The Tiger Within 187 Old Friend... Part 2

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.

'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 s.h.i.+fted 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.