Secrets in the woods - Sophie Gibson (ebook smartphone .TXT) 📗

at the people in the clearing, I would say there was about seventeen all together. A woman who looked about twenty walked up and smiled at the three of us. “It seems we have a well needed fighter to help us through the spring.” Her dark brown hair seemed to shudder as she said the spring. I didn’t get what was so bad about it, but I kept my mouth shut. “Iris has already said she will stay.” I raised my eyebrow at her assumption and for a second wandered who Iris was, my eyes paused at the makeshift cabin with a red sheet hanging from the doorframe instead of a door. “Jade, you’re best at introductions. Tell her about us and then send her to Iris if she agrees.” Safrina told Jade and shooed the others away.
Jade sat down on a stool that was actually a chopped up tree and pointed to one for me. “What do you know about the Chosen and the Hunters, Alaya?” she asked as soon as I was seated. “I know they’re nocturnal and that they’re actually the same species, just male and female. Years ago they lived together and people didn’t have to be marked a Chosen or a hunter. And…” I tried to struggle for what I could remember, “They both have a common enemy in the Shadow Walkers.” She smiled at me and carried on. “So you know a basic background. What do you know about the different names for the Chosen?” she asked me. I was confused, I knew there were different names but it didn’t seem too important. “The most common name is the Chosen. But also there is the Wild, the Huntresses, the Wise and the Shadow Touched.” I knew there was a few more, but they were similar and since they all meant the same it wasn’t important. “You are kind of right.” She frowned, thinking of a way to explain, “Everyone like us is the Chosen, that’s the universal name. We fight together, we are defiantly sisters. But some of us fall into different categories.” She paused to check I was following. “Forget about the Huntresses, people just guessed that since the males were Hunters, that’s what we were. The Wise are those with a certain gift for knowledge, but they don’t go out purposely to fight the Hunters, they only do if they are needed in a big fight or war. Otherwise they are just defensive.” She stopped again as Kayla handed us both a drink of some kind of fruit juice. We drank in silence for a minute.
“Where were we? Oh yes, the Shadow Touched.” She started again placing her cup down. “The Shadow Touched is a name for any Chosen who has been taken into the world of the Shadow Walkers and escaped. Ever since the barriers closed the Shadows have been trapped, so we don’t have any Shadow Touched anymore. On to the best part?” she asked it like a question waiting for me to guess. “The Wild?” I guessed at the last name I remembered. She nodded her head and smiled gesturing around. “We were the first type of Chosen. Hunters would be more proud of killing us that anyone else. Specially Ashwood Jones. But I think it’s about time for dinner. We’ll carry on tomorrow.”

(Ash)
I was grateful when the moon came up this night. I was awake a few hours before and couldn’t make my mind stop working. The night of the Hunt was over, which meant I could choose my second form again. I don’t usually like to just for the sake of it, but my body had different ideas. Closing my eyes I let it happen, I wouldn’t be totally myself but having the extra senses comforted me. As I let the wolf form take over the last thing I thought of was those eyes. Dark purple in anger, I would expect her soul to be no other colour.
After that I just ran, happy to be on four legs. Until heard voices. “Hush now.” I couldn’t see who it belonged to, the figure has wrapped in a cloak but his face was in shadow. “You know it’s nothing personal, but without their protector no more Chosen can change.” The voice laughed and it made my skin crawl. His face turned slightly this way, I was about to see who it was. A Shadow Walker. Even as a wolf I knew what was going on, this spring they’d managed to escape. I mentally shook myself, of course they did, we were so busy fighting the Chosen we drew back some of our power from the barriers. “How many Changelings do you need to find?” the Shadow Walker was facing her again. She didn’t answer so it put a hand on her face. I shuddered. It would be pulling everything straight from her mind, it was too powerful, even for the Protector. “Only one? That’s a shame. Ah well, I wonder how long it’ll take for the shadows to overtake her. She doesn’t have a choice.” The shadow dropped its hand, and the Protector flopped back onto the floor. She was dead, I could smell it.
(Alaya)
So much panicking. I’m not sure what’s going on. All the wild are running around desperately grabbing weapons. “Alaya!” Jade shouted to me and ran over. “Go to Iris’s tent and she’ll tell you. I’m busy helping.” I went over to the makeshift tent/cabin or whatever it was. Pushing the red sheet aside I walked into the dark room. In the middle there was only on big candle, Iris was sitting behind it. “Alaya, please sit. We don’t have much time until we have to find her.” I sat and stayed silent, waiting for an explanation. Her eyes, a heavy bright blue, were set upon the flame as she whispered under her breath. “You’re one of us Alaya. You soul is the same changing purple as your eyes. Jade can see it.” She waited for my question like she knew I was about to ask it. “How?” She was already going to answer, but there was something unnerving about the quiet in here. “Soul seeing is her gift, like reading the future is mine.” This time I didn’t bother questioning her. “But I didn’t foresee this. The barriers have been breaking down and shadows escaped. The Protector is dead.” The last words were barely a whisper, but they seemed to make the whole room shiver. “There’s one Changeling left, as second to the Protector, I need to see if I can help her. Otherwise she’ll fall under the Shadows.” she bit her lip which made her look even younger. She must’ve been at least fifty, I could see it in her eyes, but like all Chosen she looked about twenty-five. “And since the barriers are down, we don’t have much time.” She handed me a belt that had a place for one of the firestone weapons.
Following Iris through the woods was weird. She was so quiet, like a ghosts through the woods. It didn’t take too long to get to the edge of the woods. I saw a house. It was small, probably an only child, I thought to myself. We didn’t speak until we saw someone stepping out of the house. We sniffed the air at the same time. It was her. “Sophia.” Iris whispered. The girl turned at the sound of her name and came over. I saw the half-moon outline on her wrist and subconsciously touched mine. “You need to come with us.” Iris told her. The girl nodded.
(Ash)
I had to go back to the hunters and tell them. They paired everyone up after that. No-one was allowed alone, even Hunters on their tasks. I told my father I could handle myself. He said I could, but my older brother couldn’t. So I’m stuck with him. “Ash, why can’t you just get your tenth soul and then hunt her? You gave me the soul of the last Chosen you killed. You’re as bad as the rest of our pack with this soul obsession. The way I see it, is as soon as I’ve got my ten I won’t bother.” My brother, Caleb, asked me. He didn’t seem to like hunting the Chosen at all. If it were up to him, we’d all live together again. He needed to stop living in the past. I stepped in front of him. “Then you shouldn’t be in our pack. You should be with the rest of the Hunters and only hunt the average Chosen.” I towered over him making him shrink back. “Souls are the core of power. The brighter and more colourful it is, the more powerful. That’s why we mainly choose the hunt the Wild. They are the strongest.” I really couldn’t stand him sometimes. Caleb was half human like most Hunters, in our group at the moment, only me and one other are half Changeling. That’s why I’m stronger than him. He was born a year before me, but I think of him as a much younger brother he’s a bit vulnerable. To be truthful, I think Caleb’s too much like his mother. I looked at his eyes, dark green. He was so human I realised then why my father made me look after him, with the Shadows walking in the woods the Chosen would probably let Hunters join them, and if Caleb knew that he’d go.
I caught a scent. I stopped and took in a deep breath of air. Flowers. I knew that smell. “Iris is near. We better go the long…” I sniffed the air again. Sweet nectar and honey. Alaya. I remembered the name and instinct screamed at me to hunt. I shook my head and spoke through clenched teeth, “Let’s go.” I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to wait. But with her and Iris, I had no chance.
(Alaya)
We got Sophia back to the others. They’d calmed down a lot now, but they all looked upset. Jade went through the welcome with her, and I went back to talk to Iris. “What do we do now?” I asked. I meant about Sophia as well as everything else. For a while she was silent. “I’ve seen what has to be done.” She looked at me, her eyes had gone weird and overly bright, the pupils were white not black “You have to stop the war. The Hunter, Ash, he is very important in this, although I don’t know how. You’ll need to travel to the barrier with Sophia, even when the shadows take her. Then bring back their souls.” She closed her eyes, when she opened them they were normal. I repeated it again in my head then frowned. “Their souls? Not her.” I couldn’t think who else there was. Iris shrugged and explained she didn’t know. “I remember what I say when it happens, just not why I say it.”

At dinner I sat next to Sophia, it was weird, she felt different than the others. She’d been a Changeling for longer than she should, the Shadows were already starting to cling to her. Every now and again she’d shiver even though we were right by the fire. “I have good news” Safrina stood up, I watched Sophia look surprised when she saw Safrina’s almost-white hair in contrast to the usual dark colours. “Already two packs of hunters have called a truce. They have finally decided that the only things worth fighting are Shadows.” I caught her quickly glance at Sophia. “Their camp is set three minutes that way.” She pointed with her right hand.
After dinner Iris handed me and Safrina a bag each. “I’ll say goodbye now as tomorrow I’m a bit busy. You better be quick, otherwise you’ll have to carry her most of the way.” I was about to ask how we’d know where to go, but answered before I did. “Follow the trail of shadows. And if you see