The sadness and despair that once gripped Alex’s mind had suddenly disappeared and in their place shock and confusion became the dominant emotions that dictated his actions, which right now was stuttering, blinking with rapidity that could be mistaken for a micro-seizure and unable to formulate his thoughts into words.
“Transmutation, are you serious!?” Alex growled.
“Shush! I don’t want anyone else knowing about this. And also, I said I ‘think’ he might be.”
“What makes you so not-entirely-but-probably certain that he is going to TM?”
“The exact details are too complicated to explain to someone without a medical degree but all of his symptoms match. His pupils are severely dilated and his coughing is not consistent with smoke inhalation or a flu.” Liyurch explained.
Alex looked unamused at his Dragon cohort. “That could have been from snorting drugs for the first time.”
“I didn’t rule it out, but we will need to keep an eye out for the next two days for that will tell us whether I’m right or wrong.”
“What symptoms are supposedly next?” Alex asked.
“If I am right, then for the next twenty-four hours he will be experiencing a bad case of the flu. Sore bone joints, hurling up in the toilet… unspeakable things involving his bowels that will be unpleasant for everyone.” Liyurch stared blankly as he finished, Alex could only imagine the events in his head and was equally horrified by what he was picturing.
“And then after the twenty-four-hour period?”
“It will be like a miraculous recovery.” Liyurch said with glee. “At first he will think he is fine until zero hour…”
“When he starts to change.” Alex solemnly said.
“Precisely.”
“Okay, so we cannot stop it if he starts transmutation, is there any way we can find out what he would be turning into?”
“In case he turns into something rather lethal?” Liyurch spoke, inquiring. Alex didn’t intend to hide where he was going with his questions, but he had to be sure that the doctor would be on the same page as he was.
“Of course, in case he turns into a Basilisk or a Gorgon.”
“Then no on both accounts. The further the Transmutation progresses, the more I will get a better idea of what he is turning into. For now, sir. Rest up as much as you can. We will need as much energy as we can muster.” Then the dragon spun around on the spot and proceeded to the door without saying another word. His tail was the last thing Alex saw leaving his room, stiffly suspended above the air yet it turned the corner with graceful elegance.
Several hours passed, sleep came easily to the emotionally distraught Captain. His catharsis made way for the ability to sleep peacefully despite his initial concerns about Christopher’s pending medical emergency. When Alex woke up, he was quick to notice the gentle humming of Jump engine systems were not present. His suspicions were confirmed when he looked out the window to see a different stellar arrangement of stars gently dotting against the black canvas of space. The quiet was different, it felt like Alex had peace inside his own mind until he was distracted by the sound of an intense nasally congested coughing fit.
Oh right, doc said that would happen.
Once outside his bedroom door and into the plush round entertainment room that comprised most of the Yachts floor plan. Liyurch and Silas sat on the couches opposing each other, the lower half of Silas’ long serpentine body encroaching over on Liyurch’s side of the couch. The dragon seemed to be delicately using his claws to scratch at a particular spot underneath one of Silas’s arms before gently grabbing a loose flap of what looked like translucent skin organised in a diamond pattern. Silas had his arms spread out and gripping the couch behind completely unclothed, his space suit had been crumpled up and thrown to the side of the couch looking like an entire pile of laundry that had yet not been done. The Naga cocked his flat head over to Alex’s direction and casually waved with one of his clawed hands seemingly undisturbed by Liyurch slowly peeling off a thin layer of skin from his side.
Alex felt a mix of disgust and intrigue seeing his own officer naked, but his reptilian nature hid anything that could be considered crude underneath an elegant sand brown layer of scales. Silas’s dull pale scutes travelled along his front side and ended underneath his chin.
“What are you doing?” He asked the duo.
Liyurch perked his head up, careful not to accidentally tear off the gentle peeling he was engaged in.
“Morning Captain!” He welcomed cheerily.
“Yeah, good morning,” Alex replied dismissively. “What are you doing?”
Silas opened his jaw to speak. “Grooming each other.”
“Grooming?”
“Yup, it’s a reptilian thing, don’t worry.” Silas smugly said.
Then Alex left them be as he went to the kitchen to find something to eat. After finding a protein bar in one of the cupboards he then leaned on the kitchen island bench top, he heard a muffled fwoosh flushing sound coming from around the corner only for Christophers shambling form to emerge shortly after. His skin pale and his eyes had deep dark bags under his eyes, Christopher’s slack jaw hung low, his wheezing could be heard easily as he snorted whatever mucus dripped from his nose back into his nostrils. Despite the short length of his hair, it still displayed itself in a loud fashion of unruliness and unkemptness.
“God, you look like shit!”
Alex turned to face the voice and saw Clemens holding on to the polished wooden railing leading to the cockpit, he had a thick blanket draped over his shoulders that crossed over itself on his front and his gelled black hair looked untouched with not a hair out of place.
How does he do it? That can’t be a simple quick fix, that has to be a few minutes worth of prepping. And where does he find the gel?
Clemens’ face showed a look of disgust mixed with a slight scowl at the appearance of his human colleague.
“I feel it too.” Mumbled Christopher.
Then he coughed again before quickly covering his mouth and wiping them on his suit.
“I would not go in the bathroom any time soon,” he said, barely above a mumble. “It stinks.”
Everyone else looked at each other with concerned expressions. Alex wasn’t sure but he thought to himself that perhaps Clemens and Silas knew what was going on but chose not to say anything premature.
For the rest of the day, nothing eventful transpired aboard the yacht. Clemens had gotten into a routine of checking the cockpit nearly every hour, claiming he was checking the receiver logs for any responses to their calls for help and then proceeding to check the transmitter to see if it was still repeating its signal just as he instructed it. Silas, still unclothed, sat next to Liyurch while Alex and Clemens sat opposite to them. Christopher retired to the spare bedroom which he did not leave and no noises were heard from him, save for the occasional fit of coughing and guttural sniffling that could be easily heard through the walls.
The other four occupants however, made a game of sharing stories from their lives as well as jokes. Clemens struggled to finish off his sentence as he too found himself laughing hysterically along with the trio.
“So, there we are in this liquor store. Mickey, he-he was completely wasted and decided that we should go to-to… the uh… heh, he said we should break into Randwick stadium, grab a few shots of us in sports gear and then hit the pubs trying to pick up females claiming we were these well-known athletes!” Clemens recounted red faced and struggling to contain his own fits of laughter.
Liyurch was the next to speak as he was the first to regain control of himself to ask a question. “Wait, wait… did you try posing as athletes or did you claim you were athletes?”
“It’s Randwick you overgrown anole, of course we told everyone we were up and coming athletes.” Clemens chuckled. His voice grew louder and he adjusted his tone before Alex reminded him to use his indoor voice. While everyone laughed at Clemens’ story, all eyes soon turned to Silas who had his long body stretched around the perimeter of the depression in the entertainment room with the very tip of his body, his actual tail, coiled in on itself.
“Okay long boy, your turn. Give us your most embarrassing story!” Clemens demanded giddily.
If Naga’s could blush, then Silas would be blushing a fierce red brighter than the most luminescent red star. He looked at the trio who in turn was staring at him waiting to hear about his tales. Then he leaned closer to the table to set down his glass and thought to himself for a moment.
“Okay, I got one.” He finally said.
“Make it a good one. That’s an order.” Alex added, barely stifling his own laughter.
“Okay, so this is when I had turned eighteen,” Silas clasped his hands together as he recounted. “I grew up on Sadestevar and one of the rituals among the Naga's on that rock is called ‘The First Bond’ where we… uh, heh, y’know…” He said suggestively. “Anyway, my time comes-“
Clemens’ was quick with his response as he interjected. “I’ll bet it did!” sending all four members into another frenzied fit of laughing. Silas, after regaining self-control, continued forward with his story.
“Uhmm… Yes, so my time for the First Bond comes and I chose this beautiful girl; Ravvia, and believe me when I say she was the prettiest Naga in the entire Alliance. So for reasons beyond my understanding, she had her pick of any male in town, literally, any one, but instead she chose me and we were about to get it on when all of a sudden her father barges in and it's none other than Planet Marshall Aseas!”
Only Liyurch and Alex were the ones to gasp at the sudden twist of events. They were both staring at each other then back to Silas awaiting to see what happened next.
“Who?” Clemens stared in confusion.
“Oh right,” Alex said with a sudden realisation. “You see, Clemens, Planet Marshall Aseas is one of the highest-ranking Generals in the entire Alliance Army and Marine branches. Like, one of the toughest ones out there.” The captain then explained.
Then Clemens looked back towards his Serpentine colleague with a look of surprise now knowing what was going on in the story.
Silas smiled in return at Clemens, nodding as he knew what came next. “And trust me, he was protective of his daughter. I still kept the scar to prove it.” He then lifted up his left arm and brought his right arm across his chest to point to a dull coloured scar that went the entire length of his rib cage from underneath his arm. Its colour matched that of Silas’ body and yet it stood out very obviously upon being pointed out.
“Geez, why didn’t you get that bad boy removed?” Clemens spoke pointing at it. Then he turned to look at Liyurch. “Hey doc, scar removal is easy, innit?”
“Yep, the infirmary here has the tools for me to do it. In and out, ten minutes and it's done. Good as new.”
Silas brought his arms back to his sides and flinched his entire upper body back away from the duo on his sides. “Get fucked!” He chuckled. “There’s no way I’m getting rid of it. Besides, this scar makes me look dangerous and more wanted by the females.”
Liyurch grabbed his glass in his tiny claws that clinked across its carefully sculpted surface and brought the drink up to his snout and spoke just as the liquor touched his lips, almost looking like he was attempting to speak directly into the alcohol. “Yeah, female dermatologists.” Then he broke down laughing, almost forcing the liquid out of the glass as he laughed hysterically.
Alex was the next to ask the question to Silas. “Okay so what happened after her father kicked your ass?”
“Funny story. After he pinned me to the ground, blood all over my face, my eyes bruised and several of my ribs and vertebrae broken, all the while his daughter is screaming at him begging him not to kill me and her begging me not to hurt her dad, by the way I doubt I even got a hit on him. Not even accidentally, he gives me an ultimatum; Join the Alliance Military or continue to get my hide tenderised. So I joined the Navy after he generously covered my medical expenses and got me all healed up before I was sent off to Mars.” Silas concluded his story, then he reached for his glass of brandy on the table and gently sipped on the contents.
“Your turn, Doc,” Silas said, turning to face the young dragon. “What is your embarrassing story?”
“I once caught my parents mating in my dad’s office in the orbital dockyards above Draco II.” Liyurch responded flatly.
The room went quiet. Everyone stared with wide eyes at the young dragon as he went about sipping on his glass of brandy. Then finally Alex was the first to speak up.
“Okay, now I have about a dozen questions.”
“Shoot.”
“Firstly; why on Terra were you in the office where your parents were… occupied and secondly; tell me how they responded.” Alex giggled.
“My father is the Fleet Admiral of the Imperial Draconic Navy; how do you think he took it?” Liyurch chuckled dryly.
“Not as well as your mum did, apparently.” Clemens’ once again interjected quickly. And once again, his comment induced stifled laughter among the group.
“Har-har,” Liyurch responded, partially unamused. “I’ll have you know their coupling gave me seven wonderful brothers and sisters.”
Alex shook his head as he tried to process that response. If he caught his parents having sex on his father’s desk and that gave him seven siblings, then Liyurch must have at least six others his age. Then Alex remembered what Liyurch once said about his family and about Dragon reproduction.
“Doc, I gotta ask; how many siblings do you have?”
“Hmm… Thirty-four now.” The dragon said, stroking his snout with a claw as he pondered his answer for a moment.
And with that, Alex exhaled exasperatingly as he tried to comprehend a household with thirty-four brothers and sisters. Now he understood why the Dragon’s territory was the most populous of all Alliance species, they were quite prolific breeders. Which, while not new information to Alex and the Alliance at large, was still hard to process. How was it possible for the parents to maintain a steady, organised, let alone disciplined household when the parent’s attention was divided among thirty-four children. Or hatchlings in Liyurch’s case. Muffled through the walls, another loud fit of coughing could be heard coming from the guest bedroom, Clemens noted that he was going to drag a blanket out of there and sleep in the cockpit. Only for Silas to propose that Clemens could rest against his body before slyly suggesting that he could coil around Clemens in an attempt to keep him safe and secure.
“Fuck off!” Clemens chuckled heartily with a massive grin plastered on his face.
From behind Clemens, a series of beeps came from the cockpit. The sound attracted his attention suddenly as he shot a glance towards the door before throwing himself over the couch, running up the carpeted steps and into the cockpit.
“Holy shit!” He shouted.
Now Alex and Silas looked towards each other then followed Clemens into the cockpit. Their pilot held the cockpits headset in his hand and had it pressed against his right ear, he turned to face the duo when they arrived at the door frame. His face was jubilant and his bright blue eyes wide with excitement. Alex shook his head as he looked at Clemens as though to say “What is it, what is going on?”. Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait long. Clemens chucked the headset onto the pilot's seat and then flipped several switches on the console in front of him.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Wait till you hear this!” He said gleefully as he flipped a toggle switch upwards.
The cockpit suddenly crackled alive as a static heavy voice filled the soundless yacht. The static did not drown out the voice to garble what was being said, though it did make it harder for Alex to determine if the speaker was male or female.
“Imperial Draconic vessel Galaxius monzz… contacting the yacht registering with the name: Comet... we have detected your SOS beacon… currently engaged in rescue operations collecting the lifeboats launched from Alliance vessel Phoenix… Estimate forty-eight hours until we can collect you… stay tight Comet. This message will repeat at five-minute intervals.”
Like a vacuum left in the voice’s absence, silence was quick to fill the cockpit once more, quickly being replaced by Clemens’ sudden woops and celebratory shouts. Alex felt like he was being premature, rescue being only two days away. But that would mean…
“We are gonna be rescued, whoo-hoo!!!” Clemens shouted gleefully. “Come on, Captain. Don’t look so glum, they found other life boats. Everything is gonna be alright!”
“No… It won’t.”
“What do you mean, we are gonna be rescued. That’s a good thing, last time I checked.”
“Exactly, in two days from now. And not all of us-“ Suddenly catching himself mid-sentence and forcing his own lips to stop moving made Alex feel odd and uncomfortable. Similar to urinating he found it hard to force himself to stop once he started, feeling like he was suddenly applying the brakes to an otherwise fast-moving vehicle. He wasn’t sure if he was violating some kind of ethic or code if he were about to reveal Christopher’s supposed condition. But whether he told Clemens and Silas or not would not matter when they would soon witness it first hand in only a matter of hours.
He looked behind him, catching only a sliver of the door that Christopher occupied beyond the cockpit hatch frame then looking back at the duo he sighed heavily.
“It's possible we may have a possible Transmutation event on our hands. And I fear that the Galaxius may not get here in time.”
Alex expected his pilot to have a look of shock plastered on his face, perhaps worry or even panic. But in its stead, confusion was all that Clemens could emote. “Transmutation… But who, how… what makes you think that!?”
“Christopher,” Alex jerked a thumb behind him. “Did neither of you think its weird he suddenly came down hard with a cold and yet none of us are remotely sick?”
They both shrugged.
“I just assumed he had a weak immune system. I mean, don’t flus and all that travel faster in space?” Clemens retorted.
“Yes they do!” Liyurch shouted from the living room.
Damn, dragons really do possess superior senses.
“It is worth noting that in the absence of gravity, any viruses or flus are much more transmittable as they don’t settle like they would in a gravity well!”
Alex stared blankly at the console behind Clemens, looking annoyed. This dragon was a mixed bag of pros and cons he would think to himself. On the one hand he had a dragon on his crew, he also had a skilled doctor. But, said dragon doctor was merely a child among his peers and his behaviour was atypical compared to almost all other Draconics.
“Look, guys. Christopher cannot know this yet. We don’t know for certain. And the last thing he needs to know is his humanity being ripped away from him.” Alex said with a stern expression. His tone matched the face he made as he looked at Silas and Clemens.
Silas slithered in front of Alex, and spoke. “Why shouldn’t we tell him? Isn’t that a bit cruel to withhold this kind of information?”
“If we tell him he is about to experience the worst fit of cramps he’ll ever feel along with his body changing in such a way that makes puberty look trivial, it would send him spiralling into a panic that could have him lashing out as he transmutates. And if we are very unfortunate, his transmutation into something deadly could become more complicated. A Basilisk in this yacht could be far more complicated to placate than it would be on a planet.”
“It still amazes and entertains me you Humans are so equally frightened and disgusted of your own biology. You fear puberty and somehow are disgusted by your own forms, two basic biological things every other species has accepted and normalised.” Liyurch spoke with a dry chuckle.
Alex, Clemens and Silas vacated the cockpit, shuffling their feet and in the case of Silas, his ventral scutes along the carpet. While the two chose to sit on the couches, Alex instead opted to place his hands on the back support of the couch Clemens sat on and pressed his body weight against it to hold him.
“Not to be racist or anything, doc,” Clemens said. “But half of the other Terrans don’t have such a visible display of their delicate parts. It probably explains why all Reptilians are so much more… I don’t know, what’s the word? Ah, progressive with being nude.” He finished by glaring over to Silas who rested his long body along the carpet with his upper body being supported by the opposing couch.
Liyurch quickly glanced towards Silas before returning his gaze to face Clemens. And with an impressive display of agility, the young drake pushed his upper body with his forelegs and raised his posture erect with only his hind legs supporting him. Liyurch flared his wings outwards while extending his arms outwards as well, giving the young dragon an impressive, regal look to him.
“Sure, I don’t have anything to show. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have boundaries. Take me for instance; Nothing lewd is being shown and yet I am not draped in fine tapestries of silk and cotton. To all Reptilians I am perfectly normal… physically speaking. Nevertheless, should we manually evert our hemipenes in full display without the intention of mating… well then you can call us out.” Liyurch explained as he wore a toothy grin along his snout. His voice grew low yet not threatening.
Shortly after, Alex began feeling the effects of the centuries old booze as his energy levels dropped and his inability to contain a yawn so big that it made his jaw pop.
“I think I am gonna call it a night you lot. Keep the noise down, yeah?” Alex said. “Let me know if the message changes at all.”
Then he got up from the couch and proceeded to his room. It didn’t take long for sleep to pull his consciousness out from his body and into a realm of darkness and blurred colours and mixed memories. Nothing of note happened to Alex in his slumber, but when he woke up his whole upper body shot up from its resting position… Something was wrong.
His head was buzzing and it left a mental fog clouding his recent memories and thoughts. Events just gone seemed hard to recall. But as though the prying had an effect, the fog lifted and Alex remembered. His legs swung out of the bed and he stormed through the front door to see the rest of the crew already up and in the middle of eating breakfast. The smell of packaged and dehydrated foods being cooked mixed with the aroma of lipids and vegetable oil wafting through the air hit his nose. Liyurch, Silas and Clemens were all seated on the lounges in the middle of eating, the sound of metallic utensils scraping along the porcelain was all that could be heard above the sounds of vegetable oil sizzling from the kitchen.
If those three are gorging themselves then who is the one cooking?
Alex took a few steps out from the door frame and peered around the corner to see Christopher in front of the electric stove jerking a frying pan as he poured a thick creamy substance onto the surface, letting out a loud crackling sound along with a cloud of steam wafting up into the air before being sucked straight into the rangehood ventilation. By the time the buttery scent hit his nose, Alex knew pancakes were being made.
Not the healthiest way to start the day, but given the circumstances its not as though any of them were on a strict diet. A cheat day could be what they need.
Alex had taken two steps towards the kitchen with the intention of grabbing a plate when he turned to face the trio. He raised an eyebrow as he observed them; none of them looked towards Christopher, Silas had his back to Alex but Clemens and Liyurch swapped glances at each other. Clemens looked over to the Dragon with an expression that said “Are we going to do something?” Liyurch, being a dragon and harder to read, however returned the expression with his eyelids low and a small frown going along his snout.
As he entered the kitchen, Alex felt somewhat uneasy being near Christopher. The cupboard where the plates were right next to him. Was he going to change now? Alex didn’t want to be near him when that happened.
“Oh, Captain Rowan. Good morning!” Christopher had said gleefully over the sound of sizzling.
“Christopher, you look much better than you did yesterday. Are you sure you are good enough to be cooking and preparing food?”
Then Christopher chuckled as he flipped the solid flab of batter into the air as it landed back on the pan for him to place over the burning hot stove. “Oh I feel better than before. I don’t know what it was but I am guessing a stomach bug or something. Heh, maybe it was one of those twenty-four-hour bugs. Don’t ask me for a doctor’s certificate yet!” He said amusedly to himself.
He then slipped a sizable pancake onto a plate then gave it to Alex who then sat next to Silas and ate in silence. Nothing but the sound of utensils clattering and the shrill scrape’s of metal on porcelain was heard in the entertainment room, behind them the sound of sizzling pancake batter and the muffled roar of the range hood's extractor fan sucking in the mist. Then, Alex leaned in closer to the table that held the empty plates, inviting the trio to likewise do the same.
“Does he know about the message we got last night?” Alex whispered.
He hoped his voice wouldn’t carry over the sound of cooking happening behind them. Christopher spoke loudly about the next batch of pancakes being ready soon, however Alex pushed the thought aside and didn’t respond when Clemens began to speak. “Not yet, sir. We weren’t sure if it was a good idea or not.”
“Good lad, we don’t want him in the know just yet. “
“I propose we just tell him quickly,” Liyurch suggested. “We tell him about his impending Transmutation and then we tell him about the message.”
Liyurch lowered his head closer to the centre as his body arched forward, his wings slowly grew outward to stabilise him as he did so.
“Why?” Clemens asked with a raised eyebrow.
“It's like a band-aid, we might as well rip it off and give him some good news. Get it over with.”
“Your bedside manner is terrible.” Silas flatly spoke
“Yeah, I know…” The young dragon sighed heavily. “It was the only thing I failed in the medical academy.”
“Doctor, tell me that he does have some kind of one day flu. Even the most remote chance.” Alex pleaded.
Liyurch shook his head. His bright red eyes hidden behind his dull light brown eyelids were shown shortly again. “I analysed the blood sample last night in depth. The equipment here isn’t good compared to the Phoenix but it's going to happen. His white blood cell count was nearly non-existent. Now that he is better, it only confirms my suspicions.”
“How much time do we- I mean, HE have left?” Silas shifted in his spot.
Liyurch did the draconic version of a shrug, at least one that could be compatible with his physiology by raising his forelegs up and flipping his wrists upside down so his palms were facing upwards. “Could be a day, could be hours… Time is usually the variable but the longest time recorded was two days after the steep drop in white blood cell count.”
A collective sigh of frustration was released by Alex, Silas and Clemens. Liyurch retracted his body and glanced over to Christopher while Clemens ran his fingers through his slick raven black hair. Time being a limited factor in the tiny pressurised vessel, Alex ran scenario after scenario through his mind trying to figure out which series of events would play out with favourable outcomes. Then Alex remembered the Hydra, the Transmutation counsellor in the Lunar spaceport; Rayaz’Iklan. Alpha said that humans were more likely to adjust the more their face retained its original parameters. Only a few of them had shown promise, keeping the slightest information the counsellor gave him in mind, nevertheless, each of the species he could turn into were many and varied. Two of them were the most favourable of the choices thanks largely in part to the presence of Chief Medical Officer Liyurch Grayich and Midshipman Silas, a Dragon and a Naga respectively.
Anything else could present difficult challenges.
“However, we might be seeing it much sooner than we would like.” Liyurch spoke.
Alex looked up to see Liyurch vigilantly staring over to Christopher and he likewise spun around to see what was happening; Christopher was merely cleaning the stove top and rinsing out the frying pan, he seemed curious about the handle he held. No, not the handle. His hand.
Christopher examined his wrist and a look of worry plastered all over his face. His mouth was agape as he held out his hand. Even from a distance, Alex could see his hand tremble ferociously only for Christopher to suddenly let go of the frying pan and let it clatter against the sink. Both his hands shook as he rotated them around to inspect them, Christopher shuddered as the realisation started to become apparent to him.
“G-guys?” Christopher uttered, his voice as shaky as his hands were. Worry crept into his throat as his breath became short and ragged.
Everyone stood up from their seats and turned to face Christopher as he was distracted by observing his wrists. It took a moment for Alex to notice the discolouration in Christopher’s skin slowly growing unusually darker with a hint of greenish tones. So sudden and without warning were his yelps of pain that it nearly made everyone flinch backwards towards the cockpit; Silas had even coiled his body up as though he was ready to spring himself away from Christopher who had hunched over grasping at his lower abdomen before collapsing to his knees. Alex felt guilt and remorse at what he was seeing, he felt his own humanity pulling at him to do something to aid his fellow man.
There’s nothing I can do. Nothing, poor Christopher is at the mercy of this curse. He’s on his own.
Pitifully Christopher was able to slowly lift himself off the carpet but not off his knees. With his arched back and shaking arms he could almost be mistaken for someone being subjected to a rapid gravity increase. The terrified man reached with one of his shaky arms, his pupils darted from side to side, struggling to focus on either his fellow crew members or his rapidly discolouring arm. The pained expression on his face slowly shifted to shock when he saw everyone slowly backing away from him when he raised his arm.
“What’s happening to me!?” He shuddered.
Nobody responded to him. Alex looked over to Liyurch who was standing next to him, his wings were limply dragging along the floor as a show of remorse and sadness. At least that’s what Alex could interpret from the young dragon’s body language.
“Why are you getting away from me? What is happening!?” He shouted more terrified as he looked at his comrades with teary eyes that seemed to be losing hope.
“I am so sorry, Christopher.” Liyurch said so solemnly. “I am so, so sorry… You are in the beginning phase of Transmutation. You are transforming into something else.”
“No.”
“I will pray to the powers that be that you be given a swift transition… Preferably a species not too dissimilar to your own, how does a gargoyle sound?” Liyurch said with a sudden uptake in his tone.
“No!”
“Please, Christopher. You need to relax!” Liyurch urged.
“Relax? RELAX!? You don’t get it do you? I am transforming and I don’t know how to stop- GAH!”
Poor Christopher’s response was cut short by another pained yelp as he hunched over again until his forehead was almost touching the carpet. His breathing became erratic while clutching dearly to his chest. Alex could have sworn he heard something crack. Something from inside Christophers body.
Alex watched helplessly as Christopher spasmed on his knees, convulsing in agony as he let out short gasps and yelps, pleading for mercy. Liyurch took two steps towards the convulsing man, unafraid of what a horrific sight was unfolding before him.
“You should know dear Christopher; you should not fear your body’s actions. You are becoming what you always were meant to be, it just took a while for your body to realise this.”
Did he suggest this was some kind of delayed puberty, perhaps he was born in the wrong species type of deal? Is it just him being all philosophical or is this some Draconic cultural thing I have yet to grasp? Dragons are so weird. Do they sympathise transmutated humans or despise them, they have the word ‘Zholyat’ for them so was it a word that made it easier to sympathise with them that then turned into an insult? Man, this is giving me a headache.
Then, the real horror began.
Christopher suddenly threw his head up releasing a loud bellow in pain, in anguish and in sadness that shook the walls inside the yacht. With movement that looked as though some external force had made him, Christopher threw his hands onto the carpet, digging his nails into the fabric, tearing it up. The sound of fabric being torn grew louder and Alex realised it was louder because Christopher grew claws. The claws protruded from his dark, discoloured fingers, their surface shimmered under the light as it glimmered with his blood, but what drew Alex’s perverted awe was the sky-blue glow that stood out brightly against the rest of Christopher’s darkened body. The ethereal light pulsed all over his body with thin icy tendrils growing over his body and branching out like roots growing along fertile soil. It was only when the blue tendrils travelled down his arm that Alex realised they were Christophers major arteries.
“What’s going on with him, why is he glowing like that?” Clemens asked with worry.
For a cocky pilot and ex-con, it was somewhat surprising to Alex to hear his helmsman speak with fear and concern about something.
Liyurch whipped around to face the group. “It’s his Magia Potentia… His ability to harness magic.” The dragon explained.
“All creatures have a certain Potentia rating, humans rank the lowest, only able to use the very basics of it. But Dragons have a higher rating that enables us to utilise it to its fullest extent.” Liyurch continued. “Whatever species he is turning into, it obviously has a much higher rating than humans. It's going to feel like his soul is on fire.”
Just as Liyurch was done explaining, Christopher examined his forearms illuminated by the icy blue veins that could be seen from across the room, he tried to claw at them with his newly formed claws before his left arm was thrown backwards along with a loud sickening wet crack could be heard. Christopher’s blue glow remained as he convulsed on the floor his eyes almost looked as though they were casting the blue light with how bright they were. The skin became darker, Christopher tried desperately to claw at it and with success he had torn off the skin over his forearm. Clemens and Alex both flinched at the sight, trying desperately to push down the thought of their own flesh being torn in such a manner. But contrary to Alex’s own worst fears, the flesh underneath did not show exposed muscle and ligaments, but instead dark green scales that shimmered from the wet tissue that had covered it.
Scales, thank god. Scales! Only several species with scales, shit!
Shortly after, poor Christopher’s body cracked and convulsed in abnormal, irregular ways. A series of pops and Christopher’s clawed hands flew to his face as his upper jaw started forcing itself away from the rest of his head. The once healthy human flesh along his upper lip started to split and tear in several places as Christopher tried and failed to press his upper mouth back in where it should have been, his nose started tearing and stretched to its absolute limits to make way for long thin nostrils that peeked underneath the torn stretches of flesh that still clung to stressed human’s body.
It had seemed like the pain was being telepathically shared as it had felt like watching the horror of his crewman’s body being reshaped and moulded had given Alex the sensation of pain from observing it happen. As Christopher’s nose flesh ripped and pulled away from his head, Alex could feel phantom pain that seemed to emanate from the same region. The young human started shrieking with a primordial fear that made even Alex’s heart rate jump in fear. Was this an ancient method of communication that still lingered in the human brain, the ghastly howls of another being’s suffering communicating to those who heard it to run in the opposite direction, a possible final act of unknown sacrifice not even the victim knew they were warning others away.
And with sickening wet squelches that slowly rose in volume the scales that coated the forearms of Christopher soon spread up along his arms like an aggressive army invading his body inch by inch with the man a terrified spectator and witness. His distorted face continued to warp and pop as it grew to its new dimensions until Christopher had a short broad snout forming. His snout looked familiar, the species slowly revealed itself as his mouth slowly made minute adjustments. Then the poor human reached for his new snout with his shaky clawed hands, he struggled to open his mouth before suddenly leaning forward coughing up blood.
Shit, that’s not going to come out soon!
Poor, poor Christopher ran his hands along the wet bloodied carpet, he seemed to be looking at something that Alex could not see. Then he picked up something from the puddle of blood, it looked partially white but mostly covered in blood and it was when Christopher opened his maw that Alex realised that several of Christopher’s teeth had fallen out and were expelled onto the floor. Christopher started shivering in fear, his voice trembling as he tried mumbling something to the gang that watched helplessly as he changed. Shortly thereafter, Christopher ran his hands along his head and found his hair falling out in clumps, he seemed so terrified that his watery eyes couldn’t believe what he was seeing before him.
As though the horror would not dare to stoop down another level, it suddenly made Christopher cover his eyes as he screamed, complaining of an intense burning sensation like a dragon’s fire was raging behind his delicate eyes. It was this that made the alarm bells ring in the back of Alex’s mind, could this be what a Basilisk’s Death Gaze be?
Then he whipped his head over to Doctor Grayich who stared with his jaw slightly ajar, despite his knowledge and medical expertise, Alex knew that the look in the young Dragon’s eyes was shock. Given the sight, he might even be too young to see such a horrifying experience.
“Doc, is he becoming a Basilisk?” He asked, barely constraining the fear and panic in his voice.
“No, I don’t think he is.” Liyurch shook his head. “In almost all cases, the Death Gaze was always the first thing to manifest in Transmutation cases. We would be dead if that were the case.”
Christopher rolled over; his screams muffled as he clutched his eyes trying to put out the burning fire that he claimed he could feel. In one moment of his uncontrolled spasms, Alex noticed something bulging at the back of Christopher’s suit, it slowly grew and in a sudden burst of growth a long slender tail with the same dark coloured scales as the rest of his body shot out from behind Christopher, tearing his suit irreparably. Dark ring patterns existed on the dorsal side of the tail which steadily bulged outward and grew in thickness which then resulted in a sickly, loud, wet crack to be sounded off. Alex dreaded what it was, but he watched as Christopher struggled to get up, his legs like jelly buckled underneath him and underneath the suit, Alex saw his legs shrinking into his body. Christopher who had removed his hands from eyes and placed them over his slowly retreating limbs clawing at them in a bid to get them back.
“No, please! I don’t want to be a freak!” He shrieked.
And then Alex realised what species poor Christopher was turning into.
“Silas!” Alex shouted with authority. “He’s going to need your help, comfort him.”
“The fuck do I know about this sort of thing?” Silas retorted.
“Huh?” Christopher mumbled.
Alex looked over to the changing and deforming Christopher as he looked on with terrified concern between Alex and Silas.
“Guess what you get to look forward to.” Liyurch said gleefully, jerking a thumb towards Silas.
“You seriously need to take a class in empathy.” Clemens said with a flat tone.
As tough as it was for Alex and Clemens to watch the transmutation unfold further, helplessly watching a fellow human being slowly be reformed and changed into something else entirely they knew their presence helped the otherwise helpless Christopher in his pained changes. The twisted and heavily mutated Christopher wheezed heavily with a hint of sadness in each breath he exhaled as he crawled on his belly as it too changed from soft, tender pale skin to what was a lighter shade of green than the rest of his body, divided into large thin scale plates that stretched across his entire front side. The tail that continued its growth from the poor man had rendered his legs irreparable before his body absorbed the bone and muscle tissue in order for it to utilise that mass for something else.
The last bastions of humanity visible on Christopher’s warped form capitulated to the inevitable dominance of his new serpentine body as the patches of bright pink skin turned into dark green scales. Black ring patterns spotted along the spine of his slender body with the final changes taking shape in Christopher’s neck flattening itself out and stretching outwards giving the former human a rare physical trait that was rare among the Naga populace; a cobra’s hood. The scales soon darkened on his new hood, blackness dripping down giving a black stripe down both sides of Christopher’s neck with a small commune of scales turning white at the top of the black scales, giving the impression of two large, angry eyes staring down the observer.
Silas looked at Alex with worry in his red and black eyes before turning to look down at the crawling wheezing man. The dull sand coloured naga lowered his body to look at Christopher in his newly golden eyes with their slitted pupils, while the bright blue tendrils that were exposed all over his body slowly dimmed until it was barely seen.
“I…I feel… I don know…” Christopher struggled to speak with his newly formed snout, he tried to open his jaw again to speak and Alex could see the rows of teeth steadily grow into his mouth. Two thin yet large fangs grew further than the rest of his sharp teeth before curving themselves inwards to the back of his mouth.
“I… am… monster!” he cried out. His fangs arched forward and salivated a small runny substance on the floor.
Liyurch backed away with a yelp of surprise.
“Whoa, back away humans!” he shouted. “That stuff is highly potent; you don’t want that in your eyes.”
Silas on the other hand was unfazed by the dripping venom from his species’ newest addition, the two serpents looked into each other’s eyes.
“Just close your mouth and don’t try to talk yet.” Silas spoke softly. Despite his calm and collected demeanour, Alex could tell he was still unsure of what to do. Christopher could only nod and comply with the request as he silently cried at the loss of his own humanity. The transformation is complete.
“Silas,” Liyurch said softly. “Perhaps you should take him to the guest room and stay with him for a bit. Maybe show him some of the benefits of being a Naga has?”
And just like that, Silas rose up and slithered past the still shaking Christopher, coiling his tail around the end of the former human’s tail and slowly dragged him silently along the carpet. The man woke up human and now he will rest a Naga; everyone looked at each other with glum expressions. Alex and Clemens stared down to the floor uncomfortably as they witnessed a horrific experience.
None of them dared to say anything but Alex had a strong feeling in the back of his mind that they were thinking the same thing he was.
Help couldn’t arrive any sooner.