Shift (The Pandorma Adventures Book 1) (21 page)

I hiss and meet one coming at me head on.

The creature bumps its head into my chin then digs its back claws into my belly and yanks me so I’m upside down, before dropping me. I hit my head as I tumble through the air, catching my claws on an outcrop. I yank myself up then charge up the rock and leap. I close my eyes and picture myself as one of them, by the time I land, I am. A creature’s teeth burrow into my shoulder blade and it bashes me up against a wall. Before I can recover, another one digs its claws into my hindquarters and throws me up into the air. Seconds later one sinks its teeth into my back left leg and wings me around, tossing me into a thin stone column, which collapses. I fall onto a slender ledge, my vision blurring over. Another grasps my throat with its teeth, but before it can do any more, it lets out a scream and falls away.

“You okay?” Ryan asks, lowering his bow.

I start to nod but the ridge begins to disintegrate beneath me, my bashed muscles strain to obey my command to scramble away. I see one coming at me and I jump down the rock, claws scraping as I slide then jump to a spire. One jumps at me and I whack it away with my tail. It screeches, the blow powerful enough that I hear the sound of splintering bone. This surprises me since I hadn’t thought I’d struck it that hard. Another lands on the uneven top of my spire and hisses, slashing its claws. I slip down a bit as I release a paw and swipe at its face, blood welling beneath my claws. The creature’s eyes narrow to slits, but before it can act another appears beneath me and fits its jaws around my tail.

I shriek and turn my attention to it. I’m about to sink my teeth into its fur but the one above me slithers under my belly and jams its head into my stomach, unhooking me from the rock. I unfurl my wings, but they’re not exactly like bird’s wings and I whirl around ungracefully, losing precious minutes, which the creatures snap up. They dive bomb me, circling me like a tornado. They pelt me with their tails—pricking me with the needle-sharp barb on the end or slicing at me with the bladed edge—and run their claws wherever they can.

“Lissa! Ryan!” Shiver shrieks.

I frantically look around but I can’t find her. The creatures swarm and I’m forced to stay put. I repeatedly strike out; hitting them countless times, but that does nothing to help me. Twice I hear a creature squeal with death, a victim of Ryan’s sword, but I can't get a hold on any of them long enough to make a kill. Finally I get so fed up with being contained that I can't stand it anymore.
Golden eagle.
I let out a shriek, the creature’s ears flatten and their tight form shatters. I bolt up, catching a glimpse of Ryan before I land on a large outcrop. The creatures keep hissing, like they’re communicating with each other. Ryan is using his sword and keeping the creatures at bay. I desperately look for Shiver but still can’t see her. I leap off the rock and swoop around. I viciously attack the creatures while keeping an eye out for Shiver.

Suddenly it gets jarringly silent and the sky and cliffs are clear of the creatures. I land on an outcrop near Ryan, who is panting. I shift back into one of the creatures.
“Where’s Shiver?” I ask.

“I—don’t know.”

I leap to a shelf beneath and crawl along it silently, ears alert. “Shiver?” I call out.

The cliffs suddenly tremble and I pause. Silence. I start forward, inhaling deeply, seeking out Shiver’s scent.
Jackpot.
I hit on it and I follow the scent trail up. The cliffs tremble again then there’s a loud hiss to the air.

“Lissa,” Ryan says slowly. The creatures that I’d thought were gone unexpectedly appear. I gasp. It's like they have the ability to turn invisible.

“Lissa!” Shiver is scrambling as fast as she can toward me.

Relieved to see her I quickly cover the space between us and protectively wrap myself around her. Ryan yells something, but it's lost over the tremendous crashing of rocks as one cave is demolished. I look up and my mouth falls open as a creature like the others, but six times larger, comes out of the cave.
Oh boy.
It bellows and the rock beneath me trembles. The alpha catches sight of me; its tongue flicks out then it leaps. I grab Shiver by her scruff then frantically claw my way up a rock face. Definitely a plus when it comes to being one of these creatures: they’re exceptionally good at maintaining their grip and balance, no matter the pace, on these rocky surfaces. I’m able to race straight up cliffs, slip around columns, jump from place to place, and pretty much anything else that involves madly running away from the alpha creature, which mercilessly pursues me up the cliffs and outcrops.

I try hard to lose him. But no matter what I do, he’s always on my tail, his teeth centimeters from clasping my body. I spot Ryan several times out of the corner of my eye, wildly fighting off the lesser creatures circling him. He doesn’t appear to be doing much better than me. They’re too adept at fighting on the terrain and skilled at attacking in unison. I’m starting to hate these pack animals. Why couldn’t it just be one large animal?

I scramble to the top of a high column, watching the creatures swirling around Ryan before turning my gaze back to the alpha below me, who is steadily climbing my column. I look into the alpha’s spring green eyes. The message is clear: get out. If these creatures aren’t working for Xavier and Medusa, perhaps they just want us off their territory. I’m not too thrilled about flying with these unusual wings, but I have no choice. I take off, tipping to the side a few times before finding my balance. The alpha growls, creaking open his wings in order to follow. I shove my way through the cyclone of creatures to Ryan. He tries to strike me but Shiver cries out, “Don’t!”

With difficulty I grasp Ryan’s arms with my paws. I intend to take off, but Ryan weighs me down and it takes several—painful I should say—tries before I can lift him off the ground.

They chase us for the first few yards, but a purr rumbles through the air and they fall back.

“Sorry. You looked like all the rest of them,” Ryan apologizes once the creatures have left us alone.

I can’t respond because Shiver is in my mouth.

Once I’m over and past their cliffs, I reach an expanse of grassland that is a sort of valley for the mountains behind it—I’m struggling by this point—and I alight on the ground, almost dumping Ryan instead of placing him down gently. Shiver falls from my jaws, rolling up into a ball. Ryan rubs his neck.
Lissa.
On one side of the valley the grass slowly dies off until it's just barren and rocky and on the other side, farther away, it is bordered by a forest.

“Shouldn’t we go farther?” Ryan asks.

“I think they only wanted us off their territory.”

“Are you sure?” Shiver asks fearfully.

“I am ninety-five percent—”

The ground beneath us suddenly bursts open, throwing me out of the valley and onto the hard, rocky dirt. I moan and sit up, rubbing my side, which I’d hit on a rock. I look around and spot Ryan picking himself up several feet away, Shiver by his feet. I look back to the place where we were thrown from. The alpha creature pulls itself farther out of the hole it’s created in the earth, its minions rushing out behind it. I rush over to Ryan.

“Now what?”

“Run!”

“What?” I yell but Ryan has already grabbed my hand and taken off, I’m just barely able to scoop up Shiver. As the alpha beast lumbers closer, the ground starts to tremble.

“Ryan, we can't—” I jump over a fissure in the earth, “we can't outrun these things!”

Ryan doesn’t respond so I look ahead of us: a volcano—not a huge one, but definitely not a small one.
I wonder if it’s dormant.
I sure hope so, since Ryan seems to be heading straight toward it. We jump over another crack. I chance a look back. The creatures are gaining on us. Fast. We draw closer and closer to the volcano’s base. Something inside me screams that we shouldn’t get any closer.

I try again. “Ryan we should really—” This time the volcano shuddering to life interrupts me.
That
gets Ryan to halt. The ground trembles violently and our arms fly out as we try to steady ourselves, Shiver flying through the air.
Great.
I slit my eyes at Ryan. He catches my look and his jaw drops open in protest.

“I didn’t—” Ryan is cut off by a massive explosion. We look to the sky as a column of lava and smoke soar into the air, raining back down onto the old lava-plastered ground. We duck and cover our heads as lava and burning rocks pound the ground close to us. Shiver rapidly jumps back over to me and burrows into my arms.

“Run?” I say, unable to hide the hint of sarcasm. Part of me is terrified to be so close to an erupting volcano, but I’m also in awe because I’ve never seen a volcano erupt live before and it’s absolutely spectacular.

He doesn’t answer me; just turns and we begin running toward the thin forest bordering the rocky ground. The alpha and minions have abruptly stopped pursuing us and now turn and bolt back to their cliffs. A burning rock sprays up dirt as it crashes in front of us. Ryan darts around it, hardly slowing. Numerous rocks of various sizes are suddenly showering down all around us and we have to continually sweep our eyes across the sky, while keeping an eye on the rutted ground.

Ahead of the creatures the ground unexpectedly yawns open, catching three of them off guard they fall into the hole. The rest spread their wings and utter noises of terror as they flee. The earth abruptly opens before us and we frantically skid to a halt. There’s a river of lava a ways below, invisible steam wafting up and blowing our hair around. Ryan jerks me back as the ground begins crumbling. But there’s no point, the earth all around us is cracking, opening up to rivers of lava. We have to scramble backwards, sideways, forward and any other direction in order to not fall in.

I’m not fast enough. The earth splits at separate points that run along the ground until they meet in a crooked triangle like shape. I fall to my hands and knees as the shuddering piece of earth begins to break away. Shiver turns her giant, fear-filled eyes on me. I pick her up. She yelps, “Wait!” before I toss her away from the crumbling ground.

I wobbly try to stand, but I’m losing ground faster than I can use it to get up. My brain screams
shift,
but I can’t. I’m too scared to think of an animal and hold the picture. Just as my last attempt to get back on solid ground fails, Ryan’s hand suddenly grabs mine, his fingers gripping it tightly. I clap my other hand around his arm.

“Don’t let me fall,” I plead.

“I won't,” he responds through gritted teeth and I have the weirdest thought: am I really that heavy? Ryan struggles to get to his knees then begins pulling me up, our grasp growing slippery from sweat. I’m hot. Really hot. The heat below me is powerful enough that if I didn’t have shoes on, my toes would probably be charring.

“Grab the ledge!”

I don’t want to let go of Ryan’s wrist, but I force myself to pull my fingers away. I reach out, coming centimeters short. I try to stretch higher, but when I do, I pull my other hand down and it slips. Ryan grunts and tries to grasp me tighter, fear flashing in his eyes. He doesn’t dare try to fix his grasp, but he can't hold me like this much longer.

“Try again,” he puffs. Again I reach for the ledge, but there’s a sudden blast of dirt as a rock collides with the ground. It sends Ryan onto his side and in that second, I slip. Ryan makes a wild grab for me but only brushes my fingers. Our eyes lock as I twist in the air, I can hear his muffled cry as I fall. Before I can even think of shifting, the lava opens up and closes over me. I cover my eyes, fearing being burned alive, but not a speck of lava burns me. I open my eyes to see the lava dividing beneath me then merging overhead. Suddenly I’m not in lava but near darkness.
Jaguar.
I right myself just before I land hard on rock.
Lissa.
I am still for a minute, rubbing my wrists and ankles, letting the shock from the landing wear off. The rock is almost pure black with veins of gray running through it.

From what little I can see I’m in a tunnel. Farther down, rocks fall from the ceiling and clatter to the floor, the sound echoing in the isolation. There’s a flutter of light to my right and I turn. It’s a butterfly. I think. Its body is shrouded in an orange-ish white glow, which curls and wisps around the butterfly’s wings as it moves, leaving a faint glowing trail behind it that dissipates several minutes later. The butterfly flutters toward me, swinging up and down. The butterfly flies up to me so that it’s directly in my face. I watch its little eyes blink and feel a small, amused smile flutter across my lips.

I stretch out my finger and the butterfly lands on it. It sinks miniature fangs into my flesh.

“Ow.” I whisk my finger away. Blood wells up from where the butterfly’s fangs were. Feeling a pinch I look down. A different butterfly is sucking on my leg. I wiggle it and the butterfly tumbles off. This one is baby blue and white.

My eyes flit away from the blue butterfly and I realize that others are now fluttering around in the air. None of them have the same set of colors. They create a giant glow, their colors mingling so that I’m hardly able to distinguish one from another or that they even are butterflies. I don’t feel afraid of them, but I don’t want them sucking me dry so I turn and leave. They follow, flitting around my face. One gentle flick and they flutter away. Of all the strange, dangerous creatures on this planet, these butterflies are the least aggressive. A couple more do bite me but I shoo them away—hopefully, they aren't poisonous.