“Coconut 1, 2, 3, you want to kiss me,” Micheal said.

Looking at the jerk who had turned me into a girl, I didn't want to kiss him. Stab him brutally and repeatedly maybe, but no kissing now or ever.

“Turn me back!” I demanded.

“Nope. You're much prettier this way,” he replied. “Apricots and Cantaloupes,” he said with a frown.

Nearing the edge of panic, and getting sick and tired of the waves of lightheadedness that came each time he spoke, I asked “What are doing?”

“Apple pie. Why aren't the code phrases overriding your free will?” he muttered.

This was too weird for me and I needed help. Most of the students were out now, so I pushed my way past the little freak, holding my now loose shorts up with my hands, grabbed my backpack and made my way out.

Micheal acted like everything was perfectly normal. “I don't know why you screamed. You're a lot better looking now, and you probably won't get beaten up by the sword swingers. They usually like to show off to pretty girls. Banana Sundae. You should be thanking me, with lots of kisses and hugs and... other stuff.”

I kept one hand over my new upper attributes, and held my pants up with my other one, telling myself I couldn't kill him yet, he had to change me back. Outside I saw that the other students were milling around, talking to each other and wondering what was going to happen next. There were three adults off to the side watching every thing with looks of disgust and disinterest. The man was a mountain at seven feet tall, wearing black plate mail with skulls on the elbows, shoulders, belt, and knees. A sword that looked like it could kill an ogre in one swing hung from his back. A woman in long red silk robes with a sickly green domino mask covering her eyes, tapped her long claw like nails on a golden scepter topped with a small dragon skull. The third... person, was tiny and covered in dull brown scales, a few ruby red feathers erupted seemingly at random all over its face, most of it's body was concealed in robes. It took a moment to realize he was a Lizard Folk, they were seldom seen outside the Flooded Jungles, and were usually naked with brightly coloured scales and feathers.

They had to be there to meet us, so I made my way over to them with Michael in tow. He was still spouting off phrases that made my head spin just enough to be annoying, but I didn't try to stop him, the teachers would want to talk to him to.

“Excuse me,” I squeaked with my now high pitched voice, “are you the teachers?”

“Yes, child,” the woman said, not looking at me, because apparently the slate grey sky was much more interesting.

“Uh, OK. I have a problem. Micheal turned me into a girl on the way here and now he's trying to mind control me!” I said, pointing at the cause of the whole mess who was standing there looking quite proud of himself.

Lizard teacher opened its mouth, revealing sharp, pointy teeth, and began to whistle. After a few seconds it stopped and looked at me very closely. So closely a feather on the tip of its nose brushed my chin. “Good bone structure. Nice skin. No deformities.” It grabbed my arm tapping it with a claw. “Muscles still work.”

It poked and prodded me a little bit more, as I tried to teleport myself back home through sheer willpower. Finally it stopped and looked at Michael. “Why did you choose this student?”

Micheal shrugged. “No real reason except he's pretty stupid. I think she'll make a good minion, Sir Drago.”

“Very logical. What's the success rate?”

“Forty percent,” he answered.

“What happens the rest of the time?”

Michael smiled, “Let's just say I have a very interesting bug and fungus collection.”

Sir Drago the lizard man made the whistling sound again, and looked at the other two teachers. “I like this kid already. Micheal, you just got some bonus points in my class. Improve the success rate to 60% by the end of the year and you've got a guaranteed A.”

“That's it?!” I yelled. “Doesn't he have to turn me back?”

“No,” the sorceress replied still looking at the sky. “You survived, you can go to class, and maybe you'll learn not to be so trusting in the future. It's a good lesson.”

“But I'm a girl!”

The sorceress finally looked at me, her eyes were absolutely black beneath the mask. “And being a girl is a problem?” Thunder boomed ominously in the distance.

My self-preservation skills finally kicked in, “Um, no. Being a girl is great. Wonderful. Fantastic. Couldn't be better!”

“Good, We will transfer you to the girls dormitory, but that is a minions problem not ours. You will get several girls uniforms once we arrive at the school, so you can dress in something that fits properly. If you become a boy again, we can transfer you within the day.”

“But I'm a boy. I don't want to be in the girls dormitory!” I whined.

“Micheal, is this student fully female?” she asked the guy who had started it all.

“Yep. If she wasn't she'd be a bug.”

She gave a very tiny smile, which did absolutely nothing to make me feel better. In fact it made me think of a dragon looking at a particularly plump and juicy princess. “You heard him. Would you prefer to use the boys facilities in your current state?”
I looked around at the very large and scary, muscular boys, many of whom had tattoos, weapons and scars. My hands covered my new body a little more tightly. “Good point, very, very good point. Just call me one of the girls.”

“What is your name?” the swordsman asked in a gravely voice.

“Peter.”

He shook his giant head. “Petra. It suits you better now.”

“But that's a- Oh right.” An idea suddenly popped up. “So just to be clear, you're not going to make him turn me back, right?”

“We will not,” the sorceress said.

“Right then. Thanks,”

Micheal smirked at me, and said, “OK, last try, this has to work. Mango Custard Igloo.”

The words seemed to grab my brain, slap it a few time and give it a good hard shake. For a moment I saw Micheal surrounded by a shiny aura that made all the hate and anger vanish. I found myself smiling at him, wishing he'd tell me what to do. And then it vanished in a tidal wave of rage and loathing.

I forced myself to keep smiling brainlessly. “Micheal, do you really want to help me out, and make sure nothing bad happens to me?” I asked, managing to sound shy and helpless as I looked at our feet.

“Of course,” he said instantly. “Now that my mind control is finally working it's the least I can do.”

“That makes me so happy,” I replied, reaching out to give him a hug like I'd see girls do all the time. As he spread his arms wide, I brought my knee up catching him very hard right between the legs. He turned white and fell to the ground clutching himself. “You jerk! I hate you! Hate you! Hate you! Hate you!” With each shout, I kicked him as hard as I could.

“I think Petra has some potential,” the swordsman said, as I kept pummelling Micheal. “Let's say we give her another two minutes before we get things going?”

The other two shrugged, watching in amusement as I gave my new punching bag a wedgie.

**

I was sitting on my bags, rubbing my sore foot on one side of the field, while Micheal was draped over his trunk and bags on the other end. When we'd finally been separated, there had been some applause, and the swordsman had told me to take a bow.

Now the three teachers were getting some of the noisier students to be quiet, mostly by the sorceress zapping them with lightning. It didn't seem too nasty, since the students were able to get to the their feet, only lightly singed and with some burnt hair a few seconds later.

“Greetings students, I am Master Grieve” the swordsman said. “We are the faculty leaders of the three main departments, combat, magic and alchemy. You will see us sometimes. If you are lucky it will be in the classroom, if you are not lucky it will be in our office. You are the newest students of Doom Valley Prep School. We are not your typical school, we will not coddle you, we are only going to challenge you. You are to go out there and change the world in your image, you won't learn how if we wipe your noses and dry your tears. So Lady Plague will explain the rules.”

My heart skipped a beat. The sorceress was Lady Plague, the creator of the Waking Death Plague. She had created the plague when a king said her tower was on his land and she had to pay him a small fortune in taxes or offer her services to the kingdom. She had objected to the demand, rather violently. After she'd released her Walking Death Plague, almost everyone in the country had succumbed and become a carrier. The gods, demons and the Mad Immortal Emperor of Arp had all joined together to stop the plague from spreading by scorching the entire country. She was one of the most hunted mortals in the world, gods and demons had a price on her head for what she'd done. And now she was one of my teachers.

I really was doomed.

The sorceress floated above us, concealed in blood red mist from the waist down. “First rule. Do not purposefully kill another student unless it's been approved of by a teacher. It must be approved before the murder, experiment or assassination takes place. Breaking this rule will result in experimentation, being into a source of magical ingredients, or being an unarmoured practice dummy for the weapons classes. If you do something that is likely to kill or permanently disable a student and it does so, without a teachers permission, you will get detention. Those of you who survive that, will get a black mark on your permanent record. Attacking a teacher unsuccessfully, will leave you at the mercy of the teacher. Good luck. Getting caught doing something that seems like a risky or bad idea is left up to the judgment of whoever catches you, make sure to have something useful on hand or quite a bit of money, otherwise you will NOT like the consequences. And the most important rule, try not to die, we don't like cleaning up after you.”

A few of the more innocent looking students looked around nervously, shifting their feet, searching for the best escape route, looking for allies, and probably wondering who was going to maim them first. I already had a good idea that we weren't going anywhere even if we wanted to. The molten lava bed to the east, the razor sharp obsidian cliffs that surrounded us on all sides, the forests of poisonous thorns and man eating plants to to the south and west, and the lake that was full of whirlpools and something with huge tentacles made it seem that trying to leave would be hazardous to our health. The cries and wails of hungry dragons, gryphons, pegasi, manticores, chimera, basilisk's, satyr's, banshees, ogres, trolls, and goblins, proved that even if we survived the natural hazards we'd probably die within the first five minutes. As I listened a little more closely, my squire scouts training let me distinguish some more of the cries, there were also sprites, cyclops, centaurs, harpies, werewolves, zombies, lizard things, leprechauns, kobolds, gnomes, hungry ghosts, and the legendary big foot, in the woods as well. Note to self, do NOT go into the woods today, tomorrow or anytime in the foreseeable future without an army.

Sir Drago cleared his throat getting everyone's attention. “I'm Sir Drago, we are going to walk to the school now. Once we arrive you will be divided into girls and boys, you will be assigned a room number and given school uniforms. You may trade, steal, beat or buy rooms between yourselves, so you have a roommate you like or a particular room, but you each must have a room key before lights out. Now come along, or the werewolves will eat you.”

Without waiting the teachers headed down the path.

We all hurriedly grabbed our bags and followed them. Not everyone was walking. There was the sound of flapping wings over head, and I looked up to see a swarm of fairies chained to a number of ornate boxes. A small head was looking out of the largest box, cracking a whip, “Hurry you fools! My dead grandmother can fly faster !”

A small boy was riding on the back of a giant grey Orc, using some kind of saddle, and from the looks of it, the Orc was asleep. A girl with a veil over her eyes rode a giant tiger, a number of silk bags were tied to an ivory staff that rested on her shoulder. An elven girl was pressing some buttons on a type of mechanical spider that belched green smoke and shuddered every few steps. A boy with angel wings flew leisurely along, with a trail of trunks flying after him.

A boy who looked human and was covered in blinding white lamb wool, caught my eye, Chimera's didn't usually leave their little country. A Clockwork Folk ticked loudly as it walked, it's heavy iron feet sinking into the soft soil with every step. I got so caught up in looking at my fellow students I almost forgot that I was going to villain school and that I was no longer going to be able to pee standing up.

Eventually the jagged, dark path came to a large wooden gate built into a massive boulder. The gate slowly groaned open, and there were two sets of stairs leading into gloomy, foreboding darkness.

“Boys to the right, girls to the left. If you get into the wrong line, the things under the stairs will eat you,” Master Grieve said.

Looking longingly at the boys side, I joined the girls and proceeded to meet my destiny.

This story, along with Trapped in The Oubliette will be updated every two weeks without fail.

If you would like to support my work, and get a sneak peek at future chapters for my stories, you can support me on my Patreon page

The stairs seemed to go on for a very long time. At the top they were your typical dungeon stairs, dank, dirty, poorly lit by ever-glow torches, and very narrow, so we had to walk in single file. Then they started to open up, becoming cheap wood, widening so two or even three people could walk side by side, and lanterns lit the sides, putting out a nice warm glow. Further down we were walking on a marble staircase, glowing fae spheres floated around us, dancing in the air, making me feel good just watching them. Girls were forming groups, willingly and unwillingly, walking together, holding hands, and talking quietly. I was too uncertain about things to talk to anyone, what did girls talk about anyways?

Along the sides of the stairs were some very dark shadows. Looking into them, I could just make out something like a tentacle moving slowly in the darkness. As I was distracted watching, whatever it was, I felt someone bump into me.

“Hey!” I shouted, jumping about three feet in the air.

“Hey yourself,” a very big and tom boyish girl said, smiling in a way that almost looked like a leer.

I looked up at her nervously. Maybe trying to be nice would be the safest option. “Um, I'm Pete- uh Petra.”

“Not sure who you are yet?” she laughed. “I'm Brooke. And you're kind of cute. Do you have a roommate yet?”

OK, for the first time ever a girl was hitting on me, and it was absolutely terrifying and humiliating. “No.”

“Great! We can be roommates together, stick with me and I'll keep you safe,” Brooke said, getting in way too close and pinching my butt.

I squeaked, trying to jump away, but she wrapped her arm around my waist, pulling me right up against her. I nearly let go of my shorts and underwear, which would have not only been embarrassing as they would definitely slide down to my ankles, but dangerous, since we were still going down the very long flight of stairs.

Nervously I studied my self-appointed roommate. She had half her head shaved, the remaining hair hung down to her shoulder, and there were several glittering tattoos on her exposed skin. I could see that the tattoos were magical, but I couldn't tell what they were supposed to do. A sleeveless white shirt and leather vest covered her muscular body, and she was wearing expensive soul silk pants, that could only have come from the Demonic City States. From her looks and how she confidently held herself, I probably didn't want to make her an enemy. Maybe being her roommate wouldn't be so bad.

The girl flickered briefly. Blinking, I looked at her more closely, and she flickered again. This time I got a good look at her. When Brooke flickered, she was much more masculine, completely flat chested, broader shoulders, a blockier face, and looking down she had some extra equipment in her pants.

“You're not a girl?!” I said.

Brooke cursed, muttered some words and he stopped flickering. “Damn, I forgot the time,” he said. “Look, things are easier in the girls dorm. Shut up, and I'll owe you.”

That was actually worth considering. Brooke might be an ass, but I had blackmail on him, and he was clearly a competent wizard.
Before I could come to a decision, the shadows around us moved. Brooke was yanked off his feet by an inky black tentacle, and I was wrapped up so tightly I couldn't move by second one.

What had Master Grieve said? Something about being eaten by shadows if we went to the wrong dorm. I didn't want to die. They had told me to go into the girls dorm. This wasn't fair.

An eyeless, humanoid entity that seemed to absorb almost all light, so it was impossible to make out any details, flowed out of the shadows.

“Name?” it asked Brooke, in a faint whisper that sounded like spiders crawling over rotten silk, it's lips almost brushing his skin.

“Brooke Marwood,” he replied, sounding like he was about to cry.

“Not on the list,” the shadow monster hissed. It's mouth opened impossibly wide, and Brooke was tossed screaming into its maw.

It turned to look at me. “Name?”

“Petra,” I started to say, my terrified mind making sure I remembered my new name perfectly.

Before I could say my last name, it spoke again. “On the list.”

It put me down, and I almost sobbed in relief. The shadow monster faded back into the shadows taking Brooke with it.

There were some screams from the girls who had seen everything. Despite being on the list, I started walking, right in the middle of the stairway, as far from the shadows as possible. Think like a girl, I told myself, don't let the scary tentacles know I was a boy. Boys are cute, dresses are wonderful, I wondered what makeup would go well with my complexion, pink is a very nice and good colour. Yes, oh monsters under the stairs, I am a girl, not a boy, never been a boy in my life, and I certainly wasn't trying to be a pervert by going into the girls dorm. Please don't eat me.

You can never be too careful after all.

I made it uneaten into a large room that was lined with tables, couches, big comfy chairs, and lots of fireplaces. My schoolmates were already lining up in front of a large table where some green female goblins were waiting for us.

“Make a line,” an ancient goblin with scraggly grey hair shouted in a voice like a strangled chicken. “Sign your name in the book, get your school uniform, get your room number. When the clock strikes five you may go to your room.”

The hundred or so girls all made a line, there was some shoving, mostly by the bigger girls who were carrying big scary weapons, although a few girls used magic to boot people out of the way. One blonde girl wearing a pink dress turned a warrior in plate mail into a sheep with a wave of her wand to protect her place in line. The flock of fairies I'd seen earlier dropped some heavy bags on the head of one girl and flew above her as whoever was in the box clapped and cheered. The bald barbarian with the scalps on her leather armour I'd seen at the airport, grabbed a black haired girl in a long flowing black robe by the neck, growled something and put her back down, from the growing puddle at the girls feet, whatever the barbarian had said was very effective.

Seeing all of that, I headed to the back of the line. Better late and alive than quick and dead.

Quite a few others thought the same way I did. And I found myself in a large group of normal looking girls from all around the world.

“Hi, I'm Ella,” a dark skinned girl with short crinkly hair said. “You were the one kicking the snot out of that boy earlier, right?”

“Yeah, that was me,” I said, blushing. “I'm Pet-ra.”

“Nice to meet you. So what did he do to deserve that?”

There was no way I was going to tell people I used to be a boy, my mind reached for the first excuse that wouldn't be too embarrassing. “He did some magic, so my clothes don't fit anymore,” I said, pulling at my baggy clothes.

“All of your clothes?” she asked, her voice full of sympathy.

“Yeah.”

She shook her head in astonishment. “Why did you let him live?”

“Didn't want too much blood on my shoes,” I muttered.

“So do you have any special talents?”

“I wish I could do something like that. All I've got is a hard knee. My parents just decided that I needed a good education and this was the best they could afford,” I said, brushing my now long hair out of my eyes for the tenth or twentieth time. I decided that I needed a haircut by the end of the week, if not sooner.

“Ouch, so you don't want to be here?” Ella asked, patting my shoulder sympathetically.

“No. I figure by the end of the week, I'm going to be dead. And since my parents decided I needed a well rounded education, I've been told I'll just be a big target for everyone. So I have multiple choices for my death.” I sniffed wondering who or what would get me first.

“It's not that bad. Most of the idiots are weeded out in the first month, once you survive that it gets easier. At least that's what my brothers and sisters said. Most of them came out of here in one piece,” she told me as if that was a big accomplishment.

“Most?”

She looked up at the ceiling. “Well my fiftieth brother used to be pretty big, now he looks like an eight year old, and twins. But they're doing really well as spies, no one expects a kid to be a spy master, and he can be in two places at once. There was also my twentieth sister, she's working as a royal seamstress. She doesn't talk much anymore, but she's a wonder when it comes to clothes, probably because she's only made of clothes now. My oldest brother he didn't make it out, Daddy said he was too ambitious, and he challenged Sir Grieve who was the new weapons master at the time to a duel. The school gave him a wonderful funeral. One of my other sisters, I can't remember if she's the fortieth or thirty-eighth, left halfway through her third year, no one knows why but she screams whenever she see's glitter, abstract art, or croissants. My fourth brother, turned into a half dragon, his head to be precise, he has to use a wheelbarrow to get around now. My hundredth brother and my ninty-first sister had a spell go wrong, and now they're my single brother/sister. Then-”

“How many siblings do you have?” I asked in amazement.

Ella began counting on her fingers. “Last time I checked, three hundred and fifty seven. But I could be off by a few dozen, what with new ones being born all the time and political and family disputes getting rid of the unlucky ones.”

My jaw dropped. “How does your family get enough money to eat? And what about your mother?”

“Oh money isn't a problem. My father is the Emperor of the Arp Empire. My mother is wife number two hundred fifty nine, she quite enjoys it actually, plenty of time to work on her experiments, and there's always test subjects available. How about your family?” she asked.

I'd had so many weird things happen to me over the last twelve hours, I didn't even blink at the news that I was in front of royalty. “I'm an only child, I actually think my parents wanted to be childless. And my Dad is an accountant for Goblin Co., and my Mom owns a dress shop.”

“That sounds so nice. So no one tries to poison anyone at supper?”

“Only if my grandmother comes over and insists on cooking. I think that's mostly accidental though.”

We had finally reached the table, so we stopped talking as we signed in. I had to remember my name was Petra, and I was quickly ushered down another table to where a goblin was handing out school uniforms. I noticed that Ella was going to a second one.

“Size?” she asked, her brown fangs made it hard to understand what she was saying.

“Um, I don't know. I'm kind of new to all of this,” I admitted.

The tiny monster sighed, pulled out a tape measure and threw it at me. The tape stretched out, and measured every inch of my body, actually getting under my clothes to get a better measure. A minute later it was done, and six sets of clothes were lying on the table in front of me. The first clothes were more like black leather straps with a lot of buckles, that would just barely cover me. Honestly I'd owned bathing suits that had more fabric, only the leather cloak gave it any modesty. The second outfit was similar to the first, but made up of silky scarves and a top that would just cover my new breasts. The next one was padded leather, with quite a few spikes and belts to hang weapons from. The fourth was a billowing red robe that would conceal everything except my face and hands, and with a bit of work would probably conceal even those. The fifth was a pair of leather pants and a white blouse. The final one was a modest blue dress.

“What ones do you want?” the goblin asked.

I tried to think, the first outfit and second outfits were a big NO, I didn't even know how to put on something like that. The padded armour would be nice, but wearing it everyday might give the wrong impression that I was looking for a fight. Hiding my body would be nice, but I didn't think I could really run in it. I liked the pants and shirt. The dress would be odd to wear, but it would help me blend in, and it didn't look too embarrassing.

“I'll take one leather suit, three pants and blouses, and two dresses. And do you have underwear to?” I whispered.

The goblin nodded, reached under the table and handed me a bag that seemed to be full of clothes. She pointed me to another table, and went to deal with another student.

When I reached the table, the goblin handed me a large key with a number on it. I took it and thanked the monster, and wondered what I should do until five o'clock which was several hours away, thanks to the change in time zone. My stomach was already grumbling that it was well past suppertime. Then I saw some of the larger and more powerful girls walking up to the smaller students who had just gotten their keys. They were taking the keys by force, threats, and magic. The bald barbarian, had one poor girl upside down shaking her. A tiger was hungrily licking its lips while it's owner talked quietly to a group of girls who were cowering in a corner, holding their keys in front of them. Five or six sheep were walking around, while the girl in a pink dress put several keys onto a key ring. As I looked around it just kept getting worse.

Watching at the growing chaos, as people threatened and fought for keys, I overheard a girl saying, “I've heard that the keys are really important. If you have a bunch you get a reward.”

Looking around, I couldn't figure out who had said it, but I couldn't look for long, a girl with glittering scales and blowing fire from her nose was coming straight for me.

I was going to die.

__
Author's Notes:

This story, along with Necromancer Unmanned and Trapped in the Oubliette, will be updated every two weeks without fail.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on Patreon.

Chaos filled the common room of the girls dormitory.

Apparently having more than one dorm key was a good thing, and the tougher girls were stealing as many as they could from anyone who couldn't or wouldn't defend themselves. I could only watch as a crystal covered girl came towards me, flames erupting from her nostrils with every breath. Looking around for help, or maybe a distraction, things didn't look good.

The only person who wasn't taking part, willingly or unwillingly, in the free for all was Ella, the girl was walking between the fights, taking it all in with a curious smile, being avoided by everyone. Being the daughter of the Mad, Immortal Emperor of Arp must be pretty good, I thought.

Crystal girl was almost on top of me, when I noticed a very tall girl wearing a soul cloth cape striding in my direction. The cape fluttered behind her, despite the fact that there wasn't a breeze in the room, images of moaning faces rose and fell in the pitch black fabric.

This was bad. Then from somewhere in my terrified brain a mad idea rose up. It was crazy, and I would lose my key, but it was better than being roasted alive or possibly being turned into a piece of clothing. Putting my bags down, I grinned as widely as possible, trying to look completely at ease, as the two girls came up to me.

“Hi, I'm Petra. Who are you two?” I asked, before they could say anything.

“You're worst nightmare if you don't give me your key,” crystal girl said.

“Tanya. Now give me your key or else,” the tall girl replied.

I held the key up, about the same distance from the two girls. “Bidding starts at twenty copper for this key.”

“Why don't I just take it,” crystal girl snarled.

“Tanya might have a problem with that, especially because I'm more likely to give it to her, she's much more polite about things,” I said.

“Are you really trying to get us fighting each other over your key so you can slip away?” Tanya said, snorting in disbelief.

“Not really, I just want to get something for my loss,” I admitted. I stood up on my bag to get a bit more height. “Everyone who wants a key, I've got one here, bidding starts at twenty copper,” I shouted.

A number of girls who weren't as scary looking as the others, but had the look of being bullies in their eyes came over. “Twenty copper for a key, who wants it?” I repeated.

“I'll give you twenty, but I'll beat it out of you later,” a girl who looked to be a half orc said.

“Alright, we've got twenty copper, do I hear twenty-five? Highest bidder gets a key. Come on the keys are important, here's a key you don't have to fight for. Twenty-five copper, and you'll have two keys.”

Someone shouted twenty-five copper.

“Ok, twenty-five copper, to the red head with the battle axe. Do I hear thirty. Thirty copper, and you don't have to worry about getting blood on your clothes. Thirty copper and you can chose which room you like best, and sell the other one when people are getting desperate.”

I heard thirty copper.

“Do I hear forty? You're probably going to beat the money out of me later on anyways, so you're not losing anything in the long run.”

“One silver,” Ella said from the edge of the crowd.

“One silver, going once, going twice, sold to the daughter of the Arp Emperor,” I shouted. Grabbing my bag, I walked over to her, the crowd getting out of my way and eyeing Ella nervously. “Here you are Ella, if you can wait a bit to pay me when I'm less likely to get beaten and robbed, I'd appreciate it.”

“Aren't you afraid I'll forget to pay you?” she asked.

I looked around at the bullying and extortion that was occurring throughout the room. “I'll take that chance. Worse comes to worst everyone knows I don't have key, so they don't have any reason to come after me and I get to keep all my teeth. I'll consider that a win.”

She smiled at me, making my heart flutter a little. “You're pretty smart. Are any of your relatives villains?”

“My grandfather was a lawyer and a town mayor for a few years, does that count?”

That earned a pleasant laugh. “When you need the money, just ask. I always keep my word.”

With that she disappeared into the crowd.

Sitting on a couch, I watched as some other smaller and less talented kids tried the same thing I did. It actually worked fairly well. No one got a silver, but they were getting at least thirty or forty coppers for their loss. The bullies were so worried about each other, that they weren't pummelling or stealing from the kids who were willingly selling their keys, while the kids who didn't want to sell were eventually caught by someone and beaten up, or simply robbed if they were lucky.

As the chaos died down a bit, I found time to go to one of the bathrooms and change my clothes. I went with the pants and shirt choice, being most familiar with them. The underwear was tighter and comfier than I was used to, and figuring out the bra took a bit of time. Since other girls were coming in and out of the bathroom as I changed, I couldn't stop to look at or even think about my new body, that would have to come later. Residual shock was also keeping me from thinking too hard about what had happened, which was probably for the best, breaking down in tears would definitely be seen as a sign of weakness and who knew what would happen to me then.

Going back to the unoccupied couch, I continued to watch as bullies fought each other, and smaller, weaker girls tried to beg or steal a key from others. And a few girls were unconscious from concussions, busy picking up their teeth from the floor, or baa'ing and looking for some grass to munch on.

Soon enough I had a small group of girls who seemed to be as out of their depth as I was, sitting beside me.

“Where did you come up with the idea of selling your key?” a pink haired girl called Naomi asked.

“I had two bullies come up at the same time, it seemed the smartest thing I could do,” I admitted. "Anyways, I'm here because of my parents wanting to see me properly educated, and to help they gave me a general education plan. How about you guys?”

“My dad was a wash out here,” Naomi said, cradling her cheek which was badly swollen, a spear covered in runes was leaning on the wall next to her, “he's hoping I can regain the family honour. I'm supposed learn fighting and leadership.”

“I'm hoping to get into politics, so I'm working on leadership and subterfuge,” Clarice, a wispy girl, who looked to be maybe twelve, said. “My parents think this will be a good way to learn how to avoid getting stabbed in the back.”

Calcium, or Calci for short, a chubby Dwarf girl with long curly emerald green hair and beard, who was sitting with her knees up near her chin, bit her lip and said “M-my mentor said it would put some granite into my bones. I convinced her to get me into potions and poisons, since I like to cook.”

“Ouch,” I said, patting her on the back. “I'm going to try to change my classes. Subterfuge and magic might be nice. Learning how to lie and cheat in a place like this has to be a good thing, and I don't think I'd survive a day of fighting.”

“What do you think will happen when we say we don't have keys?” Clarice asked.

“We'll probably get punished, and assigned a room at random. It can't be that bad,” Naomi said, trying to sound encouraging.

“I'm more worried about what the classes will be like. I've heard that the exams can be real killers,” Calci said.

We all shuddered at the thought of that. Around the room the fighting intensified as the bullies really started going at it, shouting and blood flew around us. Ignoring them we traded rumours, stories and ideas on what to expect.

**

It was almost five and the room was mostly quiet. Everyone was pretty much worn out from fighting over keys, although a few girls were still begging and trying to buy a key from those who had more than one. My little group wasn't bothering, we could have used our numbers to steal a key from some of the girls who still had theirs, but it didn't seem quite right.

As we started to get more nervous about what was going to happen to us, Ella came over.

“Hello Petra, are these your friends?” she asked.

“Yeah, these are Naomi, Calci and Clarice. Everyone this is Ella,” I said, introducing them.

“It's nice to meet you. I'm guessing none of you have keys, right?”

We all nodded.

Ella smiled, and opened her hand revealing four keys. “It just so happens I was able to get five keys, while keeping my own. If you'll do me a favour later on, I'll give you each one key. One of you will have to room with a girl I met earlier, don't worry she's mostly safe. Is it a deal?”

“What type of favour?” Clarice asked.

“Nothing that will get you killed or badly injured. Other than that I don't know, it will depend on what I need. Is it a deal?”

“If it's too dangerous, we get to back out and do another favour later on, agreed?” Clarice said.

“Within reason, and you have to be backed up by at least one other person here,” Ella countered.

Clarice nodded, holding out her hand. It seemed reasonable to me and everyone else, so we all nodded in agreement, shaking Ella's hand in turn to seal the deal.

“Petra, you'll be my roommate,” Ella said, when she handed me a key. “You think on your feet, and when necessary you're quite violent. I like that in a friend. As for the rest of you, I'd like to be your friend if you let me. You can never have enough eyes watching your back, and I think I can be reasonably sure you won't be holding a knife while you're doing it.”

Calci looked at the seemingly sane and powerful girl and gave her a big smile. “I'd be stupid to say no. It's great to meet you Ella.”

The others quickly followed suit.

**

Master Grieve watched the students through the crystal ball, focusing on the most interesting ones. His two colleagues did the same. The girls dorm was most interesting, at first there had been the typical bullying and beatings, but then the not so foolish girl Petra had auctioned her key off. He'd seen it done before, but after being so easily tricked, Grieve had thought the girl would be one of the weak ones. She had also managed to get the attention of the little empress, that also quite interesting. Petra would bear watching.

The boys dorm was far less interesting. It was mostly fighting amongst the strongest boys, while the rest dove for cover or formed gangs to survive. No class or intelligence, just brute strength. He shook his head sadly.

Tapping the ball to turn it off, he turned to his colleagues. “Who has caught your eye?”

Lady Plague waved her hand creating a picture of Ella. “She's a smart girl. She's building alliances instead of getting minions. And made sure everyone knows who she is simply by talking and spreading rumours. No one wants to risk angering her and being assassinated, and the weaker ones see her as a helpful patron.”

Sir Drago and Sir Grieve nodded in agreement.

“Most of the others are what we thought. A few are stronger or weaker than expected, but nothing surprising,” she said.

“I agree,” Sir Grieve said. “But I think we were wrong about Peter. Whether his transformation made him smarter, or made him more paranoid, her willingness to use her brawn and brains is rather refreshing.”

“She's in the general program, correct?” Sir Drago asked.

“Yes, her parents didn't ask many questions and just followed our advice. Silly people,” Lady Plague giggled.

The lizard man pulled on some of his feathers in thought. “Do you think she'll survive?”

“No,” Sir Grieve replied. “But it will be amusing to see her try. Let's give her some of our personal attention, shall we?”

“Ten thousand gold, that she doesn't last until mid-winter vacation,” Lady Plague said.

“Agreed, but I give her until the end of the school year.”

“Four weeks as a human, and then dead or transformed into a tulip or something,” Sir Drago said. “And we should let the other teachers bet on her. We don't want her to get bored do we?”

Sir Grieve nodded, “Agreed. Now how many students did we lose?”

__

This story, along with Necromancer Unmanned, and The Oubliette, will be updated every two weeks without fail.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page

Five o'clock finally rolled around.

I couldn't wait to get to my room, it would mean I could either take a nap or get ready for supper. Thanks to the time difference between my hometown and Doom Valley, my body insisted it was not only past my bedtime, but I'd missed supper by several long hours.

A bell tolled. A cloud of sickly green smoke rose up on the far side of the room, it cleared and Lady Plague stood before us. Getting up we got closer to see what would happen next.

“Who does not have a room?” she asked, without any preamble.

Thirty or so girls raised their hands.

“Why don't you have a room?” she asked.

One girl who had a black eye, stepped forward. “They were stolen from us.”

“That is not my concern. You should have gotten them back by buying them, asking for help, offering your services, theft or some other means. I'm sure you could have thought of something if you had tried,” the sorceress said. “Still this was expected. All of the roomless girls come to the front.”

The group nervously moved forward. A door appeared on the right wall, beyond it was a large room with several rows of bed, enough for at least fifty girls, each one had a small trunk at the foot of it and a small bedside table.

“That is now your room. We can't have you sleeping in the hallways, that would be a fire hazard,” Lady Plague said, ignoring the groans and protests.

Once there was silence, the sorceress smiled. Somehow her smile was even more unnerving than her normal expression. “Now how many of you have more than one key?”

Several girls stepped forward, looking quite pleased with themselves.

“Come now,” Lady Plague said, “I know there are more of you. Come forward to be congratulated.”

More girls came forward. Some were holding five or six keys like trophies. Others, probably the smarter one, knowing this school, were much more cautious. All told I'd guess there were about fifteen of them.

“Why do you have so many keys, girls?” Lady Plague asked.

“More keys, means we have more power!” the bald barbarian shouted.

Another girl spoke up, “I heard a girl say that if we had more keys we'd get a reward.”

“Did a teacher say you could have more keys, children?”

“Sir Drago said we could take the keys if we wanted to,” the girl riding a tiger said.

The sorceress's smile got wider. “No, he did not. He said you could trade them to get a roommate you wanted or a better room. We expect you to make friends here, forming groups and alliances so that later on you can work together and take over the world, rip reality apart, or have trusted advisers for your endeavors. We also expect you to question things and look at them closely. The keys are enchanted as your first test. When you got them, within five minutes you heard an illusionary voice saying that having more keys is a good thing. You need to learn to verify what you hear, rather than trust rumours and gossip.”

Many of the girls started grumbling, not only the bullies, but the girls who had had their key violently taken from them. Lady Plague grinned, her voice dripping with glee, as she said, “Having more than one key is breaking the rules.”

There was a roar of outrage, which was quickly silenced by a bit of lightning knocking the loudest students off their feet.

“I'm afraid I'll have to take those keys back. You girls have proven very inept about how to get what you want. For that you can stay together and discuss your shortcomings, in your own room.” Lady Plague pointed at the left wall, and a door appeared with a room exactly like the dorms for the keyless girls. “I'm sure you'll all have so much to talk about at night as you sharpen your swords, and polish your wands.”

She looked at the rest of us, most of the remaining students were in little groups. The swarm of fairies were circling a purple haired fairy who had demon wings, long claws, and was sitting on a girls head, while three more girls were on their knees with their heads down. The witch in the pink dress who liked turning people into sheep, had seven girls standing behind her. There were quite a few pairs, some looked like friends, others not so much.

“For those who have a single key and were smart enough to gain minions or allies, good work. You can keep your rooms.”

This got a relieved sigh from all of us, which was instantly silenced by the ominous boom of thunder. With silence once again prevailing, Lady Plague continued. “The rules for having a room are quite simple.Only people who have permission to enter the dormitory may enter your room, or the monsters will eat them. The same goes for you visiting other dormitories. We've already had to extract one student from a monsters stomach because of this, don't get yourself added to the list. You cannot trade your room without permission. You will keep your room clean, if it becomes an ogres den, you will lose it and sleep in a more appropriate place. Lights out at ten thirty, after that time you may go to the bathroom and your room. If you deviate from the path, the shadow monsters will punish you. Finally, if you do not have a room, it is possible to get one by impressing a teacher. So do try to improve yourselves.”

She looked at us to make sure we understood. “There is a school store where you may purchase anything you need. The canteen is free, simply give a drop of blood at the stone bowl in the entrance. The school clinic can heal most damage, please don't consider this a challenge, if you annoy them healers do love to play pranks. There is a book explaining things in more detail as well as a map on your bed. Read it closely. Meals are at seven in the morning, noon and seven in the evening. You may relax for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow you will choose your classes and have a guided tour by an older student, then the fun begins.”

With that Lady Plague vanished in a puff of smoke.

The girls who had been roomless scurried into their large dormitory before the bullies could get over being angry at the school and take it out on them. Ella, Naomi, Calci, Clarice and I went to check our rooms, and put our bags away.

My room was at the very end of the ornate hall with polished silver doors, Ella opened it and my jaw dropped. The room was huge, at least as big as my parents and my room combined. There were two walk in closets on either side of the room, the beds were made out of a dark red hardwood, inlaid with ivory carvings of dragons and other monsters, and were covered in black silk sheets. Despite being underground there was a huge window opposite the door, showing an amazing icy landscape. A chandelier full of fiery light elementals lit up the room. The thick carpet was covered in runes and every step was like walking on a cloud. There was even a bathroom attached to the room, with a huge tub and everything looked fantastic.

“Oh my god! Is every room like this?” I asked.

“No the lower the room number the simpler the room. My siblings told me to get the highest number possible, so I spent some money and got the best room in the school. I'll take the left side,” Ella said.

“Yeah sure,” I said, still staring in wonder.

Putting my bag and clothes in the closet, the bed called out to me, but Ella was heading back to the common room. “Come on Petra, we need to make an appearance, people will start making alliances now that things have settled down.

Looking at the wonderfully soft bed, I yawned and followed her back out. We made ourselves comfortable on our couch again, and were soon joined by the other girls.

“How does everyone know about you Ella?” Clarice asked. “I've never heard anything about you.”

“Oh my Mother really likes me. So she sent a message to all the big shots with children here, saying if they bothered me, Daddy would invade their kingdoms and personally watch them being tortured for an entire week,” she answered, giggling happily. “Then when I got here, I just made sure everyone knew who I was.”

I had to ask. “Would your father really do that?”

Ella shrugged. “I don't know, it would depend on his mood when he found out. He likes to keep people guessing, and his sense of humour is... odd.”

“Wow, all my Mentor did was give me a hammer,” Calci said.

“My Dad gave me a spear and a couple of lessons on how to use it. I could have used a few more lessons,” Naomi said, rubbing her black eye.

Clarice pulled out a book from her bag. “I got The Morons Guide to Controlling Minions as a going away present.”

“I got a one way ticket here,” I said.

That statement got me a hug from Naomi and Clarice, while Ella and Calci patted my knee. Having never been hugged by a girl before, my Mom doesn't count, I went beet red, and decided that being a girl definitely had some advantages.

The light suddenly dimmed as fairies surrounded us. The demon fairy flew down to land on the table looking very imposing despite being all of six inches tall. “Greetings Ella of Arp. I am Princess Blood Wing, the daughter of Margo'Tchwan the Succubus and Holly Berry the Fairy Necromancer.”

“It's a pleasure to meet you, Blood Wing,” Ella said.

“Tell your minions to get us some refreshments, there is much for us to discuss.”

Ella gave a very apologetic smile. “I'm sorry Blood Wing, but these are my friends, not my minions.”

The fairy looked at us in disbelief. “But they're so useless? Why not break them to your will?”

“They have their uses.”

Blood Wing rolled her eyes. “Fine! Number 1 get us some drinks.” A skinny girl with light green bangs, and coffee brown hair nodded once and took off at a run. “See,” the fairy said, “minions are so much better.”

Still smiling Ella said, “Well if you wish to become my minion I do have an opening I'm sure you could fill.”

“What?! Me! Be a minion. Hah! As soon as I'm done here I'll help my father to take over the other fairy kingdoms, and then THE WORLD!!!!”

I looked up at the horde of fairies who were buzzing around on dragonfly wings. I'd seen a few fairies before, they were happy little things, always ready to smile and to make others smile. these ones looked like their rabid cousins, with the mouse fur armour, tiny spears, and bloody face paint.

Trying to get things back on a less bloody track, I said, “That is really interesting Blood Wing. Is there anything we might be able to help you with?”

“Ah yes! Your minion, ahem, friend knows her proper place at least,” Blood Wing said, eyeing me with slightly less disdain. “I am very powerful, as are you, Ella of the Arp Empire. But this school is full of powerful people, some of whom may even be almost a match for me. I propose an alliance. If someone comes after either of us, we attack them with a united front, you from the ground, I from the air.”

“That is a wonderful idea Blood Wing. But I don't want to fight if I don't have to,” Ella said. Before Blood Wing could explode, Ella continued. “However, sharing information, providing help with potions, magic, and similar things until we get to know each other better, is definitely something I could get behind.”

Blood Wing snorted. “I didn't take you, the daughter of the Arp Emperor, to be a coward. But if that's all you can provide, very well. If we hear of something of interest to you we will share the knowledge, provided you do the same for us.”

“Thank you Blood Wing. And once we've worked together a little, our relationship could become closer. I'm always looking for good friends.” Ella held out a finger for the fairy to shake.

“With that done, Ella, daughter of the Arp Emperor, I'll take my leave, there are many more people I must talk to.”

I watched the fairy and her entourage fly away, as the green and brown haired minion rushed after them carrying a tray with several glasses on it.

“Why didn't you make the deal with her?” I asked.

“She's crazy,” Ella said simply. “She'll be in a dozen fights by the end of the week. She'll probably win them because of her fairy minions, but I don't want to be dragged into it any further than I need to. She's just smart enough to be dangerous, and that is very, very bad.”

Clarice looked around at all the girls who were mingling and talking in hushed voices. “So what's our plan for surviving?”

“I'm important enough that people can't ignore me. So we wait here and make ourselves friendly with everyone we can. We don't offer to join a group or make an actual alliance, instead we offer to trade our services and information,” Ella explained. “I want us to become known as the people to go to for information, advice and services, to the highest bidder of course. While a few people will try to shut us up, most will pay us to learn what they can or to keep our mouths sealed.”

“And what if they decide to shut us up by force?” Calci asked.

“That's where the fifth member of our merry band comes in, she's actually your roommate Calci.”

Calci scratched her beard in confusion. “All my roommate did was collapse on the bed and fall asleep. I don't think she even noticed me.”

Pulling a thin whistle from her pocket, Ella blew into it, but there was no noise. Suddenly a very thin and scrawny looking black haired girl appeared. She was eating a hunk of meat. “Hi,” she growled.

“This is Ivy. She's a very talented young lady,” Ella said.

“Where did you get the food?” Calci asked, rubbing her stomach.

“A servant,” Ivy said.

“You just have to ask a servant? I didn't know that.”

“Don't ask, just take. They scream and cry for a while, but eventually they shut up.”

I resisted the urge to throw up as the girl kept eating her raw goblin. It seemed that everyone else felt the same as I did from the way they covered their mouths.

“Ivy here is a very talented werewolf. Who graciously decided to accept my offer of employment,” Ella said, looking just a little pale. “If we run into trouble we can ask her for help. Otherwise she's our friend and companion, and we'll help her with her homework.”

I'd thought that all werewolves were ravenous beasts who could barely string two words together. But this girl was dressed, could speak, somewhat, and looked bored more than anything. “It's really nice to meet you Ivy. I'm Petra.”

She just nodded, grunting a little.

For the next hour or so, people came over to us, asking to make deals and giving an occasional threat. Ella kept to her plan, offering to trade information and other things, but refusing to help someone in a fight. When someone got too loud with their threats, Ivy would growl, revealing fangs that grew to be as long as my thumb, and letting her short black hair grow a little, covering her face and hands. That shut most people up pretty quickly.

Finally it was suppertime, and we all eagerly got to our feet.
___

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated once a week, alternating Mondays and Fridays. My other stories Necromancer Unmanned, and The Oubliette, will be updated every two weeks without fail.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories (Doom Valley is up to chapter 8, and will be at chapter 12 by the end of the week), look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

A gong rang out declaring it was finally time for supper, which was a good thing, my stomach was about ready to start chomping on my kidneys and liver. Several doors opened up along the walls, and a stairway appeared in the floor, none of them gave any clue about which way led to food.

The school book we'd gotten from our rooms didn't help. We'd looked at the map in the front, and the school was a confusing jumble of halls, doors and tunnels, that didn't seem to make any sense. There was one room that was supposedly a bathroom, Potions 101, Literature 1, and the Promotion of Minion Infighting for Fun and Profit. There were also several rooms that seemed to overlap, with the doors being two feet apart, but the actual rooms being the size of a football field.

Looking at the map again, I tried to figure out which one led to the cafeteria. I couldn't make heads or tails out of it. According to the map, the halls wound around each other like a knot and went off in a dozen different directions, not all of them following trails that were possible without bending your brain into a pretzel and adding a couple of extra dimensions.

Ivy started sniffing the air and walked away, totally ignoring us.

“We're looking for food, lets follow the werewolf,” Naomi suggested.

We weren't the only ones with that idea, the tiger girl, who seemed to be asleep, was riding her tiger as the animal strode forward purposefully. Blood Wing had summoned a demon dog that was snarling and loping forward. Several others were using pets, their own senses, or spells to find their way to food, and they were all headed for the same door. Most of the girls who didn't have super noses followed along. I did see a handful of girls who looked confidently at their maps going through other doors.

I tried to memorize the route, but it was a little hard when we'd walk down a hall and the walls would press in on us until it felt like we were being crushed and then we'd look out a window and see a cat that was as large as an elephant, or we were as small as mice. A few time I looked up to see another group of girls walking on the roof, only to notice that I was walking around a chandelier. Taking a corner I actually walked straight through me, and let me tell you, my brain is not a pretty thing to see.

After two minutes of walking, following Ivy as closely as we dared, we reached the cafeteria. There was a large bowl almost twenty feet in diameter and about three feet deep, all along the edges were sharp little needles. On the other side of the room where the boys were entering was a similar bowl. Ella poked the back of her hand and squeezed out a drop of blood, I followed suit, while other girls poked the tip of their fingers. A few however only pretended to, or ignored the bowl entirely.

Grabbing trays, my little group went up to a counter where a cat woman wearing a chefs hat was waiting for us. “What do you want?” she asked.

“Fairy dragon flank steak, emerald juice, mashed potatoes heavy on the butter and sour cream, and fresh steamed vegetables, please,” Ella said.

Reaching under the counter, the cat woman pulled out a tray that had everything Ella ordered. Ivy was next and asked for a stack of raw steak, a bowl of salt, and a bowl of water, again there was no problem. Then it was my turn.

“I'd like a unicorn burger, fries, and a glass of golden nectar juice, please,” I said.

The cat woman didn't move, “We're all out.”

“How can you be all out?” I asked, I was only the tenth person in line.

“All out.”

“Ok, what about a griffin sausauge on a bun and some kelpie chips?”

“All out.”

This was getting annoying. “Fairy dragon flank steak, emerald juice, and steamed vegetables?”

“All out. Move along you're taking too much time,” she said.

“Bread and water?” I asked in desperation.

“All out.”

“Ketchup?”

“All out. Go away, if you don't want to order sensibly,” she said, showing claws.

With my stomach growling, I slunk away, as I heard Naomi getting a unicorn burger and fries with no problem. Looking around, I realized that even some of the girls who hadn't given blood were getting food. Sinking into a free chair beside Ivy and Ella, I banged my head against the table, this school sucked.

“Where's your food?” Ella asked.

“Apparently they have to order out for any food I want. It will be here in a few days.” My stomach howled in anger.

“That's strange. I've never heard of them doing that before unless they got the cafeteria staff or a teacher really angry. Did you insult one of the teachers while you were beating up that boy?” she asked.

“No! Master Grieve gave me some pointers on where to kick Michael so it would hurt more.”

The other girls came to our table, each one had a tray loaded down with food, which made me give them my best attempt at puppy dog eyes I'd seen girls give to teachers and parents.

“Don't worry Petra, we ordered extra for you,” Clarice said, handing me a unicorn burger.

Calci gave me a plate of fries, and Naomi gave me a glass of grape juice. I got up to give them each a big hug, not fondling them, just enjoying being close to three cute girls, and trying to fit in. It was completely harmless, with nothing perverted about it. Nothing at all. Ok, I may have enjoyed it a little too much, but no one could blame me.

“You guys are the best!” I said, digging in.

As we ate, we were watching everyone else, and they were watching us. It wasn't the usual type of looks like in my old school, where you just watched out for bullies, cute girls, or something to talk about. This was much more predatory, with whispered conversations and notes being passed between groups followed by nods or subtle head shakes.

Suddenly there was a huge fart from a table full of boys, many of whom were sporting spectacular bruises. A boy in chainmail got to his feet and rattle his way to the door as quickly as possible, partly jet propelled. The cafeteria burst out laughing and more farts were heard throughout the room. Boys and girls ran for the doors, with frantic looks and lots of pushing and shoving.

“I think they skipped giving a drop of blood. I know that girl just laughed at it,” Naomi said, pointing at a pretty girl who was running so fast she hit the door and fell on her butt, letting loose a very wet sounding fart. She scrambled out the door on all fours.

I looked a little more closely at some of them, she was right. At least two of the girls who were trying to reach the door first had only pretended to do prick their fingers.

“Don't cheat the school, unless you can get away with it,” Clarice said. “It's on the first page of the book they gave us.”

We all agreed that that was a very good rule to keep in mind.

As we dug in again, a group of four boys came over, they were wearing all black and ranged from being short and skinny to giant size. “Mind if we sit down?” the best looking one asked, smiling and giving us a weird face.

Glancing around the table I saw Naomi, Calci, and Clarice looking at him with big eyes, playing with their hair, nibbling on their lower lips, and sighing. Ivy kept gnawing on her steak, and Ella merely smiled before gesturing at the empty end of the table. “Certainly. We haven't been able to talk to many boys yet.”

“I'm Victor, and these are my minions,” he said, leaning in, staring directly into Ella's eyes. “I'm looking for allies, and your group of beautiful girls looks like the perfect match.”

“Really,” Ella said a little breathlessly. “What do you think you can offer us?”

“My radiant presence,” he said, giving a half smile so confidently, I would have sold my soul to be able to be half that cool as a guy. I instantly hated everything about him. “Seriously though, you're the daughter of an emperor. Your resources, knowledge, sheer radiance, I want all of it. I need all of it, and my heart, my body, my very soul is yours if you give it to me.”

Every girl near us shuddered and fanned themselves, even Ivy. I just shuddered and wanted to break Victor's face.

“Tell me more,” Ella whispered, leaning in so close it looked like they were about to kiss.

Something was wrong here. Grabbing my juice, I threw the contents right into the jerks face. He fell back in total shock, gasping and sputtering in rage. Ella shook her head as if trying to get rid of a nasty thought, and Ivy started growling.

Victor's giant stood up and loomed over me.

Ella's voice cut through the growing chaos. “You JERK! You tried to control my mind!”

“Wait!” Victor said, focusing totally on Ella.

I saw my friend start to sag, a smile came to her lips. Before I could think, my body reacted.

Grabbing a tray of food, I ducked under the giant's arm, slid over the table and whacked Victor in the face as hard as I could. He fell hard, but got up quickly, reaching for a long dagger on his belt. From the look in his eyes I knew I was a dead man, uh girl, if he got it out. My tray met his head again. And again. And again.

As I was getting Mrs. Tray and Victor better acquainted, Ivy had turned into a wolf woman and jumped on the giant, Naomi, Ella, Calci, and Clarice, grabbed their own trays and began tag teaming Victor's remaining minions.

By the time the cafeteria staff reached us, it was a clear victory for the girls, with the three boys battered and covered in food. Ivy and the giant were still going at it, the giant couldn't hit the fast moving werewolf, and her claws and teeth couldn't get past his thick skin.

The cat women grabbed the giant and Ivy, pulling them apart extremely easily. With order restored, a big, black panther-like woman glared at us. “Get the rags and mops, ladies. These students are going to clean up everything for us tonight.”

The cat women cheered.

**

By the time we got back to our dorm, our hands were blistered, wrinkled, and cramped. True to their words, the cafeteria workers had made all ten of us who were involved in the fight wash the floors, the tables, the dishes, take out the garbage, set out traps for the brownies, and even scrub the walls. We had pointedly worked as far from Victor and his minions as possible. Whenever we had to go near them, I was the one in front, since his psychic powers didn't seem to work on me. And the one time he'd tried anything I'd thrown a grease stained rag at his head.

Saying goodnight to our friends, Ella and I crawled into our room.

“You're the hero of the day, Petra, you can have the first shower,” Ella said.

“Thanks,” I muttered, too tired to speak.

As I cleaned myself off, I was even too tired to study my new body. I just wanted to get the dirty water and grease off. Half an hour later and reasonably clean, I stepped out of the bathroom, to see Ella in her underwear reading a book as she waited for the bathroom.

I was suddenly both profoundly glad, and upset that I was a girl. Especially as she walked past close enough to touch. Trying not to stare, I just went to my closet and pulled out a nightgown that I'd been given to me along with my uniforms.

Sliding into bed, still thinking of Ella, I realized that I'd touched a pair of breasts for the first time in my life. Sure they were my own, but that was a lot better than any of my friends back home could say. And I'd hugged a bunch of really pretty girls earlier. And I was sharing a room with a gorgeous girl. Turning off the light, I began poking and prodding my new body, giggling and sighing at the new sensations.

Maybe being a girl wasn't so bad after all.

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other stories, The Oubliette, will be updated every second Friday, and Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

A gong woke us up for our first breakfast at Doom Valley Prep School. Today was the day we'd meet the older students, see the school and pick our classes, I was dreading every minute of it. While Ella stepped into her closet and came out wearing the blue school dress, I came out in my padded armour. After seeing how bad the freshmen were, I didn't want to even think what the older students were like and had to be ready for anything.

“Don't be so nervous,” Ella said, as I stared at myself in the mirror, wishing my parents had given me some kind of weapon. “The older girls are smart enough to know talent when they see it and will make deals.”

“I'm not nervous,” I squeaked, which was really embarrassing. My new voice was already high pitched, so I sounded like a scared mouse.

She giggled quite prettily. “You beat up a boy in front of the teachers, avoided getting ripped off by bullies, dodged a giant, and beat a psychic to a pulp with a lunch tray yesterday when he couldn't impress you, and now you're scared? Honestly after how well you did yesterday, I'm pretty sure everyone is worried about you. Which, if you can back it up, is a very good place to be.”

“I don't think I can back it up.”

She threw her arm over my shoulder. “Than it's a good think you have me to back you up. I need you to be my ace in the hole like you were yesterday, so I'll be yours. Now cheer up and give me a big smile.”

I smiled as best I could. And blushed as I saw how pretty I looked in the mirror.

“Perfect! Never show fear unless you want to make someone feel sorry for you, or are trying to get them monologuing.” She led me out the door, where we picked up the other girls who were just coming out of their rooms.

“Oh wow! I never slept on such a nice bed,” Naomi, who was walking with a very sharp looking spear, gushed, and the others quickly agreed, except Ivy who wandered in front of us, sniffing the air, and growling hungrily.

I got up beside Calci while the others talked. “So how was Ivy?”

“She snores, it's more like growling,” the Dwarf said. “But she just curled up in bed and fell asleep so I could read the school handbook for a bit.”

“I fell asleep right away, what did it say?”

“Mostly don't get caught. But it had things about formal challenges of students and teachers. More rules written in small print with clauses, sub clauses and hidden clauses that could not be told to students beforehand, and contradictions. We're also a nemesis of The School of Righteousness and Honour , so we'll have regular competitions, get-togethers and two balls in winter and at end of the year.” She shook her head in wonder at that.

Slapping my head and groaning, I realized, again, that I was doomed. Not only wasn't I in hero school, but when I finally graduated, IF, I graduated, they'd all know I'd gone to villains school. There was no way they'd trust me after that. Maybe I could ask one of them how to get a transfer.

“What's Ella the Empress in waiting, like?” Tabby asked.

“Really nice. She let me get cleaned up first and said that she'd watch my back as much as I watch her. I didn't think I'd meet anyone as nice as her, or you guys here,” I said, hoping to get a hug.

She rewarded me with a tight embrace, although I had to admit having her head squishing my new boobs was very, very weird. “Aw, you're so nice,” she said. “I thought I'd be turned into a frog or something on my first day to. I can't believe we survived and haven't been transformed yet.”

“Yeah... That's really surprising,” I said, blushing at how easily I'd been fooled.

“Hey,” Clarice said, ducking in between the two of us, “do you think you'll be able to get breakfast today?”

“I hope so. I've had enough interesting things happen already, I don't want anything else to go wrong,” I admitted.

“Well just remember, we've got your back. Like it says in The Morons Guide to Controlling Minions, good help is hard to find, once you find it treat it like mithral. We worked well as a team yesterday, we just have to keep it up,” she chirped, which with her tiny size, had her sounding like a kid sister. “So have you decided what classes you want to take?”

I had been thinking about it off and on yesterday, and I thought I had a decent plan. “I'm going to try for straight subterfuge. I've never been very good with magic, and I really don't want to get into a fight with people like that,” I said pointing at the barbarian girl who I had avoided like a rabid dragon.

“I know what you mean,” Calci said, as Clarice shuddered in fear. “Fighting like that is a big no for me.”

We joined the mob of girls who were heading for breakfast, following the ones with the noses again since it was still impossible to make heads or tails of the way there. This time in the cafeteria, everyone gave a drop of blood and we got into line. I was allowed to go first in case I had any trouble again. Getting to the counter, I gave the cat woman my sternest look. “I want basilisks eggs, over easy, fried unicorn sausages, and orange juice, now!” I ordered.

“All out.”

My head banged nicely against the metal. Giving up before I ruined my day, I went and grabbed a table. Victor glared at me from across the room, so did Michael, who was still walking with a painful limp. To my very big dismay, they sat down together and started talking. My head banged against the table again. I gave it third bang for good measure.

“What's up?” Ella asked, as my friends sat down.

“Nothing much, I think my two nemeses just formed a partnership,” I said as lightly as possible.

They put my breakfast down in front of me, and looked at Victor and Michael. “Don't worry so much,” Naomi said, putting her spear on the table, pointed by sheer coincidence right at the boys. “Victor blew his shot yesterday. Now that we know what he can do we just have to keep concentrating whenever he comes by. My Dad says that psychics are best when they catch you by surprise, or alone.”

“And you beat up the other boy really well,” Ella pointed out. “You have to be careful, but you have to be careful about everyone here.”

She had a point. Digging in, I tried to put them out of my mind.

“Hey Ella,” Naomi said, “do you know what that mid-year dance we have with the heroes school is all about?”

Ella shrugged dismissively. “We're suppose to get to know the opposition and they do the same to us. So we have a banquet and ball where we're suppose to have a date with someone from the other school. We try to seduce them to the darkside, or brainwash them, and they try to do the same to us. It's mostly used for pranks and beating each other up.”

My day was just getting better and better.

When we were half done the doors opened up and older teens who looked like seniors came marching in. They looked impressive, no school uniforms for them, instead they had expensive clothes, jewelled robes, spider silk dresses, dragon leather armour, enchanted clothes that gleamed in the light, enchanted weapons, familiars, objects that just screamed magic and a knowing look in their eyes.

A beautiful woman, who's clothes and cloak showed a dark, stormy sky, where the clouds moved in time with her movements, came to our table. She didn't have a weapon, from looking at her she didn't need one. This girl expected people to follow her, and she made you want to do it.

“Good morning, I'm Marid. I'm your guide today, come with me,” she said. Her voice was soft but from the way she stood, her looks, her brilliant gold eyes, she was backed up by steel.

All of us stood to follow her, except for Ella.

“We'll finish our breakfast first,” she said, not bothering to look at the girl. Ivy sat down immediately while the rest of us looked between the two girls in confusion.

“Breakfast is done,” Marid said. She didn't change her voice or anything else I could notice, but I expected to hear swords being drawn when she spoke.

“No it's not. Please sit down and we can talk about things. We all have questions.”

Marid smiled. “This is a power play you can't win. I can just walk away, leaving you confused about where to go and what you're supposed to do. Last chance.”

I was torn between sticking with Ella and going with the senior. Both girls looked very confident. Marid was more impressive, having a cooler more collected look. Ella had a tiny bit of sweat on her brow but was ignoring it, eating a slice of golden peach as if she didn't have a care in the world. I sat down, knowing I was making a mistake, but not willing to leave my friend behind.

When I sat down the other three did as well.

“Your loss,” Marid said, walking away very casually.

“What was that about?” I demanded.

“She's too smart. She'd have us begging her for information and giving her everything to learn a little more,” Ella explained. “We want someone who is a bit more straightforward. Like her.”

We all looked to where she was pointing. A mountain of a girl, who just so happened to be an ogre, with a mace hanging from her gleaming mithral armour, was sitting at a table with four cowering girls. I knew the girls were ones who'd had their keys taken from them, and they just stared in wonder as the senior took the food from their plates.

“Girls, that's our guide,” Ella said, grinning like a madwoman.

“She's scary,” Clarice said. Naomi nodded in agreement, hugging her spear.

“Exactly, she's used to getting her way through violence. We just have to convince her that it's in her best interest not to be violent. And if we can get her telling us useful stuff instead of being a bully, we'll have those other girls very thankful. Never underestimate the power of gratitude.”

We finished our breakfast in record time and then followed Ella over to where the senior was still talking about how great she was.

“Excuse me,” our unofficial leader said, “we were hoping you could be our guide today.”

The senior glared at us, up close I noticed her tusks were etched in a pretty twisting pattern of lines and swirls, faintly dyed in reds and blues. She spoke with a gravely voice, “Nope. I'm not doing anymore work than I have to.”

Acting as if she was asking how much a pair of shoes cost, Ella smiled and said, “We could make it worth your while. How much would it cost?”

None of us were ready for what happened next. A massive hand grabbed Ella around the throat lifting her into the air. When Ivy moved in growling like a wolf, a sword appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, pointed at her nose. “We are given a group, we can't add anyone to it. Losing them is fine, as long as we make sure they know we're there to help. You pissed off Marid, which makes me happy, but you're on your own.”

Placing Ella back on the ground, and patting her head for added insult, the senior pointedly ignored us. Dejected, we returned to our table.

“So what now?” Naomi asked.

For once Ella didn't have an answer.

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other stories, The Oubliette, will be updated every second Friday, and Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Calci was desperately flipping through the school booklet, which had over five hundred pages of small print, with pull outs, no table of contents, no glossary, and frequent references to the previous school handbook, which we did not have. Ella sat stunned, muttering something about how it had worked for her brother and sister. Naomi was looking around and seemed about to cry, biting her lip as pretty much everyone else was leaving. Ivy was sleeping quite contentedly, letting out little snores. And I was wracking my brain trying to figure something out.

So we were all surprised when Clarice stood up, punching her hand with a fist. “Follow me and follow my lead. And everyone smile, big happy smiles,” she said, shaking her hand while wincing in pain.

“What?” I asked very intelligently.

“Trust me, I have an idea,” she said, sticking out her very small chest in a bid to look more confident.

It seemed she had a better plan than mine, which involved somehow getting a group of five students, preferably girls but boys were optional, out of sight for a minute, jumping them and taking their place. So we followed her over to a group of five boys, who I hadn't noticed before because they were pretty shy looking, hunching down as if they hoped they wouldn't be noticed by anyone. Their senior was waving his arms around wildly, telling a story about how he had personally defeated a wild cockatrice using only a sponge, some shampoo and the skull of the last student to attempt such a feat.

“Oh what a wonderful story,” Clarice said, going to sit on the lap of one of the better looking boys, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. “You're so lucky to get such an entertaining guide, dear. I wish my own guide had been half so interesting.”

The boy made a kind of croaking noise like a frog getting eaten by a cat, and his blush could have lit up a small room all by itself. Naomi and Calci caught on quickly and grabbed hold of the two nearest boys, taking a seat on their laps. Calci had to jump onto her boy, who was a spindly looking Elf that grunted in pain as his legs cracked under the Dwarf. The girls proceeded to hug them like they had known each other for years. I stood there, my jaw hitting my chest, trying to make a coherent thought when someone shoved me very hard at the fourth boy.

I fell into his lap, and found myself being hugged by two pipe cleaner like arms, looking into a face with a few pimples and a hopeful look. “Uh, uh, hi, sw-ee-t-y,” I managed to get out, my smile turning into a rictus grin.

Somehow through my embarrassment, I noticed Ivy stalking over to the last boy. She put her arm around his neck as if she wanted to strangle him, and growled a little when he tried to speak. The boy proved smart enough to shut up and just go along with the scary, skinny girl who had very sharp teeth.

“Hey girls, I'm only suppose to guide these boys, so scram,” the senior said.

Clarice hugged her boy tightly, causing him to go a little blue in the face. “Who's asking you to guide us? We just want to spend more time with our boyfriends, we've barely been able to even see them with how busy we've been. Just go about your business and we won't say a word.”

“You don't want to get in the way of true love do you?” Naomi asked, playing with her boys white hair.

“Please,” Calci whimpered, with big puppy dog eyes.

The boys, except for the one with Ivy, all nodded eagerly, although the Elf was still grimacing in a mix of pain and delight. They were clearly not used to having cute girls willingly coming near them, much less hugging them and sitting on their laps. I just tried to keep smiling, as what was left of my manhood curled up in the corner and cried.

“Right,” the senior said, clearly believing our brilliant lie. “Garth, what's your girlfriends name?”

The boy I was sitting on suddenly looked like a chicken staring at a dragon, “B-D- uh, Ana- ah, Lu-lu- Lulabelle!” he shouted.

“You remembered!” I managed to get out without quite snarling, slapping his chest hard enough to hurt my hand and make him yelp in pain. “I-I prefer my middle name, Petra.”

The older boy smiled sweetly, clearly enjoying this far too much. “Uh huh. And what's your boyfriends name, shorty?” he asked Clarice.

“Oh I don't like his name,” she replied with a giggle, “it's so common, and he deserves far better than that. So I call him Snookums.”

Snookums managed to squeak in outrage, only to shut up when she kissed his nose.

“Gold Blood And Steel is common where you're from?”

We all looked at the small and unimpressive boy, who seemed to be attempting to die, slink away, and sink into the floor all at the same time while having a girl sitting on his lap. “I'm named after my grandfather,” he muttered. “It's tradition. You can just call me Gold, please.”

“Yes,” Clarice said slowly, “that's a... very common name in my hometown.”

The senior turned his eyes on Ella, who was standing just off to the side. “And what about her, what's she doing?”

“I'm their friend. Someone has to be a chaperone,” Ella said.

“That's why I'm here,” the senior said, pointing at himself. “If you aren't a close, personal friend of these fine, young studs, you're going to have to leave.”

Ella didn't betray any emotions, just walked stiffly to the boy who was trying to escape Ivy's iron like embrace and grabbed his hand. “Well if you insist, Ivy and I are particularly attracted to this-this fine young man. He's so handsome, and-and handsome.”

“Please don't hurt me,” the lucky boy said, his fingers turning white in Ella's grip, even as he kept looking wide eyed at Ivy's sharp, white fangs.

“This has to go in the yearbook,” the senior said, barely able to keep from laughing. Pulling a demon eye from his pocket, he held it up and said, “Smile!”

We all smiled, some of us more successfully than others, as the eye blinked. I was never going to live this down.

“So what about you Honey Creeper? I don't think I've ever seen an Elf and a Dwarf getting that close together.”

The Elf squeaked, tears were welling up in his eyes. “She has a nice beard,” he said.

“Aw, thank you, honey. You're cute too. So skinny and tiny, it's really exotic,” Calci said.

The senior couldn't hold back his laughter any longer. He covered his mouth as he let loose for almost a solid minute. When he recovered, he was still grinning. “Come on you lucky boys, let's explore the school,” he said. “And girls, I'm Anthony. Please don't fall head over heels in love with me as quickly as you did with these fine specimen of the male gender.”

Gritting our teeth we got up with our chosen... boyfriends, and followed Anthony out of the cafeteria. The elf had to be helped by Calci as he limped along behind us.

**

“So...” Garth whispered, “do you really want a boyfriend, Petra?”

I looked up in his big, brown, hope filled eyes, and decided that I hadn't hurt Michael nearly enough the other day. Death would not have been punishment enough for putting me through this humiliation. “Let's go with friends for now, Garth. I'm not really looking for a boyfriend right now. I'm, you know, trying to get used to a- a lot of changes.”

“Oh, ok,” he said, slouching down.

I could picture myself in his shoes so easily, it hurt seeing him look so sad. “Believe me, you look like a really nice guy. But I- how do I say this. Well things have really changed for me recently, and I'm not used to this body.”

He got a knowing look in his eye. “Oh I had that happen to me to.”

“Really,” I said in complete shock. Had Michael been giving his chocolate bars to girls too? “You used to be a...”

“Yeah I used to be a lot shorter, and not so hairy. But over the summer I just kept getting bigger, and” he thought about what he'd just said and his face became just as red as mine.

“Shut up. Please. Just shut up and we'll forget all about this.”

“Thank you.”

**

“One thing to remember is that this school is full of secret passages. You should learn about them, since they'll let you get around quickly avoiding problems, bottle necks and teachers. Some of them do have monsters in them, usually failed experiments but the staff sometimes puts them in there when removing them would be too hard, or students annoy them,” Anthony told us as we walked through a hallway that held most of the Language classes. To demonstrate he hit three bricks in rapid succession, opening a wall.

“Where are the secret passages?” Gold asked.

“If I told you they wouldn't be secret,” the senior said slowly as if talking to a small child.

I heard Ella whispering to her boy, who I'd found out was called Marcus. He whispered something back, actually it sounded more like squeaking, this was followed by a growl from Ivy.

“Excuse me, Anthony, sir. How many secret passages will one silver get us?” Marcus asked.

“I'll tell you how to get from the cafeteria to the main hallway.”

There was more whispering. “Uh, sir. I'll give you ten silver for fifteen secret passages, and an extra two silver for a passage from the girls dorm to the cafeteria.”

“I'll give you ten, and the last one costs three silver. Just remember, the monsters will still eat you if you go for any 'fun' with your honeys,” he said, smirking at all of us.

Whispering, “Thirteen passages.”

“Eleven.”

“Twelve.”

“Done. Pay close attention, I'm not going to write any of this down,” he told us. When we all got in close, he hit the three bricks again making sure we saw the little cracks that made them different from the other perfect bricks on the wall. “This goes from here to the maths and alchemy classes. You'll cut about twenty minutes off from the trip.”

“But there are only ten minutes between classes, how can we get from one class to another on time?” Naomi asked.

“Find the secret passages, or be ready to run, it promotes problem solving and exercise. Come on, we haven't got all day,” he said.

We walked for a minute down a curvy passage that was made out of old bricks and older looking bones. Eyeless skulls looked down at us from the ceiling, a pale white light lit the tunnel, but I couldn't see where it was coming from. Our footsteps echoed loudly as we made our way through the passage, and I was very glad I didn't have claustrophobia as even with my smaller size I felt cramped, worse I was forced to press into Garth and he took the opportunity to put his arm around me.

We finally got out into another much larger hallway with windows showing a windswept plain of ice. With a relieved sigh I put some space between me and my impromptu boyfriend.

“Here is the math and alchemy hallway. The big ominous doors ahead of us are for the teachers offices, try to avoid them without an appointment. Lets go see the classes,” Anthony said, walking away without looking to see if we were following.

**

The rest of the tour was like that, we were shown secret passages to get around the school more quickly and easily than following the hallways, the boys would ask a few questions, and Ella or Clarice would get their boyfriends to ask more. If we needed some extra information, Ella would negotiate through Marcus for it. I was too busy trying memorize the routes to pay much attention to anything else. At lunch we were back in the cafeteria, and Anthony showed us a broom closet just a little ways down a deserted hallway that he said would lead to the girls dormitory.

With that, he took Ella's money and left with a wave at us 'lovebirds'.

“So I guess this is goodbye,” Gold said, looking sadly at Clarice. I noticed that the boys with Calci and Naomi looked just as upset.

“Well, you guys were really nice to help us out, would you like to, maybe, have lunch together?” Clarice asked.

That got a three resounding yes's, an OK from Garth who was still giving me puppy dog eyes, and a sob of fear from Marcus, who had Ivy hanging off his neck. This wasn't as nice as it sounds, since the werewolf was sniffing his hair, growling hungrily.

Ella took Ivy off of the poor boy before he became a meal. “Lunch is perfect. I'm always looking for friends. Shall we?” she said, motioning to the door.

__
Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other stories, The Oubliette, will be updated every second Friday, and Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

While the boys went to the opposite side of the cafeteria to get their food, I went with my friends to our usual counter and glared at the cat woman. “Let's try this. Give me anything you have.”

“I'm not a mind reader kid, give me something a bit more specific,” she replied.

“Oh for the love of!” I screamed. “Give me a piece of bread!”

“All out.”

Girls watching the show started to laugh. Grabbing Calci, I pulled her up to the counter. “I'll take whatever she is having.”

“I want a mandrake sandwich, with gravy, and a glass of roosters milk, please,” she said.

The cat woman handed Calci a tray with her order, looked straight at me, smiled and said, “All out.”

“I give up!” I cried, walking with Calci to a table.

“Maybe you can talk to your student counselor about this today when you get your classes?” she suggested.

“Yeah, I'm sure they'll be happy to help,” I said, rolling my eyes. I smiled my thanks as my friends gave me a dish from each of their tray so I could eat something. “I haven't even seen any teachers or people in charge since Lady Plague told us about our rooms.”

“We're suppose to handle things on our own. They're watching us if something gets out of hand, but if we mess up we have to deal with it, like we did this morning,” Ella said.

The boys we'd taken the tour with came over, Marcus looked a little scared and sat as far away from Ivy as possible. This didn't bother the werewolf, she was too busy gnawing on some bloody steaks. Garth sat across from me, grinning shyly, his light brown bangs hiding his eyes.

Once more I promised myself that I would kill Micheal for turning me into a girl.

Naomi was smiling quite happily at her white haired 'boyfriend', Antoine. He was cutting a piece of basilisk leg with a large hunting knife. Calci blushed and nervously ran a hand through her beard when Honey Creeper, the elf she'd been paired with gave her a small smile. Clarice and Gold were sitting extremely close together, so close she was almost sitting on his lap. Ugh.

“Gold, do you have any ideas why our friend can't get any food?” Clarice asked, leaning into the very plain looking boys side.

“Have you asked why?” he asked.

I was about to say that of course I had, then I remembered I hadn't specifically asked that. “No I haven't. Give me a minute.” I got up and headed back to the counter the cat woman smiled at me like this was a game. “Why won't you give me any food?”

“We're all out.”

“But you give everyone else stuff. How can you possibly be out for me?” I demanded.

“There's no food with your name on it, kid. I'm not in supply you'll have to talk to them,” she said.

“What does have my name on it?”

She shrugged. “Don't know.”

“How can I talk to someone in supply?”

Another shrug. “I don't know how a student can.”

“Thanks for nothing,” I snapped, spinning around and heading back to my table.

Sitting down, I grabbed my kraken sandwich and ripped off a bite. My friends gave me a bit of space letting me take out my anger on my food as they talked about where they were from and other things. Finally I was ready to talk and found a nice lull in the conversation.

“Who runs supplies?” I asked.

“Vampire, I wouldn't talk to them they don't like complaints,” Ella said.

“Vampires?!” Honey Creeper sputtered.

“Yeah. They have really bad OCD for counting things, so they're great for keeping track of supplies.”

I shuddered a little. “And if someone complains?”

“Than I avoid the mystery meat for a few days,” Ella replied.

“Good to know,” I muttered. “So I'm going to have to stay on your good side if I don't want to starve to death?”

“Pretty much,” Naomi said, patting me on the head. “I expect my feet to be massaged every night, and you can wash my clothes. The blouses need to be hand washed with angel dandruff.”

An imp flew into the cafeteria and headed straight for me. It's ugly, puffy red face glared at me, and I wanted to throw up when it spoke, its breath smelled like rotten meat left out for a few weeks on top of a dead skunk that had been soaked in a trolls cesspit. “Come with me. Time for appointment.”

“Wish me luck,” I said, shoving the last of my sandwich into my mouth.

With pats on the back and words of encouragement I headed down the dark hallway to see my counsellor.

**

“Sit down, sit down,” my counsellor said, the second the imp opened the door.

Nervously I took a seat on the single hard wooden chair, not sure what to expect from the chubby little dwarf who was practically bouncing in his chair, rattling his gold jewellery, while watching me with a slightly mad look in his eye. He only had his right eye, the other one was covered up by an eye patch.

“Thank you,” I said.

“Petra, you can call me Bob, since most human's can't pronounce my real name. I'm a professor in the subterfuge department and since you're in a general course I'm your counsellor. So let's go over your classes.”

“Well, um, Bob, about that. I'd really like to specialize in subterfuge, I think that would be best. Please,” I said, trying to copy the puppy dog eyes I'd seen my friends doing. I wasn't sure if I was doing it properly, I hadn't had many chances or reasons to practice it as a boy.

“Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. It says in your records that if I change your classes to a more specialized path they'll be looking for a new professor in subterfuge. So no.” He looked over his papers, muttering to himself. “Now you're going to be focusing on magic, subterfuge, fighting and potions. Next term we can expand into things like alchemy, minion control, leadership, seduction, defence against the light arts, contracts, law and other things, but for now let's keep it as simple as possible OK?”

My parents really hated me, I wonder if they were upset that I had gotten them socks for their birthdays. I hadn't wanted to, I just hadn't had any money. “Great!” I said, trying my best to sound enthusiastic.

“For fighting, do you have a weapon?”

“No. Can I get one that let's me stay far away from anyone trying to kill me?”

“Ranged weapons is second term, unless you already know how to use a gun, grenades, bow, javelin, crossbow, darts, or throwing knives. We'll put you in the beginners for that,” he made some notes on his paper. “Now for magic, do you have any specialties, preferences, unusual skills?”

“I'd really like to learn defensive magic. I think that will help me survive.” Hopefully I could learn how to cast a proper shield spell within a week.

“Excellent choice. I do enjoy students who think ahead, so defensive magic class. Now for subterfuge, you'll be in my class. I teach beginners, and you'll learn everything you need about detecting lies, and how to stretch the truth until it breaks, and then how to tie it back together again,” he giggled at that.

For some reason I wasn't really sure I could trust the sanity of my counsellor, but he at least seemed to be helpful, so I just smiled right along with him.

“Your school transcripts say that you haven't gotten around to learning potions yet. That would explain why you're now Petra instead of Peter. We'll put you in beginning class for that as well.” He scratched something onto a dragon bone slate, and hummed to himself. “Magic and subterfuge will be in the morning, Potions right after lunch, and combat last. Now we need two other classes, lets go with math and history, both of those are useful for running an empire and avoiding past mistakes.”

“Sounds good,” I said, honestly pretty pleased with my schedule. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, after all how much could I trust Micheal. He had probably told me a general course was bad, so I'd be too scared to realize his trick. Things were looking up.

Now that classes were taken care of, it was time to deal with one of my current major problems. “I'm hoping you can help me with something,” I said.

“Oh yes, I'm always ready to help,” he said, giggling again.

“I can't get anything to eat from the cafeteria. They say I don't have anything in my name in supplies, so everything is always out. My friends are getting me food, but it's pretty annoying.”

Bob frowned, playing with his braided beard which was tied up in gold thread. “That's a serious problem. Let me look into it, and by tomorrow you'll be eating properly.”

“Oh thank you!”

He hopped out of his chair and walked around his desk. I noticed that like Calci even with me sitting, he only came up to my chest, and he was about as wide as I was tall. “Well Petra, it's been a real pleasure talking to you. I can't wait to see you in my class the day after tomorrow, but for now I'll have to ask you to go and enjoy the rest of the day, as I have so many students to help.”

“Yeah, sure. Thank you again Bob,” I said, letting him walk me to the door.

With a bounce in my step, I tried to remember all the shortcuts to get back to my room.

**

Lying on my bed, I looked over my school schedule, which helpfully had a map showing me where my classes were. The map was covered in my writing, with helpful arrows and lines, showing the various secret tunnels and quickest routes to get around. I didn't like being late for class normally, and I figured being late at Doom Valley would be a particularly bad idea.

The door opened, and Ella popped her head inside. “Come on Petra, time to go shopping.”

“Do we have to?” I asked, not wanting to leave the safety of my room.

“Yes, we need to pick up our books and things,” she said. “Now hurry up, everyone's waiting for us.”

Sighing, I grabbed my backpack, put on my shoes and followed Ella to the common room. There were some things I did need, like notebooks, some more pens, another pair of shoes would be nice, and if I could find them a few weapons and armour.

I saw Naomi first, the tall girl stuck out with her pink hair, especially now that she had it in a pretty braid and she was wearing a matching pink dress. I couldn't really tell, but I was pretty sure she had put on some makeup. Looking down, I saw that Clarice and Calci had also dressed up a little. Clarice was wearing a pair of tight pants and blouse, along with some heels, clearly trying to look taller. Calci was wearing a sleeveless top, and her muscles looked shiny, almost as if they'd been rubbed with oil. Her small beard was definitely oiled and curled.

I sighed in disgust. At least they didn't expect me to dress up.

“You're finally here,” Clarice said. “Come on, we're meeting the boys at the shop. We can talk about what classes we're in when we get there.”

“Oh joy,” I said, trying to sound happy. “Where's Ivy?”

“Asleep,” Calci said. “I didn't want to risk waking her.”

Ella held up a paper. “Don't worry about her. She doesn't like crowds, so I have her class schedule and promised to get anything she needs.”

“That's probably for the best,” Naomi said. “We want to keep her happy, after all what are friends for?”

“Yeah, and I think the boys are scared of her,” Clarice added.

I had to roll my eyes. “We can't have that can we?”

“Nope. We don't want to scare them away,” Naomi said.

Heading off to the school store, I heard my masculinity crying softly in my head.

___
Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other stories, The Oubliette, will be updated every second Friday, and Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

I slept in the next morning since it was a free day to explore, prepare for classes and just have fun. When I finally got out of the extremely comfortable bed, Ella was already out doing something. With no immediate plans I did a quick run to the bathroom, then sat down in a chair and wondered what I should tell my parents about my first full day at school. I kind of wanted to see their faces when they saw the line, 'Hey Mom and Dad, you know how you always wanted a daughter, well congratulations you've got one!'

Looking around for one of my new notebooks I found a very fancy page of bone white parchment sitting on the desk. Not knowing why it was there, I started reading it, thinking Ella might have left me a note.

I looked at the clock and saw it was 9:59am. The world spun around me as I, dressed only in my nightgown, lunged towards the closet. My toe hit a rock that hadn't been there a second ago. Yelping in pain, I fell to my hands and knees scraping them on the rough rocky floor. Getting to my feet I quickly saw that I was in a cave, glowing green slime made it look like twilight. Bugs and things with way too many legs, crawled over my feet and bats flew overhead. The walls were covered in pink and red fuzz, where it wasn't being eaten by the glowing slime.

A sign beside a hole in the wall simply said, 'Make it down to the golden idol. For top marks beat your competitor.'

“OK, Peter, um Petra,” I said to myself, “you're officially screwed.”

Cringing, I tried not to think about the crunch of bugs and the squishy things that oozed up between my toes, with every step. Pacing around the room looking for anything that could help, revealed absolutely nothing that could potentially be useful. There were plenty of slimy rocks, some as big as my head, a lot of pebbles, and bugs, so many bugs. The perfectly useless fuzzy stuff on the wall was powdery and clung to my skin when I brushed against it. After about ten minutes of careful searching, I picked up a rock that fit easily in my hand and wasn't too slimy. It wasn't a great weapon, but just in case I had to hit something it was better than nothing.

Poorly armed, I started walking since waiting around wouldn't do any good. The first five minutes was easy, if you count walking barefoot in a filthy, dimly lit cave as easy, I was limping and wincing by the time I came to an intersection. With no signs or clues, I had a very important question and no easy answer, which way to go?

I tried to think about any tips or hints that could help me. Following a river almost always got you to a town, moss grows on the north side of a tree, basilisks always sleep facing the west. None of that was very good in a cave. Both directions looked the same, more glowing slime and colourful fungus, damp floors and bugs. Did I mention there were a lot of bugs? Because there were a lot of them. In some places the looked like a fancy living rug.

Wishing I had shoes, a sword, a warm shirt to deal with the cool damp air, a way out, a helpful geni, or even just a map, I crouched down to catch my breath. As I leaned against a cleanish part of the wall I tried to clear my mind, if I was going to survive I had to really think things through. The sign at the start had said there was a golden idol, and a competitor. Who was my competitor? Was the school actively trying to kill me or just challenging me?

If they wanted me dead, I was probably going up against someone like the girl with lots of scalps. Or Victor. Maybe it would be Micheal. If it was someone else, I could maybe make a deal. I was a close friend with Ella, as long as I didn't promise too much she'd probably support me. Maybe I should go looking for that person?

As I thought about it, I saw a small puddle of water. A trickle of water flowed out of it, down the tunnel. A thought rose up in my mind. The sign had said needed to go down to the golden idol. So that was the one hint I had, go down. Following the flowing water would at the very least point me in the right direction. Unless it was light water and went uphill.

Going to the water, I scooped some up in my hand and let it drip through my fingers. The drops fell like regular water, they weren't extra slow or falling upwards like light water would. That was good, not only for directions, but if worst came to worst, I could probably drink it. No one willingly drank light, it made peeing really awkward and didn't feel good in the stomach.

Giving myself another minute to rest my feet, something slimy fell straight on my head.

I instinctively closed my eyes. This was quickly followed by screaming as my skin started tingling. Reaching up, I grabbed the acidic slime which was trying to digest my head. My fingers went through the amorphous thing, and the tingling started to hurt. The slime started to head for my mouth.

Falling to my knees, I shoved my head into the water, accidentally banging it on the rock so hard I saw stars.

Scooping up water with both hands, I grabbed the slime again, pulling at it and making sure the water got right inside the disgusting thing. The pain faded a little bit, the water was helping wash away the acid. Rubbing my face along the wet rock, while scooping more water onto my hair, the slime started to fall off.

Then something wet and slimy poked my toe. I jerked away from the new slime, only to put my hand into another one. Even in my panic, I realized that if I stuck around I was going to get eaten by the composter of the animal world.

Grabbing one last handful of water, I used it to clear my eyes, got to my feet and ran as fast as I dared from the slime, following the trickle of water. The translucent slimes were hard to see on the floor. The best way to make them out was to look for places were the bugs were thinnest. With my hair slowly dissolving, and every step crunching disgustingly, I fled the cavern.

**

The last of the slime that had tried to eat me was trying to reform itself in the large pool of water that had collected in a convenient depression. Feeling my hair, I was practically bald in places, and the skin on my scalp, forehead and ears tingled unpleasantly. Touching it made me wince, it felt like a really bad sunburn.

I'd gotten lucky, if I hadn't closed my eyes, it would have blinded me. If they'd gotten onto my feet, I couldn't have run away, and if it wasn't wasn't for the water, I wouldn't have been able to wash it off. Doom Valley Prep wasn't lying when they said this was a pass or die test.

I really wanted to rest a bit, but I didn't dare do it here. There was too much chance of being attacked by more slime. Sighing and wincing in pain, I followed the trickle of water further down into the cave.

There were a bunch of twists and turns, and eventually the trickle disappeared into a crack in the wall. “Well there goes that tiny bit of help,” I muttered.

There was no way to tell what time it was, and my stomach was growling from missing breakfast, so I couldn't even use that as a way to tell time. The cavern I was walking through was drier then the area I'd left. There was still the glowing slime on the wall, but it was a lot less abundant, making it hard to see. At least that meant I'd be less likely to be eaten by acidic slime.

Following the cavern I came to a fork in the tunnel. There were two ways I could go, both were going steeply downwards. The left tunnel had squeaking coming from it, and I could just make out a couple of beady red eyes in the darkness. The right tunnel seemed silent and there was a bit more of the glowing slime.

Easy decision, the right tunnel is the right answer.

As I walked there were several more forks in the tunnel. For each one I'd look, listen and smell, judging which one was safer. Usually the answer was pretty clear, the ones without any noise, smoke, signs of life or beady eyes, was the proper direction.

And then I reached a problem.

Coming to a stop I stared at the three tunnels. One led straight up a steep slope, one went down with foul smelling smoke wafting out, and the last one smelled like rotten meat. I sat down again and thought about it.

The smoke could be from a dragon, cooking fires, lava, a fire trap, salamanders, fire birds, lava trap, chimera, fire elemental, lava elemental, smoke elemental, and who knew what else. The rotting smell could just be a dead animal, a trap, a nest for a monster, a garbage pit for goblins, kobalds, troglodyte savages, or more. I really wished I had some shoes.

Deciding the potential garbage pit was safer, I crept down the tunnel with the rotten smell. Keeping my back to the wall, I wish I still had my rock. After walking for a minute, the floor became squishy, and I had to put a hand against the cold damp rock that was only lightly covered in the glowing slime to help keep my balance. Then I heard footsteps behind me.

I took off running.

Well I tried to run. Slipping and sliding in whatever was on the floor, I spent more time trying not to fall than I did going forward. The footsteps started running, and there was the harsh yapping sound of goblins yelling at each other.

Leaping out of the garbage pit, I never saw the net made out of giant spider silk that was strung across the tunnel. The strands ripped off from the walls, encircling me, wrapping around my arms and legs. I was able to duck my head and rolled a little, so my shoulder hit the ground hard, making me scream in pain. Then I rolled a few times, getting lots of bruises but my head came out of it OK. I was dizzy and gasping for air, but at least I didn't have a concussion. Five goblins came out of the darkness, circling me, poking me with spears and laughing, making comments about how they could eat me.

“Wait, wait, wait!” I shouted. “You want food right?”

“Food, yes. You food. Make good soup!” the largest one shouted, jumping up and down his earring covered bat ears rattled and jangled.

“My parents will give you LOTS of food if you let me go. Call them! They will give you a wagon full of food if you let me go!” I said.

“Lots of food?”

I nodded as hard as I could. “YES! Lots and lots of food.”

“We take you to camp. Talk to chief. If he say no, we eat you,” the goblin said with a toothy grin.

They attached ropes to the net and began dragging me along the ground. I really wish I'd kept my mouth shut about hero school. The regular schools back home were looking better and better every second.

It looked like I was going to fail this test.

I really didn't want to die.

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other stories, The Oubliette, will be updated every second Friday, and Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

There is one huge problem with nightgowns.

When you're being dragged along the ground by your feet, they have a tendency to ride up, showing off your not so clean underwear. My underwear had been fairly clean to begin with, but after wandering around a dirty cave system, nearly getting eating by slime, and then being dragged along the ground while bound up in a net, the flimsy bit of fabric had gotten just a little stained. It had also gotten wet and covered in slime, which wasn't doing anything for my comfort. It was almost annoying enough to make me ignore how my shoulders and head were being dragged through a carpet of insects and muck.

As I was considering my current discomfort, I was also trying to think my way out of a slightly more pressing problem, how to avoid getting eaten.

I hadn't come up with much, other than promising them lots of stuff until I found some other way out of this. While the promise of being ransomed for food, had kept them from slaughtering me immediately after getting captured, I didn't think I would work for long after I reached their camp. Even if they could contact my parents, I doubted my folks could, or would, provide them with enough food to save me.

So, it seemed that Doom Valley Prep School would manage to kill me before I even attended my first class. Not exactly a record, but pretty impressive if you were looking at it from the schools perspective.

“Let the girl go, evil doers! Or I shall smite you where you stand!”

The shout echoed in the narrow tunnel. I couldn't see who had said it, but there was a brilliant yellow glow coming from behind us. The voice seemed surprisingly confident, despite sounding like a teenager. The goblins dropped me and drew their weapons, chattering to themselves as they ran at the newcomer.

From my position I couldn't see very much, I heard the sounds of shouting, screams, steel hitting steel and bodies falling. A few minutes later a very large person in silver armour knelt beside me, using a a small knife cut me free.

He raised his visor, revealing a boyish face that girls would probably swoon over. “Are you hurt, my lady?” he asked.

My muscles ached and the floor was slippery from blood, making me stumble as I tried to stand up. I instinctively took his offered hand to keep from falling, causing him to grin. Pulling my hand back before he could get any ideas, I said, “I'm fine. Thank you so much for helping me, but what are you doing here?”

“I am Reginald, a freshman of the School of Righteousness and Honour,” he said proudly. “I'm here to find the golden idol and stop the vicious, evil and diabolical student of the Doom Valley Prep School before he completes whatever nefarious deeds he plans on... completing. But you are injured, hold still and I'll heal your burns.”

He placed an armoured hand on my head, whispering a prayer to the Blessed Virgin. As his hand glowed in a nearly blinding white light, my irritated and painful scalp quickly healed. I even felt my hair regrowing. This guy was proving to be very useful, now I just needed to figure out how to keep him from wanting to kill me.

I licked my lips and thought VERY carefully about the next words to come out of my mouth. “Oh, thank you so much, you're my hero! I'm so lucky I ran into you! I was asleep and then I found myself here, and I've been wandering around for hours until those horrible goblins captured me!”

“That vile Doom Valley  student must be planning on sacrificing you to his evil demonic overlords! Never fear I'll protect you!” he practically shouted.

Did people honestly talk like that, I wondered. Still I'd take lawful stupid over trying to survive all by myself, since he was in armour and seemed good with a sword. Going over to the largest goblin I began stripping it of its shoes, armoured vest, and spiked club. “Oh my god! Really?! You have to help me get away from him! You said something about a golden idol, is that the way out?” I asked, trying my best to sound like a clueless damsel in distress.

“That's what my teacher told me. Have you seen the evil doer? Anything you can tell me will be most helpful,” Reginald said.

“Uh, well... I think I heard something when I woke up. Someone who sounded really big and mean, lots of armour clanking, and chanting a magic spell. He seemed really powerful and we should probably just escape. Yes, escaping is a really good idea,” I told him, swinging the club a few times in the air to get a feel for it.

“Very well fair maiden, let us escape this wretched hive of scum and villainy. Your weak body and heart isn't made for this type of adventure. Stay close to me and I'll return you to the safety of your home,” my hero said.

I briefly considered clocking him, if he found out who I was he'd probably do the same to me but quite honestly having a meat shield to fight off monsters and things was reassuring. So in my oversized shoes and smelly armour, I followed along behind him. This day couldn't get much worse.

**

I was munching on some dried fruit, courtesy of Reginald when he learned I hadn't eaten anything all day, and was seriously wondering if the goblins might have been better.

“And then my father slew the last of the Orc temple guards, allowing my mother to begin a magical duel with the dark priest,” the overly proud paladin-in-training said.

He had been talking almost non-stop for what felt like hours. Starting with his ancestor, who had defeated a void walker eight hundred years ago, using an enchanted dagger. The I got a pretty thorough run down of his entire family and their various great deeds. It was pretty impressive actually, too bad he expected me to ohh and ahh over each story.  if he didn't sound so smug, I might have enjoyed listening to some of them, for the first hour.

He had spent the last little while telling me three 'wonderful' stories of his parents valiant exploits against evil, and it was getting just a little repetitive. Almost as repetitive as this cave. Walk down a slimy, wet tunnel, come to a fork, listen closely, let the boring meat shield go down a little ways to check it out, follow if it was safe or wait for the fighting to die down if it wasn't. Rinse and repeat.

My head jerked up as I heard a small splash behind us. Relying on pure instinct I spun in a circle swinging my stolen club against a goblins head. My annoyance increased, as my knight in shining armour painfully shoved me against the cave wall for my 'safety'. He rushed past me and cut down the three other goblins who were trying to attack us from behind. This was the fifth goblin I'd clobbered, and the ninth time I'd been shoved into a wall. It was getting old fast, and I was starting to lose feeling in my arm.

“So Reginald,” I said, rubbing my badly bruised shoulder, “how does someone enter the School of Righteousness and Honour?”

“There are two ways of course, the first and most common way is to enter as a regular student. You need to pay the fee and have a letter of recommendation from someone of good standing. That was easy for me, as everyone in my family has gone there, I simply had them prepare a few letters for me,” he said, throwing his shoulders back and taking a heroic pose while cleaning his sword. “To pay they used the tiara of the Witch Queen of the Southern Isle. The dean nearly fell over herself to accept me.”

“And the other way?”

He shrugged. “If someone proves they're capable of doing great deeds they can get a scholarship. One of my classmates was a homeless thief who stole the Cursed Eye of Tamarath, from a sorcerer in disguise. Apparently the sorcerer was going to destroy the city, but ended up looking like a fool for the city guards when he found the eye was missing.”

I chuckled at that, having seen some of it on the magic mirror back home during the summer. “Well that was very admirable of him.”

Reginald snorted in disgust. “Hardly, he likes to joke that he was just hoping to get a good meal from it. You can't accidentally be good.”

“Uh huh,” I said, not wanting to argue with a person in armour and handy with a sword. “So, let's say that, maybe, someone is in Doom Valley Prep and they, you know, wanted to not be a student there. Could they possibly find a way to get into the School of Righteousness and Honour?”

I'd been expecting him to question me, demand why I was asking such a weird question, or openly accuse me of being an evil doer. Instead he burst out laughing, he laughed so hard he had to bend over and grab the wall to stop himself from falling. I considered beating him with the club again, but I still needed him if I wanted to survive.

“Not a chance,” he finally said.  “Anyone who is accepted into that school is pure evil and only fit to be slain for the evil doer they are. Let me guess, you have a cousin who entered the school?”

“Yes,” I replied instantly, my common sense and desire to live taking control of my mouth before my brain could screw things up. “I was hoping we could save him, but if someone as smart and good as you says it's impossible, well, I suppose it is.”

He beamed at the compliment. “Yes, yes it is. He was probably the villainous cad who told them to sacrifice you.”

“Definitely. I never really trusted him. He always tried to, um, steal the desserts at family reunions.” I face palmed as I heard what I said, fortunately Reginald ignored what I had to say, as usual.

“Come along now, let's continue on our way.  If we go quickly I may have a chance at crossing swords with this evil doer and you can see me succeed at my first true battle,” he said, thumping his chest. “This day shall go down in history, as the first step of Reginald the Righteous and his campaign against evil.”

“My hero,” I said, trying to sound like I was enthralled by his words.

“Now as I saying, my parents were...”

I hated my life.

**

We peered down a steep cliff at a goblin camp that had at least a hundred of the little monsters going about their business. Reginald and I were both tired from hours of walking, while also being hungry and thirsty since we'd used up his rations a while ago. Still the sight of the golden idol in the very center of the camp gave me renewed hope that this would soon be over.

“So what's the plan?” I asked.

“Nothing yet,” he replied. “We have to wait for that wicked blaggard from Doom Valley Prep to show himself. He is probably somewhere in the camp, waiting to ambush us with his goblin minions.”

I had to fight hard not to face palm at hearing this.

“You said that he seemed to be wearing armour and was casting a spell?”

“Yeah,” I said with a groan.

“I don't see him. So we should be able to catch him by surprise, when he comes here.” Reginald said.

“He could be there for hours or days,” I said, my mind frantically looking for an excuse to get moving. “We'll be really hungry, which is the worst time to get into a fight.”

He smirked and got a smug look. “I've trained myself to go without food and water for a week and keep fighting.”

“But I haven't,” I told him.

“If need be, I can carry you, my lady,” he said.

Getting to my hands and knees I crawled away from the cliff. I had to go bash my head on something before I said something I'd regret.

“Where are you going?” he hissed at me.

“The bathroom,” I said.

Once I was out of sight, I started pacing, wondering what I could do to grab the idol and get back to my room. Sure I was risking my life every second I was at Doom Valley, but at least I had a chance at school, and I could get food from my friends. But that big, conceited idiot would wait around for days until the goblins found us or he realized I was his competition.

I stopped and a smile crept onto my face. What if the goblins only found him?

A quick search found a large crack in the wall where I could hide, then I grabbed a big rock. Headed back to the cliff, trying to stay out of Reginald's sight, I threw the rock as hard as I could at the camp and gave a blood curdling shriek. Before the rock hit the ground I was racing for the crack. Behind me the entire goblin camp shouted in fury and started running towards Reginald.

If he was smart, he'd retreat and live to fight another day, and I could sneak in to get the idol.

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other stories, The Oubliette, will be updated every second Friday, and Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

High pitched shrieks and shouts shook the large cavern. It sounded like the entire goblin camp was stampeding up the slope towards me. Somehow, despite the loud roar, I heard Reginald running in his heavy armour.

“Petra, where are you? Has a goblin attacked you?” he shouted.

If I could have moved my arms, I would have slapped my head in disgust. He still thought I was a helpless victim. If he ran away now, he could probably slip away or get to a place where he'd have a chance of holding them off. But if he was going to go looking for the innocent 'maiden' to save, he was a dead man. Biting my lip I silently willed the idiot to start running.

“PETRA! COME OUT I SHALL SAVE YOU!”

Groaning, I hit my head against the solid rock. “Idiot!” Thud. “Moron!” Thud. “Suicidal jerk!” Thud.

Before I beat a hole in the wall, or cracked my skull open, the cavern was filled with the sounds of combat. Spells flared, turning the cave from a dim twilight to as bright as day. Goblins shrieked in pain as they died, and Reginald bellowed. All I could do was pray to all the gods and demons that my hiding spot would remain a hiding spot and didn't become a convenient death trap. From the cries of pain at least Reginald seemed to be doing a good job of killing the little monsters. Now if only he would lead them away from me.

Slowly but surely the big hero did start retreating. The screams and shouts became softer and even the clanging of weapons seemed to have gone around a corner. Cautiously I crept out of my hiding place trying to ignore the blood, body parts and most of all the stench of goblins, as I made my way back to the cliff overlooking the camp.

I took a moment to get an idea of what I was about to get into. The trash filled paths were mostly deserted. A few goblin children wandered around snarling and snapping at each other, while some goblin women did chores, it looked like the way to the golden idol was clear. I looked over my shoulder where Reginald was shouting curses at the goblins, but there really wasn't much for me to do. I could handle a few goblins, not the whole camp.

Pushing the hem of my nightgown between my knees, I slid down the steep cliff on my butt. Using my oversized goblin shoes to keep me from going too fast, while my hands got scratched up helping me stay sitting up and in control. Reaching the bottom safely, I got to my feet and rubbed my sore butt, only to realize I didn't really have a backside for my nightgown anymore. My cheeks heated up at that bit of knowledge. At least my underwear was still reasonably OK.

Ignoring the fear gnawing at my belly, I jogged into the village and promptly fell to my knees gagging and vomiting at the smell. The garbage roiled, much like my stomach, as bugs and vermin chewed and burrowed through it, releasing a stench similar to liquefied chicken stored in the sun for a year, mixed with a bag of sweaty gym clothes, and several hundred skunks.

Ripping off my sleeve, I wrapped it around my face, tying the ends together to help cut the stench. Making my way through the twisting paths, I waved my club at a few of the children who came too close. They threw filthy mud at me, which felt greasy and burned slightly as it clung to me like glue. Yelling and charging a couple of steps had them fleeing in terror.

Soon enough I made it to the golden idol. It was a cup with some green flame shooting out the top, sitting on a large obsidian pedestal. There were pitch black steps leading up to the cup, and I'd have to step on it to get the prize. I was just about to put my foot on the first step, only to stop at the last second. It couldn't be this easy.

Looking around, I saw a big beetle as large as my hand crawling on the rocks. I carefully flicked it onto the black metal pedestal with my toe, where it let out a squeak, while smoke rose from its convulsing body, then it shrank into a pea size ball, before exploding like tiny fireworks. All in all, it looked extremely painful.

Circling the pedestal, I didn't see any buttons, cracks, strings, runes, convenient carvings, or anything except pitch black metal.

“OK, this can't be too hard, Petra,” I said. “They can't kill everyone before class begins.”

It was a simple problem, don't touch the pedestal. What was the simple solution?

I went to a wretched house and grabbed a stick from the refuse pile. Going back to the pedestal, I threw it at the gold goblet knocking it off its perch and causing it to roll onto the safe stone floor.

Smiling at my success, I heard the sounds of battle again. Reginald was probably trying to reach the village in hopes of finding me.

“That's not my problem,” I told myself.

Finding another bug, I placed it on the cup. The bug didn't die, it just looked up at me, shook its wings angrily and crawled back into the garbage. Feeling pretty smart, I picked up the cup.

Just picking it up didn't do anything. Flipping it around the flame stayed lit and pointing straight up and down. Not wanting to risk my life, I grabbed another bug and dropped it into the flame. It popped out of existence as soon as it touched the greenish light. So that was my ticket home.

All I had to do was touch the flame.

Yep, just put my finger in it and I'd be home free.

Well as home free as you can be when your school is trying to kill you.

Nothing else to do but touch the flame.

“Dragon Spit!” I swore. “I'm an idiot!”

Keeping a firm hold of the goblet, I jogged towards the fighting, I had to save the heroic idiot.

**

Somehow Reginald was still alive.

His armour was dented and no longer shiny, he was limping and his shield was sagging, but the meat shield was still standing and swinging.

Unfortunately, because fate decided my life needed to be interesting, there were still a whole lot of goblins around him. They were staying out of reach of his sword, poking at him with spears and throwing rocks at him, trying to wear him down. While none of them were looking at me, if I tried to push through them, I'd be swarmed and killed.

I could still leave him. He did want to kill me after all.

But he had saved me, and I didn't want to kill anyone. Well if it was Micheal in there I'd be clapping and eating some popcorn. But other than that little freak, I didn't want to kill anyone or have them die because of me.

I couldn't break through the goblins, there were too many. I couldn't throw Reginald the goblet, if I did I'd be dead about five seconds later. But maybe I could distract them long enough for Reginald the Moron to get to me.

“I'm going to die.”

Straightening my back, I cleared my throat, and did the stupidest thing I could have done. I stepped out into the open with the goblet held high.

“I COMMAND YOU ALL TO HALT! OR FACE MY WRATH!” I shouted.

The goblins paused, turning to look at me with their beady black eyes. I guessed I had maybe ten seconds to think of something clever before they charged.

Unfortunately I was wrong, it took them three seconds to shout in rage and charge at me as a mob.

Screaming I shoved the goblet in front of me as I bravely wet myself.

The first goblin to touch it vanished. That made the nearest goblins slide to a stop, which let me jab them with the goblet flame. The rest of them came up and started circling me, showing surprising tactics for creatures with brains the size of a peanut. As soon as they got around my back I was dead.

And then Reginald got his big hero moment.

He was charging like a rhino through the goblins, using his shield to bash them out of the way. “Petra! Never fear fair maiden I shall save you!”

Maybe I should have let him die.

He skidded to a stop in front of me, sword at the ready. Before he could say anything else annoying, I wrapped my arm around him and jabbed the flame into my stomach.

There was the sensation of falling, then we were both in a large room looking up at Master Grieve, Lady Plague and Bob the subterfuge teacher. The teachers were looking at us with amused expressions, at least I think Master Grieve was amused, it was hard to tell with his helmet on.

“Very good, Petra! Superb use of an unknowing dupe to succeed,” Bob said.

Reginald shook himself from my hold and pointed his sword at the teachers. Seeing this I backed away to avoid getting caught up in his imminent death.

“I know you two, you're evil villains! Why are we here?” the suicidal white knight demanded.

“You're at Doom Valley Prep, because Petra saved your life,” Master Grieve said. “We're not sure why she saved you, but she did.”

Turning on me, Reginald looked incensed. “You were the villain I was competing against?!”

“Well... kind of,” I said, looking at my feet.

He starting to come closer with his very sharp sword. “So your helplessness and flirtatious ways were all part of your plan to corrupt me!”

“FLIRTATIOUS!” I shouted, anger overcoming common sense. “I didn't flirt with you at all. You wouldn't shut up long enough for me to even try! And I saved your life.”

“All part of your plot to bring darkness into my family line!”

“I didn't even know who you were until you talked about your stinking family for six hours! I just wanted to get out alive and you were too stupid to realize who I was,” I shouted back. “And there's no way I'd flirt with you or try to get into your family line. GROSS!”

Reginald lunged at me, ready to put the sword through my chest. It was so fast I couldn't possibly do anything to save myself. Fortunately for my continued existence, Master Grieve somehow moved over ten feet in less than a second. His massive, bare hand closed on the magical sword and with a tiny twitch of his fingers the blade snapped in half. Just as quickly, he picked up Reginald by his neck and lifted him up so his helmet was scraping the ceiling.

“You failed the test, boy,” Sir Grieve growled. “Be glad you survived. If you wish get your vengeance, you will have to wait until the Winter Banquet or when we put you together for another test. Is that clear?”

It seemed that Reginald did have some brains after all, as he croaked in agreement.

Sir Grieve seemed satisfied. “Good. Now return to your school, your teachers are not very happy with you.”

With that Lady Plague waved a finger and Reginald disappeared.

“So, I passed?” I squeaked as I was once again the center of attention.

“Yes,” Lady Plague said. “It was amusing to watch.”

“Great,” I said. I really wanted to let them know what I thought of them being amused by my near death, but seeing how quickly they had dealt with the white knight, I decided I enjoyed living too much and silence was best.

Bob came up, to pat me on the back, while leading me to the door. “You did superbly, I can't wait to see how you do in my class. Now go get cleaned up, there is a meal waiting for you back in your room.”

“Oh good, I'm starving,” I said, stepping into the hallway. My now favourite teacher gave me a nod and  closed the door, which promptly disappeared.

Looking around I realized I had no idea where I was. “Um, hello?! Is anyone there? How do I get back to my dormitory?” I asked.

Silence answered me.

“I hate this school,” I muttered as I chose a direction at random.

**

School of Righteousness and Light

Reginald sat in front of his teachers, his head hanging low.

“Would you care to explain what you did wrong?” the headmistress asked, her feathery wings held tight to her body.

“It was all that girl Petra's fault,” he growled. “I shall be avenged!”

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other stories, The Oubliette, will be updated every Friday, and Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Tired, starving, bashed up, soaking wet, with a hole in the back of my nightgown and one side badly scorched, I finally made it to the girls dorms.

“What happened to you?” Ella asked, when I gratefully slipped into our room.

I ignored her question and asked my own, “Why does our school have a flooded hallway, full of sharks that shoot freaking fire from their eyes?”

“I think they're used to encourage the swim team,” she replied. “Did you fall in?”

Marching to the bathroom all I said was, “Don't want to talk about it. I'm going to have a shower and then eat, I'm starving.”

Stripping out my nightgown, I looked at the large hole in the seat, the acid burns around the collar, the mud and blood stains, and the dozens of tears in it. There was no hope of salvaging it, so I tossed it in the trash and stepped into the shower. Pressing a gem, a water elemental surrounded me, covering me in warm water. Grabbing a sponge I spent at least half an hour trying to clean the grime off.

An air elemental blew the water off and quick dried my hair. I had to use a hairbrush to get the knots out of my now short hair, a problem I never had as a boy. Somehow I got it looking OK with only minimal cursing and swearing. Wrapping a bathrobe around me, I went back to the room and all my new friends there. Even better I saw a small table full of food.

“Everyone is talking about you, Petra,” Clarice said. “You did great.”

My eyes went wide. “WHAT?!”

“They were showing some of the survival tests on the magic mirrors, and yours was one of the ones they showed the most,” Calci explained, while polishing a war hammer.

“How many people had a test?” I asked.

“Everyone.”

I shuddered a little at the thought of how many people had to die. “At least you guys all survived.”

“Actually,” Calci said, “I got eaten by a dragon.”

Clarice hugged herself, “I was poisoned by a lizard man.”

Ella grimaced, “My competitor turned ally and I, almost succeeded until we fell into a pit trap while running from a troll.”

From her comfortable seat by the door, Naomi just curled up into a fetal position and shuddered.

“Zombies got her,” Ella explained.

“But how are you still alive?” I asked.

“It was a pass or die test, it didn't say anything about us staying dead. Almost everyone died or failed, so they know what we're weak in, but they wouldn't want to lose everyone before class starts,” Clarice told me.

Groaning I slapped my head. “So I could have just died really quickly and not had to wander around, cold, bruised and humiliated?”

“Surviving is much better,” Calci said. “Getting killed hurts a lot.”

“So...” I started, my heart filled with dread, “everyone saw that I not only survived but succeeded.”

“Correct,” Ella said. “You survived with no weapons, no equipment, in your nightgown. You also managed to wrap a freshman from the School of Righteousness around your finger, getting him to do all the hard work, along with healing you. Then you almost got him killed as a wonderful diversion, finishing it off by humiliating him when you saved his life. And on top of that, you got the two of you out of there with barely a scratch. We're impressed.”

The other girls nodded in agreement. Then Clarice had to make things even better. “At supper, they were only showing your challenge, and lots of people were talking about you. You're now seen as one of the big threats.”

Suddenly I wasn't very hungry. Putting down my fork, I copied Naomi by curling up into a little ball and groaned.

“They're going to kill me!”

“Rise and shine, Petra!”

“I don't wanna go to school, Mom,” I whined, as I groggily woke up from a pleasant dream. I'd been giving a presentation at school and totally naked. It was a good dream because I had been at my old school, not Doom Valley, and I was a boy again. So even with everyone laughing at me it was a vast improvement on reality.

A pillow flew across the room and hit me in the face. “No sleeping in,” Ella said, “being late is not an option.”

“I'm going to die today, at least let me be well rested before they kill me,” I said, rolling over and putting her pillow over my head.

Ella sighed in exasperation. “You're not going to die on the first day. Probably. You will get a detention if you miss class, and that most likely will kill you. Come on, last chance to get up before I get Ivy to bite your butt.”

That got me out of bed, into the bathroom and back out a few minutes later. “I am not ready for this.”

Looking me over, Ella shook her head. “Yeah, you really aren't ready to start the day. You look like my brother Ronnie.”

My eyebrow rose in question.

“He's a zombie. He was killed in a little family argument and his mom tried to resurrect him. Daddy put him to work as a sewage manager. Believe me, you don't want to look like him,” she told me.

“I didn't sleep much last night,” I said. Seeing my reflection in the mirror I had to admit I did look pretty bad. The dark rings around my eyes stood out spectacularly against my pale skin. Running a hand through my hair was impossible thanks to all the knots, somehow it was even worse than yesterday. “I think I'm a lost cause.”

“Not even close,” Ella responded. “We just need  a little... a lot of makeup. Where's your supply?”

Makeup!

“I don't have any,” I squeaked out.

She grabbed my shoulders, spinning me around to look at her, eyes wide with shock. “NO MAKEUP?!”

“No. I never needed it,” I truthfully admitted.

“Not even some lip gloss?”

I shook my head.

“Wow!” Ella said in disbelief.

“I can just use some of yours, can't we?” I asked.

That got a huge laugh. “No! My makeup is for dark skin, and I'm sorry to say your one shade up from a vampire. It would never work.”

“So... no makeup?” I asked happily.

“Put on your blue dress and wait here,” Ella said, heading for the door. “I'm going to get reinforcements.”

Putting on my dress, it felt rather drafty around my legs and crotch. Why did girls like dresses? It didn't offer any type of protection and it seemed way to easy to flip up and show off my underwear. Sure I'd already shown off my underwear the day before, but I didn't want to give everyone a second show.

I fell onto my bed.

I was worrying about my underwear and wearing a dress. As a boy I would never wear a dress. As a boy showing my underwear would have been a bit embarrassing, but not a big deal. And now I was waiting to put on makeup!

“I've really become a girl!” I said, wanting to cry.

Getting to my feet again, I headed for the door. I could try running away. I just had to make it through the lava field, a monster filled jungle and climb razor sharp cliffs. It had to be better than getting makeup. If I could just steal a weapon on my way out, I'd have a chance. Before I could escape the door burst open and my friends came charging in.

“Oh wow, you're right, Ella. She really does need help,” Clarice said.

Calci shoved me down onto a chair. Her big Dwarf muscles didn't exactly give me any choice in the matter, she could probably pick me up in one hand and carry me. The others put a variety of makeup, brushes and what looked like torture devices, on the table. I'm pretty sure I whimpered in fear as they began talking about skin tone, colours and nails.

“Should we go with red lipstick or peach?” Tabby asked.

I tried one last defense, “How about none?”

All four girls looked at me like I was crazy. “Just watch and learn, you'll thank us in 20 minutes,” Naomi told me.

Calci grabbed my hand and began clipping my nails, which were cracked and pretty rough from wandering around the cave the other day. Naomi held my head firmly in one hand and started plucking my eyebrows, ignoring my pleas for mercy. While that torture was going on, Clarice and Ella were discussing makeup, eyeing the various colours and my skin with a scary intensity.

My nails were done quickly. Then Calci used a regrow brush to make my short fingernails suitably long and covered them in a glossy light pink polish. My eyebrows were much thinner and very sore by the time Naomi was done plucking them. A few minutes with a no-tangle comb, and my birds nest hairstyle was tamed into something Naomi called a pixie cut. I didn't get a chance to see what I looked like however as Clarice and Ella got to work.

My face was pushed this way and that as they applied peach coloured lipstick, some blush on my cheeks, and a whole lot of stuff around my eyes. Then they went and put mascara on my eyelashes. I felt like a clown by the time they were done.

When they held up a mirror, my eyes looked a lot bigger, and I wasn't quite so vampire-like anymore. I still didn't like it, my skin twitched and itched under it all.

“All right girls, I think we've done all we can for now,” Ella said.

“If we had a bit more time we could have done a bit more with her eyes,” Clarice said. “Maybe a bit of glitter.”

“No glitter!” I squeaked. I'd pretty much given up on looking manly or keeping any sense of manhood at that point, but there were some things that were just a step too far.

“Tomorrow,” Ella said. “We'll wake up a bit earlier so we have more time.”

Raising my hand, I asked, “Don't I get a say in this?”

“No,” they said in unison.

They got me to my feet, put my bag full of books on my back and marched me out into the hallway. Not having much choice, I followed them.

Taking the secret passage to the cafeteria was not only quicker but it let us avoid the worst of the crowds, so we were near the head of the line for breakfast. With a faint glimmer of hope I stepped up to the counter and looked the cat woman right in the eye.

“I'd like -” I started to say.

The cat woman slammed a tray in front of me, cutting me off. On the tray was a glass of water and a  small plate with a loaf of something brownish, that looked a little like food. Some of the lumps in it could have been raisins, or a weird type of berry. It smelled a bit like old socks and oatmeal.

“What is it?” I asked, poking it gently with a spoon to see if it would grow legs and scuttle away or eat the utensil.

“Your breakfast. Courtesy of the school,” the cat woman said. “Now beat it, you're holding up the line.”

I went to our usual table, staring in fascination at my 'food'. I was quickly joined by my friends, who were just as curious as I was at this strange, possibly edible, object.

“What is it?” Ella asked.

“I don't know,” I said.

“Is it alive?” Calci asked, leaning in close.

“I don't think so.”

“Have you tasted it yet?” Clarice asked, holding a piece of blue sausage up to a crease that could possibly be a mouth.

“No. I'm not sure if it's poisonous.”

Ivy gave it a sniff, jerked back in disgust and grew fur. “Ugh,” she growled.

Ella frowned. “I think you should try it. The school wouldn't poison you on the first day.”

“Well that's reassu- Wait! You mean they poison students?” I asked, jerking my chair away from the mysterious, maybe food.

She shrugged nonchalantly. “Sometimes, but usually only the higher grades. It's considered a test to see if they can spot the poison or heal themselves effectively.”

“Lovely!” I said.

Very reluctantly, I cut a small part of the soft material with the side of my fork. Stabbing it, to ensure it was dead, I brought it to my mouth and bit it.

It didn't scream, bite me back, kill me on contact or do much of anything.  It was a lot like eating a paper, just mushier.

“She's not dead yet, that's a good sign,” Naomi said.

“It's... food,” I said.

“That bad?”

“Yeah.”

Each of my friends gave me a plate or bowl from their tray, so I was able to have a real breakfast of scorpion eggs, blue sausage, emerald juice, and angel toast, while my own personal breakfast was pushed to the end of the table.

Today was going to be great.

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other stories, The Oubliette, will be updated every Friday, and Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

With breakfast finished, Calci and I said goodbye to our friends and headed for our first class of the day, Magic 101. The hallway started off full of nervous students wondering what to expect now that classes had started, and we were both pushed and jostled as we walked. Well, actually I was pushed and jostled, Calci, who was built like a brick wall had people bouncing off of her.

The crowd started breaking breaking up almost immediately as people took secret passages, or headed down different hallways and staircases. When we reached our own secret passage there were only a handful of students walking close to us, and of course one of them just had to be Garth.

“Petra, Calci, do you have magic class too?” my former pretend boyfriend asked.

He was smiling at both of us, but he actually grinned when he looked at me. It was difficult, but somehow I managed to resist facepalming. Most of his friends and my friends seemed to want to date each other, so as long as he didn't do anything embarrassing or too annoying, I'd smile and be friends.

“Yeah,” I said. “I couldn't get out of it, so I'm doing a little bit of everything.”

“I'm doing an all magic course, so maybe I could help you with your homework,” he said.

Calci squeezed my hand, accidentally grinding my bones together as she did. “That would be great. We can all study together. I'm focused on potions, but magic makes up half of that, so it will be really helpful.”

I breathed a big sigh of relief. I wouldn't need to deal with Garth alone, or come up with some lame excuse to avoid him. And having two people who were actually competent in magic, hopefully, would help make up for my complete lack of magical talent. “That's a great idea,” I said.

“Any idea what we should expect?” I asked.

“Not a clue,” Calci said. “Doom Valley is really different from how Dwarves are taught.”

“What's Dwarf school like?”

“In our last year as pebbles, I think you'd say toddlers, we get tested to see what we're best suited for. Then we're broken into small groups based on our future jobs and given to a mentor who teaches us the basics and life skills. It's hard, but they try to make it interesting, and we learn all kinds of things that are really useful to us and our Hold.”

I'd known that Dwarves had a different way of doing things than humans, but didn't know they worked like that. Garth seemed just as interested as I was.

“It's not much like my old school either. my teachers didn't actively try to kill us.” I paused, remembering something. “Although my language teacher could throw a piece of chalk clear across the room and concuss anyone that was speaking without permission. She'd fit in perfectly here.”

“I was home schooled,” Garth said. “My village is too small to have a proper school. My dad did most of the teaching, especially magic, and he believed in hands on learning.”

“So we're going in blind. YAY!” I said, feeling my stomach drop all the way to my feet.

We reached the classroom and stepped inside. I immediately wanted to run away screaming.

The room was a mix of black obsidian and blood red runes. The runes glowed faintly, turning everything into grim shadows. The light made my head hurt. The obsidian floor and walls cast disfigured reflections that didn't seem to move in time with the person making them. Everyone seemed to be talking in whispers, none of it quite clear enough to make out. It made my ears itch.

My heart raced, but I followed Calci and Garth further into the room. For a moment there was dead silence and I could feel all eyes on me. Then the whispering picked up, and I saw some of the shadowy figures pointing at me.

I was really, really glad I'd gone to the bathroom just before breakfast. I would have peed my panties, if I hadn't.

Trying to ignore the unwanted attention, we went to the front row and picked out three altars that were side by side close to the wall and claimed them. The surface was the same crystal that formed the walls, getting a close look at it, I realized it was obsidian. There were several small runes on the right hand corner that could be activated with a gesture. One was the rune of fire, another was for silence, air was the third rune, and healing was the last.

These were potentially very useful, but I didn't like how the healing rune was the largest one.

The bell rang signalling the start of class.

A robed figure stepped out of the shadows of the corner and walked to the front of the class. The figure pulled back its hood, revealing a pleasant faced middle aged man with greying temples.

“Why didn't anyone turn on the lights?” he asked, reaching back to hit a small rune on the wall.

Instantly the blood red runes became a much more welcoming yellow that reminded me a of the sun. The room was still kind of scary, but it wasn't pants-wetting terrifying. Looking around I saw most of the students were rubbing their eyes and looking nearly as relieved as I was. Only the half fairy succubus Blood Wing looked upset. But she usually looked upset when she wasn't looking gleefully crazy, so I didn't know if it had anything to do with the lights or not.

“I'm Mage Malacoda, I'll be your professor for Magic 101,” he said. “I know several of you think you don't need to take this class, because it's beneath you. If you can impress me in the first month, I'll see to it you advance to the next level.”

There was a fair bit of whispering behind me. I could actually make out what people were saying now, and they sounded excited at the news.

“Now, look at your altars. They need to be activated, linking them specifically to you. Once they're linked, you'll be able to store notes, spells, rituals and other things in them, and only I or another teacher will have access to them. There are other things they can do, you'll need to discover what on your own. To activate them, use a knife, your own or the one in your alter, pierce your thumb, and place your hand on the alter,” he told us.

Feeling around, I found a little door that opened with a gentle push. Inside was a compartment with a small brass cauldron, several glass vials, fountain pens, a chisel and hammer, brushes of various sizes, a ruler, a cutting board made of ebony, pestle and mortar, a large brass cauldron, a silver sickle, a silver knife, a silver sword, a silver axe, a silver great sword, an old fashion scale, a set of weights for the scales going from half a milligram to 500 kilograms, padded body armour, an anti-fire charm, a first aid kit, several needles and threads, about a dozen syringes, over a hundred different ingredients in clearly labelled bottles, at least one of which read virgin blood type O, a bottle of newt eyes, several meters of spider silk, a bag of dead spiders, a cage of live spiders, a dozen rats and mice held in a timeless circle, and several more objects I couldn't really make out without climbing into the compartment. Since something was clearly moving and breathing heavily in the very back of the compartment, hidden by shadow, there was no way I wanted to go inside and look around.

Taking the silver knife I cut my thumb and put it on the altar. It lit up with a faint pink light. I sighed in disgust at the colour choice.

Looking around I saw that Calci's altar was a bright grey in colour, making it look like granite. Garth's was a nice emerald green that lit up his immediate area. A lot of bright lights came from behind me. Turning around, I was almost blinded by some of the altars that were as bright as the sun. The colours faded to something more bearable, and I saw that the students with the brightest colours were looking very proud of themselves.

Death Wing's altar was a reddish black that somehow overpowered everything around it. I could feel the power coming off of it, and the hair on my arms rose up. An elf boy next to her had a blue alter and it was like looking into the ocean. No one else was close to their level of brightness, but everyone dwarfed my pitiful faint pink.

One altar wasn't lit up. A student was inside the compartment with only their feet sticking out. “Hey come back here! I need that knife!” a girl shouted.

There was the sound of jars falling, glass breaking, and what sounded like a big bell. “Gotcha!” she shouted. Then she screamed, wildly kicked her feet and was dragged into the altar. A moment later a tentacle closed the compartment door.

Mage Malacoda sighed. “They always forget to spray for eldritch entities over the break.”

He walked to the altar, opened it up, stuck his head into the compartment and spoke for a few seconds. Then he stepped back, tapping his foot impatiently.

A large object completely wrapped up in tentacles slowly came out of the cabinet. The tentacles unwrapped themselves, revealing a shaking girl who was covered in slime and deathly pale. A smaller tentacle put a silver knife in her hand, and then patted her on the head. The tentacles went back into the altar, closing the door after itself.

“Now that that's all settled, we can begin,” the teacher said, returning to the front of the class.

“If you look at the altars around you, you'll see they each glow at different strengths. That shows your raw power in magic. Don't let this fool you, raw power means little without training. A talented and intelligent person with little power can defeat a strong person who has less training or isn't careful.”

He looked around to make sure everyone was listening, before continuing. “Now lets see what each of you can do. One at a time I want each of you to cast one spell. If you need a living subject, let me know and I'll provide one. If it will cause damage, especially extensive damage, you'll need to step into the safety circle to avoid damaging school property. Petra you're the weakest, please cast a spell.”

My stomach dropped. This was my worst fear come to life. Well not my worst fear, I'd gained several dozen new fears since coming to Doom Valley, but it was in the top fifty. Sweat beaded up on my forehead. What spell should I try? My protection spells were useless, unless I wanted to turn myself into a human cannonball. I felt all eyes on me, and heard laughing.

Wracking my brain for anything that I could cast without looking hopelessly incompetent, my knees started to shake.

“Any time now, Petra,” the teacher said.

I felt a bit of inspiration, I could cast a simple firelight spell I'd learned in Squire Scout camp. It wasn't much, but it was something. Muttering the words I'd spent hours memorizing two years ago, while waving my hands like I was doing a free style interpretative dance, I cast my spell.

A tiny fireball appeared in front of me, floating in the air, ready to follow me where I went. There were snickers and laughs, I couldn't blame them, it was a pretty pathetic spell, but I'd cast it successfully. Giving Mage Malacoda a small smile, I hoped I'd be allowed to sit down.

He didn't look impressed.

“OK, that's... something. Get rid of it.”

I spoke the words to stop the spell. At least I thought I did.

Suddenly the tiny fireball that would easily fit in my hand, started growing in size. As it grew it threw off more and more heat, until I was afraid my eyebrows were going to catch fire. When it became as big as my head it flew straight at me.

Screaming, I took off running, with the fireball following me. My butt became uncomfortably hot as I raced around the room. Bags, pens, papers and books went flying as students ducked and ran away from me, while the insane fireball tried to turn me into charcoal.

The teacher watched in disgust as chaos enveloped the room. Waving his hand, the fireball vanished. I stopped to catch my breath, my backside was still uncomfortably hot and I smelled something burning.

“PETRA! YOU'RE ON FIRE!” Calci shouted.

Looking behind me, my skirt was burning quite happily.

I dropped and rolled to put it out. Once I was no longer on fire, I gingerly got to my feet and saw that my skirt still covered my butt, barely. I'd definitely need to change it soon but at least I could still wear it for now. Going back to my desk, wincing at the burns on my legs and backside, wanting to cry, I quietly apologized to everyone I passed.

“All right class,” Mage Malacoda said, “this was a little earlier than I'd planned, but you'll notice there are several runes on your altars. The most important one is the health rune. Petra you'll want to put your hand on it and hold it there until the burns heal. I think you're going to be using that a lot in this class.”

Following his instructions I felt instant relief. I still groaned unhappily, death would be better than this embarrassment.

___

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other stories, The Oubliette, will be updated every Saturday, and Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

When magic class finally ended, I headed off to subterfuge, the one class I actually wanted to attend. I didn't want to become a trained liar, but it had my favourite teacher Bob, and I wasn't likely to get burned or horribly maimed in it. That had never really been a concern of mine before coming to Doom Valley Prep, now it was at the top of my list.

When I reached the classroom, I saw Clarice already had a seat along with Gold her boyfriend, Antoine, the white haired boy Naomi liked, and Honey Creeper, the elf who almost had his legs broken by Calci. They waved me over, and I gladly took a seat with them. This class was already better than my Magic one, I had some safety in numbers, and the room actually looked like a regular classroom with normal fairy lights, proper desks and chairs, and a typical mirror board.

“What happened to your dress?” Clarice asked, looking at my burnt clothes.

“A fireball went out of control in magic class. I got a bit singed,” I lied, getting in some early practice for the class.

Everyone looked a little scared at that.

“So what were your first classes like?”

“Gold, Antoine and I all had Controlling Minions for Fun and Profit. Ella was in it too, she seemed to know every answer. It was interesting, Professor Bloody Knife is a really good teacher,” Clarice said.

Honey Creeper's eyes went wide. “Bloody Knife!”

“He's a goblin,” Gold said. “It's a common name for them.”

“What about your magic class, Petra?” Clarice asked.

“Well when I wasn't getting burned, it was... OK. A tentacle monster attacked a girl, but the teacher made it let her go,” I said. “How about you Honey Creeper? You're focusing on subterfuge aren't you?”

The elf nodded. “Yeah, but I just had math. It was math.”

The bell rang signalling the start of class, but Bob still hadn't shown up. We started looking around for the Dwarf instructor, when someone tapped me on the shoulder. Turning around, a small girl with bright purple pig tails I hadn't seen before, was smiling at me and holding out a pencil.

“Excuse me, do you think this pencil is sharp enough?” she asked.

Curious, I almost poked my finger against the extremely sharp looking lead, then I remembered where I was. Taking a piece of paper from my notebook I gently pushed it against the pencil, the paper seemed to disintegrate forming a perfect hole around the tip.

“Yeah. I think it's sharp enough you could actually kill someone with it,” I said. For some mysterious reason my back suddenly felt itchy, and I was very nervous about having this girl sitting directly behind me. My worry increased when she started to grin.

“Thank you!”

The small girl drew her hand back and threw the pencil as hard as she could against the wall. There was a scream, followed by a thud as a person was suddenly nailed to the wall, with the pencil embedded in their shoulder. A moment later a dagger fell from the mans hand, clattering on the floor.

There was dead silence in the room, except for the groaning of the masked man who was wearing a, now ruined, invisibility suit, and the giggling of the little girl.

We could only watch in shock as the girl skipped from her desk up to the man, who was trying to free his shoulder.

“Hi, mister assassin!” the girl said. “Who sent you?”

The man didn't answer. Instead he tried to kick the girl in the face.

That didn't go very well. Instead of getting knocked down, the girl grabbed his foot in her hand. Then she began to shimmer. Where a cute young girl had been, Bob the Dwarf now stood holding the assassins foot in one enormous hand.

Letting go of the foot, Bob frowned in disgust. “Don't try that again, the pencil is enchanted so you have all the strength of a newborn fairy. I was expecting you an hour ago.”

The lying instructor scratched his long beard. “Let's see you've got an invisibility suit, blessed by the Demon Lord of Secrecy. The dagger is from the forge of the Dead God, so a single nick of the blade will kill anyone, even lower gods and demons. Judging by the orichalcum and blood iron  ring on your right hand, it's been crafted by some underling of the Demon Lord of Stealth and the Goddess of Secrecy. You're from the Hidden Path Assassin Guild, you guys always rely too much on your toys.”

I couldn't see much thanks to the assassins mask, but his eyes narrowed and it seemed like he was trying to kill Bob with his mind. The Dwarf ignored this, and kept talking.

“The Kingdom of Hiodiola has a contract with your guild. So you must be here to assassinate me because of the evening I spent with Queen Hyacinth, or the picnic I had with Princess Hilda while she should have been at her twentieth birthday party.” He grinned as the assassin tried to free himself.

“Well if you'd be so kind as to tell those two lovely ladies I'll be visiting again in a few months, I'd appreciate it. And let King Ethelred know that I'm taking very good care of his crown jewels. Ta-ta,” Bob said, snapping his fingers which made the assassin vanish.

While we all watched in shock, Bob picked up the assassins dagger, sighed in disgust and threw it into the garbage can beside the door. The garbage inside caught fire and moaning green smoke rose up to the ceiling. Ignoring the fire, Bob climbed a set of stairs to stand behind the podium. “Sorry about that. The assassin had been wandering around the school all morning, and I was too busy to deal with him until now.

“In this class you'll learn how to lie and tell when someone is lying to you. As you saw, having magical disguises can help, but without the right attitude you'll be discovered. If that assassin had been paying close attention, he might have been able to spot me and slit my throat, but he was cocky and thought I'd look like my usual handsome self.”

He looked straight at me. “Petra when you tricked Reginald, how did you do it?”

Standing up, sweat erupted from my forehead. All eyes were on me, and my tongue felt too large for my mouth. Forcing myself to take a breath, I somehow opened my mouth and began to speak. “Well, I mostly just acted helpless and let him talk. Since I'd been caught by goblins, it was pretty easy pretending I needed help.”

“Very good. You used your looks and defencelessness to get a capable meat shield that just had to save the damsel in distress. Doing the test in your nightgown was a daring risk, but it paid off in the end.” He turned to the class, “How many of you would suspect something suspicious about a tiny, weak and helpless girl in a nightgown?”

I frowned at his 'tiny, weak and helpless' comment, but I honestly couldn't say anything to defend myself.

He pointed at one student who had his hand raised. “You'd suspect her?”

“Yeah. Why would a girl in a nightgown be wandering around in a cave?” the boy said.

“Excellent. Petra got lucky being captured by goblins. If she'd been discovered just wandering around the cave, it would have taken a bit more talking to gain the dupes trust.”

Seeing that the attention was off of me, I took my seat. I wasn't sure if Bob knew I'd been caught by surprise when I'd been teleported for the test or not, the way he was talking made me seem daring and clever. I wasn't sure if that was good or bad, but it was nicer than having everyone know I was an idiot.

**

When class ended, I said goodbye to my friends and made my way all alone to history class.

The secret passage to that part of the school was deserted. The crumbling stones looked ancient, dripping with condensation, and covered in mushrooms and moss. The air was humid and the lights flickered feebly, leaving everything in a scary twilight with lots of shadows.

“You seem to have gotten smarter since I turned you into a girl.”

I jumped and screamed in fright as Micheal stepped out of the shadows. My hands tightened into fists and I brought them up to punch him if he came too close to me. Part of me wished he'd try something so I could break his nose, but I realized he wouldn't be doing this if he wasn't prepared.

“What do you want, freak?” I demanded.

“I just wanted to say hi. Where's the harm in that?” He held out a piece of candy. “Want some candy? This is really good stuff.”

“Just how stupid do you think I am,” I demanded.

“I'm just being friendly,” he said, grinning way too broadly.

“If you don't get out of my way, I'll beat you up again and I won't stop until I've broken every bone in your body.”

Putting his hands up, still grinning, he said, “OK, OK. I can see there's still some bad blood between us. I've got to get to class, so have a nice day.”

I was about to say something nasty, when he dropped the candy. It exploded into a pink cloud, blinding me. I heard him running away and followed the noise, putting my hand over my mouth and nose while holding my breath. I didn't really want to fight him, I just needed to get to class and I really wanted to get out of the cloud before it did something horrible to me.

When I got free of the cloud, Micheal was long gone. Looking down I was still in one piece and it looked like I was still human. Same pale skin, same long hair, same burnt dress, same breasts. I wasn't sure if I should be happy to still be a girl, or if I should be unhappy that I was still a girl.

Stupid Micheal, making me feel confused.

Jogging down the corridor, I reached my class just as the bell rang. Sitting in the closest free seat, I tried to put the creep out of my mind and focus on the class.

The teacher was a woman with parchment for skin. Actual parchment, pages were plastered all over her, and covered in words from many different languages. Her eyes looked like pools of ink, and her robe was a single, massive piece of paper. I realized almost immediately that she was a goddess.

“Greetings students. I am the Goddess of Written History, you may call me Ms. Parch,” she said. Her voice sounded like a quill scraping against paper.

“This class will not be easy,” she said. “There will be many tests, quiz's and papers, feel free to pray to me. The more creative prayers and offerings may receive a little divine help.”

I tried not to groan, I hated writing papers. I'd have to ask my friends for some help coming up with a way to get her divine help.

“Now, who can tell me what was the most important historical event that shaped our entire modern world?” she asked.

Looking around, most students were like me, not wanting to answer. A few hands were raised however, and I recognized one of them.

“Yes, Princess Ella,” Ms. Parch said, pointing at my friend.

“The most important event was The Pub Crawl of Chaos, four-hundred and sixty years ago. It marks the divide between Before the Party and After the Party,” Ella said.

“Very good. Now what exactly was The Pub Crawl and why was it so important?”

“The Goddess of Travel and the Demon Lord of Parties, met up at one of the regular discussion groups between the Gods and Demons. They were attracted to each other and began to... party.”

Ella paused for a moment in embarrassment, before continuing. “They spent the next four weeks going from one party to another, all across the world. They were enjoying themselves so much that they lost control of their powers. This caused portals to open up transporting people, buildings, cities, lakes, islands and mountains, all over the world, while causing mortals to have the largest party in known history. It took four weeks for the demons, gods, spirit and the Immortal Emperor of Arp to find them and separate them. Daddy said they needed the largest bucket of cold water ever, along with an unbreakable blessed crowbar of specially prepared soul steel, to get them away from each other.”

“Correct,” Ms. Parch said. “When everyone recovered from the chaos, the world was forever changed. And that lead to...”

“The Hangover Agreement. All demons, gods, greater spirits and the Immortal Emperor of Arp, will ensure that the Goddess of Travel and the Demon Lord of Parties, are never in the same area together, without at least two chaperones, and a bucket of water.”

The goddess frowned. “I never liked that name, but your father insisted on it. And yes, that's correct, you may sit now.”

My pen raced over my notebook, writing all of the info down. Once again I was glad I had Ella for a roommate. Sharing notes with her would make this class a lot easier.

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other stories, The Oubliette, will be updated every Saturday, and Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

“So why weren't you in Subterfuge class?” I asked Ella when history class ended. “I thought that every student on the leadership track had to take.”

“I talked it over with my advisor, we decided I could skip and go to the second year course,” my roommate said. “Honestly I learned most of what they teach in 101 before I left the nursery.”

“That sounds rough.”

She shrugged. “It wasn't bad. The nanny's started us off with easy things at first. Like trying to tell if we were going to get a sweet or a castor oil, finding our favourite toy before it imploded, bargaining and fighting with our siblings over who would get the nice beds and who would sleep in the dungeon.”

My eyes bugged out. “You slept in a dungeon!”

Ella laughed quite prettily. “It wasn't a real dungeon. It was just called that. It had giant spider silk cushions to sleep on, and it was always nice and warm. I actually liked sleeping there. So I'd switch with someone who had to sleep there, and they'd do me favours. I got very good at making it seem like I was doing them a large favour.”

“You had a... very interesting childhood.”

“That's why daddy is called the Mad Immortal Emperor. He has strange ideas about pretty much everything. You learn to roll with it or go crazy and probably die.”

Putting her arm around me, which made my heart flutter a little, she asked, “So why were you almost late to class?”

“I ran into Micheal, the kid who messed with me on the very first day. He tried to intimidate me, then ran away after surrounding us in a big pink cloud of something.” I tried to make it sound unimportant, but wasn't sure if it worked.

Ella came to an abrupt stop, spun me around to face her and began looking me up and down. “Micheal Lambert, he's a prodigy with potions. That cloud was probably meant to do something cruel or nasty. How are you feeling?”

“I feel fine. I don't think I breathed anything in, and I got out of the cloud pretty quickly.”

She felt my forehead, causing me to blush. “Not too hot or cold, and your skin feels normal. Maybe you got lucky, or he just wanted to freak you out. If anything starts to feel odd, let me or one of our friends know and we'll get you to the school clinic.”

“Thanks, but I'm really not that worried,” I insisted.

“All right, but be careful. We don't want to get the reputation of being pushovers, so if you need help ask one of us and we'll deal with the problem. Now what happened to your dress?”

Once again I gave a slightly altered version of what happened in magic class. By the time I was done retelling my humiliation, we had reached the cafeteria.

Looking around the crowded room, I was thankful to see I wasn't the only student who had suffered on the first day of class. There was the girl that had been attacked by eldritch tentacles, savagely attacking a plate of kraken tentacles, using magic to stab her food with multiple knives. A boy looked like he had been used as a pinata, some kids I hoped were his friends were cutting his food into tiny pieces for him.  A boy and girl were sitting side by side, their left and right arm were joined at the wrist, and looking at how closely they were sitting to each other, their legs were probably joined together as well.

My burned dress suddenly didn't seem so bad after all.

Edging past a boy who was staring dumbly at a crack on the wall while his drool formed a puddle on the floor, I headed for the counter. Sure I was probably going to get an inedible lump of food, but I could hope, and my stomach was growling like a dragon.

The moment I got to the counter, a tray with the unholy lump of food and a glass of water was handed to me by the mangy cat woman. She smirked a little at my enthusiastic look.

“Seriously, there's nothing else I can have?” I asked.

“All out,” she said.

Sighing, I went to our usual table, and smiled at my friends. Everyone was already there, the girls and the boys. I was the most beat up of all of them, and once again my burned dress got a lot of attention. I ignored them, carefully sitting down so my bare thighs didn't touch the cold metal seat.

As hello's were said, food was put on my tray. It was an odd mix, since they hadn't ordered at the same time, but I wasn't about to complain. I was practically drooling at the sight and smell of food, and I wasn't sure if my full tray would be enough for me. I was ravenous.

While everyone started talking about there classes, I tried to pay attention. Hearing Naomi tell how a duel started in her weapons class sounded cool, and she acted out some of the fancier moves, but I spent most of the story shoving food into my mouth.

All too soon I realized I'd eaten everything on my tray, the phoenix grilled sandwich with half petrified gorgon cheese, a small spicy pegasus wing, a namazu seafood salad, and a fruit salad. I was still hungry.

Everyone was ignoring me, being too busy talking to each other to pay much attention as I ate. My hand crept over to the loaf of food, almost unwillingly I started gnawing on it. Despite the taste I couldn't stop myself. When it was done I started licking my hand, trying to get every crumb of food.

“Are you going to eat that?” I asked, pointing at a half eaten ushi-oni burger that was sitting in front of Garth.

“Uh, no be my guest,” he said.

As soon as I heard no, I grabbed it, not letting him finish. It was gone in two bites. Then I grabbed some fries from Honey Creeper, a bit of steak from Naomi, the last noodles of a stir fry from Antoine, and more.

By this point everyone was looking at me worriedly. Not that I noticed, I was too busy eating.

“Petra,” Ella said, “I think we should take you to the clinic.”

“Too hungry!” I said.

“Calci, can you pick her up?” Ella asked.

“Sure thing,” the Dwarf said.

“NO! FOOD!” I shouted. Getting to my feet, while shoving a piece of bread into my mouth, I backed away from Calci.

Then my chest started tingling.

Looking down at my dress, which was covered in food, I was horrified to see my small breasts growing. For a few seconds, my bra really hurt, digging into my shoulders and back, then it let go with a loud snap.

My dress started to tear, making room for my new size. I stood there in shock, horror and embarrassment. I now had a larger chest than Calci. And then my hips and butt started to tingle.

Screaming, I ran from the cafeteria before my dress exploded.

**

Sitting in the school clinic, wrapped up in a hospital gown, I poked at my breasts which seemed like they were almost as large as my head. My new butt felt bouncy and it looked like I was sitting on a pair of balloons.

“The swelling will go down in a few hours,” the centaur nurse said. “You'll be larger than you were, so you'll want to be careful until you get a handle on your new proportions.”

“Can't you get rid of them?” I asked.

“I could, but it's cheaper to just give you a new wardrobe,” she said. “And don't ask about being turned back into a boy. That would cost more than your tuition, so it's not happening.”

Putting my face in my hands, I fought back my tears. “I hate this school.”

“I hear that a lot. Here are clothes that will fit you, and a note to explain why you're late,” the nurse said, putting a small stack of clothes and a piece of paper beside me. “Hurry up and get to class.”

All alone, I put on my new bra and underwear. Looking down I realized I couldn't see my feet. The dress, a plain blue one like the one I'd put on that morning, was a little too tight over my chest and hips. Staring at myself in the mirror, I was a really pretty girl.

“OK,” I said to myself, “it seems I've gotta be a girl for a while. I can cry about it or I can man up and deal with it.”

I really wanted to cry.

Pushing my feelings aside, I stuck out my chest, which was a lot more impressive than it had been an hour ago. I wasn't going to let Doom Valley break me. And I certainly wasn't going to let that little freak Micheal beat me. This was all his fault, he'd done all of this to humiliate me while he got away Scot-free.

I wasn't a man anymore, but that didn't mean I was going to be all timid and faint at the thought of violence. I was going to have my revenge. I couldn't just attack him in class however. I'd get into too much trouble, and I wouldn't be able to hurt him enough.

With my newfound determination I marched to door, opening it with a flourish.

And promptly dropped to the ground, clutching my very sensitive boob which had just been hit by the door.

I hated my life.

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other stories, The Oubliette, will be updated every Saturday, and Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

I was only a little late getting to Potions class, but it was humiliating having everyone stare at me and my new body as I handed over the note and went to sit beside Calci. I'd gone from being a fairly normal boy, on the smaller side, to a small girl, and now I was a bouncy, buxom girl. If I saw a girl looking like me, I wouldn't have been able to take my eyes off of her.

Being attracted to my own reflection wasn't something I was used to.

I also wasn't used to the way my body bounced around. If I had to run, I'd probably get two black eyes. This would really take some getting used to.

Looking around I didn't see Micheal in the class, which was a huge relief. I'd figured he'd be in an advanced class, but there had been a fear in the back of my mind that I might have to actually be in the same classroom as him.  Resisting the urge to smash his face into a desk a few dozen times would have been challenging.

The potions professor came over to me, clicking and ticking with each step. I'd seen clockwork folk before, in pictures and occasionally walking around the city, this was the first time I'd seen one up close. It was naked like all of its people, I'd heard that clothes had a habit of getting stuck in their gears and joints. Bronze made up most of its body, with copper lining the joints, and creating facial details like lips, eyelids, ears and a nose. Shiny mirrors were carefully fitted into the eye sockets. There were small grates and holes on its body, letting me look inside at the complicated system of gears and springs that kept it running.

The big difference between the professor and other clockwork folk were the chemical stains covering its body. It's metal was dulled, pitted and cloudy, with odd patches of colour, ranging from a big purple blotch on its chest to pitch black dots on its right hand and arm. Disturbingly its left arm looked like it had melted at one point and it had never bothered replacing the metal that was weirdly bulged and rippled just above the elbow.

“Greetings, Petra. I am Professor Pyrotechny. You may call me Professor Pyrotechny,” it said in a voice that sounded like a mix of ticks, clangs and the wheezing of very tiny bellows.

“Hi Professor Pyrotechny. Sorry about being late,” I said, trying not to stare at it.

“It is understandable. Please do not do it again though. Today I want you to choose a potion from your alchemy text book, and create it. Choose one that you can do, and can be completed in,” it paused, its eyes glowed brightly for a moment, “thirty minutes.”

“OK,” I said, gulping at the pressure.

“Try not to explode. That will make you lose marks.”

“OK.”

The professor nodded jerkily, then headed off to look at a pot that was letting out a stream of pink and lavender bubbles. As the bubbles popped it smelled like a potpourri shop had vomited.

Calci leaned over, still stirring her pot which looked like it was full of tar. “You should do the balsamus fuliginis, on page ten. It's pretty quick and easy,” she said.

I thanked her while pulling out my text book. Flipping to the page, I quickly read it over. It was a healing salve that used a dangerously large amount of arsenic, but it was pretty easy. Most importantly it could be done in twenty minutes.

Turning on the heater which was built into my small table, I put a flat bottomed glass flask on it to heat up. Opening the cupboard at my feet, it was a lot like magic class, with all the ingredients and tools I'd need for most potions and alchemy, just better organized and with more bottles and less tentacles. Grabbing a bottle labelled wine and a measuring cup, I poured half a cup of the clear liquid into the flask. The smell of alcohol burned my nose and made me feel a little tipsy.

A spoon of thyme came next to help speed up the process. Then a large spoon of arsenic, followed by salt of tartar, mercurius vulgar, charcoal from a yggdrasil tree that was cut and burned during a full moon, and a drop of phoenix bile. After that all I had to do was stir it so it didn't quite boil.

At the twenty minute mark I was feeling pretty good about myself. The potion still smelled foul, but it had turned into a cool looking silvery goop. Carefully straining off the little bit of clear liquid that was beaded on top of the salve, I poured the good stuff into an ebony bowl to cool.

Professor Pyrotechny came over, at some point it had gained a yellow splotch on its head which was letting off a faint red smoke. I decided not ask what had happened, and instead proudly pointed at my bowl.

“I have some balsamus fuliginis ready for you, Professor Pyrotechny.”

“I see that you made it in time. Let us test it.”

My eyes went wide at the thought of testing the still very hot salve. I really hoped I wouldn't be the test subject.

Thankfully the professor took a small glass spoon from a compartment in its leg, and dipped it into the salve. A small strip of paper popped out of the slot that was its mouth. It delicately dabbed a bit of the salve onto the paper and waited patiently.

At first nothing happened. I didn't know if that was good or bad, but it hadn't exploded on contact, so I hoped it was a good sign.

Then the paper began to smoke.

Then it caught fire.

Then it exploded.

Professor Pyrotechny calmly took a rag from a compartment in it's leg and used it to pat out a few flames that clung to its face. Its nose and lips were a little melted, and soot covered it face. It put the cloth back, then looked down at me.

“You used mercurius vulgar, correct?” it asked.

“Uh... yeah,” I squeaked.

It nodded, a little more shakily then before. “The recipe calls for mercurius vitae. Read the labels more carefully next time.”

“OK. I'm really sorry.”

It let out a creaky sigh. “It is fine. I needed to replace my facial features soon, this merely speeds up my schedule.”

“At least you didn't set yourself on fire this time,” Calci said, with a small grin.

“Yeah. But I don't think setting fire to the professor is much better,” I said, mentally watching my future grades plummet into the abyss.

I managed to get to math class early, thanks to it being close to potions, and grabbed a seat in the middle of the class. I was soon joined by several of my friends, including Ivy who I'd barely seen all day.

She sat down beside me, pulled out her math book and proceeded to use it as a pillow.

“Hey Ivy?” I asked very cautiously.

She grunted.

“How did you do on that pass or die test yesterday?” I hadn't heard anything about it and I was really curious. Out of everyone I knew, she was the one I figured would pass it easily.

“Failed.”

“How did you fail?”

She shrugged, which looked awkward with her head on the textbook. “Killed lots of things. Got full, decided to go to sleep. Woke up in school, after I got hit by lightning.”

“... Oh.” That sounded like something Ivy would do. “Sorry to hear that.”

Another shrug. “It was tasty. Sleep now. You take notes for me.”

“... OK.” There really wasn't anything else I could say. Taking notes and helping with homework was part of the agreement Ella had made to have Ivy act as our strong girl. And if I said no, Ivy would probably eat me.

Math had been boring, but thankfully uneventful.

My last class of the day was sure to make up for that bit of peace. It was combat class, and I really hoped things would start off nice and easy. There had to be a bunch of students in the class who were beginners like me.

The change room had lockers with our names of them for each of us. I was beside Naomi and Ivy, which made me feel a little bit better. Every other girl in the room looked like they could and happily would kill me. In fact the barbarian girl who wore scalps as everyday attire, was glaring at me while sharpening her sword.

Opening my locker, I wondered if I could lock myself in it until class was over.

In the locker was the class outfit. A thickly padded bra that looked a lot sturdier then the one I was currently wearing, padded underwear, and thick pants and a shirt. Undressing in front of all these girls was embarrassing. I kept my eyes firmly on the floor or in my locker, afraid they'd kill me if I looked around too much.

Moving around, the clothes seemed really light, almost like silk. But when I poked myself it felt like thick padding. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

Closing my locker, I headed for the door and my heart dropped. Almost every girl in the room was strapping on armour and carrying sharp, pointy weapons. Even Naomi had her spear, a small shield and what looked like magical cloth armour over top of her school outfit. Only Ivy and I weren't in proper armour or holding weapons, but Ivy didn't really need either of those.

I was going to die.

The classroom was outside, giving me my first real look at the sun since arriving at Doom Valley. The area was basically a flat cliff overlooking a lava field. Walking over to the waist high wall that would keep us from falling into the lava field, I suspected that this wasn't exactly a very good safety measure.

Walking over to the other side of the cliff, well away from the deadly fall hazard, I looked at the different types of armour and weapons that lined the rock face. There were the usual swords, clubs, maces, bows, darts, spears, elemental guns, staves, energy crystals, shields and similar things. But there were odder things, like a twelve foot tall scythe made for a giant, a massive wooden door, magic powered armour, golem armour, fans in various colours, a metal mask with sharp teeth and a crystal on the forehead, skeletal bird claws that looked like they could be strapped onto a persons hands, and more. I wondered if I could get a club for class, and maybe the golem armour, I'd heard that type of armour was supposed to practically fight for you.

More students had come out by  the time I was done looking. I saw Marcus, a friend of Garth's, come from the boys change room. I was about to go over and say hi, but Ivy came out at the same time. Marcus took one look at her, turned pale and went to hide in the corner. I couldn't really blame him, Ivy had been a little scary when we'd done our tour together.

I went to stand beside Naomi and Ivy, hoping I'd be ignored. It didn't seem to work. A lot of the girls and boys were looking at me, whispering to each other. I'm pretty sure I heard a few people say I didn't look that tough.

I was probably going to die.

Ivy started growling. Following her gaze, I saw the half giant who was a minion of the psychic freak Victor, push through the door. The big guy looked even larger than the first time I saw him. He was carrying a big club and had a few thick pieces of metal chained to his belly, arms and legs. His armour was topped off by a big cauldron sitting upside down on his head, held on by some chains looped under his chin.

Yep. I was definitely going to die.

A very tall, and very broad woman with green skin jumped down from the cliff above us. She landed perfectly on the wall overlooking the lava field. She was wearing a track suit and had a whistle around her neck.

“Listen up you weak little maggots,” the Orc growled, “I'm Sergeant Angel Slayer. It is my job to turn you into lean mean killing machines, and I will see it done or kill you in the attempt.”

A tiny, purple, cat girl, wearing a leotard and squealing with glee, came cartwheeling down the cliff. She hit the ground then somersaulted across the classroom, landing beside Sergeant Angel Slayer.

“This is Ameth, my assistant. She doesn't look like much, but she can't seem to die. No matter how hard I try,” she said.

“Aw, I know you love me!” Ameth said, rubbing her cheek against the teachers hand.

“No I don't,” Sergeant Angel Slayer said. She followed this up by grabbing the cat girls head and twisting it around three-hundred-sixty degrees, making a very loud crack.

Ameth giggled, rolled her head around, and there was the sound of bones snapping back in place. She licked her hand and began fixing her hair.

The teacher rolled her eyes. “So we decided to make her useful. She is the class combat dummy. Each of you will come up here and show me what you've got by hitting her. Don't hold back, or you'll be the test dummy in the next class.”

Ameth skipped to the center of the class, her long tail sticking up behind her. She took a boxing stance, growling and hissing, trying and failing, to look tough.

“Rocks For Brains, you're up,” Sergeant Angel Killer said.

The giant stepped up, smiling happily. “Crush the kitty!” he rumbled.

Raising his club to his shoulder, he swung it surprisingly quickly, like a bat, catching Ameth in the side. The cat girl squealed delightedly as she was flung through the air over the wall and far out into the lava field.

We could only watch as her tiny body hit the lava, bounced for several hundred meters and caught fire.

“WOW! That was fun!” she shouted, before sinking into the lava.

The teacher slapped her forehead and sighed. “I always forget to put up the forcefield. It'll take all evening for her to get back. OK, plan B.”

She went to the wall and took a normal looking belt that was hanging near the top. She looked around the class for a moment before staring straight at me. “Petra come here.”

“Do I have to?” I squeaked.

Her eye twitched, and her muscles tensed up. Before she could do anything violent, I hurriedly went over, shivering and tripping over my feet.

“Put this on,” she said. “You're our new combat dummy. This a resurrection belt. You can be killed, but you'll come back to life ninety-nine times out of a hundred.”

“But I don't want to be a combat dummy!”

An enormous hand grabbed my head. “You can be a combat dummy with a resurrection belt, or a combat dummy without one.”

I put the belt on.

“Ivy, show me what you've got,” Sergeant Angel Slayer said, walking off to the side.

Ivy grew fur, claws and big sharp teeth as she stalked towards me. Her growling echoed off the rocks around us.

“Ivy,” I whimpered, holding my hands up as if that would stop her. “I'm your friend. Remember I'm going to do your math homework for you. So take it easy on me, OK. Please!”

There was a blur and I felt teeth sinking into my throat.

Naomi could only watch in horror as Petra went down. At least it was quick, she thought.

She had to cover her mouth at the sound of chewing, cracking bone and the tearing of meat. Ivy moved back to her spot a minute later, carrying a large bone in her mouth. The werewolf laid down, curled up into a ball and began gnawing on her treat.

“Ivy! How could you?!” Petra yelled.

Their teacher ignored Petra, shouting, “Barbarina the Scalp Hunter, you're turn.”

A bald barbarian girl wearing a large number of scalps whooped with glee and jumped at Petra. There was a splash of blood, a cut off scream, and a howl of joy. Then Barbarina was holding a new scalp above her head.

“I think I'm going to be sick,” Naomi groaned.

“Mike the Knife!”

Naomi and several other girls had to jump back from the spray of blood.

“Louie Head Crusher!”

There was a loud crack.

“Natalie Needles!”

“STAY BACK! I'm war- ACK!”

“Bone Breaker Pete!”

Wincing at the sounds of screams and limbs being turned into pretzels, Naomi really wished that class was over.

“I'm really sorry, Petra. I didn't mean to stab you so hard,” Naomi said.

Washing the large amount of blood off of my body in the change room showers, I glared at her. “I don't care that you did it so hard, but couldn't you have gotten my heart on the first try.“

“I got nervous and missed. I'm sorry!”

“YOU MISSED FIVE TIMES!”

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

“So... Petra, will you be keeping the new body?” Clarice asked, looking a tad envious.

Slumped in my seat, I was busy stuffing food into my face. Being killed and resurrected over twenty times had made me work up an appetite. The new proportions probably didn't help matters either. It felt like I was sitting on balloons, and I missed being able to see my feet.

“They're supposed to shrink a little, but they won't go back to normal without magic, and the school won't cover it. It's cheaper if they just give me larger clothes,” I said.

Looking down at her minuscule chest, Clarice halfheartedly said, “Oh, that's too bad. I wish I'd been there with you.”

“You think we could have stopped him before he threw his candy?”

“Uh,” she looked around guiltily. “Yes. There's safety in numbers after all.”

Garth looked confused, he was also looking at my chest along with the other boys. “If Micheal hates you why would he give you a better body?”

My face turned beet red, and I ducked down lower in my seat.

“Petra was quite happy with her body before. Having it changed like that is embarrassing, especially with the extra attention it gets her,” Ella said, looking pointedly at each of the boys.

Garth had the decency to look embarrassed and focus on his food.

“Now,” Ella continued, “this is an attack on all of us. We need to retaliate or we'll be seen as weak.”

“We could get Ivy to attack him,” I said.

Our not so friendly werewolf, grinned around the large bone she was gnawing on, her tail wagging happily behind her. My leg twinged in pain at the sight of my former thigh bone.

“That would be satisfying, but unless he attacks Ivy first it would likely end with her in detention, or worse,” Ella explained. “In this case we need to be careful. Does anyone have a class with him?”

Raising her hand, Calci said, “I'm in Runes and Mystical Artifacts with him. He really knows his stuff, and was complaining that they wouldn't let him test out.”

“Does anyone seem to be his friend?”

“No. Most people seem to avoid him. He keeps talking about how good he is, and it annoys most people. Blood Wing started yelling at him in Runes and almost summoned a demon to rip him apart before Witch Hemlock broke things up. In Mystical Artifacts they were made to sit on opposite sides of the room.”

“Excellent,” Ella said. “His only friends seem to be Victor and his crew, who we also need to watch out for. We might be able to get two birds with one stone if we do things properly. Tomorrow I want everyone to be on their guard, and watch what Micheal, Victor and the rest of them do, who they hang out with, what they're good at, anything you can learn. I'll start questioning my contacts, and talk with Blood Wing. If she really doesn't like Micheal that will definitely help us.”

I really didn't like the smile on my roommates face. She looked like a stereotypical evil vizier, plotting a palace coup.

She leaned in a little, making sure all eyes were on her. “From here on out, we don't discuss our plans for Micheal in public. He has to know we're going to retaliate, we don't want to tip him off on how we'll go about it.”

We all nodded, and the topic changed to classes and teachers.

Back in the room I shared with Ella, I had just sat down at my desk ready to do my homework when Ella pulled a chair up beside me.

“So Petra, how do you like being a girl?” she asked.

“It's weird. And bouncy,” I said. Then my brain caught up with my mouth and I realized what she'd just asked and what I'd said.

She was going to be angry at me for not telling her. I struggled to find the right words to say, if I screwed things up she'd probably have Ivy eat me. Or hand me over to Micheal. I needed to be eloquent, suave, or at least pitiful. I could probably pull off pitiful.

“I- uh. I-I- I didn't want to be here!” I finally managed to get out.

Ella giggled. “Don't worry. I know things like this can be embarrassing, I did tell you about how some of my brothers and sisters aren't in their original shapes anymore and some aren't exactly human anymore. You've been a perfect gentleman about not leering or taking advantage of things by being touchy-feely. I am a little hurt you didn't trust me enough to tell me, but I understand wanting to keep it  quiet.”

“Thanks,” I said. The weight that had suddenly lifted from my shoulders, and I felt a huge sense of relief. “How did you find out?”

“Some things just added up. No makeup and no experience with it. Some girls don't like makeup, but you acted like it was going to kill you. How you act around people, especially boys, like you are trying to hide but also like you were envious. You aren't comfortable in your own skin. The looks you give girls. It all made me a little suspicious. But the big thing was your clothes.”

“My clothes?”

“On the first day you were walking around in clothes that didn't fit you, and weren't made for your body. Pranks are pulled on the first day so I believed what you said about Micheal messing with them. But I decided to check out your clothes after Micheal played his newest prank. Most girls wouldn't feel that bad about getting a body like yours, but you acted like it was the end of the world. So I decided to check some things."

“Micheal wanted to make me his perfect girlfriend. He gave me some candy that was laced with something that made me a girl and almost brainwashed me so I'd be in love with him,” I said.

She looked disgusted. “Creepy. Now we really need to take him down. You know this does explain why Victor couldn't mess with your brain.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. When he used his powers on me, I thought he was the most handsome guy around. I wanted to be held by him and feel all safe and warm in his arms.” She shuddered at the thoughts. “You don't like boys do you?”

“Not like that,” I said.

“Right. He thought you'd be like most girls and tried to do the whole 'love me' whammy. Since you're not into that, your brain revolted.”

That made a lot of sense. “I did see him as the type of guy who girls would fall over themselves for, and hated him for it.”

“Exactly. Unfortunately Micheal has probably told him that you used to be boy. So if Victor comes after you, he'll hit you with something that makes boys want to follow him. He'll be the leader of the pack, and if you follow him you might get to be almost as cool as he is,” she explained.

“I really don't want that to happen,” I said.

She put her arm over my shoulder. “Don't worry, you're my friend, so we're in this together. We're going to take Micheal down so hard that Victor and everyone else will know not to mess with us.”

“Yay!” I said, trying to sound hopeful.

“And if you can come back home with me over the winter holiday, I can get my Mom or one of my fathers healers to change you back into a boy. If you still want to by then.”

My jaw dropped. Going to the Imperial Palace of Arp, and not just as a tourist but a guest. I might be able to see the Mad Immortal Emperor in person. And I could become a boy again. I wouldn't have even dreamed that that was possible a day ago. The most important place I'd ever been to was the Black Tower where the current Grand Leader of Seven Springs ruled the city, while the Parliament Buildings were being rebuilt for the seventh time in a decade.

“Are you serious?” I asked.

“Of course,” she said, giving me a quick hug. “You haven't tried to back stab me, stab me in the front, lie to me, poison me, or use me for some plot, you're the best friend I've ever had. A little foolish, but it's a nice change from dealing with my siblings, children of the aristocracy, servants and bureaucrats. I've never been so relaxed around someone who isn't my mother.”

I was reminded once again that Ella and I had had very different life experiences so far. “I haven't had to worry about any of that until now, Ella. But I can truthfully say you're the best friend I've ever had too.”

“I'm glad to hear it. Now lets get our homework done. We've got a lot of work to do tomorrow if we want to take down Micheal and Victor.”

Sir Grieve looked around at the other teachers, checking to make sure everyone was there. “We've had a successful first day of class. One senior student managed to send himself to a hell dimension when he tried to summon a demon. Our envoy is currently negotiating his return, they say we should be able to get him back with most of his soul intact. There is a group of sophomore students who are planning on stealing the exam sheets for their subterfuge classes.”

“I know all about it, I was the one who told them how to do it,” Bob said. “They didn't know it was me, of course. I'll see how far they get and grade and punish them accordingly.”

Nodding, Sir Grieve continued. “The caretakers have been informed of the eldritch entity infestation in your classroom, Malacoda. Some students who were late for class are dealing with it now.”

As if on cue there was a loud scream from down the hall.

“We may need some more students,” he said, making a note of it on his notepad.

“Angel Slayer, you'll be happy to know Ameth has finally crawled out of the lava field. She's a little more scorched then usual, but she'll be with you for class first thing in the morning. Try not to lose her this time.”

“Lucky me,” the Orc said.

“We're in discussion with the Dark Necromancer to have a group of Juniors attempt to steal his Jewel of Madness. He wants to test his security system, and has assured us that his traps will only maim and not kill the students unless they get very unlucky. I'd like a list of potential students for this project by the end of the week. That's the important parts. Would anyone like to add anything?” he asked.

Mage Malacoda raised his finger. “I'd like to join in the betting pool concerning Petra.”

This got everyone's attention, the mage never bet on the students. Curious, Sir Grieve said, “Very well, what do you think will happen to her?”

“She'll survive the year, suffering lots of humiliation, but somehow surviving and even overcoming all obstacles,” the mage said.

Laughter erupted around the room. All the teachers knew about Petra, and no one thought she'd last very long. No one that incompetent could survive Doom Valley Prep School.

“Very well, if you want to toss your money away, I'll put your prediction in the pool,” he said.

Lady Plague turned her unnerving eyes on her subordinate. “Why are you so confident in this girl?” she asked.

Malacoda grinned. “She's Fates Chew Toy.”

___
Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

The next morning, I was once again forced to sit still as my friends taught me how to put on makeup. “Why do I need to do this again? I don't look that bad,” I said.

I really did look good. I'd gotten a good nights sleep, and I was learning how to comb my hair so it wasn't tangled, or looked like I'd slept in it. And with my new, unwanted, assets, most people wouldn't be looking at my face.

“She has a point,” Ella said. “Let's keep it to the basics, a bit of lipstick, blush, and eyeliner so she has a bit of colour. We can't have people thinking you're a vampire, Petra.”

“Aw, but I brought my glittery eye shadow. She'd look great in it,” Clarice said.

“Maybe later. Petra isn't used to makeup, so lets wean her into it.”

I nodded. “I never really thought of using it. It just didn't come up with my friends and I.”

“OK,” Clarice said, reluctantly putting away the glitter. The other girls looked disappointed at not having a practice dummy to work with, but they put away the more exotic looking colours.

“Now girls, we have a lot to do today,” Ella said. “First we need to get information on Victor and his friends. Since they've been talking with Micheal, and we humiliated them when we last met they are probably planning some revenge. We need to know their classes, their friends, how competent they are, and anything else that might help. Calci, you seem to be the only one who shares a class with Micheal, so you're job is to watch him. Does he have any friends in class, what is he best at, does he have any habit we can use against him?”

“On it,” Calci said.

“You and Petra share a class with Blood Wing, right?”

We both nodded.

“Get to class early and tell her I'd like to meet her after supper. Tell her she'll like what I have planned. If she plays hardball tell her I'll owe her a favour if she pulls it off.”

Calci and I shared a nervous look. The half fairy was scary, and Ella had said the girl was too crazy and dangerous to risk getting close too. Now we were going to use her in a plot against Micheal?

“Are you sure? She's kind of violent,” I said.

“Yes, she is. She'll be perfect for our plan,” Ella said, smiling evilly.

***

Calci, Garth, and I made it to magic class nice and early. Being the first ones in class, we turned on the lights to avoid the freaky shadows of the previous day, and got our alters ready for class.

We were soon joined by other students. The girl who had been attacked by the Eldritch entity, was kind of jumpy, carrying a big knife and a slice of lemon as she went to her altar. She poked around the inside of her alter for a minute or two before closing it with a relieved look.

Blood Wing came flying in with her cloud of fairies. Calci and I waited until she was settled on a large black crystal throne that sat on top of her altar, playing with a tiny obsidian knife, before we walked over.

“Greetings, Ella's minions,” the tiny girl said, leaning forward in her throne with her demon wings spread out behind her. “I presume you have a message for me.”

Gulping, I forced myself to speak. “Yes, Princess Blood Wing, we do. Ella would like you to meet her in her room after supper. She needs something that only you can do, and you'll enjoy doing it.”

“Ah, she has realized how amazing I am,” Blood Wing said, smiling with pride. I hid a shudder at the sight of her razor sharp teeth. “Well it would be rude to refuse a meeting. I presume I'll be compensated for my work.”

Thinking very carefully about my next words, I said, “Of course. As long as you can pull it off.”

Her smile became a scowl. “She thinks I, Princess Blood Wing, the daughter of Margo'Tchwan the Succubus and Holly Berry the Fairy Necromancer, may not succeed at something I put my mind too! I will simply have to prove to her that I am more than capable of handling ANYTHING! Once I have graduated from this school, I shall take my newfound skills and conquer all the fairylands alongside my father. And then with our base secure, we shall move on to take the entire world!”

“Very good. I'll tell Ella to expect you after supper, she'll be most pleased.” Before she could continue her rant, Calci and I hurried back to our spot.

“Well, that went well,” Calci said, casting a nervous look over her shoulder at Blood Wing, who was still ranting about conquering the world and grinding her enemies into dust. “Did you really have to get her monologuing  like that?”

“I thought if we question her abilities a little, it would set her off and she'll need to prove herself. It worked a little better than I thought it would.”

Garth leaned over to us. “Is Ella nuts? Wanting to work with her is like working with a rabid manticore.”

“I trust her. We just have to make sure Blood Wing is pointed at the right thing and stand well back,” I explained.

Calci nodded. “Ella has made some mistakes, but she has the best idea of how things work here. So unless it seems really stupid and she can't explain it, I'll back her up.”

He looked doubtful, but shrugged. “OK. If you need me to help with anything just let me know.”

“Thanks, I will,” I said. I'd have felt a lot better about having his support if his eyes hadn't kept going to my chest as we talked.

Our instructor, Mage Malacoda came into class, just as the bell rang. A student came sprinting down the hall, trying to make it to class before the door shut. The door vanished, replaced by a crystal wall. I winced at the loud thud that came from the other side. Hopefully he would be OK.

“Do your best to make it to class on time,” Mage Malacoda said. “The door closes two seconds after the bell rings. You don't want to be caught in the middle of it. Today we are going to practice invisibility.”

“What?!” Blood Wing shouted. “Invisibility? What do we need to know that pathetic spell for? I learned it when I was three. And someone as powerful as I am has no need to skulk around in shadows. I should be learning how to raise armies of the undead!”

“Make yourself invisible,” he said.

“What?”

“Make yourself invisible. If you can do it and keep it going for one minute, I'll transfer you to second year magic.”

The fairy smirked, muttered a few words and vanished from sight.

“Garth,” Mage Malacoda said, “what is the simplest dispel you know of.”

“That would be... Lady Nihm's Rhyme Away,” my friend said.

“Very good. It's taught to young children to get them used to magic, and normally won't dispel anything halfway competently done.” Pointing at Blood Wings' alter, he said in a sing song voice, “Go away, fly away, by the will of Ghe'Cleph'Thug'Way.”

There was a little pop and Blood Wing reappeared, looking very confused.

“You were invisible for fifty-five seconds. Sorry, Princess Blood Wing, you will have to remain in my class.”

“How did you do that?! That pathetic little spell shouldn't be able to do that!” Blood Wing shouted.

Looking around the class Mage Malacoda smiled. “The simplest spell can do a great deal if you know what you're doing. And the strongest spell can easily fail if you simply rely on brute strength. Remember that. It will be very important for some of you.”

For some reason I thought his eyes were lingering on me.

“Now many of you will know the basic invisibility spell. We'll go over it in detail, it will help you cast it more quickly with greater strength, so it won't be dispelled so easily. Then you'll practice casting it. Get your notebooks ready.”

***

Looking over the complicated ritual and the rules behind each gesture and word, made my head spin. I knew magic was hard, but it had never been this hard. All around me classmates were turning invisible, then someone would try to break the spell, with varying degrees of success. Garth and Calci had already turned invisible at least five times and managed to avoid having it dispelled at least once.

“All right Petra, it's not that hard, just copy me,” Calci said.

I nodded, ready to try my hardest to succeed.

“Raise your right hand like this, and curl your fingers,” she said, making her hand look something like a swans neck and beak.

Doing the same, my hand started to cramp.

“Good. Now lower it, so it's horizontal to the ground.”

I managed to do that successfully.

“Spread your fingers and bring them back together quickly, three times.”

Easy enough.

“OK, that's the movement. As you're doing it say, Gnick Glock Figgle, and really picture yourself becoming invisible,” she said.

I could do this. It was easy. I had help. I was going to succeed.

Going through the motions once again, I knew it was going to work. Raising my hand, I said, “Gnick Glack Figgle.”

Calci let out a strangled scream, her face turning red. All around me I heard laughter.

Looking down, I let out a scream. All of my clothes were invisible, and I was very, very visible. Trying to cover myself, I ducked down behind the altar.

A moment later, Mage Malacoda pointed at me, and I could see my clothes again. Looking up at him, red faced, wanting to cry, I saw he was face palming and trying not to laugh. “It's Gnick Glock Figgle. Not Gnick Glack Figgle. Your homework tonight is to practice your enunciation.”

As I stood back up, I really wished that I was dead. It couldn't possibly be as embarrassing as this.

___

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Leaving magic class, I was grateful that none of my classmates followed me to subterfuge. Having to face anyone who'd seen me naked so soon after it happened, would have been unbearable. There was one teeny tiny problem however, I had to walk the hallways by myself, and who knew what Micheal or his friend Victor would do.

Sure my friends might not be able to do much compared to a lot of the students in Doom Valley, none of us except Ivy were great fighters, or knew a lot of magic, but I'd have felt better simply having someone with me. Safety in numbers and all.

So it was just my luck that Victor and one of his minions were waiting for me as I came through a secret entrance into a broom closet.

As soon as I looked at Victor I started thinking he was really cool. If I'd been even a quarter of the man he was, I'd have never been tricked by Micheal. He had the muscles I always wanted, the confidence, the smile that made people want to believe him. He was great, so much greater than me.

I found myself looking at my feet. I wasn't worthy of looking him in the eyes. I was weak, incompetent and useless. Maybe if I was really, really lucky, he'd let me tag along with him. Then at least I'd have a chance at becoming better, and people would think I was a little cool.

A tiny voice in my head spoke up. This was Victor, I'd beaten him up with a lunch tray. How cool could he be if a worthless idiot like me could knock him down and keep him there?

“Petra,” he said.

Why did he sound so awesome? Why couldn't I sound like him? It wasn't fair. I started to see red.

“Petra, pay attention. I want- URK!”

My knee introduced itself rather violently to his crotch.

The psychic creep doubled over, giving off a high pitched wheezing.

His minion stared at me in surprise, too shocked to do anything. Taking a lesson from Ivy, I went for his throat, punching him as hard as I could in his oversized Adams apple. He went down gasping for air.

I really wanted to do more damage, but I couldn't be late for class. And I knew I'd gotten lucky, catching them both by surprise. If one of them recovered while I was beating up the other, it could get bad really fast. So I did the smart thing and took off running.

The bell rang just as I got to my desk. Gasping for air, shaking from adrenaline, I couldn't help grinning. I'd gotten my first real victory all by myself. More importantly I hadn't embarrassed myself. There'd been no helpless damsel in distress, no fear, no thinking I was about to die, or anything.

Actually as I thought about it, the first time I'd hit Victor I'd done pretty well there too. This was really my second flawless victory at Doom Valley. Maybe I wasn't so helpless after all.

“What are you so happy about?” Clarice whispered.

“Tell you later,” I whispered back.

Bob stopped talking and glared at me from his podium. “Petra, what did the philosopher El Im G'rak say about the truth?”

Desperately trying to remember what I'd read the night before, I slowly stood up, hoping to buy some more time. “He said, 'Truth, is in the eye of the beholder. I never tell the truth because I don't believe there is such a thing.'”

The Dwarf nodded. “Correct. While there is truth, it's a lot less common than most people believe. And it's possible to change it a bit if you look at it the right way. To be successful in the art of subterfuge you need to learn how to look at things in different and often uncommon ways.”

Sitting back down, I quickly started writing.

**

“You punched out Victor?!” Clarice asked, sound astonished.

“No I kneed him in the crotch. I punched his brainwashed minion,” I corrected her, polishing my nails on my shirt.

“Good work,” Honey Creeper said. “He's got half the boys in our dorm too scared to go near him because of his mind control.”

“What about the other half?” I asked.

“They punch him or throw lightning at him when he starts talking.”

“Smart and effective.”

We reached my secret passage. “Are you worried about Micheal?” Clarice asked.

“No. If I see him I'll tackle him and start punching. Violence seems to work,” I said, trying to look more confident than I felt.

Saying goodbye and wishing each other good luck, we parted ways. This time instead of going slowly and carefully down the creepy tunnel, I jogged along. Buoyed by my victory over Victor I was ready for anything.

So I was actually a little disappointed when nothing happened. I made it safely to history and was able to sit beside Ella with absolutely no problem whatsoever. Strangely that made me more nervous than I had been.

“I set things up with Blood Wing,” I whispered.

“Excellent. Any problems this morning?” Ella asked.

“Victor tried to mind control me, it almost worked. But before he could do anything I hit him and his minion, then ran for it. They weren't expecting it and couldn't do anything but whimper.” I beamed as I told her.

She got out of her seat to give me a hug. “Good work. Between my plan and your fists, we're going to show them not to mess with us.”

Ms. Parch strode into the classroom, motioning for silence. Waving her hand, a large tome appeared, opening itself on her lectern. Taking her place at the front of the class, the minor goddess began her lecture, her scratchy voice filling the classroom so everyone could hear.

“Today we're going to discuss the break up of the First Arp Empire of 360 BP. First how did the Empire break apart?”

Ella of course raised her hand. Ms. Parch passed her over pointing to a boy at the back of the class.

“The Mad Immortal Emperor lost his empire in a poker game.”

“Did he lose all of his empire?”

The boy thought for a moment. “He kept the Imperial City and a hundred kilometres of farmland around it.”

Ms. Parch nodded, her parchment-like skin rustling oddly. “Correct. Next question, how was the empire divided?”

Again Ella raised her hand.

Another student answered. “It was split into five parts, each part going to one of the other poker players. The God of Thunder gained the Dragon Spite Mountain range and highlands. The Great Bird Spirit of the Southern Isles took the southern region. The north went to the Demon of Bitter Cold. I believe the West was taken by the Goddess of Fertility. And the East, which was the smallest part, was given to the Dragon Warlord.”

“Very good. Now why did he loose his empire.”

Ella raised her hand once more and was passed over.

“Because he tried to bluff on a pair of twos,” a girl said.

“Essentially correct, but why did he risk his empire? Ella?”

“There were three reasons. The most important one was The Immortal Emperor decided he needed a vacation. The second one, was that his subjects were getting annoyed and thought they could do a better job of ruling than he could. Finally the gods, demons, spirits and other rulers were getting worried about how big his empire was getting. He decided to kill three birds with one stone and threw the game after betting his empire against the combined wealth of his opponents.”

I waited for the goddess to tell Ella she was wrong. I knew the Mad Immortal Emperor was mad, it was in his name, but that was insane.

“Correct. And what happened afterwards?”

“Daddy took a break for a hundred years, then slowly began making deals to regain control of his old territory. It took him a few centuries, and The Pub Crawl of Chaos forced him to slow things down for a while, but he now has most of his old territory back. And after dealing with gods, demons, spirits, all of which don't know much about ruling, and war happy warlords, the people are mostly happy to be back in the empire,” Ella said.

My friend sounded quite pleased with her father, and honestly I couldn't blame her. The whole thing didn't sound quite so crazy now.

“Very good. Now lets get into the details about the event and the results,” Ms. Parch said.

**

Leaving history class, I tried to work some feeling back into my cramped hand. Ms. Parch really liked making us take notes, which made sense since she was the goddess of written history. I wished I could afford one of the new phantom pens, they were supposed to be capable of writing down whatever someone said to them. The older ones had problems with writing down everything they heard, but the new and improved ones could be made to focus only on one person.

Unfortunately they cost a fortune, and after buying all my basic school supplies, I was broke.

Ella and I got to the cafeteria, I didn't even bother going to the counter to collect my barely edible lump of food. Taking a seat I thanked my friends who each handed over a dish or drink and started eating. Maybe on the weekend, I'd have the time to figure out what was going on with my food.

Garth sat down beside me as usual, but this time he was particularly close. In fact our legs and arms were touching. I scooted to the side to get a bit of space.

“I had a run with Victor,” I said, once everyone was there. “I'm not sure what he wanted, but he tried to mess with my mind. I beat him up before he could do it.”

Naomi grimaced, reaching for her spear. “I really want to stab one of those guys so they know to leave us alone.”

“If you do, try not to miss,” I grumbled, still annoyed about the other day.

That made her blush in embarrassment. “I'm getting better,” she said.

“Was anyone else bothered?” Ella asked.

There was a round of 'no's' and the shaking of heads. Garth didn't say anything, but he did get closer to me, once again touching my arm and leg with his. And he put his hand on my hand.

“You're beautiful,” he said.

“Uh, thanks,” I said, leaning away from him.

Most of the table smiled, Clarice actually giggled and whispered something to Gold, kissing him on the cheek as she did. Naomi frowned and handed her boyfriend Antoine some money. Ivy ignored us, too busy eating her raw cow leg to pay attention to anything. Ella looked at us, concern plain in her eyes.

“I want to be with you forever,” Garth said. He was looking at me like I was the most beautiful person in the world. “I'll do anything you desire. Climb the highest mountain, slay a dragon, conquer a kingdom, if you'll simply say you'll be mine.”

Raising my hands to keep him back, all I could say was, “WHOA! WHOA! WHOA!” My brain didn't want to work, too shocked and a little disgusted to form proper words.

“Garth, did you see Victor?” Ella demanded.

Grabbing my hand, my wannabe boyfriend stared deeply into my eyes, not seeing the mortification I was feeling. “Petra, you're my sun, my goddess. Give me a kiss and I can die a happy man.”

I decided to try to figure out what was going on. “Garth, did you see Victor?” I asked, repeating Ella's question.

“I think so. But he didn't do anything to me. I was thinking too much of you. I want to kiss your sweet lips, and hold you to my chest forever.” He pursed his lips together, leaning in for a kiss.

My friends had stopped laughing a while ago. Gold and Antoine got out of their seats and pulled Garth away from me. Calci poured some water into her hand and splashed it in his face.

“Wh-what?” Garth said.

“Garth, do you still want to kiss Petra?” Ella asked.

“Yeah,” he said, shaking his head. “But not like I did a minute ago. Gods, I've got a headache.”

Ella made a fist and hit the table. “So that's what Victor wanted to do to you Petra.”

I shuddered at the thought of throwing myself at Garth and kissing him. If I hadn't been quite so stubborn, I'd be playing the perfect little love struck girlfriend.

Looking at my friends, I was determined to have my revenge. “Micheal and Victor are going down!” I vowed.

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Calci and I sat together in potions class poring through our text books. We'd spent the first part of the class going over safety procedures. It was all pretty standard stuff. What to do if you got poisoned. Knowing when to grab the extinguisher stone, duck, run away, or bend over and start praying to the deity of your choice. The difference between various types of mercury. And how trying to make the biggest boom nearly drove Gnomes to extinction and why you should learn from their mistake.

Now it was independent studies. Working alone or in pairs we could make any potion we wanted, at the end of the week we would present a perfect example of the potion for grading.

“I don't think there's any potion to stop mind control in here,” I said. We'd looked through our Intermediate Alchemy books twice and while there were plenty of potions to alter metals, make things explode, enhance items, heal people, only a few affected peoples minds. And those ones would make people more intelligent or insane, sometimes both.

While making Victor and Micheal think they were covered in bugs was appealing, I was pretty sure that would annoy the school.

Professor Pyrotechny made its way over to us. It must have gotten its face fixed last night, because the half melted copper lips, eyebrows, and other details were now shiny silver. It even had silver ears, although one was badly tarnished and half melted already.

“Calcium, Petra,” it said in its odd bellowy mechanical voice, “you seem to be having trouble choosing a potion.”

“We are Professor Pyrotechny. We're looking for a potion that can fix someone who is under mind control,” Calci said.

Something started whirring in the professors head. “There are some potions that can do that. They are not easy.”

“Can you give us the instructions for the easiest one?”

The professor tilted its head to the side. This normally wouldn't be weird, but it's ear actually touched its shoulder, and the loud clicking of gears sounded like breaking bone. That wasn't something I normally enjoyed hearing, after what happened in my first day of combat class, it was even creepier now.

“Very well,” it finally said. Going to the lectern the professor dug through some papers and came back with a sheaf of papers. “Try your best and do not test it on anyone without permission.”

Thanking Professor Pyrotechny, we looked over the instructions. As I struggled to figure out what half of the ingredients were, I started to think this was a bad idea.

“Isn't this a little dangerous. It has mercury, basilisk bile, fresh mandrake root, cockatrice venom, and what exactly is fulminating gold or spirit of salt?” I asked.

“Fulminating means explosive. You want to be careful with that. And spirit of salt is hydrochloric acid, make sure you're wearing gloves,” Calci said. “But it's OK, we don't need much of those, and we purify it with angel feathers and phoenix tears. It's perfectly safe.”

“If you say so. Where do we start?”

“First we need to distill the holy water of all impurities and mix the mercury with the cockatrice venom, that will take twenty-four hours. How about you do the holy water and I'll work with the deadly stuff?”

I nodded, quite happily. “Sounds like a plan.”

It was time for my most favourite class ever, combat class.

“Come on Petra, you can't hide in your locker,” Naomi said.

“Yes I can! I live in the locker now. I fit perfectly,” I wheezed.

“You can barely breathe. How did you squeeze in there? Your breasts are wider then the locker.”

Ignoring the tears of pain, I held the door closed. “They're fine. They're not crushing my ribs or anything.”

I heard Naomi sigh. “Ivy, can you help me get Petra out of her locker.”

The door was wrenched out of my hands and two dainty but amazingly strong hands grabbed me. I only shrieked a little as Ivy yanked me out. I gasped for air, clutching my chest, making sure my nipples hadn't been ripped off.

“Thank you, Ivy,” my so-called friend said.

The werewolf walked out of the change room ignoring us completely.

“I don't wanna die again,” I cried.

“Come on that was just the first day, I'm sure you won't have to do it again anytime soon. Now hurry up and get dressed, or you'll get a detention.”

Unwillingly I put on my padded combat outfit and followed Naomi outside. We were the last ones out and the bell rang as we got to our spots.

The cat girl, Ameth was doing handstands on the rail overlooking the lava field. She waved at us and almost fell, catching herself at the last second. Giggling she started doing cartwheels.

The Orc Angel Slayer was looking at us like we were a bug she'd stepped on. “All right you maggots, on the table over there are pins, put them on and make sure you don't lose them. They're magical shields, as long as you're wearing them you won't die in a fight. You'll still feel the pain, but it will only be for a few seconds. Apparently my usual methods are considered a crime against sapient beings, so I have to be nicer.”

There was a mad dash for the table. Naomi and I were shoved to the ground by the larger students, and lightly trampled in the stampede.

When we could finally get up, all the pins were gone.

Ivy came over to us looking disgusted, which was quite impressive since she had a wolf head with no human features to speak of. She tossed us each one medal and walked away, finding a nice sunny spot where she could curl up and watch everything.

Putting the pin on I felt a lot safer.

Seeing that we were all ready, Angel Slayer smiled. “You all look out of shape. You wouldn't last three minutes in a real fight. So we're going to run laps.”

She snapped her fingers, and a narrow rock path appeared along the cliff. It went all around the lava field, with cracks to jump over, small cliffs to climb up or jump down, and places where it looked like an avalanche had taken out the path, so we'd need to climb over the loose boulders to keep going. It was an obstacle course from hell.

“To encourage you to run your fastest in thirty seconds I'm going to release a pack of rabid dogs.” Her smile became a blood thirsty grin. “Remember, the shields won't let you get injured, but it will still hurt. Start running.”

We started running.

Washing off the dog drool after class, I tried to forget the last hour of my life. Ivy wasn't in the showers. When the rabid dogs had been released, she'd started fighting with them. After they accepted her as pack leader, she'd led them as they picked off the slower students, finding shortcuts and cutting us off one by one, until we finished our lap.

“Don't feel too bad Petra, you were doing really well. I didn't know you could run that fast,” Naomi said.

“I still got mauled.”

“Well yeah, but that's only because Barbarina threw you at the dogs when they started getting too close to her. Just make sure to avoid her next time.”

“I hate this school.”

Sitting at my desk, I was busy practising my enunciation for magic class when there was a knock at the door. As planned, I went to the door, acting like the perfect minion for Ella, who was sitting in one of the overstuffed comfy chairs wearing her best outfit. An almost blinding white dress of demon spider silk, with a bit of jewellery she said was tastefully discrete while being incredibly expensive.

Opening the door, I smiled at Blood Wing who was surrounded by her usual cloud of fairies. What wasn't usual was the black dress that barely covered her, and was studded by blood red soul stones that seemed to be faintly screaming. She was also wearing a small crown covered in the same red stones, one of which was the same size as her tiny head. That one was really disturbing as a screaming misty face appeared in it for a moment before fading away again.

Trying not to stare at the soul stones, I stepped to the side. “Hi Blood Wing, thanks for coming.”

“I just had to come when I heard my good friend Princess Ella needed a favour,” the half fairy said, flying inside. “We royals need to stick together against the commoners.”

A girl I vaguely remembered was one of Blood Wing's minions hurried in before I could close the door, she was looking at the ground and carrying a bag.

“Of course, Princess Blood Wing,” Ella said, smiling pleasantly. “Please have a seat.”

The half fairy waited while her minion took a throne from the bag, setting it up on the table beside Ella. “I hope you don't mind, I brought something for us to drink. Fresh fairy-honey juice, from my fathers personal hives.”

“How thoughtful. Petra can you get glasses and the treats.”

I didn't have to get glasses, the silent girl was already setting out two goblets, one small but human size, the other was minuscule. Taking a bottle no bigger than my thumb from the bag, she carefully poured it into the two cups, somehow not spilling a drop despite the small size.

Grabbing the tray full of fancy fruits, flower petals, and raw, expensive meat, which was all available at the school store, I put them on the table beside the two princesses. My job done, I sat down off to the side in the second comfy chair. Blood Wing's minion kept standing, apparently waiting for further instructions.

Ella took a sip of the juice. “Hmm, this is very good.”

“Thank you, my father insists on the best,” the half fairy said.

She snapped her fingers and one of the fairy's flew down to the tray. Taking a rose petal, the fairy wrapped some raw unicorn meat in it, and handed it to the princess. Blood Wing sniffed it, smiled and began eating it with gusto. Licking her fingers, she grinned. “That was delicious. So few humans know how to serve proper fairy-demon food.”

“I like to make my guests feel at home,” Ella said. “I'm curious, do you know the student Micheal Lambert?”

Blood Wing flared her wings. “That trumped up little brat! If Witch Hemlock hadn't stepped in, I would have ripped his soul from his chest and turned into a nightlight!”

She went on like that for several minutes, getting bloodier and more violent as she went on. Her fairy cloud gave her space, while her minion sighed, rolled her eyes and walked to the other side of the room.

Getting up I followed the girl.

“Hey,” I said softly, “I'm Petra.”

“Hi, I'm Briar.”

“If you don't mind me asking, what's it like working for Blood Wing?”

Briar looked over at the ongoing rant, shrugged, and said, “Not that bad actually. She mostly just wants someone to act all meek and obedient in public. So I keep quiet when I'm around her and get her things. In class and when I'm not with her, if anyone bothers me, I just have to say her name and everyone shuts up.”

“Huh. That's not what I expected to hear,” I admitted.

“Yeah, she's nuts, but as long as I remember my lines, she's harmless. And it's good practice for me.”

I gave her a questioning look.

“I'm studying politics. I don't have the right attitude to be an evil overlord or anything, so I'm aiming to be an advisor. I don't plan on working with someone quite like her after graduating, but if I can handle her, I can handle anything,” she said, grinning.

That made a lot of sense. “Very smart.”

“Oh, she's done her rant. We're on,” Brier said, hurrying back to her spot.

Ella was acting like the long rant hadn't happened, perfectly calm she said, “I feel much the same about Micheal. He has been causing some trouble for my friends, and quite frankly he needs to be taught a lesson.”

“YES! Together we will crush him like a bug!” Blood Wing shouted. “Tomorrow at breakfast we will attack him together. He'll never expect it.”

“If you don't mind, Princess Blood Wing, I would prefer not to get detention. I have a plan where we can get him and make it look like we're defending ourselves. So anything we do will be perfectly legal.”

The half-fairy grinned. “I'm listening.”

___

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

“Everyone it's now time to test your shield spell,” Mage Malacoda said.

We'd spent most of magic class learning the finer details of shielding, which according to our instructor was one of the most important spells we could know. Something I wholeheartedly agreed with. I'd written down everything he'd said, double checked it with Calci and Garth, asked questions to make sure I knew all the little details, and watched Calci and Garth cast their own shields.

I was as ready as I'd ever be.

Gods I wished I was able to drop out of magic.

“All right, Petra, you'll be my partner today,” Garth said. “I know a lot about the shield spell and I have a nice gentle spell that won't hurt if it breaks through your shield.”

“What type of spell is it?” I asked.

“It's a wind spell, we use it to knock out brownies when they get too excited and start becoming a nuisance. To anyone who isn't six inches tall it's like getting slapped.”

“OK, lets do this.”

I copied his hand motions and words exactly. I thought I looked like a cat having a fit, which was an improvement over how I usually looked when trying to cast a spell. When I did it by myself, I resembled a chicken having a seizure.

A tingling sensation came over me. It was barely noticeable and unlike anything I'd felt before when I tried to cast a shield spell. “I think it worked,” I said, grinning like an idiot.

“OK, brace yourself,” Garth said, raising his hand.

He snapped his fingers and it felt like a stiff breeze hit me in the face. It didn't hurt in the slightest, and actually felt kind of refreshing.

My delight at successfully making a shield didn't last long however. All around the room students were hitting each other with fireballs, lightning, beams of light, and other things. Blood Wing had summoned a horde of shadowy creatures which were unsuccessfully trying to tear her partner apart, while she seemed to be surrounded by a small sun that was making the nearby wall melt. Even Calci was manifesting small boulders that threw themselves at her partner while a floating mace smashed her on the head.

And there I was happy that I could stop a hard breeze.

“All right, now hit me,” Garth said.

Picking up my magic text book, I flipped to the orb of force spell. It was simple and not too dangerous. Whispering the words, I pretended I was throwing a ball as hard as I could. A small glowing orb zipped  towards Garth.

It bounced off of him with a weak little 'boop', and instead of disappearing it headed for the ceiling. It hit the ceiling and bounced off of that going a little faster, hitting another student and ricocheting off her head without her even noticing. It looked like it was picking up speed. It hit an altar, then a second one, the 'boop' kept getting louder with each hit. Now other students were noticing the errant ball of magic, and I was desperately trying to think of a way to stop it.

When it hit a third student, he was actually shoved backwards a few feet, seemingly unharmed. It hit the wall again and was moving almost too fast to follow. The next student it hit was knocked on her butt with a scream of shock. It hit the ceiling again, leaving a small crack in it.

At that point students started ducking for cover.

Blood Wing who was still surrounded by super hot flames started laughing. “You weak fools! You're afraid of that!”

At that point fate decided it would be funny to have the out of control orb of force break the sound barrier. The now dangerously fast ball of chaos thundered across the room and hit Blood Wing head on. She was slammed into the wall, seemingly stunned. The orb bounced off of her glowing like a miniature sun.

At this point Mage Malacoda snapped his fingers and the flaming orb vanished completely. He looked at me with a look that somehow combined resignation and shock at the same time.

Turning away from him, I looked at Blood Wing who was peeling herself out of the fairy shaped imprint she had left on the wall. She looked down at herself, running her hands over her body, then looked at me in astonishment.

“How in the name of all the demons of hell did you manage that?!” she shouted.

Rather than answering her, I ducked down behind my altar again.

Leaving subterfuge class, I was feeling a little better. Nothing insane, horrifying or embarrassing had happened there. We'd just gotten put into groups and had to talk about something unusual that happened to us in the past, it could be a lie or the truth. Then the listeners had to guess which it was.

That had actually been kind of fun, and no one had believed that I had gotten into a few fist fights, played a children's version of Head Break Rock, or other rough and tumble things that had been pretty typical for me. They didn't seem to think that a pretty girl would be interested in those types of things.

That could very well be true. Despite being turned into a girl, I hadn't talked to many other girls about what they did before coming to Doom Valley.

Now I was walking through the old short cut, all alone, clutching a small carved stick in my hand ready to break it if anything happened. I wasn't sure if I wanted things to go smoothly so I could safely get to class, or if I wanted to deal with Micheal once and for all.

The exit was straight ahead, breathing a sigh of relief that I would get to class safely I allowed my self to smile. It was probably best that I didn't see Micheal, Blood Wing probably wasn't very happy me after what happened in magic class.

Glass smashed at my feet.

Before I could do anything black tar covered my feet. Trying to walk or even twist my feet was impossible. The tar creeped up my legs, uncomfortably wet and warm. It stopped at my knees and hardened.

Looking behind me I saw Micheal step out of the shadows. The creep was grinning, looking like a dragon that had just eaten a sheep. If I could have moved my feet I'd have kicked him as hard as I could. Instead I had to be satisfied with glaring at him, and I broke the carved stick.

“What do you want Micheal?” I snapped.

“Nothing at all now. I'm just enjoying the moment,” he replied.

“You're not going to give me even bigger breasts or try to make me fall madly in love with someone just to embarrass me?”

He shook his head. “That was Victor's idea. He likes playing mind games. I'm not going to do anything except have you smell a little concoction I made. It will make you forget the last five minutes.”

“That's it?”

“Yes. You'll also be stuck here for a day or two until the tar dries up. I hope you don't need to go to the bathroom.”

“Someone will come by soon,” I said.

Micheal's grin got bigger. “Not when I lock the exits. You'll be trapped here in the dark, missing class and out of your dormitory after lights out. That's going to be a pretty big detention.”

My heart dropped, that was actually a pretty good plan. “And since you'll wipe my mind, I won't be able to tell them you did it. Even if they cared.”

“Exactly. Good luck surviving your detention,” he said, pulling a small spray bottle from his pocket.

At that moment Blood Wing popped into existence beside me. Despite being all of six inches tall, her angry expression was pretty terrifying.

“HA! You are trying to hurt my good friend Pe-Pre- uh. The roommate of my good friend Ella! I Princess Blood Wing will stop you!” the half-fairy shouted. Black lightning bolts erupted from her fingertips, heading straight for Micheal's crotch.

I winced as they connected, but there was no scream of pain and anguish from the creep. Micheal just jumped back, his pants smoking, although he did look scared and very surprised at the change of plans.

“Where did you come from?” he demanded, dropping his spray bottle.

“As Pa- um, as Ella's roommate will tell the teachers, we were merely walking to class when you attacked for no reason. I'm defending her to help my good friend Ella. NOW DIE!” Blood Wing shouted.

Micheal tossed something to the ground, filling the hall with a nasty smelling blue smoke. He shouted a spell and fire erupted all around us. Hastily I cast my shield spell hoping it would be enough to keep me alive, while Blood Wing blindly threw lightning bolts at anything that seemed to move.

A vial smashed against the ceiling showering me in broken glass. Long green tentacles erupted from the rock. One of them wrapped around me, it's suckers clutching my shirt as it tightened uncomfortably. Bashing the thing as hard as I could I wished I had a knife.

The half-fairy shrieked something and black figures rose from the ground, wailing and crying. They brushed past me, making me shiver as my entire body seemed to freeze. More flames rose up, burning away the blue smoke, the apparitions, and fortunately for my ribs, the tentacles.

“You're good,” Blood Wing said. She was moving her hands, weaving together a spell.

“You're not,” Micheal replied, pulling a spray bottle from his belt.

I crouched down, covering my head, praying to every god I knew of that I would survive the next minute.

Blood Wing screeched in rage, the spell she'd been working on forgotten. Instead a wave of force filled the hallway. Bricks flew from the crumbling walls, shattering as they hit the floor, the walls, and Micheal. Fortunately Blood Wing and Micheal were in front of me, so I was only hit by a the back draft. I was still knocked over, landing very awkwardly with my lower legs held in place and my head hitting the stone floor with a painful thud.

Micheal picked himself up, his clothes were wrecked, and he had a nasty gash across his forehead. He quickly shouted out the shield spell I'd learned that morning, and drank a potion. His cut healed and he grew over a foot in size, with a lot more muscles. Clapping his hands together there as an ear popping crack.

Blood Wing went flying down the hall from the wind, and if I hadn't had my feet literally glued to the floor I'd have gone with her. She came flying back sending a serpent made of purple fire at Micheal, it was tackled by a misty figure with glowing eyes.

Covering my head again, I didn't see what happened for the next few moments. There were demonic screaming, waves of heat, explosions, and things that felt like they were straight from my nightmares.

Then Blood Wing shouted at me. “Minion! Cast that spell you did in magic class!”

Was she crazy? I couldn't control the spell and it took a while to build up. Even if I cast it properly it would probably just end up flying down the hall and kill someone who wasn't Micheal.

There was another explosion and a black hole opened up for a few seconds sucking in everything that wasn't connected to the ground. Blood Wing was being pulled into it, until she shouted something and made it close up.

Hoping she knew what she was doing, I did my best to cast the orb of force exactly like I had before, which wasn't easy with me being stuck on my back.

The orb left my hand heading for the ceiling. It hit a shimmering barrier and bounced back only to bounce off another barrier. It began bouncing faster and faster along a shimmering tube that was about as long as my arm.

Micheal saw what was happening and started throwing spells and potions at it. Blood Wing cast her own spells blocking all of his attacks. While that was going on the orb was going faster and faster, until it was virtually invisible.

Blood Wing pointed  the thing at Micheal and the tube opened up. The orb shot towards the creep hitting him in the chest, sending him flying through the air, smashing through the door and hitting the stone wall of the regular hallway.

I couldn't see much from my position, but I heard a door open and footsteps coming towards us. Lady Plague came into view. She looked at Micheal who was groaning on the ground, Blood Wing who looked a little battered and was sweating hard, and then at me.

“You had best have a very good explanation for fighting during class time,” she said.

___

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Lady Plague sat on the throne of mithril and emerald green spider silk, that filled one entire side of her office, staring down at Blood Wing, Micheal and myself with her pitch black eyes. The dragon skull on her golden sceptre seemed to be growling at us.

Around her were priceless works of art from artists that even I recognized, windows showed scenes of what looked like a golden paradise, and a goblet made of pure orichalcum that filled with a strange fizzing liquid when she picked it up. It was quite different from the side of the room where the three of us were standing.

Well actually I was the only one standing. Blood Wing was hovering in the air and Micheal was sitting on the stone floor clutching his ribs, quietly groaning in pain.

On our side of the room, it was bare stone walls and floor, lit by some soul fire torches, that moaned mournfully as they burned. There were various torture devices lined up against the wall, along with animated chains, and two golems who had ominous reddish black stains covering their hands, arms and chests. To ensure we realized how badly we screwed up, there was a ragged ghost, dressed in a school uniform, rocking in the fetal position while it giggled to itself, muttering something that sounded disturbingly like, “More please. Punish me more!”

“Who would like to speak first?” Lady Plague asked.

For once Blood Wing was quiet. She actually looked a little scared, which I hadn't honestly thought was possible. Micheal groaned more loudly, wincing as he hunched over. I didn't want to say anything either, so I kept my mouth shut.

“Petra, let's begin with you,” the teacher said.

Taking a moment to work some spit around my suddenly dry mouth, I forced myself to look her in the eyes. “You remember how Micheal tricked me on the first day, right?”

She nodded.

“Well I've tried to avoid him, but he keeps coming after me. He even used a potion to transform me again,” I said, gesturing at my breasts and hips. “So I asked Blood Wing for help. She gave me an enchanted stick that when broken would summon her to help me out. When Micheal attacked me again, I used it and she teleported in. Micheal didn't take the hint to leave and the fight broke out.”

Lady Plague turned to Blood Wing. “Why would you help this weak, unimportant girl?”

I felt an insane urge to interrupt and defend myself, then I remembered that Lady Plague was one of the most powerful and evil sorceresses in the world. Interrupting her was probably a very bad idea, that could all too easily become a terminal mistake. Also she was right.

“W-well, Lady Plague,” Blood Wing said, for the first time ever speaking in a near whisper, “this minion is the roommate and friend of Princess Ella. Since I'm good friends with Ella, I thought it was only appropriate to help her, when I heard of her problem. She's just so helpless, like a starving little imp begging for scraps. I couldn't turn her down.”

Once again I kept my mouth shut, as what was left of my self-confidence shrivelled up and died.

“And gaining a favour from Princess Ella never crossed your mind?”

“Well, she will owe me for this. That kind of favour can't be discounted,” the half-fairy admitted.

The teacher nodded once. Her gaze shifted to Micheal. “What do you want to add to this?”

Micheal tried to sit up straight, winced and hunched back down. “I wouldn't call making Petra more attractive an attack. I've already gotten three girls asking for the same treatment. And I wasn't going to hurt her, I just wanted to talk to her. Then Blood Wing came out of nowhere and started attacking me.”

“And the tar around Petra's feet came during the fight?”

“Well,” Micheal paused, probably trying to think about how much he could lie to the teacher. “I didn't want her kicking me while we talked. She's pretty violent.”

Sipping her drink, Lady Plague looked at all of us with contempt. “You have wasted enough of my time. Micheal for attacking Petra and not knowing when to stop pushing your luck, one week detention. See me after last class. If you have armour, I'd recommend wearing it, the zombies can get twitchy during their cleaning.”

The creep turned white in fear. His mouth moved as he tried to say something, but nothing came out. I couldn't resist smiling at seeing him so terrified.

“You are also allowed to miss class for the rest of the day while you get your injuries looked at.” She waved her hand and Micheal disappeared with a small pop.

I suddenly found myself staring at my feet, wondering what my punishment was going to be.

“Blood Wing, you surprised me,” Lady Plague said. “You attacked Micheal with little thought, using brute force to try to overcome his potions and magic. But then you showed a spark of cleverness in overcoming him. You also managed to show a tiny bit of political forethought helping Princess Ella. There may be some hope for you yet. Here is a slip to excuse your lateness, now leave.”

Blood Wing looked shocked, almost dropping the piece of parchment that was as large as she was that appeared in her arms. It looked like she was about to say something, then she shut her mouth and zipped out the door at high speed.

“Petra, you had best become stronger as quickly as you can. You won't always be able to hide behind your roommate, and being connected to the princess also puts a target on your back. Do you understand?” the teacher asked.

I nodded, not wanting to risk saying anything stupid.

“Good. Don't let me see you in this office again, or I'll personally see to it that you either toughen up or die trying. Here is your slip, now go.”

The parchment that appeared in my hand made me jump in surprise. “Thank you!” I squeaked, as I ran for the door.

At lunch everyone wanted to know what had happened. Blood Wing was at her usual table loudly telling her minions and a few friends, or maybe they were just allies, about her spectacular victory and how she'd surprised Lady Plague with her cleverness.

As I was telling them what happened, and not embellishing it, too much, I noticed that Ella was looking quite pleased with herself. She wasn't gloating, that wasn't her style, but she was smiling a little more proudly than usual. She was also occasionally looking straight at Victor who seemed to be shifting nervously in his seat.

Frankly I couldn't blame her, Micheal was my problem and Ella had ensured he wouldn't be a problem for a while, if ever again. Victor, on the other hand, was her problem. He'd openly tried to mind control her and despite his beating, that couldn't be ignored. With Micheal out of the way, he knew we would be coming after him next. So we needed to be even more careful, because his best chance of surviving was taking us out first.

“So your messed up spell saved the day?” Calci asked in disbelief.

“Yeah. Blood Wing captured it and made it bounce around until it was about ready to explode and let Micheal have it,” I said.

“And Lady Plague didn't punish you for disturbing her class?” Naomi asked.

I shook my head. “She just gave Blood Wing and I a warning, and told us to get to class. She didn't even ask many questions. It seemed like she knew everything that had happened and just wanted to see what we had to say.”

“She probably cast a spell to see into the past,” Garth said. “Temporal spells aren't easy, but at her level looking a few minutes into the past would be a piece of cake, and it wouldn't anger Father Time.”

That did make sense, but the thought of messing with time, even in that minor way, made me shiver. Father Time was not someone anyone wanted to mess with.

He was one of the three entities that were above the gods and demons. The other two were Lady Fate and The Mad Immortal Emperor of Arp. Unlike those two, Time usually avoided dealing with the world, but when someone tried to do something stupid, like going back in time or getting a clear look at what the future would hold, he would get involved, and he was very creative in his punishments.

The best known punishment was an entire building that was stuck in a bubble of slow time. The mages who had tried to go back in time, were trapped, moving one second every century, and unable to leave. That was one of the nicer punishments, and it was enough to make most people avoid trying to break time and space.

“How is our second plan going?” Ella asked.

She of course meant our plan to free Victor's mind controlled minions using a potion. There was a chance they wouldn't do anything, they might even like working with Victor. But if his minions were upset about being brainwashed, they would deal with Victor for us, leaving our hands clean when punishments were handed out.

“We're working on it, but it will take a bit of time. It's not exactly easy,” Calci said.

“Good enough. We'll just have to keep being careful, until you're ready. I don't want to risk using Blood Wing for this, even if she'd be willing to do it, and most people want to avoid Victor,” Ella said.

Worried looks went around the table, none of us wanted to risk Blood Wing being controlled by an enemy.

“What has he done to make everyone so worried about him?” I asked.

Clarice nudged her boyfriend Gold with her elbow.

“They're not really afraid of him, but his half-giant, Rocks For Brains,” Gold said. “On the first day Mayhew, an orc that is bigger than almost everyone else, started making fun of Victor. We think Victor used his powers to make Mayhew try to punch him. Rocks hit him over the head with his club. Mayhew was in the infirmary for two days and he doesn't use words with more than one or two syllables anymore.”

“So we need to get rid of his minions, if we want a real chance to get at him,” Ella said.

Calci and I looked nervously at each other, finally realizing just how important our part of the plan was.

____

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Calci and I were working on our anti-mind control potion again. Like the other day the first half of the class had been a lecture on various alchemicals and how they interact with each other. Professor Pyrotechny was still smoking from adding dragons bile to cockatrice venom. The clockwork teacher been demonstrating why reading the instructions was extremely important, and how two seemingly harmless ingredients could have a very volatile reaction.

The holy water was as pure as it was going to be, it actually glowed a little from the sheer amount of holiness in it. Oddly it smelled a little like old parchment.

“Does this smell right to you, Calci?” I asked.

She leaned over and used her hand to waft the air above the beaker to her nose. “Yeah, its good. They probably had Ms. Parch the history teacher bless it. She's not that powerful of a goddess, but she could easily bless a whole pool of water.”

I filed that bit of info away as potentially useful. I'd never been very religious, except when it came to tests and trying to avoid death, so I'd thought that all holy water was the same. The stuff used in the temples and alters back home didn't have any odd smells or things. Maybe it was because that stuff had all been blessed by mortals, holy water direct from the gods was probably more special.

The pot of mercury and cockatrice venom had turned out exactly like it was supposed too. The liquid mercury was now a silvery blue, occasionally bubbles rose to the surface, popping and hissing in the air. It was kind of pretty, but I really didn't want to get it on my skin.

“All right, Petra we need to slowly stir the holy water into the mercury. You stir, I'll pour,” Calci said.

Putting on a pair of enchanted dragon leather gloves and matching apron, followed by a face shield, I picked up a pure silver stir stick and got to work. Very gently stirring the liquid metal, I kept my hand well clear, while Calci poured the holy water in so slowly it was more of a drip than a stream.

The mixture hissed quietly, the silvery blue gaining streaks of pale yellow. Making sure to scrape the sides of the large pot, so it would mix properly, by the time Calci had emptied the beaker the entire potion was yellow. It smelled like a unicorn fart, a little fruity with a hint of methane.

Reading the instructions, the next step was all mine. I had to grind up mandrake root and let it steep in spirit of salt. Calci had the fun job of dealing with the fulminating gold, which could explode if she didn't prepare it properly.

Going to the supply room, I opened the storage cabinet where things that could rot or degrade over time were stored. Taking a mandrake root from a box, I wrote my name on the inventory sheet and put a one beside it. When the humanoid shaped root was out of the cabinet, it started squirming in my hand, fighting to get free.

Ignoring the struggles of the magical root, I went back to my work station, putting the root in a box so it couldn't run away while I got the grinder. The five inch root wasn't happy to be out of the dirt, and it tried to jump out of the box on its stubby little tuber legs, only to slide down the wooden side of the box. It would need actual fingers or claws on its arms to escape.

It took a minute to find the grinder behind all the dry ingredients and tools. The specially made device was made of magically denatured iron, it would grind up most things and the iron wouldn't interfere the magical properties. It would also do it quickly, which made me feel better about what I was about to do. Sure the mandrake was just a plant, with all the feelings of a carrot, but a carrot didn't move or look like a human. A really ugly, misshapen human, but still.

I put the grinder down, and heard an odd thump.

Looking over, I saw the mandrake root running to the edge of the work station, jump off and dash towards the door.

“Hey! Come back!” I shouted, scrambling after it.

The tiny thing could run pretty fast on it's tiny legs, and it used its size to its advantage, ducking under stools and vaulting over feet. I had to dodge students, and do my best not to trip over anything or knock something explosive off the work stations. There were shouts and yelps of surprise as we went past.

The mandrake reached the door and came to a stop, seeing it was closed.

I launched myself at it, arms spread to scoop it up.

It jumped to the side, just escaping my grasp, and ran along the wall.

I on the other hand, slammed headfirst into the hard wooden door. The class burst into laughter as I stumbling to my feet, clutching my head, trying to make the room stop spinning. Somehow I spotted the mandrake root crouching down to crawl through a crack in the wall.

Grabbing the nearest text book, I threw it as hard as I could. The book flew through the air, catching the roots arm. The mandrake root spun in a circle from the force of the blow, hit the wall and fell onto it's back.

Racing across the room, I managed to grab it before it could get away again. “GOTCHA!” I shouted.

It's ugly little face seemed to grin. It held up it's cupped hands and tossed dust right into my face.

At first I didn't notice anything, then my nose and cheeks started to get really hot. I felt a sneeze coming, and tried to hold it in. My eyes began to burn. Keeping a tight hold of the mandrake root in one hand, I brought my other hand up to cover my mouth as the biggest sneeze I'd ever had erupted from my lungs.

There was a sensation of flying as my insides tried to escape through my mouth. Then everything went black. 

“Petra, are you damaged?” Professor Pyrotechny asked. For some reason the professor was looking down at me.

I realized I was at the front of the class, lying flat on the my back with my legs up against the wall. It felt like I'd been flattened by a giant. “Wha' happened?” I managed to mutter.

“It appears the mandrake root found some air elemental powder that was not properly cleaned up from the previous class. When you sneezed the hurricane force winds blew you across the room.”

“Oh,” I groaned. “Where's the root?”

“It was crushed. You'll need to get a new one.”

Covering my face, I started to cry.

Combat class looked different. Instead of the open area overlooking the lava field, it had expanded into a rectangle. There were also a series of lines covering the stones, and two thin slabs of granite hanging between two metal posts, one at each end of the rectangle.

“Oh no,” I muttered as I realized what was going on.

Naomi looked as scared as I felt. “We're not going to play Head Breaks Rock, are we?”

“I think we are,” I replied.

Around us, the larger and more hard headed students were cheering, clapping and headbutting each other. Normally I'd be happy to play Head Breaks Rock, I played it back home all the time. The Orc game was lots of fun, and my hometown team was one of the top ranked human teams in the Eastern League. I had an autograph from the star player, 'Flattop' Hank Williams. But we used helmets and used things that could break easily, not actual granite.

Coach Angel Slayer came out of her cave, Ameth trotted along her with an armful of blue and red jerseys. The orc was grinning, which made me want to jump into the lava and take my chances there. I quickly double checked that my magical medal was in place.

“Today we're going to work on teamwork, agility, blocking and tackling. I assume you all know the rules of Head Breaks Rock?” she said.

“There are rules?” someone asked.

“Yes there are. It's red vs blue. Five people on at a time. No weapons. No intentionally trying to kill someone. Only a head can hit the stone. Since there's a lot of you, we'll switch every five minutes. Other than that it's full contact.”

Naomi, Ivy and I all had a blue jersey. Naomi probably wouldn't be that good in the game, but it was nice knowing I wouldn't have to risk hurting her. Having Ivy on my side was a huge relief, I was getting tired of her gnawing on me each class. We went to the side where the blues were getting organized.

Naomi and I found ourselves shoved off to the side by our larger and far more violent teammates. We clearly weren't expected to do much other than possibly be speed bumps. Looking at the other team, I felt my heart sink, they had the half-giant Rocks For Brains. He'd be almost impossible to stop.

The game started, and Naomi was in the first group on. She was in the back playing defense with Barbarina the Scalp Hunter, they had to keep the opposing team from breaking our rock. The other three members were up front, ready to try to weave, dodge, and bash their way to the other end and break the rock with their head.

Angel Slayer blew her whistle and the offensive line up slammed into each other so hard I had to wince. They were shoving, punching, kicking, gouging, and biting trying to get through.

One of the red shirts managed to bash his way through the melee and headed for our rock. His head was down and he looked a little like a charging minotaur. Naomi threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He didn't stop, he didn't even seem to notice her as she hung on for dear life.

Barbarina jumped and caught his legs, bringing him down. Naomi went cartwheeling away, landing in a heap against the metal post. Barbarina got to her feet, picked up the red player and threw him back into the melee in the center of the court.

It went on like that for several minutes. If it wasn't for the medals keeping everyone from getting injured blood and teeth would have been flying. I hadn't seen a game this violent since the League Championship two years ago when the final two teams, the Bloody Alley Boys and their hated rivals the Highland Back Breakers had gotten very drunk on illegal fortified Dwarven beer and tried to kill each other.

Just as the whistle blew to switch players, a red player managed to get through, picked Naomi up and threw her like a spear at the rock. The granite split in half and the red team started cheering.

Naomi got to her feet, fell on her face, and crawled off the court.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

“I'm fine, mommy. But can you make the world stop spinning?” she asked, rolling onto her back.

Before I could say anything or check if she had broken her neck, I was shoved onto the court. Taking my place in defence, I tried not to show how scared I was. Then I looked up, and up, and saw Rocks For Brains looking at me with a big grin on his face. He pointed his huge hand at me, made a fist and punched his hand.

“This is going to hurt,” I whimpered.

I felt for my medal again, just to make sure it was still in place. It wasn't there. Looking around I saw one of my teammates who had pushed me onto the court toss it into the lava field below.

The whistle blew and all hell broke loose.

I saw Ivy jump on top of the nearest red shirt, howling with delight as she mauled him. Then I was running for my life as the half-giant threw the blue shirt who tried to stop him off the court and came straight for me.

No one tried to stop me as I ran around the court, screaming in terror. Anyone who got between me and Rocks For Brains, red or blue shirt, found themselves getting impromptu flying lessons as they were slapped away. Even Ivy let out a surprised yelp when she was scooped up and thrown at Angel Slayer.

And then I ran out of places to run.

Facing a steep cliff that rose above me, the lava field to the side, and a mass of red shirts who were forming a wall I couldn't get through, I couldn't get out of the way of the half-giant who wanted me dead. Seeing me trapped, he went from his light jog, which was as fast as I was at a full sprint, and began to charge.

Angel Slayer was too busy trying to pull the enraged werewolf off of her to notice what was happening, and maybe stop it.

Somehow I was remarkably calm. I was going to die, and there was nothing I could do about it, so I stopped panicking and time seemed to slow down. Then I realized the half-giants feet were widely spaced apart.

As the massive body was about to turn me into paste, I jumped right between his legs. If I'd had time to think about it, I wouldn't have succeeded, I'd have hit his knee and gotten crushed. But by some miracle I made it through, only brushing the coarse leg hair with my body.

He hit the wall full force as I tumbled to a stop. The cliff cracked, and  rocks fell all around Rocks For Brains, several of them hitting him on the head. He groaned, rubbing his skull and fell backwards, narrowly avoiding me.

As the echoes of the avalanche faded away, there was utter silence. Everyone was looking at me and the half-giant in shock.

Angel Slayer blew her whistle. “Time out while we get rid of the rocks.”

Shaking, I got to my feet and slowly made my way to the side, unable to believe what had just happened.

When I got to my spot, I leaned against Naomi for support and saw Rocks For Brains stand up. He looked at the rocks that had fallen on him, picking one up that looked a little shinier than the rest. Still in shock, I could only watch as he turned around to look straight at me. He had a big goofy grin on his face and shyly waved at me.

Not sure what to do I waved back.

His grin somehow got even bigger. Holding the rock to his chest he shakily got off the court and sat down.

“What just happened?” I asked.

Naomi shrugged. “No idea.”

“He's got a crush on you,” Barbarina said.

“What?!” I squeaked.

“Giants throw nice looking boulders at each other to show they're interested in someone. He's stupid enough to think you planned it.” The big girl clapped me on the back, sending me face first to the ground. “I hope you're flexible,” she said before breaking into laughter.

“Oh gods. Kill me now!”

___

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

“So let me get this straight,” Ella said, rubbing her forehead. “You narrowly avoided dying after being set up by Victors friends, and now Rock For Brains thinks you're flirting with him because you managed to drop a shiny boulder on his head?”

“Pretty much,” I said, sinking deeper into my comfy chair.

We were currently in the freshman library, one of the private study rooms to be exact. We, being every one of my friends, both male and female. It was one of the few places we could talk privately since either dorm was off limit to half of us.

“This is great!” Clarice exclaimed.

Looking over at the tiny blonde, I wondered to myself if she'd gone crazy. There was nothing great about this.

“Come on, Rocks For Brains is Victors biggest advantage. If you can seduce him, we'll have him on our side.”

“Are you kidding me?! He's huge! I barely reach his waist. He's an idiot! He's ugly! And one wrong move and I'm a pancake!” I shouted.

Garth smiled. “The height isn't a problem. In fact it's a pretty convenient size.”

My face went bright red as an image I REALLY didn't want went through my mind. Garth blushed as well when he realized he'd said that out loud.

Ella sighed. “Let's not go there please, I'd like to keep this somewhat PG. And I don't think Petra could pull off a femme fatale very well.”

“She wouldn't have to pull it off for very long, just a day or three. That should be long enough to get Victor, and then she can let Rocks For Brains down gently,” Clarice insisted.

“I don't know how to be a femme fatale,” I insisted. “I don't even know how to be feminine!”

Everyone looked at me, clearly judging me and finding me very wanting. This caused me to blush even more, significantly increasing the brightness of the room.

“She's right,” Naomi said. “There's no way she could seduce anyone.”

That got a round of nods, even from the boys. I wasn't sure if I should be relieved or insulted, Then I remembered being utterly incompetent as a girl meant I wouldn't have to seduce a half-giant and risk getting squashed or put in a very compromising and potentially deadly position.

“You know what that means,” Clarice said.

“What?” I whimpered, not liking the gleam in her eye.

“We'll have to teach you.”

“To the dormitory!” Noami shouted.

Ella turned to the boys. “We'll meet up for supper and after that we can come back here and you can help Petra learn how to flirt.”

The boys, especially Garth, seemed to be quite happy with that.

As Calci, Clarice and Naomi surrounded me, I picked up my chair and held it out defensively. “You'll never take me alive!”

An hour later I was sitting down looking at myself in the mirror.

My hair was curled and had sparkling pinpricks of light in it, looking like stars in the night sky. My eyes looked huge thanks to the eye shadow and glitter which made something like butterfly wings at the corners of my eyes. My lips were a dark red and seemed to have swelled up to double their usual size, and my pale skin seemed to be white porcelain with just a touch of colour on my cheeks. My nails had also been done up to match my lips, they were glossy and so shiny I nearly blinded myself when the light shone on them.

I wanted to say I looked like an idiot, but honestly I was hot. Not just pretty or even beautiful, but drop dead gorgeous. Picturing my old, male self, putting a poster of me on the wall to go to sleep to, was all too easy.

“We'll need to go to the school store and pick you up some proper clothes,” Ella said, looking at me with her head cocked to the side, with her hand on her chin.

Clarice nodded. “Definitely. She needs a better bra and shirt to show off her assets. And a nice skirt or pants. Do you have any clothes that aren't the school uniform, Petra?”

“No,” I replied. I didn't have much to say, I was busy trying to force down the very naughty thoughts I was thinking about as I continued to stare at my body.

“All right, we can deal with that later. Now look at me, and give me your best smile.”

I tried to smile nicely.

Naomi leaned back from me. “Is that a smile or are you constipated?” she asked.

“I'm smiling,” I insisted.

“Try to think of something pleasant, like Micheal getting detention,” Ella suggested.

Remembering the look on the creeps face did help. I felt my smile turn into a grin.

Clarice looked at me nervously. “Now you look like you're about to kill someone.”

“Think of a really cute boy you want to kiss,” Calci said.

Everyone recoiled as I scowled.

“Please stop thinking of a really cute boy you want to kiss!” Calci said from behind Ella.

Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to stop thinking of anything. My friends breathed a sigh of relief as I only looked annoyed instead of monstrous.

Ella sighed. “Petra look at me and copy what I do.”

She leaned down and gave me a big, beautiful smile. I could practically see myself in her brilliant white teeth. I couldn't resist smiling back.

“PERFECT!” Naomi shouted.

“Just try to think about whatever you're thinking about right now, when you need to smile,” Ella said. “Now we need a nice rock.”

“Why?” I asked.

“So you can throw it at Rocks For Brains. You need to keep his attention.”

“I can give you one from my rock collection,” Calci said, hurrying out of the room before I could say anything.

“Do I get to say anything about this plan?” I asked.

“No,” Clarice said.

Ella put her hand on my shoulder. “I understand you're not comfortable with this, and I wish we could just do our plan to use the anti-mind control potion. But Victor tried to kill you today. We have to nip this in the bud as fast as possible because he'll try again, maybe not with you, but with Naomi, or Clarice, or Calci, or even me. So can you please do this for us? For me?”

There wasn't much I could say against that. Sure this was humiliating, but everything in my life for the last week had been humiliating. Victor really had tried to kill me, not just control me or embarrass me, but actually murder me. I couldn't let that stand. And I couldn't let him do it to the girls. I just had to do this for a day or two and I'd be the hero, protecting my friends.

“OK, I'll do this. But just once,” I said.

“Thank you,” Ella said, carefully hugging me so she wouldn't mess up my makeup.

Calci came back with a small boulder. It was pure white with streaks of glassy black all through it. When the light caught it just right it glittered prettily. “I think this will be perfect,” she said putting it into my hands.

The boulder had to weigh fifty pounds. My hands dropped into my lap with a crunch. “GET IT OFF ME!” I screamed as my legs started to crack and I lost all feeling in my hands.

I looked at the thing in my hands with sheer dread. It was horrible. It was clingy. It was red. It was practically see through.

“Come on Petra, try on the dress,” Clarice said.

I held the scrap of fabric against my body. “This wouldn't cover an emaciated fairy,” I said.

“Yes it will. It stretches.”

We'd been looking through the clothes section of the Doom Valley student store, and I was once again wishing I was a boy. It was easy to shop as a boy. Find pants that look OK, get the correct size, buy pants. Shirts were a bit more tricky because there were more choices, but not that much trickier. I could be in and out of a clothing store in five minutes, fifteen if I was being slow and there was a line up.

But as a girl, I apparently had to look at the fabric, the cut, the colour, the size which didn't make any sense, decide if I wanted to look sexy, demure, flirty, innocent, dangerous, playful or seductive, and match it with the makeup and shoes I was wearing.

Naomi handed me a bra, which seemed to be made mostly out of wires and was possibly a torture device. “This will go with the dress.”

“It will?” I asked, completely confused.

They shoved me into the change room while my head was still spinning.

Taking off my sensible pants and shirt, I looked around to make sure no one was looking and took off my bra unleashing my breasts. They'd gone down slightly since I'd been transformed again, but I still couldn't see my feet. I missed looking at my toes.

I put the bra on, it wasn't soft and cottony like my usual school supplied bra. It was apparently spider silk, and the fabric felt like cool air on my skin. The wires pushed my breasts up, so it felt like I had a table strapped to my chest. The fabric didn't really cover the top of my breasts, leaving them open to the world.

Hastily I threw on the red dress. It clung to me, and I had to twist, shimmy and shake to get it down. Looking at myself in the mirror, I realized that my towel after a shower covered more of my body than the dress did. It also left absolutely nothing to the imagination, clinging to my body like a second skin. If I lifted my legs too much while walking I'd flash my underwear to everyone.

Well that wouldn't be too humiliating, everyone had already seen my underwear in that stupid pass or die test, and when I burned my skirt, and after the wild dogs had mauled me in combat class. Still it was the principal of the thing, I didn't want to be flashing my underwear for the world to see.

Bending over, I could see straight down my top. Couldn't they have found me something a little less revealing? I thought I'd heard that nuns robes were in fashion. Or maybe a suit of armour.

“Come on out Petra, we want to see you,” Naomi said.

Opening the door a little, I hesitantly stepped out. “I think it's too small.”

“No it's perfect. You look fantastic,” Clarice said. “And I hate you.”

“Why do you hate me?”

“Because I'll never be able to wear something like that,” the tiny girl said.

“It will fit you better than it does me,” I grumbled.

“you need actual curves to wear that thing. I don't got that.”

“I'll trade you,” I said.

Clarice got a thoughtful look, like she was really considering it.

“I don't think we should talk about trading bodies here, someone may take you up on the offer,” Ella said. “Petra, you look great. Now lets pay for this and get supper. You're going to knock Rocks For Brains, and every other boy, dead.”

Walking behind Ella, I kept repeating to myself, “I'm doing this to protect my friends. I only have to do this once.”

___

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

All eyes were on me when we walked into the cafeteria and took our regular table. Looking down at my tight dress, and overly exposed assets, I wondered how I'd been talked into this. Sitting down, carefully so I didn't show off my underwear by accident, I put my elbows on the table and clasped my hands together under my chin trying to cover my breasts.

Garth's jaw dropped. And I realized all the other boys at our table had the same stunned expression. Looking down, I saw I was actually pushing my breasts together making them look even bigger and perkier.

I dropped my arms, and blushed. Whatever god had invented breasts had a lot to answer for.

“That's a new look for you, Petra,” Garth squeaked. He shifted a little in his seat, trying to subtly adjust his pants.

Somehow the blush which seemed to have set up permanent residence in my cheeks grew even brighter. “I'm only doing this because it might help. As soon as I'm done, I'm burning this dress, and the bra.”

“You can't burn it!” Naomi said. “You look great in it.”

“I don't like showing so much leg, or breasts. Or hips. Or butt. Or curves in general.”

“You're going to hate the swimming and aquatic fighting part of combat class,” she told me.

An involuntary shudder ran through me at the thought of wearing a bathing suit, or even worse a bikini. “Please tell me that isn't anytime soon.”

“Sorry, it's next month.”

The boys started to drool.

“Why do you know this and I never heard a word about it?”

“Angel Slayer told us at the end of class on the first day. You were curled up in the fetal position crying and begging us to stop killing you,” she said.

“Oh Petra!” Clarice hissed. “Lover boy is looking at you.”

I looked up and saw that yes, Rocks For Brains was looking at me with a big goofy grin on his face. Hunching down in my seat I had to fight the urge to run screaming from the room. I REALLY didn't want to deal with this. It was supposed to be me smiling at the pretty girl hoping she'd pay attention to me. Not the other way around.

“Smile and wave, Petra,” Clarice said.

I forced myself to smile, thinking about Ella's smile and copying it as best I could. But that was as far as I could go. My arm refused to move, there no way I was going to wave at him. Smiling was hard enough.

“Ivy, can you help Petra?” Ella asked.

Growling the werewolf grabbed by wrist, wrenched it up so fast I felt my shoulder almost pulled out of it's socket, and she began waving my arm for me.

“OW! Not! OW! So! OW! Hard! OW! Ivy!” I said, trying to keep my head from getting bashed by my own arm.

The half-giants grin became bigger and goofier. He waved shyly at me, his greyish cheeks developing a delicate pink blush. Then I saw something very bad. Victor was smiling and saying something to Rocks For Brains.

“Uh guys, I think Victor has something nasty planned. I don't like his smile.”

Rocks For Brains took his backpack off, reached inside and pulled out a boulder as big as I was. It did look pretty, being a sparkling bluish-grey stone with dark purple amethyst running through it. I didn't have long to admire it unfortunately. The half-giant leaned back, holding the boulder in one arm and then flung it as hard as he could right at me.

“DUCK!” I shouted, jumping out of the way.

There was a terrific crash as the boulder crushed our table. Food and drinks went flying, covering me, all my friends and every table in our immediate vicinity. Our jump for safety added to the chaos, as we slammed into those nearby, shoving them face down into their food, knocking them from their seats and crushing them against the tables.

Staring at the table, I realized I'd almost died from the boulder, which was sitting in a small crater that had once been our seat. The boulder actually looked prettier in person. I had no idea where he'd gotten it from, but it couldn't have been easy to find. It even looked like he had polished it, I could practically see myself in the stone.

I couldn't see Rocks For Brains, having fallen on the floor, and with so many kids standing between us. I did see Calci pull her own rock from her bag. It wasn't nearly as big as 'my' stone, but it was even prettier.

The Dwarf judged the distance and lobbed the stone at the half-giant. Getting to my feet, I watched the stone almost hit the roof the it started going down. And somehow Calci had perfect aim. It hit Rocks For Brains right in the head, knocking him on his butt.

A big hand grabbed my collar and lifted me into the air by my now stained, red dress. I found myself looking at Barbarina, who had mashed potatoes all over her face and gravy dripping from her hair. She looked angry.

“You ruined my supper,” she growled.

My head twisted looking for help. But everyone seemed to be in a similar situation of facing down angry, food covered students. “Uh, I'm VERY sorry. But you can't really blame this on me,” I said.

I was about to say more when I heard the sound of cloth ripping. My dress was designed to be pretty and show off my assets. The most activity it was supposed to deal with was dancing and potentially rather heavy petting. It was not made to hold someone up while being held by a barbarian.

The dress ripped in half under my weight. I found myself on my feet, only wearing my shoes and underwear, looking up at a very scary girl, who already had my scalp sewn onto her helmet. I was going to die, and I didn't have a belt of resurrection this time.

Doing the only thing sensible, I turned on my heels and ran for it.

Chaos broke out all around us. My friends mostly realizing cowardice was a better long term survival strategy than fighting, scattered, dodging blades, fists and magic thrown their way. Other students who hadn't been hit by food, found themselves getting punched, or dealing with an exploding fireball, narrowly missing a sword swing, or getting jumped by an overenthusiastic fighter.

They didn't take too kindly to this and the fighting spread.

Ivy, who had somehow kept a hold of her bone, grabbed a particularly dimwitted boy that had jumped her. She casually tossed him at another table. He landed with a splat on a bowl of soup. The soup flipped up into the air, spinning as it did, scattering its very hot content. There were screams of outrage and more people got to their feet.

Ella was surrounded by a swarm of fairies, being hustled away by Blood Wing. The half-fairy was gleefully zapping anyone who got too close to her. Clarice, Naomi and Calci were hiding under the remnants of the table, the small girl with her back against the boulder, while Naomi poked people with her spear and Calci punched anyone stupid enough to try attacking a Dwarf.

I lost track of the boys. I suspected that some of them were under a dog pile of shouting and fighting figures, but if they were, I couldn't help them. I was busy scrambling along the floor, in my underwear, trying to avoid the angry barbarian girl who wanted to take my scalp, again.

“Gotcha!” Barbarina shouted, lifting me up by my ankle.

Blood rushed to my head, and my breasts threatened to give me a black eye as she shook me. I was doomed. There was no way I could beat her, and she was going to tear me apart.

Then salvation appeared.

Garth came flying out of nowhere, catching the barbarian around the neck and bringing her to the ground. We all crashed to the floor, and were promptly trampled by the rioting students. Somehow I managed to get to my feet, and looked at Garth who looked surprisingly brave as he kicked Barbarina who was between us.

“RUN!” he shouted.

Taking his advice, I ran for it. We each went in different directions because neither of us wanted to risk getting close to the enormous and extremely angry girl. Especially now that she was shouting curses and promising to rip our scalps off while we were still alive and use our skulls for a beer glass.

I ducked, dodged and jumped through the wild melee, trying to avoid getting hit, tackled or killed. Unfortunately with my new body, I drew attention. Running around only in red underwear and shoes, I was drawing even more attention.

One of Victors minions tackled me, and I hit the ground hard enough to see stars. I tried to get up, but he was too heavy, and with all the food on the ground, I couldn't get my hands or knees under me. I couldn't even roll over and try to bite him. I was stuck.

“Victor, I've got her!” he shouted.

The floor shook. There were screams of terror, and the sound of teenagers flying at high speed only to come to an abrupt halt.

“I save you!” Rocks For Brains shouted.

I saw a pair of enormous feet come dangerously close to my head.

“Hey Rocks, I'm your friend!” the boy shouted.

“No hurt girlfriend!”

The weight on my back suddenly disappeared.

“Hey! Put me down! No! Don't throw MMMMMEEEEEEEE!” The cry cut off as the boy landed in a pile of half conscious teenagers who had found themselves in the way of Rocks For Brains.

And then I was being picked up by the love-struck half-giant, who looked at me with a big grin. “I saved you,” he said.

“Yeah. You did,” I squeaked.

“I did a good job, for pretty Petra. No one hurt you now.”

Barbarina came storming over, she had a nasty black eye, and looked ready to kill. Then she saw me in the arms of... my hero. The barbarian wisely turned around and began punching an unfortunate teen that was shoved within arms reach of her.

I reached out and patted Rock For Brains cheek, hoping he wouldn't try to kiss me, his mouth was as large as my face. “Good work. You did a very good job, Rocky,” I said, forcing myself to smile.

My brain was screaming at me that I was going to regret this. But the voice of self-preservation said 'Survive now, we'll figure out what to do next when we're not about to die.' I couldn't argue with that logic.

The door to the cafeteria slammed open. Master Grieve stepped into the room, his armoured head scanned the chaos. Drawing his sword, he sliced the air, thunder boomed.

Everyone stopped what they were doing.

“You will go to your dormitories and clean up,” he said, his deep voice was barely above a whisper but everyone heard his orders. Meekly and quickly they started to clear the room.

His eyes turned to me. With a voice that reminded me of the deep rumble of an avalanche or earthquake, he said, “Petra, Rock For Brains, follow me. We need to discuss your detention.”

___
Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Master Grieve glared at Rocks For Brains and I, and despite only being able to see his eyes, it looked like his helmet was scowling at us.

I was currently wrapped up in a black cape that was at least ten sizes too large for me, but it covered my underwear so I wasn't about to complain. In fact I wished it was larger so I could disappear in it and never have to come out. Rocks For Brains didn't look any happier, the big half-giant was slouched in his chair looking terrified, even though he was bigger than the combat teacher. We both knew we were doomed and about to get a likely life-threatening detention.

The office was very different from Lady Plague's. Everything was made of metal and stone. Even the chair I was sitting in was hard metal. And like everything else about Master Grieve, it was oversized. I felt like a child with my feet dangling over the edge, unable to lean against chair back, unless I wanted to have my legs sticking straight out in front of me. Unwillingly my eyes went to the rows of weapons hanging from the walls. One in particular caught my eye, an executioners sword, the broad sword with razor sharp edges and no point, did not bode well for my continued survival.

“What exactly were you two thinking just now?” Master Grieve asked.

My mouth refused to open. Saying I only thought of surviving another five minutes probably wouldn't go over well.

“Petra pretty. Gave me pretty rock. Wanted to give pretty rock back. She gave me another one too,” Rocks For Brains said, his voice sounding like boulders grinding together. He held up the rock Calci had thrown at him and managed to grin.

The teacher rubbed his forehead, the sound of metal grinding on metal set my teeth on edge. “Rocks For Brains, it was explained to you, repeatedly and in tiny words, that you have to be careful here. Most people aren't as strong as you and throwing rocks outside of class is not allowed.”

“I am sorry.”

I felt a little bad for the big guy. Sure he'd almost killed me twice today, but at least the second time he was trying to be nice.

Master Grieve looked at me. “And what do you have to say for yourself?”

“Before Rocks for Brains threw the rock at me, Victor said something to him. Since Victor is a psychic, he probably set everything up,” I said, hoping to pass the blame onto the guy who really deserved it.

“Rocks For Brains isn't under psychic control. We keep a close watch on that kind of thing.”

The half-giant nodded. “Victor friend. Was friend. He want to hurt Petra. So he not friend now.”

As seemed so often the case since entering Doom Valley, I saw my hopes and dreams turn to ash and blow away in the wind. “Well in my defence, I didn't actually throw anything.”

“A rock was seen being thrown from your table after the first one was thrown. That makes you a co-instigator. Unless someone else threw it.” The teacher waited to see if I would take his opening.

I bit my lip. If I said Calci had thrown it, she'd get detention instead of me. Opening my mouth to tell the truth, I shut it again. She was a dwarf, and she knew magic, she was much more likely to survive detention than I was. She'd also been happy to dress me up like a sexy clown and make me flirt with Rocks For Brains. It wasn't like I wanted to do any of this, why should I be punished?

But could I throw her to the dragons like that? I knew that Doom Valley was all about survival, backstabbing, and double dealing, but I didn't want to do that to a friend. Cursing my niceness, I looked Master Grieve right in the eye and said, “I threw the rock.”

There might have been a tiny, almost imperceptible nod of approval from the massive teacher. Or my eyes could have been fooling me and giving me false hope

“Very well. You will both assist me with advanced combat classes this week. After your last class you will immediately come to my classroom, where you will be told what your duties are for that day. Be ready to run,” he said, handing us both a slip of paper.

Taking the paper, my mouth acted on its own, asking, “Is this survivable?”

“All detentions are survivable, provided you're smart or tough enough. You both may go now.”

With that uplifting bit of information, Rocks For Brains and I left the office and headed for the cafeteria where we could find our way back to our dormitories. I didn't feel much like talking, and trudged along with a sense of doom weighing me down.

“I sorry,” Rocks For Brains said.

“What?” I asked, not really listening.

“I got pretty Petra detention. I sorry.”

“It's not your fault, Rocky,” I said, patting his hand.

“Rocky,” he said, breaking into a grin. “I like Rocky. Rocky will protect soft Pretty Petra.”

“Thanks, just make sure you don't get yourself killed, OK.”

“I survive. I am tough and smart. Smarter than my mama. My papa says I as smart as tiny people. He is tiny too, and smart. So he must be right.”

I had to smile up at the big guy as we reached the cafeteria. “Yeah, you are pretty smart. See you in class tomorrow.”

“See you,” he said, grinning like it was his birthday.

Stepping out of the bathroom, having washed all the food off of me, and dressed in comfortable pyjamas, I saw my girl friends were all there waiting for me. Their worried expressions made it clear they were expecting the worst.

“So how did it go?” Ella asked.

“A week of helping in one of Master Grieve's combat classes, alongside Rocky,” I said.

Clarice perked up. “Rocky? You're calling Rocks For Brains by his nickname?”

I shrugged. “I kind of gave it to him without thinking about it. Then he promised to protect me.”

Ella ignored the ooh's and giggling from the other girls, asking, “What about Victor?”

“He wasn't controlling Rocks For Brains, they were just friends. They aren't anymore.”

“Good. That makes things easier for us. I'll talk to some people and see what I can get to help you survive. They won't intentionally try to kill you, so a few potions or a charms should give you the edge you need to make it out alive.”

“Thanks. But I want a promise that I won't have to act as a honey trap anymore. I suck at it and I don't want to end up half naked and getting detention again,” I said.

The girls had the grace too look embarrassed. “Sorry about that, Petra,” Clarice said.

“It did end up as a disaster didn't it,” Ella said. “Don't worry, I won't ask you to do anything like that in the future.”

“Good. Now is there anything to eat? I didn't manage to get anything to eat, I just got to wear it,” I grumbled.

“I've got you covered. We stopped at the school store and picked up some things. Dig in,” she said, pointing to the small coffee table, which I saw was now covered in snacks.

Picking up a muffin, I hungrily devoured it in a few bites, then went back for a pickled dragon egg. “So what do we do tomorrow? I think Barbarina wants to kill me now.”

“I talked to her,” Calci said. Her voice sounded off, probably from her swollen jaw that was an amazing green colour. “Well we punched each other a few times, then Ivy threatened to rip her throat out. After that we talked. She'll leave you alone, just had to buy her a box of chocolate.”

“That's a relief.”

Ella gave me a comforting smile. “We're doing what we can to help you. I've explained to several people that Victor was behind everything, and let them know that I'm interested in seeing him properly punished. If Rocks For Brains is really done with him, there's a good chance he'll be out of our hair in a few days.”

“At least something good happened from all of this,” I muttered.

She came over and gave me a hug. “Don't worry, just survive detention and things will get easier.”

Feeling her arms around me, I couldn't help but think that things were looking up. Maybe Doom Valley wasn't so bad after all.

___

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

It was our fourth day of classes at Doom Valley Prep School. I'd been killed and resurrected over twenty times, nearly permanently died at least twice, and probably more than that, gotten into two fights, been transformed again into an even sexier girl, blew up the face of my teacher, ended up naked in front of class, got a concussion in potions class, set my dress on fire, nearly destroyed the magic classroom with a spell gone wrong, almost got detention once, and then got a week long detention the very next day, I think that was pretty impressive even for Doom Valley.

Trudging along to breakfast, I didn't feel as confident as I had the night before. Sure my friends were going to try help me, but I was doing detention everyday for a week in a high level combat class. What could they possibly give me that would help?

Taking a seat, I saw that Rocks For Brains was sitting by himself. He didn't look up from his enormous bowl of something. Barbarina on the other hand managed to hit me right on the temple with her elbow.

“Ow! Watch where your going!” I snapped.

The barbarian looked back long enough to smirk and say, “You're going to die. Shame I won't be able to get your scalp a second time.”

“You OK?” Garth asked, sitting down beside me.

“Yeah. Just not feeling confident about my detention,” I said. Turning to look at him, I saw he had a nasty bruise on his cheek. “Oh, you got hurt.”

He shrugged. “Yeah. Barbarina managed to punch me when I took her down. It's not bad, only hurts when I talk.”

I gave him a hug. I wouldn't normally give a guy a hug, but having been hugged so often by my friends, it had sort of become a habit. And my feeling were all over the place, so I just went with it. Very awkwardly and hesitantly he wrapped his arms around me, which felt almost as nice as getting hugged by my girl friends.

We didn't hug for long, but by the time we were done everyone else was there. The girls were grinning, while the boys gave Garth a thumbs up. I didn't know why it was such a big deal, we'd just hugged. Naomi and the girls hugged me all the time.

“Good morning everyone,” Ella said. “Boys, how is Victor doing?”

Gold looked away from Clarice, who had been feeding him a piece of fruit. “Ah, he's not doing that well. Rock For Brains told him to leave Petra alone, or he'd stomp on him. A lot of the other guys are muttering about getting some revenge on him.”

The princess grinned like a cat. “Excellent. If you'd be so kind to pass on the word that the first person who punishes Victor in a suitably painful or humiliating way will gain my favour, it would be appreciated.”

We all shared a look. Ella had never talked that way before, she'd always sounded sophisticated and confident, now she sounded like royalty ordering an execution. But this was Victor we were talking about, if anyone deserved it, it was that psychic creep.

Looking around I noticed that Victor wasn't sitting at his usual table, instead he was a far one with his back firmly against the wall. Micheal was beside him, the little freak didn't look so good. His skin was greyish and as he ate a breakfast sandwich I saw his hand was wrapped in a black bandaged with what looked like red runes all over it. That couldn't be healthy.

My mood lifted at seeing my two biggest enemies brought down to size.

“Now that our enemies are mostly dealt with, the important thing is protecting Petra from her detention. We don't want to see her killed or maimed. So today try to come up with anything that might help her survive, buy enchanted items from other classmates, make potions of healing, invisibility, shielding, or whatever you think can help. I'll cover all expenses, and I'm willing to discuss favours during lunch or class with anyone,” Ella said.

“Petra and I can make some quick healing potions in class,” Calci said. “They won't be very strong, but they'll help if she sprains an ankle or something.”

“Very good, Calci.”

“Maybe we can... borrow one of the shield pins from combat class. That would really help,” Naomi said.

“We have to return those after class,” I pointed out.

“You had yours stolen last class. You couldn't return it and you didn't get into trouble.”

Ella grinned. “If you could steal one for each of us, that would be very helpful. But for right now try to just steal one of them. And Petra should do it, she's already got detention, it's expected that she'll attempt to protect herself. They likely won't punish her as much as someone else.”

“Wh-” I started to say only to stop and think about it. I already had detention, what more could they do to me? And this was my problem, if anyone should get in trouble trying to help me, it should be me. Sure most people at Doom Valley would probably want to make someone else take the responsibility, but I didn't want to be here. I wanted to be a hero. Well it was time I started acting like one.

“Good idea,” I said. “I'll do it.”

“Are you sure?” Naomi asked.

“Y-yes. I can do this.”

Everyone but Ella gave me worried or disbelieving looks. The princess just smiled and nodded in respect. It helped make me feel better about my decision.

In magic class everyone watched me as I went to my seat. They were whispering to each other, and snickering or giggling evilly. I wanted to hide, or better yet run away, but I couldn't do that. It was time for me to act like a hero. With my chin up, and my chest pushed out, I pretended that everything was right with the world.

Mage Malacoda came into class making everyone quiet down. “Today class we're going to practice your dispel shield. You can try to dispel a magical spell as it's being cast, but usually only the best mages can accomplish that quickly enough to matter. If you're about to get a blast poison gas to the face, which will go through most shields, remembering the exact words to counter it is rather difficult. Repeating them perfectly in time to stop it is almost impossible. So it's best if you set up a dispel shield before you are under fire.”

We spent the first half of class going over the spell, breaking it down into its basic components, and learning how they were connected. Then several minutes were spent going through the motions and the words. It was very thorough, but it was also one of the more important spells we could learn, so I was happy to spend the time on it.

I partnered up with Garth just like last time, hoping that this time things would go better. “So who should go first?” I asked.

“How about you try the spell first, that way if you get it wrong we can work on it some more,” he said.

Nodding at his logic, I carefully cast the spell and felt a tingle that told me the spell had worked. Now to see how well it worked.

Muttering some words, Garth cast his minor wind spell.

I felt the wind hit my dispel shield, and then it began to whistle. I found myself picked up by hurricane force wind, and thrown right into Calci. We both went down, landing on top of her partner, and slid along the ground into the wall.

Getting to my feet, I helped Calci up who was more confused than hurt. Her partner wasn't so lucky. The girl was out cold from having been used as a sled by a heavy dwarf and myself.

“What happened?” I asked.

Mage Malacoda shook his head and rubbed his eyes, like he couldn't believe what had just happened. “You've managed a one in ten million feat, Petra. Somehow you made a dispel shield that increases the power of a spell.”

“Uh-huh. I don't know how I did that.”

“Neither do I,” he replied. “Now you and Calci can get Lauri to the nurse. It looks like you've broken her.”

We each grabbed the unconscious girl under an arm and started making our way out of the classroom.

The nurses office was much like I remembered it. The centaur nurse sighed when she saw me come in. “You're back so soon,” she said dryly.

“Uh yeah, but it's not for me this time. Our classmate fell and got hurt,” I said.

“How?”

“Well we were kind of blown into her by a spell gone wrong, and she softened our landing.”

The nurse facepalmed. “Fine, put her on the table.”

Calci and I did as we were told, then stepped back. The nurse moved in to look her over, her large horse body pushed me to the side. Glass rattled as I moved. Looking back, I saw that there were several potions on the counter.

As casually as possible I grabbed a few of the smaller ones, shoving them into my pants pockets. “Well if that's everything, we should get back to class,” I said.

“Yes you should. Tell your teacher she's out for the day,” the nurse said, not bothering to look at us.

“Will do,” I said, motioning for Calci to move quickly.

Once we were in the hallway, Calci gave me an odd look. “What was that about? I wanted to see what would happen.”

“I got some help for tonight,” I said, taking a potion of something halfway out of my pocket.

The dwarf broke into a grin and stroked her small beard. “Great work, Petra, there may be hope for you after all.

With a new found bounce in my step, we headed for class.

___

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

I couldn't focus on my classes. The jars I'd stolen sat heavily in my bag, and I was certain that any minute the nurse would come and call me a thief. I wasn't sure what the punishment for stealing from the infirmary was, but it was probably worse than detention.

What exactly I had stolen was still unknown. There hadn't been time to read the labels, so for all I knew I could have something that would cure dragons pox, or an ingrown toe nail. Or one of them could be a regeneration potion that would regrow a heart before you died from blood loss. Since I had risked my neck getting them, it would have been nice to know if they were worth it.

“Petra,” Ms. Parch, the history teacher and goddess of written history, brought my attention back to class. “What was the cause of the Siren War?”

“Uh,” I said intelligently, trying to buy time while recalling what I'd read the night before. “The scholar Rutherford the Foolish, made a dictionary of their language, which was a blasphemy to the sirens. So they hunted him down and every copy of the dictionary that had been made.”

Ms. Parch nodded, which made a weird sound of old parchment rubbing against itself. “Very good, you are paying attention.”

Not wanting to risk getting another question, I started writing down her lecture about the war. It was actually kind of interesting, the Sirens had attacked in small groups over four years, stealing and burning every copy they could find, even if it meant burning down buildings and people who didn't get out in time. It had finally ended when the last dictionaries had been handed over in exchange for the Sirens returning to their home on the Ever Eastern Mountain and staying there.

When class was finally over, Ella and I headed to the cafeteria. “Did you get anything useful?” she asked.

“I picked up some potions from the infirmary. I don't know what they are yet,” I replied.

Her eyes lit up. “Very good. And you weren't caught?”

“The nurse didn't say anything. She was too busy looking after a girl Calci and I kind of, broke.”

“Broke?” Ella asked, looking confused.

“I tried to make a dispel shield in magic class, and mine actually amplified the spell.” I looked down at my feet in embarrassment. How many times would I have to screw up in magic class before the teachers realized I was an absolute failure. “Anyways, I was thrown into Calci, and we both landed on top of her partner, knocking her out.”

“Do you remember how you did it? If you can do it again it might make helpful spells even more powerful.”

I hadn't actually thought of that. The wind spell Garth had cast had become a hurricane, what would happen to a healing spell cast through it? “I don't really know what I did wrong, but I can try to do it again.”

“Tonight after your detention, we'll invite Calci over and you can practice. It won't help you much for the detention, but if we can get it working it will be really helpful in other situations.”

“OK!” I said, feeling a bit better about my incompetence.

I got our usual table while everyone else got food, including mine, and took the four small jars out of my bag. When everyone was there, I quickly told them how I'd gotten them, and then started reading the labels.

“Pickman's Elixir of Healing,” I said, putting a putrid green bottle to the side. It was clearly a good one.

The next looked like cloudy water. “Krueger: Essence of Dreams, what is that?” I asked.

“It helps a person sleep and gives the good dreams,” Gold said. “My mom uses it a lot.”

“That could be useful, but it might be better to save it for later. There won't be much of a chance to make someone drink it in a fight,” Ella said.

Putting the sleep aid to the opposite the healing potion, I read the next one. “Invigorating Voorhees. Oh this is definitely one I want.”

“What does it do?” Clarice asked.

“It doubles your strength and endurance. It's popular in Head Breaks Rock games.”

There was one last bottle, the smallest one. “Myer's Ointment of Fortitude.” I looked around wondering if anyone had heard of it.

Everyone looked a little confused. Calci read the label, then opened it up and gave it a sniff, wrinkling her nose at the smell. “This says you rub it on yourself to make your skin tough enough to take a blow from an ogre.”

“Nice,” I said, not believing how lucky I'd gotten. There had to be a catch somewhere. “With these I could survive detention.”

Ella was looking over at Rocks For Brains, with a curious expression. “I think we should invite Rocks over, he looks lonely.”

We all looked nervously at the half-giant. Sure he was no longer working with Victor, but he could accidentally kill any of us, except maybe Calci and Ivy, with an accidental nudge. “Are you sure?” I asked.

“Yes. You two will probably be facing off against other students, not each other. Having him working with us, and you, will be helpful. Especially if he drinks the Voorhee's stuff. Lets face it Petra, doubling your strength won't do much. But doubling his, he'd make almost anyone worried.”

“That's a good point,” I admitted. “So who is going to invite him over?”

Everyone looked at me. Well everyone except Garth who was looking at his food. My stomach dropped as I realized there was only one good candidate. “Right, should have guessed. I'll go get him,” I muttered.

All eyes were on me as I walked over to Rocky. There was a lot of whispering as well, a few smirks, a lot of concerned looks, and some money passing hands. I really wished everyone would just ignore me, like they had at my old, ordinary school.

“Hey Rocky,” I said.

The big half-giant looked up in surprise, then he got a goofy grin on his enormous face. “Pretty Petra. Hello!”

“Would you like to eat with me and my friends?”

He grabbed his tray and got up so fast, the table flipped over nearly crushing me. Fortunately I'd become quick on my feet and managed to jump back in time.

“Sorry,” he said, before awkwardly holding his tray and putting the table back in order.

“Don't worry about it, just try to be more careful. You'll do better next time.”

We made our way back to my table, and the number of concerned looks had doubled. Students moved between tables talking quietly to each other, motioning at us or Ella as they did. This probably wasn't good, but there wasn't much I could do about it.

Taking my seat, Rocky sat on the floor at the end of the table, smiling shyly. “Hi,” he said, giving everyone a tiny wave.

“Hello Rocks For Brains, it's nice to finally meet you,” Ella said. She introduced all of us to the half-giant, and then got down to business. “Rocks For Brains, we're talking about your detention, and I think we have something that will really help you and Petra. Since we're friends now, you'll want to protect Petra right?”

“Yes! I help soft Petra. She is nice and pretty.”

I blushed in embarrassment. I really didn't like being called soft, or pretty, no matter how accurate it was.

“That's great!” Ella said, clapping her hands together. “Then we'll definitely help you, so you can both be safe. Petra found some good potions that will help you.”

Ella kept talking through lunch, making sure Rocky understood exactly what he had to do and how I'd help him. He happily nodded along, giving me shy looks and blushing every time I looked at him.

Garth hurriedly finished his food and got to his feet. “I've gotta go. Need to get some things ready for my next class.”

“OK, have fun,” I said.

“Yeah, sure,” he muttered, ignoring everyone else as he headed for the door.

Not sure what his problem was, I shrugged my shoulders, and listened to Ella talk.

Nurse Sharon stomped her hoof in irritation.

Working at Doom Valley was always interesting, but usually it was interesting to other people, not her. Most people were smart enough to want to stay on her good side. But it seemed one foolish student had decided to make her part of their plots. She knew who the culprits were, the freshmen that everyone was interested in had to have stolen the potions, no one else had had the opportunity.

She considered getting one of her homunculus to drag the girl kicking and screaming back to the infirmary. Shaking her head she decided not to bother. She'd have to explain that they'd stolen from her and that would be embarrassing.

Looking over the mislabelled potions that were spread out on the counter, she took a quick inventory of what was left. Someone had enchanted the labels to jump between bottles, so she wasn't sure what exactly was what without a thorough study. This type of thing was an occasional problem, the seniors would dare each other to pull a prank, and the supply room was one of the safer places to pull it. Fortunately she had a good idea of what was missing.

Sharon started to smile. If she was right, the little thief was going to have a very big surprise when she tried to use her ill gotten goods. It might be worth taking time out of her day to watch Master Grieve's detention, she needed a good laugh.

___

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Author: Sorry about the delay, had some computer problems.

“Are you ready for your detention?” Naomi asked, trying not to speak so loudly it would attract Coach Angel Slayers attention, but still be heard over the sound of wood and metal hitting each other.

Stabbing at her with my spear, only to have it knocked out of the way by her own spear, I said, “No. I know we have a plan, and it might work, but I really wish I had a few more days, or years to prepare.”

Naomi tried to knock my feet out from under me, forcing me to jump back. “At least you have those potions, that should help. And did you and Calci make anything useful in Potions?”

I retaliated with a jab to her face, trying to regain some initiative. “A few smoke bombs, and she made a flash stone. So I can blind someone and hide, that should help a little.”

The butt of her spear came up hitting me in the stomach, knocking me onto my butt. “That's good. Every little bit helps.”

Gasping for air, I took a short breather. Even with my new protection medal, that had hurt. “Yeah. I guess.”

A shriek from other side of the class interrupted our conversation. Ivy was on top of her partner, brutally mauling him. Shredded cloth was flying all over, amazingly none of it was bloody. Angel Slayer slowly made her way over to the one sided curb stomping, while everyone watched in amusement.

“OK, Ivy, you won. You can stop now,” the Orc said.

Growling, Ivy got to her feet, walked a few feet away and flopped onto the ground. The boy scrambled to his feet, practically naked except for a few scraps of clothes around his waist. He was running his hands up and down his body, apparently in amazement that he wasn't dead.

“I've lost my medal!” he said.

Angel Slayer sighed. “Ivy, did you see where the medal went?”

The werewolf shrugged, not bothering to say anything. Ameth, the cat girl, came running up, holding a medal for the boy, giggling as she looked at him.

“OK everyone, shows over!” Angel Slayer shouted. “Back to training.”

After class I was stripping off my sweaty clothes ready to hop in the shower, which could very well be my last one, when Ivy came over. She was still in her half-wolf form, with an oversized wolf head, clawed hands and feet, and ropy muscle that looked like steel cords under her skin.

“Hey Ivy. You did really good beating everyone up,” I said.

As usual she didn't say much. In fact she didn't say anything, just shrugged her shoulders. Then she held up her hairy, clawed hand to her muzzle, and started making a gagging sound. I stepped back wondering if she was going to throw up as she jerked forwards. Then a protection meal dropped out of her mouth and into her hand.

She put the spit covered medal in my hand, and shifted back to her human form. “Don't die,” she said, her voice a little hoarse.

“Thank you!” I squealed. My face turned red and my cheeks felt like they were on fire at how girly I'd sounded. But no one else seemed to care. Clutching the wet medal to my chest I hurried to the shower. I needed to get cleaned up and dressed if I was going to make it to my detention on time.

I also needed to rub the Myer's Ointment of Fortitude all over myself, so it would have time to work before I faced my possible death. That trick gave me the courage to not shake like a leaf as I got ready.

Rocks For Brains and I walked down the marble floored hallway, lit by yellow and blue fairy lights that covered the ceiling, providing a comforting glow, making our way to Master Grieve's classroom. We were in the older students area of the school, and the large, well dressed, very scary looking students openly smirked and laughed at us.

“Twenty silver that the cutie ends up in the hospital for a week,” a boy said to another student.

“One gold the big guy gets transformed into something cute and cuddly,” came from a girl.

Rocky ducked his head, as people placed bets on our chances. I now understood why the freshmen were kept away from the older students for the first few months. Among the freshmen I felt like a little fish surrounded by barracuda. Here was even worse, I was a piece of juicy meat surrounded by ravenous werewolves.

Rocky hunched down, looking like he was trying to hide, and ended up looking ridiculous. I couldn't put my arm over his shoulder since he was so big, instead I grabbed two of his fingers and gave them a squeeze of support. He brightened up immediately, holding his head up a bit more confidently.

The students started laughing, making rude comments about us being lovers, openly wondering if Rocky was really small or I just liked it really big. My face turned a brilliant red, but I did my best to pretend they weren't bothering me.

We made it to Master Grieve's combat class, which had a solid soul steel door big enough to make Rocky look tiny. It was so black it seemed to absorb the light. The only colour came from a few wispy, ghostly faces that moved along the surface of the door, silently moaning.

My knees went weak, and I had a sudden urge to run away screaming. I could all too easily picture my soul being added to the door. Before I could do that, Rocky slowly pushed the door open, and stepped inside, dragging me with him.

Master Grieve sat in a throne made of mithril and orichalcum. Twenty students of many different species stood at attention. They were armed and armoured in a wide variety of styles ranging from a nearly naked orc boy covered in tattoos and body paint with a machete, to what I thought was a girl covered in glowing silver armour that covered everything including her eyes holding an ornate elemental gun and a bandoleer stretched over her ample chest covered in elemental dust cartridges. Twin elves, a brother and sister with blue hair, watched us with predatory eyes. They were wearing clothes made of leaves with red dragon leather cloaks, and they were unarmed. But they had matching bracelets and rings covered in glowing gemstones.

Someone started whimpering, and I realized it was me.

A Minotaur snickered, his mithril chain mail clinked a little as he adjusted his spiked shield that was larger than I was. His horns were covered in soul steel and looked sharp enough to stab through solid steel. A clockwork folk, clicked noisily as it did some last minute on something that had a lot of pointy metal darts sticking out of it. A human girl with short black hair smiled at me, this was not reassuring since she had very sharp teeth and her outfit looked like it was made entirely out of knives.

We were going to die.

Master Grieve stood up, bringing utter silence to the class. The wall at the back of the class opened up, revealing a verdant jungle. A thick mist turned everything into shadows and half seen objects. Animals hooted, howled, chirped and cawed. Something long and sinuous moved in the distance, barely visible through the bushes and mist.

“Today we are going to test your skills at tracking and capture,” he said. Raising his hand, he motioned at Rocky and I. “Our volunteers will have five minutes to run, then you will chase and capture them. The one who brings them here alive, gets top marks. Are there any questions?”

I raised my hand.

“Yes, Petra?”

“Do they get extra marks if they bring us back relatively unharmed?” I asked.

His eyes pierced my soul. It was a good thing I'd gone to the bathroom earlier, otherwise I'd have wet myself right there and then. “No,” he said. “As long as you're breathing it's acceptable.”

Tightening my bag, which had the potions in it, I nodded. We were going to get hurt, but we'd probably survive. I could live with that.

“The five minutes start now,” Master Grieve said.

Rocky and I walked to the jungle and started jogging, sticking close together as we went for the thickest bushes we could see.

___

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Rocky and I were hiding in some of the thickest bushes we could find. Bugs were biting us, we had cuts from razor sharp leaves, and thorns were stuck in my hair and clothes, but overall we weren't doing too badly. We had already survived ten minutes, which was longer than I had expected.

Studying the plant life, I was pretty sure were in the Yggdrasil Forest, at least the rain forest part of it. A tree trunk that was several miles wide and disappeared into the clouds loomed over us, and thick, black wood stuck out of the ground in places like rocks. If we reached the edge of the forest, we'd probably only be a few hundred yards above the massive desert city of Zerzura. Higher up were the temperate forests and a few miles higher than that were pine forests.

Maybe I could climb down into the city and get a job as an apprentice or something and not have to go back to Doom Valley. That would be nice.

“How ya doing Rocky?” I asked.

“OK. How is pretty Petra doing?” he rumbled.

“Pretty good. I think you should drink the Invigorating Voorhees now. It will last until detention is over.”

Nodding, the half-giant pulled out potion and tipped the bottle into his mouth. It was barely a mouthful for him, and he drained it almost instantly. Was he supposed to drink it all at once? I shrugged my shoulders, it was too late to say anything now. And it was pretty hard to overdose on it, some Heads Break Rocks athletes seemed to guzzle the stuff.

Scratching an itch, I wondered if we should keep moving or stay in our hiding spot. Between Rocky and I, it seemed like I was going to be the brains, while Rocky was the brawn. That didn't exactly fill me with a lot of confidence.

A manticore howled in the distance. The birds that had been whistling and cawing became deathly quiet. Instinctively I ducked lower, shoving my face into the leaf litter that covered the ground. Rocky put his massive hand protectively on my back, which was surprisingly comforting.

The monster howled again, much closer this time.

“Let's move. We don't want to make this too easy for the students,” I said.

We started moving as quickly and quietly as we could, making our way through the damp undergrowth. I kept thinking something was moving close by. A shadow would appear in the mist and seem to disappear, but a closer look showed it was a giant spider or a bird flying around. Motion would catch my eye, and it would be the mist and sun making weird patterns on the plants. For a second I was certain something metallic was pointed straight at me, but it vanished so quickly I put it down as a trick of the eyes.

The manticore howled once more. It was practically on top of us. Looking towards the noise, I saw a massive shape bounding through the mist coming straight at Rocky and I. My heart leaped into my throat, and my underwear became a little wetter.

“RUN!” I shouted.

Barbs flew through the air, coming so close I felt one of them tug at my shirt.

Then all hell broke loose.

The jungle came alive with senior students. They were all around us, and instead of attacking us, they were attacking each other.

The Elf twins dropped down from a tree, their bracelets and rings flared with eldritch colours as they  hammered on the girl in silver armour who popped out from behind a bush. The girl didn't seem too concerned about the attack, taking her time to pull something out of her belt and throw it against the ground. There was a puff of greenish smoke and the trio vanished from sight.

A nearly naked tattooed Orc ran into a tree, disappeared and appeared out of another one right beside the manticore. “They're mine, Mim!” he shouted, swinging his machete into the monsters hide.

Something crashed through the jungle, knocking trees down and sending a few students flying. The Minotaur slammed into the manticore with his shield, bowling the monster over right onto the Orc. He bellowed in victory, which turned into a scream of pain as a girl landed on his back, stabbing him with a pair of daggers. He swung at her, but she was already jumping away, disappearing into the mist.

There was too much to keep track of. Trees were falling, cut by blades, blown apart by spells and weapons, or simply snapped like twigs by fists and bodies. If I'd been watching the chaos from the safety of a magic mirror, it would have been awesome. Since I was right in the middle of it and the prize, I just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry.

Rocky grabbed me and took off running as fast as his long legs could take him. I couldn't see much with my body pressed up against his chest, but I'm pretty sure we trampled a few students who were too busy fighting to notice us.

Maybe it was because I was being pressed into the half-giants hairy chest or I was allergic to something in the jungle, but my entire body started to itch. Twisting around a little I managed to look over Rocky's shoulder, I wished I hadn't. It looked like the entire class was chasing us as they fought each other.

The silver armoured girl raised her elemental gun and fired, only to have the barrel knocked aside at the last second, sending a stream of water into the Minotaur bringing him to his knees. The manticore threw barbs into the male elf twin, causing him to fall from a tree. The tattooed Orc landed on knife girls head, then used her as a spring board to reach a branch where he disappeared from sight. Lightning flashed, electrocuting a group of brawlers. Someone threw a vial which broke, releasing a yellow cloud that made everyone caught in it start to choke.

Turning my head, I said, “Rocky, you're doing great, keep going!”

“My head hurts,” he replied.

“What?”

“My head hurts,” he repeated.

I looked him over as best I could but couldn't find anything wrong with him. Maybe he'd gotten a manticore barb buried in his body, or someone cast a spell and we hadn't noticed it.

Reaching into my bag I pulled out Pickman's Elixir of Healing, and opened it. I had to hold it tight so I didn't lose the putrid green elixir. “Open your mouth!”

The half-giant opened his mouth, and I uncomfortably realized I could comfortably fit my head in it. I managed to pour a few drops of the viscous liquid onto his tongue, then put the cap back on. I didn't want to give him too much, overdosing on healing elixirs was not pretty, and if we were only dealing with a headache, he didn't need that much.

“Feel better?” I asked.

He didn't answer me, instead he started running faster.

At first that seemed like a good thing, we were leaving most of the brawling students in our dust. But Rocky kept going faster, and faster, and faster. His body was becoming uncomfortably hot. And then he hit a tree.

He twisted his body a little so I was mostly protected. The tree was not so lucky, it turned to powder as Rocky ran right through it, and he was still picking up speed.

What was in that healing potion?

I couldn't think too much about that, the itchiness that had slowly been getting worse was becoming unbearable. It covered my entire body, and it felt like I was covered in ants. Scratching my face, I realized something wasn't right, hair was growing out of my cheeks.

Rocky hit another tree, a much thicker one this time. He came to a stop. I was thrown from his arms and landed with a bone jarring thud in a muddy pool of water. The tree which Rocky would have a hard time wrapping his arms around slowly toppled over.

Clambering out of the pool, I saw that my friend was flat on his back, clearly unconscious, while his legs were still moving in a blur. There was absolutely nothing I could do for him, I didn't dare give him more of the healing elixir, it was obviously not good for him.

The only thing I could do was try to save myself.

Dripping wet, I tried to run, only to discover hair was sticking of of my pants and shirt. It was several feet long, and it was soaking wet. Every step was difficult, and I yelped as it pulled on my skin. I made it all of three feet before I toppled over. The hair kept growing. In less than a minute I was buried under a mountain of hair, unable to see what was going on, and I definitely wasn't going to be moving anytime soon. I couldn't even move a finger. And I was still itchy!

At some point someone lifted me up. Through the mass of hair I heard them laughing.

Much later I found myself in the nurses office. She took her time cutting me free of the hair and my clothes. As my head was freed, I saw that the hair had grown through the seams and fabric, making it impossible to salvage my shirt, pants or underwear.

“Why did you use Rapunzel's Patented Hair Growth Formula, all over your body? And how much did you use?” the nurse asked.

“I thought it was something else,” I admitted. “And I used about half the bottle.”

She smiled at me. It was not a nice smile. It was in fact the type of smile that makes you cringe and want to whimper because something very nasty and painful is about to happen. “Oh, that's too bad. If I don't do something right now, it's just going to regrow as bad as before.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked, my voice squeaky with fear.

“Don't worry, it wont hurt,” she said, pulling out a spray bottle.

Reading the label, I saw that it was Uncle Fester's Hair Remover. The nurse started spraying it all over me.

"After we're done, Master Grieve is going to speak to you. He didn't look very happy."

I couldn't help myself, I began to whimper in fear.

Ella's jaw dropped as I came into our dorm room wearing a flimsy robe.

“What happened to your hair?!” she demanded.

I rubbed my perfectly smooth scalp, and was reminded that I'd also lost my eyebrows and eyelashes. “Those potions I grabbed, they were mislabelled. I was buried in hair.”

“Oh gods. What about Rocky?”

“He had a bad reaction to an energy potion. Knocked himself out running head first into a massive tree. And he also overdosed on a potion for concussions. They're keeping him overnight to make sure his brain won't explode.”

Ella gave me a hug. “Well at least you survived detention.”

“Yeah, Master Grieve wasn't very happy about my stupidity. He said he'd find a suitable punishment for Rocky and I tomorrow for making a mockery of his class.”

There wasn't much my friend could say, instead she just hugged me tighter.

___

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

“So you see,” I said to the monster under my bed, “it's the last day of the school week. If I survive today, which includes detention, I'll have two days to recover and prepare for next week and the rest of my detention.”

The monster under the bed nodded in understanding, it's enormous jowls flopping rather dangerously in the tightly packed room. It was rather amazing that there was enough space to even have a room under my bed. An enormous trunk like nose poured some more dark liquid that I hoped was tea into my cup. It was warm and pretty tasty, but I couldn't place the flavour. A ten fingered hand, with long twig-like fingers motioned for me to continue.

“I've survived so far, I even survived my first day of detention which has been a pleasant surprise. But I've had far too many near death experiences for my liking. And being transformed twice in one week, is just a little hard to accept. So I really don't want to go out today and see what fate has in store for me, it just seems like something really, really bad is going to happen.”

The monster patted my head, it felt like old, dusty silk covering bones. It offered me a cookie that looked like it was made out of dust. To be polite I accepted it and took a bite. It was surprisingly sweet, but very dry. Dipping it in my tea made it much easier to swallow. Looking around the room, which was pretty dark except for the light coming from the gap between my bed and the floor, I wondered where the monster under the bed had managed to bake the cookie, or to heat the kettle.

“Petra you can't hide under your bed all day,” Ella called out, her voice echoing.

“Why not? I'm having a very pleasant talk with the monster under the bed. It's a very good host.”

The monster under the bed turned a very pleasant shade of blue, and gave me a large pointy toothed grin.

“I'm sure it is. But if you stay under there all day you'll get a weekend detention on top of your after class detention, and that is almost always deadly. Now come out of there, our friends will be here any minute and we need to do something about your baldness.”

The monster under the bed gave me a gentle push, letting me know that I should get ready.

“Thank you for the tea and cookie. I hope I can visit you again,” I said.

It's grey eyes widened a little, and its lip-less grin grew even larger. Placing another cookie in my hand it gave me another push. Reluctantly I crawled out and back into my proper room.

“You're all dusty,” Ella said. “Go have a quick shower, while we think about what we can do about your lack of hair.”

Putting my cookie on the nightstand, I grabbed my robe and towel and headed for the shower. Washing up didn't take very long. Being bald certainly made washing my head easier. When I hopped out and started drying off, I could hear my friends outsides.

Naomi didn't sound too happy, “Why are we putting so much work into making Petra look nice? She doesn't appreciate it, you'd think we were torturing her.”

“She's not that bad,” Calci said.

“She hit you with a chair when we got her looking good for Rocks For Brains.”

“She dropped it on my foot. Her puny arms couldn't keep it up. I barely noticed it.”

“Girls,” Ella said. “Petra isn't used to looking so beautiful, dressing up, or makeup. She also really isn't prepared for Doom Valley Prep School. You heard her, she was sent here with a one way ticket in the general course. We need to give her some time to adapt.”

“It would still be nice if she seemed a bit more grateful about all the help we're giving her,” Clarice grumbled.

“I understand, but look at what she has done for us. She dealt with Victor when he tried to control us. She has, reluctantly I'll admit, gone along with all of our plans as best she can. And I think we can all agree she seems to be acting as a lightning rod for trouble, keeping it from hitting us directly. And now she has Rocks For Brains wrapped around her finger.” Ella sounded thrilled and more than a little surprised at that. “We are the top Freshman, and it's only the first week.”

There was a murmur of agreement.

“So,” Ella continued, “let's remember we're all in this together. We each have our own skills and weaknesses. If Petra wants to grumble a little, smile and bear it, because she's our friend. And if she leaves we won't have her helping us in her own unique and impossibly chaotic way.”

Did I really grumble that much, I wondered. With everything that had happened to me, I thought I was handling things quite well. But maybe they were right. I was a girl now, and most girls acted differently from boys. Maybe it was time to accept my new girlishness, at least until I could turn back into a boy.

Putting on my robe, I looked in the mirror and gave my best smile. It wasn't too bad, but I knew it could be better. I thought of Ella smiling at me again, and found myself grinning. That was the right attitude. Stepping out of the bathroom I felt like a new girl.

“Hi, girls. I just want to say thanks for all the help you've been giving me. And today, you can do anything you want,” I said.

The squeal of delight was so high pitched the mirror cracked.

What had I gotten myself into?

We'd spent most of our limited time before breakfast trying different things to cover my baldness. I had painted on eyebrows and fake eyelashes, which didn't look too bad, but my bald dome was not cooperating.

Calci had sketched out some interesting patterns, saying we should paint my scalp. It looked kind of interesting, with lots of swoops and swirls. That was shot down due to lack of time.

Clarice had given me a purple hat with a living flower on it. But that didn't work very well, the flower's roots kept trying to wrap around my nonexistent hair, making me giggle. And without any hair, my ears stuck out oddly.

We were now attempting Naomi's trick, giving me a turban made out of black, spider silk scarf. I was wearing a matching black shirt that barely fit, a cape and black pants. It didn't seem too bad, but looking in the cracked mirror I thought I looked a little like a bald, female necromancer. It didn't help that my breasts were about to break free if I breathed too hard.

“Are you sure you want me wearing your clothes?” I asked. “Clothes and I don't seem to get along very well.”

Naomi turned pale. “Yeah, that's a good point. Maybe having you wear my best outfit isn't a good idea.”

There was a knock on the door, Ella answered it and came back a moment later with a small bottle. “I think I have a solution to our problem, but you probably won't like it Petra.”

Eyeing the potion nervously, remembering how well all my recent attempts with potions and elixirs had gone, I squeaked, “What is it?”

“My older brother is studying to be an alchemist. I talked to him about your detention and he offered me a potion that he's been working on. If you drink it, it will fix your hair problem and should give you an advantage in detention.”

“What does it do?”

She bit her lip, looking really unsure. My nervousness reached all new heights at seeing the usually confident princess being unsure of what to say.

“Well,” she said, “he's got a thing for cats. If you drink this, you'll become a cat girl for at least a day, maybe a week. You'll be more agile, faster, have claws, and fur.”

My resolution to be more accepting of all things girly didn't cover becoming a cat girl. I felt fully justified when I asked, “Do you really trust him?”

“I do. He's never tried to kill me, and I agreed to help him in a future plot against our older sister, if this works. So it's in his best interest to help out.”

I facepalmed, once more reminded about how different an upbringing Ella had compared to virtually everyone else. I really didn't want to do this. But being more agile, faster and getting natural weapons seemed to be worth the risk.

This was going to blow up in my face.

Holding my hand out, I took the potion and pulled out the cork. “I just drink all of this?”

“Yes. It starts working immediately, and shouldn't have any side effects.”

I didn't like the 'shouldn't have any side effects', I'd have much preferred 'Don't worry Petra, it's perfectly safe'. Unfortunately I suspected that playing it safe had gone out the window when I got admitted to Doom Valley.

Closing my eyes, I said a quick prayer to anyone who would listen and drank the potion.

It tasted like goblin earwax, and coated my throat in slime. Gagging, I forced it down. My entire body began to tingle and itch. My hands went numb, dropping the bottle which shattered on the floor. My stomach roiled.

“I don't feel so good,” I moaned.

It felt like someone grabbed my ears and yanked them up to the top of my head. My nails seemed to explode, becoming claws before my eye. I squawked as my robe was lifted up from behind, and I had the unique experience of having my spine grow longer forming a long, flexible tail. And then I started growing black fur all over my skin.

At that point I fainted.

___

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

I woke up to someone growling.

New instincts made me leap to my feet, which proved to be a mistake. I somehow jumped too far and slammed face first into the wall. I stood there, plastered to the cold stone for a moment, then fell backwards back onto the floor.

Normally falling backwards wouldn't have been too bad, except for a sore head. But I had never had a tail before. It was sticking up as I fell, so when I hit the ground it was pinched and crushed between my body and the carpet. Yowling in agony, I rolled onto my side clutching my new appendage wondering if it would hurt less if I just ripped it off.

“Petra, stay down until you get a handle on your new strength,” Ella said, putting a pillow under my head.

“Why is she a cat?” Ivy demanded.

“Should we take her to the clinic?” Naomi asked. “That sounded and looked painful.”

“We need to get to the cafeteria and class soon,” Clarice said.

“Can I go back under the bed? There were cookies, and tea, and no pain there,” I whimpered.

Ella clapped her hands. “Ivy, Petra took a potion so she could get stronger and survive detention more easily. She'll be back to normal in a week, so please don't chase her. Everyone we still have a few minutes to get ready and grab a light breakfast. Get your things while I get Petra ready.”

Through my tears, I heard everyone leave. I could actually make out each girls footsteps, Naomi's were spaced out thanks to her long legs. Clarice clicked a little with each step probably because of the short heels she wore to look taller. Calci sounded like she was stomping, being almost solid muscle didn't make her a light walker. And Ivy was almost silent, moving like a predator on the hunt.

“All right, Petra, you'll need to wear a skirt today. It's the only thing that will work with your tail, at least your about the same size,” Ella said.

My new cat ears that sat oddly on top of my head moved a little, tracking her as she went to my wardrobe. It was a strange sensation. I could even smell the perfume from her soap, deodorant and skin cream, usually it was too faint to really notice, now it was intoxicating.

Slowly and painfully getting to my feet, I went to the mirror. My nose was bigger, pushed out by a tiny muzzle, with whiskers poking out from under it like a moustache. Black, velvety fur covered every inch of my body, and my big pointy ears stuck out of the thick fur on top of my head.

Flexing my arms, I could actually see some muscle definition. That was nice. I also had claws, poking myself proved they were razor sharp. Grinning I saw that my teeth were nice and sharp as well. Maybe I could finally win a fight.

Ella tossed underwear and the school dress uniform on my bed. Putting on the panties, the band rubbed annoyingly against the base of my tail. Frowning, I tried to adjust it to be more comfortable, but it didn't help. Sighing, I decided I'd just have to put up with it. The dress wasn't too bad, I didn't like how drafty it was, but it was better than the fancy red one I'd been forced to wear the other day. This one at least covered most of my skin.

Once I was dressed, I scratched at my sleeves and stockings. My fur was all messed up from the tight fabric. Too bad there wasn't anything else for me to wear, pants didn't work with the tail and they were tight too, so it would be just as uncomfortable.

“I think I'm ready,” I said.

“Great, I'm starving,” Ella said.

Heading for the door I heard Ella gasp. Turning to look at her, she was covering her mouth and looking really embarrassed. If she had paler skin she'd probably be blushing. “What?” I asked.

“Um. You need to remember to keep your tail down.”

Looking down, I saw my skirt was hiked up, showing my underwear off. “I'm calling in sick today! I'll be under the bed if anyone needs me!”

All eyes were on me as we entered the cafeteria. I was kind of used to it by now, but I still wanted to run away and hide. Heading for my usual seat, the cat woman at the counter yowled with joy and waved me over.

Very cautiously, expecting the worst since I'd yet to have a good experience with the cafeteria staff, I made my way over, playing with my tail as I did. “Yes?”

“Aren't you a cute little kitten,” the cat woman said. She put a silver tray with a lid on the counter. “Here, on the house. It's our favourite.”

“Thank you,” I said. Taking the surprisingly heavy tray I headed to my table, and sat down beside Garth and Rocky, who were both looking at me oddly.

Rocky was holding his head, his eyes were bloodshot and it looked like he hadn't slept all night. I wanted to ask if he was all right, but he winced every time there was a loud noise, so I decided to stay quiet.

“Why are you a cat?” Garth asked.

“A new plan to survive detention,” I said. There wasn't much time to eat and I was starving, so I took the lid off of the platter, wondering what it could be.

I screeched, jumping back in fright. This time I didn't slam into a wall, but only because I got caught by the bench and ended up falling onto my back, with my legs in the air.

Scrambling back to my feet, I looked at the large, live rat that was hogtied on a plate, covered in tiny green leaves that smelled divine, with a small bowl of salt beside it. There was no way I could eat it. Putting the lid back on the tray, I pushed it away from me. “I think I'm going to be sick,” I said.

Ivy grabbed the platter, licking her lips. We all looked away, pointedly ignoring the little yips of joy coming from the werewolf, and the cut off squeak of fear from the rat.

Ella handed me a plate of scrambled dragon eggs, so I wouldn't starve.

We were nearly late getting to magic class, thanks to our late start, but Garth, Calci and I all made it before the door closed. Getting to our altars, Mage Malacoda took one look at me and shook his head. “Do I want to know what happened, Petra?” he asked.

“Probably not, sir,” I replied.

He nodded in understanding, and started class.

“Petra, why are you a cat woman?” professor Bob asked as he took attendance.

Sighing, I said, “It seemed like the best of a lot of bad options, sir.”

“Today class we were going to discuss the Art of Bending The Truth, by El Im G'rak, but I see we have a unique opportunity,” the Dwarf said. “Most intelligent species have similar physical cues to tell how they're feeling. Being relatively hairless and matching facial features, humans, dwarves, elves, orcs, giants, goblins, and others have somewhat similar reactions to emotions. But when you have furrier species, it can become both a challenge and easier to tell their emotions.”

I slumped down in my chair a little. I would have gone even further, but my tail got in the way. I had a really bad feeling about this.

“Petra come up here please.”

Making my way to the front of the class, Bob pulled a little spray bottle out of his pocket. “When most people are happy, they smile, some will blush, Orcs will grind their teeth while smiling, and Dwarves tend to clap. With cat people, while some will smile, what you really want to do is watch their tail.”

He then sprayed me with the bottle.

A huge rush of happiness filled me. I had never been so happy in my life. It was like happiness straight from the goddess of happiness had been collected, concentrated into a super strong happiness concoction and forced right into my veins.

“When dealing with any species that has a tail, always watch the tail. See how it's sticking straight up. It's very hard for them to control it, like trying to stop yourself from blushing. If you're dealing with werewolves, they'll wag their tails. You don't see them do that very often, unless they're about to rip someone's throat out. So always make sure you have someone fatter and tastier looking than you, when you have to deal with them.”

Bob pulled another bottle from his pocket. “Now lets see what it looks like when she experiences existential dread.”

“Are you OK?” Ella asked.

I sort of fell into my chair and pulled out my history notebook. “I don't know,” I said, giggling and sobbing at the same time.

“Uh... what happened?”

“I spent last class going through every emotion possible, and learned a few emotions I didn't know existed. Do you know what it feels like to go from hysterical joy, to fearing for your soul, to the most embarrassing thing you ever experienced, to being so filled with happiness you break into song?”

“... No. I can't say I do.”

“You're lucky. You're very lucky,” I muttered.

At lunch, I avoided the cafeteria ladies, and let my friends get my lunch for me. Rocky was still quietly holding his head, slowly eating his soup.

“Rocky are you OK?” I asked.

“Head hurts. I'm listening to everyone. It's noisy,” he said.

“Maybe you should go see the nurse.”

“She told me not to bother. It would hurt for a while, then get better.”

“OK. But let me know if it gets worse,” I said, patting his hand.

He nodded, then closed his eyes and kept eating.

“Hey look at that,” Gold said.

All of us looked at the door where Victor was coming in. Clarice gasped, and more than one jaw dropped. The psychic creep was covered in bright red warts, his clothes were stained a horrible mix of pink, yellowish-green and florescent orange, his arm was in a cast, and from the reaction of the people closest to him, he must have smelled really badly.

“What happened to him?” Calci asked.

“There was a competition to see who could get him first and then worst, all morning,” Gold said. “He's been to the nurses office twice already. I heard they're going for double or nothing this afternoon.”

I looked at Ella, she wasn't watching Victor. Instead she was eating quietly, smiling to herself without a care in the world, and she definitely wasn't gloating. I really liked my roommate, she was a good friend, and cute, but at that moment I swore an oath to never, ever, get on her bad side.

___

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Even though Victor was down and out for the foreseeable future, Calci and I were still working on our potion to free someone from mind control in Potions class. We were halfway through the process, if we stopped now we'd lose marks. But we were also working on a few other projects to help with detention as we let the anti-mind control potion gently boil off the impurities.

Calci was working on a health potion. Her table was covered in stuff like angel feathers, phoenix tears, ice dragon scales, and nice things like that. I had to admire her focus on getting the exact amount of powdered unicorn horn onto the scale, she was fiddling with individual grains of dust to get it just right.

Turning my attention to my own work, I fixed my mask more firmly to my small muzzle. Some of the ingredients were a little dangerous and I didn't want to accidentally inhale any of them. “All right, I need half a cup of elemental fire dust, mixed with two cups of sawdust from a pine tree, and a quarter cup of ground nepeta leaves.”

Measuring out the ingredients, I poured them into a silver bowl, thinking it was more like cooking than an actual potion. But the textbook said this was a tried and tested recipe for a very effective smoke bomb. Professor Pyrotechny came over to watch, his limbs and gears clicking as he moved. With my improved hearing, the clicks were really annoying, almost like someone snapping their fingers right next to my ears.

“Petra, why are you a felinoid?” the clockwork professor asked.

“I thought it would be interesting and help with detention,” I said, trying to keep my ears from folding down at the painful squeak in his voice. How had I never noticed that before?

“I see. Do you know the weaknesses inherent to your new form?”

“Uh, no, Professor Pyrotechny.”

The professor's eyes turned black and the gears in its head began whirring more quickly. “I see. Carry on.”

I watched as the professor went to it's desk and began doing something with the complicated portable magic mirror that it kept there. Not sure what that meant, but pretty sure it was bad, I got back to work thoroughly mixing the three ingredients together.

Once that was done, I poured three quarters of a cup of dragon naphtha into the bowl. The flammable liquid was absorbed into the mix, turning the dry powder into tiny, moist balls. Reading over the recipe, it looked like everything was working. There was only one way to be sure it wouldn't explode in my face.

Putting a spoonful into a flask, I went to the side of the classroom where a small, clear box was set into the wall. Pouring out the mixture, I closed the lid and tapped a symbol for fire. A glowing spark floated down, landing on top of my work. It flashed and in less than a second the box was filled with a thick black smoke.

I didn't cheer, at least not out loud. But inside my head I was shouting and yelling with joy. Something I'd done had worked and it hadn't exploded in my face, destroyed my clothes, humiliated me, or set anyone on fire. I almost wanted to cry with joy at the success.

Going to the supply room, I picked some single-use ignition vials. When broken they'd spark, setting fire to anything inside of them. In my old school that type of thing had to be signed out by a teacher and there were usually only a few for special use. At Doom Valley, they had several boxes full of the vials, and students could grab as many as they needed.

Back at my table, I began filling the vials. This was going to work.

Math class was boring as usual, but at least Ivy wasn't growling at me. She was giving me the side eye, and a tail kept popping out the special hole in the back of her pants.

If I was going to be a cat girl for more than a few days I'd need to get pants like that. The skirt was OK, but I had to keep checking my tail to make sure I wasn't flashing anyone, and I was much more comfortable in pants. And maybe I could ask Ivy what she did about underwear, the base of my tail was chafing against my panties.

I noticed Ivy's lips had curled up, revealing her very sharp teeth.

Maybe I could get someone else to ask Ivy about clothing options for people with tails. It would probably be safer.

“OH MY GODS!” Ameth the cat girl, shouted as I entered combat class.

I had been walking to my usual spot near the back, where I could try to remain unseen. Then I found myself on my back with the teachers assistant on top of me, and she was grabbing my furry cheeks like I was a chubby little baby.

“You're so cute! Oh we don't have nearly enough cat students here. This is so awesome!” she gushed.

As the shock of being pounced wore off, I realized that my cheeks were really hurting which got most of my attention. But I also noticed that I had a fairly cute cat girl, wearing a pair of tight shorts and a sleeveless shirt straddling my hips. Once again I was reminded of my lack of boy parts and wanted to cry.

Angel Slayer came over. “Ameth, what are you doing?”

“She's a cutie cat girl!” the assistant said, as if that explained everything.

The combat teacher sighed and brought her fist down on Ameth's head. There were several loud cracks, one of which came from my hip bones being slammed into the rocky floor.

Ameth's eyes rolled up into her skull and she slumped down with a broken skull, neck and back. Angel Slayer picked her up by her shirt, and dragged her corpse to the middle of the platform. By the time the pair were standing where they should be, Ameth was alive again, giggling and saying something about tasting colours and hearing smells.

“All right class,” the combat teacher said, “today we're doing PT for the first half of class then you'll be sparring. Drop and give me fifty.”

Groaning, I rolled over and fixed my clothes. My combat class uniform had somehow changed in my locker, the padded pants had a hole for my tail, which made them pretty comfortable. When I was ready, I got into position. I was pretty sure my pelvis was cracked thanks to Ameth and Angel Slayer, but if I complained I'd probably be used as a combat dummy again. I started doing the push ups, wishing I was anywhere else.

As we did our workout Ameth was talking to Angel Slayer. Well it looked more like the cat girl was pleading and the orc was facepalming, while occasionally breaking her assistants neck.

Finally after an exhausting half hour of push ups, sit ups, jumping jacks, rope climbing, running, and squats, we were done and it was time to spar. Naomi grabbed her spear, and I looked at my sharp claws wondering how effective they'd be.

“Petra, get over here,” the combat teacher shouted.

I did as I was told, whimpering the entire way. I knew that this was going to end with me dying or getting maimed. I always got hurt in this class, especially when I got called out. “Yes,” I said.

“You're getting special training today. Ameth will deal with you.”

The cat girl was looking at me like I was a birthday present, grinning so broadly my lips started to hurt just from looking at her.

“OK,” I said, knowing I didn't have a choice.

“YAY!” Ameth shouted, pouncing on me again. This time I was able to stay on my feet as she hugged me. But her skinny arms were surprisingly strong, and my ribs creaked in protest as they were crushed.

“Naomi, you're with Barbarina!” Angel Slayer shouted.

My friend turned pale and walked over to the scary bald girl who was busy sharpening her sword.

I couldn't see what was going to happen to Naomi, Ameth let me go just long enough to grab my hand and then we were running towards the edge of the platform. With a squeal of joy from her and a shriek of terror from me, she jumped headfirst for the lava, dragging me with her.

All I could see was the red hot magma below me. There was no time to think or react. I was going to die, and it would be permanent this time.

At the last possible moment, Ameth reached out, grabbing a tiny ledge with her claws. Somehow she turned our fall into a swinging motion and we were practically flying along the cliff face. When we finally came to a stop on a ledge, she let go of my hand. I fell to the ground, kissing and hugging it, it was the greatest thing I'd ever seen in my life. I never wanted to leave it. I didn't care that the lava field was only twenty feet below us, that there was no food or water on the ledge, and that I was exposed to the elements. This was my new home now. I wasn't going to leave it.

“This is going to be so much fun, Petra!” Ameth yelled. “I'm going to teach you everything I know about being a cat girl.”

“I don't wanna!” I whined, still pressing my face against the stone.

“Too bad. First you have to learn to climb. Our claws are really good for that, and since we're such good jumpers it's really easy to get around. Now watch me, and see where I'm putting my hands and feet.”

I dug my claws into the cracked rock, making myself as flat as possible. “Don't wanna!”

“Just staying here isn't any fun, silly. But I know what will get you moving.”

Looking at her from the corner of my eye, I saw her put a ring on her finger. Her hand started to glow. Making a fist she hit the ledge right where it connected to the cliff. Stone shattered and there was a loud cracking sound. My precious new home started to shake.

“One more hit and we'll be having a lava bath,” Ameth said.

“Does lava kill you quickly?” I asked.

“No.”

Standing up, which made the ledge wobble, I sighed. “All right, lets climb.”

“YAY! Follow me!” the unkillable cat girl said.

We started off easily enough, just regular climbing. There were plenty of cracks and handholds, that were perfect for my claws, fingers and toes. While I wasn't nearly as graceful as Ameth, I was a lot more agile than I had been.

Once I had a good rhythm going, Ameth picked up the pace. She not only went faster, but started making tiny jumps, forcing me to trust my luck at snagging hold of rocks, tiny ledges, and cracks. They started off fairly easy, but then she made a five foot leap to a ledge that was about two inches thick and only had some rough rock for handholds.

With my feet on a tiny outcrop of rocks, that could just fit my two big toes, my left hand holding onto a firm handhold, and the claws of my right hand shoved into a crack, I looked at her, wondering if she was insane.

Ameth shifted along the ledge, making room for me. “Come on Petra!”

“I don't wanna die!” I said back to her.

“You won't die. This is easy. The next part will be harder.”

Sobbing to myself, I did my best to visualize the jump. Bending my knees as much as I could, I took a leap of faith stretching out my hand to catch hold of the rock. My toes got ready to land on the ledge and grab on for dear life.

And I missed the ledge.

Screaming, I grabbed the cliff face, trying to find a hand hold. My claws scratched along the rock as I fell. Nothing was stopping me. I saw the lava coming up fast.

Then Ameth was there, grabbing my outstretched arm. Somehow she found a crack in the cliff, and stopped us from falling. I couldn't say or do anything. I was paralyzed by fear, and my tail was smouldering from being so close to the lava.

Without a word the cat girl began climbing one handed, dragging me behind her. Once we reached the top of the cliff we both collapsed, gasping for air.

“That was fun!” Ameth said. “Did you enjoy it!”

“I saw my life flash before my eyes,” I said. “There was a lot of laughing, and not from me.”

“Oh don't be such a baby. You didn't get hurt.” Her nose twitched. “Ewww. You should go have a shower and throw those pants away. You had a little accident.”

“Really?” I said, my mind still stuck on the lava that had nearly killed me. “I hadn't noticed.”

With her encouragement, I got up and headed for the showers. I had to hold up my pants, which were significantly heavier and squishier.
__
Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

In clean clothes and well scrubbed, I met Rocky after class as we once more headed to Sir Grieve's classroom. Once again the older students in the hallway were there making nasty remarks especially about my being a cat girl, openly placing bets on how we'd die, and laughing at how we'd sabotaged ourselves the day before. I just kept looking at the floor, wishing this would all be over.

When we got to the classroom we were surprised to find it empty except for Sir Grieve.

He looked even more intimidating then usual, standing with his massive arms crossed over his chest. The only sign that he wasn't some metal golem or automaton were the bright blue eyes that glared at us, like a gryphon looking at a tasty rabbit. “Do either of you know why I am disappointed in you two?” he asked.

“Not really, sir,” I said. “We didn't make the students fight each other.”

A sigh of disappointment came from his helmet. “The students were supposed to fight each other. Did you honestly think you two alone would be a challenge for them? You task was simply to keep moving and hiding, while the competent students fought to see who would catch you first. I had thought you would last ten minutes at least, and we could do the scenario three or even four times. How long do you think you lasted before you took yourselves out of the lesson?”

Rocky was rubbing his head again, like he had a headache. Wincing, I realized I was going to have to do the talking. “Um... twelve minutes?”

“With the five minute head start included, you survived for nine minutes and fifty-four seconds. I could have thrown an asthmatic sloth demon at my class, and it would have done better than you.”

My eyes once again went down to my shoes. They were really nice shoes. They didn't look at me like I was absolutely useless, or make me want to crawl back under my bed and never leave.

“So you both have disappointed me. Do you know what I do to students who disappoint me as much as you two have?”

In a tiny, squeaky voice, I managed to say, “No, sir.” Anything else would probably make the situation far, far, worse.

“I stop being nice.”

Those four simple words would have made me wet my pants, if I hadn't already done that half an hour ago. If he'd been being nice before, I probably wouldn't have to worry about the third, fourth, fifth day of detention. I'd be dead in the next hour.

“Sir Drago needs some giant yellow back spider venom for his alchemy classes. Normally we'd purchase some, but we have decided to save some money. So you will do it.” He handed over a metal bottle about as thick around and as long as my forearm, that had runes etched into it. There was a leather strap attached to it, so it could hang over my shoulder. “Fill this with the venom. When it's full you'll be teleported back to school.”

“What if we can't get enough?” I asked.

“Then you stay there until you get enough.”

Well that was helpful. Before I could ask anymore questions, Sir Grieve tapped a black crystal on his armour. The world spun and I was standing up to my knees in warm, murky black water. I suddenly realized why so many cats hate getting wet. Soaked fur is heavy.

We were in the middle of a swamp. It wasn't even a kind of nice swamp with green reeds, fairy dragons, and elves who were in tune with nature. It was humid, grey and muddy. Trees that looked half dead stuck out of the water, forming small islands of muck and debris, that reeked of rot. Slimy things swam past my legs, I hoped they were just fish and not blood suckers or tentacles. Mosquitoes sensing food immediately swarmed us. At least my fur seemed to give them some trouble, but that just meant they were going for my nose, eyes and ears.

Putting on my combat class pin, I turned to Rocky who didn't look very happy. “You OK, big guy?”

“My head hurts,” he rumbled.

Patting his hand, I said, “Well lets find this giant yellow back spider and we can go back to Doom Valley. Now if I remember my Squire Scouts lesson on giant spiders, the yellow back is an aquatic ambush predator. It spreads out sticky lines of silk that float just under the surface of the water waiting to snag prey. When it catches something, it sneaks along the bottom and takes it's prey from underneath. One bite will paralyze an adult human, and they'll drown the victim before eating them.”

“I should carry you. Don't want you drowned,” Rocky said, picking me up in his enormous hand and putting me on his shoulder.

“Thanks, drowning is bad.” Wrapping some of his hair around my hand to help stay on, I used my new claws to gently grip his shirt. I'd seen Ivy biting him without really hurting him, but I didn't want to accidentally scratch him, even if my claws wouldn't go through his thick skin. Shifting the bottle so it wouldn't hit him, I pointed towards an area that looked pretty muddy. “I think we should go that way. It looks like a place the spider would like.”

Wading through the muck was easy for Rocky. What would be waist deep for me was about knee deep for him. His huge feet acted a little like snowshoes, spreading out his weight so much he didn't sink into the mud very deeply. Having legs that looked like good size tree trunks, also really helped.

“Don't like mud,” he grumbled.

“Not much mud back home?”

“No. Lots of rock. Rock is good, hard, lasts. We make comfy caves to wait out storms. Use rock to protect our sheep. More rock to make paths on the ocean, for fishing nets and spear fishing. Rock is good, solid. Mud is weak, broken rock.” He sighed, and I had to shift a little to stay on as his shoulders slumped.

“You're homesick, aren't you?”

“Yeah. My bed is too soft. Everything is too soft.”

“So why did you come to Doom Valley? You really don't seem like the type.”

“Smartest boy, and strong. Not strongest. I'm only a half-giant, but I train hard. So I go to Doom Valley to learn to fight hard and important things. When I go home, I'll have important position, become a leader.”

That was surprising. Rocky seemed so simple, yet for Rock Giant's he was pretty smart. So I was sitting on the shoulder of someone who could become a famous general or leader of an entire nation one day. Sure they were mostly known for controlling a bunch of mostly barren islands in the north, but whenever someone tried to invade or raid them for slaves or to get the minerals under the surface, they'd been beaten each time. That was pretty impressive.

“Do all your leaders go to Doom Valley?”

“Boys do. Wise girls go to Hero School. Learn magic and things. That is really hard.”

It was my turn to sigh. “I wish I'd gone to that school.”

“Yes. You are too soft for Doom School. Cute, but soft.”

I wasn't sure what to say. He was right, but I didn't want to be soft. And I REALLY didn't want to be cute. I was saved from my awkwardness by Rocky coming to a stop and almost falling on his face.

“What's wrong?”

“I'm stuck,” he said.

Lifting his foot out of the water, I saw a thick, sticky strand of silk attached to his leg. This was it. We'd tripped the trap, now we just had to catch the yellow back, get it's poison and if we were lucky we could go home. Peering into the water I looked for any sign of it. The spiders were big, but not enormous, only the size of a pony. It would kill me, but Rocky would be able to handle it with a little help.

Ripples formed in the water. Something that looked like a reed was coming towards us, that had to be the breathing tube the spider used when underwater. Tapping Rocky's ear I pointed at it, and was about to tell him to get ready.

Then my heart got caught in my throat.

I could see the yellow back under the water. It wasn't the size of a horse. It was the size of an elephant.

“JUMP!” I screamed, diving off of Rocky's shoulder to a nearby tree. Driving my claws into the slimy wood, I watched in horror as my friend tried to get out of the way only to be stopped by the web around his leg.

The spider reared up, it's eight legs grabbing Rocky and dragged him down into the muck. The water frothed and churned, as the two giants fought. Fists larger than my skull pounded on the thick, leathery skin of the spider, while claws and fangs flashed and tore into my friends thick, hard skin.

I had to do something.

There was no way I could let Rocky die. He my friend and it was my fault he was here with me. And if he went down, I'd never be able to get any venom. I'd be stuck here, waiting to be eaten.

Then I saw more ripples in the water. Little yellow backs, only a little smaller than me were swimming towards the fight.

Rocky might be able to handle the big spider, there was no way he could handle all of them. Baring my claws, I whispered a prayer to the god of fools and jumped.

__
Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Sunday night.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

As I jumped at the 'small' yellow back spiders, I immediately realized I had made a mistake. Sure I had claws. I was also stronger, and I had better reflexes and agility thanks to being turned into a cat girl. Those were great and all, but I was still me. I still didn't know how to fight, having won most of my fights by luck or sucker punching people, and I was leaping headfirst at several aquatic giant spiders that were almost as big as me. Adding to my growing horror, was the knowledge that my only ally was fighting an elephant sized yellow back, and could very well lose.

And sure I had the pin from combat class that protected me. But I didn't know if it would protect me from the venom, and it definitely wouldn't protect me from drowning. Another problem was it only protected me from damage, it didn't stop the pain. It could also be ripped away if I was really unlucky. Considering the last week, the only luck I seemed to have was bad luck.

It was at that moment that the sane part of my brain started screaming and wishing I had air breaks.

I hit the nearest spider right on it's big abdomen. My claws cut through the leathery carapace, and my arms followed. Unfortunately my head was not as sharp as my claws.

I was up to my armpits in spider guts when my face slammed into the fairly solid hide of the spider at high speeds. Pain lanced through my nose, and the world started to spin as my vision was full of stars. Then all hell broke loose.

The spider began jumping and bucking, trying to throw me off. With my arms stuck inside it's wet gooey insides, I wasn't going anywhere. Instead I was thrown screaming up into the air, only to come back down and belly flop on top of my unwilling steed, repeated and painfully.

Even worse, each time the spider bucked me, it would bob under the water first. So every time I came down and got the wind knocked out of me I was trying to breathe through a big spray of water. I'd never been drowned before, but I was starting get an idea of how it felt.

As I was tossed up again, I saw several other yellow backs coming my way. I had to do something quick or I was going to get swarmed.

The next time I was tossed up into the air, I put my newfound flexibility to use, bringing my knees up to the my bruised and abused stomach. Instead of slamming painfully into the spiders butt, my legs took the brunt of the impact. I dug my claws into the hide, which finally let me pull my arms free in a disgusting shower of blue spider blood.

The spider bucked even harder, and I used that to help me jump clear. I spun in midair, getting my feet under me, and landed hip deep in a mud bank, covered in water, spider guts and blood. Where I'd been a second before, the water roiled and foamed. The uninjured yellow backs were dog piling the one I'd hurt.

It looked like my plan had worked. They weren't going after Rocky, so now he had a chance. And he'd have an even better chance of surviving if I helped him. Spinning around I ran to give him a hand.

At least I tried to spin around and run to give him a hand.

It was a little difficult to move with my legs encased in mud, while ooze crept up into places where I REALLY didn't want it. Trying to move my feet made a nasty sucking sound. Wiggling and clawing at the muck, I managed to rise up a few inches. Gaining that little bit of freedom was exhausting, and at the rate I was going it would take an hour or two to get completely free.

I heard a nasty croaking sound behind me.

Twisting around I saw something that would have made me turn white with fear, if I wasn't covered in black fur. Instead I had to settle for my tail and fur standing on end as I watched a pygmy zilla frog hopping towards me, it's mouth open in anticipation of a meal.

Most frogs wouldn't bother me. Sure some were poisonous, but as long as you didn't touch them or eat them, they'd leave you alone. Zilla frogs were different. The adult pygmy zilla frog, while being the smallest of the family, still weighed around three-hundred pounds, and commonly ate human size prey.

Instead of trying to pull myself out of the mud, I bent down trying to bury myself in it. Which gave me a perfect view of a yellow back spider that decided to avoid the fight and come after me.

With a giant frog behind me and a giant spider in front of me, I looked around for help, half expecting to see a gryphon fly out of the sky to eat me as well. Rocky was busy fighting his spider, at least he was on top of it and punching down, so he might get out of this alive.

Reaching into my bag I pulled out one of my smoke bombs. For good measures, I also prayed to Ms. Parch. Sure she was the goddess of written history, which had absolutely no bearing on the current situation, but I was one of her students, that had to count for something.

A giant, wet sticky tongue slapped my back. I could feel the disgusting, slimy thing wrap around me, trying to get a good hold. And then it pulled me towards the gaping maw.

Unfortunately the mud was still covering my legs almost up to my crotch. I was yanked backwards, in a way that would have broken my back if I had still been human. I screeched as I was half pulled out of the mud, feeling as if my legs and pelvis were being torn off. Then my dress, and my combat class pin, went flying off into the frogs gullet.

“SERIOUSLY!” I screamed. “Can't I keep my dignity for two minutes?! I'm running out of clothes! People who have been girls their whole lives have had less clothing malfunctions than me!”

As I was venting a little, the yellow back spider charged me. Raising my fists, wondering what I was supposed to do with the smoke bomb now, I got ready to defend myself.

And then the frog grabbed me with it's tongue one more time.

This was an even less pleasant experience then before, because I just had my soaking wet bra and panties to protect me. And since I was only knee deep in the mud, the large tongue was able to get a better grip on me.

“HEY! Watch where you're grabbiiiiinnnnnngggggggggg!” I shouted as the zilla frog's tongue got me out of the mud and reeled me towards it's mouth at high speed.

Flinging the smoke bomb with far greater accuracy than I thought I was capable of, the little vial landed right in the frog's gigantic mouth. Smoke erupted, choking the frog and hiding it from sight as I was dragged towards a painful death.

I realized should have noticed the minor problem of being blinded along with the frog a little sooner. Spreading out my arms and legs, I prayed I'd be able to catch a hold of something before I was swallowed.

My legs hit the frogs hard lower lips and felt like they'd shattered. My right claws caught the frogs lip and grabbed on for dear life even as I screamed at a potentially dislocated shoulder. My left hand went inside the frogs maw, flailing around I drove my claws into the top of the mouth, hoping it would make the monster spit me out.

Unable to see anything in the smoke, I fought against the tongue that still held me, The frog was heaving and flailing at me with it's front legs, confused and annoyed by the smoke. And then the yellow back spider plowed into my stomach, drawn by the smell of food and blood.

What had been a desperate fight to stay out of the frog's mouth ended rather abruptly. Now most of my body was in the frogs mouth, on top of a confused and enraged yellow back spider that was as big as I was. And the only thing keeping me from going down a zilla's throat or ending up under the giant spider were the claws on my right hand which were currently being ripped out by the roots.

The frog tried to jump, but couldn't with it's mouth crammed to bursting. It tried to bite, slamming my arm and skull into the spider's leathery hide. It hurt, but not enough to make me let go. I could kind of tell that the zilla was slapping and clawing at the spider, but it couldn't really hit me, and the spider was more concerned about being in the monster mouth.

For its part, the spider was trying to escape, while being bitten and kicked by the frog and I. From the way it bucked, it felt like it was injecting its venom straight into the zilla's tongue and throat. If it could paralyze the frog, it would probably turn on me next.

And then things got worse.

As I breathed in the smoke, I realized it smelled really, really good. Kind of like the catnip the canteen cat women had given me at breakfast to go with the rat. I couldn't figure out where the smell was coming from, but it was very strong, and I started to feel weird. My stomach grew hot, and my entire body became itchy. My screams of terror became higher pitched, and more of a yowl. As my breasts rubbed and bumped against the spiders leathery hide, it felt tingly and kind of pleasant.

Even as my mind went cloudy, I remembered something I'd heard a long time ago while helping a friend get some things for his new cat. Catnip came from the plant family called nepeta, most of the plants from the family affected cats. Nepeta was the main ingredient of the smoke bomb, I was breathing in half a cup of the stuff.

I was going to die as high as a kite, while feeling like a female cat in heat, I had to start laughing. That was so appropriate for me. Practically naked, horny, and not human. I should have realized that was how it was all going to end.

Through the daze, I smelled something else. It was musky and masculine. My stomach fluttered at the scent.

The zilla frog's mouth opened a little as the spider venom finally kicked in. The intoxicating smell grabbed my brain and took control. With room to move, I shoved my clawed feet deep into the yellow back's head and pushed. Reaching out with my left hand, the claws dug into the spiders butt and I pulled with all my might.

When the frog tried to bite down on me, my right hand let go of it's upper lip. Reaching up I clawed at it's face, leaving a long nasty cut on the slimy skin. It opened up a little more, and I shot out from between the two monsters, escaping the smoke cloud.

Rocky was still fighting the giant yellow back. I'd never seen a more inviting sight. Yowling a sexy war cry, I raced towards him, jumping into a nearby tree, and leaping to another one, avoiding the mud and water below. As soon as I was close enough I jumped to Rocky, landing on his back.

Purring and meowing, I rubbed my face and body against his skin. He smelled so good. Why wasn't he noticing me? I wanted him to notice me. I NEEDED him to notice me.

A giant spider leg nearly knocked me off of my precious.

An enormous growl ripped its way out of my throat. The nasty spider was keeping my precious from noticing and doing naughty things to me. Screeching a war cry I scrambled onto Rocky's shoulder and jumped straight at the battered face of the monster.

“MY PRECIOUS!” I shouted, as I landed on top of a pair of fangs that were as big as I was. Screaming at the giant eyes of the spider, I went completely and totally berserk. The monster reared back in surprise as the tiny ball of fur, teeth and claws, bit, slashed, punched and kicked it in the face.

Rocky was just as surprised as the spider and didn't seem to know what to do for a few seconds, then he came limping to my rescue and started tearing off the legs of the beast. Together we finally killed it.

As it toppled into the water, I went with it, not realizing it was dead. Rocky had to reach down and pull me, soaking wet, spitting hissing and scratching from the body. And then I realized my precious was holding me.

I jumped from his hand, landing on his chest. Purring, I began rubbing myself against him, wanting his scent all over me, needing him to want me just as much as I wanted him.

Then I realized what exactly I was doing. The water had washed the scent from my fur and sinuses, and the last of the catnip was working its way out of my system.

Looking up at the very confused half-giant, I realized I was still rubbing myself against him. I stopped and let go dropping down on top of the corpse.

“Uh Rocky, can I ask you a favour?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Never tell anyone what I just did, and never mention it to me. Please and thank you.”

He scratched his head, wincing as he discovered several cuts and bruises. “OK.”

“Thank you. Let's get the venom and go home,” I said.

“OK. Where's the bottle?”

I went to grab it, and realized I'd lost it with my clothes. Fortunately the zilla frog was in sight, being eaten by a very beat up yellow back. Slapping my forehead, I realized we'd need to do some dissecting.

Wrapped in a house coat, I stepped into my room, my fur still dripping wet, covered in slime and blood. Ella gasped at the sight of me.

“What happened to you?” she asked.

“Nothing. Nothing happened. You will not ask any more questions about today, and I will not talk about today. Today did not happen. And I HATE BEING A CAT GIRL!” I shouted, slamming the door to the bathroom.

__
Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Tuesday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

“Time to get up, Petra,” Ella said.

Instinctively I mumbled, “I don't wanna die!”

I heard my roommate sigh, then she pulled my soft, warm, safe blanket off of me. “You're not going to die. It's the weekend, time for homework and relaxing.”

“Something is always trying to kill me. There are probably killer clowns who want to trap me in cotton candy and suck out my blood. Or cute little critters that turn out to have big sharp teeth, shoot poison spines and are always hungry, will eat me. Or scaly green monsters with bat ears will play horrible pranks that end in my death. Or an evil turkey demon will kill me in a really stupid way while making bad puns. Or a snowman that's a reincarnated murderer with really stupid jokes, will make me wish he'd kill me quicker. Or-”

Ella hit me with a pillow. “You've put far too much time into these weird ideas. Now have a shower, brush your teeth, get dressed in something comfy, and lets get some breakfast.”

Falling out of bed, I went to get my towel, annoyed and grumbling my displeasure. “They'll just give me a rat again.”

“We're not going to the canteen.”

My brain was a little slow and it took a moment for her words to make sense. “There's somewhere else to eat?”

“Yeah, the student shopping area. Our guide mentioned it, but freshmen can only go there on the weekend. When we're sophomores we'll be able to go there after class whenever we want.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that now. Why aren't we allowed to go there in the evening?”

“Because we need time to study, and it's not considered really safe to let freshmen spend too much time around the older students. Most freshmen don't even learn about it for a few weeks. So hurry up, there's a nice restaurant I want to try out, then we can go to the spa and really relax.”

I'd heard about spas, my mother went to one regularly. But I didn't actually know what happened in them, it was a mysterious place where women went and came back from really relaxed and smiling. Sighing, I knew that something bad was going to happen. Going to the shower I prepared myself for a horrible day.

Getting to the shopping area took a bit of time. We met our friends in the common area, before heading down a dark, cobwebbed filled hallway that was tucked away in a little alcove. Then we got turned around while walking through tunnels that looked like they used to be sewers. Fortunately by leaving a trail of chalk marks, we never got totally lost and eventually found our way to an enormous room with several levels, and a glass ceiling that showed a beautiful, sunny day.

There were a few students wandering around. I recognized the Elf twins Master Grieve's combat class, and ducked behind Ivy when they looked at me and burst out laughing. The rest of the students seemed to be ignoring us, although my cat ears did catch a few scraps of conversation that proved we were making waves. A lot of it related to Princess Ella and how she was potentially useful or a threat. The rest were focused on me, mostly about my misadventures.

Once again I was very thankful no one could see me blush.

We made our way across the obsidian floor, taking time to look at the many stores. There were a number of clothing stores, most of which offered specially tailored outfits. One offered the most luxurious and exotic materials and cutting edge fashion. Another specialized in enchanted clothing. A third was all about armoured clothes, both obvious and hidden. The last was for dressing up minions and servants.

There were only two stores that focused on magic. The first was selling magical items, like magic cauldrons, wands, one use items, familiars and more. The second was for magical and alchemical ingredients. There was an open space in between the two stores, it was a swirling mass of smoke, with faint screams and wails coming from it. An occasional face could be seen forming in the smoke only to disappear again.

“What happened there?” Clarice asked.

“I heard that it was a store that tried to sell enchanted items and ingredients,” Ella said. “A student tried to be clever and used a staff of wonder the store was selling to steal some god blood by putting it into a pocket dimension. The spell went wrong, and interacted with the security enchantments, causing a cascading affect through the other items, pulling the entire store and everyone in it into something weird and probably painful. The school decided to make two new stores instead of one after they contained the problem.”

We all hurried a little to get past the area.

We came to a fancy looking restaurant and were ushered inside by a well dressed doorman. A server in a pitch black uniform led us to a table, and handed out menus, before discretely disappearing.

Opening the menu, my jaw dropped. The prices were insane. A cup of tea cost as much as a fancy night out for my parents and I. “I can't afford this!” I said.

“Neither can I,” Naomi hissed. “The Giant's breakfast costs as much as my parents monthly rent.”

Ella smiled benevolently. “Don't worry, I'll pay for it.”

“Are you sure?” Calci asked.

“Of course. You're all my friends, and good friends are more important than money. Order whatever you'd like.”

“How do most students afford this?” Clarice asked.

“Doom Valley uses student projects to help pay for their education and upkeep of the school. When we become sophomores we'll get a small percentage of the profits. Poor students, stay poor. Smart students can become rich.”

The way she said it, made it clear Ella planned on becoming quite wealthy. I had to admit that was good incentive to stick with her. From the look in the other girls eyes, they seemed to be thinking the same thing.

Of course, my mind had to bring me back to reality. Surviving to enjoy the riches was going to be a very serious problem. Especially if my first week of school was anything to go by. But then again sticking with Ella was probably the best way to survive.

The server came back to take our orders. Calci asked for the Underworld Breakfast, which seemed to have a lot of mushrooms, fungus, bugs and lizard eggs. Naomi got a Southern Brunch of spiced dire pork, a bowl of golden apple sauce, and scrambled cockatrice eggs with hot sauce. Clarice ordered Heavenly porridge, made from specially bred oats and fruit that were full of holy flavour. Ivy didn't bother speaking, just pointed at the Werewolf Delight, which was a slab of meat in a blood sauce. Ella chose the bread and jam breakfast, which was several types of bread from around the world and the most expensive kinds of jams, some of which were only sold by demons or gods.

Then it was my turn. Since becoming a cat girl, I hadn't really felt like eating plants. Just the thought of having porridge made my stomach turn. So I went with the Orc's Breakfast, which had ten types of meat, including dragon, leviathan, dire rabbit, and chupacabra, with over twenty different spices.

“After this, we're going to the spa right?” Naomi asked.

“Yes,” Ella said. “I thought we deserved a few hours of relaxation and pampering after our week. We're getting the deluxe package. A dip in the hot spring, then a body scrub for us and grooming for Petra, followed by massages, facials, manicure and pedicure. We'll feel like gold by the time we're done. And I was thinking we could get our hair done afterwards.”

The girls looked like they'd just won the lottery. I was left wondering what exactly half of those things were. Facials, manicure and pedicure? They sounded like something a doctor would do. Despite my confusion, I'd said I would go along with things, so I smiled along with the rest of them.

Our food arrived, stopping all conversation as we dug in. The food was delicious. My giant plate of meat practically melted in my mouth, and trying all the different spices was an adventure. The demon pepper made my mouth burn for a second and then became a pleasant tingle. The ice salt, cooled my tongue and had me shivering all the way down my tail. Music erupted in my head as I tried the heavenly spice.

We shared bits of our food, and even the fried beetles that Calci had, were an interesting, if crunchy experience. Only Ivy didn't talk or share, not that anyone wanted her raw meat. I did offer her a bit of dragon to be nice, which she took with a tiny smile. It wasn't much, but I marked it down as a win.

“Ella! How are you?”

We all looked up as a platinum-blonde girl with skin almost as pale as mine had been, came over. She was wearing a dark black outfit that hugged her body, in ways that made me feel weak in the knees. There were odd feelings from down below as well as a weird dampness, that reminded me all too much of the other day with Rocky. Squeezing my legs together, I tried to make the feeling stop.

“Nyla,” Ella said,” what a pleasure. I didn't think I'd see you today.”

“How could I stay away when I heard my little sister was here? Especially when you've made so many waves. Rumours say your queen of the freshmen already.”

Laughing, my roommate waved her hand as if brushing away the compliment. “I wouldn't go that far. I've just made a few good friends.”

“You always were modest, and clever. Who are your friends?”

Ella introduced us, not giving away any information other than our names. With my improved hearing, I could catch an unusual tremble in her voice. It was very faint, and if I'd had human ears, I never would have heard it. She sounded scared.

Suddenly Nyla had her hands on my shoulders, her breasts pressing into my back. “Oh yes. I've heard quite a lot about Petra. You've had so many things happen to you, you're the talk of the school.”

Her voice tickled my ears and her leg brushed my tail. Lightning bolts ran straight up my spine and into my brain. The dampness down below became a literal flood, and I squeezed my legs even more tightly together as it felt like I was peeing myself.

“Really?” I squeaked.

“Oh yes,” she said, her lips touching my ear. “You tricked the star freshman of the hero school, and got him severely punished. You've seen Lady Plague and Master Grieve in the same week and walked out on your own two feet. You easily survived a detention that has maimed and even killed older students. No one can seem to decide if you're a fool who is extremely lucky, or a genius pretending to be an idiot.”

“I-” I stopped talking. My brain shut down as I breathed in her perfume, and my entire body started to shake. A moment later, I slumped down in my chair, feeling tired, content and wondering the heck had just happened to me.

Nyla started to laugh. “You have such an interesting friend Ella. I didn't think you were into that kind of thing. You were always so uncomfortable when it comes to physical activity. You're just full of surprises. Well it's been fun but I must be going. It was a pleasure to meet all of you, ta-ta.”

Everyone was looking at me and they seemed really embarrassed. Hunching down, looked at my lap, trying to turn invisible.

Ella came to the rescue, pulling a bottle of pills from her bag. She poured the tablets into her hand and held them out. “Everyone take one of these, right now.”

“Why?” Naomi asked.

“Because Nyla probably poisoned us. It's her idea of fun.”

We all took one, and swallowed them down.

Clarice looked a little green. “Was she trying to kill us?”

“Probably not. But projectile diarrhea and vomiting, being paralyzed for 24-hours, an hour long waking night terror, itching so badly you tear your skin, acidic sweat to melt your clothes, making you smell like a dung golem for a week, all of those are on the table. She likes to keep people on their toes.”

“But she's your sister!”

Ella nodded. “Yes, and I'm lucky she is. She actually likes me, so she doesn't try to kill me. Now let's get Petra some clean clothes, and we'll go to the spa.”

__
Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Tuesday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

In new clothes that actually had a tail hole so I could comfortably wear pants and underwear, we entered the spa which seemed to cover the entire second floor.

Having never been in one before, I wasn't sure if there were normally a dozen golden statues along the wall, singing softly while water poured out of buckets they were holding over their heads. I was fairly sure that most regular spas didn't have a demon and angel acting as doormen. A beautiful elf woman was waiting for us.

Curtsying, she beamed with delight. “Princess Ella, it's a pleasure to meet you. If you and your companions could come this way, you're just in time for your appointment.”

My roommate nodded and smiled, not saying anything, just acting like she deserved only the best service possible. The rest of us were looking around, slack-jawed and in wonder at the riches that surrounded us. Well all except for Ivy. She was sniffing the air with an annoyed look and sneezed at the incense.

The walls were a mix of gold, silver and diamond, in a complex pattern that drew the eye. Statues of beautiful women and muscular men made of orichalchum and mithral were set in alcoves, they were so detailed I expected to see them breathe. Heavenly lights danced above us, their mere presence made us all feel relaxed and happy.

“You can change and wash here, then just go through the far door for the hot spring. Refreshments will be waiting for you,” the elf said.

“Thank you very much,” Ella said.

Stepping into the change room, there were lockers for our things. Being used to changing for combat class I didn't mind stripping down to much. Still, I kept my eyes down so I wouldn't accidentally ogle anyone. Then I realized there were only small towels that would barely cover my breasts. Looking around, I saw the girls with long hair were wrapping the towels around their heads.

Ella hadn't bothered with her hair, which didn't even reach her shoulders. Instead she was helping Ivy wrap her hair up. Feeling my head I wondered if I was supposed to wrap up my hair, or was it fur on top my head? Then I realized my fur was even shorter than Ella's, and I had no idea how to wrap a towel so it would stay up. So it was probably a good bet that I didn't need to worry.

Still unsure what I was supposed to do, I followed my very naked friends into the next room. It was misty and smelled clean. Just breathing in the air seemed to cleanse my sinuses. There were crystal wands set into the walls, and each girl took one, running it up and down their body.

Wanting to fit in, I grabbed the nearest wand and holding it just above my fur, started moving it around. My skin tingled, and I saw some loose fur vanish. It was a wand of cleaning. I'd heard about them, but they cost a fortune

“Want me to do your back?” Ella asked.

I found myself looking at Ella who was standing in front of me without any clothes on. My eyes went down, which gave me a very good look at her trim body. Jerking my head to the side, I nodded. Giggling, Ella walked around me and used her wand to clean my back.

“Now you do me,” she said, turning her back to me.

'I'm just one of the girls. There's nothing here that I don't have. This is perfectly natural,' I thought to myself. The other girls were helping each other out. They weren't weirded out by this, and they weren't actually touching each other. I had no reason to freak out.

With butterflies swarming my stomach, I ran my wand over her backside as quickly as possible. “All done,” I squeaked.

“Thanks, let's get into the water. I can't wait to really relax.”

Thankful I didn't have anything that would reveal my true feelings, I followed Ella to the hot spring. There were several stones poking out of the water, they had tea pots and cups sitting on each of them with a silver plaque saying what type of tea it was.

Ivy had beaten us all there, and she was sitting in the water almost up to her nose. My roommate slipped into the water and took a seat like she was on a throne. I practically jumped in despite the heat, being in the water had to be less embarrassing than standing around naked.

And then I realized something. Breasts float a little in water, and I had big breasts. What exactly was I supposed to do with them. Should I put my arms over them to hide them and make them sink? Would it be better to cross my arms under them and make it look like I planned it? Or just ignore them as they tried to play peek-a-boo?

Ella's boobs didn't float. And Ivy didn't have anything that would float.

Why did I have to have bigger boobs than real girls?

The others joined us in the water. Clarice came in almost as fast as I did and she was covering her tiny chest. She saw me sitting there with my big balloons, and sighed looking down at her lap. Naomi came in more slowly, hissing a little as she went lower. Calci climbed into the water careful to make sure she didn't go over her head. Her large breasts floated just like mine as she took a seat at the shallow end of the pool.

“This is so nice,” Naomi said. “Reminds me of home.”

“You have hot springs at home?” Calci asked.

“Yeah. My parents work at a resort, dad is in security, mom is a chef. We don't get to use the good hot springs unless it's during the off season and no guests are there, but they have some set up for the workers.”

“That's nice,” Calci said. “All the baths back home are hot springs. We use the local magma chamber to heat the water and everything else. After a long day of work there's nothing better than a long hot bath.”

Clarice poured herself a cup of tea, and said, “I've only been to a hot spring once, there aren't any in the Jabberwocky Forest. But my mom took me to the spa a lot in the last year and the hot tubs were nice.”

Well the three talked about home, Ella, Ivy and I just listened and sipped our tea. Ivy never had much to say, so no one expected her to join in. Ella seemed happy just to listen. I wondered what she thought of such normal talk? Her family seemed absolutely crazy, and even if it wasn't, she was a princess. Her life had to be so different from us common folk, it was practically a different world.

As for me, I didn't know what to say. I was a boy in a girls body, surrounded by pretty naked girls and unable to act on it. Even Calci was pretty in her own unique way. Sure she was kind of blocky and had a beard, but she also had huge breasts and hips.

And here I was with the biggest breasts of all, covered in fur, and according to everyone I was either really cute or gorgeous. I even had Clarice jealous of me, which was a blow to my manhood. Sure the blonde girl was a carpenters dream, but she was cute. She was the type of girl you'd see in class or on the street, and want to go over to talk to because she was just so friendly looking.

“Petra!” Naomi said, splashing a bit of water at me.

“What?” I asked.

“We want to know what you thought of Garth and Rocky? You've got both of them chasing you, which one has caught your eye?”

Maybe drowning myself wouldn't be such a bad idea.

“I don't really like either of them,” I admitted.

“Aw, Garth is so nice,” Clarice said.

“And Rocky is cute,” Calci pointed out.

Grabbing my tail, I started to play with it under the water. “Yeah, but I've had so much going on, that I don't really want to think about stuff like that.”

Naomi smirked. “You're crushing on Ella, aren't you?”

“WHAT?!”

“Whenever she smiles at you, you get a goofy look on your face. And after your... accident at breakfast, you really like girls don't you?”

I turned to Ella for support, only to find her trying to drown herself in the pool. I realized I was on my own.

“Maybe,” I squeaked. “Is that a problem?”

“Meh. I don't mind. You act like a scared mouse in combat class, and never look at anyone if you can help it.”

Clarice was biting her lip. “What about Rocky? He's only with us, because of you.”

Ella chose that moment to come back up for air. “Rocky is going to be a bit of a problem. But as long as Petra keeps being a friend to him, I'm sure we can keep him on our side just by showing him we all like and appreciate him. Even if none of us are going to date him.”

“I don't know. I think he's cute,” Calci said.

“But what about your boyfriend, Honey Creeper?” Clarice asked.

“He's nice, but he's an elf. They're kind of easy to break, and I fractured his thigh the last time I sat on his lap,” the dwarf said, her cheeks turning a bright red. “Now Rocky, he can take a punch, a whole lot of them.”

With a cunning smile, Ella leaned forward in the pool. “Clarice, you're very good at this kind of thing, how do you think we should gently let Garth and Honey Creeper down, while getting Rocky interested in Calci?”

Squealing at the thought of playing matchmaker and match-breaker, Clarice started planning. I sat back, listening to her talk, relieved that it seemed like I was no longer in her sights. Maybe I wouldn't have to play the femme fatale again.

__
Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Tuesday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Drying off after the hot tub, I leaned over and quietly asked Ella, “What exactly is a manicure and pedicure?”

“You really are a boy,” she whispered, her smile taking any potential sting out of her words. “They're going to clean, massage, and colour our hands, feet, and nails. It feels really nice, just relax and go with it.”

That didn't sound so bad. I'd already had my fingernails painted a few times and while it looked weird to me, it hadn't felt annoying, unlike the makeup. That was one benefit of having fur, Clarice and Naomi hadn't insisted I put on eyeliner, or lipstick, or foundation and blush since becoming a catgirl.

Putting on a pristine white housecoat that was made from Elven spider silk and sandals, we made our way to the next room. Six attendants greeted us, and apparently they'd already decided how we were going to be paired off. While Ella, Clarice, and Naomi each got a beautiful human or elf, Ivy had a large orc woman with vivid black and gold tattoos covering her green skin. Calci was directed to a chair by a fellow Dwarf, who had an elaborately braided red beard that reached her very shapely hips.

Finally it was a clockwork folk and myself. This one didn't look anything like Professor Pyrotechny, who was always covered in stains and half melted parts. Their metal body was more feminine looking, with brilliantly polished silver, gold, copper and steel, their eyes looked like blue emeralds, and the ticking of it's gears was much softer.

We were seated in comfortable chairs and our feet were put into bowls full of slime. I jerked my feet away, remembering having my hair and scalp burned by the acidic slime in the survive or die test a week ago.

“Don't worry,” the clockwork folk said.  “This slime is specially bred, it will only digest dirt and dead skin. When we're done your feet will feel clean and soft.”

“OK,” I said. Very slowly and gently, I put my toes into the clear slime. It felt like jello, and it moved upwards covering my feet. It didn't hurt, but it did tingle weirdly. Looking at my friends, Ella was taking it in stride, the others were as cautious as I was.

Ivy started to growl, her teeth growing into fangs. Her Orc attendant just smirked, and asked, “Scared, little wolf?”

The werewolf's glare made me cringe in fear. But after a moment she plunged her feet into the slime, defiantly looking at the Orc. The woman just smiled, which revealed her sharp, bronze colour teeth.

Smaller bowls with more slime were put on the wide chair arms, and while I was still nervous, I put my fingers into them with only a little hesitation. It was just like my feet, the back of my hands and fingers which were covered in fur didn't really feel anything except faintly warm slime. But my bare palms tingled from the slime getting into the cracks, lines and pores of my skin.

With that done my clockwork attendant leaned the chair back. Glancing over I saw everyone else was in the same position, their attendants were mixing bowls of powder and elixirs together. I didn't get a chance to see anything else as my head was shifted to look straight up and two cool green crystals covered my eyes.

“This will hydrate your eyes, making them look fresh and full of energy,” the clockwork attendant said.

“OK,” I said, a little worried that I couldn't see anything.

I heard Naomi yelp. Before I could ask her what was going on, I made my own little squeak of surprise. Flowery smelling oil was being rubbed onto my furry cheeks. “Relax. This oil is specially made for fur.  It will revitalize it, making it shine.”

It did feel kind of nice, so I settled down and let her do her job.

As we were getting pampered, Naomi, Clarice and Calci started talking about their boyfriends. Ivy began snoring. Ella and I sat in silence, I didn't want to talk about my love life, which was very complicated even though I didn't have a boyfriend, or a girlfriend. What happened with Rocky and I the other day did not count. And Ella never talked about stuff like that.

Leaning back in the comfy chair, getting my face, then my hands, and finally my feet massaged with oil, listening to my friends and the soft music playing in the background, with the cool stones over my eyes, I had to admit I felt pretty good. I could see why my Mom liked the spa. I had to wonder why men didn't do it too.

Before I knew it, the stones were taken from my eyes, the excess oil was wiped from my fur, and the chair was put back up. Looking down I saw that my claws on my hands and feet were painted a stunning, glittery red colour. When I moved my fingers they looked like shiny dragon scales. Then I saw my reflection and realized the fur on my face was really shiny, instead of the dull black it had been that morning.

I'd never really had anything for cat girls, they were nice enough to look at, but the claws and fur were kind of off putting. Seeing myself in the mirror, I realized why some humans liked the look. I was hot. My brain and libido were once again tossed into confusion, as my mental image of myself ran headfirst into the wall of reality. Before I got a headache, I looked away from the mirror, trying to distract myself.

The girls were all done as well, admiring their own nails, which looked really nice. Even Ivy was looking appreciatively at her blood red nails which had been sharpened into points. Calci was looking in the mirror at her her short, emerald green beard, it had been curled and oiled, which looked good with her chubby, red cheeks. And Ella looked fantastic. Her nails were silver that glittered in the light, and her dark skin glowed more than usual. Even her eyes seemed bigger.

“Time for the massage, girls,” Ella said, after we'd had long enough to admire our new looks.

We were led to the next room where the attendants took our housecoats and made us climb onto the massage beds. Feeling very self-conscious I laid there naked, with my tail covering my butt. Then I felt oily, metal hands digging into my back, and after a moment of pain, my muscles turned to water. Really comfortable, relaxed, water, that made me sigh in relief as knots and cramps I didn't realize I'd had disappeared.

“You are very tense, Petra,” the clockwork attendant said. “You need to learn to relax.”

“Mmmm.... It's kind of hard to relax here,” I mumbled.

“If you come here once a week, we'll make sure you end the week calm and free of stress. It will help with your school work.”

“I'm not sure I can afford that.”

“We're coming back,” Ella said. “My treat. This is too good to ignore.”

“I guess I'll be here next week.” Any further conversation was cut off as we moaned and groaned in pleasure.

Leaving the spa, the morning was over and there were more students wandering around. Normally I would have been worried, but I was feeling way too good. Every muscle was relaxed, my skin was still pleasantly tingly. Even my bones felt good from soaking in the hot spring.

“So where to next?” Naomi asked.

“Hair or food?” Ella asked.

“Hair!”

Naomi's enthusiastic cry was greeted with nods and agreement from the others. Even Ivy looked interested in the idea. I was less certain, but remembering my promise to be more enthusiastic I nodded along. I wasn't that hungry yet anyways.

Going up another level there was a barbershop on one side and a much larger hair salon on the other. Entering the salon I sneezed at the smell of shampoos, dyes, conditioners, and other things I had never had to worry about when I had short hair.

Even though the hair on my head was still short, and technically fur rather than hair, knowing my friends they'd insist I get something fancy done with it. It was easier when I was a boy and could just smooth my hair with my hands and maybe a bit of water, and call it a day.

While I was distracted looking around at all the equipment, sinks, chairs with weird crystals and runes on them, and the hundreds of oils, potions and elixirs that lined the walls, Ella got everything set up. Once again we each got paired with a stylist, in my case it was a chimera, who looked like she was half weasel going by her ears, nose and the fur that replaced her hair.

“Oh my, aren't you so pretty. We don't have nearly enough people with fur in here,” she said. “Too many girls think that just because they have fur they don't need to worry about styling, but it's nice to change things up sometimes, especially when you have such beautiful fur.”

“Uh, yeah,” I said.

“I'm Trixie, and don't worry, I'm an expert when it comes to fur. Your friend said to make you look and feel extra special, so I'm thinking we'll lengthen your fur. Then I can give you a nice pixie cut, straighten it to let your ears show, and dye it white which will be a great contrast to your black fur. How does that sound?”

Pixie cut? Contrast? Straightening? I was lost. “I'm in your hands!” I replied, forcing myself to smile.

My stylist didn't quite squeal. I would have face palmed at her enthusiasm which probably spelled very bad things for me, but I was still a bit too relaxed to do that. With a growing fear, I let myself be led to a chair, while Trixie kept talking.

An hour later we were all done.

Once again my eyes went to Ella, who had her short hair lengthened to halfway down her back. It was braided in cornrows with jewelled beads on the ends. She was definitely one of the cutest girls I'd ever seen. Naomi had her pink hair streaked with purple, and it looked a lot bouncier then before. Ivy had her straight black hair styled so it flared out almost like a mane.

Clarice couldn't stop playing with her curly blonde hair. “Do you think Gold will like this?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I replied. It really did look good on her.

Calci's emerald green hair was in two massive braids that hung over her shoulders. The braids had silver and gold threads wrapped around them, holding them together and making them look really nice in the light.

And then there was me. My head fur now hung to just above my shoulders, cut so it perfectly framed my face, and it was pure white. I thought it looked odd against my black fur, but everyone oohed and aah-ed, when they saw it. Looking around I noticed some boys coming out of the barbershop giving me admiring looks.

I wanted to sink into the floor and disappear. I was not supposed to be the prettiest girl in the group!

I wasn't supposed to be a girl at all.

Forcing myself to keep smiling, I followed my friends as we headed for lunch at a different restaurant. Maybe food would make me feel better.

__
Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Tuesday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Hi Mom and Dad,

Just thought I should let you know that I'm still alive. Barely.

Doom Valley has been really interesting. I've been killed about twenty times. Don't worry I got better.

And guess what, have a nemesis. Three of them actually. One of them is a paladin who thinks I'm evil incarnate, he almost killed me.
I've also almost been brainwashed three times, those were from my other two nemesis's? Nemeses?

My romantic life is weird. Somehow I'm in a relationship with a kid studying to be a mage, and a rock giant called Rocks For Brains. Rocky almost killed me twice, the first time was on purpose, but the second time was an accident.

If you could send me my allowance pretty soon, I'd appreciate it. I'm running of clothes. They keep getting torn, burned, eaten, and generally shredded.

I do have some good news. I'm roommates with the 259th daughter of the Mad Immortal Emperor. She's a nice girl, very friendly, as long as you don't get on her bad side.

Oh yeah that reminds me. Mom you know how you always wanted a daughter. Well congratulations, you've got one.

Looking over what I'd written, I groaned, crumpled it up and threw it away. How exactly was I supposed to tell my parents I was no longer their handsome son? Glancing at my furry hands, I also wondered how to tell them I was no longer human. This kind of problem never happened at my old school.

Back home I just had to worry about bullies who might shove me into a locker, steal my notes, or use some enchanted stink powder to make me smell like garbage all day. That I could handle. But Doom Valley had been punishing me right from the start. Staring at my dark red claws which still looked shiny and new a day later, I was reminded how my entire life had been flipped around.

Leaving my desk, I flopped down on my bed. Ella was out, she had a lunch date with Blood Wing and some other big shot students, so I had the enormous dorm room all to myself. I'd been planning on doing some homework and writing a letter home, but I was not feeling it. Rolling off the bed, I knocked on the floor under the bed. Maybe the Monster Under the Bed would have some more cookies and tea. She didn't answer my knock. Peering underneath, all I could see was dust and the floor. She was either asleep or out.

Sighing, I laid there feeling sorry for myself, my tail twitching back and forth.

There was a knock on the door. Practically dragging myself across the floor, I silently hoped whoever it was would go away. I wasn't in the mood to see anyone.

The person knocked again, more insistently this time.

“Who is it?” I asked.

“Naomi,” my friend said through the door. “We're going out to have some fun, we want you to come with us.”

“I'm not feeling that good,” I said.

“Well let us in, we'll help you feel better or take you to the nurse.”

“I just want to stay in bed.”

“Petra, we aren't going until we at least see you. Staying in bed all day isn't healthy.”

Sighing, I opened the door. Naomi and my friends came in, stepping over me as they did. Calci bent down, grabbed me under the arms and lifted me to my feet as if I didn't weigh a thing. Briefly I considered falling to the floor again, but that would hurt. So I just stood there, hunched down, wishing they'd leave me alone.

“Homesick?” Clarice asked, her small hands pushing me towards a chair.

“No.” I really wasn't homesick. At least not in the usual way. I didn't want to be at Doom Valley, almost anywhere else would be better. I also didn't want to be a pretty girl, especially not the prettiest one in the entire group.

“Feeling sick?” Naomi asked. She felt my forehead, then realized it was covered in fur, so she touched my nose, which just felt weird.

“No.”

“Sick and tired of Doom Valley and everything that's happened to you so far?” Calci asked.

“N- Yes.”

“I thought you had fun yesterday,” Naomi said.

“I did. It was strange, but everything was fun. But I'm not used to any of this. And I know that next week is going to be bad, and the next week will be worse, and the next one, and on, and on, and on.”

Suddenly I found myself in the middle of a the three girls getting hugged. “You had a bad first week. But you've survived,” Clarice said. “And think about it, you got the second best roommate at school. You've impressed everyone. You survived attacks from two of the worst male bullies in our year. None of the girl bullies want to risk taking you on. And you have a half giant wrapped around your little finger. That's pretty impressive. Do you seriously think anyone is going to risk anything by attacking you?”

“I guess not,” I replied, a little bit of life coming back to my voice.

“Exactly. Now let's get you dressed in your new clothes and we can go do something fun.”

Naomi was already pulling out my pants, specially made for a tail, and the white t-shirt that went with it. I found them too tight, especially the top, which felt like it was painted on over my breasts, but otherwise they were surprisingly comfortable and I looked good in them.

A few minutes later we were walking down the hallway. I was squeezed in between Clarice and Naomi who both had an arm around my waist. When I walked with my guy friends as a boy, we'd sometimes throw an arm over each others shoulder, but the full body press that seemed so common for girls was not something I normally did.

Feeling the warmth and comforting softness of their bodies, I had to admit girls definitely had some things going for them.

“So what are we doing?” I asked.

“There's a game room for the dorm. We thought it would fun to see what they've got, or maybe just play some cards,” Calci said.

That actually did sound like fun. Perking up I picked up my feet. “OK! Let's go.”

Taking a corridor I'd never gone down, we started passing a lot of unmarked doors. “What are these rooms?” I asked.

Naomi gave me an odd look. “You don't know? These are the rooms for cleaning supplies, laundry, public bathrooms and showers for the girls in the barracks, a place to cut your hair for free, and things like that.”

“Oh. People have to do their own laundry, and clean?”

“You don't have to do laundry or clean?!”

“No. I just throw any clothes that survive the day into my laundry hamper and they're clean, folded and put away in the morning. And some goblins come in while we're in class to clean everything. You don't have that?”

“You're kidding me!” Clarice said.“No.”

“We have to do all our own cleaning and laundry. Some girls pay or force others to do it for them, but I think you're the only one to have it all done by the school.”

The all looked jealously at me. “Right. Well if you want, you could put your clothes in my clothes hamper once or twice a week and have them done for you.”

That seemed to make things better, Clarice and Naomi squeezed me tighter at least, which seemed like a good sign. “Thank you!” they all said in unison.

We came to a door that looked like all the rest. Freeing her arm from my waist, Clarice opened the door. “I think this is it,” she said.

I heard something that sounded like sandpaper rubbing on stone, making my fur stand on end. My instincts bypassed my brain, making me move quicker than I thought possible. I grabbed Clarice and threw her behind me. As I did that, my foot slammed into the door forcing it shut.

There was a loud squeal from the room. We all watched in horror as the tip of a slimy tentacle was cut off from whatever was on the other side of the door, it flopped and writhed on the floor for a few moments, oozing an ugly, black ichor, that steamed a little.

“That's not the right room,” Naomi whispered, staring at the fleshy thing.

“I'm glad. I don't think I'd like that game,” I said.

Just then the veiled girl I'd seen on the first day who was always riding on her giant white tiger came strolling down the hall. She completely ignored us until she reached the door we were still looking at.

“Move aside,” she said, her voice soft and airy. “I need to go in there.”

“Um are you-” I started.

Her tiger growled, and she pointed her pure white staff at me. “There is no need to speak. Simply move aside and stop wasting your time and mine.”

A part of me wanted to warn her about the monster on the other side. But the rest of me decided that silence was best. For all I knew she had summoned the thing. We all got out of her way, curious about what would happen next.

The girl waved her staff and the door flew open. For a moment it looked like nothing would happen, then her tiger jerked back, looking very shocked. Tentacles exploded from the opening, grabbing the animal and it's rider, dragging them into the room so fast there wasn't time to blink. The door slammed shut behind them.

“Should we help her?” Calci asked.

I went to the door, putting my ear to it. I could hear roaring, shouting, screaming, screeching, and explosions from the other side. Opening it a crack to look in revealed a two way battle. The tiger was clawing and biting at the tentacles, while the girl was casting explosive spells and hitting the monster with her staff. The tentacles weren't happy about this and were wrapping themselves around the pair throwing them around the room and squeezing them in ways that couldn't be comfortable.

Closing the door, I turned to my friends. “We should go tell someone. Anything else would just have us in the way.”

Clarice went down the hall and pressed a red crystal. A goblin in a janitors uniform came out of a small secret door.

“What do ya need?” it asked.

“There's a tentacle monster and it just grabbed a student,” she told the little monster, pointing at the door.

The goblin sighed, went back into it's room and came out a few moments later with a large metal tube that had a flame at one end, goggles, and a mace hanging from it's belt. It walked past us to the door, opened it, and charged inside. There were more screams, yells, explosions, smoke, and gouts of flame.

The tiger and the girl came tearing out of the room at high speed. The big cat was missing fur, covered in ichor and the tip of it's tail was on fire. The girl wasn't much better off, her long brown hair was now very short and smoking, her staff was broken in half, and I could tell from experience that her expensive clothes were utterly ruined.

A few minutes later, after a lot more fire, the goblin came out, covered in ash and ichor. It closed the door and put up a sign that said, 'Being cleaned. Do NOT Enter', Then it walked past us whistling, chewing on what looked like well done calamari.

“Excuse me,” Naomi asked, very politely, “could you please tell us which door leads to the game room?”

“My paladin will advance to the sacrificial altar,” Naomi said. On the board, the mini paladin walked with big plodding steps towards Calci's stronghold.

Calci threw down a card. “I'm playing my ambush card, army of imps. They attack your paladin.” A dozen imps rose out of the ground jumping at the paladin who used his broadsword to cleave most of them in half. A few got through clawing at his armour, forcing him to stop moving, just short of the altar.

All eyes went to Clarice, we had been playing 'Complete War: Advanced Battles' for over an hour and we'd all used up most of our pieces and resources. Anyone could win at this point, and none of us were ready to surrender without a fight.

“My Elven thief back stabs Naomi's cherub and uses Unholy Hand grenade to shatter her temple,” the little blonde girl said, placing a card in the discard pile.

“NO!” Naomi shouted.

Helplessly she watched a cloaked figure appear and stab her last defender in the back. Then her stronghold blew up, illusionary rubble flew into the air, and her paladin fell to his knees in defeat.

Now it was my turn. Licking my lips, I put down two cards, “My goblins make a ballista, and they do it in double time. They fire on the sacrificial altar.”

“How long have you been saving those cards,” Calci demanded, throwing her cards down in defeat, as a crude, oversized arrow shattered her alter.

“Most of the game,” I admitted. “And now with everyone else dead, all my goblins and trolls attack the Holy Tree.”

Clarice looked at her few remaining cards, before tossing them down in disgust. On the table, my weak, nearly useless units that relied almost solely on numbers, converged on her stronghold. Elven archers slaughtered most of them, but enough got past and proceeded to destroy her few remaining units. She was still technically in the game, but my next turn would end her.

“I surrender,” she said.

“Woohoo! Goblins win!” I shouted.

“How did we get defeated by goblins?!” Naomi asked.

“No one ever expects the goblins,” I replied with a grin. “I just had to bide my time and conserve my forces until the time was right.”

Basking in my victory, we put the cards away and looked around for something else to do. The room was full of games and girls, there were tables like ours for strategy and role playing games. There were board games, tabletop sports games, racing games, many different card games, and magic mirror games. A group of six girls were playing Diplomats, and from the look of things it had been going on for several days.

“Well, well, well, if it isn't the princess's little pets.”

We turned and saw four girls that I vaguely remembered being some of the bullies from the first day. With my busy schedule, and being around Ella so much I hadn't had to deal with them, and had practically forgotten them. There were the two girls who had tried to steal my key at the very start, the crystal scaled one who breathed fire, and the tall one who had a soul cloth cape which moved unnaturally in the still air. There was also a girl with goggles that had a mechanical dog which clicked and growled. Finally there was the girl in a pink dress who liked turning people into sheep.

“What do you want, Druk?” Calci asked.

The scaled girl, Druk, smirked. “I think you and the princess need to learn your place. You've all been walking around like you own the place. But what have you actually done to deserve it?”

Clarice giggled. “Do you really want to beat up Rock For Brains girlfriend? You saw what he did to the canteen right?”

“Petra has also survived detention twice without a scratch,” Naomi said.

“And have you seen what happened to the two guys who got on Ella's bad side?”

“They tried to be tricky,” goggles girl said. “We're just going to beat you into a pulp. And the idiot giant will fall for anyone who gives him a pretty rock.”

Sheep girl raised her wand. I got ready to jump, I really didn't want to be turned into a sheep. Being changed into a girl, then a beautiful girl, then a cat girl was more than enough for one week. Everyone else got ready to run or fight, and the room had become very quiet.

Then Brier, the roommate and personal assistant of Blood Wing walked over. “You probably don't want to do that, girls,” she said.

“Why not?” Goggles asked. She looked the girl up and down, sneering at what she saw. “Are you going to help them?”

“Oh no. I'm not a fighter,” Brier said. “But I do know that my roommate Blood Wing is friends with Princess Ella, and she is always looking for ways to form a closer relationship. You do remember how she protected Petra from Micheal a few days ago?”

The girls suddenly looked a lot less confident. Rocks For Brains was intimidating, but he was easily led. Blood Wing was insane, and if she did anything it was likely going to be excessively overpowered.

Clarice smiled. “So, do you really want to take a chance at fighting Ella who is more than willing to pay other people to do her dirty work, Blood Wing, Rock For Brains, and Petra?”

“ME?!” I asked in surprise.

The bullies looked just as surprised.

“Yes, I said Petra. She was the only one to survive the pass or die test, while going against a kid who was supposed to be a big shot paladin in training. She beat Victor with a lunch tray. She pounded Micheal. She seduced Rocks For Brains when he tried to kill her. And her luck goes from horribly bad most of the time, to insanely good when it counts. If we get into a fight, I don't know what it will be, but something strange will happen. She'll be humiliated and probably end up naked, but somehow you guys will be even worse off.”

“I don't want to end up naked again. I just got these clothes.”

The four girls looked at each other, they didn't look nearly as confident anymore. “Let's go,” Druk said. “They're not worth the hassle.” The girls went to the other side of the room and started playing a game.

Breathing a sigh of relief at our near miss, we turned to Brier. “Thanks for the help, that would have been bad,” Naomi said.

“No problem. Just remember it if you see me in trouble,” she said. Waving goodbye she went back to her friends.

I started giggling. I'd had two near misses today, but I hadn't gotten hurt or transformed, and my clothes were still in one piece. It was a miracle.

“What is it, Petra?” Calci asked.

“I can't say it. I'll jinx it if I say it. I'm just really, really happy right now,” I said.

It was suppertime and we were all heading for the canteen. Ella looked pleased with how her day had gone, but didn't tell us anything. Ivy was her usual non-talkative self, and the rest of us were really happy from our day of fun and relaxation.

We waved at the boys as we went to get our food. Well, the girls went to get food, I wasn't going to bother. I didn't want another live rat.

Rocky grimaced, holding his head like it hurt. Frowning I looked at him more closely, wondering what could be the problem. He'd been complaining about a headache for the last few days, but the nurse said he was OK. So I wasn't paying attention to what was around me.

I crashed into a short girl, and her tray of food spilled all over me. It was wet and very hot.

Screaming in pain, I pulled at my t-shirt, forgetting that I had claws and was stronger then usual. The fabric ripped in my hands.

Suddenly I was standing in the middle of the canteen, practically topless, only wearing pants and a bra, both of which were stained with tomato soup. And all eyes were on me.

Sighing, I pulled off the rest of my shirt and sat down.

“Um, Petra, you're half naked,” Garth said.

“At this point, who hasn't seen me half naked?!” I retorted.

Awkwardly the boys all nodded.

Silently cursing my life, I waited for my food. I knew things had been going too well.

__
Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Tuesday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Stepping into combat class, I saw that everyone was lined up by the protection medals. Ameth was crouched on the table watching everyone like a hawk. Getting in line behind Naomi, I asked, “What's going on?”

“No idea,” she said. “I just got in line with everyone else.”

We moved quickly and soon enough it was our turn. “Sign your names for a medal,” the cat girl said.

I did as I was told and was given a medal. Going over to the rest of the class Coach Angel Slayer was glaring at all everyone. That wasn't out of the ordinary, she always looked like she wanted to beat us to within an inch of our lives. But this time she seemed a little angrier than usual. Ducking behind Rocky, I hoped she wouldn't see me, I REALLY wanted to avoid becoming a combat dummy again.

“Listen up!” the Orc barked. “We've been losing too much safety equipment recently. You will sign them out and then return them. If you don't, you will get detention. Is that clear?”

We all quickly made it very clear that we understood, not wanting to risk her ire.

“Good. Now today you're going to sweat. Get down and give me a hundred. When you're done that little warm-up, we'll start getting serious.”

My arms and legs were wet noodles as I walked beside Rocky towards detention. I'd never felt so exhausted in my life and now I had to go risk my life. I was a dead cat girl walking. I didn't even have company in my misery, Rocky looked like he was ready for anything as he stretched his arms. Being solid muscle had to to be nice.

“How ya feeling, Rocky?” I asked.

“Good. Really good,” he rumbled.

“No headache?”

Tapping his head, he grinned down at me. “All good up here.”

“Glad to hear it.” I patted his thigh in encouragement, my arm refused to go any higher.

We got to Sir Grieves classroom. His students were still there, they snickered when they saw us, then quickly went back to preparing their weapons. The head of the combat department motioned for us to come over with a finger. Trying not to look scared, we made our way to his mithril and orichalcum throne.

“You two have proven surprisingly resilient, so the school has a new task for you,” the teacher said. He actually sounded amused, which made my fur stand on end.

He handed me a large padded sack with a shoulder strap. “We need a mock hydra's egg. Get one and put it in here.”

“Are you just trying to kill us now?! There are easier ways to do it!” I shouted, shock and terror making me forget who I was talking too.

The classroom became so quiet I could have heard a gnat sneeze. If I dared to look away from Sir Grieve, I was certain that everyone would be staring at me in amazement. His dark blue eyes pinned me to the spot, and I almost wet my panties in fear.

“Rock For Brains,” he said, his voice a low growl, “you don't have detention today. You can go relax. Petra has volunteered to do it all by herself.”

Rocky shuffled his feet. I refused to look up at him. He was going to get to survive, I wasn't about to make him feel guilty about it. I also felt like I'd start crying if I saw my one hope of survival walking away, and I refused to do that.

He patted my shoulder. Then I listened to his heavy footsteps as he made his way to the door, dragging his feet the entire way. With a growing feeling of horror, I heard the heavy soul steel door open and then clang shut. He hadn't even tried to argue. I couldn't blame him, but it still hurt.

My focus was still on Sir Grieve, and I would swear I heard him sigh almost like he was disappointed. “Get the egg in the bag and your detention will be done for the day,” he growled.

He snapped his fingers and I found myself teleported to a rocky desert.

Looking around there wasn't much to see except rocks, boulders and stones that looked like they'd been painted with pastels. They ranged from pebbles to larger than a small building, and erosion had given them odd shapes, nooks and crannies. They'd be good for hiding in, or concealing predators.

At least nothing seemed to be near me, just some spiky plants that didn't seem mobile. Taking off my backpack I took stock of what I had. There was a flash stone which would create a blinding light, a glue potion Calci had made for me in potions class, and I had two smoke bombs that didn't have any catnip related ingredients. Finally, Elsa had managed to get me a dagger which wouldn't break or dull, that went on my hip.

As ready as I could possibly be, I tried to recall what I'd learned about mock hydras in Squire Scouts. They were three headed monsters, rather than nine like a true hydra, and they didn't regrow dead heads. If I could figure out which head was the main one, I could possibly stab or crush it's brain, which would kill the thing. The other two heads were basically extra appendages with mouths and eyes, dangerous to me, but any damage I did to them wouldn't matter too much to it. It would be nice if one head always held the brain, but that would have made things too easy, it could be in any one of them.

They made their nests in sandy, sunny spots, with lots of empty space around them, where they could get lots of sun and watch out for egg eaters. There would be a lot of bones and poop around it's nest, letting animals know that they should stay away. That would at least make it easy to find, their refuse was supposed to be extra smelly. Another thing in my favour was that there would only be one mock hydra in the area. They were very territorial, and needed a lot of food even though they were cold blooded.

Taking out a water bottle, I took a sip. Wherever I was, it was hot , and I dearly needed some water after combat class. Feeling a little refreshed, it was time to start hunting. If I was lucky I could find the nest while the monster was away and just grab the egg without any problem.

Yeah, that wasn't about to happen.

Picking up my feet, I strolled leisurely towards a really tall rock pillar that would give me a good view of the region. I was in no hurry to deal with the monster and needed to conserve what energy I had left. Maybe by the time I found the thing, I'd actually be able to run.

Thanks to my new climbing skills and claws I was perched on top of a wide sandstone pillar a half hour or so after arriving in the rocky area. It wasn't very wide at the top, just a little smaller than my dorm room, and the fifty foot drop on all sides was kind of terrifying. But it provided a wonderful view of the surrounding area.

I was actually surprised that I'd made it up safely. I'd half expected to be chased by a death worm, run into a pack of adjula, or a hungry chupacabra, or just speared by some Girtablilu, the half-man, half-scorpion people loved this type of land. Since I hadn't seen anything except a lot of small biting bugs, I counted myself lucky, the mock hydra must have scared away any competitors.

Looking around, I saw rocks, lots and lots of rocks. There were some small animals running around, mostly staying in the shadows out of the sun. A spring dripped water from a crack in a small cliff, which dribbled down to form a small puddle in the otherwise barren landscape. Looking at the sun, I got an idea of the basic directions. North, back the way I'd come from, the ground got a lot rockier, turning into small hills and eventually mountains. The same was true to the south. The west didn't look very promising, it was flat, but it seemed like it was just hard stone all along. The east looked good, there was sand and fewer rocks that way, perfect for a nesting mock hydra.

So I knew where I had to go. Now I just had to get back down. That was easier said than done. My arms felt dead. In fact my entire body felt like it weighed a ton. With the sun beating down on my back, I started to feel sleepy.

I knew it was a bad idea, but I laid down on the nice warm stone. Just a few minutes and I'd go hunting. A purr rose in my throat, it was really comfortable.

My eyelids got heavy. Soon enough the world and all my cares faded away.

A loud shriek woke me up.

Jumping to my feet, blinking hard to clear the sleep from my eyes, I realized it was getting dark. It was also getting cold, even with my fur the wind made me shiver. Then I noticed the very large gryphon staring at me, it's wings spread, and it's very sharp beak just a few feet away from my face. There was another smaller gryphon circling in the air.

My tired mind realized I'd fallen asleep on the gryphon's resting spot. Fortunately it seemed like they'd recently eaten, or I'd already be dead. Carefully and slowly backing up, I got to the very edge of the pillar.

“OK, nice bird cat, I'm going to kneel down and start climbing down,” I said in a calm, quiet voice. Putting words into action, I gripped the edge of the pillar and desperately searched for a crack or ledge that would hold my toes or claws. The gryphon watched for a moment, then lunged forward, it's beak snapping shut just inches from my nose.

Screaming, I jumped back.

I suddenly found myself fifty feet in the air, several feet away from solid ground. My scream became a shriek as I plummeted towards the ground.

I came to a jolting, painful stop. Something grabbed the waistband of my skirt. I flipped around so instead of going feet first towards the ground, I was now looking straight down at the rocks about twenty feet below me. Looking behind me, I realized my clothes were caught on an old but surprisingly tough tree that was growing out the side of pillar. I had no idea how it had stopped my fall, but I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. I wasn't a pancake, I was happy with that.

Now if I could just free my skirt, I could fall to the ground and land safely thanks to being a cat girl.

I'd just started to twist around so I could grab a hold of the tree when a sound made me freeze.

It was a weird hissing sound, far too loud for most reptiles, and it seemed to be coming from three different mouths at once. Trying not to whimper, I turned to look at the noise. From around the pillar, three heads on long necks appeared. They were sniffing the ground, their snake like tongues tasted the air, searching for food. It had to have heard me scream and thought it would find an easy meal.

Covering my mouth so I wouldn't make a sound, I tried not to breathe too loudly.

Down below, the large lizard came fully into sight. The last rays of the sun made the things scales light up like an iridescent rainbow. If the monster wasn't over thirty feet long from nose to tail, with massive claws and teeth, trying to find and eat me, it would have been quite pretty.

Slowly and patiently it searched the ground for any trace of me. After what felt like an eternity it ended up directly under my nose.

'Go away. There's no food here. Keep going,' I loudly thought.

At that moment, my sensitive cat ears heard the tree start to crack.

__
Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Tuesday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Hanging by my skirt, looking down at the mock hydra who was almost close enough to touch, with only a small tree keeping me from falling on top of the monster, I silently sent prayer to every single god and demon I knew of, including my history teacher. It didn't seem to help as the tree cracked again and I got another inch closer to the reptile.

Not daring to breathe, I slowly, ever so slowly, reached into my backpack. Going completely by touch, I pulled out a smoke bomb.

There was another crack. I leaned dangerously far forward, my ears almost brushing the monsters middle head.

Dropping the smoke bomb so it would fall between the necks, I got ready to break the tree and run.

The mock hydra moved just a little as the smoke bomb fell. The glass container hit the monsters back and rolled off. Instead of landing on hard rock, it fell into a pile of something soft and smelly. The three heads rose up, looking for what had hit it.

It was pure bad luck that the tree broke at that very second, dropping me right on top of the middle head.

The scaly, armoured skull of the monster was about as big as I was. Without thinking I grabbed on, digging my nails between the scales, which couldn't have been comfortable for the hydra, even though I didn't do any damage. I started shrieking as it swung it's head around, trying to throw me off.

It suddenly stopped moving. Looking up, I saw the two other heads moving in to strike, their beady red eyes focused on the tiny morsel of food that was stupid enough to pretend to be a hat. Screaming again, I jumped away as they struck.

I felt a tug at my skirt. The already stretched fabric tore, and I hit the ground in only my shirt and panties. A quiet voice in the back of my head sighed, I really should have expected that. Landing on the hard rock, I rolled along the ground, came to my feet and took off running.

The mock hydra screeched, hurting my ears, and spun to come after me. Then it let out a confused bellow. Looking behind me, all I could see was a cloud of smoke. It had to have stomped on the smoke bomb. Seizing my opportunity, I leaped onto a large boulder, slid down the other side and disappeared among the large rocks.

I was too afraid to pay attention to where I was going. I just needed to get out of there before I was eaten. As the sun set, I ran deeper into the rocky maze-like wasteland.

It was dark when I finally stopped running. My legs ached, I was starving, and I was shivering from cold. While the day was blistering hot in the desert, the nights were freezing, and I didn't have anyway to warm myself up. If I could find some wood or even enough roots and leaves, I could light a fire. But there were only a few scraggly bushes that were covered in thorns and wouldn't last more than a few minutes if I set them on fire.

Sitting down with my back to a large boulder, I winced as my practically bare butt hit cold stone. I'd run far to the south, which was all rocks and boulders. That really sucked because I had needed to go east to find the mock hydra nest. Now I was lost and alone with nothing that could help me. Doom Valley was finally going to kill me.

At least I'd lasted longer than a week.

“A lost little mortal!”

I screamed, jerking back, only to crack my head against the rock I was leaning against. Through the stars I saw the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen staring at me. And then the details came into focus. She was smiling with big sharp teeth, and she had eyes with pupils like a goat that seemed to glow in the moonlight.

Screaming again I tried to get away from the demoness. She grabbed my arms, forcing me to stay in place. She leaned in, sniffing me, giving me a close up of her flawless, porcelain-like skin. She had glittering purple snake scales going from behind her ears, down her neck and onto her shoulders. A forked, snake tongue tickled my fur.

“You smell like a man,” she purred.

This was it, I was dead. Squire Scouts had done a whole summer camp on demons. This was a Lilin, they lived in the desert and like to eat men. Sure they'd give them the time of their life for an hour or two before killing them, but dead was dead. They didn't like women much either, but usually they'd only curse them.

“No I'm not,” I whimpered.

She licked my cheek. “You are an odd one, you smell like a man, but you're definitely a woman. And you've changed a lot. So many smells, it's intoxicating.”

“Please don't kill me,” I begged.

Her hands went places I really didn't want them to go. “Your shape is weak. You've changed many times recently.”

“I didn't mean too!”

“Why are you here, little changeling?”

“I'm doing a job for Doom Valley. But I nearly got killed twice and then I ran away and I got lost, and I don't want to be here!” As much as I didn't want to, I started to cry. Everything just caught up to me and I couldn't stop myself.

Something strange happened, she gave me a hug. The demoness actually pulled me to her ample chest, wrapped her arms around me and patted my back. Then she whispered in my ear, “If you help me, I'll help you.”

My survival instincts kicked in. “What would I need to do?”

“Trade shapes with me.”

“What?”

“I take your shape and give you mine. It's easy.”

“Why do you want my shape?”

“Too many people know my shape. So if we trade shapes, they'll never know it's me. In exchange I'll make sure you get where you need to go.”

I tried to think, which wasn't exactly easy. I was being cuddled by a minor lust demon, and despite my female body, my mind was still very much a man. A horribly battered, bruised and humiliated male, but still male and very attracted to the opposite sex. “I'll still be me, just with a different shape? I won't set off any anti-demon alarms, or have to eat souls or anything like that?”

“Just the shape. I wouldn't give away what makes me, me.”

“And you'll lead me to the mock hydra's nest, so I can get one of its eggs?”

She stopped cuddling me, and leaned back, her eyes wide with surprise. “You're going after a mock hydra? Seriously? Are you crazy?!”

“I'm doing detention. And I kind of yelled at my teacher before I was sent here.”“Oh... You did say something about Doom Valley. How long have you been there for?”

“A week.”

“And you're already getting detention like this. I'd better get your shape now, you're not going to need it for much longer.”

“Gee, thanks for the support,” I said.

“All right. If you give me your shape, I'll give you mine and lead you to the mock hydra's nest. I swear on my name.”

“All right. I guess it's my only chance. I agree.”

The lilin didn't say anything, she just grabbed my shoulders and practically threw herself on me. Her lips touched mine, and I felt strange sensation run through my body. I was actually getting my first real kiss, and it was with a demon that sucked the life out of men. What had my life become?

And then a new sensation joined the first. My body seemed to turn to water. It felt like I was becoming soft and wobbly, forgetting what was an arm and what was a leg. Then my squishy not-body was poured into something that had firm limits and parts.

I found myself looking up at a black cat woman, who looked kind of pretty in a dangerous, predatory way. Even weirder the night was as bright as day. My cat eyes had made the night brighter, but I could tell it was night. This was just weird.

Not having a tail was kind of odd, I'd gotten used to the old one.

Looking down, I realized I couldn't see anything beneath the balloons that were now my breasts. Somehow these were even bigger than the ones Micheal had given me. Poking them with my long nails, proved they were mine.

And of course I was naked again. Because why wouldn't I be? My shirt and underwear were shredded on the ground, leaving me with just my backpack and the egg bag. Now I'd need to get a whole new wardrobe until I could be turned back into a human. Maybe this was why people became nudists. The gods or the demons, maybe both of them, seemed to want me to be naked anyways, I might as well just go with it!

“Oh this is an interesting shape,” the demoness said, running her hands over her new body. “I'm going to have fun with this.”

“I'm really happy for you. Now can you lead me to the mock hydra, please? I'd like to get home sometime tonight.”

“I can go into the sun with this body, right?”

“Ye- Wait, you couldn't go in the sun before?” I asked.

“No. The sun burned my skin, you'll want to cover up if you need to do things during the day.” She got to her feet and waved at me to follow her. “Come on, I want to get this done before dawn. I have big plans.”

“I should have known there'd be a catch,” I muttered, following her.

It took a few hours to reach the mock hydra nest. I passed the time by studying my new body, as much as I could anyways with the boulders on my chest. If I had to run they'd probably give me a pair of black eyes, and maybe a broken nose.

At least I had muscle. My body looked soft and very, very curvy, but under the layer of fat it was solid. Keeping up with the fast pace of the Lilin was easy. And the scales on my feet gripped the rocks better than any shoes I'd ever worn. The cold didn't bother me either, in fact as it blew on my skin I shivered at the new and unique feelings it sent through me.

Lilin stopped behind a house size boulder and pointed at a large mound a few hundred feet away. “There is the mock hydra. I've led you here safely, our deal is done. Good luck doomed girl.” She patted me on the back and squeezed my butt, before running off into the night.

“When did my life get so strange?” I asked the uncaring sky.

Putting everything else out of my mind, I studied the monster. It was asleep, and probably lying on top of it's eggs. They'd be a foot or two in the sand, protected from the sun and the cold, while making it harder for predators to get at. So I had to somehow get the mother off of them long enough to dig one out and shove it in the bag.

Easy.

If I could get it away from it's nest and blind it, it would help a lot. Fortunately I had the flash stone. It's bright light would definitely work as long as all it's heads were looking at me. So I blind it, set off a smoke bomb between it and the nest, get the egg and teleport home. I could do this.

Pulling the flash stone out of my backpack, I made sure the bag for the egg was secure around my neck. Then I grabbed a rock and started towards the sleeping monster. I wasn't sure how strong my new body was. I knew my endurance was pretty good, but I didn't know anything about how well I could throw. So I walked until I thought I was close enough to hit it, while still being far enough away to react when it came at me.

Taking a deep breath, I raised the rock and threw it as hard as I could at the mock hydra. I was stronger than I thought. The rock hit the thing right on the head, hard enough that I could hear the thump from where I was.

The heads rose up, hissing in confusion and anger. One head saw me, and the rest turned my way. Now things were going to be scary.

“HEY YOU STUPID LIZARD!” I shouted as loudly as I could.

It got to it's feet, roaring a challenge. Then it charged, surprisingly fast for something so large. Squeezing the stone as hard as I could I threw it, aiming for a few feet ahead of the monster. As soon as it left my hand I closed my eyes, raised my arm to protect them even more, and ran to the side.

The flash stone exploded, turning night into day. The mock hydra hissed in pain. I did too.

My eyes were fine, but my skin felt like I'd been flash fried. Cursing and groaning, I kept running. Waiting for the pain to stop would only make me wind up dead. Looking at the monster, I saw it swinging it's heads around, snapping and lashing out blindly.

I ran faster, quickly making it to the nest, which was a slight mound in the otherwise flat area. Digging through the sand, I felt something. Grabbing it, I pulled it out triumphantly.

And I found I was holding a new born mock hydra. It hissed at me and all three mouths bit down on my sunburned arm. Screaming in pain, I flailed my arm trying to make it let go. And mama heard me and the baby.

Roaring, half blind, and very angry it came charging back. The smoke bomb wasn't going to help, it couldn't see anyways, and was going by sound. Trying to pull the baby off of me, it just bit down harder, it's sharp teeth digging into my bone.

Biting my tongue to keep from screaming, I ran to the side, narrowly avoiding being trampled. That didn't help much, the baby monster let go of my arm with one head and chirped for mama.

The mock hydra slid to a stop, turned and charged right for us.

Screaming in pain I finally got the stupid thing off of me, losing some flesh along with it. Throwing the baby away from me, I jumped to the side. Mama's foot brushed my own, but otherwise I was fine. Racing back for the nest, I threw myself down, my breasts helping cushion my fall, and dug in the dirt.

Something bit my fingers. Then two more somethings took a bite out of my hand as well. Were all of the stupid eggs hatching?!

With my remaining hand, I felt something warm and leathery. Using my elbows to get up, I was holding a furious and hungry baby mock hydra in one hand, and an egg in the other. And mama was racing towards me again.

There wasn't time to get rid of baby. I shoved the egg into my bag and once more jumped to the side. I didn't make it. Mama plowed into me, her leg catching me on the side, sending me rolling painfully along the sand.

I looked up, dazed and confused, just in time to see a massive mouth coming down around me.

Screaming, I covered my eyes.

And then the world spun.

I found myself and the baby mock hydra, on a stone floor in Sir Grieves office. He looked down at me, rubbing his helmet and shaking his head. “You were only supposed to get an egg, Petra.”

“Ow! I know! Ow! This thing- Ow! Won't let- Ow! Go!” I said, trying to get the little monster off my hand. It didn't like that idea and started digging it's claws into my arm.

The teacher reached down and stroked the monster on the back, making a soft whistle as he did. The baby instantly let go and began chirping like a bird. Picking it up, he held it in his arm almost like a cat, petting it.

“Why did you change your shape again? And why a Lilin?” he asked.

“I didn't have much choice.”

“And why are you naked? Again?”

“I didn't have much choice,” I repeated.

He handed me a cloak to cover myself with. “Go see the nurse and get your injuries fixed.”

“Yeah sure. I'll see you tomorrow.”

He looked down at the baby mock hydra, then back at me. “No, you're detention is over. I needed a new pet, good work.”

If I hadn't been in so much pain, and bleeding out, I would have been amazed. Instead I was just slightly relieved, and getting dizzy from blood loss. Limping, holding my ribs which felt broken, and trying not to lose much more blood, I made my way to the nurse.

Ella woke up when I came in. She looked over at me, blinked, shook her head, and then looked again. “Petra is that you?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Did you shapeshift again?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Long story. Need sleep.”

“Are you a demon now?”

“No. I just look like one. And I may be allergic to sunlight.”

“Oh. Are you going to try to eat me, take my soul, or turn me into your slave?”

“No. Goodnight,” I said. Falling into bed, I was careful to not bump my bandaged arm and hand. My ribs weren't so lucky and I winced in pain.

“OK. Goodnight.”

If she said anything else I didn't hear it. I was asleep as soon as my head hit my pillow.

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Tuesday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

The boys were staring at me again.

I really should have been used to it. I'd spent a whole week looking like a lilin demoness, with boobs as big as my head, an hourglass figure and hips that would have had me drooling if I was a boy. Actually, I still caught myself drooling sometimes when I looked at myself in the mirror. On top of that I seemed to have an aura that made almost every male I walked past, and at least a handful of girls, very interested in getting close to me.

“Petra you messed up the point of the pentagram,” Rahul said.

Looking at it, I saw that my magic partner was right. Getting a rag, I got down on my knees, again, wiped away the chalk and carefully redrew it. Looking up, I realized my classmate was looking down my shirt, grinning at my impressive cleavage. Sighing, I threw the rag at his face and straightened up.

Had I been a pervert like that when I was a boy?

At least I was able to wear regular pants again, now that I didn't have a tail. And wearing pants didn't just protect me from possible upskirts, but from the sun. It turned out that my new body REALLY didn't like bright light.

Last Tuesday

“Everyone is looking at me,” I said.

It was breakfast time, and even though I was exhausted, I still had to go to class. Naomi and Calci were almost carrying me as we walked through the tunnel to get to the canteen. And everyone really was looking at me. They were also talking about me.

My ears weren't as good as when I'd been a cat girl, but I could still make out parts of the conversations around us. I kept hearing my name, along with words like bimbo, floozy, tramp, and worse. I didn't care, as long as they weren't trying to kill me they could call me anything they wanted. And frankly I was too tired and in pain to worry about it.

“Of course they are, have you looked at yourself in the mirror? Why did you get the body of a lust demon anyways?” Naomi asked for the fourth or fifth time.

“I didn't get the body of a demon, we traded shapes. I'm not a demon, I just look like one, and I may be allergic to sunlight. The flasher gave me a nasty sunburn last night,” I explained for at least the tenth time.

“Also,” I continued, “I didn't really have a choice. I was lost in a monster infested desert, freezing, and just waiting to be eaten. Changing shape isn't that big of a deal anymore.”

We passed by the long set of windows that showed the enormous garden and dog that liked to watch us whenever we came or went to the canteen. I started smelling something tasty. My mouth watered at the smell of meat. If only I could actually get some food on my own.

“Something smells really good,” I said.

“It does,” Calci agreed. “Smells like bacon.”

The others nodded, sniffing the air.

Sweat beaded up on my brow. “Is it getting hot? Or is it just me?”

“I'm not feeling anything,” Ella said. “Where is that smoke coming from?”

“PETRA! You're on fire!” Clarice shouted.

Looking down, my clothes were smoking and flames started to climb the skirt. Ripping off my dress, I saw that the fire wasn't from the fabric, but from my bare legs. As the sun hit my now mostly unprotected body, the rest of me started to light up as well.

Screaming, I ran for it, wanting to get out of the sunlight as fast as I could. As soon as I was back in the dim hallway, the flames died down. Unfortunately I was still burnt and extremely hot. Wearing only my scorched underwear, I ran to the canteen. Slamming through the door I shoved people out of the way only stopping at the food counter.

“WATER!” I screamed.

The cat woman started to say, “All o-” only to stop, look at me in shock and duck behind the counter. A second later she came back up with an enormous bucket of water and poured it all over me.

The freezing water made the burning stop, which was good. But it seemed to be enchanted to be bitterly, bitterly cold.  So instead of being too hot, I was shivering, getting frostbite on my already burned skin, in my soaking wet underwear, while in the shape of a well built lust demon. Of course everyone was looking at me.

“C-c-can I-I-I-I g-g-get a-a-a t-t-towel o-o-o-r s-s-some-t-th-thing?” I asked.

“All out!” the cat woman said.

“I-I-I h-h-h-ha-hate y-y-ou!” I said. Making my way across the canteen I headed for the nurses office, followed by hoots, hollers, whistles, and boys asking if I'd go on a date with them.

Back to the Present

The memory of almost burning to death, made me instinctively reach for the enchanted choker that protected me from bright lights. Apparently I wasn't the first student to have the little problem of getting killed by sunlight. At least something had gone right that day.

My assigned partner and I went over the ritual again. We were supposed to summon a simple demon and get them to do a relatively easy task. Mage Malacoda had recommended that the task should be telling some interesting news or fact, or running a basic errand, like delivering a message or getting something you forgot at home. Written in big letters on the board it read, 'NO MURDER, KIDNAPPING, OR TORTURE.”

“HI MOM!” Blood Wing shouted from the back of the class.

Looking over I saw a demoness that was even sexier than I was, blowing kisses at the crazy half-fairy. Blood Wing and her mother looked nothing alike aside from the wings. The succubus was over six feet tall, pink, and looked soft and squishy in all the right places. Technically she was wearing clothes, but the way she wore them actually made her even more intoxicating. Just looking at her made me start to drool.

A very nasty question rose in my head. Did boys feel the same when they looked at me?

Facepalming, I realized I had to become a boy again before my life got any more crazy.

“I think we're ready,” Rahul said. “You're up.”

Sighing, I took a knife and poked my finger. Rahul had done most of the work, I'd just chalked out the pentagram and prepared the candles, while he'd done the complicated summoning and protective runes. So I got to use my blood to attract a demon.

I let a drop of blood fall on each point of the pentagram. The demon would smell it and be interested, but it wouldn't be able to do anything with it. And the runes we'd used would ensure we only got a weaker, easily controlled, demon.

The candles flared, the gate was open. Looking over my notes, I started chanting with Rahul. I had no idea what the words meant. So I'd written them down phonetically and did my best to speak clearly with no mistakes. I didn't want to accidentally summon a demon lord, or a demonic tentacle monster.

Sweet smelling smoke rose in the pentagram. Breathing it in I felt my heart flutter, and improper thoughts come to mind, but it was controllable. Everything was working as it should. Sure it looked like we were getting some kind of lust demon, maybe even a succubus, but that was fine. Maybe we could get it to do a dance. That was safe, and sexy.

The smoke cleared away and my jaw dropped. I was looking at myself.

Not the human me, but my current demon looking self. And my twin was naked. Very, very naked. Rahul looked at the demon then at me.

“Lil! What are you doing here? And why are you wearing those ugly clothes?” the demoness asked.

“Do you two know each other?” Rahul asked.

“No,” I said.

“Yes. She's my sister.” The demoness went from surprised and confused to worried. She took a step towards me, only to bounce off an invisible wall. “Are you OK, Lil? Why did you summon me?”

“Wait! Wait! Wait!” I said. “I'm not Lil.”

Her eyes narrowed and my libido shrank away replaced by fear. When she spoke again it was in a low growl. “What did you do to my sister?”

“OK. I'm not your sister, but your sister is fine. We met each other a week ago and we kind of traded shapes.”

“How?”

“I don't know. She said my shape was loose or something, and she offered to help me complete an important task if we switched shapes. Lil said she was too well known and she wanted my shape to trick people.” I desperately hoped she'd believe me. It sounded bizarre, but it really was the truth.

She leaned as close to me as possibl, and breathed deeply, making her large chest rise up in the most interesting way. It might have looked exactly like my chest, but I knew it wasn't mine. So it was OK to stare, even as my knees went weak at the sight.

Her goat-like eyes studied me for over a minute as I stood transfixed. Then she burst out laughing, actually falling backwards, kicking her legs up in the air. Rahul's jaw dropped at the sight, so did mine. In fact by that point every single boy in the class had come over to take a look and a pool of drool was forming. The girls looked more annoyed and jealous than anything.

Blood Wing and her mother walked over to us. The succubus moved some of the boys out of the way with a gentle nudge of her hand. The affected boys grinned stupidly and fell to the ground, conveniently out of the way. She seemed as surprised to see me as the Lilin had been.

“Mara, Lil,” Blood Wing's mother said. “What a surprise.”

The demoness, Mara, apparently, stopped laughing and got to her feet, brushing herself off. “Wow, Margo, you're here too! How long has it been since we got together?”

“It's been at least fifty years. It was that fun little debauched party with Asmodeus. You should come visit me, I've got a whole kingdom under my thumb now, and the most darling husband. And this is my lovely daughter, Blood Wing,” the succubus said, beaming at the young half-fairy.

She turned to me. “And Lil, you haven't aged a day since we drained those silly mercenaries of all their gold and lives during the last Demonic War.”

“Mother, that isn't Lil, that's um, uh. That's Princess Ella's friend I was telling you about,” Blood Wing said.

“Yeah, I'm actually Petra, your majesty,” I mumbled.

“Really? Well this is interesting.”

She ran her finger over my chest, causing my knees to stop working. Catching myself on an altar, I tried not to faint from the wild sensations running through me.

And then she giggled, casting a knowing look at Mara. “Oh my. This is interesting. Do you think Lil knew what she was doing when she traded shapes with this young... person.”

The lilin shook her head. “If she did she wouldn't have done it. I'm not sure if I should go find her and warn her. Or sit well back with some beer and popcorn and watch.”

I managed to raise my hand. “Could you, maybe, tell me what's going on?” I asked.

They looked at me, then at each other and laughed. “No. Definitely not.” Margo said.

“If we did, bad things would happen to us. So, no,” Mara told me.

“When you're done here, Mara, come to my place. We can watch the fireworks together.”

Blood Wing landed on her mother's shoulder. “Mom, what's going on?”

“Sorry, dear, I can't tell you yet. Once Petra has died or moved on, I'll tell you exactly what's going on.”

“So should I stay close to Ella or avoid her as much as possible?”

Margo patted her daughter on the head. “Sweety, I'm going to answer you as best I can and with all sincerity. Yes.”

“Yes?” Blood Wing asked, her face screwed up in confusion. “But it isn't a yes or no question.”

“But that's the answer. Now we've taken up enough of the class time. The royal chefs should be done preparing the honeyed dragon kidneys, I'll just pop back home and get them for you.”

Then the succubus smiled at me, shrugged, and pulled me in for a hug. As I was overwhelmed by her scent and body, she whispered in my ear. “You're going to have an interesting time, if you're smart you may even survive. But remember this. If you seriously harm my daughter, I don't care what protection you're under, I will destroy you in the most painful way you can imagine. Then my husband will collect your soul and I'll spend a millennia torturing it. Do we have an understanding?”

“Yes, ma'am,” I squeaked.

“Excellent. Now I must be going. Ta ta everyone!” she said, blowing the class a kiss and disappearing in a puff of sweet smelling smoke.

With the beautiful succubus gone, all eyes turned to me, including the lust demon I'd summoned. Mara was leaning against the wall of the pentagram, back arched, showing off her breasts, and grinning at me, like I was some huge joke.

I really wished I knew what the joke was, and if I'd survive the punchline.

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Tuesday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

“So let me get this straight,” Naomi said as we ate our lunch. “You summoned the sister of the demon you traded bodies with.”

“Shapes, not bodies,” I corrected.

“What's the difference?”

“I have no idea, but seems important.”

“Fine, whatever,” my friend said, shaking her head. “So you summoned the sister of the demon you traded 'shapes' with. Then she burst out laughing after sniffing you. Then Blood Wing's mom looked you over really closely and started giggling. Now they think the demon Lil is connected to all of this, and they want to watch from far away. And apparently you have some kind of protection, and Blood Wing should stay far away, but also stay close to Ella. And they can't tell you what's going on or they'll get punished. Do I have that right?”

“I think so. It's really, really confusing to me. If someone is protecting me, I wish they'd do a better job of it. I'm sick of almost dying everyday, and I'm running out of clothes.”

“Your luck is really weird,” Ella said. “No one can be as unluckily lucky as you. You really should have permanently died at least three or four times. And succeeding at the pass or die test at the start of the term, in your nightgown, with no preparations, it's never been done before.”

“If I'm so lucky, how did I end up at Doom Valley? And why have I nearly died so many times? Why does fate seem to want keep humiliating me? Why does my magic always backfire? And why do so many strange, painful, and scary things happen to me?”

“Like I said, you're impossibly unluckily lucky. Anyone with your amount of bad luck wouldn't survive crossing a sleepy village street. Somehow the only wagon in the area would go out of control and run you over. But you survive. You'll be humiliated, in pain, and probably without your clothes, yet you will walk, or crawl away, and likely have gained something by the end of it all. You're like a lightning rod of improbable luck.”

I slapped my enormous breasts. “I wish I'd stop gaining things. If I gain much more, I won't be able to walk.”

“Could I have some of that luck?” Clarice asked.

“if I could, I'd let you have as much as you'd like,” I replied.

Garth looked at Ella. He hadn't been saying much for the last week or so, in fact he had stopped eating with us for a few days. It was nice to have him back. “So if Petra has such strange luck, is it affecting us?”

“Probably,” Ella said. “Having us meet like we did. That was a comedy of errors, that shouldn't have worked. We got a guide who didn't want to negotiate, and you had a guide that was willing to let us tag along just for laughs, strange coincidence. And you guys were nice enough to go with it without demanding something in return, saving our hides. How many boys here would have done that?”

“Not that many,” he said. The other boys nodded in agreement.

“Exactly. And there are other things that really shouldn't have happened.” She looked at Rocky, who was busy eating a big bowl of soup, ignoring the conversation.

“So we're caught up in Petra's weird luck. Is there anything we can do about it?” Clarice asked.

Calci shook her head. “Blood Wing asked if she should stay close to Ella or avoid her. Her mom said, yes.”

“But that's not a yes or no question.”

“That's exactly what Blood Wing said. Her mom said that was still the answer.”

Looking down at my food, I couldn't help feeling bad at bringing my friends into my insane situation. I didn't know what I'd done to deserve it, but it had to be something. They shouldn't suffer just because they were nearby.

“So,” Ella said, “we're already involved in this. If we ignore Petra, something will likely bring us back together, whether we want it or not. And if we stay close to her, we'll keep having odd things happen. Well I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going to stick by my friend. We have done quite well so far, and she has helped us many times, suffering and nearly dying when she could have just walked away. We now know that something stranger than regular odd luck is going on, so we can prepare ourselves for it.”

“I stick with Petra. Petra pretty,” Rocky said, looking up from his lunch for the first time.

“She's stuck with us, we can do the same for her,” Naomi said. Calci and Clarice both nodded in agreement.

Gold gave Clarice's shoulder a squeeze. “If you want to stay with her, sweety, I'll do the same.”

The other boys agreed, a little more hesitantly but seeing their girlfriends had their minds made up they couldn't exactly disagree. Garth looked at me, then at Rocky, and shrugged. Since he didn't say anything or leave, it seemed he was willing to stay with us. I felt bad for him, but I wasn't dating him or Rocky, and except for the first time we met, when I needed to pretend to be his girlfriend, I had made it very clear we were only friends.

Ivy turned to look at me, putting down her raw steak. “You're good at math. Keep doing it.”

Ella gave us one of her perfect smiles. “Well it seems we're in agreement. After class I'm going to the library to see if we can find anything about Petra's problem. If any of you would like to join me, it would make things faster.”

“We'll be there,” Calci said, “ we're all in this together after all.”

I wont' lie, I almost started crying. After everything I'd been through, I'd expected them all to abandon me, but here they were not only staying by my side, but trying to help. I couldn't have asked for better friends.

The Doom Valley Library was huge.

The Royal Library back home was large, one of the largest in the world. Doom Valley's was bigger, much, much bigger. The rows of books faded into the distance, and the shelves were at least two stories high. That was just the first floor, there were five floors in all. Minor angels and demons flew, climbed, and jumped among the shelves, dusting, casting protection magic against pests, grabbing a book and running off with it, or putting one back.

A few students wandered through the aisles, usually with maps and a compass. There were some adults as well, some looked like teachers, others not so much. I didn't think the school had a hundred-foot-long dragon professor, but honestly the dragon could teach seniors how to care for monsters. It wasn't like I'd seen many non-freshmen in my two weeks at Doom Valley.

Walking over to the help counter, it towered over our heads. Well it towered over most of us, Rocky was the perfect height for it. The entire thing was made entirely out of black marble, and a small male angel with parchment skin looked down his nose at us.

“What do you require?” the angel asked.

“We're looking for information on what would cause a person to have abnormally good and bad luck, sir,” Ella said.

“Go to reading room 145-A in Section Green, Subsection Obsidian.”

“Could we possibly get a map, please?”

Scowling, the angel waved his hand and a pamphlet flew through the air straight at Ella. Thanking him, we walked a little ways away and opened it up to figure out where we were supposed to go. Then we turned it around, upside down, looked on the back of the paper, folded it again, opened it in the opposite direction, held it sideways, scratched our heads, and wondered what we had been given.

“I think we have to go through six dimensions to get to the second floor,” Naomi said.

“Does anyone know what language this is written in?” Calci asked.

“It looks a little like Hyperborean,” Gold said.

“Isn't Hyperborea a myth?” Naomi asked.

“Oh no, they existed. Daddy talks about them sometimes, usually reminiscing on their wonderful parties,” Ella said.

“Your father was around back then?”

“Yes. He doesn't remember much about that time. Anything from before the current gods and demons arrived is rather hazy for him. He blames it on the really good wine, and an apocalypse or three.”

Once again, I was reminded how different my roommates life was compared to mine. Trying to get things back on track, I asked, “So how are we to find room 145 Green Obsidian?”

Antoine, who was holding Naomi's hand, decided to finally speak up. “It's room 145-A in Section Green, Subsection Obsidian.”

“OK. So how do we find it?”

“We could ask,” Honey Suckle said, walking over to a demon. “Hi, we're looking for room 145-A in Section Green, Subsection Obsidian. Where exactly is that?”

The demon looked at the elf. Her beady little eyes seemed to be judging Honey Suckle and not liking what she saw. Slowly she held out her hand. When nothing happened, the ugly thing coughed gently. Then it waggled it's fingers.

Sighing, Ella pulled some money out of her purse and put it in the demons hands. “Now will you help us?” she asked.

“Follow me,” the demon squeaked.

We started walking, taking turns apparently at random. About five minutes in we turned right at an aisle full of nature books, turned right again onto an aisle about runes, took yet another right in the basket weaving aisle, and took a fourth right turn onto the aisle for complimentary magic spells. Then we came to a cliff. Letting the boys go first, we climbed up the rocky wall to the second floor. The tiles were covered in water, and several angels were trying to get a massive tome about the elemental plane of water to stop leaking.

We were almost past the leak when a sea monster came out of the puddle and chased us all the way to the section on fire magic, where Calci and Garth found a fireball spell that sent it running. We had to backtrack a bit to get back on course, and after paying a fee to use a troll bridge, we made it to the correct room.

Opening the door, my jaw dropped. There were ten piles of books on the table. Each stack looked to have between twenty to fifty books, ranging from massive tomes to tiny pamphlets. I heard my friends groan, gasp, and whimper at the sight of it all.

“How are we going to read all of this?” Clarice asked.

“I have no idea,” Ella said. “I didn't think there would be this many.”

“Everyone pick a stack and look for the one that sounds most useful,” Garth suggested.

Rocky edged past us all and looked at the smallest stack. “I read this,” he said. Picking up a tiny green book with two dice on the cover, he went to the corner of the room and started reading.

“Can he even read?” Naomi whispered.

“He's not an idiot,” I said. “He's just a little slow.”

Without any better idea, we did what Garth suggested. I picked up a book about curses, that had to weigh at least ten pounds, and went to the table of contents. There was a whole section on luck curses. Over the next hour I learned more about cursing than I'd thought possible. There was a curse to steal luck from a person and use it for yourself. Another one gave a person's luck to those around them, leaving only bad luck for him. There was a way to attach a tiny luck demon to a person, that would eat their luck. An interesting curse made someone appear really lucky, but would cause it to backfire horribly. There were a lot more, some fairly minor and some very powerful, but none that matched my problem.

I wrote down some of the easier curses. At Doom Valley, being able to give someone bad luck even for just a few minutes, or steal there luck for the next important task, could be invaluable. Hopefully I'd be able to cast them without it backfiring.

The next book was about probability. Flipping to the first page I was met by a wall of numbers. There were some sentences, and I could understand the individual words, like 'the', 'chance', 'possibility', and so on. But the way the author combined them together, turned them into nonsense unless you really liked math. There was no way I'd be able to figure out what 'The continuum of interested possibility field divided by Fate's quantifiable interest times chaos equilibrium equals probability,' meant by myself. Maybe it was important, but it looked like gibberish to me.

The rest of the books were equally useless. There were biographies of famous figures with odd luck. Historical works where large events were affected by an improbable event. I read a highly contentious essay by the famous scholar Jnyandeep. Wsing ancient myths and very private gossip of demons and gods, he claimed that Fate had defeated the original god of luck, taking his domain for her own. According to the scholar, Fate was annoyed at the god changing peoples fates without her permission. Interesting but not helpful.

Then I skimmed through a biography about Jnyandeep. It ended rather abruptly with him being eaten alive by a ravenous horde of rabid gerbils.

Once I was done with that book, it was time to go and do our homework. We'd wasted the entire evening, and none of us were any closer to finding out what was going on with me. Disheartened, we made our way out of the library, only getting lost three times. We eventually made it out after paying an angel to be our guide.

Parting ways with the boys, we went to our dorms. Then saying goodbye to the girls, Ella and I entered our spacious room, where I fell onto my bed with a groan.

“Don't worry Petra, just because we didn't find anything useful today doesn't mean we won't have better luck tomorrow,” Ella said, sitting down beside me.

“When has my luck been good?” I mumbled.

“You don't think getting me as a friend was very lucky?”

“OK, that was very lucky. I think it used up all of my good luck.”

“Well if you've used up all of your good luck, I'll just have to share mine when you really need it.” She patted me on the back. “You know what will make you feel better? A nice warm bath. You don't have any homework that needs to be done tonight, so go and relax.”

That did sound really nice. “OK. Thanks for sticking by me.”

“We're friends. You may not believe it, but you're the best friend I've ever had. I'm not going to let you go without a fight.” She dragged me to my feet and gave me a hug. “So enough pouting. Go relax, and make yourself feel better.”

Grabbing my housecoat and towel, I went to the bathroom and was actually smiling. Things weren't all bad as long as I had friends. Filling the tub with perfumed water and bubbles, I stripped out of my clothes, and looked at myself in the full length mirror. I really did look sexy. My eyes went down, studying my body, and then I stopped in shock.

Between my legs was an old friend I'd thought I'd lost forever.

Mr. Happy was back and standing at attention.

I cheered in delight. Maybe the transformations were finally going away. Maybe I could become a complete boy again.

And then my cheering became a whimper as reality slapped me hard. Boys weren't allowed in the girls dormitory.

The shadow monsters were going to eat me.

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Tuesday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

“Petra,” Ella called. “Come out from under the bed. What's wrong?”

I was huddled in the corner of the Monster Under The Bed's room, clutching my knees to my still enormous chest. The Monster was patting my head with her trunk, making cooing sounds trying to calm me down. One of her long, multi-jointed arms took a cookie from a plate on her table and held it up to me. I didn't take it. I barely noticed it.

I was becoming a boy again and I was in the girls dorm. The shadow monsters were going to eat me

I hadn't wanted to be in the stupid dorm. I'd wanted to be in the boys dorm. But no. Stupid Micheal had to turn me into a girl. Then the stupid school had made me come here. I'd just done what I was told, and now I was going to be eaten.

It wasn't fair.

I hadn't even wanted to come to Doom Valley, I'd wanted to go to the School of Righteousness and Honour. And I knew it was a long shot to go there, so I was ready to stay at my nice safe school in the city with all my friends. This was all my parents fault.

“Monster Under the Bed can I come in?” Ella asked.

My host waved her hand and light came in from the space between my bed and the floor. Ella crawled inside. She dusted herself off while looking around the curious little room. “Thank you,” she said to the monster. “Now Petra what's wrong? You raced out of the bathroom so fast it seemed like you were teleporting.”

“Well...” I wasn't sure how to say it. My tongue seemed to swell up in my mouth, keeping me from speaking. I could only clutch my housecoat around me even tighter, as if it would keep the shadow monsters away.

The monster looked at me with one set of blue eyes, and Ella with a second grey pair. Then she poured two cups of tea, handing them to us, along with the plate of cookies. I took mine without a word, still unable to talk. Ella smiled and thanked her.

“Drink your tea and eat a cookie, Petra. Once you're done, you'll feel better,” she said, as if her pronouncing it would make it happen.

Nibbling on the dry, but very tasty cookie, I dipped it in the tea to help get it down. The Monster Under the Bed, grinned a lipless grin and wrapped it's arms around us a few time, giving me an encouraging squeeze. For a mute, eldritch entity that lived in a sub-dimension under young peoples beds, it was surprisingly good at offering encouragement.

When I finished my tea, I was ready to speak. I didn't want to, but at least I could talk. Looking at Ella, I said, “The shadows are going to eat me.”

“Why would they do that?” she asked.

“Because I'm a boy again.”

She looked me up and down and frowned. “Sorry, but you really don't look like a boy. You still look like the lilin demon.”

“I've got my old equipment,” I muttered.

She looked down at my crotch. Her eyes got wide and she whipped her eyes back up, opened her mouth as if to talk, and nothing came out. Looking away, she ran a hand through her hair. “Right. Um, OK. This is a problem. I-I'm... I need to talk to my brother. The one who made the cat girl formula. He should be able to help us. Yes. He'll know what to do.”

At that moment I felt an odd sensation coming from my left ear. It felt like it was stretching. The monster leaned back, unwinding her arm from around me, pointing at my face.

Reaching up, I felt a furry cat ear where a slightly pointed demon ear had been. My other ear was normal. Well, normal by the standards of the last week. Touching my face, I realized my nose had changed, it was the pretty little nose that Micheal given me. What was going on?

Before I could try to work things out, I leaped to my feet crying in pain. Grabbing my tailbone I realized it was suddenly a lot longer than it should be. I had a tail again. And I was standing in front of Ella with my housecoat wide open.

She looked at me, her eyes going down to just below my waist. A small squeak escaped her lips, her eyes rolled back, and then she went limp, falling down in a faint. The Monster Under The Bed, managed to catch her before she hit the floor and put her on the oddly shaped couch in the corner of the room.

Tightly tying up my housecoat, I went to Ella's side, tapping her cheek to wake her up. “Hey. Are you OK?”

“Ugh. What happened?” Ella asked, keeping her eyes closed and holding her head.

“You fainted.”

She gasped, opening her eyes only to wince and close them again. “Gods, this is embarrassing.”

“Why did you faint?”

“I don't want to talk about it. Give me a minute to make the room stop spinning, then we'll figure out how to go see my brother. Can you get my magic mirror?”

Crawling out from under the bed, I grabbed the mirror from her desk. I considered putting on clothes, but with my body shifting and changing, I wasn't sure what I could wear. The housecoat was at least loose enough it should cover me, no matter what happened.

Going back down, Ella was sitting up and looking better. Handing over the mirror, I carefully sat down on the floor, keeping myself covered.

She tapped the surface and stared at the mirror silently for a few moments.

A boys voice came from the metal frame. “Hey Ella, what's up?”

“It's my friend Petra. She's changing shapes without taking any potions or using spells.”

“What?”

“She's got her cat tail back, a cat ear, her human nose, and, uh, her old male genitalia.”

There was a long moment of silence. “You didn't tell me she used to be male.”

“I didn't think it was important!”

I'd never seen Ella so flustered. There'd been a few times she'd been caught by surprise and didn't know what to do. But I'd never seen her embarrassed for so long, and seemingly out of her depth. I didn't like it.

“All right, the damage is already done. Can you get her to my lab?”

“Not really.”

“Why not?”

“The shadow monsters will eat her.”

“No they won't. The school tells you they eat guys to avoid effective attempts to trick the monsters. They actually just have a list of people who should be in the dorm. You're not on the list, they eat you. As long as Petra is on the list, she'll be fine.”

“Oh. That makes a lot of sense. We'll be there in fifteen minutes.”

“I'll be waiting.”

Closing her mirror, Ella grabbed my hand. “Come on,” she said, leading me out.

We said a quick goodbye to the Monster Under the Bed, who gave us what might have been a thumbs up in return, and crawled back into our room. Putting on shoes, we headed out, Ella leading the way. She took us to a place I'd never been before. It didn't look like much, just a short wooden hallway with a single door at the end.

Biting her lip, Ella gave two short, quick knocks, counted to three, knocked loudly once, then slapped it four times with her palm. The door opened, revealing a small laboratory and a purple skinned teenager with red hair in a white robe.

“Hi, you must be Petra, I'm Kai,” the boy said.

“Yeah. Do you have any idea why I'm changing? I really wasn't expecting this,” I said.

“I've got an idea. Strip and sit on the chair,” he said.

Having had so many clothing malfunctions already, I didn't hesitate taking off my housecoat. At least I had my old male equipment now. Ella gasped and turned around to face the wall. I suddenly felt a lot more self-conscious.

“Don't mind her,” Kai said. “She's always been a bit of a prude.”

“Just because I have some decorum doesn't make me a prude,” Ella said, still looking at the stone wall.

Kai rolled his eyes. “When you traded shapes with the demon, how did she do it?”

“I don't really know. She just said that my shape was loose. She seemed happy about that.”

“Uh-huh, interesting. How many times have you shapeshifted in the last year.”

“Well first I was turned from a boy into a girl. Then Micheal gave me bigger breasts and hips. Then I became a cat girl from your potion, then I turned into a demon.”

"And there was the Rapunzel potion that gave you hair all over your body," Ella said.

Kai looked at me oddly. "How did that one happen?"

"The potion was mislabelled."

“Wow, OK, that's bad luck. And how long between each transformation?”

“About two or three days.”

“TWO OR THREE DAYS!” he shouted. “Are you insane?!”

“What?” I asked in confusion.

“Ella why didn't you tell me that she shifted that many times? No wonder the demon said she's loose. It's a miracle she didn't start transforming sooner.”

“You didn't ask,” Ella retorted.

“I thought it was common knowledge. Don't either of you know anything about transforming?”

“No,” I said. “What exactly are you talking about?”

He took a deep, calming breath, before turning to me. “OK. If you transform too often, your body starts to forget what it should be. It starts shifting by itself, without any real rhyme or reason. It's called Rapid Transformation Syndrome. You've got a really bad case of it.”

“What can I do about it?”

“Well, I hope you haven't gotten the school nurse angry at you.”

Groaning, I cupped my face in my hands. I was doomed.

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Tuesday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Now that I knew what was going on with me, it seemed as if I was changing even more quickly. Walking with Ella to the nurse's office, I stumbled and almost fell down a flight of stairs as my left leg became a little shorter and my right toes got cat claws. Fangs popped out of my mouth and my breasts shrank to the size they were after my first change.

“I'm going to be sick,” I moaned. The Rapid Transformation Syndrome was making my insides roil.

“Hold on, Petra,” Ella said, as I clung to her. “We're almost there.”

“Are they even open at this hour?” It wasn't quite lights out, but it was late and every student was supposed to be in their dorms.

“It's Doom Valley, what do you think?”

She had a good argument. You never knew when a student might decide to blow someone up, or a potion from earlier in the day could suddenly come back with nasty side affects. Hopefully the night nurse was different from the day nurse. If she was, I might get cured.

When we finally got to the office, my eyebrows had grown three feet long, making it extremely hard to see. It seemed like the Rapunzel salve had decided it wanted to play as well. Stepping inside, I flipped my new and unwanted fashion statement up and over my head. What I saw made me want to groan.

The same nurse as always was there, reading a book and sipping a cup of something steaming. She didn't look happy as her eyes fell on me. Taking her time, she put her book and tea down, got up from her comfy looking chair and walked over to me, her shoes clicking menacingly on the stone floor. “What have you done this time?” she asked.

“She has Rapid Transformation Syndrome,” Ella said. “It's apparently a really bad case of it.”

“I can see that. I'm surprised it took this long to occur, considering all the changes you've done to yourself. Normally it would have kicked in two or three days ago. I suppose I should help you, even though you are a thief.”

“I'm sorry,” I said, too sick to even try to deny it. “I won't do it again.”

The nurse snorted. “Sit down and hold out your arm. I'm going to give you a needle that will help stabilize your shape.”

“You mean I'll stay like I am right now?” I didn't like that idea. My face was covered in fur, my legs were still different sizes, my cat tail was a stub under my tailbone, and my eyes were from two different species making it hard to focus. Reading would be difficult like this without closing one of my eyes, and combat class would be impossible.

“Probably not. This medicine will use your self image to help settle your shape,” she replied, as she dug through a cabinet.

“See, I told you everything would be fine,” Ella said, squeezing my shoulder.

I tried to say something, but my jaw decided to grow to match what it had looked like as a boy, while the rest of my face stayed a little smaller and girlish. Finding it hard to talk without spitting and hitting my teeth together, I just tried to smile.

The nurse came over with a large needle, filled with something red and bubbling. Grabbing my arm, she rubbed some stinging alcohol on my bicep, then put the cold, metal tip against my skin. “Hold still, this is really going to hurt.”

“Um, can you use something el- GAH!!!!” I screamed as acid was injected into my veins.

Pain became my new best friend. It filled me up, wrapped me in it's arms, and made sure it was the only thing I could think of. From the tips of my toes, to the end of my hair, pain was the only thing that mattered. Even sound hurt.

Very slowly it let me go. I found myself lying on the floor, my head on Ella's lap, with her looking down at me, concern written on her face. Seeing the worry in her big, brown eyes, I wanted to reassure her that everything was fine. Opening my mouth, I said, “Ow!”

It wasn't what I wanted to say, but it was really all I could say. My brain was still trying to work out what it was supposed to do, and signals were getting mixed up.

“Don't worry Petra, you're all better now,” Ella said.

“Oh no, she isn't,” the nurse said. “This just stabilized her shape. She'll need to get the same shot every evening now or she'll start to transform again.”

A whimper escaped my lips.

“Will it be easier next time?” Ella asked.

The nurse smiled. It wasn't a pleasant smile. It looked a lot like a cat smiling at a trapped mouse. “No.”

“There has to be something easier than this.”

“There's a way to cure her permanently. But I don't want to do it for a thief who keeps annoying me.”

Sighing, Ella asked, “How much will it cost to get you to cure her?”

“I don't want money.”

“Then a favour? I am the daughter of the Immortal Emperor.”

“And if your father actually remembers your name I'd be very surprised.”

Ella's face didn't seem to change. If I hadn't spent the last two weeks living with her, I wouldn't have seen the tightening of her jaw, or the darkening of her eyes. That jab had hurt.

Sitting up, I glared at the nurse. “So what will it take to get the cure?” I asked. I tried to sound tough, but the best I managed was a weak croak.

“There is something I want. The Dwarves of the Emerald Mountain Clan, have a drink called the Elixir of Life. They never sell it to outsiders. Get me a bottle of it, and I'll mix up a cure for you.”

“How are we supposed to get you that?” I demanded.

“I don't know or care. Find a way to buy it, steal it, get the recipe and make it yourself, it's all the same to me. Now get out, it's well past lights out.” She handed us a slip which was an excuse for being out so late.

Leaving quickly, not wanting to risk making her even more annoyed, we made our way through the dark halls of Doom Valley. Ghosts were out wandering the halls, sweeping the floors, washing the walls, removing bloodstains, and just tidying up as they wailed and whimpered. A lot of the ghosts were teenagers in torn and tattered school uniforms. I could picture myself in their position all too easily.

“So I guess I'll be getting that shot every day until I can find another doctor,” I said.

“Oh no you won't,” Ella said. “We'll ask Calci about the Dwarves tomorrow. She should be able to buy it.”

Hope rose in my chest. “Oh yeah. I wonder if she can just place an order for it.”

Feeling a lot better, we walked a little more confidently down the hall.

“So, Petra,” Ella said, staring intently at the floor. “It looks like you're still a girl.”

Reaching down, I felt around and realized that she was right. I was once again completely female. “Yeah I am. At least I'm human again, and my breasts are smaller.”

“At least now you won't attract so much attention. You look a lot like you did when we first met, just a little taller and more muscular.”

A horrible thought rose up in my mind. “Does this mean I'm thinking of myself as a girl now?”

“I don't know. Do you want me to ask Kai?”

“No,” I said. If we asked him, and it turned out I was thinking that I was really a girl, it might make it so I really was. And I didn't know how I'd deal with that.

“OK. Let's hurry up and get to bed. We have a lot to do tomorrow,” Ella said, wrapping her arm around mine.

“Wow! Petra you're human again!” Naomi said.

We were all in the hall about to head off for breakfast, and I was feeling pretty good. It was nice being human for a change, and after a good night sleep I was ready to face the day. But first there was something important to do.

“Yeah, hopefully I get to stay human for a while. I don't want to have to deal with any more transformations,” I said. Turning to my Dwarven friend, I gave her my best smile. “And to help make that a reality. Calci, could you buy something for me. I really need something called the Elixir of Life from the Emerald Mountain Clan Dwarves.”

“Who?” Calci asked, looking very confused.

“The Emerald Mountain Clan Dwarves. They make something called the Elixir of Life that the nurse wants, but they only sell it to Dwarves.”

“I've never heard of them, or this Elixir of Life.”

Ella stepped in. “Seriously, you have never heard of them?”

“No,” Calci insisted. “Do you really think that all Dwarves know each other? Practically every mountain in the world has a clan of some sort in it. Trying to keep track of all of them is a full time job. And if this Elixir of Life is really special, they might only sell it to their clan members. ”

“Oh. Well...” I didn't actually know what to say. I was going to have to go through the excruciating experience of getting the shot every single day. Bowing my head in defeat, I refused to cry.

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Tuesday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Ella stood at the head of our usual table and raised her glass of juice. “Everyone, I know that some of you may have thought this day would never come. But by sticking and working together, we have finished our first month at Doom Valley.”

Everyone cheered. And the couples with us hugged each other, with some kisses. I didn't hug or kiss anyone, Rocky and Garth didn't either. They seemed to be pretty happy anyways, and I was ecstatic.

A month ago, my life had been much happier, healthier, and far less painful, in fact I would give anything to return to my blissful life back home. But I hadn't thought I'd survive a week at Doom Valley. Truth be told, I hadn't expected to survive my first day. Despite that, I wasn't dead yet, I had good friends, and it looked like I might keep on surviving.

Sure every night I had to get a shot from a sadistic nurse that left me writhing on the floor so I kept my current shape. I was still a girl. I'd almost drowned in combat class that day. I was still regularly set on fire, tossed around by invisible forces, and occasionally chased by angry spirits in magic class, but I was still alive, human, and sapient.

Looking around the canteen, not everyone could say the same. It was suppertime, and there were over a dozen empty seats. Some of the seats that were still filled had students who were barely hanging on. There was a boy who had been an Orc, but was now a barely stable slime. A girl had been transformed into a large humanoid rat, sat in a corner shaking like a leaf, nibbling at her piece of cheese, warily watching the hungry looking cat women, who kept licking their lips and sharpening their knives. And there was one chair with a girl and boy who were slowly absorbing each other. They'd started off only attached at the hand, now they were two heads on one extra wide body, and their faces were starting to look like similar to each other.

Yeah, I could be much worse off.

“Now, we have something important to consider,” Ella said. “Petra is still suffering from her Rapid Transformation Syndrome. There is a cure, but we can't get it without outside help that is far too expensive, or by getting Nurse Ratched a bottle of the Elixir of Life.”

“And we can't get that since none of us are part of the Emerald Mountain Dwarf Clan,” Calci said.

“Exactly. But I've been looking into it. The Emerald Mountain Clan doesn't mind visitors. In fact their beaches are a popular tourist attraction in the Green Sea Archipelago.”

Clarice raised her hand. “How does that help us? We're about four thousand miles away from the Green Sea.”

“We can do an independent study project, for extra credit and time off from class,” Ella said, grinning like a Cheshire cat. “Usually only older students do them, but if we write up a request and have a good reason, we can get a free teleport there and back, and a small loan from the school for supplies.”

“We'll have to pay the school back though. It can't be cheap.”

Ella nodded. “That's right. So we can't just go for the Elixir of Life. It's something that the nurse wants for herself. But we could steal something that the school would like.”

“And what would that be?” I asked, not liking this plan.

Unrolling a poster, my friend held it up for all of us to see. The lettering glowed a brilliant green, and spelled out 'The 100th Emerald Festival'. Below it was a picture of a beautiful, sandy white beach with a gorgeous mountain behind it, and breathtaking emerald sculptures.

“In two weeks they'll be celebrating the Emerald Festival. They're holding a contest for the best emerald sculptures. There's going to be hundreds of art pieces on display, each of them worth a small fortune. We're going to steal one of them, and get the Elixir of Life at the same time.”

“Wait, we can't rob them! That's not right,' I said.

Everyone looked at me, like I'd grown a second head. “Um, Petra,” Clarice said, “I know you didn't want to come here, but remember where we are. This is exactly what most of us knew we'd eventually be doing.”

“But we could get caught. I don't want you guys to suffer because of me.”

Ella gave me one of her beautiful smiles. “Petra, we are going to be helping you. But this also helps us. If we pull this off, we'll all get a huge boost to our grades, and we'll be the first of our year to do it. That means a lot.”

“And if we're caught, we're teenagers. We'll get a slap on the wrist. This isn't like going someplace where they sacrifice thieves to the god of murder or something,” Naomi said. Then she got a nervous look and turned to Ella. “They don't do that right?”

“Oh no. The Emerald Clan is a firm believer in restitution. They'll just make us pay some fines or work it off in the mine. As long as we give it a good try and don't do something epically stupid, Doom Valley will pay at least part of the fines, and their lawyers will defend us in court. So lets not break anything we don't absolutely have to, or hurt anyone, and we should be OK.”

“See, nothing to worry about,” Naomi said.

There wasn't much I could say to that, Ella and the other girls seemed to have their minds made up. And unfortunately they were right. This was Doom Valley Prep School. As long as I was a student, I'd eventually have to do stuff like this. At least we all agreed that this was to be as non-violent and damaging as possible.

“OK. I'm in,” I said.

“This is purely voluntary,” Ella said. “We'll need everyone who wants to help. Even if you think you can't offer anything, you can still be a lookout, help scout out the location, or provide a distraction. And we will have some time to enjoy the beach and festivities. We need to pass ourselves off as tourists, so we'll be packing our bathing suits.”

All the girls, except Ivy, raised their hands. “We're in,” Calci said. “You'll definitely need me. As a Dwarf I can probably get into places you can't. And I'm the best alchemist we have.”

“No fighting?” Ivy asked.

Well,” Ella said, rubbing her chin, “there might be fighting. If something goes wrong we'll need to escape the guards. They could be fun to play with.”

That got a toothy grin from the werewolf. “In.”

The boys glanced at each other, then Gold, Antoine, and Honey Creeper put their arms around their respective partners. “We're in,” Honey Creeper said, giving Calci a kiss on the cheek. “We can't let you girls take all the risks.”

“And seeing us in bikinis didn't cross your mind at all?” Naomi said, giving Antoine a kiss.

“Nope. Never,” her boyfriend said.

Rocky and Garth were the last ones. We all turned to look at them.

“Sorry,” Rocky said. “I no go. Too hot. And I am too big. Would stick out.”

“It sounds fun, but I'm not good enough with magic yet. Maybe next time,” Garth said.

I couldn't blame them for not coming. I'd made it pretty clear that I wasn't going to date either of them. And Calci's attempts at flirting with Rocky, when her Elf boyfriend wasn't nearby, had hit a brick wall. The half-giant was just too dim to recognize what she was doing. So they would be helping purely out of friendship and for extra marks. The risk of getting caught was just too high for them. If the entire thing wasn't for my benefit, I'd have said no as well.

“All right,” Ella said. “You two would have been helpful, but I understand. So no hard feelings. I'll fill out the forms this evening and hand them in tomorrow. We'll know by tomorrow night if they'll support us. As soon as we have that, we can start getting tools, blueprints, tickets to the exhibit, hotel rooms, and other information.”

“We can ask our teachers for some advice on what spells and potions we'll need,” Calci said.

“I can talk to Bob about it, and ask him for advice,” I said, wanting to help out as much as I could.

“Great! Clarice, Antoine and I will ask our teachers about the country, it's laws and government,” Ella said, getting nods from the other two. “This is going to be fun.”

While everyone talked about what we might need, what we could expect, and how exciting it would be, I listened silently. My supper sat like a stone in my stomach. I just knew this was going to end in disaster.

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Tuesday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Sitting in the subterfuge office after classes had ended for the day, I gave Bob my best smile. “Hi, I'm hoping you could help me out with something.”

Leaning forward in to put his elbows on the desk, the pudgy faced, beardless dwarf smiled back at me. “Of course, of course. What do you need?”

“Well, my friends and I are planning a heist. We want to steal some of the emerald statues at the 100th Emerald Festival being held by the Emerald Mountain Dwarf Clan. We've gotten the forms for an independent study project, and are filling them out this evening. But I thought it would be helpful to get some advice from you on how to pull it off.”

He broke into a grin. “Ah, I like it when students show some initiative, and that's a perfect choice. Beautiful beaches, great food, and best of all plenty of money to be made. So do you have a plan?”

“We're actually looking into it now. We just thought of it yesterday,” I admitted.

“All right. You're making things a bit tight for yourselves, but at least you realize you need to have an actual plan. There was one group of sophomores last year who thought they could scam a casino. They didn't realize it was owned by a demon lord, and they'd thought their magic would let them bluff security.”

I shivered at the thought of trying something like that. Demon lords took a very dim view on people trying to rob them, especially when it's poorly done. Little things like laws and mercy weren't something they considered when dealing with thieves.

Bob must have seen me shiver. “Yep. They got caught. Our lawyers were able to keep them from immediately having their souls ripped out of their bodies and turned into something useful. But they get to spend every holiday working at the casino until they graduate. And if they fail out of Doom Valley, their souls are forfeit. They're some of our best students now, but have a bad habit of screaming whenever they see fire or smell smoke.”

“Um... right. So... what can you tell me about planning a heist?”

“Write me a ten page report on the Imp Gang's theft of the Infernal Diamond. How did they plan it, how they managed to steal, and how they got away with it. I want it in nine days.”

“But, I'm already doing lots of homework and planning for this heist. I don't have time to do another project.”

His cheerful smile turned into a frown. “Petra, we are a good school, not some factory that turns out mindless golems that repeat what they're told. If I simply tell you what to do, you won't learn how to do things on your own, and I'd be a failure of a teacher. So go to the library get the books, and write me up a fifteen page report, that really gets into the nitty gritty details of the heist.”

I was about to say something, then shut my mouth. I didn't want to end up writing a twenty page report on it. Forcing myself to smile, I said, “Thanks. I'll get right on it.”

“You're most welcome. I can't wait to see what happens.”

We were all in the library, using one of the smaller, easy to find, study rooms. Ella sat at the head of the table, getting ready to start the planning session. I was sitting off in the corner reading up on the Infernal Diamond Heist, jotting down anything that seemed important.

“OK, I know we haven't much time to prepare things, but we're on a tight deadline,” Ella said. “Calci and Honey Suckle, what have you got for the Emerald Mountain?”

Calci looked over her notes. “It's a tropical island made out of an extinct volcano, and it has an unusually large number of emeralds. Legends say that the emeralds are because the first god of wealth once used the volcano as a toilet, but no one is really sure. Dwarves found the island after several thousand were teleported there, during the Pub Crawl of Chaos. They saw how fertile the island was, the emeralds, and the convenient lava tubes, and decided to make it their new home, rather than learn how to make boats and sail across the Green Sea. Two-hundred-twenty-three years ago they were discovered by orc sailors from the Bitter Water Tribe. There were some intense negotiations over landing rights, supplying the orcs with food and fresh water, and other things, but they came to a mutually beneficial agreement. After repairing their ships and healing the wounded, the surviving orcs set sail with a heavily armed group of dwarf merchants and a sack of emeralds. From that point onwards the island was connected with the wider world.”

“Is there anything a bit more recent?” Naomi asked, looking at the big stack of notes in Calci's hands.

Honey Suckle picked up his single piece of paper. “Their main industries are emerald mining and tourism. So they are very firm about keeping order, they don't want to deal with emerald thieves or having people scare away tourists. Their police force is considered one of the best in the world, and they're regularly hired by other nations to act as trainers.”

“So it's going to be really difficult stealing some statues and the elixir of life.”

“Well, for this festival they're going to have at least three million visitors,” the elf replied, looking at his notes. “A lot of their attention will be focused on controlling the crowds. If we're clever, we can sneak in grab some of the smaller pieces and get out.”

“Or,” Clarice said, “cause a big distraction nearby and in the chaos get a few statues and run away.”

“We don't want to cause a stampede and get people hurt,” Honey Suckle replied. “And that type of thing will have them hunting us down with everything they have, after locking down the area.”

“But do any of us know how to break through high level security wards and guards?”

I looked up from my book. “What if we get someone inside and they steal it?”

“How will we get someone inside with less than two weeks to prepare things?” Ella asked.

“It's an art exhibit, we could transform someone into an emerald statue with an enchanted bag. When everyone is gone, they transform back into flesh and blood, steal a few of the nicer statues, then they teleport away. No one will see us, the event will continue relatively calmly so we won't be enemy #1, and we can get some insurance money from having our art stolen. That's what the Imp Gang did when they stole the Infernal Diamond.”

Ella smiled at me, making me blush a little. “I like that idea, it's nice and simple. And even if we get caught we shouldn't have to worry about them throwing the book at us. But how will we get our statue in there?”

It was Gold's turn to show what he'd learned. “Doom Valley can sneak in our entry. All it needs to do is get some paperwork in the right place. We'll have to pay the school back for the bribes, but it shouldn't be a problem.”

“Why don't we just put a teleporting switch spell on the statue? Why does it need to be one of us?” Naomi asked.

“They'll be checking for any enchantments on the statues. Something like that would be easy to catch, unless we want to spend a fortune. Transforming someone and having them use a mental command to switch back to flesh and blood, it's a lot harder to detect,” Calci said. “But how can we turn a person into an emerald statue? That isn't exactly an easy spell, especially if we want them conscious.”

“We could ask the school for the spell, but if we get it on our own it will probably be cheaper. And we'll get extra marks,” Ella said. “We could ask my brother Kai.”

“Can he do it?” I asked. “He didn't want to try to cure my RTS.”

“He's better at transforming things than making things stable. This is right up his alley.”

Gold nodded. “I think that's the best idea. We can borrow an enchanted bag from the school. As long as we return it in good condition, they won't charge us for it. And we'll get the best possible bag, it will hold a couple of statues safely. We should also be able to get a teleporting token to get the person out of there once they're done.”

“OK, I think we have the basic plan down,” Ella said. “If we want to get the insurance money as well, we'll need to spend at least a few days on the island afterwards. Just disappearing will look very suspicious. That will give us time to get the Elixir of Life.”

“And enjoy the beach,” Naomi and Clarice said together.

Ella grinned. “Of course, that is very important.”

“So who gets to be the statue?” Calci asked. “I don't think it should be me. I need to find out more about this Elixir of Life.”

“Since I'll be going under my name, with all of you as my guests, I can't do it,” Ella said.

For some reason several sets of eyes turned to me. “NOT ME! I've already got enough problems from transforming too often.”

“She's right. Petra is not getting turned into a statue.” Ella turned to look at Naomi and Clarice. “I think it will have to be one of you two. A statue of a girl carrying a bag, is more attractive than a boy with a bag.”

The three boys in our group all looked relieved.

“I'll do it,” Naomi said, but she was frowning as she said it. “I'm stronger than Clarice. And while I'm not a great fighter, if something goes wrong I'll have a better chance of getting out of it.”

“Thank you,” Clarice said.

“All right, I'll fill out the forms, listing what we need and a budget for it. Tomorrow morning I'll hand it in before class starts,” Ella said. “I want each of you to research useful tools and spells, that will help keep us out of jail, insurance fraud, Emerald City, their police force, and anything else that you think could be useful. We'll narrow things down tomorrow when we have access to the school's information.”

Nodding in agreement, we all got down to work.

Reginald sat in his dorm room, polishing his sword. It wasn't as good as his old one that had been destroyed by Sir Grieve, but it was still rather impressive. A sprite sang heavenly music for him, as he focused his attention on his task.

His ability to focus on what had to be done was something he needed to work on. He'd learned that after his pass or die test with that enchantress Petra. She'd taken his focus off of the goal and he'd been humiliated. He would not let that happen again.

His magic mirror chimed like a bell. Sending it a mental command, his mother appeared in the silvery surface.

“Reginald, how are you doing?”

Standing at attention, he said, “I'm doing quite well, mother. My grades are good, and I'm regaining my standing among the teachers.”

“Oh why don't you relax a little,” she said, frowning a little. “I don't know why you're always so serious.”

“I'm just trying to uphold the family honour.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, you're going to have a chance to relax soon. Your father and I are being honoured at the 100th Emerald Festival, in thanks for us helping defeat the Gopher King's army last year. You are coming with us.”

“But what about my classes?”

“I've already spoken to your headmistress. You'll have some homework and reading, but you're already at the top of most of your classes. So no arguments, you're going to come with us, and have a good time.”

“Yes, mother.”

“OK, I have to go now. We're just about to raid an evil cult. Love you.”

“I love you too, mother,” he said as the image faded away.

Scowling, he sat back down. How could he go on vacation now? He had to prepare himself to face and defeat the wily Petra the next time they met. Didn't his parents understand anything about honour?

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Tuesday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Naomi made a very pretty statue, with pink crystal hair, emerald green skin, sapphire eyes, and diamond nails. Her clothes had changed as well, her blouse had turned to a beautiful glittering white opal, with black pearls in place of buttons. A blue gemstone formed her pleated skirt, and her bag was red ruby. The only problem was the nervous look on her face, it wouldn't look good for a statue.

“So what will she be wearing when we do the heist?” I asked.

“This,” Ella said. “We're going to call her 'School Girl Rushing to Class'.”

“But she's wearing the Doom Valley uniform. They'll suspect something is up won't they?”

“We're going under my name, and anyone who takes a few minutes to investigate will learn that I'm a student here. So there's no reason to try to hide it.”

“Won't they immediately arrest us? We're probably going to be the number one suspect.”

“They have to have evidence. And we'll have Naomi wearing a wig and some other things making her look different. While she's a statue, we'll use an illusion spell on one of us, to make it look like she's mobile and enjoying herself. It would be better if we could have her arrive at the island anonymously, and pretend we don't know her. Unfortunately people would ask her too many questions. I can get away with arriving there with my friends via teleporting, my family does things like that all the time. But any other young woman who isn't rich and from a famous family, will be stopped at the hotel and questioned by police.”

Turning to the purple skinned Kai, I asked, “She is perfectly safe in there, right?”

Ella's brother gave me a warm smile. “Oh yeah. If something goes wrong she might be unconscious. So that's why I only gave her a few drops.  If she can't use the command word, she'll become human again in an hour or two.”

“So why hasn't she turned back yet?”

“To keep her from going nuts, she doesn't perceive time like we do. A minute to her is about an hour to us. She'll probably turn human in about fifteen minutes. That's long enough to make sure it works.” Turning away from Naomi, Kai looked at me. “Now we're going to need to deal with your RTS.”

Frowning, I thought about having to inject myself with the excruciating serum while on the island. “Yeah, I don't think Nurse Ratched will give me a bottle of the stuff and a needle.”

“Definitely not. She's a nasty one, the old nurse was a lot better with the whole bed side manners part of the job. He was tough, but fair.”

“What happened to the old one?” Ella asked.

“Nurse Ratched poisoned him. She is really good with poisons. We're pretty sure she was a member of an assassin guild before getting a job here.” His voice was full of respect as he talked.

I had to fight off a shiver as I realized I'd managed to make a potential assassin angry with me. “So what can we do about me?”

“I can whip up an elixir that will stabilize your shape a little. It's not as effective, and you build up a resistance to it fairly quickly, still it should keep you mostly stable for a week and a half. Strong emotions will cause some changes. But if you calm down for long enough and concentrate on your shape, you should return to your normal.”

“So I could end up with cat ears or something if I'm surprised?”

“That's right. Try not to get too excited or anything.”

Ella put an arm around my shoulder. “Don't worry, we'll keep you to working as a lookout. That's important and you shouldn't have any reason to get excited.”

I gave her a smile of thanks. I just knew that despite our plans, something was bound to happen and I'd end up humiliated and the centre of attention.

“Now,” Ella continued, “what's this going to cost us?”

Kai waved his hand lazily, like he was brushing away a bug. “Just another moderate favour. I'm getting extra marks for these potions as long as they work. If your heist goes well, I'll get some really nice extra credits from this.”

“GAH! That's weird!” Naomi said. Bending down to clutch her knees, she sort of twitched and jerked as her stone body turned fleshy. “I kept wanting to scratch my nose.”

Rushing over to my friend, I grabbed a nearby stool for her to sit down on. “You're OK?” I asked.

“Yeah. Just need a minute or two to remember I can move. Watching and listening to you guys was really strange. It was like you were moving at super speed.”

Grabbing her hand, Kai examined her skin, bent her fingers, and made her do a few simple movements. He nodded in apparent satisfaction as she did everything without any complaints. “It looks like the potion is a success. I'll make up a vial that will last three days. It'll be ready in a week.”

“Thanks Kai,” Ella said. “When you need to call in your favours just ask and we'll be ready to help.”

Saying good-bye we headed back to our dorm were the other girls were waiting. Not many freshmen were wandering around, it was almost lights out. The few we did pass gave us a mix of envious, jealous and angry looks. Word of our independent project had quickly spread, and a lot of our fellow students were upset that we'd pulled off another first. I'd heard a few groups were trying to come up with something they could do, so that they'd at least get some credit for being second. I hoped they wouldn't do anything stupidly dangerous.

On second thought, if Barbarina wanted to do something stupid like attack a real hydra or a great dragon, I wouldn't shed any tears. In fact I'd happily watch from a distance with a bowl of popcorn.

“How did it go?” Clarice asked as we entered our room.

“Perfectly. And we're getting an elixir that will help keep Petra mostly in her current shape,” Ella said.

Calci and Clarice both cheered.

“So we have the plan all ready. When we leave, the school will give us the bag of holding, and a teleportation charm. They've got the papers prepared and after I give them the final plan tomorrow they'll make sure our statue is in the contest. I just need to talk to my mother, and she'll have the caretakers prepare the family beach house for us,” my roommate said.

“Wait you have a beach house there? Why didn't you tell us?” Calci asked.

“Because I didn't know about it until I talked to mother the other day. Daddy has property all over the world, we have an entire department just keeping track of it all. And this is one of the smaller ones. So I'm not sure if it will be very nice.”

“Even if it's not a great, having a beach house all for us, will make pulling the heist easier. We won't have to worry about hotel staff, and there will be more places to hide our stuff.”

Naomi jumped onto my bed. “OK, we have a plan, it will work. We have a lot of stuff we prepared for Petra's detention to help us if things go bad. Now time to talk about the important stuff. What are we going to wear? I've got a pretty basic one piece bathing suit, but it's really only for swimming laps, not the beach. And I don't think my nice clothes would really fit a formal art show.”

“I've got a really nice red bikini for the beach. I'm sure Gold will love it,” Clarice said. “And I have a fancy blue dress for any special events. But that's about it.”

Calci played with her hands. “I don't really have anything except my school uniforms and work clothes.  I'm still too young to get anything fancy.”

“I'd offer you some of my clothes,” Naomi said, “but nothing I have will fit you except some hair pieces.”

“I don't have anything, except the pants I got last month. And I don't have a bathing suit,” I said.

“Well,” Ella said, “there's only one way we can solve this problem. We have several hundred gold pieces from the school to spend on supplies, and we'll need the proper clothes to fit in. So I think this calls for a shopping spree.”

As the girls cheered, my stomach dropped all the way to my feet. I knew things had been going too well.

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Tuesday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Despite all the times I'd ended up half naked, or worse, in the last month, I was still blushing bright enough to light up a dark cave as my friends all 'helped' me.

“You have to try this on,” Naomi said. “It will look great on you.”

I took the emerald green bikini that looked like it was made out of string, wondering if it had enough material to make a small fingerless glove. It seemed to be even smaller than the glittering, navy blue bikini I was currently wearing. I was pretty sure if I walked too fast I'd fall out of the top, and I was used to having a bit more cloth covering my butt.

Clarice stood beside me, wearing a flowery, padded bikini, and eyed our reflection with a very serious expression. “I think you should get both of them. The green will help you fit in with the celebration, and the blue looks really good on you.”

“I only need one,” I said.

“What rich girl only brings one swimsuit with her on vacation?” If you don't want to look out of place, you need at least two, and probably four.”

Naomi handed me another swimsuit. This one was a silvery colour with a nearly see-through wrap around the bikini bottoms. “We're all getting new clothes to match our identities. We can't pretend to be rich, young socialites if we don't dress the part.”

“What about this white bathing suit?” I asked, holding up a one piece that didn't look like skimpy underwear.

“White doesn't match your complexion,” Clarice told me. “But if you really want to try it, put it on and we'll see.”

Taking off my bikini, I slipped into the one piece and looked at my reflection. Naomi and Clarice waited as realization sunk in. With my pale skin the ivory white suit made me look even more like a vampire than I usually did. There was no way I could wear it, unless I wanted people pushing holy symbols in my face or calling a hospital on my behalf.

“Here, this is a nice one piece that actually works for you,” Naomi said. She gave me a brown suit that had holes in the side, but would cover my stomach and back, and had a full seat so my butt cheeks wouldn't hang out.

It took a few more minutes to try on the bathing suits. The ones we didn't want were handed to the goblin assistant to be magically cleaned before going back on the shelf. We each got four suits that looked good on us, and headed out to meet Calci, Ivy, and Ella. They were trying on clothes better suited to a dwarf and werewolf, with my roommate providing helpful advice.

“How did it go?” Calci asked, holding a basket full of clothes.

“Really good. We've got the bathing suits, and Petra even found some things she didn't hate,” Clarice said. “How about you guys?”

“We got what we needed. They didn't have much for me to choose from. Swimming isn't something most Dwarves do, we usually sink like a stone. But they had some suits I like.”

Ivy snorted in disgust. She didn't look happy in her new black leather dress that hugged her body. The skirt was loose and short, revealing long, well muscled legs. I was curious what she'd look like in a bathing suit, but I wasn't about to ask her to show them off. She already regularly mauled me in combat class, I didn't want her to do it outside of class.

Ella put her arm around the werewolf girl. “Now don't be like that, Ivy. If you're going to act as my bodyguard, you need to act the part. Remember this will help with your grades. And weren't you told by your parents that you had to start learning how other species live?”

She growled, then grunted, “Yes.”

“So this is perfect. And don't worry, I'm sure that before we're done you'll get to maul a few people.”

“Promise?”

Nodding, my friend said, “If you don't get to fight someone by the end of our heist, I'll hire a few people who will give you a good fight.”

For the first time ever I saw Ivy smile. My knees went weak from fear, and I was sure I'd be seeing her expression in my nightmares for a while.

“So what's next?” I asked, desperate to change the subject.

“Fancy dresses. If we're going to be showing off our art, we have to look right,” Naomi said.

Walking to the other end of the store, we found ourselves surrounded by colourful gowns. There were dragon skin dresses that glittered like jewels in the light. Phoenix feather gowns which flickered as if they were on fire. Pure white unicorn fur almost blinded me when, the light shone on it just right. There was even a ballgown made from water, that rippled just enough to hide the mannequin underneath.

Sales ladies descended on us, sensing an easy sale. I stood at the back as Ella, Naomi and Clarice talked about what we needed the dresses for. It quickly descended into an in-depth discussion about styles, colour theory, jewellery, and more. Having never worried about clothes before, at least not beyond comfort and if it had a cool logo, I found my head spinning trying to keep up. Very quickly I gave up and just tried not to be bored.

Soon enough a sales lady, who happened to be an elf, came over to me. “Hello, Petra,” she said. “After talking with your friend, I think I have the perfect dress for you.”

“OK,” I said, my voice squeaking with uncertainty. Looking at my friends, I found they were all looking at dresses with their own helper.

“Your black hair and pale skin is unique, and to make your beauty come out, we need to get just the right colour. Something that will make your face look lively and playful, while working with your hair. A fiery red is just the thing,” the elf said, leading me to one of the phoenix feather gowns.

The dress flickered with illusionary flames. Thin straps that looked like strands of fire ran over the mannequin's shoulders. The breasts were mostly covered, just giving a hint of cleavage, much to my relief. Seeing some of the other dresses where everything hung out, had made me very nervous. It flared out at the waist into a wide skirt that stopped just above the ankles. Long gloves covered the hands and forearms, and matching red high heels could just be seen. The feathers gave the whole outfit a faint pattern, but it was the flames that drew the eye.

Even I had to admit the dress looked good.

“What do you think?”

All I could say was, “Wow.”

Snapping her fingers, the dress appeared neatly folded in her arms, the shoes and gloves sitting on top. “Let's go to the change room and see how it fits. Then we can show your friends.”

Stepping into the change room, I stripped to my underwear, and let her dress me. I was too afraid of damaging the outfit to want to risk even touching it. Considering my luck with clothes, I half expected it to catch fire as soon as it touched my skin.

It was actually pretty easy to put on. Since it was all one piece, it just went over my head. Some expensive enchantments made it loose at first, then it slowly tightened up. There was enough time to get everything in place, and then I had a perfectly fitted dress. Putting on the gloves was something even I could do. The shoes were harder, I had to hold onto the sales woman's arm to avoid falling.

“You've never worn heels?” she asked.

“Nope. Not something I ever needed to do before.”

“Well just remember, take small steps, lean back a little as you walk, and go heel-toe, heel-toe. You'll need to practice it before you make your big debut, but you should be able to pick it up without too much trouble.”

“Thanks.” I really wished I didn't have to learn how to walk in heels, a good pair of dress shoes would be a lot nicer.

“So do you like the dress?”

Looking at myself in the mirror, I was surprised at my appearance. I'd been a very cute girl, a predatory cat, and a gorgeous, dangerous, demon, but this was different. The red dress made my skin glow with life. I was beautiful, but in an innocent way. Smiling at myself, I couldn't help thinking of myself as a young girl who was ready to go on her first big date.

“I think it looks great. I think I look great,” I said.

“Perfect. Now let's try a few more.”

Turning to her, I had to ask, “Why?”

“We need to make sure it's the right one for you.”

“No this is good. Let's go with this.”

She frowned. “But you have such beautiful features. We should try a few more, I think the water dress would work almost as well, and it will really show off your figure.”

That settled things. “Nope. This is good for now. Let's see what the others think.” Heading for the door, I forgot I was in heels and almost fell on my face.

Clutching the sales woman's arm, I managed not to break an ankle walking to a chair. Soon enough Clarice came out of her fitting room. She was wearing a glittering, baby blue dress, with a plunging V neckline. It tightened up just under her breasts, then turned into a skirt that ended a little above her ankles. She had a pair of very tall and dangerously thin high heels that made her almost as tall as I was.

“What do you think, Petra?” she asked.

“It looks really good,” I said truthfully.

“Thank you! I hope Gold, likes it. You look great in that dress.”

Before I could reply, Naomi stepped out. She was wearing a pitch black dress that covered her shoulders, and showed off her cleavage. It flared out at her waist into a pleated skirt and ended just above her knees. The colour made her pink hair seem to glow, and her muscular legs looked really nice.

Somehow she spun on a pair of stilettos, making her skirt rise up. “I'm ready to party!”

Clarice and I both grinned in admiration. Then my two friends were talking about their dresses, gushing over how they looked and what their boyfriends would think.

Calci came out next. She had a dress that looked like it was made out of emeralds, matching her hair. It had long flowing sleeves that almost covered her large hands. A rounded neckline showed off her large chest, and a long skirt reached the floor. As she walked, I could see a slit on one side of the skirt. We all had to compliment her on the dress.

Then Ivy stalked out, her bare feet slapping against the floor. Since she was almost always silent when she walked, this was like a full blown, stomping temper tantrum from her. She had a black velvet dress, that clung to her like a second skin. It had long sleeves, a square neckline, and a short skirt that ended around mid-thigh with two small slits on each side. The scrawny, black haired werewolf just glared at us, before sitting down.

The sales lady who had been helping her came out holding a pair of high heels. A growl from Ivy made her quickly back away, hiding the shoes behind her back.

“You look good, Ivy,” Calci said.

That earned another growl.

Sitting in awkward silence, not wanting to risk angering the werewolf, we were all relieved when Ella came out.

My jaw dropped. She was wearing a flowing red dress, that seemed to be made of liquid rubies. It was strapless, cupping her breasts, and hugging her body. As she walked, the long skirt flowed out behind her, almost like a cape. A matching red band was wrapped around her head, contrasting the dark black hair beautifully. For the first time I'd met her, she really looked like a princess.

Naomi looked at me and grinned. “I think Petra likes your dress, Ella.”

“I noticed,” Ella said, with a small smile.

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Tuesday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

“Final check, I want you to actually see the thing before you tell me we have it. If we forget something, it could mean the difference between success and failure,” Ella said.

Everything was laid out on a long table in our prep room. In less than an hour we'd be getting teleported to Emerald Mountain and our heist would begin. Butterflies were holding a concert in my stomach, and I was getting fifth or sixth thoughts about this whole thing. I'd already had second thoughts that morning.

“Petra's RTS potion,” Ella said, looking at me.

Taking a small vial of reddish liquid, I popped the top and drank the whole thing. It actually didn't taste too bad, a little like raspberry juice mixed with chimera milk. “Check,” I said, wiping my lips.

“Crystallization elixir?”

“Got it,” Naomi said, holding up a small bottle that looked like a popular Holy Satyr Wine.

“Bag of holding?”

Clarice held up a small school bag. Even though it looked tiny, the opening would stretch wide enough to fit over a small person, and it could hold an ogre. It even had a protection charm in it to keep anything we put in it safe as long as the bag wasn't destroyed. "Yep."

“Teleportation charm?”

Calci held up a small necklace. “Here.”

“Illusion pack?”

“Ready.” Honey Suckle patted a book. It held a spell that would create a perfect illusion in a circle of fifty feet around it, for thirty minutes. Naomi would turn herself into a statue while holding it, and then set it off before returning to normal. Any normal scrying spells would see the illusion and think everything was normal until it ended. Giving Naomi plenty of time to commit her robbery and get out of there.

“Smoke bombs?”

“Got em,” Gold said.

“Disguise?”

Antoine held up a small bag with a school girl uniform, wig, hat, and a few other things in it. Naomi would put it on before becoming a statue so it wouldn't be obvious that it was her. “Here.”

“Clothes?”

We all held up our suitcases or bags. All of us had new bathing suits and formal wear. The boys had gone shopping on their own to get nice suits so they'd fit in and look like proper dates for their girlfriends.

“Entry and Insurance forms?”

“Check,” Naomi said holding up several rolled up parchments.

“Enchanted Lock picks?”

“Yes,” Calci said.

The checklist went on for several more minutes. There was a lot of equipment for breaking into places, costumes to hide our identity, getaway gear, and some weapons and armour in case things went really bad. Once we confirmed we had everything, we packed it all up, and got ready to go.

Bob came in, looking quite pleased with himself. “So, got everything ready?”

“Yes, Bob,” I said.

“Good, good. Now remember, if you get caught, don't say anything without a lawyer. We've got one on standby if something goes wrong. You'll lose marks for getting caught, but if you say something really stupid and get sent to the mines for a few years, we'll probably leave you there. Try not to destroy anything too expensive, and if you do, don't get caught. Understand?”

“Yes, Bob,” we all said.

“Excellent. And this is a robbery, if you kill or seriously injure anyone without a very good reason, you will lose marks. Try to keep it to a light maiming if you need to fight,” he said, looking pointedly at Ivy.

The werewolf growled unhappily but nodded.

“All right, are there any last questions?”

We looked at each other, and no one seemed to have anything important to ask. “We're ready to go, sir,” Ella said.

Bob tapped a crystal in his hand, a portal opened up revealing a sun lit marble room on the other side. Stepping aside he waved for us to go through. “Good luck. We'll be watching you with great interest.”

Ella and the rest stepped through, with a mix of unflappable calm, nervous smiles, and open glee. I was last. I wasn't smiling or happy, I didn't want to be a thief. Unfortunately fate didn't seem to care what I wanted. If I wanted to be cured, and help my friends, I'd have to break the law.

The portal closed on my heels. I'd travelled four-thousand miles, and it felt like I'd just stepped through a door. The first thing I noticed was the warm, humid air. I'd gotten used to the cool rooms of Doom Valley, and sweat beaded up on my forehead.

“Princess Ella,” a woman said, “it's our pleasure to serve you and your friends.”

Turning around, I saw an elegantly dressed woman in a yellow dress with a white apron, curtsying to us. Behind her were four others, two men in black suits, and two women in simple yellow dresses with white aprons. They were bowing or curtsying as well.

“Thank you for preparing everything for us,” Ella said. “You're Ms. Stuard, I presume?”

Rising up from the floor the grey haired woman smiled at us. “Yes, Princess. And these are Mr. Beeks, Ms. Crespo, Mr. Eno, and Ms. Foxglove. If any of you need anything just clap your hands twice and say help, we'll come immediately. There is only a two hour time difference from Doom Valley, so we'll have an early supper for you in three hours. Is that satisfactory?”

“Perfect. Can you please take the brown bags to the vault, and make sure they're well cared for. The Customs Agent will be arriving soon, I presume?”

The two men grabbed our bags of tools for the heist and hurried away.

“The agents should be here in a minute or two. I told them you'd be arriving in an hour, and they like to be early,” Ms. Stuard, said.

“Excellent.”

There was a knock on the door. Ms. Foxglove walked past us and opened the large iron door. “Yes,” she said.

“I'm Customs Agent Fillap, we're here to welcome Princess Ella to the island” a short dwarf with well tanned skin said. He had a long blue beard that only covered his chin, and was braided to hang straight down to his waist. His jaw and cheeks were clean shaven. He wore an open emerald green vest and shorts that went to his knees. His muscles glistened in the sun.

Three other dwarves came in behind him, dressed in a similar fashion, but in pearl white clothes. There was a single female dwarf, who had a small white top covering her breasts, and her yellow beard was a small, well trimmed goatee.

“Agent Fillap, how fortunate you arrived when you did,” Ms. Stuart said. “Our visitors have just arrived.”

He glared at us. “I was told they'd be here in an hour.”

“There was a mix-up with the time zones. But everything is here for you to inspect.”

That earned a scornful snort. “They should have come through the regular channels.”

Ms. Stuart, looked down her rather impressive nose at the dwarf. “If you think that would be appropriate, I could send a message to the Immortal Emperor informing him that you want his family to go through the overcrowded customs centre from now on.”

The three lower level dwarves looked very nervous at the idea. Agent Fillap didn't even blink. “That won't be necessary. But next time make sure there isn't any mistakes with the time.” Turning to us, he held out his massive hand, “Papers, please.”

Ella handed over a folder. “Everything is there, and perfectly in order, sir.”

Nodding, he waved at his subordinates. “Check their bags,” he said.

The three dwarves got to work, quickly, but respectfully digging through our luggage.

“Where is your statue?” he asked.

“There was a bit of trouble with the protection enchantments. It will be here in a few days, just in time for the exhibit,” Ella said.

“Is there any other reason to be here?”

“Just the beaches and the festival. My friends and I could use a vacation, and what better place to relax than the Green Sea Archipelago?”

“Do you have any illegal goods, animals, animal or plant products, alcohol, drugs, category D potions, Class 3 enchantments, or Red class magical items?”

“We have a phoenix feather dress, and unicorn leather shoes. But that's all.”

He looked over at his subordinates, who nodded in agreement. Flipping through the folder, he studied our papers, glaring at each of us as he compared our pictures to our faces. After a few minutes, he nodded, seemingly satisfied. “Welcome to Emerald Mountain, Princess Ella. Good luck in the art competition,” he said.

With a small bow, he and his people took their leave.

Once the door was closed, and the dwarves reached the sidewalk, Ella turned to us and grinned. “The first phase of Making The Grade is successfully completed. Who wants to hit the beach before supper?”

Everyone cheered, except for me. Wearing a bikini in public, around boys? It was almost enough to make me run after Agent Fillap and throw myself on his mercy. Before I could do that, Naomi and Clarice were pushing me upstairs with our bags, telling me how fun it would be to show off our bathing suits.

Joy.

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Tuesday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Lying on a fluffy towel, surrounded by soft green sand, with the sound of waves just a few feet away, I had to admit life wasn't so bad.

Sure I was wearing a very revealing emerald green bikini. But it was a private beach, so there weren't many people wandering around. I had a really nice, tropical fruit drink courtesy of Ella's servants. And best of all nothing was currently trying to kill or hurt me. I didn't know how long that would last, so I was going to enjoy the moment for as long as I could.

Shrieks and screams came from the water. I just sipped my drink and stayed where I was. The girls and their boyfriends had been playing in the water for a while. I was happy for them. If I was a boy and had a girlfriend, I'd be right their with them. Since I wasn't, and I didn't, I was content to stay right where I was.

Ivy had dug herself a hole and was napping in the damp, cool mud, snoring away. I wondered if she had some cat in her background, she could sleep anywhere and anytime. Actually on second thought, it wasn't really important. The more she slept, the less likely she was to kill someone, like me.

My eyes discretely turned to Ella, who was sitting on a beach chair. She looked really cute in her baby pink bikini. She was smiling to herself, enjoying the cool sea breeze. I wondered what it was like being a princess.

Sure her family was crazy, but she almost always seemed to know what to say and do. And fifty feet behind me was a huge beach house with servants, all for her. My parents home would fit on the bottom floor with room to spare. The last vacation I'd had, was a dragon watching camping trip that my dad really wanted to go on.

Ms. Stuard came out holding an envelope. “Princess Ella,” the head maid said, “you have an invitation for dinner with the neighbours, Mr. And Mrs. Stirling.”

“Oh, mom told me about them. I didn't think they lived here,” Ella said.

“They just arrived this morning. They're here for the celebration as well. When they saw you and your friends on the beach they thought it would be nice to have you over for supper. Shall I let them know you've accepted?”

“Of course. They'll be a nice contact for later.”

“Very good. You should come in and get ready then.”

“Right. Can you get the baths ready?”

“Already done,” the head maid said, heading back to the beach house.

Ella got up, and grinned at me. “Come on, this is going to be fun. And we'll be able to start letting people know we're just here to have some fun.”

“Who are the Stirling's?” I asked.

“They're a family of trouble shooters. Daddy has used them a few times to deal with minor problems, and my Mom was saved by them. I only met her once when I was three, but I've heard a few stories about her.”

“OK, what should I wear?”

“Don't wear your best dress, we want that for the banquet and ball. Go with the nice navy blue one. Now get inside and get ready, while I get the others.”

We were all cleaned up, dressed in our second best outfits, and very hungry, three hours later. Ella was giving us a very careful look over, making sure everything was perfect. I felt self conscious in my dress, which showed a lot of cleavage and leg. Looking in the mirror I had a perfect hourglass figure, and the light makeup I'd put on, with some coaching from my friends, really made my eyes and dark red lips pop.

The three boys looked nervous in their black suits. The girls were trying to put on a brave face at their first really formal dinner, and held their boyfriends arms for support. Ivy looked presentable. We'd managed to brush her black hair flat and get rid of the sand. She hadn't mauled anyone when we helped her put on a pretty violet dress, so we considered it a win. Ella of course looked like a princess in a short black dress streaked with glittering gold.

“OK, we're ready to go. Remember this is just a friendly get together, so don't worry about anything. Consider it practice for the banquet, if you have any questions, ask. And try to have fun,” Ella said, leading us out the door.

The street wasn't too crowded. This was a very exclusive part of town, where most regular tourists would never go. The pedestrians mostly seemed to be servants, delivery people, and a few families that had an air of class and wealth to them. With our fancy clothes, we stuck out a little, but no one looked at us too closely. They were either discrete or were used to seeing expensive outfits. Whatever it was, we didn't have to worry about it for too long. The Stirling's beach house was just down the road.

Knocking on the ornately carved door, a wooden face looked at us with big, thoughtful eyes. It must have liked what it saw, because it smiled and the door opened by itself. Inside was a row of wooden angel statues, each one armed with some kind of weapon. The angelic figures silently bowed to us.

“Ella!” a short haired woman in a flowing silver robe, exclaimed. From the way she looked at us, I would swear she was studying us for weapons. “It's been ages since I've seen you. How are you?”

“I'm really good, Mrs. Stirling. I hadn't expected to see you here,” my friend said.

“It was a last minute thing, but my husband and I are guests of honour for the celebration. When your mother told me you were coming as well, I knew we just had to meet up. My husband can't be here tonight, he had some business to deal with, but my son is getting ready and will be down in just a minute.”

She smiled at all of us, and something about her just seemed really nice. Like as long as she was around nothing bad would happen. But there was something about her that seemed familiar. And I couldn't help thinking that it might be something important. I pushed my fear away. I was just paranoid from being at Doom Valley for too long. Until we did the heist this was just a fun vacation. No one was hunting us, we hadn't done anything wrong. I could actually enjoy myself for a bit.

“So, Ella, who are your friends?” Mrs. Stirling asked.

“These are my friends and classmates, Naomi and Antoine, Clarice and Gold, Calci and Honey Suckle, Ivy, she's a werewolf, and my roommate Petra.”

When Ella said my name, Mrs. Stirling looked at me, her eyes wide with surprise. “Petra, from Doom Valley Prep School?” she asked.

“Uh yes, ma'am,” I said, my stomach dropping to my feet. Something was about to go wrong, I felt it in my toes.

“YOU VILE HARLOT!” a familiar voice shouted.

My body reacted before my brain could even comprehend what was going on. I jumped back, hitting the expensive wooden wall, narrowly avoiding a sword thrust to my chest.

Ivy ran up, covered in fur, teeth and claws out, biting down on a silver gauntlet. It was a good thing that she had, because it stopped the sword an inch from my throat.

“REGINALD EDMUND STIRLING! PUT THE SWORD DOWN THIS INSTANT!” Mrs. Stirling shouted, storming over to us.

I couldn't say or do anything. All my attention was on the sword and the furious face of my old friend Reginald.

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Tuesday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Smoke was rising from Ivy's mouth and hands as Reginald's silver gauntlet burned her flesh. A very deep growl rose from her throat, and her eyes were getting a wild look. She'd probably have already attacked the wannabe paladin, but it was taking all of her strength just to hold his arm in place.

Reginald was gritting his teeth, with both hands on his oversized sword, trying to push it into my throat. Hate filled his eyes, and his body shook. Whether that was because he was struggling to push past the werewolf, or from anger, I had no idea.

As for me, I was wondering if I could possibly move out of the way without slitting my throat wide open. The sword point was pressed into my skin, and I wasn't sure if the wet trickle going down my chest was blood or sweat.

Then about two seconds after everything started, a golden aura wrapped itself around Reginald. His eyes went wide in surprise as he floated through the air away from me. Ivy hung onto him for a moment before dropping to the ground, her bare feet slapping against the marble floor. She did not look happy.

Mrs. Stirling waved her hand sending Reginald gently across the room to stand in a corner. “We will talk about this in just a minute young man. For now, I want you to calm down and think about what you just did.” Turning to us, her angry scowl turned to a pleasant smile. “I'm very sorry about my son. Let me make sure you two weren't hurt.”

Ivy kept growling, her oversized teeth looking extremely intimidating. Her lips were swelling up from burns, while tendrils of smoke rose from her hands, but I honestly didn't know if she even realized she was hurt. Mrs. Stirling didn't seem to mind, she just made a complicated gesture and blew a kiss at the werewolf. The red, swollen flesh instantly healed. Almost as quickly the teeth and fur vanished, leaving the girl human looking again and surprisingly calm.

“I hope you don't mind my using a calming spell on you, Ivy” the woman said. “I'd prefer to avoid having you rampage in my house, even if you would be justified after my son acted so atrociously.”

Of course Ivy didn't say anything. She just snorted and glared at Reginald. Ella went to her side, carefully patting her on the back and whispered something in her ear.

“Now, Petra, let me look at your neck,” Mrs. Stirling said, reaching out to tilt my head back. Her hands were soft and warm, making me feel safe and protected. This was very much at odds with the anger her son made me feel.

She didn't take long to smile and pat me on the shoulder. “It looks like you're OK, no scratches or bruising. You just need a chance to calm down.”

My friends rushed over to give me a hug. Saying how worried they were and asking if I really was alright. I just nodded, still trying to keep up with everything that had happened.

“Ella,” Mrs. Stirling said, “I'm very sorry about what happened, and I will understand if you and your friends want to go home. But I'd appreciate being given a chance to make up for things this evening, after I have a talk with my son.”

Looking first at me, then Ivy, Ella smiled. “I think we'll stay. I'd like to see this little feud between Petra and Reginald put to rest.”

“Thank you. Your mother was right when she told me how mature you are. Please make yourselves comfortable, I need to talk to Reginald for a few minutes.” Snapping her fingers, a well dressed cherub came flying on cute little wings. “Show my guests to the patio, Reginald and I will be there shortly.”

The cherub nodded and motioned for us to follow him. Mrs. Stirling went to her son, put an arm over his shoulder and silently led him upstairs. I managed to get a look at her face as they turned on the stairs, her angry frown was even scarier then Ivy's smile.

The patio was set up for a nice little party. There was a table full of drinks and snacks that had me drooling as soon as I saw them. We had a wonderful view of the beach, and the cool ocean breeze was refreshing. A pair of dwarfs were standing by a fire, cooking what smelled like seafood. There was a wide assortment of chairs, couches and benches to choose from.

“Please enjoy some snacks and drinks, while you wait,” the cherub said, his voice sounding like tinkling bells.

Taking a plate I filled it with a bit of kraken sushi, sliced fruit, and a glass of sweet smelling juice, then took a seat in a well padded chair, making sure my navy blue dress didn't reveal my underwear. All my friends had said I looked great in it when we were shopping, but it was a lot shorter than I liked.

“So that's Reginald. It's pretty remarkable we'd meet him here,” Ella said, giving me an odd look.

“I didn't think I'd see him again outside of school,” I said. “And I really didn't want to ever meet him again. He already tried to kill me once, that's more than enough for me.”

“Well please try to be polite, his parents are very important heroes. Having them owing you a favour could be very helpful in the future.”

I nodded, it made sense to be polite. If I could get Reginald's mother on my side it might keep him from trying to kill me again when we inevitably met again. With the way my luck worked, we would definitely see each other at some point in the future. Not getting a sword to the throat would be nice.

“This is a really nice place,” Clarice said, taking a seat beside us. “It must be great being able to have a vacation house like this.”

“Money has its perks,” Naomi replied. “So Petra, are we going to see anyone else try to kill you while we're on vacation?”

“I hope not. But for all I know Victor will pop out from behind a sand dune and send some mind controlled minions after me. And that reminds me.” Getting to my feet I went over to Ivy who was curled up with a plate of sushi on a couch.

She looked up at me, not saying anything, and put some fish in her mouth.

“Thanks for saving my life earlier. I really appreciate it.”

Ivy shrugged. “If you die, I need to do math.”

What was I supposed to say to that? “That's a good point. I'll make sure to spend some extra time on your math homework, so you get a good mark.”

She nodded, apparently having met her quota on talking.

“Well, enjoy your fish. And thanks again,” I said before going back to my seat.

“I think Ivy is warming up to us,” Ella said with a grin.

“Yeah,” Clarice agreed. “She's using full sentences now.”

“It is an improvement. We should keep on encouraging her.”

I nodded. “Yeah. Keeping a werewolf friendly is high on my list of important things.”

The patio door opened and Mrs. Stirling stepped out followed by Reginald. For the first time I saw Reginald out of his armour and unarmed. He was dressed in simple but expensive looking pants and a very tight shirt. He looked impressive in armour, but honestly, he looked even scarier out of it. He had muscles on top of muscles, and there wasn't an ounce of fat on him. It looked like he could give Rocky a run for his money in an arm wrestling competition.

“Everyone, my son, Reginald would like to say something,” Mrs. Stirling said, stepping off to the side so all eyes were on her son.

Going down on one knee, which got an eye roll from his mother, Reginald looked like he was about to swear an oath.

“I'm very sorry for my actions earlier. You are guests in this house, and my actions were not only uncalled for, but dishonourable,” he said. “I am ashamed at what I did, and I hope you can forgive me.”

He stopped and there were several moments of silence. It was broken by his mother clearing her throat.

With a tight voice, making it clear that committing seppuku would be more pleasant, Reginald continued. “Petra, I was wrong to blame you for my failure. You were merely doing what you had to, to survive the test. I also need to thank you for... saving my life when the goblins attacked me. To... to make up for my actions... I would like offer my services as a guide, assistant and bodyguard while we are both on the island.”

My mind went blank. This was a disaster. He'd spoil everything, if he didn't kill me first. I opened my mouth, trying to think of some way to reject him without earning the wrath of him or his mother.

“We accept your gracious offer, Reginald,” Ella said, her voice confident and very firm.

We all looked at her wondering what she was thinking.

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Tuesday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.

Sitting down to eat, I couldn't keep my eyes off of Reginald. I wondered what he thought about being surrounded by students from Doom Valley Prep School. He was pointedly ignoring everyone, eating his lightly grilled baby charybdis steak. He hadn't actually looked at me once since he offered to act as my guide, assistant and bodyguard. I still didn't know why Ella had accepted his offer. He would only mess things up.

Dipping my fire shrimp in a sweet sauce that helped make the burning sensation of the meat enjoyable, I turned my attention back to Mrs. Stirling. She was being a very good hostess, now that her son wasn't trying to kill me. She also had a lot of interesting stories of famous heroes and villains from all over the world.

“We had finally reached the sacrificial chamber of the High Priest of C'Hulo, and it was less than a minute to midnight. The cultists had ten blood golems guarding the altar, and at least twenty wraiths, ready to slow us down. There was no chance we could reach the High Priest before he sacrificed your mother, Ella. And the moment her soul was absorbed by the Jewel of Raylei, it would be game over for us and everything within a thousand miles.”

“So what did you do?” Naomi asked.

“As the others fought, I did something a little desperate,” Mrs. Stirling said. “I cast a switch spell. As the sacrificial dagger came down, instead of slicing into Elizabeth's unarmoured chest, it hit my enchanted scale mail. The dagger shattered, ruining the spell, and saving the day. While the High Priest stared at me in surprise, I rolled off the altar and bashed his head in with my mace. Without their leader, clean up was easy. Honestly I wasn't sure if my trick would work, but there wasn't anything else I could think of.”

Ella grinned. “Mom never told me how you two met, except to say you saved her life.”

“I can't blame her for not wanting to talk about it. Getting kidnapped and almost sacrificed isn't nearly as much fun as getting to be the hero. Of course, that unpleasantness was mostly forgotten during the celebration party, that's when she met your father and he swept her off her feet.”

Clarice who had been listening silently with a big smile, asked, “ Did The Immortal Emperor flirt with her?”

“Not really,” the woman said. “When I said he swept her off her feet, I really meant it. He made a wind pick her up, put her on his lap, and asked if she wanted to marry him.”

“That sounds like something Daddy would do,” Ella admitted.

“When he told your mother she could have a laboratory all to herself, with an unlimited budget and staff, she agreed on the spot.”

“And that fits Mom to a T.”

Taking a sip of her wine, Mrs. Stirling smiled at all of us. “Where are my manners, I've done most of the talking tonight. What are you studying at Doom Valley.”

My friends told her, and she made a polite comment to each one. Then it was my turn. “I'm in the general program. My parents wanted a well rounded education.”

Her eyes went wide. “Oh dear. How have you done so far?”

“I've survived, mostly,” I replied.

“I'm surprised they don't have you in the subterfuge. I watched how you worked with my son on the pass or die test. You really did pull off the helpless maiden act. Even I was fooled at first.”

“That... wasn't really a trick,” I admitted, squirming in my seat.

“You actually went into the test without a plan?”

“Yes. I slept in and didn't see the note until the last minute. I just did what I had to, to survive.”

Reginald snorted. “Liar.”

“Reginald,” Mrs. Stirling said, a clear warning in her tone. “Manners.”

“I will not let her lie in our house,” he snarled. “She couldn't possibly have survived long enough to meet me without a plan. And then she managed to fool me.”

Ella cleared her throat. “Actually, Petra didn't have a clue what was going on. My test started an hour before hers, and when I tried to wake her up, she said she just wanted five more minutes and went back to snoring.”

“You're trying to tell me she survived the entire test from dumb luck?” Reginald said, clearly not believing a word of it.

“Well most of it, yes. Once you got to the goblin village, she started getting clever. Her luck is strange.”

My nemesis glared at my best friend. “You saw the test?”

“We all did. The teachers played it at supper for everyone to watch. Since she was the only one to survive and pass, they thought it was a good example for everyone.” My friends nodded in agreement with Ella.

The dishes rattled as he face planted into the table. “I'm a laughing stock. I'll never live this down.”

“Probably not,” Clarice said helpfully.

Mrs. Stirling was looking at me oddly. “Ella, what did you mean that Petra's luck is strange?”

My friend looked confused for a second, clearly not expecting that question. “Um. Well she has terrible luck. Her magic almost always backfires. She somehow manages to attract the worst attention from bullies. If something could go wrong, it usually will in the most humiliating way. But then she'll manage to do something that really shouldn't be possible. The test is a perfect example. She slept in, almost got eaten by slime, got captured by goblins, but then your son just happened to come along and rescue her. She should have died several times, but somehow she managed to avoid the traps, the tunnel dragon nest, the wandering orcs and giant rats. And as soon your son showed up, he had the same luck. He'd had to fight a dozen monsters before they met, and then it was only goblins. That's not normal.”

Scratching her chin, the woman narrowed her eyes. “Petra, would you come with me for a few minutes? The rest of you can start on dessert, we'll be back soon.”

The way she asked, made it clear it wasn't really a question. “OK,” I said, getting up to follow her inside the house.

We went upstairs, passing statues, vases and paintings that looked extremely expensive, and went into a room made of white marble with runes covering almost every surface. This looked to be her workroom, and I was kind of afraid to step inside, some of the runes looked really dangerous. But if she wanted to kill me, she could have let Reginald do it earlier, so I walked with her to the middle of the room.

“Petra, when did your strange luck start happening?” she asked.

“I'd say probably when I first heard I was going to Doom Valley.”

“And when did you first hear that?”

“The day my parents put me on the roc to go to school. They didn't want me worrying, so waited until that morning to tell me.”

Her eyes widened in shock at that. “Do your parents hate you?”

“I think they wanted to be childless. But actively hating me, no,” I admitted.

She waved her arm and a large crystal ball appeared in the air in front of her. “Do you remember anything strange shortly before that?”

“Not really. My life used to be pretty ordinary. It wasn't until I got on the roc, that things went weird.”

“What was the first thing that went... weird?”

I blushed. “I'd really rather not say.”

“You can tell me, I won't tell anyone else without your permission, I swear.”

I really wanted to trust her. She was a hero, and she seemed very nice. But she was also the mother of Reginald. Still she had asked nicely. “I met a boy called Micheal and he's a really smart alchemist. For some reason he decided I would be a good test subject. I was stupid, and he tricked me into trying one of his potions, which he'd put into a chocolate bar.”

“And what did it do?”

“It... it turned me from Peter into Petra.”

“Oh... that was not very nice of him.”

“Tell me about it,” I muttered, kicking the floor. “He tried to brainwash me, so I'd be a perfect girlfriend. Luckily that didn't work, it just made me feel lightheaded.”

She stroked her glass ball, causing smoke to fill it. I couldn't see much, but the smoke seemed to take a shape, almost like a head. There was a faint sound of rattling dice. Then the ball cracked and fell to the floor, making us both jump back as it split in half.

Looking at me, obviously shocked at what had just happened, Mrs. Stirling said, “Right. I think we should go back and get our dessert now. That's enough magic for one night.”

I didn't know what had happened or why it had freaked out the hero so much. I wasn't sure I wanted to know. “OK,” I squeaked.

__

Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday. My other story Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Tuesday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, look at background info, see snippets of potential stories, and have a chance to choose what I write next, you can support me on my Patreon page.