Most days were not very exciting. We would rummage around in the garden, or go on walks through the forest. Leonore would sometimes fetch things for Griselda that were up high in the tree tops, epiphytes, rare flowers and lichens. She collected and dried more than usual which I didn’t understand at first.

The leaves on the trees started to fall and cover the forest floor. Some turned bright colors before falling. Others just seemed to dry to a brittle brown and stubbornly refuse to leave the branch until a cold breeze knocked them loose. I watched all of this from the comfort of the warm doorstep of the cottage.

There was a bubble over the cottage that kept it warm and the garden green despite what happened in the rest of the forest. The daylight didn’t last and nights became long.

Griselda did another of her divining spells on one of those long nights. I heard her mutter about Xenir, so perhaps she wanted to know of him which raised my hackles a little. The orb showed Xenir briefly, but then Dora covered in blood and another young human moaning in pain. The vision ended again in a ball of fire. When the orb dissipated, Griselda's eyes were wide with fright.

“If either of you see or hear her, you must tell me at once. Dora is coming and she will be in danger this time! We’ll need time to save her! We must be in time!” she went out to make some preparations.

Even though it was a few days early, she gathered the spell components to keep the warm bubble around the cottage. It required innocent blood from a living thing every two weeks. I had found some baby rabbits for one time and once we tracked a young deer that had only recently lost its spots another time. It seemed to hurt Griselda to do these spells and I watched carefully to understand why. She was also very drained after doing the spell, so she would make extra food so that all she had to do was reheat what we had in the pot.

Luckily, the leaves made clumsy creatures like humans easy to hear as they approached. One day, I perked up hearing the shuffle of fat feet in the leaves. I meowed loudly to warn Leonore and Griselda. The door opened and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Griselda create a globe of light in her hands which she threw at me.

“Chase off anyone following her, Shadow! Quickly! I have to disguise the cottage...” she huffed and started chanting and I could feel power radiating from her. I roared and took off toward the sound of footsteps in the forest. I was a large panther again eager to stretch my long muscles.

“Don't kill any human!” Griselda warned as I left the warm circle around the cottage. I extended my body and dug my nails into the ground to propel me faster. I darted around a surprised Dora and roared menacingly at the rag tag group of boys following her. From the smell of them they were the same that had thrown rocks at the cottage and left her on our doorstep the last time. She had lost a slipper and shivered in the cold. She ran on as best she could.

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Three of the five boys turned when they saw me and ran back the way they had come. Two continued the chase. One, the largest of them, and another who the larger boy pushed in front of him. The boy in front’s face was pale and he trembled as I approached, but he was trapped between us. I stopped a few feet away from them and roared letting the anger inside me turn into a ferocious growl that rumbled in my throat.

I crouched and snarled ready to pounce feeling slightly sorry for the smaller boy gasping for breath. When the bigger boy shoved him toward me and he stumbled, I was ready. I leaped over the boy on the ground and jumped onto the larger one behind.

The look on the boy’s face went from a sneer to terror as I landed heavily on him. I roared in his face and acrid odor of urine met my nose. I dug one set of claws into his chest and tugged at him slightly. He managed to catch his breath and scream as blood blossomed all around my paw and ran down his body. I jumped off of him and he managed to scramble to his feet and run away still screaming. The other boy had already fled without looking back at the burly one.

I watched them leave, sniffing the air to confirm they were gone. I nearly chased them to make sure they were leaving our woods, but a mental tug from Griselda pulled me home.

By the time I got back to the garden, my tummy was rumbling with hunger. I plopped down on the threshold and started cleaning my paws, very pleased with myself. I felt the door open behind me.

“Oh, Gods, what did you do, Shadow?” Griselda looked down at me. I only meowed which sounded strange coming out of my large body. “I told you not to kill anyone,” she hissed.

I meowed again. I’d only scratched him a little. He’d live.

“Oh, Gods,” Griselda repeated.

“Is Shadow alright?” called out Dora, her voice breaking.

“He's fine,” she called back to her. “Come in when the blood is gone,” she said in a low voice. I just kept grooming myself in confirmation.

By the time I was clean, I was back to my usual size. I meowed to be let back in the cottage. It was Dora who opened the door. She looked a mess. Her hair was sticking in all directions like she hadn’t been able to groom it properly and her eyes were red and her face streaked with wetness.

I rubbed myself on her legs and she giggled, closing the door.

“I thought you were going to eat me, Shadow!” she accused and I meowed at her ridiculous thought. Griselda laughed with her.

“Shadow may eat us all, if dinner isn’t ready soon! The larger form is a relatively simple spell, but it does take a physical toll on the body. We need to make sure Shadow gets plenty of food for the next few days or the normal body could weaken, even die. Remember, there are usually consequences for spells. Those that give power will exact a price. In this case, only in meat and catnip, but others can be more serious.” She kept on a constant chatter about ingredients and their effects and uses. I jumped up on the table to be ready to eat as soon as it was ready.

I sat with my paws tucked under me and dozed while I waited. I woke when Dora placed a large bowl in front of me sprinkled with catnip. I meowed in appreciation.

“Oh, Shadow. Meet Zenayda, my new apprentice!” Griselda told me, her eyes sparkling. I meowed happy that she would stay with us now.

I didn’t think I’d be able to finish the food in front of me, but before I knew it, I was licking the bottom of the bowl. Griselda picked me up and placed me on her sleeping shelf rubbing my head the way I liked. I curled up and was asleep even while the two women chattered and the light from the fire and the candles flickered around me.