Shift: NOT a Werewolf Story

Chapter Twenty-One: The Task

Kiela unwrapped the bandages for the last time, frowning. The only remaining mark from Artemis' ordeal was the fading scar across the bridge of her nose, marring her beauty.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Kiela asked, looking concerned. She stared into Artemis' eyes which were dull with defeat.

"Yes," she replied. "I can't stand anymore pain. And I know he'll beat me worse than before if I refuse."

"But are you ready?" Kiela asked. "You still walk funny, and you still complain about pain in your back. If you have to run from something you'll be killed."

"Even death is favourable to pain." Artemis murmured. It was then that Kiela realized the depth of the repair that her friend was in.

Feeling a sudden tenderness, Kiela hugged Artemis close. "Be careful." she said. "Come home safe."

"I will," Artemis said, and she hugged Kiela back.

***

Kiela watched anxiously as the group of people who were set on the task descended front he stage and disappeared into the distance. She could not shake her worry for Artemis though.

If only I could be there, to protect her or bring her back if she is injured. Kiela thought. Then there would be less danger.

She smiled to herself.

Who says I can't? She glanced around at the empty square before starting off at a sprint towards the retreating backs of the children ahead of her.

They slowed, and she slowed with them, crouching in some bushes. She watched as one of the boys pulled a slip of paper from the wooden box that was nailed on a tree. Kiela strained her ears to hear the words that he read from the piece of paper.

"'Your task is this: Go to the canyon over the next hill. Kill what you find and return its skin to me. If you do not, you will not be permitted into the camp.'

"Alright." The boy said. "Do you all have your weapons?" Kiela watched Artemis nod and lift a round metal disk with a sharpened edge, wincing at the weight.

"Let's go." he said, and they took off over the hill. Kiela had to sprint to keep up with them, trading lightly so as not to crack the sticks under her feet. Slowly the trees turned to grass and the grass turned to shale which crunched under their boots. A loud bellow assaulted their ears, and all fell instinctively into a crouch. The youngest, a boy of about nine, turned pale.

They slowly picked their way down to the canyon, and as they did Kiela approached the top. She froze. There on the canyon floor was a huge grizzly bear. It bellowed in fury. Half a dozen arrows were sticking out of its brown coat and it pawed at them. Suddenly it quieted and swung its head towards the approaching kids.

The large boy that has spoken earlier hefted his bow and aimed an arrow at tis head. Suddenly, Artemis darted out in front of him.

"Stop!" She yelled. "This is a bear, a reincarnation of our goddess Eursa. We cannot harm it!"

"Step aside." The boy growled. "Do you wish to be beaten?"

Kiela saw Artemis take a deep breath.

"You cannot harm this creature. You will have to shoot me first."

"So be it," the boy said, raising his bow. To her credit, Artemis didn't flinch. Suddenly, the large bear reared up and swept Artemis to the side, slashing her with its claws. Immediately the rest of the children spread out and took up their defensive positions. The boy released his arrow, but it didn't get past the bear's thick coat. Kiela gasped as she saw the bear rip at Artemis with its claws. With a battle cry she kept from the top of the cliff and onto its furry back.

"Kiela?" Artemis looked up at her. in that moment of distraction, the bear raked its claws across her stomach, tearing down to the bone. Artemis arched her back, screaming. The sound reverberated off the canyon walls.

Kiela noticed the sharpened disk, Artemis' weapon, lying on the ground. She dove towards it and grabbed it, nearly slicing off her hand in the process. She closed her hand around the leather grip and swung, drawing a line of fire across the bear's side. it roared in pain and fury, drop in Artemis' limp body. Kiela could nearest make out the colour of her flesh beneath all o the blood that clung to her. Suddenly, an arrow whistled through the air and landed with a thud and a sliding sound in the bears eye. It bellowed, and then collapsed, never to move again.

***

Kiela woke, gasping. Her throat was painfully dry, and it took her a few moments to realize where she was. Her belly growled, and the itching, gnawing pain of hunger filled her. She was tied to a tree with thick metal chains that not even her wolf's teeth could break through. She stained her ears and her nose, but she couldn't scent any life. "What is this task?" She yelled out. "What do I have to do?" She was met with silence.

The breeze lifted a tantalizing scent to her nose. Mage turned her head with much difficulty to see the old carcass of a deer out of the corner of her eye. She raised her head again, and caught a scent coming from the dead animal. The scent slithered into her nose, boarding a hole in the scent map that surrounded her. It was a scent that screamed "Beware", a scent that warned off any predator. Kiela sank down in defeat, breathing through her mouth so that she would not be tempted.

***

Two days passed. Kiela woke up one morning to a cup of water which she had drunk greedily. It slacked her burning thirst, but there was nothing to diminish her hunger other than the deer. Surprisingly, no flies dared land on it, and it had not seemed to have decayed. Being in its presence was a nightmare, more so because Kiela knew that if she were to take a bite her pain would be over. A third and a fourth day passed. she was barely coherent, seeing dancing figures in the shadows around her. Once she saw Lono, and shouted out to him. "I'm sorry!" She pleaded. "I never meant to hurt you!" His figure shook its head and laughed at her plight, all warmth fled from its eyes. "Please!" She called. He split into the figures of Haran and Artemis, both cowering beneath the heavy blows of Manin. Kiela struggled, tearing large gashes around her writs where the ties were fastened. She tried to help her friends, but they were to far away for her to grasp. Manin turned towards her, and his face was Jarnvosk's.

She wept than, the first time since Haran, the first time since Artemis, the first time since her old life. she was broken, utterly broken with no strength left. And so, on the fifth day, she looked towards the carcass that had taunted her for so long.

Kiela strained, but her human body was not long enough to reach it, so she she shifted into her wolf form. She felt the fur over take her, and reached out to the kill. She grapes a chunk of flesh between her jaws, closed, and tore it off. She swallowed, the metallic taste if fresh meat covering her tongue. Then it turned sour.

Lines of fire raced down her body. Kiela howled as the pain overtook her, convulsing in the dirt. The fur fell away to her human skin underneath, bringing with it a fresh wave of pain. She clutched at it in desperation, tearing out clumps of fur that vanished before hitting the ground. It all melted away under her fingers. She tried desperately to hold on. Kiela looked over to her side and saw her tattoo fading. Its edges crumbled, dissolving to the centre. She gasped, and as she did she recognized the scent on the deer. It was a the scent that she, herself, Lono and Tori carried. It was Ramsea's too. It was a scent that Kym and Jarnvosk and the others lacked. It was a scent that Artemis didn't have. And so, as Kiela lay there with her wolf body fading, she realized that she had just eaten the blood and flesh of another shifter.