And even more by how they leave. Transfixed, Krystallus stared up at this strange new sight. Where the throbbing thread joined the monster’s body, the skin had started to bubble, ripple, and bulge. This beast is transforming! Anxiously, he chewed his lip. Into . . . what? Thoughts of other matters—his numb fingers, the monster’s constant swaying, even the need to hurry—vanished. All he could do was stare, gaping, at the bubbling expansion of skin. The beast’s entire midsection was now swelling steadily. Black lightning crackled all along the thread, which continued its relentless pulse, pounding in time to the flashing eye. Whatever that thread was pumping into the monster’s body was rapidly filling it. And changing it. Faster than Krystallus would have thought possible, the monster’s whole upper half was expanding into an immense, powerful chest. Near the top, two stubs appeared from swiftly developing shoulders.
