Path of the Tiger, стр. 467

No, young cub, ours is the task to bring the wayward sheep back to the fold, back to peace, back to harmony. So do not use this gift – and be sure of this, it is a gift, a majestic and wondrous boon – to wreak violence and destruction. No! You must use it carefully, and only ever to heal, to help, to honour, and to protect.

Now, retract your claws! Again, do not think about doing it – just do it.’

William retracted his claws, not quite realising how he had done it, but having done it successfully nonetheless. In response, the man laughed with joyous delight and clapped his hands.

‘Yes, yes! Excellent. Do you see now? Do you not feel glorious in this new body of yours? I can already tell that you are destined to become a powerful member of our tribe, our Council. That is the name by which our society refers to itself.’

He broadened his smile of delight and clasped his hands together.

‘Now for the second point,’ he continued, ‘one that I think that you will be most relieved to hear! You can and will change back into your human form. Do not worry, cub, this change you have just undergone is not permanent. You will not be stuck forever in the body of a tiger, so do not worry at all about that. The first few times it happens, changing back and forth between your human body and your tiger body will, unfortunately, be involuntary, but the more frequently it happens, the less painful it will be. Eventually, you will be able to slip between forms without pain, whenever you will it. I’m afraid that I cannot tell you right now how to enact the change to your human form. No, it is something that your unconscious mind must master on its own, in its own time. Like I said, the more times it happens, the more control you will have over it. But rest assured, you will have control over it eventually. Let me show you, my boy, just in case you don’t believe me.’

The man pulled his robe over his head and stood nude before William. His hirsute body was lean and wiry with rocky muscle; not an ounce of fat seemed to lurk anywhere on his form, and his skin was covered with many strange, faded tattoos. Then, in an instant, with a nightmarish rippling of his muscles, a lengthening of his limbs and a grotesque stretching and billowing of his torso and head, his body changed. The whole process lasted but a second or two, but afterward, standing right where the man had been, was the enormous lion that had attacked William in the ruined temple.

William screamed in fright at the proximity of the massive beast, and at the horror of seeing this man’s form change from man to beast, but the sound emerged as a strangled roar from his throat. He scrambled on all fours, backing himself up against the wall, and somehow he managed to growl threateningly at the beast.

But then, before he could react, in another rippling of muscles, a contracting of limbs and a horror-inducing flurry of motion, the lion became a man again. With a smile, the fellow pulled his robe back over his head and squatted down, edging closer to William.

‘You see, cub, I am like you, and you are now like me! The difference is that I can control this power, while you cannot. But fret not, for you too will learn to do this over time. Do not be afraid, my boy! There is no need to cower in fear. None whatsoever!’

At that moment a howling gale began to drone in William’s ears, and pain once again ripped through his system with the violence of a firing squad’s volley of bullets. His spine arched as his muscles contracted to the point of exploding, and he howled with agony. Once more the pain proved too intense to bear, and with that he passed into unconsciousness.

The next time he opened his eyes the man was still in his room with him, but outside the sky was dark, draped in the star-pierced cloak of night, and the room was lit only with a small lamp that burned in the corner with a thin wisp of black smoke. The man was reading a thick manuscript by the light of the lamp, and it took some moments before he noticed that William had opened his eyes. William looked down and noticed that he was now clad in a brown robe, like the man’s.

‘I took the liberty of clothing you while you were unconscious,’ the man said. ‘The temperature drops rapidly here at night, but our robes are well-made and keep us warm against the chill of the mountains.’

‘I…’ William began, half expecting to hear a roar escape from between his lips again. He held up an arm before his face, and saw that he was back in his human form.

‘All is as it should be, cub,’ the man said, his words and manner gentle and compassionate.

‘That wasnae a dream, was it? I was a tiger…’

‘Not was. Are.’

William got up from the floor, hauled himself over to the bed, and flopped down on it, spread-eagling himself across its breadth. His head was swimming with the overwhelmingness, with the implications, with the sheer insanity of all of this.

‘It will be difficult to accept, my boy. I know,’ the man said sympathetically. ‘It took me a great while to as well, and I too initially regarded it as something monstrous, as a curse. Fortunately, though, I was able to come to terms with it, and then eventually embrace it. I am here to help guide you through this, to help you to learn of your new, true potential. To help mould you into who you were born to be.’

‘J-, just who are you?!’ William stammered, suddenly possessed of a rash courage. ‘Who the hell are you?!’

The man chuckled lightly and did not