Mike managed to focus his thoughts with effort, and finally grasped most of what was going on. Liam was turning him into a Shire stallion. Maybe it was more of the magic in the stall, but he did not mind at all. But he wanted to experience as much as he could. "I know I am becoming a horse. Can I watch? Is there a mirror, or some kind of reflecting surface where I can watch myself while you work?"
Liam smiled and patted Mike's human chest, which had gotten a lot hairier. "Of course! Follow me over across the stable. We have a special stall for that kind of thing." He opened the gate and let Mike out, then shut it before Conner could follow them. A smaller stall on the other side had some sort of warning or notice on it, but the letters were not readable to Mike. However, when the stableboy opened the gate, Mike blinked and stared. He shuffled in, amazed. All of the walls were polished mirrors!
After they were inside, Liam pulled the gate shut, also a mirror on the inside. Mie stared in amazement at his reflection. The horse parts were indeed magnificent, but his upper centaur form had been made ugly, especially his head and face. His chest and belly had compressed and had a thickening growth of black hair, and his neck was almost gone. His arms were disproportionately small and short, though they had full movement.
The large, misshapen head was the real eye-catcher, though. His lower face protruded out in a shallow muzzle, with flared nostrils and thick lips that did not quite cover too-large teeth. His eyes were larger and set further apart under very heavy brows, and his forehead was almost completely gone! Mike wrinkled his deformed muzzle and asked "You are going to fix this all, right?"
Liam chuckled and nodded. "Keep watching!" The stableboy began brushing Mike's compacted chest and shoulders, causing the thin hair to thicken into glossy black hide that matched his equine parts. Mike kept feeling his face until he realized it was getting harder to move his arms. They were now stick-like, his fingers shrinking as his shoulders sagged. The internal sensations were curious, but not painful. Heat and a melting feeling in his bones and muscles, as if his insides were wax being exposed to a flame.
Putting the brush down, Liam used both hands to rub the thinning mass of Mike's upper body. He pulled another box out and stood on it, smoothing and pressing like a sculptor working in clay. Mike took a shuddering breath as his upper lungs expanded for the last time, and then collapsed to be absorbed into neck muscles. He gasped, also feeling the upper heart stop beating, and the rest of his duplicate internal organs merge into an equine neck.
Mike stared at the reflections - only his head remained partially changed, a grotesque caricature on top of an otherwise magnificent Shire. The rest of his body pleased him - was that because Liam was happy to have him as a full stallion? Mike knew that some of the magic he had been exposed to had altered his nature to make him more compliant, obedient. He was also less intelligent - he could not dredge up the symbols used for writing, and the concept of numbers was fading. Did it matter if the magic had made him content to be an animal? For Mike was very happy to be a Shire stallion for Liam. It was true happiness, a deep contentment and fulfilment of purpose that he could not remember ever feeling before.
The stableboy started massaging Mike's face and head now, the only parts left unfinished. Mike watched with fascination as his mouth and nose grew out, his skull and jaw altering shape and position on the end of what was now a fully equine neck. His ears shifted higher, becoming pointed and pear-shaped.
Liam chuckled as he reshaped Mike's nostrils and drew bristles from the thick, rubbery black lips. "You are the easiest change I ever did! And the results are going to be amazing. Your place in the world is altering - can you sense the fading of responsibility and need for purpose? Form now on life will be simple and direct - you will live in the moment, desiring only the basic comforts of animal life."
Yes, he could sense that. Mike felt a sense of wonder as his soul was reshaped along with his body. Liam had left it for last, so that he could comprehend the transformation. But as the last traces of centaur were rubbed away into the proud and handsome head of Shire stallion, the understanding of what had been done to him finally started to drift away. Liam continued to speak, but Mike no longer understood the words - he picked up the happy sound of the Master's voice and knew he had pleased the Master. And close by, he scented the female in need.