"I'm going to die." My heart and lungs felt like a ticking time bomb with every wheeze I sucked in. My legs felt like lead with every step I took up the ridiculously long, abnormally steep, lumpy hill. Amazingly I managed to say, "End my torture and kill me now.With single declaration Toby admits to his complete lack of physical prowess and establishes himself as an unabashed nerd. Like so many gifted students, Toby is shy, socially awkward, physically weak, suffers from 'Inane-Moron' disease that eliminates any filter for his mouth, and sets himself up as a target for bullies everywhere. Who could possibly be a more unlikely fantasy hero? While not a comedy, Toby's witty sense of humor carries the story without overpowering the fast-paced plot.Struggling to climb a hill on a field trip with his gym class, Toby's mouth gets him in trouble with the class bully again. While separated from the others, Toby meets a witch's familiar from another world who commandeers his body. This causes him extreme frustration with situations beyond his control that threaten his desire to fade into the background. As a witch's familiar, he must learn to change form at will, run on four legs, fight beasts he couldn't even imagine in his former life. Falling in love with the witch who created the familiar sends him spinning in yet another direction. Desiring to please this princess, Toby must challenge himself beyond endurance fighting magicians, winged beasts, and other creatures. Toby believes that this is the worst thing that could happen to him. He would be wrong. Thus begins the saga of Toby boy or beast?