Episode 5
Steven was motionless, unsure of what move to make next.  Should he follow the drider as he was right now?  Should he take the time necessary to shift into were-form, leaving a second pile of clothes right where he stood?  And if he did that, should he focus on the element of surprise or should he charge in headfirst?  Was this even a battle situation?  How does one put an omni-realm creature “back where they belong” anyway?  Is there some sort of incantation?
Just transform already and chase after the stupid thing!!!
Finally receiving some sort of instruction, Steven quickly threw off the clothes he had on and allowed himself to become a werewolf once again, wasting no time in sprinting after the creature that so rudely blind-sided him.  He focused through the trees as he ran, not seeing the drider but sensing its presence nonetheless, following its trail of magical energies with the instinct of a bloodhound.  However, his conviction to catch the object of his mission still did not clear up the matter of what to do when it came within his grasp.
Just keep following it.  We will tell you what to do as we go.
“Is this going to be difficult in any way?  I’d hate to fail on my first…uh…assignment as the keeper, you know.”
It shouldn’t be, unless you let it get too far ahead.  One drider will be no match for you, even in your unlearned state.  This should be quick and easy once you catch up.
“What happens if I don’t catch up to it in time, though?  You said it would be easy ‘unless’ it gets too far ahead.  What’s with the ‘unless’ in there?  Is there something I should know about?”
Well, if you don’t take care of this little problem before it stores up its energy, you may very well be facing a couple hundred of its duplicates.
Knowing that that many of these creatures would be a formidable force, Steven saved his words and put all his strength into running as fast as he possibly could.  Faster, faster, he dodged through the trees, the wind rushing past his head while he searched for any visible signs of the rogue creature.  Leaves and branches crashed against his body, he jumped over bushes and slid beneath overhangs, making progress the type of which he had never made before...until his forward momentum was suddenly halted.
“…the hell?”  Steven suddenly found himself suspended three feet in the air struggling against the taut strands of a massive web, his limbs hopelessly entangled in the sticky threads.  As he thrashed, the drider appeared next to his snout, crawling across the trap it had so cleverly designed.  If this hybrid was anything like the arachnids of common conception, Steven would soon be nothing more than a meaty cocoon, a snack saved for a later date.  As if to confirm his dreaded thoughts, the creature went to Steven’s feet and sprayed more of the web, methodically working its way up his shins.
It would be a horrible way to die, certainly, but what could he possibly do to get out of this situation?  His arms and legs were almost completely immobile, and within their prison his mind also seemed to rest.  He couldn’t think, all he could hear was the hissing sound of his legs being consumed in thread, all he could feel were the layers pressing against his body, all he could see was the drider carrying out its task with detached, animal efficiency.  His existence was coming to an end at a ripe young age and there was nothing he could do about it.  
The forest seemed solemn, the only obvious signs of life being the singing birds hiding within the canopy, their rapturous melodies coming all at once from both nowhere and everywhere.  It was interesting how birds could do that: hide in plain sight, their songs permeating the area with no clear source, the sounds emanating not from the trees, but from your own soul.  A wind blew gently, the leaves making way without protest…carried on the stream of air was the faint smell of barbeque.
“Damnit!!  This is not the way I’m going out!” Steven struggled to break free, but discovered that he was too tightly bound; there was not enough leeway for his appendages to move for him to apply sufficient force to break the strands.  The drider stopped working for a moment, crawling up to Steven’s face.  It hung menacingly, cackling in its own tinny voice whilst stroking the snout of its prey in a sinister display of false affection.  Steven found himself getting quite angry; the little otherworldly bitch thought she could play with her dinner, too!?  No, it was not about to go down this way, this was completely unacceptable.
The drider poked Steven in the eye, and barely noticed as his arm began to glow a bright red.
A powerful burst of energy emanated from Steven’s chest in a spiral outward, slicing through the web while sending the captor flying into a nearby tree.  The werewolf stood staring at himself, wondering where that impromptu display of magical prowess came from: he most certainly was not taught how to do that, did he have some sort of instinct for this “keeper” thing?
The drider was similarly stunned, her plans suddenly crashing down on her; while she was busy preparing the trap, she had failed to store her own magical energies and was now virtually defenseless against this omni-realm bounty hunter.
You’ve done it!!!
“Done what?” Steven kept his eyes trained on the drider as it staggered about the bushes, its eight legs constantly finding themselves in a tangle while their owner tried to sort out which way was up.  
You’ve learned to use magic on your own!!  This is astonishing!!
The drider stood up and threw a weak punch at Steven as he neared, missing entirely and prompting him to knock the creature onto her side, pinning her down with his foot.  “But how do I send this one,” the drider struggled, Steven dug a claw into its side, “How do I send this one to the omni-realm?”
You’re already doing it.
“Huh?”
We said that you’re already doing it.
“But I haven’t even…” as Steven looked down at his feet, the drider was fading away from existence and sending sparkling purple waves of light up his leg, the individual particles seeming to play amongst his fur before being pulled into his body.  “Wait…did that thing just get absorbed into me?”
Yes indeed.
“Uhhh…might I ask why?”
Well, your body is, in itself, one of the protective gates to the omni-realm; and the absorption of your defeated enemies into you is the most efficient way of sending them back.  Essentially, when they disappear into your body, they are being flung over a high, impassable fence in another dimension: the omni-realm.
“At which point they are removed from our world.”
Correct.
Steven contemplated this for a moment: if he could somehow figure out the real mechanism by which these creatures were transported, he could in turn be able to induce teleportation!  Sure, his powers operated on magic, not science, but theoretically the universe had to abide by a certain set of principles; and even “magic” had to follow these in some way or it would not exist.  This “magic” lies outside of currently accepted physical possibilities, but then again, all science was deemed magic at one point in history.  However, the divulging of such information would put him at risk.  Without a doctoral degree in an applicable field, people would wonder how a young man with little history of extraordinary achievement could explain such a feat as teleportation; after all, it was deemed impossible until now.  No, he could not give up himself for glory…this had to remain a secret at least until the time was appropriate.
Steven’s stomach began to burn once more, causing him to double over and clutch at the fur on his chest.  “Crap…not again…”
Steven felt a pushing from inside his gut that grew steadily more forceful.  What he saw was amazing…two forelegs were emerging from the source of the pain, and they were rapidly increasing in size.  Falling forward, Steven found himself standing on both these new appendages while his other legs stretched out behind him, creating a feral wolf trunk between the sets.  Within a few moments’ time, the new front legs had grown to match the size of the rear legs and Steven found himself not only on all fours, but with complete access to his hands as well.
“Well…this is interesting…”  Steven looked around at his body, now transformed into a fourth form which he could not readily name, “Now what exactly do I call myself?”
A wolftaur.
“A wolftaur?  Hmmm.  I like it.”
We expected you would.  This is what we were talking about when we said that the feral wolf was the stepping stone to the next form.  In fighting the drider, you actually found the form yourself.  Congratulations!
“Thank you.  ‘Bout time to go home, I’d say.”
To Steven’s surprise, not only was the addition of two more legs easy to coordinate, but the wolftaur was actually the most natural-feeling form he had been in thus far.  The trip back to the site of the discarded clothes went quickly, and after he transformed back into his human self and got dressed, Steven proceeded directly to his apartment, calling John to cancel their evening coffee in favor of getting an early night’s rest.  Steven was glad that John didn’t question this development…he was too good a friend to even suspect Steven of anything underhanded.  
Walking slowly up his apartment steps, Steven breathed a sigh of relief as he opened the door and saw his bed in view, “Ahhh…another day done.”  Steven stepped inside and locked the door behind him.
A feminine voice came from the corner of the room. “Hello there.  Good to see you home.”