“Are you alright, Friedrich?” asked Teleri, upon seeing the soul stone fade away. “Is that still you I am talking to?”

Friedrich looked at his hands, turning them over to make sure that he was indeed as fine as he felt. “Yes, I’m still me,” he said, “but something feels different…I can’t explain it.”

“The mask is gone,” said Marina, bending low to see if there was even a hint of it left in the bowl, but it the broken remains had vanished. She stood up and tapped Friedrich’s forehead head with her knuckles.

“Stop that!” Friedrich scolded her.

“Is it in your brain?” Marina asked, cocking her head to the side.

“It’s somewhere within me,” said Friedrich quietly. “I can feel it, but I don’t know how to harness it’s power.”

Teleri placed her hands on his shoulders and pulled him towards her, inspecting his ears. “Are your ears longer?” she asked.

“No!”

Marina stood on her toes. “I think they are,” she said. “Very slightly?”

“Are you becoming more like a fox?” asked Teleri before shoving Friedrich backwards rather forcefully.

He stumbled and rolled over, but rose effortlessly to his feet rather than landing in a heap.

“Why did you do that?” Friedrich yelled.

“It was a test,” said Teleri. “You passed…or failed, depending on which way you look at it. You are possessed by the soul of the fox mask. The fox most definitely resides somewhere within you now. I hope you are correct in your assessment that he is not an enemy.”

“Is your nose smaller?” asked Marina, squinting hard and looking at Friedrich’s nose. “I’m not imaging it, am I?”

Friedrich touched his nose. “It feels the same as it always does. Stop trying to make me paranoid!”

“His nose looks the same,” said Teleri, “but I am still curious as to why you grew inches taller over the last two months. Your kind should not grow that fast.”

“And he’s more muscular,” said Marina, placing a finger on her chin and nodding. “He hasn’t been exercising any more than usual.”

“I hit a growth spurt,” shrugged Friedrich.

“The minotaur mask!” squealed Marina.

“I presumed as much, but I did not dare say it aloud,” said Teleri quietly. “It seems as though the influence of the soul stones on you is altering your appearance. The fox held off while it was in the mask form, but the minotaur is a much more dominant force.”

“I’ll worry when I sprout horns,” said Friedrich. “Can we get out of here now?”

“And go where?” asked Marina, looking up to the sun. “It’s starting to get dark.”

“We’ll camp in the goblin tents if we have to, but the pair of you are driving me crazy right now.”

“Forgive us for our concern,” said Marina, frowning at him. “We’re worried about you, isn’t that right Teleri?”

“I am worried, but I am also curious,” said Teleri, leaning forward and looking into Friedrich’s eyes. “Is that Friedrich staring back at me or a fox in a young man’s body.”

“Young man?” asked Friedrich.

“You are a young man.”

“I’m catching up on you if we’re talking elf years.”

“Have I not warned you about talking about the age of an elf? It is undignified to do such a thing!”

“Fine,” said Friedrich. “I’m sorry. Can we get out of here now?”

Marina sighed and shook her head. “The pair of you need your heads banging together. You bicker over the silliest of things.”

She stepped between the pair with a look of embarrassment on her face, grabbed a hand of each of them and dragged them towards the steps. She led them over to the tunnel entrance before releasing the two and then led the way up without another word.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

The trio kept a brisk pace as they escaped the hideout of the now-dead goblins and returned to the surface where the sky was now turning orange as the sun set over the distant cliffs and widespread sand dunes that covered the large island.

“Who would like to sleep in a goblin’s tent?” asked Friedrich, half-jokingly.

“Eurgh,” groaned Marina. “Must we?”

“I would much prefer to travel by night,” said Teleri. “The temperature right now is pleasant and we can make a better pace without me needing to stop and recover.”

“If everyone is in agreement, then let’s go,” said Friedrich, walking ahead and turning smoothly into a golden fox.

He lightly bounded across the sand while Marina and Teleri looked at each other in confusion. Neither knew what to say and Friedrich hadn’t even noticed his own transformation.

“Um, Friedrich?” called Marina.

“What?” he said, reverting to a human.

“Do you not realise what you did?”

“What did I do?”

“You…turned into a fox.”

Friedrich looked at himself and then shook his head in exasperation. “You must be seeing things,” he said. “I wouldn’t be able to speak if I was a fox. Look at me, not a hint of fur anywhere!”

“Marina spoke the truth,” said Teleri. “You did not even realise, did you?”

Friedrich looked at them as Marina nodded slowly, then he looked at his hands. “Apparently not,” he said quietly. “I…can transform without the limitations of the mask?”

“Do it again,” said Marina excitedly.

“I don’t know how,” muttered Friedrich, still examining himself. He put his left index finger on his forehead, where the soul stone had vanished minutes earlier. “I know you’re in there, how do I transform?”

“Run across the sand again,” said Marina.

Friedrich did as she said and ran the same way he was running before Marina had called to him. He kept a careful eye on his elevation as he did so, but he did not feel shorter as he ran. He stopped and looked at himself, but he remained fully human.

“Anything?” he asked as Marina and Teleri caught up to him.

“No, you did not change,” said Teleri. “Perhaps you cannot simply will the transformation. Perhaps it is a matter of instinct?”

“I don’t know how to activate instinct,” said Friedrich.

“I should think not, for it would not be instinct if you could.”

“That doesn’t help much.”

“I am telling you that you should not try to assume your fox form through force of will and that, perhaps, letting the form take hold will help grant you mastery of it.”

“Alright, then let’s keep moving towards the Ruins of Kotuga and maybe I’ll get lucky along the way.”

“Forever the optimist,” giggled Marina.

“What else can I do?” shrugged Friedrich.

“I don’t disagree.”

The three moved along, making their way back towards the nearest road. If they could travel more comfortably now that the air was cooler, the road would be the safest option. Perhaps they could even find somewhere that would grant them somewhere to rest, for there were other settlements beyond Port Balsia throughout the island, the party of three simply did not have a map leading to them.

As the sky transitioned from orange to purple to a deep, dark blue speckled with countless stars, the air continued to cool. It was now more akin to a moderately warm spring day in Mercia, which brought Teleri much unstated delight.

Friedrich, however, was growing frustrated at not having transformed into a fox since first leaving the goblin cave. Had it just been Marina who had told him he had changed forms, he would have presumed it was a joke that she had let continue for too long, but Teleri was not the sort to partake in any such antics.

The road was much easier to walk along than the sandy expanse of flatlands and dunes, and, before long, the trio saw a small flat-roofed building in the distance. The warm glow of the fire from within poured out into the desert and the lit torches outside welcomed the travellers forward.

“I know you would rather travel by night, Teleri, but—”

“I think somewhere to rest would be appropriate, Friedrich,” said the archer, pulling her hood up as the group took the side path that led towards the inn.

Standing outside the roadside inn, Friedrich took a moment to take things in. After such a long boat journey and a focus on what Kitt wanted him to see, he had failed to truly digest the fact that he was in Kai’roh, far away from home. Everything was different and it extended to well beyond Port Balsia and the vast desert. Everything from the architecture to the creatures in the stables was different here. At home, there would be almost exclusively horses resting in a stable, but here there were a few horses, but also a number of brown and blonde camels that were staring at him with their large eyes.

“Everything here is so different from Mercia, isn’t it?” Marina asked him.

“It is,” said Friedrich, smiling. “I’ve been so absorbed in my mission that…”

“You didn’t have time to appreciate it? Yes, I know exactly what you mean. I almost wish we had spent some more time in Port Balsia to learn about the island before we set off.”

“There’s nothing stopping us going back there once we have some treasure to sell.”

“Which will happen all the sooner if we go inside,” said Teleri, walking on ahead towards the inn. “I will make the order while the two of you continue your daydreaming.”

“She loves it here really,” said Friedrich, making Marina laugh.

“One day she can take us to the Alauria. I would love to see the islands of the high elves. I’ve heard they’re truly wondrous, but Teleri never talks about them.”

“We’re both Mercians, but neither of us really talk about our homes, do we?”

“No,” said Marina, solemnly.

“When you’re ready to, don’t forget I’m here.

“I know,” said Marina, leaning her head on Friedrich’s shoulder. “The same goes for you too. You know that, right?”

“Of course.”

“Shall we?” Marina asked, looking up at him and then following Teleri inside.

Friedrich looked towards the crescent moon that hung in the sky. He felt as though a weight had been lifted off his chest now that Kitt had bound to him. Whatever it truly meant, he did not fathom or care for, but he knew that he would find a way to master the fox soul. There was, however, another weight that hung upon him and it was something that was a lingering dread in the back of his mind; the minotaur mask.