The Tantric Shaman (8 page)

              “But we never said much about the future.”

              “We haven't had time. They were going to kill us. We had to go. My dad won't even take my calls, and neither will any of your family. We're outcasts now. If Damian can pull this off, maybe we'll have a chance for―something.”

              “You know if anyone finds out we played a part in killing four warmasters we'll be right back where we started,” Bo said.

              “As far as I'm concerned, this is self-defense. If we're lucky they'll all kill each other and we won't even need to get involved,” Candy said, and shuddered as she realized this would mean the death of a friend. The ideal scenario would be if Horis was killed and Indigo lived. She'd never liked Horis, and hated how he treated Indigo. She'd never had proof but she was almost sure he beat her. She had no love lost for that bastard, that was for sure.

              “I'm just playing devil's advocate here. We have to realize this is serious shit we're involved in. No more games, this is life or death,” Bo said.

              “Bo, it's been life for death for a while now,” Candy said.

              Bo opened his mouth to respond but was silenced by a familiar screech as Damian flew into the clearing.

              He landed and shifted to human. “It's a go. All four are on their way here. I want you two back in the next clearing, I'm going to shift and wait in the tree.”

              “Should we shift?” Bo asked.

              “Yes, you may as well. But do not, I repeat DO NOT get involved unless I tell you to.”

              “How will we know?” Candy said.

              “You'll know,” Damian said, but his lips didn't move. The two heard his voice in their head.

              “Holy shit! You're telepathic too? Fuck! Wait, can you read our minds?” Bo said, shaken by hearing Damian's voice go straight to his brain.

              “No, I can't read minds. And telepathy takes a lot out of me, but in this case we may need it,” Damian said.

              “Damn, I'm beginning to think all of the legends are true,” Candy said, awed.

              “No one wants to be a dead legend, so you two go! Now! And take my stuff and yours too, I've got a masking spell on everything but if they see the wrong thing our cover could be blown,” Damian said before shifting into a raven and flying up onto a branch.

              Candy and Bo both looked up at him, squinting. “Shit, a raven too? This guy is starting to scare me,” Bo said. Candy said nothing, just gathered up their things and headed back to the clearing. Bo followed her, shifting as he did.

              Sam paused when he saw the clearing up ahead, Gigi halting behind him. He sniffed the air. The scent was strong here, but he didn't see them. Something seemed wrong. He looked and Gigi and whined, and she licked his cheek in return. Then two bears bounded into the clearing, rushing in headlong just as the bear clan had a tendency to do.

              Sam shifted back to human and Gigi did the same. “The fucking bears are here,” he said. It was obvious to both of them it was Horis and Indigo, as the four had been rivals for years.

              “Fuck,” Gigi said. “Now what?”

              “We claim our fucking territory,” Sam said, shifting back to wolf. Gigi did the same, and they ran towards the bears.

              Damian watched from his perch as the bears rushed to meet the wolves. This was just what he'd planned, and it appeared to be working perfectly. The animals didn't attack yet, instead stopping within a few feet of each other and snarling. Sam and Horis seemed ready for battle, and Gigi as well. Indigo didn't seem as aggressive, but she seemed no less dangerous.

              The animals circled, snapping and pawing at one another but not attacking yet.
What the fuck are they waiting on?
Damian thought.

              Sam shifted to human. Horis did the same. Gigi followed, but Indigo remained in bear form, agitated. Damian watched, confused. It was very rare, if not unheard of, for warmasters to battle in human form. Now that they had shifted, Damian saw a bag of some type hanging around the neck of Horis. It had been so small it was unnoticeable when he was in bear form, but in human form it was prominent. Horis pulled the bag from his neck and began to rub his hands inside. Damian saw he was coating his hands in some type of black gunk, and the pungent odor was reaching him even from up in the tree.

              “So you see them yet?” Sam asked.

              “Nah, but I know where they are,” Horis answered.

              “Me too, so what are we waiting on?” Gigi answered. Indigo still hadn't shifted, and she growled at Gigi and backed up.

              “You need to keep your bitch in line,” Sam said, shooting Indigo a look.

              “Aw, don't fucking worry about her. She doesn't know what's going on. I didn't want her dumb ass blowing the plan,” Horis said, disgust on his face.

              “So let's do this!” Gigi said, shifting to wolf. Horis and Sam shifted as well, and all three headed directly towards the hiding place of Sam and Candy.

              “Sam, Candy, heads up! They are headed your way, you're going to have to fight!” Damian said, screaming so loud in their heads it was painful?

              “What do you mean?” Bo thought back.

              “I mean I fucked up. Big time,” Damian said, swooping down from the branch towards the warmasters.

CHAPTER SIX

              The warmasters made a beeline right for Candy and Bo, cutting right through the spells Damian had used. Damian sized the three up and decided Horis was probably the most dangerous. He was pretty sure the black substance coating Horis's claws was poison. Indigo had remained behind in the clearing for some reason, so for now the odds were somewhat even.

              Damian dove at Horis, and shifted to bear form right before impact. He crashed his full weight right between Horis's shoulder blades, hoping he could break his back. The two struck the ground and Damian rolled to his feet, not graceful at all in this lumbering form.

              Horis was stunned but definitely not out. He roared a challenge and rushed Damian. Damian had a split second to see Bo tangling with Sam, the two of them rolling around together. Candy and Gigi were also fighting, but it looked like they were sticking and moving and not much physical contact had been made at this point.

              The split second Damian had been distracted almost proved fatal as Horis moved much faster than Damian would have thought. He was able to duck the swing of Horis's paw, but in doing so brought himself into the range of the warmasters jaws, which clamped down on his snout. Damian tried to pull away, but before he could Horis raked his chest with his claws, digging deep. Damian felt the wounds burning and knew he'd been poisoned. He wasn't sure what it was, but it seemed fast acting. He realized he couldn't beat Horis using pure power, but would need to use some of the tricks at his disposal.

              He pulled his head free, ripping some of the flesh from near his nose. He shifted to a spitting cobra, spitting venom directly into Horis's eyes before the slower bear could react. Horis had not been expecting this, and the bear howled and put his head down, pawing at his stinging eyes. Damian struck, biting the bear on the paw and injecting venom. The bear struggled to step away, but tripped. The unintentional move caused him to fall on top of Damian, almost crushing him.

              The pain caused Damian to switch back to human form, a reflex action that could cost him his life. Horis pinned him with one paw as he raised the other to swipe his head off. Then another bear crashed into Horis, slamming him off of Damian and into a nearby tree. Damian was dazed but still figured out what had happened: Indigo. For some reason, she'd saved him.

              Horis was between Indigo and Damian now, facing his mate. He roared a challenge, anger radiating from him in waves as he gave Indigo a death sentence. Indigo's brown eyes locked with Damian's, and he knew what she had planned.

              Horis reared up onto his hind legs, raising his mighty paws up to smack Indigo. She charged him, head down just like a bull. Just as she crashed into his chest, Damian shifted to a stag. Damian ducked his head as Horis fell, and the warmaster was impaled on the stag's formidable rack of antlers. The antlers pierced all the way through Horis, and he gave one last roar before dying.

              Damian shifted back to bear form, mainly just to get his antlers from Horis's body. Horis fell limply to the ground and Damian faced Indigo, unsure what her next move would be. She didn't attack, instead roaring towards the other two battles currently being waged.

              Damian turned and saw Bo was doing better than expected, having gotten the best of Sam so far. Sam was in werewolf form while Bo was in full wolf form, and he'd been able to stay one step ahead of the bigger warrior so far.

              Damian didn't want to interfere unless he had to, as defeating the warmaster could give Bo some standing in his clan, or at least self-confidence if nothing else. He turned to Candy, and saw she wasn't doing quite as well.

              Gigi was in werewolf form on Candy's back, and was raking her shoulder and neck over and over again with her long claws. She had wrapped her legs around Candy's body, and the position didn't give Candy many options for getting free. He was about to interfere when Indigo beat him to it, running over and smashing into Gigi, sandwiching the werewolf between the two bears. When Gigi slid to the ground stunned, the two bears began to tear at her. Between the rending claws and ripping teeth, Gigi was done for.

              Sam saw that his allies had fallen, and since Bo was kicking his ass he decided to retreat. He turned to full wolf form, his fur covered in blood. He tried to run, but his only path of escape took him right by Damian. Damian didn't hesitate, bringing his mighty paw down right across the back of Sam's neck, breaking it. He gave one small whimper and then was silent.

              The enemy had fallen, but Damian and Bo both circled Indigo, still unsure as to her intentions. Candy moved between the two men and Indigo, baring her teeth and bellowing at them. Indigo put her head down in surrender.

              Damian was the first to shift to human form, but the rest followed, with Indigo shifting last. Even under these circumstances, Damian couldn't help but notice how attractive Indigo was. Short, dark skin with long black hair, and voluptuous with curves in all the right places. The four of them stood, nude and covered in the wounds and gore of battle.

              “So what the fuck is going on?” Damian asked Indigo.

              “I don't know, I'm as confused as you are,” Indigo said.

              “Oh come on. You were here to kill Candy and Bo, we know that. Why were you working with the wolves?” Damian shouted.

              “I don't know, I promise! I had no idea we were working with them! Horis never tells me anything!” Indigo said, wondering who she was talking to. He was very well put together, and she couldn't help but gaze at his nude body. Something about him was very compelling.

              “I think you know more than―than you're--” Damian said, growing dizzy.

              “Damian? Are you okay?” Candy asked as he leaned against a tree to keep his balance.

              “Fuck. The poison--” Damian said, and then collapsed.

              When Damian awoke it was dark. He was still nude and laying on a blanket with someone cleaning his wounds with a cold cloth. He was surprised to see it was Indigo, who he noticed was also still nude. He checked out her firm, large breasts almost without realizing it. He noticed her nipples were large and dark and very appealing.

              “How long was I out?” he asked.

              “A few hours. It looked iffy for a while, but you pulled through,” Indigo said as she ran the damp rag over his chest.

              “So what's your story?” Damian asked.

              “I'm Indigo, the warmaster of--” she started, but he stopped her.

              “I know who you are, but what's going on? Why were you working with the wolves?”