First of all, being a warrior is, in one word, amazing. I literally felt like I could kick down mountains. I felt more confident in my every move. I grinned. I could get used to this.

The next person to get it was Audrey. I wasn't surprised. That girl was born to be a warrior.

The person who got it after her was Lynn. I hadn't paid much attention to Anna's twin sister, but I sure did now. When she transformed, she seemed as surprised as the rest of us that she was the third one.

My favorite transformation to watch was Amy. She was in her wheelchair, and when she transformed she was still sitting. But something in her face lit up with wonder, excitement, and fear. Slowly, she placed her feet on the ground and her arms on the armrests. Then she pushed herself out of her wheelchair--and let go.

She took two wobbly steps and fell over. I rushed to her side. She was crying. "Oh my goodness Amy are you ok?" I asked worriedly. She looked up at me, tears streaming down her face. She smiled. "I can walk," she whispered. "Sierra, this is the first time in my life that I've walked. It's...amazing." I helped her up, and she leaned on me. "Thank you," she said, still sobbing with joy.

Eventually, everyone had transformed except for Tess and her shadow, Lee. Lee kind of faded into the background whenever Tess was around, but as for now, since they were the only two left, I noticed her.

I frowned. Tess seemed to be trying really hard, but Lee didn't appear to be trying at all. That was strange.

Once Tess finally got it, Lee transformed almost instantaneously after her. She looked sad, almost...scared. I was going to ask her if she was alright but decided against it when Tess went over to talk to her.

Eventually we had to change back. I can honestly say that it was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. We were instructed to breathe out and pretend that a cool wave of water was washing over us. I didn't want to do it. It was like I was giving away something that made me important, special, new.

Whoa. I think I realized why it's so hard for drug addicts to quit.

Once I got over it, turning back was actually easier than I expected. It took the class about 10 minutes. Then we sulked inside for history.

I don't know if anyone's ever told you this, but sitting through boring history right after you had to change back from being a super strong powerful warrior: it's really, really hard.

Then lunch and a free period. During the free period I worked on some homework that the math teacher had given us the other day. Math homework on the first day is cruel, but have you noticed that math is usually the first subject to give you homework? Almost always?

I sighed as I copied another problem into my notebook. Suddenly, Audrey's face appeared in front of mine. "Having fun?" she asked.

"GAH!" I shouted, and scrambled off the bed. I hit the floor. Breathing hard, I stared at her in bewilderment. She had wrapped her legs around the lamp attached to the wall and was bending over backwards to look me in the eye. I gawked incredulously.

Audrey gave me a puzzled look. "There's a desk for you to do your homework you know."

Just then, the bell rang. Audrey did a flip off the lantern and onto my bed, then immediately got up and started running. "We have Usage next you guys come on!!!!" I shook off my shock and followed her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We all stood outside in front of Ms. Klasson, silent and eager. Audrey looked especially excited. She surveyed our starry-eyed faces. "Calm down oh my goodness," she said. A faint laughed rippled through us.

"Alright, go ahead and transform," she said. "Trust me, it's easier the second time around."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Strength, bravery, truth.

And then suddenly I was a warrior. Just like that. Strong, brave, confident...wow.

I heard a laugh beside me. Audrey had transformed. She looked wickedly awesome and absolutely delighted. I grinned.

This time, it only took the class a minute. And there we stood, a line of muscular, armor clad, brutally skilled warriors with stupid grins on our faces.

"Alright," Ms. Klasson said, clapping her hands together. She had transformed too, her long brunette hair in a complicated braid down her back. "Here we have a training court for you to practice being in your warrior body. Once you learn all your transformations, we'll get more into depth for each type, but as of now, I just want you to feel comfortable in your new body." She then opened a gate to a training ring, complete with a weapons rack and targets. "I will warn you, if you kill anyone, you'll get in a lot of trouble." Taylor half raised her hand. "What if it's a mistake?"

Ms. Klasson grinned. "Warriors don't make mistakes."

I walked into the ring. Gosh, even my walk felt foreign. It was easier, more of a stride or swagger. I felt like I could literally walk on top of people. I picked up a heavy looking axe. It felt as light as a wooden stick. I switched it from hand to hand. It felt really good. Unsure what to do, I looked around.

Audrey had picked up a few throwing knives. She looked around. Then she pulled back her arm, and whipped the knife forward.

It turned over itself again, and again, and again, and...

...landed in the smack middle of a target 20 feet away.

The class gasped, and a grin spread over Audrey's face. Then the class erupted into chatter as they all rushed forward to try.

Soon, the air was full of the sound of weapons hitting their targets with deadly accuracy. I found a target of my own. Feeling self conscience, I drew back my arm.

At that moment, my body seemed to go into this buzz zone. I could feel the weight of every muscle in my arm and knew exactly what they had to do. As if on it's own, my arm snapped forward and released the axe. As I felt it leave my hand, I knew exactly what was about to happen. It spun once, twice, three times...

And split the target in two.

And then I understood why Ms. Klasson said that warriors don't make mistakes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night I dreamt of the mirror. There was a dark room, and a throne hidden in the shadows. A hand crept out onto the chair arm. The fingers drummed. And then, for the first time, I heard something from the mirror. It was only one word, but it sent a thrill

of terror through me.

"Soon."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alright class, we WOULD be transforming into mermaids today, but Ms. Iseri teaches that lesson, and she's sick today, as I'm sure you gathered from her lack of attendance first period," Ms. Hawthorn said rolling her eyes. "So we're just gonna skip that and move onto unicorn/pegasus. The only distinction between them is their abilities, and transforming into a pegasus is easier while running. Choose one. Go."

Part of me was still surprised by her abrupt teaching style, but I took a breath and thought. Which one to do...

Well, my vision was of a pegasus, so it would probably be a good idea to do that one first.

I looked across the field. I had a lot of room. And I knew how to transform this time.

Let's do this.

I started running, or jogging really. What had Mrs. Simone said about pegasi? An overwhelming sense of purity and goodwill. Hm...

Pure, pure, pure, pure... goodwill.... happiness... unicorns...

Hey I didn't expect it to work but it was worth a try.

You aren't becoming something new. You are recreating what once was. Your body knows this shape, these feelings.

And then it came back to me in a flash.

I was running, faster than I've ever run before. I could hear the pounding of my feet as I ran. Every muscle, every breath, every heartbeat was one. I rocked back and forth a little as I ran, and everything was natural. I could feel myself, pure and shining as if I was light itself.

Light itself.

I ran faster.

My muscles pounding, my body is one. I thought of love, goodwill for others. To help, to heal, to nurture.

I ran faster.

A deep sense of purity blossomed in my soul. Love for every person on earth, goodwill towards every thing.

Everything, nature, love, the wind in my hair, the pounding of my heart, the rush in my soul, all swirled together into one sphere. I was part of it. It grew, filling me with all things good and pure.

Suddenly, I put on a burst of speed, my back extended, and my legs no longer beat the ground.