Curse of the Phoenix

Ch.49 -Pride

Iara~

As soon as we were inside, I smelled cooking venison and other foods. In the kitchen, the table was laden with plates and cups and bowls, as well as foods of all sorts. No fire burned in the hearth, rather all the windows had been opened to let the cool air inside. Eragon was at the head of the table, and Marumen in the chair next to him.

As we came in they looked over and Marumen smiled and gasped.

"It's about time everyone got here! Everything's almost ready, five more minutes." Dru turned around to face me.

"It would be better if I showed you before dinner, then we could talk."

"Show me what? What is it with everyone, you're all acting like something is up."

"You guys know what to do if something goes wrong." Alice just nodded. Eragon and Marumen had fallen silent, watching. Dru took a few steps back. Silently, everyone else has backed up. It was a strange feeling... Marumen came to stand by me. Murtagh walked past all of us and sat next to Eragon.

"Just watch." He said to Eragon, though everyone else heard. Dru began to take things off. He took off his ridig boots, his gloves, socks, a silver ring, and his cat amulet. Then he closed his eyes. And it was if something in the room snapped.

Whatever tension there was dissapeared, as he opened his eyes again. Then he crouched down, and I heard several distinct snaps. He moaned softly, then hunched over. He then started shaking around like a dog when it was wet, and as he did he began to change. To grow.

When he shook dark grey fur sprouted up and elongated, becoming shaggy. His legs slid back, and long, clear clawd scratched the floor to stop him from falling over. He fell upon his arms, and they became gigantic paws. A tail covered in thick fur whipped around, and then a head with two gigantic ears lifted. His eyes were the same green color. Only Dru was a giant, ferocious cat.

He merely stretched before shaking himself again.

"Dru?" I whispered. His ears swiveled around as he turned to face me.

Hello Iara.

"How about we talk over dinner?" I said, my voice cracking at the end of my sentence. He bobbed his head in a nod, then blinked a few times. He sat down, then I heard a few more bony sounds, and then I saw my brother before me. He had the silliest little grin plastered on his face, a sparkle in his eyes.

"Iara, close your mouth or a bat might fly into it." Dru's statement erected a nervous laugh from Marumen as I shut my mouth. Dru bent down and picked up his things, before turning and setting them on the table. "Man im starving. Anything to eat?" He asked.

Eragon nodded before motioning at the table. "Everyone sit down and help yourself. Then we can talk."

After a fair amount of food and silence I finally asked.

"Alright, what was that?"

"That was our...Inheritance. From mom. She was a shapeshifter too."

"What?"

"How about I just explain everything?"

"Sure.."

"So. Mom was a shapeshifter. Two of her old friends, a witch and a werecat who go by the names of Angela and Solembum showed me how. They said we would need it to fight him."

"Who?" I asked. Dru sighed.

"Didn't you see him during the time of pain last moon?"

"The phoenix." I whispered, finally saying it. Eragon had listened more closely when Angela and Solembum had been mentioned, but now our conversation was his only focus.

"Iara, what is the phoenix?" Eragon asked.

"Something that appeared to me and Marumen."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought it best kept a secret until we could talk to Dru and the others." It was still an uncomfortable topic.

"Anyways...did you see the...umm..well....let me just tell you. There was a mist that....came out of us? Through sudden cuts, and it....turned into the phoenix.. then it flew away. It happened to all of us."

"We just passed out. Well, our throats burned and Marumen knocked himself out by drinking three cups of the tea."

"Three cups? How is that even possible?" Luna said. I just shrugged.

"And then Eragon used a sleep spell.."

"Go on." Dru said.

"We woke up the next morning fine. Though Marumen sort of had a hangover because of the tea.." Alice giggled, before Marumen shot her a warning look.

"Well then..so.."

"Can all of you shift like that?" I asked.

"Yeah, its easy once you get the hang of it. It's just harder the farther you get from the full moon. Something about the moonlight." Mikael said.

"Why are you here, then?" I asked. Murtagh cleared his throat.

"Iara, we're here because they are going to teach you to shift. And, because each moon this...curse, progressively gets worse. We can somehow stop it, and we needed you all in one place."

"So we can shift too?" Marumen asked

"With practice."

"Then let's do it!" I said. I stood up. So did Dru.

"Alright. Better with a full belly. You have to take off anything thats not clothes, like, your shoes and especially anything metal."

"Alright." Marumen was still sitting, so I motioned for him to get up. I just had to take off my necklace and my sandals.

"Okay. Now...we should probably go somewhere with a lot of room..." The dragons were outside, but we just stepped back to the side of the table.

"What now?" I asked.

"Imagine yourself on four paws. Imagine your tail. You have to make yourself believe in this." I concentrated. I remembered being in the mind of a deer before...so I imagined.

I felt a crack, and doubled over as my side began to hurt. Dru had a hand in mine.

Just don't stop, keep going. He said. I nodded and continued. The majority of my bones snapped as they grew. I knew what I had to do as I stepped back and shook myself around. My back legs swung back, and I fell forward. I scared myself at first, before it felt like I was falling off of a cliff. Before I caught myself.

I opened my eyes. Everything wadls sharper in focus, and the lights stood out more. I looked down at myself, and saw I was covered in snowy white...fur

"You're a white like Mikael...Im grey..Dru is a hazel brown, Luna a dark brown..and Alice is a black."

This is amazing! I said. I took a step forward and shook.

"You need to learn to walk." Mikael said teasingly. I yawned, exposing a mouth full of fangs. Then with another few snaps, Dru was beside me. I watched as everyone else changed, and only Marumen was left at the table. It was a struggle...but he did it. He turned out to be a black.

"Well...it seems we have the very first pride of shapeshifters on Vroengard." Murtagh said.