The Tale of the Pumpkin Forest (Tanya & Elora) (Patreon)

Hey folks!

Hope all is well out there. Nothing much to report, except that it's finally gotten cold over here. After the summer we've had I'm pretty grateful, but still, brrr.

Since it's the season, time for a Halloween Tanya and Elora fic! Our adventurous duo find themselves telling a tale from one of their past quests, which found them in the middle of a dark, spooky wood. I'm sure this will end well for them...

But I'll let you find that part out. Enjoy!

What, again? You mean, from like the very beginning? Psh, you’re lucky you’re cute, you know. I have a lot of important things I should be out there doing right now. Important sorceress things. But if you really want to hear the story, I gueesss I can stay a little while longer…

Oh please. As if you’d ever turn down the chance to spend an evening listening to the sound of your own voice.

First off, rude. Second off, if this charming lady wants to hear the tale of our latest and greatest adventure, who am I to refuse? But don’t worry, I can handle it alone, Tay, so why don’t you hop on out and go worship your silly human gods or whatever it is you Paladins do when all of the interesting people are elsewhere?

What, and let you start making things up again? The last time I left you alone to talk about our adventurers you said I’d been kidnapped by harpies almost as soon as we left the Guild, and that you’d had to handle everything else yourself. I had people throwing feathers at me and laughing for weeks afterwards. This time I’m going to keep you honest.

Bah! I didn’t make up much. You were barely there for that one anyway. At least the harpies would have given you something to do.

That’s not-!

So where was I? We were out investigating something or other…

El, I swear to the Light…

Hush now, Tay, story time. Right, right, I remember now. It was a dark and stormy night…

-

“It wasn’t stormy,” Tanya sighed as she lifted her torch, peering into the pitch-black shadows. “It was dry. Hadn’t rained in days, actually.”

“By the forces, Tay,” Elora groaned, the elven Sorceress groaned, picking her way through the darkness carefully, lifting the bottom hem of her red robes whenever it looked likely to clip dirt or a knot of roots. “You have no poetic soul whatsoever. Unlike me. Did you know that I was almost inducted into the Roseheart Academy for my skill with prose? I could have been a songstress if the arcane arts hadn’t called out to me so strongly.”

“A songstress needs to be able to focus on actually doing her job,” the blonde replied, cutting through a wall of tangled branches and thorns with her sword. Around them, the wind whistled through the tress with a shrill sharpness. “Instead of turning every song into an attempt to bed her audience. Do you have to turn every conversation you have with a cute girl into a flirting siege?”

“Flirting? Who’s flirting?” The elf smiled innocently, following after her friend as they delved deeper. “I’m just having a good time.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Anyways!” El was perfectly happy to take the Paladin’s grunt as a victory, turning her attention back to the story at hand as she hopped down a gnarled tree stump, moving with all of the elven grace her people were so famous for. “We had a Quest. Something about an ancient evil, or maybe some hidden treasure…”

“It was a hunt for missing people,” Tanya interjected, her torch raised as she peered out between the trees. Had she just seen movement out there? “A group of women had gone out picking berries in the forest and hadn’t come back. We were dispatched to find out what had happened and rescue them if possible.”

“Right, right…” The elf sat down on her stump as she shrugged breezily. “One of those. You know how it is. For important, heroic Adventurers like us, all of these Quests blend together…”

“No they don’t.”

“Yes they do. Anyway, that was what brought us out here!” She gestured outwards to the dark forest that surrounded the pair on all sides – a winding maze of reaching branches and bloated, hobbled tree trunks towering around them. “The black forest of Veznia. Awful place. So mucky.” The elf’s lip pulled back into a disgusted sneer as she used a quick spell to clean the mud from her robes.

“The muck is hardly the real problem here,” Tanya said, rolling her eyes. Her torch was lifted high, the one point of light in a sea of night. “The problem is the ancient dark magic that’s corrupted these woods to the core. It’s seeped into everything. The ground, the air, the creatures, the…”

“Gah!” Elora suddenly jumped up and threw herself away from the stump she’d been sitting on as it suddenly sprouted spindly wooden arms and tried to grab her.

“… Trees. Like that.”

“Yeah, thanks for the warning,” the elf grumbled, reducing her attacker to a pile of ash with an irritated fireball. “Like I said, awful place. Can’t imagine why anyone would want to come out here to pick berries.”

“Well, that was certainly one of the questions we were looking to answer when we got out here,” Tanya agreed. “The women we were searching for would have been well aware of the dangers of this forest., and they would have known how to skirt it. There was no way they’dve come this close to the place by accident. Either they decided to take a few risks for no reason, or…”

“Or a bunch of plants kidnapped them,” El finished for her, grumbling.

Tay twitched, looking back around at her friend. “What, you get on my case for not having a ‘poetic soul’, and then you just give away the ending of the story out of nowhere like that?”

The elf shrugged. “Eh. Everyone already knows how this ends, right? Besides, that’s hardly the important part. They were just about to show up anyway.”

“Yeah, but now instead of a big dramatic moment, we just get-”

Behind her, the branches buying the way between two trees suddenly parted, and from out of the darkness lurched a towering group of green skinned monsters. The Paladin just groaned, looking around at them as they shambled out of the black.

“- that.”

They were strange creatures, awkward and cumbersome. Their hulking bodies towered over the pair of adventurers, their thick, powerful looking limbs wrapped in green skin and winding vines. Their shape was humanoid, for the most part – two legs and arms, one body and one… head. But they were obviously plants fashioned into that shape, their limbs made of stems and branches, claws made from thorns. They had impressively feminine figures, disturbingly…

“Not un-melon-like,” Elora noted.

… But their most notable feature was their heads. Those were large, rounded, and with bright orange skin that was rough like a fruit, almost a third the size of the rest of their bodies. They had triangular eyes and fixed, jagged mouths carved into their faces, from which sickly yellow light was shone out. In short, they looked like-

“Pumpkin heads,” Elora said, raising her hands and rolling her eyes. “Like those stupid decorations humans make during the dark nights of the harvest. They looked absolutely ridiculous.”

The leader of the pack lumbered forward and swung out with a massive fist. It slammed into Tanya’s hastily deployed shield and sent her skidding backwards across the grounds, the Paladin just barely able to keep her feet.

“They packed a punch, though,” the blonde grumbled as she straightened up, brandishing her sword. “And there were a bunch of them. I knew immediately that this was going to be a difficult fight.”

“Uh, what?” Elora, who had hurried to her side both to check that she was okay and to make sure the woman wearing all of the armour was between her and the big strong monsters, was looking at her incredulously. “Did you forget I was there or something? They’re big plants, Tay, there was a really easy way to solve this.”

To demonstrate, she raised her hand, flames already gathering into an orb over her palm as she prepared to-

“No.” Tanya’s shield arm swept out to block her and push her hand down. “Don’t you remember? We couldn’t do that?”

El blinked, the flames winking out. “We couldn’t? Huh. Why not?”

That was when the lead pumpkin-headed creature groaned, with a surprisingly clear voice, despite it’s ‘lips’ not moving. “Yooouu… will serve… the forest… Mistress…”

The other pumpkin-heads moaned in agreement, stomping up behind her. “Yooouuu willlll seeeeerveee…”

The Paladin sighed, lowering her blade even as she raised her shield. “Because these monsters were obviously the women we’d been sent to find, and we didn’t actually want to hurt them.”

The red-headed elf snapped her fingers. “Right! Right. Yeah, that was a thing, wasn’t it. I swear, all of these adventures blur together sometimes.”

“You keep saying that. Maybe your memory is just going in your old age.”

“HEY!”

“Anyways, it was clear we’d have to be careful with these creatures,” Tanya continued, ignoring her friend’s glare. “If they really were innocents corrupted, then there was a possibility that they could be saved. So we didn’t really want to harm them more than we had to. This would be a defensive battle, looking for any weaknesses we could exploit which would-”

“Stone’s breath!” Elora had raised her hands, still looking annoyed, and thrown out another spell. A grey cloud swept over the mob of monsters, obscuring them from view for a moment. When the fog cleared, there were no pumpkin-headed beasts to be seen – just a group of a half-dozen pumpkin-headed statues.

“There.” The elf flicked her hand, flexing it a little to remove the discomfort left by a spell she rarely cast. “Problem solved. Easy.”

Now it was Tanya’s turn to look annoyed. “Quit skipping ahead, El. You didn’t do that yet! There was a whole fight, we had to dodge through the trees, I pulled off some really cool moves!”

“Yeah, well, this was how it ended, right?” The Sorceress shrugged. “You wouldn’t let me burn them, so I turned them to stone instead. Now they’re in stasis until we find a cure, because I’m a genius. What would you even do if I wasn’t around, huh?” Now she was getting properly into gloat mode, bolstered by the fact that her blonde friend clearly didn’t have a good response. “It would have been way easier if I’d done this part at the start instead of the end. They were all grouped up, easy to get them in one blast. So I saved us some time!”

“Better late than never, I guess,” Tanya groused, clearly less than happy to be so thoroughly defeated by Elora’s ego. She just… had a point this time. Somehow. “Anyway, yes, that was how the battle ended. Fortunately no one got truly hurt…”

“Thanks toooo…?”

“Thanks to Elora,” the Paladin twitched, but otherwise managed to keep her composure. “Of course, that was hardly the end of the matter.”

El blinked. “Wait, really? Aren’t we done already? I mean, we found the women we were after. Or most of them. Kind of. I assume.” She gestured towards the forest’s new art exhibit. “Quest complete, so then we went home, right?”

Tanya looked at her friend, a hint of concern in her eyes. “I mean, we still had to figure out who – or what – did this, remember? It wouldn’t have been right to just walk away at this point. We had to find this ‘forest mistress’ they’d been groaning about.”

“Oh.” The elf paused, finger tapping her cheek as she thought. “Right, yeah. I guess that makes sense…”

Her friend frowned. “We might have to check your memory when we get home, El. You’re really forgetful today. How much have you been drinking?”

“Drinking? I… uh…” Confusion crossed the elf’s features for a moment, before she shook her head. “As much as I like, thank you. Now quit fussing and finish the story already. We have an audience to satisfy~”

Still suspicious, Tay peered at her for a moment, before sighing and nodding. “Fine, fine. I guess there’s no rush. And fortunately, we didn’t have to go far. No sooner had we defeated her minions than the creature behind it all emerged…”

“Oh yeah!” Elora’s eyes brightened, and she snapped her fingers as the memory came back to her. “And she was hot, too!”

“…” The blonde pinched the bridge of her nose. “Yeah, never mind, you’re clearly fine.”

“So these are the foolish Adventurers who have been disturbing my forest?” From out of the darkness, stepping around the statues in the clearing with deliberate grace, came the mastermind of the evening. A woman in a dress made of long leaves and morose flower petals. “My, and here I thought you’d be taller. Well, we can fix that…”

Tanya and Elora both recognised what she was immediately. Dryads like her were rather distinctive. Elementals of the forest, with power over plants and trees, they were generally pretty similar to the woods that they guarded. Hair made of vines, green skin, glowing purple eyes… They were living plants, in essence, though in a much more graceful way than those pumpkin-heads had been.

That said, normally dryads were creatures with bright colours and perky attitudes. This one had a darker tone to her, and her low voice coupled with that sinister smirk spoke of much more malicious intentions. Her flowers were purple, the shade so deep that it was almost black, while her skin was pale enough that the torchlight barely picked up a trace of green. Like a plant that got both too much sun and barely any at all…

“There’s nothing to fix,” Tanya answered, her voice firm. “You’re the one responsible for this, then?” She nodded towards the statues.

The dryad smiled, her teeth looking oddly sharp. “People so often want to partake in nature’s bounty, but so rarely wish to pay the price. I simply gave them the chance to settle their debts.”

The two Adventurers exchanged a look. “So, because these ladies picked some berries, you turned them into plant monsters?” Elora sighed, raising a palm and summoning her flames once again. “Lady, you’re cute, but could you be just a touch less crazy?”

“She’s clearly tainted by the magic of these woods,” Tanya stated. “At this stage I doubt there’s any way to purify her. We’re going to have to cut her down.” Then she glanced over to El. “Try not to hold back just because you’re attracted to her, okay?”

“Yeah yeah,” the elf waved her off. “I heard you say that the first time.”

Tay blinked. “The first time…?”

“Yeah.” Elora looked at her, confused. “Back when this was actually happening? Remember? You really didn’t need to include it in the story y’know…”

“I… Oh, right, yeah.” The blonde shook her head, trying to focus. “Huh. I said that. You got annoyed.”

“No duh.”

“And then…” She squinted, peering at the dryad. “Then what happened?”

There was a pause. A strange uncertainty filled the air.

“Uh. Well, I mean…” Elora finally broke it to speak up, scratching her cheek. “I probably threw a fireball and turned her to ash, right? I mean, why wouldn’t I?”

Tay looked back over her shoulder at the elf. “What, so you think you did all the work again?”

The Sorceress shrugged. “I mean I’m pretty awesome like that, yeah.”

“Oh come on. Maybe I changed in and cleaved her in half.” She waved her sword around. “It’s just a dryad, they’re pretty weak to directly applied violence.”

Elora rolled her eyes. “Ugh, fine. Yeah, maybe you did that. (Even though it was definitely me who saved the day.) Then we went home, hit the bar, and had a good time being heroes.”

“And you started flirting with every woman you saw.” Tanya added the obvious.

“Not every woman. Just the ones I liked the look of.”

“Which is all of them.”

“That’s not-!”

“Now, ladies…” The brewing argument was put on hold as the dryad watching them spoke up. “I hate to interrupt but I must say, that’s not how I remember it…”

The pair looked back to her, blinking. “Huh?”

Her sharp smile grew wider as she stepped forwards, dry leaves crunching underfoot, echoing through the story. “Yes, I remember this part clearly, and I’m afraid neither of your suggestions hold water. In fact, if I may make a few suggestions of my own…”

“Um.” Tanya squinted, putting a hand to her head, feeling far more fuzzy than she liked. “Are you sure about this bit, El? I don’t remember…”

“Whu- Why are you… asking me?” The redhead at her side was looking rather hazy herself. “Aren’t you the one adding this? Wait, who… Who’s talking right now…?”

“Oh, don’t worry about details like that.” The dryad’s hand reached up to cup Tanya’s cheek. It was chill to the touch and rough, but with the same kind of waxy feel as the top of a leaf. The blonde wasn’t sure how she knew what that gesture was supposed to feel like… “You, my dear Paladin, were exhausted. All that running around my forest, fighting my servants. You were positively out of breath. And the more you breathed in, the harder you found it to fight…”

“Nnn…” A groan escaped the blonde’s lips as she wobbled, her sword suddenly feeling so heavy in her hand. Before she even knew what was happening, she’d lost her grip on it, and her weapon – or had it been her torch? She’d kept getting them confused - tumbled into oblivion, discarded by the tale she’d thought she was telling. She slumped, finding her arms sinking to her sides, gazing with glazed eyes into the dryad’s purple glow.

“That’s a good little hero. As you said, the dark power of this forest is in everything, even the air itself. But do you know what else is in the air? Me.” The plant elemental giggled evilly, before pursing her lips and blowing a stream of purple dust into the Paladin’s face. A sweet scent filled Tanya’s senses, and the world became a blur. “You’ve been breathing in my pollen for some time now – long enough for me to captivate that tragically meat-headed brain of yours. So I think what you did, in this part of the story? Is fall asleep.”

The blonde’s eyes slid closed, and she went limp, her body dangling from the dryad’s hand on her chin. Were the elemental not there, she would have collapsed on the ground outright.

The sharp smile grew wider, but her attention soon slid from the sleeping Paladin to the confused elf. “As for you, my darling Sorceress, why, you were so busy trying to remember a good spell to use that you completely forgot that without your guardian’s blade ready, why… you were exquisitely vulnerable.”

Elora blinked – and then vines whipped out of the darkness, wrapping around her and drawing out a startled yelp, before lifting her up into the air, binding her arms to her side and holding her in place. The Sorceress struggled, of course, but with her hands restrained, she couldn’t cast any magic to get herself out of this one.

The dryad stepped past her slumbering conquest, now beckoning the vines to lower the redhead down to where she could properly inspect her. Green fingers stroked well cared for elven skin. “Let me tell you how things went from here. Once I had you subdued, I took my time overcoming your stubborn elven resistance. I’d used up quite a lot of my power getting past the other one’s holy defences, after all…”

The Sorceress struggled uncertainly. “I… That sounds… kinda familiar, but what do you mean overcoming mhmnm?”

Her sentence cut off as another vine, thicker than the others, slid up around her neck and shoved itself between her lips. Something sticky and sugary sweet filled her mouth. It was… weirdly… familiar…

“I let you drink deep of my sap that night,” the dryad purred, gently circling her finger against the elf’s cheek as the other woman was forced to swallow, and her struggles began to fade. “Far more than you needed to fall in line. But you didn’t mind, did you dear? It was such a nice taste…”

“Mmhmmn…” Elora moaned, nodding sleepily as her eyes drifted to half-lid. It had gotten really, really hard to, um… the thing… think! It had gotten really hard to think all of a sudden but… she found she… didn’t really… mind that muhhh…

She swallowed again, more sticky sweetness filling her up. A pleasantly warm feeling radiated through her body as the stuff hit her belly, lulling her even further into blissful complacency. Another swallow, another burst of warmth, and a drippy smile was starting to pull on the edges of her lips.

The dryad giggled as she saw it, nodding. “You’d cost me some of my servants,” she said, finally stepping back, and summoning more vines with a snap of her fingers. These ones soon had Tanya trussed up like her friend, another sap-dripping tendril quickly pushing its way between her slack lips. The elemental herself walked over to the statues of her minions, sighing as she reached out to feel their cold, stone bodies. “I lacked the magic to restore them, alas. But I can always make more, as you soon learned.”

Her sigh was replaced by a sinister grin, and the world around the three shimmered, the statues and the forest fading.

“I carried you away from that sad monument to your intrusion, stripped you of all the ‘civilized’ equipment you were carrying, and welcomed you into my grove.”

The shimmer continued, the setting of the story changing. The dark forest was replaced by a wide clearing around a tall, old oak tree, twisted and gnarled by the ancient curse. A stream ran between its roots, curling through the wooden web from one side and out the other, a sinister taint to its waters – though if that taint came from the stream or from the tree, it was hard to say.

The darkness was not quite so complete here. Above, the glowing moon shone down on the clearing, covering everything in a silver sheen. There were plants here, countless flowers with petals all colours of the rainbow – but under the moon, they all looked to be pale shades of purple.

“I made sure you were comfortable. You were going to be staying for quite some time, after all…”

The two adventurers found themselves hanging in the middle of it all, dangling together from a large green stalk planted in the twisted oak’s shadow, their bodies bound up tight, practically cocooned in swaths of dark, leafy vines. They were placed back to back, looking in opposite directions with dull eyes. Their gear, Tanya’s armour, Elora’s robes, all of their equipment, was gone, thrown aside in the forest, forgotten by the narrative, leaving them both naked as the day they were born. Their only cover was from the plant itself – especially the cup-like vine-tips which had attached themselves to the pair’s nipples, or the ones that had nestled themselves between their legs…

Neither seemed to mind this state of affairs – or indeed, even notice it. The sap vines were still in their mouths, their only movements the occasional slow swallow. Under the light of the moon, they looked like pale, unripened fruit, not ready yet to drop from the vine.

“The women you came to save were quick dalliances. You two were worth some effort. So I did things properly, and made sure my girls were well tended in the garden…”

Flowers sprouted in little crowns around the Adventurer’s brows, small, sweet purple tiaras, intertwined between one another, roots connected and running down into the pair’s ears. Magic pulsed through every petal and stem, and every so often a moan of pleasure would echo from one of the two’s throats.

“As your gracious host, I made sure your stay was as pleasant as can be, making sure to sap away all of your worries…”

Eyes fluttered as the flowers began to grow larger, purple light flowing out of their ears and down the roots, feeding the plants with a healthy diet of memory and trouble. The dazed pair couldn’t resist, couldn’t even really be aware of what was happening in their sap-stupefied states. Every effort to gather their wits was trying to swim up from under a sea of sticky treacle, and any attempts were soon sucked out of them in a haze of pleasure.

“… as well as those silly abilities you were so proud of…”

Tanya bucked in her seat, sighing with delight as the skills she’d worked for years to hone began to drip out of her. Hundreds of days spent training with the blade, earning her mastery in the yard and on the battlefield. Countless hours spent in prayer, dedicating herself to the Light. Untold scores of adventurers across the lands… All of those memories were breaking up, drained away to feed the steadily growing flowers in her hair, which were starting to develop a holy white hue.

“… And all knowledge of those spells you were so gleefully casting…”

The flowers around Elora’s brow began to turn red, one petal at a time. The elf’s eyes crossed, squealing with delight as waves of pleasure erased her arcane abilities bit by bit, draining them out of her ears, and out of her mind forever. The dryad delighted at the sight.

“Ahhh. Maybe you should have gone into poetry after all~ But now you wouldn’t need any of that anymore. And my generosity did not stop there!” In return for your wits, I supplied you with ever such delightful gifts. Powerful bodies…”

As the pair swallowed and basked, their bodies were starting to change. Their arms and legs were growing wider, their abs turning taut. Watching for just a moment, the dryad could literally see their muscles beginning to swell, strength pouring into them with every gulp. Soon, their limbs were large and defined, their bodies obvious powerhouses. In this state, they could have broken free of their restraints easily, if either of them cared to.

Fortunately, they couldn’t even conceive of the possibility, let alone why they should want to~

“… With luscious fruits…”

The plants cupping the pair’s chests and nethers were doing their part, too. Occasionally they’d flicker with green magic, and their charges would expand out, growing just that little bit larger, drip by drip. Each surge of green was accompanied by a rush of pleasure, gasps and moans echoing through the still night. Already, the Adventurers’ chests were too large to hope to fit back inside their equipment, and their asses weren’t far behind. Melons had been the word Elora had used to describe similar features before, and now it felt all too apt.

“And of course, best of all, I prepared you for eternal, immortal service protecting me and my forest…”

Green was seeping through the pair’s bodies, long lines of dark colouration following along their veins, casting itself on their skin, step by step, drip by drip moving them out of the animal kingdom and into the herbaceous empire…

“But those preparations take a long, long time… Many nights under the glowing moon…”

-

So every night, I entertained myself by returning to my grove, and listening to two foolish little heroes tell me the tale of their defeat with pride~

Uhhh….

Mmmnn…

But it’s time to change that. It sounds like you’re just about ready now. So let me tell you how this story ends.

-

Under the moon-lit sky, the dryad smirked up at her captives. The lithe elf and the muscular human were gone. In their place were her proud creations, plant golems that would tower over any intruders, with muscles bigger than tree trunks, and curves almost as big as their heads were about to be. Just the way she liked them.

Though, for the moment, their heads still looked rather normal, if mostly green. Their eyes had long sealed shut at this point, their lips merged with the vines in their mouths to form a firm stem, from which their hulking forms now dangled. Neither of them had been able to speak for a week or two now – but fortunately for her nightly gloating session, her dryad powers meant she could converse directly with their sap-drenched minds. The other vines had retreated at this stage, leaving the pair ready for harvest.

Yes, they were ripe at last.

One last time, she reached up to stroke their heads fondly. She’d taken back the flower crowns, which had now fully bloomed. The knowledge she’d stolen from the pair might be useful one day, but there was nothing else in their minds that she wanted now. The rest could turn to mush without a problem.

So the dryad grinned, and channelled her magic, accelerating this last part of the ritual. Dark purple light pulsed from her palms, directly into her crop’s heads. And obediently, those heads began to grow.

They swelled outwards, just like their muscles and chests, though instead of turning green, they were puffing up bright and orange instead. Their hair shrivelled, clumping against their heads in pale root-like patterns, or merging with the stems that now slid up to the top of their heads, turning fully green in the process. The remnants of their faces vanished, their eyes, mouths and noses all sinking into the rough orange skin they were developing as they rounded out. The last traces of who they had been disappeared once and for all, leaving only what they had become:

A pair of pumpkin-heads.

The dryad looked at her work proudly, before lifting her hand, and cutting the two’s stems with a swipe of her nails. With heavy thuds that echoed through the entire forest, the two new golems landed on the ground, their stems cut, their growth done. They were ready. But they didn’t move, simply standing at attention in front of their Mistress, their creator. There was one last step to do.

“Mmm… For you, miss stern and grumpy knight…” The dryad giggled, reaching up and sketching her finger on the front of the former Tanya’s pumpkin-head. Two small dots for eyes, and a wider one for a mouth. A moment later, and magic copied the pattern she’d just made, smoothly carving the pumpkin’s face into the design just made. It gave the golem a look of complete surprise, as though they were someone eternally confounded. at anything and everything in front of her. All the moreso when the inside of the pumpkin began to glow with a yellow sickly glow, and the new golem saluted – finally complete.

“And for you, my beautifully silly Sorceress…” The dryad moved over to the former Elora, and much like with the other golem, sketched a new face. This one had a wide smile, but no jagged teeth. Instead, the elemental drew the equivalent of a face with its tongue hanging out, its eyes crossed. One last humiliation of the proud elf.

A humiliation that quickly seared itself into permeance, as, just like before, her sketch became reality. The golem’s face was carved into being by her magic, and a sickly glow began to shine from within. Just like her partner, the new plant golem saluted its Mistress as it began to move.

“You know, I think I might be a rather petty bitch,” the elemental laughed with glee as she looked over her handiwork. “But I’m not going to complain. And neither are you, right girls?”

Two dull voices, recognisable as Tanya and Elora only if you knew them, answered in an empty drone. “Yes Mistressssss…”

“That’s what I thought~”

-

And there you go. What a happy ending. Now that’s the story I remember!

And don’t worry – I’m not going to get tired of it any time soon. In fact, why don’t you tell it for me again? From the very beginning.

I know. I’m lucky I’m cute~