was going on. Esmé would think him so clever if he discovered the witches’ secret. He’d prove the others wrong about the danger. What harm could come from watching by a window?
Making his decision, Kaelen slipped silently from his room and crept downstairs. He could see the shadowed form of a fairy by the entrance. He’d already guessed that it would be guarded. Waiting to see the fairy turn, Kaelen silently tip-toed around the corner and start heading for the spell breaking classroom. That would be the best place to watch from. There were windows in there viewing the witches’ garden. He twisted the doorknob slowly and entered. When he did, the room was eerily lit by flashes of colored lights. He crept past desks and shelves towards the windows, despite an ominous feeling of foreboding. At first he stayed there, trying to see what was happening. He couldn’t see much. There were five witches, but he couldn’t have told anyone who they were. They were unrecognizable. Each had white hair billowing and streaming around them; their faces expressionless. Bursts of light flowed from one to the other and into a central ball that glowed brightly and seemed to pulse as though alive. He looked at the door and considered going back, but curiosity won out. Slowly, he pulled the door open.
The scene before him was both beautiful and terrifying. The witches’ voices were blended together as one, chanting in some language that Kaelen couldn’t understand. Each of them was surrounded in a cloud of colors. It seemed to be transferring the powers of each between them. The five talismans the witches usually carried were levitating around the central ball of power.
Kaelen was about to decide that he’d seen enough when he saw Horus at his feet. Before he could do or say anything, the cat hissed and the Sisters turned towards Kaelen. Their eyes glowed white as they hissed in their one voice, “Intruder!”
Blinding bands of light wrapped about Kaelen’s legs, preventing him from running. They wound up his legs and body like a vine around a tree. He screamed as they tightened around him, cutting off his air. He begged the witches to release him as the bands circled his neck and face, but they had turned back to their circle, seeming not to hear him. Panic filled him as the bands closed around his face. Still they tightened, cutting off his vision of what was happening until he saw no more.
Raphael, who had been guarding the front entrance, suddenly saw a blast of light from the end of the hall. “No,” he whispered as he sprinted towards it. He sent multiple tan notes from his wand to the others in the castle. When he reached the door, he could hear screaming. The powerful streams of magic and light were trying to break through the door. If he opened the door to save whoever was out there, the wild magic would enter the school, putting everyone in danger. He had a split second to make a decision. Using all of his strength, Raphael used his wand to bar the door. As others arrived, they added their magic to his as they tried to keep the wild magic from getting into the castle.
“What happened?” Calista asked as she joined the others.
“I don’t know, I’ve been watching this whole time,” he replied. “Calista, I think one of the boys is in there.”
Her violet eyes showed an expression of concern and sorrow. Others turned to look at her. “There’s nothing we can do right now for him,” she said at length, sadness causing her voice to tremble. “We must protect the others. When the Change is complete, we’ll do what we can for him. Russett, go search among the boys. Find out if anyone’s missing. Perhaps it’s just an animal.”
“Alright.” He left. His wand hovered, trembling from the effort of holding the magic at bay.
Gelasia closed her eyes and began a different chant. Perhaps she could save the stranger’s life. She put all of her energy into protecting the being she couldn’t see.
Russett returned soon. “It’s Kaelen, Calista. He’s the only one not in his room.”
“Is there nothing we can do?” Honoria asked desperately as piercing screams turned to howls.
“No,” Calista commanded. “We must protect the others. Kaelen is a strong young man. The most we can do is hope he survives and then do what we can for him from there.”
At dawn Friday morning, when the danger was past, Raphael opened the door of the classroom that the fairies had guarded. They were exhausted and their magic all but spent. Calista had broken from the group long enough to help Tallia slip a drop of sleeping potion into every boy’s mouth. It would cause them to sleep for two full days. None of the boys would remember Wednesday or Thursday happening, but the fairies would never forget. Broken jars and scraps of parchment were scattered around the room, still glowing from the residue of powerful magic. Calista searched the room and on seeing the wide open door leading into the witches’ garden, gingerly stepped around bits of broken glass and outside. The classroom hadn’t been the only thing affected by the surge of power around it. Several of the plants in the garden were much different than they had been. Calista saw the five witches standing in a circle. “Althea?” she asked somewhat timidly.
Althea turned with a smile. Her hair was streaked with silver and her normally black gown had been replaced by one in deep violet. “I’m sorry Calista, I’m no longer the head of the Sisters. I believe you wish to speak with Calypso. She is now our head and can best help you.”
“Is the Change finished then?” Calista asked, approaching the five Sisters.
Calypso, her once brown hair now black as the gown she wore, turned and said, “Yes, Calista, it is finished. Unfortunately, we have found a victim of the Change we were not expecting.”
The Sisters stepped aside as Calista stepped closer. She gasped as she looked at the body lying on the ground. It had to be Kaelen, and yet she wished it weren’t. A large, fur-covered beast lie motionless on the ground wearing the tattered remains of a school uniform. “Is he alive?”
“Barely,” Althea replied.
“We had hoped to be able to reverse the magic that caused this,” Calypso said. “However, as you well know, the Change has greater power than even the five of us combined.”
Calista looked at each of the Sisters. It would take time for her to put the right names with them again. Maeve was now a young, beautiful blonde wearing the ruby necklace and flaming red gown. Lucretia’s hair had darkened to auburn, which created a lovely contrast against the blue gown she had inherited with the shell bracelets. Calypso stood in the crown, signifying her place among the Sisters. Morghana’s hair was white and wild around her shoulders and she wore the green gown that had once been Maeve’s. She sighed, “Well, let’s take him to the infirmary. Could you please help move him? We’ve been barring the door for so long, I’m afraid none of my staff have the strength.”
Calypso smiled and raised her hands and Kaelen was lifted from the ground. She directed him to the infirmary. The others followed her. When they arrived, Tallia waved to an empty bed and Calypso gently placed Kaelen upon it. “We’ll stay with you until he awakes. He will have questions that will need to be answered,” Calypso said.
“Thank you,” Calista said. “Tallia, is there anything you can do for him?”
Stifling a yawn, Tallia replied, “I can do my best. I hardly know where to begin.”
“May I?” Morghana asked. “Each Sister has her own unique gifts that follow her no matter what her rank in the Sisterhood. Despite my wild appearance, medicine is my specialty.”
“Of course,” Calista replied. “How could I have forgotten?”
“Well,” Morghana rasped, “I don’t need to remind you how long you’ve worked here. This is hardly the first Change you’ve seen. You’re also exhausted in mind, body and spirit. Take some rest. He’ll awaken soon enough. In fact, Calypso, why don’t you have Maeve look at the star charts.”
“Me?” Maeve asked. “But, I can’t, I don’t know how.”
“My dear,” Althea said, patting her hand gently, “it will come naturally to you. As healing is Morghana’s gift, your gift is in the stars. Take a look at the charts and they will speak to you.”
“Are you sure?” Maeve asked, lookin
g at each of her Sisters in turn.
“Of course,” Calypso replied. “Each of us has a special gift. Yours is indeed reading the stars. Go to the charts, Lucretia will show you where they are kept.”
Lucretia led Maeve away and Althea turned to Calista, “You should take some rest. Morghana will be able to take care of him.”
Kaelen woke up in the infirmary late that evening. “How are you feeling, young prince?” Maeve asked him. Wait, that wasn’t Maeve, it looked and sounded more like Morghana.
“Tired,” Kaelen replied in a voice that was more like a growl. He raised a hand to his throat and was horrified to see that where his hands should have been were paws with talon-like claws and golden-brown fur. “What have you done to me?”
“Your transformation was a result of the Change,” Calypso said. “Quite frankly, you’re lucky to be alive at all. The Sisters and I cannot change you back to yourself. Neither can the fairies. This transformation is going to completely alter your quest. You are a beast now Kaelen; you won’t be able to do what was originally set forth.”
“I’m a beast?” he shouted, his voice thunderous and frightening even to himself.
“Fitting isn’t it?” Lucretia asked.
“Lucretia,” Calypso chided, “you are not helping. Keep your opinions to