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Around the back of the shrine was the priest’s vegetable garden.

A short picket fence with tight slats encircled the space, likely to keep out potential pests.

Inside, deep planters were stacked neatly to head height, bearing a variety of root vegetables, herbs, and fungi, most of which I didn’t recognize at a glance.

A swell of admiration for the obvious amount of effort that had gone into the design and upkeep washed through me.

“You’ll be able to bathe later if you wish.” Cantal gestured to a spout and rope dangling off the edge of the roof. “The water reservoir will be full after last night’s rain. You’ll have to be quick if you’d all like a turn, though.”

It took me a moment to determine what he meant, but once I did, I pumped my fists in excitement. “A shower!” I exclaimed. “Thank you.”

“Of course.” He fetched a bucket sitting by the fence and dumped out the water inside. “Why don’t you start by telling me how much you know about mana ?”

This was general knowledge for most people in the fae realm, whether they could use it or not.

Jük and Vee had told me a little about my changing magic once I’d gotten a handle on the language; that had been the first time I heard the term mana .

I summarized for Cantal’s sake. “It’s an extra element—an energy all around us, in the air, the water, the ground.

Mages can draw from it at will to fuel their abilities.

Its presence also makes us stronger, faster, and live longer. ”

“Right.” Cantal entered the garden and began the tedious process of examining each plant for vermin. When he found a colorful little slug/caterpillar scaling a stem or clinging to the underside of a leaf, it went in the bucket. “The types of magic?” he asked as he worked.

“Making, changing, mending, and breaking. And the gifts, which vary.”

A distracted grunt of approval told me I got it right. “And what have you learned to do with mana so far? Tell me about your abilities.”

That one was harder to answer. I had the basics down.

Was there anything that made my abilities unique?

“At first, I studied anatomy and mannerisms to make the changes convincing. I practiced speed and variety until I could be fast and get different materials right—fur and fleece, scales, feathers, that sort of thing. I can keep the change small, like if I need to cut something. But I can also change my whole body if the situation calls for it.”

Cantal shot me a strange look. “Is that all? Do you change things external to yourself?”

“I learned to change my clothes with me,” I offered, shifting on my feet under his beady stare. “What do you mean, ‘is that all’? Is that a problem? ”

“Problem,” Cantal repeated as he plucked another slug. “No. Not exactly. Most learn it the other way around—using objects before they practice on themselves. But… perhaps there’s something different about your ability. When did you first start using magic?”

“Let me think.” Those memories were faint, living in a dusty corner somewhere in the darker recesses of my mind.

My first transformation scared the shit out of my mam?e and papai.

A stray dog came at me, and I sprouted feathers in my desperation to get away.

My primo took a video that ended up on the Internet.

The rest, as they say, is history. “I guess I was six or seven?”

“You transformed yourself?”

“Yes. Not well, but I had the feathers.”

Cantal felt around in the planter, tilling the wet, compacted dirt with his fingers as he digested my words. Watching an old man do manual labor on his own was all kinds of wrong.

“Are you sure I can’t help?”

“I’m sure.” He shook off the dirt and moved to the next planter.

“Given what you’ve told me, I have a feeling that you’ll find this particular technique easy.

The first part, at least. It involves drawing in mana the same way you usually do, but instead of channeling it into the change, you’ll keep it inside.

It may be uncomfortable at first. Like heartburn. ”

“Great. No pain, no gain.” That uniquely human phrase didn’t get me any more recognition than the last. I forged ahead. “And after that?”

“After that comes learning to make. Making and changing aren’t all that different.

Instead of changing something that already exists into another thing using mana as the catalyst, you’ll start with mana .

Once you’ve summoned enough, tell it what form to take, the same way you get your body to respond to you during a change.

It will take practice to attune your attention. ”

“I’m not afraid of a little hard work,” I assured him. It had taken me years to fine-tune my changing abilities, but I hadn’t had so much as an inkling of what to do. This would be a walk in the park compared to feeling my way through with instinct alone.

“Oh, that’s not the hard part.” Cantal gave a low chuckle.

“The hard part is changing it back to energy and letting it go. It’s counter-intuitive.

Once you get the hang of it, though…” The planter beside him began to warp under his hand, twisting in on itself and reaching upward in the same movement.

In a matter of seconds, the vegetation within was cradled in the boughs of a large tree.

Stray clumps of dirt skittered down the trunk, narrowly missing another planter.

“Wow,” I breathed.

The demonstration continued. Much like when Cantal transformed back to himself in the woods, the tree hissed and smoked, then deflated and shrank.

Now I knew what I was seeing: matter melting away into nothing as mana returned to the air it came from.

It should have been impossible, and yet…

the laws of science didn’t have a place in the world of magic.

“That’s incredible.” I cracked my knuckles. “Okay, I’ll try it. Should I start with something in particular? Are there any levels to it?”

Cantal didn’t reply until the planter was back to the right size and shape.

“You could say that. I recommend you start by taking in mana and holding it. Get used to the feeling of having more than usual inside you for an extended duration. Once you’ve gotten to that point, you can give making a try.

Normally, I would recommend you first do something outside of yourself…

summoning an element or similar. But it could be that you pick it up quickly. ”

“I have been told that I’m an excellent student.” In any case, Jük and Vee had been impressed when I’d gotten to a conversational level of the Ishameti language within my first year living across The Rift.

The cleric didn’t miss a beat. “While humility is not technically a commandment, I believe it’s still considered something to strive for among the general population. ”

A puff of air left my nose. Reaching my hands out in front of me, palms up, I tried to clear my mind and focus on the task at hand. Mana, mana, mana …

My magic inhabited a particular place inside me.

I often pictured it as a cave in my chest where an assortment of creatures lived, and I only had to reach out and take what I needed.

The thought of being able to transform into something beyond any of those had me giddy.

I could be a bear or dragon. I could take pieces from multiple sources, as Cantal had when he took his beast form. I could make myself wings!

“We’ll work on this later,” the cleric announced, breaking my concentration.

He came toward me with his bucket of slugs.

“I have to finish some things before I can watch you. The autumn equinox isn’t far off, and it’s one of the only times we get any visitors.

Can you find enough to do until this evening? ”

“Can I—” Miffed, I followed him to the edge of the woods, where he dumped the contents of the bucket into the underbrush. “Yes, I’ll be able to entertain myself. I’m not a child.”

“Good. Go. Do so.” Cantal turned back to me and made a shooing motion.

I huffed as he strode past me. He was doing me a favor; I should be grateful for whatever time I got.

I hovered by the garden another moment in case he changed his mind, but he appeared invested in his work.

The others would probably be out a while longer, but I could get my own workout in and steal the first shower while they were gone.

Solid plan. Mentally patting myself on the back, I headed back toward the building.