‘Naw, you’re just—’ He waved my words away with a playful wink.
‘She just arrived here from Lyth, seeking help for our cousins down south.’
‘Sounds like you should volunteer,’ I said.
‘I don’t think she’s after troops,’ he replied. ‘I overheard something about banding together to petition the king of Telby. He has some connection to the Zeikas. I don’t know much more than that.’
I shivered. The thought of Telby allying with the Zeikas was horrifying. The very nation that had exiled both the Zeikas and the Tanzans couldn’t possibly consider an alliance with one of them, could it? The idea that they would choose the Zeikas over the Tanzans was also disturbing because it was a religious affiliation against our own. The Zeikas had made it clear that they wanted to slaughter all Kriites, or enslave us to build their own power.
In Reltland there were hundreds of Rada slaves, performing duties that required animal labour or communication over great distances. Their interest in the Anzaii was possibly something more sinister.
‘That traitor, Flale,’ I muttered. ‘He and his daughter will stop at nothing to secure their position.’
‘So you heard about Princess Denliyan’s lack of pregnancy?’ Ivon said, chortling. ‘Reckon it must be that husband of hers, Joram. Seems a flaccid sort of fellow.’
‘I’ve never been to Telby,’ I replied. ‘Never seen any of them.’
‘And may the Lightmaker spare you from all their noble filth,’ a new voice said. It was Cradic, a forty-something transformation trainer with family living in Telby.
While we had been speaking, other Rada-kin had come out to meet Rekala. She was now surrounded by eleven other animals. Her thoughts were filled with their thoughts; I did my best to filter them out.
‘That princess, though, she is a dish,’ Ivon exclaimed. ‘Willowy, smooth-skinned….’
Cradic shook his head in a friendly manner. ‘You have to find yourself a wife, Ivon.’
As if on cue, a young brunette woman called to Ivon from the other side of the village centre. He winked at us and went over to her.
‘Talon,’ Cradic said, ‘I hope you’re ready for today’s lesson. Bessed told me you only just met your Rada-kin a few days ago. You might consider giving it some more time before you learn to morph.’
‘We’re ready now,’ I replied.
Rekala extracted herself from the group of Rada-kin and padded to my side. Together, we entered the hall. We followed Cradic into a large room with chairs and a table at the front and a large open space beyond. Hanging from the ceiling beside the table were five life-sized skeleton paintings—a human, a cat, a dog, a goat and a rabbit. There were stuffed animals on pedestals all around the room, and skeletons on the shelves that lined the walls. The skeletons had only been natural animals, not kindred—we buried our precious Rada-kin in the ground after death, like humans. The floor was made of stone, but half of it was covered in straw and rushes for the comfort of the animals. It smelled like a barn.
I nodded to the other three new Rada and seated myself behind them. Rekala sat close beside me, her head touching my arm. Cradic moved to the front of the room where he welcomed each of us and asked us to introduce our new Rada-kin. Two of the others weren’t named yet: a hawk and a capybara. The third was a black horse who had accepted the name Shadow from his Rada. He was an impressive creature, but I could tell the other humans were more in awe of Rekala. The few icetigers who appeared throughout Jaria’s history were revered hunters and warriors. Does a quartermaster need such a mighty Rada-kin? I wondered.
Cradic held up the lower leg bone of a cat.
‘Who can tell me which bone in the human body becomes this bone during a transformation to cat?’
One of the others pointed to his forearm.
Cradic clapped his hands. ‘Now, which bone does a tail come from?’
‘The back bone gets longer?’ one of the students suggested.
Cradic shook his head. We looked at each other, dumbfounded.
‘There are many differences between the human body and the body of an animal. So where does the missing material come from and where do the extra parts go when we transform into the body of an animal?’
‘Isn’t it the waves?’ I asked. ‘I always thought that’s where our clothing and gear went as well.’
‘Precisely,’ Cradic said, ‘but how do you use the waves to control this? How do you tell your body what it needs to gain and what it needs to let go of? How do you do that?’
‘Isn’t that what we’re here to learn, Master?’ the youngest student asked. His capybara was sniffing around the room, finding it difficult to sit still and pay attention for any length of time.
‘Yes,’ Cradic replied. ‘You are here to learn the principles behind transformation so you and your Rada-kin can learn the rest on your own. Most Rada can only transform into five or six different forms. It really depends on your need to master forms, and your faith.’
‘What has faith got to do with it, Master?’ one of them queried.
‘In order to let go of your precious human body, it takes faith. You must believe in the gift Sy-tré bestowed upon you, so that you can remember the facets of your clothing and anything else you have on you during the transformation. If you forget something and you try to change back, that object could be gone forever.’
‘But I don’t know the inner workings of my body,’ I replied. ‘I couldn’t possibly know everything about it without turning it inside out.’
‘You’re right if you’re talking about your waking mind,’ Cradic said. ‘Thankfully each of us has an awareness of our body already built into our brain; we just can’t access this knowledge with our mind ordinarily. You might be surprised how much your brain knows about what’s going on inside your body. It is this self-awareness that you tap into when you choose to shift your form. All you have to do is picture the animal you want to become, imagine how it feels to be that animal, and instruct your body to shift to it.’
‘Sounds easy,’ one of the students said.
‘Ah, but there’s one thing to remember,’ Cradic said, hand raised, ‘if you try something you’re not ready for, the toll it takes on your mind will be too great and you’ll be back in your human form before you know it. Any interruption to your concentration will cause your mind to restore your body to your natural form. This is called a reversion.’
Thus began my training in the Jarian art of animal transformation. It went on for four days. We studied the bones and drew sketches of dozens of animals, discussed traits and differences, senses and instincts until all I dreamed of at night were paws, hooves and tails. We took walks outside and studied the way the animals ran and played. We practiced our arithmetic on the strides and leaping distances of various kinds, learned about weight-bearing, swimming and climbing.
On the third day, Cradic took us into the hospital for sick animals where we learned about the injuries and illnesses that could befall us or our Rada-kin if we weren’t careful. One lesson that stuck in my mind was the consumption of incompatible foods. If I ate bad meat or drank still water while in animal form, it could make me sick if I changed back before my animal body had processed it.
Any injury sustained in another form would usually remain after we changed back. Injuries could even become worse and tear during the transformation. Healing Master Safton, and his acolytes, were the only ones in Jaria to master “whole morphing”, healing recent injuries during transformation.
On the fourth day we got to attempt a transformation. The Rada-kin went first. Because they each had access to each other’s minds, through the waves, it was possible for them to sense how it felt to be another animal. Rekala’s first transformation was to dire wolf form. She had linked up with a dire wolf Rada-kin and used his impressions to guide her transformation. It was strange watching her body morph into the shape of a dire wolf. The luxuriant blue fur became rough black hair, the snout elongated and the teeth shrank a lit
tle. New teeth appeared that hadn’t been there before. The whole process took less than thirty seconds.
‘You did it, Rekala!’
‘You’re going to love this,’ she replied.
When it was time for the humans to try, Cradic went with us, one by one, to the big space in front of the table. When it was my turn, my stomach fluttered with nerves.
‘Touch your Rada-kin’s back, chest and legs, concentrating on her sensations more than your own. Think about how your body will have to change in order to become like hers. Imagine the feel of the air on your fur, and the sights, smells and sounds you will experience. It will be like what you can sense through Rekala now, but it will be through your own senses.’
After ten minutes of this he said, ‘All right, are you ready?’
‘I think so,’ I responded. Then to Rekala, ‘Are you ready?’
‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘You can do it. Believe it.’
I crouched down until I was on all fours and stared at Rekala until my eyes burned. I couldn’t seem to do anything more.
‘Ask Sy-tré for the transformation,’ Cradic whispered.
I did, but I still didn’t know how to initiate the change.
‘You’re focusing too much on what you see. Try closing your eyes,’ Rekala suggested. ‘Believe.’
I obeyed her, letting my eyes drift shut. The smells Rekala could sense were stronger than my own. The sounds were more acute, and it was easier for her to discern their direction and distance. I flexed my fingers into the straw until the nails reached the stone beneath.
I imagined claws there, fur upon my hands, and fur all over my body. I strained to feel what it was like having a muzzle that stuck out from my face and a short neck attached to my chest and shoulder blades. I felt the difference between my human knees and the knees of an icetiger. They were still there, but the legs were positioned differently.
My entire body changed. I let go of my human self, sending clothing, knife sheath and items in my pockets into the waves. An exultant feeling passed through me as I shifted, partly triumph at my achievement and partly from the sudden strength and flexibility of the feline form.
When my transformation was complete, I whirled, knocking the table over. Rekala sniffed at me curiously and rubbed her face against mine. Looking down at my forelegs and paws I could see they were streaked with a rich, dark blue colour—much darker than Rekala’s fur.
I looked up suddenly, sensing the other humans in the room, tasting them in the air. They smelt delicious. I let out an almighty roar and ran two paces towards them. Some looked startled.
‘No!’ Rekala shouted, leaping in front of me.
I crashed into her, back paws tucked under my body, fangs reaching for her neck.
‘Talon!’
I tumbled onto my face, back in my human form, at her feet. The others’ expressions of fear changed to mirth, but they didn’t know how close I’d come to killing one of them.
‘Now I know what you’re dealing with,’ I said to my Rada-kin, rubbing the bridge of my nose.
‘The instinct to hunt is powerful,’ Cradic said, helping me up. ‘Something to be aware of in a carnivorous form. Perhaps make sure you’ve eaten before you attempt that next time, Talon?’
The room erupted in laughter. Even the Rada-kin seemed amused. I smiled at myself.
‘You had already eaten,’ Rekala said, remaining serious. ‘But the urge to kill remains.’
Only one of the other students was able to transform. The young woman with the hawk Rada-kin would need a lot more coaching and the boy with the capybara was having trouble keeping a strong connection to the mind of the distractible creature.
Cradic took the student who had morphed into horse form, and me, aside at the end of that lesson and told us we didn’t have to attend any more lessons. We had learned everything we needed to know, and now it was up to us to practice transforming. He reminded me to take more care with my animal instincts, an instruction that seemed to parallel the anger control I’d had to learn after Ella’s abduction. I decided to ask Bessed and Drea about the relation between the two at dinner.
‘I think your anger is understandable given what you’ve been through in your life,’ Bessed told me. ‘Many of us have seen the ugly side of war and violence because the Zeikas keep bringing it to our doorstep, but few would have lost both parents and a sister, like you.’
The night Bessed had caught me and dragged me back to Jaria came to my mind. I’d been alone in the wilds for three weeks after Ella and the other Anzaii were taken. I had tracked them as far as the Kiayr Ranges, where I had lost the trail in the snow. Even at thirteen I’d had an uncanny knack for surviving alone in the forest, but I was half-starved and delirious with cold and fatigue when found.
Grief-stricken as I was, I never would have returned to Jaria of my own accord. Bessed and Uola found me and forced me to face reality. There was no way I or anyone else could go after the Zeikas.
Rekala entered the room, chuffing in my direction. I reached out a hand to stroke her. Drea patted her on the shoulder too.
‘Ask Drea if there’s any more of that butter fish,’ Rekala commanded.
‘There’s no more, I’m afraid,’ Bessed answered. Uola had overheard Rekala’s demand and passed it on faster than I could. ‘There’s a shortage of fish this season. In fact I was wondering if you feel up to an errand,’ Bessed continued. ‘Are you and Rekala getting tired of hanging around the village yet?’
I glanced at my Rada-kin, knowing how she longed to get out into the forest. ‘It might be nice to get away for a while, practice some of this transforming on our own somewhere.’
‘Good,’ Bessed responded. ‘Because I need you to go down to Tez and buy some fish. Unless, that is, you think you can do better than all our regular fisherfolk.’
‘I’ll give it a try tomorrow,’ I replied. ‘And if I can’t catch enough, we’ll go to Tez for what you need.’
‘Is that all right with you, Rekala?’
‘Of course,’ she replied. ‘I’m starting to see that you know your way around this human world of yours. I go where you go.’
Chapter Four—Fishing
I pulled myself out of the water, shaggy black hair streaming. The day-star warmed my skin, soothing the scrapes I had sustained during the morning’s efforts. I sneered at the single white fish I had managed to catch with my spear. Sensing something in the bushes ahead of me, I lifted the fish up, pretending to inspect it. The pink-white flesh glistened and it gave off a smell like bulrushes and chowder mixed together.
Rekala’s hunger saturated me through the wave we shared. This had been one of the most difficult things for me to get used to: her constant, unrelenting, driving hunger. I could now understand why some new Rada gained weight in their first year of being bonded.
The icetiger ran out from the shadows, making a soft drum beat travel through the ground and into the bare soles of my feet. Just before she reached me, she stood up on her hind legs and chuffed noisily.
‘Give it to me,’ she crooned in my mind.
Nostrils flaring, she lifted her paw to pat at the fish. Sitting on her haunches, she could easily reach it. I held it up even further.
‘That’s half a day’s work,’ I moaned indignantly. ‘You know how much Bessed needs this fish.’
‘I will catch you a camel in return,’ she wheedled.
‘You’ve never even seen one,’ I retorted. ‘Much less brought one down.’
Camels roamed the plains to the south east; it wouldn’t necessarily be any time soon that she could fulfil such a promise.
‘I know enough about them from your memories. It will be easy.’
‘I can’t give it to you,’ I said apologetically. ‘It’s my duty to give this to Bessed.’
‘Duty, duty, duty. You humans worry far too much about the future. What will I eat, what will I wear, what will this person or that person think of me?’
I wrapped the fish in sackcloth t
hen dried myself with a length of flax cloth from my pack. After changing into dry clothes, I strapped on my dagger sheath and positioned the spear diagonally across my back.
‘There is another new kin pair,’ my Rada-kin said suddenly. ‘Somebody named Asher has just met her new Rada-kin.’
The ease with which Rekala had started using the waves impressed me. She was already familiar with most of the other Rada-kin, and conversed with them from anywhere in the village. It was incredible being linked to the network of Rada in Jaria. Throughout my entire life I had lived right alongside it but never been a part of it like this.
‘Do you know what kind of animal the other Rada-kin is?’
The icetiger licked her lips and, with a soft growl, said, ‘Lemur.’
I chuckled. ‘Yet another sentient prey animal that you can’t eat.’
‘I may be able to resist it,’ she replied, ‘if you give me that fish instead.’
‘We had better depart,’ I said, suppressing a laugh. ‘Considering my tiny catch, Bessed may want us to head out for Tez today.’
Rekala stretched slowly to her feet. ‘I know you’re considering giving it to me. I can read your thoughts, remember?’
She stalked toward me, eyes becoming intent. Before she could pounce, I hoisted the pack and ran into the forest. I knew she could easily outstrip me, no matter how lazy an afternoon she’d had, yet she only trotted behind me, pretending to be waylaid by the swinging branches and palm leaves I flung at her.
As I stumbled into the clearing at the eastern edge of the village I could see a group of horseback archers practising near the stables. I envied them for a moment, but then I saw the long-sleeved clothing and armour they had to wear, and felt sorry for them. Summer in Jaria was hot, despite the fact that we were so close to the Kiayr Ranges.
Rekala’s blue fur had started shedding since we came down from the higher region where we’d met. It hung off her in big clumps. I bent down to pull some of it away and she twisted to snap her teeth at me. I ran from her across the open ground to the village centre. Several heads turned to watch as we passed, but I didn’t care—I was so filled with glee that all my cares melted away. Rekala gave me a head start and pursued me with frightening speed. We raced across the main road, nearly upending a mule cart loaded with fresh fruit, and skittered to a halt in the forecourt of the village storehouses.
Talon (The Astor Chronicles Book 1) Page 4
