The day of Prokis was far too cheerful for a day that could potentially end in death. The morning sun was bright and welcoming, making the world sparkle underfoot. Frost covered the tips of each stalk of grass, giving the ground of the designated clearing in the middle of the Everbright forest a hoary look. Two small clumps of people stood a dozen meters from each other, chatting casually within their group. Zaria tried not to pay attention to the furious glare being directed at her from the powerfully built yet curvaceous Lykos woman at the center of the other group.
"Before the challenge is started there will be a moment for witnesses to speak up. We will allow the current mate to speak then." Speaker Vlachos held himself with a rigidness they were not used to, fully in his Speaker persona. "We tried to keep the group of witnesses small, but with three Speakers already involved through personal connections to the two challengers, unbiased eyes were needed. We will be joined shortly by two more Speakers from the Congresses. A speaker from the North Asian Lykos Congress and one from the South American Anis Congress. Neither have a connection to any of us involved and were agreed upon by both myself and Speaker Andrews."
The words were barely finished being spoken when a long baby blue car pulled into the small dirt parking lot up the trail from the clearing. With winter approaching, there was not much foliage still attached to the trees and they could clearly see through them to the lot that sat at the other end of the trail. The blue car was quickly followed by a tiny lime green one, but Zaria ignored the people getting out and looked out across the field instead.
It was explained that she and Mina would start at opposite sides of the field, and it was expected that Zaria would immediately run into the trees to find any advantage that she could before Mina could reach her. Zaria did not look toward the trees, though. She and Gu Cheng had spent a lot of time the night before working out the best way to defend herself. Neither expected Mina to back down. The Ones were whipping her up into a frenzy with every breath she took. Zaria hoped that Mina's father would step in and be able to do something to make her see reason, but it was unlikely.
"I will be right with you," Gu Cheng murmured in her ear, wrapping his arm around her waist from behind. He held her tenderly, and Zaria felt her neck grow warm. He was going to get them both in trouble when they made it back to City C if he stayed in the habit of touching so casually. She could almost imagine the headlines of his scandalous behavior with a woman he was not married to. She could also imagine how many, many female fans he had would respond to the idea that he was now open to being touched and his mysophobia gone.
It wasn't gone, of course. He still only ate if Zaria cooked the food, or if he did himself. Even in restaurants, he mostly just nursed a wiped down glass of whatever juice or alcohol was being served. Zaria, of course, was not allowed to have any of the alcohol still, even though she had downed a whole glass in front of him to show him there was no effect in this world.
But the women wouldn't know that his mysophobia wasn't gone until they tried to touch him and got turned into an icecube. If they were lucky.
She leaned back against him and held on to his hand in front. "I know you are with me. You better be, or you will be stuck with that the rest of your life." She did not point at who she was talking about, but by the warm chuckle in her ear, she knew she didn't have to.
"Is the challenger present?" A high, sweet voice called out to the groups. Approaching them were two people who could not be more different. The woman was taller than any of the men present, broad in the way that a professional linebacker was broad, strength broadcasted with every step. The woman did not match the image Zaria had in her mind after hearing such a lilting voice, and she felt a little ashamed for making assumptions. She was shaken from her inner chastising by the confirmation from the other group. "Does the challenger have any important information to share before the challenge commences?"
There was none, but before the two new Speakers could continue, Speaker Vlachos stepped forward. "The witnesses for the challenged have important information to share."
"We will hear this information!" A sweet smile spread across the female speaker's face, matched by the one on the second new arrival. A small, round man stood next to her, his hands clasped behind his back and his belly thrust outward.
"The mate of the challenged, the mate in question, would like to speak." Speaker Vlachos stepped back, nodding for Gu Cheng to step forward.
"First, as per my right in Code 16 of the Prokis law, I declare that I have no intention of leaving my current mate, even if she should lose the challenge today. Second, we are advising that neither myself nor my true mate, the challenged, are Anis or Lykos. We are something else, and the threat to the challenger is far greater than she realizes. I ask that the challenger withdraw since she is fighting for something that she has zero chance of attaining with a very high cost to herself."
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"And the challenger responds?" All eyes turned back to Mina.
"I will not withdraw, and will claim my rightful mate."
"Are you certain, challenger. The witness IS the mate you seek, and they have declared that they will have nothing to do with you." Both eyebrows rose on the female speaker's forehead, somehow giving a sardonic cant to her expression.
"I will not withdraw."
"Is there anything else?" They all looked back to Zaria's side.
"Continuing, in accordance with Article 37C of Code 16, I will be staying with my mate, the challenged as her support."
The other group erupted in a flurry of comments and yells, and Speaker Vlachos stepped to the center where the two new speakers stood, waving to Speaker Andrews to join him. He opened his copy of The World Congress Laws, a well-worn leather backed book, and allowed the other speakers to read the article in question.
After a few minutes of whispered discussion, they dispersed again, and the female speaker announced, "We acknowledge the mate's right to support the challenged. As a reminder, although he seems very familiar with the laws," she added with a smile, "He can not directly attack the challenger. Are there any other points to bring up?"
"We have given all the information and warnings we have." Gu Cheng turned away from the speakers and went back to his spot next to Zaria, wrapping his arms around her again. "As we expected it to happen."
"Did you notice Speaker Andrews looking really uncomfortable? With how confident you are, I think he is starting to get worried." Zaria turned to face Gu Cheng, wrapping her arms around him and ignoring everyone else. For just a moment, what could be their final moment together if they messed up, she sank into his warmth and breathed deep of his mountain scent. "Gu Cheng? I l-"
Her words were cut off when his lips covered hers, taking her breath away with a deep and longing kiss. He pulled away when she went limp in his arms, kissing her forehead and holding her tightly. "Don't say anything you are not ready to say, Joseph Zaria. I can wait. We are going to get through this."
Zaria shook herself and smacked his arm lightly. "Great! Now I am distracted!"
They shared a smile that made Zaria feel as though she was floating 20 centimeters above the ground. This is what this world has been making me forget. The butterflies, the way his smile that he only gives me takes my breath away, how my heart beats faster when he says my name.
A bell rang out, clear tinkling sounds that are too sweet to be signaling something so dark. Zaria smiled at Gu Cheng once more before heading out into the field, the tall man trailing behind her. He stopped halfway between the spectators and his mate so that he would not be in the way, but still close enough to assist. She took the little pink box from her pocket and held it tightly in her hand. No blades allowed for the little Anis, or the woman they still considered one. Luckily, none of them were worried about a little box that could shock someone since she was going against someone with a thick coat of fur. With one final, deep breath to calm her nerves, she opened her eyes and watched as the woman across from her transformed as soon as the second bell was rung.
Although Zaria had seen Lykos in their magic form, she had yet to see one turning from human. There was no painful rearranging of bones, or tearing through clothing. The air around her appeared to shimmer like pavement on a day where the sun is scorching everything. There is a twist and a flash, and where a woman once stood there is instead a beast almost as tall Zaria. She wished that she could think it grotesque, but it is beautiful in the way that most predators are. Sleek fur the color of hot cocoa, shot through with streaks of lavender. Powerful muscles visible through the pelt, and eyes sparkling like gems and laser focused as though they could see to her very soul. She didin't realize that Mina was moving already until Gu Cheng called out, "Do pay attention."
She rolled her eyes and readjusted her grip on her stun gun, her fingers finding the button that the little carton bunny seemed to point at with it's ears.
Mina was fast, each step a bound that brought her closer to what she obviously thought would be an easy meal. Her fur began to take on a silvery hue as she got approached. Ten meters,eight, five. At three, the muscles in her hind legs bunched up and hurled her forward, teeth and claws bared. At the last second, Zaria ducked down, claws raking shallow gouges in her shoulder as the wolf twisted in the air to attack before landing. She reached up and jabbed the stungun into the exposed belly above her, crossing the fingers on her other hand.
A shriek, startling human coming from the slathering jaws of something decidedly not so, filled the air. Mina crashed to the ground and skidded on the grass several meters before stopping. The frost covering her fur, courtesy of Gu Cheng, was melting and creating the perfect medium to amplify the electricity from the stun gun. Zaria hurried across the grass, hoping to get the final blow in, but Mina was already staggering to her feet, a low growl vibrating the air around her. She cautiously moved to the side, circling the human that packed a painful punch.
"Please, stop this now. I don't want to hurt you. It's not your fault. It's the One's making you feel this way." Zaria tried to plead with the woman, but her lips pulled back from her sharp teeth in response.
As soon as Mina's body tensed to spring forward again, the ground beneath her turned to a sheet of ice and her paws slipped from beneath her. Mina landed hard, her jaw smacking into the ground, teeth cutting into her tongue. Blood dripped onto the sheet of ice below her, freezing on contact. Zaria did not hesitate, darting forward, the ground beneath her feet melting before each step could land. With only one area of skin exposed, and no idea how much protection the fur would give, Zaria took a deep breath and wrapped one arm around the neck of the giant wolf and placed her bare hand across the soft velvety nose below the baleful eyes.