Shadows of Yesterday

They were hardly a threat before.

 

Sure, the shifters could look like allies, but they weren't good at imitating personalities or the little quirks that make each person unique, and they had a distinctive odor that always gave them away . . . but change is inevitable, and over time, they must have learned how to model the behavior of their chosen identity accurately.

 

It's even rumored they managed to extinguish the telling smell!

 

Now, they allegedly walk among unsuspecting folk, virtually undetectable, but the sorceress Lady Shey must set aside her worries about shapeshifting monster to focus on her quest of saving the kingdoms' only hope back into the light—a group of descendants, according to the seers, living a simple life tucked away peacefully in the mountains.  The only problem is she might be unwittingly leading the monsters straight to them.