Mutant City by Steve Feasey Page B

direction to the one they’d taken. He thought the men might accept her explanation: that way was the best direction if you were trying to escape. Tink and Anya waited beneath the cover of the trees until they were sure the men were gone. Urging his harg forward, Tink, with Anya sitting on the jockey-box by his side, set off, determined to put as much distance between them and the men as possible.
    A few hours later, when the pair found themselves in a patchy forest of evergreens, Tink brought up the subject of Anya and Kerin’s relationship, asking what had gone wrong.
    ‘She doesn’t like me changing,’ the teenager answered. ‘You know, when I shift into other forms? She says I shouldn’t do it.’
    ‘You can understand her concerns. If you were seen –’
    ‘Tink, we live in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. Our nearest neighbour is more than ten miles away. All last year we didn’t see another soul until you came by just before the winter. Nobody.’ She gave a little shake of her head. ‘It’s easy to get a bit of “cabin fever” up there. You know, go a bit gaga –’ she made a twirling motion with a finger at her temple – ‘so I’ve been going out. Taking another form and getting away for a while.’ She paused. ‘It’s been causing arguments.’
    He nodded, but he knew there was more to it than simply what Anya was telling him. While they were alone, Kerin had spoken to Tink, explaining that the youngster struggled to transform back into her human form after she’d been out on these trips. She described how recently, after going out to investigate strange sounds in an outhouse where they kept their winter fuel, Kerin had opened the door to discover a nightmarish chimera. The creature was bluish black, with bright yellow eyes and closely meshed scales, so its skin looked like that of a snake. In form the beast itself looked more leopard-like. Long black canines hung from its upper jaw, and from the look of the blood on the creature’s front, they had been employed lately to good effect. The creature let out a tortured screech, its back arching high over legs held out stiffly before it.
    ‘Breathe, Anya, breathe and concentrate,’ the woman urged.
    The creature hissed back at her. Racked with spasms, it contorted wildly again and threw itself to the ground.
    And then, quite suddenly, the girl appeared in the cat-snake’s place, her hair stuck to her sweat-drenched face as she gasped for air.
    Kerin, not wishing to have another row, had just shaken her head, turned her back on the girl and returned to their cabin.
    Tink was still thinking about all this when he was suddenly struck with a vision. A gasp escaped him and he pulled the harg to a halt. Sitting perfectly still with his head angled slightly to one side, he kept his eyes shut as if he was listening for something only he could hear. Finally, with a sigh, he opened his eyes again.
    ‘What is it?’ Anya asked.
    ‘The road up ahead. The one we have to take? I think we could be in danger if we go that way.’ He shook his head. ‘I don’t know what that danger might be though. If it’s the ARM, we need to change our plans again.’
    ‘And if it’s not?’
    ‘I’m not sure we have too many choices. We might have to face off whoever – or whatever – it is.’
    ‘Is this one of your famous hunches?’
    ‘Something like that, yes.’
    ‘So why don’t I go and check it out?’
    ‘What?’
    ‘You know, shift into something else and take a look.’
    ‘I don’t want you to put yourself in danger, and I don’t –’
    ‘Wait here so I can find you again,’ the teenager said. With that, she stood up on the jockey-box.
    ‘No, Anya, wait –’
    But he was too late. She jumped up into the air. Mid-leap, the pale, dark-haired girl transformed into a truly hideous creature that beat its wings and launched into the sky.
    Part-human, part-bat, but all ugly, the hideous pink-skinned beast had a humanoid torso with short frog-like