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Authors: Devin Harnois
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whisker or a patch of fur. I flopped on my back and growled. “Why is this so fucking hard?”
Maybe you need help. Someone to teach you, he suggested.
I rolled onto my side to face him. “Like who?”
He tilted his head, thinking. Bast could help you, or at least she’d be a good place to start. The Egyptians are very good with animal forms. I could go ask her tonight.
My stubbornness tried to kick in, insisting I could figure this out for myself, but I shoved it aside. Learning to transform was the important part. It didn’t matter if I needed to ask for help. “Yeah. Thanks.”
***
That night Mew-Mew came back from his mission. Alex, let me in. He showed me the back door of the apartment building. Nearby in an alley was one of the entrances to the Cats’ Paths, a magical way to travel that seemed to connect to places all over Earth and other realms. I went down to open the door for him.
As we went up the stairs, I asked, “So what did she say? Will she help me?”
She won’t teach you herself, but she said she had a better teacher in mind.
“Who?” I pushed open the apartment door.
Raven, the Native god.
“Raven?” Did Bast just not want to deal with me, or did she really think he would be a better teacher?
Yeah. She said she’d send a messenger to him for you. We should have an answer by tomorrow morning.
“Huh.” I flopped down on the couch. “I guess it does make sense. Native gods change forms pretty fluidly. If you want to know how to do something, ask a master.” But what if he said no?
When I went to bed I tossed for a while, a little nervous flutter in my stomach. What if it took me months to learn how to transform? What if it took years ? I guess if it didn’t work, I’d have to put it aside and try a different power. How useful would changing into a cat or a crow be in a fight with Satan anyway? But I wanted a solid grasp of all my powers, just in case.
In the morning I woke to tapping at my window. It was still mostly dark and I groaned, keeping my eyes closed. The tapping came again, louder. “Hey, lazybones! Get up!”
That got me to open my eyes. I sat up and looked at the window. Through the half-open curtains I saw a huge black bird sitting on the windowsill. “Raven?”
“Yeah, it’s me. Are you gonna let me in?”
“Oh, sure.” I pulled the window up and struggled with the screen for a moment before I got that up too. Raven hopped in and settled on my rumpled bed.
“So you want to learn shapeshifting?”
“Uh, yeah.” I was still groggy, but having a huge bird deity on my bed was doing a good job of waking me up.
“You don’t sound sure.”
“I’m tired,” I said, rubbing my eyes. “I’m not a morning person.”
He made a low caw. “Well, sleepyhead. I got a message from Bast that you wanted to learn shapeshifting. Why?”
“I want to be able to use all my powers.”
“Why?”
I shrugged. “Because I want to be strong.”
“Why?” He tilted his head one way, then the other, deep black eyes watching me.
“I want to fight my father and win. I did it once, but I want to make sure I can do it again. As many times as I need to.”
“Nothing is sure.”
“As sure as I can be, then.”
He nodded. “I’ll teach you. Get ready and meet me outside. Fifteen minutes.”
Shit. That wasn’t even enough time to eat. Unlike my human tutors, I wasn’t going to argue with him. Well, I’d try not to. “Okay.”
He hopped out the window and I went to the bathroom. I barely made it outside in time, cramming a cold Pop-Tart in my mouth.
“Good. You can follow directions.”
I nodded, my mouth still full.
“Let’s go somewhere less populated.” Then he shifted, going from raven to man, just like a well-done movie effect. Damn, he made it look easy. How long would it be until I got that good? Raven was now a tall, copper-skinned man with long black hair. He held out a hand. “Come on.”
I took it and a second later we were in a forest. In
Maybe you need help. Someone to teach you, he suggested.
I rolled onto my side to face him. “Like who?”
He tilted his head, thinking. Bast could help you, or at least she’d be a good place to start. The Egyptians are very good with animal forms. I could go ask her tonight.
My stubbornness tried to kick in, insisting I could figure this out for myself, but I shoved it aside. Learning to transform was the important part. It didn’t matter if I needed to ask for help. “Yeah. Thanks.”
***
That night Mew-Mew came back from his mission. Alex, let me in. He showed me the back door of the apartment building. Nearby in an alley was one of the entrances to the Cats’ Paths, a magical way to travel that seemed to connect to places all over Earth and other realms. I went down to open the door for him.
As we went up the stairs, I asked, “So what did she say? Will she help me?”
She won’t teach you herself, but she said she had a better teacher in mind.
“Who?” I pushed open the apartment door.
Raven, the Native god.
“Raven?” Did Bast just not want to deal with me, or did she really think he would be a better teacher?
Yeah. She said she’d send a messenger to him for you. We should have an answer by tomorrow morning.
“Huh.” I flopped down on the couch. “I guess it does make sense. Native gods change forms pretty fluidly. If you want to know how to do something, ask a master.” But what if he said no?
When I went to bed I tossed for a while, a little nervous flutter in my stomach. What if it took me months to learn how to transform? What if it took years ? I guess if it didn’t work, I’d have to put it aside and try a different power. How useful would changing into a cat or a crow be in a fight with Satan anyway? But I wanted a solid grasp of all my powers, just in case.
In the morning I woke to tapping at my window. It was still mostly dark and I groaned, keeping my eyes closed. The tapping came again, louder. “Hey, lazybones! Get up!”
That got me to open my eyes. I sat up and looked at the window. Through the half-open curtains I saw a huge black bird sitting on the windowsill. “Raven?”
“Yeah, it’s me. Are you gonna let me in?”
“Oh, sure.” I pulled the window up and struggled with the screen for a moment before I got that up too. Raven hopped in and settled on my rumpled bed.
“So you want to learn shapeshifting?”
“Uh, yeah.” I was still groggy, but having a huge bird deity on my bed was doing a good job of waking me up.
“You don’t sound sure.”
“I’m tired,” I said, rubbing my eyes. “I’m not a morning person.”
He made a low caw. “Well, sleepyhead. I got a message from Bast that you wanted to learn shapeshifting. Why?”
“I want to be able to use all my powers.”
“Why?”
I shrugged. “Because I want to be strong.”
“Why?” He tilted his head one way, then the other, deep black eyes watching me.
“I want to fight my father and win. I did it once, but I want to make sure I can do it again. As many times as I need to.”
“Nothing is sure.”
“As sure as I can be, then.”
He nodded. “I’ll teach you. Get ready and meet me outside. Fifteen minutes.”
Shit. That wasn’t even enough time to eat. Unlike my human tutors, I wasn’t going to argue with him. Well, I’d try not to. “Okay.”
He hopped out the window and I went to the bathroom. I barely made it outside in time, cramming a cold Pop-Tart in my mouth.
“Good. You can follow directions.”
I nodded, my mouth still full.
“Let’s go somewhere less populated.” Then he shifted, going from raven to man, just like a well-done movie effect. Damn, he made it look easy. How long would it be until I got that good? Raven was now a tall, copper-skinned man with long black hair. He held out a hand. “Come on.”
I took it and a second later we were in a forest. In
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