Lana stirred, coughing against the choking sensation of the water. She retched onto the rock beside her, water spluttering from her mouth, her chest aching with the force of her body expelling the unwanted liquid from her lungs. Lana's head pounded, thwarting her acute senses. Trembling, her hand went to her forehead and the sticky feel of blood covered her fingers.

The feel of the cool, hard rock beneath her, the damp smell it held and the mist of water that covered her skin even though her clothes were already wet, reached her senses. Panic and confusion set in, and it took a moment for her thoughts to catch up with her to remember what had happened. She had been attacked on the balcony. The motions, the sounds, the sharp smell of fear mixed with the stale sweaty smell of the attacker, and the rough, painful touch of it, came racing back to her. Someone had attacked her at her weakest.

Lana's attention was suddenly drawn elsewhere. Something was happening close by. Someone was struggling and gasping. The distinct sound of bones crunching cut through everything else and the sound of the struggling and gasping ceased instantly.

Lana sobbed a raspy gasp. Disorientated with the sound of the waterfall, the spray and her throbbing skull, she had no idea which was the safest direction to take. Somehow, she had made it to the side of the waterhole that was all she could discern. In the past, Jale had guided her down to the waterhole, so she was aware of the amount of rocks surrounding it. It was a fair guess that was where she was now. Defeat drew in. There was no way she could make a quick escape. At present, she couldn't even determine which way the waterhole lay with the sound of the waterfall all around her.

Her only defense in a situation like this was to freeze. Just like an animal. The instinctual act of hoping the attacker would walk straight past without noticing her. It was not to be so. Lana sensed someone approach. She held her breath. Her body trembled with fear. Whoever had attacked would see their task to the end.

Lana drew in her breath and frowned as the smell of animal flooded her nose. It was the smell of damp fur and hot breath mixed in with the smell of something familiar.

Lana reached out her hand and gasped as she made contact with wet but warm and soft fur.

"Teal?" she whispered.

<<<>>>

Under the balcony of the waterfall palace, a stone staircase zig-zagged its way down the rock to reach the waterhole below. Jale jumped down several steps in one go when he rounded a corner and then continued again as fast as he could. His sword was at the ready in his hand, not knowing what he would encounter when he reached the bottom. Behind him, Ralen followed close at his heels.

This was where Jale's soldier training kicked in. Lana's piercing scream had woken him, had woken all of them from their lazy slumber. The Emperor's guards had swarmed the balcony immediately, surrounding the Emperor and guiding him to a secure room until the cause of the scream could be determined.

A soldier had come racing forward and had informed Jale he had seen Lana fall over the balcony. He had said that Teal had jumped in after her. Fear pounded in Jale's chest. Fear was something he had learnt not to be afraid of as a soldier. He held onto it, used it, let it guide him, and channelled it for extra strength.

The Emperor would remain under protection with his personal guard until Galton and Satner had secured the palace. Twelve men standing with the Emperor, all of whom would die before letting anything happen to their leader. Not that their security was imperative, the Emperor could more than hold his own in a battle. But the nerve of it. For them to attack at the end of the Midsummer Festival of all things, in this place, and right under their noses. And Lana of all people!

Jale's mind raced as to why she had been targeted. Did she know something she hadn't informed him of? Had she heard something without realizing? Was it merely a warning to back off? Was it simply Lana being in the wrong place at the wrong time?

The last of the stairs appeared. Jale skidded to a stop on the gravelly rocks and set his mind to neutral. Lana, their beloved Lana, was she dead?

A soldier was waiting and walked with Jale down the two-meter path that led to the waterhole. More soldiers were already there, standing back not knowing what to do, their facial appearances a mixture of fear and disbelief.

Jale's heart rose to his throat. What had they seen? He pushed past the men and stopped short as he came upon the group of soldiers on guard, arrows at the ready, swords in their hands, ready and waiting for the order to attack.

Jale closed his eyes and opened them slowly, steadying his surprise. He raised his hand on the cusp of the circle and signalled for everyone to hold, to not move or attack. Without Galton or Satner present they would take his orders. Some had even fought by his side all those years ago when he had been but a soldier in the Emperor's military.

Jale kept his hand in the air and took a deep breath. He needed time to process what he was looking at and what he was going to do.

It was good that the soldiers had waited, that they hadn't acted because Jale seriously didn't know who would have come off better. Not by the mutilated corpse off to one side and their blood staining the rock in a splattered wide circle.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

It wasn't just the blood.

There in front of him, on a long slab of rock, Lana sat and beside her, its silvery coat with black streaks tarnished and covered in the bright red of blood, was a tiger.

Large but calm, magnificent and powerful, it sat regal in its presence. The tiger's attention had turned to Jale as soon as Jale had appeared, and it looked at him with its two large cerulean eyes. Jale knew those eyes, he knew them well. They were the same eyes of his lover. The same eyes that belonged to Teal. The tiger was Teal. It was impossible, unfathomable to think. There though, right in front of him, the impossible was real. The impossible was a tiger who had just been human.

The calm that Jale had always managed to possess in an emergency and that had propelled him to advancement in the Emperor's military, came forth. Lana was hurt. She was weak and disorientated leaning heavily on the tiger beside her. But it was the tiger that would have to be dealt with first.

"The tiger turned angry when we tried to approach," a senior soldier whispered into Jale's ear. "Growled and its ears went back. We didn't want the same thing to happen to the Emperor's concubine as to the corpse over there."

"You did the right thing," Jale whispered back in response. He nodded in the direction of the decapitated man. "I'm assuming that was the person who attacked her?"

"We assume so," the solider replied. "He was already dead when we arrived and the tiger was by her side. We can't get anywhere near her."

Jale pursed his lips. The Emperor had asked Teal to protect the concubines and he had done so. The soldiers couldn't get close but could he? The tiger had not been bothered by his arrival so far. Jale's thoughts went back to the old Kindra tale, of the Lombock who had bonded with its owner and protected him until his dying day. Had Teal bonded with Lana instead of him as they had originally suspected? A swirl of jealously ran through Jale's body at the thought. He shoved it aside.

Even if that was so, even if Teal had bonded with Lana, she still needed medical attention. Someone was going to have to be brave enough to approach. The soldiers had given a means for the tiger to escape, an opening in their defense where it could turn and run off into the forest if it wanted to. The tiger hadn't fled though. Instead, it had remained close to Lana's side.

Would Teal remember him?

There was only one way to find out. Slowly, Jale passed his sword and held it out towards the senior soldier at his side. "Take this. Kill the tiger, if it tries to kill me."

From the corner of his eye, Jale saw the soldier nod and signal for those present to hold back but prepare for possible attack. Jale turned and focused all of his attention on the tiger. The prospect of being ripped to shreds was not appealing. He took one look at Lana, the blood seeping down the side of her face, her uncharacteristic pale skin and blueish lips. There was no choice about it. It was down to him to make the move.

Jale made eye contact with the tiger once again, took a deep breath, held his hands out to show that he was unarmed, and took a step forward.

The tiger's ear pricked forward, but it otherwise didn't move or make a sound. Alert, Jale noted that it wasn't poised to attack. That wasn't confirmation enough however. He was well aware that the tiger could pounce and kill him at any moment especially with the large claws he was sure it possessed.

Again, Jale took another step forward.

"Lana," he said softly. "I'm coming towards you. Do not move. You're still in danger."

Lana didn't respond, her body still slumped half against the rock and half against the tiger. Jale's concern for her was paramount. The swelling and bruising on her head, was more than significant. She was conscious, he reminded himself, and that was the most important thing.

He took another step forward and still the tiger didn't move. Jale could feel the soldiers at his back, straining to resist the urge to let the first arrow fly. A bead of sweat or maybe water from the waterfall, trickled down the side of his throat. His heart pounded.

Jale reached the rock, his eyes still trained on the tiger and reached out with his hands, fingers grazing over the rock until they landed on the material of Lana's wet dress. Would the tiger let him touch her? He held his breath, waited and let his fingers touch her skin. Without breaking eye contact, Jale leaned down and pulled Lana towards him, gathering her into his arms, balancing carefully on the rocks at his feet.

"Come with me," he said to the tiger, feeling ridiculous for uttering the words.

The tiger blinked, lowered its head and rose to its feet. Jale swallowed but his mouth was dry. Expecting the worst, Jale turned and put his back to the animal. It was not because he was wanting to be daring. It was out of sheer necessity to make his way back over the rocks and to the path that would lead up to the palace.

Jale glanced over his shoulder and to his surprise, the tiger calmly took a step onto another rock closer to Jale to follow him. Jale let out a slow, long breath and took another step. The entire way, Jale could feel the tiger slowly following his steps, a shadow. A shadow that could dig its claws into his flesh and tear him into pieces in a flash, and with Lana in his arms, Jale wouldn't even have a chance to defend himself.

The soldiers moved back creating a path for Jale, their weapons still drawn. Disbelief and amazement covered their faces.

"Take her," Jale said when he reached Ralen.

Looking grim, Ralen pulled Lana into his arms. Without a word, he turned and hurried up the steps to the palace. Slowly, Jale twisted on the rock. The tiger was now staring intently at Ralen's back.

"Just for future reference," Jale said, a touch of sarcasm in his voice. "We usually like to keep potential threats alive to try to question them."

Jale's thoughts went to the young man who had been so ever present on his mind. Without knowing why, Jale slowly reached his hand out. His heart pounded, but the tiger merely watched him, blinking only once and expelling its warm breath onto Jale's skin. Jale dared to reach out further and then, he felt the fur underneath his fingers. It was warm and damp around the side of the tiger's face. He froze. What he was doing?

The tiger had tilted and leaned his head into the touch.

"Come back to me," Jale whispered.

It happened in the blink of an eye, a shiver that flowed through the tiger's body like a shockwave, a ripple through time. The space around the tiger appeared to distort and shimmer...