by Amy Laurens
#
Orkney crouched on the riverbank, leaning against a gum and peering into the shallows. He had to move quickly, but he couldn’t rush the little creatures – and he had to see them, just to make sure.
Adrenalin surged through his chest as the water rippled and a sleek, brown body resolved from the murky shadows. The platypus confirmed his fears – but it also tugged at his consciousness, and Orkney felt that somehow it ought to be familiar to him.
He waited as it broke the surface and hovered in place, taking a breath. “Come on,” he muttered. “Turn around.”
As if in response, the platypus turned. Orkney gasped as though someone had emptied a bucket of cold water over his head. Faroe. The platypus’s name was Faroe.
Orkney backed up a few steps so as not to disturb her, then glanced down at the bill clasped in his fingers. There could be no doubt, now. He steeled himself, took the bill in his fingertips and pressed it to his face.
Nothing happened. His stomach fell.
He pressed it harder against his nose and thought ‘platypus’ with all his might.
“It’s not going to work.”
He jumped and whipped the bill into his pocket. “You’re not going to take it from me!”
Lia shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. It won’t work now.”
Orkney’s jaw twitched. “Why not?”
Lia raised an eyebrow. “You can’t guess?”
Orkeny’s gaze flicked down to the ring, then back to Lia.
She confirmed his guess with a sly smile. “Indeed.”
”Get back!” Orkney retreated and hunched down.
She laughed. “Or what? You’re a platykie. A small part of you may be human, but most of you, my sexy little beast, is platypus. They’re not known for their aggression.” She paced towards him, eyes trained on his.
Orkney’s blood began to race, pounding past his ears and pulsing in his neck. He tried to look bold. “So what?” he said. “I can take the ring off.”
Lia showed her teeth in a crocodile-grin. “Go on, then. Try it.”
Orkney’s stomach knotted, but he took a firm grip and tugged on the ring. Relief spread through his body as it slipped easily along his finger.
Lia’s grin didn’t waver, and Orkney felt a tiny prod of doubt.
But the ring slipped freely, coming right o—
He frowned and tugged harder.
Lia’s grin broadened.
He looked down at the ring and tugged again. It wasn’t even touching his finger, but it refused to slide off the very end.
Lia resumed her stalk towards him. “Platykies.” She snorted. “You’re the easiest Changelings in the world to trap.” She tilted her head as Orkney sank to the ground. “Even the seals put up some sort of fight.”
Orkney wasn’t listening. A strange prickling had come over his knees and he frowned, trying to figure out why.
Lia shrugged. “Well, I guess I’m not going to complain.”
Faroe. An image burst into Orkney’s mind of Faroe, swimming through a rare beam of light in the creek’s depths, tail pulsing as she propelled herself down towards the riverbed. His hunger for her flickered back to life, recalling to him the instinct that had reminded him that the venomous spurs on his hind legs weren’t just for show. He would fight for her, when the time came.
Lia looked down at him, hands on hips, and laughed. “You’re too easy, you know that?”
The time had come. Orkney leapt to his feet and thrust his knee at Lia, pivoting to lend it extra force.
It connected with her stomach and Lia screeched. She toppled backwards, head aimed straight at an outcrop of sharp granite rocks. The terror on her face turned Orkney’s stomach to lead. He didn’t want to kill her.
He leapt forward and grasped her left hand. He thought he had her, but her weight jolted up his arm and his fingers slipped.
Lia screamed as Orkney’s nails raked her hand and fingers. She thudded to the ground, head narrowly missing the rocks. She glared up at Orkney. “You!”
Orkney recoiled from the venom in her voice.
“Give. That. Back.” She shoved herself to her feet.
Orkney’s brow creased. “What?” He opened his fist. He blinked. A ring, the smaller twin of his, lay in his cupped hand. “Oh.”
Lia limped forward, scowling. “Just give it here, Orkney, and everything will be fine.”
He stared at the ring. Why was it tingling? He sucked in a breath as his own ring began to tingle in response. He glanced at Lia.
She lunged, and he ducked aside, grabbing at his own ring and tearing it off. As Lia straightened Orkney threw the rings out into the river. Lia screamed her rage and lunged again.
Orkney whipped out the platypus bill and pressed it to his face. He ducked Lia’s outstretched arms and closed his eyes, focussing with all his might on changing.
Shivers crawled over his skin as the world grew large around him.
Lia shrieked and threw herself to the ground after him, wrapping her fingers around his broad tail. He wriggled and tried to flick free of her hands, but she pinned him tight. “Stay still!” she hissed. “I’ll have a Platykie for my collection even if I have to kill you to do it!”
He drew a hind leg forward and fell still.
Lia chuckled.
As her grip began to slacken, Orkney kicked his leg backwards. His spur found her hand and buried itself deep into her skin. She screamed and flung her hands into the air, and Orkney found himself flying towards the river.
Lia scrabbled after him, sobbing and fumbling. He hit the lip of the bank as he landed and tumbled into the water, grabbing a quick lungful of air before diving.
The wave Lia caused as she jumped in after him tossed him around like a twig. He turned his head, waving his nose back and forth to reorient himself, drawing a mental picture from the electrical and mechanical impulses that reached him. Her hair floated out from her face, clouding like weed, and she flailed her arms as she fought her natural buoyancy and dove after him.
Orkney paddled for his life, reaching the bottom and ducking under a branch. Lia followed, tearing the branch away and snatching at his tail.
He shot forward towards an overhang. Please, let there be shelter!
Relief washed over him as he drew closer and detected a hole in the bank. He swam in, tucked his tail, and turned around, ready to back away if Lia came close.
He waited for a moment. Nothing.
Heart racing, he crept towards the entrance and poked his bill out. He trembled at the wild impulses, terrified that he’d been tricked, that she’d been waiting for him to appear again so she could catch him.
But his brain caught up with the signals and he realised that the movements he was detecting were random, chaotic.
#
The movements had stopped five minutes ago, but Orkney still wasn’t sure. His head was beginning to ache and he desperately needed some oxygen. His blood pounded past his ears and he felt his thoughts becoming floaty. He had to go. But what if she was lying in wait, and not dead at all?
He fluttered his tail, trying to decide.
A spasm passed through his lungs, and he knew it was move or die. He pushed out from the hole and streaked towards the surface.
Fresh air hit his nose and he gasped. His chest burned and he sucked the air in greedily, waiting for the pain to subside.
After a moment he turned, curious now about Lia. He couldn’t see anything on the surface, so he ducked under and wagged his nose.
He shuddered. Her body was there, all right, entwined in the branches she’d snatched away. He waggled again, wondering why she didn’t move. Then he realised that the impulses he was detecting from her were faint, and growing fainter all the time.
He shuddered. He hadn’t wanted to kill her.
Water splashed behind him and he jumped to the surface.
“What’s going on?”
His eyes widened as Faroe swam up and nudged
his side.
“Nothing,” he said. “Nothing at all.”
“I don’t think so. I felt the commotion from all the way around the bend.” She nosed him up and down. “Are you okay?”
Orkney let his glance flick towards the submerged body, then back to Faroe. “I’m fine, now.”
There was a schplop from behind him and Orkney’s heart jolted.
Faroe froze, staring. “What... what is it?”
Orkney turned her around with his bill. “It’s nothing, you don’t need to see.”
“Orkney, no, let me go.” She twisted underneath the water and resurfaced behind him.
He groaned.
“Orkney.”
He turned and paddled up beside her.
“Orkney, it’s a body.”
“I know.”
Faroe gave him a considering look. “What did you do?”
“Nothing, I swear!” His tail quivered and he lowered his voice. “It – she – tried to capture me. She put a ring on me, Faroe.”
Faroe gasped. “No!”
“Yes.”
Faroe nestled into his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” he said, rubbing his bill down her back. “I’m fine.”
She shook him off. “Well.” An impish light flickered in her eyes. “How about we make sure?”
“What do you mean?”
Faroe paddled around and offered him her tail. “Let’s make sure it can’t happen again.”
Orkney hesitated. “Really?”
Faroe flicked her tail impatiently. “Really.”
Orkney shivered in delight and surged forward, holding the base of her tail in his bill. He sighed as she paddled forward, towing him off towards her burrow.
The flicker out of the corner of his eye was just the sun on the water, he told himself. Not a ring. Just the sun.
END
Amy Laurens is an Australian fantasy writer and high-school English teacher. She lives with her husband and two Labradors, one of whom tends to bash the laptop's keyboard to get attention. When not glued to the laptop or teaching, Amy can be found baking in the kitchen or snuggled up reading a good book.
Contact Amy:
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/InkyLaurens
Website: https://www.amylaurens.com/
Blog: https://ink-fever.blogspot.com/