Shift (The Pandorma Adventures Book 1) (15 page)

Shiver stands there confused before understanding lights up her face. “Oh! You come from
the other world,
” she says dramatically. “Well! That explains your unusual name. Look.” Shiver goes up to a tree. “Put your paw on the bark.”

Surprise weaves through me. The bark is vibrating. I look closer, but the tree isn’t visibly vibrating I press my ear to the bark. There’s a slight hum, the vibration tickling my ear fur.

“Is there something inside?”

“Not anything I know of.”

“Is it bugs?” I mumble mostly to myself. I feel somewhat childish, but I’ve never felt a tree vibrate before and amazement has overtaken me.

“Nope. I’ve chewed through the bark—there are no bugs.”

I frown. If I listen closely there is a barely audible hum to the air.

“What’s it like? In the other world?”

“Nothing like this that’s for sure,” I say under my breath, thinking specifically of the mermaid that had just tried to kill me.

We continue walking in silence until we reach the edge of the Shiver trees. I’m hesitant to shift, it’ll most likely start another round of Shiver’s jabbering, but I want to walk on two legs.
Lissa.

“So
that’s
what a human looks like. I heard it's what Xavier and Medusa are, but of course
I’ve
never seen one before so I had no idea what they looked like.”

I look at the land spread before us. The ground is dry and rocky; the sparse bushes are short, the leaves tough and dry looking. Small to medium-sized plateaus rise up here and there, breaking up the landscape. The heat isn’t intense, but I have a feeling it will be when the sun is directly overhead.

I take a hesitant step then shake off my uncertainty of crossing this place. The sooner I reach the Stones the better.

“Are you sure you want to go out there?”

“Yes. Why not?”

“It's dangerous,” she says, eyes wide.

“It can’t be any more dangerous than everywhere else,” I remark.

“Oh. Good point!”

I laugh and we start walking.

“I think that wolf is following us,” Shiver tells me fearfully.

I scan the deserted wilderness. Again. Seeing nothing, like the last five times she mentioned it, I say, “I think the heat is getting to you.” Sweat drips down my brow, I quickly wipe it away only for more to take its place.

“I’m not the one sweating. There!” Shiver shrieks.

This time I catch the end of a tail fleeing behind a boulder; a very familiar, blondish-brown tail.

“Trevor, is that you?” I head over to the boulder. It might not be Trevor, but what other wolf would be following me instead of hunting me?

“Gotcha!”

I jump back and stare at Trevor as he chuckles. Relief and joy wash through me.

“Oh my gosh, Trevor! Where have you . . . been?” I catch myself before I can say “you guys”—I can’t see Dark or Ryan with him. “And why are you trying to give me a heart attack? This place is already scary enough.”

My imagination has worked itself into overdrive. Every flick of a leaf and my adrenaline starts racing. I have a right to be scared. Even though—I unwisely told Shiver that I can shift into any animal, and she started a whole round of endless, run-together questions—Shiver insisted that I could beat anything that set foot in front of us. But I don’t agree. Tingles of apprehension run up and down my spine. I think I’m sweating more out of fear than heat.

“Sorry,” Trevor says, but he doesn’t sound sorry.

“She’s afraid of a surprise attack,” Shiver states.

“You would be too if you knew anything at all,” I reply.

“Of what?” Trevor asks pointedly gazing around us at the emptiness.

“Of Utahraptor,” Shiver answers for me.

“A Utah tractor huh?”

“It's Utah
raptor
dummy. And if you’re afraid you’re sane. If you’re not you’re demented.”

“It couldn’t hurt me,” Shiver declares.

I don’t bother asking her why. Instead I release a heavy sigh and start walking, intending to leave Trevor behind if I can.

“Where are you headed?” Trevor asks just barely muffling his tone of superiority. He knows very well where I’m headed, so I ignore him.

“Last I heard, Vacant Stones are the
other way,”
Trevor says.

Dang it.
I glance at Shiver, she stares at me curiously. I purse my lips and turn to him. He hasn’t moved, but now he walks up to me, an eyebrow raised. I cross my arms, desperately racking my brain for a comeback. But I have nothing.

“Where are Dark and Ryan?” I ask instead.

Trevor leans lazily against a rocky outcrop, acting as if this is the safest place in the world.

“We left
Bryan
to fend for himself—”

I throw him a look and he revises, “Your boyfriend—”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” I yell then clap a hand over my mouth. Hopefully there aren’t any predators in the vicinity.

Trevor’s face suddenly gets serious. “If he’s not your boyfriend then why did you bring him with us?” he asks accusingly. “Why are you with him?” I freeze at those words. It’s almost the exact same line Ryan had used.

“Ryan was around so I told him about Pandorma. He wanted to come just like you did,” I answer.

Trevor doesn’t seem to know how to take this. “After we lost you we weren’t sure if we should keep going or keep looking for you. Darklily decided it was best if she and Ryan kept going and I looked for you.”

“So what took you so long?” I demand.

“I thought this place was dangerous,” Trevor says, emphasizing dangerous.

I just cross my arms and stare at him.

Finally he gives in and says, “I had your trail until that rainstorm blew in and washed it away. But thanks to my superior senses I was still able to locate you.”

I resist rolling my eyes. “Let’s go.”

Trevor doesn’t move. “Lead on.”

“Fine.” I take a guess and pick the opposite direction. He falls in step behind me so we must be heading the right way.

After what feels like an hour of listening to our shoes crunching dirt, birds in the distance cawing, and bellows of avoided animals; Shiver finally breaks the silence. “I smell bear,” Shiver comments.

“Yeah me too.” Trevor’s voice is hushed, wary. I breathe deeply but I can’t smell anything except the thick aroma of pine needles and sap.

We’ve come to a stop in front of a dark pine forest. The thick boughs, heavy with needles, block all sun except for a few slivers that cast an eerie gray light in the darkness; the rich, dark dirt only adds to the ominous feeling.

“I can’t smell bear,” I say.

“How can you not?” Shiver whispers. “They always stink. I don’t know why.”

Trevor snorts with laughter. “That’s true.”

“So where is the bear?” I ask, still trying to pick up its scent.

“I’d say—”

“Never mind,” I interject quickly. I can’t trust anything he says right now. Not with the smile he’s
attempting
to hide.

“You guys are wacky. Come on, there are berries this way,” chirps Shiver.

Shiver leads us around the edge of the pine forest to a small berry patch. I quickly gobble down strawberries and raspberries, picking around the blackberries. Trevor turns away from us, scanning the forest guardedly.

“Are you going to have some?” I ask him.

“Nah. I already ate.”

“Already ate . . .” my voice falters.
Ate as in
killed
something?
My stomach churns at the thought of killing and eating an animal; the thought of all those innards makes it worse.

“That’s gross.”

“I cooked it over a fire.” He leaves out
duh,
but I can hear it all the same.

Shiver cuts off our banter. “So in this
other world
do they have forests or is it just,” Shiver opens her eyes wide, “
barren
?”

“I’m going to shift,” Trevor states.

I almost laugh at Shiver’s unnecessary drama. “My world . . .” I trail off. I was going to say, “Is no different from yours” but that would be totally wrong in some ways.

“It's basically like here just—”

“We need to leave
now
,” Trevor interrupts.

An angry growl reverberates from the forest. I freeze mid-pick of a raspberry. There’s another piercing roar. Trevor takes off, following the line of trees. I grab Shiver and race after him, taking care not to trip over the numerous roots.

Needles scrape my arm and sting my face but I hardly notice. Another roar echoes through the air, bouncing off the trees. It sounds closer.

Trevor looks back, checking to make sure I’m still behind him. I realize he could’ve easily outpaced me by now. I should’ve shifted when he did.

There’s another bellow. This one is farther away, but we don’t stop running until we’ve cleared the forest and the small field adjacent to it.

Chapter 12

Trevor’s brow furrows as he attempts to start a fire. I stifle a giggle, but a small noise must have slipped out because he looks over at me.

“This isn’t as easy as it looks,” he says.

I get closer to him and his pile of twigs. Dad would always build a fire when we went camping in August and he’d tried numerous times to teach me but I could never remember—or had the patience to sit and actually listen to him when he was trying to teach me.

“Well, maybe if we . . .” I take one of his sticks and vigorously rub my hands down it. My feeble attempt at copying what I’ve seen people in movies do.

“Why don’t you just find a dragon?”

We both look over at Shiver.

“Dragons are just myths,” Trevor grunts.

“So are werewolves,” I say and elbow him gently. “Where would we find a dragon?” I ask Shiver.

Trevor gives me an
are-you-serious?
look, but I ignore him. He takes my stick from me and continues doing what I did.

“There’s probably at least one in those caves we passed,” Shiver responds.

“It’s too far back,” Trevor says hurriedly and I feel the last spark of hope for the warmth of a fire go out.

I sigh and lean against a tree. A sliver of moon winks coldly far above.

“Looks like we won’t have a fire tonight,” Trevor says, throwing the sticks away.

“That’s a shame. I’ll be back, going to get some dinner!” Shiver announces and trots off, nose in the air.

Wolf.
Trevor watches me as I shift, his face purposefully blank. A strong wind picks up so I edge closer to Trevor, who has shifted as well.

“I guess Darklily was right,” he says.

I nod. “Who knew? It’s so weird right? I mean, who would’ve thought that
I
could shift? I’m not even a werewolf. I’m something else.”

“You sure are something else,” he says softly and I swallow. Feeling self-conscious, I tuck my paws around my chest.

“What happened to the backpack?” I ask, changing the subject.

“Ryan has it,” he answers.

Silence settles over us and as my eyelids are starting to droop he says, “I shouldn’t have pushed you away and gone into hiding. I knew I could trust you I just . . .”

I understand perfectly. Some secrets never make their way to the surface gracefully. They come out in other ways, leaving trails of pain, anger, and regret.

“We could always start over,” I say.

He looks at me hopefully, his tail thumping once. “I’ve missed having you around.”

I attempt to smile, forgetting I’m in wolf form. It probably looks more like the beginning of a snarl.

“Back! Lissa, I was thinking, what exactly can you shift into?” Shiver’s rusty voice breaks the peace and we both look over at her. Shiver pads over and lies next to me.

“Darklily says I can shift into any animal.”

“That’s handy. Who is this Darklily?”

Trevor sighs and mutters something about not getting any sleep tonight.

“Dark is the one who brought us here. Well, she brought me here. My friends just tagged along,” I answer.

“Dark is your nickname for her? I like nicknames. Maybe I can have a nickname for you. How about Lis?”

“That’ll work,” I respond sleepily.

Shiver then begins babbling about how awesome it would be if I shifted into a dragon and such. As she talks, sleep envelopes me like a wool blanket, and before I can stop myself, I’m out.

* * * *

“No!”
I jerk up, terror flooding me.

Trevor is instantly by my side. “Are you okay?” he asks.

“Bad dream,” I say shakily.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

I quickly shake my head. It had been another dream with my dad appearing to be dead. I didn’t want to talk about it with Trevor. He would just ask questions and I didn’t feel like giving any answers.

I slump back to the ground, my breathing still uneven. It’s still very dark. I wonder how much sleep I got. I doubt it was much though I don’t feel in the least bit tired. Trevor leaves me then comes back with a pile of berries and meat. I quickly eat the berries, hoping they’ll sooth my parched throat. Nope. I look dubiously at the meat.

“It’s cooked.” When I still don’t touch it he adds, “You can’t live on fruit alone.”

The meat is still warm. I tentatively bring it up to my mouth. Trevor looks at me expectantly. He wants me to like it, so I’m glad it doesn’t taste terrible, but I’d take a hamburger over this any day.

“So?”

“It's good.”

Trevor smiles. “I know it doesn’t seem too appealing but you can’t be picky here.”

Shivering, I get up and kneel in front of a small fire. “How did you get a fire started?”

“Your friend got that dragon.”

My eyes widen. “Did you see it?”

Trevor shakes his head. I look around for Shiver, but she isn’t visible.

“We should get going.” Trevor stamps out the fire. “You should probably shift. We're headed into a cold spot.”

Trevor goes behind a bush then comes back out in wolf form.
Wolf.
I must have reverted back to human form in my sleep.

“Question, why do you always go out of sight before shifting?”

Trevor comes to stand in front of me. Even in wolf form he towers over me. So unfair.

“Habit I guess,” he says. “After I accepted that I was a werewolf I called my uncle. He drilled it into my head that I can never let anyone see me shift.”

Before I can respond Shiver asks, “So what happens when we reach this place we’re heading to?”

We start walking and I tell her, “I’m not sure exactly. I just hope Dark and Ryan are there.” I don’t bother hiding my anticipation of seeing them and it earns me a look from Trevor.

“Wait. Who’s Ryan?” Shiver asks, confused.

“Another friend of mine,” I say slowly, glad my fur will cover any blushing.

“Will I get to meet him?” she asks excitedly.

I laugh and say, “Yes. Him and Dark.”

“Yay! I love meeting new people,” she chirps and I chuckle.

* * * *

Sunlight is bleaching the sky by the time we reach the edge of the pine forest. Ahead of us lay snow-swollen land. I scan the wintry whiteness. Barren snowcapped trees and bushes, mounds of snow peppered here and there keep the landscape from being level.

“Tell me we don’t have to go through there. It’s freezing.” We are just on the border and it is frigid. I have a bad feeling the middle will be even colder.

“I can smell mountain air. It’ll be faster if we go straight through.”

I inhale deeply, but can’t pick out the smell of mountains. “How—”

Trevor shakes his head. “Like this.” Trevor stands stock-still. “Wait. Okay now take a deep breath,” he says after a bit.

A light wind has sprung up; I turn my head to it and breathe deeply. I can faintly pick up dirt, clean mountain water, trees, and flourishing life beyond the snowy terrain. It sets my senses on fire. Taking another lungful of air, this time I delve deeper into the scents and I can smell so much more.
I open my eyes to find Trevor watching me intently.

“Wow,” I breathe.

“When you shift let your animal senses take control. If you don’t restrain them and let instincts take over, you can see the world in a whole new way.”

Snow crunching under paw we swiftly trek into the whiteness.

* * * *

The hike across the snowy land had not been easy. It’d taken us a day and a half. I had to shift into a polar bear twice. Once to tunnel out a den; the second time to make an oncoming male polar bear think twice about attacking us. I carried Shiver on my back most of the trip, her short legs unable to keep up with Trevor’s swift pace.

When we’d reached the foot of the mountains Trevor was able to catch two rabbits and miraculously I was able to start a fire to cook the meat over. We allowed ourselves to rest until the mellow pre-dawn light began to tiptoe across the sky; then we began scaling the mountains. Two more days and we reach a peak overlooking a long, narrow valley below.

Warmth brushes my face and tangles my hair. The long, mint green grass rolls like waves on the sea. It’s a welcoming sight after our hasty trudge across the craggy mountains. Trees color the last few miles to the bottom before they abruptly stop and the flowing grass begins.

“This is an amazing view,” Shiver squeals. Shiver’s eagerness is contagious. I’m starting to feel jittery with excitement.
Wolf.
Especially since we’re so close to the others.

“We need to go there.” Trevor points his muzzle to a fortress of rocks.

“Then let’s go!” I jump to my paws and begin racing down the slope. Trevor leaps in front of me and I crash to a stop, my face tangling into his fur.

He quickly scolds, “You can’t just go racing off. Haven’t you learned anything?”

“I’ve learned plenty,” I say indignantly.

“Then you should know to be more careful.”

I sigh as Trevor advances forward. He’s been wound tight ever since we’ve gotten close to our destination.

“I didn’t know dirt and trees could be dangerous. The air is void of animal smells. If
I
can tell so can you,” I say.

“That doesn’t mean nothing is there,” Trevor retorts and pushes ahead.

“Isn’t he a petal of sunlust,” Shiver mutters just as I breathe, “Someone’s gotten paranoid.”

* * * *

Lissa.
The grass is as high as my legs, the blades fuzzy and tapered. I watch it sway from one direction to another. Trevor catches up—in human form; wordlessly he faces the collection of boulders at the end of the grass sea and heads toward them. I follow, the excitement fizzing through me growing stronger the closer we get.

Right beneath the boulders, I gape in amazement at their sheer size. They tower up to the sky, some jagged and jutting out at odd angles, leaning against each other; broken, fragmented, and creviced in thousands of places. Some are jammed together while others have yards of space between them. The dirt beneath us is dry like it hasn’t tasted rain in years and there isn’t a hint of vegetation.

“Hey wait up!” I call to Trevor as he barely gives the boulders a second glance before winding his way through them. Trevor weaves among the rocks like he’s been here before, I unquestionably follow his lead while Shiver slips between the rocks, disappearing then reappearing, her jaws often smacking with pleasure.

“Trev—”

Trevor stops suddenly, causing me to crash into his back.

“If you’re going to keep stopping short you might as well warn—agh!” I sputter as something barrels into my side, knocking the breath from me as I slam to the dirt. A rough, warm tongue licks the side of my face. The creature hops off and I roll over and sit, wiping bits of dirt off. Ecstatic emerald eyes stare into mine.

“Dark!”

“Who else could pounce on you so perfectly?”

I give her a tight hug before answering, “Only you. Where’s Ryan?”

Dark hangs her head, her waving tail falling to the ground. “He—he didn’t make it. I’m sorry.”

I sit there in shock, my chest getting so tight it hurts.

“What?” My voice is just above a whisper as I choke out the word. Dark flicks her tail then looks at me, eyes sparkling again.

“He’s fine. Maybe a little duller since you last saw him, but other than that he’s got all his essentials. You know, arms, legs, and hair. Can’t forget the hair, wouldn’t want a bald mate at such a young age.”

“Darklily! That’s not funny,” I say and shove her aside, feeling my face grow hot. “And we are
not
mates!”

“That’s not even her worst. She's been a
huge
pest since we lost you.”

My cheeks flame even more at the sound of Ryan’s voice as he appears out of the mouth of a cleverly hidden tunnel. Ryan gives me his crooked smile
and I fight the urge to wrap him in a giant hug.

Ryan gestures for us to follow him into the tunnel. As I head in, Ryan angles himself inches away from me. I feel my skin tingle and my face flush with his closeness; I’m so glad it’s darker inside.

“It’ll get brighter in a minute,” Ryan assures us.

A burning flame glows deeper within the tunnel and as we approach it I realize that it is a branch.

“You guys really had us worried when you didn’t show up three days ago,” Ryan says.

Trevor clenches his jaw. After a few minutes of silence Ryan begins telling us of how he’d incessantly tried to convince Cobalt to let Dark and him go search for us. When Cobalt had rejected their leaving, Darklily had taken him down to the beach and kept him busy educating him in surviving on Pandorma.

I ask who Cobalt is and Ryan gives a brief explanation saying that she is the leader of the army trying to halt Xavier and Medusa. But Ryan won’t disclose anything else about her.