The Bonding Chronicles Ch. 15

Fear washed over Tani'm, and her eyes settled on Andrew, squinting into a narrow slit of distrust.

"For fuck's sake," Andrew began. "I don't know how to bond to anyone, Sara and Karen happened by accident."

He looked between the ward and Tani'm, frustration shadowing his gaze as he tried to figure out what he could say. He felt tremendous relief as Karen's voice spoke out.

"Tani'm, if you can't use this ward then we cannot help you. If you won't use this ward... Well, what are you doing here? I..."

Andrew could feel the pain in Karen's heart as the older woman marshalled her emotions, her expression never changing despite the turmoil she felt.

"I would hate for the wolf to complete what it started the night I found you... We are only trying to help. Please don't make me have to bury another friend, I'm not sure my heart has space for yet another scare."

Karen had never confided in Tani'm the implications of her gift, the long years of her life having only been hinted at by the depth of the woman's experience. In that moment, Tani'm came closer to sensing the truth of her new friend's past, though her empathy with Karen's hidden emotions distracted her from trying to understand that which she begun to suspect.

With a deep and worried breath, Tani'm touched the ward. It was a strange and unexpected feeling as the magical symbol connected itself to her, drawing energy from deep within her body, and as their link was established, Tani'm somehow knew what it had given her. The surface of the ink began to glow with a bright and unexpected shade of green.

Shock was evident in her gaze as her eyes moved between Andrew and Karen, who both smiled at the look on her face. She eventually settled her attention on the pewter miniature, lifting the tiny wizard into the air with the simplest of thoughts. Even as she moved the figure high above the table, she could not believe her eyes, knowing that what was happening was impossible, yet she was in complete control of it.

She had a moment's panic when she removed her hand from the symbol, and the ward's effect continued, the magic from her body being taken in small pieces to power the telekinesis. As her eyes grew large, she could feel her connection to the ward, and knew — as if by instinct — how to sever the link.

The green glow faded, revealing the light reddish-brown color that had been drawn on the paper as the pewter miniature hit the table with a clattering thud the moment the ward was again dark. Tani'm was still looking at the symbol, her thousand-yard-stare explaining how uncertain the young woman was. Her understanding of not just the world, but her own nature was changed in that very moment.

"Everything will be alright, Tani'm," Karen whispered, reaching across the small table and resting her hand on the young woman's forearm. Andrew could sense Karen's influence as it filled the air, and he grew more content as it washed over him, the edge being taken off his anxiety about everything they still had to do.

"Tani'm, I need you to look at me," Andrew stated, authority in his young-sounding voice.

She blinked and shook her head, her muddled thoughts clearing as she turned her gaze on Andrew.

"You need to go home and get your suit. I'm not sure exactly what it'll do, but I know of another ward that should help you. I will figure that out while you're gone, but you must hurry."

Night was already falling, and Andrew still had to try and convince Sara not to follow Tani'm into the forest later that evening. It was a desire he knew he was justified in having, but even as he considered it, he knew he was going to fail.

The small and beautiful woman looked between the ward and Andrew, realizing that everything Karen had said, all of her praise and speculation about just how much Andrew could help her, was justified. He was, far and away, her best chance to defeat the wolf.

She almost reached out and gripped his shoulder as she stood, but she stopped and instead shook her head, amazement in her eyes.

"I'll be back."

Her brief statement hung in the air as she fled through the door, before coming back in a second later.

"Karen, could you give me a lift... I forgot, I ran here."

Karen whispered into Andrew's ear, "When I return, you owe me an explanation, young man."

It was rare for Andrew to think of Karen as a teacher, even when at school, but as he processed her words, he could not shake the thought from his mind. Of course, he knew what she was referring to — his discovery about why his family had been forced to move so many times throughout his life — and was looking forward to hearing her thoughts on the matter.

***** Preparations End *****

Sara was replacing a cookbook on a shelf, the smell of braised elk shank filling the house, while Andrew continued to perform his experiments. He had been right, Sara was planning on following Tani'm out into the forest, and no matter how he tried, he could not dissuade her.

If anything, she had convinced him, explaining how she could already feel the fading of the moon, and knew that soon, she would no longer be able to shapeshift. If she was going to help Tani'm, it would need to be then, because the next day would be too late. He hated to admit it, but Tani'm's chances of success were better if Sara was there to help.

As much as he loathed his mate putting herself in danger, he knew that she was a dangerous and capable woman. Further, it was not his place to tell her what risks she could take, even though he knew — deep down — that if he wanted, he could force her not to go. And while he hated to admit it, that control was kind of arousing.

Sara was watching him from the kitchen, a sexual glint in her eye as she sensed his desire rousing. He shook his head and smiled, before bringing an axe down onto a piece of stained paper that was resting upon a massive log that Sara had brought into the living room.

The door opened just in time for Karen and Tani'm to witness the piece of paper being driven into the large hunk of wood.

"Welcome back," Andrew said, an excited and happy tone in his voice as he released the axe and ran over to Karen.

He reached up and pulled her down with gentle pressure to the back of her neck, her knees made weak by the authoritative gesture from her mate. No matter how much it surprised her, she always loved it when he did that.

"Well, hello..." Karen said with a blush, her words drifting off as she fought the arousal that Andrew's act had brought up within her.

"Ohhh jeez, keep it in your pants," Tani'm said as she maneuvered around the frustrating couple, their show of affection reminding her of her own conflicted emotions.

She paused for a moment and studied the log, seeing signs of many hits to the large wooden surface. There were pieces of paper and chunks of wood scattered all around it, and while she knew Andrew had some reason for what he was doing, she struggled to justify the arboric carnage that she was gazing upon.

Andrew gave Karen one last peck on the lips, and as he turned to go to the kitchen, she slapped him on the ass. He yelped and jumped, looking back at his playful mate with interest, before saying, "Alright, Sara has made what smells like an amazing meal, so let's eat, while I explain what I can do to help protect Tani'm.

It didn't take them long to set the table, and while Tani'm was new to the routine that the rest found so natural, she managed to assist in small and meaningful ways. While Karen served portions of tender, wine-soaked elk onto each person's plate and Sara served a salad she had no intention of eating, Andrew held a small group of sheets of paper, each one showing signs of damage.

They all sniffed their plates, and Karen was the first to let out a loud and pleased sigh, saying, "Wow, my dear. You really have outdone yourself."

The affirmations of Karen's statement flowed fast and free as Andrew and Tani'm joined in, and after a few bites had been consumed, Andrew began.

"So, this sheet here," he said as he moved a piece of paper towards the center of the table, with a different ward drawn in the corner, that had a faint silverish line running diagonally across the otherwise pristine-looking paper's face.

"I slashed across this with a knife, while the protection ward was active." He enjoyed the look of shock on Karen and Tani'm's face. Karen had been the person who gave him the ward, but as he suspected, she had never used it.

Andrew sucked the thick gravy-like juices from his fork before setting it down and rushing to a table. A moment later he returned with a dangerous-looking knife, setting the weapon down upon the paper.

"The paper seems to have taken no damage, but what is most amazing, is that the knife's blade is now dull."

Tani'm grabbed the knife first, inspecting the blade to better understand what had happened. Just as Andrew had promised, the weapon had been blunted, and as she focused her keen vision upon the edge she could see that the steel had been ground away. She handed the knife to Karen, who also confirmed how dull the knife had become.

The paper, on the other hand, seemed to hold no damage, no matter how closely she looked. The silver line that ran across its face, Tani'm realized, was the steel from the knife that had been filed away as the blade had been dragged across the paper's surface.

After almost half a minute, the two women joined Andrew and Sara in eating their dinner, and once Andrew saw that their curiosity had been satisfied, he brought over another piece of paper, one that had been cut clean through, the ward split in two from where the blade had crossed its surface.

"As you can see, the ward didn't seem to help this sheet, when it was not active."

Neither woman bothered to pick up or inspect the piece of paper, its damage obvious from where it lay. Andrew grinned, knowing that they wouldn't find that sheet as interesting as the last.

His anticipation built as he went to the log, prying the axe out of its face, the reddish-brown stained piece of paper still embedded in the log's surface. It took some strength, but Andrew managed to pull the paper from where it had been buried, and as it came free all of the women knew what Andrew was about to show them.

The paper was creased and folded from where it had been forced into the log's flesh, but there were no cuts or tears in the paper at all. Just as the first sheet had been, the piece of paper that Andrew held seemed to be impervious to damage.

"So, the ward can even protect against an axe strike, that's amazing."

Sara smiled at Tani'm's words, and Karen could feel through her Bond with Andrew that the boy had wanted the woman to fall into whatever trap he had just sprung on her.

"No, Tani'm, this paper here," Andrew said, holding up the sheet of reddish-brown paper for the small woman to look at, the defense ward standing out on the corner in a darker, thicker coating of the dye. "This paper has not had the ward activated yet. Like the second sheet, I have only drawn it, but not empowered it with magic."

Karen figured out what Andrew was saying a moment before the druidic girl did, but as she did, Andrew was forced to laugh at the shocked look on her face. Sara looked between Andrew and Tani'm, the sudden joy on everyone's faces casting a light upon her own confusion.

"Okay, guys. What the hell?"

Her eyes settled on the stained paper, the ward standing out and mocking her lack of understanding.

"It seems that by coating the paper with a dilution of the tannins, and then drawing the ward upon that paper, it gains some of the defensive benefits of the ward, even when the ward is not powered."

As Andrew finished his statement, he gripped the sheet of paper with both hands, pushing with one and pulling with the other, his muscles straining against the reddish-brown parchment as it began to slide between his fingers. Sara nodded as a grin spread across her face, allowing Andrew to stop his doomed task, the paper looking just as it had before he began. Seeing that Sara was now onboard, he turned his attention back to Tani'm, and continued.

"Unfortunately, because of the time constraints, I won't be able to give you this kind of natural protection, but..." He paused long enough to place the warded piece of paper back onto the top of the log, lifting the axe above his head as he said, "I can give you this."

The ward shone with green light a moment before the axe hit its surface, and as the heavy tool met the paper, the room was filled with a loud and definitive thud. The axe bounced off of the paper's surface, sending a shockwave up through the handle and into Andrew's arm.

Andrew dropped the axe and swore as he shook his arm, a deep pain echoing out from his elbow and up to his shoulder. Sara and Karen had felt the draw on Andrew's power when the axe was deflected by the ward, and were reminded that there was a cost to everything the magic did.

The ward was still glowing when Andrew picked up the sheet of paper, and while grinning, he bent the paper around, showing that it was still pliable and moved, but when he tried to crease it the paper resisted his efforts.

"It's the craziest thing," Andrew said. "It's as if the ward is reacting to the forces that are applied to the paper, and while it allows some things to affect it, others it prevents with equal but opposite force." Andrew looked towards the axe, shaking his arm one more time as he remembered the pain that he had just experienced.

While Andrew returned to the table, setting the stained piece of paper beside his bowl, Karen spoke up.

"Now this bit is important, Tani'm. The ward will try and protect your suit, and by proxy, you, but with every attack it thwarts there will be a cost to your magic. You will grow weaker and weaker every time it's forced to intervene on your behalf, so don't rely on it more than absolutely necessary. Dodge and evade every attack you can."

Tani'm understood the importance of Karen's warning, having felt the drain on her power when she had been using the telekinesis ward earlier that day.

"Wow... " She was stunned as she looked upon the pieces of paper, memories of her previous fight with the wolf flashing through her mind. If she had that ward the last time she had fought the wolf, she never would have lost her hand, and very well may have slain the beast then and there. "This... I just can't believe what you're capable of."

Andrew blushed, then admitted with full sincerity, "This is nothing. In all honesty, you have done more to make this possible than me. All I'm going to do is draw a symbol, you're the one that managed to harvest the tannins, and you are also the one that will be facing the wolf."

Sara glowered at Andrew and flicked a piece of meat at his face. "Hey!"

They all laughed, while Sara stuck out her tongue, and Andrew shook his head. "Sorry, my love. Confronting that beast with nothing but your natural powers must be terrifying."

"If it's anything like last night, he will probably hide in a hole again, watching me and hoping I don't see him."

All laughter ceased the moment Sara finished her statement, and as she saw their stunned looks, she asked, "What? I told you that, didn't I?"

Andrew was beside himself as he grimaced as said, "No, I think I would remember you telling me that you came face to face with a five-foot tall, man-eating wolf."

"Of course you've got to make it sound much more exciting than it actually was," Sara said as she rolled her eyes. "It was like... I don't know, a good fifteen feet away, and to be honest, it was camouflaged to look like a log, an ugly and stupid-looking log."

"Yeah, that doesn't help, Kitten."

Sara just rolled her eyes and made a funny face, showing how little she thought of the encounter, and how annoyed she was at everyone's concern.

The conversation returned to lighter topics, Andrew and Karen realizing that Sara was never going to recognize the danger she had been in, and knowing that there was no point trying to convince her of it.

While Karen and Sara did the dishes, Tani'm brought her leather suit to Andrew, eager to have the young man empower her armor. She had expected his work to take a long time, but she was surprised to discover that it only took him about a minute to find the best place for the ward, and then half that time to paint it on.

Tani'm was right-handed, so Andrew placed the ward on the left side of the leather suit's chest, just under where her arm would rest, before explaining.

"Unlike me, you can't control whether the ward will activate. Every time you touch it with your skin, it will connect itself to you and begin to draw power. Obviously, that could be really bad if you're not in combat, or are trying to do another task, like sneak. WIth that in mind, I have placed it here, where you can reach it easily when needed, but are less likely to come into contact with it by accident."

Again, Tani'm was reminded of how talented Andrew was, the design drawn perfectly with no sign of preparation from the young wizard, and even its placement being chosen with purposeful intent. In a way, she was reminded of how she approached the construction of her own tools, where she allowed the natural materials to guide and dictate where pieces would be removed, and which shapes would be contoured.

"I... I cannot thank you enough, Andrew."

There was a sincerity in her voice that Andrew had never heard, and while he knew that her fear of him was still there, resting beneath the surface, he was glad that she saw him as something other than a threat.

"You're welcome, and thank you." He tilted his head towards the large bucket of thick rich tannins. "That will help us more than... Well, more than even I know." He finished with a laugh, realizing how true the words were.

Sara and Karen came up beside the two allies, Karen drying her hands and beaming at Andrew, while Sara watched them with a predatory gleam to her eye.

"Are we doing this or what?"

Tani'm stood and looked Sara in the eye, before asking, "Are you sure? You know you don't have to follow me into this insanity?"

The small and formidable woman was taken aback as Sara grinned, her teeth taking a sharp and pointed edge, while her irises became tall and feral, the visage of a cat watching her with a predator's gaze.

"This is my home, and no puppy dog is going to take that from me."

Sara could feel Andrew's worry like waves crashing into her from the deep dark sea, and atop it she could sense Karen's own concern as it rode through Andrew's Bond, her mates loving and tender, wanting to keep her safe.

While Tani'm went into the shared bath, suiting up, the Bonded family gathered together, taking comfort from each other's warmth, and trying not to think of the terrible things that could happen to one of them that night.

"Tani'm was right, earlier today. The wolf does seem to be going crazy, and it very well may do something stupid tonight. While we are out hunting it, you two need to stay bunkered down here. Keep the house shuttered, and the door locked."

They knew she was right, and that Sara would know the moment they were in danger if the wolf did attack, but a moment after recognizing the wisdom in what she said, Andrew pulled back and stated, "Wait, you weren't here when we were talking about that."

Sara smiled, and gave Andrew a soft kiss, pride in the gentle contact of their lips. "I was across the driveway, dropping some eaves."

Andrew and Karen shook their heads, and laughed. Of course Sara was keeping an eye on them.

It didn't take Tani'm long to put her suit back on, the torn-off section of her right forearm having been replaced with a section of uncured hide from one of the elks that the wolf had slain the day before. With hatchet and steel knife in hand, Tani'm ran through the door, followed by a naked Sara who shifted into cat form a few feet from the house.