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Ritual

Guardian Transformation

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Part two of two

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Written by Arian Mabe (Amethyst Mare)

Commissioned by anonymous

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And then the potion seeped into his bloodstream, his body funnelling every last drop of it exactly where it needed to go, his head shooting back with a sharp crack against the stone table. Although he was tipped upright, head slanted back, he hissed through his teeth, the temple spinning around him.

Some eyes turned to him and Tyree’s heart pounded, stomach lurching, nausea rising as bile threatened to force its way up into his mouth. They were all there, all looking at him, even as Siren managed to break a hind leg free, his foot slinking down into a raptor’s reptile-like foot: more like something a massive, predatory bird would have than anything Tyree was familiar with in his travels. The raptor scraped off the remains of the loincloth on his own body, ripping through the fabric, but there was no modesty left under there for him to take in. His tail stretched out as the raptor seemed to experimentally twitch it back and forth, for it would be what balanced him, of course, when he was fully transformed and settled.

“No… Please…”

No… I can fight this, I can hold it off. I just have to remember who I am, who I am. That I’m human, nothing else, not an animal. They can’t make me change!

He could not beg and yet he had to also, praying to any listening god that they would get him out of it, even as his guts churned and his organs squished against one another. It was as if someone had their fingers dug into the cavity of their chest and belly, digging around in there, for not even his organs could stay in place, if he was indeed to follow in the footsteps of his friend.

No… No, I’m me… I’m always going to be me_._

_ _

Tyree coughed and hacked, clenching and unclenching his hands into fists, struggling to stay calm. Yet how could there ever be any calm there when his skin was itching like that? He whined and twisted, bucking his hips and jostling the loincloth – not because he wanted to expose himself, but just to try to get at his own body. His fingers twitched and he tried to claw at himself, wanting to scratch the itches away, his skin darkening a shade to a sickly form of grey.

Siren’s transformation sped towards completion, though he could not spare too much attention to him, a weird amalgamation of human and raptor, covered in feathers, black bands of feathers layering down his arms, which looked like a blend between arms and wings. But Tyree’s mind could fill in the gaps in the transformation for himself, as he’d seen the raptors outside, their rounded snouts and the teeth that were often visible outside their mouths, even when their mouths were closed and as soft as it was possible for them to be.

Siren’s face settled into the full snout and head of a raptor, no trace of human skin remaining as intelligence faded from Siren’s eyes too, his head flat where his ears had been, the brighter blue feathers framing his eyes, cheeks and where his eyebrows would have been too, so many tiny little feathers forming patterns that would be unique to the raptor. Yet Siren held his jaws open in a long, forlorn gape as his teeth sharpened, pulling into the curved points of fangs, even more sprouting from his gums at the back of his jaw. And then there was the push of a tail growing from the base of his spine, which had started as a tuft of feathers and swelling with flesh and new bone. Nearly at its full length, there was nothing Siren could do to take back his humanity, the transformation settling fully over him.

No longer a man, just a beast. And that was the way he would be forevermore.

No… No, that can’t be me, it just can’t!

Yet Tyree’s heaving chest could only take in enough air to focus on the dire nature of his own situation, his eyes wide and wild, glazed with fear. Gone was his arrogance as he howled and thrashed, wrenching his entire body back and forth as if he thought, that time, that something was different, that he would be able to get free that time. His flesh rippled and bulged as he hissed through his teeth, thinking of his body, his humanity, of nothing else. Nothing else mattered.

As long as he clung to his humanity, maybe he could hang on to that to all costs, huffing and panting, straining through.

His body, however, was no longer under his control as his chest ached and the bite of so many feathers sprung to life across his chest, each one stabbing into his skin like the prick of a thousand needles all at once. He howled, his head thrown back, though that only served to smack his skull into the slab, mildly dazing Tyree, if only for a few moments. Pain did not belong there – not when it was coming from his grotesquely transforming body, of course.

Tyree stared down at his chest in horror, clenching and unclenching his fists, the feathers settling into a rich purple hue, though they started with the softer, downier underlayer. Longer feathers swiftly pulled into place above them, though his body did not entirely feather itself to start off with, oh no.

This… This is not real. None of this is real… No. No!

That would be too easy, of course. The transformation potion, however the people had put it, spread through him, veins darkening as they funnelled it through his body, his body working overtime to convert, to take the form the potion dictated was needed. Everything had to change on a cellular level for that to happen, of course, his back aching as his spine stretched, a tail straining from him first.

And that could have been the worst thing of all as he heaved and panted, trying to lick his lips but finding that his tongue merely wobbled and twitched within his mouth. He shook his head faintly, merely rolling it from side to side, his chin still tipped down as his chest narrowed a little, taking on the shape, very slowly, of a raptor’s breastbone.

No… No, this can’t be happening… This really…can’t…be happening…

_ _

I’m Tyree. I’m a man, I’m important, everyone knows who I am. They don’t know who they’re messing with!

_ _

His thoughts came more slowly, as if he was dredging them forth through a mound of sludge, huffing and grunting, his tail growing thickly from the base of his spine.

I am…stronger than Siren… Yes. Stronger, I can hold off, not like him, no… Oof… Ow!

It was wrong, so very wrong, that extra appendage of his tail pushing out, though the only saving grace for him there as it half pushed the loincloth out of the way was that it was feathered in purple and silver bands. They ran down the full length of his tail as his body poured every ounce of energy it had into growing the tail.

The tip was rounded, a smooth edge, though that didn’t help as each new vertebra that was added to his tail sent a rippling concussion back up his spine, crunching and crackling the whole way. He groaned, lips hanging open – and that was when his skull pounded too.

Was that how it had been for Siren too? He could not say, not as he moaned out long and low, not an ounce of pleasure left in anything, grunting and letting his eyelids flutter. Tyree didn’t want to close his eyes but neither did he want them open either to take in the terrifying nature of his transformation, caught between two opposing courses of action.

An animal… The words dredged up in his head, one of his very last human thoughts as his stomach wrenched and twisted. I’m becoming an animal… And…

_ _

Was that it? Was that really it? He froze, not allowing thoughts to come to the forefront of his mind, chest juddering for breath. The notions were there, the ideas of thoughts, but…it was harder and harder to make them form words and even more difficult still to force them into the rough shape of sentences.

_ _

And yet he couldn’t fight it, not the bristling waves of horror, nothing. The chanting rose around him but he was barely even aware of what was going on, too caught up in the crunch and bulge of his own body, his stomach churning and guts squirming as rearrangements were made to his organs. Tyree groaned, drooling thickly through an open mouth, saliva splattering down over his own chest as more feathers sprung to life, stretching from his spine as the tines on each quill settled into place.

Can’t let…this happen…

Even then, he did not acknowledge, not even to himself, that he couldn’t fight it, that all his trying had been for nothing.

“Unff… Nnngghhhh…”

Speech was stolen from him as he groaned, eyes wide and wild again, feeling like they were bulging as they shifted slightly to a better position. They were still forward facing, of course, yet his ears sucked in with a strangely hollow sense of pressure, as if he was underwear, transforming from man into predator.

A Jaguarhawk… Would there be any coming back from that? All of his trade agreements, everything he had documented with his business… What was it all for if all he was to become was a raptor?

Fight… Am…human… Hold on…to human. Human. Human…thoughts. Human…life.

_ _

But was he? No… The human side of him stepped back, more than taking a back seat to everything happening, while the animal snarled. The other raptor, Siren, was already gone, panic twisting in Tyree’s stomach, nausea roiling, as he stared into the animal’s eyes.

Siren bobbed his head, his eyes dull with the intelligent gleam of a raptor, no more than that. He wove his head back and forth as, once again, Tyree reeled, trying to quail into the stone slab, though there was nowhere to go.

Fight… Must… Can’t be like…him. Must… Must…

_ _

Yet he couldn’t complete the thought, everything dropping to single words. Even those slipped away, as if he couldn’t hold them in his mind anymore. Siren hissed, trying to get to him.

Raptor… No…

What was Siren doing? He didn’t look like himself, not as a little more definition settled into place around his head and snout, lines in the skin of his muzzle showing the curve of his nostrils and where the muscles of his jaw rose more strongly. The mostly transformed avian-raptor fanned out his tail feathers, long and draped down most of the length of his tail as if they were there for some manner of display.

Wait… What was it that Siren was doing? Fighting off his fear of his own transformation, Tyree tried his best to focus. He didn’t know, could not know, but…there was something about that chatter and the bob of the other raptor’s head that made him think of birds.

Birds when they’d been courting each other.

No!

_ _

The scream rolled through his mind as he gaped soundlessly, a wet warble clawing at the back of his throat. No words, even if being against what was being presented to him was the notion under his cry, remained. Tyree didn’t have words, none at all, for a raptor didn’t use them.

He chattered his jaws, letting out a raspy hiss. Not interested, no… But did that mean… No, he didn’t understand. Why was Siren making those motions towards him? He didn’t want a transformed Siren anywhere near him?

But Siren kept crooning, dropping his tone and half-lidding his eyes. Tyree didn’t know what the heck he was trying to say, but he didn’t care, no – just wanted to make sure the raptor stayed as far away from him as possible.

Siren twisted, however, as Tyree grunted, trying to flick his tongue out of his mouth, but he didn’t have the control over it anymore, thick and heavy and fuzzy between his teeth. Again, he tried to shout, yet nothing came out, not in the way he remembered and imagined as human speech.

The raptor couldn’t be courting him, he just couldn’t… But Tyree’s heart pounded twice in quick succession, too hard in his chest, as Siren hooked a transformed claw through his ropes, slicing through. With only three limbs bound, the raptor squirmed, thrashing more and more viciously. No one but Tyree seemed at all bothered by the raptor’s actions, however, merely murmuring and, perhaps, if he was really in tune with their actions, giving Siren a little more space.

He tried to hiss, but his face rippled and bulged, skin and flesh flowing over his face like clay, though it was clay, in his case, that was being moulded by exceedingly clumsy hands. Those invisible hands pressed and squeezed around his face, drawing his nose forward even as it was flattened, his nostrils pulling into curved slits where they would better sit right on the end of his muzzle. He gasped, for a moment not able to breathe, his airway stretching, needing to fit a longer muzzle, though it was still connected to his windpipe, which funnelled carbon dioxide from his lungs and took in all the oxygen that was needed.

But those words slipped from his mind as he blinked. What had been thinking about? He’d been thinking…though he couldn’t remember what he’d been thinking about. That should have worried Tyree more than it did, but, well, he just couldn’t cling to what had happened.

His eyesight sharpened, blues and purples looking clearer and more vibrant than they had before. Something in Tyree thought it was strange, but…he just couldn’t keep the notion in mind for more than a passing second.

He had to look ahead at his changing body, how his face melted around him, his jaw strong as more muscles layered around the biting point of it, where he would exert the most pressure. Tyree groaned, the aching pull of his teeth becoming fangs irritating him, though it was almost amusing to him, in the moment, that it was seen as annoying rather than terrifying.

There was fear there still, cold and sinking in his stomach, yet…his thoughts drifted, wrenched from one thing to another as his body ached, his stomach lurching. Feathers spread down his stomach as it slimmed down, tucking up closer to his abdomen as it shifted into a flank, his toes pinching as his toenails became hooked claws.

Those claws could rend and tear easily and a sense of warm pleasure seeped through him, entirely foreign. It didn’t belong there, no, but it was there all the same as Tyree shook his head, his neck lengthening slightly, muscle allowing him to better control his head. It was heavy, after all, and he needed to be able to lift his head and raise it more carefully, opening and closing his jaws.

His tongue flattened out a little more, growing to fill the space between his teeth, though there were no flatter-topped teeth in the back of his mouth anymore. Tyree could have scoffed at the mere notion of it. Those kinds of teeth were for chewing. And why would he need to chew?

Images filled his mind, of him diving into a carcass – a cow or something like that, he didn’t really care. Blood filled his jaws, sweet and juicy, as he fed, ripping away flesh systematically, devouring hair and sinew and muscle alike. He wasn’t picky about what he ate, as long as he fed, a green field stretching around him, dimly aware, in the unbidden image, that he was not alone.

But that didn’t matter, no, not even as Tyree blinked and bobbed his head, his arms cracked as the bones reset themselves, fingers hooking to allow a better position for the claws to grow into. Ah, yes, he knew what was coming there, as he had first seen them on his toes, of course, his feet slimming down into claw-like feet, though they were more reptile-like in nature.

He tested them out, curling the biggest toe, the one that would be used to rip into prey when he was attacking. That claw was good for hunting, when he leapt and sank into the neck of a prey creature.

Tyree shook his head and blinked.

Why was he thinking about things like that? He’d never been into hunting… And he wasn’t going to hunt as a raptor either?

Strangely enough, the notion that he could get back to his humanity again did not even cross his mind, taking a breath and filling lungs that seemed to expand more than before.

But that was okay, if it wasn’t in his mind at all. That wouldn’t worry him, no, not as he fought and hissed and snapped, clacking his teeth together inadvertently as he tried to growl at a nearby lizard. Why was he there so close to him? They had to give him space!

He didn’t like others too close to him, no. Struck by the urge to defend the area around him, he growled, though it rumbled through a warble of saliva, spittle drooling from his maw until he snapped his mouth shut and swung his tail once more. He had more control over it as it hung down, though Tyree didn’t think that was a worrying thing at all.

On the contrary…it felt right. The weight of it there felt right, with a thicker fan of feathers springing out from near the tip, fanning down along the length of it. A sense of balance settled into him, knowing that those feathers would help him balance and allow him to make tight, agile turns. All of those things would be needed when he was hunting, guarding.

He didn’t question why he wanted to guard. It was just there, a primal need that was only then rearing its head. But it was like it came up against something else inside him, two parts warring for precedence as he blinked, more colours, colours Tyree couldn’t put a name to, appeared, filling in detail he hadn’t even realised was there.

Because, still, there was a part of him that was fighting the transformation, his stomach gurgling as his legs shifted, his arms spread wide as feathers covered up some of that transformation. He snarled hoarsely as the feathers bit at him – bit at him! Why were they doing that? The pain didn’t seem to have a founding anymore, but he still thrashed and tried to fight back against it, to the best of his ability.

He should have realised that they were hurting as they were springing to life on his body, the crunch of his hindquarters resounding where his hips re-set themselves, briefly bulging through his skin and feathers before smoothing back down into their rightful position all over again. Tyree panted shortly and harshly, fighting his bonds, though that was merely from the sense of being bound, of being restricted when his body wanted to be free.

Yet Tyree groaned, parting his jaws, the hiss and rasp of air between his sharp teeth simply intoxicating. Yes… Yes, he needed to breathe, to take great, big, heaving gulping breaths, air funnelling down into his lungs, inflating them fully.

It was good to take deep breaths and Tyree thought that was at least a little reassuring, though he cocked his head more curiously at the elves and anthros around him. The lizards smelled strange and he took a deep breath, nostrils flaring as he sucked in air.

More scents assaulted his system and he grunted, reeling from them, even though the hard stone stopped him from pulling back any further. Why did everything suddenly smell so much stronger? He’d never thought about his sense of smell before, except when it came to food and he couldn’t taste as well when he was ill. But it was potent, sweat clinging as if to his tongue as he grunted and licked his lips, running his tongue over where they seemed a little thicker, a little rougher. It was almost as if they had taken on a leathery texture, though unease twisted through his stomach.

It was how Tyree was meant to be and…not at the same time.

That didn’t make sense, but he was not to know how his mind was shifting, even then, changing with need rising, a feral, rampant kind of desire. He shook himself, clinging to human wills and desire, his mind locking on to the singular notion of getting free.

Free… Yes, free. That was what he needed. Even the clamour of their noise around him was too much and he gave a wet sounding hiss as his tongue lashed around his maw too much. Free, he needed to be free – why had they even tied him down?

He hissed at the male raptor, wrapping his tongue around the sound better then, able to communicate, at least a little. No, no, no… No, he wouldn’t let Siren close to him, no! The raptor would have to prove himself first. He wouldn’t let the Jaguarhawk do anything to him, no.

His mind slipped a little more, though Tyree would never realise that his reasoning for keeping the other Jaguarhawk away had changed. It was just natural to him to want the raptor to prove himself, though he snarled with male dominance that, really, didn’t have a place in him anymore.

Even then, Tyree forgot what had happened, why he was there in the first place, as if what had given him such pause before simply no longer mattered. He tried to tilt his head and ruffled his feathers against the slab. His body felt strange… Not as he was expecting. New feathers had to be growing in and he instinctively tried to turn his attention to them, wanting to nibble and lick, to preen. He had to keep them in good condition, after all.

But…hadn’t he always had feathers? Tyree grunted, not quite understanding what was going on, though he blinked at those surrounding him, his heart lurching. Something wasn’t right, no… Not with that odd sense of loss, panic snarling and snapping inside him as if he was backed into a corner and didn’t even really know what was going on.

He had not wanted to go there…had he? It was difficult to dredge up his thoughts, though an image of him sitting across the table from a human wearing a lot of fine things and rich cloth flashed into his mind.

But raptors didn’t do that, no… So, what did that mean for him, his memories wavering and shifting as if they were not all that grounded at all?

He didn’t know, not as his attention sank back into his body, taking a long, deep breath that sent another plethora of scents into him. He’d never thought before of how much information there was in sweat – and it was desperation he smelled, a sense of keenness. Those around him seemed completely wrapped up in what they were doing and he tilted his head to hear what they were saying a little better, even if it was in a language he did not understand.

In a way, to him, it was kind of like birdsong: a melodic background to everything there. He chattered shortly, though it came out a bit wet as he tried to settle into his raptor jaws, tongue flickering against the inside edges of his teeth, and chomped at the ropes. Why were they there? They didn’t have to tie him up!

So, he twisted and chewed, getting his teeth around the ropes claiming one of his arms, even though his stomach lurch. Half of him wanted to be free because he knew it was wrong to be restrained, that it was unnatural for him, and the other half knew it was wrong, very wrong. That he shouldn’t have been there.

But where should he have been, in that case? It was hard to say, memories of running through grassy fields and feeding ravenously pushing insistently in on ones that felt right and wrong at the same time, like when he had been talking to that seller…

Merchant.

_ _

Ah, was that the word? It seemed like a very strange word and the raptor chittered softly, managing to wrap his tongue around the sound a little better than before. It sort of warbled up from his throat and was controlled by his lips and tongue, letting him manipulate the sound for different meanings.

He liked that. It meant he could communicate, that he could talk. That was good, a very good thing. If he had still had more of his human mind in him, of course, he would have realised that the softness of relief sinking into him was to do with his fear of not being able to communicate. That need was relieved and yet he didn’t have the base fear in the forefront of his mind anymore, just the vague sense of it, enough for his body to shiver and react.

Tyree grunted and looked down at himself as something in his stomach stirred and pulled in, aching deeply. That was odd… Yet something more was happening, his loincloth having been kicked away and torn, though he only blinked at the body that did not quite match up to what was in his mind’s eye.

And maybe that was why his dominance, before, had been misplaced. He didn’t need to go up against Siren, after all, as the other raptor drew his head back and gave a short, sharp whiff of the air, no. Not when they were designed to be a perfect match with one another.

His penis retracted. And, for some reason, it felt right, even as his stomach flipped and he grunted, clamping his jaws shut as his teeth slotted back into one another again, everything perfectly lining up. Yet it didn’t send fear into him, not as a cooling sense of something being put right softened into him and he relaxed his jaw again, licking his lips, though Tyree was more concerned about being careful of his teeth in that moment.

Losing his penis… Hm, that didn’t bother him. He felt like it should have, however, as it smoothed down into the slit that showed there, allowing his body to reclaim it, though it was not just hiding away as it had for the other raptor. The other raptor had a name too, but that name now eluded Tyree. It just didn’t seem all that important anymore, not as something stirred inside him, losing something that he could not put a name to and gaining something…right. Something correct.

Tyree groaned, head hanging, body processing all that was changing.

Ah, but that was the problem, wasn’t it? The raptor tilted their head, not quite knowing how to deal with any of that. They didn’t have the capability to realise what was happening, that they had once been one thing and were now another.

For, in her mind, Tyree had always been female. The slit of a vent, tucked up on her lower abdomen, had never hid a penis. It was for receiving and relieving, not for allowing out something that would penetrate. The notion that she had once had a penis drifted from her, though the sense of loss had Tyree turning her head back and forth, questioning what she knew of her situation.

The odd, stomach-churning sense… Did that mean danger? There were a lot of people around her, all walking on two legs and standing taller than her, but she didn’t feel like there was any ill-intent there either. Her nostrils puckered and flared and she carefully dragged in short, sharp puffs of air, tasting the scents there and sifting through them.

No threat. No anger. But there was the scent of a male raptor too… And she liked that scent very much, oh, yes.

She turned her head from side to side as her flesh bubbled and rippled, her spine cracking as more flexibility was gained down over her back end. Even though her body was still transforming, it felt okay to her, it felt right. It was a lot for a raptor to deal with, but she knew she would be okay.

And there was that other raptor, the male one, the one who smelled so wonderful. She churred softly, a low chuff breaking her lips, and she swayed her tail lightly as she eyed him up. He was beautiful, really, ripping a rope so he could drop to the ground and stand tall, though a long rope still rested over his back, not restraining him.

His plumage was glorious and she inhaled deeply, taking in the natural oils that would keep his feathers in such fine condition, even though that was not something she, as a raptor, would ever have thought before. It was just an inviting aroma, one that seemed to want to draw her in closer to him, to entice her to close that distance between them.

Tyree kicked out weakly, the ropes a bit looser. Ah, there seemed to be someone there, a reptile-like creature like her – but he walked on two legs. Male, definitely male, and she eyed him cannily as he slid a knife under the ropes that held her left arm.

“See now…” He said, speaking in a language she did not understand, but neither did Tyree have to. “This is much better for you, a Jaguarhawk. That’s what you called our raptors, in your own tongue, wasn’t it?”

Tyree snapped at him.

Get away!

_ _

It was one of the few ways she could communicate with those who did not speak her language, but teeth and claws did the trick for her. She took care of the ropes herself as her need swelled, the infatuating smell of the male filling her nostrils with each and every inhale she took.

“Nngghh…”

She let out an odd groan that seemed to come from deep within her belly. It was right though and she just had to get to the male, yes, that was all she needed to do. It was time to breed and her body lurched, her tail swinging lightly as the feather tufts at the tip spread out, showing her she could control them just a little more than initially anticipated.

Words no longer resided in her mind – but it was hard to understand the loss of something that, truthfully, did not feel like it belonged in her mind anymore. Everything was impressions and images, like the memories flitting around her head. Yet she didn’t need to access them when they were intricately laced into her very being, how she was and how she held herself.

She didn’t need to think through chewing through a rope, slicing it neatly on her teeth as she kicked out and took care of the ropes around her legs too. With her muscles finally functioning as they were supposed to, it was easy enough for her to free herself, her tail lashing out as she scrambled down and up off the tilted slab.

The male raptor was already free, of course, and had shucked that last rope from his back. Oh, and he was a fine specimen as he chattered and tilted his head, dipping and raising it sharply and repeatedly as his feathered arms, which were like wings that he could not fly with, fanned out on either side of him.

“Give them space…”

“I did not expect a breeding pair.”

Ah, a mating display… She didn’t have to understand what the words around her meant, not when she had a fine male to take her pleasure with. She matched his display in her own way, not needing to think. She just strutted back and forth, her head held high, balanced on the curve of her neck, her arms slightly fanned out to either side of her, for she didn’t need to hold them down against her body in the slightest.

Not then… Not as he paraded himself for her in a colourful flash of feathers, his tail swinging almost anxiously, though there was no reason for the male to have any fear in the moment at all, oh no. That was not necessary, not for him, not as she showed him her teeth, just to see where his fear lay.

But he was not scared of her and her body tingled with heat. Even if she had only just met him, she knew her body was ripe and ready to be bred, that she needed him to continue her species.

He would do, even if he perhaps was not the finest male around. She could always have more eggs and there would be many more clutches, if she had her way with the males around her. Already, Tyree could smell the lingering scents of other raptors that seemed to be around the stone structure she was in, though they were not as near as he was.

Tyree churred at him, swinging her tail as he came in close, chattering together and fanning out the feathers on their arm-wings, tails lifted high in demonstration. He crooned and chattered his teeth as they pressed the sides of their snouts together, readily accepting one another as she inhaled more pheromones from the male, signalling his readiness.

Warm satisfaction flooded the raptor. Yes, that was good, very good… If he was ready to mate with her, she wouldn’t have to chase him off from her territory. So, he was a suitable partner to her, heat pooling between her legs and focusing in on the slit that she knew would be used very shortly by him. Yet she ached for it and she did not feel the need to make the male work for it any more than he had already, not as she turned her back to him and presented.

Dipping her torso low to the ground, she growled softly, the sound pulling at her throat as she emitted it. Her arm-wings spread out gently to either side of her body, to show she was strong and not a threat to him at that time, her tail lifted high and a little off to the side. Her vent was on full view, the edges a little damp with her arousal where her body was busy preparing itself to take the male.

Tyree glanced back, pleased to see he was responding well to her, his penis sliding out slowly from his own slit. He would have to do most of the work, the thrusting, but she was more than ready to receive him.

She had no previous frame of reference in mating to tell whether or not it went well, though Tyree gave a full-body shudder as the male moved over her, standing in close and hunching his hind end down and around to get his member in the right position. It was a tapered shaft with a rounded tip, though it easily bumped into her vent as he hunted for just the right position. The body of a male and a female, however, instinctively knew what to do as he lovingly crooned and butted his head into the space on her upper back, marking her with the scent glands on his face at the same time.

His penis slid into her vent and Tyree trembled, crooning and dipping her head a little lower. It felt right, though the intrusion of his member came with a rush of pleasure to it too, seeping through her as if it was bringing something else to the forefront of her mind. But whatever it was did not want to come as she took his penis, every short, sharp thrust as the shaft powered into her.

Tyree did not have to do much, not as she panted heavily, her flanks shuddering with every breath. She did not know, of course, that she had been transformed, not as a sense of belonging filled her up to the brim, warm and glowing, heat seeping through her body. No… And she didn’t need to pay any attention to any of those lingering memories of her past life, no, for it was no longer hers. She had a much better life ahead of her, right there and then, as one of the Jaguarhawk guardians of the temple.

So, she took him, her vent flexing and pulling around him, helping the male grow closer to releasing his semen inside her. They were not creatures designed to hold off from that peak of orgasm, even if they were skilled predators and not in all that much of a vulnerable position while mating – but it was shorter than it would have been for her, as a human, if she had been able to remember that at all.

As it was, all that graced her mind was how pleased she was to be mating, to be laying the groundwork for a clutch of eggs to come after her body had grown heavy with them. Her passage tightened around him – and then the weight of the male bore down across her even more, half pinning her in place, though the raptor snapped at him, seeing it more as an expression of his ineptitude than him trying to be dominant with her.

There was no high for her, not as she would have known it before, but a warm sense of deep satisfaction as she relaxed under him, the male finally climaxing as he sent a thick deluge of semen into her vent. There, it would be well taken care of and her body would do with it exactly as it needed to. No more thought needed to go into it than that, not for her.

She took every one of his thrusts intently as he seeded her, filling her with his semen. Some trickled back out of her slit, but the raptor knew it would be more than enough to ensure a clutch came from their mating. If not, well…she would merely have to seek the male out again to make sure her needs were taken care of.

There was no real pleasure seeking in it, not for Tyree, even if it felt good to her, her vent hugging his penis as it slid out of her body in a drool of off-white semen. But she knew it was good and that all was well between them, that she was in her rightful place, exactly where she belonged.

There were no inklings or nuances of a past life remaining, oh no. They wouldn’t have belonged in her head anyway, not as she eyed up the onlookers, letting out a throaty, questioning chuff. The male raptor, however, stalked ahead of her, chattering and fanning his feathers out, easily getting them to back off. She could have, of course, done that for herself, but he was doing as he was supposed to, serving her as a mate and a partner should.

Tyree would take another partner, a stronger one, if they came along. But, for the time being, that raptor would more than suffice.

She stepped out, the crowd parting before her, light gleaming off her feathers. She knew she was beautiful, she was glorious, she was everything she was made to be. There was only the future for her, guarding the temple and the grounds, caring for her territory.

All the raptors meals would be provided for her – and even hunting entertainment and practise, if she wanted that too. Anything she needed would be there and, even if she was a guardian, her life would never be threatened, not truly. No one would dare mess with her, the most fearsome Jaguarhawk in residence at the temple.

Tyree was powerful, though they would give her a new name as she stalked to the entrance of the temple, the music of their chanting softening around her, the ritual at a close. Yet Tyree’s new life was only then beginning as she looked down over her domain, a flutter of settlement rising in her chest.

For a human, they might have called that feeling pride. But a raptor, like her, didn’t have the capability to feel prideful, no. So, Tyree would take everything as it was, aware of the past and seeing no more than her present moment. She didn’t need to worry, didn’t need to look at trade routes or diplomatic measures: her life had simplified.

The next day would come, or it wouldn’t. Either way, the Jaguarhawk would live as if every day was her last, mating when her body cycled, ready for her mate, and laying a clutch of eggs too, every time, for the temple attendants to look after.

They didn’t need to transform their guardians, after all, not all the time. Not when they had a willing pair of breeding raptors on sight too.

The people were happy, looking over the raptors with their bright feathers, not needing to be camouflaged when they were so fearsome in their own right. Tyree’s mouth opened, showing off her sharp, gleaming teeth, lining her upper and lower jaws, taking a step as the raptor tested out the muscle in her legs, her balance and her stance. Her long, powerful tail, with the thicker feathers, swayed back and forth, though it would be some time yet before she was fully confident.

The blue and black bands rendered Siren resplendent, though the people would give him a new name, the raptor lowering his head, offering respect to his female, his mate. Tyree raised her head proudly, the purple sheen of her feathers more eye-catching, though the blue framing her eyes gave her a cool, calculating appearance, enhancing the look of a predator.

In going through the ritual, she was finally free of the shackles she had not even known she was wearing. With the sun beaming down on her, glancing off her bright feathers, she grunted in her throat, chattering lightly, her mate stepping up beside her.

All was well with her world.

Yet Tyree, the man, was no more.