I turned my head and immediately hissed in pain as my neck muscles felt like old dry leather crag after sitting in the sun for a decade. I lifted my arm to try and rub at the soreness but that same stiff, sore feeling was there too.

  “Esme!” I heard Carmil’s voice “Don’t move, I'll get the doctors!”

  “How are you gon anyone?” I muttered a movement in my arm. Fighting the pain I turo look and there was some simple leather strap around my wrist. With a single rune, ohat I saw Carmil reach through her ruo press with a tendril of blood. Which maybe was her own body, I still wasn’t sure on that yet. The ru blue under her toud a few moments ter a door opened.

  “Miss Carmil, has there been a ge?” I heard a voice I didn’t reize speak. I strained and mao turn my head iher dire and saw a nurse’s eyes widen. “You’re awake! I’ll get the doctors!” she then quickly turned and rushed out.

  “What the… where am I?” My voice was like the creaking of floors in a run down house and my throat felt like the Sahara… was that a desert? I felt like that was a desert.

  “We were so worried, you were shaking and bleeding and oh gods Esme, I was so scared.” I felt her again, like her face was against my cheek, arms holdiight.

  “Yettier at that. Feels more real.” I croaked out with a smile.

  “Well I gaiwo more levels trying to keep you alive after you damned near bit your tongue off so I’m not going to be thankful for that.” She sounded almost angry, g again.

  “I’m okay, I’m okay love.” I felt her tense for a moment then pull herself ‘around’ me more. Was it maniputive to use that wht now? I didn’t think so, I meant it. Though I did chose to use it then to get to her. So maybe. But I didn’t feel bad about it. Mostly.

  “You had better be. You still owe me a date, love.” Her voice was small, worried, I could still hear the tears in it but it sounded calmer at least.

  “So what happened?”

  “That’s a damned good question Miss Esme.” I heard a familiar void looked over to see Dr. Francova walking into the room. “One we have very few answers for as of yet.” He grumbled as he pulled a chair over in a very familiar a. Though this time he looked rested, hell he even looked like he’d gotten a haircut since I st saw him.

  “Hey doc, how long was I out this time?” I smirked and he sent me a very not amused gre.

  “A week. Aire week of rotating nurses and surgical staff keeping an eye on you and closing the new holes that would tear in you every half hour or so.” That did not sound fun. Gd I was out of it I suppose. “We had to redirect the train to a closer location, Parandra. Some of the best medical facilities in Uvtrayl, sed only to Delonandra and Yevvandra or the army rehab ter at Frayl. You should be hohat the General thought one enemy soldier’s life was worth disrupting train schedules and travel pns for a few thousand people.”

  I felt the snarky words that had been building in my head cat my throat. “S-sorry.”

  He sighed and just shook his head “You don’t even know what’s happening to you or why. It would be unfair to bme you for things. You’ll have to talk to a few other officers in a day or two once I clear you for it. But that requires I clear you, so lets hurry up and see how you’re doing.” He turned and said something irayl nguage and a few nurses came in, one pushing a cart with way, way, way too many medical devices for me to be fortable with. So much so I almost didn’t notice that I actually sort of uood what he’d said. Something about being ready, bringing something?

  Though I had a lot of things to worry about, once again, so I set that aside to try and prioritize my current fvors of insanity. The pain in my muscles was short lived, or at least it was after a nurse opened a small gss vial with some dark greenish goo and held it out towards my left arm. Carmil promptly reached out of my runes and slurped it up. I guess she’d been interfag with the medical staff, made sense sidering what she was and could do. I smiled at the thought of my sexy voiced elemental being with me all that time and keeping me safe.

  “Do you really have something to smile abht now?” she grumbled in my ear as the tension and pain in my muscles slowly bled away thanks to whatever had just been given to me.

  “Yeah, you.” the nurses paused for a moment to g me, but quickly got back to their tasks when they saw I wasn’t addressing any of them.

  “Miss Carmil has been a great help in keeping you alive. Not to mention she’s popur with the staff here. Polite, friendly, even f to the ohat e in looking tired or stressed from what I am told.” The doctor spoke as he helped ready some absolutely terrifying looking devices. No idea what they were but none looked soft at least.

  “She’s the best, yeah. Owe her more than I say.” I coughed slightly and a nurse moved to help me drink some water.

  “I’m going to warn you ahead of time, you have ged. Mostly in small ways, you’re taller, slightly more lithe, your hair fell out and rapidly grew ba purple.”

  “What?” I reached up and pulled some of the neck length curls into my vision and I’ll be damned my hair was actually purple. Nice bright and deep shade of it too. “Huh.”

  “But some ges are more signifit, not to mention odd.” he sighed and one of the nurses, I think the ohat had first e in g me and blushed. Ah beans. The dream. That goddess’s warning.

  I shifted my hips slightly ahere was somethihere what the hell. “I… uh… seem to have a growth.”

  “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. I did.” I looked up at his fad there was the slightest hint of a mog smile. "Now e on, this is going to be awkward no matter what so lets just barrel right through it and then move on with our lives.”

  Thankfully none of the devices were invasive, apparently there was no need with Carmil able t out samples they needed on demand. But several were in fact quite cold. I was helped to my feet… foot, stripped, and helped to stand, sit, bend over, and take a number of odd positions so they could press various metal or stone objects against various parts of my body. I mao get a good look at several and hey all had glowing runes on them. Most sent some sensation or ahrough me, making me shiver or wince or once, rather embarrassingly moan directly into the ear of a hat was holdianding. She had the decy to look as embarrassed as I felt.

  But overall it was mostly embarrassing and mildly unfortable, no real pain to speak of. Not to mention I got a thrill seeing all that aricraft maery at work. Aricraft? I khat word, I mean obviously I thought it without being told. But I knew what it meant too. Mixing mana arts and stific progress, aricraft was the source of a lot of the moderies in the world. Poor dead Bernson’s managun was one example. Vehicle ehat didn’t use steam were aricraft. Handheld lights that required no fire were growing popur in the more affluent areas. I couldn’t think of more but I khere were tless wonders made with the discipline.

  It made sense, being so drawn towards it. Poor struggling street orphan from either some small vilge or the slums of somewhere rger, I don’t think I’d seen much of this at all before. Also it was really cool.

  Of course, the whole time I did my damo not look down at my body because I khat was going to be a whole thing. But ohe testing was over the embarrassed nurse helped me stand in front of a mirror that had been brought in and I… well alright then.

  I was hott. My skin had paled, a lot, but I had freckles EVERYWHERE. Also they were all dark purple and made me look like a reverse- holy shit, like a reverse night sky. I mean, not literally obviously but knowing about her I could see it easily. I guess I really was her Saint or Champion or whatever.

  Also my knockers were incredible teardrop perfe and like twice the size of my perky little handfuls before. I mean, they were still little pared to Henna’s but damn this was nice! My hair was a wild curly mess of violet with a few silver streaks. I smiled as I realized it reminded me of a storm cloud.

  My face, okay smaller details first. Lips were fuller, nose was slightly more angur, and my ears stuore than they used to. Which holy I found cute. Big ge though? My eyes, my irises were massive, I couldn’t see white around them at all. Just a deep e surrounding my pupils, which were now dark, silvery eight poiars. Like less fantastical and physically impossible copies of her own bright floating stars. Damn.

  I took a breath a my gaze lower. I k was there, I’d been aware of it every time I moved but looking directly at it made my brain blues… I don’t know why my mind keeps using phrases I don’t know but at least it gives me some general idea of meaning.

  Hangiween my legs were a few inches of girthy dick. It was surreal and I couldn’t help but reach dorod it with a finger. It twitched and I felt a pulse through me making my kremble slightly. “Oh man, what the hell?”

  I saw movement in the mirror and the nurse holding me up was shifting slightly and quickly pulling her sight away from the cock that she’d been suddenly caught staring at. I smirked and he nipples poking through her top. Well at the very least I knew I wasn’t the only ohat appreciated the ges, from ahetise at least.

  Then my dick started to harden and my embarrassment fucktoupled in size. A few long, mortifying seds until it stood proud. The thing had to be eight fug inches if not more, what the hell? Of course it lifting up let me note something else as well. No balls and I could clearly see my bia still present, so rog both bits. I khe thing had to be firing live rounds sidering she told me it was to make some babies so I was forted that I wasn’t losing my more familiar parts to make room for somethihank you my night sky goddess for that at least.

  The doc cleared his throat and talked to the nurse a moment then to me “Miss Esme, Nurse Jaina is going to get you situated so you have a quick shower. I’d reend making it a cold orust me.” he said, no judgment in his face. I think Doctor Francova was generally of the ‘I’m to old to dance around shit’ school of thought and I was quite thankful to be ho.

  Twenty minutes and one freezing cold shower ter, I fully uood the suggestion and marked it to remember iure.

  Carmil stroked my cheek “How are you holding up, love?”

  I was sitting on my hospital bed and just letting myself breath at the time and when she asked I looked down at the stump where my leg had once been “Why didn’t she fix it?” I asked to myself, though it was also ily an ao her question I suppose.

  “Who? Fix what, love?” I could feel her ay, her worry that maybe I had been ged like she had, some mental alteration that hadn’t been noticed yet.

  “We o talk Carmil. Not sure if this is a good or bad one for you, but she said you were ‘cool’ whiehow I know means trustworthy.” I ughed softly and id back to start talking.