Shifter - Infinite Transformation-Chapter 97: The Attack

"That...was really bad, wasn’t it?" Fern exhaled deeply. She didn’t meet my eyes and looked where Clove had disappeared to.

I considered saying something, but there was little I could say to make her feel better about this. Heck, I didn’t really understand Fern’s outburst either. All I could do was make some educated guesses.

Fern was not your average fae. If anything, she was a mutation. That may sound harsh, and I’d never call her such, but that was what my mate was. A mix of a dryad, sprite, and demihuman. As for what kind of demihuman, I wasn’t too sure. Some fox-kin or something along those lines.

Then again, one of her parents may as well have been a nature-blessed kitsune. Fern never really talked about that. All she ever mentioned was that she should have been raised by one side of her family. That the family she looked the most similar to should have picked her up to raise her. Unfortunately, Fern showed a multitude of features that hinted at both the maternal and paternal sides of her family.

Being everything her parents were, yet neither of them at the same time, Fern was not accepted. She was considered something else entirely and discarded. I couldn’t quite believe anyone would discard their newborn just like that, but telling Fern that her parents must have loved her wouldn’t help anyone. If anything, it would give birth to false hope if I was wrong.

Fern didn’t know anything about her parents either. All she’d learned was from the Elders of the Eserian Grove.

"I don’t want Clove to get hurt," she voiced quietly, tears welling in her eyes. "He was still hopeful, you know? That his family was going to take him back once he showed them how ’valuable’ he was."

Her voice was laced with disgust as she spoke about Clove’s family. "They abandoned him just because he was different. But being different didn’t mean that someone was bad...right?" Fern looked up at me, tears streaking down her face. "...Right?"

"No, of course not." I pulled my mate into a firm hug. "Being different makes you unique. Special. And being special is nothing bad. You know, in a way, everyone is different. Nobody is truly the same. Just because they look similar or wield the same abilities did not necessarily mean that they were better. Just look at Clove. He was still so young, yet he had already pushed his Core to the 2nd Tier. That’s amazing!"

Clove’s achievement was extraordinary. Not even the greatest of all prodigies of the human race would ever achieve such a feat. Sure, that was because they would only undergo the Choosing when they were older than Clove was, but that mattered little.

Clove had an advantage, one he’d leveraged to gain the power needed to surpass even those who had awakened their Cores before humans could.

"He was special." Fern nodded slowly. "He’s almost as strong as I am, even though I had spent a lot more time in the Eserian. So why did he feel like he had to show his family that? Didn’t he know how great he was? I...I would never treat my family as badly as they treated him."

She shook her head vigorously against my chest, her horns pressing firmly against my collarbone as she did.

"I know you won’t ever treat your family badly." I gently caressed her head.

Clove belonged to her family at this point. I knew he did because I felt the same. Clove was our family, and we’d do everything necessary to support him.

Calming Fern was a mammoth task. It took quite a while, but when she finally calmed down, Fern said that she wanted to rest. So we separated after I promised to search for Clove and talk to him.

"I feel like I should talk to him, tell him that I’m sorry for my outburst. I was...I was just trying to help." She pressed her lips together.

"Leave that to me. I’ll tell him you’re sorry. Tomorrow, after everyone has had enough time to think about today’s...discussion, you can talk to him. And apologize if you want to." I fiddled with her hair, bringing a smile to her lips. That was good enough for me.

A little while later, we separated, and I searched for Clove.

Finding him was easy enough. He was on the training ground, thrashing one of the practice dolls until it collapsed.

"Are you angry?" I called out with a smile.

The young fae spun around and looked right past me. He let out a relieved sigh when Fern was nowhere to be seen, which only earned a raised eyebrow from me.

"Angry? I–..." He cursed something I didn’t quite catch. Then he sighed again, this time in resignation. "I–I don’t know. Should I be angry, or am I not allowed to be?"

"Allowed? What utter nonsense is that? Of course, you’re allowed to be angry. Nobody should ever tell you that you can or cannot feel in a certain way. Your emotions are only yours. You’re the only one who lords over them." I called out, probably a little more agitated than I should have been. "If you want to be angry, be angry. If you don’t want to...don’t be."

That was easier said than done. Sometimes, you wanted to feel a specific way to behave maturely in a specific situation, but your emotions got the better of you. That happened, and it was completely normal. It just showed that something was important to you. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"I know she’s right." Clove looked back at the thrashed training doll and clawed it again, leaving deep gashes on its surface. "I know they abandoned me because I am different. Because my Bloodline doesn’t fit their House’s prestige." Semi-translucent energy seeped out of his claws and coated them swiftly. Once fully coated, Clove cleaved through the doll, splitting it in two. "But I still want to show them what they lost when they abandoned me."

He grimaced. "Maybe I just want to see them suffering. Show off my power and that I have what it takes to become a Greater Being. That they could have had one more Greater Being in the future if they had kept me. And...maybe slap them as well. Shout at them. Scream at the injustice and beat my parents black and blue for treating their own flesh and blood like that."

I felt like saying something, but I wasn’t sure what to say. My life hadn’t been as messy as Fern’s and Clove’s.

No, that’s not right. My life was messy. My childhood, on the other hand, had been calm and peaceful.

It was the complete opposite of my mate and friend’s childhood. Yet, I felt for them. And I wanted to help them, embrace them, and show them that everything would be fine.

Just as I was about to say something, pain raced down my hand. The back of my hand cramped up and hurt worse than it had during my training with Jer.

The Insignia of Dominance flared up, and the Trickster Demon materialized above it. His head flicked around, and a threatening hiss escaped his lips.

Clove suddenly fell silent as well. His hair stood on end, his emotions sealed behind a combat-ready facade.

"I think we have to postpone this chat," he called out, and I couldn’t agree more.

"Something is coming, isn’t it?" I grumbled, my heart skipping a beat. But Clove shook his head.

"They’re already here."

A moment later, dozens of humanoid figures peeled from the shadows around us, their bloodlust flooding all of Cintre.