No one said a word.
“All right then. Everyone shift and spend a little time as your other selves.”
I did as I was instructed, and glanced around to see if anyone else was using the “buddy” system that had been offered, but as each shifter went their own way, I was happy I wasn’t the only one who had opted to go it alone.
I headed westward, running to the darkened shadows of the trees. Old habits died hard. Even though I was calm, I still wanted to hide when I was my fox. I kept running until I couldn’t feel anyone else’s magic around me, then I walked, content to soak up the sun that peeked between the branches.
For the first time, I realized how alive the forest was around me. Never had I noticed how green the leaves were above me, or how the air smelled fresh and brisk. I knew now what Elspeth meant. Something about being myself here made me feel whole.
But what would it feel like to truly become what I was here? How would it feel to feed off the magic of the others and shift to any creature I wished to be? Would it still feel as right as it did now?
I didn’t dare try it. Just the thought of it caused me to start running again, as fast as my four legs would carry me. I ran around the base of the next mountain, not stopping until I reached the other side. My heart raced and I was panting, but I felt better for it.
I hadn’t been this far into the forest yet, and was surprised to see I had stumbled upon the lake. Its surface was still and calm, showing a perfect replica of the trees and sky above in its reflection.
If this is where Lacy gets to have her classes, I envy her, I thought. The water looked perfect. If I can’t be a mermaid for a day, at least I can get a drink. I’ll bet it tastes cool. I padded over to the edge.
Drinking as a fox proved to be interesting. I’d never lapped water before and nearly shifted back to human to cup some in my hands, but decided I would be cheating myself out of the experience of “being who I was” if I did. The only problem was that the water was farther down than I’d anticipated.
I stretched. Just a little farther…There, I thought, licking at the water. It was every bit as cool and refreshing as I’d hoped it would be. I looked at my reflection as it shimmered beneath me while I drank.
It was the first time I had actually seen my own fox face. A sharp pointed nose and bright pink tongue touched the water where mine met the surface, and bright, round eyes peered back at me curiously.
Then something moved beneath the eyes, something that didn’t feel at all like me. The water rippled the tiniest bit. In the next instant, I was in the water, being pulled down as I fought against something that felt like thick ropes curling around my body, crushing the air from my lungs.
Fear seized me and I struggled, trying to break free and swim to the surface that was farther and farther away with each second that passed.
I will die here if I can’t break free, I thought, frantic. The ropes loosened and fell away, leaving me to try to use what strength I had left to swim upward. The harder I tried, the weaker I became, and I watched the last few bubbles of air escape my nose and spiral toward the surface—the only part of me that would make it there, I realized.
Sleepiness dragged at me. I would become part of this lake—forever at the bottom where no one would find me, and that was okay. Some small part of me registered that something sleek was headed straight for me, something big with a large, gaping mouth that was getting ready to strike.
But it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered now.
Something swam in front of the other thing and gathered me close, long wisps of hair tickling my nose as it—she?—brought me upward.
A mermaid, I thought hazily. I’d always wanted to be a mermaid.
“Breathe, Claire!” Lacy’s voice cut through the fog as she smacked my back with enough force that I would have complained if I could have gotten the air to do so.
I was lying on the bank, human again, my face shoved into a rather thick patch of grass. Another thwack on my back and the water in my lungs moved, and I coughed up half the lake’s contents.
What in the world? The last thing I remembered was leaning down for a drink.
“Thank goodness,” she said with a sigh, followed by an accusatory, “You scared me half to death!”
“Sorry,” I mumbled as I slowly turned over onto my back. “What happened?”
“I was swimming, and I saw something in the water. There was a bright flash of light, and I realized it was you. You must have shifted back to human in the water. What in the world were you doing down there, Claire?”
“I was getting a drink, and I think I must have fell in,” I said. I struggled to remember what had actually happened. I didn’t want to tell her that I honestly didn’t know. “Thanks for saving me.”
Lacy winced and rubbed the back of her neck. “Do me a favor next time,” she said, giving me a wry smile. “Don’t fall in. I’ve got a major crick in my neck from lugging you up from down there.”
I laughed, even though it hurt my raw throat. “Deal.”
She flopped beside me in the grass and we both laid there, looking up at the sky. The sun was moving. It would soon be time to meet Professor Elspeth and the others. Then, I’d be meeting someone else at the Point afterward. My stomach clenched at the thought.
Lacy must have been thinking the same thing. “Have you thought about how you’re going to fight him?”
Being as I had nearly drowned as a fox, my odds of fighting something as lethal as a serpent and surviving seemed rather small. “I’ve thought about it, but I don’t know what I’ll do,” I admitted.
“What about Logan?” she asked. “If we tell him what is going on, I’d bet he would step in and fight for you. He doesn’t like Victor anyway.”
“We’re not asking him,” I said, my tone coming out a bit more forceful than I’d meant for it to. “I won’t be the reason he fails this place.”
“Then what are we going to do?”
We, I noticed. It was nice to know I wasn’t going to be dealing with this alone. While she’d messed up earlier, she’d saved me just now, and I knew that if I needed her, she’d be there for me again tonight.
“I guess we’ll pray for a miracle.”
The only thing that kept me from saying anything about my suspicions about Victor’s involvement in the Dark Watch’s attack was not knowing how he could have known the exact time the shields would go down.
Sure, he was a sleazebag and I hated everything about him, but working with the Watch to bring down Imperium was a new low that even I had problems attributing to him. Plus, for him to know when the shields would drop meant he also knew that Claire’s magic was responsible for overloading and shattering the crystals.
While in the forest, I caught sight of the remnants of the shattered crystal McTavish had mentioned the night before. I knelt, picking up a handful of shards and let them slip through my fingers as he had done. Then something caught my attention in the pile below. There, hidden amongst the bits of broken crystal, was a scale. I pulled it free and placed it flat on my palm to get a better look.
Whereas mine were oval-shaped and rich green in color, this one was like an arrow and shaded a blue so dark it was almost black. The sunlight caught it and it shimmered like a ripple of water. It still had magic. Scales that had been shed were dull and lifeless. This one had been ripped free for some reason—and recently.
“A water serpent’s scale,” I hissed under my breath. “Victor.”
He had officially reached a new low in my book and I knew he had something to do with the crystals shattering—at least this one.
With proof clutched in the palm of my hand, I left the forest and headed toward the main house, my decision made. I would tell the headmistress what I suspected of him, but leave Claire’s secret safe as I’d promised. That would be all the headmistress needed to know, and that would be enough to alert her of his involvement with the Dark Watch.
The courtyard was abuzz with whispers of a fight.
Whatever it was, everyone seemed excited about it, but I ignored them. I had more important things to worry about than a couple of crazy idiots who were going to find themselves exiled for breaking the rules by tomorrow morning.
I entered the main house and made my way downstairs toward the headmistress’s office. The door was partially open, which meant she was in. I froze when I heard the voices coming from inside.
“The magic is too strong. If we don’t find out who is responsible, the next attack may end up being worse than the last.” I recognized Professor Elspeth’s low, even voice.
“She be right, Headmistress,” came McTavish’s rumbling burl. “And I’d also like to add that we be needin’ better security on the front than yer little rock pets.”
I grinned. The packmaster had never been fond of the headmistress’s spelled gargoyles and made no effort to hide it. To him, Bob and Frank were useless bits of granite. While I did agree they weren’t the best guards Imperium could have, I also thought them irreplaceable. The quirky, rather annoying gargoyles were part of what made the school what it was.
“You said the crystals were overloaded, that was what caused the shields to fail,” I heard the headmistress say so quietly I had to strain to hear her. “You believe it came from the inside?”
“Aye, that I do.”
“Then we must search for the one responsible, whether they are inside our walls or out…and when we find them, we eliminate the threat.”
“Beg pardon, Headmistress…but do you mean…”
“Yes,” the headmistress’s voice was stronger now and carried easily. “Eliminate them, by any means necessary.”
I started backing up, my eyes never leaving the door. No way was I going to warn them about anything. If they somehow managed to connect Claire to the broken crystals and something happened to her, I would never forgive myself. In protecting her secret, Victor would be able to keep his own for the time being.
The teachers were on their own. No help coming from me to “eliminate” anyone. I shoved the scale into my pocket as I rounded the corner and sprinted across the courtyard to my dorm.
It was getting darker now. More than anything, I wanted to check in on Claire and see if this day had been any better than her last. I was nearly at the girls’ side of the house when Irin, my roommate, saw me.
“What are you doing here, man?” he called out. “I thought for sure you’d be out with your girl.” His nose scrunched up, and he shook the blond hair back from his eyes. “Not every day your mate has a date to fight. I figured you’d at least go to cheer her on…” His voice trailed off, but I knew what the rest of his sentence would have been: if you didn’t go and fight for her instead.
“What are you talking about?” I hadn’t realized it, but I’d somehow managed to cross the space between us and was holding a fistful of my roommate’s Hawaiian-style shirt in a ball under his neck.
“I thought you knew.” His eyes grew round with shock. “Rumor’s going around that Claire and Victor are having it out at the Peak.”
“When?” I managed through my clenched teeth.
“Dude, should be pretty soon. I don’t think many left to go and watch because they’re afraid of Eagle Head.” My grip loosened on his shirt at his name for the headmistress.
“I have to go,” I said, more to myself than to Irin.
He nodded, solemn. “Yeah, you should. Claire seems nice enough, but I don’t see her being able to hold her own against Victor. If you hurry, you might make it in time.”
I didn’t bother answering him, just ran to the first open space, shifted, and launched into the sky, not caring who saw me fly away.
The Peak was the next mountain from the school. Halfway up was a sheer rock facing with a straight drop. For shifters, the top of the cliff had a reputation of being the perfect spot for a fight, though in all my time at Imperium, I had yet to hear of an actual fight taking place there.
Please let me make it in time. I spotted a handful of familiar faces standing out of the way. A couple held flashlights. The brave ones, I noted. The ones not afraid of the headmistress’s wrath should they be found out.
Then I spotted Claire standing opposite Victor. Neither of them were moving yet. The fight hadn’t begun, though from looking at their faces, it wouldn’t be long.
I sent out a scorching flame that singed the rock facing below them so they wouldn’t start before I made it, then landed near Claire and shifted.
“You’re just in time to watch your girlfriend learn a lesson, dragon boy.” Victor sneered.
“No, she isn’t fighting you. I am,” I replied easily with a shrug.
“But, Logan—” Claire objected.
“But nothing,” I said, staring at her hard. “This wasn’t going to be a fair fight, and I’m not going to stand here and watch you get hurt.”
“But…”
I gave her a small smile and nodded. “Just go over and stand with Lacy. Everything will be fine, I promise.”
But everything wasn’t fine. While I had been talking to Claire, Victor had already shifted. I spotted his tail from the corner of my eye as it headed toward me. I took a deep breath and sent a blast of fire toward it as I shifted to my dragon, turning to meet Victor head on.
I hadn’t planned on fighting when I got there. The only thing I’d been thinking about was Claire. Wryly, I wondered why I hadn’t planned better on the short flight here. As a water serpent, Victor’s bite would be lethal if he were in water. Thankfully, we were nowhere near the lake. Still, being on top of a rock face wasn’t slowing him down. He kept striking, moving impossibly fast for one out of his natural surroundings. He was huge—the thing made of nightmares and unrealistic horror movies.
I let out a long breath, filled with fire, and was surprised when it didn’t slow him down. He headed straight at me and into the flames, mouth open, fangs ready.
He’s crazy. He’ll be cooked to a crisp. He’ll never make it through that. I made the stupid mistake of stopping for those scant seconds to see if I had won—to see if he was still alive.
I hadn’t won. And he was most definitely still alive. While my attention had been locked on his head, his tail had managed to sneak up on me and began coiling around my body before I could react.
His magic is stronger than I ever gave him credit for, I thought, watching as the snake’s head came closer to mine, completely unscathed. His tongue came out as he hissed.
I tried to take another deep breath, but he’d wrapped himself around me so tightly that the best I could do was to take in small bits of air, enough to breathe, but not enough to do anything else. Not enough to fight.
This is it, I despaired as I got a disconcerting view of sharp fangs. Game over.
I peered around the huge rock I was hiding behind.
Logan was struggling in Victor’s grasp. He needed me. I looked around to see if any of the other students were close by, but once the two had started fighting, they had retreated a safe distance down the mountain.
I was the only one close enough to help. It was up to me to save him.
I could feel both their magic thrumming along the surface of my skin.
Control is key. Professor Elspeth’s words boomed in my head as clearly as if she had been standing beside me. I took a deep breath in and concentrated, this time on the magic outside of me instead of that inside.
Calm. Even. Slow. Breaths. I am Yokai. That is what my magic truly is. The thrum on my skin had turned to prickles, as if it had decided to dance on every inch of my body. I hadn’t even realized I’d closed my eyes until I slowly opened them and looked down at one of my arms. It shimmered in a web of blue and green, as if the two magics were mixing before finding their way inside of me.
What happens when you mix a dragon and a water serpent? I wondered, closing my eyes tight as I felt their magic become my own.
Always before, I had felt my magic come from inside as my fox’s fur seemed to grow out from some hidden place, but this
was different.
It wasn’t their magic becoming mine; it was more along the lines of me borrowing it, I decided as my body contorted, limbs and muscles reforming while scales raced along each inch.
Wow. I was no longer human. Glancing where my feet would have been, I saw the legs of a dragon. I took a deep breath and let it out, instantly feeling coldness as it left my nostrils in blue flame that scorched the grass before me.
My neck seemed longer than a dragon’s. Victor’s contribution, no doubt. I twisted the tiniest bit, trying to see if I had wings on my back. I did.
A strangled cry from the dragon stopped my self-inspection, and I knew I had to act. I jumped up, flapping my wings, and was rather surprised when I actually took off. I flew over the boulder, somewhat wobbly, directly at the two of them.
The dragon was still struggling, but I noticed a streak of blood coming from his shoulder. I’d been too late to completely save Logan from harm, but I was determined he wouldn’t get hurt any further.
The serpent must have heard me, his head swiveling in my direction. His eyes seemed to grow larger, registering shock, which gave me great satisfaction. He uncoiled, loosening his grip on Logan, and then reared to strike at me.
Hoping like crazy I wouldn’t hit Logan, I drew on instinct and blasted everything I had at Victor. He dodged the spiral of flames as they licked at him, and retreated a safe distance. The large serpent looked at me, then at Logan, who had regained his footing. The dragon’s nostrils were billowing smoke. Despite his wounds, he was moving in to help me.
The serpent hissed his annoyance, then retreated, slithering into the darkness of the forest.
We won! I let out a triumphant cry that sounded like something between a screech and a howl, making me wonder more than ever what I actually had turned into. Part dragon, part serpent? Whatever it was, it was awesome.
Shifter’s University Page 8