When I finally opened my eyes, I was surrounded by pitch blackness. There were jagged shapes lining the walls and a heap of branches under my head. It took me a minute to figure out where I was. When I did, I let a groan.

I was still underground.

The ritual had clearly been stopped, and that was great. But every single muscle in my body hurt, and I had absolutely no idea how I was supposed to get out of here.

I rolled onto my stomach and tried to stand. All four of my legs wobbled. There was absolutely no way I was going to be able to haul myself through that tiny tunnel I'd come in through in my current condition. And I seriously doubted that any of the birds who might wander down into this desolate cave in the next few days would care to nurse me back to health.

Slowly, I padded over to the wall. I knocked a group of still-standing crystals out of the way and leaned against it, using it as a support. Slowly, I dragged myself along the perimeter of the room, looking for a second exit; I flatly refused to believe that birds— animals that fly— would allow themselves to be so deep underground without another way out.

I walked around the circle, scanning the wall in front of me as I did. I figured, even if I missed an opening with my eyes, there was a decent chance I'd fall into it anyway. In my current delirium, I thought that was a pretty good idea.

After a minute or two, I saw something dark on the wall at about shoulder-height that made me freeze; a rather large blood smear, stretching along the surface, leading away from me. It ran all across the wall, ending somewhere behind me. Blood. 

I sniffed. There was something familiar about it. It took a second to register what it was.

Oh. It was my blood. I'd gone in a complete circle and not found anything.

I was just about ready to start trying to pull myself up that tiny tunnel when I thought I heard something.

"Evan!"

It was Olivia's voice.

My ears pricked up, and I tried to pinpoint the sound.

"Evan! Where are you?"

"Here!" I shouted weakly.

I wasn't sure if she'd hear me. I was, after all, probably several feet underground, and she was human. But at least I had a pretty good idea of where her voice was coming from.

I dragged myself about a quarter of the way around the room. There, only inches above my head, was another tunnel. Mercifully, this one seemed bigger than either of the ones I'd already crawled through tonight.

I hauled myself up into it, using almost all the strength I had. I laid down for a second and rested, trying to catch my breath.

"Evan?"

Was she closer? I couldn't tell. I dragged myself to my feet and walked up the tunnel. The slope was steeper than I would have liked, but at least I could stand upright. I staggered forward, glad to be getting out of here once and for all. 

Finally, I breached the surface, the smell of cool air and fresh grass filling me. Thank god. I laid down on the grass, figuring a little nap wouldn't hurt.

"Evan?" I heard again. Then, "I know! But I don't know where else he could be. Do you think something happened?"

"Here!" I yelled as loud as I could. Really, it sounded more like a halfhearted grunt. But apparently, it was enough.

I heard footsteps stomping through the grass. I raised my head up to see Oliva rushing towards me. Gabe wasn't too far behind.

"Oh, Evan," Olivia murmured. Her eyes were filled with concern, and she looked like she might cry. Well, that didn't seem like a good sign.

"You'll be fine," someone assured me.

"Comet?" I asked. What was he doing here with Olivia? Was I delirious?

"We followed your humans." he said, as if reading my mind. "You did exceptionally well."

I grinned. Exceptionally well. I wasn't sure if anyone had ever said that about me before. Certainly not in the last month.

"Can I go home now?" I asked.

"Of course," Comet said soothingly. "As promised, we will return you to your human shape."

"Thanks," I said, even though I wasn't sure he really deserved it. Not after everything I'd been through.

I saw a small army of cats approach from all directions. Some had cuts and some seemed to be limping, but I'm pretty sure none of them were as injured as me. Still, it was nice to know that they'd at least done something while I was underground, fending for myself.

As the cats surrounded me, Gabe leaned over.

"Are they going to do it? Are they going to turn you back?" he whispered, looking at the impressive number of cats. Then, seemingly to himself he added, "I didn't know we had so many of these here."

I nodded.

"They are? Right now?"

I looked at Comet.

"Right now," he confirmed.

I turned to Gabe and nodded before putting my head back down.

"Good," Gabe said.

"Gabe, we have to get back to the dorms," Olivia said, as the cats started lining up in their three rings. At least this time, I didn't find it nearly as concerning.

"What? Why?" Gabe asked.

"Because when Evan went missing, we found his clothes in the alley," she told him.

If Gabe said anything, I didn't hear it. But my head was swimming again, and I felt like I might throw up, so I wasn't exactly paying attention. At least this time, I was pretty sure it was from the cats starting their spell and not from the birds nearly pecking me to death.

"He's going to need clothes," Olivia said. "Here— give me your keys, and I'll run back. The way you're breathing, I don't think you should be running anywhere for a while."

There was the jangling of keys, and footsteps stomping away.

"And go wait on the other side of the field or something, before you do put yourself in the hospital," she called out, already noticeably farther away than she had been.

Through half-slitted eyes , I watched the cats form their intricate patterns. A warm, calming sensation washed over me. I thought I could feel my feet changing shape, shrinking back down to human proportions while getting larger overall. It was a weird feeling. I felt my hips shift, my pelvis changing to support bipedal walking once again.

As the sensation continued up my body, I finally closed my eyes, ready to sleep and not even caring that I was in the middle of a grassy lawn somewhere on campus.