Shift (The Pandorma Adventures Book 1) (28 page)

“Better hurry,” Iru hisses angrily.

I race through the door to the last kennel, ignoring the others. I look over the people, but Ryan isn’t among them. Growling under my breath I race back. The rabbit is gone. On a hunch I go through the other door in the lab. Iru is quickly hopping down the hall. I run and catch up with him. I grab his scruff and Iru lets out a cry of indignation.

“Where is he?”

“Who?” he squeaks.

“
Don’t
play dumb.”

Glaring at me with malice-filled eyes he points a paw down the hall. I drop Iru and take off down the corridor. There’s no handle on the door so I just race through. A metal table stands at the back of the small room. I pass a counter filled with tubes, each containing a different liquid.

My heart flutters at the still body lying on the table. I gently sweep my hand across Ryan’s clammy forehead. The ground trembles beneath me and tubes rattle on the counter, but I keep my eyes fixed on Ryan’s chest. It moves up slightly. I close my eyes and breathe a sigh of relief. Ryan’s eyes flicker open. I yank my hand away. He frowns, his vision unfocused for a few seconds before recognizing me.

“Finally,” he murmurs.

I smile softly. Ryan’s wrists and ankles are rigidly tied to the table; one test tug guarantees that. The ground vibrates again, this time more violently. Tubes clatter to the ground, splashing their contents everywhere. I wildly look at the ceiling and walls as dirt crumbles around us. They don’t come crashing down but I can sense that they’re growing weaker.

I look around for his weapons—I think I’m going to need a sharp blade to cut these binds. “Where’s your sword?”

Ryan gives a weak shrug. “Where ever that overgrown rat hid it. I am really thirsty.”

I take a quick look around. There’s nothing I can use to cut the binds.
Lynx.
I leap onto the table and begin carefully gnawing and clawing at the cords.

“What did he give you?”

“Don’t know,” Ryan mumbles, swallowing hard, his head rolling to the side. “That little jerk jabbed a needle into my arm.” Ryan swallows again. “It had a clear liquid—probably some kind of sedative. I am
really
thirsty.”

You told me that already.
I bite my tongue. There’s no need to snap at him because I’m frustrated. It seems to take forever and any second I expect warriors to round the corner, but except for a few more powerful vibrations all is relatively silent.

By the time I’ve gotten the last cord to snap, Ryan has shaken off the haze of stupor surrounding him. He rubs the back of his head then throws his legs over the side. I jump off the table.
Lissa.

“Did you find out anything?” Ryan asks.

The ground trembles again.

“I’ll show you when we’re out of here.”

We run back to the lab. Ryan begins throwing open cabinet doors. I notice that Iru and his assistant are nowhere to be seen.

“Found them.” Ryan draws his sword, quiver, and bow out from behind some boxes. He puts the quiver over his shoulder and the sword in its sheath. He turns to the door leading to the kennels.

“Where are you going?” I had started heading to the exit but turn back around when I hear he isn’t following.

“We can’t leave those people here.”

“Well we can’t save them!” I cry, urgency choking my voice.

“We can try.”

“
Try?
Ryan what will we do with them? Release them to their deaths?”

“They’ll die if they stay.”

“And we will die if
we
stay. Come on.”

Time is running out. Pretty soon everyone will realize that they aren’t being attacked after all. Then they’ll start sniffing out whoever the instigator was and that will lead directly to me, and if we are caught we might as well be dead.

In a calmer voice I reason, “Ryan, I agree that those people don’t deserve to die, not this way, but if we don’t get out of here now—we’ll be dead. And I think we’re the only ones who can actually do anything about—,” I stop to catch my breath because my voice is rising in anger. “These people—could be only the first of thousands of others who will die if we don’t get out of here and stop this.”

I can feel Ryan struggling with himself. I bite my tongue to keep from rushing him. Everything seems to go dead silent as I wait for him to decide.

“Alright,” Ryan says reluctantly.

Now sounds come flooding back to me: the roars of animals, the pounding of many feet, and the crumbling of dirt. I lead Ryan down the stairs.

“Why are we going down here?” Ryan’s tone is angry, but I can’t tell if it’s at me.

“I buried a box—” I frown and tilt my head a bit.
Oh no.
A set of footsteps sounds louder than others. “Hurry.”

We plow down the stairs and cut around the corners. I crouch over the obviously freshly dug dirt—I guess I didn’t cover it as well as I’d thought—and begin shoving it aside. Ryan puts aside his bow and bends down and begins helping. I can’t help but glance at his arm muscles a few times. My fingers brush the box first and we yank it out.

Ryan tucks the box under his arm, snatches his bow then grabs my hand and we race back up the stairs.

Sunlight touches us before we reach the top. I look up in puzzlement and my mouth gapes at the sight. The mountain has been completely obliterated except for a few stumpy hills. Nearby brush has fire flaming from it and metal scraps are scattered everywhere. So are bodies.
Did I do this?

“The fires they had going must’ve exploded,” Ryan says. “Looks like you’ve successfully destroyed their weapon supply—good job.”

“I didn’t exactly plan it,” I say hesitantly. I feel somewhat guilty for causing such a large amount of destruction. An eagle screams and our heads jerk up. Ryan and I—two people—are in plain sight. A shadow descends over us and we instinctively duck. The giant golden eagle we’d run into earlier is swooping down, its razor sharp gaze locked on us.

I run a few feet and jump into the air.
Golden eagle.
I cut a sharp turn, barely inches from the ground. As I sweep past Ryan he hops on. I bank up sharply.

An object rams into my left wing and I tip dangerously sideways. I whip my head around, glaring into the sage colored eyes of an eagle. Suddenly we aren’t alone in the air. Five other large eagles crisscross above, while a dragon circles below. I do a double take.
Dragon?

It looks like a typical dragon: talons, four legs, long tail and neck, and bat-like wings. By the noise Ryan makes, I assume he is shocked as well. The dragon is the color of a lion’s mane and about the size of a small car. The eagles begin dive-bombing us. I twist and turn, make abrupt halts and nearly throw Ryan off more than once as I try to avoid them.

There’s a gurgled screech and I watch a bird spiral down to the ground, an arrow in its chest. Seconds later another bird follows it down, an arrow stuck in its head. The dragon disappears from my sight.

“Hold on.”

Ryan clutches my feathers tighter as I climb almost directly upward—trying to evade something I can’t even see, but sense. The dragon rams its snout into my stomach. I let out a cry as I am completely thrown off balance. Ryan’s weight disappears and I glance him falling as I wildly spin around.
Lissa.
The spinning decreases rapidly and I quickly steady myself.

Feathers brush my face and I glance to the side. The eagle. Its eyes are locked on Ryan, its prey. It folds its wings tighter to its side and it falls still faster.

I place my arms forward in a diving position.
Eagle.
My arms fly backward. Air whizzes by but I can hear nothing but my beating heart and see nothing but the boy falling to the ground.

Chapter 22

I fly past Ryan then spread out my wings. Like a parachute I instantly slow, colliding with Ryan. I hear him gasp as the air is knocked out of him. The other eagle swoops below me, so close it ruffles my stomach feathers and clips my wing as it harshly turns up.

When the eagle clears from my vision I realize why it turned so sharply. Thousands of treetops enclose the space ahead and I’m too late to pull up. The forest engulfs us. Branches catch and pluck at my wings, tearing out feathers and digging into my skin. I turn sideways seconds before running head on into a tree trunk—swerving rapidly milliseconds later. I jaggedly veer left and right, narrowly missing tree trunks and branches. I zero in on the circle of light up ahead. When I reach it I shoot out of the binding forest.

Space opens up around me. I extend my wings to their limit and feel the air beneath them. Mountain cliffs and gullies and sharp ridges are everywhere.

“This isn’t over yet,” Ryan breathes.

I look up. He’s right. The eagles and dragon have regrouped.
I should’ve stayed in the forest.
An eagle cuts sharply in front of me. I spread my talons and they sink into the warm back of the bird and it screeches in terror. I clamp my beak around its neck and snap the bone. The bird whirls away, spiraling to the ground.

“Three down three to go,” Ryan mutters.

“Uh, how about the dragon?” I ask breathlessly.

I don’t hear his answer because a shadow falls over us. The eagle’s claws open, going for Ryan’s back. I twist violently around seconds before they can connect. Our talons lock together. I tilt my head back to right myself and the eagle squawks as I jerk it around with me. It flaps frantically, trying to steady itself and get away. The bird digs its beak into my leg and I automatically release it. It uncontrollably tumbles through the air but soon rights itself.

Ryan leans forward and my body follows his silent command. His sword slices through the eagle’s wing as I fly past.
Four down.
I round a cliff, the last two eagles right on my tail.

“Pull up close to the dragon.”

“Are you insane?” My gaze flits over to the dragon. It’s on a mountain cliff, carefully watching us.

Ryan doesn’t respond and I clack my beak with annoyance. I bank violently toward the dragon. As I draw closer it arches its wings and stands taller. The black slits in its eyes narrow further. Something tells me I should pull back but I’m going too fast. In a split second fire shoots into the sky, I wrench my body around to avoid getting burned and Ryan’s weight disappears. It takes me a minute to register that he’s gone but when I do I’ve already flown way past him. My stomach and wing sting a bit but I have no time to assess the damage—the eagles are closing in.
I’ve had enough.

Now that Ryan is off my back I feel freer. I propel myself upward at a frightening speed. Blasting through clouds, scattering their fluffy shapes into millions of cotton balls. I fly into a gigantic cloud. It’s thicker and I soon lose sight of the eagles. I fly to the very top, where the cloud flattens like a lid has been placed on it. I flap more slowly, as if treading water, and wait.

Finally an eagle exits the cloud. I lock my eyes onto my target, fold my wings and let gravity hurl me down at bone-shattering speed. Seconds before I can hit the eagle I extend my talons. They drive deep into the eagle's flesh, crunching bone and killing it in an instant.

I pick out my claws and release the gorgeous creature. Such a beautiful thing—now dead. I stop watching the bird fall when a thunderous growl shudders through the air.
Ryan.
Ryan is skillfully battling the dragon but it doesn’t look like he’ll last much longer. The dragon’s teeth and fire keep missing him but only narrowly—it won’t be long before they hit their mark.

I sigh. I’m so tired I could fall out of the sky right now. Locking away the weariness for later, I rush towards the dragon. It bellows in fury when Ryan stabs the base of its wing and cuts through it. He springs off the creature and ducks behind a boulder just as the dragon spews out fire. I call out to Ryan as I make a large circle around the dragon—its black eyes follow, but it doesn’t move. Ryan sees me coming. He climbs up to a slightly higher ledge, then runs along a thin trail. I swoop past and Ryan springs onto my back, not giving me a chance to land and let him safely climb on.

I could’ve landed you know. Didn’t have to go jumping through the air with the ground thousands of miles beneath you.” I cock my head back so I can see him. Ironically and somewhat annoyingly, he’s smiling.

“I learned from the best,” he says simply. I snort, amused, and look back when neither dragon nor eagle gives pursuit. The injured dragon is inspecting its wing. The eagle lands on the peak of the cliff and watches us with furious eyes as we get away.

“The box is down there,” Ryan says.

“Huh?”

I follow the direction Ryan’s finger is pointing. He points toward the place where he had gotten knocked off my back.

“You dropped it?” I hadn’t even realized until now that Ryan no longer held it.

“Hey, if you were falling to your death you’d probably drop it too.”

“You didn’t drop your bow,” I say pointedly.

Ryan makes a noise of exasperation. “The bow was in my hand and I did lose some arrows. The
box
was under my arm.
Which means
when my arms flew out, like everybody’s do when they’re falling, the box fell.”

“All right, all right.” I turn around and take us to the ground.
Lissa.
Ryan walks over to a spot and begins poking around.

“Was the lid on tight?”

“No. It was just a slap on lid. Why—” I groan. Great. Now we had to gather all the papers. I walk over and stand next to him, my exhausted muscles protesting with every step. Ryan picks up a perfectly unbeaten box then grabs the lid hanging from a branch above.

“Maybe you could just use your superpower and sniff them out?” he asks jokingly as we start scavenging the woods.

“Um, no
.
No I cannot sniff out papers. And it’s
not
a superpower.”

“It could be. It's something incredible that no one else can do.”

“Xavier
and
Medusa can both shift like me. And it doesn’t feel so incredible right now. I ache all over.”
And my stomach burns,
I add in my head.

“You rest, okay?”

“It’ll go faster with both of us looking.”

Ryan shakes his head. “You’re hurt, you need to rest. Just for a bit.”

“I’ll be fine in a bit. Iru stuck me with a needle,” I mumble.

Ryan walks over and pulls me into a hug. Sparks of pain shoot through my chest but I don’t tell him to let go. My arms are too sore to hug him back so I just rest them on his arms.

“If it was a clear liquid it’s most likely that sedative he gave me. I’m sure it will wear off quickly, did he give you much?”

“No.”

“Good. Sit here and rest while I find those papers. Okay?” Ryan tilts my head back and searches my eyes.

I don’t feel like arguing with him anymore and he’s right—I should rest. “Alright.”

I sit down in a cradle of tree roots and place my head in my lap. I tilt my head back and look up into the tree.

I squint and stand. Farther up is a square brown object.
The journal.
The weariness fades away and I quickly scale the tree to the branch the journal hangs on. My fingers skim the leather edge. I scoot farther out, the branch creaking with warning. I grab a corner between two fingers and slowly pull it closer. I reach out a bit farther to take it in my hands.

A crack sounds beneath me and then I’m sitting on nothing but air. I shut my eyes and shift into the first thing I think of.
Rabbit.
A few branches scrape me but that’s all and I soon hit the ground. There’s a soft thump beside me.
Lissa.

As I reach for the book I notice my dirty fingernails. I bite my lip and slowly take in the rest of my body—the still healing wounds from the fights that lasted only minutes, but felt like much longer, the bruises, the red skin on my arm, and lifting up my shirt, more tender red skin. I take in the dirt and dried blood. A tear slips out and I quickly wipe it away. I put my hands over my eyes and take a few deep breaths. At least it's only physical pain—it will heal and disappear quickly whereas emotional pain takes time. This doesn’t make me feel much better but I don’t have time to sit and cry.

I pick up the journal and brush off the cover. I head back to the tree roots and flop beside them, opening to the first page: an index. There are only four titles: Profitable Locations, Experiments, Outline, General. I flip to the experiments.

I have come up with an ingenious idea. I was researching werewolves and
. . . I skip over the useless sentences to further down.

I believe with Iru’s intellect, a beautiful specimen (collected by me, of course) and a little incentive, he could create a potion that will give average humans the ability to shift into wolves. Once the potion has been proven successful and is
infused
into specific, handpicked (by yours truly) people, we’ll employ these powerful creatures to fight for us. Then
nothing
will stand in my way. § Note to self: natural ww are never off limits.
☺

Smiley face?
I put my hand to my forehead and start rubbing it. So Iru is trying to create a formula that will turn regular people into werewolves. I have a feeling it won’t be voluntary either. That also means she knows about Trevor, or the people like him. I close my eyes and rub my forehead harder. It feels like I’m only getting more and more in over my head. I open one door, thinking everything will be solved and put to rest, and instead I find more doors I don’t have the key to, or they’re cracked open enough that I can get a glimpse, but not see everything clearly.

I sigh and look back at the journal. There is nothing of interest on the rest of this page or the next.

Results have been . . . unyielding. I have insisted to Iru that he keep trying. He wants to experiment with animals and see if they can acquire werewolf traits with better success. I forbade him to try such frivolous experiments, but I feel he is doing so anyway. This will need to ultimately be fixed. Once one being starts to disobey, others soon follow. I wish they were like Earth animals. Those animals don’t even have a brain to function beyond basics.

That explains the animals. I read through the rest of the page, which only mentions more information on the results and procedures. I flip the page over, but it and the one next to it are blank.

“How many papers were there?”

I jump slightly at Ryan’s voice. I look up at him and reply, “I don’t know. I just grabbed the box without looking in.” I close the journal and stand. “Let me see the box.”

He hands it over and I lift the lid. It's about half or a third way full of papers. I place the journal on top. It looks right, but then again I had glimpsed inside for only a few seconds. The pages aren’t numbered so we’ll never know if we have all of them.

“I found three of my arrows too. I think I lost five of them. We should find a protected spot and get some rest,” Ryan says.

“Here?”

He nods.

I shake my head. “We can’t stay here. It’s too dangerous.”

“We might actually be safer here. They’ll expect us to move on and won’t look for us close by.”

Close by
is the last thing I want to be. After causing a panic that possibly led to their headquarters being demolished, I didn’t want to be
anywhere
close by.

“I don’t want to be anywhere near here. I say we leave. Fly across the bit of ocean separating this continent and the next and stay over there. And while we are over there, look for these bombs.”

“But you’re exhausted and they won’t—”

“Ryan, these aren’t people. Their senses are ten times greater! They will smell that we haven’t left, track us down and kill us even before we know they’re there!”

Ryan places his hand on his neck and rolls his head around.

“Okay we’ll leave. What bombs?”

“I’ll tell you when we’re at a safer distance.”

I hand him the box and he tucks it under his arm.
Dragon.
Hopefully it’ll be easier carrying him this way. I wait patiently as he gently climbs on. My stiff muscles resist flying so soon, but I force them to move.

* * * *

The sun is just beginning to set. And from so high up there isn’t a thing to obstruct my view. A soft pumpkin orange flows into an apricot pink that spirals into brilliant oranges and reds. The bottoms of clouds nearest the sunset reflect the radiance, making the mass of colors blossom even more.

“Wow, look at those clouds,” Ryan says.

“Ryan, the sky is full of clouds.”

“I know but I’m talking about those.” He leans forward so I can see where he’s pointing to.

I look to the right. A massive bunch of clouds sweep across the sky and it looks like they might even touch the ground. I veer to the right and fly closer. I plan to fly through them but it turns out these clouds aren’t made of water vapor. They’re solid—like whipped cream, really thick whipped cream. My head and shoulders get stuck and my wings flap wildly for a minute. Cloud fluff goes up my nose and I sneeze. I can hear Ryan cracking up even though he has to cling to my back so that he won’t fall off. Ryan’s weight disappears. For a second I worry that he’s fallen but when I listen closely I can hear his heartbeat. He’s above me. I dig my feet into the cloud and yank my head out. I shake my head and bits of cloud fall off.