woah, it's been a while, huh. sorry about that, but we've had finals and everything, but now it's summer vacation so pretty much nothing but writing and working for 3 months, yay :D i have to work tons so i won't be able to update everyday, but it'll probably be like that so i hopefully won't take that long to write another chapter again, and plus it's getting interesting for me to write now anyway so that'll hopefully spur me on a bit, :P
and yes people, even though this story is under the eragon catagory eragon himself isn't really mentioned that much, but you know what, it's my story so i guess i can write it how i want, huh :D
claimer: i own this story, some of the characters, and most of the plot and the idea of Shifters, the rest belongs to CP, so no stealing :D
62-Ritual
I gritted my teeth as I ran, regret and anger washing through my entire body. I had been so close, he had been almost within my grasp and I had just run away again. I growled in annoyance and Faolan looked over from running beside me, concern on his face, but I lifted the corner of my mouth in an attempt at a smile but I just couldn't get rid of my disappointment. Gods I just so wanted to hurt him.
Was this you who destroyed these innocent trees? Dorran's voice thought to me and I saw the blackened scene through his eyes, he was running a few miles away through the part of the forest that I had incinerated in my fury towards the she-elf and fake Dorran, whatever his name was.
My mouth twitched with the suppression of a smile so that Faolan didn't think I was even more insane when I suddenly start smiling to myself.
Perhaps, but we have a bigger problem than that, so do you think it is wise to tell Faolan of the imposter or should we just continue to play along? I asked him, blocking my mind from the brown wolf beside me as our paws flitted over the ground, tears coming to our eyes from the speed.
Faolan is not as trained as we are in the act of mind blocking, it would be foolish to ruin our plan at the moment, he thought back and I nodded silently in agreement, disguising the movement from Faolan with a leap over a small log that I could have easily stepped over.
Where will you be while we talk to Tala about armor, and now that I think of it, what are you going to do about armor? You do plan to fight, right? I asked him, smiling inwardly at the thought of him missing the battle of the century.
He snorted indignantly, of course I'm fighting! Why do you think I've stayed around so long and not just kidnapped you and ran away?
I smiled at the thought, you wouldn't have to kidnap me, I'd go with you quietly enough. Dorran grinned back savagely in my mind.
But you didn't answer my question…I prompted.
I have some wolf armor already, but I probably won't use it in battle as I might need to morph and the armor would restrict me. He replied and my smile vanished.
Sensing my distress he replied quickly, don't worry, I won't get hurt, I'll kill them before they could even get close enough to touch me.
I sighed in discontentment but I knew I couldn't sway his decision. I turned to Faolan, sensing that we were close to the werewolves' village. He nodded and we broke through a barrier of trees into the newly reconstructed group of houses, having come in a different direction than the one that would have led us to the moon pond first.
Wolves and humans alike stuck their heads out of their homes at our entering, their expressions curious and surprised. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a dark black shape appear out of the shadows and as I turned towards it one of its onyx eyes closed in a wink, then the wolf disappeared and I grinned to myself as I realized that it had been Dorran.
Don't be seen, I reminded him halfheartedly, knowing that he would not be but still anxious that someone might spy him.
He didn't reply as Faolan and I made our way to Tala's home, my eyes widening in surprise as a wolf head exited the doorway instead of her regular human features. She was only recognizable by her bright butterscotch eyes; the rest of her body was covered in thick blue-black fur, slightly lighter than Dorran's and with blue undertones.
She nodded to us, not showing the least bit of surprise to see us all of a sudden; she had somehow known we were coming. She motioned with her head for us to follow her and instead of going back inside the house we traveled into the darkening forest, the trees looming above us as we emerged into the clearing which contained the moon pond in the center.
Faolan and I looked at Tala, perplexed, wondering why she had brought us here, her golden eyes giving away nothing as she made her way to the opposite bank of us and motioned for me to step forward. I looked back at Faolan who nodded, urging me to the waters edge to stand in front of his leader, the silver water the only thing in between us.
"Daughter of the moon, your time has come to receive the gift that few before you have had bestowed upon them. May you use it wisely and let no evil corrupt you." Tala whispered, her soft voice amplified in my ears by some unknown force. I lowered my head to the water, acting on instinct, and lapped up the icy liquid, feeling it trickle down my throat.
But instead of flowing into my stomach I felt it instead travel through my body to the place beside my heart where the wolf and dragon souls resided, and I felt the same, slow pulsating sensation rotating in my chest. I kept on drinking, my tongue lashing out to scoop up the frigid water, Faolan and Tala watching silently as I felt increasingly heavier and sicker, as if a great weight was settling on my chest and would not diminish.
But I couldn't stop drinking, wouldn't, my life depended on it, and the survival of others. I felt my mind growing faint and my eyes close slowly, my tongue flicking mechanically in and out of the pond, depositing more of the liquid into my body. Until suddenly my mind went blank and my legs collapsed, my mouth landing in the water as I drifted into unconsciousness, the last thing my eyes saw before they closed completely was the looming dark shape of a wolf collapsing in the forest, his dark eyes remaining open to stare into mine, the onyx orbs glowing slightly silver.
Then my vision faded and I sank into an overwhelming sleep, everything growing numb except the excruciating pain of the rapidly pulsating objects inside of me suddenly colliding, with which my mind blacked out and I knew no more.
ͽ ҉ ͼ
My eyes flickered open slowly, cringing in the bright light and the forest sounds that drifted to me through a barrier of some sort. I took in a deep breath to breathe in the scents around me but winced at a sharp pain in my chest near my heart that throbbed continually in time with my heart beats.
"Ah, you are awake Kalanie, we were getting worried." I turned to see Tala and Faolan staring at me, smiles on their now human faces. I struggled to sit up and with some difficulty succeeded, propping myself up on my elbows and looking at them intently, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion and unanswered questions.
"What happened?" I asked them accusingly, they obviously knew what had occurred and were leaving me in the dark about it.
Tala knelt by my side and I mildly realized that we were in her house and I was lying on her bed, the dark wooden walls absorbing the clear morning light as it shone in from the window.
"What happened to you was what happened to all of the other Shifters that were deemed responsible enough to handle the power of multiple souls, and whose services were needed above all." She responded, watching my eyes to see my expression.
I stared at her, trying to comprehend what she had just told me.
"So…I'm a full Shifter now? I can morph into anything?" I whispered, tears coming to my eyes. I had become the thing I despised, the creature Dorran and I had set out to kill. Wait…Dorran! I had forgotten all about him, and I was sure he was the one that I had seen collapse in the trees. I stood, willing my legs to respond accordingly and not shake as I made my way to the door, Tala and Faolan letting me go alone after seeing the tears brimming my eyes.
I stumbled through the forest, following the scent trail that we had left when we made our way through the woods the night before, the smells coming far stronger than usual, even with my enhanced werewolf abilities.
Dorran, where are you? I thought urgently, scanning the endless vegetation for any sign of the black wolf.
I'm here…he thought back, his voice mystified at something that I couldn't figure out. He felt different somehow, like he wasn't himself. I followed his mind pattern, the signal becoming stronger as I got closer, but when the signal was almost overpowering I couldn't see him anywhere. …Dorran? I thought uncertainly, my eyes flitting to each part of the surrounding forest, but seeing him nowhere.
"I'm here." He laughed and I whipped round, startled as his voice sounded right in my ear, but there was nothing behind me except for a black hawk standing on a branch on the tree I was standing next to. I looked into its onyx eyes and smiled widely.
"Dorran?" I asked, staring unbelievably at the bird. It nodded its sleek feathered head and its figure started vibrating in front of me, its limbs lengthening and the feathers joining together into thick black fur until instead of a bird there was a cat sitting in front of me, his slanted dark eyes regarding me with excitement.
"So we are real Shifters now then." I stated, my voice cracking with sadness. Dorran jumped from the branch, morphed in mid air, then embraced me, his strong arms wrapping themselves around my waist and I found myself crying silently into his shoulder.
"Sometimes you need to become your enemy to truly destroy them." He whispered, brushing a tear from my eye.
I nodded, swiping at my eyes to get rid of the unnecessary tears.
"Then let us be rid of them once and for all." I snarled, letting my bones elongate into a strange, big silver-spotted cat that was obviously built for speed, and careened into the forest, Dorran running by my side, his black spotted pelt shining in the bright light.
We ran towards the battle, ready to fight for our lives, and the lives of other people, and for the enemy to be gone and to never return, whatever it takes.
important, please read...
yep they turned into cheetahs at the end there, their fur stays the same color as all the animals and everything so that, say for example, if they were polar bears, Dorran's fur would still be black and Kalanie's would still be silver, just to clear that up :D
and also, obviously, cheetahs aren't an animal that exactly lives in a forest region like that so they won't know what half the animals they turn into are, so if you don't get them by description I'll just tell you what they are at the end here in each upcoming chapter :D
well the next chapter should be interesting hopefully :D hope you like it and...
PLEASE REVIEW!!
please??
-Firesilk:D
