Owen's eyes opened to golden light.
The healing stream flowed around him, its silver-blue luminescence casting everything in soft relief. His scales had stopped bleeding Architect essence. The jagged edges of his hybrid form had smoothed slightly, though they did not disappear entirely. This was not a reversion to his old self. This was something new settling into place.
Owen slowly flexed his claws.
His body responded immediately.
Not perfectly. Not with the familiar ease of his old humanoid form. But the resistance was gone now. The Architect essence was no longer fighting his draconic biology.
It was merging with it.
Gorvax sat motionless against the crystal wall, exactly where he had been when Owen lost consciousness.
"How long?" Owen asked.
"Seven hours," Gorvax replied calmly. "The Tower stabilized the integration process."
