by Sarah Reeves
The woman’s eyes went wide, and her face drained of color. “You know about the Unseen? Then you must know what you are!” She leaned forward and grasped Alex’s wrists before she had a chance to pull back. Her hands were like ice, and Alex winced, trying to pull away. “You do, don’t you? But wait,” she sat back again, releasing the other girl. “If you know what you are, why haven’t you Shifted yet?”
“Why haven’t I what now?” Alex’s head started to hurt from trying to comprehend what this woman was saying. “Listen, I’m human, and you’re human, albeit a crazy one. Come to think of it, you’re the same level of crazy as that guy that was murdered. Where do they make you people? And how much acid did you take before breaking in?”
“Alexandra.” The woman leaned forward again, but didn’t try to touch Alex this time. Alex felt her stomach drop at the use of her name. What was it with complete strangers knowing who she was? “Let me explain-”
“No, you don’t need to explain anything, you need to get out of my house before I call the police! You can’t just come in here while I’m sleeping and expect me to just follow along all hunky dory and shit-”
“Will you calm down? I know what’s happening to you!” The woman’s eyebrows creased in frustration. “This is happening to you because you’re not human. You’re Undari. A shapeshifter.”
Alex stopped dead for a split second. “Sure. Yeah, that makes sense. How did you come by this conclusion, by the way? My family hasn’t ever gotten sick like this. Are they secret shapeshifters, and I’m just the last to find out?” Alex leaned forward. “Is it the government’s fault?”
“No I-” the woman rubbed at her face. “Of course you got your father’s sarcasm. It made me want to shove him out a window sometimes, so of course you have it, too.”
Alex clenched her jaw. “And how do you know my father, exactly?”
“I knew him. Now will you let me tell you what’s going on?” Alex was reluctant, but she nodded. If there was any truth to what this stranger was saying, the least Alex could do was listen before she called the cops. The woman in the chair raised her head, meeting Alex’s hard stare with one of her own. “First of all, you can call me Adrien.” She sat forward, eyes intent on Alex’s face. Alex felt a surge of apprehension. “The reason you’ve been in so much pain is because your body is trying to Shift. It just doesn’t know how to. In Undari society, you would have been studying this for years. Undari young don’t Shift for the first time until age seventeen, which is your age now.” Alex looked back at the clock on the nightstand and felt a small jolt when she realized that Adrien was right. It was the first of May. Her seventeenth birthday. “But for years beforehand, they learn our ways, and their powers start to show in what we call the Signs. Every one of us is able to wield one of the elements, as well as morph into a creature.”
“I’ve never set anything on fire before two weeks ago, though.” Alex regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth.
“Fire?” The corners of Adrien’s mouth turned up in a smile that was almost wistful. “Your father’s power was fire, too.”
“Don’t talk about my father.” Alex’s voice was flat, a warning. Adrien took it, nodded, and moved on.
“Your given element is fire, and you will learn how to use it, in due time. First, you need to Shift. I was able to stabilize you, but it won’t last unless you do so.”
“Okay, how do I do it?”
“You’ve felt your power already, correct? You said you set your bed on fire?” When Alex nodded, Adrien continued. “When that happened, you felt the power start somewhere next to your heart. That’s the seat of your power, the very essence of it. You need to access that to get to where you can Shift. It’s difficult at first, but as you Shift more often, it will get easier. Are you ready?” Alex nodded again. “You need to relax. It’s going to be hard, given everything you’ve been through the past couple of weeks. But you have to in order to access your power and stabilize yourself. In the future, of course, you won’t have to meditate before Shifting, but for your first time, you need to. Otherwise, things can go very wrong, very fast. Close your eyes.”
Alex complied. In the darkness behind her eyelids, she felt out with her mind, searching for what Adrien had described. She found it, not burning hot like before, but definitely warm. “I feel it,” she muttered. “What’s the next step?”
“Let it grow.” Alex snorted at Adrien’s words, but the other woman ignored her. “Take that power and open it up so that it fills every part of your being. When you’re able to do that, the creature you’re supposed to Shift into will just… show itself. You’ll start to Shift after that.”
Alex took a deep breath, relaxing as much as she was able to. She felt kind of stupid, really, and wasn’t entirely sure Adrien wouldn’t still try to kill her. Wouldn’t she already be dead though? There was the perfect opportunity to do it when Alex was going through her fit. Then she remembered that Adrien said she’d stabilized her. It probably meant Adrien wasn’t going to hurt her, unless she was truly sadistic. She’d also said to “let it grow”, which was funny to her because she had a little sister that happened to love a certain Disney movie. Alex shook her head slightly. She had to concentrate.
Focusing on the ball of warmth next to her heart again, she took another breath, and tried to open it up, like Adrien had said. Alex was able to conjure a mental image of her power, her imagination supplying the image of a ball of flames, bright and dancing. In the deepest recesses of her mind, it seemed as though she was watching herself reach out towards this sphere, and touching the edges of it, drawing bits and pieces from the outer shell. As it came apart, she felt it spread like a warm liquid through her veins, and saw that the hands touching the fire in her mind were changing. Fingers elongated, scales grew. Nails became thick, curved, and razor sharp. Sitting on the bed, Alex squirmed uncomfortably, as her whole body began to itch. The hands behind her closed eyes were paws now, scaled and dangerous looking. Alex’s eyes flew open as the itch intensified, and gasped as new sensations assaulted her.
Her skin felt like it was going to crawl off her body, and she watched as her hands went through the same process as the one in her mind. Only, it didn’t stop there. Scales, deep, holly green scales traveled up her forearms, the skin that was there before seeming to melt into this new armor. She felt her bones changing, breaking, but there wasn’t the same torture Alex had experienced hours before. It was more like her body knew what it was doing this time, and could move forward on that instinct confidently. Muscles strengthened, lengthened, and she saw her bed get farther away as her neck got impossibly long. There was a moment of panic when Alex heard her shirt rip to make room for new protrusions of skin, sinew, muscle, and bone. She twisted her head around, now heavy with large horns, to watch in horrified fascination as a tail erupted from the base of her spine.
Finally, the physical changes came to a stop. There was a sense of profound relief, like the feeling of shedding clothing that was two or three sizes too small. Alex looked down at the ground. Adrien was crouched there, having slid from the chair sometime during Alex’s transformation. Her hands were over her mouth, and her eyes were shining again. The emotion on her face confused Alex.
“You did it, Alexandra. You Shifted.” Adrien’s voice was barely above a whisper, but Alex found she could hear her perfectly. She tried to speak, but nothing except a small growl came out. Adrien gave a watery smile. “You won’t be able to speak, unless it’s telepathically. We can try that later. Right now, just focus on your Shift. Explore your form!”
Alex lowered her head, intending to start her examination at her toes, but the new weight of her head overbalanced her, and she nearly somersaulted across the room. She jerked her head back up, and collided with the ceiling. Another growl escaped.
“You’ll get the hang of it,” Adrien was laughing, but quickly stopped when Alex shot her a glare. Alex then continued to experiment with her new body. Instead of lowering her head
this time, she merely lifted one front paw, then the other. Lithe, strong paws, with serrated claws. The deep green of her outer scales softened to a paler color as they got closer to her palms. Her gaze followed the curve of her new muscles up her front legs, until she was craning her neck to get a look at her chest. Strong chest, with the same pale green scales. Where her sternum met the flesh of her neck, the scale pattern changed. These were longer, and horizontal. As far as Alex could tell, they continued up, until they met the underside of her jaw.
Twisting her head around, Alex started examining what she considered to be the best part of the whole ordeal, which was the fact that she had wings. She’d always wanted to fly as a kid. Does this make me a superhero? She thought, tamping down a maniacal urge to laugh. To say this was a surreal experience was an understatement. She wasn’t quite sure that she wasn’t in the middle of some kind of fever dream. With a powerful sense of wonder, she spread the- her wings. The tips of them barely touched the ceiling, and that’s when Alex decided to take another look at herself. Wait a minute… She was short. Of course she was. Because even as a dragon, the cosmos was picking on her. Stretched to her full height, her head rested against the ceiling, but it wasn’t pressed up to it. Looking down, she focused on Adrien, who was still watching her. Might as well try this telepathy thing. She wasn’t ready to be human sized again.
She reached out with her mind (or at least she thought that’s what she was doing. Alex had no idea what it was supposed to feel like). She stared intently at Adrien, lowering her large head until her eyes were level with the other woman’s. Adrien’s eyes, wide and confused, stayed locked with Alex’s gaze. With all her might, Alex concentrated. Nothing. No snap of sudden awareness, no feeling of connection. Nothing. Damn it, She thought with frustration. How am I supposed to know if this works?
It’s working, Alex. There it was. That brush of another person’s thoughts in Alex’s mind. Adrien was gaping now. How did you do that? It takes years of study for younglings to even be allowed to attempt that. You could have sent one or both of us into insanity!
Now you tell me, Alex thought back, slightly dazed. I don’t want to be normal sized just yet, so I thought I would try this. She lifted her head again. Why am I so short? Dragons are supposed to be huge and terrifying. I barely even reach the ceiling.
You won’t be full size, not for a few months. You’ll grow, though, don’t worry.
Okay. Alex was silent for a moment while her brain processed further. The sheer genetic changes she’d just gone through were boggling her mind. She has just shifted on a molecular level, within minutes. How do I change back?
All you have to do is concentrate. It’s going to feel like you’re shedding skin, but you won’t be. It’s disorienting. Go ahead and try, it’s not hard.
Alex took a breath in through her nose. Closing her eyes, she summoned that ball of flame again. This time, instead of taking pieces away, she began to put them back. It was like watching a film in reverse. The scales on her hands shrank, the nails shrank back, and her finger size returned to normal. As Alex was witnessing all of this in her mind, she felt the change happening to her physical body. She felt her stomach drop slightly as her neck grew smaller, and she felt the same skin crawling sensation as before, only more intense. Alex opened her eyes in time to see her skin go from green to her normal, pasty color. She stretched, momentarily forgetting anyone else was in the room. Her only thought was that she felt no pain. None at all. There was also no more sweating. Alex flexed her back, letting out a deep sigh, then froze. Something was different… she turned her head and gasped out loud when she saw she still had wings.
“What the hell?” she breathed.
“You didn’t Shift all the way.” Adrien’s voice startled Alex, who swung her head around to look at her. “It’s a common mistake, easily fixed. You just need to get back to where you can concentrate on being fully human again.” She rummaged around in a bag Alex hadn’t realized was there and threw her a shirt. “Here,” she added. “This shirt will accommodate your wings, and I would imagine that you want clothes to wear.” Alex caught the shirt and hastily put it on, face burning. It was sleeveless, and a button down, so it was easy to slip on over her wings. She grabbed a pair of sweatpants and jerked those on, too.
Alex looked away again, back at her wings. Her wings. She opened them, and reached out to trace her fingers along the dark veins visible through the webbing. What threw her the most was that she could feel her own touch. The webbing was smooth, velvety, and nearly transparent. Alex looked back at Adrien. “Will I be able to fly like this?”
“In that form?” Adrien walked around the younger woman, studying her. “May I?” she asked, holding her hand close to the tip of Alex’s left wing. When Alex gave a hesitant nod, Adrien told hold of her wing and lifted it, walking backwards to test her wing span. She didn’t stop until she was on the other side of the room. “Hmm. roughly fifteen feet. You would need to train, to make them stronger, but yes, I think you can fly while in this form.” She let go of Alex’s wingtip, and it snapped back across the room before Alex could figure out how to stop it. The razor tip brushed across the bedspread along the way, and ripped a large gash in the already blackened fabric.
“Ah, shit.” Alex, after carefully tucking her wings to her side, went to the bed. “Damn it,” she sighed. “Help me turn this over. Mom is going to lose her mind if she sees.” She froze. “Mom. Oh, no. No, no, no. She’s going to figure it out, she’s going to flip her shit if she sees me with wings. You,” she turned to face Adrien. “You have to help me get rid of these things.” Alex didn’t notice the stony look on Adrien’s face in her panic, and felt a flash of anger when the other woman shook her head. “Why not? You were all gung ho about teaching me how to Shift, and now you won’t help me?”
“Those bits of flesh and bone on your back aren’t things. Those are your wings. They’re a part of you, so don’t write them off as props you can just take off.”
Alex, despite herself, flinched. “First off, you need to realize that I’ve never actually had wings before, okay? Getting pissed at me because I don’t know how to deal with the fact that my life just changed dramatically isn’t going to help a damn thing. Second, you still have some explaining to do. Like who you are, how you knew where to find me, and how you knew my dad. So instead of being particular and lofty about what I call my wings, let’s start there.”
Adrien stepped closer to Alex, until they were nearly nose to nose. Neither woman backed down. “It doesn’t matter how I know any of that. You should be grateful I even helped you to begin with, not demanding everything you can from me.” Anger snapped in Adrien’s eyes, along with another emotion Alex didnt know and didn’t care to place. She was too mad.
“It matters because my family is in danger, and you just gave me the means to blast you out of this window if I want to.” Alex’s hands were hot. “Now I’ll ask you again: who the hell are you?”
Adrien laughed. “You couldn’t hurt me if you tried. You know nothing, and from what I see here, you probably never will.”
“WHO ARE YOU??”
“She’s your mother.” Alex jerked back and whirled around to see Jennifer standing in the doorway. There were tears on her face as she took in Alex’s expression.
It took Alex a second to find her voice. The anger had drained out of her at Jennifer’s words, and she could only stare, feeling as though the air had suddenly gone very thin. “What did you say?” she managed to ask.
“Adrien is your mother, Alex.” It sounded like it was physically painful for Jennifer to say. “Your biological mother.”
“No, that’s not-” Alex swallowed. “That’s not possible. No. You’re my mom, not this-” she gestured to the woman standing frozen behind her. “She’s not my mom.”
Jennifer’s face was full of grief. “Let’s sit down, okay? I’ll explain everything.” She looked past Alex at Adrien, who was still looking at Jennifer with anger and pain in her
face. “My name is Jennifer,” she said.
“I’m Adrien,” said the other woman. “And you’re the one my mate moved on with, I presume.”
Jennifer said nothing, only nodded. Adrien closed her eyes.
“You had better explain! Both of you!” Alex was breathing hard; she felt as though someone had punched her very hard in the stomach. Around her, everything was crumbling, and there was no way for her to fix it. Feeling like her knees were about to buckle, Alex sat down on the bed. Jennifer exchanged glances with Adrien, and they both sat, Jennifer in the wicker chair near the bed, Adrien on Alex’s right side. When no one spoke right away, Alex shouted again. “I don’t hear anything!” Her voice was raw with desperation, and she hated it. After another brief moment, Adrien began to speak.
“The history of the Undari will factor greatly into this explanation, so I’ll start at the beginning. The Undari are a race of shapeshifters, stretching back to the beginning of time. We live in six realms outside this one. The realms were formed as separate kingdoms, because all Undari have a primary source of power. Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Darkness, and Light. Respectively the Undari from each of the Realms are known as the Vin, Zephere, Akia, Niraya, Onathe, and Efari. Humans have gotten glimpses of us over time. When they have seen us, they have given us names of their own creation, and places within their cultures. When they have seen us use our power in human form, they called us gods. The Greek pantheon, for example.
“For centuries, everything was peaceful within the realms. Everyone was treated the same, save for the rulers of each realm, of course. The ruling family for each realm has always consisted of the rarest creatures. Phoenixes, leviathans, and so on. However, there was one Undari who wanted power, more than that of the royal families. No one knows his name or what Realm he hailed from, and for many years, nobody has had the desire, because we all feared him. This creature was the beginning of what’s known as the Unseen.
