The Low Rope challenge was one that Zhanna worried would cause Dascha problems. However, the black Familiar did not pause in her headlong race. Launching herself upward without slowing down, Dascha managed to catch one of the ropes with her claws about two feet from the bottom. Moving up the braided cable with both front and back claws, Dascha quickly slipped over the top bar and grabbed the rope with her head pointing to the ground.

  What is she going to do now? Cats do not climb down well! Zhanna thought to herself.

  The young Witch’s heart was in her throat as her Familiar launched her body off the rope toward the approach to the seventh obstacle. Watching in disbelief, the dread of seeing Dascha injure herself clamped Zhanna’s breath in her chest.

  Only the fact that she was observing Dascha carefully allowed her to see the short flash of gold light that covered all four of the cat’s paws and lower legs on impact with the ground. When Genevieve made a small sound of satisfaction, Zhanna turned her head to stare at the Clothier, who murmured quietly, “Built-in shock absorbers.”

  Dascha yelled in triumph as she kept running toward the Ditch obstacle. Almost flying over the series of inclines and gaps, Dascha moved so quickly that there was not enough time to recognize she had completed that one and zipped through the Corridor challenge also in just a few seconds.

  By this point, the mercenaries were roaring in approval, part of the audience was chanting, “Go, go, go!” While others were simply yelling encouraging sounds. When Zhanna sneaked a glance at Hadrian, the Range Master wore an astounded expression, his eyes wide, and his mouth agape.

  Still running at full speed, the small black feline smoothly ran the entire length of the Balancing Bridge up to where a series of individual posts needed to be navigated. Putting on a bit of a show, Dascha pounced on each of the posts as if she was killing a mouse before leaping off onto the ground and lining up on the approach to the Window obstacle.

  Hopping quickly through the gaping window space, for the first time, Dascha slowed a small amount. The Apex Ladder was a series of long parallel risers with significant gaps between them. Carefully, the black Familiar jumped from one to another of the eight rungs that formed the front face of the obstacle. When she reached the top, Dascha jumped more freely, landing on only two boards before reaching the ground.

  Now running at full speed again, and spurred by the ever-increasing roar of the audience, Dascha accelerated up the forward ramp of the Terrace before launching herself off the backside to altogether skip two of the Terrace surfaces. Landing on the middle one, the black Familiar immediately flung her body forward again in an impressive leap to land on the ground. Each time that Dascha’s paws hit the ground, Zhanna and Genevieve saw the brief flash of Magic and grinned.

  With nothing between her and the finish line but an open field, Dascha sprinted even faster, crossing the end marker to the sound of mercenaries calling her name.

  As the timekeeper called out his acknowledgment of the end of the test, Zhanna saw that the Range Master was still in shock. Drawing Dov’s attention, the young Witch indicated her concern with the tilt of her head. Catching her meaning, the Guild Master moved over and spoke quietly to the stunned man, while Dascha trotted back over to her Witch.

  Leaping up to Zhanna’s arms, Dascha accepted the pats and murmured words of encouragement before saying, << That should knock the little kitty man you know where! >>

  When Zhanna repeated the comment for Genevieve, the Clothier laughed, saying, “Before this gets any more like a party, we had better get the rest of the testing done.”

  Chapter 47 – Expanded Test

  Mercenary Guild, Badger Hole

  Obediently, Dascha leaped out of Zhanna’s arms and landed on the ground before transforming into her warrior shape. Once again, the black Familiar took her place at the starting line. When the Range Master yelled, “Go!” The immense sabertooth cat began to fly through the course. Jumping the Low Wall with a single bound, Dascha only touched two of the steppingstones before she was beyond it. However, going into the Rubble obstacle with its over and under requirements made the giant feline twist and turn to force her way through.

  Knowing that she had lost some of her time in that obstacle, Dascha charged straight for the Tunnel challenge, slamming her body into the entry and clawing through rather than crawling. The audience roared in surprised appreciation as the warrior form of the Familiar punched her claws through the sides of the Tunnel in her efforts.

  Erupting out of the end of that obstacle with the speed of a runaway tank, Dascha had to force her body through the narrow confines of the Infernal Panels. The separators were no match for the massive feline, as she used her bulk and dangerous claws to gain traction, leaving partially destroyed panels in her wake.

  Shaking off lingering shreds of wood, Dascha jumped effortlessly to the top of the Low Rope obstacle. Relieved to be past the challenges that she had considered the most problematic, the sabertooth cat took a split second posed on top of the narrow metal bar to fling a roaring challenge to all that listened.

  Once more hitting her stride, Dascha flowed effortlessly over the Ditch obstacle and once again dove into the Corridor. Once again, using her claws to propel herself forward, the black cat punctured the sides of the challenge, this time without destroying it.

  Dascha attacked the Balancing Bridge without breaking stride delicately dancing along the narrow beam before pausing for an instant before the small posts that needed to be stepped on. Zhanna felt a spurt of gleeful amusement from her Familiar just before Dascha leaned forward and walked on her front paws down the rest of the way to the ground.

  Now picking up speed once again, the sabertooth cat jammed her way through the open space in the Window obstacle and leaped to the top of the Apex Ladder challenge without slowing down.

  With another screaming roar of challenge and celebration, Dascha jumped from the top of the Apex Ladder across the twenty feet that separated it from the last obstacle. Without breaking stride and moving so quickly that she was difficult to track, the black Familiar covered the Terrace challenge in two leaping steps to race across the finish line.

  Zhanna had not thought that the audience could get any louder, but the next few seconds proved her wrong. Alternatingly roaring her Familiar’s name and general approval, the audience seemed to have grown since the Clothier and young Witch had entered the arena.

  Signaling for quiet, Dov managed to get the uproar to settle down. With a broad grin on his face, the Mercenary Guild Master turned to Genevieve and Zhanna to ask, “That proves that the battledress resizes and is flexible. When do we get to see how effective it is at protection?”

  Yells of approval and encouragement came from the audience and were so loud that it would have been impossible for either woman to be heard over the background sound. When whole sections of the audience burst out laughing, the Clothier looked around to see what was causing the mirth. Following their pointing fingers, Genevieve swallowed a laugh of her own before saying to her companion, “Zhanna, I believe that Dascha is answering the question for us.”

  Following the Clothier’s smiling focus, the young Witch saw that Dascha had returned to the starting line of the obstacle course and was crouched there, apparently ready to go. In case anyone had missed the message, the Familiar chose that moment to straighten up and raise her right paw in the air before making the cross-species motion that meant, “Bring it on!”

  Dov’s grin broadened, and he gave a low voiced instruction to the Range Master. Hadrian nodded to one of his assistants on the sidelines, and transparent sheets of thick material rose up from the ground until they towered more than 20 feet. Angled slabs that were hinged on the top moved to a 45° angle, both protecting and channeling debris and projectiles away from the audience seating.

  At the same time, Zhanna saw an older mercenary handing out weapons to a group of six Guild members, before directing them to various points on the sidelines. While they were taking their positions, she saw a quartet of obvious Mages spacing themselves out along the perimeter of the obstacle course.

  Turning to Genevieve, Zhanna muttered, “I do not know about you, but at this point, I am going to be praying they are not going to throw something at my Familiar that is going to kill her. Do you trust their control enough to let them do this without restriction?”

  Genevieve thought for a moment before answering thoughtfully, “I do not think that Dov would have allowed any idiots to participate in this test. He wants it to succeed almost as much as we do.”

  Shrugging off her worry and doubt, Zhanna ran an exercise to calm down through her mind and felt her muscles grow loose again, and her breathing settle down.

  Everyone looked ready, and Zhanna felt her stomach clench while her adrenaline spiked as the Range Master once again signaled the start of the run. This time, however, he did not start off with a simple “go.” Instead, he shouted with the clarion peal of a trumpet, “Showtime! Go!”

  Immediately, Dascha once again approached the first obstacle. Easily jumping the Low Wall, the warrior form of the Familiar paid no attention to the mercenaries that were shooting at her from the side. One of the men wielding a beam weapon managed to catch her on the torso even with the rib cage. Her heart in her throat, Zhanna waited to hear a cry of pain from her feline companion, but Dascha did not even seem to notice the attack.

  The projectiles lagged behind the quickly moving cat but were getting closer as the mercenaries adjusted to Dascha’s speed and pattern of movement. As she leaped onto the Raised Steppingstones, two of the Magical attacks hit. One exploded a fireball that completely surrounded the big feline, while the other seemed to be aimed at the ground in front of her.

  Without breaking stride, the big animal broke through the borders of the fireball without apparent effort, although the Witch heard her Familiar grumble, << Blasted Mage just singed my whiskers! >>

  Before Dascha could complete this obstacle, the ground in front of her exploded, ripping two of the steppingstones away as if they had been swatted by a giant hand. What was left was a deep pit that could have caught Dascha by surprise. Instantly adjusting her next targeted leap, Zhanna watched the large muscles in the cat’s hindquarters contract before Dascha launched herself like a large arrow to completely clear the pit and land on the ground just in front of the next obstacle.

  Leaning forward to watch her Familiar, Zhanna was breathing in short, panting breaths as her heart pounded in her chest, and adrenaline played ping-pong along her nerves. Closely tracking the cat’s progress, Zhanna was startled to see Dascha smoothly shrinking into her smaller shape as she attacked the Rubble challenge.

  Standing beside her, Dov said approvingly, “She is taking the best shape and size for each obstacle. That is smart! Also, not having to worry about taking off or putting on protection is making her progress incredibly rapid.”

  Continuing around the turn in her small form, Dascha was almost impossible to hit with the projectiles. Only the mercenary wielding them beam weapon tagged her at all as she crossed the open field area and lined up her approach to the Tunnel. Again patently ignoring the attack, Dascha sprinted through the Tunnel without slowing down and then whipped her body to dodge through the Infernal Panels without breaking stride.

  Although all four of the Mages threw spells, Dascha did not seem to be affected by them. The Clothier and the Witch saw flashes of varied-colored lights as the castings made contact with the battledress, but there was no effect on the cat’s trajectory or speed.

  Zipping around the last panel, Dascha morphed into her warrior form between one step and the next, before leaping without a break up on top of the Low Rope obstacle and back down again. Smoothly, the big feline jumped over the entire Ditch obstacle before shrinking down into her usual size and sprinting through the Corridor challenge.

  By this point, the audience was screaming hysterically and shouting advice, some to Dascha and the remainder to the attackers. Watching the faces of the marksmen and Mages, Zhanna new that they were intensely frustrated and becoming angry. The young Witch was concerned and turned to say something to Dov, but when Dascha sped up the incline of the Balancing Bridge obstacle, all four of the Mages and every marksmen attacked simultaneously.

  The cat’s warrior form disappeared into a dense, swirling cloud of fire and exploding spells as a flurry of fireballs and beam attacks hit Dascha. Bullets and missiles fired by the marksmen pierced the haze as if to make sure that Dascha was dead. Zhanna gasped in horror while Genevieve grabbed her left hand in a crushing grip. Exclaiming in horror, the Clothier demanded, “What did they do?” before spinning around to face Dov and jabbing him hard in the chest.

  Infuriated, Genevieve raged, “That was not a test! That was a deliberate attempt to destroy both the battledress and Zhanna’s Familiar. What sort of idiocy are you allowing in this Guild?!”

  The situation might have gotten even more out of control if Zhanna had not felt the amused contempt that Dascha was projecting over their Familiar bond. Trying to stay calm, Zhanna watched as the feline Familiar broke out of the cloud of noxious air and rippling force to leap down onto the ground and continue her run toward the next challenge.

  The astounded exclamations from the gathered audience failed to cover over the infuriated Clothier’s comment to the Guild Master when she snarled, “This subject is not closed!”

  Dov tried to calm her down, saying, “I did not know they were going to do that! I never would have given them permission to do that!”

  Cutting him off with a sharp gesture of her hand, Genevieve returned to stand by Zhanna as Dascha changed to her smaller shape to jump through the window and then transformed to her warrior form to tackle the Apex Ladder.

  Once again, the Familiar paused briefly at the top of the ladder, but this time one of the marksmen hit the cat squarely in the side with the most massive projectile they had brought to test. A full sabot slug slammed into Dascha’s torso just behind her shoulder at an enhanced speed. For the first time, more eyes than Zhanna and Genevieve saw the flash of Magic as the battledress compensated for some of the force.

  Emitting from a glowing blue gem on the tail, everyone could see the sheet of gossamer light as it interspersed itself between the projectile and the battledress. The force of the blow knocked Dascha sideways about half a yard. Other than an irritated yell, the big cat seemed to be unaffected, maintaining her feet and continuing to move forward. Without further delay, the black Familiar jumped down to the ground before racing up the final challenge and launching herself over the steps of the Terrace obstacle.

  An instant later, Dascha crossed the finish line to the roar from the crowd and the intense thankfulness that radiated from the two waiting women.

  Chapter 48 – Fashionable Protection

  Zhanna’s legs were trembling so severely that she did not dare walk toward Dascha. Instead, the trembling Witch reached through their Familiar bond for reassurance, << Are you all right? I have no idea why they would do anything so horrible as that last attack! If you are injured, there will not be enough of this Guild building left to build a barbecue! >>

  Slipping into their bond with ease, the deep voice of the sentient building smoldered with fury as he assured them, << All of those that participated in that cowardly attack will be punished. None of them will escape retribution! I will not allow either my Anchor’s or my own honor to be besmirched! >>

  << Gustav, their membership in this Guild will taint all of your contracts. I know that Dov is too honorable to have set that up, but neither the Mages nor the marksmen would have done that without direction or approval from someone higher in the Guild, >> commented Zhanna in an ice-cold voice.

  Just then, Dov raised his voice so that everyone in the arena could hear him, declaring, “I am ashamed of some of the members of this Guild.” Instantly all the chatter stopped, and every person in the arena focused on the Guild Master. After a pause, Dov continued, stating in a controlled rumble, “Two respected members of this community requested our facilities to test a new creation. I agreed to help them with that test and provided the opportunity for each of you to observe it. When the first several tests were successful, it was suggested that we test them under field conditions, to which the Clothier and the Lady of Blagogarsk consented.”

  At that point, Zhanna stepped up next to Dov and added her voice to his, saying, “It did not occur to us that we had to explain what field testing was to a group of accomplished mercenaries. We trusted Dov, and by extension, you, to behave professionally and appropriately. You betrayed that trust. Your actions were without honor or consideration. Any new weapon or piece of equipment has the opportunity to fail, no matter how excellent or thorough the design or execution.”

  The Witch looked around the arena, and each person in that audience felt like she stared individually at them. Her eyes cold, and her face frozen in a look of disdain and anger when Zhanna began to speak again, brave mercenaries cringed, and many dropped their gaze.

  “Your posturing and unacceptable behavior could have killed my Familiar, something that apparently had no consideration from you. If you would have been successful, understand this, I would have destroyed you. I do not care how long it would have taken, It makes no difference how difficult it would have been. Dov and I left one planet because we would not accept dishonor. I will not tolerate it here either.”

  Stepping up beside the infuriated Witch, Dov, the Anchor to Gustav, the spirit of one of the most ethical and honorable military commanders that Terra ever had, showed them his grim and forbidding battle face, grating out, “All Mages and marksmen that participated in this so-called test should immediately move to the small assembly room and hold station there. A review of their participation will be held as soon as the Witch and Clothier have concluded their exercises for the day.”