"Fawn? I brought you up some food...I heard you haven't been to the food hall, you must be hungry.."
The muted voice sounded familiar but my mind was still fuzzy from my nap, so I hauled myself up and lumbered my way to the door, yanking it open to reveal a chirpy Wymar standing there with a plate full of fruits, cheese, and bread.
His deep blue eyes crinkled with a grin, his charcoal curly black hair, that was in a bad need of a trim, nearly flopped into his eyes. But the warmth of his beam and the sweet smell of food had me softly smiling back at him, "Come on in."
"Thanks!" He scampered into the room, placing the plate on the small bedside table before running back outside the room to pick up another plate and a jug. "I thought I would join you in eating too, like a lunch date!"
I looked to the window, seeing the midnight black encasing the world and looked back at him, "But it's night?"
He gave a cheeky grin and replied, "Okay, midnight snack!"
I couldn't contain a small chuckle that escaped me and looked at the spread of food he arranged for us, "There is only the two of us, why would you need so much food?!" I exclaimed whilst taking the drinks from him so he didn't have to try and juggle food anymore and placed it on top of the box trunk at the end of the bed. In truth I was a little annoyed, sure it was sweet for him to bring all this food but it just reminded me of the level of poverty back in the city, where it was such a struggle to get food.
He snorted, "Clearly you haven't been eating enough, we need as much food as we can get to sustain the energy levels we need to use our powers." He leaned down and poured me a drink, passing me a cup full of wine before settling on the edge of the bed.
I looked at him, confused. "What are you talking about? I never have felt drained from using my powers. Ever."
He paused, "Never? Not even today's training with Axel? Because I can tell you, he works a person until they are exhausted, mentally, physically and magically!" He looked near to swooning and I knew we weren't just talking about training.
I thought back and gave a small shake of my head, "Nope, not in all the seven years when I was living on the streets and had no food for days. Not even today." I replied, "Don't get me wrong, I was exhausted from training but not magically. I could have used my power still."
He looked at me a little stricken at first and then I realised, he may have understood that I had lived on the streets, being an orphan and all, but he may not have realised how long and how bad the circumstances were. He continued to study me, his curious nature taking over, "When did you come into your powers?"
I fidgeted, knowing that the answer should be different but finally replied, "I've had it for as long as I can remember."
His eyebrows disappeared into his curly mop and I watched as his brain zipped through thousands of questions before settling on, "That almost unheard of. I wonder..."
My brow wrinkled, "Almost unheard of?"
He nodded, "Volorn had his power from before he can remember too."
"Oh," I didn't know what to think of that.
"But even he feels drained if he doesn't eat vast amounts regularly." He looked off into space, musing. "I'm assuming that means you haven't fully pushed your powers to the limit yet." A fresh smile overtook his face, "That sounds like a perfect challenge for tonight."
I snorted, "I doubt you'll be able to exhaust me magically if I can't do it myself."
"For research, I can do almost anything." He laughed, clapping his hands together and picked off a slice of bread and cheese from the plate. As he took a large bite, he chewed thoughtfully at me, before asking, "Okay, let's start with the basics. What can you do with your powers?"
"What do you mean?" I replied, grabbing a handful of grapes and popping one in my mouth, the juicy flavour exploding in my mouth and making my stomach rumble.
"I've seen you change your face and your body shape. But can you change your height?"
I thought for a moment and stood up. I concentrated on my body, imagining myself taller, an amazon like Zan. Before I knew it, I was elongating my legs, filling out my body until I was in proportion but over 6ft tall.
"That's a yes then." Wyman grinned, stuffing some more bread into his mouth.
I smiled and shrunk back to size.
"Okay, that was an easy one. Now let's get onto the more challenging things. Can you change into a man?" He asked, perching his chin upon his hand.
I blinked, shocked that I never thought of that before. I guess my instinct was always to become a woman. I tried to think of a male figure, someone all consummately masculine to really challenge myself before allowing my body to change.
My jaw filled out, a faint stubble grew on my chin and jawline that itched at first and then smoothed to a rough texture. My cheeks thinned out until high sharp cheekbones remained. My shoulders filled, rippling with muscles that were much larger than my own and my waist narrowed, no longer needing their roundness. My chest flattened to a firmness which I was not accustomed to, my thighs thickening and suddenly something that was very much internal for me...became very external. I fought a blush, feeling the foreign member between my legs but looked to Wymar to make sure the shift had gone correctly.
"Have I done it right?" I asked, my voice as smooth as whiskey.
He stood and walked around me, taking in my new form until he stood before me again, "Oh my lord. This is insane. You look exactly like Axel!"
I quickly changed back into my own shape, a flush taking over my features. "So that answers your question. Yes, I can morph into a man."
He laughed again. "Okay. So we've established you can change into men and women, adjust your height and shape. Now can you change into an animal?"
I felt my eyebrows fly up, a small trickle of excitement at the prospect bloom within me, "What animal should I try?"
He grasped his chin in his hand and lent on one knee. "Hmm, go with an animal you're quite familiar with. Try with what you know first."
I took a deep breath and nodded. A cat. Easy enough to envision. I conjured an image in my mind, of one of the alley cats that used to scratch at Tawney's Trinkets and meow loud enough to wake the whole street. It was obvious that Tawney had a weak spot for the thing, once I found a bowl of milk outside and I knew he had given in, fed the cat and then we could never get rid of him. He was a bit of a sight, grey with scruffy white socks, a half bitten ear and emerald green eyes. I imagined him now, the way he moved with the softest of sounds, how he purred a deep throaty rumble, how he arched his back when being smoothed and how he particularly liked the side of his cheeks rubbed. And before I knew it, I felt myself shrinking, I felt fur sprout from my pores and everything changed. My sight, the perception, my awareness...everything.
I bushed out my tail and twitched my whiskers. A deep rumbling purr emitted from me and wrinkled my nose as a scent caught my attention. Food. I smelt food.
"Yes, you did it!"
I followed the scent, left up onto a box and sniffed. There. I found the food, stalked towards it, nose still twitching.
"Fawn?"
I reached out a paw with my claws extended, attacking the bread, making sure it was dead before I would tuck into my prey.
"Fawn!"
In the back of my mind, something took notice of the rumbling sound of a human. But I was fully focused on my prey, dragging it back towards me before giving it a tentative lick. A hand picked me up from the middle. Startled, I swiped it with my claws and the faint smell of blood caught my attention.
"Ahh. Ouch. Damn it Fawn."
The hand grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and I froze, tucking my tail in and curled my body inwards. The human pulled me towards his face, staring at me in the eyes.
"Fawn, you need to be in control here."
I let out a hesitant meow whilst something within me wrestled for control.
"Control yourself Fawn. You can do it. Human thoughts."
Slowly things started to filter into my mind, the human. His name was Wymar
. I let out another low meow as I internally struggled to come to. Wymar...he was a ...Crimson Guard. My name was.... my name was......Fawn! I was a...a...Mimic! I had amber hair, turquoise eyes! I was human!
I regained my sensed and flicked my gaze over Wymar.
"Ah, there we are, some awareness in your eyes now. Can you shift back?" He asked, concern colouring his voice.
I let out a meow and envisioned myself, letting my power flood my body as I filled back out into my human form.
I blinked, staring into deep blue eyes that still brimmed in concern. "Fawn?"
I smiled, "Yeah, it's me I'm back."
"Oh thank the lord!" He quickly turned behind him, grabbing the quilt from the bed and wrapping it around my nude form, "I was so worried for a second! When you didn't realise who or what you were I was like 'oh no! what do I do?' There is no research or no record of a Mimic shifting into an animal, or what to even do in this situation! Do I try to capture you, do I wait for you to figure it out yourself? Are you even yourself at that moment? Or are you just a cat?"
He took a breath before continuing on as he clutched at my arms tighter and tighter as his excitement grew, "But you did it! You can change into animals! Think of the possibilities! The power you can wield, the secrets you can hear, the things you can do! The untapped potential! We need to do this more, we need to study, research and explore more of your power!"
"Wow!" I interrupted, "Wow, slow down a sec Wymar. I can understand you're excited but take a moment."
He looked rightfully chastised before adopting his endearing smile, "I'm sorry. That was rude of me. I should learn to shut up before I speak sometimes. It's my curse. How are you after that? Are you okay?"
I thought about it. It was scary, losing control like that. For a moment I wasn't...me. I was an animal, instincts and all. But once I become aware, the thrill, the feeling of being a part of a new body and the sense of power I felt..."I feel good."
"Good? Just good?"
"Yeah, good."
"You don't feel drained at all? Magically?"
I evaluated myself before bashfully replying, "Um, no."
"Huh." He continued to study me before replying, "Interesting. Let's stop there for tonight, I didn't knock on the door to pester you about your power." He settled back onto the bed, crossing his legs and taking a small sip of wine from his cup, "Although this is a brilliant benefit."
I bent to grab my nightclothes from my chest and scurried to my bathroom to get changed, calling out to Wymar as I donned my clothes, "Why did you come here to see me then?"
"To ask all about what you think of our delicious Captain Volorn and Second in Command Axel." He called back.
His laughter quickly followed when he heard my body thump on the floor as I literally fell over in shock.
Chapter 17
As the days continued I started to progress in my lessons, I began improving on my skills on how to defend myself with and without a weapon thanks to Volorn and Thorlan. I managed to delve deeper into my powers and perfect my transformation into a cat without losing myself into its animal instincts.
The book Volorn requested I obtained from the black market arrived and I could barely contain my excitement. Unfortunately, it proved to be pretty useless as it seemed it was more of an anthology of children stories then historical texts, and the story of Hayesin held no more information than what I told Volorn myself. Volorn asked me to continue searching for more texts on King Hayesin so I sent another letter to someone of my black-market contacts with the request to send me anything they could find mentioning him, no matter the costs.
Although a disappointment, I was not too distraught. I knew there were more books out there, it was just a matter of time before we found them.
Wymar shared my optimism and soon became one of my closest confidants. We regularly met each other after the day's activities, catching up on the latest news and refining my new found skills, much to Rema's dismay. No matter how polite and friendly I tried to be, she constantly greeted me with barely disguised disdain. Confused, I asked Wymar when he arrived at my room for our nightly catch up why she seemed to hold such a hatred for me and a vast look of sadness eclipsed his features.
"Rema...she's had a hard life. We both have." He gave a sad smile, his eyes unusually dim as he looked off into the distance into the dimming sunset through the window in his room, "But whereas I try to look at the bright side, my sister, she is more of a pessimist and gets caught up in darker thoughts."
I gazed upon him, watching that far away look that was caught up in the past, "I can understand a hard life. But what I don't understand is why her anger is directed at me."
He turned to look at me, "What do you know of myself and Rema?"
"Nothing really. I'm never one to pry into someone's past."
"Rema and I, we were not born in Orbain. We were born in Etha." He stated, studying my expression whilst delivering this news. I consciously made an effort not to show any emotion, even as shock zipped through my system.
Not finding any expression on my face, Wymar continued, "The war started way before we were born as you know, but many ugly things can happen during conflicts. As my mother found out when she was forced upon by an Orbain soldier. She was at the wrong place, at the wrong time and sadly this horrendous act led to the birth of twins, Rema and me."
His lips twisted sadly and his eyes glaze over as he recalled his past that sent me reeling, "Our Mother kept us, mostly due to my Nanna. You see my mother could barely stand to look at us, our colouring too light to be a native from Etha, our eyes bright blue, a colour not seen in Etha but exposing us as Cerulean's, the enemy. Our features reminded her more and more each year of the man who violated her. But our Nanna." He paused, a small smile stretching across his lips and an affectionate glow filled his face, "She was the light in our lives. She didn't blame us for the misgivings of our unknown father. She saw us for the vulnerable children we were, born of unfortunate circumstances. "
He took a shuddering breath, "My mother would take out her anger on both of us, mostly me, for looking like our father. But Nanna stayed our Mother's temper when she could, soothed our hurts when the other villagers threw rotten food, stones and sometimes even faeces at us. She was the mother of our hearts."
His eyes suddenly swam with unshod tears, "And they killed her for it."
I felt a lump grow in my throat, my own thoughts swimming with the thoughts of Tawney, my own savior within the darkness, "Who killed her?" I tentatively asked.
"The villagers." He spat, "They hated us, and our Nanna even more for allowing such vile creatures to live within their home. When we were ten and we bloomed into our powers, it exposed us. As we began to realise we could channel magic into certain gems, that we could then use that stone to take on that magical quality, the villagers began to believe we were stealing their powers. A mob came together, our own mother amongst them. Her anger, disgust, and hurt tainted her view of us ever since we were within her womb, but the exposure of our powers, that was the last straw."
"The mob herded us to our home and Nanna locked the door to keep them away, to keep us safe. So they set fire to the house, hurling abuse, stones, and their torches into the windows. One hit Rema, scalding her cheek, burning her forever. I will never forget the panic as I watched my Nanna pat out the fire from her cheek, the smell of her flesh burning and her raw screams of pain." Tears now streamed down his face, "But Nanna, she didn't give up. She foresaw this coming somehow. She grabbed us and led us to the back of the house and moved a giant chest, exposing a small hole within the structure of the house. Small enough for two children to fit through, but not her."
"She grasped both of our hands and gave us both a dagger, a handful of coins and a letter. She made us promise her that we would run and hide. That we would cross the river into Orbain, find someone called Simond and give him this letter. He would protect us."
He balled his hands into a fist as he recalled his memory, anguish sat
urating his words, "With a final kiss, she pushed us through the hole, just as the fire blazed higher. We only manage to move a few feet away when the roof collapse. And our Nanna was gone." Wymar screwed his eyes tight, trying to stop the river of tears that dripped down his checks.
"Wymar, you don't have to continue." I reached out and gave his hand a squeeze.
"No, I want to." He replied, "I want you to fully understand."
He took a shuddering breath and continued, "Thankfully we somehow managed to escape. No one saw us leave, I'm assuming they thought we died in the house. For the next handful of weeks, we traveled until we reached the river, hunting to survive. We managed to stumble across a local fisherman who could ferry us across the river. At first, he refused, taking in our blue eyes and assuming we were from Orbain. But the money Nanna gave us soon changed his mind. It took us a handful of days to cross the river and we ported into a small sea village called Fullon. Orbain was so different from Etha, so green and rich and we didn't know where to start our search. Where were we going to find this man, Simond? We knew nothing of this country, of its culture. All we knew was that they were our enemy."
Crimson Guard Page 15