The first thing I could feel was a constant pain digging into my wrists. That was what had stirred me awake. My eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness of the room I was in; shadows danced from the light of a sole torch, barely illuminating a figure standing mere steps away from me.

The disorientation from waking up standing combined with the sudden sensory overload of my new body caused me to feel nauseous. My vision struggled to focus as a sharp pang of hunger erupted from my stomach. The only noises in the room were the scraping sounds of my own raspy breath, and the slight jingle of chains, tightly binding me to a cold, stone wall.

“-answer me.” The figure ahead of me had been speaking without me realising. My mind felt completely disjointed from the events of the last 24 hours, I struggled to even register the fact that I was being spoken to.

“Wha-?” I barely managed to spit out before bursting into a fit of coughs, each one sending a sharp eruption of pain through my core.

“I said…” The figure paused before taking a step closer to me, “How do you have both a Curse and a Blessing?”

A Curse and a what? My head started to spin again; I hardly was able to make out the words being spoken at me. My eyes looked everywhere except for at the figure in front of me, my head hung low, and my legs trembled, barely able to support my own weight. All I managed to muster in response was a low groan, incapable of proper speech with my current state.

“Stop playing games with me you fucking mutt!” A rough hand grabbed me by my neck and forced my head upwards. I instantly struggled to breath.

“I saw Sean kill you, what are your Curse’s Aspects!?” Spit flew into my face, my eyes darted back and forth wildly. Aspects? What is he talking about? My heart was beating faster and faster, its thundering rhythm growing louder in my ears.

“I can’t breathe!” I said, but no words came out. My mouth did nothing more than twitch slightly.

“Please, I don’t know where I am, please…” I said to him, but all that could be heard was the rattling of chains as he pushed me further into the wall. My mind was racing, all coherence of my thoughts was gone. Two words repeated themselves over and over in my mind: I’m scared.

“I’m scared-“ It sounded like a whisper, but I had screamed it as loudly as I could, in some futile attempt to persuade the man off of my neck. My vision was spotty in my oxygen-deprived state, and my mind was even more delirious than before. Whatever instinct this body had which allowed me to be ferocious and ruthless before, had long since been overpowered. The relief when he finally released my throat was short-lived.

My shoulders ached from my arms being forcibly held over my head, my wrists were burning, my lungs were burning, my throat was burning. The pacing of my breaths became quicker. Each inhale shorter than the last. I have had panic attacks before but none as severe as this. The constant pain I have felt since arriving in this body seemed to fade as I escaped further into my mind.

“-I can’t do it. Look at-“ I could barely make out the man who had been assaulting me’s voice talking to someone else.

“-ucking baby. Let me handle-“ Another person spoke. I couldn’t understand what they were talking about, but I could see that I was being approached again.

The second man held his hand out and grabbed my chin, forcing me to look up at him; He muttered in a language that sounded similar to Latin. An ethereal, bright green glow began to emanate from his palm.

The effect was immediate: The fog that had plagued my mind since awakening seeped out of me, my sore throat felt soothed, and my lungs no longer ached with each breath. The pain in my wrists and shoulders remained, but that was a small price to pay for the utter relief I had felt in that moment.

“Thank you.” I breathed out, hearing my new voice properly for the first time. It was distinctly feminine with a husky, throaty, quality. I immediately snapped my mouth shut, slightly distressed from the unfamiliar voice that now belonged to me.

The man leered at me. His eyes roamed my body, making me shiver. Now that my thoughts had become more stable, I was able to somewhat rationalise my current predicament. Somehow, I had reincarnated in the body of a dead beastman girl, and now I was being interrogated, presumably to do with the fact that I had mauled one of their men.

I knew trying to apply logic to this situation was going to be futile. I was already overwhelmed by discomfort from the grim covering my body. The gap between my thighs was cold and wet. My enhanced olfactory system could pick up a strong stench of piss and blood.

“I’m going to ask you some questions, I want you to answer honestly. Okay?” The man in front of me asked, his voice trying to portray some semblance of concern was heavily contrasted by an obvious look of pity and disgust in his eyes.

“Okay.” I squeaked an affirmative.

“What are the Aspects of your Curse?” He asked me.

“I don’t know…” I trailed off. His hand reached behind his back, revealing a set of pliers.

“Wrong answer.” He stated with a growl in his voice, reaching towards my hand and placing one of my clawed nails into the pliers. I already knew where this was going and tried to brace myself for the pain that would follow, but my efforts were futile.

“No! Wait, please! Sto-“ My words were cut off by my own bestial howl – the agony of having one of my nails ripped off tenfold that of what I had expected.

To my abject horror, the pain did not stop, it instead intensified as I stared, wide-eyed at my bleeding finger. As soon as the man pulled my nail away, a new one grew rapidly in its place.

My eyes, blurred with tears, darted between my hand and the man’s face which was displaying a look of confusion. My head spun as I tried intensely to figure out a way out of this situation, until an idea hit me.

“Please,” I begged, “I don’t know what happened! I can’t remember anything past a few hours ago. You have to believe me!” I tried to appeal to his human nature and embraced an act befitting of my pitiful form. My remark gave him pause. Noticing his slight hesitance, I continued.

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘Aspect’ or ‘Curse’, please explain it to me so I can help us both get what we want.” This time I spoke more coolly, unwilling to recede on my newfound confidence. He looked me over once more, as if to appraise my truthfulness.

“Are you fucking with me?” He asked, his tone bordering anger and bewilderment.

“No, I promise.” I practically shouted in fear of him returning to his previous methods.

“Do you even know what the Gifts are?” He asked me with a hint of exasperation, clearly surprised at the direction that this interrogation was going in.

“I do not, I’m sorry.” I continued to act meek in order to invoke further sympathy from the man. I could feel the large ears on top of my head droop, and my tail sag, further bolstering the appearance of a helpless beastman girl.

“There are two types of Gifts,” He placed the pliers in his pocket once again. “The first type is a ‘Blessing’. They can give anything from small boons, such as an increased affinity to animals, up to unfathomable power, such as the ability to level mountains with your fists alone.” He looked at me rubbing his forehead tiredly.

“Then there are Curses. Curses are often much more powerful than blessings but they come with a caveat that can make them detrimental to the bearer. For example, a prophet may have a Curse that allows them to view the future, whilst simultaneously blinding them permanently.” I gulped at his remark, hoping that whatever it was that was allowing me to heal so quickly did not come with a terrible catch.

“How do you know if you have a Gift?” I asked him much more casually than someone in my situation would have normally.

“Say the word: ‘Invocare’.”