Satin Rose and the Witch Hunters

40. The More that's Wrong

Satin

We went back into the shed and Phinion left us alone after a concerned glare. When the door swung close the bird started. Looking at the walls made my heart skip a beat a little. I didn't expect to suddenly be claustrophobic now.

"Alright, transform." The bird said looking at me intently

"I'm sorry?" I asked.

"Yes, yes, you need a feather." From his right he plucked a small grey feather with his beak. Jumping up to me, I flinched and he placed the feather on my hand. "Transform."

"What? Ouch!" The raven pulled on my hair before hopping off.

"Into a bird!" He squawked.

"I can't do that! I don't know how!"

Namir stopped moving and focused silently on me as his voice grew quiet, "What do you mean you don't know how? Just do what you did the first time."

"I don't know what happened the first time." Crossing my arms, I could feel my face turn hot as I answered the question, "On the bridge. My hand touched the glass ball and everything went dark and It was hard to move. Then you appeared, there were feathers every, I turned into a bird, and the whole place came down."

"Then how'd you turn back human?"

"We were flying, everything went dark again, and I fell. When I woke up my body was a boy again." I said looking at the floor. This certainly couldn't have all been my fault.

Taking a deep breath, the bird slowly walked in a tiny circle as the words sunk in. "Are you telling me that when you transformed in this shed was the first time you turned human, for an entire week?"

"Yes?" My voice squeaked.

He jumped on me again and I raised my arms as his wings beat against my cloak. His talons hooked into the cloth as he screamed in my ear, "DID YOU EVEN TRY TO USE MAGIC! For the Shaman's sake! The entire point of the orb on the bridge was that Persephone would show you that you could do magic!"

"Well we came a little late! The rules weren't explained right to us, but maybe you could teach-"

"I'm a bird!" He continued jumping off to pace the floor again. "What do I know about rules or teaching! It's all about experience. You can't teach that, you gotta- EXPERIENCE IT!"

"Why do I even need to transform anyway. I don't want to be a crow again." I crossed my arms, standing my ground and glaring back at him.

He glared back, jabbing his beak in my direction and ruffling his feathers. "The point this test isn't to turn you into a crow, the point is to watch you transform and for me to know what you mean when you say, everything went dark. It took everything in me to save you from that fall and it took more than I thought I had to drag you here!"

"Sorry." I said sheepishly.

Sighing, the bird closed his eyes. Raising his wings as if rubbing his head. "What would the old man say. Look out into the world and see that all color blends into the next. Close your eyes!" When he saw the suspicion in my eyes he sighed again and his voice became softer, "Look, you've already experienced this. Just close your eyes and remember what it felt like. Use that feather, feel each hair, memorize its shape, and blend into it."

Sighing myself I followed his instructions. Turning back into a raven was on the lowest part of my to do list and if this truly was the trigger for when my breathing would turn painful then it shouldn't even be on the list. Then again why would magic even work like this? I certainly remembered the feeling of being small, of it all seemed so out of reach. But more so I remember how it felt to find the house empty. To ride that carriage thinking I was about to embark on a rescue only to find my father living his wildest imagination and me wanting to stand still forever. Perhaps turning into a bird wouldn't be the worst idea now.

"I don't feel like this working." I said opening my eyes and find myself eye to eye with Namir as the world suddenly became large.

"Perfect."