Circe's Gifts

Chapter 7

Part Two: The Journey

Chapter Seven

Kalliope blinked, her single eye widening even before she became fully conscious. The wolf awoke knowing full well what had happened, accepting what happened and believing herself now human. That, never the less, frightened her. The sights and sounds seemed muted and the smells of the world strange. She felt awkward standing on her hind legs, but the front legs proved far too short and did not bend properly at all.

Human, Circe silently reminded her friend, a whisper in her mind.

Kalliope took a deep breath and looked around. She knew the look of humans. She hadn't expected the feel to be so different. Even her thoughts felt strange. She still had wolf thoughts about food, sleep, and hunting. Complex human thoughts overlaid those simpler needs.

Kalliope dared to glance to the others and found two equally stunned humans. She knew who they were just by glancing at them. Dylan grinned like -- like a cat with a mouse. Petkin looked around with bright, large eyes and a shy smile.

She knew Lady Circe and the Prince, as well, though even they looked different now.

"This is strange," she finally whispered.

Dylan leapt, spun and nearly fell when he came down on his bad leg. He caught at the table and looked around with a hint of wounded pride.

"I hadn't thought about speaking," Dylan admitted. He still sounded as though he suffered from some great affront. "She startled me!"

"Peace, Dylan," Kalliope offered. She liked the sound of her voice, rich and deep. Oh, how her poor, lost mate would have loved to hear her speak now.

Dylan nodded and looked as though he still didn't quite believe or accept these changes. She couldn't read Petkin's mood, though he looked inclined to some mischievous activity. Strange little mouse. She expected him to fear the change more than she or Dylan.

Was it right to judge bravery by size?

"We haven't much time, my friends," Circe said. That drew their attention again. "I know, under even the best circumstances, it would take you days to get used to these new bodies. We haven't the time to waste. I shall want you away tonight."

"So soon?" Dylan asked. He looked at his hand and flexing his fingers. Kalliope suddenly had an urge to do the same. Hands were wondrously strange.

"Prince Tiernan is in grave danger," Circe reminded them.

"And so are you, Lady Circe, as long as the Prince stays here," Petkin added.

As first words went, the mouse won the prize for the three of them, Kalliope decided. Petkin clearly accepted this change better than either she or Dylan.

"The danger to me is slight," Circe insisted. "I know when strangers enter my domain. However, the longer Tiernan stays here, the less chance he will make it home safely because others will have more time to set traps for him. I have invested much of my power in this matter. It is important to see it through."

"What shall we do, Lady Circe?" Dylan asked.

"You shall, as you well know, guard Prince Tiernan and do your best to see him safely to his father's castle. The particulars I leave to you and your unique skills. I can't begin to tell you how to react to the dangers you shall assuredly face. I only know that Mother chose you for this journey and believes you adequate to the job."

"But nothing is certain," Kalliope said. She remembered, again, her old mate the master of the pack -- dead long, long ago.

"Nothing is certain," Circe agreed. "That's the joy and the curse of life. Now listen: it is important that you know how to maintain your magical bodies. Besides the fully human needs, there are some special to you. If you ignore your animal side, you shall lose those very abilities for which you were chosen. To this end, you must spend some time between sunset and sunrise in your old form."