Magic Rises

us.”
    The happy dress burst. Her body erupted, as if someone had triggered the detonator, but the explosion of flesh swirled, controlled, snapping into a new form. A monster rose in Aunt B’s place. She stood on powerful legs, her flanks and back sheathed in reddish fur spotted with blotches of black. Her back curved slightly, hunched over. She raised her arms, her four-inch claws held erect, like talons ready to rend, and great muscles rolled under her dark skin, promising devastating power. The monster snapped her hyena muzzle, the distorted, grotesquely large jaws opening and closing, like a bear trap.
    Keira’s dress flew. A werejaguar rammed the grate. The crossbow twanged; the shot went wide. The metal screeched and the grate flew past me and crashed into the wall. Men screamed. A body flew, like a rag doll hurled by an angry child.
    I kept my place, staying clear. There was room for only one of them in the passage and I would only get in the way.
    Aunt B dashed after Keira, yanked a struggling man, and slammed him against the wall next to me. Volodja’s glassy eyes stared at me in sheer panic. He hadn’t turned, which meant he likely couldn’t hold the warrior form.
    Aunt B’s hand with fork-sized claws squeezed his throat. She snapped her teeth half an inch from his carotid. A deep ragged growl spilled from her throat. “Who hired you?”
    “Nobody,” he squeezed out.
    “Who hired you?” Aunt B pulled him from the wall and slammed his head back against the stone.
    “Kral! Jarek Kral!”
    Aunt B squeezed. Her claws drew a bright red line on the kid’s chin. “What were you supposed to do?”
    “He wants human killed,” Volodja struggled in her grip.
    “Why?”
    “I don’t know! I didn’t ask!”
    Aunt B hurled him across the room and ducked into the opening. I moved to follow. Something clanged. The floor dropped from under my feet and I fell into the darkness below.
    * * *
    A second doesn’t seem like much time, but the human mind is an amazing thing. It can pack not one but two short thoughts into the space of a second, thoughts like Oh shit and I’m about to die .
    Rock flashed before me and I plunged into vast empty darkness, crouching in midair, trying to brace for impact.
    The air whistled past me.
    My ears caught a hum. My instincts screamed, Water!
    I hit the sea. Like smashing at full speed into concrete. The impact slapped me and all went dark.
    * * *
    No air .
    My eyes snapped open. I was suspended in salty water.
    My lungs burned. I jerked upward. My head broke the surface and I gulped the air with a hoarse moan. It tasted sweet and for a few moments I could do nothing except breathe.
    I survived. The impact must’ve knocked me out for a few seconds. My cuts hurt. Kate Daniels, extra-salt-in-the-wounds edition.
    I tried kicking. Legs still okay. Arms moving. Body check complete, all systems go. I turned around. Weak green luminescence came from the moss growing in the rougher spots on the walls, doing little to combat the darkness. Still, it was good enough to see. During tech, this place would’ve been pitch-black. Thank you, Universe, for small favors.
    I floated on my back, trying to look around. A huge cavern rose around me, its floor flooded with seawater. You could fit half a football field into it.
    I turned and swam along the wall. I had a pretty good breaststroke but my boots weren’t doing me any favors. They sat on my feet like two bricks.
    No way up. The nearly sheer walls rose straight up. A small stone ledge protruded on one side, barely four inches wide. Even if I could somehow climb onto it, I couldn’t stay on. Far above, a black hole punctured the ceiling. I must’ve fallen through it. A few feet to the left and I would’ve splattered against the stone wall on the way down.
    When I got out of this, I’d have to track down Volodja and his friends and thank them for this fun excursion. Assuming there was anything left after Aunt B and Keira were done with them.
    How the hell was I going to get out of here?
    Something bobbed in the water in front of me, a dark bundle. I sped up. A canvas sack, watertight. Hmm.
    The sack moved.
    I put six feet of water between me and the sack with a single kick. Clearly I’d had too much excitement for one day.
    The sack twisted. A bulge stretched the fabric on one side.
    Maybe someone had stuffed a cat into a bag and thrown it down here. Of course, if my experience was anything to go by, the sack would contain a