Launi gulped and tried to keep calm. Seeing five versions of herself looking back at her was more unnerving than she ever could have imagined. Each face was hers, but someone else controlled it. It was like looking at her reflection in a fast moving river; she recognized herself, but her features seemed distorted.
She kept her gaze forward, on the five shifters, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flicker of movement in the shadows to her left.
Please don’t let it be another one! Launi thought to herself. The thing in the shadows didn’t come out. It’s probably just a bird.
The shifters before her began to move around and Launi lost track of who was where. She tried to calm the panic in her mind. As the shifters moved around, Launi reminded herself again and again that they were trying to mess with her. They were trying to cause her to panic and become confused.
“What’s wrong?” sneered the shifter who was closest to her. “You look a bit sick? Something not sitting right with you?”
Launi didn’t answer. She wasn’t going to encourage them. She stood still and stared straight ahead, not following any one shifter as they moved confusingly around the moonlit woods.
“Or could it be that you simply don’t think we’re a threat. We’re not you know,” the shifter pulled an expression that Launi was sure had never crossed her face before. “Except if you cause us trouble. But you won’t do that, will you?”
Again Launi refused to answer.
The same shifter continued, walking up to Launi and stopping a few feet away. “A quiet one are you? All the better it makes things easier for us. I hate it when they talk.”
The other four continued to move around, making Launi’s mind spin with the effort of keeping track of them.
The shifter directly in front of Launi moved closer, she (Launi guessed this was one of the women) was now only a foot away. Her gaze ran over Launi, head to toe. Her gaze landed on the necklace around Launi’s neck.
“What’s this? What is a forest girl like you doing with a pretty thing like this?” The woman who had stolen Launi’s face extended a finger, reaching toward the necklace.
“Don’t,” Launi said quietly and as menacing as she could.
The woman paused for a split second before reaching for the necklace again. Launi leaned back, trying to stop the woman. She had accidentally trapped herself between the shifter and the tree.
Grabbing Launi’s arm in a painful grip the woman held her still and pulled the necklace up into the moonlight drifting through the tree above.
“Now this,” the woman said. “Is certainly a thing of beauty. Where did you get it peasant girl? You stole it didn’t you? Well it seems to me that there would be no moral issue of me relieving it from your grasp.” The shifter glanced around at her companions.
Launi saw five of her faces smile in unison.
Still with a tight grip on her arm, the woman gave the necklace a sharp tug, attempting to break the clasp. The chain dug harshly into Launi’s skin, but didn’t break. The shifter tried again, to no avail. Launi saw a flicker of annoyance pass over her face; Launi tried to hide a smile. Frustrated, the woman flung Launi away and stepped back to join her companions.
She had no idea why the chain wasn’t breaking, but she would worry about that later. For right now, Launi was happy that her mother’s necklace refused to go to the shifters.
Something in the tree behind Launi moved. The thing in the shadows to her left moved as well. Launi didn’t shift her gaze to see what they were; she kept her attention on the threat before her.
This was another shifter trick; they were trying to scare her with movement in the shadows.
All five of Launi’s faces paled at the same moment. Their eyes glazed over, and their features began to melt and reform into what they had been before. A blink of the eye later, two women and three men stood before her again, still with blank faces. They turned and moved eerily away back out into the trees that surrounded them.
Launi stood still, shocked. What just happened?
There was another rustle to her left and Launi snapped around in time to see a hooded figure walk into the moonlight. They were tall and wore a black cloak with a hood pulled low, hiding their face.
“Are you alright?” a man’s voice asked.
“Yes,” Launi said after a stunned moment. “Thank you for what ever you did.”
The hooded man nodded. “I’d get back on the trail and moving if I were you. Best not stay here now those scum know you’re here.”
Launi opened her mouth to ask who he was, but the man beat her to it.
“Tracker.” And before Launi could say another word, he ran off in the direction the shifters had gone.
Launi watched him go. Too stunned to move. What’s a tracker doing out here so far from the cities?
Her father had told her about trackers. They were mages who had joined the Realm’s Peace, a group of men and women who devoted their lives to keeping the peace. The trackers were trained to deal with all kinds of magical threats.
Another rustle caused Launi to jump. It was just Swift. Launi didn’t waste any energy wondering where the horse had gone, she guessed the tracker had had something to do with it. A village girl with a horse would have been in much more trouble, than a village girl without one. Horses fetched good prices at trading posts.
Launi returned the bags to Swift’s back as quickly as she could, still shaken from the encounter.
A few minutes later, they were on their way out of the shallow valley and riding quickly over the hills trying to put as much distance between themselves and the shifters.
I read these installments immediately when I see them on my screen. I hadn’t thought about her necklace since it was mentioned in an earlier installment – but, of course, the necklace certainly would show up again in this gripping journey. I can’t remember if a Tracker was in an earlier installment or is this a new character. I certainly like the idea that there are Trackers in our midst!
I’m glad you’re enjoying it! It’s mean so much to me that you are reading and enjoying these! Thank you!