“Ohmagod.” The only way Reeve knew she was speaking aloud was the sensation of her sore jaw moving against the cold stone floor. She pushed herself up to sit against the wall she’d impacted. The cottony sensation and accompanying whine she’d experienced during the lightning storm were back. She looked around. Leaf, Dusk, and Dawn were also struggling to rise. She didn’t see her dad anywhere, and a dark-skinned woman dressed in a white fleecy gown and white feather boa lay unconscious on the floor next to Bunce, who was now lying on her back. The whine began to fade, and Reeve dazedly watched Walter respawn on the bed two spots to the right of her. “Ow,” she thought she heard him say.

Reeve pulled up her logs.

The Wonderful Wa summons Lightning and Thunder Clap.

The Wonderful Wa strikes Reavyr (II) with Lightning using Direct Contact Amplifier for 25 points of damage.

Reavyr (II) has died. Respawn in 30 seconds.

The Wonderful Wa hits Silver Leaf with Thunder Clap (AOE) for 8 points of damage.

The Wonderful Wa hits you with Thunder Clap (AOE) for 5 points of damage.

The Wonderful Wa hits Dusk with Thunder Clap (AOE) for 10 points of damage.

The Wonderful Wa hits Dawn with Thunder Clap (AOE) for 9 points of damage.

The Wonderful Wa (impundulu form, unarmored) is in the AOE of her own spell, Thunder Clap, and receives 9 points of damage. The Wonderful Wa is unconscious.

Reeve rolled forward toward a hands and knees position, but her robe’s sleeves caught under her legs, and she couldn’t extend her arms sufficiently and face planted onto the stone.

“Oh. My. Freaking. Guhwhu—“ She tripped again as she tried to rise and began an awkward hopping dance in an effort to get the robe out from under her without going down again. Making it fully upright, robe finally out from under her, she stood still and grunted loudly, arms straight at her side, fists tight. Grasping the robe to raise the hem from the ground, she strode forward determinedly and then dropped the robe as she sank to her knees next to the white-clad woman. She grasped one of the woman’s shoulders through the boa that swathed it and shook her gently. Then more firmly. She watched the woman’s toneless face rock back and forth for a few seconds before her eyelids fluttered. Reeve sat back. The flutters became blinks. After a minute or so, her eyes managed to open fully and focus on Reeve. The woman smiled, revealing beautifully white teeth that sparkled against the backdrop of her dark skin.

Reeve sighed. “Hi, Mom.”

The woman’s smile deepened into that of parental love, and she opened her mouth and promptly contracted like an implosion, leaving an extremely startled-looking hammer-headed bird lying on its back, wings half extended. The bird’s sticklike legs waved awkwardly in the air for a moment, until the wings began trying to assist in righting it. It rolled around uncomfortably on the smooth stone for a few seconds before its tail rose higher in the air and, by tucking its neck to the side, the bird rolled tail over head onto its chest, face pressed sideways against the smooth stone and stick legs extended out behind it. Still using the wings in a fashion that suggested the bird thought they were arms, it jerkily pushed itself up onto angular wing edges and then what Reeve thought might be bird knees—ankles? wrists?—before making it to its feet. The bird fixed an eye on Reeve, who stared down at it from her kneeling position.

“Well, it was a nice moment while it lasted, Mom.”

Without speaking or providing any indication of its intentions, the bird expanded explosively into a full-sized, boa-wearing woman, knocking both Wanda and Reeve Williams unconscious.