I could actually relax when the door was closed behind me, not that I left Taffy's side. Lunch hadn't actually started yet, so I had a bit of time to take my things upstairs. "You wanna see what I got?" It's fine, Dusky, you're just inviting your best friend up to your room to watch you dress.

Wow, that sounded way more sexy in my head. Also, I'm calling myself Dusky in my head now. Or have I before?

"You got a bunch of girly dresses. Just put some things on and model them down here for us." Taffy gave me a squeeze and let go, casting me adrift.

With my backpack load of dresses and shirts, and a sack of leather goods, I rushed upstairs and almost right into Caprice. "They had all my stuff!"

Caprice, naturally, gave me a hug. "Caprice sees Taffy. Does Dusky want to show off for her big friend?"

"You know I do," I said, giving her a hug back. In her dress, Caprice kept her wings folded and covered, which meant I had less chance of being trapped by a sneaky Kobold.

"The blush on Dusky's cheeks never lies. Come on, let's make you look handsome." Caprice let go of the hug but grabbed one of my hands and led me to my bedroom.

"Now, Caprice knows Taffy likes cute and dresses, but she admires rugged and strong more. That's why Caprice said handsome and not pretty. Not that it is hard to make Dusky pretty, Caprice just has to get Dusky to blush to do that—And, there we go." It was positively agonizing how easily she managed to manipulate me, but at the same time I couldn't hold it against her.

I let myself be guided to my bed and Caprice took the bag off my back and the sack too. "I need to return that sack by the end of the day." That's when I realized I'd be taking it back with Jack and Jill out there.

"Dusky had problem outside?" Caprice asked as she reached for the dress I was wearing and started lifting it off me.

I sighed. "Yeah. Some priests from The Father tried to get all in my face about joining them. They tried to goad me into attacking them."

"Oh, good, Dusky got leather oils for these." Caprice set the two jars on my chest of drawers and turned back to the sack. "Ooh, these boots will look great on Dusky." She lifted out the boots, a pair of pants, and my new jacket, then fetched a shirt from the backpack.

"Put this on first. Then the pants. Boots go over those. Jacket on top." Caprice gestured to things as she worked unpacking the rest. "All this other stuff can go later."

I looked at where she set the corsets and, when I reached out to touch one, Caprice smacked my hand. "Hey. Why can't I wear one?"

"Because of all the things you have here, they will need the most love with oiling. Dusky, put your shirt and pants on."

The shirt was button-up and, according to the seamstress, quite nice for a woman to wear. That meant, of course, that it had a frilled neck and long sleeves with a bit more at the cuffs. Pulling it over my shoulders, I started the task of buttoning it up.

It was nice and soft and it pulled a little tighter around my chest—just like I'd asked. Don't fear the cleavage, Dusky, show it off a little. With the shirt's buttons done up, I undid the top two. "Okay, how do I get into these things?"

Caprice followed my gaze down to the leather pants. "Dusky, they just pants. Have Dusky been a girl for so long she forgot how to wear pants?"

I stared at her long enough that she started giggling. "I've never worn leather pants before. When a guy wears them, back—back where I came from, it makes a statement." I sat up on the edge of the bed and leaned forward to start pulling them up.

The cuffs were snug around my ankles, but by bunching the pants up and pulling them up bit by bit I was able to get them all the way up to my thighs. Standing, I felt the leather tighten a little more around my legs and pulled the top part over my rump and hips.

Now they were tighter, but not as bad as I was worried about. There wasn't any fly at the front, but a strap passed along the waistband and could be buttoned down with a series of large buttons to secure it.

"They're tight, but I thought they'd be worse than this." Looking down, my breath caught in my throat. Hips, thighs, calves… all were clad in the dark brown leather. "Wow."

Caprice giggled and passed me the jacket. The jacket's leather was much like the pants. I pulled it over my shoulders while Caprice tugged my braid up and over the collar. When it snugged down around my shoulders, I felt just a little more dangerous.

Or was that sexy? Gloria had taught me that I could feel sexy, and I guess what I was feeling was exactly that.

"Dusky looks very good in that. Now just need boots." Caprice put one big hand against my belly and pushed me backward onto the bed. With me giggling from the push, I almost hadn't noticed she got out two big strips of cloth. She started wrapping it around my feet, covering them up just past my ankles.

"Socks. They're socks, right?" I asked.

Caprice nodded. "Dusky need something proper on feet with these." She started with one boot, pulling it up and over my foot, then getting the stiff leather pulled up just over my calf. When she got the other one on, she reached out her hands to me. "Stand up now to settle Dusky's feet down into them."

Standing, I felt my feet sink into the boots just a little more. They felt good, and though they were stiffer around my calves, I took a few steps and found them perfectly comfortable. "These are great!"

Now I strutted around the room and froze when I saw myself in the mirror. A gorgeous half-Elf stared back at me, her silver eyes wide in surprise, her shirt parting to show off her breasts with a good amount of cleavage. The jacket she wore seemed to draw more attention to her chest, but the moment it gave way to her pants all bets were off. Legs—for—days. I stared hungrily for a moment, flashbacks of Gloria swimming through my head—until it finally sank in that the woman in the mirror was me.

I kept looking, but now I noticed Caprice walking up beside me. "How much does Dusky want to bet Taffy has the same reaction?"

Turning my head, but keeping my reflection in view, I watched how my braid swung around. What was I really going for here? Was I really trying to cozy up to Taffy?

She did hug me a lot, and not in the way Caprice did. When Taffy hugged me to her side, I felt safe and protected. Was I crushing on her, or was she my big sister?

"I don't know. Taffy is—She's amazing, and I always feel safe and comfortable with her." I couldn't finish it because I was a coward. Marching for the door, I proved my cowardice by opening it. "Come on, let's go and show off. I can take the sack back to the leather place, too."

Caprice grabbed the sack and followed me. "Caprice thinking of adjusting dresses for wings."

"You should! Mo—" I cut myself off from saying Molly's name. "We probably shouldn't say her name out loud. Anyway, I think she did a great job with them. They really suit you." The little trill Caprice made at hearing that was adorable.

Walking, I could feel the leather hugging my legs as I started stepping down the stairs. It took ten steps down before I could see the faces turned toward me. There was plenty of appreciative looks, but the one that really surprised me was Jules behind the bar. She quickly looked away, but I could have sworn I saw a hint of a blush.

Taffy had been leaning on the bar and talking with Jules, or so I figured, but now she was looking at me with a smirk. "Hey, Dusky, love the look."

Walking over to her, I could feel eyes glued to either my chest or rear. Well, let them look. "Thanks. I guess I've always had a weakness for hot women in leather and armor." Smooth, Dusky, real smooth.

She did look hot in her armor, though.

"And now you're one of them?" Taffy's eyes strayed down then back up, turning aside at the last moment as Caprice walked up beside us. "What do you think, Caprice? Does Dusky look better in a pretty dress or in leathers?"

Stretching up on her toes, Caprice cupped her mouth and whispered something in Taffy's ear that made Taffy go bright red. When Taffy's eyes found mine, they widened a little more.

Did I really want to know what she'd told Taffy? Probably not. Was Caprice going to tell me anyway? Probably.

"Caprice is only teasing." Walking past me, Caprice giggled, set the sack down behind the bar, and left me alone with Taffy.

Well, she didn't tell me what she'd said. "So, uh, do I want to know what she whispered?" I asked and walked around behind the bar. The place was mostly empty, but you never knew when someone might get thirsty.

"P-Probably not. Did you still need to return the sack?" Taffy seemed focused on my face.

"Oh, right. I'll get someone to cover the bar for me." Even as I said it, I noticed a regular walking over and started pouring him his usual drink.

"Thank you, Miss Dusky," the patron said. "Say, did you know there's two religious sorts hanging around out the front? You think they might still be upset because of the healing?"

I couldn't help the groan that left my lips. If they were going to get this persistent, I might have to get a disguise or something. "Yeah. They—"

The patron (I didn't even know his name, but I knew what he liked to drink) held up his hand. "Ya fixed Grafyd's bad elbow yesterday, and Mildred's hip. If they're being a problem, ma'am, I think it's about time we helped you back."

Taffy was grinning as the guy picked up his drink and walked over to a group of people sitting at a table. "Those priests, and you, are about to learn a lesson about being friendly. I think you'll enjoy the lesson far more than they do."

Confusion reigned. I looked from Taffy over to the table, where the half a dozen patrons were all standing up. They walked to the doorway and slipped outside.

"Okay, Dusky, you probably want to organize taking the sack back now." Taffy slipped off her bar stool with a clank as her armor settled.

"Where'd everyone go?" Chloe asked, stepping from the kitchen with both arms laden with plates of food.

"They're going to deal with some loitering priests who gave Dusky a hard time. They'll be back quick enough, though. Can you take over the bar while we deliver one last thing?" Taffy asked.

Chloe looked at me with a raised eyebrow, then shrugged. "Sure. It'll be busy after lunch, so if you can get it done and get back before then, it'd be good."

"Thanks!" I grabbed the sack and followed Taffy to the door. Outside, the half a dozen people were shouting things at the two priests and not letting them get a word in edgewise. For a brief moment Jill locked eyes with me and I saw hatred in her features. But, when she tried to get past the crowd, they closed ranks to block her while Taffy and I made a break for the market.

By the time we reached the market, Taffy and I were walking at a normal pace. Just like earlier, her arm reached over my shoulders and held me close. "I guess I never really thought about other women before. I was always the one who liked wearing boy clothes and roughhousing.

"What about you? You seem to be as happy wearing a dress as not. What do you think about women who don't like dressing like women?"

"I don't think what I'm doing is the same, but"—reaching my arm around Taffy wasn't easy, but I got it to the other side and hugged myself against her—"I'm digging this one."

"You—" Taffy shook her head. "I don't get it."

"Do you want me to be more explicit about it?" I asked. "Because I can do that."

I was officially off the rails. I'd only known Taffy for a about two weeks, but I wanted to know her more so I could work out if I like-liked her or, like with Gloria, we could just have some fun and move on.

Taffy looked at me and then paused when she saw her arm around my shoulders. "Uh, well, I mean"—she took a deep breath—"I kinda like you, but I don't know if I like you like that. Caprice said you and her were—were sleeping together, and—"

"Like sisters. We mostly just get cozy and warm so we don't freeze our butts off. She also kinda helped me—and still helps me—through a lot of stuff." Well, now I knew what Caprice had said. Was she trying to egg Taffy on? "I like you too, Taffy."

"I've never really had anyone I like-liked before. Are we meant to do something?"

I shrugged my shoulders as much as I was able to with several pounds of armored arm resting on them. "As near as I can tell, we're better off becoming good friends first, and I think that's working out great. What about you?" When I looked up at Taffy, she still looked a little nervous. "Is something wrong?"

"No. Well, yes. So we just be friends to start with? I think I can deal with that." Taffy sighed. "I don't know what I expected. Dad always told me I'd find a nice guy one day and want to wear pretty dresses for him."

"Would it count that I was a guy a month ago?"

Taffy reached for the door of the leather-workers', laughing and seeming more like herself. "Dusky, if the worst thing we become is good friends, I think that'll be pretty awesome."

I returned the sack, and we both walked back to the tavern with a bounce in our step. Jack and Jill, or whatever their names were, were gone. Walking over to the bar, there was two of the regulars who'd gone out to deal with the priests earlier.

"I got this, Chloe," I said, circling around the bar and leaving Taffy sitting on the customer side.

Patting my shoulder with one huge, fluffy paw-hand, Chloe squeezed past me. "Thanks, Dusky. I'll bring you out some dinner when things slow down."

----------------------------------------

Things didn't slow down. Everyone in town seemed to be stirred up over something, and they all wanted to come to The Hog to talk about it.

"It's a big religious festival."

"Something really big has all the priests running around."

"I heard one of them say there's a new god."

"No one knows who the new goddess' followers are."

"Going to be a week of celebration from the Father's church."

"I heard even the Hunter's people are celebrating with a feast each night starting tomorrow."

The more I heard the less I liked hearing, but it was important to hear what everyone thought. On the whole, people seemed more curious about Molly than upset. They were also curious as to who worshiped her.

Nightfall came, and with it a return of the odd sensation I'd felt early in the morning. There was a constant tingling at the back of my neck and I felt hyper aware of everyone around me. Still, I worked through it until midnight when people started to either head upstairs to bed, find some warm corner of the taproom to lay down, or head out into the night to make their way home.

I started plugging up the kegs when a message popped up.

> Congratulations on reaching level 5 Barmaid!

>

> You may now be eligible for a specialist class.

"Huh. Another level up." I fumbled mentally to banish the box.

"You leveled up? What in?" Taffy asked. She hadn't moved from her seat all night, and had kept up a constant chatter with me whenever I wasn't busy pouring drinks.

Grinning at the craziness of it, I replied, "Barmaid. I'm level five now, and it says I can specialize."

"Specialize? Have you looked at what classes opened up?"

"I mean, I can stay in general Barmaid, or I can dive into…" The popup had a button to examine specialties, so I focused on that and activated it. Four different sub-classes came up, but just seeing the first in the list made me freeze.

"Dusky? Something wrong?" Taffy asked.

I stared at the name of the first one in absolute shock. Bed Warmer. It was exactly what Fagin had thought I was. "I—err—uh. There's only three options. Tap Jockey, Maid, and Cook." Yup! Definitely only those three! Definitely not four!

"Those don't sound bad. Tap Jockey seems to be what you do already. Maid doesn't seem to be your style. What's up with the Cook one? Also, why are you blushing so much?" Taffy had her more relaxed grin in place, the one she used whenever we were just chatting. How could I be honest with that?

"Well, there is another, but I won't be picking it." I highlighted Tap Jockey and went to view.

> Focus on strength, dexterity, and charisma scores and specialized in running a bar. Focused Stat Boost: Strength, Dexterity, Charisma. Intention Prediction (passive skill). Brew Potion (greater).

I stared at the bonuses. This was almost as good as an actual class. It had a passive skill I'd never heard of before and boosted several of my stats—but getting Brew Potion at a greater level was fantastic.

When I refocused on what Taffy was doing, she was leaning forward, her face only an inch or two from mine. "Dusky, what's the fourth one?"

The closeness made everything worse. "You're not going to let me avoid it, are you?"

"Nope."

"Bed Warmer. The fourth option was whoring." No sooner did the words leave my lips than I felt Taffy's press to my cheek. My eyes widened, but by the time I started to react she'd pulled back.

"That's for telling me. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone else." Taffy was blushing too now. "So, what're you thinking of taking?"

With the embarrassing part out of the way, I breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, looking at Tap Jockey. It has some great stat boosts and gives me the ability to imbue potions with spells." I could probably slip healing spells into drinks. This would be amazing!

Taffy was grinning wide as she leaned back on her stool. Looking at her—totally not checking her out or anything—I realized I might have a thing for strong women. "What do the others do?"

"Haven't looked yet. The interface is getting harder to navigate." I struggled to go back from the current page and look up the info for the others. "Maid just gives lots of stat boosts across the board. Cook is similar to Tap Jockey, but it is focused on cooking instead of making drinks."

Reaching for the mug of cider I'd poured her, Taffy took a long swig. "What about the other one?"

"I wouldn't care if it gave the best skills in the world, I'm not taking it." Despite that, and because I was an idiot, I looked at what it gave. "Constitution and charisma. Some kind of passive skill called Negotiations. You can probably guess what that's for. The last one is Thievery. I guess you can make more than your fair share with that class."

Taffy clutched at her mouth, her eyes wide, and slowly gulped down her mouthful of drink.

"It's not that funny," I said, but the look on Taffy's face said otherwise. "Okay, it probably is, but I'm still not taking that one."

Careful that I didn't screw up and accidentally select the wrong one, I backed out of the menu that inspected Bed Warmer and opened Tap Jockey back up. Well, here goes nothing. I hit accept and activated the Trade Class.

It was anticlimactic. I pulled my book out of my inventory and opened it. Sure enough, I had two new skills.

> Imbue Boost:

> Target- One Alcoholic Liquid Consumable

> Cost- Low

> Type- Crafting

> Cooldown- 1 min

> Desc- Imbues the target with a spell effect available to the user.

> Note- Spell's cost must be paid and target must be Single-Target or Personal

It was everything I wanted. It was amazing. I started giggling and reached for a small mug and poured it half-full of ale. "Okay, let me give this a test. Imbue Boost, Major Channel Life." But nothing happened.

"Isn't that your latest heal? Try something smaller," Taffy said.

"Imbue Boost, Channel Life." The familiar rush of magic poured from me, but rather than channeling into a spell, it poured into the glass. I shivered with excitement and examined the mug.

The value of it had risen from two copper to fifteen gold. I stared at it, then looked at Taffy. "I can make healing potions."

"Just like that? It's still ale, right?" Taffy held it up and looked at the mug from all sides. "We'll be the drunkest party ever."

"Yeah, that's exactly the problem. It only works on alcohol. Ale, whiskey… I wonder if it would work on Caprice's milk?" While I was finishing asking my question, Taffy raised the mug and gulped its contents down in two mouthfuls. The glow of my healing spell affecting her was unsurprising, but it was a reminder that the drink was more than just a drink. "How was it?"

Before Taffy could reply, I got a sense of something odd. Someone was thirsty and wanted a large mug of ale with a shot of rum in it. So odd was the impression that I pulled out the mug in question and started reaching for a rum bottle.

"That was definitely a Channel Life spell. Gotten used to the feeling of those," Taffy said.

"Perfect. Next test will be how small a drink I can imbue." With the rum shot in the mug, I started pouring ale into it from the keg. When I turned around, a woman with arms like steel beams sat down at the bar. I looked down at the drink in my hand and then back up to her. "Ale with a shot of rum?"

"Ha! Good guess. I'll give you a bonus if you tell me how you knew?" She tossed down five coppers, a little more than the drink was worth.

"You see," Taffy said, "this here is Dusky Rose. She can tell at ten feet what drink you want before you've even thought about it yourself. Plus she can spike it with a little something special."

"Spike it? What are we talkin' here? Magic?" The woman flicked an extra copper down.

"Healing magic. Free of charge." I scooped the coppers up and dropped them all in the tray under the bar. Pressing my right hand to the side of the mug, I said, "Imbue Boost, Channel Life." What I realized, as I finished the imbue, was that this would give me XP. Just making all these potions with alcohol would let me level up Tap Jockey more. Would getting to level 6 Tap Jockey let me imbue level 6 Healer spells?

Lifting the mug up, the woman took a long pull from it, but would have been lucky to drink a quarter of the mug. Nonetheless, the spell fired with the usual spell effect centered on her. For a brief moment her face clenched and eyes squeezed closed—as if in pain—but then it faded into a smile as she opened her eyes. "Sometimes It's hard to remember that you're hurt because you're used to holding back the pain. I couldn't afford those damned priests, but then one of the guards said they got a healing here."

Morbid curiosity couldn't stop me from asking, "What was it?"

"Well, ya can't see it now, but my apprentice was working on a knife blade and didn't have a good grip on it. Metal was still a nice cherry red and flew like an arrow straight for my leg. I've been fighting that limp for a month now." She took another swig from her mug. "If you ever need something made, come and see me. I can't promise fast, but I can work some scraps into a blade for you."

"Her." I jabbed my thumb in Taffy's direction. "She's the one who stands up front and hits things with sharp objects." Looking at Taffy, she had a stunned expression on her face. "You got new armor and a shield, right? So you probably need a new sword."

"M'name's Silvia—Silvia Hammerhand." She thrust out one of her hands toward me and I didn't need to see the cords of muscle in her arms or the huge fingers to know I was about to get my hand crushed. Though, when I shook her hand, she seemed careful of her strength. "You two together?"

I blushed, but Taffy said, "Yeah. Getting there."

"Good to see two smart girls doing what they want. You adventure as well?" Silvia asked.

"Some, though Dusky has been spending some time on self-defense for a few days, so we're all going to be a bit rusty."

There was something about Taffy that made me reach for a fresh mug and start pouring her another ale. I was halfway through doing it when she lifted her mug and drained the last of her current drink. When she raised an eyebrow at me sliding another mug in front of her, I took the two coppers she held out. "I think this is Intention Prediction."

"So I was right." Taffy lifted her drink and took a sip. "I guess it's not weird to have as a bartender."

"Useful, actually."

----------------------------------------

With my newfound skills, the night went amazingly. Drinks left the bar almost as fast as people could arrive to give me their order. The only hiccup was an odd feeling just on sundown. None of the church's people came in, though, for which I was thankful.

"Well," Jules said, "that should be our last big day out of the way. We're only half full of overnighters, and that should be sorted early in the morning if all of you want to head out and do some adventuring."

The idea of getting out with my friends and getting back into the swing of things sparked excitement. This was it, all my training to get up to speed and be able to take a hit while still healing was going to pay off. "I wonder if there's been any increase in monsters because we haven't been hunting them?"

Caprice bounced past Jules and jumped at me with a hug ready. "Caprice is ready for them! Cuddles will beat them all!"

Hugging her back, I couldn't help but wonder what Molls would say about what'd happened today. "Anyway, I'm kinda tired. If you don't have anything else for me to do down here, I might get some sleep."

Jules just glanced around the bar and then shrugged her shoulders. "You seem to have a feel for how I like things run. Go ahead and turn in if you want."

"I'll let Yaff know. Catch you guys tomorrow." Taffy stood up and walked to the door of the inn with our goodbyes in her wake.

I got all the way to bed, before I remembered to pray to Molly. It felt a little silly, but with the room lit only by the fire burning in the fireplace, I whispered, "I've got a bunch of stuff to tell you tonight, Mo—"

----------------------------------------

"Dusky!" Wings and arms latched onto me, and I was shoved against the feathery inside of one wing. "I didn't expect you until a little later. Is something up?"

I tried to reply, but there was too much hugging going on. Pulling back only slightly worked in that I could breathe again. "Gimme some room, Molls."

"Nope. Gonna hug you forever!" Molly twirled us around before leaning backward and bringing us down on a couch. I slumped against her and didn't have the desire to protest her wing hugging me close. "Now, what's up?"

"Two priests messed with me today. Kept getting in my way and trying to find out how I had healing magic—as if only followers of a god can heal!" She squeezed a little, and I have to admit that it helped calm me. "They just wouldn't get out of my way without me answering. I got so mad over it I was going to draw my knife."

"Did you?"

"No. I got lucky. Taffy found me and stomped her way through them. They waited outside the tavern for me to come out, but some friends at the tavern distracted them until I could slip away. Did you tell any of the other gods you had followers?"

"I didn't specifically, but they had to know I have followers now. I wouldn't have any power at all if I didn't. Gods get their power and legitimacy from followers. I don't have many, but I do have the two best."

"Are there any gods who would benefit from you not having followers? Strong ones, probably," I asked.

"Not just strong, but ones who are plotting. You'd think that cuts it down, and while it does, not as much as you'd hope. It's a god's job to plot, plan, and ensure the ruination of their opposites." Molly reached her hand out and picked up two cans of Red Bull—she passed me one. "At least three quarters of the good gods, every single one of the neutral ones, and most of the evil ones. In case you were wondering, there are two ways to be neutral. Either you actually are just naturally neutral, or you have to go around balancing out the things you do that make you not-neutral. All the neutral gods but me are the latter."

I laughed, I couldn't help it. "So you're the one neutral god?"

"Of course."

"Anyway, they said something about being followers of the father or something."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Ugh. Him." Molls cracked her can open and took a long swig—something I mirrored. "The Exultant Father. Full of all things pure and just, and also full of himself. You wouldn't believe some of the bullshit he tries to do—and that's just in plain sight. I've been supporting some of the lesser evil gods against him just because he—"

"The why doesn't matter. What's this going to mean for us? What if his followers find out we follow you." I sipped my drink more and marveled at how perfectly like Red Bull it tasted.

"Whose followers?" Caprice asked.

"Father-guy," I said, holding out an arm for Caprice to join me.

"Oooh. They were messing with you today, right?" Sitting down, Caprice snuggled against my side and sniffed at my drink. "What's that?"

Molly had the biggest grin on her face as she passed Caprice a can. It took me a second to figure out, but then I got her joke. "Oh, damn it, Molls. Red Bull, really?"

Tapping at the can with one of her big claws, Caprice looked at me. "What's wrong?"

"This drink. The people who made it"—I took her can, cracked the top, and passed it back to her—"they have a tagline. Red Bull gives you wings."

Blinking at me a few times, Caprice giggled, then let out a squeak and covered her snout with her hands.

"It's not that funny," I said.

Caprice's eyes flew wide open when she took a sip from her can. "That's really sweet!"

I hugged her a little closer. "That's the point. People worked out that sugar's addictive, so they put it in everything to make people buy more stuff."

"Everything?" Caprice sounded shocked, which I couldn't blame her.

Molly groaned and nodded. "It's one reason I—Well, I did some things to sort my life out better. Okay, so if Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes is putting pressure on people like that, I'll bring it up next time he claims one of the evil gods is overstepping their boundary. There's not much else I can do."

"Maybe I'll just hang out with Taffy more," I said.

Caprice started giggling again, even flapping the wing not around me in her glee.

"What's so funny?" Molly asked.

Managing to stop her giggles a moment, Caprice said, "Molly should see them together. It's like watching two people who have no idea how to kiss trying to think about anything but wanting to kiss."

"We know how to kiss, Caprice."

She laughed more and deliberately leaned sideways against me. "Oohh! Dusky and Taffy have practiced already?"

Turning to Molly, I let out a sad sigh. "Do you want to say any last words to Caprice? I have it on good authority that if she keeps going, she'll die." I grabbed her under my arm and started trying to give her a noogie, not that it worked all that well given she had no hair, but by the way she was laughing and flapping her wings, it was working.

With Caprice and Molly's laughter echoing in my head, I woke up to a dark room and a clingy kobold in the bed with me.

Not moving for fear I'd wake Caprice, I tried to collect my thoughts and just relax in the soft red glow of the fireplace's last few coals. I don't know how long it took, but I drifted back to sleep and got into an awesome flying-dream.

----------------------------------------

It was dawn. The dim light of the sun reflecting off the atmosphere filtered through the edges of the shutters to illuminate the room. Soon it would be far brighter. I turned my head to find Caprice's nose less than an inch from my face.

Carefully, I moved slowly so as not to wake her prematurely, and brought my hand up out of the covers and into position. Just as Caprice's eyes started to flutter open, I booped her on the nose.

Her eyes widened and she went cross-eyed staring at my finger. "Did you just boop me?"

My reactions kicked into high gear and I managed to roll out my side of the bed and leave Caprice tangled in the covers. Grabbing a towel and my bathrobe, I left the room and made my way down the hall to the bathroom.

Behind me, I heard Caprice scramble into the hallway and chase me. Inside, the bathroom was unoccupied (as usual for this time of morning) so I quickly dumped everything and climbed into the tub.

Caprice entered the room and closed the door behind her. "Now I have you trapped. You will be booped, Dusky. You will be booped a lot."

I knew there was no chance of escape, so I waited for her to dive into the spa and make her way over to me. "Do you want me to scrub down you scales?" I asked, just as her big finger was a few inches away.

She froze mid boop and pouted. I could see how much she wanted to return my attack, but she loved those scale-scrubs too.

Leaning forward, I pressed my nose against her finger. "Boop?"

"Dusky is the best." She pulled her finger back and wrapped me in a hug I had every intention of returning.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you two were the cutest couple." Taffy walked in, wearing just a bathrobe, and slipped it off her shoulders.

I was stunned, but not so much that I didn't look away to give her some privacy. "We—We were just—I kinda booped her."

Letting go of the hug, Caprice turned. "Yup. She booped me. I had to boop her back—Molly told me that's the rule with booping." She nodded and then slid away from me and slumped against the wall of the tub.

I never felt more exposed in my life. It was stupid. Taffy was—Taffy was awesome and I didn't want to make a fool of myself or rush things. I did all I could do under the circumstances, I slumped down into the water until it was up to my neck.

"Dusky needs to get up on the bench and turn so Caprice can get her back." Caprice's words snapped me from my daydream (that totally didn't feature a swordswoman I might be naked in the bath with). When I did as asked, she started lathering me up and working not just any dirt from my skin but tension from my muscles. "So, we get to adventure today. Dusky will do the healing, backed up by Taffy. Taffy will keep all the bad guys off us, and that leaves Yaff, Chloe, and Caprice to deal with beating them up."

Trying to reply, all I managed to get out was a sigh as she not just lathered my back, but massaged me at the same time. I was putty. I was a big pile of slowly liquefying glass melting and puddling at the bottom of a window frame.

Closing my eyes, I lost all track of what was going on until the massage paused a moment, then started again. Strong hands worked at my shoulders and neck, rubbing away at tight knots and easing me back into relaxation.

For a second time I lost it and just let those hands work their magic. A small voice in the back of my head tried to say something, but I told it to shut the fuck up and let me have this. I don't have any clue how long I sat there, but when the hands paused again and started washing me instead, I started to regain my senses. Senses like seeing a grinning kobold sitting in front of me.

I knew I was blushing because Caprice was smiling wider and wider. What the hell is wrong with me? I've had girlfriends before. This shouldn't be as big a thing as I was making it. Okay, time to shut this now-giggling kobold up. Shimmying back a little, I leaned against Taffy's belly and chest and made it impossible for her to keep up massaging me. "Figured you'd take over, huh?"

"How much of this is an act, Dusky?" Taffy asked.

"None of it's an act, but I keep having to remind myself that this big, hot woman really is into me. You probably heard about the thing with Gloria? Well, with her I didn't have to worry about hurting her feelings or doing something wrong. I don't want to screw up and make you upset or anything, and I guess that reminds me of where I came from and that just made me keep remembering how relationships go there." I clamped my mouth closed to keep from just keeping on talking.

"How do relationships go there?" Her arms draped down my front, casually pressing past my breasts to tickle at my stomach.

"There are a few ways they go. If you're both just looking for something short and temporary, basically what Gloria and I wanted, it's just meet up and have some fun. If you both want something longer-lasting, well, that takes work. Time spent getting to know each other, you know?" Work. Getting a handful of soap rubbed on my tummy by my new girlfriend while be both sit naked in a bath? Okay, that can count as work, I guess.

"Best work ever." Taffy just leaned forward against me and rested her head beside mine, watching as I scrubbed at Caprice's tail. "You do this for her every day?"

"Yeah. She likes it a lot, and you should see the silly expressions she makes." With a handful more sand, I worked away at her scales while Caprice made odd little whistles and clicking sounds.

"Wait, you do the underside too?" Taffy stiffened a bit behind me as I lifted Caprice's tail up.

"Yeah. I don't go too far forward with it. Just enough to make her all wobbly."

Taffy shook her head and kissed my cheek. "And you got embarrassed about being naked in front of me?"

"I didn't. I got embarrassed for you being naked in front of me." Her snort made me continue. "It's true. I was a guy about two weeks ago."

"Most guys, Dusky, would be too busy checking out my boobs."

"Do you want me to check them out?"

"You're checking them out now, aren't you?"

I swear, I felt the muscles in her chest twitch one after the other, back and forth a few times. "Yeah."

"Well?"

"Are Taffy and Dusky kissing yet? Caprice thought there was an order to these things where kissing came before touching?" I hadn't realized she'd recovered from her scrub down, but Caprice sat up in the water and turned on the bench to face us.

Managing my best glare without cracking up laughing was hard. Harder still when Taffy asked, "And you kissed Dusky before having her was the underside of your tail, Caprice?"

"That's different. Dusky is Caprice's sister." She reached up and booped me on the nose with her finger. "Besides, nothing sexy about bathing. Even kobolds need to be clean." She stood up and climbed out of the tub. "Try not to make a mess with Dusky."

As the door to the bathroom was closing, Taffy said, "I promise nothing."

Alone together—naked. I slowly started to turn toward her, only to get one big finger poking my nose. "What the—?"

"Boop." She didn't look down, she didn't check me out or anything like that. Taffy looked into my eyes with what I could only think was the definition of devilish expression. "So, tell me more about how things go slow where you came from. I want to know more about you, Dusky."

"I mean, it doesn't usually involve naked bathing together."

"That sounds terrible."

"But it does have some good bits. Going out and doing things together—just the two of you." Her eyes were so very blue. Okay, so the gazing into each other's eyes trope is real, it was just I'd never felt it before. "Or maybe even beating up monsters together."

Her face lit up like she was staring at the sun, her smile widened, and her eyes now blazed with excitement. "See, Dusky, you get me. My parents never did, and all the boys I ever met just tried to tell me what I couldn't do." Standing up, Taffy let me see far more than I was prepared for, but this time I managed not to look away.

Her chest was nice, but her midriff expressed the fact that she had abdominal muscles, and her hips made all kinds of promises to my libido.

I stood up too, how could I not? "Come on, you monster-slayer, let's get some breakfast and get our friends together to hunt."

When Taffy put her arm around my shoulders and helped me out of the bath, I felt safer than I ever have in my life. We both got our bathrobes on and returned to our rooms to get dressed and ready for a day of work.

Getting my underwear on, I looked at my robes and realized how much like a healer they made me look. The problem was they also had good stats on them. Another problem was they gave practically no protection.

"Screw this, I need to do my best for my friends and damn looking good while doing it." I put the robes on and added the shoes that came with them. Looking in the mirror, I had to admit that they tried to make me look cute, but there was only so much that a soft trench coat could do.

The last thing I needed was my staff. I imagined it appearing from my inventory, but it wasn't there. After a few tries, I eventually managed to get it out and let out a relieved sigh. "Guess I need to buy an actual backpack."

That's when it hit me. "Shit, my money." Trying to visualize my money coming out, I managed to get it to work about one time in ten as I dumped handfuls of platinum coins on the bed. A knock on the door interrupted me, and I pulled the blanket down and over the fortune before answering it.

Caprice was standing in the doorway with a huge grin on her face. She looked so damn adorable when she was this happy. "Is Dusky ready?"

"Yeah, I'm just trying to solve a problem before it becomes more of one." I stepped back to let her into the room before closing the door. "You know how I have that magical storage?"

Caprice nodded and, before I could tell her, jumped up to sit on the bed. "What is that?" She hopped off and flipped the covers back. "D-Dusky?"

"Yeah, that's about a quarter of the money I have. I was trying to get it all out of my storage before it was lost. I think the magic that held my storage space is unraveling, and I want to get everything out of it before—"

"Dusky! That's more money than even exists in Northwind!" Caprice turned her head to look at me. "Why are you working here with that much money?"

It was a good question, but all I could think to say was, "Because I like working with you guys. I kinda enjoy it." I started trying to make more coins appear.

Caprice just stared and took the coins from me as I made them. It was getting harder to focus on them, but I finally felt like I had all of it out. "Is there somewhere safe in the tavern to put this?"

"Dusky!" Caprice held her head and shook it. "There's so much it wouldn't be safe anywhere. Even the merchant's guild would hire an assassin if they knew Dusky had this much."

I looked at Caprice and smiled. "You want some? Take a handful. Take all of it if you want."

"What?! Dusky can't do that! Caprice is a—I'm a nice Kobold. Caprice wouldn't take all your money." She folded her arms over her chest, but I noticed her continually looking down. "Caprice has never seen a coin like that before."

"These are platinum coins. So, you know ten copper to a silver and ten silver to a gold?" I waited for her to nod. "Then there's ten gold to a mithril and a hundred mithril to a platinum." She was staring at me with her jaw hanging open. "What?"

"This"—Caprice picked up two of the platinum coins—"is more money than I've ever had." She held them in her palm, looking at them and not me. It gave me the chance to reach out and close her hand around them. She looked up at me and whined.

"It's what nest-sisters do. They share and help each other." I knew for sure that if I didn't hug her, she'd probably pounce me. I put my free arm around Caprice and pulled her against me. "Come on, let's hide this lot in my underwear drawer, go out there, and kick ass."

----------------------------------------

A sense of déjà vu settled over me as we walked the path toward the greater goblins that had shot me before. "Are we going to do the same thing as last time?" I asked.

"I think we just gave them too much of a chance to act." Yaff drew two new daggers from her sleeves and smirked when I looked surprised. "I'm going to get up there, lay a pair of traps nearby, then Backstab one and Quick Swipe them. Caprice, have Cuddles rip into them with me."

"That sounds perfect. As soon as we hear the noise, we'll come running. If things go poorly, come running to us." Chloe hefted her new two-handed axe (I still don't know where she got it) onto her shoulder and pointed down the path. "Alright, you two, have at it."

Yaff smiled and vanished, while Cuddles stalked off into the bushes at our side in almost complete silence. In the silence, the sounds of the woods stopped noticeably all around us. I was just starting to wonder if Yaff had called it off when a cry of alarm sounded, followed by a roar.

Caprice, Chloe, and I ran as fast as we could down the path, but it was Taffy who rushed ahead—the weight of her armor not seeming to slow her at all.

The fighting, when we reached it, was all done. One of the Hunter Goblins was down while the other had Cuddles' jaws wrapped around his throat as he lost his struggle with the big cat.

Yaff appeared beside Cuddles from nothingness, on one knee beside the big cat, and kissed Cuddles on the top of her head. "Thank you for that."

"I guess we were being too cautious last time. Well, this works, I suppose." I checked the goblins, but apart from their bows, some arrows, knives, and the crude leather skins they wore, they had nothing.

Yaff stood up and dusted herself off, one hand giving Cuddles a good ear-rub. "I missed with my detaunt. Cuddles ripped that one down first and took the brunt from the second goblin. I got in position behind him and backstabbed him just as Cuddles finished the first. My detaunt worked on them and Cuddles pounced and clamped onto their throat."

That's when I realized I should check the quest. Focusing on the quest window, I tried to picture it coming up. It took me three tries, but I got it to work. "Okay, it says we have to clear them out of the nearby caves and kill the king hobgoblin."

"There're some caves to the west of here. We'd have to make our way through the forest, but we should get there before lunchtime if we don't run into too many more." Yaff was tossing one of her knives from hand to hand, spinning it—basically just juggling the weapon.

Shrugging, none of us having anything better in mind, Chloe pointed toward the direction Yaff had indicated. "Guess we head in. Yaff, you and Cuddles keep working ahead of us. If something catches you, you both leg it back to us. If you think you can deal with it yourselves, do so. Otherwise, come back and bring us in."

"Yeah, that sounds fun. I'll leave an X marked every few trees so you know where I'm going. Come on, hero, let's go fill some goblins full of holes." Yaff ran one hand along Cuddles' shoulders and then vanished into the forest.

We followed the trail of Xes. They were prominent enough that the path was an easy one. Just as the sun was glinting high in the canopy of the forest, Yaff stepped out of her stealth right before us. "It's clear to the cave entrance. Four guards there—too much for Cuddles and me to deal with."

"Okay, in the spirit of not being too cautious," Chloe said as she followed Yaff, "Taffy, you move in first while Yaff gets in position. I'll run in and pick up whatever taunt you missed or a random goblin otherwise. Caprice, Yaff, and Cuddles can pile on with me while Dusky and Taffy keep the bulk of them busy. Call out any you see with bows—they die first."

"Right, nothing else for it. C'mere and give me something to hit." Taffy marched out of our cover and right toward the waiting goblins. Not that they waited when they saw her.

Two goblins picked up their axes and rushed toward Taffy, who caught one weapon on her shield and parried the other. Of the two remaining goblins, one drew a bow and the other a staff.

In a rush, Chloe ran around the two axe-wielding goblins to get to the archer. "Yaff, Caprice, get on the spell-caster!"

Watching it all unfold, I raised my own staff. "Group Channel Life." It was a slowish spell to cast, but I had time while the party started taking a little damage.

Everyone settled into their new roles well. Taffy was laughing away and taunting the two goblins on her, while also healing most of the damage they were dealing, while Yaff and Caprice demolished the spell-caster. Only Chloe had a struggle as she went toe-to-toe with the archer.

The fight went so smoothly I barely needed to heal, though that was mostly because our tactics and skills had improved. The caster went down quickly to Yaff and Cuddles, then they both piled on the archer and freed up Chloe as well, and the party quickly mopped up the remaining two axe users. I put another quick group heal over time up and Taffy blasted us all with her healing.

"That went well. Let's keep it up. Come on, we have to deal with a king in there." Chloe gestured into the cave with her axe, and I couldn't help but feel inspired by her being with us. She was a leader—a better one than I was—and she seemed to have plans upon plans.

But, when it came to actually trailblazing, it was Yaff (with her stealth) and Taffy (with her armor) who led the party. The second group we met had three axe-users and a magic-user. We demolished that even faster thanks to everyone making an assist train and overwhelming them one at a time.

"With all the healing you do now, Taffy, I almost feel like dead weight," I said when we moved on from that group.

Reaching her shield arm out and around me, Taffy squeezed me against her side. "Don't think that for a second. We've just stepped up our strategy is all. Once we get a good idea of all this, we'll start taking on things that will test your healing. I bet the king is going to be a stiff fight."

"Alright, renew our buffs and let's push on harder. Keep your eyes peeled for any surprises." Chloe rolled her shoulders as she approached us. She looked amazing with her thick white coat and confident stance.

"Bless!"

"Enhance Weapons!"

I looked over at Caprice and got a huge grin from her. She'd done something with her shirt that let her wings free behind her. We might be nest-sisters, but she seemed way more draconic than she had when I first met her. Was it the wings or the boost in confidence she seemed to have?

Yaff appeared beside us. "There's a bigger group around the corner. Six with axes, two with bows. How are we going to tackle them?"

"Six? Looks like you're going to get to use your new heals, Dusky," Taffy said.

Chloe hefted her axe and gave it a little twirl in her hands. "Yup. Taffy, you grab those axes, I'll grab one of the archers and then Yaff and Caprice can burn down the second archer. Move onto my target when you're done with your archer, then follow my lead in bringing down those melee types. Got it, girls?"

"Got it, Dusky, give me a chance to get hurt and heal before giving me any health, okay?" Taffy asked.

"Just yell if it gets too nasty. I'll dump everything I can into healing and to heck with their hitting me." The words shocked me to say, but I found myself meaning every single one. If the world still had a functioning respawn system, I was pretty sure it would only affect former players.

Taffy squeezed my shoulder and let go slowly. "Everyone ready?" When she got a round of nods, Taffy started walking forward, holding her sword out before her for light.

As we rounded a corner in the tunnel, Taffy started running. Her feet were like thunder as she bore down on the goblins. They didn't realize what was happening before she literally crashed into one with her shield and sent it flying. "C'mon you little shits. Let's see what you've got! Group Taunt!"

Chloe and Cuddles ran around the mob on Taffy, circling them to get on the archers. No sooner did Cuddles leap at one and knock them down than Yaff appeared beside them to knife the goblin.

"Blast of Life! Come on, is that all you've got? Dusky, you should be good now!" Taffy sounded more excited than ever. There was laughter in her voice as she swung around her with her sword, met incoming blows with shield and blade, and made a spectacle of herself.

Taking a breath, I gave my staff a good swirl and cast, "Group Channel Life!" The rush of pure energy was always exciting to feel. I looked around and noticed that Chloe was taking a few hits from the goblin archer she was on and Cuddles had taken a few swipes from the other archer's knife. When the group heal over time to finish casting, I started on, "Balanced Health!"

If the pulsing energy that Blast of Life was exciting to feel, Balanced Health was like I unleashed a hurricane of energy. Power poured from me to Cuddles and Chloe, with still more rushing to Taffy. It was a rush, and it made me feel complete to help my friends in such a way. "How's that?"

"Great, thanks Dusky! These bastards keep trying to get around behind me—Chloe, how much longer?" Taffy asked.

Levering her axe out of the last of the two goblin archers with her foot, I saw Chloe turn with eyes blazing. "Here comes the party! On my target! Get these bastards down fast! War Shout!"

With Taffy being able to cover some of her own healing, and me only needing to keep group heals going, I got to watch far more of the fight than I thought I would. Cuddles was surprisingly adept at working with Chloe, the pair taking turns to slice down the goblins—or so it seemed. Yaff was always nearby to lend a blade in the pursuit of killing the goblins.

When we were down to just two of the goblins left on Taffy, she really started to body them around—shoving them to where Chloe and Cuddles were waiting. The last of the goblins tried to run, only to step into one of Yaff's traps—a moment before her daggers intersected what I could well believe were two or more vital organs.

It seemed so easy. Taffy didn't lose agro once, Chloe and co beat down the archers fast and then got on the main group. It felt too good, but then that's why the meta of tank/healer/support is so powerful. "Everyone feeling okay? Group Channel Life." I didn't bother waiting for replies, figuring any lingering small hurts would be taken care of by the heal-over-time.

Chloe looked around everyone then reached out and gave Cuddles a rub behind the ear. "That went great. I got hit once or twice, but with both of you healing I don't think I hurt for more than a few seconds. Yaff, Caprice, how are you two?"

Twirling her staff around, Caprice was bouncing on her toes a little. "Well, it's a shame we don't have more area spells, but we got them all down quickly enough."

Yaff smirked and nodded toward the group of downed goblins. "It felt good to be in control like that. Not once did they even seem to break the combat plan. Excuse me, I smell coins." She walked over to the goblins and started sorting through their gear.

"Well, I thought it went great. Even all those goblins could barely hurt me, and with Dusky healing on top of my own, they were never going to cause anything serious. Let's go find this king and complete the quest." Taffy rolled her shoulders and banged her sword on her shield a few times.

There wasn't much else to do but follow her. We walked deeper into the tunnels, the light of our weapons casting out before us. We didn't encounter any more goblins before the tunnel opened out into a huge cavern.

We had barely a moment to take-in the fire illuminated room before the five goblin warriors there turned to face us. Two had shields and swords (armor too) while three more had the two-hander axes.

There was something amiss, though. The goblin king wasn't here, even though there was a throne.

Taffy rushed forward, giving a shout as she braced behind her shield and crashed into one of the sword users. "Group Taunt! Arc Taunt!"

Reflexes kicked in for me and I started my spells. "Bless!" I kept looking around for the king, but he wasn't there. Even as Yaff and Cuddles rushed in behind Chloe, I still couldn't figure it out. Then I saw a ring Caprice was wearing. "Ring event. It's a ring event!"

Caprice was closest to me. "What's that? Incinerate!"

"Group Channel Life! Okay, so we'll defeat these guys, then more will arrive. We have to keep fighting them back-to-back to get the king to come out. Or—or they might be placeholders. That would mean the king is up next." I had no clue which it might be, but either could make this a hard fight.

"What's that, Dusky?" Taffy asked.

"There will be more coming right away when we kill these. Try to be ready with your taunts for another wave that might have the king in it!" I shouted, making sure she could hear me. "Balanced Health!"

It was fairly standard fighting, with Chloe leaving the sword and board users until last. They definitely put up a more solid show of it, but were scoring less solid hits with their shorter weapons.

Eventually Chloe's axe sank into the last of the goblin warriors, sending them to the ground. "Okay, so more will come—"

Cut off by a loud horn sounding, a group of three big goblins in heavy armor came out of a side tunnel. Both of them held huge and rusty meat cleavers in each hand.

"Ring event it is. We might get more after these ones!" I said. "Bless!"

Taffy advanced on the goblins, bashing her shield with her sword. "Come on you bastards! I'm your dance partner today! Arc Taunt!"

Right from the start I could see that these goblins were a more serious threat. Taffy was having trouble meeting their swings with her sword or shield and quickly used her Blast of Life. She was holding all the agro, though, so I figured it was time to start giving her some health. "Major Channel Life! I got you, Taffy!"

It wouldn't be enough, though, and I could tell now. I started to prepare another big heal to follow up the heal over time.

"On mine! Come on, let's get these tin-cans down! War Shout!" With that, Chloe started on one of the goblins, contacting their back with her two-handed axe hard enough to make the goblin stumble.

"Backstab." Yaff found an opening in the armor and, without being seen before it struck home, she wedged a blade deep into it. "Quick Swipe, thank you…" I actually saw her grab a small pouch of coins as she drew back and faded into nothingness again.

Caprice and Cuddles did their things while Taffy stood her ground and took a pounding. I got to test my biggest heals—chained one after another—and still none of the goblins broke agro and came for me. Right up until the first of them went down was the most intense fight of my life.

"Next target! Sure Blow!" Chloe did a spin, her head snapping around as she kept her eyes locked on the goblin as much as she could, then brought her axe down at the creature's neck. A horrid clang sounded as axe connected with heavy armor, and while the armor held back the sharp edge, it did cave in against the monster's neck. "War Shout!"

"Backstab. Thanks, Chloe, been waiting for that," Yaff said before disappearing again.

From that moment on I no longer had to heal on top of my heal over time spells. Everyone held together and Taffy only seemed more and more amazing by the second as she held the attention of the last two, then the final one until the rest beat them down.

Taffy turned on a dime and lunged toward me. "Dusky! That was amazing!" Being crushed to death, it seemed, was an everyday problem for me now. She froze in her hug when another horn sounded. "Right, more goblins."

Before she could get away, I jumped up and landed a kiss on her cheek. When her head spun back to me, eyes wide. "Keep up the great work. I got your back."

The beaming smile on Taffy's face made me smile too. She spun around in time to see two more of the big goblins march in, accompanied by a smaller one with some kind of banner on a pole.

When the banner-bearer came to a stop before the throne, it waved the banner side to side. "Yous come an bask in glory of King Grobtar! Now you die!" As he finished talking, another huge goblin stepped out. This one had some kind of scepter that looked like it was made from a leg-bone (a human leg-bone), and was adorned with charms and gems.

The king was probably about double the height and width of the already big goblin guards. There was something new about him in particular that I quickly learned to hate—the smell. "Get on with it! Kill them!" he shouted.

"Two melee. I think the king is a caster. Don't know about the—" Taffy had to stop talking as she rushed forward and slammed into the two guards with her shield. "Group Taunt!"

Chloe started to run in as well, only she circled around the two guards and aimed herself for the king. "Yaff, Caprice, get on the flag guy!"

"Ensnaring Roots!" The goblin king gestured at Chloe with the bone and she stopped dead in her tracks as vines and roots ripped from the ground to grab her legs.

"Cuddles, kill him!" Caprice sounded furious. She pointed her own staff at the goblin king. "Torrent of Fire!"

"Bless!" It was all I could afford to do. I didn't know how much agro Taffy had on the goblin king, and didn't want to risk getting myself shut down by him.

The goblin with the staff was running toward Caprice and it was then I realized the end of it was sharpened to a point. He got within about twenty feet of Caprice when he stopped, eyes wide.

"Backstab. Hey there, short-stuff." Yaff, her smile showing rows of sharp teeth, slowly pulled her blades back. "Quick Swipe." That's when I realized the little goblin's legs were stuck in a trap.

The king tried to cast again, but with Cuddles on him, he couldn't get a spell off. Instead, he tried to bonk her on the head—which I'm pretty sure only made things worse for him. Cuddles was doing her best to claw and bite him, but she didn't seem to be doing more than stopping him work more magic. "Get back 'ere!" he shouted.

One of the big goblins that was on Taffy turned and made his way toward Cuddles.

"Arc Taunt!" My attention drifted back to Taffy. She'd taken a step back and was glaring at the goblin that broke off from her, only to draw the attention of the goblin king in her taunt too. "Blast of Life!"

Things weren't looking good, but the second of the big goblins returned to Taffy and resumed beating on her. I looked over to Chloe, who was swearing and ripping at the vines on her legs. Caprice had little darts of fire snaking out of her and hitting the BBEG, while Yaff was pulling her knife out of the back of the dead banner goblin. Okay, that was a good start. "Balanced Health!"

It was a huge rush. Magic poured through me, rushing out with two targets. Between Cuddles and Taffy, Taffy got most of the healing while Cuddles had the minor damage she'd taken wiped away.

"Get the king, Yaff. I've got these two!" Taffy was doing her best to keep the two big goblins from hitting her, but damage was still getting through.

That damn horn sounded again and the goblin king started laughing. Reaching over his shoulder, I watched as he drew a sword that was about as big as me. "Now you gonna get it!"

"Taffy, you need to get over to the king!" Chloe had one leg free and was just about to get her second out. "Taunt him, but try to keep damage off him! Caprice, Yaff, swap to the guards!"

It was sound logic. I could see what she was thinking and I was sure she was right—the boss triggered this new mode because his health was going down. He might have another. I watched as Taffy turned from the two, giving each a few free hits on her as she stomped over to the king.

"Major Channel Life!" I sent the spell to Taffy—she was going to need it.

"Backstab! My target!" Yaff appeared beside one of the goblin guards, her dagger soaked with its blood. "Caprice, get on this one!"

"Cuddles! Attack!" Caprice directed her pet onto Yaff's target and aimed her staff at them too. "Incinerate!"

Taffy took hit after hit. I was burning up my mana fast to keep her healthy. Chloe got free of the root spell and charged in to assist on Yaff's target, and I started to feel like we were doing a little better.

Then the first of the bodyguards went down and I could see a huge improvement in my healing output. I was still having to cast a lot, but Taffy was keeping most of the king's attacks at bay leaving me (and her) to heal up what the bodyguard did.

I was so focused on Taffy that when the second of the two bodyguards went down, it was a surprise.

"Okay, let's get on the king. He might have more surprises, so keep your eyes sharp. If more extras come, we shift to them and kill them first before hitting him again." Chloe rounded on the goblin king and shouted, "War Shout!"

Staged bosses, ring events, placeholders, agro swaps—these were all tactics I'd encountered in other games, but since I'd treated this purely PvP I'd never encountered them here from this point of view.

We kept working, but with Caprice's Torrent of Fire having reset its ramping damage, things got slower again.

"Why won't you just die?" the king asked loudly. "Let me help. Drain Life!"

"B-Blast of Life! Dusky, help! It's a continuous spell!" There was an edge of panic to Taffy's voice that unsettled me a little.

"Weak Heal! Balanced Health!" The first I aimed at Chloe, who had looked to still have a little harm from her time with the bodyguard—it was fast to cast and still got all my bonuses to healing. The second, what with the whole party except Taffy being full, dumped a lot of health into her.

I watched as Taffy went from wobbly on her legs to standing proud and sure of herself again. "How's that?" The Balanced Health spell had taken a bit to cast, but it was so worth it when used like this.

When I could cast again, I wanted to focus on sustaining the healing on Taffy, so cast, "Major Channel Life!" Rather than start its usual healing, the spell's light flared brighter than usual.

The goblin king squealed like a pig and jerked back a step as the dark magic of his lifedrain started circling around him. We all backed off a little as he screamed more and more as the dark magic started boring holes into his own body. "You—You won't get away with—"

But the big goblin didn't get to finish. The dark magic pooled around his head and it caved in a moment before he fell backward.

I stared at him while everyone else (even Cuddles) turned to look at me. "Did I kill him?"

"Dusky, you are the most amazing healer ever, did you know that?" Taffy marched over to me and picked me up in a big hug. "Thank you."

Trying to hug back, I was pretty sure her armor stopped her from feeling any amount of squeeze I could put on her. "I'm glad you're okay."

The sound of movement by the goblin king made us all turn, wary. Well, it made almost all of us turn—Yaff was crouched beside the goblin king, going through his things. "Well, we have a sword, some gold I grabbed from him earlier in the fight, a scepter that I think counts as a wand, an item called goblin king's dagger."

"How'd Yaff know it's called that?" Caprice asked.

"You're really going to question this now? I mean, I know it's worth—" Yaff froze, not even her whiskers moving. "Way too much for me to use. But it's so shiny…"

I looked at Taffy and got an easy smile and nod from her, then Chloe and Caprice. "Yaff, it's a dagger. You're the dagger user in our group. It's obviously yours."

"This is worth more gold than I've seen in my life. You can't just give it to me. We all worked hard for—"

"What about the sword?" Chloe asked. "I just got this new axe, so it's only a minor upgrade for me. Taffy, you can still use two-handers, right?"

"Well, yeah, but it messes up a lot of my defensive style. Couldn't we just sell it?" Taffy looked back to me for that, as if I would tell her to sell something that she might want to use. "What?"

"We all have different needs for equipment. Daggers go to Yaff, mage staffs to Caprice, healer gear to me, heavy armor to you—that kinda thing. Two-hander weapons are a bit odd because you both can use them. Chloe passed it up, you get to have it if you want it. That's how it rolls." I pointed my staff at the sword. "If you can use it—if all you can do is carry it around—then take it." Yaff, I noticed, was balancing the dagger and smiling at it.

"But I—" Taffy stopped when Chloe passed her the sword. It was akin to a huge flat piece of steel, sharpened only slightly on one edge with lots of spikes worked into it. It looked horrid, but I could imagine it had good stats. "That means Caprice gets the scepter, right?"

"What kind of magic is it for?" When Taffy looked at me with a blank I don't know expression, I looked over to Yaff. "Can you identify it?"

"Gimme a second." Yaff seemed to focus her all on the scepter before she let out a cheer. "I did it! It's for a Shaman, Beastmaster, or Warlock—whatever they are. That means it's yours."

Caprice's eyes were huge when Yaff passed her the scepter. She ran her hands over it and giggled. "You're all the best!"

Nothing for me, but then I could just buy the best gear possible and not even slightly eat into my money. That's when I noticed Yaff walking toward me with something that utterly stank in her hands. "What—?"

"Well, I figure we have to take proof we killed the goblin king back to the guards. This will do?" Yaff held up the goblin's scalp, complete with the crown that had its matted and greasy hair practically glued into it. She looked about as happy to be holding it as I liked the idea of carrying it.

"Ugh—"

"Pass it over here, Yaff." Taffy gave me a look that I could only interpret as you owe me one. With minimum effort, she worked the blade of the huge sword through scalp and turned the weapon so that the blunt side of it was supporting the weight. "Okay, let's get out of here."

There were no goblins in the tunnel leading back out. We faced another set of archers in the forest, but with our new tactics they were a push-over. There was a strange sensation running up and down my spine, though, that made me nervous.

When we arrived at the guardpost, the guard there looked at us without comment until the wind delivered our prize's scent to them. "What in the name of the faithful are you carrying?" It was Axebright Sorgirsdottir again. Did she have to wait here until the quest was complete? The world was losing its game-ness, or so it seemed, how much longer until it was all gone and we were just all people?

"Axebright! You gave us a job a few days back. Sorry it took a bit, but we got the bastard." Taffy marched up and swung her new blade around to hold out the goblin king's scalp to Axebright.

"You could have just told me. Ugh, this thing stinks. Well, I guess…" Drawing a hatchet from her belt, Axebright used it to hack the crown free from what remained of the goblin. "This might be worth something, so here you go."

Catching the crown with her sword again, Taffy froze and stared at it a moment. "Th-Thanks, Axebright!"

Everyone seemed a little distracted as we walked off. We got out of earshot of the guardhouse when I asked. "What happened?"

As always, it was Caprice who couldn't hold back her enthusiasm. Diving into my side, she knocked me over sideways into the snow. "We leveled up, Dusky!"

"What?" I stared up at her in surprise—well, more surprise than usual for when I was tackle-hugged. "But we barely did—Oh, I guess the quest and the boss bonuses stacked up."

"How high do levels go, Dusky? Caprice needs to know!" Laying on top of me, and with me laying on the snow, Caprice seemed perfectly happy not to move.

"Hold up. Questions can wait. We need to go back to the Lame Hog and have a little celebration." Leaning down, Chloe hooked her big paws under Caprice's arms and lifted her up with ease.

Caprice started squirming right away. "Caprice can have milk?"

I put my arm around her and hugged Caprice against me. "If we're having drinks, then I'm pretty sure the best mage in all Northwind can have some milk."