Lord Morren’s expression turned from shock to terror. He still had a hold of the staff as well, and now he pulled power out of it and formed it into a spell. He flung it at me with a snarl of hatred. In my head it was as if everything suddenly clicked together. All the theory I’d absorbed meshed with the power coursing through me and I knew exactly what to do. With a mere thought I deflected Lord Morren’s spell. So this was how it felt to do magic! It was so easy, so natural! Lord Morren tried a second spell that I batted aside as easily as the first. Then I strung together a simple construct of my own, charged it with power, and threw it at him. He barely managed to deflect it, and the force of it put a scorched hole in a nearby bench. I laughed. “Now who has the power, Master Lucius?” I said.

The terror in his eyes deepened into desperation. He let go of the staff and lunged for the altar. I realized what he was doing too late. His hand closed over the sacrificial knife and held it at Amelia’s throat. She was still held in place by the spell Lord Morren had set earlier. The feeling of triumphant exhilaration I’d been feeling vanished instantly. It was replaced by a combination of sick dread and cold rage. We stood for a long moment in a frozen tableau. Amelia knelt on the floor, Lord Morren crouched beside her, and I stood with the staff in my hands a few yards away.

I could have tried a spell. A whole world of magic had now opened up to me. With my training and my newfound power I could have cast any number of spells, but the chilly fury that washed over me demanded something else. All those years of pent-up anger poured out at once. The staff clattered to the floor as I took one step forward. “Come any closer and I’ll kill her!” Lord Morren snarled. I stopped, but the thing that I’d begun as I moved didn’t. I don’t know how I did it, or even really what it was I was doing, but some deep instinct told me that this was what my anger demanded. A feeling of pulling, pushing, shifting swept over me. I saw Lord Morren’s eyes widen in shock, amazement and horror, the dagger dropping with a clatter from suddenly nerveless fingers, and then I was moving forward again, but this time I covered the distance between the mage and myself in a single tremendous leap.

I was vaguely aware of the changes that had come over me, but all my thoughts were focused on the source of my rage. Lord Morren, who had tormented me, who had drunk my blood and drained my very life. Who had deceived me into believing that my own father didn’t love me. Who had placed the scars on Amelia’s wrists and at her throat, and who now was trying to kill her. The sight of him filled me with a killing fury that was hot and cold all at once. My paws hit him, knocking him backward, and my teeth tore at his throat. There was blood everywhere. Lord Morren gave a choked gurgling cry and just like that the light went out of his eyes and he was gone.

My rage left as suddenly as it had come. All my fury had poured out of me and suddenly I was left with nothing but an empty numbness. I turned toward Amelia, licking blood off my muzzle without really thinking about it. I wasn’t really thinking of anything just then. It wasn’t until I met her shocked gaze and noticed that her kneeling face was at my eye level that I became consciously aware of the change that had come over me.

I’d heard stories of full-blooded cat folk who were shapeshifters. They could, according to legend, take the forms of the great cats, lions, tigers, panthers and such. Apparently the legends were true, and I’d somehow managed to inherit the ability, though I’d never heard of anybody in my family having it. But there was no doubt I did have it, because at the moment I was wearing the shape of a large leopard.

Amelia’s wide eyes stared into my own feline gaze. Her voice trembled as she said, “Ashen? Is that you?”

I couldn’t speak in this form, but I nodded. An expression of wonder crossed her face. “How? I… I thought you were dead!”

I wanted to reply, so I tried to change back. It was as easy as thought. I flowed upright into my own form. “I think we had better wait for explanations,” I said. My shock was beginning to wear off and I could sense a tingle of magic in the air that I didn’t like. Something was happening, and it didn’t have anything to do with my magic. This had the feel of Lord Morren’s magic through and through. I picked up the staff again. It felt warm in my hand. I drew on the power stored there to release Amelia from the spell that held her.

“What do you mean?” she said.

“Lord Morren is dead, but his magic is still hanging around. Knowing him, that’s not a good sign. He’s the kind of person who would have a nasty revenge in store for whoever killed him. There, can you feel that?” A faint vibration was rumbling through the tower. I could see wisps of power gathering in the walls. “I have a feeling this place is going to come down around our ears any moment now.”

I reached out a hand and pulled Amelia to her feet. I avoided looking at the spot where Lord Morren lay, blood spattered all around, as we hurried through the splintered door and down the stairs. The rumbling had deepened and the air was full of dust. The walls were starting to fall, and the stairs crumbled under our feet. I built a shield of pure force over our heads, and tried as best I could to keep the stairs from falling apart before we reached the bottom. We made it down safely, though more falling beams crashed down around us every moment. The big front doors now blocked our way. I raised the staff and blasted them apart. No time to waste worrying if they were locked or not. We dashed out and ran down the drive until we were a good distance away. Suddenly Amelia stopped and said, “What a minute, what about all the other slaves?”

“Look,” I said, “The only thing falling down is the main tower. We were the only ones kept there, right? The rest of the house is still standing.” And it was true. A cloud of dust and debris surrounded the house, but you could see that the lower wings were still standing. The main tower, however, was nothing more than a pile of rubble. It had collapsed completely in the brief moments it had taken us to get this far.

A group of other slaves ran out of the lower wings. I recognized the burly form of Jascin among them. He no doubt recognized us as well, for he headed right for us. “What happened?” he shouted as he hurried over.

“Lord Morren is dead,” I said. I wasn’t sure how the big slave would take it. He’d been Lord Morren’s loyal henchman after all. I braced myself for a fight, and it looked like I might get it.

“What! Then we’re all dead. You killed him, didn’t you? You fool! You’ve killed every slave in this house. Without Lord Morren to reset the collar spell we’ll all die.”

“No, you won’t,” Amelia broke in. We both looked at her. She’d drawn herself up and addressed us both with an air of authority. “Lord Morren didn’t tell you the whole truth about that spell. He’s not the only one who can reset it. And not only that, but a good enough mage could remove the collar entirely.”

“And I suppose you have a mage handy who will help free slaves?” Jascin laughed nastily. “I don’t think so, girl.”

“My name is Amelia, and yes, I do. My grandmother is a grand master mage, one of the greatest in the world.”

I looked at her, surprised. She’d never mentioned having a grand master for a grandmother. There were only a handful of grand master mages in the world. My father wasn’t anywhere near grand master level. She smiled at me wryly, noting my surprise. “I didn’t inherit her talent, but I know she’d help me.” Then she turned her attention to Jascin. “I don’t like you. I don’t think you’re a good man, but I’ll do that much for you and for all the other slaves.”

Jascin’s eyes narrowed. He was apparently thinking through her offer. He was obviously a pragmatic man, and no doubt concerned with his own survival before all else. It seemed his loyalty to Lord Morren had been as unwilling as the other slaves,’ since his only concern about Lord Morren’s death was over the collars. Sure enough after a moment he nodded. “I don’t want to die any more than the next man. All right.”

“You might want to let them know the news,” said Amelia, pointing to the huddled group of the other slaves. Jascin nodded and headed off.

I looked at Amelia, surprised by this new authoritative side to her. “You sure took charge there.”

She smiled faintly. “What else could I do? I didn’t want you to have to fight. You’ve done enough today.” Her words raised the memory of Lord Morren’s gore-drenched body on the floor. I quickly pushed it aside. I didn’t want to think about it. Amelia looked into my eyes, perhaps seeing my inner struggle. Her own gaze seemed warm and reassuring, and I felt my heart jump. Then she said, “I need to herd this bunch to Grandma’s and get them taken care of. But I think you should go to your father. He’s going to get that thief’s message and come here after you, and if he finds this mess, he’s sure to think the worst.”

“Amelia, I…” I paused. I didn’t know what to say. I’d been with her for so long and I hadn’t really paid her much attention. Now all of the sudden she wanted me to go, and I realized I wanted to be with her. Was I falling in love? I didn’t know. But I did know I cared about her a great deal. I finally said, “I know I need to go home, but I… I would like to see you again someday.”

The faint smile spread into a full-blown grin. “I think that’s more than likely.” Then she stepped close and put her arms around me. Her face tilted up to me and to my surprise she kissed me. It wasn’t quite a lover’s kiss, but it was no quick peck either. I let the staff fall to the ground, put my own arms around her and kissed her back. We stood there for a long moment before she finally broke away. “I’ve got things to do, and you need to go home,” she said. She gave me one last smile, said, “I’ll see you again one of these days,” and walked off toward the other slaves. I stared after her for a while before I picked up the staff and turned my gaze to the road. I had at least a rough idea of where I was in relation to home. The sooner I began, the sooner I would be there.