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This grimoire was bound by my hand specifically to accumulate all of the knowledge I have created in regards to Eromancy. To lose this would be to lose my very soul. For this reason, I have placed a failsafe upon its pages. Should anyone attempt to usurp ownership of this text from its rightful owner, the very elements of magic themselves will rise, take possession of these pages, and keep all the unworthy away, by any means necessary. Woe be it to anyone who wishes to pry my secrets away from me. The power of the elements shall fall upon you. Until you subdue nature itself, you shall no longer have access to my words.

-The Author: Written to anyone who attempts to cast a spell from this book without proper consent.

Gimmegee brushes her fingers over the words, written in a tongue she didn't recognize. Scrunching her nose, she makes a note to ask a sage in the next town. Until then, she won't let those words slow down her study of this impressive text..

The caravan the gnome had picked to ride to the Baroness's lands stops, and she looks up, pulling the hood back from the traveler's cloak the caravan guard had been so gracious to give her, cupping her ear for a listen to what caused the commotion.

Through the flaps of the cart, the gnome hears the all-too-familiar growl of her former companion, Slusk. "We want to take your cart. My misstress iss sickly. She needs rest.

"I'm just picking up all sorts of strangers today," the cart driver said. "Well, as long as your party has the coin, we have room for ya. You'll have to share your ride with a few other passengers, though."

The flap opens up, and the caravan driver sighs a pensive "Hm... weren't there a little lady among you lot?"

Gimmegee found herself a nice hiding space behind a crate, cupping her hand over her mouth to stifle the sound of her breathing. The saddened farm family sitting in there with her made sounds of acknowledgment and bewilderment, their patriarch adding. "She was readin' some book the whole time, but guess she got out."

"How do you miss one of your only fellow travelers?"

"Well, excuse me, but our farm was attacked by a monster. We wouldn't even be here if it weren't for a traveling knight. Excuse me for being a little inattentive to some halfling girl as I take care of my wife and daughter!"

The carriage creaks as more and more people enter into it. Gimmegee counts three sets of feet, yet when they sit down all over the cabin, one of the occupants places down another figure, laying on top of Gimmegee's box. The gnome's eyes widen when she sees the sleeping, quiet form of her former captor, the Lily Nymph.

"What's that you said about monsters and knights?" one of the voices, the gnoll, Adaeze, says. Gimmegee grits her teeth. It had only been a few hours since the charm spell the Lily Nymph had cast upon her had worn off. What is the Lily Nymph and her other Flowers doing here, taking caravan rides and talking to locals? Are they looking for their missing former Flower Sister?

She'll keep waiting. She'll keep listening. There's no use exposing herself now, as they could take her back into the fold easily, even with the Nymph asleep.

The farmer clears his throat and responds to the gnome. "Well, like I said, our farm was attacked by a monster. Ain't never seen anything like it before--pale skin and no face, with these sharp and terrible claws. When I came in from a long day's work, the farm was quiet, much too quiet for the evening. Even the animals stopped their noises."

"That usually means there's some kind of monster about, yes." Adaeze responds. "What else can you tell me about the creature?"

"Well, when I first entered my house, I had a look of fright as I saw my lovely wife, that's Bessie, right here."

"How'd you do," the matronly voice says.

"Nice to meet ya,' Adaeze responds.

"Well, I saw her there, right? But she ain't have no face! That's when I saw that... that thing, and it had her face. It hadn't torn it off, or else you wouldn't see here right here, you know?"

Slusk growls. "Face stealer."

"Just what I was thinking," Adaeze says. "Odd how you all survived that. They usually kill to take faces.

"Ah, well, you see..." the farmer says. "That's the really strange part, because... well, it had to do something else to take our faces and...

Bessie sniffles at that. "I'm sorry. I'm so Sorry, Carl!"

"There, there, Bessie girl. Ain't your fault."

"He just looked so cute, is all, and then he took both me and our ,and he was a tender lover!"

"Well, that's new," Adaeze says, tapping her boot a few times.

"More and more monsters have been... lustful recently," Slusk growls. "It's the curse of the forest. The taint that created the same monsters we faced earlier. It's what my lover was fighting off before you so rudely took her from me."

"Hey, hey, the Lily Nymph is fine, ain't she? I get paid if she gets brought in alive."

"T... that thing?" Anna pipes up. "That thing is a..."

"She's a fairy, yes, lass!" comes the boisterous voice of one of the newly-inducted Flowers. Gimmegee hadn't caught her name back when she was first brought into the fold. But if she is here, then does that mean the other one...?

A slight groan comes from among the new arrivals, and the gnoll yelps. "D... damn, this girl is burning up!"

The weak voice comes nearly inaudible from Gimmegee's hiding spot.

"W... where am I?"

"You've got a fever," Adaeze says. "Just relax, we're getting you to town soon.

"To...?" She stirs. "No... No, I can't go. Where's the Lily Nymph?"

"H... hey, calm down. Damn, girl, stop squirming. You're !"

"No, the nymph!" the girl screams, crawling madly over. She climbs on top of the Lily Nymph's prone form, her eyes bloodshot, red, and wild as she shakes the sleeping fairy by her shoulders. "You don't understand. I... I..." She freezes, her eyes locking onto Gimmegee, and then down to the book she holds.

"O... oh no..." the girl whispers.

Tik Tik looks over every item in her newly re-acquired traveler's pack. Everything is where it should be--everything except for her book. The kobold snarls, her arms shaking as she digs her claws into her backpack, her eyes turning into feral slits as she imagines the gnome that had her book last--Gimmegee, the Flower of the Lily Nymph she had lost track of when the Flowers were attacked by some foul monsters.

Her focus on her fury disappears when her current companion, Kera, steps out from the foliage, dressed in a once-white habit, her feline ears poking out and her body smelling of wet fur. In her hands. It takes Tik TIk a moment to even believe that this is the same person as the catfolk that had so exposed herself only a few hours ago.

Kera holds a mask that shows a smiling feline face, painted by a master's hand and looking very much like a happier version of her own.

"Something bothering Kera?" Tik Tik asks. "You got stuff back. Missing something like Tik Tik?"

The former Flower takes a deep breath and then throws the mask down to the ground at Tik Tik's feet. "Like you, I suppose I'm missing the most important thing about myself," she says. "But unlike you, I can never get it back. "There's no way the convent will ever accept me now that I've so... dirtied myself with the taint of the Love-" She freezes, shuddering. "Oh, great Klaudus... I have betrayed you for... for that monster!" She falls to her knees, covering her white face with her paws, shuddering in her lament.

"Tik Tik doesn't understand," the kobold says, hopping off from her seat and slinging her backpack over her shoulder.

"There's no way you ever could!" Kera snaps, pulling her hands from her face. The red around her eyes shows that her tears have been coming for some time now. "You're a debauched soul--one who doesn't care at all about fidelity. I could tell you weren't engaged to that... that gnoll. I could tell you were nothing but a peddler of smut!"

Tik Tik places her hand upon the crying feline's head and says. "H-hey, Tik Tik doesn't understand how Kera feel. Tik Tik feel bad too, though. Knows how that feels. Can't have your missing thing back, but knows life isn't over."

Kera snarls and swipes away at the kobold. "Don't you get it!? My life is! I'm a shell of what I used to be! No longer Kera the bride of Klaudus, no longer slave to the Lily Nymph. What in the burning Inferno can I possibly be?"

"Can be friends with Tik Tik," the kobold says. "Tik Tik and friend did great things. Save Flowers."

The former Flower closes her eyes. "Do you think I'm some charity case, Tik Tik? Do you think I'm deserving of your pity?"

The kobold stands at eye level to the lamenting catfolk, her hand reaching up and patting the woman's shoulder. "Tik Tik think Kera beautiful. She is not bad for what she did. Tik Tik like your show. Wanted see more while not being held captive."

Kera hisses and pulls her shoulder back. "So, you're wanting to help me for selfish reasons, then? I should have known. Why would anyone out here seek to help me just for my benefit?"

"And is that what Kera do?" Tik Tik says, hands on her hips. "Not helping Tik Tik other than just help. Not expecting reward, is Kera?"

Kera looks away at that and covers her face with one hand. "No, it's... I'm... I don't know what I want, anymore."

"Perhaps, Tik Tik can help," she says, stepping closer to her.

"No, that would... that wouldn't work." Kera says, slinking away and standing back up. "I can't harm myself, not like that again. Tik Tik, let us just make our way to our old camp. There, we can figure out our next move. She then steps beyond Tik Tik, saying, "We must make haste. There is no telling what happened to any of the other former Flowers after those monsters attacked."

Tik Tik shudders, remembering the beasts. Large, muscled creatures with skeletal heads, yet female. If they weren't so terrifying, Tik Tik might want to find out more about them. They were on a mission for something or someone. "What were those monsters?" Tik Tik asks.

Kera looks over her shoulder a moment, regarding Tik Tik, and shrugs. "I'm not sure. I knew that the Lily Nymph was in a sort of dispute with some other power from beyond the forest, something that wanted to take over with its fell beasts."

"That worries Tik Tik. What if finds book?"

"Yeah, 'what if,' indeed? That's why we must make haste and find it before it gets into the wrong hands."

"Do you think Tik Tik's hands are right, then?"

Kera shakes her head. "No, but you're a weaker being, certainly not a threat to anyone. You aren't the right hands, you're the lesser of two evils."

"What makes Tik Tik evil?" Tik Tik asks, following the feline as she's led through the forest.

"Well, for starters, your race tends to skew in that direction, all things considered.

Tik Tik blinks at that, tilting her head. "Whole race be evil? Strange for Tik Tik to hear. Evil for Tik Tik's people is outsiders come to attack home, steal eggs, hurt dragon."

Kera rolls her eyes, "Of course, a generally evil race would have a backwards way of looking at the wheel of morality. Let's see here... think of it this way: Your people set up traps to capture and kill anyone who comes into your presence, correct?"

"Yes."

"Now, do you ever try just warning people away from your lands?"

Tik Tik frowns at that. "But how will we get treasure?"

"Do you really wish to just loot treasures from people--to steal things that don't belong to you?"

"They do belong to us when we take," Tik Tik asks.

Kera swirls around and leans in, her lips quivering in her frustration. "Has it never come to your consideration that someone taking something that isn't yours is an evil thing? What about what happened to me? Was it good that the Lily Nymph took away my purity? When she stole my chances of being a good, chaste wife?"

Tik Tik growls at the feline's words, and Kera actually backs up just a bit at that. That's when Tik Tik practically climbs on top of her, gripping onto her habit and staring her down. "Tik Tik was trap builder. Tik Tik build trap to protect home. Invaders come all the time. They kill, they steal. Does Kera want Tik Tik to let them take? Does Kera not care about lives of kobold hatchlings? What kobold ever do to Kera? Except rescue her from trap of Lily Nymph?"

Kera shoves the kobold away, dusting off her habit and stumbling a few steps away from Tik Tik. "Kobold have done plenty. Maybe, just maybe, you're the exception, and your people aren't as bad as other kobolds, but they follow the paths of some of the most destructive creatures on the planet. Dragonkind has kidnapped maidens and burned down villages, all because they see themselves superior. Tell me, Tik Tik: How are you compared to the other races? What exactly are you doing with that book of yours? Are you seeking the free exchange of information, or are you simply watching other beings fuck, as if they were animals beneath you?"

Tik Tik narrows her gaze, snorting and folding her arms over her chest. "Kera is ignoring the point. Throwing mean words at Tik Tik and her people. Tik Tik only trying to help. Only trying to help Kera see the truth."

"What truth?" Kera says. "That everything I know is a lie? No, thank you on that one."

Truth is Lily Nymph didn't steal from Kera, but help her out."

"I don't believe this..." the feline growls, walking off towards the cave.

Tik Tik, stumbling behind her, pipes up, "Lily Nymph may be went far, but show Kera she can be happy!"

Kera shakes her head when she hears Tik Tik's suggestion. "Do you not understand the concept of inhibition?" The frown on her face genuine as she looks down at the little kobold. "We are not beasts, Tik Tik. Our ability to reason is the main force that keeps us from devolving into the animals that we once were." She looks off, away, staring off into the natural world before her. "Simple cats will follow their instincts. They will do what they want with no regards to what their actions will do for others." Her tail curls around her body, swishing up and down along her thigh. She moves her hand down, wrapping her fingers delicately around it. "My order, the convent I was a part of, we understood what it meant to be truly enlightened. There are many things out there that will destroy what society we have built up." She closes her eyes, pushing her tail back behind her, taking in a deep breath as she finishes her thought.

"But what if things were built up to hurt you, not help?" Tik Tik asks.

This time, when Kera stops, Tik Tik bumps into her leg. She rubs her snout and grumbles. "No words say?" Tik Tik says.

Kera presses her tail against Tik Tik's mouth to shush her, saying "We're here."

Just like they had left it the other night, their cave camp sits lonely with no signs of current life. Kera kneels down where the elf Valana had made her desperate final stand against the beast. "They've moved on," Kera says.

"What happen them?" Tik Tik asks, peering over her shoulder.

"No real way to tell," she says, standing back up "except that I spot Gimmegee's tracks. She's the one most likely to have your book. They're going off along the road."

"Where to?"

"Seems they're heading over towards the Baroness's lands.

Tik Tik skips up alongside her. "Ha, that's where Adaeze is heading! They might even meet up!"

"She'd no doubt be inside Bergburg right now," Kera begins, though her tail rubs up against a broken branch beside her. "That's only if she wasn't followed."

"O... oh no..." Tik Tik whispers. "You don't think...?"

"We have to keep moving. For the time being, it seems my purpose is to join you on your quest. Who knows, perhaps I can redeem myself through a great sacrifice and end this suffering life." With that grim proclamation, Kera runs off, with Tik Tik following her close behind, traveling head-first in potential danger.

"How long do you think this trip will take?" Tik Tik asks as she catches up to Kera.

"Even if Gimmegee took a stop along the way, it's likely we will be traveling more than a day's walk. We'll have to break for camp soon, as those monsters could be anywhere."

"Monsters could find Gimmegee. They could find book!" Tik Tik gasps, running along ahead.

The feline grabs her by the tail and pulls her back with a great yank. "And what in the everburning flame do you think you're doing? You can't just rush ahead on your own. I thought you kobolds were a highly tactical bunch. Then again, you are rather strange for a kobold, are you not?"

"Tik Tik not strange," she says, yanking her tail back from her. "Tik Tik is different."

"And you don't think you're strange? Tell me, why is it that you're out here in the wilds, instead of with your people?"

"Queen gave Tik Tik a job to do, and Tik Tik is doing that job."

"Hm... strange," Kera remarks. "Don't think that, perhaps, the evildoers among your kind saw you as a weak-point? What use could they possibly have for someone who wants to fuck a," she shudders. "Gnoll."

"Kera want fuck Adaeze!" Tik Tik snaps back.

"No! In that state addled by the Lily Nymph, my primary concern was reaching orgasm by any means necessary, completely going against the tenants of my faith. The fact your friend had an impressive girlcock was just a bonus towards reaching that goal. I'm sure you'll understand that I am not entirely interested in those sorts of horrible things."

"You keep bringing it up. Saying how much you hate. But does Kera think Kera likes things, but doesn't want to admit it?"

Kera spins around, grabbing Tik TIk from under her arms and lifts her up, pushing the kobold up against a tree. "You want to make camp now and show me wonders I've never experienced before? Is that it?"

Tik Tik yelps from the impact, but she smirks. "Tik Tik could get you to shut up."

Kera glances over her face for a bit, her growl rising up from within her chest at that comment, but she sighs and dumps the kobold back down onto the foliage. "We still have plenty of ground to cover. If you really wish to waste time proving your point, that is up to you. But the longer we waste our time, the longer we don't have that book back."

"The longer Kera grumbles about Kera's sex drive, the longer Kera will harm her own happiness."

Kera shakes her head. "I've already tried experimentation. It didn't end very well for me."

"Ah, yes, but Wizards experiment carefully!" Tik Tik says, picking herself up. "Just keep that in mind!"

Kera pouts and plops the kobold down, looking at her with a newfound consideration. "What do you know about me and my kind?" She asks. "Do you not know that I must make myself like a good wife to my god when the time comes?"

Tik Tik shrugs. "Tik Tik no know about that, but Tik Tik know malebold who learned to like what Tik Tik had to offer. Besides, Tik Tik wizard. Tik Tik want learn. Tik Tik want teach. Kera just yell at Tik Tik so far, and never really listen."

Kera's tail swishes back and forth as she bites her lip. "I suppose, it can't hurt too much to let you explain yourself. Follow me. There should be a hollow only about a few miles out."

The two women travel once more, this time, though, there isn't much in the way of conversation. As they travel, Tik Tik notes that the foliage that once was so green and alive has become gray, brown, and dead. They find Kera's hollow, and the catfolk ushers Tik Tik inside, snuggling up in the cozy hidey-hole.

"So," Kera says, laying on her side, supporting her head with her hands, "what is it that Tik Tik wants to teach me?"

Tik Tik just scoots up to Kera, wrapping her arms around the feline's body and says. "Touching not bad. Hugs good, sleep good."

"I... I've hugged, but mostly in my youth," Kera admits. Before I knew what it could lead to."

"Hugs aren't bad," Tik Tik says, scooting up in their cramped space and opening her arms up.

"It's a slippery slope, Tik Tik," Kera responds, shivering. "First you hug, then you hold, then you lean in and place a kiss..."

"No need for that!" Tik Tik yips. "Though, Tik Tik wouldn't mind. We can't get too distracted, right? Time and place for everything."

Kera sighs and nods. "Yes, I suppose you're right..." but as she wraps her arms around Tik Tik's body with a shaking clasp, she sees something on the wall. Carved in the dead wood is a little note that says "Gimmegee was here,"

"Seems like we're on the right path, at least," The feline says, before sighing and closing her eyes.

Gimmegee rushes through the forest, bare gnome feet hopping along roots and stones with a practiced ease. Constantly, she looks over her shoulder to see if the horror had found her once again. Since the caravan was attacked, She had been marking her journey through her resting places, placing her name inside that last tree she rested in. Soon, she finds another hollow to hide behind and squirms her way inside. She brings the stolen tome to her bare chest, gulping down air in her attempt to catch her breath. Her heart freezes when she hears the crunching of dead leaves behind her.

"Where are you, little gnome...?" the voice, layered, echoing, from a sultry woman, to a playful child, and a deep and foreboding growl. "That book is not for the likes of you. Let me take it from you, and I'll show you all sorts of wondrous things."

The scent of sulfur burns up Gimmegee's nose as the tree around her cracks and burns. "Come on out, little Gnome... little flower. Let me have that book, and you may yet live..."

Gimmegee opens the book up to the spell section. Her finger shaking, she finds the words that is necessary for the nondetection spell, and through a trembling voice, she mutters them.

Tik Tik's and Kera's travels see them braving the wilderness, but Kera's time as a Flower allows the feline to traverse with a grace that Tik Tik cannot hope to follow. The poor kobold trips and stumbles, leaving her trailing behind her newfound companion.

Kera keeps her pace fast and purposeful. They had lost so much time last night laying in that hollow, and the time they spent together there did not give the feline the best feeling. Pawpads brushed over the cloth of Tik TIk's shirt, yet her hands had slipped down further than she had initially anticipated. The little wizard, despite her differing anatomy, is quite cute. Dangerously so. The sooner she can get rid of her, the better.

"W-wait up!" the kobold shouts. "How Kera help Tik Tik if she too far ahead!"

"Do you hear that!?" Kera says, her ears falling straight back. "We're not alone."

Tik Tik sniffs the air, a whiff of something strange, unfamiliar, earthy, passes through her nostrils. "What that...?"

Kera hisses and leaps forward into the thickest of bushes, leaving Tik Tik alone in the forested path.

Tik Tik yips and runs forward after Kera, but some of the foliage the feline passed through whips back, smacking the kobold in the face, sending her back in a dazed confusion.

Meanwhile, Kera rushes forward and finds the source of the disturbance. The scent of fresh dirt only becomes stronger as she gets closer, and something else hits her nostrils as well--the burning rot of sulfur. Her ears perk up as she hears a loud crash, followed by a scream.

"Gimmegee?" she mewls, but shakes her head and burst forward, her habit catching on the thickets and brambles, making little tears as she passes through.

Kera recognizes the arena--it's the home of another tree hollow the Flowers often use, but it has been transformed into a dirty, clumpy mess by a large, hulking creature seemingly made entirely out of the soil itself. It wraps its arms around some figure, huddled over it, keeping the struggling creature down in its grasp. Kera can't see it clearly yet, but a stinging scent comes wafting up from the wrestling match in between the two of them, making her happy she can't see whatever manner of monster that must be underneath.

And beyond the battle, with her back to the dead tree hollow, eyes wide and body trembling, is Gimmegee. Her gaze snaps over towards the feline, and she screams. "Kera... Run!"

The beast underneath the earth creature shifts, and from that movement, Kera finally locks eyes with it.

Yellow eyes. It has yellow eyes that glow like the fiery pit itself. Horns protrude from its skull, curling up and poking into the earthen creature on top of it. It's mouth opens wide and it shows off a razor field of teeth

It's nude, with a slight body with small breasts and even freckles over her skin. Her arms and legs end in sick, charred, and armored claws. Underneath the demonic additions to this creature's form, Kerra recognizes her, or the girl she had once been. She had seen this girl before, back when the Lily Nymph had collected the poor, pathetic waif.

"Kera," the demon growls, her voice triple layered, a scared little girl, an angry growl, and a sultry woman. "So nice to see you again...!"

Suddenly, dark energy surrounds the girl, creating an aura of power that engulfs the earth creature in the halo of darkness before chunks of rock and soil breaks apart into tiny particles, showering both Kera and Gimmegee.

Suddenly, the girl is upon Kera, her naked body pressed up against Kera's cloistered form. A clawed finger strokes up and down along the feline's body as she stares up at her with narrowed eyes and a slight smile. "This is your fate," she says, her growl more like a purr. "Just like you told me. Remember, Kera? If I didn't get my demon under control? It feels so good, Kera... you should join me."

Kera's lip quivers. The warmth, the acceptance, it's all the same as before. She closes her eyes though, pushing the demon away, her claws digging into flesh.

The demon stumbles back, tears in her flesh where the claws dug in, black ichor seeping out from it. She stands hunched over, chuckling low. "Your claws cut deep. You want to hurt me. You want me to experience pain, or do you wish to give it?" She tilts her head up, her pupils just tiny slits now, her head tilted in manic glee. "Let's see, then, shall we? Let's give each other such beautiful pain!"

The demon leaps forward, spinning around, a spade-tipped tail slashing at Kera. But the feline hops back, the slash only tearing at her habit. The feline grabs the appendage and yanks it back, throwing the demon down into the ground. She then hisses, leaping down toward her.

But the demon rolls out of the way, getting onto her knees, licking her lips with an elongated tongue. "That's right. Remember who you really are. Remember the thrill!" She follows this up by pouncing on the feline, pinning her down into the loose earth, her claws wrapping around Kera's throat, screaming a horrendous cacophony of a dying horse and a child experiencing true fear.

Kera's eyes roll back. Maybe this is what she deserves after what she did to this girl?

The earth around them shifts and stirs, and from behind the demon, the earth creature rises once again. It reaches out with a giant hand and grabs the demon by the head, tearing her from Kera.

The demon thrashes around, clawing at the earth creature, trying to break free, but it envelopes her once more, this time wrapping its whole body around her and crashing into the earth, until there is just a quivering pile of dirt.

Kera stares at the mound as more and more dirt rises up from the ground around them, piling more and more of itself on top of the demon.

"What are you doing!?" Gimmegee shouts, peeking out from around the mound. "Move! Now!"

Kera picks herself up and scoops the gnome, running away from the scene of the fight as quick as she can. "You have a lot of explaining to do!" Kera says. "First thing is where in the blazing inferno is Tik Tik's book!"

"Tik... the kobold? That earth monster IS her book."

"What!?"

"It's a long story."

"What about the rest of Tik Tik's friends. They took that girl with them in their caravan."

"I have no idea what happened to them!" Gimmegee yelps. "As far as I know, that demon could have torn all of them apart."

Kera stops and lifts the gnome from under her arms, staring her in the eyes. "We can't tell Tik Tik about this. You understand? We can't tell anyone about this."

"Oh, why, because you're the one who brought that girl to the Lover? Imagine if she went like that back when we-"

Kera growls. "No more of that. We need to get back."

Tik Tik groans, rubbing her head after her dizzying spill. But she quickly sits up and spins around, whimpering when she cannot see her new friend. She picks one of the directions and bounds off there, passing through deep foliage. What matter of creature had Kera spotted? Tik Tik hears nothing, except-yes, up ahead, a struggle, and flowing water?

Thunder rolls overhead as droplets of rain fall through branches and onto Tik Tik's snout. The background of the stormy forest sets the stage for a bizarre encounter in front of her. There, standing atop a broken down carriage on a dirt path, is a strange creature. An insect, standing on two legs. Its form is only slightly taller than Tik Tik's, and its body encased in a bright blue shell. Two antenna stick out from the top of its head, flowing and flapping in the windy storm, and its long spindly arms end in tiny three-clawed hands. Large compound eyes stare downwards as its mandibles clack as a toothy mouth grins confidently towards the origin of the damp smell Tik Tik had encountered.

Below the bug swirls a whirlpool. It surrounds the carriage, turning the ground it rests upon into sticky mud. Tik Tik pauses as she sees the scene before her, not quite sure what to make of the whole ordeal.

The bug looks up, its eyes catching onto Tik Tik's. It buzzes with a guttural voice as its mandibles click and its antennate twitch. "What are you doing here!? I told everyone to leave!"

The water shoots up from the pool into a dart of pressure heading straight towards Tik Tik. The bug leaps from its perch, kicking downward and colliding with the shot. The pressure of the water sends it flying forward, rolling on the ground in front of Tik Tik's feet. Groaning, the bug turns its head towards her. "W... wait... you weren't with the others. Where did you come fro-"

"Look out!" Tik Tik shouts, stepping forward and holding her hand out. A shield of energy forms in front of them as waters shoots out form the pool in heavy quantities, splashing all around it, but forming a pool at Tik Tik's feet.

It takes on a semisolid form, standing as tall as a human. All hints of dirt and mud slide down off of it as it flushes the waters of its form, leaving only a clear figure standing before them. Tik Tik grits her teeth at the sight of this faceless creature and says. "Explain... quick!"

The bug hops beside her, putting up its hands in a defensive stance. "That's some sort of water spirit. It took me by surprise when I was..." he pauses, thinking of the words to say "Minding my own business. It attacked a broken caravan of travelers heading off to the Baroness's place, and I promised to hold it off for them. I've been at this awhile, so I'm a little tired."

The creature taps at the forcefield in front of it a moment, curious at its properties.

"Name's Cynwrig, by the way. Adventurer and hero, especially for damsels in distress."

Tik Tik nods. "Tik Tik. Wizard. Lost her spellbook."

'Oh, you're Tik Tik?" he asks. "Well, then, my favor continues. Lower the shield."

"W... what!?"

"Just do it!"

Tik Tik swipes her hands downward, and Cynwrig opens up his back shell, showing off his clear wings. He flies forward, jabbing his fists forward with a series of battle cries, his strikes hitting the water over and over.

The water creature stumbles back from his barrage, and Tik Tik thinks about the spells she has left to help Cynwrig out. Every spell she planned was specifically for the Lily Nymph. If she had her book, she'd most certainly have something to face against this water creature. Right now, though, she's nothing but a kobold.

The thunder rumbles again, announcing the coming rain. It pours downwards, and Cynwrig finds himself falling closer to the ground, yet continuing his barrage. As the rain continues, it ripples on the water creature's body, and the steps it takes back become fewer and fewer.

Tik Tik gasps and shouts. "Cynwrig! It's getting stronger!"

Cynwrig looks over his shoulder, his attacks not abating, but the water creature does not back up anymore, and Cynwrig soon bumps right into it. That's when the water splashes down onto him, becoming a sphere of liquid surrounding the bug's body.

Cynwrig's mandibles clack in his distress, and his appendages scurry around in an attempt to free himself from the clutches of the creature's grasp.

Tik Tik grips her horns and watches in dismay as this gentlebug hero is engulfed. She looks around for any sort of help, but finds none in the rain. So much water all over the place, she's never been in a storm this bad before, only heard the pouring sounds that come up from above, barraging the tunnels of her home, sending floodwaters down like a mighty river through the trap-laden corridors.

Wait... flooding? Could that be it? Tik Tik closes her eyes, claps her hands together, and concentrates.

Tendrils summoned from the beyond rise up, scooping the dirt around the water creature. Rainwater begins to fill up the moat Tik Tik makes, but also the water creature slips back,falling into the makeshift well.

Cynwrig reaches up, grabbing onto a branch and gasps for air in the torrential downpour as the water creature drains down into the tunnels.

The quick summer storm stops as the water being drains down into the now muddy pit, and the beetle boy climbs himself over the edge, trying to shake off the residual water off of him. It's from that leftover liquid that the being reforms itself, wrapping its now small arms and legs around the beetle. He gasps, clawing, but his small fingers splash right through the liquid body. Water trails up to his face, covering the lower half in a drowning hold. He struggles, kicking, squirming, but to no avail.

Tik Tik hops on top of him, her desperate form crashing into the watery creature's. She opens her mouth wide, unleashing a battle screech before chomping down onto the liquid creature, taking in a nice chunk of its fluid form.

She gulps down a large gulp of water and swallows, turning to the bug and shouting "Drink!"

Listening to her, he begins to swallow, bit by bit, the water creature. It shudders and tries to pull away, crawling along the ground away from Tik Tik before the little kobold is able to spring into action, scooping her hands over the thing's body, shoving handfuls of water into her mouth and throat. Soon enough, there's only so much left of the creature that it squeaks and disappears into the porous earth, leaving the kobold and the bug alone and satisfied.

Sputtering, the beetle boy flicks the water off of his wings, grimacing and scooting away from where it lands, fearing the creation of new elementals in the wake. He looks over the edge to the drain that Tik Tik created. He nods and stands himself up and extends a hand to her. "Thank you very much, Tik Tik. That was some grade-A teamwork."

Tik Tik smiles and grasps the beetle hero's hand, shaking it. "Nice make new friends, but you know Tik Tik?"

Cynwrig nods, clacking his mandibles together. "Sure do! The party I helped rescue told me to let you know they were safe, well, safe from the water creature, at least. The gnoll did say she was sorry she probably won't be able to meet up with you, though."

Tik Tik frowns. "Why wouldn't Tik Tik be able to see Adaeze?"

Cynwrig shrugs. "Beats me."

"I know," Kera says, emerging from the underbrush. Her habit is ripped and dusty, but that's not what Tik Tik is looking at.

Snarling, the kobold launches herself at the little half-naked gnome dragged along by the feline. The two tumble back, falling into Tik Tik's drain. The two splash around in the mud, scratching and biting, punching and kicking.

"Cut it out, you two!" Kera shouts, wading into the mud and picking them both up, Gimmegee by the hair and Tik Tik by the horn. Both of the little ladies swing at each other, causing the catgirl to fall in.

Cynwrig walks up to the edge of the hole, clacking his mandibles together as he watches as the feline frantically grabs at the two, only for their muddy bodies to slip free from her grasp, splashing mud into her once-white face.

Trying to wipe the mud from her eyes, Kera is distracted as the two get back to their wrestling match. Caked in mud and with their foreheads pressed against each other, both of the short girls growl as they fight for dominance. "Where is Tik Tik's book!?" Tik Tik snarls.

"Maybe if you wouldn't attack me, I'd tell you!"

"Then you give up." Tik Tik snaps.

"And let you jump me again!?"

"Ladies, wait, please don't..." Cynwrig says, lazily holding his hand out.

Tik Tik wraps her arms around Gimmegee's neck and falls back, knocking the two into the muddy ground, rolling over like a crocodile on top of the gnome.

Gimmegee, meanwhile, spits, catching Tik TIk in the eye. Tik Tik's recoil gives her a chance to push her up and stumble to her feet in that little pit.

Kera wipes the mud from her eyes finally, roaring out in her feline fury. She tackles both girls up against the muddy wall and shouts. "If you two are done acting like barbaric men, we need to talk about this mess, now!"

Gimmegee struggles a moment in Kera's grasp, but finally stops, looking over to Tik Tik "She started it," she grumbles.

"You took Tik Tik's book!" Tik Tik snaps back.

"I was under the influence of the Lily Nymph!"

"Bring book back?" Tik Tik says.

"Well, I wanted to give it a look over myself, first..." Gimmegee mutters. "I'm a quick reader. I even made some notes, myself. It's all quite fascinating."

"It not yours!" Tik Tik kicks. Kera lets go of the gnome to wrap both arms around the kobold, Tik Tik's claws doing their damage against the catgirl's clothing, but even so, she keeps holding tight.

"It's not yours either, you stupid girl." Gimmegee snaps. "That's a powerful grimoire written by some mighty wizard. It isn't some toy for your personal pleasure. Obviously, it belongs in a university, where real academics can study it."

"Tik Tik is a wizard!"

"Oh yes," Gimmegee continues. "Anyone can find a spellbook and read the spells, but are you really a wizard? I doubt it. You didn't even notice the security measures that were on it."

"S... security measures?" Tik Tik asks, her struggles becoming less and less pronounced, until she finally rests in Kera's arms. At this point, the feline drops her and stands up, holding her muddy and destroyed habit with a frustrated sigh.

"Yes, Gimmegee says." Luckily, I was able to activate it and stop someone else from taking it. A right nasty beast she was, too. Like some sort of demon or something. So, I activated the spell, and it kept the book out of her grasp."

"Buuut..." Kera says, placing her hand on the muddy wall.

"Buut..." Gimmegee adds, "it split the book into four elemental beings., and they sort of rampaged..."

"The Earth Elemental had Gimmegee pinned down. I heard her cries and investigated," Kera says.

Gimmegee glances over towards Kera.

"And I suppose our friend in the mud pit was the water elemental?" Cynwrig says, shaking his head. "Guess that means my mission isn't over."

"And why Tik Tik won't meet up with Adaeze," Tik Tik says. "Tik Tik has to do what to get book back?"

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Gimmegee says. "There's some demon after your book. A flippin' demon! You think you should be holding that thing right now?"

Tik Tik nods. "It's Tik Tik's book. Tik Tik won't be able to help tribe, won't be able to learn, without her book."

"Well, if you really want to get your book back AND get a demon on your tail, then, what you have to do is subdue each of the elementals.

Tik Tik looks around. "Water subdued?"

"It would appear so..." Kera says, walking carefully up along the ditch, though the muddy ground makes her paws slip every so often. "And I took care of the earth elemental."

"It was a sight to behold. You still kick ass, even without the Lily Nymph's magic," Gimmegee says.

Kera glances to Gimmegee this time, an annoyed growl rising from her throat. "Slusk taught me," Kera says, keeping her eyes forward as she marches up, soon making it to the top.

"So, where to next?" Tik Tik says. "Where is other two?"

"Well," Cynwrig says, pointing up to the tree line. "I think I know where the fire elemental is!"

Smoke rises, a black mass of charred fumes.

"Looks dangerous," Tik Tik says, staring at the smoke that billows up from the forest in front of them. "How will Tik Tik get through there to get book back?"

Cynwrig stands up beside her, placing a hand upon her shoulder and giving her a 'thumbs up. "No need to worry, Tik Tik. It'll be an honor for a heroic fellow like myself to help you out!"

Kera sighs and walks up behind Tik Tik. "I suppose this is just my life now, isn't it? Well, I've lived in this forest long enough to know that there are plenty of creatures who don't deserve to be burned living here."

"And of course, I'm going to need to follow up on this," Gimmegee responds. "After all, this is sort of my fault. Also, I really want that book, as well."

"Well," Tik Tik says, nodding to each in turn. "Tik Tik supposes a party of adventure will work. Let's go!" She says this, charging forward into the shrubbery and the darkness beyond.

"And, there she goes, "Kera says. "We'd better catch up. There's no telling what trouble she'll get herself into."

"Agreed," Cynwrig says. "Off to aid the Lady Tik!" He thrusts a fist into the air and rushing into the conflagration himself.

A massive draft of hot wind blows him back, sending him tumbling right into Gimmegee. The gnome squeaks as the bug boy collides right up against her half-naked frame.

Kera's ears flicker as she turns her attention to the smoke swirling in front of both of them. "You said there were four elementals, right?"

"That's right!" Gimmegee shouts, laying on the ground, trying to push Cynwrig up off of her.

Cynwrig mumbles something with his face squished up against her chest, but with the gnome's help, he's lifted enough to see what Kera sees. "Oh. There it is!"

The air tiptoes around them in a ring, taking the smoke from the fire and throwing it around like a ribbon dancer.

"The elements are working together, it seems," Gimmegee says, scrambling to her feet.

"Then, perhaps," Kera begins, "It's time for us to do the same." She extends her claws and spreads her legs. She pounces towards the thin humanoid form, but it swirls around her, spinning around, and smacking her with heated air right on the ass!

Cynwrig hops up into the air, spreading his wings and rushing forward with his fists cocked for action. But the elemental leaps up, spinning its body, the trail of heavy smoke twirling around its ethereal form a few times before it flings the streak down, smacking Cynwrig with the heat.

"Oh, come on!" Gimmegee says. "What are you doing!? It's an air elemental. You think you can fly in front of it. And you-!" she shouts to Kera. "Your fighting style does not work with your restrictive clothing. Take it off!"

"Bu... but my flying flurry attack!?" Cynwrig gasps, pushing himself up.

"And expose myself!?" Kera says. "You said I still had it, and I was wearing this! Why don't you help us"

"Quit being a baby!." Gimmegee growls. "Besides, the hell am I going to do against this thing, but tell you what you can do to fight it!" Gimmegee steps back as the elemental turns towards her. "Fight together, fight on the ground, take off you- aag!" Her eyes widen and she grabs her throat, falling to her knees.

The elemental faces her, the smoke and dust from the area around Gimmegee pulls away from the gnome and spin around the elemental. The gnome croaks, trying to breathe, yet the air around her quickly disappears.

"Gimmegee!" Kera shouts, scrambling onto her knees. She looks down to her tattered rags and frowns, tugging at them. "I... it's not..."

Cynwrig stands up to his feet, clacking his mandibles. "I don't care if I can't use my best moves!" he shouts. "I won't let you harm my new friends. Haaaaaa!" He runs right towards the elemental, unleashing a dizzying, yet off-balance flurry of attacks.

The smoke ribbon twirls in front of it, swinging in a figure eight and catching each of his punches with a timed and practiced grace.

Gimmegee's bulging eyes and gritted teeth turn toward Kera, who stares wide-eyed back at the gnome. The feline then turns to Cynwrig, who pants as he punches, the attacks slowing down, his legs wavering.

Growling, Kera stands up and tugs her habit over her head, getting herself stuck a moment in the ripped up thing before she finally pulls it completely up and over herself.

She had discarded the 'clothing' the Lily Nymph provided her, which left her without a stitch on, showing off her white fur, dotted with the dirt of the road from the tears in her outfit, leaving a pattern that marked her as the unclean being she felt herself as. "Hey, you!" she shouts, baring her teeth.

The elemental looks over towards her, not slowing down its defense against Cynwrig, but as Kera jumps at it, it lifts the arm sucking the air from Gimmegee and hammers all that extra air down onto Kera.

But the feline swiftly dodges the attack, spinning around herself, tiptoeing over the foliage and rocks, and she dips herself down, only to rise up, her claws extended, performing a swooping uppercut at it.

The elemental backs off, raising its smoke to send Kera spinning back, but because of that, it lets up from Cynwrig.

Inspired by Kera's bravery, Cynwrig lets a new burst of energy take over for him, and he pounds the air with great speed. So fast are his punches, that the air that comprises the elemental pushes back and mixes with the smoke and the ash from the growing wildfire, until, eventually, it disappears completely.

Cynwrig slumps forward, panting heavily, but giving Gimmegee a thumbs-up.

The gnome takes large gulping breaths and then finally shouts up. "We have to get to Tik Tik. If it's this bad around here...!

Kera's ears pin back and she shouts back to them, "Grab my outfit!" before she darts off in the direction that Tik Tik traveled. But, as she makes her way through, a large tree, covered in flames, topples over, falling just in front of her.

"Klaudus, forgive me..." Kera says. "I'm too late."

Cynwrig takes a big breath, puffing out his cheeks as he raises himself up. He narrows his eyes as he scans through the smoke-choked forest, before he quickly mumbles, pointing and zipping off in a path he discovered.

The heat rises as Tik Tik gets closer to the center of the smoke, and soon, the bright orange of flames douses the forest in its eerie glow. The kobold wizard coughs, but her generally short stature allows her to go deeper. Soon, she finds fire itself dancing among the flames. It stops, coalescing into a humanoid shape. The tall, lean figure is made up of tongues of flame, but keeps it featureless face staring down at the kobold.

Tik Tik gulps and holds her hands out in front of her, focusing her magical power towards the elemental. "I am Tik Tik!" she speaks in draconic, her eyes tearing up as the smoke gets heavier. "I am the owner of the book. I have written my words into it. You are a part of of it. You should listen to me!"

The flame creature takes slow steps towards her, singeing what dried flora is left in its wake. The heat only getting worse as it stands in front of her.

"Listen to me!" She shouts. "I don't want to hurt you! I... I love the knowledge that is within. It has opened my eyes to new possibilities. It has shown me truths I never would have had stuck underground, building traps all the days of my life. Please... come back to me, and let us continue our adventures and learn so many new things together!"

The fiery figure flickers before her, yet doesn't move forward. The heat is so intense, her leg wobbles and she falls back, panting heavily as she tries to breathe in the burning air.

A flaming arm reaches down before her, and she holds her arm up to defend herself, but the flames grab her, the heat hissing on her flesh. Another hand comes around, pressing to her back, lifting her up, holding her close.

Tik Tik squirms under the heat of the fire elemental. With the air so thin and the world around her so heated, she croaks out a protest that goes nearly unheard. But the elemental looks towards her and lets go, stumbling back.

Shuddering and feeling that pain that courses through where she was touched, Tik Tik slowly looks up to the creature. "You... are under... my control..." Tik Tik says, through gritted teeth. "Do not touch me... with your painful hands."

The fire elemental raises its hands towards its face, looking back and forth at them with its featureless gaze, then turning back to her.

She stumbles forward, weaving a spell through the air, producing the effects of invisible magical hands. They move up towards the fire creature, clasping around one of the hands, invisible thumbs rubbing over the combustible 'flesh' of the summon.

The elemental jumps and falls to its knees. Tik Tik smiles, bringing her tunic up over her mouth to try and keep herself from inhaling the ash. More magical hands fly up from the ether, stroking over the elemental's cheeks and over its locks of 'hair.'

The fire elemental crackles and singes the grass around it, sounding like a comforting bonfire and not the roaring inferno that is the forest around it. In fact, the wild flames all around the two slide away from their endless consumption, heading back to the host elemental. Fingers pet along its back and its chest as well as giving it quick headpats. "That's a good elemental," Tik Tik says. "I'll find a way to make you listen, and you'll enjoy it, won't you?" Her smile leads to her tunic falling off of her snout and her getting a nice big whiff of the dusty, ashy air. She coughs, covering up her face as she hacks through the smoke-drenched environment.

The elemental's attention snaps back to her. It quickly bounds up towards her, scooping her up.

Tik Tik shouts in shock as the burning touch surrounds her, her tear-filled eyes glancing out away from the elemental, seeing the conflagration part before her, providing a dead, yet clear, path out away from the burning forest. And from that path, she sees three forms running up toward her and the concerned elemental. Tik Tik can't help but smile and reach out towards her companions, but her eyes roll back and she finds herself blacking out from the intense heat.

When she finally awakes, Tik Tik groans in pain from the rocking and bumping on her back. When her eyes flutter open, she sees Kera leaning over her, dabbing a wet cloth over her cheek with a frown on her face. The catgirl stops and pulls back when she sees Tik Tik's eyes, and she smiles. "Well, you certainly got yourself in a lot of trouble, didn't you? Don't worry. We'll get you to a temple and have you healed up in no time."

"Yeah, well, she'll probably be indebted to the church for awhile," Cynwrig says, frowning.

The sound of parchment turning excites Tik Tik, and she turns her head quickly, only to yelp in pain. She tries to put her hand to her neck, only to find that she cannot move. She strains to look downward, gasping, with a muffled shriek, when she sees that she's covered from head-to-toe in bandages.

"That's what happens when you try to reason with an alien mind," Gimmegee says, flipping another page, and then scribbling something with a quill. What she's writing on, Tik Tik cannot be certain. "Your little quest is going to get you killed one day. You're already severely burned."

"It's nothing the healers can't fix," Kera says, sighing. "Though... it'll have to be you two who take her there."

"By my honor, I will protect her," Cynwrig says, thumping his carapace.

"Why me?" Gimmegee groans

"You're the one who got her into this mess," Kera snaps. "It's only responsible that you get her out of it. Plus, you'll get to have more time with that book you so love."

"MMMPH!?" Tik Tik shouts.

Kera places her hand upon Tik Tik's chest and hushes her. "Calm yourself, Tik Tik. Yes, we were able to get your book back. It's been... well, it's been a few days since your injury, you see.

Tik Tik whimpers.

"I vanquished that beast quite handily!" Cynwrig says, nodding excitedly.

"Oh please," Gimmegee says, slamming the book shut. Tik Tik winces at the sound. "That fire elemental basically wanted to be killed. It was just sitting there, staring at the poor wretched thing at its feet."

"Can a creature of elemental fire feel remorse?" Kera muses. "Perhaps, that is something we shall never know.

"Oh, anyway, we beat the air elemental, too!" Cynwrig says, bouncing on his seat.

Another bump jostles the injured kobold, and she groans.

"Can you try not to run over every ogre in the road!?" Gimmegee snaps to the front of the cart.

"Shh... don't you worry," Kera says. "It's just a bumpy road. We'll be at the convent soon... just rest.

Magic is a powerful tool that should only be used in the hands of those who truly understand and fear it. That is why I have warded this book with such powerful magic, myself. The power of the four elementals is so great that only the one who is destined to have this book will be able to control them all. But there is a slight catch to the rules I have established. If someone can find good companionship, true companionship, they may be able to work together to defeat the elementals. If that is the case, they have discovered something much more powerful than the magic that is hidden within these pages. They have discovered the magic that has the potential to come from all of us. They have discovered that can only be considered the magic of true friendship.

That, or they could just be destroyed by a creature of sufficient magical power. Perhaps, if some dark force from the realms beyond was to seek out the book. Of course, at least one of the elementals must be bonded and defeated by the true owner, for if they are all truly destroyed, then the book shall be lost forever. Let that be my final act of defiance to who would want to take my book, my knowledge, my love.

-The Author.