Thenyr soared high above the waves of the ocean, his broad wings easily bearing him aloft above the placid surface below. The goddess had bid him accomplish a mission for her, a mission which required a long journey. He would meet Kawheek when he arrived on the far shore, but for now he had the skies to himself, and he reveled in the rays of the goddess's light.


He preferred shorter journeys, but at least this one allowed him to take advantage of the steady trade winds which blew through the clear blue skies. He hardly had to think to stay aloft. His broad wings caught the natural upward spiral of the air and bore him higher, only forcing him to beat his wings occasionally to stay the course. He was making good time, and would arrive at his destination well before sundown if he continued like this.


Just as he was about to let his mind wander, however, Thenyr spotted something gleaming from below him, shining from the surface of the water. The cleric's sharp eyes narrowed, and he banked to bring himself lower, closer to where it shone. It was not a reflection of the sun's rays, but it almost seemed as bright. Perhaps–


His pondering was suddenly interrupted as, to his surprise, whatever had produced the light shot out towards him. Despite the height at which he flew, it snared him with pinpoint accuracy, twisting around his face and shocking him with a sharp pain. He found his wings feeling suddenly weak, and he began to descend rapidly.


His every effort to resist resulted in a new surge of pain, until at last he realized that he would crash into the ocean's waves. With a last effort, he managed to prepare for a dive and split the surface of the sea like an archer's arrow. Unfortunately, the pull that had dragged him underwater did not relent, and he found himself rapidly sinking deeper.


At last, just as Thenyr began to think that he would drown, his descent ended, leaving him fighting against the glowing strands that had captured him. He struggled, but a strong, unseen hand held him still. With his own strength failing him, he reached instead for the talisman that hung at his chest, trying to summon the goddess's power to his aid in his time of desperate need.


A voice laughed mockingly from before him. In a moment, a light began to glow; not the bright, golden rays of the goddess, but a sickly, pale green orb that appeared to hang alone in the dark depths. Momentarily, it cheated his eyes, but then it guided his vision to its owner. His eyes opened wide as he saw the horrific vision of the creature which had ensnared him.


The green orb was not disconnected, he realized. It was attached to a stalk, and the stalk led back to a head with bulbous, dead white eyes that stared from above a wicked jaw. Massive fangs curled up from below the creature's face, the unfamiliar visage still managing to grin in a way that made Thenyr's stomach turn. The head was attached to a body, an odd, spindly shape with a recognizably pair of arms and legs to go with a fish's tail. One webbed hand clasped the glowing rope which hampered the Thordani's movements, and the other gestured towards Faenya's icon.


"Foolish bird," the creature spoke in a voice that gurgled and rumbled, making the very water tremble around them. "Faenya's rays do not reach this deep. Your foul 'goddess' has no power in our domain."


Thenyr's chest burned at the insult to the goddess, but even moreso for lack of air. He was forced to choke back the gasp that would fill his chest with the ocean's noxious brine, but he could not resist much longer.


"Ah, is our guest struggling?" his captor mocked. "We can't have that. You have yet to enjoy our humble hospitality!"


Just as he felt that he could not last any longer, a breath of air was suddenly drawn into Thenyr's lungs. He panicked for a moment, before he realized that it was a gasp of air, not of water. His mind raced to discover how, only to realize that a set of ridges along the sides of his neck had suddenly flared out to draw air from within the dark water!


"Yes, that's right. Breathe! Breathe deep of the air that surrounds you, as only a citizen of our domain may."


Thenyr had no choice but to do just that. His new gills fluttered along his neck, pushing aside the feathers around them. He squirmed against his bonds, but he couldn't resist the power that held him fast. He still clung to his talisman, but the strange fish-man reached out to snatch it from his grasp. The cleric attempted to resist, but found that his grip was strangely weak. The symbol was pulled from his grasp, leaving the Thordani warrior gazing in shock at his fingers.


Thin, translucent skin had grown between each digit!


A sinking feeling spread throughout his form.


"You will regret this!" he snarled. It felt strange to speak beneath the waves, but he found it quite natural now that gills gave him breath.


"Pfft, hardly likely," his captor scoffed. "When I am done with you, no one will recognize who you used to be!"


Thenyr gasped as the green light from the dangling orb brightened. Somehow he knew that its influence was changing him, but the cord of light that still surrounded his face prevented him from pulling away. He could feel the creature's power molding him, stretching him, reshaping him to an unknown shape and purpose.


As a Thordani, his body was lightweight, with strong, lean muscle suited to flight. The sickly glow that was transforming him was altering this, however. His body stretched out longer and thinner, but packed with sinuous muscle. His arms and legs each rotated until they were positioned at the front of his body. His proud, blue garb tore along its seams, unable to contain his swelling form. His tail saw the greatest changes, however, leaving his trousers a useless tatter. The proud plume of feathers that extended behind him to give him control and stability while flying remained in some form, but it extended out behind him at the end of a long, streamlined shape that looked very similar to his captor's own tail. The very light that was changing him allowed Thenyr to see how his tail feathers were changing, their colors becoming a muted green with accents in reds and blues, and the individual feathers stretching and merging until they formed the translucent webbing of a very piscine fin.


Thenyr renewed his struggle, employing even the strength of his new tailfin to pull back against his restraints. Despite his efforts, he could not pull free, and a sudden surge of golden power rippled up through the strand that the aquatic wizard held. The cleric gasped as the power surged into his face, changing it even as it paralyzed his attempts to resist.


His beak pressed further forward in front of him as his face pressed out, and his eyes shifted into new positions on either side of a broad muzzle. His beak softened a little bit, but managed to keep its general shape. The most evident changes occurred within, as he could feel a some of the lost density from his beak being replaced by a ridge of thick, rectangular teeth that grew within his mouth.


On either side of his head, a pair of fins flared out, giving the Thordani something resembling ears where none had been visible before. The changes even swept down Thenyr's neck, causing it to extend longer, thicker… stronger. Even his new gills seemed to expand, causing his chest to barrel forward with a particularly large breath of air. Even as he exhaled, however, the shape remained altered. It strained what remained of his robe, but one more change spelled its end. A ridge of feathers stood up along his neck and grew longer, denser… Their texture remained light, drifting in the underwater eddies, but their size was enough to destroy his clothing and reveal how much his body had changed, unobserved.


His feathers had been absorbed into a new coat of scales that scattered the dim light of his surroundings. Their own color was a drab brown, but individual scales reflected shades of green that grew darker as the scales wrapped around towards the cleric's back. The ridge of once-feathers now formed a distinctive set of fins along his back, and though he could not see them, their vivid blue, green, and red coloring provided decoration to the more plain coloration of his scales.


The ocean wizard cackled. This drew Thenyr's attention, and he found that he could not focus both eyes on the creature after his head's transformation. Through the gaze of one eye, however, he could see the monstrous man holding the talisman that he had stolen. With Thenyr's attention drawn, the mage smirked.


"This is the symbol of one of Faenya's priests, but I do not see one of those around. You won't mind if I dispose of it, will you?"


Thenyr tried to object, but his voice emerged in a strangled, warbling sound. He coughed and tried again, but could not manage to form a word. The mocking smile on his captor's face only widened, encouraging the changing Thordani to make one last effort to fight against the magical restraints that bound him. He reached out one webbed hand towards his treasured symbol and did manage to get close. Only, just as he thought he might reach it, his arm began to shrink back towards his body. He gave another cry of frustration and despair, but there was nothing he could do as a surge of the wizard's power crushed his treasured symbol, reducing it to dust as the humbled cleric continued to change.


His arms shrank inward, but his hands grew larger, webbing providing excellent aid for the use of a swimming creature. At the same time, his legs both retracted all the way back to his body. Feet, which had traded thick, pebbly Thordani skin for a fish's scales, spread into wide fins, the webbing between each digit so thin that even the dim light of the mage's green beacon could pass through.


The Thordani cleric was exhausted, but at last it seemed to have ended. He could not think of anything that still remained unchanged, until he felt shifting from behind him. With a gentle effort of his fins and a twist of an unnaturally long neck, he took a glance back and spotted them.


His wings, or what the wizard had done with them. They would be unneeded for an underwater creature, of course, but it seemed that they would remain in some form. Instead of long, elegant flight feathers, however, thin skin was stretched in a mocking facsimile of the limbs he had lost, nothing more than an ornament to commemorate what once was.


With that, the man that Thenyr had been was gone. His new body was a streamlined arc that was built for the ocean. The distinction between his body and tail had vanished, as had the difference between his neck and shoulders. His limbs were completely different, suited for swimming rather than flight or walking. There was no way that he would be able to live as he once had. The realization broke something within him; his hope, perhaps, or his will? Whatever it was, it left him slumping, surrendering to the influence of the golden strands that surrounded his face–a set of strands that now looked curiously like a halter surrounding a long, wide face that seemed somewhat equine despite the aquatic influences in its shape.


"There we are." Now that Thenyr was finished changing, the fish wizard dared to venture close. He brushed a hand along the former cleric's side, and his attentions drew no resistance from his victim. "You will be a fine addition to my stables."


With a gleam from his magic, the scraps that remained of Thenyr's clothing floated together, reshaping into something new. Within moments, straps bound some sort of saddle to the former bird's back, resting between the two fins that had replaced his wings. Though the fish creature could not ride as a human might ride a horse, he could cling to the prominent saddle horn and leave the effort of swimming to his new steed.


"Hya!" he shouted.


Thenyr gave a whickering cry, but any idea of resistance was quashed by the magic bridle. He stroked his powerful tail and tucked his fins at his sides, swimming with a natural swaying motion that launched him through the waters at remarkable speeds. His muzzle, a mix between a sea turtle's beak and a horse's head, allowed him to cut through the waves with little effort.


As he carried his new owner back to the stables, Thenyr's hope faded. Would he ever see Faenya's light again? Or would he be doomed to spend his life among the pale lights of his aquatic captors?


He feared what the truth might be.