by Satevis on May 6th, 2012, 4:34 pm
"No, I wasn't a soldier," he replied. "I was a scholar and a wanderer, as I am now. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Or was it the right place at the right time? Depending on his mood, he believed it to be one or the other. If he had been a soldier, he might have been able to do something to fight back. Or maybe he wouldn't have done anything. As a soldier, he would have thought about it, wouldn't he? He wouldn't have been driven on instinct alone...
Well, it didn't matter anyway. His death was in the past. What mattered here was his present.
Satevis straightened up as she asked about the stuff, nodding once. "It's in a cart," he said. "I parked it outside the infirmary." It seemed like Tock was ready to get out of here, and he didn't want to keep her. There was time to move the stuff before sunset, perhaps. "Lead the way," he said, opening the door for her and following her into the hallway.
By the time they had pushed the cart to one of the school's workshops, the sun had half-disappeared beneath the western horizon. Even though they were inside, Satevis could feel it in his blood, the coming exchange of power in the sky. Syna would relinquish power to Leth, and the two would meet for a short time, and then Leth would take her place as the dominant deity. He smiled faintly. He knew his lord cherished those brief meetings before the pair exchanged roles. Absently, he unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt, loosening his collar. The clothes were too big for Satevis. He had made sure to wear clothes his Ethaefal form could comfortably fit in, knowing he might be transforming on short notice tonight. But he didn't want to accidentally choke himself in the event he miscalculated.
And there it was, a familiar stirring in his blood, in his very being. He turned to face Tock, knowing that she would want to see the transformation.
Three...two...one... he counted down in his head.
Thrum.
It felt like a heart beat, like his heart was beating for the first time. In one instant, he felt Leth's power rush through him, starting from his center and moving outwards. Satevis's breath caught in his throat, and he closed his eyes. A pale white glow surrounded him, shining outwards from him and enveloping him. It wasn't a harsh blinding light, but instead the faint, gentle light of the moon.
The transformation started with his body. The magic felt like wind, rising up from the floor around him. It moved through his clothes and hair, the light cloak he wore fluttering in its passing as he changed. He grew taller and filled out more, his skin paling from the deep tan of his Benshira form to the glowing opalescence of the Ethaefal. His features changed as well, shaping into the unnatural, statuesque beauty that all of the Ethaefal wore. His hair lengthened by a few inches, changing from a length just beneath his ears to one a few inches above his shoulders. The color change started from the roots, lavender gray chasing away the Benshira form's dark brown. The color wove through his hair until there was no trace of brown.
And then his horns formed. In the spring, they were completely white. They began at his temples, pushing out from underneath his hair. The horns swept back, meeting each other at the back of his head and pinning his hair beneath them. They resembled half of the circlet his people wore above their head coverings.
Finally, the memories. They came with the wind, a rush of images and voices that filled his mind at once. In the day, he remembered only Taras. At night, what little he could remember of his past lives returned to him, the memories of different faces and forms. With the transformation complete, the wind and light rushed outwards from him, dissipating. His cloak settled back around his shoulders, his hair falling into its usual place as he seemed to diminish somewhat.
When he opened his eyes, they were violet.
Credit for avatar and signature go to Coltyn