FSE

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Introduction

I was about five months into taking on commission work and I was just starting to get into the groove of it when n666 first messaged me about starting a series with their original characters Lukas and Venxia. I admit, I fell in love with the various art I was shown for reference of the characters even before I learned any of their lore. Being a bit of a D&D nerd, it was as much fun playing around with the fantasy setting aspects as it was coming up for new and interesting ways for a shapeshifter to have sex.

Two years later, and we are still continuing the adventures of Lukas and Venxia. I wanted to combine the first ten chapters together, because I know it can be a lot with long running series. I also took the time to make a few tweaks here and there as well as catch a few more errors that got through the first time.

Thank you, n666 for trusting me with your characters. I'm looking forward to seeing exactly where they end up.

Syntaxerror37

Chapter 1

As the late afternoon slowly faded into early evening business picked up at The Purple Crane Tavern. Locals and travelers alike came to order a few pints or sit down for a hot wholesome meal. The buzz of conversations blended with the clanking of pitchers and tankards while the smells of roasted meat fluttered around the air. It was a warm and inviting atmosphere, only further enhanced by the barmaids.

“Here you go, Tom." Venxia said with a wide smile as she leaned down to place a pitcher of porter down at the small table.

Venxia was dressed like any of the other barmaids in The Purple Crane, wearing a leather corset over a homespun blouse, striped leggings, comfortable heeled boots, and an apron belted around her waist in a way that accented her hips rather than concealed them. Venxia's long red layered hair framed her face as she normally wore it loose.

Tom, an old widower, smiled up warmly at the tall green-eyed barmaid. “I haven't even placed my order yet."

“Tom, you've been coming in here since I was a little girl," Venxia placed a hand on her curvy hip, “we all know your order." she giggled slightly and patted the old man's back. “I'll be right out with your stew and toasted bread."

Tom chuckled himself and watched as Venxia walked to the next table. Old as he was, he could still appreciate the sway of her hips as she moved.

Such a fine girl, I hope she finds a man who can appreciate her someday. He thought as he took a long drink.

***

Lukas jumped down off the cart of the merchant he had ridden back into Midlevan.

“Thanks for the ride, sir," He smiled up at the driver, “You saved me at least a day of walking."

“No worries, It was nice to have someone to talk to besides the oxen." the middle aged man smiled warmly."

Lukas handed the man a few coins for the ride and wished him a good evening before he carried on into the town proper. He had grown up in Midlevan, but it had been years since he last walked its streets. From the way he was dressed it was obvious to anyone that Lukas was an adventurer.

His long blond hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail, more so for utility than fashion concerns. He was wearing a light chain shirt over his tunic, heavy leather leggings, and a pair of well worn boots. A pair of short swords hung at his hip, and a pack of his belongings was on his back.

His bright blue eyes took in his old hometown, seeing what, if anything, had changed. Thankfully the place he was hoping was still there, was. He quickened his pace towards The Purple Crane Tavern.

***

Venxia was just setting down Tom's stew when she heard the heavy door of the tavern open. She looked over out of habit and stared for a few moments at the short, blond haired adventurer as he walked into the tavern. It took a moment for it to click that she knew the young man.

“Lukas!" She called out, waving her hand to get his attention as she weaved her way through the patrons to reach him.

Lukas turned his head and saw the woman he was hoping to see. A wide smile spread across his face just as Venxia wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. Several patrons shot the adventure jealous looks to receive such a greeting from the popular barmaid.

“You're back!" She said, giving him another firm squeeze before releasing him.

“And you're still here." He was still smiling. “When I saw The Purple Crane I hoped you were still working for your aunt and uncle."

“For the time being, yes, but come on in, sit down, let me get you a drink." Venxia took him by the arm and pulled him towards an empty table. She practically pulled the pack off his shoulders and had him sit down. “I want to hear everything you've been up to since you left, but first let me get you an ale."

“That would be great, thank you." He smiled up at his old friend.

Lukas watched as she walked away. She had changed some since he left town, he didn't remember her being that tall, or that curvy. But he had changed too since he left for his first adventure. Venxia soon returned with a large tankard of ale and placed it in front of him.

“It's so good to see you again after all these years. I thought I'd have to leave town to track you down." she said with a warm smile.

“I'm surprised you're still here really, you had just as much of an adventurer's spirit as I did as a kid."

“Eh," she shrugged her shoulders and looked away for a moment, “It takes more time to learn magic than a blade. Besides, my aunt and uncle needed the help."

Lukas looked around the tavern and its patrons. “Things do look as busy as ever here."

“Speaking of which, I assume you are going to want a meal to go with your ale."

“I certainly do, what's your aunt got for tonight?"

“We have the stew, as always, or stuffed roast duck."

“It's been so long since I've had your aunt's cooking, I'll take the duck, but let me finish my drink first."

Venxia was about to say something more when a customer called for her attention.

“Sorry, I'll try and talk more later!" she apologized

“I'm not going anywhere anytime soon." He winked.

Venxia giggled as she hurried to the customer that called for her.

Through the evening Lukas chatted with her as she stopped by with his food or another drink. As it slipped into night and many regulars returned to their homes, Venxia finally had a chance to sit down across from Lukas and actually have a real chat.

Venxia topped off his ale from her pitcher. “How long are you staying in town?"

“I don't know exactly." Lukas took a sip of ale. “It probably depends on how long my coin purse lasts." he reached down and patted the heavy purse. “When it gets low it's time to find either some work or someplace to explore for loot. It's nice to be back here, but I doubt there's much I can find here in either regard."

“Not necessarily." Venxia leaned closer and lowered her voice slightly. “On your way into town, did anyone mention The Lost Outpost to you?"

Lukas' eyebrow raised. He had been in the adventuring trade long enough to pick up on a name like that.

“First time I've heard mention of it." he said leaning in closer himself.

“Some boys stumbled upon it out in the West Woods. Looked to be a ruined tower, almost completely reclaimed by the forest. Carmichael, he's the priest in charge of the temple now, guessed it's from the time of the Golden Empire, but only the gods know for sure."

“That sounds curious." Lukas rolled it over in his mind as he took a long drink. “What did the boys find in the ruins?"

“Nothing of note at first, just broken walls and an old well. However," a smile started to crawl across Venxia's face, “there was a passage down below."

“Now you have my attention." he put down his tankard. “Did anyone try going in?"

Venxia let out a sad sigh. “The boys were smart enough to not go in, or at least they didn't have a light handy. But after they returned to tell their story, a few of the townsmen decided to go in."

“From your expression I'm guessing it didn't go too well."

“They were damn lucky the hunter, You remember Gilly, right? He had brought his crossbow and managed to wound whatever beast attacked them and they managed to get out with just a few scars."

Lukas shook his head slowly. “They got very lucky."

Venxia nodded in agreement. “Now, I trust my magic and my father's sword, but I'm not fool enough to go down there alone. But you know well enough that any adventurers that grow up in Midlevan quickly leave, and after those fools come back to town all beat up and scared, no one in town would even think of heading to The Lost Outpost."

“So," he picked up his drink, “it sounds like you are in need of some help." Lukas smiled over the rim of his tankard.

“Are you up for it? Tomorrow is my day off, as it happens."

“Not the restful visit back home I had planned, but if you're going to go exploring a dangerous dungeon, I'd rather be there to keep you safe."

Venxia smiled broadly. “You can spend the night here in the tavern, I'm sure my aunt and uncle won't mind. That way we can get an early start tomorrow."

***

Venxia and Lukas cautiously entered the room. A floating orb of warm light illuminated the chamber as well as any lantern would. There was just the one door they came through and the mostly empty room had little to hide from the pair of adventurers.

“Are you sure we'll be safe here?" Venxia asked as she looked around the small square stone chamber.

“For being in the middle of a dungeon full of monsters, yes." Lukas said as he forced the old heavy door shut. “Hand me that metal bar over there, we'll use it to bar the door."

She did as he asked, picking up a discarded and rusted metal bar and helping Lukas to wedge it across the door.

“Now we should be able to catch our breath at least." He smiled and gave her a wink.

“I guess we should get comfortable then." Venxia said, looking around the underground chamber once more.

She noticed a stone slab covered with candles. She decided to light them, rather than maintain the floating orb of light. Soon the small stone room was filled with the warm flickering light of the candles. Lukas, meanwhile, was going through his pack, pulling out items they would need to spend the night. He looked up from his equipment to watch as Venxia found a few more candles stashed in alcoves and lit them with magic sparks from her fingertips.

As the warm flickering light illuminated her, Lukas really took her in for the first time in a long while. They had grown up together, and as they got older he had started to notice an attraction to her, but had left before he had the balls to do anything about it. In the years since he had been gone, Venxia had fully grown into a beautiful woman. It was hard at times to not stare at her full pronounced curves. Lukas wondered where she had gotten them from, as the rest of the women in her family weren't so well endowed.

Venxia glanced over her shoulder slightly, just in time to see Lukas turning away. She had always had a bit of a crush on the short blond man, even as kids. Several years of adventure hadn't done his looks any harm. The once lanky farm-boy now was firmly toned with lithe muscle.

“Have you camped out in a dungeon before?" She asked as she knelt down beside Lukas.

“Yes. It's not ideal, but sometimes it's what you have to do. If we made it out we'd still be stuck in the forest in the night, and I bet you some of the things in here slip out to hunt every evening as it is. Even if we made it back to town, we'd end up fighting our way through them again and end up in the same spot tomorrow."

“I can see your point." she said as she slipped her own pack off her shoulders. “I hope I did alright today."

Lukas smiled and perked up immediately. “You were great! I wouldn't think this was your first real adventure. Plenty of magic users lock up the first time a goblin charges at them. You were pretty impressive out there."

“So were you. I couldn't believe the same boy who used to be last picked to play ball could dodge and weave through those beasts like that." she smiled shyly, “it was really impressive."

Lukas blushed at the compliment. “Thanks…"

“I've really missed you, Lukas," she reached out and placed her hand on his arm, “A lot."

His eyes looked at her hand on his arm and then slowly back up to meet her green eyes. “I've missed you too. I thought about you all the time. Honestly, you're the reason I came back home."

Venxia's eyes widened slightly. “Really?"

“Really." Lukas placed a hand over hers. “I shouldn't have left without you. That was the biggest mistake I made in my adventuring career."

Venxia felt her eyes welling up as she leaned in closer to her childhood friend and crush. Lukas placed a hand on her cheek and leaned in to softly kiss her on the lips. After all these years, she couldn't believe it was actually happening. Venxia felt her heart stand still as his lips pressed gently against her own. For Lukas it was like time stood still. Though they only held the kiss for a moment, it felt like an eternity.

Venxia sighed deeply and smiled as they pulled away slightly. “I've wanted you to do that for a very long time." she said in a whisper.

“Sorry it took me so long." he said softly as he cupped her cheek gently in his hand.

“It was worth the wait," she replied before leaning in for another kiss.

Venxia wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him tight. Lukas responded immediately, slipping his arms around her. Old feelings mingled with the new sensations as they kissed in the flickering candlelight. They paused slightly, breathing deeply as they held each other tightly.

“I shouldn't have left without you…" Lukas whispered, his lips brushing against her.

“Shush…no regrets now…" Venxia whispered back, “we have now, let's not waste it."

Lukas placed his hands on the side of her head and stared into her eyes. “I'm not leaving you behind again. I'm staying by your side, no matter what."

Venxia pulled him against her body tightly, as if holding on for dear life. Lukas was surprised by how tightly she held him, but returned her embrace in kind. After some time, her grip relaxed and she smiled softly at Lukas.

“There is something I want you to have." Venxia said as her fingers slid along his cheeks.

“All I need is you." he said with a soft smile.

“Cute," she smirked a little, “but trust me, I think you will want it in the end."

Venxia gave him a quick kiss before leaning to reach for her pack. She dug around through it for a moment before finding a small leather bag. She shook out a small gold earring into the palm of her hand. It glimmered in the candle light, but Lukas could have sworn he saw it glow slightly.

“Now just hold still for a moment, it won't hurt at all." Venxia smiled as she placed her fingers on his left ear.

Lukas felt a strange tingle then felt the weight of the ring now hanging from his ear lobe. He placed his hand over the ring, confirming no pain or any blood from his previously unpierced ear.

“That's the nice thing about magic earrings, all the benefits without any needles necessary."

“I'm not going to lie, that's why I hadn't gotten my ear pierced." He smirked as he gave the earring a little flick with his finger. “So, if it's magical, what does it d-"

Lukas was cut off as she pressed her lips up against his. Venxia let out a soft moan as her tongue began to tease his lips. Surprised by her sudden passion Lukas parted his lips, letting her tongue slip in as he was pressed back onto the cold stone floor. Venxia's fingers deftly worked to unfasten the buckles and ties of his armor, all the while her surprisingly long tongue danced with Lukas'. The young man was almost stunned, but did his best to keep up, He reached up to tug at the laces of her corset as best he could.

Before he realized it, Lukas' chain shirt lay discarded on the chamber floor and Venxia's warm hands were slipping up under this tunic. He let out a shudder as they teased their way up along his abs. Venxia pulled his tunic up over his head and tossed it aside. Her hands left his body to pull off her loosened corset. Lukas helped to lift up her blouse, but ultimately it was Venxia who pulled it up over her head. She shook out her long red hair and smiled down at her partner. A smile that Lukas returned as he looked up at her full round breasts.

Venxia reached for his belt, his excitement was already obvious and it made her smile as she forced down the leather leggings. Lukas let out a small groan as his cock sprung free of its confines. He blinked when he saw it, it seemed to almost be bigger than it should be. His partner didn't give him much time to think about it, with a snap of her fingers the laces up the sides of her legging undid themselves, leaving the supple leather to just fall away.

She was left nude, other than her boots. With one hand Venxia pressed on Lukas' chest, holding him down, while she guided his cock into her pussy with the other. They both let out a long moan as Venxia impaled herself on his cock. She pushed him down onto the cold floor with both of her hands, locking eyes with Lukas before she started to move. Slowly lifting herself up before letting gravity pull her back down onto his shaft.

All Lukas could do was grip tightly onto her waist and try his best to meet her drop with a roll of his hips. As Venxia rode his cock, he could feel a strange tingling coming from the ear ring. It didn't hurt, he could hardly notice it over the sensations on her hot passage hugging and squeezing his shaft as she moved, but still it was there. Lukas couldn't close his eyes, he needed to watch as she rode him like a wild stallion. Venxia's breasts bounced in a mesmerizing way as she pounded him down against the hard floor.

Lukas was pushed farther and higher into ecstasy than he had ever experienced in his limited experience. It wasn't until Venxia started to cry out with her release that his dam finally broke.

The sounds of their lustful cries and heavy breathing echoed in the chamber. She fell forward, covering his body with her own as they both fought to catch their breath. Lukas wrapped his arms tightly around her, holding her close as the candles shed their flickering light.

Venxia let out a slow breath before pushing herself up just enough to look Lukas in the eyes.

“I'm sorry…" she whispered softly.

“Sorry? Sorry for what?" he blinked more than a little confused.

“I was so desperate for this, to make love to you…I wasn't entirely honest."

“I-I don't understand?" He brushed the loose locks of her hair out of her face. “Venxia, what are you talking about?"

Her shoulders slumped slightly as she slowly sat up, still straddling his body. “This isn't the real me…it's just what I used to be, more or less."

“I mean, you changed a bit over the years, but so have I." He said as he lifted his head and shoulders up off the stone floor.

“There was an…incident in my magical training. A little bit of transmutation magic that got wildly out of hand. I'm not even entirely sure what exactly happened, just what the after effects were."

“Venxia," Lukas sat up fully, holding her in his lap, “Please tell me what this is all about, I'm worried about you."

She leaned in and kissed him softly on his lips. “It's easier if I just show you."

Venxia paused to remove her boots before standing up. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and let it out slowly. When she opened her eyes they were now a shimmering gold color instead of green. Venxia then pushed her hands back through her hair. The straight red hair transformed into thick green tendrils as her hands passed over it. They writhed and wriggled, and reached down past her waist now. A small pair of red horns peaked out from the tendrils as her ears took on a pointed elf-like appearance.

Lukas stared slack jawed and shocked but unable to look away as her transformation continued. Venxia ran her hands down over her chest. They retained their full round shape, but her nipples vanished. In their place a supple pair of red lips now opened slightly. Each set of lips was slightly moistened by its own tongue. Not one, but two bright red spade-tipped tails flicked out from behind Venxia. Her legs below her knees faded to a rich green color and black armored plates formed on her shins. Venxia went up on her tones as a black spike grew down from the base of her ankle and heel, mimicking how she would stand in a heeled shoe.

“This is the real me now, or as real as any shapeshifter can be." She shrugged her shoulders.

That her voice remained unchanged was almost strange to Lukas at this point. He half expected some kind of demonic echoing voice given her current form. That reminded him that this was still Venxia, the woman he grew up with, the reason he returned home after all these years. Slowly Lukas got to his feet. He kicked off his leggings and boots and walked over to Venxia. She had always been taller than him, but her current form only made it more so. Still he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tightly.

“I said no matter what. I meant it."

“That's what I was hoping to hear." Venxia said as she wrapped her arms tightly around him. “I like what I am now, but I wasn't sure if you could accept it." the tendrils of her 'hair' started to wrap around Lukas, adding to the hug.

Although a part of him felt he should be disturbed, he wasn't. It felt good to be wrapped tightly in Venxia's warm embrace. He could feel a stirring down in his loins as she rubbed her body up against his.

“I'm sorry, I didn't want to ruin the moment." He blushed slightly, “Especially after we just…"

Venxia giggled, “That's to be expected. You see, I never did tell you what the earring was enchanted to do."

“Huh?"

“The earring does two things, the first is an increased stamina and a faster, um, recovery for males. It's to help you keep up with me, you see."

“Heh, I think I've met plenty of males out there who would be happy to find something like this in a ruin. But, you said it did two things, What else does it do?"

“Being a bit of an expert on shape shifting now, I added a little something to keep things interesting for the two of us." Venxia reached down and caressed his swelling shaft. “You can shift your manhood into other shapes and sizes, now that the earring is properly attuned." she winked.

“Are you serious?"

“Do I look like I'm joking?" she let one of her tails trace teasingly down his back. “Go on, just focus on something you want it to look like. Don't worry, I can handle anything you can think of with this body."

At first Lukas' mind drew a blank, but as he looked down and watched her second tail wrap around his cock and start to stroke it he just let go. Lukas imagined his shaft growing as Venxia pumped it and felt a tingle come from the earring before a surging growth started to pump into his cock. Before his eyes his cock started to transform, growing longer and thicker. Along with the novelty of it all, it felt good as the changes took hold. He pulled Venxia down with him onto the floor and rolled on top of her. As he kissed her deeply, he suddenly gasped. The twin mouths on her chest had opened and were now teasing his nipples expertly. He broke the kiss and stared into her golden eyes as her lipples continued to suck and flick their tongues over his sensitive nipples.

“Come on, you know you like how it feels." she smiled slyly up at him before her hair reached around to pull him back into a deep kiss.

Her serpentine tongue danced in his mouth. Lukas squirmed at first before melting into her completely. It didn't take much urging on Venxia's part to get him slipped down between her legs. He paused for a moment, looking down at his enhanced cock, slightly concerned.

“Don't worry, I can accommodate anything you can imagine." Venxia winked and spread her legs wider to invite him in.

Lukas smirked back before slowly pushing in. The both let out moans as he slowly slipped into her hot wet sex. Venxia did, in fact, stretch to accommodate Lukas, but only just. This sent a tingle down his back before he even started to move. Venxia encouraged as she squeezed his body with her thighs and caressed his chest with her hair tendrils. Lukas could even feel the spade tips of her tails tracing along the muscles on his back.

In the midst of it all, a memory from Lukas childhood surfaced. The first time he saw a stallion mount a mare. He remembered clearly the molted pink and black shaft, so large and bestial before it disappeared the needy mare. He could feel a tingle from the earring and the change began even as he thrust. Venxia noticed immediately as her pussy was stretched even farther. Her only response was to laugh and encourage him more with a quick crack of her tails against his back side.

Lukas jumped at the shock, but quickly smirked as he grabbed her tightly by the hips and started to thrust. It wasn't only his shaft that had changed, as he felt his much larger and heavier balls slap against her loudly as he thrust deep. Venxia's back started to arch off the floor. But she smiled through her building climax and let loose one final trick. Lukas almost didn't notice at first, lost as he was in his own lust.

But soon he felt something besides the walls of her passage sliding against his shaft. Something was wrapping its way around his shaft. He couldn't help but look down. Despite knowing that Venxia was a shapeshifter, he was still surprised to see another long tongue encircling his shaft. He looked back up to see her smirking.

“No need to stop." she said as the tip of the tongue now teased his equine balls.

Lukas could feel her trying to pull him back in with her vaginal tongue and he took that as his cue. He picked back up quickly, finding his rhythm once again. Venxia was now wrapping her legs up around him, holding him tightly with both her hands and hair. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out as the climax finally crashed around her. Her entire body almost convulsed as she held on for dear life to her lover.

Lukas was less quiet as his enhanced body let loose. It was like he was falling forever as his body hit its peak and then exploded. Lukas cried out loudly as he unleashed a torrent into Venxia, who's sex and vaginal tongue milked every last drop out of her lover. Lukas collapsed on top of her, nuzzling against her neck as he tried to catch his breath. All the while, he felt her lipples kissing and licking at his chest. Venxia rolled Lukas onto his side and pressed her lips against his. He invited her long and skilled tongue into his mouth and they savored the kiss in the candle light.

“Mmmm…" Lukas sighed as he slowly broke the kiss. “I think I've found the treasure of these ruins."

Venxia laughed, but her cheeks did blush slightly.

“You know, I left home looking for adventure, and I returned for you. I didn't think the real adventure would be you."

“Oh stop it, you already have me in your bed, or at least the cold stone floor of a dungeon." she giggled softly in his arms.

“I just want you to know how much I enjoyed what we just did," he leaned in so the tips of their noses touched, “and how much I'm looking forward to more."

“Hmmm…" Venxia's smile curled mischievously. “You know between my abilities and that magic earring we've only just scratched the surface of what we can do."

“Well," Lukas brushed her cheek gently with his hand, “ we have all night to find out, right?"

“Oh, it'll take more than just one night."

“Even better..." he leaned in and kissed her deeply.

***

The sun was starting to climb high over the trees of the West Woods. Out from the dungeon entrance Lukas and Venxia climbed out, lugging a rather large chest out with them. Venxia had resumed her more mundane appearance and Lukas was, once again, able to fit in his pants. After making it to the ground level they put down the iron bound chest.

“So how good of a hull is this?" Venxia asked as she tapped the lid.

“Above average I'd say." Lukas said as he stretched out his arms. “More than enough to get you well equipped and still set up your aunt and uncle for the rest of their lives."

“That's good. I didn't want to leave them high and dry after all they did for me over the years." She looked up at the sun through the trees. “Do you think we can lug this back before sunset?"

“Probably. I think I can lash together a pole-drag and that should make things easier for us."

“Let's get started on that then. The sooner we get back, the sooner we can celebrate." she smiled ruefully."

Lukas smiled broadly back “I'm looking forward to that."

Chapter 2

Lukas and Venxia walked through the tall tower gate into the city of Oxshell Keep. The guards gave them no trouble once Venxia flashed a small badge showing she was a graduate student at the wizard academy. After that the guards just waved them both through. They had just started down the broad main street of the city when Lukas saw his companion turn off into an alley.

“Venxia?" he called after her as he followed, “Where are you going?"

“Now that we're past the guards, I'm going to let my hair down a bit. Odd looking folks are more common in Oxshell then back in Midlevan, what with the academy and all."

Venxia ran her hands through her hair, shifting it to the bright green prehensile tendrils as she did. She blinked her eyes from green to gold as a small pair of red horns poked out from the green tendrils. Passing her hands down over her chest and hips caused them both to grow and fill out, stretching her clothes a bit, but not becoming indecent. She let out a slight sigh as she adjusted the waist of her pants to let her twin spade tipped tails free.

Lukas watched and couldn't help but smile. Over the last few weeks he had really grown attached to Venxia's preferred form, even if it wasn't the one he had grown up with. It wasn't even a matter of what she could do with her body, though he certainly appreciated that. To Lukas it was her true form, if a shape shiftier really has such a thing.

“See, I can tell from the look on your face this is better." she smiled as she adjusted her backpack a bit.

“I never said it wasn't." he smiled back, “Keeping the boots I see."

“This is the city; you never know what you might accidentally step in. I'd rather not be barefoot, or bare-hoof for that matter."

Lukas chuckled. “Very practical. Well, I've never visited Oxshell before, so where do we go?"

“Ah, it's my chance to be a guide," Venxia took Lukas by the hand, “follow me."

Lukas noticed a few heads turning as they walked out of the alley, but no one made any move towards them or said anything. He was relieved that what Venxia had said was true. In other places Lukas had little doubt Venxia's appearance would get her thrown out, or worse.

“First let's head to Market Street, there's so much to see and do, and we can get a few things for dinner, starting with the wine seller."

“That sounds like a plan." he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Lead on."

As they made their way deeper into the city, Lukas did notice a few other people who stood out, though not to the same degree that Venxia did. With a school dedicated to the study of magic there would be those drawn here that had experienced some life altering encounters with magic. They turned off the main road and into a bustling market district. Market Street was full of people, both those there to shop and those there to sell. Everything from large warehouses to hawkers running around with a tray full of wares was to be seen.

He was no stranger to large markets in his travels, but after the time spent back in his home village it was a bit of a culture shock to Lukas. Venxia led him, weaving through the mass of people to a small shop. From the signage there was no doubting they sold wine. As soon as the door opened they were greeted by the proprietor.

“Ah! Venxia! Come in, come in!" the middle aged man came out from behind his counter. “How are you?" He clasped her hands firmly with his own.

“I'm more than well, Rewan." she smiled back.

“And it looks like you've brought a new friend with you." Rewan smiled and gave Lukas a polite nod.

“More like an old friend, really," she placed her hand back into her partner's. “Lukas and I grew up together in Midlevan."

“I was lucky enough to be visiting back home while Venxia was working at her aunt and uncle's tavern." Lukas said, giving his partner's hand a slight squeeze

“And I was lucky enough to have Lukas take me on my first adventure." Venxia said as she returned the squeeze.

The small gesture wasn't unnoticed by the wine seller. “Adventure? Is that what the young people are calling it these days?" Rewan asked with a knowing smile.

Lukas blushed slightly, but Venxia just laughed it off.

“How can I help you both tonight, are you looking for something special?" Rewan said as he clasped his hands together

“Do you still have any Red Victory in stock?" Venxia inquired about her favorite wine.

“Hmmm," He twiddled his thumbs as he tried to remember, “I think I have a few bottles left in the back."

“I think we'll want a port as well, to go with dessert." Lukas added.

“I have just the one for you." he stepped over to a rack and pulled a small bottle off. “It's my wife's first choice of port in fact."

“Well, if the wife of a wine seller recommends it, it's at least worth a try then." Lukas chuckled.

“Good man," he turned to Venxia, “I like him. Let me see just how many bottles of Red Victory I have left in the back"

Lukas and Venxia left with a basket full of wine for the evening, and smiles on their faces from the friendly wine seller. They made their way to a farmer selling vegetables from the back of his cart. Lukas noticed he did his best to avoid looking at Venxia, but he had no trouble accepting her coins for his produce. If his reaction bothered Venxia, she didn't show it on her face as another basket was loaded with vegetables.

On the way to the butcher they stopped to watch a performance from a street musician. Enjoying the song they tossed a few coins in his hat and continued on. They received the occasional stare or odd look, but most people were too busy with their shopping to even notice them.

The butcher, Nel, also knew Venxia by name and greeted them when they arrived at his shop.

“Welcome back!" he said, sticking his large cleaver into the hunk of meat he was carving.

“Nel, good to see you again, How is Caly doing?"

“She is doing much better now, I'd call her down to see you, but she's out in the country trying to find some fresh stock for the store. What can I get for you and your friend?" he smiled as he wiped his hands on his apron.

“We're just planning a nice simple dinner for two." Venxia said, glancing at the meat on display. “What do you think, Lukas?"

“It's been a while since I've had chicken, that would be nice."

“Yeah, I think so too, can you help us with that, Nel?"

“Ha! You know I can!" He smirked back

Nel picked out a nice plump chicken for them. Once they had their poultry wrapped up they said goodbye to the butcher and continued on their way.

“That takes care of dinner, I think." Lukas said as he adjusted the baskets he was carrying.

“Right, now we just need a little something to go with that bottle of port wine you bought. I know this little stand, you wouldn't know it by looking, but they make the best pastries in the city." She took Lukas by the hand. “Come on, it's getting late and they almost always sell out before the market closes!"

Luckily, the pair made it in time to the pastry stand. The selection was scant, but Venxia was more than happy to add a small parcel of fruit turnovers to her basket. Their shopping done, they made their way to leave the bustling Market Street. The crowds started to thin slightly as the afternoon gave way to the evening, allowing Venxia and Lukas to exit the market easily.

Arms laden with food for the evening and the following morning the pair finally left Market Street behind. Venxia led them on a zigzagging route to get them to the academy district faster than taking one of the main roads. Though it may have been a shortcut, Lukas' arms were tired by the time Venxia stopped at a small apartment building.

“Here we are, my little home in the city." she said as she started up the front steps.

Lukas followed her through the door and up two flights of steps before she came to a stop at a door.

“Just a moment, I need to disarm the lock and alarm spells on my door." Venxia said as she passed her groceries to her hair tendrils to hold.

She made a few arcane gestures and mumbled a few phrases under her breath. She then touched the door and it slowly opened. They entered the room and quickly deposited their shopping on the table. Lukas looked around the apartment as he flexed and rubbed his sore arms.

“It's a pretty small place, isn't it?" he commented as he took in the space.

“It's bigger than my bedroom back at The Purple Crane." she smirked as she pulled one of the bottles of wine out from the basket. “It's more than enough space to keep my stuff and have room to sleep while I am studying.

“True enough. Shall we get started on dinner?"

“There's enough time to pour two glasses first." She said as one of her tentacles dug a corkscrew out of a drawer.

Lukas watched as she made use of her true form in her kitchen, pulling down a pair of glasses with her hair, while opening the bottle with her hands. There were practical applications of her body outside of a bedroll he hadn't realized before. Venxia poured two glasses of wine and handed one to Lukas.

“Thank you," he said before tapping his glass against hers.

They both took a small sip of the wine. Lukas thought it was good, but judging from her smile, Venxia really enjoyed it. He moved closer and placed an arm around her waist.

“Oh no, dinner first. Then we can snuggle." she smiled playfully.

Lukas smiled. “Then we should get started."

“You get started with the chicken, I'll take care of the vegetables, but first let me get the fire going."

She stepped away and cast a simple spell to light the fire in the oven. Lukas had appreciated not having to rely on his flint and steel to light a fire on the way here. A magic user of any stripe was always a welcome addition while traveling. They stood side by side preparing the meal.

“Venxia?"

“Hmm?" She didn't look up from the celery she was dicing. “Yes?"

“Why do you still have this place if you are done with your training at the academy?"

“Ehh," she shrugged her shoulders, “I'm not exactly done, I'm kind of a graduate student. I've passed all the required courses and tests to be a basic magic user, but in a lot of places in the world that's not enough to legally be allowed to be a spellblade. I need to have some practical experience to complete my training and graduate with my advanced degree. That's why I wanted to pick up adventuring. It's a lot more interesting than apprenticing with an archmage or working with the city guard for a year. Besides, this is what I want to do with my life moving forward, just like you."

“Ahh, I see. That makes sense."

“But even though I should check in with my academic adviser, that's not the reason I wanted to come back to Oxshell right away"

“Does this have something to do with Catallee?" Lukas asked, referring to the old druid who lived just outside of Midlevan.

“Yes." Venxia pushed the diced celery into a bowl and started to peel some carrots. “ Catallee shared some concerns about my current state. She was there to help me recover after the, ah, event. After all, I wasn't about to go to the local temple for help with this." she gestured to herself. “Anyway, Catallee was worried about what may happen in the future with my body. It's a bit beyond her personal knowledge and training, but she had an old friend, Professor Brys."

Lukas furrowed his brow slightly. “How come you're just speaking to him now? I thought the event happened years ago."

“Well, I never had them as a teacher, given my personal line of study. And, more importantly, he had gone off on a sabbatical." Venxia shrugged. “Catallee got word he had finally returned to the academy, that's why she came to see me before we left Midlevan.

“Are you worried? I mean, I thought you enjoyed your body, I know how happy you were to drop your disguise once we got here."

“I do, that's true it's just that…I'm, well, not worried but concerned."

Lukas turned away from the chicken to face her. “Concerned about what?"

“Concerned that my body may go through further changes; changes I would not like. Changes that could affect me in more personal ways." she saw the look on Lukas' face, “No need to worry yet. That's why I'm meeting with Professor Brys tomorrow. If there is a reason to be worried, I'm sure he can help us to find a way to deal with it, or at very least, point us in the right direction."

“So that's our plan for tomorrow then."

“Well, my plan. You aren't a student, they won't just let you into the buildings I need to go to." she looked over at him and smirked. “Of course, if you just want to sit on a bench in the quad and be bored for hours, I won't stop you."

“Message received." He smirked back. “I'll probably check out the market again, see if I can find anything interesting to help with our travels."

“So until morning it will just be a quiet night in for the two of us, sounds nice, doesn't it?" Venxia added the carrots to the celery and reached for an onion.

“It does." he smiled as he sprinkled the dressed chicken with herbs and spices. “Time enough for shady pubs and cheap inns while we are out traveling. A good meal, some wine, and fine company is just what I am looking for."

Venxia laughed as she chopped the onion.

Once their dinner was placed in the oven to cook, they sat next to each other on the simple wood bench and refilled their glasses. Sipping their wine they watched through the window as the sun started to slowly set, bathing the city in a warm orange glow. Lukas placed his arm around her shoulders, while Venxia wrapped her tails around Lukas' waist. They didn't need to fill the space with words, they just enjoyed the warm company.

As the sun continued to slip below the horizon they could see windows starting to light up as lamps and candles were lit. A simple flick of her fingers lit the lamp hanging above the table, bathing them in a pool of warm light as Lukas opened the second bottle of wine.

“It smells like dinner is just about ready." Venxia said, looking back at the stove.

“Time enough for a glass of wine." Lukas smiled as he handed her back a full glass.

She giggled at hearing her own words repeated to her. Venxia lifted the glass to her lips, but kept her golden eyes fixed on Lukas. The smell of the roasted chicken and vegetables filled the small apartment now, and was making both of their mouths water. The table was quickly set and the chicken removed to rest for a moment before carving it. Fresh bread had been left on top of the oven and was warmed to the perfect temperature.

They sat down to the meal, now sitting on opposite sides of the table. Venxia cut into the tender chicken and smiled as she took her first bite.

“When did you learn to be a good cook?"

“First of all, I didn't cook it alone." He winked across the table at her. “And secondly, I quickly learned after a week's worth of bland food on the road that I needed to do something to improve my cooking skills."

Venxia chuckled as she tore off a piece of bread. “Had to learn more than how to just swing a sword, huh?"

“A lot more. The first time It rained overnight…" He shivered then took a long drink of wine. “The next three days were miserable after that."

“As long as we can find a way to stay out of the rain, I can clean and dry our clothes with a bit of magic."

“Your magic certainly made the trip here more comfortable."

“Just my magic?" Her golden eyes shined as she watched him over her wine glass.

It was hard to tell if it was the wine or embarrassment, but Lukas did flush a bit.

“Not, just your magic, no." he answered softly, locking his green eyes with hers.

After a moment they both started to laugh. The meal did not last long in front of the hungry adventurers and soon nothing but bones remained on their plates, along with another empty wine bottle. Lukas cleaned up the table while Venxia placed the pastries they had bought on a small plate. The small bottle of port wine was opened and poured into their glasses. Perhaps they filled the glasses more than usual for the dessert wine, but their plans for the evening were to just enjoy themselves.

“I would never say anything to Mrs. Mable back home, but the turnovers from this pastry shop are the best I've ever had." she said as she picked up a raspberry filled pastry.

“Your secret is safe with me." Lukas said before taking a bite out of the apple turnover he had picked. “Mmmm!" his face lit up. “These are good, we'll have to get some again before we leave the city."

Venxia giggled before taking another bite out of hers. If the chicken hadn't lasted long, the turnovers disappeared in a flash. After a few moments to clean up from dessert, they were relaxing on Venxia's bed with their half finished glasses of port.

Lukas found himself pulled up tight against Venxia by her long tentacle-like hair. He didn't fight it in the least. He nuzzled against her cheek. Lukas could feel the wine starting to get to him, it always hit him harder than ale. Still, he was enjoying the warm fuzzy feeling as he cuddled against Venxia. She giggled as his nose and lips brushed against her cheek. Venxia was more often the one dispensing the drink than enjoying it, so this was a special occasion. She planned to enjoy the little evening-in to the fullest. Lukas quickly finished the rest of his wine, so he could wrap his arms fully around Venxia.

She pulled him tighter, snuggling up against his lithe strong body. Lukas sighed deeply as she rested her head on his shoulder.

“I'm so glad you came back…" Venxia whispered.

“Me too." he kissed her gently.

The lamp was still lit over the table, but it only dimly illuminated Venxia's bed. It was more than enough for the two lovers as they cuddled and kissed, giggling occasionally from the amount of wine they had drunk. Hands, and tentacles grew bolder the more time that passed. As Lukas' tongue danced with Venxia's, clothes started to be loosened.

Once her corset was tossed to the side of the bed, Venxia's lipples joined her mouth in kissing and licking Lukas, teasing his nipples as his tunic was pulled off over his head. Lukas let out a sound that was almost a cry, but his wide smile showed he enjoyed it. He started to push Venxia down onto her bed, kissing her deploy as their warm bodies pressed together. Hands and tentacles worked to push Lukas' leggings down to free his already swelling member. Venxia stroked it gently and slowly broke the kiss.

“Don't hold back with this tonight." she said in a low sultry tone.

Lukas smiled and nodded before he let the magic of his earring take effect. His cock began to change shape in Venxia's hand, quickly growing into one of Lukas' favorite forms. Her fingers caressed the wide flat head of his now equine cock. She giggled and rolled over on top of him. Lukas was still trying to push Venxia's leggings down, but they were stuck on her ample hips.

Three mouths slowly licked and kissed their way down his toned body. Venxia arrived at his equine member, now at its full size. She surrounded the pillar of flesh with her breasts and giggled as she moved her body up and down, stroking his cock in between her cleavage. Lukas smiled and sighed, enjoying the boob job. His sighs shifted to moans as a lone pair of tongues slipped out of her lipples and started to tease his shaft as it was stroked. Venxia smiled before she started to kiss and lick his shaft as her other two tongues teased their way down to his balls.

“Not fair…you still have your leggings on!" Lukas got out between moans.

“Not my fault," Venxia's lips brushed against his shaft as she spoke, “If you don't like it, do something about it…"

Lukas smirked before suddenly sitting up. He grabbed Venxia by the shoulders and flung her down onto the bed. She let out a surprised yelp as her back fell into the soft bed. She was too stunned to react before Lukas had stripped her fully of her leggings. He spread her legs wide and lowered his head, licking at her sex greedily. Venxia cried out and squirmed on the bed as he attacked her pussy with his tongue. Moaning softly, she reached down and pressed Lukas' head in tight. Her long vaginal tongue slipped out and started to french him as he ate her out.

Even being a bit tipsy, Lukas knew to expect this by now, and it only spurred him on more. It didn't take long to coax a mini orgasm out of Venxia, but she was far from done just yet. She pulled Lukas up off of her sex and back into her arms with her tentacles. Their lips pressed together tightly and were instantly locked into a deep kiss. Venxia could feel his massive cock pressed tightly between their bodies as they kissed. Holding him tight with her hair tentacles, she used her hands to shift her breasts, allowing her lipples full access to his cock one more.

Lukas moaned into her mouth as the lipples kissed and licked the sides of his shaft. If it wasn't for his enhanced stamina he would have fired off by now. Lukas slid down Venxia's body slightly and grabbed her left breast. He then gently pushed the head of his cock into her open lipple. It stretched obscenely to accommodate equine member. Lukas could feel her long serpentine tongue wrapping around his shaft, helping to pull it deeper into its bottomless passage.

Venxia giggled as she wrapped her hair tentacles around her lover, pulling him in deeper and supporting his body in the awkward position. She kissed his abs, tracing Lukas' toned muscles with her tongue while her other mouth enjoyed the taste of his cock. She could feel the need for release building up between her legs. She looked up to him, her golden eyes shining in the low light

“As fun as this is dear, you know what I need…"

He smiled down at her. “Exactly what I need too."

Slowly he pulled out of her breast and slid back down her body. Venxia spreader legs wide and grabbed his cock with her tentacles to guide it to her aching pussy. He slowly pressed into her hot wet sex, savoring the sensation as it stretched to accommodate him. They both moaned loudly as he penetrated her, but he didn't stop until his large swollen balls pressed against her. Lukas paused, his green eyes locking with her golden ones before he started to slowly move.

Venxia gripped his hips tightly as he moved almost agonizingly slow. She knew he was teasing her with it, he always did, at first. Her long tongues slipped out from her lipples to lick and tease his nipples as he moved, trying to spur him on to move faster. Even knowing her tricks, a slightly tipsy Lukas was unable to resist and he started to pick up the pace. Venxia threw back her head and moaned with delight.

Lukas was running almost by muscle memory now, his mind muddled between the wine and the lustful pleasure. He grabbed Venxia by the legs and shifted her into a mating press as he started to slam into her harder with almost every thrust. A wicked idea formed in Venxia's mind. Her vaginal tongue traced over the flat and flaring head of Lukas' cock and then suddenly the tip of the tongue slid into his urethra.

The shock of the new sensation made Lukas yelp and stop mid thrust, which only made it easier for Venxia to slide her tongue deeper into his shaft.

“Wh-what?" he stammered.

She let out a lusty laugh as she tasted her lover from the inside out. “What's the matter, dear? I thought you like it when I use that tongue."

As the long tongue teased him from the inside, Lukas soon found he enjoyed the pressure. He smirked back before starting to move once more. Pounding into her even as they were interlocked. Lukas' renewed vigor had an immediate effect on Venxia and she held onto her lover tightly with both her hands and tentacles. Inside his shaft he could feel her tongue wriggling as her passage squeezed around his shaft tightly.

Venxia closed her eyes tightly and cried out, writhing underneath him locked in the mating press. Reflexively, she pulled her vaginal tongue out of his cock. The sudden movement triggered Lukas and he hit his climax hard. His load exploded inside of Venxia, emptying his balls almost immediately. She could feel the blast slamming against her cervix and the excess cum overflowed, streaming out around his cock that was buried deep inside of her.

Lukas tried to catch his breath, but he could only gasp shallowly at first. He was too spent to even shift out of the mating press. Venxia was not much better, but between them both they managed to shift enough for her to lower her legs. They were left panting in the bed, now damp from their sweat and juices.

“Gods…" He managed to gasp against her neck.

She let out a small chuckle. “I thought you would enjoy that."

“You, you could have warned me."

“Where's the fun in that?"

Lukas chuckled then moved to kiss her softly. They laid there, bodies intertwined, kissing and nuzzling each other as Lukas' cock slowly softened before slipping out on its own. Outside the window the stars and moon shone down over the city, but neither was ready to move just yet.

“You are amazing, you know that?" Lukas whispered into her ear.

“I'm not the only one." she replied back with a smile.

Lukas shook his head slightly. “I get help from your earring."

“First of all, it's your earring, I gave it to you. Secondly, the enchantment is meaningless unless it's used right, and by all that's holy, you use it right."

“It's easy when I have such a talented partner."

Venxia gave him a squeeze. “I hope that's not just the wine talking."

“You know it isn't." He placed a hand tenderly on her cheek and kissed her.

Venxia closed her eyes and returned the long slow kiss in earnest. Time had no meaning while they were locked in the kiss, but as they slowly pulled away she realized they couldn't just sleep like this.

“Before we pass out, I need to clean the bed." she said with a sigh, “Will only take a moment to cast the spell."

“Heh, yeah,that would probably be a good thing." a mischievous smile started to spread across his face, “But shouldn't we wait until we are done for the night?"

“Oh, are you ready for more already?"

“Well, there's still a little port left in the bottle, but after that…"

Venxia laughed and pulled him back into a kiss.

Chapter 3

The library at the academy was massive, filling several buildings each the size of a large warehouse. It was certainly more books than Lukas had ever seen in one place. He shook his head slowly as he took in the rows of bookshelves stacked three stories tall from what he could tell looking up the gallery. Venxia saw his reaction and giggled.

“A magic academy has a more substantial library than your average book collector." she patted his shoulder. “And don't worry It's not my first trip here."

“Still, how can you find anything in here?" Lukas said, gesturing to the gallery that ran down the center of the library.

“It takes some work, but this is hardly sorting through pure chaos. Besides, Professor Brys already gave us some idea of where to look for the books." She said as she unfolded a piece of paper with notes jotted down on it. “And it's more than just which building to start in at least." Venxia approached a large book in an alcove just to the side of the entrance. She opened it and after double checking her notes flipped through several pages. “Books are sorted by their subject first, like history or transmutation, then they are subdivided further, and eventually sorted alphabetically. This book will point us to the sections of the library where we should find the books, unless someone has moved things around or already checked out the books."

Lukas raised an eyebrow. “What do we do then?"

“Well, if they are checked out all we can do is wait for them to be returned. If they are miss-shelved in the library that gets tricky, but let's not worry about that unless it comes up." Venxia jotted down a few more notes on her paper with a charcoal pencil. “This gives us the sections to look in. So which floor do you want to start on?" she asked as she closed the catalog.

Lukas sighed and looked back at the gallery, scanning up through the three floors of books. “I'm no scholar, but I'd probably want to start on the top floor and work our way down."

Venxia chuckled. “A common sense approach, that sounds good to me."

She slipped her hand into Lukas' and started to lead him deeper into the library.

“I can navigate in a dark and abandoned dungeon, but I am just so lost here." Lukas said as he looked between nearly identical bookcases.

“It's not that hard, see this first number?" Venxia pointed to her notes with a red nail. “That tells us what floor."

“And the next number?" He asked, squinting at the series of numbers and letters.

“The section. Since it's in the sixth section I didn't bother climbing up the first set of stairs."

Lukas looked down at the note in Venxia's hand as they walked. “I take it the 'E' means it's on the East side of the gallery then?"

“See, you're getting it." Venxia gave his hand a little squeeze. “If you look around you can see the various subsections labeled as we walk by." She pointed to a sign as they walked by. “Once we are in the right area the catalog book will give us a better idea where the books we are looking for are."

Lukas looked around the rows of bookshelves as they walked. “Were you intimidated your first time here?"

“I was more so in awe of the amount of books and scrolls. And bare in mind, there are two more buildings housing the rest of the library.“

Lukas chuckled, “That does sound like you. Should we go up here?" he motioned to a metal spiral staircase.

Venxia nodded and they started to climb up. The stairs were too narrow to walk side by side, so Lukas simply followed Venxia up. He had little complaints about the view as they made their way up to the top level, though they did pause for a bit before continuing on to the sixth section.

Lukas narrowed his eyes slightly. “Is it my imagination or is the light dimmer here?"

“Ah, you noticed, I suppose an adventure would. This section is where a lot of, um, let's say dark subjects are stored. A single book or two, or even an entire shelf won't cause this kind of effect, but this many," she gestured to the shelves, “Those who are trained in magic, or sensitive to its effects can notice."

“That's more than a little creepy." Lukas said, trying to suppress a shudder.

“Yeah, unfortunately, it's still important knowledge and magic. To simply ignore or hide it would hamper those trying to fight it, or understand its after effects." Venxia couldn't help reaching up to gently touch one of her horns.

Lukas got a sheepish look on his face. “That's a good point, I'm sorry if I over reacted."

“It's fine," she turned and smiled at him. “I know your heart is in the right place."

As they wandered deeper into the stacks Lukas was able to ignore the effect of so many dark tomes. They eventually found the right subsection and Venxia began to page quickly through the catalog. Lukas smiled as he watched her golden eyes scan through the lines on the page. He never would have entered the academy grounds, let alone the library if he wasn't with Venxia. But he was enjoying this little scholarly quest with her. It was nice to let Venxia take the reins on a quest for once and follow her lead.

“Got it!" Venxia smiled broadly as she tapped an entry on the page with a long red nail “Row 84, rack 37, shelf H"

“Almost there then?"

“For the first book we need, yes." Venxia smirked. “Come on." She set off with her twin tails flicking behind her..

They quickly made their way to the correct row of shelves. Lukas counted in his head until they reached the correct bookcase, or rack; it also had a clear '37' painted on the floor in front of it. Venxia scanned along the eighth shelf from the floor, or 'H'. Not every book was labeled on its spine, so she made use of her hair tentacles to pull the old books out as she searched for the book.

“Ah! Here it is!" she said, pulling the book off the shelf. She opened it and flipped through the first few pages. “See, it's not that hard to find things in here, if you know what you're doing anyway." She closed the book and handed it to Lukas.

“Ah, here's the real reason you brought me along, to lug the books around." He smiled.

“That and for the conversation." Venxia winked. “Ready to continue?"

“Lead the way."

***

As the fourth heavy book was added to the stack he was carrying, Lukas began to wish he had brought a backpack with him. Venxia noticed the look on his face. And patted his shoulder gently.

“Just one more book on our list." she said, starting to walk towards the next subsection.

“I can see now why professors have their students pick up the books for them." Lukas huffed as he adjusted the books in his arms.

“Professor Brys is doing me a favor though, it's the least we can do. Besides, if it's any consolation, he had to do the same thing in his youth."

“It's less tiring than taking out a camp of goblins, at least." Lukas admitted as he trudged towards the final book.

Venxia just chuckled as they made their way to the catalog. “After we drop the books off with Professor Brys, how about we get some lunch?"

“That sounds wonderful." He looked down at his gut as he felt it rumble. “I'm starving now that you mention it."

“Of course you are, love, you're doing all the heavy lifting after all." Venxia giggled.

***

They dropped off the books with Professor Brys, who asked to have some time for some initial research, but to stop by again after the end of classes. Venxia and Lukas had no issue with that and enjoyed a nice long picnic lunch in the city park. After all the time spent in the library, the two of them wanted to be outside for a bit. They wandered around the city for a bit with no real destination in mind. As the afternoon grew later they made their way back towards the Academy. A loud rich bell began to ring, marking the end of classes for the day. The quad was full of students as they made their way back to the office of Professor Brys. Venxia knocked softly on his office door, and they heard him inviting them in from the other side of the door.

The office wasn't strictly speaking small, but with the various books, maps, charts and implements, not to mention a very large desk, it made the office at the very least cozy. Venxia smiled broadly as she stepped up to the professor's desk. Lukas paused to close the door before joining her.

“I know you just got the books, but have you been able to figure anything out, Professor?" Venxia said as she looked at the various books opened to seemingly random pages spread across the top of his desk.

“A little bit, yes. Please, take a seat, both of you." He broadly gestured to several chairs in the office, most of them holding stacks of books.

Lukas managed to find a pair of mismatched chairs in the clutter and they both sat down.

“From what I gathered from the letter Catallee sent and your own account, what happened to you is more than a bit unusual. You might even be a completely unique case of acquired polymorphism."

Lukas blinked “What?"

“Becoming a shapeshifter." Venxia answered, keeping her attention on the professor. “I can't say I'm too surprised about that, but I'm more worried about any long term consequences."

Professor Brys nodded. “Unique as it is, I've been cross referencing cases that share at least one or two things in common with your own, trying to extrapolate. I don't have any real theories yet, but I have at least some vague ideas to follow through on. I need more time to study, both from books and your body. But in the meantime, I'd like to make a suggestion."

Venxia leaned forward in her chair. “Yes?"

“I came across a recorded case of demonic influenced acquired polymorphism. His case was different from your own, but I figured some useful knowledge could be found within the story. The individual did his best to hide his new state from the world around him, even in his own home all alone he focused on just maintaining a single form. It seems that his attempt to ignore it ultimately led to some kind of internal build up, corrupting him from the inside out."

“Gods…" Lukas said, his eyes wide.

“Or lack thereof in that poor man's case." Professor Brys shook his head slowly. “From what you've told me you tend to use several, ah, default forms, yes?"

“Yes, depending on where I am and what the reaction would be."

“I can't say for sure you are at the same risk as that man was, but I recommend you, how to put it, flex your shifting muscles." Professor Brys adjusted his glasses on his nose. “We will probably have to do some tests and observations of your shifting later anyway, so the practice will at least help with that. Do you have someplace with, ah, sufficient privacy, or do I need to requisition a lab?"

Venxia shook her head. “My apartment should be sufficient, thank you."

“Good, good." the old mage got up from behind his desk and stretched. “I will send a message to you there when I have a better idea what we are doing. For now though, I better make my way to the teacher's dining hall before Professor Pilsby hogs all the dinner rolls, again."

“Thank you for all your help, Professor." Venxia said, giving the old mage a quick hug, “I appreciate all the work you're doing."

The old man blushed slightly but made a dismissive gesture. “I would never turn down a favor from Catallee for starters, but more than that your case is quite interesting. Perhaps another book will be added to the shelves after we get to the bottom of this."

Lukas chuckled softly. “Thank you again, and please enjoy the rest of your evening."

The quad was almost deserted as both students and teachers were occupied with their evening activities. They walked hand in hand, not saying anything until they had left the academy well behind them. Lukas at first waited for Venxia to say something, but after several blocks of walking he decided to break the silence.

“So, I guess we have our plans for tonight then."

Venxia turned her head and raised an eyebrow at him. “We?"

“Well, I'm a bit of a shapeshifter too." he tapped his enchanted earring. “No reason I can't practice alongside you."

Venxia rolled her eyes and shook her head. “That is not the same thing and you know it."

“Still, it's a good excuse. And if our practice just happens to lead to other activities…" he smirked.

Venxia laughed and leaned against Lukas as they walked, wrapping her tails around him tightly.

***

Lukas pushed the table up against the wall. Once it was as far as it could go, he stacked the benches on top of it. Looking back he saw Venxia had moved whatever else she could out of the way, making the largest space possible in the middle of the small apartment.

“I think that's everything we can move." Lukas leaned back against the table. “Do you think it's enough room?"

“It'll have to be." Venxia shrugged. “I don't think I could turn into something ridiculously huge even if I wanted to anyway." She turned and drew the curtain closed over the window.

Lukas chuckled “Fair point."

Venxia sat down on her bed and started to pull off her boots. She was somewhat surprised when Lukas joined her and pulled off his well worn boots.

“What are you doing?"

“Getting undressed."

“I can see that, but why?"

“I said I was going to practice alongside you."

Venxia blinked. “You were being serious?"

“Why wouldn't I be? Before it's all just been in the moment with me. Taking a step back and just trying out different things will probably be to both our benefit, if you know what I mean."

Venxia rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling as she loosened the ties on her corset. “Just so we're clear this little exercise isn't about us getting off."

“Not in the middle of it, no, but at the end we both know what's going to happen." Lukas winked before pulling his tunic over his head.

Venxia couldn't help but let out a little laugh. She knew he was right about that. Still, Venxia needed to keep her mind out of the gutter and follow Professor Brys' advice. She removed her corset and tunic, her lipples opening and closing to stretch out after being contained for the day. Venxia stood up to push her leggings down, leaving her completely nude.

“Stay over here on the bed." she said as she walked into the cleared space. “At least for now."

Lukas nodded as he tossed his leggings off to the side. He wasn't aroused just yet, but he was watching Venxia intently as she did a few simple stretches. She decided to start with something simple which she had been avoiding in the city. Venxia started to grow a black horn-like spike from the base of her heel, slowly lifting her up onto the ball of her feet. She took a few steps, enjoying the feel and the added height.

“Been a while since you've done that"

“Yes well, I explained why I rely on my boots even in this city."

“Still, it's a good look for you."

“And how about this?"

Venxia's Toes started to shift and merge and her red nails grew thick and hard. The “heel" shrunk back as the bones of her feet realigned to naturally support her new stance. Venxia was left standing on a pair of red cloven hooves, with a little bit of green fur feathering from her ankles down. She looked back to her lover expectantly.

“Another good look, and damn it makes you tall, I'd feel like a shrimp standing next to you now." He chuckled. “Overall I'd say the hooves make you look, ahhh," Lukas scratched his chin as he searched for the right words, “more badass."

She giggled at his response. “Really? Which do you prefer more?"

“Tough choice." as he paused Venxia could see his cock just starting to stir. “I'd say I'd rather the heels if we were relaxing, and the hooves if we are fighting."

“Hmmm," she tapped the floor gently with her hoof, “good answer. But aren't you supposed to be practicing too? Just getting hard doesn't count as shapeshifting." she smirked.

“Had to let it get warmed up first." he winked back.

Lukas leaned back on the bed slightly with his legs spread. He thought for a moment before any change started to register. It started with his balls, as they started to swell and take on a dark brown color. His cock, which was already at half mast by this point, was the next thing to change. It started with a brown sheath forming at the base while the flesh of his cock started to become a brighter pink and the head tapered to a point. Lukas looked down and smiled.

“What do you think? I based it on Old Man Garett's prize bull.

“Bovine is a new form for you, I'm impressed."

“I wanted something to go with your cloven feet."

“In that case…" she smiled and leaned forward slightly. The small red horns on her head started to grow and curve to point forward. Though they retained the same bright red color they were now undoubtedly cow horns topping her head.

“Interesting," he rubbed his chin, “That could give me something to hold onto."

Venxia's eyes widened for a moment before she began to giggle. “Maybe later, if you behave yourself, my bull. For now though, they feel a little front heavy." with that her horns shrunk back to their normal size. “There is something I had been thinking about how I could protect myself if we get into a more intense encounter, it's as good a time as any to try it out."

The skin on her hand grew thick and green, her nails lengthened and thickened into short claws. Black chitinous armor plates started to form starting at her wrist and covered her lower arms to her elbows. Meanwhile a similar change began at her hooves and ran up her legs to her knees.

“I've seen you do this before." Lukas replied as he watched.

“Yes, but I've always just stopped it there, I didn't want to restrict my movement, or burst through the clothing I was wearing. But now I'm going to try and take it further."

The transformation continued not from her elbows, but from her shoulders. First they turned green before a large black growth started to grow out from the top of her shoulder, becoming almost like a paldron. She wrapped her tails around her waist almost like a belt. They thickened and hardened before growing large plates that covered her sex and rear.

She took a deep breath. “That takes a lot of concentration, I think I'll stop there for now."

“I understand, does it restrict you any?"

She moved her arms around and walked in a small circle. “No, not really, I can totally cast like this or swing my sword without any issue. That might change if I manage to fully armor my body though."

“I guess we'll see in the future then. As for me, I was thinking: why not just go bigger and better?"

Lukas' cock started to shift, changing color first back to his normal skin tone. His balls followed suit. The shape started to shift away from the long tapered bovine and back towards a human shape. However, it remained obscenely large. Venxia couldn't help giggling at it.

“What? Isn't it a good size?" Lukas smirked.

“More than that, love. It just seems almost silly to see a human one that big. I'm sure of course it still feels good."

“I would hope so." Lukas winked back.

“Ok, I want to try something with my hair next."

“Oh? How so?"

“Just sit there and watch." she smiled as she took a deep breath.

Venxia's tentacle-like hair started to lift up and writhe. Some of the individual tendrils merged, becoming thicker and stronger. A series of octopus-like suckers begin to form.

“That's different." Lukas said leaning forward, “I bet they can really hold onto me now."

“Yes, and leave a hell of a lot of hickies in the process." She smiled. “I think I can spare you that for now. Let me try something else with my hair."

The rows of suckers melted back into the tentacles, leaving them smooth and green. They didn't remain smooth for long, as each individual tentacle was quickly growing covered in scales. The tips swelled slightly before a pair of eyes opened on each one followed quickly with the opening of a fanged mouth. Venxia's hair was now a nest of snakes, slithering and hissing as they all focused in on Lukas.

“Now that is impressive. I mean, wow, the sexiest medusa ever!"

“Oh hush!" she blushed slightly at the compliment. “I'm not really a medusa."

“Since I'm not stone I kind of figured. You know, it could still be useful if you want to put the fear of the gods in some people."

“Heh, that's true. So, what's your next trick then?"

“Well, to follow the snake theme…" Lukas smiled as he concentrated on his cock once again.

The shape of the cock started to change, quickly becoming less human and more a smooth tapering shaft. It became more flexible, but still retained enough firmness as it started to shift color to a pale pink hue. Then starting at the tip, it started to split off into a matched pair.

“Ah, now that looks like it could be fun." Venxia stepped up between Lukas' legs and ran her hands slowly along the twin shafts.

Lukas shivered slightly but managed to smile. “Now, now, fun later. You still need to work out your shifting muscles."

“Hmmm…" she looked up at him with the snake heads as well as her eyes. “Remember this one for later." she said before slowly backing away.

“No problem. So what are you doing next?"

“I feel like I really want to cut loose and go all out. Just give me a second to think." Venxia held her chin in her hand, her snake hair moving freely as her mind wandered on what direction she wanted to go. “Well, I'm already sporting some snake hair," she stroked one of her snakes gently, “Let's go a little bit further."

Venxia stood up straight with her feet and legs pressed tightly together. As Lukas watched her legs began to fuse together. At first the gap between her legs closed up, but soon both legs melted into a single appendage, leaving only her pussy behind. Then the pillar of flesh started to change, becoming a thick but flexible tail, more than strong enough to support Venxia's upper body. The tail started to grow and lengthen, as well as sprout scales matching the scales on her snake hair. Venxia coiled up her long tail underneath her body and relaxed.

“What do you think?" She asked with a wide smile.

Lukas couldn't help but stare. “I think you can now give the biggest and strongest of hugs."

Venxia laughed. “I promise not to squeeze you too hard."

He shook his head. “Seriously though, that is wild!"

“I'm about to make it even more so." Venxia's golden eyes glittered with excitement.

“Oh?"

“Just watch!"

Venxia raised her hands up above her head and pressed her palms together. This had the effect of raising up her breasts. Her lipples were smiling as wide as she was on her face when the changes started to become noticeable. Slowly a pair of bumps formed below Venxia's breasts. They grew, becoming larger and rounder. It wasn't until the nipples popped into place that Lukas realized they were a second pair of breasts, just slightly smaller than her original pair. She smiled at the reaction on Lukas' face.

“I'm not quite done." Venxia giggled as the next set of changes began.

Below her over stretched arms something new began to grow out from Venxia's body. At first Lukas thought it was another pair of tentacles, but these were firmer. As he watched, a small hand took form and waved at him. He then realized she was growing a second pair of arms. They grew longer, going from child to adult in just the matter of seconds. The new lower pair of arms stretched and flexed before folding hands below her second pair of breasts. With a sigh, Venxia lowered her original arms down.

“Now I'm sure I give the best hugs." she smirked.

Lukas got up onto his feet. “There's only one way to know for sure."

Venxia giggled as she pulled her lover into an embrace, wrapping all four arms around him, as well as a bit of her coiled tail. “What do you think?"

“Mmm, very nice." He leaned in for a kiss.

Lukas wasn't too surprised when he felt his lips being teased by a forked tongue. He invited her tongue in and returned the kiss. They moaned into each other's mouths and it was obvious the experiment was done and it was time for fun. Venxia pulled Lukas deeper into her coils while her four hands rubbed and massaged his back. Lukas could feel the now familiar sensation of her lipples teasing and sucking on his nippes as he was held tightly against her body. The snakes in her hair brushed gently against his face, their little tongues teasing him as his lips remained locked with Venxia.

Lukas worked a hand down between them both. Reaching her slit, he teased the opening with his fingers. Venxia moaned loudly and broke the kiss, staring at her lover with lust filled golden eyes. She could feel his twin serpent cocks pressed up between them both. Venxia released him from her arms, but not her grip. She pushed the shafts between her doubled cleavage and squeezed both sets tightly around them with her four arms. She smiled lustfully as she moved his body up and down with her coils, allowing her breasts to stroke his cocks.

Venxia could feel the semi-flexible member twitching in between her breasts. But Lukas' moans were enough to tell how much he was enjoying himself. She let her long tongue slither out of her mouth and teased the tips of his cocks while she retained eye contact. Lukas was enjoying himself, but he was not about to ignore his lover. His fingers slid inside her deeper, finally teasing a few moans out of her lips. Her first reflex was to squeeze Lukas tighter, but she restrained herself.

Lukas moved his hands to the slight vestigial hips that remained after her transformation. He smiled at her and started to shift his body. Venxia allowed him to pull out of her cleavage, as she was more than ready to feel the twin cocks inside of her. She shifted in her coils, as if she was laying back on a bed of her own tail. One pair of hands rested on Lukas' hips while the other helped guide him into her hot wet depths.

Lukas slid in easily, and almost immediately he could feel Venxia's passage begin to squeeze and stroke his shafts as he moved. She pulled her lover tight against her chest as he moved, the slight flexibility of Lukas' shafts allowed him to hit Venxia just right. She gripped his body tightly in her arms, moaning loudly as he nipped and kissed at her neck. As her climax built Venxia couldn't help wrapping Lukas back up in her coils, pulling them tiger and closer as the twin cocks twitched inside of her passage. She cried out loudly and her snake hair accompanied it with loud hisses. Lukas joined in the chorus as he emptied his load into her.

They fell back onto the floor, entwined tightly. Both were left drained and panting for air. As for Venxia, even when she closed her eyes, she could still see Lukas through the eyes of her snake hair. She couldn't help but smile. It was freeing to know that Lukas would be willing regardless of the form she took. No matter what else in her life she needed to worry about, Lukas would be there. Lukas was in no hurry to disentangle himself. He felt loved and safe within Venxia's coils. He reached up and gently caressed and petted one of her snakes. She couldn't help but giggle.

“What, does that tickle?"

“No, it feels quite nice. It's just that a part of me that still has trouble believing you would still want to sleep with me even if I'm some kind of lamia-medusa hybrid."

“That's because regardless of what you look like, It's Venxia that I love, not something as easily changeable as her form."

“But you still enjoy yourself, right?" she asked softly with a trace of worry in her voice.

“Has there been anything in our lovemaking that would make you doubt it?" he smiled deeply, “It's fun and exciting. I almost wish I could shift more than just my cock while we experiment further."

“Further? Aren't you satisfied?" she smirked.

“For now, yes. Maybe even for tonight, but I think there's a lot more things you could shift into to keep things…interesting." he smiled like a kid on a festival day.

We will just have to see what I can come up with then, won't we?" she whispered as she leaned in for a kiss.

Chapter 4

The horse drawn cart rolled along the Old West Road. The road was less frequently traveled since a shorter path had opened up thanks to a massive stone bridge completed over a century ago. Their goal, however, was not the city of Malcross at the end of the road, but a small town on the other side of the Wrentrial Forest named Alkdaal. There were some old ruins nearby and a team from the academy worked out of Alkdaal. Professor Brys' friend, Professor Quay, was leading the research group. She was knowledgeable on some ancient forms of magic and would probably have some insight on Venxia's condition. Professor Brys also believed there was information that could be gleaned from the ruins that could help Venxia as well.

He arranged for Venxia and Lukas to transport some supplies and equipment to Alkdaal. It wasn't the best pay, but it was better than having to pick up work along the way. They were several days out from Oxshell Keep, enjoying a trip they didn't need to make with their own legs.

“Have you ever been up this way before?" Venxia asked her companion.

Since the road this far from the city was rarely used at best, she was traveling in her preferred form. A pair of red horns jutted out from the mobile green tendrils of her hair. Instead of boots, her feet were bare, green leathery skin with chitinous black plates covering her shins. A large black spike grew out of her heel, giving her the appearance of wearing high heeled shoes when standing. A pair or red spade-tipped tails flicked idly behind her, and the rest of her unique features were hidden by her clothing.

“I've been to Malcross before, but I didn't get there by this road." he turned to face her. “This is a first time adventure for us both.

Lukas' long blond hair was tied back into a simple ponytail. He looked rather ordinary sitting next to a woman like Venxia, but he was handsome and well built from his years spent adventuring.

“Not much of an adventure, really, just delivering some supplies." She indicated with her head the cart full of items.

Lukas shook his head. “Once you've been on enough escort missions, you start to appreciate the boring days."

Venxia smirked. “At least the nights aren't boring."

“I have no complaints." Lukas smiled widely.

They both shared a laugh as the horse continued to pull the cart. As the afternoon got late, they looked for a place to make camp for the night. They found a spot that must have been used in the past by caravans, though the clearing was starting to be reclaimed by the wilds over the years. There was a creek of freshwater nearby and Venxia led the horse down to drink while Lukas set up the camp for the evening.

As he was starting to put up the tent he got an odd feeling. Lukas stopped what he was doing to look around. The young man found nothing amiss with the old campsite. He peered down the road in both directions, but still saw nothing. Lukas returned to setting up the tent but remained wary. Venxia returned, leading the horse and carrying a bucket of water in her other hand.

“Hey, is something wrong? You look tense all of a sudden."

“Yeah, sorry, I thought I felt something off. I looked around and there's nothing out there besides us and the horse."

“Hmm, I'll cast a warding spell before we settle in for the night, just in case."

“Yeah, better safe than sorry."

The camp was set up and a fire was kindled in an old stone circle. A pot of stew was heating up over the flames as the sun started to set. The horse grazed on the long grass while tied off to a tree a short distance from the cart. Lukas was sitting on a log by the fire, paying close attention to Venxia as she walked around the campsite, weaving a warding spell into place.

Lukas had always been intrigued by magic, and after some time in Oxshell Keep he had picked up a small book on ritual magic. It was nothing as flashy as a fireball or a bolt of lightning, but interesting and useful nonetheless. Venxia had given him some help and advice with his studies, and he found himself understanding her spellcasting more, even if it was outside of his ability to reproduce it.

“That should do it." Venxia said as she dusted off her hands. “All warded. How's that stew coming along?"

“It's coming." Lukas gave the pot a stir with a large wooden spoon. “We're out of carrots and potatoes with this pot by the way."

“I'm sure we'll come across a town or something where we can restock the fresh food."

“Probably. The trade route may have moved but there still must be some settlements out here."

Venxia sat next to him on the log. “Do you think you have enough energy to spend some quality time together before we have to go to sleep?"

Lukas placed his arm over her shoulders. “Oh, I'm pretty sure I'll have the energy."

Venxia laughed and leaned against her lover.

***

The lovers were sleeping quietly in their tent when suddenly Venxia bolted up. The sudden movement roused Lukas as well.

“Venxia?" He asked, still half asleep.

“The ward!" she replied in a harsh whisper, “Something has crossed through it, a lot of somethings!"

That was enough for Lukas to shake the cobwebs off and reach for his sword. Venxia did the same and readied a spell to cast as well. As they reached for the front flap of the tent they both realized it was far too quiet. No insects chirping, no breeze through the trees. Everything was dead still.

Lukas nodded to Venxia and she nodded back. They threw open the flap of the tent and jumped out into the open. Venxia threw up an orb of light while Lukas readied his sword. Their campsite was overrun with goblins, who looked just as surprised as the two travelers at the situation. The silence was broken with the screams and shouts of the goblin pack filling the night air.

Lukas let out a cry of his own and rushed at a group of them. They weren't willing to fight and quickly ran back into the night. A flash of fire in Venxia's hands scared the rest of them, they were almost tripping over each other to get away from the pair. The commotion, however, completely spooked the horse. He snapped his line and took off into the night like the goblins.

“Ah hell!" Lukas took off after the scared beast.

He tried to chase down the horse, but had no chance of catching up to a scared horse. With nothing but some moonlight overhead Lukas lost the animal in the night. Cursing a stream of hate towards the goblin pack, he made his way back to the camp. Venxia was waiting by the fire she had rekindled.

“Lost the horse?" she asked softly.

“Yes." he said with more than a little anger as he plopped down by the fire. “Maybe he'll find his way back to us, if the goblins don't grab him for food."

“Of all the things we could have lost." Venxia shook her head. “We'll just have to see if we can find him in the morning."

“And if not?"

“Then we'll have to think of something."

***

After a less than restful night of alternating watches the horse had not returned. Lukas did his best to track down the horse, but had no luck. Either it had run the entire night away from them, or had been captured by the goblins. Either way it left them with a cart full of supplies and no beast to pull it.

“What do we do?" Lukas said as he stirred his porridge. “We can't leave the cart here unguarded to try and find a town that even has a horse or even an ox for sale."

“I was thinking about it while I was taking my turns on watch, I might have a solution."

“Oh?" He looked up from his bowl, a hopeful look in his eyes.

“What if I were to shift into something that could pull the cart?"

Lukas raised an eyebrow. “Wait, what?"

“Hear me out. I've been experimenting with multiple limbs and more, ah, intense forms. What if I take on something akin to a centaur? I would still be able to cast spells and talk with you, while pulling the cart. We still have the harness and such, it shouldn't be that hard to adjust it to fit me."

“What if someone were to see you?"

“What if someone sees me like this?" She indicated her current form. “Half the time I'm on hooves anyway, what's having two more? Even if I used magic on one or both of us, we wouldn't be getting far in a day dragging the cart behind us."

“I see your point. I guess we can try it, maybe it can get us to the next town."

“That's the spirit. Let's finish with breakfast then strike camp. I know we lost a lot of time today, but we'll still make it a few miles before sunset."

After breakfast they worked together to load their camping gear back on the cart. Once that was done Venxia took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“First thing's first." she said as she began to unfasten her belt.

“What are you doing?"

“Have you ever seen a centaur in pants before?" she smirked at her lover before pushing down her leggings. “Here, take these for me." She handed her legging over to Lukas. “Thanks, now here comes the tricky part."

Venxia closed her golden eyes and concentrated. The change started at her feet as her toes fused together and her nails grew thick and red. The heel spike retreated back as her feet completed shifting to a pair of red cloven hooves. As Venxia shifted slightly on her transformed feet green fur sprouted on her lower legs and started to grow up her legs to cover her lower equine body. It creeped up her legs to her waist, though her abdomen and sex remained bare.

With her eyes still closed Venxia took another deep breath. Lukas' eyes went a little wide when her rear began to expand. At first it just got bigger, but then started to push out away from her body. As he watched, Venxia's legs seemed to split; a second pair almost stepping back out of her original. They were thin at first but soon they started to fill out. Her rear legs slowly stepped back, stretching out her body with it. Her lower body slowly shifted and filled out, taking on the appearance of a green-furred equine. Apart from the cloven hooves and twin spade tipped tails, that is. Venxia sighed and opened her eyes. She took a few tentative steps, getting used to having four legs instead of two.

“What do you think?" she asked as she tried to turn and see more of her shifted form.

“It's pretty impressive, but, ah, you know you doubled more than just your legs."

"Hmm?"

Lukas pointed her her sex, still right between her front legs. "You have another one around back, though it looks a bit more, ah, equine."

"Oh, I guess I did." Venxia shrugged. "It shouldn't matter for pulling the cart. Could you hand me my sash?"

She tied it around her 'waist', and it hid her human sex without interfering with her walking.

"There, that should keep me presentable in case we come across travelers on the road."

"I suppose. You look a little smaller than our horse, do you think you will still be able to pull the cart "

"Here's the thing. I can pull a load better with four legs than two, but I'm not really any stronger than my normal form. I'll need to cast a spell to increase my strength and endurance first."

Venxia began to cast the spell, chanting softly as she fluidly moved her hands and fingers. A subtle glow settled on to her shifted form then seemed to just fade away. Venxia moved a bit, flexing out her legs.

"How do you feel?" Lukas asked after she had stretched out a bit.

"Strong as a horse." She giggled. "Lets get me hitched up and see if we can salvage this day of travel."

It took a few minutes to adjust the harness and tack to Venxia. Lukas double checked everything before he was satisfied.

"Climb on up and let's get going." Venxia flicked one of her tails at Lukas.

He smiled a bit before climbing up into the seat. "I'm ready if you are."

She cracked her knuckles then started to move. With the spell active she had little issue pulling the cart once she got it moving. It was a late start, but they were moving again. It was strange for Lukas, looking ahead and seeing his partner pulling the cart. Not to mention the fact that technically her bare rear was on display right in front of him.

"How are you doing up there?" he called out after a bit.

"I'm fine, once the cart gets moving it's not hard to keep it up to speed. Walking is easier with four legs it seems."

"I'll take your word for it."

Venxia chuckled. "This is all part of being with a shape-shifter."

"I'm not bothered by the change, I just don't want you to do all the work."

"I appreciate the sentiment, but given our situation we didn't have a better option. It's only temporary until we either make it to Alkdaal or find a horse or ox for sale."

"Still, it's a little unfair."

"Then you can do all the chores when we stop for the night."

"I still think that's not completely fair, but I agree."

"Silly boy." Venxia shook her head but smiled.

***

Even with their late start, Venxia pulled the cart a decent distance. The time lost was certainly better than the days finding a horse would have taken them. Since there was no need to hold the reins with Venxia pulling the cart, Lukas was free to focus on studying and even practicing from his book on ritual magic. He was working on detecting magic, with the occasional tip from Venxia. On his third attempt the spell finally went through to completion. Lukas knew he had gotten it right when he could see the aura around his partner.

Lukas smiled to himself as he studied the aura of the spell Venxia had cast on herself. Feeling his eyes on her, she turned to look back at him.

"Are you staring at my butt?" she smirked.

"No, well, kind of…I was just inspecting the aura." Lukas blushed slightly.

"The aura of my butt?"

"Venxia!"

She laughed loudly. "I'm sorry, love, I know what you are doing. Congratulations on completing the spell, by the way. The first one is the hardest in a lot of ways."

Lukas sighed and then smiled softly. "Thanks. I always thought having a little bit of magical ability would be useful. Of course, I wasn't used to traveling with a spellblade."

"Knowledge is always useful. And learning a new skill is a better use of your time than just watching the scenery go by. Not to mention, between the both of us we can now identify magic finds twice as fast."

"I still have to learn that spell, but it's a good point. I didn't even think about it like that."

Lukas alternated between chatting with Venxia and reading from his book, trying to learn the identify ritual next. They were making good time on the road, that is until the spell Venxia had cast started to fade.

“Oh, oh boy…we need to pull over!" Venxia said as she veered off the well worn road.

With every step she could feel the cart getting harder to pull. She came to a stop and started to breathe heavily.

“What happened?"

“The spell expired." she was looking more tired by the second. “I can cast it again, but I need to take a break first."

“Let me get you unhitched." Lukas said as he hopped down from the seat.

“Thank you…" Venxia sighed as the harness was unbuckled and removed from her body.

She stepped a few paces away from the cart and after finding a soft spot she lowered herself carefully onto the ground. After blocking the wheels Lukas went to Venxia carrying a water skin. He handed the water to her and then sat down beside her on the grass.

“Thanks." she smiled before pulling the cork and knocking back the water skin. She gulped down the water, almost draining it fully before she stopped for a breath.

“If you were thirsty I could have gotten you a drink sooner."

“Heh, I think the spell was helping me to ignore my thirst. I should remember to force a few mouthfuls down while I'm using it in the future."

“Hmmm…" Lukas looked up at the sky towards the sun. “I think we got a couple of good hours in. How long do you need for a break?"

“Just a few minutes, the side effect of the spell I knew about is immediate fatigue, but it doesn't last forever. I'll catch my breath and have some water, maybe a little food. Once I'm up to it I'll cast the spell again and we'll see how long it will last then camp for the night."

“I think we have some apples left, you're welcome to have them for a snack."

“That sounds great, thank you."

Lukas leaned over and kissed her cheek before heading back to the wagon to get a few apples. Venxia watched him as she slowly finished off the remaining water. She smiled, having her turn to watch him walk. As tired as Venxia was feeling, a little spark of excitement kindled inside of her. Lukas returned with a few apples, noticing the smile she was wearing.

“What's with that look?" he said as he handed her an apple.

“What look?" she asked innocently before taking a large bite out of the apple.

“The one you wear before some mischief in bed." Lukas said as he sat down beside her.

“Mischief? You've never complained before." Venxia watched him intently as she took another bite from the apple.

“Hmmm…" He smiled and leaned up against her. “You are thinking of taking more than just a break, aren't you?"

“Well, I have been pulling the cart all day." Venxia brushed a stray strand of hair off of his face. “And if you refuse me I'll spend the rest of the day flashing you in your seat."

Lukas chuckled. “You've been teasing me enough as it is, my beautiful mare."

Her golden eyes darted away. “I have not…"

“Not intentionally, but I've had quite the view whenever I happen to look up from my book."

“So…" she ran her hand slowly down his chest. “It shouldn't take much to convince you to extend our break a little bit longer then."

“No, not much…" Lukas reached up and pulled her head down into a gentle soft kiss.

Venxia returned the kiss, sighing gently into his mouth. The spark that she felt before was being fanned. She deepened the kiss with Lukas, pulling him tightly against her upper body. Lukas responded immediately, returning the passion of her kiss and wrapping his arms around her.

Venxia pulled back slightly. “Mmmm. Just a quickie, that's all I need, for now…"

“Alright, I think that can hold me over until tonight." Lukas smiled.

She chuckled and pulled away. Slowly she got up on all four hooves. She started to walk away from Lukas back towards the cart. This time, however, she had her twin tails up and was showing off. Lukas scrambled to get back on his feet and follow her. They placed the cart between them and the road, just in case for a modicum of privacy. Lukas pulled a crate off the cart to stand on and dropped his pants. He didn't think twice about what form to shift his already stiff member into.

Venxia watched over her shoulder as her lover grew into a proper stallion, at least between his legs. She was no stranger to this, but given her current form she felt a building excitement about it. Lukas ran his finger slowly over her equine slit. It instantly drew a moan from Venxia's mouth.

“Oooo, don't tease me now…we can save that for tonight." She cooed.

Lukas smiled and moved into position. He easily slid into her sex, and was soon hilted inside of her. Lukas let out a soft moan as he felt her warm passage hug every inch of him. He grabbed tightly onto her large rear and started to thrust, though he was wary of falling off the crate. Venxia wrapped her arms around her upper body, hugging herself tightly. She wrapped her spade tip tails around her lover, holding onto him tightly as he moved. Lukas had found the perfect rhythm and was moaning himself. The sensation was something completely new to him as he went deep into her equine sex. Venxia was squeezing him tightly inside of her, her golden eyes were shut tight as she enjoyed herself. It didn't take her long before she was crying out with her release.

“Gods!" Lukas moaned as he felt her sex milk the seed out of him.

He held on tightly as his toes curled inside his boots. Venxia sighed contentedly, still hugging her upper body as she relaxed. She slowly turned to look back at her lover, now leaning over her rear.

“Just a few more moments,then we'll start again." she said softly.

“Yeah, yeah that's fine." he smiled back at her.

***

In a patch of woods off the side of the road a pair of men rested out of the sun in a lean-to shelter.

"Hey," Mac tapped on the other man's shoulder “look, there's someone coming!"

Don quickly turned around. "Where?"

"From the west," Mac pointed excitedly, “and it ain't no farmer!"

He rolled his eyes "Shut your mouth and be quiet, fool."

Don quickly moved closer to the road and hunkered down in the brush to watch the approaching travelers. His partner in crime joined him soon after. He blinked as the cart came into view. At first he wondered if he had eaten the wrong mushrooms with his eggs for breakfast. But he eventually had to trust his own eyes, given what Mac said next.

"The hell? It's a centaur pulling the cart!" he whispered harshly.

"This far north?" Don shook his head. “Don't be an idiot!"

"But look at-"

Don turned and gave the other man a hard look. "Have you ever heard of a green centaur?

"I, uh…"

"And look at the rest of that thing. The hair, the horns, the fricking tail, correction, tails. That's gotta be some kind of demon!"

Mac blinked. "Why would a demon pull a cart?"

Don sighed heavily. "Look at that guy in the seat with his nose in a book and flicking his fingers around."

"Yeah, I see him," he shrugged, “just some long-haired punk kid."

"Gods, how did you survive to adulthood with a brain so small?" He smacked Mac in the back of his head. "He's obviously a wizard, or a warlock, or something. He could be ancient and just looks like a kid."

"So, we should take him out first then?"

Don facepalmed and then rubbed the bridge of his nose. "No, we just ignore them. I ain't messing with a cart like that. They could kill us or worse! Just let them roll on by."

"What's worse than getting killed?"

"Frick around with mages and demons and find out!"

***

After their little rest stop earlier Lukas had a hard time focusing on his book. He also had a sneaking suspicion that Venxia was purposefully moving her tails to flash him. The smile she kept wearing was quite a tell. Before the spell wore off again, they found a suitable place to make camp for the night.

“Let me get you unhitched, then I'll do a sweep of the area. The last thing I want is another goblin surprise."

Venxia chuckled. “Yes, though I won't bolt if I get scared."

“You might cast a lightning bolt though."

“I must be tired if I'm finding that joke funny." She giggled.

Lukas quickly got her unhitched and then gave her some gentle strokes along her flanks. Venxia sighed and appreciated the contact. The only real issue she had with this arrangement was missing the contact of sitting next to Lukas on the cart.

“I know you said you would take care of the campsite, but before the spell fades I'll pull off our things from the cart. Go ahead and do your sweep."

“Are you sure?"

“It's fine." she leaned down and kissed him softly. “Get going so you can come back and cook me up some dinner."

Venxia got their gear pulled off and laid down before the fatigue hit her. Unsurprisingly, it hit harder this time. She would have to be careful with the spell, they may even need to take a whole day off unless they reached a town soon. Lukas was gone for some time, and although she felt like napping she wanted to wait until he was back. She smiled when she heard him coming back out of the brush.

“Sorry it took so long, but I managed to get us some fresh rabbit for dinner."

“Oh, fresh meat is a treat on the trail." She smiled tiredly at him.

“You look wasted." he said as he leaned down for a kiss.

“I am. Do you mind if I take a nap before dinner?"

“Go right ahead, you did the real work today. I'll try to be quiet while setting up camp."

They shared another quick kiss before Venxia settled down in the shade for a nap. It was the smell of roasting rabbit that made her wake up some time later. The sun had set, leaving just the last bit of glow fading on the horizon. She stretched her arms over her head as she turned towards the fire where Lukas was busy with dinner.

“Did you have a good nap?" he asked looking up from the cooking food.

“I did, thank you." Venxia got up and stretched out all four of her legs. She walked around the camp to continue stretching and warming up her body. “I hope you didn't have any trouble."

“I've traveled on my own more than once. Setting up the camp was nothing compared to what you did today."

“It wasn't that much, just some shape-shifting and a little magic."

“Anyone can set up a tent, not everyone can do that." He smirked. “Speaking of the tent, I don't think you'll fit inside with that body."

“No, I don't think I will." Venxia glanced back over her flank. “I'll change when it's time for bed. In the meantime, I want to be as familiar as I can with this form as we'll be relying on it for the foreseeable future."

“Getting used to it, Hmm?" He gave her a look as he pulled the roast rabbit off the fire.

“Yes, of course dear." She did her best to keep a straight face. “What other reason could I possibly have for staying in centaur form?"

Lukas smirked. “I can think of a few."

Lukas had guessed that a day of pulling the cart would give Venxia a big appetite. He insisted she ate her fill, not that she required much convincing. With dinner completed and night having fallen their minds turned towards how to spend the rest of the evening together. Venxia was lounging on the ground, laying on her flank with her upper body sitting up.

Venxia smiled. “So, did you enjoy our little break earlier today?"

Lukas chuckled. “I'd say we both did."

“So, since we're done traveling for the day, we can take our time if we were to continue to experiment with this form."

“Experiment, so this is all just for research?"

“Not all for research." She leaned down and kissed Lukas softly.

Venxia's long tongue slipped into his mouth and teased his own to play. Lukas reached up to pull her head in closer. The tendrils of Venxia's hair teased the sides of his cheeks as they kissed. By the flickering firelight Lukas removed her top and ran his hands gently over her breasts. Venxia's lipples gently kissed the palms of his hands as they slid past. She then pulled his shirt over his head and pulled Lukas back into a kiss. He moaned softly into her mouth as her lipples teased his nipples as they kissed.

Lukas slid a hand down to the sash she was wearing and slipped under it. His fingers teased the folds of her sex gently as they kissed. Venxia's vaginal tongue slipped out to play with his fingers and encourage him to go further. Meanwhile, her hands slipped down to unfasten his belt. She could feel the fim bulge growing as she worked.

“Mmmm…" Lukas slowly broke his kiss. “I think this one needs a little attention first."

Venxia giggled. “It certainly does."

Lukas kissed his way down her neck while she worked to push down his pants. Venxia cooed and sighed happily as her lover left a trail of kisses down her neck and across her chest. Lukas paused to kiss both of her lipples deeply. Venxia's long tongues danced with his as she teased behind his ears gently with her nails. He then continued to kiss his way down as he reached around to untie her sash.

Venxia could feel his hot breath against her sex before he leaned in and slowly traced her folds with his tongue. She felt a shiver all the way down her elongated spine. Lukas delved in deeply and soon felt her vaginal tongue dancing with his. That only made him double his efforts with Venxia, moaning into her as he gripped her body tightly. Her front legs did their best to hold Lukas while rear legs were twitching with the building pleasure. She outright kicked her rear leg back as her climax hit. She cried out loudly into the night.

Venxia was left panting as Lukas slowly kissed his way back up her body. She smashed her lips tightly against her lover's, holding him tightly with her tendril-like hair. This left Venxia's hands free to push down his leggings. Her hands fondled and stroked Lukas' member.

“Mmmm," her lips brushed against his as she spoke. “Make this nice and big and take care of the other one…"

She felt Lukas' smile before he pulled away. He went to her rear and knelt down behind Venxia's prone form. Lukas lifted her large rear leg up to expose her equine sex. He rubbed and teased her while his cock swelled and shifted into a large thick equine shape. Venxia watched with needy eyes as he guided his shaft into her. She closed her golden eyes and let out a low moan as he slipped into her deeply.

Lukas rocked slowly back and forth on his knees. Unlike earlier in the day, he was in no hurry to finish. Regardless of his pace, Venxia's passage hugged and squeezed him as he moved. An idea came into Lukas' mind and he smiled. It was a little hard to focus on the enchantment while in the midst of things, but slowly Lukas increased his size while inside of Venxia. It did not go unnoticed by his partner who gasped loudly and snapped her head back.

“What? Why not go for full size? After all, you teased me all day."

“Gods…" she closed her eyes as she felt him grow with each thrust.

Satisfied with his fit, Lukas focused back on the task at hand. Both of their moans filled the night air as the glow of the fire illuminated their forms. Lukas was biting his own lip to hold back, even with his enhanced endurance it was difficult. Venxia hugged her upper body tightly as she reached her limit, her moans becoming a lust filled cry. At the sound, Lukas lost his focus and climaxed as well, moaning loudly as he held tightly onto his lover.

They laid together in the now quiet night air, the only sounds the crackling of the fire and their own heavy breathing. Neither had the energy or will to move just yet. The cool evening breeze felt good on their hot skin as they recovered. Venxia opened her golden eyes and looked back at Lukas lovingly.

“Have I said lately how lucky I am to know you?"

“It goes both ways." Lukas smiled back, giving her rump a little pat.

Venxia smiled softly as she wrapped her tails tightly around Lukas.

***

Venxia paused by a milepost, the first sign of civilization they had seen in a while.

“Looks like it's five miles to the town of Aldam." Lukas said from the driver's seat.

“We're close enough we're probably going to run into someone before we reach the town gates." Venxia sighed softly. “I suppose I will have to do something before we are met with torches and pitchforks."

She stared with her hair, the green tendrils stilling and splitting into long red hairs while her horns shrunk back into her skull. Next to change was the coat of green fur. The color changed as though a pot of paint was poured on her back and it ran down her flanks. Her coat was left a faded bay color. Her red cloven hooves merged into solid hooves of a dark almost black color. Her twin spade tipped tails were replaced with a long red tail, matching the hair on her head.

Venxia turned back to her partner. “I figured a normal centaur would scare the townspeople less, what do you think?"

“I think I like you better in green." Lukas smirked. “But seriously, It probably will be easier for them to accept us like this. I'm sorry."

“Don't be sorry. I'm a shape-shifter, any form I take is still me, I just have a few preferred forms. It's no different than you changing your clothes for the situation." She started to pull the cart again.

“I suppose that's true, but I still prefer you in green."

Venxia smiled widely as they continued down the road.

Chapter 5

As the wagon rolled up to the wooden gates of Aldam, Venxia and Lukas gained a few surprised stares. Strangers coming down the old road were interesting enough on their own, but a wagon being pulled by a centaur was a sight no one was expecting.

Venxia smiled wide and waved. “Hello there!" she said to the old man who served as Aldam's gatekeeper.

“Sorry for the surprise," Lukas called from the wagon, “we lost our horse to a goblin raid and had to improvise."

“I, ah, you just happened to be traveling with a centaur as well?" The old man looked a little confused.

“Not exactly." Lukas said suppressing a chuckle.

“I'm a mage and I cast a spell to take on the body of a centaur." Venxia replied. “We're actually hoping to acquire a new animal while we are here, pulling a wagon is harder than it looks."

“I, uh, imagine it would be." the old man replied, scratching his head. “You will, um, change back, right?"

“Oh, of course! Once I get unhitched I'll change myself back. I don't think I'd fit in the tavern well like this." she motioned to the rest of her body.

“So, may we enter?" Lukas asked with a soft smile on his face.

“Umm, yes, you may enter." the old man took a deep breath, “There's a patch of bare ground by the tavern where you can leave the wagon."

“Thank you." Lukas replied with a nod.

“Yes, have a good day." Venxia waved again before pulling the wagon through the gate.

“Honestly, I think that went better than I expected." Lukas said as they made their way on the main road of the small town.

“It's all about smiling and being courteous. If you do that most people will just be courteous right back out of habit."

“That being said, I assume you will be using your human form for our time here at Aldam."

“After getting the wagon here, it's more like a vacation than a chore. But don't worry, once we're back on the road you can see me in green again."

Lukas just smiled. Before long they found the spot the old man had spoken of and they pulled the wagon up onto it. Lukas unhitched Venxia then went to put the blocks behind the wheels.

“When you're done, can you find my leggings for me? I want to change back before the spell ends and wipes me out." she asked.

“They're right here, but where will you change?"

“It looks like they have a small stable over there. I'll just let myself into a stall for privacy and shift."

“Alright, but be careful and try not to spook any locals." Lukas said with a grin.

Venxia smirked and hit Lukas in the face with her horsetail as she walked by him. The small stable had a pair of oxen who barely looked up from their hay as Venxia let herself in. Her nose wrinkled slightly at the smell, but she was no stranger to manure and pushed through it. Venxia backed herself into a stall and closed the gate.

After taking a deep breath she started to change her body. Her rear legs started to move, walking back into her body. When they reached her front legs they melted into them. Once her butt was back to its normal proportions, Venxia took a moment to readjust to just one pair of legs. Once she was settled on two feet she continued the change. Her hoofed feet shifted and bent as her foot flattened out and her toes reformed. Venxia wiggled her toes on the straw covered floor before the fur covering her legs began to disappear, seemingly shrinking back into her fair skin.

Venxia smiled and ran her hands over her smooth legs, happy with their appearance for now. She was just starting to pull up her leggings when she noticed someone entering the small stable.

“Ah, hello? Miss centaur?" A young male voice called out.

“I think you mean me, though I've already changed back." Venxia smiled, happy that the stall door blocked the young man's view.

He got a confused look on his face. “Changed back?"

“Oh, I'm not really a centaur, I just used magic to emulate one to get our wagon to town." Venxia said as she finished pulling her leggings on and opened the stall gate. “Damn, I forgot my boots." she said under her breath before carefully picking her steps.

“Wow, you must be a powerful mage!" He seemed just as impressed by that as if he had met a centaur.

“It's nice of you to say so." she smiled at the blushing young man. “You wouldn't happen to know if anyone has a horse or even an ox for sale, would you?"

“Most of the draft animals are well in use, but Curtis' mare just had a foal, he might be willing to part with one of his older work horses."

“Thank you." Venxia pulled out a few coppers and pressed them into the young man's hand. “You've been quite helpful. Now if you'll excuse me, I could use a drink after pulling the wagon all day."

“N-no, thank you." he smiled, even as his blush grew deeper.

Venxia was still smiling as she carefully made her way back to the wagon in her bare feet. Lukas was still there and he noticed the trouble she was having.

“Forgot your boots?" Lukas picked her up and set her down on the lowered gate on the back of the wagon

“To be fair, I wasn't wearing them before we lost our horse." she brushed the dust and grit off the soles of her feet. “You didn't remember either."

“I'm sorry, I guess I'm used to you getting by without them as well." he handed Venxia her boots. “Sorry about that."

She just shrugged. “It's just shapeshifter problems, I guess. Anyway, let me get my boots on and my butt in a chair before the spell expires."

He scratched under his chin. “We probably should rest here a day or two, to let you recover."

“Once we get a horse I can recover on the wagon. Though that may take a bit, I don't think there's a lot of livestock to spare around here, regardless of price."

Lukas' face fell. “Wonderful."

“Don't get all gloomy, I already have a possible lead." Venxia finished pulling on her boots. “Let's get something to drink and we can figure it out from there."

Lukas helped her down off the back of the wagon and they entered the tavern. The common room was mostly empty at this time of day. The owner was behind the bar cleaning tankards.

“I'll be with you in a moment, travelers, sit where you'd like." He called out to them in a friendly voice.

Venxia sat down at the closest table with a heavy sigh. “Just in time…" she slumped back in the simple chair.

Lukas chucked as he sat across from her at the table. “Yes indeed. I hope we don't have to rely on that spell again for a while."

“They mention fatigue, but they don't talk about the cumulative effects of using it for several days in a row." she let out a long sigh, “I might need to just sleep tonight."

“As long as I'm still sleeping next to you, I don't mind."

***

“I can't believe we're doing this." Venxia sighed as they made their way along a rocky trail.

“I can. It's not always about coin, you know. Out here just having money doesn't mean you can buy everything you need." Lukas replied as he climbed over a small boulder.

“Still, Curtis could have bartered for something other than a dire mountain goat." She shook her head.

“At least he offered his second oldest gelding in return for the beast."

“I know how good a pelt a dire mountain goat has, let alone its valuable horns, and he will be feasting on the meat as well." She put her hands on her hips and locked eyes with Lukas. “He's ripping us off, you know."

Lukas sighed. “I know, but what other choice do we have?" He shrugged his shoulders.

“We might as well get this done quickly." Venxia sat down on a boulder and started to pull off her boots. “We're far enough away from the town and I'd rather be on cloven hooves than my poor feet."

“Yeah, I don't blame you for that." He looked up the trail. “It's only getting worse from here on out, and the goat isn't going to be on the trail in the first place." Lukas was quiet for a moment stroking his chin as he thought. “Hey, Venxia, I was thinking, what if you go a little further than just climbing hooves."

“Hmm? What are you talking about?"

“You did say you wanted to experiment with more elaborate shapes, right?"

“Yes…" she raised an eyebrow at her lover.

“What about something that could say…fly?"

“Fly? Like with wings and feathers and such?" She started off ready to poke fun, but as she looked up at the craggy mountains ahead, she thought about the suggestion more seriously. “I mean…I've never tried to make wings before, then again I hadn't really tried four legs until we lost the horse." Venxia tapped a finger against her chin. “I'd need to practice a bit before we use it on a hunt, of course."

Lukas nodded. “Of course."

“Then there is what I base the shape off of. Something with feathered wings like a hippogryph or a harpy, or bat-like wings, such as a wyvern or dragon."

“I don't know," he shrugged his shoulders, “what would be easiest?"

“I have no idea. I guess we'll have to figure it out." She shrugged her shoulders and looked around. “We'll probably be here for a while then, we might as well get comfortable."

They spread out a few blankets over a cold boulder to give them some semblance of comfort. Venxia then closed her eyes and meditated a bit on what form she was going to take before she attempted to shapeshift. While his partner was preparing mentally, Lukas spent some time studying his book on ritual magic.

“Ok, I've given it some thought. It's probably going to get cooler the higher we go, and since I'm pretty much going to have to be buck naked for this, I'm going for something with feathers."

“I can see the logic in that." he said as he closed his book.

“Have you ever seen a harpy in person?"

“Once, though it wasn't a pleasant meeting." Lukas shook his head slightly.

Venxia chuckled a bit. “Well don't try to slay me, alright?"

“I'll try." Lukas smirked back at her.

She started to strip down. Venxia wasn't sure exactly how this shift was going to go, and it is better to be safe than sorry with her wardrobe. She neatly folded her clothes in a pile before standing up slowly. Venxia felt her skin react to the cool mountain breeze, covering her in goosebumps. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

At first nothing of note happened, then her arms began to change, growing longer and thinner. Venxia's fingers quickly followed suit, and was quickly followed by the webbing between her fingers. With the structure underneath now formed, tiny feathers pushed through her skin and grew. Soon Venxia's wings were being covered in green feathers. Her back had thickened with muscle to power her wings. It looked strange at first, but as it was covered by green feathers it blended into her changing form.

Below Venxia's knees her legs began to change, her feet shifting and stretching. Black scales covered her lower legs as her feet formed into red claw tipped talons. Venxia shifted her stance, flexing the new appendages and appreciating the grip they gave her. The feathers continued to cover her remaining bare skin. At the base of her spine a set of long red tail feathers grew out.

Lukas stood by and watched, transfixed as he always was by her transformations. Just when he felt he was used to it, Venxia would try some new form and he was drawn right back in. He smiled when she opened her golden eyes and turned to face him.

“What do you think?"

“You're certainly the best looking harpy I've ever met." Lukas smiled.

Venxia smiled. “You don't have to flatter me."

“I'm just telling it like it is."

“Well, let's hope the ego boost helps me to get off the ground." Venxia smirked as she flexed her wings. “Hmm…I really don't know where to start…"

“What about a levitation spell? That way you can focus on movement and control without the worry of falling."

“That's…that's a pretty good idea." Venxia smiled. “I knew that studying magic would be good for you."

“I mean, I'm sure you would have thought of it too." Lukas rubbed the back of his head.

“Maybe, but you still thought it up first." She leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

It took a bit more concentration than Venxia was used to to cast the spell with wings instead of arms and fingers, but she managed. Her body floated up several feet in the air. At first her movements only spun her in place, and Lukas couldn't help but laugh. She shot her partner a look, and tried again, this time she moved forward a bit. Venxia used the spell as a safety net as she figured out how to hold her body as much as how to use her wings and tail.

“Looks like you're getting the hang of it!" Lukas called out as she flew by.

“That's being generous!" She shouted back. “I'm going to need a lot of practice!"

Venxia continued her crash course in flight. She was moving faster and learning to control her elevation. Turning was still tricky as she had to learn to make wide banking turns instead of merely turning left or right. It was tiring work, even with the magical assistance and she decided to land and rest for a bit. This turned out to be easier said than done.

Venxia flew low and tried to slow down. As she lowered her legs to the ground she realized too late she was still going too fast. Venxia instinctively tried to grip onto the ground with her talons, but the sudden jerk caused her to tumble forward, flipping head over heels. Lukas rushed to her side as she looked up at the sky slightly dazed from her less than perfect landing.

“Venxia! Are you alright?" Lukas dropped to his knees beside her prone form.

“Yeah, I just landed on my pride." She sighed as he helped her to sit up. “Seriously though, I'm fine. I've taken far worse hits since we started adventuring together."

“If you say so." Lukas ran his hand slowly down her back over her feathers.

She let out a soft sigh, enjoying the touch. “I need a little break, if that's ok."

“You're the one learning to fly, if you need a break we'll take it. I had a feeling it would take us more than one day to track down that goat anyway." Lukas helped her back up onto her talons. “Let's go back to the blanket."

Venxia folded her wings up at her side without even thinking. She easily climbed back up the boulder with her talon feet and tail for balance. It was an odd sensation, having wings instead of arms, but the less Venxia actively thought about it, the easier it was to accept. Lukas pulled out some water and food from his pack.

Venxia looked between the water skin and her wing. “Ah, do you mind? I don't feel like shifting back to a hand just yet."

“Oh, right," Lukas pulled the stopper from the water skin.

He raised it to her lips so she could drink. Venxia was very thirsty and gulped down the cool water until she had practically drained the skin.

“Ah, thank you." she said with a soft smile. “Even as a centaur I still had my hands. How do actually harpies handle this?"

“They use their talons. They are quite dexterous with them." Subconsciously, Lukas rubbed his shoulder.

Venxia looked down and flexed her talon gently. “I guess they would have to be, still, I'd rather not use my feet just to eat some bread."

Lukas chuckled as he broke off a small piece from the loaf and placed it gently in her mouth.

“Mmm, thank you." she responded after swallowing.

Venxia reached out with her wing and pulled Lukas closer. He snuggled up against her soft green feathers. In her rational mind Venxia knew she should just focus on flying with her new form, but her playful side was too curious about how it would feel to get intimate with her feathered body. All it took was a little nuzzle against Lukas' neck and a nibble on his ear to get her partner curious as well.

“Since we're already on a break…" Lukas ran his hand slowly over the feathers covering her chest.

“Mmm…" She closed her eyes, enjoying his touch. Then her eyes opened wide as she got an idea of how to kill two birds with one stone. “Tell me, do my feathers tickle you any?"

“Not really. They actually feel pretty soft and warm."

“Warm enough for you to lose your clothes?"

Lukas smiled broadly, “I think so, yes…"

A few more kisses from Venxia was all the encouragement Lukas needed to start stripping off his own clothing. He was soon enfolded with her wings and pressed against her body.

“Mmm…do you know what will make this more interesting?" Venxia whispered into his ear.

“What?" he moaned softly against her neck.

Venxia giggled softly before casting the spell. Lukas suddenly found himself weightless and lifting up off the blanket with his partner.

“Venxia! What are you-"

“I figured we could have some fun and I could practice at the same time." She spread her wings wide." You better hold on tight."

Lukas yelped before wrapping his arms around her neck. With a few downbeats they took off through the air. As surprising as it all was, Lukas could help but feel the excitement in more ways than one. It was time for a little shapeshifting of his own. His shaft began to lengthen and stretch as they flew, but it wasn't just the size that changed. It became more tentacle-like, allowing Lukas to control it while keeping his grip on Venxia. The air rushing by only added to his excitement as the long shaft snaked its way between his partner's feathered legs.

Venxia let out a cry into the wind as she felt Lukas push into her. Her entire body tensed and if not for the levitation spell they would have started to fall. Venxia tried to focus on beating her wings as her partner slipped more and more of his cock into her body. Lukas was smiling as he held on tightly to the harpy. He hadn't planned on practicing his own shifting powers today, but he was hardly complaining. The contrast between the cold air flowing over his body and the warmth of Venxia's was adding to the excitement, not to mention the danger.

Lukas moved his tentacle-like appendage in and out of his partner as they soared through the air. It was getting harder for Venxia to focus on flying as she felt her depths being explored. She was torn between landing and finishing with her lover, and seeing just how far they could take this. Lukas was just going with the flow, matching his rhythm to the beating of Venxia's wings. In and out he plunged deeply as they flew through the air.

Venxia let out a loud cry as her entire body seemed to freeze for a moment. They tumbled forward a bit, but didn't fall thanks to the levitate spell. Venxia cried and moaned as she wrapped her wings tightly around Lukas. The feathers were both warm and ticklish on the young man's back and he giggled slightly.

“Mmmm…that was quite the trick you pulled there…" She panted into his ear.

“Just a small parlor trick compared to what you can do." he replied before kissing her cheek tenderly.

“I am so glad I gave you that earring." Venxia said before giggling softly. “Let's land before you catch a cold."

Her second landing was more graceful than her first, much to Lukas' relief. After dismissing the levitation spell and setting her partner back on his feet, Venxia shifted back to her preferred form. She then cuddled against Lukas under a blanket, enjoying the warmth and touch of her partner.

“That was fun." Lukas said as he pulled her in tight."

“The flying or the sex?" she smiled sensually.

“Both." he replied with a wide grin.

They both shared a laugh.

“You know, I don't think we're going to find that damned goat today." Venxia said as she looked at the sun's position in the sky.

“Probably not, but I'm not complaining."

“Me neither. But perhaps I should take this opportunity to try another flying form."

“You mean with the other kind of wings. Do you have something in mind?"

“Maybe, but I'll want some more food first before I try."

***

After a rather large lunch, Venxia was sitting on the blanket again, deep in thought with her eyes closed. Lukas had taken the time to set up their campsite while she meditated. He was piling up some wood for the evening's fire when he heard her shifting positions. Lukas turned and saw her standing up carefully on the rocky ground.

“Are you ready?" He asked after stacking more wood on the pile.

“I think so." Venxia said as she brushed some lint off from her rear. “This is going to be a little more complicated than the harpy, but I think it will be worth it."

Lukas nodded. “I'm ready when you are."

“Here it goes." she said as she closed her golden eyes.

Venxia rolled her shoulders a bit before leaning forward with her arms folded in tight. A pair of bumps formed on her upper back that slowly started to grow. At first they almost resembled a second pair of arms, but as they stretched longer Lukas could recognize them as wings. A green membrane was slowly stretched between red pinions, But Venxia wasn't stopping at just a pair of wings.

The long spike on her heel retracted as her foot shifted form, taking on a powerful three toe talons, each tipped with a thick red claw. They were different from Venxia's harpy talons, these were more for slashing than gripping. The green fur on her lower legs was slowly replaced with shiny, almost metallic green scales. The scales continued up the side of her legs and covered her hips.

Venxia's tails at first melded together into a single spade-tipped tail. Then it began to thicken, growing strong and muscular as it was covered in scales, though red in hue this time. The red scales of her tail slowly grew up her spine. Lukas could only assume they went up to her neck as they disappeared under the green tendrils of her hair. Green scale encased her shoulders and grew down her arms, tapering off at her wrists. Her round full breasts were also covered in green scales, though her lippels remained unchanged. Her fingernails grew into red claws.

Her horns grew dramatically, going from just a simple pair of points to a pair of long majestic red swept back horns. Venxia let out a long sigh and opened her eyes. While they were still golden, her pupils had changed from round to long tapered slits.

“What do you think?" She asked, turning around slowly so that he could have a good look.

“Wow…and I thought the harpy was impressive. Your dragon blows it away." Lukas smiled widely

“It's more of a half-dragon really. I based it off something I had read about."

“There is nothing halfway about it." Lukas said as he walked up to her side. He ran his hand slowly over the scales on her arm. “That feels so interesting, like armor, but at the same time not."

“It is armor, not that I want to test to see if it turns a blade anytime soon." she smiled.

“And those wings, so impressive."

“I wanted to see how having wings separate from my arms would work. This way I should be able to hold you while flying." she winked at her partner.

Lukas smiled back. “I appreciate the thought, but you should focus on flying solo first."

Venxia giggled as she stretched and flexed her new appendages. “It will also be much easier to cast spells this way, not to mention wield a weapon."

“If you even need a weapon with those claws." He said looking down at her hands and feet.

“I see your point, but I'm not about to cast flameblade on my hands anytime soon." she said as she flexed her claw tipped fingers. “First thing is first, let me cast a levitation spell."

“How many of those can you still cast?"

“This is my last one for the day, so I probably won't be able to take you up with me, at least not today." she smiled widely and winked before casting her spell.

Venxia floated just barely off the ground after casting the spell. She pumped her wings to bring her feet back in contact with the ground before pushing off hard with her legs. Venxia shot up quickly and she flapped her bat-like wings quickly to gain speed and altitude. She was more graceful this time than her first harpy flight, having learned a bit more about flying in general. Venxia smiled widely. Though this form was far more exposed to the elements, it was easier to control and having her arms and hands free was a godsend.

Venxia started to try more complicated maneuvers, banking and looping through the air. On the ground Lukas watched with wide eyes and an open mouth. He had seen his fair share of flying beasts in his time, but this was something special. He followed her as she zipped through the sky, growing more confident in her movements with each passing second.

She is beautiful…I mean she always is, but this is just so amazing. We'll have no problem bagging that dire goat with this form, that's for sure. Lukas mused as he craned his neck to watch her aerial show.

I'm going to need some special clothing for this form, and probably some magic to protect me from the elements if I fly in anything colder than this. I'm sure I can work something out. Lukas seems to enjoy this form too, judging by the look on his face. I wish I had a mirror to see for myself. Venxia mused as she flew.

She was starting to feel some fatigue, shifting to a more extreme form was draining, and she had done it twice already. Slowly, Venxia started to spiral down towards the ground. As Lukas grew closer, She had an idea pop into her mind. She back-winged to slow her speed dramatically before slamming into her partner and knocking him down to the ground.

Before Lukas could do more than let out a surprised sound he was pinned to the ground by the draconic Venxia.

“Well, well, well, it looks like I caught a foolish adventurer. Had your eyes on my hoard, didn't you?"

Lukas blinked for a moment in confusion before he realized what game Venxia was playing

“Of course not, oh mighty dragon, my eyes were only on you."

“Were they now?" She smiled seductively.

“Of course, what is a pile of gold compared to perfection such as yours."

“Oh, you're a smooth talker, aren't you? Well, boy, perhaps if you can prove to me how much you adore my perfection I can allow you to keep your life." Venxia's eyes sparkled as she played her little game.

“I'm more than just a talker…" He smiled before moving his head to start kissing and licking at her neck.

Venxia couldn't help the sigh that slipped past her lips. Still, she kept Lukas pinned down on the ground. He reached up to grab her by the hips and pull her tighter against his body. As draconic as Venxia's form was, Lukas was still stronger and with a little bit of effort he rolled her over onto her back. Not that her grip lessened any as he kissed his way slowly down her chest.

Once he reached her lipple Venxia was able to kiss him back, her long tongue dancing with Lukas'. She moaned softly and ran her fingers through his blonde hair. Lukas broke the kiss only to move to her other lipple and repeat. Venxia worked her fingers into waistband and started to push his leggings down. Lukas slipped lower on her body kissing his way slowly down and past her navel. Venxia's back arched off the ground when she felt his tongue slide against her slit. She wrapped her large tail around her lover and pulled him in tighter.

Lukas was happy to oblige, delving deeper into her hot wet slit. Venxia moaned and arched her back. No matter what her form, Lukas always knew just how to please her. His skilled tongue drew more moans and cries from the half dragon. Her red claws dug deeply into the ground as she let out a loud lust filled cry and climaxed hard against his mouth. Lukas smiled as he watched his lover panting hard on the ground.

“Is the mighty dragon pleased?" he joked with a smirk.

Venxia slowly opened her eyes and then smirked back. “You know, dragons are a greedy lot, and I still haven't had enough.

“Hmm, well I think I might have something to satisfy you…" he slowly pushed himself up to his knees.

Lukas' hard member was already poking out the top of his partially pushed down leggings. He sighed as he finished pushing them down and freed himself. As Venxia watched, the already impressive cock grew in length and girth. More than just its size changed, however. It shifted to a dark purple in color. The tip became pointed and hard ridges and grooves formed along the shaft. Though Venxia hadn't seen a dragon's member before, this certainly looked fitting to her.

“Not bad." she managed to hide her own excitement in this latest shape.

“That's it? Just not bad?"

“Well, it's more about how you use it." She was fighting the urge to giggle and Lukas could see it in her eyes.

Lukas lifted up Venxia's legs and started to put her into a press. “Then allow me to demonstrate."

They let out a pair of moans as the tapered tip slipped easily into Venxia. Her moan grew louder as she felt the bumps and ridges stimulate her passage. Lukas took his time, slowly pushing in and enjoying every inch of penetration. Venxia was practically writhing as she was pushed into a full press. Her claw tipped finger dug deep gouges into the earth beneath her. Lukas paused as he hilted completely in his lover. She looked up, her golden eyes pleading for more.

Lukas slowly rocked his hips forward and back. Even the small movements made Venxia cry out with pleasure. She thumped the ground with her tail, and he took that as a sign she was ready for more. Slowly he increased the pace. He could feel Venxia slowly shifting to hug and caress every bump and ridge, becoming a perfect fit for her lover. Lukas' hands gripped her scale encrusted hips tightly, as he closed his eyes. He was focused entirely on the feel of her body and the sound of her cries in his ears.

“Lukas!" she cried out, her voice echoing off the foothills.

“Venxia!" he responded as the dam of pressure broke.

Lukas' mouth smashed against hers as they kissed madly. Their bodies twitched and convulsed as they held tightly onto one another. Eventually they parted, gasping for air. Venxia shifted her legs out of the press, but Lukas remained on top of her. She wrapped her arms tightly around her lover as she panted. Lukas was content to lay snuggled against his partner, until a stiff cool breeze blew over his backside, sending a chill down his spine. Venxia giggled at his reaction, though she wasn't without sympathy.

“Perhaps we should move into the tent for further experimentation." she whispered softly onto his ear.

Lukas chuckled. “Perhaps that would be best."

Chapter 6

After returning to the small village of Aldam with the slain dire goat, Curtis was true to his word and provided Lukas and Venxia with his second oldest draft horse in exchange. The village had a bit of a celebration in their honor as it's not a feat anyone in the small village could have done. As much as Venxia chafed that the creature was worth far more than an old draft horse, she appreciated the reception. The horse, Finbar, was mature but still healthy and well trained by Curtis. Lukas was relieved that his partner wouldn't have to pull the cart, he was getting worried about the strain she was putting on her body.

After resupplying and saying their farewells, the pair was back off on the Old West Road. They had a bit of a problem once again with goblins as they traveled through the Wrentrial Forest, but it was nothing the two of them couldn't handle. And unlike their last horse, Finbar was not as easily spooked. In fact, he just waited placidly while Lukas and Venxia dealt with the goblin raiders. After several days of travel the forest opened up once again. In the distance they could see the Town of Alkdaal coming up on the horizon and the old ruins it was built in the shadows of.

“Looks like this leg of the journey is reaching its end." Lukas said as he turned to his partner.

“Yes," Venxia sighed, “Goblins I can deal with, but I will not be looking forward to being a pack animal again anytime soon."

“Next time you can turn me into a centaur to pull the cart." he smiled back.

“Ha, if I can I will." she smirked back. “I suppose I should shift before we run into anyone."

Lukas let out a soft sigh. Even though Venxia's human form was what he had grown up with, he had really grown to love her default form more. In the end though, she was still the same person.

“I heard that, and don't worry," Venxia said as she handed over the reins, “Once we have a little privacy I'll be sure to get comfortable again." she winked.

Lukas chuckled and watched as she shifted into her red-haired human form. He handed Venxia her boots after she was finished.

“How long do you think we'll be staying in Alkdaal?"

“I think that depends on Professor Quay." she said as she forced her foot into the leather boot.

“I guess so. Do you know her?"

Venxia shrugged. “Only by reputation. She's been out here for some time. I know she's a half-elf, so try not to stare at her ears."

Lukas rolled his eyes “Please…"

“She is quite the authority on transmutation, but she developed a huge interesting archaeology a few decades ago and has since focused on that."

“That explains why she's out here. I've helped clear out ruins for other researchers before. It's usually a nice bit of coin, of course you have to turn over what you find along the way."

“Understandable." Venxia said as she finished adjusting her boots. “I doubt they'll need our services at this point, they've been here for years."

“True. I'm sure there will be a bounty or two we can collect on to keep us sheltered and fed while we're here.

“We're not exactly down to our last copper dear, and as expensive as Finbar here was, at least it didn't drain our purses."

“Honestly, I think we traded up with him. He's a good boy."

Finbar's ears twitched, almost as if he knew they were talking about him.

“Maybe he just wanted a bit of adventure too." Venxia chuckled as they continued down the road.

Alkdaal grew steadily closer and they could see some tents and temporary structures outside the wooden palisade that surrounded the town by the ruins. Before long they were pulling up to the town gates.

“Hello there!" the gatekeeper called out to them. “Are you bringing the supplies from Oxshell?"

“That's us." Venxia said smiling.

“Glad you made it here safely, we were starting to worry." He said with a nod.

“We got a little delayed, we lost our original horse to some goblins one night." Lukas replied. “Considering that, I think we made good time."

“Little green bastards," the gatekeeper swore, “Glad you made it here safe. Professor Quay is waiting for you, she's set up in the old Craith house. Just head straight down the main road, it ends in front of it."

Lukas nodded. “Thank you, we'll head there directly."

“Yes, thank you, have a good afternoon!" Venxia added and they rolled through the open gates.

Alkdaal was more used to travelers than Aldam had been, not to mention Venxia wasn't pulling the cart in a centaur form. As such, the townsfolk didn't pay them much mind. As they approached a good sized two story house built of stone and wood, a woman came out the front door to greet them.

“Hello! I'm Professor Quay, you must be Venxia and Lukas."

It was hard to judge her exact age, not uncommon with half-elves. Professor Quay's hair was silver-gray, pulled back into a tight bun. Her fair skin, however, showed few lines. Her eyes were a bright violet color, as sure a sign of her elvish heritage as her slightly pointed ears. She was dressed in leather leggings and a plain but sturdy tunic.

“Good to finally meet you in person." Venxia said as she hopped down from the cart.

“Sorry if we kept you waiting." Lukas said as he did the same. “We had some trouble along the way."

“That's the way of things sometimes." she said, shaking their hands in turn. “I escorted more than one caravan in my youth."

Lukas smiled. Seeing an old adventure always gave him a bit of hope that he would live long enough to retire.

“Harold! Jamie!" Quay called out, “Come out here and deal with the cart!" A pair of local boys hurried out of the house and took charge of the cart and Finbar. “Please, come inside. We can talk in my office."

The half-elf led them down the hall. They could see artifacts and piles of notes and diagrams in the various rooms of the house. Quay closed the door to a small room, barely large enough for the three of them and a desk after they all had entered.

“Please, pull up a chair." she motioned to an old pair of chairs shoved up against the wall.

Venxia and Lukas did as requested and moved the chairs in front of Professor Quay's very cluttered desk.

“Brys had sent some information via a sending spell, but that is a limited form of communication." she said as she cleared a small section of her desk..

“Professor Brys said pretty much the same thing." Venxia said as she reached into a large pouch hanging off her hip. “He sent a more detailed letter with us for you to read."

“Ah, good. Just let me take a quick look at this." Professor Quay said as she accepted the sealed letter. She pulled her reading glasses off a stack of books and slipped them on before even cracking the seal. “Now, I was informed this has something to do with demonic influenced acquired polymorphism. That's not something that pops up all the time, even in the circles I travel in so it caught my interest, to say the least."

Her violet eyes quickly scanned over the letter while The pair waited quietly. She placed the letter down on her desk and looked over towards Venxia.

“It looks like Brys did as much as he could to research your condition. I won't bother to repeat anything he's already told you." She folded her hands over the letter. “I do have to ask if you experienced any issues related to your shapeshifting abilities while on the road."

“No, nothing about my shifting." Venxia shook her head. “I did get quite exhausted from stacking the casting of the endurance spell, but I believe that was unrelated to taking on a centaur like form."

“Excuse me?" Quay looked over the rim of her glasses at her.

“We lost our first horse about halfway here when goblins attacked our camp one night. Venxia used the four legged form of a centaur plus the magic to enhance her stamina and strength to get us to the next town." Lukas explained.

“Oh, I see." Quay leaned back on her chair slightly. “An unfortunate situation to be sure. The repeated casting of an endurance spell would have induced more than a little stress on your body, but that didn't affect your shifting?"

“I don't think so, but I stayed in the centaur form while taking a break or resting for the night until we reached Aldam."

“I see." she drummed her fingers on the desk as she processed the information. “Interesting."

“Since then, I've experimented with some other new forms, allowing me to fly, at least for some time. Helpful when we needed to track down a dire mountain goat to barter for our current horse."

“That's a lot to exchange for just one horse." Quay smiled slightly. “Anyway, your case does seem quite interesting, and my mind could use a small break from our investigation of the ruins. There's probably enough to fill a book just on you, but this isn't strictly about academic research. I see you have some concern about your abilities' origins."

“Yes, Professor Brys had said there was a case where a man became corrupted by holding back his powers." Lukas noticed Venxia tense slightly as she spoke.

“Ah yes, I know the case you are referring to. And Brys advised you to keep exercising your shifting regularly, yes?" she waited for Venxia to nod. “Good, I would have recommended the same. Of course your trip left you with little choice in the matter."

“It did not," Venxia smirked, “but it was a learning experience."

“Getting back to the root cause of your abilities, other than that one case, the only thing I can think that is close are the rare cases of the nephilim."

“Nephilim? What's that?" Lukas asked with a furrowed brow.

“They are not a common occurrence. The nephilim are humans with demonic and celestial blood in their heritage. They possess the abilities of a natural shapeshifter, but their control and extent of change varies across individuals."

“Oh, that sounds interesting…I'm surprised though that I've never heard of them before." Lukas said as he scratched his chin.

“A lot of folks don't like to admit they exist, so it's not that surprising. However, Venxia wasn't born this way like the nephilim." Quay folded her hands again. “Not to mention, her abilities are far above and beyond even a talented nephilim. Hmm, this is going to take some research and thought.

“I'm really starting to accept I'm a unique case." Venxia sighed. “I just worry that given the origins of my abilities I might…you know…"

“That's a fair worry. Demons aren't known for bestowing gifts without strings attached, even unplanned gifts. I think the most important part of all of this is to accept that this is what you are now going forward." she looked over the rim of her glasses at Venxia. “I realize being something more than human can cause problems first hand."

Venxia shrugged. “Honestly, I've more than just accepted it. As long as my abilities don't pose a risk to me, I want to continue using them."

“And on that note, I recommend you continue to practice with your powers. Off hand, apart from bottling it up, the only other avenue I could see for corruption would be if the original demonic entity that caused your current condition were to attempt to possess your body."

“That is…highly unlikely to happen." Venxia said thinking back to the summoning chamber and how it now resided under a partially collapsed mountain after that night. “I wouldn't worry about that."

Professor Quay raised an eyebrow but didn't push the matter for now. “I'll want to see your shifting for myself and study exactly how your ability functions, but not today. You both just finished a long journey and need some rest and relaxation."

“A day to fully recover would be nice." Lukas said with a slight nod. “If you can just point us to a good inn I'd be grateful."

“Unfortunately, with my staff staying in the village there isn't always guaranteed space in the local inns. However, I do have a room here that has recently become available. You two are welcome to use it for your stay here." Quay smiled softly.

“That is a generous offer." Lukas said, not sure if he was ready to accept.

“It's nothing, really, just a bed and a desk up there. Besides in this house I can help assure some level of privacy with regards to Venxia's condition."

“Thank you, Professor Quay, you are still quite generous, and we accept your offer." Venxia said, not giving Lukas a chance to argue it.

“If you hadn't you'd be spending the night in a tent." she smiled softly as she rose to her feet. “Let me show you to your room for the time being."

***

Venxia and Lukas settled into their accommodations provided by Professor Quay. They had stayed in smaller rooms traveling before, and it was certainly more comfortable than their bedrolls and tent. Lukas had borrowed a chair to go with the desk. He was paging through his ritual magic book intently as Venxia was making the bed with fresh sheets. Once the bed was made, Venxia walked over to Lukas and looked over his shoulder.

“What spell are you working on now?" she asked.

“The same one I was reading last night, the sound warding spell."

“Hmmm…" a smile slowly spread across Venxia's face, “And are you thinking of giving it a try?"

Lukas turned to look at her with a rather childlike smile. “The thought had crossed my mind."

She giggled, “Come on, I'll help you set things up."

In the middle of the floor Lukas started to draw a magic circle with a simple piece of chalk. Venxia offered a correction or two as he did so. After she approved the circle, Lukas began to cast the spell. Venxia watched with pride as he performed the ritual.

“Good job. We could pound on the walls and floors with a hammer and no one would be the wiser."

“I think there will definitely be some pounding going on." Lukas smirked.

“Indeed, but we need to make the most of this." She moved to the bed to remove her boots. "Between the centaur, harpy, and dragon forms, I think I'm ready for some more interesting changes. I'd like to try a few that I have been mulling over the past few days."

"I'm game for that. By now I think I have a good handle on changing my shape and I want to see if I can get creative."

"Do you now?" Venxia smiled as she unlaced her bodice.

"I do." He walked over and they shared a soft kiss. "After all, I need to keep up with you."

“Trust me, you do." she said before removing her top.

Knowing smiles were exchanged as they stripped off their clothes, and more than a few kisses. But eventually Venxia pulled away to start with her experiments. She took a deep breath and focused, closing her eyes. At first Lukas thought she was just shifting to her preferred form. Her red locks came alive and reformed to thick green tendrils and a small pair of red horns peaked out among them. But as he watched, something started to happen to Venxia's arms. They seemed to thicken at first, all the way down to her fingers. Then her arms started to bulge outward before a second pair of arms began to peel away from her original two. It started at Venxia's fingertips and slowly worked its way up her arm. At her shoulder the new bones shifted and popped into position, leaving her with four arms. She opened her now golden eyes and flexed her arms, both new and old.

“Four arms?" Lukas asked softly. “It's been a while since you've done that."

“Well, I had my fill of four legs." She stretched one pair of arms over her head and the other out in front of her body. “This is a lot more difficult to control, I mean, if anything walking on four legs is easier than two. This takes a bit more concentration."

With one pair of arms she took Lukas by the hands, while the other pair of hands went to his cheeks and she pulled him in for a kiss. As Venxia's long tongue snaked into his mouth, her lower pair of hands moved from his hands to start caressing his growing cock. Lukas' body stiffened for just a moment before he sighed into her mouth. He started his own little experiment. Venxia could feel his cock starting to grow in her hands. At first it was just increasing in size, but as she ran her hands over the shaft she could feel something strange starting to happen.

She looked down and saw that Lukas was shifting to a horse cock, but with something extra. At the base of the long black shaft it was swelling up like a canine knot. As Venxia moved to inspect the knot, she could feel something going on in his sack as well. They were not just growing to an equine size, but had doubled. Venxia looked up and Lukas was smiling.

“You're not the only one who can double things."

“Apparently not." she smiled back.

Venxia moved all four of her hands to the massive hybrid cock and started to stroke it gently. Lukas leaned back on the bed and sighed. Her long tongue licked and teased the tip, meanwhile she gave the heavy knot a squeeze with one pair of hands. It was getting easier to manipulate four arms and hands. As Venxia grew used to it, she was able to stroke and squeeze the cock in multiple places at one. Just as Lukas was closing his eyes with a soft moan on his lips, she narrowed her tongue and let it slip into his urethra.

Lukas' eyes snapped open and he let out a cry. Venxia always surprised him with this when he was least expecting it. It always felt good, but he could never get over the shock of the intrusion. With Venxia's tongue teasing his cock from the inside, she lowered her lips onto the head, her red lips pressing against the black shaft. One pair of hands slid down the shaft, over the knot and down to play with all four of his balls. The other pair of hands continued to stroke Lukas' shaft.

Lukas could feel all four of his balls churning as he gripped the bed sheets tightly. He never could last long when Venxia did this to him. She was just as aware of that as her partner. As she felt his balls just starting to contract she quickly pulled her tongue back into her mouth. With a heavy and almost bestial moan Lukas exploded. His load was massive, more than Venxia was expecting even with twice the balls. It was far more than she could hope to swallow, and she ended up covered in his seed down to her chest.

“Hmmm," Venxia mused as she wiped her face with a hand. “You should have tried that while I was in my 'taur form, I might have been able to handle a load like that."

“Heh, maybe." Lukas reached down and adjusted his overfull sack. “But really, that was more than I was expecting."

“Indeed." she smirked before starting to cast a simple cleaning spell to deal with the mess. “We'll have to keep that in mind for the future.

“How do the extra arms feel?" He asked as he ran his hands down her arms slowly.

“I'm getting used to them. I don't think I can use them to fight or cast spells anytime soon, but sometimes you just need an extra hand."

“Yes," a smile spread across his face, “you could say it's handy."

Venxia rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at Lukas' face. “That was terrible."

He chuckled, “I know. So, what's next?"

“Hmm…" she tapped her chin with a finger as she thought about it. “I might have an idea, but I need some help from you."

“Help? How?"

“Well, instead of your balls, do you think you could double your shaft?"

“Probably…" Lukas sat up on the bed., “what do you have in mind?"

“You'll see." she smiled before leaning in for a quick kiss. “Now this will take some real concentration, so try not to disrupt me while I'm shifting, alright?"

Lukas nodded and she shifted her body to lay down on the bed. Venxia closed her eyes and took several slow deep breaths as she focused. She rested one pair of arms at her side while she held the hands of the other pair under her breasts. Venxia pressed her legs tightly together and they started to merge together. As her legs seemed to melt into a large tail, green and red scales started to cover it.

At first Lukas wasn't that surprised, it wasn't the first time Venxia shifted her lower body to that of a snake, but then the real show began. Venxia moved her hands from her chest to the bed and started to push up slowly. However instead of sitting up, her body started to stretch and pull like taffy, until a copy of her head and upper body was pulling away from the other. Lukas stared wide-eyed and mouth open as Venxia doubled herself. Her tail lengthened and doubled back on itself. Both identical upper bodies opened their golden eyes and smiled at her shocked partner.

“What do you think?" she spoke in unison from both mouths.

“There's two of you?" Lukas managed to sputter out.

“Not quite." just the head on his left replied. She shifted the coils of her lower body so he could see. The serpent-like tail connected both upper bodies together, where one ended the other began.

“So there's still just one of you, with two heads?"

“Among other things." this time the head on the right responded as she pushed together her breasts, her lipples smiling.

“I see, I can see why you made the request now." Lukas started to smile. “So this is almost like a three-way then."

Venxia wrapped her body around Lukas. She started to kiss and nip at his ear while the other face looked at him head on. “I'd say about seventy-five percent of one, and no chance of anyone getting jealous this way."

“I can live with that." he leaned forward and kissed one set of lips, while the other half continued to kiss and nibble her way down his neck.

As Lukas kissed each head in turn he started his own experiment. His cock started to split at the tip, forming a perfect copy of the hybrid equine/canine cock, but he didn't stop there. One shaft developed a series of bumps and ridges along its length. The other formed small tendrils, almost like Venxia's hair in her preferred form. They swayed almost with a mind of their own.

“Oh, I see I'm in for some variety tonight." One of Venxia's heads spoke while the other one smiled.

They rolled around on the bed for a bit. It took some time to properly align their strange anatomies, but neither one was complaining. One half of Venxia faced him and claimed the bumpy ridged cock. The other half wrapped around and pushed herself down onto the tendril cock. Venxia moaned out of both her mouths as she sank down on the shafts. Each one felt so different yet so wonderful. It took a bit to find a good rhythm with herself, moving up on one shaft while slamming back down on the other.

Lukas was enjoying himself as well. He reached out to hold onto Venxia as best he could. He looked up into her golden eyes as he moaned softly. Lukas could feel her pussies squeezing and milking both of his shafts. He would have laughed at the situation if it was any less intense. Here he was having a three-way with just Venxia.

As if the feeling of being split between both halves of her body wasn't enough, Venxia was also dealing with the different sensations on each half. Facing forward and looking down at her lover, she was aware of every bump and ridge on the shaft. Meanwhile, the half of her facing away from Lukas could feel the little tendrils twitching and massaging her from the inside as she moved up and down.

Venxia was moaning and gasping from both of her mouths. She knew she was getting close, it was just a matter of which half went first. Lukas' eyes were shut tight as he tried to hold back, which was twice as difficult in his current situation. His eyes opened wide as he felt Venxia clamp down hard on both his shafts. Her climax started with the half facing away from her lover, but the sensation shot through the long tail connecting both halves of her body and pushed her other side over the edge.

Lukas moaned loudly as he released. Split between two cocks his load was at least slightly more manageable. Venxia rode out her climax and was left gasping for air. She slowly moved her body, sandwiching Lukas between both her torsos. They snuggled tightly, enjoying the afterglow.

“Another successful experiment, hmm?" Lukas smiled softly.

“I'd say so." Venxia whispered into his ear while her other head kissed his lips.

***

After a quick nap Venxia and Lukas got cleaned up. They both shifted to more publicly accepted forms and dressed in clothes magically cleaned by Venxia. After opening the door broke the warding spell, they became aware of a commotion in the building.

“What's going on?" Lukas said, turning to Venxia.

“I don't know, the spell works both ways so we didn't hear anything either." She sighed, “Let's go see if we can find Professor Quay and figure out what exactly is going on."

The pair hurried down stairs to the main floor. Unlike earlier, it was full of people rushing around. There were several people up on tables, obviously injured and being attended to by their colleagues.

“Gods, what happened?" Venxia said as she took in the scene.

“Was it goblins or bandits?" Lukas wondered, seeing the chaos.

“It was neither." Professor Quay said from behind them.

Venxia and Lukas quickly turned to see the half-elf with a dour expression on her face.

“A team discovered access to a new level in the ruins. Unlike the levels we have been mapping and cataloging this area was not clear of any dangerous creatures." she sighed, “I thought I'd instructed the teams to come back and report new areas and not explore them themselves."

“How bad was it?" Lukas asked, looking back to a young man getting bandaged.

“We lost two and another bled out before we could get them back here." Quay sighed softly. We managed to drop a gate and bar the doors on the upper levels so they are still in the ruins and not threatening the village."

“Yet." Lukas added with a sigh. “Do you have any idea exactly what is down there?"

“Not yet, I'm more concerned with getting the injured patched up."

“Professor, can we be of any help?" Venxia offered. “We're no stranger to dangerous dungeons."

“Perhaps, but I can't offer you much to have these new levels swept." Quay shook her head slowly.

“You are doing us a favor by consulting on my, ah, condition. That's worth something." Venxia shrugged.

“I still wouldn't see that as a fair trade." Quay said with a sigh.

“I'm sure we can work something out." Lukas said, “I've done this sort of job before, and you won't be able to do any more research on the ruins until it's cleaned out again."

Professor Quay thought about it for a moment. “We will discuss the details later, I need to take care of my people right now, but I will accept your offer to get the ruins cleared out for exploration again."

“We'll head to the ruin and make sure things are secure for the night." Lukas said with a nod.

Professor Quay nodded back then returned to her duties.

Lukas and Venxia left the building. The sun was setting, but it was not completely dark yet.

“Looks like we have a little side job to keep us from getting bored." Venxia said as they made their way down the street.

“Honestly, who else in town can do it?" Lukas said with a shrug. “Professor Quay would either have to wait for some adventures to show up, or request some sent from the academy, either way they would be left unable to do anything for some time."

“I don't want to take advantage of her though." Venxia said as she took Lukas by the hand.

“We won't." he gave her hand a soft squeeze. “You're right how she's already doing us a favor. I'm not looking to line my pockets with this job."

“After all that time on the road, I'm sort of looking forward to this, actually." Venxia admitted as they walked towards the town gates.

Lukas laughed, “Yeah, me too."

Chapter 7

After assisting the best they could with securing the ruins and tending to the wounded Lukas and Venxia grabbed a quick, if tasty meal from the Rose Cup Pub in town. They then returned to their room and went through their gear deciding what to take on their expedition and what to leave behind. Blades were honed and armor repaired from the scuffles along the road. Though they would normally enjoy a little play before sleep, they decided instead on an early night for an early rise.

Sleep came quickly to the pair and they soundly slept in each other's arms. Venxia woke up first, just as the sun was rising. She propped herself up and watched Lukas as he slept. Venxia smiled as she watched him slowly breathe in and out. She brushed a lock of his blonde hair away from his face then leaned in for a soft kiss.

"Mmmm…" Lukas returned the kiss as he roused. "Good morning "

"Morning love."

There was a brief bit of snuggling before they finally decided to get out of bed. Lukas and Venxia quickly got dressed and did a final check of their equipment before leaving their room. Professor Quay was also up and waiting for them. Instead of her simple tunic and trousers the half elf was wearing a mage's battle robe. Venxia didn't cast a spell to check, but based on how it looked she was fairly certain the robes were enchanted in some way.

“I wasn't expecting you to accompany us into the dungeon." Lukas said.

“I'm not." She picked up a staff that was resting against the wall. “My magic is just as potent as ever, but my reflexes are not. I'd be a liability down there with you. Instead, I'll be guarding the gate while you two go in."

“If we do need to retreat, a fireball tossed behind us would be helpful." Lukas admitted.

Quay chuckled. “That is exactly my plan, should the need arise. Thank you again for volunteering your services. Delays like this are unavoidable, but it would take weeks to get some help here to get the ruins safe once more."

“First and foremost, we are adventurers, this is our job." Venxia smiled.

“She's right. Let's head out to the ruins, the sooner we start the sooner we finish."

The trio left for the ruins. The campsite was abandoned apart from the guards, the crew electing to sleep within the town walls last night. Lukas saw that barricades had been erected overnight and nervous guards were behind them watching the barred gate. The head guard, Jalom, approached the three of them. He was a grizzled old veteran from the looks of him.

“Professor." he greeted, nodding in turn to Lukas and Venxia.

“Jalom. How were things overnight?"

“We heard the occasional ungodly sound from the other side of the gate, but nothing rattled the door. I think some of the beasties once stirred up turned on each other once they were out of people to attack."

“It's possible, I've seen it happen before, but I doubt it really thinned their numbers any." Lukas shook his head.

“Good, this isn't your first dance then." Jalom smiled slightly.

“Do you have the bells with you, Jalom?"

“Right here, Professor." He reached into a side pouch and pulled out a small wooden box.

“Bells?" Venxia questioned."

“A small magical item I stumbled upon in my own adventuring days, and a valuable tool for us." Quay opened the box and there was a small pair of brass bells. “Let me show you how they work." She lifted one of the bells out of the box and stepped a few paces away. Quay then tapped the bell in her with her staff, and both it and the one in the box let out a clear ring.

“Oh! They're linked." Venxia smiled. “That must be useful to send a signal out when exploring the ruins."

Quay smiled. “Indeed it is."

“There's more than a few beasties out there that can impersonate voices." Jalom motioned to the heavy wooden door. “So when you make it back to the entryway, ring that bell and we'll know it's you."

“And if you're being chased, ring it like hell so we can be ready to get you out of there." Quay added.

“The lights in the entryway are everburning, but beyond that it's just torches and lamps. I'm sure they have all burned out by now. There should be some oil and torches in the crate by the inner gate. If you need it, feel free."

“Thank you." Lukas said with a nod, though he was probably just going to trust to Venxia's magic for light it never hurts to have a backup in the dark depths.

“If you two are ready, I'll unbar the gate" Jalom said as he readied his sword just in case.

Lukas and Venxia nodded and did the same as they approached the gate. Most of the guards took up position, obviously nervous as the bars were pulled from the gate. It was slowly opened, but there was no immediate threat. Lukas and Venxia quickly entered.

“Good luck!" Quay said before the gate was closed and barred once more.

Venxia cast the spell to summon an orb of light. It hovered between them both. With the added light they could see the blood and guts on the floor and walls. Venxia blanched slightly but composed herself quickly.

“Give me a moment to get ready." Venxia said as she sat down on a crate to remove her boots.

Once her feet were bare she started to shift. Venxia's toes fused together and the nails hardened into a pair of red cloven hooves. Dark gray chitinous plates formed over her shins while the rest of her lower legs were covered in soft green fur. Venxia got up on her hooves and adjusted the waistband of her leggings to let her twin spade tipped tails sway freely. After rolling up her sleeves her nails grew longer, thicker, and changed color to a deep red. Her lower arms faded to a green color and another pair of dark gray chitinous plates formed like bracers over her lower arms. Venxia's long red hair became a mass of green thick tendrils with a small pair of red horns peeking out of the top.

“Much better." she smiled. “If I'm going to be fighting all day, I want to be comfortable."

“I'd say it's more practical anyway." Lukas smiled but then turned towards the darkness ahead. “Let's go, but be sharp." He said as he walked through the inner gate.

Venxia followed, her sword at the ready and internally thinking about which spell to fling when things went down. As they continued into the first level of the ruins they found more evidence of the carnage, with much of the equipment scattered and other obvious signs of fighting and the ensuing evacuation. Surprisingly they didn't encounter so much as a rat as they checked every corridor and room. Eventually they decided it was clear and headed to the unexplored lower section.

As they entered the chamber containing the stairs down, they saw the reason why the upper level was clear. A huge slime was glistening in the doorway to the stairs down. It reacted to the light cast by Venxia's light spell and quickly started to ooze its way towards the pair.

“Look out!" Lukas shouted as he lunged to the side to avoid a slimy tentacle “It'll melt right through your skin if it grabs you!"

He slashed at one of the tentacles and it fell to the ground. The slime didn't seem to care and continued to try and grab the two tasty morsels that were in its range. Seeing how little damage Lukas' sword did to the creature Venxia knew it was time for a spell.

“Keep it's attention while I cast!" she cried out as she tried to put some distance between herself and the slime.

Lukas slashed several times at the slime, causing it to lose more of its ooze. It didn't do much to slow it, but it did make it focus on him and ignore Venxia. She completed the spell and threw her hand. A crackling bolt of lightning flew from her fingertips and slammed into the creature. The heat and charge fried the slime from the inside out and it popped like a slimy bubble and reduced down to a blackened puddle on the ground. Lukas had lunged behind a crate and protected himself from the burnt slime. Though not as powerful after burning, it still fizzled on his armor.

“That's why I like adventuring with a mage." he smiled back at Venxia.

“Hold still, I'm going to clean you off before the slime does any real damage to you or your gear." she quickly cast the cleansing spell, removing the bits of slime safely.

“And for that too." He added.

Venxia smiled and looked around the room. There was no sign of blood or gore in the chamber. Apparently the slime had eaten all the remaining bits of the archaeologists and the monsters.

“I guess that guy was the reason there was nothing up here."

“Smarter creatures will use the slimes as cleaners, but I'm guessing it was just staying up here on its own accord and blocking the door, keeping the rest down stairs. Of course that means the slime is just the start of the fighting.

“Well, if I wanted a safe job I'd still be waiting tables back with my aunt and uncle." she smirked, “Ready to go down."

“Just let me get a drink first."

***

Venxia felt they were being watched almost as soon as they entered the lower level. A quick glance at her partner showed Lukas felt the same. As the passage opened up into a wide corridor there was a blood curdling scream as many humanoid creatures swarmed out to attack them. They had blueish-black skin and were completely hairless. Though Lukas and Venxia were bigger than them, they were still of a decent size. It could certainly hit hard enough as Venxia took a punch to the gut before she brought her sword down on the attacker.

Though the creature was wounded, it didn't stop its attack. It lunged at her with its mouth open wide trying to take a bite out of her. Thinking quickly, Venxia hardened and expanded the chitinous bracer on her lower arm. The creature broke off several teeth biting into the bracer and wailed with pain and frustration. It was quickly silenced with another blow from her sword.

Venxia could see Lukas was being swarmed by several of them at once. When one jumped up on his back her arm shot out like a whip, stretching across the distance. Venxia gripped the creature by the neck and yanked him off of Lukas. He was thrown into the wall of the corridor and his head smashed into a wall with a sickening crack.

The tide soon turned very much in Lukas and Venxia's favor. However the creatures did not flee, instead fighting to the last. Before long there were none left moving in the corridor. Venxia wrenched her sword free of the last creature she had slain.

“What are these things?" She asked as she whipped the sticky blood off her blade.

“Deep goblins." Lukas said as he finished off another that wasn't quite dead. “Bigger, stronger, but thankfully not any smarter than the regular green kind."

“Are you hurt?"

“No, not really, I think they hurt themselves more by punching my armor. Now, if they had some kind of weapons I'd be in a lot worse shape."

“Lucky for us, but let's not trust in luck moving forward."

They continued down the corridor quietly and carefully, as wary of traps as of more creatures. Suddenly the passage opened into a huge space. It was more of a cavern than a chamber. Whoever had built these ruins decided that instead of dressing the walls they would maintain the natural wonder of the cavern. An intricate network of bridges once spanned across the cavernous floor between columns of stone and stalagmites. Now, many were broken and collapsed leaving huge gaps between islands of stone. Lukas and Venxia were not given much time to contemplate crossing the room before spears and arrows were launched their way.

“Get to cover!" Lukas said as they dived behind a wall.

The projectiles clattered against the old stone wall. Lukas tried to carefully look over the wall and see what they were up against.

“Damn, cave lurkers!"

“The things with four arms?"

“Yeah, and they can climb as easily as we walk, decent jumpers too, they'll swarm us if they keep us pinned down!"

“I have an idea!, but first let's make them back off!"

Venxia started to cast a spell; she then popped up just long enough to shoot a fireball right into a mass of cave lurkers gathering on one of the stone islands. There was an eruption of screams from the lurkers, some in pain, some in anger, as others as they fell into the chasm below.

Lukas took another look. “That thinned them a bit, looks like they are regrouping now…Are you taking off your leggings?"

“Yes, because I will need them again later!"

Venxia was soon naked from the waist down. She closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to remember details from a picture she had seen in a book. The chitinous plates on her legs expanded,encasing her green legs completely, the shape of her legs altered as well, becoming long and jointed in multiple places. Her cloven hooves seemed to melt into solid red points. Venxia's hips shifted and widened. Then more pairs of legs started to grow out from them. Meanwhile her twin spade tipped tails melded into one and seemed to almost inflate in size.

Lukas blinked then he realized just what form she was going for. “A drider?"

“Yes, well, sort of, I'm not going to bother with the upper body." She shifted and arranged herself on her now eight spider legs. “I should be an even better climber than the lurkers now, and I have webbing." she shook the abdomen that had once been her tails. “That should help even things up. I'll support you with spells, just try to make it across to the other side."

Lukas nodded and picked up Venxia's leggings, stuffing them into his pack for later. “Alright, let's do this, I think they are over their fear of fireballs."

“That's a mistake on their part." Venxia smirked.

Using her legs like a springboard, she jumped up from behind the wall and let loose with another fireball. The cave lurkers weren't as bunched up as before, but it still did decent damage to them. Venxia quickly used her legs to climb up one of the stone columns, out of reach of their projectile weapons. Lukas took advantage of the distraction to leap out from his hiding place. He dispatched several of the lurkers while they were focused on his partner.

Fiery bolts of energy leapt from her hand to slam into the enemies below. As serious as the situation was, Venxia couldn't deny the rush she was having with this new form. A few lurkers tried to climb up and fight her up close, but her sword made short work of them. She then saw a group below was rushing towards Lukas. Rather than using her magic, she fired a blob of sticky webbing from her spinnerets at them. It exploded into a gooey mass of threads that stuck the lurkers to the floor. They struggled and squirmed against the web but ultimately couldn't get free, leaving them as sitting ducks for Lukas.

Unlike deep goblins, cave lurkers are smart enough to know when to flee from a fight. They broke off their attacks and fled towards the gate on the opposite wall. Lukas jumped over a gap trying to chase them down, but they were too agile and fast in this environment. Venxia chased them with several spells as she skittered across the ceiling, downing quite a few of them, but not all. Then there was a resounding clang as an iron grate was dropped across the passage way.

With the help of a few 'silk ropes' from Venxia, Lukas made it across. Venxia was already there, inspecting the iron grate that had been dropped across the gate.

“Good thinking with the drider form. I think it really saved us back there."

“It's one I'll have to remember for caves and ruins. But right now we have a problem." she pointed to the gate with one of her red-tipped legs.

“Let me see, can we possibly lift it?" Lukas reached out and touched the heavy iron gate. He couldn't so much as shake it back and forth. “That's a no."

“It's far too heavy for a simple spell, and if I boost your or mine strength eventually when it wears out…"

“We're left weakened for a long enough time to get ourselves killed." Lukas peered into the dark passage, “Hey, bring the light over here." When the orb of light floated closer it revealed the winch for the gate was still intact." Do you think you could shape shift into something that could get through the gate and reach the winch?"

“Hmm, well that would save on magic, I've spent a bit already and I'd like to conserve what I have left for any big trouble. Just let me think about what would work."

“I could use a break anyway." Lukas sat down on a hunk of stone and pulled out some rations to eat.

Venxia pulled out some bread from her pack and took a few bites. As she was eating it reminded her of the slime creature and she lost her appetite. Then her eyes lit up as she got inspiration.

“Hey, Lukas, come here and help hold my stuff." she said as she slipped her pack off of her back.

“Sure, what's the plan?"

“First I need to strip down, no way I can do this in clothes." she handed off her pack and then began to unlace her bodice.

“What form are you thinking of? Are you going to shrink down?"

“There are limits with how big or small I can get on my own, and the spaces in that grate far exceed it." She handed off her bodice and then pulled her tunic over her head. “I have something different in mind, but it's not going to be easy."

“Just what are you doing?"

“I'm going to try and shift into a slime."

“What?"

“A slime, I should be able to ooze through the grate and once I'm on the other side I can shift back to my normal form and work the winch."

“But a slime…that's not like…"

“Not like anything else I've done before, I get it. It'll probably take all my concentration to not pop back into something more solid. Don't worry, I'll be fine." Her lipples smiled at him as well as her lips. She bent down and kissed Lukas softly. “Just keep me safe while I try this."

“Alright." he placed her clothing on top of her bag and readied himself with his sword. “If you're going to do it, might as well get it over with."

Venxia went directly up to the gate and closed her eyes. Her form shifted back from the drider body to her preferred form fist. Venxia let out a long sigh and folded her hands together in front of her. At first it looked like she was sweating, but Lukas could soon see the fluid running down her back had a green tint to it. Soon her body was shimmering in a light coating of green slime, then her skin started to become translucent, slowly fading into a bright green slime. It started at her shoulders and slowly cascaded down.

As her body seemed to almost melt away, most of the detail faded away, leaving only a vaguely female silhouette behind. Her head was the last thing to shift. Venxia's long green tendrils of hair melted into a single slimy mass crowning her head. Her mouth disappeared and her eyes became little more than a pair of slightly darker dots.

Venxia was overwhelmed by the sensations. She could hear, feel, taste, and smell from every bit of her body; only her sight remained focused forward through her 'eyes'. It was blurry and indistinct, but she could still make out the gate in front of her. Venxia tried to take a step, but more so she fell into and after a moment through the grate.

Lukas watched with his eyes wide as Venxia seemed to pour through the grate and reform mostly intact on the other side. Her legs didn't truly separate as she oozed a short distance from the gate and suddenly she collapsed into a puddle on the floor. Lukas rushed to the grate, scared out of his mind.

“Venxia!" he cried out in a harsh whisper.

Lukas was relieved as he watched the puddle of slime quickly reforming into a slightly damp Venxia.

“I'm…I am ok…" She panted on the ground. “Wow, that is going to take some more practice." Venxia slowly sat up. “And here I thought flying was hard."

Lukas couldn't help smiling a little. “Are you sure you're ok?"

“I'm a little cold, but I'm fine." she got back up on her red cloven feet. “I'm getting dressed as soon as I get this gate open." She walked to the winch and started to turn it.

The gate moved slowly as it was winched up. As soon as it was high enough to duck under, Lukas did that and brought Venxia's clothing and gear to her.

“Here, you get dressed, I'll finish raising the grate."

“Thanks love." Venxia gave him a kiss on the cheek as she changed places with him.

***

The sun was starting to set and the guards surrounding the gate were getting anxious. Professor Quay and Jalom, however, were calmly waiting by the gate. Although they were outwardly calm they still let out sighs of relief when they heard the bell ring. The old adventures exchanged nods and took up their positions in front of the gate.

“Alright, open it up, slowly." Jalom ordered the guards.

The gate opened to the smiling face of Venxia with Lukas right beside her. They were dirty and tired, but alive.

“How'd it go down there?" Jalom asked as they walked out into the fading sunlight.

“We cleared out this level and the one below." Lukas said as he stretched his arms over his head. “It should be safe to return to researching, but I'd still be careful down there."

“There's an entrance to a third level we found as well." Venxia added, “but we were too tired to continue on, so I used the last of my magic to seal the doorway with a plug of stone, I didn't trust the old door to hold."

“Thank you for that." Quay said with a nod. “That should keep the curious at bay this time, I would hope."

“Speaking of curiosity, we came across a pile of stuff in a nest of deep goblins. I didn't like it just laying there so we brought it back up."

“If it was in a nest like you said, they had already been disturbed by monsters, unfortunately. Still, I would like to look."

“I'll drop them off at your place, then I need some food…and a bath."

“And some drinks as well." Venxia added with a smile.

“You've certainly earned all three." Jalom laughed. “Get cleaned up and head down to The Rose Cup Pub, it's my treat tonight."

“You don't have-"

“I insist."

“Thank you." Venxia smiled and took Lukas by the hand before he could object any further. “Come on, let him have this." She whispered softly.

Lukas sighed “Alright, but you better be there to share a drink with us."

Jalom laughed. “You can count on it!'

***

After a hot bath and a large hot dinner Lukas and Venxia returned to their room. They were both a little tipsy as many drinks were bought in their honor at The Rose Cup. It left them a little giddy and more than ready for other celebrations now that they were alone. Lukas closed the door and as he turned he found Venxia's arms wrapped tightly around his body.

“Mmm, no small talk first?"

“No, I'm not in the mood to talk…however I am in the mood to try out a few things now that we're alone."

“Oh really?" He leaned down and kissed her softly. “What do you have in mind?"

“Well, I only got to use my abilities on the job today, and I want to see if they can be used in more…fun ways." Venxia pulled him down into a deep long kiss.

After a while their lips slowly parted, but Venxia let her tongue grow long and linger inside Lukas' mouth as they pulled apart. After a bit of giggling they quickly started to strip down. Apart from her tongue, Venxia was in her human form. Of course it was still more than enough to get a rise out of Lukas. Although his cock was looking mostly human, it was quickly growing beyond the bounds of normal.

“Ah-ah, not so fast, mister, I haven't even gotten started yet." She tossed her red hair over her shoulders and closed her eyes.

Lukas watched, curious what was coming next. He was surprised as he watched her form change to green then slowly become translucent.

“A slime?" He asked, more than a little surprised.

Venxia let out a bubbling gurgling giggle before she pounced on Lukas. He was knocked down onto the floor. It felt like he was knocked over by a wave. As Lukas watched, his body slowly slipped into Venxia. It felt warm and inviting and he let out a long sigh. The sigh shifted to a soft moan as Lukas felt the slime massaging every part of his body at once, as if thousands of lips were kissing every square inch of his body at once.

Then he felt the slime somehow grip his member and start to stroke it long and slow. It was almost mind blowing to combine that with the sensation Lukas was already feeling. Under such an assault he couldn't last long. Lukas bucked his hips up, even though he was fully engulfed and fired off his load. The ropes of cum almost looked like fireworks inside the green slime body.

Venxia slowly moved, letting Lukas gently fall out of her body and onto the floor. She oozed to the side and slowly started to solidify into her more preferred form. She was breathing hard from the effort of maintaining the slime body, but when she looked at the expression on Lukas' face she knew it was worth it.

“How was it, love?" she asked as she rolled onto her side, a huge smile on her lips and lipples.

“Gods that was so…"

“Different?" she giggled.

“As good a description as any." He reached out and let his hand gently stroke the long green tendrils of her hair. “How was it for you?"

“Interesting. When I'm like that I can taste, smell, hear, and feel you with every part of my body. I feel like I know you even better after that." She leaned in for a quick kiss.

Lukas returned the kiss and smiled. “For me it's a little different, since my partner is a shapeshifter, I'm constantly learning new things."

“I don't think every man would be ok with that, I'm lucky to have you."

“We're both lucky then." He kissed her gently.

“Mmm, you're so sweet. But you know, we're not done just yet."

Lukas chuckled. “I didn't think so. Also I'm pretty sure I know what's coming next."

Venxia just smirked as she slowly got up to her feet. “Help me move the bed up against the wall, I think we'll want the extra room."

Lukas smiled as he got up and helped her to move the bed against the wall in the small room. Venxia then moved to the center of the room and closed her eyes. It was always easier the second time she shifted to a form, but going from two to eight legs still took a good deal of concentration. Venxia was also more cautious of the height she gained in this form now that there was a regular ceiling instead of a huge open cavern above her head. Venxia adjusted the length of her legs to make herself a little shorter, enough that she didn't have to duck her head. Of course, this still made her much taller than Lukas.

“So, how do I look?" she smiled down at her partner.

“It's ah…" Lukas rubbed the back of his head, “kind of a mix of intimidating and sexy."

“Oh really, do you find spiders intimidating?"

“That depends how big they are."

“Well, I'm not exactly small." Venxia smirked at first, but it deepened to an almost evil grin as she got an idea.

“Hey, I know that look, what are you thinking?" Lukas asked warily.

“Oh, nothing much…"

Venxia quickly turned around and launched a stream of sticky silk right at Lukas. He let out a yelp of surprise as it hit him square in the chest. She then pounced on Lukas and rapidly spun him around with her spider legs, binding him up in silk like a mummy. She stopped at his neck leaving his head free.

“H-hey!" Lukas managed to get out as she looked down at him giggling. “What is this?"

“Oh, just think of it as an extra tight hug." she then lifted his bound body up off the floor."

“What are you doing now?"

“Stop squirming, you'll make me drop you." Venxia was still giggling as she attached another rope of silk and hung Lukas from the ceiling, leaving him dangling a few feet off the floor. “There, all snug."

“Ah, huh, sure."

“Oh just relax and enjoy it." she placed her hands on his cheeks and leaned in close, “I know I will…"

Venxia pressed her lips up against Lukas' and sighed softly. Her long prehensile tongue slipped past his lips and flicked teasingly in his mouth. Without even thinking, he returned the kiss. There was something about wanting to reach out for Venxia, but being denied at the same time that almost like teasing. Like any time Venxia teased him, his body was responding. He could feel his cock rubbing against his silk prison as blood pumped into his cock. It was both exciting and frustrating at the same time.

His partner, of course, noticed the bulge pushing out against the silk cocoon. Venxia slowly pulled away, letting her tongue linger in his mouth. She smiled slyly as she gently caressed his cock through the silk strands.

“See, I knew you would like it." she teased as she pressed harder against his shaft. “You're almost ready to burst out."

“No kidding." Lukas groaned. “Come on love, cut me down."

“No need to go that far." she giggled again before gently slicing through some of the silk strands with her red claws.

This allowed Lukas' cock to spring free, which drew a groan of relief from the dangling man. However, his arms and legs were still firmly bound by the spider silk. Venxia lowered herself on her eight legs and started to slowly kiss along the long firm shaft. Her tongue flicked over the sensitive skin, drawing more moans from Lukas. His body twitched inside his bonds but there was nothing he could do. He couldn't complain though when another two tongues snaked out of Venxia's lipples and added to the teasing of his cock.

She slowly raised herself up until her breasts were level with his cock. Venxia opened a lipple wide and guided the shaft into the hot wet orifice. Lukas shivered as he felt it engulf his shaft. Her hands stroked the shaft as she bobbed her breast back and forth on the cock. Lukas moaned loudly, his desire to touch and hold his lover only added to the experience. He felt a sudden coolness as Venxia pulled the cock out of her lipple, but only for a moment before it was plunged into the other one.

“Oh gods!" He cried out as it finally became too much for him.

Venxia smiled as he came hard into her breast. Watching as Lukas' hips tried to buck into her as he hung there helplessly. Slowly she pulled off the spent shaft, a long tongue licking the lipple clean afterwards.

“See, I told you it would be fun." she said as he caught his breath.

“Ok, yeah, it was great…but can you cut me loose now?"

Her golden eyes sparkled as she leaned in close to Lukas. “What's your hurry, love?"

***

It was late in the morning when Lukas and Venxia came down from their room to meet with Professor Quay. The half elf was waiting in her study for them. She looked up from some notes as they entered and a slight smile curled her lips.

“Had a good long rest, did you?" Quay's tone indicated she had an idea how they had spent the night.

Lukas blushed slightly but Venxia just laughed.

“I'd say we are well rested and recharged." She said as they took a seat in front of her desk.

“Good, because I'm planning on analyzing your shifting abilities today. However, before we get to that, I wanted to compensate you for your help with the ruins yesterday. I can't in good conscience not pay you appropriately."

“We are asking for your help with Venxia's condition." Lukas said, shaking his head.

“Yes, but I would help out of my own academic curiosity anyway. Instead of coin, I was hoping some of the items you recovered would be an appropriate payment." Quay indicated the items she had spread out on her desk. “This long sword and bow are both enchanted, sure to help any adventurers."

“I have been thinking about getting my hands on a magic sword." Lukas admitted.

“We could have used a bow of any kind against the cave lurkers, I'd rather not be stuck like that again." Venxia added.

“A very good point." Quay nodded, “I think you may find this scroll useful, it contains the spell imperfect simulacrum. Many uses for that in adventuring and for…other things." she smiled again.

This time they both blushed slightly.

“Finally, these armor pieces, though not a complete set, are enchanted as well. Lukas, with a little help from the town's smith you can integrate them with your armor. It should increase your defenses, and make it lighter to boot."

“Lighter, and more effective, you've got me sold on that. Still, I think you're overpaying us for the job."

“Nonsense." Quay slowly shook her head. "It would have been weeks to even get the gold needed to pay for some adventures to clean out the ruins. The time you saved us is as valuable as the service provided."

“Thank you, Professor." Venxia said softly.

“You are welcome, dear. Now, why don't you both get some brunch and then we'll get to work on analyzing your condition."

***

At the end of the day, Venxia was more spent than she had been clearing out the ruins. Professor Quay was able to take a great deal of notes on the matter, filling almost an entire journal with the details. Venxia wasn't able to tell by the half elf's expressions if there was something to worry about or not. After supper they met with Professor Quay again.

“I must say, you are a far more talented shapeshifter than I expected." Quay admitted.

Venxia shrugged. “I never really thought about it like that."

“It has proven to be just as useful as your spell casting, if not moreso." Lukas admitted.

“I wouldn't doubt it." Quay smiled. “I took the liberty of copying my notes to send back to Brys. In the meantime I think I can point you to some more information on your condition, now that I understand it a bit more."

“Really?" Venxia said, leaning forward slightly.

“Indeed. There are some grimoires an old wizard named Siaghal has in his collection. He's in Malcross, so it's just a short journey down the Old West Road from here. I helped Siaghal in the past to acquire a few items for his collection, so I'm sure with a letter of introduction from me he would be happy to let you pursue them. He might even have a job for you both. And speaking of jobs, I have a load of artifacts that could use transport to Malcross."

“Well, we do want to get our money's worth out of that horse." Venxia smiled.

“Come on, Finbar is a great horse." Lukas defended the animal. “But yes, we will gladly do that for you."

“Excellent. I'll have Harold and Jamie get the cart ready for you both so you can leave tomorrow morning."

After shaking hands with Professor Quay, Lukas and Venxia gathered up their payment and left for their room to pack up.

“How are you feeling?" Lukas asked after closing the door.

“Too drained to bother changing my form." Venxia giggled. “But also, kind of excited. I feel like I'm close to getting things sorted out and being able to just focus on adventuring with you."

“I don't mind, really. All the best stories have adventures on noble quests."

She rolled her eyes. “I don't know if this quest counts as noble, love."

“Details." Lukas smirked.

Venxia shook her head, but walked over and put her arms around Lukas. “I doubt anyone would even be interested in hearing our tale anyway."

“You never know." Lukas said before kissing her softly.

Chapter 8

Malcross was a large city built on the Gamfait River that linked it to the Tiscana Sea. After their long trip with nothing larger than a village it was quite a sight. Tall towers reached to the sky, interspaced with brightly-colored domes. Finbar pulled the cart up to the impressive East Gate.

"This makes Oxshell look like a farmer's village." Venxia said as she took in the city.

"Believe it or not, they can get even bigger." Lukas smiled as they stopped at the gate to declare their business and get directions.

As Venxia and Lukas made their way through the city streets they took in the sights, sounds and smells of the big city.

"Do you think we should visit Siaghal after we deliver the artifacts, or wait until tomorrow?" Lukas asked.

"I don't know anything about him personally, but I'm sure he is known by the university people here. We can ask about him after we unload the cart."

"Good idea. I'm sure they can at least point us the way to his home."

After unloading the cart and receiving their payment they did ask about Siaghal. Unfortunately the clerk had bad news in that regard.

"Oh, you haven't heard yet. I'm afraid he passed away over two weeks ago." The clerk said with a sad shake of her head.

"What? He's dead?" Lukas' eyes widened at the news.

"It's not that surprising," she shrugged, “he was pushing close to a hundred years old. His servants found him dead in his bed one morning, from what I've heard."

"This is unfortunate, but not all is lost." Venxia placed a hand on Lukas' shoulder. “The main reason for meeting with him was to access a few books from his library. They still exist, I imagine." Venxia reassured her partner.

The clerk sighed. "For now at least. There's been a bit of talk in scholar circles about an impending estate auction from his surviving heir. I believe the auction is scheduled to happen in three days' time."

"Maybe we can talk to this heir, after all we just want a look at a few grimoires, we don't need them to just give them to us for free. Can you give us directions to Siaghal's tower?"

***

After finding a place to stable Finbar and rooms for themselves, Venxia and Lukas followed the directions they were given to the Arcane Quarter. Siaghal's tower was modest as far as wizard towers go, only around seven stories high with a modest, if well kept, garden surrounding the base. The front gate was guarded by a pair of armed guards. Lukas could tell they were actual mercenaries and not just local thugs from the way they carried themselves.

"State your business." The one wearing an eyepatch said as they drew close.

"Hello," Venxia smiled widely, “we were originally coming here to see the wizard Siaghal, but word of his passing hadn't reached us on the road. We understand his heir is planning to auction off his library and such, but before that we were interested in just looking through a few of his books for some much needed information." She presented the letter Professor Quay had given them. "This is a letter of reference from one of Siaghal's colleagues about us."

"I know you're just doing your job guarding the gate, I've taken on jobs like that myself. But if you could please just pass our request to your boss, I'd be grateful." Lukas played with a pair of gold coins in his hand.

The guards took the hint, along with the reference letter and the coins.

"Just a moment." The guard who still had both his eyes said before he walked back to the tower.

Venxia and Lukas waited patiently by the gate. After several minutes the guard returned along with someone Lukas was not happy to see.

"Reiner! What the hell are you doing here?" He snapped.

"Considering this is the home of my late great-great uncle, I should be asking you that." The dark haired man smirked.

Venxia took in the man, he was shorter than Lukas, let alone her, even while wearing boots with a significant heel. His clothing was of an obvious fine make and tailored to be as flattering on his frame as possible.

"You know this man?" Venxia asked, looking between the two men currently staring each other down.

"Far too well." Lukas grumbled.

"You're one to talk, with all the trouble you caused me." he sneered at Lukas, but shifted quickly to a smile as he turned to Venxia. “My name is Reiner Kirchweger, fair lady, and I'm the current owner of this fine tower."

"I'm trouble?" Lukas pointed to his chest. “Just because I wanted to be paid for my services?"

"It was pure highway robbery that you demanded from me! I offered you a fair wage. But more so, it's what you did after that boils my blood."

"It was the agreed upon split, and you responded to that dispute by trying to have me killed!" Lukas glared daggers at the man.

"Well, it obviously worked out for you, since you're still unfortunately breathing." Reiner crossed his arms.

Venxia cleared her throat loudly. "Look, I get that you both hate each other, but I really need to read through several books in your late uncle's collection. I'm more than willing to pay for the privilege and it won't interfere with your planned auction."

"No, I'm afraid not." Reiner smiled cruelly. "Normally I love to cut deals with lovely ladies, but as a friend of his that is a total turn off."

Venxia narrowed her green eyes. "What did you just say?"

"I'm afraid I simply can not allow it. And don't bother to show up at the auction, unless you both want to be beaten black and blue by my guards."

The pair of guards by the gate stepped forward towards them.

"Come on, Venxia," Lukas grabbed her by the hand, "let's go, there's no reasoning with a monster."

"Here I thought the money I would make selling the old man's junk would be the best part of coming here, but screwing you over, Lukas, is more than I could have hoped for!" Reiner called after them.

Venxia was angry, but the look on Lukas face was pure rage. She waited until they were out of sight from the tower gate before asking Lukas anything about the man.

"Just who is that jerk?"

"A spoiled brat of a wealthy merchant." Lukas took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “But I'm not going to tell the story without a drink in my hand."

Venxia rolled her eyes and pulled Lukas to a stop. "Look, there's a tavern over there. We both need a drink after that anyway."

The pair ordered a pitcher of strong ale and found a table in a corner to brood at. Venxia poured out the ale into a pair of leather mugs and they both took a moment to drink

"So," Venxia placed her mug back on the table, "just what happened between you two?"

"He's the third son of a wealthy merchant and did little with his life other than travel around entertaining the ladies. His father got tired of Reiner spending his money without doing anything to aid in building the family fortune and cut him off." He paused for a drink.

“He does seem like the type to get his hands under as many skirts as possible." Venxia replied with an annoyed tone.

“When I ran into him he was nearly broke, but he had somehow gotten his hands on a map to a treasure buried in a dungeon. Reiner had a way to reestablish his lifestyle, but his retinue of lackeys were ill equipped to go fetch it. I was low on funds myself at the time and looking for work. We came to an agreement, I would escort some of his people through the dungeon and recover the treasure for a decent cut of the haul."

"And how did that go?" She asked as she took another sip of her ale.

"We made it through with no more than a scratch on any of us, thanks to me. The thing was, the treasure was far more than expected. Instead of just a good payday for any adventurer troop, we're talking enough to buy land, a title, and still have money left over to enjoy it. That's when the bastard turned on me. Tried to pay me "all I was worth" instead of my full share. I reminded him of the deal, and the fact he would still be rolling in it after my cut, but it didn't matter. He used his people to kick me out after tossing me my pay. I planned to bring it up with the local magistrate and that's when he sent assassins after me. By the time I dealt with them, he was gone."

"I get why you hate him then," she leaned forward, “but why does he hate you so much?"

"His long term plan was apparently to return home and show he had made it on his own and get in good graces with his father again. I beat him home and explained everything his son had done to me and showed the proof of the signed contract. He was not only completely disowned, but he is a wanted man in his home province for breaking a contract. They take that kind of thing seriously where he's from."

Venxia leaned back and sighed. "Yeah, that would do it."

"Since then, he's been a less than reputable broker and dealer, signing up young novice adventurers and only paying them pocket change for their work with some real questionable terms in their contacts."

"Of all the people to be Siaghal's heir." Venxia sighed before draining her mug. "We need those books, and who knows what will happen to them after the auction?"

"Well, we have three days to figure out a plan." Lukas refilled both their mugs. “I'm sure we can think of something."

***

The upcoming auction was quite the topic of discussion in the Arcane Quarter. People were traveling from all over to acquire bits and pieces of the old wizard's collection. Apparently the biggest buzz was how the event was ladies only. Being a bit of an eccentric and lecherous man, Reiner decided he didn't feel like dealing with crusty old men. True to his word, the venue already had posters of Venxia as well as Lukas posted as banned individuals, and anyone caught associating with them would also be banned.

“Well, we can't just hire a representative then, so much for that idea." Lukas stirred his porridge without eating it.

“Yes, so we will have to be more creative." Venxia said before sipping her tea. “I've looked into the guards Reiner has hired for the event. They specialize in weeding out simple illusions and mundane disguises. We can't just put you in a dress or cast an illusion spell on you."

“What about your, ah, natural talents?"

“That would work, my shapeshifting doesn't even detect as a spell. But you said you don't trust me in there alone with Reiner."

“No, I don't. That man would hit on a high priestess if her chest was big enough."

Venxia chuckled, but then she had an idea. “Of the women attending, many of them will be of a magical sort, right?"

“I would assume so for a wizard's estate auction, why?"

“There's bound to be enchanted items on their persons, rings, necklaces and the like. There is a way I can, for lack of a better word, share a spell with someone nearby me with a specially prepared pair of focus items."

Lukas let go of his spoon and leaned forward. “Go on."

“I do know the spell alter self. Obviously, I have no personal need for it but it was required for my class in transmutation. It's not an illusion spell, so it should be easier to slip by the guards."

“So, you could put the spell on me, to give me a good enough disguise. How close would I have to be?"

“As long as you stay within a kilometer of me I can maintain the effect."

“That should be more than enough, even if we separate a bit in the venue."

“Yes, but, it won't affect what you've got between your legs. And from what I have gathered they will be confirming that at the door as well."

“Damn it."

“But, that earring I gave you, you've gotten quite good with it, right?"

“I haven't heard any complaints about it from you." Lukas smirked, but it quickly fell away. “Are you asking what I think you are?"

“It will just be for a little while. Any other magic I could use would use lots of expensive materials and take a good deal of time to set up, not to mention the change would be permanent, and I think neither of us want that."

Reflexively Lukas placed a hand over his crotch. He sighed and then nodded. “I guess we won't have much choice in the matter."

“I will go out shopping for some clothes and you can practice in our room while I'm gone."

Lukas nodded and started to eat his porridge without much enthusiasm.

“One more thing, do you happen to know what kind of clothes Reiner finds attractive on a woman?"

He nearly choked on his breakfast.

***

The day of the auction arrived. Lukas wasn't hungry at breakfast, but Venxia had a large meal to give her the energy she would need. They returned to their room to get ready for the event.

“You look a little nervous, love." Venxia said as she sat on the bed to remove her boots.

“Outside of our bed, I usually leave the shapeshifting up to you." He replied as he pulled off his tunic.

She giggled at his response before starting to unlace her bodice. Lukas stripped down completely bare and tried to get a good look at his body with the small mirror hanging on the wall of their room. Venxia walked up behind him equally naked.

“I'll cast the spell first." she said as she placed a silver charm on a leather cord around his neck.

He nodded. “Let's get this over with."

Venxia placed an identical necklace around her own neck. She closed her eyes and started to softly chant the spell. At the end of her casting Venxia gripped her charm and then the one on Lukas.

His recent study into ritual magic helped him to feel the flow of magic as it flowed from the charm and into his body. It felt quite different from when he manipulated his member. Lukas let out a gasp as the magic settled in and began to alter his body. The remaining stubble from his morning shave faded away and his face became softer, the angles of his jaws and cheeks lessening slightly. His Adam's apple receded back into his neck and the slope of his shoulders shifted as the changes cascaded down his body.

Lukas felt a pressure in his chest before his chest started to swell. His nipples stiffened and grew larger as his cup size increased. Venxia pushed him from subtle, to good sized, to generous before they stopped growing. Lukas felt his waist narrow and his hips widen, and a bit more jiggle was added in his rear. Although his height remained unchanged, the proportions shifted to longer shapely legs and a shorter torso. Finally, his feet decreased in size.

Lukas took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Apart from his cock, he looked just like a woman. He took a moment trying to get a good look in the mirror.

"My hair-" he stopped as he heard his voice had changed to a higher register. "Why didn't you change it?"

"The less I have to change, the easier it is to maintain the spell. Your hair is plenty long enough, it just needs to be brushed and styled. But, before we get to that, you need to take care of that." Venxia pointed to his cock.

"I know, I know. Just give me a second."

Lukas closed his eyes and focused. If he just wanted to increase his size or take on an interesting shape that was easy enough to do even in the middle of things. This change, however, took all of his focus. Lukas' member twitched slightly and his balls contracted visibly. Then they stared to slowly reduce in size. His balls seemingly slipped into his body and his sack started to flatten and fold inward. By now Lukas' cock was thin and small as it started to shorten until there was little more than just the glans. The urethra vanished and it nestled inside his foreskin as it shifted into the hood over the clit. The labia finished forming and Lukas opened his eyes and looked down.

Venxia smiled. "Not bad, Luca."

"Funny. Though, we do need names for the event. Might as well go with Luca."

“Ok then, now Luca, stand still I need to get a good look at you before I shift." She continued to smile.

Venxia slowly stepped around 'Luca', taking in their altered body. She then closed her eyes and started her shift. Venxia's red hair shifted to blonde and shortened to match in length. Her nose shifted to match her partner, but the rest of her face stayed the same, giving them a family resemblance rather than a perfect copy. Venxia's legs shrunk slightly, bringing them to the same height. Her chest expanded slightly to match Lukas' bust and her lipples closed and became just normal nipples. When Venxia opened her eyes they were now a perfect match to Lukas' blue ones.

“What do you think, can we pass as sisters?" She asked with a slight smile.

“I'd believe it, and I know the truth." Lukas chuckled.

Venxia inspected her body a bit more in the mirror but was happy with the result. “I had the silhouette I wanted down, but I just had to make sure we mostly matched. Now, let's get you dressed so I can do your hair and makeup."

It felt strange for Luca to pull on the pair of panties, not because they were for females, but how they just laid flat without cradling anything. The stocking and garters came next, sheathing his legs in black silk up past his knees. The dresses were of a certain style one of Lukas' former adventuring companions would have called 'slutty mage'. There was no bodice so his nipples were visible through the fine green fabric. Instead of a skirt, a long strip of fabric hung down the front and back, showing off most of his stocking-clad legs while just barely covering Lukas' ass. There were no sleeves, so instead he slipped on long gloves. A belt around the waist accentuated Lukas' hips and butt further.

Venxia was dressed identically, She sat Lukas down on a chair and removed the tie from her hair and started to brush and tease the long blonde hair.

“Truth be told, it could use a good brushing." Lukas admitted as he winced at a tangle being pulled.

“True enough." Venxia giggled.

“So, if I'm Luca, what do I call you?"

“Hmm, I have a cousin named Valerie, what do you think of that?"

“I suppose you could pass for a Valerie." he smirked.

“So we are Luca and Valerie, sisters here for the auction."

“How about we say we're from Dilmel, it's a city south of Malcross ; close enough to travel here but far enough away we're less likely to be called out by the other attendees."

Venxia nodded. “You can be the older sister."

“Well, I am older than you, so that makes sense."

Once Lukas' hair was styled, he was forced to endure his lips being painted a deep red along with some eyeshadow and blush. With her 'sister' taken care of, 'Valerie' began some quick work on her hair and face.

“Why don't you just shift your colors to look like makeup?" Lukas asked as he slipped on knee high heeled boots.

“Because it would draw attention to my face, the other ladies would notice it wasn't makeup."

“Ah, I didn't think about that."

“Well, you're a man, so it's forgivable." she said as she applied blush to her cheek. "But try not to give that away today at the auction."

All dolled up in their disguises, Lukas and Venxia slipped out the back of the inn and started to make their way to the Arcane Quarter. They drew a few admiring looks as they made their way towards the venue, which they took as a good sign. The closer they got to the hall where the auction would be held, the more ladies they started to see, converging on the same place. Some were dressed in a similar fashion to Lukas and Venxia, others completely prim and proper, and others still in more rugged adventuring clothing.

A line formed at the doors as the guards verified the potential attendees. Lukas felt completely confident, until he saw someone being pushed out of line by the guards, the wig ripped off of his head, and several swift hits with cudgels delivered before the disguised man could hastily stumble away.

“Oh boy…" He muttered.

Venxia gave his hand a soft squeeze and a smile that seemed to imply, trust me. Before long, the two of them were at the gate being inspected. One guard with a strange pair of goggles looked them over slowly. Frankly, Luca found it more disturbing than the looks they had gotten on the street. After that a wand-like device was passed over their torsos, from neck to crotch by another guard. They were then given a quick nod and allowed to enter the hall. They both let out a long sigh once they were past the door.

Inside the foyer the atmosphere was lively. Drinks were being served to the attendees along with fruit, cheese, and other small snacks as though this was a party and not an auction. Immediately they both spotted Reiner in his perfectly tailored clothes making the rounds with a glass of wine in one hand and an elaborate walking stick in the other, just beaming a confident smile, no doubt boosted by the bodyguard walking a few steps behind the arrogant man.

“Remember as much as we both want to punch him, we need to just be a pair of pretty faces." Venxia whispered into her 'sister's' ear.

Before Lukas could respond, a serving girl approached with a tray of wine glasses. “Would you care for some wine, ladies? Compliments of Master Kirchweger."

“Of course it is." Lukas quickly smiled and helped himself to a glass. “Thank you."

“Yes, thank you." Venxia said after taking her glass as well. “Look over there, by the doors of the hall, I think that's the auction manifest. Let's see if we can find the books or whatever lots they are in."

They were hardly the only ones inspecting the manifest. As he was scanning through the list slowly sipping his wine, Lukas felt a pair of eyes on him. Very slowly he turned around and was less than pleased to see Reiner staring at him from several meters away.

Oh wonderful… He thought before draining the remaining wine in his glass.

“I found it!" Venxia whisperer shouted. “Lot one thirty-seven. That has the grimoires Quay mentioned in the letter of recommendation, along with several other books."

“Good, I just hope no one else is that terribly interested in any of them."

“We have plenty of coin."

“Yes, but we'll need food and supplies when we leave the city. I don't plan on sticking around to find work here."

“Agreed, I'll make sure to save a few coins for that."

“By the way, Reiner seems interested in me."

“I noticed, I think it's both of us. He probably thinks twins would be a fun time."

Lukas rolled his eyes. “I wouldn't doubt it."

“Come on, I want to enjoy the spread before the auction begins, maintaining the spell is making me hungry."

Lukas smiled and they went to find some food to snack on.

***

“Next up for bid is lot one thirty-seven; a collection of several rare tomes." The auctioneer said as the books were placed on a small pedestal. “They are all in excellent condition, despite the age of many of them. We will start the bidding at one hundred gold coins."

Venxia waited a moment to see if anyone else would start the bid. When no hands were raised, She then raised her own.

“One hundred. Do I hear one fifty?"

This time there was no pause, A woman in a rather prudish dark blue dress raised her hand and called out, “Two."

“Two hundred gold." the auctioneer called out. Do I hear two fifty?"

A mage in red battle robes raised her hand.

“Two fifty. Ah, three hundred!" He called out immediately as the one in the dark blue dress quickly raised her hand. “Three hundred gold." he paused for a moment “Do I hear four hundred?"

Venxia raised her hand “Five hundred!" she called out in a firm loud voice.

There were a few murmurs in the crowd, and Reiner was positively beaming with the bids already getting this high for just a handful of books.

'Five hundred gold. Do I hear six?" There was a pause as the crowd grew quiet once more. “Five fifty?" Once again no response. “The bid stands at five hundred gold. Fair warning," he slammed down his gavel, “Sold for Five hundred gold to the lovely sisters in green."

There was a round of clapping and a page handed Venxia a slip of paper to claim her purchase.

Lukas leaned over to whisper in her ear. “Do you think we should leave now?"

“No, we don't want to put the idea in Reiner's head that we're proxies for, well, ourselves. That's why I put those low bids on other items. Let's let the next two lots go by and then we'll claim the grimoires and get out of here."

“Alright." Lukas settled back into his chair as the auctioneer announced the next lot.

***

After a full fledged bidding war over a scrying mirror, the pair of green clad sisters left their seats to pay and claim their auction win. By this point they were not the first to leave, but their leaving was noticed. They made their way to the claim area. The cashier counted their coins efficiently, but five hundred coins takes some time to count out.

"Excuse me, ladies." They heard a familiar voice call out from behind them. They turned to see a smiling Reiner. "I was hoping you would stay till the end."

"As interesting as your late uncle's collection is, there is nothing else we need or could afford." Venxia smiled sweetly.

"If I can ask, just who do I have the pleasure of speaking to? One doesn't run into such a lovely pair of ladies all the time." He bowed slightly.

"My name is Luca, and this is my sister Valerie."

"And where do such twin stars hail from?"

"Oh, we aren't twins, just sisters. Luca is nearly two years older than me."

Reiner leaned forward slightly. "Ah, I can see the differences now, but you truly have a strong family resemblance."

"To answer your question, Master Kirchweger, we are from Dilmel, we came up when we heard of the auction." Lukas tried his best to smile sweetly. "We weren't able to win every bid, but we're pleased with what we managed to win."

"Please, call me Reiner. Anyway, I was planning on hosting a small intimate dinner after the auction is complete, that was why I was hoping you both would stay, so you could attend the party after."

"Oh, you are too kind." Venxia stepped forward closer to the man. "We do truly appreciate the offer."

Lukas noticed Reiner had slipped away from his bodyguard and was completely focused on Venxia. He then saw a small box of jewelry sitting on the counter. The cashier was focused on double checking the total amount of coins, especially with her employer standing right in front of her. Lukas carefully cracked the lid of the box and reached in taking a ring. Before anyone noticed, he placed the ring into the coin purse hanging off his belt.

That should hurt your reputation a bit. His smile was genuine as he walked up to Venxia's side. "As much fun as this party sounds, we already have a previous engagement for the evening."

"Yes, that's true, old friends of the family, we can't just snub them, you understand, yes?" Venxia said with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"Oh, of course. Perhaps though I could persuade you both to stay another night in the city and have a private, more intimate party with me."

"Oh, that does sound lovely, doesn't it, sis?" Venxia looked over her shoulder and winked.

"I suppose we could delay our start home for a day, or two." Lukas batted her lashes.

Reiner smiled like the lecherous fool he was. "Please, I'm lodging in the Gilded Swan in the high district, if you wouldn't mind coming around sunset?"

"That should give us a little while to read our new books." Venxia winked.

"Surely, we've kept you from the auction long enough. We will see you tomorrow evening." Lukas smiled, hoping this would end quickly.

"I will be looking forward to it." Reiner took their hands in turn and kissed the back of them. "Until then, ladies."

He walked away with a spring in his step.

"Can you cast that cleansing spell on my hand?" Lukas whispered.

"Later." Venxia smiled. "Let's gather our acquisitions and get out of here.

After they had secured the books and left the hall they walked with a purpose to leave the Arcane Quarter. The further they got from Reiner the better they felt.

"I almost wish I could be there tomorrow evening when that bastard gets stood up."

Venxia giggled. "It will be a pleasant thought when we're making camp tomorrow."

***

The pair slipped back through the back of the inn and snuck back up to their room. The wrapped bundle of books was placed on the small table against the wall.

“Ok, now that that's over we can get back to being Lukas and Venxia once again." Lukas said with a sigh of relief.

“Oh, I don't know, I've been thinking it might be fun to have a girlfriend for a while." Venxia smirked as she walked in front of her partner and placed her hands on Lukas' hips.

“Oh really?"

“Yes really." she pushed her chest up against Lukas' “I might just keep you this way, Luca."

“Is that so?" Lukas smirked back before placing their hands on Venxia's rear. “Then I will just have to make the most of it."

They both laughed, but as they held on tight, they slowly pulled each other into a kiss. It felt different and yet familiar to Venxia as she pressed her lips against the altered Lukas. His lips were softer and fuller like this, but there was still the same strength behind his kiss. Venxia moved her hands from his hips to his belt and started to unfasten it. Lukas followed suit and the leather belts fell to the floor. Hands grew bolder and they caressed and explored the nearly mirrored bodies.

Lukas broke the kiss with a breathy moan when his nipple was pinched through his dress by Venxia. She giggled at her lover's reaction.

“Just a bit more sensitive like this, Hmm?"

“Just a bit…" Lukas leaned in for a kiss and started to slide the straps of Venxia's dress off her shoulders.

Venxia shifted her shoulders slightly to help as her tongue slipped into his mouth. She kept it human for now, enjoying being his copy. After her dress was pooled at her feet Venxia did the same to Lukas. Both giggling, they stepped out of their dresses. Venxia pulled her partner to the bed and they fell onto it with her on top. Kisses and love bites were shared before she started to slide down to his generous chest. She kissed her way to the stiff nipple and locked eyes with Lukas before flicking her tongue over the sensitive nub. He gasped loudly and arched slightly off the bed. Venxia smiled and then took the entire thing into her mouth, sucking and gently biting it. Lukas was moaning and twitching underneath her.

“Mmm…and here I thought you enjoyed nipple play before." She said, her lips brushing against the nub as she spoke.

“There's ah…more of it…" He replied in a breathy voice.

“Sure, that's it." Venxia smirked before slowly sliding down his body.

She left a trail of kisses from Lukas' chest down to his navel. Venxia then slowly started to peel down the panties, leaving Lukas in the gloves, stockings, garters and boots. After removing them she tossed them aside and spread his legs wide. She admired Lukas' handiwork in transforming his cock into a pussy, even if it was just a surface level change, it was quite convincing. She also noted it was rather wet after their making out, not that she wasn't in a similar state. Venxia slowly caressed the folds with her fingers, drawing loud moans from her partner.

“So it is semi-functional then, good job."

“Th-thanks?" Lukas then moaned as her fingers teased his clit.

With a wicked grin on her face, Venxia lowered her head down and started to slowly lick. Lukas practically levitated off the bed and cried out like a schoolgirl. The reaction made Venxia almost giddy, and she knew her own slit was begging for attention.

“Hold on, I always wanted to try something." Venxia pulled herself up and shifted on the bed. After removing her panties she grabbed Lukas by the ankles. “Work with me here, we need to hit it just right."

Lukas quickly realized what Venxia was trying to do. He twisted his a bit and pushed his wet pussy right against Venxia's. They both started to grind against each other. It took a bit of practice, but soon they were really feeling the rhythm. Lukas was biting his bottom lip as he grabbed her legs and pulled Venxia in tighter. The fact that she was able to do this with Lukas only made the entire experience better for her. She could feel her climax coming on quickly and she shut her eyes tightly, trying to hold onto the spell for just a while longer. A shudder shot through Lukas' body and he almost screamed as his climax hit. He kept moaning and gasping as Venxia continued to grind against his over-sensitized slit before she cried out with an orgasm of her own.

Lukas was left panting. It had certainly been enjoyable, but he missed something a little more intense. After Venxia had untangled her legs and snuggled against him on the bed he closed his eyes and reversed his part of the transformation. It was far easier for Lukas to go in this direction. Venxia watched intently as Lukas' cock and balls returned and grew to be just slightly more than his true size.

“Are you going to release the spell now?" He asked, leaning in to nuzzle her neck.

“Why should I?" She reached down and ran her finger slowly along his shaft. “I have all I need right here."

“Venxia…"

Venxia giggled and started to strip off her gloves, boots, and stockings so she could shift her body to her preferred form. Venxia's chest reduced slightly and her nipples were replaced with wide smiling lips. Her blonde hair became thick green tendrils and a small pair of red horns. Her nails lengthened and became bright red. She blinked her eyes and the blue of her disguise faded it a brilliant gold color. A spike grew from the base of her heels as the skin of her lower feet turned green. As she finished a pair of red spade-tipped tails flicked behind her body.

“So, you get to be normal but I don't."

“Oh please, what is possibly normal about my look?" Venxia smirked before pulling Lukas into a long deep kiss, her long tongue slipping in deep.

Lukas melted into the kiss and pulled Venxia on top of his body. As they kissed, Venxia wrapped her tails around his cock and started to stroke it to life. Not that it needed much encouragement. She shifted slightly and the long tongues from her lipples flicked and teased Lukas before the lipples closed over the hard sensitive nubs. Lukas arched his back and moaned into her mouth. She had done this many times before, but with the increased size and sensitivity of his nipples it hit hard.

Lukas' cock was now at full mast and Venxia guided it with her tails, rubbing it against her wet pussy. She broke the kiss, but her long tongue lingered in Lukas' mouth, teasing and stroking his tongue. She slowly lifted up her body and Lukas' nipples audibly popped out of her smiling lipples. Venxia lifted up her hips and guided the rock hard member to her slit. Slowly she sank down on it, moaning softly as it slipped into her body. Lukas' hands went to her hips instinctively to support her.

Venxia just rocked slowly at first, enjoying the feeling of Lukas inside of her. Quickly though, her need and desire built up and she started to lift herself up and down. Lukas could feel her passage hugging and squeezing his shaft tightly as he moved within her. Venxia suddenly slammed down hard, making Lukas gasp. She enjoyed the way her impact made Lukas jiggle and she continued to do so. He wasn't a passive lover and gripped her hips tightly, thrusting up to meet Venxia.

As much fun as the scissoring had been earlier, Venxia needed this. She closed her eyes, lost in the feelings. She moaned loudly, feeling the tension build in her body. Venxia's tails flicked wildly behind her before going poker straight. There was the sweet moment of pure tension followed by the sweet release. She threw back her head and cried out, her voice quickly joined by Lukas.

It was too much this time and her concentration on the spell was broken. As Venxia opened her eyes, and tried to catch her breath she watched as Lukas reverted to his true form. His face regained its hardness, his chest shrunk down and she could feel his hips shifting back underneath her. Lukas pulled her down into a deep kiss, holding her tightly as they enjoyed the afterglow.

"Mmm…there, all back to normal." Venxia started to giggle.

It was contagious, and Lukas couldn't help laughing as well at what they had just been through. Venxia rolled off to the side and they cuddled together.

***

Early the next morning Venxia and Lukas set out to leave Malcross. They figured it was only a matter of time before Reiner figured out that Valerie and Luca weren't real and that there may be a connection between them and the item that went missing before it could be picked up. They didn't have a destination planned for the first time since leaving home when they left through the West Gate. It wasn't until they were already down the road with Malcross clearly in the distance that they discussed where exactly to go.

"Where does this road even lead?" Venxia said as she looked down the well worn road.

"I'm not sure exactly, but if it's following the Gamfait River, so it will lead us eventually to the Tiscana Sea."

"You know," Venxia leaned back in her seat with a thoughtful expression, “I've never seen the ocean before."

"Then let's head that way. We can see the seaside, and relax a bit while we figure out what to do next."

"I'll probably be studying those grimoires along the way. Especially after all the trouble we went through to get them."

"Before you do that, I really want to try to identify this ring I nicked from Reiner."

"Go ahead." Venxia took the reins from him. "Once I get started I probably won't stop reading until we make camp for the night."

Lukas chuckled as he reached behind the seat for his book. He reread about performing the identify ritual, making sure he was doing it right then began to cast. The ring appeared to glow, but Lukas knew it was just the spell focusing on the aura of the ring. As he stared at the ring, the information just seemed to pop into his mind.

"If I did this right, then I think this is a ring of enlargement." Lukas held up the bronze band. "Have you ever heard of one before?"

"No, but I know what the enlargement spell does. Not an item I would have sought out, but it could be useful."

"The important thing is, it left Reiner having to explain why the ring was missing from that lot and have to deal with an irate customer because of it."

"I just hope we never have to deal with that horrible man ever again."

"Don't say it out loud, you'll jinx us." Lukas chuckled. "Anyway, I'll take the reins back and you can get reading and leave the rest to Finbar and me."

Finbar nickered at the mention of his name. Venxia giggled as she pulled out the first volume and opened the old book.

Chapter 9

Finbar pulled a small cart along the river road. The larger wagon had been left behind in Malcross. The draft horse didn't seem to show any preference for the lighter load he was now pulling. Finbar simply pulled the single axle cart and its two occupants with a steady confident pace of a mature horse. Lukas had the reins, though the well trained horse didn't need much in the way of guidance. He looked over to the Gamfait River on his right. There was more traffic on the water than on the road as various ships sailed up and down the river between the city of Malcross and the port city of Salandra on the Tiscana Sea. Venxia's nose was buried in the old grimoire she was studying. The only time she looked up was to jot down a few notes in her journal.

Lukas had taken a glance at the book over her shoulder. It might as well have been written in a long dead language as far as he was concerned. Venxia was, of course, more studied in such arcane writing, but even then she was more so deciphering than reading the text. Lukas could tell the stress was having a negative effect on his partner, made even worse by Venxia having to travel down the road in her human form to avoid any potential issues with travelers heading the opposite way on the road.

His attention was grabbed when he saw a white bird fly across his field of vision. It took Lukas a moment to realize it was a seagull. He smiled slightly, a sign like that meant they must be getting close to the sea. This was confirmed when they drew up to a milestone. They were only a few kilometers away from the fishing village of Sento, just outside the port city of Salandra, a fair sized city built across the river deltas where the Gamfait met the sea.

Lukas glanced back to Venxia as they passed the milestone. I know we are close to Sento, but I think we both could use a little time to ourselves. We're in no rush to get anywhere and I did promise Venxia I would show her the sea. Some time to unwind and let go will do us both a world of good.

He kept his plans to himself. As they grew closer to the shore, the river started to get wider and the air started to swirl with the scent of the Tiscana Sea. This change in scent eventually pulled Venxia's nose out of her book.

Venxia closed the grimoire and took a deep breath. “What is that scent in the air?"

Lukas smiled widely. “That would be the sea, we're almost there. In fact, look over there." He pointed out to the horizon.

As the cart followed a curve in the path the last of the rolling hills flattened out. Venxia's currently green eyes went wide as she could see the sun glittering on the vast Tiscana Sea. Worlds failed her as she stared at the undulating waters. Venxia just stared at the sea as Finbar continued to pull the cart ever closer.

Lukas was smiling, enjoying sharing this moment with his partner. “I was thinking, instead of continuing onto Sento we could instead pull off the road and spend some time on the beach together to relax after our trip. It would give you a chance to really enjoy the sea and beach."

Venxia turned and wrapped her arms tightly around Lukas. “That sounds perfect!"

Lukas directed Finbar off the road and onto a rough trail that led down towards a small beach surrounded by rocky outcroppings. When the ground became too sandy, he stopped and hitched Finbar to a post that must have been left here for just such a purpose. Lukas filled an empty trough with most of their remaining water, knowing they would be spending the night in Sento. Venxia patted the side of the draft horse as he drank.

“You take a break too, Finbar, we'll be back in a bit." She smiled, the 'overpriced horse' had grown on her.

Lukas left his boots behind on the cart and Venxia did the same. The soft sand on the trail felt warm between their toes as they made their way to the beach proper. Venxia slowly made her way down the sandy beach to the water's edge. She stopped and let the cool water lap over her toes and smiled. Venxia had made it to the Tiscana Sea. She was so far from the small village she had grown up in with Lukas. He stood beside her and she reached out to hold his hand.

“I must seem like a little kid right now." Venxia said, her voice almost lost in the sound of the wind and crashing waves.

“We're all children next to the sea." Lukas gave her hand a squeeze. “I'm sure I had a face like yours the first time I saw it."

Venxia chuckled and leaned against Lukas. They stood there watching the waves break endlessly.

“Thank you for bringing me here, and with you in general. It's been a lot more of an adventure than I had expected."

“I have to agree with you on that." He turned and kissed her softly.

“Mmm…" She sighed and rested her head on his chest for a moment. “Speaking of adventures, it's been a while since I practiced my shapeshifting."

“I know, those books were keeping you busy. But, after all we went through to get them I wasn't about to interrupt your studies." Lukas shrugged.

“As important as my studies are, I still was advised to keep practicing with my powers. Even when I was helping my aunt and uncle at their inn, I would still shift into other forms in the privacy of my own room."

He nodded. “Well, the ocean gives you an opportunity to try out some new forms I'm sure."

Venxia laughed. “Yes, I think it does. And I'm sure you will enjoy a nice refreshing swim as well."

“I'm a good swimmer, but I'm no sea elf. I still need to come up for air."

“Oh, that's easy enough to fix." Venxia smiled widely. “I know the water-breathing spell, a good one for any adventuring spellcaster to know.

Lukas blinked. “Wait, that's a thing?"

“Of course it is, how do you not know about it? I thought you were an experienced adventurer."

“Well, my experience is all above the waves." Lukas countered. “It hasn't come up before."

“Then it looks like we will both be sharing a new experience today. But first, we are both a little overdressed."

Lukas nodded and unrolled an old tattered blanket he had carried from the cart. He spread it out on the beach in an attempt to keep their things free from sand. Once that was done, they started to strip down. The beach was abandoned and they were still far enough from the nearest village, so they doubted anyone was going to see them. Venxia pulled off her tunic and smiled. The twin sensations of the warm sun on her skin and the cooling breeze coming off the sea made her feel quite comfortable. She looked over to Lukas who was just starting to unfasten his belt.

“You know, since I'm already going to be casting spells on you, we could always bring back Luka." she smiled slyly.

Lukas stopped what he was doing and locked eyes with her. “I'm perfectly fine with my chest as it is right now, thank you."

“Are you sure? I'm sure they won't feel as heavy in the water." Venxia's eyes twinkled.

“Venxia…" Lukas said in an exasperated tone.

“Oh I'm just kidding, relax." She winked as she removed her bodice.

“Your smile says it was more than just a joke."

“Oh come on, you had fun in the end with me, right?" she raised an eyebrow.

“We'll discuss it later." Lukas replied before pushing down his pants.

Oh, we definitely will… Venxia thought to herself as she removed her leggings and placed them on the blanket.

Both now completely bare, they held hands and wadded out into the surf. The water was cool, but the day had grown warm so it was a welcome relief. When the water reached their chests Venxia stopped and turned to Lukas.

“Before I cast the spell, I want to let you know a few things. Firstly, you will still be able to breathe air while under the effects."

“Good to know. How long will it last?"

“A good long while, we'll be able to take our time and enjoy ourselves. Where was I? Oh yes, while under the effects you will be able to speak underwater, though things will probably sound quite strange."

“What about you?"

“I won't be relying on the spell, but I should be able to communicate just fine with my shifted body. Now, hold still…"

Venxia began to chant and weave her hands in delicate gestures. Lukas could feel the energy of the spell settle onto his body. He felt a pulse of energy inside his chest, but otherwise nothing seemed to change.

“Is that it?"

“Yes, it's not going to make you sprout fins or anything, but speaking of which, it's time for me to try out something I've been wanting to try for some time."

She took Lukas by the hands and pulled him out deeper then down under the waves. On instinct, he held his breath. He trusted Venxia, but sucking water into his lungs went against his every instinct. Eventually he gave in, sucking in the cool sea water. After a moment to adjust, Lukas relaxed and was able to freely breathe the water as naturally as air. No longer panicked about his breathing, Lukas noticed he could see fairly clearly underwater as well, at least as much as the murky depths would allow.

Lukas turned his attention to Venxia. He could already see a set of gills had formed along the sides of her chest. A rather nondescript tail began to form from the base of her spine. Once it was as long as her legs, it started to grow ticker. At the same time her legs started to shrink and be absorbed back into her body. Red and green iridescent scales started to cover the now long and powerful tail as her legs were fully absorbed into her body. The tip of her tail grew bony extensions that soon formed a wide fish-like tail. Venxia flicked her tail slightly and moved a little less than gracefully in the water.

“Looks like you need a little practice." Lukas paused as he took in the different sound of his voice underwater.

“It can't be harder than flying." She smiled, an expression that was mimicked by her lipples.

Venxia continued to swim like a drunken fish until she finally figured out the correct way to move her tail and the rest of her body. Her long red hair streamed out behind her as she slipped through the water. She swam in circles around Lukas, barely more than a green and red blur from his point of view. She was giggling with her freedom and speed now. She zoomed away only to circle back and rush by Lukas. Her hands would run along his back, chest, or butt depending on the angle she was coming from.

Her swim-by grouping was starting to have an effect on the underwater adventurer. It was obvious to them both when his cock pointed out perpendicular to his floating body. On her final pass Venxia grabbed Lukas and then propelled them both through the cool water. Lukas wrapped his arms around her back and held on tightly.

Of course, his member being sandwiched between their bodies did nothing to decrease his excitement. Lukas focused on his cock and started to trigger the transformational magic from his earring. At first glance it seemed as though he was going soft, but that wasn't what was happening at all. The pink shaft tapered to a rounded point and began to move, slithering across where Venxia's hips used to be. As it was seeking out her pussy, the mermaid pulled her lover tighter against her body. Venxia slowed, but did not stop swimming. Her lipples began to suck and tease Lukas' nipples as she swam, drawing moans from his lips and distracting him from his current quest. Eventually, the tip of his tentacle cock found the tightly closed slit and started to push in.

Venxia's tail went stiff as she moaned. Slowly they drifted as Lukas' tentacle cock pushed deeper into the mermaid. Venxia pressed their lips together, and while they kissed Lukas could feel her tongue growing longer and more flexible. As Lukas enjoyed the impossibly deep kiss his cock twisted and thrust in and out. He felt her moan into his mouth, and he knew neither of them would last much longer.

Her entire body spasmed as Venxia held on tightly to Lukas. He gripped her tightly as well as he climaxed. They floated in the water, the gentle current the only thing moving them. Fully supported by the sea, neither felt the need to shift position as they enjoyed the warm afterglow. Slowly, Venxia pulled her lips away from Lukas and smiled widely.

“That was fun." she giggled. “And unlike flying, we can just stop and float."

“Mmmm, true." Lukas reached up to cup her cheek. “But then again, it's always fun with you."

“Flatter." she giggled then kissed Lukas again tenderly.

They gently floated and regained their strength entwined together. Venxia let out a long sigh and shifted against her partner.

“I think there is something else I want to try, if you are alright with it."

“Why wouldn't I be? As long as the spell holds out."

“Oh, there is plenty of time left on the spell, don't worry." She kissed him once more before pushing away softly from him.

Venxia floated a bit away from Lukas and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and stretched out her mermaid body vertically in the water. The first change was her hair, going from floating red locks to large green tendrils. Not surprising to Lukas given her preferred form. The fins at the tip of Venxia's tail shrunk back down, then her entire tail started to change. The red and green scales were replaced with green flesh, with a pattern of red circles on it. Starting at the tip her tail started to split, first into two, then four, and finally eight. As Lukas watched, each tail took on the look of an octopus' tentacles, complete with suckers. Venxia opened her golden eyes and smiled as she curled and uncurled the eight tentacles that now made up her lower body.

"Woah…" Was all Lukas could manage to say.

"Do you like it?" She twirled around, letting her tentacles fan out.

"Yeah I've just never seen a, ahhh…"

"Scylla." Venxia smiled. "They aren't as well known as the merfolk, but are just as at home in the sea."

With a burst of speed she jetted through the water. She spread her tentacles and slowed to a stop. Venxia laughed as she spun back around towards Lukas.

"That was faster than I thought it would be. I'll have to be careful."

"Yeah, I don't want you plowing into me." Lukas smiled.

"Oh no, we wouldn't want that." She chuckled.

Venxia experimented with her swimming. It was quite different from the mermaid tail. Pulsing out jets of water to move and controlling the stream with her tentacles. Once she had swimming down, Venxia decided to focus on the other uses of her tentacles. She slowly coasted past Lukas, letting a pair of her tentacles graze across his chest as she swam past.

Lukas shivered as he turned to follow Venxia's path. He knew she was up to something from the smile on her face and the glint in her golden eyes. Venxia passed by behind him, this time delivering a little slap to his rear with one of her tentacles. Lukas could hear her giggling after that.

“Now just what do you think you're up to?" He smirked over at her.

“Oh, nothing really…" She smiled, far from innocently before diving quickly below him.

Lukas was confused for a moment before she shot back up behind his floating form. Her tentacles lashed out, grabbing him by the wrists and ankles. Holding him spread eagle, Venxia's other four tentacles quickly went to work on his body. Slowly they slithered over his bare skin, each sucker almost like a lingering kiss on his skin. A shiver ran down Lukas' spine and a moan slipped past his lips. Of course this only encouraged Venxia.

“This might be even more fun than the drider, and no webs to clean up either." she teased as she teased his nipples with the suckers on her tentacles.

Lukas bucked and twisted against her grip, but did little more than shift them slightly while they floated. Venxia ran her four free tentacles all over his body. One pair slid slowly down his side while the other slowly made their way up his inner legs, before giving his rear a solid pinch. Then it was back to Lukas' nipples while she ran another slowly down his back. Between his compromised position and the teasing tentacles, it didn't take Lukas' body long to respond.

His cock stood at attention, bobbing in the water as his body was pulled closer to Venxia. It was no longer a tentacle, instead appearing as a more or less normal human member. His partner slowly stroked the side of his shaft with the tip of a tentacle, making Lukas moan and groan from the slow teasing action. Venxia giggled as he struggled in her grip. Then ever so slowly she wrapped the tentacle around the shaft and gave a little squeeze. Lukas instantly cried out and tensed his body. Venxia laughed as she squeezed and released his shaft slowly.

“You are being such a tease…" Lukas moaned.

“You know you like it, otherwise you wouldn't be making yourself grow larger."

Venxia responded by continuing to wrap her tentacle around the swelling shaft. She moved from squeezing to stroking. Lukas had no complaints, as he moaned and twisted in the water. Then suddenly it stopped. His eyes snapped open and he saw she had completely released his shaft. Lukas looked confused at first, but in a flurry of motion and tentacles he was suddenly face to face with Venxia. All eight of her tentacles wrapped around his body while she held Lukas' head gently with her hands.

"Got you…" She whispered.

Lukas smiled. "Always."

Venxia pressed in for a deep kiss as she slowly sunk down on Lukas' cock. They both let out a loud moan as she engulfed him. Venxia held him tightly in her grip as she rocked back and forth on the shaft. Lukas was at her mercy, his arms were pinned to his sides by her tentacles. The most he could do was to thrust up into her.

They slowly spun in the water, lost in each other completely. Venxia's eyes were closed tightly, enjoying every bit of Lukas' body within her grip. She madly kissed her partner, her long tongue entrapped Lukas' like her tentacles held his body. Lukas felt her passage squeeze and stroke his shaft as it moved deep within her. After all the teasing, Lukas broke their kiss with a cry as his dam broke. He thrust his hips home as best he could and let it crash over his body like a tidal wave. Venxia squeezed his body almost unbearably tight as she climaxed, her body milking every last drop out of her partner.

Venxia relaxed her grip, enough for Lukas to move within her tentacles. He wrapped his arms around her and held his partner tightly. They were more spent after the second round and were content to just cuddle, floating in each other's arms. However, as content as she was, Venxia knew the spell would be ending soon. She wasn't actively maintaining the spell, but could feet the energies in Lukas' chest starting to fade.

"We should head up soon, before things get tricky." She said as she slowly released Lukas.

Lukas placed a hand on his chest. "Probably a good idea, I think it's starting to feel a little different." He reached out and took her by the hand.

“It's meant to be a warning, to either re-cast the spell or get above water." She replied as they started to ascend.

I don't want to think about if the spell was written that way first, or if they had to figure it out the hard way. Lukas thought as he kicked his legs to swim up.

Even though he was swimming, he was still mostly pulled along by Venxia. As they swam up towards the surface, Lukas could feel his chest growing tight. As he broke through the surface, he exhaled water and took in a fresh breath of air. He had a few moments to adjust before the spell finally ended. Treading water, Lukas looked for the shore. His eyes went wide when he realized just how far out they were.

Venxia gave him a quick hug from behind. "Don't worry, I'll get us back safely, just climb on my back."

"Can you manage it?"

"I'll be tired tonight, but I can manage, come on, let's get going."

Not seeing anything else to do about it, Lukas climbed on Venxia's back. Skimming just below the surface, she made a beeline for the shore. Lukas found it fun riding on the back of a scylla, even with the occasional wave to the face. Once the water was shallow enough to stand, Lukas rolled off Venxia. After all the time spent floating, it felt both strange and good to be standing on his own two legs again.

Venxia closed her eyes and let her body shift to walk on land again, trading the octopus-like lower body for the red cloven hooves of her preferred form. In fact, she just assumed the form without even thinking about it. A pair of red horns popping out from her hair tendrils and twin red spade tipped tails floated out behind her as she tried to find her footing in the soft sand. Lukas helped her up to her hooves as the waves rose and fell around them.

“Here, let me help you…" he said softly and tenderly.

She had to lean heavily on Lukas to get back to the old blanket they had left on the beach. Venxia collapsed and just laid out in the warm sun. Lukas quickly laid down beside her. Between the warm sun and soft sea breeze they slowly started to dry off.

"How do you feel?" Lukas asked, just loud enough to be heard over the waves.

"Mmmm, tired after that last swim, but honestly?" Venxia sighed. "I think I needed that. Not just to flex my shapeshifting, just a break from studying that old book."

"There will be plenty of time for study, but I think we need a proper break from things."

Venxia rolled over on her chest, letting the sun warm her back. “We've taken breaks before."

Lukas shook his head. “No, we've stopped for supplies or to take on a side job, but we haven't truly had a break since we left Oxshell. We need time to just breathe, and plan, not just a simple night in an inn." He paused and rolled over on his side. “Although right now a hot meal and a comfortable bed would be welcome."

Venxia rolled over to face him. “Now that you've said that, you've made me hungry."

“Sorry, love." he kissed her softly. “Sento village isn't too far, we can get food and a room for the night."

“That sounds good to me." Venxia sat up and stretched. “The sun is getting low, we better get dressed and get back on the road if we want to arrive before dark."

They dressed as quickly as they could. Venxia took the time to assume her human form before continuing on to the village. They rolled up the old blanket and headed back to the cart. They found Finbar waiting patiently for them, apparently he was ready to move on as well. Lukas and Venxia took a few moments to scratch and pet the horse.

"I wonder how Finbar feels being pulled along on an adventure at this point in his life?" Venxia asked as she scratched behind his ears.

"Honestly, I think he's enjoying it. He looks better than when we first met." Lukas smiled as Finbar nuzzled against him. “See? He's a part of our merry band."

Venxia rolled her eyes but smiled as they unhitched Finbar from the post. The two of them got the cart turned back around and hopped in. As the cart got back on the main road, Venxia looked back out on the sea. The sun was beginning its descent on the horizon, and the deep orange light reflected off the waves. She smiled and leaned against Lukas.

“I'm so happy I could share this with you." She said softly as she placed a hand over his.

“I'm happy to share this adventure with you." He sighed. “Half the time I was on my own; I never could find a solid group to adventure with. But you are more than just a traveling companion."

“I better be." She smirked before kissing his cheek.

***

Most adventurers continue past Sento onto the port city of Salandra. That made Venxia and Lukas people of interest in the small fishing village. By the time they had made arrangements for Finbar, there were already curious people looking to chat with them. They were friendly enough, but after their underwater adventure Venxia and Lukas were starving and just wanted to eat.

"Alright, everyone back off and give our guests a bit of air to breathe!" An older man in an apron said from the front porch of his establishment. "Adventures or not, anyone can see these poor folks are looking for some rest."

"Thank you." Lukas smiled up at the man.

"You're welcome, lad. The name is Gaffer, I run the local inn." He motioned to the building behind him. "Folks here are friendly, just excited for anyone who has a good story to tell, and the two of you seem likely to have a tale or two."

"Definitely a tale or two." Venxia smiled.

"But first, let's get you two fed. You both look ready to eat your boots."

Gaffer ushered them both inside and to a table. He poured them both a large mug of ale and said he would be right out with a feast for them. True to his word, he brought out plate after plate of food for the hungry couple. Gaffer provided them with a feast of seafood, from hearty chowders to steamed shellfish, to perfectly fried fish. It was very much appricated after several days of trail rations.

The feast was devoured by the hungry adventures. Venxia wiped up the last bit of chowder from her bowl with a hunk of bread.

“This meal was exactly what I needed, not just from today but after our hasty exit from Malcross." She said before popping the bread into her mouth.

“I'm not that bad of a cook," Lukas smirked, “but yes, a well cooked meal is always welcomed after any amount of time on the road."

"Mmm," Venxia agreed while she finished chewing. “While I was busy eating, I was thinking about what you said, about taking a real break. This village is friendly enough, but I think we'll need a place with more resources while we plan out our next steps."

“Salandra is less than a day away from here. A port city should have any resources we may need, and probably work if we start to run low on coin."

“That's what I was thinking. So we rest up for tonight then head out in the morning, probably arrive by midday or so?"

“Most likely." Lukas pushed his plate full of fish bones away from him. “Now, I think there are several rounds of ale waiting for us from the fine people of Sento."

“Yes, well," Venxia stood up from her chair, “just remember when telling stories of our adventures to leave my, ah, special skills out of the retelling."

“I think I can manage." Lukas winked as he got up from the table. "And after that I'm looking forward to a nice soft bed."

"You and me both." Venxia smiled before they made their way to the bar and the gathered townsfolk.

Chapter 10

Salandra was a large and busy port city. Trade moved in and out of the city from sunrise to sunset. Lukas and Venxia took some time to find accommodations for themselves and Finbar that they could afford. As Lukas handed over the coins to the innkeeper he was aware of how light his purse had gotten. Venxia reassured him with a smile, however, and they managed to find a table to sit down at.

“Just how broke are we?" Venxia asked after they had been served their drinks.

“We're not broke, but…"

Venxia leaned forward. “But?"

Lukas sighed, “Between buying the grimoires and our…other expenses in acquiring them, it put a pretty big dent in our reserves."

“And we didn't exactly stumble upon any treasure on the way here." Venxia sipped her ale. “Still, we should be able to find some work in a city like this."

“Work for sure, but will it pay enough for our needs? You were just telling me of some of the materials you were going to need for your research. I'm no mage, but it didn't sound like it would be cheap."

“No," she sighed, “no they won't be."

“Hey, don't worry, we'll figure things out." Lukas paced his hand over hers. “At the very least we won't be starving anytime soon."

“Speaking of starving," Venxia motioned with her head to the two bowls of stew a server was bringing to their table.

Lukas chuckled as the bowls were placed in front of them.

“Anything else I can get you two?" The server asked with a practiced smile.

“I just have a quick question, if you don't mind." Lukas asked as Venxia tore a hunk of bread off of a loaf.

“What is it, sir?"

“I didn't see a notice board on the way here. We're adventures looking for work and I was wondering if you know of where we could find some?"

“Ah, well, I'm no expert on matters, but there's always caravans looking for guards."

“Hmmm, no, we'd like to stay in the city for a while at least."

“I can ask Travin, he's the owner, he'd know better than I would."

“Thank you." Lukas said as he handed a few coppers over to the server to show his appreciation.

The pair ate the hot stew as they waited. Before long, Travin the innkeeper walked up to their table. Lukas had a feeling that the older man had once been an adventure, it was just something about how Travin carried himself.

“Leslie tells me you two are looking for some work." Travin placed his hands on his hips as he spoke.

“Yes, but don't worry, we can cover our tab for tonight." Lukas assured him.

Travin chuckled. “Well, that's good to know. Anyway, I don't think I really have much to tell you. All the dungeons in these parts have been picked clean, some of them have even been turned into quarries for stone to expand the city. We haven't had so much as a handful of goblins show up since the guard started to patrol the lands around the city. Most adventures in Salandra are just passing through to sell loot or book passage out to sea. There's plenty of work to be found at the docs, but it's not going to pay like adventuring does. I know a few Merchants always on the lookout for good guards, however."

Venxia sighed. “Thanks, but we aren't looking to leave the area anytime soon."

“I'll keep an ear open, if anything comes up I can pass it along to you. In the meantime, I suggest you two just take some time to enjoy some rest. As I recall from my time in the trade, before you know it you'll be knee deep in it again."

Lukas laughed and they then both thanked Travin. Turning back to their dinner they ate quietly for a moment.

“What will we do?" Venxia said, breaking the silence.

“I don't know, but we'll figure something out. It's not as bad as being stranded in the middle of nowhere without a horse, and we got through that thanks to you."

“Yeah. You know, maybe it's a good thing we bartered for Finbar. It saved us the coin for now."

“He's starting to grow on you, isn't he?" Lukas smirked.

“He was still over-valued, but Finbar isn't the worst companion we could have on our travels." Venxia admitted.

“I think Travin is right though, we should just relax for tonight, and figure our plans out tomorrow."

“Relax, hmmm?" She arched an eyebrow and smiled softly.

“We should take advantage of having an actual bed while we can." Lukas smiled back

“Finish your stew first, you'll need the energy."

***

With their bellies filled with warm stew and bread Lukas and Venxia made their way up to their room. It was still early, but they were more interested in a different kind of entertainment than would be found in the common room. The room was simple, but clean. A quick inspection of the bed showed it was a soft mattress on a sturdy frame. Quite perfect for the couple.

Venxia went to the closed door and started to softly chant a spell. The doorknob glowed brightly, then faded away as the spell magically locked the door. Lukas was working on the ritual for the privacy spell as she cast another warding spell on the enclosed room. She had been casting it every night since they left Malcross. Venxia was worried about a man like Reiner hiring a mage to scry on their location.

With the room and their privacy now secure, the young woman felt relaxed enough to let her hair down, or rather shift to her preferred form. Her long red locks shifted into green tendrils that swayed slightly on their own. A pair of red horns rose up out of her 'hair' and with a blink her eyes shifted to a bright golden color. Reaching behind her back, Venxia pushed down the waistband of her legs letting the twin red spade-tipped tails grow out.

Lukas smiled at his partner as he sat on the edge of the bed to remove his boots. In all truth, Venxia's preferred form was also his preferred form of his lover. He understood why she took on a more human looking form while out in public, but it was always nice to be alone with her; in a room, a tent, or even in the depths of a dungeon where Venxia could just be herself.

She joined Lukas on the bed and removed her boots. After flexing her toes and rubbing her feet, she continued to change her form. Lukas watched as her toes merged and reshaped into bright red cloven hooves. Soft green fur crew to cover her lower foot and leg as her feet shifted to accommodate the hooves.

Lukas leaned over and kissed her cheek gently. “How are you feeling?"

“Mmm, better now." Venxia turned and kissed him softly. “But not as good as I'm going to feel once we get the rest of our clothes off."

Lukas chuckled before leaning in for another longer kiss. Venxia wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself tighter against him. The tendrils of her hair teased his neck and cheeks while they kissed. Lukas' hands moved to the leather cords of her bodice and started to pull at the bows. Venxia slowly pulled away from the kiss and helped to remove her bodice, revealing a smiling pair of lipples on her breasts. Lukas followed by quickly removing his shirt and tossing it aside.

As soon as his shirt was off, Lukas found himself pinned down on the bed by Venxia. As her lips smashed against his, her lipples kissed and licked his bare chest. She giggled as she felt Lukas squirm a bit under her body. Her tongue lengthened and slipped deeper into Lukas' mouth entwining and teasing him as they kissed. His hand slid down Venxia's back. He squeezed her rear through her leggings before starting to work them down over her hips. Venxia lifted her hips a bit to help him.

She could feel his shaft pressing up through his pants and teased it a bit by grinding against his member, drawing soft moans from Lukas. Eventually she broke the kiss and slid down his body slowly. She was agonizingly slow as she unfastened Lukas' belt and peeled his pants down. Lukas let out a sigh of relief when his cock was freed from his pants. Venxia smiled and lowered her head to the shaft. Her long tongue teased his cock, daring him to grow bigger.

Lukas was more than happy to comply. His cock continued to swell in size, going far past what any normal human would have hanging between his legs, but he didn't stop at just changing the size. The base of the shaft darkened to an almost black color. A medial ring formed a bit further up the now molted black and pink shaft. The head flattened and flared as Venxia teased it with her elongated tongue. His partner smiled as she stroked the massive horsecock with both of her hands. Lukas noticed a glint in her golden eyes and knew she had something special in mind.

“I know that look, what are you planning?" He smirked as he pushed himself up off the bed slightly.

“Oh nothing, I was just thinking that's an awful lot of cock for just one woman." She smiled widely, which was mirrored by her lipples.

“Oh really? And what are you planning to do about that?"

“I have an idea or two…" Venxia smiled as her tails flicked behind her.

The movement of her tails caught Lukas' attention. As he watched the spade tips pressed together and fused, leaving Venxia with a loop coming out of the base of her spine. Lukas paid attention, curious where she was going with this. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. As he watched Lukas he started to notice along her arms something bulging out from them. His eyes widened when he saw a second pair of arms separate from the original pair.

“Going with four arms again, hmmm?"

Venxia's smile widened. “Not exactly…"

Lukas noticed her legs were going through a similar change. In moments a second pair of legs were separating from her original ones.

“Extra legs? Are you going for a centaur body?"

She opened one eye and smirked. “I think the bed is a little small for that."

“Yeah. but…"

Venxia closed her eyes again and Lukas could see the concentration on her face. The new limbs moved and seemed to push away from her body. His blue eyes went wide as he watched the new limbs pull and stretch her body out backwards. Almost like taffy Venxia's body stretched. It then started to split down the middle.

“I told you it would take more than one to handle you." A second head peaked over her shoulder and winked at Lukas.

Lukas sighed but smiled. “You could have said something."

“And ruin the surprise?" the second head responded as the twined body finished separating.

The two bodies were perfect copies of each other, connected together by a single red tail. Venxia had split her body before after a fashion, but not like this. The same mischievous grin was plastered across both faces.

Lukas started to smile. “I'm surprised alright, but definitely not disappointed."

They laughed and then both Venxia's were crawling up the bed towards him, one on either side. The one on his right pushed him back down on the bed and pressed her lips against his in a deep kiss. The one on the left, went straight to his cock, running her hands slowly but firmly over the equine member. Lukas moaned into her mouth as he felt Venxia's tongue both dancing with his own and teasing his cock. His hands ran through her tendril hair. It was the best of both worlds being able to hold and kiss Venxia while she played with his member.

The left Venxia shifted position and pressed the massive shaft between her breasts. From her lipples long serpentine tongues emerged, licking and stroking the shaft while she focused her mouth on the wide flat head, kissing, licking and gently nibbling along the edge of the flare.

Lukas was almost spasming from the attention. He held onto the right Venxia tightly, kissing with even more passion. Slowly she pulled away from the kiss. Lukas watched with dazed eyes as she slid down to join her other half at his cock. Before he knew what was happening three more long tongues were teasing his horse cock.

“Come on…that's not fair…" Lukas moaned at the twinned Venxia.

Both halves laughed before deciding to take things to the next stage. One moved to lower herself down over Lukas' face. She didn't have to wait long before she felt his tongue lapping at her folds. Both halves shivered before the other half started to lower herself down onto the equine member, letting her pussy stretch to accept him fully if firmly.

Venxia felt a small climax rock through both halves of her body from the double stimulation. She didn't let that stop her, however. She pushed down taking his shaft to the hilt while grinding her other pussy down into his face.

Lukas responded intently, his tongue fervently licking as deeply as he could go while thrusting upwards with his hips. Venxia was moaning loudly, and was very glad the privacy spell was in effect as she was essentially twice as loud in this form. Lukas gripped her hips tightly as he moaned into her sex, lapping at her like a mad man while Venxia's other half rode his shaft.

She could feel the tension building in both halves of her body, but was not ready for when it hit. Venxia threw back both her heads, but instead of screaming almost no sound came out. The pleasure flooding through her split body simultaneously was almost more than she could handle. She felt herself go lightheaded and almost white out from the experience. Venxia regained her senses to find herself curled up on either side of a very pleased Lukas. She hadn't even realized her partner had moved her split bodies. She gripped onto his body tightly from both sides and he chuckled.

“Bit off a bit more than you could chew, hmm?" Lukas whispered softly.

“Eh, it was worth it." Venxia smiled, nuzzling one head against his chest while the other kissed him softly.

***

Lukas and Venxia had a late start the next morning, but neither was bothered by that. After a simple, but filling breakfast they decided to wander through Salandra to relax and also to look for any work they could do other than unloading cargo at the docks. A new city is always an adventure, and a bustling port city is only more so. Between the Docks and the Low District they came across a curious sight. At first glance they thought it was a fair or festival given the brightly colored flags, stalls, and wagons. But they soon realized it was not a special occasion. Instead, they had stumbled into the unofficial Pageant District. Shows of all kinds were being put on. Demonstrations of skill and daring combined with menageries of exotic animals and other oddities lined the streets. Lukas couldn't help dropping a few coppers to the entertainers as they made their way through the colorful section of the city.

“Lukas, look over there." Venxia said as she pointed to a red and yellow striped tent.

He saw a small line of people waiting to go inside. The sign read: come see the wonders of the giant peacock!

“I didn't know there was such a thing as a giant peacock." Lukas said as he scratched his chin. “I wonder how big his tail feathers are?"

“That's not the point, they are paying five coppers just to look at a giant bird." She turned and fixed Lukas with an intense look. “What would people pay to see a centaur or a harpy?"

“I…" he realized quickly where she was going. “Venxia…I don't think…"

“Oh come on. Most folks here aren't adventurers; they will never see any kind of magical beast or creature. And my talent isn't exactly faking it, any more than I am right now."

“Still…"

“Come on, I bet we can make more money in a day here putting on a show than a week at the dock, and it would be far less tiring."

Lukas raised an eyebrow at that. “For me sure, but what about you?"

“Turning into a centaur is nowhere near as tiring as pulling a cart as one. Besides, I'd be getting paid to practice."

Lukas sighed deeply. He could see her argument, but at the same time he was worried. Venxia could see it on his face.

“We won't be staying in the city long, we'll just make enough to pay for my research materials and supplies, then we can leave. I can disguise myself so it won't be obvious it was me shifting into the various creatures."

“We would need a tent or booth or something though, and where would we even find a spot to set up? Even the spaces between the shows are filled with jugglers and fire-breathers."

“That's simple, we just find a showman who's as desperate as we are and make a deal." She smiled and took Lukas by the hand. “Come on."

Lukas sighed with resignation and followed Venxia.

***

Marcel turned away from the street and sighed, letting his mask slip a bit. He was getting too old for this. Marcel had quit traveling to settle in Salandra for a few seasons to end his career, but he was losing too much business to the other attractions. Marcel was already considering selling off his remaining animals and just ending it.

“Excuse me…"

When Marcel heard the voice behind him he quickly put on his stage face and turned around. He was a little surprised. The pair standing in front of him were obviously adventures. Marcel doubted there was anything more exciting in his wagon than what they saw on an average day.

“Hello! Welcome to Marcel's Menagerie, where you can gaze upon my curated selection of beautiful and exotic creatures for only two coppers." He said holding up two fingers to emphasize the low price.

The blonde man sighed and shifted his eyes to the side, but his companion smiled widely.

Venxia nudged Lukas before she continued. “I take it you are Marcel."

“Indeed I am, my lovely lady." He bowed with a well practiced flourish.

“Instead of a pair of coppers to see your animals, how about a silver for a moment of your time?" She held out the coin.

Marcel's professional mask slipped a bit. His eyes darted between the coin and the woman's eyes. He was no fool, but being offered five times his rate to talk was worth the risk. He accepted the coin and dropped it into the wooden box hanging off his belt. The two adventures could tell by the sound the box was mostly empty.

“And what is it I could help you with?"

Venxia looked over to Lukas before she continued. “We have an idea for a, um, I suppose you would call it a show."

“Well, you are in the right district then."

Venxia laughed. “Yes, well, we have just arrived in town and don't exactly have the facilities to put one on. We noticed you, however, have the facilities."

Marcel raised an eyebrow. “You want to take over my spot?"

“More like rent it." Lukas said with a sigh. “Just for a few days, perhaps a week."

“Not just your spot, but you are obviously a veteran of such things. Your experience and talent could really help us out."

Marcel chuckled. “I've been in the business for a long time, probably longer than you two have been alive. That said, I'm no stranger to receiving unusual offers. But in this case I would need some more details. What kind of show would two adventures put on that would be worth it for all of us?"

Venxia smiled widely. “I could explain, but it would be much easier to just show you. Let's go behind your wagon. After all, we would want to keep it a surprise for future customers."

Marcel's curiosity peaked. The way things were going they were either going to rob him or actually have something that would help him finally retire. Weighing his options the most they could steal from him was their own silverpiece back, so there was nothing really to lose.

“Alright," Marcel turned slightly towards Lukas, “but I'd prefer it if your friend remains out here."

Venxia nodded. “That's fine, right Lukas?"

“I'll keep an eye on things here." He said with a small smile.

Venxia followed the showman behind his brightly covered wagon while Lukas waited patiently. He watched the people walk by, most not even giving the wagon a second glance. When he heard a surprised shout and mild cursing from Marcel, Lukas smiled.

I wonder what she changed into for him?

It wasn't much longer before Marcel and Venxia came back out. The old showman was so excited Lukas could swear he looked five years younger. Venxia was smiling as she readjusted her clothes.

“I take it we have a deal?" Lukas asked as they approached.

“Oh my dear boy, you most certainly do! There's so much to do, and I'm going to need that strapping body of yours to help get everything ready." Marcel rambled on as he started to take down his current sign. “I haven't dropped the stage down in years…and I might as well take up Claudia's offer for my remaining animals, even if her offer was insultingly low. We'll need the space on the wagon. Oh, and a new sign will need to be painted, I hope the paint hasn't dried in the pots!"

Venxia giggled. “Go on, help Marcel with those strong arms of yours."

“Could I get an explanation of what is going on first?"

“Marcel will provide our venue, and his own flair as a veteran showman. I will provide the talent and you will be, ah…"

“Right now, we just need your strong back, but once we have a crowd a sharp eye to watch for trouble will be invaluable." Marcel looked Lukas up and down, “And I think you can personally deal with any trouble should someone try."

“If you think it will be needed, I've been hired to keep the peace before."

“Will it be needed? My boy, did you see the line for the giant peacock? And it's just a big bird! How many will show up to meet truly amazing legendary creatures? Not to mention, every show can be different! A centaur one day, a naga the next. You might be jaded from your adventures with the lovely Venxia, but it will blow away everything in the district!"

“See? Marcel is an expert in such things, I told you this was a good idea. We'll get the funds we need for my research and Marcel will make enough to retire and enjoy the rest of his life."

“More importantly, I will retire at the top of my game. People will talk about this show long after I'm gone. What more could a showman ask for?"

***

Lukas and Venxia spent the next two days helping Marcel to set up the stage. Lukas was actually impressed after unfolding the stage from the side of the wagon and spreading out the additional canvas tarps into a large tent. The freshly painted sign now read: Lady's V's Magical Creature Show. It was decorated with the silhouettes of various creatures.

Marcel was beaming, dressed in his finest and gaudiest outfit, mended and cleaned with a little help from Venxia's magic. Venxia, or rather, Lady V was dressed in a simple wrap dress tied with a belt. Modest, but easily removable. She had altered her human form so she wouldn't be easily recognized outside the district. It was remarkably similar to her Valerie disguise, only with green eyes and an even more generous bust

“Ready for opening day?" Marcel asked as he fussed over his outfit.

“I've got the easy job, Ven-, er, V will be doing the hard work."

“Don't worry, I ate a big breakfast, and I'll take breaks between shows. Really, just think of this as getting paid to practice my shapeshifting."

“And paid you will be. I promise, after the word spreads through the district they will be lining up just for a chance to see the show." Marcel rubbed his hands together. “Now, Lady V, get into position, Lukas, get ready to man the curtain. As for me, I'll go attract our first crowd of the day."

Venxia gave Lukas a quick kiss before she stepped up onto the stage and slipped behind the bright red curtain. Lukas stood to the side of the stage and sighed. Exploring dungeons and dealing with monsters was much more his speed than this. Lukas could hear Marcel calling out to the district, but he wasn't really paying attention to his words. Before long people started to come into the area inside the tent, taking up spots in front of the stage. About ten people were there when Marcel entered the tent and stepped up onto the stage to begin the first show.

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen. We are happy to have you for the first show of our limited engagement. Please relax and enjoy our very own Lady V!"

As Marcel exited to the left, Lukas began to open the curtain. Venxia was standing on center stage as the curtain opened with a large smile on her face. She bowed slightly to the small crowd.

“Thank you for coming. You're probably wondering why there is a woman standing there, we were promised magical creatures." There were a couple of chuckles. “Well, not to worry, I will quickly remedy that. I just need to summon our first guest." She said before stepping just out of sight behind a screen.

Lukas was watching the crowd. They seemed confused and a few were whispering to each other. From his position Lukas could see Venxia quickly disrobe and start to change her form. He smiled, knowing what form Venxia had already chosen. Being already familiar with the form, she was able to assume it much quicker than she had in the past. There was the sound of hooves on the stage floor as Venxia stepped out from behind the screen.

Eyes went wide, mouths opened and a few in the small crowd even gasped audibly. Standing there was a centaur smiling at the crowd. Her lower half was bay colored with a slight bit of white feathering around her hooves and a long white tail that flicked a bit as she stood there. Her hair was long and a deep dark brown. It cascaded down over her full chest and was the only thing maintaining her modesty. Long tapered ears poked out from Venxia's hair. She had altered her facial features and shifted her eyes a warm brown shade.

Venxia walked across the stage slowly turned and walked the way she had come before standing once again at center stage. She said nothing, merely bowing slightly to the crowd as they stared. Just as the crowd regained their wits and started to murmur amongst themselves, Marcel returned to the stage. The old man looked small next to the towering centaur.

“Let's hear it for our guest, the lovely centaur mare." He said in a loud clear voice as he motioned to Venxia with more than a little flair.

The surprised crowd managed to clap and Venxia bowed once more.

“Thank you!" Marcel smiled widely at the crowd, knowing a huge impression had already been made. “Now, my dear, if you would be so kind as to go tell Lady V to send out our next guest."

They had agreed that Venxia would not speak in her creature forms to hide the fact they were all actually her. Venxia nodded to the showman and walked back behind the screen, pausing to wave to the crowd before disappearing behind it.

“It will just be a brief moment. As talented as Lady V is, she can only have one guest present at a time." Marcel informed the audience.

The crowd grew more talkative this time, wondering what creature would be next to walk out from behind the screen. Lukas' attention was split this time between the crowd and watching Venxia shift to another form.

“Ah, it appears our next guest has arrived." Marcel gestured to the screen before hurrying back off stage.

All eyes were on the screen, but even then they weren't ready. Out from the screen flew a blue-feathered harpy. The crowd was shocked as she flew just barely above their heads before gliding back to the stage and landing on her talons.

Blue feathers covered most of her body, stopping about half way up her chest. Her 'hair' was also made of blue feathers, though of a lighter shade. Her facial features were sharp and angular, which only added to the piercing gaze of her amber hawk-like eyes. Venxia spread her wings wide, flaring the feathers on her wingtips for the crowd. Two stepped back from the fierce looking creature.

“No need to fear." Marcel said as he returned to the stage. “Lady V has assured me that all of our guests will be on their best behavior."

Taking that as a cue, Venxia smirked and then beat her wings, buffeting the small crowd with a stiff breeze. Lukas chuckled; she was certainly enjoying herself.

“Well, a little breeze never hurt anyone." Marcel laughed. “Why don't you turn around, dear, and show our audience your plumage?"

Venxia slowly turned around. She fanned her tail feathers out and turned to look at the crowd over her shoulder.

“Yes, very impressive. Audience, don't you agree?"

There was a round of claps from the crowd. Venxia turned around to face the crowd once again and she bowed, giving a flourish with her wings.

“Thank you. Do you mind sending Lady V back out? I believe she had a few words for our audience before they leave."

Venxia nodded before leaping back up into the air to buzz the crowd a final time before flying back behind the screen. There was another round of clapping from the audience. Marcel was soaking it all in on stage.

Maybe this will work after all. Lukas thought as he saw the look of excitement in the crowd.

Before long Venxia returned to the stage in her Lady V persona. The crowd clapped and cheered her as she took up position next to Marcel.

“Thank you, thank you everyone." She smiled widely at the crowd as she took a bow. “I hope you enjoyed our guests for this show. There are others I can summon, but it is a bit taxing on me, so I will need a bit of a break before I can call more out for you. Rest assured, there is more than just what you saw today."

“That's right, folks," Marcel picked right up after her. “Come again and you can easily see many other fantastical creatures, all courtesy of the fabulous Lady V!"

There was more clapping as Marcel and Venxia took another bow.

“Be sure to tell your friends what you saw here today. Lady V will only be in town for a limited time before she will have to depart and it would be a shame to miss out on our special guests. Thank you and have a wonderful day!"

At that, Lukas started to draw the curtain shut. The excited crowd started to disperse, but one person approached Lukas as he was tying up the ropes.

“Excuse me, I was just wondering when will the next show start?" A young man asked.

“Oh, ah, it will be an hour at least. Lady V will need some time to recover."

“Oh, of course, that's fine. That should give me enough time to get my lady friend and bring her down. Thank you." The man nodded and turned to leave the tent.

That's at least two for the next show. Lukas smiled before heading back behind the wagon to see how Venxia was doing.

He found her reclining on a cot while Marcel poured out a hot cup of tea for her. She looked a little winded, but not too tired. Her smile, however, was of complete satisfaction.

“What did you think of the show?" She asked as Lukas sat down on a crate next to her.

“I think you left an impression. One of them is planning on coming back to the next show and bringing his girl with him."

“Excellent!" Marcel clapped his hands together."I bet the rest of them are already talking about our show. It will be the talk of the district in no time."

Lukas sighed softly. “I'm hopeful, but I'll wait to see how big the crowd is for the next show before I start to celebrate."

“In the meantime," Venxia paused to sip her tea, “why don't we discuss our guests for the next show?"

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