I open my eyes. It’s still dark and my hearing immediately tells me that I’m surrounded by my sleeping Bound. Not wanting to disturb them, but not feeling like going back to sleep right now, I pull up my status screen.

  I note that my Energy store has gone down by about forty percent – the cost of my four points, I suppose. Though it stings a little that I have to spend Energy on them at all when I earned them, I have to admit that I’m probably getting a good deal. When I gave myself a Willpower point manually, it used significantly more than ten percent. And if I chose to give myself four Willpower points on level up, it would ‘cost’ a little more than sixty-six percent considering that the hundred percent of my Energy store is split among six points each time.

  In fact, I’m starting to wonder whether this Challenge space is a bit of a cheat in that it allows me to do the equivalent of half-earning points like I used to be able to before reaching twenty points in each stat. Then, accepting the point did cost me Energy, but not as much as it would have on level-up. It seems to be the same here.

  But as always, it’s the percentage increase to my effective Willpower which is the most exciting for me. In fact, if I’m calculating things correctly, I probably gained as much out of that percentage increase as I did with straight Willpower points. And this time the prize is double the prize of the last Challenge. Is that likely to continue? It would be great if so.

  I’d love to try level three immediately but, as before when I tried to do the second Challenge, I feel an instinctual warning at the thought. It feels like a…muscle. Like something inside me is fatigued. Somehow, like before, I know that trying to do level three isn’t the best thing right now. I need to rest for a while; recuperate. I probably took longer than necessary between level one and two – the ‘job’ kind of got in the way and it was never a good time – but I might be able to get in one more round before I need to leave. Maybe.

  At least I can immediately sense that the effective increase of nine Willpower points has done exactly what I needed them to – eased the strain that my newest Bonds have had on me and opened up the possibility of Binding the rest of the Warriors.

  Since I’m still not at all sleepy, I have something I’ve been trying to make work for a while now, but haven’t succeeded at yet. Perhaps tonight will be my lucky night?

  Pulling on Stealth, even if I don’t drop into Fade, I sneak out of the hut. My Darkvision is strong enough that I can spot Bastet’s eye when she opens it to see what I’m doing. I should have known that I wouldn’t be able to escape her excellent senses – she’s a light-sleeper for obvious reasons.

  I’m just going outside to test something, I tell her. No need to disturb your sleep.

  I see movement in the darkness and feel her yawn through the Bond.

  It is no bother. With so many non-pack members around, I prefer to be with you, she answers, fluidly stepping through our companions far more adroitly than I managed. I don’t argue with her – she has a point about there being a number of relative strangers in our village.

  Outside, I don’t go far. It’s not necessary. The moonlight illuminates the village, the silhouettes both familiar and strange, and not just strange in the way that almost-darkness makes even known shapes. In this case, there are actual unfamiliar shapes with the new two-storey shelters and the immense tree which now covers the central area of our village. It’s pretty in the night, the moonlight sparkling through the gemstones which have grown as part of the canopy.

  I pull my attention away from the canopy and back onto the area around me. I almost jump out of my skin when one of the shadows moves.

  “Noir! You almost gave me a heart-attack!” I hiss-shout at him. He gives off a sense of smugness. I swear almost-dragons are as bad as sort-of-cats when it comes to enjoying startling me. Daphne and Ivor aren’t all that good at stealth – they’re too big and neither pale pink nor white are particularly good for hiding. But since they fly, their colouring is usually not as detrimental to their hunting efforts as it would be in the forest. They’re also fast and can drop out of the air onto prey that doesn’t always look up the way they probably should. Actually…. “Are you considering hunting in the dark? You’ve got the colouring for it.”

  Noir tilts his head consideringly, then sends me two pictures. One is of what we’re looking at in the daylight; one is of his night-time vision. Is he telling me that he struggles to see? His night image is definitely murky, though his natural eyesight seems to be better than my original one was.

  Now, of course, I have the benefits of both Darkvision and the small changes I’ve been making to my actual eyesight to make it better at adapting to different light conditions. One of my experiments with Transformation has centred around mimicking the eyesight of different Bound and then permanently implementing some of the best aspects of them. So far I haven’t done anything huge but my minor changes have had enough of an impact that, combined with Darkvision, I was able to creep out of that almost pitch-black hut without stepping on anyone’s paws or tails.

  “Do you want me to improve your night-sight?” I ask him. He looks like he’s considering it for a moment, then sends a negative response. I sense that it’s more ‘not yet’ than a hard no, though. “Alright, let me know if you change your mind,” I tell him, then eye him thoughtfully. Maybe it’s just as well that he sneaked out. In fact, having both him and Bastet out here might be helpful.

  The thing is that I’d really like to fly. By myself. But all my efforts so far haven’t succeeded. Maybe that’s been because I’ve been copying Bastet’s wings when she actually can’t fly yet.

  I’ve done a fair amount of experimentation with Transformation over the last few months, though not as much as I’d have liked. Mimicking claws or teeth is easy enough, though I did have a few painful results when I accidentally grew my teeth without having a jaw big enough to house them. It turns out that my Flesh-Shaping and Transformation dove-tail perfectly together, allowing my ‘mimicked’ additions to actually become reality. And, as I’ve been doing with my vision, it’s proven to be very useful in showing the way forward between what I currently have and what my Bound have, though things like my accidental tongue-piercing did make the point that not all changes are compatible with my body as it currently is. But as an inspiration for enhancements which can be done to myself, it’s been very useful indeed.

  Though there are limitations, of course. Of the main things I’ve learned is that the ease of Transformation is affected by three main factors: the close physical proximity of the Bound I’m mimicking, the strength of my Bond with the individual; and the scope of the transformation. Changing my fingers into talons like Bastet’s is very easy. Not only are Bastet and I very close – usually in proximity as well as relationship-wise – but the scope of the transformation is very small.

  Another factor is the Shaping magic I choose to recreate the Transformation. Using Flesh-Shaping to mimic her talon is almost effortless. Creating a talon of rock is almost as easy. So is metal. Fire is easy, but I risk burning my hand if I don’t focus sufficiently on it at all times. Water is harder and so far I haven’t succeeded with Air at all. I haven’t dared try with lava considering how the fire burnt my hand.

  Deciding to start with what I’ve done before and try to see if I can push it further, I pull my armour off over my head. I feel almost naked without it – the chitin-plated salamander-hide has been my second skin for months. I only take it off from time to time to bathe since Flesh-Shaping helps me keep it and myself clean on a daily basis. I shiver at the caress of the cold night air, though I don’t actually feel more than a slight chill – the benefit of the constant fire burning within me, I suppose.

  “Alright Bastet, I’m going to try to mimic your wings,” I tell her, more as a warning to both her and Noir than anything else. At least Transformation doesn’t take it away from her like Parasitic Bond would have.

  Good luck, she responds with a sense of amusement. She’s seen me try this a good number of times by now.

  I close my eyes and focus. Drawing on the Skill in a way that I would be unable to properly describe to anyone, I imprint it with my desire to mimic Bastet’s wings with my Flesh-Shaping. Unlike my normal use of Flesh-Shaping which is usually pretty detail-intensive, I don’t need to focus on any more than that. The Skill does the heavy lifting. However, I do need to focus on it to make it succeed. And with nine more effective points in Willpower, I suddenly find that that’s easier than ever before.

  The skin on my back bulges, the feeling painless but very odd. I feel a joint forming below my shoulder blades which turns into spears of bones extending outwards. The spears of bone sprout new spurs which become the ‘fingers’ of bone. Skin connects the fingers of bone to create a membrane and then feathers sprout from them. The effort makes my mana pool plummet. It’s also surprisingly exhausting, especially considering that I’m barely doing any of the work here. At least the things I’m mimicking are resized for my body mass – my wings end up being a lot bigger than Bastet’s, though relative to my size they’re about the same.

  This time, the transformation actually goes further than before. New connections seem to have been built in my mind and I gaze at them consideringly as I flex them. I extend my new wings outwards and then pull them in to tuck against my back. I can’t help laughing quietly as the feathers tickle my sensitive sides.

  I experiment for a bit with them before deciding to seriously attempt lifting myself off the ground with them. Extending them, I beat down again and again. Then I sigh in disappointment. I can feel the lift, but my body is just too heavy and the wings aren’t big enough.

  Tapping my lip thoughtfully, I look at Noir. Would his wings work any better, I wonder?

  here!

  here!

  here!

  here