As Daecon floated helplessly the eagle made a low pass directly over his head. “I’ve already told you; I am what you are, and you are what I am. Now, enough of your fooling about. You need to lose those wings and get to shore. We must get you dried off and get the hell out of here before the authorities show up. Either go back to your human form or assume your alternate, but take the form of something that can swim.”

Daecon was getting annoyed now. “I don’t know what you mean by ‘lose’ these wings. I don’t even know where they came from. I can’t control them. And ‘you are what I am’? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Are you an angel too?”

The eagle screeched in what almost sounded like laughter. “An angel? Are you trying to be funny?”

Daecon said “Wait, you mean we’re not angels? I’m not dead? Then what...”

The eagle interrupted him. “Look, this is no time for your clever jokes. You need to get to shore now. It’s bad enough that you let yourself be seen. If they catch you there will be hell to pay.”

“Who are ‘they’?” Daecon asked.

“Those humans, you fool! As soon as those idiots that chased you over that cliff get back to civilization there are going to be human police crawling all over this mountain and flying those stupid, noisy helicopter things of theirs all over this valley.”

“What do you mean, ‘humans’? What’s so bad about humans? I’m human too, in case you haven’t noticed! And it’s a good thing that they’re coming! Maybe those bastards will go to jail after I tell the cops what they did!” 

“Oh, you’re human too, are you?”, the eagle scoffed. “Funny, I don’t remember seeing many humans with a pair of eight-foot-long wings sprouting from their backs. I’m going to guess that they haven’t either. I’ve been around humans often enough to know that they’re going to have questions about those wings. Are you looking forward to explaining them?” 

Daecon thought about this for a moment. If he wasn’t human, what in the hell was he?

The eagle could see that Daecon was starting to be sensible, so it said “Right, then, off to shore with you. Over that way, away from that cliff face. Quickly as you can.” 

Daecon tried to swim a few strokes but it was useless. The wings trailing behind him were creating too much drag. “I can’t”, he said. “I can’t move.”

 “Well then your choices are simple. Either revert to human form and lose the wings or assume your alternate”, said the eagle. 

“I don’t know how to ‘lose’ my wings! I can’t even move them! Up until a few minutes ago I didn’t even have the bloody things!” 

The eagle circled back around and looked at Daecon carefully. “Are you kidding me? How could you not know how to use your wings? And at your age, too. Wait, just how old are you?” 

“I’m 25”, Daecon said defiantly. He was really starting to dislike this eagle, and was hoping that once the eagle realized that he wasn’t a child, maybe it would stop talking to him as though he was one. 

The eagle said, “That’s impossible....”

 It made a few more circles, obviously thinking. A faint sound in the distance brought a new urgency to the problem: Sirens. The hillbillies must have gotten to where they had cellular coverage and called for help. 

“Ok, enough of this”, it muttered. “We’ve got to get you out of here, and I mean now. I can’t pick you up and carry you, with all that water and the drag from your wings you’ll be too heavy. There’s only one thing for it. Damn it, I do so hate getting wet...” 

With that it swooped back around and dove straight at Daecon. Daecon briefly thought the eagle was going to attack him, but just before it made contact it disappeared in a flash of light and a large object splashed into the water only few metres or so from him. When the object resurfaced Daecon was alarmed to see that it was an enormous brown bear swimming directly toward him. Daecon started splashing furiously, futilely trying to get away from the carnivore. 

“Calm down”, the bear said, sounding annoyed. “It’s only me. Climb on my back, I’m going to take you to the shore. Just hang on. And don’t pull my hair.” 

Reluctantly, and with a huge effort, Daecon pulled himself through the water and onto the bear’s back. “Wrap your arms around my neck. Just let your wings trail behind us, it will cause less drag. Now, then, let’s go!”, the bear said as it started swimming for shore. Daecon could feel the muscles working in the bear’s back and neck as they started making swift progress. This was a very powerful animal. 

As the bear dragged him toward the shore and with the danger of dying seemingly having passed Daecon had time to process everything that had just happened. It seemed impossible to think that ten minutes ago he was in his Porsche being chased all through these mountains, and in that span of ten minutes he had been forced off a cliff, grown a pair of wings, and was rescued by a sarcastic eagle that turned into a bear. He was feeling dizzy just trying to think about it all. 

As they neared the shore Daecon felt a surge of speed from the bear. It was now walking on the lake’s bottom and was pushing through the water towards a naturally sandy beach with almost no effort. When it got to the water line it made a last heave to pull Daecon’s soggy wings out of the water, then stood up on its hind legs and dumped him onto the sand. It was too big to even be possible. 

“Thanks”, Daecon said, as he tried to pick himself up. It was useless; those wet wings were too heavy, so he slumped back down. The bear grunted as it walked a short distance away, still on its hind legs. 

“I’m sorry for asking this again", Daecon said, "But what are you?” 

The bear started shaking the water out of its fur. Daecon was grateful that it had walked away before doing this – if it had stayed close he would have gotten even wetter than he was now, if it was even possible. 

“I’ve already told you twice”, the bear said as it stopped shaking. With most of the water shaken out of its fur Daecon could now see that it wasn’t really a brown bear. It was more like Kodiak bear, but its coat was full of many colours, mostly brown but with plenty of grey and black flecks. It was almost the same patterns as the eagle had in its feathers. It started walking toward him, still on its hind legs, and was now towering over him. 

“I am what you are, and you are what I am”, it repeated. 

With that Daecon was forced to blink as there was another flash of light. When he opened his eyes again he was shocked. The bear was gone, and there was no sign of the eagle either. Instead there was a tall, thin, very attractive middle aged man. He had short brown hair that was greying at the temples, a neatly trimmed goatee mottled with grey, and the irises of his eyes were a bright yellow – the same colour as the Eagle, Daecon realized. The man was wearing a brown tweed suit. 

“Jesus Christ!”, Daecon yelled as the man casually walked past him and knelt beside his soggy wings. “What are you, some kind of Animagus or something?” 

As the man walked past Daecon noticed that the man’s ears had the same pointed shape as his own 

“No, I’m sorry, I can’t claim to be Jesus Christ”, the man said wryly as he started manipulating Daecon’s wings. “As for whether I’m an ‘Animagus’, I’m afraid that I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve never heard the term.”

 “Oh, shit, sorry. An animagus is a wizard that can change into an animal through magic. It’s from Harry Potter. Wait... What are you doing?”, Daecon asked.

 “I’m afraid I’ve never read or watched Harry Potter, nor have I heard of an Animagus. I’m simply checking your wings for injuries. There must be some reason you can’t seem to use them. Tell me, can you feel this?”

 The man started moving the wings back and forth, opening and closing the joints with his hands. They had been snow white before, but full of water the feathers were almost transparent, making it easy to see the wings’ structure. Daecon felt nothing as he watched the wing being moved.

 “No”, he said. “And Harry Potter is a story about a child named Harry Potter who discovers that he’s a wizard and goes to school to learn magic. Some of those wizards can change into animals, and they’re called Animagus. I read the books when I was a kid”.

 “Hmmm... And this Harry Potter story... is it a true story?” the man asked as he continued working with the wings.

 Daecon laughed. “No, it’s fiction, of course. But a lot of kids grew up wishing that it was true.”

 “I see”, the man said as he worked his way along the wing’s structure toward Daecon’s back. “And am I to assume that you were one of those children?”

 “What? No! I mean, well, maybe, when I was younger. I was so lonely and unhappy that I would have wished for anything to take me out of the place I grew up in.”

 “But you now realize that it was fiction.”

 “Of course! I’m not a kid anymore.”

 “And yet you just asked me if I was an ‘Animagus’.”

“Yeah, well, you can change into animals, can’t you? Until a few minutes ago I’d have called that fiction, too.”

“Oh yes, but I assure you that I am no wizard, and neither are you. Although I have never read those books, I am familiar with the story of Harry Potter. We Shifters are fully aware of human pop culture, and our children have read the books and watched the movies just like you have. You need to realize, though, that wizards aren’t even real... OH!”

Daecon became alarmed. “What? What’s wrong?”

“I’ve just realized, you have both wings and arms!” 

“I'm glad that you've noticed,” Daecon said sarcastically. "You can bet that I'm more surprised than you are!" 

“No, no, it's not that. There are many animal forms that Shifters can take, but they all involve keeping the same number of limbs. Shifting into a bird results in two wings and two legs. Shifting into mammals means two front legs and two hind legs. This means that... Oh, my God...”

 “What? What does it mean? And what are you talking about, 'Shifters’?” 

The man considered Daecon for a moment before replying. He had a very worried look on his face. “This means that you weren’t lying. I thought you were just being an idiot, showing off, and that you somehow got ‘stuck’ shifting between forms. This was not just a mere incomplete shift, though. Oh, this changes everything.”

 “Of course I wasn’t lying! Do you think I’d be kidding while falling off a god-damned cliff?”

 The man stood up and started pacing back and forth nervously. “Oh, this isn’t good. This isn’t good at all. I wasn’t expecting any of this. This is beyond my skills as a Healer. I’m not prepared. I...”

 Daecon was becoming irritated again. “Listen!”, he said loudly. “I’ve had just about enough of your secrecy and weirdness! I want answers! Who are you? What the hell is going on? And if you feed me that ‘I am what you are and you are what I am’ bullshit again I swear to God I’ll...”

Daecon didn’t really have a way to finish this sentence. He’ll what? He could hardly even move, what with these soggy, useless wings dragging behind him, and this guy could change into a bear, an eagle, and God knows what else.

 The man stopped pacing and looked at Daecon. His agitated look was gone, and in its place was a look of concern.

 “Well?” Daecon asked, impatiently.

 “I don’t even know where to begin”, the man said as he walked over and started spreading Daecon’s feathers out on the beach.