I had half a mind to attach myself to the back of his robes, but I thought better of it. Attacking someone who needed mending medicine didn’t sound fair.

Reminding myself of the nightly visit of the woman did nothing to lift my spirits, nor did I feel inclined to go to sleep as the others had done. Instead, I shuffled off into the left-hand garden where my steps invariably took me to the center of the area. It was the same place where I had been unceremoniously and embarrassingly dropped into this world.

But all of that paled compared to the thoughts about Dadan and the visit. I plopped my butt on the high platform and looked over the edge into the pool. The bright sun lit up the fishes and dew glistened off the petals of the pink lotus flowers. They showed off their beauty to a distracted audience.

What was that crystal about? I thought to myself as my tail twitched at my side. I have to ask Arian about this as soon as possible. It won’t be fun writing all this but I have to know.

A faint noise made me jerk my head up. For a moment I saw nothing, and then a familiar head peeked around the corner of the side entrance. Shian.

I stifled an instinctual hiss and leaped off the platform where I shot over to the bushes. Their thick branches provided ample shadowy cover as I turned around and intently watched the arch.

Shian inspected the area for a moment longer before she tiptoed into the gardens. One of her hands was clasped tightly around a leather bag. She slunk across the path and over to the patchy grass in front of the pool.

Shian knelt in front of the grassy knoll and flicked her wrist. Her ice magic flowed out of her and formed itself into a thick icicle. She grabbed the cold stake and used it to dig into a soft patch of dirt, creating a small hole. The intruder vanished away her digging tool and opened the bag. She dipped her hand inside and fumbled around, her dark brow a picture of guilt and fear.

Shian finally found what she wanted and drew her hand out. I couldn’t see what she held because she quickly pushed it into the hole. She buried whatever it was and jumped to her feet, making a hasty exit from the gardens.

I slunk out of my hiding spot and cocked my head to one side. That was an excellent display of hair-curling weirdness.

My curiosity was drawn to the disturbed patch of dirt. I trotted up the platform and to the buried hole. My nose detected an unpleasant odor from the fresh earth.

That’s when I heard something. It was a faint scratching sound like a mouse in a wall.

And it was coming from the dirt pile in front of me.

The hairs on every part of my body stood on end as I backed away. A yowl was forced from me when my brilliant silver magic emerged from my body, but this time was different. Every other time my magic had emerged unbidden from my body I had felt warmth. This time it felt like every fiber of my being was being ripped out of me.

The pain was so great that I dropped to my stomach. My body trembled and jerked about as the thin threads were yanked toward the mound of earth. The peak shuddered and little bits of dirt rolled down.

My eyes dilated as something crawled out of the top. They were thin black tendrils that slithered down the mound and stretched up to gather the threads to themselves. My magic plumped their slender bodies and broad black leaves sprouted.

My heart nearly stopped when I recognized the beginnings of that horrible plant from the land realm. The pain was nothing compared to my terror and I found the strength to scuttle back. My retreat pulled my magic back with me but the plant tightened its grip around my threads. I was yanked to a stop and crashed to the ground just shy of the steps leading up to the platform.

The tendrils grew fatter on my magic and I felt myself grow weaker. My skin grew tight and crackly and the pain intensified into a roaring train of agony. The creature was turning me into a mummy as it had those poor villagers and their animals.

Instinct kicked in. I thrashed and jumped about. More of the monster thrust itself out of the earth and stretched up, casting its dark shadow over me.

Retreating was getting me nowhere, so I hissed and lunged forward. I clamped my fangs down on one of the thicker tendrils that entrapped my magic and its putrid blood gushed into my mouth. The tendril loosened its grip on my magic thread which was able to fly back inside me, rejuvenating me somewhat. The boost in energy gave me the strength to start chewing and shredding the plant to little bits.

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I was just in the middle of my salad bar when I felt something stab sharply into my side. Time seemed to freeze as I turned my head. My eyes widened as I beheld one of the thick, pointed tendrils stuck in my ribcage. Blood poured out of the wound and dribbled onto the ground.

My body went numb as I collapsed onto my side. The plant thing wormed its way around me, encircling me in a hellish nightmare of writhing tendrils. The creature blocked out the sun as its leaves hovered over my wounded form. One of its hideous arms slithered over my wound and dug into the bloodied depths, causing a spasm of pain to reverberate through me. I opened my mouth in a silent scream.

And then the creature joined me in agony.

The tendril digging into my body shuddered and yanked back, fraying the edges of my wound even more. I clenched my teeth against the pain and watched as my tormentor suffered an even worse fate. The shaking tendril flung itself about like a fish and a thick mess of white mist rose from its surface. A faint hissing noise like steam escaping reached my ears while at the same time, the other tendrils slithered in to see what was the matter.

Some of them slithered through the puddle of my life fluid and steam shot out of their grimy bodies. The creature jerked backward and flailed its smoking arms above its slimy center. Bubbles popped out of its flesh and the wounds spread down to its squirming trunk where a black smoke rose.

I crawled away from the thrashing thing and felt my wound miraculously begin to heal. However, my strength didn’t return as quickly and I could only manage to limp to the steps. I set a paw down on the top one but slipped on the ooze and my blood. The slick surface sent me sliding down the steps and onto the ground where I landed on my side with my back away from the platform.

A garbled screech made me look over my shoulder. The black smoke had worsened and flames erupted from the creature. The thing flailed about even as some of its tendrils dropped off, burnt away by the disease that ravaged it. The broken tendrils jerked on the ground before sinking into black goo. The trunk itself shuddered and imploded, sinking into a puddle of its own black blood before that was evaporated by the flames. I breathed a sigh of relief and found my breasts tickled by my wild hair.

Wait, hair? Not fur?

I dropped my eyes to my body. My human form had returned, naked and bloodied. The hole in my side had stopped bleeding but the ragged edges pulsed with pain at the tiniest shift. The blood loss had also made me lightheaded.

I wasn’t too far gone that I couldn’t see the problem in being found here as I was. I tried to drag myself over to the bushes but my shaky arms wouldn’t pull my weight. Dizziness struck me and I froze to let my stomach adjust to the spinning world.

I need help.

A bright ball of silver light burst out of one of my shaking palms and swooped out from under my fingers. The orb zipped up into my face and danced around. I blinked at it as it etched something in the air. It looked like a bear.

“Arian?” I guessed.

The tiny creature bounced up and down before it hastened away through the side arch. Hope was kindled in me at the thought of Arian coming to help. She could dig through dirt, surely she could lift and carry me away.

Another woozy spell struck me. The world faded at the edges and my body slipped into a numb exhaustion.

Stay awake! my voice shouted at me. You know what happens in the movies! If you go to sleep your magic won’t work and there won’t be any rescue party!

But I was so tired. I just needed to rest my head on the cold, hard ground.

Don’t go to sleep!

But I was so tired and so dizzy. I closed my eyes against the encroaching darkness. Just a little rest. That’s all I’m doing.

Wake up! Stay awake! The voice couldn’t overcome the extreme burnout. My body ached, my head was woozy, and I felt so cold. Stay awake or Dadan will find you naked again!

My eyes shot open and I sucked in a huge gulp of air. Not again. I couldn’t let him find me like that again, especially when I’d have so much explaining to do.

And we’d probably have that discussion on opposite sides of cell bars.

I gritted my teeth and grabbed the edges of one of the walking path stones. My fingernails dug into the tiny gap between the flat stones and I slowly pulled myself toward the arch. I didn’t expect to meet them halfway to the house but I could make an effort.