Margana aimed her wand. “Morpho Formo!” She yelled. Nothing happened.

The monster lurched toward her with a glint in its eye. It knew its dinner was close at hand. Slobber splattered on the floor.

“Morpho Formo!” she tried again.

The monster roared with horrid laughter. “Your mentor failed you, or rather you’re failing her.”

Margana trembled.

The monster licked its hairy lips. It picked up a chair and tossed it in its gaping jaws. “You call yourself a sorceress. You’ve got the confidence of a Festula Worm,” it said through the cracking and splintering of the chair.

Margana steeled herself and shouted, “Morpho formo!”

Purple light flew from the wand.

Margana’s grandmother stood where the beast had once been.

“Good,” her grandmother said. “Now for your next lesson…”