“Josh, magic me,” Lin said, snapping her fingers.
I snapped my fingers back, pointing to her and felt my magic flare up inside me, thankfully normally this time. “Arcane Trick!”
Blue and purple sparks lept from my fingers and danced around Lin. It cleaned her off and the cat girl went for her clothes. I repeated it for myself and felt a gentle touch on my arm with an embarrassed goat girl looking at me.
“Uh, could I have a little help too?” Snowflake asked.
It took two castings of the spell and Snowflake was once again spotless. I nearly toppled over and I felt Lin catch me. I blinked the stars out of my eyes and felt a wave of nausea roll over me.
Constitution Save : Partial Success!
“Oh right, mana blight,” I said. While I didn’t have to worry about the mana drain anymore I needed to still worry about that. I shook my head, alleviating the feeling of fuzziness. “Need to find a way around that…”
Snowflake was amidst putting on what looked like a corset when a close horn blast shook the tent. They were nearly on top of us. Snowflake hurriedly put on a pair of pants and a fluffy collared sweater before hobbling outside while putting on her boots. Her hand then shot back into the tent snatching a hanging satchel by the door and it vanished outside.
“Lin…did she take it out?” I asked.
“Heh, nope. If you stand close to her you can hear it still going,” Lin smirked, helping me over to the cabinet. “Need help getting dressed?”
“Yeah, it would be for the best if we were out waiting with her. Thanks Lin,” I said, rubbing my temples.
“Tisk, tisk. What would you do without big sister Lin?” Lin asked, pinching my butt cheek.
I let out a low growl at the back of my throat, which Lin thought was hilarious. In no time I was geared up and we were looking the same as we had walked in. Minus my dishevelled look and Lin not having time to rebind her chest. We strutted out of Snowflake’s tent and found her tending to the stew.
“Feel free to take a seat on one of the logs,” Snowflake said. She hummed a tune and took out a small spoon from a pouch in her satchel. After taking a small sip she gave it an approving nod. “Just in time for dinner.”
Around the campfire and stew pot were three fallen logs placed evenly around it. Lin and I took a seat, and kicked back trying to look like we belonged. No sooner did our butts touch the log Snowflake’s scouting party returned.
The leader of the group of three slashed a few snowy bushes apart with a two handed axe, and grumbled up a string of curses. He was a dwarf, and was soaked head to toe. His metal capped boots dripped frigid water onto the ground and his layers of padded armour weighed him down, cascading water off of it.
The two behind him were in a similar state and shivered uncontrollably, rushing ahead to take a seat by the fire. The first one I looked at was a human, about my height and build while having longer unruly hair that went to his shoulders. He had a shortbow and quiver on his hip and a pair of shortswords, one on the other side of his hip, the other on his pack.
The last one moved much more gracefully, an almost liquid-like flow to how they moved. Their golden hair was long, down to the small of their back and I could see fine delicate features on their face. High cheekbones, smooth skin and almond shaped eyes the colour of amethyst. It was almost painful how beautiful they were, even with the makeup around their eyes running down their face.
“I told you to leave that blasted hare to me, but nooooo,” the dwarf mocked, throwing his gloves next to the fire. He bared his teeth at the golden haired beauty. “Let’s use the weird magic scroll we just found.”
The accused wrung out their hair and I heard Lin gasp. They had longer pointed ears and in them were no less than six earrings, each one glowing with an inner light. I got the sense each one was enchanted and I had to admit it was a rather hands free way of carrying a bunch of magic items.
“My apologizes Grannul, I wasn’t aware it was such a potent fireball. However when you broke through the ice you didn’t need to pull Lex and I with you,” the golden haired beauty said.
I was taken aback from their voice for a moment, it was a guy. He was probably the best looking guy I had ever met in my life, but I tried to focus on the rest of his equipment to get a grasp on what he was, class wise.
He had three wands attached to his belt and pouches brimming with odds and ends. Strips of metal, bits of wood with amber stuck at the end filled with various insects and a few tools. He had a basic hammer, chisel and a few that looked like pliers.
The one with the bow sputtered out a laugh. “Cirdean, you squealed like those hogs when Gran grabbed your foot. Should have seen the look on his face Snowflake.”
“I do miss all the fun at camp,” Snowflake sighed.
“Found some tramps I see,” Grannul the dwarf said. He tugged at his rust brown beard and shook out the water. “What’s your story strangers?”
Lin was the first to act, holding my hand in her lap and giving them the biggest, warmest, ‘big sister Lin’ smile she could. “We are on a quest to find a magic book. When we saw some other adventurer’s were here we thought to ask you if we could team up!”
Lex leaned back on his log, shrugged and spread his feet, almost sticking them into the fire. Cidean waved a wand and it glowed purple, making a glowing glove appear. It grabbed some of the stacked up wood near the fire and tossed them in, turning up the heat to steam off the water. Grannul stroked his beard, just like Sten tended to, and narrowed his eyes at me.
“Cidean, if you turn up the heat you will burn the stew,” Snowflake sighed, picking up the heavy pot and moving it onto a stump. “Well, dinner’s ready.”
“What do you think of them?” Lex asked Snowflake.
Snowflake stopped for a brief moment, ladle mid stir. The only sound in the camp was the crackling of the fire and the hissing of ice melting off the other adventurers. As I strained to listen I could almost hear a faint buzzing and I saw Lin fight to control herself so she didn’t break out into laughter.
“We had a lovely chat and they seem like good people. We had just started to talk when you guys let out the first horn,” Snowflake said.
Grannul clapped his hands together and cracked his knuckles. “Character swap? All I need is the basics.”
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I approved the request, as did Lin, and I looked to see who our new found allies were.
Grannul val Kosits, Mountain Dwarf, Level 5 Champion Warrior
Lex, Human, Level 4 Thief
Cidean, Amber Plains Elf, Level 5 Scribe Wizard
Cidean unstoppered a flask and brought it to his glossed lips, sipping a silver fluid. The water on him rapidly evaporated and soon he was perfectly dry. His companions held out a hand to him, but he shook the flask, showing it was empty.
“Bah, hope your wizard isn’t so much of an uptight like ours,” Grannul said.
Lin threw an arm around my shoulders and squeezed me tightly. “He’s pretty good honestly. Doesn’t put up much of a fuss when I steal his treats. Then again if he did I can always push him around,” Lin said, pecking me on the cheek. “For now, he’s shaping up to be an archwizard by next year, at which point he can buy treats for the both of us!”
Lex laughed and pointed a thumb towards Cidean. “Wizards act all tough and say junk like ‘I’ll be a master of the forces of the universe soon’ but you take away their book and they sob like a baby.”
Everyone shared a hearty laugh, except for Cidean and I. Lin helped Snowflake hand out bowls of stew to everyone and soon everyone was enjoying the hot meal, except for Lex.
“Snowflake, does your cooking really have to be this bland?” Lex groaned.
Snowflake let out a tired sigh. “Lex, I have two ranks in cooking, not twelve. Why don’t you cook next time?”
“I have one rank in cooking, it would be worse than this boot leather and we could die,” Lex said, jabbing at the vegetables. “Why does it have so many veggies?”
“Could do with a few more herbs,” Cidean mumbled.
“Could do with a drink. A real drink, not the hogwash we have,” Grannul scoffed.
I tried the soup and found it perfectly serviceable. It wasn’t amazing like Rolada’s or Sliva’s cooking, but I was starting to suspect those two had a hidden divine talent for it. Still, his whining irked me, and I could see it upset Snowflake.
“Snowflake, would you like to try some dried peppercorn I have?” Lin asked, taking out a small pouch from her jacket.
“Thank you Lin, I’d love to,” Snowflake said, sprinkling a few black dots into her bowl. “Hmm, that’s better.”
Lin offered me the pouch as well and soon the stew kicked up a notch in the taste department. Lin then tucked it away, ignoring the men across from us. Their moods soured, but I could see Snowflake’s lips curl into a smile.
The sun was settling down on the horizon and the moon was rising to fill the starry sky with its light. I felt the winter chill set deeper into my bones, it promised a cold night and a frosty morning.
“We can’t go till the waters freeze, on account of a particularly problematic mage,” Grannul said, glaring at Cidean. “Bunker up tonight, we head out in the morning. Hope you two brought tents.”
“I have a spare couch they can share,” Snowflake said, butting in. “They seem like pleasant guests.”
Lex stood up, groaning and complaining about aches. He went to the tent that was his, a simple looking one that had extra layers of padding. “If they want to wake up with wool between their toes they can go ahead. Cidean, you placing the wards around?”
“After I warm up a bit I shall,” the wizard elf said, holding his hands out to the fire. He looked at me and gave me a thin lipped smile. “It’s a simple spell used to watch out for danger. If you hear an alarm bell over the sound of Snowflake snoring it means we are under attack.”
The snarky tone he used reminded me all too well of my failed years of schooling. There was a group of students in my year that were overachievers, and they tended to climb over everyone trying to get recognized by the professors. They had the same tone when talking down to me, and it always made me feel like an idiot. Well, I was going to be cuddling up to one cute girl, maybe two tonight. Was Cidean just jealous?
“Cool, I’ll have to keep an eye out to learn that one,” I said, trying to play it off. “Want me to wash the pot Snowflake?”
Snowflake had put the last bit of stew into a bowl for Lin and was about to take a brush to it. At my request she held it out and I checked myself to make sure I wasn’t about to knock myself out. It seemed with the meal and the bit of rest the encroaching mana blight was gone. I used Arcane Trick again, and felt my stamina ebb. I was getting to my limit for the day, but it was worth it to make life easier for Snowflake.
“Thanks Josh!” Snowflake beamed, and started to pack away her cooking gear. She wiped off the ladle and the bowls with a towel and nodded towards her tent. “You two can get set up and I’ll be inside in a moment.”
Lin scarfed down her stew and Snowflake took the bowl. There was a bucket full of ice water and she started to clean up dinner, thankfully with only a margin of work now that the big iron pot was spotless. Magic was fantastic, and I loved how it saved time.
The moment we entered the tent Lin took me to the couch and turned her ears towards the walls, listening intently. I heard the sound of the other adventurers getting ready to hunker down for the night and the elf casting spells around the campsite.
“What is it?” I whispered.
Lin turned to me and let out a long whistle. “Wow those guys have their heads up their own asses. They are crankier than an old cat woman allergic to milk.”
“Yeah, it’s really weird how they took it out on her,” I said, agreeing with her completely. “All we can do is back her up.”
Lin nodded and I saw her tail twitch. “I might have a little something that might teach them a lesson.”
“What’s this about lessons?” Snowflake asked, entering the tent. She put the cookware into her kitchen area and came back with a small wine bottle.
“Why do you put up with that?” Lin asked.
Snowflake took a few gulps of the fine wine and passed it around. “I’m on a quest from my tree den to slay three evil creatures. I’m already at two, but when the winter hit everyone I knew decided to stay at the adventurer guilds, drinking or whoring their money away. These three were the only ones going for a few quests to cover some debts. They have been up since the crack of dawn, so I assumed they would be cranky tonight.”
“Still…it was a bit much,” Lin said.
“Oh no, they can be huge jerks if they really meant it. But if they cross the line they know I always beat some sense into the three of them,” Snowflake laughed. “Tonight was a blessing from Heinekia herself, on account of them wanting to scout by themselves all day and you two showing up. I have been feeling stressed as of late.”
I was passed the bottle and I finished the last mouthful. “We are certainly happy to meet you too.”
“Oh I bet you are happy,” Lin said, tickling my side.
Snowflake and Lin began to talk about the guild and I sat back soaking in the conversation. It was similar to what I expected from an ‘adventurer guild’. It seemed like it was basically a network of self employed people with combat skills going out to do quests. Some quests came from local lords and the payout was cash and a drop of experience, while ones from religious leaders came from the gods.
“The one from gods typically pays out wayyy better,” Lin said. “Sometimes however instead of experience you get something really powerful, like a magic item being brought by an angelic servant or a talent. Sadly it's pretty rare.”
“I have no clue what I’ll get once I head home.” Snowflake said, and stretched, letting out a yawn. “Well, you two can sleep on the couch or with little ol’ me.”
We opted for her bed. After stripping back down and Snowflake swapping out the bedding we wiggled together under the mountain of fabric, held in the cloud of blissful softness. Lin passed out almost instantly, hugging Snowflake to her chest while the goat girl nuzzled between Lin’s tits. I felt Lin rub her rump against me and I cuddled against her, kissing the back of her head.
The Go Berries wore off finally and I felt like I was going to crash soon too. It was going to be an exciting day tomorrow, and I hoped it would go better than our last true dungeon delve. Icharn did say it would go well, so I had my fingers crossed that the strange god was once again on our side.
I also decided to send off a quick prayer to Ishaka, her magic making my life much more exciting. Since she was the goddess of pleasure I also decided to thank her for my sex life being exponentially better too.
Ishaka has received your prayer.
Your welcome keeper Josh!
It was a shame I fell asleep after seeing that.