Page 42 of Unleashed

Nina turned her face forward again. She breathed shallowly; the air was so cold it burned her throat and lungs with each inhalation. Ice crystals slowly formed under her nose, in her hair, and on her brow. Her joints were stiff, especially her fingers, but they were soon numb enough that they caused her no pain. She’d experienced snowfall growing up, but never to this degree, and she was ill-equipped to deal with it now.

She couldn’t survive this. Not for long.

“W-we cannot manage this f-for long!” Balir shouted. “We need shelter for Nina.”

Heneeded shelter, too.

Vortok slowed and turned to face her. Snow and ice crusted his fur and mane, but the set of his brow made it clear that his only concern was for her. “I will change. Help her onto my back, near my mane. It will give her some warmth and protection.”

“W-What do y-y-you mean ch-change?” she asked, unable to prevent her jaw from chattering.

His response came when he stepped away from her. His face contorted in pain, but he released only a soft grunt, barely audible over the wind. His body expanded and elongated as she watched, bones snapping and cracking into new forms. Though he maintained his silence after that first grunt, shefelthis agony.

This is Kelsharn’s gift, she thought,and my valos pay the price for it every moment of every day.

Vortok the man was gone now, and in his place was the massive rockfur she’d first encountered when she fell into his cage. He shook his body, whipping the accumulated frost off his fur.

“V-Vort-tok?” she asked, tentatively reaching out to him with her mind.

His thoughts were jumbled and inarticulate, but she felt his possessiveness, felt his concern. He stepped forward, a hulking, terrifying beast with horns, tusks, and hooves, a beast that could break trees as easily as a human body, and gently nuzzled her shoulder with his snout. She brought her hands to his face and cupped it, gazing into deep, familiar brown eyes.

You’re still you, Vortok,she projected. Touching her mind to his feltright; it was comforting, intimate in a way she’d never allowed herself to fully experience. She’d so often held herself back, knowing that most people would react to her ability with fear, but she didn’t have that concern with Vortok. He trusted her and what she could do.

He nuzzled her shoulder again, but this time lifted his snout as he did so, tugging her forward.

“Come, Nina,” Aduun said from behind her, voice raised over the howling wind. His hands settled on her hips, and she didn’t resist as he guided her to Vortok’s side. He picked her up her with ease.

She straddled Vortok’s back, grasping handfuls of his mane to anchor herself in place, and settled into his fur. His heat radiated into her, and she welcomed it. She breathed in his earthy scent, barely able to detect it through the stinging cold air.

“Go up with her,” she heard Aduun call.

“I can continue,” Balir replied.

“Share warmth with her, Balir.” There was an edge to Aduun’s tone — one of authority, but also of envy. She knew, then, despite the fog of cold settling over her mind, that he didn’t want anyone else touching her. This was for the sake of two people he cared about, neither of whom were made for such weather.

Balir climbed onto Vortok’s back behind Nina, took hold of the thick fur, and lay his body down over her. He didn’t allow his full weight to settle upon her; he shared his warmth, shielded her from the biting wind.

“It seems our positions have reversed,” he said, lips close to her ear. It sent a different sort of shiver through her.

Nina savored the heat coming from both valos. She shifted her arm, brushing her thumb over the back of Balir’s hand. “Seems so.”

Between Vortok’s windblown mane and the torrents of snow, Nina couldn’t see anything; her world was white and gray. There was little distinction between sky and ground, and there were no visible landmarks to provide any sense of where they were. All she had was that faint, far-off call for help, fading in and out as her concentration continually faltered.

Vortok trudged forward, his steady pace never faltering save for when he shook his great shoulders to shrug off the gathering snow; Balir anchored her in place each time to keep her from falling. Though her front and back were warm, her legs felt frozen, and her exposed skin was numb from being blasted by wind and snow. She tried not think about it, tried not think about what might happen if they didn’t find shelter soon. Instead, she focused on Vortok, who’d so selflessly suffered the pain of shifting into his beast form to aid her, and on the feel of Balir’s body pressed against her back.

At some point, she realized the sky had darkened. She couldn’t recall if the change had been gradual, and after straining — and failing — to remember, she decided it wasn’t important. What mattered was the rapid drop in temperature that accompanied the encroaching darkness.

“We n-need sh-shelter.” She’d tried to shout, but her words came out wavery and weak.

Balir released his hold on Vortok with one hand, running his palm over her exposed skin. His touch was scalding, though his body was shivering against hers. “Aduun! She cannot continue like this!”

Aduun yelled something, but she couldn’t make out his words.

Vortok’s muscles trembled. He turned, veering off the course they’d been following, and sped his pace. It was jolting; she jounced atop him, and the impact caused prickly pulses throughout her body, tingling bursts of sensation like a thousand needles dancing on her skin.

They stopped suddenly. Balir sat up, allowing the chill wind to sweep across her back. A deep shudder wracked her, and she clenched Vortok’s mane as though it could provide relief.

Several hands touched her; she felt them as little more than dull pressure on her cold-numbed skin. Together, Aduun and Balir pulled her down from atop Vortok, and she found herself sagging against Aduun’s broad chest. He held her for a moment. She buried her face against him, seeking desperately the warmth that hid beneath the ice dusting his short fur.

---