If you’re reading this, you must have found my journal. Gotta say, while I’ve gotten into the habit of getting notebooks and such just because things are cute, actually sitting down to write is a bit new to me. I think to start, maybe I should share a little bit about myself.
Starting from the top: “Salix” as I am now is the byproduct of a magical spell that went sideways. For most of my existence, from the moment I spawned into the realm in which I resided, I had one role in my life. I was a familiar, a teaching tool and something like a battery pack for young witches on their journeys to master their magical abilities. As my masters would learn and grow, I would stay by their side until they no longer needed me, and sometimes would stay beyond that until I knew my next witch was ready. I was a being made of pure magic, in the form of a small calico cat, and I was content with that.Â
All it took was one small mistake to change everything.
To be perfectly honest, I’m still not really sure what went wrong. My newest witch, a young one that weaves magic into art and art into the soul, was practicing a new spell. I was outside with her, napping a bit in a delightful sunpatch by the Manor I had long come to call home once the coven within welcomed me warmly. I knew the spell was more complex than my witch normally worked with, but I had not that it more than I knew they could handle. I was aware enough to hear her muttering as she wandered about preparing to cast, and nothing sounded out of the ordinary.Â
One moment, everything was normal. It was a lovely day out, music could be heard from somewhere deep in the Manor, and my witch was taking a few deep breaths before casting.Â
The next, all I knew was pain.Â
Something had gone wrong with the spell, and I was hit in the process.
Now I’m sure you, my dear new friend, don’t want to know the grizzly details of what came after. The long and short of it is as such: something in the spell caused my innate magical abilities to go haywire and one of the results was my physical form becoming extremely unstable. I had never attempted shape-shifting in the past, and now I could not hold one form for more than a handful of moments at a time. This, in turn, caused the magic I held to be extremely volatile, lashing out at the world around me in my panic. It was only through some very fast acting on the part of my young master and her coven that a charm was created in order to help me hold a solid guise and calm myself. It helped to seal away part of the power that coursed through, allowing the magic to stabilize.
Since that day, a lot has changed for me.
For one, now I was the one learning to use and control my magic and abilities. Before, I had never had to be so conscientious. The form I took was enough, and the rest was just born of instinct. Even with the charm, something that I keep on me at all times, that instinct is no longer one I can rely on. Now, I was more in control than ever before, and with that had to take much more care. Shape-shifting comes easiest to me, funnily enough, though I have found that outside of being a cat, most of the time my humanoid form still holds some shared qualities. Have yet to master feathers, which is strangely annoying. I do so very much wonder what it’s like to have wings…
I’ve also figured out a spell that allows my clothing and such to blend into various societies without having to purchase a new wardrobe constantly. For something you would think to be a minor glamour, it has been a headache to get working consistently. Still, better that than spending my limited funds on a new fit or two every time I reach a new township. Had to piece it together fast once I realized it wasn’t just my physical form that was no longer stable.
See, I don’t think the power to form portals into new realms is a common occurrence, even if a world of magic and mystic like the one I hail from. It’s also not a power I can necessarily control, and after so long you can’t blame a cat for getting curious enough to step through sometimes, right? Though my witch and the cover we both served welcomed my new self with open arms, none were truly certain how to help a being with such a deep connection to magic in its purest form learn out to control such a connection.
And that, friend, brings us to where we are now. I travel through portals into new dimensions, learning and hopefully growing as I go. It allows me to practice with my powers in a way I would not have been able to at the Manor, and lets me experience stories beyond my wildest dreams. The story of how Em came to travel with me, and of how my beloved Express came to be, are ones that I’ll happily share. But for now, know that if you have found this book, you are safe. The Express welcomes all aboard, and I’m happy to have a new wandering soul join in the journey.
