After the excitement of the weekend, returning to work on Monday was difficult.  The project Duncan had been working on since starting at his new company was nearing completion, so everyone was very busy trying to clear out as many bugs as they could while adding the last few features.  The work was still engaging, but it was starting to drag on, and rumors of a need for ‘crunch time’ later were in the air.

Home was hardly more restful.  Sidney had decided it was time to convert Victor’s crib into a bed, which mostly consisted of removing the side rails.  Victor had resisted the idea for weeks, insisting every night that his bed be fixed.  After Courtney’s birthday he’d stopped asking, and had discovered the joys of getting up whenever he wanted.  He’d become something of a rooster, and was always underfoot while Duncan was getting ready for work.

So it was something of a relief when Agents Mackie and Armstrong came to call Wednesday night.  They’d brought a very short list of suspected sites in Western Canada, and an equally short one for the maritimes, as Duncan had suggested that Saturday night might prove to be the “night of the full Moon” further east.

“Abbotsford, Vancouver and Nanaimo?  I guess most of them are further east.”

“Lethbridge as well as the obvious in Alberta, then mostly Ontario and Quebec,” agreed Agent Mackie.  “Lethbridge we’re pretty sure about, there are at least 6 excess deaths per month.  The big cities are more of an assumption.  There are some local hotspots for deaths, but...”

“Mostly hospitals?”  At the agent’s nod, Duncan sighed.  “That’s not going to be pretty if things go badly.  Any chance you could equip all the patients and staff with silver?”

“That would require a lot more resources than we currently have,” said Agent Mackie regretfully.

“You should at least let me meet your boss, so we can get the local office onside.  It would make it easier to organize a bigger meeting where we can show magic to a lot of your agents.”

“I’ll see what I can do.  He’s busy, and I’m not exactly high on his priority list.”

Duncan grinned.  “I think that’ll change once he understands that magic is real.”

Agent Armstrong shook his head.  “You thought I reacted badly?  Hah.  I want to be there when this goes down.”

“As long as we’re somewhere far away from other people, I don’t care if he takes a shot at me.  Not like he can do any harm.”

“And it’s statements like that worry me,” said Agent Armstrong.  “What are we supposed to do about things like you?”

Duncan frowned.  “I’d prefer not to be called a thing like that.”

“Not according to Gwen,” said Agent Mackie, trying to keep a straight face.

Duncan rolled his eyes but chuckled.  “It’s different when she says it.”

“I’ll see if I can arrange a meeting with the boss.  There’s a district office is near the airport, do you think that’s far enough from...”

Duncan shrugged.  “No way to know, really.  The odds of it residing at the airport seem particularly low.  Still, if we could set it up on Friday after moonrise that’d be best.”

Agent Mackie jotted a note, and nodded.  “He works late, it shouldn’t be a problem.  Transportation?”

“Just give me an address.”  Duncan furrowed his brow in thought.  “GPS coordinates might be better.”

“Are you going to fly in?”

Duncan grinned.  “Something like that.  I’ll be sure to walk the last bit, so that nobody gets freaked out.”

“And the same for getting to Abbotsford, I assume?”  At Duncan’s nod, Agent Mackie continued.  “OK, transportation is dealt with.  Good, it’s not like I can just book you a military jet or the like.”

“Transportation to the maritimes is another matter,” noted Duncan.  “I can’t move as fast when it’s not the night of the full Moon.”  He frowned.  “At least, I don’t think so.”  His body went still for a few seconds, then nodded.  “Can you priority ship a cargo to Saint John for me?  I could give it to you Friday when we meet, and it would need to be there Saturday night.  Say, two cubic feet, a couple of pounds?”

“Sure, we can set that up.  There’s one other matter we need to address.”

“Yes?”

“Compensation for your efforts.  We’ve got some unallocated funds at our disposal...”

Duncan shook his head.  “Sorry.  One of the rules of magic.  I can’t make it conditional on payment.”

“That’s inconvenient.  For you, I mean.”

“It’s not as bad as it sounds.  I can accept gifts after the fact, willingly given.”  Duncan grinned and added, “The girls at the club have always been very appreciative.”

Agent Armstrong guffawed.  “I bet!  Damn, you do have things set up nice.”

“I could introduce you around, if you happened to be in town on a full Moon night,” offered Duncan, in Donna’s voice.  “Even get you up on stage, if you were so inclined.”

That cooled Agent Armstrong’s jets.  “As a girl?” he asked, stunned.

“I’ve done it before.  And redheads are pretty popular.  You’d be cute.  Or drop-dead sexy, if that’s what you’d prefer.”

Agent Mackie laughed.  “You should try it, Chuck.  Unbend a little about magic.”

“I will if you will,” he said rebelliously.

“It’s a deal, then.  Though if we’ll be in Vancouver this Friday night to meet with the boss, we’ll have to take a rain check.”

Duncan’s grin was all Donna.  “I can arrange transportation.”

“What have you gotten me into, Jim?”

“I don’t know.  But I suspect it will prove enlightening.”

Once they’d left, Duncan sought out Bunhill.  Courtney had insisted that with her name she should be a bunny instead of a cat, and Bunhill had quite enjoyed being a pure white plush rabbit in the little girl’s arms.  Courtney had even taken the new plush to bed with her, which had worried Sidney enough to intervene.  So Bunhill spent the nights flopped on the couch.  Tonight, she was buried in a pile of other plushies on one of the less-used chairs in the living room.

“Found me,” laughed Bunhill when Duncan finally located her.

“You could have said something earlier,” he mock-grumped, grinning.

“I’d have scared Agent Armstrong.  I’m amazed he agreed to get changed.”

“He has heart.  But that’s not what I wanted to talk about.  In two nights, I’m going up against ghouls.  Any advice?”

The Duncan-bot went still as a crystalline form emerged from it and drifted down to settle beside Bunhill as a plush carrot.  

“First, keep your shields up.”

The carrot giggled.  “Fine.  We’ll practice more tonight.  Anything else?”

Bunhill sighed.  “I really don’t know.  I didn’t do very well fighting against the others back in the day.  Most of our battles were just what I’ve been drilling you on.  Compel each other to leave, winner gets to stay.”

“Conveniently bloodless.”

“And something we could do in public without raising anyone’s concerns.  Slinging visible magic wasn’t an option.”

The carrot bobbed in an approximation of a nod.  “Magic censorship preventing displays of magic.  The payment rule was still in place too, right?”

The plush rabbit nodded.  “The worldstone seems to have survived the end of magic.”

“Worldstone?” asked Donna.

“My master didn’t know much about it, nobody did.  The legends claimed a great mage in the mists of time wanted to protect the world, so he shaped a stone and bound powerful magics into it.”  Bunhill shrugged fluffy shoulders.  “I don’t know if it’s even real.”

“Either way, it’s not going to help me fight ghouls.  Any other suggestions?”

“Yeah.  Find someone who knows how to fight and ask them.”

Donna thought about that for a moment then started to smile.  “I know just the guy.”

* * *

The next evening, an old friend of Duncan’s came over after dinner.  

“George!  Good to see you again.  It has been a while.  Life got... complicated after I got fired.”

George grinned.  “Believe me, I know how that can go.”

Duncan laughed, and showed his friend to the living room.  The asian man looked around and raised an eyebrow.  “What’s with all the boxes?”

“Kitchen renovations, starting tomorrow night.  I’ve got a lot on my plate tomorrow, and I need your advice for some of it.”

“For renovations?  My expertise is more towards logistics, but it looks like you’ve got that part covered.”

Duncan closed the curtains.  “Not the day job.  I have a tactical problem.”  He gestured toward a plush rabbit sitting on one of the chairs.  “George, meet Bunhill.”  At the gesture, the rabbit shifted and changed, becoming human once more.  She stood and curtsied to George, then resumed her seat.

“What the...”  George strode closer to Bunhill.  “What did I just see?”

“Magic.  It faded a couple of centuries ago, then returned to the world in the last generation.  It has some inconvenient rules, one of which prevents people from talking about it to anyone who hasn’t seen it themselves.”

“Which explains why it hasn’t been in the news.”

“That, and it’s not very common.  Yet.  Bunhill is from the previous magical era, where magic was derived from the sun instead of the Moon.  She survived by using the magic released when a person dies.”

“With you so far.”

“Remember the disaster back in January?  That was me trying to stop her.”

George looked down at the woman, who was leaking tears.  “She’s still alive?”

“More like alive again.  She was mostly crystalline when I encountered her.  Crystal is more stable than biological forms.”

Before George’s wondering eyes, Bunhill shrunk and became a crystalline star.  “Thank you,” whispered the star.

“So... who won?”

“I did.  But when she drew power from the living people nearby, they burst into flame, starting the conflagration.  I...”  Duncan sighed.  “I hesitated.  Victory was in my grasp, without taking the final step.  She made it seem like I had won, then grabbed for more power.”

“And?” asked George.

Donna’s shimmering crystalline form replaced Duncan’s.  “I had to give up my humanity to win, and became a creature of pure magic.”

George studied his friend’s new form.  “Mal made cryptic remarks about the Blue Vixen and you.  I’m beginning to see what he meant.  How powerful are you?”

“On the night of the full Moon I have access to nearly limitless power.  It’s mostly transformation based, I’ve been enhancing the dancers at the club.  They’re quite appreciative.”

George chuckled.  “If I didn’t have a girlfriend, I’d come have a look myself.  And all this certainly explains why you declined the invite to the Dungeons and Dragons group.  You’re practically living the game.”

Donna nodded.  “A little.  Except there’s no benevolent GM to give hints about when I’m in over my head.  And I think I might be.  You see... Bunhill isn’t the only death mage.  There are others.  Quite a lot of them.”

“And you’re about to go crusading against them.  Why you?”

Donna spread crystalline arms.  “Why do you think?  Magic is rare.  As far as I know, I’m the only one in the country who can.  CSIS has asked for my help in this, and I intend to do what I can.  But I’m up against foes that have hundreds of years experience with magic.  My main edge is that their experience is mostly useless after magic changed phase...  But if I mess up, hundreds or thousands might die.”

George stroked his chin, considering the problem.  “Do they coordinate?  Communicate?”

“Bunhill?” asked Donna.

“No.  Each ghoul jealously guarded its own territory.  Death is thin gruel, especially if you can’t know when it will happen.”

“So.  We’ve played enough wargames over the years.  You know what my advice will be.”

“Local firepower superiority,” answered Donna with a grin.

“Exactly.  Hit them hard and fast, don’t let them get organized.  You’re starting with weaker ones, I presume?”

“That’s the plan.  Abbotsford and Nanaimo tomorrow night.  Avoid Vancouver, because that one doesn’t have to kill every now and then, plenty of people die every day.”  Donna went on to explain the statistical anomalies that had revealed the presence of more ghouls.

“Do the ones in the big cities need to be dealt with?” asked George.  “It sounds like they aren’t doing any actual harm.”

“Yes,” said Bunhill emphatically.  “Using death magic twists you.  If they get a taste of true power, they won’t stop until they have more.”

Donna settled back to her chair, and became Duncan once more.  “So you see.  I have my work cut out for me.  First priority is to get some more experience with ghouls and their capabilities.  Bunhill has trained me where she can, but she doesn’t know all their tricks.  Compulsion and control are big parts of their toolkit, and I’m... very vulnerable to that.”

“Can you protect yourself?” asked George.

Duncan nodded.  “If I’m paying attention.  But if I get distracted...”

“I see.  Do you have a plan for dealing with that?  You know it will happen.”

“Gwen.  A friend of mine from the Blue Vixen, who has become something like a disciple of mine.  She has some power, not as much as I do, and more importantly, a strong bond with me.  She can snap me out of it.”

“If she doesn’t get controlled.”

Duncan sighed.  “Crap.  Bunhill, is there a range limit on your ability to influence people?”

“Yes.  A few dozen feet.  But others might be more powerful.”

“OK.  So Gwen hangs back, she can reach me through our bond.  This could work!”

“What do you want me to do?” asked Bunhill.

“If you’re willing to stick close, I’d like your advice, and another set of eyes to see what I miss.”

“See?” said George.  “You know what you need to do.”

“I guess I do at that.  Thanks, though.  I needed to be reminded of that.”

“No problem.  Now show me more of that magic!”

* * *

Friday afternoon Duncan got word that he had a meeting with Agent Mackie’s boss at 8pm.  He talked to Arwen about postponing their session that night.  She said she’d find someone willing to wait, especially with the results he could produce.  Doctor Colin O’Brien had previously agreed to an early-morning shift after the Blue Vixen closed, as the hospital would be most quiet then.

“OK.  Tonight’s itinerary:  One kitchen reno.  A little tour around town to make certain costume wings real, and give Raven’s mom a treat as well.  Then... to work.”

“To war, you mean,” fretted Sidney.  “I don’t like this.”

Duncan hugged her tight.  “I know.  If there was another way...  I’ll be as careful as I can.”

“Just come back to me.”

Duncan kissed her, and went out to hang tarps around the kitchen windows.  When the Moon rose, he came back inside.  “Done.  Ready for the last of the stuff to be moved out of here?  You might want to get out of the way for this...”

Sidney nodded, heading into the living room with Courtney in tow.  Duncan’s daughter watched in fascination as sparkling crystal tentacles swarmed through the kitchen and dining room, rapidly carrying out all the remaining dishes, utensils, boxes, bags, and other oddments.  Sturdy cardboard boxes formed around collections of items and were added to the stacks.

Courtney clapped and giggled as the piles stacked higher, but Sidney just shuddered and turned away.  “Are you done yet?” she asked, plaintively.

Donna walked up to her and brushed her cheek.  Sidney flinched, making Donna sigh.  “Done with the removals.  Do you want to go with the plan from the model, or change things up?”

“If you start with the design from the model, can I still change things?”

“Of course!  Whatever will make you happy.”

“No tentacles would help.”

Donna laughed.  “Fine.  No more tentacles.  Courtney liked it, didn’t you sweetie?”

“Yes, Auntie Daddy.  Can I have sparkly tentacles?”

“No!”

“Sorry sweetie.  I can do sparkly wings...”

“Yay!”  Courtney ran around the living room excitedly, fluttering her sparkly wings.  

Sidney shook her head at the display, and tried to get Courtney to be a little quieter so Victor would stay asleep.  Courtney tried the best she could, but... sparkly wings.

“OK, let’s get this done before I have to deal with your son,” said Sidney as she walked to the door of the kitchen.  “Ready?”

“Always,” said Donna.  “Especially on nights like tonight.”  She closed her eyes, and her body shimmered away into nothing as she spread her attention through the kitchen.  The counter and cabinets that formed the one arm of the U-shaped kitchen melted away to nothing, leaving an ugly stove behind.  It lifted up, disconnected from the plug, and wafted through the other door into the hallway.  The bulkhead that had supported the upper cabinets smoothed away into the rest of the ceiling, leaving no sign of its passing.  The walls recoloured, going from an ugly yellow to a soothing pale tan.

Sidney cheered.  “It’s looking better already.”

Donna’s laugh tinkled through the room.  “Wait for it.”

The two windows reshaped themselves, becoming wider.  Less visible was the change to high efficiency panes.  The entirely redundant sliding door melted away entirely, becoming a smooth unbroken wall.  The remaining cabinets restyled themselves to a dark-stained oak, restructuring some of the useless cabinets as drawers.  The cabinets and countertop extended down the newly-blank wall, filling the room with storage.  That got an even bigger cheer.

The ugly flooring was next, replaced by a dark hardwood that Donna ensured was also entirely impervious to water.  Finally, an island sprang up in the middle of the kitchen, with starry-black granite on top matching the countertops Donna had created a few months earlier.

“Done so soon?” asked Sidney.

“Not quite.  Wiring is next, you just can’t see it snaking through the walls.  And done.  Dad needs to check it out before we put the new stove and fixtures in, but that won’t take long.”

Sidney danced through her new kitchen, giddily.  She stopped briefly at the new sink, formed seamlessly out of the same granite as the countertop.  “Do the taps work?”

“Yes, all the plumbing for the sink and dishwasher are done.”

Sidney glanced at the mentioned device.  “It’s still ugly.”  A blush of grey washed over the front of it, replacing ugly white with stainless steel.  “Can you do that to the fridge too?”

Donna’s answer was to reform as human and gesture at the fridge which was already undergoing its own metamorphosis.  “The insides are still the same.  There’s space for a bigger unit once you figure out which one you want.  And it’s not like I can’t shift the cabinets a little if needed.”

“Or a lot?  I want a big fridge with all the toys.”

Donna chuckled, and offered a hug.  This time it was accepted.  “Any fridge you like.  I’ll make it work, and add the plumbing for the ice-maker.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.  But it’s time to go.”

“Already?” whined Sidney.  “I...”  She sighed.  “Do what you have to.”

“I’ll be saving lives.  That’s worth something, isn’t it?”

“I know.  I’ll still be worried every second you’re not here.”

“I know.”  Donna closed her eyes and held Sidney for another minute.  “There.”

“What?”

“There’s a vault in the basement, with most of a ton of gold in it.  No matter what happens, at least you’ll have more money than you’ll ever know what to do with.”

Sidney’s eyes lit up.  “Can I go see?”   Courtney had to come along as well, and her eyes went as wide as Sidney’s at all the sparkly gold inside the heavily reinforced vault.  Donna formed one of the necklaces into a tiara for Courtney to wear, and at Sidney’s puppy-eyes look made a gorgeous golden and jewelled crown for her as well.  The two were still oohing and aahing over each other’s jewelry when Donna vanished away.

Donna gathered up Bunhill, reducing her to a point while they sought out the wings that Donna had made at the party.  A flash of magic for each, and the became permanent reminders of the party, rather than ones that would fade in a week.  The last stop was at Raven’s house, and Donna reformed herself as her best imitation of Duncan to tap on the door.

Raven’s mother, Lois, answered the door.  “Oh!  I wasn’t sure you would really come.  Come in, come in.”

“I can’t stay long.  Some... other issues have come up.”  Donna reached out with her power, and touched Raven’s wings as she had the others.  “Have you decided?”

“I... I don’t want to hurt James.”  Lois pulled her husband to her side.  “Making him tiny would be so amazing, but...”

“I can make him very durable as well.  Solid rubber, for example.”

“But still able to move?” asked James, curiously.

“Yes.”

“Do it!”

Donna pulled the door closed behind her, and the moment they were in private, James began to dwindle.  At the same time, Lois’s bra started getting very tight, and she scrambled to get it off.  Once she was topless, James was under a foot tall, and acquiring a rubbery sheen.  

Lois scooped up her shrunken husband and snuggled him against her still-growing chest.  “This is going to be...”  She blushed, and turned away from Donna.  “Uh...”

Donna giggled.  “It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.  I’ve grown so many boobs I’ve gotten entirely inured to it.  Have fun you two.  I’ve weakened his change, so it should start fading in a couple hours.  Yours... will last all week.”

Lois grinned.  “Cool.  Thank you so much.”

Donna waved to her.  “Worth it to see you happy.  Bye!”  And she vanished, flicking herself and Bunhill along her bond to Gwen.

They arrived in the Blue Vixen’s changing room to find Gwen busy growing a new dancer’s breasts.  “Almost done here.  Are we going?”

“Yep.  Does anyone else need changes before we go?”

“Just the fursuit for a certain waitress.  She was stuck as a vixen for a week.”

Donna slapped her forehead.  “Right!  Send her in, I’ll apologize and set her up.”

Once the blue vixen fursuit had been crafted and taken on and off twice, the waitress hugged Donna.  “Thanks!  This will be so amazing.  I got such tips that week, I wished...”  She covered her muzzle suddenly.  “Sorry!  I’ve got what I wanted now.”

Donna laughed.  “It’s OK.  I don’t mind granting happy wishes.  Go have fun.  I’ll be back later if you want any upgrades.”

“Okay!”  The vixen dashed off to resume her work.

“It’s time, then.  Ready for this?”

Gwen squared her shoulders.  “Let’s do it.”

Once they were all points once more, Donna headed north.  She poured on speed once they hit the ocean, to see how fast she could go.  Gwen and Bunhill were the limiting factor, keeping them moving took more effort as they couldn’t adapt to such rapid changes in location.  After almost losing them a second time, Donna slowed down.  They were most of the way to their destination in any case.

On a deserted bit of road near the airport, Donna grew a point-sized GPS unit back to normal size, and studied its readout.  “We’re close.  That building over there.”

A minute later they were inside, and Donna was human once more.  At Gwen’s request, Donna’s passengers had become small gems, tucked into her ears as diamond studs.  She took Duncan’s form once more, then turned a corner and approached a nondescript office door.  It was unlocked, and the man at the desk inside looked up.  “We’re closed.”

“I have an appointment to see Agent Mackie and his supervisor.”

The desk clerk’s disinterested expression didn’t change.  “And your name is?”

“Duncan Faulkner.”

“I see.”  An unseen gesture made the door behind him open.  “Go ahead.  Room 7.”

When Duncan tapped on the designated door, Agent Armstrong opened it.  Agent Mackie and an older man were seated at a large wooden desk, with two other chairs in front of it.

Duncan sniffed at the air, then frowned.  “What is that?”

“Death,” answered his left earring.  “He’s been near someone using death magic.”