James didn't have long to get used to his new, temporary lizard form before Elspeth's cruel and relentless spell began altering him further.
He was more or less keeping his shape but getting even smaller while his skin turned from dry and scaly to smooth and moist, turning quickly from green to a reddish brown. These latest changes hadn't been the most dramatic he had been through today but they were as significant as any of the others.
James looked helplessly at the newt staring back at him from the ever growing hand mirror opposite him and wondered just how much longer Elspeth planned to keep this going. Was he going to end up as some kind of single celled organism before she, hopefully, reversed the spell? What would that even feel like? He didn't want to know. Being a tiny, fragile amphibian was bad enough as it was.
At this point Elspeth entered the room with a tank three quarters full of water. James had very little concept of whereabouts she was now and hadn't even noticed her leave the room. But she placed the fish house very deliberately at the end of the table and leaned over him, speaking quietly.
"Not much further for you to go now. But you'll need to get into the water for the part" she encouraged him.
The newt moved slowly to the end of the table and peered over. The water did look tempting, his skin was starting to feel uncomfortably dry. But he hated the idea of literally jumping because Elspeth had told him to. Resistance was about the only form of communication he still had with her.
"Go on, what are you waiting for?" she ordered inpatiently "Jump while you still can!"
Seeing no other option, James leaped from the table and landed gracefully in the fish tank below. He could only hope he would be able to get out of again before long.