Suddenly Talver felt very hot all over his body, but just on his skin but among his insides. He opened his mouth and started breathing through it, hard.
"Pant, pant, pant. Why is it, pant, so hot in here? Pant, pant. What did, pant, you do to, pant, me?"
"Oh, I'm just reforming you, in my own way," said Sereth slyly. Talver tipped his head to one side questioningly, dangling his tongue out as the heat became more intense. Then he lifted his face and howled before finally getting some more words out:
"It burns! (pant, pant) It burrrrrrrns, why does it (pant) burrrrrrrrrn? (pant, pant)"
"Don't worry, it'll pass. It just means your medicine working, as they say."
Telver immediately thought he'd been drugged, maybe poisoned by the amulet somehow, possibly to death. Sereth saw no reason to explain magic to him. Better to let it be a mystery and keep Telver in suspense about the outcome. Soon Telver was tearing his clothes off, desperate to escape the heat even if it meant giving Sereth the opportunity for some blackmail photos. Spittle was dropping onto his bare skin like rain, from a tongue that felt longer and wider but thinner somehow, as he frantically tried to make his possible last moments less uncomfortable for himself.
"Please, I'm sorry I helped kill your sister! If you let me live, I'll never do anything for the gang again! I'll (pant) go into (pant) witness protection or something!"
Just then, his nose started to moistened, and he felt dizzy for a moment. When he steadied himself, he realized he was almost overwhelmed by the strong, palpable smells around him: the smell of blood, the smell of his clothes, the smells of people, birds and dogs outside, the smell of sweat and gun powder here in the warehouse, and even the smell of his own breath. It was rank, but he urgently kept sniffing the air, because some part of him knew it needed to collect and categorize these scents. He even licked his nose to moisten it more and make this easier, something he'd never have been able to do before. Suddenly, his thinning ears flopped over and his ear canal popped, making him yelp!
"Ah! What's that? I can hear ... things. People? Animals? The PETTING ZOO ON SIXTH STREET?! That's five blocks away!"
"Probably better get used to being more aware of your surroundings for the next few years," said Sereth. "Shame you weren't more aware what my sister went through that night, I guess."