Arcane Transmogrification

by Robert Harper

  *Fine, just let me handle the mana then. Let's use...one percent of your total mana and see what that does.*

  Danny felt part of his mana disappear, and like before, there was no immediate feeling of change. Watching his hands and arms closely, he eventually noticed that his skin was darkening. After a few minutes, his hands and arms looked black and coarse like coal. Pulling back his shirt, he noticed the skin on his chest just looked red.

  Danny waved his arms around, “Where is the flame aura? Did we not use enough mana?”

  *Maybe it is a safety measure in case you are inside a wooden structure or riding something when you activate it? I don't know, try using Flame Affinity on the ground in front of you.*

  Danny focused, and flame erupted all over his body to coalesce onto the ground in front of him. It was strange, as he didn't feel the heat of the flame.

  After only a second, smoke suddenly obscured his vision. He cursed all things magic as he started to inhale the smoke and cough violently. While he didn't panic enough to run aimlessly around, he did lose control of the flames as they burned brightly through the smoke.

  *Stop inhaling smoke, you don't have to breathe, idiot! Uhhh, stop, drop, and roll! Stop, drop, and roll!*

  Danny was too scared of causing a forest fire and ignored Cranny’s last suggestion. Plus, he wasn't on fire, he was the fire. With that in mind, he calmed himself and focused.

  The smoke abruptly cleared, and Danny could easily see the forest around him. The flames surrounding him dwindled away as his aspect faded. The grass around him was burning, and a low hanging branch had caught fire. He quickly reached out and used Flame Affinity to pull the heat from the surrounding smoldering plant life.

  Coughing, Danny turned around, only to find everyone had woken up and gathered in a semicircle not far from him. A few of them even had their weapons drawn.

  Danny smiled sheepishly and weakly said, “Hey everyone… I discovered how to use my Flame Aspect. It lets me surround myself in fire. Though, I didn't expect all that smoke.”

  No one was responding, and that's when Danny realized where everyone was looking--wide-eyed, down at his legs. Confused, he looked down and could see that, not only was he back to his old self, but all the smoke had come from an obvious source. All of his clothing had burned away, and he was buck naked.

  Danny quickly looked back up to see Wizard Basalt silently chuckling while turning back to walk to his tent. The wizard’s wives smirked while having apparent coughing fits behind their hands. They quickly chose to follow their husband.

  Ivy had a single eyebrow raised as she looked him in the eyes. Jade had her hands over eyes, but Danny noticed she was doing a really bad job of hiding the fact that she was peeking. Brooke unabashedly stared at his…”magic wand”.

  Brooke looked up, smiled, and said, “Hmmm, it’s a good thing you’re so pretty.”

  Everyone but Danny broke down into fits of raucous laughter.

  Danny opened his mouth and looked around quickly, unsure how best to defend himself.

  “The cold front blew in… This is a normal response to the cold!” Danny tried his best cover himself.

  Brooke took a few deep breaths so that she could stop laughing long enough to add, “But I thought… I thought you said… that you were just surrounded by flames… did you miss a spot?”

  Danny made a frustrated noise and fled into his tent to the sounds of uncontrolled laughter.

  CHAPTER 7

  The peace and quiet of the Great Forest was suddenly disturbed by a slap that reverberated loudly as it echoed through the dense woods.

  Danny tried to ignore the sting in his back as Wizard Basalt laughed next to him. The evening after Danny's attempt at using his Flame Aspect found the group still trekking through the Great Forest. Arya told them that they should soon be nearing the edge of the Great Forest, where it merged with the Elven Forest. A great river, called the Wisteria, separates the two forests from one another.

  Wizard Basalt wiped a tear from the corner of his eye as he asked, “So you just thought your clothes wouldn't be burned by fire?”

  Danny rolled his eyes and wished he could be anywhere else at the moment, “Yes, how was I supposed to know there wasn't some sort of protective barrier for my clothing? It didn't burn my skin!”

  Wizard Basalt smirked as he looked at Danny's head, “You forgot about your hair. You were so soot covered and…bare we didn’t notice it at first.”

  Danny went to run his hands through his hair, as was his go to tic when frustrated, only to find the unfamiliar bald head. Well, there was a small bit of stubbly hair, but according to the girls, you couldn't even see it.

  *Danny, I confirmed your new hair has those crystalline structures in it as well. Maybe it won’t burn up next time… Or it might explode! Oh, try it now and let’s see!*

  Danny shook his head and thought back to earlier when he had conjured some water in one of his bowls. Only to be horrified to find out that his eyebrows were gone as well. The girls tried to sooth his ego by saying it made him look older.

  Wizard Basalt's loud laugh echoed again through the forest, “Older, oh those poor girls. They sure are trying their best.”

  Danny made a pleading look to the older wizard, in hopes that he would give him a break.

  The wizard smiled at Danny and looked conspiratorially forward at the females who had apparently given the two some distance to speak privately. Danny noticed the change in mood and watched the wizard closely.

  Wizard Basalt leaned over and whispered, “I am going to let you in on a little secret. You know, they actually teach the lady folk early on how to handle us men and wizards.”

  Danny looked skeptically at the wizard, unsure if this wasn't a joke at his expense.

  The wizard nodded, “It's true, I found the instructional book one of my wives had when I first joined the order. It covered topics like positive reinforcement and distraction techniques. Ways to keep a wizard happy, content, and not rebelling. If I hadn't looked through it thoroughly, I wouldn't have noticed how they all seemed to have read the same book.”

  *Ha! I bet it was titled 'Ten Easy Steps to Keeping a Good Wizard,’ or better, 'How to Turn Your Evil Wizard into a Good Wizard.’*

  Danny scoffed and jokingly added, while trying to shock the wizard, “Sure, and I bet there is a section on how to handle us in the bedroom as well...”

  Danny, having decided the wizard was pulling his leg, had turned to look ahead. After a few moments of silence, he turned back to see the wizard looking at him with a smirk and singly eyebrow raised.

  Danny gave his full attention back to the wizard, “No, you’re kidding... you are, right?”

  The wizard looked ahead and seemed to check where the rest of their group was. “If you ever find your girls’ copy of the book, I know I have been real appreciative of the last section covered in the book. They probably have it hidden away in some secret compartment in their packs.”

  *Oh, oh, I got it! How about 'Bewitching Your Wizard: Magic Wands and How to Use Them'!*

  Continuing to ignore Cranny, Danny began debating if looking for this supposed book was worth getting caught….if it even existed. It would fill in some gaps on how this society functioned the way it did without most men revolting. Still, there had to be more than a few men who would seek more than what the society allowed them. Maybe the fact that only wizards were seen rising to great heights reinforced contentment with “locked” men when they found favorable marriages. A case of if you don't know better, you can't expect better.

  ***

  They made good time and didn’t stop to rest for longer than six hours at a time. Danny decided to wait until later before he tried his other aspects in private. A few mornings later, they were still trudging along through the forest when Cranny interrupted Danny’s thoughts.

  *Danny, something is headed this way!*

  Danny stopped walking, *Where?*

  *I think it is following our trail. I w
ill put a dot on it so you can see the direction it is coming from.*

  Brooke noticed Danny had stopped and looked back with a questioning glance.

  Danny turned until he saw the dot of light in his vision, moving ever so slightly. He asked, *Can you tell what it is?*

  There was a pause before Cranny answered, “I think it’s big, but I don’t have a good reference point. It is definitely running on four legs.*

  Danny perked up, *Could it be Phantom!*

  *...No, I don’t think so.*

  “Danny, what’s the matter. Are you tired? Do you need us to stop for a bit?” Brooke asked with concern.

  The others noticed that Danny and Brooke had stopped. Arya called out, “Is everything alright, we need to keep moving?”

  ”Something’s headed this way,” Danny replied without turning around.

  Arya looked at him in confusion before looking in the direction he was facing. Everyone stood still, and the quiet of the forest settled around them. There was the sudden sound of a branch breaking in the distance, and then all was quiet again.

  At some unseen communication, Wren and Brianna split apart from the group to move into the forest in different directions. The dot in Danny’s vision was getting bigger and taking shape into something tall, with four legs. Danny wasn’t absolutely sure, but he thought something was riding on its back. Since he could tell it was almost on them, Danny moved toward a nearby tree and crouched down to peer around it.

  A flash of movement between the trees and Danny saw a brief glimpse of a wolf and goblin rider before they were hidden again from his sight. Through his Air Scan, Danny could see the wolf had stopped moving while the goblin on its back looked around. Tired of waiting, Danny prepared to cast a spell when an arrow flew from far off to his right. The wolf let out a yelp in pain and collapsed to the ground. The goblin on its back fell off onto the ground and then lifted something long up to its head. Danny still couldn’t tell through his Air Aspect what it was, but Danny had no trouble targeting the goblin with a blast of flame. Due to the distance the mana consumption was higher and the accuracy a bit off.

  The sound of a horn blaring into the surrounding forest was cut short as the goblin then screamed in pain at the fire from Danny’s spell. Realizing the spell had gone wide and only injured the goblin, Danny prepared another fireball. A second arrow cut through the air, but this time from Danny’s right. The goblin quit screaming and fell to the ground, unmoving. The wolf had yet to get up, and Danny took that to mean it was down for good.

  After scanning the area one more time, Danny announced, “That was the only one.”

  “Danny, keep your voice down,” Arya whispered fiercely as she moved past him to check the dead goblin and wolf. After a few minutes, she returned with Wren and Brianna. “How did you know it was coming?” Arya asked Danny.

  Danny decided it couldn’t hurt to let them know, “I can sense thing really far away now. It isn’t very exact, so I can’t tell a wolf from a horse but…”

  *Danny!*

  Danny turned toward where the goblin had come from and numbly watched as one white dot after another appeared in his vision. The dots became so numerous they soon blurred into a long white line.

  “We have to go,” Danny turned to start running the other way. When he saw the others looking confused, he yelled, “Run, Now! There are hundreds more headed this way,” Danny yelled.

  The rest of his group quickly followed after him, and soon, they were racing through the forest, dodging trees and hopping over shallow roots. They hadn’t gone very far at their reckless pace when Jade started to stumble. Wizard Basalt effortless picked her up on the fly and unceremoniously slung her over his shoulder.

  “How far are we from the elves,” Danny yelled to Arya, who had taken up the lead position.

  Arya replied, between breaths, “Not that far. We should reach the border soon. We have to cross...a large river.”

  As if on cue, Danny could hear the sound of rushing water filtering through the trees. Though that was the about the same time Danny heard the howls of wolves and the cries from their goblin riders. The sounds of their enemy seemed to spur the group on to run at a renewed pace. The others were breathing heavily, and only Danny’s weakened muscles were preventing him from racing ahead of them.

  *Cranny, how much mana do I have to work with?*

  Cranny hummed to himself, before replying, *After the past two days, you are sitting at a little over half full.*

  Danny pondered this while he ducked under a low hanging branch, *So that is fifty times more mana than I had before?*

  *Yep!*

  The growling of the wolves caught up to them before the wolves themselves had reached them.

  Arya yelled out, “Positions! Wizard, I want a defense alpha, immediately. Also, I can’t see a thing with all these damn trees!”

  “As you wish, M’lady,” Wizard Basalt replied smarmily, as he sat Jade down on her feet.

  Wizard Basalt began casting, and the ground below them, in a six square meters, rose up a meter off the ground. Then, as he began to turn, one meter tall walls rose on the front side in the direction of the approaching wolf riders. Then, two meter tall walls rose up on either side. Finally, another meter high wall rose up at their rear.

  “Got to have a quick way out,” responded the wizard to Danny’s questioning look.

  Wizard Basalt finished by stomping the ground. All around them, the nearest trees toppled outward and fell to the ground.

  The Basalt women all drew their bows and turned to form a line. Brooke, mace and shield in hand, moved up to stand next to them, as Ivy drew her crossbow and checked her sword’s position at her hip. Wizard Basalt unslung his hammer from his back as Jade nocked an arrow on her bow.

  Even though Danny was sure the goblins couldn’t see them yet, one of the goblins screamed out a battle cry that was quickly picked up by the others. The sound was deafening as the first wolf riders broke through the trees and into the newly created clearing. The Basalt women, Ivy, and Jade started picking off goblins and wolves at will.

  Danny didn’t wait for the wolves to reach them and summoned balls of fire right in front of each goblin he could see. The now burning goblins fell off, but the wolves they were riding continued on. Danny revelled in his new powers, as he would never have been able to attack this many times, at this distance, or with the same precision before his recent change.

  New riders appeared from behind to carelessly trample the cooked goblins. While slowed, the new riders were still able to continue the charge. Danny cursed himself for not focusing on the wolves and breaking their momentum completely.

  The Basalt women, with swords now in hand, were soon busy, fending of tooth and claw while striking out to do what damage they could. Brooke focused on deflecting incoming spears thrown from those riders arriving in the rear of the riderless wolves. Wizard Basalt guarded their rear, swinging at any wolf that tried to climb the wall and casting earthen spikes whenever the opportunity permeated itself. The wizard was slowly surrounding their little fort with a barrier of stone spikes.

  To Danny’s surprise, Jade continued to effortlessly draw her bow, landing arrows in any wolves trying to flank the front line. Ivy wove in between the front line, aiding anyone who was being overwhelmed.

  Danny continued to summon clusters of fireballs with almost pinpoint accuracy. That’s until one of the burning goblins caught a fallen tree on fire.

  *Danny, we should use your Earth Aspect and the new spikes we came up with. Any spikes that miss their target will become a defensive trap for the other riders. So, no more fire. It’s going to get out of hand in this forest, and your magic goes further while in your different aspects,* Cranny yelled to be heard over the chaos.

  Danny didn’t hesitate at Cranny’s logic, replying, *Do it, Cranny.*

  Danny felt a strange sensation but had little time to check out the changes as the new aspect spread over his body.

  *Cranny, can you use
earth scan to sense where they are touching the ground?*

  *Not really…*

  Danny could only frown as he watched the enemy that was slowly spreading out around them. The riderless wolves were now all dead, and the new goblins on top of their mounts easily leaned over the walls with their weapons to strike at the women in the front line. A few spears flew through the air, and while one barely missed Wren, another two were deflected off of Brooke’s shield.

  Feeling that the transition to his Earth Aspect had finished, Danny commanded Cranny, “I will focus on dodging spears, you give us some breathing room!”

  Danny could sense a good chunk of mana leave his body as multiple stone spikes shot out of the ground. These were not the large spikes Wizard Basalt liked to use. These spikes were thin and used as little mana as possible, just strong enough to pierce his enemy’s flesh. While not all of his spikes were fatal, they did easily break off inside the enemy, quickly bringing the advancing hoard to a halt. Danny, observing the distance the goblins could throw their spears, made sure Cranny placed countless more spikes all around them. Wolves and goblins in droves now lay impaled on the spikes.

  In the initial attack, enemy numbers had been reduced, but the uninjured were quickly swarming around the wounded and fallen. Some were even trying to throw the wounded and weaker members onto the spikes, to create a path.

  “How we doing, Cranny?”

  *Mana is down to forty four percent,* Cranny replied, “The new spikes are very efficient, but the distance is increasing the cost.*

  Arya took the brief break in fighting to check over everyone, pausing when she saw Danny’s new appearance. Grabbing Ivy by her arm, Arya told her, “Get your team and get Danny to safety! We will try and draw their attack while you get across the river.” When Ivy looked as if she would argue, Arya yelled, “Now, that’s an order!”

  Ivy hesitated a second longer before shouting, “Let’s go. Brooke, you take the lead. Jade you stay with me. Danny, give us a way out.”

  Danny was about to argue, when there was a loud crash from behind them. The group turned as one to watch a mountain troll crash through the trees behind them.