Elspeth looked at James intently for a moment then began moving her arms around in quick, intricate patterns.
"What are you doing Mistress?" he asked nervously.
"Shush, this is a difficult spell" she hissed in response.
To James' horror he soon began feeling effected by something, a tingling sensation that was running up and down his naked body. Was he being paranoid or had a real life witch just practiced some kind of sorcery on him?
"There" Elspeth smiled as she finished her incantation "I've been working on this spell for some time. It's nice to finally have someone to test it on"
"What does it do Mistress?" James asked, not really wanting to know.
"You are going to devolve" Elspeth answered proudly.
"Devolve?" The answer sent a shiver down James' spine. That was worse than he had anticipated.
"Impressive eh?" The witch grinned, enjoying his reaction "Over the next couple of hours you will go on an unprecedented journey back to the very beginning of the human evolutionary chain, all the while retaining your usual intelligence and consciousness. Then you will evolve back into your regular form. You should be fully human again by nightfall!"
"But Mistress..." James looked down to see that thick, dark hairs had already began to sprout on his knuckles and were making their way up his arms. Was this seriously happening?
"You should feel honoured you know." Elspeth informed her reluctant new helper "This is the first time this spell has ever been cast. It could make me a legend in the field of transformative magic but none of the philistines I work with will allow me to try it on them. Cowards"
"So it's untested?" James panicked as he watched the hairs continue to make their way down his body and felt them forming simultaneously on his face.
"Oh don't be a wimp" Elspeth smiled, almost with affection "Your Mistress is a very talented lady. You're in perfectly safe hands"