The Eagle Transformation

You may be wondering why part of my maybe name refers to an eagle. That wasn’t my choice.

But first, let’s talk about one particular type of being from my world. I am one of these, and you would most likely call us a lycanthrope. But, that leaves some things out. For one, although my mother was the goddess over lycanthropes, we had much more control over our transformations. Unless you got on the wrong side of mother, of course. That was fairly rare. For one, usually that wrong side meant you were absorbed back into the planet.

Generally, the gods really didn’t pay a lot of attention to the lives of mortals. They did write the path for mortals, but not an individual’s path. Lycanthropes were a little different. My mother hand-crafted the majority of lycanthropes, and kept our numbers small. I met only a handful in my life. I could rewrite that last sentence since I had a pretty good hand in reducing the numbers, but most likely at the will of my mother.

As for how I became a lycanthrope, that was after I had escaped from a ship that my uncle had sold me to. Uncle should be in quotes, as I’m sure someone that found me in the woods wouldn’t likely be related to my mortal parents. But, he did give me shelter and food for a few years. His wife was around sometimes, but she wasn’t thrilled with her husband’s choice to bring home some kid from the woods. She never did seem to be the motherly type. He didn’t seem to be the type to do things for charity. But, a young boy is worth quite a bit of money to certain ships.

After swimming for a night, I found myself on the shore of the ocean. The woods seemed to be glowing, but my mind cared more about resting. When I woke, it was night again, and I was closer to the wood. They were still glowing. This, I remember fairly well. When I fell asleep, the waves were over my feet. When I woke up, I was in the grasses at the foot of the forest.

There happened to be a path near me. The path was lit by the glow. As a kid, you follow lights. You may be wondering just how old I was. I can’t really say. I can say that I wasn’t at an age where I could have children, or really had any interest in the opposite sex. I had been basically working my fighting skills my entire life. I had a drive to work out and fight. I didn’t pick on any kids or other people, usually a random tree or building.

Walking down the path, I kept to one side, hiding in the trees if I saw a shadow on the path. The clearing I came into posed a new problem. It was filled with shadows. Two legs, four legs, six legs, they were all there. I sat behind a tree, watching and listening. After some time, I relaxed and decided to go around the clearing, staying in the wood. The glow seemed to be calling my name, not that I had a name.

Up until this time, my uncle had only referred to me as boy. Never a name. My aunt never referred to me at all, even on the rare occasion she was the one that gave me food. You may wonder how I was fed as a small child. I’m sure they were more helpful when I was in my laying and crawling stages of life. But, by the time I could walk, it was assumed I could forage the house for food when I was hungry. Using magic to cook the food was beyond my ability at that time, but there was always food around.

After I had rounded the clearing, the forest was beginning to light up. This wasn’t a good thing. I don’t think I was spotted, but I felt like I was being followed from that point on. I kept going anyway, I had a feeling safety was in front of me.

I was wrong.

Mostly. I did finally find the source of the glow. It was a temple to the moon goddess, my mother. I didn’t know this at the time, of course. But, I was about to get a lesson in life. I had heard temples were sanctuaries and would welcome anyone in need of help. I was hoping a boy my age would be brought in. I was, but not that morning.

As I left the forest to go into the gate, my follower showed themselves. It was a giant eagle. Okay, eagle-like creature with laser-red eyes and ten claws that looked too big to be real. That’s five on each foot, three in the front and two in the back. They closed together like scissors around my legs, dropping me to the ground, looking into those eyes. Two bright red eyes, staring at me over the large beak. Opened and screaming. Plunging quickly toward my chest. I think I passed out at this time, but I could hear my bones crack.

Then, silence. I could still hear the rustling of the forest. And what sounded like a small stream. Then footsteps. I didn’t hear voices. But I felt a comfort I hadn’t felt before. My chest hurt, but my heart was happy.

I opened my eyes.

I was in the temple, surrounded by priests with two legs, four legs, and six legs. No eagles. Then there was this one woman that stood out. The most beautiful person I had ever seen. I don’t have to tell you who it was if you’ve read my other stories.

It was at this time that I learned who I really was, and who I had just become. You’ll learn this later.