Bart

  Dad transformed back to human form and helped me drag the body of the humongous cat back to dry land. I used my healing spell to finish up curing the rest of my cuts.

  I observed Dad’s natural healing ability stitch up his bites and gashes leaving nothing but a hint of a scar as if the cut happened 100 years ago.

  I had decided a while back, there was no way I could take my dad back to Pierre Part. That would just be asking for trouble. If I had to, I would make the houseboat bus livable again, and, who knows, with a little help from Dad, we could make it a home for me, Starla, and the wild werewolf creature I would have to figure out a way to tame.

  I had a bad feeling this whole magic thing was only just beginning. I also believed several more places would suffer similar events. Something nagged at me that if these powerful events happened in larger cities or places with more animals, the consequences would be catastrophic.

  I figured more people might also get magical powers like we had, but in some cases that could be bad if the people who got powers were already A-holes.

  No way to stop that now.

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  I pulled out my trusty Case knife, jabbed it into the cat’s belly just below the sternum and got to work field dressing the beast.

  I hadn’t made it to the end of my first slice, when the earth shook with tremendous force. The gravitational force around us was enhanced by what felt like 10 times the G’s pressing both of us to the ground, holding us there like a wrestler pinning us for the three count.

  I watched as energy flooded over the area, flooding the swamp in a purple and blue haze.

  After only a few seconds, the energy receded as if its mission was complete, and I could finally move.

  “What the heck was dat?” Dad asked, stretching his arms and popping his neck.

  “I have no clue! It felt powerful though. I don’t know if there’s anything we can do about it either.”

  I did have a clue. Something in my gut told me it was the beginning of the end. The magic under the surface could not be contained any longer and was eventually and catastrophically going to explode.

  I looked over at Dad. He knew it too.

  This is the end of Book 1: Bayou Bart - The Awakening. Book 2: The Elementals will be available soon.

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