It wasn't like waking up. There was none of the tiredness or worry when I found myself in Molly's realm. Looking around, I realized I was in some sort of forest with a path leading away from where I was. Following it led to a cleared hill with a beautiful white house standing on it.

Someone else walked out of the forest beside me. Turning, I saw Blake looking around confused. "Blake?"

Her head snapped around and I could see fear in her eyes. "D-Dusky?"

"Yeah. You want to—? Are you okay?" I asked, changing my tack when she rushed to me and hugged me. "What's up?"

"I'm scared. This is—This isn't normal. Why am I here? I tried to hurt you and Caprice." She looked up at me as I put my arms around her and hugged her—Caprice had trained me well for this.

"But you didn't. You're a good person who got in a bad situation. The reason you're here is because there's this new goddess that you need to see to believe. You know how Father is all about his church, and Mother is all about her monsters? Guess what Molly's primary domain is?" I didn't try to lead her up to the house yet. Blake seemed to need some time before she could do that.

Blake pressed her face against my shoulder. "Caprice told me M—her goddess' focus is people, but I'm not—"

"You are. You're exactly the sort of person Molly is here for. Hey, you want to ride up there?" I asked her.

"Ride?"

I'd not done it before. Focusing inward, I concentrated on what I looked like as a dragon, coaxed dragon-me out, and imagined stepping aside from Blake and becoming that side of myself.

It was the single most weird feeling I'd had of my life. Each bone, muscle, and patch of skin twisted, stretched, grew, or shrank. I gained an entirely new pair of limbs and a tail, plus my head was a few feet away from my shoulders.

Turning my head, I looked at Blake. "Ride. Hop on."

"R-R-Ride a dragon?! But I—" She seemed frozen for about ten seconds, but eventually her shock turned to a big and silly grin. "I will never get another chance to ride on a dragon, will I?"

"Who knows! Today you get to ride one, though." I wiggled my butt to make my tail swish behind me. "Sorry, but I can't really fly yet."

"But you're a dragon! How are you a dragon? Is this a dream-thing? Caprice said you were a dragon, but is that only in this dream?" She had a lot of questions, but Blake scrambled up my shoulder and climbed up on my back while she was asking them. "You don't have reins?"

"No, Blake, I don't have reins." I started walking, my body getting its sinuous sway going as I settled into a steady gait. "Relax. You're literally riding a dragon!"

I didn't want to mention the word god to her. Given her obvious excitement (shown off by the way she kept using her heels on my shoulders to try to speed me up), I was glad to get up to the house and slip inside the open archway.

Caprice and Molly were sitting on a couch together, discussing something. To one side Taffy sat, her head turning to me when I walked in. The smile she gave me boosted my mood higher and I smiled back.

"I found someone who needs to talk to you, Molls. This is Blake." I didn't exactly give Blake too much of a choice on the matter of meeting Molly, simply by walking up to my friend.

Looking up to Blake, Molly looked somewhat curious. "Caprice told me what happened. I don't hold you responsible for what happened."

"Told you so," I said.

Blake's hand rubbed my neck. I wondered if she was trying to reassure me or herself. Probably her. I guess anyone familiar with horse riding is going to treat me like a horse when they're riding. Having it used on me was a little embarrassing, but I don't think she meant anything by it.

I looked over at Caprice and saw her eyes wide, wings twitching, and her tail trying to wag behind her (but hindered by the couch). "Why don't you hop off and talk to Molly?"

Blake looked down at me, my eyes easily spotting the movement above my head thanks to them being on the sides of my head. "But she's a goddess! I'm just a—Oh gosh." She froze, tilting her head back up. "I didn't mean to ignore you, but I—"

"Please, Blake, relax. I don't want you to grovel or worship me or anything like that. I want to talk about what you need." Molly was talking to Blake, but I saw her eyes dip to me for a moment before focusing back on my "rider".

Molly got up and walked over to me. "Here, take my hand and hop down from Dusky."

Blake seemed unwilling to turn down a goddess when offering their hand. She climbed off my back and I don't think she even realized she gave my shoulders a firm pat. One thing occurred to me, though. If I behaved like a dragon-shaped horse, and someone treated me like a dragon-shaped horse, then I wasn't going to be a dragon-shaped killing machine to them. I was an almost-horse.

With Blake off my back and sitting down beside Molly, I turned to Caprice—who looked about five seconds from trying to tackle-hug me. "Hold up—" I was too late. She rushed at me, but rather than hugs, she grabbed my foreleg, heaved herself up my side and jumped onto my back.

"Come on, Dusky! Caprice want a dragon ride too!" She made no bones about it, digging her heels into the sides of my neck and jerking her hips like she had reins.

"Caprice, no."

"But Dusky gave Blake a ride!"

"Blake was terrified of meeting a god, Caprice. You are—not going to get off my back until we've walked around a bit, are you?" It wasn't giving up. I considered it bending to the unstoppable force of the universe.

"Nope!"

Dragon-me, if you're listening, let's turn this up to eleven and see if we can buck her off! Excitement bubbled up inside me and, following the instincts and desires of dragon-me, I started bounding around, leaping and bouncing while Caprice squealed on my back.

Jumping about, I let loose and had fun while Caprice kept on yelling. I froze, though, when I felt a strong presence other than Molly. Walking through the gardens that were Molly's home, I spotted the little procession. Dressed as a jester, of course, Fool was sitting on a throne with what looked like four men carrying it. When I got closer, though, I saw that the men were dummies and Fool actually had black pants on, carrying the throne himself.

It was the silliest thing ever and I think I loved it. Dancing around him, two familiar faces had metal rods with a burning thing on the end. Together they blew fire here, there, and everywhere—both the Maxes. And, riding a tiny donkey while facing backwards, the high priestess kept trying to turn around, only for the donkey to get angry and jostle her until she faced backwards again.

Bouncing my way over to them, I started dancing and prancing, trying to snap at Max's flames (both of them in turn) and generally welcoming them and making them feel at home. Up close, Fool clearly had two leather straps fitted over his shoulders that was carrying the throne contraption.

Caprice was laughing, I felt light as a feather, and I'm pretty sure Max and Max were now trying to create dragon shapes with their breathed flames for me to catch. It was like no time at all before we reached Molly—who I noticed had a big grin on her face.

"Presenting," I said, stopping and making my way to the side, "Fool, and their entourage!"

"Wait, Dusky?!" Max rushed over to me and stared into my eyes. "When they said—and you said—I didn't realize you really were a dragon!"

Jumping down from my back, Caprice bounced around and over to Molly before flopping on a seat beside her. "Come on. Take a seat."

I could see the raw, aching need to ask burning in Max's eyes. I could only assume that the presence of her god and the high priestess was the only thing holding her back from climbing up. "You want a ride over?" I asked.

She jumped up almost as fast as Caprice had. I wasn't in a mood to bounce around with another person, so curled up at Molly's feet and let Max use me as a seat. I guess I could have changed back, but without Taffy there to cuddle with, I didn't really see a point. Fool wasn't here to talk to me, anyway.

Was it weird to sleep while sleeping? I mean, maybe, but all I could feel was a weightless warmth. The dream wasn't anything I could even remember much, then I woke up in the actual world.

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I woke up and tried to get up—tried to move at all, in fact. Two strong arms were clamped around my shoulder and chest, and one leg was hooked over my hip. I tried to wiggle out of Taffy's grip, but my heart wasn't in it. Sighing, I put my arm around her and pulled us a bit closer together.

On the whole, I couldn't think of a good enough reason to get up, it was something I'd kinda trained myself to do. Get up early, get the bar ready… But I didn't have to. I could snuggle and no one would think to come and get me.

I lay there, listening to Taffy as she slowly started waking up. Her heart started beating a little faster, her breathing deepened and sped up, and soon she opened her eyes and looked at me. "Good morning," I said, and kissed her.

Her grip tightened, and I was being squeezed more firmly against her. Not that I minded being hugged against her, but it was still a little odd to have a girlfriend bigger than me. Bigger, stronger, and happy to use both to make me feel—Alright, so I might have a thing for this now. I definitely have a thing for this now.

When the kiss finally broke, she almost sounded like she was purring. "Dusky, can you wake me up every day like that?"

"I'll try." Tilting my head, I nuzzled into her neck like a kitten.

We spent a bit more of the morning cuddling before restlessness finally caught hold. We both, mutually and wordlessly, slipped out of the bed. We cleaned together, took our turns in the gong, and eventually got back together in the bedroom and started getting dressed.

"Armor?" I asked.

"I want to explore that sewer." Taffy was shifting her hips while I helped buckle straps down and get her armor fastened. It went without saying that she wanted to wear armor—I think now it would be hard to get her to not wear it—but I wasn't sure if I should put on my healing robes over my normal streetwear.

I thought about her plan and nodded. "Then I'll wear my robes but try to raise the hem a bit. White robes in a sewer is asking for—shit." Pulling my pants up while Taffy laughed, I passed her my corset. "Can you help me with this?"

We did our usual thing, swapping back and forth between us to get all our gear on in a timely fashion. I was finishing up the last strap on her shoulder and leaned down to put my head on the metal there. It wasn't cold, having picked up warmth from my holding it and from Taffy wearing it. Under the steel I could sense the leather shirt she wore, as well as the mail under that, and finally the muscles that supported it all.

"You were a guy before all this. How does this stack up to—to that?" She reached a hand up and brushed at my cheek with it.

"Different. Some of that comes from being here and not back there. This world isn't as safe as the one I came from, which means I'm always a little on edge that something bigger than me might hurt me and hurt my friends." I nuzzled a little more at the steel shoulder plate. "But there's this amazing woman who makes me feel safe no matter where I am."

"You liked girls back then?" Taffy asked.

"Yeah. I've never been with anyone like you, though. I still remember when those priests crowded around me to stop me moving past them, and they were bigger than me and I couldn't get by. Then you came out and shoved yourself into them." Closing my eyes, I could almost feel the panic from back then. "But that's not the only reason I love you."

"Tell me."

"It's not that you make me feel safe. I can see you constantly looking around, your eyes looking for people who need help. When I think of the word paladin, it's you I think of. You are—amazing. But that's not the only reason I love you."

She giggled. It wasn't all that common, normally she laughed, but a giggle was somehow more pure. "Keep going."

"You're vulnerable when you're with me. That giggle you made, just now, you don't laugh like that when others are around. You're open to me in a way that makes me feel awed. I try to match it, I hope I can." As I spoke, I felt her tense a little. "You also make me feel sexy, horny, even plain wanting to dress for you. It's a lot of work to put aside years of being a guy to accept this"—I tried to gesture to myself, but it was a little lacking in bed—"but you make it something I want to do."

"Dusky," Taffy said as she turned, wrapping her arms around me, "don't feel that you need to change. I love you just the way you are."

Our bedroom door opened wide enough to let a kobold poke her head in. "Oh, Dusky and Taffy still snuggling? I'll tell everyone another ten minutes."

"Wait," we both said at the same time.

"Interrupting hugs should be illegal." I broke the hug at the same time Taffy did. We kissed and made our way to the door.

"Yeah. Hey, why don't we make it a crime punishable by no kobold-snuggles?" Taffy passed me my knife and my staff before grabbing her sword belt and shield.

"Wait," Caprice's concern was evident in her voice. "No kobold-snuggles means no Caprice snuggles! Caprice sorry!"

"Maybe you could let her off with a warning," I said.

"Nope. I will have to confiscate this kobold." With that, Taffy reached out and grabbed Caprice, picking up the laughing kobold and slinging her over her shoulder. "Come on, let's go see who we should report this kobold to."

From our bedroom it was two flights of stairs to reach the barroom. Taffy didn't waver despite Caprice kicking and squirming on her shoulder, mostly because Caprice couldn't reach much other than Taffy's armor with her fists and feet.

In the barroom, Yaff, Jules, Chloe, and both Maxes were sitting around a table discussing something. They all turned and stared at Taffy as she approached them.

"I found this kobold being extremely silly." Taffy bounced her shoulder a little, earning another round of kicking from Caprice. "I would like to return her for a replacement. A kobold who is nicer and deserves hugs."

"No refunds, no changeovers." Yaff didn't even look up from the stew she was eating, though her ears flicked a few times. Was that how she laughed?

"Looks like we can't get a swap, Taffy," I said, taking a seat at the table and pulling out a chair beside me.

Taffy sat down, Caprice still on her shoulder, and seemed to relax. "Okay, I'll return this kobold later. What's for breakfast?"

"A rich tomato stew. It's delicious." Yaff was in the process of wiping her bowl clean with a hunk of bread.

"That's her second bowl," GirlMax said. "Want me to get you two some?"

"Yes please," I said, with Taffy not far behind me.

I noticed something about GirlMax that seemed odd today. I looked at her, and then across to GuyMax. Something strange was going on, but I didn't want to make them feel bad about anything.

GuyMax yawned and stretched his arms above his head, arching his back. "That was quite the dream last night. Thanks for the dragon seat last night." I froze at that. I'd definitely let Max sit on me while I was a dragon, but it had been GirlMax. He seemed to notice and nodded toward another table.

I got up, feeling a little lost, and followed him over to sit down. "Uh…?"

He breathed out a sigh. "It's not that I wanted to trick you, but some days I feel more like a girl or more like a guy. Max and I swap out our clothes, I wear a tight top, and he puts on some padding."

There were terms for it, I was sure. It seemed like there were words for everything about gender and sex and stuff, at least back on Earth. Given my current circumstances, and how my opinion was just roll with it, I smiled at Max. "Does Max feel the same?" When Max nodded, I could feel a bit of a headache coming on. "Well, it's cool if it works for you. Uh, do you have a different name I can use to keep the two of you straight in my head?"

"You—you don't think this is odd?"

"I think it's different, but not odd. Where I'm from, we try to let people be what they want to be. It's not like it affects me if you're a guy or a girl." I promised myself I would try to keep Earth as being a happy symbol of peace and love, at least for now. Besides, I don't think Molly told them we were from a different world. "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"Yeah. Your homeland sounds amazing." Standing up, Max stretched and I swear I couldn't see a hint of whatever tricks she—he—used to carry out the illusion. Max's hips still looked a little feminine, I realized, but the other Max's hips were far wider. Damn they were good at this.

"It had its moments. Come on, I want to see what Taffy's going to do to Caprice for poking fun at us." I stood up too and walked back to the table with him. Taffy had put Caprice down—in my seat—and was pulling another seat over for me as I reached her. "Did you work out a way to get a new kobold?"

"No one will exchange a kobold." Taffy held out her arm to me so I could sit and snuggle against her at the same time. She looked down at me, a questioning expression on her face. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah. I was talking to Max about something I noticed on our way here and again last night. So, what are we doing today?" I asked.

Jules cleared her throat as Max brought back two bowls of stew and a large piece of buttered bread each for me and Taffy. "Max is going to take me out to talk to cartwrights, and I think Max was going to take you to get certified for some adventuring work. Right?"

Max and Max shared a significant look, one in which first the one near us smiled, then the other Max smiled as well.

"Yup! You have plans for what you want, and money, and that means you get what you want in Shining City." GirlMax, that is not the Max who'd revealed their secret to me, slipped down onto a seat beside Jules and beamed like she had won a million dollars.

I was reminded of something by the talk of money. "Max, when I was in Northwind, I had a lot of things stored in the local bank vault up there. Would I be able to get those brought down here, do you think?"

"Sure. You might have to pay a transfer fee, more if they're valuable and need protection, but the guild's job is literally the protection of valuable items and currency. They have their own army and everything."

As Max explained it, I tested my stew. The rich tomato flavor was everything Yaff had said and more. "Then I think I need to visit them today and arrange that. If we're going to be here a while, it would be good to get all my stuff moved out of that town."

"Why'd you leave anything there at all?" Taffy asked me.

"Because there was so much stuff even you couldn't carry it all. Armor, weapons, potions… So. Much. Stuff!"

"Really?" Taffy rubbed her chin. "I don't suppose you had any kobolds in with all that?"

When Caprice opened her mouth to complain about the running gag, Taffy put her arm around her and squeezed. "You know I'm only joking, Caprice. Also, kobold-snuggle status is reinstated."

Caprice let out a happy squeak and hugged back, which was about the most adorable thing I've seen her do. "No kobolds. There's only one kobold I know, and she's too important to store in a bank with all my old armor stuff."

"Sooooo. We're going to see about doing some adventuring?" I asked.

"Certification first. Finish that and we can get going and I'll see how well you work together." Max nodded at me and Taffy. "So eat up, you have a big day ahead."

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The walk across town, to the opposite side of the gated section of the city, was a reminder of how loud crowds could be. I wouldn't say it was giving me flashbacks of the mob in Northwind, but it made me want to grind my teeth. "Where are we going?"

"This building right here." Max, who'd put on some street clothes over his bodysuit, gestured to the big building we'd reached. Opening the door, he led the way inside.

It was quite bright inside owing to the large windows set high. The ceiling of the huge room was something like thirty feet up, with those windows that, from the outside, had looked like they were on the next floor up. There was a reception that Max was striding over to.

Without anything else to do, we followed.

"… registering these people as an approved adventure group for city work." Max was talking to a man behind the counter and then gestured back to us. "It shouldn't take much time to do, they already have a good combination."

The clerk turned his attention from Max to us. "Is this all of you? Right, I need to know what you do and for you to prove that's the case with something specific to your class. Start with you, miss?" He was pointing at Caprice.

"Caprice's a beastmaster! Uh, oh! Here. Cuddles! Caprice mean, Summon Nature's Ally, Nature's Toughness." With both her spells cast, Caprice had her big, cuddly tiger out and climbed up on Cuddles' back. "Is that enough?"

The clerk nodded and pointed to Taffy.

"Valkyrie, Blast of Life." The burst of life-giving magic from her always made me tingle precisely because it was so close to what I did.

"Excellent. We require every group working for us to have a source of healing. Next?" He gestured at Yaff.

"Bushwhacker. You probably don't want to see any of my specifics from that, though, but I think this should work, Stealth." With that ability used, she faded from sight—like she always did.

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"The city acknowledges that certain skill-sets are required for operating safely as a group. Please don't feel ostracized because your craft is tragically named." The man seemed, on the whole, quite nice. He pointed to Chloe next.

"Champion," Chloe said, reaching up to tap the handle of her huge weapon. "War March." The rush of physical energy was unmistakable and got a nod from the guy.

At last, he gestured to me. "Healer. Balanced Health." At the look of surprise he gave me I again had to think of how rare healing types were outside of religious groups. "Is there something wrong?"

"No. Nothing wrong at all. Your skill-set is uncommon to see—at least in this line of work. Your group has two healing sources, though, and more than enough offensive and defensive capability to tackle even the toughest jobs on our books. You're cleared to work at your own pace through the register of tasks, or you can apply for guild membership." He sounded like he was doing his best not to sound offensive when talking about me. Did Father's priests have that much of a choke hold on healing arts?

Then it hit me—he thought I was one of Father's priests. There was an easy way to crush that idea, but I needed the right opening to bring up Molly. "What's guild membership do?"

"Membership costs you a modest fee, but you gain access to the guild's merchants and crafters at a discount rate, you will have priority for the most rewarding tasks, and limited support from the guild on legal matters." He seemed to quickly shift from talking about the fee to all the advantages. He didn't look hopeful about it.

"And how much is this membership?" I asked.

"During probation, one gold per person per month for five years. After that you are a full member and there are no fees." The man didn't sound hopeful at all.

I looked at Max, but he shrugged back. "What do you say, Max. Is it worth it?"

"How long are you going to be at this? Don't you have something you need to do before the end of the year?" Max asked.

"Mmhmm. Dusky, don't go doing anything silly." Taffy put her arm around my shoulders and squeezed me.

That's when I realized that everyone else in our little group was quiet. They were waiting for me to make a decision. "Okay, one month for all of us. If nothing else, we can work out some new gear and get some leveling done."

I fished around for a moment, to find my money, when I remembered that Taffy had it. "Can you give change?" I asked the guy, pulling a mithril coin out of the bag Taffy offered.

He returned five gold to me (which I pocketed) and then held out five little cards. "Please, you have to touch one and it will bind to you. They will change color when your month has expired. You can either pay to have them made active again or tearing them in half will make them fall apart."

Picking one up, I felt a tingle from the card as it turned blue. "Okay, so, do you have any recommendations for a party like ours?"

"Given your party make-up, with such sustain and non-reliance on healing potions, I have one high-paying mission I can recommend. It will be several hours of sustained fighting, too much for a group lacking direct healing. We have a deep-gnome infestation in the sub-sewers. Their tunnels are like a maze down there." He pulled out a sheet of paper and turned it for us to look at.

What stood out to me about it was—

"Why does the reward keep getting crossed out and a higher number added?" Yaff asked, tapping a claw on the relevant part.

"Because we don't have a lot of groups that have so much healing. It's not common at all outside—outside a particular priesthood."

I couldn't help it, I made a snerking sound. "None of us are his followers. We follow a goddess, actually. Neutrality." The look of relief on the guy's face was hilarious. "Have there been problems with his followers here?"

"Some, yes. Pressure on the guild to limit what faiths we allow on missions and even what faiths we allow as guild members. It was getting worse and worse and then—" He looked over at Max and smiled slightly. "And, then we had some support from a church that is both more tolerant and better connected in the city."

Jumping backwards to land his rear on the counter, Max nodded. "The king realizes it's important to have a laugh." When all he got was a droll look from the man behind the counter, Max went on. "Well, it turns out that the followers of stinky-britches demanded that only followers of good aligned deities be allowed in here. Someone told the king this, and estimated that the adventuring guild would be reduced by nearly eighty percent. He stepped in and declared the guild protected from religious interference. Did I get it all right?" Max tilted his head and looked back at the man.

"I cannot comment on specifics, but some of that sounds correct." The guy actually smiled a little before the smile was coughed away. "What followed was most of the dedicated healing types, such as yourself, demanding their groups not work with us. It's made the price of healing potions obscene."

"I can make those," I said. "Kinda. I can imbue alcohol with healing spells."

"Not useful for adventuring work, Dusky," Max said. Then he leaned closer to the guild guy. "She can imbue alcoholic drinks with her spells. Works fine if someone is recovering, because a shot of something strong will knock them out. Not so good if you need to keep your wits about you."

"Oh. Still, we might be interested in buying some off you for such recoveries. Perhaps even use them to pay for your membership, should you desire to extend it?"

I shrugged. Money wasn't exactly a problem—but good will toward Molly was. "I'll give you the potions for nothing if you tell me what you need. I can make several kinds, plus I can do it for any spell I know. If you can help me get some levels, I can make far more powerful potions."

"I see. An incentive for us to provide you with the best tasks. Very well. This is no more strange than trading information and power is for merchants. Bring me a dozen potions each time you want a task, and I'll see you get the most rewarding I can find." He held out his hand toward me.

It was a good deal. I held out my hand and shook. "So, these deep gnomes?"

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The easiest way to get to the deeper parts of the city sewers was to meet up with a work crew heading in and get a hand navigating deeper from them, it turned out. They had two guards with them who kept them from being overwhelmed by anything nasty.

"Still can't believe you're a healer." Gregory, a man who carried a large crossbow and a shortbow over his shoulder, had said that more than ten times already.

"Greg, give it a rest." That was Granite Fist. She was a bubbly and bouncy kobold that had large straps around her big fists and was wearing a small breastplate over her torso. "They're here for a job, too, and it's one we can't do." She also spoke a lot better than Caprice did.

"It's okay, really," I said. "This is what I get for following a new goddess and letting her make me a healer."

"'New goddess'? You're not going to start spouting She Who Hungers stuff at us, are you?" Greg spared a glance back at me, as if he expected I'd turned into a monster on him.

Granite laughed. "That only happened once, Greg. She wasn't all that bad, so far as abominations go. Handy in a fight."

"She tried to seduce me."

"You should have gone for her."

"She had tentacles, Gran."

"So you did go for her?"

Greg slumped his shoulders a bit. "I tried, okay? What guy would turn that down. She was gorgeous!"

"Above the waist," Gran said.

"Yeah. The tentacles had teeth on them, too, though she didn't bite."

Gran nodded, giving off a sage air of superiority. "That's how you know she liked you."

"Anyway, that's why I ask. She could heal too, you know, but I only let her heal me once."

"Tell 'em how she healed you, Greg." Gran seemed to be having a lot of fun ribbing her partner. She was walking along, but even though she talked to Greg and us, her eyes roamed the tunnel ahead.

"Yeah, yeah. You love this part, don't you?" Greg rolled his eyes and rolled up his right sleeve. On his arm was a scar showing a lot of tearing and nasty damage—all neatly healed so only the scar remained. "So, here I am with this nasty slice that a deep-gnome's pet badger ripped in me, and then she comes up, grabs my arm, and starts licking into the wound. Freakiest thing but—but it healed me. There was venom and everything, but she ate it all up and poured life energy into me."

I elbowed him in the side and waited for him to look at me. "Don't expect that kind of service from me."

Gran lost it. She started cackling, then belly-laughing at my joke. She had to hold up a hand to the work group to pause for a moment.

At the edge of my hearing, and over Gran's laughter, I heard a sound that made me tense up. "I heard something ahead," I said.

On one side Greg brought his crossbow up and on the other Taffy stepped up and past Gran.

It was Taffy's movement that saved Gran from the large bolt fired at their group—that slammed into her shoulder—and not Gran's chest. Her shield up, Taffy strode forward. "Find those targets. Get Cuddles in here to flush them out!"

I felt more than heard Cuddles running past, and somehow sensed that Yaff ghosted by too, and figured I should be getting everyone ready for a fight. "Bless! Enhance Constitution!" Two spells that were fast and easy to cast and would ensure everyone was a little safer.

"Nature's Acceleration!" I could hear Caprice's spellcasting even over the shouts of alarm from the workers. "Nature's Toughness!"

"War March! I'll stick with the group back here!" Chloe stood beside and slightly in front of me. Her affect was always such a rush of energy, and even if I wasn't using it, I felt like I could go and run a marathon.

The sound of weapons clashing in front of us, along with one of Cuddles' roars, led to me casting, "Balanced Health," because it seemed like a good idea.

When the sounds of fighting stopped, without even hearing Taffy use her healing shout, I cast a "Group Channel Life" to make sure everyone would be feeling fine.

Stepping out from behind a blind corner ahead, Taffy and Yaff were discussing something while they both inspected a crossbow. Yaff had another of the weapons, as well as two sword belts over one shoulder. Behind them, Cuddles looked particularly proud of herself.

"… and I think they're worth more than that. We'll take them to the guild and they can tell us." Yaff passed Taffy the second crossbow and both sword belts. "There was two guys. They didn't want to talk and weren't interested when Taffy told them to give up. About yea tall." She held her hand up to above her hip.

"Gray skin and angry eyes?" Gran asked. When Yaff nodded, she replied, "Deep gnomes. Looks like they're pushing up further and further."

"And we took on the job to clear 'em out." Yaff shrugged, flicking her dagger between hands with practiced ease.

"Good luck with that, though I bet having your own healer type helps a lot. Nothing against your profession, ma'am, just not a lot of you around—and those that are usually aren't half as helpful as you are." Greg seemed to be doing his best not to offend me, though he wasn't the best at it.

Rolling my eyes at all the implied dancing around the core problem, I said, "Please, that's something I'm trying to change. Starting with myself, but there's already a young healer I've helped onto the path to better things—without getting mired in a particular religious group."

His concern seemed to melt and he slumped a little. "I didn't want to get into that. Bringing up the gods and who is on what side—It's the best way to start arguments and get yourself talked at for an hour."

Memories of dealing with people door-knocking to ask if I knew about whatever god they believed in surfaced and were pushed away with a groan. "Don't worry, we won't waste our breaths talking if you don't want to listen. Religion shouldn't be about who can speak for the longest time."

There were no more interruptions on our trip to where the workers were needed. Greg and Gran pointed out the tunnel that we needed to get deeper. Yaff had the lead, somewhere ahead. The rest of us were in a tight grouping with Caprice and me toward the back and Cuddles behind us.

We kept quiet, mostly out of habit but also so we didn't give ourselves away too much. Taffy's armor was, however, making enough noise for ten other people—not that any of us would complain about her being protected like that.

I don't know exactly how long it took, but we seemed to be walking for an hour when Taffy, at the front of our group, stopped. She looked thoughtful a moment then nodded. "There's an ambush ahead. Four enemies, two hiding with crossbows, one in heavy armor, and one with a set of wands. Yaff is going to tackle the wand user—we have to get the attention of the others and keep her alive."

"I'll put some heals on her the moment she appears," I said, then ran through my buffs as quietly as I could to get everyone some protection.

"Dusky should relax a little, there's nothing down here," Caprice said, her eyes twinkling as she raised her voice slightly to say it.

"Yeah," Chloe said, "but they pay us to come down and trudge out this trail. Who knows, we might run into some kind of cave bunny."

Their words didn't so much calm me down as encourage me to be confident. We'd beaten up the last group, after all, and this was our standard plan of attack. There was a long tunnel that we were walking down, that had branches off it to the sides every now and again. The gradient had been tilting down for a while, but as it evened off they struck.

Or rather, they started to strike. Their tank, in dark platemail with a big shield and sword (relative to his shorter stature), stomped out of a side passage to put himself in the middle of the tunnel. The two with crossbows stepped out to line up shots and, when the mage stood up from behind a rock, a dagger tip poked out through his throat.

"Major Channel Life." I cast the spell and it landed on Yaff a moment before she vanished again. The caster was clutching at his throat and looking around in a panic, mouth working but without any words coming out.

That's when it hit me—she'd stabbed him so he couldn't shout a warning about her. I had to pull my attention from watching the guy fumbling for something to duck behind cover as a crossbow bolt whizzed past my head. On the other side of the tunnel, Caprice was already ducked behind cover with a big grin on her face, though Cuddles couldn't be seen. "Nature's Acceleration," she said.

Right. I could use group-targeting heals and not even make a target of myself! The downside, I quickly realized, was that I couldn't see how hurt people were. So, with a sigh, I poked my head out from cover and looked to see what was going on.

The enemy caster was gone. He'd fallen down somewhere and probably been finished off by Yaff—who was now introducing the fighter Taffy was still toe-to-toe with to the pointy parts of her daggers. Cuddles was mid-air, a terrified looking crossbowman staring at her—realizing he was out of his depth trying to fight a cat that probably weighed three times what he did. The last crossbowman now had Chloe in his face. He'd abandoned his main weapon and was trying to face off against someone with a much larger blade and longer reach with a dagger.

Of the whole party, only Chloe looked at all wounded. There was blood in the fur of her right side, below where her breastplate sat. Probably a crossbow bolt. "Major Heal!" The glow around where her wound probably was confirmed for me that it was her blood and that it was now somewhat healed.

With both of the crossbowmen down, I stood up and took a good look around. Taffy was trading blows with the other tank in the middle of the tunnel, neither able to disengage without being hit unless the other allowed it. Even under the big helmet he wore, the deep gnome was starting to look worried.

I walked up, with Caprice beside me, until we were about ten feet behind Taffy. "You know what would be the worst thing, Caprice? Setting up an ambush and then not noticing that an enemy had ghosted past you and was killing your mage."

"Caprice thinks it's probably worse when both archer friends get taken down by big kitty cats." Giggling, Caprice seemed proud of her joke.

I didn't know exactly how Chloe and Cuddles got past the tank, but I'm betting Taffy probably had something to do with it. She always has a way to keep my attention, and I think with a sword and shield she'd be even better at keeping someone's focus on her.

"Surrender," Taffy said.

The gnome backed up a step, his weapon and shield still up, and said, "I will not dishonor myself." He turned and, seeing Cuddles, Yaff, and Chloe, charged them.

Of the three, Cuddles had the quicker reaction time. She pounced at the gnome and set about peeling back the weaker parts of his armor.

When the gnome brought his shield around and clubbed Cuddles in the face, Yaff seemed to have had enough. She stepped around him like she was dancing, brought a dagger up to his neck, found a gap between two layered pieces of armor, and drove her weapon deep. "Are you done?" When he didn't seem to be, she angled her wrist and worked the blade around.

The gnome fell, lifeless.

It's a bit different fighting against people instead of monsters, but all the same they were here to kill us and others from the city. "That's all of them?" I asked.

"Yeah. Checking them for anything valuable." Yaff was always dedicated to finding absolutely everything of value.

I made a point of checking everyone over, asking those who could reply if they were hurt, but out of the whole group of us only Cuddles was. "You need to let me know when you're hurt." Cuddles stared up at me with the kind of expression a puppy gives when they know they've done something wrong. "I don't mind healing you and this—" I gripped the handle of the small dagger that was sticking out of her side. "Major Heal," I said, casting my spell as I pulled the blade out. "This is something I can fix in seconds."

She put her paw on my chest and pushed me back—then started licking me in thanks. Sitting there on my butt, with a tiger standing on my shoulders giving me a tongue-bath, I couldn't stop the laugh boiling up inside. "Yeah, I appreciate you too, Cuddles." Hugging her around the neck, I squeezed a bit before letting go. "But, uh, can I get up?"

With one more lick Cuddles climbed off me, though she let out a deep rumble that was as close to a purr as she was likely to get. I reached an arm around her shoulders and used her to pull me up. Yaff was in the process of checking over the bodies still, so I tried to relax and Focus to replace the mana I'd used.

"There was a little gold on them. Knives and things too. I don't think they were carrying too many valuables because they were out here." Yaff showed me the handful of coins they had. It really was nothing compared to how much we had. "It's not much, but it adds up. I'll collect it and we can figure things out later."

Our instructions said exactly how far down we had to patrol. The path seemed to have several contractions, which is where the deep gnomes were ambushing us. Though Yaff found those ambushes every time and eliminated the element of surprise they would have otherwise held.

Moving on in our formation, we reached the required patrol length, and knew it too because we all got XP. The others, in fact, all leveled up.

It might have been the last vestiges of my overly competitive nature melting, but it felt good to see them all so excited about now being the same level as me. I mean, sure, I was going to get to level seven before them, but the higher we got the less that margin would exist.

"Okay, so we head out now?" Taffy asked.

We all nodded, and I said, "It would be interesting to continue, but it'd be even better with a quest to go further."

"Caprice thinks that a good idea." So saying, she climbed up on Cuddles' back. "She also think it's almost nap time. Most kobolds might prefer underground, but not this one."

"Most kobolds aren't as huggable as you, Caprice," I said, reaching out and, since she was at shoulder level, giving her a hug.

The walk back to the surface was uneventful. We passed the workers that Gran and Greg escorted down, heading back up to the surface. It felt a little odd, coming out of the tunnels. Being underground got to some people, but I apparently didn't have a problem with it.

Making our way around the city, I realized I'd gotten so used to Father's people being everywhere that being ignored was nice. Nonetheless, I picked a good moment and slipped-in beside Taffy and under her welcoming arm.

"Those guys were pretty tough. I don't think I've seen Yaff struggle that much, but then, she was soloing one of them." Taffy gave me a squeeze. "The focus on their ranged attackers worked well, though. I don't think you or Caprice were in any real danger at all."

"Now we know that," I said, "it will give us more opportunity to get through the fights a bit quicker. They were tough opponents, but if we push ourselves we could use more buffs and let Caprice use her damage spells."

"I really wish we didn't have to kill them, but they have made their choices. They are invading the city's space, not the other way around." Taffy sounded like she was trying to convince herself of that.

I had to prod at my own morals. Was I not using them enough? Did they atrophy? No, the deep gnome guys were coming into the city's warrens and causing trouble. The ones that fought us—well, they started that. We didn't exactly ask them nicely to please leave, and they did attack us first. Mother's minions would probably do the same, but she at least told them not to hurt us.

Conflicted a little, I decided to let it slide for now. If they decided to ask us to talk instead of fight, then I would start to think of them in terms other than enemy. "They also attacked us first, remember? If you hadn't moved fast to block them, they would have hit Gran with that bolt."

"Yeah, but much as I like Gran, do we know they weren't involved in doing things to the deep gnomes that would mark them as a target?" she asked. My face must have betrayed my surprise because she nodded. "That's what I worry about."

It was further than I was getting and it surprised me that I hadn't thought about it. Was I too trusting? "Huh. Is there anything I can help with?"

She leaned over and kissed the top of my head. "Keep doing what you're doing, Dusky. We all stay safe with you around."

Chloe led the way into the adventurers' guild where we'd gotten the quest in the first place. Moving as a group, we headed to the counter. "We'd like another quest, thanks. For tomorrow."

"You're the group with the—Yes. Well, you'll have a priority for jobs tomorrow, but right now we'd like to borrow your healer's expertise." The woman behind the counter nodded her head toward a side room.

I looked up at Taffy and she nodded to me.

"I'll come and keep her company," Taffy said, then turned to the others. "We'll meet you back at the tavern."

I had to give Caprice a hug, and Cuddles a pat, and we let Chloe take the reward back to the tavern, then headed toward the side room. As soon as I saw what they had, I had to laugh. "A whole barrel?"

The guy from earlier in the day escorted us over to the table. "It was cheaper and less conspicuous to get a barrel. And, if you want to keep working, we'll keep it chilled. Would you like me to do the pouring?"

I laughed and reached for the first of the little metal tubes in the box beside the keg. "It has a cool-down of a minute. There's no point trying to rush." Topping it up, I focused on it. "Imbue Boost, Major Heal." Fastening the top I passed the vial to the guy.

He looked at me for a moment, then turned his attention to the vial. His lips moved silently and then he gasped. "It's really a healing potion." He looked up at me. "One a minute?"

Nodding, I reached for another vial and got it ready. "Yeah, give me a little bit and I'll keep going. This isn't exactly the first time I've done this."

"I could imagine that." He seemed to be chewing his lip and worrying about something. "Can I ask something a little more personal?"

Ugh. Well, he can ask but me answering is not guaranteed. "Sure, it's a free co—Go ahead." It was an odd saying to bring up like that, especially since it probably wasn't a free country, given it's a monarchy.

"What god do you follow, because I know you don't follow him." The emphasis the guy put on the words told me exactly who he meant.

"Goddess Molly. She's neutral except where people are concerned. Every life is important to her, which is why she will grant healing abilities to any follower who wants to walk this path. Though, making potions from spells is another deal entirely." It was nice to be able to talk to someone about her, knowing their thoughts on Father already.

"You said she was neutral, I figured—what with your friend—that you were followers of Fool. A new goddess? Does she have any standing or relationships with existing gods?"

That made me grin. "Hunter, Cartmaster, Fool, and Mother are her allies so far, with others expected to join her cause." The last word made the guy's eyebrow rise on one side, and I was about to answer when I realized it was time again. "Imbue Boost, Major Heal. I think discussing that would need me to know who you follow."

"I follow my Lady Luck. She—" There was a tingle to the air. The slightest hint of what could be, if only the right chance came about, seemed to hang heavy. "…watches over me, lets me know when I'm rolling the wrong dice or picking the wrong path in a dungeon." He acted like he hadn't noticed the sensation, even if he had paused for several seconds.

Taffy put her arm around me and squeezed a little—a signal she was fine to answer while I worked. "Is there a church dedicated to her? I could ask our high priestess to arrange a meeting."

He laughed. "Lady Luck doesn't have any structure like that. You're a paladin?" At Taffy's nod, he went on. "Well, maybe you could pray to your goddess and ask her permission to ask for a little luck."

That's when something hit me from earlier. "When his followers demanded only good-deity-followers be allowed to be members—that would have kicked you out of your own guild."

"You see how easy it is for a king to buy loyalty for very little coin that nonetheless is precious beyond measure?" The way he put that together told me he was a lot better than I was at giving speeches.

"His followers first tried to kidnap Dusky. Things got a little hectic, but in the end they tried to kill us all and did kill my father." I thought Taffy might be out of tears, but she still cried beside me.

I had to wiggle a little to get out from under her arm so I could put my own around her. Her shoulders were so much wider than mine, but I made it work.

He bowed his head a little. "I'm sorry for that, truly. I would ask if it was a frontier town, but the truth is his followers could get away with that in all but the largest settlements now. They weren't always like this. They were—They were less aggressive about their faith, but every year they seem to be pressuring what leaders they don't have completely in their pocket, and many succumb."

I created three more vials before any of us felt like saying something that wasn't a power activation.

"You don't have to say them out loud like that." The guildmaster nodded at me. "Whispering it or even mouthing the words can get them to work just as well."

Taffy looked from him to me, her eyes widening.

"I thought that's how it had to work," I said.

Taffy shifted out from my grip and looked at me accusingly. "We were all doing that because you—Wait! Yaff doesn't say hers out loud anymore." She started to giggle now, and I didn't know it was possible for her to look so beautiful—even in her heavy armor.

So I tried it next time I made a potion. First time I mumbled the words under my breath and, sure enough, it still worked. I looked over at Taffy.

"You really want me to try cutting your head off?" Taffy asked.

I gave her my best droll look until she snorted in reply. "You could use your healing blast."

She tried to say it under her breath, but the words were still audible. Then the rush of healing magic made me shiver a little. Her eyes flicked a little wider and I realized I might have given away how her healing magic feels.

"Guess we can keep working on it," I said, then turned my attention to the guildmaster again. "Thank you for the information. How many more of these would you like?"

"Every one will save lives. If you could give me a thousand, it would still not be enough. You will continue to get favorable treatment for every twenty you make. If—If you would be willing to establish a shrine in the guild hall, that would be appreciated, too." He stood up, stretched, and started for the door. "I'm sure you two don't need me holding your hands here. Can you make the rest regeneration potions?"

Checking the stack, I noticed there were ten on there already. "Sure. I have Major Channel Life I can put in them." He nodded and left. "Okay, so I'll keep working on making my spells as quiet as I can. Then we can see about getting some stuff that looks like armor but isn't."

"Why would—Oh! So you don't look like a healer. The problem is you don't act like anything but a healer. Maybe get a bow and some arrows, then use some leather armor?" The way Taffy looked at me, she was definitely thinking about leather.

We kept our voices low and talked about fashion of all things, but fashions of armor. What would be the best way to disguise me, how best to make me seem unimportant—all the while I made their potions and Taffy practiced her own two spells (Life's Blessing and Blast of Life).

When Taffy reached for the tap herself, I shook my head. "You don't want that. Come back to the tavern and we'll find something nice to drink and then we can relax together."

Taffy looked at me with one eyebrow raised. "'Relax', you say?" When I nodded, she picked me up, stood up, and slung me over her shoulder. "Then I am officially confiscating you for relaxation duty!"

I started to squeal, but then realized that Taffy was about to carry me out over her shoulder through the guild house. Getting a grip on my voice, I instead slumped and tried on my most droll expression as she opened the door.

There were about a dozen people I could see. Some looked our way with concern, and met my eyes, before they quickly turned to grins.

"Excuse me, I'm just making off with this healer before anyone else snatches her up." Walking to the door, chuckles and a laugh or two followed us out into the evening. "How long until your time?" she asked when we were outside.

"I might have another day. Maybe two. I can feel it every now and again. I could probably change now if I focused—but then you'd be stuck without a healer for longer." I didn't so much object to being carried as find her armored shoulder a little uncomfortable. Shifting a little, I managed to get the worst edge to stop poking me.

"Why are you squirming so much?"

"Because your armor is made to keep you comfortable, not whoever is riding on your shoulder." She shifted a little, then lifted me off her shoulder and into a classic princess carry, giving me the chance to put my arm around the back of her neck and get way more comfortable. "Better?"

It was, and I said as much. She carried me all the way to the tavern, and it struck me how strong and capable she was. I hadn't been unfit before all this, but carrying someone four blocks while wearing armor and not so much as flinching from the effort was something else. "I think I said this before, but I've never been with a girl who's strong like this before."

"Oh?" she asked, opening the door and carrying me in. "I like hearing your thoughts like this, Dusky."

Unlike the guild house, the tavern was almost empty. Caprice was sitting on the floor by the fire with Cuddles behind her, and Yaff was seated on a low couch further away from the heat, sipping on a glass of wine. "Do you really want to drink something or should we go take a bath and then do some of that relaxing?"

The bath, and the remainder of the time we spent before falling asleep, was the best idea we'd had all day.

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This story is released under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license. If you are paying money to see this or the original creator, Damaged, is not credited, you are viewing a plagiarized copy of the story.