CHAPTER EIGHTY FOUR

 Shalice glanced over at Sharonah, who appeared to be napping in the seat beside her. Now that they were out of the rainforest, the Captain didn't have to be so careful about the controls, so she let her mind drift back to the subject that seemed to be overriding everything else in her mind, lately – Taurvantion. She just couldn't get that insufferable … sexy … arrogant … gorgeous … maddening elf out of her thoughts.

 She wished she hadn't been so touchy about him accompanying them to the tribal village. Nothing was happening there, anyway. Now he was probably mad at her, and she might never see him again. That thought made her heart sink. The idea of not seeing Taurvantion, made unexpected tears spring to her eyes. She would have to apologize. There was probably no other way that he would agree to see her again. They were more than halfway back to the Peacock, when Sharonah suddenly jerked up straight in her seat, and gasped out instructions, while she held her hand to her chest, trying to collect herself, and control her frenzied breathing.

 “Back – we've got to go back – King – danger – purple – got to help!” Sharonah breathed heavily for a moment, then turned toward Shalice, her eyes wide in fear.

“We've got to go back to King Taurvantion's realm. He's in danger! He's walking on the canopy and the shape shifter is right beneath him in the form of an orchid. I can see a purple mist dissipating out of the trees, into the air around His Majesty. It hasn't got him yet, I don't think, but we have to go – now!”

Shalice turned the runabout around so fast, that if it hadn't had such strong stabilizers, it would have tipped over. As soon as the vehicle was straightened out, she called back to Kayne, in the seat behind her.

“Try to reach Taurvantion on his com link, Kayne. I think he still had it on when he left.”

Kayne didn't need the command, he was already right on it. His handsome face set in a deep frown as he listened to the static from the other end. He pressed the send button down hard, and shouted into the headset, hoping that his voice would get through.

“ SHAPE SHIFTER ALERT! SHAPE SHIFTER ALERT! PURPLE CLOUD!

He repeated the short message over and over, although the crackle of interference was still there. The shouting did actually help, because it distracted the shape shifter into pausing just for a second. Still, it was long enough for Taurvantion to notice it.

He jumped aside just as the cloud formed itself into a arrow, and lunged right at the Elven King's head!