Time passed in a haze of fever and shifting realities.
Kazimir lay still upon the cold stone, but inside, his body was a storm.
He could feel it changing, warping in ways that defied his understanding.
His muscles burned, coiling like taut cords beneath his skin. His bones ached, as if something unseen pressed against them, stretching, reinforcing, reshaping.
He hadn't eaten in days, yet there was no hunger, no thirst. His stomach did not ache for sustenance; it had become something else entirely. His body no longer required the things it once did.
And that terrified him.
Each breath felt strange, deeper than before, drawing in air with unnatural efficiency.
The scent of old stone, burning candles, and blood filled his nostrils in sharp clarity. His skin was hypersensitive, tingling at even the lightest brush of fabric. The stone beneath him wasn't just cold, he could feel every crack, every tiny imperfection in its surface. His heartbeat had changed, slower and heavier, as if something ancient now beat within his chest.
Kazimir's vision had sharpened beyond anything he had ever known. He could make out the faintest carvings on the ceiling, the delicate swirls of dust dancing through the air, the nearly imperceptible rise and fall of Selis's breath as she stood nearby, watching him with those pale silver eyes.
He could hear the subtle creak of her armor as she shifted her weight, the near-silent whisper of fabric as she moved.
It was too much. Everything was too much.
He clenched his hands into fists, and that's when he noticed, his fingers no longer felt like his own. They were stronger, denser, his grip unnatural. He lifted his arm, and in the dim light, he saw his muscles ripple beneath his skin, more defined than before. The arm he had lost had returned, but it wasn't just restored, it had been reborn.
The castle's power had not merely healed him. It had transformed him.
A sudden pulse of heat surged through his veins, a raw, searing pain tearing through his core. Kazimir gritted his teeth, his body arching off the altar as if an unseen force pulled at him. He gasped, but the air in his lungs felt too much, too rich, filling him with a power that was both exhilarating and horrifying.
Selisara stepped closer. Her presence was calm, unwavering, but he could see something in her eyes, expectation. Understanding. She had experienced this before.
"It is almost done," she said, her voice quiet but firm.
Kazimir forced himself to meet her gaze.
"What… is happening to me?"
She tilted her head slightly, considering her words.
"You are changing. The castle is remaking you, strengthening you."
He exhaled sharply, pressing his hand against the altar to steady himself.
"I don't feel human."
Selisara regarded him for a long moment before speaking.
"You may not be, anymore."
Her words settled over him like a shroud.
He wasn't sure whether to feel fear or acceptance.
He had already died once.
He had been abandoned, left to bleed out on the frozen ground. And yet, here he was. Alive. Different. Stronger.
Kazimir took another breath, feeling his body stabilize. The pain had begun to fade, replaced by something else, an undeniable, almost intoxicating sense of power.
He was no longer the man he once was.
He didn't know what he had become.
But he would find out.