Fledgling (31 page)

“Chance! No!” Niyol reached out and watched as a large bald eagle rose into the sky.

Ana was having a hard time focusing. She couldn’t see. It felt like when she had passed out in the meadow with Chance, feeling removed from everything. Watching detached, simply an observer.

Her body lay limp on a rocky outcropping. Pine and fir trees huddled around the rocks as though trying to keep warm.

A cold wind whipped through the woods, slicing branches like icy knives. Ana didn’t feel the cold. She was numb, dulled, trapped in her own body. She tried to open the curtains of her eyes so she could see outward, but someone had boarded the windows shut.

She imagined a fire inside her, the red flames keeping her warm, even if just in her thoughts. Her attention on the pyre brought images flashing through her mind. Images of driving, then of stopping.

Then of a gas station at the base of the forest. Yes. That was right, she remembered that. She was getting gas. Then…something was said, someone spoke to her and she turned to face…what?

A young man’s body sauntered toward her, but instead of a boy’s face, a distorted beast sneered at her. The frightening maw with sharp, glimmering teeth opened menacingly. Grey eyes narrowed, focusing on her while pointed ears pulled back. If it was the head of a wolf, she would hate meeting one like this in the forest. The monstrous head was now too clear, now too close. Its musty smell was laced with such a putrid stench, it turned her stomach. She tried moving her thoughts to something else.

She saw his hand lift up, and rest on her chest. Pain-so much pain.

Her bruised arms and legs reminded her of tumbling around on the back bench of her van. It must have been an up hill drive on a rutted road; her body was repeatedly slammed against the back hatch.

Fear entered her. Ana flung her eyes open.

Everything was sideways and blurry. She felt her body again, and then wished she couldn’t. Every inch screamed in pain, her heart sloshed around, like a boat taking on water. Her veins burned, along with her lungs and arms. She closed her eyes for a moment as the pressure in her head became too much.

She slid her eyes open again, still unsure of where she was. It was so dark she couldn’t tell if it was day or night; the sun and moon were absent. She could barely see anything, but the air smelled like rain and pine trees and something electric.

Tall trees swayed around her. A burst of wind blew her hair from her face and she saw a tall form standing near.

Her eyes lifted.

“Finally. Decided to join me?” a low voice broke.

A tall boy, a couple years her junior, sneered down at her broken body at his feet. He had a pockmarked face and colorless eyes. They were so indistinct she thought they could be gray or made of stone. His oily hair was a limp tangled mass hanging to his shoulders and his clothes were dirty and disheveled. He cleared his throat and pushed his hands into his dark jeans, flexing his undeveloped biceps. “Didn’t think you were gonna wake up.” His voice came out deeper this time, controlled.

No trace of kindness lit his eyes; she recoiled from his glare. He seemed pleased with her response, puffing his chest out and lilted his head to the side with a sneer.

“Your boyfriend will be here soon. I wonder, will he fly or run? Wanna bet?” He stared at her as she lay soundless on the callous stone. “Maybe you’d prefer a different bet. How fast I’ll kill him? If he’s a
good
boy,” he said, like he tasted something sour, “then he’s been wasting his time learning from scratch. If he was smart he woulda done it the way
I
did.” He sniffed and rubbed the end of his nose with his thumb, “I’m gonna go with-ten minutes. I’m feeling generous.”

She looked at him like he was speaking another language. What was this guy talking about?

Enflamed by her reaction, he lost control of his voice, letting it wobble in anger, “What are you looking at? I’m sorry
sweetheart
, but I’m not on the market.” He laughed and turned away from her, staring into the dark forest.

Ana’s eyes widened. Was this guy insane? Mentally fragile, at the very least.

He whipped around revealing his deep frown creeping upward into a frightening grimace. “I thought this-” He waved to the trees, “would be
much
more exciting than killing him in his sleep. Whad’ya think?” Not pausing for an answer he continued without looking at her, “I put a lot of thought into it, which says a lot, ‘cause I
really
hate
waiting.” He grinned again. “I’m so glad Chance has powers. Starting with family-just seems, right.” Then he laughed to himself, “Well, maybe he isn’t the
first
…”

She couldn’t believe her ears. What had happened? Was she going to die here with Chance? And where was he?

Her eyes fluttered as her heart rested in her chest. She used her last reserve of strength to reflect on Chance’s face and her useless heart jumped to life again. She kept him in her thoughts as a lifeline, unwilling to give in so easily. She would fight to stay alive.

“Don’t die…yet, it’d be
so much better
if he hears your heart stop for himself.”

Unable to speak, for fear it would take her breath away, she glared up at the cocky kid who stood triumphantly over her.

He chuckled, amused with her glowering frown and crossed his arms in front of his sweat stained shirt. Then his attention snapped upward, his face growing rigid. “He chose to fly. That’s okay-it’ll drain his energy
much
quicker.” His back was turned to Ana, and her line of sight became obscured by his body.

A long minute passed, feeling like hours as she waited to hear Chance’s voice. She wanted to hear him again, feel him near her. She didn’t want to die alone.

“Where is she?” A scathing voice spat, so unrecognizable at first she couldn’t believe it was Chance’s.

“Right here. She’s been
dying
to see you. Not very talkative though.”

“Why are you
doing
this?!”

“You don’t
know
?” Mocking laughter filled the air.

Ana watched the boy’s lanky body rock back before her eyes were locked behind the blackened veil again. She clung to the sound of Chance’s voice and the reoccurring beat of her heart.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t grasp what was happening around her. Her consciousness faded to black.

“What do you mean?” Chance scowled at the boy before him. He measured him up, figuring he could take him in a fist fight. Easy. They were around the same height, but Chance was broader and more muscular.

“Interesting… You don’t have
any idea
what I want with you? Fine, guess
grandpa
kept you in the dark. Works for me.” He shrugged, “It’ll be fun and easy this way.”

“Hold on-aren’t you here to stop my grandfather’s bloodline? To keep your family power?” Chance wanted to keep him engaged, giving him more time to figure out what to do. He peered around the boy and saw Ana sprawled on the rocks behind him. He sensed a faint heartbeat; at least she was still alive, for now.

“You could say that. I am here for power. To
take
it.” He groaned with a smile, “Man, I’m younger than you, but
you’re
the innocent retard.” He chuckled, amused and clapped lazily, putting on a performance that would have offended anyone. “Duh. You probably don’t even know there’s others like us all around the world. Not many. Gotta breed and mature naturally. We can’t just be created like that!” He snapped his fingers with a grin. “We live
long
lives-as long as we aren’t killed first!” He struck his chest out and looked away, bobbing his head.

Chance was annoyed with this cocky punk, but tried keeping his cool. He didn’t want to fan the fire.

“Got your powers around sixteen, right? That’s average. Well, hey you’ve had two years to work at it. I imagine your grandpa’s been teaching you slowly. There are ways around
that
. I got my powers only six months ago-bet I’m
still
better than you. Thanks to Grandfather I’ve got
plenty
of skills. Can’t wait to see what you can do. I can feel the draw-can’t wait to kill you too.”

He tightened his arms with a sneer and suddenly his lanky form shivered down into a snapping crocodile. Its thick hide tearing apart the dirty clothing so it hung by threads. The muddy colored beast lunged forward, showing its white gleaming teeth in a broad smile. Chance stepped back in surprise,
What?!

The large armored crocodilian morphed into a towering bleached white polar bear and the remains of tattered clothing drifted down to the pine needles. It grumbled raucously, swaying in place. Chance guessed he wasn’t familiar with this form, recognizing his disorientation. He also recognized the sheer power put into these animal forms.
How can he be so powerful, know such fierce forms and be so inexperienced and new to it all?

Promptly, the ghostly white shape dropped down into a serpentine rope. The dark brown body was innocent enough, until its hood opened to reveal its true majesty. A forked tongue tasted the air and its muscles flexed, lifting up to meet Chance’s gaze.

They stared at each other for a long moment before the cobra lifted into the boy’s human form. He smirked at Chance and reached down to grab his shredded clothing. “And I’ve
still
got plenty of energy…”

Why didn’t Grandfather teach me to fight shifters
, Chance thought. He had no idea what to do to win a fight with one of his kind. This kid was more powerful and knowledgeable. The only thing on Chance’s side was the boy’s inexperience.

He checked on Ana discreetly. She needed a doctor quick, her blue lips signaled trouble. He needed to move things along, even if he didn’t have a plan, “Nice show.” He cleared his throat, “How’d you know I had powers? I haven’t used them for the last two days-or did you assume?”

His counterpart shrugged, “You had it right, dumb-bo. I thought you had me…until you let me fly free.” A smile spread across his face as he watched Chance’s jaw drop open in realization.

“The
crow
? I was
right
?!” Chance could have screamed. If he had trusted his instincts this demon wouldn’t be standing before him now.

“If you had an
ounce
of guts, you’d have just killed the bird, but you’re one of the nice guys. And you know what? Like they say, nice guys always finish last.”

Chance wanted to tear every limb off the boy’s body. He snapped his jaw shut and tasted salty blood after catching his tongue by accident. The distraction drew his focus inward and things began falling into place. A clear blue outline appeared in his mind, then heard his grandfather’s voice counsel him,
Keep your focus Chance, collect your energy
.

Again, to keep the boy’s mind away from what he was doing, he asked, “You gonna to tell me your name before you kill me?”

Chance dropped his hand to his side and recaptured the electricity from rubbing the large talon. His fingers prickled with sensation.

“My name’s Markus. Got any last words?”

In wide eyed meditation Chance drew from the electromagnetic current in the air around him, pulling it in like a sieve. He was thankful it was a stormy day, although if it boosted him, it would equally help his opponent-an opponent who seemed to understand their abilities better than he did.

Chance sucked in one last breath and an explosion of power burst outward, blue light radiating up from his hand. He backed up to the edge of the cliff, turned and jumped.

He fell heavily for a moment.
Please work…please…

Chapter 38.

Thunder clapped, in the absence of lightning. A massive flying shape soared into the clouds, and swooped back around to meet Markus, who was standing with his mouth open.

Chance dove in and then swept across the ledge, his talons open, ready to grab his enemy.

In a flash Markus was gone from the top of the ridge, flinging himself from the crag Ana lay upon.

And Chance was joined in the skies. He examined his doppelganger with his new sharpened vision, able to target his eyesight at a whim. The enormous bird had no living equal, frightful in size with large clenched claws and a sharp beak used to tear and rip. Cinnamon feathers rippled in the air current, the tips snow white.

Chance’s yellow eyes flashed as he swooped toward the other bird. Their talons met in a violent tangle and they began spiraling down toward the earth. Neither would let go.

Their eyes locked and their powerful nails released at the last moment, beginning an upward ascension, avoiding a collision into the forest below.

The two huge bodies circled in the sky, seeking an opportunity to attack. Chance studied Markus teetering sloppily, wobbling through the air. Even if he was powerful, he wasn’t experienced.

Chance kept a close eye on his opponent’s erratic flight pattern. Slowly gaining altitude he sensed a point of weakness, and dove through the sky, his wings tucked against his body. Markus saw him coming and pivoted his talons ready to take a swipe.

Their bodies connected, and agonizing pain seized Chance’s leg. He felt his sharpened claws meet Markus’s chest and tearing downwards, their weapons met and they fell into another coiled plunge toward the earth. Breaking free from each other, they flew in opposite directions.