Please note that both these images are copyrighted- please don't borrow them for your own characters, since they're supposed to be special and unique.Disclaimer: Some sexual themes in this one.
Chicken Stroll
Part Twenty Four
“Are we there yet?”
“Shut. Up.” Edwin hissed at the chick as he fluttered carefully down the staircase, feeling very exposed and obvious. Somewhere a few steps below were the two rogues, hidden in the shadows. The only clue to their whereabouts was Andorel's piping voice. That idiot seemed to have no idea what 'stealth' meant. However, this is not unusual. There are many words he does not know the meaning of. Edwin ground his beak viciously. The chick was currently riding on Nalia's back, having claimed that his legs were tired. Seeing the ex-half-orc milk his current situation for all it was worth was not improving his mood. It occured to Edwin that, under certain circumstances, Andorel could actually be very clever- or, at least, devious.
“I'm bored!”
“Not long now.” Nalia's voice floated back to him. “Are you alright? Warm enough? Not hungry?”
“Nah, I'm fine right now.” Andorel replied smugly, his voice muffled slightly by Nalia's feathers. Edwin promised himself again that he would not lose his temper.
“This is the door.” Teacher Dekaras spoke suddenly, having been quiet up to now. He suddenly appeared out of the shadow he had been lurking in. “I can't hear anything beyond it, so I presume the room is empty.”
Before anyone could object, the assassin leapt up gracefully, and pulled the handle of the solid wooden door by landing on it. There was a slight click, and he landed back on the ground. Nalia, still blotchy with dried blood, crept out of her patch of shadow and followed, a tiny head poking out of her feathers and looking about with interest. Edwin gave it a brief glare while Teacher Dekaras wasn't looking, and stalked after the group. The large mage lab opened up before him. Edwin drew his breath in with a hiss. It was obviously a well-run lab. The stone walls were whitewashed and spotless, hung with racks and racks of amulets, all carefully hung on lettered pegs. There were various benches scattered around, dedicated to different uses- note taking, alchemy, reagent preparation, wet and dry experimentation. Shelves covered with sparkling glassware ready for use covered a portion of one wall, while set of shelves held thick glass bottles of various liquids- sadly, it was impossible to read the labels from here. Edwin paced around the lab, examining everything covetously.
“So, what do we do now? There's no fire or anything.” Nalia said. “I know feathers can be used as tinder, but I don't really like that idea.”
“Then we shall simply have to be imaginative.” Dekaras replied, starting his own tour of the laboratory.
As Edwin drew nearer to the wet experimentation bench, a pungent smell hit him, and made his eyes water. He knew that smell... “Acqua regia!” He exclaimed without thinking, and fluttered onto the bench for a closer look.
“Huh?”
“There, in the side-arm retort!”
“Which one's that?” Andorel asked blankly.
“Next to the copper alembic.” Edwin replied absently.
“What?”
“That will be perfect!” Dekaras enthused.
“What in the Abyss are you guys talking about?”
“Acid.” Nalia explained. “A mixture of acqua fortis and spirits of salt. It can dissolve gold.”
“Yuck.” Andorel gave the flask a hard look from his viewpoint on Nalia's back. “Isn't acid supposed to be green and bubbling?”
“Very useful.” Dekaras said. “How concentrated is it?”
Edwin blinked his watering eyes. “Very potent.” He fluttered back down from the table.
“Am I missing summat here?” Andorel asked plaintively.
“That flask of acid up there will be able to destroy our talismans.” Dekaras replied. He looked doubtfully at the large stoppered glass flask, with its narrow tube sticking out to one side. “If we can get them into it.”
The three adult chickens looked at Andorel.
“What?”
***
“It stinks in here!” The tiny chick complained, squeezing his way into the narrow tube, pushing the four amulets ahead of himself. “I can hardly breathe at all.”
“Then hold your breath- or better yet, stop breathing.”
“Edwin!”
“Nearly there...” The chick struggled and pushed, tiny claws scrabbling against the glass. “Ugh, that smell is making me feel sick...”
“Get on with it!”
“Hey, if you want to switch places, go ahead. I'd like to see you squeeze your fat red arse into this tube!”
“Fat! Need I remind you that until recently, you were a turkey-sized monstrosity?”
“Stop arguing and hurry up!” Nalia snapped.
He wiggled and pushed the amulets a tiny bit farther, feathers pressed flat against the glass, and it was just far enough. Four sets of eyes watched as the curse talismen slid over the lip of the glass tube, and dropped into the clear acid. They fizzed briefly.
“Is that all?” Andorel asked. “I reckon...”
SMASH!
Day-old chicks may fit neatly into small glass tubes, but the reaction when that tiny creature is suddenly and unexpectedly replaced by an adult, muscular half-orc is spectacular, to say the least.
Andorel shook his head dazedly and then looked down. “Crap, where are my clothes?!”
***
Nalia goggled for a moment at Andorel, who was sitting in the middle of the table, surrounded by broken glass. She blinked, then looked again. No, still no clothes to be seen. She shivered suddenly, and wrapped her arms around herself to get warmer. Returning to normal size in about one second was quite disconcerting, she felt both dizzy and a little nauseous, and she had to concentrate carefully in order to move, since her legs felt completely wrong to her. Arms were nice though, very nice. She blinked again, then looked around in order to try to sort out her thoughts. Edwin was standing next to the table on which Andorel was sitting, with Dekaras next to him, and they... Oh. Oh my. Nalia felt a faint heat creeping into her cheeks as her eyes fell upon the three men in front of her. The three naked men in front of her. Nalia De'Arnise, you come from a long line of nobles, born and bred to cope with any awkward social situation. You can think of something to say. Just do it!
“Oh...” Nalia heard herself saying. She was still staring, but she couldn't quite bring herself to stop. The view was very interesting, after all. “I suppose Auntie Delcia was right, after all...”
Dekaras was the one who unfroze first, after a wildly horrified glance at himself. His arm shot out towards a small end table standing by the wall. It was covered with a deep black velvet tablecloth, and there was a crystal ball standing on top of it. Nalia was quite impressed by how the assassin managed to snatch the tablecloth without the crystal ball even moving, but she was quickly distracted as she shivered again. Once more she hugged herself, and then stopped. She was touching skin. Naked, cold skin. And her toes were freezing. And...
“I'm nude, aren't I?” Nalia said in a distant, slightly brittle voice. She supposed she ought to have realized it when she saw the others - but the view had been very diverting, after all.
“Mmmmfff...” Edwin replied, his mouth hanging open.
“Yeah, you are,” Andorel said with an appreciative grin. “Ne'mind that, I'll find ya something to put on.”
“And preferably something for yourself as well,” Dekaras added. He had fashioned the tablecloth into a kind of loincloth and was looking far calmer, though still definitely ill at ease. “I noticed the curtains in the hallway at the top of the stairs were quite extensive, and there was another tablecloth as well. That should suffice for now. I will help you get them.” He headed for the door. “Edwin, you too.”
“Huh?”
“I said...oh, never mind. Just come, and stop staring at the girl as if she were a fish in an aquarium.”
“Nah, couldn't be,” Andorel protested, and proceeded to brush some broken bits of glass off of his green skin. He was green all over, Nalia couldn't help but notice. She'd wondered about that. Then he winked at her. “Fish aren't that pretty. They've got lots of scales and stuff, and bulgy eyes. No nostrils either, an' no...er...” He suddenly looked away, and his cheeks turned a deep brown.
“No what?” Nalia asked.
“Ears,” Dekaras firmly interrupted, as he caught Andorel's arm in a steady grip, and dragged the half-orc towards the door. “That's what you meant to say, wasn't it, Andorel?”
“Huh? Oh. Yeah. Ears.”
“Good. Now come. Edwin, you too.” Nalia shook her head with confusion as the door shut behind them, leaving her alone in the lab. She could have sworn she had missed something crucial there, but she'd be darned if she could figure it out.
***
Very shortly thereafter, the group gathered again inside the lab. Nalia was now outfitted with an expensive-looking blue table-cloth with glittering stars sewn onto it, and had wrapped it tightly around herself in a way that made both Edwin and Andorel watch appreciatively whenever she moved. As for the wizard and the warrior, they were wearing matching red brocade curtains, even though Edwin had sulked profusely about being forced to wear the same as the half-orc, and muttered about how it 'made his derriere look fat'.
“Right,” Nalia said. “Now that's sorted out, let's destroy the rest of these amulets to turn back anybody else who's been cursed, and then get out of here as quickly as possible.”
“Or better yet, get the amulets, get out as quickly as possible, and then destroy them,” Dekaras said. “Andorel is unarmed, and so am I. Although we can both still defend ourselves, I would prefer not being forced to. And as for Edwin and yourself, you have no spell components or spells prepared, so you are even worse off if it comes to fighting.”
“Right you are, little brother,” Andorel cheerfully said, and completely ignored the poisonous look Edwin sent his way. “Let's get out of here, save the other chickens, an' then come back with some payback, right?”
Nalia nodded her agreement, and moved towards the door. However, before she could touch it, it flew open, making her gasp with surprise. There was a woman standing on the other side, a pale and rather short woman in a blue-green mage robe.
Emeral Fress.
Vadrak Dekaras
Andorel Runthig
