Have you ever worn shoes you could not take off, no matter how hard you tried?

Shoes that blistered your heels when you walked?

That left you helpless before your worst enemy?

No, of course you haven’t.

But if you had, you might have some understanding of how I felt when that cursed collar fell from my neck.

Freedom, for the first time in eight years.

I was dizzy with it.

I was mad with it.

And I was hungry. She had not fed me well, the witch.

I looked at the little dragon. I could not eat my own niece.

Nor could I eat the Spellhound pup – he was too important.

But the minch-wiggin …

I almost reached for her. That was how far I was from honour. If I had been in my dragon form, I would have snapped her up without thinking. I would have killed the very person who had freed me.

But I stopped myself in time.

I breathed deeply. I remembered who I was and what I must do.

I led the way out of the labyrinth into the glorious sunlight.

I Changed.