I think,” I mused after a while, not knowing what to say, “I shall call you Rainbow.”

“What!?” Her eyes burned bright red.

“Because I like how your eyes change color,” I smiled. “I will not kill you.”

“Fine. Then what? Let me go?”

“I assume you try to kill me again if I did? Or tell the Iron Hammer where I am?”

Blue flecks flew across the pools as she grinned evilly. I figured lying might be very hard for a hellcat. “Naturally.”

“Then you come with me. Now.”

When I had said this she started fighting against the leather that bound her legs. I guessed her right shoulder hurt to much for her to try anything with her arms.

“What’s the matter?” I asked as I gingerly lifted her to her legs, keeping well away from her snapping fangs. “Thought you could keep me here until more agents of the Iron Hammer could find me?”

The blaze of light that followed this almost certainly meant that I was right. She called me vile things and tried to kick out at me.Slowly we made our way down the hill. She was extremely agile, and her wounds and bound extremities hampered her far less than they would have me. Still, she could not move very fast.

I cut myself a study walking-stick of birch, which I used both to steady myself, and to let her grab with her left hand when she needed to hold onto something. She stumbled as she climbed up and down slopes, over tree roots, over brooks, and now and again she would fall.

I kept her marching, urged on now and again by a prod in the back from the birch rod. Eating the berries I found on the way I was somehow able to still a little of my hunger, but she refused.

“I eat nothing but meat,” she snarled.

Why did I make her walk as fast and hard as I did? One reason was that I was anxious to escape any more attempts and pursuit. Another… Well, I remembered my time with Monah. She had loathed for me to see her big body, and getting her to undress in front of me had been a battle of our wills. For days I had done nothing to her but talking, refusing to play with her until I got what I wanted.

This had to be the same thing. I found myself curiously attracted to Rainbow’s, as I kept calling her, spirit of defiance.It took two days. All the while she snarled at me that she was hungry, that she should be allowed to go free. She insisted she be released to go hunting, and made false promises of returning afterward. Her words describing fat birds and juicy deer meat tempted me, but I knew better.

I kept her walking, using the birch rod whenever I caught her slacking off. We followed the ditch I had singled out as the route to the lake I wanted to head for, and it soon turned into a valley. Slowly, slowly, on the second day, Rainbow began stumbling more and more. It must be incredibly hard walking with her feet and hands tied like that, and she had been really brave. Now and then she even shrieked something unintelligible, probably a call to her tribe or any other allies that might be nearby. Since she only did this now out of desperation, I guessed there was not much danger in the plea being answered. They were all in Maurur, I guessed, finishing sacking the city.

It was afternoon when she finally gave up. We had to cross a brook, and she lost her footing climbing down from the bank. Falling, she plunged head-first into the mud on the far side, burying one flaming white eye, the other looking in my direction.

“Get up!” I commanded, giving her a push with the rod in her back.

“No!” She yelled desperately.

“Up!”

“Filth! I am dying of hunger, I am dying of pain! I cannot go on!”

i thought for awhile and reasoned that i could go go hunting and be back with atleast a bird or squirl in an hour. ”fine.” i stated as i began tying her to a tree, ”ill go hunting and ill come back with something for us”.

i knew that most likely she would escape, in fact, i was counting on it. with her injurys and me having forced her to walk without food for days, i knew that she couldnt keep up with me. most likely she would go for help and try to catch back up, but by then i would alter my course and be long gone.

i made sure the knot binding her to the tree wasnt tight enough to hold her but would make her use a lot of energy in ”escaping”. i unsheathed my knife and took off in a trot towards a water source i had been smelling.

i reached the lake in the early afternoon. It was shaped like an eye. The river we had been following had slowly widened into the outward-facing, or longer, corner of the eye. At the other end, a mile or so ahead, a disturbance on the surface of the water led me to believe that there was a waterfall there.

The shore was rather steep on each side of the lake, giving the impression the we had sunk deep into the lush, green forest. Along the water’s edge was a narrow strip of weathered and polished mountainside. Apart from a few islets where the river ran into the main body of water there were no islands. The lake looked deep with pale, dark, blue waters.

I wouldn’t mind live somewhere like this. i started to thing of rainbow, what if she was to weak to escape and died a horrible death?I had to remember that she hated me and everything I stood for. I had to remember that I really had no right do anything but treat her as a prisoner. And, above all, I had to remember how disillusioned I had been with certain aspects of the Knights of the Wolf. Their arrogance with others, their lives of decadence, their blindness and refusal to change their ways despite the Iron Hammer beating them at every turn. And now Rainbow’s version of events which had touched me, like it or not. I now felt revolted at the fascination I had felt earlier when shown a hellcat eye submerged in an acidic solution.

i reaked and figured befor i moved on i might aswell wash myself. i took off my dirty ripped shirt and dove into the water. i washed myself making sure to clean my mane restoring it to its natural grey/silver color. as i was getting out i smelled her..i knew her smell intensely after spending days alongside her. i glanced to around and saw her standing not 50 feet away. i quickly got from the lake and pulled my pants on.

”wolf knight”, she called, ” your time is now.

i got into a battle stance baring my fangs, she did the same and i called out to her”Come on, warrior. If battle is what you want, then you are going to get it.’we charged each other meeting in the middle of the clearing, like before she was fast and agile, but unlike then i was ready for her and as she juked right and lept in the air i shot my hand out and grabed her on her neck and threw her to the ground. she got back up before i could kill her and came for me again. this time her agility got the best of me and she was able to score deep wounds on my chest. we turned and faced each other again, both snarling knowing that this would result in a death and ran the distance beween us. agian i was caught off guard but not by her.. as we were about to meet up i felt a terrible pain in my left thigh.

I toppled over, using my left hand to steady myself. Then another noise came, that one also that of an arrow being fired, and I was hit in my right side. I cried out in pain, and fell down on the soft, damp grass of the small islet.

There, onto the shore from her hiding place in the forest, came another hellcat. She was female like Rainbow, but she was taller and her hair fairer, a light brown. Dressed the same way, she carried a short bow and a small sack over her shoulder.
Rainbow said. “What took you so long. Damn it! You were always too slow, Lynx.”

“But I, unlike you, succeeded. And I, unlike you, am armed. But I will let you kill him, if you want. I am not unreasonable. Then Rainbow knelt down over me. I stared up at the sky, preparing to die like a man. Or at least to try. She grabbed hold of the arrow that had entered my side and pulled. Hard.

In agony I placed one hand on each wound as Rainbow rose and crossed over to the shore.

” we’ll take him to the village”.

remember to vote..positive…and leave a comment i do read them and respect what you have to say. also i am coming up with another series might start writing it today and put out the 1st ch with this 1. also if someone would like to edit/spellcheck my works leave a yahoo and trust me ill send my next stories to you… preciate it ppl..that cool guy who writes stories out..

---