Turtleshift

by Linton Bowers

  I don’t know if you have ever paid attention to a woman’s breast when they lift their arms over their head, but damn. The shape is changed in interesting ways and they still have plenty of giggle.

  “Really?” Izzy asked as she tugged at the bottom of her shirt. “Your mind goes there at a time like this?”

  “The zombie apocalypse could be happening at the same time as an extinction level meteor crashing down, and a supervolcano eruption, and it wouldn’t be enough to distract me from how hot you are.”

  Izzy blinked at me, then turned red, and finally gigled. “Fucking Gringo,” she mumbled.

  “What now?” Dris asked.

  The wolves with him turned took at me. I turned to look at Scarlet. The mage woman turned and looked at her Brother. Daryl stood at the back of the room with his mouth hanging open.

  “Scar, what the hell?” Daryl asked.

  “Darryl!” Scarlet said as she rushed her brother. The embraced and mumbled to each other while they hugged the plates on my skin receded. The timer on Shell ran out.

  “Terry,” Scarlet said as she let her brother go. “This is Daryll, the most talented Hydro Mage in the world.”

  “Stop it,” Daryll hissed. “He has to be a Mage Hunter. Can’t you feel it?”

  “I don’t know about this Mage Hunter stuff,” I said stepping close and offering my hand. “I’m Terry. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Uh.”

  Scarlet elbowed her brother in the ribs. “Don’t be rude. He just rescued you.”

  “Same,” Daryll said as he took my hand and we shook.

  “About that whole rescuing thing.” Daryll dropped my hand. “If I leave they are going to hurt our parents.”

  “I know, but I couldn’t let them have you. Mom and dad would want you freed.”

  “What did my sister offer in exchange for saving me?” Daryll asked as he faced me.

  “Information and the possibility of working for me if she feels we are on the up and up.”

  “Is he on the up and up, sis?”

  “So far Terry has been nothing but nice to me. I was planning on offering my services to him,” Scarlet said.

  “Okay, good enough for me. Mr. Terry, I would like to make a deal with you.”

  “Please, call me Terry. And before we get into this, lets go get some food.”

  “All ready?” Scarlet asked.

  “Shifting burns calories,” Dris said. “Back to the next meeting place?”

  “Sure?” I said.

  An hour later we were back in town and sitting at a couple tables in a Village Inn. The server brought everyone pie and we finished our meals in style.

  “About that deal,” I said while looking around to make sure no one was close enough to hear. “What did you have in mind?”

  “I agreed to work for the werewolf pack because they threatened to kill my family. Scarlet is safe, but if we don’t get to my parents soon, they are dead. Dead by your deeds. I feel like you owe us for putting them in danger.” He held up his hand stopping me from a very stern rebuttal. “Since Scar vouches for you I will offer my services as well ad Scar’s. On top of that, I’ll help her with the information stuff. Might parents might be willing to get in on the deal after we save them. What do you say?”

  “Where are your parents being held?” Izzy asked.

  “We’ll do it,” I said.

  “What?” Izzy shot me a glare. “Are you trying to make me look bad at every turn?” My turtle’s voice was more than stern.

  “I’m sorry, Izzy, but the gains here are too much to pass on. This Darryl guy made the cavern we now call home,” I thought back. “Sorry for stepping on your toes, but I have the entire pack to consider as well as a war with Arnold, and a probably war with Acashia.”

  “I do what I do because I don’t want to see you hurt, idiot.”

  I wasn’t sure how to react to that. Dealing with Izzy was the most confusing thing I’ve ever done. I’ve been making moves since this little adventure started. Why stop now?

  I leaned over coming out of my seat and planted my lips on Izzy’s. Her posture became rigid, but she didn’t pull away. When I parted my lips her moved to allow my tongue entry. Her tongue entered my mouth as we kissed.

  My turtle pulled back suddenly and stood. “Fucking gringo,” she mumbled. Then she left.

  I started to rise so I could give chase but a meaty hand landed on my shoulder stopping me.

  “Best to give her time,” Dris said. “It’s clear she cares, but turtles are not big into groups. This has to be hard for her.”

  “You’re right.” I sat back down.

  “That was interesting,” Darryl said.

  “Glad I could amuse you. Tell me what we need to know in order yo save your parents,” I said.

  “They aren’t far away. He wanted them close so he could kill them quick if I didn’t perform.”

  Another hour passed while he told us everything he knew and we drove to the site. The site was a gun/paintball/dirt bike track place just east of town call The Dragon Ranch.

  We drove down a hard dirt road lined with junked cars painted in bright colors. Many held signs threatening trespassers and liberals. The sides were built up berms obscuring the view of the building that was our destination. The unnatural berms created a tunnel effect with the nose of the bikes making their loud rumble echo in my chest. When we rounded the last corner a half cylinder building painted a worn down olive drab green waited beyond a dirt lot. Izzy parked far from the building and the pack parked their bikes around us. The bikes shut down and the area became eerily quiet.

  “What’s the plan, boss?” Dris asked as I left the vehicle.

  “I want to say the front door, but I don’t think it’ll be as easy as the last stop. So, we go inside, and by we, I mean me. The rest of you fan out and see if there are other entrances.” I felt the rage building in my Tua so I figured the next request would help with that. “You Okay coming with me?” I asked.

  Izzy’s ire simmered to a low boil. “Yeah, that works for me.” She said. “Next time, talk with me first. I would have thought you placed me above your hobby pack.”

  “Ouch. Sorry, I hadn’t that of it that way. You’re my Tua and you will always come before the pack or anyone else.”

  “Anyone have anything to add?” I asked. No one answered. “Okay, let’s move.”

  Izzy and I entered stepping onto a plywood floor. There was a counter made of glass that wrapped around sectioning off the front quarter of the building. Behind the counter shelves ran the length of the building. Onte shelves were more guns than I had ever seen in one place. Everything from hand guns, to shotgung, and up to all manner of rifles. In the open area beyond the counter to my right were big tripods with large weapons too big to be riffles.

  The air smelled stale, but cleen, and where the light pierced the room from outside dust glowed a golden color. The air was stirred by a fan that caused the dust to race through the light.

  “This place is creepy and awesome,” Izzy said.

  “I agree, but what do we do now?”

  “You’re the big man on campus. You tell me,” Izzy said.

  “All right. We go behind the counter and see what else there is to this place.”

  As I reached the counter I heard a faint sound. It was like someone were singing to band music. There was a board mounted the the counter between two sections and hinged on one side. I lifted the board and walked behind the counter. A part of me felt guilty about being there. Like my mother was going to walk in and catch me doing something I shouldn’t.

  A trap door at the far end of the counter was propped up by a two by four. Every step I took made the music a little bit louder and clear. It was old music from the twenties or thirties. What the music was didn’t matter as much as what it did, and that was mask the sound of our movements.

  “Let’s go down before they decide it's time to stop playing music,” I said.

  My Tua nodded an
d waved me on. I led the way down a set of narrow steps made of raw boards. The sound of singing and horned instruments grew loud enough for my to not hear the boards creak under me. The floor teen feet down was cement matching the walls and ceiling. The passage we found ourselves in was wide enough for us to walk shoulder to shoulder with a few inches to spare on each side. The hallway curved to the left and was long enough that we couldn’t see the end of it.

  It only took five minutes to reach an opening. There was no door, just a narrow doorway capped off with a semicircle I would call an arch, but felt the cement wasn’t grandiose enough for that moniker. I slowed my pace even though the music was loud enough to render any other sound inert. I felt a hand on my shoulder as I walked and felt a little more secure for having Izzy at my back. Bringing her in was the right call for so many reasons.

  The light on the other side was dimmer so I couldn’t see what waited for us. Once I stepped in my vision adjusted and I wished it hadn’t. A man and woman were chained to the far wall by their wrists high up on the wall. Both were naked revealing tanned skin with porcelain marking from their bathing suits. That was where the pleasantries ended.

  The woman had a long gash running from under her left eye, down her cheek and neck t her chest. From there it continued downward bysecting her niple and cutting inter her breast tissue. The cut ended in the middle of her left thigh. A trail of blood continued down her leg and pooled at her feet. The man was far worse.

  He had a similar line that started just above his eye and ended about mid thigh. A second one adorned his right side making him blind from the damage. He also had cuts criss crossing his torso. A man walked over bouncing in time to the music. He wore blue jeans and a dark colored apron splashed with blood. His feet and torso were bare. When he reached the man he began slashing from side to side in time with the beat making new angry lines in his victim’s flesh.

  Chapter 15

  I roared in rage as I charged the man murdering Scarlett’s parents and taking his sweet time doing it. He spun and I hesitated for a second. Where I was expecting the love child of Quasimodo and Rocky Denise there was the most ruggedly handsome man I had ever seen. His face split into a wicked grin, then he shifted.

  A twelve foot tall bear-man met my charge head on.

  The chances of me beating him at the typical yen percent I hold were bexy to zero. I pulled sixty. Time slowed and I was treated to a paw the size of a dinner plate moving fast enough to still hit me in slow time. I sailed across the room. My body made leisurely trek as my perspective perceived everything moving at a snail's pace. At the top of my arching trajectory slow time wore off. An instant later I bounced on the unforgiving concrete floor.

  Izzy leapt over me covered in her natural armor. My eyes tracked her until she met up with the bear. His paw hit her, but she had expected the blow and took a defensive posture. The paw impacted. Izzy took a short flight. Blood arched out from wounds on the massive paw.

  The werebear roared as he clutched his wounded paw to his chest. I looked from him to my turtle. She wasn't moving. “Izzy?” I sent through our mental link but she didn’t respond.

  Everything became red. I faved the bear and roared. My roar became a metallic screech which ended with a jet of flame. A beat of my wing brought me within striking range. My claws racked deep furrows into hairless charred skin. The scent of burnt hair filled the air mingling with the copper tange of blood.

  My most powerful ability, Dragonshift, reached its limit and I transformed back. Still my fingers slashed at the man that had been a bear. My finger bent like thew were tupped in claws and I roared until my vocal cords broke.

  Strong arms wrapped around me and pulled me back while pinning my arms to my side. I wanted to tear into the newcomer and make everyone pay for hurting my turtle.

  Only the connection I felt to the person behind me kept me from going ape shit. “He’s dead.” Dris’ cool baritone helped to settle and ground me. He held me while I panted and my senses returned. “I’m okay,” I said after a few minutes.

  Dris released me and I turned to go check on my turtle.

  Izzy was on her feet leaning against the wall with one arm wrapped around her torso and the other hanging at her side. She stared at me with narrow calculating eyes. “What is going on with you?” She thought to me.

  “I don’t know.”

  Something was wrong, but I couldn’t place my finger on it. Rage burned through my veins like a toxic blaze. The murderous bear was dead but I still wanted to pound on it. I wanted the squish the creature into oblivion. Add in the the reckless behavior I’ve been exhibiting and it added up to some potentially dangerous decisions.

  “Mom!” Darryl shouted ashe ranint the room.

  “Dad!” Scarlet screamed. She ran to her father. My wolves helped free and lower both people to the ground.

  The distraction of the siblings and their parents was enough to help me cool down. I went to Scarlet’s side wanting to know how the mutilated man fared. Turned out to be not so well. Scarlet cried out in denial at what Juan Carlos was telling her. Her father was dead. The military trained medic went to the woman Darryl held in his arms. I moved in taking his place next to Scarlet. I put an arm around her and she buried her face against my chest. As I held her she wept. Izzy came to me and knelt down placing her hand on my shoulder, she didn’t speak, outloud or mentally. Her presence helped me to cope with my own troubles and my failure to save Scarlett's father. Something I didn’t realize bothered me until Izzy came over.

  “We can’t stay,” Dris said. “Someone is going to come check on things here. We need to get the mage family up an out of here.”

  “We can’t leave my dad!” Scarlett screamed. She tried pulling free of me but I held tight. When she couldn't get away she beat against me with hr small fists. I took the blows without comment.

  “Make sure we take him with us,” I said. “I won’t leave him behind.” I didn’t add that I wasn’t willing to leave him in the hands of a necromancer. None of the dead troops Lassiter set against us showed any signs of wielding magic that I could see, but that didn’t change how I felt. It could simply be that he didn’t have a mage corpse to use, or it could be that he couldn’t activate a mage’s magic once he or she was dead. Too much of a risk to not take the man. Leaving him behind felt wrong as well.

  Scarlett settled down when she saw my pack wrap her father in a blanket and pick him up. I helped her to her feet and we followed Darryl and his other through the cement hallway. The smell of blood dwindled to nothing which I was grateful for. My temper settled more with the smell gone.

  We made it up and out with no incidents. Scarlett, Darryl, and their mother were loaded into the backseat of Izzy’s car. Their father was set into the trunk as it was the only place we could put him without having him in the passenger area with him. We drove back to town with the only sounds anyone made were the soft cries from the back seat.

  Izzy pulled into a gas station on the outskirts of town. While she filled up Dris took my black card and bought a bunch of ice. I helped him pack the bags in the trunk around Scarlett’s father. Then I went inside and bought a bunch of food. Everything from roller grill hot dogs to chips and other bagged goodies. I issued food out the pack and brought the rest into the car. Izzy took a dog and I passed the rest behind me.

  “No thank you,” The woman wrapped in a blanket said.

  “I know this is hard, but all of you need to keep up our strength. Please eat something and get some rest. We have a long drive ahead of us.”

  “Can I get some clothes? I don’t have any money on me so…”

  “Yeah. Yeah, sorry. I soul have thought of that. Don’t worry about money. I’ll get you whatever you want.” I looked at Izzy who was inches away from me as I was turned toward the center of the car to speak to the mages. Her scent was intoxicating and I wanted to kiss her again. I held that impulse in check and spoke to her instead. “Can we stop at a mall or something?”

 
“Yeah, there is one not far from here.” She turned to look the woman. “Since your not exactly dressed for shopping, I’ll run in and grab you something. Any preferences?”

  “Just something to over up, please.”

  Less than an hour later we had an outfit of jeans and a loose fitting t-shirt on the woman with a pair of sandals on her feet. The trip back to the underground facility in Amarillo was a long and silent one. I looked back at the mages frequently to find tear stained faces and the the mother holding her kids close. Not that two people around my age could be called kids.

  When we pulled into the warehouse where the guard would be stationed Darryl perked up. “Is this the facility I dug out?”

  “That’s what I hear,” I said.

  “So you and Arnold…”

  “No, and hell no. We took this place be force. It’s no longer Arnold’s facility. This place belongs to me and my pack.”

  “Oh. So if you don’t need a facility to call home, what do you need from a mage?” Darryl asked.

  “We will talk about that soon enough. For now, let’s get down below.”

  The elevator started and the noise of it stopped all possibilities of having a conversation. Ten minutes later the platform stopped. Izzy pulled out f the warehouse and drove for the command center.

  “They really built this place up,” Darryl said. “I hadn’t expected all this when they had me make this hole.”

  “Is this what you want with us?” His mom asked.

  “I’m sorry ma’am, I didn’t introduce myself. My name is Terry, what’s yours?”

  “I’m Monica. Nice to meet you, Terry. Back to my question, did you save me so you could exploit my kids?”

  “No, we had an agreement to have your children answer some questions for for me and consider working with us. I don’t require they work for me, but I still want to have some questions answered,”I siad.

  “All right. In that case, I’ll answer your questions. After that we need to find a new home.”