sun's up, a little after twelve
make breakfast for myself, leave the work for someone else

Ángela gave Jorg a withering look which he probably couldn’t see at all through the gloom.

“Because, estúpido, the whole point of a body-guard is to prevent bodily harm from coming to you.” She retorted snottily. “If a giant pig is chasing you, you will probably come to bodily harm. Unless your bodyguard mistook you for a pig, and just assumed it was two pigs chasing each other.”

So there, stupid boy.

The spirigus rammed the entranceway again, plunging them into blackness, but this time it didn’t remove its great big head. Ángie couldn’t see much, but she could hear the fast, frantic scraping and, in spite of Jorg’s assessment, she was smart enough to put two and two together. Frustration welled up inside her. Why did this stupid pig have to ruin her day? If it weren’t for the spirigus, Ángie’s parents would probably already have found her and brought her home. Right now, she’d be all snuggled up on the couch with them, a blanket over her toes and a hot chocolate in her hands, one parent either side of her, telling her how much they love her. How dare this lowly creature delay her home comforts? In a burst of ire, Ángie shoves her leg forward, meaning to kick the pig but in the confined space accidentally kicking Jorg instead. Whatever. He deserved it too.

Especially after listing off all his powers and showing her up like that. Ángela made a mental note to demand more magic when she got home. She scowled as Jorg lit up the cave in purple and green, consciously reminding herself that her sunlight was prettier anyway.

Jorg shot forward in the small space and stabbed the pig on the nose with his lightshow, forcing it to retreat. Ángie would have approved of that if he hadn’t then immediately shoved her forward, coercing her into stumbling out of the cave and into the light of day. She blinked a couple of times, eyes adjusting to the light, and whipped around to see the spirigus veering around to face them over Jorg’s shoulder. She started to take a step back, but stopped as soon as he glanced back at her, grinning stupidly.

Ugh, like hell I’ll save you.

She could have turned and bolted, leaving him to his own mess, but she vaguely remembered her mother telling her once that you couldn’t run from some animals, like dogs, because their instinct was to give chase. Were pigs the same? Ángela gritted her teeth. Whatever. She wanted to make bacon out of this stupid animal anyway. She balled her hands into fists and focused on the well of magic within her, drawing it up. Dragon. Think huge, fire-breathing dragon.

She made the mistake of glaring into the spirigus’s face as she thought it and wavered. There was something about staring down a giant charging pig which made her knees turn to jelly. Ángela caught herself wishing she was at home with her blankets and her toys and her pet kitten and –

Pop!

The ground was suddenly a lot closer. Ángela blinked, staring in dismay down at her fuzzy paws. She looked exactly like her own kitten! A grey stripey tabby, fur all poofed out. From this angle, the spirigus looked enormous. Abandoning logic in panic, Ángie bolted back towards the cave entrance.

Ángela
progeny of the warbird and the sun-god