Author's note: Again, thanks to those that commented yesterday and to those that have commented on everything as well. Hopefully, I'm back on track now. I'd expect something about every two or three days from here on out. Your comments keep me writing.

Part 4

“I don’t give a flying crap if you are an imaginary creature from some acid induced hippy’s hallucination. I’ll sue you and Dragon Games…”

“Harrison, shut it, she’s waking up.”

My head was still a little cloudy, but listening to Dad chew out a twenty foot tall Brass Dragon that could feasibly swallow him in a single gulp was something that I wanted to see.

“Honey?” Mom sounded worried. “How do you feel?”

“Mmfine, Mom, just a little dizzy.”

“There, see.” Dad went off on another tirade. “She has a concussion, obviously.”

Mom patted my hand. “Do feel like you want to throw up, baby?”

I blinked a couple of times. “Mom? I’ll be okay.” Raising my right hand, I wiggled my fingers. “See this? It’s a Ring of Regeneration. It takes care of any injury I get, it just takes time. In fact, I feel a lot better. Give me a hand up.”

“Are you sure?”

I nodded, which wasn’t the best of ideas, but it got my point across. Forcing myself up took a good ten or so seconds and if you don’t think that’s a long time then time yourself. My muscles screamed at me, my right hand felt swollen, and my shoulder ached like it was going to fall off at any moment. That must have been what broke. The ring would take care of the worst injuries first before moving on to the lesser.

“There, see? A little shaken up, but in an hour you won’t see a mark on me.”

Dá»rdor stood beside Barristix, looking somewhat impressed, if I was reading him correctly. I tugged off the gloves and dragged my tired body over to him. “Thank you for the loan. It’s appreciated.”

Looking just a little up at me — he was tall for an Elf, maybe about five-five or so — he didn’t move his hand from inside his robes. “That was a highly calculated risk you took, relying on your armlets’ magic to work in precisely that way.”

I shrugged. “I’ve used the move before. I wasn’t sure I could make the spin in the air, but that was a chance I had to take if Kog could be on the team.”

His eyes narrowed. “You think he is that important to you?”

“Me? No, us. We’re in this together, Aelaes.” I was hoping that calling him Elder in the Elvish language would score me some brownie points.

His lips pursed and he regarded me for a few moments then looked down at the gloves I held out to him. “I said return the gloves after the brawl, I did not specify how soon after.”

The problem with Elves is that they are a proud lot. If you treat them with the respect they think they deserve then they will tolerate you in turn. His offering me unlimited use of his gloves was a show of respect to me. We may not agree on some things, but we both recognized the need for me to succeed. He wasn’t getting any younger, and Tolkien aside, even Elves die of old age.

I gave him a slight bow. “I’ll return them at your request. Thank you, Aelaes.”

The Bard, Steve — I giggled internally — stood by with an impressed look on his face. “I had my doubts. There’s not a lot of people that can go toe to toe with Kog and survive, much less knock him unconscious.”

I cringed a little. “Is he okay?”

Steve laughed. “Ar’ri, he’s probably having sweet dreams of Orcish women and mead so thick you could chew it. He hasn’t had a decent fight in a decade or more. It’s made him soft.”

I paled at the thought that the fight I just went thought was him on a bad day. Looking over the Half-Orc on the floor, his left eye was swollen and red, but he had a grin on his face.

“Well we’ll see about toughening him up a little. I need everyone with their A-game.”

Steve took my left hand and kissed the back of it. “Your wish is our command, Captain.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m a lesbian.”

It was his turn to cringe. “Foiled before I could even try out my best material.”

Looking over at Barristix, I noticed he didn’t seem very comfortable.

“Deal with your parents, Ar’ri. I must sleep. I am still not recovered enough to be of any use to anyone. Tomorrow morning we will meet and discuss what must be accomplished from this day forward.”

After acknowledging him I returned to my parents. Dá»rdor was holding a rather thick candle and talking to them. I did catch the tail end of their conversation.

“Simply light the wick and set it somewhere safe.”

My mom nodded and took the candle from him. Dá»rdor gave me his attention. “I have gifted your parents with protection similar to what we have here. No evil aligned creature, may approach within several hundred feet of this or suffer.”

I didn’t bother asking what they would suffer. He didn’t seem the type to screw around. It was probably some flesh eating curse or something equally as awful.

“Thank you.”

He tried to play it off. “You’ll be of no use to us if you are worrying about incidentals.”

My lips quirked to the side with amusement. “Mom, Dad, come on. Let’s get out of here. Barristix needs his sleep.”

~O~

With a little more bitching and moaning, Dad relented. He and Mom reluctantly left. It wasn’t the end of the discussion, by far, but for now, they knew I could defend myself against seemingly overwhelming odds. I think that’s what was holding them over at that point.

“Dudette, where ya been?”

Fred was kicking back on the floor looking over… I couldn’t believe it. Out of all the things Fred decided to bring with him, he grabbed his D&D paraphernalia. He didn’t go all out like I did in creating a costume or anything, but he had his own special dice, character sheet, and Player’s Handbook, among other sundry items.

All I got was a shrug from David, who was not that far away from his best friend, lounging on the couch.

“Dealing with my parents. I had to fight a berserker Barbarian so that he would respect me enough to lead him on our team, and I also had to kiss up to an ancient Elf sorcerer so he would feel better about being superior to everyone.”

Fred stared on with an open mouth. David actually sat up. “You know if I hadn’t seen what I did and know you like I do, I’d so call bullshit on that.”

I shrugged. “On the plus side, I got these.” I pulled the gloves from where they were tucked behind my belt. “Gloves of Ogre Strength.”

Fred was on his feet in a second. “No shit?” He rushed over and took them from me. “Whoa.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the magic wouldn’t work until he got a power up from Barristix, and considering how long it knocked him out of being useful for two days just to do me, I didn’t know how long that was going to take.

“Sorry, Fred, the Elf that gave them to me is anal, in the tightest sense. I have to give them back when I’m done.”

David sidled up and got a look at the goodies while I took a load off. Most of the worst injuries were well on their way to being okay instead of throbbing away. At that moment I was just sore and achy, but I needed to clean and oil my sword and dagger before showering. I found out that oil smells and doesn’t wash off very easily, so I had to do it before I took a bath.

He watched as I set my stuff down and unsheathed the sword. Fred was still fondling the gloves.

“Is that your Luck Blade?”

I nodded.

“How many Wishes do you still have on it?”

I shrugged. “Not sure, really. I hadn’t used it before all of this started, so it should still be one, but how am I supposed to verify that without using it? I’ll wait and find out later.”

There was one thing about having a current character sheet in front of you when you played D&D. You knew precisely what you had at the end of each adventure. You knew all the die rolls you had to make in order to do something. You knew everything there was to know about your character.

Playing for real meant no die rolls, and only you could tell if anything had changed about yourself. I could guess about different things, like damage points. Obviously I’d taken a serious hit if I was knocked out, collarbone broken, etcetera. The regeneration ring could heal one point for every turn that passed, but how many points of damage had I taken on?

It made me very aware that this wasn’t a game anymore. This was real life. Granted it was fantasy mixed with reality, but still, I could die out there. That thought loomed in my head for quite some time as I passed an oiled cloth over the sword’s blade.

Fred could only fondle the gloves for so long before he set them by my packs. “So what’s the plan? We get a powerup and join the club?”

“I don’t know, I guess.” I really didn’t know. “Barristix is out of commission until tomorrow morning.”

He bobbed his head.

David seemed to be the thinker between the two of them. “What about the stuff? I know you geeked out and made your costume, and magic items. Do we need to do the same?”

Sheathing the sword, I took up the dagger I had used. “Probably. I imagine that they’ve had time to make some of their own things here, but they aren’t warriors, so I don’t exactly know what’s what. It couldn’t hurt.”

“The Ogre’s battle axe is a good enough weapon for me,” said Fred. “I’ll need something to double for my chain mail though.

I shook my head. “Think realistically, Fred. You can’t walk around out there in real armor.” I stowed the dagger and packed the oil and cloth away. “I’m heading over to the Harley Davidson place for new leathers.”

Fred looked puzzled. “A motorcycle shop?”

With a grin, I explained. “The leather clothes they have are really tough stuff. It’s made to protect someone that’s riding a bike if they were to get into an accident. And it actually has armor in all the soft places, underneath the leather. A few modifications here and there and it would serve as decent protection.”

David eyed me critically. “A lot of it is harder leather. It makes noise when you move. That would be fine for Fred, but might not be the best choice for a thief.”

Crap, he was right. “What do you suggest?”

He shrugged. “Maybe something along military lines or police tactical units… which is basically a scaled down version of military grade uniforms.”

“That’s no good against blades,” I pointed out.

Fred piped up. “Magic protection.”

“Hmm?”

“Bracers, or amulets can serve the same if it’s the high grade stuff,” he said.”

“I’ll talk to Barristix and see if they have any premade, if not then we need to include it in your ritual.”

~O~

I was getting worried about Sam, since it was already dinner time and I hadn’t heard anything from her since the previous day. It all could have been solved with a simple phone call, but I didn’t have her number and I realized I didn’t know her real name so I couldn’t even call information or look her up in the book.

After my bath, I chose a shorts and cami set that was something more revealing than anything that I’d ever worn, short of a swimsuit. It was really comfortable and that’s what I was looking for until I was back to normal. The bath helped. I was down to sore muscles and minor scrapes that were pink and quickly fading, even before my eyes.

The guys were kind of surprised at how much of a girl I’d turned into. Fred just treated me like any of the other girls he knew. That was comforting. David, on the other hand… I’d catch him staring sometimes. I don’t even know if he knew he was doing it. The whole situation made me very conscious about how I sat or what I was doing. I mean, was I showing too much leg if I sat a certain way, or was I bouncing my dainty bare foot too cutely. Perhaps I should have worn my hair down so it didn’t show off my thin neck and shapely shoulders.

David was a pal, a friend; that was all. I was still firmly entrenched in the lesbian category and looking at him did absolutely nothing for me. I know, I actually checked him out in that specific way at one time. So there was no doubt. Just the thought of Sam made me feel gushy. That eased my mind somewhat, but I still felt a little uncomfortable when I’d catch him eyeing a body part.

Perhaps the solution was simply to wear more clothes.

For the remainder of the day, I caught the guys up on everything that had happened since the beginning of the convention. That took up more time than I thought. We’d ordered pizza delivery and it annoyed me to no end realizing that a vegetarian pizza sounded a lot more attractive than the traditional meat lovers that we normally sent for. The sad part was that it really was a lot better tasting than the boy’s choice smelled.

Shortly after seven Sam finally showed. She looked a complete mess, but she was still hot in a rumpled way.

“Honey, I’m home!” she playfully called out.

She had stepped inside the room without looking up and when she did, she saw we had guests and froze.

“Honey?” asked Fred. “That is so hot.”

David didn’t look too pleased, but he didn’t make an issue of it with his displeasure disappearing almost as soon as it appeared.

I hopped up and gave her my worried, disapproving look. Since she’d never seen it, I was wondering if it would play well.

“I really need to get your cell number,” I said.

She gave me a curious look. “Why? What happened?”

I waved a hand to the boys. “Sam this is Fred, he’s the one on the floor, and David.” They waved and she waved back. “They’re part of my regular gaming crew. Somehow the bad guys found out about Fred and tracked him back to his place. They made a run on him and my parents this morning.”

Her eyes nearly bulged. “What? Why?”

With a shrug, I shook my head. “Unless they wanted to use them as hostages or something then I don’t have a clue. David and Tim were at Fred’s when it all went down. Tim bailed. These guys want in.”

She took all of the information in and then sat at the table while setting a large gym bag on top. “Wow.”

After standing there for a few moments, I asked, “Where have you been all day?”

Sam blinked and ran her hand through her hair. “I’ve been packing away all of my stuff. I told my mom that I’m moving out.”

Even with the rooms being offered, I didn’t really think of DG as my new home. After my lease was up, I’d planned on just putting everything I had, for the most part, into storage. I guessed that Sam had other ideas.

Fred finally got off the floor and eased up beside me, putting his chin on my shoulder from behind. “Why is your skin red?”

Without missing a beat, she looked up at him. “M&M’s, I hate all the other colors.”

~O~

The office Gnort led me to was a lot more civilized than I had expected, or at least a lot more modern than the cavern where Barristix had been hanging out for the last couple of days.

Though he may have been the owner and CEO of a minor business, the décor would have never given away that little factoid. The only things in the fifteen by fifteen foot room was a trashcan half full of Mountain Dew cans, a large modular desk that held ten computer screens, and two chairs.

While I patiently waited for my Commander-in-Chief, I casually stuck my nose in where it didn’t belong. A good number of the screens displayed monotonous information. Since I wasn’t really interested in finding out how many cases of toilet paper Dragon Games employees went through in a single month, I moved on to things that were more my style.

“That’s the Fifth Edition.”

I jumped at Barry’s voice.

“I didn’t touch anything!” Looking down at my hands, I saw I was holding a gold colored paperweight in the shape of Griffin. At least I thought it was gold colored. From the heft of it, I decided that setting it back down on the desk was the best course of action.

Barry smirked. It seemed that he was highly entertained by my presence. “It’s okay to touch things, just try to remember to bring them back when you realize that they found their way into your pockets.”

I started to protest, or explain really, but he cut me off. “Ar’ri, I know all about Avarice. You don’t have to feel guilty.” When he got to his desk, he picked up the paperweight and looked at it before setting it back down. “It was one of the many reasons that I chose you. It isn’t everyone that includes that major of a flaw into their character. Most choose to pick simple things that don’t make any difference, like biting their nails, or something equally as lame. The others wind up going off the deep end, like accidentally killing their entire family with a spoon and they are on the road to redemption.”

He rolled his eyes at that one. “Anyway, I suppose we need to get to the answers that I’m sure you have numerous questions for.”

Barry held his hand out to one of the chairs and I chose the one that wasn’t on rollers, meant for coasting back and forth in front of his desk. “Did you want a soda? Coke, right?”

My nose wrinkled up a little at the thought. “You wouldn’t have any green tea, would you?”

He grinned. “Being a Half-Elf is a little more different than you thought?”

I shuffled around a little, crossing and then uncrossing my legs, while he leaned over the desk and punched a button on his phone.

“Carrie, would you bring us a Mountain Dew and a green tea, please?” When he got the response he was waiting for, he clicked off the intercom. “Talk to me, Ar’ri.”

I sighed. “It’s nothing that I can’t deal with. I’m a Mary Sue, for Radriemir’s sake,” — Elvish god of Thieves, don’tcha know — “I shouldn’t have anything to whine about.”

“Whining and dealing with something you didn’t think about when you accepted my proposal are two totally different things.” Barry looked me over while I nibbled the inside of my bottom lip. “Are you satisfied with your new form?”

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s great. Thanks, by the way.”

He shook his head. “Don’t mention it, really. You’ll earn everything that you have been given and that which you desire as well.”

The office door opened which was followed by a girl in her early twenties with a tray. Barry took his Dew and me my tea before she left with my boss’s thanks.

I was desperate to get the focus off of me so much. Talking about me, my faults specifically isn’t something that I particularly like. “Did they tell you that the ritual didn’t work on Sam?”

Barry took a sip from his soda. “Yeah, I’ve got Dá»rdor working on that. He has some research to do, but he says that he should be able to pinpoint the problem.”

Looking at him expectantly, I shifted my head with a curious lift of my brow.

“He said it might have something to do with your devotion to your character. Samantia’s PC isn’t the one she primarily plays.”

I leaned back and groaned. “Does that mean she has to be the Tiefling?”

Barry sighed. “The ritual took a lot more effort, on my part, than was originally intended. I am still young for a dragon half-breed.”

My eyes narrowed. “You’re Barry; you’re not a half-breed.”

With a gentle smile, he shook his head. “It’s beside the point, Ar’ri. I did learn something that will further our cause, however.”

After sipping on my tea, I set it aside, on the desk and listened.

“Dá»rdor learned that by acclimating you to the magic of my mother’s world, I have awakened a channel, for lack of a better word, to this world’s magic.”

“A channel?”

“Yeah, that’s the cool part.” Something of the geek I knew before, at the convention, was slipping back into Barry’s personality. “I’m the first child of my people that was born here, on Earth. My magic was a gift from my mother. My people’s magic is still that of Qrynn. But yours is different. Dá»rdor thinks he can tap into that specific magic in order to gift your friends with their characters.”

I looked at him with a confused face. “I’m sorry. Magic isn’t my strong suit. I’m not a Wizard.”

“True enough, but you can act as a channel for your own people, Fred and David, perhaps Samantia as well. But that is for later. For now, you have a mission, your first.”

My attention span sharpened. “What already?”

Barry didn’t bother with confirming what he’d just told me; instead, he opened up a desk drawer and withdrew an iPad. With a touch of the power button, he flipped it around and handed it to me.

“Everything you need to know is on that directory. You have ten missions that must be performed by the end of the month.” When he saw the protest on my face, he continued. “We need some breathing room, Ar’ri. Lyzax has far too many people on this world. We need to interrupt her supply lines of personnel and help ourselves to what equipment she provides to her people. Doing this will give us time to prepare, time for you to insure your team is ready.”

When he explained the situation like that, I understood. I needed time. I was just nervous about jumping right into the game without so much as a sourcebook to reference. Well, I had an iPad. Maybe that would do.

“The first two missions will be undertaken by you alone. Hopefully, you will have assistance after that.”

Rolling his chair back, Barry grabbed his Dew off of the desk. “You have your assignment. Prepare yourself, Ar’ri. You begin tonight.”

~O~

I was totally immersed in the contents of the iPad during my trip back to the suite. The information that Barry had gathered read like a regular D&D adventure module: background information, layout of the dungeon — or in this case the building, known rooms, and information of known enemy forces that I might encounter. With my experience in DM’ing and as Ar’ri, it looked far too easy.

By the time I’d made it back, I realized that we had a guest.

David, Fred, and Sam were seated on one side of the table and Dá»rdor on the other, looking over what looked like character sheets. After I closed the door, Dá»rdor spared me a glance. I nodded.

“Hello, Aelaes.”

“Lady Ar’ri,” he said with a nod of his head before resuming his perusal of the sheets.

Fred was enthralled with the Sorcerer and Sam wasn’t too far from being so.

“Excuse me, David.”

He looked up and I gestured to the other side of the room. When we’d gotten there, I whispered. “What’s going on?”

“Dá»rdor figured out what happened and he wanted to look over our sheets to make sure of… something.”

My mood brightened considerably. “Really? Cool. Hold on. You had your stuff with you?”

David shook his head. “No, I always leave my gaming folder with Fred. It was in his bag.”

Not everyone was as paranoid about having their character passed around like I was.

“Children,” Dá»rdor called.

We returned to the table and I powered the iPad down. “David says that you’ve figured out the problem with the ritual?”

“The ritual was not at fault, but magic in this plane instead. It is not entirely the same as that of Qrynn. Lord Barristix was able to bridge the difference, however the cost was too great as you saw after your transformation.”

I nodded, understanding as much of that as I could. “And the solution?”

From within his cloak, Dá»rdor withdrew three silver hoops. They were all fairly thin and were inscribed with Elvish runes that were somewhat familiar to me. I could only guess that Ar’ri had seen them sometime in his or her past, probably as a child.

“What do those do?” asked Fred, and then with an afterthought added, “Sir.”

Dá»rdor gave the answer to me. “Barristix has informed you of his theory of channeling?”

I nodded. “Something about using me as a connection to this world’s magic.”

With that conformation, he set the collars on the table. “You three have a decision to make. With these I will be able to create a pathway through Lady Ar’ri to each of you. The magic involved will sample her essence and connect it with your mortal bodies. Through that channel you will be able to transform into your characters.”

Fred started to reach for the one that was closest to him, but Dá»rdor held up his hand. “However, there is a one limitation that I am aware of.”

I stopped myself from blurting out, “Of course there is,” just in time.

“Once transformed, you will be locked into whatever form you take. The Rings of Polymorph will be useless. Meaning you may never be human again.”

Sam started to raise her hand, but realized what she was doing. “What happens if we take the collar off?”

Dá»rdor gave a slight shake of his head. “Once donned, they will be a permanent fixture, solid and unbreakable by any means without killing you.”

“Will the Glamour charms still work?” I asked.

“Yes, for they are simply an illusion. Additionally you will be immune to any number of spells or cursed items that would change your bodies in any way from your chosen race and gender, short of divine intervention.

Sam had the most to lose here, so I wanted to make damn sure she was willing to return to being a Tiefling.

“Have you told them about the restriction concerning the characters they use?”

The frown on Sam’s face was answer enough. I got up and walked around to the other side of the table. “You don’t have to do this. In fact, I’d rather you didn’t.”

She looked at me and I saw her eyes were welling up. “I’m sorry.”

My arms were around her, as she buried her face in my chest. “Shh, it’s better that you don’t.”

After a few moments, she pulled back and turned to the sorcerer. “If I make the other character my main, and play her only…”

Dá»rdor nodded sagely. “You must immerse yourself in your secondary character, child. Only then will it be successful.”

Sam smiled. “I can do that.” Turning back to me, I got a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be late to the party, but I’ll be there eventually. In the meantime, I’ll be around to help in whatever way I can.”

Pulling the chair out closest to her, I sat down and held her hand.

Fred was biting at the bit. “Came we put them on now?”

Dá»rdor narrowed his eyes at my friend. “You will become your Ranger. Even though he is human, he will be a different type of human, you understand this?”

“Yep, totally, dude… uh, sir.”

Turning to David the wizened Sorcerer eyed him as well. “And you, you understand that you will be a full blooded Sylvan Sorcerer including the adjustments we spoke of.”

“Wait, what?” I said. “What adjustments? I thought you couldn’t do those.”

David held his hand up to calm me. “It doesn’t have anything to do with my character. The Elder asked if he could include his bloodline into mine.”

Dá»rdor took on a very solemn tone in his features and voice. “I am the last of my race, Lady Ar’ri. My wife left for Arborea soon after our arrival on Earth. We have no living offspring. This joining serves two-fold. Continuing my bloodline through a surrogate and eventually increasing your companion’s ability to better serve you. He will be my apprentice for the remainder of my time, until I join my wife.”

Arborea was a polite way of saying his wife died, in case you didn’t get that.

“Oh, okay.”

“Yes, Elder,” David said. “I understand and I want to proceed.”

It was the first time I’d seen Dá»rdor smile. Granted I haven’t known him for very long, but still.

“Very well. Let the Ranger proceed. I would suggest finding someplace comfortable, first. This is new magic and I have no way of anticipating the immediate after-effects.” Seeing my concerned face, he explained. “He might lose consciousness.”

“Ah. Yeah, couch for you.”

Fred grabbed the collar and almost dashed for the couch, jumping over the small coffee table and flopping onto the cushions. Dá»rdor sighed as I sidled up beside him. “You’re granting his fondest desire.”

“What do I do?” Fred asked.

“Simply put it on and relax. The collar closes on the left side of your neck.” The Sorcerer motioned for me to move to one of the other chairs. “For safety’s sake, Lady Ar’ri.”

That might be a good idea, since the magic was going to be channeled through me. I stepped over and sat down, making myself comfortable. Fred looked at me and grinned as he snapped the collar into place.

The static thing happened again, except this time I could actually taste the chocolate pudding part. I think it was dark chocolate.

Fred glowed briefly. “This feels funky.”

Then before my eyes, I could see his body reforming, becoming thicker and lean at the same time. His face filled out and his hair darkened from the ash blonde it was before to a brunette color with multiple streaks of highlights filling throughout. Before I knew it, the transformation was over and my friend was blinking and grinning like it was the last day of high school all over again.

“Fred?” David asked warily.

He sat up, completely distracted from looking at his thick muscled arms and running a hand over his chest down through his abdomen.

“Awesome,” he whispered. Looking up, he gave us all a wide grin and then sprang from the couch. “This -- rocks.”

Fred’s voice had become a little deeper, but it was still the same in a way. His attention was drawn to David. “Dude, you so have to try this out.”

I rolled my eyes and relaxed. “You’re up, Sorcerer’s apprentice.”

He gave me a nervous nod and rounded the coffee table to take Fred’s place on the couch. “Okay.”

I heard him mumble something to himself. From his body language I could tell he was trying to psych himself up as he sat down and donned the collar. Before he completely closed it, I saw him look at me and then at Dá»rdor. The elder Sorcerer appeared as placid as he normally did, but there was a hint of expectation at the sides of his eyes.

That’s when I heard the click of the collar closing and saw David ease the rest of the way down on the couch. Nothing was said for a few moments, until I felt the telltale presence of magic in the air around my body and the taste of dark chocolate on my tongue.

As expected, David’s body began to shrink, but not nearly as much as I’d anticipated. I said before that Elves in the D&D world were much shorter than their Tolkien counterparts, around the five foot range. David shrunk, but not nearly that much, staying more in line of where Dá»rdor was at. That’s when I remembered the elder Elf’s bloodline was being included in the mix. Of course, David stood a high probability of being taller than the average Elf with that included.

His black hair lightened and then switched to a vibrant reddish-orange, lengthening until it looked like it would touch his shoulders.

Sam leaned down to me and in a concerned voice she whispered, “Are those breasts?”

My eyes widened and I pushed myself up from the chair.

“Ah, dude,” Fred said warily.

Sam pointed out her observation correctly. David had grown a pair of smaller, yet well-defined breasts. It was his face that told the tale even more. It had switched from the hiss square jaw and dimpled chin to a heart-shaped face with a pointed chin. His lips thickened and plumped out.

“Oh, Eá¤rá³lindá«, no,” I whispered. Sorry, that’s the Elven goddess of beauty.

Something had gone wrong and David was, without a doubt, turning into a female Elf.

Then the static of the magic was gone.

His eyes snapped open and he… she sucked in a sharp breath. Her vibrant green Elf eyes looked at me hovering over her with concern showing on my face. She didn’t move, except for running a tongue over her lips. With a few blinks of her eyes, I could see that she was desperately thinking before she said anything.

“I’m a girl,” she said in astonishment. I couldn’t tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing at that point, but when her hand went up to her mouth and her eyes closed, I dropped to my knees and took her other hand in mine.

“David, it’ll be okay. I’m sure Dá»rdor can think of something to do.” I knew it was a lie. While she was wearing the collar she would be unable to polymorph into any other form.

Snapping my head around, I glared at the elder Sorcerer. His face was ashen white, and from the way he was clutching his chest, he didn’t look too good.

“Sam,” I snapped.

She saw what I noticed and rushed to Dá»rdor side, ushering him to the closest chair. There was a sharp intake of breath from him. He reached inside his robes and pulled out a metal vial, quickly unscrewing it and downing its contents.

Turning away from him, I refocused my attention back on David. “What can I do?”

She was looking up at the ceiling, her eyes already brimming with unshed tears as she tried to calm herself. I felt a tug on my hand when she focused on me. “Help me up.”

Her hand was shaking as I tugged her gently into a sitting position. I watched as her clothes sagged all around her body. Proper clothing came to the back of my mind, but that would be later. Her reality was now and possibly forever.

“We’ll figure something out, David.”

Tears dropped down her cheeks when she nodded. Looking down, she grabbed her jeans, at the waist, and balled them up. “Can I get something to wear?”

My smile was sad and placating. “Of course we can, sweetie. Come on. Let’s get you to a room and some privacy.”

Fred backed away with a stunned look on his face as he tried to look like nothing was wrong and this sort of thing happened every day. I suppose it was the thought that counted, but it was an awful attempt.

David’s movement was more of a shuffle since her jeans were bunched up at her feet, but we eventually made it and she waited as I closed the door.

“Ar’ri, what am I going to do?”

Her voice was on the edge of panic and desperation. It was imperative, I felt, that she didn’t lose herself in this, so I mustered up the best speech I could think of on the fly.

“You do what you’ve always done. You’re the smartest out of all of us, David. Now with your… um… new self, you’re even more intelligent. You told me your specialty was Spellcraft. That means if anyone can figure out a way around that collar, it’s you. Now you have the power to do that. With Dá»rdor’s knowledge and power, between the two of you, I don’t know what you can’t accomplish.”

The earnest look on her face told me that I had her attention. I pressed on.

“Believe me when I tell you that I know what it’s like to be in the wrong body. For years I knew that I was supposed to be a girl. It was hard; I’m not going to lie. There were times that stood in front of the mirror and wanted to kill myself just to end the pain of knowing I’d never have what I wanted. But every day I moved on. You just do. Because giving up is even worse.”

Her large green Elf eyes looked at me with empathy radiating from their depths.

“I’m not going to say get over it. All I’m asking is that you push through the now and start that brilliant mind working on a solution to get what you want.” Moving my hands up to her shoulders, I gripped them. “You are a sixteenth level Sorceress, David. You have amazing power and you have Dá»rdor as a mentor. If anyone has the resources and the ability to help you achieve that goal, it’s him.”

Releasing her shoulders, I let my hands trail down her arms as I stepped back. “And you can be damn sure I’ll be there with you every step of the way.”

More tears trailed down her eyes. “I need to pee.”

A short giggle popped out of my mouth. “Okay. Do you… uh.”

David shook her head. “Something got rewired in my head. I have a whole Elf childhood in my brain. I know how to pee.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “There’s a robe hanging beside the shower stall. You can use that until we figure out your clothing situation. You can borrow something of mine, since we’re about the same size now. Just let me know when you need my help.”

She gave me a short nod and shuffled off to the bathroom. When the door closed, I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed.

~O~

“Okay, what the hell happened?” I snapped at Dá»rdor, who had regained his color and didn’t look like he was about to collapse.

“In truth, I do not know. The only change I made was to include my bloodline. From the look of her features that was successful. She closely resembles, my father’s sister. There should not have been any chance of a gender change. Her character was male. This should not have happened.”

I tapped my foot on the floor. “Well, it obviously did. What I need for you to do is to undo it. Find a way. If it means I have to hunt down one of the Elven gods and perform some sort of impossible task then let me know. David is my friend, and I know exactly what’s going on in her head now. I won’t have it. Nobody should have to go through…”

I was ranting and I realized it, so I shut my mouth and breathed through the anger. “Just… just… make it happen. I don’t care what you have to do.”

The door behind me opened and I saw David poke her head out. “I’m ready, Ar’ri.”

Giving Fred a glance, I turned to Sam. “We’re going on a clothes run soon. Want to come?”

She grimaced. “Barry wants to see me and Fred.”

I nodded. “Okay, that’s fine. It will probably be better if I took her by myself. The Cooper is kind of small.”

“Alright, I’ll see you when you get back.”

When I reentered David’s room, she was waiting for me on the bed, sitting there in my gray satin bathrobe that barely made it midway down her thighs. She was simply gorgeous and I had to steel my mind and think of the business at hand.

I waved her to the bathroom. “My room’s on the other side. Let’s go raid my wardrobe.”

She was very graceful when she stood and we made our way through. “You don’t mind us sharing a bathroom?”

I shook my head. “I want to be nearby in case you need me. Like I said, I know what you’re going through, literally. So, if anyone can understand it’s me.”

“Thank you.”

Unlike my voice and Fred’s, David’s had changed radically. Instead of the decently educated, suburban traits I’d come to associate with him, he had a Sylvan accent that wasn’t too far from what you might think of as upper crust British with a hint of something foreign thrown in, like French or Spanish. It was odd, but soothing at the same time.

“Most of what I have is very… girlie, sorry. I told the others that I would take you out for your own clothes. Maybe you can ease into…”

“Would you call me Shae?”

I blinked at the abrupt change in topic. “Pardon?”

I’d opened up my closet and she perused what I had. “Shae, it’s short for Shaeria… David doesn’t sound…” She took a breath and let it out. “I’m not him anymore. I also agreed to take Dá»rdor’s last name to use when we are behind the scenes. Out in the… human world I’ll be Shea Coraer, behind the scenes Shaeria Faladhen.”

Testing the name out, I said, “Shae.”

She nodded.

“Okay. So, uh, what do you think? Jeans?”

~O~

Shae chose a green cami and I found some brown shorts to go with it. Her reasoning was simple. She wanted to blend in and not stand out in the crowd. It was a warm day and girls just didn’t hide themselves on warm days. I changed to something similar. My clothes were a little loose on her, except in the hips. I had much more narrow hips than she did. She also had smaller feet than I did. When she slipped them into a pair of sandals, a brush of her hand over them and a slight feeling of static in the air caused them to shrink until they fit perfectly.

Got to love magic.

By the time we’d made it out to the main room, the only person that was still there was Dá»rdor. Rising from his seat, he took Shae in and looked proud and embarrassed in the same moment.

Shae pressed her hand to my upper arm. “Can you give us a minute?”

I nodded and went to grab my smaller bag. While I couldn’t really wear my utility belt, it didn’t mean that I was totally defenseless. Transferring a few potions and a dagger to the smaller bag still left room for other things. It didn’t really look like a purse, with its numerous pockets on the outside, but it would serve the same purpose. Plus I made it a habit to always wear my circlet and armlets wherever I was.

When I was done, I stood by the door and occasionally glanced back to make sure Dá»rdor wasn’t being a horse’s ass. You can never tell with High Elves. I did notice him take something out of his robes and hand to Shae. From her motions I could tell they were rings, one for each hand and also silver cuffs for each wrist.

Afterward, he took her head in his hands and kissed her forehead. I looked away at that point. Obviously he was feeling a little paternal or something, and I shouldn’t be eavesdropping.

“You ready to go?”

Shae was a few feet away and Dá»rdor was behind her. I opened the door and let her exit while the Sorcerer held back a little. He leaned in close. “Shaeria has consented to join my family. She has my protection, but you must watch out for her, Lady Ar’ri. Protect my daughter.”

My eyebrows rose at that announcement. “Nobody touches her without losing a hand or two at the minimum, Dá»rdor. You just make sure that you find out and fix what went wrong. No screwing around.”

He didn’t rebuke my mild cursing, and nodded a single time. I didn’t second guess his motives. By bringing Shae into his family, he’d taken personal responsibility toward her physical and mental well-being. Elves were very serious about those types of things. Being of his blood originally or not made no difference. In his head, Shae was now his daughter and he was honor-bound to make good on his duty to her. Sylvan Elves had something worthy to teach a lot of people on Earth about responsibility, even if they were asses most other times.

~O~

Because of my wandering hands, I thought it best not to return to the mall and instead I chose some of the better strip centers nearby. We were about halfway there when Shae decided to open up a little.

“Is the inevitable shopping trip part of turning into a girl?”

I held back a snort. “I guess so. I just thought that you’d want some clothes so you would have one less thing to worry about. It’s a big change, even if you get the memory dump of being a girl for years.”

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw her stroking her right thigh, almost out of sight. “I know what you mean. In some ways this feels perfectly normal, but I know for a fact I should be curled up in some corner having a mental breakdown.”

I nodded. “I’m not going to say you get used to it, but you can learn to tolerate the imbalance.”

We went on in silence for another mile before Shae dropped the sun visor down and opened up the vanity mirror. She made few faces, smiled, frowned, checked out her pointy ears, and finally closed it before leaning back with a sigh.

“I just had to have a seventeen for a Charisma score.”

I don’t remember if I told you about that particular ability. Charisma isn’t necessarily devoted to how you others perceive you. It covers a number of different characteristics and purposes. For instance: can you make people believe you? Can you gather followers simply by standing on a milk crate and talking to a crowd? Can you be a leader? All of that takes charisma. However, it also takes into account beauty. As sad as it is, people flock to look at beautiful people.

Having a Charisma score of seventeen, out of a possible eighteen, means that you have beauty and a presence that equates to high-end move stars like Angelina Jolie in her prime. Regardless of what you think of the woman, she has the ability to sway others and she has the beauty to make most men crawl. Off hand, I’d rate her at about a seventeen or eighteen on a really good day.

Due to some magical enhancements, I have the Charisma score of twenty. Starting to get the picture of what I’m capable of? I forget about that sometimes. Case in point was the unlucky Macy’s security guy at the mall. When I poured on the charm, compounded by the natural Elven ability to influence humans, he didn’t stand a chance. Thinking about it, I should probably check in on him somehow. I’d hate to think he was sitting at home furiously masturbating for hours on end without regard to his health.

I’m serious. It sounds bad, I know. But it’s the truth. Magic can do some really weird and terrifying things to people.

~O~

I think the shopping turned out to be somewhat cathartic for Shae. Putting her concentration onto something so mundane allowed her to ease into her new gender. It wasn’t too long before she wasn’t asking my opinion on every little thing. She wound up going middle-of-the-road: mostly jeans and slacks, tons of leggings, tops that didn’t show too much of anything, and comfortable shoes. But she did choose a few things that some would regard as entirely feminine. Bed clothes for one; silk was a must. Underwear another; she picked things that felt good instead of simply being functional.

It was very confusing at times.

When I asked if she wanted to get any makeup, she told me only simple things, and when I mentioned jewelry she just shook her head in the negative.

Shae was going to be a complicated individual, but I was more than willing to help her every step of the way.

~O~

When we made it back to DG we had assistance carting the purchases to her room. While she put her things away, I climbed into bed for a nap. I still had a mission to carry out that night, late, and I wanted to be fresh.

When sleeping, I like to wear only a nightshirt and panties, not much else. So you might understand my surprise when I woke up to my alarm beeping softly at me to find Shae curled up beside me, under the covers.

There’s something to be said about the intimate contact of a hand and arm over your midsection, gripping you lightly and the feel of one leg pressed up against yours while another is wrapped around the other side.

Her head was just underneath my shoulder and her breathing was smooth and even.

I didn’t want to move. It was so comfortable and warm.

TBC...