| We return to the Pyramid to find out whether Astra 9b's idea works.
The mages are out of it for the moment, but Astra 9a remembers the old
legends about princesses and frogs. Well, it's worth a shot, she
thinks, and gently picks up the frog that she believes to be Astra 5b and
kisses it.
"Ribbit," the frog croaks, looking up at the disappointed Astra 9a.
"Good idea but wrong sex," Alicia says from the side.
"Wha....oh," Astra 9a blinks, seeing the shefox's point.
In those old legends, the frogs in question being kissed were male while
the princesses (of course) were female. Astra 9a was kissing a female frog,
apparently.
So, with a few adjustments the animals are soon restored to their rightful
form. That it takes a bit longer than expected when the kisses of the non-Champions
prove to be ineffective (something that raises a few eyebrows), but it
happens soon enough.
"Maybe after the magic users recover enough, they can examine them?"
Joan 2 says softly to Astra 9a and Annafird 2, looking over at the non-Champions
worriedly.
no sooner than Joan 2 says those words, several of the non-Champions
shout in surprise. It seems that her worries heard her, and decided to
manifest themselves. Some now seem to be looking at various parts of themselves.
Some sport patches of fur. Some sport on their heads the beginnings of
budding horns. Some find that they have the beginning of a fine fur all
over their body (along with large clumps of hair on their head falling
out).
The only non-Champions that are unaffected are the demifox cubs and
the human infants. Seems that either the Book deemed them unimportant enough
to target them in its anger, or that the promise made by the Rules and
Agents to protect them from harm during this quest shielded them.....
Before those effected can start to get really frightened, a loud
explosion in the next room.
"They say that enough high explosives will solve any problem," a voice
some recognizes as Inquirer comes from the other room, "Not true, but that
stuff from Ace sure does open doors!"
Those on the outside, still unable to break through the magical enchantments
on the Pyramid, resort to more mundane means after determining a safe spot
to blast via tricorder.
After a brief reunion (and a bit of staring from those Champions who
got duplicated), those of the outside and the inside tell what they know
and have seen.
Malachi, having dealt with a similar situation with the Fred of her
group who'd gotten dragon's blood in a wound (and thus slowly had been
changing into a dragon), says that this "changeling" curse is similar.....but
much more powerful.
"I agree with the Golem, Inquirer." she says finally, after examining
the anxious non-Champions, "We need to speak with this Synizn fellow....and
see if this Crystallic is powerful enough to break the curse before it's
too late!"
She was rather looking forward to meeting this other dragon, who'd she'd
never met before (the tradition of Dragon Circles and such never formed
on her world). That and after a week (a month at most for some) it would
be too late according to her calculations. Soon, their new forms would
demand evil things of the victims.....and goodness knows how long they
could last against that!
-
 So, they
all pile into the TARDIS and head off to the last place they knew that
Synizn was broadcasting from.....
Go Back
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