The Names Our Children Will Know

Elanna's Story - Draft One

The next morning, Nathan didn't arrive as early as the travelers expected. Outside, another storm had rolled in, pouring rain and hail the size of pebbles. Mark said they would wait for Nathan and move on once the storm stopped. The huge thunderheads obscured the Tierrens mountain range to the north, but they didn't prevent the sweeping wind from slicing through the city streets. Rain fell in thin, icy sheets, although the weather wasn't as heavy as the day before.

Tessa stared out of one of the windows in the warehouse wall at lunchtime, grateful that no one felt like traveling in such inclement weather. The sky was grey and patchy clouds still covered the sun, but after three long hours of rain, the weather was beginning to clear. Soon, they would leave again.

Tessa turned back to her hammock, intending to pack up her belongings, when she saw an unfamiliar werian curled up in Jordan's hammock, purring contentedly to itself. The cat was smaller than most werians were in their four-legged forms, but its fur was long and fluffy and covered in golden and calico splotches. Tessa was tempted to wake the cat and ask what it was doing there, but when she moved closer, the cat's form shivered.

As Tessa watched, Jordan's familiar face took shape very slowly under the slight haze of her transformation. When she was herself again, she yawned and stretched, unaware of what had just happened.

Tessa froze, a rush of emotions crossing her face all at once: pride, excitement, joy, even a tinge of envy. "Jordan!" She said excitedly. "Jordan, you transformed!"

Jordan looked up, amazed. "What? I couldn't have."

But Tessa was shaking her head. "You were dreaming, and just before you woke up, you changed! You have your second form now."

Jordan looked thoughtful for a moment. "But how do I get back into it?"

Tessa shrugged. "I have no idea. I'm not a werian. Maybe Martha or Easton will know."

Jordan slid out of her hammock and trotted up the stairs after Tessa, looking for the younger twin werians.

But the warehouse was empty. No one was upstairs on the curtained catwalk, and the back rooms that served as storage and a kitchen were just as empty.

Where is everyone? Jordan thought. Then she heard a shout of laughter from outside. She and Tessa pushed open a back door and found Ghost, Martha, and Easton chasing a leather ball that Mark threw for them.

The covered backyard wasn't very big, and it seemed even smaller with Ghost's huge paws and fluffy tail. The two large cats raced past Jordan, snapping at the tattered ball. Mark tugged the ball out of Easton's mouth, growling almost as fiercely as the werian.

Tessa quickly joined in on Mark's side, but after a moment Martha tugged it away from all three of them. Easton fell back on his tail and slipped out of his four-legged form in the blink of an eye, laughing gleefully.

Martha dropped out of her cat form as well. "I win!"

With that, the rain stopped abruptly. The cold wind still sliced through the fence, but everyone was glad that the pounding of the rain on the roof had stopped. They all flocked inside to the warm kitchen that had been blocked off from the rest of the warehouse.

Nathan arrived a short time later with a pack slung over one shoulder and a thick-furred black dog with a white stripe running from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail bounding next to the tall flyant.

The dog and Ghost took off on an inspection of every corner of the warehouse that their noses could reach, while Nathan and Mark inspected a map of the country to decide on their route to cure the country of the plague. Martha, Easton, and Jordan retreated to a game of hide-and-seek on the upper catwalk while Tessa packed bags for each of them.