by Jasmine Walt
“I love you,” I gasped, arching my hips as he thrust into me, hard and fast. And then I came again, holding on tight and using Iannis as my anchor as I was tossed into a storm of pleasure.
Afterward, Iannis pulled my back against his chest, then tucked his face into my shoulder and fell asleep. As I listened to his slow, deep breathing, savoring the feeling of being cradled by him, my thoughts drifted back to Fenris again. The pain of his passing was dulled by the afterglow from lovemaking, and with Iannis’s love wrapped around me, I finally gathered my courage and checked Fenris’s memories from his last few days. I focused on the week before the quake, watching his last conversations with the people he cared about, his long hours in the library and his room, poring through books in search of useful spells, and his sparring sessions with Rylan. It was painful, looking at them, but somehow comforting as well to know that even though Fenris was gone, I would always have him with me.
Feeling sleepy, I pushed Fenris’s memories back into the vault, intending to drift off. But one popped back out, and my mental eyes flew wide as I watched it unfold. Fenris was in his room, a stout, waterproof leather pack open on his bed. He was packing clothes, a few knives, his coded research notebook and golden pen, a water filter and canteen, and a heavy purse of gold coins. He put the pack on his back and left the Palace, and I watched him catch a cab all the way to Downtown before trekking far out of the city on foot. Soon, he was in the redwood forest on Solantha’s outskirts, a good five miles south of where we’d set up the temporary shelter tents. I could feel his sorrow keenly, but also his sense of acceptance, as he searched the trees for an acceptable hiding spot. He eventually found a trunk that was hollowed out and tucked the pack inside, making sure it was hidden deeply enough that no one passing by could see it.
“Iannis!” I shook him awake, my heart hammering. “Iannis, I saw something in Fenris’s memories!”
Iannis listened intently as I told him about what I’d seen. “We have to go and get that pack,” I said urgently. “Fenris’s most prized possessions are in there. He wouldn’t want them to end up in the hands of some random stranger.”
“We’ll go tomorrow,” Iannis promised, kissing the top of my head. “I will make sure Fenris’s research notes are properly preserved. And we can donate the gold to the homeless quake victims in his name.”
Satisfied, I snuggled back down into the comforters. And, feeling lighter than I had in weeks, I slipped off into a peaceful sleep.
Epilogue
The next morning, Iannis and I rose with the dawn, then hopped onto my steambike and headed for the forest I’d seen in Fenris’s memories. Disguised as humans, we zipped through the streets, bundled up against the cold. The temperature had dropped another ten degrees, and the rain from last night had crystalized into frost on the windshields and storefronts we passed.
“I now understand why Fenris complained so much about riding with you,” Iannis said as I made a hairpin turn down a narrow street. “You’re a daredevil!”
I laughed. “Please. You go faster than this with your super speed.” It was hard to believe that this was the first time I’d taken Iannis out on my bike, and it gave me an obscene amount of pleasure that he was clinging to me for dear life, his hard body pressed against me from behind.
“Yes, but at least I’m in control.”
Chuckling, I slowed as we approached a stoplight. We were in Maintown, just a few miles from Downtown, which we would cut through to get to the redwood forest south of the city.
“Hang on,” Iannis said as the light changed. “Isn’t that Father Calmias speaking?”
I glanced to the left, and nearly fell off my bike. Right there in the center of an outdoor shopping area, Father Calmias stood on a small stage, speaking to a crowd of several hundred humans. Curious, I guided my bike over to the curb, and Iannis and I took off our helmets so we could listen.
“…we must accept shifters and mages into our hearts, and learn to live with them in harmony,” Father Calmias was saying in his deep, resonant voice, and Iannis and I exchanged surprised grins. We listened to him lecture for ten minutes about how the earthquake was a message from the Ur-God, to punish the city for the strife, conflict, and all the hate humans had been spreading through the Resistance. He explained how the Ur-God had appeared to him with a message of love and light, and that it was the responsibility of humans, his chosen ones, to unite the three races so that peace and prosperity would come to all.
Unsurprisingly, his audience seemed confused at his sudden change of heart, and there were some isolated protests at this drastic change of direction. But Father Calmias spoke with such conviction that these were quickly drowned out, and the crowd was soon singing his praises, promising they would live with love and light in their hearts, and set a good example for the rest of their community.
“I am glad now that I decided to alter his mind,” Iannis murmured to me, pitching his voice below the cheers of the crowd. “Though I still have strong reservations about the method I had to employ, and I don’t plan to use it again if I can help it, in this case it clearly has done more good than harm. I did not realize Father Calmias was quite such a charismatic speaker.”
“Yeah. That’s why his followers are so rabid, and why he was able to get so much support for the Resistance.” I smiled, shaking my head a little. “I know it was a tough decision for you, considering what happened to your grandfather, but I really think you did the right thing.”
We moved on then, cutting through Downtown, and soon we were on a rural road that wound up and down a series of hills before taking us into the forest. Redwoods towered all about us as we pulled over to the side of the road, and we stood there for a long moment, soaking in the beauty of the forest and admiring the majesty of the trees.
“This way,” I finally said, picking a path through the trees as I drew on Fenris’s memory. Fall leaves and brittle twigs crunched underfoot, and squirrels jumped from branch to branch overhead, following us from a safe distance.
Some fifteen minutes later, I finally found the tree—an ancient redwood that had died long ago, its branches withered, its bark dry as dust. Sinking to my knees, I reached into the hollow at the tree’s base, fishing around for the pack.
“Well?” Iannis asked after a long minute. “Is it stuck?”
“No.” Shock reverberated through me, and I sat back, staring dumbly at the tree. “It’s not here.”
“Not here?” Iannis echoed. There was a long moment of silence. “Is it the wrong tree?”
I checked the memory again, then shook my head. “No. Someone must have come and taken the pack.” I sniffed, trying to catch a scent, but the rain had washed away any smell that might have lingered. “Hold on a sec.”
Closing my eyes, I reached for the beast inside me, then changed. The familiar glowing light enveloped my body as I stretched and shifted, bone and muscle cracking and groaning as my body reformed itself. My eyes opened, and I took in a deep breath through my nose, curling my upper lip so the scent gland hidden there was exposed to the air. My sense of smell was much stronger in animal form, and I instantly caught a scent—Fenris’s.
“He was here!” I exclaimed, my mental voice vibrating with excitement. “Fenris was here!”
“Of course he was,” Iannis said irritably. “He came here to drop the pack off. But who took it?”
Ignoring him, I pressed my nose to the ground and followed the scent. It led away from the tree, up a small path, and…
“Where are you going?” Iannis called, rushing to catch up with me.
Annoyed that he wasn’t following, I changed back to human form, then grabbed him by his shoulders. “Don’t you see?” I said, my voice breathless as I shook him. “His scent leads away from the city, not toward it, and I know from his memories that he didn’t go that way when he first came here. Plus, I don’t scent anyone else around, which means…”
“That Fenris came here,” Iannis finished softly. His violet eyes wi
dened in astonishment. “He came here and got his pack!”
“Yes!” Letting out a whoop of excitement, I jumped in the air, then grabbed Iannis’s face and kissed him hard. “He’s alive,” I shouted, breaking into a dance. “Fenris is alive!”
Laughing, Iannis grabbed me by the waist and spun me around, sending the fall leaves around us whirling. The grey clouds above us chose that moment to part, and sunlight shone bright and true into the clearing, lighting up Iannis’s face. Tears gleamed in his eyes, and my own eyes stung as joy and happiness filled my body. Flinging my arms around him, I kissed him again, and we toppled to the ground, rolling about in the leaves and laughing like two giddy children.
Fenris had escaped. Somehow, someway, he’d dragged himself out from beneath the wreckage of that building and come to grab his pack. I didn’t know how he’d found the energy, but he must have shifted enough to heal himself so that he could escape.
“He’ll send a message to us soon,” Iannis said confidently, rolling onto his elbows so he could look at me. His eyes were bright, his entire face shining with joy. “He said he would let us know where he ended up, when he told us that he was planning to leave.”
“I’m sure he will.” But honestly, I didn’t care if Fenris never told us where he’d chosen to start his new life. He was somewhere out in Northia’s wide-open spaces, safe from Garrett’s clutches, free to live his own life, on his own terms. And even though I would always miss him, the knowledge that he was alive and safe was damn well good enough for me.
The End…or is it?
Is this the end of Sunaya’s story? Will we ever hear from Fenris again? And what’s going on with Annia? To find out, subscribe to Jasmine’s newsletter! She’ll be sending out an email to all her fans with an update on what’s in store for some of your favorite characters. Click the below link to subscribe:
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Glossary
Alacara: one of the Federation’s fifty states, located on the southeastern coast of the subcontinent.
Alarain: a very rare herb native to Garai, that protects against magic. Its sale or export is strictly forbidden.
Allie: baker selling buns and other baked goods in the Rowanville Market.
Annia: see under Melcott, Annia.
Ancestral Spirits: according to Shifter belief, once a being is done with reincarnation, they may become ancestral spirits.
ar’: suffix in mages’ family names, that denotes they are of noble birth, and can trace their descent to one of Resinah’s twelve disciples.
Bai, Asu: Garaian mage, younger sister of Lalia Chen, married to Loku Bai, resides in Leniang City with her family.
Bai, Loku: mage and businessman, resides in Leniang City; married to Asu, the younger sister of Director Chen.
Baine, Sunaya: a half-panther shifter, half-mage who used to hate mages and has a passion for justice. Because magic is forbidden to all but the mage families, Sunaya was forced to keep her abilities a secret until she accidentally used them to defend herself in front of witnesses. Rather than condemn her to death, the Chief Mage, Iannis ar’Sannin, chose to take her on as his apprentice, and eventually his fiancée. She struggles to balance her shifter and mage heritage.
Baine, Mafiela: Chieftain of the Jaguar Clan and Sunaya’s aunt.
Baine, Melantha: Sunaya’s cousin, daughter and designated successor to the Jaguar Clan’s Chieftain.
Baine, Rylan: one of Chieftain Baine’s least favored children, and Sunaya’s cousin. An active member of the Resistance, with the rank of Captain, he was captured and imprisoned during the uprising in Solantha. His sentence was commuted to bodyguard service for Sunaya, under the guise of tiger shifter Lanyr Goldrin.
Baine, Saranella: Sunaya’s late mother and sister to Mafiela Baine, a jaguar shifter who died when Sunaya was twelve.
Ballos, Jonias: an elderly reclusive mage in Solantha, who was involved in Sunaya’s early history.
Bao-Sung: pirate, informal master of a small port close to Leniang City in southern Garai.
Barakan, Nimos: a tiger shifter, often found at the Cat’s Meow diner in Shiftertown.
Barning, Leo, Rana and Durian: a human family living in Solantha.
Benefactor: the name the Resistance called their anonymous, principal source of financial support, before Sunaya unmasked socialite Thorgana Mills as the master criminal.
Bilai: capital city of Garai, seat of the Mage-Emperor.
The Black Curtain: shop owned by Elania Tarrignal in Witches’ End, where under-the-table hexes can be discreetly obtained.
Black Market: an area in Solantha where illegal items can be purchased, by night, at the buyer’s risk.
Canalo: one of the fifty states making up the Northia Federation, located on the West Coast of the Northia Continent.
Canalo Council, usually just the Council: a governmental body composed of eight senior mages, supposed to advise the Chief Mage and substitute for him in case of sudden death or incapacity.
Capitol: building in the capital Dara, where the Convention of Chief Mages meets every other year to conduct government business.
Chen, Lalia: the current Director of the Canalo Mages Guild in Solantha. She immigrated to the Northia Federation from Garai after her apprenticeship, and serves as deputy to Iannis ar’Sannin, the Chief Mage.
Chartis, Argon: former Director of the Canalo Mages Guild, dismissed by the Chief Mage for insubordination and attempts to undermine the Chief Mage’s authority. He subsequently joined forces with the Benefactor to avenge his dismissal.
Chieftain: a title used to distinguish the head of a shifter clan.
Calmias, Father Monor: a charismatic preacher in Ur-God temples, with many fanatic followers all over Northia. Currently imprisoned in Prison Isle outside Solantha City.
Canter: an elderly mage often manning the reception at Solantha Palace.
Castalis: a country and peninsula at the southwestern edge of the Central Continent, ruled by a High Mage.
The Cat’s Meow: a diner in Shiftertown, owned by the Tiger Clan.
Central Continent: the largest of the continents on Recca, spanning from Garai in the east to Castalis in the west.
Coazi: a group of related tribes controlling large parts of Mexia and adjoining states.
Comenius: see under Genhard, Comenius.
Coracciao: a group of islands in the tropical waters between the Northia and Southia continents.
Creator: the ultimate deity, worshipped by all three races under different names.
Dira: mage, one of the secretaries at the Mages Guild.
Danrian, Warin: regional manager for Canalo of the Sandin Federal Bank, who turned out to be one of the Benefactor’s henchmen, coordinating the bank’s dodgy credit scheme for shifters. He was also behind the illegal Shifter Royale.
Dara: capital of the Northia Federation, located on the east coast of the Northia Continent.
Downtown: the seamy area of Maintown, especially at night, when the Black Market is operating there. Full of brothels and gaming dens.
Elania, see Tarrignal, Elania.
Elnos: see under Ragga, Elnos.
Enforcer: a bounty hunter employed by the government to seek out and capture wanted criminals. They operate under strict rules and are paid bounties for each head. While the majority of them are human, there is a strong minority of shifters, and
even the occasional mage.
Enforcers’ Guild: the administrative organization in charge of the enforcers, led by Captain Galling and later, his successor, Acting Captain Skonel. Also, the building from which the various enforcer crews work under their respective foremen.
Faonus: one of the three founding mages of the Federation.
Faricia: a large continent that straddles the North and South hemispheres, located south of the Central Continent’s western region. Inhabited by many different nations and tribes; partly inaccessible to foreign travelers.
Fenris: a clanless wolf shifter of unusual antecedents, close friend and confidant of Chief Mage Iannis ar’Sannin and Sunaya Baine. No known last name.
Firegate Bridge: Solantha’s best-known structure, a large red bridge spanning the length of Solantha Bay. It is accessible via Firegate Road.
Captain Galling: the human captain of the Enforcer’s Guild in Solantha City, appointed by the former Chief Mage and Council.
Garai: the largest and most populated country on the Eastern Continent. Garaians are known for slanted eyes and ivory skin as well as their complicated, rune-like alphabet.
Garidano, Cirin: Finance Secretary of the State of Canalo.
Genhard, Comenius: a hedgewitch from Pernia, owner of the shop Over the Hedge at Witches’ End. Close friend of Sunaya Baine, father of Rusalia Genhard, former employer of Noria Melcott, and fiancé of the witch Elania Tarrignal.
Genhard, Rusalia: daughter of Comenius Genhard by his estranged former lover Hiltraud. Came from Pernia to Solantha to live with her father after her mother’s sudden death.