The Bonding Chronicles Ch. 16

There was a force within Sara attempting to break the wolf's magical hold, to stifle and defy the monster's gift, but as it reached out from her depths, the wolf's magic seemed to keep it at bay. It made no sense to Andrew, but as he looked over at her core, the torrent of turbulent and stormy energy oscillating above the eldritch symbol that granted her gifts, he knew the truth of it.

The source of their power was somehow related, the wolf and her, and in that commonality rested the key to how the wolf so easily overcame Sara's ability. Whatever Andrew had done to Sara was incomplete, and the gift which tried with such fruitless effort to deny the wolf was but a glimpse of what it was meant to be. It was in that moment that Andrew resolved himself on the course he had been so desperate to avoid.

With a huff he stated, "I'm gonna have to try and heal this."

Concern and doubt tainted his words, leaving a hollow sound to the confidence he tried to portray. He knew he would not be able to sacrifice the amount of energy he had given to heal Tani'm, and had no idea how efficient Karen's spell would be when applied as Andrew was being forced to use it.

Astral projection, as Andrew had started to consider what they were doing, was such a mysterious gift. He knew he could use his magic within her mind, but had no idea how difficult the distance would make the task that sat before him. Andrew's only hope, was that the wolf would not be so cavalier about maintaining its link to Sara's wound.

After all, it had taken the beast a couple of days to recover from the last time it had tried to out-magic Andrew.

The worry faded from his eyes, and he again focused on Sara, joy casting aside all concern as he savored the sight of her.

"You're amazing," he stated with reverence.

Sara's eyes bunched into a stern scowl that almost managed to hide her own appreciation as she looked upon him.

"Seriously, you have to go back home, Andrew. This thing... It's a monster."

Tears welled in her eyes as she considered how her fight had gone, and how vicious the wolf had turned out to be. The beast was incredible, its formidable size made all the more fearsome by the cunning intellect that hide within, and as she thought back upon how narrowly they had avoided death, she realized that there was no way to prepare Andrew for how dangerous the creature was.

Andrew's blood ran cold at the sight of Sara, his love, his guardian, hidden behind a wall of fear, an emotion he had long considered her immune. That, more than anything, told him of how much danger they were in, and as he began to feel worry creep up within him, he stomped it down, the cool fires of his determination being once again stoked into an inferno of heroic determination.

"No! What you've seen proves that if ever there was a chance to kill this beast, that hope only exists where all of us stand together."

Sara had her arms draped across Andrew's sides, and could feel the muscles in his body tighten as he made his statement, the violet light of his body seeming to grow in intensity as his temper rose. The sight of her man taking charge and rising to confront the threat that endangered her life caused Sara's skin to grow warm as a familiar feeling flooded her battle worn body.

Lust was something that Sara had formed an intimate relationship with. It had become a central part of her life, Andrew and Karen amazing her with their eagerness and capacity to satiate her bottomless desires, and yet in that moment, confronted with a man she thought she could never love more, she realized how deep her desires truly ran. He was, in every way, the man she had wanted him to be, and the determination and confidence she saw in him made her crave him all the more.

As Sara's thoughts carried her sexward, Andrew settled his temper and refocused himself on what had brought him there. The temptations that Sara presented as she pulled him towards her, eyes afire with carnal desires, was a treat Andrew struggled to resist, and for a brief and blissful moment he indulged himself as their lips met.

For several long and well earned moments, the young lovers basked in their shared affections. Hands and bodies swaying in tune to Sara's aching desires. Andrew, with great restraint, managed to maintain enough control to keep his caresses firm and pleasing, but localized on areas of Sara's body which would keep her from succumbing to her needs completely.

By the time their lips parted, Andrew's mastery of his desires were at the edge of his ability, and while lust clouded his vision, he could see that Sara had managed to get herself under control. In truth, Sara knew that it was only because of Andrew that she had managed to resist the urges of her body, his ironclad willpower giving her strength, and refocusing her on the danger that lurked within the forest.

"Damn that was nice," Andrew whispered as he smiled up towards Sara.

"The best," she agreed.

With a deep breath and heavy exhale, Andrew allowed their situation to come back to the front of his mind, Sara's body and all its joys being tucked away for later exploration.

"Before I came here, we were loading up the car to come and find you. Whatever's going on, we know we need to help, but your wounds forced me to come to The Glade, and that is costing us time we could have spent getting to you."

His eyes darted to the side, and Sara could tell he was considering something as he sighed. Then, just as fast, his gaze returned to her with a grin.

"This may have worked out better actually, since now you can explain what the hell we are about to walk into?"

There was wisdom to his realization, and in a way, Sara was surprised that Andrew had not considered going to The Glade as part of his original plan.

"Hey, I can't think of everything," Andrew interjected to her train of thought, causing her to raise an eyebrow as she realized he was listening in.

"Yeah, it seems that I can hear your thoughts while I'm here, but it's not really clear most of the time. It's all kinda jumbled and strange, like whispers and emotions mixed together."

Sara shook her head, and then thought back on the battle. How they had tracked the wolf to the start of its trap, and then she remembered everything she had seen. Tani'm soaring through the air, burying her hatchet into a mound of dirt just to be assaulted by the wolf, who had been concealed a few feet to her side.

She was right, there was no way Andrew could have been prepared for what the beast was capable of, but witnessing it through her perspective told him everything he needed to know, and taught him to respect their adversary all the more.

"Goddamn..." Andrew whispered, his voice trailing off as he caressed Sara's cheek.

He was impressed by her strength all the more, having not only seen what had happened, but having experienced the pain she had gone through. Andrew shuddered at the thought of it, and knew that he had only felt but a shadow of what his mate had been forced to endure.

His hand rested on the side of her face as he looked up into her eyes, his mouth releasing a faint, "Amazing."

Andrew took his hand from her face and rubbed his eyes while he thought, a weighted sigh escaping his lips as he contemplated what they had to do. The wolf was beyond dangerous, in its actions Andrew recognized a terrible and cruel intellect.

"Until we can join you, please be careful, Tiger."

Sara beamed at a nickname she had not heard from Andrew in days, and appreciated it all the more for what she knew it represented. She was fearsome and ferocious, but clever and mischievous as well, all traits she would need to overcome the wolf, and take its life.

After another moment of consideration, Andrew asked, "Could you lure the wolf back to where we first met Tani'm? Karen and I will need about thirty minutes to setup, but if you can get the wolf there, I think I can kill it."

"What are you..." Her question went unasked as a vision came to mind. She saw Andrew standing within the field, firing an M16 into the forest until the wolf came charging out through the trees. The fight lasted a second, the wolf seizing him within its monstrous mouth and slamming him into the ground. A moment later, an explosion tore them both apart, pieces of their bodies being thrown dozens of yards in every direction.

"No! I'm not going to let you kill yourself."

Andrew laughed, shaking his head and smiling. "Don't worry, Kitten, I'm not going to. That was... Well, let's call that a fallback plan."

Any humor that Andrew had was lost on Sara, who just glowered at him through squinted eyes. Regardless of her frustration, she accepted that Andrew had a plan, and the one thing she trusted more than her own abilities, was Andrew.

"Yeah, I think we can, but the wolf is clever, It won't chase me unless it thinks that I'm weak, and that it could kill me if it caught me. We are hanging on by a thread here, Tani'm and I don't possess the wolf's ability to heal, and I think it's waiting for us to make a mistake."

Her thought was interrupted by an unmistakable sound out in the forest. The wolf had barked, and from within her mind the sharp sound carried to her like a raven in the night, the pitch of it distorted as it was drawn out by her accelerated perception.

"Hold still," Andrew whispered, wasting no time as his eyes closed and he mentally walked through what he was about to do.

"Andrew?" There was worry in Sara's voice as she realized he was about to sacrifice some of his magic to aid her, and despite her efforts, she could not fight the dread that welled up within her. Every time he connected himself to her, she inevitably drained every ounce of magic he had to give. It was a lesson that their history had etched into her heart, and it was not something she wanted to ever relive.

As his eyes opened, she saw an unflinching resolution that told her he would not be dissuaded.

Andrew pulled his hand from her shoulder, and as Sara looked over she was startled to discover that several of his finger tips were once again aglow with purple light. Several short and fluid movements were all it took for him to draw a symbol that was unknown to Sara, the arcane glyph sprawling across her shoulder, centered where her wound had been inflicted, and as he completed the magical pattern, the entire area grew warm.

A thick band of white light flashed out from Andrew's chest, connecting him to the arcane glyph which shifted from a pale lavender to a bright sky blue. It was beautiful, and as the soothing heat of Andrew's power washed across her shoulder, Sara could feel the wolf struggling to keep the healing magic at bay.

As Andrew worked to mend her wound, Sara realized that time was a funny thing, and that the miracles of The Glade never seemed to end.

The wolf strove to keep Andrew at bay, but shock consumed it as the wolf's will was crushed beneath the overwhelming force of Andrew's assault. For thirty years, Wildfang had hunted and killed, stalking and overcoming magical creatures of massive size, or formidable speed, all of which were capable of healing. For those few decades, exerting his will upon his wounded foes had become second nature, and nothing in all that time had prepared him for the avalanche of energy that crashed against him.

Within a second, most of Wildfang's magical reserves had been depleted, consumed in a futile and momentary attempt to keep the catwoman from rejoining the fight. So, with almost no consideration he dropped his connection to her, allowing the torrent of healing energies to mend her wounds, sensing her rapid regeneration in those last few moments before their link was severed.

The bark finally concluded, and a deep growl picked up in its place, reaching out from the darkness and sounding all the more intimidating for the languid way it reached Sara's ears. Even at that slow, low pitch, they could hear rage within the wolf's voice.

"I must leave," Andrew stated, his voice rushed and masked by worry, the guttural sound of the wolf's anger providing the beat of Andrew's concern.

"Remember, thirty minutes!"

He leaned up and pecked her on the lips, Andrew's desire to deepen the contact was felt by Sara for a brief moment before he vanished, leaving a void in the place where her man had just stood. Sara's longing was left unexplored as she left that wide open space within her mind, the sounds of the forest speeding up around her as she once again took control of her body.

The growl was replaced by a mighty roar, its tone sounding somehow deeper, despite the distance from which it had been released. Once again, her gifts surprised her, the sounds of the wolf reaching her from hundreds of yards away, and as the massive beast began its thunderous charge in her direction, she scanned the forest trying to discover where Tani'm and Thunderfoot had laid their trap.

They were nowhere to be seen, and despite their absence Sara was not worried. For once, the wolf would be falling into a trap of their design, and while she could not find her companions, she knew they were there, ready to jump into action.

Sara realized that the wolf must have been enraged by Andrew's intervention, because it had never seemed so loud as it did in that moment. Branches were being broken off of trees as the terrible creature crashed through the forest, rushing at her with tremendous speed and unyielding strength. Its deep breathing seemed to declare its every step as it marched towards her.

Standing was easy, and as Sara reached her feet with an effortless hop, she rolled her shoulder and could tell that the muscles had not been recreated perfectly. Andrew, for all of his gifts, lacked Karen's natural talent, and in his haste he had been forced to leave her wound partially in place. She had full mobility, and almost full strength, but there was a strange sense of resistance to her movements provided by the scar tissue that covered her once broken flesh.

Sara's heart raced, the sound of the beast careening through the brush forcing her to focus on the danger that rushed to greet her. Between the trees she could see the outline of the monstrous beast as it stormed a path towards her, the vagueness of its shape visible for brief moments through the lush vegetation that clung to every surface. It wasn't until the creature neared the edge of the clearing that Sara realized why the wolf had been so noisy during its approach — it wasn't the wolf that was charging towards her.

Tani'm came to the same realization moments before, and was rushing to try and intercept the frightened bear that was sprinting towards Sara. She had heard the wolf from where she hide a couple of dozen yards into the forest.

At first, she had interpreted the sounds the same as Sara, but as the creature took flight, charging towards her ally, Tani'm felt uneasy about the animal that approached. It felt different than she expected, somehow obvious, and the closer it got, the more she could sense the fear and anger that consumed it. Her expectation caused her to falter, adding a few seconds to her realization that the creature was a bear, and not her supernatural adversary.

The poor animal was in a frenzy, terror gripping its heart, and it was torn between fight and flight, anger and caution battling for supremacy as the bear worked to distance itself from the source of its fear.

"Fucking wolf," Tani'm huffed as she raced to put herself between Sara and the massive animal, suspecting that with Sara's injured shoulder the bear could pose a serious risk to the woman while she was in human form.

The coloration of Tani'm's body was still losing the browns and greens of the forest as she darted out of the treeline, the bear emerging a moment later. Both forces seemed intent on converging on Sara, who stood stone-faced in the center of the clearing. Sara saw the determination wash over the bear's eyes at it saw her, its fear being replaced by anger as it saw a challenger it could defeat.

Sara lunged to the side, rolling along the soft ground and avoiding the attack as the bear reared back and swiped out at her during its approach. The massive beast possessed a speed and agility she had not expected, though she was pleased to realize that her natural gifts made the mighty animal's attacks seem ponderous and slow by comparison. It was nothing like the wolf, and as she stood from her roll, she expected to find the large mammal bearing down upon her, but instead found the creature turning its head towards her and beginning to release a deep and powerful roar.

Tani'm wasted no time, taking full advantage of the bear's distraction, and landed on the broad shoulders of the majestic animal. The fear it had possessed moments before had been replaced by anger and frustration at the usurpers that it had discovered on its territory. She wrapped her arms around its neck, and rested the side of her face against the back of bear's head.

Its fur was coarse and thick, covering loose but dense skin that protected the wild animal. It had been a long time since Tani'm had bent her will to try and influence an animal of the forest, but as she reached out she began to feel frantic anxiety pouring out from the warm body that she rested against. The bear's roar intensified, and for a few moments the beast jerked from side to side, trying to throw Tani'm off as it also attempted to get her leg or arm into its slobbering and feral seeming mouth.

The agile woman maintained her position, shifting her legs out of the bears reach while keeping her arms planted along the animal's thick and muscular neck. As she cooed sweet whispers towards the enraged beast, the sounds meaning nothing, yet sounding somehow familiar to all who heard it, the beat of its heart became louder to Tani'm, who felt the pounding rhythm wash through her.

Sara's pulse raced as she narrowed her eyes towards the impressive animal, her body lowering to the ground as she circled around the large bear while it hopped and shook, trying to dislodge the small woman from its back. By the time the strange dance between those two creatures of the forest began to slow, Sara's head jerked towards the trees, realization hitting her in the gut like a wild and unexpected punch.

"Run!" she screamed into the dark unknown, her furry companion hidden somewhere in the shadows of the cool and unforgiving night, unaware of the danger that Sara suspected was about to fall.

Thunderfoot fought his desire to run and help Tani'm, the small woman's plight calling to him from the moonlit clearing. He too had expected to see the wolf charging out of the forest, intent and frenzied to end the tall and frightening redhead's life, and like his companions, he had been shocked to see the bear emerge in the wolf's place.

He had taken a few steps out from the shrubs he had hidden himself into, and found it easy to wiggle his way back into cover the moment he realized his mistake. It wasn't until the catwoman had called out into the forest, that he knew why the wolf had driven the bear towards the clearing, and with both of his companions out in the open, that left him in a dangerous place — alone.

The jackalope jumped back, emerging from the shrubs that had just been his shelter with a ruckus clatter as his horns broke many of the bush's branches on his way out. He expected to see the wolf land within the plant, tearing apart the thick wooden limbs that remained, but as the silence of the forest once again fell in around him, he turned his head from side to side, fear and suspicion casting everything he saw with frightful shadows and fearsome tones.

Nowhere seemed safe, and while every ounce of his rabbit body begged him to flee, he gave himself a beat of his heart to consider his situation. The wolf was waiting to attack him, of that he was certain, and while he scanned the forest he could see no sign of the beast, but he knew it was out there somewhere. A realization came to Thunderfoot with a clarity he could scarcely believe; the wolf was the most cunning hunter he had ever encountered, and for the first time he understood the complexity of everything that had been orchestrated.