The Lady of Toryn Anthology (Lady of Toryn trilogy) (36 page)

And now this little creep had
stolen her idea. She frowned, but didn’t move towards him. Her wounded pride
wasn’t worth blowing her cover over. Instead, she quickly moved towards the lit
corridor at the other end of the cavern, keeping her chin down as she walked.

“You! Scout!” one of the soldiers
against the wall called to her in Toryn, and Ashlyn’s next step faltered, but
she didn’t stop, ducking into the corridor in the following instant.

She broke into a run, keeping her
steps soft and silent, and turned with the corridor as it veered sharply to the
left. She collided with another person, coming from the opposite direction, and
spun as she fell, landing hard on her butt.

“My apologies, Elder,” she said
hurriedly in Toryn, wrinkling her nose to make sure that the mask was still in
place. “I trust you bear no…” She trailed off as she looked up, finding herself
face-to-face with a man she never thought she’d see again.

What?!
Impossible!

She’d watched him fall, watched
his body tumble into the ocean below Na Michico.

Kou’s ebony eyes narrowed as he
stared at her, and Ashlyn froze, unable to think of any excuse for her
presence, any way out of this situation. How was it even possible that he was
alive? It wasn’t! Even if he’d survived the fall, even if he’d survived the
gunshot wound, how had he gotten out of the ocean alive?

Maybe he didn’t recognize her.
The entire lower half of her face was hidden. Ashlyn quickly averted her eyes
and murmured another apology in the lowest voice she could manage, inclining
her head as she picked up the knapsack she’d dropped in the collision and
slowly got to her feet.

“Wait,” he said as she moved to
continue down the corridor, and she stopped, heart pounding so loud that she
was sure he could hear it.

There was the scuff of his boot
against the sandy floor, and she felt his breath on her neck through the fabric
of her hood.

“Tomiko Yasu, of the clan Yasu?”
he said, a playful lilt to his tone as he repeated back to her the false name
she had given him the first day they’d met.

Oh, crap.

Oh
, crap.

“Did you really think you’d make
it in here without anyone noticing?” he murmured. His lips were close to her
ear.

Ashlyn shivered with revulsion,
fists clenching at her sides.

“No,” she said through gritted
teeth. “That’s why I came prepared.”

She tore the shuriken out of her
knapsack and whirled, slicing at his throat. He jumped backwards, the blade
missing him by a hairsbreadth, and attempted a punch, which Ashlyn easily
blocked. She threw a jab into his stomach, making him cry out, and she followed
up with an elbow to the gut. He tried for a leg sweep but she jumped over it,
smashing her fist into his face as she came down.

“You
dog,”
she hissed as he crumpled to the floor. “How dare you make
claim to share the blood of the Li clan? How
dare
you?”

He rolled over onto his back,
still gasping for air, and suddenly there was a gun in his hand, one of the old
DEMON antiques from her father’s display case. Ashlyn backpedaled, but not
quickly enough to escape the noise, and as he squeezed the trigger the
BOOM
reverberated through the corridor
deafeningly, bouncing off the walls and shrilling in her ears. The bullet went
wide-
thank you Drago-
and Ashlyn
kicked the gun out of his hand, stomped on his stomach and leapt over him,
intent on reaching her father before it was too late.

There were three- no, four
soldiers coming down the corridor towards her, blocking the route that would
take her deeper into the cave. Ashlyn turned and exasperatedly jumped over Kou
again, who was now tenaciously trying to draw a knife from its sheath at his
hip.

“Points for effort,” Ashlyn
snapped, yanking the knife from his hands and giving him a satisfying kick to
the face. She hoped she sounded more confident than she felt. In such cramped
quarters, it would be difficult to defeat the four soldiers coming from the
opposite direction- on the other hand, if she went back to the cavern, there
could be dozens more waiting for her.

Either way, she didn’t want to be
trapped in this corridor.

She took off at a dead sprint for
the cavern.

Her mind was racing. The
ice
stane in her shuriken was powerful
enough to cause some real damage. She could create a wall of ice across the
cave entrance to prevent the army from getting in. If she made it thick, it
might hold long enough for her to take out whatever soldiers were already in
the cave and then use
reveal
to find
her father.

 
A masked ninja came running down the corridor
towards her, brandishing his katana. Ashlyn didn’t bother slowing down. She
brought her shuriken up and wrenched her wrist, catching the blade between the
prongs of the weapon. The katana snapped in half. She twisted her hand, still
running, and the shuriken caught the soldier in the neck, dragging him with her
three paces before he finally fell.

Ashlyn rushed out of the
corridor, wielding both Kou’s knife and the shuriken. Two soldiers met her as
she came out, and she spun, lashing out with both weapons. The first ninja was
caught by surprise and managed a gurgle before collapsing to the floor of the
cave, but the second one was quick enough to duck under the blades. Ashlyn
glanced over her shoulder, seeing a third ninja just behind her, and danced
backwards as the second one advanced, the puddle on the floor soaking her boots
uncomfortably. She spun to the side as the third one charged from behind. She landed
a swift kick to his back that sent him stumbling straight into the second
soldier’s sword.

She dropped into a crouch to
avoid a barrage of tiny shuriken, and flung out her right hand, fingers
splayed, using an
ice
spell to freeze
her assailant into a very statuesque ninja-sicle before he could toss anything
else in her direction. There were soldiers pouring in from outside, and Ashlyn
realized with a sinking feeling that it was much too late to ice over the cave
entrance, and that she was outnumbered. As in really, really,
really
outnumbered.

She took a running start and
launched herself at a small, jutting ledge on the cave wall, and latched on
with just three fingers as she called up the
lightning
stane in her shuriken. Ashlyn dangled precariously,
holding on for dear life as the bolt of electricity split the room, instantly
delivering a not-so-pleasant jolt to the two dozen ninjas milling about in the
shallow pool of water at the center of the cavern. Several of them screamed
while others simply collapsed in a trembling, steaming heap of limbs, and as
the magic died out, Ashlyn dropped back to the floor and delivered an uppercut
to the closest soldier.

Kou chose that moment to come
stumbling out of the corridor, yelling garbled orders, and Ashlyn paused
mid-maiming to look over at the man who was attempting to command his army. The
right side of Kou’s face was already swelled up, and blood was dripping from
his split lower lip. And- hoo boy, he looked
angry
.

Ashlyn took several steps back,
putting some distance between her and the confused ninjas. Her adrenaline was
starting to kick in now, and though she still wasn’t quite at the stage of
mindless invincibility yet, there
was
a plan of action formulating in her wee ninja brain.

She yanked at the mask, tearing
it so that it fell away, exposing her face. “Still determined to take control
of Toryn,
Devlyn?”
she snapped at
Kou. “Do you honestly think you can defeat the true Elder Heir? I don’t care
how many soldiers you send after me.
I
kicked the crap out of Lord Angelo.
Trouncing you to within an inch of your
life is going to be a
walk in the park!”

The advancing ninjas looked
uncertain, following her gaze to Kou, who was looking puffier and more aggravated
by the second.

“She’s a fraud!” Kou spat,
slurring his words unattractively. “The heir is dead! The Li bloodline has run
its course!”

“Dream on, you
brain-dead blood junkie!”
Ashlyn yelled,
and jumped aside as one particularly brave ninja attempted to stab her,
dispatching him with a single slash to the torso. “I don’t care what you
supposedly envisioned,
I know
I’m
alive and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you take
my
birthright from me!” She pointed at Kou with the shuriken, eyes
flashing. “I challenge you, Koudai Devlyn Lunai! I challenge you to a duel for
leadership of the sacred pagoda!”

“I will not duel,” Kou growled.

“Challenge is my right, as Elder
Heir. You cannot refuse!”

“
You are not the Elder Heir!”
he roared, and turned to the soldiers.
“What are you waiting for?
Kill her!”

Ashlyn grabbed her sleeve and
yanked, hard, ripping the fabric at the shoulder. She stripped one sleeve off,
and then the other, and held out her arms for inspection. “Do you see any track
marks?” she demanded of the soldiers, who were fast surrounding her. “I have
none. I have injected nothing. I am able to use the
shift
magic because the blood of the Li clan flows in my veins
naturally. I am Ashlyn Li, Elder Heir of Toryn, and Devlyn cannot refuse my
challenge!”

“She cannot use
shift!
She is lying!”

“I am
not!”
Ashlyn snapped, and the words were barely out of her mouth
before Kou fell to his knees, screaming insults at her as his eyes began to
glow green. His cries became more guttural and less coherent as the shape-shifting
began, his lips pulling back from elongating teeth, fur sprouting from his
suddenly clawed hands.

Obviously he was done talking,
and Ashlyn was almost relieved. Kicking his ass would be a welcome reprieve
after having to listen to his lies.

As she struggled to focus, the
shift
stane began to glow in her armlet.
Then she was changing, the shuriken and her sword clattering to the floor as
the beast took hold. It was fast and painless, and it was only after she’d
already shifted that Ashlyn realized, somewhat regretfully, that she would be
naked again upon changing back.

Kou was still shifting when
Ashlyn plowed through a small group of soldiers and leapt at him, her own
transformation into a panther as smooth as glass. His face was still almost
human, his body a broad and brawny mass of muscle and fur as she slammed into
him from the side. Despite the force of her attack, Kou barely budged, and
Ashlyn realized belatedly that he was shifting into a bear, and the size
difference between them was considerable.

She snarled and raked her claws
across his shoulder, jumping aside when he delivered a half-hearted swipe in
her direction. He was desperately trying to complete the shift so he could
defend himself. If she had a chance, this was it.

Ashlyn sprang onto his back and
sank her teeth into his neck. Kou roared and tried to shake her off, but she
held on for dear life, digging her claws in for traction. The metallic tang of
blood filled her mouth, and ordinarily it would have been
beyond
gross, but turning into a panther must have given her that
kind of animal instinct too, because for some reason the taste only served to
make her angrier. She let go for just a second to get a better grip, trying to
bite down closer to his head.

But he took that opportunity to
rumble forward, turning his shoulder and rolling, with her beneath him. It
knocked the breath out of her as his crushing weight came down on top of her,
and Ashlyn heard something
snap,
like
dry, brittle twigs. Only when he rolled off and the pain assaulted her senses
did she realize that it was her ribs, undeniably broken and shooting slivers of
agony through her entire midsection. She could hardly breathe, but Ashlyn
scrambled to her feet and backed away, noting two things- the army was now
hanging back, looking both terrified and confused, and her shuriken was just a
few feet away.

The
heal
stane was still in her armlet, right next to
shift,
but she didn’t even know if she
could cast regular magic as a cat, and healing broken bones was a dangerous
thing to do, especially on the fly. If one of the broken ends was anywhere near
her heart, and tried to mend itself…she didn’t even want to think about that
possibility.

Ashlyn breathed shallowly through
her mouth, every inhale/exhale combination a stabbing pain in her chest, and
made a decision. Screw her impending nakedness, magic would be far more useful
against Kou right now than any additional strength that came with the
shift
spell. She padded sideways,
silently, hackles raised as Kou circled, presumably waiting for the right
moment to attack.

When he did, she summoned her
strength and leaped over him, paws dancing across the top of his head, dodging
slashing teeth and claws as her injured ribs screamed bloody murder inside her
head. She came down directly on top of the shuriken, and shifted back into
herself, naked as the day she was born but too desperately adrenaline-driven to
care. She scooped up the shuriken, her sword and her knapsack and ran for the
cave entrance as the bear lumbered after her.