My fears were soon met. I began to feel strange.
At first, it was so slight I ignored it. But it quickly worsened and I knew something was
wrong. I felt like I was sinking.
Ferus sensed my unease and turned to face me. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"I don't know, I just... you look smaller..."
He frowned and looked down at himself. He couldn't see it but he was definitely a few
inches shorter. And as I watched, he became shorter still.
"You're shrinking!" I yelled.
"You're moulting!" he yelled back.
I looked at myself. My fur was receding back into my skin. I had become a hairless
minotaur. I yelped in shock. Then I started shrinking too.
I met Ferus' eye. He was just as scared as I was. I watched his snout pull back, his ears
shrink, his mane recede until instead I was looking into the face a human man. His muscles
deflated, his tail vanished, his hooves flattened out into feet and he shrunk to half his
height. Within moments, the majestic minotaur had been replaced with very nervous
looking teenager, with black skin, an average physique and looked a lot more out of place
being completely naked.
I looked at myself. My old human body had returned to me, even though Runt had said it
never could. Skinny, pale and short. And now I was so much smaller, everything else felt so
huge. I had no idea how massive the trees were. A while ago this was all I'd wanted, but
now I only felt disappointment.
"What a shame," said a voice.
I turned to see a tall, grinning man. He was naked, since it seemed my life was full of
naked men lately, and he had horns and a tail, just like Runt. An Imp. Unlike Runt, he
looked older and much more powerful. Just like Runt, though, the sight of him made me
hard. Ferus too. He struggled to cover his hard-on with his hands, suddenly ashamed of
his nudity.
"I hoped this romance would have continued longer," he said.
"Who are you?" I demanded. I stood up, trying to be a bit more threatening but he still
towered over me.
"My name is Azgarr. I am an Imp, like your little friend."
"What, have you been following us?"
"I've been spying on this handsome boy for several years now," he smiled, indicating Ferus.
"What did you do to him? I was always human but you can't drag him into this."
"Dear boy," said the Azgarr, "Ferus, as you call him, is not Ferus at all. He's just as human
as you. His name is Michael."
I looked at Ferus. He wore a sheepish expression.
"Runt told the truth when he said you'd be stuck as minotaur if you had sex with another
one," Azgarr told me, "What he failed to mention is if you have sex with your own species,
you turn back. And this was no minotaur you fucked."
"You just... turned him into a Minotaur?"
"And brought him here. Just as Runt did with you."
Just like me. A human enchanted by an Imp. He probably wasn't even gay. Just a teenage
boy.
"All that stuff?" I said, "About your tribe and being banished. You lied to me?"
"No!" said the kid, "Ferus didn't lie!"
"He speaks the truth, human," said Azgarr, "I took him from his home many years ago. I've
left him as a minotaur for a long time. He was accepted into a tribe, but the lasting effects
of my charm on him got him exiled."
The kid stood up and grabbed me by the arms.
"Ferus didn't mean to lie! Ferus- I mean, Michael- I MEAN 'I' didn't do it on purpose. I really
did like you. And I didn't know you weren't a real minotaur. I didn't know think I'd ever be
human -or straight- again. Please don't hate me!"
But I was stunned. "He left you as a minotaur for YEARS?" I said, "For his entertainment?"
The kid bit his lip. He looked inches from tears. "It's been longer than that. He forces me to
change and then abandons me. He gets off on watching me cope with new bodies. He's
turned me into his fucking puppet!"
That scared me. What if Runt did the same thing to me?
"But, alas, this show has come to an end," said Azgarr, "And now I have TWO little
puppets!"
Micheal and I looked at him, then at each other. This guy was way worse than Runt. I was in
a heap of trouble.
"You two should kiss!"