Six Fates

Chapter Two

"Your words were too promising", Azrail said monotonously while observing Asher in a rather disappointing way.

Asher was no longer a boy. His skin was coated in a olive black colour. Silver rosettes marked his well-muscled body like it was a painting. His eyes began to curve and change to the form of an almond. The iris around his pupil changed to a lustrous, golden colour. He stood up and his body grew to the astounding height of 9 to 10 feet, almost like an ogrish giant.

Asher's white teeth were replaced with a pair of hard metal-like fangs that could bite easily through the tough hides of crocodiles. A tail as soft as silk emerged from his back and spiraled out of control. His face slowly morphed into the face of an intimidating, hungry jaguar.

Asher looked at his new appearance in awe.
"I love the new look", he said raucously. He looked at Azrail and waited for some sort of praise, but received a glum look instead.

"We don't want to scare them. They should be willing to come with us and not be forced to by a large, abnoxious beast", Azrail argued.

The eyebrows on Asher's face contracted to a sullen expression. He thought of a careful, devised plan to kidnap and dump those girls on his brother's feet, only for it to be ruined by Azrail's naive thoughts.

"If you want to act so polite, you must think of a perfect reason for them to trust you . Maybe, you're look would be more convincing to them", Asher replied. It was clear that he was mocking his brother.

Azrail ignored his brother's words and walked towards his backpack. He tapped his foot lightly against the ground for six times. A ceramic bowl appeared after the sixth tap and it contained three tiny, glass balls. Unlike his brother, Azrail wasn't a master at transforming himself, so he relied on trick items. He grabbed one ball and examined it. Without any second thoughts, he placed it on the tip of his tongue. It tasted like his least favourite food- a bitter piece of apple cake. The ball pushed itself down Azrail's throat and he almost gagged at the explosion of its flavour.

Its magic started to activate. A faint circle of light surrounded Azrail and he was shoved to the ground. His silver mist hair began to fall out of their roots. The lines that defined his muscles faded away and a thick layer of skin grew on his body. He no longer stood so lean and broad, but grew shorter and barely reached the closest branch of the tree. His pearly skin became wrinkled and his ears curved into the shape of a large pear. The disgusting, tawny colour of yellow earwax filled his ear like a jug of water. The only beautiful feature that remained was his foggy, grey eyes.

The white beard on Azrail's chin stretched till his knees and the nails on his fingers grew longer.

Asher stared down at his brother, who was now an old, sunken troll. He almost laughed at his brother's futile attempts of a "convincing look", but covered his mouth to restrain himself.

Azrail looked at how small he was, compared to his brother. Maybe, it was the wrong choice. Azrail became more angry, when he saw his brother holding in his laughter . He wanted to tear out that smug look on his brother's face.
Azrail marched to his brother, held up his finger sharply and said:"I can make those girls trust me."

Asher looosened his hand from his mouth. He seemed curious at the idea of three,young girls warming up to a troll. If his brother's plan never worked, he could always step in and seal them into a bag.

Azrail could tell what his brother was thinking. He didn't like the idea one bit. Maybe, they could be important to Alcinder,which was why he was asking for their help.

If Azrail was honest to himself, he just wanted to see Alcinder again. He missed his big brother. Life seemed empty without their archery games, their small little brawls and their tricks on Asher.