"Sorry," said Macy nervously as she picked up the book. "But I guess this isn't as much fun as I thought it would be. You should change us into something else."
"What?!" said her right head. "But we just changed? Can't we just try it for a little while longer?"
"Screw that!" said her left head angrily. "There is no way I am going back to being small, weak and insignificant. This is everything I always wanted. Well, almost everything."
Her left head smiled wickedly as it began to leaf through the book.
I wouldn't do that if I were you, said the book telepathically.
"What are you doing, Macy?" asked Daryn nervously.
"I'm not doing anything, " said the right head with a sly smile.
"It isn't me!" said Macy with embarrassment.
"Oh, shut up. You know you want this as much as I do. You just don't want to admit it," said the left head.
Judging by her nervous gait and the erection that bulged from her cloacae Daryn guessed the left head was telling the truth.
She is trying to find the passage on hydras and use it to change again, becoming even bigger and more powerful, replied the book in Daryn's mind. But that is a very bad idea. The magic is unstable and the results from a repetition of the spell might be .... unpredictable.
"Macy, give me the book," said Daryn holding out his hands.
Macy looked guilty and the book began to edge forward as she held it out towards him.
"Too late! I found it!" said the left head with excitement. It craned its long neck down and stared directly into the passage about hydras.
Macy grunted a little and dropped the book. But the left head followed it down, still staring directly at the page. Its eyes glowed a pale yellow.
"Yes, " said the left head quietly. "Yes ... give me what I want ...."
Macy's already large body began to swell even bigger. She dropped to her hands and knees on the ground. Her fingers grew thicker and stubbier, her thumb retreating to a dew claw as her hands became the inhuman paws of a monster. Her feet grew wider at the base, stretching to long thin paws.
"Stop it," said Macy weakly. Her neck was stretching even longer as her snout and face grew bigger. She feebly tried to pull away, but seemed incapable of moving.
"No, this is what we wanted - power! True power! " said the left head with glee. "We will no longer be the pitiful mouse of the school, the little weak runt. We will be its master, the rightful ruler ...the god king!"
As much as I like chaos, I still think we better get out of here, said the book telepathically to Daryn. Mind picking me up.
Daryn slithered quietly forward towards the book, trying to remain undetected. It wasn't that hard. All of the heads seemed to be preoccupied with their changes, closing their eyes tightly. Daryn could see the claws on its paws getting thicker, sharper and longer. Wicked spines trailed down the creatures back, all the way to the tip of its tail. A horn had replaced the third eye on Macy's head. The other heads were growing their own twisted versions of their own horns. As he neared the left head, Daryn felt dwarfed by its size. He grabbed the book and off the ground at its feet and began to retreat.
Daryn was startled by the things bulging out of the left side of Macy's neck. As they rapidly developed, Daryn recognized that they were actually three new heads, positioned just to the left of the left head. They stared at Daryn coldly.
"Where... where.. are you.... going..." grumbled the left head, now at the center of the beast. It's words were thick and slurred.
"Don't ...don't leave... me...." pleaded Macy.
Uh, oh, said the book telepathically. I was afraid of this. She is turning feral. More beast than human. We better get out of here ... now! Unless you want to end up as her lunch. Honestly, I don't really care about you. But I don't want to spend the rest of eternity trapped down here in the school basement with a mindless monster. It would be terribly boring.
Daryn looked around the room and realized it was changing. The walls of the basement seemed to be expanding in synchrony with Macy's growing body. The smooth concrete walls had been replaced by the jagged rocks of a cavern. Even a few torches had mysteriously appeared on the walls. Daryn spotted a long spiral staircase leading up to a wooden door and began to make his way towards the exit.
"No...bring book....need make .... mate..." mumbled the formerly left and now central head.
The creature took a step towards him, then stopped. The left head snarled angrily.
"No!" said the left head, now at the center of all the heads. "I... I ... control now! I ... am ... center ....We do ...what I want!"
Macy squinted her eyes, deep in concentration. But the body soon began to move. The center head howled in triumph. But thankfully Macy had bought Daryn enough time to escape.
Daryn slithered out the door just as large set of jaws snapped behind him. He could hear the heads fighting amongst themselves, vying for the chance to reach the prey just outside the door. Daryn slammed the door shut on a long slimy tongue. He threw down a bar across the heavy wooden door, bracing it closed. As he backed away he saw the large message written across the door:
"Warning! Hydra Trash Disposal. Organic waste only! Only faculty permitted beyond this door!"
Daryn sighed. So the book had changed reality again. And his friend had been cursed to live as a mindless beast trapped in the school basement, a living trash disposal unit.
Don't blame me, said the book. I did warn her. And technically, she did get what she wanted. She is now the most powerful and feared creature on campus. Even more fearsome and powerful than the popular girls who used to tease her.
As the book chuckled in his mind, Daryn furthered his resolve to end this book and its terrible magic.