Eodor walked ahead of the succubus as the two of them traveled up the path that was to hopefully lead them out of the World of Chaos. Her movement was uncertain of the legs that she possessed, walking like a man still trying to get the hang of a woman's body… which was true. For Eodor, adapting to her new form was truly not happening. The feel of her steps, the movement of her breasts, the constant aggravation of her long wavy red hair getting into her face at each gust of wind. This entire captivity was unnatural, and it was only likely to get worse by her determination.
"Prince, stop," came Miggs' voice as the succubus stepped up beside her and looked around, sniffing the air. She had been making a much more successful time of her situation and it greatly worried Eodor. Miggs moved and acted just as any succubus would with the exception that her mind was obviously still Miggs. No matter how her hips swayed, her hoofs clopped, her head bobbed, her tail flicked, or her eyes shined lightly in the night… every time she spoke to Eodor, alien voice or not, the words and feelings were all Miggs down to the core.
"What is it?" Eodor wondered, watching the taller woman's movements.
"Iron… blood. Fresh. The scent of recent combat in the air," she said, looking around at all the stones along the outside of the path. "But many demons of this realm crumble to nothing when defeated. They also do not bleed like we bleed… so if something is hurt it may not call this place its home," she said, stepping just ahead of Eodor. "It is ahead of us," she said, her hips swaying as she moved, "Follow closely, my prince."
Eodor did as she said. Prince or no, when it came to safety, a wise prince always let the guards dictate the movements with regards to safety.
A few moments passed, but Miggs knew that who they were looking for was somewhere just barely ahead of them. Finally, there was a hilt just up over the top of a rock ahead of them a ways. "Stay here… if whoever it is can wield a War Axe then you need not be anywhere near them," Miggs said quietly as she pulled her broadsword out of her sheath and took a few steps forward. "Stay low, but on the path," she advised, moving a distance away from Eodor as she did so.
As Miggs stepped as softly as she could around the stones ahead, she saw more of the figure that currently lay sleeping being the rocks there. Quite tall, with lightly furred brown skin and muscled at every inch of his body was a minotaur. He was clad in chest armor, upper leg armor, and a giant ram's skull for a codpiece that very obviously hid little of his thick and lengthy manhood. The horns off the top of his head pointed long and sharply upward at first, and then forward… just as Miggs' much shorter ones did.
He was wounded, to be sure. There were gashes in his arms, and the purple tendrils of the land seemed to dance along his legs, burning him softly as he slept. There was a thick golden ring through his nose, and he seemed utterly worn… breathing softly that one might think he was dead. Not Miggs, though. At this short distance, she could sense his heart beating and feel the desires of this man to be free from these lands even as he dreamed.
Reaching outward to the War Axe, she thought it best to remove such a weapon from his reach before she would try and wake him. Wake him? Miggs asked herself. It was the first of her own actions she had questioned for some hours now. Well, if he is indeed trying to escape from here, perhaps he was someone else transformed by this realm. Perhaps his strength could aid in the protection of Eodor's weak frame she reasoned as she gripped her own slender hand around the hilt of his weapon.
As if she had touched the minotaur himself, when Miggs hand went around the hilt of the axe, the creature's eyes fluttered open and his head jerked in Miggs' direction. He roared, reaching out for his weapon and wrestling it away from Miggs as he stood up and pulled it from her. Stomping a hoof down as he leaned forward and pulled the axe up over his head, he stood up to his full ten foot height. Holding that axe, his muscles bulged for just an instant before he swung down with all his force narrowly missing Miggs as she gracefully dodged out of the way.
"No more succubi! No more monsters! Leave me be!" he roared, huffing a gust out his nostrils. Pulling his axe up again a bit clumsily as Miggs hopped back to the path and pulled up her broadsword, he glared at her a hatred of all creatures of this World of Chaos.
"I was not always this way," Miggs held her sword at the ready. "I feel that you wish to escape from this World. Were you changed as well?" she watched him take unsteady steps on his hoofs and she herself recalled tripping over her own feet earlier in the night. She smiled a bit, "I didn't use to have hoofs either. They're a pain, are they not?" she asked, lowering her sword to her side a bit.
"They are," he frowned at her, lowering his axe slightly. "You speak the Native Tongue. That's unusual for creature such as yourself," he grumbled as his voice came in a naturally low bass tone. "But then, you are surely the first that has even sought to speak with me instead of attacking," he held his axe low, clumsily dropping it to the ground. "Who are you?"
She considered answering with her name for a moment, but decided against it. "I am a protector and messenger for a royal family that is in great danger if I do not get back to my kingdom as quickly as possible," she noted. "I am not usually a succubus, though I have no time to seek a way to cure myself. I am in a hurry," she explained, looking back in the direction of Eodor for a moment. Noting that she was still there, Miggs looked back to the man, "I take it you are more interested in leaving than a cure as well?" she wondered.
"True," he nodded to her, glancing towards Eodor as she began to walk up to the group. "I have managed this form enough to find clothing and defend myself, but little else," he said, looking back to Miggs. "My family has great mystics at their command, and I pray that they would be of ability to cure me," he added, watching Eodor pick up pace to come up to the two of them. "Are we each thinking that the trip away from here would be made easier as a group of three?" he wondered.
"I think we are," Miggs said as Eodor walked up. She bowed to her side in Eodor's direction, motioning to the minotaur as he did so. "My prince, this minotaur was changed much as I was," she said, motioning to the large, muscular male form. "He would be willing to walk with us back to Earth."
"Prince?" the minotaur asked, looking down at Eodor, his tail flicking to one side behind him. "Surely not! Fortuitous and ironic, what! Of what country do you hail?" he smiled.
"I am Prince Eodor Peacecraft the Seventh," she smirked and held her ornate dress as she preformed a curtsy. "Of Quell," she smiled, but looked up at his strong form uneasily. She was quite a bit shorter than he was. From her angle, the minotaur's codpiece hid very little indeed. A feeling was roused in her, obviously a part of the change of gender she had so recently experienced. Quickly, she pushed that thought deep within herself, finding the whole idea to be quite unbecoming.
The minotaur chucked, and shook his head. "Amazing. Quell, no less," he laughed, holding his axe in both hands just in front of him now. Sliding it up over one shoulder, he held it there with his left hand. His right hand went out to her to shake. The monster smiled at Eodor, "Seems Igna achieved what she sought. Yours is not the only Kingdom with a chance to fall to her evil magicks," he said with a nod. "One kingdom is not enough, it seems."
"For how do you mean?" Eodor reached out a tiny hand to shake the giant's. "From what kingdom do you hail, warrior?" she asked as he had quite a strong grip.
He gave her a strong shake, then released her hand, "A distant land to your own, many days journey even by the fastest carriage," his voice rumbled deep as he spoke. "Do you know of Gastonia?" he asked.
"Oh, quite. A mountainous land full of many ores and a good economy. A fair king, lovely queen, and a well protected land," Eodor nodded, recalling. "You were someone of great importance there, sir? A knight perhaps?" Eodor asked, looking up at the man, holding her hands in front of her.
He smirked his bovine-like muzzle at her wording. "Next in line to the throne, myself," he nodded.
Eodor blinked, "But the next in line is… Oh!" she covered her mouth as she realized what he was saying. "Surely not," she said, softly, looking to Miggs to see if she understood. For her part, Miggs just raised an eyebrow.
"I am afraid I am unaware of Gastonia's royal family," Miggs said to her prince, not sure the impact of what knowledge she had come to realize. Looking back to the minotaur, she put her hands on her hips. Looking up at him, she asked: "Who are you, then?"
"I am princess Yaun," he smiled and bowed his head. "When I become of age, my betrothed will be the new King of Gastonia," he looked up at the two former men. Eodor looked shocked, her realization confirmed. Turning her head to Miggs, she saw her just flick her tail in amusement. With a smile and a shrug, Miggs looked to Yaun with a crooked grin. The two began to laugh—a cackle for Miggs, a deep chuckle for Yaun—and shortly thereafter, Eodor followed suit. What were the odds?