A Shifter's Tale

Slow Advance

~24~

“What did he have to tell you?” Seth asked. We were sat around the little wooden table with an elderly woman bustling about the place, offering us drinks and giving them to us even if we refused. The little stone cottage was made up of one large kitchen with a little bedroom through a small door off the side. It was clear the woman wasn’t used to having visitors, especially young ones like us.

“Eat this, dear,” she was saying to Seth. “You need to get some meat on those bones.” Seth seemed a little miffed at being called scrawny every time she placed a plate full of various meats in front of him, but he snaffled it all up. She didn’t seem to realise that it didn’t matter how much he ate, he never put on any weight. Ebony was studying a small part of the map, concentration masking her expression. She was tracing a thin brown line with her fingertip; the road that would lead us to Haston.

“Lex?” Seth asked when I didn’t reply.

“Hm? Oh, he just told me which road to follow,” I replied, examining my nails.

Ebony glanced up at me over the top of the map. “That’s not exactly classified information. We were told the exact same thing.” I stared at her and slid my eyes in the direction of the old woman pointedly. She understood and didn’t say anymore.

“I do hope you’ll stay the night,” the old woman said excitedly. “I can’t have you sleeping out in the open, I’ll worry too much!”

“We’re used to it, ma’am,” Ebony said politely. “And I’m sure there won’t be someone so hospitable in ever village we pass; it’s probably best if we carry on.”

“Oh, no! You must stay the night,” she insisted. “Even if you sleep on the floor in here, I’d much rather that than have you outside.”

“No, really-” Ebony continued.

“I will not hear of anything else,” the woman interrupted her and then bustled out the door to through Seth’s left-over bread to the birds. Seth sanded his hands together and chewed his remaining mouthful.

“How do you not put on weight?” I asked him incredulously.

He shrugged and swallowed. “Goddess knows. Mind you, she probably does.”

Ebony sighed. “If this happens every time we stop off at a village, we’ll progress much slower than I’d hoped.”

“Then we’ll have to put our foot down,” I told her firmly. “We could make it to Haston in a day if we’re lucky, but there’s no point setting for it now, we must only be an hour or two off twilight.”

“I don’t mind staying here overnight,” Seth added. “Makes a change from sleeping on grass.”

“I doubt she’d let us go even if we tried,” I said with a grimace. “I bet she’s stronger than she looks.” The other two nodded and we fell into silence as the woman reappeared, wiping her hands on her apron and taking the fourth seat round the table.

“Can I ask three young people what they’re doing on travels such as this one?” she asked kindly.

Seth and I looked at Ebony. She shot an irritated look at us both before rolling up the map and leaning her elbows on the table. “You know we’re looking for the Breeders. Do you know what they’re doing?” She gazed at the woman with seriousness on her face while Seth and I stayed quiet.

“No,” the old woman answered. “I only heard of the word of some strange activity going on with a group of people that called themselves that.”

“You know of the shape shifters?” Ebony asked.

“Yes. Who doesn’t?”

“Well, these Breeders are capturing shifters and force-breeding them. A shifter’s soul can be split up so to take away their shifting abilities. These humans have found a way to give it to themselves.”