Mike ran to catch up with the centaur and jogged alongside for a minute. Aaron stopped and grinned down at the small boy. "I guess I'd better carry you or we'll never get out of here." However, they had stopped close by the mud puddle where children were still playing. Mike grinned and dodged the centaur's grasp, running under him to splash happily in the thick mud.
"Hey!" Aaron scowled. "We have an adventure to go on!"
Mike sat up, already nearly coated with muck. "YOU have a 'venture!" His speech was already becoming that of a child. "I'm playin' here!"
The centaur sighed and watched a moment. He had decades of experience in that mud puddle, and as he watched, the spell that had trapped him did it's work on Mike. The urchin's eyes dulled, and his eyes emptied of everything that did not belong in the brain of a dull-witted toddler.
Aaron shook his head. "Well, you're no good to the party like that. Have fun, kid."
He set off for the outskirts of town, wondering how he would explain how he had replaced Mike.