Page 10 of Hexy Bear
"Can you understand what they're trying to say?" Mara asked Tilly, her barrier magic still holding but visibly weakening.
"They're showing me pictures," Tilly said, her eyes distant with the look she got when her magic was processing information beyond normal comprehension. "A pretty lady with dark hair who smiled a lot, but her smile was wrong. And people who trusted her, people with magic like ours. She made them feel safe, made them think she was their friend."
The shadow beings' forms became more agitated, their movements sharp with what looked like regret and warning.
"Then what happened?" Griff asked, though he suspected he didn't want to hear the answer.
"She ate them," Tilly whispered, her grip on Mr. Gruff tightening. "Not their bodies, but their magic, their souls. She turned them into pieces of themselves and kept them trapped so she could use their power. And now she wants to do the same thing to us."
The shadow beings suddenly pressed against Mara's barrier with renewed urgency, their forms flickering between visibility and nothingness. One of them managed to break through, reaching toward Tilly with what looked like a protective gesture.
The moment the entity made contact with his daughter, Griff's control snapped.
His bear erupted to the surface with a roar that shook the windows, his human form expanding and shifting as supernatural instincts overrode rational thought. He was across the room in two strides, positioning himself between the shadow being and Tilly with claws extended and teeth bared.
But instead of attacking, something unexpected happened. The shadow being looked up at him with what could only be described as relief, its form solidifying into the recognizable shape of a middle-aged man with kind eyes and a face marked by years of laughter.
"Thank you," the figure said, its voice like wind through dry leaves. "Finally, someone who can protect them properly."
The words hit Griff like a physical blow, cutting through his rage and leaving him staring at the entity with dawning understanding. This wasn't a threat to his family. This was someone who had once been like him, someone who had tried to protect people he loved and failed.
"You're a parent," he said, his tone rough with the aftermath of his partial shift.
"Was," the shadow being corrected sadly. "I had a daughter, once. About her age." It gestured toward Tilly, who was watching the exchange with fascination rather than fear. "The lady in the shadows took her first, used her innocence and power to lure me close enough to trap me too."
Mara's barrier finally collapsed, leaving her swaying on her feet from magical exhaustion. But instead of attacking, the shadow beings simply arranged themselves around the room like grieving relatives at a wake, having an even defined form.
"How many of you are there?" Mara asked, her voice gentle with sympathy.
"Dozens," another shadow being replied, this one taking the shape of a young woman with elaborate braids and eyes that held ancient wisdom. "From every supernatural community she's infiltrated over the past century. She collects us, adds our power to her own, and uses our knowledge to hunt the next group of victims."
"But you're fighting back," Griff realized. "That's why you keep trying to warn people."
"What little we can," the first shadow being said. "She keeps us fragmented, weakened, but sometimes we can break free long enough to try to save others from our fate. We've been trying to reach this town for months, ever since she began focusing on the founder bloodlines."
Tilly suddenly stood up on her bed, her body radiating power making the room hum with energy. "You don't have to be pieces anymore," she announced with the confident certainty of childhood. "We can help you be whole again."
"Tilly, no," Griff said, his protective instincts flaring. "We don't know what that kind of magic might do to you."
"It's okay, Daddy," Tilly said, reaching for both him and Mara. "I can feel how it's supposed to work. Miss Mara's magic can heal the broken parts, your magic can make them strongenough to stay together, and my magic can give them enough power to be real again."
Mara looked at Griff with a blend of hope and uncertainty. "She might be right," she said quietly. "The combination of our magical signatures, if we work together... it could be enough to give them what they need to break free from her control permanently."
"And if it doesn't work?" Griff asked. "If whatever's controlling them uses our attempt to heal them as a way to attack us?"
"Then we'll face that together," Mara said firmly. "But Griff, these people have been suffering for decades. If there's a chance we can help them, don't we have to try?"
The shadow beings watched the exchange with expressions of desperate hope, their forms flickering between solid and ethereal as they waited for a decision that could mean the difference between continued torment and final peace.
Griff looked at his daughter, so small and brave and wise beyond her years, then at Mara, whose compassion and strength had already become essential to his family's wellbeing. The rational part of his mind screamed warnings about the dangers of attempting unknown magic with untested combinations of power. But the deeper part of him, the part that had learned to trust his instincts through years of single parenthood and supernatural crisis management, recognized the rightness of what Tilly was proposing.
"All right," he said, reaching for both of their hands. "But we do this together, and if anything starts to go wrong, we stop immediately."
The moment their hands connected, power flooded through the link they'd created. Griff's bear magic, solid and protective, formed the foundation. Mara's herbal healing energy, flexible and nurturing, wrapped around his power like vines arounda strong tree. And Tilly's founder magic, wild and impossibly complex, wove through both of their energies like golden thread creating a tapestry.
The effect on the shadow beings was immediate and dramatic. Their forms solidified, becoming more human and less ethereal with each passing second. Color returned to their faces, substance to their bodies, and most importantly, hope to their expressions.
"It's working," Mara breathed, her voice filled with wonder. "I can feel their souls knitting back together, all the pieces that were scattered and broken becoming whole again."
