Shift

Chapter 1

House of Ram

House of Feline

House of Boar

House of Equine

House of Dog

Clan of Avian (the Forsaken branch)

1

Vera snorted in frustration. She’d been searching all week for the herb to cure Sofi, but it clearly didn’t grow within the walls.

She tossed her long, golden-blonde braid over her shoulder and continued; her amber eyes scanned every inch of the scene around her. Her skin was lightly tanned and her cheeks had a flattering red blush to them. Her small stature let her slide easily between the trees and shrubs and her forest green tunic hugged her form so it didn’t hinder her.

She’d left the inner ward earlier, through one of the gates. Markus, a friend’s father, who she’d known since diapers, had been manning it and she’d chatted happily with him. He’d warned her, of course, to be careful. She was Princess of the House of Feline after all.

She stood in the outer ward, a tall formidable fence with thick wooden posts forming the inner curtain on one side, and an equally tall stone wall making the outer curtain on her other side. She sat at the edge of the brook, watching where it flowed through the bars in the bottom of the wall. A purple flower caught her eye. Looking again she was certain it was her herb.

It wasn’t exactly forbidden to go outside the outer curtain…

She walked through the light grove of trees to one that grew right up the side of the wall. Her pendant swung forward with her steps. Not wanting to break it outside, it was so heavy and annoying, she unfastened it and stowed it in a tree trunk.

Climbing up the tree, she was easily able to straddle the wall then swing down on the other side, right next to another tree growing and leaning over the opposite side. Handy.

She took off at a lope and was soon walking beside the brook.

The quiet gave her time to think. She worried about the disease Sofi had. It hadn’t surfaced in centuries. And there was a very good reason for that; a reason no-one had mentioned in the fearful meetings between the Elders. The disease came from birds. And there were no birds, at least, not inside. The thought of the relevance of something like this happening just before she, and the other princesses, took Head of the Houses was too dark to ponder.

The brook made a pleasant gurgling sound as she followed it. The trees here were tall and thin, close enough to make a nice wood, but still spread out.

A strange smell drifted past her nose and she followed it to a large spreading oak.

At the base, flopped over the roots, was a dead cat.

Its fur had fallen in light tuffs under the roots, its head and back paws the only noticeable feature to mark it as a cat. All that remained of the rest of it were mangled bones. Its amber eyes were so sad, and scared. Vera sniffled and said a blessing over it before continuing. Even as she walked away, the cat had alarmed her. Cats were lucky to her House. This was a bad omen, something wasn’t right.

She’d expected bird calls being outside, since the people of the Forsaken had passed here, but she’d only heard one; when she’d first climbed the wall.

***

Vera let out a happy gasp when she saw the herb; a small lime green bush with little purple flowers. She knelt to the ground to pick it.

As she stood and placed the herb in her pouch, a thought occurred to her. Of course the cure to the bird disease disappeared with the birds… And suddenly here it was at her feet.

Reluctantly she looked up and saw the bird nests. Never had she seen birds’ nests in real life before but she knew instantly what they were. There was at least one in each tree. A chill settled in her heart.

She looked around and suddenly noticed it was the wrong time of day. The sun was setting. Now.

Creatures moved through the trees. A wolf-sized shape blurred past her. Clamping her mouth shut she tried not to scream.

Heavy footsteps pierced the sounds of dusk. Twigs cracked and animals moved away from the being. Vera panicked. She stepped back and nearly tripped on a large branch. Part of it crumbled off with a loud groan.

Streaking through the trees she jumped logs and dived under shrubs. She flung out her arms to protect her face when she hurdled into a bush. Her hand stung from the whiplash of the branch. Panting she skidded to a halt barely before barrelling into the brook. She thought she’d run away from it, but here she was, stuck in the fork as it parted around her. The steps came closer. She ran alongside the water and turned at a sound very close behind her, suddenly something heavy cracked against her skull and she felt the feeling of terror roll away with her conscious.

***

Waking, Vera felt at ease, sprawled on a tree branch. Until she realised where that tree branch was.

Slowly opening her eyes and looking up, Vera saw a branch full of bodies, sleeping bodies. Not like the way members of her House slept, more perched. Remembering the chase she backed up against the trunk and looked around. Branches above her, around her, and below her. The place was creepy. The bodies were dressed in ragged clothes and looked hollow and starved.

The branch directly below her had only one occupant. Slowly she eased herself down, stepped around the sleeping form, and then looked at the ground. Cats could survive falls of less than two stories, or more than seven. Though, in between, that was a kill zone. And looking at the ground Vera knew by instinct this height didn’t fit in the good category. But hey, cats have nine lives after all.

She took a step along the branch and felt a cool blade press against the back of her neck.

“Turn around.” A low voice commanded. She obeyed.

A young man with long jet black hair was watching her every motion. His eyes were a deep, cold blue. His skin was pale and his lithe frame was noticeably muscular for one so thin and starved. He towered over her as he put the blade in his belt.

“What do you want with me?” Vera hissed.

“You? Nothing. He wants the pendent.” Vera softly gasped. Thank god she’d left it in the ward, safely behind the wall.

“So why not kill me?” She asked. Clearly they, whoever they were, knew she didn’t have her pendant with her.

The man smirked. Vera looked over her shoulder, took enough steps back so he couldn’t reach out to grab her. And fell.