A curious look washed over Ric’s face and he moved the meat over the fire. “She wasn’t particularly fond of me at first, none of them were, not that I blame them for it. I wasn’t fond of me either back then.”
I gathered my thoughts and courage and asked him the question I’d wanted to for weeks. “Just what is it that makes Skinwalkers so terrible? The way everyone talks about them makes it seem like you’re all monstrous, but I can’t see that from the way you act.” I didn’t know how he was going to react. Whether he’d stomp about and leave like Ethan would, or flip out like Alistair would. Ric was a hard one to predict. Instead, when I turned to him, he held out his hands for mine and I took them. He ran his thumb over my fingers and smeared the back of them with grime – they looked so tiny compared to his – before starting his story.
“I don’t remember where I came from. I don’t remember my father’s advice or my mother’s lullabies. I don’t remember if I had any siblings, or nieces or nephews. I don’t remember if I loved someone enough to share all of my secrets with them. I don’t even remember how old I was when they came. The only thing I know is that it was at night; it was always at night.”
“Who?”
“The ones that took me – the lessers.” He spat the word like filth from his mouth. He squeezed my hands and got to his feet, releasing me. “Before the Berserkers became top of the food chain, Skinwalkers used to be solitary, fiercely territorial creatures. But once their livelihood was threatened and their numbers reduced they found a way to thrive in packs alongside the dreadful beasts. They also took a leaf from Stephan’s book and learnt how to turn a person into one of their own – it was faster than breeding new kin.”
“So they just went around harvesting you like ripe crops?” I couldn’t even think about it.
“I came to understand that I was chosen by a Skinwalker called Grey. He was the Xecca; the largest of his kind and his pack was the biggest in these woods. I remember him faintly. I remember the others he’d turned that night, though none of us recognised each other even if we’d come from the same village. There were fourteen of us – the young ones,” he corrected, “only ten of us made it to our first blood moon. Another two died while trying to adapt to their strange new bodies, the other seven phased without a problem.”
“And you?”
“What took them a night took me a year of agony. My bones broke, skin shredded, muscles tore but I still wouldn’t die no matter how badly I begged for it. Eventually I was abandoned. I was nothing more than a useless mouth to feed in their eyes. So I waited, limbs disfigured, breathing shallow, spirit broken, for Oemis to come for me at last. But it didn’t.”
“Oemis-?”
“The soul collector,” he answered. That’s who Daniel had meant before. “Willow found me on the way home from her rounds. She inspected me and drew her knife, ready to slice my throat from ear to ear but suddenly I was afraid and she saw it in me. After everything I’d been through, after all the pain I felt, I wanted to live. Once I arrived back at her home, Ethan was furious with her for bringing me back. ‘We don’t know what it is’, he said,” Ric laughed. “I can still see the surprise on their faces when I still refused to die.”
“And then a week later he took a turn for the worse,” Ethan interrupted as he entered the cave mouth. “We had him locked in the underground jails and he finally managed to change – not as gracefully as he can now, of course – he was a disturbing mound of muscle and fur-”
“Thank you for the contribution,” Ric brushed him aside. “I lost my mind and Lavender – she was barely able to walk by herself properly – had come to check on me, her ‘patient’. She was standing on the other side of the bars and I did everything to get at her.”
“That’s where these come from.” Ethan pulled his sleeves up and exposed the scars I’d seen previously. “Some would say I was a tad protective back in the day.”
“And they haven’t healed because of the venom, right?” I asked, running a finger down the longest line again.
“Right. It’s what makes us the perfect enemies. Both parties destined to destroy each other in ways no other creature can.” Ethan pulled his sleeves back down.
“Ethan got a few good shots in as well, mind you.” Ric yanked the collar of his shirt down to expose a painful looking set of teeth marks. “Another couple of inches and he would have killed me. The next morning I was distraught. Lavender was so gentle and I’d adored her for caring for me. Yet I’d been ready to rip her open to satiate the animal that lived within me.”
“I wanted to kill him straight away but Lavender punched me right in the jaw and told me she’d gut me,” Ethan laughed. “So I let him live and we chained him up every night until he knew how to control himself.”
“Then we became best friends, right, Ethan?” Ric lanced his arm around Ethan’s shoulders.
“After the initial thousand scraps I guess you could say that.” Ethan pushed him onto his side and started to pluck the grouse he’d caught.
“Despite the beginning of our friendship, I’m glad Ethan didn’t kill you,” I said from across the fire. “The world would be lacking another good man if he had.”
“I don’t know about ‘good’ but I’m getting there,” Ric smiled, turning the spits.
I looked around the cave. “Where’s Daniel?” I asked, only just realising his absence.
Ethan looked behind him. “He was right behind me walking back.”
“He may have started his patrol early.” Ric rubbed a crick from his shoulder. “The air feels heavier today. We might run into trouble if we aren’t careful.”
Both Ethan and I nodded. We knew we weren’t alone.
RIC AND ETHAN lay in their bedrolls by the fire’s dying embers, and Daniel was still absent as I woke from my dreams. The moon was high and full enough to cast shadows and I stood, walking to the mouth of the cave, and let the breeze chill me. My ears pricked at each little noise, from the owls calling in the trees to the wolves baying from the neighbouring mountains. It was as Ric said earlier that night; the air was heavy as if the forest had been holding its breath since we’d arrived.
“I thought Gnathians needed their sleep,” Ethan said, joining me.
“That’s an urban legend. We spread that rumour so that Vremian mothers would be none the wiser while we feed off their children’s souls,” I joked.
“Ava-”
“Get off your high horse. I don’t need babying,” I sulked, sensing a lecture coming on.
“I know you don’t,” he said gently, “but you need sleep.”
“You need to sort out your own sleeping patterns before you become concerned over mine.” I turned to him. “The only times I’ve ever seen you sleep was in the lounge, and when you’d passed out in the chair next to me.”
“It’s different for me.”
“How is it any different?”