Raven Saga 01 - Raven

and had not flown too far away.
    Forgetting that I couldn't call out his name, I tried to make some kind of noise to get his attention. It was difficult but I managed a deep howl. He returned almost immediately, landing just a few metres away from us. I could just see his face and I knew that he was not afraid of what I had become. He had witnessed his own girlfriend change into a cat, albeit briefly, and so the sight of me changing wasn't something that caused too much concern.
    As if reading my mind, he approached quickly, bending down to pick up the still unconscious Oliver. He walked as fast as he could back to the house, while at the same time I rushed off into the distance, heading towards the one person I knew would be able to help me in these strange circumstances. I ran as fast as my hind legs would propel me, trying to keep myself hidden, until I reached Rose's house.
    I let out another howl as soon as I arrived, causing all of the other cats in the vicinity to howl back. Rose appeared quickly in the doorway, a look of concern across her face.
    I approached her, not knowing how to tell her what had happened but she knew something wasn't right. As she peered down at me fearlessly, I bowed my head and looked to the ground, trying hard to think of a way to let her know that it was me. But I needn't have worried, for she knew immediately who I was.
    “So it has happened, Lilly,” she said softly and I nodded, “I knew you would become a special beast. A black mountain lion, eh? Excellent,” she chuckled.
    Rose then stepped right up to me and bent down so our faces were parallel to each other. She looked deep into my eyes and sensed the urgency.
    I watched as she made the immediate decision to change too, “for speed,” she had whispered while still in human form. I nodded and then watched as the old lady morphed into a creature of grace, beauty and speed – all in a matter of seconds, completely silently except for the ripping of her clothes. It appeared that her change had happened painlessly.
    It was only when she had become a smaller cat than me that we could communicate effectively. Although we were unable to physically speak to each other, we were able to read each other's minds. I explained to her exactly what had happened and I listened intently as she responded, telling me that we needed to get to Oliver immediately.
    She sprang into action, leaping quickly and effortlessly down through the tall trees in the direction of my home. I followed as quickly as I could, noticing that we were using a different route to that which I had become accustomed. An easier route for beasts that could move the way we could, fitting through gaps within the trees that I would have struggled with in my human form.
    I had little time to dwell on the change that had happened to me but I did notice a few things. My senses were like nothing I'd ever experienced before. Not only could I smell things I would never have even noticed, my eyesight and hearing were second to none too. But I couldn't think about that. I needed to think about Oliver. What had I done? We would never be the same again. He would hate me and wouldn't even want to lay his eyes on me, probably for the rest of his life.
    I knew there was nothing I could do to change his feelings for me. I just hoped that he would be able to keep our secret. That was even more important than anything else now.
    As I followed behind Rose, my mind strayed again and I couldn't help but notice how gracefully she moved. Graceful in human form, graceful in feline form – she was a true beauty.
    Minutes later as we arrived at home, I wondered how I would change back. I had no idea how I had changed in the first place so I didn't know what to do. I watched as Rose didn't even give it a second thought. Well practised in the art, I watched as the cat grew larger, the fur giving way to pale skin and the whiskers disappearing from her face, her claws becoming long slender fingers. I was about to discover an unfortunate side effect of the change though, as she stood up proudly, I saw that she was completely naked.
    She looked down at me and smiled, “It's something you'll have to get used to, I'm afraid,” she said.
    “I've had many years to come to terms with it,” and then she opened the front door and tiptoed in quietly. I skulked in behind her, watching her as she opened a cupboard that I hadn't even noticed before and pulled out a pair of black trousers, a grey sweater and