Shifters Alliance

by Shaun L Griffiths

  Sam dropped some pine needles and ginger into the hot water, and stirred in some dried moss that the Doc had given him. It filled the cave with a pungent odour.

  ‘Add a little honey to make life taste a little sweeter,’ said Sam, stirring the pot over the fire.

  He poured it into a wooden cup and handed it to Kerri, who gratefully took it in her gloved hands. Sipping the hot drink, she felt the warmth rush through her body, relaxing her muscles, and finally renewing her strength. She passed the cup to Sonny, who took a drink and handed the cup to Sam.

  Sonny sat down by the fire. He turned to look at Kerri, having made up his mind.

  She sat up. ‘I’m ready now,’ she said.

  ‘You must look inside, you must close off all thoughts and awareness of what’s going on around you. Concentrate your mind on the beating of your heart, see it expanding and contracting each moment. Breathe slowly and deeply. Hear only your breath, see only your heart beating. And feel the power that’s inside you, feel the strength as it grows within you, see your heart as it gets larger and larger. Realise the strength within you can make you so strong, so powerful, nothing can stop you becoming what you are inside…’

  While Sonny was saying these words, he slowly changed himself into the Mountain Lion as he had appeared to them before. He saw Kerri lie down and curl herself up under the cloaks. Sam watched, fascinated as her shape under the cloaks became larger and larger. Her legs became longer and stronger, her arms grew and claws sprang from where her fingers had been, pads rose from her palms. A thick fur covered her limbs, and beneath the blanket, Sam watched as the face of a hound emerged. Strong jawed, alert, and powerful, Kerri rose as a hound of formidable size and power. She stood on all fours looking at Sonny, who had now also changed to his inner self.

  Lulu stood in the deep snow, her thick fur protecting her from the biting wind and plunging temperatures. She knew she had no choice but to guard this gap between the mountains.

  Holly and Carter’s safety depended on her, her own family depended upon her, and the safety of her land all came down to her making sure nothing came through this pass. All her senses were alert, her ears raised, she constantly sniffed the air, always watching for the slightest movement, the smallest change. Everything was quiet and calm.

  She looked out over the snow field in front of her that stretched off into the distant gap between the peaks, like a giant funnel. The snow crystals were like flashing lights in the late afternoon sunshine, blinding her in the whiteness. Untrodden, sparkling, and clear of any danger. These mountains can be so beautiful, but oh, so dangerous, Lulu thought.

  She’d had a strange sense of unease all day, but now she felt something was definitely wrong. She didn’t know what it was, but she had no peace inside. She looked again to the north. The wind was picking up, rushing off the upper peaks, bringing the storm lower.

  As the day had passed, she’d watched the clouds turn from pink, to grey, to blue. They seemed so heavy, she almost felt the weight on her consciousness. She knew the snows would come tonight. The clouds had been telling her all day. But there was something else that unsettled her, she just couldn’t place what was wrong.

  The sun dropped behind the peaks and the wind hit her like a solid wall. She turned into the wind, feeling the gusts rushing over her. Usually the winds went unfelt, her thick fur keeping her warm through the worst of it, but the storm coming now had a different bite to it. This evening she was starting to feel it cut through her fur to her bones. Again she felt uneasiness wash over her. Will I be able to stand up to this one?

  The gusts started howling at her, rushing down from the upper slopes and through the pass with nothing to stand in their way except Lulu. She turned her head, her eyes blinded from staring at the snow all day, her ears deafened by the howling wind, but between the gusts, her sense of smell was finding something. She shivered for the first time.

  The scent seemed somewhat familiar to her, but also strange and unknown, and it was getting stronger. There was something out there, she was sure. All senses now on full alert, Lulu tensed and prepared for the first sign of an intruder. Nothing would get past her. She would protect them all with her life.

  There it was again, the scent of something out of place. She turned her head. It was behind her! Now she was confused. Had something come through the pass to the east and circled around behind her? Had they overrun Carter’s or Holly’s Pass? Were Carter and Holly still okay? It wasn’t supposed to be like this, all this uncertainty.

  She turned to the north, where she expected something to come from, but the scent was definitely behind her. She couldn’t stop a low rumbling growl in her throat; she knew something was there. Turning again, the wind stopped for just a moment and she saw something move in the darkness. There it was, they’d come at her from behind. The fur on her neck was standing on end, her lips drawn back to show the rows of razor sharp fangs. Her whole body tensed, ready to attack. But the scent was wrong.

  And then she heard her name. ‘Lu, is it you?’

  Her heart soared. She thought it would explode, it was beating so fast within her.

  ‘Daddy?’ She couldn’t believe it was him.

  ‘Lu, it’s me,’ Sam said.

  She saw him wrapped in his blanket, coming towards her, the colours she knew and loved so well. His scent overpowered her, making her dizzy. To smell him again, the smell of home.

  He approached slowly, and she became aware of two others with him. But she didn’t want to see them, she only wanted to look at her father.

  ‘Oh Lu, what have they done to you?’

  She saw his eyes were full, ready to cry, and she could no longer hold back her own tears. They came rolling down her face, wave after wave, with deep sobs, lost in her throat. She stepped quickly forward and buried her head against his chest, letting the waves of his scent and his touch wash over her.

  Sam held her tight around the neck, ‘Lu, what have they done?’ he repeated.

  He took his blanket and wrapped it around her.

  ‘Lu, I must see you, I must look at you again. Can you change for me?’

  Lulu let go of all the tension, lost in the comfort of his voice, of his strong arms around her. She let go of all the past terrors, the confusion, the dangers, and the battle. She let it all go, along with the hound that slowly retreat back to her inner self. She stood before him, wrapped in his arms and wrapped in his blanket. Sam squeezed her tightly to him, never wanting to let her go ever again.

  ‘Lu, we’re going home now,’ he said.

  ‘But Dad, I must stay, I must protect this pass. The bears will be here soon. I must stop them or they’ll take our land, they’ll hurt Holly and Carter.’

  ‘It’s okay,’ he said, comforting her. ‘They lied to you, Lu. It’s time for you to go home. Everyone’s waiting for you.’

  Sam looked down at her, ‘Lu, where’s my little girl?’ he said. ‘You’ve grown so much.’

  Sam couldn’t believe his daughter, who’d been taken only a week before, but now stood there as a young women. Lulu now looked at the others with him.

  ‘Kerri?’

  ‘It’s me, Lulu.’ Kerry said.

  ‘I knew I could smell strawberries, but I never believed it was you,’ She threw her arms around Kerri’s mane, squeezing her tight. ‘Oh, Kerri, you came!’ said Lulu again, and felt another wave of tears come falling. Her happiness finally drained away all the tension of standing guard in the mountains.

  ‘Who’s this?’ she asked, looking at the cat.

  ‘I’m Sonny, son of Duma, who brought you here.’

  ‘Lu, you must change back,’ Sam said, ‘you’ll freeze in this wind.’

  Lulu nodded, and concentrating as they’d taught her, she went through the change back to a hound.

  ‘Dad, tell me what you meant when you said they’d lied to me?’

  ‘I’ll explain everything when we find shelter and light a fire. We must get off this mountain.’ he said.
r />   Sonny led them down, scrambling over rocks high above the path, not wanting to be caught by anyone from his town coming to find them. The storm howled around them, the snow being blown horizontally in their face. Hardly able to see each other, they had to trust Sonny’s knowledge of the mountains to get them down. At a point where the descent became much steeper, Lulu saw Sam stumble over a rock and fall head first. She jumped down the slope to stop him sliding further.

  ‘Hold onto me, Dad,’ she said

  Lulu walked surefooted on the lower slope with Sam holding onto her fur. The wind circled around the mountain unceasing, at such speeds that at times, they felt they would be plucked off the mountain face. They were all numbed to the bone, the wind cutting through them, the snow flying in their faces, blinding them to the dangers under their feet. They could feel their strength deserting them, worn down by the bitter cold and relentless wind. Lulu thought of nothing else beyond staying beside her father. It was left to Kerri to worry for their survival.

  As the night wore on, Kerri wondered for the first time if they would make it off the mountain. She’d never known such a fury of nature. She felt herself tensing against every blast, exhausting herself more. She was having trouble moving her limbs. It was getting difficult to put one foot in front of the other; she had trouble moving her shoulders. Her body was shutting down as the cold seeped into her very core. She was quickly losing the strength and will to fight against an icy wind she knew she could never beat.

  The wind screamed and howled around them, deafening them, isolating them from each other. She was lost in a personal battle against nature, one she was no longer confident she could survive. She became aware of her mind starting to close down, of herself constantly wanting to sit for a moment, or better, to lie down and rest for a little while, or maybe even to sleep and wake up when it was all over.

  Move one more foot, now move the next foot, now the next... she kept telling herself.

  Every step was a personal battle against the storm and against her own need to lie down and sleep. She felt locked inside herself, no longer aware of what was happening around her, every sense deadened, except the feeling of absolute cold. She was in despair.

  Someone was shaking her. Something was being shouted at her, but she couldn’t focus on what was happening. From a faint voice, screamed over the raging storm, she realised Sonny was saying something.

  ‘There’s a cave near here where we can rest, sit out the storm. Follow me down.’

  Sonny eventually found the cave entrance he remembered from his earlier treks to the pass. He led them further inside and the wind faded to a low whistle behind them. Sam collapsed from exhaustion. Lulu, looking down at her father, realised she had never seen him so tired.

  ‘We must get you off this mountain as quickly as possible,’ Lulu said.

  ‘It’s not the mountain that’s making you tired,’ Sonny said. ‘It’s coming through the gateway.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Sam’s voice was barely audible.

  Sonny thought for some time. ‘Sam, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. I didn’t think it would affect you so badly. When you pass through to another land, it’s as if your body speeds up, you grow up and grow old very quickly.

  ‘That’s why Lulu looks so much older than when you last saw her. The older you are, then the more quickly you age. You need to change yourself to slow down the ageing and you can’t do that.

  ‘Do you remember when I told you we found a stranger, who looked like he was one of your people? He was old when we found him. He said he’d ‘fallen’ into our valley only two days before. But he aged in front of our eyes. He only lived another three days. I think he died of old age.’

  ‘So that’s why you bring our children here, only they can live long enough to protect you?’ said Kerri.

  Sonny couldn’t find the words to answer for his father’s actions.

  ‘Dad, you told me at the pass they lied to me. What did you mean?’ asked Lulu.

  ‘They told you that you’re here to protect the borders, to stop the bears before they attack our land. The only reason the bears are here is to recover something that was stolen from them. The bears have no interest in conquest. I have the feeling they would be happier sleeping in their beds.’

  Sam looked at Sonny. ‘Your father has something that belongs to them, but he’s not willing to give it back. He doesn’t think he nor his men, or cats, will be able to stop the bears, so he took our children to block the passes while he sleeps in his bed this winter.’

  ‘You’ve no right to say that, you don’t know if that’s true!’ The anger in Sonny’s voice was plain to hear.

  ‘I know when a man is lying,’ Sam replied calmly.

  Kerri could feel the tension rising between them. ‘The most important thing is to get everyone home as quickly as possible,’ she said. ‘I think it’s best for Lulu and Sonny to go with you to the border as quickly as possible, Sam, to reduce the way this ageing thing is affecting you. Sonny can lead you.’

  ‘You’ll never find your way back alone,’ said Sonny to her.

  ‘Why don’t you stop telling me what I can’t do and tell me where Holly and Carter are?’ Kerri snapped.

  ‘They’re in the two passes further east. We think this is the pass the bears will use, that’s why Lulu was given this one to guard.’

  ‘At first light, you must show me where they are, and then leave for the border,’ said Kerri.

  ‘Do you really believe you can do that?’ asked Sonny.

  ‘I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe it. Now let’s eat and rest, we’ll need to travel fast in the morning.’

  Lulu lay down beside her father, her thick fur giving him warmth in the chill air of the cave, letting him recover for the journey home.

  When she heard Sam fall into a restless sleep, Kerri moved to sit near Sonny, close enough to whisper to him.

  ‘You must get Lulu home. Whatever happens, you must get her back to the border. It’s more than her being of the royal line, it’s much more.

  ‘Sam knew there was the possibility he was on a one-way journey. That’s one of the reasons he came alone. Do you understand what I am telling you?’

  ‘No, I don’t,’ said Sonny.

  ‘I think Sam wants to bring forward the succession. He wants to pass it over directly to Lulu. She has special ‘gifts;’ we think it’s because of Salli. She’s not one of us.’

  ‘What do you mean …?’

  ‘Shhh!...’ They heard a stirring. ‘Above all else, Lulu must get home,’ she whispered.

  Sonny nodded, and looked over to where they both rested. Kerri turned and walked to the cave entrance, to keep guard and to wait for the first light of day.

  How did we get through that? she thought to herself, watching as the storm gradually passed over them. The snows stopped falling, and the wind slowly died away. The clouds cleared and she looked for the first time at the mountains around her.

  Her gaze travelled up to the high peaks and to the stars now filling the sky.

  They seem so much brighter here. Maybe because I’m so much closer to them, she thought.

  Her eyes roamed the sky, looking for a pattern she could recognise. She noticed a bright red star opposite a brilliant blue one, then the line of three, with the smudge close below it. She recognised the pattern far to the south.

  I know these stars she thought. She was suddenly filled with hope for the future. She would find her way home, and for the first time in a long time, she smiled to herself.

  ‘This place is so beautiful,’ she said quietly. ‘If only it wasn’t so cold.’

  Kerri watched the rising sun silhouetting the massive peaks in front, leaving them in deep darkness, highlighting only the outline of the jagged ridges and passes. She became aware of Sonny standing beside her.

  ‘That’s where you need to go,’ Sonny said, pointing to the eastern ridge. He showed her the two passes through the ridge line.

  �
��The children guard the entrances. The town is there, to the south.’ he pointed out to her. ‘There’s the plateau behind, but you can circle around from the east, keeping well away from our town, and then follow the forest south.’

  ‘There’s something I’ve wanted to say to you,’ said Kerri. ‘You mustn’t feel you’ve betrayed your father by helping us,’ she said.

  ‘To act blindly as he did, without a thought or a care for the damage done, will only lead to destruction. You must make peace with your father and with your people.’

  Sonny looked at her. He didn’t see the hound, sitting beside him, looking out over the world waking to a new day. He saw Kerri who’d laughed at him, joked with him, listened to him, protected him, taught him, and was about to leave him. And he missed her already.

  It was as if she knew his every thought. She placed her hand over his.

  ‘I can never stay in your land and you can’t stay in mine,’ she said. ‘You must find peace here. I’ll see you at the border.’

  Sonny was unwilling to break their touch. ‘Don’t be late. I’ll not wait for you.’

  He saw the laughter in her eyes. She turned away, looking to the east and quickly jumped from the cave entrance. Sonny watched as she ran down the mountain, sure in her footing, full of confidence in her new-found abilities, racing to the eastern passes. He watched until he could no longer see her movements on the mountain face. Then he turned with a heavy heart back into the cave to wake the others.

  She ran as she’d never run before. Her mind was lost in memories from the past, daydreams for the future. She ran without seeing, her feet landing without effort and choosing a route without thought. She drifted away as she ran, hour after hour, heading for the pass that she could see in the ridge line.

  She was a young girl, running through the Northern Plain, laughing as she chased the sheep, knowing she would never come close to them. She was racing Lulu along the river’s edge, to be first home for meal times and always winning. Running around the Meeting Place with the boys trying to catch her, slowing to let them come close, but not too close, and sprinting away to leave them in a cloud of dust and laughter. Lost in her thoughts, she felt she could run forever.