Clan of Redemption (25 page)

I noticed that when the bird was
done eating, I was able to take off again with no
resistance.

“
Ok, I’m ready to get back to
being human again.” I with desperation as I closer to the
house.

The house sat in a clearing with a
dirt road leading who knows where. The house was small and quaint,
one storey with wood siding that looked like it needed a few boards
replaced, and a new coat of paint; I think at one time it used to
be blue. The front porch ran the width of the house, with a rocking
chair and small table towards the front door. In the chair sat that
strange woman we met in the woods.

She looked like she was sleeping,
but as soon as we got close her eyes popped open and she stood up
with a very warming smile.

“
Thank you so much my friend, I
didn’t have the strength to do it myself. I appreciate your help. I
have some food in the barn if you’re hungry? Again, thank you my
friend let me know if there is anything I can do for you,” she said
as she bowed to the horse.

She walked over to the horse and
pulled my canine body off the back and carried it into the house
with Logan close behind. What is this woman the incredible
hulk?

“
Are you coming Jayden, I can’t
help you if stay outside,” she said as she left the door open. "Us
shifters have more strength than normal humans, but I've never been
green."

I had flew in and perched myself
on the railing of the porch. Part of me and part of the falcon were
a little hesitant to go inside. Once I’m inside she has a better
chance of hurting me, but if I’m outside I could fly away easily. I
decided to fly in and see if she could help me, watching the horse
walk over to the barn that sat off to the left of the house made me
think that she wasn’t a bad person. The horse seemed to trust her
and it was a free horse, unless the horse was evil... Are there
evil horses in the world? That was a question I would have to get
answered inside and not out here.

“
The bird is having issues with
going into the house; it feels like it will be trapped,” I told
Logan.

“
Then you need to make it feel at
ease and help it understand the sooner you come in the sooner it
gets it body back,” he said as she stared at me from the door
way.

“
If you want your body back you
need to let this lady help me, then you’ll be free. I can’t do this
by myself and I’m sure you don’t want to be stuck with me,” I told
the bird. I didn’t expect the bird to talk back, but I was hoping
that he understood.

Without notice the bird flew
swiftly into the house and landed on the back of a couch that was
against the wall.

I saw my canine body laying limp
on the couch. It gave me a strange feeling to see it laying there,
even though it was me in the form of a dog, under there was my true
form.

I watched the lady go into the
kitchen, which you could see from the living room and get something
out of a cupboard and walk back over to the table next to the couch
and put the bowl of mixture next to me.

“
Now, if you want to start this
process, you need to come eat some of this,” she said as she walked
back into the kitchen. It looked like she was boiling some water on
the stove.

“
What is this stuff,” I asked. It
looked like a mixture of nuts and berries, but with a wiry looking
weed of some sort.

“
Oh, that’s just a little
something to help the process along. There’s nothing in there that
will hurt you or the bird, just start eating so you can be on your
way,” she said with a little irritation in her voice.

“
So that bowing thing you did with
the horse, why do you do that, my mom use to do that with animals,
I never understood it?” I asked as I tried the protein mixture. It
actually doesn’t taste that bad, a little earthy.

“
All living beings are equal and
deserve the respect that we all ask for. They are not our slaves,
but our working partners. Most people don’t treat them right, and
think of them as their pets or slaves to do their work,” she said
as she put something in the water that was coming to a
boil.

I didn’t know what to say, but I
was glad that I found someone to help us, what would my father say
if I didn’t call him to check in. Would he try to find
me?

“
Did you say that your mother use
to bow to animals?” she asked as she peeked out from the
kitchen.

“
Yes, she use to ride horses when
I was little and she would always talk so soft to them and bow
before she got on and after she got off. I think I asked her once
why she did that, but I can’t remember what she said.

“
Jayden, don’t say anything else,
please,” Logan said as he looked up from his position on the floor
next to my canine form.

“
So we have secrets and enemies,
hum, your mother must be someone of importance,” she said as she
came with a bowl of that water that she had been
boiling.

“
My mother was important to me,” I
said as I realized that Logan had asked me not say
anything.

“
You miss her very much, I can
tell,” she said as she waved her hand for me to drink from the
bowl.

“
Jayden, that’s enough, please,”
Logan pleaded as he put his head back down on his paws.

“
If your friend here thinks it’s
such a bad idea to tell me anything, I understand, so be it,” she
said as she seems to really not care that we didn’t want to give
her any information.

“
Jayden, I need you to do me a
favor. I need you to drink some of this tonic and think about the
scariest memory you have ever had, and really remember it like you
are there now,” she told me.

She held the bowl up to my beak and
I drank what I could, it tasted a little bitter, but not as bad as
the mouse. Anything is better than chewed up mouse.

The day my mother died. I hated
thinking about this memory, it made my stomach feel like it was
flipping over, but with this memory comes my fear.

I remember sitting at my desk
knowing that something wasn’t right, because my Mom had not shown
up like she was scheduled to. That just wasn’t like her to miss her
class time, and not call the office for them to leave me a note.
Then my Dad walked into the classroom, I was so scared, not
knowing, but knowing that something was horribly wrong, and then my
teacher with that look in her eye, and my dad not talking to me all
the way home.

As I started to think about those
feelings again, I felt a pulling sensation in my body, or soul, was
it my soul? I could see that I was moving away from the falcon and
into my canine body, but this didn’t feel like when I switched
earlier. This felt more like an out of body experience that I hear
people talk about. I realized that I was hovering over my body, but
not going into it.

“
Jayden, can you hear me…Jayden.”
I could hear Logan talking to me, but I couldn’t
respond.

The lady that was helping us,
started to move closer to my canine body.

Logan jumped up, crouched in front
of my limp body and growled as if he was ready to take this woman
out.

“
Now, now, easy fella, I’m just
trying to get your friend Jayden back in her canine body. I promise
you I will not hurt her, but if she stays in limbo to long it won’t
be good. Can’t you feel her essence around us? She hasn’t finished
the process, and I need for you to stay calm or this could go very
badly,” she said as she bent down to pet the top of Logan’s
head.

What are they saying? What does she
mean this could all go bad? Why am I not in my body? What is the
problem?

“
Jayden, I need you listen to my
voice and focus. You need to stay calm and think about your memory
again.” She was focusing her energy towards the ceiling where I was
hovering.

I remember getting back to our
house and my Dad wouldn’t tell me anything, I asked all the way
into the house and finally he sat me down. My Dad was never quiet
with me, he always had a smile and never ignored me, so for him to
be silent for so long I knew that this was a very bad
day.

As I was finishing my memory, my
mind went blank.

“
I think she’s made the
transition, you might want to give her a few minutes, she’s in like
a sleeping mode now, and she might sleep for a few hours, it's
exhausting moving around like she did today. I know that you’re
anxious to get going on your way, but since she will sleep for
awhile, I have stew on the stove, would you like some?” she asked
me as she made her way to the kitchen.

“
I am hungry. I don’t remember
when the last time was that I had something to eat,” Logan said as
he followed her into the kitchen.

“
That does tend to happen when
you’re protecting a princess!” she said as she reached for a bowl
to put some stew in.

“
Princess, but how did you know?”
Logan asked the medicine woman.

“
I’m not a new shape shifter, I’ve
been around longer than you can imagine, and there haven’t been any
new shape shifters in years, it’s one of the reasons that my powers
don’t work like they use to,” she said as she put the bowl down on
the floor in front of the stove.

“
Please forgive my rudeness, but
are you Sydney the clan healer?” Logan asked as he took a bite of
the meaty stew.

“
So, you’ve heard of me. It’s been
a long time since I’ve been called the healer, but yes, I am
Sydney. I don’t recognize you, are you from around here?” She
asked.

“
No, I was born and raised in a
small town north of Seattle, but my parents were born and raised
here and told me stories,” he said as he realized that he had told
her the secret that he was never to repeat. Talking to the woman
made you feel at ease and made you want to answer any questions she
asked. Was this a spell or some sort?

“
So, she is the princess that was
to return to us, I knew that my reading wasn’t off. I might be old,
but I still have some juice left,” she said as she drank from the
tea that she had poured herself.

“
You knew that she was coming?”
Logan asked her.

“
I wasn’t positive, but I did have
a feeling. Logan, does she know about her families past and what
she is expected to do here?” Sydney asked.

“
She knows some, but I don’t have
all the answers for her and I can’t go against the laws and tell
her. Wait, I didn’t tell you my name, how did you know?”

“
I saw her with her protector,
when I had the vision, I couldn’t see it all that clear, but I knew
that her mother’s protector would have a son to take care of her
daughter. It was destiny.” Sydney said.

“
We’ve been gone for a long time;
Sully and Thornton are going to start getting concerned,” said
Logan.

“
You look like you need some rest;
I can take care of your friend’s worries. Falcon, could you do us
one more favor before you go. Could you take a note to our friends?
Sydney asked the falcon. The falcon bowed its head in
agreement.

Sydney walked over and wrote
something on a piece of paper, rolled it up and tied it to the
falcons leg. She explained where the cabin was and the Falcon flew
away. Logan must have been tired because he was asleep before the
falcon was high in the sky.

“
You rest, protector, you will
feel much better when you wake.” She ran her hand down his soft
coat.

**********

I dreamt about my mother again,
but this time we were at home and she was reading me stories about
her childhood. I don’t remember what they were, but when I woke up
I felt rested and had a wonderful happy feeling.

“
Good evening Princess Jayden, how
are you feeling?” Sydney asked me.

“
I feel groggy, but well rested,”
I said wondering what she and Logan had talked about while I was
sleeping.

Wait. What!

"Princess, I might be spoiled
since I was an only child, but I've never been called a princess,"
I said as I felt my good mood slinky away.

As I started to sit up I realized
that I was back in my human form.

“
How did I get back to my normal
body?” I asked Sydney as I sat up, the blanket that was covering my
body started to fall.

“
The spell I used to get you back
in to your body is a total transfer spell; it reads your aura and
returns you to your true form before re-entering your body. I put
some clothes for you at the end of the couch. I guessed your size,
8, right?” Sydney said, transitioning from one subject to another
like it was no big deal.

“
Yes and… thank you,” I said
looking into her eyes with the gratitude and heartfelt thanks of a
person who had just been pulled from the jaws of death. She just
nodded and said “You’re very welcome Jayden” then poured us some
tea.

I reached over and grabbed a pair
of jeans and a shirt. The shirt felt very soft almost silky. I took
clothes and put them on while trying to hold the blanket
up.

“
What a beautiful shirt,” I said
as I admired its intricate details. The sleeves were form fitting
until they got to my elbows then they flowed out. The shirt was a
pale blue, with hints of sparkles throughout, it came to a v shape
on the neckline with little ties that brought the front together.
The bottom flared out just a little and it went perfectly with the
blue jeans. She even had a pair of brown Sketchers shoes that fit
me.