The Shifters: Katrina

It was hard to process what happened next.

All I saw was the figure of an ex-friend fly overhead, plummeting toward the streets of my compound. We both screamed, one out of fear and one out of mortification. My heart broke for her as she hit the ground, her body completely shattered within seconds.

Dead.

Sonya had died.

I had no warning before I suddenly convulsed, vomiting over the side of the roof. My entire body shook, tears stinging my eyes.

But now I was alone, standing on top of this damned building.

Fear crept into my heart. On the opposite side of this roof, I would be able to see the main fight. On the opposite side of this roof, I would see whether or not my dream would come true.

Lifting my head, I glanced toward the other edge, wiping away the traces of puke from my chin.

I did it. I combined my elements. I'm a Guardian. I'm a dragon.

I'm a killer.

I winced, slowly hobbling to my feet.

But I'm also a protector.

I can face this.

I held my breath as I stumbled to the edge of the roof.

I held my breath as my eyes watered, staring in horrified awe at the scene below me.

Staring at the hunters and shifters alike laying face down in the snow, and the clash of bodies jumping across the battle. At the red-stained snow and water mixed with blood. At the flashes of the elements; balls of fire, streams of water, walls of mud, miniature cyclones.

My breath caught as I spotted Kami and Nathan. The two of them were fighting their way through the crowd of hunters, viciously pushing them back. They managed to save wounded shifters from Iluita together, gradually raining hope into my heart.

Then, there was a chilling roar. Everyone's heads turned toward the end of the street where two figures were standing.

A tiger with a lemur balancing on its back.

Anna with either Xavier or Talia.

"Kami! Nathan!" I screamed. "Run!"

My words died due to the high winds as the tiger charged, the lemur sticking to it easily. Nathan spotted the tiger and stopped dead, his face pale, leaving himself open to a hunter who was hobbling back onto his feet.

I gasped as the hunter picked up a broken arrow and drove it through Nathan's shoulder. His leg was already burned, completing the list of injuries that I remembered from my dreams. The shifters around Kami and Nathan were pushed back once again, and with all the bodies around them, my nightmare was coming to life.

No, I thought, the blue and red glow appearing on my fingers. I'll save them. Xavier will not get them this time.

I won't stand by.

I raised my hands just as the tiger began to run. Nathan yelled for his sister to flee, already losing the energy to stand.

Don't worry, Nathan. I'll save both of you. Just give me a second.

My glow spread from my fingers to my wrists, fire and water swirling below my palms. I watched as the tiger got closer, Anna leaping off Xavier's back to let him get to work.

I'll protect--

My eyes landed on the tiger's back leg. There, it had a bleeding wound.

Something about it made me pause, my mind flashing to when I'd seen Talia, the other tiger.

Flashing to when I'd grazed her thigh with an icicle that left a scratch on her leg.

But it was already too late.

In hesitating to attack a friend-gone-traitor, I'd given her the chance to attack Kami. Her claws raked down the woman's front as Nathan hit the ground, unable to keep going as he bled from his burn and the impaled arrow in his shoulder. Whether he was dead or not, I didn't know -- all I knew is that he fell while screaming his sister's name.

I was frozen as I watched it happened, Talia backing away as Kami fell to her knees. The shifter panted, gasping in pain. The tigress did not strike again, watching as the cobra dragged herself toward the building I stood on top of.

So that's why I failed them.

I couldn't kill a friend.

I didn't do my job.

I, too, collasped forward, gripping the side of the roof as my knees dug into the cracked, rough pavement. Tears fell from my eyes and over the edge, dropping onto the carnage below.

So where's the cheetah? Who, who is going to come and fight Talia?

If I waited just a second longer, I would've already had my answer.

A window shattered on one of the floors below me, a lean, agile body flying out. This was Coraline, finally coming out of whatever hidey-hole she had inside her office building. She landed in front of Talia, snarling and guarding Nathan's body.

I wanted to look away so badly as they clashed, but I couldn't.

Not until I heard Kami's slow, painful footsteps, my head turning to the left.

Exactly like the nightmare.

"Kami--"

"Why does he have to die?"

My entire body froze in a state of shock.

"Why did you let him die?"

Why did the words change?

We locked gazes, her pink haired matted with blood, her body bleeding. Kami fell to the ground, using her arms to hold herself up.

"Kami, he might not be--"

"We can't fix this, Katrina... We lost. It's over," she whimpered. "Look at you. You're beaten up. Koren and whoever is left in hiding in the forest, trying to regroup and evacuate the leftover citizens that weren't killed."

So that's where all the healthy people went...

"My brother might be dead," she continued, tears streaking through the dirt on her face. "Coraline is fighting Xavier. We were betrayed, again. What can we do..?"

I can't break down, my inner voice told me. It came through loud and clear, as well as a sense of protectiveness. I watched Kami cry, one hand grasping at her shirt as if she was clawing at her own heart. I have not given up. Even if everyone else has -- I am the troublemaker that will never listen to anybody else.

Tell me we lost. Go ahead.

But that doesn't mean I'll follow your lead and give in.

I refuse to.

My legs shook as I stood, nearly falling off the roof as well. Exhaustion swept through me as I forced myself to balance, staring at Kami with a fake expression of confidence.

Because what else could I do?

I had to believe that this was possible.

"Katrina..?"

"Get to the forest," I ordered. "Save yourself. I'll bring Nathan to you, and I'll kill Xavier."

Mind you, Talia is the one down there. I don't know where Xavier is.

"I can't ask you to--"

"Just go," I demanded, putting my back to her. I watched as Coraline and Talia clashed, Coraline raking her claws down Talia's face. They were outmatched -- another thing different from the scene in my nightmare.

Maybe this isn't over yet. The dream is yet to unfold.

Eventually, I heard the sound of her dragging herself away. The door to the staircase fell shut behind her, and I felt my decision finally set in.

This was my chance to fix this.

This transformation was it. My body morphed into another without a single sign of hesitation. I felt comfortable immediately, a grieving roar ripping through my scaly throat as my talons dug into the roof. I flicked my tail, settling my eyes on the fight below me.

Then, I inhaled.

And the blue, frozen flames appeared in front of my face.

They covered the ground, latching onto every body. They didn't burn, but instead, they kept every moving body trapped. The ice fire was both water and fire, but at the same time it was neither, which meant that the other shapeshifters couldn't control it. No one could stop me from freezing them in place, not even Talia, Coraline or Anna.

The three looked up as I leapt from the roof, landing in the center of the battle. Anna was trapped on a sign for one of the shops, watching from the sidelines as I put an end to their fight.

Now, I needed to find him.

"Katrina, I don't need your help!"

I rolled my eyes. Coraline had shifted back into her human body, her face a mess.

She was losing her compound, after all.

Let me help you.

"If you wanted to help her, you'd force her to give up this dumb community," came another voice. Both Anna and Talia had shifted back as well, the lemur glaring at me.

My own transition back was seamless. I returned Anna's glare, clenching my hands.

"Don't talk to me, traitor."

She scowled. "I needed to protect my home, Katrina. Surely you can understand."

Talia's head dipped, unable to look me in the eye. Clearly, Anna's words struck some guilt within her.

"We would've helped, Anna," I snarled, satisfied with the fact that I was able to trap her in a shell of ice fire.

"Xavier made Orgull stronger," she said firmly. "Iluita would've torn us in half."

"He tied your people up!" I yelled, stomping my foot. Blue fire rose from the ground around my foot, reacting to my anger.

"But, my dear Katrina, that was just to keep those nice, naive folks safe..."

Both Coraline and I shuddered, lifting our eyes to look over Talia's shoulder. While she, Coraline and myself stood in a rough line in the center of the street, with Anna off at the side, Xavier planted himself far behind the tigress, leaning against a street pole.

He flashed me a smirk.

"Why don't we fight fair, you brat?"