Darling Zann,

After my shift today I went back to try Ambe again. I knocked at the maw of her lair under the temple. Still no answer. I peered in the slimy trunks, and there was some kind of sound from in there. “Ambe? Ybel. Are you in there?”

I waited.

“Come on back,” she said. She sounded upset.

I climbed through to her parlor. Half the lights were out, there were books and scrolls all over the place, some of the furniture was upside down, and everything was covered with one kind of magical apparatus or other. Ambe, tears of frustration running down her cheeks, was frantically paging through a book. That weird animal that Tharus had turned into was hanging by one arm from the tree beside her, reading over her shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

Still flipping through her book, she jerked her thumb at Tharus. “What do you think?”

“You’ve been trying to turn him back into a human? And it hasn’t worked?”

“Pretty smart,” Ambe said. “Did you ever think of becoming a wizard yourself?”

“It’s been days,” I said. “Have you been working on this the whole time since then?”

“Mostly.”

“Well–here, give me that book. Give it! All right–just relax for a minute. Sit back. Do you have anything to drink around here?”

“Here,” Tharus said, passing Ambe a steaming mug from somewhere back there with his hooked claw.

“Thank you,” I said, and then, “Tharus? You–“

“One of the first things she tried. I had been trying to think using my animal mind, but Ambe here did some kind of spell that… it felt like it opened up all the doors inside. And I was me again. Not me me, but me. And I could talk! It really could be worse,” he concluded.

“That’s amazing,” I said.

“It wasn’t easy,” Ambe said.

“I believe you.”

“But look at him! And this was the first thing I’ve had to do for the Rosolla Guard! Candur’s going to send my arse back to the city.”

“I doubt it.”

“I would, if I were him. Doing magic like this is what I’m here for!”

“Is it even possible to change him back?”

She sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe not. Maybe not for human magic. There’s… how should I say this… the magic thinks this is what Tharus is supposed to be.”

“Well, Candur isn’t going to send you away for not doing the impossible.”

“Are you two giving up on me?” Tharus said. “I like being able to climb like this, but I’d really rather be a person again. The food’s much better, for one thing.”

“I’m not giving up,” she said. “You know I’ve really been trying.”

“Ay, I know.”

“But I’ve run out of things to try. We might need to think about how you’re going to live like this.”

“What sort of creature is he, anyway?” I asked.

“Oh!” Ambe said. “That I can tell you. Tharus is a giant anteater.”

“That’s a real animal?” I said.

“I’m pretty real,” Tharus said.

“Sure it’s real. They live way north of here.”

“And they eat ants?”

“Curst right I do. Not that there are enough around here. It’s scary how tasty I find them.”

Ambe said, “Giant anteaters need a lot of ants. Way too many. I had to come up with other things he could eat so he wouldn’t starve to death.”

“She’s really been taking care of me,” Tharus said. “But you can paint me with piss if I know what I’m going to do now. What’s the use of a talking anteater?”

“I don’t know,” I said, “but don’t go away. If the Rosolla Guard can use me, they can probably use you.”

Love,

Ybel