Fever Blood

Chapter 35: War Paint

Another sound sent the three warriors whirling around. A small scrape, barely enough to alert them under normal circumstances, now sounded like a lion's roar. Slowly advancing, muscles tensed like a coiled spring, Skaria held her daggers out, ready for anything.

"Boo!" shouted a dark shape that suddenly appeared right by Skaria. The female mercenary jumped and went to give the dark shape a few new bleeding holes before she recognized it. Thaen smiled at her, which was even more frightening. Now, Laidu understood exactly why the Reforged were so feared.

Thaen had been a shade of muted brown with streaks of grey before. The fur on top of his head and a bit on the jaw, where on a human a beard would be, had been a darker shade of brown, a richer umber, while the inside of his two giant ears was a soft, fuzzy light pink. All that was gone now, changed and painted over.

Most of his fur was now jet black, sleek and shiny. Thaen's ear twitched slightly, but the inside was not pink anymore. Inky black fur made him indistinct, but it wasn't as striking as what else he had on now.

Scarlet lines encircled his forearms, circling patterns that swirled up to his triceps and biceps. All of the lines had tiny spikes and hooks painted on the lines. Red thorns. There were more peeking out, encircling Thaen's torso, and Laidu saw some climbing up his friends neck, across his chest, spiraling and whorling about the now jet-black pelt. 

His face was quite terrifying. Thaen's eye sockets were painted bright cherry red, matching his eyes. His mouth and lips were painted scarlet, like blood, and longer spikes went up and down, almost like fangs. The crimson lines continued, past his lips, climbing into his cheekbones, almost up to his ears, as if his mouth had been cut at the edges. The block of red over his eyes flowed down, tracing the path of tears with jagged scarlet lines.

He would have looked terrifying if he wasn't dangling from a tree with a big goofy grin on his face. "So, you like it?" he asked, swinging from side to side a bit. 

"What is it?" Skaria asked.

"The Reforged wears little armor. Instead, they cloak themselves with their enemies' fear." He smiled. "Only the Reforged wear the red. Most soldiers wear the black as well. But not the yellow or white." He reached up, grabbed the tree branch his knees were hooked around, and flipped himself over. "So, we strike at nightfall, right?" Karik'ar nodded. "Okay. I have a few special presents to give them," he said. "Some rather volatile presents." Great. This was great. His friend wasn't just more confident. He was bloody insane!

***

The night was surprisingly quiet. Thaen was crouched on a branch, talons idly carving into the wood, letting little curling shavings of wood fall down around him. "Will you stop that?" Laidu hissed up at him. The shavings were falling on his head.

"Sorry," Thaen said. He checked the castle. A few lights flickered in the windows of the stone structure, but otherwise it was dark. "Now," he said after a short pause, "it's time to pay them a visit." He wore his loose shirt, the ties undone, showing some of his chest through the slits, along with the whorls of thorns that played across his muscle and fur. He gripped down on the branch, dark fur glistening in the moonlight. But not around the coil of rope he wore like a sash. 

He held out his left hand, and the cluster of leathery membranes snapped open, the bones scissoring out and the membrane stretching and expanding. Thaen had painted these too with a combination of red lightning bolts and thorns. The membrane started at his hips, stretching to the first of four bones , and then to each one. Laidu could see the small ribbonlike muscle bands twitching as they relaxed, letting the membrane slide free. His legs wobbled, but his arms remained strong as he launched himself off. His body launched into the air, and he flew.