Shift (The Pandorma Adventures Book 1) (17 page)

* * * *

Blossom pink and tiger orange blend together, streaking across the sky in giant ribbons and painting every cloud they touch. I lie on top of a giant rock, chin resting on my hands; eyes squinted against the vivid light, the cool gray stone soothing my aching muscles. From here I can see the ocean; it plays excitedly with the colors, tossing them this way and that way creating a gorgeous spectrum of pink’s and oranges. Watching the sunset makes my heart ache with longing for my dad. Another sunset he would’ve given anything to see, but I’m the only one enjoying it. Again.

A soft combination of a sigh and moan escapes my lips. Every single muscle in me feels like jello. After a few hours of shifting he’d thrown battle fighting into the mix. It was a lot harder than I thought it’d be. Evidently these animals don’t fight with just tooth and claw and simple attack moves. Instead, they fight with complicated jumps and twists, premeditated and practiced strikes, with every animal playing up their individual strengths. It required more strategy and endurance than I’ve ever used before.

* * * *

“You’re too sympathetic,” Cuven growls.

I gently drop Trevor’s leg. We both look at Cuven as he marches over. Ryan, Dark, and Shiver watch curiously.

“Trevor is my friend,” I argue. “I can’t hurt him for real.”

Cuven’s ear twitches irritably. “No one will take mercy on you or spare your life! You’re going for his paws and shoulders, you’re hesitating and giving him time to plan a counterattack. He can tell what you’re going to do even before you do it.”

I’m in the form of a wolf. I flatten my ears. There’s no point trying to argue that I’m still sore from yesterday and that I’m still getting the hang of fighting.

“Let’s go again,” I say to Trevor.

Cuven steps in front of me and herds me to a corner away from the others. “Where Trevor has size you have speed,
use it,
” he whispers fiercely. “Aim for the back of the neck, the thighs, anywhere you can get a grip that will
bring him down
, not just make a harmless wound.”

Before I can say that I don’t want to injure Trevor he snaps, “This is only practice. You don’t have to sink your teeth in hard, you just need to hit your mark.”

“Alright,” I agree reluctantly.

We head back over and I face Trevor.

“You can do it Lis!” Shiver chirps encouragingly.

Back of the neck or thighs,
I repeat. My heart is pounding—I don’t want to fail again. I make a dive for his paws. As his jaws move down to stop me I slither away and under him, sinking my teeth into his thigh. I pull back hard, yanking his feet out from under him. He lunges for me so I let go and circle around, jumping on his back. I sink my teeth into his neck and gently twist. Had I used my full strength that would’ve been a killing bite.

I jump off Trevor’s back and look at Cuven.

“Now you’re getting the hang of it,” he says with a hint of approval.

After a few more battles Cuven has us stop. He then commands me to take several different forms—in each form he shows me how it would be best to attack and where my weak points are. When a coyote tells Cuven that Cobalt wants to speak with him, he scurries off and Ryan comes to sit by me.
Lissa.

“You’re getting better,” he says and I smile.

“Thanks.”

“It’s actually a little scary knowing what you’re capable of but since you’re on our side it’s also somewhat cool.”

I laugh slightly and he smiles before turning serious. “You know, I don’t think Cobalt was expecting us.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” he lowers his voice even more, “she was really angry when Darklily told her she’d brought help. When Dark told her she’d brought a shifter like Medusa and Xavier, I thought she was going to kill us then and there.”

I slowly take in everything Ryan said. Shouldn’t Cobalt be pleased to have a shifter like Medusa and Xavier fighting on her side?

“That doesn’t make sense,” I say quietly.

Ryan leans closer to me. “Do you think that maybe she could be up to something?”

“Like what?”

Before he can answer, Cuven returns, his face stony. “Let’s get back to training,” he orders.

Ryan and I exchange a look before he goes back to sit by Dark and I continue training with Cuven.

* * * *

I let out a cry of pain and fall back. Blood soaks my lion orange fur and I hear Ryan curse.

“You hurt her,” he says angrily.

“Don’t shift,” Cuven instructs just as I shift back into human form. Cuven growls grumpily and says, “You heal faster in animal form and shifting when you have a wound is not the best idea. You bleed faster mid-shift and there’s always the chance you can open up the wound more.”

I nod and look down at the long gash on my arm. “Is that why it started tingling? When I was in animal form?” I ask Cuven. He flicks an ear. Ryan comes over to inspect, his eyes flashing.

“Ryan I’m fine,” I insist, trying to shield the wound from him. “His paw slipped and his claw caught me, it was an accident.” I don’t think he believes me. Shiver trots over and peers at the wound with large eyes.

“Let me see,” Ryan says, pulling my hand away. “We should probably bandage it up,” he adds but Cuven snaps, “She’ll be alright in just a bit.”

Ryan starts to argue but I put my hand over his. “It’s fine.” He still brings me a bandage and carefully watches me wrap it around my arm.

“Let’s work on something else until it heals,” Cuven says dismissively.

We end up spending the rest of the day working on enhancing my senses. He has me sort out scents and train my nose so that I can pick up even the faintest scent. He then has me pinpoint sounds and stretch my hearing to the max.

This is by far the easiest of my training and I master it quickly.

“Hey, maybe when we train tomorrow I can try shifting into a Tyrannosaurs Rex,” I say excitedly. I’m in wolf form, facing away from Cuven. He’s a few feet away, snuffling around the base of a tree. Cuven said something about finding an old bone—he didn’t elaborate beyond that.

He makes a scoffing noise. “Go ahead and try shifting into that. You’ll probably kill yourself.”

“How?” I ask, puzzled, and begin to turn around.

“Keep facing the other way!” he snaps. “Your body does a lot of adjusting—you should have a couple months of shifting behind you before attempting such a large form.”

“Oh. How many months? Because I think it would be awesome to be a T. Rex—”

“Don’t start rambling,” he grumbles. “And a Tyrannosaurus Rex is not
awesome
. They are vicious predators.”

I listen to him begin to scratch away at the dirt. “Maybe I can help,” I suggest.

“You’re not putting your grubby paws on my bone,” he says. “You’d scratch it up.”

I frown. What is so special about this particular bone?

“It’s still here,” Cuven says, sounding relieved and satisfied.

“What is?” I’m about to turn around again but stop myself.

“A few weeks ago I got hold of some healing water. I was afraid Cobalt would take it so I hid it inside a bone. I wanted to check and make sure it was still here.”

“Why would Cobalt take it? And where do you get water that can heal? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Because Cobalt keeps tight control on our resources. As for the healing water, it’s rare and to have some is a great advantage—especially if you get a large wound. It’ll heal you right up.”

“That’s useful.”

“Yes it is,” Cuven agrees and comes to stand by me. “I’ll make sure to put the water in your backpack before you leave. Let’s head back to the others now.”

* * * *

“I’ve never seen anything like that!” Shiver exclaims.

Ryan is holding his sword and bow and some arrows. “More arrows are being made,” he tells us. He has three right now. The sword’s razor sharp sides gleam menacingly in the sun, the handle a simple T made of a Dalmatian colored stone. The blade is about a foot and a half long. Ryan catches me studying the handle and says, “It’s an intrusive igneous rock called Diorite.”

I look at him blankly and he laughs. “That’s what Synth called it. Apparently he’s an expert on rocks and metals and such.”

Ryan then shows me the sword’s sheath—which is made of those green leaves—and the metal lining around the inside to prevent the blade from cutting the leaf as it’s drawn out or put back in. When he shows me the bow I ask, “Have you ever shot an arrow?”

“No. But it can’t be too difficult right?”

Cuven, who had been sitting quietly a few feet away, now sighs wearily. “Ryan I hope you’re capable of hitting your target. I’m in no mood to be teachin’ you how to shoot straight,” he grumbles.

“When are you in the mood to do anything?” I joke and Cuven merely flicks an ear.

* * * *

After Cuven had helped Ryan with his sword skills, I found a long, thick stick and we’d have mock battles. At times Dark and Trevor would join in on the fights. Cuven would watch carefully and use these battles to train us how to fight as a team and how to defend ourselves against an attack with more than one creature.

As Cuven focused on perfecting Ryan’s sword and archery skills, I got to sit on the sidelines for once. I would watch, just like Dark and Shiver, but we often ended up doing more talking than watching. If Trevor wasn’t needed he made himself scarce. When I asked what he did, he said he was exploring and keeping tabs on Cobalt and her small team of animals.

I’d told him what Ryan had said about Cobalt not expecting us and he’d found it strange too. But so far the only thing he’d overheard that was of any importance, is that Cobalt seems to expect Cuven to do a bad job training me. Except Cuven has been training me very well. It wasn’t adding up but our only way to get information was by spying—and that wasn’t giving us any answers. I had suggested asking Cuven directly but Trevor and Dark didn’t think he was entirely trustworthy—and Trevor and Ryan agreed that no one outside of our group should know we suspect something is up. For the time being we would just have to be in the dark.

* * * *

The afternoon rays of the sun happily beat down on the earth, keeping the air comfortably warm. Less than ten feet away is the ocean, the sound of its waves crashing against the shore a gentle rhythm.

Dark and I are lying in the shade of a boulder. Her eyes are closed, her tail lazily flicking every now and then. Cuven has given us the day off from training because Dark and Trevor are leaving today. I had been surprised by this but Cuven had been quick to explain that we were training tonight as soon as it got dark. For the remainder of our time here we will be training at night.

I look over at Dark. This could be the last time I see her for a while. This makes me sad. We’ve gotten closer since Trevor, Shiver, and I had gotten here and I’m going to miss her company.

I say, “I think my dad has been here before.”

I think I see Dark stiffen, but then she peeks at me, stretches and sits and I decide I was imagining things. I expect her to tell me it’s impossible for him to have been here, but she doesn’t say that.

“It wouldn’t be unheard of for a human to accidentally end up here. How do you know he’s been here?”

“He used to tell me these stories. It’s too much of a coincidence that some of the things he told me about are real here. I wonder why he never told me about Pandorma directly.”

Darklily playfully flicks a small stone at me. “It’s obvious why not. This place can be very dangerous—he probably knew you’d ignore that fact and go looking for a portal anyway. You’re too curious.”

I grin at her and say, “That might be true but I’m always careful.” A thought suddenly enters my mind and I speak it before I can stop myself. “Do you think that . . . if he kept Pandorma from me he could’ve kept other things from me? Like, say, being able to shift?”

Dark is silent for longer than necessary and a ball of anxiety forms in my stomach.

“I think he didn’t tell you about Pandorma to keep you safe. If he was a shifter, I’m sure he would’ve told you so,” she finally says.

The anxiety dissipates. “I think you’re right,” I say, relieved.

I hear the small patter of feet before the coyote rounds the corner and says, “Cobalt says it’s time to leave Darklily.”

“Alright,” she tells him but doesn’t move. She gives him a pointed look and he reluctantly moves away.

“I wish you could come with us,” I say.

Dark leans in and whispers, “It’s better if we split up. While you and Ryan are heading toward Xavier, Trevor and I are going to do some spying. It’s hard to know who to trust and I’ve always been wary about Cobalt. At first she truly seemed to be trying to stop Medusa but then the last few months something changed. It’s like she isn’t trying as hard.”

“Maybe she got disheartened?”

Dark shakes her head. “I don’t think that’s the reason. Anyway, Trevor and I are going to hang out close by for a bit then see if we can track down Medusa and hopefully find out what she’s up to.” Dark sighs and brushes her head against my shoulder. “You guys be very careful.”