Marge flexed her muscles approvingly as she admired her powerful Amazonian body. “Now what will be an appropriate accessory for my new look?” she thought to herself, pointing her transformation stone at the pudgy innkeeper lying on the ground.
Robin gradually shrunk into a slender, handsome youth with curly blond hair, clad in a ragged woolen tunic. An iron collar hung around his neck, and a bow and quiver of arrows lay by his side. Rubbing his eyes, he stood up uneasily.
“Now carry these for me.” she commanded, tossing him a mighty spear and round bronze shield while she fussed around with her leather girdle.
“Yes, mistress.” he replied adoringly, as he began his new life as the Amazon’s slave.
++++++++++++
“Hey Tobi, there’s something I’ve gotta show you.” Amber said eagerly to her new friend. They descended down a flight of winding stairs to a small, dark room deep in the beastmaster sanctum. Resting on a pedestal in the middle of room, there sat a large leathery egg, mottled pink and glowing faintly.
“Whoa! That is so cool! What kind of egg is that?”
“I’m not sure. Mister Erik stole it from the High Priestess of Minar and her acolytes. He said it’s a really powerful magical creature, and the only way that he can control it is if he raises it himself.”
Tobi reached out and stroked the egg. It felt warm to the touch, and she thought she could make out a tiny eye staring at her from within. Perhaps it was her imagination, but it looked sad and lonely. She turned back over to Amber. “It’s been a lot of fun playing together, but I really miss my friends. Can you get me back?”
“I don’t know, but I’m sure Mister Erik does!” They both skipped upstairs to where they had left their pet rabbit in its bonnet and diaper. “Mister Erik, Tobi wants to go back to join her friends. Can you tell me how?”
The former beastmaster gave his apprentice a stony glare. “Now don’t be a grumpy bunny.” Amber cajoled.
“I don’t know.” Erik muttered stubbornly.
“Well, if you’re going to be like this, then I’m going to have to MAKE you. Let me show my new friend how good a beastmaster I am…”
“No… DON’T!” Erik cried out in alarm, but he felt his head begin to throb. It was getting hard to think, and despite his best efforts, he felt his free will slipping away.
“So who are you?” Amber asked.
“I’m… I’m your obedient pet rabbit.”
“That’s right! And from now on, I’m going to call you Pom-Pom. You like that name, don’t you?”
“Yes, it’s so perfect!” the rabbit snuggled up to Amber, wanting nothing more than to make his owner happy.
“Now Pom-Pom, tell me how to return Tobi to her friends.”
“Go to the kitchen and open the pantry. The soup ladle hanging at the end is a port key. If she touches it, it will take her back to the inn in Lavenguard.”
Walking over to the kitchen, the girls stopped in front of the panty and hugged each other. “If you ever miss me, just think of my name, and I’ll come back.” Tobi smiled at Amber warmly. She reached out and grasped the ladle.
++++++++++++
“No eggs AGAIN!” the peasant women hollered as she reached under Esmeralda. She yanked the chicken roughly out from the coop. “I’m not keeping no hens that make no eggs. It’s to the pot for you tonight… YEEARGH!” she screamed as a pair of rats ran up her feet and under her clothes. Prancing around in agitation, she dropped Esmeralda, who immediately ran for her life. She didn’t get very far before a wolf pounced on her and picked her up with its jaws.
A long, harrowing ride later, the wolf tossed her at the entrance of the beastmaster sanctum before running off. “Thank goodness for Erik.” she thought to herself as she walked in. The place was silent, and the beastmaster was nowhere to be found.
Entering the sanctum’s lab, she searched in vain for something that could turn her back. “I’ll have to mix a potion myself, but how?” she flapped her chicken wings helplessly. Just at that moment, the stableboy shuffled in, looking furtively for some manure to shovel. Thinking fast, she picked up a vial of body swap potion with her beak, tossed it at the stableboy’s feet, and rushed towards him. Shattering on the floor, it emitted a plume of smoke that engulfed the pair.
There was a pattering of footsteps. “Just what do you think you’re doing, you stinky little boy?” Relieved to be human again, Esmeralda looked up at Amber cradling a contented-looking rabbit in her arms.
“Erik?” Esmeralda thought to herself as she stared at the rabbit. Looking back at the faun, she stuttered “I… was just looking for a drink of water… whoops!” She abruptly hurled a vial in Amber’s direction…