Change of Darkness (The Change Series Book 3) by Jacinta Jade (best new books to read txt) 📕

gaze was met by expressions of disbelief from her friends. They obviously thought she had lost her mind, drawing attention to herself like this.

Turning her head slightly, she saw the other captives had all noticed her new form, their expressions a mix of surprise, smugness, and even envy.

Siray swivelled her big head back to her friends, knowing what they would be seeing. What they were thinking. A yeibon, its coat a brilliant warm red brown that contrasted sharply with the whiteness of the sand, its splayed horns sharp, and its strong body standing above the height of most of their shoulders.

Definitely not a form that could be missed.

Baindan’s mouth was still hanging open, and Siray laughed to herself, her mirth coming out in a brisk snort. Lowering her head a little to look Baindan carefully in the eyes, Siray gave him a slow, deliberate wink.

Right before she carefully turned on the spot to show them her back. She even reared up a little to emphasise her point.

‘Huh. Of course. I should have thought of that.’ Baindan’s tone was both appreciative and annoyed—although Siray was pretty sure she knew which aspect applied to her.

Bringing her front feet back down to the sand, she pivoted again, bobbing her head as Baindan looked up at her, a grin forming on his face. Then he, too, took a long step away from the others. And another.

An instant later, a solid six-footed grey-green rilander stood in his place. A large creature, much bigger than Siray’s yeibon form, the rilander was a passive grazer that loved to tip trees—both to eat and use them to scratch its back.

Siray felt a soft hand on her broad back, and she stretched her neck around to see fair-haired Genlie by her side, scrutinising her from her withers to her croup.

‘There’s already a difference,’ Genie murmured. Then she shook her head as she removed her hand. ‘It won’t work in my form, though. Too small.’

That’s right, Siray remembered. Genlie’s form was an oxy—a small, double-tailed scrounger, whose head came up no higher than Siray’s knees when she was in her normal form. An oxy form was useful in many ways to the Resistance, but its small size could not promote faster healing.

The same went for Loce and, apparently, Kinna, who also didn’t Change, but who desperately looked like she wished to, especially when the female eyed her palms and clothes, which were still smeared with blood.

But Wexner, Kovi, and Tamot all Changed.

As a cripwof, Kovi lazily stretched out his front legs, his jaw yawning wide to expose his sharp teeth for a moment.

Wexner, now a massive bullide, merely shook his shoulders out, the large muscles in his front legs and back rippling as the laceration across them became merely bothersome rather than painful.

Tamot became Siray’s almost twin, and he playfully walked up to brush shoulders with her, his black coat, curving horns, and slightly larger height the only visible differences between them.

Siray nudged him back, grateful that his spirits had picked up a little. Probably the effect of the yeibon instincts dulling the sharp edge of his emotions.

Loce had sidled closer to Kinna, his dark eyes focused downwards as he fidgeted, and was asking, ‘What’s your form?’

Kinna smiled shyly, despite the pain she still had to be feeling, and said, ‘Nowri. You?’

‘Quison,’ came Loce’s quiet reply.

Siray monitored the halting conversation closely, intrigued. So Kinna was a nowri … perfectly fitting with her sweet nature. An animal that loved water, nowri were known for the sphere-shaped habitations they built alongside lake edges. Extremely loyal to their chosen partner, the small animals were tolerant of their animal neighbours but avoided contact with Kaslonians.

As she swivelled her head again, Siray saw Zale. He wasn’t looking in her direction but at the ground, his eyes closed, his form wavering. Curious to see his fiorify form once more, she watched as his muscles rippled and enlarged. Watched as his back arched, his head moving closer to the ground as he landed on what were now his front feet. Saw the golden haze break out across his four-legged body before he sprouted feathers and his large wings unfolded.

His intelligent head wheeled her way, and Siray could have sworn that the beak of his mouth opened just slightly as those glowing golden eyes met hers.

She looked away again, thanking the Mother that yeibons couldn’t blush.

Soon, the idea that they could Change—that they had been ordered to rest and recover—spread amongst the other captives, and soon about half of them had done so, leaving a mix of middling to large beasts spread across the sands, with other captives in normal forms interspersed amongst them. There were several large, placid beasts, the kind that grazed in large herds together on the plains, and there were a few predators mixed in as well—each of which was keeping a close eye on the others.

And there was one small creature … twisting in agony on the ground.

Siray felt the food she had just eaten stir inside her as all the captives stilled—both those who had Changed and those still in their normal forms. Her enhanced hearing pained her now, as with her sensitive ears, she could hear every cry and moan made by the suffering animal.

From beside her, Genlie murmured, ‘They tried to Change to take the pain away.’

Sudden movement in the stillness brought Siray’s head up higher.

Herrin’s square form was striding purposefully across the sand towards the distressed creature.

Siray’s instincts flared, and she fought the urge to stamp her feet. But she couldn’t control her ear flicks nor the widening of her nostrils, all of which Genlie saw.

Genlie angled her head slightly, her eyes searching. ‘Oh, no,’ she breathed, also identifying the threat.

Siray felt a warm hand on her neck and knew Genlie was trying to comfort both of them for what was about to come.

On her other side, Siray felt something tremble, and breathing in, she smelled Tamot’s grim anticipation and anxiousness as he also spotted Herrin’s approach. She flicked