Monday's Tidbit (yet to be named trilogy)

Today's Tidbit comes from the new adult Quelondain trilogy.  Seriously, when it comes to shapeshifting tigers, Jasper is getting some competition.  :D  I'm absolutely loving writing about Kendall's adventure and I can't wait to see what else happens with this one.
Happy reading and stay safe!

:)  Mireille


“Grow up,” he mumbled to himself.  “You’re thirty and a bit old to be thinking the bad people are after you.”
But then again, it fit, didn’t it.  The men that were after him were definitely not good people.  By the moons, how had he managed to let himself get separated from the rest of his friends, though it served him right; he’d been the one daft enough to shift in front of them after knowing it was a bad idea to do so.  It had just been a reflex, really.  When a man comes at you with a dagger, it’s just easier to deal with when you’re a tiger.  Most bad people are scared of tigers.
He glanced at his surroundings.  It truly was beautiful here, in a strange and different kind of way.  He looked up at the starlit sky, searching for the moons to help lighten his mood.
Had Sarah really thought he’d meant to hurt her?  He wasn’t sure why it bothered him that she’d been so scared.  It had been the right thing to do, he argued with himself.  They’d never suspect she might have known what he was.  He growled.  What was wrong with these beings?
He remembered asking his dad what made some men bad and others good.  He’d just been a cub then, not much older than five.  His dad had shrugged and told him it was hard to tell, but that when he knew, he’d be sure to let Kendall know.  A year later, Kendall had watched from his hiding place under a blanket as his father had been killed simply because he could shift into a tiger.  His train of thought was interrupted by a noise to his left.  He froze.  The sound came again and he crouched low before making his way closer.
Kendall stared.  It was a child.  Should he leave?  Maybe it was a trap.  He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, careful not to reveal his position behind the bush.  He ran a hand through his shaggy black hair.  He turned to leave then stopped as another small sob shook the child’s tiny frame.  He growled.
“Damn it.”  He took another look around the woods, his light blue eyes processing anything that might be a threat before stepping out from behind the bush.  “Hello, there, Sweetling.  What seems to be the problem?”
The little girl jumped to her feet and pulled a dagger from her belt.  It was almost bigger than her.  Her own blue eyes were narrowed with suspicion and still full of tears.  Kendall held his hands up and away from his own dagger.  From the way she was holding hers in front of her he was sure she didn’t know how to use it.
“There, there, now.  No worries.  How old are you, Sweetling?”
“Six.”  Kendall had to strain to hear the answer.
“What’s your name?”  He squatted so he could look her in the eyes.  When he was standing she just came even to his hip.
“Reinstaboultalshatynn.”
Kendall fought the urge to gawk.  “Nice to meet you, Reinstab…”  He smirked and was glad to hear her giggle.  “Can I call you Rein?”
She nodded.
“I’m Kendall.”  He glanced around once more.  “Where are your mum and dad, Rein?”
A fresh stream of tears spilled down her face.  He patted the shoulder length, curly blond hair awkwardly.  Rein pointed and he walked in that general direction.  He looked down as a small hand took his and was about to tell her to let go when he noticed the scared look on her face.
“Take my other hand, Sweetling.  I’ll need this one if I have to pull my dagger.”  He reached around and pulled her to his other side.
“Over there.”  Rein’s voice was just a whisper.  Kendall motioned for her to stay put and be quiet, then crouched low and made his way so that he was hidden behind a fallen tree.  Careful not to be seen, he peeked into the clearing.  His heart jumped in his chest.  In the center of the clearing was a tree.  Scattered around the base of the tree lay ten beings, young and old, all of them slaughtered.  He swore under his breath.
“I want you to stay right here, do you understand, Sweetling?”
Rein nodded and he made his way cautiously toward the tree and the bodies it seemed to be watching over.  He knelt down and peered at the injuries.  Whatever had killed them hadn’t been an animal.  The cuts were too deep and too clean.  He noticed that all of them, men and women, had light to dark blond hair.  The ones who had died with their eyes opened all had eyes in varying shades of blue.
Kendall jumped back as an arrow planted into the body of an old man he’d been inspecting.  He pivoted and shifted, his long tiger stride getting him out of the clearing before another of the arrows managed to get lucky.  Rein’s eyes bugged out of her head at the sight of the big cat jumping over the fallen tree.
Kendall shifted back and picked her up under one arm.  He never stopped running.  An arrow thudded into a tree not too far from where he had just been.
“By the moons, Rein, I can’t run fast enough carrying you.”  He stopped and put her down.  He looked up at the sound of screaming and yelling coming from the direction of the clearing.  He ran a hand over his face and his week-long stubble scratched at his palm.  Could he take them on?  He growled.  They’d just taken out ten beings and he was just one.
Rein was staring at him, her eyes wide with fear.
“No worries, Sweetling.  I won’t be leaving you.”
“We need to run?”  Her voice was just a whisper.  “Away from the herd?”  Her tiny nostrils flared.
Kendall nodded.  He wasn’t sure where the herd was, but if it was close to where they were, then away from it was the option of choice.
“Where is the herd?”
She gestured toward the clearing.  “My herd.”
He frowned.  He hadn’t heard anyone talk like this since unless they were talking about packs.
Rein looked back toward the sound of the men coming closer.  She stomped her foot.  Kendall watched confounded as she shifted into a cream coloured filly with long graceful legs.  Had she been a regular horse he’d have guessed her to be a yearling.  She blew out of her nose and shook out her short mane.  An arrow thudded into the tree ten feet from them.
“Alright, Sweetling.  Let’s run.”  He shifted.