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As we landed at The Taaka, I caught my breath. I hadn’t been to see any of the four designated areas for the shifters, not even flying over them from above. We were starting with the feline forest and lake. It was a lake and forest not unlike ours in Kavan Keep with one blaring difference.
The trees and everything around the blackened lake were varying shades of orange. Though it wasn’t even fully light out, it was undeniable. Even around the lake where the grass reached out to meet with the water, the grass was pale orange. It wasn’t just a seasonal changing of the leaves either. The bark of the tree was a rusty dark orange, the leaves varying shades. Coral. Amber. Peach.
“This is beautiful,” Jorah gasped. “I have never seen anything so vibrant.”
Amory sighed. “Imagine what it was like when the lake itself was a deep orange.”
“The trees retained their color,” Jorah noted.
“Yours didn’t?” Amory asked.
Owen shook his head. “The lake and forest both went black.”
“Well, we are only half stuck,” Amory stated. “If you think about it in that way. Our Enchantment lives on in the shifters stuck in their forms.”
I wasn’t as convinced. Our lake and forest went black, but our Enchantment had never been affected. I was sure if given the option, Dra Skor would have taken the blackened lakes and forests over being stuck in only one of their forms for nine years.
“Let’s do this,” Owen said, rolling his neck.
Jorah didn’t hesitate to step into the lake, the water sloshing up over her pants she had worn specifically for this reason. Owen and I followed her in.
We knew it was likely that some of the feline shifters would come running as we started, the brightness of our magic a dead giveaway, but with the queen here to deter them, we would be fine. No matter what happened, Dra Skor would be finding out the real reason we had come today. I just hoped there would be some good news to go with it.
Jorah’s silver magic took to the water, driving to the bottom of it and weaving throughout as if struck by a constant stream of lightning. My blue magic and Owen’s green immediately joined, wrapping around the silver and thickening it, causing the whole lake to glow.
We stopped only briefly to speak to each other and adjust our focus. Jorah reminded Owen and me to think of the lake healed, and picture it without toxins.
We already have company,the queen told me during our break.But they are intrigued and watching with me.
My eyes went to her in acknowledgment as I focused in and began sending more magic. The goal was to spend about fifteen minutes at each lake, working our way in the direction of Keld. Heading south was our first move. Since it was the feline sanctuary and Amory was with us, I had her stand nearby, her feet also in the water.
“Come on,” Jorah muttered, sending thicker magic out of her fingertips. “Let’s get you turned back, lake.”
But five minutes later, much to everyone’s chagrin, the lake remained black.
Time to switch,the queen said tightly as our magic fell minutes later, all of us heaving breaths with the effort of it. I lifted my focus from the lake to see two shifted felines prowling along the outer edge of their lake, along with one of the largest mountain lions I had ever seen. It was safe to bet they were feeling protective over us being near their lake.
I wondered what the queen had said to them, or if we would have extra company as we flew off to the next lake.
We loaded up onto the shifters and headed to the area I was feeling most tense about, the canine sanctuary, The Pitaara, or “The Pit” as they called it.
Twenty minutes later, we landed. I could see Arava off in the distance and longed to see their city streets and houses. But more than that, like the feline sanctuary was orange, the canine one was blue. Blue trees. Blue grass. Hues of turquoise and light blue, contrasted against navy tree trunks and grass. Every single leaf and branch of the trees was a different shade of blue.
My magic took a blue hue, so I was obviously partial to blue. I wondered if the blackened lake would be light blue or dark blue rather than black.
Much to my surprise, a fox was already there, and came up to me, sitting before me.
Thank you for having the courage to try,the fox said.It has been far too long since we even tried to fix this.
I looked to the queen, unsure of what exactly the fox knew or how he knew it, but it was safe to say word was traveling fast. Which we had planned on, but we likely should hurry up and try this lake before we made an entire pack of wolves angry. Or worse, an entire pack ofwingedwolves.
“I truly only seek to help,” I told the fox, looking him in the eyes as I said it.
I know. You have the time and space to try so on our lake. And should you do anything untoward, you have simply secured your own fate.
Huh. How about that. Here we had thought the canines might be the most protective over their area. And they were, since there was the lingering threat, but they also were going to allow us to at least try.
Amory leaned in and whispered to me, “If you did not have the respect of the shifters already, this would not be happening.”
