Wolf-Shifter

The Shapeshifter: Surviving the Secrets part 5

It was beautiful. Magnificent. The feeling of soaring in the air, feeling the wind turrents beneath her feathered wings…it was magical, almost.

With a gleeful caw, Maddy the raven turned in mid air, swooping over low cut trees and fences. A few horses grazing in a field looked up at her in boredom, before returning to their grass. They must see hundreds of ravens every day. Her eyesight was spectacular, giving her a perfect view of every strip of grass, every footprint engraved in the mud.

Casting her wings out in front of her, she examined them. They were a sleek, inky black, ruffled slightly in the wind, feathers fluttering from the bone. Turning her head, she saw a slim body with a flat tail poking from the back. It swung in the breeze, and beneath her stomach, two spindly talons.

She was amazing. She was beautiful. She hadn't even knew she held this power, and yet here it was. Giving a chirrup of approval, Maddy began to wonder what animal she would turn to next. Dax had three animal forms-the fox, the falcon, and the otter. Whatother marvelous creature would she transform into next? Maybe a horse, with spectacular hooves and glowing body. Maybe another bird of some type? Or a foreign creature, such as a lion or a tiger? Maybe even a snake; a sly reptile, peering through the tufts of large grass, eyes fixed on its prey, about to strike-

EEK!

With a cry, Maddy found herself back on the ground again, sitting with her legs splayed out and rubbing her head, wincing. Shocked, she stared at her talons; hands, with shiny palms and curved fingers. Her hair blew infuriatingly in the breeze, and her eyesight was reduced to almost nothing compared to the bird.

Sighing in disappointment, she picked herself up and glared at the tree that had caused her injury. Its branches swayed for a second, before returning to its still form; the only evidence that Maddy's experience had not been a dream were the three black raven feathers lying at the bottom of the trunk.

"Oh, great. Where am I now?" she muttered, gazing around her in confusion. The trees all looked the same, and there seemed to be no way out of the forest. Quickly, Maddy hid the panic that was threatening to blow up in her stomach.

"Okay…" she murmured to herself, inspecting the muddy floor. "I swear we were around here…somewhere. Coz look, there's our footprints!" she exclaimed in triumph, spotting three pairs of prints, and one pair of pawprints.

Blushing, she immediatley peered around nervously, just in case anyone had noticed her. There was no-one in sight.

"Um…this way then…" she decided self-conciously, following the prints through rows of trees and bushes. Occasionally she would stop and check behind her again; something about the wood made her nervous and the hairs at the back of her neck bristled at the thought of it. Frowning, she quickly scanned her view of the forest-nothing.

Out of the blue, a tree somewhere to her left rattled, its spindly branches bobbing up and down as if headbanging. An owl nesting in it took flight with a startled hoot, flying straight over Maddy's head and leaving her gazing in wonder. Then she glanced around again, completely spooked. Okay, so, a tree was just swayed by the wind. That's it. Nothing supernatural here.

She stopped herself. There was something supernatural about this forest. It was right next to a school made up of eleven students, all of which had incredible powers.

The thought sent a tingle down her spine.

Glancing back, she set off again, taking long, determined strides until she eventually broke out into a sprint. She didn't look back, and the feeling that someone was watching her stayed with her until she returned to the college.