The dark places of Ainsel’s mind had promised her pain if she returned to what she had been, but having four legs again didn’t hurt. It didn’t feel like anything at all, really. No memories washed over her. No fear consumed her. It didn’t even feel unexpectedly right. Her body had changed utterly, and it was her body still. That was all.

It was most peculiar. The worst part of it was the collar that had tightened around her neck and remained when all her clothes had vanished, and obviously the collar had not been part of who she’d once been. That at least made sense.

Ainsel stared down at her feet—cloven hooves smaller than her hands again—and took a sideways step, watching in fascination as they moved. But how did she do that? How did she coordinate so naturally?

Surely she ought to be feeling something.

Still watching her feet, she stumbled—

—and she was surrouned by angry, vengeful werewolves, barely restrained—

She stumbled, and they could restrain themselves no longer.

Zoë clawed at Tyler’s back, leaving bloody furrows behind. His skin twitched, but he neither howled nor released her. Instead he said, delight in his voice, “Great! Well done, Bradley—”

A familiar voice, gutteral, alien, growled, “Give me back my coat, human.” Zoë twisted herself and saw Galbaric looming over Bradley-from-school.

“~Kill her now~” commanded Tyler, and Zoë stopped caring about Galbaric. She wrenched herself upright, pulled Tyler’s hair, jabbed her fingers toward his eyes, tore at his ear, tried to drive her knees into his sternum. She had about as much impact as a kitten.

Bradley, surprise transmuting to a sneer in his voice, said, “Your coat? Oh, I see. I’m afraid it’s my coat now.”

Galbaric said something in another language and then what sounded like a stream of invective.

“Oh!” Bradley sounded delighted. “I understood that. My new artifact is such a gift. Now, stay still for now—”

As Zoë slumped, recouping her strength for another frenzied attempt to escape, Tyler finally turned toward Galbaric and Bradley, saying, “Come on, man, shit is speeding up—oh hell. You. You were what I didn’t foresee. Why the hell are you here? It’s far too soon.”

Bradley had his hand up, and energy swirled between him and Galbaric, who was moving as if tar encased him. His eyes were incandescent, but somehow, Bradley’s power held him. In response, he grated, “The unicorn stole my coat.”

“My coat now,” said Bradley smugly.

“Augh! You idiots. All of you!” A thread of panic wove through Tyler’s voice. “Stop it, both of you, now.”

Bradley’s hand dropped and the swirling power lessened—but only until Galbaric once again strode forward, his taloned hands flexing. Then once again the tar-like effect encased him. Bradley said casually, “Sorry, Tyler. I’m not giving this up, though.”

“You’d better pray you don’t regret it,” said Tyler, and the panic was gone again, replaced by an odd laughing note.

Then a blinding flash of light from the melee down the hill drew all their attention. The pack of wolves had been sent sprawling as if by an explosion, and they were slow getting to their feet.

In the center pranced Lucien, back in his native form. The light that radiated off his whole body was as bright as daylight, and it hurt Zoë’s eyes to look directly at him. Behind him cowered another unicorn: this one with terrified golden eyes and a shaggy silver mane. Blood streamed from several shallow tears along her coat, but a much smaller, moon-like glow radiated from her horn.

Zoë was so happy that Ainsel was still alive that she didn’t even mind seeing her true form. It turned out any form of Ainsel, as long as she was alive, was Ainsel’s best form.

“Go,” said Lucien, his quiet voice carrying.

Zoë couldn’t help echoing him as she wrenched herself up again, shouting, “Run, Ainsel!”

Ainsel’s head jerked up and those golden eyes met Zoë’s for a heartbeat. Then she spun on her heel, racing into the darkness, flanked by a black shadow. Zoë watched, her heart in her throat, as Ainsel’s flight became a long curve and she leapt and dodged around tombstones with a springy buoyancy, until she vanished around the curve of the land.

The wolves, shaking off the pain of the light, regrouped, closing cautiously on Lucien as his brilliance faded. His head sagged and he eyed the wolves tiredly.

“Stop,” shrieked Zoë, throwing everything she could into the shout—and the wolves hesitated. But Lucien didn’t take advantage of the moment, instead lifting his head again and looking at the sky.

Then Zoë’s feet touched the ground as Tyler set her down. He had an odd half-smile on his face. “She brought a damn dragon back to earth,” he muttered. “Ah well. Couldn’t have prediicted that.” He tipped Zoë’s head up with two fingers. “Look up.”

Lucien’s glow had faded, but a light still lingered in the sky: a corona of light, pouring down onto the hilltop. As she stared, the glow gathered around the cenotaph.

“~Everybody, go!~ Tyler’s shouted command hit like another hammer, and on the hill below, the wolves yelped and fled away from the graveyard.

“You too,” said Tyler softly. “I don’t want you here for this.”

Bewildered, aware only that something had gone wrong for Tyler and instead of that being a good thing somehow it was bad, Zoë took a step backwards.

“Your ride will be here—ah,” said Tyler, still with that half-smile. On the hillside above him, Ainsel burst through of the gathering incandescence, still flanked by her black shadow. Then they split apart, Remy heading toward Bradley and Galbaric, while Ainsel, beautiful, magical Ainsel, came straight to Zoë and Tyler.

And Tyler stepped back himself, giving Zoë a little wave. Then Ainsel sideswiped her and did a little spin to catch her as she fell. She pranced worriedly, looking up the hill as Remy inserted himself between Bradley and Galbaric and the tar-like capture effect pinned him instead.

As Zoë righted herself, trying not to think about how this was Ainsel beneath her, or about how fragile and delicate her unicorn form was, or what a heavy, terrible rider she’d be, Galbaric roared, “You insolent brat.” His hand came down on Remy’s neck scruff and then they both started rolling down the hill.

“Run,” said Tyler, and, her best friend clinging to her main, Ainsel ran.

Zoë looked over her shoulder as Ainsel and Galbaric and Remy galloped to the woods across the street from the cemetary. The circle of light at the top of the hill dimmed, and figures had appeared: human-shaped silhouettes that stretched as they moved out of the light. The last thing she saw was Tyler climbing the hill, weariness in his posture, as if going to speak with them.

A chill wind rattled the crisping leaves of autumn, and a few drifted down in front of Tyler as he picked his way through the forest the next morning. He’d changed his clothes, replacing the shirt Zoë had torn up, but there was an open wound on his arm that hadn’t been there before, and he moved like his body ached.

After a while, deep in the woods, he stopped and leaned against a tree and began to talk to thin air.

“Well, that happened. I bet you’re wondering who those folks that came from the hill are.” He ran a hand through his hair, tugging on it a bit. “Those were the first of 6571 new co-rulers of the world. My people. I wanted to keep them asleep.” He shook his head wryly. “Couldn’t get the last bit of magic I needed, though. I guess a murdered unicorn’s horn seemed like a good idea when we were murdering unicorns every other day, but now…”

He looked down at his hands for a moment and then glanced up, as if nudged by something. “Between that and the dragon coming back… They exert a kind of pressure on the world, dragons do. Things, magical things, kind of accelerate. And that new coat of Bradley’s… it’s been modified somehow. He’s as powerful as any of my kindred now. That was an exciting set of introductions—” He shook his head. “Just another problem to solve now.”

He fell silent again, tilting his head as the wind rattled the leaves again. A few cold drops of rain fell on his face.

“Well,” he finally said. “I just wanted to let you know what happened. You’ll be getting out of here soon if you’re smart, and I know Lucien at least is. I’ll hold down the fort here. They know I didn’t want them back again, but they’d all have done the same thing in my place. And I know this world, this time, in ways they don’t.”

Another pause, this one a hesitation as he tugged on his hair again. “Though if you don’t mind, I’d like to send the rest of the wolves here. I lost one of them last night and I don’t want to lose any more. They should go home, too.”

The silence dragged out.

“Well, I’ll send them here and you can do what you want. Figured it was best to warn you, though.”

He turned, and then half-turned back again as two girls stepped out of the thin air of a unicorn sanctuary: Ainsel, the magical collar gone, and Zoë.

They stood before Tyler hand in hand, and Ainsel said, “Wait.”