Moving with a speed he never could with his mechanical legs, Brock managed to snatch the king out of the air, without dropping Megan, who appeared to be sleeping in his other arm. Either that water enhanced his strength, or Brock was stronger than Eldon gave him credit for.
“She was baiting you, you moron!” Brock snapped. “Look at her left hand.”
Eldon looked and saw that Becky held a small dagger that seemed to be equal parts iron and silver. A deadly weapon against Oberon or Shlee.
But only a minor weapon against him. He hoped his ability was back as he stepped away from Shlee. Becky would know of all of his transformations and be prepared to counter them… Or at least, any that his parents knew about. There were a few that only Shelly and he knew of, though he hated using them.
He locked eyes with the Knight on Becky’s left, and to all appearances, Eldon vanished.
His brain was too small for anything but the most basic of thoughts, and so he had only two. Get to the man before him, and become something more dangerous. His fly body zipped through the air, ignoring everyone but the sweaty man that was his target. He didn’t remember why he needed to get to the man but knew it was necessary. The knight ignored him, looking around for something, so Eldon landed on the back of his exposed kneck.
Without preamble, he vomited on his forward hands and rubbed them together. The man moved, and he needed all his hands down to keep steady. There was something else he was supposed to do. Something important, but his mind was too small to remember. His minuscule tummy demanded to be fed, but there was nothing worth eating. At least, not in this form.
Without understanding what he was doing, Eldon’s body elongated and grew. He heard a scream as the Knight jerked. A forked tongue slipped out and tasted the fear of the man as he tried to dislodge Eldon from around his neck. Instead, Eldon sank his fangs into the Knight’s cheek, before a hand gripped him and flung him away. His fangs ripped free, but not before he managed to pump plenty of his viper’s venom into the man’s face.
He saw the blade coming for him, even as he twisted in the air. He was too large to dodge and had no leverage. While his brain was a bit better in this form, he still didn’t understand fully what he was doing as he shifted back into a fly, landed on the mailed glove holding the swinging blade—everything seemed to be moving so slow!—and crawled up the leather sleeve of the Knight. This time, a snake would be too large.
An Indian Red Scorpion took the place of the fly, and he wasted no time in stabbing the arm with his stinger again and again.
Something smashed against him but failed to crush his body. It was time to move on again. He heard a sword clatter to the ground as his small fly form zipped away. With each transformation, it felt as though he lost a little bit of himself, but also kept a little bit more. He couldn’t remember his name, or even that he was actually a man, but he managed to remember that he was in danger. He found a safe wall to land on that was out of reach, and through his multi-faceted eyes, looked around. He couldn’t tell what was happening, nor where the danger lay. He needed to shift again. Something sturdier and better equipped to handle such giant foes.
Unfortunately, he was still too dumb to remember that while his current body could cling to walls, most of his other forms could not. An ogre crashed to the floor with a thud and a grunt.
Getting up, he found lots of nummy morsels around him. His much larger tummy reminded him that he needed to eat, and he grabbed the nearest bite. It screamed as he picked it up. Something long with an open end in its hand popped loudly, and Eldon felt something slapping against his chest, but he ignored it as he tossed the noisy end of the snack in his mouth and crunched down. The nummy went silent, but he didn’t have much time to enjoy his meal. Despite its satisfying crunch, he had to work some metal out from his teeth.
Luckily, another meal provided a pokey piece—a shadow in his mind provided the word ‘sword’—and he picked up that man, pinched off his arm, and used the sword to pry loose the previous mouthful’s helmet.
Looking around for his next bite, Eldon saw a furry dog creature that he knew would tickle his throat on the way down and ignored it. Another morsel was surrounded in water, holding a rather tasty looking treat. He could quench his thirst and get a bite at the same time!
Taking a step forward, a tiny little man flew into his face and threw sparks from his hands. “Shit, you’re an ugly ogre, Sheldon Lance. I much prefer you in your natural form.”
Eldon blinked as he surveyed his surroundings. He was back to his original body, though he couldn’t remember choosing to change. This was the first time someone else forced him to shift, and it left him disoriented.
His mouth tasted disgusting, and he turned his head to spit out a mouthful of blood, trying not to retch as he remembered the Knightly meal.
“You won’t get away with this, Betrayer!” Becky screamed, drawing Eldon’s attention, and reminding him that they were in the middle of a battle. Becky stood stiffly, her hands at her sides, glaring around the room. Though her bonds were invisible, he noted the way her clothing pressed in, and even her arms dimpled as though ropes of air held her in place.
Lyden held his right arm within the water encasing Brock, and as Eldon watched, a large gash closed, and the swirling water swept the blood away. Megan stood next to Brock, a bewildered look on her face, and her clothing plastered wetly against her curvy form.
A sound made Eldon spin in time to see Shlee changing back into her human form as she wrapped him in her arms.
“When you vanished, I was so terrified that she’d cast a spell on you!” She gushed before licking up his neck, chin, then pressing her lips to his. The kiss wasn’t filled with passion or heat, but if he had any lingering doubts about her love for him, they vanished as his arms wrapped her tight.
“Speaking of spells…” Eldon trailed off with a nod to Becky. “Can we break the spell on her mind by shoving her through one of those barriers?”
“There is no spell on my mind,” Becky glared at them. “I can pass freely through those barriers, which only confirms that my mind is free of your wicked—oomph!”
Her mouth hung open, but by the look in her eyes, it wasn’t her choice to stop talking.
“I’m getting so sick of hearing her spout her stupid nonsense!” Oberon complained. “Lyden, if you don’t shut her up—with your hand, a gag, or even your cock for all I care—I’ll shut her up permanently.”
“Don’t you dare harm her,” Lyden said in cold tones, before straightening his shoulders and modifying his speech. “Thank you for all your help, King Oberon, but I will deal with my wife as I see fit.”
“I have a feeling I missed quite the party,” Megan spoke up, looking around at the carnage. It was gruesome unless compared to what they’d walked through to reach this point. Half a Knight—that Eldon didn’t want to consider where the other half was—rested in one corner. He could see the swollen black face of the Knight he’d bitten as a snake, but he couldn’t tell which one he’d stung while a scorpion. Two Knights had their bowels and throats ripped open, and there was evidence that one Knight simply exploded by the number of pieces and gore staining the walls. Of the group that entered with his Step-mom, only Becky remained living.