Flash and Syn: Bountiful Blessings (MCTF) (Patreon)

Hey folks!

It's been a hectic week (so hectic that I didn't have time to do the Quest update, unfortunately, so I'll be trying to resume that on Sunday), it's cold and dark, and there's just not enough pizza to go around. Thusly, a story to distract us all!

So now we return to a familiar pair of adventurers, about to find out why shortcuts aren't always a good idea. Or maybe they're the best idea! You decide - hope you enjoy!

-----

“I can’t believe it was so easy!”

“What did I tell you?” Flash chuckled, folding her arms behind her head as she walked down the road. “Stick with me, kid. I’ll show you the ropes of this Adventuring malarky.”

It had been a good day. The white haired halfling and her companion, Syndale the Druid (who had somehow stuck with her despite many mishaps along the way) had just completed a well-paying quest to hunt down a group of bandits who had been terrorizing the local area. Now their pockets were heavy with gold, their footsteps light on the forest path, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

Honestly, it made Flash wonder when the other boot was about to drop, but that was just her being paranoid. Sometimes plans came together! No need to worry over nothing.

Syn certainly wasn’t. “Heehee, those thieves had no idea what hit them! Wham! Bam!” The blonde half-elf mimed shadow boxing against an invisible enemy, managing a rather good impression of a roundhouse kick without getting tangled up in her green robes.

Flash chuckled. “Oh, I think they knew what hit them. Bearleons tend to leave a mark.”

The elf matched her grin. “We do if you piss us off~”

It had been a simple scheme, in the end. The two Adventurers (Flash still hated calling herself one, but the Guild had a rather firm hold on her these days) had hidden themselves inside a merchant’s wares – the halfling with her stealth, and the druid by shapeshifting herself into a mouse – then waited. Sure enough, the bandits had shown up, stolen the goods, and unknowingly carried the pair straight back to their lair!

After that, it had just been a matter of violence – and while Flash was a rather subtle combatant, Syn… Well, Syn could bench press a blacksmith’s forge one handed in the right shift. It had not been a lengthy battle. Then it had just been a matter of lighting a signal fire to signal the guard of the nearest town, and boom! Payday.

Of course, some might have considered Flash herself to be little better than the bandits they had just uprooted, but the halfling felt that was unfair. She was an underhanded sort, yes, but that came with being a Rogue. If you lost your money playing cards against someone like her, you really only had yourself to blame. It wasn’t like she picked every pocket she saw, or robbed from every house with a faulty lock. She wasn’t a Thief, thank you.

No, she thought of herself as more of an opportunist. She didn’t set out to rob people blind, but hey, if she saw the opportunity to make a quick dangling in front of her, well, she’d be a fool to ignore it, right?

Though, that had gotten a little harder to pull off lately, now that she was travelling with Syndale. The Druid was a good kid – okay, kid wasn’t the right word, considering she was probably the older one of the pair, no matter how fitting it felt – even if she was a little sheltered. So she tended to object to doing anything outright criminal. And despite herself, Flash had come to actually care what her companion – maybe even friend? – thought, so…

Ah well. What was a little extra challenge in life, huh? It was working out so far.

“So, what next?” Ah, Syn was finally done playing around. The taller woman – practically twice Flash’s size in height, at least – fell into step with the halfling, looking down at her curiously. “Are we still heading towards Verdale?”

“That’s the plan,” the white-haired Rogue shrugged. “It’s the nearest Guild Hall, and I don’t want them thinking I’ve run off again. From there, though, who knows. Did you have any places you wanted to visit?”

“Well, there is a symposium on ancient Logarte being held over in-”

“Oh forces…” Flash groaned. “Really?”

“I mean…” The blonde blushed. “It’s interesting stuff! All that history… And, and maybe there’ll be hints about ancient treasures and stuff!”

The halfling snorted, but couldn’t help her amusement. Syn was, without a doubt, a total nerd. She’d spent most of her life studying, in one form or another. Some things never changed.

“I guess it’s worth a look. I’m sure I can find ways to entertain myself while you’re sitting around listening to old beards talk about even older beards…”

The Druid’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, and refused to stop, even in the face of Flash’s most charming grin. Good! The kid was learning. A little healthy suspicion never did anyone wrong in life. Was she going to push her, or just settle for glaring? It’d be interesting to see if she was growing more confident as well!

But alas, before the half-elf could do either, the pair rounded the corner of the forest track, and came to a fork in the road. One track, the obvious one, led to the right, carrying on down the slope towards the eventual valley that lay on ahead. The other path to the left, the one obviously much less trod, went upwards, skirting around towards the mountains on the horizon.

Naturally, Flash immediately took the left fork, walking on without a second glance.

“H-hey, wait!” Syn was much more hesitant, pausing at the branch. “Where are you going? Don’t you know where that leads?!”

The halfling had to hold herself back from laughing. Oh, a little more suspicious, but still the same old Syn. “Come on, you don’t actually believe that fairy tale, right? It’ll take another five days to reach the city that way. If we cut through the forest we can make it in two.”

“The fae forest,” the half-elf corrected her. “Actual fae! No one wants to mess with those!”

“Well duh.” Flash turned, rolling her eyes. “That’s why people spread rumours about fae forests when they want some privacy. Actual fae are stupidly rare – if this road led to one, then there wouldn’t be a road here at all! There’s probably just some bandits or a privacy obsessed witch or something.” Her teeth flashed as she grinned. “And if they make trouble for us, that just means more money, right?”

The Druid looked unconvinced, but she was wavering. “You think so…?” It would be a much quicker journey…

“Trust me, we’ll be fine.” The halfling winked as she turned back to the path. “Have I ever steered you wrong?”

-

“I don’t think this is the right way.”

“I heard ya’ the first five times, kid.”

Things had not gone well. The rough path had grown rougher as the skies grew darker, and now that the sun was creeping down beyond the treeline, it had become hard to pick it out from the grass at all. Both Adventurers had pretty good night sight, but even by the light of the torch they shared, it was clear that they were struggling.

No, scratch that. It was clear that they were completely lost.

“Tch. Well, whatever.” The halfling shook her head in irritation. “No big deal. Let’s find a place to camp for the night, then find the path again in the morning. It’s not like it’s going to be hard for a Druid to sleep out in the woods, right?”

“Well, no, but… Huh?” The half-elf lifted her head, her pointed ears twitching. “Hey, do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Flash paused, looking about as she tried to catch whatever her friend was hearing. “I don’t- Oh, wait a second. Is that… music?”

Yes, now that they listened closer, it was unmistakable. There was a melody playing over the wind, a distant but still recognisable tune, whistled notes and echoing drumbeats faintly making their way through the trees.

Syn’s ears wiggled again. “I think it’s coming from over there…?” Her arm rose uncertainly, pointing off into the darkness.

“Well let’s go take a look!” Flash, on the other hand, was the picture of confidence as she lifted her torch and strode off to investigate. “Maybe they’ll have food to share. Or, if they’re bandits, I bet they’re worth a bounty somewhere~”

The Druid paused, just for a moment, tilting her head to listen, before nodding and hurrying after her friend. The pair wove through the trees, a small dot of light in the darkness, the whistling in their ears slowly growing louder. And for some reason, the idea that maybe it was a bad idea to chase after mysterious music in a potentially fae-filled forest never occurred to either of them…

Soon, the trees parted, and the duo found themselves standing at the edge of a large clearing – and here, they both finally paused, looking out from the woods with surprise.

“How’d we miss this, exactly?” Flash asked, without turning to look at her friend.

The Druid shrugged helplessly. “I’ve no idea…”

A blazing bonfire roared in front of them, crackling with red, green, and yellow flames. It occupied the middle of the clearing, smoke trailing off into the dying sky, festive banners and lights stretching around it out into the trees. Giggling blondes and brunettes with green skin and curvaceous figures danced around the flames in a merry jaunt, their bodies swaying to the rhythm of the music which now flooded over everything else.

The greater bonfire were several smaller ones, arranged in a circular spread – and around each of those were sitting small groups of people in various states of inebriation and dress. Some of them looked like normal travellers, having a good time, other looked like nobles who had gotten lost on the way to a ball. Strange mismatched clusters of people, enjoying a bounty of fresh fruits, cooked meats, and flowing mead spread out in front of them.

Each cluster had a figure amongst them, a tall, horned man or woman, with furry legs and hoof cloven feet, their muscular or busty chests bared to the world. Each of them was playing an instrument – a set of drums, a pair of pan-pipes, a flute, or even the occasional harp. They were the source of the music that had lured the Adventurers in.

It was quite a display.

“Ritual?” Flash asked, her tone now cautious. This was, to state the blatantly obvious, not normal.

“Maybe?” Syn was hesitant. “It looks like something similar, but I don’t think it’s- Oh! It must be the feast of revelry!”

The halfling turned to look at her companion as the Druid’s tone went from uncertain to excited. “The feast of whatnow?”

“Revelry! It’s, uh, it’s a celebration held among the spirits of nature as spring begins to encourage fertility and bounty, that kind of thing.” The half-elf clapped her hands, eyes wide as she drank in the view. “This is incredible! There are almost no recorded sightings of this, practically no one’s ever seen one!”

“… Is it dangerous?”

“Um.” That drew the Druid up short again. “I don’t know. Ah. That’s kind of the problem with these kinds of things, no record means you don’t know what you’re getting. It’s, ah, a powerful celebration of nature, there might be some risks…”

“But that’s nothing to worry about for honoured guests!” A voice called out.

The pair turned, Flash tensing to flee – but before she could, the music surged, and the idea was carried from her head by a stream of notes, in one ear and out of the other. They were being greeted by one of the goat-like people, a female with proud, curled horns, red skin, and an impossible to ignore chest, striding over on her hooves to meet them.

“A satyr…” she heard Syn whisper, the sound somehow making it to her ears over the endless merry tune. “Oh wow. I wonder if she’d let me learn from her form…”

The halfling lifted an eyebrow at that, once again curious about just how a Druid learning a new way to shapeshift actually worked, but before she could follow up on that, the Satyr woman was upon them.

“Maybe that’s something we can discuss later, my dear~” She said, her voice almost as melodic as the song that surrounded them. “But first, you must partake! Come, come, there are seats waiting for you – join us! We insist.”

Her words carried a twang that struck the pair right between the ears, and before they knew it they found themselves marching forwards, out of the treeline, helplessly following after the creature as she walked away, her hips swaying while beckoning the two to follow.

“Okay,” Flash muttered, trying and failing to stop her feet. “I think we might be in a little trouble here…”

“We might be fine… I mean, they want us to join them, so I don’t think they’ll hurt us. It’d be bad manners to hurt a guest at the table.”

“Oh yeah, because manners mean so much.” The halfling rolled her eyes. “Just be careful. And don’t eat or drink anything they give you!”

“Um…” Syn eyed the small fire and the group of people around it that they were approaching. Everyone had a goblet of wine in one hand, and food in the other. “Okay, I’ll give it a shot…”

“Take a seat.” Again, that twang of authority filled their ears, and the pair found their behinds slamming down to the ground, resting on a set of comfortably prepared pillows, joining a group of revellers. The other ‘guests’ paid them no attention, their eyes locked onto the dance display, only moving to eat and drink. Concerning.

“Now, enjoy yourselves!” Wooden goblets were forced into their hands by giggling green servers, who danced their way over to make sure the newest guests had no shortage of cup. The satyr woman grinned, exchanging a nod with the satyr male sitting on the other side of the fire, playing his panpipes. “And enjoy the nymphs, too. My, my, there’s really no need to worry. It’s a fine evening, and a fine dance.”

The green women – the nymphs? – preened at her words, before producing a pair of crystal wine bottles. Then, still giggling thoughtlessly, the pair bowed down, their chests on full display, pouring vibrant red fluid from the bottles into the pair’s goblets until they were filled to the point of overflowing.

“Now.” The satyr’s eyes glowed, low green light highlighting her beautiful face. “Eat! Drink.”

The command rang through the Adventurer’s heads, louder than anything else. It drowned out the music, it drowned out her previous commands. Even their heartbeats, hammering in their ears, couldn’t be heard past her words.

This was the big one, Flash was sure of it. The trap of the evening, partaking in fairy food, drinking fairy wine especially. Nothing good came of fairy wine. It was one of the most intoxicating drinks on the continent. Actually, people paid thousands of gold for a good glass of the stuff, if she could get out of here with a few of those bottles, then-

Oi. Focus on getting out of here first, girl.

Okay. The drink was clearly the dangerous stuff, given how this creature was focused on it. So, if she could fake taking a good gulp, then hopefully she could keep her head, and figure out a way to get the two of them away from all this once the woman’s guard was down. No problems there, then. It wasn’t the first time she’d had to convince a lady she was drunker than she was!

The Rogue lifted the goblet to her lips and tipped her head back, angling herself just so that it looked like she was taking a deep drink – while secretly pouring the stuff out of the side of her cup. The music hid the sound of fluid hitting grass well, though she was worried that the crowd of people around her would ruin the trick. Kind of hard to hide what you were doing when you were watched from all angles…

But her trick must have worked, because the Satyr seemed satisfied. “Good. Good~”

The sense of tension that had surrounded the group vanished, the goat-woman seeming to relax a little. She even took a goblet from the nymphs herself, throwing back a full mouthful of wine. Flash took the chance to glance to her right, to check on her companion. Her Druid friend was swaying in her seat, and her cup was also empty. Had she drunk the stuff down despite her warnings?

To her relief, Syn winked at her – she too wasn’t as drunk as she was pretending to be. Excellent – the kid was learning. The con was on.

“Now…” The satyr looked down at the two of them – or rather, at one of them. “You…”

She lent over, grinning at Syn. “You were interested in learning about my form, yes?” The satyr’s fingers stroked under the blonde’s chin. “Perhaps I can help. Come with me – we can discuss it.”

The Druid swallowed nervously, but turned it into a splutter at Flash’s subtle kick. Maybe a little overselling the drunkenness, but that was better than breaking the illusion entirely. Whatever this creature wanted, the two of them were going to have to play along for the moment.

“Uh… S-sure…?” The blonde let herself be lifted to her feet, and only sent one panicked glance in Flash’s direction as she was led away by the hand. She really was getting better at the con game!

Though, uh, this wasn’t exactly ideal. Flash grunted, but stayed in place, not really able to do much else. For the moment, she’d just have to steal as much of this wine as possible and hope that Syn could handle herself.

Hey, she was a big girl, and she packed a big punch. What was the worst that could happen?

-

“So, my girl, are you enjoying the show?”

Syn had barely made it three steps from the campfire before she found the satyr’s arm wrapped around her shoulders, the two now forced to walk closely together. It was an awkward gesture, one she wasn’t sure how to break from without causing offense – but also, somehow, a comforting one? It was strange, but she didn’t dislike the monster woman’s touch as she would have expected…

“Uh. Um. Well!” The half-elf licked her lips nervously, trying to work out how to answer the question. “I… Yes! Yes, of course. It’s a delight – and so rare to actually get to see it! You, ah, you don’t invite visitors to these things very often, right?”

The goat woman chuckled, shaking her head. “More than you’d think, actually,” she said with a shrug, her bare chest bouncing. “But normally it’s just foolish riffraff travellers or criminals who wandered too deep into the woods. The real rarity is getting an honoured guest such as yourself!”

The Druid blinked. “Honoured? Me?” She tilted her head, her curiosity rising and quickly quashing her caution. “What do you mean? I’m no one special.”

To her surprise, the satyr burst out laughing. “Oh! Come now, my dear, you can’t honestly believe that. Do you not feel it?” The arm around Syn’s shoulders reached down, the woman’s finger tracing gently over her heart. “The warmth in your blood? The peace in your soul? Surely you must have noticed that our wine didn’t affect you as much as the other mortals?”

Ah. Well. That. M-maybe? Syndale had tried to think of a way to fake taking a drink, but she wasn’t as skilled a con-artist as Flash, so… Well, she’d ended up drinking the entire goblet, and trying to use some Druid arts to bolster her liver, and her endurance. It had seemed to work, but now she was forced to wonder if there was, perhaps, another reason for that. But what could that reason be?

The satyr laughed again, this time at the clear confusion on her face. “It’s a simple thing, my dear. You carry the blood of the fae in your veins.”

Oh.

Oh! Syn’s eyes widened as everything came together. Oh, wow, really? That was… Well, it wasn’t altogether unexpected, there had always been rumours about great-grandma Kaleyin, but nothing confirmed. And the idea that she had somehow cavorted with the fae was far more impressive than any of the wildest stories she’d been told.

Fae blood was a rare trait. Most people who tangled with their kind didn’t return to civilization to have a family afterwards…

But the satyr woman seemed delighted. “A long-lost scion, retuned to us at last!” She clapped her hands together, finally releasing the Druid, her point seemingly made. “Truly, a cause for celebration!”

“Ah… I- I mean, I guess I’m honoured.” It felt like the kind of thing you should be honoured about, finding out that people were throwing a party for you. “But, I mean, my friend and I, we’re just passing through…”

The satyr’s smile took on a strange edge – almost… smug? “Yes, of course. You’re free to do as you wish, naturally – and the silly mortal you brought with you is also yours to do with as you please.” She waved a hand dismissively. “But we would still like you to participate in the ceremony.”

Syn had a feeling that ‘like’ was putting it lightly. But hey, this was the opportunity of a lifetime! Just think of the first-hand research – she could write a dozen papers on all of this if she played her cards right. “Uh. I mean. Sure. What would you like me to do?”

The other woman nodded, apparently satisfied with the response. She led the Druid over towards a small stone plinth, right in front of the central bonfire. From here, Syn could feel the incredible heat from the flames, and see how they made the dancing nymphs glitter as they circled around them…

It was a hard sight to look away from, especially up so close. There was something about the way the women danced – ethereal, motion and grace without distraction. Without trouble. There was no question that these creatures lived entirely moment by moment, with no worries, concerns, or even thoughts to disrupt their happy existence.

So when the satyr shoved something into her hands, it actually look her a few moments to notice. Blinking, she looked down – and found herself holding a wooden harp.

“Here,” the woman said. “This one, I think, suits you nicely.”

“A fae instrument?” Syn gaped. The tool of the fae were powerful magical devices – few had ever ended up in the hands of mortals. You could practically buy your own kingdom with the gold you’d get from selling one. “You’re just… giving this to me?”

“Of course! How can you take part in the revelry if you cannot play?” The woman said it as if it was the most natural thing in the world. And the Druid was far too entranced with her gift to see the way her smirk was widening.

But who could blame her? This instrument was a thing of beauty. The frame was shaped, but uncarved bark and wood, as if it had been grown naturally to take this form. It even had leaves still clinging to it. The strings, meanwhile, were glowing golden light, just waiting for the touch of its player.

Syn couldn’t help it. Without thinking, she found her fingers plucking at the strings. A note rang out – and it stole her breath. The sound echoed through her soul, her eyes rolling up in her head as it resonated with something deep within her.

She might have fallen right over, had her new friend not been there to catch her. And she might have stopped playing to catch her breath, had said friend not guided her hand back to the strings. “Come, dear. Play. Let your true self out. The only self that matters~”

A groan rumbled from Syn’s throat, but her fingers refused to tremble. Instead, they played the next note with crystal clarity. And the next note. And the one after.

Each one felt like it was being plucked with the half-elf’s soul. The resulting tune swam through her essence, conducting her into a new concerto. Stirring up something inside her that she hadn’t known was there, but now, for the first time in eternity, was starting to open its eyes.

It rushed through her, a green energy she’d only felt at the edges of her dreams before. Warmth. Joy. Growth. Something was blossoming within her, something incredible – but something thoroughly inhuman, too.

“Well, my dear…” A voice her hazy mind could no longer recognise spoke as a glimmering green light began to shine in the depths of her eyes. “You said you were interested in learning my form? I am happy to teach! After all…”

Strong fingers entwined with her own, guiding them through the growing melody, the music of her soul. She couldn’t help the groan that rose from her throat, like she was just stretching, her voice echoing with awakening power. Power that was swelling out through her body, rushing like an undammed river, an unleashed flood.

Her legs grew thicker, firmer, her feet shrinking into blackened hooves as fur rose up her thighs. Another note, and her robes unravelled, leaving her naked – just in time for her bust to begin to swell. Another crisply played through her head, vibrating along her skull, and she felt the pinch of two small horns beginning to poke up through her darkening hair. Heat ran through her skin as her eyes continued to grow brighter and brighter…

“You won’t be needing any other~”

-

Boredom was starting to seep in. Flash had been sat by her fire, diligently pretending to eat and drink, for what felt like forever. No one was paying her any attention any more – she was sure she could take the bottle’s worth of wine she’d managed to pour into her water flask and escape quite easily. It would just be a matter of creeping away and tracking down her missing companion.

A simple idea – but one that somehow never quite made it to her legs. Every time she shifted or looked away from the dance, the satyr by the fire would play another hollow note, and she’d find herself losing track of what she’d been thinking. Best to wait just a little while longer, gather her thoughts.

So she was cursing her dawdling when another goatwoman say down beside her. There went her easy route out – now she’d have to wait for this one to move on. Hopefully that wouldn’t take too long…

And the halfling didn’t like how the new girl was looking at her – there was a sinister smugness to her smile that made her uneasy. She didn’t recognise this one. Her horns were short – maybe the shortest she’d seen tonight – just barely visible through her long black hair. She’d not seen that shade of red in the skin of any of the others, either, nor had she seen such vivid green eyes. This one was an unknown.

So what did she want with her?

“Enjoying yourself?” The caller creature looked down at her, a black eyebrow raised over a glowing green eye.

Flash peered up at her suspiciously, but knew she had the disadvantage. Actual fae attention was bad news, so hopefully she could talk her way out of this – but if she couldn’t, well, that was why she had her knives. “Sure. Good food and wine. What’s not to like?”

The satyr gave her a flash of pearly white teeth. They looked rather sharp. “Ah, but the dancing is the important part. It’s the nymphs energy and joy that spread bounty across the land. They offer their power to the fire, and the fire sends it up to rain down upon everything that the sun touches.”

“Oh. Really.” The halfling couldn’t really have cared less. She knew Syn would have been eating it up, though. She hoped the kid was handling herself okay out there. “You sound like you know what you’re talking about.”

That, surprisingly, got a giggle. “I do now~”

Huh. Well, whatever. Flash shrugged, glancing at the dance at the big bonfire. “Well it’s a pretty dance, sure.” She couldn’t help how bored her voice sounded.

“It is.” The satyr nodded, and then looked down at the Rogue, grinning. “And I think it’d be even prettier if you joined in~”

The halfling nearly spat out the wine she wasn’t drinking. What? “Ah, that- No, no, I’m no dancer…”

“Oh, don’t be so serious.” The red satyr’s smile was widening. “You’ll enjoy it.”

Alarm bells were ringing in Flash’s head. “Well I hardly fit in.”

“Ah, true.” The woman looked her up and down, before nodding in reluctant agreement. “That can’t be denied.”

Phew. Okay, that was-

Then the satyr’s eyes flashed, and she summoned a wooden harp into her hands. “But I can help you with that~”

The Rogue’s brow furrowed. The alarms were back. It was time to-!

A trio of notes sang through the air, the satyr’s fingers brushing against her harp strings, and Flash felt her spine stretch, and her legs pull. The ground shot away from her, a dizzy rush dancing through her senses as she suddenly found herself growing to double her original height.

Blinking, she looked down at herself – especially at her suddenly torn leather armour – before looking to the Satyr beside her, who was now only slightly taller than her. She was practically human sized!

“You…” She struggled to find words. “What did you do to me?!”

“Helped,” the other woman said, simply. “Here, let me get rid of those rags for you.”

Another play of notes rippled through the air, and obliterated the white-haired Rogue’s clothing, the leather literally vanishing into nothingness around her.

“Hey!” Okay, after what had happened to her body, that armour had been useless, but now she was completely naked here! And, worse, all of her weapons had just disappeared with everything else. She had to… Had to…

Ah… The sound of those panpipes was ringing in her ears again. What was she just thinking?

No! No, she couldn’t let herself be dazzled again. She was naked and alone against fae tricks and traps – she had to keep her wits about her! She needed to-

“Oh, no need to look so embarrassed.” The harp woman giggled. “Here, let me help you blend in!”

“No!”

But her protests got her nothing, other than another string of notes that whistled in through her ears and made her go cross-eyed as she felt them fizzling inside her head. Groaning, she tried to block out the music with her hands, tried to stop whatever magic was being worked on her, but it was too late.

Even as she lifted them, she could see the pale skin of her arms turning a healthy, leafy green, the colour spreading down into her hands, even tainting her fingernails. Looking down, she could see the same shade seeping over her chest and drizzling around her belly button, quickly flowing down to her feet.

She was green from head to toe.

“You-!” Okay, that was it. She had to get out of here now. No more hesitating – she’d rescue Syn later. These idiots thought they’d disarmed her? Thought she was helpless? They could think again – never underestimate Flash the blade!

Gritting her teeth, she lunged forwards, grabbing a knife from the food platter. “That’s it. You stop playing right this second, or this goes right through your thro-ah!”

She hissed, knife falling from her fingers as the sharp sound of a harp string struck her hand dead on.

“Oh Flash,” the red satyr giggled, shaking her head. “Always with your quick thinking and cunning schemes. You think too much!” She smiled, raising her hand over her harp. “You’ll have much more fun if you just learn to go with the flow.”

And before the Rogue could wonder what she meant (or how she knew her name), the hand came down, and a beautiful melody crashed in through Flash’s ears.

“Oh!” She gasped, her arms dropping limp to her side as her thoughts all suddenly went blank – the musical notes seizing control of her mind and straightening all of its contents out into nothingness. Her jaw dropped slack, drool creeping down her green lips as the firelight reflected in her suddenly blank eyes.

“That’s better. But we can improve. Let’s make you…” The satyr strummed her harm. “Dumber…”

The notes flowed into Flash’s head, and her eyes drew half-lidded. Under the song’s careful charge, the still mind between her ears melted into mush. Knowledge, experience, savvy, all of it was massaged out of her brain, no longer needed. Complex machinery and savagely sharpened wit were gummed up, broken down, and drained away. Her vacant gaze grew a little blanked by the second, her jaw hanging a little slacker.

But the satyr was far from done. “And hotter…”

All of that mental energy had to go somewhere, after all. The song echoed through her hollowing head, and scooped up the remnants of the Rogue’s intellect, carrying it off to places far more useful. Her chest soon began to grow, plumped up on devoured thoughts and scrapped insights. Moments later, her ass followed, drinking down encyclopaedias of knowledge and unnecessary ideas. Quickly, her curves became quite knowledgeable indeed – but since tits and thighs don’t need to be winning any quizzes, they quickly converted that surplus into fat. It wasn’t long before the green woman had breasts as big as her head, and a beautiful booty to match.

The satyr grinned at the sight, before giving her harp one last strum. “And happier, too.”

This one was easy. A slight tickle behind the eyes, a note dropped between the ears, and the former Flash’s lips easily pulled themselves into a stupid smile. Joy surged in her heart, and heat blossomed between her loins, her ears growing to just slight points as her transformation completed.

She was a nymph – an unmistakable spirit of nature. With green skin, wild white, leaf filled hair, and curves that could drown a man on dry land, there could be no question of the fact.

Certainly not from a simpleton like her, anyway.

The former Syndale rose to her feet, cupping the former Flash by the shin, delighting in the cheerful smile and vacant bliss she saw in the other woman’s eyes. “Now there’s a girl who can spread some joy,” she giggled. “You know, the other guests will be turning over the course of the feast – but with you, I just couldn’t wait that long. They said you were mine to do with as I pleased – and oh, I do find you very pleasing now~”

The nymph didn’t have any thoughts on that – or any thoughts at all, really. Her mind had been scoured oh so delightfully clean. Nothing existed between her pointed ears save joy and lust, now. A far happier way of being than a scrounging Rogue, that was for sure.

“I’ll let you join the dance soon,” she said, drawing in close. “But first, I’d like to enjoy a little of that joy you’re spread for myself~”

Then she leaned forward, and locked their lips in a kiss. A kiss that the nymph was only too happy to return, their bodies entwining together in the light of the fire. A satyr and her pet – nothing more, and nothing less.

At long last, the sun was truly dipping beneath the horizon. A long, dark night stretched ahead – but these two former Adventurers would surely enjoy every second of it.