Ethan was caught in the pull of the skill, his body moving without his consent, yet his senses remained painfully clear. A sharp jolt of shock ran through him, cold and electric.
'What the hell is this?'
He lifted his gaze to the sky. The ink-black clouds overhead had shifted into a deep, ominous crimson in the blink of an eye, thick and oppressive, as if the world itself had been stained with blood. He did not remember this happening the last time he had used the spell.
Now the crimson clouds churned violently, folding in on themselves as they gathered into a single shape high above. Slowly, unmistakably, the outline of a massive panther's head emerged from the storm, its eyes shut tight, calm and regal, like a great lion sleeping beneath a blood-soaked sky.
