Loved By a Satyr

Natasha shook her head as she looked at the satyr who she was sitting on.

"I'm just a girl."

"Natasha, look at you through my eyes and tell me all you see is just a girl." Ailen said gutturally and she widened her eyes for a moment to stare into his before closing hers to focus on his mind. What she saw made her gasp and shiver.

She looked like she always did, but different. Her hair, her hair was like she had seen it in her mind, in the thoughts that she had shown Ailen all of those months ago, and her skin fairly shimmered. Her eyes were still amber, but the irises were fluid, as if the color was still mixing with the sclera. She looked beautiful, mystical, and she knew that was how he saw her, that was how they all saw her.

Opening her eyes, she put her hands on his hips for a moment, and then put her forehead against his hard mouth, letting herself cry silently for a few minutes. She had seen the love he had for her as well, and it broke her heart.

"Colby told you to go."

"Because Colby WOULD take on an entire valley full of minotaurs by himself." Dwight snorted at Birch's comment.

"All of us would have told you to go." Payton said, thinking that she was crying over Colby, but Ailen tightened his arms around her, she was not crying about his flock brother, at least not this time. He knew he had made her cry.

"You are still tired, neth. You should rest." Faeron motioned to the empty seat across from where he sat.

Natasha looked over at her brother and sighed, slowly rising from Ailen's lap and giving the satyr a long look before making her way to the seat that her brother had indicated. Now was not the time to figure everything out. There was enough to worry about without adding her broken heart to the mix.

The plane landed several times during the trip. Refueling and eventually changing the pilot as they made their way across western Europe towards the east. As they got closer to their destination, the men on board became more and more antsy.

"The dragons want us to meet them east of Muzhi. They will take us the rest of the way." Mr. Hughes put his phone down after checking his messages again.

"They're okay with going against the minotaurs?" Cynric asked.

"Minotaurs are...there is no goodness in them, even the creatures of the dark do not like them. They have not changed from ancient times. When word gets out that they are kidnapping satyrs and eating their young, there will be an issue among those of the dark. If the dragons handle it now, there will be less of an issue." The angel explained.

"Thorontur will be the larger problem." Faeron frowned at Natasha who had been following the conversation as she stared out the window.

"I will handle him."

"You weren't able to in the forest." Faeron saw her frown and look at him.

"I was trying to save Colby. I made the wrong choice. I trusted Thorontur to not be completely evil." She told him angrily, "Now I know better."

"Team Samir." The giant nudged her brother and Faeron frowned at him.

"Exactly." Natasha muttered as she looked back out the window.

When the plane landed the final time, Natasha deboarded after all the men. They were all concerned that they would be attacked at the small airstrip where they had landed, but she knew that wasn't where Thorontur and the minotaurs were waiting. They were in the mountains east of Muzhi. Waiting. Waiting for them.

She could sense the captive satyrs easily now, they were filled with fear, some had grown up in this place from children, lucky enough not to get eaten, unlucky enough to be used to produce generations of food for these monsters. They were secluded in the desolate mountain range, with few guards necessary to keep them in line. Minotaurs were vicious, uncaring, quick to kill. The satyrs here had learned to exist in this nightmare, and she shivered, they were so unlike the satyrs that she knew. It would be sad if they could not snap out of this. If they could not relearn how to be satyrs. Natasha felt her gut tighten as she sensed Colby. He was still angry, and that almost made her smile. He wasn't with the others. Thorontur had had the minotaurs keep him separated from the others, locked in a cabin in their large compound.

"Can you see them?" Mr. Hughes asked and she nodded over at him.

"Yes. Colby is still alive." She said softly, and heard the satyrs near her shift from hoof to hoof, anxious to get moving.

"You have been creating more than your fair share of trouble these days, Arc." Natasha turned when she saw Zheng walk into view. She'd known the dragons were near, but had not alerted the others.

"This time it wasn't exactly my fault." Mr. Hughes frowned at his friend, shaking his hand as the Asian man stood beside him. Two more equally attractive men moved into view and said hello to the satyrs.

"It is nice to see you again, Natasha." Wei smiled at her as he kissed the back of her hand.

"You, as well, Wei. I'm sorry to involve you in something like this." She told him and watched as Zheng looked over at her.

"No, we are grateful that you have discovered this...blight. It is hard enough being known to be of the darkness, harder when beings such as these bring us into the mud with them." Zheng told her as he walked over and took her hand from his brother and squeezed it gently.

'I want you to take me in first.' She sent the thought to the handsome dragon and watched as he furrowed his brows and looked at her.

'That is not wise. The minotaurs are many.'

'If you take all of these people in there without letting me deal with my brother, Thorontur, they will all die.' Natasha knew he didn't want to believe her.

'He is ready for them.' Natasha pushed, 'He is not ready for me.'

'How will I know you are ready for us to join you?'

'I'll send you a signal. You'll know.' She nodded at the dragon, who nodded slowly back at her.

She watched as Zheng dropped her hand and took several steps away from their group. She hadn't seen him change before, but it was amazing to watch. The way he shifted from a man into a dragon was magical, possibly the most magical thing that she had ever witnessed, and Natasha stared, completely in awe of the man before her. When he had transitioned fully, he let out a loud roar and then dipped his neck down so that she could climb onto him.

She heard Faeron yell at her, and Mr. Hughes, and all six satyrs were braying angrily, trying to approach the dragon who did not hesitate to rise up and start flapping his heavy wings. She had told the other two dragons to wait for her signal, and they had agreed, knowing that if Zheng had agreed to whatever she as doing, then they should, too.

Natasha didn't take her eyes off of Ailen until Zheng was well into the air. She knew how mad he was, but right now, she needed to do this. She needed to deal with Thorontur.

They flew for what seemed like forever, but was only about twenty minutes, before Natasha could see the faint flame of fire in a clearing within the mountain range. She knew Thorontur was there, knew that he had instructed the minotaurs to patrol the land around them. She knew he was watching the sky. When they were close enough, she began to focus more on what her brother was seeing, and knew the moment he spotted Zheng in the sky. She was prepared to counter his magic before he even sent it into the air towards the dragon, and Zheng was able to land without being harmed.

Natasha quickly slid off the dragon and waited for him to fly back off of the mountain before she looked at her brother. He was not alone, there were many minotaurs around them, and she shook a little but did not let them affect her. She would never allow them to affect her again. Slowly, she took small steps in his direction, countering the magic he threw at her, knowing he was growing more frustrated.

Finally, Natasha closed her eyes and spread her hands to the sides, fuzzy blue balls of light appearing in both of her palms, and then the minotaurs in the clearing with her brother fell where they stood, leaving just her and Thorontur.

"You could have done this so differently, hanar." Natasha shook her head, tears filling her eyes as she looked at her brother.

"You wouldn't let me." His voice was filled with his anger at her, and Natasha sighed, he was so angry, so filled with rage, there was no reasoning with him.

"I wanted a brother, hanar. You refused."

"Who could ever want a sister such as you, neth?" His words were cold, empty of emotion and Natasha squared her shoulders, there was no more need to talk.

"You always wanted to see what I could do, Thorontur. Let me show you." She spoke softly, knowing he frowned even from the distance between them.

Her hands went up and she made flames that created a box around them, the orange fire almost six feet tall all the way around. She never stopped taking her slow steps towards him. He stood where he was and glared at her.

"Party tricks." He spat at her.

She moved one hand forward, a light shooting out of her palm and striking him in the gut, forcing him to his knees. Her brother sneered up at her as she stopped walking about five feet from him.

"You won't kill me." He chuckled, even now, having absolutely no control of his movements, he would not show her fear.

"You are right, Thorontur. I won't kill you." Natasha whispered, her voice almost soothing as she put a hand on her brother's head.

"You are nothing but a whore, a cunt for the taking." He threw the insults, and she bit her lip, knowing they no longer affected her, not when they came from him.

"You are nothing." She whispered back, her eyes wide, fluid, shining. Her skin glowed, her hair floated around her like a fire, and he finally, finally showed a spark of fear as her hand began to heat against his head.

For several minutes, he remained quiet as Natasha closed her eyes and worked on the spell. It was difficult, she was pulling his powers from him as she worked to change her brother. This spell would be permanent, binding, and he would never be able to reverse it. And she meant for him not to be able to. Eventually, he began to scream, and a bright bluish-white light shot up into the sky as his powers were taken from him. She heard the thunder, the crackle of lightening, and knew the clouds would roll above them at the shift of magic that she was creating, but it was necessary.

Five, ten more minutes went by before she finally removed her hand from her brother's head and took a few steps back. By now, she knew the dragons were arriving with the rest of the men that she had flown here with. The minotaurs had come out from the cavernous homes and an all out battle was occurring outside of the flame box she stood in. Natasha smiled down at her brother as he got shakily to his feet.

"What did you do to me?" He asked, his voice nervous, scared, his eyes wide, blinking as he looked down at his hands.

"You no longer have any power, Thorontur. In fact, I don't know if I would even consider you much of an elf anymore." Natasha stared at the man before her and sighed, she had taken from him what he cared for most, his ability to manipulate the world around him, his elvish magic.

Turning, she walked away from him. "Natasha, stop." She heard him plead.

"Hanar?"

"Don't do this."

"It was either this, or I let Samir rip your head off. And honestly, I flipped a coin." She nodded her head at him as she lowered the flames.

Natasha needed to get to the satyrs, but she also wanted Thorontur not to run off, so she flicked a finger and knew the man fell unconscious on the ground behind her. She would deal with him later. Her sisters and brother would probably not approve of what she had done, but she truly didn't care anymore. She was tired of the horrible things that Thorontur did. She looked around her, seeing minotaurs, both lying dead on the mountainside and others who were fighting the men that she had come here with. From the amount of charred bodies that she saw, the dragons had taken their work here quite seriously.

She knew where Colby was, and there was no one around the building where he was being kept. The minotaurs that had been guarding him had already been killed. She spotted Mr. Hughes and sent him the directions on how to get Colby free before she left the main area of the herd.

She made her way along paths and had to knock more than one minotaur off the path before her as she made her way to the caverns where she knew the satyrs were being held. They were more afraid now, they could hear the noise from within their prisons, and they could smell the fire as the dragons attacked their guards.

Natasha saw Cynric and Ailen when she came into a small clearing. The other satyrs of their flock were nearby. They were all fighting minotaurs, minotaurs who were bigger, more ferocious, with a lot to lose who were not making it easy on them. She frowned and formed a spell, shooting it out and felling the minotaurs easily. She was getting faster, better, and Natasha knew that soon she would be able to instantly formulate a spell. She would never again have to choose between her and someone else. She would be able to have both, to save both. She had always been so nervous before, cautious. She didn't feel afraid now. She felt angry.

The satyrs she came with watched her walk towards them, their eyes round and wide as they took her in, for they had never seen her so focused, so calm, and her skin shimmered and there was almost a mystical haze that surrounded her as she moved.

"Natasha." Ailen shouted her name, nervous for her to be here, angry with her still for doing what she had done before.

She smiled at him and looked at the heavy wooden door that had been built to keep the caged satyrs inside. Lifting her arms, she easily broke the locks and then waited as Dwight and Payton forced the door open.

"Wait here, Cynric." She told the gray satyr and he shifted angrily on his hooves.

"This is not safe, Natasha." He brayed at her.

"There is no danger in here for me, but I cannot have any of you see what is in the first few rooms. I need to clear them first." She told him, her hand on the front of his chest, please let him understand, she could not let any of them see the first few rooms of these caves.

He breathed hard and finally nodded his head at her.

"I will tell you when it is safe." She told him and then slipped inside, shoving the door closed with a spell and then holding one hand up, creating a bright light as she looked into the main rooms before where the satyrs were held in cages.

The smell alone was enough to make one sick, and she felt tears burn in her eyes at the horrific sight before her. To call this a "meat processing" room would be to ignore the fact that what she saw before her had once been children. It was disgusting and she was sure she would have new nightmares for years to come about the sight before her, but Natasha looked anyway, moving a hand and turning everything she saw to dust. The flesh, the blood, the tables and instruments on them, all were gone, leaving nothing but stone. She couldn't give back the satyrs inside the children that they had lost, but she could keep them from having to ever see how they died.

Once the first few rooms had been sterilized of their hateful purpose, she stepped into a hallway that seemed much too narrow and she walked down a short distance and heard sounds behind a heavy iron door. Opening it, she finally let the tears fall. The room was filled, almost beyond capacity, with satyr children. Boys, girls, all just aged to the point of puberty. She knew why they were here, and thanked God that they had found them in time.

They spoke Russian and she shook her head, Mr. Hughes would be better at this. She sent him a message and soon heard the door to the outside being thrown open. The angel was near her quickly.

"Natasha?" He asked.

"I don't know what they're saying." She shook her head.

He waited a moment as he listened to the soft voices of the young satyrs, then he looked over at her with a frown, "Some are asking for their parents, some are asking for food...or their friends."

"Are the minotaurs dealt with?"

He nodded, "Yes, Samir has a group of them that he is guarding. There need to be minotaurs as witness to this. They will never walk free, though, Natasha."

She nodded, "There are several buildings with food on the northern end of the compound. Have Faeron and the dragons ready small meals. The satyrs here will all need food."

"We need to find where they came from and get them home." Mr. Hughes looked down the hallway, knowing there were a great many more to be rescued.

"Mr. Hughes. Most of these satyrs were born here. They don't know anywhere else. We will have to help them find homes." She frowned at him.

"Can you tell how many there are?" He asked.

Natasha nodded, closing her eyes for a moment.

"There are 1,218 satyrs in this mountain." She whispered.

"We only knew of 89 satyrs in the entire world."

"It's a good day for conservation, then, Mr. Hughes. Please, have Faeron start, they need to eat." She told him.

"Of course."

She put a hand up to stay him for a moment, "I need you to speak in Russian and Finnish and Romani and say 'You are safe, we are going to set you free and we will be feeding you soon. Do not scatter, we will help you' And I will transmit that to all of the satyr here."

Mr. Hughes nodded and stood before her and spoke clearly in each of the languages that she had asked him to speak in and she transmitted his image and words to the scared satyrs. When he left, she knew he would let the satyrs from the spa in to help her evacuate the cavern. She didn't wait for them, she moved down to the next iron door and opened it. The children in this one were younger. She pointed at them and towards the hallway and waved for them to come out. They moved cautiously out into the hallway and followed the older satyr children out of the cavern. Finally, Natasha found a door to a room that had adult female satyrs. They had a great many questions for her, but she shook her head, unable to answer, but when she stepped back and motioned for them to go out, they went, putting a hand on her arm in thanks as they went. Room after room of male and female satyrs were freed, and more children.

It felt like days later when Natasha finally stepped back out of the cavern to blink at the dawning of a new day on the mountain. Everything looked pretty orderly now. She saw flocks huddled together and noticed how the mothers held tightly to the children that had been spared. it warmed her heart and she settled a hand over her stomach. She could not imagine having a child and knowing its destiny as these satyr women had had to live with for so so long. She knew she was crying as she moved among the crowds. It was strange, these flocks were so large, and they had been formed by vicinity in the caverns more than anything else.

She saw the dragons helping give out plates of food, and she saw some strangers among the flocks helping them, giving first aid, checking the children. Werewolves? She looked over at Mr. Hughes who was speaking with a group of male satyrs. He glanced in her direction. 'A nearby pack that I knew, they wanted to help.'

So the nonhuman community would come together and find these satyrs home. That was comforting. Natasha took a deep breath and looked around, not seeing the satyrs that she knew. Closing her eyes, she searched for them. They were speaking with several male and female members of a flock further down the mountain. And Colby was with them, safe, glad to have been rescued. That warmed her even more.

"E-excuse me." A heavily accented male voice sounded from her left and Natasha looked over and saw an older satyr stand up, a female satyr immediately stood with him, holding tightly to his hand, "You are the woman, the woman who made this happen?"