Robin gritted his teeth as he clutched his arm in pain. “Damn that female warrior!” he cursed silently. Without thinking, he dropped his bow and tried to clamber back to the patch of woods where Marge lay concealed.
“It’s that DAMN innkeeper!” Audrey’s temper flared when she caught sight of the perpetuator of her humiliating transformations emerge from behind the bushes. Seizing the stone from Mika, she pointed it vindictively at the escaping figure. His body started shrinking, and by the time he reached the edge of the woods, he had been reduced to a naked little stableboy. “That’ll teach him…” she growled as she tossed the stone back to Mika.
As he plunged into the woods, Robin was surprised to find that his arm was no longer hurting, but also felt a sense of disorientation as everything around seemed to have grown much larger. Suddenly, a strong pair of arms grabbed him and pulled him aside.
“You idiot!” Marge said in exasperation. “I TOLD you not to get too close to them…”
“But… but I needed to get a clear shot… urm I mean… I needed to go clear out the muck in the stables?” he stammered in confusion.
Marge rolled her eyes. “You will do no such thing, little boy.” she said sternly. “Now go sit over there and be quiet.” She gave him a tight slap on his little bare bottom, and with a whimper, he did as he was told. “I’ll see if I can find a potion to turn you back later. But now that you’ve given away my position, I’ve got to be prepared.” She pulled out her sling, and rummaged thru the potion vials in her leather pack.
++++++++++++++
“Mister Erik, isn’t that Tobias over there? He’s a little girl now, isn’t that awesome? Do you think she will play with me?”
The craggily-faced beastmaster glanced sidelong at the young faun, and tousled her raven hair fondly. They were both safely concealed high up in a tree and looking down at the party by the stables.
“She probably will play with you, Amber.” he replied. “But I’m not sure you would want to try. Esmeralda told me that she changed Tobi into a boy to try to control the wild magic inside her. Now that she’s a girl again, there’s no telling what she might do.” He paused for a moment. “And it looks like they’ve got Robin’s transformation stone. Though I personally think his new form rather suits him.” he chuckled. “I’ve always told Marge that vain, lazy lout would make a better minion than partner.”
Amber pouted and stuck out her tongue. “I’m not afraid of some stupid transformation stone! You know I can change my form at will…”
Erik gave her a sharp look. “Amber, just because you’re an animagus does not make you invincible. Don’t be so impulsive!”
“So we’re going to just sit up here and enjoy the view?”
“My rats have been searching for Esmeralda for hours, and they still haven’t found her. We need to be careful. Let me test their strength again…”
++++++++++++++
Down by the stables, Luka thanked Mika gratefully as he pulled on the leather armor. It was a little tight, but the overall effect was to make him look even hotter and sexier to his lover. Mika gapped helplessly as a series of lewd fantasies played out in his mind. “When I get back to Arlor, I’ve got to make a trip to Ye Olde Leather and Lace in the artisans quarter.” he thought to himself, panting heavily. “I know just the accessories I need…”
“Oh YEAH!” Luka cried out suddenly, and Mika half expected to be engulfed in a glorious bear hug. Instead, Luka took off in the opposite direction, whirling his sword with wild abandon at a pack of snarling wolves that was charging directly at them. “WAKE UP already, lover boy!” Audrey gave him a rude shove while readying her weapons. Staying within their protective shield, they supported Luka with their crossbow and slings, while Mika turned the wolves that got too close into fluffy bunny rabbits.
For a while, it looked like the party had the upper hand, but the wolves just kept on coming and they were soon getting overwhelmed. “That’s ENOUGH!” Tobi yelled as a crackle of lightning flew from her fingers to Jak, her ogre companion who had earlier been transformed into a clucking chicken. He immediately began to grow in size, his wings and rear sprouting scales and gradually morphing into those of a dragon.
The cockatrice let out a ear-splitting screech as it turned its deadly gaze on the attackers. Within moments, glass statues of terrified beasts were everywhere, and the panicked survivors ran away whining with their tails between their legs. When the last wolf had gone, Tobi raised her hands and restored Jak back to his ogre form.
“You miserable VERMIN!” Tobi snarled in a chilling voice. She started picking up stones from the ground, hurling them at the statues and laughing gleefully as they shattered to pieces. Everyone stared at her, slack-jawed.
“Tobi?” Shari placed her arm over her shoulder. “Would you like to play something else?”
“Sure!” Tobi replied brightly, and reverted to her pleasant demeanor. “How about Pat-a-Cake?” The girls sat down and began merrily clapping their hands together.
“LOOK OUT!” Yvana yelled. A potion vial arched thru the sky and hurtled in their direction...