Tobi made her way cautiously back to the village. She wasn't used to this aging body, with its strains and pains. She had gotten used to the energy of youth, in both her forms. The sun was hot and although Esmeralda had been vigorous for a woman her age, Tobi was getting tired.
She heard hoofbeats, and before she knew it she was surrounded by the warrior acolytes who had come back with reinforcements. "Now we are protected against your magic as well as the stone's" said their leader. "Do not think to resist us, we bring you before the justice of the goddess."
"No" replied Tobi. "I'm not the witch, I'm just in her body. I'm trying to get the stone from the innkeeper!"
The leader laughed bitterly. "That is no doubt a ridiculous story. Your time is up, witch."
One of the riders sprang lightly down from her horse and seized Tobi, immobilizing her. Tobi wondered how she could get word to her friends.
The lead rider gave a few hand signals, and a small group galloped off with Tobi while the rest made their way to the inn. The leader smiled. With the witch gone, and their own charms protecting them from the stone, she anticipated no trouble from the innkeeper.
++++++++++++
"Look" said Mika, clutching the stone. "I understand that you have a sixteen-year-old mind, but any kind of sex talk with what looks like a little kid freaks me out, and not in a good way. So I think it's time we changed you again, not to mention Ander and Jak."
"Fine with me" said Luka. "But I don't want to be a girl again, not now, not ever."