As soon as Ollie left the water, the transformation he had undergone began to slowly reverse itself.
The intricate woodgrain lines that had covered his skin, the loops and whorls of jade-green energy that had made him look more like a living tree than a human being, began to fade. They didn't disappear all at once, but slowly, gradually, they dimmed like a candle flame, burning itself down to nothing. The green darkened to brown, then to a faint shadow, and finally vanished entirely, leaving behind only pale, cold skin marked with goosebumps and the faint blue tinge of an ordinary man who had spent far too long in icy, cold water.
