You weren’t born—
Like this? No. I was born looking like a normal human child until I reached the first blue moon of my adolescence. There was a ceremony held to celebrate my coming into manhood. As the years passed by, each change brought less and less pain. I honestly don’t remember anything like what you went through. I’m so sorry.
His arms tightened around me. They were…the same. I didn’t know what I expected, but I thought everything would feel different somehow. I smiled to myself, grateful.
Relena, open your eyes.
I did. The light of the moon shocked me, illuminating everything as if it were day. I slowly stood from the bed then started for the balcony. How long was I going through the change?
Several hours. I’m very impressed, though. You made very little noise. Just a few moans of anguish. With the amount of pain you were in, it would be nothing less than understandable to cry out.
I thought I screamed until my lungs were no more.
It’s not a pleasant experience. Think of it this way—your next time will be quicker and less painful. Not by much, but still…the degree will be less each time.
I turned to face Marren. He stood right behind me, and even then, he was terrifying and beautiful. “How do I look?”
“Like waya uwoduhi,” he purred his words while removing a strand of hair from my face and tucking it behind my ear.
“What does that mean? You’ve said it before, but you never told me the meaning.”
“Beautiful wolf.”
I smiled with a new sharpness in my teeth against my lips. I touched my lips then pulled my fingers back to find the tips tinged with blood.
“That’s not the only change you will experience.” He jumped up on the edge of the balcony then twisted to face me. “Let me show you the proper way to jump from the balcony.”
He dropped down, without making a sound. I peered over the edge to as he gazed up at me.
Come on, his words whispered in my head.
I jumped up, landing in a kneeling position on the railing. On my inhale, I leapt off the edge, making a slight thump when I landed on the ground and then exhaled. I knelt lower, easily discerning each individual blade of grass, weed, and stone that jutted up from the ground. I took in each leaf on the bushes in the garden and on the trees. Everything had a faint aura.
“Amazing!”
“Yes you are. Come, run with me.” He held his hand toward me. I smiled as I took it.
I inhaled everything individually as I had the other day, not as a blend of scents but as each individual one. The trees didn’t blur by me, instead each remained crystal clear until we passed them. Every branch, limb, leaf, and blade of grass…everything was clear in my focus.
Straight ahead was a break in the trees and a ledge. The scent of water hit my nose before the roaring sound of the nearby waterfall hit my ears. I stopped right before the ledge to peek over and judged the distance. The fall would be suicide. Marren ran past me, flying into the air with his arms out from his sides and legs together. His body tilted down before diving into the water.
“Marren!”
Don’t worry. Jump.
How did the fall not kill you?
We can’t die quite that easy. Our bodies heal extremely fast. If you were human, the slam into the water alone would kill you. But, hit the angle right, and you won’t feel a thing at all.
If not?
It’ll sting but not for long.
I walked back a few paces, then kicked the dirt behind me, running at full speed into the air. I tried following Marren’s lead and form. I brought my hands to the water as the loud rush surrounded my body with a slight sting to my skin. When I surfaced above water, Marren disappeared behind a few trees. I ran after him, following the silhouette of his body until he froze in place.
Stop running! Marren shouted in my head.
Why? What’s wrong?
Hunters. If we catch their attentions, they’ll bring entire kingdoms swarming this place, killing everything in sight until they find us, and then do the same.
I continued at a stroll, the heavy scent of steel and sweat, mixed with pipe smoke filled my nose. Reaching Marren’s side, I took his hand as he led us away from the hunters.
How does your fear of their reaction toward us affect the prophecy Enid told me about? I asked.
We need to go slow; we can’t rush in on them unannounced. It would create too much chaos and turmoil, effectively doing more harm than good. We must take our time to re-introduce ourselves and re-educate the humans of our ways.
You really don’t like the Denai, do you?
Jiren? No. But not for reasons you’re thinking of. Our history is full of more than bad blood.
We changed directions, heading toward some cliffs to a cave nestled in thick trees and well hidden from sight. He turned to me, holding my face in his hands. “We need to stay here for the night and wait for the hunters to move on. We’ll head back in the morning.”