Shifter's Journeys, Book One: the Scar, the Sword, and the Saga

The Infuriatingly Annoying Vision

Wham! Brody slams into the pale boy and sends him tumbling. "Get out of here while I distract them!" Brody howls, barring his teeth at another figure.

"No way! I'm not leaving you by yourself!"

Brody realizes there's no point in arguing. "Fine. Get ready to run!" he orders.

"Ok, when?!"

"Now!" Brody headbutts into another two-legged figure, trampling him as he runs past.

I quickly pass Brody, who was half a tail length in front of me.

"Where should I go?!" I exclaim.

"Anywhere! As long as it's away from here!" Brody shouts back. I keep running straight. I eventually slow down as I smell something "familiar", though I have no idea how I recognize it. My head swims, and my vision blurs. I feel myself drifting, away and out of my body. It's a very scary and strange experience. To move, I simply think where I want to go and my mind moves me forwards. Suddenly, I'm being dragged down. I try resisting, but without success. A blue, swirling thing sucks me in, and images fill my mind and eyesight

...

I see, well, not really see, more like sense, a couple smiling at me. Their faces are fuzzy and I have no idea who they are. I smell something cooking and I struggle to turn my neck towards it and open my eyes. My head lolls back, which makes me start crying. My eyes snap shut before I can glimpse my parents' faces.

My cries are quiet, like that of a newborn. I hear one of the figures nearing me, then I feel myself being cradled. I stop crying. "Oh, isn't he a darling?" one of them asks. Somehow, I'm still able to think like a ten-year-old, so I realize that the speaker's voice is female.

My reality shifts and I'm suddenly viewing the scene outside the baby's body. I notice the mother has pointed ears.

"I can't do it... I'm not-how will I be able to raise another life?" the mother asks, in a quiet, hopeless tone.

Her husband places his arm around her shoulders. She gazes into his caring eyes, grateful. At least, I assume he does. I can't really see what's going on. The image is kinda fuzzy, like viewing through a mud puddle that constantly ripples. "Honey, you'll be fine. This is a new experience for the both of us," he whispers and slips his hand into hers. They pull closer and are about to embrace, when there's a knock on the door. The father sighs and reluctantly pulls away. "I'll get it, it's one of my friends."

He opens the door. For some reason, I'm able to view the newcomer clearly, as if the scene, which I now realize is a "vision", doesn't mind me seeing this person but not the baby's parents or the baby. Standing outside is a tall, lean, man. The man has tan skin and bright orange eyes, with a wiry body and pitch-black hair.

The image becomes fuzzy again, but I have the man's face burned into my mind. "Glad you could make it, Malcolm," the father starts.

"Glad I could make it as well. Now, to business," Malcolm replies.

"Oh yeah... about that."

Malcolm raises an eyebrow. "Having second thoughts, are we?"

"Erm..." answers the father, then he sighs, "You know me too well. I don't know... Is it safe for the baby? He was just born two hours ago!"

"Safer than what's to come," Malcolm responds, unsympathetically.

The other man sighs again. "I still wish you'd tell me what the threat is..." He pauses for a moment before relenting, "All right... the baby's this way."