Mauled by Destiny [Tales of the Citadel 17]

  A brutal attack changed her life and turned her into a monster with the power to defend those who cannot or will not defend themselves.

  Priina lived on a farm, and one night, she broke the laws of Cial and ventured through the wall to find some lost herd animals. She finds the remains of her beasts and is attacked by a creature that is far beyond her experience.

  She survives the encounter but is changed forever more by the exposure to the alien beast.

  Her people ship her off world so that her contamination will not spread into a susceptible population.

  Six years at Citadel Thoola gives her an education, self-control and an appreciation for the variety of species in the Alliance with their differences embedded in their very genes.

  She is summoned to active duty at Citadel Lowel and the man sent to collect her is the one who saved her six years earlier. Can Rhanos induce her into a partnership when she refuses to let her instincts rule her, even a little bit?

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  Mauled by Destiny

  Copyright © 2013 Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-77111-454-7

  Cover art by Martine Jardin

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

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  Mauled by Destiny

  Tales of the Citadel book 17

  By

  Viola Grace

  Chapter One

  Priina watched her flock, counting carefully.

  Two missing. “Damn it!”

  She climbed down from her perch and walked against the wall, looking for the spot where her beasts had slipped through. Her mother normally had the task of seeing to the wall at night, but when she fell from the stones and broke her leg Priina had been forced to leave school to help out at the farm.

  The coppery smell of blood sent a sense of unease through her. She flashed her light over the base of the wall where it met the field. Her beasts had clawed a hole, and something on the other side had finished it.

  She knelt and shone her light through the gap.

  Priina struggled out of her tool belt but took her light with her. She had to find out what happened to her varek. If there was a predator near the wall, her people needed to know.

  Struggling through the two-foot expanse of stone, Priina crawled on her belly toward the exterior of the wall. The blood lined the curve of carved stone under her, and she knew that varek bodies were what she was going to find.

  The moon and starlight was different when she exited the hole and stood. She kept her light off and at her side while she got her bearings. The wet trail of blood extended off into the night, so she followed with her senses on high alert.

  The remains were in savaged condition. Priina winced and realized that the warnings she had been given her entire life were not simply empty threats. There was something huge and dangerous outside the walls of the inner country, and she had just walked into its hunting ground.

  Having confirmed that her animals were slaughtered and did not need rescue, she made her way back to the wall, clinging to the edge and trying to blend in.

  She was ten feet away from the hole in the wall when she heard the low growl far too close to her.

  Instinct screamed at her to run, but she moved slowly, carefully feeling her way along the wall.

  She felt the first claw tear through her clothing and mark her arm. The second spun her around to face the long muzzle, red eyes and furred bulk.

  The long claws were covered with blood, as were the lips and jaws.

  Pain was burning her limbs and the scream froze in her throat as his gnashing teeth closed an inch from her neck.

  He struck her with his claws again and again when she didn’t react the way he wished her to.

  The only noise in the night was her ragged breathing and the harsh gasps of her attacker.

  Another growl suddenly sounded in the darkness, and her attacker was removed from her with the sweep of another clawed hand.

  Priina was beyond pain. She crawled back toward the hole and shifted herself through, inch by inch. Sobbing was no use, so she struggled to haul herself free of the gap. She grabbed for her tool belt and pulled the sealant free. Her hands slipped with blood, but she depressed the sealant and shot the entire canister in the gap.

  Now that she was free, she gasped and sobbed.

  Priina lifted her tool belt and hit the emergency signal. The beacon would bring help, and hopefully, she would survive to see it.

  * * * *

  Lights flared as the rescuers arrived. Instead of coming to her, they stilled a few feet away.

  She looked up at them, and they moved back as if seeing a ghost. “Help me, please.” It was what they needed to hear. She was strapped to a board and fluids were injected while they did their best to stop the bleeding.

  She let herself sleep for a moment, but the burning in her body was not going to let her rest long.

  * * * *

  A horrible scream woke her, and to her shock, it was her own voice as she fought restraints, her body tied to the medical bed.

  Her mother was at her side, but her younger sister was nowhere to be seen. Reeda Jarcor had tears tracking her cheeks, but she forced a smile when Priina stopped screaming. “Baby? Are you all right?”

  Priina licked her lips and tried to speak. It took a few efforts, but eventually, she said, “You tell me.”

  Reeda gasped out a sob of relief. “The doctors have been working hard to put you back together, baby.”

  Priina nodded and shifted, aware of every stitch and seal that her body was wearing. “Why does everyone look so worried?”

  “Baby, why did you go outside the wall?” Her mother stroked her hair back from her forehead.

  “The varek. Two were missing, and then, I found the hole. I had to make sure that they didn’t need help. It is the duty of the shepherd.” The doctor came forward and put his hand on Reeda’s shoulder. “Wait outside, Ms. Jarcor. I have something to discuss with your daughter.” Priina felt a strange strength in her limbs.

  “Mom, I will be fine. I am not going anywhere.”

  Her mother gave her a watery smile and limped out of the patient room.

  The doctor beckoned another one over, and the rest of the staff left the room.

  They stood together at the foot of her bed and looked at her with matching serious expressions.

  “Do you know what you were exposed to?” Priina blinked. It was obvious that they knew, so why were they asking her? “Something sharp.” The one on the left barked a laugh. “That it was.

  Did you get a good look at it?” She nodded. The burning eyes and the dripping jaws were etched in her memory. “It was a monster.”

  The one on the right nodded. “Do yo
u know why we built the wall?”

  Priina recited what they learned in school. “We built the wall to protect us against a world that would change us. We were designed to adapt and boost other species and they would change us. To remain Cial, we had to wall ourselves in to keep them out.”

  They nodded. The one on the right said, “Well, you went out, and they changed you. They almost killed you, but they changed you. Time will tell how much.”

  Priina frowned. “What do you mean?” The doctor on the right smiled tightly. “We mean that you cannot live within the city any longer and transport has been arranged for you.” Priina tried to sit up, but the bonds kept her in place. “What? My mother, my sister…”

  “Will be taken care of. An assistant will be assigned to help with the farm. Farmers are our backbone after all. We need to take care of you.” He smiled helpfully and left the room.

  The remaining physician looked at her and came around to her side. “The Lyran regret your exposure to one of their more vicious members.

  They are paying for your rehabilitation and your placement at the Citadel Girls School at Thoola.

  They will see you through your adjustment phase.”

  “Lyran?”

  “One of the many races who live outside the walls of our city, Priina. Perhaps when you have controlled that which struggles to rise within you, you can return to Drevvin.”

  She swallowed. “Has anyone else ever returned here?”

  He mimicked her mother’s motion of stroking her hair. “No one else has ever survived a Lyran attack. You are a first.”

  Priina snapped the cuff holding her right arm down and looked at the blood-dotted bandages. “I really hope that I am the last.” Two days later, her mother kissed her hand as she was transported into the shuttle that would take her to the transport. “It’s all right, Mom. I will be fine. I will write and message as often as I am able.”

  Her mother was sobbing, and the kindly physician from the hospital put his arm around her shoulders. Priina watched in shock as he moved with the ease of long experience touching Reeda. He met her gaze, and she recognized her own dark eyes in his face.

  He spoke softly. “I will make sure she is taken care of, Priina. Be well and keep in touch.”

  “Why didn’t you…”

  He patted her fingers. “Tradition, Priina. We are all slaves to the society that our ancestors carved out.”

  She fought the tears in her eyes as she was carried into the shuttle and strapped into place for take off. The medical attendant sedated her, and as the shuttle rumbled to life, Priina was lost to darkness.

  Chapter Two

  It had been six years since Priina arrived on Thoola, six years and countless changes to her body that did not involve her scars fading.

  “Priina, Priiiiinnnnaaaaa.” A hand waved in front of her eyes, and Priina smiled at her friend Yali.

  “What?”

  “You were millions of miles away.” Yali had the interesting orange skin and bright green hair that her people were so proud of, it made her very difficult to ignore.

  “Actually, I was very much in my own skin.” She stroked her forearm with its casing of the tight flesh-coloured bodysuit.

  “You look fine, Priina. You always look fine.” Yali smiled, showing her blue teeth.

  The violent colours of her species always helped Priina to smile. “Thank you, but I don’t think that the recruiters are coming to see my personal presentation.”

  A recruiter for Citadel Lowel was coming, and Priina was being encouraged to let her wild side out for public viewing.

  The wildness that was now part of her had taken years to control. Her physical shift was still a foreign experience, but she could manage to shift in and out of her new body with dexterity.

  “No, they want to see you run, jump and lift your way through the obstacle course that the rest of us have been working on in the courtyard.” Yali chuckled. “It is going to be quite the event.”

  “I can’t wait.” She took a sip of her tea and noticed that her nerves were having an effect on her body. Her nails were long and thick, clinking against her cup.

  The dining hall was full. The girls who had come to Thoola for education in standard matters as well as to learn to control psychic and physical talents gossiped, giggled and lived lives that were surprisingly normal considering the power that they wielded.

  “I am looking forward to it. The Citadel personnel who work with the Sector Guard are the best of the best, and no one outmatches Udell. I think that you winning placement at the Lowel Citadel would suit you. You are the best of the best, Priina. It is time you started believing it.” Priina snorted. “I was mauled, and my biology copied my attacker. That is not the same as being born with a talent.”

  Yali grabbed her hand, heedless of the claws.

  “But you have adapted to something that you had no right to expect. You were going to live your life as a farmer. That was it. You would find a nice man, get pregnant and register him at your record’s office. That was going to be your life.” Priina swallowed and took another sip of tea. “I met my father on my last day at home. He was next to my mother when they loaded me on the shuttle.”

  “Is that not usual?”

  “No. The women own the businesses, and the men run the service industries. He’s a doctor, and I never got his name.” She sighed and squeezed Yali’s hand a little too hard. She let go when her friend winced.

  “Can’t you ask your mother?”

  “No. It isn’t done. Besides, she is pregnant with another baby right now. She has other things to think about.”

  Her mother and sister had gone on with their lives. Her sister now ran the farm, and her mother had one son and another baby on the way. It was Cial tradition to replace a lost child, and her mother was going to continue until she got another daughter.

  Two instructors appeared at the door of the dining hall. “Apprentice Priina Jarcor, you are summoned to prove yourself.”

  Priina set down the cup and got to her feet. She hugged Yali and turned to follow the instructors who had helped her come to grips with the changes in her body.

  The light of day made her smile as they exited the enclosed environment of the Citadel. The wall around it was blissfully familiar, and it had helped her feel more at home than any other feature at her new home. She enjoyed being enclosed.

  Once outside the wall and gate, she faced a shuttle and two masculine figures that provided a very dashing image. One of the two hooked her attention. She couldn’t help her blush, he smelled great even from thirty feet away.

  The other one smelled fine, even interesting, but he didn’t come close to the man next to him.

  The less interesting male came forward. “Thank you, Instructors. Is she prepared?” Priina answered him. “Do you wish me to begin now?”

  He smiled. “Please.”

  She slipped off her student robes and then peeled off her suit until she was wearing nothing but skin and scars. The instructors backed away, and she let the change wash over her. It took three seconds, but the moment her transformation was complete, she began the running portion of the course.

  Her toes dug into the ground and propelled her onward as she went to all fours. Her muscles bunched and extended, revelling in being able to work to their full capacity. Once the running was over, she had to flip chunks of stone end over end.

  After that, it was a dexterity test with assembly of a puzzle. It was particularly awkward with her claws, but she managed it and returned to the instructors to shift back and retrieve her clothing.

  Slow applause came from the two men who were watching her. The attractive one stepped forward. “May I take a turn?”

  She nodded as she slipped into her bodysuit and tugged her robes into place. “Be my guest.” One of the instructors raised her hand and reset the course.

  Priina’s mouth opened as he shifted into a form eerily similar to her own transformation. Her skin grew clammy as he moved wi
th the lightning speed she remembered, and her tea rose to the surface as he flicked the stones over with one hand. His claws were almost dainty as he completed the puzzle.

  He sprinted back and shifted into his more socially acceptable form inches from her. “I am very glad that you managed to adapt, Cial.”

  “I am glad that you stopped your clan member, Lyran.” She licked her lips.

  He grinned and inhaled deeply, closing his eyes with pleasure. When he opened them, his gaze was direct. “You remember me then?”

  “It would be hard to forget. The details of that night are carved into my flesh.” He nodded. “I regret that I did not get there sooner, but we did not know he was hunting near the wall.”

  She smiled brightly. “May I learn your name?”

  “Rhanos Garvik of the Tress Clan.” He inclined his head with his hand over his heart.

  She followed his example with her fist over her heart instead of an open palm in the Cial tradition.

  “Priina Jarcor of the Jarcor farm.” The smug male came forward. “Argen Tapz, pleased to meet you.”

  He extended his hand, and the moment she made contact with him, he jerked violently. He hissed and released her. “Well, you pack more of a wallop than Rhanos does. Impressive.” She tilted her head. “I don’t understand.” Rhanos pulled his companion aside and away from Priina. “Argen is a power sensor. It is less useful and more useful than you can imagine. It does make him an excellent recruiter.” Argen chuckled. “Well, you have met the power requirement, but there is an untrained quality about your energy. I believe that working with Rhanos to focus your energy will be a benefit.

  But, you do require practice before assignments can be considered.”

  “Practice? I thought I was pretty good at it.” Priina frowned.

  Rhanos took a step closer to her. “You are very good at it for someone who came to the shift so late. You do need to learn to listen to your instincts.”