Girl who Speaks to Birds

Chapter 10

I looked below me, seeing the girl assume her human form. She motioned for us to fly down, and I did. What I saw next startled me.

A black panther stood in front of me, watching me. Its tail moved slightly, and it seemed to glare at me. I stepped back, folding my wings in tightly. I clutched my bag handle tightly, shaking in fear.

Then, it changed, becoming a man. Fur seemed to shrink back, going where it was. The muzzle became a nose and mouth. He looked at me, and I looked back at him. Then, he spoke.

"Why were you so reckless as to display yourselves to humans?" he boomed. I stepped back, aware that he could transform. He seemed to emit a dominant attitude, and his tone frightened me.

"W-well, sir," I began "I-I became a shifter just yesterday, and when I shifted back, I had wings, as you can see. I told my parents, and they shot at me with bronze."

"I don't see any wounds."

"Apparently, I have control over healing."

"But it's impossible to do that with bronze!" he exclaimed.

"Well, I did. Give the newbie a prize!"

"Get on with why you showed the humans." he commanded.

"Well, turns out that Trinity" I gestured towards her "Also received wings, and she had called me earlier to tell me. And it's not like I could call 911. Just imagine: '991, I'm a bird girl stuck in a tree.' So, I told her what had happened, and she came. But, she couldn't do it on her own. And I couldn't; my wing had been shot with an arrow. So, she brought her parents over, and they shifted because they don't have wings in human form. But I couldn't stay in the air, so we fell. People saw, it got on the news, a group hunted us down. Trinity's mom; I don't know what happened to her, and her father is missing; the building burned down. But the deer shifter here thinks he's still alive."

"You mean Saige?" he asked.

"If that is her name, then yes," I replied.

"Saige will escort you to the spare cabin. Your punishment is to be decided later."

I gulped, fear rising up inside me. "Punishment?"

"Yes. Such irresponsible actions deserve punishment."

Saige started to speak. "Follow me, girls."

I nodded, feeling nervous. I was speechless. Just a few days ago, I was a normal girl in a seemingly normal family, and now I was facing punishment in a society of animal shifters. Did my life somehow get transported into a fantasy book or something? I bit at my nails, wishing I had gum or something.

"Ashlea?"

"Yes?"