Jonte Ebonquill, mayor of Ogon and head-bard, watched in silent dread as another crow landed on one of the village's many roofs. The large bird cawed like any other bird would. Then it turned its head to watch him with one red intelligent eye and laughed in a far too human voice. Jonte shivered and turned his gaze away from the bird only to be met by the same gaze from all the other birds sitting on the roofs.

That was enough he decided and turned to go back inside his house. The crows had arrived early that morning, in small murders at first, but now there were enough of them to cover nearly all the roofs. It was ominous. It was noon and from what the birds had said since they arrived only one conclusion could be reached.

The Forest Guardian was coming for Ogon. At first, the things the chattering crows had said had sounded like insane gibberish, but a village of bards knew enough of poetic gibberish to decode the messages.

"The Queen of Rats is coming!"

"The pale and her cubs are on the move!"

"Will you bow to mother wolf? Or will she bite off your heads till you kneel?"

Jonte could still hear the loud birds. The guards had informed him that they were the same kind of birds that had warned them of the giant bees so their words were not taken lightly. Some people had tried to speak to the birds. Asking who was coming. What did she want? 

"Forest Guardian..."

Jonte breathed the words to himself. It must be her. The birds had said she'd protected them many times. They'd laughed about goats, rats and humans alike bowing to her. Who else would the animals offer their allegiance to? Who would have the power to protect humans from the wrath of nature? A Guardian. The one that had been spotted time after time together with her feral followers. Someone had even seen his son. Mikvel lived.

The mayor shuddered, not sure about how he should feel. His son lived but was under the Guardian's control. Was that a good thing? A bad thing? To be chosen by such a being would be considered an honor... But they'd be separated from the humans. Someone belonging to the forest could not be called just a human anymore. Though Mikvel was not just human from the beginning either. Half-elf. Jonte shook his head. He was even more now. Chosen by the forest. A person worthy of legends and stories. He felt sort of proud even though his heart ached still ached. Perhaps the Guardian would bring him with her if she came to the village? He barely dared to hope...

"Mayor!"

Henry Stronghart slammed the door open and stood there panting. The old man should retire already. He was far too old to be Guard Captain by now. Jonte snapped out of his thoughts. Reality slowly crept back into focus.

"What is it Stronghart?"

"The forest! There's a swarm of rodents coming from it! It-"

Another guard nearly tackled old Henry to the ground in his hurry. Henry gave the man a killer-glare but the guard spoke without even noticing it.

"There's a man leading the rats!"

Jonte took a deep breath and looked as calm as he could. He heard Henry lecture his colleague on "respecting elders and collateral damage". He assumed that the "collateral damage" in this case would be Henry, had the guard actually tackled him. The mayor brushed back his black hair and tied it into a short ponytail. He then grabbed a coat and walked past the arguing guards out into the chilly autumn air. They turned around when they noticed the mayor leaving for the commotion and quickly shut up and took up position on both sides of the mayor. The crows lifted from the roofs in one cackling mess to follow as they made their way towards the commotion at the place where village met forest.

A few hours earlier:

The many rodents that filled the small cave remained perfectly silent even though there were enough of them to fill the entire cave. Some even sat on their bigger kin to fit inside the cave. Not a single speck of floor was visible past their furred bodies save for a rather large circle in the middle of the cave. In the middle of the empty spot lay one writhing creature, struggling and grunting as bones snap and reshape themselves. The rodents watched in awe as the dreadhare twitched and wriggled while his skin flowed like water. No, water might have been the wrong word. It was more like the dirty muck that forms on the bottom of lakes. Mud, algae and decomposing remains from both plant and creature all mashed together by the currents of the lake into one disgusting, slimy mess.

They watched as the entirety of Pohc's body reshaped itself and settled into new forms, then, with a shocked gasp from the hare, all resemblance of an actual 'form' disappeared and the former hare's body shivered before folding in on itself into a heap of flesh and skin.

The cave was quiet. Worry started to creep into the rodents' minds and they began to stir. Then the pile of flesh shivered again and began to rise. It was like watching something emerge from an opaque slime. It continued to rise until it reached a height of about 170cm. As it rose its mass thinned out and retreated as if it wasn't enough to cover the growing size. Fingers reached out from the mass and the flesh flowed back into a hand, then an arm, a shoulder and so on until a human shape stood before the rodents.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

They were mesmerized by the thing before them. Fur receded underneath the skin and more features appeared. After another moment had passed what stood before them finally seemed to stop changing. A human male with shoulder-length black hair and yellow eyes greeted them with a grin of serrated teeth. Pohc gave the room a once-over and delighted at how much he saw from his now taller vantage point. He then inspected his fingers and hands, flexing them to let claws rapidly grow out and recced at his will. He felt the other's gaze upon him and puffed out his chest in pride. He took a bit longer to inspect his new body just so that he could move in more graceful ways to show off to his kin. 

After a moment of thought, he closed his eyes. He couldn't help but grin as the others gasped as bone shot out from his forehead and took the shape of antlers. He could mold his body much more freely now. He spent almost an hour remembering the different appearances and limbs he'd studied during his time as a hare and each time he took a new shape the rodents cheered excitedly.

I see you are having a lot of fun with your new body. Doppelganger suits you well, Pohc.

Pohc smiled. The huge maw he'd formed that covered half his face returned to a more human sized mouth and the hooved extra legs disappeared back into the bulk of his body as compressed body-mass.

"Thank you, Great Maker! It is an honor to receive your praise!"

He heard her chuckle before she continued.

A great day it is indeed, for you to evolve at last after all your hard work. But, we have things planned today and the others are waiting for you to make a move. The birds have already left.

"Understood. I will take my leave then, Great Maker."

And with that, the rodents all rushed to action. Pohc walked calmly among them as they walked out of the dungeon and towards the village Ogon. What terrific timing this was! He would get to impress his queen AND help with their first meeting with the humans. Surely his human form would make the humans less hostile towards him. He really hoped Fanv would praise him later.

The crows yelled and cackled in delight as the rodents made themselves visible at the forest edge. Pohc felt his grin grow wider as the humans gasped and stared at him. He scanned the crowd and noted that the guards were, as expected, holding onto their spears and forming a protective line in front of the villagers. Despite their formation and weapons on the ready, the unmistakable smell of fear gave them away. That and the way they were shaking in their boots.

Pohc straightened his back and let his gaze wander over the crowd before speaking.

"Human! We, the creatures of Mageon and loyal followers of our Guardian and Queen, have come to greet you. Lower your weapons and she might even grace you with her presence!"

All the guards except one hesitated but did not move. The one exception made a break for it and ran back into the village. Pohc frowned.

"Do you wish to greet our Queen with hostility?"

Pohc was about to continue but the damned crows took that as an opportunity to make a fuss.

"Disrespecting the Queen of rats, they do!"

"Off with their heads! Let the wolves have them!"

"Filthy humans lack the mind to reason! They shiver like leaves! Such rudeness!"

"SILENCE!"

Pohc was almost shocked to see that the crows actually obeyed. They all went quiet at once and had it not been for the smug looks on them, he would have felt pleased by it. Movement at the back of the crowd caught his eye. A black haired man with a familiar face was making his way through the crowd. He lacked the freckles and he was a bit sturdier built but other than that he looked like an older version of Mikvel. It took Pohc a moment to remember that Mikvel's father was the mayor of Ogon. The mayor calmly walked through the parting crowd. People were looking to him for help on how to handle this situation, Pohc noted.

At last the mayor stood in front of the crowd, facing the rodents and Pohc. He smelled afraid just like the others but he hid it well. Pohc felt a surge of respect for the man. He seemed like a worthy leader.

"Greetings, I am the mayor of Ogon. My name is Jonte Ebonquill and I speak for my people. To who do I owe the pleasure?"

The rodents whispered amongst themselves, clearly impressed. Pohc smiled calmly and did his best to look as dignified and important as the Jonte Ebonquill.

"We are subjects of our Queen. We come as an envoy to tell you that she is willing to greet you all in person, should you prove worthy of her presence."

He felt like adding 'And don't spear her as soon as she arrives' but resisted the urge. It was his job to pave the way for her so that the meeting between the dungeon and the village would be peaceful and such words would surely be seen as an insult to the humans. Said humans began whispering amongst themselves. The mayor listened to each and every one of them before turning back to Pohc.

"It would be an honor to meet your Queen. Guards, lower your weapons! We do not wish for any animosity with the forest and its denizens."

This answer pleased the rodents greatly. The birds on the other hand muttered and sulked about it going too smoothly. The birds quickly changed their opinion when the ground shook. The humans trembled and stared around in shock, trying to find the source of the sound. Another rumble shook the ground again and they all turned towards the forest. The humans paled when the first dryads stepped out, holding spears of their own that they in perfect sync slammed into the ground, creating another rumble as they walked out of the forest in two lines. They took positions to the left and right of the rodents, who in turn moved to make a clear path through the crowd of bodies.

The dryads hit the ground another 3 times before stopping. All was quiet for a moment as the humans held their breaths, waiting for whatever was coming out from the forest. Jonte felt the blood freeze in his veins as the first sign of a creature exited the forest. A white bony paw with clawed fingers slowly stepped through the leaves followed by another paw and then a massive head. The humans watched in terror as the white visvarg stepped through the leaves and into view. It was completely white, with one big red eye in the middle of its forehead and smaller eyes spread out like freckles around it.

Ronr, the oldest of the visvarg pups and largest by far stared the humans down as he carried his mother on his back out of the forest. The villagers stared at the wolf then turned their stares to the woman riding it. Fanv's face was a neutral mask and the cold gaze in her eyes sent shivers down the spines of the guards who recognized her.

A smaller visvarg followed Ronr. Pohc thought she was called Mara. Her fur was rather unique in the dungeon. Black with golden stripes. Mara yelped in surprise as the mayor rushed towards her, or rather, the person on her back. Mikvel barely had time to dismount before his father flung his arms around him. The guards tried to follow but Ronr rumbled and they stopped in their tracks. Fanv gazed at the crowd of humans then spoke to them.

"Surprised to see me?"