Tales of
Erogenia
Based
on the online comic created by J.E. Draft.
Episode 2: Journey to
Jinqua
Chapter
9:
Enchanted
Zenaria lay at the bottom
of a well of pain and darkness.
Somewhere very far away people were speaking, but what they were saying
made very little sense.
Just what were you
trying to do, Dendar?
I thought I was casting
a spell of immobility, but something corrupted
it. The result seems to have
been to been to fix them in something resembling their true
natures.
I can see that,
the first voice said. It
is a most interesting if not puzzling
result.
Puzzling enough to
keep them alive? Dendar asked
I dont think
we have much choice. The Orb
of Power has disappeared. We
need them to get it back.
I see Junals
vile hand in this, Dendar said.
He seems to have made sure that even if we captured his hirelings
they would not be able to speak.
Perhaps we can find
a way, the first voice said.
Between the two of us we should be able to think of
something.
I hope you are right,
Alzid. If Junal has regained
the Orb of Power he is certain to use it against us at the first
opportunity. We must get it back
and these two animals are our only link.
The conversation
ended. There was the closing
of a heavy door and then silence.
Something that one of the speakers had said stuck in her
mind.
Alzid. It
was a name she remembered form somewhere.
She opened her
eyes. The first thing she saw
was the straw covering the floor on which she was
lying. It was clean straw, which
was somewhat reassuring. What
she saw next was less comforting.
Directly in front of her was an iron grid that extended from wall
to wall. Even more unnerving
was the sight of a huge cat-like beast that lay regarding her with strange
blue eyes. The fact that it was
chained to a stone wall was hardly comforting since she was lying within
just a few feet of it. It watched
her with an unblinking stare, but made no move to attack.
Slowly she pushed down with
her arms and rose to a sitting position.
It was then that she got the
shock of her life. Her armour
and clothing were gone replaced by a tight-fitting garment that covered her
body like a second skin. It took
her a few heartbeats to realize that it actually was her
skin.
Brrrowwrr!
The sound that erupted from
her throat frightened her. She
had heard that sound before, but not from a human
throat.
What
in the name of the Moon is wrong with me? she thought, her
gut clenching.
She ran her right hand over
hand over her left arm and got two more
shocks. The first that that her
skin wasnt skin; it was fur; and the second was that at the end of
each finger, where her fingernails should have been there was now a curved,
razor-edged claw.
She looked again and saw
what she should have seen immediately, her entire body was covered with the
unmistakable markings of the snow
leopard. Hardly able to believe
what had happened she scrambled to her feet and tried to twist around to
see what was behind her. But
she knew what she would see even before she saw
it.
Sun
and Moon, Ive turned into a
leopard. The discovery
was so overwhelming she could hardly
stand.
Fearful of what she would
discover she reached up and touched her
face. Her fingers brushed against
whiskers and then an elongated muzzle.
Moving her fingers to her jaws she touched her long fangs and then
moved her fingers higher and traced the outline of her rounded leopard
ears.
It was almost too
much.
Ive
been turned into a leopard, she
thought. She spent the next few
minutes investigating what had been done to her and found that she was more
a leopard-woman than a true leopard.
She still had the body of
an Erogenian warrior, tall, shapely, and voluptuous, but she had gained a
leopards tail and pelt as well as a leopards
head. It explained why she had
lost the power of normal speech.
She was capable of making an impressive leopards yowl, but nothing
more. Her fingers and toes ended
in claws instead of fingernails and her musculature seemed to have
changed. She suspected that she
was much stronger than before but in the limited space in which she was confined
there was no way of testing that.
And then there was the iron collar around her neck and the heavy length
of chain that secured her to the wall opposite the cells only other
inhabitant.
Anger replaced her bewilderment
and she unconsciously lashed her tail.
She had been tricked and betrayed and was now caged and chained like
some sort of wild beast. A growl
rumbled in her throat. From the
other side of the cell the other cat-like beast returned the sound with a
deep-chested rumbling roar of its own.
She stared at the huge
beast. She judged that it was
probably three times her weight with a huge head and large black mane that
flowed over its massive shoulders.
It radiated male strength and
power. In spite of its fierce
appearance, however, there seemed something familiar about it and she suddenly
realized what she had been missing.
She knew those eyes.
Sir Varden, she muttered, or would have if her leopards
mouth and tongue had been capable of
speech. Instead what came out
was
Roowwrr!
The dark-maned beast answered
with another growl of its own as if to confirm her
suspicions. The fact that so
huge a cat had not attempted to attack her was confirmation of who it was,
but it was galling that because of their transformation she and Sir Varden
were unable to communicate. Once
again anger and frustration swept over
her.
Junal,
she thought. Junal would pay
for what he had done.
But first she somehow had
to get out of the cell. And that
was going to present a real problem.
The cell consisted of three stone walls and a heavy barred grill
consisting of straps of iron riveted
together. Even if she had been
in human form she would have had a very difficult time
escaping. There was no way out
except through the iron grill and Zenaria could not even figure out how it
was opened. She couldnt
see any hinges or locking mechanism, leading her to suspect that it was probably
raised and lowered like a portcullis.
Now even more frustrated
and angry Zenaria prowled back and forth in front of the grill, her pacing
resembling that of the cat she now
resembled. Finally, she stopped,
realizing that her impatient pacing was getting her
nowhere. She stopped and surveyed
the cell, resisting an almost overwhelming urge to lick herself, especially
in places that had once been beyond
reach.
From outside came the sound
of feet marching toward the cell.
Zenaria sat down, curling
her tail around her ankles and waited to see who was
coming. It turned out to be two
guards. They peered through the
bars, keeping a respectful distance as they did
so. The other one is
awake, one of them said.
Tell the master.
The one who gave the order
waited while the other guard left.
He said nothing but continued to watch her and what had once been
Sir Varden through the bars. A
short time later the guard returned with a man in what Zenaria now knew were
magicians robes.
The magician moved close
to the bars and stared hard at Zenaria and Sir
Varden. It is good that
you are awake, he said.
My name is Dendar. Can
you understand me? I could get
nothing out of the lion.
Zenaria nodded, making the
motion slow and pronounced so that there was no mistaking
it. Now she knew what Sir Varden
had become, a lion. She wondered
where such beasts lived normally.
Dendar seemed pleased by
her response because he smiled slightly.
He was younger than Junal, appearing to be only in his
mid-twenties. Very good,
he said. Now, can you
talk?
Zenaria shook her head and
Dendar frowned. That is
unfortunate. It will make
communication difficult and I think there is much you need to tell
us. However, perhaps you can
merely signal yes and no to my questions and that will help a
bit. First off were you sent
by Junal to steal the Orb of Power?
Zenaria nodded yes, guessing
that the artefact and the Orb of Power were probably the same
thing.
And you and the lion;
you were hired by Junal to steal the Orb?
Zenaria shook her head no,
emphasizing her reply with a low growl.
I see, Dendar
says. That sounds as if
you might be somewhat angry with Junal.
Is that correct?
Again Zenaria growled, nodding
at the same time.
That is
interesting, Dendar said.
You dont work for Junal, but still helped him steal the
Orb. I can only surmise that
you were either tricked into it or Junal has some power over
you.
Zenaria vigorously nodded
her agreement and Dendar smiled.
Very good. Lets
see what else you can tell me.
Dendar was a skilful
questioner. Question by question
he managed to get most of the details of Zenarias story although the
details of her background and that of Sir Varden remained sketchy at
best. Finally he seemed satisfied
that he had learned about as much as he
could. I will return
later. Perhaps Alzid can think
of a few more questions to ask you.
In the meantime I have decided to keep you
alive.
He turned to the
guard. Bring them food
and water. Raw meat I think,
and make sure that it is free from maggots.
Yes, Excellency,
the guard said. He immediately
moved off to carry out the order.
Dendar stood looking at her for
a few more moments and then he too left.
A short time later the guard
returned. With him were two servants
carrying two large chunks of raw beef, complete with
bones. He pulled a lever on the
far wall and with a screech of metal the grillwork rose up from the floor
about six inches. It was just
large enough for the servant to push the beef under along with two pannikins
of water. As soon as the food
was forced through the grill was immediately lowered.
With a growl, the lion that
was Sir Varden pounced on the largest piece of
beef. Zenaria wasnt about
to argue with him and in any case she wasnt sure she could eat her
meat raw. That concern lasted
only a few seconds. Her mouth
watering, Zenaria picked up the bloody lump of flesh and ripped it apart
with her teeth. She made short
work of it, even cracking the bones to get at the
marrow. When she was finished
she lapped up the water from one of the
pannikins.
Her meal finished she moved
into a corner of the cell. Without
thinking she began to clean herself, licking her fur to clean away the
blood. Only when she began to
clean her muzzle by licking her hand and wiping away the blood did she suddenly
stop.
What
am I doing? Im not a
leopard. She looked
toward Sir Varden and noticed that he was licking himself in places that
would have been impossible in his human
form.
Zenaria felt a sudden sense
of acute apprehension. What if
she and Sir Varden were stuck in their altered forms
permanently? They were already
acting very much like animals.
Would they continue to become more animal-like the longer they remained
in their animal shapes? It was
a worrying thought and one that Zenaria could only calm by using her tongue
to give herself a thorough grooming.
This
isnt good, she
thought.
If
I keep it up Im going to have a
hairball.
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