The wolf backed away, opening a gap for me to flee into the woods. But before I could do so, the golden-haired and golden-eyed woman was there, her eyes flashing with fiery determination.

They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. This woman looked just like the Mistress, except that her features were the polar opposite. Where the Mistress was night, she was day. Her eyes were alive and vibrant, filled with past joys and pain, so unlike the Mistress' which blazed cold hatred. Despite looking physically young, I could see an ancient knowledge buried behind those shimmering orbs as I locked gazes with her.

I found myself in a fight for my life. One end of that wickedly shaped weapon jabbed jabbed at my head, and I dodged, only to find that the other end of the double bladed staff was sweeping underfoot, and I had to jump to prevent my legs from being severed. Darting forward, I swiped my claws at my opponent. Flexibly bending like a willow in the wind, the woman avoided the fatal blow, and returned one of her own. Her blade slammed into my side, protruding out from the other end of my midriff.

She backed away, staring warily at me. Snarling with pain, I wanted to curl up into a ball, but I could feel a dangerous rage overtaking me. In that mode, I would go berserk, not caring what manner of wounds were inflicted upon me. I would tear up all living creatures within my reach, until I would regain my sanity, only to find myself covered with blood and gore, dead and dying shifters surrounding me. I struggled against the waves of pain, refusing to succumb to it. I did not want to have gaps in my memory again.

Hissing, I gripped the haft of the double glaive, slowly drawing it out of my body. Red sap leaked out of me, but it soon stemmed as the hole closed up. Once the softly glowing blade had been totally taken out, I bared my teeth. Saliva was dripping from my monstrous maw as I flung the weapon to one side.

The woman's eyes were unreadable as they flicked from her weapon and back to me. I snarled, purely to try to get a reaction from her, but she merely blinked once. Her predatory stillness sent a frisson of fear down my spine. I hadn't known anyone who could face monstrous me so calmly.

Then, with feline grace, she leapt at me. Stillness into motion. Like a bullet from my father's hunting rifle she came. I braced myself, preparing for her slender form. What slammed into me instead knocked the breath from my body.

Her golden hair and green lacquered armour dissolved into dark fur scattered with golden rosettes. All the weight of a full grown panther, muscles rippling under its loose hide, crashed into me. Stiletto blades pierced deep, and opened long, deep, wounds as the panther's paws dragged downwards. I staggered, lashing out at it. However, I struck thin air.

Piercing pain at my ankle. I looked down. A snake, with iridescent green scales glared up at me, its fangs sunk into my flesh. I jerked my foot sharply into the air, flinging the meter long body upwards. The fangs glided out of the puncture marks. I reached out to grab the serpent and crush it to death, but before I could do so, its form shimmered and shrank, becoming more compact. A flash of golden brown, and blood started pouring down over my eye, as the hawk raked me with its talons.

A shriek, much like the one I had heard earlier, and the bird plummeted down in front of me, expanding into that accursed woman with golden hair and eyes. How could this be? No Shifter had more than one form, yet this woman who looked so much like... no I cannot say. It had to be sorcery of some sort; she had used at least 3 animal forms, shifting with a speed that I had not seen anyone use before.

Venom pumped through my system, causing my head to feel a little woozy. I steeled myself. I had to get out of here.

A tilted head from the woman had her hair curling over her shoulders, revealing tapered ears. Before I could think further on it, an overwhelming force crashed into the back of my head. Like a circuit that had been broken, I lost control of my body and fell to the ground. The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was the woman picking up her double bladed weapon.

~

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