Old Emergence 6. Ruined Sleep (tf)

“Come on, it’s a cool idea.” The tan skinned teenager exclaimed, smiling earnestly.

Karen punched him lightly on the chest and shook her head, black hair swinging wildly “No! No it’s not, Lorcan, I thought one of the points was for people to be in their real forms, why would we use veil!? It’d just freak everyone out. There’ll be young kids too.”

“Ah, you managed alright, young ones are better at taking it in than adults. This crowd’ll deal with it.” He argued. “Plus it’d give me a bit of experience, I’ve been just making human disguise veils all week. With the dragons around that’s easy, I want a challenge.”

“Well, challenge yourself then. Don’t you sell the human veils anyway? You’re basically working, getting money doing that.” She said firmly. “If you find it’s easy, then that’s good, loads of people get lumped with jobs they hate.”

“Urgh, you argue as much as the hatchlings do.” He groaned comically, rubbing his messy brown hair, “I like sharing it, shapeshifting as a group’s more fun. You enjoyed being a hawk, and a mermaid, don’t pretend you didn’t.”

“Yes, I did, since I can’t swim in freezing water or fly. But wolves just sound like… being hairy and running around. That’s not something I fancy.”  She glanced back over the lakes water; the sun was out today, despite the chill, turning the reflection into a red and gold pattern, fanning out with the tiny ebbs and movements in the water. It looked more like a pool of gold in the sunset than the black inky depths she had swam in, or the blue grey mirror she had flown over.

“You’ve not tried it.”

“I don’t feel like being anything else today, just leave it alone.” She sighed, kicking a few of the beaches pebble into the water, ripples spreading out.

“You’d never feel like it on your own Karen, you need someone to push you.”

“Off a cliff.” Karen snapped fiercely, knowing his words were right.

“You wouldn’t fly otherwise.” He grinned at her frustration. “There’s no harm in it.”

“There is, shape shifting hurts, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“Alright, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll try and make a veil potion that doesn’t hurt at all, but you’ve got to use it some time.”

“Are you gonna tell me what it is?” She asked, cocking her head around curiously. “And have you made one like that before?”

“No, and no. So it’ll take a few days to figure out, and it’ll give me a challenge. Win-win situation.” Lorcan said quickly, cracking his fingers. “And I won’t turn us into something horrible, trust my discretion.”

“Discretion? You make it sound like we’re picking sweets.” Karen smiled slightly, and extended her hand, “Alright then, deal. But if something goes wrong I’ll… I’ll… ask Jess for help figuring out how to get back at you.”

Lorcan widened his eyes dramatically at the mention of the child kitsune, and shook her hand firmly, “Fine then. Although, I’m not sure anyone deserves her getting set on them. She filled my shoes with worms once.”

“You shouldn’t have left them with her then.” She smirked.

“I didn’t, they were inside a locked house! I still don’t know how she did it. I think Shen saw, but he’s not telling. Probably thought it was funny.” He scowled and shook his head, taking in the great lakes sight, and the forest on the other side again.

“I thought he was the nicest one?”

“He’s quiet and young, he’s still got a sense of humour. He’s just trying to take a nap whenever you see him. Do you fancy going back into town? I don’t feel like making any more veil just now.”

“Yeah, I’ve probably got to head home, my parents will have dinner ready soon anyway.” Karen said and they started walking back along the stony beach, “But don’t try and make veils for Halloween, just let people be who they are.”

“I thought the point was the opposite? I could ask Emma what she thinks I suppose.” He wondered.

“No, ask Maddie, Emma wouldn’t have a clue what she’s talking about.” Karen instructed him. Emma was too excitable, she’d get carried away, convinced it was a good idea, whereas Maddie had shapeshifted into hawks with them, and she was more cautious. The two of them could reign in Lorcan a bit, even if he didn’t like it, he would listen to both of them. They talked a bit as they moved along the road and through the town, passing the empty, quiet school where it hunched on one street corner. “So, are you seriously coming in to school when it starts back up?”

“Yeah, I did go to school before all this. Is that so hard to swallow?”

“It just seems weird; you basically have three pet dragons. That doesn’t go with my image of a pupil.”

“They’re not pets, don’t use that word near them. Maybe familiars.  Don’t you remember how big the old one, Scevola was? They don’t bow to anyone.” He said firmly, and Karen nodded. The century old monster had been large as a house at least, not spiteful or cruel, but an idle step from him could be lethal. And if the three lived that long, they’d be near the same size. “Besides, I want to learn normal stuff, I only know some magic and it’s not exactly practical.”

“Not everything we learn is practical. Who else is coming to school?”

“Jess you know, I think her mum’s pressuring her. Bull, Sarah, Toby, you don’t know them. Maddie, obviously. Not sure about others, there’ll be more new people over time. Ranelk’s officially an open zone for mystics.” He laughed as they crossed a street, heading for Karen’s house. “I think Hex was sort of tempted, and Shen too, but Nessie just doesn’t care.”

She nodded, slightly relieved that the dragons would stay away from the school and the town. Most of the others would be class twos, rather human and no cause for concern. But the hatchlings were wild, they hunted down and tore apart their own meals for the most part. They were killers.

They parted when they reached her street and Lorcan decided to go and get a coffee or something, while she went for dinner. The meal was simple spaghetti, but the discussion was slightly interesting, Ollie had a long argument to go into the mystic’s camp with his new friends that their parents opposed.

“But Karen goes to Lorcan’s place all the time, why can’t I go to Toby’s?” The black haired kid argued.

“Lorcan’s house is set aside from everyone, and you’re four years younger than her. I wouldn’t be keen on either of you going to the camp either” Their dad countered. “Just meet your friends in town, or near the lake. Even if Jean doesn’t want more kids, you could invite them here in the evenings too.”

“She wouldn’t, she’s an old bat.” Oliver complained.

“Well, if you don’t appreciate her kindness, we could just send you into school for Friday.” Their mother threatened, locking her light brown gaze on him. “No? Well, be polite about our neighbour then, there’s no reason for her to do even this much. Do you want to bring one of them over for dinner?”

“Yeah, I’ll ask Toby tomorrow, is that okay?”

“Good, we can cook for another.” Dad nodded, but still looked a bit uncomfortable, “How about you Karen, did you get any studying done today?”

“Don’t be ridiculous Dad, it’s a holiday, there’s no tests coming up to study for. I just hung out a bit.”

“That’s not a reason to avoid an education. You could gain ground. When was the last time you practiced on the guitar? You’ll be getting rusty.” He admonished.

“Yeah… I’ll practice a bit tonight.” She said, that was reasonable, “Could Lorcan and Maddie come over on Saturday then? They’ve not even been here yet.”

“Alright, if that’s fine with their parents, I’m surprised their kind seems to let their children out so much so soon.” Mum said casually. Karen took the remark steadily, they were still getting used to the idea of there being other kinds at all, and so it was progression.

“Lorcan lives with his cousin. He was the black haired guy answering questions on Sunday. I don’t know what happened to his parents.” She said quietly. “Him and Maddie are nice anyway.”

“It’s probably better not to ask, that could be a very sensitive topic.”

“I know that, I’m not Ollie.”

“Hey!” He objected, “I haven’t asked Hex and the others what happened to their parents. Although… they can’t talk, so I wouldn’t get told anyway.”

Karen rolled her eyes. Her brother seemed incredibly proud of “befriending” the dragons, though she hadn’t seen him manage anything friendlier than be within ten metres of them. She finished dinner quickly once discussion died down some more, and had a quiet evening, strumming her guitar as they watched a film. She had gotten rusty, her father had been right on that, but it was relaxing to practice, fingers dancing over the familiar chords as memories of childhood came back.


*  *  *  *  *

She jolted awake with pain surging through her body, and the coppery taste of blood in her mouth. Karen groaned and sat up with a grimace, looking through the small dark bedroom with gummy eyes. Her tongue was throbbing, she supposed she must have bitten it in her sleep, but as for the rest of the pain… she groaned and reached for the side of her bed, flicking a switch.

The surge of light blinded her for an instant, and she winced and guarded herself, confused how the old map could have gotten stronger. Maybe her father had changed the bulb. Another moment of throbbing pain was enough to grow accustomed to the brightness, and she looked up, checking her clock. Nearly one in the morning. No… twelve, forty seven minutes, and eighteen seconds.

Nineteen seconds.

Twenty seconds.

Karen blinked in surprise, the clock seemed clearer somehow, sharper, it was easy to see each individual line scored around the circle. It was easier to see everything in fact, her curtains stood out, the carpet was series of woven threads and strings in incredible complexity, the stone on her table was inky black with tiny metallic imperfections through it, and her guitars lacquered wood was covered in fine lines of grain. The mirror showed a girl with gold-amber eyes and dark hair, a handful of stormy grey feathers mixed in among her dark locks.

“Urgh, seriously?” Karen growled at the sight of her eyes, and shook as a familiar spike of pain ran through her again, “Too far Lorcan, too far.”

She sighed and slumped back onto her pillows as the pain intensified to awful levels. There wasn’t anything she could do about it, she was sure of that; it was probably Lorcan’s idea of a practical joke. Give her some sort of delayed veil to activate after hours and hours, a time bomb. She scowled, grinding her teeth amid the pain; she’d definitely need some way to get him back tomorrow. Set Jess on him or… or something!

Her bones cracked, and Karen fought back a cry of pain. Something began to grow from the base of her spine, longer and longer so that it was forced to run down one leg of her jammies, rubbing against her leg weirdly. And the pyjamas were getting tighter, she felt her body grow, limbs extending little by little with the bones shifting in her flesh. Her neck thickened and stretched a little, and she kept quiet as her skull changed, the bones smoothing out, turning rounder and sleeker.

She glanced in the mirror, and then looked away, fighting to forget the image. She didn’t recognize whatever it was, and her legs chose that moment to break. Her feet extended and thickened into a digitigrade structure. Her arms, or her upper arms shifted, the muscles there strengthening and growing, and her shoulders receded, angling more downwards, as though to crawl. Her forearms turned itchy suddenly as pressure built in her back, and she rolled over clumsily, toppling out of the bed with her blanket half covering her, close and irritating. Karen shook her head, glimpsing dark grey scales on her hands as the fingers stretched and black talons sprouted from her nails.

Her back split open and great limbs emerged from another set of upper shoulders, tearing apart her top as she grew larger and larger. Hundreds of quills burst from her skin. Her face ached and teeth suddenly melded together, sliding and extending into a sharp hooked beak. Karen thrashed in pain, tears of anger dripping from her eyes, and her tail fighting and breaking out of the pyjama leg to whip through the air. Her spine and bones seemed to stretch even more as feathers fanned out all over her front, and her wings stretched out completely, meeting either wall of her room. Dark fur sprouted and covered her back legs and tail with a sensation like pins and needles, as she shook the tangled blanket off irritably.

Her wings, vast dark feathered pinions knocked off the walls again. She hissed angrily and drew them in close clumsily as she turned around, long tail waving furiously. One of her talons hit off the corner of her bed painfully, and she clicked as she turned, trying not to hit anything. It didn’t work, this monstrous form was too large, and the bedroom seemed horribly, oppressively small, like a trap, a prison where she’d be stuck. She turned again, desperate, searching for an exit, there was the door, but that was inside, narrow hallways like the tunnels of prey and closed spaces. That wasn’t the right way, she needed out, needed out, needed air and space and to spread her wings.

The window really, really hurt when she dove into it headfirst.

For a second Karen wondered what she was doing, then the curtains flapped and rubbed past her feathered head and beak, too close, wrapping around, like they were trying to strangle her. She shook and rammed her skull against glass again, feeling a web of cracks spread out as her tail thrashed. Then another headbutt shattered the glass and she grabbed the frame with her claws, pulling through the jagged frame desperately. Shards of broken glass scraped and tore at her wings and feathers as she pushed, but there was air outside, fresh and cool, and space!

Karen pushed with her hind legs and tore free of the window, dropping down clumsily to land hard on the grass of their garden. She felt pain flare through her neck and wings and winced. There were slivers of glass stabbed into her, digging through feather, fur and hide. But she was outside!

A triumphant shrill screech escaped her black predatory beak as she climbed to her feet again, standing on two birdlike talons and two feline hind paws. Her wings spread out instinctively, and for a second she stretched out, revelling in the space to move. She arched her back and tail, feeling the tension fade a little, her muscles ease, there was so much space here! But it was dark and even her improved vision couldn’t see that well. The thought brought her back and she winced, looking over her body fearfully. It was just so strange, at least the size of a tiger or larger, but the front was like a giant bird of prey, fearsome and proud. She felt a surge of pain through her stomach. Hunger.

She shook her head in irritation; she hadn’t asked for this, she hadn’t drunk any veil recently. This was just some sick set up on Lorcan’s part, she knew it! Karen scraped a furrow in the grass in irritation, she was stuck as some bird monster because of him. And she didn’t even know how long the veil was for…

It couldn’t be permanent could it? She dismissed the idea quickly, she’d been like this for five minutes, it was no time to panic. Lorcan would know of course… she glanced around and flapped her wings experimentally, feeling a bit of lift from the great limbs. A small smile crept across the corners of her beak as she nodded, yes they would do. They would lift her. Karen hunkered down instinctively, and brought her wings up high over her back, before she bounded upwards in a powerful leap.

Her wings went down in a large flap, propelling her higher, and she repeated the motion, rising up and up into the night sky. Below, the houses shrunk to a web of burning orange streetlamps and dark blocks. She breathed in deeply and hard, fighting to keep herself in the sky, flying wasn’t too bad, she had manage fairly well as a hawk once. But this freak was big and heavy, she needed to remember to tuck her legs in close to her belly as she could, and the tail was useless, trailing behind her. It took a couple of minutes of hard flying before she was over the lake, and she flew over it and over towards the forest with a terrible fear of turning back at that point. She didn’t though; she was still a monster when she went over the forest, combing the few details she could see with sharp amber eyes.

Come on, come on, where are you Lorcan, she thought furiously, dropping to just above the tree drops as she battled to stay airborne. Her wingbeats were sagging, growing weaker as she tired. Her tai clipped off a branch and she screeched in shock, beating her wings down again to rise higher. This was so ridiculous! She’d just wanted a decent night’s sleep! Her mind swam, and her wings faltered for an instant, she fell down, smashing into the treetops and mass of branches. Leaves spiralled around and Karen screamed and tore at the branches, but she was too heavy and it was too late, she dropped to another and another, the hard wood tearing at her wings bitterly with every impact. At least the ground was cushioned with fallen leaves, but finally hitting it still hurt and left her dazed.

For a long moment she lay there, struggling to breathe, and a long high whine came as tears rolled from her eyes. Her entire body hurt! Her feathers were scattered and many were mixed with the leaves, and there still felt like there were piece of glass stabbing into her, drawing thick streams of blood. Her lungs heaved, drawing in great breathes, and her stomach still burned with hunger pains. And she wasn’t even human, stupid Lorcan had got her turned into some bird monster.

She clambered back upright sobbing, and took a rough guess to the right direction as she started limping forward. Here at least, her tail was useful for balance, but her movements were still clumsy on the mismatched legs. Her bird feet seemed a bit weaker, and the right one had a gash through the dark grey scaly flesh that sent blood flowing with every step. No, she needed to get to Lorcan now, he’d done this, and he could fix her, make her human at least. Joke over.

Finally she managed to crawl out of the trees near the caravan and she breathed out at the sight, relaxing a bit as she limped towards the door. The sight provoked a bit of anger in her as well, stupid Lorcan with his stupid joke, it had gone too far! Karen’s beak opened and she screeched angrily, long and loud and so high pitched she felt it was a wonder her ears were one organ that didn’t hurt.

The door swung open and Lorcan looked out blearily, dressed in a t shirt and shorts, feet hastily stuffed into trainers and brown hairy messy. Karen’s dark feathers ruffled up with rage and she glowered as his eyes went wide, and he came out of caravan with stiff tired legs.

“Hello, it’s pretty late, sorry.” He muttered and approached. He seemed strangely small in this form, her wing shoulders would be near his chest at least. “Oh boy, you’ve had a hard time recently, those wounds are pretty nasty…”

Wounds? As if he didn’t have a more obvious problem, Karen thought bitterly and released a hiss of irritation. Lorcan blinked and flinched a little at the sound, pausing in his advance. “Hey, hey calm down, it’s alright, I’m not going to hurt you.”

She bowed her head a fraction, still glaring at him for this prank and acting so weirdly. This was his fault! She’d been sleeping and ended up here, wrecked and exhausted and starving and stuck in a body that wasn’t even hers!

“You alright? Ah, oh a gryphon,” A deep voice came from the caravan as a tired Matt looked out curiously, “She’s one of your dad’s old wards?”

“No, don’t know her. I’m Lorcan by the way.” The tanned youth said calmly, eyes moving over the wounds and breaks in her coat.

You know me you idiot, stop it! Karen shrieked and punched him in the chest irritably. This was unsettling enough without him pretending to not know her, she just wanted to go back to normal. Shout surprise and get it over with, Lorcan!

Lorcan toppled from the blow and fell, his blood covering Karen’s black talons.