"Hey, he's waking up!" Would that moron, whoever he is, please stop shouting? Xeros groaned softly, his head pounding. He could feel his heart beating rapidly ... wait a minute. When did he have a proper heartbeat? Xeros took a mental inventory on the sensations from his body. There was a clarity, a direct abrasiveness to the sensations that had never been there before. What had happened to him? Why had he changed?
His othersight no longer worked. That had become glaringly obvious as he sat up, his head spinning. He opened one eye just a slit, but quickly shut it when the light set his head to pounding even more fiercely. "Urrgh ... . what . . happened?"
Lina's voice answered him as a cool hand rested briefly on his forhead. "Firia came out of the null zone like a bat out of hell, screaming you had turned into some sort of doll upon entering but were now normal. She's still not making any sense ..."
Xeros tried opening his eyes again, blinking rapidly as they adjusted to the light, then tried to focus. Gradually, he was able to clearly see them all standing around him ... all except Firia, who was perched on a rock overlooking a nearby stream. Turning, he caught Lina's look of shock. "What?"
She silently handed him a mirror. The reflection that looked back at him was normal ... except a blonde streak extending from right temple to the back of his head, and his eyes ... his eyes were a pale blue, faintly tinged with their normal violet. They were still slit-pupiled, still shaped as they had always been, but something about their color, their distance from his nose, had changed, and he no longer seemed as openly menacing as had once been.
Something seemed to sink within his chest, confirming what he only suspected. "I'm mortal now."
Would they
survive
the changes
only time
would tell
But they must deal with that
on their own
First
he must help
his grandson