Eternal Beasts

Chapter 12: Unexpected Diversion

Now filled with some urgency, Jared found it difficult to sit and watch Samantha destroy another steak without rushing her through it. Thankfully she wasn't taking her time, the second chunk of barely cooked beef disappearing into her mouth fairly rapidly.

As she tucked away the last bite with a look of satisfaction on her face, Jared looked over and found their server a couple tables away.

"Hey bud. Our bill, please!"

Making their way out of the pub, Samantha looked over at him.

"You've seen something, haven't you, my Jared," she said as Jared angled them towards the dorm, several minutes away. Glancing over at her before returning his attention to straight ahead, he nodded.

"A glimpse of the future, thanks to my new left eye," he said, then quickly described what he had seen in his vision. And, as he had done, she was left wondering what would interest the cholim enough that they would eschew stealth in an attempt to take possession of the plastic-covered person by force.

"Another traveler from our world, maybe?" she asked, focusing those golden eyes on him.

"Perhaps," Jared conceded. "But travel is fairly restricted between Earth and Ethaeron. At least, for the races of Light. The book would've known if there were other Ethaerites here."

"Could we have brought them over with us?" Samantha asked as they ran up the stairs into the dorm.

Before Jared could answer, however, there was a growl in front of them.

"There he is," a hard human voice said. Looking up, Jared frowned to see a half dozen young men in front of them, all with builds that put them on the school football team. Then mentally shrugging, he angled himself and Samantha towards the elevator to take them upstairs.

Only to find the men moving to intercept them.

"Can I help you?" he asked tightly. He really had neither the patience nor the time to deal with these idiots. Then felt his brow lift when the man in front reached out to give him a push.

"Yeah, asshole," the guy said as his comrades smirked behind him. "I believe you owe me an apology."

"For what?" Samantha asked, not liking how this nysim was so casually disrespecting her rider. He was the Lord of Griffons! They should be taking a knee in front of him. Not pushing him like common ruffians!

All six found their eyes drawn to the statuesque beauty as she spoke. And Jared found anger flaring when the man that stopped them, blatantly looked her over, his eyes lingering on her obvious assets.

"Hey, dickhead," he tightly warned. "Keep your eyes to yourself!"

The man snorted while maintaining his stare, turning it with a sneer into a leer.

"How about you make me, bitch?" he said. Then he was grunting in surprise when a grimly serious Samantha reached out and put her hand on his face and gave him a shove with enough force, he was sent staggering back into his friends behind him.

Quickly two of the men stepped forward, intent on restraining her so their friend could deal with her personally. And Jared almost laughed out loud when the first reached out only to find his arm in a hold that was significantly stronger than he expected. Then he was screaming in agony as, with a smooth swing that moved almost too fast to follow, Samantha broke his arm at the elbow.

She pushed her first attacker aside at that point to face the second one. Who, after a moment to gather himself, came in fists swinging. Samantha let the first two punches go by, turning just enough to avoid them. Then she caught the man by surprise by catching his third punch in her hand with a hard slap of flesh against flesh. Twisting outward on the captured fist, she opened up the man's defense and, before he could do more than yell in pain, she was planting an open palm into his chest. There was an almost visible percussive ripple at impact then he was flying through the air to land hard at the far end of the lobby.

As Samantha straightened up and looked over at Jared with a firm nod, Jared turned to the man who had leered at her.

"As you can see, bud, she can handle herself. So pull your eyes back in. Or she will kick your ass!"

The man looked at him, his face quickly contorting with rage.

"Fuck you!" he snarled, throwing himself at Jared, his remaining three comrades right behind him.

Jared shook his head sadly. Ah, the hubris of the monumentally idiotic!

A quick slap sent the man rocketing to the side as if struck by a train, the abrupt change in direction hurling him hard into a nearby wall. A second slap with his other hand took out his friend coming in behind him, flipping the man across the lobby to hit the floor and slide into the second of Samantha's attackers.

Seeing how easily Jared had handled their two friends, the last two men skidded to an abrupt halt, hands up.

"Are we done here?" Jared asked flatly, looking from one to the other. He smiled thinly when both quickly nodded.

"Good. Now grab your buddies and fuck off!" And he stepped over the man that had leered at Samantha, now unconscious with his face purpling where Jared's slap had caught him right on the side of the face. Moving with power and grace, Samantha smoothly returned to his side to give the remaining two men a glare.

"I want to beat those two remaining nysim as well, Jared," she said tautly, the two actually shivering in fear when they heard her. "For disrespecting the both of us!"

"Don't waste your time, Sam. They're already shitting their pants!" And then they were in the elevator, the door closing on the carnage.

As they walked towards his dorm room, Samantha looked over at him, her expression questioning.

"I don't understand why those nysim attacked us, Jared. Or why they would be foolish enough to disrespect the both of us, when we were obviously their superiors."

"They didn't think so, Sam," Jared replied. "I'm guessing the one who demanded an apology got run over by me being guided by the Watcher on our way back to Earth. And probably roughed up a bit as well, when he got surly about it and the Watcher taught him a lesson."

Samantha frowned.

"A lesson he apparently didn't learn very well, my Jared," she said. "Because he sought you out so you could teach him again."

Jared chuckled as he unlocked his door and pushed it aside.

"Apparently not," he agreed. "Now, we need to gather a few things before we go downtown and see if we can find that person the cholim will be chasing in an hour from now."

- Not a person, - the book spoke into his mind to say, the entity's voice grim. - A princess! -

"Princess?" Jared said out loud with a frown as he looked at the book sitting on top of his dresser. In doing so, he found himself also looking at the satchel that had accompanied him across the divide between Ethaeron and Earth. The same satchel Samantha's statue had been in before she was brought to life by the portal magic. Looking at it, he could see three statues were still in there ...

Wait a minute. Three? There should be four ...

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed, slapping a hand to the side of his face. "The tuathan princess that was in stasis. She's the one covered in plastic in my vision!!"