[Mkguild] Here is part 1 again. Hopefully in plain text

[Chris]

Sometimes I really wonder where my ideas come from especially the
stranger ones! This one came from a visit to the New York City Museum of
Natural History where it has a whole floor full of fossils!

 

   Christian O’Kane

   The Lurking Fox

 

 

 

 

The Memories of Bone

By Christian O’Kane

 

Rule 23 of Morlunds Rules of Sorcery: Beware of when you visit a mage,
most do not like unexpected visitors.

 

   Morven slowly stalked the hallways of the Silawen Society’s museum.
The society had never intended to create a museum but being an
organization of mages meant they were always going strange places and
meeting even stranger creatures. Usually they brought some souvenirs
back. Lots of souvenirs, and being mages they always seemed to be
collecting the strangest things. One half of the second floor of the
massive building was filled with the collection of the mage Fuldis who
had tried to obtain two of every flower in existence. He had willed the
entire collection to the society upon his death.

 

   Of all the displays and artifacts that the Silawen Society had in
this vast museum the third floor was his favorite. Here were the remains
of creatures long dead. Dead so long ago that their flesh had rotten
away and their very bones turned into the same stone that they had been
so laboriously chipped and scraped from.

 

   The skeletons were held together by steel wire and rods in postures
they had once held in life. Animals dead and rotted to just bones stood
forever still in mockery of the life they once had. It made for a
strange and oddly surreal display. Morven half expected them to hop down
from their displays and stalk the hallways. But the only spells on them
were those of preservation, to keep the fragile bones from crumbling
away.

 

   The ringing of metal on metal and a grunt of pain caught Morven’s
attention. Confused and a little concerned he made his towards the
sound.

 

   The mage made his way down the stairway as the sounds of fighting
grew louder. Then more ominously it stopped and silence returned to the
museum. He was almost to the front door when he found something he
didn’t want to. There sprawled on the floor was one of the guards who
were tasked with protecting the museum. She was laying face down in an
expanding pool of blood. Nearby he caught sight of a group of people who
were definitely NOT members of the Society.

 

   There were a dozen of them, a grim lot, swathed in armor and carrying
all manner of weapons. He noted at least two people, a man and an elf
who were not wearing armor nor carrying weapons.  Those two had to be
mages and he made a note to remember what they looked like.

 

   He backed up quietly and made his way to a dark corner. The mage had
a serious problem. This group of intruders had to be very good to have
made it past the society’s wards and protection spells untouched. And
certainly the guards had proved no match for them. Morven could simply
hide in some obscure corner of the building and wait until they left but
that was wrong. He loved the Society and the museum and he wasn’t about
to let them simply loot it. This left him in a quandary. He was not a
combat mage and the spells he had were of research; telling how old
something was or how an item had been made. Morven was a Fleshshaper and
had spells that could rearrange or reshape living flesh. With those he
made a good living making rich and ugly people more beautiful or
removing unwanted scars or body marks. He could reshape his hands and
head giving him the long and sharp claws and teeth of a cave bear but
that would not help him much. He would have a bears claws and teeth but
they would still be attached to his own rather weak human body. He
needed a whole body, one that was even more powerful then a bear.

 

   The man pondered his options before he came upon an idea. A very
unusual idea.  It was a spell he knew and had even considered
experimenting with but he’d never quite worked up the nerve. These
however, were desperate circumstances. Quickly, Morven made his way back
up to the third floor.

 

 

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

 

 

   He walked among the various displays looking for just the right one.
If he was going to survive these intruders he needed more help.

 

   Morven looked at the skeleton of something vaguely resembling a dog
that was barely knee high. “Too small.”

 

   Stepping sideways he found himself in front of a monstrously huge
skeleton whose backbone almost scraped the ceiling some twenty feet
overhead. “Too big. Nice but way too big.”

 

   And so it went as he considered and rejected one after another.

 

   “Too small.”

 

   “Too big!”

 

   “The right size but a vegetarian. It doesn’t even have horns or sharp
hooves.”

 

   In one display the skeletons of a score of small rodent like
creatures were attacking the skeleton of a deer. Alone one rodent wasn’t
a threat but twenty would be. He shook his head. Controlling that many
bodies was simply beyond his abilities.

 

   The mage stopped suddenly in front of one skeleton in particular and
smiled. This cat was a carnivore, one famous for its powerful killing
jaws. It was a little large but not too large that the spell could make
up the extra needed mass.

 

   Morven quickly removed all his clothes and tucked them safely out of
sight. Stripping naked wasn’t completely necessary but not having that
impediment of clothes made things a lot easier. He stepped up onto the
display walking carefully among the mounted skeletons.

 

   The mage straddled the skeleton so that his legs barely touched the
aged bones. Morven started to chant slowly and in a tone barely above a
whisper as his arms made the complex gestures needed. The words flowed
from his mouth producing the magic and the gestures of his arms shaped
it, working it to do the tasks needed. He felt the power slowly envelope
him and the skeleton, reshaping his flesh and removing the form it had.
The flesh and bone of his hips started to melt like the wax in a candle.
The living mass slowly seeped down onto the skeleton, tendrils moving
onto the bones, enveloping them with Morven’s own flesh. The man’s arms
melted into the mass that had been his chest as that itself slowly
flowed down into the skeleton. The mass of flesh flowed from the mage
and over bones that had not felt living flesh in millennia. The first to
be covered were the paws, tan, human flesh covering the bones completely
even where they had been in contact with the floor. Quickly the legs
were covered as the man kept melting down onto the mounted bones.

 

   When his hips were gone the torso started to ooze downward as well,
losing shape and form as it dripped and flowed down. Morven’s
half-melted muscles pulled his legs off the ground and their mass was
simply absorbed into the fleshly blob. The body flowed and melted faster
and faster until all that was left was a human head atop a fleshy
colored mound. The once human head flopped forward and landed on the
skull of the long dead cat with a splat. The flesh, muscle and bone
oozed and melted down around the skull until it too was covered. 

 

   The thing on the display stand no longer resembled the man and feline
skeleton it had once been. All that was there was a large mound of flesh
that oozed and moved without any muscles or bones. Then the mass stopped
moving. The living matter that had been the mages body had no form
anymore. The spell had removed the human shape leaving it just a
quivering mass of living flesh, but it would not remain that way for
long. The living flesh seeped into the bones and both absorbed them and
was absorbed by them. Flesh replaced bone too decayed to be useful until
it found the last remaining bits of the animal which it quickly
absorbed, finding the pattern it needed there.

 

   The magic of the spell reshaped the living mass to match the pattern
it had found. What had once been living bones but was now dead again
became living bones using the mages flesh. Newly forming muscles wrapped
themselves around bones that had not felt muscles in countless
millennia. Long vanished organs formed where they had been so long ago.

 

   The shapeless mass slowly gained a shape. Four legs quickly became
apparent, holding the creature up as skin covered reforming muscles and
organs. The skin darkened from a  human flesh color to a more
appropriate brownish tan. Then short, thick fur grew out and quickly
covered the new skin completely. Small black spots slowly filled
themselves in on the fur as a short, tail sprouted behind making the
body complete. Soon the mass at the front shifted and refined its shape
into a neck and head. Two pointed ears grew out of the top as flesh
wrapped itself around the powerful jaws leaving only the two massive,
saber shaped teeth exposed. New eyes filled in sockets that had for too
long been empty as a tongue grew in a still forming mouth. Fine whiskers
grew out of still growing lips, taking their rightful place. Last to
take shape was a black nose on the tip of the muzzle.

 

   The pattern was old but it was a strong one. Morven could feel it as
his new feline heart pumped blood through his new feline body. His body
grew thicker and bigger as the spell pushed the newly changed flesh to
create more to fill in the body properly. He felt the magic begin to
fade as the spell finished its tasks.

 

   Morven tried to take a step but couldn’t move. His muscles ran into
resistance that was more then just gravity and bone. Steel! He had
forgotten the steel wire and rods used to hold up the bones. Those bones
now again had flesh and muscles to hold them but the steel supports
remained there nonetheless. He could just expel them. The magic of the
spell was fading but it held enough strength to remove the unneeded
metal but Morven had a better idea. The mage directed the magic to break
down the metal but not expel it from the body. Instead he redirected it
elsewhere. This was not according to the old pattern but it was a minor
change and not a problem.

 

   Morven slowly lifted each leg of his new body getting the feel of the
powerful muscles that were now his. This form was strong! He could feel
the power in his new jaws with their razor sharp fangs each as long as
his human hand had been. Morven felt a cool breeze ruffle his fur. The
massive cat shook itself feeling the whole body move and respond in ways
that it hadn’t in a long time. It felt so good to be alive again!
ALIVE!!!

 

   Freedom! No more hanging on metal lifelessly for year after year, no
more walking as a weak two legged person. He was alive again and more
powerful then ever! He was free to hunt, stalk and enjoy his life again!
The cat lifted his head and let loose a roar of sheer pleasure, letting
all the world know he was alive again and ready for anything.

 

   Crouching low he leapt off the platform and onto the floor, landing
softly. His new, sensitive feline ears picked up the sound of voices and
the scent of humans came to his nose. The intruders. They didn’t belong
here. The magic had reshaped him into this wonderful form but it had
stressed flesh and bone greatly. He was tired and hungry, very hungry
and these people would do nicely for his first meal.

 

 

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

 

 

   Morven halted and lay down in the dark shadows between several
display cases. His prey was a few paces down the corridor. There were
two of them moving alone down the hallway. This was the perfect place to
spring an ambush. The shadows of the display cases would hide his
massive feline bulk until it was too late. Then he would lash out and
strike them down. The tall man with the spear would be first. Morven
would bury his fangs in the man’s head as his claws ripped and slashed
the body.

 

   Second would be the woman with the bow. With the feline so close she
would be forced to drop her bow and draw some other weapon. That would
take precious moments. Time he would use to kill the male. He would then
turn on her and make a short meal of her too. The man was larger and
would have more meat but the female would probably taste delicious.

 

   He crouched and waited for his two prey to come to him. Waiting was
the worst part of hunting. The stalk was exciting but not as exciting as
the rush and the final pounce of the kill. Feeling his fangs sink deep
into flesh as his claws ripped flesh and muscle.

 

   In the case to his left was the skeleton of some large horse-like
creature. A memory came to him. He was crouched down among tall grass as
a large herd of those creatures in the case slowly walked toward him but
these were alive, and covered with tan fur that had black spots all
over. How long had he crouched there before a young female had come
close enough for him to strike? His powerful muscles had propelled him
free of the grass and right towards his prey. But he had misjudged the
distance and the mare had time to react. She spun about and lashed out
with her hooves sending the feline tumbling backwards. He had spent many
days afterward letting his broken bones and torn flesh heal. It was a
painful lesson in hunting. The cat looked in the reflective glass of the
case and saw the crescent shaped scar that was on his left hindquarter,
a reminder of that day.

 

   “SCAR?  HUNT?” Morven thought to himself surprised. “I’ve never
hunted as a saber toothed cat and there shouldn’t be a scar there!”
Memories came to him of a life hunting on the open savanna, of being
entombed in stone for so long he was afraid he would go insane. He
remembered being slowly chipped and scraped free of the stone and seeing
daylight again. The long, dreary days of hanging lifelessly from metal
rods unable to move even so much as a single claw. Morven was shocked.
Those were not his memories.

 

   With his mind the mage searched his new feline form and he found
something unexpected – another mind. A FELINE mind. He realized that
this was the spirit that originally inhabited this body so many
millennia ago.

 

   “This is not possible!” the mage thought to himself.

 

   He felt amusement from the feline mind. “What are you doing in my
body?”

 

   “Yours? My magic, my flesh, MY body!” the mage countered.

 

   “My bones, my shape, my body.”

 

   Soft footsteps came to their keen, feline ears. The two invaders were
less then five steps from their hiding place.

 

   “Debate later. It’s time to eat.”

 

   There was no argument between the two on that.

 

 

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

 

End part 1

 


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