by Y. M. Roger
“Whooooooa Eniyi,” Balstir dug deep and found enough courage to – gripping the control plates as hard as he dared – raise his head even further to fully expose his neck to the threatening animal. He had to let the obviously exercised demercriere know that he was not on the offensive here – although, in the back of his mind, he had begun to wonder what was driving the beast with respect to Mysstree, “It was just a question, but I guess one of those must have been correct based on your reaction.”
Balstir huffed to himself as the beast began to turn back toward the front – checking the GPS once again.
“You know, Eniyi, she may be blind, but Mys—”
The large beast’s head machine-gunned back to face him so quickly that another strand of drool that had begun to fall slowly downward was slung across the driver’s side front and side windows – the last bit of it hitting Balstir across his cheek and nose – as the beast growled and cocked his head to the side in obvious question.
Balstir grimaced as he unceremoniously wiped the glob from his face and onto his uniform, “Okay, like you had to know that,” he wiped his face again as he glanced up at the beast.
Eniyi only slightly raised his lip in a snarl and cocked his head in the other direction.
“Seriously?” Balstir chuckled to himself and shook his head, “Even if she did not come out and tell you, Kilgar” – the beast growled and Balstir laughed – “So-o-o-o, even if she did not come out and tell you, Eniyi, you had to be able to see it for yourself. Sure, she’s good with small surroundings thanks to her and Miannmarr’s connection since Miannmarr can see, but, still she reaches out and uses her hands so much … I mean, could you not tell?”
The beast growled again – this time long and low such that Balstir and his hydenna got the distinct impression that the beast’s growl was actually directed at Kilgar – something that Balstir found quite amusing.
A smile still borne on his lips, Balstir reached up slowly toward the data and communication console and began tapping on the keys there.
“Look, Mysstree is very unique in that she has a rare animal called a nestlinger which makes for some very interesting traits,” Balstir finished his search and queued up the information for the beast to read, if he so chose – pointing at the screen for Eniyi to see what he had done, “Being blind has never been a handicap for her, and she is definitely the light of our lives with her cute –”
The demercriere growled and leaned threateningly toward Balstir who, once again, bared his neck slightly, “What?! She is my sister, you know, and …”
Balstir trailed off as he watched and felt the demercriere’s snout trail along his outstretched arm and then – moving its nearest forepaw to prop itself on the center console area – dropped down to run that snout complete with that sharp-as-a-saber horn along his thigh and deep into his groin area.
“Hey! What the godsfall are you …?”
But before Balstir could finish, the demercriere raised his head level with Balstir’s again, squinted his eyes in examination, and chuffed once again before turning intently to the dat-comm screen and repositioning himself in his forward-facing position.
“Whatever,” Balstir commented under his breath as both he and his hydenna relaxed somewhat.
And that is where Eniyi stayed for the remainder of the trip – he was either reading the information Balstir had provided or glancing at the GPS in regular intervals.
Both of them in silence – Balstir still wondering what Mysstree could have done to earn a determined visit from such a powerful predator, and that same predator so ready to see her that it was obvious something was afoot.
As Balstir steered the vehicle onto his parent’s property, the GPS pinged its familiar chime of arrival.
The demercriere turned toward the passenger door as if waiting for it to open, but all Balstir did was disengage the power cells and sit up calmly in his seat. The transport doors remained locked as he took a deep breath and turned toward the demercriere.
As he had expected, the over-sized predator turned from the door and over to him, its eyes glowing once again as a low rumble escaped its snarling maw.
“No!” Balstir held firm with the rogue alter-animal, “We are going to have a few ground rules here, understand, Eniyi?”
The beast lowered its lip to cover its teeth as its gaze became squinted and introspective again.
“Kilgar? I am guessing you can hear me as well?” There was no outward recognition from Kilgar except the low rumble that echoed from deep within the demercriere. “Because you kahrolasi owe me, Captain. Big time. Are we clear?”
The beast’s docile growl paired with a distant whine was his only answer.
Balstir still could not believe he was doing this – the monstrous animal could kill all of them without needing to take a second breath. Even his hydenna knew it was no match for the huge animal in front of them.
But, in his heart of hearts and in his hydenna’s as well, Balstir trusted Kilgar. They did not always see eye-to-eye on everything, but Kilgar was their mentor and friend.
In short, they trusted him and his beast.
Deep breath in. Let it out.
“Okay, Eniyi, you will not charge any one,” Balstir raised his uniform jacket to reveal the tranqblast safely holstered there – the beast’s only response a quiet chuff and a slight nod of acknowledgement, “And you will not even pretend to snarl or act offensively in any way, shape, or form, clear?”
Then the beast did something so unexpected that Balstir felt his hydenna fall backwards inside of him – the demercriere leaned a forepaw over his wrist and swiped a heavy, saliva-coated tongue over the side of his face.
Balstir had to blink and shake his head – he stared at the beast as the oversized animal turned expectantly toward the door.
“Well,” he began sarcastically – apparently to himself and perhaps his hydenna – as he keyed in the code to release the door mechanisms, “I am glad we got that straight.”
Once again, he could not imagine what was going through the mind of the huge predator with respect to his Mysstree, but he was beginning to have his suspicions.
And he was not sure he liked it, actually.
The huge demercriere padded beside him as they strode toward the main house.
“The smaller place out back is Mysstree’s, but let me just see –”
Before Balstir could finish his statement, Eniyi bounded to Mysstree’s front door – completely ignoring the main house and Balstir’s desire to say hello to his sire and his progenitor.
Balstir did not.
In fact, Balstir shook his head, “Know what? You can just wait, Eniyi,” a little longer would not affect anything – he had not had the chance to see his parents on his earlier trip since they had still been sound asleep at the ridiculous hour, “I will be there shortly,” then he added just for entertainment’s sake, “You feel free to go ahead and scratch though, huh?”
Balstir chuckled to himself as he pulled an old-fashioned set of metal keys from his pocket. Even though Mysstree had installed a mostly updated surveillance and locking system on her place, mamé and paté had the combination deadbolt combined with multiple strategically placed weapons inside.
Simple but effective.
Balstir unlocked the door to the smells of a home-cooked breakfast and announced himself, “Got any handouts for a wayward soldier?”
Mysstree sighed deeply as she placed her suitcase beside her electronics and data storage near the front door. She could come home and pack another time and have it sent when she got settled in Nehir Başkent.
So, we are really doing this, Beauty?
Mysstree nearly growled at Miannmarr – the nestlinger was really beginning to get on her nerves with the constant reasons they should not move to the North.
Away from here.
Away from them
.
“I already e-penned our acceptance of the position at the adolescent home, Professor,” Mysstree almost smiled amidst her heartbreak, “They were so excited they called me back just after star-rise this morning.”
At least there was someone who thought they were worth something other than to be used as a doormat.
Mysstree choked back a small sob as she blindly gathered the drawings and sketches she had produced of the ingrate Captain – she, of course, had no idea what the portraits even looked like – their production had been her own psychological therapy of getting him out of her mind.
Too bad he was still other places.
Like our hearts, Beauty.
“Just shut up, Ms. Know-It-All! This job is just what we need for a fresh start so just. Let. It. Go.”
Mysstree ran into the trash bin – a ‘blind mistake’ she hardly ever made unless she was terribly distracted … like right now.
Making her way back into the bedroom, she slowed and caught herself on the doorframe. Here was the one room anywhere that she would ever be able to actually ‘see’ – or at least enough of it was visible to her messed-up nestlinger physiology that she had a true mental image of the size and depth of it.
But, now, she would rather live not seeing anything.
“I am sorry, Professor,” her voice was low and definitely contrite – she simply was not handling this whole situation well – she had known deep down that Captain Marid was far too good-looking and too important for her to mean anything to him, but it still really hurt for him to have taken another female when he knew she was … No! She would not cry again!
Miannmarr rubbed against her from the inside – doing her best to soothe her.
“I simply cannot stay here – for years we put together this stupid chamber for him – even dreamed about him and made up stupid stories about what it would be like, but really? What was I even thinking? And why did you even let me have those stupid dreams?”
They were not stupid, Beauty – you and I enjoyed the times we talked about what it would be like when we were mated, remember?
Mysstree had to laugh at Miannmarr’s ease of speaking of what would never be as she walked around the room and ran her fingers along all of the useless objects that she had hung on the wall. There was a sports program from some combat competition in Capital City that featured a huge demercriere on the cover. She grinned just slightly, at least now the reason for that item made sense. As did the others, some of which she was pretty sure must have been cast-off personal items of his – especially the armband she had found in the market with the Prince’s seal and the initials KM on the inside. Mysstree had even taken the time to keep the stupid thing clean all these years – she would leave it with her parents to have Balstir return it to the Captain. It may have some sentimental value to him – although she did not exactly see the arrogant pich as being very sentimental about anything.
Mystree shook her head as if to shake off some fuzz or something.
“Well, we do not have to worry about being mated anymore, Professor – it is you and me against the universe, huh?” Mysstree’s fingers traced along the thick staff of the large zipkin – at least that was what Balstir had called the large weapon that hung above the hearth. The handle had been shattered, but she had, with the help of a little research on Miannmarr’s part, managed to replace it with a pretty good replica – at least, the two of them had been quite proud of their handiwork at the time. It had actually been splintered in multiple places when they had bought it in the open market on vacation to Capital City cycles ago.
And we would probably be stronger against that universe if we stayed in our familiar surroundings, do you not agree? We could still move out of here and simply get an apartment near the Peacekeeper station where they just built that new complex and …
Mysstree had reached the tree that actually grew out of the ground here in their bedroom and through the roof – a tree she had been able to see since she was how old? Three? Four? And paté had dug it up for her and helped her to care for it – he had even helped the construction workers fit it into the room so that it could grow through the roof.
What a waste of time all of this effort had been!
“No, Miannmarr,” Mysstree sighed as she carefully aimed herself toward the chamber door to leave, “We will let mamé and paté do what they want with this place, it is time for us to …”
Mysstree was interrupted when a strong, familiar scent bombarded her senses – the strength of it so strong that she stumbled and had to reach out until she found something to hold onto. Her entire body froze in fear as a heavy scratching started from the direction of the front door.
He found us, Miannmarr! Miannmarr froze in fear at the same time Mysstree’s mind screamed with anguish. Oh, Makers! Mysstree tried to turn to run, but lost track of her bearings as the fear took over her body. They have come to kill us!
Miannmarr immediately presented as they would be helpless otherwise – her blind cognate could not run from anyone.
The scratching at the door increased and Miannmarr’s mind flew into survival mode – safety! They needed to get out and get out now!
The nestlinger ran to the window, but the cracking of the boards in the front door told her she did not have time to maneuver it open. She looked around wildly. The fireplace and chimney would not be an easy climb, and there literally was no where to successfully hide in their tiny living space. Finally, the nestlinger ran to the only means of escape she could fathom: she climbed the tree with a speed she had heretofore not known possible.
She would let her calculating mind ponder her ascension speed at a later time.
As Miannmarr forced them through the small space between the tree trunk and the roof, she actually pulled free a piece of the ceiling – the splinters from the break cut into her beautiful white fur as the tree trunk on the other side effectively de-furred a bloody swath along her lower body and upper thigh. Miannmarr tried to stifle her painful cry, but a muffled squeal still escaped as she cleared the opening and found herself on the roof.
Just in time to hear their front door crash into the kitchen area and the huge demercriere growl in beckon – a beckon that a larger part of her being wanted to answer. The physical pull backwards and into the house was almost over-whelming.
Miannmarr hurt so very badly – tears streamed from her black rimmed eyes as she nearly wheezed with each breath. The parts of her flesh now exposed to the air burned like nothing ever had before as she stood motionless with indecision on their rooftop.
“Beauty? Perhaps we are just letting our instincts overtake common sense here. I feel that I should be running to him rather than –”
Her statement was cut off with a combination of two things: Mysstree’s strangled cry of fear from inside and the demercriere’s threatening roar from below. The haggard nestlinger did not need any more prodding as she forced the pain from her mind and quickly climbed down the trellis in only two large vertical drops and hit the ground running – the dense forest growth would allow her lithe body easy passage into its depths.
And she dove into the underbrush without a glance backward.
Chapter 36
“What did you say?” Balstir tried to keep the respect in his voice as he stared at his progenitor in shock.
His sire sighed heavily as he angled his face downward in a defeated manner.
“That was my response just a few hurs ago, son,” his sire placed his steaming mug on the countertop in front of Balstir, “But our hediya seemed quite intent on her decision, and, perhaps, she does need to get out from under …”
Balstir shook his head in disbelief as he poured himself a refill of fresh juice.
“From under what, Paté?” He raised his voice enough to make his progenitor shrink back just a bit, and he immediately placed one forearm across his chest in full aegis as he leaned ove
r to place a kiss on her forehead – the action calming both her and his hydenna who had bristled inwardly at his cognate for causing their mamé’s reaction. Balstir walked a few steps toward the window and away from his progenitor’s docile being as he felt his emotions rise. His sire’s triacate only bristled so far as its mate was concerned – the older predator knew neither Balstir nor his hydenna were a threat, “She has all the independence here she would have anywhere else with the added benefits of having the two of you here just in case.”
Both he and his hydenna knew this announcement of Mysstree’s had something to do with what transpired at the palace – they just needed to get to the bottom of it. Balstir chugged about half the glass of juice as he ran his other hand through his hair in thought.
“You know, my yakisik adam,” Balstir’s progenitor’s hand brushed against his muscular upper arm before taking a firm hold thereof, “It was difficult for us to let you leave for the palace all those cycles ago, too, but our little ones grow up and –”
Balstir placed a large hand gently over their mamé’s much smaller one – his hydenna straining as much as possible to try to get a feel of her loving touch.
“I understand that, Mamé, but something must have happened at the …,” a grin had begun to pull across Balstir’s face only to quickly be replaced with at look of questioning horror, “What in the realm of godsfall?” Balstir squinted out the window toward Mysstree’s little dwelling as he slowly handed his progenitor his glass of unfinished juice as he strained to see through the dew-covered glass, “Is that Miannmarr climbing down off the …” Balstir’s searching eyes fell on the front door of the small house – the splintered pieces of which hung only from above leaving a gaping hole into the house … “Holy kahrolasi godsfall!!”
Balstir pushed his progenitor out the way as gently as possible as he turned to run out the door and toward Mysstree’s place.
But he did not get far before the strong scent of Mysstree’s and Miannmarr’s blood smacked him in the face so hard he almost physically felt the impact. Without a second thought and never breaking stride toward the woods where he had watched Miannmarr run, Balstir stripped his uniform free and allowed his hydenna into the present.