Taming the Beast

I dismounted from my horse and bowed.

“What a fine day for a visit,” he said. I didn’t know if he was talking to me or not.

“I’ve come seeking your help.”

“Is that so?” His tone was flat and totally without inflection. “What is it?”

“I, uh, I used the potion. I’ve been using it ever since I was a child.”

“And there’s something wrong?”

“It tasted bitter when I drank it the last time. More bitter than usual. Smelled a little bad.”

“When did you make it?”

“Two months ago.”

“It shouldn’t have gone bad yet.” He stroked his beard. It was long and white, and sometimes I thought that it was fake since it hung down to his knees. “What else can you tell me?”

“I woke up today with a nosebleed.”

“Preposterous. Were-shifters can’t bleed from the nose. You must have fought somebody.”

“I didn’t. I woke up with a bloody nose.”

“Bloody hell.” The wizard squinted at me. “Come into the cottage.”

It was a very large cottage. For a villager, it would be a house. But the wizard insisted that it was a cottage, and nobody wanted to become a toad. Therefore, it was and would always remain a cottage. How he’d put together a house this far away from civilization without any apparent help was a mystery best left alone.

When I came inside, a very large tabby cat went straight for me, winding around my ankles while mewling. The cat wanted to be friendly.

“That’s never happened before,” I said. Cats and werebears did not mix. Both were vicious predators, though they had different prey most of the time.

“Sit here,” the wizard said. “Stick out your tongue.”

“My tongue?”

“Did I stutter?” the wizard snapped. “Tongue.”

I stuck my tongue out. The wizard had some sort of wand in his hand. He passed it over my tongue.

“Report.”

“Sorry?” I looked around. The wizard’s home was empty except for the two of us and the cats.

The wand began to glow from within, musical chiming coming from it.

“Is that so?” the wizard asked.

“Who are you talking to?” I looked around, but we were still alone.

“The wand, of course.” His tone made it clear that I was an idiot who was nearly blind. I shut up. In my kingdom, I wouldn’t do that for anyone else. But the wizard knew things that I didn’t and saw things that did not exist in my world. And he was my best hope.

He put the wand next to his ear, nodding as if he were having a conversation with it. The wizard stroked his wand gently, then he put it down.

“Your curse is ending.”

My mouth was open before I could control it. “What?”