Touya Khan
The door opened just as Sharye finished speaking and Touya walked into the room. His eyes immediately settled on his woman who was still laying on the table. From the looks, though, she seemed fine. It took him only three strides to reach her side and he reached out and took hold of her hand.
"How is it? Can you feel again?"
"She can," Sharye said with a broad smile, but Touya waited for April's confirmation before he settled down next to her. Pulling a chair close to the metal bed, he seated himself and rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand. Turning to Grashath, Touya motioned to her forearms, more particularly towards the weapons that hid inside.
"Can she wield them?" he asked in Therian.
Grashath nodded as he answered, "There should be no pain as well. What will have to be done now is getting her used to the weapons inside and how to use them," the elder Therian sighed heavily, "The problem is there's not much time before we go after this mad man who's making these... hybrids. He needs to be stopped or I fear for not just our own kind but the human world as well."
Touya nodded as he turned to look at April. Sharye came next to her as well and leaned over the table with bright eyes and a bit of an embarrassed expression on his face, "I... I'm sorry. For the other day," the youth said as his head slowly bowed and his black hair fell over his eyes.
Touya reached out and patted the young man's back gently. He turned to April after she answered the young Therian and took a deep breath. He hoped she was up for what he was going to suggest, "April. I know that you probably wish to rest a bit more after having Grashath work on you, but we need to train you. You don't know your own strength right now, you're stronger than you used to be. Also, you have to learn how to use your weapons in your arm, calling them whenever you want and not just when a fight breaks out. It's uncontrolled that way. We'll be taking years and years of training that us Therian's go through, and putting you through it in a couple days. It's going to be tough, but I believe you can do it.
"This camp is getting ready for a fight and we all have to be ready in the next few days. The hybrid facility, we're going to launch an attack on it and destroy it as quickly as possible. One of the men here that will help us to train is Bordal, he is a very good warrior. I believe with his training you will become an even better warrior that what you were before. Are you ready?"
Val and Ahmeil Leain
Ahmeil woke to a burning pain pulsing in her side and lungs filled with smoke. A cough filled her chest as she lifted her head up off the ground slowly. It was a haze, her memory. It all had happened so quickly, too quickly. She pushed herself up onto her hands and knees and reached over to clutch her side with a gloved hand. Turning her head, she looked quickly through the crackling orange and black around her.
She couldn't see very well, but every now and then the black plumes of smoke cleared just enough to reveal shimmering red flames and the bodies of many Therian's littering the forest floor. A heavy hand landed on her shoulder and she startled. Looking up, she spotted Val standing over her. Behind him were several more Therians, but not nearly enough to fight of the hybrid attack. Her heart fell as she counted the men behind Val.
Twenty.
Only twenty had survived and they had been a group of more than a hundred. Her eyes were wide with shock as she stared up at them. Val frowned at her and leaned over. His hands gripped her under her arms and lifted her easily onto her feet. He glowered at her, but it wasn't out of anger. No he was worried, frightened as well, but he was hiding it much better than she was. He wanted her to hide it too, to get a hold of herself and help him, just like always.
"Come on, we're leaving."
"Val..."
"Quickly. We'll make our way out of the forest. It's going to burn down completely anyway. The smoke seems to be slowing down the hybrids, but it won't last for long. I doubt it's really bothering them at all."
"Where will we go, Val?" One of the men asked.
"Back to Creeid. There's a group of Therian's there. They may not like me, but I won't let our people fall to such a monstrosity. We'll need to warn them."
"That'll take days! We won't make it in time!" Ahmeil countered.
"We won't be in this form, our other forms are much faster. Now go!" He shouted and pushed Ahmeil to lead the way. As she ran through the forest, her body shimmered and behind her the others as well. Even in their animal forms, they would not make it to Creeid for another two days. However, Val was right. It would take much longer if they stayed in their Therian forms. Ahmeil could only hope that the difference would be enough to reach the other encampment in time. Beyond that, she didn't know what Val was planning to do. In her wolf form, her eyes narrowed and she pushed her speed. Overhead there were a few birds as well, behind her an assortment of animals. What she had to do right then was get those left out of the forest first. Then she could think about the future.