Taming the Queen of Beasts

If you like music while you're reading, try "Beautiful Disaster" by Lost Autumn. It's what I was listening to while writing this chapter!

NOTE: There will be 3 chapters released tonight! Enjoy!

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GAR

Hidden in a hollow of the land behind a thicket of scraggly bushes, Gar had himself flattened against the earth, peering through the bare inch of space under the thorny bushes, to the land behind.

The humans were almost upon them.

He suspected he and the other Protectors spread out in a wide fan through the grasses were already within range of their technology, and he kept expecting a shout as the first of them was detected. Rika had told them that the tech followed heat traces, and one way to minimize it was to cover yourself in mud. So he and the other Protectors had visited the river before they left the camp and now he lay, dirt on dirt, watching the grasses of the plains begin to shift and flatten under what appeared to be nothing.

He should have thought of it—of course the technology might mask their scent and even sight of them. But it couldn't remove the tangible signs from the earth. And the grass on the plains, while thin from the late season, was still over a foot tall. Where they passed, it bent before them, before disappearing under the visual illusion of their tech.

It was almost time. It didn't matter if the tech wasn't down, soon they would read the WildWood and discover that the "bombs" weren't real. They had to get some Anima into the human encampment and make an attempt at disarming or slowin them. There was no choice.

Gar's breath got shallow and he prayed that the rear-guard he'd sent ahead had had time to make it past the humans before the land narrowed on its entry into the WildWood between the mountain ranges.

His body hummed with tension, expecting to hear the fierce boom of guns at any second—or whatever other weapon treats the humans had for them.

It was so eerie, knowing that they were there, yet sight and sound of the vehicles and people had only appeared once—twenty minutes earlier, providing a shocking view of rumbling machinery, harsh lights, and the hum of many voices. The scent of those machines was horrific, sharp and painful on the nose. But with it came the scent of human flesh—and the tiniest whiff of Rika.

He'd almost roared when he caught it, his body trembling with the restraint. But he knew that the leaders stayed at the back, behind the ranks, to give orders and make decisions, and never fight. Because a human's leadership came from their intelligence and charisma, not their physical strength.

He suspected even if they thought she was on their side, she'd be kept close by the leaders since she knew so much of the Anima.

Of course, if they had figured out her deception…

Gar didn't even want to think.

He'd been sucking at the scents long after they'd faded, his mind filtering through the various elements—creatures they didn't know, the fumes from the machines, food, sweaty bodies, and more. Things he had no frame of reference to understand. Probably the tech.

As he watched the bending grass crawl forward—more slowly than a human would walk, Gar shook his head. He didn't know what to make of this. He only knew he couldn't die without having taken every possible opportunity to get her back. To keep her safe. To shield her.

He prayed she hadn't been harmed. Hadn't been hurt, her trauma triggered. But how could it not? Even if they were kind to her, she was marching in an army preparing to take down her real people: Him.

The masking flickered again and Gar's body tensed. The first line of vehicles was barely one hundred yards away. He sucked in to smell her, and again caught the scent of those strange creatures—and water. The sound of them was horrific, pummeling the night. The humans truly were either brashly confident, or incredibly stupid. They announced themselves to the entire WildWood—not only the soldiers waiting for them in the trees less than a mile away.

He was distracted when the masking flickered, and flickered again, then cut out completely for three breaths.

Three breaths in which Gar inhaled a million scents, but his heart only sang for one.

He had to bite his tongue to stop himself making the mating call. She was there! She was close!

He lifted his eyes barely just above the level of the grasses and found a straggling line, easily two-hundred feet wide, a wobbling oval of people, vehicles, creatures, and their equipment. The front line was vehicles with shining glass shields at their front that would deflect arrows, he suspected. Each vehicle held two or three people seated together at the front, and long flat beds at the back full of equipment or… or beds.

But his nose pointed him in one direction, at one vehicle.

Less than one hundred feet away, towards the rear of the army, one vehicle. It had two men in its seats and held a bed at the back, and two females.

Rika. And a woman holding onto her. The two men in the front looked stern, one of them speaking into a piece of technology, his eyes flashing with anger. But Rika was laid down in the back on some kind of cot, as if she was wounded. And her scent was… off.

But then the masking ticked into place again and there was nothing. The scents floated on the wind, dissipating like steam in warm air.

Gar shook. He could follow her, now. If they could just—

Gar blinked.

Holy shit.

He could see the trees beyond the human's illusion, see the shadows and lines in the bark. Overhead the birds, startled by the rumbling vehicles, were now returning to their song.

He looked up and the sky was no longer indigo splattered with pinpoints of light, but had turned lavender and mauve, blending to deep blue overhead.

To the north, the mountains still looked like near black shadows cut out of the lighter purple sky behind them. But that meant…

The sun was rising.

Gar's heart leaped and stopped in the same breath.

The sun was coming.

The portals.

His parents.

Dawn was almost here.

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