Kyn 3: Feral by Mina Carter Page B

even though she couldn't see it herself from here. If Feral had been alert before, his attention was complete now, his body virtually humming with awareness.
    She stifled a scream when the creature came into view. An Ogre! She'd seen sketches of them in books. The sort of books carefully concealed in the houses of Pixies that lived outside Barrows, or that masqueraded as children's storybooks, just in case a human should catch sight of them.
    It wouldn't do if they ever found out that certain childhood tales were real. Sure some, like the Watchers and some Slayer groups knew the truth, but that was limited and carefully controlled. On average a single human was intelligent when confronted with the truth. It was humanity en-masse that was the problem. In a group they were fearful, intent on destroying anything they didn't understand.
    Which wouldn't be a bad thing at the moment she decided, wincing as the creature spotted Feral and roared. It charged with a speed it shouldn't have had, not being that large and misshapen. Like someone had taken a play-dough man and mushed it about a bit, distorting the joints and limbs into a hideous parody of the human form.
    But its face was perhaps the worst. Unlike Ogre's portrayed in films this creature wasn't the dumb, ambling, and ‘fairly easily beaten if you had a modicum of intelligence’
    creature they were generally made out to be. No, its deep set eyes gleamed with a malevolence and intelligence that was marked, even from this distance.
    Noticing the eyes though meant you had to tear your attention away from the teeth crammed into its mouth. Razor sharp and packed in like sardines, they glinted in the half-light as it roared. Tessa caught her breath as it bore down on Feral, imagining the damage those teeth would do if it got hold of him.
    The Ogre swung the massive club at Feral, going for a full body blow. There wasn't anything else you could call it, given the size of the thing it wasn't a weapon designed for pinpoint accuracy. Or any sort of accuracy.
    Feral ducked, sliding under the incoming blow and to the side with a feline grace. His fists flashed as he moved, blades glittered in the half light as he landed a solid blow on the Ogre. It bellowed again, swiping a heavily taloned hand at the Vampire that danced around it.
    The fight was fast and furious and despite how quick Feral was, it was quickly apparent to Tessa that the few blows the creature was managing to land were taking their toll.
    But each time Feral was knocked to the ground, he bounced back up again, shaking his head and bringing his fists back into the fight.
    Tessa winced with each blow. Closing her eyes was no better, she could still hear the sickening thud as flesh pounded into flesh. The heavy thumps as Feral hit the ground each time. She bit her lip, forced herself to watch as the Kyn Warrior tried everything to bring down the Ogre. He moved like lightening, a fearsome sight... she could see him on the streets, kicking ass and taking names. But here and now, he was out of his depth and struggling.
    Tears filled her eyes as he got swiped to the ground again, grunting in pain. Each time it was taking him longer and longer to get up. He couldn't keep this up. Frustration and hopelessness filled Tessa. He couldn't beat the Ogre, and when it was done with him, it would come after her and the baby.
    She should run, get out of here now and hope like hell she could outrun it, even though she knew that was unlikely. Despite the misshapen form Ogres were fast over ground, and could change direction on a dime. And her firefly trick? That wasn't going to work on a creature formed from the Witching.
    She should run, but she couldn't move. She couldn't leave him here like this, leave him here to die alone in the Night Plains. She knew what Ogres were, they were well known as flesh eaters and she couldn't bear to think of the man she loved desecrated that way.
    Whoa, loved? Where had that come from? She barely even