‘Granddad and Grandmawere very happy to see me, but not so happy to have him around. Hewas worried that he would bring retribution on the family, so heleft. However, before leaving he told us that you had a good chanceof inheriting his unique type of shape changing ability when youbecame a mature adult.
‘He was huntedcontinuously, but we still heard from him occasionally over thenext two years, then there was nothing for the following six years.One day I received a message that said he had found a perfecthiding place. Since then, we have resumed trading through hisagents, but he hasn't been seen here again.’
The family was quietwhile Rob considered this revelation, not quite sure how he wouldreact. He thought detachedly about the positive aspects, thenconsidered the negatives, just as he had been trained to do, andconcluded that there could be some substantial advantages in thisability. But first he had a question.
‘What is a divinityseed? It must be important if they chased him for years.’
‘Divinity seeds aremythical fragments of divine knowledge forbidden to mortals. Someacademics believe they contain lost knowledge sought after by thegods. Others believe the seeds may contain knowledge on how to killa god. Many of the temples devote a lot of time and resources totheir study, but no one seems to have any proof that they exist.However, your father thinks he knows where one might be hidden.I’ve never been convinced that he does, but obviously some of theYith do. Can you imagine the value of such knowledge? Many wouldkill for it as your father has discovered.’
‘So how do I controlthis shape change ability?’ he asked.
‘Bravo Rob,’ saidGranddad. ‘I know that you have the strength and courage to controlthis gift. I have asked some close friends for advice as to how wemight best proceed. They have suggested the names of two people whoshould be able to help you learn about your ability and gaincontrol of it. I’ve sent messages to both, but how soon they'llreply I can’t say.’
Melanie couldn’trestrain her curiosity.
‘Aunt Tina, if Rob’sfather was a shape changer how do you know he was really a newmanlike us?’
Rob’s mother was silentfor a short period as if deciding whether to answer this question.No one else had dared ask her any questions at all about herrelationship with Rob’s father, and she could see them growingtense.
‘No, he was truly anewman, Melanie. He only decided to tell me about his ability afterI became pregnant. He was very sensitive about it, and afraid thatI would be scared and stop loving him.’
‘How did you feel?’asked Melanie.
‘At first I feltbetrayed. Then after I thought about it more clearly, I realisedthat I was like him. I had been living with the secret that I was amind wizard all my life. If he hadn’t been already a mind wizard, Iwould have been afraid to tell him. After that I found that I couldaccept it, and I was excited about our child. You’ve known Rob allyour life. What do you think?’
‘I think your decisionmust have taken great courage, Aunt Tina, and, knowing Rob, I dothink it was the right one! You must miss Rob’s dad a lot?’
‘Thank you, Melanie.Yes I do miss him!’ replied Tina, and everyone else relaxed alittle.
‘Have you any books onshape changers Granddad? I think I’d like to learn more aboutthem.’
‘As a matter of factI’ve got quite a collection in my room. You’re welcome to all ofthem Rob.' He rose from his chair. 'Come with me and I’ll get themfor you now.’
‘I’ll come tooGranddad, I want to find out more about them as well,’ saidMelanie, following them from the room.
After they had leftGrandma said, ‘Why didn’t you tell him the real story Tina?’
‘I couldn’t mother.Even now it’s just too strange. He wouldn’t understand at themoment. He’ll find out eventually, and I hope he’ll forgive me forthe lies I’ve told him.’
Chapter 3 FacitDodecoid
Rob and Melanie spentseveral days reading all the available books about the shapechangers and discussing them at length. Most of the works relatedanecdotes about fights between newmans and the evil, diseased andbestial types of shape changer, but to their surprise there wereother types that were neither evil nor diseased. The most commonwere the druids, who stated that they were priests or priestessesof the Goddess of Nature. They recalled that Rob’s mother had saidthat his father was a part of a druid delegation, but she neveractually said he was a druid.
They discovered thatthe Unity of Wisdom didn’t recognise the druid beliefs as a truereligion, or the druids as priests; instead they were considered abestial cult and termed dangerous nature fanatics. This wasprobably due to the fact that their beliefs were not restricted toone type of sentient creature as with most of the faiths inPanmagica, but were available to sentient creatures of all types,even the Yith.
An alternativepossibility was that the druids claimed that the Goddess of Naturegave them the ability to shape change to animal forms so they couldmix, relate, communicate with and care for the animals theyprotected. The religious fundamentalists of Unity of Wisdom didn’tbelieve they could communicate with animals, but held the view thatthey had been given the ability so they could revel in bestialacts.
‘You won’t do anybestial acts when you can shape change will you?’ askedMelanie.
Rob wasn’t quite surewhether she was serious or jesting.
‘Of course not! I don’teven get a chance to revel in any newman acts,’ he replied, but thequestion did suggest a serious problem to being a shape changerthat he hadn’t previously considered. Many people might well havedirty minds.
At that moment his leftarm lost its rigidity. He found that every few hours some
