Tanya's Treasure Trove Trap (Patreon)

Hey folks!

It's finally getting warmer over here! The sun is returning - along with the rain, the hail, and the wind. Guess that's just UK weather for you, huh?

In consolation, have a Tanya and Elora story! Well, more Tanya than Elora this time, but enjoy all the same...

“I told you so.”

Petty? Yes. Deserved? Oh, absolutely.

Tanya wasn’t expecting an answer. Obviously, Elora would need to be able to speak to actually reply to her. Or move, at least. But in her present condition, the blonde doubted that her friend could even hear her. Petrification was one hell of a thing, and the elf had managed to get herself well and truly cursed this time. Her lithe, naked body – not how the Paladin would have described it, but El had done so herself enough times that the phrase was now stuck in her head – was cast in solid gold, caught in a pose like she was half-way through a dance, her arms curved around herself, her legs gracefully curled together.

She must have been worth a fortune, which would please her, if she knew. She always did like to feel appreciated. Though it would soon dawn on her what was likely to happen to a solid gold statue of her calibre, and since that was unlikely to be ‘stored in a stylish museum until a cure was found or the curse wore off’, but was rather more likely to be ‘melted down into hundreds of gold coins and then spread out to every far flung corner of the realms… Well, the complaining would start very quickly.

Elora didn’t know, of course. Petrification like this didn’t leave the mind untouched. Her thoughts were just as frozen, just as golden, as the rest of her. Her awareness, if she had any left, had been reduced down to the faintest kind of light, the sort that only the deepest of sleepers might reach. If she felt anything at all, it was surely only the brush of sweet pleasure soothing her soul into sedentary stillness.

The Paladin kind of envied her. Not because she wanted to be transformed, but because this all meant that she was going to have to carry an incredibly heavy statue all the way back down the mountain, find a cart, and transport her to a proper healing temple, all without letting her be damaged or stolen… And the elf was going to spend this entire trip pleasantly dozing away, utterly immune to the strenuous consequences of her screw up.

So really, it was less envy, and more annoyance. Once again, the Sorceress had gotten herself into trouble, and it was up to Tanya to get her out of it.

Well, truth be told, the blonde had been expecting something like this, ever since Elora had swanned into the Guild Hall just over a week before hand. She had been looking unusually smug – normal viewers wouldn’t have been able to detect it against her normal levels of smugness, but Tanya was a leading world expert in the field – and had strutted up to Tanya’s table with glee on her face.

“I,” she had declared, with great haughty fanfare, “am rich.”

Tanya had blinked up at her, mug of ale raised to her lips, then shrugged and finished her drink. “Great, congrats.”

This had not satisfied the Sorceress, who had pouted, and then kicked her under the table. “Don’t be a jerk, ask me how.”

The blonde had raised an eyebrow at her friend. “But you’re going to tell me how anyway.”

“Yes, but I want to be asked!”

Yep. That was Elora alright. The Paladin sighed. “Okay. Fine. Why are you rich, El?”

“Because I,” the Sorceress grinned, leaning over the table and pointing to herself. “Have hit. The jackpot.”

“…” Tanya took another swig of ale. “Great, conga-”

“Stop that!” The elf glared, before reaching into her robe and pulling out a bundled scrap of paper. “Okay, fine. Here’s why I’m rich. I’ve got a map to the biggest treasure hall this side of the silent monks.”

The blonde paused, swishing her drink around her mouth, before swallowing to ask a very important question. “El, where did you get that?”

The elf’s mouth pulled back into a haughty grin. “I bought it. For a steal, too. They had no idea what they were selling.”

Oh no. Tanya had barely been able to hold back a groan. “El, you are gods know how many years old-”

“How dare you. I am not a day over 75.”

“Yeah, you’re way more than a day over 75.”

El’s eyes narrowed. “And you’re lucky I’m in a good mood.”

“- As I was saying, you know better than to fall for these scams! There has to be like a dozen fake treasure maps sold a day around here, what are you doing?”

The elf’s grin returned. “You see, the difference between the people who fall for scams, and me? Is that I…” She waved her bundle of papers again. “Know what a real treasure map looks like.”

This time Tanya couldn’t help the groan. “El…”

“Don’t.”

“El I’m just saying…”

“I said don’t.”

“… This is exactly what you said about the map in Kalagher…”

“That was completely different and-”

“And it took us months to get out of that death trap! Months! There wasn’t even any treasure in there!”

“Well!” Elora folded the map away before huffing, arms folded over her chest. “This one’s real.”

Tanya felt she could be forgiven for her doubts. “Are you sure?”

“Yep~”

Somehow, this had not reassured her. “You’re going to get yourself in trouble and you know it, El.”

“I know no such thing.” The elf stuck her tongue out. “But since you’re sooo uninterested, I guess I’ll find out on my own!”

This, Tanya had expected. Elora was a generous person – once the money in question was actually hers. When she was looking for treasure, though, she tended to get rather greedy. It was best not to get in her way when she started hissing about how all of the gold was hers, she could get jumpy. Leave her be with her gems for a little while and she’d calm down. Frankly, the Paladin suspected that the woman had some dragon in her bloodline, though she’d never admit it.

“What are you going to do if there’s an ambush or something?” She asked, trying to get her friend to see reason despite knowing a lost cause when she saw one. “It’d be the easiest thing in the world, find a real treasure map, grab the treasure, then sell the map and mug whoever come looking for it next.”

Predictably, this didn’t dissuade the Sorceress. “Well if they try that, I will set them on fire. And then freeze them to death. And then maybe set them on fire again!”

Tanya probably should have expected that. Fine, different tac. “What if it’s a real treasure – and it has all the protections that real treasure has?”

That just got Elora rolling her eyes. “Come on, Tay, I’m not a novice. I can handle myself. A few traps aren’t going to stop me.”

Mm. About that…

“Look, I can see you’re worried about me, and that’s sweet. Stupid but sweet.” The elf reached out and petted the Paladin on the head, drawing a growl out of the woman. “I’m going to give you a copy of my map – aren’t I nice – with an enchantment that will open in seven days. If I’m not back by then, you can come and find me. But you won’t have to, because the next time you see me, I’m going to be worth my own weight in gold~”

…

Worth her own weight in gold, huh?

Well, she had been right about that, Tanya had to admit. You know, sometimes it was a struggle to be the bigger woman, but she was going to really make an effort on this one. She was going to tell El, right to her face, that she was completely correct. And she was going to do so often. Just as soon as she was unpetrified.

It was the right thing to do.

Of course, she’d also been right about the treasure, so she’d have a few shots to fire of her own. Stepping back, the Paladin turned to scan the rest of the cave chamber, which was, to put it plainly, flooded with riches. Golden coins so pure they sparkled in the torchlight filled every loose space, piled high between bejewelled works of art and overflowing chests. This was a hell of a haul, even she couldn’t deny it.

It was just obviously very well protected too, as the golden elf could attest. Tanya would have to handle this situation carefully, lest she end up sharing her friend’s fate – and wouldn’t that be embarrassing?

So, okay, what was she seeing here? Elora was stood in the middle of the pile of gold, not buried under it, but not exactly on top, either. It didn’t look like she’d been thrown on the heap carefully, more that she’d sunk in. Given the lack of any other obvious (or non-obvious) traps around here, the blonde had to assume that she’d been hit with a curse the moment she’d touched the gold. Probably something on every coin in here with a compulsion to strike a pose as the petrification swept through her. And given how many coins were in this chamber, that compulsion probably hit El’s mind like a sledge hammer. She might not have even realised anything was wrong before she was completely gilded.

No touching the gold then. That was fine – Tanya’s armour was full plate, and covered most of her bare skin, while being specifically enchanted to protect her against curses. She’d have to be careful with her hair, but that wouldn’t be too hard. The real struggle was going to be lifting that stupid statue. Gold was heavy.

But not so heavy that a Paladin couldn’t lift it. Carefully, so that she didn’t accidentally touch any of the coins herself. And gently, too, because real gold was also soft, though the petrification magic helped there – souls usually remembered what shape they were supposed to be. Overall, a difficult task, but soon, Elora was hefted under the blonde’s arms, and they were on their way out.

Which wasn’t to say the way out was easy. This treasure trove had been well protected by all of your standard anti-plundering measures. Trapped floor tiles, spike pits, poisoned arrows, the usual. And plenty of guardian monsters, of course.

Formerly plenty, anyway. Tanya had followed a trail of scorch marks down into the vault, her sword easily handling anything that had been left over from Elora’s rampage. She still had to avoid all of the traps (and avoid banging El’s head) on the way out though. Which was awkward, even if not exactly life threatening.

No, the real trouble only came when they got close to the exit.

Tanya had just caught a glimpse of daylight, at long last, when a shadow passed over the entrance. She paused, eyes narrowing. Had some giant beast found this cave? If so, then she might have to deal with an actual fight…

But, to her surprise, what stepped into the tomb entrance wasn’t some great chimera or bearleon. Instead, she was a normal humanoid – perhaps even a little on the short side. Expensive and extravagant black robes, lined with silver and gold, flowed around her as she descended the steps, her green locks spilling around her shoulders in small wavy curls. There was an elven air about her, though the Paladin couldn’t see her ears through her hair.

Her eyes, which were a sinister shade of yellow, narrowed as her lips pulled into an amused, if scornful, smile. “Well, what have we here? A little thief?”

Ah. Okay, this might be a bit more difficult than just a battle with a beast. Tanya sighed, setting Elora down carefully next to her. “I assume you’re the actual owner of this little dungeon?”

The woman chuckled coldly. “You assume correctly.”

Yeeeep. She tried not to wince. “I’m afraid there may have been a misunderstanding. My friend and I aren’t thieves.”

“Really now?” The woman tilted her head, clearly disbelieving. “Then why have I found you trying to escape with my gold, hm?”

“My companion,” Tay stressed the word, unwilling to let this person refer to her friend as just a commodity, “was sold a map to this place and told it was abandoned treasure. She was lied to, and now she’s been punished for her transgressions. If you let us pass, we will help pay for the damages, and we will not bother you again.”

“My treasure,” green-hair put the exact same emphasis on the word, “will be staying right here. I didn’t make that much money by letting my valuables run away from me~”

Well then. The Paladin drew her sword and shield, eyes narrowing. “I’d prefer to resolve this peacefully, but if you insist, I will not allow you to keep my friend as your possession.”

“Oh, that’s adorable.” The woman giggled malevolently. “It’s been a while since I last met a proper knight type. I think I’ll keep you~”

“You’re welcome to try.” Tanya wasn’t the least intimidated, adjusting her sword arm as she measured her opponent. “But you’ll find a Paladin is a lot harder to turn to gold than a Sorceress.”

That evil smile widened. “Oh my dear – who said anything about gold?”

There was a flare of power, a tremor running through the entire room. For a moment, little more than a fraction of a fraction of a second, Tanya thought she saw something behind the woman – a flickering shade of a huge beast. It was too large to fit in this narrow hall, but she saw its size all the same, a towering creature made of coiled muscles and wrapped in ebon black scales. Folded wings rustled on its back, a powerful tail twitched behind it, and at the end of a thick, scaled neck, malevolent yellow eyes sat above a long, tooth filled grin – just before the grin widened to reveal the roar of dark flames.

Oh shit, the Paladin realised. She was fighting a dragon. One of the most powerful species of magical creature in the realms. This situation had just gone from ‘bad’ to ‘disaster’.

Or, well, no. Tanya’s actual thoughts sounded more like ‘Ohshitdragon!’ but the spirit was there. Only for an instant, though – because in the next, everything was fire.

The black flames roared down the tunnel, reducing everything in their path to smoke and cinders. Tanya lifted her shield in front of her, but it melted instantly. Her sword followed, dripping into molten slop on the floor, before even that evaporated. Her armour went even faster, vanishing completely as the wave crashed over her. She was defenceless.

Yet, strangely, what followed was not an immediate and fiery end. The heat slammed into her, smothering her in its all-encompassing embrace, but somehow she didn’t burn. She got hot – oh god, so hot! – but there wasn’t so much as a sizzle from her skin. Just heat so oppressive that she couldn’t move a muscle.

And she was so hot! She felt like she was her sword – melting. Parts of herself seemed to drip away, running down her frame like molten droplets, while others simply evaporated immediately. Her entire self felt like it was softening and bubbling in the inferno, pouring itself into a new shape…

Then the dark flames were gone, and the air rushed in once more. It might have been warm after the blaze, but against Tanya’s skin, anything would have felt cool right now, though she was too stunned to really notice. She was alive.

Her first thought was- ‘Elora!’

The Paladin spun around, looking to where she’d left her golden friend, and sighed with relief. Elora was fine. In fact, she looked like she hadn’t even been touched by the heat. She wasn’t even warm. The statue was just how Tanya had left her.

Tanya herself, however… was starting to wonder why she had to look upwards to see her friend’s petrified face. Weren’t they more or less the same height? Actually, why did this room look so much bigger all of a sudden?

She looked down at herself, and found her answer. The world wasn’t bigger. She was just smaller. Much, much smaller.

A full two thirds of her height must have disappeared, scoured away from her by the flames. Or, perhaps, simply melted and moved to other places. She certainly didn’t remember her breasts ever being this big, jutted out in front of her, clearly massive on her smaller frame. And as she swivelled her hips to get a better view of herself, she could feel as well as see how much bigger her ass had gotten. She must have looked like a short tower of curves with a head stuck on the top.

A pale yellow tower, at that. She could see that her skin had been baked into a smooth, lightly scaled orange-ish hue, from her toes on upwards. In fact a few of her toes had fused together, she was down from five to three, and each of the three digits was capped by a short but sharp claw. The same kind of thing had happened to her fingers, leaving her grip rather stubbly.

A suspicion occurred to her, and she reached up, feeling her way over her face and head with her palms. Her mouth had pushed out a little, merging with her nose to give herself a small snout, and she could feel a pair of short, pointed horns poking out of the top of her head. She could also feel a complete lack of her normal blonde hair, with her scales instead growing thick to give her a few points to the back of her skull…

“What you do to TayTay?!?”

Her hands slapped down over her snout, eyes going wide in mortification. No. No way. There was simply no way that words that squeaky and stupid could have possibly come from her mouth. No, she would not accept it.

But the woman with green hair didn’t seem to have that problem.

“Bwahahahahaha! Oh, you came out perfectly!” She clutched at her sides, nearly doubling over with laughter. “Oooh, I was right, you really are adorable!”

Tanya glared, her teeth grinding. Anger swelled in her chest, and before she knew it, she was hopping up and down, shaking her fists over her head. “You undo! Undo what you did to TayTay, before TayTay gets mad!”

This… did not have the desired effect. The woman only laughed harder, while TayTa- Tanya found her cheeks glowing bright red from embarrassment.

“What was that, my dear? Is the big bad kobold going to get mad at her Mistress?”

A kobold…? Yes, that was what she was. What she’d been turned into. Oh by the forces…

Kobolds were pathetic runts of creatures that usually served as a dragon’s lackies. As far as monsters went, they were the bottom of the food chain, desperately swearing themselves to serve more powerful creatures than them for survival. Small, slow, and rather stupid, Tanya had always felt kind of sorry for them…

But now that she was one, she could definitely say that she didn’t care for the experience. She swore she could feel her thoughts starting to slow down, getting sluggish in her brain and then tangled on the way to her tongue.

“You no TayTay’s Mistress, Mistress! You big meanie Mistress!”

Her own words echoed back to her as the woman’s laughter grew even louder. Oh no. No no no. That couldn’t be right.

But it was.

Kobolds didn’t just serve dragons for survival – they did it instinctively. Rumour had it that kobolds were a race that had been created by dragons of elden times as servants for their kind – and if you ever saw one taking an order from a true dragon, you’d believe it.

And now Tanya was feeling that from the inside. The woman’s – the dragon’s words, repeating over and over inside her skull. They were louder than everything else, even louder than her own thoughts. She tried to push back against them, to force them out with the pure force of her will, but they just continued to echo – her resistance achieved nothing as she clutched at her head.

“Such a cute little thing.” Yellow eyes glittered with amusement. “But enough playing about, silly girl. That treasure there needs to be returned to my vault. Be a dear and throw it back in, would you?”

Disobedience just wasn’t an option!

“Yes yes Mistress!” The former blonde yelped, unable to stop herself from complying. “TayTay is on the case!”

Then she was running over and trying to lift up her friend before she’d even realised she was moving. And it wasn’t like it was just her body acting on its own – for a brief moment, she’d been fully engaged in following her Mist- the dragon’s orders, ready, no, eager to obey. All of her thoughts and struggles had just been shoved aside in order to do as she’d been bidden.

Or, to try to, anyway. It turned out that most of her muscles had not made the transition from human to kobold. She stood there, grunting and groaning as she tried to lift the stupid heavy stupid statue, for a long moment, before a snorting dragoness-in-elven-form gestured with a finger, and enchanted her new minion with a temporary strength boost. The job was easy!

Once she had Elora up, lifted precariously over her head with both arms, Tanya paused – but only just long enough for her new Mistress to speak up.

“Well? Take it down to the vault and leave it there, girl. Then come and find me again. I have many more chores for you to handle today.”

“Yes yes!” And once again, she was off, charging down through the tomb as fast as her little legs could carry her, trying her best to keep her balance with a heavy gold statue over her head, tits that kept jiggling with every bounce, and an ass that just would not stop swinging…

Today was going to be one of those days.

-

Leaving Elora back in the treasure vault, once again surrounded by the treasure she’d tried to unknowingly(ish) pilfer, was regrettable, but at least she’d be safer in there, for the moment. Unfortunately, Tanya wasn’t able to fight off her new obedient instincts before they dragged her back to Mistress, who had descended into the tomb to assess the damages.

“Tch. I swear, you leave one of your lairs unattended for a few centuries, and every Adventurer on the continent seems to think they can just waltz in and break everything as they please. Typical. Well, TayTay, you’d better grab a brush and a repair kit, because someone’s going to have to repair all these traps, and it’s not going to be me~”

The kobold blinked at her blankly for a moment, the Paladin mind behind those vapid eyes struggling to force itself into motion. What did she mean? Oh, well obviously- Wait. Hold that thought. No, really, stop it right there. If she didn’t think about what that command actually meant, and instead took it completely literally, maybe she could sneak out of here and go find some help! All she had to do was get a brush and a repair kit, and then just leave! It would be-

“Wait, then who’s doin’ the repairin’?” She found herself wondering aloud, putting a finger to her lips as she tried to puzzle out Mistress’s riddle. The words just kind of fell out of her mouth while her brain was distracted trying to come up with a cunning plan…

“You are, you little pea brain!” The dragoness nudged her with her foot. “I mean go and get that equipment, and then start fixing all of these traps! Ugh, did I really make you that stupid?”

And that had put paid to that escape attempt. Instead of sneaking away while this big meanie was busy, instead TayT- Tanya found herself trapsing over to the store rooms and genuinely getting to work. It still took her a while, mind – this place was big, and it was very easy for a little kobold to get lost in, especially when she was looking for stuff without actually knowing where it was…

But eventually, she found herself scraping away at the tiling next to the first set of hidden wall crushers – a trap she hadn’t even had to deal with before, since it was so old it had broken down all on its own – trying to open up the maintenance panel in order to get started fixing it up.

The fact that she didn’t particularly want to do any such thing didn’t seem to matter. She just had to do it. Thinking otherwise wasn’t merely a waste of time, it was outright impossible. Despite knowing that she should be doing something, anything else, Tanya couldn’t quite seem to work out what that anything might be. So instead she just kept working away, while trying to puzzle out this strange mystery in the back of her head – when there was room for some actual thinking back there, anyway. The work she was doing tended to take up most of the space.

Kobold fingers were good for something, she found out. Despite their stubby nature, they were surprisingly strong and dexterous, easily able to squeeze into tiny gaps and manipulate small mechanisms without much trouble. Maybe that was why dragons designed them that way, to handle the small stuff that dragons were too big and prideful to do? That sounded right. Hm, what had she been thinking about before she got distracted, again? Something about escaping…?

TayTa- Tanya bit her lip, before shaking her head. She couldn’t remember. Her brain was just too too small right now. She could think on it later – better to just get this job done first. Then meanie Mistress might be pleased with her! That thought got an eager giggle and a renewed focus on her work.

Of course, there was so much work to do. Repairing the crushers was simple enough. Once she was into the mechanism, it was just a matter of oiling the gears and replacing a few shafts – easy easy for a kobby like her! – and soon she had them slamming together like they were new! She put her hands on her fat hips proudly, watching as they crushed thin air into even thinner air! Now no one could get through! Heehee~

Okay, so the next trap she had to repair was…

Was…

The kobold paused, lips pursed in slow confusion, as she stared at the pressure plates on the floor, juuust slightly past the wall crusher traps, on the far side. Huh.

“Oopsies.”

-

Resetting the pressure plates, replacing all of the spent poisoned arrows, refilling the water traps, reloading the flame throwers, polishing and sharpening the spinning blades, rebalancing the pendulums…

Hoo, there was a lot of work for a kobby to do down here!

But that was fine. It was fun! And easy easy for a smart kobby like her. Yeah, she was getting’ stuff done! This was the easy part!

The hard part was…

“TayTay! Where is my wine?!”

“Coming Mistress!”

… Keeping Mistress happy.

She was so demanding! The woman spent most of her day snoozing on top of a pile of gold, if she wasn’t walking around criti- crit- calling the kobby’s work bad! And she kept adding all sorts of extra chores on top of the normal stuff! She wanted food and drink hot water for the baths and to know if her new dress made her look fat- the list just kept growing!

And these chores were dangerous, too. TayTay had to be careful getting close to deliver her food. More than once, the kobold had taken a misstep, and accidentally touched part of the horde, getting herself turned into a solid gold monster girl on the spot.

Mistress was always giggling when she turned her back. Sometimes she’d even moved her around – more than once, the kobold had woken up to find her ass being used as a footrest, to her annoyed humiliation. But at least she did always turn her back – how else was she ever going to get all these repairs done?

Oh. Yeah. There was something else she was supposed to be doing as well, wasn’t there? Uh. What was it. What had it been? Uuugh, it was so hard to thiiiink for a stupid kobby like her- Escape! Yes! That was it! She had to escape and find someone to turn her back into a… A whatchamacall it. A person! Yeah.

Wow, haha, she really was dumb, wasn’t she? She’d almost forgotten that she used to be a-

“TayTay!” The dragon woman called, still reclining in her golden throne. “My nails are too long. Come and file them for me.”

“Yes Mistress!”

Instantly, she was rushing over, whatever she’d been thinking so hard on immediately discarded. She had a job to do, after all! Mistress’s nails weren’t going to take care of themselves!

But she probably should have been a little more careful as she rushed over. If she had been, she might not have stumbled, and accidentally put her foot into one of Mistress’s piles of treasure.

When she looked down, she could already see the wave of gold rushing up from her feet, rushing up over her boobs. “Oopsi-”

-

It had been a long, long ordeal…

Actually, she wasn’t sure how long it had been. Not because she couldn’t see the sun down here, Mistress let her go up and gather supplies on the surface whenever she needed! But more because she’d kind of forgotten how to count that high. It all got pretty tricky once you got over five – then you had to use two hands, but if she was using both hands how was she supposed to keep track of which finger she was on? Counting over three was overrated anyways.

But anyways, it had taken super super long ages, but at last, the job was complete! Mistress’s vault was back in full working order! The crushers were crushy! The shooters were shooty! The flamers were flamey! (She had confirmed this with personal experience a few times! Luckily kobolds were mostly fire proof.) Everything was working great!

So now she could…

… Now she could…

Ngh. The kobold winced, bending over and holding her head in the middle of the hall where she’d been surveying her work. What was it she was supposed to do next? She felt like it was something important, but the idea was so faint in her mind. Just an outline, at the back of her too too small brain brain.

It was… something though. If she really tried, really thought and thought and thought about it, harder than any kobby ever had before, she could remember some stuff stuff. Weeeird stuff stuff. Stuff stuff about being tall and big and strong and kinda weirdly human looking, for some reason. And there was this other person, this annoying elf lady that she hung out with all the time…

But why would a kobby hang out with an elf? That didn’t make sense. Not unless it was another dragon pretending to be an elf like Mistress did. That would explain why she kept hanging out with her when she was so annoying – even though Mistress was never annoying!

Nnn… She was close, she could feel it. Something important was dangling in front of her, just out of her grasp. Some grand and glorious and really cool cool thing! It was so close, she just needed to think a little harder…!

“Splendid!” But a voice rang out, disrupting her concentration, and the kobold turned around to find her Mistress striding up, dusting her hands. “Good work, minion. This should keep the Adventurers out for another few centuries.”

Good job? Good job! TayTay’s heart nearly exploded with joy. She was a good kobby! Mistress said so herself!

The green haired disguised dragon grinned, seeing her reaction. “That’s right. You’ve done well. In fact, I’ve half a mind to station you here indefinitely, just to keep it all in good condition…”

Huh. Stay here and look after the place? Taytay nodded slowly. That’d give her plenty of time to think, at least…

“But honestly,” Mistress giggled, leaning down and rubbing the kobold’s head. “You’re just far too cute to leave behind. So I’ll be taking you back to my main lair!”

TayTay gasped, eyes going wide and sparkly. Could it be? This was the kind of prize prize all kobbys dreamed of!

“That’s right!” The dragon grinned. “I have plenty of other kobold sisters for you to meet, so you’ll have to work hard to stand out amongst them, but I don’t think that’ll be a problem for you, will it?”

“Nopenope!” She practically sang her answer. “TayTay will work hard enough for ten kobbys, just you see!”

“Exactly.” The taller woman stood back up, finger to her chin. “Let me think, was there anything else… Oh, I know. There was that statue downstairs – elven girl or something? That’s too nice to leave in my vault, I want to take it home and put it on a fountain or something. Go and fetch it for me, and we’ll head out.”

“Yesyes, on it!” The kobby nearly bowled herself over nodding so fast, and instantly hurried away to do her bidding, chest bouncing all the way. She’d made it more than three staircases down before she remembered - Hadn’t she been thinking about something important…?

“TayTay, hurry up!” She heard a call from the mouth of the cave. “I’ve been slinking around in elven form for far too long, and I need to spread my wings. Fetch my treasure and let’s get going already!”

Hm. Nope! Couldn’t have been. It wasn’t Mistress’s instructions, after all.

The faint outline in the back of her head puffed away, vanished completely, dismissed by a kobby who had far far far too much to do now to care about stupid old old stuff! She had new chores to look forward to now! And those were way more fun. That was all she had room for in her pea brain!

So it was a happy happy thoughtless kobold who skipped into the treasure vault, eager and unburdened as she looked around for… Aha! There, just near the entrance. A golden statue of a pretty elven lady. How long had that been here? TayTay didn’t remember it at all – but then, she was kinda forgetful like that.

Hmm. It was a little scuffed. That wouldn’t do. The kobold hoisted the statue out of the vault – boosted, as always, by her Mistress’s enchantments – and grabbed a rag, giving it a quick polish. It wouldn’t do for one of Mistress’s treasures to look less than its best!

She gave it a good once over, very experienced with this kind of thing – paying special attention to the breasts, the behind, and the face, the areas where viewers were most likely to focus. For a moment, she had the oddest sense of déjà vu – had she done something like this before?

But then she stepped back and looked at her work, and all she saw was a shiny golden statue of a pretty elven lady. That was all. She must have been imagining it~

“Minion!” A more annoyed call came from above. “Come on already! We need to get flying now or we’re going to get stuck in traffic!”

“Coming Mistress!”

TayTay snatched up the shiny anonymous statue and started sprinting up the steps two at a time. It wouldn’t do to keep her Mistress waiting!

Yes, she was TayTay the silly, stupid, servile kobold. That was who she was, and it was all she had ever been. And you know know what what?

She couldn’t imagine a happier kobby to be~!