Ben caught me before I could hit the ground, the jolt of abruptly-halted motion breaking me out of the trance the creature had put me in. At the same time, Artemis landed on the creature’s back with a furious growl, flattening its legs and digging her teeth into its spine.

Athena arrived a moment later, her shieldblade whistling through the air in a sweeping arc. The creature’s head tumbled away from the rest of its body, its face instantly returning to its original blank state.

“Alys?” Ben asked urgently. “Are you all right?” He sank to his knees on the damp grass, cradling me across his lap in his arms.

I blinked up at him, still feeling dazed and a bit dizzy. “What?”

Athena jammed the tip of her sword into the ground and knelt down beside us. “Alys?” she asked, eyes wide and a little scared. When I just blinked at her in confusion, she looked up at Ben instead. “What happened? She felt really far away for a minute there.”

Artemis sat down beside her, giving me a worried look. >

I shook my head to clear the cobwebs from it and looked around at them. “What...what just happened?” I was shocked by how shaky and weak I felt.

“You tell me,” Ben shook his head. “One second the thing was snarling at us, the next second it smiled that creepy smile and then it was wearing your face. You started to fall, so I caught you and the girls dealt with the creature.”

“Some sort of psychic attack?” Athena reached out and cupped my cheek in her hand. >

“That’s what it sounds like,” I agreed, reaching up to cover her hand with mine. “I think it was draining energy from me, too. I feel like I’ve run a marathon.” I gave her a weak smile. “Looks like I’d better talk to Dr. MacMoran again. My psychic defenses must still need work. I had no idea they were so...” I trailed off, trying to find the right word.

“Nonexistent?” Ben asked dryly.

“That’ll work.” I released Athena’s hand and rubbed my forehead. “I guess it was hostile.”

Athena brushed my hair away from my eyes.

“Guess so,” Ben agreed. Then he shifted, slipping one arm beneath my knees and the other behind my back. “Up we go,” he said, standing up with me held in his arms.

“Hey!” I protested weakly.

Athena grabbed her sword and sheathed it as she rose, then scooped up my fallen cane.

“We’ll have the local police pick up the corpse and ship it off to Yard forensics,” Ben said. “I’ll call them from our rooms. Athena, would you and Artemis mind staying here until they arrive? Just in case.”

“Not at all,” Athena said firmly, passing me my cane. “I’m sure you’ll take good care of our sister.”

“Count on it,” Ben said just as firmly. “Thank you. I’ll make a couple of calls, then get Alys tucked into bed.”

> Artemis said.

“Don’t I get a say in this?” I protested, still sounding weak even to myself.

“Nope,” Ben replied jauntily.

“No,” Athena said at the same time, but more firmly, her unnerved concern coming across to me clearly.

> Artemis added teasingly, somewhat less rattled by the situation.

I sighed, knowing when it was time to surrender to the inevitable. Besides, I didn’t think I had the strength to stand on my own just then anyway.

It was about a ten minute walk back to the little bed and breakfast, but Ben insisted on carrying me the entire way. By the time we were halfway there, I was sagging with exhaustion and had to admit that I might not have been able to walk it by myself anyway. I was half-asleep in his arms with my head on his shoulder (quite a nice place to be, incidentally) by the time he set me down on my bed.

I heard him lean my cane against the bedside table, and his soft voice as he spoke to the local police department on the phone. Some indeterminate amount of time later, I felt him unlacing and removing my hiking boots.

Then the side of the bed sank down and gentle fingers caressed my cheek. I opened my eyes and he smiled down at me.

“Hi,” he said quietly. “If you sit up, I’ll help you out of that coat.”

I sat up slowly, feeling a bit creaky. “Well,” I said, trying to sound light-hearted, “that was a fairly pathetic showing.” I winced when I realized it had come out sounding more bitter than I’d intended.

“Hey, now,” he slid my coat away and draped it over a nearby chair before returning his attention to me. “You’re still recovering from some pretty bad injuries, and the doctor said you might stumble across unexpected weaknesses. I probably shouldn’t have called you in on this one, but I know you’ve been antsy to get back to work...” He trailed off, then smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. Have you tested your mental defenses before now?”

“Dr. MacMoran did,” I admitted. She had, in fact, been rather adamant about my needing to start building them back up. I couldn’t imagine why I’d ignored the advice.

He gently brushed my hair away from my face and tucked it behind my ear, idly tracing the pointed tip of my ear as he did so. It was an affectionate gesture, and the sensation sent a pleasant little shiver down my spine and made me lean towards him a little.

“Well,” he said finally, “It’s something to work on. I’ll let you get some rest and head back.”

I caught his hand as he started to rise. “Stay,” I whispered. “Just for a few minutes?”

I drew him back down - and mind you, I was still tired and pretty much half asleep, so he couldn’t have been resisting at all - and turned my face up to his for a kiss. He obliged, making me tingle all the way down to my toes. I started to lay back, pulling him with me...

...And was, of course, interrupted.

> Athena’s alarmed voice rang clear in my mind, sending adrenaline rushing through me and jolting me back to full wakefulness.

> Artemis added almost instantly, sounding just as alarmed.

“Bugger,” I muttered against Ben’s lips.

Ben leaned back a little and gave me a surprised - and slightly hurt - look, which quickly grew serious when he saw my expression. “What is it?”

I held up a finger to let him know I needed a moment. >

moving!>> Artemis repeated, obviously a bit annoyed that she had to do so.

> Athena clarified. >

“It’s not dead yet,” I told Ben. “Athena says its head is reconnecting with its body.”

His forehead thumped very gently against mine. “That’s just not fair.”

“It rarely is,” I agreed, giving him a little kiss. “Come on, let’s go.” I gently pushed him back and looked around. “Where’d you put my boots?”

“You should really stay here,” he said weakly, bending to pick them up and hand them to me before rising.

I took my boots from him, kept hold of his hand and kissed his palm. “Thank you, but you know I have to go.”

He sighed and nodded. “I’d better call the police station again and have them hold back. the last thing we need is to trip over a bunch of enthusiastic amateurs.”

“How did I become an expert?” I asked wryly as I tied my boots back on. “I haven’t even taken my Wizard’s exams yet.”

“You blew everybody away with the way you handled that haunting in London last year,” he retorted as he dialed the police station. “That’s what you get for setting the bar so high.” He winked at me.

I laughed, rose carefully, and put my coat back on before grabbing my cane. I still felt a drained, but adrenaline does amazing things for exhaustion, and my familiars were in danger. By the time I was ready to go, so was Ben.

We went as fast as we could with my bad knee. It wasn’t quite a running pace, but it was at least a fast jog. If I was out of breath and limping more heavily than usual when we got there, we still made it in less than ten minutes, and Ben was polite enough not to say anything about it.

The creature had already finished reconstituting itself, and was busily trying to keep up with my familiars. Athena would dart in and deal it a crushing blow with the blunt side of her shield blade, then leap back to avoid its claws as Artemis landed hard on it, raking its back with her claws and biting into its neck. When it thrashed around to reach for her, she leaped away and Athena waded back in, slashing and thrusting her blade.

It was a good tactic, which kept their foe off-balance and too busy to keep up with either of them individually. But in the dim light of the lamp behind the swing set, the creature seemed to be both stronger and tougher than before. Neither Athena’s blows nor Artemis’s vicious attacks seemed to be having much of an effect on it.

Under bright light, Athena and Artemis had been able to seemingly kill it. As soon as the light faded, it had begun pulling itself back together. I could work with that.

With a quick surge of Anima, I threw a fresh Magelight into the air above the fight. It wasn't quite as bright as the first one, but from the way the creature flinched and hissed, it would hopefully be enough.

And to some extent, it was. The blows that my sisters were landing began leaving visible wounds, rather than healing instantly. That was something, at least.

“Clear away,” Ben shouted, aiming his Magearm pistol at the creature.

As Athena and Artemis lunged away in opposite directions, he pulled the trigger. I felt the surge of Anima from him as the hammer struck the runeblock with a snap, and a bolt of lightning burst from the pistol’s barrel and struck the creature squarely in the side.

It didn’t so much as flinch, just turned to look right at Ben, its huge, shark-like grin seeming to grow broader.

Ben shot it again, the lightning striking it squarely in the face. This time, the creature rocked back a little, but its oily-looking black skin just seemed to absorb the energy.

“Well, crap,” Ben said. With the smooth motions of long practice, he slid open a panel on the top of his pistol and exchanged the rune-engraved cylinder of metal inside with another one from his pocket. He dropped the first runeblock, slapped the chamber shut, took aim, and started pulling the trigger again.

This time, brilliant yellow-orange bolts of fire shot from the pistol. The first shot gouged a smoking furrow in the creature's left shoulder. The second shot burrowed into its chest just below its neck, leaving a scorched crater. The third shot smacked straight into the thing's mouth, blasting away teeth and cutting off the ululating howl of pain that had exploded from it after the second shot hit.

What was left of its head thudded to the ground. But in spite of the damage Ben had done, it clearly wasn't dead. It thrashed and flailed at the ground with its hands and feet, its body twisting and writhing.

And it was healing. Slowly, very slowly, but it was healing. Apparently, my new magelight wasn’t quite bright enough.

“Alys?” Ben asked. "Can you bring out the big guns?"

I took a deep breath and nodded. We were out in the open, and I doubted the Swindon town council would object to some scorched grass in exchange for a dead monster.

I gathered Anima, channeling it into my cane. I wanted this thing to burn hot and bright, so I kept gathering Anima for a moment before finally thrusting my cane towards it, adding my anger at having been attacked by it earlier into the spell and defining its shape further with a shout of “Incendium!”

I was aiming for its center of mass, but at the last moment it moved its head right into line with where I was aiming. Intent on not becoming its victim a second time, I pushed an extra, angry surge of Anima into my spell. Just to make sure.

A blast of fire as thick around as my arm and hot enough to be blue-white leaped from the tip of my cane and struck the creature squarely in the face. It burned a hole clean through the creature’s oily black head and struck its back just above its pelvis. I tracked the beam of fire down into the mass of its chest and through the rest of its body before cutting off the spell.

It didn’t even have time to scream and thrash...it simply died. The resulting blaze engulfed what was left of the creature in seconds, and was bright enough and hot enough to drive us all back several yards.

“We should really put that out before it spreads,” Ben said a minute later, still shielding his face against the heat

“Let it burn,” I said coldly. I saw no reason to give this thing the slightest chance at recovery. Then I saw Ben watching me with a concerned expression and went over what I had said, how I’d said it and what my current emotional state was.

Let it burn, I’d said...I’d said it with cold anger, and I still felt that coldness in my belly. That it would dare to attack me, threaten my familiars and boyfriend, innocent teenagers...

I took a deep breath and let it out, pushing the coldness and the anger aside. It wasn’t me, not at all.

“Crap,” I muttered. “Now is not the time for me to be losing control. Thank you,” I said to Ben.

He just nodded, but I could see the relief on his face. I had gone a little over the top with that fire spell, and I knew it. So I gathered fresh Anima, lifting my cane to the sky and shaping a new spell in my mind. Then I whispered, “Imbris...” and released the spell into the air.

The fog, which had been burned off close to the pyre that had been the creature, suddenly swirled in and up. It gathered into a small storm cloud about a dozen feet above the blaze and, with a tiny (and, I thought, rather cute) rumble of thunder, began to rain heavily on the burning remains.

“Nice,” Ben said with a grin as he bent to collect his temporarily discarded runeblock.

“Hey, if you’re going to be a Wizard, you have to do it with some style.” I smiled back at him.

Athena and Artemis reached us then, having met up and carefully skirted the fire. “That was impressive,” Athena said, giving me a piercing look. >

I nodded slightly. >

She smiled a little. >

By the time the fire was out and my little storm cloud was dispersed, the creature had been reduced to a pile of soggy, still-smoldering ashes. My spell had also burned away the grass for several feet around the creature, and had even dug a shallow furrow in the ground that ran most of the length of the creature’s body.

“Well,” Ben said as I poked through the remains with my cane, “we’ll probably never know what it was, but at least it’ll never bother anybody again.”

“I’ll do penance by spending time at the Central Library of the Arcane trying to figure out what it was,” I replied glumly, well aware that I’d messed up a bit. “We got a good look at it, got a taste of how it takes prey and what it could do. Between us, Athena and I should be able to create a clear image of it from our memories. If there’s records of anything matching its description and abilities, it shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

Athena, standing beside me, squeezed my shoulder gently. “The important thing is that it can’t hurt anyone now.”

Ben nodded. “She’s right. That is the most important thing.”

Artemis huffed. > She rubbed up against Ben’s leg until he crouched down to scratch her ears and rub her neck, making her purr happily. >

I snorted a laugh and Athena giggled. As always, Artemis knew how to shake us out of our dour moods.

Ben looked up and smiled. “I have a feeling a joke was just made at my expense.”

“Maybe,” Athena and I said together, with feigned innocence.

He chuckled softly and ruffled Artemis’s ears once more before rising. “It’s like hazing at the police academy all over again. Speaking of whom...let’s go let the police know they can come cordon off the area now.”

“I want to keep watch over this thing’s remains,” I said seriously. “Considering the way my artificial sunlight weakened it earlier, the real thing should take care of what's left of it come dawn.”

We all looked up together, and saw stars peeking through the clouds. It would be a sunny morning, thank goodness.

“Sounds like a plan,” Ben said. “I’ll go let them know.”

He gave me a long, searching look, then a quick kiss before he jogged off towards the street at the edge of the park where the police would, by now, be waiting. I leaned heavily on my cane, glad of the knee brace and trying to ignore the dull throbbing pain that had started during the rush to get back to Athena and Artemis.

“Rough night,” Athena observed casually, and I sensed her desire to say something. She quickly held it back and buried it, hiding whatever it was from me.

“Hey,” I said softly, my chest aching a little. “What was that?”

“It’s nothing, Alys, really,” she said. Then sighed and added very gently, “I’m just worried about you.”

I turned towards her fully. “Athena, sister, you never have to hide anything from me. What’s worrying you?”

She blinked rapidly and wiped away tears, startling me. “You’ve been pushing so hard to get better, and getting so little sleep...and tonight you lost control of your magic. I know you didn’t mean for that spell to be so intense.”

“Athena,” I said softly, taking two steps to her and folding her into my arms. I had to rest some of my weight against her, but she took it without protest and held me tightly, burying her face against my neck. I sighed softly. “The last few months have been very hard on you, haven’t they.”

“I didn’t want you to notice,” Athena whispered against my neck, sniffling a little. “You already had so much to deal with...”

“Oh, Athena,” I hugged her tighter and rested my head against hers. I looked down and saw Artemis sitting at our feet, watching us with concern etched into her feline features. >

Artemis shook her head. >

I held Athena close, staring down at Artemis in surprise. How had I not noticed this going on? It would have been bad enough if they’d been friends or actual siblings...but it was worse, because they were my familiars, bound to me through magic as extensions of my mind, heart and soul. They were as much a part of me as my right hand...and I had, metaphorically speaking, been hurting that hand without noticing. I’d been using them as emotional crutches, much as I use my cane, without realizing how hard it was on them.

> I whispered to them, reaching down with one hand to caress Artemis as she rose up and planted her forepaws against me and Athena for balance. >

> Artemis said firmly. >

> Athena said. >

> I replied, feeling the tears slipping down my cheeks and knowing that the pain behind them was really, genuinely mine for the for first time in a while. >

> Athena assured me, relaxing a little. >

> Artemis added, nuzzling my shoulder before dropping back to all fours. >

Athena and I both laughed teary laughs, but I agreed silently. I’d find some way to do something special for them. But just then, the best I could do was keep them close to me, telling them over and over how much I loved them, and promising that I’d talk to Dr. MacMoran about my control issues again.

That was how Ben found us five minutes later as the Swindon police moved in to cordon off the area. He raised an eyebrow and glanced around. “Um...if you three want to go back to the B&B, I can cover things here until dawn.”

Artemis padded over to rub against his leg, then trotted off towards the woods. >

Ben looked bemused. “Off to check the perimeter?”

“Something like that,” I said, my smile starting to return.

Athena gently detached from me, wiping her eyes. “Sorry. We had a bit of a breakthrough.”

“So I see,” Ben replied, smiling gently at us. “Everything going to be okay?”

Athena nodded. “Everything will be fine. I’d better keep half an eye on Artemis...if she runs into something out there, she might try to take it on by herself.”

To Ben’s surprise, she stopped to give him a tight hug before jogging off after Artemis.

I watched them go, then sighed and leaned heavily on my cane. “I can’t believe I did that to them.”

Ben stared at me blankly. “Huh?”

I shook my head a little. “I don’t think I’m quite as healed as I’ve been pretending,” I said quietly. “I think I’ve been using them as...as emotional crutches, I guess.”

“Ah,” Ben said uncertainly. “Huh?”

I smiled a little. “Like my cane, only leaning on their stability and emotions to maintain my own.”

Ben winced appreciatively. “Oh. Ouch.”

I nodded. “I want to do something special for them, by way of apology.” I sighed. “I just have no idea what.”

“You’ll think of something. In the meantime, the important thing is that you’ve taken a big step towards healing.” He looked down at me, concerned. “Promise me you’ll talk to Dr. MacMoran about this.”

“I promise,” I said, then moved closer to him and wrapped my left arm around his waist. “You’ve been very patient with me too.”

“You’re worth a little patience,” he said, draping his arm lightly across my shoulders. “Anyway, the local police are going to cordon off the park until we give them the all-clear. Do you think there was more than one of those things?”

“We don’t even know what it was,” I said ruefully, “but I sincerely hope not. One was plenty. Maybe I’ll lay some enchantments onto Athena’s shieldblade. I was thinking about doing it before I was injured.”

“Add some protective charms to Artemis’s collar?” Ben suggested.

I nodded. “Also a good idea.”

“Thanks. You could give Artemis a year’s supply of catnip,” he said, his tone gently teasing.

“Athena might get into it by accident.” My lips almost twitched into a smile at the memory. “She tried to give Artemis a catnip toy a few months ago. I found her sprawled on the sofa, flushed and giggling. It was kind of adorable, but she was useless for hours, and had something like a hangover for a little while after it wore off.”

Ben chuckled appreciatively. “I’d’ve liked to have seen that.”

“She was terribly embarrassed about it afterwards. She hadn’t expected it to have an effect on her.”

“I’m a little surprised it did myself,” he admitted. “Still, it’d make one heck of a practical joke.”

“Yes it would,” I agreed.

“Do you want some of the creature’s remains sent to Hollis or Jonathan?” Ben asked, steering the subject back to our work.

“Both, I think. It’s more Jonathan’s field than Hollis’s, but I’d like to run some experiments myself. If you can swing it.”

“I’m pretty sure I can. After we’re sure the thing’s really dead, that is. Do you think that thing was really feeding on you somehow?”

With the adrenaline dying down and the emotionally charged aftermath fading, I was starting to feel drained again. “Pretty sure, yeah,” I said with a nod. “I’m exhausted. More than I should be.”

He squeezed me gently. I snuggled close to his side and rested my head against his shoulder. Athena and Artemis rejoined us about a half an hour later, and together we stood and silently watched the sun rise.

Then the first rays of sunlight touched the creature’s remains, a few wisps of dark smoke rose up from the ashes, but that was all.

“Well,” Ben said with obvious relief, “that’s done. I’ll get everything packed up and shipped off to the appropriate people.”

“I guess Athena, Artemis and I will head for the Central Library to see if we can figure out what that thing was,” I said wearily.

“What we’re going to do,” Athena said firmly, “is go back to the B&B and get some sleep. At least eight hours worth. The Central Library will still be there tomorrow.”

I was about to protest when Ben bent and whispered in my ear, “Want me to join you later?”

I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face.

“Yes.” Cuddling with Ben and Athena...getting some more real, restful sleep...was too alluring to resist. The Library could wait.