Wonderland Ch. 09

"What about you?" I asked him. "How are you so different?"

He inclined his head to me. "Because I have something that Fuyher does not."

I waited then, shaking my head slightly when he said nothing. "I have a soul," he said quietly and with a slight smile, the light in his eyes turning a light brownish gold color before turning back to a deep brown.

"Ready to eat course one of our meager dinner?" he asked me after checking the meat again, his voice returning with its usual sarcastic bite.

I gave in and nodded, accepting a plate and utensils. I didn't bother to ask how he had managed to pack this stuff, but I was glad he had. After dinner was eaten and put away, I returned to my post at the cave entrance, ignoring Thatcher's requests to sleep.

There would be no sleeping for me on this night, or, if I was honest, for many nights after. Not if I could help it.

+++

When camp broke the next morning, I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I had kept watch until dawn despite Thatcher's protests. Not too long after, Thatcher was already making arrangements for our trek to the mountains while eating on a breakfast of bagged cereal. From the sounds of things, the path was a bit dangerous, despite Thatcher taking us on a longer, safer route.

"We can't afford to lose anyone," he had told me as we packed our bags. "We don't have a way to replace them."

Bundled up in my black parka lined with fleece over two sweaters, a long-sleeve shirt, an undershirt, and my underclothes, I still felt the biting chill of the winter. Traveling with Raspan's who evoked the winter season was beginning to take a toll on my chill tolerance.

I walked towards the large gathering of Raspan's when I was ready, approaching Thatcher and our mount, Mannat, after I finally found them through the sea of furry black bodies. Beside Mannat, a smaller and leaner Raspan waited. I blinked in surprise at how delicate the Raspan looked compared to the others. Maybe it was a runt?

"Or a female."

I gave Thatcher a dirty look at his intrusion into my thoughts, but he just smiled. The female Raspan approached me hesitantly and lowered herself onto her belly, her eyelids closing over her ruby red eyes.

'You're kicking me off my ride?' I asked in my thoughts.

Thatcher swallowed hard and looked over my face quickly. "For your safety, yes."

I gave him a look. 'My safety? What's wrong with me being up there with you?'

Thatcher suddenly approached me and rested my hand on the female Raspan's head, his gloved one covering my own. This was as intimate as we had gotten since yesterday -- I winced at the reminder -- and his closeness took me by surprise. "We're going through Lunar grounds. They will come after me because I look Raspan. If I am hurt-"

"Thatcher," I gasped aloud, panic gripping me at the thought of losing—

No! Don't finish that thought, I scolded myself.

"IF I AM HURT," Thatcher pressed on, his fingers squeezing mine tightly, "she will take you to safety. She has her orders, Tempest, and she will follow them if I command it." Thatcher reached up with his other hand to cup my cheek against his glove. "Hopefully it will not come to that."

The urgency from his expression faded and I found myself staring up at Táxim-se, Prince of the Raspans.

"You will be at my side, Annis-si. Always," he murmured aloud. "Now," his brown eyes gestured to the female before looking back at me. "Ride out with me?"

I exhaled slowly and looked over at the Raspan, a little unsure. "Will you stop quoting movies?" I asked him finally, giving in.

Thatcher grinned and took my hand in his, leading me to the Raspan's left side. Both of his hands came to waist as he briefly drew me into the warmth of his frame. I bit down on my bottom lip to fight the urge to push him away. "Never," he breathed in my ear before easily lifting me up onto the mount.

I fidgeted away from his touch the moment I was astride. I turned the female Raspan away from Thatcher's perplexed face quickly, giving her -- and me -- a bit of room. The sound of thundering footfalls a few seconds later told me that Thatcher had the same idea.

Thatcher caught up with me and threw a command at the female. She jerked to a halt and lowered her head deep into the snow as a sign of submission. I shot Thatcher a dirty look and called out the opposite command in English. She didn't move.

"Remember what we talked about, men!" Thatcher called over his shoulders to the endless sea of Raspan's that began to gather up in straight, even lines behind us. "Stick together and keep your eyes open -- and don't forget to look up."

After that, we were off. Immediately I became aware that while my mount was diligent to her duties to protect me, she wasn't completely docile. She would occasionally tease Mannat with small nudges of her tail and even once went as far to play tag -- which I wasn't eager about trying again.

For a while my mount and I followed a pattern of ambling ahead to search and loot around before lingering for the others to catch up. Thatcher was adamant about keeping a fast-paced walk, especially since the weather was starting to turn bad again. The skies were darkening to a steel gray and I had become so accustomed to the chill that when the temperature dropped a few degrees, I thought nothing of it.

I looked up at the sky when small snow flurries began to fall and asked the mount to halt. Thatcher and the others were still a ways back, but I could hear their procession and the occasional grunt as the Raspan's spoke to one another. I started to look over my shoulder when something gold flashed from the corner of my eye.

Swiftly, I turned right, but everything around me was monochromatic, not a single color in sight. I made the mount circle in spot before shaking my head wryly. I was just seeing things. After all, I hadn't slept at all last night and I was a reported sleepyhead.

I faced us front again at the same time that the female Raspan balked. She shoved off her front feet, rearing up with a high-pitched screech.

Instantly the snowy forest floor around me erupted with cloaked bodies, each frame reaching up for the Raspan.

I was ripped from my mount and tossed off to the side. When I pushed myself upright in the snow, I saw a human face flanked by fur and fox ears -- then a dozen more of them. Bodies were everywhere: in the trees, pouring out from the snowdrift, falling from the sky...it was an ambush of them.

The female Raspan screamed again in pain, pulling me from my thoughts. I shakily got to my feet, wheezing for air and stared in horror as humans with golden eyes, reddish-brown fur, and fox ears and tails descended upon the Raspan, her black fur flying as they tried to pierce the flesh beneath with spears made of wood and stone.

"No," I breathed, shaking my head as I realized what was happening.

"NO! STOP!" I screamed, rushing at them. I pulled the nearest one off only to have him turn around and shove me hard enough that I fell, screaming at me in a language I didn't understand. I tried to get up but another male came and shoved me back into the snow, pointing a warning finger at me. I batted it aside and stood swiftly, anger getting the best of me.

"STOP!" I yelled again, shoving him back as I raced around him and to the Raspan. Blood was beginning to darken the snow around her as they hit their target. Rage I had never felt before built up within me and within seconds, I had grabbed the nearest human-fox-thing and swung my fist hard into his face.

With a sharp cry the thing fell back, clutching his nose. Blood rushed from between his furry fingers and I blinked in shock before grinning in satisfaction.

Flexing my wrist and seeing red, I reached for another Fox Man and pushed him hard off the side of my mount. I used my bag and swung at the ankles of the men that were still trying to wrestle her down. One of the hybrids caught hold of one strap of my bag, growling at me as he tried to pry it from my grip. Abandoning my bag, I tackled one of the men trying to poke out my mount's eyes with a dagger, shoving him hard into the snow.

"STOP-HURTING-HER!" I exclaimed, hitting his face with each stressed syllable. I started to push off of him when suddenly a strong hand grabbed me by the hair and ripped me off the male before shoving me face-first into the snow beside him.

A heavy pressure on my back and legs that felt a lot like knees weighed me down. One hand gripped my wrists; the other jerked back my head by the hair, pulling my head out of the snow. I gasped for air and instantly flinched as something cool and sharp pressed against my throat.

The world around us went still then. No movement was made apart from the slow steady crunch of footsteps, and I wasn't too far gone in rage to notice that my mount was dead.

I stared through ice-coated lashes at Thatcher's boots when they appeared at the edge of my vision. I slowly looked up, straining against my bonds as I met Thatcher's emotionless face. Mannat stood behind him at the shoulder, his red eyes surveying the scene at my back.

Already Thatcher had partially transformed, his missing gloves revealing black clawed hands. In between his thin, chapped lips, I could see his fangs, the sharp points glinting in the low light. His eyes were blood red and blank, taking in the stilled scene before him just like Mannat had.

"Release the girl," he spoke in English, his voice partially male and partially inhuman. It was raspy and coarse, the tone almost breathless in its delivery. Clearly Thatcher was more beast than human.

The fox-thing on my left dug the dagger deeper into my skin and the one to my right tightened his hold on my hair and wrists.

"Not to you," the male on the left answered harshly, now speaking in English as well. The animosity in that tone couldn't be faked.

"She belongs with this pack," Thatcher hissed, his tail sliding across the snow threateningly. "And since when did the Lunar threaten innocents?"

The Luna male to my left snorted. "An innocent in a Raspan march? Unlikely." I gritted my teeth when my head was tilted awkwardly to the side before the knife blade flattened and began to rake slowly over my throat like a caress. "Unless you and your men have evolved your tastes of flesh," the male continued his voice darker.

Thatcher's eyes darkened.

"Is she a concubine?" the Luna male to my left growled, stilling his dagger as he waited for an answer.

The air filled with the threatening growls of the Raspans.

"She is my mate," Thatcher corrected in a voice as cold as the steel against my throat. "Release her."

The Lunar at my side began to laugh. "That is a funny joke, Raspan, but I'm afraid she's a little out of your league," the Lunar male to my right responded with a chuckle.

Both angry and mortified, I wriggled again.

"It is as he says!" I bit out, glaring at the Luna male who turned my head to him. "I'm his mate."

"Yet your scent suggests otherwise, little lady," the male responded, smiling to reveal a pair of fangs on both the top and bottom rows of his teeth, like a cat would have. "Listen, Raspan, we'll take care of the human girl. You go on your way."

"That is not a deal I can agree to," Thatcher shot back. "You have my mate in your possession with steel to her throat. I will not leave until she is at my side."

Suddenly I was jerked up to my feet and caught in one of the Lunar's grip, a steel band of an arm wrapped tightly around my throat. I gasped as suddenly my jacket was ripped open and the cool tip of the blade was pressed hard against the underside of my left breast. The Luna dug the blade in through the layers of my clothes until it threatened to pierce my skin. I cringed at the touch...and, yet, craved it.

My eyes lifted to Thatcher's and I found that his eyes had reversed their color: his irises were as black as night, and emptier than I had ever seen them. His pupils were blood red.

"If you draw first blood," an evolved Raspan hissed out, his glittering powder white skin almost the same color of the snow around him, "we will kill until there is no one left. Your children and mates will belong to us. Give us back our Annis-si and we vow no other lives will be lost this night."

"Lies!" a Luna male barked out, eying the men holding me for confirmation.

"If our King commands it, so it shall be done," the Raspan replied, his brown eyes flickering to Thatcher.

"King?"

The word was whispered in both fear and awe, voiced over and over again until the Luna male not holding me lifted up his hand for silence.

"The only King of the Raspans that I know of is Fuyher and I do not see him among you," the male said quietly, his face fierce. But despite the bravery, fear was etched in the lines of his face. I knew if Thatcher persisted, the Lunar would break and release me.

"He is not our king!" the Raspan male spat. "He is a madman. We fight under his son, Táxim-se, and his mate, Annis."

Thatcher took one step forward and instantly the body behind me tensed and angled me farther away.

"We are not here to fight," Thatcher murmured, his inhuman eyes slowly lighting to a warm brown. His tail, fangs, and claws began to disappear as well. "But I swear to whatever wretched Gods are watching over us now, if you do not return my mate to me, I will kill you and your men where you stand," he vowed in that quiet, careful tone of his.

I locked eyes with Thatcher and felt the resistance and tension leave my body instantly as his presence in my mind took over. The arm around my neck loosened and I gently pushed the knife away from me. I took one shaky step forward then another until I could reach out and grab Thatcher's hand. He pulled me quickly into his frame, his arms coming around me tightly.

"I didn't mean to lose control like that, but I thought the worst had happened." Thatcher let out a ragged sigh and loosened up his tight hold on me, his presence in my mind slowly fading. "I'm sorry I was not here sooner to save her."

I eyed the lifeless form of my mount and swallowed hard. 'I was here and I couldn't do anything,' I responded in my thoughts, meeting his gaze hesitantly.

"If you are not here to fight," the Luna male interrupted, "then why are you here in our territory?"

Thatcher picked up my jacket and shrugged me into it after dusting off the snow, his mind a tumult of curses aimed at the Lunar and mantras about controlling his temper.

"We are headed for Queensland," Thatcher said finally, pulling me back into his embrace. "We have friends there that need our aid."

The Luna shifted his weight slightly, his amber gold eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Queensland?" he repeated slowly.

Thatcher nodded. "To the Final Eden."

The other male's expression darkened and he lifted up his dagger threateningly. "You dare harm those who are inside-"

"They are already dead," Thatcher reported shortly. "My father wiped out the entire camp a month ago. He left no survivors."

"YOU LIE!" the Lunar roared, advancing quickly towards us, but a growl from Mannat froze them in their tracks.

The Luna male raised his hand again, calling for silence. The uproar was slow in fading, but when it did, he spoke again, his voice controlled but just barely. "If there are no survivors then how is it that you have friends who need your aid?" he asked carefully.

"They were seeking sanctuary in the Final Eden. They were attacked by Fuyher and left to die in the caves. They are alive, but just. Every second we stand here arguing, they are a second closer to death," Thatcher replied coldly, his arms tightening around me.

The Luna dropped our gaze to the snow, his jaw tightening.

For a long while, silence reigned and not a single person moved.

"You will not make it before the snows hit," the male said finally, his voice weary with defeat. "My father's herd is not far from here. We have caves where your men can sleep, but they will have to find food another way. Our supplies are limited enough as they are."

His eyes met ours again. "In the morning, if the skies are clear, I will accompany you with a small group of my men to this Final Eden. If things are as you say, perhaps we will have a discussion about strategy."

Relief swept through Thatcher's body and I couldn't help but smile at the other male. "We would like that very much," I told him.

Surprisingly, the Luna blushed.

He nodded sharply at me and looked at the dead carcass of my mount. "I assume I will have to give payment in return for the loss of the Raspan?" he asked us, not hiding the disgust or bitterness in his voice as he did so.

"We'll discuss it later, when we're warm and fed," Thatcher replied, his eyes swinging up to the skies. "For now, we should get moving."

"What of Rebeck-si?" asked one of the Raspans, gesturing to my mount.

Thatcher's eyes glowed gold for a split second and with the next breeze of snow, Rebek's body turned to dust and was carried away into the forest.

Thatcher eyed the Luna male. "Ready when you are."

+ + + + + +

The journey to the caves was a few miles, but the ride was short. Lennox, the herd leader inherent of the Kynan Lunar, had a few scouts sent ahead to alert the herd, including his second in command, Jestin, the one who had held the dagger to my throat. As we passed through the dense trees, I noticed more and more of the Lunar scouts and warriors through the trees, gone as quickly as I had seen them.

The caves were on the outskirts of the Lunar herd's territory, but both Thatcher and I agreed that it would be safe for the Raspan pack to stay. While the Raspans went out to hunt, Thatcher and I were led by Lennox into the Lunar's encampment, flanked by a couple of male warriors.

I stared around at the fairly large camp, taking in the sights and smells while Lennox gave us the grand tour. The camp had been situated on the northeastern edge of the Queensland Mountains where most of the land was rocky forest and small sloping hills. Many Lunar herds, according to Thatcher's mental asides during Lennox's speech, lived in this area, because it was too rocky for Raspans to make their burrows. The Raspans usually enjoyed the western and southern parts of the mountains, around Wonderland, where the soil was loose enough to dig into, but not too loose where their tunnels would cave in on them.

Lennox explained that the Lunar lived much like the natives did long ago. They followed their food source, which in the summer was the sun and in the winter normal food like meat and vegetation; traveling light, settling only when they needed to. Their communities were small-knit and upheld the ideals of family and herd traditions. Lennox's father, Kynan, had been leading them since before the Great Battle. When Kynan chose to step down, Lennox was to take his place. Because of this, not much about the Lunar herd's way of life had changed over the course of time.

"Here is where we will eat," Lennox explained, gesturing to a longhouse off to our right. Smoke rose out of holes in the roof and the large doorways placed sparingly down the longhouse's length were covered with thick layers of bear skin. I cringed at that, remembering that bears were actually in these woods -- and how they were endangered. "My father's hut is just around the bend here," he said finally as we passed a corral of huge silver wolves that gnashed their teeth at us as we walked by. I started to ask if they were real wolves or Lunar, but Thatcher gave me a look that I took to mean as "Don't even think about it."

As Thatcher and I followed Lennox through the camp, I started to get a funny feeling that the Lunar, like humans, were extremely clique-like. Every glance of eyes that went my way were challenging or outright threatening, studious of every move I seemed to make. Most of the Lunar were in their half-human, half-fox form; but some roamed in what Thatcher called the "warrior form": full beast. In their warrior form, the Lunar weren't nearly as large as Raspans, but I was sure they could evoke some damage if they wanted to.