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A gray haze of energies whipped aroundwind, a storon operated in; blue and green and black e And I realized that I didn’t enter the gray place--it originated froht and the questions one But the light-dragon was looking atmy eyes, as if it saw me fully for the first tihtly out of sync But ed Bruiser, whipping so fast it was a rush of light and shadow, all teeth and snakelike tongue and spattered rainbows

Tiray energies, cold on le hard thrust, up through its belly, angled toward its head, his feet following as the thing rippled and tried to lash away

Gee, still bleeding, fell to his backside, legs sprawled In the same instant, Leo stabbed directly overhead with his short sword, into the creature’s side, both blades buried in it Solass flooded down over Leo, and he murmured words that sounded like, "Lepree lumyear Larcencel Larcencel"

Faster than e, the creature curled back on itself, descended onto Leo,I could sround together

Leo went liics, a shocking wash of electricity that burnedcactus Together, we stabbed up at the thing It released Leo, snapping jaws and clacking teeth The creature shot up to the roof Around us, everyone, everything, flowed into a blur, speeding up, or perhaps we sped up, our ti overhead

As if ere suddenly the only things visible to it, the light-being focused on us, its eyes flashing like light through a stained-glassIt curled tightly, its tail lashing into a coil, its wings snapping into a half furl I sla as he and Leo had stood onlyvanished and we stood in the gray place of energy, Bruiser, the creature, and ain, the soundinto athe rubber

Bruiser slid into the ainst his, my backside just below his My sword shadowed his;his lead The swordplay was easy now, as Beast shared her power, her strength, and Bruiser led the way into the Spanish Circle of flashing, stabbing swords A dance I had always loved dancing with Bruiser

Our blades connected with the creature Bruiser’s sword, sharp, not the blunted sword I had been given, sliced it, slashing up through its scaled hide, along its side, lifting as he rose to his toes Light blasted out of the wound More of the liquid glass spurted toward us, but the gray energies of the change repelled it, and it slid away, to puddle on the floor

Pulling on Beast’s strength, I ralare of light, through the scales of the light-dragon

The creature screah and thrashed its tail Froht and darkness Heard a pop of displaced air, the sound a vamp makes when it rushes fro around her legs, va vae I had never heard and leaped into the air Her ics shot out and surrounded the creature like a net of power She wrapped her aron and latched on, as if to ride it

The dragon-creature pulled itself free of our weapons It knotted into a coil again, bucked to res once, and dove away, crashing through the closed door at the back of the practice rooon was one Bethany landed on the floor and bounded back up She raced to Bruiser’s side and ran her hands up and down his body Then she disappeared again with that little pop of air I growled, the vibration filling the air in the gray place of the change arning

For a ainst each other, our backs supporting our weight Moving slowly, he stood and stepped away, pulling hi with a shudder that looked like he’d been tased Bruiser was breathing hard, dripping with sweat

I/we sniffed hi Bruiser dropped to his knees near ed on the other side ofwhat to do He breathed, his motions smoother He looked up at me and his mouth moved "Jane Come back"

I/we stared at hi He pointed at my hands "Co the weapons My wrists, hands, and fingers were pelted and tawny,human, nails curled and sharp Looked lower and saw pelted and clawed feet, paw-like, except that they were far larger than Beast’s--six inches across, claws extended and gripping the wood floor Splinters caobbets from the practice mat littered the floor around led through me, and felt myself separate from Beast at some mental, almost spiritual level

I dropped the practice sword and the vamp-killer and touched s, like small tusks at both my upper and lower jaw My forehead and nose were huers were thick and it was hard to feel, but I was pelted all over my face and down my neck I pulled out my shirt and looked down The pelt paled to cream and ended just above my breasts and my slim waist of solid muscle The pelt ran down under ers I bent to my pants and pulled the ankles up Pelt as far as I could pull the spandex Bulky cat feet with huge knees and thighs No as I looking into my waistband Crap I was half-forht had been redistributed, my body cast in horror-ain, starting to think like a human, not the half-and-half I’d becoht was, I’ laughter Even in the Party City of the South, I couldn’t go outside without a mask or a deep hood to hide behind I’d scare the locals