The creature's sounds quickly become background noise to the King, unimportant so long as they didn't change. His thoughts were, as they had always been for the past immeasurable time, focused on himself. He didn't know what he had expected when he came to the center of the ward. Answers, perhaps. Something that would explain the changes that were taking place within him, and would help him to understand this new and unusual way of looking at life. But all he had found in that strange place was the same thing that was waiting for him everywhere, violence and bloodlust. Except this time he couldn't even fight back and defend himself properly.

There was also the matter of that strange feeling, the one that had raced through his body and given him the size and strength he needed to fight off the creatures that were trying to trap him. Magic never lasted longer than the spell, and the fact that none of his orange chips were glowing meant that he was, most certainly, no longer using the energy inside of himself. Yet his size had not changed.

It wasn't that he wasn't able to control this new body, or that he was uncomfortable with its size. The King knew his body, just like he always knew it, even though he was larger than he had ever been before. He knew that he would be able to run just as fast as he ever did, if not faster because of his longer legs and stronger muscles. No, the King wanted to change back because this was another new thing that he didn't understand. He was so tired of new things and he didn't want or need another one.

When the creature stirred again, he nearly flinched. He had almost forgotten the thing was there, or, at least, he had forgotten that it would do anything more than sit and make noise. But the creature didn't get any closer. Rather, it began to walk in a circle around him, always maintaining an equal distance from it. Around halfway through the second loop, he forgot about the creature again, returning to his internal musing.

At some point, he was going to have to decide what to do with this new thing, if he ever wanted to return to his former size again. He knew in the way all creatures understood of what they were capable that it had been his magic that had caused this change. It was probably this same magic that had allowed him to grow so much larger than everyone else in the Pack, to become the King of his species. It might even be this magic that had changed his thinking

He was briefly disturbed again when he realized that the creature was drawing closer, but it took a step back and once more resumed its circling.

If he could harness this power the way he harnessed the wind, the fire, and the water, he might be able to return things to normal. He could get rid of this impossibly large body, this strange thing that seemed to exist within his own mind and distort his thoughts in directions they had never known before. There were so few chances to go back in life. There was no going back when he took over another pack, no going back when the prey struck out with an accurate hoof and clubbed one of his pack mates so hard on the head that they would never move again. This might be the only opportunity in the world for him to truly go back to the way things were.

The creature was in too close again. The King twitched one large paw, and it instantly took a step back, resuming its ceaseless, senseless circling.

But, even if he went back, he would never be able to get rid of the memories of this bittersweet curiosity. It had pushed him to do something that no member of his pack had ever been able to do, it had driven him right to the center of the ward. It had, in a way, granted him the ability to understand more fully that it was possible for him to go back. Could he really give up these new things? They seemed to make life so fresh, so unimaginably new. They made it so that his existence was more than just an endless repetition of the same base thoughts.

He felt a small, light pressure on his back, quickly removed. Unconsciously he rolled slightly, finding the thing that had touched him again. It was only at that moment he realized that it was the creature's paw.