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The Last Shemale Queen

A sequel to The Seduction of Seleste

What Tala Did

Chapter 19

Yatokya awoke when Seleste grabbed his shoulder and shook him frantically. He was on the floor, on sleeping furs that Seleste had given to him and Tala when she returned from the sea of ice that evening. They had then taken supper, laughing and talking as Tala and Achai exchanged playful banter, and afterward, everyone had gone to bed.

Yatokya remembered falling asleep with Tala curled in his arms. He lay awake with her for a long time, just smiling at her happily, sometimes kissing her head as she slept. That she loved him in return . . . it was still sinking in. But he knew he was the happiest male in the world when she kissed him goodnight - so tenderly and so sweetly.

Now he was being shaken awake by Tala's mother, and Tala was no where in sight. Seleste's pale eyes were bright with fear, and beside her, Achai's face was creased with worry.

"Tala is gone!" Seleste cried as Yatokya sat up. "I think she may have done something. I must to the sea of ice. I need you to stay here with Achai --"

"No!" Yatokya and Achai shouted with one voice.

Achai grabbed his mother's tail. "Mom . . . I'm coming with you!"

Yatokya got to his feet. "Me too. I can't allow you to --"

"You wouldn't be able to survive the sea of ice, my son," Seleste said and touched Yatokya's face. "Please - stay here."

Yatokya frowned at her concern but did not argue. His ears pricked forward. Something was happening outside - something bad. The three of them went to the window. Seleste gasped.

Outside, foxes were gathering in the courtyard - mostly nobles in white gowns, robes, and skirts, sparkling with gold jewelry as bright as their angry eyes. Many armed warriors were starting to gather. Yatokya gulped. Carrying torches.

"They sound angry," Yatokya said. "Really angry."

The heated chatter of the foxes grew louder. The warriors started going around to the homes of the frost wolves. Doors were kicked open, houses set aflame as frost wolves were dragged into the courtyard by their manes. Many were forced to their knees, but the ones that resisted were gutted immediately. Yatokya winced, and beside him, Seleste covered Achai's eyes.

"What's happening!" Achai wailed. "I wanna see!"

"No, you don't, kid," Yatokya said darkly.

The screaming and wailing began, the smell of the smoke curled across the sky. Frost wolves were lined up and cut down. Dark blood spread across the white cobbled stones. It was an execution, malicious and meticulous.

A male and female were dragged from their home and made to kneel near the fountain. A warrior each stood behind them and drew their swords. Yatokya turned his face away just in time. Beside him, he heard Seleste stifle a scream behind her paw, and when he looked again, the male and female were lying side by side. Dead.

Yatokya jerked the curtain shut. "We have to get out of here! We have to find Tala - Seleste! Snap out of it!"

Tala's mother had backed away and was staring, unseeing, tears shimmering in her eyes. Achai grabbed her arm and shook her, coaxing her to come back to them. Yatokya took a halting step toward Seleste and grabbed her face. Her shimmering eyes finally clicked and she came back.

"Is there a way out of the house? A back door?" Yatokya pressed.

Seleste's lashes fluttered, then her face hardened. "There's only one way out. We will have to fight." She glanced anxiously at Achai, who was listening to the screaming outside in horror.

"Do you have a weapon I could use?" Yatokya pressed. "Anything?"

Seleste shook her head. "Frost wolves are not permitted weapons. Just take care of Achai and stay behind me. We must run for the palace. The king and queen will protect us." She looked at Achai. "Do you understand, my little one? To the palace! Take Yatokya and run and don't look back!"

Achai's lip trembled. "Mom . . ."

Seleste snatched Achai into her arms and hugged him fiercely.

Yatokya watched them sympathetically. He couldn't understand why Seleste was determined that they run to the palace. The fountain seemed to be a fully functional portal that would, no doubt, take them far away from the fighting!

Before Yatokya could voice his protests, the door was kicked in. In barreled two armed foxes, brandishing swords and clad in white skirts. Seleste scowled and lifted her paw. The warriors were sent flying out. Outside, the foxes screamed and shouted angrily.

Seleste's face was twisted with fury. She looked at Yatokya, her eyes hard. "Come."

Yatokya swallowed hard, unable to imagine how they were going to escape. There were dozens of foxes gathering out there and three of them! And how would they find Tala? His heart beat hard. Oh god. Please let Tala be alive!

Yatokya looked down when he felt Achai hug his arm. He closed his big paw on the boy's head and massaged as Seleste went out the door. Screams immediately rose, followed by cracks and nasty crunches. Yatokya glanced out the window: Seleste had sent the foxes flying left and right with telekinesis. They smacked into walls at such incredible speeds that they died on impact.

"Remember - to the palace, squirt," Yatokya said and took Achai's paw in his.

Achai nodded grimly. "Let's go."

They stepped outside. Yatokya's mouth dropped open to see Seleste levitating off her feet. She swooped at the foxes, sending them flying, screaming, and wheeling through the air. It was all she seemed able to do, though. She did not seem to have any destruction magic, and Yatokya was not surprised: frost wolves could not cast it.

"You think you're going to rebel? We think you're going to die!"

"Grab that frost wolf brat - other there!"

A small frost wolf boy had been running stealthily behind the houses. Having been spotted, he gasped and ran faster. The foxes leapt after him. One snatched him up by the scruff. He kicked and fought, but the other grabbed his legs.

"We should keep this one alive," said one.

The other snorted. "Why?" He drew his blade, but it suddenly flew from his paw - and then he flew ten feet and hit a wall.

The other frost wolf dropped the boy and backed away as Seleste swept low across the ground toward him. She was furious. She waved her paw in a sweeping motion and the fox went flying.

Smiling at the boy who crouched before her, Seleste held out her paw. The boy hesitated, but seeing the kind smile in her eyes, he rose and took her paw in his. Seleste's eyes found Yatokya and Achai, and she shouted for them to run to the palace. They did.

"Look - the weird one! Get him!"

The foxes charged toward Achai.

"Shit," Yatokya hissed. He ran faster, dragging a breathless Achai along with him. They cut across the open courtyard as warriors barreled after them. Two warriors barred their path. Yatokya ducked his head and rammed one aside with his shoulder. The other tried to grab Achai, who kicked him in the shin, then followed up with a kick in the nuts. The fox fell away sobbing.

"Nice one!" Yatokya cried and lifted his paw for a high-five.

Achai slapped his paw against Yatokya's, but he looked past him, and fear widened his eyes. "MOM!"

Yatokya followed the boy's gaze. He stiffened in horror. Seleste had been stabbed with a sword. She staggered on the spot, clutching the blade that protruded from her belly. She had killed her attacker, but another warrior was coming up on her, sword raised.

"SELESTE!" Yatokya ran hard for her, his face set and grim. He punched the warrior down, elbowed another in the face, and managed to catch Seleste as she was falling. They went down together, and Yatokya knelt, cradling her close in his arms, as all around them, foxes slew frost wolves.

The screams around them were bloodcurdling. Some of the frost wolves had become trapped in their burning homes. They were burning alive. Many frost wolf pups ran back and forth, tears in their eyes. A young teen frost wolf was grabbed by her mane. The fox squeezed her tit from behind with a big red paw, and as she wept, hauled her into a dark alley, legs kicking and breasts flapping.

"Don't die on me," Yatokya whispered, gathering Seleste in his arms. "Do you hear me, Seleste? Seleste!"

Seleste muttered something unintelligible. Her eyes rolled in her head and she passed out.

It took Yatokya a moment to realize the boy Seleste had rescued was crouched beside him, crying.

"Is she gonna die?" the boy said hoarsely.

"What's your name?" Yatokya asked him.

His eyes filled with more tears and he wiped them away with the back of his wrist. "Zy . . ." he sniffed. "Zyanya . . ."

"Zyanya," Yatokya repeated, "stay close to me, alright? We're going to get out of here."

Zyanya nodded wretchedly.

Yatokya staggered to his feet, holding Seleste close to his chest. There wasn't much time - the foxes didn't have that many frost wolves to kill! He winced when a frost wolf pup was grabbed by the mane . . . and its throat was slit.

Yatokya suddenly realized Achai wasn't with him. "ACHAI!" he bellowed, trying not to give in to panic. His eyes darted over the crowds for Tala's brother and his heart stopped: Achai was standing at the bottom of the palace stairs, sending foxes back as they came at him. His fangs were bare in a grimace; his mane was in his eyes. But the foxes just kept coming. He was spreading his paws toward the sky when Yatokya ran to him.

Yatokya skidded to a halt and almost fell when the ground trembled violently. His eyes popped. "What the hell was that?" Beside him, Zyanya whimpered in fear.

Achai smiled sinisterly at something beyond Yatokya's shoulder. Yatokya followed his gaze and stiffened: the giant statues in the courtyard had come to life. They stamped now among the chaos, crushing the foxes to bloody smears. The foxes ran like frightened rabbits, their screams of horror cut short each time a gold foot came down.

"Argh --!"

STOMP.

_ _

CRACK.

"RUNNNNNN!"

STAMP.

_ _

"Oh my god!"

_ _

"What the he --!"

_ _

SMUSH.

_ _

"Ahhhhh!"

"RUN! Run for your lives!"

Achai jerked his head at the fountain. "Let's go!" His skinny legs carried him off.

Holding Seleste close, Yatokya followed with Zyanya.

The water in the fountain was crimson with blood. Yatokya almost staggered over the male and female frost wolves who'd had their throats slit. The female's face was in the water and her eyes were open as tendrils of mane drifted sadly around her. The male had tumbled on the cobbled stones beside her, mercifully on his face, his incredibly long mane falling almost to his feet. Beside them, lying face up in a pool of blood, was a small female pup. Their child? Yatokya didn't want to think about it. He saw Zyanya's eyes brim with tears when he noticed the little family, and he hoped to the gods they weren't his family.

Yatokya glanced around at the fires, the fighting and screaming, and had to wonder when the hell the portal was going to work. Seleste was moaning his arms, and her blood was slicking down his fur. Before he could voice his concerns, the courtyard vanished, and his eyes were blinded by an intense light.

When the light cleared, Yatokya, Achai, and Zyanya were standing on a plate of ice. Many other such plates stretched endlessly toward the horizon. Meanwhile, shards of glass were everywhere. It took Yatokya a second to realize they were, in fact, crystal shards. They lay in sprinkles, glittering innocently in the moonlight.

"Tala!" Achai shouted happily.

Yatokya was relieved to see Tala standing in the distance. Her paws were bloody but she was otherwise unharmed. Bloody paws. His face tightened with anger. Now he understood just why the foxes had been so pissed: Tala broke their crystals! According to Honiahaka's writings, the foxes needed their crystals to keep the magic going in Miras Eii. Without them, they would eventually lose their powers. And the wolves would come.

Yatokya was suddenly furious. Because of Tala, so many had died! It didn't have to be this way; he knew it for a fact. Only that morning, as they lay together on the floor, they had exchanged the details of their adventures, and she had told him about her cousin, the prince of the foxes, and his plan to save the frost wolves. Aayan's plan had been much more practical: coax the foxes back into their old realm and their old magic, thus leaving the frost wolves free to break the crystals in their absence. But Tala's way had been reckless and shortsighted. And what was the result? Lives.

Tala looked their way when Achai called her name, her long pale mane whipping across her eyes in the wind. The boy ran to her, leaping nimbly across the plates of ice. He reached her and threw himself at her, hugging her tight.

"You're safe!" Yatokya heard him shouting. "You're alright!"

Tala touched the boy's mane affectionately, but her eyes went to Yatokya and they were horrified. "Mom!" she shouted. She flew to Yatokya. "What happened - oh god!"

"We have to keep going," Yatokya told her. "I'm guessing you broke the crystals and the foxes are pissed."

Tala glanced at Yatokya guiltily to hear the biting anger in his voice. She looked at Zyanya, who was shivering and crying, and he knew she was slowly realizing what had happened: the frost wolves had been massacred because of her actions. She seemed to slump, and she looked so pitiful, Yatokya wanted to hold her.

"Did you do all this, Tala?" Achai said in amazement. His pale eyes swept over the sea of ice, now devoid of the towering crystals. The ice seemed to go on forever, littered in the glittering shards, littered in all that remained. Achai was flabbergasted. He pushed his mane behind his ear and blinked once. Twice. Then his face slowly darkened and he looked at Tala angrily. "Answer me! Did you do it!"

"Yes," Tala answered dully, unable to look at him. Her bloody paws dangled lifeless at her sides; her tail dangled just as lifeless behind her. ". . . I did it." Her eyes suddenly filled with tears.

Achai's thin chest heaved. "How could you be so stupid --?"

"Achai," Yatokya scolded.

Achai shook his head, still glowering. He pointed at Tala with a trembling lip. "Mom could be dying because of you! Dying!"

Tala said nothing. She stared at her feet, and the wind picked up, dragging her mane across her eyes.

Yatokya turned away. "We should keep going," he repeated. He shivered as the cold crept over him. His breath came in a mist, and he could feel a chill in his fur, stabbing him like needles. Tala, Achai, and Zyanya, however, did not seem to notice his growing discomfort. And what was more, the cold did not seem to bother them in the slightest. A feeling of intense dread settled over Yatokya as he remembered his father's writings: only frost wolves, shemales, and foxes could survive the cold here. Shit.

Tala shook her head, her eyes fixed on Seleste. "But Mom is hurt." She glanced at her brother. "Achai . . . you think . . .?"

"I've never done it before," the boy said in a trembling voice, "but I can try. Put her down, Yato. And hurry!"

Yatokya took a knee and carefully obeyed. He and Tala knelt beside Seleste, and Zyanya hovered in the background as Achai closed his paws over her bloody wound. Tala took her mother's paw, watching miserably as Achai concentrated. Yatokya knew what he was trying to do. According to his father's writings, frost wolves used their healing powers to care for the crystals. But the power also worked on other beings.

Nothing happened. "Fuck!" Achai cried angrily. He closed his eyes and tried again. Light seeped from his fingers, eventually growing so strong that they had to turn their faces away. After some time, Yatokya heard a voice, "Language . . . Achai . . ."

Achai looked up, tears in his eyes as he laughed: Seleste was smiling at him. She reached weakly to touch his mane.

"Mom," Tala said, relieved. "I'm so sorry! I know this is my fault --"

Seleste frowned and touched her daughter's face to hush her. "Shh, Tala. Help Mommy up . . ."

Tala did as she was told. Yatokya watched, feeling cold to the marrow of his bones. He rubbed the backs of his arms desperately, and as Seleste sat up . . . he slipped down.

Several miles away, Yanaba slipped down as well.