Shift (The Pandorma Adventures Book 1) (31 page)

Trevor looks at me one more time, his gaze reassuring, before he grudgingly joins the warriors at the back. Yes. Yes I am going to do this. I’ve gotten this far and I am not going to back down now.

“Lissa, you and I should head for the middle,” she tells me then turns to Ryan. “I’m sorry Ryan but you’ll need to stay here.”

“No way,” he says staunchly.

“Despite all your skills, at the end of the day you are still only human. You’re about to see a whole new level of fighting—you’re nowhere near ready for it.”

Ryan swallows, his eyes glinting with anger and uncertainty. A part of me yells that I should stand up for him, but my throat is too dry and I can only find one thing to say: “I need to be at the front.”

They are too shocked at first to say anything then Ryan says, “No. It’s too dangerous.”

Dark blinks, her eyes filled with love and fear. “The battle begins when the eagle screams,” she warns then heads into the throng of creatures.

“I’m doing this,” I say to Ryan.

I watch him struggle with his emotions for what feels like an eternity. Finally he says firmly, “Just promise me you’ll come back alive.”

“Ryan I can’t—”

“Promise me.”

I purse my lips. It’s a ridiculous thing to promise, seeing as I can't promise that I will stay alive. I can only try to stay alive.

“Promise?”

“Promise,” I repeat.

“Good.” Ryan swallows hard, rubs his thumb across my cheek then leans over and gives me a gentle kiss. I wrap my arms around him and hug him tightly.

Lion.
I make my way to the front. My legs start to shake but I force them to steady. I take in some of the creatures around me: bears, Allosaurus, large cats, Utahraptors—they all look vicious and ready to fight.

An eagle soaring above screeches the battle cry. Like a flash of lightning the animals are in motion, racing toward the savannah. Adrenaline races through me as my legs start moving. The energy from the other creatures electrifies the air and fills me with excitement.

Chapter 25

The animals pile up on the border of the savannah. I follow their forward-facing heads and swallow. The other army lines the opposite side of the savannah. Suddenly the large savannah seems terribly small. From here it looks as if their army is just as large, maybe larger.

A flare of brilliant orange catches my eye. Cobalt. She has moved to the front line, head raised boldly.

“Surrender now and spare the lives of many,” she growls to a figure opposite her, which I realize is Xavier. I prick my ears to hear Xavier.

“You know I never surrender.”

The eagle above screeches again and then the two sides are racing at each other head on. Every creature releases its battle cry, filling the air with a petrifying noise.

It’s terrifying, seeing all the creatures on the other side racing at top speed directly at us. Seconds after the opposing sides collide I am spattered with blood. The body of a moose falls next to me, half its neck completely clawed out. I swallow hard and try to see through the chaos.

I have a new respect for the animals battling. All the warriors are without hesitation. But I’m confused by the snarls of countless creatures, the blood flying in every direction. They know exactly who their rival is, and they don’t hesitate with their fatal blows.

A body slams into me, sending me soaring through the air. It sinks its teeth into the back of my neck. I wrench myself sideways, but his teeth don’t budge from my neck. I rear and let myself fall backwards. The teeth vanish.
Grizzly bear.
I look for my attacker and see that it is a wolf, its eyes growing huge with surprise.

A challenging roar sounds behind me and I just barely turn around before a polar bear slams into me. I stumble sideways but fight to stay standing.

The polar bear rears up onto its hind legs and I ram my head into its belly before it can come down. The bear staggers backward and I leap on top of it before it can get back up. I open my jaws and lean in for the throat but before I can sink my teeth in I’m kicked so hard in the side I feel ribs crack.

I wheeze with pain and look back to see who had dealt the blow. An elephant. And it’s charging right toward me. I scramble onto all fours.
Stegosaurus.
The elephant’s step slackens in surprise, but it quickly picks it back up. I swing my tail but it easily rears back. It tries to whack me with its trunk but I throw my weight against it and it stumbles to the side.
Tiger.
I leap onto the elephant’s side and sink my teeth in.

Teeth dig into my ribs and I’m ripped off of the elephant’s side. The Allosaurus drops me, slamming one foot on my ribs it coils back its head.

“Wait,” says a smug female voice. “Allow me.”

The Allosaurus backs away and I scramble to my feet but I slip on blood and collapse to the ground. My side throbs and I squeeze my eyes shut for a second.

A flawlessly sculpted female figure steps into view. Medusa. Every inch of her is perfect, from her glossy, sepia brown wavy hair that falls to her elbows, to gorgeous dark blue predator eyes that pin me to the savannah floor. My vision blurs briefly.

“So you’re the rat that’s supposed to foil my plans of glorious fame and fortune.”

Ignoring the pain, I pounce at her so fast I hope she doesn’t have time to react. But I’m wrong. The second I shift, she matches me. We claw and hiss at each other viciously before breaking apart and beginning to circle.

“I know where that boy is,” she growls. I stop dead, my pulse racing with alarm.

“Do you think I’ve been doing nothing the whole time you were here? No,” she snarls, “I’ve been doing some looking around. Your mother hates you and ran away with another man. And your father,” Medusa releases an evil laugh, “I think it was a brilliant move on my part to take care of him sooner rather than later.”

“What are you talking about?” I snarl.

“
I
took care of him.
He is dead
.”

“No!” I thunder and leap at Medusa intending to rip her throat out, but she’s quicker. Medusa pounces over me. I spin around only to have hooves strike my jaw. There’s a crack of bone, and blood soaks my fur.

Medusa gives a humorless laugh. “You’re so inept I shouldn’t even waste my skills on you—”

I barrel into her hindquarters and she face plants in the dirt. I almost wish I hadn’t done that. A furious Medusa shifts into a short-faced bear and whacks a massive paw across my head. Medusa tries to strike me again, but I duck and she only manages to cuff my ear.
Deinonychus.
I spring onto her back and dig in my claws and teeth. Medusa reaches an arm behind her, but I expertly dodge it and leap off.
Lion.
I jump on her face and claw at it. Medusa bashes me against the ground and prepares to slam her paws down on me, but an explosion throws us both through the air.

I struggle to my feet and look toward where the explosion came from. A medium-sized crater is a ways from us; apparently the bombs aren’t the most powerful on the market, which I’m glad for. There’s shuffling behind me then a tail whacks across my side and sends me tumbling away. I land in the dirt just as another explosion shakes the earth. Panting I pull myself into a crouched position, swaying slightly. Breathing hurts, my jaw
hurts,
and blood soaks the ground. My strength is chipping away and it feels like life is ebbing into the dirt beneath me. My body quivers. I glance up at Medusa.

“Finished already?” Medusa isn’t even out of breath even though she too has several injuries. Medusa shifts into a tiger and pounces.

Some might think that running from the enemy that’s mocking you—or trying to kill you—instead of standing up for yourself, makes you a coward. But the second Medusa pounced I took off like a freight train was bearing down on me. And I’m not ashamed, because I was running for my life.
Cheetah.

As I bolt away, another blast blows me off my feet, but I get back up and keep running all the way to the forest.
Fox.
I duck into a cavity created by two trunks growing away from each other.
Boom.
Everything vibrates as something huge falls to the ground.

“Hiding? You’re a bigger coward than I thought,” Medusa jeers.

From the sound of her footsteps I’d guess she is a T. Rex or something larger. The booming pauses and my heart jumps into my mouth. The hairs on the back of my neck prick with alarm. I shoot out of the crevice seconds before Medusa crushes it with her jaws.
Leopard.
I fly up the nearest tree and crouch among the foliage but there’s no point. With a furious snarl Medusa shifts into a leopard and races up the tree.

Having nowhere else to go, I spring to the trunk of the next tree. We begin hopping from trunk to trunk, claws shredding bark, skidding up and down. The trees aren’t close together and soon I can no longer continue. But before I can drop to the ground an eagle screeches and claws puncture my shoulders. Medusa, me in tow, tears through the branches overhead, surging into the sky. Before I can react, Medusa tosses me into the air. Her talons come around my belly and cut through me as if I’m made of butter. With no energy left to shift, I can only watch as I fall onto a barren cliff outcrop. Blood instantaneously drenches the ground surrounding me.
Get up, run, run,
screams a voice inside me. But I can't.

Medusa, in human form, lands next to me, dust blowing out beneath her feet when she lands. Now she is panting. A bit. Through hazy eyes I watch her come over and crouch down.

She makes a clucking noise. “You poor,
poor
little girl. Cuven trained you well, but not well enough.” She sighs and stands, drops a small dagger from her hand. I cry out with pain as it slices through my already damaged ribs. “You really should’ve done your homework before going up against me.” Medusa shifts into an eagle and speeds off.

I can’t move for what seems like hours, my vision clouds and I can't see anything. I can barely breathe and in the back of my mind I know the blade needs to come out.
Lissa.
The shift is very slow, my body just barely making the shift. I wrap a hand around the dagger’s handle—and yank. Crying out as the dagger slides out of my flesh, I blackout.

When I come to again, and I realize I’m not dead, a little flame of hope ignites inside me.
Tiger.
The shift racks my body and I roar in pain, but I need to shift so my horrific wounds can heal as fast as possible. Blackness slowly closes over me once more; it feels like life is being plucked away. I want to concede to its wishes, but an image of Ryan and the promise I made jars through me and I jolt up, causing a spasm of pain.

For once I wish that I wasn’t so staunch about keeping promises. But Dad had drilled it into my head.
Gritting my teeth I force my eyes to stay open but it’s useless because the pain causes me to go unconscious.

* * * *

“Lissa!” Ryan’s voice breaks through the tumultuous bubble of sleep I’d been in. Metal clatters to the ground then hands wander through my fur before resting on my face. Ryan whispers my name again.

“Told you all that blood was hers,” I hear Darklily growl. Trevor grunts then kneels beside me. “I can’t believe you’re still alive.”

“I promised,” I whisper resentfully—or try to. When I talk my jaw moves funny and the words come out kind of messed up.

“Medusa didn’t take it easy on you at all. She’ll pay for that,” Dark hisses furiously.

“Lissa,” Ryan says gently, “can you shift so we can carry you back?”

A pained purr-like sound rumbles in my throat at the thought of them struggling to lift me. I feel like I’m made of ash and I will blow away if I dare move, but I force myself to shift.
Lissa.

Ryan scoops me into his arms and begins walking. I try to stop moans of pain before they can escape my lips, but some soft ones slip out. Even the slightest jolt of Ryan’s step sends pain splitting through me.

“Maybe I should—” Trevor begins.

“No,” Ryan growls protectively. Dark falls into step ahead of us, clearing the path of rocks.

“She’s still bleeding dangerously,” Dark says.

“I know,” Ryan grinds out. “We just need to get her to the tunnels so she can drink some healing water.”

They fall into an uneasy silence. Trevor trudging steps behind, furious and feeling useless; ahead, Darklily extremely uneasy, and Ryan just emanating staunch determination. It's easy to pick out their individual emotions since mine—all but pain—seem to have fallen down an abyss. Focusing on theirs diverts me from concentrating on my pain too much.

Ryan’s steps become less bumpy once we get off the cliffs. It had been gray and depressing up there, but now that we have descended, sunlight warms my freezing body. I open my eyes, which I had shut tight with pain, and look around. We have come into an unbelievably exquisite field of thousands of flowers of every shape, size, and color.

I want to stop and run around soaking up the life blooming from every blossom. But I can only rest my head against Ryan’s shoulder and watch the flowers pass by. All too soon the field ends and we come to the edge of the savannah. Ryan tenses as if expecting danger and I can feel Dark’s emerald eyes burning into me, waiting for a reaction. But the only thing I feel is utter sadness at the sight before me. I can only describe it with one word: destruction.

The savannah is blown to bits. Not a tree stands, mangled bodies lay everywhere and craters pockmark the ground. Blood paints the savannah floor red instead of dusty yellow.

Ryan has to take a winding maze to reach the other side of the savannah, where a small cluster of depleted, injured animals lie. When they catch sight of me they raise their heads and tentative hope begins to show on their faces. Trevor pushes ahead through the bushes, holding back branches, making the path as clear as he can. We soon reach the entrance to the underground tunnels.

Ryan gently lays me down in the small clearing surrounding the entrance. Cobalt and Cuven’s dead, beat-up bodies lay a few feet away.

I sadly stare at Cuven until a red panda saunters over to me and begins sniffing my bleeding injuries. Then it waddles back into the tunnel and comes out a few seconds later with a small bottle. Ryan takes it and rips off the lid.

“Drink it all,” she says. Her voice makes me think of sweet, golden honey. The red panda’s dark eyes gleam with a deep kindness.

“Open up,” Ryan says.

I tear my eyes away from the red panda’s beautiful coat and turn them to Ryan. He holds the bottle up to my mouth. Obediently I drink the liquid. Then the red panda pushes forward some leaves.

“These will help you sleep nice and long. When you wake your body should be fully recovered and you should feel like yourself again.”

Chewing the leaves is difficult and makes my eyes water with pain but I make myself eat them. Strong bitterness gags me and I cough, but I force myself to swallow. Again Ryan picks me up. He carries me to an empty tunnel and lays me down on a soft bedding of feathers. He strokes my hair. I want to stare at his gentle face forever, but the leaves have already taken affect and I fall asleep.

* * * *