Waking up was a slow process for Lief. First his right hand crunched against the broken marble, which felt like ordinary gravel. He tried to push himself up on his elbows and knees, but nearly fainted from the effort. He raised his head and tipped over from an attack of dizziness. He fell on his back, the sharp gravel digging into his spine. This was too much for Lief's battered body so it shutdown.

Lief woke up much more rapidly after his second collapse. He froze, waiting for his senses to return. Lief had only ever being concussed a few times and there weren't many experiences like it. You could control your body, but it felt like you'd left your mind and the ground behind you. This was just how it felt and Lief's brain absently wondered how he had managed to get concussed this time.

That was before his head cleared sufficiently to remember what had happened. What he had done and for whom. The sadness returned, an open wound, but with it came a morbid curiosity. 'I wonder what I have become…what will I have to become to save her?'

Lief shook his head to clear it and pushed his chest up with his hands, aware of the rubble that was stuck in his back. Brushing it off with surprising ease and little pain; Lief finally took a good long look at his right hand. Or claw, whatever it was.

The finer details of his hand were gone, replaced with smooth stone. 'It's marble,' Lief realised. But it moved just like his normal… original hand. Filled once again with a morbid fascination, Lief found the strength to stand up and began examining himself. All marble, smooth, featureless marble. His marble was a pale green in colour, contradictory to the white marble of Tora. 'My marble… Now doesn't that sound mad? I only wish I was mad…'

Lief's hands reached his face, and that was the most shocking transformation of all. Totally featureless, only a hint of a nose. No eyes, featureless ears and no hair. That last one shocked him more then anything. No matter how bad the transformation, Lief always thought he would keep his hair. Lief then felt down below. 'Smooth stone, not even a hint of a sex. But I can feel my carved muscles, so my body must at least look male. Wait a minuet; how do I see?!'

Lief glanced down at the floor and gasped. Each individual pebble glowed like a small, blue star and the marble floor of Tora was a river of blue light. Lief looked around and realised that he didn't need to turn his head to see behind him. Or above him. Or below him.

'But how…?' Lief walked up to a marble pillar that had being charred by the dragon's fire. The beautiful blue radiance was marred; in some places it was just gone. If he had eyes, tears would have crept into them at the sight of the pillar, for such beauty could never be restored. Lief looked around and realised something. The marble of Tora glowed blue to his 'eyes' but Lief knew they were white. 'Gods this is going to get confusing. I'm going to have to relearn all my colours.' But Lief could see his own body just fine. He could see every black spot in his green marble, every feature as if he was looking at them with his own eyes. No mysterious glow surrounded them; so Lief assumed that he was seeing their actual colour. 'So I can see and examine my own body, but all other stone I 'sense'. Arhh… my head's gonna explode!'

"Just breathe Lief, breathe. You'll figure it out." 'No I bloody won't!'

A few minuets past before Lief made his decision. He didn't know why but talking to himself made him feel more comfortable. "I'll go to the great library of Del. There I shall search for all the answers."

'And power…'