ShapeShifter (Completed)

chapter 14

     The air was musty and thick. When Skolris took in a breath, it stung the inside of her nose and made her eyes water but she slowly adjusted. Her skin felt as dry as a rock and in fact, the floor felt like a rock. She could hear faint whispering from all around wherever she was. Metal rubbed up against her wrists and she could hear the clang of metal.

     Then, Skolris opened her eyes. She was in a dark room with a single half-dead lightbulb hanging from the roof. She could just make up fifteen more young faces around the room. All of them, including her, had chains with a lock around their wrists.

     There was one particular face she was looking for. Antariel! She could see her friend against another dirty wall across from her. She was frantically trying to slip her hands through the chains. "Antariel! Hey, Antariel!" Skolris whispered urgently.

     "You're finally up! We have to get out of here!" Antariel whispered back. "Where are we?" Some other young boy responded. "We're on a boat, the roof is wooden and i can feel it rocking." He said. The boy had short black hair and looked to be 15, just like Skolris and Antariel.

     The other kids seemed to be 10 or 11. They talked quietly to eachother, Some sobbed. "Thanks, I have an idea. Antariel, can you release your bond and try and get us out?" Skolris asked. "Ill try too." The boy said. Antariel nodded as she and the boy lifted their arms. The other kids watched as they began to call out their bonds. Antariel's brown wolf appeared infront of her while the boy summoned a silver griffin.

"You have a griffin bond!" Antariel said in wonder. The boy nodded, a smile on his face. "Hey, get us out of these chains please." Skolris asked the bonds. But even how hard they tried, they couldn't get them out with just claws and teeth. I could just shift into a small animal but then, that might cause the people up above to come down or even kill her.

     The wolf and griffin were summoned back into their symbols. "What about your bond?" The boy asked. Skolris shrugged,"I didn't get one." The boy's eyes widened,"if you didn't get a bond, then what power did you get?" He asked. Skolris looked away,"nothing too important." She simply replied.

     There were suddenly footsteps that slowly ascended down stairs. The smell of stale food wafted from numerous bowls. Two men stopped infront of the children and started to distribute food to everyone. It consisted of hard bread and burned meat along with a cup of metallic water.

     The meal wasn't very appetizing. Some of the littler kids refused to eat. Antariel frantically tried to convince them. The men watched them with a smirk on their face.

     Once everybody was done eating, they came around to collect the bowls. As one man neared Antariel, she shifted into her wolf but the chains tightened and didn't even budge to let her escape. "Think you can escape, little wolfy? These chains are werewolf and bond proof." He laughed at her failed attempts. Antariel responded with a snarl.

     The man continued up the stairs laughing as Antariel turned back into a human. "Nice try.. we're doomed." The boy sighed. "What power did you get?" Antariel asked. The boy looked up,"I got the power of water " he said. Antariel wore a jealous face. "Why did you get all of the rare bonds and powers?" Antariel growled. The boy chuckled. "Hey, this is no time for fooling around! We need to get out of here." Skolris said a little too loudly. Some of the younger agreed.

     "Now, how do you suppose we escape when we are in the middle of the ocean?" Both the boy and Antariel said at the same time. "Oh yah.." Skolris sighed. Well, i can fly them out... "oh come on, you can definitely get us out of here! You can break these chains right now if you want to!" Antariel said defiantly.

     The boy looked up with a confused face,"what?" Skolris glared at Antariel,"I don't know what your talking about Antariel-what's your name anyway?" She asked the boy. He scooted backwards,"my name is Nymos." He said.

     "So, are you going to get us out? You know you can!" Antariel said. Some of the young kids had a hopeful face. "What are you even talking about?" Nymos asked. "She's talking about Nothing." Skolris growled. "Im just a normal person just like all of you." She said.

     "What's all this yelling down here?" Asked a gruff voice as a bulky man lumbered down the wooden stairs. He looked around with beaty eyes."keep it quiet. It'll be two more days until we reach out destination, try not to get sea sick." He grunted before stomping back upstairs.

     "I hate this sooo much." A tiny girl complained. "I want to get OUT OF HERE! I WANT MOMMY!!" she started to cry to herself. Skolris covered her ears while Antariel tried to make her stop.

     "You never told me your name." Nymos pointed out. "That's not relevant." Skolris said. "Why not? I can't just keep thinking your name is 'The girl'." He said. "Just because." She growled. All of the small children were freaking out and thrashing everywhere. It was a mess down here!

     "Everybody, just SHUT UP!!" Skolris shouted. Everybody quieted down and turned their eyes towards her. "We'll get out of here, somehow! We just have to work together!" She said. "We don't have to plan when you can already break us out!" Antariel yelled again.

     "Why do you keep saying that? The chains are power proof! Not even my water powers or my griffin can break them." Nymos asked. "It's because Antariel tends to look on the bright side of things." Skolris said quickly. Antariel tried to interrupt but Skolris spoke first,"If we can all put our heads together and think up a plan, we will succeed. Nymos and Antariel can work together using their powers and bonds, and I can keep track of everyone." Skolris suggested.

     Antariel crossed her arms and scowled. "Stop trying to ignore how powerful you are. You know you can break us out." Antariel repeated. Nymos glared,"how can she break us out? She us dodging all of our questions and thinks that three 15 year olds and 10 year olds can escape from a boat in the middle of the ocean." He growled.

     "She just doesn't like to admit how powerful she is and she doesn't like to tell people her true identity anymore. But since we are in alot of trouble, i think that she should use her powers for good and help us." Antariel said. Oh no, here it comes!

     "The person who hides her true potential and has been here all along without even admitting that she can help us, can rescue us and will rescue everybody on this boat, is no other then Skolris the shapeshifter."