"On your marks, get set, go!"

I took off, listening to the crowd cheer. I smiled, feeling the rush of exhilaration that always seemed to overtake me whenever I ran. It was Tuesday afternoon, and I was engaged in yet another Cross Country meet. I always loved the feeling I got whenever I went out running like this. I felt... alive and free, like nothing could hold me back. I watched a few other girls pass me right away, but I let go, grinning to myself. Let them run ahead of me, I thought. Let them burn out quickly and not have enough energy left to finish. I can always pass them later.

I continued running, feeling completely calm and peaceful. If I was feeling sad, I would run. If I was under a lot of stress, I would run. If I was feeling any kind of negative emotions, I would run. As long as I was out there, my legs moving, my heart beating, and my blood pumping, I was happy. I had read a study once showing that exercising like this raised the level of endorphins in the brain, leading to more happiness. I could tell from experience that this was true, which was why I tried to get out and run as much as I could.

As the race went on, though, I began to feel fatigue setting in. My muscles were aching, and they seemed to be begging me to stop running and slow down to a walk. For a moment, I considered giving in. Surely it wouldn't be that big of a deal to slow down just for a little bit, right? But I wasn't going to let myself give up like that. I had trained for this all summer, running almost every day to build up my endurance. I had made a promise to myself to not slow down, no matter what. I was going to run this entire race, even if it killed me.

Soon enough, I began nearing the end. I could see the finish line stretching out in front of me, beckoning me to run across it at last! As I approached it, though, I noticed some other girls running ahead of me. I grinned, knowing that this was precisely what I had saved my energy for. I immediately broke into a full sprint, dashing for the finish line as fast as I could go. I pushed my body to the limit, thinking of nothing but sprinting across that line! I managed to pass the girls in front of me just before crossing the line, the crowd cheering for me as I finally slowed down, exhausted.

Breathing heavily, I walked back over to the finish line to cheer on the rest of my team. As I watched them come in, all looking worn out and exhausted, I looked at the placement card I had taken after finishing. Once again, I had finished in the top five. All of the blood, sweat, and tears I had put into this race had paid of, and I was glad to be on top again. Tomorrow, I planed to repeat my success, putting everything I had into running again.

"Wow... you were really fast there."

I turned to find another girl standing next to me. She seemed pretty short, with long blonde hair and a face that seemed young and carefree. She was also holding both a pencil and a notebook. "I wasn't sure you would be able to pass those girls at the end" she said. "I was pretty impressed when you did."

"Er... thanks" I said. "Sorry, but who are you, exactly?"

"Oh, my name's Katherine" said the girl. "I'm actually doing a report for the school newspaper. You're Jessica Thomas, correct?"

"Um, yes" I said. "Is there something you want to ask me?"

"Yeah, there is" said Katherine. "So... what is it you like about Cross Country? What is it that motivates you to really go out there and run? Why do you love doing it so much?"

"Well... I mostly do it as an escape" I said. "I feel like I can run off any kind of stress or negativity that I've been having. It just leaves me feeling so... relaxed, so free. The sense of freedom is the biggest reason I do it, though. There aren't any rules or boundaries out there, and I feel like I can pretty much do whatever or go wherever I want."

Katherine smiled. "Sense of freedom, huh?" she said. "Yeah, I can relate to that." She sighed. "I used to be really into that kind of thing, too. Believe it or not, I used to to be pretty shy. I was really quiet, and I mostly kept to myself."

"Really?" I said. "What changed?"

"Well..." said Katherine, looking kind of like she was... hiding something. "Let's just say I... met a few people who really changed my life. It's amazing what a little support can do, you know? One of them actually convinced me to start working for the paper, so that I could do more with myself. It's actually kind of fun."

"I told you that you would thank me for convincing you to do that" said another voice. I looked over Katherine's shoulder to see another boy, much taller than Katherine, with short brown hair. "My name's Jon" he said, holding out his hand for me to shake. "I just came down to see how Kathrine was doing with her first report."

"I'm Jessica" I said, shaking his hand. "I just finished one of my Cross Country meets. Did pretty well, in fact." I held up my placement card for him to see."

Jon looked at it. "Third? Impressive!" he said. "So, I assume you were getting interviewed by Katherine here for the school newspaper, correct?"

I nodded. "Yep" I said. "We were just talking about... freedom, I think?"

"Yeah, that's it" said Katherine. "I think I'm just about done here, though. Want to head back up with me, Jon?"

Before Jon could answer, I noticed someone running up to the course's entrance. He was moderately tall, though not as tall as Jon, with wavy blonde hair. "Hey, Katherine!" he yelled, running up to her. "Do you think you could come with me for a moment? I need to talk to you about-" He quickly stopped when he noticed what she was doing. "Oh... are you busy?"

"Um, yeah, kind of" said Katherine. "Can it wait a few moments?"

"Yeah, we were just about to go back up to the school to get this report in" said Jon. "Why don't you just go have fun without us? You know, like you always seem to do."

"What?" said the other boy. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, nothing" said Jon. "Nothing you would care about, anyway. Come on, Katherine, let's get this turned in." With that, he turned and began walking back to the school. Katherine began following him, then stopped and turned back to us, looking like she wanted to say something. But instead of speaking, she simply turned back to Jon and followed him back to school.

I turned to the other boy. "Do you know him?" I asked. "He seemed a little rude when he was talking to you. Did something happen between you two?"

The boy sighed. "Not that I know of" he said. "Jon tends to be a little... vengeful toward people who piss him off, but... I really can't think of anything I did that would make him act like this..." He looked back up at me. "Oh, I'm sorry! I just realized that you don't even know my name!" He smiled. "I'm Connor."

"My name's Jessica" I said. "It's nice to meet you."

"You seem to be in a pretty good mood, Jessica" said Connor. "Care to tell me what's going on?"

"Well... I just had a really great meet!" I said. "Running always seems to make me feel happy, which is why I like doing it so much. I even came in third!"

"That's pretty good" said Connor. "Well, I should probably get back to the school. Maybe I can catch up to Jon and find out why he's been acting so spiteful to me lately."

"Sounds like a good idea to me" I said. "Anyway, I need to get back to the rest of my team. The race is probably over by now, and the're probably waiting for me to get back there. See you!"

But just as I was walking back, I began to feel a little... dizzy. I tried shaking it off, blaming it on fatigue, but that only seemed to make it worse, as it persisted to the point where it felt like the world was spinning in front of me! The next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground, breathing heavily. Connor, having noticed my sudden dizzy spell, came running up to me. "Are you okay?" he asked, clearly concerned.

"I... don't know" I groaned, still feeling out of it. "I just... felt this massive head rush, and... next thing I knew, I was down here..." I tried to get up, but I found that I was still too dizzy to even stand.

"Hold on" said Connor. "I'm going to go get help!"

As I watched him run off to the nurse's station, I began to become increasingly nervous. What if something was really wrong with me? I thought about my future Cross Country meets, my love of running, and my athletic goals for the future. Was all of that about to be taken away from me? I was scared to even think about it.

"There she is!" yelled Connor, coming back with the nurse. He kneeled down next to me, trying to help me up. "Do you think you can stand up by yourself?" he asked.

I managed to hoist myself onto my feet, noticing that my dizziness had subsided a little. "Yeah, I think so" I said. "I'm probably fine. Just a little fatigued after that last meet, that's all."

"Do you think you could come back to my office with me?" asked the nurse. "I just want to make sure you're alright, okay?"

"Alright" I said. "Just make it quick, okay? My mom's going to be here soon and I don't want to keep her waiting."

The nurse nodded. "I'll be as quick as possible" she said.

A few moments later, I was sitting in the nurse's office. I had just gotten my heart rate and blood pressure checked, and now I was being questioned by the nurse. "Alright, let's see...." said the nurse, holding a clipboard and a pencil. "How often would you say you run?"

"Um... just about every day, I think" I said.

"And about how far do you run every day?" asked the nurse, jotting some notes down on her clipboard.

"Just a few miles each day" I replied. "Say... four or five?"

"Right" said the nurse. "And what motivates you to run this consistently? Does it have to do with health problems, or is it just for Cross Country training?"

"It's partially because of Cross Country" I said. "But I mostly do it just because I love running. I love to freedom, I love the rush... I just love it in general."

"I see" said the nurse, busily taking notes. "And how long have you been doing this running regiment of yours for?"

"Since I started training for Cross Country" I said. "So... a little over half a year, I think."

The moment I said it, the door to the nurse's office opened and a tall, older woman with long brown hair stepped in. "Jessica!" she cried, coming over to me. "Are you okay? I came to pick you up and someone on your team told me that you fainted!"

I sighed. "I'm fine, Mom" I said. "And I didn't faint. I just... had a bit of a dizzy spell, that's all."

"Your daughter is fine, Mrs. Thomas" said the nurse. "But I'm afraid she's quite exhausted. It seems that she's been pushing herself to run quite a bit lately, and it's beginning to take its toll. She's been running much more than a girl her age should really be running, and it's taking a lot out of her." She walked over to my mom, showing her the notes she took. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that I'm going to have to recommend that your daughter does not participate in any more running for the next few days."

"What?" I cried, completely shocked. "But... the championship meet is on Thursday!"

But my mom wasn't even listening. "Oh, thank God!" she cried. "I'm so glad you're okay, Jess! Now come on, I'm taking you home. And I don't want to see you running any more for the next few days, got it?"

I groaned. "Fine" I sighed. There really wasn't any point to arguing, I figured. Mom could be really stubborn at times, and once she made up her mind, there was no changing it. The only thing I could really do was follow her back to the car, feeling completely drained. I was silent the entire way home, and I didn't say much when I got there, either. All I could think about was the championship meet, and how I couldn't even participate. I was so upset, I could barely focus on anything else for the rest of the day.

Two days later....

The championship meet had arrived. But I wasn't going to be participating in it. In fact, I wasn't even going to attend it. Instead of heading down to the course, I would be heading over to the bus, on my way home. And I was furious.

The rest of the team is down there already, I thought. They're waiting for me, and I have to let them down. My mom wouldn't even let me go to the meet to cheer my team on, fearing I might "overexcite" myself. Why does she have to be so overprotective of me? I wondered. She's been like this a lot lately, now that I think about it. Ever since my father died....

Upon getting home, I immediately collapsed onto the couch. I tried to get started on my homework, but I found that I couldn't focus at all. No matter what I tried, all I could think about was the championship meet. The thought of missing something that I had spent over half a year preparing just completely consumed me, filling me with rage and sadness. The worst part was, I knew exactly what I would normally do when I found myself filled with such emotions: go for a run. But I couldn't even do that now.

As I thought about that, I felt my mind drifting back to the reason I started running in the first place. It all started about a year ago, when my mom got a phone call that my dad, on his way home from work, had been killed in a car accident. Needless to say, it devastated both of us. Mom had to get a job, we both suffered from depression, I could barely focus on my schoolwork, and my sleep was plagued by nightmares. I don't think I could even eat for the first few days. It was awful.

But a few months later, I found something that changed everything for me: running. To help with my depression, I started myself on a running regiment, and it worked like a charm. I found that no matter what happened, no matter what I was feeling, all I had to do was run, and I would feel better. It was my escape from the world, and everything that caused me pain.

And the more I thought about this, the less I could focus. Finally, I decided that I couldn't take it anymore. "Screw it" I muttered to myself, getting up to put on my shoes. If I couldn't participate in the meet, I had to at least be there to cheer my team on. I didn't live too far from the school, so I figured I could get there by running. I knew that I wasn't supposed to run, but I was past the point of caring. I figured if I left the meet early, I could get home before Mom got home, and she would never know.

After putting my shoes on, I ran out the front door, hoping to get to the meet before it started. Looking around, I concluded that the fastest way to get there would be by taking a shortcut through the woods behind my my house. That way, I could reach the track without being confined to the main road and still get to the Cross Country course before the meet began.

I ran into the woods, going as fast as I could. But after a few minutes, I began to feel the familiar feeling of fatigue setting in. Only this time, it was way worse than it had ever been before. I tried to run through it, like I normally would, but it was no use. I found myself unable to press on, and I had to stop. But just as I did, I was suddenly struck by another dizzy spell. And this one was even worse than the last! I fell to the ground, feeling the dizziness overcome me. The whole world seemed to be spinning, even harder than before! I laid there, breathing hard, waiting for the dizziness to pass. This was stupid, I thought. I never should have come here, and now I'm going to faint or something, and no one will ever see me again...

But just as my worrying was reaching its peak, I began to hear something in the bushes. Something... rustling? I stood up again, noticing that my dizziness had subsided a bit. But just as I did, I felt something slam into my back! Instantly, I was knocked forward, falling onto my front. "Alright," I yelled, getting back up. "Who did tha- wait, what?" I realized there was no one behind me. I was all alone.

"That was weird..." I muttered to myself. But I knew that there was no use pondering it now. My new plan was to head back home and forget that I had ever come here. I still really wanted to be at the championship meet, but I figured that there was no point in almost dying to get there.

I started walking back slowly, not wanting to exhaust myself any further. But the more I walked, the more I felt some kind of... adrenaline building up in me. After about a minute, I decided that I couldn't take it anymore.... I had to run! So I took off... only to immediately bonk my head on a tree branch! "That's weird... I could've sworn that this branch was higher up before..." I looked down at myself. "Am I... getting taller?" I shook the thought off, thinking it a symptom of my earlier fatigue, and kept running.

Looking back, I'm wondering what would have happened if I had stopped running that afternoon, even just for a moment. Maybe I would have noticed the... unusual things happening to my lower body. Like the black fur sprouting on my legs, spreading to cover them entirely. Or my feet, growing and bursting right through my shoes, the toes fusing together and hardening into hooves.

Maybe if I had stopped running or even slowed down a little, I would have noticed the tail growing from my behind, bursting through the seat of my pants. Maybe I would have noticed that my hips were growing larger and wider, destroying the rest of my pants and causing them to fall off my body. Maybe I would have noticed that I was, indeed, getting taller, my body growing and lengthening, the same black fur that was on my legs spreading to the areas below my torso.

I may have even noticed the two extra appendages growing just below my torso. I may have seen them emerge, looking quite similar to my back legs, covered in black fur and ending with two hooves of their own. I may have noticed falling onto these new front legs, feeling them assist me in my running and help me reach speeds that I never thought I would be able to go.

But I didn't notice any of this happening to me. I was too caught up in my running, as I flew through the woods at top speed. And I felt amazing! I had never felt so... alive, so eager to keep going! I may have thought it a little odd that I wasn't suffering from the same fatigue that had prevented me from making it to the championship meet, but I was enjoying myself far too much to care.

By the time I got back home, I wasn't feeling tired at all! "Geez..." I muttered to myself. "If I had known that I would end up feeling like this, I probably would have kept running to the meet after all. Maybe I should try to go back..."

"If I had known that you were going to be this indecisive, I probably wouldn't have chosen you. And I think it would be best if you stayed away from other people for now."

"What the-" I quickly began spinning my head, looking for the source of the voice. "Who said that? Where are you?"

"Oh, shoot!" The voice was male, low sounding and... cocky, almost. "I didn't actually mean for you to hear that. Seems I'm still getting the hang of this whole 'mind-sharing' thing. Well, I might as well cut to the chase, then. The name's Ricardo, and right now I'm kinda... inside your mind. Well, okay, my spirit's pretty much encompassed your entire body, which is why you may have experienced some... changes in the lower half."

"Changes? Lower half?" I looked down at my body. "What are you talking abou-" I suddenly stopped. My words stopped, my thoughts stopped, even my heart may have stopped. Everything above my waist looked perfectly normal, but everything below my waist was... I had no idea. It looked like the entire lower half of my body had been replaced with... the body of a horse? It started with a pair of legs just below my waist, a pair of legs covered in black fur and ending with... hooves? My new lower body then stretched four or five feet behind my upper body and ended with... another pair of legs, not to mention a tail! I tried lifting one of my front legs, then one of my back legs. Sure enough, both of these legs lifted up with no problems. I ran my hands over my new lower body, still completely in shock.

"Wait..." said Ricardo, sounding a bit confused. "...You didn't even realize you had changed until now? Good God, this is going to be painful. Also, I know you're probably a little... weirded out by this whole thing, but you'll eventually get used to it, trust m-"

"Shut up" I quickly said. I still hadn't fully processed what had happened to me, and I wanted to do it without any interruptions. Cautiously, I tried stepping forward with one of my front legs, then one of my back legs, attempting to walk. As soon as I got the hang of walking with my new body, I quickly took off running. Once again, I was amazed at how fast I could move! It felt so... exhilarating, and it made me feel so free, like nothing could hold me back!

Ricardo, however, was not as amused. "Will you cut it out?" he yelled at me. "Do you know what would happen if someone saw you like this?"

I stopped. "...Sorry" I said. "It's just... this feels so amazing! I... don't even know how to describe it, but... I love it!"

"...You do?" Ricardo asked, sounding surprised. "Well... I certainly wasn't expecting that..."

As he said it, another voice spoke. It was definitely female, and it seemed to have a bit of a more... mature tone to it. "It is unusual" it said. "But it makes our jobs much easier, doesn't it, Ricardo?"

Upon hearing this new voice, I quickly maneuvered my new body around, turning to see who was speaking. But what I saw made me gasp with shock. Because what appeared to be the speaker was none other than a large, red and gold bipedal dragon! Behind it was what I could only assume to be a gryphon, with the head, wings, and front claws of an eagle and the tail and back paws of a lion. Only this gryphon seemed to be standing upright, which confused me. Of course, I was a bit frightened by all of this, but not quite as shocked as I would have otherwise been. Considering I had just turned into what I now recognized as a centaur, I wasn't too shocked by anything that would have seemed impossible earlier.

"Well, well, well" chuckled Ricardo. "If it isn't Pyra! And Gale too! It seems you've picked up a couple of hosts for yourselves!"

"Well, mine was a bit reluctant to join" said another female voice, this one younger sounding than the last. "But I got her too come around eventually."

At this point, I was a bit confused. I had just heard a voice, but while I could somehow sense that it was coming from the gryphon, I didn't see the gryphon's mouth move at all. Was it communicating through telepathy? But that theory was shot down when the gryphon opened its mouth- er, beak- to speak. "Come on, Gale" it said. Even its voice was different than the last voice, although it did sound... familiar. It was definitely feminine, though. "You know I was going to join you guys anyway. Right, Connor?"

The dragon seemed to grin. "I dunno, Kathrine" it said, in a male voice. "You did look like you were going to bail on us."

Now I was shocked. "Hold on" I said. "Connor and Kathrine? Are you..."

"Yep!" said the dragon. "We're the ones you met at the course the other day. I'm Connor, and the gryphon is Kathrine."

"But...but..." I stammered, still incredibly confused. "Why are you a dragon? Why is Kathrine a gryphon?" I looked down at myself. "Come to think of it, why am I a centaur?"

"Allow me to explain" said the mature female voice. While I didn't see a speaker, I could still sense that it was coming from the now-draconian Connor, which only confused me further. "It all started hundreds of years ago, when..."

"Pyra, if we let you tell the story, we'll be here forever" sighed Ricardo. "So I'll just give you the edited down version. Basically, there's an evil spirit that wants to assemble an army of other spirits to take over the world. Now, all of the other spirits, including the three of us, don't want that to happen, so right now, we're trying to assemble our own army by taking over and change the bodies of humans. For example, I'm a centaur spirit, and you were the human I chose, so my spirit took over your body, and you became a centaur."

"These spirits are called 'mythics'" continued Connor. "When they change you, your body sort of becomes a... fusion between what you are and what the mythic was, which is why Kathrine isn't a true gryphon and more of an anthropomorphic one. After that, you can communicate with both them and other spirits around you through telepathy. My spirit's name is Pyra, by the way, and Kathrine's is named Gale."

I thought for a moment. "What about that other guy you were with?" I asked. "Does he have one of these spirits too?"

"You mean Jon?" asked Connor. "Nah, he's just someone we're both friends with. He doesn't know about any of this."

"Yeah" said Kathrine. "Although...." She turned to Connor. "I kind of think we should... you know... let him into the loop."

"What?" exclaimed Pyra. "Kathrine, you know we can't do that!"

"Kathrine, we can't just tell him about this kind of thing. Who knows what he would do!" said Connor. "He probably wouldn't believe us, anyway."

"You don't know that" replied Kathrine. "You know how interested in fantasy stuff he is. Anyway, it would explain why you keep not wanting to hang out with him. He really wants to know why that is, you know."

"Wait.... not wanting to hang out with him?" asked Connor. "What do you mean?"

"Well, he told me that ever since you stopped having those dreams where Pyra was calling to you before you found her, you haven't been as close. He says that you don't care about the same things you used to, and that you it seems like you don't even care about him anymore."

Connor looked truly shocked. "....He said all that about me?" he said. "Is this why he was so rude to me earlier?"

"Um, guys?" I said. "I hate to be the one who's being rude here, but can we focus on what just happened to me?"

"Right, sorry" said Connor. "So anyway, these spirits will often wait for someone to come to their locations. When they find someone that they think they can work well with, they'll send their spirit into that person's body. Then they'll work on transforming the person, turning them into, like I said, a fusion between you and them."

"I saw you when you were running through the woods earlier today" said Ricardo. "You looked like you were full of... energy and passion, so I figured you would be a good fit for me. Of course, I had a few second thoughts when I saw you collapse like that, but at that point, I figured it was too late to turn back. Sorry for knocking you over like that, by the way. I tend to get a bit... aggressive at times."

I thought back to what had happened after I had fallen, the feeling of something slamming into my back. "So that was you" I said.

"Hey, is something wrong?" asked Connor. "You look a little... down."

"Oh, I'm alright" I said with a sigh. "It's just... I really wanted to compete in that championship meet. I wanted to show my mom that... I can do things by myself. That I can recover and be great, even after my father's death..."

"Wait... your father died?" cried Kathrine, clearly shocked. "You didn't mention that to me!"

"That's because..." I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. "Because I just get so emotional talking about it. It was one of the hardest things I've ever gone through, and..." Tears were falling down my face now. "I... just wanted to make him proud..."

Now I was crying. I was feeling so emotional, I just couldn't help myself. But as I was wiping away my tears, I felt... something on my shoulder. I looked up to see Kathrine standing next to me, one of her large, clawed hands on my shoulder. "I know losing someone you love can be difficult" she said to me. "And I know that you sometimes think that you can never recover. But you do recover eventually. You move on with your life and you feel better."

"Think of it this way" said Connor, walking over to me. "Right now, you have the opportunity to save the world! If you succeed at that, I'm sure you would make your dad the proudest father ever! You just need to calm down and help yourself feel better, okay?"

I looked up at them. "...Okay" I said. "Thank you. That... really makes me feel better."

Connor smiled. "No problem." he said. He spread his wings, and I saw Kathrine doing the same. "Now... what do you say we take off so that you can get used to that body of yours? Don't worry if someone sees you, by the way. Pyra here seems to have picked up a few skills in her short time here, including a few memory wiping tricks."

"It took a while, but I managed to get it down" added Pyra. "Enough to make someone completely forget they ever saw you!"

"We'll be waiting over by the meadow at the edge of town" said Connor. "You can meet us there when you're ready." With that, he and Kathrine took off, lifting off the ground and flying into the clear blue sky.

I smiled. "You ready, Ricardo?" I asked. No answer. "Hello? Are you okay?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine" said Ricardo, sounding a bit startled. "I was just... thinking about what they said to you. It was just... actually, never mind. Just forget it."

I chuckled. "Come on, lets run" I said. I took off, once again feeling that amazing, euphoric feeling of absolute freedom. The wind through my hair, the ground underneath my hooves... everything just felt so incredible! Looking back, I'm still kind of sad that I had to miss the championship meet. But at the same time, I'm happy, because if I had been there, than I wouldn't have gotten one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced. The ability to run like the wind, feeling joy, euphoria, and above all, absolute freedom.