Just as I'd suspected, there was another— apparently secret— exit from the birds' main assembly room. Did they really think I was so stupid that I wouldn't notice? Really, that kind of thing was starting to hurt my feelings.

The throne was backed fairly close to the wall, making it almost difficult to get in the space. But as I've said before, I was a lot more flexible now than I was as a human. So while the human me would never have been able to make a corner that sharp on all fours, the cat me managed to do it without too many difficulties. I peaked my head in and took stock of the situation.

The tunnel leading out of the assembly room was even smaller than the first one, and I actually had a hard time crouching low enough to drag myself through. At least this tunnel wasn't as long, and it didn't spiral sharply downwards; I could see the end before I even got in.

Hesitantly, I crawled inside. There was almost no room for me to move; I ended up practically dragging myself along with my claws, really hoping Comet appreciated all I was doing for his stupid gang of cats.

It was even darker here than it had been in the room I'd just come from, and even my cat eyes took a moment to adjust. The only light seemed to be a strange, sickly green glow that flickered on and off.

As I peered into this new room, I saw that there were only six birds here, in a kind of semi-circle. The good news was that this looked much more manageable. The bad news was that their ritual had clearly been going on for some time. It looked like the chatterbox who's speech I'd interrupted was just having a sort of self-congratulatory ceremony for the flock.

This secret room was lined in a ring of whitish crystals that had been placed along the wall, like some sort of stony picket fence. They looked an awful lot like the one I'd seen that scrub jay dragging. But as I watched, I noticed a kind of faint green glow emanating from within some of them. Others slowly started to emit a kind of rose-colored light. And then finally, the remaining ones had a kind of sky-blue inside. And even in the small amount of time I'd been there, I could see the light grow brighter and brighter, until they were almost the same shades as the ley lines just outside.

"Now, it's time!" one of the birds called out. I recognized him as the one I'd seen in the tree who'd called me a moron— Fluffy's friend.

"It is time," the rest of the birds twittered in a strange monotone.

"Let the power of the ley lines that converge over our heads fill these precious crystals that surround us! Let the energy from the blood moon permeate these sprigs of mugwort to purify that energy!"

"Let the power of the ley lines fill these crystals," the group of birds murmured, sounding almost trance-like.

The stones continued to glow, the light filling the room and giving the walls an almost pleasant kaleidoscope effect. The energy within each one seemed to twist and coalesce until each was filled with a color even brighter than the ley lines above. It almost literally hurt to watch.

Then, a flash of white light lit up the room, searing through my eyes and blinding me for a few seconds.

I blinked rapidly, trying not to panic. I'd never really had a problem with tight spaces, but being stuck in a place where I could barely move, couldn't see, and with six hostile creatures in front of me was not exactly my idea of a good time.

Finally, the room started to come back into focus. I could see that there was now a thin coil of energy reaching from each crystal and slowly spreading towards the spiky green leaves that had been piled in the center of the room.

Again, I charged into the relatively small space, bowling through the ring of birds. I couldn't let those strands of light touch the mugwort. I wasn't sure what would happen, but I was willing to bet it would be the conclusion of this ritual— and of my chance to get this curse lifted.

"No!" the bird-leader screeched. "What are you doing?"

I didn't bother to answer; I figured it was more rhetorical than anything else.

I swiped the pile of plants out of the circle. The birds shrieked, and the glow from the crystals started to fade.

"Stop him!" the leader commanded, flapping into the air as he glared straight into my eyes.

But I wasn't about to back down. I crouched low, letting my natural bird-hating cat instincts take over. I jumped after one, then turned and tried to catch another. Each time I spun, I could feel my tail smacking into the crystals on the opposite wall. But that was fine— it really helped keep up the absolute mayhem that I was going for. It took almost no time before I'd completely destroyed the room. Now all I had to do was keep this up for what I'd guessed was probably a little more than two and a half hours.

Unfortunately, there were still six birds in there, and only one of me. And while I did have needle-sharp claws on all four feet and some pretty impressive canines, they had talons, pointed bills and the ability to fly. And let me assure you they were all more than happy to make use of their natural weapons. Especially the flying.

Beaks stabbed my head, my sides, my paws. Talons slashed my legs and my back. Someone grabbed my tail and yanked. I let out a yowl.

As the birds continued their relentless pecking, I went from attacking to defending. I could see the floor starting to be dotted with blood, and there was a streak or two on the walls. I was almost positive all of it was mine.

Slowly, the tide started to turn. I might have been a master at destruction, the equivalent of knives on all four feet, but I still wasn't much of a fighter. The constant turning, swatting, and jumping was starting to tire me out physically. And the blood loss was starting to be enough that I was a little concerned. How much blood did a cat have in it?

As I continued to get weaker, I turned to face the bird that was now making a move for my head. "Stop!" I shouted.

It worked. The bird stopped, settling back on the ground in front of me. His little friends stopped too.

"It does speak," the bird said, regarding me.

"I do," I nodded. My head was starting to feel woozy. "You don't have to do this."

"Says the cat," one of the other birds sneered. "You just want to drive us out!"

Well, yeah. I did. But it wasn't like it was personal or anything. Still, what was I really supposed to say to them?

"Why have you never spoken before?"  the head bird asked.

"I... Well, I..." I said slowly. Were the birds starting to get fuzzier, or was it just me?

"If you have something to say, now's the time to do it, cat."

"Not... I'm not a..." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to focus. "I'm not a cat."

"You look an awful lot like a cat," the bird informed me.

"I'm... student. Evan." I told them. "The cats... Comet... I have to stop... ritual."

"And why would a student care about our ceremonies?" the bird scoffed. "A valiant effort, cat. But this kind of sabotage cannot go unpunished."

The pecking resumed, but I was too weak to defend against it. This was it; I was going to be pecked to death under a tree, and nobody would ever know who I was. At least no one would have to waste time burying me.

"Human again," I mumbled. "They promised."

I wasn't sure if the pecking and scratching continued or not. Maybe it stopped. Maybe I was too battle-weary to feel it. I closed my eyes and laid my head on the ground.

"They promised you that?" the head bird asked.

I nodded, barely even moving my head. The effort was tremendous.

"You're really a student?"

"Evan." I replied. There was a series of twitters all around me.

"What's an Evan?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe he meant even."

"Is it a name?"

"What a weird name."

Finally, the head bird spoke up again.

"If you speak the truth, then this is not your fight," he said. "We will spare your life— this time. But if we see you again, I can assure you that you will not be so lucky."

I found myself nodding. At least, I think I nodded. It was hard to tell.

Of course, he'd never see me again. Either I'd die right here from blood loss, or Comet would keep his promise and make me human again. There was no way they'd recognize me.

"Thank..." I mumbled before losing consciousness.