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Magnificient Mistake Part II - Revenge of the Wizards

A collaboration between Feder, Melliflox, Skiesofsilver, Fakeman and Apsidalmosaic

Dated: 14.12.2016

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There was something in the air. A feeling. A strange buzz as if somebody had cast a lightning spell nearby. Yet their surroundings were calm. Dark, yet serene, the sky overhead still glinting with the same stars as always and the buzz slowly faded into a low hum emanating from deep within the temple.

"You sure this is such a good idea?", Rodrick said as he took a good glance inside and found his torch could barely illuminate the first two metres of the ornamented entrance. The sellsword was anxious and she could see how his muscles tensed in preparation to strike whatever would dare to ambush them.

"This is just meant to drive us off. Just an arcane diversion that kicks in the moment you come to close. Nothing to worry about" Tara concluded calmly, her spellbook ready and waiting for the moment they would finally proceed inside. To the treasure and to the knowledge she sought.

"No traps as far as I can see" Nicholas commented from the sidelines. The thief was kneeling on the steps, staring inside the black hole in front of them. "Not that I'd see much of anything anyways...." he added and rose back to his feet.

"So, are we going to just stand here?" he asked as he saw Rodrick squinting at the entrance, his hand still resting on the pommel of his longsword.

"I don't intent to", Tara said and a quick, complicated move of her hand produced a glowing magical sphere. She let it float into the darkness, revealing ancient masonry in the form of a long, intimidating corridor, before she slowly sauntered up the steps and made her way inside.

"Finally!" Nicholas concluded and slipped past the entrance as well.

"I'm not paid to get eaten by a slime-monster...." Rodrick grumbled behind them yet quickly fell in step, following the thief and the sorceress into the ancient complex.

A little bit further in, they came across a wall decorated with masks done in a stylized tribal style much like those sold during Carnivale. Tara smirked as her light passed over each of the masks, each was sculpted out a glossy material that shone like water under moonlight.

The mask right in front of her was a funny little specimen; with big goat-like horns, a small pointed nose and a big, mirthful grin full of pointed teeth. The sorceress knew immediately what the visage was: an imp. It wasn't uncommon to see them depicted as a symbol of mischief and revelry.

There were two other masks to either side of the imp. The one on the left was the visage of a mandrill, with low brow, colorfully marked face sculpted in a permanent snarl and a gold ring through its left ear. The one on the right was the face of a cobra, with a wide hood marked with two lines of yellow paint, almond shaped eyes and an expression of subtle menace compare to the more animate expressions of the other two.

"What are they?" Nicholas said, looking up from a freshly disarmed arrow trap.

"I don't know," Tara mused, reaching out to touch the mandrill mask, it felt smooth and cool to the touch, like a river stone. "But this one looks an awful lot like Rodrick." She said, tapping the mandrill's forehead. She and Nicholas laughed while Rodrick caught up with them.

"Masks? Are we going to play dress up now?" The sellsword shot an unimpressed look at his compatriots, waiting for either one of them to explain.

"To be truthful," said Nicholas, "My experience as a treasure hunter tells me we definitely shouldn't be playing around with random dungeon artifacts." Tara rolled her eyes.

"It's not like every damn rock in this place is enchanted," she complained. "This temple is more than just a dungeon, it's got history. I bet we could sell these things to that scholar back in the village for a fair amount. Besides, I'm not sensing any magic in them, they're perfectly safe."

Nicholas frowned. "Just look at them!" He pointed, waving his daggers erratically. "These don't make any sense. Since when were imps a part of the mythology around here? And we're basically in a desert region. Why would there be a random cobra mask when the nearest habitable forest is hundreds of miles away?"

"Hey, yeah." Rodrick grabbed the mandrill mask from Tara and studied it. "It's almost as if these were arbitrarily chosen and placed by someone for some ulterior purpose."

"You guys are paranoid. I'm the sorceress here, AND the party leader. And I say we could use the money from them. Get out the inventory," demanded Tara. Nicholas reluctantly reached behind him and unslung a large leather sack from his shoulders, then opened it and began removing the cobra and imp masks from their fixtures, mumbling all the while.Rodrick shook his head. "Whatever. Let's get moving forwards. We still have the element of surprise over the wizard holed up in the center of this thing, and the map says we're only a couple rooms away from him now." He finished cleaning his blade against an oiled cloth, then sheathed it quietly and set his visor back into place on his helm. "Back to business."

"Of course we have the element of surprise," Nicholas said, glaring at Tara and shouldering the leather bag. "Magic users are always thinking about the wrong."

Tara huffed and crossed her arms. "Like what?"

"Like these masks!" Nicholas replied, shaking the bag.

"Oh don't complain," the sorceress said. "They can't be that heavy."

Before Nicholas could respond, Rodrick did.

"He's right," Rodrick said. "It's not really about weight, it's about space. He can only cram so much stuff into that bag and if we pick up every funny looking object we come across..."

"Hmph." Tara snorted. "Well, if someone hadn't put their bag of holding into another person's bag of holding..."

Rodrick's face turned red and his lips opened but nothing came out. Finally, he grunted and gritted his teeth, stalking past the sorceress with nary a word. Tara looked on with satisfaction, a small smile gracing her delicate face. She took a few steps after him, before she noticed Nicholas was still behind her. She turned and found the man holding the imp mask in his hand. He stared down at it, entranced.

"Nicholas," she said. "Come on then. You heard Rodrick, the wizard is only a few rooms away. We should be there all at once. It never makes sense to split."

Nicholas blinked, but continued staring at the mask.

"It..." he mumbled. "It looks kind of comfy, you know. That cobra was too scaly and the mandrill too freaky but this imp, yeah..."

He lifted the back half of the mask towards his face.

"Nicholas!" Tara said. "Wait!"

But it was too late. Nicholas has put on the mask.

The thief's world went black as he pressed the wide grinning rictus over his face, filling him with an immediate jolt of strange energy. He could hear his teammates voices, muffled as they seemed to run towards him in slow motion.

"Stop him!" Tara's overly concerned wail sounded almost comedic to Nikolas.

"You blithering idiot!" Roderik roared like a beast held at bay with a chair as he charged.

The static features of the mask began to contort, crimson skin twitching as the edges of the smile pulled up even further. Nikolas' vision returned as he looked up and knew exactly what to do. A high cackling titter escaped his lips as he stepped quickly to the side, deftly past Tara and then facing down Roderick. Reaching into the sack, nails growing black and sharp, he felt around for the proper mask, something that would be the proper comic juxtaposition for Roderick's fiery bravado. The masks seemed to speak to him, whispering encouragement as his now bony grasping fingers locked around one that promised to be a hoot.

The charging man-at-arms expected the impish thief to dodge, but instead the hunched figure whipped its hand out of the bag at the last second as Roderick's arms wrapped around his waist. He slapped the mask over the the warrior's face as they both toppled to the ground, seeing the enraged boorish countenance replaced with the knowing smirk of a rather pointed silver vixen mask.

"What did you...?!" he could hear the sellsword yell as they crashed onto the ground. He paid him no mind and the crimson grin that had been a mask got visibly broader as the thief cackled incessantly.

"What...." the sellsword began as the vixen mask flowed over his head, its silver frame rapidly fusing with his skin, enveloping his forehead and trailing down his neck in quick aggressive motions.

"You were always such a bore, Rodrick!" the thief commented amidst his roaring laughter.

"No....." Rodrick gasped. His voice different, higher. "No!" he said again and his massive hand darted to the thief's throat, squeezing down angrily on the crimson flesh beneath. Yet instead of being choked or perturbed by what happened, the thief just cackled louder. A spiteful, evil sound.

The sellsword's mouth twitched in anger as it lengthened, filled with teeth and became one with the mask, a snarling beast full of hatred at what was happening to it. Yet also not devoid of a certain grace as it slimmed, the silver turned into white fur and the black paint into a petite canine nose.

"You should have never....." he snarled, "....never...." Silver ran amidst his eyes, poured down onto them like a waterfall. Drowning them and turning them into a reflection of themselves. Orange, animalistic things. Yet also wide, soft and unthreatening ".....never......" Rodrick continued as his voice faded and his hand stopped squeezing.

He cocked his head curiously as his ears flowed into a triangular shape atop his head.

"Master?" he asked uncertainly, in a voice that wasn't his anymore, but that of a delicate female.

"Nicholas, you stupid bastard!" Tara was yelling at them from the sidelines as she watched Rodrick's head becoming evermore reminiscent of a fox the more she watched. She had underestimated Nicholas' greed. He was a thief, yes, but she at least thought of him as somewhat reliable when coin was concerned.

But this was probably the worst thing he could have done. The temple was a resting place for incarcerated shades. Mongrels of the spirit world, pranksters, cheats, demons and other creatures that weren't befit to walk the world unchecked. The masks were meant to allow those trained to fuse with them as a method to attain transcendental knowledge. Yet those untrained....

The thief slowly rose to his feet. He was visibly smaller now, his face distorted by a large grin adorned with sharp teeth that hadn't been there before. He idly slipped out of his boots, revealing black hoofs instead of feet.

"So what will it be, Tara?" He cackled again as two horns started to push out from his forehead. "The mare? The cat? The dragon? All of their knowledge can be yours. And they all want to be free...."

Wait a second. How did she know all those things about the temple? Something thick dripped down the back of her neck. Her stomach dropped and heart stopped, eyes wide as she thrust a hand frantically to feel behind her head. It felt sticky. When she pulled her hand back, it was covered in a warm, black substance that slid over her skin and splatted onto the floor in long liquid clumps. It was already too late for her.

"I did what you wanted,Master," trilled a soft, sweet voice. Tara whirled around to find Rodrick suddenly, sheepishly wrapping himself- er, herself- in her many silvery tails, looking at the ground. "I hope you don't mind, I picked one that seemed pretty."Tara stared in horror as the black crept down her arms and invaded her vision. Her eyes went foggy for a moment, stinging painfully. She clenched them shut, waiting for the pain to pass. When they reopened, she felt them open in eight places. Her jaw began to feel numb and her canine teeth uncomfortably large in her mouth.

"WHY DIH YOU DO THITH" she demanded, wrestling with her changing vocals chords. Her voice deepened and her cries slowly gave way to inhuman chittering

The demon-Nicholas clapped his hands together in delight. "Oh, puppet, don't worry, you picked wonderfully. It's been so long since I've had some proper shenanigans with Anansi!" He smirked as the woman fell to the floor, writhing in a pool of black. Already he could see her rear swelling and new sets of limbs sticking awkwardly from her torso. Red, black, and silver; they would make quite the dashing trio with their new looks, he thought.

Tara continued to writhe on the floor as cerulean coloured carapace grew over her skin and her new and already existing limbs developed carapaced claws that clacked against the floor. Her swelling rear bulged out obscenely, growing thicker and fatter as it took on the appearance of a thick, insectoid abdomen.The rest of her body followed suit, her already chittering head shrinking down and growing twin antennae. She blinked her eyes in disbelief as the moved far on either side of her face and grew and grew as they developed into compound eyes that looked like a fly's. The insect woman chittered in pain when two translucent wings broke from her carapace covered back. Gibbering in panic and fear, she felt over onto her back and squirmed with all ten of her insectoid limbs. Her glossy exoskeleton glistened as she futilely tried to right herself, a task made all the more difficult as her still existing breasts swelled larger and larger. They stopped growing when they had reached an exaggerated size, their swaying and heft somewhat reduced as carapace came over them and set them mostly in place.

Noticing the bug-woman's distress, the former sellsword turned silver kitsune female Rodrick scurried over to her. She placed her slender paws upon the creature's carapace and pushed with all her delicate might, but it was of no use. With the extra bulk of her carapace, bigger breasts, and fat insectoid abdomen, there was just nothing the once-strong kitsune could do. She grunted weakly, gave up and stepped back away towards the now demonic Nicholas. Tara squirmed still, her many insectile limbs flailing and making the former beautiful sorceress now big breasted insect quite a sight of which the demonic Nicholas laughed at.

"Quite stunning, that carapace and color," he chuckled, walking up to her and squeezing her insectoid abdomen. The insect-woman squirmed more, her compound eyes looking helplessly up at the impish demon.

"Yes," he mused. "You're perfect for my plans. Once your eggs start rolling out and hatching, this domain may be mine!"

Nicholas let out a villainous laugh that was suddenly cut off by a bright flash of light. All turned to look at the newcomer. There a robed figure stood, his beard magnificent and his face without mirth. He snarled at what saw.

"This domain is mine!" he shouted, drawing a hand back that sparked with power. "And you fools fell for my trap!"

The heads of the three changed adventurers swung around towards the lavishly embroidered robes of the master of the castle, red and black with arcane sigils and signs woven in gold and silver thread. Nikolas hugged his lithe vulpine body up against Tara's carapace, which still crackled as it set fully into place. They both turned, wide eyed to look at their nemesis, completely unarmed. Nikolas turned as well, but still with his manic impish grin.

"Running such a castle as this takes more effort than you might imagine. The masks make intruders such as yourselves servile, coaxing your minds to submit to those more powerful than yourselves." He laughed manically, arcs of flame and lightning arcing from his fingertips, leaving the air smelling like ozone and sulphur. "You shall all submit to me. I am your new master."

The blue shelled insect chittered in shock, and the silver fox-woman folded her ears back. They both felt the mage's power calling towards them even as they tried to resist. Nikolas felt it too, thrumming through his impish body.

"Yes, master. I see." The hellish creature walked towards his new master, dragging the bag of masks behind him, grin still predatory and manic. "You are truly more powerful than us baser creatures." He giggled, reaching in the sack and taking out a mask.

"Indeed. All of you will realize this. My power is infinite!" The wizard's voice boomed around the chamber, magically amplified, ringing in the adventurer's minds as well.

"And how clever you are, master." The imp took a mask from the bag, that of a snarling tiger, looking it over as he paced forwards nonchalantly. "These masks are truly genius." He ran his thick forked tongue over the back of the mask with an almost sexual appreciation.

"But a mere morsel of what I am capable of!" The wizard laughed as his new servant approached his regal form.

"Indeed, O noble master." How clever you are . . ." The imp stood before the wizard and bowed deep and low. Then in one sudden motion, the imps legs tensed and he leap up, landing on the wizard's shoulders, pulling the tiger mask over his face.

"Fool! Do you think that such a minor enchantment can . . ." The wizard's voice was muffled by the mask as fire burst from his hands, but did little to bother the imp clenched around his shoulders.

"No. But perhaps many of them can . . ." Boney red hands with dark claws reached into the bag, drawing out two more masks, the great curved beak of a roc and the scowling rictus of a fiery salamander. He sandwiched them on the sides of the wizard's bald head, grinning wildly as he saw the magic start to creep, masks bonding to him with no gap between artifice and flesh.

"Insolent mongrel!" the mage shouted. His hands darted upwards to his face, seeping fire giving way to arcs of lightning that were dancing between his fingers as they shot upwards to the imp. Yet Nicholas just laughed gleefully and hopped over his head.

Tara could hear how her master snarled. The three masks on his face flowed into one unidentifiable object, its form shifting between a long yellow beak of a roc, the orange head of a tiger and the sleek, scaly visage of a salamander as it fused with his skin and started to seep into his hairline and down along his chin.

"You will not defy me, spirits!" the mage yelled and arcane energy cracked from his fingers onto the distorting mass on his face.

The room was suddenly filled with whispers. Three, she could discern, the delicate hissing of a snake, the aggressive caws of a bird and the seductive purring of a cat. Back and forth as if to argue, their strange sounds reflected on the walls only undermined by the incessant cackling of the thief who watched the scene with a wide grin on his face.

"What is it master? You seem out somewhat out of shape!" the imp asked before he resumed his fiendish laughter.

"ENOUGH!" the wizard yelled. "You WILL obey!" His skin seemed to turn red as fire was secreting from his pores and was quickly engulfing his body in unflinching, arcane flames. His hair and robes burned to a crisp as the fiery tongues leapt upwards greedily and turned his body into a huge, voracious inferno.

The heat was astounding, prompting even the imp to jump back in sudden terror. Rodrick yelped and was snuggling into her strange chitinous skin as well. "Tara, I'm afraid!" she said as her tail hid between her legs. Tara could only chitter faint encouragement in return as her strange mandibles shook from fear of her master's fury as well.

The whispers in the air cried. Were terrified as well, pleading, yelling and begging in pain.

"OBEY!" The wizard demanded again, his voice a booming, oppressive whip that echoed all across the room.

Yet from one moment to the next, the whispers calmed and spoke in strange unison.

"No." they seemed to say.

The wizard hissed, his muscles tensed yet the flames quickly receded, were puffed out by an unknown force until her master stood revealed. A naked, old human. His frame scrawny, his skin sagging, laced with age marks and tanned with the experience of decades.

Yet his head was shifting rapidly. The masks were separating and not separating at the same time. Gold-dotted obsidian leapt from the salamander onto his forehead and his nose that was pushing out into a black, scaly snout. At the same time, bronze, turning into smooth orange fur, gushed onto his lower jaw and down along his neck. A dainty line of rust, of downy feathers, followed like a vein, headed for his extremities.

"No! No! No...." The wizard grumbled, yet his voice changed pitch, heightened as orange fur and black scales met at his shoulders and thinned them down forcefully, turning his aggressive protests into short, lusty moans.

The rust red feathers that ran down his arms and legs filled out into full plumage that blended gracefully into the orange fur, while the joints in his hands and feet popped and groaned as they took on a narrow, yellow-scaled shape very much like the legs of a bird of prey, complete with glossy black claws that erupted out of the ends of his fingers and toes. The amalgamated creature's eyes rolled back as he tried in vain to utter words in-between moans of shameless lust.

And as the thing swiped impotently at the ones who would have been his servants, a pair of round, pert swellings pushed themselves out of the fur on his chest, and as he looked down at his narrowing waist and expanding hips, he knew he would not be a 'he' for much longer. Sure enough, the former wizard's unimpressive member vanished into the tawny orange fur, inverting into a black-lipped orifice dripping with primal need.

Tara looked to the Imp, and the imp looked to Rodrick the kitsune . The three of them shared a knowing smile, though Tara had quite some difficulty getting her expression across with her arachnid mouthparts.

The new hybrid creature shrieked as the three trespassers tackled her. They dove to the floor in a poof of feathers and dust, pinning her under naughty, roaming claws, tweaking her sensitive spots and causing her to cry out in ecstatic submission. As the Imp and Kitsune straddled either of her arms at her side and took turns petting her shiny new coat of head feathers, the spider loomed over her, leaning in close and grinning.

"You know, cutie, we've been looking for a fourth member to join our adventuring party. No one likes having a third wheel." Tara's rearmost legs jabbed under their moaning victim's legs then hoisted them up and back, where she curled her abdomen in, her spinnerets clacking together eagerly as the glands within dripped and churned.. She stood tall and grabbed the hybrid with her unoccupied forelimbs, pulling her up tightly to her sternum where she began spinning the poor thing. A brief panic interrupted the prisoner's desperate moans as she realized she could no longer move her legs. Tara was wrapping them in a tight bond of spider silk. "We couldn't let just any old person join, though, we're picky. Applicants must have a very strong set of qualities. But you seem like you've got more than enough, let's see..." she mused, scratching under her chin thoughtfully. "You know magic, that's always useful."The imp joined in. "And clearly, she can pull her own weight," he said, pointing at the wizard's still-growing bust. "Just look at those beauties.""Yes," Tara agreed, pulling the girl's chest up to her face and examining the breasts with her pedipalps. She traced around its curves and flicked one of the puffy nipples twice, sending slight ripples through the shapely flesh. "Oh, yes, this one must surely have a strong back," she crooned. "Very important, considering how long and hard the road ahead of us is..." Under her the wizard shuddered and closed her eyes tightly. Around and around she went, a spindle in the hands of a gentle yet agile seamstress. She could feel her arms being locked firmly behind her, her struggles becoming half-hearted squirms and shivers. She was mortified. Her pussy was still exposed, practically steaming in the cold open air. The fur down her legs darkened to autumn brown with the trickles of her arousal which seeped into her tight cocoon. It was depraved, what was being done to her. Unacceptable, disrespectful. She longed for her hands to be free, so she could satisfy her urges, cool her screaming heat with something, anything. Her hips bucked feebly at the air as the spinning stopped, Tara suspending her belly-down as the spinnerets detached from her, trailing strands of flowing silk.

Rodrick stood before the captive, shyly clutching one of her own tails as she leaned in close. Their breasts touched ever so lightly. "Is she good at following orders though?" the submissive vixen spoke softly. "I know that's important," she glanced at the Imp who stood against a nearby wall. The Imp smiled back, a lecherous twinkle in his eyes. His cock was proudly displayed at his hips, a glorious foot of thick red meat which twitched as he stroked lazily, the slightly tapered head already glistening with precum.

"Yes, yes, very much so, my dear," the Imp said, winking at Rodrick.

The submissive kitsuen blushed and bowed her head. She moved out of the way. The Imp advanced upon the former wizard and looked over the hybrid creature, a stunning combination of salamander and phoenix with the attributes and bust of an endowed women. She hissed at him, flicking her tongue out, but then she caught sight of the Imp's generous endowment. Her reptilian eyes widened as she felt a pulsing want down below. No--not a want, a need. She had to have it in her. She whimpered.

"Ah, giving in so easily, are we?" the Imp chuckled. "You want me in you, don't you?"

The hybrid almost shook her head, but her body won out. She nodded.

"Are you sure?" the Imp asked.

She nodded again, faster this time.

"Because if I do," he said, licking lustily at his claws. "You'll become part of our party. It's part of initiations, don't you see?"

She nodded again, not caring about being part of a party, only wanting to be filled. She squirmed in her weblike bindings while the insectoid Nara stood off to the side admiring her handiwork.

"Very well," the Imp said. He pressed into her and laughed as she moaned in a raspy, reptilian tone. "Welcome to the party."

He grinned manically, pressing forwards into the already shaking creature in front of him, cock jutting from his demonic sheath. Her massive scaled and feathered body shook as he entered her, making a shudder run from her claws to her web-restrained tail.

"That's right, my precious little beast." He hissed in breath as the huge hybrid writhed and squeezed against him. "You should know your place." The transformed wizard shook, her body overcome by lances of pleasure that assaulted her mind. This was wrong, it wasn't possible . . . Those honied words just sounded so right, even as she tried to resist them, thoughts broken by bouts of spasmodic pleasure as her throbbing animalistic femininity was filled again and again.

"Nokolas . . . what are you . . . what are we doing?" Roderik watched with rapt attention despite his misgivings. He wrapped his tails around his front, obscuring himself even as his new vulpine cleft thrummed and throbbed with jealous need, edges becoming slick and quivering.

"I think you all know what we are doing." The imp cackled, stroking the feathery scaled flesh in front of him as his thrusts picked up their pace. "Tara has figured it out." He laughed in hellish glee as he watched the transformed blue-shelled insect that had once been his co-hort climb up her own webbing, hanging down from the transformed wizards head and wrapping her mandibles against the massive creatures mouth with lewd pleasured sloppy noises.

"This is my castle. I allow all of you to live here." His words rang through all of their minds, resonating through the magic left by the masks. "In return, you guard this place, and you bring all of the intruders to me." He plowed in with his last word, making the huge form of the avian dragon shake, straining as the wizard experienced his first female orgasm, thoughts growing twisted through the haze of magic and pleasure. The creature felt the imp's seed flowing into her, just as his words did. Tara's hard grasping mandibles clenched at her tongue as a strange heady-sweet syrup flowed down her throat. Even Roderik shuddered, gasping as the raw magic in the air made his fur stand on end, tails floofing out against his sensitive nipples.

The power-crazed imp pulled back with a manic wheeze, hooves clacking against the floor as he scooped up the sack of masks. "Now then. I'll leave you minions here to clean up. I've got treasures to leave out for the next group of fools that dares to intrude in my castle." He skittered away, nearly skipping with malevolent glee.

Roderik was left looking up at his former partymate still eagerly sucking face with the monstrous transformation wizard, if such an odd meeting of orifices could be considered anything so plain. Well . . . at the very least they had vanquished the wizard . . . His tails swished behind him as he turned his head to the side, watching as pale blue plates began to form around the draconic creature's eyes, which blinked in long tight pulls before splitting into four gleaming red compound orbs.

"Tara . . ." You're still in there, right?" Roderik paused. Stepping back as both the insect that had been his teammate and the hulking beast that had been the wizard turned to him as one. "Tara!?"

***

Tara could faintly hear Rodrick. Could feel his terror as she and the beast beside her chittered in anticipation. Yet the need, the urge to spread was insatiable. She had thought the magic, the spirit in her mind, had been weak as it barely tried to control her. Yet it had just been sleeping, and her mandibles shook and her trachea were ablaze with something, something magical, something that made her move on her own; a smell, a commandment, an instinct that consumed her and she couldn't stop herself as she heeded its call, became the call and wanted all to be like her, to be part of that smell, of that one mind, of that one commandment.

The insect hissed and clacked. The monstrous hybrid creature echoed her, both their minds and their intent focused only on their prey and on their spread. The wizard-creature's face, a cross of tiger, salamander and dragon had grown chitinous as well. A multitude of eyes started to follow the imp. He was casually striding to the exit, unaware of the growl that escaped the gigantic creature as its muzzle seemed to split, permitting large mandibles to sprout from its face and reach inwards.

Tara dropped to all fours and cocked her head greedily in the direction of the other prey, the kitsune, some part of her still knew. More flesh. More opportunity to spread. She felt her body charging towards it. Succulent furry meat soon to be a part of her, a part of the smell, a part of the commandment.

"Tara! NO!" the kitsune screamed and a chromatic, incandescent glow tore apart the air.

Tara flew backwards and hit the ground harshly. She twitched, her body hurt and her face seemed to be torn asunder with strangeness and agony; A part of her growled, shrieked and chittered and she reached up to her head in pain, only to find nothing but smooth human skin and hair. "I'm.....me?" she whispered almost inaudibly.

***

Rodrick didn't understand, yet somehow her tails were adrift. Circling, shifting around and filling her with a strange arcane energy that danced on her paws in all the colours of the rainbow. The thing inside her had made her docile but it had betrayed a strength unknown to her. Something vivid. Something no one could understand, but her.

Her eyes fell on Tara. Whatever she had done had ripped the mask from her face and the insect Tara had been was gone, replaced by the human she knew who was looking around the room in confusion. She was regarding her with pleading eyes.

"Rodrick?" she asked quietly.

Rodrick. Roderick. No, Ren-Xik, understood now. Everything. The temple that was a castle, the magic that was a spirit, the wizard that hadn't been there before. The roc, the salamander and the dragon that always flowed into each other like a weird surrealist picture until some of it existed and some not. And the names. Their fuzziness and absurdity. And the scenery that changed so erratically.

She removed the mask on her face, revealing black fur on her face that lay unperturbed among the silver pelt on her vulpine body. A smile crossed her muzzle.

Meanwhile, the shifting creature had descended upon the imp, had tried to charge him. Yet the imp's edicts still rung true and the monster snarled, drooled and spat yet stayed out of reach. The imp cackled again and was slowly sifting through his bag in search for yet another mask that would make the creature in front of him more docile.

Ren crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Nia, I think you can drop the act now."

"Minion, don't interfere! Stop the creature if you want to do anything!" the imp yelled even while he still shouted commands at the angry beast in front of him.

Ren sighed and a rainbow shot from her hand that enveloped both of them, rapidly revealing two humans and an assortment of masks that littered the ground.

"What?!" the thief asked in confusion as his body seemed to distort yet again, taking away from the human shape he had enjoyed for only a second. It seemed to lengthen, to get taller and fill out in some parts while it became slimmer in others.

"You were really never good at remembering your names, you know that?" Ren quipped, as a muzzle pulled out of the thief's head and his skin gave way to red fur.

"I.....I...." he mumbled as his body flowed into shape, became dainty and feminine as his hips rounded and his chest bloomed into two, large furry orbs.

The new fox-woman blinked curiously. "Oh! Oh I see now! Damn are we good....." she concluded as numerous fluffy tails erupted from her backside.

"Well it could have helped, if you didn't mess up the setting all the time."

"I didn't!" the red-fox complained as she kneaded her neck with a paw. "You didn't tell me it was a temple!"

"How could I as long as I was an unshaved monkey who didn't know left from right?"

The other kitsune's ears drooped. "Awww crap...you are right.....but I thought it was such a perfect setup....."

Ren sighed. "Come on, you are just beating yourself up! Animating such a tale isn't really such a piece of cake. It's not just a zombie that you can get to walk as you want. Don't be so perfectionist."

"Huh....I guess you are right." The new kitsune's eyes took in the two humans curiously. "Plus, I think we did a good enough job!" she added as she noted that the wizard just stared at his hands and couldn't comprehend what was happening nor what had happened to him in any case. Tara couldn't either and was regarding the whole scene with utter incomprehension as well.

She always loved that part.

Ren clapped her paws. "Fooled you!" she said happily.

"Yeah we fooled you!" Nia added almost simultaneously, before both foxes fell into a heartfelt, mischievous giggle.

"What?" Tara asked incredulously.

"Oh yeah, I forgot!" Ren exclaimed and flicked her paw.

A look of comprehension suddenly flashed over Tara's eyes and her look was involuntarily drawn to the wizard.

"Richard?" she asked.

"Tara?" came the reply with the same look in his eyes.

"You humans shouldn't just stick your greedy little fingers where it doesn't belong!" Nia told them with a smirk, a paw-finger raised.

"....especially not when it concerns ancient burial sites...." Ren added.

".....beeeeecause somebody may object to this...."

".....and decide to put you into a quirky illusionary tale...."

"....that sees your whole body and mind change...."

"....and is even more amusing if...."

"....the people who put you there don't actually know they did!" Nia concluded happily.

"What....What have you done, spirits?!" Tara shouted and ran over to the wizard, who looked at his body in utter disbelief, confusion and terror.

Ren scratched her head. "He was younger, wasn't he?"

"I think so?" Nia replied and a few colourful sparks on her tail saw the wizard's skin tighten, grey hair turn black and his overall age flowing back from the brink of death into healthy adulthood.

Tara just shook her head at the spirits "But....but.....why?"

"Because that face he made when I put my penis into him was priceless!" the red fox said.

"And when you tried to speak when your mandibles came in properly! That was so glorious!" Ren added.

"Yeah glorious!" Nia exclaimed.

"Glorious, indeed!" Ren concluded and exchanged a happy glance with her sister.

"We never intended....." Richard started.

"You are mages! You always "intent"! And to not make you forget that...." Nia started.

".....we decided to give you some mementos!" Ren concluded.

Sparks of colour shone in the air as both humans suddenly twitched. A motion that saw Tara's spine lengthen and grow into a shaggy, furry entity that swung on her ass and the wizard to clutch his chest as his hands overflowed with large mammalian tissue.

"Hey, why a dog's tail? I was proud of that insect part!" Nia complained.

"You never told me what kind of insect!" Ren replied. "And why the boobs?"

"Why not? I like boobs!"

"But aren't we supposed to make a statement with this?"

Nia shrugged.

Ren sighed. "Okay, it's not that anybody will mind, anyway!"

Nia regarded the humans with a mocking grin "So you little humans, it's time for us to go!"

"...we hope you learned your lesson......" Ren added.

"....whatever that may be....."

"....but so long, humans!"

"....And don't go into ancient burial sites....."

".....live long and prosper...."

"......adios......"

".....merci beaucoup......"

".....und beehren sie uns bald wieder!"

***

Tara blinked as the world came into focus again. Her spellbook was still resting securely in her arm while she was standing under a starry night-sky with a torch outstretched at what seemed like an ordinary rock with no sign of any entrance anywhere. Something on her bottom strained terribly and a quick pull at her undergarments saw a large fluffy tail escape its confines. "We should have been MUCH more careful." she said sourly as her hand investigated her new appendix.

"Yes we should have been." Richard said and gently probed the large rack that dented out his top. "How much gold do we have left for curse-removal, again?"