Jules Read online

  "I can tell you what I know about Saber Incorporated," he said, hardly missing a beat. "That's why you attacked us in the first place, right?"

  I nodded, but didn't move.

  "I can't tell you everything, but... I can tell you what it has to do with your family."

  I smiled.

  "You're desperate to make me melt the ice," I noted. "Why so hurried?"

  He hesitated. Closed his mouth. Refused to answer.

  Bingo.

  "What has you so worried, Keeper?" I asked, but got no response.

  A roar echoed nearby.

  Hansel's eyes grew wide and he ducked, disappearing behind my ice wall.

  A large, blurred shape rushed down the stairs, leapt over the frozen barrier and slammed into me. It was so fast and hit me with so much force that I had no time to retaliate. It went dark.

  It had all gone so dark.

  Chapter Ten

  The Hospital

  When I opened my eyes, I was in what looked like a hospital recovery ward.

  The room was white. I was the only one in there. A window to my left displayed a glowing sunset, and the door to my right muffled the sounds of high activity. Hansel sat in a padded foldout chair between me and the door, his head bowed in a sleep-like position, leaning on his pike and softly snoring.

  I moved to get out of the bed, the sheets rustling loudly. The sound jerked him awake.

  My feet slid to the floor, but my ribs pounded and my back ached. I hadn't felt pain like this in a long time.

  "Don't move too quickly, dear, or you'll be aching all over," he said as he stood and came over. When he was close enough, I reached out and grabbed his shirt. Pulling him roughly forward, I got him eye to eye with me and coldly stated, "Tell me what I'm doing here and what put me here before I kill you."

  He put both hands up in surrender. "I give, I give. But uh... Just so you know, you can't hurt me in here."

  I felt a slight snarl curl my lips. I thought about testing his statement. Thought about throwing him through the nearby window. Thought about several different ways to hurt him. I decided on one and began to summon my power.

  Nothing happened to him.

  As soon as I decided on an action, something else — some sort of magic, I believe — presented itself to my consciousness. Something pressed against my thoughts, subduing each violent thought. When I resisted, it pushed harder and began to shut down my nervous system.

  It wasn't some sort of spell. It wasn't anything I had come into contact with before. My muscles went slack and I began to slide backwards.

  Hansel helped me recline back into the bed, saying, "This is a hospital. Well, sort of a hospital. The building is a hospital, but it's not staffed by humans. This place was put together and is run by a staff of non-humans. Instead of doctors and nurses, there's a staff of healers and wizards specialized in the art of healing, along with a few Sprites that agreed to work in the hospital garden to produce ... ah ... medicinal flora." He flashed me an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I know about this place, all Keepers do, but we try to tend to our own and not visit very often. Keepers aren't exactly well-liked among the usual residents here."

  I managed to pull his hands away and stare at him, waiting for my other question to be answered. My body wasn't aching anymore, but I felt heavy fatigue.

  "The owners of this place specialize in peace and non-violence. So much so that the building itself produces a sort of field in which violent actions are subdued. It sort of works on the same principal as the Faith of the Sanctuary," he said with a little laugh, as if it had just occurred to him.

  "What... Happened?" I asked again.

  "Oh!" he said, suddenly remembering. "That. You had a run-in with my boss."

  I shook my head. "That wasn't ... a Keeper. No ... Keeper ... can move that fast."

  He shook his head. "No, that wasn't exactly a Keeper. Well, not in the way that you know them."

  I stared at him, the orange glow from the setting sun making strange streaks across his face.

  "But, he's my boss nonetheless and... Oh geeze, how do I say this?" He cupped his forehead in his hands, thinking. He looked up, outside the window. The glow was a fire-orange now, and he snapped his fingers as an idea occurred to him.

  "This war you want to start between the clans," he said, moving to the other side of the room, "my boss is in agreement with it. But he can't let that get out. Not yet. It can't be let known that someone operating as a Keeper is supporting a war between magical creatures. I mean, how would that look? The sheriffs of right and good beyond the human realm, the police of the non-humans, supporting the idea of a magical war that might kill the very ones they were designed to protect?" He stopped by the window, looking out. "That'd be madness, my dear."

  He turned to me, an odd smile on his lips.

  "But this is a time for madness, chaos-maker, and you've rung the bell." He took a deep breath. As the sun finally set behind him, his skin began to crawl. His form shifted, becoming distinctly inhuman. His size shrunk down as he came down to all fours, fur growing out along his body. His ears elongated, his mouth and nose became a short, rounded snout. His elbows shrank up into his torso, and his knees buckled as his heel elongated. He grew short spikes along his spine and a tail began to grow out his back.

  As I watched, the figure of Hansel changed from a humanoid to the figure of a marwolaeth.

  But this marwolaeth was unlike any creature I had seen before.

  His coat was a dark, muddy red. His legs were tapered to the paw like a Hyena, but they were shorter then any Hyena I had seen before. His tail was bushier as opposed to the Hyena's long, thin whip of a tail, and the black spines along his back were shorter and squarer. His snout was blunt like theirs, but it was shorter, and the ears were shorter and wider. His body was trim and slick as opposed to the Hyena's wide ribcage and bustling fur around the neck and shoulders.

  He had several features of a Hyena, but they were all fit onto the proportions of a Fox.

  "You..." I said, my strength coming back to me in waves, "you're a hybrid."

  He nodded, his little eyes glistening with enjoyment at my reaction. "One of many," he responded, his voice changed with his transformation. He had the whispering undertones of the Foxes fitting under a slightly higher register known to the Hyena's vocal chords.

  "I wasn't one of Afanasiy's experiments," he continued. "I was bitten by one of the experiments."

  "So they can transfer the poison even as hybrids… " He nodded again. "That's ... interesting."

  "Maybe to you," he answered. "It's was excruciatingly painful for me to find out." He gave his head a hard shake. "But that's another story." He shifted up to a biped and shook his head again, blood rushing to his cheeks for a moment. He stumbled backward and took a deep breath, getting his bearings. "Sorry," he apologized, leaning on the window for the next few breaths, "Shifting still take a bit for me."

  "So," I said, returning to a sitting position, "what's this story about?"

  "Eh?"

  "You said your Turning was another story. So never mind about it," I said, waving a dismissive hand. "You were referring to desperate times and desperate measures."

  He clicked his fingers together as he remembered. "Right. The war you're trying to start. We're going to help you start it. Or, I guess, I'm going to help you start it."

  I felt myself smiling a little smile to myself. The Keepers? On my side? With a Fox/Hyena hybrid?

  Oh, this was going to be so deliciously fun.

  "So," I asked, glancing at the new night outside, "where do we begin?"

  "Where all good wars start, my dear," he answered with a slight bow. "With a murder."

  My fatigue was only temporary, of course.

  Once I stopped intending to mutilate my little Keeper-friend, the building stopped trying to subdue me. I was able to get out of the bed, which was only a temporary solution for my unconsciousness anyway.
We made our way downstairs to a lobby-type area, the room vast and painted in whites and light blues. Healing colors.

  There were a myriad of round tables down there, each clean surface surrounded by simple padded chairs. Each table held a different look to it: different materials, different structures, different paint jobs. The chairs were as eclectic as the tables. It was a white-and-blue moshpit of furniture. There was an equal amount of varying creatures milling around down there, everything from tiny pixie-fairies to young dragons.

  And there, down the center aisle of the lobby, walked Olyvia and Rod with Layla in between them. Another character, Miles, walked behind them. That blond-haired pirate must have been Olyvia's "contact" that was going to get them out of hot water for a little while.

  I knew Miles by reputation, mostly, but the pirate was also a cousin of mine.

  Life was funny, sometimes.

  Hansel and I had taken a seat on the top of a hardly-used staircase off to one side of the room, a small magical shield placed around each of us to make us less noticeable to those below. Every once in a while a creature or humanoid would walk past, but most used the wide staircase in the middle of the lobby or simply flew up and down the floors. There were a few elevators, apparently reserved for those who couldn't walk or fly on their own power.

  As the four of them walked through the lobby, Olyvia suspiciously checking out anyone who came near and pretty much drawing attention to herself by growling and snarling like a wild animal, Layla was much more content to try to talk to the creatures around her and find out their life story. Miles broke away as he caught sight of a thin twig of a woman with long, snow-white hair and equally long, white feathered wings.

  Olyvia and her two companions were approached by a man with casual mannerisms, an open vest with no undershirt, sagging jeans and flip-flops. He wasn't bothered by Olyvia's posturing and even let out a few high-pitched giggles. The giggles gave him away.

  "Hyena?" I asked, pointing at the figure.

  Hansel nodded. "I found out they were on their way here and contacted the Hyena highest in the pack next to the alpha herself. Told him that they'd be here and it'd be in his alpha's best interest to strike up a deal with the new up-and-coming Wolf alpha."

  "And this murder we're going to commit," I said, leaning back on the stair behind me, "tell me it's him, dear. Please tell me it's him."

  "So eager to kill a Hyena?"

  "No," I sighed, giving my head a slow shake. "It's just that, if we're going to murder someone else, you're wasting my time by not pointing out the actual victim to me."

  Hansel gave me a small devilish smile. "You really are heartless sometimes, you know that?"

  I smiled back. "I try."

  "I figure that, after he strikes the deal with the Alpha, we do our best to follow him and strike at the appropriate time. Then we frame the Foxes for it and hide somewhere."

  I snorted and let out a short laugh.

  "You've never tried to frame someone for a murder before, have you?" I laughed.

  He shook his head, clearly confused. "No. Keeper of the peace, remember?"

  I let my laughter die down into a vixen's smile as I looked at him. "That's why you have me, darling." I stood and stretched a little, waiting for their conversation to end. "I can get that murder for you and make the Keepers look innocent enough throughout all of it. Just follow my lead and make sure not to screw up your cue."

  Making sure my energy was contained just to myself, I wrapped the energy around my figure and began to break down the matter of my form. It shifted to energy, and, with a thought, I reshaped myself into the form of a burly Fox. I grinned as the Hyena nodded to Olyvia, bowed, and began to walk away.

  "Showtime."

  I didn't bother going around or doing anything sneaky. I needed people to see that a Fox was inside the building. I needed to provide a narrative for others to carry on.

  After all, a story alone can incite riots, even if the story itself is untrue.

  Letting out a chittering, raspy warning, I bolted down the stairs and headed right for the Hyena. I had no violence intended, of course; if something magical is worked into the very fabric of the building, there is no fighting it. But it doesn't mean that it extends to outside the building.

  I ran by him, his body halfway shifted to his quadruped form. Olyvia saw me and flipped out, snarling loudly and beginning to shift down herself.

  Each of the clans were represented now. Good.

  I ran out of the building, signaling another barking warning cry, the other two right on my tail.

  Layla was nowhere in sight, and neither was Rod. Best guess? Olyvia needed him to protect her from me. Or rather, what she thought was a Fox. Good enough for me.

  As I exited the building, I made for the edge of the nearby woods. I couldn't get too far away, or the creatures in the hospital might not have a very good view, and I needed an audience.

  The Hyena, by nature, was faster then I was and beat me to the edge of the trees. He blocked me, giving me a baleful grin as he stalked forwards. His black ears twitched, listening. I threw some magic into the nearby brush, making them all move and twitch in various directions to make it seem like Foxes scattering in every direction.

  As Olyvia emerged, he barked out a warning that Foxes around us were getting away. Since he had me "cornered", she took the initiative and took off "after them". She was as stupid as I gave her credit for.

  As we faced off, he let out several guttural warnings, both high and low in pitch. He giggled and bared his teeth, pulling his snub snout back to reveal his front row of teeth.

  I flattened my ears back and lowered my head, a sign of aggression. I frizzed my back and let out a warning hiss, arching my back and tail.

  He took a long step forward and the blade-like spikes along his back stiffened, flexing as he started forward again to test me. His haunting laughter grew in volume, telling me he was getting ready to attack.

  I needed this to be over sooner rather than later. Olyvia wouldn't stay gone for long after she realized it was a trick.

  So I charged.

  I pinned my ears back and went under his sharp bite, my own mouth aiming for his legs. He moved them before I could get a grip, his teeth burying into the top of my haunches. It hurt.

  I switched from leg to chest, and when my mouth made contact with his skin, I sent a magical charge through his system in order to shock him. His bite faltered and I slipped my flanks away from him, twisting around his side and climbing onto his back.

  I scratched as best as I could, his rusty fur close enough to his skin that I could easily see how far to dig my claws in. His whining pitch told me I got him.

  He darted forward, trying to shake me off, but a firm bite planted into the base of his neck latched me against him. His twisting and biting didn't do much to deter me.

  I rode out three of his twisting, writhing bucks before he got smart and started speeding into trees. The first slam unhooked my jaw and sent me whining onto the ground. I opened my mouth and let out a mewling cry.

  His haunting laughter came back in a high-pitched response as he wheeled around and flashed his teeth. He wasn't buying it. I didn't blame him.

  I wouldn't buy it either.

  He charged.

  I summoned my magical energy and felt it flow through my body in a powerful surge.

  Because I had witnesses inside the hospital, I couldn't change myself back. Too many powerful creatures would recognize my description and come after me instead of Afanasiy.

  But many of my witnesses wouldn't comprehend the magical implications of my powers. They wouldn't be able to pick up on what I was about to do.

  Marwolaeths have one fatal flaw that they don't like to talk about. It's the same fatal flaw that every immortal has when they carry vital organs in their head.

  They can't live if you decapitate them.

  As the Hyena charged, I used my magic to do what no
Fox should have been able to do.

  Opening my jaws wide, I reinforced the strength in my jaws, sharpened my teeth to match the sharpest of blades, aimed for his throat, and sliced upward.

  I caught skin.

  Shredded muscle.

  Cut nerves.

  Sliced bone.

  My moment of strength enabled me to literally take his head off.

  The moonlight reflected in the sudden pool of blood as the body slumped, tumbling past me as momentum continued to carry it. The head flew off into the trees, the leaves and branches rustling as the lump of flesh disturbed them.

  I sat still for a moment, heaving and trying to steady my heart rate. I had just used up a lot of energy manipulating Mother's magic. We had a lot of magic, it was true, but not an unlimited supply. And since I was the one using it, it was my body that was being shredded from the magic. I needed to rest.

  Before anyone could do or say anything, Hansel thankfully remembered his cue.

  He ran outside, brandishing his cloak and pike, shouting, "Keeper Authority!"

  When he reached me, he planted his pike in the ground and declared, "You have violated the Law, Fox! Come with me to the Sanctuary or be executed right here!"

  I let out another rough-sounding whine and struggled to stand, saying, "I submit. Take me to your prison, Keeper." I let the last word come out as a hiss and followed it up with, "My mission has been completed."

  Slamming his pike into the ground, a cold portal opened up in front of us. An old sanctuary, different from the one we were in before, was on the other side. I didn't know this sanctuary.

  Hansel probed me forward with the sharp end of his pike, causing me to hiss but move into the portal. We both crossed the freezing threshold as Olyvia burst back into the surrounding glade. I turned in time to see her yellow eyes take in the decapitated Hyena and rise up to meet my eyes. She shot me a warning, threatening glare and the portal closed, cutting us off.

  The plan was successful. Hansel and I had just set the stage for an all-out war.