An hour later Basil, Birdie, and Mapiya were cleaned and dressed. The bond fire that Mapiya had started blazed away in the backyard far away from the house. The small family stood outside and watched the sun dip below the horizon.

“It’s time,” Mapiya said.

Basil and Birdie where directed to stand on opposite sides of the fire. Mapiya grabbed a stick off the ground and used it to draw a wide circle around the fire and the twins. When the circle was complete, Mapiya stepped inside the circle, pulling out a small bottle of rum and a folded-up piece of paper. Basil raised an eyebrow in question, but said nothing. Birdie waited for instructions.

“I need you both to start circulating the air as soon as I pour out this bottle, Mapiya directed, checking their surroundings. “Focus on pushing the smoke around us and the house. It will strengthen the ward circle on the ground. Then keep a look out until I’m done.”

The fire was already large and billowing smoke. However, when Mapiya added the bottle of rum to the fire it increased exponentially. The darkness of night was filled with soot and girt that stung Basil’s eyes. He was afraid, perhaps more afraid than his sister, as he could not hear anything, and his vision was now limited. He could see that his sister was similarly affected even with the smoke blurring his field of vision. Basil and his sister raised their hands in tandem. They forced the air around them to lift the smoke out of the crudely drawn circle and out over the yard. The air was heavy and hard to control, as it was burdened by the soot it carried. Nevertheless, Basil and his sister continued. He had to focus because he lacked to fine air control skills of his sister, but he watched his mom out of the corner of his eye. She sat cross-legged on the ground with her hands raised about her head. Basil could tell she was speaking, but, from the smoke and his position, he was unable to read what she was saying. The paper that she had brought with her was suspended in the air between her hands. Her eyes, usually a deep brown, turned totally white.

The sky over their heads was clear and the stars were twinkling, but the few clouds in the sky seemed to be languidly converging on their position. As they did, the light of the starts began to dim. Basil continued circulate the air with his sister for minutes without issue. The already dark night grew ever darker as the clouds accumulated overhead. Now Basil was truly at a disadvantage. He could barely see his mom and sister. Birdie seemed to grow increasing agitated. Basil watched her whip her head back and forth looking out into the dark of night. He wanted to ask what was wrong, but he knew that he could not get her attention to ask. He would lose control of the air if he did. Birdie shouted something to their mom, but Mapiya did not respond. She was too focused. Birdie looked at him and pointed into the darkness behind him. He looked back in confusion to find wolves with blood red eyes sprinting quickly through the smoky barrier they were maintaining. Basil heart began to beat faster. He could feel the blood rush to his head and pound against his skull.

There was nothing he could do. If he released his control over the air to fight the wolves, then the barrier would weaken, and his mother would be vulnerable. Fortunately, the circle that Mapiya had drawn earlier appeared to stop the wolves. They kept running toward the barrier at full speed, only to be flung back into the night with a yelp. Basil counted five wolves, all of which were snarling with yellowed teeth. The wolves were thin, almost emaciated, with loose mangy coats. Their bloody eyes were hard, yet filled with a seemingly human intelligence. Basil was certain that they were shifters, humans who had bonded with wolf spirits. The state of their bodies told Basil that they were losing their ability to maintain their wolves. Seeing that they couldn’t cross the line in the sand, the wolves took to stalking around the circle. Basil relaxed a bit knowing that the wolves were stopped for the time being.

Basil could tell that his mom had no idea what was happening. Her fully-white eyes were looking at something only she could see. Her mouth was moving faster and the clouds over her head converged quicker. The suspended paper between her hands was flipping end over end. The clouds were a dark ominous grey now. Occasionally, a flash of lightening could be seen within them. Basil watched his mom stand up with her hands still raised. The paper between her hands was being pushed towards the top of the fire. The lightning in the clouds increased and the wind began to whip, pushing Basil with enough force to almost topple him. When the paper was directly over the fire, just out of reach, Mapiya’s eyes lit up with what looked like lightning. The wolves, sensing that something was about to happen, backed up a few steps. Basil watched his mother’s mouth move. She seemed to be shouting. Then she suddenly stopped. Basil watched the hair on his arms rise up. The air felt like it was supercharged with electricity. A few moments later a large column of lightning descended from the clouds and struck directly on top of the fire.

Basil, Birdie, Mapiya, and the wolves were thrown back indiscriminately from the force of the blast. It took Basil a moment to recover. He sat up dazed and confused. His sister lay across from him about five feet back from where she had originally stood. His mom was laid out like a starfish, staring up into the night sky. The wolves seemed equally stunned, possibly dead. Three of them were not moving at all and had turned back into middle aged men. The remaining two were trying to stand on all fours, but failing. Basil slowly tried to stand but couldn’t. He started to crawl over to his mom and sister instead. Before he reached them, he felt something sharp grab hold of his leg and screamed. It felt like his leg was being held over a fire. One of the wolves had bitten into his leg. It started to shake its head back and forth causing more pain to spread and light to dance behind his eyelids. Basil yelled again.

His yell must have been loud enough to rouse Birdie. She ran to his side, still a little bit dazed, and saw him struggling to get the mangy wolf off his leg. Basil knew his pain probably showed on his face. Birdie raised her hand above and brought it down in a slashing movement. Basil heard the wolf yelp and then release his leg. The pain of the wolf’s teeth leaving his leg was even worse than when it had bitten him. Birdie flipped him over so that he was lying on his back. When he looked up, her eyes were just like Mapiya’s. Instead of their normal grey they were stark white. He thought it might have been a trick of the eye though because when he did a double take they were grey. Maybe the pain was making him see things.

The last wolf awoke to find all four of his fellow wolves dead. Basil and Birdie watched it run off into the dark with its tail tucked between its legs. They waited a while to make sure it didn’t come back before looking over the yard. The wolf-men had turned to dust, as most magical creatures did when they died. The previously roaring fire was now a pile of ash. The clouds had dissipated, and the stars shined once more. Birdie helped Basil up and the pair walked over to their mom. Mapiya was sitting up now and smiled at them.

“That went well,” she said with a laugh, but stopped when she saw Basil’s leg. “Oh no, let’s get you inside, okay?”

“Okay,” Basil replied with a nod. Mapiya joined Birdie and supported her son from the other side. Together all three made their way back to the house and walked into the family room. His mom and sister placed him on the soft red couch and rushed away to get medical supplies. Basil lost consciousness as soon as he leaned back against the couch.