I dream of Polar night

Had Osprey known, what was going on in Charon's mind at the same time she was weaving the story, she would be both amazed and have a good laugh about it. Of course, in terms of not disappointing the kid she would agree to his idea of having telepathic abilities in regard of this particular story. He would grow up and understand the truth later, but now - was it really neccessary? He still posessed the ability she loved about children the most - their unlimited creativity, which extended far beyond the grasp of reality.

"Yeah, they did so, but there is one thing - crafting bear magic is different from Lauren magic, therefore it had an unusual effect on Drake too. If he was made of rocks entirely at first, after the first spell - a thick fur began grow, after the second - two fluffy ears sprouted out, and after the third - a long tail appeared. With the fourth - he got a real, beating heart in place of the magical rock that was there before.

So in the end - he was in one piece, he was the same Drake, yet he looked and felt entirely different. He was not aware of that in the beginning and realized this only, when the bears eyed him very curiously. They then brought him to a lake and showed him his reflection. Needless to say that Drake was aghast - what had happened to his "trollful" self! He threw a tantrum - he cried, he tried to pull out the fur (which turned out to be painful), he tried to break the tail off (which was even more painful) and eventually he sat down and felt miserable again. This time - because, according to him - he was not a Lauren anymore.

The crafting bears told him that there was no way to reverse the spell, therefore Drake thanked them for their help and began his long journey home. Many days, weeks and months passed, before Drake arrived at his home plateau, where his family lived," she stopped here. "So - what did his family do, when they saw, how Drake had changed? Did they recognize him?"