I was sitting by the stained glass window with a book in my lap and my mind wandering. I was flipping through pages of a book about enchanting. I was trying to find what the simplest and easiest enchantment was.

There were nearly endless options but I needed to start somewhere.

I had stopped at a page about enchantments that could make an object glow. I thought about my crystals and maybe picking one of them. Maybe make like a nightlight kind of thing. No risk of explosion from that, right?

I still had no idea how to do any of this, but I would figure it out. This and everything else.

I just needed a plan to start with.

Someone invisible knocked on the window. I looked up to see a hand that was transparent and glowing Echo Blue. I didn't know this person, but he was sitting there with his legs tucked to his chest and hand resting on the glass.

Frozen in a moment in time, decades ago minimum and possibility even centuries. And yet, he was sitting there across from me. Out of reach, but real.

He knocked again, once, pause, thrice, long pause, twice.

And then he was gone.

I closed the enchanting book with a sigh.

"You trying to tell me something M?" I asked. A rumble above my head confirmed it.

It was nice. To just have this.

I took a deep breath and sat up, holding the book in one hand and stretching upwards. Stepping through the room with calm steps and in the quiet went back to the workroom where I'd found it in the first place.

Jarec was in the room with Fethris. Jarec had stacks of red and black paper and was laying them out. The black squares separate and sitting by Fethris while the red were in small piles sorted by shade. Ranging from blood-like crimson to something that looked like poppy petals.

I didn't want to interrupt or mess with what they were doing. Besides, I felt relatively confident that it was the communication project.

Fethris was showing Jarec diagrams that made no sense to me at all. But they seemed to be having fun.

"Serafina," Jarec called as my back was turned.

I finished pushing the book back into place and spun to face him. "What's up?"

"We want to run a couple of tests this Saturday, do you have time?" He asked.

"Yeah sure. I wanted to ask you something too," I told him as I leaned back against the bookshelf.

Jarec blinked, "What?"

"I wanted to try and use a summoning spell. Figured it would be best to do it outside and with some precaution. I doubt anything bad will happen but I mean…" Who really knew with the curse? "Better safe than sorry."

"Didn't it try to kill you last time?" Fethris pointed out. Which was the reason for my caution but the reminder didn't help.

"I was wondering if you could explain its shape to me, actually," Jarec commented as he stood up from the table still covered in paper.

"I would if I remembered what it looked like clear enough. The memory's too hazy," I explained. Which was why I wanted to do this. I was probably the only person in the school who didn't know what kind of summon I had.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

Maybe even the only magical person my age.

"Wait. You don't know what it looks like?" Fethris asked. His tone confirmed my fears.

"We can go over why that makes me very sad and pitiable later," I told him. I wasn't sure how much of that I wanted to think about right now.

Jarec was grinning. Which I was proud of myself for only feeling a small hint of wariness over. "We can do this now, there's what, an hour before curfew?"

"Right now?" I asked. A single, lava-hot pulse went through my body, followed shortly by the accompanying stab of cold in my wrist.

"Unless you think you're going to explode or something," Fethris chimed in.

"I'll…probably be fine." I knew I didn't sound that confident, but it was the best I could do. "I want to do this. I want to at least try, if I fail then that's okay."

Jarec was packing up the paper, blue clouds floated around him. He placed the final stack on a cloud and they all disappeared.

"Come on, we need to try this," Jarec said as he went out the door a little too excited for this, considering the last time he saw my summon it nearly took my hand off.

"You can come too, if it makes you feel better," I told Fethris as I followed after Jarec.

"It doesn't, but I will anyway."

(*********)

We were standing in a small clearing in the woods around school. The plan was fairly straightforward. I would use a summon spell, and finally get a good look at my summon.

Except I couldn't remember the spell to do that. I know we were taught it. I'd seen the others cast it.

But my hands wouldn't stop shaking.

"Are you okay?" Fethris asked.

Jarec was sitting up on a branch above our heads. Silent but clearly waiting eagerly for me to just calm down and do the thing.

I took a very slow and deep breath. Then exhaled while counting to five. I could do this.

"You do know the spell, right?" Jarec asked.

"In theory. Never casted it though." Which he probably already knew but I still felt it was worth saying.

"Close your eyes, try to feel your magic in your veins," Fethris coached.

What he didn't know was that I could feel in every breath the lingering heat of my spark of power. I closed my eyes anyway. Foggy images of pink claws lingered on my eyelids. I brought my hands together, fingers spread and palms touching. I let the magic flow in my right hand, letting it pool and gather where my hands touched. It wasn't really how this was supposed to be cast but I was aiming for no accidents here.

I could feel it swirling around my fingers.

Pink claws. Heat. Please. Please. Let me be a little more like everyone else.

I pulled my hands apart and faced them in front of me. I just needed one. It could be small, that was fine. Just please work.

"Woah!" Fethris' yell made my eyes shoot open. "What the hells is that?!"

"That's why I wanted to do this. I've never heard of anything like it," Jarec sounded delighted.

I was just staring. It was staring back at me.

It was in a seated position, like it was waiting for an order. The front paws on the ground, the massive claws resting and relaxed. The limbs were thin and lanky, almost boney. The face was long narrow the jaws were full of jagged rough teeth as it seemed to be smiling at me. The back legs were massive, like it was folded up and ready to spring upwards to my height at a moment's notice. Its ears were perked up and tall. Like I had its full attention. It didn't have fur, instead it was covered in shards and jagged pieces of crystal. Small waves of heat radiated off every inch of it.

It was a werewolf. An emaciated one. Covered in crystals.

I summoned a werewolf. With massive claws and teeth!

I let out an ecstatic giggle. It might have been motivated by shock.

"Hi buddy, who's a good puppy?" I asked him as I put my hands on my knees to be face-to-face with the giant maw of very sharp looking teeth.

It didn't say anything, but it did start wagging its tail.

"What is that thing?" Fethris demanded. He sounded less panicked, but still a little alarmed.

"What, you've never seen a werewolf before?" I asked him.

"A what?" Jarec asked.

"He's just a big puppy," I cooed as I reached over to scratch him behind the ears. It wasn't really the same as petting a real dog, but the crystals had a fun texture. "You're not going to hurt me again, are you?"

Sure, he looked like he would be six feet if he stood up, but that was irrelevant. He was the goodest boy and he was mine.

It didn't matter that I was getting lightheaded. This was awesome!

The cold was spreading up my arm. I was going to have to go bed early tonight.

Not even him being pink could ruin this. I had a werewolf for a summon!

I was having the best day ever!

I had a little buddy now. With big claws. And covered in crystals.

I giggled again even I had to let him go. The exhaustion was deep in my bones now. I couldn't feel the warmth anymore, just the cold. It was like needles made of ice in my skin.

The werewolf faded like smoke in the wind. But knowing he was there, that I'd done it. It was worth the pain of the curse's retaliation. I wasn't scared.

I really did belong here.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.