"All right, I admit it, it was a bad idea," the sprinter huffed as he tried for the cover of the rocks.  He was fairly certain they couldn't get through to him from that direction, but then again they'd torn their way out of thin air so he couldn't be sure.  "How was I to know the Haunt Woods meant haunt as in feeding ground?"

The large grey wolf at his side chuffed heavily but didn't answer.  He did not glance back but his ears were laid back and focused on the sounds of pursuit behind them.  The hissing, clacking noises of the chitin covered monsters that had ripped their way out of thin air to menace them from the grey murk of the Ether were swift and steady but not catching up.  Unfortunately his human companion could not maintain this magically enhanced breakneck pace for long.  

A hissing, whistling breeze whipped the rangy man's hair into disarray, and just as quickly straightened it.  He frowned and spoke to his four legged friend.  "Wisp says that the rock formation is long enough we can probably get past it with a Door.  That should put us out of sight and smell."

The long legged wolf chuffed again and put on another burst of speed as the man raced harder for the safety of the boulders that tumbled from within the hill to spill out of grass like a bubbling pool frozen in time.  The rock shelf was near an ancient quarry long since abandoned, on the edges of an older forest.  The nearby town had warned him of the Haunt Forest; Terrapha had misinterpreted the warning to be against ghosts or unsettled spirits.  That had not been the case; it was a predator's haunt, and those predators had not even resided on the same plane of existence as he had.  Served him right for pursuing magical studies rather than staying in his circle.  

As they left the edge of the forest he could see familiar ripples in the clear air only a few dozen arm-lengths away.  Terrapha swore under his breath and put all of his effort into catching up with the wolf.  The sharp breeze whisked away, and he started muttering the incantation, struggling to keep the words rhythmic and controlled as he mage the passes necessary with his left hand.  

The air split, and grey and purple chitin poked out, cutting, tearing at the fabric of reality.  Snapping jaws tore and rent the air and ripped as another trio of the ethereal slayers made their way into his world.  The trio behind the fleeing arcanist and his erstwhile companions hissed and clacked louder, making up the distance as he tried to run and craft his spell simultaneously.

Terrapha completed his casting only to have a spark of silvery power slide off of one hand and arc to the other, a startling array of multicolored sparkles trailing after him as the spell shattered.  The wolf had reached the rocks and turned, growling at the three new arrivals on their plane of existence despite the fact they were still some distance away.  He halted before the rocks and began his incantation anew, caught between trying to catch his breath and escape.  

The spell took life in his hands and from his mouth, the sensation of magic filling his chest and pouring from his body rather than erupting as it had before.  The world bent to his will and a portal opened before him....and then something large, ungainly and sickly yellow slammed into him grabbing at him.  He cried out in surprise and dismay while the wolf leaped and savagely attacked the creature.  It gibbered madly - oddly from above him, rather than next to him - and grappled with him.  They stumbled into the Doorway just as the creature - whatever it was - began to fade.  

A massive explosion of light and noise erupted around them, and the clacking hisses of the slayers became frightened squeals.  The yellow thing shoved and pushed at him and he caught a glimpse of a pair of eyes and a broad, fang toothed slash of a mouth, before it too was screeching and blasted into rainbow tatters.  Then he felt something slam into him and heard startled yelps, and the breeze fluttered about his head....

He woke to the sound of running water and the soft flutter of a breeze along his face.  Terrapha groaned and slowly rolled over, wincing as he felt bruised ribs and torn flesh protest.  At first he'd through the thing was an ethereal filcher, but it was clear, looking at his tattered tunic and the nasty gouges left along his stomach, that it had not been trying to steal anything from him.  He slowly sat up, seeing the large wolf that had been his companion since he'd joined the Circle of Mawdryn lying still a few yards away.  He crawled over and gently laid his hand on the thick fur, and was relieved when he felt slow, steady breaths.  

He searched though his mind for the requisite words, and then slowly began an exhortation, bidding nature to speed her course and restore vitality lost.  The wolf breathed more easily but did not waken; his familiar luffed his hair and he turned his head slowly.  

The wolf that stood not two paces away from him was massive.  It wasn't a dire wolf; there was a primal sort of look to such creatures that this wolf lacked.  That did not make it any smaller, unfortunately; it was still easily the size of a greater bear.  It looked at him with bright, intelligent eyes, and its tail slowly waved back and forth - which did not necessarily mean it was happy, he knew.  The most startling thing about this wolf was that its coloration was almost fox-like - reddish, with white tuft at its tail tips and ear tips.

Keeping his posture relaxed and calm, he slowly ran his hands over his companion, checking for any breaks or other injuries.  When he found none, he repeated his exhortation and the massive wold sat back on its haunches, watching him incuriously.  He felt the sharp tingle of the healing magics setting his flesh and bone to rights, and he breathed a little easier, taking the few seconds respite to glance at the place they were in.

It appeared at first glance to be an old growth forest.  However, it was unnaturally dark beyond the sullen radiance of the grove they were in, as though the world beyond their immediate environs had been smothered in thick grey smoke.  He was certain they were not in the Ether itself; he had experienced that plane of existence himself before.  The mossy loam beneath him was too firm for the place they appeared to be in, and there was a distinct lack of life-sound from the area.  

The wolf spoke abruptly.  "Why have you intruded on my domain?"  Her voice was thick but perfectly understandable fae speech; the tongue of the fae came easily to his lips as he struggled to find an answer.

"It was not my intent to intrude; we fled the hunters and found ourselves tumbled like mice into a hole we did not see."  He wasn't entirely certain of what was going on here, and he kept his posture submissive, careful not to look too long or too directly into her eyes.  

"You travel with fine friends for a mortal; yet the orisons do not come easily to your lips as they should.  I feel the presence of the blood of ~draychul~ in your veins."  She used the epithet of dragon in the feyish tongue rather than a proper naming of them.  Terrapha licked lips suddenly dry.  "You would not have forsaken your vows to pursue petty power....I hope."  She rose and paced back and forth, making him even more nervous.  

"I study the power within me as I must, for power will not be denied.  Yet I still walk in the loud woods, and among the roaring rivers, and atop the singing stones.  As I do, so does my friend, who believes me a mortal worth fighting for."  He tried to quell his pride; not many could say they remained true to their oaths after discovering the path of sorcerer.  "Those who live in the silent cities fear my name."  

The great wolf - he suspected it was a sending or a spirit of some sort - paused and then sat down again, closer this time.  He shifted slightly, bringing his legs under him and crouching.  He could easily take a form capable of fighting the larger beast; the magic in his veins had given him greater gifts than most of his order.  The problem was that to do so would take a few heartbeats longer than she might give him.  

"I would walk among the living forests and the open sky again.  I wish to experience the pleasures of the world again.  I have remained here far too long.  The prayers are perfunctory, the offerings meager, and it is time that those who till the earth remember that the harvest is a gift.  The teachings of the petty gods draw them away from the Old Gods and I do not wish to fade as they have."

Terrapha wracked his brains for a moment and then looked at the wolf in shock.  "Horo...." he murmured.  The Harvest Goddess was barely remembered even by his circle - she was an older goddess, one of the rare ones that was closer to the elvenkind than humankind.  He gathered his wits quickly.  "I am sorry, goddess, I do not know how I may be of help to you."

The huge wolf rose and stepped forward and his vision seemed to twist around her as she approached, fur sliding into flesh and coiling about her body.  By the time she had walked to where his companion slept, she had taken human form....except she appeared to his eyes to be a girl of no more than fifteen, with the ears and tail of a wolf.  Her eyes, still crimson, gazed at him critically.  "You may serve as my avatar...."  She frowned as she looked down at him.  "But I do not think your choice of gender appeals to me."  The lilting syllables of the fey words tumbled from her lips like music, but there was an ominous tone he didn't quite like.

"My gender was not something I was given any choice in possessing, goddess, I promise."  Terrapha rose slowly, feeling a little more confident now that she'd taken a form he could deal with a little more easily.  He did remind himself this was a goddess, and not someone to cross, no matter how minor.  "I have dedicated my life to the world that has given me life; if I can serve, I shall.  You desire me to remind those who have forgotten you of their duty?"  While he was not well liked in the cities, the smaller townships would welcome a druid's blessings, and he could easily preach the truth of nature to those who tilled and harvested.  And if the Churches tried to silence him, well, there was always nature's fire and sorcerous ice for those who tried nature's patience.  

She looked at him and walked around him, studying his well worn - and somewhat tattered at the moment - clothing.  "No, I will do so myself.  But beyond this place I have no form suitable for speaking to mortals."  She stopped in front of him again and he found himself becoming uncomfortably aware of her nudity.  Her tail swept from one side to the other casually; she stepped closer and raised her hands before him.  A sullen glow of yellow-green light illuminated her palms as she gazed at him.  

Panic made his heart race and he seriously considered trying to resist whatever she was about to do to him.  Reason warred with faith, and common sense won the fight; resisting might be blasphemous, but it was more likely suicidal.  Horo was a wolf goddess as well as a harvest goddess, and it was not impossible that she would take his resistance as a refusal.  So he took a deep breath and accepted the power that flowed into his body.

The sensation of his flesh changing and warping was not unfamiliar to him; he was perfectly capable of taking on animal forms.  What was unfamiliar was the way his center of balance changed, the movement of sinew and flesh about his bones.  Terrapha felt his weight changing, not so much how much he weighed, but where he carried it.  His leather breeches became uncomfortably tight in some places and strangely loose in others - his loincloth felt empty and slipped up snugly, a contradiction in sensations if there ever was one.  His tunic felt tight and tickled as it shifted, while he felt bone shift among his ribs and in his head, as well as along his pelvis. 

His heart raced and he felt his blood shifting, changing as well, carrying new sensations and feelings, some of which he recognized, others which he did not.  His eyes, moist and teary from the change, seemed to take in the world differently, colors more vibrant and distinct than they had been before.  When Horo lowered her hands she was smiling, looking at him in approval.  Terrapha slid his hands up his sides, and cupped his - no, her, now - her breasts, and she looked down the length of her body, rubbing away the moisture in her eyes with one hand, the other pressing to the place now flat between her legs through the trousers.  Even her thoughts were unfamiliar, not so much as what she thought but how she thought it.  

"Now you are much more suited to be my avatar."  

Terrapha stared at the young goddess, the discomfiture of her nudity now even more disquieting as it caused certain sensation that he could not readily name but certainly understood.  "My goddess, I think that my understanding is flawed....may I ask what you have done this for?"  Her voice, once a pleasant, attractive tenor was now a soothing contralto.  Terrapha wondered what the wolf at his feet would think.  His familiar couldn't care less - it was genderless aerial flotsam.

Horo laughed, and the sound of it made his heart race and the hair stand up on the back of her neck.  She swallowed heavily as the goddess walked around his sleeping companion and waved her tail through the air.  The mischievous little breeze Terrapha had summoned to act as a familiar seemed to be missing as well - not surprising, since Horo was clearly not interested in an audience at the moment.  "You are much more appealing in this form, and I would feel more comfortable wearing it as well.  It is not such a bad form is it?"  Her eyes glittered with amusement, but there was a sharpness to her smile that suggested it would be unwise to disagree.

"Perhaps it is merely the fact that I have never worn this form, sweet goddess.  Your presence is powerful."  Terrapha struggled to find some way to voice her discomfiture without being offensive, but Horo was already glaring at her.  "Goddess, I...."

Terrapha gasped as radiance erupted from the goddess' body, yellow-green light that filled the glade, radiating from her body like heat and light from the sun.  Terrapha cried out, going to her knees, feeling the sharp spike of pleasure radiating through her belly and the stiffening of nipples and dampening of her sex.  "The harvest is gained through the fecundity of plant, the livestock is slaughtered after the calves are got, life comes from the woman.  I will not take the form of the giver of life, but the maker of life!  You will wear this form in my honor, and take pleasure in being the maker of life as you have taken pleasure in being the giver of life!"  Horo's voice resounded in Terrapha's mind and through her body as well as in her ears; her will was utterly crushed under the potent geas laid upon her and she felt her heat rising.  

"...y...yes, my...my...goddess!"  She fell to her hands and knees before the goddess anger, and sobbed softly, her body filled with an aching need and her mind resounding with the benediction and the curse.

Soft, gentle hands slowly wrapped about her shoulders and she was cuddled into the soft, warm bosom of the goddess, who kissed her temple tenderly and wrapped her tail about the shaking priestess of the woods.  Terrapha, driven by the potency of the geas, lifted her face, tears still staining her cheeks, and kissed the goddess fervently, one hand sliding up the smooth belly to cup one firm breast gently.  Horo smiled and returned the kiss, deepening it for her servant.

Terrapha wrapped her arms about the slender figure of the wold goddess, the hot, slow kiss soothing to her burning body.  The violent radiance had dimmed to a warm glow that encompassed the glade, motes of light drifting among the trees.  Slowly Terrapha bore the goddess to the ground, cradling her in strong, lithe arms.  The goddess' tail twitched and slipped from under to to one side, stroking her worshiper’s breeches lightly.  The druid-sorceress rose and slowly unlaced the neck of her tunic, drawn tight by her full breasts.  She inhaled deeply as the pressure on her chest eased then slid free of the confining garment.

Horo reached up as she lay on the ground and caressed Terrapha's breast with a warm, gentle hand, letting her fingers ripple along the firm nub, enjoying the maturity of the druid's body.  The once-man shuddered and arched into the touch, hands lowering the tunic to the soft moss.  Horo's hand slowly moved down and carefully undid the belt that held Terrapha's dagger and various pouches.  She fumbled at it and the young woman gently laid her hands over Horo's to help.  The belt was pulled free, finally, and the laces of her breeches undone and the loincloth drawn away to reveal the soft thatch of dark hair between her legs, barely hiding her wet slit.  

Terrapha's spell ravaged mind barely had time to wonder if she was a virgin when Horo leaned up and ran her tongue along the soft heat between her legs.  

The young woman gasped and dropped the leathers, both hands going to her firm, flat belly.  She shuddered as Horo slipped her hands along her hips gently urging her out of her clothing.  Horo pressed the young now-woman onto the soft moss, her slender, youthful body laid along the warm, firm body of the athletic looking young woman.  Kisses were resumed and Terrapha found herself burning under the warm, slow caresses of tail, hands and body.  She was no stranger to the love of women, but the love of another woman upon her new form was startling and strange and lovely.  Horo's insistent kisses drew her mind away from the reverie and she found herself exchanging soul kisses with the youthful goddess.

Horo's legs parted obediently as Terrapha's hand slipped along her belly to the space between her legs.  There was no soft down there, only warm, smooth flesh that parted easily, moist and delicate under the nature-warrior's knowing fingers.  The lithe little goddess gasped into the kiss as she was explored by the warm, calloused fingers, more delicate than they had been only moments before.  Even touch was a new sensation for Terrapha, her body gaining more from the transformation than she had expected.  Horo's hands gently caressed, teased her breasts, glided along firm nipples and sensitive aureole, and then squeezed gently.  

The feel of Horo's thigh between her legs prompted Terrapha to spread them and the warm heat of the muscular thigh against her sex was intense.  The pleasure it brought was unexpected and while not nearly so intense as that she'd experienced before becoming a woman, it was deeper, more intimate somehow.  Though that could have been the influence of the goddess, she realized before Horo distracted her with a gentle nip at her neck, sharp canines dragging against her throat.  Slender fingers moved between her legs, pressed into her wetness and she arched against Horo, crying out aloud.  They entered each other gently, exploring each other in the most intimate of manners.  

She writhed under Horo's gentle, experienced assault, even as she struggled to return the favor.  Horo whined softly, her mouth moving across the upper slopes of Terrapha's breasts and leaving gentle love-bites and delicate licks there.  Terrapha writhed, the fingers in her body sliding deeper....and then she cried out as a bolt of raw, untrammeled pleasure ripped through her.  Another thumb-stroke across her swollen clitoris brought her to climax, and she was paralyzed under the harvest goddess' tender assault.  The bursts of pleasure, liquid and warm, pulsed from her center and she quaked under the warm, gentle kisses and skilled fingering.  Then the body atop hers was moving, fingers slipping away....but before the feeling of being bereft could set in Horo was pressing herself to the other woman.

The split of Horo's legs moved between Terrapha's, and she found herself being pulled close, her legs gripped by strong young arms.  At first it made no sense to the now-woman, but then slick, warm lips were pressed against her and a jolt of intense pleasure flowed up her body.  Horo smiled and began to move her hips, sliding their nether lips together in a slow, intimate kiss.  Terrapha cried out and clawed at the soft loam, her hips thrusting up and against Horo, making the youthful goddess cry out softly in response.  It was not long before instinct and need took over and Terrapha was grinding her hips and sex into Horo's, stoking the fires in their bellies to inferno.  

The slow, intimate rocking of their bodies together inflamed Terrapha quickly, and Horo too was flushed, her small breasts jutting prettily, her tail pressed along the back of her lover and soon to be avatar.  Terrapha gripped her own breasts, hands almost clawing them; then there was pleasure, pure, undiluted, waves of it sliding through her body.  It did not stop, not quickly as it had when she was a man; it continued, wave after wave, until Horo howled her own pleasure, and bliss struck consciousness away.  

Horo gasped softly, laying still for several minutes as the glow of pleasure faded.  When she finally rose, it was not as the slim youth, nor as a wolf, but as an undefined presence.  The wolf woke finally, and the air elemental returned from its exile.  What might have been a hand stroked the wolf's thick mane and the promise of pleasure was given for another time.  The elemental was instructed, and then the presence moved over the stricken woman, sliding into her, filling her with its essence.  

When Terrapha woke, it was with a greater awareness and understanding.  She smiled and ran her hands through her companion's fur rubbing her cheek against him slowly.  A lifted hand brought the living wind of her familiar to caress, glide along her bare skin.  She laughed, joyous and sweet.  Terrapha, rose, and cast wide the gates of her prison, splitting the barrier of the worlds open wide with the power of blood and knowledge of the world.

Baring her teeth in a wolfish grin she gathered her clothing and walked through, naked in the sunlight and feeling true, real grass beneath her feet.  Singing an ancient melody in the sylvan manner, she walked towards the forest, smiling.

It was time to clean house.

~End~