“Crap, arrows won’t work.” He immediately slung the bow back over his shoulder and pulled out a blade. “Let’s hope silver does the trick. Or iron.”
The shadows advanced, moving quicker now, and we spread out so that we could all manage an attack. My breath was tight in my chest and I forced myself to exhale, then breathe in again slowly. I had faced unknown enemies before, opponents where I hadn’t a clue how to attack them, but they had all been corporeal, flesh and blood.
The next moment, I dismissed thought from my mind because the shadows were close enough to attack. I moved in with Yutani on one as Herne and Viktor took the others.
The fact that the shadows were carrying swords made it more difficult, even though I had a feeling their blades were actually just extensions of themselves. But they had a long reach, and I wasn’t sure at all what the damage would be.
“Distract him,” Yutani said.
I darted to the side, yelling at the shadow. As it turned to follow me, Yutani came sweeping in from behind, driving his blade through the smoky form. The creature let out a yowl, sounding like a wounded animal, but kept coming my way. It looked a bit thinner, however, its form less dense.
As it swung at me, I leapt into the air, dodging the blade as it rounded beneath my feet. As I landed, my feet touching the floor again, I plunged forward, driving my dagger toward the shadow. My blade bit deep, and as soon as the silver touched the shadow, the creature shrieked again and once more thinned out, the remaining shadow stretching out to fill the gaps.
Yutani attacked from the back at that moment, and the shadow swung around, striking him with the blade before he could move out of the way. The coyote shifter let out a choked cry, and fell to his knees.
I rushed in toward the back of the shadow, driving my blade into the thick again. This time I stayed put instead of darting away, holding the blade firm inside of the shadow. The shadow struggled to get away from me, its shriek reverberating through the chamber, and then, as it tried to turn on me, it vanished in a puff of smoke.
A quick glance at Herne and Viktor told me they were well on their way to defeating their opponents, so I knelt beside Yutani.
“Are you all right?” I couldn’t see any blood where the shadow’s blade had pierced him, but he was obviously wounded and in pain.
He grunted, nodding. “I think so. Help me up.”
He wrapped his arm around my shoulder as I helped him struggle to his feet. He was shaky, and he felt jarred, as though his energy had been disrupted. At that moment Herne and Viktor ran over, the other two shadows gone.
“What happened?” Herne patted Yutani down, pulling his hand away quickly as a crackle and spark jolted both of them.
“It disrupted his energy field.” I wasn’t sure how the shadow had done it, but I knew what was happening. Yutani had been wounded on an energetic level, and the question was, would he continue to lose energy or would the gash heal over enough for him to go on?
“I feel strange.” Yutani wavered. “I feel like I’m going to faint, and I never faint.” He glanced around, looking panicked. “I don’t know what to do.”
Herne stared at him for a moment, then said, “I know what you need. Change into your coyote self. That should help you heal faster.”
“But what about—”
“Just do it, man. Otherwise, I think you’re in danger of dying.” Herne began grabbing Yutani’s things off of him. He pulled away his bow and grabbed the blade from his hand.
Yutani struggled to get out of his jacket, so I took hold of the collar, yanking it off of him. His phone dropped to the floor and Viktor snatched it up, making certain that it was still all right. As Yutani struggled out of his jeans, sitting on the floor, Viktor helped him take off his boots.
It was obvious that Yutani was having trouble doing much of anything, but he was finally naked, and as he rolled over on his side and whimpered, he began to shift shape.
I gathered up his clothes as Viktor kept an eye out for anybody else who might enter the chamber. A moment later, Yutani lay there in coyote form, a gorgeous, lean specimen of an animal, with haunting topaz eyes and a thick bushy tail. He whimpered again, but had stopped panting, and now he rested his chin on his front paws.
“How long will it take him to heal enough to change back?” I knew very little about shifters, although I knew they healed better in their natural shape. And their natural shape was that of the animal whose nature they shared.
“I don’t know,” Herne said. “Hopefully not too long. I hope it’s before Kuveo decides to come meandering along.”
I stacked Yutani’s clothes by his side, and knelt, slowly stroking his forehead. He whimpered and looked up at me, and I wanted nothing more than to give him a hug, to reassure him that he’d be okay. I sought for any water elementals that might be in the area—sometimes they could bring a healing force with them—but there were none, and I let out a sigh of exasperation.
Viktor pulled out a small bottle from his backpack. “Aren’t you glad I remembered to bring this?” He held it up so Herne could see it.
“Man, I could so kiss you for that. Get it down his throat now.” Herne was keeping watch on all three of the exits from the chamber.
I joined him, blade at the ready. “What is it?”
“There are certain restorative potions that can heal life force lost. They’re expensive to buy, and they take a long time to make, but whenever we’re going into what’s likely to be a highly dangerous situation, I try to make certain that we have some at hand. I forgot this time, but thank heavens Viktor remembered.”
I glanced over at Viktor, who was holding the bottle for Yutani as he poured it into the coyote’s mouth. “How fast will it work?”
“If it does work against this sort of attack, it should be almost instantaneous. If Yutani was unconscious, that might be a different matter. Or if he had lost a great deal of blood. Potions like this can’t replace blood lost from the body, and they can’t take care of amputated limbs or anything of that nature, obviously. But they can go a long way to helping somebody get back on their feet.” Viktor stood back, waiting. A moment later, Yutani struggled to his feet, shaking his head. He really was a beautiful creature.
“I hear something,” Herne said, as Yutani began to shift back. I wanted to watch him—I had seldom seen anybody change shape and it was a fascinating process—but Herne needed me as backup. Yutani was struggling into his clothes, protected on one side by Herne and me and on the other by Viktor, as a loud noise sounded from the tunnel ahead.
“I don’t think that’s a person,” I said. The growling and snarling couldn’t be human or Fae.
As we prepared to meet the oncoming opposition, Yutani finished dressing and cocked his pistol crossbow. He gave us a grateful nod. “Thanks, guys.”
“Are you up to this?” Herne asked.
“I’d better be. Yes, I’m ready,” Yutani said. “Let’s do this.”
As he finished speaking, a figure appeared at the edge of the tunnel, rushing into the room. Over seven feet tall and bipedal, the monstrous fox form with nine tails entered. Here was the creature we had come to slay. Kuveo.
OVER THE YEARS I had fought some interesting creatures, but never one quite so terrifying. His muzzle was narrow, with sharp teeth protruding from the edges of his mouth, and the light in his eyes was cunning and deadly. He was bulky, as wide as two men, and his arms were long and thick, with sharp claws instead of nails. He was naked, and I really didn’t need to see the massive penis that was standing at attention. Apparently, facing enemies gave him a hard-on.
“Crap,” I muttered, back up a step. “We’ve got trouble.”