Chapter One- Shapes in the Smoke
He stood over his scrying bowl, watching as his granddaughter talked with an elderly red panda. The small animal was talking and looked scared out of his wits, clutching the tall staff in his small hand. He watched as his granddaughter bowed to the red panda and the small mammal ran off at lightning speed. The image disappeared.
The man stood straight, the bottom of his long navy blue robes swishing about the floor. He readjusted his gold rope belt and ran a hand through his blond hair. He still looked so young, despite his true age. He liked it that way. He couldn't live with himself if he looked like the elderly men he'd see around town.
There was a rapping on the door.
"It's Anuli!" a girl's voice called.
"I'll be there in a minute!" the man returned. He shed his robes and belt to reveal a pair of dress pants, a white dress shirt, and a black vest to match his pants. He exited his room of magic to his penthouse room and made his way to the door. He opened it and found a young woman, an African American, standing before him. Then again, she would probably be called an African Chinese, considering they both lived in Beijing. The girl wore a long, flowing red skirt and a red T-shirt to match. The beanie hat on her head was the same color. Her hair was in dozens of cornrow braids.
"I found something I think you might like." Anuli said. She held out a fistful of black feathers.
"Perfect!" the man exclaimed, taking the feathers excitedly.
"It helps when you have a grandma that lives in the forest." Anuli laughed. "I hope it helps."
"You are a wonderful girl." The man bowed graciously. "How can I thank you?"
"You already have." Anuli laughed again. "Don't worry about it."
The man smiled. "Here, take this." He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to the black girl.
Anuli went wide eyed when she saw its contents. "It's coming to Beijing?"
"Not until July." The man said. "But I figured you should prepare."
"Thank you Dong." Anuli bowed. "See you around!" She ran off down the hall, her braids flying behind her. Dong smiled and stepped back inside. He pulled out a ceramic bowl and a box of matches from the kitchen. He examined each of the feathers before choosing the right ones and placing them in the bowl. Then, he set fire to them, murmuring to himself. An unusual amount of smoke rose from the bowl and formed shapes in the air.
First, they looked like two human girls, dancing with each other. Then, the humans morphed and changed. One sprouted wings from her back and talons grew from her nails; feathers grew all over her body at a rapid pace and her mouth and nose fused together to form a beak. The other human sprouted a tail and her ears migrated up to the crown of her head and turned pointy. All the hair on her body grew longer, small claws grew from her fingernails, and her teeth went pointed. When the transformation was done, the dancing humans had turned into a fox and a raven.
Dong smiled as the smoke disappeared. "I must call for the housekeeper; everything must be neat and clean when my little Siren and her mother return."
A/N: Anuli is African for "daughter who brings happiness". Read and review!