Old Emergence 18. Veiled Wonders (tf)

Her excited screech filled the air, mixing with the boom of her wings beating. Air cracked under the dark grey feathers as immense muscles bore her aloft, sweeping through the freezing air in a broad circle. The gryphon beneath heeded her call, the meaning, “Faster!” and doubled his pace. Bound, bound, leap and bring wings down, high into the air. Then a second flap of red-brown wings, a third, just about the same height, then a fourth just to slow down his landing a little. He landed and began to pattern again, bounding forward on a fierce feline set of hind legs, catching himself on yellow avian legs, and again and again.

Karen continued to circle over the meadow, satisfied with their work, their progress. Alastair was getting much stronger, he held his wings properly now, didn’t clutch them to his sides like a frightened sparrow, and the muscles were growing. She had no idea how long it would take him to match her in her sky, but her pupil’s progress filled her with pride.

The red older gryphon below gave some screech, a more modulated one, lower at the start and rising to an ear piercer. It took her an instant to decode it, as either, “Sleep” or, “Fire” which was unlikely, her eagle eyes couldn’t pick out any flames. So he was tired. She screamed her message again, “Faster!” and smiled to herself. She’d make him run until he dropped of exhaustion. He couldn’t call her weak so often and get away with anything less than his full effort.

He faltered despite it, and she flapped her wings, rising higher while repeating her cry. They had to repeat quite a lot of their “words” that the Phoenix had taught them, it was no true language. Hunt, fly, fast, sleep, food, north and the directions, words that beaked creatures might be interested in really. The names had been fun, they had simply combined some of the words, making them “Nightwing” and “Bloodwing” to Karen’s amusement.

Down below, Alastair finally collapsed onto his stomach, breathing hard, auburn wing’s spread out in a great line to either side of him. She circled away in the blue sky to get out of sight, and then pulled her black wings in close to drop down, and down, and down. The forest of brown bare claw trees hurtled upwards, hungry and starved and brittle, but she opened the limbs again just above them, gliding forward at breakneck pace. She was over trees, then lowering herself, the clearing speeding past, closer and closer to the red creature.

She screamed as she passed over his back by a less than a foot, and dropped down to land just ahead of him, running and running and fighting to slow down with dignity. She resorted to flaring her wings to stop and turn, while Alastair chuckled and squawked,“South.”

Could’ve hit you if I wanted, Karen thought quietly and sat down, running her eyes over her coat. It had become a ritual of a sort, their practices, him strengthening his wings, and she… she was supposed to be getting faster on her feet, but flying was waaay more fun! Her left limbs still hurt a little anyway, the lower hind and the upper fore. They had these sessions, and sometimes found Diana or John and practiced a few beak-words together.

“Hunt?” He reminded her quietly once his breathing slowed. She shook her head as always, and that was that. He would ask again the next time they saw each other, but he was patient in that regard, and Karen wondered if she’d end up killing some poor beast just to satisfy him. He had tried other tactics, even dropping the carcass of a deer on her one time and showering her in blood. Which was apparently a present by his standards, although he might have just wanted to wind her up.

She shuddered and clasped her wings closer, preening the feathers on her front for a little while. December was horribly cold, but at least it wasn’t snowy just now, neither of them were built for the snow, unlike…. There was the wolf-man, Volt, he seemed happy in the cold, and so did the antlered hairy wendigos. Maybe those bat-wolf Selvic twins too, she had seen them flying sometimes at twilight, low over the forest with large fast flaps, and the enormous Hydra, Benjamin seemed surprisingly happy in the freezing lake. For a moment she considered the feathered snake, but she’d almost never seen him in his true form, and she knew that feathers weren’t that good at keeping warm.

She felt a bit of shade overhead, a shadow, and Al cawed something quietly, “Cloud.”

“Hey! Karen! Last!” A girl shouted from above. A winged girl, Sara, and Karen craned her neck up to screech back as her shadow rushed past.

“Human-wing!”

“I have no idea what that means!” The Tengu laughed, her black wings on her back flapping as she descended lower and lower. Al was still lying down, he didn’t like being called Last. Al, or Air he had said were good nicknames, so they liked to say “Last”. After all, they reasoned, he was the last thing his prey saw. “How is the flying going? I didn’t see you take off today.”

He looked up and glowered at the Asian girl, “Oh, okay, touchy-touchy. It’s no biggy, most creatures can’t fly, all the humans, all the things you hunt, plenty of animals! Are you finished the lesson? Or is this just how you learn, by dozing and grooming?”

Karen climbed to her feet and nodded, cawing, “Good.”

“Nope, still no idea.” Sara shrugged, “Lorcan’s looking for you Karen, he said he wanted to test something. He’s in the burnt bit of the forest, the party clearing, with some of the others. Come on! I’ll race you!”

She flapped her wings and jumped up, as Karen slammed her wings down and followed on. Her hind legs pushed off hard, the left one still a little sore, but then it was just her wings, the muscles stretched over her body that forced her up and up into the air. A gust blew behind her, pushing her slightly, but the lighter Tengu was sent hurtling by it, whooping as she did so. Karen had to power after her with huge flaps while Sara just used the wind she conjured to dance quickly through the air, over the forest.

“Come on slowpoke!” she taunted, although she wasn’t that far ahead, barely faster than Karen was. In a long distance run the gryphon had no doubt of who would win by endurance, but the burnt section of ashen trees wasn’t far off, and the winged girl reached it before her. She spiralled as she descended, and Karen screeched and folded her wings, diving down to just shy of the branches and feeling a rush of speed when they cracked open again. She glided down over the clearing and dropped down, landing standing on her front avian talons, then her hind feline paws.

“I beat you.” Sara teased with a smirk on her half red-half skin face. “Are you sure you’re qualified to teach Last?”

“Good wings. Weak human-wing.” She released a series of careful squawks, tail lashing in annoyance.

“Huh? Diana, what’s she say?” She called brightly, over to the short red haired, golden eyed woman. There was a small group here already, Maddie the blond naga with her long brown snakes tail huddled around her, chatting to Lorcan the tanned young mage. A brownish feathered serpentine creature hung over a branch near them, beside an orange phoenix, Robert and John respectively, both looking chilled too. A final creature lay near them, Hex, the red dragon hatchling, steam and smoke coiling around his hot scales.

“She said her wings are good and yours are weak.” The veiled girl phoenix explained, “I should teach you some of these words, everyone you fly with uses them now.”

“Not the Selvics. But they said they’re telekinetic.” She referred to the bat-wolf creature twins, and walked around, flapping her wings suddenly to jump onto Karens back. The gryphon cawed a complaint and lowered her wings slightly, feeling the light girl pat her shoulders playfully.

“Telepathic is mind-reading and speaking, and they’re not telepathic, they were pulling your leg.” Diana said, shivering a little, “Telekinetic is moving things with your mind, and there’d still be hundreds of ways to do that. Using outside kinetic force, moving imaginary hands, moving the object from inside, it’s possible but stupid really, too inefficient. You could say your winds are telekinetic, a little bit.”

“Ah, could you talk with your mind? Or read peoples minds?”

“No, it’s horrible or I’d use it instead of beak-words. Mind reading… it’s the worst invasion possible, going all the way inside someone’s head, you don’t want to experience it.”

“Huh, okay.” Sara sighed, and then tensed on Karen’s back, “You know, you’re a good seat Karen, we could try and have a race against Hana and Miranda, that’d be fun.”

“Sara, Hana needs someone to help direct her? Spiders don’t have good eyesight. I’m pretty sure Karen could race them without a rider.” Diana said, while Karen wondered why she’d want to race them anyway. She was still rather wary of the giant black and gold spider that was Hana’s other self, and on top of that if she saw Miranda the gorgon carelessly… she insisted petrification wasn’t harmful, it was reversible after all. But if you were flying and turned to stone, you would fall and break and that would be the end.

A jolt of Sara patting her feathery neck brought her back, “I’d be here to motivate her! Right? I’m barely anything to carry for a big beastie like you! I might just stay up here, it’s comfortable. Don’t you get cold Karen?”

She nodded and stamped, it was chilly today, but snow was even worse. Diana smiled, “You can’t stay up there, I and Lorcan want to try our veils on you guys. We’ve been experimenting a little bit, he’s rather good for his age, but we need willing test subjects.”

“Test subjects? It sounded cool until you said that, now you seem like a mad scientist. What do you think, Beastie?”

“South” Karen clucked. Stupid.

“She said south.” Diana told her rider. “It’s the best we’ve got for an insult just now. Just think like when people say something’s gone south, or it being the down, the negative direction. Anyway, there’s nothing to worry about, we’re trying to make the veils block the pain when you change. It’s not my first time, I just want to practice, and I made a veil especially for you without any pain.”

“Why can’t you do it on yourselves? Why do the pair of you need test subjects?” Sara asked, and kicked off Karen to leap off, nearer Lorcan and the others.

“We observe. You know there are people that’d love to be turned into something else for a couple of hours? You guys get a really cool experience for free, and you get to help your friends.” Lorcan said with a smile. “These guys are happy to do it, and you two aren’t chicken are you?”

That was a really stupid immature way to manipulate her, and he knew it too. But she still hated the comparison enough to nod and crawl forwards. At least they weren’t asking her to be petrified by the gorgon or… or… bitten by Hana or Robert. Those seemed a little too far, although Maddie and Diana said that the experience of being stone or whatever was pleasant. The very thought disagreed with her, trapped heavy, immobile, cold, depending on someone to release you? It sounded more like hell.

“Good girl.” Maddie said cheerfully, “So is this going to be a contest? We can mark you two out of five?”

“That wouldn’t exactly be fair-” Diana started.

“Oh come on, just cause you’re a phoenix doesn’t mean that yours are better. Nor does your age.” Lorcan called cockily, “I had a good teacher, and we specialized in this stuff, it’s almost the only magic I know.”

“I’m trying to be nice Lorcan. We both know that the only reason you can manage so much is using the dragons for a source of magic.” The red head argued, looking up at him.

“Fine, how about they pick, and the loser gets changed too. Something funny.” He suggested and stretched his hand out.

“I accept.” She shook his grip firmly, before John squawked, “Faster!” from his perch over on the trees. “Okay, you first then hot stuff! Come over and have… uh… this.”

John raised his bright wings and flew over to land gently in front of her as she pulled a vial of green liquid out of her coat. The fiery bird breathed in proudly and opened his beak straight away, allowing her to pour the veil potion in.

“What are you changing him into?” Maddie asked, and smiled slightly, “I hope it’s something warm.”

“Wait and see.” Diana said sharply, and took a step back as the phoenix shook, his body changing suddenly. Bigger mainly, bigger and bigger, his legs swelling thicker and losing their avian talons, and the wings scrunching up, no longer elegant fans.  Instead, the shoulders broke and faced downwards for a quadruped stance, and paws formed then, emerging from feathers that became a dark red fur.

“Oh, he’s becoming a gryphon too!” Sara cried out in realization, then his head changed, the beak shrinking away, and head growing larger, flatter, rounder. “Oh, no he’s not, nope.”

Good, Karen though as the hairs grew larger, strange spikes starting to grow from a feline body, and a long tail stretched behind him, the bones creaking and clicking as the change continued. The spikes along his spine thickened into distinct bunches from either shoulder, and his hair thickened over the head and neck, forming an impressive mane. His head looked semi human, with large ears and a slight muzzle, even tucks and fangs inside, but the eyes were slanted and yellow like those of a cat.

It paused then, leaving him a bit larger than a wolf a long dark red quadruped with a stinging tail lashing behind him, the human like face arching and staring at his body in surprise.

“Oh, oooooh,” Maddie said, clapping her hands, “You’re a manticore, that’s it right? Or a sphinx?”

“Yeah, they’re the same species really.” Diana said and crouched down, “You can talk you know John.”

“Rut? Wha- oh!” He blinked and shook himself, padding around clumsily, “I can. This feels so weird, Karen how do you walk on all fours?! It’s hard!”

“I good.” She squawked, and Diana laughed, in on the joke.

“How did that feel anyway? Any pain?”

“Nah, just pins and needles, like my body went to sleep.” He growled, voice distorted by the bestial throat, and he halted, then fell forward and smacked his head into the burnt grass. “Ah! No, back legs! Hind legs!”

“If anyone was wondering, his ineptitude is nothing to do with my veil. He’s just still breaking it in.” Diana confirmed, covering her mouth to try and not laugh. Sara was doing the opposite chortling merrily and she leaped over and helped him to lie down properly, minding the strange blood red spikes on his shoulders as she did so.

“Alright our turn now Robert, you happy?” Lorcan asked the feathered serpent who was swaying in front of him. The creature nodded and he poured some more veil down his throat before jumping backwards out of the way. Robert hissed and writhed, his entire body beginning to grow thicker and shorter and thicker still. His head stretched out as it grew, jaws filling up with sharp teeth, and the rest of his tail swayed, remaining thin and pliable.

“Is he… a bear? Yeah, is he a bear?” Maddie wondered, but the legs which cracked and sprung out of the enlarged bones were thin and angular, digitigrade at the back, and narrow at the front. Two pointed ears poked up from his head, and a wet nose formed on the snout, grey-brown fur covering the creature.

“Oh, a wolf, how original Lorcan.” Diana mocked, before two lumps built up on either shoulder, and sprang forward, splitting to reveal great carnivorous teeth and eyes started to emerge , until the canine had three bewildered heads looking around. “Actually, a Cerberus? That is rather neat.”

“Of course he is.” The wizard said smugly and knelt down by Robert, “Are you okay in there? It’s gonna be really confusing, given how many limbs you’re used to. Just take it easy while you feel everything out, don’t try an-“

One head growled and his right legs stretched out, rolling him over with a bark of confusion. Karen trilled slightly in amusement, she was quite happy on seven appendages.  Then Diana tapped her head, holding a vial of veil. “Your turn Karen, okay? It won’t hurt a bit.”

She looked at the green fluid warily, and back towards the others. No, it’d be fine, Diana had done John and he said it had been alright, watching through those yellow feline eyes. The gryphon opened her beak and squatted down to let the veiled phoenix pour the potion down her throat.

It tasted bad! It tasted horrible, she squawked and hissed and spat, feeling her body numb and tingle. The world seemed to be getting bigger, her entire body was reducing in size, although that shouldn’t have been a surprise her gryphon form was among the largest beings in the area. Her wings changed the most, shrinking a ton, and suddenly she was below Diana’s waist, getting smaller and smaller. She still couldn’t feel any change to the rest of her, no extra limbs or heads, no bones cracking or snapping, just…

“Uh, Diana, I’d step back a bit, she nearly killed me when I used that potion on her before.” Lorcan advised.

Before? Karen shrieked as she realised what was happening, the sound getting higher and more pitiful as she shrunk further, the proportions of her body changing and softening. Her feathers turned into fluffy grey down, her fur turned softer, and she halted at barely the size of a house cat. Diana looked like a giant suddenly, as did the others, Robert had managed to turn one of the three wolfish heads to watch, and John was chuckling and smiling, absolutely huge in her view now.

“Aaaw, she’s a little chick!” Sara exclaimed and swooped over, “How did you do that? Is that what happens if you drink veil of your own species?”

“No, it’s a potion that turns you into an infant form, it keeps your species the same. I was surprised that Lorcan said he had managed it, but it’s not that difficult.” Diana said proudly, before Karen started screeching furiously. This wasn’t what she had expected, she hated this, tiny and weak and flightless!

“South! Weak wing! Weak! Ground!” She ranted, even more irritated that none of her “words” could capture her mood effectively. The bangle with the miracle stone had slipped off her foreleg, and she felt her wounds ache, annoying her even more.

“Hey, calm down, it’s only for about an hour and you look really cute as a chick.” Diana said sweetly, kneeling down.

“Uh, Diana look ou-“

She screeched and lunged forward, snapping her small beak onto the long red hair hanging from the girl. She pulled and Diana almost overbalanced, catching herself on her hands and knees. Karen released there regretfully, and waddled backwards, hissing, before another set of hands scooped her up.

“Hey, behave yourself Karen, it’s not that bad!” Sara said, “Are you alright Diana?”

“Ouch, such an over-reactor.” She scowled and glared at the chick with golden eyes, then ducked down and picked up the Miracle Stone, “Can we have an argument some other time instead of a fight please? It’d hurt a lot less.”

“I did warn you.” Lorcan sighed and bent down as Hex approached him, red scales bright against the burnt ground, “You ready then? …. No, no it’s not going to turn you into a hatchling. Just open up already.”

The drake growled but obliged him, swallowing the green potion quickly as the group watched on. His change was fast, his limbs all withered up as he stretched and thickened. His scales remained more or less the same, and his head barely changed, but to turn more triangular and smoother, snakelike. Then a lump started to swell on the side of his lengthening body, growing larger and with more detail, just like had happened on Robert’s new body. Another appeared and another, and Karen watched in horror and wonder as he ended up with four snakelike heads, writhing and twisting over his new hydra body curiously and inelegantly.

“That’s actually pretty impressive, you’re liking the multiple heads today Lorcan.” Diana commented, and Maddie slithered over and started to try and help the confused limbless creature move.

“He’s like a mini version of Benjamin.” John growled from where he lay, “Why didn’t he change colour?”

“Uh, dragons are pretty close to hydras, they’re related. I’m not sure really, I thought he’d turn brown too.” Lorcan smiled and shrugged, “Your turn now Sara?”

“Oh! Down you go Karen, behave yourself!” The tengu lowered her to the ground, and then turned to Diana, “Am I going to need to…”

“Yeah. You’d rip your clothes.” She said simply and stood on standby as one by one the transformees and the others turned around, granting her a bit of privacy. Karen still caught a glance of her wrapping her large black wings over herself as a shield, before she crawled moodily over to John and curled up beside one of his large paws.

“Aw, you do look really funny like that. You can move like that at least, you got Diana down and the rest of us can barely move.” He chuckled, and then look up, “Oh, it’s started, there.”

Sara was barely recognizable when Karen turned lazily. Her limbs were far longer, head and body longer, and the wings on her back adjusted too. Her face stretched out, black hair flowing into a mane down her spine, and her nose and mouth melded into a muzzle. The ears grew large, rising from her head and twitching at the intakes of breath.

“Oh, I see where this is going, nice idea Diana! Good match.” Lorcan commented cheerfully.

The fingers and toes fused together into tough black material that let her stand haphazardly on all fours, and her legs snapped and adjusted according. Black fur covered her in a quick wave, and a tail of long flowing black emerged from her rear too, although her wings did nothing but enlarge to match her new size. Then she looked around excitedly, testing the winged equine body with an excited whinny.

“A Pegasus.” John growled, while Karen squawked with envy. Big and dark with huge wings? That was her job. Although, the creature did look impressive, an elegant horse, glossy black coat, beautiful black wings rising from her back. Then Sara released another exultant neigh, flapped them down hard like Karen normally did, and fell over. A cacophony of laughter resounded immediately as Diana helped her up, patting her proudly.

“There, you look awesome Sara! Just don’t try and fly yet, we still have Maddie left.”

“Yeah, here’s yours Maddie.” Lorcan said and produced a final vial of potion, “You don’t need to worry about your clothes, you’ll be fine.”

“Really?” She asked sceptically, “Okay then… you’ve got me all excited, going last. Here we go!”

She sipped the green liquid out, and Karen breathed in, watching.

“Hope this is something good Lorcan, I’m pretty impressed so far.” Diana commented, as suddenly Maddies tail grew shorter and shorter, the flesh around her waist expanding. One lump like a big spot built up, and grew larger and larger, before stretching out in a long orange tendril. Another copied it nearby as the tail continued to vanish, and the two small fins on her front shrank and withered away instead, replaced by more of the long fleshy tentacles.

“I thought I’d won already? I mean Karen doesn’t like her new form.” Lorcan teased.

“Um, what am I…” Maddie started to ask, then gasped as an even thicker tentacle stretched out, the end splitting open to reveal two rows of thorny teeth. Five more burst out around her, each half a metre long emerging from her waist, and a couple of dozen orange tentacles writhed below them. They were huge, even compared to her normal tail, each tentacle was on average a couple of metres long, some suckers and thicker clublike ends forming on them. Then she winced and her fingers copied it, losing their bones and stretching out into foot long tendrils.

“Eeew, yuck, what’s this?” Maddie squeaked, the six mouthed tendrils thrashing, and others writhing, she seemed on the verge of toppling over. Karen shuddered and took a few steps back against Johns warm reddish side, the tentacles seemed unnatural. Alien. “And they’re slimey! Ew, how long am I like this for!?”

“You’re a Scylla, you’re fine.” Lorcan laughed, “Just hold still for a moment and get your breath back! And be careful with those jaws!”

She blushed and looked down warily, one mouth- tendril after the next shifting as she started to feel her way through her body. The entire action looked disturbing, the limbs were so unlike any others, and Karen was painfully aware of how small she was now. One bite of those strange teeth, or a swat or Johns paws or… or anything, and that was her. Gone. Dead.

“Hey, stop shuddering Karen, you’re safe. Just wait an hour, have a bit of fun that size, play a bit. You weren’t hatched like that were you?” John asked, nudging her gently. “I was a horrible chick. The man that raised me, he kept fire extinguishers everywhere because of me! It was great fun though, being little, everything was an adventure. I was probably cuter that you though.”

As if, Karen thought to herself and squeaked, standing up slowly. That was one way to look at it she supposed, watching the others. Robert had got the hand of quadruped Cerberus body, he was running away the edge of the clearing, heads akimbo. Sara was kneeling down to let Diana onto her equine back, and Hex was biting into the ground to pull himself forward, head by serpentine head.

“Right then, overall who wins then?” Lorcan asked, lending Maddie an arm that her long fingers were wrapped around. “Noone’s change hurt did it? You looked a bit uncomfortable.”

“It wasn’t sore, I just wasn’t expecting tentacles. They’re all really sensitive and freaky. Can I swim as a scylla?” She asked keenly.

“In theory yes, but you won’t be as resistant to the cold like this. It might not be such a good idea with it being this chilly.” Diana said as Sara trotted over, neighing loudly. “We both managed to block the pain. Same times too, I just didn’t realise Karen’d hate being a chick so much. I can’t lose because of that, that’s not my fault.”

“My stuff’s more complicated though, all of them have multiple heads.” Lorcan argued, and looked at the strange jaws around Maddie again, “Sort of. You could eat with those.”

“Eeew.”

“Multiple heads doesn’t make it more complicated, it’s the same spell. I think I should get some sort of bonus for matching Sara with a Pegasus.”

“Perhaps what you really need is a tiebreaker. Not a physical tie, but a draw, as in a stalemate, that is a good term, it can’t be misinterpreted here. Unless any of you are… no, no that seems unlikely.”

Karen squeaked and spun around, looking at the new man. It was a man anyway, most of his body covered by a thick black jacket and a blue scarf wrapped around his neck. Still, her keen eyes saw short brown hair covering his head, and the eyes… icy blue, they flicked over her and she felt a surge of embarrassment. I’m not really this pitiful!

“Tiebreaker? And who are you?” Lorcan asked.

“Ethan.” He said, voice medium toned, discrete, and he walked forward, “So, you did the Cerberus, Hydra, and Scylla, and you, the Pegasus, Youth, and Manticore?”

“Yes. Were you observing us the entire time? This was meant to be secret.” Diana blushed, gesturing to Sara, who took zero notice and flapped her wings joyfully.

“Not the entire time. Not all of it. A lot though. Enough to say he bests you. You have age and nature, he is experimenting and growing more.” Ethan declared seriously. Robert, and Hex roared triumphantly, grins appearing over their numerous heads.

“Hey, you two didn’t do anything.” Maddie reminded them but beamed all the same, and Lorcan smirked.

“Knew I would.”

“He just supported you because you were the underdog.” Diana teased, “So I have to take one of your potions then?”

“Yeah, I’ll come up with something funny, don’t worry. Maybe that youth potion, I bet you’d look hilarious as a chick.”

“Hilarious? I was lovely, you should see my baby pictures, I looked miles better than pink ugly human young.” She blushed slightly, glancing at Karen, and then over to Ethan, “Are you a magic user? Or was that just guessing?”

“I’ve been doing magic since before any of you were born.” He boasted smugly, although he looked shy of twenty eight.

“Probably not. Technically she’s over a century old.” John growled as a reminder. “If you meant this life you’d be right though.”

Ethan laughed and doubled over, icy eyes closed as his mirth sounded through the burnt clearing. “A century? A hundred years? That is quite a long time by the rest of you, but phoenixes live long! Long, long long! Two hundred, three hundred, four hundred, so many generations, so many days, hours and seconds, and so much fire burning and dancing. Always so full of life and fire and life!”

Karen watched fearfully, and scampered around and around to Lorcan and Maddie, avoiding the tentacles.  The mage noticed and bent down, “You okay there? Guess you might be cold, up we come.”

His hands grabbed her and lifted her up, holding her rear and belly carefully in front of her chest. She let him, he hadn’t done anything this time, and it was nice and warm there, “There we go. Are you okay Ethan? You’re not a gnoll are you?”

“Gnoll, no gnoll, no hyenas here.” The stranger grinned and stood back up, “Just old me, taking a poke around. Haven’t seen a place like this in some time, the world’s changing! People have forgotten why it was how it was.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?” Diana asked.

“Ah, nothing, just rambling, just rambling away. Now, I still haven’t got your names yet?”

He kept quieter afterwards, and Karen remained in Lorcan’s arms quietly, waiting as they talked and Sara tried to race Robert and John, all uncertain on four legs. Ethan chattered and laughed, but he seemed spaced out most of the time, turning his attention to the clouds and the trees and even the ash, there was something odd about him. He didn’t care what they thought, not a unique trait in itself since they all needed some confidence as mystics. Ethan on the other hand seemed to view them as little more than a distraction, part of the background with no influence over him whatsoever. Not that she minded too much, at least none of them were in much of a position to fuss over her, and she saw able to just sit and enjoy the rest. As much as she enjoyed flying, somehow just lazing was fun as a gryphon too. Or maybe she simply enjoyed lazing regardless of form.


*  *  *  *  *

“Denrol.”

“Mum, you don’t have to keep saying that, I got it already.”

“Just being careful dear.” Her mother replied at the wheel, watching the road ahead. Karen shifting uncomfortably, looking in the mirror at her black hair and sharpening features, then out of the window at the passing scenery, then back towards her mother. There was so little to do inside the car, so little space, it was almost a metal cocoon, with no air or wind, just the thrum of the engine, the metal heart, filling their ears.

“Are we nearly there yet?” She asked again, wondering if there was some way she could have flown to the larger town and shops. It was as dry as it had been the previous day, although snow seemed certain, and they wanted to get the Christmas shopping done before that came.

“Another ten minutes Karen. Be patient, you’re sounding as bad as Oliver.”

“I’m not that bad!” He objected from the back seat, occupied with some game on his DS. “She just can’t stand sitting still for an hour. Why couldn’t you fly and I’d get the front seat?”

“Something about a gryphon dropping down and causing a panic, because now I’ve got a reputation for causing scenes, right mum?”

“I didn’t phrase it like that. I’m more worried about if something happened to you further away from home. You’ve already been shot twice, I don’t want anything to happen a third time.” The older woman stated.

“I’ve got the stupid tracker in me, remember? If I went missing you could phone up Morris or whoever and you’d get a location for me in ten seconds.” She pouted. Noone had ever asked her if she’d wanted some metal thing stuck inside her, she’d been an unconscious shot gryphon at the time. But it could be useful. “I’m getting better at flying too, I could fly home.”

“No, Karen, just be yourself for a day. Do you know what you’re going to buy?”

“Uh…” She frowned, trying to run through people in her head. Dad, Oliver, Mum, Emma, Lorcan, Maddie, Sara, John first, and then see how much she had left for the others. “Not much idea what to buy. Hoping I see something that suits people.”

“And I need to get you pair some new clothes, when will yous be done growing? You’re going to end up nearly as tall as your father. Maybe something smart looking, we’re to see the rest of the family on Christmas.”

They went through a small village, and Karen spotted some sort of... iron bell hanging in front of the doors. “I don’t want to get stuck in a dress for Christmas mum. We’re supposed to be relaxed and lazy on Christmas, not having a fashion shoot.”

“Well, you need one anyway, even if you don’t wear it just now. And you could use new shoes young man.”

Ollie groaned in the back, as the buildings grew around them, and they reached a carpark just off a high street eventually. Karen sprung out of the car as soon as it stopped, breathing in, and wincing. The air here smelt bad compared to home, too many people, all interested in their Christmas shopping, wrapped up in heavy coats and jumpers.  Her mother and brother got out just after her, and they moved off into the crowds quickly, budging and moving past people towards the shops.

All in all, Karen disliked the experience. There were too many people, too close and too distracting, she couldn’t keep track of it all. Then there were campaigners at one square, calling for the “monsters” to be forced out of their country, shouting at the top of their lungs.

“This is human land!” One, a portly woman cried out, “If we don’t get rid of them now, they’ll keep on doing what they like. What about the ships, the tankers being sunken by that monster? Or the gorgons town? Or that dragon, burning down that farm?!”

“Are you going to stand by and let such dangers live near us? Creatures that go against the laws of nature?” Another yelled, waving a billboard.

Karen winced and kept walking, putting a hand in her mother’s. Idiots, she hadn’t heard of any of that, she hadn’t done anything wrong. It wasn’t fair.

“Anyone could be a monster hiding behind a human face! Do you know where they get those faces, those human bodies? They steal the-“

“Uh, Trevor, just keep quiet, we’ll do the talking.” One of the others shut him up, and Karen smirked slightly. At least some of them knew the others were being ridiculous.  They lost track of them anyway, finding a clothes shop and spending a long time there. Her mother was keen to get clothes that she would “grow into” rather than clothes that fit her properly, and Karen eventually gave up trying to argue and just put on what she picked out. Ollie used the same tactic with shoes, not that it sped the process anymore.

“Do we have to get her a present?” He whispered afterwards, “I think this is her treat, we’re like dolls.”

Karen laughed and nodded, “Yeah, we can just find a mannequin and wrap it up on Christmas day.”

“Are you two coming? Presents now, any idea what you’re buying?” Mum asked, overladen with bags already.

“Not really, I was just going to take a look around different shops.” Karen said.

“Well, how about we meet up back near that square in an hour, see how you’re doing? I’ll take care of Ollie, just be careful.”

“Okay, I will be.” She nodded and set off, looking in plenty of different places. A crime novel for her father she settled on eventually, and a couple of other purchases there too. A funny book of jokes and sketches for John, he seemed to like humour, and at the back she spotted old dusty thick books, filled with illustrations of mystics.

“That used to be in the fiction department.” A man said softly, followed by a dark skinned, African looking man running his fingers over the shelf. Short black hair covered his head, and he was starting to grow a scraggly beard over a series of scars- clawmarks on his cheek that twisted as he smiled.

“Yeah, I was kinda looking for a magic book I guess.” She admitted. Lorcan might like that, it might be useful, but if not…

“Look at the author. If it’s some big firm then it’s probably fantasy, but if it looks like something homemade or really old, then could be the real thing.” He said, and she nodded, flicking to the end. The writing looked hand done, the pages almost seemed ready to crumble to dust under her touch, she grinned as she saw a page on phoenixes fly past, then centaurs, liches, harpies, and many others. Then, on the back cover…

“Archibald McKillop.” She read out, “He could work on his handwriting a bit.”

“Yeah, yeah he could a bit. What one in there’s your favourite?” The man asked, grinning with stark white teeth.

“Uh…” She hadn’t thought of that before. They were all real people to her now, not just stories or monsters, friends. Karens fingers played through the pages as her mind ran, really, the best mystic had to be-

“Don’t say yourself now.” He chuckled, “Mine’s is dragons really, so fierce and magical, rather amazing creatures.”

“Myself? I’m not a mystic.” She lied, “I was going to say, uh, Tengu’s.”

“Oh, that’s a rare one, practically an angel.” He smiled, “And you don’t need to lie, I’ve got a little trick here, I can tell you’re a gryphon.”

He held up what looked like a small brass framed magnifying glass, or a monocle, and passed it to Karen, taking the book in one hand so she could examine it. Behind the glass her skin looked scaly and black, and she winced and looked again, lifting it so she could see her entire hand through the circle. Just now it looked like a gryphon claw, but maybe that was all it showed, that winged monster in her. Or, if she was in gryphon form would it show her as a human then?  Karen frowned and turned it over, examining the small marks inscribed around the outside.

“Neat, huh? It’s a scryer, it can show you where magic is, and what creatures should really look like. Really useful, I only got it a month ago and you wouldn’t believe how much I love it.” He smiled and they swapped back, leaving her with the thick book.

“Neat?” She scowled, “It’s scary, I’m meant to be a person, not just a beast in disguise. If those guys shouting outside knew what I was… mmm, I’ve been beaten up once already…“

“That’s the beauty of it, they wouldn’t dare touch it or use it. It’s the evil devil monocle, don’t touch it or you’re cursed, that’s their view. The most superstitious they get is hanging silly little bells over their front doors.”

The bells? They were getting more common now, in this town at least, she couldn’t remember anything remarkable about them back home in Ranelk. Maybe on this door or that, but not enough to be noteworthy. “What do the bells do?”

“Well, if there’s some horrid goblin going to their house, and he goes up the front door, reaches out, and opens it, then the door hits the bell and it rings. They’re supposed to ward monsters off, but really the main use is they ring when the door opens. Not very loud either.” He laughed and shook his head, “Well, I’ve chatted long enough. Hope you enjoy your book young gryphon.”

“Right, uh, thankyou” She said and moved off away from the man cautiously to buy it. She kept thumbing it as she walked, it was interesting, it had information on loads of different creatures inside, including her own. Maybe she could sit down and have a read before she gave it to Lorcan.

The other presents were hard to choose. A bag for Emma, and a small disposable camera for Sara, she thought maybe she could take pictures from the air, having hands unlike the rest of them. Ollie got a puzzle jigsaw cube that looked interesting. That left Maddie, and she ran her eyes down the shops, mind wondering what to get her friend. Maybe shoes, she almost considered with a giggle, and shook her head, then looked at her watch again. Still time.

“Stormy wing and bright eye.”

She turned, the voice was soft, almost too soft to hear, but it still stood out, from… yes, there was a woman, a beggar sitting down against a building. A headscarf like the one the gorgons wore to hide their snakes covered her head, and she had dark glasses over her eyes, a white stick by her side.

“Aye, you she-beast.” The woman coughed like a heavy smoker and inclined her head towards Karen, “Come here.”

“What do you want?” Karen asked suspiciously, but took a step closer, and then another.

“To speak. He’s coming for you.” She croaked back, and Karen had to bend down to make out her words, “Your knight is coming she-beast. You will never forget your great knight, that changes your life more than the other two, more than any before.”

“What? What do you mean what kni-“ She started to say, before the woman’s hand shot up and caught her on the shoulder, pulling her closer.

“He will come. He will beat the others. He will fill your thoughts and dreams.” She hissed rapidly, and then pushed the younger girl away again, smiling as she croaked, “Your great knight is coming.”

“What do you mean?” Karen shook her head, “What are you? A gorgon?”

“Just a seer, that is all I have for you.” Came the reply, and the woman looked down and away, clearly ending the conversation. The words were ridiculous, too cryptic. Knight? What like a knight slaying a dragon? Or… she rolled her eyes, a prince charming knight, a romantic? Was that what the beggar had been driving at, someone who’d love her?

She shook her head, trying to muster up her old scepticism, but most of that had been shattered by turning into a gryphon. There was a chance there had been something magical about the woman, and anyway, her appearance did give Karen an idea as she started to walk off again. Maddie quite liked the Gorgon, Miranda, but you couldn’t look at her properly unless your vision was obscured, she could find some cheap sunglasses for a few of them, and they wouldn’t need to worry about being accidentally turned to stone then. It wouldn’t quite do for a main gift, but it was a cool idea, and her hand went to her pocket as she neared a shop, to check how much money she still had. Surely enough, she’d been saving for a couple of months.

Except, her purse was gone, and when she turned around so was the beggar-seer.