The Centaur trotted across the barren landscape, eager to reach the end of his day's journey. The setting sun reflected from the hair of his lower body. A sheen of sweat covered his upper torso, tanned by the sun to a
matching golden brown. Like most Centaurs, his body was lithe and muscular and he moved with the grace and balance inherent in his kind.
He was at the mid point of a four day trip from Fretive to his home, the Centaur settlement of Keliod. A fast messenger could make the trip in three days, but since he was in no hurry the Centaur took his time.
Nonetheless he traveled across the Wastelands as quickly as possible. The heat and dryness of the air kept him from traveling at a gallop so he cantered at a reasonable pace, eager to reach the cool glade with its small spring at the bottom of God's Wrath for his night's rest.
The Wastelands and the round valley known as God's Wrath were steeped in tales and myth. Legends told that long ago in the distant past, the gods became angry at the creatures of the realm. Which creatures
and the reason for the gods' anger varied from teller to teller, but all stories agree that as a result they threw a burning stone at the world. It blazed through the sky leaving a trail of smoke and flame and smashed
here, leaving a gaping hole. Fire and ash spewed up. The ground melted and poured out cinders and dust. For ages nothing living could approach. Life surrounding the hole died and did not return.
After time the bottom of the hole cooled. Springs broke through causing seeds blown by the wind to sprout and grow. Small animals soon followed and made their homes in the valley
Above the rim of God's Wrath in the surrounding area known as The Wastelands, the only signs of life to be found were those such as the Centaur who were passing through. The heat of the stone and the force of its' impact had scorched the land, sealing springs and diverting the course of brooks and rivers. Life refused to settle in the area. It was littered with stones and rocks, ranging from sharp pebbles small enough to get caught in a hoof, to boulders large enough to crush the Centaur's village.
That's why as he followed the path around one of these huge stones, he was surprised to see a Mermaid in the path.
His surprise wasn't at seeing a Mermaid, Centaurs and Mermaids had always coexisted. But seeing one here in The Wastelands, far from any body of water was completely unexpected.
She kneeled in the center of the path looking toward the edge of the valley. Her torso was upright with her lower body bent forward at the hips and her tail pivoted around and to one side. She seemed to falter as she scanned the skies.
The Centaur galloped up to her. It was immediately apparent to him that she was suffering from the heat. Her skin was turning red from the sun and had lost the healthy, moist sheen that he had heard Mermaids
possessed.

She turned and watched as he approached.

"Oh thanks be to the gods, a Centaur. Please...help me...I, I must have...water, " she gasped as she fainted and collapsed on the hot ground.

He knelt on the stony ground and lifted the hair behind her ears. He saw that her gills were still moist. If he could get to the spring in the glade
quickly enough, it was possible he could save her.
He picked her up in his arms and rose to his hooves. He galloped towards the rim of God's Wrath. The Centaur had made this trip so many times he could find his way in the dark. He found the path at the rim of
the valley and started down. What had originally been a cleft in the wall had, over the years filled with rocks and dirt to form a ramp to the base. Although rocky and uneven, his Centaur strength, and the stability of his four legs, allowed him to carry the Mermaid's negligible weight to the bottom.
The path angled downwards toward the coolness of the trees and their protection from the now setting sun. The hum of insects and the chirping of birds made it easy for the Centaur to forget the desolation above. The cool shade beneath the trees brought relief to him as he moved quickly through the glade towards the spring.
A grove of large trees and bushes weighted down with fruits and berries surrounded a grass-covered area. A hot spring bubbled out of a fissure in the wall of the valley. It emptied into a small pool where it cooled and became a small brook that curved behind the trees and spilled into a crack in the valley's stony floor and disappeared.
The Centaur knelt and gently laid the Mermaid in the cool grass next to the pool. He plunged his hands into the warm water; scooping up a handful and letting it sprinkle over her body. He considered lowering her
into the pool, but was afraid the sudden shock might kill her.
As her body absorbed the water. The Centaur became aware of her incredible beauty. Her thick blond hair stretched beneath her to her waist. Her lips were red and full. With high cheekbones and thick eyelashes her
face was that of a goddess. Her skin was tan, both on her torso and her tail. Her arms were muscular yet delicate, her hands long and slender yet strong.
Below her hips, her tail's upper portion was flat and heavily muscled. It narrowed to a joint, which connected the lower segment. Equally muscled, it converged to a rounded point from which two fins
extended horizontally from her body. It was covered with the same tan skin that covered her torso. Although able to breathe and live underwater, the Mermaid was unlike any fish the Centaur had ever seen
After getting her body damp, he continued to wet his hands and spread the warm water over her body, gently massaging the muscles and trying to work the moisture into her skin. His hands rubbed water over her face and neck, down her arms and across her breasts and abdomen. He continued working the water down her body, over her hips where her torso smoothed into her lower body and spread out into her tail at the end.
As the Centaur continued spreading water on the Mermaid he found himself almost obsessed with her beauty, the grace of her form, the way she appeared sleek and smooth even in repose.
As he sprinkled more water on her face she moaned and shook her head.

"Rest, You are safe," Said the Centaur, "You're going to be all right."

The Mermaid fluttered her eyelashes and opened her eyes, they were a bright blue, like the sky on a summer day.

"Where am I?" She asked, in a voice as smooth and sultry as any the Centaur had ever heard.

"We are in the glade of God's Wrath. Don't worry, there is water here. I found you in The Wastelands, on the Old King's road. I was on my way to Kelliod when I
found you."

"The Wastelands!" exclaimed the Mermaid, "By the gods I am far from the sea."

The Centaur was amazed by the speed of the Mermaid's recovery. Already the red tint the sun had given her skin was fading. The water had returned the moist sheen on her skin.

"How did you get here?" asked the Centaur, "The nearest water is beyond Demrick to the west."

" Our home of Leffnov at the mouth of the river Giddus was poisoned. The Winged Demons poured something into the water upstream, which made it impossible for us to breathe it. Those of us who weren't poisoned
immediately crawled out of the water to the shore to breathe the air. The Demons swooped out of the sky killing the rest of my people. As I watched this horror a shadow fell over me. The next thing I knew a Winged Demon with a lecherous leer had picked me up and taken flight with me in his arms. I fought as best I could, but he had carried me so far up I was afraid
of falling. He had left one of my arms free, so I reached out and grabbed one of his wings hoping to force him to the ground. I pulled as hard as I could but it seemed to have no effect. My anger and frustration must have given me extra strength because with a final yank I tore the skin of his wing. He screeched and started sinking toward the ground. He finally dropped me from a low enough altitude that I survived the fall. Without carrying my weight he was able to gain height and fly off towards the north. I guess I fought more than he expected. I knew I had to find water, but movement on dry land is difficult enough for a Mermaid. The heat and dryness of The Wastelands drained my energy very quickly as I crawled
along the path. I lost consciousness after seeing you. The next thing I knew, I awoke with you rubbing water on my body, which has been the best part of my day so far."

She rolled over on her side and raised her upper body on one arm.

"You have saved my life, Centaur, " said the Mermaid, "I thank you."

"You don't have to thank me," answered the Centaur, "But since you are doing so well, I suppose I can stop rubbing you now."

"I suppose you must," She replied. "But I must say it is the best thing that has happened to me all day."

The Centaur blushed with embarrassment, "Yes... well,.. er, thank you. But we must decide what to do. " He said, "God's Wrath is a day's travel in any direction to the nearest water. I can carry you, or enough water
to keep you alive, but not both."

The Mermaid laughed, "You don't know much about Mermaids do you Centaur?

"No," answered the Centaur, " Only what I have been told by other travelers. You are the first I have met. I understand that you are unable to survive more than a few hours out of water. Any longer and you will die. And I have heard it is not a pleasant death." He added.

The Mermaid laughed, "That is true, but I could make the trip just fine if I was a Centaur."

"And I could cross the oceans if I were a Mermaid," said the Centaur, "But I am not."

The Mermaid shifted her tail beneath her and sat upright.

"There is nothing for me at Leffnov, my people are dead. My home has been destroyed. I must start anew. I cannot travel on dry land as a Mermaid. Under the right conditions a Mermaid can become a Centaur. But I need your help to create those conditions." She took one of the Centaur's hands in hers. "Please, will you help me?"

"Of course," he said, "Whatever you wish."

The Mermaid reached up and took the Centaur's hand inhers. "Do you know the difference between Mermaids and Centaurs?"

"Well, most of the differences between us are below the hips, both male and female Centaurs and Mermaids are pretty much the same above that. Except for the gills of course, Centaurs have no gills."

"Are you sure?" asked the Mermaid. "Rub your fingers behind your ears, do you feel those bumps?"

The Centaur did as he had been asked. He did feel a small ridge of hard cartilage there. He asked, "Well, they're certainly not gills. If they were, I wouldn't nearly have drowned when the old bridge over the river Quye collapsed."

"No they aren't gills, but except for a small change in your blood, they would have been. Centaurs and Mermaids are more closely related than you think. In fact there is a way for a Centaur to become a Mermaid, and a Mermaid to become a Centaur."

"That's crazy! I've never heard of such a thing," The Centaur stammered. "Why if that were true, people would be changing all over the place. "

"No," replied the Mermaid, "It can only be done once. Once the change happens to a Centaur or a Mermaid, they can never change back. There are not many who know of this, or how to do it, but since my people are gone, my home destroyed, and the fact that I cannot travel the distance back as a Mermaid, I am willing to make the change."

The Centaur looked puzzled. He could think of no reason for the Mermaid to lie to him, but it was such a seemingly ridiculous idea that he was having trouble coping with it.

"Tell me then, How is it done?"

"You'll have to trust me Centaur. One of the things I will require is a tiny amount of your blood. I must mix it with some juice from those fruits on that tree, and I'll need a piece of Kornair stone to grind and mix in as well." He was unable to see how this would change the Mermaid into a Centaur, but he had bled before and had no fear of it. The Mermaid wasn't a
threat, so he figured he would go along with it. He couldn't just leave her here, not if the Winged Demons were in the area. He had never heard of mental Illness, but that is what he was thinking of.
After gathering the fruits she asked for, he started grinding the Kornairr stone into a powder as she mixed the juice of the fruits in a small depression in a large rock. As the Centaur handed her the powder, she sprinkled it into the mixture, and continued to stir it with her finger.

"All right, Centaur, I need some of you blood. It must come from your lower body, as that is what I need my tail to change into."

The Centaur did as he was asked. Centaurs carried no weapons, they had their powerful hands and arms, and of course four legs with which to defend themselves. He found a small piece of shale with a point on the
end, which he used to cut open a small slice on his foreleg. He held this over the mixture the Mermaid had made, and both waited as three drops fell into the liquid.

“That's enough," Said the Mermaid as she bent down to drink, "Now stand back, this should only take a minute." She drank deeply, and quickly emptied the depression in the rock. She then relaxed and collapsed upon the grass. Her body now gleamed with the natural luster of her kind. It glowed not only with the radiance of the setting sun, but seemingly from within

" You have been most kind and understanding. I am sure there is a Centaur female somewhere who is very lucky."

The Centaur sighed, "Unfortunately that is not so. My travels have kept me from finding a permanent mate."

The Mermaid smiled, "That may change sooner than you think."

He was still confused as to how the Mermaid's actions would make her a Centaur, but his curiosity was replaced by concern, as the Mermaid's breathing increased. Her body tensed and convulsed as the change, which the Centaur had not believed would occur started.
Her upper torso remained the same, as the two halves of her lower body seemed to meld together. It started to expand forming a lower torso, shoulders and hips. As her lower body continued to fill out, the corners
extended forming legs, joints and hooves. Light golden hair matching the color of her upper torso grew out of this newly formed lower body as a blond mane matching the color of her hair formed down her back to where
her hips met her lower shoulders. A tail grew from between her rear legs as the gills behind her ears disappeared. Her upper torso remained as beautiful as ever. With a final shudder the fine details of her new form resolved themselves, blending the two parts into a whole which was a superb example of a beautiful female Centaur.
She twisted at the hips to examine her exquisite new appearance. She walked several steps and experimented with moving. With a final flip of her tail, she seemed satisfied with her new body. She turned and faced the Centaur, who had a look of amazement on his face.

"Shall we start for Keliod?" she asked?