Writely post.
After this.
If there was to be a wolf, it would be safer out of the bar, in a quiet corner of the woods, Asar-Suti had decided. He'd given a stern look to Strahan and Rabastan, told them to follow him, and forged right ahead. Near where the world folded in on itself, he'd decided, where he'd gone round with Kya the fox, and later with Fuchsia who'd first taken him for her brother.
Rabastan looked pale as death. Clearly he was frightened by the whole deal. Two weeks before the next full moon he was heading out into the forests to change into a wolf again, and that was something he was not looking forward to. Of course, Moon had brought him a goblet of wolfsbane potion, and therefore had opened up a safety window of seven days, but it was Tuesday when he'd got it and time was running out. All he could do was hope that the noxious brew would hold him long enough for the shift into wolf and back again. He trudged onwards.
Strahan knew that look. He'd seen it in his father's face a few times before, when he was still a boy. And in the Seker's face whenever the two got into a contest of wills. Thankfully that didn't happen very often, but when it did looks like that brooked no contest, and he followed along, bringing up the rear. Best to keep the subject of the experiment in the middle so he wouldn't try to make a bid for freedom before it was time for Asar-Suti to work his magics.
The forest sure was dark...
The god skipped and hopped along cheerfully, clambering over fallen tree trunks and through unexpected holes where trees had fallen, pulling out their roots. "I want us as far away from anywhere else as possible," he explained as he went, just trusting his companions to follow. "If you get out of hand, Rabastan, we have more of a chance to catch you before you get to anybody else." Gil had been warned to keep himself and the rats away from where his purple friend was poking werewolves.
Dark as the soul within, Rabastan noted, the woods becoming as dark as midnight as they pressed onwards. Granted, the sun was low in the sky due to it being early fall, but that thought didn't cheer him up any. All he could think about was the wolf. The wolf that devoured the human mind leaving nothing left of the man. This was not how he saw his life when he was twenty. Or thirty. Or even last year. Too late for regrets though; he was a werewolf now, like it or not, and he was just going to have to deal with it.
"We are close to our destination, aye?" Strahan asked, not because he was tired but because he was eager to see Rabastan shift shape in the werewolf's natural habitat. Or, what would be the natural habitat for a true wolf. "And then you will work the morphogenetic field on Rabastan and change him into the wolf he now has inside him?" The way it sounded made Strahan think of the Cheysuli, how the shapechangers exchanged forms at will. This wasn't at will but the concept of the exchange was still there. Rabastan's human body would trade places with the wolf's for the three nights a month when the moon was full. The only difference was the fact that tonight there was only a thin sliver of a moon-too far from the next full moon and the culmination of another cycle.
"Just a little bit further," Asar-Suti said, grinning to himself about how close Strahan came to the classical 'Are we there yet?' - but the others couldn't see, as the Seker was still forging on ahead. "I think I remember a small clearing where we shall have some decent starlight; it's not far."
Strahan could stand a little light now, given the murkiness of their surroundings, so, not waiting for an invitation he called forth a small flame of purple godfire. Just enough to hover above his outstretched hand but not enough to cause a major forest fire for Milliways. "Better," he said. "The way is clearer now."
The sorcerer might be chuffed about shedding a little light on the situation but the sight of purple light from the flame in Strahan's hand only served to disquiet Rabastan even more than before. He really did not need another reminder of the Night He Wanted to Forget, and to see lavender light casting the forest into a patchwork of bright areas latticed with the darkness of tree branches and shadows unsettled him. Honestly some people had no tact at all.
"Here we are," Asar-Suti said, stopping suddenly and turning to his companions. It was very small as clearings went, but the trees did open and show a skyful of brilliant stars. "Put your light down somewhere here, Strahan; there's a big stone over there."
And somewhere up there prowled the sky-wolf Lupus, stalking the celestial hunting ground for his nightly prey. Strahan took no notice; he only nodded and sent the flame floating forwards and downwards to settle above the stone. It caused the shadows to grow longer and more menacing: something every filmmaker of cheap Hollywood horror flicks loved to use in their movies. Atmosphere after all made things more terrifying, especially if applied right.
If it were possible, Rabastan was even paler and more frightened than before, given the ambience of the setting. Forget the wolfsbane shield keeping the animal in check all he wanted to do was vacate the small clearing and as fast as his feet could carry him. Even with a shifter crystal to call his own as reward for helping Strahan out in a time of need this could not be worth it!
"Come here, Rabastan," Asar-Suti said to the small wizard who was, apparently, rather scared, to judge from his face o which Strahan's violet godfire flickered worryingly. He should have been a were-hare, not a werewolf! "Let me have a look at you and your morphogenetic field, huh?"
Sure, he could wind up with one or both legs broken if he made a run for it now, but at least he'd be inside the bar where he could forget about all this for another two weeks before he had to face it again. And if the infirmary had any Skele-gro in their stores, he'd be mended just in time too. He stepped forward, radiating "I really want to be in Miami" with each stride he took. This was the moment. The one he dreaded, but had to face in order to reap his reward. It made him wish he'd sat out the Doom Clock-at least he wouldn't be scared, scarred and seeking some sort of escape from here.
The Ihlini sorcer, on the other hand, was anything but frightened. No. He was eager. He looked like a child on Christmas Eve, waiting for the arrival of Saint Nick and his sack of toys to play with. He'd seen Rabastan change once before, but somehow this time was different. Not because Asar-Suti was about to use his magic on the unhappy wizard but also because he wanted to assess the potential of a transformed werewolf outside a cage. He had to know what to expect out of Rabastan and this was the night he'd learn what the wizard was capable of.
"I am going to transform you now," Asar-Suti said seriously. "I want you to pay very, very close attention, as logically human as you possibly can. It shouldn't hurt the way the natural werewolf transformation hurts. Hang on to your rational thinking as long as you can, and listen for my voice in your mind. Are you ready, Rabastan Lestrange?"
Oh yes, Strahan looked exactly like a child at Christmas. A demented, sadistic child that is. What did he care that Rabastan probably had emptied his bladder and bowels in his fear (Rabastan reeked enough to lead anyone to think he had)? All he wanted was to see what his new minion could do, and what he could do to his minion. In human form and out.
Rabastan knelt before the Seker, no longer able to stand. It was all so much and his mind was on automatic now. Words barely registered in his brain though certainly he heard them well enough. In the firelight one could see that he was crying now, tears streaming from his bright yellow eyes as though he were a young boy caught in the grips of a nightmare. This nightmare was one no one could wake up from, and he knew it. Rabastan swallowed thickly. Think human. Keep human.
But I'm going to be a bloody wolf. How can I keep my mind human? Especially now?
Asar-Suti drew a long and complicated rune over Rabastan, drawing on the wolf-shape that his morphogenetic field now remembered, pulling it out, pushing back the human shape until Rabastan's substance and being snapped into wolf-shape, abandoning human. "Pay close attention!" he ordered. "Observe what happens to you. Remember!"
There's a moment that only happens when one is deathly afraid. A suspended moment of infinite time contained in a small space no bigger than a few seconds at the most. A moment when all life is compacted into those few seconds of infinte time, and everything is clearer than it should be. This was that moment. A moment that felt like death. He wanted to scream, to cry, to run. He could not. For as he opened his mouth he felt his jaws stretch further than was normal for a human being. Nor could he run, as his body was altering shape in spite of himself and the lunar cycle. And tears were banished; wolves did not weep. NoNoNoNo.., a tiny voice said from out of nowhere. StopitStopitStopit. He lurched forwards. EnditEnditEndit, the voice begged. I can't take any more.
This was better than anything one could see on the bar's television set. Better than anything in a theatre. Strahan sat transfixed, unable to take his eyes away from the man-becoming-wolf. In the sharp contrast of light and shadow the purple flame created he got a good look at the animal's features. It was grimacing, baring its teeth for all to see. The front of the mouth seemed all fang. Rabastan didn't have four he had eight. Or so Strahan counted. After all it could be a light-trick, but he was sure of his count. This creature was designed to bite and tear flesh. To crack bone and kill. The head was heavy, with long, sharply pointed ears like a fox's. Perfect for hearing prey. In opposition to the head the body was lean and gangly, like a wolf kept from his prey for too long. Legs were long, the torso like that of a running dog's, though without the deep tuck in the abdomen running dogs had. And the tail was short. Rabastan was a real killing machine in this body, and to say Strahan was impressed was an understatement.
Asar-Suti knelt and looked the creature in the eyes, hands in the rough fur, trusting the preternatural werewolf instinct to tell him that no, this was not human, this was not prey, this was a piece of coalesced and manifested violet magic, nothing else. "Rabastan," he said. "Look at me. Remember that you are Rabastan, you are human, you are wolf, and this is what you are, one and the other. Stop shivering; there is nothing here that would injure you." Perhaps premature optimism, given Strahan's glee. But this was a plea to Strahan as well - give him a chance, my faithful servant! Asar-Suti touched the taut, bony spine, ruffled fur, and added, "Calm down, Rabastan. Lie down. Look up at the stars, why don't you?"
But there was something he could injure. Someone. He looked at Strahan with eyes that were well-adapted for the night, looked at him. There was a human being, a part of him-the part of him that the wolfsbane was working to suppress-noticed. Prey. And he saw that the grin was a frown. Then a look of concern. Finally ... was it worry? He willed his mind to think back to the night he was savagely attacked. Lion. Strahan had been a lion and who knew what happened to the werewolves that had mauled him so? Had Strahan killed them? Would he turn lion and kill Rabastan? He growl-whined, a sound that reflected his internal conflict perfectly.
Yes, he was concerned. Not afraid but concerned. He did not like the way Rabastan was looking at him. Like a hungry dog seeing a meat-laden bone placed just out of reach of the tether-line that kept the dog in place. Strahan was no meaty bone though. He was Ihlini. More than Ihlini he was nearly god. And he had access to the shapechange, something Strahan knew would tip the balance of power and even things out were he alive in his world. He could access it now. To become a lion, to fend off Rabastan and crack the wolf's back the way he'd done with the others. -you will not attack me Rabastan Lestrange-I am your master; I rule you-
Asar-Suti was calmly striking the werewolf's fur and internally promising Strahan all sorts of archaic wrath if he screwed up now. "Yes, Rabastan, you are doing well, you can obey your own sensible voice still, can't you?" He let go of the werewolf, and ordered, "Stand, and go to the stone where the purple light is, can you?"
Rabastan whined, pawing at his head. He'd heard Strahan's warning through the link the Ihlini had planted in his mind. A whisper of a thread, no more, and yet he was helpless to do anything but obey. Tail clamped to hocks he approached the fire-crowned rock, despite his inherent fear of it. He was, after all, animal; naturally he would fear it. And he whined again, a plaintive look in his yellow eyes. What else did god and man intend for him to do tonight?
Good. The wolf-beast was obeying his command as well as the Seker's. There would be no more threats to afterlife or limbs from Rabastan. Asar-Suti might take all this as a sign that the wolf-creature was obeying the god's instructions, but Strahan knew that the god only held a portion of the control. The rest was Strahan's and the link he'd created in the helpless wizard's mind.
"You are doing well, Rabastan, so very well," the god encouraged. "Would you trust yourself to run with us in animal shape now? Please nod like a human being if you can."
A double test, that one.
He whined, wagged his tail, nodded his head. He wanted to run away, but this was the best he could get. Merlin he wished he could cry as a human being does! But no, he could not. All he could do was whimper and wait for further instructions.
In animal shape? They were going for a run? Suddenly Strahan remembered that of them all he alone had no wolf form to run in, unless one counted the maned wolf, and technically, it wasn't even a true wolf. Still, it was close in shape to Rabastan's, if a trifle taller and without the pair of fangs jutting down from the upper jaw to rest against the flesh of the lower, bared for all to see. It was enough, perhaps. It was an animal form he knew well enough to use, and as it was non-threatening, there was no real chance for an unfortunate accident to befall the now-wolf-shaped wizard.
Asar-Suti smoothly shifted into wolf-shape - slightly purple, quite familiar to him. Follow me, he said. Let us run!
And they did.
If there was to be a wolf, it would be safer out of the bar, in a quiet corner of the woods, Asar-Suti had decided. He'd given a stern look to Strahan and Rabastan, told them to follow him, and forged right ahead. Near where the world folded in on itself, he'd decided, where he'd gone round with Kya the fox, and later with Fuchsia who'd first taken him for her brother.
Rabastan looked pale as death. Clearly he was frightened by the whole deal. Two weeks before the next full moon he was heading out into the forests to change into a wolf again, and that was something he was not looking forward to. Of course, Moon had brought him a goblet of wolfsbane potion, and therefore had opened up a safety window of seven days, but it was Tuesday when he'd got it and time was running out. All he could do was hope that the noxious brew would hold him long enough for the shift into wolf and back again. He trudged onwards.
Strahan knew that look. He'd seen it in his father's face a few times before, when he was still a boy. And in the Seker's face whenever the two got into a contest of wills. Thankfully that didn't happen very often, but when it did looks like that brooked no contest, and he followed along, bringing up the rear. Best to keep the subject of the experiment in the middle so he wouldn't try to make a bid for freedom before it was time for Asar-Suti to work his magics.
The forest sure was dark...
The god skipped and hopped along cheerfully, clambering over fallen tree trunks and through unexpected holes where trees had fallen, pulling out their roots. "I want us as far away from anywhere else as possible," he explained as he went, just trusting his companions to follow. "If you get out of hand, Rabastan, we have more of a chance to catch you before you get to anybody else." Gil had been warned to keep himself and the rats away from where his purple friend was poking werewolves.
Dark as the soul within, Rabastan noted, the woods becoming as dark as midnight as they pressed onwards. Granted, the sun was low in the sky due to it being early fall, but that thought didn't cheer him up any. All he could think about was the wolf. The wolf that devoured the human mind leaving nothing left of the man. This was not how he saw his life when he was twenty. Or thirty. Or even last year. Too late for regrets though; he was a werewolf now, like it or not, and he was just going to have to deal with it.
"We are close to our destination, aye?" Strahan asked, not because he was tired but because he was eager to see Rabastan shift shape in the werewolf's natural habitat. Or, what would be the natural habitat for a true wolf. "And then you will work the morphogenetic field on Rabastan and change him into the wolf he now has inside him?" The way it sounded made Strahan think of the Cheysuli, how the shapechangers exchanged forms at will. This wasn't at will but the concept of the exchange was still there. Rabastan's human body would trade places with the wolf's for the three nights a month when the moon was full. The only difference was the fact that tonight there was only a thin sliver of a moon-too far from the next full moon and the culmination of another cycle.
"Just a little bit further," Asar-Suti said, grinning to himself about how close Strahan came to the classical 'Are we there yet?' - but the others couldn't see, as the Seker was still forging on ahead. "I think I remember a small clearing where we shall have some decent starlight; it's not far."
Strahan could stand a little light now, given the murkiness of their surroundings, so, not waiting for an invitation he called forth a small flame of purple godfire. Just enough to hover above his outstretched hand but not enough to cause a major forest fire for Milliways. "Better," he said. "The way is clearer now."
The sorcerer might be chuffed about shedding a little light on the situation but the sight of purple light from the flame in Strahan's hand only served to disquiet Rabastan even more than before. He really did not need another reminder of the Night He Wanted to Forget, and to see lavender light casting the forest into a patchwork of bright areas latticed with the darkness of tree branches and shadows unsettled him. Honestly some people had no tact at all.
"Here we are," Asar-Suti said, stopping suddenly and turning to his companions. It was very small as clearings went, but the trees did open and show a skyful of brilliant stars. "Put your light down somewhere here, Strahan; there's a big stone over there."
And somewhere up there prowled the sky-wolf Lupus, stalking the celestial hunting ground for his nightly prey. Strahan took no notice; he only nodded and sent the flame floating forwards and downwards to settle above the stone. It caused the shadows to grow longer and more menacing: something every filmmaker of cheap Hollywood horror flicks loved to use in their movies. Atmosphere after all made things more terrifying, especially if applied right.
If it were possible, Rabastan was even paler and more frightened than before, given the ambience of the setting. Forget the wolfsbane shield keeping the animal in check all he wanted to do was vacate the small clearing and as fast as his feet could carry him. Even with a shifter crystal to call his own as reward for helping Strahan out in a time of need this could not be worth it!
"Come here, Rabastan," Asar-Suti said to the small wizard who was, apparently, rather scared, to judge from his face o which Strahan's violet godfire flickered worryingly. He should have been a were-hare, not a werewolf! "Let me have a look at you and your morphogenetic field, huh?"
Sure, he could wind up with one or both legs broken if he made a run for it now, but at least he'd be inside the bar where he could forget about all this for another two weeks before he had to face it again. And if the infirmary had any Skele-gro in their stores, he'd be mended just in time too. He stepped forward, radiating "I really want to be in Miami" with each stride he took. This was the moment. The one he dreaded, but had to face in order to reap his reward. It made him wish he'd sat out the Doom Clock-at least he wouldn't be scared, scarred and seeking some sort of escape from here.
The Ihlini sorcer, on the other hand, was anything but frightened. No. He was eager. He looked like a child on Christmas Eve, waiting for the arrival of Saint Nick and his sack of toys to play with. He'd seen Rabastan change once before, but somehow this time was different. Not because Asar-Suti was about to use his magic on the unhappy wizard but also because he wanted to assess the potential of a transformed werewolf outside a cage. He had to know what to expect out of Rabastan and this was the night he'd learn what the wizard was capable of.
"I am going to transform you now," Asar-Suti said seriously. "I want you to pay very, very close attention, as logically human as you possibly can. It shouldn't hurt the way the natural werewolf transformation hurts. Hang on to your rational thinking as long as you can, and listen for my voice in your mind. Are you ready, Rabastan Lestrange?"
Oh yes, Strahan looked exactly like a child at Christmas. A demented, sadistic child that is. What did he care that Rabastan probably had emptied his bladder and bowels in his fear (Rabastan reeked enough to lead anyone to think he had)? All he wanted was to see what his new minion could do, and what he could do to his minion. In human form and out.
Rabastan knelt before the Seker, no longer able to stand. It was all so much and his mind was on automatic now. Words barely registered in his brain though certainly he heard them well enough. In the firelight one could see that he was crying now, tears streaming from his bright yellow eyes as though he were a young boy caught in the grips of a nightmare. This nightmare was one no one could wake up from, and he knew it. Rabastan swallowed thickly. Think human. Keep human.
But I'm going to be a bloody wolf. How can I keep my mind human? Especially now?
Asar-Suti drew a long and complicated rune over Rabastan, drawing on the wolf-shape that his morphogenetic field now remembered, pulling it out, pushing back the human shape until Rabastan's substance and being snapped into wolf-shape, abandoning human. "Pay close attention!" he ordered. "Observe what happens to you. Remember!"
There's a moment that only happens when one is deathly afraid. A suspended moment of infinite time contained in a small space no bigger than a few seconds at the most. A moment when all life is compacted into those few seconds of infinte time, and everything is clearer than it should be. This was that moment. A moment that felt like death. He wanted to scream, to cry, to run. He could not. For as he opened his mouth he felt his jaws stretch further than was normal for a human being. Nor could he run, as his body was altering shape in spite of himself and the lunar cycle. And tears were banished; wolves did not weep. NoNoNoNo.., a tiny voice said from out of nowhere. StopitStopitStopit. He lurched forwards. EnditEnditEndit, the voice begged. I can't take any more.
This was better than anything one could see on the bar's television set. Better than anything in a theatre. Strahan sat transfixed, unable to take his eyes away from the man-becoming-wolf. In the sharp contrast of light and shadow the purple flame created he got a good look at the animal's features. It was grimacing, baring its teeth for all to see. The front of the mouth seemed all fang. Rabastan didn't have four he had eight. Or so Strahan counted. After all it could be a light-trick, but he was sure of his count. This creature was designed to bite and tear flesh. To crack bone and kill. The head was heavy, with long, sharply pointed ears like a fox's. Perfect for hearing prey. In opposition to the head the body was lean and gangly, like a wolf kept from his prey for too long. Legs were long, the torso like that of a running dog's, though without the deep tuck in the abdomen running dogs had. And the tail was short. Rabastan was a real killing machine in this body, and to say Strahan was impressed was an understatement.
Asar-Suti knelt and looked the creature in the eyes, hands in the rough fur, trusting the preternatural werewolf instinct to tell him that no, this was not human, this was not prey, this was a piece of coalesced and manifested violet magic, nothing else. "Rabastan," he said. "Look at me. Remember that you are Rabastan, you are human, you are wolf, and this is what you are, one and the other. Stop shivering; there is nothing here that would injure you." Perhaps premature optimism, given Strahan's glee. But this was a plea to Strahan as well - give him a chance, my faithful servant! Asar-Suti touched the taut, bony spine, ruffled fur, and added, "Calm down, Rabastan. Lie down. Look up at the stars, why don't you?"
But there was something he could injure. Someone. He looked at Strahan with eyes that were well-adapted for the night, looked at him. There was a human being, a part of him-the part of him that the wolfsbane was working to suppress-noticed. Prey. And he saw that the grin was a frown. Then a look of concern. Finally ... was it worry? He willed his mind to think back to the night he was savagely attacked. Lion. Strahan had been a lion and who knew what happened to the werewolves that had mauled him so? Had Strahan killed them? Would he turn lion and kill Rabastan? He growl-whined, a sound that reflected his internal conflict perfectly.
Yes, he was concerned. Not afraid but concerned. He did not like the way Rabastan was looking at him. Like a hungry dog seeing a meat-laden bone placed just out of reach of the tether-line that kept the dog in place. Strahan was no meaty bone though. He was Ihlini. More than Ihlini he was nearly god. And he had access to the shapechange, something Strahan knew would tip the balance of power and even things out were he alive in his world. He could access it now. To become a lion, to fend off Rabastan and crack the wolf's back the way he'd done with the others. -you will not attack me Rabastan Lestrange-I am your master; I rule you-
Asar-Suti was calmly striking the werewolf's fur and internally promising Strahan all sorts of archaic wrath if he screwed up now. "Yes, Rabastan, you are doing well, you can obey your own sensible voice still, can't you?" He let go of the werewolf, and ordered, "Stand, and go to the stone where the purple light is, can you?"
Rabastan whined, pawing at his head. He'd heard Strahan's warning through the link the Ihlini had planted in his mind. A whisper of a thread, no more, and yet he was helpless to do anything but obey. Tail clamped to hocks he approached the fire-crowned rock, despite his inherent fear of it. He was, after all, animal; naturally he would fear it. And he whined again, a plaintive look in his yellow eyes. What else did god and man intend for him to do tonight?
Good. The wolf-beast was obeying his command as well as the Seker's. There would be no more threats to afterlife or limbs from Rabastan. Asar-Suti might take all this as a sign that the wolf-creature was obeying the god's instructions, but Strahan knew that the god only held a portion of the control. The rest was Strahan's and the link he'd created in the helpless wizard's mind.
"You are doing well, Rabastan, so very well," the god encouraged. "Would you trust yourself to run with us in animal shape now? Please nod like a human being if you can."
A double test, that one.
He whined, wagged his tail, nodded his head. He wanted to run away, but this was the best he could get. Merlin he wished he could cry as a human being does! But no, he could not. All he could do was whimper and wait for further instructions.
In animal shape? They were going for a run? Suddenly Strahan remembered that of them all he alone had no wolf form to run in, unless one counted the maned wolf, and technically, it wasn't even a true wolf. Still, it was close in shape to Rabastan's, if a trifle taller and without the pair of fangs jutting down from the upper jaw to rest against the flesh of the lower, bared for all to see. It was enough, perhaps. It was an animal form he knew well enough to use, and as it was non-threatening, there was no real chance for an unfortunate accident to befall the now-wolf-shaped wizard.
Asar-Suti smoothly shifted into wolf-shape - slightly purple, quite familiar to him. Follow me, he said. Let us run!
And they did.