Rory POV

"Rory, wake up." Emalynn shook me from my slumber. "We need to get moving."

"Hmmm? Moving?" My eyes flutter open to dark cave walls and an anxious Emalynn. Right, we need to get away from the dark elf. "OK. I am up." A breeze blows in carrying cold night air. I shiver and hug myself, realizing I am still undressed. "Emalynn, where are my clothes?"

"Oh yeah. Your demon pants are right here." She giggled. "Here's your half top, stockings and boots."

"Demon pants and half top? What?” I asked, confused. “What happened to my clothes?” Holding my shirt, I saw what she meant by half top, but my pants looked normal.

“Your pants clung to you for life, so they are demon pants. And, the bear wrecked your shirt.” Emalynn explained. “I really hate those pants. They are way too tight for you.”

“Okay… I will get new pants later?” I offer. She gave me a simple nod and finished packing.

I quickly dress and fix what's left of my bags and weapons. My poor daggers are covered in dry bear blood. My supplies are low after the day of battles. Aunt Leah brings me half of Uncle Elias' gear to carry with my own gear since he is still out cold. "Will Uncle Elias be okay?" I ask.

"Don't worry about him. As shifters, we heal fast. Give him another day or so, and he'll be back to his normal talkative self." She shrugged. "For now, we take turns pulling him on this sled that I made from the rope, cloak and my sheaths for my swords."

My jaw drops at her makeshift sled. "Seriously, when did you learn all these medical skills?"

"Your mom taught me. Did she ever tell you how she wanted to be a healer?" Aunt Leah spoke with pride.

"No, but I know she knew a lot. She started teaching me when I was eight, so I don't know that much… but I do enough to heal some sickness and wounds." I smile, thinking about mom teaching about herbs by the lake near our home.

"I will give you the handbook that she made for me growing up. I am sure it will help you." She lightly patted my head, and suddenly I felt like I was ten again. She would pat my head whenever I made progress in my training my first year with her. We lived together secretly in the mountains around the valley before I suggested that I join the guild.

"Ready to strap in, Uncle Elias?" Emalynn mused. She had a slight happiness to her movement that gave me a smile. Even in gloomy moments, she can find something to be happy about. In this case, I had to agree with her little giggles because Elias’s wolf looked silly strapped to the make-shift sled. His paws dangled as if he were begging for a treat, and his long tongue spilled out of the side of his mouth. If I had time, I would want to sketch his silly pose, but sunrise would come soon and the dark elf with it.

"Let’s move ladies." Aunt Leah hurries us along as she shifts into her beast form. Her emerald eyes shine brightly in the dark cave. She ties Elias and the sled to her waist and marches forward. Emalynn follows closely behind her while I try to erase as much evidence of our campout as possible.

We moved forward through the darkness easily due to our beast forms' night vision. Wait… Emalynn hasn't said anything about us being beast folk or me being a hybrid. Surely, she has questions, right? Or is she mad I didn't tell her all these years?

"Emalynn," I ask quietly. "How are you handling all of this?" I gesture to my hybrid form.

She looks at me confused. "Same as you. I fought a bear, then those stupid bandits showed up. My body gave out from exhaustion and minor injuries. This whole assignment is chaos. What else is there to say?" She just shrugged her shoulders.

Aunt Leah just gives a little chuckle at us before explaining. "I think she wants to know what you think about her secret identity and how you are feeling emotionally, Ema. Especially, since you discovered our little secret."

"Oh! That makes more sense. Well, first I was in shock when I woke up to Leah tending to Mr. Wolf over there. She explained that it was Uncle Elias, and my eyes nearly fell out of my head." Emalynn giggles at herself. Only Emalynn can find humor in this. "Then Leah had me take over, so she could find you. She found you pretty quick, but your shift back took at least an hour. She stayed with you while I found food and restocked the water."

So that headache did last more than a few minutes. She doesn't seem upset at least. Maybe, I should ask anyway.

"I did see your strange form earlier and even now you aren't quite a human or wolf beast. Is it magic?" She smiled at me. "Either way, your forms look awesome."

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"Well, I am part wolf beast and part human, a hybrid." I admitted. She looked at me curiously until a smile formed on her face.

"That explains why you are so awesome." She said, patting my shoulder. "I have the coolest best friend ever!"

"Thanks, Ema. But, it's not that great. I am illegal according to the Gleaca Council, so all the people who know my secret are in danger constantly." My thoughts were filled with my parents and my friend.

"We are coming up on the tunnel's end. Rory, get ready to shift. I want to see how far you can tunnel as a wolf without me." Aunt Leah said with curiosity gleaming in her eyes. Aunt Leah was testing out some thought or theory she had, and I never liked it when she did that.

Dropping my pack, I prepared for another shift. I needed to focus to shift into my full wolf form. Closing my eyes, I let the tingling sensation cover my skin. Shifting from my base form is less painful on my body, but shifting into a wolf requires more focus. The theory is that since the whole body changes, it requires more focus and energy. My bones begin to soften and a hot heat builds at each one of my joints. My body bends and contorts to all fours.The snout returns elongating my head. Fur erupts over the skin like tiny needles pushing out. I feel the dirt shifting under my paws as the wave of the shift flows through my body. My eyes open again and my night vision feels a hundred times clearer.

"Is this what it's like when I shift?" Emalynn asks with her mouth hung open.

"No, Ema. Rory’s shifts are just a bit… dramatic." Aunt Leah chuckles, causing me to glare at her. Unfortunately, I can't actually speak in this form. Elias told me that there is a way to communicate with others when we are beasts, but it may be impossible for me since I am a hybrid.

I sit back on my hunches because I can tell Emalynn has more questions coming.

She inspects me closely before she speaks. "Your wolf is really pretty, Rory. I love your black fur and silver highlights. I don't think I noticed the silver tips on your head and tail." She lowers down to my level. Her hands gently scratch behind my ears. "You are so fluffy!"

Aunt Leah is trying hard not to laugh as she watches Emalynn rub her face in my fur. I plead with my eyes for this cuddle session to end with, but it just makes Aunt Leah crack up. I love Emalynn, but I don't like being pet that much. I resist the urge to growl as hugs tighter. After a few minutes of this cuddle session, Aunt Leah finally suggests that we move on to digging. Emalynn gives me one more tight squeeze before getting up.

Once I am free, I shake my fur and stretch my limbs. Being held tight like a pillow makes me want to run, but right now I need to dig. I look back to Aunt Leah for a direction for a new tunnel. She pulls out a compass and studies the area. As soon as I try to sit again, she runs and marks a point for me to begin. Okay, let’s see what I can do. This will be my first time using this form to dig a wide tunnel. Lucky for me, wolf beasts use magic to enhance their tunneling skills or this would take a really long time.

In that weird form before, I didn’t have to activate my magic to tunnel into the ground because of the high level of strength and force in that form. I am surprised I was able to stay conscious this time. This weird form is not really new to me, but this is only the second time I became...that. My mind wanders as my body goes through the digging motion. I manipulate my body to travel clockwise to make a wide enough tunnel for Aunt Leah, Elias and Emalynn.

After an hour, Emalynn follows Leah with Elias entow down the tunnel that I created. I see the light from a lantern coming up behind me as I continue to push forward. My muscles are already beginning to ache as my paws push through the dirt at a fast ring. I can feel the magic emanating out of the ring, empowering my own natural magic. This ring seems to be doing more than what I was taught it can do. It’s almost like a reservoir full of magic, not just jewelry that contains a spell. Can magical items do more than the spell that they are created for? Maybe, I should investigate this further since it seems like my ring may have helped me while I was in that weird form. What do I even know about this ring? My thoughts spiraled as my body continued to move forward.

Eight hours later…

“Rory, stop!” Aunt Leah calls from behind me. My ears twitch as I start to slow to listen to her words. “I can see your body needs rest.” My body continues to dig. “Rory! Listen to me!” I hear her words, and push myself to slow. Stopping the magic flowing through me is harder than starting the circulation of magic.

“You’re bleeding again dummy! Stop!” Emalynn yells at my wolf form. The magic flowing through me runs cold, causing my body to drop into the dirt. All the exhaustion in my body overwhelms me, and I fade in and out from the world around me.

Cold water splashes me back to reality. I look up to see an angrily twitching white tail. My vision focuses as another splash of cold water hits my face. “Get up, dummy!” I hear Emalynn whine. I guess she is mad at me for not stopping sooner. “You are in so much trouble, missy.” She taunts.

I can’t help, but laugh at her puffed up cheeks as she continues to lecture me. “How could you be so reckless! I thought I was the immature and thoughtless one, but noooo. Somebody is trying to shake things up! First the bear, then the bandits and now a tunnel...” Her eyes welled up. “Stop playing the hero all by yourself! We are a team, dammit.”

All I could do was whimper and put my head in her lap. Maybe I was playing hero too much since I keep winding up injured. I still haven’t healed much either. I guess I need to cool it until I can better handle this ring and my magic. Emalynn petted my head as she dried her tears.

A black wolf with vibrant emerald eyes trotted toward us. I smelt the air and knew it was Aunt Leah in front of us now. She laid down panting next to me. She must have tunneled further while I was out again. At least, we were making progress. Knowing that the dark elf is out there looking for us sends a shiver down my spine. We sat in silence for a while until Aunt Leah shifted back into her beast folk form.

Her shift is quick and almost mystifying. Her fur recedes and bones snap into place leaving her claws and fangs in place. Her brown is neatly woven into braids tying back the rest of her flowing hair down her back. The snout faded into a cute little nose somewhere between wolf and human. Her tan complexion matched that of her human form. Her strong black tail swayed as she walked and her ears wiggled adjusting to the environment. The fur remained on her paws or wolf-like feet. I never tire of watching others shift. I wish I could do it as easily as they could.

"I finally hit another tunnel. We must be close to the mountains now." She pants, sitting next to me. "I am glad you're up, but we need to move. I need you to pull Elias and carry my stuff while I close the tunnels behind us." I gave her a nod.

Concentrating on my breath, I released my shift. My bones unfolded. Joints popped and cracked. A few tears escaped my eyes as my head reformed into a human face and wolf ear. Fire burned through my body as the fur retracted into my skin. My tail remained as my hands and feet returned. The waves of pain and heat subsided as I stood up.

Aunt Leah was already behind us going to close the tunnels we dug to get here. I quickly strapped on all the gear and tied the sleeping Elias around my waist. The sound of a crumbling tunnel echoed behind us. "Run, Emalynn." I urge as I grab her wrist. We dashed forward with a howling Aunt Leah following closely.

The tunnel ends as a fork giving us two ways to go. I pull out the compass to pick a direction. Aunt Leah nudges me to the right, which will take us east toward the valley.

I nod and head down the path. My stomach is growling from lack of food. By now, we have traveled for an entire day underground, and Emalynn is beginning to slow down. As we continue down the tunnel, I hear Aunt Leah collapsing the last of our "created" tunnels behind her. It's the only way to ensure that dark elf can't follow us with or without magic.

Aunt Leah trotted to the front to lead the way down the tunnel. I think this cave is familiar to her. I sniff the air looking for anything familiar. It’s been almost ten years, but I faintly smell sweet radishes and a rare musk of red and yellow pines that only grow in Aunt Leah’s valley. We were heading to her home. My mother's home. But, I know we won't actually enter the valley. If we did, we would all be dead…