‘Oh. Well that’s oneless to cause problems I guess.’
Miranda just lookedback at him incredulously.
‘You weren’t scaredwere you?’
‘No. Why should I be?I’ve told you before, Logicons feel no fear, but you could be rightabout the madness. I really lost control when it bit my tail, andI’ll have to think about that. It shouldn’t have happened.Something’s not right.’
Suddenly it occurred toboth of them that they were both attractive naked newmans on asecluded beach, only a pace apart and staring into each other’seyes.
Her eyes were the mostbeautiful, sparkling, emerald green colour, placed above a perfectnose and a sensuous pair of lips in a beautifully balanced face.Her hair was light brown, and her skin a honey colour, darker thanwhen he had seen her two weeks earlier. Up close, he could seefreckles on her face and arms.
She looked into hiseyes, set in a pleasant young newman face. They were a beautifulwoody brown. She knew they weren’t real, as she had witnessed himforming them, but the eyes were also a window into his soul and helet her look in. She first saw an innocent young newman trapped inan alien prison looking back at her, but beyond that she saw anacute intellect, a great strength of mind and an awesome sense ofpower that lay dormant, biding its time.
His eyes suddenlyturned black as coal and his face fearsome and aggressive. She feltlike she was staring at a violent creature about to attack. Herheart sped up, her hair colour changed, taking on the reds, orangesand yellows of fire, and her eyes turned golden as she stepped apace backwards and prepared to change to her panther form tofight.
He didn’t attack butinstead stood motionless, silently chanting a mantra of calmingwith his eyes closed for a few seconds before he opened them again.His face took on a friendly aspect and his eyes returned to theiroriginal brown colour.
She now knew whyFeatherdown was worried about him. She felt that she was looking atthe quiet before a devastating storm.
He noticed her fieryred hair, golden eyes and the worried look on her face.
‘I’m sorry if I scaredyou. When I get attacked I sometimes lose control and go berserk.The fight with that sea monster has unsettled my system a little. Iwill not harm you. I have it under control now. Are youuncomfortable with my male newman form? I can change to a femaleform if you wish.’ And he changed to a weak looking female versionof himself, matching his skin colour to hers, while his hair wentblonde and his eyes changed to match the blue of the sky.
Miranda stood ready foraction, trying to calm her pounding heart and wondering whether toleave; but the female standing before her didn’t look threateningso she stayed. He’s playing with me she thought.
It took a minute or twofor her pulse to slow down and her eyes to change back to theirprevious green coloration, but her fiery hair colour remained.
‘I’d prefer you tookwhichever form you feel most natural with. I have a male form, butI always feel a little uncomfortable when I wear it,’ she replied,trying to sound calm.
‘I’ve only been a shapechanger for a couple of weeks. So I’m not very good at it yet. Mymale form was the easiest, as I was a male newman. This female formwas tricky, as Newman women where I come from don’t generallyparade around without clothes. I had to make this body mainly fromstudying their shapes in books. Looking at your beautiful bodyform, I can now see where I went wrong. Perhaps you wouldn’t mindif I remodelled mine to be more like yours.’
Miranda blushed alittle. She couldn’t remember the last time someone hadcomplimented her on her body.
‘Thank you. I suppose Ican hardly complain if you think it looks that good,’ shereplied.
Miranda watched as hemodified his female form to be similar of hers, then reformed ashis male form again. He’s very cunning she thought. Mimicry is aform of flattery.
‘You probably noticedthat I had a lot of trouble getting the breasts right before, butthey’re beautiful like yours now. What do you think of my maleform?’ And he posed, flexing his muscles.
Miranda blushedagain.
‘Umm. I’m not used toseeing naked males up close and when I do I try not to stare, but Ithink you’ve done an excellent job. I wasn’t aware that newmanwizards were so well endowed in Panmagica.’
‘Oh that. It’s notfunctional. It’s just a decoration that’s there for completeness.I’d look strange without one. Do you think it’s a bit big? I canmake it smaller if the men here on Mudrun have smaller ones.’
‘Err. Umm. No I’m notsure about the sizes on Mudrun; you’ve probably got it right,’ shereplied hastily.
‘Good. Let’s get somefirewood!’ he said suddenly, breaking eye contact.
‘Why?’ she asked.
‘I’m going to roastsome of this monster,’ he replied. ‘We ate these things back home.At least they looked the same, but were much smaller. We calledthem squid. I don’t know which world they came from but they werepopular and tasty. This one looks a bit tough to eat raw. Do youknow I haven’t eaten anything yet in this human body form? I’mhoping that this squid will taste the same as I remember itdid.’
‘You don’t have to eateverything you kill. Sometimes we must kill the sick, diseased ormad, but these can be dangerous to eat. Sometimes we must kill todefend ourselves or cull creatures when there are too many. Inthese situations the Lady doesn’t bind us to our oath to take onlywhat we need to survive.’
‘I had a dead chickentwo days ago, I’m hungry, and I took no oath to protect anything.If you help me get a fire going and we put some of these tentacleson it, I’ll let you share my kill. I’m sure the Lady wouldn’t wantyou to miss out on a free meal.’
Miranda was lost forwords. Had she not warned him that he may well have been dead bynow, and had she not struck the killing blow? Now he had thetemerity to offer her some of his kill. A male wizard offering foodto a female druid in her own domain was almost the ultimate insult.She almost
