Burt throbbed with energy and raw power. He flexed his wings, threw his head back, and unleashed a terrible, ear-splitting shriek. God, that felt good!

He cackled with delight at his newfound powers, he allowed himself a moment of quiet pity for the poor souls he was about to crush, and then he launched himself at the door of his cage.

The wire wobbled and shook, but it held.

"Damn," Burt said softly. "Damn, damn, damn."

He toyed, briefly, with giving it all up -- with starving himself or cutting his throat on the rim of his water dish -- but he didn't have the stones for that kind of thing, and he knew it. He needed a plan.