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“Three other gifted handlers are already with us in the warehouse,” the guard said, still breathing hard. “They are using their magic to try to control the panther. But they may need help.…”
Nicci was already pushing past him, out the front entryway. “Show me!” Her tone of command made the man snap to attention and hurry after her.
In her dreams, Nicci had seen through the eyes of her sister panther as Mrra prowled the streets, and the big cat had refused to leave, no matter how much Nicci insisted. Now Mrra was also bottled up inside the city and separate from time. For many nights she had hunted in the shadows. Nicci had tasted the blood of rats and dogs in her mouth from the panther’s kills, but she longed to run across the open prairies chasing antelope and deer. She was trapped inside the city she hated, where she had been born and branded and forced to fight in the combat arena.
Against her own interests, Mrra had stayed to be with her sister panther. With Nicci. And now she was imprisoned, surrounded by tormentors. She was looking for Nicci.
With a surge of smoldering hatred, Nicci viewed through Mrra’s senses and understood what had happened. Someone had accidentally discovered the panther’s daytime lair, and now guards and handlers closed in to capture her. Mrra was ready to fight, to attack, to kill.
Nicci raced ahead of the guard, drawn to where her sister panther cried out for her.
The building was a large warehouse filled with sacks of grain, burlap bags of ground flour. Wire-mesh hoppers held dried corn cobs. Daylight spilled through cracks in the walls, and dust motes swirled in the air like gold dust in a stream. As she and the guard entered through the large open doors of the warehouse, Nicci’s eyes adjusted to the gloom.
Sovrena Thora stood next to the wizard commander, both of them with arms identically crossed over their chests, as if they really were a dedicated couple. Three gifted apprentice handlers moved warily into the shadows, making their way among the sacks of grain and the half-full corn hopper. They looked unskilled and uncertain. Nicci had seen the apprentices working with Ivan before, but now that the chief handler was dead, their gift would have to be sufficient.
Wearing his red shoulder pauldron, High Captain Stuart shouted orders, directing his guards to box in the cornered sand panther. The armored men in front extended their short swords, while the three behind them held cocked crossbows.
“Don’t kill it,” said the sovrena. “We lost enough of our animals last night. We need this one for the arena.”
Nicci pushed her way forward, not caring who might resist her. She gripped the forearm of the nearest crossbowman. “Leave her alone. This panther does not belong here. She is mine.”
Thora’s eyes flared in surprise at Nicci’s interference. “No, she does not. The panther belongs in the cages. If she is to die, she will die fighting one of our trained warriors.” The tendons in her porcelain neck stood out. “With all the tension in this city, our people need the release of entertainment. Now that the shroud is up, we must get the city back to normal. It would be better if you chose to help us.” Her voice held clear threat.
Nicci whirled. “You must not send her to the combat pits. She doesn’t belong here with you.”
The wizard commander let out a scratchy laugh. “Where else should she be? She can’t leave Ildakar, and we cannot allow a wild panther to prowl the streets.”
She sensed a rush of predatory anger through her nerves, and she spotted the sleek feline form crouching among the tallest piles of sacks, up in the shadows. With a low growl, Mrra bounded up to one of the wooden rafters overhead. Her tail thrashed as she glowered at those who would trap her.
“I will take care of her myself.” Nicci didn’t know what else to offer. “She is my sister panther.”
“Nonsense.” Thora scowled at Nicci. “At least the sand panther belongs here. You and your companions remain only because we allow it.”
“I think she’s a charming and provocative guest,” said Maxim. “And as you said, my dear, where else should she be? With the shroud in place, Nicci cannot leave Ildakar.”
“There are other ways to leave,” Thora muttered.
Concentrating on the large cat in the rafters above, the apprentice handlers spread out below. The senior apprentice, a lantern-jawed man named Dorbo, said, “We can use the gift to push her back and capture her again.” Two of them carried long wooden poles with a nooselike loop around the end, and the third held a wicked-looking whip. The senior apprentice carried a club emblazoned with Ildakaran runes.
“Once we get the beast down to the floor level,” said the second apprentice handler, “we can incapacitate it.”
“That depends on how much pain she’s willing to endure,” said the third. “The stun spell won’t work with her protective runes.”
“The club itself will work well enough,” said Dorbo.
Nicci used a firm tone of command. “You will not harm her.”
Her comment elicited a glare from Thora. “We will do what is necessary for the good of Ildakar. I could have them truss you as well, Sorceress.” Maxim snickered.
Nicci did not flinch. “They are welcome to try, although with the death of Ivan, I wouldn’t suggest you sacrifice your remaining apprentice handlers. Then you’d have no one to control the animals.”
The wizard commander chuckled at the two of them. The archers nocked quarrels in their crossbows. High Captain Stuart watched anxiously, but he was calm and reserved, not willing to take precipitous action. He looked toward the rafters above, where the silhouette of the panther hunched out of reach.
“Remember, Sovrena and Wizard Commander, any regular magical attack will just slide off of her,” said Dorbo. “But the branded symbols do allow a handler to use certain types of spells. Let us do our work, and we will have the cat in hand in no time.”
Nicci felt as trapped as the big cat. Mrra had chosen a good lair, but it was only a matter of time before she was discovered. Nicci knew she could dispense with the handlers, but the wizard commander and the sovrena were both powerful with the gift. Nicci would still fight them, but even if she managed to keep Mrra free for now, what then? The big cat couldn’t simply wander the streets of Ildakar. Nicci’s heart ached.
The three apprentice handlers worked together, summoning their gift, prodding with their magic. Mrra snarled, paced back and forth along the wide rafter above. Her golden eyes glared down, and her white fangs gleamed in the stray sunbeams. Her growl was vicious and threatening … and Nicci caught herself making a similar growl from her own throat.
The handlers sent their gift into Mrra’s mind, forcing her to move. The sand panther had been trained and twisted in this manner when she was just a cub, and the handlers drove her now, jabbed her pain centers. With a roar she leaped from the rafter onto the mounded sacks of grain.
“That isn’t one of Ivan’s!” cried one of the apprentices. “Not the cats that escaped last night.”
“She’s an old one,” said Dorbo. “Must have been set loose by the rebels a long time ago.”
“She does not want to be here,” Nicci warned. “Don’t attack her. She will kill you … and I will help her do it.”
The handlers ignored her, using their combined gift to push and prod and drive. Mrra fought back, snarling. Nicci felt part of the pain echoing through their spell bond, and fury built within her just as a parallel fury built within Mrra. The panther crouched on top of the mounded sacks until, sufficiently provoked, she leaped for the gathered people on the floor.
Nicci shouted, “Be careful!” But she was warning Mrra, not the intended targets.
This was exactly what the handlers had wanted her to do. One of Stuart’s guards didn’t get out of the way quickly enough, and Mrra’s claws tore open the leather and chain mail on his back. The man staggered away, bleeding, but the cat did not bother with him further.
The three handlers closed in, Dorbo holding up his curled fingers to focus the gift. Together, they pummeled Mrra with their special magic, knuckling he
r under. Two extended their poles with the open loops. Dorbo removed his whip and cracked it through the air like serpentine lightning strikes. The tip struck Mrra’s haunch, drawing blood. She whirled, raking claws through the air to grab at the painful strand.
“Stop!” Nicci lashed out at the handlers with her gift, shattering one of their wooden poles into splinters. They stared at her in shock.
Thora twirled her right hand in the air, and Nicci felt unseen bonds of wind coalesce, wrapping her body like a cocoon, pulling tight in a suffocating grip.
Focused on their own target, the other two handlers slipped forward, jabbing the loops at the panther’s head, and one succeeded in slipping it around the tawny neck.
Nicci fought to get free, struggling to pull her arms loose. Shredding the bonds of solidified air, she dissolved the invisible ropes, then flung the magical tatters back at the sovrena.
Mrra thrashed to get away, but the noose was cinched tight. Both apprentices grabbed the pole, using all their physical strength to hold their captive.
“Leave her alone!” Now that she was loose, Nicci called crackling fireballs in each hand, ready to hurl them at the handlers.
Summoning a powerful counterattack with her magic, Thora sent a wall of air that knocked Nicci backward, slamming her into the rattling bin that held dry corn. “This is none of your concern, Sorceress.”
