Ch. 6 – Transmogrification



Even Dante quickly admitted that his plan had more than its fair share of flaws.

In short, Skye and Kibou would sneak around to one side and distract Gunter, while Dante came from the other side with the sleep dust.

Assuming Skye could use the spell book effectively and Dante wasn’t killed by a random attack, it still seemed sketchy. There was no guarantee that the dust would affect the ogre.

Still, what else could they do?

Clutching the bottle of dust, Dante crept along the edge of the battlefield. He traversed unnoticed by anyone, occasionally catching glimpses of the other two as they progressed.

Soon enough, Dante was as close as he could get to Gunter while hiding behind a large rock. Peeking over, he watched as the ogre grabbed another bolder and hurled it into the air. Doncath was still pinned under the club being pushed down on him, struggling to free himself.

On his other side, Dante saw two heads peak out from a bush. Sky and Kibou were in position.

Dante gave a small wave, signaling that he was ready.

Skye nodded before using a forepaw to open the book. Dante watched him quickly swipe through the pages, looking for a spell that could distract their target. He knew when the griffin came to a promising page when his beak opened in a grin.

Gunter had just hefted up another large stone to throw at Garrus when a whirlwind of leaves came out of nowhere, sticking to his face and covering his eyes.

Grunting irritably, Gunter released the boulder as he tried to wipe the leaves off his face. Blinded, he didn’t see the purple fireball coming at him until it struck him on the head.

Howling in rage, Gunter swung around to try and get at his attacker. His action also brought his club off Doncath. The bear just got up when he saw Dante running over with the bottle.

Doncath’s eyes widened as he recognized what was in the bottle, put two and two together, and then dived out of the way.

Gunter had wiped the leaves off his face and turned just in time to see a bottle of glittery dust flying right at him.

It hit him right between the eyes, breaking apart as a cloud of the stuff instantly enveloped the ogre’s head.

For a moment, Gunter didn’t move a muscle.

Then he staggered to one side, swung his club, and stumbled in the other direction. Bringing his arm back, he gave one last swing before falling onto his back, fast asleep.

That last swing had also sent the club flying out of his grasp. It spun into the air, heading straight for where Garrus and Matuu were locked in combat.

“Dad! Look out!” Skye shouted.

The older griffin looked to see the club coming right at him and dodged it.

Matuu had closed in behind Garrus in a split second, grabbing him around the neck with one arm. He held up a razor-tipped feather to the griffin’s throat in his other hand.

“All of you, stop this!” Matuu shouted down at everyone in the clearing. The fighting instantly died down as they all looked up at him. “Surrender yourselves now, and I’ll spare his life.”

Dante froze. This hadn’t been something he saw coming.

He quickly tried to think of something, but nothing came to mind. His satchel at his side seemed miles away, its contents useless if he couldn’t get to them in time.

This was it. They were going to lose.

An enraged scream came from the side. Dante turned to see Skye staring at where his dad was being held, face contorted into a dangerous glare.

At the young griffin’s feet was the open spell book, its pages starting to turn seemingly on their own. Next to it was Prospero’s staff. Dante realized they must have ended up at the spot where it was thrown earlier.

The next instant, Skye, the book, and the staff began to glow with a bright blue light.

“What the – ” Dante said, raising his hand to shield his eyes.

All he could make out within the light were indistinct glowing shapes that seemed to be expanding and twisting.

The phenomenon only lasted a few seconds. When the light died down, Dante gasped at what he saw.

It was Skye, but the griffin had changed.

He now stood on his hind legs and had grown to at least seven feet tall. His wings had been enlarged to an impressive wingspan on either side of him. A dark blue robe had appeared on him from seemingly out of nowhere. He clutched the spell book in one hand, and in the other was Prospero’s staff.

It took Dante a moment to realize what he had just seen – the transmogrification process, through which the creatures of Nibiru achieved stronger forms.

Skye glared up at Matuu, ears laid flat against his skull and his tail swishing in agitation.

Then he crouched low and leaped into the air, his wings quickly bringing him up to the birdman’s level.

“Let him go, Matuu,” Skye growled, “I won’t warn you again.”

“Come now, youngling, do try to be reasonable,” Matuu replied, holding the razor feather closer to Garrus’s neck. “Even with your increase in power, you still stand very little chance of – ”

Skye didn’t give him time to finish. The book snapped open by itself as the griffin waved the staff. Several balls of light formed in its wake and shot out, zeroing in on the birdman.

Matuu was forced to release Garrus as he dodged out of the way, leaving the weakened griffin to fall.

Before he could go too far, Skye swooped down to catch his father, helping him safely to a spot near the edge of the clearing.

Dante had only a moment to take this in before the fight instantly started back up.

A shadow loomed overhead, and he ducked just before another rock hit him.

At first, fearing Gunter had woken up, Dante looked at a massive creature made entirely of rocks and entwined vines.

The rock golem raised a bulky arm over its head before bringing it down toward the boy. Dante raised his arms and ducked, waiting for the blow to hit him.

Nothing happened.

He looked up to see the rock at the end of the golem’s arm mere inches from his head. Wrapped around it were tendrils of a familiar-looking maroon fabric that extended from the wrapping on his arm.

“Tenzin!” Dante had forgotten about the living artifact given to him earlier that morning.

The tether tightened around his arm before pushing back against the golem, sending it stumbling backward.

“Heh, looks like you’re not completely useless after all,” came a gruff voice behind him.

Dante turned to find Doncath backing up to him, facing several creatures that had started to surround the two.

“Just lucky,” the boy replied, taking note of just how many were around them.

Kibou rushed to Dante’s side in a flash of green fur, growling at the surrounding creatures.

“Let’s hope that luck keeps up,” Doncath replied, readying his claws.

On his arm, Dante felt Tenzin squeeze his arm and tugged him down.

He dropped just before a log was swung through the space he had been occupying. In retaliation, Kibou blasted a fireball at the offender.

Dante was thrust into another blur of commotion, attacks seemingly coming at him from every direction. This time, with some help from the immortal artifact, he could dodge more effectively, block attacks, and even strike back at his assailants.

A monkey-like creature straddled his back. He reached back, trying to grab it, and the tether lashed around the attacker’s middle before flinging it away.

The ground suddenly rumbled underneath Dante’s feet. Vine-like tendrils shot out and formed a cage around him that was quickly shrinking down on him.

Before he had time to think, Tenzin extended into the satchel and withdrew another crystal. Dante barely had time to make out its light blue color before the tether squeezed hard enough to break it.

Cold air erupted from the shattered crystal, making Dante shiver, and the vines froze over as ice covered them.

“Thanks for that,” Dante said, kicking the vines to make an opening he could slip through.

SHING! SHING! SHING!

Dante cried out as several razor feathers almost hit him. Looking up, he saw Matuu baring down on him.

The birdman’s progress was hindered as he dodged a blue fireball, looping back into the air high above.

Kibou jumped up as high as he could, launching several more fireballs. Matuu effortlessly dodged all of these before retaliating by hefting his wings and sending a whirlwind back at the therivorum.

The wind attack sent Kibou flying backward and crashed into the ground. He was instantly back on his feet, growling as he glared at the circling birdman.

“I’m afraid it’s no good,” Doncath said from nearby, fending off a pair of giant plant creatures. “Unless your friend is planning on growing a pair of wings anytime soon, there’s no way he’s taking on Matuu.”

Before Dante could respond, he had to jump out of the way as another of Matuu’s feathers nearly skewered him. He landed with a grunt on his back.

This could have been better. Even with Gunter out of the picture, they were still greatly overpowered.

Only a miracle could save them now.

A humming sound suddenly reached Dante’s ears. It took him a moment to locate the source from his tunic pocket.

Time seemed to slow as he pulled out the obsidian orb. A faint, golden light was coming from within its cloudy depths, shimmering brighter with each moment.

Dante felt warmth coming from the orb’s smooth surface, the heat traveling up his arm until it filled him completely.

His gaze returned to Kibou. To Dante’s amazement, the therivorum had started to glow like Skye had earlier. Unlike the griffin, this radiance was gold, just like the light from the orb.

Kibou was lifted into the air as the light increased, glowing brighter until only a white outline was visible.

By then, all the fighting had paused as they watched the transmogrification process. Dante’s eyes were locked on Kibou’s form as it grew, just like Skye had, a pair of wings also taking shape.

The light faded, and Dante stared up in amazement at what he saw.

He could recognize Kibou, who had grown as tall as Skye had with a similar upright posture. Near white fur had grown on his head, taking the form of long hair that formed a ponytail. Clothing had also appeared on him, the outfit resembled a sleeveless martial arts uniform.

Kibou hovered effortlessly in the air, his wings keeping him aloft as he stared down Matuu.

“Impressive enough,” the birdman said, “you’ve managed to transform yourself.”

He suddenly vanished in a motion blur, reappearing behind Kibou and striking him on the back, sending him spinning.

“However,” Matuu continued, “you’ll need more than that to compete with my skill and fighting prows.”

He launched another attack, swinging a razor-tipped wing forward.

Before it could make contact, Kibou shot out a hand and caught it. All the power and force Matuu had put into the blow dispersed instantly.

A grin crossed Kibou’s muzzle. “We’ll see about that.”

Dante was surprised as he watched the former therivorum shove a shocked-looking Matuu away. Up until now, Kibou had only made dog-like barks and growls. And now here he was, talking like a cocky teenager. Could it have come from his transmogrification?

Back in the air, Matuu was trying to recover from being thrown when several blue lights struck him from the side.

Skye flew back into the air, staff and book ready. “Give it up, Matuu. You’re going to answer for everything you’ve done.”

The birdman laughed. “You really think you both can compete with me? Fine, I won’t hold myself back anymore.”

He made a swinging motion, sending more razor feathers at Skye. The griffin swiped them away with his staff but had to bolt to the side as Matuu dived at him. The birdman twisted in midair, launching a kick that hit Skye in the small of the back.

As the griffin was sent hurtling, Kibou – using a surprising burst of speed – zipped in behind Matuu. Before the birdman knew what was happening, he received a solid blow to the side of his head.

He turned to face his attacker, only for Kibou to have darted away and out of sight.

An instant later it happened again. And again, and then several times in quick succession.

Matuu let loose a hawk-like scream of rage, looking around as he tried to ready another attack.

Too late! In a final burst of speed, Kibou appeared behind him, delivering a roundhouse kick to Matuu’s back.

The birdman looked stunned, and then he began to fall. He landed on the still-sleeping form of Gunter, knocked out cold.

Silence filled the clearing as everything sunk in. The enemy troops realized their generals were defeated and began to look warily at Doncath and the others.

Some tried to flee but found their path blocked by a ruffled looking but otherwise okay Garrus. Sky landed on the other side of the clearing, blocking others who were escaping.

High above, Kibou gave an exhilarated spin before punching the air victoriously. “Oh yeah!”

“We… we won…” Dante only began to realize what he had gone through, everything he had done. While it wasn’t comparable to what Doncath, Sky, and Kibou had accomplished, the fact of the matter was that he had participated in a battle… an actual, honest-to-goodness battle.

“Not bad for a couple of novices,” Doncath said, examining Gunter and Matuu. “They won’t be out for long. We should get them tied up before – Hey!”

He had turned around just in time to witness Dante collapse into a heap on the ground.

---

And here we get our first taste of this series' gimmick - Transmogrification.

It's basically Evolution or Digivolution, I know ^^; but I feel like this works for the series.

Read and enjoy ^_^

~Aaron