The Beasts and Brave - Chapter 16
#4 of Eben Black Series - The Beasts and Brave
© All characters and storylines surrounding these characters belong to me; Eben Black..
Aleksander's chest rose and feel with each shudder of fear that thrilled through him. He had put a great distance between himself and Balthazaar. There was fear burning in those wide, frightened eyes. Balthazaar grinned and took a step forward. That single step, that one movement sent Aleksander backwards a good foot and a half. The cheetah was frightened, so frightened that he wouldn't even lash out anymore. Balthazaar was loving the whole scenario. His long, sleak, black tail cracked like a whip behind him. His narrowed lavender eyes filled with such hatred and loathing for those he looked upon. He glanced over at Donovan and me and then turned back on Aleksander. There was a rush of noise and suddenly Balthazaar was behind Aleksander, he loomed over the smaller male and reached a hand out for the cheetah. Aleksander turned and the whole world seemed to slow down. Aleksander's eyes had widened, the whites of them showed from across the beach, while a dark furred hand reached out and almost touched Aleksander's head fur.
There was another rush of movement and a second later Donovan disappeared. He reappeared, skidding backward along the sand covered beach, Aleksander thrown over one shoulder. He skidded and crouched low, using his left hand to balance himself as he lowered Aleksander and let him down. Donovan never hesitated, he rushed Balthazaar and launched a flourish of blows that scraped and missed the larger jaguar as he backed up. The two moved back like they were talking part in some awkward dance routine. Donovan turned and thrust a closed fist forward, Balthazaar caught the blow, sidestepped and ducked, he pushed hard with his other hand at Donovan's waist and in one clean sweep, the wolf was thrown overhead with an athletic ease that Balthazaar seemed to possess. Donovan span through the air and smashed across the sand with a dull thud. He scrambled back up without waiting and had one hand extended as he closed the gap between him and the hulking jaguar. Balthazaar turned full circle, and with one extended sweep of his ankle he smashed Donovan right out of midair and sent the werewolf careening over the beach. He skidded and rolled through the sand before he landed a few feet from me.
"Donovan, what do we do?" I demanded.
"I have no idea. I'm open to suggestions though."
"Aleksander doesn't look too good either."
"Of course that pussycat doesn't look well!" Balthazaar called in a grinning snarl.
"You broke him, Balthazaar. You broke him, and you'd better hope that touch of yours isn't permanent!" Donovan snarled back.
Balthazaar shrugged and replied, "I'm still new to this whole fear thing I can do. I have no idea how long he'll be a quivering mess."
I frowned and could feel the beast inside me stir. He'd threatened one of our alphas.
Donovan glanced at me and he must have seen something there, because he smirked and stood up, brushing the sand from his fur.
"Something amusing?" Balthazaar demanded with a confused glance.
"Yeah. Your about to confront something that you've never experienced before, Balthazaar. The first male Lupine of all time and the first to have bound himself to four alphas from three seperate species."
"Is that something I should be worried about?"
"Take a look." Donovan gestured over at me.
The beast inside me growled and loomed over me like some forboding shadow. My breath came clouded from my muzzle as I stared across at Balthazaar. I knew without looking that my body had transformed once again. The fur had changed from its normal charcoal grey to that pure white. My blue eyes had lightened while a cold wind rose around me. I saw Donovan shudder in that sudden chill wind. I took a step forward and could feel the beast inside of me growling and snarling out at Balthazaar. She screamed through my head; he's a danger. Kill him. Kill him before he kills you and your own.
"Is this your trump card, Donovan Reed?" Balthazaar demanded.
"Its not my trump card your looking at, Balthazaar. This is all Eben's beast."
"Oh really? How unusual." Balthazaar grinned at me as he turned on me.
One moment I was standing beside Donovan, the next I was standing in front of Balthazaar. The speed seemed to have stunned Balthazaar as he looked down at me startled for a moment. He recovered and grinned as he thrust a clawed hand downward. I sidestepped the swipe and stepped forward, I touched a hand to his chest and could feel the cold thrill through him. Frost spread across his torso and down his extended arm. The frost was a small pain, as it spread and spread with each second that I touched him. He swiped my hand away and pushed himself backward, sliding through the sand as he went. He snarled out at me as he dusted the frost from his chest as he stood up. A confused look spread across his face as he glared across at me.
"Something wrong, Balthazaar?" I asked.
"Is this truly what your beast is capable of?" Balthazaar growled.
I nodded and raised a hand slowly. In a rush of frost and cold a spear formed of solid ice manifested. I shouldered the weapon and frowned at Balthazaar. I was level-headed, laid back, but determined to defeat, to kill this wereanimal. He'd come to LA, he'd threatened those I loved and had even trashed our home using some innocent werewolf as his puppet of destruction. People like that didn't deserve to go on living.
"I was right about you being a danger. What in the world was Sawyer thinking?"
"What do you mean?" I demanded.
"You know as well as I do, Sawyer wanted to keep you alive and harvest the power you contained inside that weak, slender form. But your dangerous, too dangerous!"
Balthazaar closed the gap and swiped the spear aside one-handed, his other clawed hand wrapped around my throat as he loomed over me. He squeezed and I exhaled at the same time. A rush of frost billowed around us, small cuts blossomed across the jaguar as he tried to hold on. I intensified the flourish of cold and grinned as Balthazaar snarled and launched back from me. He crouched and rushed again. I sidestepped him and watched him glide by. I ducked and turned, swinging an ankle out. Balthazaar blocked me, but I pushed down and watched him step out from under me. I turned and thrust forward with that frozen spear still clasped in one hand. He caught it under his own muscular arm. We stopped dead and strained to each pull on either end of the spear. When neither of us would move, I touched a hand to the side of the spear and exhaled. Small, sharp spines sprang from the spear at one end. Balthazaar snarled as they pierced his arm and hand. In a rush of power he wretched the spear from his hand and the move sent us careening in either direction. I stabbed the spear into the sand and stopped sliding backward while Balthazaar slid back and hissed at the small wounds all over his one arm. He growled up at me and I realised that the longer I kept him fighting, the more frustrated he got.
I had a feeling no one had ever stood up to him like this before. I jumped backward, releasing that spear of ice and slammed both hands down into the sand. A moment later a huge spine forged of pale clear ice sprang from the ground under Balthazaar. He managed to jump aside as the ice reached for the skies. I ran forward, while Balthazaar was dazed, snatched up the spear I'd abandoned and with one quick step forward, launched the spear like a javelin. It cut through the air and struck Balthazaar in the shoulder. He called out in pain and anger as he tore the ice from his wound and tossed it aside. He snarled out at me and then his anger ebbed slightly as he grinned. That hulking creature launched at me. I braced myself and watched him grow closer. I expected a punch, some form of attack, but instead he mimicked what I'd done earlier. He ducked low and touched a hand to my chest.
The whole world went cold, not cold from the power that resided inside me, but a cold that I'd felt when I tried to transform during the fight with the wolf. This was similar but so much more intense. I shook all over as I gazed up at a confident looking Balthazaar. Fear swam through me like a parasite. I could feel the beast sink lower and lower. My fur bled back to the normal charcoal grey colour, and my eyes seemed to sadden as I stared up at the jaguar. He grinned and pushed me back with a sudden shove. I collapsed back onto my backside. I gazed up at the jaguar, the fear that swam over me was making me tremble and sob as I watched this demon loom over me.
"Do you feel that, Eben? Do you feel the fear surrounding you?" Balthazaar demanded with a broad, snarling grin.
"P-Please don't h-hurt me!" I stammered as I crawled backwards from the towering monster.
"Are you that frightened, Eben?" Balthazaar smirked and looked over at Donovan. "So much for your trump card, Donovan. He may be powerful, but like any old beast, a little fear and they are immobilised."
"Eben, you need to get away from him now!" Donovan demanded.
I nodded with wide eyes and turned to run from the beast behind me, but a black, furred claw wrapped around my shoulder and pulled me back. Balthazaar draped his arms over my shoulders while he gazed at Donovan and grinned at the power he had over me. "Don't you like seeing your Lupine like this, Donovan Reed?"
"Eben, please move from him!" Donovan demanded as he took a step closer.
Balthazaar's claws traced along my throat and stopped me dead, my breaths came quick and shallow as I stared behind me at the black jaguar looming there. "You move, you die."
The world swam and I thought for a moment I'd pass out when suddenly a deep smell caught my attention. The smell of roses filled my nostrils as I gazed around, looking for the smell's origin. Donovan and Balthazaar noticed the scent too and gazed around. A deep, rich laughter filled the air as I stared around, wondering what was happening. The world around me turned and a moment later I was being cradled against someone's chest. He was hunched over in the sand, one hand supported my shoulders while his other hand touched the ground for balance. Starling yellow eyes gazed down at me, heavy-lidded and almost full of compassion with a shimmer of madness. Striped blue-white-and-black fur coursed over his tall, slender frame as he held me close and grinned up at the jaguar across the beach. The fear stilled and then disappeared. I looked up full of confusion, as the blue tiger smiled back.
"Fear is nothing more than an illusion of the mind, Eben. And I would know all about those, wouldn't I?" Sawyer smirked as he spoke and let me down.
What in God's name was going on!