Chapter Eight

Changes

A week had gone by since they first entered Vealen woods and it's dreary appearance was beginning to get to the companions. The lack of animal life, even bugs gave the impression they too would succumb to death if they stayed much longer, but they still had much further to go. Shamira hadn't been in trouble since the night at the inn and she tried to keep it that way until she became especially irritable. Her responses to most questions were mere grumbles at best. Most of it slid by, Kimball too understanding that these woods got inside even the most controlled. Then she crossed the line. Bardia and Nuri had decided to pass the time naming things in alphabetical order. By the time they reached 's' and their fifth list Shamira lost it.

"Oh would you shut up!" She yelled.

Everyone stopped walking.

"Lighten up Shamira, we're just trying to pass the time. What else are we going to do?" Nuri said.

"I don't care what you do, I'm just sick and tired of hearing the two of you go on and on and on. Give it a rest!"

"Aw, do you feel left out?" Bardia teased.

The next moment flew by in a haze. When asked about it later, Shamira once again could not explain herself. After Bardia made his comment her chest began to burn. Her eyes turned deep red and her hair grew long and black without the commands of Shamira. Wind engulfed Bardia and knocked him off his feet then threw him up against and tree, knocking the wind out of him. Nuri ran to his side. She laughed at him, in a chilling voice no one had ever heard before. All at once she was on the ground out of breath herself. She tried to look around to see if it was Kimball who had done it, but he still stood in the same spot he had been glaring at her. Looking over at Bardia she was full of dread and concern.

What happened? She thought. I didn't do that. No, no I couldn't have done that.

She fought with her lungs to breath right again. That's when Kimball grabbed her and held her arms tightly behind her. She did nothing to fight back. She was in more shock than anyone else there. He put something on her wrists that were heavy and cold, and until he stepped back in front of her she didn't realize he had shackled her arms behind her. Bardia was back on his feet staring at Shamira as well. Kimball opened his mouth to speak, but Bardia beat him to it.

"What did you do?" He asked her, with no anger.

She fell to her knees in front of him.

"Forgive me. I, I don't know what came over me. It, it's the woods. These cursed woods are driving me insane. No. No that's no excuse. I'm sorry Bardia. I'm so, sorry."

"Get up Shamira." He said.

She rose to her feet and dared to look into his eyes.

"Who was that? That was not Shamira. What happened to you?" He asked.

"I lost my temper. I lost control of my body's transformation." She explained.

"And you're still not going to tell me why you're different."

She didn't say anything.

"Fine. I let your master decide what to do with you. As for me." And at this he smiled, "I can still piss you off better than anyone."

Nuri laughed as if the entire thing had been planned and they walked on ahead. When they were a good distance away, Shamira was beaten by Kimball.

"I don't care what they do you will never act like that again! Is that what you want? Is that who you want to become? Answer me! Answer me Shamira! What's happened to you? Losing your temper is one things. Transforming without control I've seen you do, but that voice, that voice was not your own! Tell me! Tell me now! What's happened to you?" He screamed.

"Master, please, please, I don't know." She lied. "I swear. It, it just happened."

He calmed down a bit and knelt beside her.

"That was a cruel joke Shamira. They should not have done that to you. These woods are a tough place to go through, but you mustn't react like that. Don't become what you've worked so hard at preventing." He touched her face soothingly. "The shackles however, will stay on until night fall. Oh and don't worry, I may not be able to punish our prince, but young Nuri has a good beating to look forward to."

When they set up camp for the night Kimball removed the shackles. Nuri sat beside Shamira and rubbed her wrists.

"Hey cutie." Bardia said sitting on the other side of her.

She looked at him sourly.

"I, I'm sorry about before. I shouldn't have pushed you so far. We still friends?"

She took her hand back from Nuri and punched Bardia hard in the shoulder. He moaned through his teeth.

"Oh man. I still can't believe you're that strong." He said rubbing his shoulder quickly to ease the pain.

She smiled and gave her wrist back to Nuri who continued rubbing them for her as his way of apologizing. Bardia, was happier than he could explain to take over when Kimball asked Nuri to speak in private. Shamira laughed to herself.

"What?" Bardia asked.

"Oh nothing. I have a feeling he's going to be just a bit soar tonight."

"He's in trouble eh? Well, I'm glad I'm the prince and can't get into trouble. Don't you agree?"

"Oh of course your majesty."She said rolling her eyes.

"Hey Shamira. Before, when you, when you know that happened."

"Yeah?" She said looking down.

"Did you, like, did you really just lose control? I mean, you couldn't tell your body what to do?"

She hesitated.

"That's pretty much it."

"Why? Why does that happen to you?

"Which part?"

"The part where you transform. No one else seems to do that."

"It's in my blood." She answered quickly.

Bardia didn't press the issue. He didn't know what she meant, but felt it unnecessary to ask her to explain. He did have one more question.

"Back at the Village, The Village of Innocense the young girl she called you the, the demon of the wind star. Then back, back at Quinton, the innkeeper said the same thing, only this time you said you were. Does that mean you're a demon?"

She didn't want to answer the question. She looked for something to change the subject, only instead her chest burned again. She closed her eyes tight and clenched at the source of her pain. The mark seethed and the pain almost became unbearable. This had never happened before. Shamira screamed and tumbled to the ground.

"Shamira! Shamira what is it?" Bardia asked with a panic.

She didn't answer, only continued to roll in the dirt pressing her hand against her chest.

"Kimball!" He yelled out.

Within seconds Kimball was back and at Shamira's side. The pain had begun to pass. Kimball laid a hand on her shoulder.

"What is it? What's happened?" He asked. "I don't know." Bardia answered. "She grabbed her chest and started to scream. She looked in pain."

"No. No I'm fine." She lied. "Just a little pain. Probably a muscle spasm that's all." "That didn't look like a muscle spasm." Bardia said concerned.

"Maybe I should take a look." Kimball said bringing his hand to Shamira's chest.

"NO! I SAID I'M FINE!" She yelled.

"Shamira I insist. I must look and make sure you're alright."

"I told you I'm fine." She said getting up and darting into the dark woods.

"Bardia this is imperative, what happened?"

"I told you. She just grabbed her chest in pain and screamed."

"What happened before that? What were you doing?"

"Nothing. Just talking."

"What were you talking about?"

"Oh, just, about her really."

"What about her Bardia?" He asked getting annoyed.

"Um, about, about her, what she is. I just asked if she was a demon."

Kimball sighed and seemed deep in thought.

"You say she grabbed her chest?"

"Yes. What is it? What's wrong?"

He shook his head disappointed, yet smiled and stared at the spot Shamira had ran through.

Shamira had run away from the prodding questions and fear that the hand would be visible on her chest. She had felt the mark before, even unwillingly used it, at times, during practices. It gave her quicker reflexes, made her stronger and faster, but it made it harder for her to keep her temper under control. She tried not to use it, but lately it seemed harder and harder. Each time she attempted to resist the urge it created inside of her the mark flared up and caused her immense pain. This time, was by far the worst. She didn't want to answer Bardia's questions but something inside of her ferociously screamed out the answers. It seemed that there was something inside of her that was trying to escape, and what frightened Shamira the most, was the feeling that it had been inside of her all along.

"What did he do to me?" She said under her breath.

She stopped in her tracks. Where was she? She hadn't meant to wander this far off, but she was now surrounded by total darkness. The campsite was far back in the other direction. She looked up at the sky, but the clouds covered up any hope of the moonlight to give her a sense of direction.

"Brilliant." She muttered.

Taking a good deep breath through her nose she hoped she could pick up the scent of their campsite. She didn't pick up anything solid, but figured her best way back was to head south. She started to walk, but quickly hastened her pace. Something dangerous was close by, she smelled its presence in the air. She ran back through the shadows, wanting to get back as soon as possible. She hoped it was nothing, just an animal that had lost its way and stumbled into the woods. It was apparent now that it was following her. The faster she went, the quicker it did. Shamira decided she was not going stand around and let it full her full of horror. She stopped running and pulled out her sword, glowing white.

"Come on out! You want me! Come and get me!" She yelled into the blackness of the dead trees.

It had stopped running, but was still somewhere out there, watching her. The light from her sword only made the woods creepier, for she could see nothing but her shadow and the emptiness between the trees. Shamira waited for it to make a move. She opened her ears as much as she could and could just make out the shallow sounds of it breathing. She felt it was strong, very strong, but knew she would be able to stand her ground, only not in this situation. She had no idea of it's precise location, or what it even was. She turned around to once again try to get back to camp but something caught her in it's arms. She screamed for a second and pushed it away grabbing for her sword.

"Whoa, whoa slow down Shamira!" Nuri said igniting a ball of fire in each hand.

"Nuri!" She yelled in relief.

"What's the matter, afraid of the dark?" He teased.

Shamira studied his face of a moment. He had bruises on it all the way to his neck and arms. She stood up and gazed around. Whatever it had been was gone now.

"Nuri what are you doing here?" She asked shortly.

"Master sent me to find you. What happened? Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I just want to get back."

"Wait a minute Shamira. Prince Bardia said you were hurt. Is that true?" Nuri asked with deep concern.

"The kid doesn't know what he's talking about I'm fine."

She headed off in the direction Nuri had come from. Nuri sighed and spun around to catch up with her. She walked quickly, still eager to get back to camp as quickly as possible even with Nuri's company.

"Hey come on! Would you wait just one minute? Why do you always do that?"

"Do what?" Shamira asked as she continued to walk.

"That." He shouted at her. "You always ignore problems."

"I don't ignore anything. I solve problems all the time. Like when I was seven and started to where shoes, I taught myself how to tie them. See, that's me. I'm a problem solver."

"Oh yeah, well that's all just great when you're seven. You learned how to tie your shoes. How long did that take?"

She thought about it as they walked, Nuri trying to keep up.

"A few months. Maybe almost a year why?"

"Well maybe it would have been faster had you asked someone to show you how it's done."

"Miss Rami never wore shoes with laces, only sandals. She thought anything that had to be laced up with bulky strings were only for boys."

"Would you forget about your shoes for a second, that's besides the point."

Shamira laughed.

"You're the one who said I ignore problems, and I just gave you a valid example of how I solve problems rather than ignoring them."

"Okay, okay fine, great job on learning how to tie your shoes. But like I said you would have solved the problem much quicker had you only asked for help."

"That's wonderful Nuri, now I'm open for suggestions. You do you think I should have asked?" She responded bitterly. "I had no one to help me learn how to tie my shoes, remember?"

"Shamira I'm not talking about tying your shoes!"

The campsite was just ahead of them now. Shamira could smell the fire and hear it's crackles.

"Then what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about recent problems. When things don't go your way or when you feel sick, you turn to no one for help."

"Again, I'm open for suggestions. Who should I have asked help from?"

"Shamira, it's just, the more we, or, the more you learn, the stronger you get, the harder it is to reach you. It's like you're not here anymore. We used to talk and joke around together, I know things are more serious, much more serious, but what's the point of continuing if we can't laugh about things anymore. You wander off for more than two hours and no one knows where. I was wor..."

"Two hours?" Shamira said interrupting. "I was gone for two hours?"

"Yes! See you can't even keep track of time anymore. You go off and you meditate. You keep to yourself more and more. Then before, that wasn't Shamira. I've seen you lose your temper before, and that wasn't you."

"I'm fine Nuri. It's just these woods."

"You see there you go again."

Shamira stopped abruptly and gazed at Nuri with a look of utter disbelief. She took a few steps towards him and stood so close to him their bodies just touched.

"Well what would you like me to do, huh? In case you've forgotten I really had no one to turn to when I need help did I? I had no one to go to when I scraped my knees when I was little. I had no one to go to when I was sad. I learned a long time ago how to take care of myself. The villagers gave me nothing!"

"I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE VILLAGERS!" Nuri shouted.

"THEN WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

"ME SHAMIRA! I'M TALKING ABOUT ME! LET ME IN SHAMIRA! LET ME COMFORT YOU WHEN YOU'RE IN PAIN! LET ME HUG YOU WHEN YOU'RE SAD OR SCARED! STOP BLOCKING ME OUT! I'M HERE SHAMIRA! I'M HERE FOR YOU!"

Shamira stepped away from him. She was at a total loss for words and just stared at him blankly. He stared back at her panting from the breath he lost when he yelled. Shamira bit her lower lip not knowing what to do next. She searched her mind for something to say but was completely dumbfounded. Nuri too, looked at her waiting for something to happen next. He had not meant to say those things. They had poured out of him and he felt a little embarrassed, but he still waited.

"Shamira? Nuri?" Came Kimball's voice from the distance.

Shamira shook her head like she woke from a dream. She looked away from Nuri.

"We, we're coming!" She yelled back.

Without looking back at him she turned. For a minute she paused like she was going to turn back, but she continued walking. Nuri sighed and followed.