Little children have a particularly piercing wail. It is good at piercing a mother’s numbness. Again she says something I do not understand and her children react to her mother, rushing forward to embrace her. Maria is staring at her hands. They are blue. A dark blue like you might find on paintings from India depicting mythological beings.
P: Maria, look at me.
No response. I feel a certain numb clarity. Well, at least she does not spit fire. There is a discoloured spot on a wall, but nothing is burning. That raises a point, though. That singed spot is to the left and slightly behind me. Why can I see it? There would be a mirror in the bathroom downstairs, where I took a shower yesterday, but leaving now does not seem a good idea. I pick up my tricorder.
P: Maria, can you hear me.
No, reaction. In fact she is sobbing a little.
She moves away from me as I cautiously approach her. This is making me nervous. I am taking a good look at my hands. My knuckles inmediately spark my interest. They look kind of bulbous. The outsides of fingers are armoured. That is interesting but not as interesting as having a lot of fingers and thumbs and, as I mentioned, four arms, but I am used to that, thanks to one of my first powers.
That is the time I feel two alien auras coming along the corridor the door opens up into.
P: Aliens are coming.
I am being ignored. Well, if they can turn us into alien beings, resistance should be futile. I ought to put down the stuff. I cannot bring myself to do so.
„Please come in. I want peace“
Two big cats, about 25% larger than a bobcat, with bird wings on their backs enter the room. Natalija, whom I can now recognise, let’s go a delighted „Kitties!“. Zora holds her back.
Those patterns of fur are a give away. These are my furry comrades. And I am an idiot. The transformation is not limited to humans. That is a horrible thought. There must be billions of insects available for transformation. If this is not limited to pets, we are unlikely to survive, if we hesitate.
Z: You caused this!
P: Something that happend in Russia, China, Africa and twice in North America?
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Z: You show up and it happens here.
Is she right? In the sense that this may be the second phase of the attack and whoever has been running this is attacking wizards this way and I happen to be among the first wave of targets I cannot rule it out. That is a sobering thought.
Z: Answer me!
P: I have no idea who or what is causing this. So, yes, they may be targetting me and you got into the crossfire.
Z: You are always trouble.
P: Be that as it may, you see how the cats are transformed. We must secure the house against street dogs or wild birds or …
She pales and hastily drapes herself in a bedsheet.
The children follow Zora; the cats follow the children; Maria does not want to stay alone. Hence we are one big group heading downstairs.
Arriving at the door to the garden we are facing a problem. There is a gap in the wall where the door is supposed to be. It is hexagonal and larger than it used to be, but it looks like a passage. There is also some kind of frame around the gap. There is even some docoration in the form of semitranslucent orbs filled with grey clouds on the four sides of the hexagon not facing directly up or down.
M: What now? Do we give it orders?
Z: Close yourself, door!
M: Sesame, close!
Z: Mellon
I wish I had come up with that.
S: Do you hear that call?
He steps towards the gap, touches the orb on the lower right and the frame flows into the door. A film like semitransparent smoke flows over the door. Within about five seconds it goes to a sealed condition.
P: Impressive, young man. Do you think the bigger orb with the four screens arranged around it on that wall is the main control?
He does not bother to reply, but dashes there in the explosive manner of younger children.
We are rewarded with the ceiling fan starting to turn and the wall oposite to the control orb turning into a gigantic TV screen.
That is of limited use to me. I do not understand enough of the language to get an official pronouncement spoken fast.
I take the opportunity to touch the orb. It reacts to [Tools of the Magister]. Stjepan has become a member of yet another species. He looks superficially human, but completely hairless and his skin covered in what seem to be shiny little beads.
Z: Pack your stuff. You need to leave. We are all leaving. I am not ready to stay here.
That stings. I thought I had found people I care for and who care for me. It is like a betrayal. Again.
I turn to go upstairs. I can check my shape later. It is probably ugly enough. No need to hurry. But I do miss my inventory. What has happened to my racial abilities?
Race: Skavalander Current Rank: Iron 0 Progress to bronze rank 0% Racial Abilities: [Winged Fighter] [Pantry of Poisonous Horror] [Instinctive Aim] [Unholy Affinity] [Astral Affinity] [War will feed itself]
Have I become some kind of necromantic chef?