“Farewell.” And with a clasp of his fingers, Roland and the other boys had their memories from the last ten minutes vanish into thin air.
The mysterious man had gotten on his horse and prince Henry had no other choice but to trot along right behind them if he didn’t want to be choked to death. The man was contempt with himself. He was wise and he knew that all these naked homeless boys always ended up as petty thieves when they grew up. He had made the world a big favor by removing this naked boy from society. He’d teach this scoundrel a lesson that he would never forget.
“I’m impressed you’d pay any price for your friend, but don’t think even for a split second that I would let you go without complying with your part of the deal.” Said the man to the naked boy struggling to keep up the pace. “In this harsh world nothing’s free. I’m sure a homeless boy like you wouldn’t understand it right now, but in the end, I’m sure you’ll be grateful.”
The man was terribly mistaken. Prince Henry was certainly not a homeless boy, and he knew the value of money. After all, he had a greater fortune than the man could ever imagine. He could order anyone to do anything for a bunch of golden coins.
But the truth was, the prince had never worked hard to earn any of that fortune. Or worked at all, period. He wasn’t selfish by any means, in fact he was very kind to his subjects, but he hadn’t learn about hard labour at all.
The prince was undignified. “If I could just explain to him how much money and power I have I’m sure he’d let me free... I’m not a lowly thief!” He thought.
It was so unfair. And the worst of all was being dragged in the nude like this. Swimming naked in the river with fellow boys was one thing, but being forcibly exposed like this by an adult was completely different! If the king were to saw his son like this he’d die in shame.
Henry was sure the man had stored a most horrible fate for him. What would he do? Parade him naked around town? No, they were heading the opposite way, towards the wilderness. The prince felt a surge of relief when he realized this, but it was short-lived. Oh dear heavens, what if the man was carrying him into the forest so no one could see the brutal torture he was about to inflict to him? The prince’s exposed prick cowardly shrunk away into nothingness at the thought.
Once the road ended and both man on a horse and the naked boy were on top of a hill, however, the unexpected happened.
The man got off his horse and, without saying a word, removed the boy’s collar.
But before the prince could mutter any single word the man grabbed the boy forcefully by the neck. “Ugh...Wha-...It..Hurts...”
This was it, the boy thought. Strangled to death and his corpse disposed into the wilderness to be eaten by hungry wolves. It wasn’t the most elegant way to leave this world, but at least nobody would find him in his sorry state. The prince hoped Roland won’t have forgotten about their past escapades and their lifelong friendship when his memories were wiped so he’d dedicate a toast to him at his funeral.
But the man wasn’t going to kill him. Instead, the hand gripping on the boy’s neck sparkled a faint shade of blue. “I hope you learn your proper place in the new life I’ll be granting you...”
The prince didn’t know at all what the man was talking about. The only thing he knew is that his whole body itched like hell. His entire skin felt like it was moving and twisting around him on its own...No, not twisting, changing! His smooth and soft skin was getting rougher by the second, its color turning into dark green and feeling hard to the touch.
The boy’s head lost all trace of hair. As Henry lamented his hair falling into the ground, his face got transfigured, his features being changed one by one. His bright eyes became dull and dark colored, his pupils becoming thin vertical lines. It was comical seeing the boy’s nose becoming big and pointy, and his ears long and thin, but the man’s expression didn’t even flinch as he saw the boy becoming a horrendous caricature. The boy gasped for air and the man could see his teeth starting to root and his fangs growing until they were beast-like. A foul-smelling stench came out from the transfigured boy’s throat, now only capable of producing animalistic grunts and cries.
Prince Henry felt his insides rearranging. Nothing too drastic, but some of his organs shrunk and others grew in since so they would match his new species’ standard sizes. The boy’s green butt expelled a loud fart as his intestines reshaped. Then he felt a slight pain on his crotch as he felt his testicles growing. The man nonchalantly yanked down on Henry’s balls. The boy felt outraged at this act, but he quickly noticed how his testicles swayed lower and more freely now. Maybe he was making last minute adjustments to his transformation? And while he’s at it, would it have been too much to ask for him to do something similar to his penis? Henry always wanted an inch or two more...
But his now green-skinned dick remained untouched. The next part was awful to see, as Henry’s hands lost one finger each, but it was surprisingly unpainful. His remaining four fingers in each hand became shorter and stubbier, his clean-white toenails becoming dark demonic claws.
It was very shameful to Henry to admit that he knew he was turning into a goblin. He suspected it the moment his skin turned dark green yet his body decreased its height instead of growing taller like a true orc. Goblins were dirty, smelly, yet weak and docile monsters. This made them perfect for the most harsh of tasks back at the castle’s dungeons. Yes, Henry had seen these ugly workers (or more appropriately, slaves) working at his own castle. Hunters would capture them in the wilderness and then sell them for a menial price. But the king didn’t like his son to wander to the underground dungeons, so he barely saw them at their ‘workplace’. He wasn’t sure what in the world they made exactly, he only knew it was some sort of underground factory where they were exploited until the day they perished.
Finally, his transformation was reaching its conclusion. His legs became shorter and to Henry’s disgrace each of his feet lost two toes each. His remaining toes became comically big and his toenails turned into short black claws.
The man observed his creation closely. He was now holding a bona-fide goblin, indistinguishable from the real thing. It was disgusting and pathetic. The dark green goblin now small and disproportionate like the rest of his species. The only remnant of prince Henry’s former humanity and royalty was his slightly chubby belly, courtesy of the royal baker’s fine pastries.
The sad excuse for a goblin looked at the man’s eyes with pleading eyes. “(Please, change me back! I’ll pay you anything! Whatever you want I can pay!)”
But the mysterious man didn’t relent. He looked at the creature with disgust and, fearing the ugly monster would begin pissing and pooping itself in fear any second now, he threw it down the hill, the goblin shrieking with a high-pitched cry as it rolled down through fallen leaves until his fall was stopped abruptly by the trunk of a tree.
Such a pitiful sight. The man got on his horse and left without looking back, leaving the prince to find his way through the rest of his life alone and without a shred of humanity nor dignity left on his pathetic form.