Shadow and Light Book 01

Inside the Temple, the Hidden Valley of the Himalayas...

Within the ancient temple that Anu'bis had taken up residence in, there was a lower lever under the main building that held lines and lines of half circles on the floor against walls. In a mere fraction of them, Kivar and the dozen or so aliens with him were restrained against the wall. The restraints weren't visible, but every time one of the Skins tried to move they found they couldn't.

Most were unconscious when they arrived but that didn't last long thanks to the screaming from those that were unfortunate enough to arrive awake. Machines came from the ceiling, long arms with many joints with sharp needles, probes and tools on the ends. Each one was used on the Skins; their husks provided no protection. For those that remained unconscious, there was no pain ¬ at least none that registered. However, soon all of them woke up.

It was just in time for them to find cylinders come up from the floor around them; each one formed a seal against the wall. As soon as they were closed, the restraints were released and all the Skins started bashing against the tube but nothing they did could breach the surface. Then they bashed harder as they looked down, the tubes were filling up with thick ooze. It was as clear as water but felt more like golden syrup, they tried to move as it rose up to their knees but they could barely move let alone raise their foot up out of it.

After long minutes of yelling, the fluid had risen up to their necks. The Skins were practically stuck in place, as they moved their fingers in the liquid they found they could only move them back and forth very slowly and it took a lot of strength to do that. Higher and higher the ooze rose, they closed their mouths when it reached that height but when it reached their noses they held their breath. After that it was only a minute before the fluid completely filled the cylinder.

The aliens tried to hold their breath as long as they could, they may have been able to do it far longer than the average human but they still needed to breath. Eventually they had to stop struggling and surrender to the inevitable, one by one they released their breaths and the fluid flowed into their bodies. However, none of them drowned. Each one remained alive and conscious as the fluid that was now in their lungs provided the necessary atmospheric components for them to live.

Soon each one started to feel tired and then they fell asleep. The last thing that Kivar saw before he lost consciousness was a jackal headed figure walking by each tube.

"I may not have been allowed to kill you for your crimes...but you will be useful. Very useful." Anu'bis chuckled

Then all Kivar knew was a dreamless sleep.

One Month Later...

The next full moon was close; it was but 2 or 3 days away and as the sun rose that day over the mountains Kivar's tube slid open. The thick fluid poured out and carried Kivar with it as it flowed over the floor before the fluid was pulled in between the blocks of stone that made the floor. The alien coughed and spluttered as he spewed up the liquid from his lungs and stomach. He did that for a long time, the muscles in his through and along the tube to his lungs kept moving as they tried to bring up more and more.

When they stopped Kivar couldn't help but breath in a massive amount of air. Soon though he had recovered and was looking around, his eyes focused on the other occupied tubes. Each one that had an occupant could no longer be recognised as one of Kivar's people. Each one was horribly disfigured and mutated. Facial bone structure was a complete mess; eyes were distended to the point that they were almost bulging out of their sockets. Ear were shaped differently, as were the pupils of their eyes. The husks had burst open as muscles had abnormally formed and swelled over their bodies. In some cases, one arm was thin and scrawny to the point where it was a twig while the other had grown to twice the size of even the world's strongest man.

Most notably, not one of them had survived the procedure except for Kivar. At first he thought he wasn't sure that anything had been done to him but soon he began to feel that there was a difference. Then he remembered the last person he saw.

"What did you DO TO ME?" Kivar called out

"I had a little fun." A voice said from nowhere before he started laughing

"WHO ARE YOU?" Kivar yelled

He never got an answer as he was engulfed in a field of darkness. It lasted a second and as Kivar's vision returned he looked around. He was kneeling in a shallow river; on the either side of which was desert sand and an almost full moon hung over him in the star filled night sky. He held out his hand and light formed, creating a flashlight of sorts so that he could look around. Then he spotted a sign nearby the riverbank and Kivar moved closer. It read "Rio Grande", Kivar had been returned to the Mexico/US boarder near New Mexico.

Crashdown...

At the same time was Kivar was taking an impromptu bath, the Sheriff was working the late shift. He had come into the Crashdown to fill his flask with lots of strong, black coffee. It was the same time that Kyle was out on a date with Tess; a quick look from his son told him that the Sheriff should make his pit stop a quick one. Kyle didn't want his dad to be around when he's on dates.

Jim was about to leave when he turned around and bumped into Max. The teen was holding a cup of coffee in his hand and at the contact the cup fell and shattered on the floor, amazingly none of the liquid touched the two. It just spattered on the ground, and spread out.

"Sorry sheriff...I didn't see you there." Max said

"It's okay." Jim said as both knelt down to start picking up the shards of the cup, "How's your folks?"

"They're good." Max said and it was the truth. Things had gotten a lot better between his parents after the first week of Diane not speaking to Philip. She wanted to meet his people; he refused on the ground that it was dangerous. After a week he said he'd think about it, he was still thinking about it but they had talked and their relationship was back on track. Philip even took her out to the woods so that he could show her his change into various animals. All in all things were as good as they had been and Diane learned more about her son than she ever had, Max let her in more and more and that was something even he was surprised about.

"Good." Jim said as he picked up a piece of cup and put it on a food tray.

Then both of them reached for the same shard without realising it, unfortunately as they both pulled on it, it slipped and cut the tips of their index fingers. They pulled their hands back quickly but what neither knew was that Max's finger was up higher, in the second it took them to pull back a trickle of Max's blood flowed down the shard and onto Jim's finger where he was cut.

"Ouch." Both said together.

Jim started to suck on his finger before pulling it out. "That hurt." He said as he felt a little dizzy.

"Yeah."

Liz saw what happened and went to get the first aid kit. She came out and before the sheriff left he had a plaster on his finger. Max pretended to have a plaster to be put on him, but the second Jim left he healed it himself. Then he and Liz spent time through the back together, tonight was the last night all had before they were being shipped off to Moon Peak and they were taking time to enjoy their hometown. After that it was time with their parents, except Isabel, Michael and Tess who were planning on spending a simple night with a DVD, lingerie and then a bed.

On the Street, Outside the Evans & Davidson Residence, 08:00 The Next Morning

Over the last month, things had calmed down a lot. Everyone took time to do their work at school, Jeff hired new staff to replace Liz, Maria and Isabel in the diner and all of them had spent time doing a little shopping. They not only bought some new clothes but they also bought some supplies. It was just sheets of paper, pens and other things, Jeff said they wouldn't need it because the school kept more than adequate supplies.

There was a time when Alex almost went straight for the Coach after another altercation. The night that happened, Alex jumped from rooftop to rooftop in his tiger body. He stalked his pray with a dark gleam in his eye, following the Coach until he reached his car late one night. Then Alex struck. He dived down with a wild roar, the Coach turned and started to run. Alex chased after him until he ran him down, holding his sharp claws near the arrogant human's throat. He was about to slash away but then Jake showed up. He just meowed and hissed at Alex and despite Alex roaring at him Jake kept it up. It provided enough of a distraction to allow the real, calm Alex to take control again. Isabel showed up soon after that with Liz in their animal forms, each helped him calm down more. The two mates moved closer and rubbed their heads together as cats do when their being affectionate. Alex then patted Jake on his head with his big paw and Jake rubbed his body against his owner. All four growled at the Coach as a warning before Alex picked up Jake and put him on his back and then ran off into the night.

On more than one occasion, Max and Michael had more fun in the sack and Liz and the girls were more than delighted to catch a few of those shows. Just as both guys were to delighted to see the girls together. Unfortunately the humans still hadn't bonded the way the aliens had with their four-way orgy, but Liz knew that the time for it was rapidly approaching. With subtle seductive tones embedded in their conversations, she could tell that Alex and Kyle were becoming more open to the idea.

However, Kyle and Alex weren't the only problems Liz had to deal with. Every morning she woke up from a nightmare; of three people, one male and two female seducing her into their bed. Although the only one who ever seemed real to Liz, the only one who actively seduced her in her sleep was the male. The entire dream was something out of a gothic novel and it always ended with Liz about to succumb to the advances of her nightmare. It was as though there was something in her head that pushed it out and that brought her back to reality in time. Liz knew that it was her bond with Max and whenever she was in bed with him at the time she snuggled closer to him in his arms.

All that was unimportant today. Jeff had hired a minibus and he and Nancy were taking the kids up north. There was still a month before the official start date of the Moon Peak term but today was a sort of induction eve, the day the students arrived before they were inducted and enrolled into the school. The month between induction and the start of term was used for all students to settle in, for those many who hadn't lived in Moon Peak to get to know the town and all the other prides, packs and other groupings throughout the tribes.

Liz was all packed up with Tess, and then they collected Maria before Alex then Kyle. As soon as that happened they drove off to pick up Max, Isabel and Michael. The minibus parked outside and the three aliens came out carrying their bags with Diane and Philip coming out behind Max. Jeff put their bags into the trunk with Michael's help as Max turned to his parents.

"Well, I guess this is it." Max said

"We'll miss you son, but at least you'll be back at the holidays." Philip said

"Now, all of you be safe and good luck." Diane said as she hugged Max

"Thanks mom." Max said

"Take care of each other." Diane said, "And Liz." She said specifically to Max, knowing that they'd both be there for each other no matter what.

"You don't have to worry about that." Max said

"And Isabel, we'll take care of your place." Philip said

"Thanks Mr Evans." Isabel said

Everyone then got back into the bus. All the couples sat next to each other and, who sat on Alex's lap jumped onto Isabel's for a little of her patented scratched behind his ears. As soon as the seatbelts were on, Jeff started the engine and pulled off. The Evans waved them off and Max waved goodbye. Before long they reached the highway and headed north.

Copper Summit, 09:00

In the underground facility, Skins were all over the place. They were running around trying to get a read on what just happened during the night. Many were standing around the trapdoor in the museum, looking down at the chamber that grew their husks. They were all gone, destroyed into a pile of Skin dust that floated until it settled onto the floor.

For ten minutes last night the town had been besieged by a plague of locusts. They had swarmed down onto Copper Summit without being detected in a cloud that wouldn't let anyone see for more than a few feet. While that happened, a locust broke off from the main group and moved into the museum where it changed into a cockroach before slipping in between the cracks of the trapdoor. There it waited a few minutes for the alarms to sound out loudly.

Those alarms got the attention of the Skins in the lab and they ran out to help their compatriots. When the door closed, the cockroach changed shape into that of a naked redheaded woman who proceeded to smash every bit of equipment she saw. After that the husks died and she returned to a cockroach and got out, seconds later the swarm flew off leaving a mass of confused Skins. Then they found the lab.

As the sun rose the next morning they all tried to figure out what happened, even though they already knew they were dead. It was only a matter of time. Skins looked over every monitor, every minute of security recordings but all they found was static on the time they needed. It was soon discovered that locusts had gnawed their way through the wiring of the security system before the husks were destroyed.

It was at this moment of extreme confusion that Kivar walked into the town. All the Skins were stunned, they had heard of avalanches in the region of their expedition to the Himalayas and assumed he died last month. They hadn't received any word to the contrary. He walked through the mass of Skins who all bowed their heads after staring at him.

"My lord, we thought you were dead." Nicholas said as he approached

"I have a feeling I was." Kivar said, "What happened here?"

"We...there was..."

"Speak!" Kivar boomed

"All our husks were destroyed last night. It was...I've never seen anything like it." Nicholas said

"What hap...", Kivar stumbled slightly as they walked to the town's main building and held his head

"My lord...are you okay?" Nicholas asked

"I'm fine. I'm going to my chambers to rest. Do not disturb me until you can tell me what happened." Kivar said

Kivar's Chambers...

Kivar entered his room and moved to the bathroom. It had been adjusted to act as a moisture chamber for their husks but Kivar didn't need that for now. His head was pounding and he had an overwhelming need for water. He moved to the sink and let the water run as he cupped his hands and splashed the water on his face.

Then Kivar looked up into the mirror and he saw an all too familiar thing. His eyes were changing; they had become a deep shape of blue, the same blue that he had seen in the eyes of his lycanthropic enemies of Zan, Vilandra, Rath, Ava and the rest of their accursed kind on Antar.

"No...no...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he cried out

Tree Line, Forest Outside Moon Peak, Much Later in the Day

It had been a very long drive, they crossed state line after state line as they headed north to Colorado. After many hours and several rest breaks, the group's minibus reached the most remote and mountainous region of the state. Here the roads weren't as ideal as they should be but it helped keep curiosity seekers away. This part of the journey was bumpy but they were nearing the end of the road.

Soon they pulled into a gathering area, a place that had been disguised as a camping ground and picnic area that was directly adjacent to a river that flowed into the forest and the lake beyond it. Many vehicles had already arrived and even more were expected as Jeff drove into a parking spot. When the engine was off, Jeff jumped out and opened the door for the teenagers to get out. Nancy followed soon after and everyone got to stretch their legs.

That was when Liz, Max and the others all noticed it. The people already gathered here were all staring it them with curiosity in their eyes. Each and everyone of them recognised Liz is the First Born Daughter of the prophecy and those with her were her Pride. They also knew that that her mate and three others were aliens. It made Liz and the others all a little uncomfortable.

As Michael looked around, he realised that this was literally the end of the road. "So, uh, how do we get into town?" he asked

"You run through the forest." Nancy said

"It's kind of an induction race. It's against the others of your own tribe otherwise it wouldn't be fair."

"What do you mean?" Liz asked

"Well, some animals are faster than others and it's done in your animal forms. Oceanics use the river to get to a pond just on the forest and fliers obviously go by air. Bears, Wolfen and Rakas all go by land through the trees but given the top speed of a bear compared to a wolf or a cat..." Jeff said, trailing off when he saw understanding in their eyes.

"So what our stuff?" Maria asked

"Yeah, we can't carry it through all that." Kyle said

"The town has a helicopter, it's only used to carry in students belongings to the school." Nancy said

"So when...?" Liz asked

"In about 3 hours. That will be when the last people arrive." Jeff said, "So we should sit down and have a bite to eat. Besides, we need to talk."

Everyone sat down as Jeff pulled out a box of drinks and sandwiches they brought for the trip. As everyone got comfortable, Liz turned to her parents and asked, "Talk about what?"

"Well, it's actually something we should have brought up sooner but... okay. You all have been having sex for a long time now and very few times have you used condoms. I'm sure, even if it's just once, that you've wondered why you haven't become pregnant." Jeff said

Jeff and Nancy could see that the kids were uncomfortable with the subject, so instead of letting them speak Nancy took over. "You see the reason is, while you are sexually mature you're not reproductively mature. At least not yet. You see lycanthropes have mating cycles. You should start yours within the next few weeks, its always about three or four months after the first change and you're approaching that time." She said

"So we need to go on birth control or something?" Isabel asked

"Yes and no. Human birth control doesn't work and we've never been able to develop medical form of our own that even remotely works." Jeff said

"So condoms?" Michael asked

"Your rooms are stocked with plenty of them. It's just so you know and you can all make the right choices." Jeff said, sending a clear message to his daughter and Max that he didn't want to be called a granddad yet.

"Mating cycles always follow the last full moon of a month. It can last a few minutes or a few days, there's really no way to predict it. You'll feel hot, your skin tingles and you will absolutely need sex." Nancy said

"That's how it feels during a spike. How are we supposed to know the difference?" Maria asked

"You don't." Jeff said

"Oh." Everyone said together

Just then half of the group started feeling it there was a spike was building. "Speaking of spikes." Maria said

"Yeah." Kyle said

"How much time do we have?" Liz asked quickly

"About three hours." Jeff said

Liz looked around and realised that the only ones feeling the spike were the humans in the Pride. This was an opportunity she had been waiting for and stood up. She grabbed Alex and Kyle's hands and started to pull them with her, a look to Maria and she too followed. Then Liz stopped and remembered the bonding of the aliens, she got to watch so it was only fair that Max got the same privilege, besides she wanted him to watch what was about to happen.