Two hours—that is what it took for us to finally get home, and less than that for Zeath to switch back to normal.

He had already fallen asleep one hour into the ride. Now that we’re back home, I shake him awake to exit the car.

Zeath yawns and steps out sluggishly, crossing an arm over his torso while bending forward.

“Are your wounds aching you?” I ask even though I can see he’s having some side effects of stressing his body. “Are you too tired?” I ask again when he doesn’t ...