rolled over and over, banging into one side of the cage and then the other, and Ashlyn could see now that his body wasn't the only thing changing. His mouth, his chin was stretching out into a semblance of a…muzzle?
As she stared, her jaw slack, Tag opened his eyes and looked at her. His eyes, so mellow and dark before, were now the same burning color as the stane that gleamed in his too-tight armband. The animal roared and lunged straight at her, smashing into the bars of the cage with such an unbelievable force that the entire room shuddered around them. Ashlyn started, feeling behind her for the solidity of the wall, and swallowed hard. Now the beast was flinging itself up against the bars, throwing its body mercilessly into the unyielding metal again and again until she could see blood gleaming on its dark fur.
"Stop it!" she yelled, stepping forward. "Tag, stop it! You're hurting yourself!" She put her hand out to reassure him that she wasn't going to hurt him, but all he did was snarl and lunge at her again, jaws snapping.
What she was seeing wasn't plausible Ashlyn recoiled, appalled at the unbelievable horror she was witnessing. Tag was completely unrecognizable now, the fur covering his broad back rippling with muscles that just didn't exist in the human anatomy, his slightly elongated mouth-muzzle curling its lips back in a growl to reveal jagged teeth.
She'd seen some transformation before- when Drake had nearly lost control in the battle against Lord Angelo, and his fangs had alongated, his face twisting into an animalistic snarl. But even as a vampire, Drake still appeared mostly human. This was nothing like that.
Never before had Ashlyn seen the magic of a stane do what she was seeing now. Never had she thought it possible.
She turned to look at Skye, wanting some sort of comfort. His face was white as a sheet. Ashlyn clutched numbly for his hand, not even caring that mere minutes before she had sworn never to touch him again. Apparently he felt the same, because his fingers laced through hers, holding so tightly that his knuckles cracked. Ashlyn wished that the pressure
could be comforting, but all it did was increase the gravity of the situation. She wished that Skye would swallow his fear, reassure her- pretend that watching this earnest Toryn man shape-shift into a bear was not the scariest thing he'd ever seen.
The Tag-creature focused on the both of them standing there, green eyes fierce. The awful sounds he was making were so loud that Ashlyn could barely hear her own thoughts. As much as she wanted to, as shocked and terrified as she was, she couldn't rip her gaze away from his. Those blazing eyes seemed to tear right through her.
She swallowed hard. "Enough," she said, and her voice sounded pitiful even to her own ears, "I've seen enough."
Kou was leaning against the wall, hands braced behind him on the heavy oak. He was staring at his feet, as if he were just as affected by the sight of Tag's transformation as Ashlyn and Skye and didn't even want to watch. At her words, he looked up and nodded. "Go," he said, and moved towards the doorway, motioning for her to go first.
Ashlyn brushed past him and ran up the stairs. She wanted to get as far away from that snarling as she could. There were no footsteps behind her, but she couldn't find the courage to look back and see if Skye was following. As she entered her bedroom, Tag's cries faded some, but not entirely, and suddenly it wasn't enough to be upstairs. Ashlyn turned to leave the house- and bumped into Skye.
"Hey," he said, steadying her with his hand on her shoulder. "Calm down. There's a reason why he showed this to us-"
"What-" Ashlyn choked on the word, and swallowed again, trying to ignore how dry the inside of her mouth was. "What possible reason could he have for making me watch something so terrible?" she cried, voice rasping. "He didn't have to make me- he could have just told me-“
"I'm sorry," Kou said from behind Skye. He was standing at the head of the stairs, although she hadn't seen him ascend. "I should have warned you. I think Tag thought it might be better for you to see it now, so you wouldn't be so shocked if you encountered it…later."
Ashlyn took a deep breath and stepped around Skye, ever-conscious of the weight of his hand remaining on her shoulder as he turned with her. "Later?" she repeated. "I don't ever want anyone to use that kind of magic again. You think it's dangerous? Come on, that's the most potent dark magic I've seen in my life, and I'm taking it to the North Triangle at the first opportunity. I'm going to bury that stupid thing so freaking deep in the planet that no one will ever find it again."
"That won't help you," Kou answered. "Do you honestly think that’s the only one?"
She remained still for a long moment, trying to get a solid grip on the panic that was ricocheting around in her mind. "What are you saying?"
Kou's expression was bleak, impossible to draw any hope from. "This stane is not the only one imbued with that kind of magic."
Silence.
"What you're saying," Ashlyn said slowly, careful not to raise her voice, "is that there's another one of those out there. A shape-shifting stane."
"Who has it?" Skye asked, suddenly all business. Ashlyn's tears had taken him out of his element, but tracking a potential enemy was right up his alley. "Just give me a name, the direction they went- anything. I'll find it and destroy it."
Kou shook his head. "The man who wields it is too powerful to be challenged by a single soldier."
"Then it's a man," Skye said. "Someone from Toryn?" He frowned, staring at the floor and narrowing his eyes, as if he were making a mental catalogue of attributes to file away for later use.
"Yes. But I cannot you tell you anything more about this man until you have heard the story from the beginning," said Kou. "You must understand how grave our situation has become."
"I understand that this magic could be dangerous if it has fallen into the wrong hands," Skye answered.
He moved away from Ashlyn and leaned against one of the support beams running vertically up the wall. The pose he struck was a familiar one to Ashlyn, deceiving in its feigned nonchalance. She'd seen it more than once during their difficult battle with Lord Angelo.
"It's powerful, even for its weakest users,” Skye continued. “It appears to render the spell-caster incapable of human thought or memory. If someone managed to get their hands on this magic- someone who didn't care who they hurt or what they sacrificed- it could be lethal. But if there's only one other stane with this kind of magic, then we can certainly capture the man who has it and prevent it from ever reaching someone who might misuse its power."
"That's not the half of it," Kou said. He seemed uncomfortable now, taken aback at Skye's casual stance in the midst of this dramatic exposition. Ashlyn figured that was probably Skye's intention. It had certainly worked in the past.
Kou glanced around and finally took a seat on one of the mats scattered across the floor, probably wanting to appear just as indifferent as the blond swordsman. "You're correct in your assumption that the magic removes all humanity from the spell-caster. The creatures created with shift retain animalistic instincts and almost nothing else. No logic, and limited memories. All that’s left is rage…and inescapable bloodlust." He paused and drew in a deep breath. "Perhaps you would prefer to sit down for this, Ashlyn."
She really didn't want to, but figured there was probably no harm in it. She sat, abruptly and ungracefully, not bothering to smooth her kimono over her legs so that her knees didn't show. "All right, I'm sitting. Spill."
Kou's eyes were so sad when he looked at her that Ashlyn focused on his eyebrows instead. No use twisting her heart around just to hear his story- and you know, now that she actually thought about it, his eyebrows were way more animated than she would have expected for such a stoic guy. Huh.
"Lord Li discovered shift almost a year ago," Kou began, "in a cave on Na Michico. I was told that he nearly died during the climb. When he realized how weak he had become, he made the decision to find someone to succeed him. But first…before he chose his successor, he had to know that you were truly gone. He offered a reward for any tips leading to your whereabouts." He met Ashlyn's eyes. "Or any proof concerning your death."
"You told him you saw me die," Ashlyn said, remembering what Skye had said that rainy night in Storim. "You lied about my death for the reward."
"Not for the reward!" Kou protested. "I would never lie for credits."
Ashlyn raised her eyebrows. "Then what?"
"I have…" He faltered. "Visions. Of things to come. My mother called it foresight, but I don't know what it is. I've had it since I was a child. I can see things before they happen. Sometimes seconds before- sometimes months- sometimes years. Long before I ever heard about the reward, I saw you in the Heavenly City."
"Being killed by a wolf, I'm guessing," Ashlyn said. She didn't attempt to keep any of the acid out of her tone; none of this psychic stuff had ever appealed to her, and it would take a lot more than some guy telling her it was true to make her believe in it. "At least, that's what I heard."
Kou forced a smile. "It must have been disconcerting.”
The experience of finding out she was widely regarded as dead had actually been less weird than finding out Kou was Devlyn, but the transformation she'd just seen with Tag mattered a lot more than changing names. She simply stared at him now, waiting impatiently for him to continue.
"Yes, by a wolf," he went on quietly. "I didn't know who you were, before. But when I heard the reports inquiring about your death-"
"I'm not buying this," Skye interrupted. "Telling Li that Ashlyn was dead wasn't coincidence. You went to great lengths to make him believe you. You even presented him with Ashlyn's shuriken as proof."
"Yeah!" Ashlyn said, remembering suddenly that the bo shuriken had been missing for years. "Someone stole it from me in Storim. You must have stolen it! You lied- you said you'd never been to Storim before you stowed away on the airship!"
"Calm down," said Kou. He held up his hands in a defensive gesture. "I didn't steal your shuriken, and I certainly never gave it to Lord Li. He took it away from a peddler that came to Toryn. He said he
recognized it as yours. It only served to confirm what I'd already told him."
"A peddler stole my shuriken?" Ashlyn shrieked, jumping to her feet. "He tried to sell it? Did it still have any stanes in it? Did you get it back?”
"I'm trying to finish so you can get some rest, if you would stop interrupting," Kou replied, standing and grabbing her elbow before she fell over. "You're exhausted. Sit down."
She sat. "Okay, fine. Tell the rest of the story. I'll listen."
Kou looked at Skye, who shrugged noncommittally. "All right," he said. "I'll start with my clan. You probably know that the people of Lunai severed ties with all other Toryn clans years ago."
"Right around the time that my dad started turning Toryn into a tourist trap," Ashlyn remembered out loud. "Yours must have been one of those clans who didn't agree with- um…" She bit her lip. "Sorry. Go on."
Kou shifted on the mat, sitting back so he could brace his hands on the floor behind him. It should have made him look more relaxed. Instead he seemed awkward, uncomfortable. "We were virtually cut off from all avenues of communication with the outside world. My clan and I didn't even know you were missing until one of the lesser lords came to us and asked if we had any information. When I told him about my vision, he brought me here." He glanced around, as if he were seeing Ashlyn's home for the first time. "Your father liked me. I was chosen as a potential heir. So I stayed."
That must have been convenient, Ashlyn wanted to say. But she kept her mouth shut.
"It wasn't as easy as I had anticipated," Kou admitted. "I…I was one of many, lost among the other selected potentials and eager to prove myself to the Lords. Elder Lord Li seemed to hold me in great esteem, and I, foolish as I was, tried my utmost to capitalize on his favor." He met Ashlyn's gaze. "He used to tell me that I had your eyes. I think that, even with my power of foresight and the…other reasons I was chosen, he would not have paid me any heed if I did not in some way resemble you. He told me that if you did not return, there could be nothing he would delight in more than allowing me to assume leadership of Toryn."
The Lady of Toryn Anthology (Lady of Toryn trilogy) Page 14