"You are going to be an iguana" Elspeth informed James merrily.
"An iguana?" James repeated nervously.
"It's a kind of lizard" Elspeth replied ironically.
"I know, I just don't want to be one" James stammered unhappily but Elspeth wagged one of her bony fingers to silence him.
"I'm sorry, but it's no use trying to sway me with those big blue eyes of yours" the witch spoke sympathetically but firmly "I'm not going to let you wriggle out of this one. I've made up my mind!"
"But you have no right to do this!" the young man argued to Elspeth's visible annoyance.
"Right, I did warn you, now you will be a lizard for a week!" the witch huffed "Any more outbursts and it will be a month!"
James realised had no choice but to abandon his protests and stand naked and helpless as Elspeth weaved her spell. Despite everything he had witnessed so far that day he still held out hope that she might be bluffing or overestimating her abilities. Surely nobody had the power to alter his form at will?
He soon had his answer as he fell onto all fours as if forced by an external presence. James could already feel himself becoming dramatically smaller, giving him an awful sense of being even more vulnerable against the growing, cackling witch that seemed to view him as no more than her toy. Looking down he witnessed the surreal sight of a reptilian claw where his hand used to be and which was now a part of him. He felt his skin tighten and harden while taking on a green, leathery appearance, his face reshaping aggressively as his body elongated he distinctively felt a tail forming. His attempt to call out for help to anyone who might be able to hear him only resulted in a pathetic sort of coughing sound.
Soon the changes stopped. James was mercifully unable to see his new form for hinself but was in no doubt he was now an iguana as Elspeth had promised. This was as real as it was horrifying.
James grunted at Elspeth in desperation. Surely she wasn't seriously planning on leaving him like this for a week!