Chapter 6: ARC 1-The Enchanted Forest-Part 6

“You…you were…and now you’re…” Her hands flounder about as she tries to come to terms with the impossibility of what she is seeing. Shapeshifters aren’t exactly rare but such extreme change boggles the mind. I should know. I fainted.

“It’s a long story. Well, it’s not that long but it’s confusing.”

She’s still staring at me. Wah, her eyes are really pretty. They’re bright green with flecks of amber in them that glow a bright gold when the light hits them. It reminds me of tall grass in the summer. Peaceful. I could stare at them forever…if I weren’t naked. This is embarrassing.

Oh, wait. I can grow fur, can’t I? But does that still work with my human body?

Reaching into my mind, I find the menu. It’s even easier to separate them now. A carpet of green fur sprouts across my body. With a thought, I make it thicker across my chest and waist. It's not clothing but it hides the important bits. And this is comfortable. Really starting to like this new body.

Kierra’s mind is completely blown. Her eyes look ready to pop out of her skull. I smile at her and stick out a hand. “Once again, I’m Lou. Thanks for saving me back there. I thought I was going to get eaten.”

The elf looks at my hand as if she’s waiting for it to turn into something new. When it doesn’t, she grasps it with her own.

I yelp as I’m pulled forward but calm down when I realize she’s only petting me. It feels good as her nails go across my scalp. I close my eyes and lean into it, humming in pleasure. Ah, this is relaxing. No wonder hounds and the like fall asleep from this. I’m starting to feel a little drowsy.

The hand moves away from my head. I open my eyes to see Kierra smiling at me again. The worries have disappeared from her eyes. That’s good. I don’t want my savior to be afraid of me. After all, I’m counting on her to get me back home.

“You’re a strange creature, Lou,” she says with a little chuckle. “I’ve never seen, or even heard, of anything like you.”

“What can I say, I’m one of a kind.”

“This short but confusing story. Do I get to hear it?”

“Of course. It ties into the favor I’m going to ask you that I hope you can grant for me.”

Kierra laughs. “You’re very blunt.”

“Very.” It’s not my fault. My father brought in tutors to teach me the proper ways of court manners and the deceptive way of speaking that comes with them but, as I said, I slacked off. That, combined with too many nights sneaking off to town to drink in the taverns and you have the very uncultured noble that is me. “I-”

“Ah.” Kierra shushes me by putting a finger to my lips. “Not here. We’re still in the middle of a dangerous forest. Let’s go back to my home.”

I nod and she moves her hand to grasp mine. Then she tugs me along as she moves through the forest.

-

Kierra’s home is a tree. I wouldn’t have believed someone could live in one but there is a door in the middle of its wide trunk, hidden by a  blanket of woven vines draping down from its lowest branches. The camouflage is perfect. No one would be the wiser if they didn’t know what they were looking for.

The inside has been hollowed out. While the room isn’t large, about twenty feet by twenty feet, there are several levels. A ladder allows access up.

The bottom floor seems to be a welcoming and relaxing room. It’s decorated with woven mats covered with furs, the walls with hunting trophies. Wah. I was right. The elf is quite the huntress. Skulls of all kinds and sizes hang off huge wooden thorns nailed into the walls. Each of them have vicious looking teeth, one with canines as long as my arm. Yeesh.

“Come on, up here.” Kierra waves me over to the ladder and begins to climb. I follow her to the second level. This is clearly her room. A mat larger than the others and covered with several furs is pushed into the corner. On the wall, there is a spare wooden bow. Beneath that is a long table where half-finished arrows rest, a crate beside it holding dozens of completed ones. The opposite wall has another table. This one seems to be a crafting table as several small wooden figurines rest along the edge, a collection of knives hanging on the wall above them.

I sit down cross-legged in the middle of the floor as Kierra moves through the space, relaxing. She takes off her quiver and leans it against the wall before she hangs her bow next to the spare. Then she takes off her cloak and lays it across her fletching table.

Underneath, she wears a shoulder-less dress woven out of plant fibers with a short skirt that flares widely to allow for movement. The garment shows off her ample chest and long, toned legs in the best way. I find myself swallowing past a dry mouth as I stare at the smooth expanse of exposed skin on display.

Those trips I took to the local tavern? They did more than enlighten me about the local economy. Commoners, especially farmers near my family’s estate, have a tough life full of hard work. They take their pleasures where they can get them and unlike nobles, could give a fig less how it looks to anybody else.

As a result, I saw all manner of relationships. Heh. First time I saw one of the barmaids kissing the blacksmith’s daughter, I nearly choked on the sip of ale I’d been swallowing. Ever since then, the way I look at other women changed. I've never dared to try my hand. Prized pig or not, my father wouldn’t just sit back and let that go if he found out. The only thing more important to a noble than their status is their heirs. But I always wondered.

Sitting in the room across from this gorgeous elf, hundreds of miles from my father’s reach, that wondering is running rampant. My fingers itch to undo the strings of the dress as Kierra walks to her makeshift bed and lays down on it. The way she lounges on her side is not helping matters. The dim light casts a shadow over her eyes that makes them dark and mysterious while her fingers lightly brush over the furs. As if she’s inviting me to come over. No, that’s just my wishful thinking.

“I believe…” Kierra props her head up with a hand as a sly smile curves her lips upward. “…you promised me a story.”

“I did.” Taking a deep breath, I launch into my tale. The only thing I leave out is Cosmo’s name. Elementals are very picky about their names. A human needs to know their true name to form a contract but that’s about all we can do with it. However, if another elemental gets ahold of it, apparently they can do some real damage. Even giving out a fraction of the name is taboo. Better to be safe than sorry. I do not want Cosmo angry with me under any circumstances.

When I get to the stabbing part of my story, I make sure to play up the terror, hoping to get some sympathy points. Sure enough, Kierra’s expression turns down into a grimace, her eyes shining with pity. They light with curious excitement as I tell her about what Cosmo did.

I conclude with waking up in the forest and she nods. “I see. That must have been confusing for you. And the part about being swallowed by an elemental…could you come here for a moment?”

She holds out her hand. My heart stutters in my chest as my imagination applies the gesture to a very different situation. I do my best to put the imaginings aside as I get to my feet and pad over. Kierra grabs my hand and guides me to kneel on the furs.

“Could you revert? To your…elemental form?”

Ah. There goes any chance at romantic developments. Oh well. Reverting to the blob is a little different than taking my human form. Rather than focusing on what I want to become, I simply relax. A weight I didn’t know I was carrying slips off the shoulders I no longer have as I become gelatinous and I sigh inwardly.

I’m not human anymore. I know this but constantly being reminded of the fact is going to take some time getting used to.

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Kierra runs her hands over me, pinching and massaging. She tugs me toward her and I comply, sliding over until I am pressed against her. The elf throws her leg over me and squeezes me in a full-body hug.

Hmm? This is…I can feel her. My surface, whatever it is, is very sensitive and I can feel every inch of her. Probably more than I would in my human form as I bend to fill every nook and cranny. A part of me is being squeezed between her thighs. I can feel the cotton-like fabric of her underwear. This is getting me excited. Is it weird for blobs to get excited?

Ah. I just need to not think about it. Um-hmm. Cause if I do, I might move and brush against something I shouldn’t. I’m not thinking about it. Not at all.

Kierra is doing something. Her fingers are still tracing over me but now the ends are glowing bright green. Is that some kind of spell? Should I be worried? I don’t think she would hurt me and whatever it is, it doesn’t hurt. Please don’t turn out to be some crazy who lured me back to her home to kill me or eat me or something just as terrifying. Though it would fit in with my rotten luck lately, it would really, really suck.

“Amazing. You are an elemental. Or at the very least, partially. Some part of you must still be mortal, otherwise, you couldn’t exist on this plane.”

That spell must have been some kind of scan. And hey! She said I’m still human! Or at least, some part of me is. That’s good. Knowing that the person I was hasn’t been completely destroyed is comforting.

“Besides that, you are comfortable.” She lets me go and scoots over. “Go ahead and change back. You need a voice to ask me this favor of yours.”

I comply, changing back to my human form and then growing fur to cover my nakedness. “Right. The favor I want to ask is very simple. I just need to get to the edge of the forest that borders the human continent. I’m pretty sure I can get back on my own after that.”

Kierra sighs deeply. Oh no. I know that expression. My nursemaid would give me the same one whenever I asked for extra snacks and she was about to turn me down.

“Lou, I want to help you but I can’t. At least, not yet.”

I knew it. “Um, I don’t want to sound ungrateful but…can I ask why?”

“Because I am trapped in this forest and cannot move beyond a certain range.” Kierra’s eyes go distant as she remembers something. “My mother is a very powerful caster with the null affinity, a rarity even among our magically gifted race. I…disappointed her you could say. Until I right the wrong, I’m trapped in this forest, unable to go home or go my own way.”

“What…did you do?”

The elf shakes her head. “It’s not what I did, but what I didn’t do. Never mind that. It has nothing to do with you. The only thing you need to think about is getting home. I may not be able to get you to the border but I can point you in the right direction, show you how to get there without being mauled by scavengers.”

Yes! I could kiss you right now. Honestly, I want to but I don’t want to get slapped. Or shot. Or abandoned in the middle of the forest. Before I can express my overwhelming gratitude and relief, a dark cloud comes over me.

No one is this nice. If there is one thing I have learned from my father, it’s that everyone has a motive. There’s always an angle. I don’t want to doubt her but I have to. “Again, please don’t take this the wrong way but why are you helping me?”

Kierra tilts her head curiously. “Is it so strange?”

“Honestly? Yes. People are just not that nice.”

“Maybe not among humans. You dominate your surroundings, tearing and shredding anything that gets in your way. We live alongside other creatures. We must, for our lands are populated by creatures we could not hope to decimate without risking our annihilation. In such a realm, it pays to be generous to all those who cross your path whenever you can.”

She smiles at me. If charity gave off light, I would be blinded by that smile. That’s it. She’s a saint. One of those genuine do-gooders who would deliver the world to salvation if she could. And apparently, there’s an entire race of them. No. I bet most of them just say that crap because it sounds good. Kierra just happens to be one of the ones who mean it.

Wah. That might be more amazing than her hunting skills. What a stroke of good luck I had getting rescued by her. About time. With all the crap I’ve gone through lately, I deserve some.

Next to me, Kierra yawns deeply, her eyes becoming hooded as she relaxes into the furs. “Forgive me for my lack of attention but I am feeling drowsy. I was on my way home for a nap when I heard the wolves howling.”

Huh? But its midday. I say as much and the elf chuckles. “Elves sleep longer than you might expect. We’re only active at dawn, dusk, and twilight. Best times to hunt.”

“Oh. Okay then.” I start to get off the mat but she grabs my arm.

“Where are you going?”

“I was just going to, I don’t know. Maybe going to take a nap downstairs. I wasn’t going to go outside if that’s what you’re worried about.” Of course not. That would be stupid. Tree safe. Forest have bad wolves. Even a monkey could grasp that simple truth.

“You don’t have to go all the way down there. There’s plenty of room right here.”

Haugh. That smile. Those eyes. She’s tempting me. She has to be. There’s no way she cannot know what she’s doing to me right now.

I hope she doesn’t think that I am as saintly as she is. A good person raised with proper manners might refuse the invitation for propriety’s sake. I am not a good person. This was confirmed by a powerful elemental who possesses the wisdom of thousands of years, as I can't imagine Cosmo being anything younger than a few millennia.

I climb back onto the furs. Kierra holds out her arms and I move into them, tucking my head into the crook between her neck and her shoulder. One of her hands moves to my head and starts that stroking again. My eyes begin to feel heavy.

What settles it is when Kierra starts to hum. A tuneless song that vibrates through her chest and fills the room. Sleep creeps up on me before I realize it’s happening and I give in to the darkness.

 

 

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