Lamia form + senses

There was something else too: I could hear their hearts beating. Each Kobalos had two hearts – one in the chest and one in the throat – and I could clearly hear that double beat in each chest.

I realized that my senses had improved. Mam had been the first lamia, and her blood coursed through my veins.

"Be what you need to be." That’s what she’d told me.

I was changing … Was I changing into a lamia?

I listened, and found that every word the Kobalos said was crystal clear.

‘Our armies must fall back to Valkarky, but it is not over. We can begin again. We can create a new god even more powerful than Talkus,’ Balkai told his warriors. ‘My magic is powerful enough to do that.’

Now, in addition to their heartbeats, I could hear the blood surging through their veins.

I opened my eyes and saw that the inside of my grave was glowing with a red light. I could pick out every detail of my surroundings: tiny insects weaving patterns on the soil as they scuttled to and fro; worms moving deeper within it, creating labyrinthine tunnels. Above, the clouds still raced eastwards, blown in by the wind from the sea. But I could see through those clouds to each of the myriad stars beyond. They glowed like eyes in the darkness.

There were smells too; odours sharper than I’d ever sensed before: the smell of grass, leaves and the distant sea. But even stronger than that was the sweet odour of blood … though it wasn’t my blood. For some reason I couldn’t smell that, although I must have bled from my injuries. The blood I smelled was the blood of my enemies.

It was strangely attractive. It seemed to be calling to me.

I had no doubt now: I had changed into a lamia. It was time to take what I needed.

Starblade Book 3 Chapter 32