Davor

by Leslie Chase

  "You shouldn't look at me like that," he said menacingly, advancing on her. "You should be grateful for my attention. Give me what I want and you can still have a comfortable life here."

  Helen shuddered. The threat of what he'd do if she didn't submit hung between them, but giving in to him was a horrible thought. Scrambling backward, away from him, she tried to think of something to do, to say. Anything to stop him.

  I could scream, she thought as he walked forward, quickly catching up. Leering, Karak leaned over her, and the temptation to call for help was strong. But she knew that if she did, she'd be dead before anyone could come to her rescue. If anyone actually would.

  It might be worth it for the trouble that it would cause Karak, but it wouldn't save her.

  Crouching down, Karak grabbed Helen's hair and held her in place, leaning in close. She tried to pull away, hands scrabbling at the ground for purchase, but he was far too strong to escape. Their faces were only inches apart, the malevolent anger in his eyes gleaming as he looked into hers. He's enjoying this, Helen realized. Scaring me, hurting me, it's all part of the fun for him.

  Her hand closed on a fist sized lump of rock as he pulled her closer, and without thinking, she swung it at his head. The dull thunk of the impact felt unreal somehow, and the look of surprise on his face as he rocked to the side was almost comical.

  Before he could recover from the shock, Helen pulled free of his hand and swung again. The impact shuddered up her arm and blood sprayed as she sent Karak reeling back. She staggered to her feet, holding the rock high.

  "I said no," she said, slamming it down. Fear bloomed in his eyes finally, and he tried to raise his arm to block her attack. His movements were slower and clumsier now, and he barely managed to deflect her blow. Instead of striking him between the eyes, the stone scraped along his temple leaving a bloody furrow in his flesh.

  But as she drew back for another attack, Karak lurched forward to the attack. His right hand grasped at Helen's wrist clumsily, missing its grip but keeping her from swinging again as he pulled himself up and charged.

  His weight and speed carried him into Helen, forcing her to the ground with an impact that knocked the breath out of her. The stone glanced harmlessly off her shoulder as she tried to bring it around again, and then he was kneeling astride her, pinning her to the ground. Blood ran across his face and he shook his head angrily, snarling without words as he twisted the stone out of her hand. She watched helplessly as he raised it over her head.

  I'm going to die, Helen realized. There was no mercy at all in Karak's blood-crazed eyes, and his weight and strength were too much for her to escape. He swung the rock down and she shut her eyes tight.

  There was a sharp slapping sound, but no pain followed. No feeling of impact. Nothing.

  Opening her eyes, she saw Karak's fist stopped in mid-swing. Davor towered over the two of them, Karak's arm held in his, a fury the likes of which she'd never seen on his face. For a moment, none of the three of them moved.

  Karak broke the stillness, twisting to swing a left hook at Davor. Helen couldn't follow what happened next, they both moved too fast, but somehow Davor swayed out of the way of the blow and Karak went sprawling. Free of his weight, she scrambled to her feet and backed away as the two alien warriors leaped at each other.

  For a moment they looked evenly matched, but Karak was already injured and Davor was fighting with a passionate fury that wouldn't be denied. He accepted a punch from Karak, shrugging the impact off as if it were nothing and grabbing hold of his opponent. With a grunt of effort, he lifted Karak high and then slammed him down to the hard earth. Helen gasped, covering her mouth to keep quiet as Davor followed Karak down, raining brutal punches on him and ignoring the few return blows he took.

  Moments later, Davor sat up. Karak lay still on the ground, blood pooling under his head.

  Helen put a hand on Davor's shoulder, not sure what to do or say. He'd saved her, that was certain, but what would they do now?

  "We can't let him tell anyone what happened," Davor said quietly, lifting the bloody rock from where Karak had dropped it during their struggle. Weighing it in his hand, he spoke with a grim determination. "You'll never be safe as long as he's alive."

  Swallowing, Helen looked away. She wasn't sure about killing Karak, but what could she say to argue with that? If he lived, he'd want revenge and there was no way that even his father would be able to hold him back for long. It wouldn't be necessary if he hadn't attacked me, she thought as Davor raised the rock.

  "I really don't think you should do that," a quiet voice interrupted. Helen whirled to see Gesha stepping out of the shadows, her calculating eyes taking in everything.

  14

  Davor

  "If you scream, you're dead," Davor hissed at Gesha, dropping the bloodied rock and baring his fangs at her in a warning snarl.

  "If I scream, you'll never make it out of the camp," she replied, a small smile flickering across her lips. "Neither of you will. And that would be such a waste."

  She took a careful step forward and crouched beside her brother's limp body. Her fingers pressed to his neck, and after a moment she gave a thoughtful nod. Karak didn't move aside from the slow rise and fall of his chest. "It's such a shame that I arrived too late to stop this, isn't it? But the attacker was long gone by the time I arrived, and I expect my idiot brother deserved what happened to him."

  Davor shook his head. "What game are you playing?"

  "It's no game, Davor," she said, wiping her fingers on the ground before standing. "When I found out Karak was coming here, I followed him. I knew he'd do something stupid but I didn't expect this. Now we're all stuck. If Helen's still here when my brother wakes up, there'll be no saving her. Even if my father were here, he wouldn't stand in Karak's way now. I know better than to think you'd let that happen, Davor. You'd die first, and you'll take my only hope of achieving anything with you."

  She sighed, shaking her head. "If I want to salvage anything from this mess, there's only one solution. She has to escape and go home, or try to — and you have to play along with father's plan. My idiot brother won't like it, in fact he'll hate it more than anything, but we'll just have to deal with that when he's a problem. Father won't let him do anything about it, not until the Silver Sea Clan is well under control, and that buys us time."

  "You'd really let Helen go, after this?" Davor stared at her. "Why would you do that?"

  Helen licked her lips nervously and spoke up.

  "She doesn't want her brother's mistake to ruin her best chance at power," she guessed, and a look at Gesha's eyes told her that she was right. "She's right, Davor. If we get caught now, we both die, and none of the three of us want that."

  "I can see why you like her, Davor. Smart, brave and pretty." Gesha nodded an acknowledgment to Helen. "My brother has come close to ruining father's plan, and that plan is my best hope of achieving something with my life. So I'll do my best to salvage it, and help your mate escape."

  Davor growled, shaking his head. He couldn't read Gesha, and he trusted her less than he would a snake, but she was right. And her motives didn't matter much, not if she was willing to help save Helen. "Fine. But it won't just be Helen escaping. She'd never make it to the Gate on her own, not once the alarm is raised and your warriors are chasing her. We both go."

  Gesha's face tightened and she shook her head. "I need you with me, Davor, otherwise I'm not winning anything from this. I'll keep Karak from sending his warriors after her."

  "You won't," Davor said with a simple certainty, then raised his hand to stop her objection. "Oh, I don't doubt you'd try, but his pride is injured now and I never saw him listen to you. If I don't go with Helen, you won't be able to keep her safe. So I will take her to the Gate, and then... then I'll return and surrender to you."

  The two of them locked gazes, and after a moment, Gesha nodded reluctantly. "You know what will happen if you don't come back? My father will take his revenge on the Silver
Seas — that threat is all that's kept you here so long, isn't it?"

  "Yes, I know," Davor said, face twisting into a snarl. "Don't think I'd ever forget what's at stake. Now, we need to hurry — the sooner we leave, the more likely this is to work."

  "Hey, don't I get a say in this?" Helen said stepping between them, her voice tight and angry. "I'm not going to let you sacrifice yourself like that for me, Davor!"

  "None of us have a choice here, Helen," he said, trying to keep his own voice steady. "This is the best I can do — you'll get to go home, live your life safely. I'd pay any price for that. It's not perfect, but there isn't any time to be perfect here and now. "

  He put his hands on her shoulders, willing her to understand. There wasn't time to discuss it more, they'd already been discussing it too long. The moment Karak woke up everything would start to fall apart, and they had to get as much of a head start as possible before that happened.

  Helen wanted to argue, Davor could see that in her eyes, feel the tension in her shoulders. But with a deep breath she let all of that go, nodding. "Okay," she said. "If we're going to do this, let's do it."

  15

  Helen

  Everything after Karak's attack seemed like a blur, and Helen was almost grateful. The speed at which they moved stopped her from thinking too much, from dwelling on the fact that this plan was stupid.

  It wasn't that she was going home, that part she liked. That and the freedom to never see another Fire Wolf as long as she lived. But if it meant that she'd never see Davor again either, it was a lot less appealing.

  He can't be serious, can he? We could just leave together, and he'd be safe.

  She tried to put those thoughts out of her mind as they crept up to the wall surrounding the camp. Davor pushed her down low, keeping his eyes on the bored-looking guard watching this section of the wall from a low tower built against it. He didn't look like he was paying much attention but in the bright moonlight he didn't need to be. Even Helen could see that they'd never make it across the wall and over the ridge of the hill beyond without being seen. And while the tower wasn't particularly tall, it was high enough that Davor wouldn't be able to reach the man before he raised the alarm, either.

  Fortunately, they had help. Helen's heart pounded loud enough that she worried the guard would hear it as she saw Gesha approach the tower and greet the guard. If she's going to betray us, this is her best chance.

  That was, she hoped, a silly worry. Gesha could have raised the alarm as soon as they'd separated, and she hadn't. That didn't stop a knot of fear forming in her stomach as the alien woman walked up to the tower and called to the guard.

  Helen couldn't make out what Gesha said, but she could see the guard's body language just fine as he leaned over the edge his perch to answer. He had the exaggerated poise of a man trying to look good for a woman he was trying to impress, his attention focused entirely on her. Grudgingly, Helen admitted to herself that Gesha was fulfilling her part of the plan.

  "Come on," Davor whispered in Helen's ear. "Time to move."

  With cat-like speed and silence he hurried across the open ground to the wall, Helen following as close behind him as she could manage. Wasting no time, Davor lifted her and almost threw her over the wall.

  Landing with bruising force on the hard ground outside, Helen stifled a yelp and looked up at the watchtower. But the guard was still laughing away at some joke Gesha had told him and didn't seem to hear a thing. Nor did he look around when Davor pulled himself over the wall and dropped down to join Helen with a casual, silent grace.

  Davor didn't waste any time. Picking her up, he lifted her over his shoulder and ran in long, loping strides towards the nearest cover. In moments, they were out of sight of the Fire Wolf village. The first part of their escape had succeeded.

  I guess Gesha did keep her word, Helen thought, letting go of a small part of the tension she'd been carrying. Maybe I owe her an apology.

  She knew that she would never get the chance to tell Gesha that, not unless things went very wrong. But it was important to her to acknowledge it to herself, even if no one else would ever know. Looking out over the hills ahead of them, Helen felt her heart hammer with the thought that she might actually get to go home.

  Once they'd reached the foot of the hill, Davor put Helen down carefully and looked her in the eye. The mix of sadness and hope in his gaze hurt to look at.

  "We'll need to get as far as we can before the suns come up," he said in a whisper. "They'll be on our trail as soon as Karak wakes up and sounds the alarm. So you're going to have to hang on tight, understand?"

  She nodded dubiously, not sure that even he could get that far carrying her. Before she could voice her doubts, though, Davor began to shift. Helen took a step back, her hands covering her mouth and stifling a squeak of surprise as her alien mate dropped to all fours, body stretching and changing, fur bristling through his skin. The transformation was beautiful and disturbing, but most of all it was fast. Before she could think about how to respond, it was over.

  Instead of Davor the tall and handsome warrior, she was face to face with a giant wolf, its deep blue fur marked with silver patterns. It stood nearly as tall as her, and the wolf's eyes looked deep into her soul. Helen could see the keen intelligence in them, the hint of amusement at her reaction, along with a sense of urgency. When she didn't move, the wolf turned to face the direction they'd been traveling, looking back at her impatiently.

  Nervously, she approached the wolf. It wasn't easy to accept that this was Davor, the man she trusted. Even having seen him shift, Helen couldn't quite believe it. But there wasn't time to doubt or to be afraid. I knew these aliens can change shape, she reminded herself. It shouldn't be a surprise to see Davor doing it. Pulling herself up onto the wolf's back with an effort, she tried to keep herself calm.

  As soon as she was up, Davor launched himself into a run, rushing into the night with terrifying speed. The sudden motion almost made Helen scream, and she held on for dear life as he carried her through the hills at a run.

  At first, all she could do was hang on for dear life, clutching at his fur and pressing her face down into his back as the wind whistled past. Helen knew that she'd traveled faster by car, but this was different and much more frightening. After a while, the fear started to fade, and she managed to open her eyes to look at the landscape zooming past in the moonlight. It was beautiful and alien, and steeling herself, Helen raised her head to look at it.

  The speed they traveled at was still frightening but it was also exhilarating. Carefully, Helen loosened her grip of Davor's fur and sat up on his back, exulting in their freedom and their speed.

  The rest of the night passed quickly, and soon the light of dawn glowed at the horizon. First one sun rose, then the other, and the day started to heat up. At last Davor slowed his breakneck pace, ducking around the hills more carefully as though searching for something. Helen wished she knew what he was looking for so that she could help, but as a wolf he couldn't exactly tell her.

  It didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for, though. A dark opening in the side of a rocky hill, a cave in deep shadow. Davor slowed to a stop at the cave mouth, and after a moment, Helen slid from his back. Her muscles sore from the night's ride, she stumbled and fell, only to be caught by Davor as he shifted back and leaped to her side.

  "I'm fine," she said defensively, but she didn't pull away. The feel of his hands on her was too powerful for either of them to ignore. Leaning against him, Helen let Davor lead her into the cave. It's dark, we should hold on for safety, she thought, and then laughed at herself. I don't need an excuse to touch him!

  The sensation of his touch was overwhelming, and it kept her distracted from the dim cave they descended into. The sound of flowing water from ahead of them caught her attention. She hadn't realized how thirsty she'd gotten, but the last time she'd had anything to drink had been before nightfall, and the heat of the twin suns was fierce.

 
"Is this why we stopped? To find water?" she asked, resisting an urge to run to the underground stream she could hear. She didn't know much about caving, but she'd heard enough to know that it could be dangerous.

  Davor nodded. "That, and we need to rest. Now that the suns are both up, it will soon be too hot out for anyone. Our pursuers will have to find shelter as well — they can't gain on us until one of the suns has gone down."

  Helen glanced back at the entrance, and the blinding slit of light finding its way into the cave. She winced at the thought of being out there in the heat and looked away, blinking away afterimages of the sunlight.

  Davor guided her deeper into the cool cave, down to where the water flowed. There was a dim light here, not just that which spilled down from the entrance. Small glowing crystals in the cave walls provided enough light to see by, once her eyes had adjusted to the dark.

  The stream itself was shallow and fast, clear and cool, and Helen sank to her knees beside it to scoop up a double-handful to her mouth. The water was delicious and refreshing, and for a few moments they both drank their fill of it.

  "That tastes wonderful," Helen said at last, sitting back. Davor chuckled.

  "It always does, after a long journey. Now, we need to get some rest. We're close to the Gate, and there's little chance that they can catch us before we reach it, but you'll need to be able to focus on your home to open your way there."

  Memories of home flooded through her at that, and Helen looked up at him. "Trust me, that won't be a problem."

  The cold winds, the uncertainty of being paid, moving from one terrible job to another, how could she forget that? Though now that she looked back at it, her life before she'd been teleported here did seem almost like a dream rather than reality. Helen shook her head, looking up at Davor, and bit her lip.