Page 90 of Shifters Unifying
We all stood in a clearing outside the gym where Marcus and Logan had fought, beneath a layered canopy of trees and the rising sun. Pink clouds streaked the sky. Logan had slipped outof the drey before sunrise, and I’d had a few hours of fucked-me-good sleep after he’d gone. Maybe he’d left me a little bow-legged, but I was as bright-eyed and bushy tailed as I was going to get.
Ahmie, Evie, Benjamin, Levi, and Rueben grinned from the front line of the column formation as though it was the best day of their lives. They each held their gnarled bo staffs in their right hands—the same ones they’d used in the gym in Six-Mile. Behind each of them stood two more fighters they’d personally selected to make the group three deep by five wide. The shifters were situated behind the one who had recruited them and arranged by magical strength.
So, in addition to East Nuttal’s five best, ten shifters I hadn’t yet met faced me. Each one seemed apprehensive about their training. No doubt they’d heard rumors from what had happened back in Six-Mile.
I grimaced. Well, they were just going to have to get over it. With only a week before the conclave, I didn’t have time to coddle anyone or convince anyone they should be there. Though, I thought I’d worked out what had gone wrong before.
Still stalling, I tested the bond between Logan and me, relieved by how relaxed but annoyed my mate seemed. He wasn’t in danger. At least that would make it easier to focus on the training at hand. It would be my first time training other shifters as the prophesied leader, at least officially, and it probably wasn’t going to go as smoothly as I hoped. Only one way to find out…
Here we go.
“My name is Emma,” I began. Irritated by the weakness in my voice, I increased my volume. “You may address me as ‘multimorph.’ I expect obedience at all times.” I paused to allow the gravity of my expectations to settle in their minds. “If you have a problem with anything, you can request aprivate audience with me, and we will discuss it. However, if you question me in public in any way, it will be considered a challenge to my authority and handled appropriately.”
In my periphery, Salali nodded her approval, signaling her unwavering support. Ahmie and Evie both glanced over their shoulders as if to drive the point home to the fighters they’d invited. Reuben, Levi, and Benjamin remained as grim-faced as the ones behind them and kept their eyes on me.
“Let’s begin.” I dropped to the ground and shoved my hands in the dirt beneath me. “Now attack me.”
Ten sets of eyes widened, and Reuben furiously tugged his beard. But Ahmie and Evie laughed and shared a gleeful look. As one, they twirled their sticks and rushed toward me. I sent a surge of energy through the earth and exploded the ground beneath both of them, launching them into the air.
After I knocked them off their feet, Reuben came at me.
Benjamin and Levi had better sense, leaped at me, shifting into squirrels and skittering two different directions, zigzagging over the ground, but I sent pulses of magic through the earth and took them out just as easily.
In quick succession, I made my way through the shifters, feeling more and more in control of myself and my abilities with each moment. Finally, I straightened and rubbed my hands together, knocking the dew-moistened dirt from my palms.
“Can you teach us how to use the earth like a weapon?” Ahmie asked, leaning on her staff. “We’d be more helpful if we could do that.”
“I don’t think it’s something I can teach you to do, but I might be able to do itthroughyou. We can try that at the end of today. For now, take your positions in your column formation once more.”
The group shifted into a more organized layout, each one an arm’s length from the one next to them. I gestured to Ahmie. “Can you grab me a bo staff?”
Her eyebrows scrunched together over her nose. “Of course.” She jogged away and returned with a small branch similar to hers. She handed it to me. She whispered, “No magic?”
I grinned at her, glad for the quiet question rather than a public challenge. “I’d rather move through attacks and defenses while it’s cool out. Wanna be my partner?”
She grinned and nodded.
To the group, I said, “Let’s pair up.”
Eight sets of fighters faced off with one another. “Ahmie, you go ahead and lead us through. Tell me what to do.” At their confusion, I added, “You’re good at what you’re good at, and I’m good at what I’m good at. Other than magic and what comes by instinct, I don’t know much about fighting moves, and I want to learn what you know.”
Based on the respect shimmering in their eyes, honesty was still my best policy. “Go ahead, Ahmie.”
Ahmie bobbed her head. “Of course, multimorph.” Immediately, she took her stick in her hand like a bat and swung it at me, stopping just before the wood slammed into me. “First position.”
“First position,” the collected shifters answered, half of them following suit. “Trade and repeat.”
“Second position,” she commanded and jammed the end toward my chest.
On the training went, as the sun rose higher and higher in the sky. Each of us following positions, reacting, and trading offense and defense. Until my muscles burned and sweat clung to me. Many of the moves had been the same when I’d been trained by Olivia back in Six-Mile, but some of their applications were new.
1… 2… 3…
“Now spar!” Ahmie yelled and lunged for me.
I knocked her stick aside, deflecting the attack, and grinned.
She advanced again.
