by Traci Loudin
Nyr grabbed the reins and pulled his horse back down. Its eyes rolled, and Caetl realized Nyr was the fearful creature the horses had scented earlier. Though she was in her feline form, he saw the device around her neck with her other necklaces.
Something fell out of the sky, making his horse shrill in fear. Caetl surveyed his surroundings, expecting to see some debris or a meteorite sizzling on the ground. Instead, a strange feathered thing stood nearby, about the height of a small child. From the other side, Ti’rros approached, holding a gun.
In a distorted voice, the feathered creature said, “Nyr, don’t kill him.” It hesitated, then added, “At least, not yet.”
The mystic mentally pushed at it and identified Dalan. Caetl’s heart dropped. So the peaceful transmelder wasn’t as peaceful as he used to be. The Wizard corrupted everything and everyone he came in contact with.
“I’m alone,” Caetl said, meeting each of their eyes.
Why didn’t you warn me? He asked through the device.
He checked for the dragonfly and found it buzzing in a large perimeter around them.
“Followed him for a while. Tells the truth.” Though Dalan’s beak pointed toward Nyr and Ti’rros, his voice sounded clear and human, making Caetl wonder whether he had both a beak and a human mouth. He wrinkled his nose.
Ehhh… I got bored. I have other things to do, you know.
“Then what should we do?” Ti’rros asked, not pointing her gun at anyone. Caetl tapped the Joey, but she remained as difficult to read up close as over the network created by the linked necklaces. He could only sense caution and concern.
The horse neighed, its weight shifting from one side to the other, dismayed that its companions had fled. They kept their distance, but when their attention wandered, they began grazing. The only sound was of the horses greedily plucking up stalks. Caetl patted his horse’s neck and pulled some burrs from its mane.
They’re thinking about killing you. The least you could do is pay attention.
Caetl started, worried the Wizard had tapped his mind again. Then he remembered the Wizard could see him from the other necklaces. Can’t you just tell them not to? Oh, that’s right. They’re not taking your orders any more, are they?
He refocused his attention on his captors. The Wizard’s use of the amplifier created pressure in Caetl’s mental landscape, making it difficult to marshal his thoughts.
“Perhaps it would make sense to simply ask him,” Ti’rros said.
Dalan and Nyr looked at him. Dalan’s beak retracted under his feathers, disappearing entirely before he asked, “What do you know about the necklaces?”
Oh, yes. I may have mentioned that I was sending someone along to collect them.
All of Caetl’s hopes slid away. He hadn’t expected them to know he had any connection to the devices at all. They definitely wouldn’t trust him now.
He put his hands back up, though they were getting tired fast. “If you want, I’ll hop down and you can check me for weapons, Nyr. I brought these horses for you anyway.”
Surprise registered in both Dalan and Nyr’s minds, but not their faces. Of course, he couldn’t hope to read Dalan’s expression anyway, since brown and red feathers still covered his entire body.
Nyr raised one black eyebrow. “Do it. Then we can see what other stuff we might want.”
Caetl slid off the saddle. The other two horses made their way toward them, unwilling to leave their fellow behind once they believed the danger past.
Nyr stepped behind him and patted Caetl down. When her hand touched his chest, he held his breath.
Caetl tapped her. She thought of other questions to ask him. As she peeked into the pouches tied to his belt, Nyr considered taking them but decided to wait. She could take them after she killed him.
Caetl wrenched his thoughts away.
Dalan hopped closer. Bloated bird legs extended beneath his grotesque in-between form. “Who are you? Who sent you?”
“I am Caetl, here to give you all the answers you’ve been looking for.” He bowed his head, trying to seem as humble as a Purebreed who found himself among Changelings and Joeys.
Nyr’s suspicion darkened his mental landscape, and Ti’rros felt the same, though he couldn’t sense her deeper emotions. Dalan, as usual, was more willing to be convinced. Strange that the naïve one had become the one most difficult for the Wizard to control.
Caetl shuttered his mind. Best that the Wizard never realized that although he couldn’t peek into Dalan’s mind when the boy was shifted, his mystic could, up close.
Dalan started to ask what race and tribe Caetl belonged to, but Nyr spoke first. “Good. Then tell us if you’ve got any rope.”
Caetl sighed, seeing Nyr’s plan in her mind. He couldn’t let them know he could see their thoughts. He doubted even Dalan could—or would—stop her from killing him if she thought he controlled the devices.
So he had no choice but to say, “Yes… on the far horse, there.”
Nyr motioned for Ti’rros to check the horse.
Determined to prevent Dalan from asking his race, Caetl said, “As I was saying, the owner of the talismans sent me here to find you.”
A slight hesitation in the Joey’s movements betrayed her surprise before she rummaged through the saddlebags.
“Go on.” Dalan’s thoughts became almost as violent as Nyr’s.
Caetl chose his next words carefully. “Anyone who knows him calls him the Wizard. Indeed, some of his powers do seem… well, magical.”
He kept his expression earnest. “He didn’t create the talismans, but he discovered what they could do. Most of which you know: he can talk to you, see whatever’s in front of the talisman, overhear people nearby, and the talisman shields the immediate region around itself. And…”
Caetl paused there, unsure of how to avoid saying the rest without things getting messy, or how to explain why the Wizard had chosen them. He couldn’t tell them the whole truth.
Idiot. Nyr’s about to attack you. What use is being a mystic if you can’t even predict your enemies’ actions?
Nyr had sneaked up behind him. Caetl’s back crawled as he waited, unwilling to reveal he knew their plan. They’re not my enemies… I just need to get them to see that.
He suddenly realized he’d stopped talking mid-sentence. He should say something, keep talking until she made her move—
Nyr kicked his knees and pushed him to the ground.
Caetl played along. “What are you do—oww!”
Nyr wrestled his arms behind his back, pulling his shoulders so far back he thought they might pop from their sockets. Then she bound his arms together at the forearm with the rope Ti’rros had retrieved. Caetl let out a whimper.
Unless he figured out how to get them to trust him, the next few hours would be torture. Caetl’s chest heaved with quick, shallow breaths.
“On your feet!” Nyr tugged at the rope.
He let out a shriek of pain as his back muscles strained. He gained his feet and tapped all of them—and found no sympathy from anyone. The dragonfly buzzed overhead, its motions erratic.
“Look—” Caetl said desperately as Nyr pulled him backward toward his mount. “The Wizard sent me here, but…”
Nyr lost all her fur before mounting his horse. She tied the rope to the saddle horn and tapped the horse’s sides with her heels, interrupting its grazing. The gelding grudgingly stepped forward until the rope grew tight. If Caetl didn’t start walking, he’d be pulled along—backwards.
Dalan shifted, growing smaller. “Better keep talking. Tell us everything we want to know.” The tug of the rope reinforced his words. In moments, the boy shrank back into a reddish brown bird again. Ti’rros grabbed the reins of the other two horses.
“I can’t believe your kind actually exists,” Caetl said as Dalan pushed off the ground and rejoined his dragonfly companion in the sky. “I knew about Changelings like Nyr, but to fully transform, that’s—”
“If you
don’t start saying something interesting,” Nyr interrupted, “we’ll have to see if you can match your horse’s speed.” To emphasize her point, she tapped the horse’s side again.
“Wait! Wait!” Caetl rushed to catch up, to keep some play in the rope.
“Talk, or we’ll try a faster pace.”
“What do you want to know?” He paced her horse.
Nyr thought about it, and Caetl feared she would ask for his race or ask why the Wizard sent him. “Why did the Wizard pick us?” She stared down at him from horseback.
“Because you’re the perfect group.” Caetl smiled, hoping his flattery would improve her mood. “You, Nyr, are willing to do whatever has to be done. You’re ruthless, the perfect soldier. While Dalan isn’t that flexible, his powers would allow him to spy or infiltrate whatever the Wizard sends you up against. And you, Ti’rros, can blend in with the Joeys if he needs to find out anything from them.”
Ti’rros followed alongside the pack horse, checking the contents of its sidesaddles. “Then it is clear he doesn’t know much about Joeys. I am but a pathetic exile. Not fit to even approach another Joey.”
Caetl waved that away. “Most of the Joey tribes in this area are the more traditional ones. In other, more developed areas—in the cities, for example—the normal rules don’t apply. Changelings live in the same buildings as Joeys, Purebreeds, and others.”
“In Ancient buildings?” Dalan asked.
“I have heard of such places,” Ti’rros admitted.
“They do exist.” Caetl answered Dalan, “Most of the time, people don’t live in the Ancient cities, but in towns they’ve built nearby.”
“Why?” Dalan’s natural curiosity gave Caetl hope that perhaps he could win him over.
He answered, “Ancient artifacts call to people,” at the same time Nyr said, “Because it’s too dangerous.”
She brushed her red hair over her shoulder. “Plus, there’s no way to grow much food there—the Ancient buildings are so unimaginably tall, they block the sun. All kinds of animals, big predators, big enough to take down anyone who’s stupid enough to be alone.”
“And ghosts.” Caetl’s mind wandered back to his own exploration of Rapt City to the south. He shook his head. He needed to focus.
“Yes, yes,” Nyr interrupted. “You still haven’t explained what this Wizard wanted us to actually do.”
“Ah, that is tricky. You’ve heard of someone called Zen?” He knew they had, but he’d have an easier time tapping their memories if they surfaced naturally. Ti’rros and Nyr’s minds lit up with what they’d gleaned from their interactions with Soledad and the Advisor.
“Perhaps.” Nyr kicked the horse into a trot, forcing Caetl to jog alongside. The Joey paced him with the reins of the other two horses in hand.
“What—what are you doing?” Caetl had to work to keep up. Dalan and Saquey floated effortlessly above.
“I ask the questions here, prisoner, not you. This should be a good reminder.”
“Alright, alright. I was just wondering how much to explain… Just slow down, so I can talk, alright?”
She pulled up on the reins. “Then talk. And no more questions from you.”
“Look, I’m on your side. Zen is a Changeling. Specifically, an Ageless. Do you know—never mind. The Ageless are Changelings who can shift through their ages the same way Dalan shifts through different animals.”
“We know what the Ageless can do, yes.”
“Zen used to be just like any other Ageless, but he gradually lost his mind over the centuries and had some of his followers fuse some—let’s call them ‘mechanical’—parts to his body. The other Ageless, including our dear friend the Wizard, lost track of him over the decades. Now he’s resurfaced, and for some reason he’s killing other Ageless.”
“So we’ve heard. People keep asking us if we’re with him.”
“Yes, unfortunately there seems to have been some confusion—”
“You could say that.”
To Caetl’s relief, the horse slowed. “So Zen killed one of the Wizard’s few Ageless friends. I’m not sure if you know this, but the Ageless don’t normally… associate. Part of some crazy belief system they have going.”
I don’t appreciate your assessment—
Now is really not the time for your opinions, Wizard.
Nyr flicked the reins and the horse picked up its pace. “I don’t care about their social habits.”
Caetl glowered up at her, but she didn’t deign to return his gaze. “So, basically, I guess the Wizard wants vengeance against his tribemate.”
“Oh, vengeance. Why didn’t he say so? Even Dalan’s foolish Teachings are okay with vengeance.” Nyr tipped her chin back to spot the hawk directly overhead.
Caetl heard Dalan’s unappreciative thoughts at her comment. She rode onward in silence, and Caetl gingerly tapped her thoughts. He was surprised to catch her thinking about her clan… her old clan leader, Klin… her friends Jaul and Neula… how much simpler life was among them. She mourned their deaths—deaths she was responsible for.
Her voice betrayed none of this. “I can certainly understand wanting to kill off a clanmate. But why doesn’t the Wizard just face Zen himself? Why involve us?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Nyr leaned forward as if to kick the horse into a gallop.
“Wait, no—I’m sorry! Don’t! You’re so much more powerful than he is, that’s why. Switching ages is nothing compared to your claws. Or Ti’rros’s speed. Or Dalan’s camouflage.”
She leaned back in the saddle, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
“So why is he telling us this now—why send you?”
“There was some, ah, confusion. The Wizard wasn’t sure who killed his friend Rollick, but he knew they might come for him, too. He sent you to Mapleton as a distraction so he could question the one Ageless whose whereabouts he knew—Gryid. Same idea at Searchtown. Once you all distracted them, we went in and had a look-see, though that time, you were supposed to kidnap the Ageless, the one they call the Advisor.”
Caetl felt a flash of understanding emanate from all three of them. Nyr smirked. “You were with the people on the wall, weren’t you?”
“Yes. And when both Soledad and the Advisor told you Zen was responsible, and the Wizard confirmed it with Gryid, he knew it was time to move.”
“Time to move us, you mean. Because we’re like toy soldiers to him.”
Their uncharitable thoughts pushed against him. Caetl saw the seed of the thought before she said it. “No...” His heart dropped.
“Because we’re just your toy soldiers, aren’t we... Wizard?” Nyr dug in her heels.
He started running, hoping to keep slack in the rope. “No, I’m not the Wizard! He sent me! I can’t shift my ages...”
Nyr kicked, and the horse pulled away from Caetl. The rope stretched, and he whipped around as the slack disappeared. The rope jerked his forearms behind his back. He desperately tried to run backward through the grasses.
Pain and fear crowded his thoughts. He had to think of something to convince them...
“I’m wearing a talisman! Just like you! I’m his pawn too!”
Nooooo... The thought pushed outward in all directions as fear enveloped him.
Caetl couldn’t keep up. He tripped, and the pressure on his shoulders momentarily let off—then pain blazed through his shoulders and arms as he jolted backward. He fell to the ground on his side. Dragged through the grasses, he screamed as he felt a shoulder pop out of its socket.
Just when he thought he would die from the pain, the tension in his arms disappeared. But his momentum continued; he rolled through the grasses on his face, then his back and arms, then his face again.
The world stopped moving, leaving him face-down in the grass. His chest shuddered, and tears covered his face. He didn’t try to stop weeping as he heard the footsteps approach.
Dalan’s voice said, “Don’t think he’s a Purebreed. Be carefu
l.”
Hands rolled Caetl over onto his back, and lightning rolled down from his neck to his wrists. He couldn’t feel his fingers. He stared up at the sky, trying to recover his mental faculties. Thoughts bombarded him all at once: not just theirs, but the Wizard’s and Gryid’s. He had to make them stop.
“Get out,” Caetl heard himself mumble, and the world darkened as his eyes rolled up in his head. Unconsciousness would be a blessed relief, he thought. Hands fumbled at his neck, and he moaned. He felt a nick along his cheek, nothing compared to his myriad other scratches from being dragged through the grasses.
Someone slapped him, hard. He opened his eyes.
The blob above him resolved into Nyr’s blurry feline features. “I said, are you Purebred?”
His mouth moved, but their questions pressed against him, pushing him into the grass, into the dirt, under the ground. The world narrowed to a tunnel, with Nyr’s face in the center and the blue sky behind.
She slapped him again, and this time Caetl pushed against their questions, against their naked thoughts, and reasserted himself. He shuttered his mind as best he could.
“Are you Purebred?”
“No,” Caetl said. “I’m a Changeling.”
“Very funny. What kind of Changeling, fool?”
They wouldn’t like the next answer. A feathered blob came into view. Dalan suspected he was a transmelder, because he’d felt Caetl’s mental scream of terror. The boy would figure it out eventually, even if Nyr didn’t force Caetl to say.
She growled. “Your abilities, then? Apparently you’re not Ageless.”
Something about the way she said that made Caetl suspicious, but he dared not open his mind to the barrage. “Before I tell you…”
She raised a hand, but Dalan said, “Nyr…”
Caetl rushed to get the words out. “I’m not the voice you hear in your heads. That’s the Wizard. But… I am a mystic.”
“What?” Nyr took a step back.
He opened his mental barriers a crack. Ti’rros didn’t seem to understand the term. Dalan was shocked, but other emotions crowded forward, competing for dominance. Caetl didn’t try to unravel them all. He closed his eyes, holding on to his sanity.
