PrologueBeneath a sweltering noonday sun, the prickling sensation in her fingertips began to spread. Profuse sweating and violent hallucinations followed as the world around her swirled in the purplish haze of a narcotic high. Time slid to a sluggish halt as she closed her eyes, helplessly watching the blinding blue dance with screaming red behind her eyelids. Phase One of the shape-shift brought about a hurt so intense that all thought quickly became a dizzying distortion of memory. Painless movement was no longer an option. The splintering feel of tiny sand granules beneath her skin became an extrasensory nightmare. Simple breathing was a labor all its own as she prepared for the inevitable wave of agony. The tortured moan never escaped her lips when a blistering surge below her navel descended through her large fin etched with thick, overlapping golden scales. She attempted to steady her shallow breaths when an oddly pitched tone joined the ringing in her ears. A horrid visual affirmed what she'd already known; she was ripping in two. White heat coursed through her thinly stretched veins while layers of skin pushed out of the scales in droves only to absorb them again and finally diffuse into dark brown pigment. Muscle enveloped itself over the soft cartilage now hardening into bone as joints slid and popped in place with an unknown precision.Eyes closed tightly; no energy remained to watch the remainder of her transformation. Heartbeat racing, she gagged on the acidic bile coating her tongue and attempted to home in on the song in the distance. Mental strength prevailed as her erratic breaths matched the melodious tune, riding it peacefully like the wind. Slowly her body's temperature lowered, stabilized, and cooled. Strands of wet hair clung to her cheeks, ears, and forehead, partially obstructing her view of the sea nearby. She fought to open her eyes. The familiar, five-foot wide golden-scaled fin was gone and a foreign pair of legs and feet had taken its place. Carefully, she turned her head, lifting it just centimeters from the sunbathed beach. Peering cautiously into the blinding sunlight, she observed the countless bodies lying in recovery on the white sand. Clarity slowly penetrated her hazy thoughts; and from the looks of it, the others were just as out of sorts as she. Lying back down with a soft thud, she drifted. It was time to heal.
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