1
Sapphire walked through the tall blades of grass, her blue eyes scanning her surroundings. She took in every sight, sound, and scent as she traveled.
Behind her, she heard her companion shapeshift and follow her. Sapphire scanned the land they traveled through, ensuring there was no danger. Her companion Tara, often protected her but Sapphire was the familiar, the one chosen to protect her at all costs. She was the one whose life was dedicated to protecting her companion.
Sapphire froze and arched her back, her ears flattening against her head. Her black fur bristled as she sensed something strange in the air. She immediately moved to Tara’s side, sensing a strong evil nearby, and warned her companion of what would come.
Tara Alexandra Erikson watched the familiars she was overseeing travel through the meadow behind the Ocean Falls Academy’s main building.
She watched the four familiars—a fox, a horse, a bear cub, and a hummingbird—explore the grass field. She’d been training them all day, and though her shift at the Familiar Veterinary Clinic was over, she rewarded them by taking them out for a while.
Her familiar, Sapphire, a beautiful black cat with sapphire blue eyes that seemed always to glow, sat beside her legs, watching the other familiars with curious eyes. Sapphire came with Tara everywhere she went. Tara worked in the vet clinic, which allowed her to be with her with no problems since veterinarians were permitted to have their familiars be in their physical forms. Sapphire had chosen Tara on her fifteenth birthday and they’d been inseparable since.
Tara watched as the familiars enjoyed the openness of the meadow and felt her inner beast stir inside her. Seeing the other animals in the meadow made it beg to be released. She felt her skin quiver as the urge to shift rapidly grew too strong to resist.
She studied the familiars and decided she could shapeshift for a little bit. The familiars always listened to her so she could join them until it was time to go inside.
She shapeshifted into her wolf form and a contented sigh escaped from her lips as the feeling of peace washed over. She trotted to the others, joining them as they ran through the field. She allowed herself to relax and have fun for a few minutes. She’d been too tired to shapeshift last night after work and her inner animal was irritable and agitated all day, making her day seem dreadfully long.
She allowed herself to enjoy being free to roam wherever she wanted until she noticed Sapphire wasn’t by her side like usual. She paused and scanned the meadow until she saw her familiar lurched low in the grass, her eyes flattened against her head, lips drawn back in a hiss.
Tara tensed as anxiety rushed through her. She recalled the day the demon attacked the Academy six months ago, and how Sapphire acted was similar to before she heard the demon attack the lobby. She and Skylar had been in her room, getting ready to go out with their triplet sister, Tory, when the terrible events of that day took place.
Tara felt her breath catch in her throat, her body quivering, threatening to shapeshift into her human form as anxiety threatened to overtake her. She forced herself to breathe slowly, closing her eyes and thinking of tranquil thoughts until she calmed down. Her body became still, and her wolf form remained.
She’d always suffered from terrible anxiety attacks that would come out of nowhere. Whenever she would have them, she would involuntarily shapeshift which was painful unlike when she would shapeshift with her own will.
Her anxiety had increased since the demon came through the portal. She’d been having nightmares about that day every night since it took place. She kept waking up, fearing it was still here even though Tory had explained it was gone and never coming back.
She’d signed up for therapy to deal with these issues last week. She kept telling herself that she was still reeling from that day and would bounce out of the bubble of anxiety that’d overwhelmed her, but the suffocating feelings hadn’t lessened. They’d gotten worse. She knew she needed help and therapy was the first place she needed to start.
She followed Sapphire, her senses on alert, and braced herself for what they would find. Behind her, she heard the familiars start to follow them, noticing something was wrong.
They went into the woods that loomed behind the meadow. Tara felt the fur on her neck rise as the sense of danger grew thick. The sense of fight or flight rose inside her as she sensed danger looming ahead.
She wanted to turn around and take everyone with her and have someone investigate what was there but she couldn’t go back into the building and have someone look around because she had anxiety.
She turned to go, about to call out to the others to head back to the Academy but a voice rang through the air, stopping her in her tracks. She frowned and perked her ears, trying to hear what the voice was saying but it was in a strange language she’d never heard before. The voice was deep and low, a male’s voice.
She and the others followed the direction of the voice, her senses on high alert as she braced herself for what they found.
She came across a tall sorcerer kneeling on the ground, tracing a symbol she’d never seen before. She couldn’t decipher the symbol but it still sent a frightened chill down her spine. It was made of four swirling circles with an unknown letter in the middle. A sense of evil and danger hovered in the air, bringing all her senses forward. Sapphire’s eyes narrowed even more as she gazed at the sorcerer.
Her heart dropped when she saw the sorcerer hold a Capturer in the air, continuing the strange chant, and the powerful globe that captured portals starting to glow bright. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized what he was about to do.
She instinctively shapeshifted into her human form and yelled at the top of her lungs, “STOP!”
The sorcerer jolted in surprise and leaped to his feet, spinning around to face her. When he saw her, his expression filled with horrified recognition. “Tory! I, um, I’m -”
She stepped forward, Sapphire beside her, her fangs bared in warning at the sorcerer. “I’m not Tory. I’m her sister, Tara. What are you doing out here?”
The sorcerer quickly composed himself. A cool, charming smile graced his face, almost making him appear handsome. Tara could tell he won over a lot of people with that smile but based on what she saw moments ago and a dark, bleak aura that surrounded him, she didn’t fall for it for a moment. Even though she just met this person, she knew he was someone dangerous who hid behind a perfect smile. “My apologies. I work with your sister. You two are identical, I can’t tell you apart. Twins?”
“Triplets. We have another sister.”
His smile widened, and a strange look in his eyes made unease rise inside her. “How interesting. Are you three identical?”
“Yes,” Tara said curtly, wanting to get away from this man but needing to know what he was doing with that Caputer. “What are you doing out here? Caputers aren’t allowed outside of the Portals Lab.”
A look of irritation briefly passed over the man’s face, so quick if Tara had blinked she would’ve missed it. “I was taking additional notes about the portal this Capturer holds for my report. I know it’s bending the rules but I wanted to be sure my report was as thorough as possible. I promise, I am guarding it heavily and have not allowed anything to happen to it.”
Tara arched a brow, not believing a word. “Then I suggest you get it back to the Lab now.”
He nodded though she could see the faintest trace of irritation in his expression. “I will at once.”
Tara tried to get another look at the symbol he’d traced in the ground but he rubbed his foot over it, erasing it before she could. An involuntary shiver went through her body, the symbol burned into her brain.
He gave her a cool smile and extended his hand to her. “I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Caius Moonblood. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Tara.”
Tara forced herself not to grimace as she put her hand in his and shook it. “You as well, Mr. Moonblood.”
He tipped his head to her and walked to the building. She watched him leave, the feeling of unease stronger than ever as she watched his departure.
