Heart part 1

Chapter 44 - Taste the Wind part 13: Heart To Heart

Before she even got the chance to turn back to him, she could feel something like a rock slam into her chest. In a blink, she flew back into the wall. A thump rang out and a crack grew across the brick behind her. What, she didn't know, but she could feel a few bones had broken. Blood began to leak from her head.

Collapsing to his knees, Dandy began convulsing. A wail started blaring from his mouth. His bones twisted and contorted in his flesh. Ayesha could see his spine move and make an impossible shape. Like a suit, his skin wrinkled and stretched. He barely looked human. All the while, his screams continued filling the room.

Jaqueline could hardly believe her eyes. " Oh god! What's happening to him?! Is he dying?!" She exclaimed without a thought.

As they watched, Heart bit a lip. They knew better, of course. They should've guessed something like this would occur. They've become careless.

" This stupid mind... Now, how am I supposed to deal with this?"

Shambling up to his feet, Dandy continued to morph. His arms swung and bent back in place, slimmer and more muscular than before. Growing in height, his legs followed the same routine. Becoming as chiseled as a sculpture, the fat that once hung from his chest disappeared. His shoulders grew larger and more defined. And finally, his plump face flattened, narrowed, and morphed before their eyes. He was unrecognizable. Once the process was seemingly done, Dandy took a deep breath and took a moment to examine his new form.

Scanning his eyes over every inch, a smile swiftly stretched across his face at the sight of his new muscular and chiseled evolution. He'd never been one to care about looks, but even he couldn't deny that this body was a marvel. But of course, he could feel it was more than just looks. Gripping a fist, he wound it back and slammed it against the nearby wall. Like it was paper, he tore a chunk away easily and didn't even get a scratch. Others might have had a harder time telling, but not him. This strength was no pure luck.

" H...how is this possible...?!" Ayesha muttered from against the wall, her eyes glued open with refusal. " A...a..."

"...a Wind Urn?" Dandy finished before she could. Letting out a cackle, he began to pace toward her.

Coiling at his menacing and bloodthirsty air, using the wall, she pulled herself up to her feet by her hands.

" And not just any, but the one you found..." His eyes spun in place. With a slam, his toothy grin grew. "...found for me!"

" Shortly after we returned from the caves, I had a gut feeling. One stronger than most. I could feel you had finally found some. Some Wind Urns!"

" I knew what you had been doing this whole time, you see. I don't need scouts, spies, or trackers, only intuition! I knew you had been searching for more Wind Urns, attempting to find the rest before I could."

With spiraling eyes, Dandy let out another anxiety-inducing cackle. " But I was never looking for them! I didn't need to! Regardless of how long, with my pure luck, I believed they would all fall into my hands eventually, one way or another!"

Coming to a stop before her, his encompassing shadow swallowed her. Trembling as she did on the night Dandy staged his coup, Ayesha pressed back against the wall.

" After getting that gut feeling, I took a map and let my luck decide. So, you've been staying in Old Wind? Those ruins? Not like it matters! It didn't take my men long to find it! Just recently, they finally brought it back home! Back to me!"

The floor rocked as he let out another laugh. " You were never a threat to me! All those years you spent searching were all a waste! The urn you poured so much into to keep away from me, found its way to me anyway! It's like you had been working for me this entire time!"