Snowhawk didn’t push herself as hard as when she had gone after Janus, but she still knew, as more and more of the gift of speed appeared, that she was moving further away from being mortal. She reached the forest south of Juv in just under three days, and she knew the day before that she was beyond help from Adian. She trotted along, looking for this supposed cabin Kione was in.
When she did find it, it was unoccupied. It had not been that way for long. She spotted two sets of hoof prints, one larger than the other, leading away and back toward the walled city. Another gift that had revealed itself was a heightened sense of smell, and she could clearly make out Nytehawk’s scent among the rest of the forest’s. She quickly followed the trail, which soon turned from well marked hoof prints to lines of scuffed, dragged markings. She wished desperately that one of her wolves was with her.
She stopped as she heard a rustling in the bushes before her. She pricked her ears forward to listen.
“I said I’m not helping you!” Nytehawk’s voice cried out. Kione apparently did not keep her under his command all the time.
She squeaked as the vampiric Delphin roughly grabbed her horn and bent her forward. “You will, mare, or I’ll take this horn as a souvenir.”
Still using that as a threat, Snowhawk thought. He was distracted, and this would be an excellent time to strike. She’d left her daggers back in Ametiton, but she still had her ice magic. A razor-sharp shard formed in her hand, and she crept closer to the other Delphin. Upon catching sight of them, Snowhawk saw that Nytehawk was still struggling against the vampire, but it was a losing battle.
Kione suddenly turned his head to face Snowhawk, right about the time she launched the ice shard at him. He quickly released Nytehawk’s horn and jumped back, leaving her to scramble away opposite him.
Snowhawk quickly shifted into her smaller, more agile feline form, and rushed at Kione. He tried to grab her, but she dodged away. “I thought you would never join us,” he grinned. Snowhawk replied by launching another icy shard at him, this one sticking into his outer thigh. “Did you lose the ability to speak?” he growled as he held his leg, then pulled the shard out.
Snowhawk’s ears were pinned flat against her skull. “You have no claim to her, you bastard.”
“But I do to you, dear cat. Why else would you have done this to yourself?”
“To save her!” the pale lavender mare-in-cat-form replied, pointing to her cousin.
Nytehawk froze at the vampire’s words, stopping her attempt to remove the halter he’d tightly buckled to her face. “What did you do, Snowhawk?”
She simply looked to her cousin, frowning, then looked back to the vampire. “I will save us both.”
“I think not, dear.” Kione rushed, limping, to Snowhawk, again trying to grab her. She once again evaded him. “Down, mare!” he commanded, but this was met with only a slight hesitation. She had resisted him again.
“Try something new, Kione,” Snowhawk grinned, then lept at him. Her speed was incredible, even faster than her sire’s, and completely took Kione off-guard. He soon found himself knocked to the ground by her small frame, but was unable to even catch her long tail as she bounded away.
“Its off!” Nytehawk exclaimed as she threw Kione’s halter to the ground. Snowhawk rushed to her cousin and took hold of her wrist. With out a word, she ran off into the forest with Nytehawk, leaving an angry vampire behind them.
Once a fair distance away, Snowhawk stopped and shifted into her Delphin form. She looked to Nytehawk. “Climb on my back. I’ll carry you to Juv.”
“Won’t he catch us?”
“Doubtful. And once the city knows, he won’t even be able to get to the walls.”
Her cousin nodded, not exactly reassured, but she walked to Snowhawk anyway. Snow easily picked Nyte up and ran off toward Juv.
*********
On the road to Juv, Hunter traveled with Onyx, Adian, and Janus. The chestnut Delphin sighed. “What if Snow can’t save her? What will we do then?”
“You have a Royal Guard, a vampire, and a pissed off wolf standing with you,” Janus replied. “I think we’ll be able to save your mate.”
“And what about yours?” Onyx asked.
“We will save her too. They will both come back with us,” Adian solemnly responded, watching the road ahead of him.
They were just past Di’aru. There were still days of travel ahead of them. Adian was not following the letter of the law, speeding and driving longer than normally allowed.
“Failure is not something I will consider. We will save them.”
*********
Back near Juv, Snowhawk stopped near the edge of the forest and let her cousin down. “We can’t let them know what we are,” Snowhawk began. “I’m not even sure if we’ll be allowed in without Hunter.”
“We have to try,” Nytehawk replied.
“Exactly. We’ll do what we can.”
The two cousins quickly trotted toward the city’s outer gate. They were stopped by two Delphin guards.
“State your business,” one guard demanded.
“I am Snowhawk Alyandra. I, and my cousin, seek to visit your fair city, and speak to your doctors. Ametiton could use some help.”
“Madam Alyandra?! You saved most of this city from slavery.”
“So I am told. But, please, let’s not dwell on that. Nytehawk and I are here to recruit, nothing more.”
“How long will you be staying?” the other guard asked.
“Until we are done. At least three months.”
“Very well. You may pass to the inner gate.”
Both Snowhawk and Nytehawk bowed to the guards and passed through, the gate shutting behind them. Nytehawk gave an audible sigh of relief.
At the second gate, they were stopped by another pair of Delphin guards. “Name and business here?”
Nytehawk stepped forward and bowed. “I am your Society’s leader, Nytehawk. My cousin and I seek to visit your city and hopefully recruit some of your doctors.”
Both guards looked in awe at Snowhawk, then bowed in respect. Snowhawk fidgeted nervously.
“Do you have family in the city, Madam Nytehawk, or should we find you a place to stay?” the other guard inquired.
“My mate is from here, but I’ve never met his family. We will find lodging on our own.”
“Oh, Hunter’s family,” the first guard said. Neither cousin liked how easily they were recognized, or how much was known about them. “Anything else, ladies?”
“My mate, his brother, her mate, and our Royal Guard should be along in a few days,” Snowhawk replied.
“But, Madam Snowhawk, your mate is a slaver–”
“Was,” she replied sternly. “He has kept no slaves since I killed his uncle.”
“He may not be welcome here,” the guard frowned.
“We shall deal with that as needed,” she sternly said.
Nytehawk was somewhat in awe. Her cousin was better at handling people than she could ever hope to be.
“Are you going to keep us here all day?” Snowhawk asked, looking somewhat annoyed.
“No, Madams. Please, enter. We will contact you when your entourage arrives.”
“Thank you, sirs.”
The gates were opened, and the two vampiric Delphin crossed into Juv proper.
The city bustled with life. The streets were crowded. Both Delphin cousins looked at each other, neither having expected this many beings in the city.
Near the gate was a visitor kiosk. The female Feln manning the station looked shocked to see new faces. “How may I help you ladies?”
“We’re looking for your medical district,” Nytehawk commented.
“Specifically, a school directed by a Lupino named Rais.”
“Oh, that school! Sure thing.” The Feln pulled out a city map, and marked two locations on it. “Okay, this is where you are,” she said, pointing to the southern mark, “And this is the school,” she continued, pointing at the mark made on the northwestern part of the map. “And if you need lodging, you can check these three streets.” She made three lines down the center of the map, each running east to west. “And the map is on me. God knows we can’t sell them,” she laughed.
“Thank you very much,” Nytehawk smiled. Snowhawk nodded in agreement. The cousins left the kiosk, heading northwest through the city. As the left the shopping district, the crowds thinned out, but the city was still busy.
They walked for about two hours, eventually finding their way to the school. They called on Rais as soon as they arrived.
“Snowhawk, Nytehawk, how wonderful to see you both!” Rais greeted. “What a pleasant surprise. Would you like to join me in my office”
“Thank you, Rais,” Snowhawk smiled, then her and her cousin walked the short distance to his office.
Rais locked the door as the two entered. “Janus called me three days ago. I’m sorry to hear of your situation.”
“Our secret must be kept.”
“Of course. I will work with you personally, my team will handle the testing, but they won’t know it’s for you.”
“Thank you, Rais,” Nytehawk smiled.
“Shall we get started?”
“Please, and take care of Nytehawk first. I’m too far gone now to make it easy.”
“Oh, dear. I was afraid of that. But it just means that you get to be the first full vampire we test.”