I knew what she wanted from me. She wanted me to side with her and say that I would fight for her against Axanar. I must admit that a small part of me was tempted, but I could not bring myself to agree.
“If you explain all this to Axanar then I’m sure that he will understand. There must be a way out of this where everyone can get what they want. I know that it must be difficult for you to be here, especially when there is an enemy to fight, but you excelled in the hunt today. You have proven yourself. If you hadn’t tried to escape, then you would likely be free to wander the tower and the village now.”
“So, I’m to be punished for trying to escape, and a fat lot of good it did me. I really thought it would let me pass through this time.” She shook her head.
I wore a curious look on my face. “What did it feel like when you passed through?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It felt warm, and there was a tingling feeling. To be honest, I was more focused on trying to escape the Night Fangs than focused on what I felt. But when I was back there today it just felt as though there was a barrier. It was as solid as the rest of the walls, even though it’s clearly different.”
“Well, perhaps with more exposure, you might be able to learn more about this power of yours. I know you don’t think of this as a blessing, but it is remarkable. We have always heard stories of the lions who stepped away from the pride and ventured into new worlds. While we have tamed this world, there is always a sense of wonder and mystery about those who left. I have often thought of the ones who explored new worlds and been envious of them for having that opportunity. I know that Axanar is the same. You have no idea what your arrival means for this pride.”
“Then how about you stop treating me like some kind of prisoner and actually allow me to have a life. I’ve already lost everything I’ve ever known, and I don’t much feel like an adventurer. It’s not much of an adventure when you can’t get back to the world you left.”
“And what is that world like?” I asked.
Kara sighed. Maybe she was tired, maybe she just knew there wasn’t any point in arguing with me, because she was actually open to speaking. “My pride lives in a village near the mountains. We’re sheltered by trees, and it’s far from the human cities, although some people visit them now and then because, well, it’s pretty hard to escape them.”
“Did you?”
“Sometimes. Often a bunch of us would run there and spend a day as tourists, but we would always leave. I never had the desire to live there. Some of them did, but I couldn’t bear not being able to shift whenever I wanted.”
“So, you keep yourselves secret from the humans?”
She laughed. “Of course, we do. If they ever found out about us, they’d treat us like monsters. They’d kill us, experiment on us, and then put us up for display. Humans don’t trust anyone who is different from them.”
“It must be hell to live on a world like that.”
She shrugged. “It’s not so bad. Like I said, we have our own pride and we can live untroubled, at least we used to be able to. That was before the Night Fangs.”
“What are the Night Fangs? You’ve mentioned them a number of times now, and every time you speak their name, I can feel the terror in your voice.”
Kara nibbled on her lower lip and looked away from me. “We first encountered them when I was a child. I remember that day. Our scouts returned saying that they had found another pride, and we were overjoyed. There had always been rumors and beliefs that there were other prides in the world, but we had never met any. Everyone was excited about what it could mean for us. We didn’t know how many of them there were, but we wondered if we could combine our prides to create a lion civilization, and we wondered if they knew something about the world that we didn’t. We thought that perhaps they might have found a way to properly live among humans without fear of being caught. But it wasn’t long before we realized that the Night Fangs had no interest in being our allies. One day, we were waiting for our Alpha to return from a visit. He did come back, dumped at our border, his body savagely ripped apart. I remember it now, my Mom tried to shield my eyes, but I had already seen enough. The mood in the pride had changed. People were scared. They spoke in hushed whispers and the adults tried to keep it among themselves, but we all knew what was happening. They increased the patrols at night, and we waited for the attack. It got to the point where we thought about moving the pride and living somewhere else.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because we lived on sacred ground. It was said that the lions had been born under our very feet, and that there were the spirits of old watching us from the ruins. I suppose there’s some truth to that, but I wish they had had enough foresight to move. Over the years, there were skirmishes with the Night Fangs. Our hunting parties would be attacked, there would be dead bodies left within our territory, showing that they did not care about the laws of borders, and there was always the sense that they could attack from nowhere. We tried to forget about it and lived our lives. We prepared defenses, and then for a long time we heard nothing of them, other than glimpsed sightings.
Then they attacked from nowhere. They came like a storm, a storm of blood and death, and before I knew it everything was being torn apart. They’re vicious and violent and I didn’t think they were going to stop until all of us were dead.”
She wore a harrowed look on her face, and I could see her disappearing into the midst of her trauma, reliving everything. It was incredible to hear her speak like this. There were so few things in the world that could challenge us, so to see a lion so wrought with fear was a rare sight. “If they are so dangerous, then why do you wish to return?”
“Because my parents are still out there. I left them when they were alive. Dad made me promise to run. I thought… I thought I was doing the right thing. Now I think that I was just a coward. Maybe I should have died with them.”
“You survived so that you could fight another day. There is no cowardice in this.”
She flashed a smile at me, and it was perhaps the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, but there was much sorrow within that gesture as well. If she had fallen apart, then all the sorrow would have poured out of her, as though she held an ocean of it within her heart. It made me want to help her. Then there was a knock at the door. It was Marrin with a meal. Thick slices of meat had been cooked and laid upon the plate, the spoils of her hunt. They were glazed with sauce and some wine had been brought up as well.
“Try to enjoy this meal Kara, and rest. We will find a way for you to walk through worlds, and then you will face the Night Fangs again and make them pay for what they have done. Just trust that you are in the right place,” I said. I knew my words would be hollow. She did not really have any reason to trust us, but I hoped that she would ponder them anyway. I rose and left her to eat, closing the door behind me, and I frowned. This was a complicated situation and I felt there was more we could do than just try to use her power.
Chapter Fourteen
Kara
It was late at night when there was a loud hammering on the door. I awoke in a start. For a moment I thought I was at home again and the attack was happening all over again. I blinked and regained my senses though, and pushed myself into a sitting position. The empty plate was still at the foot of my bed, and I was alone. I shouted for whoever was at the door to come in. It swung open. Volkan was there. He looked apologetic.
“Axanar wishes to see you,” he said. In his arms, he had an outfit, which he placed on the floor, and pulled the door ajar. I rolled my eyes and wiped the tiredness from them. It must have been nice to be the Alpha, having everyone at his beck and call no matter the hour of the day. For a moment I wondered what might happen if I refused to visit with him, before deciding that was probably a bad idea as I would just be dragged out and still held in this cell. I wasn’t going to get anywhere while I was being treated as a prisoner.
I got dressed and thought about Volkan’s words earlier. He seemed more amenable than Axanar and I wished that he had been the Alpha, for at least he had showed me kindness. He had said some things that had stuck with me though. This power inside me might well have been like a talent that I just needed to practice, and there was a way for me to earn some respect around here. It might just take a little longer than I wanted. I longed to get back to my world, but fighting against the tide wasn’t going to help me accomplish that any sooner.