by Amade, Melle
It works!
The lock clicks and my collar releases.
My elation stymies my anger; my talons are strong but my body stays in human form. I step from the wall, quickly using my talons to release my wrists.
Everyone in the cave stares at me.
“I’m going to surrender to Aiden’s dad.” I move to Roman and in seconds I’ve freed him.
“It’s suicide,” he says.
“You’ll be executed,” says Zan as I move to release her collar and chains.
“But, you won’t be,” I say. “He’ll deny your involvement and, if he can stay in power, there’s a chance he can protect you and my family.”
“What about you?” Mom asks. Silence fills the cave.
“I’ll be fine.” I give a slight nod of my head towards Henry. Mom’s eyes widen.
Zan steps next to Mom and whispers. “It’s an absolute death sentence.”
“Shae!” Mom exclaims.
“Can you get my family out of here?” I ask my friends.
“We can try,” says Zan. But, I’m already at the front of the cave. I trust them. I have to.
“Yes,” nods Roman.
“No records, no history,” I say. “Nothing. They have to disappear.”
“We know.”
“What about you?” Henry asks me.
I put on the most neutral face I can muster. “I’ll catch up with you guys later,” I retract my talons and ruffle his hair. “Take care of him,” I push Henry into Mom’s protective arms. She holds him tight, her brow furrows as she looks at me.
“Let’s go.” Aiden motions me to the front of the cave.
“Aiden -” But, my words catch in my throat. I want to tell him it’s too dangerous, but, his clan is fighting. There’s no way he’s not going to join them. Zan’s hand slides onto Aiden’s shoulder.
I duck my head and move past them. The last thing I want to see right now is their goodbye kiss.
Mom catches up to me and pulls me into a tight bear hug. “I love you, Shae,” she whispers in my ear.
I believe her.
The pain that has nestled in my heart since I was five starts to crumble. I clench my jaw and blink rapidly. If I let her words really soak in, I will break into a sobbing mess. I’ll be no good to anyone.
“Go!” I push her away, towards Roman. Zan has Henry and together they slip through the entrance of the cave and into the dark.
Aiden’s hands are on my shoulders. I love the firmness of his grip as he turns me to him. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I do,” I say. “For both our families.”
His brow knits as he steps closer to me, looking into my eyes. For the briefest moment I think he might hold me close and not let me go.
Instead, he nods.
I pull away.
“Come on,” I say. “The sun will rise soon.”
29
Remnants of the forest fire burns on the hills and lights up Topanga with an eerie orange glow. The smoke in the sky reflects a tainted, burnished red, broken up by twisting, turning spirals of blackened shadows. The air wreaks of scorched, wet earth.
From a distance the eagles and Ravensgaard seem a large flock soaring in and out of formation, like some crazy aerial bird dance, but as we race down to the clearing, we catch glimpses of them between the trees.
They are in full throttle battle.
Shrieking birds fly at each other, diving, ripping, attacking with talons and beaks. Those that manage a stranglehold on each other don’t let go. They plummet towards the earth, some crashing, some breaking apart at the last moment and resurging skyward to continue their aerial assault. Black and brown feathers drop from the sky like ash, but they’re splattered with blood. Birds too injured to fight drop to the ground, shift into humans and lie there broken and bleeding on the battlefield, hoping they still have enough magic to heal.
The carnage overwhelms. Shifters are dying.
We race through the trees, down the path, trying to get to the clearing. Aiden’s feet beat a steady rhythm behind me. My gaze is skyward and only too late do I see a dark shadow hurtling towards us.
I slam into it. My face presses against a hard chest wrapped in leather.
“What are you doing here?” Callum grabs my wrist and pulls me to his side.
“I’m going to stop your mad uncle.” I yank my wrist to free it from his hand, but he holds tight.
“Let her go.” Aiden halts next to me. He’s using his alpha voice. Callum frowns at him, but doesn’t free my wrist. He pulls me closer. The smell of his leather jacket almost covers the taint of smoke in the air.
“She can’t go out in the middle of that,” Callum says.
“Change in our plan,” Aiden says.
“Your plan?” I look back and forth between them.
“She’s turning herself into Dad.” Aiden says.
“No! She’ll be killed!” Callum’s skin flashes black as his eyes glow green. “The plan was to get her out of here, no matter what.”
“It’s out of control,” Aiden says.
“But, your uncle…” I stare up at Callum.
“My uncle’s a psychopath,” he says. “He brought Vasquez here to execute Jon and Naomi, so he could become Ridder and declare martial law. He wants to control the Muiderkring, because it’s the largest assembly. With them behind him, he can challenge the Order.”
“And you don’t want to support your clan?” I ask.
“I am a Ravensgaard,” Callum says. “Loyal to Van Arend.”
“Let’s go.” Aiden motions us towards the battlefield.
“Until now.” Callum pulls me behind him.
“We will lose the Kortsrijk!” Aiden grabs Callum’s leather jacket and pulls him forward until their faces are inches apart.
“I don’t care about the High Seat.” Callum stares Aiden down. “I care about her.”
My body dips in a lava bath. I lean into the heat, but I can’t let it consume me. My family and friends are at stake.
“If you care about me,” I say. “Then let me do this.”
“No!” Callum exclaims.
“Let her go!” Aiden rips Callum’s hands off me and pushes him backwards. “Go!” He yells at me.
Callum hurls himself at Aiden, eyes piercing green, feathers sprout from his back and shoulders, body compacting into a mass of angry claws. Screeching, he flies at Aiden in his raven form.
Aiden shifts. The two birds clash together grappling for a stranglehold. Their beating wings pull them into the sky as they rip at feathers and skin. They’ll hurtle themselves to the ground, clawing and tearing at each other until one of them is defeated. I’m powerless to stop their angry assault. My heart catches in my throat as their bodies’ silhouette against the paling sky.
The sun is about to rise.
The Muiderkring will arrive.
I must act.
Now.
The smell of blood and smoke tangles in the air. My fingernails click together, but I can’t let nervousness stop me. I have to do whatever it takes. I have to be like Mom. I have to protect my family and friends.
I scan the battle, it’s easy to find Aiden’s dad, he’s the largest eagle in the sky and battling the largest raven, Murtagh.
I take a deep breath and reach for the power to shift.
“Hud feroaring ontstaan,” I whisper.
Lightning erupts from my stomach and shoots upwards. I surge with it, release and transform upwards. My body shifts and feathers sprout on my arms. Two white wings appear where my arms were a moment ago. I beat my wings. They raise my body skyward.
The earth falls away.
I close my eyes for the briefest of moments as my body floats into the torrid air.
This is it.
Heat warms me and I open my eyes as the sun breaks over the mountain. A shaft of sunlight pierces through the air, bouncing off my white wings. I beat them furiously and aim to where Van Arend and Murtagh are locked in battle.
And, it’s clear, they know it.
Battling birds break apart as I slice through the field, rising ever closer to the struggle at the center of the maelstrom. They hover in the air, staring at me, the first Passief that has been seen in more than two hundred years.
Silence falls like a tidal wave across the battle as combat after combat ends; birds retract and stare in silence at the abomination they thought their ancestors had annihilated.
Rumors of the Passief must have already spread through both clans.
No one makes a move towards me. I’m the leper moving through the crowd.
Van Arend and Murtagh are ahead, suspended silhouettes, their great wings flapping against the sunrise. Out of the corner of his eye Van Arend sees me and spirals up, out of Murtagh’s reach. He spins around to take a closer look.
But, Murtagh is between us! I want to call to Van Arend but, as a bird, it’s not possible. I angle to the side, hoping to avoid Murtagh and get to Van Arend. But, it’s no good. Murtagh pivots towards me.
He ducks his head, opens his beak and lets out a raucous caw of triumph and dives towards me. There’s nowhere to go. I fold my wings and plunge into a nose dive to escape him, but it’s impossible. He does the same and he’s larger and heavier; he falls faster.
In seconds he’s upon me. His talons are huge and wrap around me like iron fists. Air squeezes out of my body. I’m torn from my descent.
Murtagh twists upwards, flying higher and higher. He shrieks his triumph to the silenced battlefield. He’ll strangle the life out of me right here and drop me dead to the ground.
I push what strength I have into my wings and press against his talons. They don’t budge. I contort my neck to peck at his claws. He lets out an enraged caw, but his grip just tightens.
My breath is shallow. My stomach drops, suffocated by my empty lungs.
Murtagh reaches the apex of his flight and then hurtles himself towards the ground. It rushes at us. The birds on the battlefield make a racket as we rocket past.
Murtagh aims for a pile of rocks.
He’s going to kill me right now!
My eyes become narrow slits. We are almost on the rocks. His grip loosens, but not enough for me to free myself. There’s nothing I can do.
I have failed.
In the last moment he swerves, hurtles me onto the dirt. I shift as I tumble and roll, trying desperately to get to my feet.
“RAWWWWWWWWWWRRRRR!” Vasquez throws himself on me, knocking me over, his paws on my chest, claws cutting into my shoulders. Air is pushed from my lungs. “RAAAAAAAWWWWWRRRRR!” His teeth drip saliva as he goes in for the kill.
“Back!” Murtagh shifts as he lands, his ebony cane thrusting across Vasquez’s jaw. “She is mine.”
I gasp for air as Vasquez, with a final, belligerent growl, steps back and shifts into human form. All around us birds descend, shifting into humans as they land.
All of them stare at me.
“You couldn’t have made this easier for me,” Murtagh says to me with a smile.
I scan the crowd for Van Arend, but he’s impossible to see through the horde of birds dropping from the sky. A Ravensgaard grabs me and pushes me to my knees before Murtagh.
“Eagles and Ravensgaard, set aside your battle!” He cries. His cane whistles through the air as it points at me. “Here is proof of the need for martial law. I have captured a Passief!”
It’s impossible to go down without a fight. “I’m a captive of Lord Van Arend, Edelman of the Kortsrijk,” I shout to the crowd. They part and Van Arend steps forward, his eyes narrow, but his face is a mask.
Two Ravensgaard already hold him in captivity.
“She lies!” Murtagh’s voice echoes up the canyon. “I captured the Passief, her family and those who helped her, one of whom is the Heir.”
Muttering goes up from the crowd. Callum steps forward holding Aiden’s bound wrists. Callum and I look at each other. He is still free. Murtagh doesn’t know that he is loyal to the Van Arends. But, the look on Callum’s face gives me no hope. He might be able to keep himself safe, we would never expose him, but he can do nothing for the rest of us.
Not now that everyone has seen exactly what I am.
“Van Arend and his son are a disgrace to the Kortsrijk,” Murtagh continues. “They have allowed a cluster of Passiefs to fester here.”
“I have no family,” I insist. It’s a blatant lie, but there’s nothing else I can do. “There are no others.”
“Then, who are they?” asks Murtagh. Every head turns as my brother, Mom, Roman, and Zan and brought forward, captives of the Ravensgaard.
“Shae!” Henry screams my name.
I close my eyes. The sides of my world press in like a trash compactor.
“Henry.” His name slips like a faded winter wind from my mouth.
They’re brought next to me to face Murtagh. I try to stand next to my brother, but Vasquez pushes down on my shoulder, holding me in place.
“You’re pretty feisty for a dove,” he snarls at me.
“I will rip your eyes out,” I say, my talons extruding from my fingers.
A deep rumble rises from within Vasquez.
“You must prove negligence,” an eagle calls from the crowd.
“He has found a Passief!” yells a Ravensgaard.
“That is proof enough!” cries another.
The air is charged for a fight. But, the eagles are looking to Van Arend, and he is looking to the ground. He will not command it.
“Prove Van Arend’s guilt,” another eagle calls.
“It’s going to be okay,” Mom’s voice cracks as she whispers to Henry.
Vasquez’s laugh is like thunder in his chest. “No, it’s not. Not for any of you.”
Squawks rise from the crowd. They shift into their animal forms, hungry to continue the carnage. My family will get ripped to pieces. I try to pull away from Vasquez, but he won’t let me go for anything.
Ravens and eagles start to take to the air meeting in midflight with talons raised. I want to join them.
“Enough!” Murtagh’s voice erupts like a geyser across the crowd bringing the birds to earth. “This region is under martial law. You would ruin everything we stand for because you cannot, in this moment, control your animal natures? You would battle in broad daylight where humans can discover us?”
He scans the crowd that moves from one foot to the other, both restless and chagrined.
“I have heard the eagles’ requests,” Murtagh says. “And, we are happy to comply. We will regard the evidence together in the Gallery where I will sit in judgment on the Kortsrijk.”
Murtagh surveys the crowd to ensure they are satisfied before he turns and leads them towards Van Arend Manor.
30
It doesn’t take long before the entire ensemble has reconvened in the great hall of the Van Arend Manor. Today there are no musicians, no banquet tables, and no gloomy shadows to hide in. The walls look blood red in the stark daylight, with animals tearing each other or dying in every painting. I seek out Noah’s daughter-in-laws kissing the dove. In a sea of angry paintings, it brings me a moment of peace.
“Just be yourself,” Roman whispers, pushing his sunglasses up so I can see his eyes.
“Shut up, toad.” Vasquez pulls me away. I frown at Roman. I’m most likely going to die today and his last words to me are ‘just be yourself’ like he’s tritely signing some high school yearbook for someone he doesn’t even know.
Roman is herded into a pen with Zan, Aiden, and my family. I want to join them, but the crowd has filled the room and left a half circle in front of the dais, where Vasquez leads me. Callum moves up and stands on my other side, his dark hair falling forward and shading his eyes. But, I’m grateful to have at least one friend close to me.
Murtagh steps onto the dais and sits on the Kortsrijk. He bangs his raven-headed cane three times, the sound echoing through the gallery.
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br /> “The Muiderkring is called to session.” He brings the room to silence. “We have convened to fulfill the needs of the population to pass a fair and unbiased judgment according to the highest good of all.”
“Here! Here!” Calls go up around the room as shifters settle down to listen carefully to Murtagh.
“Today we meet to remove martial law from this region and identify the atrocities that have been committed by Van Arend, formerly the Edelman of the Kortsrijk.”
“He is still the Edelman,” Aiden says.
“During martial law the Edelman is suspended.” Murtagh’s gaze bores into Aiden. “Furthermore, he made a civil assault against his Ridder. This alone is a criminal offense for which he will lose the Kortsrijk.”
“You kidnapped my son and heir.” Van Arend speaks with authority, but he is a captive. In this environment, Murtagh’s words are holding more weight with the crowd, the amassed Muiderkring.
“The Kortsrijk heir was abetting in the escape of a Passief,” Murtagh states to the room. “Not only that, but it was Aiden Van Arend who, in fact, lead the Passief to the warlock who conducted the Bloedhart on her!”
The room buzzes as Zaragoza is brought into the room under Ravensgaard watch. His face glowers and he rapidly worries his clutch of sticks as he peers around with suspicion at the crowded room.
“Zaragoza,” someone in the crowd murmurs.
He is brought to stand next to me.
“You will die with the Passief,” Murtagh says.
The room is plunged into solid silence. The words weight the very air. I take in the eagles and ravens and other shifters in the room. They’re a mismatched, multi-ethnic group who share a common bond.
They hate Passiefs.
“Those we thought were all dead,” Murtagh says to the crowd, “are rising in our midst. This is the man, the warlock, who made that possible and these are those who helped her find him.”
“It was me!” says Zan stepping forward. “I’m a coyote. I’m the only one who knows where Zaragoza lives. I took her there alone.”
My throat catches. Zan is sacrificing herself with the hope of saving the others. I glance up at Callum, but he is staring at Murtagh. He is as powerless as the rest of us.