Serena used a hand mirror to look at her wings. The black had spread to the point she could no longer see any white without the mirror. Using the Void had accelerated the change The mirror had also shown her that her once sky blue eyes had gone a steel like shade of blue-grey.

At the current rate, the last bit of white would disappear in a day or two. Serena knew that would mean Falling in an irreversible manner, losing the last bit of the long useless connection to the Divine she had. She didn't know anything else Falling would do to her, likely on purpose.

Damn Hammers of Light. I'm starting to realise that you didn't teach me near as much as you wanted me to believe you did. Or the truth. How is the Void evil? It's nothing.

Serena put down the mirror with a sigh. She was sure other things they had told her were false. Falling had been much less painful then she had learned in class, for one.

Feels rather nice actually. Like someone has been looking over my shoulder my entire life and had finally stopped.

Serena stood, and decided to pay it no mind. She couldn't change the past, and there was no going back now with her magic.

With that thought, one of the last three white feathers turned black.

The next day, Serena was exploring a hidden grove she had found in her territory (which she was still growing). A small river sunk into the ground and lead to an underground pond. In the center, an island with a single peculiar tree. The entire cavern felt like a hurricane of energy, centered on the tree.

Fluttering over to the plant, Serena looked closer. Its bark looked grey, but on closer inspection was slightly transparent, with streamers of light glowing dimly under the surface. Its leaves where a deep black reminiscent of the Void, edged in shining blue. The entire tree pulsed with power.

Serena focused on casting detect magic, then gasped. The chamber was a tangle of leylines. Dark, Void, Water, and Earth lines flowed in and out, all crossing over the tree in the center.

The tree. A blinding beacon of might. Each leaf held enough mana to shatter a continent. Every branch the strength to break the world open. The whole thing? Enough to erase a Plane.

The tiniest shred of a leaf would open the portal!

She reached out to touch it, but the energy radiating off it pushed her back. Forcing through the tangible energy, her finger brushed one of the leaves; and the final feathers on her wings faded to black.

Serena screamed in pain as more mana them she could hope to handle flooded her and fell back from the tree. Her skin faded to a pallid grey and her hair to a silvered black. Her eyes turned fully grey, looking like two platinum specks in the shadows of the cave. Above her head, a ring, Void of light, was visible for a moment, before it vanished.

Serena shivered on the ground, left weak by the faintest touch of endless power and her transformation. Pulling herself away from monstrous power masquerading as a tree, she curled up and fell asleep.

As Serena slept the changes continued, though far slower without the mana of the tree fuelling them.

On the small beach, Serena began to grow taller, and slowly reached a height that would tower over most men and women. Her wings extended, growing thin and long. The dark Halo flickered over her head again, this time talking longer to disappear. Her ears slowly extended into elfen points.

Her wings, now completely black, almost absorbed the light that touched them. And along the edge of each feather, a faint blue light started to shine.

Serena awoke in less pain then she expected, more a muted throb throughout her body then the shooting agony she had felt before. She sat up, glancing warily at the tree nearby, then marvelling at the changes to herself.

She stood shakily and looked around. Before she had been able to see well in the dark, as though everything was lit by a torch. Now it was like standing under daylight. Proper daylight, not the silver light of the Shadowfell. Mana was easier to see as well, she didn't need to cast detect magic to see a faint aura of the flows of energy.

Reaching out to the Void, she slid in with barely a touch of effort. A few drops of mana later and she had returned to her secret chamber.

Well then, this is more then expected, she thought, examining herself in her mirror, I look like a winged Drow now.

She touched the Void again, this time she tried something that had always failed before and placed the mirror into it.

To her joy it did not instantly become nothing, instead she felt like the Void was slowly encroaching on it. It would likely take an hour before it started to fade. Pulling the mirror out and putting it to the side, she continued her experimentation, oblivious to the Halo flickering above her head.

POV: Archpriest of the Hammers of Light

Darrell Stulther, Archpriest of Odthrit, god of lightning and thunder, was in a good mood.

A rivaling faction had over extended their reach and he had managed to cut off an army of theirs from support without them realising. Not only did it reduce the manpower they had available, it also fed his own strike force free supplies.

The door to his office flew open, standing he demanded, "What is the meaning of this?"

The poor servant bowed deeply, "My apologies, but an oracle has reported that Serena's Divine link has gone out."

A dark look appeared on Darrell's face, accompanied by a rumble of thunder.

Maybe this day wasn't going to go well after all.