Mauled by Destiny [Tales of the Citadel 17] Read Online Free PDF

see herself the way others saw her for a few moments, a monster.
    Priina knew that on the exterior she looked like a victim, but inside, she had always been something different than the other Cial around her. Her spirit of adventure had not been suited to living behind the wall. She had been more alive in those few seconds she was outside in the wild than she had ever been living on the farm.
    Now that life was beginning to take steps in a whole new direction, every inch of her was humming with energy and that energy could change direction with a moment’s notice. To say she had become moody since the transformation was a gross understatement.
    She snarled at her reflection and was unsurprised to see her fangs out. It was a grim mood that she was in, and she was going to have to use that intensity to her advantage.
    * * * *
    Down at the edge of the forest, she stood next to Rhanos as he explained the exercise. “I will run.
    You will wait until the timer rings and then come after me. You can either take me down or trap me, but you have to render me immobile before you will be declared the winner.”
    “What do I win?” She took the timer and noted the manner in which it worked.
    “A future favour of any nature.” She chuckled. “Well, with that dangling in front of me, I would have to say you had best get going.”
    She raised the timer and started it.
    He muttered to himself, took off his wrap and headed for the woods, shifting as he moved.
    Priina looked at the timer and watched it. At the one-minute mark, she draped her wrap over the nearest branch and daintily picked up the timer. She scented the air, picking up the unmistakable scent that marked Rhanos and focussed on it. The timer went off, and she carefully attached it to the fur near her ear before she began to follow the scent of her companion.
    She ran through the woods at high speed, testing the age of the scent and smirking inwardly as she got closer. Her ears perked as she began to hear the occasional rustle or minute crackle of the underbrush.
    Priina kept her muzzle tightly closed as she approached him. She could hear his soft panting only a few metres from her current position.
    Her instinct told her to tread cautiously so that is what she did. The tripwire was a shock. He must have placed it before he woke her. She moved over it and kept an eye out for the next one.
    Her caution paid off. Two more trip wires were strung across the path. He was a sneaky bugger.
    She took the added precaution of playing birdsongs from home through her mind. She had always enjoyed the birds that flew over the wall.
    They had such lovely songs.
    Priina circled his location, and when she was sure that she was free of traps, she moved, tackling him and rolling with him in the brush.
    He snarled and snapped as she fought with him, but her hands got a grip right where she wanted it. She let him fight his way free, and as he bounded out of the small clearing, she gripped some light saplings and started to twist them into a snare. She had five minutes, so she worked as quickly as she could.
    When she heard the timer go off, she barked a laugh. He let out a howl of surprise, and she used that howl to locate him.
    Snickering silently, she followed the scent of his confusion. Surprise always caused a jolt of hormones that came out in pheromones. It wasn’t quite fear, but it made him easy to track.
    She moved past him and howled. The noise felt so very right that she wanted to do it again, but as it was, it did what she wanted him to do. He ran back to the clearing and through his own snares.
    There were yips and barks before he thrashed back into the clearing. The yelp from there made her bare her teeth in triumph.
    She entered the clearing and stopped at the sight in front of her. Rhanos was hanging from his ankles and swinging gently, his claws rending the air. Do I win?
    How did you…
    The timer fits nicely just below your shoulder blades.
    I know this from personal