As it turned out, Narene had a pair of mana potions tucked in her robe, neither of which she minded parting with when they told her they weren’t going to hurt her.
Calista was glad the medusa couldn’t see her crocodile smile as they took all of their prisoner’s worldly possessions. Killing her boyfriend’s mistress in game would have been great fun, but turning her into a small fuzzy animal and then forcing her to lead them through the dungeon now seemed a far more apt punishment. This is probably better than seeing a therapist. Provided she doesn’t make a save.
Lefty looked more than a little tense. “Now, I don’t know exactly what the results of this little experiment are going to be, but I think we’ll all be happier than with the alternative.”
Calista shot him a grin. “Oh, quite.”
Narene, tear marks running down her face and still sitting on her knees, looked very confused. “What do you guys mean? What are we doing and what’s the alternative?”
Calista snapped, “The alternative is you dead, so just remember that.”
Lefty began to recite his incantation and, a moment later, a thin wisp of blue magic began to swirl around Narene’s kneeling form. Then a flash and a puff of smoke and suddenly the medusa disappeared. Instead, sitting there on the stone floor with a blindfold hanging from her neck and a pair of oversized shackles around her thin, green wrists was a little green humanoid with big blue eyes and long, pointed floppy ears.
Calista laughed. “This is the best thing ever.”
“What?” Narene asked. “What happened? What did you do? What happened to my voice?”
Indeed, their prisoner now had a voice much deeper, husky voice. Like a smoker who had spent too many nights at the bar. The little green person then felt along her face and head until she felt her hair and ears and then her face turned to shock. “What did you turn me into?”
Calista chortled.
Lefty leaned down, unlocked the shackles, and then pulled the blindfold from her neck. “There,” he said, “you should be able to look at us without turning us to stone.”
Narene looked at her hands which were small but overlarge for her size with nails like little black claws. Her robes had changed as well, turning from the long, flowing white fabric with gold trim to a gray and black tunic held together by a cracked leather belt. Her feet were bare and she had no other gear to speak of. She turned her hands over two more times and then held up a leg as she wiggled her callused green toes. “What am I?”
Lefty scratched his chin. “Well, my options were limited. The spell wasn’t the traditional version, but we didn’t have much choice. We need you to lead us through this place, but we can’t have you turning us into statues.”
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Narene gaped up at the mage. “You polymorphed me?”
Calista giggled, “Into a goblin apparently.”
Lefty held up a finger. “But, I might add, a lady goblin. I was worried it might turn you into a man.”
“I’d rather be a man than a goblin, you dolt!” Narene howled.
“I meant male, not man. Sorry.” Lefty said.
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Calista cooed sarcastically. “You’ll be fine. I’m sure you can find some wizard to turn you back to your original form when we escape this place.”
Narene stood up defiantly, her little face full of fury. “You two are the absolute worst.”
“Hey,” Calista placed her hands on her hips as she towered over Narene. “You had no right to be walking around as a medusa. That’s completely overpowered and you know it. I have no idea how you managed to get that character, but if you were really good enough to be playing her, then you wouldn’t have been caught by the likes of us.”
Narene stomped her foot. “I had just started playing. Blake said he needed someone to help him with an experiment.”
Lefty looked from Calista back to the tiny goblin woman. “What kind of experiment?”
She crossed her arms and held her nose up in the air. “Well, now I’m not telling you.”
Lefty sighed, but Calista just shrugged. “You can’t win them all.”
“I guess,” Lefty sighed and looked down at Narene. “So, can you get us to this guy’s inner sanctum, or what?”
Narene’s eyes looked about the room as she seemed to think about this. She looked up at Lefty with a suspicious glare. “And what do I get in return?”
Lefty sighed, “I’m sorry we had to do this, but if you earn our trust, I’ll personally make sure we get you turned back to normal as soon as we get out of here.”
Not if I can help it. Calista cut in, “But only if we kill Blake … I mean Severin first. And then only after we’re far away. And by far away, I mean like the other side of the map so the
dragons can’t find us.”
“Yeah, something like that.” Lefty agreed.
Narene thought about this some more. “Okay fine, but then one more thing.”
“No,” Calista shook her head, “not one more thing. You either agree to it, or I cut your little head off and light your body on fire.”
“What she means is, it depends on the thing,” Lefty added patiently.
Narene ignored Calista as she straightened her tunic. “Alright, all I want is to take someone with me. And before you ask, no, you don’t get to know who.”
Just then, the door handle behind them rattled as a voice called out. “Open this door!”
Lefty turned to Narene. “You got your deal. Just tell us how to get out of here.”
The door rattled again as the knight tried to force it open. “Narene, are you in there? Yell if you can hear me.”
“Hrmph.” Narene glanced at the door and then walked over to the corner of the room. Leaning down over a pile of bones and rotting clothing, she searched until she pulled out a broken leg bone. “Every room on this level has a key, you just have to know where to look.” Then she walked over to the wall opposite the door and stuck the broken end of the leg bone between two bricks and turned it as a section of the wall slid aside, revealing a dark hidden passageway.