Change of Chaos

by Jacinta Jade

  Baindan was a cripwof. Not as large as Roalger had been, but larger than the others Siray had seen, Baindan stood with his grey coat ruffled by the wind as he swept his head left and right, his ears twitching as they caught every little sound that Siray in her normal form couldn’t hear. His nose worked eagerly as it deciphered the smells coming to him and, after a small series of sharp sniffs, Baindan twisted towards Siray and gave a low growl.

  Siray didn’t have to be a cripwof to know what that meant. The Lost Ones were close.

  Baindan whirled and began trotting ahead, and Siray took off at a fast walk behind him. The faster pace made her grit her teeth against the pain in her back, but she knew they couldn’t lose any more time. The darkness was receding faster and faster, and the Lost Ones had begun emerging. Baindan and Siray moved through the terrain quickly, staying on the path, the sky growing brighter every moment.

  After a while, Siray saw that, a bit ahead of her, Baindan had hesitated on what seemed like an incline before a riverbank. As she limped up behind him, he smoothly resumed his normal form and turned to her.

  ‘We’re almost away. Just need to cross this,’ he said, turning aside again.

  Moving up the incline beside him, Siray paused, gaping, as she saw that what she had mistaken for a riverbank was actually the edge of a deep ravine. It was wide enough that there was no chance of leaping across it to grab a hold of the edge on the opposite side. She was doubtful even if she could have leapt across a smaller gap, given that her body felt like a raging herd of munder beasts had decided to use her as a river crossing.

  Turning to look right and left, Siray could see no means set up for traversing the gap, and the ravine extended out on either side as far as she could see in either direction. It seemed like the Lost Ones were happy to leave this side of their territory isolated from everyone except those with wings.

  With eerie timing, a wild cackle drifted up to them from behind, and Siray spun, expecting to see Lost Ones slinking up behind them.

  There was no one. Yet.

  She spun back to face Baindan. ‘So—plan?’

  From the way his jaw was working, Baindan seemed to be biting the inside of his check as he thought. ‘Well, usually I’d just Change and fly across. But in your case …’

  Siray was anxious, disbelieving, and frustrated at the same time. She knew her lack of ability to Change had caused them to make several hard choices already, but at the same time, this wasn’t the moment to consider what could be done about it. And she couldn’t believe that there was yet another form he could take that would somehow carry her across the ravine. She pressed Baindan for a solution.

  ‘Obviously I can’t fly or jump across, and there’s no way to cross from here without taking down a tree and making a bridge, which we don’t exactly have time for, so what do you propose?’ she said harshly, knowing she was ranting a little.

  More cackling sounded from behind, and Siray whipped her head in that direction, her heart thumping wildly while her palms sweated. Her body was giving in to a raw and untamed emotion—fear. And her fear wanted a solution. Now.

  She clenched her hands and looked back at Baindan.

  Who was looking at her as if she had said something amazing, a wondrous look on his face.

  That look seemed to cause the world to slow to a stop around her, and even her fear departed for the briefest moment.

  Then, everything became real again, as, without speaking or the grin leaving his face, Baindan began to shrink in size. Feathers sprouted from his skin as he grew talons, a beak … and transformed into a kitespray.

  Extending his wings, he hovered in front of Siray for a heartbeat while she gaped before he wheeled in the air and glided across the open space above the ravine.

  Siray’s mouth fell further open as the fear in her was replaced by something else.

  Shock.

  Baindan was leaving her there. Siray didn’t know what to do or how to react, so she just stood there, watching as Baindan rode the air currents to safety on the other side of the ravine. Watched as he gracefully angled his wings to land on the other side.

  She had just begun shaking her head, her brain beginning to work enough for her to mutter some choice words, when Baindan Changed again. Not back into his normal form, as she had expected, but into something bigger. Much bigger.

  It had six legs, each bigger around than her waist. Its body was compact with dense muscle, and its hide had a gold sheen to it.

  That was when Siray realised what it was.

  A rilander. Large, passive grazers that could be tracked by their passion for scratching themselves on trees—a habit that usually took out the unfortunate tree.

  Siray straightened up excitedly as Baindan’s plan became obvious, but she grimaced when the motion caused another wave of pain to spear through her back.

  Baindan was going to take down a tree and use it to make a bridge for her.

  Sure enough, Baindan the rilander quickly chose a suitably tall tree and began backing carefully up to it. As he slowly put pressure on the base of the tree using his immense weight, the tree began to bow. Then bend. A moment later, the tree was leaning at a serious angle when a great crack split the air. With a groan that preceded more cracking, the top of the tree traced a curve through the air, falling to the ground with a boom that resembled the intensity of the thunder from during the night.

  Siray watched as Baindan used his thick head to start nudging the tree In the direction of the ravine. And that was when she heard the footsteps behind her.

  Stiffening painfully, Siray slowly turned. While watching Baindan, she had almost forgotten the reason why she was so eager to cross the ravine.

  And now they were coming.

  A group of crazed males and females, wearing tattered clothing mixed with attire possibly created from the forest, were slowly and quietly stalking towards her.

  Every now and then, one of them would let out a wild cackle that was at odds with their intense gazes and silent movements. They were now at the end of the path that led from the rocky terrain and could see Siray standing there as plainly as she could see them.

  They were obviously in no rush to grab her, knowing that she couldn’t escape from where she was. Siray did not move but watched them carefully as she stood listening intently to the sounds of Baindan manoeuvring the tree into position. The tree bridge was still her best hope, because running was simply out of the question. The Lost Ones had glanced at Baindan after they had first seen her, but it seemed that they were not questioning what their first look had told them—that a rilander had taken down another tree during a back-scratching episode.

  As Siray watched them approach, their curled hands flexing, faces twitching, Siray spied the Lost One who had attacked Baindan and her. She didn’t quite know how she knew it was the one, but she knew. And the female was a truly deranged-looking creature.

  Another cackle came from somewhere amongst the group. This seemed to be the signal all of them had been waiting for, and one of them leapt forwards and began a charge.

  Siray, in turn, backed right up to the edge of the ravine until she could feel the heel of her right foot hovering over that drop. Maybe she could dive aside at the last possible moment …

  A thump from the direction of the ravine pulled at her attention, and she risked turning her eyes from the charging Lost One to take a quick glimpse behind her.

  Baindan had lowered the tree across the ravine, but even so, it only stretched halfway across that great space. And by some feat of his rilander form’s strength, he was managing to hold the weight of the tree in place by pinning its end down with four of his six legs.

  Siray didn’t hesitate, didn’t look back at the Lost Ones, or at how close the one was that had started running for her, but she rotated her body fully and, gathering it beneath her, leapt from the edge of the ravine.

  Without any real forwards momentum, her jump didn’t take her as far as she would have hoped, but it did carr
y her far enough that she landed with her chest and arms across the end of the broken trunk of the tree, the sharp shards of wood jabbing and cutting into her chest and stomach. And for a few terrifying breaths, her fingers clawed at the tree trunk until she managed to get a firm grip.

  Siray began to struggle to pull herself up and almost lost her hold again as the tree began to shake beneath her. Now, the whole tree was moving forwards, and, looking up, she saw that Baindan was using his great strength to drag the heavy tree trunk back across onto his side of the ravine.

  A savage howl came from behind Siray, and she twisted her head in time to see the charging Lost One leap off the edge of the ravine. As he leapt, his arms reached out for her, his fingers curling into claws, and Siray gasped as the Lost One fell flew through the air at her.

  He was crazy enough to try to kill her, she realised, even if it meant his own death.

  Hanging there in the air, Siray could do nothing as she watched the male’s body fall towards hers, but she was sure that their combined body weight would cause her grip to fail and that both of them would fall to their deaths on the rocks far below.

  But just as she was about to close her eyes and pray to the Mother for a swift death, the tree jolted forwards another body length, and, instead, Siray watched as the Lost One fell through the air behind her … and down into the depths of the ravine, his face still angry and intense, his eyes never leaving hers.

  Siray’s face went cold as she looked up and away from that plunging fall, concentrating instead on holding on to the life-saving tree as Baindan’s large form worked hard to haul the tree the rest of the way in towards his side.

  Once she was near the edge of the ravine, most of the trunk resting safely on the grassy ground, Baindan transformed smoothly, speedily moving to her to extend his own arms out, grab her, and haul her over the edge of the ravine to safety.

  Siray clung to him almost as hard as she had clung to the tree, and he chuckled.

  ‘You’re welcome,’ he said, clutching her back briefly for a moment.

  Until she gasped at the pain in her back and was forced to let go. Then she felt her face warm at the fact they had hugged and spun away to face the opposite side of the ravine.

  Where the remaining Lost Ones still were, howling and spitting in their rage.

  Yet their anger was short-lived. Once they seemed to realise that Siray and Baindan had moved beyond their reach, they began splitting up and slinking away.

  Siray’s shoulders sagged in relief, and she twisted to Baindan, trying to make light of the situation. ‘Tell me, is traveling with you ever going to be easy?’ she said, her voice sounding slightly weak.

  Baindan smiled. ‘If it were easy, it wouldn’t be so interesting.’

  Siray snorted and looked back across the ravine. She nodded at the last of the departing stragglers. ‘Does this mean they’ve given up?’

  Baindan nodded. ‘We’re out of their territory, and that’s all they care about right now.’

  In her mind, Siray saw the face of the Lost One who had fallen and shook her head. ‘They really are twisted and crazy. Completely driven, until they’re not.’

  ‘And, speaking of being driven, we need to keep moving. The sun will be fully up in moments, and we need to be under cover before then.’

  Siray nodded tiredly. ‘Just promise me no more caves. I’ve had my fill.’

  Baindan’s face darkened. ‘You’ll hear no argument from me.’

  Together, they pivoted away from the ravine and began walking again in a direction that continued straight from where the path had deposited them previously on the other side.

  On a lookout for somewhere to hold up for the day as they moved into the forest, Siray noted that they had left the rocky terrain behind them on the other side of the ravine, and trees were now growing in number and thickness around them. Like the tree Baindan had felled, the specimens here were tall with thick trunks and had numerous leafy branches.

  As they moved along, Siray spotted one tree to her side that was bigger than the others. She had a second look at it before she drew Baindan’s attention to it, and together they left their chosen line of direction, moving off at an angle to investigate.

  As they approached the tree, Siray saw that what she had thought was one giant tree was actually two that had grown to become one, the two thick trunks meeting each other a small distance from the ground to form a large natural shelter.

  Baindan bent down and took a quick look inside. ‘Not very big, but big enough for us to stretch out and get some rest.’ He righted himself and motioned Siray in ahead of him, looking around at the forest at the same time.

  She obliged him, carefully sinking to her knees while fighting to keep her pain from her face and crawled into the natural shelter. Once inside, she peered at the trunk around her. Large enough to sit up in, it looked like the half circles made by the two trunks would provide moderately comfy walls to lean and rest against.

  As she saw Baindan crouch to enter, Siray moved to one side, noting that he carried a small pile of grasses. Curious, she watched as he removed his overshirt and stuffed the grasses into it. Then, tying his shirt at both ends to stop the grass from falling out, he turned in his hunched-over position and handed it to her.

  ‘Thought you might need something soft to place under your back. Hard surfaces won’t be your friend for a while.’

  Siray smiled at him and murmured her thanks, placing the speedily made pillow under her back and carefully leaning back against the wall of the trunk. Her back ached at the pressure, but the pain was manageable.

  She looked across at Baindan as he made himself comfortable against the opposite trunk. ‘How’s your shoulder?’

  Baindan sank low as he reclined, his feet stretching across the space between them. ‘Not as bad as I first thought. A little cut and banged up, but it’s stopped bleeding.’

  Siray narrowed her brows and started to move again to get a better look, but Baindan waved her away.

  ‘It’s nothing to worry about, really. I’m more concerned about your back.’

  Now it was Siray’s turn to reassure. ‘It’s okay. Nothing broken.’

  Baindan nodded, although Siray noted that something unreadable continued to hover in his eyes. Was it concern?

  ‘Get as much rest as you can—we won’t move until full dark again,’ he told her, the flicker of emotion disappearing. Baindan adjusted his position slightly against the trunk.

  Siray nodded, and Baindan waved lazily at her as he closed his eyes.

  ‘Night, then.’

  Siray tilted her head against the wall and listened to his breathing become even and light as he swiftly fell asleep.

  Outside, the light grew slowly brighter. It looked like the day would dawn clear and sunny, and Siray almost snorted at the irony of it, remembering the storm that had chased them nearly all the way to this point.

  Yet it wasn’t long before her own eyes were also closing, and she happily let them as that painless bastion of forgetfulness took her.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  WAKING UP was terrible. As soon as Siray moved her body, the pain her exhaustion had blissfully kept at bay came roaring back. She thought she had been in pain yesterday, but today the swelling and stiffness in her muscles meant she could barely move, and when she did, waves of agony crashed through her back.

  When she tried to sit up, a sweat broke out across her body, and her breathing became rapid as she tried to fight through the pain. After attempting twice to raise herself further than a sitting position, she abandoned the attempt and sat awkwardly hunched forwards, wishing she could have stayed asleep.

  To make matters worse, due to its awkward location, this was an injury that she couldn’t even tend to herself, and she had no idea how she had even stayed asleep leaning against the tree with her back hurting that much.

  It was only after the moment of sympathising with herself that she realised Baindan wasn’t there.

 
Concerned, she automatically tried to move as this fact registered, but the pain hit her again, and she gave up trying to adjust herself into a better position in an effort to see outside the tree.

  Instead, she stilled her breathing and listened for a count of five, but she couldn’t hear anything moving beyond the tree.

  Siray pushed the creeping doubts to the back of her mind—after Baindan’s fast thinking yesterday, she wasn’t going to jump to any more conclusions. Her face warmed again just thinking about how she had thought he was going to abandon her. She shook her head in disgust at herself and, sighing, looked out at the small bit of forest she could see.

  Her real concern now was how she was going to make it any further with her back injured this way. Although Baindan could move, and probably even run with his injuries, Siray didn’t think even walking would be possible for her—at least not in any quick or silent manner.

  Slanting shadows outside the tree told Siray it was probably late afternoon, and she started to relax a little, knowing she wouldn’t have to try moving for a while yet.

  Until she realised that she was beginning to feel a need to have a private moment with a bush.

  Trying to turn her focus away from that thought completely, Siray lifted her gaze to the specs of sky she could see. Even though it was daytime, the forest would still be able to provide some cover from seeking eyes as long as she was careful. If she could bear the pain long enough to stand, that was.

  Undoubtedly, that was most likely why Baindan had risked leaving the tree himself.

  Soft steps sounded outside then, the slight crunching of leaves giving away an otherwise silent approach.

  Siray stiffened, and she bit her lip at the flare of pain that accompanied the movement, forcing herself to remain still even as her muscles tried to twitch—with seizures or anticipation at having to run, she wasn’t sure. But regardless, her best defence lay in hiding, so she held her breath and waited …

  Then a head popped into sight, startling her and making her body jump.

  ‘Morning!’ Baindan’s tone was quiet but chirpy.