"You said there was just a single guard?"

"Yes, why?" Brenda’s heart was pounding, but she wasn’t certain if it was from fear of being discovered, or being held so tightly against the Familiar’s nude body. The faint scent of zilliang spice still clung to him.

Jax tried to peer through the opening in the cell door, but it was sealed. "I sense that he has been replaced. I can feel the lifeforce of three where there was only one before."

"What if your senses are still being affected by the drugs Corinthon gave you?"

Jax gave her a pointed look. "Would you rather I under-estimated our enemy?" She tipped her head in agreement with his logic. "Then I need your help." She nodded, but he caught her off-guard again when he leaned down and whispered in her ear. "Scream, my angel. Scream as though Corinthon himself had just taken you against your will."

Jax was sure that the scream that echoed off the walls of the cell could have been heard all the way back on Meer’an. He pushed Brenda back into the cell’s darkness as he heard the door being unlocked quickly.

Brenda gladly moved away when she saw the guards rush through the doorway. She was surprised, though, when she blinked her eyes. Before the blink, there were three armed, angry guards rushing at the Familiar. After the blink – they were lying on the floor, motionless. She moved cautiously back towards them and felt Jax reach out to take her hand again.

"How did you do that?" She looked at him carefully and reached up to touch the lock of spun gold that had tumbled down onto his forehead. Were it not for that bit of tousled silk, he showed no more sign of exertion than having stretched after a long nap. He pulled away from her again, knowing that if she touched his hair, they would not be leaving this place for a long time. Brenda regained her composure. "I mean, that was amazing, how you subdued all three of them….."

Jax pulled her closer to him. "I am a Familiar. It is not that unusual." His breath ruffled the hair at her ear, and she gasped softly as the tip of his tongue rimmed the outside edge of her ear. "You will find that I have many amazing talents, angel."

As she was about to protest, he pulled away from her and they made their way out of the cell. When they came to an intersecting series of corridors, she watched as he stood motionless for a few moments, and then pointed silently in one direction. They came to another crossing point, and he pulled her back into the shadows just as a contingent of guards went marching by in the other direction.

"Your Familiar senses again? You are…." Brenda was astounded, but no more so than when Jax pulled her close to him and leaned down to take possession of her lips. His mouth moved slowly over hers, tasting her, enticing her, and she was glad that his strong arms supported her. When he broke the kiss, she reluctantly opened her eyes to look into gems that sparkled like Varnovian sapphires in the dark.

"I am Jax, angel," he growled against her ear. "No more than a Familiar should be by nature." He traced her cheek softly with his finger, and then before she caught her breath, he pulled her with him down another corridor in the maze deep within the fortress.

At one fork in the corridors, Jax stopped short, nearly causing Brenda to collide with him again. She watched as he closed his eyes for a moment, breathed deeply, and then they shot open again, lit with the knowledge of the correct path to follow. He turned back to her and saw the question in her eyes. "Familiars have been hunters for many millennia, angel. It is part of our natural instinct to be able to track a prey across many planets or find our way to freedom." He stroked the underside of her chin with his finger. "There are few things in this life more desirable than freedom," he whispered, gazing deeply into her eyes, "although at this very moment, even freedom loses its appeal when compared to you." Brenda felt herself drawn into the hypnotic spell his eyes and his melodic words wove again, and she knew she had to tear herself free before his eyes began to sparkle again with the violet fireworks. However, just as she opened her mouth to speak, he put one finger to it to stop her.

He moved her back against the flat wall of the corridor with one arm across her midriff. "There is a guard in the next corridor that can be of use to me," he said quietly. "My senses tell me that he is about my size." He glanced down at his nude body and smiled at her wickedly. "Although my current state might bring us both pleasure, it may prove difficult for us to explain as we make our way to the Tunnel point that will lead us away from Charporta." He put his finger to his lips and then pushed her back further into the shadows, indicating he wanted her to stay where she was while he dealt with the guard.

Brenda watched in amazement as he crept noiselessly around the corner. She held her breath, waiting to hear some sound of the struggle. However, in just a few seconds, all she heard was a loud thump. Not being able to contain her curiosity, she finally moved out of the shadows and rounded the corner cautiously.

Brenda’s eyes were greeted with the sight of the guard on the floor, and Jax was already stripping the black leather breeches from him. She approached him gingerly. "Did you ….. kill ….him?"

Jax’s eyes were hard as he looked up at her. "No, angel. Familiars only kill when there is no other alternative. I am not like Corinthon." He glanced down at the guard. "He is just…..resting….for a while." As he explained the situation, Brenda could not help but watch Jax pull the leather pants onto his lower body. They fit very snugly, which was the way they were customarily worn, hugging his muscular thighs and making her mouth suddenly dry as a Frentoyan desert. They did not come up to his waist, but only just above his hips, allowing his navel to peek out as he moved. As he deftly wove the leather lacing that fastened the breeches, Jax looked up at Brenda and caught her staring. He was gratified to see more than just curiosity in her eyes.

Brenda gasped when her gaze locked with Jax’s and she knew he had caught her staring. "I was….just….uh….. thinking how truly talented you are, Fam…." He gave her a pointed look. "….Jax." She gestured gently with her hand. "I mean, the way you were able to find your way through the maze of corridors, and the way you could just sense that the guard was about the same size as you are." She began to flush hotly as her gaze dropped to his lower body when she said the word "size". Why could she not control herself around this man?

Jax walked slowly towards her, the black leather softly rustling with his movements, the laces swaying with his hips, his bare feet making a gentle slapping noise on the stone floor. He rattled her badly when he began to trace one finger up and down each arm in a caress. "You are but beginning to learn of the many talents of Familiars, angel. It will be my pleasure to……"

Brenda surprised him by pulling away a little. "Brenda!" she said sharply, putting her hands on his upper arms to stop the caress.

"What?"

She looked around guiltily and spoke more softly. "Brenda….I am called Brenda. I would prefer that you use my name rather than…..angel."

Jax smiled knowingly. "As you wish, zira Brenda." He lifted one eyebrow and used one finger to push some errant strands of her hair behind her ear as he spoke.

Brenda felt little sparks of fire on her skin where his finger traced a path. She tried to keep a look of exasperation on her face and a similar tone in her voice. "Are all Familiars so single-minded as you are, Jax?"

He gave her a grin that was confident and infuriating. "Most say that is it one of our most charming traits," Jax said, pulling away from her swiftly to avoid being trod upon by one of her stomping feet. "Don’t you agree?" As Brenda was about to remark on the depth of his stubbornness, Jax put one finger to his lips and looked in a direction over her shoulder. All sense of playfulness was immediately abandoned.

"They know of my escape. They’re looking for us." He ran back to the guard and began to pull one of the man’s boots off. "Here – help me, quickly." Brenda ran to the fallen guard and started pulling on the other boot, but she had only began to tug at it when Jax pulled her to a standing position.

"No time. They’re not far behind us. We need to leave here now." He grabbed for her hand, and once again they were off quickly down the darkened corridors.

It seemed like they traveled in a circle several times before Jax allowed Brenda to stop and catch her breath. "Are you sure we’re going in the right direction?" she wheezed.

"Fairly certain," Jax returned, looking around alertly. "What about you? This has been your home for many years. Don’t you know where we are?"

Brenda shook her head sadly. "My mother never wanted me to venture down into the dungeon area. I only knew of a secret passage out of my room behind the mantle, but that led to another room in the main part of the fortress." She stopped and gasped when she heard shouting not far from where they stood, but Jax quickly covered her mouth with his hand. After reassuring her with his eyes that they were still safe, they started running down a corridor again until they came to several large wooden doors.

"These look like the doors to the apartments in the upper area of the fortress," Brenda gasped on the last of her breath.

Jax nodded. "I sensed that we were climbing in altitude as we made our way here." They heard more shouts nearby, and Jax pointed to one of the doors. Brenda almost sobbed in relief when the handle turned and they entered the room, shutting and barring the door behind them.

As Brenda’s eyes adjusted to the darkness in the room, she could see that it was just an old, unoccupied apartment. Jax ran to the lone window, and when he opened the shutters, he muttered a word that Brenda remembered was probably a Familiar obscenity. Brenda quickly scanned the rest of the room, but it was the only window. She went to where Jax was standing with a pensive look on his face.

"This is the only way out," she said in despair. "There’s no mantle that would have a connection with the secret passage I know about." She looked around. "And there are no other windows."

She grabbed Jax’s arm in fright when they both turned and heard the sounds of approaching voices. Brenda shrank even further into his embrace when she heard Corinthon’s distinctive voice above the others. Jax quickly spun her around to face him and tipped her face up to his. "Don’t worry, zira. I won’t let anything happen to you."

She nodded and he ran back towards the door, pushing a large piece of furniture against it as an additional brace. When he came back to Brenda, he stood with his hands on his hips for a moment, and then said resolutely, "I have a plan." He walked to the window and looked out and down. "This faces the main courtyard of the fortress. Once we get down, we shouldn’t have any difficulty getting out of here and away from Corinthon and his men."

Brenda moved to his side and peered out of the window. As she stared down at the courtyard below, she pulled back quickly. "Down – yes, that’s the key word here, Jax." She looked at him grimly. "It’s a LONG way down to the ground, and there are no ropes or ladders in this room." He nodded in agreement. "So what’s your plan?"

"I’ll jump, and then I’ll catch you when you jump," he said simply.

"That’s a terrible plan!" Brenda almost shouted. "That’s too far for any human to jump and survive!"

"Ahh, but I am not just any human," Jax replied with a smile. "I am a Familiar, and ….."

"I know, I know," Brenda waved her hand and began to pace in a small circle. "You have many talents, you’re special, you can do things other creatures can’t, and so on, and so on….." She saw his smirk and it only made her more furious. Then he grew serious and took her hands in his.

"You have heard many stories of the Familiar," Jax began. "Have you also heard that we have the power to morph into an alternate being – the form of a cat?" Brenda nodded silently. "Then listen to the entire plan. I will transform into my cat self, and then jump out the window into the courtyard below. Once I’ve landed, I’ll morph once again into my human self. Then you’ll jump, and I’ll catch you."

Brenda looked out the window again and it made her head reel with dizziness. "You can’t do this, Jax," she said, placing her delicate hands gently on his broad chest. She felt the tingle where her hands touched his skin, and to her own surprise as well as Jax’s, she felt tears begin to gather in her eyes. "It’s too dangerous for you."

"It’s my choice to take the risk," Jax replied seriously. Both heads turned when they heard the guards in the hallway begin to hammer on the door. "I must get back to warn the rest of the Familiars about the drug which Corinthon used on me. If I cannot, I would just as soon die out there in the courtyard as die at his hands."

"Are you sure you can catch me?" she asked quietly.

Jax looked out again, and then back at her, using his thumb to dry a tear that had escaped her eye. "I’m not even certain I’ll survive the jump. But this is not only *my* choice – it is also yours to decide. I know that I’m going to try. Whether or not you follow me is up to you."

Brenda nodded her understanding quickly, and then Jax pulled her even closer. "When I …..transform to my cat self….." Jax stumbled for words and lowered his head, finally looking back into her eyes searchingly. "Normally only other Familiars have been given the privilege of watching such a transformation."

Brenda traced a finger across his cheek down to his full lips. "I will always treasure your trust in me, Jax," she whispered. She watched as he moved away from her and began to unlace the leather breeches. Her eyes widened. "Jax! What are you…..Why….Surely you didn’t think that before you jump we would…..?"

He smiled at her briefly, then pulled the pants completely off and threw them out the window onto the courtyard below. He came to her nude, as splendid as when she first beheld him only hours before. He grinned at her and cupped her face in his hands gently. "Ahh, zira, have you suddenly decided that you’re interested in pleasure after all?" Before she could voice her indignant reply, he explained, "My cat self is smaller than my human form. Were I to keep the breeches on, I would become trapped in them!"

Brenda’s eyes widened in understanding. "Of course!" she bristled. "I knew that!"

His eyes began to sparkle at her. "Of course you did." Then his face grew very somber and he pulled her flush against him. He traced his index finger across her forehead and then across her eyes as they closed. He repeated the pattern and leaned down to whisper softly in her ear, "If I don’t survive the jump, Brenda, I want you to know me." He traced the pattern again, and she felt herself pulled into a trance-like state. "I want you to FEEL me, zira. Feel and know this Jax Sharay, for always and forever." He purred gently into her ear, feathering kisses there to her delight.

Brenda inhaled deeply as a feeling unlike any she had ever known before washed over her. She felt safe, and protected, and cared for. A warmth spread through her, causing a pleasant sensation down to the tips of her toes. She felt a tingling as Jax’s finger continued to trace the pattern on her forehead, reinforcing the feeling and magnifying it. It was as close to true happiness as anything she had ever felt in her life. As she struggled to open her eyes, she saw the sparks in Jax’s eyes again, but as she watched in awe, the sparks began to grow into a wider arc, encompassing his entire face.

Jax stepped away from her, but the circle of fireworks around Jax’s face grew even larger, enfolding his entire body. The feeling he had given her held Brenda spellbound, and as the fireworks flared even brighter in intensity, she closed her eyes again.

When Brenda opened her eyes after only a split second, she inhaled sharply at what she saw. Jax was gone, and in his place, a sleek jungle cat had appeared. He was golden in color with some darker brown streaks in his plush fur. He was slender and fierce, yet as he prowled back and forth on the floor before her, Brenda felt no fear of him. She felt that she was able to move once again, and when she tentatively reached forward to touch the marvelous creature, it swung around and caught her with its gaze.

Brenda gasped again. His eyes. The cat had the most marvelous shade of blue/green/gray eyes that she had ever seen. Feral eyes. Tender eyes. Jax’s eyes. Her hand froze for a moment as the eyes held her captive, but then the cat growled softly at her.

Brenda’s hand pulled away and covered her mouth as Jax’s voice sounded in her brain. Before she could say a word, the large cat had sprung to the window ledge and, after giving her one last glance, launched itself gracefully into the air.

Brenda almost couldn’t bring herself to look out the window to see if Jax had been killed. A large noise from the doorway momentarily distracted her. "Brenda! Are you in there?" Corinthon’s voice echoed in the cavernous corridor. "Have you been hurt?"

Brenda stuffed her fist into her mouth and forced herself to look out the window instead. Tears gathered in her eyes as she beheld the still body of the large cat, its hind leg twisted awkwardly under its body. Even if Jax had not been killed by the fall, he was sure at least to have suffered a broken leg from the angle at which it was bent.

"Brenda! We’re coming in! Stand back!" Corinthon’s voice echoed once again, and Brenda cried softly when she heard the sound of an axe hacking at the door and the scrape of wood against wood when the furniture barring the door was beginning to give way. As she watched in horror, the wooden door gave way and two burly guards began pushing at the remnants of the large armoire that had done its job in delaying their entry.

Brenda sat on the window ledge facing the door, but took a chance and briefly glanced over her shoulder out the window. She almost turned fully around at the sight that greeted her eyes. Jax had transformed back into his human self and was unhurt! Obviously any injuries that occurred while he was in his cat form were healed when he morphed back to human again. He was donning the leather pants, and as she continued to gaze at him with tears of joy, he looked up at her and caught her eyes with his. Even from her perch high in the window, she could see his confident smug grin, and when he winked at her, she felt like doing a dance for happiness.

"BRENDA!!" Corinthon’s sneer made her whip her head around to face the door. He was standing there with his hands on his hips, his face red with anger. "Where is the Familiar?"

"Gone," she stated triumphantly.

"You assisted him in his escape?!" His words were as much of a statement as a question.

"You are such a fool, Corinthon," Brenda replied sarcastically. "Even without my help, I have a feeling that the Familiar would have escaped your clutches. He is much too cunning to ever let a worm like you imprison him for long."

Brenda’s words were interrupted when Jax’s voice sounded in her brain.

She looked back over her shoulder again and saw Jax standing in the courtyard, clothed in the leather pants, his arms outstretched waiting for her. His face was beginning to cloud with impatience.

"He’s out there, isn’t he?" Corinthon hissed. He turned to give an order to the guards to head towards the courtyard when Brenda’s words chilled him.

"You’ll never have me, Corinthon. Not in the way you want." Brenda had straddled the window frame as Corinthon was momentarily distracted. As she did, her cloak pulled back and she saw that Corinthon’s eyes were drawn to the blood stains on the lap of her pink gown. To her surprise, Brenda wasn’t embarrassed that Corinthon had discovered the truth. It saved her telling him.

Corinthon put out a wary hand to her. "Brenda, be careful on that ledge. No matter what the Familiar has done to you, it’s not worth killing yourself." He inhaled deeply. "I will just follow my original plan and take you as consort. You need not be shamed by what happened."

Brenda threw back her head and laughed, and it scared Corinthon. "You think I’m embarrassed that the Familiar took me? You think I feel "tainted" somehow?" She gave him a look that sent a chill down his spine. "Well, I’m not. It was my choice that he took me, Corinthon." Her eyes narrowed. "MY idea."

She looked down towards Jax in the courtyard and felt dizzy again from the height. She felt the fear creeping up her spine, but when she looked back briefly towards Corinthon, she knew that even death was preferable to the future he had planned for her. Her Torengi nature told her that even death would provide a freedom that continued existence as Corinthon’s consort would not. She startled as she heard Jax’s voice again.

She gazed down at the man who brought such strange, wonderful feelings to her soul and shifted her weight in preparation to swing the other leg over the ledge.

"BRENDA! DON’T JUMP!" Corinthon screamed. "It is certain death!"

She smiled serenely at Corinthon. "No, Corinthon. Remaining here with you would be certain death for the most vital part of me -- my soul." She swung the other leg over the ledge and looked back at Corinthon over her shoulder. "Your plan has failed, Corinthon. You will never possess my body as the Familiar has, and you will never possess the power. I will die making sure that you won’t."

As she closed her eyes and let herself slide from the window, Corinthon ran to it. The last thing she remembered as her body hurtled through space was his voice, screaming, "NO!!!!!!!!"

Brenda’s cloak billowed out around her as she plummeted rapidly towards the ground and Jax’s waiting arms. With her eyes closed, she pulled her arms in tightly and wrapped them around her waist protectively. The next thing she knew, she was nestled against a warm wall of flesh, and she buried her face deeply in the soft folds of Jax’s neck and shoulder.

The force of Brenda’s fall into his arms brought Jax to his knees, but he held her with all the might he could muster. As she wrapped her arms around his neck and burrowed her face even more deeply into his chest, he held her to him tightly and crooned, "You are safe, my zira. You made it. I have you."

Brenda slowly withdrew her face from Jax’s chest, but not before she took a deep breath of the warm, comforting smell that was his alone. She looked up into his eyes and saw the same aquamarine/azure orbs that she was afraid would haunt her dreams for the rest of her life. They crinkled at the corners as he smiled at her. Brenda cautiously withdrew one hand from his neck to stroke his cheek. "You caught me. And you’re all right." She looked around her in amazement. "We’re both all right," she breathed in disbelief.

Both faces turned skyward when they heard Corinthon’s wail. "BRENDA! FAMILIAR! You will never escape me!!!"

Jax rose to his feet and put Brenda down reluctantly. "As much I would enjoy taking inventory of you to make sure that you are truly uninjured....we need to get out of here! NOW!!" He quickly made sure she was steady on her feet and at a nod of her head, he grabbed her by the hand. She never turned back, even though Corinthon continued to scream her name as they fled from the courtyard.

Jax and Brenda came to a fork in the road just inside the walls of the fortress. "Which way?" Brenda gasped, winded from running.

Jax looked left and right. Then he pointed left. "That way." He grabbed her hand again and they ran a short distance and then saw the main gate of the fortress wall. Spurred by the sight of freedom close at hand, Jax increased his speed, pulling Brenda with him as they went through the gate and into the grasslands that surrounded the fortress.

Life is often a matter of choices. Forks in the road. What Jax never knew was that by choosing the path to the left, they never passed the refuse heap behind the fortress. He never heard the soft whimpers of pain from a body that had been racked by torture. Jax’s senses were still partially dulled from the drug Corinthon had given him, so he never sensed the faint lifeforce of the one he had been sent to rescue.

The future path of Lukathan’s life would be forever changed by the path that Jax and Brenda chose in that dimly lit moment of twilight.

To be continued.....

Author’s note: "Lukathan" is the young Familiar who got lost on his first adventure. Finding him is the reason that Jax came to Charporta.

"Zira" is meant to be a term in Jax’s Familiar language. It obviously sounds like a term of endearment and Brenda just assumes that’s what it is. However, when they reach Jax’s home planet of Meer’an, Brenda will find out that the term has an even deeper meaning. Jax is purposely using this endearment for her because of that meaning.