The Melded Child. Rebecca Locksley

there, she could see the curve of an opening in the torch light. She edged towards it. The men moved and suddenly they had surrounded her. They were all a head shorter than her, but there were a lot of them.

      “No lady!” said the headman washing his hands ingratiatingly. “Not here. Powerful spells have we.”

      “That so?” said Yani. All her senses spoke of danger, but she forced her body to relax. The men relaxed too. “Then perhaps I should stay here.”

      She stepped back so that she was out from among the men.

      “Dangerous for you out there,” said the headman. “I so grateful to you. Let I take care.” He sidled forward and reached out for Yani’s hand. She saw the smith at the back of the group grin. At the last moment she side-stepped so that the headman missed her. She jumped back, turned and ran back into the cave.

      “Raven, Raven, Come!” she shouted, reaching inside herself to set free the Raven. She heard yells and heard the men come after her.

      Suddenly the Raven was there and her humanity was sinking into it. Yani pushed her body forward into the Raven shape. With jagged pain her bones drew in and her muscles and skin changed to feathers. Suddenly she was flying instead of running.

      She swerved and banked high into the air. She could not see well, but a draught of fresh air told her were the opening was. She swooped toward it, dodging past grasping hands, flapping her wings as hard as she could. From behind came shouting and the sound of running feet, and some thrown object whizzed past her. Light came to meet her and suddenly she was in the cool open air. She flapped her wings hard, climbing upwards in the sudden space, flying into a clear sky. Oh joyful, joyful freedom! She dipped and swerved for a few moments, familiarising herself with the different body shape, careful to stay as high as she could. Beneath her, she saw people streaming out of the cave mouth. One of them threw a rock, but it came nowhere near her. She let out a derisory cawing and flew upwards, enjoying the feeling of the late afternoon air beneath her wings. Far below two of the villagers had left the group and were running away along a pathway down the hill. The rest were rushing back into the cave. Yani turned and followed the pathway for a short way overtaking the runners. As she come out past an outcrop in the mountain side, she could see down into the valley to where the village was, just as a small group of horsemen headed by a veiled woman in gold brocade entered it.

      They had sold her to Daria in return for safety. Ungrateful, cunning pigs! Even after she had healed their children, they had sold her. But after all she was a stranger and better to sell a stranger than someone you knew.

      Yani turned in the air and flew back toward the mountains.

      The problem with becoming a raven was clothing. Once your body changed, you shed clothes, armour and everything you carried. Mages had ways of dealing with this, but Yani was not a mage. When she had become the Raven - the Tari War Leader - the life spirit had simply gifted her with the magical ability to change shape.

      Dusk was falling. She could find a safe roost and spend the night as a raven but spending a long time in raven form was...disturbing. While you did not forget your humanity, your mind was dominated by raven thoughts, simple thoughts of food and safety. On top of that, ravens were not great strategic thinkers, so if Yani wanted to plan what to do next she needed to resume her own shape. The moment she passed over the brow of the eastern mountains into the presumed safety of the Pimenov lands, she began looking for somewhere to spend the night. As dusk became darkness, she came upon little shelter full of hay, hopped inside and changed back into human form. The painful stretching feeling of changing into a bigger body left her shaken as always.

      Fortunately it was a mild night and the little cocoon she made in the scratchy hay kept her warm. She lay trying to think about what to do next, but was so tired that she fell asleep.

      Awaking in the grey light of dawn, she was quickly certain of her course. She could not leave Daria unchecked. She would go to this Pimenov fellow that Mab had told her about and try to join forces with him. Surely he must thank her for the information about Daria’s proximity, and he should at least be able to tell her how to get back to the nearest port. She hoped she would not miss meeting Marigoth on her return journey.

      After so much uncertainty it was good to have a clear path. She lay for some time in the warm hay enjoying her freedom and well being, until voices calling to each other somewhere in the distance reminded her that she could still be caught. Wriggling to the front of the shelter, she pushed herself into the painful change of the Raven.