The creaking sound came again, and she turned slightly, trying to see what was happening over by the door. Times like this, she wished she didn't have to stand with her back to it. Or stand there naked. The magic needed both to work, annoyingly, so she had no choice. Didn't mean she had to be comfortable with that though.
"Hello?" she called out. At least she was still in human form. She rarely turned into a beithir at school. Or not a full one anyway. She'd dwarf the other students if she did. But she could do partial shifts, and often had to.
She heard the scuffing of shoes against the hard floor and a mild panic took hold. Her mind flitted between running for her clothes, and shifting so she could protect herself. Maybe this was the origin of the human concept of fight or flight.
"Hello?" she repeated. This time, there was a small cough in return, one that sounded worryingly male. Shifting it was. Without knowing who it was, she didn't want to be caught in human form at all. There was more than one male student here she tried to avoid one on one time with, thankfully they were in other years. And if it was someone that didn't go to the school...well she certainly didn't want them to see her naked. She may be a shifter, but she still had her insecurities.
Amber reached down deep inside herself, and pulled the shift outwards. She'd never understood how it worked, but it was almost like something unfolded from the centre of her chest outwards. As the shift progressed, scales began to cover her skin, and her long red hair turned into a ridge of webbing down her neck and back. She used to hate the slightly grey tint to her green scales, but once she'd accepted their use, things changed. Now, she loved them, and not just because she'd be able to hide against the storm clouds easily in this form.
A deep longing filled her. She hadn't flown in ages. School had an annoying no flying rule that meant she couldn't. And she wouldn't be able to go home until the summer. It was a frustrating catch-22. By then, there wouldn't be nearly as many storms.
The shift was almost complete, and she felt her face lengthening and eyes widening. It was always an odd sensation feeling her eyes slide from the front of her face to the side, but it enhanced her vision a lot. Maybe this would even help her spot whoever it was that was in the room with her.
Maybe it'd even scare them off.
She could dream.
Amber tried to flick her tail from side to side, mostly because she enjoyed it, but partly so she could balance. Except that all she had there was a small stub of one where it had started to grow back. Her eyes narrowed with hatred.
More scuffling sounds came from near the doorway, and she swung her head around in that direction. The sounds were clearer now, but that was likely just her improved hearing making her more attuned to it all.
She lowered her head to the floor and slithered in the direction. She'd forgotten how freeing it felt to be in this form, and the grace with which it moved. It was as natural as her human body to her, and would be even more so once her magic actually set in. But she had years to wait for that still. Some beithirs got their powers early, but no one in her family ever had, so it seemed unlikely that she would either. It was the kind of thing she dreamed of though. No one would mess with a large snake-like creature who emanated lightening. Maybe she'd even breathe it? But that was a skill not many of their people had. Maybe one in a generation? She wasn't sure. It'd been a while since she'd been forced to memorise the family tree and who'd been last to manifest what power.
A piece of rubble chinked against the floor to the other side of the door, and she swung her head to the side, the long whiskers that sprung from her snout swaying with the movement.
She slithered forwards again, and turned the corner, coming face to face with the last person she'd expected to see here.
Not him. Not again. What was it with this man that he appeared wherever she went to? His blue hair was a stark contrast from the dark laboratory around them, but even without it she would have recognised it. Hopefully he hadn't seen her shift, then he wouldn't know who she was. Maybe he'd think her just another snake... okay, a rather large snake with not much of a tail.
He stared at her and she couldn't bring herself to break eye contact. He seemed to be just as transfixed by her as she was by him. What was he doing down here? Did he know this was the place she'd go to? No, it couldn't be. Nobody knew about it besides some of the teachers.
What was she supposed to do now? Slither away and hide? Wait for him to leave? Stay here all night so he wouldn't see her in her human form? Why did he have to come down here? And what was he doing here anyway?
Pity she couldn't ask him while she was in her beithir shape. While she could communicate mentally with others of her kind, it didn't work with other species, especially not humans. There were rumours that mindtalk was possible with soul mates even if they were not a beithir themselves, but Amber didn't believe in that. Why would anybody be with someone who wasn't a beithir? That was just weird. They would never understand her customs and need to shift from time to time. Her human skin got itchy if she stayed in it for too long. And her tail felt a lot more natural in this form, too. She was used to having it wrapped around her waist as a human, but it wasn't comfortable and the baggy shirts she wore had often resulted in people asking her whether she was pregnant. No, if Amber ever fell in love, it was going to be with another beithir.
But why was she thinking about that? She was supposed to find a solution to her immediate problem: Izban. The blue-haired man was still staring at her as if he'd seen a ghost. She couldn't blame him though. Her kind were notoriously hard to find if you didn't know where to look. As far as Amber knew, she was the first beithir at this school for at least a generation.
"What are you?" the man whispered and she hissed in frustration. Was he expecting her to reply? Seriously? Couldn't he see that her forked tongue didn't lend itself to speaking like a human?
She shook her head and turned, finally breaking eye contact. If he was going to stay, fine, but he wasn't going to stop her from healing. This room held artefacts far more magical than Amber would ever understand. One of them, or several, were responsible for the powers that were now slowly making her tail regrow.
As long as she stayed In the lab, she'd heal. And if Izban had to stay for that, so be it. As long as he didn't attack her. Or take pictures. She hated that. Whoever came up with the idea of putting a camera into a phone? They were everywhere and she had to be careful that pictures of beithirs didn't reach the internet.
Of course, smartphones were forbidden at Ben Vair, as most kinds of supernaturals there were publicity shy. Humans hated what they didn't understand, which was why most of shifters and mages lived in hiding. But there were always some rule breakers who thought that putting a video on Youtube would be fun.
No, it wasn't.
She hissed in irritation at those thoughts. Teenagers were so annoying. They had no sense of responsibility and scale. Most of them would sacrifice the centuries of secrecy their kind had prevailed only to get a few more clicks and views. Pathetic.
"You don't need to be afraid of me," Izban whispered, nearing Amber. She slithered backwards a little. When he continued to follow her, she bared her fangs, glistening with venom. That made him stop in his tracks.
"Okay, you don't have to bite, I'm backing off, see?"
And indeed, he walked back a step or two. Satisfied, she closed her maw. It was good to see a bit of fear from people occasionally. Far too many underestimated her. Just because she didn't bite the girls who ripped off her tail didn't mean she was completely defenceless. But she had principals. And she valued her freedom. Killing people was not going to be in her future, venomous teeth or not.
She'd never tried how poisonous her bite really was, but her parents had taught her that most grown beithirs were easily able to kill a human with their bite. Or even a supernatural.
"I need to look around for something, would you mind leaving me to it?"
He looked almost desperate. She had to laugh - inside, of course,
snakes didn't laugh.
She shook her head in a wide gesture, obvious enough so he couldn't miss it.
He huffed. "I don't have time to do this tomorrow. If you don't leave, will you at least promise not to tell anyone I was here?"
She cocked her head. That was a big kind of promise. Usually, she'd set terms, like being able to tell someone if it was endangering him, her or others. But she couldn't speak, damn it.
Maybe she should partially shift. It would mean she could actually talk, and she wouldn't be left totally naked. Kind of. She could leave it so her scales mostly covered her, though technically they were just a part of her skin. Which made her naked again in her book, though she could understand why a lot of people would disagree. She did feel less exposed when she was wearing them after all.
The blue-haired man looked at her intently, worry etched on his face. Now that was interesting. He didn't have anything to be worried about as far as she knew. But it did raise questions about what he was doing down here in the first place.
And what he was looking for.
Curiosity got the better of her, and Amber began the transformation into her half shifted form. Her face and hair returned to normal. Her body shrunk dramatically, and the grey-green scales retracted until they were covering all of her skin up past her breasts. At least she was decent.
Blue-hair's eyes widened as he took her in.
"You can half-shift?" he asked.
Odd question. She'd have many more if she were him.
"Obviously."
"But not your tail?"
She scowled at him. But really, how was he to know her tail had been removed. She'd long since given up telling any of Ben Vair's staff when she lost it. They just didn't care.
"My tail and I had an unfortunate separation," she replied.
His gaze travelled the length of her body, making her particularly self-conscious. No non-beithir had ever seen her like this, and it was an unusual situation to find herself in.
"Unfortunate how?"
"Tamsin," she replied stiffly, holding her head up high. She wasn't going to let anyone see how much she hated being without a tail.
"The annoying wolf shifter girl?" he asked.
"Yes. Are you sure you're a teacher?"
He certainly wasn't acting like it, and she wasn't sure she liked it.
"Yes, yes, whatever."
Amber frowned at him.
"What are you looking for?" she asked as he glanced around the lab again.
"I can't tell you that." His response was instant, and pretty definite. Then again...
"What if I agreed not to tell anyone you were down here. Or that you were looking for something. Or that you're clearly not a teacher?" She squared of against him, and his features took on a concerned look. Good. She was getting to him then.
Blue-hair smiled slightly. "You swear it?
"On the stub of my tail."
"I'm looking for a ruby infused with baobhan sìth saliva." He sighed, and pushed a hand over his face, leaving his blue hair in slight disarray. She almost reached out and smoothed it down. Almost.
"And you think you'll find it in here?" She could almost laugh. He was in completely the wrong part of the underground rooms to find anything like that.
"At least you think it exists," he pointed out.
"Of course it exists. Otherwise you wouldn't be looking for it. But why in the clouds would you want one of those?" She didn't even know what one did. Probably something icky if there was a incubus involved. Not that incubi themselves were icky creatures. Nor was sex with one, but there were a lot of ill uses to their magic according to rumour, and she dreaded to think what some of those could be.
"I wish I knew." He looked away and shuffled his feet, so she dropped it. Despite really wanting to know, she didn't want to make him uncomfortable. She had a feeling he knew a lot of interesting things. And she wanted to learn them all if she could. And more.
After Ben Vair, she'd been planning on journeying all over the world, and discovering creatures like her but by other names. She was sure there were some after all.
"You're looking in the wrong place."
"Huh?"
"You're not going to find a ruby in what is effectively a biology lab."
"How do you even know what biology is," he muttered, quite possibly not meaning for her to hear.
Amber hissed, the sound coming across more menacing due to her half-shifted form. "I'm a mythical being, not an idiot. Try and remember that."
He gulped, and nodded. "Sorry, lead on, please."
She relaxed a little. It wasn't his fault he was so ill informed. But if she ever met the people who'd raised him...well they were going to get a piece of her mind.
4
When he'd set off to find the items on his grandfather's list, the last thing he'd expected was to be following a partially shifted beithir around dingy corridors under a school. And yet...here he was. Mostly being very glad she was eighteen, as his gaze kept drifting back to the greenish grey shine of her scales as the light passed over them. It didn't take a genius to work out they were all she was wearing. Even if she hadn't changed form in front of him. She’d given a longing glance towards her folded clothes, then shaken her head before they set off. He didn’t blame her. The scaly skin encasing her body acted as another layer of protection. While he knew she wouldn’t need it from him, she didn’t.
"Are you sure you know where we're going?" he asked.
"Yes."
"How?" It was a little convenient if anyone asked him. He was looking for something, and she just so happened to know where it was? And just so happened to be here at the same time he was? He wasn't a fan of coincidences, and this stunk of one.
Briefly, he wondered if his grandfather had sent her as a way of testing him. But he doubted it. While his grandfather was fine with using other supernatural creatures, other than the aos sìth, he held very little respect for them. Particularly shifters. Izban's grandfather was one of the people that believed the animal side of the brain started to take over. And the more a shifter changed form, the more animal they became. Izban had long since dismissed it as the wrong opinion.
"They gave me a key to use the lab any time I lose my tail. Which happens a lot. I'd be a bad student if I didn't explore at least a little bit."
"Is it not being a bad student to go places when you shouldn't?" he threw back at her, and she chuckled throatily, a small hiss coming out at the end of it. Her voice box wasn't totally human at this point then. Interesting, if completely useless to know.
He wondered if she was poisonous in human form too, though he wasn't in any hurry to figure that one out.
"Isn't it a bad teacher to come to a school just so you can find something you want?"
"Not to a school like this. I'm not sure you can even call it that. A holding place for teenagers, more like."
"It's not that bad," she said defensively, but then went quiet. “Okay, you’re right. I think the only knowledge that will actually help me in real life has come from books. Being taught together with mages and other more magical species isn't a good way to improve your beithir skills.”
She sighed, then quickly changed the topic. "So what are you when you don't pretend to be a teacher?"
"Don't laugh," he warned her, before half-whispering, "A meteorologist."
She snorted. "You're joking, right?"
"I told you not to laugh," he complained, but there was a trace of humour in his voice. He got that reaction a lot. But his affinity with the weather had made his career choice an easy one. He had always liked being out and about, learning about weather phenomenon and exploring other countries in the process. Last year, he'd been on a research trip to the Arctic. That's where he learned that he was different from other humans, not just because of his magic. He didn't have any problem with staying in such a cold place. In fact, he felt better there than he ever had in the temperate climates he'd grown up in. He spent as much time as possible outside
the research station, much to the worry of his supervisor. Walking through snow made him feel more alive than ever before. It was heartbreaking when he had to leave and return to the UK. Everything felt too warm here, despite other people complaining about the cold.
This winter, he was going to return to the Arctic. Doing these jobs for his grandfather would ensure that he could afford it. And he'd met her in the process. He really shouldn't complain.
"Is it much further?" he asked, trying to stop her laughing. Come on, him being a meteorologist wasn't that strange. Her walking around with only half a tail was much more unusual. But he was wise enough not to say that. Her teeth had looked incredibly dangerous. Being bitten by a beithir was not on his agenda.
"Just around the corner."
He followed the scaled girl to the end of the corridor where she turned sharp left. There were five doors and she chose the second. He'd never have found this place. What luck it had been to run into her.
She went into the room first, switching on the lights. Magical ones, of course, there was no electricity in this old part of the building.
He sighed as he took in the chaos in front of him. It looked like someone had discarded all of his artefacts and magical equipment and thrown it carelessly into this room. There were hundreds of boxes of all sizes, some of them open and spilling their contents, some locked with heavy chains. The shelves lining the walls were not much tidier; in fact, Izban doubted that even the owner of this room would ever find anything important in here.
This was like finding a needle in a haystack. Except that a haystack was a lot safer than a room full of magical items that might fight back.
"Are you sure the ruby is in here?" he asked his guide, resigned to spending several days in there, combing through all the boxes.
"Of course. Can't you smell it?"
He frowned at her. "Smell it? Since when do gemstones smell?"
She chuckled. "Not the ruby, silly. The incubus."
"How do you know what an incubus scent is like? Have you met many of them?"
Through the Storms_A Seven Wardens Spin-Off Page 3
