Change of Chaos

by Jacinta Jade

  Siray might have laughed at his words if they hadn’t made her tense up again—her eyes were wide open, and she couldn’t see anything. And the same storm that had covered the noise of their run to the wall in the cave above, just before their slide down into this new area, also provided cover for anyone—or thing—pursuing them. But she didn’t say any of this and simply let Baindan lead her blindly through the dark.

  As they edged forwards together, Siray’s neck swivelled continuously as she turned her head from side to side, looking through the dark for even darker shadows, and listening for the smallest sounds that could signal an impending attack.

  But still she saw nothing and only heard the sound of Baindan’s boots sliding over the ground as he slowly used his feet to feel the way forwards.

  And in this complete darkness, Siray’s fears easily created images in her mind.

  They could be surrounded by enemies right now, she thought, and not know it. Or there could be an underground canyon just steps ahead of them.

  Knowing she was not helping herself, she tried to stamp out those thoughts and focused her mind again only on the sounds coming to her.

  Still raining. Still the sound of thunder and the scrape of Baindan’s booted feet. The sound of her boots, whispering over the ground.

  And … something else.

  Although she had identified another sound in the background, it took her a moment to realise that it wasn’t a part of the storm raging outside. It was an odd, hissing wind, which could be heard at times during the moments when the storm seemed to pause to gather its strength for its next tirade. It was a warm wind too, at odds with the cold air being driven down to them by the storm above.

  Maybe there were more caverns farther underground from which the warm air rose and circulated? It would explain why the Lost Ones lived in these caverns.

  And there she was, back to imagining the pair of them being surrounded by crazed dark figures who watched them silently from the blackness.

  The workings of her imagination were interrupted by the sudden lack of sound from Baindan’s boots. She paused as she felt him stop in front of her, his grip tightening briefly on her hand, but he spoke excitedly before she could ask what was wrong.

  ‘I can see an exit! It’s right ahead—look for the next flash of lightening!’

  Siray leaned forwards to look, her eyes wide as she tried to pierce the darkness before her. As a result, she was forced to blink straightaway when the next flash of lightning came, although she managed to reopen her eyes in time to spot what it was that Baindan had seen.

  The remnants of the reflected purple light had lit up the shape of a jagged triangle ahead of them, through which no caves could be seen, only driving rain and clouds.

  As the lightning fled and darkness pooled back into the cave, Siray sighed to herself, closing her eyes in relief. Soaking rain, tearing wind, slippery terrain, and dangerous lightning were only a short distance away. Safety. She yearned to get back out into the open and away from this swimming darkness—ironic, really, considering how badly she had wanted shelter earlier in the night.

  Baindan advanced more rapidly now, and Siray moved with him, both of them surer of their path forwards now that the lightning had shown it was safe.

  Yet as they walked forwards, the warm wind Siray had been feeling blew around her more vigorously for a moment before it died away completely.

  Its absence was far more alarming to her then anything else yet. Air didn’t just stop flowing up from caverns deeper underground. Not unless someone had made it stop.

  She paused to consider what it meant, but Baindan continued on, tugging her along by the hand.

  ‘Come on, Siray, it’s not far,’ he said.

  Siray nodded, forgetting the mental discussion she’d had with herself earlier about visual cues, and moved forwards again. As she did, she twisted her head, endeavouring to look over her shoulder, wondering a final time about the odd wind as she looked into the darkness.

  And noticed something different.

  In the blackness behind her, she could see something glinting when the flashes of lightning lit up the cave through the exit she and Baindan were aiming for. She frowned backwards at the two tiny specs of light, trying to make out what they were. They seemed to appear at about the same height as each other every time and reflected the light thrown into the cave by the storm. And she was pretty sure they were appearing at the same time.

  Perhaps it was reflections from objects belonging to the Lost Ones—old relics, or even treasured possessions maybe?

  Siray felt a shiver work its way down her spine as she swung back to face Baindan. Great. A treasure hold of the Lost Ones. Even more reason to get out of here as swiftly as possible.

  And that was when she felt something gently nudge the back of her leg.

  Siray froze. The feeling came again—just the lightest touch of something soft to the back of her calf.

  Despite knowing that she shouldn’t, Siray angled her chin to look back down and over her shoulder fearfully. But she still couldn’t see anything in the dark.

  ‘Baindan!’ she squeaked, her voice hoarse and almost silent as she turned back towards him. She didn’t get a response, though, except for another tug on her hand, and her repeated whisper was absorbed by the crack of thunder that filled and rebounded through the air around them, the purple-white bolt of lightning that touched down outside the cavern making the triangular entrance before them painfully bright.

  As a part of Siray acknowledged that the concentrated fury of the storm must be right over them, the magnitude of the bolt and the light that bled off it lasted long enough for Siray to swiftly turn and look down again in fear.

  She almost stopped breathing.

  A small, intelligent, reptilian face with gold-green eyes looked up at her, its head tilted at an angle from its position on a long, curving neck.

  Siray saw that the creature was standing behind her on four legs, with wings that were half unfolded and a tail that weaved lazily in the air behind it. It gave a bleat, and that was when Siray understood.

  It was a juvenile.

  She began breathing normally again as some of her shock faded and she lost a bit of her fear. The light from the lightning had faded and, partially turning, Siray reached out her free hand to where the little head had been, her fingers encountering a smooth, gravelly textured warmth.

  Her other hand was still in Baindan’s, but it seemed he had paused while he waited for the next flash of lightning. So Siray shifted her whole focus back to the little creature, patting its head again.

  Feeling her touch a second time, it pushed its snout against her hand. Yet as it did, Siray felt something like a spark jump between them—the briefest flicker of energy. She withdrew her hand more in surprise than in pain, but as the creature nosed at her leg again, she extended her hand once more and resumed patting its head with smooth strokes.

  She had nothing to fear from this animal, whatever it was.

  The little creature let out a couple of happy little bleats.

  This time, the satisfied sounds were loud enough to draw Baindan’s attention, and Siray felt him wheel.

  ‘What was that?’ he said, sounding tense.

  Siray smiled and, with one hand still on the little creature, opened her mouth to reassure Baindan, but then she stopped when she felt the little creature pull away suddenly.

  Then a different rumble filled the darkness.

  Baindan’s voice was lower this time. ‘I really don’t like the sound of that.’

  Siray frowned, more disappointed at the disappearance of the little creature than concerned at the new noise. ‘What do you think—’

  A whipping force connected with Siray’s body, slamming into her middle and causing her to almost fold in half. The force of the blow swept her from her feet, and her hand was torn from Baindan’s as she was hurled through the darkness. There was no time to cry out, even if she could have, the air having been knoc
ked from her lungs by that powerful blow.

  Once more, Siray felt her body flying through a space she couldn’t see. Shocked but learning quickly, Siray tucked her chin and curled her body up to protect herself against the impact she knew was coming.

  Wham! She slammed into a solid, unyielding object—a wall—hitting at an angle that had her back absorbing most of the impact, and which caused her to drop to the floor on her side, her body numb. Her head seemed to be spinning, and she had no idea where all her limbs were, if indeed she still had all of them, let alone any idea where she was, where Baindan was, or where her attacker was.

  Slowly, her head seemed to tire of spinning, and her body began to regain its feeling. This she knew well, because the main thing she could now feel was pain. Great, rolling waves of pain that made her cry out despite the fact that she was biting her lip in her best efforts to muffle the sound. Siray squirmed in agony as the pain raced through her back, and then it was a fight to keep as still as possible as any movement at all just made the pain worse.

  ‘Siray?’ Baindan’s concerned voice came from close by.

  It seemed the sound of her impacting the wall and her cry of pain was helping Baindan to pinpoint her location in the darkness. Siray could hear him feeling his way to her, and she croaked out at him, ‘Baindan, over here.’

  His cautious steps sounded closer, and then Siray felt a hand touch her leg. ‘Siray, where are you hurt?’

  Siray gritted her teeth and tried to speak through the pain that continued to make her back arch. ‘Everywhere,’ she said, swallowing. ‘I don’t think anything’s broken, though.’ Or she hoped not, anyway. ‘But my back took a hit.’

  She felt Baindan move his hand carefully up the length of her body until he found her shoulder. There his hand rested, his warmth seeping into her.

  ‘Was it the Lost One who attacked you?’ he asked quietly.

  Siray shook her head, then stopped, both at the pain and as she remembered the all-consuming blackness. She really had to get out of these caverns. ‘I don’t know—I didn’t see what hit me. But I don’t think even Lost Ones are that strong. Whatever attacked me was strong enough to throw me across the cavern.’

  Baindan’s grip grew firmer. ‘So we might have multiple parties in here who are after us.’

  Siray felt the warmth from Baindan’s breath as he leaned in closer to her.

  ‘Do you think you can move?’ he whispered.

  Siray took a deep breath, held it, then let it out carefully. ‘I think so, but I might need your help.’

  She felt Baindan slide his hand from her shoulder down her arm until he had cupped an arm under her back. Even that touch caused her to gasp a little, but she worked with him until she could manage to sit all the way up.

  Keeping her own shaky hold on Baindan’s arm, she struggled up onto her knees, rested briefly as she gasped some more and then, gritting her teeth, forced herself to her feet.

  Agonising twinges raced up and down her back, and Siray found herself bending forwards, the spasms threatening to make her pass out as she leaned part of her weight on Baindan and part of her weight against the wall.

  She could tell by his silence that she mustn’t sound good. But they had to leave this place, so she forced her voice to sound as smooth as possible as she tried to reassure him.

  ‘It’s not great, but I can walk.’

  Baindan didn’t shift his arm from where he had it circled lightly around her lower back but repositioned himself closer in to her side. ‘We’re going to head for the exit again, but we’re going to keep to the walls this time. Hopefully whatever is in here with us will let us leave.’

  With Baindan’s arm supporting her, Siray walked slowly alongside him as they turned once more for the exit, keeping close to the wall, the infrequent flashes of purple-white lightning confirmed that they were going in the right direction, as once again they saw the exit outlined in front of them.

  Siray’s breathing was shallow, and she gasped quietly every now and again as a step caused the pain in her back to spike in intensity.

  Indeed, it felt rather like her back had been hit with a large, heavy object dozens of times over instead of just the one impact. Her head was a bit better, but it still caused her to reel slightly from a headache that was promising to evolve into something spectacular.

  Without Baindan’s support, Siray didn’t know if she would’ve been able to get even this far.

  Yet ever so slowly, they drew closer and closer to the exit, her breathing coming faster as they neared that cold gaping hole in the rock, hoping to the Mother that this time they would be able to get out.

  Then, finally, they were there, standing beneath the jagged roof of the exit and looking down upon the other side of a rocky hill.

  Beside her, in the glare of the lightning, Baindan raised his arm. ‘There it is—the path!’

  Siray followed the direction of his pointed hand with her eyes, the reflected light allowing her to see the lines of the path snaking its way down before them once more.

  She breathed a sigh of relief but stiffened as the slight alteration in her posture brought on a wave of pain.

  Beyond this hill, the path continued through the rocky landscape, and, in the distance, Siray could see trees once more starting to appear as random specs on the horizon.

  She felt Baindan’s fingers curl as he tightened his grip around her waist, and together they stepped out from the caves, instantly hit by pounding rain and wind, although the storm did appear to have lessened a little. Lightning still flashed, but it did so with less frequency, and the thunder was taking longer to rumble its way to them.

  Relieved to be leaving the caves, Siray welcomed the feeling of cold rain on her skin and the goose bumps that arose. Keen to get away from the dark entrance behind them, she lifted her foot to take a step forwards.

  And froze.

  She could feel warm wind on her back once more.

  The strange wind rose and fell gently behind her, making its presence felt even through the cold wind blowing around her, and Siray twisted her head, just enough so that she could see Baindan’s face but no farther.

  He was still staring down intently at the path before them as rain soaked into them both, and he seemingly hadn’t noticed anything strange.

  Thunder rumbled overhead, but through it, Siray could have sworn she heard a happy bleating sound. Gazing out at the landscape before them, but not seeing any of it, Siray’s eyes widened as she realised that what she had thought was a warm breeze wasn’t a breeze at all.

  Her heart thudding, Siray caught at Baindan’s hand and gently tugged him forwards with her, the pain rolling down her back helping her to fight off every impulse that made her want to turn around.

  Baindan easily moved forwards at her urging, and they began making their way slowly down that slippery hill.

  Injured, tired, and relieved, Siray and Baindan supported each other as they focused on reaching the path that would lead them away from that place.

  Yet Siray was certain that she heard a final bleat and a deep answering rumble just before the thunder and wind drowned out all other sounds once more.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  LEAVING THE HILL with its underground caves and secrets behind them, Siray and Baindan walked as fast as they were able along the path once more.

  Siray knew they were both hurting and wondered how far they would make it until their injuries made it necessary that they rest. She could see that one of Baindan’s shoulders was hurting him just from the way he held it, and although Siray didn’t think she had broken anything, pain radiated all over her back and only slightly lessened if she walked with a slight curve to her shoulders.

  Yet around them, the storm was clearly retreating. A high wind still remained, but

  Siray hoped that her clothes would have a chance to dry now as they walked. She didn’t know how long they had spent climbing, fighting, sliding, and escaping from that hill, but she knew that they had
to make the borders of the Lost Ones’ territory by dawn to avoid any more confrontations with them. They had been lucky to run into only the one in the rocky hills, but if they were still moving through this place during the day, they would surely be spotted and grabbed.

  And the Lost Ones didn’t let outsiders who wandered into their territory wander out again.

  Which made Siray wonder about the Lost One who had attacked them. She thought their attacker might have been female, from the sound of the high-pitched cackle, but she couldn’t be completely sure.

  And what had attacked her in the second cave? And then why let them leave?

  Siray didn’t know the answer to either question. And she didn’t like not knowing.

  These days, not knowing something could get her killed.

  As if her thoughts had betrayed them, from off to their side came a sudden cackle of crazed laughter, and Siray and Baindan froze together as they peered at the terrain around them.

  Siray noticed that she could see more of the landscape in the darkness. Then it hit her—the darkness was giving way to sunrise!

  Another cackle sounded off to their other side—a higher pitch that ended as if the person needed to stop for breath.

  The hairs rose once more on Siray’s skin, but a familiar warmth touched her shoulder, and she pivoted.

  Meeting her eyes, Baindan silently pointed to himself and lifting one arm, cupped his hand above his head to one side. Then he lowered the arm, pointed to her, and then back at himself emphatically again.

  Siray frowned at Baindan for a moment as she thought about what it was he was trying to say. Then she nodded as his meaning hit her.

  Instantly, Baindan relaxed his arm around her waist where he had been supporting her and took a careful step away, his eyes never leaving her. Then, silently, his broad shoulders curled in, and his body became condensed as it hunched over so that he stood for a moment on his arms and legs before they Changed completely and became the limbs of another creature. His hair lengthened and sprouted across his body, his face elongated, his ears grew longer, and then, he was Changed.