Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Luck

The wooden horse-drawn wagon was not built to withstand the onslaught of such a massive beast, so when the mossbear crashed into it, it broke in two in an explosion of wood chips. Three cages on it flew in all directions and I with them.

I screamed, heard Tate shriek, the bitch curse, and beast rumble as I flew through the air still stuck in the cage. The impact on the ground and the rolling of the cage that followed were painful and, despite my skills, more disorienting than I thought.

A quick check told me I was not seriously injured, apart from a few scrapes and bruises. No broken bones or antlers. I still had both wings, and Sage, even though he was showing his displeasure by teasing my face, was also fine.

So yeah, I was all right, except my whole freaking body was covered with fur and feathers, even my face. I had an animal nose and whiskers now, for fuck's sake.

Even though I saw it in my domain, I had to look under my shirt and see for myself that the fur covered my entire chest now. I couldn't help myself and moaned, hoping I won't have to shave my boobs for the rest of my life.

The same was true for the rest of my body, as the fur and feathers made wearing clothes very uncomfortable, especially shoes.

As I came out of the battered cage, I had to take a deep breath of freedom to steady myself. An action that made me aware of a faint grumble which accompanied every breath I took, that my nose was unusually sensitive now.

I smelled the forest, the beasts, the blood, burning wood, but most of all, I smelled myself. My blood, sweat, urine, and fear. 

It was weird.

The change stopped, though. It did not deepen further, even though I lost control of it. Whether it was the low level of the [Beast] or simply the limit of my body that caused it, I had no idea. But I was glad I hadn't become a complete beast, as I dreaded.

I was still able to think rationally and not just act on instincts.

"What the fuck are you doing?" wondered mind bitch, who found me quickly among the wreckage.

I stopped, immediately preparing for a mind attack and wondering what the hell she meant, just to realize in horror that I was just trying to bite through shackles on my hands without realizing it. Not exactly a clever move, given that the chains were made of metal. Not only did I fail, but my teeth ached now.

But was it because of the chain I was chewing on or how long I had the gag in my mouth? The gag I no longer had. Whether I had lost it in the cage crash or taken it off myself, I couldn't remember.

I growled in frustration, knowing that it would be foolish of me not to admit that I did not have as much control over my behavior as I thought. 

It wasn't my main problem, though. The bitch in the mask was.

So, watching her carefully, anticipating a mind attack that had not yet come to my surprise, I took the chain out of my mouth, licked my fangs, and growled at her.

In fact, I wanted to say "Fuck you!", but the growl came out of my throat instead.

She cocked her head. "Interesting. I wasn't aware the hybrids were capable of this. No wonder they want you so badly."

Shit! I cursed as I realized I was just now showing her, the buyer, what I was capable of as if I were a trained monkey. That was definitely not my intention, nor was I going to stand idly by and wait for her to make a move first.

I rushed at her as quickly as I could with shackles on my ankles, intending to slash her neck. An attack that has already proven itself to me. But I only took two steps before I fell to my knees, clutching my head, as she attacked my mind.

I may have looked and acted like a beast, but my defenses were ready, stronger than they've ever been before, as each attack has shown me my flaws. I was learning. Unfortunately, the same was true for her, and since the mind was her expertise, she was finding holes in my defenses faster than I was, much faster.

I didn't risk turning into a beast and giving in to my instincts only to lose my mind to her. I understood that my only option was to shout again, that hesitation would be a mistake. I needed to stop her, if only for a brief moment. 

So still clutching my head, I took a breath, hoping not the last, and ... stopped as did the an attack on my mind.

"Please, don't eat me! Don't eat me! Don't eat me ..." Tate shouted and pleaded as he ran between me and the bitch.

It left me staring speechless at a young man who was surprisingly fast for a workhand. Even more remarkable than his speed was the fact that he was still alive.

"He's level eighty-four, for crying out loud!" the mind bitch screamed in disbelief just before the bear ran between her and me, shoving us aside in pursuit of its prey.

As soon as I got my bearings, I attacked again.

"No, you don't!" the bitch hissed, attacking my mind when I was only a few steps away from her, almost within reach of my hands. So close to taking her life. And yet, instead, I was in danger of losing my mind.

I whimpered like a wounded dog when her attack abruptly ceased, and she disappeared in the fireball and deafening bang that took place in front of me. I wondered for a moment if she had won, if she broke through my defenses, and what I was seeing was just some construct of my crumbling mind before I realized that the stabbing pain in my ears and the searing heat on my scorched fur was real.

"I don't know if you're still there ..." Aspen's voice echoed in my head. I could hear the fatigue and the strain in her words, which prompted me to quickly searched the battlefield the clearing had turned into. I found the guardswomen fighting Ward.

"... if you can hear me, do your thing!" she said with an effort, her voice fading.

Although she fought the master mage alone, it was not a fight to her advantage. Ward was rested, as he had not yet taken part in a fight, and only the last influx of mossbears from the woods, which came attracted by my presence, forced him to join the fray. On the contrary, Aspen has already been through a fierce struggle with his Shadowbreakers, leaving her wounded and exhausted.

She was losing, yet was so conscious of her surroundings that she knew when to help me and did so fully aware that it would cost her. And it did. She reacted too late to Ward's shadow blade. It penetrated her already weakening defenses and severed her left arm.

I closed my eyes not because I couldn't watch it, but to better focus on my emotions and then express them in the roar that made my throat quiver and left me breathless.

When my ears stopped ringing, I realized I wasn't deaf, but the whole clearing sank into deadly silence. Shadowbreakers, mercenaries, mossbears, even Ward and Aspen stopped fighting, and they all focused on me. 

Everyone reacted differently. Some stared at me in shock, others with fear in their eyes, even though their levels were at least twice as high as mine. Some turned back, looking into the heart of the woods. They were the ones who understood what could happen, what I might have awakened, and Ward was among them.

Yet, the beast's behavior surprised me the most. They did not freeze in fear like horned rabbits, nor did they strike me outright as an unwelcome predator. They just watched me quietly.

It seemed like minutes, and quite possibly they were, before the first mossbear roared, establishing his dominance. To which the other beasts in the clearing expressed their disapproval. I was almost certain that if none of the Shadowbreakers or mercenaries attacked them at this point, the beasts would pounce on each other, ignoring the stupid humans in their forest. But they had no idea what the beasts' roars could mean, and so the bloody fight between bears and humans was rekindled when the Shadows attacked.

The reaction I hoped for did not come, though. The King of the Woods was still silent.

"Nice try, Korra," Aspen said, stammering and hesitating. "I...I wish we had met under different circumstances. I really do. You made me realize where my heart lies, so thank you ... and sorry f...for everything."

I looked at her across the clearing and saw her leaning on her staff, breathing hard but half smiling. Despite what I had to go through because of her, I found myself running to her, shouting not to give up.

But no matter how hard I tried, no one, not even Aspen, understood my cry, which came out of my throat like a mixture of growls and whining.

Ward, standing a few steps away from her, glanced at me and smirked in contempt, then looked back at the barely standing guardswoman. He didn't have to understand me to see what I was trying to do. 

With a gesture, more than a dozen shadow spears appeared around him, pointing at her. "You should have worked for me," I heard him say.

She smiled sadly. "I should never have left the city guards!"

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"No, you shouldn't have," he said and with a flick of his hand, launched shadow spears at her.

Aspen managed to fend off most of them except for three that passed through her fiery defenses, piercing her thigh, hip, and shoulder. She fell to the ground in a muffled scream, staff leaving her bloodied fingers as strength left her. 

It wasn't the injuries that were fatal on Eleaden. I knew she could still survive. So I ran, cursing the shackles for holding me back. I even found myself running on all fours like an animal, like a beast I didn't want to become, and using [Swift as a Whip] in spite of the injuries that its use with the shackles caused me.

All I wanted was to get to her in time, stop Ward from killing her, while I was asking myself why? Why did I go to such lengths for her?

She wasn't my family, lover, nor friend. So why?

I could say that she was the only person in this place I trusted a little, that if she died, I would be left alone, and I wouldn't be lying. But it went deeper than that. Back in the dungeon, I could only stare helplessly as others suffered or died, even as it tore at my heart. Now I was actually able to do something about it, yet I felt the same helplessness as I did then.

I was so close, yet so far at the same time. 

Ward followed by creating a shadow blade, its shape similar to the crescent moon, aimed at her neck. What I had already imagined would happen didn't, and Aspen fended off the attack even in the state she was in. 

It took its toll, though, and I could see in her eyes that deflecting two more blades the master mage had created with his shadow magic was beyond her.

"Leave me alone, you crazy animal!" my ears twitched as Tate's cry reached them, before he burst out of the flames behind Aspen. He ran past her, not noticing her lying there on the ground in his panic, and rushed straight to Ward. Only then did he spot the master mage, and his shadow blades now pointed at him. Tate shrieked in fright and tripped, falling face-first to the dirt.

The bear chasing the workhand rushed through Aspen, trampling the fallen, passing over Tate lying on the ground, and crashed right into Ward, who hastily formed a shield in front of him.

I almost yelped with joy when Ward disappeared from my sight, but before I could reach Aspen, two more beasts got in my way.

My threatening growl was instinctive. However, I didn't see the reaction I would expect from mossbears. They just stood there, watching me.

"You know," a familiar honeyed voice said, and I looked to the right, where another mossbear was approaching me, with the bitch perched on its back. "I'm really pissed now."

As soon as she said that, she attacked my mind. When my knee buckled, the attack stopped. 

I looked up at the bitch, finding her without her grey mask. I could clearly see her green eyes, trimmed eyebrows, and strands of white hair peeking out from under the hood. A scarf covered the lower part of her face. What did not escape my attention was the bloody cut over her eyebrows, nor the anger in her eyes.

"I've never had to endure such humiliation in my life. Oh, I can't wait to see you squeal in pain on the table in the lab they've prepared for you," she told me, thrilled at the idea. "I heard they'll cut you to pieces just to heal you so they can do it again and again."

"Why do you think I'm trying so bloody hard not to end up like that!" I shouted at her in a mixture of growls, grunts, and snarls. She responded by attacking my mind when I tried to get up. 

Something has changed, though. Although it still took my strength away, her attack was not as strong as before, making me wonder why. Was she playing with me, enjoying the fact that I was kneeling before her like a queen on a throne?

No, I refused to believe she was that stupid or narcissistic. Rather, she was damn confident, and she had every right. She controlled three beasts whose levels I saw as three question marks, and I wasn't sure about the one who was still chasing Tate. That mossbear was strangely persistent. 

I took a quick glance around the clearing, at the rest of the beasts on it. She wasn't able to control them all, was she?

That's when it clicked to me.

She couldn't. Perhaps impose an idea or some sort of command on them, as Morton had done to the people in Castiana, but direct control of so many beasts was beyond her abilities. I was pretty sure the three she had with her were close to her limit, and that's why she decided to intimidate me, scare me, to lower my defense. 

Unfortunately for her, it didn't work. 

I was well aware of what awaited me if I ended up in their lab, and like Aspen, I preferred to choose death than to go down that road again. That was the last option, though. I was still hoping to get out of here alive and free, somehow.

"Impressive," Ward said, referring to the three mossbears after he emerged from the smoke a few meters away from me. His clean appearance was gone, but he seemed unharmed. "I think it's time to complete the transaction and get out of here."

"I agree," the mind bitch nodded. Her swift response confirmed what I thought. She wasn't as confident as she wanted me to think.

Ward gestured at me. "You got what you wanted. So my money ..."

"I'm wondering if you deserve them. Two of my people are dead," the bitch argued, attacking my mind as I tried to escape while the two bargained over the price.

Ward did not back down. "Four of mine, and it's because of wrong information about her you gave us and this place you chose, if I may add."

The green-eyed bitch sitting on a bear said nothing, just smirked, and a violet stone appeared in her hand. It was the size of an ostrich egg, dull with no luster yet as transparent as crystal.

"Etherstone," Ward breathed when he saw the stone.

The bitch smiled. "On the black market, you'll easily get two hundred thousand gold for it. If you're smart about it and lucky, you'll get double that. Satisfied?"

"Given the circumstances, I can't say it was a pleasure to do business with you, but the compensation is sufficient," Ward said, as the etherstone disappeared into his spatial storage, looked at me, and tipped his hat. "If you'll excuse me, ladies."

He turned on his heel and shouted at his Shadowbreakers. "Pick up everything worth gold from the dead. We're finished here."

The mind bitch, unaffected by his heartless order, looked at her people and most likely through telepathy, told them the same thing, as they, too, began to retreat.

Then she looked at me, and the anger I had seen before in her eyes was still there. Unfortunately, I didn't have much of a means of defending myself other than my not a very useful battle cry.

"Yeah!" a voice echoed through the smoldering clearing.

It was not my voice, my roar, but it attracted the attention of all present like mine. The voice belonged to Tate, who danced with joy over the bear's corpse. 

"I got it!" he shouted again, thrilled by his success.

I was utterly speechless, unable to imagine how he had managed that. The mossbear's body was covered with wounds, half of his fur burned, his eye was missing, a broken sword was stuck in his skull, and a charred stick stuck in his side.

How? How did he do it?

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