Demicore

Chapter 22 - The Falcon

“Alright, which one of you decided to give him copious amounts of catnip?” Katlin asked both playfully and accusingly.

“Didn’t happen on my watch!” Elizabeth replied, laughing at the absurd sight of this larger than life wild predator running around like a child with a sugar high at an amusement park.

None of them actually saw the falcon swoop down. They were too busy trying to keep up with the seeming erratic movements of the cat. He ran/climbed up a tree again, the tallest one around, roared ferociously and came bounding out of the tree right in front of the sun, so they were all blinded. They waited for the ground to shake indicating he had landed. And waited. None even paying attention to the shriek of the bird of prey…

When they still perceived nothing happening, the three of them together rushed forward to where he should have landed, only to find the ground untouched. Not even a paw print or bent foliage. Exchanging don’t-tell-me-we-lost-him-again looks, they began to search the ground hoping that they had simply misjudged the distance of his leap.

What caught their attention as they were about to give up the search and examine the recorded images, was the sound of very, very large wings coming in for a very gentle landing. Immediately they knew this terrifying creature was yet another form of Erik and would do them no harm. That didn’t stop them from being afraid, each for their own reason.

Sonya’s mind started racing through how this was scientifically possible and remembering the DNA strands she took so much time to try to sort out in the lab. The creature before her was reduced in her mind to the very basics of its structure so she could try to wrap her thought process around its presence.

Katlin started grappling with the psychology of the effects this was going to have on not only everyone present, but also the staff when they returned home – if they could return home – and anyone they happened to come in contact with on the way.

Elizabeth stood staring at this creature that had been her husband and tried desperately to sort out the effects this change might have on their marriage.

And through the minutes it took for them to wrestle enough with their own thoughts for his appearance to sink in, he stood there, silently and patiently waiting for them to be ready to talk. As he stood there, almost a statue except for his breathing, they studied him intently.

His feet were humanoid in nature, covered with jaguar fur and tipped with falcon’s claws. Altogether intimidating and created (or so they thought) for ripping apart anything that might come against him. His legs looked like a body builder had been crossed with that same feline… as did most of his torso and arms. His hands resembled his feet, his wingspan was extensive, his human hair still sat atop his head and his face was etched with wisdom and understanding under the fur and feathers that covered his human features. Except for his eyes. They were human, falcon, and feline all at the same time.

“Composite,” Sonya was the first to say it out loud, though she hadn’t realized her words were audible. “Each species is distinctly separate and yet completely unified.”

“Yes,” he replied. He offered no explanation, only confirmation. His voice was his and … not his. The only comfort it had to offer is that it was still Erik in the midst of all of this.

He flexed his wings. The sheer beauty of the creature in front of them touched something deep inside Elizabeth. Rays of light hit him just right to make him appear to shine. “I don’t know what you are, but you have a good heart,” she spoke softly, looking into eyes that in any other circumstance would terrify her to no end.

He nodded, acknowledging that she was correct in her assessment. “You will want to call Steve and have her send one of your supercraft to your current GPS location,” he said to Sonya, “as I cannot carry all three of you back and I am sure you want to return to your – our – home to sort through everything that has recently transpired and I require time for prayer and meditation before I am ready for in depth conversation regarding my recent changes.”

Sonya complied without thinking and picked up her phone, “Steve, I need a craft sent to my current location.”

“That might be a problem considering I was unable to extricate the one with the correct programming to forward it to you,” Steve replied, “he jammed it pretty good between those trees.”

“Then we will go to it,” Erik told her, “and I will extract it from where it is wedged so that we may travel in peace.”

Sonya relayed the message. Steve expressed some concern, but had no alternative plan to offer so they decided to go with Erik’s. He immediately launched himself into the air toward where he had crashed the craft into the trees.

“How long do you think we are stuck here waiting for him to return with that craft?” Katlin asked, trying not only to break the tension of silence, but also to engage the other two in some sort of solution brainstorm.

“With the speed of a peregrine falcon combined with whatever mutation has caused the combination and the general cruising speed of the craft, I’m pretty sure that he will be back within a couple hours,” Sonya replied as flatly as if she were making any generic science lecture that should be common knowledge.

“Great!” Katlin exclaimed like a kid given run of a candy store.

“Dad can’t seem to figure out whether he is one or multiples, which leads me to wonder if he is going to even remember to return with the craft or not or really if he can even drive the thing in his current state. And you are calling this ‘great’ for what reason?” Sonya questioned irately.

“Yes, I find this to be a wonderful opportunity,” she replied cheerily, “because every one of us needs a chance to talk about some of the stuff that’s happened without him present. Why don’t you go first?”

“Go first?!” she paused and scoffed for a second, “As if you are my shrink? I don’t think so.”

“Considering my doctorates in the arts of psychology and the fact that I already knew you almost better than you know yourself due to our familial relationship, yes, I consider myself your shrink.” Katlin replied with a very innocent smile. Even Sonya had to laugh a little. Sonya did take a rather possessive outlook on Katlin once in a while – usually when she was in trouble of some sort or other.

Reluctantly she sat down with the other two women and shared her concern over Erik and just what was going to happen now. After a few moments of talking, Katlin posed the question that was on everyone’s mind, “Why do you think we weren’t scared?”

“There is something… familiar – I don’t know, maybe it’s just that some part of him is still Erik…” Elizabeth’s voice trailed off. “Maybe some part of it is shock.”

“Are you sure you didn’t study to be a shrink?” Katlin asked.

“Maybe Mom’s where you get your natural talent,” Sonya teased.

Elizabeth wasn’t listening, she was off in her own little world of thought, “but there is also something deep inside that feels… almost holy… as if he were hand painted by God Himself with divine and very intense reasons on a canvas of purpose with a brush of inspiration and a splash of humor for texture.”

“That’s a little deep for someone who doesn’t like to paint…” Katlin said, arching an eyebrow at Sonya, indicating she should help keep a close eye on Elizabeth.

Elizabeth shook her head a little, smiled softly, and looked sheepishly between the other girls. “Just because I don’t paint well doesn’t mean I don’t understand any part of it…”