The Dream Keeper's Dragon

26. Shifters in Highfire

Leila was pale. Her golden hair was filthy and lay spread on her pillow in strings that looked like dried grass. The sour reek of vinegar filled the room, overwhelming any other scent.

"Hi," Aurelie said and kneeled next to Leila's bed.

"What happened to your hands?" Leila asked and rose from the bed.

Aurelie moved her hands behind her back and smiled. Leila reached out and touched Aurelie's hair with her fingers. The strand crumbled in her hands.

"My fire. Don't worry about it." She flapped her wrist. "It doesn't hurt at all," she lied.

"Aurelie," she said, lowering her eyes. "I'm sorry that I haven't told you about—

"Don't worry about it. We'll focus on that when you're better. I'm just glad that you're okay." Leila's arrival had been the greatest thing that could occur. She was alive! It was an outcome Aurelie had hoped for but did not expect. Thousands of questions roamed within her mind, but after one look at the dark circles under Leila's eyes, she bit the questions back.

Leila sat up on the bed. "I'm better now. Listen," she said. Skin peeling off her dry lips. She swallowed and continued, "I was young when I found out, only thirteen. Do you remember when I told you that my father and I were going away to see the medicine woman, who was in Hoirah? Do you remember how sick I was?" she asked.

Aurelie kept her expression blank. Four years they spent together, and she only heard about it now. "I do. What does that have to do with anything?" she replied, her eyes grew cold.

"It was the first time I shifted. My body was on fire, yet, my head so cold that my lips turned blue. My father took me into the wild and waited for me to shift, blaming his parents for passing this curse onto us. I felt like I was dying. I had no idea why my father led me into the woods rather than taking me to the medicine woman."

"It got so bad that I saw double, and then my eyes were so cold and dry that I had to keep them closed. I could not bear to touch my face with my fingers. It felt like the very touch on my face caused my skin to melt. Soon after that, the cramps started. My muscles felt like they were contracting and stretching at the same time. My body was fighting me. I wanted to die until I was no longer even able to stay awake."

"The next thing I could remember was roaming the forest and looking for prey, and I didn't know why I was no longer in control of myself. When I looked at the ground, I saw white paws with giant claws. I jerked around and attempted to flee, but the paws followed me. I noticed that they were mimicking my thoughts, turning, and running as I commanded them to. Then everything turned black again, and I woke up in the forest. The pain was gone."

"My father's coat was covering me. He was sitting dead still on the grass and looking into the distance. I thought it was a dream. That I'd been hallucinating while I was sick. I thought this until my father turned around and looked me straight in the eyes."

"'Now you have finally seen what you are a child. Now you can join the circle. You tell no one of this. You are one of the few who carries the curse of our kind. If you tell Aurelie, she will end up dead along with you,' he said."

I remember it as if it was yesterday. I still think about that day. I still remember the pain when I feel too hot or too cold. I fear that the pain is returning to my body, but it never has since that first time," Leila said, her eyes were pleading. "Aurelie, I'm so sorry." Her hand rested on her chest.

"I understand," she said. Not sure if even she believed her own words.

"It was for your own good. Can you imagine what we would have gotten ourselves into? A shifter and a dragon roaming the woods, can you even imagine?" She smiled and took Aurelie's hand.