Dragon (S)Layers Ch. 20

Between them, nursing from her milk-heavy breasts were a hand full of pups who's small size belied the rippling strength of muscles no human baby should have had. The woman was either too weighed down or too weak to move, she didn't rise to defend herself when Briee crouched down at the edge of her burrow.

The rest of the chamber was empty save for smatterings of crude bone jewelery, grass mats and leather clothing. There were no dividers like her father's cave had and only one sleeping area, a bowl in the middle of the rock that had been hollowed out to accommodate the entire pack no doubt.

The mother looked at Briee tiredly, panting. Her eyes flashed in anger.

The anger became fear as the real hunter drew her blade and rested it across her knees. She flashed a smile. "Seems like a spot of bad luck," Briee spoke carefully to ensure her western accent didn't cloud her words' meaning. "who is your patron?"

"Not for you to know, human." The lycan huffed as her gaze bored down against the small intruder. If there was any chance that she was going to attack, she was running out of time-- whether Briee's patience gave out or exhaustion took her, the lycan was dead. Not before she watched what happened when another dragon dared to sew its seed where Briee roamed.

Briee smiled slightly at the thought. "We have a lot in common, you know. We don't even need to fight. Who knows. . ." She drew the thought out, furrowing a row of dirt along the wall with her plated glove as she started a slow, lazy circle. The lycan tracked her with a vicious gaze. "Never given birth myself, but I heard one of my sisters go through it. Sounded like hell and we're trained to ignore pain." Her gaze flit to the babes suckling on their mother. "Grey hair-- that must make you the Alpha mate, hm?"

The creature bared her teeth, a carnal growl roiling in her throat and echoing throughout the chamber. To Briee's surprise, she actually started to rise, pushing her new cubs aside. "I'll rend yoursoul."

"Funny. . ." Briee hefted her shield into position. "You're going to be the second person to tell me that before--" a flash of something bristled her extra senses. Cold. Focus Intent. Murder. Briee ducked down behind her shield.

None too soon.

The arctic chill slammed into her with enough force to push her back several inches, the resoundingcrackof her shield's high strength alloy being split echoed through the cave along with the hapless whimpers of the cubs and the clattering of Briee's armor as she tried to keep from falling over. Her greaves clattered against the dirt floor of the cave as she pushed up into a run. There was no way she was going to play second to a caster, she was too strong. Too powerful in her own right and toodamnedgood to cower. "Is that all you've got?!"

The lycan woman was already focusing her will into another spell by the time Briee had halved the distance between them. Even with the spear of ice sticking out of her shield, the young warrior was quick. She'd be on top of the lycan in a second. The mother couldn't move and leave her pups defenseless, but she didn't try too, either. That should've been Briee's first warning.

A sheet of ice bloomed into existence in the space between them at the same time the ground heaved upward and bowled Briee over. The pool of solid ice formed crystalline lances which closed down against her like a cage and pinned her arm under her shield. The metal was bowing inward against the heavy wood backing as the fingers of ice tried to close in and crush Briee. She snarled against the pain. "I love penetration!" She grit her teeth in a rancid smile when she shoved off with one foot to leverage her body against the straps. She wiggled her arm in a vain attempt to loosen it. "But you're not my type!"

A sharp hiss issued from the lycan's throat. Another blast of focused intent rippled through the air-- Briee was just that tiny bit quicker, though. She flung her blade at the woman. In one smooth motion the lycan dodged to the side, scooped up one of her pups and whirled with her fingers outstretched.

Briee was already free from the pressure of the cage, though. She threw her weight back against the ice spears shattering them as she tucked into a backward roll just in time to dodge a blast of electrical energy. Briee caught a glimpse of the ice, noting it had liquefied. The Alpha was smart-- she'd been going to use her opponent's armor and the water against her to ensure a kill.

That elicited a smile from her. Credit where it was due, it'd been a while since she'd had a challenge. "Ice and electricity? I bet you're a hit at parties!" She scrabbled behind the earthen scar, reaching for her punch dagger. "Too bad you forgot to mind your third pup!"

Imagining a pause is one thing, causing it was something different. When Briee exploded from behind cover the Lycan was waiting. A lance of pure green energy was already sailing through the air towards her. Briee smiled behind her bandanna as she dropped into a slide, crashing into the woman and her pups. They slammed full force into her plated chest, claws already fully extended and reaching for Briee's face.

The young dragon-born let out a sharp laugh as the first razor touch kissed her forehead. She bucked, kneed the woman in the side and wrapped one hand around her throat. The lycan grabbed Briee's hand before she could work up a punch--

Brilliant pain exploded over her vision, entire fields of pain bloomed over her arm from her hand to her shoulder and in another second she could feel the rub of her leathers against her skin and the skinmovingunder it. Opening up. Her entire nervous system sang with pain, vibrating through her core like a trailing note on a harp. She ground her teeth so hard she was sure they were going to crack. "Che- eap!"

The lycan snarled, tossed her pup to the side and grabbed for Briee's bandanna. Briee wasn't about to be shown up, though. Not like this. She was sure as hell not about todielike this. This furry bitch had no idea who she was messing with; oh, but she'd learn. With a pained groan of her own she grabbed the woman's forearm and yanked her down, head butted her in the snout.

A howl of pain. Blood sprayed Briee's eyes. Briee planted a foot under her self, shoved off and rolled over-- straddling the inhuman woman, she didn't hesitate to punch her again. And again. The woman tried to grab her face or something but with the armored weight atop her, she couldn't get her hands up.

"That," Briee huffed. "Was uncalled for." She was almost positive this creature didn't have the same pain management training she'd endured, so when she delivered another hammer blow on her snout, Briee was confident she wouldn't be casting any more spells. "Now. . ." Briee rolled off of her and stood up on wobbly knees. She grabbed the woman by the scruff of her neck, booted her face into the dirt and, with an arm full of liquid pain, she slammed her punch dagger between the lycan's vertebrae. The blow was precise, right where it needed to be to paralyze her.

The woman cried and went slack, whimpering loud, short sobs that tore through the air like little knives. Briee flopped her over on her back and went to recover her sword. When she came back, the pups had gathered around their prostrate mother, whimpering and mewling blindly. Briee looked to them dispassionately as she removed her gauntlet. As expected, her entire arm was sheathed in open sores and blisters that had already healed, sealing cords of angry red muscle to the skin. She flexed and the muscle strained, tore from the skin and bled.

Briee looked down at her conquest. "You're fucked up, has anyone ever told you that?" She held her hand over the gaping maw of the fallen creature with a dark smile, letting her blood trickle down her hand and into the lycan's mouth. "You don't use your patron's powers against another person who has a draconic pact--"

"You--" she mewled. "You have nothing!"

"Well, you're right about that. . ." Briee pulled her gauntlet back on. With some effort, she pulled her flask from her belt and slid her bandanna up enough to sip. The cooling water was a kiss of heaven. "But neither do you, do you?"

"I'll--"

"You're not going to do anything. In fact, how quickly you die is going to be determined by your answers to a couple of very simple questions." Her pups were mewling louder now. Briee looked at them and then to her captive. The look in the woman's eyes told her all she needed to know. "Where's the other dragon?"

"Youdiehere, foreigner!"

Briee casually knelt down beside her and pulled one of the pups to its mom's teat. Her fingers stroked back through the little wolf's half formed fur as she slowly, deliberately, closed her eyes and savored the scents of the den. Simultaneously centering herself, her strokes became slower and wider as her hand opened around the young lycan. "So where's this dragon, sorceress?"

"We'll kill you. . . Then we'll--" She stopped when Briee wrapped her forefinger and thumb around the pup's neck. "Don't youdare. The wild decides his fate!"

She laughed sharply. "Like they decide yours? You sold your soul to a dragon, silly bitch. Does the rest of your pack even know that you turned your back on the gods? Hm?" Briee stroked the pup's fur. "I'll ask you again. . . Where is it?"

The venom in the woman's stare was palpable, acidic even. Stripped of her power and even her control over her body, she only had anger to give her solace. She hadn't lost anything, though. Not yet.

She didn't know what real fear was.

Briee casually undid her bandanna and smiled at the woman, taking a moment for her visage to sink in. When she spoke again, her voice was icier than anything the woman could've used against her. "You don't have to fear death-- Take it from someone who's been there, it's not that bad. . . The only question is who goes before you do. See? It's not so bad when you die alone." She planted her knee into the woman's stomach. The werewolf didn't even flinch. Not until Briee touched their lips together and whispered, "Your pack is dead, but I might spare them if you tell me why this human they're hunting is so special."

To her credit, she tried to snap at Briee. At least the fight hadn't left her yet.

"All right, then. . ." Briee drew back and carefully plucked the young lycan from her teat. Her hands wrapped around the creature and she looked at the woman. "I have half a dozen chances to ask the same question-- more if I start getting creative. Spare me the bravado--"

"I'll--"

"Wrong answer." Briee twisted his head around until it face the opposite direction. She ignored the scream of anguish and rage as she tossed the limp corpse to the side, scooped up another one and brought it to the woman's teat. "There you go."

As the woman snarled and snapped, Briee leaned back on her haunches, looking around. Deciding there was nothing of interest, she settled her icy blue gaze on the woman. "Why is your pack interested in the humans that're coming through the forest?"

"I--"

"Ah, ah," Briee waged her finger. "Think carefully about this. . ."

The woman cranked her neck one way and the other as if trying to get her body to respond to signals it was no longer receiving. Finally and with a very low rumbling sigh, she looked up to the armored woman and spat out, "he's the son of the lost! Lost's son! We kill him and become the new pack-- we'll rule these lands!"

"Uh. . . huh." Briee sighed. "That's incredibly boring." She stood up. "So what about the dragon? Who signed your pact?"

"I can't!"

"You'd better. Where can I find it?"

"No! I can't! The pact is a bond, if I betray it, my soul will be forfeit! I'll never ascend and--" Briee stepped on her throat.

"I know that. But that's not my problem. . ." She bent at the waist to pick up the pup suckling. It mewled weakly in her cold grip. "Is your soul worth the lives of your offspring, though?"

A couple of hours later, Briee was standing near the edge of the newly evacuated clearing where the humans had set up their camp. She was cleaning blood-- not all of it hers-- from her arm when she saw a broad shouldered man enter the clearing from the side of the forest; he was wearing the brown and green clothes of the military men that had occupied the tents here, but didn'tlooklike one of the common soldiers.

He was heading towards the road looking dejected, hurt and upset about something but Briee didn't understand what until he stopped. He whirled around as a naked man eased into the edge of the circle. They shared a moment of silence before the dressed man raised his hand in a sign of non-aggression.

They approached one another cautiously, sizing each other up. It was the clothed man who broke the silence, his voice smooth and commanding; the voice of someone who got his way in life more often than not. It was analogous of the way in which they presented themselves, even-- one a prim and proper civilized man and the other a wild beast.

"I didn't come here for a fight. Leave my men be."

The wild man threw his head back and laughed.

"I'll not ask you again, I don't care who you think you are, but--"

"You wandermyforest, pup."

The civilized man stared at him for a long moment before he stepped closer, barely more than an arm's length now. His voice was still clear and proud even though his posture had changed from overtly threatening to something more passive and laid back. "I'm running a diplomatic mission here to help the elves combat their age old enemy-- I'm sure I don't need to spell it out for you--"

The wild man went to lash out but the civilized one stepped in, grabbed his arm and twisted it back into whatshouldhave been an impossible angle. Without so much as a hint of effort he held the werewolf like that and whispered into his ear. Several seconds passed like that until finally the stronger of the two disentangled himself and stepped back, letting his captive go.

"They'll never come here again, you have my word. . ."

"Like that, you can make such a promise?"

"I just did," he smiled. His voice was remarkably soothing, Briee noticed. "Let my men pass and we will run the woods together when the work is done. . ."

"So you say."

"I do." After a long moment the civilized man turned his back. "Thank you."

Briee, curious, watched with bated breath as if expecting the lycan to transform and tear after the man. But he never did. In fact, he stood there just about as dumb founded as she was. Eventually he slid into them as if he'd never been there at all, leaving Briee mildly confused as to what had just taken place. With her clearer head she could at least think straight once more, yet her ability to reason out how killing one human would make this relatively unknown pack the leader of the others in this forest made little to no sense to her.

Perhaps it had something to do with the display of power she'd just witnessed, perhaps it was just some stupid mud hut prophecy. Whatever the case, Briee decided, it was time to sort this mess out.