Jal tossed his head, feeling strength ripple down from his proud antlers, across his broad shoulders and through his strong legs.
‘Defiant?’ Ellechino responded. ‘You may feel strong, deer boy, but in the end, you are still prey.’
And he began to transform. His cloak and mask dropped to the ground as the horrible, hybrid beast of earlier erupted from within. He lunged toward the river, his powerful cat legs rippling with the movement.
The animal in Jal wanted to run, as he had wanted to run when he first came face to face with those red eyes. But the human had seen something. He forced himself to overcome the almost unbearable pull of instinct, folded his legs underneath him, and dropped into the flow of the river. In an instant he was swept away from the cat-wolf, which began howling w
