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She gave the slightest nod as I looked at the spot in her throat where a shard of glass nearly the size of my palm had just been sticking out. She didn’t even have ascar.Closing her eyes, I watched as her brow furrowed, too.
Huh, was that why magical people ended up looking so wizened? I knew I was spoiled by being a shifter. Our healing abilities kept us looking young for centuries if we managed to not be murdered, assassinated, or otherwise killed in an accident. What a wonderfully banal reason that every single one of the few wizards, witches, sorcerers, warlocks, psychics, oracles, and alchemists over sixty looked like a conglomeration of deep wrinkles with cranky personalities.
“They’re on their way, sir.”
I gave my own nod, looking out the window to examine just how badly the fort had gone to shit. It seemed that all of the enemies that'd been launched within our walls had been dispatched, as most of them had landed close to the forces waiting for my word to launch our forward rush.
“Here, drink this.”
Surprised, I glanced back to the hall to see Ayla had rejoined us. She moved quietly even for a witch, and with her pale-water scent, my nose hadn’t noticed her at all.
“Cheers,” Darla said, taking both potions from her friend and downing them one after the other. That was impressive, too, but in quite a different way than Ayla’s display of skill.
Suddenly, I spotted a group of vampires and shifters heading straight toward us in formation.
"You summoned us, Captain?” I recognized the speaker as one of our eldest vampires, Uhura, a thousand-year-old woman with brilliant red eyes and a grin that was more Machiavellian than joyous. One thing was for certain, I was glad she was on our side.
“Yes, I need the lot of you to provide protective escort for Everton and Khan. They both will be on the battlefield, but I don’t want them to engage in any active combat. If Everton moves to the front lines, guard and help her in any way you can. Donotleave her side!”
“Yes, sir. Of course, sir.”
I was acting more formally than usual, but I found that in battle, stricter regulations often helped people find organization in the chaos.
“Good. Sargent Kahn don’t be a martyr. If you need to call it, then you call it. We don’t need Everton scraping you off the ground again.”
“Yes, sir, understood.”
“And Everton, save who you can, but no unnecessary risks. If something happens to you, think of all the other wounded soldiers who will receive less care.”
There it was, that spark in her eyes, but she didn’t argue with me. Instead, she gave a curt tip of her head. “Noted, sir.”
I hated the thought of her going into battle, but I didn’t get to be a captain by letting my emotions rule me.
In order for this to end, I needed to start something else. I had to get to the main gate and order the rush forward before the next round of explosive volleys got started. Once I was satisfied that Ayla and the recently hired psychic were adequately flanked, I catapulted myself through the window and raced toward the conflict.
Above all, I needed to make sure we came out on top.
But a curious thing happened as I sailed through the air, shifting from my human form into my wolf. It was as if the moment I’d turned away from Ayla, my senses completely cleared away the emotions and lingering memories of the entire interaction.
It was a strange sensation, feeling like a person was inside my head, and a distracting one at that. Luckily, the wolf in me was paying attention, and we weaved around, dodging the next blast. It seemed that the next round had started. It was definitely time to go on the offensive, otherwise cowering within our walls would only spell our deaths. I bounded away as the earth combusted behind me, showering my side in crumbling debris.
There was a strange dichotomy to existence as a shifter. My wolf and I were the same person, yet we also were different—two sides of a coin that inhabited one body. It was a beautiful and tenuous balance, which definitely made puberty for shifters particularly challenging.
But in the moment we were fully unified, both our minds and instincts working hand in paw, helping us to survive. We made it to the front gates in record time, and I leaped to the front of my forces.
“Together into battle! This is the moment where all your training comes to a head. Keep yourself safe, keep your brothers and sisters safe beside you. Today is not the day your story ends!”
I let out a howl as the gates opened, sending all of us thundering into battle.
I wished that fights would go more like they did in the legends, with forces clashing immediately outside of a fort. But no, thanks to their trebuchet and other siege weapons, I could tell that the front line was quite a way back. They wanted us to have to cross over a massive no man’s land to come tothemand give them the upper hand in the battle.
Well, they were going to learn that even with the advantage, they weren’t prepared for the army I’d trained.
I sprinted forward on all fours, howling again, and I heard several replies. Not all wolves, of course. I heard bellows from bears and screams from cats, and even the rejoinder of a lion, if I wasn’t mistaken. The sound was utterly terrifying, and pride stuck in my chest at the sheer force.
I didn’t expect the opposite to throw down their weapons and flee, though that certainly would've been nice, but I did think perhaps they would have a moment of trepidation when our mass of bodies fell into formation, ‘newbies’ going to the back while the more experienced sorted themselves according to their skill.
Naturally, us shifters were toward the front, but we weren’t the entire line. There were a couple of minotaurs, a cyclops, yetis, and even a handful of elusive centaurs. It was rare for such cryptids to join formal armies, as they preferred a proper distance from humans and their allies, but I liked to think they’d found something worth fighting for in our cause.
