Mika furrowed his brow with concentration as he squeezed the stone in his grubby fingers. Some part of him knew that this spell was hard enough even when his mind was not magically dulled, especially since Tobias no longer remembered his original form. While not an insurmountable obstacle, this presented an extra level of difficulty to the process.
This showed itself a moment later when Tobias let out a shriek and vanished. Where he had stood, a small white mouse nosed the air in confusion. The other boys gaped in horror, including Mika. Sebastian whirled on him with a glare. “You idiot! Tobi trusted you, and you only made things worse! Here, let me have a go at it! I couldn’t possibly do worse!” Thrusting out his hand, he tried to take the stone. Instinctively, Mika drew back, which only provoked the other boys to join in.
“Lemme try!”
“No, me!”
“Me!”
Soon, the boys rolled on the ground in a heap while poor Tobi had to scramble to keep from being crushed. Suddenly, Sebastian vaulted to his feet, his hand raised up clutching the stone. “Ha! I got it!”
His victory was short-lived. With an incredible leap, young Aubrey swatted the stone from the taller boy’s fingers, sending it hurtling into a nearby tree with a loud THUNK! Everyone gasped and rushed over, their bitter competition forgotten.
“Is it alright?” Jak asked.
Tobi bounded up to the stone and sniffed it, using his small size to inspect the object closely. With a dismayed squeak, he touched his paw to a hairline fracture in the stone’s surface.
“That can’t be good,” Mika murmured.
Aubrey teared up. “I dun’ wanna be stuck like this!” The boy had no idea what he had been before, but he knew that something important had been lost. Ander started to wail, as well.
“Well, what do we do now?” Sebastian demanded.