The Lion Curse

It was a lucky find in an antique shop. A large, age-worn book filled with page after page of what could only be described as spells. Gabriel didn’t waste any time making his purchase. The old tome would be a great piece to show friends and guests; he didn’t for a minute believe it was real.

After returning home, he decided to look it through. He opened to a random page with a drawing of a badger and an inscription in a language he wasn’t familiar with. Curious still, he turned to another page. A large drawing of a bear surrounded by text and symbols similar to the last. He smiled and turned the page. Lion. The silhouette was unmistakable. Gabriel wasn’t sure when he began to read the text on the pages by the lion, but he was quite sure when he finished…

As the final words left his mouth, a brilliant gold light began to overtake the text on the tattered pages. Gabriel recoiled as the lion on the page burned a brilliant white mark into his mind. His eyes fluttered open as the air in the room grew dense. A force, unseen to the confused young man, began to wrap itself around his body as the golden glow from the tome washed over him. That’s when Gabriel felt his hand seize up. He glanced down, unsure of what he would see. His nails, once neatly trimmed, were twice their normal lengths and dark. The tips curved and sharpened to the point, almost like… claws. He winced as the glow constricted his wrist. A pressure built up in his hand as it began to expand and contract in front of him. Tan… hair inched out of his skin; his fingers losing dexterity as more and more his once human began to resemble a… paw. But, t-that’s impossible, right?

Wrong. That’s when he first noticed it. The voice. It was more like a whisper. Surrounding him along with the golden aura from the book that still sat in front of him. Gabriel couldn’t discern if the so-called voice was his own mind playing tricks on him, or another supernatural element of this… this… whatever it was. Unfortunately, Gabriel did not have much time to dwell on the question. It was as though he stepped directly into the hot desert sun as an intense heat spread across his body. Gabriel felt himself being pushed and pulled in every direction as a strong discomfort caused him to lift his shirt and glance down as best he could. Thick fur covered part of his stomach while behind him something at the base of his spine ached and tugged. His… tail.. inched outward, slowly. Gabriel dropped his shirt, covering his furry belly as he saw the tip of his new appendage. A dark tuft of fur, exactly like a lion’s. The book. How could this be real. It wasn’t, right? Magic didn’t exist, it was just something he wrote about, something to joke about, not… real.

The fur covering his hand and front didn’t remain there long. Like a wildfire, the fur spread over his arms, his legs, his chest, and his back. Gabriel pawed at the shirt on his chest. The heat from the spell’s workings and the thick coat of feline fur on him was unbearable. He tore at it with his sharp claws, letting out a growl that sent a sharp spike of fear into his mind. He was becoming a lion. A beast. H-How far will this go?

‘..n..thing…b..t…bea..s.t’

W-Who said that? Did he think that? Or say that? Gabriel glanced around as his attention was once against brought to his backside. His leonine tail thrashed behind him as it finished pushing out to its full length. His legs ached– their shape being molded under the fabric of his pants into a form not meant to be covered. He leaned forward and groaned again as he felt something brush against his chest. Surrounding his face, long fur mixed with his hair, forming the the beginning of a mane. Every passing moment Gabriel’s form gave way to the lion he was becoming. He had to escape the book’s influence!

He stood in panic – only to fall to his knees a moment later. His legs cracked and reshaped– causing his pants to slip down his thickening hind legs. His chest and arms following directly behind, becoming the forearms more appropriate for the large feline he was destined to be. He closed in eyes in pain as his face pushed outward. With a sickening CRACK his maw inched further outward. Gabriel clenched his eyes shut – hoping when he opened them again this would go away. Nothing but a bad dream.

His body continued to morph as a desire slowly began to build within him. To release. To let go. To give in to the beast he was becoming. This was his fate. His new life. To be a lion.

Leaning his head back, he roared. The sharp teeth of a predator exposed for the first of many times to the world. Fur coated his entire body. He fell to his paws. Gabriel reached towards the book as the final physical humanity in him was burned away by the fiery spell that was consuming him. He closed his eyes as his glasses fell to the floor below him. He was physically a lion, and soon, he’d be one in mentally as well.

‘n..thing…b..t..a…be…t.’

There it was again. The voice. He recognized it. It was…his. His voice. Telling him.

‘..not..hing…but…a..st.’

He could feel it in the back of his mind. His worries, his concerns, the remnants of his former human life fading away. The pull of those instincts consuming his conscious thought. Telling… him…

‘Noth..g…ut…a…beast.’

The panic, the fear, the pain. It all began to fade as he felt the breeze on his fur. The lion opened its eyes as the last of the magical influence faded.

‘Nothing but a beast.’

The lion felt the earth beneath its paws; it’s mane gently blowing in the wind. In the lion’s former home, a pair of blank pages and some discarded clothes were the only evidence that anything had occurred.

Not that a lion would care for such things.