The last ember from the shattered void-orb hadn't yet faded when I stepped from the scorched circle at the center of Ashenhearth's courtyard. Eight feet of muscle, myth, and midnight-pink hair, I was more legend than man yet, somehow, more myself than ever before.
For a heartbeat, no one moved. The air was thick with shadow and ember, the ground still humming with the echo of my awakening. The Oni runes up my neck pulsed, the jagged scales on my skin shimmered, and every breath I took seemed to stir the world around me.
I blinked, trying to orient myself in a body that felt simultaneously foreign and right. Everything was... smaller. The fortress towers I'd built were now at eye level. The fairies hovering at what used to be head height were now chest height. My hands, claws, were massive, scaled, dangerous.
"Uh," I said eloquently, my voice noticeably deeper, resonant in a way that made the stones vibrate. "So... that happened."
Then, chaos.
The fairies broke first. Lira shot forward like a glittery missile, circled me twice at top speed, then stopped directly in front of my face, eyes wide. "You're HUGE!" she squeaked. "How are we supposed to braid your beard now? We'll need ladders! And scaffolding!"
Pip followed more cautiously, reaching out to touch the iridescent scales along my forearm. Her tiny hand barely covered one scale. "You're beautiful," she whispered, awestruck. "Like a myth walked out of the old songs."
Behind them, the bear kin reactions ranged from reverent to delighted. Kota, the youngest, let out a whoop. "I KNEW IT! I knew he was going to get bigger! Yorrik, you owe me three honeycakes!"
Mira and Tali, the prankster twins, were already circling, sizing me up with calculating grins. "Bet he can throw us over the fortress wall now," Mira said.
"Bet he could throw the whole fortress," Tali countered.
Halra, the grizzled warrior, just grunted and crossed his arms. "Huh. Well, that explains the earthquake."
But it was Siraq who stopped me cold.
The matron of the north stood frozen, her usual stoic mask completely shattered. Her ice-blue eyes were wide, pupils dilated, and her cheeks, hidden beneath white fur, were visibly flushed. Her mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.
"I..." she started, voice strangled. Then, in a rush: "You're magnificent."
The courtyard went silent.
Siraq seemed to realize what she'd said, because her blush deepened to a shade that had to be medically concerning. She brought one massive paw up to cover her face. "I mean. The transformation. Very impressive. Tactically significant. For... the clan."
Yorrik coughed to hide a laugh. Kota didn't even try to hide his shit-eating grin.
I opened my mouth to respond, probably something awkward and self-deprecating, but before I could, Nyx was there.
She moved like liquid shadow, crossing the courtyard in a heartbeat, and then she was in front of me, looking up at my new height with an expression I couldn't quite read. Wonder? Fear? Pride?
"Knox?" she whispered.
I crouched down, carefully, so carefully, terrified of accidentally crushing something, bringing myself closer to her eye level. "Still me, Nyx. Just... more. A lot more."
She reached up tentatively, claws tracing the new scales along my jaw, following the curve of my elongated horns. Her touch was reverent, almost disbelieving. "You're beautiful," she breathed. "Terrifying. I..." Her voice cracked. "I was scared you wouldn't wake up. That the evolution would... take you away."
The bond between us pulsed with her fear, her relief, her desperate, overwhelming love. I caught her hand, holding it gently against my cheek, so much easier now with hands that finally matched her size.
"Never," I said firmly. "If anything, I'll need you to remind me not to break the doorframes."
As if the universe wanted to prove my point, my tail, my new, weaponized, apparently sentient tail, lashed in emphasis and took out a decorative pillar.
The pillar toppled with a crash that echoed across the courtyard.
Everyone stared.
"...Oops."
Nyx burst out laughing, the sound bright and relieved and utterly joyful. She threw her arms around my neck, or tried to, my shoulders were broad enough now that she had to settle for pressing her face against my chest. "You're an idiot," she said, muffled by my shirt. "My idiot. Mine."
I wrapped my arms around her, carefully, always carefully, and held her close. Through our bond, I felt her fear melting, replaced by fierce possessiveness and something hot enough to make my new scales shimmer.
The fairies, emboldened by Nyx's reaction, swarmed in next. Lira landed on my shoulder, my very broad, very stable shoulder, and immediately planted her flag. "Dibs! I call dibs on this shoulder!"
"No fair!" Pip zipped to the other shoulder. "I want the left one!"
"Why do you get left?"
"Because I asked nicer!"
Within seconds, I had fairies draped over me like particularly aggressive ornaments. Dewdrop decided my beard was a hammock. Two others started arguing about whether my tail counted as "real estate" or "transportation."
The bear kin weren't far behind. Kota bounced over, eyes shining. "Can you pick me up? I want to see what it's like to be tall!"
Before I could answer, Mira and Tali each grabbed an arm, testing their weight against my strength. "He doesn't even notice!" Tali crowed. "It's like we weigh nothing!"
Halra shook his head, but I caught the small smile. "You're going to have to reforge every weapon in the armory to fit those hands, you know that, right?"
I looked down at my claws, each one the size of a dagger, gleaming like obsidian. "Yeah," I said slowly. "Yeah, that's... probably going to be an issue."
The System, apparently recovered from whatever existential crisis my evolution had caused, pinged cheerfully:
[Status: Stable. Chimera Core Integrated.
Warning: Furniture replacement costs, critical.
Structural reinforcement, recommended.
New Skill Available: Try Not To Break Everything You Touch
Achievement Unlocked: Family Monster (They're Keeping You Anyway)]
I snorted, then made the mistake of trying to pat Dewdrop on the head. My claw was bigger than her entire body. She squeaked and dove into my beard.
"Okay," I said, raising my voice over the chaos. "New rule: everyone stays out of grabbing range until I figure out how to not accidentally fling someone into the stratosphere."
Lira poked her head up from my shoulder. "Does that include hugs?"
I sighed. "No. Hugs are... probably fine. Just... warn me first."
Nyx, still pressed against my chest, looked up with that wicked grin I'd come to adore and fear in equal measure. "You know this means you can't hide anymore, right? You're eight feet of walking myth. Everyone's going to see you coming."
I glanced around at the scorched courtyard, the toppled pillar, the fortress that suddenly felt smaller, at the family clustered around me, laughing, arguing, already adapting to the new normal.
"Yeah," I said softly. "I guess sneaking around is off the table."
Siraq finally approached, moving with deliberate calm, though her eyes still held that awed, hungry look. She stopped a respectful distance away, closer than protocol demanded, farther than I suspected she wanted.
"Knox Ashford," she said formally, though her voice wavered. "You have become what the old stories promised. More than Warden. Something... new."
I met her gaze, saw the fear and fascination warring there. "Sorry about the courtyard," I said, aiming for levity. "And probably the next dozen things I'm going to break. I'm still... adjusting."
She smiled then, slow and genuine. "The north has survived worse than a clumsy god." Her eyes flicked to Nyx, to the fairies, to the bear kin. "And you are surrounded by those who will catch you when you fall."
"Or laugh when I take out a wall," I muttered.
"That too."
As the sun set and the initial chaos settled into something resembling order, I found myself standing in the center of the courtyard, surrounded by the people, beings, I'd somehow stumbled into loving. My tail curled protectively around the closest fairies. Nyx leaned against my side, her presence a steady warmth. The bear kin were already planning modifications to the fortress ("Bigger doors, obviously." "And reinforced floors.").
The System pinged one last time:
[New Quest Available: Learn to Walk Without Destroying Everything
Estimated Difficulty: Impossible
Estimated Fun: Moderate to High
Recommendation: Invest in insurance.]
I looked down at my clawed hands, at the scales catching the firelight, at the family that refused to be scared off by a little thing like me becoming a walking apocalypse.
"Alright," I said, grinning despite myself. "Who wants to help me figure out which doors I can actually fit through?"
The answering cheer was deafening.
And somewhere in the back of my mind, beneath the joy and chaos, a small voice whispered: Seventy-two hours. The world is watching.
But that was a problem for tomorrow.
Tonight, I had a fortress to repair and a family to not accidentally crush.