Thyla. Part 17

The words repeated in my head in Isaac's voice, and a chill ran through me even as my body flamed and burned and battled.

I remembered it, Connolly. Finally I saw saw it. The most important memory of all. it. The most important memory of all.

A girl who looked like you. Running. Terrified. Another girl behind her. A girl with white hair. A girl closing in, calling out, 'Daddy! I've found her! I've found her for you!'

Me, leaping through the trees, misjudging my footing, falling behind.

They caught her. And it was my fault.

But I found her again, Connolly. I remember now. I found her again and we were friends. Cat and I were friends. friends.

Holy h.e.l.l. How did I forget that?

She was there the night I fell. It was a night-time patrol. Cat and I were paired up, searching the forest for signs of Diemens. She was trying out her new powers by jumping about on the rocky cliffs, deep ravines and creva.s.ses all around her. I begged her to be careful.

I called out to her yet again, 'Cat, watch it!' 'Cat, watch it!'

'I'm fine!' she called back. she called back. 'You're watching me. I'll be fine. Why don't you come up here and play with me, Tess? It's fun!' 'You're watching me. I'll be fine. Why don't you come up here and play with me, Tess? It's fun!'

'We are meant to be patrolling!' I protested. I protested. 'This is not the time for fun!' 'This is not the time for fun!'

'It's not dangerous up here, Tessa!' she said. she said. 'Look, follow me! I'll show you what I can do now!' 'Look, follow me! I'll show you what I can do now!'

I groaned inwardly, and made to follow, but then I heard it: footsteps pounding through the bush. At first I thought it was Cat coming back, but then I smelled them. Diemens Diemens.

'Lord's going to be so pleased with us,' one of them was saying. one of them was saying. 'Got the solution here safely 'Got the solution here safely and and a subject to test it on.' a subject to test it on.'

I crouched down. The Diemens were walking towards me, only a few metres away. They had another with them. Not a Diemen. A Sarco, by the smell. He was only half-turned, though. His legs were only slightly wrong-facing, pushing against the backs of his trousers. His hands didn't yet have their claws. They were bound and he had a hessian bag over his head.

'Enough solution here to last us a while,' one of the Diemens said. one of the Diemens said. 'Good thing, too. I hear it's hard to make, and Lord had to pull some serious strings to get it shipped over from England. Greedy b.a.s.t.a.r.ds wanted to keep it all for themselves.' 'Good thing, too. I hear it's hard to make, and Lord had to pull some serious strings to get it shipped over from England. Greedy b.a.s.t.a.r.ds wanted to keep it all for themselves.'

The solution. I did not know what it was but I knew that if it was in the hands of Diemens and if they had a captive Sarco to test it on it could not be good. I had to get it from them. And save the Sarco. I did not know what it was but I knew that if it was in the hands of Diemens and if they had a captive Sarco to test it on it could not be good. I had to get it from them. And save the Sarco.

The Diemens had moved farther away now, so I knew I would not be heard. But they were not too far away for me to catch them, if I ran at my top speed. I was good at running quietly. I would be upon them before they knew it.

I moved carefully along the high ledge. But I was not as careful as I should have been. I lost my footing and slid silently down the cliff. And that is all I remember.

I failed. But I would not fail again.

I clenched my fists and looked up at the battle in front of me, just as another Diemen launched himself at me.

I deflected his attack; pushed him away with all my newfound might. The man fell backwards, but he was smiling, a sickening, twisted smile full of silver teeth.

'This is only the beginning, Thyla,' he snarled as he sprang back to his feet.

'You seem awfully confident,' I replied, shifting my stance and steadying myself.

'Oh, I am,' he said, moving forwards. 'We have the solution now. It's only a matter of time before what we have been waiting for these many years is finally realised.'

I launched myself at him, fangs bared. But he was quicker than I. He grabbed my arm and pulled me close. 'Too many years of waiting,' he whispered. He pushed his dagger against my throat. 'We know what we're doing now. We know how to test it, how to perfect it. You just wait, you filthy '

Then his eyes bulged and a trickle of black blood oozed from his charcoal lips.

His grip eased on my arm and he slumped to the ground. Standing behind him was Perrin.

'Don't you die, little girl,' he growled. His eyes seemed to pierce my skin and my breath became sharp and ragged.

'Hey, Tessa!' a voice called out to me above the wailing and roaring and pounding of the fray. I tore my eyes away from Perrin.

Another man leapt at me and I stuck my claws deep in his neck. Rhiannah was beside me, her arm twisting the head of another of Lord's men.

'Hey, Rhiannah,' I cried.

'When this is over, we'll go and get waffles, okay?' she yelled.

'Definitely,' I yelled back, allowing myself a smile.

And that's when it happened. In that small moment of distraction, Rhiannah was taken.

Lord, his white hair glinting in the moonlight, swept down like a goshawk and clamped his arm around Rhiannah's throat so tightly that her scream turned to a moan.

Then he looked me right in the eyes.

And he smiled.

My blood turned to ice.

In a fraction of a second they were gone.

Then Lord's men the ones who had survived retreated too, without a word or a backwards glance. They had come to us in a flash, like lightning, and they were gone every bit as quickly.

And we were left the ones of us who survived stunned and panting. Once we could breathe again, the forest echoed with our cry.

'Rhiannah!'

Perrin tried to chase them. He tried to get her back. But he returned to us alone, and with a face that looked as though it was made of marble. He shook his head. 'They disappeared,' he murmured. I felt as though my heart would explode.

'But shouldn't we even try?' try?' I cried, pushing the sobs back down my throat. I cried, pushing the sobs back down my throat. I do not cry. I do not cry.

Perrin shook his head. 'They will have set up sentries to trap us. If more of us go now, unprepared, we will all be killed. We need to make a plan. Rhiannah is in danger. We don't want to put her or any of the rest of us in more more danger. Besides, we don't know where to go. We don't know where they hide; where their headquarters are.' danger. Besides, we don't know where to go. We don't know where they hide; where their headquarters are.'

Isaac continued. 'Lord lets me in only as much as he needs to. I only see him on neutral territory. Perhaps if I allowed myself to be changed into a Diemen, he'd let me in more, but I have him convinced it's better that I stay "human". They need someone who doesn't need to feed the way they do someone who doesn't need to hunt to be their eyes and ears while they're doing so. This has its advantages I don't need to transform into a blood-bathing psychopath but it also means we don't know where their den is. In times like this, that would be useful '

Perrin interrupted. 'You will will promise me you won't go off after her, okay, little girl? I know you want to protect her, but I won't let you get ...' promise me you won't go off after her, okay, little girl? I know you want to protect her, but I won't let you get ...'

He trailed off. I felt anger flame deep in my belly.

'Little girl'. He always called me that. I hate how he calls me that.

I glared at him. Made my Angry Tessa face.

But even as anger bubbled and boiled within me, the pull towards him grew stronger. I wanted to go to him. I wanted to put my arms around him and say it would be better. I would make it better. It was only Isaac's presence that prevented me.

And the knowledge that I would have been lying. Rhiannah had been taken. I had no idea how to make that better.

None of us knew. What we did all know was that despite the hundred and sixty years of similar fights behind us, this time it was different. For one thing, there was Ms Hindmarsh. Through gaining her trust, Lord had infiltrated Cascade Falls. We wondered how many other people there were working for Lord, embedded in places he could use for his ... game. game.

And Rhiannah had been taken. Alive. The other Sarcos didn't know why she had been taken. Not yet. But I did. I told Isaac what the Diemen had whispered to me, and I told him what I saw on the day of my accident.

'This is not good,' he murmured. 'It's starting.'

I didn't ask Isaac what 'it' was. I knew. 'It' was the Solution. 'It' was the thing we Thyla and Sarcos had feared for centuries. 'It' was the Diemens finally achieving enough power to truly balance ours.

I looked around me, to the other Thylas and Sarcos. To the others who would share this struggle.

The Thylas stood on one side of the clearing and the Sarcos on the other. The air between us was filled with tension and with unbearable pain.

On the forest floor were two of our own, slain. One Thyla. One Sarco. There were at least five of Lord's men as well, face down in the mud. They were beginning to sizzle and melt into blackness, but their defeat did not come close to compensating for our loss.

Mr Beagle was dead. I had seen him fall, and heard Isaac's tortured howl as he saw it too. They were friends.

Sara was dead too. I could see her curls, now matted down with blood and mud.

They still had white ribbons woven around them.

We mourned. And yet we did not mourn together. We were in two camps: Sarcos and Thylas. I remembered now that it had always been this way.

In the middle of them all, so perfect and peaceful she might have been dreaming, lay Ms Hindmarsh your friend, Connolly. I'm sorry. I don't know how she died. I don't know who did it. I don't know if it was Thyla or Sarco, or even Diemen. But she's gone. If it was a Thyla who did it, you'll forgive us, won't you? You'll forgive me and Isaac? We had to do it, Connolly.

She made us do it.

I looked over at Perrin, who had moved away to stand with Harriet. She had her arm around him. I felt a stab of jealousy but I brushed it away. I didn't even know know Perrin. There was no reason for me to feel this way and yet ... I closed my eyes and I felt his lips on mine. I felt his strong arms around my waist. And it wasn't like a dream. It was like a memory. But that was ridiculous, wasn't it? I was just being silly. He was a stranger, and he was rude and ungentlemanly. Perrin. There was no reason for me to feel this way and yet ... I closed my eyes and I felt his lips on mine. I felt his strong arms around my waist. And it wasn't like a dream. It was like a memory. But that was ridiculous, wasn't it? I was just being silly. He was a stranger, and he was rude and ungentlemanly.

And he was a Sarco. And I was a Thyla.

I turned to Isaac. His face looked just as grim as Perrin's.

'Are we going to move them?' I asked. 'Are we going to bury them?'

'We don't move them, Tess. You really have forgotten everything, haven't you?'

'I'm remembering,' I said, defensively. 'Just ... not this part. Yet.'

Isaac sighed. 'All right. You have to get it all back soon, though, okay? It's b.l.o.o.d.y annoying.' He broke off and looked over at the bodies. 'Look, Tess,' he said. 'It's already starting. That's why we leave them.'

I looked again at the bodies. My stomach churned as I saw parts of them had turned to dust. They were fading away.

'They rot and then become the soil we walk on,' Isaac continued. 'It happens much more quickly than it does with human corpses. They'll have joined the soil again in a matter of minutes. Their bodies won't be seen or found. The Diemen bodies will disappear, too, but they become blood that seeps into the soil. In this way, the humans they have murdered whose blood they have fed upon become part of nature and, I suppose in a way, alive again. It's natural for us, Tessa. Only humans bury their dead. And besides, they were dead already, technically.'

Dead already. As I was.

Isaac must have noticed the pained look on my face, because he shook his head and said, 'That came out wrong, Tess. Sorry. When I say they were dead when we are bitten and we gain the ability to shapeshift, to change from human to Thyla or ...' Isaac glanced over at the other pack across the clearing, and his voice became a growl again, just for a moment. 'Or Sarcos Sarcos, our old lives die. Our heart stops beating and our lungs stop working but, with the next gust of wind, we breathe again and our heart starts to beat again, and we are born born again. A new life. Even if some of us are never entirely free of our old lives.' again. A new life. Even if some of us are never entirely free of our old lives.'

I knew without asking what Isaac meant. Even though he had a new life as a Thyla, he would never stop trying to defeat Lord. And even though I was changed, too, I would never forget my mother's death. I would continue to try and make it right.

'When this new life ends though, Tessa, we become soil, just like everything else. We're all equal in death.'

So that is how I died. I was bitten. I stopped breathing. My heart stopped beating. And this is how I will live. Thyla.

'Did you always know it was me? That I was Thyla?' I asked.

'Of course,' said Isaac. 'You have been by my side this whole time. For more than a century and a half.'

'Then why didn't you tell me?' I blurted. 'Why didn't you tell me who I was?'

Isaac looked at his feet. 'Because it was me who made you like this. I always felt guilty for it. I wanted you to have a chance to be normal again, even for just a little while.'

'You made me Thyla?' I whispered. made me Thyla?' I whispered.

'After Lord killed your mum, I knew you'd be next. He had his sights on you. You'd known I was a Thyla for a while, of course, although you didn't know the name for it. You caught me one night. You sneaked out of bed, and you found me in the courtyard at the Female Factory, looking like this. You begged me to change you then, but I resisted. I thought that maybe if I just looked out for you, you'd be okay. You could stay human. You could lead a normal life, without all of this this.'

'I'm glad you changed me,' I whispered. 'I wish you changed Mum too, so she could have survived. I wish she was still here. But I'm glad that I I am here. This is who I'm meant to be. I may not remember it, but I feel it.' am here. This is who I'm meant to be. I may not remember it, but I feel it.'

'Yeah, well, it's not all hearts and flowers, as you can see,' Isaac said.

I followed his gaze to the third body in the clearing. The only human one. The only one who would be found.

'Funny the things people will do for love,' Isaac murmured.

'Her husband was a Sarco?' I said. 'Raphael?'

'Is, as far as we know,' said Isaac. 'Though n.o.body's seen him for a while. It may be that he was the Sarco you saw, in which case ...' Isaac paused, his eyes looking faraway, a grimace twisting his mouth. My stomach lurched as I thought of what Raphael might be going through. And Rhiannah. Oh, h.e.l.l.

'Cynthia knew that Raphael had been turned,' Isaac said finally. 'She hated it. She wanted her human husband back. One night, in a meeting with Lord I was there she confided in him that something had "changed" about Raphael. Of course, Lord knew exactly what she meant. Lord told her he could change Raphael back. He told her he had some new technology for turning shapeshifters back into humans.'

'The solution.'

'That's what they're calling it. I really don't know that much '

Isaac was interrupted by a hand on his shoulder. As he turned, I saw a tall Thyla standing behind him, their face half-veiled in shadow.

The figure moved sideways and I saw that it was a female. Her markings were light and, on her snout, looked almost like freckles.

'Hi Tessa,' she said.