The Gift.

The next morning, Misha woke up earlier than usual, early enough to make breakfast before the others got up. By the time he heard a door open, he already had 3 plates piled high with waffles, bananas, and syrup. The second one up was Sally, who yawned as she entered the kitchen.

"Mmm, whatcha making Mish?"

"Morning Sally, I'm making waffles."

"Aw, dude, I love waffles."

Stephanie, wearing the typical early morning attire of a long shirt and panties, stumbled in like a zombie.

"Ooh, is that waffles?"

"Yup."

Misha handed each girl a plate, and they all ate ravenously. When all 3 of their plates were empty, the trio moved to the living for the weekly tradition of Saturday sex, not that they're very chaste normally.

Before they could do anything, Stephanie noticed a peculiar box on the coffee table.

"Hey Misha, you've got a gift here."

She tossed him the box, shooting Sally a questioning look. The harpy just shrugged.

"Aw, did one of you guys got me a pre-"

Misha stopped mid-sentence. He stared at the box with utter terror. The gift tumbled from his shaking hands.

"Woah, Misha why'd you drop it?!"

"My last name. It says my last name."

"Ok? What's the big deal?"

"No one on this planet knows my last name. Not even the AWIO."

"So then who sent this?"

Misha didn't answer. Like it was covered in poison, Misha carefully lifted the lid, revealing a flat stone disk about the size of a wallet. He gingerly picked it up, his fingers still trembling. On it, was one word, the letters of which emitted a faint glow.

Thesa.

When Misha's fingertips brushed over the words, the faint glow became blindingly bright. Misha dropped it, his hands instinctively moving to cover his eyes. But it didn't fall, it merely hovered midair.

The glow kept growing in intensity and area. It grew bigger and brighter until a circle of pure light about 6 feet across took its place. Suddenly, most of the light faded, leaving only a glowing ring. Through the circle, they could see into some kind of forest. Somehow, a portal had opened in Stephanie's living room.

Misha reacted first.

"It's a rift! We need to ge-!"

Misha was cut off by a bolt of red lightning that sent flying him across the room. Through the rift, a woman a little older than Misha stepped into their living room. Like Misha, she had cat ears and a tail, but while Misha has blue hair and is fairly scrawny, her hair was deep red and her body was a lithe mass of rippling muscles. She was also a good 6 inches taller than Misha, just shy of 6 feet. She wore only a tight sleeveless shirt, bracers, and shin guards, leaving everything between her waist and knees exposed. When she smiled, her teeth were pointed. In her fingers, a gold spear that crackled with red lightning twirled in a lazy circle.

"Hey Sathis, miss me?"

Misha pushed himself to his feet.

"Vanala. Let me guess, you aren't just here to chat with your older brother. She sent you to kill me, didn't she."

"Not quite."

In an instant, she lunged at him. He was barely able to avoid being skewered as her spear slashed through the air where he had been just a moment ago. She didn't pause for a second. Her left hand flung towards him, sending a shock of red lightning at him, and only barely missed, leaving a scorch mark on the wall.

As he avoided her attacks, Misha came to a realization. If she's using her magic here, then that means that the rift is letting magic into this world. Which means he can use his magic. Misha closed his eyes for a moment, focusing.

A look of realization dawned on Vanala. She snarled, swinging her spear in an arc, but it was too late. Misha snapped his fingers, and a faint green light surrounded him. Vanala moved in slow motion, and Misha casually plucked the spear from her hands, smacking her across the face with the blunt end.

But, all too soon, the green glow around him vanished. Misha stumbled like he had been hit by a truck, and Vanala fell to the ground at normal speed. The spear slipped out of Misha's hands. Before he could fall over, Sally caught him, holding him mostly upright.

Vanala tasted blood, and spit it onto the floor.

"Damn time magic."

She stood, her smooth movement unaffected by Misha's attack.

"But you've gotten stronger, Sathis. You actually managed to slow me down for a few seconds. But we both know you won't be able to do it again for a while."

But Misha was having none of this talking crap. He leaped at her, nearly knocking Sally into the wall. Midair, his body began to change, stretching and warping into an 800-pound blue tiger that crashed into Vanala. But she was ready. She ducked away from him, spinning into a back kick. Her heel making a hard thud against Misha's skull. Before he could recover, Vanala shifted into her Thal form, a little larger than Misha, with dark red fur instead of his bright blue.

While they wrestled, bit, and scratched at each other, Stephanie scrambled to pick up Vanala's spear, shocked by how heavy it was. And to think, Vanala could twirl it easily between her fingers with ease. Regardless, she aimed the point at the roiling mass of red and blue cats.

"Misha, watch out!"

The blue cat shifted into his cat boy form and rolled away from the bigger cat. Stephanie charged, the point of the spear lined up with Vanala's heart. But while Misha was rusty, and took a second to change form, Vanala was a practiced hunter and was in her catgirl form in the blink of an eye.

Stephanie never hit her target. Vanala just pushed the point away and, almost lazily, slammed a fist into Stephanie's midsection with a sickening crunch. Stephanie dropped like a sack of potatoes. Misha watched in horror as Vanala picked the **** Stephanie up by her throat with one hand.

Vanala kicked her spear up into her hands and held the end to Stephanie's throat.

"If you want to see her again, you'll turn yourself into Thesa before Navan Zahr."

Before Misha could even react, Vanala was through the portal, and it closed behind her, trapping Stephanie and Misha in different worlds.

Wow, that was a lot huh? Don't get used to this level of productivity. I've been feeling very inspired lately, but it'll probably go away soon, and I'll be back to my usual annual chapters.

-TC