Kinsmen 01 - Silver Shark

paw, two paws, three... and she landed. The enormous tree rose before her. She sat, studying the lanterns, her ribbons-whiskers snaking out to lick one.
    "Search: Alacasto Middle Academy."
    The lanterns spun, sliding along the branches, as if riding an invisible carousel. A brightly shaped lantern stopped before her, the lavender flame inside glowing brightly. Claire's whiskers touched it, forging a link.
    "Laboratory traces analysis: Romulus Rekanta, 99.9959% match; Edu Nagi, 99.97890% match; Lada Miller, 98.87682% match; Karim Jahar, 96.48991% match."
    She reshaped the data. New set of figures flowed into the lantern: Edu Nagi, 29.97890% match; Lada Miller, 28.87682% match; Karim Jahar, 16.48991% match."
    Wiping the molecular analysis to zero would have set off the red flags, but all people swam in the same genetic pool. Anything below 70% would be marked as inconclusive.
    The lantern looked exactly the same. She'd altered the data with a psycher's precision.
    Claire spun the lanterns, pulling up searches at random, confusing the access protocol until the children's lantern was safely mixed with the others. Her job was done.
    Claire spun and dashed back to the vine bridge. Once again the lianas shuddered under her weight, only this time she was crawling head down. She wished there was another way back.
    She was ten meters from the rock spire when she heard the bushes rustle near the base of the stone bridge.
    Claire conquered the last few meters and moved onto the solid ground of the spire.
    A beast shot out of the jungle and landed midway on the stone bridge. Huge paws hit the ancient stones, each as big as her head and tipped with thick triangular claws, razor sharp and glowing like backlit amber. A bronze beast rose, towering over her by at least a meter. Thick muscle slabbed his monstrous forelegs and colossal chest. His hind quarters dipped lower than his shoulders, his back legs bent slightly and bulging with steel-hard muscle. His fur was bronze, painted with faint rosettes of russet, same as the mane that trailed his spine and slid over his shoulder and down each leg almost to the paws.
    The beast opened his giant mouth, snarling, showing her brilliant white fangs. His torso resembled an enormous dog, but his head was almost feline. The jaws looked powerful enough to bite through her bones like they were soft candy.
    A psycher. A Grade A psycher.
    Damn it all.
    The beast roared, whipping his triple tail. The blast of sound hit her and Claire snarled back. Her roar rolled, promising pain and blood.
    The beast dipped his head to stare at her. She looked into his eyes and saw the familiar intellect glaring back.
    Venturo.
    No. No, this couldn't be.
    The beast leaped.
    Claire ducked left, her instincts taking over. A clawed paw came down a hair from her shoulder and she struck with her talons , slicing the bronze fur. The triple tail whipped around, catching her flank. Pain stung her, followed by sharp spike of heat. Poison. Nice.
    Claire shot to the side, rolling out of the claws' way, and strained. Bloody spray shot out of wounds on her side, expelling the poison with it. She sealed the wound.
    The beast turned his head and stalked after her, the huge paws raising tiny puffs of dust from the rocky surface of the spire.
    They leaped at once, flying at each other. His claws raked her side in a searing rush of pain. She bit his neck, ripping through the coils of tight muscle, but his flesh was too thick to reach bone and she withdrew.
    Venturo's blood burned on her tongue.
    She had to make it to the bridge. It was her only chance. She couldn't bring herself to kill him.
    Dark blood poured from the wound on Venturo's neck, wetting the bronze fur. He took a precious second to seal the gash.
    Claire concentrated. She shuddered and split herself, throwing four copies of herself three to the right and one to the left. Five identical scarlet cats snarled in unison.
    Venturo took a step back.
    Her copies rushed him and Claire jumped over him, throwing all her speed into a desperate leap.
    The triple tail whipped around her, squeezing her like a noose. He'd seen through the phantoms.
    She shot her back whiskers into his ribcage, turning them into hard spears in mid-strike. He snarled in pain and she slapped her own tail to slice at his face, trying to skewer him with the spike. He hurled her back. She flew through the air and smashed into the jutting rock wall. Her ribs cracked. The impact shook her vision into a