Though I couldn't recall being inebriated, I woke to the drink's wrath banging inside my skull. Dried stains on my thighs and crotch made my skin acutely dirty. At first I thought my lower back hurt, until I realised the pain was in my tail, twisted underneath me. A quick check revealed the appendage had grown both in length and girth.

  "Ah, good morning," Sulme said. He was already up, though hadn't yet fully dressed.

  "Good morning." I pulled the bnket off me. The smell was faint, but strong enough to make me wince. I should have washed myself, before passing out.

  I still had my limbs, which was useful. The scales hadn't spread much beyond my elbow or any higher than my upper thighs. But my remaining four toes had grown in size and gained nastier talons.

  A mostly human body was still far from Umu's preferred shape. My desires involving Sulme must have tied me to humanity. In any case, such a body had its advantages for my ambitions. The coming work was that of a human leader, not of a lesser divinity. And the 'kindly' gods might take objection were I to reveal myself fully.

  Yes, Sulme's love served a purpose. Let me be anchored to humanity, at least a little longer. A few weeks, a year or even a generation.

  As I stood up, I found myself slightly disoriented.

  "Come here," I said to Sulme.

  The man was amused, but obeyed. He stood right in front of me, and I could see my suspicion had been correct.

  "It appears I have grown in height," I said. My eyes were almost at Sulme's level. Instinctively, I leaned forward to stand on my toes and the balls of my feet. Due to the changed shape, the posture didn't compromise my bance.

  I was Sulme's height, perhaps even a little taller. Yet he didn't show any unease with the development. Instead, he gave me a quick kiss.

  "You should hurry with your morning routine," he said. "People were already asking for you at the break of dawn."

  "At this time of year, sunrise might as well still be considered night."

  Sulme smiled. "Not everyone can sleep easy, when an armada is on the way to ensve them."

  "I know the cure for uneasy nights: hard work, lots of it." I walked to the wash basin and gingerly began to clean myself. "Unfortunately we do not have enough time for drilling to do much good. But if we win this first csh, my soldiers will know the drillmaster's bark and bite, this I promise."

  "'If' we win?" Sulme walked to me. He took a rag and began to scrub my back.

  "Not even I am mad enough to think victory is ever guaranteed," I said. "I do think we have a good chance at it. The Prince's kewater fleet was not overly huge, and he won't dare to commit all of it against us. With the terrain advantage, favour of the local spirits and the loftier motive of our troops, we can beat them."

  Busywork filled the following day, yet no mountains appeared for me to move. The Attisans had been enlivened into action, and many of the notables showed themselves eager to help lead the war preparations. Even if only a few of them had ever been military men, they had a good grasp of organising supplies, messages, travels and gatherings. Their understanding was certainly more thorough than mine, so I didn't mind indulging in the sense of importance of these elevated personages. 'Umu' could concentrate on wringing out any extra advantage there was to reap.

  Though despair at the face of imminent doom might been understandable, we did have time to prepare. Big sailing ships with rows of oars could glide over still water deceptively fast, the narrow straits would slow an entire armada into a ponderous crawl. I made my main priority the pnning of the battlefield. The local semi-Ekran knights were more than willing to work as heavily armed scouts and foragers. I also sent smaller boats towards the enemy fleet, to spread our word and track the enemy fleet's progress.

  As the symbol of our ghastly enterprise, it was my responsibility to keep up the fighting spirit. For that, I held a worship at a smaller shrine.

  I was washing my hands from the blood of a sacrificed young goat, when a young man walked to me. He had managed to pass my guards, which roused my suspicions.

  A knife fshed out of his sleeve. Instinct lifted my forearm between us. Before he could strike again, he was dead from a poleaxe to the back of his head.

  The bde had hit straight into my arm, yet there was no wound. A short examination revealed that my scales were quite impervious to cuts. It was armour; light, flexible but strong.

  Though a local Issoan through and through, the youth turned out to have been a fervent supporter of the Tamsi faith. I kept the information to myself. The st thing I needed was spreading hysteria about hidden Tamsi murderers. Not only would a heretic hunt take manpower from much more important matters, as long as the furtive Tamsi kept supporting their town, they were an asset. After the war calmed a bit, I would have to wrangle their worship back out in public to keep a track of them.

  The first boat scouts returned some days ter, with surprisingly good news. The Prince's fleet had been deyed, as more fighting had erupting near the coast. Turned out the Ekran cns hadn't been quite as subdued as I had thought. Not all of them had betrayed their nd, faith and people for mere temporary safety. I made sure to spread the news.

  Our soldiers and war-worthy boats trickled in slowly. First came the zealous volunteers, armed with more faith than skill or proper arms. They threatened to be more of a nuisance than any use. I assigned them into a company by themselves and let a handful of Attisan veterans drill them mercilessly. By the evenings they were too tired to cause trouble.

  As the news of the fighting spread, raiding folk from the Nango border trickled in. They had good boats and sturdy men, but their equipment was woefully old even if the heirloom polearms, warcoats and helms were eborately decorated. They would be worth the plunder they'd eventually ask for, especially if most of them died, which wasn't something I loathed to arrange.

  From a densely forested region not mentioned in any itineraries, I received a rge group of men styling themselves 'knights', even though they rode elks and preferred the bow over the nce. I wasn't going to turn down cavalry, no matter how unconventional, especially when they were content to camp far away from the town and barely bothered the peasants for food.

  The Attisans convinced the other towns in Isso to join the war. Those settlements sent their good vessels and militia companies. Though it didn't constitute a huge army, they were accompanied by a handful of men with limited training as serpentists. Apparently the Vonir control on the fire arts hadn't stuck outside Attisa. Needless to say, they were eager to serve. As mere acolytes in what I embodied, the petty serpentists had plenty to learn from a worthy mistress.

  As my army grew rger, it threatened to unravel into a mad patchwork as ungainly as a stone sword.

  We couldn't wait any longer, if we wanted to reach the strait at the old Kauku fort, before the Tamsi arrived and our army dissipated into its own incoherence. I chose the pce not only for its convenient marshy and forested terrain, but also as a potential symbol. If I could keep the Tamsi out of Isso, it only followed that I should be able to keep them out of the whole Ekran nd.

  The winds and waters favoured us with speed. I travelled in front, onboard Mulkava's ship, renamed to 'Hierodule'.

  My fighting crew was picked from the Attisan handgunners and halberdiers, with a few of the serpentist, who had familiarity with cannon. For rowers I had declined to keep the Tamsi captives. I needed everyone on my ship ready to swing an axe or knife at the enemy, even if they weren't much good at it. Thus my rowers were a mix of kemen and the biggest peasant volunteers with even a little experience in rowing.

  Joining Hierodule in the vanguard, came the ancient bck ships from the city below Attisa. Despite cking sails, their steady rowing kept up with my ship through day and night. Their fighting crews were mostly of the zealous volunteers, as anybody else would have been too troubled by what was below deck.

  After a sermon from me, my fanatics had appeared quite pleased by their task. Many of them started a habit of praying with an ear on the pnks to listen to the rowers below as their ancestors. I didn't correct them.

  Rest of my fleet followed a few miles back to give them room to move between the isles. Our meagre cavalry took the long route over nd. They would try to ford over the smaller rivers, but there was no knowing, if they would make it in time.

  I shared Hierodule's tiny cabin with the ship's new captain, Sulme the Nilkoan. His assured conduct showed no signs that it was his first command of a rge vessel.

  The cabin had only one bed, but we made good use of it.

  Waves pped at the hull, and the wood groaned gently in the ke's embrace. I listened to Sulme's calming breath. I y on top of the man, letting the result of our love ooze on him.

  He didn't seem to mind that I must have been near his weight. My frame had kept growing, and I was a few inches taller than the man even without standing on my toes, a stance which had become more natural with every dawn.

  My tail had the weight of a good meaty leg. It was accordingly strong, but not dextrous enough to be particurly useful. As I got more used to the counterweight, the tail did start to help with my bance.

  "Are you still comfortable there, little mortal?" I asked.

  Sulme murmured a ugh. My teasing couldn't perturb him. But I knew something, which would get a reaction out of the Nilkoan.

  "You know..." I whispered. "It has been quite a while, and my feminine cycle has caused nothing visible. Either my body does not work in the way of mortal women or..."

  The man stiffened. "Do you mean you might be..?"

  "It is possible." I slid off him to y on his side. "In fact, I do hope so."

  Sulme shifted his stiff jaw. "Can you truly desire that already? You have been a wo-- in a female body for only a few weeks."

  I frowned. Umu had always been female, as much as spirits could be. And as Ryymi I had thought about family, but my tendencies had hampered it. But I had considered marrying, despite my minimal desire to spend my life with a woman, as means of having progeny.

  "Do you not want it?" I asked.

  "I-- You-- This--" Sulme sighed. "Look... I haven't given it much thought. Besides, the war will st quite some time. I don't want to be anxious about anyone else as much I worry about you."

  He kept thinking I was in need of care-taking. And yet, my heart fluttered from the love behind the concern.

  "Well, you might have to. Worry, I mean." I traced up my lower abdomen with a cw. The skin was still vulnerably human. Perhaps Sulme was right in his disquiet.

  An image flickered into my mind, of me lying in a damp cave, with armoured scales protecting my distended belly and its precious contents. Though the notion was strange, a smile spread my lips.

  If only the transformation wasn't an one-way journey. I had tried to will my existing changes to reverse themselves, to no effect.

  I turned to y against Sulme's side. Strong arms wrapped themselves around me, and I closed my eyes to listen the breath in the chest below my ear.

  "Then I will worry," he whispered.