I was in a deep, dark place. I felt comfortable, safe, and pleasantly warm. I couldn't move, couldn't open my eyes, and couldn't speak.

I also couldn't find the energy to be worried about any of it. I just sort of drifted, worried about nothing and thinking about nothing.

"Mistress," a female voice whispered to me, "It's time to wake up. Open your eyes." The voice was strangely familiar, but I couldn't quite place it.

"It's all right, dear," a man's voice said quietly. "She expended a tremendous amount of energy. Let her rest, she'll be..."

The voices faded out as I sank back into the darkness.

I was standing in Wizard Ellister's spellcasting room, on the outside of the greater circle he had embedded in its floor. It was a combination of painted lines and runes, embedded gems, mirrors, prisms and more. It was the most elaborate greater circle I had ever seen and a tremendous tool for focusing and containing magical energies.

Athena lay on her side in the center of the circle, not moving, barely seeming to breathe. I knew that Artemis was still crouched by the door where I'd told her to stay, and Ellister was a few feet behind me.

"Don't let go of it," he cried over the rising noise in the room. "Hold on, pour your Anima into the spell and shape it with your will and imagination!"

I was performing the Familiar Elevation ritual. I'd studied it at some length under Master Tremane's tutelage, knowing that someday I might want to use it. I'd never imagined that it would be quite so important to get it perfectly right the first time, though, or that I'd be pouring so much energy into it.

There was a rising, howling wind, driven by the energy I had called up and pushed into the circle. The crystals that made up parts of the circle seemed to ring with resonant sound, and four tuning forks set at the cardinal compass points added their pure tones to the din.

It was taking a lot more energy than I'd expected it to. But then, Athena was badly hurt, and I had to compensate for that as I worked the spell. If I didn't, she'd be just as hurt when it was done, and that would be simply awful.

Elevating a familiar is more than a simple transfiguration spell. It's even more than the magics that bind a familiar and allow them to communicate with its master or mistress. In a very real way, it's a binding of two souls; the animal's, and the spellcaster's. One would always be able to sense the presence of the other, always be perfectly simpatico with each other, always perfectly able to understand the other's needs and desires.

That’s what the official literature said about it, anyway. I’d know the truth for myself soon enough.

But I'd never met a spellcaster - Druid, Mage, Shaman or otherwise - who had gone through with it and regretted it. Many never did, fearing - or perhaps simply being wary of - the closeness that it brought with another living being. For most people, it was enough to simply own a normal familiar; a highly intelligent, extremely affectionate animal companion.

Also, frankly, most people didn't have the training or power needed to do what I was attempting to do, and had to hire a Wizard to do it for them. Undoubtedly, it was an expensive service.

I was a little scared by the idea of what I was doing, binding myself to another living being so deeply and permanently...but I felt a burning need to save Athena's life. It was the right thing to do, of course, but it went deeper than that. It was almost as if I were being compelled to do it. Fortunately, I didn't mind.

My knees were starting to get rubbery and I was seeing spots in front of my eyes. But I kept my hands over the outside ring of the circle, and kept drawing up and drawing in energy, letting it pour through me into the circle, into the spell, and into Athena.

The wind seemed to roar as the spell reached its apex. There was a blinding burst of light from the center of the circle, and Athena's form melted and changed. I squinted into the light and saw legs, a torso, breasts, arms, hair, a tail...but I couldn't make out any features.

"Just a few moments more!" Ellister shouted over the din. "Hold on, girl!"

I felt light-headed, but I held on. Athena and Artemis were counting on me, and I was not going to let them down. I wanted them to be proud to belong to me, and to know that I would do anything for them. This was my first major spell cast on my own as a licensed Mage, and I was not going to fail myself or my new familiars.

All that went through my mind as the wind began to die down, and the noise with it. My body finally buckled and I felt myself falling. Someone caught me, the world spinning around me, my eyes wouldn't seem to focus properly...

"Relax, girl," Ellister said proudly. "It's done. You did it. Rest."

I opened my eyes and found myself lying on my side in an incredibly comfortable bed. A deep, plush mattress, soft cotton sheets, a light blanket, and feather pillows. The only light in the room came from behind me, and seemed to be natural light. Probably a window.

There was a pretty girl sitting in a chair beside the bed. For a moment, I thought I was looking at myself, she looked so much like me. Then I realized who I was looking at. Her features were powerfully similar to mine, but her hair - styled like mine, even - was the purest white I'd ever seen. Her skin - what I could see of it, since she was wearing a forest green silk tunic of mine that had short sleeves - was covered in a thin, fine layer of short white fur speckled with black spots and rings.

A pair of very cat-like ears pushed through her hair on either side of her head, further towards the top than normal human ears. And I could see a tail lying curled around beside her on the chair, patterned in the same colors as her fur.

Her attention was entirely focused on her right hand, which she had raised in front of her eyes. With her palm facing her, she wiggled her fingers, then her thumb. She made a fist, turned it around to look at the back of her hand, then opened her fingers again and spread them wide. Muscles I wasn't familiar with flexed in her fingers, and her nails slid out like claws, then retracted again. I could feel her fascination as if it were my own.

Perhaps she sensed the affection and amusement I felt, because she glanced at me then. Her eyes were the same bright golden color I saw whenever I looked in the mirror. She gasped and lowered her hand, turning towards me.

"Mistress, you're awake!" Her hand lightly touched mine where it lay on the bed, and I glanced at it. Her palm felt smooth against my skin, but I could see the fine layer of fur that extended all the way down the back of her hand.

Something shifted at the foot of the bed, and weight pressed the mattress down. A moment later, Artemis stretched out beside me, lowering her chin to the blanket and staring at me. >

I smiled at Artemis and nodded, then turned my attention back to Athena. "Look at you," I said warmly, shocked by how weak my voice sounded.

She blushed prettily and looked down, then met my eyes again. "Thank you, Mistress. You saved my life."

I took her hand in mine and squeezed it gently. "Couldn't do any less, could I?"

Artemis blew out a breath and relaxed, purring and flopping onto her side.

"How long have I been asleep?" I asked. I still felt drained and incredibly tired.

"It's been about a day and a half since you finished the spell," Athena said quietly, and I suddenly realized why her voice had sounded familiar. It was like hearing my own voice...she sounded like me, too. Interesting. I'd have to ask Ellister if that was normal.

"That long? I'm still so tired..." I broke off to yawn. I couldn't help it.

> Artemis teased, though her eyes never opened.

I laughed softly and gently tousled Artemis' ears with my free hand.

Athena smiled. "If you can stay awake for a few minutes, Elsie has some chicken soup simmering in case you woke up. I'll have her bring a bowl and some crackers. You should eat something, Mistress."

My stomach rumbled noisily. I blushed, and Artemis made a sound that was suspiciously like a chuckle. "That sounds like a good idea," I said with a nod, carefully pushing myself into a sitting position. My head swam a little and I closed my eyes for a moment.

"Mister Ellister said that you'd be famished when you woke up," Athena said, releasing my hand and rising. "I'll be right back."

I got a look at her back as she headed for the door. Her tail poked from beneath the hem of the tunic, which fell to mid-thigh on her, and she didn't seem to be wearing anything else. Her legs were covered with the same fine layer of short white and black fur as the rest of her.

She was perfect.

She paused in the doorway and glanced back at me, blushing. > she murmured telepathically, then disappeared into the hall.

I leaned back and relaxed, idly petting Artemis and listening to her deep, throaty purring. All in all, I felt that my first two days in London had been well spent. Even if I had been asleep for much of the time.

Athena returned a few minutes later, just as my eyelids were starting to get so heavy that I feared I'd fall asleep before she returned. She had Elsie - the maid who'd met me at the door - in tow, carrying a lap tray with a bowl of soup and some lightly salted crackers on it. She set it down across my lap with a shy smile, bobbed a curtsy, and scurried out the door again with a slightly awed look at Athena and Artemis.

The soup turned out to be precisely what I needed. By the time I was finished with it, my stomach no longer felt cavernously empty and had settled down. Athena took the tray away, and returned followed by Ellister, who smiled at me as he sat down on the side of the bed.

"Welcome back," he said teasingly. "I must say, I'm extremely impressed. You've done Tremane proud."

I blushed. "Thank you. Sir..."

He frowned thunderously. I noted with some amusement that his bushy eyebrows were extremely well suited to it.

"Sorry," I said quickly, trying not to smile. "Ellister, I was wondering. Athena looks and sounds so much like me. Is that normal?"

"Normal?" He chuckled. "Dear girl, there's nothing that qualifies as normal when Elevating a familiar. I'd call it unusual, but not unheard of. You poured a tremendous amount of Anima into that spell and into Athena herself to heal and reshape her...the end result being that her physical form mirrors yours to some extent. After all, you were healing her body as you transfigured it into a humanoid form. What would you use as a template for that other than your own body?"

Athena was watching me from her chair beside the bed. "It doesn't bother you, does it, Mistress?" She asked, sounding a little uncertain.

"No!" I exclaimed quickly. "Not at all! I think you're beautiful, Athena. I was just curious."

She blushed prettily and purred happily, looking down at her hands.

"Good," Ellister said. "Now," he rose and patted my hand. "Go back to sleep. Your body needs time to replenish its natural store of Anima, and sleep is the best way to do that."

When he was gone, I gently tousled Artemis's ears. "You're not going to be jealous of your sister, are you, pet?"

> Artemis said with certainty, her eyes already closing again. >

Athena and I both laughed, our voices harmonizing perfectly. "I suppose I can't argue with that," I said.

Athena smiled at me. "I don't mind. I'll do whatever you need me to do."

"Have you slept at all since you were Elevated, pet?" I asked her. She looked as tired as I felt.

She shook her head. "No, Mistress. I wanted to be awake if you needed anything when you woke up."

I smiled and patted the bed beside me. "Come and lie down then. We'll both get some sleep, and see what tomorrow brings."

Blushing, she made her way around the bed as I rolled over to face the window. She stretched out beside me, drawing the blanket over herself and snuggling against me with a contented purr. Artemis pressed up against my back on the other side, resting her chin on my shoulder.

Safely nestled between their warm bodies, I quickly fell back asleep.

I dreamed, and this time knew I was dreaming. It had that surreal, disjointed feeling that a dream gets when you realize you're asleep - where everything seems slightly distorted and sounds echo strangely. But although I was aware of being asleep, I somehow knew that there was no way for me to take control of or affect this dream.

In my dream, I was standing in front of my mother's house, outside its stone wall. A large snowy owl was perched on the gate, staring at me with unblinking eyes.

I moved a few steps towards it and it let out a piercing cry, spread its wings and leapt into the sky. It flew over my shoulder, and as I turned to watch it, I realized I could smell smoke.

The town was a ruin of burnt-out buildings and still smoldering timber. The only living thing that moved was the owl, gliding over the remains of the town.

The High Druid's voice suddenly cried from off to my right, "It was her doing!"

I turned to look, but there was nobody there.

"As the prophecy foretold!" His voice cried from behind me.

I spun around, but there was nobody there.

"The world will burn!" another Druid called from behind me.

I spun around once more, but there was still nobody there.

My mother's voice said firmly from just behind me, "It was not her. The world will go on as it has."

I turned slowly this time, and saw her watching me. She smiled a little and spoke softly. "What comes is not your fault, nor that of any living being, save one. This was all foretold, and it will play out as it must, daughter. Be strong, and you will understand."

Her eyes flashed from green to the same bright gold as mine, and I thought her features had started to shift when she vanished completely.

Someone was shaking me. I opened my eyes and saw Athena leaning over me, her eyes concerned. "Mistress? Are you all right? You cried out in your sleep."

Artemis leaned in and nuzzled my cheek, making me smile. I sat up and wrapped an arm around each of them. "I'm fine, my pets. It was just a nightmare."

Wasn't it? It had felt like a dream, but it had been so vivid and was remaining with me so clearly even after waking up...

I shook myself a little. If my dream meant something, it would come to me in time.

The door creaked open and Elsie poked her head in, then smiled when she saw us awake. "Good morning, Mistress," she said quietly. "You slept the rest of the day and through the night. If you feel rested, Master Ellister will be taking breakfast in a half an hour and would like you to join him."

I stretched slowly, looking inward. I was still tired, but not the muscle-numbing exhaustion I'd felt when I woke up the day before. I could tell that my Anima reserves were still low, but not as depleted as they had been. And I felt eager to get up and move around a bit. I felt restless. Time to move, my body said.

"That sounds like a good idea, Elsie. Please let him know we'll join him shortly."

She smiled and nodded, then vanished again, the door clicking shut behind her.

"She moves about like a mouse," Athena murmured.

Artemis eyed the door. >

I laughed. "I wouldn't know about the scent, but she does have a way of scurrying about. Come on, let's get cleaned up and dressed. I'll see what I have that will suit you...my clothes should fit you well enough."

A half an hour later we joined Ellister in his little dining room. I had found suitable clothes for Athena in the form of a loose shirt and leather pants, though she remained bare-foot and occasionally muttered about feeling overdressed. Granted, most people tended to dress familiars like eye candy, but most familiars also seemed to dislike fully-enclosing clothing unless it was necessary for the climate.

Something to do with having fur, I supposed.

But she humored me and I promised her that we'd go shopping later to find her something she liked. And something suited to her tail - I’d used a bit of magic to open the back seam of the pants to accommodate it.

I sat down across from Ellister and Athena settled beside me, Artemis flopping down lazily on the floor behind us.

"Good morning!" He smiled cheerfully. "You both look well rested. How're your Anima reserves?" he asked me.

I shook my head. "Low, but not quite depleted. I could light a candle, but that's about it."

He chuckled. "Well, as I said yesterday, you poured a tremendous amount of Anima into that spell. More than I've ever seen used for it before." He frowned slightly. "Something's troubling you."

"A dream, that's all," I said. "I had a weird dream, and it's lingering."

"Will you tell me about it?" He asked.

I shrugged and did, describing it in as much detail as I could remember. While I was telling him about it, Elsie slipped in and laid plates of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast in front of Ellister, Athena and me, and a bowl of meat in front of Artemis.

Ellister nibbled on a piece of toast and considered my dream as Athena and I tucked hungrily into our breakfasts. Athena seemed particularly fascinated by the silverware and the eggs, explaining telepathically that aside from a couple of sandwiches that Elsie had brought her during her vigil, this was the first human meal she'd attended.

Finally, Ellister laid down his fork and looked at me. "Do you think the dream could be prophetic?"

I snorted a laugh. "If it was, it would be a first. I've never experienced any kind of precognition before, and as far as I know, it doesn't run in my mother's family. I was probably just subconsciously dwelling on one of the Druids having mentioned a prophecy about me, that's all."

Ellister made a 'hmm' sound. "I suppose that could be it. Would you mind if I considered all of the imagery before giving you a firm answer?"

"Of course not," I said. "I think you're giving it too much importance, but..."

"Dreams are rarely unimportant," he said. "They tell us things about our minds that we would never know otherwise. And yes, they can even be precognitive or prophetic, whether you have Seer blood in your family or not. If, as I suspect, your father was of the High Sidhe, it could well be that your dream was prophetic. Most Sidhe have at least a minor talent for seeing the future. But I'll do some research...perhaps some of the imagery will tell us what it meant. In the meantime, since your Anima reserves are still low, what are your plans for the day?"

"I thought we'd go out for a bit," I said. "Get a feel for the city, do some clothes shopping for Athena, that sort of thing. Maybe visit the Tower of London. I hear it's haunted."

"Hugely so," he said with a nod. "There's a shop a few blocks from here that specializes in clothes for Elevated familiars. Do you have enough money? I'd be happy to loan you some until you get your feet under you."

I shook my head. "I have a fair amount of savings. After I turned sixteen, Master Tremane insisted on paying me wages for my work and apprenticeship, and to teach me to manage my own finances. Since I didn’t really have much to spend any of it on, I saved up quite a bit."

"He's a good man," Ellister agreed. "Well, then, go and do the tourist thing and a bit of shopping. You shouldn't have any problem with Artemis coming into stores and restaurants with you - most places here are highly tolerant of familiars."

"I should hope so!" I said, finishing off my last piece of bacon. "There's so many of them!"

"Indeed," he said with a nod. "It would be madness to ignore them or force them to stay outside." He considered for a moment. "If I were you, I would start with the shopping. Come back here when you're done, drop off your bags, and go do the tourist routine."

I smiled. "That sounds like a plan." I rose. "I'll see you later, then?"

He nodded. "I'll join you for dinner."

I bowed to him politely and headed for the door. "Come on, Athena, Artemis. Let's go shopping!"