“His name is Broghan,” Alara said. “He is terribly playful, and changes shape and color at least a dozen times a day.”
At that, Broghan got to his feet. His form rippled, and I gasped as he changed into a miniature pony with silver fur and a purple mane. He whinnied as I touched his velvety nose, and then changed again, this time into a giant frog with orange and blue spots. I recoiled as his skin turned slimy beneath my hand, and he flicked me on the cheek with his sticky tongue right before changing into a baby dragon the size of a small dog.
“Amazing,” I said as I scooped him up. He opened his mouth and belched a tiny stream of fire that nearly singed my eyebrows off before he curled up into my arms. “These are all animals from my world, although nobody has seen a dragon in ages. How is he able to do this?”
The Tua chuckled. “Changing forms and size is commonplace in our world,” Alara said. “Although Broghan is special.” They exchanged another glance, and I sensed there was some inside joke I wasn’t getting.
“All right, well now that you know who I am, can you please tell me how to get out of here?” I asked, a little exasperated now. “I really want to get home.”
“Why the hurry?” Nalan asked. “You only have Ta’sradala waiting to taunt and torture you again. It is really a shame that you have gotten mixed up in her games. Is this Iannis you wish to marry truly worth enduring her wrath?”
“Yes, he is,” I said tightly. “And I’m getting really tired of everyone questioning my upcoming marriage.” By Magorah, was this what I had to look forward to for the rest of my life? Even the Tua, who had little concept of our ways, thought that Iannis and I were a bad match.
“There is no need to get so angry,” Alara said soothingly. “We will help you, but first you need to relax, because you’ll have to be at full strength if you are to have any chance. Here.” She conjured a mug out of thin air and handed it to me. “Drink this.”
I wanted to protest, but it seemed unwise to refuse, so I took the frosty mug and sipped from it. The light blue liquid was both sweet and bitter, and quite tasty, so I gulped down another mouthful. Instantly, I began to feel wobbly, the world tilting around me as the colors and shapes began to meld into each other.
“What’s happening?” I gasped, panic seizing me as I clutched at one of the trees for balance. Had they accidentally poisoned me?
Nalan said something, but his voice was garbled, and I couldn’t make anything out. The next thing I knew, one of them gathered me up, and I forced myself to relax. I would have to ride out whatever this was until it passed, and pray to Magorah that I hadn’t misjudged the intentions of these people.
12
I woke up in a giant bed big enough to sleep at least ten people my size. By the light coming in from an overhead window, I guessed it was mid-morning, though with these strange colors it was hard to be sure. Groaning, I turned onto my side—the mattress was hard like a plank of wood, and my back twinged in protest. A snuffling sound got my attention, and I sat up to see Broghan curled up at my feet. He’d taken on the form of an adorable wolf cub, and when he opened an eye to look at me, I felt my heart melting despite myself.
Noting with relief that I wasn’t cuffed or restrained in any way, I decided I wasn’t in any imminent danger. My mouth was a bit dry, but the glass of water waiting by the bed quickly took care of that. As I considered whether to leave the bed and explore or wait for some sign of my hosts, I stroked Broghan’s soft pelt. He rolled onto his back, begging me to pet his belly, then licked my hand when I complied. I was amazed by how accurately he mimicked an alien species—if I didn’t know better, I might have thought he was a real wolf cub. Even the scent was correct.
After a little while, I got up from the bed and decided to look around the room. To my delight, I found a set of leathers and boots waiting for me, folded up in an oversized closet—an exact replica of my enforcer leathers back home. The Tua must have gleaned them from the memories they’d taken from me. It was definitely a good sign that they had gone to the effort to provide these, along with the human-sized glass and jug I’d drunk from. I put on the leathers and was delighted to discover they were even more comfortable than the ones at home. I marveled at the Tua’s casual mastery when I noticed the jacket buttons were of gold covered with black lacquer and engraved with my initials.
After I finished dressing, Broghan led me down the stairs into a large room and toward what looked like the dining table, where the Tua were waiting. They had shrunk themselves and the furniture down to near-human size, another hospitable gesture, although my chair was still high enough that my feet dangled well above the smooth stone floor.
“You look much better,” Nalan said as I sat back and warily scrutinized the feast that was spread out over the huge table. Nothing looked at all familiar.
“Thanks. I feel a lot better. What was that knock-out drink all about, anyway?” I asked as I picked up a dark red roll and began to slather it with something that looked like lavender-colored butter. It smelled a bit different from normal bread, but it still had that yeasty scent, so I felt comfortable trying it out first. “Were you guys putting some kind of spell on me?”
“Not at all!” Arala exclaimed. “That was just a relaxation tonic meant to open up your mind. We wanted to give you the knowledge you need to leave the Tua realm, but you were tense and tired. The tonic should have put you in a more receptive state of mind.”
“Unfortunately, it turns out that it was too strong for your constitution,” Nalan said. “Due to your shifter nature, it did no lasting harm, and simply put you to sleep. We will have to do this another way, but first, let us eat. As we understand, regular feeding is very important for your health.”
I reluctantly agreed, worried at this evidence that they were not all-knowing and could make dangerous mistakes. Did I understand correctly that their tonic could have killed me if I’d been human? How safe was the breakfast spread, then? I decided to eat only small quantities of any one food and use Fenris’s detection spells to ensure nothing was poisonous to me.
We spent the next hour talking over breakfast, or was it brunch? They might have entirely different mealtimes here than on my world, and it didn’t seem important enough to ask.