In spite of this impressive mass, she lifted him in her arms almost easily, drawing him close to herself as she began to stride across the field. Her sight was made for darkness, everything lighting up in sharp contrasting shades of black and white. It was bright as day for her as she carried her burden into the trees.
They might have presented quite a sight had anyone been close enough to see them, but a quick scent of the air assured the Queen that all enemies had retreated to places unknown, and all other living creatures had pretty much followed suit. They wouldn’t even know that the mountain lion’s scream came with a fear compulsion that was so powerful, it would force almost anything within its range to run in terror—even some of the more powerful Nightwalkers.
As the Werecat moved through the forest, picking her way with purpose of direction and leaving as little a trail as possible, she recalled that there had been more than humans in the party that had ambushed this warrior. She was aware of the renegade Demon females, mother and daughter, who had chosen to align themselves with their race’s enemies out of a disproportioned sense of revenge, all for a tragic mistake no one could have prevented, not even the powerful Demons.
It had been nearly half a year ago, the eve of last Beltane, that the Demons’ usually festive holiday had been shadowed by the aftermath of the war these traitorous females had begun. Siena was part of the Demon forces the day they had been forced into a massive battle in order to protect their own from a slaughter directed by the warped will of those females. It was this battle that had given her a glimpse into the capabilities of the great Warrior Captain. He had impressed her. So much so that finding him in this predicament was somewhat baffling.
Besides his fighting prowess, she had noted the Demon had been particularly affected by the fact that the female Druid who had been targeted had been pregnant at the time. The child she had carried was just as much the focus of retribution as she and her Demon mate were, and the warrior had been incensed to a personal level, though the child was not his, nor did he have any of his own.
Lycanthrope males did not usually feel this sort of empathy with children until they were fathers themselves, and even then it was just as common as not for males to go about their business and leave the rearing of children to the women. It was an instinct that was often determined by the natural behaviors of the animal the male transformed into. Changelings were a female-dominant society in any event. The females outnumbered the males almost eight to one. They had always been the dominant populating sex, but war had made them even more so. The male ambition for battle had driven their numbers down.
There were powerful matriarchal morals in a society of such proportions, and they were quite proud of that. As a whole, they rarely had motivation to seek out a battle other than the hunt for food or in self-defense. But even in the senselessness of war, the idea of setting out to hurt a defenseless and innocent child was completely abhorrent to her people. The vengeful behavior of the renegade females from the Demon warrior’s race was a perverted form of a mother’s protectiveness when her offspring was threatened.
Siena stopped abruptly, her ears twitching as she took in short whiffs of breath, scenting the area for danger. She felt animals scurrying beneath the remnants of deciduous vegetation on the forest floor, but other than that, there was nothing out of the ordinary. The silence was understandable, considering she was crossing the territory in this form, but the blood spoor trail the Demon was leaving behind could attract another predator.
They were over a mile away from the original battle site and there was a stream nearby. She could take the time to bathe and dress the rest of the wounds and cover their trail more efficiently, as was her instinct, to prevent them from being tracked. But the sun was already breaking through the trees, and once it began to touch her, she would become too sick and too weak to get them to shelter. Though a day lying in the shaded forest under the sun would not kill her, it would take her some time to recover from the resulting illness. It would certainly mean the death of the man who needed her to be in top shape in order to save his life.
Siena decided to risk being tracked. There would be water where they were headed and she was quickly running out of time. As she moved with remarkable speed for one so burdened, she continued to consider the Demon women who had perpetrated this crime against their former comrade. She knew about Ruth and her unhealthy relationship with her child. Siena had been part of those who had initially discovered the betrayal.
There was no animal on earth that stagnated its child’s growth by denying it the liberty of leaving the den or nest to discover how to fend for itself. Somewhere in evolution there had been a mutation in bipedal humanoid societies that had allowed this to become possible and, sometimes, even the norm. Though evolution was a natural process, Siena had always felt this to be an unnatural mutation. But who could be completely sure? Humanoids were capable of a great deal of aberrant behavior that conflicted with the natural order of living in harmony with one’s surroundings.
To be honest, this included her own species as well.
Though Lycanthropes were often considered by themselves and others to be more animal than human, they were still a society with flaws, laws, and free will. These ingredients, while bold and productive in many ways, could be a volatile combination as well.
For example, the race war between her changelings and his elementals. Had this been but two decades earlier, the idea of her helping to aid a Demon, especially this particular Demon, would have been not only inconceivable, but traitorous. Truthfully, there were some who still felt that way, even though their Queen clearly did not.
The previous war between Demonkind and the changeling race had been her father’s doing. It had been an aggressive display of manhood that had begun over a small matter of principle and quickly escalated from there to an almost genocidal hatred toward Demonkind. A feeling that, over decades of provocation, the Demons began to reciprocate wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, Lycanthropes were as long lived as Demons, so her father’s warring ways had plagued her people for centuries, giving birth to generations who did not understand that there actually had been a time when changelings had not actively despised Demonkind.
This had begun to change the moment she had been elevated to the throne.
Siena had publicly rescinded the declaration of war against the Demon race the moment the collar of her office had been latched around her throat. It had not been a popular decision at first, old and hostile feelings held to heart for so long proving a difficult barrier to overcome. It very well could have caused a massive rebellion.
Perhaps this was where being the female leader of a matriarchal society had its advantages. Her voice had the power to appeal to the large number of females who had never truly wanted to be a part of living and dying in battles that made so little sense. Their Queen had only needed to remind them of that, slowly, surely, day by day. And as peacetime went on, Siena’s people began to remember what it was like to live life for something other than preparing for the next battle.
Siena could not, in good conscience, have done anything less. Even though she herself had been raised to mistrust Demons, lectured by a prejudiced parent and the tutors he had chosen for her, teaching her to hate them for the “evil, lawless creatures” they were, fate had intervened, sending her a very powerful lesson that had dramatically changed her perspective on Demons. Her morals and her feminine sense of right and wrong would not allow anything else but a full armistice once she had the power to demand it.
She could not truthfully blame her father’s masculinity for all their troubles and poor behavior as a species, but his aggressive nature had done them no justice and she was now the one left to manage the results. Fourteen years of truce was a pittance of time when compared to almost three centuries of altercations.
Peace was an arduous task that could only be done in piecemeal, mincing steps of advancement. Any action done without the proper wisdom of contemplation could lead to an uph
eaval of the fragile harmony that was just beginning to bud in earnest betwixt them. And frankly, with all the Nightwalker races currently being besieged by these misguided, tenacious mortals seeking their extinction, they could not afford to waste resources fighting each other.
Saving the Captain of the Demons’ warrior forces wasn’t exactly a delicate step to take. But she would not allow petty politics to dictate whether this champion lived or died. Siena expected no gain and hoped for no ramifications. All she wanted was a cool, dark place to tend his wounds.
She found the cave she was looking for about an hour later, her speed greatly reduced by then because of not only her cargo, but the morning sunlight streaming through the bared limbs of the trees.
Almost immediately after the entrance, the cave sloped dramatically downward, the rock smooth, cold, and damp beneath her bare feet. It took all of her balance, strength, and even her claws to keep from skiing down that slippery surface and landing in the chilled underground lake of mineral water that began at its end. She quickly navigated the thin ledge that rimmed the water. The minute she left a wet footprint on a dry surface, she relieved herself of her burden by gingerly laying him down on the clean stone.
She sat down beside him, more than a little out of breath, drawing her knees up so she could rest her aching arms on them. She needed to help him, the urgency of that was beating at her, but she also needed to give herself a minute to shake off the blinding headache the sun had given her. She was nauseated from it, her eyes and her fur itching from their solar photosensitivity. She was lucky. She could bear it better than most because her strength and power were unparalleled among her people. By all rights, she ought to have been violently ill at that point. Now, if she ventured out too soon after this, she would be even more susceptible.
The Werecat padded on all fours to the lake, sniffing around herself cautiously for life forms before finally using padded fingers and palms to splash water onto her fur. Feline or not, Siena loved to be clean and perfectly groomed, and that meant water and lots of it. She fussed long enough to lick clean a stain of Demon blood from her fur, but left the rest of her grooming until later. She stood up to her full height this time as she lightly leapt over the Demon and headed into the depths of the cavern.
The soft click of her claws on stone heralded her return. She dropped a sack on the floor and then filled a bottle with water from the lake before turning at last to kneel beside him and tend him.
She ripped his shirt off, what was left of it, even being forced to carefully pull out shredded bits of it from scorched skin. The worst wound, the one over his heart, was already cared for and healing. Clotting and anesthetizing agents were naturally present in Lycanthrope hair. The blood that leaked from the shorn ends of the warm, living tendrils had acted like a disinfectant and a healing balm. However, she could not use her hair for all of his wounds. It would damage her too much. Siena glanced at the raw patch of missing fur on her scalp that had occurred as a result of using what she already had.
Instead, she satisfied herself with cleansing his cuts and burns with water and dressing them with bandages from a first aid kit she withdrew from the sack. Demons healed very quickly and most of his wounds ought to be gone by evening. But the chest wound would take more time, as would a series of others that pierced his shoulder, hip, and thigh down his right side.
He had been lanced through with bolts made out of iron in these three wounds, no doubt missiles from crossbows or some other propellant-type weapon. One had gone clear through the muscle of his thigh, but there were metal rods protruding from the other two injuries. Iron burned Demons just by its touch, often scarring and disfiguring them quickly. These invading weapons must be excruciating for him, although, unconscious and in shock as he was, he was hopefully feeling no pain.
Siena took a small bit of cloth from what was left of the warrior’s shirt and used it to get a better grip on the end of the iron dart protruding from his shoulder. She yanked hard and fast, feeling the tear of his flesh as the barbed tip did more destruction on its way out. The wound was black—amazingly enough, the burn of the iron had pretty much cauterized it—but she had begun fresh bleeding by removing it and now pressed balled pieces of his shirt to it, tying them tightly around for pressure.
She bathed his entire torso, inspecting every wound and treating them with the herbs and bandages she had brought with her in the sack as she did so. She found herself impressed by his physical fitness. This was naturally true for many of the Nightwalker races. Born with high metabolisms and the innate sense to regulate caloric intake with activity, overweight members of their various species were rare.
But this, she thought to herself as she traced one golden claw over the defined cut of his right pectoral muscle, this was the body of a being who had trained and honed himself into an artful weapon. He was brawny, yes, but he had the wisdom not to overbuild his stature in a way that would hinder his flexibility and streamlined body movements. She had seen this male move in battle, so quick and lethal, and she remembered it had left her quite breathless with fascination then as well.
Siena caught herself in the realization and immediately withdrew from the unproductive touch and the sensations that went with it. She turned her attention back to his urgent need of healing. She gently probed the bolt that pierced his hip and found it difficult to determine its placement through the denim he wore. Strangely, the denim amused her.
This warrior was a strange one. Most of his people wore clothing that reflected the eras they had passed through rather than the era they were in. It was rare to see such a modern fashion gracing one of their bodies. Then again, denim had been around for well over a century, so if the designer label had been removed, it could have easily been excused as being as much of an anachronism as any other Demon clothing.
Siena reached to unbutton the fly of the pants, tugging a little at the loosened denim in an attempt to see the damage better. Finally, she simply gave in to the inevitable and tore through the tough cloth with razor-sharp claws, stripping him completely. Free to work now, she extracted the second missile and bathed all injuries on his thickly muscled legs. She washed blood out of the hairs that curled over them in a light dusting of gold, using medicaments on the wound burned so deeply into his hip from the poisonous iron.
These were the wounds that would not heal so quickly. She suspected the wound over his heart had been made by an iron weapon as well. Some sort of archaic mace or morning star, perhaps. Whatever it had been, it had crushed and torn the area, leaving telltale burns, but nothing black enough to indicate a missile that might still be festering and smoldering within the now-closed injury.
Once she had bathed him completely in the soothing mineral water, anointed and wrapped every wound she could find, and assessed him for ones she perhaps could not see, she took the time to wash his blood from his hair. She felt more relaxed as she did this. The scent that had been so mind-numbingly appealing was thankfully washed into the lake as the water rolled down the stone and back to where it had come from. Beast she may be, but she was one that struggled for her civilization with a singular conscience. If she had not earned that distinction, this weakened and wounded member of his herd would have received something other than help from her.
When his hair was clean, streaked with a thousand different shades of gold and white and tan now that it was wet, she quickly brushed and licked her own fur clean. When she had finished her ablutions, she once more lifted the Demon into her tired arms and carried him farther back into the cave structure.
It might have surprised the Demon to find furnishings in this place, but the Lycanthrope Queen had fully expected it. This cavern was the Lycanthrope version of a summer cabin. Actually, a winter retreat was possibly a better term. Lycanthropes were not above hibernation, and so these distant caves deep in the bellies of mountains and earth were often supplied for such things. The furniture was an enigma, perhaps, but one of the effects of civilization was the unabashed prefe
rence for living in a great deal of comfort. Even if it meant comfort in the incongruous setting of a cave.
This cavern belonged to one of the Queen’s advisors, a woman of impeccable taste and the means to see them suited. Siena had been disappointed upon entering the living area to realize Jinaeri had not yet begun to prepare for the coming winter and there were no signs that she had been coming and going recently in order to do so. When the Queen had last held court, Jinaeri had been present and had mentioned she would soon begin those preparations. Siena had hoped to leave the warrior under her care while she fetched help.
Now she would have to stay and tend to him herself as best she could. She simply could not leave a Demon alone in a Lycanthrope lodging with no protection, no aid. She had no idea how long it took for wounds caused by iron to heal on a Demon. She also knew he had lost so much blood that the healing would be further hindered, if he even yet survived. He was hardly out of danger just because she had dressed his wounds.
A series of steps carved into the cavern led downward far more safely than the original slope had at the entrance to the cave itself. Plus, this far back everything was cool and dry. She stepped down into the living area, a parlor of soft couches and shelved books. There was a fireplace, the chimney of which probably exited out of the mountainside some distance above them. Siena passed rows of bookshelves draped with fabric to keep the must off them, and headed into the second room. This was the bedroom. On the far wall there was a dark, naturally formed alcove with a large handmade bedstead set within it.
Siena moved to it and carefully laid her burden down onto the mattress that appeared to be handmade as well, and very likely filled with the softest tick the owner could find. The giant male sank deeply into the soft comfort of it, and she immediately covered him with a quilt from the bottom of the bed to keep the constant chill of these underground caverns off him as he healed. The parlor fireplace backed up to a fireplace in this room, so one could see through into the next room if one was not easily blinded by a blaze.