Change of Edict Page 2

  Walking purposefully, Siray bypassed some of the others to take up second position in line behind Tamot, who was carefully scanning every tree, bush, and rock as he moved from one hiding place to another, leading them upwards.

  They would only be able to climb so high before the trees began to thin and they would lose cover, but hopefully it would be high enough to give them a good view of the camp below.

  Siray was moving out from behind a boulder and making for the tree Tamot had just arrived under when she heard someone stumble behind her and a loosed rock go bouncing away down the hill.

  The clatter sounded like thunder in Siray’s ears, and she turned stiffly to look at the culprit, already knowing who she would see.

  Jorgi stood there in the open, grimacing at each noise the still-travelling rock made, and he looked apologetically at her when it finally finished its noisy descent.

  Siray closed her eyes for a moment, breathed deeply, then opened them and gestured for Jorgi to keep moving. Then she turned back to face up the hill again and stiffened once more.

  A couple of paces in front of her, Tamot had frozen, his muscles tensed.

  Siray quickly moved to join him under the tree, waited a heartbeat for Jorgi to reach her before also hauling him up after her, and gestured with her free hand to the others behind them that they should take cover.

  Extending her hand forwards, she touched Tamot’s arm.

  ‘What is it?’ she breathed.

  Tamot gave a small, slow shake of his head but shifted one hand to point in the direction of a clump of trees a little way ahead.

  Siray peered hard at the trees. They were dark with dense foliage—one of the types that actually thrived in full sun—and it appeared to be quite a thick group. But then Siray noticed that not only was it dark, it was dark in one specific place.

  And if she traced the outline of that dark section …

  The soldier moved.

  With a thought, Siray Changed and, sprinting from the cover of her tree, covered the space between her and the soldier so swiftly that he had only just emerged from his own position in the thickset trees before the impact of Siray’s powerful feline body slammed into him, causing him to fall backwards into those same shrubs, Siray’s body following him down.

  A swipe of one set of claws across his face, and it was over.

  Siray stayed crouched there in the foliage a moment longer to see if she could scent any more lookouts hiding nearby. Smelling none, she Changed back and then waved Tamot and the others across to her position.

  They moved quickly but carefully up into the cover the soldier had been hiding in, Siray using the moment before they joined her to wipe her bloodied hand against her pants.

  Kovi didn’t hesitate in coming right up to her. ‘Why’d you kill him? We could have used him!’ He waved a hand angrily at the dead soldier, whose mauled face now gazed lifelessly up at the sky.

  Siray eyed Kovi calmly. ‘He was a risk, and we don’t know how many of them are about. We also don’t know what form he might have adopted had I not taken him out. Any kind of lasting fight up here, and every Faction soldier in the area would have been able to pinpoint our location.’

  Strangely, Siray didn’t feel much different than before she’d killed the soldier.

  No, not true. She did feel a bit different. More … in control.

  Deson came forwards. ‘Taking a hostage wasn’t part of the plan, Kovi. Let’s stick to what we discussed.’

  Siray saw Deson give her a once-over, as if to ensure she wasn’t harmed, before he turned away from them both and disappeared deeper into the trees, moving further up the hill.

  Sighing in an agitated way, Kovi tailed Deson.

  Loce, Jorgi, and Tamot, who had watched the brief exchange silently, followed them up.

  As he passed her, Tamot said, ‘Good thing you acted so quickly. I should have done something.’

  Siray shook her head. ‘Your form is a yeibon—not much it could do up here on this kind of ground. But you spotted the lookout, that’s the main thing.’ She walked with him further into the trees, pushed through the branches, and then immediately crouched when she emerged on the other side.

  The others were all already lying low and intent on what lay before them. Now about halfway up the hill, they had emerged onto a short plateau and could see the camp below, which was a hive of activity.

  Sentries had been spaced around the perimeter of the large site, and Siray could see movement in the surrounding forest that suggested that they also had soldiers patrolling farther out.

  She watched as a sentry stationed near the stream that flowed into the camp raised his bow and shot down a kitespray that had been about to fly over some of the structures.

  Deson sighed, and Siray knew that he’d just realised a flyover was out of the question. The soldiers were obviously under orders to shoot any creature that approached on sight.

  Then Siray saw something that made her lean forwards intently. On the farthest side of the camp, she could just make out a line of figures walking with their hands all behind their backs.

  But it was the pattern of Faction soldiers guarding them that confirmed her suspicions.

  ‘Hostages,’ she said to the others, pointing.

  ‘You’re right,’ Loce said. ‘I think … I think I can actually see Trainer Dirl down there.’

  Siray looked hard, but either her eyesight wasn’t as good or she wasn’t looking in the right place. It didn’t matter.

  The Faction had Resistance hostages.

  And she and the others had to rescue them.

  Siray beheld the faces of her friends, who were all still intently watching the line of hostages being marched across the destroyed camp. Well, almost all of them.

  Deson shifted closer to her and spoke in a low voice. ‘We can’t go down there, Siray. The area is too well guarded.’

  She looked away from him and at the line of hostages once more. ‘I don’t intend on going in there right now, Deson,’ she said before looking back at him.

  Deson frowned. ‘Then …’

  ‘We should do what Kovi suggested,’ she said lightly.

  Kovi turned, his eyebrows raised. ‘Take one of them hostage?’

  Siray nodded. ‘You said it yourself—what better way to get intel?’

  Deson shook his head. ‘It’s a big risk.’

  ‘And hanging around up here or trying to infiltrate the camp, without further information, isn’t?’

  Tamot weighed in. ‘I like it. We grab one of them, haul them away somewhere quiet, and get them to talk.’

  Jorgi, who had been quietly watching one particular group of sentries, turned to the group. ‘I know just how to do it.’

  CHAPTER TWO

  THE SUN had reached its midway point by the time they were all in position. To one side of a path, Siray was crouched in some bushes with Tamot and Loce, and somewhere across from them, Deson and Kovi were also hidden.

  The path wasn’t really a path, per se, but more of a trampled break between the trees. Still, they had watched carefully as the patrols had moved through the forest around the camp, and there was one pair that definitely used this path often.

  Bad for them, good for us, Siray thought.

  Loce, who had agreed to keep watch for the patrol, elbowed her.

  In response, Siray threw a tiny pebble across to the other side of the path to warn the others to get ready.

  Past Loce, and through the long leaves of the plants that hid them from enemy eyes, Siray could see the shape of two figures moving towards them at a steady pace.

  ‘That’s my cue,’ Loce said, and he Changed while remaining crouched, becoming smaller and furrier until he had assumed his second form, a quison. Then he scurried away through the foliage and out of sight.

  Siray ducked lower as she heard the patrol coming closer. She observed that the two Faction soldiers were disciplined. They made no chitchat, kept their eyes on their surroundings, and didn’t w
ander from their assigned patrol route.

  Perfect.

  As the soldiers came level with where Siray and the others were hunkered down in the bushes, they stopped abruptly.

  ‘What’s that?’ one of the soldiers said.

  He raised his bow and made to draw an arrow, but his partner slapped him lightly on the arm.

  ‘It’s a quison,’ the other male said dismissively. ‘It’s not even interested in us.’

  The other snorted. ‘I still say we shoot it—just to make sure.’ He raised his bow to take aim, his eyes intent on the quison that was foraging just slightly ahead of them on the path.

  The second soldier just shrugged in response and watched his partner prepare to fire.

  Distracted, neither of the soldiers noted the slightest of noises that came from above them, and both failed to see the large animal with shaggy fur that dropped silently onto them from above. It quickly pinned their bodies to the forest floor with four of its six legs and banged their heads together with its other two before they could shout.

  Siray stood from her crouch and emerged from hiding with Tamot to look at the two soldiers who had been knocked out. ‘Good work, Jorgi.’

  Jorgi Changed back and grinned. With six legs, his hopul form was an excellent climber—perfect for ambushes.

  Kovi hurried forwards to examine the bodies, while Tamot and Deson kept a lookout.

  ‘This one’s dead.’

  Siray bent to look. There was blood on the soldier’s temple, and when Kovi lifted his eyelids, there was no response. Putting her hand on the chest of the male, Siray felt for any rise or fall.

  There was none.

  Loce had resumed his own form and was now also standing with them. ‘That one’s breathing,’ he said, pointing to the other unconscious male.

  The soldier, who had assumed Loce was just an ordinary forest critter, was pale but seemed to be breathing normally.

  Kovi straightened. ‘One is all we need.’

  As agreed earlier, Tamot Changed into his yeibon form, and Siray worked with the others to lift the body of the unconscious sentry and drape him over Tamot’s broad back.

  Siray then turned to help Deson roll the dead sentry into the bushes where they had been hiding moments earlier.

  After checking the path for any remaining signs of the struggle that had just taken place, the six of them headed back the way they had come, staying in a staggered formation and moving as silently as possible.

  They had their hostage.

  ***

  Siray and the others kept moving until the light started to dim and the shadows around them grew longer. Instead of returning to the thicket they had started from that morning, they headed for a space under the overhang of a hill that they judged to be a safe distance from the remnants of the training camp.

  When they finally stopped, Tamot Changed, the body of the soldier dropping unceremoniously to the ground as Tamot resumed his normal form.

  He sniggered. ‘Oops.’

  ‘Careful, Tamot,’ Kovi said, shooting him a glare as he rolled the still-unconscious sentry onto his stomach, bending to tie the male’s hands and feet with vines he had torn from a nearby tree. ‘We don’t want him hurt before we have a chance to interrogate him.’

  Having finished binding the prisoner’s hands and feet, Kovi dragged the soldier to the foot of a nearby tree and then proceeded to tie him to the trunk.

  ‘Well, he’s not going anywhere, that’s for sure,’ Tamot quipped.

  A weird rumbling sounded.

  Siray turned with the others to look at its source.

  ‘Sorry,’ Jorgi said. ‘Guess I’m getting kind of hungry.’

  As if his words had set off some a kind of trigger within Siray, her own stomach began to hurt, and her mouth watered at the thought of a nice refreshing drink.

  It was Deson who broke the silence that had fallen over the group. ‘Siray and I will go hunting. Two of you should go find water, and two should stay here to guard the prisoner.’

  Kovi nodded. ‘I’ll stay.’

  Tamot stood and tapped Jorgi on the arm. ‘We’ll find water.’ They turned and started out from under the overhang.

  Loce shrugged. ‘Guess I’m staying here.’

  Deson nodded. ‘Gather some wood while you wait and prepare a fire—a small one. Dig a pit so we can conceal the light it’ll throw out. Then we’ll put it out as soon as we’ve cooked whatever it is we manage to catch.’ He turned and began walking away in a different direction than Tamot and Jorgi.

  Siray followed silently, her thoughts now on the hunt ahead of them.

  They had wandered a little way when Deson looked at her, quirked an eyebrow, then Changed.

  Siray watched in amusement as Deson stalked towards her, then brushed playfully up against her body, his back easily the height of her waist. She ran her fingers along his spine, his coat silky and fine against her fingers.

  Deson’s purr of approval made her smile grow, and she shook her head.

  ‘While I would love to indulge your more … tame instincts, I believe we have some dinner to catch?’

  Deson growled in agreement, turning his large eyes on her pointedly.

  A moment later, Siray had Changed and was standing beside him, her own silver-and-black coat blending with his.

  Deson rubbed up against her shoulder as he came to stand alongside her.

  Was it her imagination, or was her heart beating just a little quicker as they stood there together?

  Then Siray caught a whiff of a delicious scent, and all other thoughts were driven from her mind. Mmmmmm.

  She was ready to bound after the scent when she caught herself and paused, breathed, and exerted control. Such strong instincts in this feline body. She shook her head a little, the motion drawing Deson’s eye towards her, and began moving cautiously in the direction of the scent she had caught.

  Deson trailed after her, and a moment later, she could feel him tense as he also picked up the scent.

  They increased their pace, tracking their prey between trees and over logs.

  Siray knew they were drawing close when her ears detected light footfalls and other small sounds of something moving through the forest ahead of them.

  Looking at Deson in warning, she slowed, sank down low, and crept forwards. She placed each padded foot on the leaf-strewn ground carefully and with no noise. Slowly, Siray came to the crest of a slight rise in the ground and peeked over the top.

  Her mouth began to water at the sight that greeted her.

  Asrets. Fluffy, plump, and flightless, they were birds that had but one defence against predators. Camouflage. Their ability to blend into their surroundings made them hard to spot and harder to catch, once they were on their guard. But at this moment, the birds were engaged in scrounging for food, coloured their normal green with blue flecks.

  And Siray and Deson had come up on their prey from downwind, so the birds had no idea they were there.

  Siray slowly sank down below the lip of the ridge and looked at Deson, projecting her thoughts. Dinner’s waiting for us over there. A whole flock of asrets.

  Deson’s answer was accompanied by a lick of his lips. Let’s not keep them waiting, then.

  Siray turned back to the ridge, and with Deson at her side, they crept up its slope together. The asrets were still there, scratching at the dirt.

  Siray tensed her body, coiling herself.

  Ready—now!

  They sprang forwards at the same time, leaping quickly and silently into the middle of the milling asrets, causing feathers to fly and birds to squawk and begin disappearing against their surroundings in fear.

  As feathers drifted down around them, the surviving asrets now invisible, Siray turned to Deson, two dead hens swinging from her mouth by their necks.

  Deson picked up his kill, a male asret. It was twice as big as any of the hens, with colourful feathers sprouting from under its chin and on its tail.

  Not bad, Siray tho
ught at him.

  Not bad? Deson growled playfully, running ahead as the dead bird swung from his jaws. Siray followed more carefully, maintaining a careful hold on both her hens in her smaller jaws. As she ran with Deson towards where they had left Kovi and Loce, Siray had to constantly fight the urge to crunch her teeth down on the birds, and the longer she carried them, the harder the urge became to ignore.

  This led Siray to suppose that when her own needs were left wanting, they could become amplified in her other forms and might tend to make her animal instincts stronger.

  As she and Deson neared the group’s location for the night, Siray realised she could smell both Kovi and Loce quite easily.

  She thought to Deson, We’ll need to do something to mask the smell.

  Yes, his thought came back. You don’t realise how distinctive it is until you’re in an animal form.

  Before they came close enough for anyone at the encampment to hear their approach, Siray paused with Deson, dropping her two kills and then Changing back into her normal, humanoid, form. Then she took another quick moment to wipe away the blood from her hands and mouth with her sleeve.

  It was funny how, in her sevonix form, the blood didn’t bother her, but in her normal form, the thought of it on her did. Maybe it was as simple as the variation in appetite—her sevonix form had been perfectly happy to eat those hens raw.

  Bending over, Siray picked up the two hens and made to return to the others.

  Having also Changed, Deson stopped her. ‘I like hunting with you,’ he said, not moving.

  Siray smiled at him. ‘We work well together. What’s not to like?’

  Deson’s smile grew more considering. ‘I think I like just being around you in general.’

  Siray stilled, stunned. Was that a hint that Deson felt attracted to her? ‘I don’t know that—’

  ‘Siray? Deson? Is that you?’ Kovi’s voice drifted to them from ahead.