Freya spent the next week wandering lost and alone. Every night she would transform into the vicious Bastet and was unable to stop herself from killing anyone she came across.

One day the young girl was wandering through a forest when she heard a screech and a huge scorpion scuttled towards her. It was a monster, larger than Freya, with an enormous sting on its tail. Freya froze and backed away from the creature then heard a screech behind her and to her horror saw another giant scorpion standing behind her. One of the stingers snapped forwards. Freya dodged and ran. The scorpions chased her with terrifying speed, smashing through foliage as they closed in.

Freya sprinted through the forest which opened out and she skidded to a halt as she found herself in front of a cliff. She looked up. She'd seen how fast the scorpions could move. She'd never be able to get out of reach in time. The two monsters emerged from the trees and Freya could sense their excitement

Suddenly a man appeared, seemingly from nowhere and stepped between Freya and the scorpions. He muttered the incantations of a spell and the scorpions stopped, seeming confused. It looked like they were in some kind of trance. Then they turned and scuttled away.

The man turned towards Freya. He was tall with pale skin and a bald head. Warm blue eyes looked down at her.

'Are you alright?' he said. Freya was still shaking but nodded. The man came over to her. He looked at her torn, dirty clothes and noticed she was very thin. She hadn't had much food over the last few days, except when she turned into her beast form, but the Bastet didn't kill because it was hungry, it killed because that was what it was made to do. She was pale and scared and the man felt a surge of pity for the poor girl, 'Come,' he said, 'I'll take you to our camp. You need food and rest and this is dangerous country.' He headed towards the trees and looked back at her. Freya hesitated then followed cautiously.

'Thank you,' she mumbled and the man smiled at her.

'What's your name young one?' he said.

'Freya,' said Freya.

'I am Thomas,' said the man, 'the leader of my druid camp. You shouldn't be out here by yourself. Those scorpions swarm the place. You're lucky there were only two of them that time.' Freya looked over her shoulder to make sure there were no other monsters around.

Thomas' camp was alive with activity. Several children ran around the place and Freya looked around and saw a woman roasting something over a fire. Some of the children looked at her, curiously. She saw a boy about her age swinging a sword in a clearing on the edge of the camp, cutting down imaginary opponents.

'Come,' said Thomas, 'I'll get you some clothes. You look like you've been having a hard time.' Freya nodded as the druid led her to a simple brown tent, 'I'll be back in a minute,' he said and left, returning a moment later with a red dress. Freya held it up as she examined it.

'Thank you,' she said. Thomas smiled and nodded before going outside so that Freya could get changed in privacy. As she was getting changed she realised that every time she turned into the Bastet her clothes remained once she'd turned back into herself, even though they should have torn off her from her much larger size. At the thought of the Bastet, Freya realised that she should warn Thomas about her curse. But she didn't know how to. If Thomas found out he might throw her from the camp. She'd been completely alone for a week and though that wasn't a particularly long time she felt lonely. She still hadn't recovered from the loss of her family either.

Thomas came back in with some food and water. Famished, Freya wolfed down the food and drank the water. Thomas watched her with a small smile.

'What were you doing in the forest Freya?' he asked gently. Freya hesitated.

'I…I lost my family a week ago,' she looked at the floor, 'They died in a fire.'

'I'm sorry,' said Thomas, 'my parents died of sickness when I was a boy. The druids took me in and I've been with them ever since,' he sighed, 'After all this time I still miss them. But those we love never truly leave us. They're always in here.' He prodded Freya's chest over her heart. Freya smiled weakly. She had only known Thomas for about half an hour but he was so gentle and kind and he had saved her life, 'Wasn't there anyone to look after you?'

'No,' Freya muttered, 'I was…well, I had to leave my village.'

'Why?' said Thomas.

'People…people think I'm dangerous,' she mumbled, 'and they're right. I…I've got magic and…and I can't control it. I've been cursed.'

'Freya, magic is not a curse,' Thomas said, 'It's a gift.'

'No you don't understand,' Freya said, 'my magic…it's dangerous…I can make things move without meaning to… I can give myself supernatural strength… I…' she stopped thinking; I turn into a murderous beast at the stroke of midnight.

'You merely need to learn to control it,' Thomas said, 'Magic is an unpredictable power, young one. Even after generations of study we cannot predict everything it does. But we can learn to control magic to a certain extent at least.'

'I don't think it extends far enough to control me,' Freya mumbled thinking about the murderous bloodlust of the Bastet. She should just tell him but she couldn't. She knew it was selfish and she was endangering the lives of everyone in the camp but she just couldn't get the words out.

'We'll try to help you Freya,' Thomas said, 'but for now I'll give you a tour.' He led her out of the tent and showed her around the camp, telling her about the lives of the druids. The sun was beginning to set when they returned to the tent.

'You'd better get some rest young one.' Thomas said and left Freya alone in the tent. Freya lay back on the bed, angry with herself for not telling Thomas the whole story.

That night a roar shot through the camp and everyone bolted awake. It came from Freya's tent which she was sharing with Thomas as they didn't have a spare tent. Thomas was sleeping on the floor but bolted awake as he heard Freya scream. He watched in shock as the girl began to transform. Backing to the mouth of the tent Thomas watched as Freya sprouted wings and her body became covered with black fur. The Bastet reared, tearing a hole in the roof of the tent and then spread its wings tearing through the sides of the tent. The tent collapsed but the Bastet clawed its way out roaring. Other druids ran towards Thomas and stared at the beast which was snarling at them. Thomas took a deep breath and slowly stepped forwards.

'Freya?' he said and the Bastet glared at him without recognition, 'Freya it's me, it's Thomas.' The Bastet roared and leapt at him. Thomas dived to the side and the beast smashed a paw into a woman sending her flying. It overturned a pot on the fire, spilling boiling broth over a fire and whipping up a cloud of steam. The creature roared as the steam blinded it. The druids scattered while the Bastet was momentarily blinded. Snarling and roaring the huge winged panther lunged blindly through the camp tearing tents and people apart. People screamed as they fled the beast. Thomas hurried towards the monster as it tore a hole in a man's belly and smashed another aside with its tail.

'Freya, stop!' Thomas shouted and the Bastet turned towards him and started forwards.

Inside the beast Freya tried to fight her instincts. Thomas had saved her life, yet the Bastet still wanted to tear him apart. It leapt before the Freya part of it could stop it knocking Thomas to the ground.

Stop! Freya screamed inside the beast. There were two parts of her in a single body and the murderous part was strong. The Freya part struggled against her beastly part but the Bastet sank its teeth into Thomas' leg. The man screamed in agony.

Suddenly a bolt of magic slammed into the Bastet which roared as it was knocked to the ground. It struggled to its feet but seemed unsteady. Several druids came, forwards carrying swords.

'Wait!' Thomas called from the ground, 'Don't kill her.'

'How can you say that?' said a boy incredulously.

'She's not evil,' said Thomas, 'She can't control this power. We need to help her.' The Bastet started forwards then drew back as a man swiped his sword at it. It snarled angrily as the druids continued to feint at it with their weapons preventing it from getting close. Then it turned and headed back towards the ruined tent. The druids watched as it started to transform back into its human form. Once the transformation was finished Freya lay sobbing on what was left of the tent. The druids watched her as she cried herself to sleep. Thomas' compassion for all life forms had put them in danger but he was their leader so they picked up the sleeping girl and moved her to a tent while others carried the injured Thomas to the healing tent.

Freya woke up and found herself lying in a tent. A woman was sitting beside her.

'You okay?' she asked. Freya nodded and then remembered the beasts rage and bloodlust.

'I'm so sorry,' she cried, 'I couldn't control myself. I…'

'I know,' said the woman quietly, 'I know you didn't mean to do it. Luckily Thomas is still alive.'

'How…how's his leg?' Freya asked trying not to think of all the blood she'd seen through the eyes of the Bastet.

'Not good,' muttered the woman and her gentle expression slipped slightly and showed a flash of anger, 'but he'll live.'

'I'm sorry,' Freya said looking at the ground, 'How many…who did I…kill?'

'The Bastet killed ten people,' said the woman shortly.

'I'm really sorry,' Freya said guiltily, 'I can't stop myself.' She was silent for a moment then said, 'Can I see Thomas?' The woman hesitated then nodded. Freya got up and moved cautiously out of the tent. Several people looked at her with fear, suspicion and even hatred. Freya was amazed that they hadn't just thrown her out of the camp.

She made her way to the healing tent and found Thomas lying on a bed inside. He noticed her.

'Freya,' he said with a painful smile, 'I was hoping you would come.'

'Why?' Freya said, 'It's my fault you've been injured.'

'Well I do wish you'd told me about your curse,' Thomas said, 'but I know it must be hard for you. It's not your fault you can't control yourself in your Bastet form.'

'I was selfish,' Freya hung her head in shame, 'I endangered the lives of everyone in the camp because I was too scared to tell you.' Thomas expression turned serious.

'I want the full story Freya,' he said, 'The other druids would have thrown you out but I managed to convince them not to. But I need to know what happened.' Freya told him the full story and Thomas listened in silence.

'I'll try and get some druids to look for a cure,' he said when she'd finished, 'but don't get your hopes up. As far as I know there's no way to reverse a curse like that.'

'I'm sorry I didn't tell you before,' Freya said shamefully.

'I know,' Thomas said then winced in pain as he shifted slightly, 'If you'll excuse me, I need some rest,' Freya nodded and left the tent. She went straight back to her own tent not wanting to endure all the glares she was receiving.

While Freya was in her tent the druids discussed what to do with her. One suggested chaining her down during the night but Thomas knew that that wouldn't stop the Bastet. Another druid suggested using a variety of spells to subdue the beast and the others agreed to give it a try.

Because of the Bastet there were only a few tents left so many people had to sleep outside that night. The woman that had been with Freya when she woke up cast several spells on the sleeping girl, hoping that they would at least prevent her from attacking the rest of the camp.

They didn't work.

That night the Bastet went on another rampage and this time it destroyed every tent in the camp. The druids tried to restrain it with spells but the magic of the beast was too strong and it tore apart several people. The Bastet headed for the only tent that was still standing; the one where Thomas was lying.

Thomas could do nothing to defend himself and Freya could do nothing to stop herself. She tried to fight the Bastet and seemed to almost succeed but then the beast regained control. The tent was torn apart and Thomas was killed. The Bastet roared to the sky as it stood over the druid leader's body. Then it started to turn back into Freya.

As soon as Freya was herself again the druids started throwing stones at her. They no longer cared about the druid's belief of never turning away someone in need. The Bastet had killed at least half the people in the camp and destroyed all the tents. The druid's spells had been useless and without their leader there was no one to stop them from chasing Freya out of the camp.

Freya ran until she felt ready to collapse. Shivering she curled up against a large tree. She wasn't surprised that the druids had chased her away; in fact she would have been amazed if they hadn't, but it still hurt. She'd killed Thomas even after he'd saved her life and her heart was filled with guilt. It might have been better if the old woman had just killed her or if she'd died in the fire with the rest of her family.

Freya curled up into a ball beneath the tree and lay there until the sun started to rise over the horizon. She looked up at the sun and got to her feet. Then she stumbled away through the trees.