Some time later, I awake with a splitting migraine, the static of magic drowning out my senses as I lay on the ground. Pulling in the magic into my body calms the static, clearing up my senses as it did before. The pull of the magic causes me to squirm in pain, though it quickly subsides as more of it enters my body. Alongside it, my migraine starts to recede a little, the over stimulation having caused it in the first place.
The magic inside of me feels different however, it is not just a small ember beneath my heart, instead it feels like a raging inferno encompassing my entire body. Though unlike before, it does not hurt me, the sensation of it feels right, natural, like my body needs it to live. It continues to squirm underneath my skin, it’s hard to tell where the magic starts and my body ends, almost like I am one with it, and it is just waiting for a signal to follow. Almost like it is anticipating something, though I am not sure what, and as to what purpose.
Eventually I start to blink open my eyes, and am happy to discover that the migraine seems to be slowly subsiding, luckily the light is dim and doesn’t aggravate it again. There’s only a little bit of moonshine breaking through the leaves of the tree, though despite the night, I do not feel cold. I slowly get up from where I was laying next to my wife’s gravestone and take a look at my surroundings. The air, or ambient magic, I am not sure, has a taste to it that I can’t quite place, and that isn’t exactly a taste. I decide to ignore it for now, there are more pressing issues to consider.
The willow tree seems to have grown a lot, it shadows almost the entire area now, where before it had barely reached above her grave. A small shudder goes through me as I try to figure out just how long I had been knocked out. That is when I notice that other graves seem to have disappeared, at least I can not find them anywhere nearby. Whatever happened before I got knocked out must’ve done a number on pretty much everything it seems, maybe it gave the tree a little bit of a growth spurt. I sigh wistfully, my wife had wanted to nurture a tree in her death, so I am glad she got her wish.
As I reach out to the tree to feel its bark, I freeze in place. My hand seems to have changed as well, not just everything around me. And it’s not just my hand, I am quick to notice, but my skin and arm as well, and probably more. A slight shudder goes through me, the change feels so natural I didn’t even notice. I try not to linger too long on that thought, and to instead assess the changes.
The first thing that stands out is that my skin is starkly different, it is covered in a layer of tiny feathers, kind of like scales or the fuzz of moths, layered tightly enough to create a smooth yet soft sensation to my fingers.
My fingers have elongated quite a bit and moved slightly further apart. The skin of my hand is much more capable of stretching, allowing for much greater flexibility, something that is clearly needed as I seem capable of moving the bones that usually form the palm area. As I flex them a few times, I notice that my skin seems to reflect light in different ways at different angles, as if the scales are some sort of prisms. It is a fascinating and mesmerizing phenomenon that catches my attention for a long few moments. It is so different and yet it feels like my skin should’ve always been this way. My hands though seem strange to me, they do not look quite human anymore, yet they aren’t so foreign I am appalled by them, they still feel like me.
My arms and torso are in a similar state, they have changed but in ways that are not appalling to me, I am slightly more bulky and muscular, and I notice a much greater flexibility in my joints. Stretching my fingers, the movement comes to me naturally and without issue, and I can feel the muscles shift beneath my skin, they’re different, almost squirming in their movement, but not entirely foreign.
I glance down towards my legs and notice that they, too, have shifted, into a very digitigrade composition at that, and my feet have changed similarly to my hands. As I crouch down I can reach much lower to the ground than I could before, or rather, in a much easier manner; keeping the muscles in my legs tight and ready for action. Another feeling comes to me too, one that I follow out of curiosity, compelling me to get on all fours. It is an easy shift, more so than I anticipated even.
It’s also quite comfortable I note, as I step closer to the tree, my toes bury into the grass beneath me with an ease that belies their apparent lack of toe nails, something that is also reflected on my fingers. It doesn’t seem to interfere with sensation or usability, so my changed body must be compensating for it in some way regardless.
I settle with my back against the tree and wrap my tail around it. A tail I very much did not have before, and failed to notice, somehow, its movement comes easily to me, as natural as any other limb, moreso even somehow. And it is long, long enough to wrap around the tree and have the tip of it next to me. It is covered in the same little scale feathers as the rest of my body, and I can feel the strength teeming in it. I hadn’t been exactly dissatisfied with how I looked or anything, though there had been a slight gnawing of there being potential for more, even after all these years. The changes my body underwent while I was knocked out are certainly more, a lot more, than I’d have imagined even in my wildest dreams. And yet, the changes don’t feel wrong, just slightly foreign and foreboding as the magic continues to squirm in me. It feels almost like the magic is merely waiting for an impetus to act, to change. Into what, or what it will do, is a mystery to me, however.
As I consider the magic and what to do from now on, I relax more against the tree, and start to feel a soft warmth exude from it, and a gentle breeze caresses my cheek. I could swear I hear my wife’s voice, though I can’t make out her words; it pulls me out of my thoughts and my surroundings come back into a stark focus. That’s when I notice a small shimmer pass through the air, it is too short to make out the exact shape, but it is soon followed by another. It doesn’t take long to notice that there is some sort of dome surrounding the area around the grave. Slowly getting up, I stalk up towards the edge of the clearing, still on all fours as I do so, my tail trailing behind me. A small shiver goes down my spine as it loses contact to the tree, though it is quickly banished as another breeze brushes through my… fur? I am not sure what to call it quite yet. The breeze seems to carry a soft reassurance with it, one that makes me slow down a little, and I glance back to the grave. It is still there, standing still and silent as it had before, yet I can’t shake the feeling of not being alone, of her being here with me, and not just in the sentimental way either.
As I reach the dome, I quickly notice that it seems to obscure everything outside of it, in some way that I can’t quite comprehend. I still see what is outside, and yet it seems quite disconnected, like a mirage that flees the mind as soon as you focus on it. It is frankly quite unsettling and I move along the edge to see if it is this way everywhere. The presence I sense follows along, though it is so faint it almost feels like another trick of my mind, that is until another breeze goes across my body once more, as if to remind me that it’s real. It’s odd, I want to speak to whoever this is, yet I know that speaking would maybe break the spell, or just be futile in itself, so I hold my words for now, instead letting myself be soothed by this ghost of days past. Even if it is just an illusion, it helps my mind stay rooted in the now, somewhere I am aware that I am probably in shock, unable to fully process all that has happened yet, but I do not yet have the safety to think on it, the place I am at may have been my wife’s grave in the past, but it is clearly different now.
I eventually finish a full circle around the dome while lost in thought, no parts of it seem to be quite different to the rest, it is a perfect encapsulation of the clearing, shielding this place from the outside world. Or, well, keeping me prisoner, though I choose to believe it is meant to protect. Making my way back to the center where the tree stands, I reach a hand out and touch its bark, the warmth fills me once more, it feels almost like the magic inside of my body, yet it feels more soothing and calm, I do not taste this magic, like I do the ambient magic, and yet I want to know what it would taste like. I take a few moments before deciding what to do next, I need to know what is going on, and as reluctant as I am to break this spell, I know I can not stay here forever, eventually I’d need to find food and water.
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Opening my mouth to speak, to address the presence with me, my words come out a garbled mess as for the first time I notice my tongue has changed too, the failure at speaking is accompanied by what sounds like a giggle on the breeze, yet it is too indistinct to make out. I take a moment for a quick inspection of my tongue, which tells me that it is much longer and more flexible, almost like my tail, though not quite, it is much thinner and feels less potent in its strength. A sigh escapes me as I try to figure out how to speak with the tongue, and it takes me a few long minutes of different attempts before I find my voice again. While I do so, I also notice a few other changes to my mouth, it seems to have elongated a slight bit, almost like a cats snout, and my teeth are much sharper than before, though it’s hard to tell if that is all that has changed with them.
“Well, I am not sure who, or what you are, but…” I sigh a little, trying to gather my thoughts. “Your presence feels a lot like my wife did, and this is her grave.” I point towards it with my tail. “So, yeah. I honestly have no idea what is going on, or what happened, and now I seem to be stuck here, and you’re the only thing around so, if you can maybe help me get out of here?” A breeze brushes across my cheek again, it feels like an answer, but not one I can quite parse, it is reassuring though. “I’d love to talk to you more, though I am not sure how well you understand me, and I can’t understand much from you.” My head turns to look towards the border of the little area I am in. “Can you even bring down that barrier?”
It takes a few moments before I get a response, which comes in the form of the barrier flickering a few times, before the outside world comes more into focus, the mirage like effect from before gone, though the barrier itself is still clearly there, a slightly indistinct haze in the air. Hesitating a moment, I eventually manage to break away from the tree and approach the barrier, the closer I get, the more details I can make out. The outside seems to be a wide open field of grass, a mountain in the far distance I can barely make out. It takes me a few moments to realize that it is, in fact, still the middle of the night, and yet I can see almost unimpeded, more colors and things greeting my vision than I had ever seen before. As I consider that, I am startled as a rabbit rises up out of the grass in front of me just outside the barrier, before hopping off, leaving a trail of burning grass behind as flames are expelled with each little hop.
I stare at the embers for far too long, trying to wrap my head around what I just witnessed, the heat that is slowly dispersing into the air does of course not help my fascination, I can see each trickle slowly dissipate into the ambient temperature, until it finally is all gone. A magical fire bunny and the ability to see heat. I fight the urge to giggle at the absurdity of it, it shouldn’t even be that absurd to me considering the other changes to my own body, and yet, seeing the reality of it in another living being and being able to use a brand-new sense is a stark difference. I take a deep breath trying to calm myself, no point in getting into this now, instead, I decide to test whether the barrier still traps me in here. Reaching out, I place a hand against it, and it appears to be quite solid, growing more opaque where I touch and with more pressure. My instincts tell me that I can’t break through it physically, no matter what I try, the magic though seems to resonate with me in some way. My own magic squirms beneath my skin in response to the contact, wanting to… I am not sure what it quite wants, it feels hungry, I feel hungry in a way that I have never before. Like the magic is a meal made just for me, the smell, which isn’t quite a smell but some other sense, makes the saliva gather in my mouth.
I cautiously retract my hand for the moment, I want to taste it, but I do not know how, or how safe it would be, nor do I know what is outside yet. Before experimenting, I decide to take another round around the barrier's edge, to see what else I can spot, though before I start, I take a glance towards the tree in the middle. I had not noticed the thermal sense before, despite the warmth emanating from the tree when touching it. Looking at it now, it looks just as before, no special heat signatures or anything I can tell, maybe the warmth I felt was more of a feeling of safety? It’s hard to tell, the magic might also be relevant in it. I shake my head and turn back towards the outside of the barrier.
The moon is still high in the sky, its dim light shining on me. I observe it for a bit longer, considering my options. Trying to… eat the barrier might not be a smart idea, but neither would be violence, I am fairly sure, though I can’t exactly stay here forever, I will need food and water eventually. My head tilts to the side as I hear a rustle of some sort, that isn’t quite a rustle. It is similar to the taste of magic, my brain processing a new sense in some roundabout way? I hadn’t heard anything from outside the barrier before, even when the rabbit jumped earlier, which makes me more confident in it being magic. Turning towards the source of the sound, it seems to come from the other side of my little circle of safety. Instead of starting to move quickly, I calm my nerves, and quietly start making my way towards the source, my feet, or paws? Softly hit the ground, making barely a sound as I approach.
Staying low to the ground, I finally see the source of the sound. Someone is outside of the barrier, the sight is too blurry for me to make out exact details, though I can tell that their hand seems to be placed on the outside of the barrier. I observe for a bit, the rustling grows in intensity, despite there being no visible movement. That is, until small cracks seem to spread out from where they touch, quickly covering the entire barrier. Slinking back, anxiety starts to grip me, clearly the cracks couldn’t be a good thing for the integrity of the barrier, and this person had a clear grasp on their magic, assuming it is magic, which means I am at an unknown disadvantage, should they be hostile.
Going through my options, I realize I don’t exactly have many. I can try an ambush, but that would most likely destroy any chances at a conversation or help, the same goes for running, assuming I even can. Shaking my body, I raise myself up and settle down on the ground in front of them, preparing to greet them in the open. They don’t seem to have noticed me yet.
After a few moments of waiting, the cracks covering the barrier seem to pulse, it almost feels like they’re expanding, though trying to watch them closely starts to cause me a headache almost immediately. Before I can look away, the barrier breaks apart, into thousands of tiny pieces, all without a sound, not even the magical kind, as if whatever magic was being done just vanished into itself. A shudder goes through me, breaking my fascination with the shards, and reminding me that I am not along anymore. My eyes snap back to where the stranger was standing earlier.
Standing there is a woman wearing a long coat made from some kind of deep blue material; she seems to be quite a bit taller than me, even considering the fact of my reduced size now, she’d have been taller than me before I changed, and I wasn’t exactly a short woman before. She has short blue hair with a pair of black horns growing down from the top of her head, covering her temples. Behind her head floats a shifting fractal, similar to the final moments of the barrier, its form overall gives the impression of a halo. This one doesn’t disappear on its own though, quickly starting to cause me another headache, so I avert my eyes downwards.
Her eyes are surrounded in pale blue scales, which start at the base of a cute button nose, and after covering her eyes, start trailing off towards the horns, where they disappear. An old scar leads from the bottom of her jaw line all the way up to her eyebrows, crossing over one of her eyes, the scales hiding a good part of it, but not the entirety. Her eyes have a similar effect to the halo, though in a much less intense way, allowing me to meet them without shying away immediately. Much like the fractal kaleidoscope of her halo, her eyes are changing at a slow but consistent pace, the color and patterns I can see are never the same. I am so fixated on her face, and especially her eyes, that I don’t even notice when she starts speaking, it takes her closing her eyes for a few seconds to break the spell they placed upon me.
