Hymn of Destiny
a recount of the magical changes bas went through after visiting the reach, only because writing individual stories for each would be A LOT. each chapter is a different experience explained, up until his magic has fully changed.
Mead
**CW: DRUG USE**
Roughly half way back to the inn after visiting the Dark Reach, Basileios starts to feel… funny? Not necessarily sick, but… off. His vision swims if he moves his head too quickly. His eyelids are heavy. His fingers tingle when they close into a fist. His hands shake and struggle to hold onto his horse’s reins.
But otherwise?
He feels…
Fine…
The still-sleeping town of Mead is a relief the moment it appears on the horizon, and he pulls on his disguise as soon as the path turns to cobblestone. He knows of a shortcut, and though he doesn’t necessarily want to take it, he has returned to town much later than he had planned and the town drunkard is never the first out of bed without raising brows.
The alleyway is narrow, most of the businesses long closed down after an… event… they’d called it, following the inauguration of the Archon. He dismounts before he enters, draping his horse’s reins over his shoulder. He passes scuffs in the brick walls that surround him. There’s even some red - almost black - staining those tiny cracks on the ground.
It doesn’t truly hit him until he passes the tavern.
Suddenly, he is sick. Sicker than he has ever been before. He crumbles to the ground, painless, but nauseous. His stomach churns, his head spins. He cannot keep his eyes focused for longer than mere seconds. He is convinced that this is what dying feels like, at least for a few moments, as he closes his eyes and sucks in deep breaths through his nose.
Suddenly, he feels the ground shaking beneath his palms, and his fingers curl into the dirt. His eyes flutter open, his body swaying as he cranes his neck and fights for his vision to clear.
The ground is shaking with each step of a beast. A bear. Lasair as a bear. She screams at him, roaring with the scent of blood on her breath. There are others, too. Each hallucination wants to fight him, and each one feels more real than the next.
This time, Basileios does not fight.
He doesn’t know how he managed to get to his feet, but he stumbles his way out of the alley as quickly as he can. He trips into the street, falling into a puddle which startles a shop owner. He can’t see the look in her eye as he pulls himself back to his feet and… runs.