The Shapeshifter's Fate

by Chris Africa

  "Don't be ridiculous, Nita," Andrev scoffed. "I'm going inside to join her for breakfast. You can stay here or tag along."

  "See?" Nita turned to Chassy as Andrev hurried off. "When does he ever join people or eat breakfast?"

  "I agree. I also thought something was going on with the hair last night and I didn't want to seem stupid asking about it. It made me feel calm and… open," Chassy said. "Open like—"

  "More willing to think about things you would normally not consider?" Nita added.

  "Yes, like that."

  "Why don't you join them, and I'll have a word with Xander about it," Nita said.

  ***

  The dining hall was a rectangular room with large windows, a small fireplace, and exposed beams. The room's defining feature was a magnificent table that Xander had made as a tribute to his adventures. The surface bore a ring of carvings depicting scenes from his adventuring days. Chassy had spent hours examining the battles with demons, trolls, and other creatures he couldn't identify, but they had never eaten in this room. Quon and her servants were already enjoying the small feast, but they had saved seats for Chassy, Andrev, and Nita. Andrev was at the table and staring at Quon in fascination when Chassy took a spot across from him.

  "We thought you were here for the Amulet of Hope," Andrev was saying, "and everyone was all worried you would steal it from us."

  "Andrev, watch your mouth," Chassy warned. When did Andrev become such a blabbermouth?

  "Oh, don't worry Chassy, that is most certainly not why I'm here. I'm here to collect the criminal, Lyear, and to bring Andrev back with me if he will," Quon purred. "Besides, I couldn't steal Xillith's property, could I? Wouldn't it be more of a case of retrieving a lost item?"

  Chassy's mouth dropped open, and he self-consciously touched the pouch on his belt, but Nita stumbled into the room lugging a massive bowl of fresh fruit.

  "I've brought more yum from Jam's kitchen!" She plopped the giant dish in front of Andrev. "Exotic fruits from Across, imported for this visit."

  The bowl made a solid thunk when it connected with the table. It was a thick, smooth wooden basin with a pattern of inlaid silver strips. Quon looked irritated at being interrupted, but Andrev was holding his head as though it ached. Without a word, he stood up from the table and stormed out of the room. Smiling broadly, Nita slid into the remaining empty seat.

  "This fruit looks delicious. Chassy, would you like to share one of these large yellow ones with me?"

  "Sure," Chassy studied Quon, who looked like she wanted to fling the fruit across the room.

  Nita changed the subject. "Quon, do you know how to use a scrying mirror?" Chassy almost groaned. This woman was dangerous enough; why would Nita offer her up more things to steal from them?

  Quon also seemed surprised. "Scrying is used to look into the future and see possibilities. Why do you ask? Have you come across such a mirror?"

  Nita nodded. "Yes, I can show it to you after breakfast. It was one of the gifts Master Vornole gave us for our journey last summer."

  "What others did he give you?"

  Chassy kicked Nita under the table, and she glared at him.

  "Nothing else, only a mirror," Chassy said. "And the map. But it was a regular map, nothing magical or special about it." As soon as he said that, Chassy realized he didn't know whether the map was magical.

  "Does the mirror show—" Nita bit her lip.

  "Show what?"

  "Does it show true events?"

  Chassy remembered Nita's description of what she'd seen in the mirror last summer—the face of her mother, the cut on her arm, the strain on her face. What was happening in Waet Tree Village?

  Quon laughed and shook her head. "Child, a scrying mirror shows both truth and possibility. It is up to you to discern the difference."

  "Can you teach me how to use it?" Nita asked.

  Quon looked like a bird who had tricked the little worm into crawling into its mouth. "But of course, child. Only come to Xillith, and we will answer all your questions."

  "Um, no thanks. I've lived this long without it, I'm sure I will survive not knowing how to use it. Or I'll figure it out on my own eventually." Nita grinned at Quon and carried on eating her fruit.

  6: Nita

  After breakfast, Nita collected Chassy from his room and then found Andrev in the library.

  "Jam is sending me on an errand for supplies at the market, and I need extra arms," she lied. Jam's list was small, and Nita could carry everything in a single burlap bag. She wanted to get them away from the house so she could talk without fear of being overheard or interrupted by the nosy Quon.

  Chassy responded in a false excited voice, "It's an ideal day for the market."

  "Fine, let's make it quick." Andrev sounded grumpy.

  It was a perfect time to be outdoors. Back home, even when the other trees lost their foliage in the fall, there remained the giant silver leaves of the Waet Trees rustling and spreading a generous shade. The winter here had been white and barren, but as they stepped outside, she could see everything budding, sprouting, and painting the world a fresh green tinge. She longed to climb every tree she passed, to sit it its limbs or hang by her legs with her hair flying down around her face and her best friend at her side. Chassy looked over and shared a smile with her.

  On impulse, she raced over to the oak in front of Xander's house. It stretched taller than the rooftops but had a few larger branches so low even someone unable to climb could hop up into them. Nita took a seat on the lowest limb.

  "Come on, Chassy! Andrev!"

  Chassy's face lit up, and he hurried to join her.

  "Andrev, join us!"

  He grumbled but placed his hand against the tree and pushed. "There are already two of you on this branch. What if it collapses?"

  "It won't collapse; you barely weigh anything. Besides, when you shoved it didn't even move."

  Andrev reluctantly sat on the other side of Nita, and she put her arms around them.

  "When I have a house, I'm going to surround it with climbing trees," Nita said. "And I will never prune the low branches like they do in the Waet groves." She swung her legs and chanted:

  The song of bolls plonking in the trees,

  Swaying under silky silver leaves

  Harvest time is nigh; summer's in the air

  Beautiful Mother Tree, majestic and rare

  Chassy looked at her strangely, but she smiled and started again. This was a chant used to teach children respect for the Waet groves, the verse recited by the kids back home to keep rhythm when jumping rope. When she sang it as a child, she had not understood the trees might be magical. She hooked her leg behind Andrev's, and he swung along with her. He didn't sing, but he looked less grumpy. She suspected he also missed the groves. Soon enough, all three of them were chanting it, though Andrev barely muttered it under his breath. But his face was brighter by the time they finished, and she thought it might not be such a chore to go to market now.

  Andrev hopped off the branch first and straightened his tunic. "We'd best be going before you-know-who comes looking for us again," he said.

  Nita thought it was funny he didn't speak her name out loud as though even voicing it would magically call her to them. "Okay, but let's take the tree road. I know it's longer, but I want to see everything blooming."

  The city allowed individual horses and foot traffic on the curving "tree road" but not wagons, which would tear up the earth with their hard wheels and heavy loads. Tall, broad oaks provided filtered light—enough for the ground to grow green while staying cool enough for the shade-loving plants to thrive. She skipped along, pulling ahead and falling back as necessary. The boys acted as though skipping was some kind of girly thing to do. She thought it was a happy thing to do. Xander's house sat right off of the avenue which curved around the outer edge of the city.

  "Nita, if you want to talk, maybe you should slow down and walk with us," Chassy said.

  "Oh, okay, but skipping m
akes me smile." She slowed her pace. "Alright, I think it's clear now that we cannot trust Quon. Are we agreed on this point?" She looked at Andrev, who nodded slowly.

  "That doesn't mean I shouldn't go to Xillith with her," he said. "I can learn a lot there that I can't pick up from Xander or his books."

  Nita swiveled in front of him, put her hands on her hips, and walked backward. "I can't believe you would even say such a thing after she tried to trick you into going with magic."

  "I think she was using an enchantment to make me listen to her. And I did, and now that I'm free of the charm, I still want to go."

  Andrev pointed behind her, but she didn't look and bumped up against a tree.

  "But how do you know there is no more magic?" Chassy asked.

  "Because I could feel it working on me before. Remember the time Mayvis's lute player was smoking some foreign herbs and I breathed it? I felt relaxed and content to agree with whatever she said. But now I'm annoyed with her. If I go to Xillith, the first thing I will do is report her behavior to the authorities there."

  "What do you think about being trapped on the Wizards' island for two decades of your life?" Nita demanded. "Unable to see anyone else, including me?"

  Andrev stopped walking and gave her a regretful look. "There's a price for everything we do. Chassy was ready to run off with Mayvis's caravan last summer and leave everyone behind so he could travel the world. For how long, do you suppose? My life can't be about following you around wherever you want to drag me."

  "You don't even know where I want to go. You haven't heard my suggestion."

  "Nita, you've already said you want to join the resistance! You are a hero. You want to run around the world fighting the bad guys and saving people. I don't even want to be near humans, most especially not to save them. It is inevitable that someday our paths will diverge."

  7: Chassy

  Chassy was about to agree with Nita when a group of dirty boys dressed in ragged pants and jackets shoved between them, whooping and hollering.

  "My pouch! Hey, that boy stole my pouch. You thief! Come back here." Andrev scrambled after one boy.

  It took Chassy a second to realize what had happened. He joined his friends chasing the little scoundrel down the main street of Death's End, past surprised townsfolk. The boy wasn't fast, and he wasn't a great thief. He ran straight down the middle of the roadway, the purse in his hand in plain sight. His conspirators had long deserted him. Andrev panted and held his chest like he would collapse at any minute, but it seemed to Chassy the boy wasn't trying hard to escape.

  He swerved down one street and another until Chassy was lost. Twice, he considered giving up the chase, but the bag must have a book in it, or Andrev would have already given up. He passed Andrev in a sudden burst of speed and swiped his arm out to grab the kid, but the boy swerved away from him and kept going.

  "Nita!" he huffed. "Can't you stop him?"

  "Not here," she called back. She had one hand at her throat, holding her hood in place.

  Chassy had been encouraging her to experiment with her newfound power, but she refused, believing it would make her a target for mockery or worse. He disagreed, pointing out they had met several other clerics and sorcerers working their skills out in the open. Nita had only consented to practice a little inside Xander's home. The servants seemed accustomed to visitors using magic, although even they were reluctant to touch or be near Nita's silver side, and when they looked at her, they focused on her brown eye. But this was ridiculous. She might not be as powerful as Quon, but she could have ended the chase and saved them all a lot of trouble.

  The boy turned down a narrow alley full of stacked barrels and boxes, and Chassy stopped, peering around. This was a good place for a trap. Andrev ran into his back, almost bowling him over. The eaves of the rooftops above them overhung enough to cast the entire way in shadow.

  "This looks like an ambush," Chassy said. "Can't we get you a new bag?"

  Andrev gave him a sharp look. "Absolutely not. In that pouch is the book from Vornole. The one with the invisible writing."

  Chassy nodded. That was a sufficient reason to continue. "Nita, can you at least do something here? No one else will see you."

  "Of course," she said as if he hadn't already been begging her to help all along. "You two stay behind me."

  Nita pulled off her gloves and stretched out her left hand. Motioning with her right hand, a small globe of light appeared in her palm. She held her hand in front of her like a lamp and kept her other hand ready for action.

  Chassy followed closely as she wove around boxes and barrels, coming at last to the end of the alley where the thief stood with his back to a brick wall, looking... pleased? The boy grinned and held out the pouch toward them. Was he going to give it up now that they had cornered him? Nita looked uncertain and lowered her right hand. Chassy shrugged.

  "They came just like you said they would, Granny." The boy addressed someone out of sight.

  Chassy squinted in the darkness and discerned a small, fat woman dressed in rags and leaning on a cane. Her gray hair was long and wild, standing out in all directions. One of her eyes was white. Where had she been hiding?

  But Andrev's gaze stuck on the boy. "Give me back my pouch, you mangy little thief!"

  "Or what?" The boy stuffed the pouch behind his back.

  Andrev approached warily as though the boy was holding a weapon. The little ragamuffin darted around them and hid behind Granny, who cackled again. Chassy noticed she was missing several front teeth.

  "Is this your grandson?"

  "No more so than you," she said. Her voice sounded rough like her throat was full of gravel. "But he does my bidding a-times when I need him."

  Andrev stalked up to her. "Did you tell him to steal my pouch?"

  The old woman put a gnarled finger to her cheek as though she was considering the question. "Why, yes, I believe I did. It's a fine pouch. Finer contents, though." She winked at Andrev.

  Chassy had the feeling she knew the book was in the pouch. But how? Andrev had refused even to let them tell Xander.

  "Give it back this instant, or I'll call the town guard!" Andrev demanded.

  "Don't be so hasty, young man. Wouldn't you like to learn why I had him take it before you get yourself all in a huff?"

  Chassy observed Andrev was already in a huff. Andrev held out his hand, but she put the pouch behind her back, so he stood there looking unsure what to do. Any of them could knock her on the head and take it away from her, but who would beat up an old woman, even a thief? Nita's free hand had fallen to her side, so it seemed she would do nothing.

  "Why did you tell him to take it?" Chassy asked. Andrev glared at him. Well, someone had to ask, and Andrev clearly wouldn't do it!

  "Why, I wanted to meet the three remarkable young people I've heard so much about." She squinted at them. "Nita must be behind the hood. Now which one of you boys is Chassy and which one is Andrev?"

  How did everyone recognize them before they ever met?

  "Who are you?" Andrev asked.

  The woman put on a contrite face. "Oh, I'm an old woman trying to make her way in the world. You can call me Granny."

  Before Chassy could stop her, Nita walked right up to Granny. "More than an old woman." She reached into Granny's collar and pulled out a medallion. As she touched the disk, the silver in Nita's own hand glowed. "This is the same stuff..."

  Chassy blinked in the sudden blinding light. How had she known about the medallion?

  Granny smiled her toothless grin and removed her medallion from Nita's fingers. "Just a trinket I found somewhere. Nothing special, honey."

  Nothing special? If she expected them to believe that, she was as crazy as she looked!

  "Are you a sorceress?" Nita asked.

  Granny's eyes widened, and she shook her head. "No sorceress, not me! Just an old woman. Come with me and see."

  She turned toward the brick wall and knocked twice. A portion of the wall swung
inward, revealing a dark opening into which she disappeared. The ragged boy ran off down the alley and back to the city; for a moment, Chassy considered going with him. Nita glided in after Granny, the globe of light held in front of her. Chassy sighed and followed Andrev; the opening swung shut behind them.

  "Hey!" Andrev said. "What's going on?"

  This time, Chassy ran into Andrev's back. The light from Nita's globe illuminated little of their surroundings. Though they should have been inside a building, Chassy felt uneven dirt under his feet. Nita flicked her fingers at her palm, and the ball of light grew to the size of her head. She tossed it into the air where it hovered. She had been practicing her magic skills over the winter, but it still amazed him how she did this. Black tree trunks rose around them on all sides, crushed together above their heads in a tangle of branches. The old woman ambled out of the range of the light down a familiar path.

  "I think we're in the Blackwood." He shivered at the realization, and the air felt colder and damper than it had. He looked back the way they came, hoping to glimpse the doorway back to the alley, but beyond Nita's globe, there was blackness.

  "How is that possible?" Andrev looked around. "That's decans of travel from here."

  "I don't understand, but that's where we are, or somewhere like it. Notice the trees and the sounds."

  "Lack of sounds," Nita amended.

  Last summer, when they traveled through these creepy woods for the first time, the merchant William of True and his veteran guards had protected them and taught them basic fighting skills. Today, their guide was a little old lady with bony legs that seemed too thin to support her weight. Chassy hadn't even brought his daggers, and Andrev had left his staff behind. At least they had Nita.

  "Don't fall behind," Granny called over her shoulder. "You won't find your way without me."

  "Where are we going?" Andrev's voice cracked, and he cleared his throat.

  Granny's lack of answer spurred them to catch up.

  Chassy had forgotten the mood of this place and wasn't happy to rediscover it. Cold, musty air seeped into his clothing. Their footsteps should have sounded loud in the silence, but the Blackwood swallowed everything.