(Woman to Chicken)
Liliana’s cheeks burned as she was paraded through the city like some sort of trophy. Granted, the raven-haired woman had managed to slay at least three score of this plane’s lawbringers before her ultimate defeat, but… That didn’t make her any happier about her current predicament.
She looked up to the self-professed ‘Cardinal’, a young man man dressed in the lavish robes of his station but with a posture that cried out against it. He was slouched casually in his chair, a rod dangling idly from a hand that sported so many rings, Liliana was impressed he could lift it. He lifted his legs from the armrest, slowly turning in his seat to face her.
“You don’t know why you’re here today, do you?” His voice dripped with an arrogant superiority.
At least that part of him matches his title. Liliana thought to herself bitterly. “Could it be that I slaughtered too many of your guards for you to count?” She said aloud, her tone as sweet as she could manage. “I apologize for ending more than a dozen of them, I assume you have difficulty counting past ten.”
The crowd gasped in shock, and murmurs spread through their ranks. Liliana chuckled, her back straightening slightly in pride. Then the Cardinal twirled that rod of his and she found herself slumping, posture relaxing on the spot. What? Why does everything feel heavy?
“Hm.” He made a slight grunt, his nose crinkling as though she reeked of filth. Then the man spun his scepter once more, its golden glint catching Liliana’s eye, entrancing her. “See, you’re here for a very special ceremony. Once a month, we summon a being from a distant land, pit her against out warriors. And, if she proves sufficient…”
“Buh?” Liliana breathed, her head jerking slightly with the exhalation. The slender woman flushed, a redness that was all too visible for her liking. What’s going on? Why did I do that? And… Why didn’t it feel complete?
“Then we have a little bit of fun.” He leaned in, smirking. “Tell me, what do you know of hypnotism?”
“Uck… Rgh…” Her brow furrowed, his plans made clear. So, he was somehow putting her in a trance. Idiot. He doesn’t even realize that I spar with a mind-mage on a daily basis. Liliana concentrated her well-honed mental defenses, invisible walls springing to defend her psyche.
It was a trick she’d learned from one of her companions, and one that she put to good use here. By picturing her childhood home, she was able to retain a sense of self and weather any mental onslaught. All that’s left is to wait for him to slip up, and why are my hands tucked under my armpits?
The crowd laughed, and Liliana jerked as though she’d been slapped. She was squatting slightly, hunched over with her arms folded as if to emulate wings. The Cardinal was standing now, and the guards that had been at her sides now flanked him.
“What?” Liliana intended to ask, her glare defiant.
“Buh-gwak?” Left her lips, and she fluttered her arms in indignant shame. Her right foot scraped against the ground in agitation, and she fixed it with a glare, stilling the motion after a few seconds. Then she closed her eyes, focusing on her little village, on her mental retreat.
“Ooh, this one’s got some spunk.” The Cardinal laughed from an outside world that was growing ever quieter. Liliana drained out the ambient noise, focusing only on hardening her thoughts. There… The cobblestones of my house. The smell of fresh bread from my mother. Laughter, from my brother’s mouth…
“Let’s see how she likes it when things get physical.”
Pins and needles stabbed through her skin, the pinpricks sharp and unrelenting. A loud squawk escaped the woman’s lips, and her dark hair swayed as she shuddered. Her eyes opened to find her body transfixed by thousands of quills, only to realize a second later that wasn’t quite accurate. The quills weren’t impaling her—far from it. They were growing from her.
Liliana’s mouth moved silently as she struggled for words, her thoughts unusually sluggish. She turned towards the Cardinal, only to flinch as he spun that damnable rod once more. Her eyes fixated upon it and unfocused, and she found herself hunching over once more.
The quills continued to grow as she stooped, thin and brown hairs slipping from their hard cores. It gave her a rather avian appearance, one that only continued as her hips flared and torso slimmed. It was like being inflated and compressed at the same time, conflicting sensations assailing a mind that was too entranced to process them.
I… No. I… Home. Think of home. Cobblestones, bread, laughter… Liliana inhaled sharply, only to exhale a “Warrbbllwock! Buc-gaw!” It didn’t bother her nearly as much as it should, a mote of triumph breaking through what should be shame. I’m still myself. They can make me act as they want, can make me look as they want. But they cannot change who I am.
“Wrong.”
Liliana’s eyes widened as she looked up, up, up to the Cardinal. He towered over her now, and she realized that she’d shrunken in her moments of petrified horror. Worse was the fact that she could feel how much her body had changed. Her arms had melted into themselves, descending into the useless wings of a hen. Her feet were no longer her own, now clad in golden enamel and tipped with three talons per foot.
Worst of all was what had become of her body. She was plump, as fat a bird as she’d ever seen on the farm she grew up on. The woman struggled to walk, her talons catching on a dress that now billowed around her. A tail she hadn’t noticed grow flared behind her, stabilizing her as she waddled from it. Waddling… I can’t even walk. Damn him. Once I free myself, I’ll
“You’ll what?” The Cardinal spoke, and Liliana looked up to him in panic. His eyes seemed to glow as he regarded her studiously, as a cat would stare at a canary. “Or have you not noticed yet?” He moved his wrist slightly, and Liliana squeezed her eyes shut, before she could think of it spinning.
Cobblestones. Bread. Laughter.
“That you’re so round?”
House made of cobblestones. Bread, freshly baked. Laughter from my brother. He has not won yet.
“That you’re so full?”
House made of cobblestones, at the center of the ceremony. Bread, freshly baked, fallen on the ground. Laughter from my brother, pointing at me.
“That you need to lay an egg?”
Hgghhouse cobwockstones bukbread bread floor hnungry peck laughter brother FOCUS! Liliana’s face, oddly human atop her chicken’s body, screwed up in concentration. Sweat dewed on her brow as she panted slightly in exertion, a distracting pressure building within her.
She knew it well, though at the same time the woman knew it should be utterly alien. It was the telltale sign that an egg was about to slip from her cloaca, falling into the nest of her fallen clothing. Defiantly, she regarded her tormentor with a glare.
“I… Am… Liliana… Vess.” Each word was a struggle, the most intense exertion of her life. “You… Will… Not… Break...”
Her new avian hole clenched, the egg beginning to crown. Liliana jerked forwards, tears brimming at her eyes as she felt loose flesh pooling around her chin, warm blood rushing to her new hen’s wattle.
“Break…”
The egg slipped a bit further from her, and Liliana arched her back, groaning and clenching what passed for her buttocks tightly. A combed crown began to flare on her forehead, the ridge racing towards the back of her scalp. Like parted waves, her hair shed around it and fluttered to the ground beside her.
“Bughhreak… Bughh…”
The egg slipped free.
“BuhGWAK! GWARBLEBAWK! BUCKAW!” Liliana sobbed, heaving wrenches of her chest heralding louder and louder cries. She could feel her cloaca clenching once more, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Though she could shut out the mocking smiles of the people around her, she couldn’t hide the stabbing ache in her chest, or the feeling of her feathers ruffling.
Cobbwakstones cobblestones cobblestones. Small house, center of ceremony where all can see. Bread on dirt floor for me to eat. Cardinal laughing at me no no NO! Liliana whimpered, her vision returning in time to see her face begin to distend.
Her nose and lips were merging into a hard beak, an ugly yellow thing that twitched every time she tried to speak. “Guhgawk!” She wept, dropping into a crouch and spreading her legs. Another egg slipped from her, this one much easier than the first. There was almost no resistance that time, and she hated it.
Then an aftershock hit her, insults dying on her tongue as she forgot their meanings. I… Egg! Eggs making me dumbock! Nogwak dumbockbock hengll! Her wings fluttered even as her skull shrank around a diminutive brain.
“Ah, and there it is. That moment of realization when our little offering finds all is lost. To your credit, I’m certain our plane’s patron will appreciate your little display.” The man crooned, his superiority no longer grating because Liliana no longer thought herself to be his superior—or even his equal.
Hen dumbawk hen not me. She grunted as she laid another egg, feeling it slide slowly from her. It was a little wet from its passage, but she knew it would dry by the time her farmer picked No! Remembwak! Cobblecobawkbwak bbbread
A piece of bread landed before her and she hungrily pecked at it, her beak clacking slightly against the cobblestones beneath her splayed talons. Laughter filled the air as she succumbed to her instincts, wings flapping with delight as more and more bread landed about her. Too late, Liliana realized the depths of the web she’d landed in
Lucidity returned, if only for a moment. N-no… This entire time... I thought I’d resisted, but I was just playing into his hands. Damn him, truly. I wish I’d killed a few more of
The moment passed. Hhgarbwak gawk? Nughawk! Pleghwark! GuhbuckAWW!
The hen twitched her head up to the sounds of laughter, then returned to pecking at her little snack. She would need to eat more, in order to lay healthy eggs.