Chapter Two
Kiara couldn’t wait to get home from school and get into the woods. She’d been making lists all day in her notebook of which spells she’d try with her new powers. After spending almost the whole day as a dragon after getting the gift she’d felt the increase in the strength of her magic, and it was addictive. She hadn’t wanted to change back to come home for the night, but was running out of excuses for why she was gone so much. Well, the potion she was making would help with that. She could tell her mother anything and have her believe it when she used the potion.
“Have you even heard a word I said?” Erica asked from her seat beside Kiara at lunch.
“Mmm,” Kiara said.
“Hey!” Erica smacked her palms on the table to get her attention.
“Sorry, Er. What?”
Erica blew out a sigh. “I think Spencer might like me. I mean, I really like him and he’s been really nice to me lately. Talking more than normal.”
“That’s awesome,” Kiara said. Oh, she’d need to do some sort of detection spell when she got to her clearing before she started casting so she’d know if anyone came near. She couldn’t risk someone seeing her in the woods accidentally and getting killed because of it. She jotted down “detection”, and looked back up at Erica. “So, what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. Find a way to get his attention, I guess.”
“How?” Kiara was fairly clueless when it came to boys. Most of them didn’t appreciate her bigger size, and she had a low tolerance for stupidity. Most boys at 18 were still too goofy and immature for her taste. What she dreamed of was a wizard. She knew plenty of witches, and those who were lesbians were lucky enough to find love amongst the covens, but no wizards. She sometimes fantasized about a bad boy in a leather jacket, showing up to cast some magic on her heart. They could do spells together in the woods. In between makeout sessions, of course.
Erica shrugged. “Maybe I’ll start a forest fire.”
Kiara raised an eyebrow at her.
“What? His dad’s a forest ranger.”
“Umm, your dad is a forest ranger,” Kiara said. “I don’t think he’d approve. Isn’t there some kind of rangery event both your dads will be at that includes families?”
“Not really. Ooh, we need to have a forest ranger family party!”
“There ya go. You could start a yearly tradition.”
***
When Kiara got home from school later that afternoon she collected her things in a hurry, eager to rush into the forest. Plants, potions and her magical stones all went into a tote bag that she slung across her body before taking off at a run into the woods. She’d left a note for her mom saying she’d walked to the library to study—her usual cover. Her mom must have thought she was the smartest teen at her high school.
She reached her favorite clearing and set down her bag. There was a large rock in the center of the clearing that she used as a work space and spread her plants, potions, and magical items over it. She cast a detection spell first so she’d see if someone approached, then she started working on the cloaking spell. What Sindri had said stuck with her. She didn’t want to be responsible for anyone’s death, but she wanted to spend plenty of time as a dragon.
Kiara paused to look around before shifting. Her detection spell, which was cast in a wide circle around her, would glow yellow if a human presence neared it. She saw nothing, so she closed her eyes and felt her body morph into her dragon.
Though she loved being in dragon form, she was still getting used to her massive body and unwieldy tail. When she moved, she often knocked over small trees and plants. All the vegetation in the area at the edge of the clearing had been smashed by her tail or large feet. She tried eating some plants and small animals, just to see what it was like. Surprisingly, her animal instincts took over and the mouse she ate for a snack was rather delicious, though catching the mouse had been a struggle. She moved too slowly to chase it. In the end, she cast a spell to bring it to her and paralyze it, then snatched it up with her paw.
First, she practiced some simple spells to see how her dragon magic changed the process. A potion to let her stay up all night, and another to help her study faster. She practiced her transformation spells. A rock became a mouse on her first attempt. She’d been working on that spell for months, with only mild success. Usually, the rock grew a tail and feet and she had to chase it down before it ran off. It gave a new meaning to the idea of a pet rock.
Every spell she tried came off easily and better than it ever had before. The power of the dragon magic flowed through her, so strong that she could feel its hum in her veins. She moved onto spells she hadn’t yet attempted. They involved more intermediate-level magic for a human. The cloaking spell, which was one of highest-level spells, was her top priority. She practiced it over and over but was only able to hide herself for a few seconds at a time. Well, that was still an improvement.
All week Kiara ran to the forest after school and stayed for hours doing magic in her clearing until she knew her mom would be coming home from work. She tried not to be gone too late in order to avoid questions. With her increased speed spell, it now took her only a few minutes to travel back and forth. She ran like a flash and didn’t get out of breath. Most days, she beat her mom home.
Saturday morning, she got up early and packed her tote bag full of magical elements. The plan was to get a full day of magic in without having to rush home or face the impending evening’s darkness.
“Hey, Mom, I’m going out! Going for a walk, then the library for a while, then to Erica’s.”
“Okay, keep your phone on!” her mom called from the living room, where she was watching TV and drinking her morning coffee.
“I will.”
As soon as Kiara was in the cover of the trees, she cast her spell and tore to her clearing in a flash. She had so much extra time today and she wanted to practice the cloaking spell for most of it.
She set up her usual protections and was about to begin when she saw a human presence detected. Whoever it was, was far away, but she still couldn’t change. She snuck behind a rock to wait and watch. No one appeared, and after a while she got bored. She would stay human, but she had to do some kind of magic. There was no sworn-to-secrecy pact when it came to witches. They didn’t make their existence well known, sure, and everyone generally understood it needed to be kept a secret, but if someone found out they wouldn’t die. Not like they would if they found out she could shift to a dragon.
The yellow glow of the detection spell was so faint that the person had to be pretty far away. She kept the spells small and practiced some basics. She did try the cloaking spell and was happy to find that she could now hold it for a few seconds in human form. As a dragon she was up to several minutes.
After a few hours, she was getting tired and needed a break. Casting so much magic was mentally exhausting. She strolled out of the forest, taking her time to appreciate the day and nature. Kiara enjoyed just being in the woods, walking and exploring. Being a witch made her feel part of nature and connected to it. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that so much magic required nature—plants, certain moon phases or celestial events, water or fire. The more she increased her magic, the more in tune she felt.