The Tiger Within

Tweleve bows bent and strings tw.a.n.g as they let their arrows loose, soaring through the air at the fighting horde . Kyera felt them coming but before she could shield herself, a blue light seemed to fill the air around her . She was instantly aware of another power, another"s soul energy deflecting the powerful arrows around her and the child . Rather than chance moving out of it, she froze, watching as the first volly took out most the jackals, and the rest fell to the second merciless horde .

"See little one, your okay . " she rea.s.sured the child still gripping a long white strand of hair in her tiny fist . Kyera couldn"t help but smile gently at those pretty green eyes . They reminded her of the sun shining through dense leaves in the forest full of life .

Advertis.e.m.e.ntThe little girl nodded, her little lip still trembling from the excitement of the fight . Kyera"s body was sore . Being a tiger she liked to dodge and leap in battle . Staying up right and only spinning and leaning to dodge was a hard feat for such a limber creature . No doubt the child hindered her . Once certain the baby was fine, Kyera looked in the direction of their saviors .

13 men on horseback, 12 with bows and the armour of guards rode forward . The 12 dismounted in the well circle and allowed their mounts to drink before turning to the weary Tigress and the Child . However the woman was unconcerned with them, or at least seemed to be .

The 13th man, the prince with eyes that seemed to pierce into Kyera"s soul swung down from the saddle standing a full head taller than her . However she did not back down, meeting his eyes, one hand still holding a sword . Amus.e.m.e.nt in his face, but her confidence was not easily missed . The royal crest of A Paw print and a Sword catching her eye . The silver circlet gleaming as her eyes dashed to seek it .

Kyera fell to her knees, though her body did not like baring its neck to him . So many of her kind fell to their blades… whether at war or for pelts the wild of her kind were nearly wiped out .

The war of Skin Walkers as they called it had seen hundreds of the Shapeshifter"s fall for greed . The emperor had demanded all shifters be registered and forced to serve his name as pets of the crown . Angry the shapeshifters declined and stayed to the woods, unaware he would hunt them there soon enough .

He spent years making Shape shifters seem evil, as though they were monsters who would make off with children . Burn fields and feed on human flesh . They were no more than animals in the eyes of humans by then . The community was powerless to stop it . So when a shape shifter killed a princess… it didn"t take much for war to follow on those heels .

Kenya Shadow Paw laid to waste the old king and ended the war, but at a terrible price . So many died and even with the war over the bad reputations of the Shifters still excited fear and their coats bore a high price . All that remains of the once proud nations are small bands hidden in the forest trying to rebuild their cultures .

Before she had a chance to finish kneeling two hands shoved her down, one slicing through her cloak to free the child . Meanwhile another grabbed her snow white hair forcing her to arch her back so the princess could be retrieved . She gritted her teeth against the pain shooting through her back and limbs . wounds she wasn"t aware of yet made themselves known as she tried not to struggle .

The princess started crying as the last rider walked forward . He motioned to the guards who quickly let go of her as he took the baby from their hands . He looked the child over but she was crying rather loudly reaching for the kneeling warrior still . Kyera just smiled weakly at her, breathless from the brutal onslaught of feeling .

"Shhhh now, the pretty lady is just fine . " he coaxed the child who seemed not to believe him . Even at her tender age she knew what "fine" looked like and this wasn"t it . He set her on the ground by his feet and nodded at a young male guard who took her hand, standing with the child .