by K. G. Wilkie
Then there were the misfits. And the other shifters that stood outside of mammal races. The reptiles, the birds, the amphibians were all looked down on by the werewolves and their allies. That's why these shifters had gathered here for this meeting. They were not such close friends to the wizards themselves to offer their allegiance to them in general, but they had many reasons to want to fight against the status quo. The snakes here, and the lizards and their brethren, were treated as ugly by other shifters and were mocked by the other species of the world. The amphibians were treated as a fun game to hunt and chase and mess with by the rest of their world. The bird types like the firebirds and cockatrices and even the plain little sparrow people were treated as hated nuisances by the rest of the world. The rat shifters were actively hated by all species, including the big three, and were treated as villains no matter where they went. Only in this new gathering of misfits had they ever found any peace or acceptance.
This alliance of undesirable shifters had readily banded together when the wizards had contacted different packs' leaders and lone shifters. Now here they were hovering on the precipice to put plans into motion and fight back as a unified force. Resentment had been growing so long that it almost didn't matter if the wizards were as friendly as they'd seemed and willing to chip in and help them move towards better standards of life, or if they had to go it alone as a newfound group. But they'd made the pact with the wizards, and the honor of shifters bound them to follow through on it. Even when they had so many new doubts about the honor of these so-called allies.
The shifter leaders, the crow and lizard man and snake man, huddled together to discuss the night's events. The promised weapons had been produced. On the other hand, their friends had shown new colors.
But still, they remembered the wizards they had met with weeks ago at the beginning of all of this. The wizards had acted so charming when they were trying to convince the different packs to join them.
This meeting had forced them to pause and reconsider. At the end of the day, the wizards might say nice things, but they were still a selfish group that had wanted to keep their own people to themselves and stay out of any other people's wars or problems before. Ever since they'd put up the Dome on their city they had closed themselves off from the rest of their world, and they had shown that maybe deep down they still put themselves first and were not the ideal allies to have for something as risky as what was planned. Nevertheless, the plan itself was a good one. All the shifters here had already decided it behooved them to join this movement.
There were still niggling worries about doing this, though. What if the wizards really did back out at the last minute and leave them to face the hangman's noose on their lonesome? What if they'd made a terrible mistake teaming up with them? But no, they'd come too far now. They had had a taste of more power and more respect. It would take much more than doubt of their allies' intentions to make them turn back from their course now.
So they made the agreement once again to fight with their uneasy allies.
Finally, Kraelek pushed the cart to the front of the line. The representatives from both sides kept a wary eye on each other as they both dived to retrieve their promised deliveries.
The wizards did their best to hide their grins as their dupes walked out of the valley.
Once the last of them had gone, Gruzelvelt smirked at the rest of his entourage and directed them back through the gate they'd erected to get there. He directed the rest of the elders and some of the more highly-ranked younger ones to continue with him to the Glosbe. The building stood at the center of the dome and was a spherical structure itself. Unlike the outer dome, however, which was decorated to help them blend into their surroundings with a combination of camouflage spells and a matte mirrored surface, the Glosbe inside was covered in bright, glossy, blue paint. The entourage trooped inside in order of age, while the younger ones, and especially the disgraced Kraelek, were sent away to do their chores instead of participating in the deliberations.
Gruzelvelt stood at the point of pride at the center of the ringed meeting table. "So," he addressed those invited to participate, "we've moved forward with many of our plans. We have gained allies from many races and sowed disorder against groups who would not initially join with us, so they either can no longer stand against us or they now have become part of our plans. We have made great gains in the power we hold over the entire Shadeworld," he said. "Meanwhile, we have become friends with the ugly little fur balls," he added.
The wizards cackled to each other, saying to themselves, "We've got them, we've got them." They think we care about them. Their silly little fights. The ridiculous little scuffles in between the subspecies. It was hilarious. They all knew they had only agreed to help the shifters out because they were useful. They would make great warriors in the war ahead of them all. The stupid shifters were perfectly engineered by nature to be perfect cannon fodder for the needs of the wizard race, and today they had formally agreed to do just that.
Gruzelvelt pounded the table to bring them back to order and they slowly quieted again. "As many of you know, this is not enough. If we are to go forward with our plans, we will need to proceed with our next steps," Gruzelvelt continued. The wizard sitting next to him cleared his throat and pointed at the old man's chair. Gruzelvelt looked over at him and flared his nose. "Ah... yes. Our leader would like to speak now. The floor is, as always, yours. Initiates, we will have a word from our most honored Elder, Brietsch."
He took his chair, glaring at the other man as he did so. "Our secretary has spoken well," Brietsch said. "We are here today to discuss our next steps." He called out to other wizards one by one to report on how well their part of the plan was progressing. Eventually the meeting ending and all of them were released to slowly file out and return to their rooms to enjoy good meals made by the initiates and apprentices in charge of caring for their building.
"A word, Gruzelvelt," Brietsch said as he started to leave with them. The leader placed his hand on his shoulder and squeezed it, hard, until the bones creaked in protest. "You do realize, Gruzzie dear, that you are still my secretary, do you not? It felt an awful lot like you had decided to take command during our little meetings today," he bit off.
Gruzelvelt bowed low and gave him a half-hearted smile. "Why of course, master. I know who is in charge of everything in this city, let alone the role of leader of all of us mere plebeians who delight in seeing it run the way you command," he said. "I am just here to support you in everything you do. Here to stand by you. Carry out your orders. Make sure everything gets done. But at the end of the day, of course, things are only allowed to get done because of your say so, so ultimately everything done here is under your power and authority. I am merely in charge of doing all those things your power calls for, and I am of no great importance because of that distinction," he said.
Brietsch released his shoulder. "I'm glad to hear you understand that. I had been concerned you had forgotten your place," he said. "In fact, I'd even worried that it sounded an awful lot like you were getting aspirations above your position. I wouldn't want to accuse you of getting uppity, but I will say I won't be amused if you cross the line above and beyond your duties and power like this again," Brietsch said. He slapped some papers into Gruzelvelt's hands and demanded he take care of them before he started his evening meal and then stalked out of the Glosbe.
Gruzelvelt sneered at his back while he left. "If a takeover by me wouldn't amuse you, then you are bound to be very unhappy in the none too distant future," he muttered as he set the papers up at the table and got to work going through them.
CHAPTER TWO
Girl on the Run
Priscilla stared in surprise. She felt a connection, some far off movement that disturbed her beloved sister. "What do you think, Dürin?" she asked her contractor. They were the ones usually connected by their special relationship and could always sense each other's movements. To sense some of Jackie`s was unusual.
"It
's just a twinge," he said. "You are imagining things because you feel guilty." He seemed to be reproving her. They didn't always speak mind-to-mind like this. But she had always been close to her contractor since the first day they had met and he'd saved her. Dürin not only acted as Pris' hero that long-ago day, but ever since he'd contracted with her, they had been closer than twins by the magical connection. He was a powerful force to have as her contractor as well. Dürin was her friend, but he was also from the Düster Downs, a piece of land that may have been dismal downs hundreds of years ago but was now one of the largest and most powerful swamps. He had centuries of experience behind him and used that experience to remind her that his warnings against doing this mad adventure were backed by experience and wisdom she lacked.
"Well, I may feel a little bad about it," she admitted. "But you know, it wouldn't have worked if I had stayed there any longer. Even with my sister around to protect me, they always attack in the village. Those warriors are useless; they`ll only help me if I pay them in blood or body or blunt. You know, it got to a point where I actually disliked them," Pris said. She sighed. "You know I try to think the best of everyone, but it was really rather impossible for me to do that. And my own kind, my peers, will attack me and strike me down if they see me. And the elders are useless. They allow my existence, but they ignore me. They won't even serve me in the village shop. They really are quite useless," she added.
"Others would be surprised to hear you talk like this," he chuckled. "They think you are so calm, so passive."
She shrugged. "I don't say a lot to them, but that doesn't mean I don't think a lot," she retorted. "I have a lot of thoughts going through my head and just don't waste everyone's time saying all of them, unless the people around me need to actually hear them. Why, I'd reckon I think twice as much as people who talk all the time," she continued.
The pack on her back weighed on her so that she was stooped forward, but still she walked forward along the Great Road North. She was miles, even countries, away from her home and people, running away from her past in fear of her future. She had snuck out like a thief in the night, leaving a small note on her sister's bedside table. Even now, without her knowing, her sister was looking for her only a few miles south.
"I know I've caused some problems for Jackie, but I know I can do better for myself than just wait around and be tolerated by the people around me like a burden. I think this will be worth it."
"Why do you think the other nymphs dislike you so much? Do you think they shun you for your appearance, or do they dislike your blatant disregard for the way things are that your people focus so much on?" he asked.
She grumbled again, but either was a likely scenario. She shared her golden skin and almond eyes with her sister, and most of their nymph community. But the starkly white hair that fell in curling sheets to her knees was unique to her, and her mother`s people. Though in her childhood she had worn it knotted and twisted as her father`s people did, she had long since given up on the style in disgust. Her hair was coarse and thick and was far too rebellious to hold the intricate shapes that her father`s people bore. Even when she gained a contractor and new magic had run through her veins, her hair had acquired some pale violet sections, where the other dryads and nyads gained green or blue power streaks through their thinner brown locks. She also could not simply veil her hair, as her eyes themselves revealed her as a stranger, a strong brown shade that was so different from the blue and green eyes that had surrounded her all of her life.
"I don't think it's the hair," she whispered back. "I think it's just a reminder to everyone how different, how wrong I am. My birth is an atrocity against my people, and they've reminded me of that my whole life." She twined her shaking hands through those hairs, locking her body against the tremors that threatened to shake her apart. "My mother's people break things; they burn trees; they pollute waters; they kill animals, and feast on the remains. I'm simply a reminder of everything evil in this world," she whispered in despair.
"I doubt that the daemons all think of themselves as the evil creatures those silly creatures paint them. Anyways, at least you don't have the horns or the fire," he joked, trying to cheer her up. "Besides, your sister understands you. So unlike many people of the world, you are not fully alone," he added. If he hoped to brace her with kind words, he failed.
"She doesn't," the girl responded dejectedly. "She's strong. When people push her, she pushes back harder." She saw an opening along the side of the road and moved over to pull her lunch out of the pack. "She's made allies with powerful people and all I can do is hide behind her," she sighed. "If it hadn't been for me, she would never have had to work with either prince, would never have even seen them. It is a painful thing to feel like the tool of ruin for the only person who cares about you."
"Well, I care about you," Dürin said. His actual body was too far away to give her a hug, but the warm words felt like a telepathic one. "Well, think of it this way," he said. "Now that you have run away, your sister will no longer have you held over her head as a threat to ensure her good behavior. Now she basically has the freedom to choose who she actually wants to work for, of if she wants to be a free agent. Your escape will probably free her too."
She set up camp there in the clearing. Priscilla had no plan for a destination, and she could easily grow a home hidden in the flowers and charm the plants to grow the foods she'd need, so she took the opportunity to stay there for a while. Day after day and night after night she did the bare basics to care for herself and spent the rest of the time relishing the new freedom to dance and play and enjoy her life without any of her people around to judge her.
A few weeks in, a vampire came upon her camp at twilight and hid in the shadows, watching her. There she was, hair and limbs weaving a spell as they twisted and turned through the fitful moonlight. He had been simply passing through the area, but the sight of her arrested him completely. Moving silently and stealthily, he hid himself behind the trees on the outer edge of the meadow, little more than a glorified clearing, really. Each little step crushed one of the fireblossoms, their sweet fragrance released in the cool night. He returned there, night after night, drawn by that vision of white, the occasional flash of blue intriguing. Something about the child perfectly illustrated freedom and happiness in her dance and he appreciated the art, but the thought of such a young child seemingly living alone and unprotected so close to the edge of the road where all kinds of travelers passed also drew him to make the trip from his home, a league away, to keep an eye on her and come out of the shadows if anyone questionable came along.
One night, after some moons had passed, as he was making his nightly journey, he heard the faintest sound of stifled sobs. Alarmed, he ran into the clearing. He looked around in shock at the sight of the flowers trampled to the stems beneath brutish stomping of metal boots.
Scarred and furred half feline, half humanoid beasts surrounded the perimeter. Catching sight of him, they closed their ranks so that all retreat routes were closed off. "Don't come any closer, leech," a burly lizard warrior snarled at him. The war party yipped in agreement. A catamount woman stepped out of the ranks, holding a flashing blade of Damascus steel that flashed a bolt of light over the crisscrossing scars on her face. "Or you can join her," she purred, claws extended and curved so lightly so that only a single prick of blood fell from their cowering prisoner`s neck.
He bared his teeth. "I have appointed myself her guardian. I will not stand by while this happens," Layel said. The vampire stepped into the open and looked at their captive.
The panther woman shrugged. "She's a useful person, and it's so convenient to get a rare find like this all on their lonesome in the big scary woods," she said.
"Why so violent?" he asked. "If you want to take a child as a pawn, I see no reason to hold her at knife point," Layel said.
"Why, you ask," the panther woman twittered. The rest of the shifters laughed along. "It's really an intermediate stage. We do this, upset whole
kingdoms, and work towards a greater cause. We really have no great grudge against this one girl," she said, while the rattlesnake pressed the knife closer to the girl's throat. "Arlec here is just showing you we mean business. Although we have no grudge against this girl, we may harm her if you keep moving forward," she said. Layel hissed at them, but he moved back a few feet. That said, the nymphs have tortured us for centuries, spurned and mocked all of us, and there's no love lost between us."
Priscilla shook her head. "The nymphs don't like me at all; I ran away from them. They hate me and my sister," she protested.
Arlec shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Ortek was telling the truth; we still don't have anything in particular against you, just your friends in high places," the rattlesnake man said.
The puma woman nodded her agreement. "We have friends as well, and we are willing to kidnap a little girl and fight a pitiful young vamp for them. It's a small price to pay for loyalty from those who will support you at all costs," Ortek said. She and the rest in this group had not been considered important enough to be in the conclave that took place the week before, and their faith in their allies was unshaken. "Even if it didn't help our friends, we're still happy to scare the pants of those darn nymphs. They're so damn peaceful, and their little princey poos are just sooo happy," she said.
