The Tiger Within

As much as he didn"t want to admit it, his princess looked as though she belonged here . Beautiful and serene… but lacking the wild nature he knew was at her heart . He lay next to her, eyes glancing around the room .

"You know that human? Does he know you?" Daxin asked his voice clearly hinting something . Kyera nodded, missing the innuendo .

Advertis.e.m.e.nt"Yes he knows both my forms but not that they are one . " she clarified and Daxin chuckled at her innocents . He was stalling… and yet they both knew it .

"Daxin, come now . What happened?" Kyera pressed her heart beating faster now . He was avoiding her eyes, something he had not done since the night her brothers pa.s.sed . "Daxin… please tell me what"s wrong…" she begged . The tone of pleading in her voice was so clear the humans picked up on it . The other familiar in the room grew restless . What in the world was she talking about?

"Kyera it… there was a battle . Verone… . . " he faltered as Kyera leapt to her feet fear in her eyes . She shook her head backing away .

"He was hurt?" she asks panting . Cutting him off before he could deliver the news . Her heart began to ache, her breathing quicken . Clovis frowned softly and tried to approach but the energy was high .

"Kyera, I am so so sorry… Verone was lost . I am… . " he didn"t get to finish those words before she roared . Her voice echoing through the palace and shaking the very walls . Everyone could hear the anguish in her voice . The pain, hatred every emotion she had stored ripped from her body . Tears rolled down her face .

Kyera"s heart felt as though it was tearing apart . She roared again, but it sounded so much more like a woman"s scream . Clovis looked around wildly trying to figure out what was distressing her so much, what was harming her . The Emperor shouted orders for the guards to find the tamers . However, then her eyes met Clovis and he could see himself reflected in her soul . It was as if the broken heart he had carried all these years found a kindred spirit . The pain he knew so well washed over Kyera for the first time and… he felt his fracture again .

Before he could make a move, a blur of white left the room . Daxin followed after her, as fast as his paws could carry him . Rashan cast a glance at the Emperor then followed them both . The Pain of the tigress was enough to worry him . "What the h.e.l.l was going on!" he tried to call to the wolf, but Daxin showed no signs of stopping . Nor did Kyera .

When Kyera"s wounded body could carry her no longer, she collapsed near the base of the waterfall . Fiery pain radiating from the torn muscles of her shoulder, but Kyera didn"t care . Her form shifted to a woman at the water"s edge . Tears streamed down her face as her body pressed against the gra.s.s . Her arms were under her forehead as she sobbed . Daxin slowed his pace to come and stand at the clearing edge . Rashan looking from him to her and sat beside the wolf . Both held silent vigil as the shadows draped her in a deep black cloak, the deepest shades of mourning .

Soon the sobs lessened, but Kyera"s stomach emptied itself as sweat drenched her forehead . Her body was overheated and exerted from the crying and the run . She pulled herself onto her knees as she tried very hard not to puke again . The river carried the waste away as she tried to catch her breath .

Trying not to shame her, both Daxin and Rashan looked away, as she rinsed her mouth with the flowing water . Not that it mattered . At that moment, nothing did . All she knew was the pain in her chest, the violent feeling that tried to send her into madness . Her mind was reeling against it and refusing to believe . One more scream ripped from her chest, filled with only one emotion .

Helplessness . It was perhaps the most chilling of all the screams and roars that had echoed that night .