Awakened

Chapter One - Bircher

Star dropped into the dark alley on all four feet. She padded into the shadows. Whiffs of rotting food floated into her sensitive nose from the nearby refuse bins. Flattened cardboard and broken crates lay in messy heaps.

A rat scuttled out, nose twitching. Star froze, then shook herself. Chasing rats was not part of tonight's agenda. The rat ran off, its thick tail held high, its scent tantalising Star. She put the rat from her mind and pressed herself to the wall.

Star took a deep breath. No human scent wafted on the air tonight. She braced herself, focusing on the energy of the black crystal tied around her neck. As she morphed, uncomfortable prickles spread through her body. Her cat form grew and twisted into something near human. Fur vanished, and front paws became hands. She flexed her fingers and stretched as the transformation completed.

Her legs wobbled, and she crouched down, head on her knees, knowing her energy would return soon. She smoothed her pointed ears down, careful not to nick them with her long nails.

In a few minutes, Star felt steadier, lifted her head, stood and stretched. She'd saved her energy for this evening's morphing, knowing that Witch Wendel would likely send her on a supply run. She smoothed her tail fur down and straightened her black top. Her rundown boots and distressed pants didn't help her image. But the shop was around the corner. She should be able to get in and out without meeting any humans--or worse.

Twitching one ear as a fly landed on it, Star peered out of the dank alley. The new moon meant no light entered this back street, but Star's felimorph eyes could see far better than human ones. She crept out of the alley onto the cobbled paving.

A few steps in front of her sat Mr Flynn's Magical Ingredient Emporium. The worn front step had a dip in it, and the door's window was so dirty that Star couldn't see through it. She pushed the door open and a bell jangled.

The ingredient shop was small: a worn brown carpet, an oak desk, and rows and rows of tiny drawers behind it. A smell of dried flowers mixed with a sharp undertone pervaded the store.

A elderly warlock in an ancient brown suit pushed through a curtain of dangling leather thongs, fixing his monocle in place. He looked Star up and down, unsmiling. "Can I help you?"

Star pulled a piece of paper out of her pants pocket and handed it to him. "I need a couple of specialist ingredients for Witch Wendel."

Flynn took the list and peered at it through his monocle. "Witch Wendel? Who's she then? You're her felimorph, I presume?"

Star nodded. "She lives over on the west side of Samanestia and couldn't get those items locally." Hopefully, Flynn would have them in stock. She gave an involuntary shudder at what Witch Wendel would say if she came back empty handed.

"I can do it for you. But it'll cost extra as you're not a regular." Flynn glanced up at her.

The witch had expected that. Star laid a gold coin on the counter. Flynn picked it up and bit it, before pocketing it.

"Wait there." He disappeared back through the leather curtain.

Star sagged against the wall. Her energy spurt hadn't lasted long, and she still had another morph to do before she got back home. She rubbed a spot in the middle of her chest. The bond pulled at her from this far away, too. Not pain, exactly, but a tightness. There was a reason witches normally sent their familiars to local shops.

Flynn came back through the curtain with a small paper packet in his hand. "One bluebird's wing." He bent down with a groan and opened a drawer near his feet. Straightening up, he held a tiny box filled with brown powder. "And ash from a cremated hawk."