Shifters Alliance Read online

  Changing Times

  Shifters Alliance

  Shaun L Griffiths

  Kindle Edition

  Copyright 2016, Shaun L Griffiths

  License Notes: This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this eBook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to your eBook distributor and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Edited by Elaine Roughton

  Cover Art by CoverQuill.com

  Typeset by Authorgeek.com

  Dedication

  For Kasia, who taught me to dance in the rain.

  Bonus Materials

  Want to dig deeper into the world of Shifters Alliance with exclusive content?

  Click Here to download these bonus materials, which include:

  Access to Chapter 1 in the second book of the Changing Times trilogy.

  A map that charts the course of our hero through the Alps.

  An opportunity to cast your ballot for the name of the second book.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  It was a time of darkness and long, long shadows.

  It was a time of change and of fear,

  It was the time of the animals

  It is not clear when it all began.

  The books are vague, but there were hints in the early writings that things were changing,

  if anyone cared enough to look for it.

  But life was easy, gentle, without any need to question why things were changing.

  Slowly over time, the writings became less and less, until people stopped recording it.

  Then it became as if this is how life always was, and always would be.

  People now secured their doors and windows with heavy bolts at night.

  And people were afraid.

  Children hid themselves under blankets, holding each other or themselves tight.

  Mothers cried themselves to sleep, fearful of the life to come for their children.

  Fathers lay awake, listening, remembering their own life of freedom from worry,

  and trying to think back to when and how it started.

  Angry with their own inability to stop it, but also afraid. They lay and listened.

  And still things changed.

  —Text from ‘The Book of Histories’

  Chapter 1

  Early autumn. Morning at the Northwest levee.

  He’d lain awake most of the night, waiting for the signal fire that never came. Now, wrapped in his blanket against the pre dawn chill, a grogginess had settled over him following the all-night vigilance. Sam rubbed his cheeks and eyes, feeling the two-day-old stubble on his face.

  ‘There’s smoke, Sam,’ said Avi, whose turn it was to stand guard this morning.

  His twin brother Ben was already on his feet. Did he feel Avi’s concern or read his thoughts? Sam often wondered if the twins had some sort of telepathy. Probably just a light sleeper, he told himself.

  ‘Everyone up,’ he called. ‘You know the plan, let’s get to it.’

  He’d begun to hope maybe the fire wouldn’t be lit, that it was just a false alarm, and everyone had slept safely in their beds. But the smoke had proved that hope to be futile. They were here again, and they’d taken another one of their children.

  Sam moved into his agreed position and lay in the damp grass, watching them move to their assigned places. He waved them on, pushing them forward. His whispers through gritted teeth became almost screams in their urgency to keep moving. He knew it was time to take the lead, but he was trying to hold back a little longer, knowing the most dangerous moment was drawing near, steeling himself to move and step from the morning light into the unknown.

  Avi’s team were creeping forward to the left, almost crawling, trying to maintain as low an outline as they could against the top of the riverbank. Sam could see the uncertainty in their eyes, asking for guidance. But still he held back, signaling for them to carry on moving forward. His time would come soon.

  Sam took a deep breath, for a moment trying to block out everything around him. This was likely to be the last chance to take in his surroundings. He could smell the gently flowing river to his left on the far side of the bank. He could almost taste the pine forest, the musky freshness of giants standing tall, swaying gently to his right, intoxicating in the early morning chill. He touched the wet softness of the grasses beneath his hands.

  There’s nothing in this world as beautiful on an autumn morning, he thought.

  He took a second breath. Touched by the morning breeze, he was at peace for a moment, watching the mists swirling over the water’s surface, the low sun’s slanting rays drawing him to look up. The whitewashed sky promising a crystal clear morning to come.

  It’ll be a scorcher once the sun burns off this mist, he thought.

  His senses took in his surroundings and finally came back to life.

  Sam took a third breath.

  ‘I love this country,’ he whispered, more to himself than to Casey, his back-up.

  A sense of calmness finally settled over him.

  ‘Well, there’s no point in sitting here hyperventilating, you may as well get in there,’ he said aloud, bringing a smile to Casey’s face. He signalled to the others to hold position and prepare.

  ‘That’s far enough,’ he said. ‘We don’t want to force a full-scale war.’

  Casey had been in this position before, but it still didn’t get any easier. He’d watch Sam go through his breathing routine and then calmly take control. He’d give him one of his pinched, almost sad smiles, and always find something so depreciating to say.

  ‘Thanks for being here,’ Sam said. His eyes locked on Casey, as if he knew what he was going through, understanding that each one had to deal with their own fear in their own way. There was never any judgement in Sam’s eyes at these moments. ‘Wouldn’t want anyone else here but you.’

  ‘Didn’t you say that to the last guy that was your backup?’ This time there was a real grin on Sam’s face.

  ‘See you on the other side.’

  ‘Don’t be a hero, buddy,’ Casey whispered.

  With a last nod of acknowledgment to the flanks, Sam moved from his crouch to a stooped run. Trying to cover the open ground, to get to the side of the levee as quickly as possible. This landscape that he loved so much on an autumn morning now looked a potential death trap. The hole that had opened in the side of the levee when the creatures appeared looked dark and foreboding.

  The river on the left and the pine forest swinging in from the right formed a funnel, which seemed to draw everything into it.

  Sam ran across the open ground, burying his neck into his shoulders, an involuntary reaction to the danger he felt. His boots slid in the saturated grass, slowing him down unbearably. The boggy grass turned to mud. He slipped to his knees, scrambled again to get grip in mud that seemed to glue him in place. Dragging each foot out of the quagmire, he finally reached the bank and the edge of the gaping blackness. Exhausted with the effort, Sam fell back against the lip of the entrance. He glanced at the flanks, checking everyon
e was in place, and then looked back to Casey.

  He raised three fingers as a countdown. Please let it be clear, Sam thought.

  Two fingers. And don’t let them come back just yet.

  Sam raised his index finger for the final count, turned, and charged headlong through the gaping hole in the bank.

  He expected the blinding flash; he’d witnessed it from seeing the creatures return on their last raid. He squeezed his eyes shut in preparation, but what was to come after was unknown.

  There seemed to be no discernible pattern to their appearance. They knew of the shimmering veil over the opening, the strange odour, and the flash as the creatures emerged.

  Could anyone go through, or was it only those creatures that would survive? How long would they be open and why did they close down without warning, to simply disappear, then open somewhere new and unexpected with these ‘things’ charging through?

  Sam entered the tunnel, stepping into darkness so deep it seemed solid. He tested his footing, gingerly stepping forward. Another electrifying flash cracked the air. As the light dissipated, a magnificent vista opened up, the whiteness giving way to radiant greens, revealing a sweeping valley before him.

  The hills and mountains to the east and west, drawing him towards snow-capped heights in the far distance. The deepest blue sky seemingly touched by the needle points of the peaks stretching endlessly northward. Sam realised he was gasping for air, the sight ahead taking his breath away.

  He felt he was sleepwalking into a dream, unable to move, except for his eyes taking in the sweeping landscape. His senses slowly became aware of the bird songs, the smell of the gently swaying grass, the warmth of the sun on his face.

  From his peripheral vision Sam sensed a movement. Forcing his body to react to danger, he spun, dropping to a crouch, facing someone to his right. Sam was shocked to see a young man, of similar size to him, resting his back against a rock. He noticed the stranger’s brown hair, which he wore long. His skin tone was also lighter, where Sam’s clan always had black hair and darker skin.

  Sam also saw his right leg was badly broken. His trousers had been ripped and shredded to make a tourniquet at the thigh, unsuccessfully attempting to stem the flow of blood. Though his features were manly, he seemed young. His face was contorted from fighting the pain of his broken leg, but his eyes still showed fire and anger at having been found by Sam in such a position.

  When the young man spoke, Sam was shocked that his own language was being spoken to him. He could also pick up tones of bravado in the voice.

  Through gritted teeth, the stranger said, ‘You come without weapons, only a stick.’ It was almost a sneer. ‘You’ll not get far with just a stick.’ The stranger was almost laughing to himself.

  ‘And you’ll not get far with a broken leg,’ retorted Sam. ‘I didn’t come for battle, only to reclaim what’s been taken from us. But if I can’t persuade you to return our children, then this ‘stick’ will serve me well to change your mind.’

  ‘Brave words from someone who hides behind locked doors at night,’ the stranger replied between gasps, trying to fight the pain.

  ‘You’ve shown yourself and we understand now that it’s not spirits that disappear into the darkness, but some trained animals that you’ve somehow let loose on our land.’

  ‘Trained animals!’ Now the stranger did laugh.

  ‘You know so little of this world. Go home, weakling. Pick your berries, take your fish from your rivers and hide behind your doors at night. And leave your safety to those of us who will stand up and defend these borders. ‘

  ‘I don’t see you standing at the moment.’

  ‘Don’t you dare come into my land and tell me to return what we require. Take your stick and go,’ he sneered.

  ‘I don’t see a weapon either. Did you plan on insulting me into submission, or is there something I’m missing?’ said Sam.

  ‘I’m giving you a last warning. You’re of no use to us. Return to your home, the way you came, and get on with the worthless life you came from. The others will return very soon and you don’t want to be here when they do.’

  ‘Our lives may be worthless to you,’ replied Sam, ‘but there are some things we will die for, like our families. Are you willing to do the same?’

  ‘Keep talking, weakling. I see your words are giving you false courage to stand there. When the sun is aligned with the brow of your head, the others will step through that gateway. You’ll be found, and you’ll never return to your people that I assume wait beyond the border. I’d never believe one of your kind would be brave enough to come alone.’

  ‘The ‘others,’ as you call those creatures you train, won’t return today,’ said Sam, ‘and neither will you see this valley of yours again. You’ll come with me and you’ll stop these creatures, you’ll free the children you’ve taken, and you’ll leave us in peace.’

  ‘And this is your plan?’ he laughed.

  ‘I was never expecting to find anyone like you when I stepped out of that tunnel. Nor such a valley,’ said Sam, still lost in wonder at the sight before him.

  Breath deep, he told himself. Concentrate.

  ‘I think you’ve used up your time on empty words and stupidity. You’ve wasted your final moments.’

  Sam felt a tingling at the back of his neck. These were not idle threats from the stranger. There was so much he didn’t understand, and he knew he had to return to the fields of his own land, to help the clan waiting in ambush for the creatures to return.

  He remembered the plan. Back out, call in the others waiting in the pine forest and along the river bank to surround them, and there’ll be no more raids from these creatures again. It was a good plan, until Sam found the stranger on the other side.

  Whatever is to be done must be done now, Sam thought.

  ‘You think too much and act too little.’

  ‘And you talk too much and do nothing,’ replied Sam, and with a set look of determination stepped forward.

  The stranger moved with unexpected speed. He was on his one good leg with a lasso of thick rope that he’d kept hidden at his side. He dropped the knot into his hand and threw it expertly at the point Sam stepped into.

  Sam dropped to a crouch at the first sign of the coil in the air, thrust his staff into the lasso and threw his arm behind him, using the staff to close the loop against the knot. With the rope now tight around his staff, Sam again pulled both arms back and tugged the stranger off balance. He came tumbling forward, unable to stay upright on his one good leg. Sam spun, turning full circle to land behind him.

  In a moment, he had the rope encircling the stranger, tightening it around his neck. Sam’s knee came up into the small of his back and leaning to the right, against his broken leg, he let the stranger fall to the ground choking with his own rope.

  ‘I don’t want to harm you, stranger,’ said Sam, ‘but I will if you won’t come back with me. There’ll be no more raids by you or your animals and our loved ones will be returned. You’ll stay with us until they are.’

  ‘Do you think you can stop us? Do you think my people will return what they’ve taken, just for me? Once this gateway has closed, I’ll be forgotten. I was prepared for that when my leg was broken. I’m worth nothing if I can’t fight, and I set my mind to that when they left without me. You’re a fool and a weakling if you think you could stand up to us.’

  ‘You talk too much,’ said Sam

  He bound the pinioned arms of the stranger, and then ripped off one sleeve from the stranger’s tunic, making a gag to silence his insults of indignation.

  ‘Strung up by a weakling, it’s not going to look good with your animal friends.’

  Sam grabbed his tied arms and half pulled, half dragged him back towards the tunnel. A veil of white, charged light formed a circle surrounding them. The blades of grass stood tall and seemed to dance in the charged air. He could sense the power around him. The light seemed to have weight, pushing down on him as he stepped back,
dragging the stranger with him.

  Casey lay in the damp grass, intently watching the hole in the side of the levee. He realised he was holding his breath since seeing the flash of light sparked by Sam stepping into the tunnel. He started to count the seconds, to keep some perspective of time. He remembered how seconds had seemed like hours at times of stress. Casey sensed every movement, every moment dragged out to its extreme, then only to find it had been seconds since it had all started.

  One minute. No one knew what was on the other side. No one knew if there was a way back or if it was just a one-way trip.

  After two minutes, Casey knew the plan had failed. This was supposed to be a quick look by Sam, and if he was followed out of the tunnel by any more creatures, the clan would close in on all sides to block any exit. Sam was supposed to be in and out.

  Three minutes, and Casey got to his feet. Someone had to deal with this, and the others were now looking to him. He made a dash for the edge of the levee, flattening himself against the side. He signalled to the clan to stay down and peeked around the edge of the tunnel trying to see where it led. On the limits of his hearing, he could just make out a crackling noise. There was also a faint smell of burning. Without warning, a blinding flash sent him sprawling backward against the rising bank.

  Sam stepped out of the now darkened tunnel. ‘Plan B, buddy,’ said Sam. ‘We’ve got a prize.’

  ‘How did you rope that?’ Casey asked in amazement. ‘Are you sure you’ve got it under control?’

  Sam turned at the expression of shock on Casey’s face. He looked down to see the stranger on the ground start to change before his eyes. His arms and legs were becoming thick, muscular limbs. Where the hands and feet were, now large padded paws with extended claws ripped at the ground behind him.

  The face had changed into a feline creature, contorted in rage, snarling in frustration at being bound and gagged and unable to free himself. It was trying to bite through the gag and get at the ropes still securing its limbs. The one good leg lashing out, trying to inflict damage upon Sam and Casey, who easily sidestepped the razor sharp claws. A powerful tail now waved angrily in the air.