Page 11 of Celestial Bodies

Dacias Validar came from a long line of combatants, and he and his brothers were a famously fierce mix of creatures: Ferrean, an anaconda, and Klorin, a cougar. Their father had been a general, so joining the ranks of Rugiria’s Fighting Forces had been preordained.

“FALL IN!”

Cadets gingerly strolled to the line, royally pissing off the sergeant. “FALL IN! MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!”

Their pace accelerated as they fell in formation. After a long and tumultuous history with their neighbors to the north, Rugiria’s Fighting Forces became the pride and joy of the territory. Especially after Morab, who had made great strides in mending the relationship between the two territories, was overthrown by Haligran.

“ATTENTION!” The sergeant walked down the line, examining the men with an offended sneer. “All right, you slugs. You want to slack off? You think it’s hot now?”

Uh oh. Here it comes.Sergeant sounded mad. Dacias knew what thatmeant.

“We’re gonna do shift-slams.TWENTY OF THEM!”

The cadets groaned in unison. A shift-slam required scaling three hurdles, then, after the third, slamming your feet into the ground, launching yourself into the air, and shifting mid-flight. Anyone could change under perfect circumstances. Shift-slams trained how to shift under duress.

“TAKE POSITION!”

Dacias bent forward and ground his back foot into the field. He closed his eyes and began box breathing:Breathe in four counts, hold four counts, breathe out four counts, hold four counts…

Dacias’s ability to tune out the world around him and focus on the here and now made him a formidable warrior. Battle is a mental game, he told himself. If you can control your mind, you can control anything.

He closed his eyes to empty his head of the world around him, but he couldn’t. Dacias couldn’t stop his racing thoughts.Focus. What’s the matter with you?

The sergeant stepped to the side and crooked a wicked grin.He just loves torturing us.“READY. STEADY. GO!”

Boots pounded as they raced forward.

Focus. Focus. Focus.

Dacias scaled the first hurdle with ease. He steadied his pace so he wouldn’t exhaust himself early on.

His right foot smacked the second hurdle, tipping it over.What’s the matter with you?!He’d have to do another five shift-slams if he knocked over another.It must be this Vexforsaken heat.

He narrowed his gaze, braced himself, and scaled the third hurdle. His feet slammed into the ground, and he launched himself skyward.

His spine elongated, the vertebrae snapping like cracking knuckles. The skin on his face burned as his mouth and nose began to extend. A prickling sensation enveloped his body as fur sprouted from his skin. His scalp itched as his hair transformed into a flowing mane. His paws hit the ground just as his human form—clothing and all—vanished, and the animal form tookover.

The world around him expanded as his pupils dilated. He could smell everything, particularly the overpowering stench of the sweaty cadets around him.

He darted about the field, zig-zagging around training equipment.

With his head back and mouth ajar, his roar echoed over the land, and his fellow cadets cowered before him. Dacias always intimidated everyone in lion form, but this roar possessed something fiercer than usual.

Frustration and need tinged his roar. His animal mind took over, and the world around him vanished, soon replaced by soft, brown curls and bright green eyes.

He wanted to nuzzle those sweet curls, lick the freckles on Arlo’s neck, and thrust his hips into—

“VALIDAR! What in the fuck are you doing down there?”

The sergeant’s voice sounded closer. Dacias, still in lion form, looked up to see the sergeant wearing a confused expression. He was still pissed off, of course, but his confusion was evident. It took Dacias a moment to realize that his bounding about the field had evolved into lying on the ground, nuzzling and gyrating his pelvis against a bag of gear.

He quickly shifted back into human form, scrambled to his feet, and saluted the sergeant. “APOLOGIES, SIR! I… I was—”

The sergeant finished Dacias’s sentence. “Humping the gear, Validar?”

The cadets at the line fell to the ground laughing. Dacias could feel the heat on his cheeks; it wasn’t from the sun.

Dacias thought he saw a slight smirk on the sergeant’s face, but he quickly schooled his features and said, “Get back in line, boy, and focus.”

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