For Sara G.

Khael’s eyes flew wide as Morgan appeared out of the ether, a bundle of cloth under one arm. Morgan cursed loudly in an odd language. He gently placed the bundle on a worktable and collapsed to one knee. “I won. Did not get coup. Too dangerous.”

Morgan silently cursed Magir’s lack of vocabulary while hoping Khael did not want details. “No coup? This?” Khael poked the cloth bundle.

Morgan hissed in response. Khael smartly decided to leave the bundle be and left a purse of coins next to it.

Morgan left for his cabinet. Sitting on his narrow bed, he peeled away layers until a small person was revealed in his lap. In the desperate and sudden need to end the recent battle, he killed his opponent, grabbed for his brother, and jaunted to Hysperia without giving much mental time to what exactly had happened to Michael. Michael hadn’t said a thing, not that he had the time to comment in Morgan’s expeditious finale. He was indignant, understandably, but was still uncharacteristically quiet. “How old are you?” Morgan probed.

“Ninety-six, of course!” Michael blurted out, his voice squeaky and thin.

Well, his mind was still cognizant of who and what he was. So, it wasn’t true chronomancy, probably just a tweaked form of transmutation. In an odd moment of levity, Morgan squeezed Michael in a hug, cloyingly gushing, “Aww, aren’t you so cute!”

Michael went to punch him, but his strength was that of a seven-year-old along with his proportions. He failed to even leave a red mark. “So, I’m guessing you have the sexual development of a youngling, too?” Morgan said a bit more soberly.

Michael looked down to realize that, rather than the short undeveloped stem of a human child, he had nothing. “I’m missing something down there.”

“Missing or inverted?” Morgan queried.

Michael felt around. “No, missing, I don’t have anything.”

“So, he turned you into….” Morgan started laughing. “I must stop ascribing intelligence to those who so sorely lack it. He probably forgot children can have genitalia.”

“Is undoing this going to be a problem?”

“Only if you want to be intact once I’m done attempting it. I honestly don’t know how to undo it, so this may take some research, but for now, you are a Scafir youth. I can try ageing you a bit, but no guarantee that puberty will happen since we are hoping that Zwigif was aiming for was a Scafir child."
"What do you think he was aiming for?"
"He was aiming to make me helpless... or less effective." 
"..."
"He would have failed on both counts. I'm more concerned that you were gravid before he hit you with the transmute, but you aren't now."