Chapter One: Dawn
As the bleak night sky, faded and met the bright horizon, they mingled together for a while, before passing each other and carrying on their courses. Suddenly, from over the mountain there came a tremendous crash, as a sky island struck the peak of Mount Giohanna. Boulders went tumbling down, and in a fit of fright, the scream of a mountain goat echoed around the valley, as it was massacred by the onslaught of stones and dirt. Tristan breathed the fresh sharp air, noticing every hint of animal scent and pollen; his large dark eyes narrowed as a change of wind direction brought a new smell. Teeth and nails elongating and sharpening, he threw himself off the cliff top where his study lay, dark wings sprouting on his back. The smell meant trouble, whatever it was. What kind of trouble however, now that was beyond Tristan's knowledge.
It was said when a chænger chænges so often they start to take on the personality of their shaped body, forgetting all human instincts and feelings, they became creatures of the un-matterverse, a place where no science existed. Laws of nature had no presence there was no light or dark, day or night. It seemed to rebel against normality. When Tristan took on his un-matterverse form, he became the creature known as Snarl, super sharp instincts, not to mention an arsenal of diamond hard teeth, retractable talon-like claws and the most dangerous weapon he had, control of his un-matterbody mind. The Un-Hybrids as they were called by some, were feral and had only animal instincts, Snarl could control his human mind, making him a deadly enemy. He had no friends, no family, and no weaknesses. Or so everyone thought...
He found the trouble. It was a legion of goblins, led by a child. At least, that's what human eyes saw, but Snarl allowed the spirit of his vision control of his eyes, allowing him to see the "child" for what it really was. A 5 metre battle ogre, armed with an axe crafted from shadowsteel, trudged in front of the goblins. "It's a shit disguise," thought Snarl, "A real child would've been devoured by the goblins hours ago. These monsters, they're getting careless" "Hello Snarl." A voice sounded from nowhere. "I see you're being sneaky as ever, or are you just scared of the goblin's axe?" "Ah Queasle, still as annoying as ever I see, how have you been keeping?" Snarl calmly replied to the smooth invisible voice. An indigo crow with scarlet talons appeared in front of him. Snarl wondered whether they were naturally scarlet… "I'm well thank you. Where'd you think these are off to? "I don't know, it's not exactly like I'm in the know about these things, that's kinda why I'm here." "There was another lot like this in the eastern valley. Think the goblins are planning the assault on The Sky Cities like the emperor keeps promising?" "Couldn't say." Snarl replied "And why do you say there was another lot?" Queasle flashed her sky-blue eyes at him, and then flicked them to her talons before rolling them sarcastically. Snarl's black eyes took in every action before returning to the goblins following their "child" leader. "Ah, so they weren't actually red then. Thought so." came his bland reply. "Your choices of guise are getting less and less tasteful." "Queasle…you're a crow, they're morbid, they eat dead things and nobody likes you." "Snarl dear, you're a shadow-eagle you are born when a pure soul is destroyed. Morbid doesn't even come close to what you are." She retorted. "Touché," Snarl muttered. His mind explored his relationship with her, like a computer searching for a file and found a wafer thin alliance with hints of friendship, with an overall feeling of mistrust and dislike between Queasle and him. "I've never seen you in human form." Snarl spoke, out of the blue. The goblins had marched on by then, but neither of the pair felt like challenging them at that moment. "And you're not seeing me in it either! Why the bloody hell do you think we fly off for hundreds, maybe thousands of miles before returning to our normal lives. You don't mix work with feelings," she continued "and that's why humans and changers don't belong together, so we should keep our changed lives as far apart from our human lives as possible." "Chill out, seriously!" "How am I supposed to chill out when you keep asking me that?" Our relationship is strictly professional!" she yelled at him. "Oh really," Snarl said softly, "that could all change, we could be…" She hung onto his words like. "We could be… enemies!" Snarl screamed, leaping at her, fangs bared. She dodged the attack of course, but the effect on her made him chuckle. Her indigo feathers were ruffled and Snarl couldn't quite tell, but he could swear they were a slightly paler indigo than before. "You… IDIOT!" Queasle bellowed at him. "You EVER do that again and… Well all I can say is it won't be me having to dodge!" She threatened. "My dear Queasle, don't get your feathers ruffled! I'm only saying how easy it is to turn people against each other. We chængers need to unite in these times of war!" "Oh bloody hell, you sound like a propaganda officer, spreading filth on the innocent people, corrupting their minds, making them think they can make a difference in this idiotic war!" she cried, almost emotionally! "Now you sound like a peace campaigner! You know, the ones that get put on display and mocked every day!" Snarl replied, with as much force as possible. A stony silence filled the air, creating an eerie mood that chilled the bones. Then, they burst out laughing, so much so they were stumbling and tripping all over the place. When they'd calmed down a bit, the conversation resumed. "Well I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got to be somewhere soon," Queasle sighed. "Yeah, me too, some boring thing my master's making me do, It's a bloody long trip and all! The old fool, what does he think I'm going to do besides cause trouble! When the day comes that the world is rid of him bells will ring!" Snarl was ranting and raving long before he realised she had left. "Well now, getting sneakier I see Queasle. It'll be a sad day, but eventually we'll have to fight each other and when we do, I'm not going to lose," he muttered darkly, staring after her silhouette before spreading his dark wings and soaring off into the ever growing sun.