Metamorphosis: Seven Sins V - Shocking Shapeshift

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Chapter 5 - Shocking Shapeshift

Night had fallen over the dismal sub-region known as the Swamp. The caves were pitch-black, but fortunately the creatures that still crawled through the freezing-cold tunnels had superior senses that allowed them to navigate their lightless domain.

It was around midnight when something discovered the unconscious Baruragaru.

The clicking of jointed legs echoed through the large cavern as a new presence entered. Its strides were calm, methodical, and efficient, the footsteps of a creature out for a relaxing stroll. But that stopped as soon as it smelled the blood – not fresh exactly, but the unmistakable scent of a kill that had been made not too long ago. Better yet, the creature couldn’t feel the vibrations of any large predators around.

At that precise moment, the clouds in the sky slid apart to let the moon shine through. The moonlight flowed through the windows in the ceiling and brought a dim, silvery illumination to the cave. Out of the shadows the creature emerged, and paused when it encountered a beam of light, waiting for its primitive eyes to adjust to the change. The light washed over its black exoskeleton and beautiful white crystals, revealing it to be an Akura Jebia – a massive scorpion-like carapaceon that stalked the Swamp with no equal.

The Akura hissed and raised its pincers, snapping them to warn away any smaller monsters nearby. Just because it couldn’t feel them didn’t mean they weren’t there. It cocked its head, standing eerily still as it waited for vibrations to disturb the sensitive hairs on its legs. Feeling none, it continued toward the tempting scent of a potential meal.

When it was close enough, the Akura Jebia’s weak eyes finally caught sight of what it sought. It paused, regarding the strange monster’s pale skin and overall body shape. It had never seen such a thing before. What was it? Was it dead? More importantly, was it edible?

Upon walking closer, the smell of blood suddenly grew stronger. The Akura Jebia noted that the ground was covered with the stuff, and was more greatly concentrated around the possibly-dead monster’s leg.

It towered over the odd creature that lay in the mud. Hesitantly, the carapaceon reached out with a pincer and lightly tapped its flank. When hard chitin made contact with squishy skin, the Akura scuttled backwards a pace or two, in case the monster retaliated. But there was no movement, so it poked it once more.

This time, the creature’s long tongue, which stretched out from between its slackened jaws, wiggled a little. Similarly, its tail twitched, and a soft gurgle curled into the stale cavern air.

So the unknown monster was alive, just weak. The Akura could handle that. It raised its crystalline tail, ready to bash the remaining life out of its prey in one fell swoop.

Then it felt a tingle.

Stiffening, the Akura Jebia dared not move a muscle as the feeling intensified. There was no way it could be mistaken as a simple vibration, the product of another monster stirring the air around it. No, this was a feeling that the Akura felt in its bones (well, if it had bones), an unnatural force that no monster had any business meddling with.

There was magic here. Strong magic.

A terrible squeal echoed through the cave as the Akura fled. It dug its way through the mud until it had disappeared entirely. Soon, the tip of its tail had been swallowed by the saturated earth, leaving only a few small crystals behind.

Above the ground, the lucky Baruragaru stirred again as the magic in the air intensified further.

Right outside an entrance to the caves, where the moon shone down on the filthy Swamp through the gaps in the clouds, someone was waiting.

Keyren impatiently tapped her foot on the ground, ignoring the squishy sounds that occurred whenever her boot met the soggy grass. She had told Melody and Gekula to meet her here at sunset – and that had been more than three hours ago. Anyone else would have been worried, but no, Keyren was simply annoyed. The monsters here wouldn’t dare go after one of them, so there was no way her partners could have been attacked by one. No, there was absolutely no excuse for their lateness.

“Oh, one of these days…” the girl grumbled, starting to pace back and forth in front of the cave entrance. “One of these days I’m going to kick their tails. Or maybe roast their wings off. For Fatalis’ sake, Duruhos, team me up with someone who actually has a sense of time!”

She continued to mutter to herself as she moved swiftly over the grassy landscape. This portion of the Swamp was slightly more pleasant because of the trees and the relative lack of mud, but it was also very cold at night, and the crickets were far too noisy. Neither the temperature nor the incessant chirping were helping Keyren’s mood.

More or less, Keyren resembled an average teenage girl. She had a slim, athletic build and a cherubic face, making her look cute but tough. She wore a pale blue shirt that was cropped just below her chest, exposing her midriff, and a pair of similarly-cut pants. Her boots were nothing special, just regular Kelbi hide that had been significantly worn by the elements.

The difference between Keyren and most teenaged girls, though? She happened to be a Lagiacrus.

A hole in the back of her shorts allowed a muscular blue tail to lash freely behind her. Several more holes in her shirt accommodated six large dorsal spines that extended out of her back. Instead of hair, Keyren had a hard blue shell that swept over her head and down her neck, producing a cobra-like hood that flared open on either side. Scaly ridges over her eyes took the place of eyebrows, while her fingernails were more comparable to needle-sharp claws. Two brownish-red horns rose up over her head.

Yes, Keyren was an unusual case. She didn’t fit in among humans or monsters – instead, she was a freakish mix between the two, a hybrid of sorts that had come into existence through some one-in-a-million anomaly. One day, she was the undisputed ruler of the sea, a sixty-foot sea serpent with pinpoint control over electricity. She had been sunbathing on the coast of Moga Island, chill as could be, when all of a sudden…

… she was stuck in a humanoid body, with no memory of the transformation except for the feeling of magic surrounding her. Days had gone by before her new human instincts took over, and when they did, language and locomotion came naturally to her. But inside, she knew that none of it was natural. Lagiacri weren’t meant to walk on two legs or manipulate things with a pair of hands. The worst part was that other monsters were terrified of her, because raw magic lingered in the air around her, as if her very existence was a contradiction to reality.

But Keyren was by no means alone. She was far from it, in fact, and the event that had caused her transformation was anything but rare.

Because all over the Great Continent, monsters were changing exactly as she had.

“Where are the others?” the impatient Lagiacrus-girl yelled up at the sky. “Melody! Gekula! Get the hell over here before I shock the living daylights out of you!”

Under normal circumstances, shouting wasn’t good for solving problems, and Keyren was well aware of that. To her surprise, though, this time it worked. With a flutter of wings, Melody appeared in front of her, grinning so hard that her cheeks were stained pink.

The Qurupeco-girl wore a simple green T-shirt with a big red patch on the front, as well as a pair of shorts and a large flower in her shiny brown hair. Her legs were human from the knees up, but below that they were covered in brown scales and very bird-like. Large green wings stretched from her back on either side of her, and her heart-shaped tail wagged eagerly.

“I was looking for you!” Melody announced, beaming. “That’s when I heard you shouting. Goodness, do you always yell at yourself like that?”

“You were looking for me?” exploded Keyren. She grabbed the other hybrid by the front of her shirt and bellowed in her face, “You were supposed to meet me here three hours ago!”

For a moment, Melody was very startled, and the pink tinge on her cheeks drained away. Then the huge smile was back on her face, and she replied, “Oopsie! I must have forgot that!”

At this point, Keyren was so mad that electric sparks were starting to jump across her dorsal spines. She let the Qurupeco-girl go, and instead clutched at her head with a highly aggravated groan. After a few seconds, the anger faded, and she regained control of herself.

“Did you find anything, at least?” she asked.

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