The Runaway Rebels- Book 1

Chapter Seven: Shapeshifter

"It's called a shapeshifter coma. Ace told me that the bigger the creature she's turning into is, the more energy it takes up- that goes for all shapeshifters- and if they stay as that creature for too long, then they risk falling into an almost unbreakable sleep. She told me, that if that ever happened, the only known thing that might be able to bring her back was... Ambrosia," said Pandora, reaching out with the bottle in hand.

However, just as The Goddess of Darkness put the bottle towards Ace's mouth, Dawn placed a hand on the bottle, blocking it from reaching the Goddess. 

"How do I know you're telling the truth? How do I know that's not poison in the bottle?" 

Dawn asked, looking deep into Pandora's green eyes. 

"Well, I guess you don't. But consider this, if I had wanted her dead, why wait till now? I pushed the two of you out of the way earlier, and don't bother telling me it was an act, because you can think what you like, but nobody is stopping me from saving her, and now it's time for you to make a decision: Are you going to go with your gut and trust me? Or are you going to do as you've been told and make me lose the only person who's ever actually cared about me?" Pandora asked, looking Dawn right in her shimmering dark eyes, her voice cracking as she finished.

Then, slowly and silently Dawn lifted her hand from the bottle, letting Pandora push the top of the bottle under Ace's nose, much to Dawn's surprise. "I thought you meant she had to drink it?!" Dawn said to a shake of the head from Pandora, for, as she then explained to Dawn, the smell of Ambrosia was extremely potent, though not necessarily a bad one, you see nobody was quite sure what it smelled like, it seemed to vary, but whatever it was, it was a smell so strong that it may just be able to wake an Immortal in a deep sleep.

The two Goddesses looked from Ace, and then back to each other, trying with all their might not to lose hope, until... 

"Woah! What the-" Ace shot up from the ground, leaning on her elbows as she looked around in confusion for a second, before Dawn and Pandora smothered her in a hug that would've lasted for eternity. Eternity if there wasn't a world, or worlds, to save, that is. 

"Ok, question-" Ace began as the three of them got to their feet (a little shakily in Ace's case). 

"Did we win yet?" the Goddess asked, with an arm round Dawn and Pandora's shoulders. The other two shook their heads, suddenly a tad forlorn. 

"Ok, second question then..." Ace began a tad weakly. 

"Did you have to wake me up?" 

The three of them laughed happily, before Pandora noticed three long grazes down the side of Ace's cheek, placed almost exactly where they emerged on the face of the Dragon.

"You're hurt! Are you alright?" said Pandora, in a concerned tone that sounded nothing like her usual gruff tone in the slightest. 

"Well, my head hurts like mad, and my brain's still trying to work out why I just shrunk several feet. It does take a while to catch up, poor thing. But, besides that, and the fact that I nearly fell into an irreversible coma, where I would have been able to hear everything people were saying and NOT talk, which by the way would have been a nightmare! Yes apart from all that I'm fine!" said Ace sending the whole mini-speech, bursting out in a hurried flurry of words, barely giving herself time to think let alone breathe. 

Dawn laughed, once again unable to believe how fast this Immortal could talk, while Pandora rolled her eyes, her smile not disappearing from her pale lips. 

"No Ace, you forgot about these," She said gesturing to the glistening gold scratches down Ace's face. "Oh them! They're ok. Bit sore, but my brain's too pre-occupied with the impending threat of the Nine Realms being taken over my 'dear' siblings and the other things that might pop out and ambush us at any time to really think about the pain." Ace said, tentatively touching one of the gashes with her fingers, recoiling and wincing on impact. "Be careful! That might be infected!" Dawn said examining the cuts on the side of Ace's face with an expression of deep concentration and concern.