With her injured hand, Penelope reached into her pocket and retrieved a small and empty vial. Then she dipped the bottle into the brew and gave everyone their share of the bubbling potion. When it was my turn, she flashed me a small smile before I tipped my head back and drank the bitter brew. I shuddered as it seeped down my throat, and it felt like it was burning my insides as it traveled down my body.
“Fuck, that’s absolutely disgusting,” Akira grunted as she shook her head. “Satan, it tastes like gremlin piss.”
“I know,” Penelope sighed before she tilted her head back and swallowed her ration, “but if it feels like it’s burning your insides, that means it’s working. Okay, now for the familiars.”
We watched as Penelope carefully took the last dose of the potion and made sure each familiar had drunk their share before she returned to join us in the spread-out circle.
That’s fucking gross, Alexander spat in my head.
“Too bad,” I muttered. “You’ll need a disguise as well.”
“Now that we’ve gotten that over with,” Vanessa sighed before she stared at Beatrix with her stern blue eyes. “Miss Beatrix, would you please perform the charm now, while the potion is still sizzling in our bodies?”
“Yes, of course, Professor,” Beatrix said with a small nod, and she was as pale as snow. “Everyone, you need to come a little closer and join hands, please. Then I want you all to close your eyes. Also, make sure your familiars are right behind you and touching you in some way.”
“Alex, you heard the woman,” I said. “Stand behind me and touch me with your wing.”
Okay, Cole, Alex replied with a long, drawn-out sigh.
We did as the light-haired brunette asked, and when our familiars were connected to us, I held hands with Circe and Morgana. I could feel them trembling as they grasped tightly onto me, and their breathing was raspy and shallow. I closed my eyes, and when I did so, I could feel each woman’s energy coursing through my body as we connected like one evil entity. Darkness took over our bodies, and I knew the lord of hell was by our sides even before Beatrix began to utter her charm.
“Satanas rogamus, audi nos,” she whispered, but it was loud enough for us to hear. “Dissimulandum nobis transitum maris regna mundi sol nocte!”
Another shrill wind swept through the forest and nearly knocked us off our feet, but it also sent a powerful and pleasant shiver up my spine. Yet, despite the intense and gratifying darkness, a painful sensation overcame my senses, and suddenly, it felt like my bones were going to snap in half and my muscles were going to melt off my body. I could feel my skin shifting, and small bits of fleshy flaps were growing all over me. Even though I was in searing pain, I kept my hands tightly wrapped around Circe and Morgana’s hands, and I knew they were both in the same amount of agony as they stifled their screams.
“Whatever you do,” Beatrix grunted. “Keep your eyes closed!”
I gritted my teeth in pain as my body morphed into something else entirely, and I could even feel the hair on my arms falling off as my insides and outsides changed into whatever Beatrix had incanted. Finally, the torture stopped, and I slowly peeled my eyes open. Then my jaw nearly dropped in surprise when I looked at the other women.
Each witch possessed brightly-hued eyes and multi-colored, scaled-covered flesh. No matter how short some of their hair was before, it was now down to their waists and pulled back into fishtail braids, and they wore simple peasant dresses with dark hoods and black leather boots. Their features were the same, but the shape of their eyes was a little narrower, and their noses were slightly more pointed. Their hands were webbed, and when they turned to look at one another, I could see gills flapping behind their ears.
I looked down at my hands and found they were covered entirely in pale scales that glittered dimly under the sun, and when I touched my face, I could feel the rough, fishlike texture all over my cheeks, nose, and forehead.
Ugh, wow, master… Alexander began in my head. You look… remarkably different and also a bit taller from where I’m standing.
I turned around to look down at him, and my face broke into a smile as I suppressed a laugh. He was now a small, harmless seagull, and so were the other familiars, and when they realized they all had wings, they flew into the air and perched themselves on our shoulders.
“Unholy shit,” Akira chuckled, and even her voice sounded different, like it was five octaves higher. “Wait, what the hell is wrong with my voice?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Beatrix answered in a piercing tone. “Sea-like creatures simply tend to have higher-pitched voices.”
“Well, the point is that it worked,” I said, and I too was shocked by the sound of my own voice.
“Exactly,” Vanessa whispered, and then she blushed like she was embarrassed by how different she sounded. “Now, let’s get a move on, shall we?”
“What about the elk?” Revna asked with wide, glowing ice-blue orbs. “We obviously can’t bring them with us.”
“Let them wander through the woodland,” Vanessa suggested. “If we need their aid, we can summon them whenever we please.”
So, we willed our bonded elks to wander through the forest, and as I watched them leave, I quickly prayed to Satan to keep them safe. Then, when they were out of sight, the newly winged
