Page 125 of Shadows of Winter

He cursed and let go, tears springing to his eyes.

She whirled and reached for the vial in her pocket, but unless she could force it down his throat, what good would it do? Instead, she lunged for the mace at his hip.

The guard recovered enough to stop her, grabbing her wrist. She kicked him in the shin and jerked her arm away.

Doubting she could win a fight, she spun toward the open gate, intending to run instead.

But a tremendous boom came from the far side of the cave, from where the scraping had been.

The ground quaked, and the cell gates rattled as rubble flew. It splashed into the water and clunked to the ground. Smoke blew over the pool, filling the air, and men’s voices sounded as the noise of the explosion dwindled.

The guard swore and thrust Kaylina aside as he lunged for the gate. She had her second chance to grab the mace and snatched it from his hip. This time, she was successful.

With the weapon in her hand, she backed away.

“Damn it.” The guard spun toward her, reaching for it as he glanced at the smoke, the shapes of men visible streaming into the cave.

Kaylina swung the mace at his head.

If he hadn’t been distracted, she wouldn’t have gotten the best of him, but she cracked him square above the ear. He pitched to the ground.

Armed men ran around the pool and toward the stairs. Virts? Here to assassinate the king? There were dozens of them, and they carried swords, axes, maces, and crossbows. She was positive they hadn’t come to hear their monarch speak.

Kaylina crept to the open gate, hoping that the smoke would keep them from noticing her. Then she could escape and… and what? She didn’t know. Find Vlerion.

But two men in the lead paused to look at her.

“Didn’t we rescue you once before?” one asked with a laugh. His face was vaguely familiar. He must have been at that first jailbreak.

“I rescued myself, thank you.” Kaylina admitted their explosion had helped with that, but she raised the mace, hoping she looked capable—and that they didn’t have any notions of capturing her.

He laughed again. “Yeah, you did.”

“Shit,” someone closer to the stairs barked, pointing in that direction. “Ranger!”

Vlerion.

At first, Kaylina’s heart soared. But he was alone, and there were at least forty men, with more rushing into the cave. Even he couldn’t win against such odds.

A snarl from behind startled Kaylina. The guard.

He sprang on her, smashing her against the bars again and grabbing her wrist. She tightened her grip, refusing to let go of the mace, and cursing herself for forgetting about him. She’d thought she had knocked him out, damn it.

Her dress ripped as he pawed at her with one hand and twisted her wrist with the other. The tear of fabric was audible in the suddenly silent cave, and Kaylina looked toward the stairwell, afraid Vlerion would shift.

Utter rage filled his eyes. Kaylina clubbed the guard with the mace, knocking him to the ground again. It didn’t calm Vlerion. He transformed right before her eyes.

His clothing ripped, his skin sprouted short auburn fur, and he grew even more muscular and powerful, the laces of his leather armor snapping under his bulging torso. Claws thrust from hands that had turned paw-like. When he threw his head back to howl, his jaw broadened and his teeth elongated into fangs.

By all the altered plants in the world, that change had to hurt.

Between the shadows and smoke, a lot of the invaders might have missed Vlerion’s shift, but every head turned at the roar. When the beast charged into the cave, half the men yelled and scattered. But half the men raised their weapons, aiming to kill him.

32

Fear for those we care about steals our wisdom.

~ Dionadra, Essays on the Motivations of Men

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