Chapter 4
#4 of The Mating Season: A Life of Dreams
Chapter 4
Theo took a breath and tried to make his paws stop shaking. He, Kilyan, and Yuri had come to the port at last. They stood together as the sea breeze hit them, staring hopelessly at the endless rows of merchant ships. Any one of those ships could belong to the slavers who had taken Roan: merchants very often traveled with slavers, especially those that were from the moon village.
Everywhere, sailors walked back and forth in the sunlight, fur stained with crude tattoos and ears pierced with gold. Gulls circled above as the sailors shouted nasty swears, laughed hoarsely, and stood ogling Yuri. Merchants stood with parchment and quills, making notes as dock laborers carried boxes of wares to and from the vessels.
Theo noticed with a thrill of anger that a slave was on the deck of one of the ships, restrained with iron manacles and looking dismal as he stood between two bored guards. For one horrible moment, Theo thought the young male was Roan, and he almost leapt toward the ship. But he looked again and realized the young male was dark gray - not black. Hell. He had half a mind to free the poor guy anyway.
"Anyone getting any brilliant ideas?" Theo said. He glanced at Yuri. "Don't you have some magic locating spell or something? They could have taken off by now."
Yuri wasn't listening. Theo was surprised to see the raw fear in her eyes. She was staring at the ships, at the sea, as if memories were gripping her. Horrific memories. He touched a concerned paw to her shoulder and she seemed to come back to earth. She smiled at him gratefully.
Theo knew why Yuri was frightened: she had almost drowned when a pup. He understood exactly how she felt. Theo hated the docks. Roan always wanted to take long walks here, but Theo wanted nothing more than to stay away. He was a great swimmer, but he was actually afraid of deep water. When he was a little boy and his father was trying to teach him to swim, he was too scared to climb out of the canoe. The water frightened him. His father - impatient as always - shoved him in. He almost drowned that day.
Theo remembered how frantic his father was when he pulled him out the river half-conscious. Sade's dark eyes had been wet and bright with fear. He wrapped a shivering Theo in furs and took him home. Amrosa was frantic and scolded Sade horribly. He took it with flat ears and said not a word. When his mother was done fussing, Theo's father held him beside the fire, a small wrapped bundle, and rocked him.
"Stop crying, boy," Sade whispered sadly.
"S-Sorry, Daddy," little Theo answered.
"Don't ever let anyone know you're afraid of the water. Don't ever cry."
"Yes, Daddy."
And Theo obeyed. When he ran away with Enya, she never could have guessed that he was scared shitless of crossing the river. Enya had been afraid, though. Very afraid. He remembered looking in her frightened blue eyes and realizing he had to be brave for her. If they were going to run off together, she would need him to be strong, protect her, care for her. And he had been prepared to care for Enya for the rest of his life, even while he mourned the loss of Roan.
"No," Yuri answered, shattering Theo's thoughts. "We don't need magic to find them. Slavers are predictable as slugs," she sneered. "They will keep Roan on their ship and appraise him, perhaps wait a few days to kidnap more wolves. We have time."
Theo laughed weakly. "You lied to us before!"
Yuri smiled. "Perhaps."
Theo looked at Yuri's uncharacteristic smirk and realized she had lied to get their tails moving out the door: the slavers had never been in danger of immediately taking off with Roan. He looked at Yuri fondly and had a new respect for her. She smiled back just as fondly, her paw resolute on her staff.
"Then they could still be here," Kilyan said, relieved. "Merchants have to pay to dock their boats. We'll question the harbormaster about --"
"Hey!" Theo bellowed angrily. Yuri and Kilyan watched, astonished, as Theo leapt after a dark figure. The figure darted from the shadows and bolted up the boardwalk. Theo scowled. He chucked his spear aside without even thinking and ran hard, ears back, face creased with determination.
As Kilyan had been talking, Theo had noticed a short male spying on them behind a barrel! The young male was running frantic now, glancing back at Theo in horror, his eyes popping and his mouth open. He couldn't have been much older than Theo, and Theo could tell by his slender frame that he was certainly no warrior: a merchant then. Why had a merchant been eavesdropping! It could only mean one thing: he knew where Roan was!
Behind him, Theo could hear Kilyan and Yuri following. He glanced back once and saw Yuri gliding low across the ground, her sable eyes resolute. Up ahead, the mysterious young male took a sudden turn down a pier and ran headlong for a ship. Theo's heart sank: there were sailors and warriors pacing the ship, and they would have to confront that armed crowd if they didn't catch him in time.
"He's getting away!" Theo snarled. His ears pricked forward when a beam of light shot past his head. There was a shrill cry, and the young male fell on his face to the planks: Yuri had sent a bolt of energy from her staff.
Triumphant, Theo ran to the male and roughly jerked him up by the arm. He, Kilyan, and Yuri dragged him to the seclusion of several stacked crates.
"Where is Roan!" Theo growled at once. He knew his grip on the male's arm was painfully hard but could give less than a damn. Nothing in that moment mattered but Roan.
The male was shivering and horrified as the three furious strangers surrounded him. Theo thought he looked very young for a merchant - in fact, he was a teenage boy! -- but he was wearing what was clearly a moon merchant's medallion around his neck: a silver coin with an engraving of the horned moon. His fur was light silver and his eyes just as pale. He looked into Theo's twisted face and sagged a little as if he might faint.
"Answer me," Theo snarled, shaking the male hard. He jerked his head at Yuri, "Or my friend here will blow you into itty pieces."
Yuri smiled and her staff glowed brighter.
The male gulped. "W-Who is Roan?" But he looked at Kilyan, and Theo thought he had some idea.
"Look at me, not Kilyan. I'm the one who'll break your face if you don't answer," Theo warned.
The male's eyes widened. "Oh shit . . ." he muttered, flabbergasted. He looked at Kilyan. "It was supposed to be you!"
Kilyan scowled. "What the hell does that mean? You better start making sense - fast."
The male looked at Kilyan in horror and sputtered incoherently. Spit flew.
Yuri pressed the tip of her staff just under his chin. It glowed even brighter. "Start. Talking," she said through her fangs.
"M-My name is K-Kuza," the male squeaked at once, looking at Yuri as if he might faint. "I'm just ah m-merchant, I swear! I came here with slavers. They've been charged to find a black wolf named Kilyan."
Kilyan stiffened. "And they took Roan instead."
Theo stared at Kilyan, but he noticed Yuri did not look surprised in the least. What was it he didn't know? Why the hell would moon slavers want Roan's father?! He looked at Kuza, and grabbing him by the scruff with both paws, he shook him hard. "What did they do with Roan! Which ship! Tell me or I swear --"
"Theo!" Kilyan barked.
Theo paused, and he and Kuza both looked down: Kuza had pissed down his leg. Theo sneered and shoved him away. The young male staggered into the crates and barely caught himself, but his eyes were fixed in wonder on Theo. He blushed and covered his pink penis with both paws. It was still dripping with piss and now he stank. He flattened his ears and looked at Theo miserably, but there was something else in his face as well . . . absentminded wonder . . . and admiration.
"Kuza," Kilyan said calmly, but Theo could see he was as strained as Yuri looked, as angry as Theo himself certainly felt. "Which ship? Tell us quickly."
"Th-Then what will you do with me?" Kuza whispered, frightened. He looked at Theo and licked his lips hopefully. "Will you . . . have your way with me?"
Theo made a face. "No!"
Kuza blushed and lowered his long lashes. He looked so sheepish and shy, Theo had to wonder exactly how old he was. Perhaps he was simply a young male who had come along on the voyage, a merchant in training. He probably had nothing to do with Roan's kidnapping. A sudden surge of guilt struck Theo and he looked away, pushing his mane back from his face.
"We will leave you here -- bound," Yuri said. She tipped her staff and Kuza gasped: white light snaked from the crystal and wound around his wrists and ankles, binding him. He looked at them, his chest heaving in silent panic. "You c-can't leave me here! The ship will leave without me!"
"We'll come back for you," Kilyan promised.
Theo snorted. He couldn't understand why Kilyan was being so nice, so reasonable. To hell with this Kuza! They needed to find Roan!
"Now tell us which ship," Yuri snapped impatiently. The staff flashed menacingly, and Theo shot Yuri a furtive glance. He was secretly worried for her, worried what might happen should she lose control. But he heard Kuza whimpering and his eyes turned to him again.
"Stop blubbering and answer her!" Theo warned, muscles tensing.
Kuza sniffled with tears. He was looking at Yuri, terrified. "Please don't hurt me . . ."
Yuri's ears flattened miserably. "I won't hurt you," she said softly. "Please - just tell us which ship."
Kuza sniffled and nodded. "The Hu-Mionda. It's three piers down . . . blue sails with the white horned moon . . . and a white flag with --"
"A red dot," Yuri sneered, and Theo and Kilyan looked at her curiously. "It's a symbol," she explained, "for slavers. They use it when they're actively seeking slaves - or a particular slave. Only moon wolves would know what the flag means. Even the sun wolves don't know."
Kilyan nodded. "Thank you, Kuza. Sit tight. We'll be back."
Kuza didn't look convinced. "Don't you understand?" he said to Kilyan. "They came here for you! There is no coming back! You walk on that ship and they'll take you --"
"I'll skin every last one of them first!" Yuri shouted at once, her eyes suddenly bright with rage.
Theo looked at her anxiously when her staff's crystal started to glow red. Why did Yuri have such a personal vendetta against the slavers? He looked at Kilyan and thought Roan's father knew why: Kilyan was watching Yuri sadly. He put his paw on her shoulder, and she flattened her ears and seemed to calm down: the crystal stopped glowing.
"You should gag him, Yuri," Theo said, jerking his head at Kuza. "So he doesn't scream for help."
Kuza's eyes widened. "What? No!"
Yuri tipped her staff again, and they watched as more white light snaked from it and around Kuza's horrified mouth. Kuza shook his head frantically, begging in a muffled voice for them to please take him along. He tried to hop toward Theo and stumbled, falling to his knees with flapping dick and balls.
"We'll come back for you," Kilyan repeated to the male. "That's a promise. That ship is going no where with my son!"
"Alright, Yuri." Theo turned to face the sorceress. "Slap on some Glamour!" He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened one and added, "Don't make me ugly."
Yuri smiled. "That's impossible." She tilted her staff and touched Theo lightly on the head. When Theo opened his eyes again, he looked at his paws and saw they were a different shape. His fur was also a lighter shade of gray: he was bright silver. He turned to face Kuza, and the boy abruptly fainted.
Theo scowled. "You made me look like him!"
Yuri shrugged. "It'll be more believable if at least one of us looks like someone from the ship!" She turned to Kilyan. "Now you."
Kilyan braced himself and closed his eyes.
Yuri touched her staff to Kilyan's head, and Theo watched as Kilyan's black fur washed over gray. Kilyan opened his eyes and examined his paws. His green eyes had become dark brown, smaller, and less slanted. He didn't look like himself at all. It was amazing what a few alterations could do.
"Now for me," Yuri said. She took a deep breath, and Theo knew she was about to do something very difficult: it was one thing to change someone else; it was another thing entirely to change oneself - especially when one could not see their self.
They watched with bated breath as Yuri's blue fur washed over gray, as her large breasts shrank away into the sculpted pecs of a male, as her wide hips narrowed . . . as a cock sprouted where her clit used to be. Theo swallowed hard, looking at that soft cock. He knew it was just an illusion, but Yuri made one hot male. As a finishing touch, Yuri snatched the merchant medallion from Kuza's neck and gave it to Theo.
"Let's go," Kilyan said grimly. "My baby needs rescuing!"