Angela and Fer stood close to the portal. It was a strange, shimmering space, like a blur on her vision. The darkness and shifting curtains of rain made it ambiguous, a reflection of Fer and its own ambiguity. She hoped Fer would go through. It had not shown fear, but its movements were less certain.

“You think you can do it?” Angela asked.

“It doesn’t hurt?”

“No. It doesn’t hurt.”

“Last time I was brought through, I was someone else.”

“You’re stronger now than you were then. You’re what you’re supposed to be.”

“But she’s through there,” Fer said.

“You don’t have to fear the fairy anymore,” Angela said. “There’s worse, now. What Mallian plans will destroy the Kin, just when you’ve found your way to become one. Don’t you want a future? Time to grow into yourself?”

Fer looked at her, and Angela could not read its expression. Even in human form there was something alien about its face, animalistic, and it might have been smiling or grimacing.

Fer lowered its head and crouched down. Its shoulders hunched, limbs snapped straight and bent again, and it let out a low growl as its back arched. The sounds were sharp and damp, painful and ecstatic, and in moments Fer was a wolf, head lowered as it stared at the portal.

“Can you... understand me now?” Angela asked. She didn’t know how this worked. Was the Kin still a shapeshifter, or was it now a wolf with all of a wolf’s senses, abilities and understanding?

The creature didn’t even look at her. It stalked towards the portal and entered, disappearing from shadows into darkness.

Angela waited ten seconds and then moved forward herself. She was tensed and alert, ready to act as soon as she pushed through—hide, fight, or run. She tried to keep her eyes open but she could not. She was afraid of what she would see passing from the Fold into the world.

She emerged into cool, dry darkness. There was no rain, but a chill breeze made her shiver, drifting across the dusty reservoir bed and picking up silt to blow at her face. She crouched down and looked around, alert for movement. If she’d been seen, she would have only seconds to push back into the Fold and run.

A growl came from her left, and the wolf trotted into view. It inclined its head and set off, and Angela ran after it. Soon they were moving quickly up the gently sloping reservoir bed, the wolf’s nose to the ground.

After only a couple of minutes the creature stopped, head down low, belly brushing the ground. Angela fell onto her front beside it. She was panting hard, yet she could hardly hear the shapeshifter’s breathing.