The Changeling Read online

  “Pit,” Svend cried out. “I am lucky that thing didn’t bite me. You are going to have to put it down if you want me to go back in there, Your Lordship. One bite from that thing is enough to kill.”

  Tam could feel multiple spells slam into him. He tried fighting them but there were too many of them and he couldn’t move much. Tam was unsure of how many spells it took to knock him out or how long he had been out for. When he came to he was in another cage and had a collar on him way bigger than the last one. Tam went to pull it over his head but Baron Glades was there.

  “Change back and do it now,” Baron Glades said.

  “No,” Tam snarled as he went for the collar.

  The Baron shot fire at him. The flames hurt his skin and made him scream. Tam tried to back away from him but there was nowhere to go. He quickly changed into his fell beast and could see the collar fit him perfectly. The baron looked satisfied and tossed in a few steaks. Tam swiped at them with his paw and knocked a few of them out of his cage and snarled.

  “It is food” Baron Glades said annoyed. “I know you are hurt and fire takes far longer to heal. You will stay in that form until I tell you otherwise. The food is for you and I will get some water brought in. If you attack anyone else I will be back and so will my fire.”

  Tam watched him leave and his stomach growled. Tam didn’t want to tempt himself and moved the food out of his cage. Another human came by. Tam knew this person. It was a female of maybe thirty summers. She was one of the wolves that had captured him. She placed the bowl through the bars and Tam instantly knocked it over and snarled, the woman jumped back quickly as a large gray haired man walked forward.

  “Stone, I didn’t do nothing to him,” the woman said, frightened.

  “I know you didn’t Sue,” Stone said. “He is just a little wild is all. The food is good here little one, we get fed a lot and all we have to do is lay around or follow one of the masters when they go into town. Now this is a good steak they normally wouldn’t waste on us. You should eat it.”

  “Betrayer,” Tam snarled in fell beast. All changelings could understand other changelings whether they were speaking in human tongue or using their animal voice.

  “I am not a betrayer,” Stone said. “I have a job to do and my master has treated me good over the years. He will treat you good too once you bond with his daughter.”

  “I don’t care about the fire,” Tam snarled. “I am going to kill you and the others.”

  “Big words from a little cat,” Stone said. “You don’t have the size yet to scare me. Listen Scratches, why don’t you just bond with the girl so this will all end. You can come out of your cage and maybe once you see how good we have it you will not be so combative.”

  “My name is Tam,” Tam said.

  Tam took a swipe at Stone through the cage and kept growling. Tam would have kept it up all night if he wasn’t still tired, hungry and thirsty. Using his voice had made his throat drier but at least the beast did not have to eat and drink everyday so it made the hunger and thirst a little more bearable. In the morning Tam woke and could hear Sue tell someone about everything that had happened. The steaks were still on the ground where he tossed them out and his food bowl was still overturned. Sue and the female came into his field of vision, it was the older female mage that he had heard the Baron call Katherine. Tam figured it must be his mate, Sue had walked really close to the woman and had accepted the collar she put around her neck which turned her back into a wolf. The transformation was painful, Tam could hear bones breaking and resetting and the entire thing took at least ten times as long as his did. The further away from pureblood they were the longer the change would take. Sue brushed up against the woman’s leg as she looked down at the steaks then at the water bowl.

  “Hungry but don’t want to accept any food from a human,” Katherine said as she gave Sue the steaks. “I heard you know how to talk and even know the name of some things, I am guessing other changelings taught you. Either that or you spied on some settlements. Then again it could be a combination of both. I also heard you were burned. My daughter wants to see how bad but I figured I would save her some heartbreak Scratches. I am pretty good at healing and not so good at dealing the damage, now hold still.”

  Tam started snarling as a wave of euphoria hit him. It threw his healing ability into overdrive and he could feel all of the bumps and bruises healing. The skin on his back felt tingly and started itching a bit. Tam knew that meant new skin was coming in as the woman finished pouring her magic into him. When she finished Sue dropped to the ground she was standing on and went to sleep. The baroness looked a little sleepy but put a smile on her face.

  “Normally that spell works until all painful things are healed” Katherine said out of her breath. “Only time it has lasted that long is when someone is near death, they must have really worked you over Scratches, no wonder you tried to get at Mr. Svend.”

  “My name is Tam,” Tam snarled then realized the mage couldn’t speak changeling.

  “Are you trying to tell me something?” Katherine asked. “Oh that’s right, you hate the name Scratches. Well it is your new name. Might as well get used to it. Now what can I do to get you to eat and drink a little?”

  Tam turned his back to her and laid down. Katherine was yelling the name Katie tried giving him and stopped when Katie walked into the kennel where he was kept at. Katie tried talking to him. He didn’t listen even when she started hitting him with her stick and her whip. Fell beast hair turned away the whip. Tam barely felt it and getting poked was but a mild annoyance. Fire hurt but it was the heat that did, not the flame. Tam yelped and snarled but did not bow to the fire. Katie stopped eventually and stormed away.

  “I don’t like her,” Tam said as he was back in human form.

  “How did you?” Katherine asked then went with another thought. “You are supposed to stay in animal form.”

  “I still don’t like her,” Tam said.

  “Just bond with her and she won’t hit you again,” Katherine said. “She wouldn’t be able to use magic on you anymore.”

  “I don’t like her,” Tam said.

  “You already said that Scratches,” Katherine said. “Listen, can I at least get you to eat something?”

  “No food,” Tam said.

  “What if I eat some of the food I am giving you?” Katherine said. “It will be cooked though instead of raw.”

  “No food,” Tam said again.

  “Well I have to be going,” Katherine said. “I will be back by tomorrow. You might need more healing then. Katie and my husband will be back to deal with you. Maybe tomorrow you will be more receptive.”

  Tam was beaten by the Baron and his daughter after Katherine left. Tam heard bits and pieces of their conversation through the pain they caused him. The humans were fighting amongst each other. Some humans wanted to kill the humans in the kingdom he was now in and his captors were worried. Between casting spells and trying to beat on him, they talked about it a lot. And the girl Katie was supposed to be traveling to some school to further her knowledge of magic.

  Tam focused on their conversation, it was the only way to block out their demands. They wanted him to stay as the fell beast and eat the food they had given him. More than that, they wanted him to bond, something he was not willing to do. Tam had heard all about the bonds from various changelings who eventually went to live in the forest. These changelings were either not good enough for the bond or running from it.

  Tam knew not every changeling could be grabbed and forced into a bond. Some of them were called citizens and they lived in the human lands before they were changelings. People they called slaves had no rights. Neither did the changelings they took out of the great forest. The humans liked to breed their changelings. The baby would be a human but would be a slave since both parents were. That baby would get bitten and undergo the change. These changelings were what they wanted Tam to act like, all docile like the pitiful wolves alongside of them.
r />   Tam knew most of the changelings these humans had were weak in magical energy. Any changeling that was not a pureblood and bit someone, lost a small amount of magic permanently and their new changeling would only be about three fourths as strong. That permanent loss in magic was the reason the humans had not just found a strong changeling and made him or her bite many slaves. Each changeling they made would be weaker and weaker and so would the biter.

  Changelings were looked down upon in the kingdom. Many of them wished to be bonded so at least they would be able to eat every day and have a place to stay. Those citizens who went feral found it easier to stay in the great forest in their own packs. A lot of these were more than willing to be captured after a living in a pack for a while. Unfortunately for them they could also be made slaves if the Hunters could prove this person gave up citizenship by living in a foreign land like the great forest. The chance of being enslaved made going to the forest a difficult decision when they could also stay poor but free in whatever slum they were living in.

  CHAPTER 3

  “You have to come closer to me if you want me to heal you,” Katherine said as Tam put his body up against the cage. Katherine touched him and sent healing magic through his body. Tam knew it wouldn’t be enough to take all of the pain away but it would be enough to dull it somewhat. Katherine reached into her pocket and took out a small piece of meat. Tam accepted it and laid down in his cage. Tam could tell the girl Katie was angry. She would try to make him eat from her hand and he refused. This resulted in her punishing him with a variety of spells until he either passed out, outlasted her or very reluctantly complied. Lately, Tam had become used to the abuse. Fell beasts were made to adapt. What the girl did not know was that his body and coat were starting to become resistant to her various spells a little. She had to cast until she was out of magic and had to use stronger spells. Tam was waiting until the day he would feel no pain.

  “Why does it go to you mother and not me?” Katie said frustrated. “I have tried giving it food plenty of times and it refuses.”

  “It could be because I am the one healing him instead of beating him,” Katherine said.

  “It doesn’t even let me try to heal him,” Katie said. “I don’t even know how the thing is surviving without eating. It has been here over a month.”

  “He hunts,” Stone growled in wolf form.

  “What?” Baron Glades said as he removed the collar causing Stone to undergo a painful transformation back into human.

  “He hunts,” Stone said again.

  “Hunts what?” Katie said looking around. “He has stayed in that cage the entire time.”

  “Rats and mice come for the meat you leave out,” Stone said. “He catches them and eats them, along with any bird stupid enough to fly by his cage.”

  “So that’s where the rodents went,” Baron Glades said. “Katie I don’t think we are going to have any choice. In a little over a month you have to attend classes at the Spellorium like every other mage. We have to send your pet to the Breakers. They will be able to get it ready to at least bond with you. The only member of this family this changeling can stand is your mother. Stone, has he at least talked to you?”

  “The young one sees me as broken,” Stone said. “He mocks me for my relationship with you and calls me a hunting dog. He has snapped at Sue and growls at Champ whenever he is near. He is wary of me. It could be because I am bigger than he is when transformed but he reminds me that will not always be the case.”

  “Have you told him to accept the bond?” Baron Glades asked.

  “Yes master,” Stone said. “He mocked me for not being able to choose which form I want to be in and for wearing a collar. He says he refuses to walk around like a pet.”

  “The Breakers Katie,” Baron Glades said. “He has to go to the Breakers and hopefully they can do something with him. Withholding sleep and food is not working, he does not mind being beaten unconscious and provokes us to do so when he is tired. The Breakers will get him where we want him. We just have to make sure they don’t kill him.”

  “Not the Breakers,” Katherine said. “A powerful unbonded changeling in their hands would go missing. Of course they would offer to pay you whatever you want and may even present some poor man for you to take your fury out on. Baron or not, we are not well-liked in the kingdom thanks to your grandfather’s part in the coup many years ago. When we see Scratches again he will already be bonded with someone else.”

  “Then we have to bring others in to help,” Baron Glades said. “This thing still has to be trained to protect Katie and learn its place in the world. One of us should always be available so the people we hire do not go too far. This thing will bite anyone else. Then where would we be?”

  The next month was difficult for Tam. All kinds of thing were done to him. He was kept in a dark quiet place and it was hard for him to even smell anything. Water was constantly being dripped on him. The food they put into the cage was doused in something that made it extremely hot and it loosened his bowels. He was suspended in the cage. Transforming made no difference other than give him something to do. The cage he was in was smaller. No matter his form he could not quite stretch out or stand up. The stress his muscles were under was tremendous. Not being able to see the days change made it even more difficult.

  When he was finally let out he accepted the bond. The bond was easy. The mage cast a spell to tug at the changeling’s magic and the changeling had to want the bond as well. Over an hour or so their magics would mix. Afterward, the mage would be able to use the changeling's magic to power their spells as long as the changeling was in beast form. This was why mages preferred their changelings in animal form. Mages could also get a sense of where their changeling was located and what it was feeling. If it went missing they could find it. The worst thing for the changeling was that it could not go too far from its mage. It would begin to feel pain if it was a certain distance away.

  “Finally!” Katie screamed. “Come here Scratches. It’s finally over. I have a nice place for you to live and rabbits for you to hunt.”

  “He doesn’t look like he is moving,” Baron Glades said. “Probably still in shock. He will come around.”

  “He looks horrible,” Katie said. “And I leave in two days. I can’t take him looking like that.”

  “Well how is your magic right now?,” Katherine asked.

  “I feel jittery,” Katie said. “I can feel a lot of power coming from him just waiting to be used.”

  “Well try to heal him then,” Baron Glades said. “The muscle stress, sense deprivation and water torture eventually overwhelms their changeling magic. It has stopped his natural healing.”

  “Come here Scratches,” Katie pleaded as she cast her healing spell.

  Tam screamed, snarled and scratched at his cage. Katie jumped back from the display and fell down on her behind while Tam went into a corner of his cage. Katherine helped her daughter up who looked shaken as she tried her spell again with the same results.

  “It hates me,” Katie said holding her hand over her mouth. “He hates me. He hates me and doesn’t want anything to do with me.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Katherine said. “He will do what you want or will go back into the dark. Now ask him to come out again.”

  “Come out of there Scratches or I am going to put you back in the dark,” Katie threatened and smiled slightly when Tam came out of the cage.

  Katie tried to pet him and Tam yanked away so fast it startled the Baron and the Baroness who hit him with a powerful lightning spell. He was sent flying across the barn and crashed into a support beam. Tam was happy his body had gotten a little used to that spell. He could still smell his flesh being burned, but did not feel as much pain as he should have. Tam stayed where he landed. His head was swimming. Moving was out of the question as he has hit his head pretty hard. The beam he landed against was cracked and Tam could hear it threaten to give way.

  “You will let me touch you,” Katie said
as she walked over to a dazed Tam. “Or you will go back to the dark.”

  Tam didn’t move as she touched his head and rifled her hand through his fur, he felt sick for being so helpless and actually vomited. Katie demanded to wash him herself. Tam was sure she could feel the seething hatred he had for her. She attempted to give him food which he ignored until she threatened the dark. Even then he had only nibbled at it and left it alone. Katie spent most of the day trying to do things for him which he ignored or did not appreciate. She constantly threatened him. Tam could see it made her angry that he was not willing to jump around like the idiots he thought the others were. At night he refused the area she had prepared for him. It was a nice soft mattress with water and food bowls near. Tam jumped up to the rafters and stayed there. He did not trust the wolves that were in the kennels with him and did not have enough of his strength back to fight them off. Early the next morning Katie went looking for him with a leash. Her plan was to walk him like he was some kind of dog.

  “Come down here Scratches,” Katie said as she looked up at him.

  “Go away human,” Tam said in his human form.

  “You come down here or you are going back to the dark,” Katie threatened. “And change back to a fell beast.”

  “I am not going anywhere with you,” Tam said. “I am not letting you walk me like some dog or one of the broken ones.”

  “Scratches why are you acting like this?” Katie said angrily. “We are already bonded, what do you have to gain? You can’t run from me or I will find you. I only want to show you off.”

  “You want to parade around your conquered prey,” Tam replied. “Look everyone, I beat it until it submitted, aren’t I great?”