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I turn around to check on Amara. The moment I see her, I gawk like some mindless bystander. She’s leaped into the fray with two lions at once and is leaping around, fighting both of them as if they were a single opponent. One second, she’s jumping over one of them toward the other. The next, she hits the ground and rolls past the other, leaving a long cut on its side.
She makes me think of a falcon diving. Every fiber of her body is set to one single deadly purpose. I can’t help but stare at the deadly power and grace of her fighting.
And then I realize that’s not the only reason I’m staring at her. She isn’t just deadly. She’s also beautiful. She awes me as a fighter, but as a beautiful woman, she calls to me on a far deeper level. I could stand here watching her for hours. I would never run out of details to adore. Every piece that makes her up fascinates me and makes me want to absorb more and more.
How long have I known how lovely she was? It seems so obvious now that I think I must have seen it the very moment she first found me. But that isn’t true. I thought she was strange and unusual. I didn’t understand the way she could turn herself into a weapon. I didn’t know the harmony and the perfection of her body.
It’s at that moment I realize something. All of her attention is on the lions that she’s fighting, but there’s another one watching her and getting ready to pounce. It’s directly behind her. If it catches her off guard, all three lions will tear her up in a second.
“Behind you!” I cry.
But she’s too focused on keeping the other lions at bay. The only thing to do is to step in myself. But can I stop a lion from pouncing? I’m still weak enough that I wasn’t supposed to fight at all tonight, much less try a feat like this.
That doesn’t matter, though. It’s a necessary gamble for tonight. I stride forward toward the pouncing lion.
She’s saved me more than once. Now it’s time for me to save her. There is no other option. If I fail, we’ll both die.
This is my purpose. She is my use. And she is worth a thousand wars fought with a thousand troupes. She is Amara, and I will be her savior.
For that one second, I can feel all the strength that my body once had. I know what a mighty warrior I am, and I won’t let myself fail her. My arm drives the wooden spear into the ribs of the lion and, with a strength that must have been terrible on the battlefield, pushes the entire animal away from Amara and to the ground.
I’ve done it, I realize, looking at the skewered animal in front of me. The strength that filled me for the moment is gone. I can stand up, at least for now, but that’s about it. Still, it doesn’t matter anymore. I’ve managed it.
“Kian!” Amara cries out in surprise. As if inspired by my action, she gives a deep gash to one lion and knocks the other one on the head hard with the butt of the spear. Hurt and seeing their trap foiled, both lions retreat to the circle. “Are you alright?”
“I’m okay for now,” I say, watching for the lions around us. “But I don’t think I’m going to be much of a help anymore.”
“You saved my life,” she utters, her voice showing more astonishment than anything else. She clearly didn’t think I was up to doing something like that. If it hadn’t been her, I wouldn’t have been.
But is it going to matter? The lions around us are wounded but still angry. What’s going to happen next?
The lions can clearly sense that we’re weak. They stop circling, and they all begin to close in. Amara’s hands tighten on her spear, but I don’t see much hope in her eyes.
“At least we went down fighting,” I tell her. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
“We aren’t finished yet,” Amara replies.
“If you say so.”
And that’s the moment the clearing is filled with a new sound.
Howling.
Suddenly the wolves bound into view, their teeth bared, their voices growling and calling. One of them leaps into a lion and sinks its teeth into the lion’s back. Others start to run among the lions and slash them with their claws.
Amara jumps at the nearest one, and it’s fascinating to see the similarity between the ways she moves and fights and the ways the wolves do. She’s adjusted all of their techniques for her own body, but it’s unmistakable that she’s learned how to fight from them. She’s a wild animal, and she strikes with the fury and energy that can only come from life itself.
I strike one last time, but I can see my help isn’t needed as urgently as before. The tide is turned. The lions are still fighting, but we aren’t outnumbered anymore, and they’re finally on the defensive. I’m not needed here.
I don’t need to fight right now.
At the same moment I accept that, my legs buckle, and I fall to the ground.
12
AMARA
Kian pulls away from the dead lion he struck and stands up straight. He grins at me, and for a moment, I know he is watching the wolves make short work of the remaining lions. With the threat nearly gone thanks to our help, I stare at him for a moment. I notice the lion’s blood all over his face before I see him sway.
