The next few weeks were split almost evenly between exercise, magic lessons, and helping the fairies get settled in. The first two were educational and developmental, the third was a pure joy.

Mostly. I had, after all, asked Ken if there was anything I could do to help improve their defenses.

We began by laying down some basic temporary wards - the runes of which were just cut into the ground with a knife - around the clearing to strengthen the fairies' protections. These wards wouldn't last long, and would need to be recharged every couple of weeks, but at the same time Ken was teaching me how to make wardstones so that I could lay down more permanent (and stronger) defenses.

I found that I enjoyed those lessons because they were constructive instead of destructive…but the ogre's attack had at last convinced me of the importance of learning offensive magic. Having finally admitted that to myself, and having mostly accepted it - and that I couldn't afford to bury my head in the sand like that again - Ken in turn accepted that perhaps starting with a force as brutally destructive as lightning might not have been the best choice.

To that end, we turned our attention instead to two other types of magic that Ken thought I might have a strong affinity for: water, and force.

Indeed, I'd already demonstrated my potential for both through my nearly effortless construction of a spell to fill the fairy baths.

After watching the fairies play in them for hours at a time, I just couldn't think of them as 'bird' baths anymore…in point of fact, I couldn't think of a single bird I'd even seen outside my bedroom windows. I'd heard some, but none had been familiar sounds, and none had ever shown themselves.

Perhaps they weren't birds at all, for that matter. There was a disturbing thought. I made a note to ask my fairies about it at some point, once they were completely settled in and comfortable.

Anyway, water and force spells both turned out to be nearly effortless for me. Whether I was conjuring water - Ken swore I'd eventually gain a better understand of how that particular violation of science worked - or gathering it from the air around me, I was able to call it up, manipulate it, and shape it with what was - to me at least - incredible facility.

Force spells, which to my mind were just a less-precise name for a form of telekinesis, turned out to be just as simple for me and were mostly an exercise in gathering energy and imagining it either forming invisible shapes ("You can make it visible," Ken said, "but why waste the energy?") or providing propulsion for something. A couple of boys from the orphanage - you know the type, wanna-be punks with bad attitudes who liked to slouch around and engage in other horrible clichés because they thought it made them cool - would have given their eye-teeth to learn how to magically propel rocks the way I did.

Ice was only a short step from water…all it took was shaping the water with force magic, and simply changing its state from liquid to solid. I use the word 'simply', and on one level it was, because it was surprisingly easy for me to do…but on another level, it was really anything but. Once again I was violating the laws of physics, because a volume of magically-created or gathered water produced a nearly equal volume of ice. Ken assured me that the missing volume was the 'cost' of the spell…that somehow, the missing volume of water was translating into part of the energy cost of changing the water's temperature enough to freeze it.

Which completely failed to make any sense at all, because the ice should have had a greater volume than the water, not less, even by a small amount. That conversation had literally ended with me throwing my hands in the air and stomping out of the room in frustration, trailed by a giggling Sparkle.

Not long after that, I learned the hard way that while ice or water-based shields are effective at stopping - or at least deflecting - many types of projectiles, they not only took longer to create but were quite a lot more energy-intensive to maintain than force-based ones.

I accepted the bruises I'd earned in the attempt, and stopped trying to be fancy.

Lightning was, of course, still included in my lessons since Ken insisted that I not skimp on learning better control of it. I was uncomfortable with my apparent affinity for the destructive force…and yet, after confronting the troll, I saw that there were going to be times where maximum force would be needed. Learning to control said maximum force was obviously of great importance…and it did, I quickly saw, have an impact on the precision and accuracy of my spellcasting in general.

Somewhere in all of that bustle, high-speed Internet came to Oakwood Hall. I received a call from Margrave one day informing me that he'd finally made arrangements for a broadband cable connection and the necessary modem and wireless networking gear, payments to be handled by his office, and I shouldn't worry about anything except the interior setup. The same day the packages were delivered at the front gate, a cable plug with a power outlet beside it appeared in my study, easily accessible in a gap between one of the bookcases and a sideboard which had just enough room for the modem and router on it.

I didn't question it. I just hooked it up and finally got my new laptop set up and updated. I also didn't question the fact that I got perfect WiFi reception no matter where I set up my laptop in the Hall. Evidently, the Hall approved of the connection to the outside world.

I briefly entertained the notion that the Hall itself was somehow tapping into the Internet connection, then shoved the idea from my mind as the potential implications horrified me.

I relaxed by spending a couple of hours almost every evening in the clearing outside my bedroom, enjoying the company of my very own clan of fairies. They took being 'mine' very seriously, and followed the small chain of command to the letter. Any problems they had were brought to Spice and Silver, who either dealt with them or brought them to Sparkle. If Sparkle couldn't settle the problem, she brought it to me. At least, in theory…so far, nary a problem had even made it to Sparkle's ear, save a few requests for novelty building supplies, which I happily ordered from a variety of crafting sites.

And, of course, I went down to the Oak & Ivy Pub just about every Thursday night to play a few rounds of darts and get to know my new neighbors better.

On the whole, I was enjoying myself, and was able to just about put the potential for danger out of my mind.

Which was, in retrospect, foolish.

With winter reluctantly releasing its hold on southwest England, the weather started to warm up and I began jogging into town in the mornings again. Not every day, mind you…but weather permitting, I preferred it to jogging indoors, and it was shaping up to be a beautiful spring. I would start out just before dawn, do a couple of turns through town, then head for home, a shower, and breakfast.

That morning, in the second week of April, the only thing on my mind was the question of whether or not either Malcolm or Judy O'Day would spot me out and about and insist I come in for a light breakfast, which I certainly wouldn't refuse. Not only was their pub becoming something of a second home for me, I wouldn't dream of missing one of Mrs. O'Day's home-cooked meals if the opportunity presented.

Instead of riding on the Master Key, Sparkle flitted along beside me as we started out from the Hall. She had once tried riding on my shoulder while I jogged, but had quickly abandoned the idea.

As I jogged, she yawned and stretched…quite a feat while fluttering along mid-air. "Why'd we get up so early?" She complained sleepily. "We could've slept another couple of hours easy."

I chuckled softly. "I know, Sparkle, but I like this time of day. It's peaceful, and dawn always feels like a time of renewal and untapped potential to me."

She considered that in silence for several of my steps. "Wow," she said in an awed tone, "that's a really beautiful idea."

I glanced over at her to see her watching me with something like awe. I laughed softly, then concentrated on controlling my breathing. "I got the idea from a Wiccan I met in my first year at Cambridge. It stuck with me."

"I can see why!" Sparkle beamed. "And I guess I can see why you'd want to exercise at dawn."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"Actually, that's just because I was usually up this early anyway, and it was before the library opened," I admitted.

Sparkle giggled. "You're a…what was the word Ken used? A…workaholic?"

I huffed another small laugh. "Guilty as charged, I'm afraid. I just don't take well to being idle, I guess. I like to be busy."

"I guess I understand that," Sparkle said, sounding thoughtful. Then, as we approached Oakwood, she shrank down and attached herself to the Master Key. It was early enough that there probably wouldn't be anybody out to see her, but it was safer that way.

The road dipped slightly as it entered town, forcing me to break my stride and jump over a couple of puddles left behind by last night's rain. As my foot hit the pavement after the last puddle, and as I passed beneath a streetlight that would be shutting off before much longer, I thought I caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eyes. It was enough to make me stop and look to my right.

It was still pretty dark, with just a hint of sunrise on the horizon, and the town was full of shadows. I smiled ruefully at how jumpy I was becoming and gave my head a little shake. "I think Ken's paranoia is rubbing off on me," I murmured. I mean, I'd been passing under a streetlight. Of course shadows had moved.

"Why?" Sparkle's voice whispered in my ear, as if she were perched on my shoulder instead of motionless on the Master Key.

I huffed a little laugh and turned to start up my run again. "I'm seeing things."

A soft growl rumbled out of the shadows off to our left.

"Maybe not," Sparkle murmured.

I turned to my left.

In the deep shadows that filled a narrow alley between two buildings, a pair of glowing red eyes watched me. They were about two feet off the ground, and moved back and forth ever so slightly.

"Sparkle?" I asked, nervous fear settling like a heavy weight in the pit of my stomach.

"Dunno," she replied.

I gathered a bit of magical energy and flicked my fingers at the alley, a tiny ball of light about as bright as a 60 watt bulb darting away from my hand to light up the darkness.

There was nothing there. I blew out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding and relaxed a little. "Okay, that was just weird."

"I guess it was nothing," Sparkle said uncertainly. She sounded as unconvinced as I felt.

I waited about a minute, and when nothing moved in the narrow alley I extinguished the light.

The eyes didn't reappear.

After another minute - and with the clear sky above us beginning to shift from a pre-dawn stars to a deep, velvety blue with lighter shades on the horizon - I gave my head another shake, turned, and started jogging again.

I hadn't made it a dozen steps before there was another growl - from my right this time - and I saw a flicker of motion out of the corners of my eyes. There was a quick flash of red eyes before something slammed into my right arm and hip, moving fast enough and hard enough to send me sprawling onto the sidewalk with a cry of surprise and pain.

It didn't matter that I'd been learning how to fall. Cement hurts.

Remembering Ken's lessons - never stay down, he'd said - I quickly rolled backwards and up onto my feet as a shadowy mass landed where I'd fallen. It was still too dark for me to see it clearly, but I got a distinct impression of a large and powerful canine form behind those glowing red eyes. Before it vanished into deeper shadows, I definitely saw a bushy tail lashing behind it.

Then it was gone.

I had unconsciously fallen into a defensive stance, one leg back, arms up in front of me ready to block a blow…but no blow came. Sparkle had detached from the Master Key and was now in the air nearby, darting around in search of my assailant.

"Did you get a look at it?" I asked hopefully.

"No!" Sparkle sounded frustrated. "It was like it was made of shadows."

That didn’t sound very reassuring. All signs pointed to something supernatural and hostile.

I wasn't keen on throwing lightning around in Oakwood - it just wasn't at all subtle - so I magically gathered a fist-sized ball of water above my right hand. There was so much moisture in the air (and on the ground) after the rain that doing so was almost effortless.

I looked around slowly. "Anything?"

Sparkle was orbiting me at a distance of about five feet. She made a frustrated noise. "Nothing."

I briefly considered asking her to light up the area, but we were in town…the last thing I needed if something that might have big teeth and sharp claws was about to attack me were a bunch of innocents stumbling into the mix with the best of intentions. The sun would be up before too many more minutes went by…I just had to hold out until then to get a good look at whatever this was.

There was a blur of movement off to my left, and I lashed out in that direction with my will and magic. The ball of water I'd summoned seemed to burst and freeze at the same time, as a dozen slivers of needle-sharp ice shot away from it with a soft hissing sound.

Even as they did, I saw the mystery creature lunge towards me from the deeper shadows beside a building. I'd been close enough to my target that simply sweeping my hand a bit to the left brought the rapid-fire burst of ice needles in line with it.

They passed through the creature as if it had no mass at all - I had no doubt about that, I could hear the repeated clicking sound as they broke on the brick building behind it - and its forepaws struck me in the chest. I was knocked off my feet with a cry of surprise - but no pain, yet - before crashing into the street on my back.

That part hurt.

But the creature was gone again even before I started to roll away. I pushed myself up to my knees and then to my feet, looking around uncertainly.

Sparkle was by my head in an instant. "Did you hit it?"

"My ice needles passed right through it," I said quietly.

"Try force?" Sparkle suggested.

"Maybe…" I thought about it as I did a slow turn to examine the street. It was getting lighter, but that just seemed to make the shadows deeper.

A growl from behind us caused both Sparkle and I to spin around, but there was nothing there.

A heavy weight slammed into my back and drove me to the ground. I heared Sparkle shout something, and felt her magic spread out beneath me, keeping me from crashing face-first to the pavement. The weight bore down on my back and something growled in my ear, a low, angry sound that trailed off…followed by the sound (and feeling, which made me shudder) of something sniffing my hair and the back of my neck as little flashes of light flickered overhead.

Whatever was on my back whined softly. It was a confused, uncertain, frustrated sound.

An unfamiliar woman's voice shouted, "Oi! Get off her!" A moment later, whatever was on my back yelped in a mixture of pain and surprise. Then it was gone, and I lifted my head in time to see the shadowy canine shape vanish into the deep shadows of the building ahead of me.

Vanish into the shadows…

Literally. Poof, gone.

"It's using the shadows to move from one place to another," I said, pushing myself to my knees. "That's how it keeps blindsiding me." But why hadn't it hurt me, or even killed me, I wondered with a shiver of fear. It had certainly had plenty of opportunities.

"Are you all right?" The unfamiliar woman's voice asked, closer this time. "And what the bloody hell was that?"

I looked around to see a woman bearing down on me. It was just light enough now to see that she had dark auburn hair in some sort of pixie cut, but was still too dark to tell what color her eyes were. Their color didn't matter at the moment though, just that they were intense and watchful, looking around more than looking at me. She had a collapsible metal baton in her right hand, and her dark blue jumper had "POLICE" in large white letters on the left breast, beneath the seal of the Avon and Somerset police force.

I couldn't decide if I should feel relieved or worried that she had stepped in to help me.

"Are you all right?" She asked again, looking at me directly now from just a few feet away.

"Yes…yes, thank you…" I glanced at the rank markers on her shoulders, "…Constable." I pushed myself to my feet and gave myself a shake, glancing around. Sparkle was nowhere to be seen, but I could feel her presence close by.

"Burroughs," she said. "Constable Burroughs. What was that on you? Some kind of dog?"

"I'm honestly not sure," I admitted. "Thanks for the help. I'm Caley Reid."

She grunted. "Guessed that from your appearance, Miss Reid. I've only been in town a week and already heard people singing your praises. Didn't think I hit it that hard," she said, switching topics smoothly. "Just meant to give it a light tap on the back to startle it, but it yelped and took off like I'd struck it a good one." She glanced at me again. "And what'd you mean when you said it was using the shadows to move around?"

I winced. Well, it was probably too late to play this off as some random wild animal attack. Assuming there were any wild canines in the area to make the story believable anyway.

"Caley!" Sparkle shouted. "Behind you!"

She shot between myself and Constable Burroughs leaving a streak of purple light in her wake as tiny sparks of purple-white light shot out ahead of her. Well, she had said she was far from helpless…

I swung around, calling up the energy for a shield as I did, and caught a glimpse of Constable Burroughs standing with her mouth open and a gobsmacked expression on her face. "What the hell?" she asked faintly.

It was definitely too late to play this off as anything mundane.

The little pinpoints of light that Sparkle was throwing vanished into impossibly deep shadows between two buildings and we heard that canine yelp of pain again. The shadows seemed to grow insubstantial, then faded into normal pre-dawn gloom.

Whatever this thing was, it didn't seem to like the light.

Didn't like the light…

"Sparkle," I called as she wheeled back towards me, "light us up!"

"Okay!" She called back happily, veering upwards until she was hovering above my head. An instant later, her gentle purple radiance washed out over us, filling the street and pushing the shadows back away from us. As when she was acting as my night light, something about the light she shed not only cast no shadows, it actively prevented shadows from forming.

"There," Burroughs said, pointing with her baton, "to your left."

I turned…and saw a fox-like creature crouched between two shops where only a moment earlier there had been deep shadows. It wasn't as big as it had appeared when wrapped in shadows, and was only about as large as a bobcat instead of the nearly twice that I'd originally guessed. Its fur was a black so deep and perfect that even beneath Sparkle's light it was hard to see, but faded to dark gray beneath its chin and to some still-indistinct dark color that wasn't black at the tips of its ears and paws.

It had two bushy tails that lashed behind it, and its glowing red eyes flickered left and right in agitation. Of course it was agitated, I thought…Sparkle had just stripped it of its shadows.

Its eyes fixed on me and it whined, crouching and tensing.

"That," Constable Burroughs said, "is not a normal fox."