Happy revamp Saturday! I have another excerpt for you all. This one is from Chapter 9. The ending was changed to better fit many changes in the series, and it reads much better. More exciting? Maybe not as much, but that's okay, because of the setting.
Now, for the excerpt I promised:
I suddenly felt extremely exhausted, and as I was about to fall asleep, Raikidan spoke. "It won't change when I do."
I wanted to punch him. "What won't change?"
"These clothes," he clarified. "They're different from the one the shaman gave me. They feel stiffer, like the clothes you had me wear first."
I sat up and looked at him. "Test it out. Change into something."
"Like what?" he asked.
"Well, something small just in case the cloth rips." I thought for a moment. "How about a type of cat?"
"What's a cat?"
For the love of— I sighed. Why would he know what a cat is? It's not like they run around in the wild or anything. "How about a dog or a wolf? They're a decent size."
I watched as he closed his eyes and took the shape of a wolf. This was the first time I had watched him shapeshift, and it was a strange thing to watch. It wasn't instant, nor did it involve a bright light that made the transformation look beautiful. It was a slow process and his body became warped. A normal person would have found the sight repulsive, but not me. I was in awe. I crawled to the edge of the bed on my hands and knees and leaned over the footboard to get a better look. When his transformation was complete, he shook his head to remove the shirt that draped over it and then looked at me curiously.
"Well, I guess you were right," I said with a small giggle. I couldn't help it. The way he shook his head was slightly cute, not that I'd admit it to anyone.
The material, unable to find the original body it was connected to, reverted back into its original cloth form on the floor.
"Can you bring me the cloth?" I asked, moving from my spot to grab the access book from the nightstand. Turning back, my face was met with his, but it wasn't a wolf's face. "Why do you insist on being so indecent?"
I was glad the wooden footboard was covering his lower half, but it didn't change the fact he was naked and leaning onto my bed.
"Why do you have such a problem with me like this?" he questioned.
"I just told you. It's indecent and not a Human thing to do."
"I'm not Human." he remarked, and I sighed. Suddenly he smirked. "Two of your friends said I had the body of a god. Don't you think that?"
I rolled my eyes and took the cloth from his hands. "No."
"What, seen better?"
I couldn't deny he had looks in this form. Actually, he really was the best looking guy I'd seen in some time, but it didn't mean I was attracted to him. Knowing full well he was trying to goat me into admitting it out loud, I decided to lie. "Yes."
"Who, the wolf boy?"
When I didn't respond, he snorted. Whether his snort was out of jealously or disbelief, I wasn't fully sure, but I assumed he just didn't believe me since he had no real reason to be jealous. Rylan was attractive, I'd give him that, but I wasn't attracted to him.
"So you have a thing for men with strange metal objects hanging off their face?"
"One, they're called piercings, and two, I don't have a thing for anyone," I replied, opening the book.
He was really starting to piss me off, and I still needed to find the enchantment before I could go to bed. I was looking for a druid spell, which wasn't common for shamans to look for, but this was a special case and I assumed Shva'sika had used this same enchantment on the shaman disguise.
Raikidan stood up, but my eyes didn't wander to him. I was focused on finding the answer to this current problem. "You say someone is attractive, but you claim to not be attracted to them. How does that work?"
"Just because someone is something to look at doesn't mean you have to be attracted to them," I muttered.
"Then what are you attracted to?" he asked.
"None of your business." Just then I located the entry I needed. It was a simple enough process, only needing a quick incantation, and I was able to hand the cloth back off to Raikidan. "Test it out to make sure it works fine."
He quietly took the cloth and had it dress him. I didn't look at him until I was sure he was clothed and watched as he took the wolf form again. This time the clothes seemed to disappear.
I nodded with approval. "Looks like I got it right. If you have any issues in the future let me know. For now, I'm going to bed."
Raikidan shifted to his natural Dragon shape as I stored the book. I could sense him watching me and when I sat back up, my senses weren't mistaken. I don't get him…
Choosing not to dwell on something so trivial, I curled up and closed my eyes. But as I did, something twinge in my heart and our small conversation replayed in my mind before unconsciousness took me.
Stupid, you know better than to dwell on this topic… You know what happened last time…