Tian's Guardian [Moon Child Series Book 3]

by Candy Nicks

  Damnation! Why did he have to be so physically attractive? If the Goddess had sent a dwarf with one eye and rotting teeth, this would have been much easier.

  Despite her best intentions, she crept nearer to the hut. No light shone from the window. She sniffed and caught Sol's unique scent, mingled with that of the horses; the more discernable for being new and unfamiliar. No matter how well he hid, she would be able to track him. Sol matched her only in strength. He did not possess the instincts of the wolf.

  She shivered and pulled the coat around her naked body, oddly nervous as she peeked through the window hung with thick squares of glass bartered for at one of the trading fairs. Half expecting to see her mother standing by the stone sink, singing as she cleaned vegetables, Tian's wolf-eyes picked out every detail of the familiar room.

  No ghosts. Only flesh and blood, lying flat out on her mother's bed, one arm dangling from the side, feet hanging from the end. His bare chest rose and fell in deep, even breaths and his unbound hair formed a tangled halo around his head.

  Like the sun in high summer, she thought, fingering her own midnight-black locks. It lent him an air of innocence that belied the well-muscled arm hugging the patchwork quilt to his body. A sword arm, no doubt. Beside the bed lay his blade and the object she'd guessed might be a powered weapon. Next to them lay his boots, huge to match his frame. His image wavered and blurred.

  "Please,” she whispered to the wolf. “Give me sight. I need to see."

  Why? This is dangerous.

  "I'll be careful."

  Now you have seen him, you wish to mate with him?

  "No. No, of course not. I'm merely curious. I've never been this close to a man."

  They're evil, Tian.

  She shook her head. “No, not him. He ... intrigues me."

  The wolf snorted. Pheromones. Nothing more. He wants to mate with you too. Can smell it.

  "I know.” Tian smiled and then checked herself. The physical attraction was undeniable. Why else was she staring wide-eyed and breathless through a darkened window at the sleeping man? No need to deny that when he'd pleasured himself, she'd imagined those hands on her own body, bringing her to the same shuddering climax.

  The wolf is right, she thought and ducked down out of view. This is dangerous and reckless. Flushed cheeks, trembling hands. A liquid longing deep inside. Sol's body spoke to hers with an eloquence that didn't need words and hers was answering with an age-old song.

  Too distracting. It muddled her mind when she needed her instincts clear and sharp. She wanted to go inside. Touch him. Let him touch her. She—

  Run, Tian run.

  What? Too late, she picked up Sol's scent. Heard the pad of bare feet on the wooden deck boards. Before she could scramble upright, a strong hand closed around her wrist and held her in place. A man's voice, low and urgent filtered through the fog of her confusion.

  "Tian, I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Sol. The Goddess sent me. Stay, I need to talk with you."

  She, who could hear the flap of a bird's wing on the high thermals, hadn't heard him coming? The crystal stone—he must be using its magic to cloak himself. Panic-stricken, she glanced at the restraint made by his curled fingers. He'd trapped a strand of his own hair between her skin and his.

  Change, Tian.

  I can't, he'll see me naked.

  "Don't change, please. Stay human. We need to talk."

  "Let me go.” Whipping back her arm, she sent Sol sprawling onto the wooden boards and fled, running with all her might for the shelter of the trees. Behind her, she heard a curse followed by the determined thump and squelch of Sol's footfall on the slippery clay. Without breaking stride, she shed the coat and morphed into her wolf, pouring all of its energy into a sprint that sent it hurtling through the trees with dizzying speed. The man had no hope of gaining. The wolf broke through the wood and stood, quivering, on the edge of a shallow ravine.

  Another curse, Sol's harsh rasping breath. The footsteps slowed and then halted. The man's heart beat with the same frantic tattoo as its own.

  My coat, Tian said from deep inside the wolf. I need my coat.

  Leave it, the wolf warned. Didn't I say he wanted to keep you?

  He frightened me. Up close, he was so ... big.

  But we are stronger. Let us go, he's coming.

  Perhaps I should talk to him. Tell him why I cannot return with him.

  He will take our freedom, Tian. Do you not hear the determination in his voice? Don't trust him.

  "Tian, please talk to me.” The man edged closer. “I've come a long way to find you, Tian. Sent by the Goddess. At least hear me out.” Sol stopped, pushed the hair out of his eyes and raised his hands away from his body to show he carried no weapons. From one finger hung her coat.

  The wolf assessed the chances of clearing the ravine from a standing start. Its back paws groped for the edge sending a shower of stones skittering down the stone walls. Too risky. The ravine's smooth sides would trap it as much as Sol meant to. Curling back its lips, it bared its teeth and growled, low it its throat.

  "You don't scare me,” Sol said, keeping his voice low. “I have no weapons, see. Tian, you're no longer safe. I'm here to offer you my protection."

  The wolf lifted its head. Its eyes flashed a warning.

  Sol placed one foot carefully in front of the other, stepping into a patch of broken moonlight that striped his chest and hair with silver. “I respect your strength, wolf. Tian needs me. Let her speak."

  No, Tian. Hold me forward. I can take him.

  Don't hurt him, Wolf. He means us no harm.

  "Tian, I know your mother taught you the Universal language. Push back the wolf and listen to me. That's all I ask. If you don't wish to go back with me—that's your choice. Please, I've come a long way. A long way...” He offered the coat. “Take it."

  Tian didn't miss the sag of Sol's shoulders. The weary resignation in his tone. His appeal weakened her when she needed to hold firm. Though he represented a threat, a part of her longed for the things Sol offered so openly. A mate. Friendship. A life with others of her kind.

  The revelation startled her as much as the sudden feel of wind ghosting over skin instead of fur. Sol's eyes widened, first in appreciation, then in concern as she fought to keep her wolf forward and attempted to cover her naked body with her hands and hair.

  "Tian, the wolf knows we need to talk. That's why it changed. Remain human."

  "Stay away from me!"

  "You know I'm right,” Sol crooned, his voice low and seductive. “I'm handing you the coat. It's cold. Let's return to the hut."

  "I have nothing to say to you. You're trying to confuse me so I'll go back with you. Wolf, where are you?” The precious balance, the control she needed to synchronise with the creature inside, was all awry.

  Inside her, the wolf spiralled stubbornly away, taking with it the ability to see. Sol's image, the trees and wet mulch under her feet merged into a blur of shadow and moonlight. Momentarily disorientated, she stepped back, her foot hovering over the chasm. Sol's cry of alarm startled her even more. She tumbled over the edge arms flailing wildly, grappling for balance.

  "Change, Tian!"

  Sols’ voice, so near it whispered against her skin. Firm fingers grasped her wrist as she went into freefall and the blurred world see-sawed away from her. First the weight of his body bore her down, then it was below, supporting her. The wolf burst through, every drop of energy poured into self preservation, and sprang. With a sharp scrape of claw against stone it found purchase and leapt from the abyss.

  A woman again, Tian lay panting on the edge of the ravine, the skin of her thigh scraped raw by the rough scratch of stone against flesh. The sound of her own heart pumping fit to burst, hammering in her ears.

  What of Sol? He'd leapt to save her. Where was he? She sat up and squinted her eyes, trying to determine which of the moving shapes were man and which were merely tree branches blown by the wind. The air reeked with the scent of
panic and fear, both his and hers.

  "Sol?” She called out, hoping the wolf hadn't hurt him. It had all happened so fast. She remembered hovering on the air, then something solid beneath her. A springboard for the wolf made with Sol's body?

  Oh no. What have we done?

  Her heart slowed and the ringing in her ears died down to be replaced by the familiar sounds of the night. The swish of birds on the wing, the leaves whispering in the breeze. Of Sol, no sound.

  He's gone, Tian. We go now. Quickly.

  "Have I killed him?” The quaver in her voice surprised her. After years of believing she would kill without remorse, the thought that she might have taken a life, sickened her.

  "Goddess,” she whispered. “Is he dead? Guide me. I don't know what to do."

  Search your heart, child. I sent Sol to help you find yourself. He will do that.

  "He lives?” Drained to the core, she flopped backwards onto the damp earth. She hadn't taken a human life. Thank the heavens.

  His life is in your hands, child. Only when we are tested to the limit, do we see our true worth. I would have you find yours.

  Go, Tian, the wolf said. He cannot follow. Leave him for the crows to pick clean. By spring, he will be nothing more than a memory.

  "Goddess?"

  Nothing more.

  Should she grab this opportunity and become the wolf? A human life held only uncertainty. Better a simple life on the mountain than a life spent navigating the tangled paths humans insisted on walking.

  Tian reached for the discarded coat, calm now and in possession of the wolf's sight. In the dark depths of the ravine, wedged into the V of the crevasse, she made out the unmoving shape of a man. Waiting for her to decide whether he would live or die.

  So this is what it meant to be human? The wolf would gladly leave him to rot. She could not. To wilfully allow such a brave soul to die alone and in pain was an unforgivable sin. He'd offered his life for hers. She could do no less than offer it back to him.

  "I'm sorry, Wolf. I cannot leave him to die. You must understand."

  If you save him, he will keep you. Take you away from all this. The wolf let out a sigh of resignation. Choose wisely, Tian. What you start, you must finish.

  She nodded. “I know. And I need you with me. I cannot do this without you."

  Begging the Goddess's pardon—I do not approve of this. I will not help.

  "I will compromise. We will save him then I promise we will leave on your terms."

  Tian studied Sol's still form with the sharp clarity of her wolf's eyes. A bright splash of crimson stained his pale hair. One arm bent back at an unnatural angle. With her wolf senses, she made out the slow thud of Sol's heart and a steady pulse of blood pumping from the wound. The walls of the ravine were polished smooth by millennia of ice and woefully bereft of footholds. Perhaps if she found a rope?

  "Lend me your strength, Wolf. He's too heavy for a mere woman."

  Do it, the wolf replied without hesitation. Send him home to his family and then we live as wolf. It's a good plan.

  "Yes, a good plan,” she said, absently. “A good plan."

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  Chapter 3

  Now, he knew the true meaning of the expression, leap of faith. With little more than a prayer as his safety net, he'd either just done the most noble or the most stupid thing. Awareness crept back as each part of his body came painfully to life. While he rode out the shock, he took stock.

  First a prayer of thanks that, when tested, he'd offered his life to the cause of the Lupines without hesitation. That only he now lay jammed between the rocks at the bottom of a ravine meant Tian had survived. If the Goddess required him to lie here until he bled, or starved to death, so be it.

  He managed a short laugh that ended in a groan of pain. Brave to the point of foolishness, yes. Martyr, no. When the shock wore off, he would assess the damage and then attempt to drag himself out of this hole.

  Warm liquid drizzled over his face and into his eye. He blinked it away and stared up at the patch of grey that he supposed was the sky. Too dark to know how far he'd fallen. The pain in his head settled to a dull throb, echoing the insistent stabbing in the dislocated shoulder-joint. Isolating the pain, acknowledging it, helped him to control it. He listened to each part of his body in turn. Cuts and bruises, the skin of his fingers torn away when he'd grabbed at a ledge to break his fall. Lacerations to his bare chest and back.

  "Sol?"

  A woman's voice drifted from the heavens. How on earth had his mother found him so quickly?

  "Sol?"

  He heard it again, louder this time and twisted his head, squinting frantically into the gloom. Not his mother. Had Tian fallen after all? Were they destined to die together?

  "Tian?” His voice sounded loud in the confined space. Braced on his good arm, he forced himself into a kneeling position and tipped back his head, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. “Tian? Where are you? Tell me you're all right."

  "Oh, thank the Goddess. Sol, I'm up here. I will get you out."

  He added his own prayer of thanks that Tian had been spared and slumped against the sloping rock. Now he recalled that wonderful moment of weightlessness, when the two of them hung, suspended by nothing but air. The force of the wolf pushing him to his doom as it sprang towards life was something he would never forget.

  "Be careful, Tian."

  "Stop worrying about me. How badly are you hurt?"

  "My head and my shoulder. Tian. Nothing serious. I'm sorry I scared you."

  "Rest. I smell blood. Try to stop the bleeding while I find a way to get you out."

  "Thank you."

  He pressed a hand to the wound on his temple, relieved to find the bone solid beneath his palm. “Thank you,” he murmured again, this time not to Tian. The Goddess moved in sometimes puzzling ways, often taking whole lifetimes to reveal her grander plans. Painful though the lesson was for him, forcing Tian to stay in touch with her human side was the best way through to her.

  Instead of attempting the climb himself, he hunkered down and closed his eyes. Meditation would lessen the pain, perhaps slow the bleeding. Time to take another leap of faith and put himself into Tian's hands. Let her actions measure his worth. The Moon-Child in him tempered the inflexible warrior stance of the Eagle, showing him how subtlety could be as effective as direct action.

  A shower of stones raced past his head and pinged off the rock. If Tian could learn for herself that the world held people worth caring about, a dislocated shoulder and a cracked head were a small price to pay.

  * * * *

  The wolf refused to attempt the climb.

  You want to save him, Tian. Not me.

  "We had a deal. At least give me sight. If I can't see properly, I'll fall and we'll all die."

  This was new. The relationship with her wolf was as natural as breathing. One flowing from the other and back without thought or hesitation. This unfamiliar battle of wills unnerved her.

  "Please,” she said. “I promised you freedom and I will keep my word. We must save him first. Do you understand?"

  The wolf crept forward. With the hot glow of its amber eyes, the night came sharply into focus along with every smell, every sound from the wind in the trees to the smallest creature scurrying across the forest floor. She listened again for Sol's heartbeat. Strong and solid, now the panic was subsiding. She'd expected rage, a display of manly strength as he dragged his wounded body out of the hole. His quiet acceptance made her regard him with new respect. She would not have relinquished control to an unknown so easily.

  He crouched near to where he'd landed, his bright hair a beacon in the shady depths.

  "Tian,” she heard him call. “I can't climb with this dislocated shoulder. I trust you'll find a way to get me out of here."

  Trust? Only a fool put his trust in a complete stranger. Or one with extraordinary insight? The thought made her hesitate.

  He may be badly hurt and
want you down there to die with him. He says he trusts you, but can we trust his word? We don't know him, Tian.

  "I'm going back to the hut for a rope,” she called down. “Wait for me."

  Sol's laugh drifted out of the void. “Not planning on straying far."

  Tian frowned. A jest? She raced back to the hut, coat flapping open, bare feet skidding over rotting leaves and mud. In her flight from Sol, she'd discarded her boots. She made a mental note to retrieve them later. Good clothing was more precious than gold. The horses snickered softly as she skirted them. At the hut, she stopped for breath and to slow her frantically whirling thoughts.

  All she had were her instincts. No worldly experience to back them up, no men to compare Sol with other than the father she'd never met.

  What kind of man was he, really?

  The saddle-pack, Tian. Look inside. Find out before you rescue him.

  "Yes. Good idea."

  She opened the smallest of the leather packs and unbuckled the straps with trembling hands. A sweat-stained tunic, a folded razor with a polished handle. A framed image of smiling people—Sol, younger, one arm around a girl with long blonde hair, the other hooked around the shoulders of a shorter, dark-haired youth. An older man and woman to one side. That they were a couple was obvious, even to Tian's inexperienced eye.

  Sol's family? Were they waiting and watching each setting of the sun for his safe return? Tian recalled packing a part of her life into one bag. Sol had done the same.

  In a side-pouch, wrapped in soft wadding, she found a delicate shell necklace and an open-backed ring set with four cut gem-stones. Too small to fit Sol. Gifts? For her? She folded them back into their protective cover, resisting the urge to slip the ring onto her finger.

  The magic Crystal-stone, however, in its velvet bag, proved too great a temptation.

  "I'm curious. Nothing more. I will bring it back.” She slipped it into an inside pocket.

  Know your enemy. Good advice, the wolf agreed.

  "I don't think he's our enemy.” She closed the pack. Knowing Sol would mean caring for him. Beyond seeing him safe, she had no wish to care for any man. Neither did she want to re-enter the home she'd left such a short time ago. No, not true. The echoes of Cora's sad song lingered on the air and Tian wavered. Resolutely, she turned her back on the wooden door. If she couldn't stay away for less than a sunrise, what chance did she have of a life, wild on the mountain?