“Where’s Gil? Where’s Gil?!” Mariyah swung her head around, looking around at everyone gathered around as she scanned for Gil. She turned around, her stomach in her chest, as she saw Gil running up to her. “Where’d they take him?!” she shouted.
“Mariyah…” Gil began.
Peter pushed through the group, and approached her, holding his hands out to her. “I’m so sorry…Mariyah, I’m so sorry.”
Mariyah looked at Peter with horror on her face before turning back to Gil. “Tell me where they took him.”
Gil looked guiltily at Mariyah. “There is an arena. He was taken by the gladiator scouts to fight there.”
“To fight?! Why?!”
“For show…They make Shifters fight to the death.”
“No…” Mariyah’s face broke and her heart fell into her stomach as tears began to well in her eyes.
Peter gently pushed Gil back, looking at Mariyah with a calm face. “I can’t imagine how painful this must be for you-”
“Why did they take him?” She kept her eyes on Gil. “Did they take anyone else?”
Gil shook his head. “No…Just him. His shift is a bear, they must be low on bear fighters.” He looked at Peter who gave him a warning glance. “I’m sorry, but…he’ll be in an arena soon." His gaze fell to the ground for a short moment, his eyes growing distant. "No one survives those." He quickly returned his focus onto her. "I’m sorry.”
Her knees grew weak as she looked down at the dirt ground. Cal? Fighting in an arena? Being killed? She looked around in panic and shifted into a lioness. “I-I have to go after him.” Her lioness eyes were jumping from Marcy to Gil in panic. “I have to go! Where is this arena?!”
“Have to go? What? What will you do?” Gil asked
“Free him! I can’t let him die! He wasn’t even supposed to be in this village. He wanted to stay at his camp-”
“Free him, how?”
Peter looked at her, shaking his head. “I’m very sorry, dear girl. It was unfortunate timing-”
“Unfortunate timing?” She looked at him with confused hysteria all over her face. She shifted into a human, her brow tense. “Yes it was- but that’s not the end of it! He’s not dead yet!”
“Calm down, Mariyah,” Peter reassured her, seeing the panic in her face. He placed his hands on her shoulders. “You need to go rest. I know this is hard losing another-”
“No, Peter,” she said loudly, shoving herself away from him and looking at Gil. “Tell me where to go, please?!”
“For what?” Peter held his hand up to Gil, signaling to be silent. “For what, Mariyah? You’re not thinking straight, you need to calm down and let your thoughts settle-”
She held her hand up to Peter just the same. “Stop it!” She turned back to Gil. “Gil- answer my question, please. Where is this arena?!”
Peter furrowed his brow. “Why are you asking him this?”
“I need to go after him, Peter!”
“Go after him? What- are you gonna save him? Are you mad? He’s been taken, Mariyah. It’s over. I’m sorry, but he’s gone.”
“Stop saying that! He isn’t gone yet!! But he will be if I don’t help him.” She looked at Gil whose face looked just as hopeless as Peter’s, and it sent a rush of frustration into her. “NO!” she suddenly shouted. “This is the problem! You’re not listening, he isn't even dead yet!”
Marcy bit her lip anxiously, trading stares with Gil. More villagers soon exited their huts and tents, the commotion outside catching their attention.
Pictures of Cal fighting in some giant arena, getting clawed or bitten to death, flashed through Mariyah’s head. Her heart thudded inside her chest, while she tried to calm herself down. She looked at Peter as she settled her thoughts with her wide eyes that were anything but calm.
Peter took a step back and exhaled loudly. “There is nothing we can do. You know this. What happened has happened and-”
He thinks I’ve gone mad. I must sound mad. Her voice was calm now. She knew what she wanted to do. “I’m going after him.”
The villagers around her began to break out into whispers or mumbles to each other. Rose stepped forward with Sare and Kai. “Mariyah, you need to stay here. I know what you’re thinking, but they will kill you. You know they will.”
“I can shift into different animals, Rose! All I have to do is shift into a griffin and pick him up and fly him away. That’s all. I just need to get him out of there.”
David took a step forward, narrowing his eyes. “What did you say?”
She sighed and quickly shifted into a griffin, then a panther, then a cheetah, and back to a human. “Please don't ask me how...I don’t know. But I do know I can use this to my advantage.”
The crowd around her silenced into a simultaneous hush.
“I’ve never….in all my days…” Evelyn stared at Mariyah as if she was in a trance.
Mutters dispersed through the crowd but Mariyah couldn't care less. “Where is he, Gil? Where did they take him?!”
Peter placed a hand on Gil’s chest. “Do not answer her. She is not thinking straight, she will get herself killed.”
Gil looked at Peter and then Mariyah, unsure of what to do.
“Gil?!” she shouted. “Cal is going to be killed!! Take me to the arena, please. Take me or point me in the direction.”
But Peter was adamant. “Enough, Mariyah! What did I tell you?! Stop-”
Gil shook his head.“They deliver them to whatever forest territory they were captured in. So Cal will be in the Southern Arena. It’s too difficult to explain, I will show you.”
“What did I tell you, Gil?!” Peter shouted. “She has gone mad!”
Mariyah nodded her head, thanking him. She didn't understand what he meant by "forrest territory", and she didn't care to take the time to. Not right now.
“She seems to have a sound mind,” David chimed in firmly.
Marcy stepped forward. “You’re really going, Mariyah?”
Mariyah nodded. “I am. I have to, Marcy. This man saved me. He’s taken care of me. And he’s there because of me.”
Marcy looked at her for a long moment. “I’ll come with you.”
Rose squinted and looked at the others, unsure of what to say.
“Marcy, you will be killed!” Peter shouted, snapping her back to reality.
But Mariyah was on his side with this. “No, no, Marcy, I can’t bring you. It’s dangerous and I can’t even guarantee-”
“Because I am a mouse? Just because my shift may be smaller than everyone here does not make me any less useful!” She paused. “Well that may be true in a battle, but I still wish to accompany you, Mariyah! You can’t tell me no. I care about you, and you have rescued us from death, so if I can help you in only the smallest way possible, then so be it. But I will help you.”
She couldn’t help but give in and smile for a moment at her kind heart. “Thank you, Marcy.”
“No! No! This will not be allowed!” Peter shouted, his face growing red now.
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Mariyah shook her head. “I don’t wish to cause any fighting. I am simply telling you, Peter. I’m going to find him. All I need to do is fly him out of the arena. That is all.”
Peter scoffed, his agitation growing. “You try and make it sound so simple-”
“It is that simple. For me, it is.” She returned his agitation with a challenging tone in her voice as she shifted into a lioness.
“Then what after? Hm? You get hunted down by the entire royal guard? Have you ever heard of events like this happening? Of escapes like this? No. And you know why? Because death will be the result of it!”
“Death is already going to be Cal’s fate! And I won’t let that happen, I won’t Peter!” She lowered her voice and looked into his eyes. “I’m sorry, but I don’t need your permission. I’m going to save my friend and I’ve grown tired of arguing this. Gil, can you show me?”
Kai watched her intrigued eyes and shifted into a hawk. “I’m coming with you too.”
“Kai, enough of this nonsense.” Peter mumbled, gruffly.
“Kai can fly, and I can be carried very easily. I’m a mouse.” Marcy gave a small, nervous smile and shifted into a mouse before climbing onto Mariyah’s back. “David, won’t you join us too?”
Mariyah looked at him with wide and surprised eyes as David stepped up from beside Gil. He cleared his throat and gave a nod.
“NO!” Peter suddenly shouted, holding his hands up.
Mariyah's lion ears flinched at his yelling.
“None of my villagers are leaving to go commit REBELLION! I understand you are upset, Mariyah, but this is part of how life is for us. There is nothing we can do, and I am truly sorry. But stop encouraging this among my people!”
“I’m not encouraging anything, I am telling you what I am going to do.”
“You. YOU. If you go, so be it. I cannot control your wild mind, risking your life for some boy you've just met-”
“He is my friend, and he took care of me! He stayed in this village for me!”
“Then go you childish girl! Go, get it over with! We will prepare your funeral here in the meantime!”
The crowd that had formed went completely silent. Mariyah looked away and just began to walk, Gil, David, Kai, and Marcy following.
“Did I not just make myself clear?! No villagers of mine will be participating in this. NONE!”
The group paused.
Rose stepped forward to join them as well. “You can’t force us not to, Peter. With all due respect…” she whispered quietly.
“You too, Rose?!”
She looked down at the ground as she stood beside Gil.
Dyelen grinned and nodded his head. “Does this mean we get to fight? Finally?!”
Nerves grew in Mariyah’s stomach. She had never intended on this being a group mission. She was simply going to go in on her own. But the looks on their faces? She couldn’t turn them down. Besides, she needed the help. She just needs to make sure to do everything in her power to keep them safe.
“I won’t let anything happen to them, Peter,” Mariyah said softly .
“How DARE you even consider trying to guarantee such a thing? If- even IF- you all manage to save this boy, you will return here as fugitives. As treasoners. Enemies of the kingdom. My village will not associate with ANY of those who go with her. Consider yourself banished if you depart from here today.”
She stared at him intensely. “Peter.” She shifted into a human, Marcy as a mouse clinging to her shoulder. “I need to get him back. Please understand.”
His eyes remained angry and stubborn. “You’re not getting him back. There is no hope. You are wasting your time and likely your lives.”
“Is he dead yet?” she asked Peter. She turned her neck to Marcy. “Is he dead? Did you watch him get killed?”
“No, no. They took them alive,” Marcy answered quietly as she played with her mouse fingers.
“Then there is hope, and I am not wasting a thing.” Her eyes looked at Peter with sympathy, and then back to the crowd that had gathered around her. “I’m leaving now. We are leaving now.”
“You know you have me on your side as well, girl.” Kindrick stepped forward and whispered in her ear.
“Thank you,” she said, looking at him with glazed and emotional eyes.
“Might as well.” Huntro shrugged with a smirk as he took a step forward with Bray nodding his head and joining him.
“I mean, I can become a monkey. I’ll come,” Steph said with a gleam in his eye as he and Jos stepped forward as well.
“Okay, let’s go!” Kai grinned widely with a clap.
Commotion began as the more of the villagers volunteered.
“You all hear the word ‘fight back’ and everyone jumps to position! Have I not taught you the dangers?! Have you not seen how quickly a soldier will kill you?! You’re all absolutely mad! So be it!” Peter tossed his hands up and swung his finger all around. “Anyone who accompanies this girl filled with lies is not welcome back!”
“You’re really going to kick us out?” Bray asked.
“I will and I am! Anyone who leaves and gets themselves into trouble with the king is gone from my protection!”
Mariyah shook her head. “You give them no protection. You lead them, and you are a great man but you give them no protection. I don’t blame you for that during times like these, but don’t hold that over their heads when you already ensure no safety. If you gave them protection, Cal would still be here.” Mariyah looked into Peter’s eyes once again. “Please, do not banish your own people. Banish me when I return, but not them. They just wish to help.”
“My people are peaceful. Not searching for a fight.”
Mariyah’s eyes grew angry for a moment at such a comment. “We aren’t searching, Peter, we are responding to one that has already begun! If I could have had a group of Shifters to save my parents and Olly, I would have!”
Peter went silent.
Rose wiped her forehead as she thought to herself. “Then I suppose I am banished.”
“Me as well,” Sylve said.
“And I," that voice coming from Sare.
And so, thirteen people agreed to go with her.
Rose, Marcy, Kai, Kindrick, Gil, David, Steph, Jos, Sare, Sylve, Huntro, Bray, and little Dyelen.
Peter looked at them in shock. “I never thought I’d see the day.”
“Today is the day,” Mariyah told him, shifting into a cheetah and taking a few steps. “Gil, please show me?”
Gil nodded his head. “We will head south. I’ll know the way once we continue in that direction.”
She thanked him and began walking, leading everyone out of the village and into the forest.
“Wait-don’t we need some sort of plan?” Sare asked, following behind.
Mariyah tilted her head. “I’ll think of something by the time we get close,” she said, not to the pleasure of the others.
“Alright then...” Kai ruffled his hair.
She looked around with a nervous smile. “Are you all ready?”
“Wait, wait one moment,” Kindrick muttered. He quickly ran back to the village, returning with a sack of knives and bows and arrows. He handed each of the Shifters a dagger and tucked his bows on his back, with his cluster of arrows.
“Thank you!” Mariyah gave Kindrick a grateful nod as he handed her both a dagger and bow. “Hopefully we don’t have to use these...”
The others looked at her with anticipation.
Mariyah took a slow deep breath in, realizing what they were about to do. The idea of saving Cal, of rescuing him...it sparked something inside her. He isn't dead. No. He’s still alive, and she is going to save him. And as she thought of this, a smile slowly grew on her face. She looked at her friends with newly found excitement creeping up her chest. “Alright. If you aren’t big enough or fast enough, do as Marcy is doing and cling to one who can run,” she suggested.
“Or fly,” Rose smiled, shifting into a white dove. Kai shifted into a hawk and followed her into the sky. Mariyah gave Rose a smile before Sylve shook her head aggressively.
“Traveling in our shifts? We’ll get killed for that.” Sylve crossed her arms.
Mariyah frowned. “We don’t have time to walk. And if any soldiers do see us, we’ll be too fast to be caught." She looked up and shouted at the two birds, "Rose and Kai, make sure you don’t fly above the trees so we aren’t seen!"
The two nodded as they hovered above the group.
Mariyah looked around. "I know it’s risky, but I don’t have a choice. If anyone is uncomfortable with doing this, please stay behind. Don’t risk it.” She looked at everyone, but no one moved. Not even Sylve. She smiled faintly, a sweet smile, and a strong sense of love for each of them filled her heart. "Thank you." She nodded her head, looking at Gil. “Lead the way?”
Gil nodded, with David beside him as the two shifted into wolves. Jos and Steph shifted into monkeys and climbed onto them quickly, and the four took off, almost racing each other. Mariyah wasted no time, as she broke into a sprint in front of the large group that followed behind.
“Are we really doing this?!” Rose called down with almost a giggle in her voice as she flew a few feet above them.
Jos tugged on Gil's fur, tapping his neck as Gil ran, carrying him. “Gil, come on! I'm not letting David and Steph beat us!” Jos shouted, holding onto Gil’s fur tightly.
Gil grunted. “I’m trying!” He shook his head aggressively. "If you tug on me again, you're getting thrown off."
Huntro and Bray followed behind as a fox and a wolverine. Sylve clung to Kindrick’s red panda shift as a large green serpent.
"You're choking me!" Kindrick shouted at Sylve as he ran.
"Sssorry about that," she whispered with a giggle, loosening her grip around his neck.
Lastly, Sare sprinted in the back as a hyena.
“Hey, wait for me!” Dyelen sprinted after the group, scrambling to catch up in his bobcat form.
Mariyah heard the lighthearted giggles and comments from behind her…and a small little ember lit inside her stomach and rose to her chest. An ember that felt like hope. And she liked it.