"Now, now... what do I do with you?"

Jorjina, Amy and Hanna struggled helplessly against their invisible bonds as the sorceress smiled evilly at them.

"Thought they could come into my tower. Thought they could steal my books. Silly little girls! Aren't they silly, Rebulon?"

The little imp-thing, shimmering with a magical halo, bounced excitedly on the spot and cackled at the three captives along with its mistress.

Jorjina couldn't believe they had been so stupid. It had seemed easy - so easy that they had forgotten to leave the way they came in. A magical trap had been sprung, and here they had been ever since, held by invisible manacles. Jorjina was afraid, but as a soldier was well used to fear. The other two weren't so lucky. Amy, the dark-skinned scout from the south, was sweating desperately, and Hanna - who had done nothing but guard prisoners most of her life - wasn't even trying to hide her terror, and despite the spell that silenced their voices she was sobbing like a child, tears streaming down her face.

The sorceress flicked her black, lacy cloak behind her. She wore knee-length black leather boots, shimmering obsidian gems over each nipple, and a starkly bleached skull chained around her waist that barely covered her crotch. Her immaculate skin was alabaster-pale, and her hair was as dark and alive as a storm-lashed night.

"I think you will be my first experiment," she said in her darkly sweet voice, and waved her elegant staff towards Hanna. The girl's breathing increased in pace as she fought her terror, her loose shirt drenched with cold sweat.

"Come come, my dear, I shan't hurt you." The sorceress whispered almost seductively to Hanna, gently stroking her neck with the tips of four silver-ringed fingers. "Shhh..."

It almost seemed to be working; Hanna actually appeared slightly less afraid. Until the next stoke took her head off. It hadn't been any harder or faster than the others, but somehow Hanna's dark-bobbed head dropped to the floor, fear still frozen on her face, along with three narrow slices of what must have been her neck. There was no blood. Jorjina and Amy gasped with horror but were unable to react in any other way.

"There now, that didn't hurt." The sorceress picked up the head. "Such a lovely girl," she said, running her fingers through the corpse's hair. She raised the head, and delicately brushed Hanna's dead lips with her own. "Rebulon will enjoy this one." She turned and casually tossed the head to the small imp, who caught it and carried it off to some unknown fate with whoops of excitement. Then, and only then, did Hanna's body topple to the ground. The sorceress looked up and Jorjina and Amy, who stared in horror.

"Ah! Nothing so free of sensation for you," she said to Amy, pointing with her staff. "I think you will find this interesting." She waved her hand vaguely and first Amy's steel breast-cups flew away; a second wave and her loincloth was gone, leaving her naked. The sorceress carefully put down her staff and extended both arms towards the defenceless girl. Jorjina could hardly bear to watch what would happen but morbid curiosity compelled her.

The sorceress dramatically waved an arm downwards. There was a snap of bone as Amy bent violently forwards, at a speed and angle that should have torn her hamstrings. The sorceress grinned wickedly. Her other arm flashed upwards, and this time there was a crack as Amy's spine bent upwards at an angle it was never meant to have achieved. The sorceress gasped with pleasure and extended both arms forwards, now manipulating her hands in arcane fashion. Amy's body started jerking as all kinds of changes began to occur at once. Her arms were shrinking. Her luscious black hair all dropped away, leaving her bald. There were nauseating crunches of gristle as her legs began to lengthen. The sorceress laughed.

More subtle changes begun to appear. Amy's face, screwed up in agony, somehow seemed to lengthen. Her skin appeared to be changing colour, ever so slightly. Her ears slowly moved up the sides of her changing head. Her breasts inflated, more than doubling in size.

Her face finished its transformation, and though her features were still recognisable as her own they were spread over a great length; her lips were a good six inches ahead of her eyes. Her ears finished their migration, and in a new, sharper shape they were very near the top and back of her head. Her black skin became a velvety midnight blue. Finally, her arms shriveled up completely and withdrew into her chest, leaving no trace they had ever been there. Amy tried to scream in pain as they disappeared with a snap, but although the spell that took her voice was now gone, what came from her mouth was not a cry for help but a loud bellow like that of a herd animal in distress. Terror was written across her horse-like face as she found herself free of the entrapment spell, and her reformed legs were clearly very efficient; braying hysterically Amy fled, her massive legs propelling her limbless torso along parallel to the ground at great speed.

The sorceress calmly let her go, and turned back to the horrified Jorjina. "A success!" she congratulated herself. "She should make a fine replacement."

Jorjina managed to look puzzled through her fear.

"Oh, I fully intend to keep her," said the witch, suddenly serious. "She killed my stallion: it's only fair she should take his place. I shall need to get Rebulon to fit her with a saddle and bridle but she should serve my purposes."

She slinked up to Jorjina, still held in place by the spell, until they stood inches apart. Hanna's headless corpse still occupied a large area of her field of vision, and she could hear Amy's animal cries echoing through the crystalline corridors. Jorjina was terrified to find out what awaited her, but tried to look defiant.

The sorceress took a strand of Jorjina's long, blonde hair in her hand, and twirled it slowly. "But you, my dear... look at you! What do you think I might do with you, hmmm? Turn you into a cat, perhaps. A form one as supple and..." She breathed out slowly, drawing closer to Jorjina's face. "As sensuous as you would surely enjoy?"

Jorjina's expression betrayed a slight glimmer of hope at what in light of her companions' fates seemed a soft punishment.

"Ah! You'd like that, would you?" The sorceress smiled, gazing into Jorjina's eyes. She looked down, and with one finger slowly stroked the three tattooed chevrons on Jorjina's left breast that showed her former rank. "Big brave soldier girl," she pouted. "Perhaps I should shape you into the ultimate warrior, and lay a glamour on you to defend me with your life?"

The sorceress leaned forwards. Her cheek brushed Jorjina's as she whispered in her ear. "Perhaps," she breathed hotly, "I should destroy your mind, and make you a blank love-slave who follows me on a leash."

She leaned back, and giggled. "Or maybe just turn you into a mate for your friend. What a glorious chariot I could have, with a pair of such rare creatures to draw it!"

Jorjina recoiled at this, but still unable to move her limbs or speak she could do nothing but sweat cold.

"No. I think the best thing would be a mix of all of those! I like you, and I like the shape you are in now. I do not want to kill you, or hurt you, or twist you. But you will not be set free. You have trespassed and stolen from me, and for that I will make you mine. Now, I'm going to release the spell. But you won't run away. Will you?"

The spell faded, and although Jorjina could have run, she felt somehow ashamed. She wanted to flee but could not, as if she were a naughty child being scolded by her mother. She stared at the floor and shook her head sheepishly. "No, I won't."

"Good girl. Now, you will remove your clothes."

Jorjina blushed, unwilling and embarrassed, but complied. She was still unsure why she wasn't running away.

"Now, this will hurt. Not as much as your friend, but it will hurt."

Jorjina nodded miserably and continued to gaze at the ground. Suddenly she felt a sharp ache in the base of her spine, and at the sides of her head. Her eyes throbbed painfully, and all over her body she felt a horrible prickling sensation. And then, it was over. At first she couldn't tell what had happened. But as she moved over to one of the massive crystals to check her reflection, she found that she instinctively dropped to all fours. Before she had quite realised it, she was in front of the mirror-crystal. The sorceress laughed softly as Jorjina stood and looked at herself.

All over her naked body was a short, fine, silky black fur, except on her breasts, torso, soles and palms – although the bare skin here was just as black as her fur, and the only colour on her body was the pink of her nipples which were the same colour they had always been. Her ears were pointed and resided on the top of her head. The hair on her head and between her legs, formerly blonde, were now a coarse black fur, and on her head it was shaped into thick, outlandish spines. Whiskers fanned out from her face, and her eyes were large and yellow with diamond pupils. She ran her tongue over her teeth and found that they were sharp. Behind her, a tail flicked with a life of its own. She concentrated, and found she could control it easily. Yet despite all this, she still somehow looked like herself – like a feline version of Jorjina. She tried to demand, "what have you done to me?" but instead of words a sweet miaow poured from her lips. Behind her the sorceress laughed again, this time almost along with Jorjina rather than at her.

"A lovely pretty cat, who is fast and strong enough to defend me..." She stopped, and made a tut-tutting sound as she beckoned towards her new pet. Jorjina automatically dropped to all fours and lightly bounded over to the sorceress, answering her call. "...and voluptuous and sensuous enough to please me in the bedchamber." She stroked Jorjina under the chin. Somewhere, at the very back of her logical mind, Jorjina felt demeaned and humiliated, but felt no outright revulsion to either the sorceress' words or touch; indeed she found the sensation pleasant, however much she wished not to. She now knew that she was under a glamour to simulate years of obedience as a pet, but because of that very enchantment, she didn't care. She sighed, and the sound she made was a purr of contentment.

"Yes, this has been a very good day for me, my pet, my dear Jorjina. Now, the first thing you shall do for me is to round up your friend, wherever her confused amblings have taken her. I'm sure you'll work out how."

Jorjina drew a deep breath, and was amazed to find that she recognised Amy's scent hanging in the air. She realised she felt excited at the prospect of a hunt.

"When you bring her back, I shall have Rebulon make a saddle and bridle for her. And tomorrow, we shall ride to the city! What a sight I shall be, riding my unique new creature and with a luscious cat-girl in tow. Now retrieve the errant Amy for me. Go, Jorjina!"

Claws slid from Jorjina's fingertips as she took off, sprinting on all fours at astounding speed to hunt down Amy for her mistress.