by Kade Cook
The girl who longed to be normal, plain and void of the ancient’s gifts is dead, left drifting along the shores of Erebus. Someone new stands waist-deep in the ocean, healing and swelling with the hope Magik has graced her once more, and she is eager to meet it in whatever form it takes. “Yes.”
Lyarah’s smile widens, spilling an uncharted and strange sensation through her friend’s soul. Her scaly hands reach up and trace the edge of her brow, cupping her jaw—soft rows of layered sea flesh tickle her skin.
Gabrian sinks into her eyes, following them, feeling them warm her from beyond a place with earthly bounds. Pulling on her, the nymph slowly dips beneath the water’s surface. Gabrian lets the tension in her legs release, feeling the warmth of the water’s Magik kiss her chest, then tickle her shoulders and lick her neck as she sinks into its hold. Sucking in one last breath, she submerges her face. Her eyes open in the salty water, searching for the girl.
Face to face, eye to eye, they reach out to hold each other, lost in the womb of a watery world. Lyarah lifts a hand and gently caresses the scarred flakes of skin layered between the scattered remains of Gabrian’s hair. Shivers quake over Gabrian in a euphoric caress that makes her eyes roll back in her head as the sea witch works her healing Magik.
Slow caresses from Lyarah’s touch lingers over every inch of Gabrian’s broken body and encases the girl in a state of utter bliss. The stress in her lungs strangles her serenity, and Gabrian’s eyes fly open, feeling their plea for air. She needs to surface but she has no idea which way is up. Lyarah had spun her so gently within her web that now she is lost in shades of muted blues and greens, no longer any light to guide her to the surface.
Her hands swing wildly and her lungs burn to gather air. A stronghold for her footing is nowhere to be found and Gabrian’s mind whirls in her torment, a moment of stupidity. Why did she trust that this Magik was good? It never did anything but cause her trouble before, how could she be so stupid as to trust it now?
Stupid, stupid, fool—Magik killed her, brought her back only to be killed again?
Two arms reach out to cease her strife, still buried alive within the waves. Eyes of shimmering wildness stop her in her tracks, easing her will to fight. Her lungs burn, releasing bubbles of the toxins building within her chest. I am drowning. Slowly dying, again. “Why?” she gurgles out in bubbled breath to the girl holding her under.
A melodic low song rushes from the nymph’s mouth as she laughs. No, you are not drowning, child. Stop fighting and believe in your Magik. Can’t you feel it thriving within?
Unsure if the few staggering moments of attempted swimming before death’s door is the cause for her delirium, Gabrian gives up the fight and plays along. If she is going to die again, she might as well enjoy it.
Relaxing her muscles, and letting the panic release, she slows her inhales. A strange sensation of wetness slips into the canvass of her nose, burning a little at first then cools. A misty spray of oxygen is delivered into her lungs in a slow pull then releases out. In and out, in and out—on it goes, making her feel a little light-headed and high.
Gabrian lets out a bubble-filled giggle. Is this really happening?
Lyarah giggles with her and swirls around, releasing bubbles of trapped air to decorate the space around her. She closes in on Gabrian and touches her face once more, met by her friend’s hand on hers, and smiles. The soft sounds of the sea woo her and a small shiny school of fish slip by, only pausing for a moment to notice her presence then slip off into the gaining darkness.
Gabrian expects any minute to wake up—this strange watery journey she is on is nothing but a dream—but she does not. She watches Lyarah’s hair float poetically around her, moving along the bottom of the harbor in a strange underwater ballet performed in the dusky hours of day. The fading streams of crimson light seep into her consciousness, stealing the serene soft smile painted on her lips. As if reading Gabrian’s mind, Lyarah gathers up Gabrian’s hand and waltzes toward the lightest part of the water.
“I think it is time for you to start back,” she chimes out, glancing over her shoulder. Gabrian nods, knowing she is right, and the dawn of realization jars her from her joyous new adventure. She has been MIA for hours and Tynan is probably tearing up the Earth in a mad search to find her.
They slowly break the surface and tread toward the shore. Gabrian hears a small pop as the last remains of the manifested oxygen is released, trailing a trickle of moisture from her nose as her body readjusts to breathing air.
Gabrian spots her bloody shoes still waiting patiently, as well as her ebony friend at the edge of the beach, and makes her way toward them. Lyarah stops her escort and sends her one last message. “Gabrian.”
Gabrian turns to look at her new friend shimmering in her mirage form once more. “You must learn to believe in order to see, and when you see it, guard your secrets well.”
Letting out a deep sigh, she releases a breathy chuckle at the nymph’s cryptic words. “More rhymes to untangle. Hmm, I get it, I do.” She stretches her arms out and riddles her own conclusion back. “Okay, how is this? Wisdom within words, if learned slowly, allows the depths of knowledge to sink deeply,” she finishes with a Chessy-cat grin lodged on her face.
Lyarah smiles sweetly at her, releasing a song of melodic joy, then falls back, melting into the watery depths below.
Chapter Fourteen
Into the Woods
Slowly fading behind the horizon, the sun shoots diamonds of fire to surf across the snowy watery wakes as Gabrian plays the day’s unfathomable events over in her mind. Her hands coax the foamy edges of water receding with the tide to rush in close. They obey, braver than they should be—obedient currents eager to meet her fingers’ command.
The shadows play with her sight. They dance and shift the edges of day’s end. Lost in her delight, Gabrian almost misses the movement at the edge of the forest where the sand is left behind by the green grass knolls. She twists quickly, only catching a glimpse of a figure as it slips into the tree line.
Eyes narrowed and a bend in her brow, she recognizes the stranger. “Kaleb.” Gathering up her shoes, and quickly retying their crimson remains on her newly-healed flesh, she rushes to her feet and lets out a laugh of disbelief. There is no pain, not even an ounce of fatigue. Placing her toque on her scarred head, she feels the soft bristles of hair lacing the once crusted skin tissue, soft and supple as a newborn babe.
Giddiness bounds within her, forcing her smile to beam with this revelation of awesomeness, more eager than ever to show him her miracle. After a few hurried steps over the beach and through the long grass, she finds an opening in the trees. There is a path marked only by the fallen pine needles that have soured the ground, clearing the way through the twisted woods.
She glances back over her shoulder at the sea and the dwindling light of day’s end before hurrying forward, curious as to what he is up to and eager to spill the beans. The roaring hush of the ocean’s song is muted by the underbrush of the trees. Listening for footsteps, she hears a soft snap and crunching ahead. Her heart swells with vigor as she starts her journey, but her steps slow. Something flutters in her stomach and stings against her skin.
The odd placement of colour catches her attention through the branches. Inching toward it, a stripe of yellow along the side of a grey shirt stands out. Kaleb’s shirt lies on the ground, folded neatly on what looks like pants. Um, okay. This is a bit weird. Her eyes lift, scanning the forest for the owner and feeling just a bit awkward doing so.
No more than forty feet away on the twisted earthen path, she sees him. Kaleb stands there. Bare shoulders, bare back, bare...Oh my. She gasps. His head shifts to the side and she wonders if he has heard her and holds her breath. But he does not turn around. He stands there, alone in the woods, and lifts his arms wide at his sides, rolling his head back to face the darkening sky.
What on Earth is he doing?
She slides close behind the base of a large pine and watches,
feeling a bit like a perv, but this is way too strange not to stare. It is like a train wreck, only there is no train, just Kaleb and his nakedness alone in the woods. Gabrian lets out a stifled giggle, wanting to leave and give Kaleb his privacy to do whatever it is that he is doing, but her inner voice whispers for her to stay. She needs to see this.
Raising his arms over his head, he arches his back then stands upright again, arms stretched out to the side. Kaleb gives his hands a flick and his skin, from the blades of his shoulders to the tips of his fingers, begins to ripple and twist, filling in with bulbous muscles clinging to his misshapen form.
The fade of dusk bends the sharpened edges of reality to soften and blend. Rubbing her eyes, she wonders if what she is seeing is real or a trick as the shadows of night creep in, giving things new shape. This is getting seriously messed up.
The thing before her steps away, no longer the man she knew. The soft endearing green of his essences shifts and lightens into streaks of golden fire, swirling around his form. Forcing her eyes to focus, she lowers her stance and edges around the tree to get a better view. Kaleb’s form begins to rise. No, not rise, grow. His shoulders widen and shift position. His back ripples, revealing a sharp-edged spine with ribs that narrow and curve, forcing him to lean forward and down. The muscles in his arms bulge, flexing in their strain, and hands curl, clenching and clawing at the earth below as they meld, shortening and buckling together. His legs twist and snap, molding into an inverted bend, and stretch to meet his elongating clawed feet which flex and mold into a foundation needed to support his new horizontal form.
The colour of his skin darkens to blend with the forming shadows of night. A manifestation of smooth silky hair erupts from the center of his back and explodes, rushing across his body and shrouding his flesh with a natural means of camouflage—a gift of the Gods, invisibility, to become one with his surroundings. With giant clawed paws, powerful muscular shoulders, and eyes so yellow they shine—reflecting what remains of light within in the darkness—Kaleb turns in her direction and sniffs the air.
Before her stands a terrifyingly beautiful, midnight-coloured beast, shaped to clone the magnificence of a panther, but bigger with longer hair. Its internal essence flares like a golden halo. Gabrian holds her breath, trying not to move as she takes in this phenomenal transformation. A wave of powerful and intoxicating energy stings the surface of her skin as he releases a low guttural growl into the night. She stares, unmoving, as the black stripe of his pupils narrow and hone in, focusing on something.
He gives a shake and tenses his muscles, lowering on his haunches, then darts straight for her. Gabrian digs her nails into the tree in front of her and tries to scream out his name to stop his attack, but the words stay frozen in her fear. Closing her eyes, hearing the pounding drum of her chest, she waits for the inevitable end.
The sound of crushing leaves, loud and nearly upon her, closes in just as a whiff of musk and earth tickles in her nose, caught in the wake of Kaleb’s massive form as he rushes past, leaving her clinging for life to the tree, and disappears into the night. Left in the depths of silence, only the soft chittering of disgruntled squirrels nearby keep her company. She opens her eyes, waiting for a face-to-face encounter with the beast, but she is denied. Unhinging her fingers from the bark of the tree, Gabrian steps out to search the shadows for her unusual friend—deciding whether it is worth the risk to follow him.
Her inner dialogue begins its deciphering of logistics from mere curiosity. It is Kaleb. She stands, biting her lip, not wanting to make too much noise and a little timid of what may or may not happen if she draws any unwanted attention to her presence. Loveable, easygoing Kaleb, the one who tended to me with his Magik herbs and soft-spoken words. There is no reason to be afraid unless… Her internal gut feeling brings its conclusion to surface in her strife. Unless, the transformation is mental as well as physical. What if Kaleb really is a beast now, a hunter in all its entirety?
Her decision is made for her. The sound of rustling leaves sends her scurrying back to cling to the shroud of the pine as Kaleb’s midnight form appears just as quickly as it has disappeared. Gabrian slinks down behind the tree, hoping she was not seen.
His ears twist as he slows his pace, parading in a measured precise stalk as he sniffs the air around him. Swallowing hard, sharp pins prick at her innards. The bite of fear eats at her from the inside, doped with a massive dose of adrenaline coursing through her. It may be fight or flight time. Even if she could get away without being eaten, how would she explain why she was spying on her friend and his secret?
As if hearing her thoughts, Kaleb’s head swivels to the left. His body ripples again and slowly deconstructs from his animal form before he walks past her, naked as a jaybird to retrieve his clothing.
“Full moon tonight,” a familiar voice cuts through the darkness and the ringing in her ears as a figure steps out of the shadows and onto the soured path of pine needles. Traces of light allotted from the rising moon above outlines his frame.
Ethan.
“Yes, it is,” Kaleb smoothly replies, gathering up his pants from the ground and casually stepping into his faded jeans. The canvas cloth slides up over his taut muscular legs.
Gabrian tries to find any trace of her presence to pull it inward but does not sense anything. She worries Ethan might find a trace of her hiding like a thief in the night and then, she will have two Elders to explain her shady deception to.
Whispers of hushed talk about an ancient Fellowship called the Alakai echo in her mind. They were shapeshifters and Spirit Walkers who once roamed the Realm but she was informed they were long extinct—a race depleted of their existence by higher powers who deemed them responsible for many vicious attacks on humans and Realmsfolk alike. These creatures, beasts of the Fellowships, if hunted down until extinction were endangered. Having just witnessed a full-blown shift by one of the Elders, no less, there may be a slight chance her existence could be endangered as well.
A wave of panic stings her skin and she closes her eyes, drawing in the energies of her surroundings with more intent. Slowly pulling her knees tight up to her chest, Gabrian tries hard to soothe the thrumming beat of her heart. Little strands of green strings dance in her inner sight, and her third eye watches it swirl around her softly, joining an iridescent haze that ignites across her skin. She can feel the gentle caress on her flesh as it clings to her. Oh no!
Gabrian’s eyes rush open. If she can see these auras, Ethan is sure to spot her a mile away, but there is nothing in the darkness, absolutely nothing. Large leaves of a nearby plant wrap her face and body in a shield of green while vines snake over the rest of her body, hugging her close. Slowly, she lifts her hands and pulls them free from the forest greenery entwined in her fingers.
Slipping her hands under the waxy covering of leaves blocking her view of the Elders, Gabrian finds not only that they have taken no notice of her but she is witnessing an extraordinary evolutionary discovery. Fingers like glass push against the fern in front of her eyes—marbled and melded like liquid in appearance.
The possibility of being discovered slips to the background. She wiggles her fingers before her. A mirage of bended air wobbles in the tangled leaves. Twisting vines on the ground loop and twine around her ankles, tickling her skin, and wrap her in a floral display of nothingness. It seems her swim in the ocean has done more than heal her.
What in the…
The low hum of a familiar voice and scuffing of leaves being disturbed on the ground brings her back to why she is hovelling away in the bushes, cloaked in her airy invisibility.
“I hoped I might find you here.” Ethan reaches down and retrieves the grey shirt from the ground, shaking off the clinging pieces of Earth, and offers it to his friend.
Kaleb chuckles, grabbing up his tee and pulls it over his head. His flowy wild aura shifts from brazen gold strands to a soft bending fold that drapes over him in a gentle lime hue against the darkness of the forest. “I just
needed a moment to stretch out my muscles.”
A quick glance upward through the silhouetted trees, Ethan’s eyes pinch at the sides when he glimpses the large glowing rock hovering in the sky overhead. “Yes, I figured as much.”
“What has you out wandering in the woods this time of night?” Kaleb widens his arms and spreads his chest for one last stretch of his ribcage. “You know the night is full of strange creatures once the sun goes down.”
The softness in Ethan’s face fades, darkening in the shadows. “That is what I am afraid of.”
Kaleb lets out a coughing chuckle, dropping his arms to his side. “I hardly think you, of all people, fear anything let alone me, being what I am.”
“It’s not me I am afraid for.”
What does that mean? A sting of fear trickles through her.
Ethan’s words trail off as he eyes the forest and quiets—searching the edges of shadows. Kaleb’s eyes narrow, picking up on his friend’s tension, and flares his nostrils, sniffing the air.
A growl rumbles in Kaleb’s throat. “We are not alone.” Streaks of gold flare out once more, hunting the darkness. Gabrian cannot help but see them through the brush now, hurriedly cloaking her even more. “I am not sure what it is but there is something here.”
“I can sense it too,” Ethan whispers, sending out a wave of essence to search what his eyes cannot see.
Gabrian watches as his energy surges outward, wrapping each tree, each leave, cutting through the shadowy forest, and leaving nothing unturned. She closes her eyes and pulls herself in tight, holding her breath as the wave cuts right through her.
Ethan opens his eye and sighs. “Huh, that is strange.”
“What is it?”
“To tell you the truth, I don’t know.” Ethan narrows his eyes, still unconvinced of his findings. “Whatever it was is gone now.”
