The wind moved slowly over the short desert grass. The sands shifted gradually down the dunes as they did. The sun shone down with its harsh golden glare, accompanied by the trailing white clouds. The blue skies were welcoming now though in the distance there were dark grey clouds threatening something like rain.
Grazing along the grass was a small herd of gazelle. Black horns gleaming in the light above. There were easily fifty of them. Maybe even more. It was hard to count from so far away. Keeping low to the ground Ryza approached, her feet leaving tracks in the sand. Her knees brushed against the ground through her skirt.
She never thought that she would get used to sand against her skin but here she was maneuvering through it like it was second nature. It had been a pleasant surprise to her but had become a never ending point of teasing from the girls. Just thinking of them for a moment warmed her cheeks and made her smile. But she would think about them later. Shrugging her shoulders and feeling her shovel shift against her back she smiled.
Fur brushed against her thigh and she glanced at the massive dark grey wolf beside her. Nearly three feet tall he padded forward, nose to the air and then turned toward her. He licked his jaw quickly and she ran her fingers through his sandy fur. Closing his eyes his tail wagged pleasantly and she smiled showing teeth.
“Good boy Grey,” she crouched and looked at the herd. “Get ready.” He barked and she smiled. Just at saying that he backed away and started to circle around. He was almost a year old and had hunted with her many times.
The wind blew and her ears raised up instinctively. She listened and then smelled the air. The herd hadn’t moved since she last looked at it but that didn’t mean they would remain docile for long. It reminded her that the wind could change at any time. Flicking her tail quickly she lowered her ears.
“Time to move,” she mumbled to herself. She shuddered taking a step forward and felt the magic racing across her body. Felt it chill down her spine and across her fingers and toes. The magic that lived inside of her flared bright from the candle within her heart to a massive wild fire.
It flowed like water across, sending goosebumps across her dark skin. Her hair stood on end and she shuddered letting her eyes roll back slightly. Fur covered her arms, her legs, her face. She felt her bones and muscles breaking and stitching themselves back together. Once upon a time this would have been a painful process. Now it was as simple as changing her clothes. As easy as breathing.
When the magic had finished, she stood a foot taller. She was covered head to toe in black fur and had a long snout. Standing on her hind legs and shaking her shoulders out she snarled. Lowering her head slowly she growled and felt her magic racing across the sands. It traveled far across the dune beyond her immediate vision. She knew they were going to get the signal.
Leaning forward she darted across the sand on all fours, like a black tumble weed. One of the gazelles raised its head and looked in her direction. It blinked slowly and then saw her and panicked. It let out a cry which went over the herd like a wave. They raised their heads and started to run.
The ground shook under the stampede of gazelle and kicked up a cloud of sand that eclipsed the sun for a second. Ryza scowled mid lunge as she continued to run and followed her nose hunting her prey. But leaning her head back she howled and heard it echo across the sands.
An answering group of howls hit her ears as she ran harder. Ducking low she closed her eyes, her ears flicking as she listened through the thundering of the heard. She could hear the ones that were running strong and too far away. But she could also hear the ones that were slow to move. The ones that needed help. The ones that were weak.
She could hear it. Smell it. It was breathing harder. Its steps weren’t in line with the others. She was only fifty or so feet away and closing fast. It was getting left behind by the herd. Old, sick, young, whatever it was. Survival of the fittest at work. Looking ahead she could feel Grey closing in on the gazelle.
Ryza howled quickly startling the animals and it started racing off to the side, right into Grey’s path. She growled and barked then heard and an answering one from Grey. She heard a bleat and cry from the gazelle and then felt the death. Her own magic reacted to the death of the creature like a welcome pinch.
Raising her nose, she could smell four other wolves on the air but they weren’t anywhere near her. On the other side of the rising herd. But as she looked toward the rumbling, she felt something else. She could hear another distressed bleat. Something else must have stumbled and fallen. Hurt itself.
Taking her time, she ran through the clouds of sand and when she finally located it, the sand had settled. Staring down at the creature she saw its broken leg. The bone protruded from its skin. She didn’t pity the creature. The dead were her currency after all. Raising a clawed hand, she slit its throat with a quick spray of blood. She felt its death across her fur in a similar fashion to the first.
Turning slowly, her feet dragging through the sand she looked at Grey as he padded over to her. He stood his lower jaw bloody and simple eyes focused on her. She sniffed the air and could smell the blood of prey on the air but even more than that she could smell the others. Growling satisfied, she glanced at Grey and flicked her tail as she started walking.
Tracing through the sand she felt hard ground beneath her paws. The stampede had cleared away much of the sand but the desert would reclaim this patch of exposed grass soon enough. As she walked though, she could see the shapes coming toward her. First, she saw the massive white wulf, almost glowing in the sand. She was taller than Ryza herself by at least a foot both normally and in their changed forms. Her mate.
Her powerful hands were closed around the necks of two gazelles that she dragged through the sands. At either side of her was a tall young russet wolf and a lighter grey one. Panting they saw Ryza and darted forward glancing back at the downed prey.
Ryza growled softly and barked glancing at the young wolves and then focused on the taller wulf. Ryza closed her eyes, taking a heavy breath and let her magic fade away. She slumped forward as her bulk and fur fell away. Her cloak and shovel settled on her back and she shivered.
Looking at her she watched Snow drop the gazelles down. She came forward and Ryza touched her muzzle and chest lightly, “Good haul Snow.” Snow nuzzled her face against Ryza’s neck and licked her cheek lightly. Ryza giggled softly and stroked her fingers through her fur.
She took a step back and turned toward another shape coming toward them. A large wulf that was despite being younger than them both still towered over Ryza, nearly Snow’s height. She was a muscular wulf as well and smelled huskier, her scent caked in magic. She had one gazelle across her shoulders but this one was a buck, very big.
She dropped it against the ground and padded forward and crouched in front of Ryza. Ryza flicked her ears and stared into her brown eyes and smiled. She came forward pressing her snout against Ryza’s face and Ryza touched her nose to hers. Placing both hands on her face she took a slow breath taking in her scent and stroking her fur.
“Well done Stephanie. We’ll be able to eat well tonight. Plus offer some to the pack.”
She chuffed and wagged her tail happily and Ryza could see the shine in her eyes. “Grey and I managed to take down two. One together and another was circumstance. Come on. Let’s get them back home.”
She reached behind her, pulling her shovel forth. She traced it across the ground, creating a small sigil in the sand. She pressed the blade into the ground and started to chant. Magic raced off her body, entering the ground and it made all of them take a shuddering step away.
It raced forward hungry seeking out these freshly dead and latching onto them. It filled them with a green light exposed through the mouths, eyes, and wounds of the animals. They spasmed on the ground before rising and walking as if they were still living. Across the sand the abandoned corpses that she and Grey had downed also rose.
Yanking the shovel out of the ground she flicked her tail and raised her hand as they began to follow her. To an onlooker, it was a bizarre sight. A woman in a tattered grey cloak, walking with a shovel as a walking cane. Trailing behind her two massive half women half wulf creatures, three actual wolves, and then four glowing green gazelles all making their way across the desert.
They walked together for maybe twenty minutes their train of animals sticking together. The sun continued to beat down above them and the heat was something egregious but not for much longer. They saw home coming into view finally and the sizzling mirage solidified the ruins of a cities former glory retaken and turned into a home for a forgotten people.
Even for the six of them, it was difficult to discern home from a distance. But as they crossed over the territory marking it transformed. To outsiders, the city was destroyed and rundown but to those who called it home, it was thriving. The wolves running about, the wulves either in their human form, four legged or pure hybrid working or lounging.
At the front were guards in human form, wielding swords and flanked by stationary wolves. They looked at Ryza and even after being there for a year they still weren’t entirely used to her. They at the very least acknowledged her as one of them now. A short nod, barely discernable but the change in their scents was enough. One relaxed, but the other was wary almost scared of her. She wondered when he’d say something and start an issue.
Grey and the two others made their way forward to circle around Ryza and sit almost impatiently. They had eyes for the food they’d captured and the meal they would likely share very soon. Ryza could feel how hungry they were. The russet wolf, a female named Ginger, and the light grey, a male named Rustle, were whining but after a sharp bark from Grey they were silent. Ryza smiled and pet his head lightly.
As Snow passed them, they growled a greeting, one that came from deep in their chest. Snow growled back and then laughed, a quick bark, and stood over Ryza. Stephanie was last changing back, her fur and claws disappearing. Turning back into the tall girl that stood over Ryza, her hair covering her face her tail wagged as she looked at Ryza and Snow.
Shouldering past the guards she beelined toward them and there it was again. The unsure disdain of someone different. One of the guards turned their nose and growled, “Freak.”
Ryza snarled on instinct and Stephanie paused turning to face him. He turned as well and she growled, baring her teeth slowly, “You wanna run that by me again?”
“Just calling out a freak when I see one,” he spat.
Stephanie recoiled at the words. But her brown eyes burned, her ears flattening and there was a wash of magic across them. Stephanie’s body rippled with energy but it wasn’t her who attacked first. It was the gazelles as they charged the wulf guard.
The first bumped into him, the second knocked him over and then the third and forth stepped on and kicked him while he was down. He shouted and the wolves and other guard shouted but they looked at Ryza. Her eyes were glowing and as she stepped forward, she watched the gazelles walk toward her and then all collapse except for the buck.
She looked at the prone guard and narrowed her eyes, “Apologize to her.”
He looked up at her, face bruised and lip split and bared his fangs at her. He looked back at Stephanie and glared harder. “You need your necromancer to come to your rescue is that it? What kind of a man are you? Oh, right you aren’t.”
Snow let out a barking roar as she bared her fangs at them and there was an answering surge of magic. The guard, even while on the ground, started to channel magic and the beginnings of fur formed along his arms with claws and teeth going. The other guard backed off and the two wolves bristled baring their teeth.
Before a fight could properly happen, they felt it. A sharp backlash of magic hit them between the eyes. It was sharp and it was aggressive. The wolves recoiled whimpering and the guards looked away terrified. Stephanie, Snow, and Ryza all faced it but Ryza could feel the tension in Stephanie. She gripped her hand quickly, squeezing it.
Dioh came forward hands deep in his pockets and his eyes were narrowed. Normally he would be smirking as he looked at the assorted but his face was affixed in a scowl that even made Ryza think twice. His hair was on edge and even his scraggly mustache and beard were on edge.
When he finally stood over them Ryza was the only thing keeping Stephanie standing and the others had kneeled lowering their heads.
“What the fuck is going on here?” he barked, his magic lashing out like a whip. “Well?!”
Stephanie flinched and squeezed Ryza’s hand tighter but stepped forward. She stood as upright as she could, somehow shorter than Dioh and said sharply, “Don’t let anyone decide who you are!”
Dioh focused on her and she winced but stayed standing. She stared at him and took quick uneven breaths. “What was that pup?”
She steeled herself under his gaze and something softened in his eyes. “Never let someone else decide who you are.” She repeated softer but still strong.
He was still glaring but it was his usual type of glare. “You still remember that?”
“I never forgot.”
“Good.”
Dioh turned to the guard who recoiled, uncertain. He bent over whipping out one hand and grabbed him by the head shoving his head straight into the ground. His snarl was back and he barked, “I take it was you Bennie. The one who’s always had an issue with my friend Stephanie. You know the thing I hate above all else, don’t you?” he asked. “Well?”
“Misjudging a person’s character,” he mumbled.
“Correct!” He kicked him in the head and sent him reeling backward. “And it seems like you’re doing that very thing. So, we’re going to have to have a long talk, aren’t we?”
Ryza watched him for a moment and then took Stephanie’s hand. “Come on. We need to go back to our den, eat, and rest.”
She glanced at her sharply but then felt the wet noses against her free hand. She looked down and saw Grey, Ginger, and Rustle. All three of them felt her anger and distress and she felt her eyes stinging with tears. Rubbing her face quickly, she nodded lowering her ears slightly but nodded.
“Okay.”
“Snow can you carry the buck back?” Ryza asked glancing at the burly transformed wulf.
Snow leaned her head back and her magic faded away just as easily as the rest. She was just as tall as Stephanie, if a little a smaller in this form. She had her single thick silver braid, vibrant blue eyes and a scowl on her face as savage as the canine inside her. But it faded at the edges as she looked at the pair of them.
“Sure thing,” she kissed Stephanie’s forehead and then went to collect the undead creature before it collapsed against the ground.
Ryza led the way through the town taking her to the place that they called home. Before it had been half broken open to the elements but between Snow and Ryza initially, and then Stephanie, they managed to repair with a proper roof and even stairs between the first and second floor.
Snow jumped from the ground to the second floor and Ryza glanced at the wolves. She could see them vibrating and staring up at where Snow had gone. Shaking her head Ryza whistled and then looked at Grey. “Follow Snow! Go!”
They barked and darted inside, blurs of fur and tails. Stephanie watched them and laughed softly. “I didn’t think that they’d take to you so well. Especially Grey. He loves you.”
“Are you okay?” Ryza asked staring at her.
Under Ryza’s direct gaze with no one else around Stephanie suddenly felt very small. She reached toward her hair, pulling on it lightly, and glanced at everywhere but Ryza. “Sorry I caused a scene. Almost caused a fight.”
“You’re not answering the question.” Ryza took a step forward and took her hands. She pulled them from her hair and held them in front of her but met her eyes. Stephanie met them and Ryza swore she blushed. “Are you okay? I know that’s not the first time this has happened but it’s the first time you’ve done that.”
“It’s not.”
“Not the first time?”
She shook her head. “When I was younger. I. I got into fights. Because people talked about me being trans. Behind my back. In front of me.” She looked at her arms and there were many scars along them. “Some of these are from then.”
Ryza touched her arm gently, her fingers tracing a scar that had faded to white. But she could still feel the raised skin. Feel the memory of a fight that was long since passed. She met her eyes and felt the vulnerability in them. So she flicked her ears and loosely changed the subject, “You and Dioh seemed close. Closer than I’ve seen Dioh with anyone really.”
That made her smile. “He’s like a big brother. He’s known me since I was a kid.”
“What was that phrase you were saying? I’ve never heard you say that before.”
She nodded, “It’s his phrase. From when I first figured out who I was. He was the first person I told. He told me to go for it.”
“But you didn’t,” Ryza said remembering when Snow told her. “You were scared and I can’t blame you.”
She nodded and though she looked at Ryza she was thinking elsewhere, “Well Dioh did.”
“What?” Ryza said sharply.
Stephanie held her hands up quickly shaking her head, “You know what he’s always saying. His whole judge of character thing.”
Ryza rolled her eyes, “How can I forget.”
“When I saw him and he saw that I wasn’t being, being me. He got upset. He said that ‘No matter what happens. Never let someone else decide who you are.’. He never wanted me to be afraid of being who I am. He also taught me how to fight. And told me I should fight anyone who talked about me.”
“I don’t think that was good advice,” Ryza said sighed. “But I get it. I think my brother would have said something similar. If we had a normal childhood that is.”
“Get into enough fights and people eventually leave you alone,” she said. “That was also Dioh’s advice.”
“I’m seeing some trends.”
“I didn’t follow all of Dioh’s advice,” she hid her face again scratching one of her ears. “Just some of it.”
“Let’s go back to my first question,” Ryza brushed the hair from Stephanie’s face slowly and looked at her, really looked at her. “Are you okay?”
She started to nod but looked at Ryza again and her tail began to wag. “I’ve been better since I met you.”
Ryza flashed her a smile. “I’m glad. Now let’s eat. Assuming Snow and the dogs left us any.” She started walking back toward their den.
Stephanie caught up and grabbed her hand shaking it back and forth. “Don’t call them that. They’re precious.”
The Harlequin Library 