Keliv ran a hand down to his leg, feeling the soft fur that was across his shin with a distinct sense of horror in his mind. His thoughts skipped. Keliv stumbled back, accidently sliding the spell book across the table with his arm. The book crashed to the floor with a deafening thump, the pages tumbling closed between its covers.
" Jaslin?" He looked to her, hopeful and afraid. " Can you do something?"
There were signs of confusion written across Jaslin's face.
" I'll try." She promised.
Words... he couldn't think of anything to say. Time slowed down into unreality as he felt the fur slowly inch up to his knees and, at the same moment, it spread down to his ankles. Keliv didn't want to see what was happening, but a strange fascination caused him to pull up the loose-fitting material of his pants. Black fur greeted him, becoming lighter, to a soft brown up near his knees. Small ripples and pinpricks through his skin teased him as the fur grew up to his thighs. Next to Keliv sat Jaslin, looking hurriedly through the book from which he had just cast the spell.
Why? Why did he do something so stupid?
Inevitably, the fur set on it's course up his legs, reaching the top of Keliv's thighs fairly quickly. Then, the transformation turned downward. With tears forming in his eyes, Keliv scrambled to take his shoes off, finding the dreaded fur had spread down between his toes. The two smallest toes drew together, the skin fusing together with a slight searing pain. Black claws pierced out from each of his eight toes, and underneath his feet grew a canine padding. Once again, the transformation inverted, with fur spiking out around his backside.
" Anything?" Keliv shouted to Jaslin.
Jaslin looked up from the page. " It might not be as bad as you think."
" How isn't this bad?" He asked, exasperated. " I can feel my..."
" Your what?"
" Never mind." He blushed as his member changed beneath his robes, sliding up against his stomach. " What were you talking about? It isn't so bad...?"
" I think the spell isn't a complete one. You didn't read the entire thing in any case."
" And what does that mean?" He pleaded.
" I've no idea. Just that this spell won't be complete."
Keliv looked at her questioningly. A film of feared sweat had appeard across his face.
A building pressure was hitting the base of his spine, threatening to bust his skin apart. The pressure became stronger, almost unbearable, like the bone in his spine was pulling itself apart. Relief flooded Keliv when the pressure subsided into the stranger sensation of a tail growing. It became longer, sliding over the top of his pants and softly touching the black material of his robes. The thing stopped growing once it sat neatly at the back of his knees, curling back between his legs with a mind of its own. Dog-like.
Keliv didn't know if it was just his train of thought, but the transformation appeared to quicken. He looked to Jaslin, but she just shrugged her shoulders and continued flicking through the spellbook. The fur covered his chest, back and abdomen, feeling strangely warm beneath his robes. His fingernails blackened, turning sharp and pointed into canine claws.
" Jaslin, if you're going to be useful." He said, frustrated and covered in fur to his neck.
" Don't think I'm not trying." She snapped back, silencing him.
Pain shot through his face, turning Keliv's vision to blurred black specks. The bone in his face snapped and cracked and his teeth jolted out, sharpening, forming, then reforming again. Stop, the pain had to stop. Keliv fell to his knees. His face pushed out further, bringing more pain as a once human mouth and nose shifted to a muzzle. Pain left him and his vision returned to normal. Nervously, Keliv felt his furry face, wincing as his clawed hands touched his muzzle and gasping as his palms ran over tipped ears.
" Jas-" His voice was deeper than usual, heavier. " Jaslin. I think this is as far as it goes."
She looked up worriedly.