Driving out to Victrixa’s ranch, I was actually looking forward to my first lesson. The positive energy of last night’s spiritual bath was still with me and although I didn’t feel totally confident, I was no longer nervous. When I pulled up in roughly the same place where I had parked before, I saw Victrixa waiting for me on the porch.
“In Lak’ech, Maya,” she said as she laid her right hand over her heart.
“Ala K’in,” I responded with a smile, echoing her gesture.
“Come,” she said, “sit on the porch with me a bit and tell me about your week.” Jeez, she was beautiful. She was wearing a long caftan and the same plate necklace I’d seen before.
“Well,” I began, “it took me a few days to figure out what my trigger might be, but I think I know now.”
“And is it a thought? As it is for most shifters?”
“Yeah, it’s—”
“No, no need to tell me. Some things are sacred. Let’s head out in the Rover for some practice. It’s parked just out back.”
We walked around to the back of the house and climbed into her SUV. She off-roaded out into the middle of nowhere, which I figured was probably the point.
“You’re going to find that phasing during the daytime is much different than what was happening to you at night,” she said. “You’ll be awake, so you will remember it all. That means the actual phasing, as well as the whole experience of being in your second form.”
“Does it hurt? I mean, it’s kind of hard to know the truth about it all with TV and whatnot.” I hoped I wasn’t insulting her again. Yeesh.
She gave a sharp laugh. “It’s not painful as long as you make a full transition. And you don’t ruin the clothing you’re wearing, either. All of that is based on the idea that the phase is somehow chemical or genetic. But it’s not, of course. Spirit magic is nothing like that.”
She pulled up under a large tree that looked out on a vast field. We got out of the Rover and I followed her as she moved away from the tree line. She pointed at the field.
“All of the land we’ve seen here belongs to me. I own a hundred acres. No one will see us or hear us. Now what I want you to do is think of your thought and take it as deep within yourself as you can. It should be a positive one. Let it remind your soul of what the best part of phasing is for you.”
I heard her and all, but to be honest with you, I was still kinda stuck on the hundred acres part. Hello!
I started by standing completely still and feeling the gentle breeze play in my hair, then I inhaled deeply and pictured Balam in my head. And then I let myself think it: freedom. I felt an incredible sensation of being pulled forward by my belly button. I actually was being pulled forward, and also upward a few feet. And when I landed, I was Balam. Or rather, I was myself inside Balam. All of my human-girl thoughts and feelings were still there, but my body had completely transformed. I had four feet. I bounded off, feeling the strength, the speed and, above all, the freedom.
“Don’t go too far!” I heard Victrixa call.
I can’t say how long she let me run around out there, but it must have been quite a while because by the time I padded back to her, she was sitting in a folding lawn chair drinking sparkling water and reading a book.
She closed the book and smiled at me. “Now,” she said, “to move back to your first form all you need to do is relax and desire it.”
I focused on letting each part of Balam’s body relax, from head to tail. As soon as I let go, I was Maya again. Victrixa pulled another chair out of the Rover and handed me (glory of glories!) a diet Coke from her cooler.
“That was….” I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t find the words.
“That was awesome,” Victrixa said with another laugh. “You’re a natural.”
“I am?”
“I should say so. How do you feel?”
“Awesome,” I laughed, too.
We sat in the shade a while longer, enjoying the breeze and our cool drinks.
“So,” Victrixa asked with a sweet smile, “have you found your mate yet?”
Huh? “You mean shifters really do mate for life, like they say?”
“Absolutely. And it’s always with another shifter.”
“Hmm.”
After we finished our drinks, we packed up the Rover and headed back to her house. Before I left, I turned to thank her, but I wasn’t exactly sure what to say. She seemed to sense it.
“It’s okay, Maya. You’re not my first newborn, so to speak. Have fun. And remember what I said about being careful. And no skipping school to phase!”
“Thanks, Victrixa.”
All I could think about as I drove home was how wrong I’d been. The fear of becoming a shifter had haunted me for days. Now I knew why she was warning me about skipping school. People probably did! The feeling of freedom was so overpowering. It was totally intoxicating. I had heard lots of stories of shifters who spent most of their lives in their second form. People probably did that, too. As I drove down the highway, the wind whipping through my hair, all I could think about was how soon I could make it out to Grandma’s to show her how amazing it was.