Helen laughed a little, and before she had time to say goodbye. The old Wizard was gone in a cloud of smoke. Helen ran straight to the phone called her friends and told them some of what Delsani had said. The rest she told them when they arrived at the house with their daughter Dorana. Helen liked that name; she never knew why, she just did. She even liked her normal name, which was Donna. Peter liked Saren, Henkot, and Dorana, for they always treated him and Helen like family. He called them Auntie Joan, Uncle Harry, and Cousin Donna. And to him, other than Helen, they were the only family that he knew.

They put Peter and Dorana in the playroom and then they went into the next room, and Helen told them the rest of the story while the three of them watched the children through the glass door. Saren and Henkot were shocked to hear that Peter’s powers were active.

“Did he say when he would be back?” asked Saren.

“No,” said Helen bleakly.

“He’ll probably be a while. The Wizard’s Council won’t give up without a fight,” said Henkot.

“Only if they don’t agree to the proposal,” said Saren.

“Come on, Saren, this is the Wizard Council we’re talking about. Galfad would disagree with anything Delsani would bring to the Council. You know that,” said Henkot.

“But Delsani said that he would talk to Jaucal before going in front of the Council,” said Helen. “And he said that if he agreed. Then Jaucal would present it to the Council himself.”

“In that case, who knows how long it will take?” said Saren.

“Probably not long if Jaucal is involved,” said Henkot. “But don’t worry, Helen. We’ll stay with you until then,” he said.

Saren nodded, immediately agreeing with him. Just then Saren had stopped nodding. Two single beds appeared out of nowhere.

“You see what I mean?” said Helen wearily.

“You sound run down,” said Saren, again sounding concerned for her friend.

“You know you can take a rest if you like.”

“I can’t,” said Helen. “I don’t want to leave him. I mean, he’s way more than a handful at the moment. And since I told Delsani about Peter’s powers, it’s been getting worse. Bike floating round the house, followed by toy trucks, planes, helicopters, trains, and the tropical fish in little water bubbles. Oh, and just before you came, we had five dogs, twelve cats and two talking parrots. I can’t go to sleep before him. I’m afraid I’ll wake up and the house will be gone.”

Saren and Henkot looked shocked by Helen’s confession.

“Er… Well I’m sure we can handle it. It might not be as hard for us if we use magic to help,” said Saren happily.

“So you’ll watch him for just a little while?”

“Yes, of course we will,” said the Witches together, “and you’re going to rest for a while,” said Saren firmly. Before Helen could answer, there was a great flash of blue light coming from the playroom. Then a squeal and a child laughing.

Helen, Saren, and Henkot all jumped out of their seats at the exact same time and rushed into the playroom, and there was Peter on his back laughing. Crying could be heard coming from the corner opposite. And sitting there was what was thought to be Dorana. It was wearing her clothes. But it looked like a giant red bird. It had feathers, wings, a beak, stringy blue legs, and long skinny blue feet, which each had three fat stubby toes with little claws poking out.

“Dorana, what happened?” asked Saren with nothing but pure shock, worry, and disbelief in her voice.

Dorana said nothing. All she could do was cry. Saren and Henkot ran to their daughter, throwing their arms around her.

Helen, on the other hand, was determined to find out exactly what had happened. She grabbed Peter by the arms hoisted him up. “WHAT DID YOU DO!?” she screamed at him. “Well, answer me,” she said more calmly.

Peter stood and stared at her. She had never shouted at him before, and it scared him.

Helen turned Peter round to face their friends, who were still huddled in the corner.

Helen was relieved to see that Dorana was back to Normal, or whatever was Normal for a Witch. Helen gave Peter a stern look and said, “Tell me why you did it. Don’t you like Dorana anymore?”

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Peter quickly nodded his head.

“Did you fall out with her?” asked Helen.

Now Peter quickly shook his head.

“Then why?”

Peter, frightened and staring at the floor and shuffling his feet, said in a low shaky voice, “She wants to be a bird.”

“A bird?” repeated Helen.

“I think I know what he means,” said Henkot. “Remember when Dorana told us that in school the trainers asked the kids what animals they would like to be if we weren’t Witches?”

“Yes,” said Saren. “Dorana said she wanted to be a bird.”

“What is this about a bird?” asked Delsani, who had just appeared in a younger form of himself, with short black hair combed over to one side, smooth slightly tanned skin and what looked to be an expensive grey suit. He looked so different that the only reason Helen hadn’t asked who he was, was the fact that she had recognized the thin scar on his nose.

“It’s nothing important,” said Henkot looking at Peter with a slight smile.

“I’m so sorry about this,” said Helen. “Peter, apologize to Dorana now.”

“There’s no need,” said Saren. “It wasn’t his fault. He probably thought he was helping her, because she said she wanted to be a bird.”

Henkot sniggered a little at the thought of it all.

Delsani stood looking from one to the other, thinking that he had missed out on something big. Then he turned his gaze on Peter, who was hiding behind Helen, trying to avoid the old Wizard’s stare. “Hello, Peter,” said Delsani, grinning at him.

“I’m sorry, I forgot that you two haven’t seen each other since Peter was just a baby,” said Helen. She knelt down beside Peter and said, “Peter, this is… ah Daniel. Yes, that’s it. He was one of your father’s closest friends, and he’s your godfather.”

Peter took a quick look out from behind Helen and just as quickly vanished behind her again.

“I like that name,” Delsani exclaimed and repeated it as though he were trying it on.

“I thought that it would go well with your new look,” Helen explained.

“Yes it makes sense. Thank you,” said Delsani before he turned to Peter. “I understand if you’re a little scared, Peter, for I’ve been told –” the Wizard was cut short.

“I’m not scared,” squeaked Peter.

“I didn’t mean to offend you. I just meant that it’s okay to be strange around people you don’t know,” said the Wizard.

Peter stared at the Wizard at length, looking unsure of how to take him, or what he had just said.

“So what happened with the Council?” asked Henkot.

“The one thing that I thought that you might possess is patience,” said Delsani firmly, “not to mention respect for other people’s privacy.”

Henkot now looked like a frightened child. In fact, he had the same expression on his face as Peter when he first saw the Wizard.

The old Wizard laughed. “I am sorry Henkot. It’s just, being stuck in a closed room with the Council of Wizards and Witchcraft really does drain the happiness out of you. I needed a laugh to get me back into the right mood, and you, I’m afraid, walked right into it.

“The answer to your question is that the Council was not opposed to the idea of training Peter to use his powers.”

“Well, that’s good isn’t it?” said Helen, unsure if what she said was right or not.

“Yes, that is very good, but they did insist on one thing,” said Delsani.

“Here it comes,” said Henkot, rolling his eyes.

“Here what comes?” asked Helen.

“There’s always something they insist on,” said Saren.

“And most of the time it’s something that’ll mess things up,” added Henkot.

“This time the Joint Council have asked that as soon as the boy has learned the basics, his memories and powers should be suppressed, and the sooner the better,” said Delsani.

“What? How is that going to help? The basics? That’s ridiculous! How will that prepare him to fight Ulicoth?” said Henkot angrily.

“Delsani, you said that the Wizard and Witch Councils have joined?” said Saren curiously.

“Yes. The Councils have decided to join together into one,” said Delsani, “so there will be twice the boredom and twice as many stupid ideas.”

“So when are you going to start the training?” asked Helen.

“As soon as you let me,” replied Delsani. “However, by the look on your face, I think you have a few questions for me.”

“Yeah, I do,” said Helen. She paused for a moment. “What did Jaucal, I mean. The Grand Wizard, say about Peter? Does he know what Peter is?? Helen asked nervously, as though the answer would be something terrible.

“Yes, he said that he thinks that Peter is a new breed of

Wizard-Elf,” said Delsani. “An entirely new breed with no name as of yet, though I think they’ll come up with something soon enough”

“He’s a new breed, but what is that? Is he really that different than the others?” asked Helen. “If so, how did it happen?”

“A new breed, in this case, is like a new and improved model, which means in some ways he is a little different; therefore, he is not an ordinary Wizard-Elf in the sense of the name,” replied Delsani. “As for the reason that he is what he is, well that is because of you. The only explanation that we could come up with is that it had to be natural.”

“In other words, evolution,” said Helen, relieved that her questions were finally being answered, and that her mind could now partly be set at ease.

“Yes that is exactly what it is,” said Delsani. “You see, Helen, a Wizard-Elf and a Normal have never had a child, and we think that is the reason Peter is a new breed. The new blood, your blood.”

“So what should we do now?” asked Helen.

“Now I really do think that I should start his training, as the day is winding on.”

“Are you really going to only teach him the basics?” asked Henkot.

“That is what the Council wanted. But the Council has no idea how long it would take to train him the basics,” said Delsani. He winked and looked down at Peter, who was getting a little braver and was standing out, no longer hiding behind his mother.

“I think the Council was right about one thing” said Helen. “The sooner you start his training the better.”

“Yes, I also think that would be for the best,” said Delsani.

“Could you do me one favour?” Helen asked. “Could you suppress only his advanced training and let him remember the basics?”

“If you are ordering me to do it as my Queen, then I’ll have no choice,” Delsani added.

“Yes, I order you,” said Helen, smiling.

“Then I shall obey, your majesty,” the old Wizard added with a slight bow, which made Helen laugh.