I woke up to someone prodding me. "Hey. Wake up. Get moving, Lazy-bones."
I opened my eyes, and saw a man in front of me. He was wearing armor, and my first thought was "Oh shoot! Did Damien make me a monster like he said? Are players already trying to kill me?" But then I noticed that his visor was up, and he didn't seem to be particularly threatening. In fact, judging from the campsite behind him, he looked more interested in breaking camp for the morning, than picking any fights.
He prodded me again. "Come on. Up you go. We've got a lot of ground to cover today."
My relief at not being under attack already started to dissolve into misgivings. It was gradually dawning on me that some things were still very, very wrong.
For one thing, my field of view seemed different somehow. My whole head, no my whole body felt a bit odd. And I realized that when I focused, there was something big between my eyes, where my nose usually was.
It was at that point that I realized that the man was holding a bridle, which I seemed to be wearing the other end of...
"What in the world??!" I exclaimed. Or tried to exclaim, at least. What came out was more of a sharp, ululating cry, which stunned me into silence. The man, however, didn't bat an eye, and said "Now there, Amy, don't complain to me. It's two hours past sunrise, and we still have to get to the city of portals by nightfall." Seeing that I was at least awake however, he picked up a traveling pack, and walked past me.
Oof! He had thrown it on my back? I looked around, and got a better idea of what was going on.
I stared at the mass of yellow feathers for a moment, before realizing that it was me. The feathers. The frilled tail. The wings. With a sinking feeling, I realized just what I was.
I was one of the flightless yellow birds that people rode around on, in this fantasy game. As big as an ostrich, although a bit stockier, and with a larger head. And covered in the trademark yellow feathers, of course. And this man apparently though I was his mount!
