The Refugee
Chapter 3- Feralae
The next day I got to go home. The police had helped us put things back together in no time flat. My mother and I met early that afternoon. "So, are you ready? We took you to acquire the gorilla and you've probably acquired one of the falcons we have." I had acquired all three of them actually. "So I want you to close your eyes and focus on the gorilla. That will activate the morph."
I had donned a sapphire blue leotard for morphing, because my mother said that I couldn't morph normal clothing. I closed my eyes and focused on the gorilla. I imagined Donky Kong. I imagined King Kong. I finally settled on the image of Jane Goodall and her gorillas because that was what I identified the gorilla with the most.
My body became covered in shaggy black fur with silver highlights. I began to grow, my muscles tripling in size. My legs grew shorter. My arms grew longer. My face grew out into a rubbery black muzzle. The morph outfit was gone. The human was gone. In it's place was a male silverback gorilla.
I looked at my hands. I was huge. I tried out the gorilla strength on a fallen sapling that was still partially in the ground. I wrapped fingers as big a sausages around it and pulled.
With a crunch the tree was uprooted. My mother was morphing as well, into her peregrine falcon Camero. She fluttered up to a tree. Be careful Feralae, the animal instincts surface. They will guide you in combat but they might cause problems in controlling the morph.
Not with this one. I said. Wait a minute! I can talk? I didn't think that I could talk in morph.
Mom laughed. Oh you can talk all right, its called thoughtspeak. It's like E-mail, you can make it private or public, depending on who you want to talk to.
I looked up at the falcon. Two hours right? This morph is so cool!
Yup, two hours. Your father is better at time keeping than I am. Mom answered. I noticed that she clutched a watch in her talons. Tomorrow I'll teach you how to use a flying morph.
I smiled. How to I demorph?
Just imagine yourself human. Mom said, fluttering to the ground. The 'Falcon' closed it's eyes and focused.
I focused too, remembering Thanksgiving and the smell of the pie. I remembered looking in the mirror and seeing me in that new dress that my mother had passed on. The dress was in the traditional Japanese style. With the smell of the pie filling my nostrils mom had brushed my hair until it was soft and shining like a raven's wing. Then she had French braided it. When I had taken the braid out the next morning my hair was all curly.
I didn't even notice the changes reversing themselves as I demorphed. I closed my eyes, opening them to find myself fully human. "Wow! That was so cool!"
"Wasn't it?" Mom asked with a smile.
I came home and went to work brushing the horses and mucking stalls. Then suddenly I heard. "Garfash nur salardak nar."
I felt a chill go down my spine. I ducked into a stall with Beemer, my mother's enormous Shire/Thoroughbred cross. I began to morph the gorilla, then stopped. I felt a chill go down my spine and focused on the lion morph. I crouched at the bottom of the newly cleaned stall. I saw a pair of clawed feet go by, then another.
My hair and skin turned pure white. My hair spread around my neck and shoulders. My fingernails lengthened into claws. My bones began to rearrange. My heart pounded in terror as my insides matched them. The tail sprouted from my rear end. I felt myself growing, enormous. My muscles doubled, tripled, quadrupled in strength.
Beemer began to panic. He whinnied in terror. The monster heard it.
"Check stalls, garfish na." He said.
"I check, narlin ra."
I crouched, ready to spring on them. They slowly worked their way along the stalls in the stable. The llamas, sheep, dogs, and horses were terrified, barking, baying, and bahhhing in terror. They smelled the monsters, they smelled the lion. The creatures drew back in surprise. But they were slowly making their way down.
The monster opened the door. I almost fell over from terror. They were seven feet tall. Their heads reminded me of my father's gargoyles, blades all over and red eyes. They had blades at their wrists, blades at their elbows, and blades at their knees. They had a tail with stegosaurus spikes. Suddenly I knew who had broken into my father's house. Hello. I said angrily. You tore up my house to try and steal my box. Not only are you not going to get the box but I am going to kill you.
They laughed. I leaped. My fangs sank into the first creature's neck. There was a crack as the monster's neck broke. The other one was knocked against the wall so hard that I heard it's spine crack. It was unconscious. I demorphed in record time and focused on acquiring it. Then I began to morph. I'd need something with hands, and blades. This guy had both.
I began to shoot upward, ever upward. I was approaching Shaq size. My neck lengthened and my head elongated into a beak/snake snout. My hands sprouted long nails. I sprouted a tail and suddenly. SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! The blades came last of all. I sank my wrist blade into the monster's neck. He convulsed and died. Then I took both monsters up to the hayloft and demorphed.
I began to open the stalls one by one. The animals had quieted down. I let the falcons out, and the dogs. They waited at attention. I whistled and gestured to the back pastures. The dogs and falcons, with a yip and a scream began to drive the animals to pasture. Except for Beemur. I saddled and armored him. Then I donned my father's armor and swords. Then I grabbed my bladed spear and mounted. I had attached my backpack, extra clothes, and supplies to the other horses and llamas, even to some of the larger sheep. They included extra blankets and a woven rain poncho. They were long gone. I pulled my face guard up into the helmet and buckled the neck guard.
I heard a guttural voice ask, "What's keeping you?"
"YAH BEEMUR! YAH YAH!" I urged the warhorse forward.
We bolted out of the stables. I saw a scene of fear and devastation. Dark vans and a black stretch limousine were parked all over the lawn. More of the weird monsters were ransacking the house. They had entered the workshop. My parents were tied up and being led from the house. "FERALAE!" Dad cried.
"DAD!"
"RUN! DON'T LET THEM GET THE BOX! NO MATTER WHAT DON'T LET THEM GET…"
Be quiet human. The creature overseeing their capture looked like a centaur, almost. It was blue from head to toe. The creature had no mouth and only slits for a nose. My 'artist's eye' noticed that he had seven fingers instead of five. And it had a tail. The tail had a scythe-like blade at the end and moved like a bullwhip. The creature had a pair of eyes on stalks.
Even more frightening, the creature seemed to exude an aura of evil, of corruption.
Well, well, well, a human child dressed for battle. I will find this amusing.
"Who are you, what do you want with us?" I asked, in a monotone that told him that I wasn't impressed.
I am Visser 3 of the yeerk empire. I have come to take the blue box. If you do not give it to me I will infest you and take it anyway.
"What do you mean infest?"
We yeerks are parasites. We infest the brains of species and take control of them. Your planet is next human. Beware of the side you take.
"FERA DON'T GIVE IT TO THEM!" Mom cried. "GET OUT OF HERE!"
"FERA RUN!" Dad shouted.
"Okay, I'll run. YAH BEEMUR! LEXUS!"
I kneed Beemur into a gallop. Lexus dove from the sky.
And another shape, a hawk with a gorgeous red tail dove on the Visser. Three attacks, would the Visser be able to foil them all?
Beemur reared, knocking him over with his momentum. The Visser fell with a boom. He whipped his tail. I parried the blow. Lexus sank her talons into the Visser's back. The red tailed hawk ducked back, evading the blow from the Visser's tail. The Visser screamed in pain. "PIN BEEMUR!"
Beemur pinned the Visser's tail under him. I leveled my staff at his throat. The Visser's eyes widened. "Well then parasite. If you're really a parasite you have one chance to live. Get out of your host's head an get your troops out of here and I'll let you live."
The Visser blinked. You dare tell me what to do?
"Hell yeah I dare. Get out of your host's head and I'll let you live. Refuse and I'll cut off your head. Life or death punk! That's your choice, life or death." I said at my coldest.
This is so humiliating. The Visser growled. He seemed to think about the prospect. I did not like that silence. It meant that I had missed something. I had left some other option open to him. Alright, here I come. You, fool! He indicated one of the hork bajir. Get ready to retrieve me.
The yeerk slowly, reluctantly pulled out. I watched it slither out of the creature's ear. NO YOU FOOL! The host cried.
But it was too late. The yeerks were dragging my mother and father towards the van. "HELP ME!" I cried.
The host and I bolted for the monsters. But Beemur, war horse or not, was terrified of the yeerks. He reared up on his hind legs, whinnying in fear. "NO ALLORAN YOU FOOL!" My father cried. "PROTECT MY DAUGHTER! GET HER OUT OF HERE!"
Alloran, that was the host's name. I will! He shouted. Then to me he said. We have at most two hours to pack what you need. We need to get you out of here!
"Right." I said shakily, because I knew that when I saw my parents next they wouldn't be my parents. I dismounted, tying Beemur to the fence post. I had my knife, sword, and spear. I ran into the workshop, grabbing tools, hammers, and pots and pans. I tied them up in tapestries, rugs and blankets. I grabbed the radio, mini TV, and generator. I stuffed matches and lighters into a camping bag, along with canned fuel and camping food. I grabbed saddles and bridals and the tethers that my father used for the horses when we were on ranching trips.
I threw all of this into the simple wagon. We were currently in the middle of a drought, making the small wagon incredibly hard to track. An hour and a half left, I wanted the trail to be as cold as possible.
I ransacked the house. I grabbed my laptop and equipment. I shoved it into a backpack along with my game boy and assorted cartridges. I shoved clothes, shoes, boots, a jacket and extra morph outfits into my backpacks and duffel bags. I grabbed mother's angel and crystal, and the dragon and unicorn statues that my father had given me. The last things to go were my guitar, harmonica, recorder, and two penny whistles.
I backed Beemur up to the wagon, hitched him up, and sent him off at top speed. Alloran kept up easily. Where are we going? He asked.
"I know of a place. I used to hide there when I wanted to be left alone. It's a ravine, with a cave at one end. That's where I sent the livestock. The dogs know where to take them. So do the falcons." I answered.
May I ask your name? He asked.
"Sure, I'm Feralae, it means wild wings."
My full name is Alloran Semitur Corass. Alloran answered. Please call me Alloran.
"Gladly Alloran. It looks like we're stuck together. Care to throw in your lot with me?"
Of course, your father did ask me to protect you. Alloran pointed out.
"So do you know any place better that we could go?" I asked.
I know who we should be looking for. They'll find us anyway.
"Who?" I asked. "Friends of yours?"
Not really. Alloran answered. But they are the same species. We are called Andilites, and we have sworn to destroy the yeerks.
"That's good I guess." I said with a shrug. "They'll help hide us?" I asked.
Very likely. Alloran answered.
"Well a likely is pretty good." I answered.
Very good. Alloran answered. Especially since there's one of them right up there. He pointed.
I saw a red tailed hawk shadowing us lazily. "Can they/you morph?"
I am an excellent morpher, and believe me, they can morph as well. Alloran told me. I really hope that they're coming to help us.
"What do we do if they don't?" I asked.
I have no idea, but our options are likely to be far from pretty. What sort of morphs do you have?
"A gorilla, one of those blade monsters, a couple of birds of prey, and a few others." I answered. I still felt uncomfortable sharing my morph repertoire. The Visser had very likely taken my mother, but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to try and get Alloran back. If that happened then Alloran would know all of my morphs. I didn't want that to happen.
We made it to the cave. The red tail was still in tow. The dogs were keeping the sheep, llamas, vicunas and others wool animals, as well as the horses, inside the cave. The animals were in turn terrified by the presence of Alloran. Alloran turned his stalk eyes to the sky where the Red Tail circled, indecisive.
PLEASE! I BEG YOU! GET THE OTHERS! Alloran cried to the sky. DON'T LET THEM TAKE ME AGAIN!
The red tail dipped slightly to the side, turned and flew off. I took my backpack from the nearest horse. I piled more of the things that I'd saved from the barn, workshop, and house onto the bed of the wagon. The wagon itself had been made for four animals, but the horses were all gone and there had been no time to get them back. The wagon bed was filled. The tools, spinning wheel, and loom took up most of the room. In the end I piled the futon that dad had stored in the hayloft onto the top of the wagon. I released Beemur. He was a riding horse, not a carter. I would hitch mother's shire stallion and mares to the wagon when it came time to flee. I had bolted down the cargo when six birds of prey descended on the cave.
Alloran stayed to help care for the animals while I went outside to meet them. I watched as the birds of prey demorphed… INTO HUMANS!