The Changeling Read online

  “Yes, this is the cat,” Leo said. “Her great protector from the wolves.”

  “She is inside,” Kira said looking at Tam.

  “What do I care?” Tam snarled back. “If we are going to fight let’s get it over with.”

  “You want to fight me here cub?” Leo said.

  “I want to go home,” Tam said and turned his head towards the main gates.

  “He is scared Leo,” Kira snarled. “Leave him alone, you already said he was just a boy and here you are being a bully.”

  “That kid had attacked me repeatedly without cause,” Leo said. “He has done the same to Slither.”

  “Can you just come in for a little while?” Kira asked. “You can come right back outside. There is even a big pool for you bathe in.”

  Tam walked towards Kira who turned around and led the way. Tam could tell she was older than Leo. She was smaller than he was, but was in no way cowed by him. Kira led him to a room where Katie waited along with the human Ashley, the Archmage and two humans Tam had only caught sight of in brief flashes of when he tugged on his bond with Katie. Katie walked over to him nervously and placed a collar around his neck. Tam wanted to rip it off. But the whole building felt like a big cage and it made him nervous. If these humans were displeased he was unsure of how he would get out. Tam let himself be walked over to a human male and female who just stared at him for a moment. They touched his coat and poked their fingers on one of his spines before leaving him alone.

  “This animal of yours is a shaggy mess,” the older human woman spoke. “You should have it bathed and groomed. I can see small chunks of gore and blood all over this beast.”

  “He hasn’t allowed me to groom him Your Majesty,” Katie said shyly. “He does not like me and rarely listens to me. He is still angry at me for the breaking process and refuses almost anything I try to do for him.”

  “You helped break him?” the older human male asked. “Why not send him to the Breakers?”

  “Because my father knew not to risk it, Your Majesty. We know we are not well liked in the kingdom. Scratches would have disappeared in their care and turned up with another mage. I helped catch him too. He calls me either his torturer or his captor and barely tolerates me. He welcomes pain. If I hit him he uses it as fuel to hate me even more.”

  “This poor child,” the older woman spoke. “You are probably right in that this beast would have gone missing. Not anymore though, you and your animal brought back Ashley here safely. This beast just needs a proper breaking and you both will get along fine.”

  Tam ignored their conversation after that. If they could bring him back to that dark place then maybe he could snap the bond entirely. It would be something he needed to try eventually. Then it wouldn’t matter if a bond was forced on him again. He would be that much stronger and would be able to break it again. Maybe he could even flee if the humans were not smart enough to realize the bond was gone. No. He was too far away from the forest and didn’t know for certain how to get back. He would undoubtedly just have a new master forced on him. Hopefully, he would come up with a way to break that bond as well. He knew the humans probably saw him as too valuable to kill. Tam also knew his captor would be crushed if he left her and these other humans would not care about her at all if he was to do it.

  “Why is it purring so loudly,” the older woman asked.

  “It is thinking a happy thought” the older man said. “Something about hearing about the Breakers is making this animal happy, like this is what it wants.”

  “He is happy Your Majesty,” Katie said. “He is happy and eager to go to the Breakers.”

  “What animal would be happy to go there?” the older woman said confused.

  “He would Your Majesty,” Katie said. “He grows stronger with each hardship and would probably use the experience to hate me more. The only one he listens to or trusts is my mother.”

  “Your Majesty, you said to come get you as soon as I found out anything,” a small human male said as he entered the room. Something about the man Tam instantly didn’t like. He smelled like blood but this human didn’t look like a fighter.

  “Well speak Tenkay, I don’t have all day,” the older man snapped.

  “The Jett had agents all throughout the city,” Tenkay said. “Three of your guests corroborated this story after some heavy persuasion. The others I have down there were pawns. They fought because they want their freedom and hate the way they are treated.”

  “I should have listened to my Archmage when he first suggested to cull the lot of them,” the older man said as he turned towards the Archmage. “I need to know when we are ready to start this thing and how is it going to begin.”

  “Already there are criers warning the unbonded changelings to follow the main road towards the great forest,” the Archmage began. “Anyone who stays will be killed and their protectors will undergo the bite and be made slaves.”

  “How long did you give them?” the older man asked.

  “One day,” the Archmage replied. “Along the way there will be feeding stations for those traveling to the new town you want built.”

  “I need this to happen in every city,” the older man said. “Find a couple of hunters and scour my city beginning at sunrise.”

  CHAPTER 9

  Tam was appalled and disappointed at what he had seen. The humans never kept their promise to send him to the Breakers. Tam hated to admit he was dreading it. But would willingly undergo the torture if it made him strong enough to break the bond. The humans were too busy killing the broken ones to even worry about him. Tam thought he should come up with a better name for them. During the attack, the broken ones went around infecting anyone they could find. Since the attack happened in an influential area, many formerly wealthy humans found themselves on the trail to the new city. Tam was dragged along to see the slaughter firsthand. The king was incensed his mages had been attacked and killed. He wanted blood for blood. The bonded who were sent to the new city acted like some great crime was perpetrated against them. The felt it was very unjust since the unbonded ones were the ones who had attacked. Tam thought the unbonded were smart for attacking the bonded, however. The human mages would be upset at having lost their source of magic. Foxy had made it through the fighting, she was small enough and clever enough to stay hidden during that night her master was killed. The Queen made a special exception for her to stay in the city until another master could be found. The coyote female had died alongside her master. Both were among the first to die.

  Tam was back at the very large human cage building. He had stopped eating food provided for him. Tam felt it was smarter to be self sufficient, which he could do by spending the day hunting birds. He had to eat plenty of them and never really sated his hunger but, it was possible to survive on them. Tam hunted part of every night while the birds were sleeping on the buildings. They were easy prey since they did not have any natural predators and were too stupid to run. His last night out had been a good hunt. Tam thought he ate fifty or sixty of the little mouthfuls and was annoyed when Katie kept disturbing him through their link.

  “Come on Scratches,” Katie said into his head. “It is time for us to go home.”

  “I don’t have a home Mittens,” Tam replied. “You stole me from it and tortured me until I became your unwilling pet. Don’t you remember?”

  “Well then we are going to my home,” Katie said. “I saw you frolicking in the water with those lions and the cheetahs. You will have your own pond waiting for you when we get back.”

  “I don’t want your pond,” Tam said. “I want you to return me to the forest Mittens.”

  “Leo said you still are having a hard time adjusting,” Katie said then bit her lip. “The Queen likes you. You saved her daughter. I am no longer the outcast I once was. Me and Ashley have plans to be friends in future and I was invited to her birthday party in a few weeks. You were a big part of that and deserve a reward. But you refuse anything nice anyone tries to do fo
r you. It is like you working very hard on forcing yourself to keep hating us.”

  “I am forcing myself to hate you,” Tam said. “You are no one to be liked.”

  “Plans have been made for you and Ashley's cheetah to be together,” Katie said. “I know you like that no matter how angry you pretend to be. I don’t know how it will work though. The Archmage wants to see if you have little ones would they survive.”

  “I am not mating with that broken one,” Tam said. “I don’t care what you and that other horrible old human have going on.”

  “Can you come down from there?” Katie said looking up. “And change back into a fell beast.”

  “No”

  “So I am guessing you want to stay here then?”

  “No. I just don’t want to do what you tell me because I don’t like you.”

  Tam was too slow to react to Katie’s spell. The blast took him in his chest and made him lose his grip. He fell and was changed into a fell beast before he hit the ground. Katie smiled at him triumphantly as Tam clamped down on his magic. Tam had experimented with clamping down on his magic and moving away from Katie. He was able to go much farther away from her in that state, but the strain of keeping his magic clamped down became too much, like trying to keep a muscle flexed. Tam swiped a paw at Katie who moved outside of his range. Katie had the carriage they traveled in ready for the trip back home. Tam climbed on top of the carriage and was ready to go just as Kira walked up.

  “Are you going to be in the war?” Kira asked Tam.

  “Don’t talk to me, broken one,” Tam said. “I told you to leave me alone after I saw what you did.”

  “The unbonded ones needed to die,” Kira said. “You should have joined in. They would kill you too if they could.”

  “Whatever, broken one.” Tam snarled.

  “Well if you do go to war, I want you to keep an eye out for my son Swift” Kira said. “He is a good boy and around your age. He is a cheetah, much stronger in magic than the three you have seen here. They were all servants, while my son is a soldier and rightfully received the bite from his father. The rest waited until my Patches was dying and happened to get lucky that he bit whoever came to him.”

  “None of that concerns me, broken one,” Tam said. “You are too busy fighting against your own people to see the right of this.”

  “Don’t let anyone hear you say that,” Kira warned. “You sound like one of the Jett.”

  Tam ignored her as the carriage started moving. He changed back into his human form and thought about tossing the collar. If he were caught without one, then any human he came across would likely try to kill him. The cull meant that the human rulers had promised money to anyone who killed an unbonded, so Tam knew he should keep it on. Tam decided to keep it as they traveled back to his cage. Katie was angry him. That consoled him somewhat. Tam often changed into a fell beast and hunted if he caught sight of something. She would have to wait for him while he hunted, or the bond would start hurting her as well as him. When they finally got back to her home, Tam could see Katie was relieved. She did not take many breaks like she did going to the mage school place as was in a hurry to get home.

  “At least it still has on its collar,” Baron Glades said. “Why isn’t it an animal Katie.”

  “Scratches still hates me. But he is there when I really need him.”

  “He looks a lot bigger than when he left. All of that fancy food must have did him good. Well he will get none of that here, just the mush the others get unless he does something special.”

  “I don’t need your mush human” Tam said. “You eat that filth. I am not one of your little doggies.”

  Tam was changed before the strike hit him. He jumped off the carriage. The Baron looked worried as he hit Tam with a lightning strike. Tam let the energy wash over him and stalked towards the Baron despite Katie’s screams. Stone jumped in front of the Baron and Tam had to laugh. Tam had fought a lion and won. This big wolf thought it was strong enough to take him down but it was dead wrong. Tam shot a spine out at the broken wolf. It yipped in surprise as Tam shot out another one. Spells started hitting him from all directions then. Sue and Champ also tried biting him. Both of them discovered his spines and backed away as Tam laughed at the poor magic being used. Tam snarled as he prepared to pounce. Neither of the wolves would be much of a match for him now.

  “Back down Tam!” Katherine screamed as she jumped in front of her husband.

  “Tell them to leave me alone then,” Tam said changing back. “I am not scared of him anymore.”

  “What is wrong with it?” Baron Glades said nervously. “It’s feral!”

  “Your poor magic doesn’t work anymore,” Tam said triumphantly.

  “Scratches fought the entire time during training,” Katie said. “He was tortured a lot by the mages there.”

  “Who would do such a thing?” Katherine said shocked.

  “Your mate and your cub would,” Tam replied. “That is how all of your humans are. You like to take people and torture them for your amusement.”

  “It has been months,” Baron Glades said. “This is why wild changelings are so hard to control.”

  “You can send your little doggies to try to control me if you want,” Tam laughed. “I have bested lions, cougars, a pureblood hyena and a big ugly snake.”

  “You only fought one lion and one cougar,” Katie corrected. “Now get to your home.”

  “I’m not living in there with your doggies,” Tam said. “And I am not scared of the dark. I welcome it.”

  “I am going to call the Breakers and fix you properly!” Baron Glades said.

  “I dare you to do such a thing, human,” Tam said.

  “He would chew through the bars,” Katie said. “He has done nothing but fight to strengthen himself. Most of my magic doesn’t hurt anymore unless I use a serious spell. I can only work such a spell strongly enough to be effective through the bond. And he has learned to suppress my draw through the bond if he wills it strongly enough.”

  “Well the Breakers will fix this,” Baron Glades said. “The Breakers will fix it all. I am just happy you are home Katie. The news I have been hearing coming out of the capital is horrible. Did they really kill all of the free animals?”

  “It was like they were rabid father,” Katie said. “They were already angry they weren’t chosen ones. And then it slipped out that they were going to be re-located to a new town they were going to have to build for themselves. They killed a lot of people. The only reason I wasn’t one of them was because Scratches refused to go out that night.”

  “I read the letters you sent me,” Baron Glades said. “I even received a letter from the royal couple.”

  “I saved the princess,” Katie said. “She was in a bad way and Scratches had to fight his way through a pack of those horrid animals to win us free. Afterward we went out exterminating the things. Scratches would not let me use his magic to do it and refused to kill those things like the Queens lions were. It was embarrassing. He says things that makes me think he would like to join the rebellion.”

  CHAPTER 10

  Tam breathed heavily at his treatment. He was taken far enough away from Katie that he felt the pain of separation. He wasn’t fed good food and the Breakers tried to beat him. Eventually an entire team of men started taking turns in a rotation using sleep deprivation and other means to torture him. Their current tactics involved dunking him in water until he thought he would drown. He got a round of this treatment every hour. But Tam had noticed something. He could clamp down on his bond even harder at these times. It had to be as thin as a thread and then being away from Katie no longer hurt him. Try as he might, Tam couldn’t yet break through that final piece of the bond. But he didn’t think he needed to in order to escape her.

  A man named Bristol was the worst of Tam’s tormentors. Tam had determined that today though, would be Bristol's his last day as a Breaker or anything else.

  “Alright beast,” Bristol said a
s he peered through the confining metal box Tam was kept in. The box only had a few holes and was made so Tam couldn’t get any purchase for his teeth to chew through it . But Tam had used his claws and had made considerable rents all throughout the inside of the box. None of his captors could see the extent of the damage he had caused. Tam was sure with just a few more heavy scratches he would be out.

  “I don’t hear it moving around inside” said Cevin. Cevin was another of the Breakers who and often came with Bristol to help out.

  “This will get it up,” Bristol said, as he released the chain suspending the box above the water pit they had built to break Tam. “That damn beast thought it would get some time to itself because of the lunar eclipse. But no blood moon is going to stop it from getting what is coming to it. Let’s try and beat our record. How long do you think that thing can last down there?”

  The water started filling up the box as Tam scratched furiously at one of the sides. The wall gave way as he suspected. This made more water rush inside but with some furious struggling also gave Tam a way out. Tam clamped down on his magic fully and waited. He had only hoped the hyena was true to his word.

  The Archmage's hyena was named Satherin. It was he who was behind the rebellion. He wanted freedom from the Archmage. The hyena admitted the Archmage was too powerful and he was too much a coward to break away from the bond. He could not force himself to face the tortures the Archmage handed out. Satherin could clamp down on his magic just like Tam could. The problem was that unlike Katie, the Archmage had plenty of magic to spare without Satherin.

  Satherin had orchestrated the wolf attack with the help of Leo who was also in his confidence. They had included Tam in their cabal after Satherin attacked him to see if he was loyal to his mage. They couldn’t risk bringing a kid in on their plans and having them ruined. Satherin had come to him while Tam was in hiding in the tree outside the King's fortress. He first dropped a few hints before finally detailing his plan.