Arrows loose from their bows, and I catch one of bitter wolfsbane by the fletching before it can burry itself into my eye.

"That was... good reflexes there, mate. Care to teach me that trick?" Flash asks, all the while drawing and shooting from his place beside me.

I growl as one cat goes down with a wail, an arrow quivering in her heart.

"Enough!" I roar, the sound battering against eardrums.

The cats wince, the humans... well, most of them look at me with a blank stare.

I take advantage of the lack of shooting, bounding across the six-foot stream.

One man gets tossed like a rag doll, I pick another up and fling him into a man aiming his bow at Flash. The pair goes rolling into the dirt.

"Thanks, kinko!" Flash yells, shooting a human aiming wolfsbane at me.

"Don't you dare call me that!" I yell, and though I don't have the time to look as the humans surround me, I know the crazy cat grins.

I keep a tight rein on my strength, knowing one punch could break through a human's chest and pull out their heart.

How do I know? I've done it before.

So, the surrounding humans... I just shove them aside, knock their heads together, and lightly tap them with a claw. Boom, crack, pop—down for the count.

My skills are totally wasted here as I work my way towards the center, where a scarred man awaits.

Another roar and a slash of hamstrings has me before the man. My mind catalogues the sounds of cat yowls and hisses as they follow me across the river. Heather growls low as she bounds on some unlucky men.

My target is before me, and a grin crosses my face to match the J-shaped grin across from me. His silver sword gleams in the moonlight, its jagged edges black with dried blood.

He flicks it in a figure eight, both for show and intimidation.

"I look forward to Heather being mine once more. She's quite a delight. I may even save some for you, if you're a good pet."

Red covers my sight. The man before me is surrounded in a haze of red as it pulses in my heart, and all I feel is just how much I want to rip out his heart and feed it to him.

My wolf rumbles in agreement and the cynical voice strains to keep his rage from letting The Beast free.

Sparks fly when the clash of blade meets sharp three-inch impervious claw.

Commander Vex spins a dagger from his belt, ducking and slashing along my knee.

I roar, more in anger than pain. The pinprick of his silver dagger is nothing compared to what I've endured these last few weeks.

But the silver splinters left in the wound from the blade slow the healing, making the blood unable to clot.

He grins again, tongue flicking out to lick the blood from his blade.

He is disgusting. Kill him already, please.

Just keep up your end of the deal. I've got this.

Cats and humans battle around us, leaving me and this man in a circle of blood and death.

I leap at the commander, grabbing his sword around the blade. The sting of his sword slicing through flesh and muscle is rewarded by the surprised widening of his eyes.

My wolf growls through me as we scent the first waft of salty, sweaty fear from this man. It is delightfully intoxicating.

I roar into his face.

I quickly end the roar, realizing just how stupid that action is because it gives him time to recover. I jerk the sword from his grasp by the blade, ignoring the trail of blood it leaves on my palm.

I throw it into a tree; the point sticks a foot deep into the poor, innocent wood, the handle quivering from the force of my throw.

Then I punch him.

His ribs crack on impact. He flies two horse lengths. He would've gone farther if a tree hadn't gotten in the way.

That is a dream fulfilled, one I've had ever since he first rode into my small town.

Blood dribbles from between his teeth as he rises. He coughs, and I grin.

This is going to be fun.

Teeth snap around my ankle and jerk, pulling me off balance.

An arrow sinks into the back of my shoulder.

Not again.

The numbness of wolfsbane sinks through my shoulder, and my leg filled with the silver splinters gives way.

The other leg is being mauled by the second pet of Commander Vex like a dog with a bone. The fur around my leg prevents a deep injury, but I want the commander.

I kick the creature off and try to reach for the arrow, but it's just beyond my grasp to pull out.

Shoot and Firepot smoke.

I freeze when cold metal caresses the back of my neck. Commander Vex limps around, his sword trailing a blaze of fire, leaving a thin scratch from the back of my neck to the front. Then he grins, his silver dagger poised at my throat, the tip digging into tender flesh.

"If I die, you die," he says, a crazed gleam in his eye and blood pooling down his lips, even as the grin is pulling the scar tight across his angular cheek. Blood splatters his forehead and angular face.

I gulp, the knife pausing before my throat.

It's been a good run, old friend. I suppose now is the time to tell you I'm not really you, but it was exceptionally fun teasing you to insanity to explain otherwise. Sorry 'bout that. I've enjoyed it. Just wanted you to know before we die.

Wait. WHAT!?!

I jerk away from the knife with the speed of my heritage. The knife still trails fire along the top of my shoulder, but misses my neck and any important parts. His hand shoots past me, and I grab his arm, twisting to throw him to the ground.

His chest heaves as I step on the knife. He chuckles, something like glee lightening his eyes as he juts his chin to something behind me.

There, the grey wolf has Heather on the ground, his fangs dripping blood as he hovers above her neck, the threat clear..

Her silver eyes are wide in both fear and pain.

"Let me go, and Heather lives. If not, let her blood stain your hands for the brief span of your existence. Your choice."

I growl, but back up with my hands raised, putting space between me and the commander.

Inside, The Beast almost gets loose as The Cynic spouts words I have never heard in a language I don't recognize.

The abrupt force of The Beast back in my system is a shock that almost drives me to my knees.

HEY! FOCUS! I shout at the voice, and it jars him enough that he growls. He spins a rope and leashes The Beast back inside.

I told you to protect her. The rage in his voice is almost as dangerous as The Beast.

I'll get her out... even if it means our death.

Around me, the Were are locked in a fierce fight as the jingoist fight with the craze of those on Rush.

That's when I realize why the man before me doesn't seem to feel pain.

He gets up, still coughing blood, but grinning with pupils dilated.

The rest of these humans fight with the fervor of animals, with Commander Vex looking almost tame compared to his soldiers. The Were are hard pressed to put each human down as they bite and attack with no semblance of fear or self-preservation.

One man even impales himself on a sword to get at a Were, pushing his body down the blade and gnashing his teeth as he tries to grab the Were with claw-like fingers.

Somehow, they are like those on Rush, but without the dull wit the drug brings.

"You finally see. We have found the key to your extinction. A compound found in your blood by our mages allows your infernal, unnatural strength to flow unhindered in my men. It won't be long now. You all will be my pets soon enough. Come, let us not begin our relationship with fighting. Should you give up now, I'll even be lenient and let the girl go." He gestures to Heather, and it sickens me that I highly consider his offer.

I know he will not honor his promise. It's in the foul coating of deceit clogging my nostrils and lingering on my tongue. There are few smells strong enough to taste. This is one of them. Oily and rotten, it smells and tastes of death.

But if there's any chance at all... his eyes glisten in pleasure as I slowly lower myself to a knee, keeping an eye on Heather beneath the wolf. She shakes her head, pleading with me not to do it.

Flash in his black Were form knocks the grey wolf from Heather. He steps in front of her as the wolf digs its feet into the sandy dirt to stop its momentum. Flash hisses, his tail lashing at his sides.

the wolf attacks, and they roll in a mishmash of black and grey fur.

I leap at the commander, but he dodges.

A jingoist attacks me with a crazy gleam in his eyes, forcing me away from Commander Vex. I dodge to the side, body slamming the man to the ground and silencing him with a solid punch to the temple.

"This ends here." Commander Vex's melodious and deranged voice comes from behind me.

I spin on two knees, seeing him a mere six feet away, a silver arrow aimed at my heart.

He's too close. I can't dodge this one.

The arrow I expect to plunge into my heart never comes. Instead, the man gurgles as the bloody point of a knife comes through his throat.

The arrow falls harmlessly to the ground when his hands grasp wildly at the lifeblood leaking from his larynx. Fear enters his eyes.

"You will never hurt another again," Heather growls in a voice that makes my tail tuck itself under my bum.

She meets my gaze as the dying man falls to the ground at her feet.

A sad half-smirk tilts her lips.

I grin at her, then quickly compose myself when I feel my lips pull over my fangs.

"Don't do that. I like your smile, no matter what form. You smile so little as is that every one is a gift."

She thinks of me and a hidden smile at a time like this, after all she's been through, and while blood leaks around her fingers clutched tightly to her forearm.

She is too kind for this world.

A rumble of protective agreement comes from the voice still holding The Beast in a tight leash inside, giving me the strength to fight.

I resist the urge to gather her up in a bear hug. Barely. But I allow a slow smile across my lips, one she returns, even if it's tinged with sadness.

If I could have spared her the pain of the kill, especially for a soul as kind as hers... I should have killed him earlier instead of playing with him to satiate my wolf.

But the past is the past, as Morgana likes to say. I will try to leave it where it belongs.

A yelp of pain snaps me out of my thoughts, and I quickly dive, covering Heather with my body to protect her.

I look back just in time to see the silver wolf fall to the ground. A Were shoots an arrow through the chest of a jingoist holding a bow. The last purple cloaked human I see. He gnashes his teeth as he goes down, more lifeblood staining the red sand.

Around me, Were in both human and cat form alike stalk through the bodies to make sure those on the ground stay down. Other assist injured Were and hold the hands of those too far gone.

It is done.

A silver and black wolf lies at my feet, a quivering arrow stuck in his shoulder, close to his heart.

He shudders, moaning in pain as he contorts back into human form.

Eyes of emerald green meet mine from a drawn and pale face. His are filled with pain... but also, strangely, relief and contentment.

I shiver back into my full human form as someone covers the man with a cloak.

The Shifter gives me a small smile, his green eyes crinkling at the corners.

"Thank you," he whispers in a rough, cracking voice around a beard that is matted with blood and gore. It sounds as if he hasn't spoken for some time.

Heather kneels at his other side, taking one of his hands in hers. He greets her with a regal movement I would call a more a bow of respect than a nod.

"You... did the world... a favor... this night."

A tear streaks down Heather's face to land on the man's brow.

"Don't cry... for me. I will be meeting my Maker and my love again soon."

A tear falls from his eye to moisten the sand beneath. His eyes are on the still form of the grey wolf with an arrow through her heart and her breaths forever stolen.

"Thank you for your sacrifice, Irulshom"—I whisper in a gruff voice, calling him a Knight of Honor in the Shifter tongue—"You have honored your Imperialatus in life and in death. What is the name of those who will be commemorated? I will ensure you are recalled with dignity, your names written in the Book of Measure." I strike my chest three times to seal my promise, then place a kiss on his brow.

"You have freed me, My Prince and lady... my life is a small price in return. I am Magnus of the Ilshik, and she was Cassandra of the Krishil. Despite... the words of that human the first time we met weeks... ago... my children are out there... somewhere. I pray they are... free."

He pauses, reaching for me with a shaking hand coated in his lifeblood. I take it. "You are destined for great things, sire. The Allfather has decreed, and so it shall be. Let forgiveness find you, release your anger, and you shall know the freedom of even the chained and broken."

I bow, not sure what his last words mean, but knowing I will treasure them. "If I can find your family, they will want for nothing. So I declare it as the Hundredth Son of Krishald Salum Imperiulatum The First."

His eyes crease in pure happiness as he stares at something in the distance, far into the sky and beyond the stars twinkling at us in the silken black depths.

"Allfather... my love." He reaches his hand forth, and I watch as the joy and life fades from his eyes to leave a husk behind, the heart and soul within back with the ones he loves. His hand drops back to the earth, but I catch it and place it on his chest.

Heather breaks into a sob, her shoulders quaking as she kisses the bloody hand of the brave Shifter before us, who endured slavery only to end his life as a sacrifice. He took the arrow meant for me.

I don't feel worthy.