Hanging by my skirt, looking down at the mock hydra who was almost close enough to touch, with only a small tree keeping me from falling on top of the monster, I silently sent prayer to every single god and demon I knew of, including my history teacher. It didn't seem to help as the tree cracked again and I got another inch closer to the reptile.

Not daring to breathe, I slowly, ever so slowly, reached into my backpack. Going completely by touch, I pulled out a smoke bomb.

There was another crack. I leaned dangerously far forward, my ears almost brushing the monsters middle head.

Dropping the smoke bomb so it would fall between the necks, I got ready to break the tree and run.

The mock hydra moved just a little as the smoke bomb fell. The glass container hit the monsters back and rolled off. Instead of landing on hard rock, it fell into a pile of something soft and smelly. The three heads rose up, looking for what had hit it.

It was pure bad luck that the tree broke at that very second, dropping me right on top of the middle head.

The scaly, armoured skull of the monster was about as big as I was. Without thinking I grabbed on, digging my nails between the scales, which couldn't have been comfortable for the hydra, even though I didn't do any damage. I started shrieking as it swung it's head around, trying to throw me off.

It suddenly stopped moving. Looking up, I saw the two other heads moving in to strike, their beady red eyes focused on the tiny morsel of food that was stupid enough to pretend to be a hat. Screaming again, I jumped away as they struck.

I felt a tug at my skirt. The already stretched fabric tore, and I hit the ground in only my shirt and panties. A quiet voice in the back of my head sighed, I really should have expected that. Landing on the hard rock, I rolled along the ground, came to my feet and took off running.

The mock hydra screeched, hurting my ears, and spun to come after me. Then it let out a confused bellow. Looking behind me, all I could see was a cloud of smoke. It had to have stomped on the smoke bomb. Seizing my opportunity, I leaped onto a large boulder, slid down the other side and disappeared among the large rocks.

I was too afraid to pay attention to where I was going. I just needed to get out of there before I was eaten. As the sun set, I ran deeper into the rocky maze-like wasteland.

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It was dark when I finally stopped running. My legs ached, I was starving, and I was shivering from cold. While the day was blistering hot in the desert, the nights were freezing, and I didn't have anyway to warm myself up. If I could find some wood or even enough roots and leaves, I could light a fire. But there were only a few scraggly bushes that were covered in thorns and wouldn't last more than a few minutes if I set them on fire.

Sitting down with my back to a large boulder, I winced as my practically bare butt hit cold stone. I'd run far to the south, which was all rocks and boulders. That really sucked because I had needed to go east to find the mock hydra nest. Now I was lost and alone with nothing that could help me. Doom Valley was finally going to kill me.

At least I'd lasted longer than a week.

“A lost little mortal!”

I screamed, jerking back, only to crack my head against the rock I was leaning against. Through the stars I saw the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen staring at me. And then the details came into focus. She was smiling with big sharp teeth, and she had eyes with pupils like a goat that seemed to glow in the moonlight.

Screaming again I tried to get away from the demoness. She grabbed my arms, forcing me to stay in place. She leaned in, sniffing me, giving me a close up of her flawless, porcelain-like skin. She had glittering purple snake scales going from behind her ears, down her neck and onto her shoulders. A forked, snake tongue tickled my fur.

“You smell like a man,” she purred.

This was it, I was dead. Squire Scouts had done a whole summer camp on demons. This was a Lilin, they lived in the desert and like to eat men. Sure they'd give them the time of their life for an hour or two before killing them, but dead was dead. They didn't like women much either, but usually they'd only curse them.

“No I'm not,” I whimpered.

She licked my cheek. “You are an odd one, you smell like a man, but you're definitely a woman. And you've changed a lot. So many smells, it's intoxicating.”

“Please don't kill me,” I begged.

Her hands went places I really didn't want them to go. “Your shape is weak. You've changed many times recently.”

“I didn't mean too!”

“Why are you here, little changeling?”

“I'm doing a job for Doom Valley. But I nearly got killed twice and then I ran away and I got lost, and I don't want to be here!” As much as I didn't want to, I started to cry. Everything just caught up to me and I couldn't stop myself.

Something strange happened, she gave me a hug. The demoness actually pulled me to her ample chest, wrapped her arms around me and patted my back. Then she whispered in my ear, “If you help me, I'll help you.”

My survival instincts kicked in. “What would I need to do?”

“Trade shapes with me.”

“What?”

“I take your shape and give you mine. It's easy.”

“Why do you want my shape?”

“Too many people know my shape. So if we trade shapes, they'll never know it's me. In exchange I'll make sure you get where you need to go.”

I tried to think, which wasn't exactly easy. I was being cuddled by a minor lust demon, and despite my female body, my mind was still very much a man. A horribly battered, bruised and humiliated male, but still male and very attracted to the opposite sex. “I'll still be me, just with a different shape? I won't set off any anti-demon alarms, or have to eat souls or anything like that?”

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“Just the shape. I wouldn't give away what makes me, me.”

“And you'll lead me to the mock hydra's nest, so I can get one of its eggs?”

She stopped cuddling me, and leaned back, her eyes wide with surprise. “You're going after a mock hydra? Seriously? Are you crazy?!”

“I'm doing detention. And I kind of yelled at my teacher before I was sent here.”

“Oh... You did say something about Doom Valley. How long have you been there for?”

“A week.”

“And you're already getting detention like this. I'd better get your shape now, you're not going to need it for much longer.”

“Gee, thanks for the support,” I said.

“All right. If you give me your shape, I'll give you mine and lead you to the mock hydra's nest. I swear on my name.”

“All right. I guess it's my only chance. I agree.”

The lilin didn't say anything, she just grabbed my shoulders and practically threw herself on me. Her lips touched mine, and I felt strange sensation run through my body. I was actually getting my first real kiss, and it was with a demon that sucked the life out of men. What had my life become?

And then a new sensation joined the first. My body seemed to turn to water. It felt like I was becoming soft and wobbly, forgetting what was an arm and what was a leg. Then my squishy not-body was poured into something that had firm limits and parts.

I found myself looking up at a black cat woman, who looked kind of pretty in a dangerous, predatory way. Even weirder the night was as bright as day. My cat eyes had made the night brighter, but I could tell it was night. This was just weird.

Not having a tail was kind of odd, I'd gotten used to the old one.

Looking down, I realized I couldn't see anything beneath the balloons that were now my breasts. Somehow these were even bigger than the ones Micheal had given me. Poking them with my long nails, proved they were mine.

And of course I was naked again. Because why wouldn't I be? My shirt and underwear were shredded on the ground, leaving me with just my backpack and the egg bag. Now I'd need to get a whole new wardrobe until I could be turned back into a human. Maybe this was why people became nudists. The gods or the demons, maybe both of them, seemed to want me to be naked anyways, I might as well just go with it!

“Oh this is an interesting shape,” the demoness said, running her hands over her new body. “I'm going to have fun with this.”

“I'm really happy for you. Now can you lead me to the mock hydra, please? I'd like to get home sometime tonight.”

“I can go into the sun with this body, right?”

“Ye- Wait, you couldn't go in the sun before?” I asked.

“No. The sun burned my skin, you'll want to cover up if you need to do things during the day.” She got to her feet and waved at me to follow her. “Come on, I want to get this done before dawn. I have big plans.”

“I should have known there'd be a catch,” I muttered, following her.

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It took a few hours to reach the mock hydra nest. I passed the time by studying my new body, as much as I could anyways with the boulders on my chest. If I had to run they'd probably give me a pair of black eyes, and maybe a broken nose.

At least I had muscle. My body looked soft and very, very curvy, but under the layer of fat it was solid. Keeping up with the fast pace of the Lilin was easy. And the scales on my feet gripped the rocks better than any shoes I'd ever worn. The cold didn't bother me either, in fact as it blew on my skin I shivered at the new and unique feelings it sent through me.

Lilin stopped behind a house size boulder and pointed at a large mound a few hundred feet away. “There is the mock hydra. I've led you here safely, our deal is done. Good luck doomed girl.” She patted me on the back and squeezed my butt, before running off into the night.

“When did my life get so strange?” I asked the uncaring sky.

Putting everything else out of my mind, I studied the monster. It was asleep, and probably lying on top of it's eggs. They'd be a foot or two in the sand, protected from the sun and the cold, while making it harder for predators to get at. So I had to somehow get the mother off of them long enough to dig one out and shove it in the bag.

Easy.

If I could get it away from it's nest and blind it, it would help a lot. Fortunately I had the flash stone. It's bright light would definitely work as long as all it's heads were looking at me. So I blind it, set off a smoke bomb between it and the nest, get the egg and teleport home. I could do this.

Pulling the flash stone out of my backpack, I made sure the bag for the egg was secure around my neck. Then I grabbed a rock and started towards the sleeping monster. I wasn't sure how strong my new body was. I knew my endurance was pretty good, but I didn't know anything about how well I could throw. So I walked until I thought I was close enough to hit it, while still being far enough away to react when it came at me.

Taking a deep breath, I raised the rock and threw it as hard as I could at the mock hydra. I was stronger than I thought. The rock hit the thing right on the head, hard enough that I could hear the thump from where I was.

The heads rose up, hissing in confusion and anger. One head saw me, and the rest turned my way. Now things were going to be scary.

“HEY YOU STUPID LIZARD!” I shouted as loudly as I could.

It got to it's feet, roaring a challenge. Then it charged, surprisingly fast for something so large. Squeezing the stone as hard as I could I threw it, aiming for a few feet ahead of the monster. As soon as it left my hand I closed my eyes, raised my arm to protect them even more, and ran to the side.

The flash stone exploded, turning night into day. The mock hydra hissed in pain. I did too.

My eyes were fine, but my skin felt like I'd been flash fried. Cursing and groaning, I kept running. Waiting for the pain to stop would only make me wind up dead. Looking at the monster, I saw it swinging it's heads around, snapping and lashing out blindly.

I ran faster, quickly making it to the nest, which was a slight mound in the otherwise flat area. Digging through the sand, I felt something. Grabbing it, I pulled it out triumphantly.

And I found I was holding a new born mock hydra. It hissed at me and all three mouths bit down on my sunburned arm. Screaming in pain, I flailed my arm trying to make it let go. And mama heard me and the baby.

Roaring, half blind, and very angry it came charging back. The smoke bomb wasn't going to help, it couldn't see anyways, and was going by sound. Trying to pull the baby off of me, it just bit down harder, it's sharp teeth digging into my bone.

Biting my tongue to keep from screaming, I ran to the side, narrowly avoiding being trampled. That didn't help much, the baby monster let go of my arm with one head and chirped for mama.

The mock hydra slid to a stop, turned and charged right for us.

Screaming in pain I finally got the stupid thing off of me, losing some flesh along with it. Throwing the baby away from me, I jumped to the side. Mama's foot brushed my own, but otherwise I was fine. Racing back for the nest, I threw myself down, my breasts helping cushion my fall, and dug in the dirt.

Something bit my fingers. Then two more somethings took a bite out of my hand as well. Were all of the stupid eggs hatching?!

With my remaining hand, I felt something warm and leathery. Using my elbows to get up, I was holding a furious and hungry baby mock hydra in one hand, and an egg in the other. And mama was racing towards me again.

There wasn't time to get rid of baby. I shoved the egg into my bag and once more jumped to the side. I didn't make it. Mama plowed into me, her leg catching me on the side, sending me rolling painfully along the sand.

I looked up, dazed and confused, just in time to see a massive mouth coming down around me.

Screaming, I covered my eyes.

And then the world spun.

I found myself, and the baby mock hydra, on a stone floor in Sir Grieves office. He looked down at me, rubbing his helmet and shaking his head. “You were only supposed to get an egg, Petra.”

“Ow! I know! Ow! This thing- Ow! Won't let- Ow! Go!” I said, trying to get the little monster off my hand. It didn't like that idea and started digging it's claws into my arm.

The teacher reached down and stroked the monster on the back, making a soft whistle as he did. The baby instantly let go and began chirping like a bird. Picking it up, he held it in his arm almost like a cat, petting it.

“Why did you change your shape again? And why a Lilin?” he asked.

“I didn't have much choice.”

“And why are you naked? Again?”

“I didn't have much choice,” I repeated.

He handed me a cloak to cover myself with. “Go see the nurse and get your injuries fixed.”

“Yeah sure. I'll see you tomorrow.”

He looked down at the baby mock hydra, then back at me. “No, you're detention is over. I needed a new pet, good work.”

If I hadn't been in so much pain, and bleeding out, I would have been amazed. Instead I was just slightly relieved, and getting dizzy from blood loss. Limping, holding my ribs which felt broken, and trying not to lose much more blood, I made my way to the nurse.

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Ella woke up when I came in. She looked over at me, blinked, shook her head, and then looked again. “Petra is that you?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Did you shapeshift again?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Long story. Need sleep.”

“Are you a demon now?”

“No. I just look like one. And I may be allergic to sunlight.”

“Oh. Are you going to try to eat me, take my soul, or turn me into your slave?”

“No. Goodnight,” I said. Falling into bed, I was careful to not bump my bandaged arm and hand. My ribs weren't so lucky and I winced in pain.

“OK. Goodnight.”

If she said anything else I didn't hear it. I was asleep as soon as my head hit my pillow.