Second chapter, I -may- give the third one. But I don't want to give too much away. So it will probably stay at this one. Enjoy and suffer! *cough* I mean...enjoy! ^^;

Chapter Two: Chase to the Forest

Muzok the stallion was worried - not because there was fire spreading closer to the stable he was in - that did not frighten him, but because his rider, the young woman, had fallen.

He wasn’t sure if the Humans would try to do something to her because she was unconscious, or if they would take her prisoner for interrogation. The black stallion growled low in the back of his throat and reared up, half howling, half whinnying and came back down smashing both his front hooves into the stable door, tearing into the wood with his inner sickle-claws and splintering the wood with his heavy hooves.

Escaping quickly, the red eyed beast galloped over to where his mistress lay and leaped over one of the men, catching him in the head with his hind feet and crushing the side of his skull.

Muzok growled viciously at them, standing over the woman protectively. ‘Leave her!’ he snarled. Muzok was a Huntrak, a horse-like animal that Lycanthropes used instead of normal horses. Huntraks were like their herbivorous counterparts but with the abilities of a predator. They also had the ability to speak as they had considerable intelligence..

The men froze once more, now facing the woman’s angry mount. The chief gritted his teeth, and barked orders at his remaining men to distract it while several others stole the woman away. They were now outside the circle with her.

Muzok howled again in dismay because every time he tried to follow the men he was stopped. The black Huntrak stallion jumped at the man who had knocked out his mistress, snarling as if possessed by a mad spirit and extending his inner claws.

He knocked the tall man down to the ground, crushing some of the man’s ribs under the weight of his body, and began to slash away at the man’s chest, blood splashing over his chest and fore-legs.

The chief took out a short-sword and pointed it at the maddened beast. ‘Stop that stallion!’ he yelled. The men reacted quickly to get the Huntrak under control but they were already too late - after the first slash the black stallion had given to the bald man. The chief watched the beast closely as he struggled to get free from the men trying to hold him under their weight. It was like watching an animal trapped in a cage, the more it rattled the cage bars the smaller the cage became.

‘I’m surprised you care so much for this woman’ sneered the chief sarcastically. He knew that if a Huntrak belonged to a Lycanthrope then they would be likely to care a lot more for their master or mistress. Huntraks tended not to care much for Humans.

For a few agitated seconds the Huntrak remained silent thinking how to get free before growling in a deep, gravelly voice.

‘You will let me and my mistress go!’

The chief smirked. This was very amusing, the Huntrak and his mistress were both trapped and the beast was ordering him to let them go. It would have been laughable if these two weren’t so dangerous.

‘Well then, what’s the pretty little lady’s name?’ asked the chief in a mocking tone, causing the other men to laugh, and ignoring Muzok’s question. Four men from the group were holding the woman firmly by her arms and weren’t too bothered if the way that they were holding her was going to dislocate her shoulder. The Huntrak spoke with some humour in his voice - he knew how they would react.

‘Tahniya Dogoro’

The men instantly stopped laughing at the Huntrak, fear rippling through their spines like a stone thrown into still water.

Tahniya Dogoro…

The name of the female warrior that had decimated the Humans in several wars, leading her people into battle and coming out victorious! She was known all too well by Humans for her skill in battle and fighting, along with her ruthlessness against those who would cause her kind harm.

Even though they had knocked her unconscious, the men that were holding on to Tahniya stared down at her with widened eyes. They proceeded to drop her and run - the leader gaped at their retreating forms in shock and outrage.

The men holding onto the Huntrak shared uneasy looks, then one got up the courage to ask the dreaded question.

‘I don’t suppose that your name is… Muzok is it?’

The Huntrak had an eerily cheerful tone to his voice, ‘Indeed’ he replied.

Muzok was also a well known name to the Humans - Tahniya’s vicious steed! He lurched forwards, scrabbling at the dirt with his claws and hooves; since the men had loosened their grip knowing who the Huntrak was and to whom he belonged, Muzok easily got out from under them.

‘Now which one is first?’ he growled with the gleeful tone still there in his voice, the longer fur on his shoulders bristling. The six men stared at Muzok, transfixed. It was as if they were in a staring competition, though it was clear that none of them could stand up to Muzok’s wild, fiery eyes for any length of time. They gave up, abandoned their weapons, and ran for the hills, screaming for their lives.

There were now less than ten men left in the Human group, including their chief. Muzok turned to the chief, his black mane plastered to his thick neck, strong muscles evident on the powerful animal’s body as he breathed calmly, his fiery eyes staring back at icy-blue ones. Somehow the chief was able to withstand the intensity of Muzok’s red gaze.

‘So what is your name?’ Muzok mocked the young man’s earlier question.

To Muzok’s surprise the man replied nonchalantly:

‘Zan Blackstone.’ He then turned to the last of his frightened men looking at him dumbly, ‘Well get up here and help me!’ The men ran up to help their chief, some were tripping up in their haste not to be looked down upon by Zan. Five broke away from the group that was going to help Zan and picked up the waking Tahniya.

One of the men had picked up Tahniya’s sword, slid it into the black lacquered casing and slung it over his shoulder. He was armed with a spear as was his twin; the other two both wielded black bladed Kamas. The last, the one who had Tahniya draped over his shoulder was armed with knives which were strapped to his waist.

They ran as far as they could until Tahniya woke fully. She felt she was being carried and kept her eyes shut; she was hard pressed to stay limp and not make any sound. As the man holding her was running, his shoulder was starting to bruise her stomach, she was sure of that. Without moving she could already tell that one of them had her sword, she knew that it was with one of the two men in the front, the one on the right…

Damn, she thought. Tahniya frowned; she remembered Muzok’s voice, so he must’ve gotten free from the stables. Hopefully he would stop the other men before the village was completely destroyed. I just hope he doesn‘t get hurt. After thinking to herself for a few more moments Tahniya decided that she should change her form since she was weaponless.

Lycanthropes were divided into separate clans. If a free-lance Lycanthrope – one without a Clan – joined one, for instance the Dragon Clan, their changing abilities would be limited to that Clan form, in this case, the Dragon form. This was done by inserting a type of precious metal, special stone or jewel into the ‘Soul Belt’ that was worn by all Lycanthropes that belonged to a Clan. The Soul Belt was, as its name tells, part of a Lycanthrope’s soul, so inserting the Clan energy into the belt made that Lycanthrope part of the Clan. But for Tahniya, even though her Clan specialised in lesser types of Dog, where she was born, her Soul Belt, a wide band of black, polished leather, held a disc of something that appeared to be black smoke. The rest of her Clan had a disc of Garnet set into the belt.

Tahniya decided that she should change into her most basic form: Deshgarra, otherwise known as DeathKin. She closed her eyes tighter - her training had enabled her to change very quickly so that she couldn’t feel the pain - as her body began to change in shape. It would only seem as one second to the Humans but to Tahniya it would be longer than that. She concentrated on her form, and time slowed around her to a near stop.

Tahniya felt the air around her drop in temperature harshly until frost was forming on her skin, even underneath her clothing and her breath came out in thick, white billows. When she opened her eyes slowly she could see that the world around her seemed to have been whitewashed. Everything appeared bleached and seemed to be glowing with blurred outlines; hardly anything moved.

Tahniya felt as though her skin was stretched and cracked open; giving way to another, much more different layer of skin. This surface was thick and black, smooth to the touch but cold as well. Her elfin ears opened up and shortened themselves to half of their original length, standing up to attention on her head. The woman's jaws shattered and split apart, widening and becoming longer as her teeth grew and crowded each other in her mouth for space. Two long fangs protruded from her upper jaw, slipping out and laying plainly in sight even if she closed her mouth.

Now her bones twisted and broke apart, making Tahniya ever thankful that she could only feel it happening, and not the pain that went with it. They came back together again, the sinew of her muscles sewing back together to form more powerful limbs. Tahniya grit her jaws, her eyes narrowing as her vision blurred and became tinted with a faint red.

Tahniya’s chest flattened and toned, followed by her abdomen and muscles became more pronounced in her appearance. Her waist thickened and her hips narrowed as a tail slid free from her spine, a blade of hard bone spiking out at the end. Her Human clothes were charmed so they disappeared when she changed form.

Her hands became broader and black, ridged talons slid in place of her sharp nails. Her legs were thicker than before, the Lycanthrope’s feet becoming digitigrades and armed with a sickle claw each. As a final change; two knife-like spikes thrust themselves from her elbows.

The pale attractive woman had now become a vicious monster.

Despite having the appearance of males and females in their Human form, Lycanthropes became genderless when they changed into a beast. Surprisingly the man carrying Tahniya didn’t notice that his hand was resting on smooth cold skin now. The grunting men around her were oblivious to her change of form in the dark night. It was helpful that the man who was running behind them had a scar over his right eye, the side Tahniya was on, making him blind on that side.

‘God, how heavy is this bastard dog?’ The remark made his friends laugh and it caused Tahniya to growl angrily as her narrow, red eyes flared with furious light.

The shocked man tried to throw the beast from his shoulders, but he failed, as she snaked her body, grabbing hold of his shoulders and pushing herself up. The Lycanthrope then curled her body up, her heels locking around his neck and sickle claws slicing cleanly into the Human’s neck. But it had happened too fast for the others to react.

The other four men stared at the snarling Lycanthrope as she leapt from the Human’s shoulders and landed in front of them.

‘Foul demon!’ one bellowed as he swung his Kamas at Tahniya. She dodged swiftly out of the way and disarmed the young man - ‘Wha…?’

Tahniya moved in like a wraith and kicked out with her left leg, a claw slicing into his neck as well, causing him to join his comrade. The last three were running before Tahniya looked up. She watched them, amused at their obvious panic now that they had seen her as what she really was.

‘Foolish Humans… you won‘t get away from me…’ Tahniya hissed before she bolted after them with demonic speed.

The other man wielding the black Kamas looked over his shoulder taking the risk of tripping up over protruding roots or rocks. He could see that the Lycanthrope was chasing after them, see her blood-coloured eyes gleaming with venomous determination, the look of murderous vengeance. He slowed, ‘She’s attacking us for the other Humans,’ he muttered in disbelief, stopping.

The twins noticed this, halted and ran back to the man standing there simply waiting for death; one of the twins grabbed his arm.

‘What’re ye doing Kera!’ he panted, ‘what’s stoppin’ ye?’ He stared at the taller man, who had dropped his Kamas on the ground out of confusion. Why was this…animal fighting them, for that village? He knew that the people had taken her in, but… had she actually cared for them? Did Tahniya Dogoro feel compassion towards Humans under the right circumstances?

‘Look at her…’ he murmured, confused about what he had figured out, and knowing that they were all going to die because of it. Kera knew that she would not stop until they lay dead.

‘Yeah, I see ‘er… she’s racing to kill us!’ the other twin bellowed at Kera.

‘We won’t be able to get away… she is the Tahniya Dogoro…leave me if you wish.’ Kera replied. The two stared at Kera, then at Tahniya, who had closed the gap between them considerably.

‘We’re sorry!’ they said in unison before running for the dark forest, one of the twins still carrying Tahniya’s ebony encased sword.

Kera stood there waiting for Tahniya. He bent down and picked up his Kamas.

‘I need to at least try to hold her off…’ he thought to himself. He knew that he could never forgive himself if he just let Tahniya kill him, giving less time for the twins to run.

He took on a fighting stance. ‘Filthy monster!’ Kera began trying to taunt Tahniya to stop her chasing the twins. At the insult Tahniya flexed her claws, bared her long sharp teeth in a snarl and kept on running.

Tahniya was running fast, on all fours, screeching like a hellhound, kicking up clods of grass and dirt as the forest in the distance loomed closer like a shadowy giant.

The man had already lost his nerve: ‘Stay back!’ his voice was breaking but managed to sound fearsome. Kera remembered how fast and deadly Tahniya had been when she had killed the other two men before they had even had a chance to move, but he quickly shook it off as Tahniya leapt at him.

He managed to dodge out of the way of her sickle claws, swinging his twin blades at her. Tahniya snarled as the tips just clipped the skin along her forearm as she moved out of the way. She growled, not wanting to be apart from her weapon any longer than need be. The red-eyed beast snarled and lunged forwards, the talons on her hands tearing raggedly into Kera’s neck, producing a strangled cry from him.

The twins ran faster as they heard Kera’s death scream in the distance, causing the hairs on the backs of their necks to stand on end.

‘Ye think she gave Kera a chance to fight, Drian?’ panted the twin with the sword.

Drian look at him, as though his brother was mad, ‘No of course not Brian! What in hell are ye thinkin’?’ Drian cursed, then concentrated on running into the forest. The pair crashed through the dark vegetation as though being chased by hounds from hell itself, leaving a trail that a blind child could follow, snapping branches, crushing ferns and snagging their clothes on trees, bushes and rocks.

Tahniya reached the start of two men’s trail and chuckled; ‘Well done Humans… you just won an award for best covered tracks…’ she smiled sarcastically. The Lycanthrope’s venomous eyes looked up to the darkened tree canopies; a predatory grin spread across her face.

The twins stopped in the forest, panting, and looking around wildly for a Lycanthrope just waiting in the shadows, Brian stood up straight and laughed. It might have been that the young man was going crazy; being so near death with the threat of having one’s throat torn out by a demon would probably do that.

‘Well I guess that old wives tale is true’ he beamed happily. ‘No evil Lycanthrope can enter a forest,’ Brian then took off Tahniya’s sword and unsheathed the blade, inspecting it. ‘This thing’s sharp!’ he frowned, as he cut himself on the tip of his finger by a simple gentle touch on the blade edge.

Drian raised an eyebrow at his twin, ‘What did you expect?’ he asked, curious as to why Brian would think the sword of Tahniya Dogoro would be dull in any way.

Brian scowled, ‘I knew it would be sharp, but what’s the point if she can turn into something like that?’ he asked, referring to Tahniya’s demonic form.

Drian watched his twin, a frown creased across his forehead. ‘Hey, didn’t it say that only an evil Lycanthrope can’t enter a forest?’ he asked. His twin scoffed, sounding amused at the question as he read the inscription at the base of the sword’s blade,

‘What are ye kidding me? All Lycanthropes are evil. Especially her, in case ye didn’t see what she turned into back there?’ No answer came this time and Brian used the silence to read aloud what the inscription meant. He had just enough understanding of Lycanthrope tongue to know what it was.

‘Kalanash Rokneo means…’ Brian paused, swallowing somewhat. He thought this blade, this other legend did not exist. If the rumours were true about the blade; she would find them, no matter what.

‘What?’ Drian asked, now worried because of his twin’s silence. ‘What does it mean?’ he asked, slightly more panicked as he looked around warily again.

‘It means ‘Final Demise’,’ he finally said. It was true; all the rumours were true.

‘Oh really? How very…interesting…’ The two jumped at the sound of a voice from above.

A black shape dropped from the ceiling of branches, kicking Brian between his shoulder blades causing him to fall, dropping Tahniya’s sword. The young man howled in both shock and pain as the Lycanthrope’s sickle claws left two deep slashes down his back. The sudden appearance startled Drian and he took a blind swing at the hellhound without even thinking. The tip slashed her thigh, just below what he guessed would otherwise be her hip.

Tahniya made a sound that was between a hiss and a yowl, her hand going to her leg as blood started to trickle down through the fine black fur covering her skin. She snarled angrily, baring her sharp teeth before she quickly reached down and picked up a stone, hurling it. The stone hit Drian between his eyes with a sharp crunch, shattering the bridge of his nose and pushing bone where it shouldn’t go.

The young Human fell down, blood trailing from the injury as his eyes glazed over like cloudy glass. Brian stared at his twin, eyes wide as he realised Drian wasn’t breathing. He was dead! The young man screamed out of sheer fury, violently struggling to get the demon spawn off his back so he could wring her neck with his bare hands. Tahniya was sitting on the middle of his back, she now had the blade of her tail against the back of his neck.

‘Don’t move Human,’ Tahniya hissed into his ear, hot dry breath rolling over his skin, the last word breathed with full-hearted contempt.

‘You monster!’ Brian screamed again, the hatred he harboured for Tahniya killing his twin rang clear in his voice.

‘You should have stayed away from Vira, they did nothing wrong,’ Tahniya growled.

The Human underneath her only struggled more, despite the blade.

‘What do you care? You‘re just a good-for-nothing, black hearted beast!’ Brian shrieked.

Tahniya remained silent for a moment as if frozen by the insult. The Humans always called her people horrible names but just because they had been doing so for so long didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt and anger her.

‘Wretch!’ she hissed, her face seeming to be made of stone as her eyes conveyed absolutely no emotion from that remark and made her seem exactly what Brian had called her, black-hearted. ‘You took my sword - so I’ll be taking it back.’ Tahniya spoke again in the same icy tone, her hand against the back of his neck to keep him still as she curled her tail around the handle of her katana and brought it over. Tahniya took the blade into her hand and began to inspect the sword to make sure that there was no damage to the blade, even though it was highly unlikely. The pale warrior had a habit of checking that her weapons were in prime condition.

Underestimating how strong the Human male was, Tahniya swiftly changed back to her Human appearance, keeping her one hand on the back of his neck and digging in her sharp nails.

Before she could get her balance again Brian managed to roll over causing Tahniya to fall with an aggravated grunt, letting go of the sword she held. The twin flailed slightly before getting to his feet and straddling Tahniya.

He growled, wrapping his hands around her throat, ‘Now you see what happens to monsters like you!’ he snarled, eyes full of murderous intent.

Tahniya choked, cursing herself for changing back so soon. Apparently even just one drink could effect her judgement adversely. She growled, trying to claw at the man’s stomach. Her sharp nails sliced into the studded leather armour Brian was wearing, but only caused him shallow cuts on his stomach.

Brian gritted his teeth and pulled one of his hands away, striking Tahniya’s jaw sharply with a punch. The woman snarled from the hit, her head snapping to the side as droplets of blood once more left her mouth. Tahniya growled again, her eyes closed, the punch had dazed her.

The remaining twin grinned like a demonically possessed man before reaching for his spear. Gripping it in both hands he pointed the spear he had at her chest, and smiled wickedly, ‘I’ll enjoy seeing waste like you die,’ he hissed.

As he raised the spear to shove it through Tahniya’s heart, her icy eyes snapped open. The angry female took both of her hands, balled them together and punched Brian in his stomach, winding him. The unexpected hit caused his aim to go off and instead of her heart it hit home in Tahniya’s left shoulder. The Lycanthrope howled with pain as blood began to swiftly stain her clothing, which was already covered in the drying, scarlet liquid.

As the Human fell back, clutching at his stomach and gasping for air, Tahniya gripped her shoulder in pain. Take it out! she growled to herself, ordering herself to ignore the pain even though her shoulder felt like it was on fire. She gripped the spear handle and pulled sharply, screeching like a pained feline as the wooden handle broke off, leaving the jagged spearhead lodged in.

Tahniya slowly sat up, her left arm was hanging limp from the spearhead that was hindering its movement; she could still use it but it would be immensely painful. If Tahniya had been only Human she would have no left arm to use by now, it would have been rendered useless. Then again if Tahniya had been only Human she would have been dead a lot sooner in the attack.

‘You!’ Tahniya hissed, her pupils slitting again despite the lack of bright light. The pale woman staggered to her feet; grabbing her katana in both hands. She grimaced as pain flared back in her shoulder and leg, but right now she didn’t care about pain. ‘I’ll kill you!’ she howled in a tone that brought out things in her psyche better left in slumber.

Tahniya staggered over to where the Human was lying on the ground, blood trickling down her leg and from her shoulder. Just as the Human regained his breath, he gasped in pain as he felt a sharp point slide into his chest, making him feel cold and in pain at the same time. ‘Drian…’ he gurgled before falling back, limp.

Tahniya gritted her teeth with the pain as she tied the lacquered casing of her weapon to her waist, before sliding the blade itself back in. She looked up as she felt water drop onto her face - it was starting to rain. The wounded warrior staggered slightly as she took a step forwards, her vision was slightly fuzzy.

‘Muzok…’ she murmured, vaguely remembering that her steed - her friend - was still in the village. She was sure that he could take care of himself.

Tahniya looked dully with unfocused eyes at the dead twins; she watched them for a moment as if they would suddenly come back to life. It could happen, under the right circumstances, but she wouldn’t let it happen - not this time.

Humans and Lycanthropes weren’t the only creatures that lived on the many lands. Elves, Lycanthropes, Humans, Dwarves, Dragons, Anthromorphic Beings, Centaurs and many other races, many with strange powers, some more pleasurable company than others…

Tahniya used a little of her remaining strength, made an odd gesture with her right hand and muttered something under her breath. There was a crackle and the twins were engulfed in flames.

The tired warrior’s gaze left the two piles of dark grey ash; she turned away and moved on, her boots leaving dull impressions in the dry moss beneath her. She stumbled forwards, almost tripping up over her own feet like a baby that had only just learned that it could walk. The woman’s sight blurred until she gripped the sides of her head, feeling herself fall down on her knees; she concentrated as hard as she could without making herself sick.

Tahniya groaned out loud, why did it feel like someone was battering the sides of her skull? She blinked with fatigue and shakily stood up again, letting go of her head. The woman blinked her eyes once again before she started making her way from the forest. It didn’t occur to her that she was moving away from the village, staring ahead in an exhausted daze as the rain began to fall.

Hmm, I do so love Tahniya's character. *muses*

The editing was not done by me, so I shall not take credit for that. I just write the stories :P