“Anna!” Arian cried out as she made for the pool.

  “Hold a moment or you will transform!” Grandmother shouted at her. Arian reluctantly stopped on the water’s edge while Grandmother stretched out the cane to me. “Grab hold.”

  I flung myself over the stick and was dragged to land. Arian dropped to her knees and pulled me out of the water where I lay in a wet, stinky heap. My friend rubbed me down with a towel which soothed my tense muscles.

  A cane clacked into my line of sight and I turned my head far enough to find myself staring up into the bemused face of Grandmother. She nudged one of my back feet with the tip of her cane. “Well, well, the silver hair is really silver fur.”

  I sat up and huffed at her.

  Grandmother frowned and wagged a finger at me. “Don’t go starting that with me. I merely brought out your magic. If you had any control you would have been able to stop the transformation.”

  “Do you know how to reverse the magic?” Arian asked her.

  “Easy enough.” She tapped the bottom of the cane against my fluffy and adorable stomach. A faint blue glow surrounded the wood. “I’ll give you a push but you have to help. Go on. Try to change back.”

  I growled but felt a strange tingling all over my body. A faint silver light surrounded and the tingling sensation returned. I focused all my thoughts on that feeling and the light, and slowly my human form took shape.

  “Too slow!” Grandmother scolded me. The blue light at the end of her cane brightened. “You can do better than that!”

  My eyebrows crashed down and a tiny silver bolt shot out. The light struck Grandmother’s toe and she jumped with a yelp. The old woman danced backward and waved her cane at me. “You sneak! You little devil!”

  “She did not mean to, Grandmother!” Arian assured her as she grasped my shoulders.

  My now-human shoulders. I snatched up the towel and covered my naked body. We watched Grandmother dance around for a few more minutes before she stomped her wounded foot and her pride against the cave floor.

  Her blazing eyes fell on me. “Is that the thanks I receive for helping you?”

  I flung up my arms and shook my head. It took all my self-control not to smile at the scorch mark on the toe of her shoe. “It wasn’t me. I can’t control anything, remember? I couldn’t even change myself back. That was all you.”

  She was slightly appeased by the credit given by me but her frown remained. “There is nothing I can teach such an unruly magic.”

  Arian’s face fell and my good humor faded with it. She clasped my shoulders and set her pleading eyes on the old woman. “Then there is nothing you can do to hide her appearance?”

  Grandmother lifted her nose and stroked her chin. “I didn’t say that. . .”

  “I will give you another month’s worth of restaurant meals.”

  Grandmother’s eyes lit up and she clacked the bottom of the cane against the stones. “Why did you not mention that before, girl?” She whipped her head about and her sharp eyes fell on me. “You! Up!”

  I dropped my focus to my towel-clad self. “But I’m not dressed-”

  “No matter. This will be easier to see if you are naked, now stand.” I reluctantly climbed to my feet with my friend just behind me. Grandmother’s eyes rolled over to her. “Get back, Arian. I don’t want this to hit you.”

  Some of the color drained from Arian’s face. “You will not hurt her, will you?”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Grandmother rolled her eyes. “Of course not, but I don’t want to mix three different magics. Two is quite enough, now stand back.”

  “But I thought you said mixing magic was a bad idea,” I reminded her.

  Grandmother rolled up her sleeves one at a time. “It is but I’ve seen enough to know you’re not going to explode, so let’s try this.”

  Arian tightened her grip on me and leaned forward to catch my eye. She lowered her voice to a shaky whisper. “Are you sure you wish to go through with this? I would not blame you if you decided against it.”

  I smiled and patted her hand. “It’s alright. Grandmother wouldn’t let anything happen to me.” I paused and my eyes darted over to our hostess. “Right?”

  Grandmother waved away my worries. “Such little faith! Nothing will happen to you!”

  I gave Arian another pat, as much to soothe her as much as myself, and she reluctantly moved away. I stood alone against the unknown and stiffened my jaw.

  Grandmother leaned her cane against her chest and raised both hands. The faint blue glow I’d seen before now became a beautiful flowing mist. The light reflected off the cave walls and illuminated the room in a soft essence like an aurora.

  Grandmother pushed her hands toward me and the magic floated forward. I stiffened as the blue glow fell on me like a shroud. My skin tingled for a moment before the light and the sensation faded. Our hostess lowered her hands and her magic died away.

  I held up my hands and inspected my person. “I don’t look any different.”

  “Of course not,” Grandmother replied as she hobbled up to me. She pressed my arm between two fingers and pulled down. I yelped but only out of habit because she didn’t actually drag my body down. Instead, a translucent layer of her magic appeared and stretched like rubber. I could now see it was wrapped around my arm but vanished as it climbed up and down my limb.

  “See?” she told me as she jiggled her magic to and fro. “I’ve put a layer of my water magic around you.”

  I nodded at her hold on her magic. “Can anyone do that to me?”

  “Only those with the gift of water,” she assured me as she released her magic. It sprang back into place and vanished. “And you won’t be finding many of those around here.”

  “So if only magic users can activate it how am I supposed to use it?” I asked her.

  “The day you want to look different, you just swallow one of these pills before you go out.” She rummaged in her pocket and drew out a vial filled with pea-sized green balls. “That’ll tell my magic that you want it to work.”

  “Should you try it now?” Arian suggested as she scooted up to my side.

  “Might as well.” I rolled my eyes up to our hostess. “That is if it’s okay.”

  Grandmother waved a hand at me. “Of course, only don’t use all the pills before you need them. I won’t be making any more of them for any number of restaurant meals.”

  I took the bottle and popped open the cork. A fishy scent of seaweed floated out. I swallowed a little bit of bile and tipped one of the peas onto my palm. The ball felt cold and clammy.

  I shrugged and took a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.”

  I downed the pea in one gulp. The texture was hard and the flavor was like seaweed. I wrinkled my nose but didn’t have time to contemplate the taste before I felt the tingling sensation again. The invisible magic activated and a blue light surrounded me. My mouth dropped open as I watched the tan of my skin darken slightly and my luscious silver hair changed to a plain brown as it once was. I felt myself grow a tad taller, as well, and my leg and arm muscles thinned just slightly.

  “Wow,” I breathed out as I inspected my changed form. I yelped and wrapped my hand around my throat. Even my voice had changed. It was now a lower timbre. A smile stretched across my lips before I looked up at my friend. “What do you-” The words caught in my throat when I noticed her large eyes were zeroed in on my face.

  Arian whipped her head to our hostess and pointed at me. “Why is that there?” Her words made my heart skip a beat.

  Grandmother squinted her eyes and frowned. “I do not know.” She marched up to me, grabbed one of my shoulders, and yanked me down closer to her short height. The old woman slapped her other hand against my forehead and scrubbed vigorously.

  “What are you doing?” I snapped as I felt my skin rub raw.

  “Hold still while I try to hide it!” she scolded me.

  I wiggled my way out of her grasp and stumbled back. Arian still looked worried and Grandmother looked irritated.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked them as I reached up and brushed my hand over the worn spot on my forehead. The skin felt raw but was otherwise the same as I remembered. Perhaps a tad warmer than the rest of my body, but it was my forehead, after all. They tended to be that way.

  Arian pointed at my head. “There is a mark on your forehead.”