Spark (Legends of the Shifters) (38 page)

Roland
nodded. “Yes. I agree,” he said, his tone impatient.

The
man sat back in his chair and tapped his foot on the floor. “Would
you like to know why the village is so quiet outside?” he asked
us.

It
had been a little weird to me. I knew it was late, but I didn't think
that it was late enough for complete silence.

“
Why?”
Roland said hesitantly.

“
Because
a legend runs deep among the townspeople. Go out after dark, and
you're fresh meat to the natives. I've never seen one, but the fact
remains, we're the closest village to the island. If they wanted
revenge on the kingdoms for some reason, we're the first ones that
they'd take out. That's why they hired me to protect them,” he
said proudly, his sunken eyes squinting as he smiled.

I
fought the urge to laugh. “If there were a group of the
legendary natives on the island, how would you protect them? They
would kill you, and then they'd kill everyone else.”

He
shrugged. “That won't happen. I wouldn't be the night-watcher
if I thought it would...But I don't believe that natives are the real
danger anyway.”

“
Then w
hat
is?”

“
One
night—I'd say that it was a couple years ago—I was
outside, patrolling the perimeter of the village. I wouldn't have
seen anything if I hadn't been looking up at the stars. All the same,
there was a shadow that flew over our village—a shadow so huge,
it blocked out all the light from the stars and the moon before
continuing on....I truly think that that is the reason why no one
ever comes back from the island. That huge creature, whatever it is,
probably eats them whole. To tell the truth, I don't even know that
there is such a thing as “natives” anymore. That
thing
may have
taken over the island.”

I
wrapped my hands around my arms, trying not to shiver.

Roland
scoffed. “You don't really expect us to believe that, do you?”

The
man stared at him. “Not everyone does when they hear that
story, but I know what I saw.” He sighed, and bent to pick up
the lantern again. “Well, I'd better keep patrolling if I want
to get paid tomorrow. Feel free to sleep here if you want to. It
won't be my fault if you don't make it back alive. I did everything
within my power to warn you.”

With
that, he shut the door, leaving us there alone. The man's bed was
pushed against the wall, but I really didn't want to sleep there. On
the other side of the room was a long sofa, almost big enough for my
body to be able to stretch out. I decided to sleep there.

Roland
grumbled about the village not having a decent inn as he pulled the
covers up so that he could sleep on top of the man's blankets.

I
don't know how long it took me to get to sleep, but I remember
mulling over the man's words over and over. What if they were true?

*****

I
woke up the next morning when the night-watcher's scratchy voice
penetrated the air. “Time for you to leave,” he said,
shaking Roland from his sleep.

Not
wanting to suffer the same fate, I slid my feet to the ground
quickly. When I stood up, I felt weak. My legs and arms were still
sore from the long day yesterday. The man set the lantern down on the
floor with a clank, and opened the door once again, waiting for us to
go.

Roland
led the way outside, and I followed closely.

Before
we left, the man began to rattle off a few last words. “You
will be able to see the island from the shore, but not until
noontime. I suggest waiting until then for safety purposes. You'll
know you're close when you get to the trees and shrubs that are bare
of leaves.” With that, he slammed the door. I was glad, knowing
that I would probably never have to see him again.

It
was extremely foggy. Even more so than it had been last night. I had
to look down at my feet for most of the time to make sure that I
didn't trip over a branch or a rock.

I
stopped when I saw the bare branch of a shrub, the first one that we
had encountered.

Roland
and I looked at each other warily, and then studied our surroundings.
Fog curled around the feet of the dead trees and shrubs like a snake
choking them to death.

We
continued on slowly. The trees ended only a little while later, and
with them went our vision. The fog expanded over our heads.

The
fear of our surroundings trumped the fear that I'd had of Roland. I
gripped his shirt sleeve tightly, not wanting to get lost. I had
never encountered fog quite like this. It made the air chokingly
humid to the extent that I didn't want to breathe at all. We took
another step forward, but something made me jerk back, pulling Roland
with me. I looked down and was met with the sight of clear water
lapping at the shore.

“
We’ve
reached the lake,” Roland confirmed.

I
nodded and breathed in deeply, trying to regain my composure. I
attempted to look through the fog, at the island, but I could see
nothing, like the old man said.

“
I
suppose he was right,” I said. I was so close to finding the
plant. I didn’t have the patience to wait for a few more hours,
but it would be stupid not to.

I
backtracked away from the water and sat down on the sand to wait for
the fog to diminish. Time ticked by slowly.

“
Do
you think that Kurt is still alive?” I asked Roland. He knew
the enemy better than I did. In fact, he
was
the enemy. It was easy to
forget that with his oddly believable act.

I
clutched my knees to my chest. Everything was so confusing right now.

“
Definitely,”
he replied. “They’re probably going to use him as bait to
get you back.”

I
shivered. That didn’t make me feel any better.

Roland
looked at me. “Don’t worry. I’m sure we can get him
out of there.”

I
was silent for a long time. He was acting as if he were on my side
again, but his words were lies. I knew they were. As soon as we get
the plant, I would need to leave him in the dust. After all, he did
just about the same thing to me, and with the power of flight, it
would be almost effortless.

I
broke from my thoughts to notice that the fog had diminished
noticeably, although it still wasn’t clear enough for
traveling. Just a little longer.

I
dove down into my thoughts once again, and they brought me to the
conservatory. I had fond memories of taking the survival tests with
Liana and Natalia...and Roselle, too, before she was sent away. My
mind wandered to the summer festival, and I remembered The Sticky
Wicket, the dancing, and how much fun Roland and I had had that
night, especially when the rain had started to fall. “When I
recollect life at the conservatory, it isn’t as bad as I once
thought,” I spoke aloud, surprising myself.

Roland
looked over and smiled. “I remember hating it...but it really
is better than most of the quests we’re sent out to do. The
only thing that makes it a little uncomfortable is Niko
and
the headmaster...and some of the other trainers.”

I
nodded. “Did you know that Niko was sided with King Ciaran?
Surely you did since you were working with him...”

Roland
narrowed his eyes, but didn't answer immediately. Finally, he said,
“I
don't
work with
Niko. I truly have no memory of the past several days.
”

My
mind spun as I mulled over his words. I would've loved to accept
them, but accepting them only invited danger into my life. It was
better for me to forget that we had ever been friends. I hardened my
gaze and looked away.

A few
minutes later, the fog was almost all the way gone and the sun was
now shining high above us, causing the clear water of the lake to
shimmer at us invitingly.

“
Are
you ready?” Roland asked, standing up and holding out a hand to
help me to my feet.

I
ignored his hand, and stood up on my own. “Yes,” I said,
my voice lacking feeling.

He
let his hand drop to his side, and made his way back to the
waterline. He stepped into the water, continuing until it reached
shoulder level. After that, he dove in and began swimming.

I
transformed and took off above him, soaking in the sun that shone on
my wings. The sun could make me forget about my problems, but only
temporarily. The island wasn't far ahead. It was much closer than I
expected, and bigger too. A mountain climbed it's way up into the
heavens, and the shore stretched farther than I would have thought. I
wondered if we would have to climb it to find the natives, and more
importantly, the plant.

Within
an hour, we had reached the shores of the island. It was a small
victory compared to what we were about to face, but it was a victory
nonetheless. I folded my wings in and dove down toward the sand.

As
soon as I landed on the island, pain erupted in my head. I cried out
and collapsed to the ground, changing form to clutch my head in my
hands. I heard a distant roar, but I wasn't sure if it was inside my
head or not. The pain ebbed away slowly, and I stayed in that
position until it was just about gone.

I
heard footsteps coming from the direction of the water and turned to
see Roland hurrying toward me. I started to get to my feet, and
Roland helped me up. His touch stung. “What’s wrong?”
he asked. “I saw you fall to the ground as soon as you landed.”
He leaned down and checked my ankle for a break or a sprain.

“
No.
My ankle is fine.” I forced out a breathy laugh. “I’m
just tired is all.”

He
studied me disbelievingly. “It was only a short distance,”
he said. “You’ve gone far longer than that without any
problem.”

I
shrugged. “All this traveling must be taking its toll on me.”
For some reason, I felt like I shouldn't tell him.

He
studied me for a while longer, but then shrugged. “If you say
so.”

I
turned to look at the woods. It was densely populated with trees and
underbrush. It didn’t look so bad from the outside, but when I
stepped under the canopy of leaves, my eyes had to adjust. It was
that dark.

From
deeper in the darkness, I heard rustling, and a black bird flew out
of the foliage, cawing loudly. I jumped in surprise before calming
myself and continuing. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to be the
leader or lag behind and let Roland take the lead. In the end, I
decided that I might as well stay up front. It was my quest, after
all.

Every
now and then, another bird or squirrel—and on one occasion, a
fox—would jump out of the brush and scare me. I could see why
there were many rumors spread about his unnerving island.

When
the brush beside me rustled again, I tried to ignore it. I forged
ahead, but stopped suddenly when I heard something heavy hit the
ground. I looked back to see Roland sprawled on the ground, unmoving.

I
hurried to him. “Roland?” I asked. Was he playing a trick
on me? But as I studied him further, I knew that it couldn't be a
trick. There was something small sticking out of the side of his
neck.

I
fell to my knees beside him. Something whistled as it flew by my
head. I scrambled backward, tripping over my own feet and falling
clumsily back down to the ground.

I
hastily scanned the trees until I saw the very thing that I had
dreaded seeing ever since I started the journey. One of the natives
was staring directly at me, pointing a dart gun at my neck. His face
was painted with a black raccoon mask and three str
ipes going
down either cheek. One blue, one green, and one blood-red.