Lost Change

Chapter 17

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Author's Note - Content Warning.

This chapter is not a happy one.  And I am told I am pretty good at writing some emotional scenes - which, in this case, may be upsetting.  So I am going to offer an option and some advice from one of my editors, who knows what's in this chapter and absolutely refuses to read it:

If you have trouble with emotional or tragic scenes, this may be a chapter to skip.

The upcoming chapters will make it pretty obvious what takes place in this chapter, and another character will summarize the events again in a less emotional way in a few chapters.  And I'll upload the next chapter today too, so you can continue reading.  You can absolutely enjoy the rest of this story without reading this chapter.

That said, it is an important part of Nate's story and sets up the rest of Lost Change.  So with that warning out of the way...

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I lifted my head and blinked at the sound of laughter somewhere beneath me. Where had that come from? I hadn't seen any signs of Kymari approaching - none of the strange heat mirages that usually accompanied a hidden one, and none of the scents or sounds that went with one approaching. Was the wind blowing in the wrong direction? I glanced down at Susie to see if she had noticed anything...

The dog was looking at something behind me. I spread my wings a little and confirmed it was downwind of us. I let go of the apple and whistled the 'let's go' call, hoping to get away before we were noticed by whoever was laughing.

Susie... ignored me. I blinked, trying to remember when the dog had ever done that, and took a closer look at the dog. Her tail was wagging a mile a minute, and she was completely focused on whatever she was looking at. I whistled again, and I saw her ears perk... but she continued to ignore me, and instead started walking towards the source of the laughter.

I felt a surge of panic rise in me, suddenly worried. I dropped down from the tree and glided towards the dog, catching sight of the source of the laughter as I did.

Three Kymari stood several trees away, all with their backs turned to us. Two of them were adults, one male and one female, each with weapons at their hips, while the third - the source of the laughter - was a young child. She was bouncing a brightly colored yellow ball against a nearby tree - she threw it at the ground, it bounced and hit the tree, rebounded to hit the ground, then bounced back into her arms. It was a simple game, and one I could remember playing many times myself when I was a human.

Exactly the kind of game a dog would leap at the chance to join in on.

The ball bounced off the tree again, and this time Susie started running. I whistled again in desperation, calling out as loud as I could... but it was no use. The dog ignored me.

But one of the adult Kymari heard my cry.

I saw her start to turn towards us, and dashed towards a bush to hide. I think I made it before she saw me. But she saw Susie, still running happily straight towards them. I saw the sudden alarm in the Kymari's expression, saw her reach an arm to the side to push the girl to safety behind her, heard her yell out 'Coyote!' to the other adult, saw her raise her weapon...

...and saw her fire a burst of energy at my dog.

Susie dropped to the ground with a strangled, high-pitched yelp, and skidded another length or two from the momentum of her run. The horrid scent of burning air and scorched flesh reached my nose, too strong to be entirely swept away by the wind.