CHAPTER TWO

Saturday, September 17th

WHEN LANCE RETURNED, Kandice had made four new seals, each with a different mark on it. She tried each one, bracing herself before each attempt.

None of which worked.

"What am I doing wrong?" Kandice asked. "What should I do different?"

"The answer is inside your mind," Lance said. "I can't tell you what to do, you have to find your own answer."

She rolled her eyes and sighed. This "mysterious master" gimmick he was pulling, wasn't helping. If she didn't need his guidance she would leave.

"Try to make them without thinking," he said. "And remember, don't try it before I get back."

"Yeah, I get it," she said. "It's dangerous. I won't try without you. Fuck!"

Lance was already walking down the trail again.

This is ridiculous.

She could spend her whole life making up these damn symbols and never find the right one.

Maybe that's what he meant by not everyone is able to shift?

She picked up a fresh seal and carved, trying to not think so much about the symbols, but just to allow her hands to guide her work.

* * *

AGAIN, LANCE RETURNED FROM THE WOODS, and Kandice had five seals prepared. She wasted no time and slapped one after another against her stomach. The heat was getting to her and almost all the water they brought was gone.

"Did you expect any of them to work?" he asked.

"I don't know. I don't get how I'm supposed to pick a symbol that represents who I am."

"It takes time. It took me ten tries, but it also took me three days. Slava didn't let me try more than one at a time."

"That's crazy," she said.

Becoming an oboroten needed to happen now, not in a few days. There was no way they could stay out here two more days. Besides, the sooner she learned to shift, the sooner they could start her "real" training, as far as Kandice was concerned,

"Remember!" Lance yelled over his shoulder, as he walked down the trail.

"I know. Don't try without you," she yelled back.

Her hands ached from carving. The knife kept digging into the bottom of her knuckles, and she'd slipped and cut her left thumb. Lance had brought a small first aid kit, so she put a bandage on her thumb, but it didn't help with the throbbing pain.

More than half the stack of seals was gone. It wasn't clear what would happen once all the seals failed. She hoped it didn't mean it wasn't possible for her to shift. There had to be something missing, her mind just couldn't think straight in the heat.

The heat index for the day was well over a hundred, but the sun had moved enough so that the top of the trees were casting a shadow against her.

She tried to clear her mind from the task at hand, and allow her hands to do all the work. It reminded her of practicing her taekwondo forms to the point that it became a moving meditation.

* * *

"HOW MANY THIS TIME?" Lance asked, coming through a patch of trees.

"I'll have four when I'm done with this one. I don't get how you managed to find your symbol in only ten tries."

"I was lucky, I guess," he said.

Kandice didn't believe him. There had to be more to it. She stood up when she finished the last mark and wasted no time putting it on. The seal did nothing. The next three failed too. If she was honest with herself, she hadn't thought they would work.

"I give up," she said. "It's hot, and I need some food."

"You can't quit," Lance said. "Maybe your hunger will help you. You've got three more. If you fail with those too, we'll go get food."

"I'll give you another hour," he said. "Think hard about who you are and then carve. But don't try a seal before I get back."

"Yeah, yeah," she said annoyed, and waved him away.

Instead of picking up another seal, she tried to analyze herself, and what kind of symbol would represent the different parts of herself. Lance's symbol seemed so simple, how did that sum up who he was as a person.

She reached over and grabbed one of the first failed symbols. It was hopeless, nothing represented her as a person. She was about to throw it back but looked at the staff again. The moon has to be right. Her mom had died under a crescent moon so that seemed to represent a major part of her. The staff, though, that had to be the issue.

The knife moved without her thinking about it. Three quick lines and her eyes refocused. Her hand had put a tip on the staff to make it a spear. It was right, it had to be.

She called out for Lance, but he wasn't around.

Damn it.

Her eyes fell on the pile of seals. At some point the whole pile had felt right. It made little sense to wait for him to watch her fail again.

Fuck it.

The seal felt right, righter than the previous ones. Her body tensed as it accepted what was about to happen. It was time to do it—with or without Lance. As the seal got close to her skin, it tingled.

This is it!

The tanned skin stuck to her stomach.

In an instant, everything shifted into a red tint. Even the green of the trees looked pink. The brown of the bark, like flowing blood.

Stinging pain erupted from the back of her skull, and down her spine, as small spikes grew from her back, ripping her shirt.

Her skin morphed into black scales that shimmered crimson in the direct sunlight. It was as if they had always been there just below the surface, waiting to come out.

Lance came running out of the trees. He'd changed himself into his blue-orangutan form. Kandice realized she'd grown to over eight feet tall. She was looking down on Lance. There was a smell of raw steak coming from him, and her stomach longed for food. She lunged at him, mouth wide-open hoping to sink her teeth into him and feast upon his flesh.

For several minutes they fought, tumbling over on another.

Kandice was stronger, but with Lance being trained and faster he had the advantage.

Each time she grabbed hold, he would spin away out of her grip.

He kept reaching for her stomach and blocked her advances.

Lance pulled out another seal and struck Kandice's arm with it. Her arm burned and became immobilized. She snapped at him, but he was too fast—he pulled the seal off her stomach, and Kandice fell face first into the earth.

When Kandice opened her eyes, her body screamed in pain. She bit down as hard as she could to avoid screaming out. Lance poured an awful smelling liquid on her that burned as it boiled her blood and outer flesh.

"Ouch!" she screamed.

"Sorry," Lance said, and wiped it off.

Her skin had already turned red.

"You put the seal on without me?" he asked.

"You kicked my ass," she said. "My whole body feels broken."

"It will, for a couple days. You're strong. I had to use a disabling seal."

"Was that what caused my arm to feel like it was on fire?"

"Yes," he said. "I didn't know you'd be so powerful. You about crushed me in one of your bear hugs."

The liquid Lance was rubbing on her smelled worse than roadkill, but it took the pain out of her bones.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to change without you, it just kind of happened. I wasn't thinking."

"I know," Lance said. "It's how it happens to all of us. It's all part of the test. Once you found the right symbol, you would never be able to wait. It calls to you."

"What?"

"It's part of you. At first, your body feels lost without it. Over time, you'll learn to live with the pain of separation. Until then, you can't keep a complete symbol on a seal. You'll have to finish it right before you use it."

Kandice thought she understood, but she felt so sleepy that it had become hard to think.

"I'm tired," she said.

"That's good. You rest, and I'll drive us home."

Kandice noticed the moon was already out, and the sun was close to going down. She walked to the SUV with Lance's help, and the moment she laid the seat back, she fell into a deep dreamless sleep.