"Huh, what's this" said Amber, catching the vial. "Tree transformation? You naughty, naughty boy." She carefully put the vial down and transformed herself into a she-wolf. Esmeralda paled in terror, but Pom-Pom trusted his mistress, even in her, new, alarming form. Meanwhile, the chicken who had formerly been the stableboy and before that the acolyte commander hurried out as fast as her two spindly legs would take her.
Before Esmeralda could grab another vial the she-wolf was on her. Then Amber changed form again, to an orangutang. She held the stableboy down by standing on his chest while she found another vial. This was one of Erik's favorites. It brought the mind in harmony with the physical appearance, and it was permanent. Once poured over the new Esmeralda, she would be a dull-witted stableboy for the rest of her days. Perfect, Amber thought, I do need someone to shovel dung around here.
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"Tobi" Shari shrieked. "You're back! We were so worried!" She hugged her best friend.
"Everything's taken care of." Tobi reassured her friend. It seemed like Shari had been an adolescent girl for years, not just for under an hour.
"Not everything" muttered Lyra. "Now that she's back, we need to find the thrice-goddess-cursed rock."
"No problem." replied Ander. "It's over there" he pointed to the northeast. "About three-quarters of a mile, and moving away."
"Acolytes assemble!" shouted Lyra, as the group of armed disciples of the goddess gathered around her, ready to fulfill their mission. Ander, Luka and Audrey joined them, although Audrey could contain her enthusiasm about dealing with the rock again. At least she had the protective amulet that had formerly belonged to the acolyte commander.
"Mika" said Tobi "Do you know anything about magic eggs?"
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The mighty Amazon's strides devoured the miles as her cute-but-wimpy squire panted to keep up. Just get away from that mass of wizards and warriors, Marge thought, and start a new life as an Amazon with a transformation rock and a cute, submissive boytoy.