Shifted (The Undari Trilogy Book 1)

by Sarah Reeves

  He Shifted, to Alex’s slight shock. A long legged, fox-like creature, with brown and white fur, burning paws and tail, and gleaming golden-red eyes stood before her for a split second before he took off in the direction of the castle, running close to the ground. She had no clue what kind of creature he was, thanks to her non-extensive knowledge of the kinds of Forms that appeared with the Undari of the Fire Realm. She turned back to see that neither of the other two Undari had paid him any attention after he Shifted. Of course, that would be the case. This was commonplace for them. It would be weird if Soren hadn’t Shifted.

  Dr. Drake was back at the Portal, left as a window for them by Kieran. He murmured to himself as he watched the behavior of the fallen queen in the cavern. Keiran himself stood a little ways away from Alex, who studiously avoided his gaze, opting instead to pick at her fingernails. She didn’t want to speak to him, wouldn’t know what to say even if she did. He had other ideas, though.

  “Alex, come with me for a second,” he said. “I want to talk to you.”

  “We don’t have time for that. There’s more to do right now other than ruminate on your priorities.” Alex made her voice as cold as she could to keep it from shaking.

  “We have nothing but time right now. The lab is being set up, we’re waiting on the queen to pass, and Soren is looking for my parents. As far as things to do, there isn’t anything until something else happens. And I would like to speak with you, please.” After a pause in which Alex continued to look at her hands, he took her arm and, amid her vehement protests, dragged her into the woods next to the clearing a ways. Alex went for about ten yards or so, before snatching her arm out of his grip.

  “I told you, I don’t want to talk to you, and I won’t!” She cried. Kieran stood facing her, guilt and temper warring in his gaze. “I heard what you said, and I got what it meant. That’s it!”

  “And what did you get from what I said?” Asked Kieran.

  “I got that the Undari don’t care about humans, because they’re not the same as us. That they’re inferior to our race because they can’t shapeshift or use the elements. We don’t have enough ‘resources’ to help them?”

  “We don’t, Alex. I never said that humans didn’t matter. Do you really think that I don’t care about your family? Or anyone else in the human realm? That’s not true and you know it.” Kieran stepped closer to her. “You know me, you know who I am and how I feel about you. So why would you even think that I would just stop caring about the people you love? The thought that they could die or be turned into something you don’t recognize scares me. You’ve already lost so much, Alex,” he continued, placing his hands on her shoulders. “I don’t want to see you go through any more pain. Whatever hurts you, hurts me.” He brought Alex into a hug, resting his chin on her head. “I know you’re going through a lot, more than a lot of the rest of us. But please don’t pull away from me. It won’t help either of us, and we need each other right now.”

  Alex hadn’t said anything through his entire explanation. Shame welled up inside her. It wasn’t a welcome emotion. “I’m sorry,” she said. Her arms came up to hug her Companion, and she shut her eyes. “I’m just- I just-”

  “I know.” They stayed like that for a minute or two. Alex let herself relax, feeling the rise and fall of Kieran’s chest under her cheek. There was comfort of a different kind here than there was in Soren. Soren’s hug was mentor to student, almost fatherly, if Alex stretched a little. Kieran’s was that of a friend, and something more. A Companion was more than just a friend, after all.

  Alex was the first to step back, keeping her hands on Kieran’s arms for just a second longer than she normally would have. “We should head back, to see what kind of progress has been made,” she said. “I can go to the castle to have a look at the lab, if you want to check on Dr. Drake. I’ll meet you back down here.”

  “You gonna be okay?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be okay.” Alex smiled. “I’m tough.” At Kieran’s continued concern, she laughed a little. “Did I really give off that weak of an impression? I’m fine, really. I just lost my grip for a second, but I’ve got it back now. I’m good, I promise.”

  “As long as you say you’re okay,” Kieran said, smiling back at her. “I’ll be at the Portal. Stay safe, yeah?”

  “Yeah,” replied Alex before taking off. She vaguely realized that she’d stopped putting her wings away when she landed. It was comfortable to her now, to be halfway Shifted like that.

  Soren was waiting for her on the front steps of the castle when Alex got there. Joining him was Queen Caia and King Titus, and there was an inward sigh of relief at the sight. Kieran shouldn’t have to deal with the loss of a parent.

  The trio met Alex where she landed, and she bowed as they approached. “Sir, Ma’am. I came to see how the lab set up is going.”

  “It’s going well. Soren brought us up to date on what’s happening. How is Queen Ciara?” Caia asked. Her face was set, grim lines all over her face.

  Alex’s own face fell. “Dr. Drake said it shouldn’t be too much longer now. She started to burn out when I left to come here. After that, he’s going to try to get some samples of the toxin. It’s still not safe, but it’s not as dangerous as trying to get past her and the rest of the toxin.” She wanted to ask where they’d been, but she knew better. Royal business was no business of hers, and she was sure they had a good reason for not joining the rest of the party in the cavern. In a selfish kind of way, Alex was glad they weren’t there with them.

  “How are you holding up?” King Titus’s eyes were kind on Alex’s. “None of this can be easy for you.”

  “I’m, ah, I’m good. Better, anyway.” She nodded at Soren. “Still worried and hopeful that this comes out in our favor, but no longer on the verge of a full blown freak-out.” Her breath came out in a small laugh. “I’m more scared for Dr. Drake, or whoever ends up going into the cavern to get the samples we need.” Alex hesitated, wanting to ask another question, but not feeling like it was her place to.

  Caia noticed Alex’s pause, and answered her unspoken question. “We have told the rest of the Undari about the situation, and what’s going on. They also know to stay away from the castle unless it’s absolutely essential, and if they have to come inside, they need to stay away from the infirmary. There is a twenty-four hour guard at the Portal taking effect as soon as the doctor comes away with the samples. It will be on complete lockdown, and the Court leaders will be creating a secondary Portal for emergency use only.” She paused, considering, then continued. “You can bring your family here, if that suits you.”

  Alex gaped at the queen before remembering her decorum and shut her mouth. “B-bring them here? I thought coming through the Portal would kill them?”

  “You’re half right,” answered Soren. “You can wrap them in protection, and bring them here. Because the climate isn’t much different than the human realm, they’ll be able to survive here. The only issue would be limiting their exposure to the Undari. They’re not used to humans, and I doubt that your family would be used to us, either, despite having raised you.”

  “I-I would be so thankful for this,” stammered Alex. She didn’t know what else to say.

  “You would have to wait until the samples were taken, of course.” King Titus smiled at Alex’s complete confusion. “I know being patient will be hard.”

  “As long as I get to keep them safe,” replied Alex, grinning. “But…” her smile disappeared. “What about the rest of the humans? There’s no way to bring seven billion of them here. What if the toxin leaks through to them?”

  “I have an idea for that, actually.” Soren accepted the intent stares of the other three with ease. Alex got the feeling he was more important than just Kieran’s mentor. “That cavern is in the human realm, right? You guys caved in the mouth of the cave, but if we put a barrier up, or we somehow linked that area to the Realm of Nightmares, so that any toxin that got through would just feed back into that Real
m, that could work.”

  “What about the other side of that? If a human decided to get adventurous, they could run into the Portal, and die.” Alex saw the king give Soren an amused side look. “What?”

  “Portals are completely flat. They serve as a doorway. If we place the link on our side of the cave-in, humans will encounter the fallen rock, but nothing more. The only other thing that we could do is put another barrier on the other side, but that would take too long, and out whoever is in there at too much risk. The link is our best option.” Caia placed a slim hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Your concern is admirable. There’s only so much we can do about that, though. Believe it or not, humans outnumber us three to one. If we had the resources, we would do more, believe me. There are a lot of Undari that think humans are inferior. But they deserve saving, too.” Her words made Alex respect her a lot more. She nodded.

  “Thank you, Ma’am. Really. You don’t know what this means to me.” Alex let out a breath. Her shoulders felt lighter, and she felt like crying again. Why in the hell was she so emotional? “If everything is going well with the preparations, I’ll just head back to the field to assist Dr. Drake.” She bowed again, and left the trio on the steps of the castle. Alex figured they would stay to supervise the lab and the quarantining of the castle. With the weight off her shoulders, it felt easier to fly. Her wings were light as air, and they propelled her closer to her Companion and made her beam at the air whipping past her face. Her family was coming here, with her. She didn’t care about anything else, right then. The only thought in her mind was flying Teagan and her mother and Oliver around the Realm, showing them everything, and keeping them safe, right next to her. Nothing else mattered.

  She skidded to a stop next to Kieran, who jumped at her arrival. Alistair was still next to the Portal, watching the queen’s progress. Alex grinned at Kieran, laughed at the confused smile she got in response.

  “Are… are you okay?” Kieran asked tentatively. He had an expression like he expected Alex to go into throes of maniacal laughter.

  “I’m a lot better now. I’ll explain later. Your parents are overseeing the lab and the closing off of the castle. They also briefed the rest of the Realm on what’s going on.” Alex threw an arm around Kieran’s shoulders at his sigh of relief. “You were more worried than you let on. I’m glad Soren found them.”

  “Me too. One less thing to worry about. With all this going on, the last thing I want is to stare down the throne. That’s something I don’t want to face for a very long time.” He laughed. “Honestly I would rather I never had to deal with that.” He looked over at Alex. “I know that sounds bad.”

  Alex shook her head. “Not at all. Mostly because I know you’d be a fantastic king. I just know how much you love your parents. The worst part about becoming king for you would be losing them, not the responsibility itself.” She considered. “I don’t know if it would be the same for me if our roles were reversed.”

  Kieran opened his mouth to reply, only to be interrupted by Dr. Drake.

  “Sir,” said the doctor, coming up next to the two Companions. “It’s almost time. Should we alert the family?”

  “Yes, we need to. They should be here.” Kieran gently stepped out from under Alex’s arm. “I’ll be right back,” he told her, and disappeared down the path toward the castle, presumably to contact the King of Light and his daughter. Alex guessed they would also enter the Realm from wherever Kieran was, as well. Better that they don’t watch Queen Ciara’s last moments, anyway. Nobody should have that image as the last memory of a loved one.

  Dr. Drake was watching Alex. “You look like you’ve gotten some good news,” he stated.

  “Is it that obvious?” Alex asked ruefully. “Maybe I should stay out of sight when the King and Princess get here.”

  “No, it’s not too obvious. I’m sure it’ll change once they arrive. Do you mind me asking what news you got that has you looking like this?”

  “Queen Caia is going to let me bring my family into the Realm for protection,” answered Alex, unable to contain her smile. “They’ll be safe.”

  Alistair blinked. “Well, that is good news.”

  “Then why does your tone say different?” Alex didn’t like the apprehensive tilt of the doctor’s brow.

  “Well, the royal family is pretty open minded about humans,” began Dr. Drake. “But my fear is that others in the Realm won’t be as understanding. I’m sure you know that there are several Undari, a majority, really, that feel as though humans are inferior to us. Not me,” he added, seeing Alex’s eyes heat. “I’ve never met a human, but from what I do know, they’ve made the best with what they have. And we’re not flawless, either, no matter how different we are physically and socially from the humans. That, and you seem to have turned out okay, despite having been raised by them.” He smiled. “I would very much like to meet your adoptive family.”

  Alex smiled slightly, ruffled feathers smoothed by the doctor’s words. “You would like Teagan. Pretty much everyone does, once they’ve been around her for approximately five minutes.”

  “And she’s your…?”

  “Half-sister.”

  “That’s interesting. Half Undari, half human.” Dr. Drake nodded. “Meeting her should be quite interesting.”

  Alex was silent. Half Undari… of course the thought had occurred to her before, but Teagan seemed so normal, in the human standard at least. There wasn’t a single indication that she had any kind of power to speak of, and Adrien hadn’t said anything about it in the brief time she’d been around Alex’s little sister. Interesting, indeed.

  Kieran came back down the path, face somber. Alex heard other footsteps, and focused on the situation at hand in time for the Efari King and his daughter to enter the clearing, followed by what Alex guessed were the highest ranking officials in their Realm. Kieran stopped a short distance from the Portal, and turned to the family of the Queen.

  “It’s up to you, of course. If you would like to wait here for Her Majesty to pass, we can let you know when it happens. If you would like to see her, then you are more than welcome to go to the Portal to do so. I should caution you, however. Queen Ciara doesn’t look anything like the Undari she used to be. If I could offer some advice,” he continued, looking at the grief-stricken faces of the royal family one at a time, “stay here, and remember her as she was before being infected. What you would see if you looked through the Portal won’t make this any easier.”

  The princess bowed her head. Her father held Kieran’s gaze for a moment, then nodded. “Thank you, Prince Kieran,” he said in a low, hoarse voice. “You’re very kind.” He turned away, to his people. “Wait here, please. I’ll be back in a moment.” Turning back to Kieran, he stepped forward. “I would like to see her, please. Stay here,” he added to his daughter.

  “Yes, sir. Over here.” Kieran led the king over to the Portal.

  Dr. Drake was right, Alex thought. The next scene erased thoughts of her family.

  The king knelt down next to the Portal, watching his wife thrash weakly and howl as her last moments grew nearer. There was no fear, no revulsion in his gaze. There was only love, tenderness, and a depth of pain that Alex couldn’t fathom existed. He put his hand up, a hair’s breadth from the surface of the doorway. There were no tears, but he looked so much older in that moment. Grief hunched his shoulders and drew lines in his face as he watched what was left of his beloved fade until there was just a corpse, half submerged in the toxin that had killed her.

  Light flared softly behind Alex, who turned to see little spheres of it conjured by each member of the delegation that had come to see the passing of their queen. Behind each ball of light was a face streaked by tears, watching with golden eyes as their king said goodbye. A few were sobbing softly. The princess mirrored her father, kneeling on the grass with her power in her hands. The air was thick with sorrow. Alex felt tears well in her own eyes. It was clear that these Undari loved their queen, almost as much as her fa
mily did.

  Alex found Kieran’s gaze, lit by the soft glow of the Undari’s tribute. Watching him, she held her hands together, and conjured flame between them. It wasn’t light, and she wished desperately she could manifest it, but the fire would serve as a fitting tribute in this moment. Kieran seemed to think so too, and copied her. Dr. Drake did the same.

  After another couple of moments, the king stood, and walked slowly back to his people. “She’s gone,” he said, voice shaking ever so slightly. “Let it be finished.” He brought forth light of his own, and one by one, the others of his Realm walked to where he stood to offer their light to him. Each addition clustered around the king’s power, until finally the princess brought hers forward. Alex saw a pattern emerge. It was a rough outline of the queen, regal and gorgeous. As they watched, the Efarian King raised his hands, and sent the lights into the sky. Farther and farther they went, until they disappeared. Alex could swear she saw the pattern in the stars that were beginning to pop into existence above them. The weight of what was happening settled in her chest, and she turned with wide eyes to her Companion, who nodded in answer to her silent question.

  When it was done, the king turned back to Kieran. “I thank you for letting us be here. For giving us a chance to say goodbye and send her spirit off properly.” He bowed his head to the young prince, who did so in return.

  “Of course, Sir. Nobody deserves to pass alone.” A thought occurred to Alex, and she made a mental note to ask someone later about it. “Is there anything else that you need from us?”

  “No, thank you. My people will be here tomorrow afternoon to help with the efforts to eradicate the toxin. I’ll be in touch with your parents. Good evening.” With a last nod at Kieran, Alex and the doctor, he turned, motioning to the rest of his party to follow. The trio watched them leave, down the path, until they were gone.