Authors: M. R. Merrick
“You’re afraid of me…” she gasped. Her face was human, but her mouth had changed; it was full of long, sharp teeth.
“No–”
“Yes you are!” Rayna cut me off. “I’m a monster.”
Rayna’s power vanished and her body shifted back, but this time she didn’t fall unconscious. Fangs receded and she cried out in pain. Tears fell in streams as her bones broke and morphed back into her human shape. Covered in torn clothing, she lay in her human form with sweat, fluid, and blood running over her skin.
“Are you okay?” I dropped down and tried to pull the hair away from her face.
“I’m fine,” she said, pushing me away and crawling to her feet. She was still trying to catch her breath when she stood, but her knees gave out and she fell back onto one of the stumps.
“Rayna, I didn’t mean–”
“It’s too late. We’re here. So I have to learn to control this, regardless of what you think of me.”
“I don’t think–”
“Just don’t, okay? I saw you; you were afraid of me.”
“Rayna…” Chief stepped forward. “Are you okay?”
“Why can’t I do this?” Rayna kicked at the dirt, but the anger she tried for only displayed her pain.
“This will come,” Chief said. “It takes time. You nearly shifted full circle yesterday. Tonight you went that far again, but much faster. A few more tries and I’m sure you’ll get it. You must give yourself to the beast, while still controlling it.”
“I’m trying. It’s not working,” she snapped.
“You are being impatient. You and Garrett worked on this today; we know how hard you’re trying, but you are pushing too far, too fast. It must happen in stages.”
“I want to try again.” She looked up at Chief with renewed determination.
“Not tonight. Tomorrow is another day.”
“No, I’m ready now.”
Chief shook his head. “It isn’t that simple. Forcing your beast into a shift again right now could cause irreparable damage to your psyche. I won’t risk it.”
“Then what do we do? Talk more about who I am and who I want to be? No thanks.”
“You stay with me. Tonight we will work on a meditation to help you communicate with your beast. Just as you need to know yourself, you must learn the ways of your animal. Once you can call your beast without shifting, you will understand it and be able to feel what it feels. You will learn respect for one another.”
“Getting to know the monster inside me in order to gain its respect? I’d rather just beat it into submission.”
“Let’s try my way first.” Chief smiled.
Rayna nodded and her eyes fell to the ground.
“I’m afraid this is something you are unable to be a part of, Chase. Rayna must do this in the presence of another shifter only. Any other aura or power will cloud the process.”
I looked down at Rayna but she wouldn’t look at me. Her eyes stared into the crackling flames as red and orange arms leapt from the pit, snapping against the cedar logs and sending warm scents into the air.
“I understand. I’ll just head back.” I crouched to look Rayna in the eyes, but she turned away. “Are you going to be okay?”
“You don’t have to worry about me. I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
“Okay,” I said. “I guess I’ll see you back at the cabin then.”
“I guess so.”
The silence of the night engulfed me as I walked down the path, but I couldn’t help feeling that someone was watching me. I stopped and listened, trying to hear any hint of someone around me, but there was nothing.
A cool breeze rode the air, carrying on it the smell of nature, and there wasn’t a cloud to be seen, leaving the stars and moon to hang above me. We were hours from civilization and with no lights to obstruct the view, they shone brighter than I’d ever seen.
I moved towards our cabin when a movement caught my eye. I turned to face it, but all I could see were the trees, swallowed by shadows. My pulse sped and my stomach clenched as I searched the darkness, desperately seeking whatever was lurking inside.
Silence swallowed me again and I continued my walk, trying to push away the uneasy feeling. I was nearly to the cabin when a tingle shot down my spine and something leapt from the bushes.
The black form moved towards me with the grace and speed of the shadows that masked it. By the time I’d pulled out my daggers, the panther was gone, having shifted back into human form. The shift was flawless and transpired in seconds. One minute the cat leapt towards me, the next it was a man standing naked in front of me. But not just any man: Jonathan Winter.
I stepped back and took a breath, regaining my composure. “You can’t take a clue, can you? I nearly stuck this in your throat.” I slid the daggers back into their respective sheaths.
“I need your help.”
“Why would I want to help
you
?”
“Because you care about Rayna.”
“That’s right, I do. And that’s exactly why I don’t want anything to do with you.”
“You may not agree with my decisions, but you don’t understand the reasoning behind them. I need you to convince Rayna to speak with me. I deserve a chance to explain.”
“You don’t deserve anything. She owes you nothing, except maybe a swift beating.” I spat the words at him.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” His voice turned into a low growl, and his eyes shone as his beast came forth.
“I know Rayna wants nothing to do with you, and unlike you, I respect her decision. I’m not about to be the messenger for the man who abandoned her and left her mother to die.”
Jonathan growled, and in seconds, he’d already shifted. He roared and the screech blasted through the darkness, stinging my ears. Yellow eyes lunged towards me with strength and agility I’d never known, but I dove underneath him to avoid his claws.
His body hit the earth with a
thud
, landing on all fours. He turned and crept towards me, each paw crushing the grass with silent power. The moonlight reflected off his fur, revealing a sleek, black coat. His body swayed with each step, and I called my elements as his pace quickened. The panther pounced and my magic rushed upward, but the element that came out was foreign.
Power lashed out and the panther scowled as his back arched, an invisible force crushing him to the ground. He landed on his back and squirmed against the moist grass until I released the magic, letting him come back up on his paws.
He roared again and the ferocity sent chills down my spine. He lunged towards me. Thick black talons cut through the air, but the alien power returned and pushed him back. A blur of darkness shot towards him and he turned mid-jump, moving with the magic. He landed on his feet and took a few steps, regaining his footing.
The magic scared me. It was new and untamed, but I didn’t hesitate. Just like Chief told Rayna to give into the beast, to touch it, learn it, and control it, I reached my hand towards Jonathan and brought the power out fearlessly. I focused on his throat and squeezed that invisible hand around him.
The beast fought against the power. His paw clawed at his throat, trying to brush the unseen force away, but it wouldn’t waver. He gagged and coughed like he’d swallowed a giant hair ball and talons tore at his neck, leaving black hair to flutter in the air. He wheezed and fell to his side, pawing and tearing up the earth in a desperate attempt to breathe.
Watching him struggle forced a surge of panic through me and I released the magic. The strange power moved back down into my soul, adrenaline and fear coursing through my veins.
Jonathan lay on the ground breathless, gasping for air as the power released him. As he started to take full breaths again, he crawled up on all fours. His sleek black fur was messy and ragged, and bright yellow eyes stared up at me.
He scowled softly and turned his back on me. With elegance only a feline could carry, he broke into a run and bounded into the forest. The snapping of branches cut through the night as he hit the forest floor, and then there was nothing.
Darkness closed around me and all I could hear was the racing of my own heart. I ran to the cabin and I didn’t stop until the door had latched shut. I hunched over with my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath.
The strange magic that stirred within me was no longer strange. I knew what it was. It was the air element. It was one in a million odds for a hunter to get two elements, but no one ever got three. I caught my breath and calmed myself. This couldn’t be happening. Could it?
Trying to understand what was happening to me, I paced the cabin floor. The only light came from the moon and the flame inside the stove, and I ran my hands through my hair.
I pulled deep at my magic and searched my elements. I called upon fire first and brought it to the surface. It came to my hand with ease. Blue and silver light cascaded over the room, and surprise overwhelmed me at the sight of it. It never came this easily.
Next, I called water and I was sure it wouldn’t come. I couldn’t have three elements. My power had to be changing. I knew it wasn’t possible but it was the only explanation. With the same ease as the flame, the element rose to the surface. Small drops of water formed on the air and like a magnet, they came together in my palm. Streams of water coursed towards my hand until a small orb floated above my palm. I grew nervous at the sight of it and it grew bigger until my focus broke. The magic vanished and the orb collapsed. Water spilled into my hand, dripped to the floor, and seeped through the cracks in the floorboards.
“What’s happening to me?”
I looked around the room, searching for something, anything small to move, but there was nothing to be found. I moved to the bedroom with the same result. Only two beds and the chair I’d brought in.
I reached towards the chair and moved that invisible hand deep within my body. I focused on the new power I felt stirring inside, and I tried pulling it to the surface. I imagined the wind on my face, standing on the stone platform that overlooked the forest. The smell of rain came on a soft breeze and took over my senses. I focused all my power towards the chair, on making the heavy wood a weightless object. The chair shook, inching its way across the floor before it stopped. Pushing harder the second time, adrenaline coursed through me and the chair lifted off the ground.
Disbelief filled me as it floated above the bed and it broke my focus. The chair dropped, bouncing on the mattress and crashing to the floor.
I shook the disbelief away and pulled at the shadows on the wall. I didn’t know if it would work, but I’d seen Marcus do it, and I’d done it in my dream.
I pictured a lightless room, just me and the pure darkness that only came on a moonless night. Shadows tore themselves off the wall and covered the room. The moonlight that shone through the window vanished and a thick black fog blocked its light. The room became pitch black and the silence was eerie, like I stood deep inside a cave.
I released the magic and the darkness receded, sliding back into shadows on the wall. The moonlight broke through and I fell on the bed. My pulse beat loud in my ears. There were too many thoughts swimming around my mind. I didn’t believe what was happening. I couldn’t. I didn’t understand the magic that moved inside me. I was exiled. I wasn’t supposed to be an elemental, yet here I was, lying on a bed with three elements throbbing inside me.
Was it the Mark, the ring, or something else? I had enough difficulty trying to control two powers. Adding a third to the equation wasn’t on the list of things I wanted.
Sleep tugged at my eyes. The adrenaline had faded, and using this new power had drained me. All I could think was that I was dreaming. This was another nightmare I would soon wake up from, but as sleep pulled at my eyes, that hope vanished. My body drifted towards darkness, and silence engulfed me before I was thrust into the real dreamscape.
“Where do the hunters come from, daddy?” I asked. My voice was young, undeveloped, and innocence clung to each word.
Riley laughed and patted the seat beside him. “Come here and I’ll tell you.”
I pushed up on the floor, my small and youthful legs wobbling towards the couch. I climbed up and threw a leg up over the edge, pulling myself up and rolling onto the soft cushions. Once I’d straightened myself, I took a few unsteady steps and flopped down next to him.
His arm wrapped around my shoulder, and I looked up at him with anticipation. His short blond hair and warm features gazed down at me with a gentle smile.
“The hunters were made thousands of years ago, and put here to protect the world.”
“Wow,” I said.
“The gods blessed our people with the ability to control the elements after demons of the Underworld came to take over.”
“Demons?”
Riley chuckled. “They’re evil creatures with all sorts of bad magic.”
My eyes opened wide. I pictured the fiercest beast my imagination could create. I started to shake and tears welled up in my eyes.