[coronatiger]

21st of Tityra, year 412

O Ashtar, Mother of Snakes, Keeper of Death’s Door, hear my confession!

Waiting for Yana to wake up, I started the day with a prayer, kneeling on the ground. Hope joined in as usual, but when I was about to return her to her home in my pouch, she bit me. A small yelp escaped my lips, more from surprise than from pain. No snake should want to bite me, Hope least of all. Yana bolted upright at the sound and we locked eyes.

I tried to smile so as not to frighten Yana, but the shock of what was happening made it difficult. Your blessing should render Hope’s venom impotent in my veins, but a sharp tingling sensation spread from the bite, as if insects crawled all over me. Yana’s eyes grew as she watched me. “What’s going on, Nuur-Karif? No, no, no! You’re melting!”

The tingling only lasted for a few seconds, and Yana stopped babbling, her mouth dropping open and her fear turning to wonder. Hesitantly, she reached out a trembling hand and touched my cheek. Her other hand followed, and she felt my face, just like that blind man had done when he visited the Temple three or four years ago.

I lifted my hand to give Yana a soothing caress, but I realized that Hope still had her fangs sunk into the back of it. I looked down and saw that my hand had turned dark. The darkness was not the burst of colors that usually spread from a snake bite, rather it was the dark brown common among Yana’s people. If I hadn’t felt the two pinpricks of Hope’s fangs, I might have believed it was Yana’s hand I was watching.

Yana’s hands were still caressing my cheeks, of course. She tilted up my face and leaned towards me. “May I…” I closed my eyes and puckered my lips in anticipation. A familiar warmth spread from Yana’s kiss, but it was over before I had time to savor it. Yana leaned back. “How strange,” she breathed.

“What’s wrong with my face?” I asked, absentmindedly pulling Hope loose. Yana opened her mouth to speak, but Hope was faster. “This is Ashtar’s gift. Use it wisely,” the little sister instructed. Yana didn’t know the tongue of snakes, of course. “Oh, there’s nothing wrong with your face,” she said. “It’s just that it isn’t your face. Somehow, you’re wearing my face!”

I explained to Yana what Hope had said. While I talked, my own understanding grew as well. “If Hope bites me and I fix an image in my mind,” I told Yana, “the divine venom transforms my appearance. I should be able to look like whoever I wish, or I could take on an entirely new appearance. I don’t think I can change my shape or my size. The gift only allows me to make superficial changes.”

“Can you change back?” Yana asked. “Your natural form is more beautiful than anything you could dream up.” My face grew warm with the compliment. I looked down. “I now wear the most beautiful face in the world,” I whispered.

Yana threw herself at me so forcefully I fell backwards. She lay on top of me and studied my face. I waited for her to kiss me, but she sat back up. “This feels weird. I know it’s you behind that mask, but …” Yana regarded me thoughtfully. “Sit up. I want to check something.” I did as she asked. “Now, open up,” Yana instructed, her finger gently touching my lips. I gaped, wondering what she was looking for. “Aha! Your tongue is still forked!” Yana exclaimed, then stuck her own out to display that it was not. “I think I should be able to change my tongue too, but I’m not entirely sure, and it feels sacrilegious to try,” I told her.

Besides showing my tongue, which I was hesitant to do in public, there was one way I could identify myself to Yana, if I had changed my appearance without her knowing. Only two people in the world knew our secret sign language, so if Yana spotted a stranger signing to her, she would know it was me. I wouldn’t put it past Xipil to have picked up a few of our signs, but I didn’t think even he was clever enough to have learned so much he could hold a conversation. Anyway, Xipil’s body was so different from mine that I might not be able to copy it, and besides, a lizard man body would hardly be a good disguise unless we went to his homeland.

“Before I change back, do you think we should show this gift to our companions?” I asked. Outside, we could hear their voices, so we knew they were awake. Wolfram and Keri were discussing if Keri should lead Yana, Hylda and Haros further north when the rest of us went into the spirit cloud to look for Pak and Groman.

Yana didn’t like keeping secrets from our friends, and I thought it was better they learned now, so they wouldn’t freak out if I started “melting” without warning. That didn’t mean we couldn’t have some fun, though. “Let’s see if I can mimic your voice,” I said, doing my best impression of Yana. Yana thought I didn’t sound exactly like her, but it was close enough to fool everyone but Xipil, in her estimation. “Should we do something about our clothes?” Yana asked. “No, it isn’t necessary. We use each other’s clothes often enough that it won’t give anything away when one Yana wears Nuur-Karif’s dress and cloak.”

We went outside and wished everyone a good morning. Understandably, they stared at us. Keri was the first to speak. He believed a mage had cast a spell to create an illusory double of Yana. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. Yana is terrified of illusions. At first, I only thought it was Xipil’s illusions that scared her, but Mog Arif’s did too. Wolfram asked if he could touch us. If one of us was an illusion, his hand should pass straight through. I told him to go ahead, and Yana, standing closer to him, reached out a hand.

Xipil didn’t say a word, he just started casting spells at us. Wolfram turned on him and recommended that he asked what was going on instead of using magic without warning. Xipil came to touch us too, and I perceived that he noticed my hidden armor and knives. “Are you Nuur-Karif?” he asked. I didn’t actually answer his question, but I stopped imitating Yana’s voice.

Wolfram wanted to know how this ability worked. I explained what I could do and what I couldn’t, but I didn’t explain how I activated the transformation. I thought they should witness the transition, so I put my hand into my pouch and hissed to Hope that she should bite me. I fixed my own appearance in my mind, and two or three seconds later, the tingling in my skin subsided. My hands had resumed their original appearance, and Yana’s tiny nod and smile told me the rest of me was back to normal as well.

Wolfram proposed that we waited for a while before going south, so we’d enter the spirit cloud when the sun came up tomorrow. He thought the spirits were weaker during the day. He also suggested that Xipil and I ride on his back, since as a six-legged bear, he’s much faster than we are on foot, and with his size, our weights are negligible.

Yana promised to take care of Haros, and their group began traveling north. Watching Yana growing smaller and smaller, I realized I had conflicting feelings. On one hand, I was pleased that she wasn’t following me into danger, but on the other, I was sad to see her go, even though we’d only be apart for a couple of days. Wolfram had set aside food and water for three days for us, but the rest of our supplies were loaded on Magda and the two camels.

I asked how long the rest of us were going to wait before leaving, but Wolfram had changed his mind. We could get where we were going before dark, he said. He changed into the giant bear shape, and Xipil and I put on his harness and climbed up. I got the impression that Wolfram held back so Grogg could keep up.