by H. K. Varian
Mack pointed down the coastline, where the intensity of the hurricane blocked all visibility. The storm is leaving town, he said. We need to catch it.
Hurricanes have an eye, Fiona spoke up. Dead center, it’s a place of pure stillness and calm.
You think that’s where Auden Ironbound is? asked Mack.
That’s where I’d be, she replied.
So, if Auden Ironbound’s in the eye of the hurricane . . . , Darren began.
Then the storm surrounding him must be his army of Changers, Mack finished.
We could break them up, Gabriella suggested. You know, distract them. Shatter his defenses.
Divide and conquer, Darren added.
Exactly, Gabriella said. As long as one of us can get the horn . . .
I’ll get it, Mack said.
Everyone turned to him.
I have to, he continued. For Jiichan. For everyone.
One by one, the others nodded. Then Gabriella spoke. Wait, she said. I’m sorry . . . about before. The way I acted with Lizbeth. I was awful.
It’s— Fiona began.
Please. I have to say this, Gabriella interrupted her. You have to trust me. I’m with you. I’m one of you. And I will never treat you like that again, ever. I promise.
Mack took a deep breath. Okay, he said. Let’s do this.
Chapter 13
The Battle
Fiona was the first to depart, diving down through the wildly churning waves. Her promise to her father flickered through her mind for a moment before she remembered her strong flippers and her powerful tail. Fiona the girl had no business going into the storm-tossed ocean. . . . But Fiona the selkie was made for this.
The water welcomed her, carrying her over the whitecaps into the depths. But the song that she always heard from the sea was different. Right away, Fiona knew she was not alone. There were others in the ocean, others like her; Fiona could feel them, even though the water was so clouded by the surging waves that she couldn’t see a thing. And just the way she could feel them, Fiona could also feel that they were part of everything that was happening. Under Auden Ironbound’s spell, they were helping the storm rage overhead. It was all connected, Fiona realized; the sea and the sky, the waves and the weather, the tides and the treachery.
I have to stop the waterborne Changers, she thought. But how? They were Changers like her; they were innocent—caught up in an evil spell. Fiona didn’t want to harm them. No, there had to be another way.
Fiona didn’t know any selkie songs. She couldn’t work any magic with her voice yet. But she was fast, and she could distract the Changers, draw them away from the storm.
Fiona darted in and out of the lines, tagging Changer dolphins and seals, circling sea otters and sharks. There was a vacant haze covering their glowing red eyes; Fiona knew Auden had them in his grasp.
As the Changers gave chase, Fiona swam farther out into the ocean, jumping in and out of the waves. One by one, Changers began to surface: seals of all colors; dolphins, too. She was drawing them out, distracting them from their mission. She realized that the water was starting to calm—it was working!
I’ll swim until I pass out, if that’s what it takes, Fiona vowed. She breached the water for a deep breath of air and— What was that, over there? The seal with the copper-colored pelt. It was staring at Fiona, but she didn’t have time to figure out what it wanted from her.
Fiona dove beneath the waves once more.
Darren was airborne with just two beats of his wings, and in less than a minute, he had flown so far and so high that he could no longer see Mack and Gabriella on the beach below. The wind currents, Darren soon realized, could work with him or against him. He couldn’t just fly in a straight line. Instead, Darren had to anticipate each invisible current; where it came from, where it was blowing. Then he had to decide, in a split second, to fly over it, under it, or glide along with it. All the times he’d seen birds in flight, and he’d never once appreciated just how hard it was to fly. Even the clouds were against him, it seemed: dark, dense, and opaque, they obscured just about everything, including the other flying Changers. The higher Darren flew, the darker the sky, until he could barely see anything.
Whoosh!
Darren veered off to the side, nearly missing a collision with some winged creature careening through the growing darkness. His heart was thundering; it wouldn’t have been good, he knew, to crash in midair. Darren pictured his wings crumpled, crushed, feathers fluttering through the sky as he plunged to the ground. No, it wouldn’t have been good at all.
He still didn’t know how, exactly, he was going to help, but one thing was obvious: he needed to see if he was going to survive flying through this storm. Just the thought of a midair collision made him so panicked that his talons crackled with anxious sparks.
Sparks.
Of course, Darren thought. I have lightning on my side.
He’d never thrown a lightning bolt deliberately, but maybe it was time he tried.
With his wings still beating, Darren turned the rest of his energy to his talons. They were still sparking, and he felt something like an electrical charge building in his neck. The charge gathered strength and intensity and then rolled through his body until—
Crack!
The most brilliant lightning bolt, blue-white with a deep orange aura around it, burst from his talons. It sliced through the clouds, illuminating them and leaving an emptiness in their wake where Darren could see clear down to the beach below.
Darren blinked. That hole in the clouds . . . He wasn’t imagining it. Somehow his lightning had actually broken the cloud into two.
I can destroy the storm, Darren realized. And that was all he needed to send more lightning zinging through the hurricane. Massive bolts whizzed their way through the darkness, leaving streaks of light in their wake. There was still hope.
After Darren and Fiona left, Gabriella felt, suddenly, very small on the vast beach. She was grateful to have Mack with her. It would be easier to face whatever was to come with him by her side.
Let’s do it, she said, sounding braver than she felt. Mack nodded, and then they were off, leaving two sets of tracks in the wet sand. Gabriella glanced behind only once, but it was enough to see the smoke unfurling from Mack’s paw prints. So cool, she marveled before pushing the thought from her mind. Gabriella knew she couldn’t afford to get distracted.
After running for several minutes, they were still alone on the beach. With their extreme Changer speed, that didn’t make sense to Gabriella. Where is Auden Ironbound’s army? she wondered as the storm grew more ferocious.
Gabriella cocked her head and listened carefully. There was something under the silence, like the memory of a sound . . . or a vibration . . .
Was it real, or was she just unaccustomed to having supersensitive jaguar hearing? Gabriella wasn’t sure. But from the way Mack’s fur was standing on end, she had a feeling that he could hear it—or at least sense it—too. And he seemed just as discomfited as she was.
What is that? Gabriella finally asked.
I don’t like it, replied Mack. It’s creepy.
Are we in the eye? Gabriella asked suddenly. I think the rain has slowed down.
And the wind, Mack added.
Gabriella thought back to what Fiona had said about the eye of the hurricane—a place of pure stillness and calm—and thought, No, that’s not what this is. This is something else.
Near the parking lot, Gabriella could see a mist rolling in. Wait, she thought. That’s not right. The mist comes in from the ocean. Not the street.
She squinted her golden cat eyes and looked harder. Farther. And that’s when she realized—
Mack! Gabriella screamed. Run!
She shoved the kitsune with all her might; he stumbled but understood as he darted on flaming paws toward the true eye of the hurricane, where Gabriella saw the clouds growing darker.
Gabriella, though, stayed rooted to the spot. She knew what was coming, and s
he stayed, anyway. A stampede of beasts—wolves and bulls and hyenas and jaguars and foxes and snakes—all moving together like some horrible monster, creating a sandstorm as they plowed ahead under the cover of the rain. Gabriella felt strangely calm as she watched them charge toward her.
Pulse pounding, she leapt into the herd of beasts, claws bared. The shattered front line began to chase her, and when she had broken through their ranks she led them as far from Mack as she could. This is my role, she thought. This is the part I play.
Mack didn’t look back. How could he? Either Gabriella would escape or she would be—
No. She would escape. She had to escape. Just like Mack had to make it to the eye of the hurricane, to get the horn and to . . .
To be honest, Mack wasn’t sure what he’d do then. He’d have to figure it out when he got there.
Even though he didn’t look back, Mack could tell that the horde of Changers was falling farther and farther behind. There was less vibration beneath his paws, and that swirling cloud of sand should have caught up to him by now if they were in pursuit. Maybe Gabriella is holding them back, Mack thought. There were other signs, too; hopeful signs. Mack was sure the tide had calmed, and even the clouds seemed less heavy than before. There was a brightness to them, too, as if the sun were trying to shine through.
Then Mack realized he’d reached the eye of the hurricane.
Mack stood very still, his ears pricked up, listening for any sound. Slowly, he turned his head, searching for something, anything, even the slightest movement.
Nothing came.
Show yourself! Mack called.
Mack thought for a moment that maybe the warlock wasn’t there after all until he heard a low, guttural laugh in response. Instantly, his fur stood on end, and his lips pulled back in a snarl that showed all his sharp teeth as he prepared to face Auden Ironbound.
You have no power over me! Mack shouted, wondering where those brave words were coming from.
“You mean the horn has no power over you,” Auden Ironbound corrected him. A thick mist, like a choking fog, began to swirl around Mack’s paws. That’s when Auden appeared, first in shadow form and then solid. Mack would never be able to say exactly how it happened; if the mist had simply cloaked Auden’s arrival, or if he had been right by Mack’s side all along, invisible. Either way, there he was: a gaunt, towering figure with a hollow face and empty, emotionless eyes.
“I still have more power than you could begin to comprehend,” Auden continued in a lazy drawl. To Mack’s astonishment, he almost sounded bored.
Are you going to fight me? asked Mack.
Auden laughed again. “Fight you?” he asked. “I don’t even know who you are. And besides, a mewling pup like you can be easily dealt with.”
Auden whistled, as if he were calling a dog, and something bounded out of the shadows. It had nine full tails and familiar white fur that was soft like a snowdrift. The same red flames licked at the creature’s paws as Mack’s. Mack recognized his grandfather at once, but even if he hadn’t, Mack would’ve known him by scent.
Jiichan! Mack cried in relief. His grandfather was alive, he was safe, he would know what to do. Everything was going to be okay.
But Jiichan’s eerie red eyes stared at Mack, as if he were a stranger. Jiichan crouched low, growling savagely, and attacked. Mack was barely able to leap out of the way in time.
Auden laughed in delight. “ ‘Jiichan’?” he crowed. “So, you’re the grandson of the great Akira—last of the Kimura kitsune line. I’d heard rumors he had a child hidden away. I think I’d very much enjoy watching him tear you to pieces. What do you say? Age versus youth. A fight to the death!”
Under Auden’s control, what chance did Mack have of reaching his grandfather? How would he ever be able to break the spell?
The horn, Mack thought.
One thing was certain: Mack couldn’t fight Jiichan. Even if he wanted to—and Mack knew already that he never, ever would—Jiichan had to be the most powerful kitsune in the world. For more than a thousand years, he’d honed his skills, earning all nine of his tails. Mack had only just transformed for the very first time. He had one tail, which was now dragging in the sand from his fear.
It wasn’t a fair fight, not by a long shot, and what made it even worse was that Mack could already see exactly how it would go. As Jiichan circled him, snarling, Mack could only hope that his grandfather would never remember what he was about to do. In that moment Mack had never felt more alone.
No, he thought suddenly. I’m not alone. He could feel them—all of them—nearby. Not just Gabriella and Darren and Fiona, but the dozens of other Changers from Auden’s army. Strangers to him, but Changers all the same. This is our fight, Mack said, reaching out to every Changer on the beach. Fight with me now.
Mack called their abilities to him, and they came flowing into his kitsune form.
In the end it didn’t feel that different from Changing. All Mack had to do was dig down, deep inside himself. He felt his power unfurling, reaching out to the Changers in the sky and on the land and in the sea. Though their bodies were controlled by Auden, their minds, their magic, their spirits were theirs. In an instant, their powers were Mack’s powers.
The speed of the jaguar . . .
The strength of the bull . . .
The agility of the dolphin . . .
The cleverness of the seal . . .
The ferocity of the wolf . . .
The wit of the hyena . . .
The bravery of the lightning bird. . .
Suddenly, Mack was the one with powers beyond comprehension. And Auden Ironbound looked like little more than an insect.
The spell will be broken, Mack thought, and felt his powers surge.
Even through the fuzzy haze of the horn, Jiichan sensed the change. When Mack roared, Jiichan trembled, hovering on the edge of hypnosis.
As Auden Ironbound observed the way Jiichan cowered, a nasty smile flickered across his face. “I appreciate a fighter,” he sneered. “I have no doubt that your demise will be all the more entertaining now. Shall we begin?”
Mack threw his head back and roared again. Then he charged Auden with incredible speed, and the warlock was caught unprepared. He reached for Mack’s fur and began to chant a spell, but Mack knocked him over and charged again before Auden had a chance to catch his breath. With the borrowed strength of thousands of Changers coursing through his veins, Mack was too fast, too smart, too brave, too strong for anyone else to triumph over.
Even Auden Ironbound.
Of course, Mack’s kitsune form didn’t just have muscles. It had claws like daggers. Flaming paws. Teeth that could rip and tear. Not even Auden Ironbound’s armor, enchanted with the darkest sort of magic, could withstand them. A frenzy of shredding, ripping, and wrecking ensued.
Auden’s eyes went wide with fear despite having knocked Mack aside with a magic shield. Mack leaped for him again and caught the warlock’s arm with the full force of his jaws. In that moment the horn fell from Auden’s jacket, clearly cracked.
The horn, Mack thought.
Mack released the warlock and lunged for the horn.
Then Auden Ironbound disappeared in a gust of smoke. . . .
And everything else did too.
Epilogue
The pain came before consciousness; Mack heard himself groaning while his eyes were still shut. Some far-off part of his brain reverberated with a single thought: Pain means alive.
Mack opened his eyes. He never would’ve dreamed that he was back in his own bed, but there he was. How was it possible that everything seemed so . . . normal? Was it all just a terrifying nightmare?
Mack’s fingers rested on the fox-tooth necklace, which was still hanging around his neck. Not a dream, then, but a reality that was almost too astonishing to comprehend.
Slowly, Mack pulled himself out of bed. Every muscle ached, even muscles he didn’t know he had. He longed to flop back into bed and fall into a deep, dreamle
ss sleep, but he could see the sun was rising outside his window. How long had he been home? And how had he gotten here?
Mack limped to the living room. There was Fiona, wrapped in a thick blanket with a mug of green tea warming her hands. There was Gabriella, who looked almost normal—except for her gleaming gold eyes. And there was Darren, wincing as Ms. Therian bandaged his arm.
And there, by the mah-jongg table, was Jiichan, humming to himself as he set up a game. Mack noticed Sefu and Yara, the other members of the First Four, nearby. The TV was on, but nobody was paying attention to the damage reports from the worst hurricane to make landfall in recorded history.
For a moment, no one noticed Mack.
Then Jiichan looked up. His wrinkled face broke into a wide grin as he held out his arms. “Mack!” he cried.
Everyone started to cheer as Mack bounded across the room, his aches and pains forgotten, to embrace his grandfather. “You’re okay,” Mack mumbled into Jiichan’s shoulder.
“Thanks to you,” his grandfather said, “for saving me.”
Mack shook his head. He remembered some—most—of what had happened out there on the beach, in the eye of the storm, but so much of it was hazy and unclear.
“How—” he began.
Jiichan’s eyes twinkled. “It’s an ancient kitsune power, very rare,” he said. “The ability to borrow strength from another Changer. Of course, I can’t think of an occasion when a single kitsune borrowed from quite so many different Changers, and all at once.”
Mack was a little embarrassed, but Jiichan seemed to understand. “Borrowed strength,” he repeated. “They would have fought by your side if they could. Under the spell of the horn, offering you their strength was the most they could do.”
“I’m sure you want to know what everyone else was doing while you battled Auden,” Ms. Therian spoke up.
“I was in the ocean, surrounded by seals and . . . dolphins?” Fiona said.
“Encantados,” Yara said. “Like me.”
“I don’t know any selkie magic yet, but I drew the waterborne Changers away from the storm. And it was so weird, but . . . the waves quieted. It was like the distraction stopped the Changers from concentrating on making the storm.”
