“There’s a gold ring around your pupil.”
Elora frowned, confused. “What...” she started to ask, but Thorn reached toward a table and snatched a little hand mirror, holding it up in front of her.
He was right. Her eyes, once a plain, clear blue, had changed. Around her pupil was a shimmering ring of gold, glowing faintly, like the light of a distant sun. It was as if her eyes were a solar eclipse, with rays of golden sunshine peeking out from her pupils’ rims, surrounded by the soft, pale blue of a daytime sky.
Even she had to admit, it was mesmerizing.
The gold band pulsed slightly, catching the light in a manner that made it almost hypnotic. It was... beautiful, but the beauty of it only deepened her fear.
“Fascinating,” Thorn whispered, saturated with a kind of admiration that filled her with disgust. “And more importantly, different.”
Thorn circled her, and Elora followed his movement, adjusting herself in the chair. Now, she sat like normal, her legs weak and unsteady beneath her as she tried to compose herself. She tugged at the loose fabric of her dress, pulling it over her shoulders to cover her exposed skin, though it did little to restore her sense of dignity.
Thorn slipped the enchanted ring back onto his finger, the gold flowing like water around the band. He didn’t speak at first, just studied her, perhaps trying to calculate just how terrified she was.
“Are you ready?” he finally asked.
She scoffed.Why even bother asking?“No,” she whispered.
Chapter 34
Elora
She knew this was it. She was about to die. Her body breaking and contorting beyond repair. Whatever Thorn had done to her, whatever magic he had unleashed, was about to destroy her. The thought of it—of her bones snapping, her skin twisting, of becoming something she was never meant to be—instilled in her a terror so deep she couldn’t breathe.
She wasn’t ready. She would never be ready. But Thorn didn’t care about her fear, about her whispered plea. He never did.
He stepped forward and rested his hand on her shoulder. She flinched from his touch. The moment his ring made contact with her skin, a surge of electricity coursed through her.
Elora gasped, her body jolting as the electricity racked her muscles, sending sharp, burning pain through every nerve. But it wasn’t just the physical pain, it was something deeper, something darker. The magic Thorn had embedded in her back—the golden lines, the runes—reacted to the shock, coming alive inside her. She could feel it, the magic rippling under her skin, frazzling something within her, bringing it to the surface.
Her teeth. They grew sharp, elongating into pointed fangs that pressed uncomfortably against her lips. Her tongue brushed against the newly formed points, the sensation alien, monstrous.
Then her fingers. Her nails thickened, lengthening into sharp claws. She stared in horror as her hands, once so familiar, became something grotesque, something dangerous.
This wasn’t a full transformation. It was partial, just like Thorn had intended. But it was enough. More than enough to make her feel like she was losing herself, bit by bit.
Elora’s body hadn’t changed as drastically as she’d feared. Her bones remained intact, her frame only slightly more agile, but the change had left its mark in other ways.
Her senses had sharpened. Her eyesight, once limited in the faintly lit room, now pierced through the darkness with unnerving clarity. The hidden shadows in the room’s recesses were no longer obscured; She could see everything. She sensed the faintest movements around her, as if the very air in the room whispered to her about every shift in the space. Every heartbeat, every breath. It was overwhelming.
Thorn stood over her, inspecting her eyes with an intense curiosity. She heard the quiet rustle of his clothing, the clang of the metal chains coming from the other room.
“What do you see?” he asked, his voice tinged with fascination.
Elora couldn’t answer. Her pupils had shifted, taking on the vertical slit of a cat’s eye, transforming her vision entirely. The room around her felt foreign, every detail too sharp, too clear. She could feel the changes inside her, feel the way the magic hummed beneath her skin, but most of all, she couldn’t believe she was stillalive.
She had expected the transformation to tear her apart, to end her. But here she was, breathing, changed, but still herself. Sort of.
Thorn’s hand hovered near her face, fingers twitching as if he were about to touch her, to inspect his work further. Before he made contact, the door behind them creaked open, and a guard stepped inside.
“Master Thorn,” the guard said, urgently. “There’s a matter that requires your attention immediately.”
Thorn’s expression darkened, clearly annoyed by the interruption. He glanced at the guard, then back at Elora, his gaze lingering on her, as if he was debating whether to finish whatever twisted inspection he had in mind.
With a frustrated huff, he straightened and grabbed Elora by the shoulder, pulling her roughly out of the chair. She stumbled but found her footing, her new agility making the movement easier than it would have been before. He dragged her back into the main chamber with the Al’teran man.
Thorn locked the door to the lab behind them, the heavy clink of the key turning in the lock echoing in the room. Elora glanced toward that Al’teran, his golden eyes quickly meeting hers. He furrowed his brow, perhaps recognizing the changes in her, the gold in her own eyes that was now glistening in the darkness.
