by Jacinta Jade
Once the formalities were over, Siray and the rest of the camp left the new trainees with the sergeant, and Siray’s group sought dinner in the meal tent.
It was odd now, she thought, seeing Falir in his role as the cook, after finding out just how knowledgeable he was about Changing.
Her stomach warm and full, Siray decided that tomorrow she would ask him just why he had decided to be a cook.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
THE NEXT DAY in the glade, Honvil had them do some exercises in their second forms during the morning session. Adding to the general excitement was the fact that the trainers had set up a small obstacle course for the trainees to work through.
Siray was excited and eager to have the chance to get a feel for her sevonix form.
Honvil explained what he expected of them. ‘This morning I want to see what you learned yesterday in your forms. I want to see you playing to the strengths of your form and listening to your new instincts. You may be able to complete all of the course, or only parts of it, but it’s up to your judgement as to how you can best progress through it.’
He nodded at Dirl and Gesad, who walked off to position themselves at various parts of the course.
Siray was third in the line in which the trainees arranged themselves, behind Tamot and Rowp, as they looked out on the first section of the training course. From her position, Siray could see the course was laid out in a winding pattern containing four sections, which used up the majority of the large clearing.
The first leg started halfway down the glade, providing the trainees with the opportunity to test out their new legs before they encountered high and low logs, then a large, slippery ramp that ended in a drop on the other side. The course then curved around to the second leg, which contained a series of poles and a pit.
Siray could also see a large wall that she thought may be positioned on the third leg of the course and then possibly skinny planks at the start of the fourth.
Dirl was standing between the first and second leg of the course, and Gesad between the third and fourth.
Honvil gestured to Tamot. ‘Begin.’
In an instant, Tamot had Changed into his black yeibon form and was off, first cantering, then galloping down the length of the first leg.
From the way Tamot was tossing his black head as he ran, it was clear he was enjoying himself.
Siray watched with the others as Tamot slowed his pace as he approached the logs, and she nodded as he gathered his legs beneath him and carefully leapt both the high and low sets.
Tamot then bypassed the ramp altogether and picked up speed again as he rounded the curve heading into the second leg, the group exclaiming in admiration as Tamot manoeuvred his large form through the poles and gracefully leapt over the pit beyond.
Coming into the third leg, the trainees watched as Tamot again bypassed an obstacle—this time the large wall—and then as he stopped for a moment while he did something at its base.
A moment later, Siray saw that Tamot had picked up the end of a rope in his teeth and was now dragging a heavy weight down the rest of the third leg.
After dropping the rope and entering the fourth leg, Tamot’s paced increased once more, his gallop quickly taking him past the skinny planks. Then, at the far end of the course, his fast-moving bulk mowed down a figure standing motionless right at the end.
Siray gasped quietly before she realised that the figure she had just seen hit the ground beneath Tamot’s hooves had been made of straw.
She clapped with the others as Tamot came cantering back to their line, tossing his black mane happily.
Honvil silently gestured for Tamot to rejoin the group before turning to the next trainee in line. ‘Rowp.’
They all watched as Rowp Changed and then, as one, took a large step back as he appeared in his gedoni form.
A massive bulk of muscle and fur, with claws the length of Siray’s fingers, Rowp lumbered off through the course. He chose to bypass the high and low logs completely but clambered up the ramp and then let himself slowly down on its other side. He did go through the weave poles, but he did so slowly, not so much walking through them as bending them out of his way, and while his leap over the pit wasn’t graceful by any means, his powerful form managed to clear it well enough.
On the third leg, Rowp approached the large wall and, after a brief pause, surprised them all by standing up on his hind legs and climbing easily over it.
Siray looked around at the others, whose faces mirrored her own surprise at the ease with which Rowp had manoeuvred his bulk over the wall. How had he managed it?
When she looked back, Rowp was using his large head to push the heavy weight over the ground before him, his strong body making it look like no effort at all.
Leaving the weight at the end of the third leg, Rowp approached the skinny planks and, climbing up on top of the first one, delicately walked along its length, maintaining a beautiful balance that was astounding to see in such a large animal. After walking along each plank, Rowp launched himself off the end of the last one, his body landing heavily.
He picked up speed in his approach to the last obstacle, veering slightly to the side so he could swipe at it with one of his large paws as he passed by.
Turning, Rowp ambled casually back to the group, taking a lot longer than Tamot to return, but he received applause from the others all the same.
Honvil waited patiently for Rowp to reach them before turning to Siray and nodding.
Siray breathed in, her heart thudding. Her turn! Her adrenaline surging, she breathed out slowly and focused inwards. The cold ripple seemed to take no time at all, and the clearing around her shifted slightly. Now she could see the course in heightened detail, and the scent of the gedoni and yeibon that had run the course before her was so strong she could almost see the track laid out before her in her mind.
With another quick breath, Siray coiled her muscles, and she was off.
Oh! The ease with which she moved! Running in her sevonix form took no effort, and indeed, it seemed as if her body had been made to run, so swift and graceful were her movements.
As her muscles stretched, Siray increased her speed, streaking down the first leg of the course. Almost hesitant to sacrifice any speed, she slowed down just a fraction as she approached the logs, springing up onto the first before jumping down and crawling under the next. She repeated this three times before picking up her pace once more to race up the ramp and spring down to the ground on the other side.
Siray felt like she could run like this forever, such was the power and agility of her feline body. She didn’t have to consciously think about her movements, her body instinctively making minute adjustments to her balance and foot placement as she focused on each objective.
Progressing through the course, Siray weaved through the agility poles at speed and without touching a single one, her claws and supple body allowing her to grip the ground and spring away at impossible angles.
She picked up more speed as she approached the pit and sprang just before the edge. Landing lightly and at a full sprint, she rounded the curve into the third leg and, following some instinct, leapt high up the wall obstacle, bringing up all four limbs to hit the wall simultaneously. As she landed, her claws sprang out and extended themselves, digging in and allowing her to climb the rest of the wall in short leaps and scrabbles.
Upon reaching the top, she balanced carefully before springing down from the height, her muscles coiling to absorb the impact of her landing.
At the base of the wall, she found a large weight and, judging it within her strength to move, picked up the rope in her mouth. Dragging the weight after her as she manoeuvred herself backwards down the third leg of the course, she used all four legs to power through the exercise, her claws ensuring she gave no ground.
Dumping the weight at the end of that leg, Siray turned and, running up to the skinny planks, leapt onto the first, running lightly along its length. It took hardly any effort at all, a
nd she moved even faster across the rest.
Leaping down, she now saw what Tamot and Rowp had also seen—a straw figure with a spear stood as the final obstacle between her and the finish.
A growl rose in her throat, and she leapt forwards, sprinting at the figure, her whole mind focusing on it. She sprang paces out from where it stood, and as her whole body landed, her teeth and claws tore viciously into the straw figure, her weight and momentum taking it to the ground.
‘Okay, Siray, back you go.’ Gesad called to her from his position where he had watched her progress.
Siray lifted her head to look at the trainer. He wasn’t like her. The thought passed through her mind, her pulse still racing after taking down the straw enemy. He was one of these clumsy two-legged creatures, another object in her way …
Gesad gave her an even stare and called more sternly, ‘Go on, Siray—return to the others.’
Others … Siray blinked and retracted her claws from the straw figure, turning to run quickly back to Honvil and the rest of her group. As she glided over the ground, she wondered what had happened just now. Yet she was distracted from sorting through these thoughts when, upon reaching the watching males, she was met with stares of admiration and a loud round of applause.
She Changed back, and Honvil gestured for her to join Tamot and Rowp at the back of the group.
Rowp said gruffly, ‘Nicely done.’
Siray smiled at him, elated by the experience. ‘Thanks. Your gedoni is powerful.’
Rowp gave a deep, low laugh. ‘And heavy. And slow. But the claws—I’m pretty happy with those.’
She nodded. ‘I saw the marks on the wall. Nasty.’
Tamot leaned over to join the conversation. ‘Siray, you were like a silver blur out there.’
She laughed, delighted. ‘Was I? It’s so fun to sprint like that. But you’re pretty fast yourself.’
Tamot beamed. ‘Yep. I reckon I could run all day on those legs.’
Siray smiled, her thoughts turning to the hopeful study of her own yeibon form, and she was only disrupted from her thoughts when Jorgi started out on the course in his hopul form.
He seemed to get some speed out of his six legs, though it was nothing on Siray or Tamot, but it was when he approached the first set of obstacles that the strengths of his shaggy form could be observed.
Siray watched breathless as Jorgi leapt from log to log, choosing to balance on each for a moment instead of going under and over. Then he climbed and jumped off from the end of the ramp, swung himself through the agility poles, propelled himself over the pit, and easily climbed the wall. He carried the weighted stone in two pairs of his arms while walking on his back legs down the third leg of the course and coolly balanced along the length of the thin planks.
It was interesting to Siray to watch Jorgi coordinate his six legs and to see the benefits that having two extra limbs gave him, especially when he seemed to have such trouble coordinating his own limbs in his normal form.
The straw figure at the end of the course didn’t stand a chance as four of the six heavy limbs connected with it and began pounding away in a blur of movement.
Kovi went next, and his cripwof form meant he performed similar to Siray, except he wasn’t quite as agile or graceful. He also bypassed the climbing wall, not having suitable claws.
Yet Siray felt the cripwof had a unique ferocity to it and, having seen them in action personally, knew that it was not a form to be underestimated.
Loce was interesting to watch as well, in the form of the small but fast-moving quison. For his size, his speed was remarkable, and Siray found it hard to track his forearm-length form as he moved into the second leg of the course.
She watched as he completed the logs and ramp on the first leg and then ran through the poles on the second, but he appeared to bypass the pit, the climbing wall, and the weight drag.
On the fourth leg, he was a barely visible blur on the balancing planks.
Then Siray didn’t see him again until he Changed back right in front of them, and the group gasped in surprise.
Honvil smiled in amusement. ‘As I’ve said many times, there are strengths to every form.’
Loce looked happy with his run through the course as he came and joined Siray and the others who had already completed it.
Deson was the last trainee to run the course, and Siray leaned forwards to watch with interest as he Changed and started out. Deson’s sevonix had a larger and more powerful frame than hers, but because of this he was also just slightly less graceful and agile, or so she thought.
She watched as he powered through the course in the same way she had, but his attack on the straw figure at the end was what impressed her most, his front legs coming around to grip the head of the figure while he brought his jaws down upon it and tore away at the straw face.
Had that been what she had looked like? She shook her head in amazement at the speed and power, then watched with interest as Gesad waved at Deson, pointing him back in the direction of their group.
She couldn’t hear what the trainer was saying.
But she did see Deson look up and across the clearing as he stood over the straw figure.
And he seemed to be looking at her.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
‘YOU HAVE ALL performed well on the course this morning and displayed good judgement in how you use your forms.’ Honvil was standing with his hands clasped in front of him while the trainees stretched out in the shade.
‘I also hope that you learned about each other’s strengths and weaknesses as you watched each other run the course.’
The trainees all nodded and murmured an assent.
‘But most of all,’ Honvil continued, ‘I hope you all realised the main lesson of this morning. Control.’
Siray frowned. That was unexpected. But she had been in control the whole time. She had felt the power, the speed, the aggression … she almost wanted to Change now so she could run the course again.
‘At the end of the course, you all needed no instruction to attack the straw figure,’ Honvil said, gesturing over their heads to where the straw figure stood in the distance. ‘But now I want you to think back to that moment, and really think about how much control you had at the time.’
That made Siray pause. She remembered she had growled and then had almost attacked the straw figure without thinking. And then, when Gesad had called out to her—ah.
Siray looked up at Honvil guiltily. Maybe she hadn’t been completely in control when finishing the course.
Honvil’s stern look encompassed them all. ‘That’s what I thought. You must remember to retain conscious control at all times; otherwise, all the instincts of your form, which are based upon hundreds of cycles of genetic memory, will take possession, and your own sense of self will fade. It might be just for a moment, but even a moment’s lack of focus can have consequences. Utilise your instincts but do not let them rule you.’
Honvil released Siray and the others from his penetrating stare.
‘Break up into your groups for the afternoon’s session.’
The group of trainees did so quickly and quietly, absorbed in their own respective thoughts about the morning’s lesson.
Siray walked with Deson and Honvil to the same small clearing by the stream, and they found Falir already there, stretched out upon the ground in the sun.
As he heard them enter the clearing, he yawned and then stood to meet them.
Siray and Deson didn’t waste any time but went straight back to studying the yeibon and udun, only stopping when Honvil brought them both back together again to go over the theory of Changing once more.
After speaking intently for some time, Honvil looked at them both. ‘Any questions?’
Siray looked at Deson, who was also looking at her.
He shrugged.
She shook her head. ‘No.’
Honvil nodded slowly. ‘Well, then. Time to test what you have learned. Deson, you’ll go first.’
Deson nodded, and Siray moved a bit farther away to give him room. She watched as he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, his chest rising. She saw him breathe in again, and at the apex of the next breath, his whole body seemed to ripple. Then the form she knew was gone.
In Deson’s place now stood a cold, black-eyed udun.
Siray shivered at the udun’s unnerving stare, but in the next moment a smile was spreading across her face. Deson had done it.
Honvil was also smiling as he clasped his hands before him. ‘Well done, Deson. Stay in your form for now, just where you are.’
When the master turned expectantly to Siray, she didn’t need him to say anything and simply nodded before closing her eyes.
Deson had done it. So could she.
She breathed deeply as Deson had done, and in her mind, she returned to that burning centre of herself. She could see the links still there, one of them brighter than all the rest, but also a second one that felt familiar.
Yet when she looked at that second link, she didn’t recognise anything about it that spoke to her of the yeibon. Indeed, she didn’t recognise anything about it at all. She dismissed it as not important at this time, keeping her focus absolute as she reconsidered the links before her.
Ah—now she could feel it. A new link existed where one previously hadn’t. Focusing on it, she touched it with a thought, feeling its shape, its nature.
Yes, that was it.
Certain now, Siray focused her mind wholly upon it, and after a cold ripple spread through her, she opened her eyes.
She noted that Honvil had taken a step back, but then her attention was drawn by a noise behind her, and her ears flicked backwards to catch it.
It was the sound of a soft nicker.
Siray heard Honvil say, ‘Excellent,’ but she had already arched her neck around to glance towards her fellow yeibon, who was now looking at her as if it were seeing her for the first time.
Honvil must have noticed this, as he said to them both, ‘Use this opportunity to explore your forms fully but return here in time for us to rejoin to the group.’