Dark Horse: Lords of Shifters, #3

Dark Horse

A Lords of Shifters Novella

by Angela Carlie

Copyright 2015 Angela Carlie

All rights reserved.

This book or any part of this book may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means without prior written permission of the author, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, names, places or incidents are coincidental and not intended by the author.

2nd Edition: June, 2015

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Dark Horse

A Lords of Shifters Novella

by Angela Carlie

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Before that hellish day, this was Thea’s favorite spot. The lush green grass near the creek bed made for full bellies and an excellent playground to race her sister while her parents stood watch. But this day, the blades wore crimson and tasted of pain, thick enough to last a lifetime.

Stay close, Mother said. Her black mane, soft as silk, flowed down her crest. She munched on a dandelion. I don’t want to have to go looking for you like last time.

Father sipped the cool liquid from the babbling water. His muscular, black body a stark contrast to the pastel flowers beneath his hooves and the blue sky high above.

Thea stopped galloping through the creek. We won’t go far—

Father’s horn blazed to life, glowing on his forehead. His head jolted up. Quickly, Thea, Mari! Thea’s older sister, galloping toward the dense forest, stopped. She turned back to face her family.

Hurry, Mari! Danger is near, Thea said, panic in her voice. She moved two steps toward her sister. Thea had only seen her father’s horn light up so brightly one other time—the day they lost her big brother.

What’s wrong? Mari’s right ear twitched. We won’t go far, just into the forest a bit. Come on, Thea! She turned to run toward the darkness of the trees.

Mari! Father’s horn. Thea couldn’t run after her. Not after what she'd seen them do to Leo. She called that day Leo died the Day of Red because that’s the color everything turned.

A brown grizzly bear with a white patch on his chest stepped from the woods just as Mari reached them. It stood on hind legs, towering over the beige unicorn.

Father ran full-charge toward the bear, his head tilted down and horn pointed forward. The creek splashed beneath his hooves until he reached the meadow, then chunks of earth flew behind him.

Mother didn’t hesitate to follow. Unicorns were a peaceful species and normally ran the opposite way of danger, as a deer or bunny would. And being the last family of a kind hunted to near extinction only amplified the need to survive. Thea’s parents, however, would sacrifice everything for their children. And they did. Thea’s most horrific nightmare played out before her, and all she could do was watch without a single blink to bat the tears from her big brown eyes.

The bear dropped to all fours.

At that moment, time didn’t exist for Thea. The birds stopped singing in the blue sky above, but the wind died for no one and continued to dance in the long grasses and bushy trees.

When Father’s horn stabbed the bear in the shoulder, it didn’t take long for any sparkle of hope held in Thea’s heart to die. Another bear, and then another, stepped from the darkness.

Dagger-like claws crashed down onto Mari’s backside, and soon the day turned the deepest shade of red Thea would ever know.

ONE

One day, I will no longer exist. It’s something we all expect, but do we really ever think about it? I mean, seriously. What will it be like to know that the last breath I’ll ever take is in my lungs at that moment? Once I exhale, nothing will matter ever again. Will I say, This is it. This is what everyone waits for and I’m on the birth of eternity. Right now? Every action I take up until that point won’t matter the second after that air escapes my body. Unless I make my actions count.

That day in the future, the day I no longer tread on the earth, I wonder if it will be beautiful. If I die avenging my family’s murder, that would be a perfect death. As long as I fulfill my mission—to ruin the hearts of those shifters who stole the lives of my parents and sister and brother. I’ll hunt them one by one if I have to.

That’s why I stand in the forest, a layer of snow blanketing the ground and trees, in a part of the world I’ve never been—far away from everything. Except for a few grunts from the blobs or growls from the Hornbrood wolves behind me, all is silent, as though my ears are stuffed with soft snow.

A tingling sensation starts on my forehead and scurries to the tip of my horn, which turns to warmth when it lights up. Danger is near. I flick my tail twice, giving Xifan, the Lord of Hornbrood, the signal. My heart sticks to my ribs. This is the first time I’ve been so close.

Light footsteps crunch through the snow. I resist the urge to run from the refuge of the trees and into the clearing. I shuffle back behind a tree to hide the glow of my horn. My chestnut body blends well with the color of the trunk. Xifan wants to make peace today, not war. We aren’t ready for a fight. We discovered that the hard way back in White Salmon, Washington, when Prince Chance and his brothers from Takoda ripped apart several Hornbrood wolves who’d been watching Princess Loramendi for some time. A massacre.

Two gray wolves walk side by side through the clearing. Every few steps, they nuzzle against each other. That must be Chance and Loramendi. The legend goes they were betrothed at birth to unite the kingdoms of Theriania and Takoda. And then Loramendi went missing. But that was a long time ago, when my family still lived and I had a reason to care about such things.

A larger beige wolf trots into view.

Two more wolves, the same color as the larger one, rush forward, tackling each other in the snow. Bits of soft powder fly. High-pitched yips and yaps of playful pups fill the thick air.

They all have clear blue eyes.

Xifan’s black cloak brushes past me. In his human form, white hair threads over his shoulders in thin wisps. Warn us of danger, my darling, he whispers in my ear. I only nod in return; he does not speak unicorn, and I cannot speak human while in this form.

He steps lightly toward the wolf pack. Less intimidating black wolves and green blobs follow him. The creatures of Hornbrood may lack the strength that these Takoda shifters have, but they make up for it in passion. They’d give their lives for the cause, the revolution. Takoda and Theriania have taken so much from them, and from me.

Xifan stops in the center of the clearing, behind the nuzzling wolves, but in front of the rest of the pack, separating them. He faces the backside of the two lovers. Princess Loramendi, Xifan says, we have been waiting for you for so long, your grandfather especially.

Lord Justus of Theriania, Loramendi’s grandfather, finally cracked a few years ago. He went mad, it seemed, but whatever the case, Xifan was able to befriend him and show him the suffering their ways had caused others. I’m not convinced Justus is on our side, but Xifan has faith that it’s a move forward. He also has high hopes for convincing Loramendi to join him. I’m afraid his spirit will be crushed when she denies him.

Chance turns to face Xifan. The hair on Chance’s back stands straight up, and he doubles in size from fluffed fur. He growls.

Green blobs, three-feet high with jagged teeth, shuffle past me one by one. Skeleton-thin black wolves with chunks of missing fur fill in the gaps within the clearing, blocking my view of everyone except Chance and Loramendi.

I point my horn toward the center of the clearing and focus my energy on building an invisible barrier around Xifan. The others are too scattered for me to project a protective wall around them.

Loramendi turns to face Xifan.

They must be speaking telepathically because no one says a word. I hate it when they do that. Shifters all have various degrees of mind hearing. The pure bloods, or Lords, like Xifan, Loramendi, and Chance, can hear most thoughts.

Oh, but Prince Chance, we are only here to pay our respects to you and your newly found betrothed. Xifan wipes his mouth. His teeth are so jagged that his discolored saliva sometimes escapes. He’s always self-conscious of it. We mean no harm.

Loramendi shifts into her human form; a long ivory gown hangs from her pale shoulders. Blond hair flows down her neck. She sways toward Xifan, her dress dragging through the snow. Chance transforms as well. He wears a matching ivory suit, his black hair and golden skin a breathtaking contrast to Loramendi. They are a beautiful couple.

Flapping sounds, high above the forest, catch my attention. A red dragon glides by a small gap in the canopy, heading toward the mountains. The only dragon left in the world is a shifter and he's supposed to be in White Salmon. What's Johnnie doing here now? We talked often when his guardian visited Xifan. It's been years since I’ve seen him, though.

A branch snaps behind me. I whip around. Sunshine penetrates the trees, illuminating frost-white ferns and emerald-green undergrowth. The fir trees are so