I was lying on my back. Freya had buried her head in my belly fur. The stars were just fading in the dawning sky, but I was awake. I could barely get Freya's blanket out of the saddlebag with my right hind paw. I rolled carefully to the side so that Freya could lie on her blanket. She slept on as usual. I must have made quite a racket yesterday to have awaken her.

And Freya had earned her sleep, because her massage had worked so well again: No soreness, not even in the claws, which had always taken the longest to recover. No, I felt light as a feather with spring in every step as I walked downhill. Back along the forest trail we had climbed, out of earshot.

Unfortunately, the trees here were much younger and mostly conifers. The few oaks in between were too far apart and the smooth bark of the beeches was no fun. So the conifers would have to do. Well, tonight would be Kendrick grooming the countess in the Krenburg castle's stable, so a few extra needles would make no difference. Just to make sure Freya could sleep, I went a little further. Conifers still dominated. Well, I was far enough. I climbed up and squirrelled out until the sky was bright and the sun reached the forest floor even down here. And I was panting like Larina.

When I climbed down, I felt every muscle and the claws, not sore but tired. Well, that would be the last squirrelling out for a while. I walked back at a leisurely pace, deneedleling some branches for a spice woodland breakfast and tasting some herbs left and right. At the top of the ridge, Freya was eating her own breakfast. This time there was no snide comment about the needles all over my fur. Instead, almost praise. "I wish I could have such an active morning," she yawned. "Battles never started early, and the wounded always came late."

"Here is no war."

"There is no more war, thank the Soul."

I rolled up the blanket, stored it and took up the saddlebag when Freya called, "Wait!" She took out the brush. Ok, an extra grooming was fine too. But it was a quick one, Freya only brushed my back and sides to avoid getting pricked by the needles. Satisfied with a needle-free back for her to ride, I was allowed to put on the saddlebag. Freya mounted me and we started our final descent. It was much nicer in the morning, the trail was still in the shade and the air was cool and damp. After all the climbing in Litra, this slope was no challenge and I were soon near the bottom of the valley. Now Freya had to walk because we were joining the main road to the southern gate of Krenburg and it was clearly not appropriate to ride the countess into Krenburg. So we strolled through the town.

The children had not forgotten me and I was happy to give them rides. Some children even wore green and white ribbon bracelets, hand-woven from scraps, which they proudly showed off.

I smiled at them and felt great.

The children were sad when we reached the castle road at the bottom of the hill, where I no longer took riders. We strolled up the hill at such a leisurely pace that the noon trumpet sounded before we reached the top.

* * *

I went straight for my room for to drop off the saddlebag. And stopped outside, the coat of arms was gone. Only a tiny version was painted on the door, next to a tiny version of the coat of arms of Litra. At least it was now permanently on the door. Opening the door, I confirmed that I had grown: There was now less than a handspan on either side of my lower shoulders and the door frame but my height was about the same. While I blocked the door, Freya had already changed into her healer's tunic and as soon as I was inside she was on her way to the healer's refectory. I went to the stables to be groomed, as I could not appear in the Nobility's Hall like a squirrel fresh from the trees.

But neither Kendrick nor any of the grooms were there. Larina, however, was in her box. She smiled when she saw me. "Oh! Greetings, Countess Kiara!"

She looked awful and reeked of bile. "Hello," I said. "What?" and then I bit my lips.

"Do I look that bad?" she wheezed and then coughed.

I just nodded. Her skin was yellow-green and her ribs were showing, even on her horse part. She had shrunk more than I had grown. I could hardly believe that she was the same Larina I had last seen eight days ago.

"The mage is coming this afternoon," she wheezed, still smiling. "He thinks he can help."

"He makinged us. He helping you!"

"And now he is allowed to use soul magic for me. We waited for you for that."

Now, I felt really bad. Just because of me, Larina was suffering. But when she saw my shocked face, she added. "No, we were also waiting for the third cleric."

I exhaled, relieved. "Do you eating?"

"No, the mage said no food today."

Somehow the mere mention of food made my stomach growl.

But Larina laughed. "Ah, the Kiara I know. Get something. We don't want to break the mage's concentration with the growling from your inner beast, do we?"

I blushed. "Sorry!" and I went back to my room, devouring the rest of the cheese and bread while I glanced through my open door at the stable entrance to not miss the mage's arrival.

* * *

Soon I was back at Larina's box. I tried to tell her about Litra and the mountains. But my vocabulary still failed me, so frustrating. Sentences like "My countess house is small but is hall bottom". Or "Much small rivers you jumping" made this more of a guessing game than a coherent story.

Finally, they arrived. First, Administrator and Vice-Administrator, along with two other, much more impressively dressed noblemen. Followed by Sir Hofengart, who formed a triangle with another cleric in white and one blue, with the mage in their midst. At the back were the senior healer, another healer and Freya! Of the important people that I knew, only the marshal was missing.

Larina and I bowed deeply to the arriving delegation.

"Thank you," Administrator said. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Administrator of the Kren Republic, this is Vice-Administrator. We are honoured to have with us today the emissary of Kwal, Prince Let of Wotrram, and the emissary of Tollan, Lord Wan.” Both of the finely dressed noblemen did not much more than a nod. “As we are going to witness soul magic today, we have representatives of all the clerical factions, Sir Hofengart for the Brown, His Excellency Zamish for the White, and the emissary from the Nuncipal in the Kren Republic." The clerics did a complete greeting it seemed, the white the usual bow but the blue one rather some elaborate hand gesture, worth a mage.

Now it was our turn. "This is Countess Kiara of Earth and Litra.” I bowed “And here is Centaur Larina.” She bowed by did not come far as she had another coughing fit. “Centaur Larina has asked Mage Tarik to improve her deteriorating condition. Her body was forged by another soul mage." Then the mage was waved forward and he bowed politely. He seemed well recovered, given the state he had been in when I left for Litra. Well, recovered, but he was marked for life. Half his head was bald, he had a wide scar across his left cheek, and his face was no longer symmetric, his smile crooked. But he looked cheerful and full of energy. "This is Soul Mage Tarik, newly graduated from Kwal University, who will perform soul magic to recover the centaur's health. He also claims responsibility for creating Countess Kiara's body while her soul awakened on its own."

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He turned to his back. "Three healers will oversee the healing and access the mage's work on Centaur Larina. First, Senior Healer Yutan, Chief Healer Prince Frudanty and the newly appointed Healer Freya, who has the most experience with soul mage victims." All the healer bowed deeply when their names were mentioned. Freya looked to the floor the whole time. Then he turned to the mage. "Mage Tarik, could you enlighten us about your plans?"

Freya came to my side with the other two healers for a better view. And Freya came of course for me and to translate. Now she could look at ‘her’ countess.

"Congratulations, on the promotion to a full healer."

"Too soon," she sent back and then gave me a short summary of who was who in case I did not get it.

The mage cleared his throat. He had a strong and deep voice, rather unexpected with his short height. "Princes, lords and ladies, healers and of course the dear Centaur Larina." He took another deep breath. "I have been asked to help Centaur Larina since the healers were reaching their limits. Since she is now beyond the of the healers, I will use soul magic. The use of beneficial soul magic is new, and there are several ways. No soul will be transferred today, none of todays’s magic should involve anything in the domain of the Soul. However, you may still feel a strange sensation or some pull at the edge of your mind. Rest assured, it is harmless. But you could fully avoid it if you stay at least fifteen paces away.

The clerics and emissaries retreated with Administrator. Vice-Administrator stayed, along with the healers and myself.

The mage took a yellow piece of paper with a complicated mandala out of his pocket. "This is a special rune. With its help I will slow down time for everyone in direct contact. The effect will last for about a quarter of a day or until it is deactivated. Centaur Larina, are you ready?"

"Yes." She radiated confidence despite her poor condition.

The mage placed the paper with the rune on the ground.

"Please, step on it."

Larina hopped forward and landed on the rune with both hooves. Indeed, it was as if she had been frozen, no movement at all after touching the rune. Not even breathing or blinking.

"Normally we would exchange a tiny fraction of the soul. However, since her soul is incomplete, this time I will only donate from my soul, less than a thousandth." He was clearly a full academic.

A spark flew from him to Larina. She now glowed slightly violet, and hair-like violet strands of light stretched from her to the mage.

"We are in resonance now."

"Sir Mage, is soul violet?" I asked.

Several people inhaled sharply.

"You can see it?" said the mage, audibly surprised. "How peculiar." But then he shook his head. "We shall talk later. Please, no questions from now on, no matter what will happen." He took a deep breath. "So now we are in resonance and the other soul will not reject me."

I quickly whispered to Freya what I saw. She did not see anything, not even a faint tint.

"Now I will assess her soul by taking it outside. This is safe as she is frozen. Usually, this is the moment when you feel strange unless you are trained in soul magic. But please save your questions for later."

His hands reached into Larina at two points, one in her upper body and one in her lower body. Then he moved his hands together inside Larina as if he wanted to catch something. It was eerie. I was not sure how long I could watch this.

Now, the mage drew in his hands and the room suddenly lit up brightly in violet. That shining ball was Larina's soul. Squinting my eyes, I saw several dark areas on the bright ball, well, the shape was more like a long potato. I whispered my findings to Freya, who used her mindspeak to relay my observations to the other healers.

The mage gently kneaded the soul into a more spherical shape and brushed away some of the brown crust. It was much rounder and brighter. But also a little smaller than before. Then he placed her soul into her lower body and the room went very dark, only dimly lit by the violet strands. Slowly, my vision returned.

The mage stretched, visibly exhausted. "Her soul is very small and has scars. Probably from the violent fusion during her creation. These mages have always been far too hasty in their work." He drank from his flask. "Now I will enter her body. I have learned from the healers that several of her organs are duplicated and some are in the wrong place. Using soul magic, I can not only touch the soul, but also the flesh of the body which I share the soul right now and can even reshape it. This is the technique I helped to develop. When Larina was created, this technique was not used at all, only the forceful merging of souls and bodies. This work inside her will require my full concentration. Please, under no circumstances, do not disturb me. Larina or both of us could die." He took a deep breath and whispered something in Kwal, either for his concentration or to amplify the magic, I had no idea. Then he dug his hands in again, still whispering. Then he straightened and stopped. Now he spoke Kren again. "Here are the kidneys," Freya translated, "they exit into the stomach." The elder healers inhaled sharply but then suppressed any further noise. "And this liver is very large." Then he went to her horse half. "Very swollen liver too." He withdrew his hands.

"Liver, gall and kidney all draining into her horse's digestive system. I think she is digesting herself." He looked at the healers who nodded. "As for the wheezing, the horse lung and the human lung are not properly connected, her horse trachea ends in the upper left lung. And her nose is too small for the flow of air. I did not probe long enough, but the two hearts seem also not well connected. What does the healer say?"

Senior Healer Yutan nodded. "That was also our finding. But we did not dare to operate on her unknown body."

"Understandable. With soul magic, I can move and remove organs, just as I moved my hands inside her. Since her human and horse souls have already fully fused, I cannot fuse organs any more." He paused. "My plan, I will move the horse's trachea to start at the end of the human trachea. And I will move the kidneys to the horse part. Then I will remove the human liver, gall bladder and stomach. That should stop her from digesting herself. I will also check and adjust some of the joints. There won't be time for the hearts." He immediately thrust his hands into her humans belly region, grabbed something inside and tore it to the horse's back. Her waistline slightly shrank.

Then he grabbed inside again and tore out her human stomach which fell between her hooves, slimy and smelly. At that moment, I ripped my tail from Freya and bolted outside, almost unhinging the door and knocking over the guard in front of it. I did not notice, just threw up on the wall by the back door until there was absolutely nothing left in my huge stomach.

"Would you like some water, Countess?"

Kendrick was standing next to the guard who was a little limping.

Embarrassed, I stuttered. "Er, yes, sorry."

Kendrick fetched me a bucket and added some vinegar from a bottle. I gurgled and washed my face. Not minding the stale, smelly Krenburg well water. Well, the vinegar helped. The rest was poured over the stains on the wall.

"Soul magic is not for the faint?" he asked.

"He taking out meat from Larina. To healing." I gagged again.

He patted my shoulder. "Would a full grooming ease your mind?" And he pulled a pine needle out of my ear tufts.

I nodded eagerly.

As the guard, who stood now beside the door, was under strict orders not to allow anyone to enter, not even me, we walked around to enter the other part of the stable through the front door. There was a guard there too. But in my company, Kendrick was allowed to enter that part of the stable to get some tools. In the courtyard, he started brushing and picking needles out of my fur. Some servants and maids suddenly walked very slowly, seeing their countess groomed by him. I would have preferred the inside, but the guard was strict.

As he worked, he wanted to hear more about my journey to Litra. I tried my best with my limited vocabulary. He asked a few questions, so he was really listening. And he was right, grooming and talking distracted me. Soon I was talking less and less, just relaxing and purring.

"Dear Countess, the needles are gone. Do you want a shower?"

"Yes, all grooming please."

Since we were outside, the show was only for the lower body. After the shower, he did another round of brushing and then wiped my fur dry. Finally, he massaged again my legs.

"Kendrick, I am strong now?"

Kendrick stopped. "Yes, you have very impressive leg muscles, rivalling the best horses. You are faster than a horse."

"The race no riding me."

"Countess, I am not sure about that. I think you could beat a horse even with a rider. Your legs are a little shorter but are extremely well built." He blushed. I like to hear such compliments, if not the only way of ending this sentence was 'compared to other horses'.

Now Kendrick stretched himself. "How about dinner?"

The beast in my stomach growled in agreement. Well, it had lost its lunch. Wanting to know how things were going with Larina, I asked a passing servant for a table outside the stable.