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High in the mountains that overlooked the city, sat a device known as an Archenometer. Housed in a massive crystal focus, and tended to by expert arcanomists, it was designed to monitor magical activity in the surrounding region. Any change in the complex balance of magic could be detected to the nearest auhm. The Archenometer had become necessary ever since magical power had become focused on the area. Power like that attracted attention by those within and without reality.

Arcanomist Terence has been doing his usual morning routine of calibrations and tests, when suddenly, deep within the recesses of the Archenometer, something went pop.

The wizened mule was used to all manner of noises. He'd heard crackles, fizzles, and any number of buzzes and hums. His fifty years spent overseeing this section of the Archenometer, and understood the grumbles and utterances of its many components. Which is why the pop was so concerning. Terence lifted himself out of his chair and peered up into the network of metal and glass tubes that coursed around the chamber above him. He adjusted his glasses to get a better look through the glare of the morning sun, and felt something bounce off his shoulder and hit the floor with a sharp crack. He looked down to see a portion of a stoichiometric flask shattered on the floor. He looked back up just as a soft rain of broken glass shards fell around him, pelting him softly and littering the floor with the remains of devices it took months to properly calibrate.

“Oh dear,” Terence said, dusting glass off his shoulders.

“Something very big is about to happen.”

The city of Milliquord was known by many names, The City of Gales, The Armored City, but no name was spoken as much as the City Of Mages. Ever since the fall of Mephiston, Milliquord was known as the source of all high magical study in the world. Travellers flocked from across the globe to seek rare reagents and spells. The most Illustrious mages and sorcerer's lived within its walls and only took a handful of students every few years. There were no schools of magic in Milliquord. Training was done directly under a master of the arcane arts. It was said that one could find the answer to any question in Milliquord. It was this final belief that was causing Luna such endless frustration.

Luna, like so many other mages in Milliquord, had her pick of magic related jobs. There was an endless supply of nobles and adventurers seeking some sort of magical solution to a host of problems. Mages carved out a niche for themselves with specific skills in certain areas. Some were better at protection magic, others excelled at destruction spells. It was, Luna thought, a bit like a city filled with tattoo artists. A customer ultimately wanted ink put to flesh, it was just a matter of who’s style they liked best.

Luna, according to her most recent license renewal interview, excelled at the odder problems brought to the city. The kinds of strange issues that cropped up when adventurers rubbed up against magical artifacts, or when nobles made poorly thought out pacts with demons or pissed off the wrong witch. When other mages could find no solution to some esoteric conundrum, or turned a problem away for being too dangerous, those in need would come to her doorstep for an answer. An answer she was happy to provide. For a hefty fee, of course.

Her most recent contract was one that, at first, had seemed so promising. She’d spent her morning trying to fix one of her colleagues malfunctioning guard golems. The stone sentinel had been caught digging a hole under one of the walls around their master’s mage tower to let local animals into the garden. It was really an interesting problem with the golems' motivation core interfering with several sloppily written runes on the inside of its torso. She was halfway inside the golems chest when there came a knock at her door. Well, a metaphorical knock. Her workshop was located in the inner recesses of her ‘tower’. It was placed there so she couldn’t be easily disturbed and also to ensure that any explosions would be absorbed by the rest of her home. A ward on the wall made a dweedle dee doo sound and Luna hauled herself out of the golem and went to answer the door.

When one thinks of a mage then usually summon an image of a series of robes and a large floppy hat. While these were the standard robes of office for most court mages it wasn’t strictly necessary. The only thing required for a mage to wear was a badge that marked them as such.

Any working mage worth their mana tended to go for what was comfortable and had the most pockets. Luna, as a practical wolf, opted for a jumpsuit fitted with a belt that contained all she needed. She carried a reinforced arcane toolbox rather than a component pouch and found floppy hats frustrating when it came to doors. She managed to snag a ball cap from an estate sale from a dimension hopping explorer and found that served just as well.

Even her home was far from the norm. A tower didn’t necessarily have to be above ground. Luna had purchased an existing structure and simply dug down. A guest would only see the top of the tower which was just a house nestled among any other in the district she lived. When Luna answered the door she could tell her guest had ideas of pointy hats, impressive staves, and tall towers.

The guest in question was a lioness clad in the robes and armour of the church of Gloriana. She stood on the doorstep with the look of someone performing a task they very much didn’t want to do.

“Miss Luna?” a burly lioness asked, casting her eyes down to the blue wolf in front of her and cocked an eyebrow. Luna’s jumpsuit was draped around her waist, revealing nothing but a tank top and a variety of tattoos that ran down her soft arms. The wolf’s work didn’t exactly keep her the fittest and she tended towards a bit of extra weight around her hips and belly, but she was by no means out of shape. She had the look of a blacksmith or factory worker, not a mage. Luna crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow right back.

“Magister, Luna,” the wolf corrected. “How may I help you, sister?”

“I’m not…nevermind.” The lioness replied. “I’m here on behalf of the Church of Gloriana. May I come in?”

Luna thought for a moment about being rude, and decided against it. It was rare enough for a cleric to be on her doorstep. Rarer still for one to have a potential job for her. She nodded and stepped aside, allowing the cleric to enter her home.

The lioness introduced herself as High Captain Diana as they made their way through the rather simple home and into a pleasantly decorated but rarely used living room. Magical servants kept the place clean of dust, but it had the sense of a museum about it. Luna rarely had guests and when she did they tended to be colleagues. Guests like clerics, the kind that couldn’t be trusted in her actual tower, were brought here. The lioness sat down in an armchair Luna didn’t remember buying and got straight to the point.

“I’m sure you’ve heard about the defeat of the dragoness Alludra.” Diana said, waving away a cup of tea that had floated in from the kitchen.

“Heard about it?” Luna replied, taking a sip from a tea cup after pulling her feet up onto the couch. “One of the most powerful dragons on the continent gets ousted from her lair and sent packing? Oh yes, I’ve heard.”

“Well then,” Diana continued, ignoring the wolf’s tone and the plate of cookies orbiting her head. “You must know about the problem with her hoard.”

Here, frustratingly, was a gap in Luna’s knowledge. The contents of the dragon Alludra’s hoard was a matter of great interest to the mages of Millquord. A group of adventurers, backed by a coalition army made up of nations whom the dragon had stolen citizens from, had struck the victory, but the church of Gloriana had been the ones to handle the hoard. There must have been millenia worth of knowledge locked in the riches that dragon had been hoarding, but they’d kept it all for themselves. Typical.

“Her hoard was not just coins and jewels, Luna,” Diana said, not bothering to hide a satisfied grin. “Alludra is a dragon with rather…unique tastes.”

“One of your own was made a part of it, or so the rumour goes.” Luna said, plucking a cookie from a passing plate and munching irritably.

“Almost made a part of it,” Diana corrected. “Lieutenant Gainac was instrumental in bringing down the dragon's reign of terror. But she is still dealing with the effects of the dragon’s magic. In fact, so are many others. Which brings me to the reason I’m here.” The lioness paused for a moment. Whatever she was about to ask was causing her a great deal of difficulty. “The church of Gloriana has a great deal of expertise when it comes to countering curses and other powerful hexes. In this instance, however, we find ourselves a tad…perplexed.”

Ah, Luna thought to herself, now they finally get to the root of the matter.

“So you’ve discovered some cursed relics and you want me to try and figure out how to uncurse it, is that it?”

“Half right,” Diana said, finally taking a cup of tea just to get the floating hand to leave her alone. “I have been asked to see if you would be interested in offering a new perspective on the problem. And it isn’t a relic that we require you to ‘uncurse’ as you put it. It is a victim of the dragon's magic.”

Luna already had a couple more jobs lined up after the golem repair. However, when the church of Gloriana swallows its pride and asks a mage for help who was she to say no?

“Well when you put it that way,” Luna replied. “What kind of mage would I be if I didn’t offer help to the church in its hour of need? I accept.”

Three days later, a carriage arrived at six in the morning bearing the symbol of the church of Gloriana. At first, Luna was confused. The carriage took nearly the entire street in front of her home. Had the church discovered some massive beast Alludra had bent to her will and now wanted to cure it? A creature uninterested in prayers and theological debates, most likely. There were any number of fel beasts that holy magic couldn’t touch. She made a mental note to add any damage to her holding pens onto the invoice.

Two clerics, a stoat and a rhino, climbed down from the carriage and asked where they could bring their charge in. Luna, who was still dressed in an oversized sweater that stretched down to her knees and holding her morning coffee, rolled her eyes and walked over to the carriage. She’d long ago gotten tired of dealing with trying to fit deliveries through her front door. She dug a piece of chalk out of the recesses of the sweater and drew a series of runes on the side of the carriage. The entire vehicle glowed blue and vanished with a sudden pop leaving a bruised and angry driver lying in the middle of the street. She gestured for the clerics to follow her inside.

The particular room she’d summoned the carriage to was used partially for unloading goods, and partially for summoning devils. The floors and walls were coated with runes of reinforcement and binding. The walls were fitted with heavy chains and powerful tethering spikes that could hold a pit fiend for a full minute. Which might not sound like all that much but was impressive in certain magical circles. Luna watched as the clerics inspected the carriage to make sure nothing was damaged. One of them made a comment about mages having no regard for safety but she ignored it. So long as the church was footing the bill she’d put up with the odd comment. So long as they stayed sufficiently odd.

Once they were satisfied, one of the clerics unlocked the back of the carriage and stepped back as the entire thing unfolded to reveal its contents. It wasn’t a fel beast or trained monster that the church had brought her. It was a blob.

A mass of white and grey furred flesh roughly nine feet high erupted out of the carriage and rolled out onto the collapsed frame. Luna could just make out a few large sheets of cloth stretched across a couple portions of the blob's girth as they heaved atop the large central mass of the thing. Thick folds of blubber piled on top of one another rolled and glorped loudly as it was all finally allowed to settle into a mountainous heap of soft furred fat.

Luna stared at the mound of blubber in amazement. Was this some kind of joke?

“What exactly am I looking at?” Luna asked the stoat cleric while the rhino moved about the mass of fat, adjusting the odd fold or roll, eliciting groans and rumbles from the pile.

“Oh, forgive me,” The cleric said, digging into his armor and producing a large leather folder bound with a wax seal. “All the information is in here.”

Luna plucked the folder from his paw with a frown. “Couldn’t have sent this earlier, could you?”

“Not my decision, Miss Luna” The cleric replied. “I’m just here to ensure our charge is unharmed.”

Luna bridled but managed to contain herself. She popped the wax seal on the folder and pulled several journals, papers, and scrolls out of it.

“All of the information is in there,” The cleric explained. “Everything the church has discovered since she came into our care.”

“She?” Luna balked. “You’re telling me that’s a person?”

“Not just a person,” The rhino cleric said as she rubbed a large hand over a fold on the blimps' churning frame. “A victim of the foul dragon Alludra. Which is why you will treat her with the utmost care.”

“As I explained to your, uh,” What? Boss? Colleague? Master? “To your teacher I don’t plan on doing anything other than what is required to solve this problem.”

“See that you do,” The stoat said. “The church doesn’t take kindly to mad wizards trying to-”

“Okay, enough!” Luna shouted, and snapped her fingers. The two clerics vanished mid insult, teleported back to the street, leaving Luna standing in the middle of the room with the groaning mountain in front of her. She looked down at the papers in her paw and unwrapped the scroll on top.

To the church's credit, they had anticipated a breakdown in communication. The first scroll was a list of requirements for keeping Luna’s new charge healthy and happy. Most of the requirements could be taken care of with a few specialized ethereal servant spells. The rest of it however, was incredibly interesting.

Alludra did indeed have a unique hoard collection. According to reports of those who ventured into the dragon’s lair, and one from a pair who’d managed to escape, the dragon hoarded decadence. She’d been obsessed with comfort and gluttony to such a degree that her victims were fattened up into living treasures. Each one was prepared by a workforce of kobolds and a few gnolls. They were systematically fattened into trophies that the dragon then displayed in trophy rooms all throughout her lair. There were pages and pages of descriptions of tableaus and scenes meticulously designed to extoll the virtues of each and every immobile trophy within.

The chamber leading to the dragon's inner sanctum was lined with victims roughly the size of the blob in front of Luna. They were set upon pillows and draped in gold and jewels. The wealth of lost civilizations was used as little more than a garnish on the fattened forms that Alludra considered to be the true jewels in her hoard.

The final tally of victims was set at four hundred and ninety two. Luna had to read that twice. Four hundred and ninety two people caught, fattened, and propped up as mind altered blobs too addicted to pleasure and their own decadent obesity to ever think of escape.

The following pages were accounts of the attack on the lair. The losses were mainly from traps that littered the mountain where Alludra resided. Despite her love of decadence and gluttony, Alludra had no issue with traps that could maim or kill intruders. The only nod that the dragon had made to her desire were a series of traps that seemed to teleport random adventurers and soldiers into another part of the mountain. When they were found later, all of them were too fat to stand. Their bloated frames hooked up to massive bags of what looked and smelled like cake frosting.

The final assault on the dragon’s inner sanctum was something of an anticlimax. Alludra had long since left the tower, along with the rest of her servants. The kobold’s in her service were not built or trained to deal with armed warriors and so scattered through tunnels rather than avoid any direct confrontations. When the army entered her chambers, they found it empty save for one thing. Sitting in the center of a huge cavern built over a pit of lava, was the being sitting in front of Luna. As the assembled host drew closer the churning mountain of fat began to sing. It wasn’t much of a song, just a series of notes that rose and fell in a gentle rhythm. Those in the first few ranks immediately began to fatten up. Their armor popped off of bloating frames as they staggered and wobbled, falling onto bellies and rumps too heavy to lift. A sorcerer with her wits about her cast a bubble of silence around the singing mountain while others ensured their blimping comrades didn’t roll off the platform and fall into the fires below.

Once the room was secured and the danger of expansion was removed, the army set about trying to make sense of the situation. Why had Alludra not fought for her hoard? Why hadn’t she taken any of it with her? Based on information taken from a few kobolds that they’d manage to catch, Alludra was quite adept at teleportation magic. Yet she’d left her entire hoard behind. The answer soon became cruelly apparent.

Alludra had been collecting for centuries. Her hoard spanned the rise and fall of noble families and royal bloodlines but she showed no favouritism. She collected paupers and princesses alike. She selected those that fit whatever criteria fit her whims and used magic to perfect them. Some of the victims were long lost members of royal families that had been kidnapped centuries before. Others had been plucked off the streets, never to be seen again.

Physical examination of Alludra’s trophies showed them to be in perfect health. They had all been treated with magic to hold off the effects of aging and disease. The power and skill needed to cast the spells that were outlined in those notes outclassed that of the most learned mages in Millquord. Each and every one of Aulldra’s trophies was shaped for her and her alone. The army soon found themselves in possession of four hundred and ninety two victims in need of rehabilitation. The act of transporting them alone would cost almost as much as the treasure found in Alludra’s hoard, to say nothing of the care and feeding of them. The army that assaulted her lair had come looking for treasure. Instead, they found a crushing financial burden and the question of what to do with all these fat blimps?

Luna was impressed. Alludra had no doubt planned on this from the very beginning. Anyone that attempted to free her trophies would be faced with the task of trying to undo all the magic that the dragon had placed on them on top of getting them out of the mountain and feeding them. Judging from the notes that she’d been supplied with, Luna suspected that the church of Gloriana wasn’t up to the task. And, since dragons lived so long, it wouldn’t be that difficult to collect her trophies once all attempts to cure them had failed.

Even if the church returned the captives to homelands that still existed, there was the burden of taking care of them to consider. Based on the descriptions, most of Alludra’s trophies were a similar size to the blob in front of Luna. It would cost a fortune to keep someone that massive fed. A noble family could handle the cost of feeding such a massive blob while a cure was sought, but what about those who weren’t so lucky? Even if they were placed on a crash diet they would require constant care. How many would take one look at the recovered trophies and quietly ask that the church take over their rehabilitation?

All Alludra had to do was find out where each one had been stashed and whisk them away back to her newly rebuilt trophy rooms. Most of the caretakers would have probably been happy to see them go. She had ensured that the cost and difficulty of undoing her work would make simply giving them back to her the more affordable option. Being a dragon, Alludra was likely to extort extra payment as well. Perhaps gold, or perhaps another figure that would fit right in with her hoard?

So, without any other options, Gloriana’s followers had turned to Luna to try and solve this problem. Her job was simple: Break the curses and find a way to undo the magic that kept Alludra’s victims mindless, food addicted blobs. A task that had confounded every cleric, healer, and anointed priest in the churches, and several other faiths, ranks. Well, Luna certainly relished a challenge. She looked up from the notes and stared at the fat mountain in front of her. Might as well start there.

The mountain in question was named Elana. She was a hybrid known as a shuly, a mixture of saber tooth tiger, donkey, and husky, and was considered to be one of the greatest singers in her kingdom some fifty years prior to her mysterious disappearance. Luna made another gesture and the carriage Elana had been smothering vanished, letting the shuly float gently to the floor and spread out across the rune-covered flagstones beneath.

Luna made her way towards the rumbling blob and pressed her palm into a particularly heavy looking roll of belly fat. A shiver went up her spine as her paw vanished up to the elbow in that rich, warm blubber. Elana let out a deep rumbling groan in response, causing Luna to pull her paw away and curse her own stupidity. Had she hurt her? More than that, could the magic that Alludra used be contagious? How many of her own rules had she just broken shoving her palm into the fat rolls of the blimp in front of her? Though, that cleric had been doing it and they were unharmed. It was unlikely they’d just reveal Elana like a bad magic trick without warning Luna if there had been any danger. They might not like mages but they weren’t about to let them get cursed.

The roll of fat Luna had disturbed wobbled as it settled back into place. Luna consulted the list of requirements for Elana and noted the most prominent one which was that the shuly must be kept rubbed and massaged to keep her content. Failure to do so would result in her starting to sing once more and thus fatten up anyone within thirty paces. Okay, so perhaps the clerics hadn’t been all that concerned.

After summoning several dozen ethereal servant paws, and changing into her work gear, Luna continued her examination. Elana rumbled and groaned in blubbery pleasure as the hands worked under folds and sank between rolls. Her body rolled and rippled in an almost hypnotic way. Waves of undulating lard quaked and sloshed around the belly rolls of the beached behemoth and back around to her enormous backside. Luna noted that the church had done their best to clothe their charge. A sheet had been draped across those carriage sized rump cheeks at the top of which sat a buried tail that wagged gently. Clearly the shuly was content.

With her circumferential inspection complete, Luna moved on to the upper slopes of mount shuly. She pulled a bundle of brass rods the width of a pencil out of her toolbox and tossed one down in front of her. It hovered a foot from the floor and flattened out into a two foot square plate. She stepped up onto it and tossed another, and another, until she had a hovering staircase leading up to and around the top of Elana’s churning frame. A flight spell could be used later, but Luna didn’t want to risk activating any hidden traps or curses with errant casting.

Once the scaffolding was set up, Luna bent down and looked to where the shuly’s head was most likely to be. It was difficult to tell exactly how Elana’s form worked. Her arms and legs were lost completely in the churning folds of her body. Small divots indicated where her paws would be, but her feet were lost completely. Luna eventually found a small crest of folds that led up two vertical mounds of blubber that pressed around a soft, barely visible snout. Luna summoned a pair of servant hands to gently heft and pull those cheeks apart to get a better look at her charge.

Elana’s face was almost completely buried. Another set of paws had to hoist a roll of fat that had come over the shuly’s head and smothered her eyes. Blue eyes that, in Luna’s estimation, weren’t taking in much. Elana’s gaze wasn’t exactly empty. Her eyes spoke of a mind so addled with pleasure, so heavily altered and buried in adoration, that there simply wasn’t any room for any other thoughts. She looked like she was miles away, still locked in some unseen dream that Alludra had likely cooked up to keep her trophy slash trap content. No doubt the dragon had enjoyed Elana’s singing when she’d been able to do so.

“Anyone home?” Luna asked, leaning closer to ensure that Elana could see her.

“Hrruurrrrrrrrrrruurrrmmpphhhh.” Elana replied. A thick tongue flicked out to lazily lap at her fat muzzle and chins before that maw opened wider, clearly expecting to be fed. A pair of fangs stuck out from the top of the shuly’s jaw. They might have been intimidating at one time but now, framed by so much marshmallow fluff, they looked rather cute. Luna looked down at the list of instructions she was still clutching and sighed. Food costs were definitely going to be factored into the bill as well. She looked back at Elana who’s features had changed somewhat. She was looking at Luna now like a cow waiting for fresh hay.

“Alright, Elana. Let’s get you fed.”

A list of approved foods had also been graciously supplied to Luna, which she promptly tossed aside. The diet that the church had Elana and the others certainly didn’t match whatever Alludra had been stuffing them with. She couldn't remember the last time she'd ever eaten porridge and didn't even know what quinoa was. She had a pantry full of food which would be good enough. It was important to recreate the environment that the trophies had been in if one wanted to better understand them. Luna wondered what stick in the mud priest had come up with that menu plan.

After assigning a few summoned servants to the task of preparing a rotating menu of heartier foods, Luna sent a message to several shops nearby for more food.

In the three days prior Luna had finished the golem job so she transported Elana into her main workshop for better access to her equipment. The workshop was a great deal more comfortable than in that it sported an actual view. The octagonal room was fitted with several large windows enchanted to show views of various parts of the city not necessarily within sight of Luna’s regular windows. The centre of the room was fitted with less severe runes meant for diagnostics rather than chaining creatures from beyond the veil. There were several large desks fitted with various magical tools and devices as well as bookshelves filled with tomes and scrolls that covered almost any topic one could need to look up when discussing the arcane. She had spent a fortune getting the room perfect and was quite confident that it was one of the most advanced workshops in the entire city.

Luna went about setting up several miniature archenometer’s around her charge as well as adjusting what looked like a large upside down telescope above Elana’s head. With that done, she set about setting down as a series of fully charged mana crystals around the shuly’s massive frame. Luna suspected that the task of undoing a dragon's magic was going to take some time, so she needed as much stored magic as she could get.

Mana crystals were one of the great discoveries of Milliquord. Powerful spells were usually limited by a mage's own skill and stamina. Mana crystals stored enough energy to keep most spells going for a few days. Several of them in series could maintain magical experiments for weeks at a time. They were made from a crystal discovered in the crater left behind when Mephiston had crashed. There was a finite amount of the crystal around and that drove the price up. Luna had managed to snag some before the price completely skyrocketed. There was talk about other mages trying to figure out ways to recharge the crystals but they’d so far been unsuccessful.

With the crystals set and food already floating into the workshop, Luna got down to it. Her first task was to catalogue the different spells and curses that Alludra had used. She made a few adjustments on the spell sniffer and ran a soft pulse of low level scrying magic through Elana’s body as a plate of sugar cookies were gently pushed into the shuly’s ravenous muzzle.

Her initial scrying revealed what the accompanying notes had already discovered. Elana’s body was saturated with powerful magic that sustained her health and prevented aging. However, her sophisticated instruments soon began to pick up what mere healing magic couldn't. A small box on one of the workshop tables began to spit out paper covered in arcane symbols and incantations. The spell sniffer was detecting spells and reverse engineering their components, but what it produced wasn't very helpful. With basic data like that, finding a counter to just one of the spells would take weeks. Finding a means to remove all of them might take years!

Excellent, Luna thought to herself, more billable hours.

Alludra truly was a master of her craft. The spells that suffused Elana's entire body were unlike anything Luna has ever seen before. Every fold, roll, and pocket of fat on the shuly was soaked in magic like a brandied fruit cake. It must have taken weeks of careful conditioning to get a trophy,err, victim, to that state. As her devices sussed out the nature of the magic she was dealing with, Luna consulted more of the notes.

The interviews with the captured kobolds under Alludra's employ weren't much help. All of her servants were immune to truth spells and the only thing they’d talk about was how angry their mistress would be at how her trophies were being treated. One of the kobolds has actually escaped her cell and was found massaging the belly of one of the trophies in the church infirmary. No one knew where she'd gotten the eggs Benedict to feed them either. Most of the clergy had worried about all the dieting work that had been undone, but they found the victim to be exactly the same weight they'd been when they had been found. All that work for nothing.

While she couldn't understand the specifics of the spells being used, Luna quickly understood the broader strokes. It was clear that the act of fattening the victims up was a key component to the spell function. The obsession with feeding the kobolds exhibited explained how the magic had gotten so deeply rooted into Elana’s fat. Each meal, each massage, each nod to gluttony and pure abject decadence was another component in the spell. No wonder the clerics had assumed dieting would work. It was a direct counter to everything Alludra adored.

Luna chuckled at such simplistic thinking. Alludra was no mere hedge witch. Reverse psychology wasn't going to work. A master like this dragon wasn’t going to so easily be bested. That is, until a certain wolf got her paws on one of her trophies.

Luna quickly found the spell that ensured Elana stayed at a consistent weight. She even tested it to make sure. The servants she’d summoned were mostly trained to cook from a menu of items Luna had selected from a series of restaurants around Millquord. They weren’t meant to cook large or incredibly fattening meals. She solved this problem by simply ordering a deluxe cheesecake from a nearby bakery.

With the cake prepared, and a number of instruments ready to collect the ensuing data, Luna was ready. Elana’s belly was rumbling gently, sending wobbles through her enormous bulk. Luna had the cake floated up towards the top of the cake while she mounted the brass steps to Elana’s face. The shuly had already caught the scent of cake and was licking her fat muzzle hungrily just as Luna came into view.

“Alright, Elana,” Luna said, grabbing a slice of cake. “Let’s see where all this goes.”

Having the servant hands feed Elana the cake would have been a safer option, but that wasn’t how Elana had been fed. The kobolds always hand fed their charges so Luna would have to do the same. She leaned forward and pressed the first slice of cheesecake into Elana’s fat muzzle. Immediately the shuly’s eyes sparkled with delight. Her fat smothered snout curled into a delighted smile as she munched down the first slice, working through the thick slice of cherry cheesecake with gluttonous ease. Luna was amazed that someone so enormous had the stamina to eat so quickly. Surely Elana should have been a panting sweaty mess all of the time? Alludra clearly didn’t want her trophies to show an ounce of strain or exertion. There must have been a deeper series of spells giving them strength to handle certain tasks while sapping it away from others.

Another slab of cheesecake was gently fed to Elana. The shuly’s fat chins wobbled and her hoisted cheeks rolled side to side as she munched and slurped. A series of deep, rumbling growls and whines rolled out of Elana as she was fed. How long had it been since someone had shown her such tenderness and affection when it came to food? No doubt her conditioning made her crave it. Luna was happy to provide a bit of relief for the poor blimped shuly.

The mass of furry flab beneath Luna began to wobble gently. It took a moment for her to realize that it was Elana doing the moving. The shuly’s eyes locked on each new slice of cake and sparkled with pure joy. Her muzzle strained upwards to try and get at the next slice all the sooner. Her desire was overpowering her inbuilt lethargy. She was wriggling her paws and feet in excitement and the ripples were making her entire frame roll and jiggle. Somewhere in the depths of all that blubber, Elana’s belly began to gurgle. Luna paused mid feeding, causing Elana to let out a soft whine if displeasure. The wolf ignored the complaint and passed the slice off to a servant hand that quelled the shuly’s complaint with the rest of the slice. Luna clambered down the steps and raced over to her desk. New data was starting to appear on the print out.

The more potent food seemed to be doing the trick. Whatever spells were focused on fattening Elana up were being countered by another that was ensuring Elana stayed locked at her current weight.

“Which means,” Luna said, turning back to the groaning mountain of cake stuffed lard. “That there must be some work going on in that gut of yours.”

Luna was almost out of breath when she ran back into the workshop, carrying a box of thaumometers. She dropped the box down in front of Elana who was still being gorged on cheesecake, and wondered how she was going to do this. The best readings would have to be near Elana’s actual stomach and the thaumometers could detect slight changes in arcane energies but trying to penetrate all the magic infused blubber around the shuly’s gut would be impossible. There was only one way this was going to work.

She called over a few more hands to help as she opened the box. The thaumometers were foot long rods made of gold and capped with a reddish jewel that detected minute changes in magical energies. She gave the peak of her cap a tug and an enchantment covered her eyes showing where the energies on Elana were the strongest. She gestured for a pair of paws to hoist one of the shul’s heavy belly folds and knelt down to stuff the thaumometer jewel side in between Elana’s fat roll.

A lazy grunt emanated from Elana as the rod slid deep. Luna leaned closer and shoved it in as deep as she could, pressing her cheek up against the side of Elana’s belly fold. The warm fluffy blubber was incredibly soft. It was like leaning her head against a marshmallow. She pulled face away quickly and watched the fat settle back into place as the hand let it go with a soft plap. After that, she moved on to another and worked her way around Elana’s enormous bulk. She hoisted belly rolls and love handles, arm fat and bicep blubber. She pressed in a dozen of the rods wherever she could, before finally stopping at the one place she knew she’d have to go, the navel.

Elana’s belly button was enormous. A deep pocket of fat that led to the innermost depths of the shuly’s immense frame. Luna would need to get the last thaumometer in there if she wanted the most accurate data. She looked up at the towering wall of lard in front of her and steeled her nerves. A pair of hands appeared around the sides of that navel and hoisted, causing the shuly to let out a cheesecake smothered groan. Luna ignored the heavy, rolling groans of pleasure from her charge and pressed her arms in.

It shouldn’t have been that deep. Luna’s arms vanished into that cave of blubber up the elbow without an ounce of resistance. She leaned closer and she was up to her shoulders in belly button fat with her face pressed against that soft, fluffy belly. Luna wiggled her arms around, trying to push the device in as far as she could. That would be good enough, right? She could get a decent enough reading that far in, right?

It was then that Luna’s inner perfectionist got the better of her. What kind of mage would she be if she didn’t go all the way? She did nothing in half measures. She would go to any lengths in the pursuit of her goal. She squared her snout with the center of that navel, and stuffed herself inside.

Luna wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting at first, but it certainly wasn’t the scent of vanilla. The depths of Elana’s navel was the softest part of the entire shuly. Luna squirmed and wiggled herself deeper and deeper. She felt the immense weight of Elana pressing in around her, smothering her like the world's fluffiest weighted blanket. She could hear the deep, sonorous rumbles of Elana’s belly getting closer and closer as she crawled ever deeper. Soon her wide hips slipped into that navel and only her legs and tail were sticking out.

It was getting harder to see and breathe in the depths of that navel. The weight was pressing down around her, making each inch forward a struggle. The hands she’d summoned could only lift so much. But it wasn't the threat of being entombed in the navel of an enormous blob that worried her, it was how much she was starting to enjoy it.

Everything about Elana was so soft, so comforting. She felt fluffy and cuddly and warm. There wasn’t an ounce of the shuly that didn’t speak of a life devoted to the softest, and finest of things. Luna found herself wanting to stay tucked away in that navel, pressed in on all sides by lovely, marshmallowy blubber.

The sudden click of the thaumometer finishing its calibration was enough to snap Luna back into reality. She pushed the device as deep as she could before a pair of servant hands dragged her out. Elana let out a deep moan of pleasure as Luna popped free and lay on the floor in front of the shuly, panting and happy to be alive. Her thoughts about Elana’s belly were forgotten as already the thaumometers were bringing in data. Luna hauled herself to her feet and staggered over to her work desk to inspect the results. What she found was amazing.

Elana’s body was actually burning off the excess calories. The cheesecake, combined with the other foods Elana had been eating, were used up until the point that she reached her required caloric intake. The rest of it simply vanished. Luna checked and rechecked the data, but that’s what appeared to be happening. The extra calories should have come off as sweat or at least some sort of measurable arcane substance. But no, it was just disappearing as if it had never been there.

Luna gave herself a quick scan with one of the thaumometers to ensure that the calories hadn’t somehow jumped into her. Thankfully, she wasn’t going to be joining Elana in the trophy collection. As the servants fed Elana the rest of the cake, Luna tried to make sense of what was happening.

Alludra had effectively frozen her trophies in a state of perfect obesity. They would neither gain or lose weight so long as the magic that sustained them was active. Also, their magic suffused bodies didn’t give off any magical energy that could be absorbed into anyone else. This made sense since the trophies would be displayed next to one another. If they were giving off an aura of fatness then they’d likely get stuck in a loop of fattening others while being fattened themselves. Alludra’s lair would have crumbled under the weight of all those blobs decades ago. Well, there were still plenty of variables that Luna would need to deal with if she wanted to sure.

First off, she’d have to let the thaumometer’s run for more than just a single meal. She arranged for a series of baked goods to be delivered for a full week. Each meal would be carefully proportioned to see if there were any changes. Luna would spend a few days avoiding contact with Elana to see if she was causing any interference. The rest of the week she'd stay close so as to make sure that she wasn’t absorbing any extra energy. Luna’s tail wagged as she wrote out the meal plan for her days spent close to Elana. It was the excitement of solving a new problem, she told herself, nothing more.

With all of that done, and some monitoring spells assembled, Luna planned to head out for some extra research. Alludra wasn’t the only being on the continent interested in large partners. It was well known the Emperor of the Reskan empire had a penchant for larger lovers. The rumour was that he had a harem of blimps that might have even rivaled Alludra. Perhaps the Reskan mages had some knowledge on the subject, though getting a hold of it might be tricky. The Reskans were notoriously secretive when it came to their arcane studies.

Luna was still musing on the possibility of a collaboration if she could find a Reskan sorcerer willing to help, when Elana began to groan. Luna looked up from her notes and saw that the blob of lard was wobbling ever so gently. The hands that had been feeding her were finished with the cheesecake but apparently Elana wasn’t full.

“You’ve had your treat,” Luna said. “I’ve got more coming later. Just be patient.”

The blubber rippling groan shifted into a soft whine. Luna knew it immediately. She’d done it many times whenever her mother had snatched away a spoon covered in cookie dough or told her to wait until later for an extra sweet.

“I said no.” Luna said, trying to remain firm. The whine grew a bit louder, as did the rumbling of that vast belly. Elana should have been stuffed full with all that cake. Her body had been burning off the extra calories. Why was she still hungry?

Well, of course, it was because the poor shuly had been rendered into a glutton. Her stomach was full, but she wanted more. Always more. A full belly wasn’t enough. She needed to be stuffed. Well, Luna wasn’t her mother. She wasn’t about to relent just because Elana was whining.

And yet…

She should probably get a bit more data before she left things to her servants, shouldn’t she? There were a few more treats prepared that Elana could eat. And, if she wanted to be sure, Luna should be the one to feed them to her. She sent out an order to her servants and ascended the steps back to Elana’s blubber buried visage.

The servant hands had done the job of feeding Elana, but they hadn’t bothered to do any cleaning. The shuly’s fat face was smeared with cheesecake and whip cream. The only portion of her fat features that weren’t a mess was a small section around her muzzle where her tongue could reach. Elana’s starry eyed look had shifted into one of frustration as she tried to lap at the bits of food that no doubt taunted her just out of reach.

“Easy there, big girl,” Luna said. “I’ll help.” The food was still being brought down and once more Elana was starting to grumble and whine. She gave Luna a look of such abject misery that the wolf felt moved to help. There wasn’t any food around, save for the bits smeared around Elana’s cheeks. With no utensils, there was only one option. Luna sighed and ran her paw along one of the shuly’s massive cheeks and scooped easily half a slice worth of crumbs and cake, before presenting it to Elana who began to lap it up hungrily.

It was, Luna thought, a bit like being a petting zoo. Elana’s tongue licked around Luna’s fingers as she eagerly sought out every last crumb and dab of cream and cake. She nuzzled and snuffled into Luna’s palm, making the wolf stifle a giggle. It was an adorable sight. Though Luna tried to remind herself this was someone that had been captured and turned into a blob. Someone she was trying to cure.

“More?” Luna asked, tapping a finger on the tip of Elana’s fat snout. The blob let out a deep growl of approval as she licked the sides of her massive cheeks hungrily. Another scoop of cake detritus left Elana growling and huffing for more. In the depths of her folds she wiggled her arms, making her body slosh and jiggle underneath Luna. Alludra really had done some amazing things with magic. Amazing, but terrible, Luna added hastily, so terrible.

“Easy, easy.” Luna said, trying to calm Elana down as the shuly began to rumble and grunt for more treats. Where were those damn hands anyway? She traced a finger around each chin roll and neck fold on Elana to find every single remaining crumb of food. Elana slurped and suckled on Luna’s fingers with such gusto that the wolf had to do a count to make sure she still had all of them. When there was no more cheesecake left, Luna pressed her paws into the sides of Elana’s cheeks and began to rub. Hopefully a massage might take her mind off of it all?

Elana’s eyes widened as Luna’s paws sank into her cheeks. The shuly let out a soft, almost melodic groan as she was rubbed. The gently wobble and plap of cheeks bouncing on chins surrounded them both. Luna was transfixed. The mixture of warm, abject pleasure, the sensation of her paws disappearing into cheek fat, and the steady, near endless gurgle of the shuly’s belly was like a symphony. It was impossible to resist working her paws deeper. There was so much warmth and pleasure on display. Elana had been stripped of her independence but granted something so wonderful. Her life was nothing but food, gentle rubs, and comfort. What was so bad about that?

Luna was ripped from her musings by the side of a baking tray hitting her between the eyes. The servant hands had been instructed to bring food to Elana, but they hadn’t been told to watch out for any obstruction. Luna let out a yelp and grabbed her face as she fell backwards, landing on Elana’s chest with a soft, pleasurable flop. That navel experience had been something, but sinking between the shul’s enormous breasts was something else entirely. Luna’s body sank a full two feet down into Elena’s chest. She was lost in the extra fluff Elana sported there, leaving her sunk into what felt like a mink coat wrapped around a marshmallow.

Luna looked up and watched those ethereal hands carrying more treats to Elana’s eager maw. She could hear Elana’s body groaning and gurgling in pleasure as she was fed more sweets. The soft sounds of contented gluttony pressed in on Luna, smothering her with such warmth and relaxation. She spread herself out, letting her feet wiggle under a few folds of neck fat, and moaned gently. This was the comfiest thing she’d ever rested on and the ambient music was to die for. All of her cares, all of her worries, began to wash away in a steady flow of pampered decadence. She never wanted to move. Never wanted to do anything else but lie there and just enjoy-

BWEEDLE DOODLE FWEEEEEE!!

Luna’s habit of getting too lost in her work had made it difficult for her to notice the world around her. She’d installed various chimes and magical bells to go off when there were guests at her front door or deliveries. The only issue was most visitors and deliveries could be handled by her servant spells and so she tended to ignore them. The issue was, then, what to do about the really important stuff? What if a colleague came around asking for help? What if a client came by to inquire about a job or to offer some new information? The kinds of guests Luna couldn’t really afford to ignore? For those she designed a more drastic approach.

The chime that went off in Luna’s workshop was akin to a dog whistle. It was a collection of noises Luna found too annoying and painful to ignore. They were guaranteed to pull her out of anything she was doing. In this case, the chime struck Luna like a bucket of ice water. Her ears began to ring and she flailed around on the shuly blob, sending waves through Elana and making her groan in pleasure. Luna managed to roll over and grabbed at the cloth used to cover Elana’s enormous breasts. She pulled with all her might and dragged herself over the cliff face that was Elana’s chest and slid down her belly. She managed to roll mid slide and landed on her feet with her back still half sunk into Elana’s belly. She grabbed at a passing servant's hand and used its momentum to hoist herself up before stumbling away from Elana’s belly and bracing herself against her work table.

The alarm, sensing Luna’s proximity to it, shut off. A scrying stone mounted on a piece of wood above the chime that had pulled her out of that reverie displayed an image of her front step. Luna didn’t stop to look at the image as she headed towards the door. Her entire body tingled like she’d slept wrong. Her legs wobbled under her as she stumbled out of the room. She needed to get away from Elana for a moment. She needed to think. All the while the thaumometers hummed behind her.

“Thank goodness you’re home!”

Millicent threw herself at Luna before the wolf could react, burying herself in the canine’s ample chest. Luna blushed as Millicent’s beak pressed into her work top. Funny, she didn’t remember unzipping her jumpsuit.

“Err, there there.” Luna said, patting the top of the owl's head. They were still standing on the front stoop. Luna took a few steps back with the owl still firmly embedded in her chest, and shut the door behind them.

Millicent Agros was one of the foremost experts on planar travel. Most of the books on the subject were either written by her, or relied on her research. She dressed in typical wizards attire and wore probably one of the largest hats in Milliquord. Luna had known her since their days as apprentices and had grown used to the owl’s flair for the dramatic.

“Oh it's dreadful, Loonie!” Millicent said, dropping herself onto a chair in Luna’s living room.

“What’s dreadful, Millie?” Luna asked. She was already sending her servants for something to help calm her avian friend down.

“My work!” Millicent wailed. “My work is doomed!”

Luna watched as a cup of tea floated into the room towards Millicent. Usually a bit of venting aided by tea and biscuits was enough to set things right again. Millicent took the cup without looking and pulled a scroll out of one of the deep pockets on her robe.

“Just look at this! How am I supposed to understand the convergence of diametrically opposed planes if they won’t give me the supplies I need?!”

Luna took the scroll away from her friend and sat down on the couch and felt the springs creak underneath her. The thing must have been getting old. Either that or that lioness must have broke something when she sat down. She was wearing enough armor to sink a ship. She had sat down on the couch, hadn’t she?

The scroll turned out to be a statement from the Milliquord Arcane Supplies Bureau. It started by apologizing profusely about having to deny Millicent’s request for a fresh shipment of mana crystals.

“Can you believe it?” Millicent said while Luna scanned the note. “How can they deny me mana crystals? How am I supposed to get research done?!”

“Are you sure you haven’t ordered too many recently?” Luna asked. The MASB was usually pretty generous when it came to orders from established mages. Though there were limits.

“No more than usual,” Millicent said, taking another sip from her tea. “Are there any biscuits?”

Luna looked around. Oddly, no servant hands had supplied her friend with her comfort foods. She suddenly remembered why that might be. Everything had been ordered to go to Elana.

“Wait right there,” Luna said, climbing back to her feet. The couch really had lost its bounce. Getting up was a struggle. “I think I’ve got some stored away in the pantry.”

Sure enough, Luna found a small box of magically preserved biscuits in one of the cupboards that was off limits to her spells. She thanked her past self for remembering to keep them in case of a Millicent break down. With the box in her paws, she stepped back through the swinging door from her kitchen to the living room, stopping to open the box. She was about to put them on a plate when the door swung shut, hitting her square in the rump. Luna let out a yelp as her backside jiggled from the impact. Odd, that’d never happened before.

“Are you okay?” Millicent asked, seeing the concern on her friend's face.

“Oh, uh, yeah” Luna replied, rubbing a paw on her smarting rear as she made her way back to the couch. “So how can I help, Millie?”

The owl finished off a second biscuit and the rest of her tea before speaking. “mmhh..I was wondering if you’ve got a few extra mana crystals lying around? I’ve got a plane gate about ready to collapse and it’s draining them like me with free drinks at graduation.”

Luna couldn’t help but smirk at the image of the owl up on a table. The normally shy bird had been crowd surfed off a balcony that night. Good times.

“I should have some lying around, Millie.” Luna replied. She reached into a pocket on her jumpsuit for her inventory scroll and frowned. The pocket usually wasn’t so tough to get into. She managed to wiggle her fingers into the fabric and finally tug it out.

“Let me see. I’ve got, oh, I’ve got three extra cases.” That number sounded a little high to the wolf.

“Really?!” Millicent squealed. “That’s perfect! I knew you’d help me, Loonie!”

The look of relief on the owl’s face was enough to banish any worries from her mind. Luna had the crates brought to the door and Millicent stored them into a holding pouch she’d brought with her.

“Thanks again, Loonie,” Millicent said as stepped outside. “I’ll pay you back as soon as I can, I promise.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Luna replied. “I’m always happy to help. When your works all done we should go out and get dinner.”

“Sure thing,” Millicent said, looking Luna up and down. “I know this nice little bistro. They make great salads.”

“Salad? I’ve always been more of a burger gal, myself.”

“I know, but,” Millicent reached a feather arm forward and gave Luna’s belly a pat. “All that sedentary research does sneak up on you. Ta-ta!”

Luna watched, utterly speechless, as Millicent stepped off the front step, flapped her wings, and sailed off. Since when had Millicent been so big on Luna’s weight? She might have always been a little thick around the middle but it was nothing to worry about. Millicent did tend to say things she shouldn’t when her mind was focused on a task. It was as though her filter just shut off and she said anything that was on her mind. Luna decided not to hold it against her friend and stepped back inside. She turned around and was about to head back down to the workshop when she looked down and realized she couldn’t see past her own chest. Not only that, but her breasts were actually straining the confines of her tank top.

A cold chill ran down Luna’s spine as she pressed her paws into the sides of her ample chest and felt her breasts wobble and spill over her paws. This wasn’t good. She waved a paw in the air and summoned a mirror image of herself and saw her fears realized. She’d gotten fatter.

The A posing illusion of herself laid it all out in perfect detail. Luna’s blue furred muzzle had filled out enough to give the hint of a second chin. Her chest had ballooned out enough to cause her jumpsuit to unzip down to just under her now heavy potbelly. She ran a paw down her chest and pressed her fingers into the azure stomach that now swelled out over her toolbelt. The feeling was not dissimilar to Elana’s own soft flesh. Luna slipped a paw under her stomach and let it rest on her hand. She was amazed to discover it filled her entire palm and then some. While her left paw inspected her stomach, the other slipped around and felt the sheer mass of her backside.

Luna had always had wide hips and a plump rear, but this was something else. Her new ass cheeks jutted out behind her with almost enough girth to balance a cup on top of them.

A mixture of emotions flooded through Luna at this moment. First, there was a sense of smug satisfaction. All the time with the clerics and Elana had never caused anyone to gain weight. Luna had been right that the conditions in the church were not ideal for triggering any of the spells Alludra had used. The second was pride. Her methods were sound which meant that the path she was taking should hopefully lead to a possible cure. At a distant third was the worry that she might end up just as fat as Elana if she wasn’t careful. Well, all great discoveries had an element of risk to them, didn’t they? Now all she had to do was figure out what was going on.

Luna found Elana exactly where she’d left her. The servant hands had finished the task of stuffing her with the last of the food Luna had called for her and had gone back to their previous task which was to knead and massage the groaning blob. As soon as Luna stepped into the room she realized something was wrong. The deep groans and heavy moans emanating out of Elana filled the room with a warmth that made Luna’s head spin. The growls of her churning belly rolls out of the shuly in deep, steady swells that rose and fell in a gentle rhythm. Luna suddenly felt very warm.

She tugged at the collar of her tank top and gasped when she heard the creak of fabric. She looked down at her chest and watched in morbid fascination as she began to grow fatter.

The weight seemed to spread across her in waves. She felt it first in her stomach and chest. Her belly lurched forward with a loud glorp, tugging her forward as her breasts expanded and burst free of her top. Her expanding blue breasts rolled over the top of her belly as she staggered forward, hauled along by their weight. She managed to stop herself just as the zipper on her jumpsuit slid down all the way, letting her belly spill out onto her expanding thighs. The fabric on the suit, built to withstand most elements, were not designed to hold back wolf lard swelling from within. Rips appeared along the sides of Luna’s suit, exposing more of her blue furred blubber. Her ass cheeks roared outwards, splitting her jumpsuit down the middle as they rolled and jiggled, fighting for space.

Luna managed to tug her fattening arms out of the sleeves of her suit as she staggered towards her desk. A pile of paper had been pumped out by the thaumometers and more was coming. Readings of high frequency magic had been caught ever since Luna had sat between Elana’s breasts and almost drifted off into a euphoric state. What had changed?

Luna felt the jump suit strain around her waist as she grew rounder and rounder. A fresh chin sprouted under the first as her muzzle was framed with a pair of plump, pinchable cheeks. She ignored the way her body wobbled as she groped for the cleric notes. What had they said about Elana? She’d been a trap to fatten up interlopers. But the note had said that Elana had been singing. That had been the trigger.

Luna’s stomach let out a heavy gurgle as it basted itself across her thighs. She pressed her paws into the sides of her stomach and hoisted it up, feeling how the fat oozed through her fingers and plapped down against her thighs. She was so soft! As soft as a trophy, she thought to herself. She looked back towards Elana and took a moment to listen. The shuly wasn’t singing. Her body was simply gurgling and the grunts and moans rolling from her fat lips couldn’t be considered music. Wait, what had Luna thought when she’d been on top of Elana?

It had been like music to her ears?

Alludra didn’t seem like the metaphorical type. Her magic had a direct intent to it. Magic that worked on interpretation was more demonic or devilish in nature. It was the kind of ironic stuff that was the stock and trade of beings that delighted in trapping mortals in their own sin.

Luna felt another rip as her jumpsuit finally tore off her backside. She kicked her feet out of the scraps of fabric and ignored the steady ripples and jiggles that coursed through her fattening body as she made her way over to Elana. Magic like this would have to come from somewhere. It couldn’t be inborn or the runes in the holding chamber Elana had previously been in would have detected it. Unless, of course, it wasn’t inborn.

Damn those clerics! They clothed Elana but they never bothered to check if she was wearing anything cursed! Surely they would have noticed something when they did a physical? Although Luna considered, with the magic keeping every trophy clean and healthy, there was no need to delve too deeply. Combine that with the deterrent of not wanting to catch whatever caused Alludra’s trophies to swell and you had a recipe for a ticking time bomb. All it needed was someone dumb enough to set it off.

Luna waved several bronze plates over and mounted the stairs as she climbed up to get a better look at Elana. The only problem was her belly and tits now meant she couldn’t see anything below her. Luna stopped midway up Elana’s frame and looked up past those enormous breasts. The shuly was still rumbling contentedly. There had to be a way. Luna could feel herself inching outwards more and more. Her arms were getting heavier and soon she’d be struggling to make the hand gestures for spells. But the cause of this expansion had to be on Elana. She tugged on her ball cap once more and looked down.

There was something glowing under one of Elana’s rolls. It was hard to see through the medium of Luna’s own breasts, her belly, and the deep folds of Elana’s chest fat, but it was there. Whatever it was, she needed to find it. Without stopping to think of a better plan, Luna stepped off of the plates and dove into Elana’s fat.

The impact of blubber on blubber sent waves rippling through Elana. The shuly let out a heavy moan that rose to a loud belch. Luna cursed as her body swelled a few more inches around her as her head and shoulders vanished into a thick fold of blubber that might have once been Elana’s neck. She thrust her fat hands deep into the roll and fished around. Once more her mind was assaulted with that endless, dream-like softness and the scent of vanilla. Luna fought the urge to nuzzle deeper and go to sleep as she pushed her fat paws deeper into Elana’s fat. Suddenly, she caught a whiff of something.

Hidden in the strong scent of vanilla was something sharp, something spicy. Something buried so deep would have eluded even her spell sniffer. She worked her fingers around, letting her strong snout guide her to the tell tale scent of demonic energy. She kicked her legs, making her rear and thighs wobble as she wormed her way deeper and deeper. Finally, her fat paw wrapped around something almost too hot to touch. It pulsed rhythmically in her paw, sending out wave after wave of powerful curse energy. Luna shoved her other paw down around it and tugged with all her might.

The amulet choker snapped without much fuss and Luna flew backwards as the force of the soul bond between the amulet and Elana broke. She tumbled down Elana’s belly like a half filled water balloon and landed on the floor with a heavy plap. All around her the mana crystals popped like firecrackers. Luna lay on the floor, panting, groaning, and showered with bits of powdered crystal. She felt the magic ebbing from the relic and felt the steady expansion of her body stop.

The amulet was a large chunk of reddish crystal a little bigger than Luna’s palm. Several containment spells activated upon detection and Luna opened her hand as the crystal floated away from her and was wrapped in several powerful enchantments that would hopefully keep it from going off again. While that happened, Luna tried to take stock of herself.

Her stomach was a heavy mountain that rested against her thighs and was dominated by a thick crease that ran the length of it and folded around her deep navel. Her breasts had rolled to the sides and were truly enormous. They felt like a pair of sand bags full of pudding and they wobbled heavily as she pulled her thick arms around them. She felt her backside spreading across the floor. Those massive cheeks would likely span the entirety of her couch now. She was swaddled in enough fat to make any noble jealous, but at least she hadn’t lost her mobility.

She summoned a few servant hands to help her back onto her feet. Her body rolled and bounced as she landed on her feet. The sensation of her body rolling around her was impossible to describe. Her stomach rolled lazily against her thighs yet still managed to remain somewhat spherical. Her breasts rolled to the sides of her stomach, but maintained their shape atop her belly. All of that front fat was counterbalanced by her enormous rear end. Luna reached back and pressed her paws into the sides of her cheeks. They actually jutted out further than her hips!

A sudden gurgle rolled up from the depths of Luna’s belly. It rose in pressure and flowed upwards, culminating in a meaty belch that sent her body jiggling.

“Urarrrrrppp!! Oomph.” She groaned, rubbing the sides of her stomach as it began to growl steadily. “Great. Now I gotta feed two blimps.” She said and made her way towards her work desk. Moving with all that extra bulk was an experience in new parts of her body bouncing off one another. Her belly clapped against her fattened thighs while her breasts rolled and quaked. Meanwhile, her wide ass cheeks rolled and jiggled side to side, throwing her off balance. Luna staggered forward and leaned against the desk. Putting aside her naked obesity, this was a success. She’d discovered the tool that Alludra had been using to turn Elana into a trap. But what did it mean? It was going to take some serious study to figure out the origin of the amulet. Luna looked back at the now dosing blob behind her and then down to her stomach.

“Might as well order some dinner,” She said, “This is gonna take some time.”

Discerning demonic energy from devil energy was a fairly easy task. Or rather, it used to be. Demonic magic was chaotic in nature. Its pure form was destructive and highly reactive. A demonic relic was an oxymoron. Most items infused with demonic power tended to burn themselves out no matter how many wards you put on them. That is, until the creation of Pandemonium.

No one was really sure what caused its creation. Whether it was some power trying to make a move inside of the Abyss, or some crazed notion implanted in a demon's mind. The only thing that was known for sure was that roughly eighty years ago, a solid structure known as the Pandemonium Fortress was formed inside of the chaotic energies that made up the demonic realms. The creator was Mephistoph, the demon lord of gluttony. Though, before that, there was no such thing as a demon lord. Demon’s didn’t have a hierarchy. They all acted independently of one another. Their only purpose was to cause destruction. Yet, all of a sudden, one demon decided to craft a permanent structure within The Abyss.

That alone was enough to cause some considerable discussion among the magic community, but that was not the half of it. The fortress wasn’t just built to be a conversation piece among demons. The Pandemonium Fortress also housed souls. Primarily souls that were guilty of the sin of gluttony. There were tales of endless corridors and rooms packed to the brim with souls that Mephistoph and other demons had collected.

Their purpose? None knew for sure. There was plenty of speculation, of course. That many souls collected in one place would invariably lead to an immense amount of stored energy harvested from souls indulging in their sins. It was this last fact that caused many to become worried. This was because the storing of soul energy and the collection of souls was primarily the domain of Hell.

The Abyss encroaching on Lucifer and his legions' work was enough to cause worry, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. As a result of the sudden mass demonic interest in sin. Mages and warlocks of all kinds were amazed and horrified to find out that all previous summoning rituals no longer worked properly. Spells that could conjure demons out of the Abyss no longer kept them bound. A great number of mages suddenly found themselves trapped in rooms with unbound demons who were all too eager to drag their summoners back to Pandemonium with them. This event became known as The Great Rework as mages and summoners worked to update their spells. The whole event lasted roughly a year and, while the loss of so many learned arcane practitioners was tragic, the even greater event was the formation of Mephiston.

With so many demons being summoned and escaping, the veil between the planes had become more and more unstable. Spells fluctuated and magics became unstable. The climate was perfect for a demonic invasion. Mages began to prepare for what they thought would be a war that might shake the very foundations of reality. Instead, the instability and fluctuations suddenly ended. The spells to summon demons were adjusted and for a moment everything seemed to be okay. It took three years before anyone noticed Mephiston.

Rumours began to circulate about a mysterious city that appeared out in the middle of nowhere. Those that passed through its gates seldom returned. Those that did spoke of a city filled with all the pleasures one could imagine. It was a city where any desire could be sated and was said to be ruled by a figure that never showed their face but who’s presence could be felt across the entire city.

The city rose to prominence after rumours spread that the Emperor of the Reskan empire had travelled through the gates of the city. It was said he traded a payment of souls in exchange for immense power. Anyone caught spreading this rumour in Reska was put to death. However, the expansion of the Empire increased exponentially after the new Emperor was crowned.

This period of time was frustrating for most mages. The changes that were going on in Abyss were so drastic and unheard of that they were struggling to make sense of it all. It was a time when all magical learning was trying to catch up to the events going on around it.

Then, just as suddenly as it had all started, it ended. Mephiston, a city no one had been able to follow or predict, appeared in the sky one day over a forest and fell out of the sky. The impact caused an explosion that devastated a vast swath of land and left a smoking crater in its place. A crater that was filled with a strange new element charged with magical energy that was named Mephistonium. It was from this element that mana crystals were made.

At the same time Mephistoph exploded, the Pandemonium Fortress was destroyed. Those two events should have been enough to crack reality in half, yet there was surprisingly little impact. The Abyss soon settled down after that. Demon’s retained more personality and preference when they were summoned, but were able to be kept in check. Mephistoph, a name that had caused so much fear on the material plane, simply disappeared.

All of this information had been obtained after the fact. Demons and devils gave out the information piecemeal. Oracles obtained whispered visions of the events gifted to them by their gods. From these broad strokes they were able to build a chain of events. The details, however, seemed lost forever. All that was left were endless questions and what little could be learned from those foolish enough to try and bargain with demonic forces for more information.

Luna knew most of this already. She’d read most of the works regarding The Great Rework during her apprenticeship. The major takeaways were the influx of altered demonic energies, and the creation of mana crystals. At least, that’s what most of the books said. The entire period of history had ended several decades before Luna had even been born. Mages had a way of downplaying major events after the fact. Lost souls was nothing new. Those taken by demons were no greater in number than any average war. It was, perhaps, one of the reasons people found mages a bit unpleasant to be around. Their views of the world seldom took in the cost of progress.

The first thing Luna did after obtaining the relic, was inform the church of Gloriana about it. This was not because she felt it would be safer in their hands. She just wanted to let them know that their strongest clerics and champions of their faith had not only failed to detect a demonic relic right under their noses, but also that they had left it on a victim under their care. Combine that with the fact that it had been activated during research that they were funding and Luna had the freedom to write her own check.

Well, actually, the first thing Luna did was get a new wardrobe.

She had no intention of waddling about her home nude, or sporting so much cumbersome blubber. So she took a few days to craft a new jumpsuit. She wove a few pocket dimension spells into the garment and crafted what turned out to be a rather effective compression suit.

Luna had moved into another workshop to give Elana space. That’s what she told herself, anyway. The truth was that the constant sounds of the shuly eating and being kneaded were too distracting. Luna had to fight the urge to have her servants give up on the shuly and stuff their master silly and roll her blubber about. If she’d spent one more day listening to those moans she’d have ended up just as fat as Elana. The church would have found the two belly to belly. The pair of them moaning as they were packed to the brim on those sweets Elana was always snacking on.

After one quick once over, Luna stepped into the new jumpsuit. The sensation of it was difficult to describe. The best she could say was that it felt a bit like someone sucking jello through a straw. She stepped her feet through the leg holes, and shivered at the sensation of her extra weight being sucked away. Her legs slimmed down to their previous girth. She had by no means been skinny before, but at least she could move more easily. Next, she gripped either side of the suit and pulled up. The magical fabric slid easily over her hips and ass, sucking them down to size. She had to push on the sides of her stomach to fit it all in, but the suit managed. Her arms slurped into the suit without much fuss before she finally zipped it up. Those heavy breasts bounced and fought valiantly for their freedom, but ultimately they too succumbed to Luna’s superior magical skills.

Once the zipper was fully zipped Luna looked like her old self again. There wasn’t a single hint that she’d gained an ounce since first taking on the job. She’d taken an extra day to truly reinforce the magic on it. It would take a truly powerful burst of magic to dispel this enchantment. That suited her just fine. The last thing she needed was everything to come flooding out if anything in her workshop went haywire. With all that done, Luna sent a message to the church informing them of the situation.

“You’re sure this is secure?” Diana said through gritted teeth. The high captain stood in one of Luna’s smaller workshops. It was the one she used whenever clients wanted to see what she was working on. It had enough baubles and vaguely magical looking devices to convince anyone that it was where proper magic was happening. The fact that none of it was actually magical was neither here nor there. The look was the important thing. It also served to keep the lioness away from Elana.

The amulet floated in the only magical thing in the room. Several layers of containment spells and a bell jar made of double blessed glass kept the amulet from harm or errant influence. At least, that’s what Luna hoped.

“I’ve been studying it for a week and there's been no problem.” Luna replied.

“A week?” Diana asked, looking over her shoulder at the wolf. “And yet you only thought to mention it yesterday?”

Shit, Luna thought to herself. The high captain wasn’t just all muscle and faith.

“I had to make sure it was secure, didn’t I?” She replied quickly. “There was no way of knowing if it was affecting any of my measurements. I had to redo several exhaustive tests, you know.”

“And the church thanks you for your diligence.” Diana replied with forced gratitude. “However, I feel that this fel thing should be taken back to the church where it can be cleansed and properly disposed of.”

Disposed of? Was she serious? There was still so much to learn!

“While I agree in principle,” Luna said cautiously. “I feel that there’s still much to be gleaned from this amulet.”

“What could be learned from a demonic amulet that would be of use to you?” Diana asked in a tone that Luna assumed was usually reserved for apostates just before the holy fire started to fly.

“You hired me to figure out the sources of Alludra’s magic and undo them, right?” Lun replied.’

“Correct, but the involvement of demonic magics brings this entire project under the scope of the church once again.”

“I understand that, really, I do.” Luna said, walking closer to the case. “But if she’s been consorting with demons and getting knowledge from them, then I may be able to discover the source.”

“You’re suggesting summoning a demon?” Diana asked. The question was tinged with enough threat that Luna would have to choose her words carefully.

“Of course not,” Luna replied. “That would be madness. Besides, Alludra’s magic isn’t demonic in nature.”

“Then I don’t see why you need to keep it.” Diana said, rising to her full height. “Alludra’s hoard contained a wide variety of magical items both cursed and otherwise. The fact that she had it on her victim suggests she was just making use of its power. There’s nothing to suggest she obtained it from a demon directly. The relic will be returned to the church. The matter is closed.” The high captain gave Luna a look to suggest that there would be no argument.

Luna knew when to pick her battles. “Alright, alright. But you’ll have to give me some time to get it ready for transport. I’ll need at least a week to-”

“You will have one day.”

“It’ll take me one day to just dispel the magic I’ve got scrying it. I’ll need at least four.”

The high captain fixed Luna with another stern look. Luna gave the lioness her best poker face, praying it would be enough.

“Two days. After which I will personally take charge of the amulet. Is that clear?”

“Crystal clear. Thank you very much, high captain.” Luna said, adding a bow in an attempt at appeasement.

“Very well, magister Luna.” The lioness said, repaying the courtesy. “In spite of all of this, your work has been…enlightening.”

“You’re too kind.” Luna said. “Oh, before you go.”

The lioness stopped at the door and turned back to the wolf. “Hmm?”

“You wouldn’t be able to possibly get me an extra case of mana crystals, would you? It’s just I burned through my supply with the amulet and-”

The lioness raised a gauntleted paw and sighed. “Yes, I understand. I’ll have a box sent over.” There was a brief pause and a look from the lioness that perhaps wondered if Luna was telling the truth or just trying to needle at the church again. Luna wasn’t about to tell her that she’d given her entire supply to Millicent.

After the high captain left, Luna got back to work. The amulet didn’t match any shape or form that she could find in the books she’d managed to get her paws on. Most amulets used by summoners were of mortal make. This one defied any and all understanding. She’d have to figure something out before the amulet was snatched away and disposed of.

It was paranoia at the church changing their mind that made Luna more aware of visitors. She never would have thought twice about a doorbell going off. When it did that same evening after Diana had been there, Luna raced upstairs. She has prepared a decent list of reasons why she should get to keep it for longer. Hopefully they'd sent someone else less stoic than Diana. She hauled open the door to find herself face to face with the largest tigress Luna had ever seen.

She was wearing a yellow sundress that was stretched across her immense frame over which was an apron dusted with flour and dabs of icing. Her stomach was nearly the width of the front door and her chest would have obscured her face entirely if Luna had been a few inches shorter. Her round muzzle curled into a large grin as she looked over her chest to give Luna a once over.

“Ah, you must be the lady of the house!” The tigress said, pushing a white box into Luna’s paws. Luna’s belly let out a soft growl at the scent of pastries. All of the treats that she’d ordered had gone to Elana. She’d found the enormous shuly enjoyed those far more than anything her servants could cook up. Ever since her expansion, Luna had found her appetite had grown. Her usual menu was no longer sufficient and she’d had to completely redo it to keep her hunger from distracting her. She often watched those rich, decadent desserts floating towards her charge. The sounds of that belly gurgling as Elana growled in pleasure were starting to hit Luna with a twinge of jealousy. Thankfully her jumpsuit wasn’t having any difficulty with her increased appetite.

“Uh, yeah, that’s me. And you are?” Luna replied, taking a step back as the feline’s ample frame filled the door and she entered the house.

“I’m Roxy, silly!” The tigress said. “I’m here with your order!”

Finally Luna clued in to what was going on. Roxy was the owner of the bakery she’d been ordering from. But what was she doing here?

“I must say it's great to finally meet you,” The tigress went on. Her heavy belly bounced against Luna, pushing the wolf aside and pinning her to the wall while several other uniform clad felines pushed carts of pastries and other baked goods inside. “You’ve been buying me out for almost a week! Where on earth are you putting it all?” Roxy asked. Her ample stomach had rolled against Luna, smothering her with an abundance of warm striped fat.

“I’m just, ermmph.” Luna grunted, trying to slip out from around the heavy tigress. “It’s just part of some work I’m doing.” She managed to finally slip out from around Roxy and followed the workers into the dining room where they had deposited some of the order. Stacks of white boxes were set out on a large oak table that had come with the house. Luna rarely used it save when doing work with clients. The room was filled with the scent of pastries, causing Luna’s stomach to let out another eager growl.

“Take the rest of this down to the side entrance.” Luna said. She didn’t like strangers in her home at the best of times and waved her paw in the air. There was a sudden flash and the workers vanished as a spell sent them back outside.

“That’s quite a trick!” Roxy said, squeezing through the door to the dining room. “I could use that for customers when it’s closing time. They do tend to linger.”

“Right, well,” Luna replied. “Thank you for the delivery. But I’ve really got to get back to work.”

“Of course, of course,” Roxy replied. “You mages are so busy. Always working on something. But,” She waddled over to the table and pulled open one of the boxes to reveal several large eclairs. “These are treats I brought over specially for you. A thank you for all your recent business.”

Luna stared down at the eclairs like the tigress had just revealed a venomous snake. Her stomach let out an audible gurgle at one of her favorite treats.

“Oh, sounds like someone should take a little break.” Roxy said as she lifted one of the eclairs towards Luna’s snout.

“I don’t know. I’m rather busymphhmh!” Her words were cut off by the large eclair pressed into her muzzle. Luna had been careful to avoid Elana’s treats, but she hadn’t prepared for the maker of them showing up on her door. The flavour of the eclair was indescribable. It was incredibly rich, slathered with chocolate, and bursting with custard filling. Luna felt her cheeks swell with custard and chocolate as she munched it down, growling in delight.

“Busy? I’m sure you can take a little break.” Roxy giggled. The large tigress was known for being a bit overbearing with customers that stuck around. She pressed a paw into Luna’s chest and pushed her back towards the large chair at the head of the table. Luna allowed herself to take a seat as she licked chocolate from her snout. She’d been working so hard. She did deserve a little break.

Luna leaned back as another eclair was pressed into her muzzle. She growled hungrily around the tigress’ plump fingers as she kept her mouth stuffed with pastry. Luna’s tail whirred behind her as she ate. Her paws drifted down to her belly, rubbing over contentedly while Roxy brought out more treats. Two more eclairs vanished into her churning belly and Luna moved to waved the treats away. Four eclairs was well above her usual limit. Roxy simply grinned as Luna’s belly let out a heavy gurgle, and pushed another eclair to the wolf’s chocolate smeared muzzle.

After the sixth eclair, Luna was starting to worry. Her stomach was churning noisily and her soft burps and huffs were reminding her of a certain beached shuly. She moved to stand up, but Roxy pulled over a large box of doughnuts. Luna licked her snout at the sight of those multicoloured delights and allowed one to be pressed to her snout.

“When’s the last time you really enjoyed yourself, hmm?” Roxy asked, placing her paw on Luna’s round belly while the wolf munched down a pink frosted doughnut. “I’ve never seen you in my shop. You should come down sometime. Take a little break. You mages work far too hard.”

“I’m..mmphh..doing important research,” Luna replied, her words muffled by fried dough and sprinkles.

“It can’t be as important as your health,” The large tigress replied. “How can you get any proper work done if you aren’t eating properly? That includes a few treats now and then.”

Luna wasn’t sure six eclairs and a dozen doughnuts constituted a ‘few treats’, but her stomach was roaring now. The sleeping beast that was her new appetite had finally been awakened. She watched in ravenous delight as the tigress opened a box of butter tarts. Luna’s tail whirred faster and she actually let out a bark as one of the tarts was lifted to her snout. She pressed her paws against the table and lunged at it, snapping it up from the feline’s hand.

“Oh! Careful there, missy!” Roxy laughed, making her ample frame wobble. “You almost took my finger.”

“Omphhmh..mmphhmm..sorrymph.” Luna replied, licking tart crumbs from her muzzle as Roxy grabbed another and held it up to her.

“Are you going to bite me this time?” Roxy asked. Luna blushed and shook her head. She needed to control herself. Her mouth opened wide as Roxy pressed the next tart in. A shower of buttery crumbs tumbled onto Luna’s chest and down over her jumpsuit.

“You’re making quite a mess of yourself,” Roxy giggled. “That suit can’t possibly be comfy. Here, let me help.”

Luna was so invested in the butter tart in her mouth she didn’t notice until it was too late. She felt the tigress grab the zipper and pull down. There was a heavy, glorious gurgle from Luna’s middle as the zipper descended and the full immensity of her body flowed out.

It started with her muzzle. Her face rounded and plumped as a second chin flowed in and her cheeks swelled out round and soft. Her neck thickened next, followed by the glorious unveiling of her enormous breasts. The two mountains of blue flesh erupted out of her jumpsuit and landed on her belly as it surged outwards and smothered her lap completely. Roxy gasped in amazement as Luna’s hidden bulk surged out for her to see.

“Ooorrrrruuurrrrrpppp!” Luna belched, her belly roiling and churning loudly. She pressed her still slim arms on the sides of her exposed belly and naked tits and tried to push them back in. “Don’t…urrrrppp…don’t lookurrrprpp!”

“So this is where all my baking has been going, hmmm?” Roxy tutted, running her paw over Luna’s enormous belly. She pushed her fingers into that soft, yielding blubber, making Luna groan as another butter tart was popped into her now much fatter snout. “Getting yourself nice and fat on all my tasty treats and trying to hide it?” Roxy went on, working her paw over Luna’s gut, sliding around that blue expanse and squeezing the soft fold of fat around the canine’s navel.

“There’s no better advertisement for a bakery than fat customers. Especially high profile ones. Why, just imagine the increase in business I’d get if a Milliquord mage was seen waddling into my shop for a few pies?”

Luna made a feeble attempt to belch out an apology as more treats were brought out. Several more boxes were opened revealing brownies, cream puffs, chocolate chip cookies, and two apple pies. Any resistance was gone as her enormous belly was kneaded and squeezed. This must have been how Elana felt, she thought to herself as Roxy pushed a cream puff to her muzzle. Just sitting about being stuffed and getting to revel in the sheer glory of being so fat.

“I expect you to start picking up your orders in person, now.” Roxy said as she pushed more treats into Luna’s cream smeared maw. Her right paw was focusing on massaging and rolling Luna’s belly, making the poor bloated wolf growl and moan in pure delight. “Covered up, of course.” She added, giving Luna’s exposed breast a soft pat. “You’ll stay for a few slices of pie as well, hmm?”

Luna nodded helplessly, licking crumbs and cream from her snout as more was stuffed in. Her stomach gurgled and blorped louder, stuffed with such fattening and delicious treats. Box after box was pushed into her, leaving her too stuffed to think about anything other than her next bite and the sensation of that paw kneading over her belly.

“You’ll be sure to bring that owl friend of yours along with you, hmm?” Roxy asked. “Don’t tell me she’s been hiding her true weight behind magic as well? I’m sure she’ll love a few slices of cake after she gets better.”

Despite her bloated, pampered, thoroughly fat loving state, Luna’s mind managed to pick up on that last sentence.

“Getmmphh..better?” she asked, pushing aside a slice of apple pie that was destined for her groaning middle. “Is she sick?”

The tigress pushed Luna’s paw away and stuffed the pie slice into her mouth. “Didn’t you hear? The poor thing is at the infirmary. Something about a spell going awry or something.”

The thought of a friend in danger was enough to break whatever gluttonous spell her own fat had cast on her. Luna made a quick gesture and the rest of the boxes of treats vanished. She turned a look on Roxy that let the tigress know that feeding time was over.

“Tell me what happened.” Luna grunted.

“Oh, uhm, well.” Roxy said, suddenly remembering that she was in the home of a powerful mage. She pressed both of her paws into Luna’s belly to try and help calm the wolf down. She managed to force another belch from Luna’s snout but that look remained. “I supply a lot of sweets to a few other mages in the city. They came in talking about your friend. Apparently she was working on a spell and ran out of some sort of ingredient?”

“What kind of ingredient?” Luna asked, struggling to lean forward. The sheer mass of sweets she’d consumed left her leaning back in her chair.

“A crystal, I think they said,” Roxy replied. “Yes, that was it. They said she’d run out and then, well…”

“Well what?!” Luna barked, batting away the tigress’ paws. “Tell me!”

“They said that almost all the salt in her body was gone.” Roxy said with a shrug, suggesting she had no idea how anything like that could happen.

“Right,” Luna said, stifling a burp. “Well, this has been fun, but I need to get back to work.”

“Are you sure?” Roxy asked. The tigress’ tone suggested this could go on for as long as Luna wanted it to.

“Yes,” Luna replied. She looked down at her bloated, exposed form and blushed. “mmphh..Not that it wasn’t, uhm, enjoyable.”

Roxy blushed as well and gave Luna’s plump cheek a pat. “Well, anytime you want some more, just let me know. I’m always happy to make house calls.” She gave Luna’s belly one last squeeze and stood up from the table and left the dining room. Once Luna was sure that Roxy had gone, she waved a paw and summoned back one last box of cookies and began to nibble as started to think.

How had Millicent gotten injured? Magic involving planes required quite a lot of magic. The supply of mana crystals that Luna had given her friend should have lasted long enough for her to get a fresh supply. There was no way the Milliquord Spell Safety Council would have allowed that kind of experimentation to go on without being properly supplied. The risk of planar inversion was simply too great if there was no energy to sustain the incantations involved. You didn’t greenlight that sort of spell without the expectation of finishing it.

Most magical spells could be cast through repetition by a trained mage. The spell components and movements of a caster allowed magic to be drawn in from the natural flow of magic that permeated the material plane. Larger spells, however, needed that boost to keep them going. It was possible to cast more powerful spells with one’s own nascent skill, but the risks involved weren’t usually worth it unless you were doing it on a leyline or some other powerful source of magic. Running out of magic in the middle of an incantation and still trying to complete the spell would require more resources. If there was no magic in the vicinity, then the spell would begin to draw energy from the mage themselves.

Millicent had likely tried to take her experiment as far as she could with the crystals she had on hand. When the supply ran out and the threat of inversion appeared she must have shut the spell off herself. That kind of magic alone would burn out a mana crystal. Without any extra magic, the spell would have drawn energy from Millicent. Salt was a primary component in many ritual spells and so of course that's what would have been extracted first.

Luna polished off another cookie as she thought about it. She should probably go see Millicent and see how she was doing. No, she thought, as much as she needed to see Millicent, she needed to settle things with the amulet first. She dug around on the toolbelt of her jumpsuit and pulled out a sending stone.

“Anna,” She said, giving the stone a shake. There was a soft hum as the stone connected.

“Hello Luna,” A female voice said through the glowing stone in the wolf’s paw. “I was wondering when you’d call.”

“Hi Anna. How’s Millie doing?”

“So far so good. The clerics assured me she’d make a full recovery.”

“That’s a relief,” Luna said, stifling a belch. “Rrmphh..listen. I wanted to ask you-”

“If it's about mana crystals, don’t.” Anne replied. “You’re the tenth person today who’s called about it. I don’t know when we’re getting anymore.”

“There’s a shortage?” Luna asked.

“Where have you been?” Anna replied. “There’s a citywide shortage going on!”

“Then why’d the MSSC allow Millicent to do her work?”

“We were expecting a shipment two days ago,” Anna explained. “But the ship carrying it sank. And before you ask, no, we don’t know who did it.”

“Wonderful,” Luna said. “Well, thanks for letting me know how Millie’s doing. I’m going to go visit her when I get a chance.”

“Are you still working on that Gloriana job?” Anna asked. “I’d have thought Millie would have wrung you dry for crystals.”

“She did,” Luna said. “But I managed to score another case from the church.”

“Lucky you,” Anna replied. “All other non essential magics are being cancelled in order to recall any usable crystals. The Archenometer picked up some strange readings.”

“You don’t think the city is going to be attacked, do you?” Luna asked. The sudden disappearance of a shipment of crystals coupled with the Archenometer going off meant that it was likely a certainty.

“I hope not,” Anna replied. “Listen, I’ve got to go. We’ll talk later, okay?”

“Okay. Take care Anna.”

“You too. Bye”

Luna settled back into her chair and tried to process it all. No one had attempted to assault the city of Milliquord in decades. Even without a steady source of stored magic, the city was still defended by the highest concentration of mages in the world. Any attacking army would find themselves teleported to another plane or have the earth fall out from under them. Yet it seemed like something big was heading towards Milliquord. Luna couldn’t help quite shake the feeling that it had something to do with her research. She’d have to move quickly.

A deep, rumbling gurgle rolled through Luna as she tried to stand up. Her stomach compressed and blorped loudly, forcing another belch from her muzzle before she flopped back into the chair. She needed to summon a few servants to help hoist her up and to reach the zipper. However, as she ate the last cookie in the box, a wave of exhaustion rolled over her. How long had it been since she’d had a full night's rest? The sheer weight of all those treats, coupled with her lack of sleep, hit her with such force that she could only sit there and yawn. She settled back into her chair, placed her paws on top of her belly, and drifted off into a bloated, exhausted sleep.

Bad ideas were never something that Luna liked to entertain. She thought of herself as someone who understood the risks of anything she did and tried to find the least dangerous solution. After waking up in her dining room to find that she’d slept almost a full day away, Luna decided it was time to entertain some riskier solutions.

Once she’d summoned a couple of servant paws to help stuff her noticeably rounder bulk back into her jumpsuit, she set about making a few snap decisions around the amulet. She had only about twelve hours before she’d have to turn the demonic relic back to the church. So far, her research hadn’t found anything that suggested a maker or source for the amulet. There was one way to find out more about it, but it wasn’t one that Luna would normally have tried.

The amulet was demonic in nature, which meant that it would be linked to whatever demon crafted it. If she summoned the demon that made the amulet she might be able to get some information out of them. However, without knowing what demon it belonged to, there was no way to be sure that the binding spells she used would work. Summoning a demon was risking her soul. But what other choice did she have?

Luna never liked summoning. She preferred to rely on her own skills and those of other mortals to find solutions to her problems. Devils were always smug and loved to wrap their answers in riddles. Demons were unpredictable in their wants and would sometimes just not answer any questions. Luna had observed demons just sit on the floor and wait until the summoned got frustrated enough to banish them. At least devils always wanted something.

She’d filled her summoning chamber with every magical ward and charm she had on hand. The last of her box of mana crystals ringed the summoning circle in the center of the room. She wasn’t sure what would happen if she ran out, but she needed to make sure the wards weren’t going to fail. She didn’t need the church finding out about an unbound demon running through the city. Though, if the spell failed that badly, Luna wouldn’t be around for them to blame.

When the last of the sigils were painted onto the floor, and the amulet was placed in the center of the circle, Luna took her place behind the podium she’d brought down from the attic. A large leather bound tome sat on it, opened to a page that outlined the spell she was going to use. Beside the book was a small silver plate with a polished black stone sitting in the middle. That would be her failsafe. Luna took a deep breath, tugged on her cap to give her the second sight, and began to incantation.

Demonic summoning was mostly a waiting game. The chants built into the spell were sent through the summoning circle and cast out into the Abyss. Since the realm of demons was infinite it could take some time before the words reached the demon in question. Even then there was no guarantee the demon would respond immediately. It was a bit like trying to get a hold of someone with severe social anxiety.

It was for this reason that Luna was surprised to see a reddish crack appear in the air above the summoning circle only a minute after she’d started. She quickly snatched up the stone in her right paw and whispered a scram spell into the stone. If she dropped the stone for any reason, the portal would collapse and she would be teleported into a magically secure room in her home. With that in place, Luna tried to steady her breathing as the red fissure in reality began to grow larger.

The air in the chamber began to grow hotter. That alone should have been reason enough to end the ritual. Changes in atmosphere were sure signs that demonic energy was leaking out of the circle. It either meant her sigils were off or the demon was powerful enough to break them. She tugged on her collar and resisted the urge to pant.

The crack that led to the Abyss grew larger. It crawled towards the ceiling like cracks in a window pane before shattering with a screed so loud that even with wards in place it made Luna’s ears ring. She covered her eyes as a burst of reddish energy erupted from the portal and filled the circle before shifting to a roiling firestorm. The flames lapped at the edges of the summoning circle, trying to find any crack that might allow them out to consume reality. Thankfully, Luna’s wards were sturdy, and the flames began to die down. They shifted from red to black and started to coalesce into a form. Luna lowered her paw from her face and stared into the circle. Maybe she should have reconsidered.

There, floating in the middle of the circle, holding the amulet in one hand, wearing an amused expression, was Mephistoph, the demon lord of gluttony.

He took the shape of a muscular black goat with ebony black fur. He had long horns made of obsidian that coursed with crackles of red energy. He wore nothing but a black loincloth. There were no sigils or symbols on his body to denote his status or power. He carried no weapons or relics that might bolster his strength. He was beyond such things.

He could have passed for mortal were it not for the two sets of glowing red eyes that turned from the amulet to observe the mage that had summoned him.

“It has been some time,” He said, his voice filling the room with a heat and weight that almost dropped Luna to her knees. “Since I have been called to the mortal realm.”

“You…” Luna tried to speak but the words died on her lips. She felt her legs start to wobble and she gripped the edge of the podium for support. This was beyond the worst case scenario. This was not merely a demon she didn’t have a containment spell for. This was a demon for which no containment or banishment spell existed. This was a demon that had almost started a war with Hell.

“Care to tell me what this is all about?” Mephistoph asked. His tone was conversational yet the weight of his words still slammed into Luna like a blacksmith’s hammer on an anvil.

“I..I wanted to ask you,” Luna began. The air was so thick and humid. She could feel sweat starting to bead up under her suit. “About that amulet.”

“This?” Mephistoph asked, raising the amulet. “I do thank you for returning it. It’s the last bit of me that’s still left in this realm.”

A thousand questions bubbled up into Luna’s mind at this revelation. How does a demon lose something bound to them?

“What..” Luna started to pant from the heat. “Huff…huff..what about Mephiston?”

The demon rubbed his chin as if trying to remember an event from his childhood. “Oh that? Ah, it was fun while it lasted. But that wasn’t part of me. Just a little thing I threw together. Seemed like a good idea at the time. If you were looking to go I’m afraid you're too late. It’s already blown up.”

“I know that,” Luna replied, squeezing the stone in her paw. She had to keep going, keep asking questions. “What year do you think it is?”

“Ah, right,” Mephistoph shook his head. “You have time on this plane.” He looked down at the crystals on the floor around him. “Now that’s interesting. You’re using bits of the leftover energy.”

More questions. This was possibly one of the greatest discoveries in the past century and she was barely able to string a sentence together.

“I need to know.” Luna began again. “I need to know so many things.”

Mephistoph sighed and adjusted himself so he appeared to be relaxing in an invisible chair. “Well, you’ve gone to this much trouble. I suppose I can spare a year. No, it’s a minute isn’t it? One of those things you separate your days with.”

“What was it you said about the crystals? What are they?” Luna asked.

“Those?” The demon rubbed his chin again. “If I were to guess I’d assume they’re just the remains of the energy that we’d stored in Mephiston. You know about soul energy?” Luna nodded. “Right, well, when Mephiston exploded all that soul energy solidified when it came into contact with the material plane. Most of the energy left, leaving what I guess you’d call the dregs? A sort of leftover slag that, from what I can tell, you’re using to store magical energy?”

“We do,” Luna replied, wiping sweat from her eyes. “They’re like batteries. But we can’t figure out how to recharge them.”

“Really?” The demon chuckled. “I’d have thought that was obvious.”

“Obvious how?” Luna said, her heart racing. Was Mephistoph really about to reveal the key to recharging one of the most useful tools in a mages arsenal?

“You’ve been doing it all along.” He said with a shrug. “But if you can’t figure it out, well, I’m not going to tell you.”

Luna could have screamed then. Now? Now a demon decides to be cryptic? Whatever, she couldn’t afford to press the issue.

“What about that amulet,” Luna asked. “Why did Alludra have it?”

“That dragon.” the words rumbled out of the demon and made the floor shake. “That dragon stole her power like she stole my amulet. Thought she was untouchable just because she’d managed to gain him as a patron.”

“Gain who as a patron?” Luna, stepping around the podium and edging closer to the portal. “Who does she serve?”

Mephistoph gave Luna another once over as if he was judging whether to share any more. “An ancient power,” the demon replied. “Far older than demons, devils, or the gods themselves. A thing for whom reality is but a suggestion. She found an echo of what once was and called out to it for aid, and it listened.”

“So her strength isn’t demonic in nature?”

“No,” Mephistoph shook his head. “That power is beyond this world, beyond anything. Once she’d touched that power no demon or devil would have anything to do with her. The gods, perhaps, they’re foolish enough, but not the Abyss.”

So whatever magic she was using to fatten and preserve her trophies wasn’t demonic in nature and neither was it traditional magic. Had the dragon touched on the power of some strange eldritch being?

“How do I reverse her magic?” Luna asked finally. “Is there a way to undo her spells?”

“No magic is absolute,” the demon replied simply. “Pandemonium could have existed for eternity, yet it was brought down with barely a whisper. Mephiston could have grown until it consumed this entire plane of existence, yet it fell with a gesture. To undo her magic you must desire to.”

“How do I do that if I don’t know how it works?” Luna said, frustration starting to leak out as she adjusted her jumpsuit. The material hadn’t been designed to breathe and the wolf was starting to feel like she was wearing a portable sauna.

The demon looked around the summoning chamber for a moment. His eyes focused on one part of the ceiling in particular. Luna could tell that he was seeing well beyond the walls of her home.

“There’s one in this city who knows. Seek her out.”

Luna stared at the demon in disbelief. “That’s it?”

“That should be enough,” The demon’s words held an unspoken warning. “Now, I’ve given you more than enough decades. I’ll be off.”

“Wait, the amulet!” Luna said quickly. “I need it!” The church of Gloriana would have quite a few questions for Luna about the whereabouts of the amulet. Somehow, she thought, telling them she gave it back to a demon she summoned wasn’t going to go over well.

“This?” Mephistoph looked from the amulet to Luna. “Why?”

“I just do.” She answered.

A grin crept across the demon’s muzzle that Luna immediately didn’t like.

“Is that so?” He said, “What shall you give me for it?”

Oh no, Luna thought to herself. Oh noooooo.

“It has been quite some time since I’ve been around a gluttonous mortal.” Mephistoph went on. “I used to have quite a few of them, you know. I could always restart my collection.” he pointed a finger at her and smirked. “Unzip that garment.”

The stone fell from Luna’s hand and hit the floor with a sharp clack. She should have been whisked away to her safe room while the entire summoning chamber collapsed. Instead, there was a distinct lack of magic and Luna stayed put.

“No, no,” Mephistoph said. “We won’t have that.” He floated down to the floor and stepped out of the summoning circle. His hooves kicked up red sparks from the floor as he walked towards Luna. He towered over her and reached down to tug at the zipper. Luna’s arms stayed locked at her sides as her true shape was revealed.

A plume of steam erupted out of the jumpsuit as Luna’s belly and breasts were freed. The enormous mass of blue blubber rolled out and slapped against her thighs followed by a shower of sweat. She let out a heavy groan of relief that ended in a strangled grunt as she realized the demon was examining her.

“I’ve taken many a fat mage, you know.” The demon said, reaching down and running a massive hand over her belly. The demon's touch was impossible to describe. His fingers sent bolts of pleasure rolling through Luna’s body while his other hand reached up to tug at the sides of the jumpsuit. Luna felt her arms swelling as he began to strip her, letting more of her fat frame wobble swell into view. “There was a time when the only way I could be summoned was if the summoner was as fat as you.”

“Oh, really?” Luna asked, panting helplessly. He’d tugged the suit off her shoulders. Her fat biceps plumped and slapped against the sides of her tits while thick back rolls piled up and rested on the shelf of her enormous ass. Steam rose off of her like rocks in a sauna while sweat dripped off her belly and ass cheeks in a steady rain that sizzled when it hit the floor.

“Mmhmm,” Mephistoph said, licking his lips. “There was a chamber I kept them in. I collared them and fed them until they moaned out every dark desire, every pleasure, every want and dream that sat in the deepest recesses of their gluttonous souls.”

Luna felt both of the demon’s hands kneading into her belly now. Those powerful fingers worked and massaged her fat folds, sending her rolling and bouncing. She let out another soft moan as heat and pleasure coursed through her frame before she glanced into the demon’s eyes and was there.

She felt a collar around her neck, chains on her wrists. She was sitting on her wide, cushioned rear, staring at a feast. A massive demon with a deer skull for a head stood over her. His body was a mass of rippling muscle.

“Time to eat!” the demon laughed, and stuffed the first meal in. Luna’s mouth dropped open and ate with glee. Her body churned and gurgled as she was fed a feast that seemed endless. Her stomach rolled out in front of her, smothering her legs. Her massive ass cheeks spread around her while her breasts swelled and rolled to the sides of her belly. Her arms bloated and sank into the swelling mass of her body. All around her were the sounds of other souls moaning as they were fed. Luna couldn’t turn her head to see who was expanding beside her, nor did she care. The last bits of resistance were fattened out of each of them. Each of those mountains of blubber belonged to the demon lord of gluttony for all eternity.

“What is it you desire, hmm?”

Luna felt her mind snap back to the present. She felt the demon hoist her belly and let it slap back down against her thighs. She could still taste the food from that chamber on her lips.

“There is a barn,” Mephistoph went on. “A barn of infinite size. Inside it there are cows. Moaning, mooing souls I have transformed. Their purpose is only to be milked and fattened. They revel in an existence as nothing more than obese livestock.” He scooped Luna’s heavy breasts in his hands and rolled them about, letting his thumbs rub across her fat nipples. “You would fit right in.”

Once more, Luna found herself there.

She was scrawny, far too scrawny to be a proper producer. She would have to be fattened up if she was going to fit in. Luckily, the farmhands knew how to turn a pintsize cow into a proper dairy blob.

Luna squealed in pleasure at the bell placed around her fat neck. She was given her own pen and a hose that pumped pure cream down her throat. She chugged hungrily, knowing each gulp made her fatter and wider. Each swelling pound of blubber pushed her closer to her true purpose as a proper cow.

The weigh-ins were heaven. The demons in charge of her rubbed her belly and massaged her breasts. She was a good, fattening cow. She basked in their praise and encouragement. Finally, when she grew too fat to stand, they rolled her out of her pen and in with the others. Luna found herself stuffed in between two other souls. Their shapes altered to match their new purpose. Luna felt the pumps lock onto her enormous breasts and she moo’d long and loud as they began to work. The gush of milk from her gigantic udders was a pleasure that nearly shattered her mind.

Her all milk diet was replaced with more hand feeding. Farmhand demons stuffed her with the most fattening treats imaginable. Her body grew fatter and larger until she was pressing against the other cows around her. Her heavy moo’s grew louder as she felt a slap across her massive backside. A bull demon had chosen her. All the cows hoped they would be chosen by the bulls that strode through the barn.

Luna felt the bovine behemoth press his muscular hands into her backside and lean in close. A steady moan rose up from Luna’s heaving, bloated frame as pleasure flooded her very soul.

Luna’s vision blurred and she found herself staring up into the grinning face of Mephistoph. Her body was drenched in sweat and she was panting heavily. Her legs began to wobble under her, making her heavy frame shake and jiggle.

“How does that sound, little mage?” The demon asked, sliding his hands around her back and placing them on her expansive backside. A soft moan escaped Luna’s lips as her backside was rolled and squeezed. “Eternity as a cow? Eternity as a fat slave to the desires of a demon? Does it excite you? To be nothing more than what your master desires you to be?” His words dripped into her ears and obliterated all other thoughts. The experiences had been so real, so intense, so deeply satisfying.

“Ohhhmph.” She groaned, suddenly feeling the demon lift her off the ground. Her massive ass cheeks spilled over the back of Mephistoph’s arms as he drew her closer to his face. Those eyes burned into her soul once again, threatening to scour away everything but the deepest, purest essence of her desires.

She swayed and bounced as he massaged her backside and pressed her into his chest. The demon smelled of spice and the deepest recesses of realms unseen. His scent threatened to burn into her, marking her as one that had consorted with demons. There was no resistance for there was no reason to. Her body and soul were his. Her very essence was held in the palm of his hands. She shuddered as he pressed his snout between her ears and inhaled, drawing out every fantasy and dark desire that lurked within her. Pleasures so deep and shameful that Luna would never speak them. A world of collars and leashes. A world of bending to another's will. A world of letting herself sink into beautiful oblivion as the property of another that knew exactly how to make all of her greatest dreams come true.

“Excellent.”

Luna once more found herself standing in the summoning chamber. She looked up at Mephistoph and tried to shake the images out of her mind. A strange, reddish glow had surrounded Luna and the demon appeared to be drinking it in.

“Ah, I’d forgotten how intoxicating this is,” He said before taking a step back and wiping his muzzle. “Thank you.”

“Wh…ummphh…uff..” Luna’s muzzle still felt sore from the hose she could have sworn had just been stuffed into it. A thousand impacts on every inch of her body began to fade. The sweet memory of their sting sent a shiver down her spine before they faded to nothing.

“I shall obtain this later.” Mephistoph said, taking Luna’s hand and placing the amulet in it.

There was another flash of red light, the sound of a thousand windows shattering, and the demon was gone. Luna was left standing in the middle of the chamber. She was drenched with sweat. Her mind was filled with such an intense sense of loss that she felt like falling to her knees and weeping. Thankfully, it began to vanish. The visions imparted to her by the demon faded like a waking dream. The knowledge, however, stayed fresh in her mind. Luna stared down at the amulet in her hand and felt the world spin around her before she began to pass out. As darkness took her, Luna wasn’t sure what the demon had been referring to.

It took two full passes through her decontamination spells to finally get most of the demon's scent out of her fur. Her meeting to hand over the amulet was in an hour and she wasn’t leaving anything up to chance. Luna didn’t know much about clerics, but she knew that there was a reason so many of them were canines. If she covered the scent with some perfume or some other fragrance she could hopefully pass without arousing suspicion. The only other issue was the mark left on her stomach.

Luna never would have noticed it if she hadn’t been searching. She’d stepped into her deluxe shower, one of the few luxuries she’d insisted on being built into her new home, and went over her body with a fine tooth comb. The shower was big enough to contain three furs at once and fitted with several shower heads that sprayed from multiple angles. She turned slowly under the rotating shower heads, basking in the cleansing waters, and ran her paws over her ample bulk.

The mark was located near her navel, hidden under a soft crease of fat. When she ran her finger over it she felt a shiver roll up her spine followed by a soft breath on the back of her neck. She turned quickly and found she was still alone. She summoned another illusory copy of herself and knelt down to get a better look. It was a small mark, no bigger than her thumb. This made sense since that’s exactly what it was, a thumb print. It could have been mistaken for a slight discolouration of her fur, but she knew exactly what it was. A demon’s mark of bonding.

At first, she was surprised that Mephistoph even bothered with it. A demon that powerful would need any way to track her. He’d drunk down enough of her own brand of sin that he should have been able to find her no matter where she hid. Not that she had any intention of hiding, of course. She had work to do. The mark was likely a reminder. A way to keep him in her thoughts. He’d coaxed out her deepest desires and pocketed them away for later. Though it was possible he might never come back.

The hand that stroked her soft chin made her fur stand on end. It wasn’t real, of course, just a projection. But it felt real to the heavy wolf. Her muzzle was tilted upwards and, in the swirling steam of the shower, she saw face coalesce. The grinning visage of the goat demon greeted her. She tried to speak but an ethereal hand pressed a finger to her lips. She nodded softly just as another hand stroked over her belly, then another.

A soft moan escaped Luna’s lips as those hands became more substantial. They worked deep into her soft fat, massaging her blubber and kneading it like dough. She felt herself being pulled forward as hands scooped under her soft biceps and rolled them. She skidded across the floor, unable to resist, as more hands cupped her breasts and teased her heavy nipples. She lifted her muzzle to the air and let out a howl born out of pure pleasure which shifted into a thick yelp from the sensation of a paw slapping her heavy ass cheeks.

Water sprayed from those heaving azure mountains as ripples quaked through them. Luna bit her lip as another slap impacted her cheeks, then another. The hands holding her arms traced their way down to her paws and took them firmly, forcing her to bend forward. Luna gasped as she felt something wrap around her neck. A collar? No, she felt the weight of the amulet on her neck. Luna tried to reach for it, but the hands held her firm. Another slap across her backside made her shudder just as she began to expand.

It was a rampant, endless fattening. Her stomach surged under her and slapped the floor while her ass cheeks swelled and roamed out towards the other end of the shower. Her breasts swelled and bounced off the sides of her belly before hitting the tiles. SHe felt her nipples slipping and dragging across each tile, making her wince and moan as her muzzle was slathered with fresh blubber. Her arms were released, letting those bloated flippers slap down to her sides as she steadily inflated. Her blue bulk pressed into the sides of the shower before rising up towards the ceiling. She was nothing but fat. A heavy, swelling balloon of blubber. The amulet became lost in the thick rolls of her chin fat just like a certain shuly. SOmewhere in the depths of her ass fat, a snout snuffled and licked, questing deeper and deeper. She moaned in pure pleasure, feeling a sea of paws rubbing over her body, coaxing her to give in and simply become the blob she was meant to be.

Luna staggered out of the shower, blushing and frazzled. That vision had felt even more real than the others. She needed to get rid of this thing.

She’d just finished stuffing herself back into her jumpsuit, when the doorbell rang. Luna took a moment to check on Elana. The shuly was the same as she always was. The unchanging blimp was being comfortably stuffed while the thaumometers searched for any new readings. Luna had to resist the urge to strip down and join her as unseen hands began to pull some of the treats floating towards Elana towards the wolf before she fled the room.

Luna had originally planned to invite the cleric responsible for transporting the amulet in and try and get them to see things her way. She needed more time to examine the amulet, see if its power could be understood and see if its relationship to Alludra’s magic could be found. However, she no longer believed that. Mephistoph had told her a great deal about Alludra and her magic. Namely, that the magic she wielded might not even be considered magic at all. She just wanted the amulet away from her. Research be damned.

The cleric sent to obtain the relic was sitting patiently in the living room. She looked up when Luna entered.

“Hello, I’m lieutenant Raleigh Gainac. Is everything alright?” The cleric asked. She was shorter than most clerics Luna had met, and somewhat rounder. Luna had assumed there was some form of fitness regimen within the church, judging by the way the new recruits were always running around the grounds whenever Luna passed by. Not that she had any room to talk. The cleric was a canine, a shiba inu, Luna guessed. Her fur was the colour of browned butter and she had a physique that many would generously describe as ample. She filled out the chair she was sitting in and wore the robes of Gloriana. She wore glasses and her hair was pinned back in a smart bob. She had a look of genuine concern on her face. This made sense since Luna was looking a little concerning.

The mages hair was still sopping wet from the shower and damp patches covered her jumpsuit where she hadn’t bothered to dry herself. Her tool belt was unbuckled and clanked loosely. Her hat was sideways and she had a somewhat haunted look on her face.

“Me? No, no, nothing is wrong at all. How about we get you that amulet?” Luna looked around frantically. “Surely they sent more than just one cleric to collect it?”

“It was decided that one would be enough. The thought was so many clerics coming to your doorstep might start to invite suspicion” The cleric said, grunting as she lifted herself out of the chair. Luna watched, transfixed, as the canine's body wobbled and settled around her. How was someone so massive allowed into the church? And why had they sent her to Luna? The shortstack cleric waddled towards her and raised a paw, etching a symbol in the air before Luna could react.

“Have you been interacting with that amulet very much?” The lieutenant asked. “Prolonged exposure to demonic relics can cause some dangerous effects.”

“No, I haven’t.” Luna said, taking a large step back from the symbol the shiba had etched into the air. The light from it was so bright that it hurt her eyes. She turned her face away from the symbol and pulled the brim of her cap down over her eyes. “Just please take it and go!”

Luna made a quick gesture that made the lieutenant react with her own. A properly trained cleric could handle a mage that was acting a little odd, especially if they had been briefed beforehand and came with a variety of anti magic charms hidden about their person. However, this was Luna’s home, her place of power. The lieutenant’s attempt to stun the mage failed as they were both teleported into the summoning chamber.

“There!” Luna shouted, pointing a finger at the amulet that floated in the middle of the summoning circle that had once held her mas..no..Mephistoph. “There it is! Take it!”

The lieutenant watched Luna like a farmer watched a spooked horse.

“It’s alright, Luna,” the cleric said, raising her gloved hand in a calming gesture. “Just take it easy.”

“Take it easy?!” Luna screeched, her muzzle foaming. “I can’t take it easy! I tried to figure it out, don’t you see? I tried to understand what was going on! I wanted to fix it! I wanted to make her better! I wanted to make everyone better! But his words,” Luna shuddered visibly as the events during the summoning washed over her again. “It felt… Oh it felt so goooood! I want iiiiiit! I want it allll!” Luna screamed and ran towards the amulet, her arms outstretched. She was so close to snatching it up and casting herself into that bottomless abyss of pleasure, when something stopped her.

Bands of glowing light wrapped around her harms and legs, holding her in place. Luna let out a strangled howl and turned a gaze familiar to most clerics towards the lieutenant. This look, however, was usually seen on the faces of crazed cultists or possessed villagers, not on professional mages.

Luna twisted one of her hands within the glowing bonds the cleric had cast, and simply tried to summon her death.

Had the spell worked, the lieutenant would have been a smoldering corpse on the floor. Thankfully, she was smart enough to bind the wolf’s muzzle as well. Luna writhed and screamed within her bonds as the cleric moved as fast as her ample body could carry her to the amulet. She produced a small gold coloured bag emblazoned with the sun pattern of Gloriana on it, and draped it over the amulet.

Luna writhed and thrashed at the bonds but they held firm. She thought of spells, such terrible spells. Spells of pain, of torture, of sheer unrelenting misery at the cleric. She wanted her burned to ash, squashed flat, and melted away. She wanted nothing more than the complete annihilation of the one that was robbing her of an eternity of pleasure and desire the likes of which none had ever…

The blessing struck the wolf like a tidal wave. Her mind writhed as the holy energy coursed through her body, scouring away the energy the demon had left behind. Luna’s eyes rolled back into her head as her body felt like it was on fire. One part in particular burned hotter. The thumb print on her stomach flared and erupted into fire as it vanished, torching her jumpsuit.

The cleric gasped as Luna’s body swelled around her, breaking the bonds and causing her to fall onto her backside with a heavy slap. Luna groaned as her body sloshed around her. Her heavy frame glistened with sweat as she slowly came back to herself.

“Consider yourself lucky.” The cleric said as she stuffed the bag into a pouch at her side. “If you had actually grabbed the amulet I would have had to kill you.”

“What…what was that?” Luna asked from her seated position on the floor.

“You were becoming a demon thrall.” Raleigh explained. “What exactly have you been doing with this amulet?”

“I’ve been studying it.” Luna replied.

“A little too closely, it seems.” Raleigh said, waddling over to the naked wolf and poking her side. “How’d you get all this?”

“It’s a long story,” Luna said.

“Well,” the cleric said, crossing her fat arms under her ample chest. “We’ve got lots of time.”

Luna looked at the stern, plump features of the cleric and relented.

“Alright, fine. I summoned the demon that owned the necklace.”

“By Gloriana’s light!” Raleigh exclaimed “What made you think that would be a good idea?!”

“I was desperate!” Luna almost wailed. “You were going to take the amulet back and I was still trying to figure out why she had it! I needed to know where her magic came from!”

“Yes,” Raleigh nodded. “And look where that got you! Can you even imagine the damage that you’d have done if you summoned a strong enough demon to break your containment? They could have run rampant through the city!”

The lengthy pause after that comment caused Raleigh to narrow her eyes. She looked around the summoning chamber. The scent of demonic corruption was thick in the air. She looked at the floor and could see hoof prints scored into the black stone floors. “Luna,” The cleric said slowly. “Who did you summon?”

Luna fidgeted on the floor, avoiding the cleric’s gaze.

“Mmphm.” She mumbled.

“What was that?”

“Mephistoph.”

Things calmed down a bit once they moved to Luna’s workshop and the summoning chamber was collapsed into itself and hurled into limbo. Raleigh had been quite insistent about that. Luna had spared no expense in making the chamber as safe as possible. After her brush with that demon, however, she could see the importance of not taking any chances.

To her credit, Raleigh was understanding of Luna’s situation. Which is why she didn’t immediately turn the mage over to the church high council. Instead, she called for a runner to collect the amulet and bring it back to the church. Only when she received word that it had safely arrived at its destination did she step back into Luna’s home and follow her to the workshop.

Luna, ever practical, had made a second jumpsuit in case the first was destroyed. Once she’d obtained a less ponderous shape, she showed Raleigh the work she’d been doing.

“So you’re the one researching Alludra,” Raleigh said, unable to take her eyes off of the heaving mountain of shuly fat that rumbled contentedly in the middle of the room. Luna had seated herself at her work desk. Like the cleric, she too was staring at Elana.

“Well, it didn’t start out that way,” Luna explained. “At first, I was just trying to figure out how to undo her magic.”

Raleigh laughed and gestured to herself. “Easier said than done.”

“See, that’s what I thought,” Luna replied as she dug through the notes on her desk. “But then you showed up! You! The only victim of Alludra’s to make it out unscathed. Well, virtually unscathed.”

“I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you, Luna,” Raleigh replied. “But the only reason I was able to make it out was because the final ritual was stopped.”

Luna could have strangled every single cleric in that damned church, present company excluded of course. This was the first she’d heard of this.

“What ritual?” Luna asked, leaping from her chair. “You’ve got to tell me!”

“I don’t know what it was,” Raleigh said, throwing her paws in front of her. “And I never want to find out.”

Luna finally noticed the look on the cleric's face ever since she saw Elana. The full extent of Alludra’s power was something the wolf had gotten used to. For someone who had escaped a similar fate, it must have been a tad traumatizing.

“Sorry, sorry,” Luna said. “But, I feel like I’m getting closer! Any information you give me might make the demon’s info more-”

“Do not trust anything Mephistoph says!” Raleigh said severely. For a moment she had the same fierce look on her face as the high captain. “He’s claimed countless souls and he almost claimed yours! You have to treat everything he told you as a lie.”

The only sound in the room was the soft rumbles emanating from the blob behind them. Finally, Luna looked up at the cleric.

“He was right about you.” She said, “He told me there was one that knew about Alludra’s magic and about her patron.”

Raleigh’s eyes darted to the side for a fraction of a second, but it was enough to tell Luna all she needed to know. “Who is her patron, Raleigh? The notes said one of Alludra's kobold servants escaped with you, but there’s no record of her interview or even where she is. Do they know something?”

“Ruby is…” Raleigh muttered. The cleric was starting to give in, Luna could sense it.

“Is the church worried about what might happen if word gets out? Do they not want anyone to know about Alludra’s powers?”

“What you’re asking could get you imprisoned!” Raleigh replied. “They only started letting me out of the church grounds a year ago. Ruby’s been whisked away somewhere. The other kobolds would never betray their mistress, but Ruby? She was the only reason I managed to escape. The church is terrified she might say something.”

“Raleigh,” Luna said, gesturing to Elana. The enormous blob was snoring thunderously, sending wobbles through her sloshing bulk. “Look at her. She’s one of hundreds of victims of Alludra. We might have a chance at curing them all. If I can just figure out the nature of the magic being used.”

Raleigh looked from Luna to Elana. Her brow furrowed as she wrestled with her duty to uphold the laws and rules of the church, and her sworn duty to protect the innocent.

“I can tell you what I know,” Raleigh said finally. “But it won’t be much.”

“Every little bit helps, trust me.” Luna replied.

Raleigh pulled a chair over and sat across from Luna. “Alright then. When we fled the mountain, Ruby and I activated a teleportation circle.”

“What symbols did it have on it?” Luna asked. She got up from her seat and ran for a book on one of her shelves. “Was it any of these?”

“I couldn’t see them,” Raleigh said, pushing the open book out of her face. “I was about the size of her, at the time.”

“Right, but you still had all your whits about you?”

“Yeah. Ruby fed me some sort of potion. It kept me lucid and fended off the effects of the mountain.”

“What effects?” Luna was already scribbling notes.

“I don’t know, exactly.” Raleigh went on. “It was like just being in Alludra’s lair made you want to get fatter. It didn’t affect her servants, but it sure as hell affected me.”

“Okay, okay.” Luna said, still writing notes. “So after you stepped through the portal, what happened?”

“There wasn’t a portal,” Raleigh continued. “Ruby said something about the circle not being set to any one location. But anywhere was better than there. So she activated it and we left.”

Luna set down her pen and it was her turn to look serious.“No, that’s not possible.”

“I’m telling you that’s what happened.”

“No, it can’t have been,” Luna replied. “A teleportation circle can’t just be turned on like an oil lamp. It’s a complex series of equations and spells all working together so your body doesn’t get smeared across reality when you activate it.”

“Look, you asked me and I’m telling you. That’s what happened.”

“Alright, alright,” Luna said, going back to her notes. “Supposing the teleportation circle had been recently used, or maybe Alludra had it all ready for a journey, activating it for a blind jump is suicide.”

“I guess we were just lucky.” Raleigh said with a shrug.

Luna shook her head. “No, I don’t mean that it's likely to be suicide. I mean it actually IS suicide. An blind teleportation doesn’t send you anywhere. It removes you from reality. Poof, pop, bang. You no longer exist.” She noticed Raleigh’s expression and changed her tone. “So, you did this blind jump. What happened next?”

“Well. We ended up in some sort of void.”

“Okay, that makes sense.” Luna said. “But being alive doesn’t. What happened?”

This seemed to be the bit of information that Raleigh was dreading. The clerical leaned back in her chair and for a moment it seemed like she wasn’t going to speak.

“I met someone.”

“Was it your deity?” Luna asked. Divine intervention seemed like the only probable way Raleigh and Ruby could have survived.

“No. It was someone else.” Raleigh replied. “He… He said his name was Mr. Moon. He said he was drawn to our predicament. He also said that Ruby teleporting blindly was dumb.”

“Sounds like a smart guy.” Luna chuckled. “What did he look like?”

“He wore a dark suit. His face was a skull. He was pretty nice, all things considered. He said all he could do was offer what he had. He asked me where we wanted to go and I told him I wanted to go home and he sent us there.”

“What, just delivered you out of the void between reality? Just like that?”

Raleigh snapped her plump fingers. “Just like that. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in a hospital bed and being put on a strict diet. Ruby and I were together for a week before she was taken somewhere. I never saw her after that.”

“I’m sorry.” Luna replied. It was clear that Raleigh had formed a strong bond with the kobold that saved her. For whatever reason, the church had decided to keep the whole thing under wraps.

“Mr. Moon,” Luna said after a few moments of silence. “Was he a god?”

“I asked him the same thing,” Raleigh said, smiling weakly. “He said he was something more.”

Something more. Not a god, not a demon, but a being other than those. A being powerful enough to pluck someone out of the void after teleporting themselves into it. Not even a god could reconstitute someone who had done that. They would have simply ceased to be. Yet this being had not only found Raleigh and Ruby, but taken them out of the void and sent them home. That was, of course, if all of this was to be believed. Of course Luna believed it.

“That’s her patron!” Luna shouted, slapping her paw down on the table. “That has to have been her patron!”

“Are you sure?” Raleigh asked. “He didn’t seem like the type. I mean, why would he help Alludra?”

“Didn’t you say he offered what he had?” Luna said. She was out of her chair now and pacing in front of Elana. “What if she’d asked him for something as well? What if you just had to contact him to get what you wanted?”

Luna’s mind had begun to race. Only a few hours ago she’d been almost snapped up by a demon thought to have vanished from reality. Now she was uncovering the possible existence of a being of unimaginable power.

“Luna,” Raleigh said, climbing to her feet. “Luna, what does any of this have to do with finding a cure?”

“Knowing the source of a magic is halfway to figuring out how to counter it.” Luna said, almost tripping over one of the mana crystals still sitting in front of Elana. “I need to find out all I can about this Mr. Moon.”

“I hate to disappoint you there, Luna.” Raleigh said. “But there isn’t much. I looked into it myself and couldn’t find a single scrap of information.”

“With all due respect,” Luna said as diplomatically as she could. “The Arcanum libraries in Milliquord are a bit more robust than any chapels.”

Raleigh couldn’t help but roll her eyes. The rivalry between divine and arcane magics was still as strong as ever. “Then I wish you good luck. I’ve told you enough to get me excommunicated a couple times over. It’s time for me to go.”

“Don’t worry,” Luna said, following the cleric to the door. “I won’t tell a single soul about this. I’m doing this to find a cure, remember.”

“I remember,” Raleigh said, levelling a serious look on the wolf. This was made all the harder by the wolf having well over a foot of height on the shiba. “I’m trusting you with this information. By all rights I should have you brought into the church just to ensure that demon doesn’t hold any sway over you.”

Luna raised a paw to her heart. “You have my word as a mage of Millquord that I shall not divulge anything you told me. The work I’m doing is for the good of those afflicted by Alludra’s magic.”

That seemed to be good enough for Raleigh. She gave one last nod and Luna transported her back outside. Once she was gone, Luna went back to her notes. She had so much to go over. If what Mephistoph had said about Raleigh had been correct then what he’d said about the crystals might also have been true. Was it possible that the means to charge them was still right under her nose?

She scanned her notes again and her eyes landed on what Raleigh had said about Alludra’s lair. She’d said the mountain itself had felt like it was trying to make her and everyone else fatter.

It was time for another trip to the library.

Of all the ways to ensure a steady supply of magic, building your home or tower upon a point of arcane power was the easiest. A lot of people assumed that wizards built their homes far away from everyone else because wizards and mages were notoriously reclusive. While it was true that the study of magic naturally attracted those with little desire to be social, there were still plenty of mages that enjoyed society. The city of Milliquord was a prime example of this. Still, some lone towers and workshops were built not out of a desire to be left alone, but a desire for an abundant source of energy.

Building a tower upon a leyline was usually the most efficient path towards a steady source of magic. Luna couldn’t get what Raleigh had said about the dragon’s lair out of her mind. If the stone itself felt like it was radiating the magic Alludra used to fatten up her trophies, then it must have been built upon an incredibly powerful leyline.

It only took an hour for her request to be processed at the Library Arcanum. Usually Luna had to wait a couple days for a reply. The library was under constant assault by mages making requests. It was also operating several campaigns to try and retrieve some of the costlier tomes that certain mages didn’t want to give back right away. Luna, she had to admit, was guilty of this from time to time.

The one of the books Luna requested was an original copy written by an archmage some five centuries ago. The author was an undead wolf who had been considered to be one of the most powerful wizards alive. His works outlined various geological formations that could aid in the concentration of magical energies. It was as dry as any magical treatise could possibly be, but it was enlightening.

As she read the book, Luna pulled up all the notes and writings she had about Alludra’s lair. The dragon had set up shop in a mountain rage known as the Last Horizon. The range stretched almost the entire length of the continent from east to west, separating the south from the frozen wastes of the north. It was a perfect place for a dragon to hide.

Luna pulled out a few sketches taken of Alludra’s particular mountain and checked it against some of the drawings in the archmage's work. Sure enough, Alludra’s lair matched perfectly with a high peaked, imposing mountain the old mage had written about. No wonder Alludra had chosen that peak. It would have pulled mana out of the ground like an oil derrick. The shape of the mountain peak ensured that the mana that was obtained would cycle back down into the mountain thus ensuring a near constant supply of magic. It was brilliant!

There was just one problem. Luna couldn’t find a single graph or calculation that suggested there was a leyline in the area. The Last Horizon had a number of minor ley lines running through it, but nothing big enough to support what Alludra was doing. The strongest source of magic in the area was further north. Beyond that, only the aurora from the north pole would have been sufficient, but that couldn’t have been possible.

Alludra’s mountain was a tall, imposing spire of rock that housed an active volcano. If she had been seeking to use the aurora as a source, then the mountain peak would have to have been shaped like a massive bowl. To channel the power of the magma below, the mountain would have had to be missing its top to allow the heat to rise and fill the sky around it. By all laws of magic, Alludra’s mountain lair shouldn’t have been able to channel enough mana to pull a rabbit out of a hat. Yet, She’d managed to collect a hoard of nearly five hundred souls bound in a perpetual state of obesity that the most learned healers couldn’t cure.

Luna sat back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. This was getting her nowhere. Time and time again she came back to the same conclusion. Alludra was defying the accepted laws of magic. This was clearly due to her patron. This Mr. Moon had been supplying her with the power she needed. But, if that was the case, then why was she cycling the power back into the mountain?

The most obvious answer was to not draw attention to herself. All that mana just emanating from the top of the mountain would have been picked up by even the dinkiest of magical monitoring tools. Milliquord’s Archaenometer would have gone off like a fireworks display and she would have been found ages ago. The only other answer was that Alludra needed to make use of all the power she had. Could that mean that this Mr. Moon wasn’t actually her patron? What if she was taking the power by force?

Dragons didn't usually have masters or patrons. Their personalities tended to make it difficult for them to consider someone else their superior. Given that she was willing to risk the ire of Mephistoph proved that Alludra had no respect for powerful beings. If she was willing to use a piece of a demon lord's essence as a trap for her lair then what else was she using? There was really only one way to be sure. Luna would have to go to the Last Horizon.

An expedition of such size and scope would normally take weeks to prepare. And that was if Luna was just planning a research expedition to an area not currently under the control of the church. Getting permission to launch an expedition would take months and there was no guarantee that they would even allow her to go. No, If Luna was going to do this she'd have to ask for forgiveness later. She was already doing this research for the church, and Alludra’s mountain surely fell within the realm of that research. So really, if you thought about it, she already has permission.

Luna grabbed a piece of paper and paced back and forth in front of Elana, scribbling down notes. She did a few more passes before looking at the blobbified Elana. The Shuly has been a calming presence ever since coming into her life. There was something just so warm and inviting about her. Luna ran a paw over Elana's enormous belly and watched her fingers vanish into that soft, yielding blubber. A growling moan rumbled out of the shuly as she was rubbed. A deep and sudden urge began to creep into Luna as she looked over Elana’s massive frame. She looked around the room, said fuck it, and unzipped her jumpsuit.

The sensation of her true girth rolling free always sent shivers up Luna’s spine. The way her stomach rolled out in an avalanche to slap onto her massive thighs. The way her breasts unfurled as though they’d been held back in the world's tightest bra. Thick rolls of back fat piled onto her ass cheeks as her tail wagged and swished. It was like taking off a pair of workboots after a long day. She pulled her hat down over her eyes before planting her massive backside plum in the middle of the shuly’s belly.

The impact of her rear on that belly sent waves through both of them. Elana moaned softly as the ripples quaked around her body and back into Luna. The wolf let out a soft growl of pleasure as she stretched her arms out and buried them into the thick folds of that belly. It was the softest bed around, surely. Luna sighed as her naked fur mingled with the shuly’s soft, vanilla scented blubber. It was so nice to just relax for a moment. She pulled the brim down over her eyes and scooched herself up high, taking her feet off the floor as she gently wobbled and sloshed atop that sea of a belly. The list could wait.

Luna laid there for almost two hours. She drifted in and out of a doze, letting herself be carried off by the gentle sounds of Elana snacking or being rubbed by errant ethereal servants. Luna stared up at the ceiling, enjoying the gentle click and whirr of the complicated magical devices above her. Each one perfectly constructed and aligned by masters of their craft. It had taken Luna months to get them installed properly and even longer to get them calibrated. They were one of the best tools in her arsenal, yet they failed to find the deeper mysteries of the magics that Alludra held. It was a wonder why she still bothered to keep them on at all? Their constant scans and readings would be burning through mana crystals. Mana crystals she couldn’t afford to waste.

A thought began to creep into Luna’s mind as she stared at those gears and mechanisms. Replacing mana crystals was an almost weekly occurrence on those devices, less than that if they were running all the time. How many times had she actually replaced them since starting this project? She preferred to do it herself since it meant less chance for her servant spells to disrupt the magic tare that each device was set to. So when was the last time she’d done it?

Luna sat up, forcing a burp out of Elana, and looked at the mana crystals on the floor. They were all humming along just as they always were. Each one glowed a dull bluish purple. Around the base of each of the crystals was a small glass tube etched with lines to indicate how much mana each one had. All of the ones that Luna could see were still full. She heaved herself off of Elana and shuffled towards one of the crystals and picked it up. Sure enough, it was still full. Luna began to do some quick math in her head.

Millicent had taken her full supply of crystals, and she’d asked for a box from the church. That box had only been used after that one batch had burst after she’d freed the amulet from Elana’s folds. The crystal Luna was holding in her paws should have burned out by now, yet it was still completely full. She looked over her shoulder at Elana and cast a spell. It wasn’t anything complex, she simply moved some furniture. Anyone outside on the street would have seen an entire living room set appear above her house, float there for five seconds, and then vanish. She burned extra mana to compensate for the movements just to be sure.

The level within the crystal was lower than it was before. Luna’s shoulders slumped. She’d been so busy lately it only made sense that she’d lose track of things. Replacing crystals had become second nature to her. It made sense that she’d forget that she was doing it. Still, it was involved enough that she should remember. She was about to set down the crystal when she caught the scent of something. Luna watched as several servant hands floated in carrying a box of treats from Roxy’s bakery. Instantly her stomach began to growl. Elana’s did as well. The shuly rose from her slumber and let out a delighted growl as a fat cream horn was pressed into her maw. The sounds of chomping and delighted feasting filled the air. Luna couldn’t help but smile at just how much joy Elana took in her feedings.

“Might as well have one myself.” Luna said. She was just about to put down the crystal when she noticed the gauge on the side. The gauge which was now slowly filling back up. It was slow, almost imperceptible, but it actually was.

Luna grabbed for another crystal and ran over to her work desk. She grabbed at the pile of thaumoturgical data the monitoring equipment had been pumping out and checked the readings. The only spike in the past has been the demonic energy radiating out of the amulet. Beyond that there were no spikes.

Something has been recharging the crystals this entire time. Luna looked back at Elana who was still being fed. The excess weight and energy she should have been radiating had to be going somewhere.

The mana crystals were a leftover part of the city of Mephiston. A city ruled by a demon whose focus was gluttony. Devils and demons used sin energy all the time but that was because of their mutable nature. Their forms and planes were built around the nature of soul energy. Soul energy couldn't be used to charge mana crystals since it was too unstable. The crystals couldn't hold that kind of charge anymore.

If Elana were releasing that excess energy then the thaumometers would have picked it up. There was no other explanation.

Unless, Luna thought with a dismissive chuckle, the energy was completely neutral.

There was a long moment where Luna didn't dare speak. She turned back towards the Shuly and stared in disbelief.

Magic always had a cost. Even the smallest spell required some of the casters mana. It was why no spell could ever be truly self sustaining. No spell save for the ones that Alludra was using. But that was insane. It wasn't possible. What was being described was essentially arcane fusion.

Arcane fusion was fantasy, a pipe dream. A clean, unending supply of mana? It couldn't be done. But Luna’s equipment had been running for weeks with the same set of mana crystals that Elana’s gluttony had been sustaining. The knowledge Alludra had been given, stolen, or bargained for, had allowed her to find a way to convert her trophy's gluttony into pure magical energy. Alludra had perfected Lipomancy.

There were all sorts of magics that used resources taken from the body. Necromancy was the most well known. It was frowned upon for the obvious fact that it required corpses to make it work. Blood magic was another, but that too required vast quantities of blood for it to be viable. In all instances of magic derived from a physical source, it required the death or misery of something to make it work. Lipomancy could work in theory, but the toll on the body would be immense. Burning fat for magic required complete control over the magic in question. A runaway spell could kill the user just as easily as blood magic. It would also have required a source that could be maintained and harvested with minimal threat to the source.

All of Alludra’s trophies existed in the same food addled haze. Their minds were turned to love and adore the shape they’d been given. The few trophies that still had the ability to string words together merely asked for more food or moaned about how much they loved being fattened by their mistress. That act of adoration towards their own bodies might have actually been maintaining the spell's power. It wasn’t just being fat that was the source of the excess mana. It was the love of it. The sheer hedonistic pleasure of being fat was making a feedback loop. Her trophies adored being fat and in turn that adoration kept them fat.

Why else would Alludra have chosen that mountain as her lair? Raleigh had said the place radiated the sensation of gluttony. The entire mountain was shaped to catch and redirect the magic that radiated off of Alludra’s trophies back onto themselves and perpetuate the desire to stay enormous and to love every minute of it. No, not just trophies, Luna realized, batteries. Nearly five hundred batteries formed and shaped for the purpose of giving her an unlimited source of arcane power. No wonder the forces that assaulted her lair had been unable to capture her. With that much power at her fingertips, Alludra would have been unstoppable.

But why allow her lair to be assaulted in the first place? If her trophies were a sustainable source of power then why not just destroy the invaders in one fell swoop?

The answer was so simple that Luna almost didn't believe it. Alludra adored gluttony and decadence. She had an entire army of kobolds and servants devoted to crafting her prisoners into perfect mountains of pampered fat. If she were to start using them as batteries they would lose weight. For Alludra, letting her trophies be captured and having her lair ransacked was preferable to letting a single one of them lose even an ounce by her own hand. Her spells were built around a concept that few mages had ever considered or been successful at attempting. Who was going to be able to work out how she was doing it?

Luna allowed herself a brief moment of triumph. She’d cracked the nature of the magic surrounding Elana. Alludra was using a self perpetuating spell that could maintain itself so long as the subject desired to be a decadent jewel in the dragon’s hoard. Not only that, but her trophies provided her with all the magic she could ever need. But there was a weak point that Luna could see. The whole thing only worked so long as all her collected trophies enjoyed it.

Clerics and healers had tried endlessly to break the spell that had been clouding the minds of Alludra’s victims, but to no avail. The constant radiating gluttony that suffused the entire mountain would have been slowly beating down even the strongest of wills. Add to that each one being treated like a queen in their own right and their minds would succumb, not to any spell, but simply to the pleasure of it all. Raleigh must have lasted longer due to her training and sense of duty, but even she would have broken if it hadn’t been for Ruby the kobold’s help. The spell couldn’t be broken because each and every one of them wanted to be that way.

How do you convince someone who’s discovered paradise that they don’t want it? Dieting didn’t work. Elana had been on a strict diet ever since she’d been saved and hadn’t lost an ounce and indulging her had no effect either. The only other option that Luna could see was if the balance of magical energy within Elana was thrown off. Draw too much power out of the shuly, syphon off the magic stored inside of her and slim her down. In theory, that would cause the fusion reaction to lose its efficiency. No matter how much Elana adored being fat, there wouldn’t be enough mana within her to continue the reaction and it would stop. But that would require Luna knowing the spell to properly draw the mana out of Elana in a way that didn’t potentially kill her or cause the spell to cascade in the other direction. An improperly cast spell could mean the entire city was buried under Mount Shuly. There was only one place she could potentially find the answers she needed.

The Last Horizon.

All across Milliquord, mages began to get worried. The supply of mana crystals was getting perilously low. By general consensus all spell research had been put on hold until the crisis was averted. By now, the Archenometer’s results had been made known to the arcane community. Something very powerful was building up and focusing its attention on Milliquord. All available mana crystals were brought to the cities shield defense system as a matter of public safety. A network of metallic orbs the size of a house lined the entire perimeter of the city walls. In times of need they could be activated to create a shield around Milliquord.

The shield had only been used twice in the city’s history, and both of those times were simply to test that it was still working properly. Now, however, it seemed the system would be required to defend against whatever was brewing. Everyone within the city held their breath, and waited.

The Last Horizon was every bit as awful as Luna had expected it to be. The mountain range was an imposing wall of jagged spires and rough, nigh unconquerable peaks. Nothing short of the hardiest creatures dared to live there. It was the perfect place for a dragon to stash her hoard.

The notes from the expedition force that ousted Alludra from her lair said they had set up a series of base camps that led past the false paths of the dragon’s lair and up into the true entrance. The ascent would have been perilous and taken days even for an expert mountaineer. Luna had keyed in a teleportation spell based off of the coordinates in the notes and appeared in a flash of white light just outside of the entrance.

The entrance to Alludra’s lair wasn’t anything she’d expected. The entrance was a large cave mouth that had, as far as Luna could see, had been done up to resemble the entrance to a charming bistro. A wooden facade set with quaint windows and a small patio had been wedged into the cavern entrance. It was more than enough to put any experienced adventurer on edge. This was a dragon that not only didn’t fear invaders, but seemed to want them to try their luck.

Luna had no desire to take unnecessary risks and had come prepared. She carried her full toolbelt fitted with wands, one use spell flares, and several prepared bug out enchantments that would go off the moment any antimagic effects were detected. She would have preferred a full month to prepare such an expedition, but Luna had started to sense that something was brewing on the horizon. The shortage of mana crystals was a big red flag. Luna had a sixth sense for these sorts of things. She made a mental note to check out the recent readings from the Archaenometer once she got back.

The lack of any sort of guards at the entrance of Alludra’s lair was the first red flag. While the dragon had been chased off that was no guarantee that she wouldn’t be back. The Church of Gloriana had overseen the capture of the mountain but didn’t have the resources to handle the transport and care of Alludra’s victims and cover guarding the mountain. The answer, Luna suspected, was to leave it to mercenaries.

A mountain sitting on the very edge of the world surrounded by a grueling week-long journey up some of the most inhospitable terrain on the continent was more than enough defense, surely? What mercenary company would deploy a full garrison to protect an abandoned dragon lair? The gold was gone and so was the dragon. Why not just pocket the fee from the surrounding nations? If anyone asked they had their best soldiers manning the gates. Luna waltzed through the unlocked front door without a second glance.

Alludra had employed her kobolds well when it came to her lair’s design. The entrance gave way to a massive cavern with a single staircase leading deeper into the mountain. Already Luna could see evidence of the traps that the dragon used. Portions of the steps were melted by lava and acid, while others were covered in spikes and shards of crystal that looked as if they had exploded off of the walls. She tried not to think about how many people had been taken out just trying to mount these steps. She tugged on the brim of her cap and activated a true sight spell. She wasn’t going to be the one that found any of the traps that were missed.

The main entrance gave way to a twisting network of passages that honeycombed into the mountain. Luna would have been hopelessly lost if it weren’t for the marks that had been etched onto the walls. Whoever had been delving into the mountain knew enough to leave a path for others to follow. Plus, the scorch marks and darts embedded into the wall made their progress easy to plot out.

Luna’s path took her deeper and deeper into the mountain. She took stairs that led down into large open chambers with numerous paths to choose from, some of which must have doubled back on themselves. She travelled up spiral caves that seemed to rival the towers of Millquord in their size. Sweat was already showing on the wolf’s brow as she pressed on deeper. The jumpsuit she wore was making it easier to move, but it didn’t reduce the weight she was carrying. Walking up a dozen flights of stairs was taxing whatever stamina that the wolf had. But, Luna knew that the dragon’s true lair would be deep in the heart of the mountain. She had to keep going.

Passages and corridors all melded together as Luna continued her search. She passed more trap ravaged corridors, ignoring reddish stains on the stone as she went. There had to be a chamber deep inside of this mountain. Some hidden recess Alludra used for her spells. All of the magic she used had to come from some point. It all had to have a beginning. Luna had to find it.

After what seemed like hours, Luna stopped for a break. Even with the few meagre spells she’d had on hand to bolster stamina, she had hit her limit. She found herself in a passage lined with doors and chose one at random. When she pushed the door open she found what appeared to be a room in an inn. It was fitted with two of the largest, softest beds Luna had ever seen. A torch hung above both beds and above two of the fattest furs Luna had ever seen.

The first was a black mare that was nearly spherical. The heaving mountain of mare flesh was groaning and panting while a yellow scaled kobold pushed chunks of cake into her bloated muzzle. In the other bed lay a vixen who had been fattened into a mountain of thick folds that spilled over the bed like the words softest stack of pancakes. Like the mare, she too had a kobold attending her. The blue kobold was holding a large icing bag over the vixen's head. The vixen had a look of exhaustion on her face as she was forced to guzzle down the icing. The mare looked about ready to pass out. The two kobolds froze, mid stuffing, to stare at Luna.

In that prolonged silence, Luna picked up some details of the room. She saw scraps of armor on the floor and picked out a few markings. The mare was a captain and the vixen a sergeant. The symbols told Luna they were members of the Red Keel, a mercenary group that had been hired to help assault the mountain.

One of the kobolds regained her wits enough to point a finger at Luna, but got no farther. Luna, as exhausted as she was, was still a mage. She etched a symbol into the air and both kobolds found themselves encased in bubbles. The lizards squeaked and flailed about as they floated harmlessly into the air. With them dealt with, Luna turned her attention to the mare.

“Germphh!” the swollen equine groaned. “Mmrrpph..get me..mmpphhoutta here!”

“Yeahmmhph!” the vixen belched out. “Urrarrppmphhh…help usmmhp!!”

“Calm down,” Luna said, stepping over to the mare “What’s going on here?”

“What the hellmph…do you think?!” The mare grunted, her once burly figure lost in the swell of her stomach that dominated her figure and now pinned her to the bed. “Thaturrrmpph…that damn dragon is backuurrrrp!”

Luna cursed under her breath as she dug into her toolbag. Alludra was back, which meant a ton of very bad things. The first of which was that the dragon had eliminated whatever guards had been left here, by the looks of things. The second was that finding the source of the dragon’s spells was going to be much harder if she was around. It would be even trickier with kobolds running around.

“What are you doing?!” the vixen groaned as Luna pulled a thaumometer out of her bag and pointed it at the bloated vulpine.

“I need to find the source of this.” Luna said, waving the wand over the squirming sergeant's body. “Just let me get a measurement.”

“You need to get usmmph..out of here!” the mare shouted. Luna ignored their grunts and complaints as she adjusted the magical device. It had been difficult to find any sort of magic radiating off of Elana but that was because the spells had been finished. The shuly had been a perfected trophy. These two, however, were anything but. Whatever sculpting Alludra had planned to do was likely going to be done later. They were bloated lumps of clay just waiting for someone to sculpt them. It meant she could key in the specific magics being used on them. It also meant they still had their wits about them.

“Where is Alludra right now?” Luna asked.

“Get us out of here!” the vixen groaned, her bloated paws flailing helplessly in her sloshing immobile form.

“I will,” Luna hissed. “Just tell me where her sanctum is!”

“It’s three levels urrrrp…. Down.” The mare belched out. “Just go towards the warmth. Now get us out of here!”

Luna hooked the thaumometer onto her belt and tugged a pale blue rod off her belt. She cracked it in her paws and let go. The rod floated into the air in front of her and began to glow white. She weaved her paws around it, channeling the magic inside of it and tossing it towards the two groaning figures. It was one of her more potent bug out spells, but she had a feeling anything less wasn’t going to work. The two blimps were enveloped in white light and vanished with a pop. They’d find themselves in the infirmary at a Gloriana chapel where they would at least be looked after. With them gone, Luna turned her attention towards the kobolds.

“What’s your mistress up to?” She asked, pointing the thaumometer at the yellow kobold who let out a terrified squeak when she saw the device pointed at her.

“I don’t know!” she wailed. “I was just told to feed them! Don’t hurt meee!”

“Where is she right now?” Luna asked the other one, brandishing the rod like a weapon.

“She’s working on her spell! Her spell to get her trophies back!” the blue kobold moaned. The speed at which they had caved in threw Luna off balance.

“Alright. Is there a secret passage into her chamber?”

“We can’t tell you that!” The yellow one squeaked. “Mistress would be furious!”

“She’s already going to be furious for letting more trophies get away.” Luna counted. The full impact of that statement settled on the pair and they began to sob and weep to the point where Luna began to feel a little sorry for them.

“But if you tell me the answer,” Luna went on. “I’ll be sure to tell her I caught you both by surprise using magic.”

“Sniff…you mean it?” The blue kobold said, her words interspersed with sobs.

“I promise,” Luna said, crossing her heart.

“There’s a secret entrance a floor down from the mistress’ chamber,” The yellow kobold sniffled. “You just have to tap on the third stone down three times.”

“Thank you,” Luna said. Then, because she didn’t want them alerting anyone, Luna cast a quick sleep spell on the pair. She lowered the bubbles down, letting them pop, and deposited the two snoozing minions on the beds before she gently closed the door.

Exhaustion be damned, Luna didn’t have much time. Alludra was back, and working on some sort of spell. Even with the mountain no longer pumping out magic, there still had to be plenty of magical energy left lying around for her to cast a spell large enough to get her trophies back.

That idea alone made Luna run as fast as she could. A mass teleportation spell like that would require an insane amount of mana. No, that wouldn’t work. All the mana in the world wouldn’t allow someone to pluck nearly five hundred souls across an entire continent all at once. You would have to use a portal. A portal could draw in specific targets into it. Make it powerful enough and it would tear buildings apart to draw the target out. A portal that big would have to cover the entire area the targets occupied. Most of Alludra’s victims were in Milliquord, a city currently suffering from a massive shortage of mana crystals. Mana crystals that were needed for powerful, long running spells.

Spells like the city defense system.

Luna let out a stream of curses and ran faster.

The path to Alludra’s inner sanctum was more twisting corridors. Only now Luna could see the remains of battle had been mostly scoured away. Rock that was once scorched with fire or melted had been carefully chipped away. Sections of walls were in various states of repair. Alludra must have had something big in mind if she was going to settle right back in so soon after being ousted. Luna ignored the burning in her muscles as she clambered up stairs and around corners. The thaumometer in her paw continued to blink faster and faster as she progressed into the depths of the mountain. Whatever other kobolds were around must have been busy as Luna didn’t spot anymore. The ones she’d met before were busy stuffing captives. Who’s to say the other rooms weren’t full of the same? Luna didn’t have time to save them all. She could only hope to stop whatever was happening and send help later.

Finally, the stone corridors curved sharply to the left. Luna could see a glow cast on the carved obsidian walls. The thaumometer in her hand began to vibrate and sputter as the gem on the tip of it started to melt. Luna dropped the device to the floor and watched the metal bubble and sizzle on the stone. This had to be it.

The instructions that the kobolds had given were likely to have been intentionally vague. Terrified as they were, they weren’t keen on betraying their mistress. Which is where Luna’s true sight spell came into play. She scanned the wall and found a single stone among the various jagged protrusions on the wall that glowed softly. She tapped the stone three times and the wall shifted to reveal a passageway. Luna bent her head as she was forced to squeeze through the small and actually quite narrow secret passage. Her wide rear pressed against the sides of the entrance but she managed to get inside.

The secret entrance felt like an oven. Kobolds were like dragons in that they were resistant to heat. Luna, however, was not so lucky. Even after popping a resistance spell the air was nearly intolerable. She was soon panting as she crawled along on all fours, her breasts pressed in around her arms as her backside was squeezed by the walls of the passage. She began to worry that the kobolds had lured her into a trap, but thankfully she wasn’t that unlucky. There was that same glow from the previous passage around a corner. Luna crawled on her paws and knees, feeling squeezed every inch along the way, before finally coming to a small metal grate that looked into what could only have been the dragon’s true sanctum.

What did a dragon’s inner sanctum look like? Luna had read plenty of descriptions of them. Some were vast caverns full of gold and treasures, others were shaped like cathedrals filled with art and priceless antiques. Whatever the shape and occupying treasure, one aspect was always the same. A dragon’s lair inspired awe and amazement in all who observed it. Luna peered through the metal opening and gasped in amazement at what she saw.

Alludra’s true sanctum was a massive circular chamber that must have, before its sacking, been filled with furniture and artwork stolen from palaces across the world. The room had the feel of a set of apartments owned by an empress. There were sections carved out of the walls that would have fit a vanity or any number of wardrobes. Several sections of the floor had been raised and carved into ornate podiums that would have carried whichever trophies the dragon had wanted to admire, with the largest podium sitting in the middle of the room. A podium that was occupied with the fattest thing that Luna had ever seen.

Elana was a twig compared to the heaving mass of blubber that filled the centre of the room. Red and yellow scales adorned the churning blob as kobolds moved around it, climbing ladders up to a head that sat at the top of that two story mountain of scaled lard. Dozens of kobolds rushed about the blob like ants. Some pushed empty carts out while others hauled full ones towards the ladders that were set against the side of the blob.

Was this Alludra? Had the dragon transformed herself into a blob in order to cast her spell? Luna craned her neck to try and get a better look around the room. She twisted her head to see up past the mass of groaning blubber and saw something else that took her breath away. Above the blob, lining the high cavern walls in their thousands, were mana crystals.

The shipment of mana crystals that had been lost at sea had in fact been stolen by Alludra. The crystals glowed and pulsed as energy coursed through them. Enough energy to level a city, or to craft a portal spell and overwhelm Milliquord’s defenses.

“How are we doing, my dears?” A deep, powerful voice asked, filling the room and Luna’s heart with dread. Instant the kobolds began to rush faster as from around the side of that mountain of fat, stepped Alludra.

The dragon towered over the kobolds like a queen with her servants. The dragon was enormous, easily nine feet tall of pure draconic corpulence. Her body was dominated by her immense hips, her heavy belly, and her enormous breasts. She had red and yellow scales covered in black and white tattoos that Luna recognized immediately as quick casting spells of various power and utility. The dragon’s black horns were adorned with gold rings and her neck was draped with gold chains and amulets. Her yellow eyes watched the scampering kobolds with the experience of a foreman.

“Keep feeding, my pets.” She said, pressing a hand into the side of that sloshing red blob. “Or you shall be joining Ruby here.”

Ruby, that was the kobold that had helped Raleigh escape. The church hadn’t sent her anywhere. She’d been recaptured by Alludra and was the focus for whatever spell the dragon was casting. How could they have just left Ruby to her fate? Why didn’t they tell Raleigh? Because she’d have gone after her, Luna reasoned. Either that or they assumed she’d just run off on her own. All the other kobolds had an undying loyalty to their mistress, Luna thought bitterly. Why would Ruby be any different?

As Alludra walked through the swarm of kobolds, Luna pondered her next move. Up to that point, Luna had been putting off what she was going to do if she ran into Alludra. Well, now was her chance to finally think of something. The first thought that came to mind was to detonate the crystals. As stable as they were, mana crystals could still be made unstable. There were enough crystals in that chamber to obliterate the entire Last Horizon mountain range. Okay, Luna thought to herself, I’ll file that as a last resort.

Luna continued to run through the various options in her head. A direct assault would be suicide. Even if she was psychotic enough to try and carve through swathes of kobolds with magic she’d be overwhelmed by sheer numbers alone. Perhaps she could just wait until Alludra left the chamber? The dragon wasn’t going to just hang around all the time, was she?

Luna was still pondering what to do when several kobolds coming through the passage decided for her. They were under orders to get Ruby prepped as quickly as possible and were racing through the tunnel at top speed. The first in line was moving so fast that they couldn’t stop when they rounded the corner of the tunnel and found themselves face to face with Luna’s fat rump. The wolf let out a strangled gasp as a kobold snout was suddenly rammed between her cheeks. The other kobolds crashed into the first and Luna was sent tumbling out of the vent and landed on the floor in a pile of squirming kobold limbs.

Alludra turned away from the feeding going on in front of her to regard the commotion. She watched as her servants were sent flying through the air by a bubble of energy that surrounded a portly looking wolf that had suddenly appeared in her lair.

“What do we have here?” She said, her voice radiating both menace and curiosity. “A scavenger hoping to find a few trinkets? I’m afraid you’re too late my dear.”

“I’m not here for your gold, Alludra.” Luna said, climbing to her feet. The cloudy bubble of energy was already being buffeted by kobolds pounding their fists against it. It was holding, for now. “I’m here to stop you.”

A deep, joyous laughter rolled from the dragon at that moment. Her heavy frame bounced nakedly as she placed a plump paw to the side of her face as she laughed at the absurd comment.

“Oh dear me, is that so?” Alludra said. The menace was gone from her voice and had been replaced with sheer amusement. “Come to stop me doing what, pray tell?”

Luna looked up at Alludra. Defiance wasn’t going to work here. Luna wasn’t an adventurer. Spouting a bunch of moral rhetoric about how what the dragon was doing was wrong wasn’t going to change her mind. This was Luna’s chance to get some answers. She needed to take it.

“I know what you’re doing,” Luna said, pointing to the heaving mountain of blubber that was Ruby. “I know you’re going to open a portal and take back your trophies.”

For a split second, Alludra’s features faltered. What was that Luna had spotted? Worry? Concern? She was on the right track.

“I know you’re going to use those mana crystals up there to do it,” Luna continued. “I also know that the energy in those crystals alone isn’t enough.”

“Is that so?” Alludra replied, gesturing for the kobolds to back off from the wolf. “Someone has been doing research, have they? I suppose it was only a matter of time when those sun worshippers farmed out their work.”

“I’ve been doing more than research,” Luna replied conversationally. “I’ve been studying one of your trophies.”

“Oh really?” Alludra replied, her smile looking a bit more forced.

“Oh yes,” Luna replied. “I have to say, it’s quite impressive. Arcane fusion? Lipomancy? Those are some impressive leaps in the world of arcane research.”

“Quite the learned little thing, aren’t you?” Alludra said, her voice tinged with anger. “Perhaps we should discuss this more over a bite to eat?”

There was a sudden ripple in the air. Luna felt the spell before she saw it. One of the tattoos on Alludra’s arms flared and the shield around Luna shattered to pieces that vanished as soon as they hit the floor. The dragon was powerful, but Luna was no slouch either. She tugged on the brim of her cap just as an overwhelming blast of enchantment struck her. Luna’s knees almost buckled, but she’d caught the spell in time.

“Impressive,” Alludra said grudgingly. “But pointless.”

Luna was pushing it. Amusing a dragon with her knowledge of her plans was one thing, but revealing the secrets of the dragon's power was another. Without the shield Even if she did know what Alludra was doing she still wasn’t any closer to knowing how she was doing it. She needed to figure out a way to get Alludra to demonstrate how her spells worked. Luna thought back to the captured mercenaries she’d seen earlier. Let’s hope this jumpsuit can hold, she thought.

“I’ll tell you what’s impressive,” Luna replied, ignoring the kobolds that were inching closer. “Is those spells you wove over your trophies. Whoever made them must have been a genius.”

“Why, I made them, of course.” Alludra replied.

“Really?” Luna said with as big a shit eating grin as she could muster. “It wasn’t Mr. Moon?”

There, that was it. The dragon’s face twisted into an expression of shock at that name. Luna leaned back against the wall behind her and crossed her arms. “I figure you stole everything else from him. Why not the spells that let you turn fat into magic too?”

“You…how do…Where did you hear that name?!” Alludra roared, smoke curling from her nostrils. The kobolds that had been surrounding Luna ran for cover as their mistress began to rage.

“Oh, thought you were the only one that knew about them?” Luna asked, trying her best to ignore the increasingly angry dragon in front of her. “Those are some impressive spells he came up with.”

“He came up with nothing!” Alludra roared. The walls of the chamber shook as the sheer menace radiated off of the dragon's fat frame. “That ancient fool was content to sit about and do nothing! I found him! I used what he had cast away! These spells are mine and mine alone!”

“Is that so?” Luna said, her heart beating loudly in her ears. “Because it was easy enough to reverse engineer them. We’ve already cured all your trophies, Alludra. I’m just here to stop you from destroying Milliquord.”

“You’re bluffing.” Alludra said, fire gushing from the sides of her muzzle.

“Oh really?” Luna said, spreading her paws and baring her chest to the dragon. “Try me.”

It was a challenge to everything Alludra stood for. A challenge to her skills, a challenge to her authority, a challenge to her very sense of being. She was a dragon, the apex of evolution and beauty. She was above such lowly creatures like the wolf that stood in front of her. She lived for centuries and had crafted magics the rest of the world could only dream of. What could she do but put this upstart in her place?

Luna felt a sudden surge in the air as Alludra pressed a paw into the side of Ruby’s immense belly while her other hand traced symbols and sigils in the air. Luna watched the shapes form and swirl, coalescing into an intricate pattern that branched out around the dragon. Blue flames rippled out across Ruby’s enormous frame while the spell Alludra cast was shaped. The flames ran across the kobolds folds, tracing lines that matched the symbols the dragon had drawn in the air. That was it.

The spell was unlike anything that Luna had seen before. It used some of the most fundamental symbols for crafting spells known to the magic world. Some of the symbols had long fallen out of use after other mages had discovered more effective ones. Luna could see how the new parts blended in, morphing centuries old arcane equations with customized shapes and gradients meant to form the magic into something that could convert fat into magic.

Luna mimed a yawn as the flames coursing across Ruby swelled into a plume of fire that leapt off the kobolds frame and into the spell Alludra had cast. The dragon pointed a finger at Luna as the spell shifted into a vortex of blue fire that leapt towards the wolf.

The flames crashed into Luna like a tidal wave. The flames seeped into her body, pouring into her as it converted back from energy to fat. Luna felt her stomach gurgle and heave underneath her jumpsuit. It should have lurched outwards and slapped into the floor. Her breasts should have swelled to the size of church bells as her arms inflated and her thighs rolled together. Her face should have been lost in a cresting mound of chins and cheeks that would smother her fat lipped visage. There should have been a helpless, groaning, mountain of blubber to rival that of Elana.

Luna could feel every pound slathering onto her. The surging bloat almost made her fall to her knees, but she kept her footing. The jumpsuit strained, its magic pushed to the limit, but it managed to keep together. The last of the flames licked down under the collar of Luna’s jumpsuit and left her standing just as she was.

Alludra stared at Luna in disbelief. “You cannot…This is not possible!” She looked around at the few kobolds that stood in the doorway, watching their mistress.

“Something wrong?” Luna asked, shifting her weight as the jumpsuit creaked and groaned. Please don’t ask me to move, Luna thought to herself. The weight was intense. She doubted she could manage more than a few feet before collapsing.

“You ruined my trophies?” Alludra growled, naked hatred plastered across her face.

“Mmhmm,” Luna said, trying not to burp. “Mmm. It was so easy.”

Alludra raised her head and roared. The mana crystals that lined the chamber began to glow brighter and brighter as Alludra formed another spell. Ruby’s body began to gurgle louder as blue fire enveloped her. Luna watched and braced herself. Another blast would have been too much. She’d gotten what she needed. It was time to go!

The flames that engulfed the kobold began to flow upwards towards the ceiling. A vortex of roiling blew fire formed into a mass above them all, surrounded by those glowing mana crystals. It was then that Luna understood. This wasn’t an attack on her. Alludra was casting her spell.

Luna watched as the crystals shimmered and pulsed. They drank in the raw magic Alludra fed to them as the tattoo across her fat frame shimmered and flared with power. Luna’s fur stood on end as the spell was woven into being. Across the mountain hundreds of portals opened. Each one keyed to a specific trophy.

Ruby’s body suddenly heaved as it shrank. The fat that had enveloped her evaporated off as Alludra’s spell drank more and more of her stored mana. Luna could see more features now. She spotted the kobolds arms and legs as the fat around them vanished. She saw a food smeared muzzle bounce into view and soon the immense blob was just another kobold, and getting thinner. Alludra had no use for traitors, especially ones that gave up her secrets.

Luna grabbed a teleportation spell off her belt and staggered towards the stone plinth. Moving her body was like trying to move a piano strapped to her back. She heaved her legs forward, dragging her feet each step. Every inch of her body ached. Every muscle screamed at the effort, but she had to press on. She reached the stone and threw out her arm. She grabbed Ruby’s leg and cracked the rod against the stone. There was a sudden flash and eruption of power as Luna and Ruby were swept up in the spell and vanished.

High above Millquord, the sky split in two. A jagged crack appeared in the evening sky, devouring the light and filling the air with a swelling void. The rip stretched further and further, reaching the north and south walls of the city before stretching east to west. For the people below it was as if someone had gripped reality and ripped it like an old shirt. Swirling fractal darkness spread further and further, creating a dome of magic across Milliquord.

Artificers and engineers ran for their lives as the Archenometer groaned and burst into flames. Metal and glass rained down the mountain side as every single fail safe was obliterated the moment the tear appeared. Flames engulfed the building before it collapsed in a ruined mass of burning wreckage.

Across the city, rooftops began to be torn away. Hospitals, chapels, churches and inns were wrenched and torn as their rooftops were lifted off, allowing Alludra’s victims to float upwards. For those on the streets it looked as though several parades worth of balloons had gotten free. Fat, nearly spherical blimps floated into the air. Each one fattened to perfection with minds lost to gluttony and pleasure. They groaned as they floated towards the portal above. Ready to be whisked back to their mistress. At least, that’s what would have happened.

Alludra’s trophies paused mid air as the city's defense system came online. A white dome appeared over the city, shielding it from the powerful magic that threatened to take back what had been stolen from the dragon. The assembled mages assigned to the shield looked on as the mana crystals were slowly depleted. The crystals would last another five minutes before giving out. After that, not only would Alludra have her trophies back, but Milliquord would be wiped off the face of the earth. The spell was not just a portal. It was a gate of annihilation. When Alludra’s property was returned, the gate would fall and engulf the city. Now all they could do was wait.

Luna appeared in the middle of an infirmary. The first thing she noticed was the complete lack of surprise her appearance had caused. She’d expected her sudden appearance on church grounds to cause at least some commotion. She watched as orderlies rushed between beds to help the injured onto wheelchairs or roll their beds out. Luna only had to look up at the sky to realize what was going on. Alludra’s spell was already active.

“Are you alright?” one of the orderlies said, rushing towards Luna. The seams of her jumpsuit were starting to strain. It wouldn’t be long before the suit gave out completely.

“Just take care of her,” Luna said, gesturing to Ruby. The kobold had landed on a bed, thankfully. The orderly moved towards Ruby while Luna pulled another rod from her bag and vanished in a flash of light.

The shield above the city wasn’t going to last long. There was no point going back to her home. The portal would have found Elana. Luna had put a few spells in place that would have teleported the shuly outside. The spells that were built around Luna’s home would have been violently torn apart had the portal tried to extricate the shuly and there was no telling how much damage would have been done.

Luna’s teleportation took her to Millicent’s home. The owl was one of those that subscribed to the idea of a tall tower being the symbol of a mage. The very top of the tower had been converted into a massive platform that could be used for spells or just stargazing. Luna appeared in the middle of the platform and looked out at the city. She could see the round shapes of Alludra’s trophies floating over the city. The shield above had dampened the portal's power enough to leave them bobbing in the air. What was she going to do?

Alludra’s spell was far too powerful to counter. It would have taken every mage working in concert to craft a spell powerful enough to undo the spell and it would have taken an immense store of mana. There was no time to coordinate that kind of spell, either. Luna could already see the edges of the shield starting to fray. No, what they needed was time.

As powerful as that spell was, it couldn’t last forever. Robbing Milliquord of its mana supply was the key to making Alludra’s plan work. If the shield could stay active for long enough, her spell would eventually fizzle out. Luna looked at the city once more and focused on Alludra’s trophies. Each one was a powerful source of mana in their own right.

“It just might work,” Luna said to herself, and turned her hat backwards. The symbols and sigils it had recorded while Alldura was casting appeared in front of Luna. It was a complex pattern of spells and enchantments woven together into a means to draw the stored gluttony and fat out of Alludra’s trophies.

Luna had worked with the shield system enough times to know how it drew power out of the mana crystals. It would be easy enough to send the mana from Millicents tower to the shield. The only problem was that Luna could draw the power from Alludra’s trophies, but she couldn’t transfer it immediately. Directing that much mana needed to be done carefully. Alludra had used the mana crystals to stabilize the transfer of magic out of Ruby and into her spell. There was only one way to contain all that power before sending it off to the shield.

Luna stepped away from the edge of the tower and heaved herself back into its center. She drew the same symbols and patterns in the air that Alludra had done, adjusting and altering where she needed to. Casting a spell like this without practicing first was foolish. Casting a spell of this size with a city hanging in the balance was an act of madness. Every single warning from every teacher or advisor Luna had ever had was running through her head. She pushed every ounce of sage advice she’d ever been given, and unleashed the spell.

All across the city, Alludra’s victims lit up like flares. Blue flames licked and danced across their bodies as the spell coaxed the stored energy out of them and sent it flying towards Luna. Streams of fire arced through the sky towards Millicent’s tower. Luna braced herself as the first streams of energy struck her. The jumpsuit lasted a few more seconds before finally failing.

Luna’s body spread around her like a sea of pudding. Her stomach launched out in front of her in a heaving wave of fat. It buried her legs and spread across the platform in front of her while the rest of her body followed suit. Streams of fire pumped into her sides and back, causing her already enormous rump to slap onto the roof and spread like an avalanche of fat. Her arms vanished into her sides, smothered with thick folds of pillowy soft fat that buried her paws completely. Her legs vanished under a sea of fat as she was lifted upwards, carried by the torrent of blubber that surged through her body.

It was impossible to describe the sensation. The sheer, utter bliss of being stuffed full of fat. The combined energy of every single spell Alludra had cast on her trophies coursed through her body then. Their combined desire to be nothing more than a bloated treasure for Alludra to fawn over threatened to overwhelm Luna’s mind. She struggled to maintain herself in the midst of that all encompassing pleasure.

Luna craned her neck upwards, focusing on the shield above her as fat smothered her face. Her muzzle swelled and her cheeks expanded, threatening to bury her face and blind her the spell she was directing. She twisted her muzzle as chins swelled up under her muzzle and locked it in place. Every ounce of her body was smothered in a heavy mass of fat. Every toe, every finger, every single ounce of flesh was packed with fat as she continued to swell and grow. She felt the surging mass of her frame smothering the entirety of the rooftop. Her expanding bulk pressed against the railings around the sides and would have rolled over the edges if she hadn’t summoned every last ounce of her strength and cast the energy upwards .

Millicent’s tower glowed brighter than the sun as the energy flowed out of Luna. Her body groaned and heaved as the energy spiraled upwards and struck the shield. Luna’s entire body shuddered and gurgled as weight flooded out of her. She felt her form starting to shrink before it surged outwards once more, bolstered by the energy of trophies further away. Luna’s mind shuddered and buckled under the pleasure of it all. Her groaning, heaving body steamed as energy pulsed through it. She was a living mana battery powered by the fat and gluttony of the trophies that floated around her, but it was working.

The shield above began to glow brighter as the energy was distributed across the system. All around the city Alludra’s victims began to drift down towards the ground. Their bodies shrinking as a blue mountain of wolf fat glowed and swelled above the city. Pleasure unlike anything Luna had ever experienced rippled through her. Wave after wave of gluttonous lethargy and decadent pampering shook her mind. She stared up at the shield around the city one last time as a fresh wave of energy pumped into her, swelling her cheeks to the point where they buried her face. She sat within the churning mass of her expanding frame and let the pleasure take her.

When Luna opened her eyes again, the shield was still active. The sky above the city was marked with strange ripples of darkness that pulsed and echoed with arcane power. Luna tried to move her arms and found it impossible. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she could just make out ethereal paws pulling thick rolls of her own cheek fat aside to let her see. Wherever she was, she wasn’t on the tower anymore.

“Finally awake?” a voice asked. Luna tried to open her muzzle but found the fat smothering her face had forced her muzzle shut. She squinted over the swell of her cheeks at a face that seemed familiar. It was a canine face with white and grey fur and a muzzle that was fitted with two large canine’s. It took a moment for Luna to realize who she was looking at. It was Elana. She’d lost weight.

“How are you feeling?” Elana asked, pressing a paw under Luna’s muzzle to push away some of the fat that kept her muzzle shut.

“Mmphhmm…stuffedmph.” Luna grunted out. Even saying that much was difficult. Luna’s words were muffled and slurred and her jaw already ached.

“Not surprising.” Elana said. “Do you have any idea how big you are?”

Luna tried to make a rough estimate in her head. She’d absorbed the energy of over four hundred of Alludra’s trophies. Even with the energy coursing into the shield it wouldn’t have been enough to shrink her down much.

“Some of the other mages moved you before you collapsed the tower you were on top of.” Elana said. “You’re about the size of a church right now.”

Luna’s eyes widened in amazement. She was really that big? She could feel the distant touch of something pressing into her sides. Elana pushed her paw under Luna’s chins again and she mumbled out a scrying spell. Immediately she was given a birds eye view of her body. Her body filled a small park that sat near one of the chapels that belonged to Gloriana. She was a sea of blue fat. A nearly formless mountain of rolls and folds that groaned and shifted softly. Blue fire was still trickling in and out of her body. The spell she’d cast was still siphoning power off the other trophies and into the shield. She could see and feel several figures walking across her enormous frame. She could see mages drawing symbols into her fur. No doubt to help control the flow of magic. She was so massive that Elan was resting comfortably atop one of Luna’s neck rolls.

“The church explained everything to me,” Elana said. “They told me how you’d been trying to find a cure. Looks like you succeeded. Thank you,”

“Mmphmhm…welcomemphh.” Luna grunted. The shuly leaned down and pressed a kiss into the side of Luna’s cheek, causing the massive wolf to blush.

“Is she awake?” another voice called. Elana pulled back to let the round features of a tigress slip into view.

“Just woke up,” Elana said as Roxy slid in. The large tigress smiled down at Luna and rubbed her chins. “You know, when I said all those things about you getting fatter I was only joking, right?”

Luna huffed and squirmed as that fat paw rubbed into her fat. Somewhere in the depths of the wolf’s building crush ass cheeks her tail began to wag.

“Oh, I brought you something.” Roxy said, pulling a white box into view and producing a doughnut. A deep, rolling growl rumbled through Luna as she caught sight of that treat.

“Are you sure that’s okay?” Elana asked.

“Aww, what’s one doughnut going to hurt?” The tigress said, pressing the treat into Luna’s muzzle. A soft growl rumbled through the wolf as she munched down the treat, licking at Roxy’s fingers.

“The mages said that Alludra’s spell is going to last a while longer,” Elana explained while Roxy pushed more treats into Luna’s fat muzzle.

“Homphh..how long?” Luna burped.

“A couple weeks.” Elana said. “They said they need time to recreate your spell. Once they do they’ll look for volunteers to take some of the pressure off you.”

Luna nodded around another doughnut. She was glad the city and the trophies were safe.

“Raleigh said she’d be by a little later,” Elana went on. “Along with some high captain? They said they wanted to thank you personally for all you’ve done.”

“Omphmhmh…all in a daysmpmhh…work.” Luna replied, her words muffled by fat and more of those treats the tigress kept stuffing into her.

“Can we get you anything?” Elana asked. Luna thought for a moment as she ate another doughnut. She’d managed to avert disaster and had possibly ushered in a new means of mana storage. So long as a mage didn’t mind carrying a few extra pounds, of course. All in all, not the worst contract she’d ever taken on.

“How about a song?” Luna asked. Elana blushed before straightening up. Luna let another doughnut sink into her muzzle as Elan took a deep breath and began to sing.

Far to the east, off the coast of the Reskan Empire’s Gallan Peninsula , sat a cluster of islands that made up the nation of Vignis. The island was a protectorate of the empire and served as a resort for many of the nobles and royals that travelled through the empire. It sported a plethora of beaches and lagoons that sat under the shadow of the Vignis Spires, a series of volcanoes that filled the largest island in the archipelago. The volcanoes were considered by the locals to be the resting place of the guardian spirits of the islands which meant that no one was ever allowed to explore them. This was unfortunate as some of the best hot springs on the island were located near the tops of the spires. The entire area used to be used for religious ceremonies but volcanic activity had forced the locals to stop. The Vignis Spires were off limits to everyone. They were best viewed from afar and left to their quiet dignity. This, of course, made it perfect for a hideout.

Among the three tallest volcanoes on the island, a small bowl had formed, pushed up during their slow creation. The bowl had been filled with rich volcanic soil that had flourished into a lush and verdant jungle that sat hidden from the outside world. Large tropical trees surrounded a large natural hot spring that sat in the center of the space. The air was silent save for the sound of wind moving through the trees and the occasional squawk of tropical birds. It would have been perfect if it weren’t for the four story chateau that had been built into the side of one of the spires. It was built from wood sourced from forests that had long since been destroyed in a natural disaster. The decor was furnished with the treasures of fallen empires and lost civilizations.

In the depths of the chateau, past the opulently decorated dining halls and sitting rooms, past the enormous kitchen, past the bed chambers fit for royalty, was a lard study. The study was filled with enough books, scrolls, and esoteric texts to make the most powerful archmages weep with envy. In the middle of the room was a large summoning circle, drawn from spells and laws that existed before the construction of the Pandemonium Fortress. The summoning circle glowed with arcane fire as the symbols on it flared to life. Blue energy swirled around the sigils in a rising crescendo of flame until something appeared in the middle of it. As the flames burned down, they revealed the image of a large red dragon.

Alludra, the terror of the Last Horizon, Dragon of decadence, had escaped.

And she was furious.