Bolt Action Serenade

I turned my head and immediately hissed in pain as my neck muscles felt like old dry leather cracking after sitting in the sun for a decade. I lifted my arm to try and rub at the soreness but that same stiff, sore feeling was there too.

“Esme!” I heard Carmilla’s voice “Don’t move, all get the doctors!”

“How are you gonna get anyone?” I muttered and felt movement in my arm. Fighting the pain I turned to look and there was some simple leather strap around my wrist. With a single rune, one that I saw Carmilla reach through her runes to press with a tendril of blood. Which maybe was her own body, I still wasn’t sure on that yet. The rune lit blue under her touch and a few moments later a door opened.

“Miss Carmilla, has there been a change?” I heard a voice I didn’t recognize speak. I strained and managed to turn my head in the other direction and saw a nurse’s eyes widen. “You’re awake! I’ll get the doctors!” she then quickly turned and rushed out.

“What the… where am I?” My voice was like the creaking of floors in a run down house and my throat felt like the Sahara… was that a desert? I felt like that was a desert.

“We were so worried, you were shaking and bleeding and oh gods Esme, I was so scared.” I felt her again, like her face was against my cheek, arms holding me tight.

“You’re getting better at that. Feels more real.” I croaked out with a smile.

“Well I gained two more levels trying to keep you alive after you damned near bit your tongue off so I’m not going to be thankful for that.” She sounded almost angry, crying again.

“I’m okay, I’m okay love.” I felt her tense for a moment then pull herself ‘around’ me more. Was it manipulative to use that word right now? I didn’t think so, I meant it. Though I did chose to use it then to get to her. So maybe. But I didn’t feel bad about it. Mostly.

“You had better be. You still owe me a date, love.” Her voice was small, worried, I could still hear the tears in it but it sounded calmer at least.

“So what happened?”

“That’s a damned good question Miss Esme.” I heard a familiar voice and looked over to see Dr. Francova walking into the room. “One we have very few answers for as of yet.” He grumbled as he pulled a chair over in a very familiar action. Though this time he looked rested, hell he even looked like he’d gotten a haircut since I last saw him.

“Hey doc, how long was I out this time?” I smirked and he sent me a very not amused glare.

“A week. An entire week of rotating nurses and surgical staff keeping an eye on you and closing the new holes that would tear in you every half hour or so.” That did not sound fun. Glad I was out of it I suppose. “We had to redirect the train to a closer location, Parandra. Some of the best medical facilities in Uvtrayl, second only to Delonandra and Yevvandra or the army rehab center at Fort Grayl. You should be honored that the General thought one enemy soldier’s life was worth disrupting train schedules and travel plans for a few thousand people.”

I felt the snarky words that had been building in my head catch in my throat. “S-sorry.”

He sighed and just shook his head “You don’t even know what’s happening to you or why. It would be unfair to blame you for things. You’ll have to talk to a few other officers in a day or two once I clear you for it. But that requires I clear you, so lets hurry up and see how you’re doing.” He turned and said something in the Uvtrayl language and a few nurses came in, one pushing a cart with way, way, way too many medical devices for me to be comfortable with. So much so I almost didn’t notice that I actually sort of understood what he’d said. Something about being ready, bringing something?

Though I had a lot of things to worry about, once again, so I set that aside to try and prioritize my current flavors of insanity. The pain in my muscles was short lived, or at least it was after a nurse opened a small glass vial with some dark greenish goo and held it out towards my left arm. Carmilla promptly reached out of my runes and slurped it up. I guess she’d been interfacing with the medical staff, made sense considering what she was and could do. I smiled at the thought of my sexy voiced elemental being with me all that time and keeping me safe.

“Do you really have something to smile about right now?” she grumbled in my ear as the tension and pain in my muscles slowly bled away thanks to whatever had just been given to me.

“Yeah, you.” the nurses paused for a moment to glance at me, but quickly got back to their tasks when they saw I wasn’t addressing any of them.

“Miss Carmilla has been a great help in keeping you alive. Not to mention she’s popular with the staff here. Polite, friendly, even comforting to the ones that come in looking tired or stressed from what I am told.” The doctor spoke as he helped ready some absolutely terrifying looking devices. No idea what they were but none looked soft at least.

“She’s the best, yeah. Owe her more than I can say.” I coughed slightly and a nurse moved to help he drink some water.

“I’m going to warn you ahead of time, you have changed. Mostly in small ways, you’re taller, slightly more lithe, your hair fell out and rapidly grew back in purple.”

“What?” I reached up and pulled some of the neck length curls into my vision and I’ll be damned my hair was actually purple. Nice bright and deep shade of it too. “Huh.”

“But some changes are more significant, not to mention odd.” he sighed and one of the nurses, I think they one that had first come in glanced at me and blushed. Ah beans. The dream. That goddess’s warning.

I shifted my hips slightly and yeah there was something new there what the hell. “I… uh… seem to have a growth.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. I did.” I looked up at his face and there was the slightest hint of a mocking smile. Now come on, this is going to be awkward no matter what so lets just barrel right through it and then move on with our lives.”

Thankfully none of the devices were invasive, apparently there was no need with Carmilla able to bring out samples they needed on demand. But several were in fact quite cold. I was helped to my feet… foot, stripped, and helped to stand, sit, bend over, and take a number of odd positions so they could press various metal or stone objects against various parts of my body. I managed to get a good look at several and noted they all had glowing runes on them. Most sent some sensation or another through me, making me shiver or wince or once, rather embarrassingly moan directly into the ear of a nurse that was holding my standing. She had the decency to look as embarrassed as I felt.

But overall it was mostly embarrassing and mildly uncomfortable, no real pain to speak of. Not to mention I got a thrill seeing all that arcanicraft machinery at work. Arcanicraft? I knew that word, I mean obviously I thought it without being told. But I knew what it meant too. Mixing mana arts and scientific progress, arcanicraft was the source of a lot of the modern amenities in the world. Poor dead Bernson’s managun was one example. Vehicle engines that didn’t use steam were arcanicraft. Handheld lights that required no fire were growing popular in the more affluent areas. I couldn’t think of more but I knew there were countless wonders made with the discipline.

It made sense, being so drawn towards it. Poor struggling street orphan from either some small village or the slums of somewhere larger, I don’t think I’d seen much of this at all before. Also it was really cool.

Of course, the whole time I did my damnedest to not look down at my body because I knew that was going to be a whole thing. But once the testing was over the embarrassed nurse helped me stand in front of a mirror that had been brought in and I… well alright then.

I was hott. My skin had paled, a lot, but I had freckles EVERYWHERE. Also they were all dark purple and made me look like a reverse- holy shit, like a reverse night sky. I mean, not literally obviously but knowing about her I could see it easily. I guess I really was her Saint or Champion or whatever.

Also my knockers were incredible teardrop perfection and like twice the size of my perky little handfuls before. I mean, they were still little compared to Helanna’s but damn this was nice! My hair was a wild curly mess of violet with a few silver streaks. I smiled as I realized it reminded me of a storm cloud.

My face, okay smaller details first. Lips were fuller, nose was slightly more angular, and my ears stuck out more than they used to. Which honestly I found cute. Big change though? My eyes, my irises were massive, I couldn’t see white around them at all. Just a deep orange surrounding my pupils, which were now dark, silvery eight pointed stars. Like less fantastical and physically impossible copies of her own bright floating stars. Damn.

I took a breath and let my gaze lower. I knew it was there, I’d been aware of it every time I moved but looking directly at it made my brain bluescreen… I don’t know why my mind keeps using phrases I don’t know but at least it gives me some general idea of meaning.

Hanging between my legs was a few inches of girthy dick. It was surreal and I couldn’t help but reach down and prod it with a finger. It twitched and I felt a pulse through me making my knee tremble slightly. “Oh man, what the hell?”

I saw movement in the mirror and the nurse holding me up was shifting slightly and quickly pulling her sight away from the cock that she’d been suddenly caught staring at. I smirked and noted the nipples poking through her top. Well at the very least I knew I wasn’t the only one that appreciated the changes, from an aesthetic sense at least.

Then my dick started to harden and my embarrassment fucktoupled in size. A few long, mortifying seconds until it stood proud. The thing had to be eight fucking inches if not more, what the hell? Of course it lifting up let me note something else as well. No balls and I could clearly see my labia still present, so rocking both bits. I knew the thing had to be firing live rounds considering she told me it was to make some babies so I was comforted that I wasn’t losing my more familiar parts to make room for something new. Thank you my night sky goddess for that at least.

The doc cleared his throat and talked to the nurse a moment then to me “Miss Esme, Nurse Jaina is going to get you situated so you can have a quick shower. I’d recommend making it a cold one. Trust me.” he said, no judgment in his face. I think Doctor Francova was generally of the ‘I’m to old to dance around shit’ school of thought and I was quite thankful to be honest.

Twenty minutes and one freezing cold shower later, I fully understood the suggestion and marked it to remember in the future.

Carmilla stroked my cheek “How are you holding up, love?”

I was sitting on my hospital bed and just letting myself breath at the time and when she asked I looked down at the stump where my leg had once been “Why didn’t she fix it?” I asked to myself, though it was also indirectly an answer to her question I suppose.

“Who? Fix what, love?” I could feel her anxiety, her worry that maybe I had been changed like she had, some mental alteration that hadn’t been noticed yet.

“We need to talk Carmilla. Not sure if this is a good or bad one for you, but she said you were ‘cool’ which somehow I know means trustworthy.” I laughed softly and laid back to start talking.