Girl who Speaks to Birds

Chapter 39

I could see a key in his hand. He smiled warmly at me, and then looked at the man.

"So, you're the one who has been messing with Madelyn. Stop it. Now."

"You have been deceiving her all this time. You shifters are evil, and we must defeat you."

The man seemed extremely sure of himself, and though I was almost entirely sure that the shifters were on my side, could I be wrong? Was that man right? Was I just setting myself up for pain?

"You're the evil ones!" I heard Tyler fire back, with an anger behind his voice. My dad - who was shifter - lept onto the man, and I heard him snarl. Tyler turned away, key in his hand. He approached me, unlocking the restraints. I had become locked up over the two weeks that I had been stuck in this place, my muscles and joints begging to be stretched.

I let out a yawn, then quickly stretched. I glanced at the man, who had slashes across his face and was knocked out. Then I looked at dad. He had shifted back, and a big grin was on his face.

"Can I trust you?" I asked in a mutter.

Tyler looked at me. "What do you mean? Of course you can trust me. Why would you think otherwise?"

"I mean, I think I can trust you, but the way that man spoke, it was like he was so sure of it. I think you're on my side but..." I sighed "I don't know."

"It's the brainwashing, Madelyn." he glanced at my dad "We're gonna get out of here. And we need to hurry, before anyone else sees us."

Dad nodded, shifting. Yeah, not the most pleasant sight. When Tyler started toward the exit, I hesitated. Could I trust him? He must've noticed I wasn't following him.

"You can trust us, Madelyn. Trinity and I rescued you from the hunters. Think about it; if we were evil, would we have done that?"

He made a good point. I guess I could trust him. After all, he had helped me numerous times. And Tyler had even kissed me! I felt a slight - okay, intense - heat rise to my cheeks as I recalled the sweet memory. Though I wasn't entirely sure - there was still a bit of doubt - I decided to go with Tyler.

"I'm coming." I said, stretching one more time before following Tyler.

"Good," I heard Trinity say "I want to get out of here asap."

We snagged a bit of food from the break room - who would've thought that evil people liked oreos? I doubted I'd be able to make it through a full day on that, after all, I had been starved, but it would - probably - be enough for the flight back.

Soon, we were in the air. Oh, how beautiful it felt to be free again. And if you don't think being outside is beautiful, you've obviously never been held captive.

I didn't have enough energy to do to talk much, or really do anything except focus on flying. The taste of the oreo lingered in my mouth, and it kept me from begging to go to the store and buy food.

Well... I might've asked a few times.

My stomach growled, but I tried to distract myself from the hunger. Well, at least the oreos had helped.

Soon, the forest came into sight. A smile made its way onto my face; I was going to be with all of the shifters, and I'd be home. Well, not home like I'd known, but the forest had become my home in a way. When I was close enough, I landed, drowsy and exhausted. Still, I was free.

"I need food." I said simply "And a change of clothes." I hoped nobody would ask why. Luckily, nobody did. They were all so eager to help me. And it wasn't just because I had been held captive for two weeks. It came back to me.

I was the leader of the shifters. I put my head in my hands, sighing. Why couldn't I have normal fifteen year old girl problems? Still, I was going to have to deal with it; whether I liked it or not. I went into a secluded area of the forest, got cleaned - which, let me tell you, was no easy task - and pretty much ate all the food I had been given.

Half an hour later, there was puke by a tree.

"You shouldn't have eaten that much food at once after being starved for two weeks."

"You're back!"

"I'm still feeling kind of weak, but yes, I'm back. And you're leader now; you have responsibilities. If you're going to be the leader, you can't be sick all the time. It'd be best to take it easy for the next few days."

"You're right. But how am I going to get peace between the shifters and the hunters? I can't let Caspian down."

"And you won't. I have a feeling this won't be easy."

"Any sane person would."

"But I know you can do it, Madelyn. Tust me on this. But you're going to need the help of the shifters; all of them."

"Speaking of; should I have a meeting or something?"

"It'd be a wise decision."

I flew back to the gathering of shifters. "If I could have everyone's attention..."

All the shifters turned their attention to me.

"When Caspian died, he made me leader. And he told me to make peace between the shifters and the hunters. It's not going to be an easy task. But we'll do it. But before we begin with the planning, I need to know that I can trust all of you. If I have traitors, all the plans will fail. So, if you're a traitor, you might as well leave. We're going to achieve peace, and if you're a traitor, you obviously don't believe in it. If you have any ideas on how to get the hunters and shifters to have peace, please let me know. That is all."

A/N- So, I've been thinking. 122 in fantasy is huge. And huge things should have fandoms/fanbases. But, I can't say I have one until there's been fanfictions written... just a little thought. :3

Please vote, comment, share, and I'll see you all in the comments! Bye for now!