“No, sorry. Why didn’t it work?”
“I think all the spells I know are too modern.” I’ve no inkling what we should do next. Gods, there has to be something. I can’tget past the feeling that weneedto understand whatever is on this pigskin.”
“At least it’s pigskin and not something more freaky,” Theo shudders. "There has to be a way to translate it," Theo sighs, about to push the documents aside. “Maybe Mr. Quinlin would have an idea? We need answers.”
The room tilts suddenly, and I grasp onto the table. “What was that?”
“What was what?” Theo asks.
"The room," I whisper. My voice sounds strange and distant in my own ears. A sharp tingling sensation is spreading from the tips of my fingers up my arm.
I pull away from Theo and examine the back of my hand.
"You OK, Lex?"
Theo is looking at me with a puzzled, slightly nervous expression.
I can’t answer because a searing heat surges through my veins, like an IV of hot blue flames.
"Alexis? What's happening?"
“Pulu,” I croak, not able to say anything more.
Something is really wrong, and she needs to get out of here.
My teeth ache, my bones ache.Niin vitun kipeä.
My vision blurs, then twists.
Like an out-of-control carnival ride, everything spins, the shapes and colors of the room becoming sound and scent. More than that, my brain is fizzing as facts and figures shoot out at a million miles an hour.
I’m experiencing synesthesia, chromesthesia to be precise.
Why aren’t my feet on the floor? The floor is made fromQuercus bicolor,also known as white swamp oak. I look down at my feet, and see…
Claws. Obsidian-black, wicked-looking claws.
Slowly, I draw my arms in front of my face. My fingers have also been replaced by thick, curved claws, plus a fifth, opposing digit, which, when I flex, I realize will allow me to still have a powerful grip. The idea sets a low-pitched rumble vibrating in my chest. Hmm, my vocal cords are now capable of infrasonic frequencies, in the same way large carnivores…huh.
I run a rough, rasping tongue around my mouth, and do not find what I expect to. Not teeth but the pointed edge of a razor-sharp beak.
Fuck.
Don’t fight me, mortal.
Did that voice come from inside me?
I am your true nature. Now let me fully emerge, or I will force my way through, which will not be pleasant for either of us.
Bowing to the inevitable, I sink into the unearthly experience. Next thing I know, I’m gliding a lap around the small room, because I have wings, apparently.
Theo looks up at me with absolute wonder on her face. I bring myself to land on the edge of a table.
In front of me is the sheaf of ancient documents. The untranslatable script now looks like music. A language of feelings, of colors, melodies, and memories. Each glyph embodies every sense, and I can feel the symphony of them deep within my bones.
The language of my ancestors.
Though I can’t speak with a humanoid voice, Theo instinctively understands what I need.
