Old Emergence 4. High Noon (tf)

“Hey! Karen, get up!” Ollie yelled and shoved at her bed, jolting the fifteen year old awake.

She huffed and sat up, brushing jet black hair away from her eyes to glare at him with sharp eyes, “What is it!? It’s Saturday in case you forgot. Sa-tur-day.”

“I know what day it is, I’m eleven, not three.” He said and jerked a hand over his shoulder, “Anyway, Mum and Dad told me to wake you, they’re acting weird and they want to talk or something.”

“Did you tell them we weren’t in school?” Karen asked quickly, climbing out of bed, it would be just like him to give that away and get her in trouble.

“No, of course not.” He snorted, walking out in front of her, “It’s a letter or something.”

Their parents were sitting at the kitchen table downstairs, their father, big and bulky with receding brown hair, and their mother, thinner and slender with dark black hair, a few greys appearing. They took more after her really, the same dark hair, and like her, Karen could appreciate the steaming coffee set on the table.

“There you are. Thank you Oliver.” She said and smiled weakly, “Sit down please, do you want anything for breakfast?”

“Leave it a moment, first thing’s first.” Her father grumbled, and slid a small leaflet across the table to them, “You might want to take a look at this.”

Karen frowned and picked up the sheet, scanning over it quickly:

Citezens of Ranelk. You may have seen in the news the progressive emergence of elements of the world we were previously unaware of, like the so-called “magic” which defies current understanding of science, and other species of sentient beings.

This news is true. The government has set up numerous camps to help to integrate these other species of beings into everyday life, and one is being constructed near our own humble town. It is essential to understand that these other beings are sentient people, just as we are, and I would encourage you to befriend them and help them, extending every courtesy our peers deserve.

For the curious, I will hold a meeting outside the town hall tomorrow, Sunday the twentiet-

“Hey, don’t hog it sis!” Ollie snapped and tugged the leaflet out of her grip, reading it quickly as she blinked and looked up at her parents.

“Yeah, we thought it was a prank too, but, there’s been stuff on the news and in cities, we’re fairly sure it’s for real. It’s either that or mass hysteria that might be even worse.” Mum said, sipping at her coffee nervously. “There’ll be a meeting tomorrow at the hall for questions, it might be hard to take it in, but-“

“I already knew Mum.” Karen said quietly.

“I already knew too.” Ollie added proudly, then frowned, “What does sentient mean? And peer?”

“It means they think the same as us, they’re smart, not animals. Apparently.” Their father grumbled, “How’d you already know Karen? Did you find a leaflet yesterday?”

“There were new guys at school that… well one guy says he’s a wizard and he told me,” She said, feeling curiously numb. Even after this week, this felt surreal, the knowledge being brought into her home, into her family. She didn’t want to tell them about Maddie somehow. The girl was a naga, part snake, but she kept veiled, disguised as a human. Karen would just feel guilty meeting her later on if she gave away the girls secret.

“Wait? That guy… Lorcan?” Ollie asked eagerly, “Can he make fireballs?!”

“So, you’ve known for a few days dear?” Her mother said, and looked down, looking hurt, “Why didn’t you talk to us about it Karen?”

“It was his business, he said people would find out soon anyway.” She sighed and gestured to the leaflet, “And you did.”

“Still, we’re your parents Karen, you should be comfortable sharing problems with us. Especially with the world changing like this, you need people to talk to.”

“It wasn’t a problem, he was a nice kid, and I learned about this stuff. I was okay with keeping a secret.” She retorted. “I’d talk to you if something was that big a deal.”

“So, there’s people that aren’t human?”  Ollie asked, “That’s it, right? And magic and stuff are real? That’s cool. Do you think Lorcan could show me magic?”

Karen grimaced, remembering the times she had seen, had been veiled and unveiled, the disgusting sights and pain as flesh wilted and was remoulded. “No, I don’t think he’s that good. Or it works different or something. Just, don’t bug him.”

“Oliver, be careful. Don’t go seeking out things like this, it could be dangerous.” Dad said firmly, tugging the leaflet back. “This is just to say, don’t panic or be mean if you see… I don’t know, monsters or something, try not to make eye contact and walk away.”

“Doesn’t it say to be friendly and polite?” He asked.

“Be careful first and foremost son. I doubt all of them are bad, but there’s always a few bad eggs. Remember what you were taught even when it was just normal humans? Don’t talk to strangers. You understand Ollie, be really careful.” Their father said firmly, “And you too Karen, with this boy. If he does anything dangerous, just walk away.”

She sighed, “Yes dad, trust me I can be cautious and think, I’m not a kid.”

“Fifteen is young, even if you think you’re wise dear.” Her mother admonished, and looked at the leaflet again, “Also, it says formal lessons at school are cancelle-“

“They’ve been off all week! We’ve been telling you.” Ollie exclaimed.

“Yes, well this is official, the school is going into administration for a week, but it’ll still be open to take care of younger children so-“

“Come on, can’t we have a holiday?” Karen muttered, “The Principal said it was more important to help people settle in, instead of sitting bored.”

Their dad frowned and rubbed his brown hair, “We could try and ask Jean next door if she could keep an eye on you, you could have lunch there… Look, we’ll think about it over the weekend, I’m simply concerned for your safety.”

Karen nodded grudgingly and got up from the table, getting breakfast amid bother as Ollie kept asking things. He set her on edge, she kept worrying he’d reveal they had been skipping this week as well and land them in trouble. The fact that Ollie would get in trouble was no concern, she was elder, her punishment would be worse for being a bad example and going along with it. Eventually she left the table to get changed into comfortable old clothes and then nipped out of the house before he did something stupid.

The door opened an instant later and Ollie called out, “Hey, wait up, are you going to see the wizard?”

Karen sighed and kept marching, “I’m going to see my friends, who would probably find you annoying. No, forget the probably, definitely.”

“Ah, that’s fine, you’ve dealt with me for long enough!” He grinned and caught up, following like a particularly excitable shadow. Karen spent the walk through town trying to think of a way to get rid of him and talk with Lorcan alone. She’d considered his offer, his idea of fun to shapeshift into some animal for a couple of hours, and been tempted. Why not try and fly on her own with the opportunity? They’d been nagas or merpeople the other night and swam like fishes, flying was even more appealing, it was the ultimate freedom, unlimited, and it wasn’t like they’d just go fly that afternoon, he’d need to prepare.

Ollie had to be distracted though, some part of her wanted it to be a secret. It felt like a special power, just her and Lorcan and Maddie, and on a practical level she wanted privacy. Ollie could well let rumours out for a laugh, and she’d rather not have it known she’d turned into a half eel. Her path wound down towards the lake and around it, nearing the woods before Ollie halted and gasped.

“Sis! There’s somethi- oh nevermind.” He stopped as she turned, spotting a black haired little girl walking through the bushes, “Hey Jess! Are you still monster hunting?!”

The girl gasped, eyes wide and dashed towards them quickly, brushing bushes aside, “No! Other way round!”

Ollie frowned and turned on the spot, looking towards the lake, before he understood and gasped, “It’s hunting you!?”

“Yeah! She’s not happy!”

Karen’s heart leapt as a screech came through the bushes behind the girl, followed by a surge of green scales and heavy footsteps. They were like a drumbeat, thudding and cracking on the earth, accompanied by hissing, and Ollie lunged forward and grabbed a stick from beneath the trees. As the green dragon drew near, Jess turned, stumbling a bit and called out, “Right, I’m sorry, it was just a joke okay? You don’t need to have a tantrum!”

The monster lunged into her with a screech just as she reached the beach, and Karen caught a glimpse of the dragon hatchling, Nessie, green, the size of a big dog with leathery wings half raised and pumping up and down. A surge of reddish mist sprang up as she bit into the little girl, obscuring the human shape, and stones scattered as she slid to a stop. In a second the mist dispersed and in Jess’s place, a small fox with two tails was thrashing and kicking, dangling from the reptilian jaws.

Karen breathed out slowly and relaxed; that was right, Jess was a kitsune, and the dragon, Nessie wouldn’t hurt people badly; she had just got rid of the human glamour somehow. Ollie gaped, lifting his stick nervously, “It turned her into a fox!”

Nessie paused with a slightly confused glance, and the fox squeaked, before she whirled around on the stony beach, neck arched, and released her jaws. The kit squeaked furiously as she flew through the air flailing, only to splash down in the waters of the lake. Nessie growled proudly and seemed to smile, her teeth sliding together neatly, before Ollie started to shout and brandish the stick.

“Hey! Turn my friend back!” He yelled, and Karen rolled her eyes and plucked the stick from his grip. She didn’t fancy seeing what would happen if he tried to hit the dragon, she doubted Nessie would be so gentle.

“It’s fine, the dragon didn’t turn her into a fox.” She said quickly, gripping his shoulder.

“Didn’t you see? It got her and she turned into a fox!” He shouted, gesturing furiously.

“She turned back into a fox. She’s a kitsune, Ollie, they’ve got two forms. Didn’t you see she had two tails? They’re magical.”

“Spoilsport.” A small voice came from the shore, and she turned with a grin to see the little girl, soaking wet, sitting on the rocks. “Lorcan was meant to keep it a secret, and you ruined it for Ollie too.”

“Wait, so you’re a fox?” Ollie demanded, then looked at Nessie who was chuckling and growling as she watched with sapphire eyes, “And you knew it was a dragon? Noone tells me anything!”

“Yeah, it was funny.” Jess smirked, and started to wring her black hair of water, “And it wasn’t this dragon anyway, it was her brother. Are we even now Nessie?”

The dragon cocked her head, then nodded and lunged into the water fluidly.

Ollie watched and frowned, “And you knew them too Karen?! Seriously, share a little wisdom now and then. Are you okay Jess?”

“Yeah, just cold. I think she took that very well.” She smiled, before a wave of cold water splashed over her again and red mist swirled around her for an instant. “Very funny Nessie!”

“What did you do to it, um… to her?” Oliver asked, taking a couple of steps closer to sit on the rocks.

“I made a pit trap! With lots of worms and stuff in the bottom.” The girl declared proudly, “She’s been after revenge for three days now, her name’s Nessie.”

“And you can turn into a fox?”

“No, I can turn into a girl, silly.”

Karen didn’t listen to the rest of the conversation she was already moving off over the beach, breathing hard. Ollie would manage fine with the younger ones, and they’d distract him for her to find Lorcan. Minus the shock of seeing Nessie throw the little kit it was actually all fine.

Her walk veered through the woods eventually, clambering over fallen trees and past slippery orange red leaves and patches of mud for a while. The clearing they had chosen wasn’t too far, and it looked peaceful, though not too large, perfect for the Halloween party their classmates wanted. The trees around it were shedding their bright leaves, and Lorcan had somehow dragged a handful of small logs like stools into the centre as a preparation, where he sat expectantly with Maddie. She wasn’t veiled, Karen noted with surprise, her torso looked human, slender with light blond hair, but from the waist a gigantic brown snake tail sprouted, reaching around her in a spiral.

“Hey guys! Nice work setting up.” She called as she approached and settled down on a log quickly. “I had a thought, Lorcan.”

“What a surprise.” The tanned teenager said smugly, folding his legs on his seat. “I knew you woul-“

“Don’t put her off it.” Maddie said quietly, but smiled. Her eyes had changed a little too, the irises looked ambery brown, different from a true humans.

“Yeah, can you veil into things that can fly? Like a bird or something.” She asked.

Lorcan grinned, “Of course. Sort of. I mean if at first you don’t succeed, then flying isn’t for you. You can turn into a bird and stuff, and your age scales, so none of us would look like a full grown creature, we’d all be juveniles, but they can fly. And flying’s complicated, I’d need to change it slightly, so that we get some instincts to teach us enough to fly.”

Karen sighed at his smugness, he’d been right, the idea seemed too appealing to dismiss out of hand. “What do you mean instincts? Are those dangerous?”

“Less dangerous than trying to fly without them. But you might have urges for a few minutes afterwards. You’re smart, they’d just be a distraction.” He shrugged, “See, I’m telling you everything in advance, no worries.”

“Somehow, I’m still worried.” Karen replied, eyes flickering over to Maddie as her tail shifted slightly, scales glinting in the light. She supposed the naga had just avoided veil on her day off, the changes were painful after all, not something she’d want on her lazy day. “Just be careful if you make it, right?”

“I already made it.” Lorcan grinned, and then rubbed his deep brown hair, “Well, not for this, but I made one that can fly, just as practice a couple of weeks back. I didn’t use it all, so that’s ready.”

“What is it? You’re not gonna turn me into a bat or a dragon or something?”

“No, we can’t do dragons and survive, plus bats are just awful. It’s a red tailed hawk, standard big bird.” He smiled and hopped off the log, gesturing to the woods. “You up for it?”

“Just now?” Maddie asked, slithering around on the spot.

“Well, you’re not veiled, and you don’t have anything else to do in the next four hours?” He said confidantly, and after a moment they grudgingly started to follow him through the forest. Maddie was surprisingly fast slithering on large brown scales on her belly, matching the humans pace, and Karen watched with a strange interest.

“How fast can you move like that?”

“Not as fast as people can run, but I can reach a jog alright.” She said quietly, smiling nervously, “I can’t jump well either.”

“It must be nice, not having to grow legs in the morning though?” Karen said positively, “you look more relaxed.”

“Yeah. Walking isn’t bad, but it’s not quite me. This is my true form I suppose.” She said, eyes glancing back along her long spine as they moved.

“What’s Jess’s true form? She doesn’t use veil?”

“Fox.” Lorcan said simply. “They can use human form well, but it takes a bit of effort, they never fully relax. They can’t sleep in human form for one thing, and it’s harder to sleep veiled as well to be honest. If you veil for too long at a time, you start to get ill and your real body weakens.”

“How long is too long?” Karen asked, worried.

“Months, years in one go without changing back.” He said, “Don’t worry, it’s not like that could happen to us.”

“How do you know then?” She wondered.

He didn’t answer, he was already heading across the edge of the forest to the large caravan he shared with his cousin. Karen waited nervously, but a little excited. She could fly soon, fly free on her own wings, high above. After a few moments Lorcan emerged from his place carrying a heavy green rucksack, and started leading them through the woods again, further and deeper than usual.

“Well, you want a bit of privacy since it’s not dark, right?” He explained, and Karen agreed, not complaining as the trees grew thicker, the ground muddier and bushes clustered on the ground. They walked for easily half an hour before they stopped in a clearer area, and Lorcan dumped his bag on the ground, removing a couple of sheets and a silvery flash.

“You first, Karen? We can give a hand finding your wings then.” He said, and gave her the veil.

“And if this is wrong?” She muttered, but noticed a small label on the side where he had written “Hawk” and took a sheet, slinging it over a treebranch as a barrier. “Alright, here we go then.”

She flipped the top open and sipped a draught, almost retching at the horrible taste before she closed the lid again. In an instant pain flared up in her legs and she dropped down as they started to shrivel. Her body, her head felt smaller and smaller, clothes loosening around her, while her arms thinned and the flesh through them shifted. Pins and needles stabbed at her scalp as her hair receded, and she felt a moment of panic. She’d get that back, surely? You didn’t go bald every time you used a certain kind of veil?

Cracks and clicks came from her legs as they kept shrinking and started to grow small scales, slipping out of her jeans, while the toes started to grow longer, and more dextrous, nails becoming sharp claws. Her hands spread out into large fleshy panels, and she tugged them out of the sleeves of her now giant top, afraid of becoming trapped within. That would be too embarrassing. She groaned in pain as she felt her head and her body shift, the bones changing shape quickly and eyes moving further apart, teeth suddenly becoming a single hard structure that slid forward, a beak. Pins and needles erupted as quills suddenly burst out of her skin, flaring out to form long soft brown feathers, and in another moment they covered her and a reddish coloured fan emerged as her tail. Another tremble and shaking ran through her body, muscles and bones shifting readying herself for flight, and then it stopped.

Karen breathed out slowly, shifting a little as her bodies sensations came back to her. She could feel almost every feather, they were so sensitive, if she concentrated she could almost move them independently! The fabric covering her was shifted suddenly, and she blinked as a shadow fell over her, then screeched and flailed her wings, trying to rush away. There was something there, something giant, much larger than her, she needed to get away, fly somewhere safe, being on the ground wasn’t good!

“Karen! Karen, calm down, it’s just us.” A reassuring male voice came, and she turned around clumsily, tripping over on her small clawed feet to see Lorcan and Maddie looking down with concern. And really see them, Karen realized, her vision was amazing, she could make out almost every hair on their heads, exact details like the faint discolouration’s and veins in their eyes, it was as though she had switched to a high definition version of the world. And they were still really big, even as Lorcan bent down, extending an arm wrapped in cloth. “Right, do you think you can get onto my arm? We can see if you can fly then.”

“Yes, easy!” She tried to say, but was surprised when only a high pitched shriek came out.

“You can’t talk in this form. You’ve got a beak.” Lorcan rolled his eyes, “You’ll have to nod or shake your head, alright?”

She nodded and flapped her wings, hopping onto his arm in a quick bound, brown feathers and red tail shifting and adjusting to help move her. It was incredible, she felt so strong for her size, so free, ready to fly. Ready to hunt, get lunch. No, not that, she pushed the thought away in annoyance, that would get all messy, get blood over her nice clean feathers.

“Karen, you don’t need to waste time grooming.” Lorcan said firmly, and she blinked, realizing she had been running her greyish beak along the base of her wing vainly. She screeched and shifted, trying to recover a bit of dignity, but the teenager just laughed. “Alright, just try and fly over to one of the branches and back to my arm? If you can do that then we’ll probabl-“

Easy, Karen thought and flared her wings out to their full span, brown feathers catching the sunlight. She raised them quickly and brought them down, releasing her grip on his wrapped arm, lunging forward into the air with a flap. Lorcan and Maddie flinched in surprise, but she was ready, she locked her wings, aiming towards one branch, counting on the momentum of her first flap to carry her forwards. A gust came suddenly and she flinched, trying to flap one wing to level out before she dropped the remaining four foot, crashing onto the grass with a mortified shriek.

“Right, good try.” Lorcan observed and came over and she flipped upright and jumped onto his arm again. “You need to concentrate, it’s not like swimming or walking, if you falter, you fall.”

Karen glowered at him with a yellowish eye and flared her wings out again for the next try. In the end she crashed into the grass and mud four times before she reached a tree branch on the edge of the clearing, and then she didn’t grip it hard enough and dropped off her perch anyway. That was the final time she fell. Afterwards she was gliding to Lorcan and back like a master, a brown feathery bolt, her wings and tail shifting and adjusting to the slightest breeze on instinct.

Maddie got her own sheet and vanished under it shortly, once Karen was confident and began flying all the way across the clearing joyfully. Lorcan laughed as he watched, “You’re really enjoying that aren’t you? Just mind the instincts or you’ll eat a mouse before you know what you’re doing.”

Mouse? Karen’s piercing gaze swept across the glade around him, searching for prey. No, not prey, birdbrain, you’ll get something nice for lunch later, she reprimanded herself.  A flutter of movement above caught her gaze, small sparrows flying overhead, before she wrenched her attention away from them and glided back over to Lorcan. He caught her on one arm and smiled, “Good job. You’ve got about a hundred and five minutes left, so you can try and fly up if you want, I’ll catch up once I’ve got Maddie flying too.”

A confused screech came from the other sheet, and Karen considered it for a second before spreading her wings and flapping hard, up, and up, and up, higher than trees. In another moment she was in the open sky, adjusting and fighting as wind blew around her, and she kept rising, eyes keeping a track of the clearing far below. Lorcan was holding another hawk now, Maddie looked quieter and shyer even with a fierce hooked beak, gazing around with wonder.

Karen shifted her attention away from them and glanced through the land below, a vast swathe of forest, pockmarked with clearings and streams, and small bluffs that stood above the orange dying treetops. There, she could see the DragonGrave clearing, there the small white rectangle of Lorcan’s caravan, there, a ring of tree stumps in the Halloween clearing, and beyond the forests edge a vast watery mirror, reflecting the blue sky. She screeched in triumph, revelling in the freedom, and powered towards the water, and then the mile-wide cluster of houses and buildings of Ranelk.

There was a joy in riding the air currents, Karen felt elated as she moved over the forest, until she spotted a cluster of small beings at the shore. Ollie and Jess were still chatting, sitting beside the green shimmering shape of Nessie. A red scaly beast leaped out of the trees, crimson wings pumping as Hex struggled to take off, and Karen’s heart leapt. The dragon was big and scary enough at the best of times; she didn’t like the idea of being a bird if he could fly. Still, Hex dropped into the lake after a few strokes and she breathed a sigh of relief before circling back.

Two other, slightly smaller hawks joined her in a few moments, she guessed Lorcan was the more playful, confident one, he dived past her, wings pumping, while Maddie remained higher above, fixed and gliding lazily. Lorcan screeched and swung around, angling towards a field of buildings she hadn’t noticed before, and she followed with interest. Buildings was a loose word for it, for the most part they were caravans and port a cabins, mixed with new sheds and smaller houses, and the beings in the streets between were not human.

Furry towering creatures with horns or antlers passed strangely proportioned goblins. Karens keen eyes spotted a smaller naga child with Maddie’s light blond hair, her sister, and other people, with different proportions. There was even a man with the body of a horse she saw, before screeching and diverting her gaze away, it was overwhelming. One at a time, bit by bit, she could deal with that, but not looking at the entire place at once, seeing all of the non-humans in a single go.

She flapped her wings and rose higher, rising and falling calmly upon the air currents and thermals, barely taking any effort at all. The rest of the time was nice, just gliding, rising and falling without a care. She was above the world, simply being free.

Lorcan circled near her and screeched, and she turned regretfully, flying quickly back to the clearing, and she landed clumsily, and then hopped over, under the hanging sheet. She was just in time too, a moment later pain returned and she started to swell and grow, feather withering away. Her legs stretched out and thickened, body growing, head turning round and complex as her beak broke back down into white teeth. The wings thickened and became heavier, sprouting dextrous fingers again, and her black hair regrew quickly.

After a few moments she was whole again, and fumbled to dress quickly with clumsy fingers. She went slowly with her feet, giving Lorcan and Maddie some time to catch up, and stood up, getting used to her own body and legs again. Her body felt so weak and simple by comparison, the memories of how she had moved were fading like a dream, she couldn’t describe how to fly.

“So, how was that?” Lorcan said cheerfully when he emerged, and Maddie tugged her own sheet down to reveal a naga where a hawk had entered. It looked like an especially strange conjurers trick.

“Awesome.” Karen admitted and grinned, “Thanks for that, it was even better than I expected!”

“You were freaking out at the start, it was sort of worrying.” He said carefully, “Scary.”

“I was scary? You two were the scary ones, you were suddenly five times my size!” She protested, “I needed a moment to adjust. And I couldn’t talk all of a sudden.”

“That’s normal. Birds can’t talk, Karen.” Maddie said quietly, folding the sheets up neatly. She looked a little shaken, happier to be back on the ground.

“I hadn’t thought of that.” She admitted, “Is there no way to talk when you’re in a form like that? I thought you could understand the dragons.”

“Draconic is a language.” Lorcan said simply, “Hawks don’t have a language, you communicated pretty well on your own. If it’s really important I can try telepathy, but it’s horrible. It’s a last resort.”

“I’ll have to remember that for next time.” She muttered, and then clapped a hand over her mouth, but it was too late.

“Ha, you said next time, you’re in now!” Lorcan proclaimed, “No takebacks!”

“No, it was a slip of the tongue. I’m practically out of it, I was a bird ten minutes ago!”

“You’re an intelligent girl, I’m going to believe and trust your solemn word.” He folded his arms smugly, “You’ve enjoyed two out of two so far anyway.”

“Yeah.” She admitted, “Fine, I’ll do whatever with you next time if Maddie’s doing it.”

“Huh? Why me?” The girl asked in surprise.

“You’re sensible.”

“And I’m not?!” Lorcan mocked, “Come on, the worst I’ve messed up recently was Maddie’s veil on Tuesday, and that was Nessie’s fault for distracting me.”

“My point still stands.” Karen said, but smiled, “Thanks Lorcan, that was worth it.”

“My pleasure.” He chuckled, and stowed the sheets away into the rucksack as he stood back up. “Fancy getting a late lunch? Think we’ve got a bit left over.”

Karen glanced up for a second before following, admiring the deep blue sky, and the small sparrows fluttering overhead. Then she tore her gaze away and stumbled after him, still feeling the phantoms of wings from her shoulders.