[Mkguild] The Memories of Bone part 5 - again

[Chris]

   It had been a long night and an even longer day followed it. The
guild was not happy with all the damage done and the items lost. The
Watch was not happy with such a large robbery taking place. Both were
unhappy that Morven took matters into his own hands and dealt with the
robbers himself. At least they were all respectful and kept a healthy
distance from him. Being five hundred pounds of carnivore with two
foot-long teeth did have its advantages.

   Albion spoke praises for the mage and that helped sooth many of the
hard feelings and settle many of the problems. The guild master was very
upset about the damages and thefts but she was very excited about what
had happened to Albion and Morven. Already there was talk of restoring
other species in the collection. At least the guild healer was silent as
she mended his wounds. She did order the feline to bed for several days
to let his much-abused body recover.

   Finally, Morven was left alone in his apartment to rest and heal. A
servant brought them a long overdue meal. The young woman didn’t seem to
think that bringing a cart full of meat to an animal that had been
extinct for several millennia was noteworthy. She didn’t even bat an
eyelash when Morven smiled at her, flashing his long incisors. But she
had certainly seen a lot stranger things in her time working for the
guild.

   Twenty pounds of meat and five gallons of wine later the feline
slowly crept in the soft bed and lay down for a sleep. “Nice, soft,” the
spirit announced. “Better then sleeping on the dirt.” And with those
words they both drifted off to sleep.


************************


   It was two days before Morven had recovered sufficiently to try
casting magic again. This left him with time to ponder the quandary of
what to do next. The most obvious answer of simply reversing the merging
was not taken well by the feline spirit. Morven felt the anger and fear
of the spirit along with a ferocious determination. It would not go back
to being lifeless bone. Not after sampling life again after being so
long dead. He felt anger, pain, determination, fear and pure blind
terror.

   He could understand the feline’s fears. The spirit did have a good
reason to be afraid and he felt guilty about robbing it of its newly
recovered life. It wasn’t right to take that away; besides he had grown
to like the spirit as a friend.

   Morven waited for the feline mind to calm down, for the fear to
subside. “All right my companion. I understand but we can’t share this
body forever. Perhaps we can work out a compromise. This will not be
easy but it can be done.” Morven slowly explained what he wanted to do
to his companion.

   His plan was greeted with doubt and a little confusion but finally
acceptance. It was better then fighting constantly for control.

    Morven began casting his spell and he met no resistance but he felt
the cat’s keen spirit watching his every movement like a hunter stalking
prey. The magic built up within them and suddenly spread over the entire
form covering and filling it completely. He let the spell build up,
growing more powerful with each passing moment. The mage waited letting
the magic grow until it had reached the right level. Then he released it
with a single command, “Grow!”

   Both minds felt a white-hot fire rush through the body filling it
entirely down to the last cell. All the cells, flesh, blood and bone
starting dividing and reproducing at a vastly accelerated speed. The
feline body grew larger and larger by the moment as the spell guided and
shaped things. The saber tooth grew larger and heavier with each passing
moment till the cat was twice the size it had been. “Stop,” Morven
commanded and the growing stopped. The spell faded away but the magic it
had used didn’t; instead it remained deeply embedded in the flesh,
waiting for the next stage.

   The mage paused for a moment. What was to follow was difficult and to
no small degree dangerous. He mentally went over all the steps being
sure of each one several times. Finally he pronounced the needed command
words.

   The effect on the body was immediate. The flesh started to split and
separate moving in two directions at the same time. The front legs
started to broaden, growing wider and wider until they split in half.
Where there had been four legs was now six! The skull widened as two
eyes became four and one muzzle became two. Slowly the one body divided
splitting equally down the middle. Morven worked frantically shaping the
magic as it shaped the two bodies. Four legs for each. One head and neck
for each. Two eyes and one mouth for each.

   The feline looked very strange at this point. Two heads and necks
connected to two separate fore shoulders. Behind that they merged
together into one body. That however did not remain for long. The split
continued pushing the flesh in two directions. The two hind legs
themselves split like the front as the dividing reached the
hindquarters.

   It was then that the feline mind struck. Busy managing the split and
the magic with it Morven was caught off guard. The feline mind struck
fast moving with the speed and ferocity of the hunter it was. It did not
take full control of the change instead it just changed a small part of
it, altering a small portion of the results. It seems the spirit had
learned a lot more then Morven had realized.

   “NO! No!” Morven wailed as he wrestled with the rapidly changing
spell trying to keep it under control. The cat had a primitive mind but
it had planned well. The change was small, not so large as to ruin the
spell but it was large enough that Morven could not correct the change
without unraveling everything else. He had no choice but to accept the
change. The hindquarters split becoming two. Finally there were two
saber tooth cats connected solely by one tail. That tail lengthened and
finally separated cleanly leaving two complete animals. Both flopped
down to the floor too exhausted by the strain of the splitting to even
stand up.

   It was several minutes before Morven stirred. The spell had drained
him far more then expected. A part of his mind was sure he was lucky to
be alive. Morven took a deep breath and carefully moved each limb in
turn to be sure they were still there and working correctly. Slowly the
mage stood up on four wobbly legs. It took several moments before he was
sure he wouldn’t fall over.

   Morven examined himself to see what his new body was like and how the
spell had worked. This feline body was smaller than the first but it had
the same brown fur. The pattern of spots was different and the belly was
a lighter shade of brown, almost a tan and devoid of spots. This body
was a perfectly healthy sabertooth cat. A FEMALE one. A quickly look
behind and underneath confirmed it. Female genitals and on her belly was
a row of nipples.

   Hearing a noise Morven looked up to see another saber cat standing in
front of her. It was the male. It felt odd to look at a body that had
until a few minutes ago had been her own.

   “I can easily change back to my human form,” Morven said harshly.

   “No, splitting us left you too tired,” the male explained. “You need
to rest for a day.”

   “True.” 

   “I know. I was sharing your head. I know what you know. You enjoyed
it!”

   “True. It was fun.” She flexed her new body. This one was strong and
agile and full of life and power. “I am starting to appreciate this
body. I’ve been in this form for several days. I can stay for a few
more.”

   He licked the new female on the muzzle and her whole body tingled.
“If you teach me magic I’ll teach you to hunt.” 

   “On consideration. I really should get to know this form better for
my report to the Guild. That will take a month or two at least.”

   The male rubbed his powerful body along hers, both of them enjoying
the warmth and scent of the other.

   She licked his muzzle softly. “Well, maybe I can stay until at least
spring.”


The end!


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