The interior of the kobold cave was dark and dreary; much as one would expect from such a place. From the entrance, a rounded tunnel with a diameter of roughly a few metres descended gradually downwards and to the left. The floor was smooth, with almost no debris or other features that could upset Lucinda’s attempts at secretly observing the occupants. However, even with her Stalk ability active, concerns of being ambushed stubbornly lingered in her mind. It didn’t help that Waflaw and Grissa’s duel had left her feeling certain that the ugly creatures had been alerted to the fact that they weren’t alone.

Her journey brought her to a larger open area just as the ever-diminishing light level was starting to hamper even her feline vision. She approached the chamber at a snail’s pace, with her ears pointing forwards to help alert her to any potential dangers. It didn’t take her long to find one.

Just a short distance inside the chamber, her eyes fell upon a small creature. Her breath caught at the sight, as her body likewise froze. Its height and build were similar to that of a human child, but its skin was deathly pale, its hands unnaturally large, and its head oversized and rounded. Had Lucinda been ambushed by such a creature, she was sure she would have screamed in fright – at least if she had possessed the correct vocal cords to so at the time.

Lying motionless on the cave floor, Lucinda spotted more than one of the monstrous humanoids. Fortunately, they appeared to be sleeping quite soundly. They were strewn about the large cavern, grouped together in small piles seemingly at random, totalling somewhere in the vicinity of a dozen by her best estimate. That they posed no immediate threat certainly helped ease the frantic beating of Lucinda’s heart, but there were far more than she had expected. Far too many for her to handle on her own, even if they turned out to be weaker than her.

“What do you think of them, Marrow?” Lucinda sent to her animal companion, along with an image of the pale creatures she was seeing.

“Bad,” Marrow replied. Her mental word revealed a dislike of their form that paralleled Lucinda’s own. “Fight?”

“There’s a lot of them… I think we’re going to need Wollow to help us out. I’ll be there soon.”

Backing off slowly from the slumbering horde of miniature nightmares, she made her way back outside into the light of day. Wollow was relaxing in a prone position when she spotted him. The brief glance he shot her way indicated boredom, or at the very least disinterest, while Marrow’s reaction was much more to her liking.

“Fight!” Marrow exclaimed mentally as Lucinda reached her, hopping about on the ground in an obviously excited fashion.

“Soon, okay? We need to be careful.”

Kneeling down beside Wollow so she too could watch the tunnel, Lucinda pulled Marrow into her lap as she considered how to approach the situation sensibly and safely. It was true that Wollow’s aid pushed things heavily in her favour, but if the hideous monsters caught onto the difference in strength between their adversaries, things could get troublesome.

I wonder how quickly he could beat them all…? How strong is he really? Ah, no, it doesn’t matter. I need the experience, not him!

The most enticing idea she came up with, was to use the terrain to funnel the kobolds to Wollow. That way she and Marrow could attack with impunity, and possibly even use her limited area affecting spells to great effect. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really a place within the cave that was suitable, or could be made suitable in a reasonable time frame. She eventually settled upon another idea, though it was far less satisfying.

“Wollow, I’m going to send in a summoned animal to hopefully lure a few of them out. Can you be ready to fight them? And run if they all come at once?”

Wollow communicated his agreement by standing up and resolutely staring at the cave’s interior. Or at least that was how Lucinda chose to read the situation. Once Marrow was safely back on the ground, she briefly shifted into her deer form, and then used her Animal Ally spell to summon a smaller duplicate of it. Giving her new ally a mental command, she moved out of sight of the cave’s mouth with Marrow beside her.

“Not long now,” she sent to the large bird as she cast her Wooden Flesh spell in preparation for the upcoming engagement. “Be ready, okay? Oh, and don’t use your acid spit just yet. There’s going to be a lot of them and we might need to save it.”

“Fight!” Marrow replied, conveying her full agreement.

Waiting turned out to be difficult, as with no visual or mental feedback of the conjured deer’s actions, there was no real way to tell what was happening inside the cave. If it perished, she’d know, but that was the full extent of her situational knowledge. A series of minor worries churned through her head as she continued to wait silently, listening for some sign of approaching monsters while watching Wollow’s stationary form intently. Finally, after what seemed like multiple minutes had passed, a huff from the mighty stag shortly preceded the sounds of approaching footfalls. Numerous enough to belong to several creatures, they were soon joined by a series of shrieks and growls that rapidly increased in volume.

Seeing Wollow make no move to retreat was enough to convince her to shift into lynx form as she’d planned. She felt the connection to her summoned deer break as her body changed, prompting her to recast the spell as soon as she could.

“Let’s go!” she mentally commanded her companion and conjured ally both.

“Kobold!” came Marrow’s reply.

Despite her confident mental tone, Lucinda felt a wave of relief pass over her as soon as the creatures came into view. There were only three of them in total, and Wollow was having no difficulty in fending them off; not that she had expected otherwise. And as he continued to block their futile efforts, and knock them backwards with powerful flicks of his antlered head, Lucinda and her allies joined the fray.

Her smaller doppelgänger dashed straight in without a care in the world, exactly as ordered. Lucinda just had time to see her pounce upon the nearest kobold, before she herself did much the same thing to the next in line. Completely failing to react in time, the ugly creature fell under the weight of her feline leap, bringing them both to the cave floor. Lucinda delivered a single solid bite to the kobold’s shoulder, not quite being able to reach its neck, which caused her prey to squeal in pain as her teeth pierced flesh. The kobold tried its best to fight back, managing to catch her underbelly with one of its clawed hands, but Lucinda’s absorption spell kept her health from dipping. She backed off all the same, delivering a parting rake with her left paw as she leapt away, further diminishing the deformed monstrosity’s vitality, but more importantly keeping its attention on her.

Hopping into the air, Marrow’s talons flashed out in quick succession into the unaware creature’s back, eliciting another, louder screech from the pale terror that was her target. Lucinda smiled inwardly as one of the manoeuvrers she had had Marrow practise played out against a real foe for the first time. It wasn’t complicated, but it was sure effective.

Sparing a brief glance at Wollow to find he had pinned down his foe with one hoof, and her conjured ally to find she was barely holding her own, Lucinda sprung back in for another attack. Between the two of them, the kobold stood no chance. Marrow took a single retaliatory hit, but then the creature was swiftly overwhelmed and put down without mercy.

Ignoring the bloody result their attack had produced as best she could, Lucinda ordered Marrow ahead to prepare their second foe for its inevitable defeat. The combat capabilities of her secondary animal assistance were far inferior to both her and Marrow, though that was to be expected. During training, it had become clear that the spell relied upon the actual rank and base level of the related shapeshift form, and with lynx form being only 3 in both of those categories, it was hardly the most powerful ally she could conjure. Fortunately, it had proved it was more than capable of keeping a single kobold occupied for a time.

The second kobold had managed to temporarily pin the smaller lynx beneath it, and despite the unrealness of its foe, Lucinda still enjoyed watching Marrow put a stop to the series of bites the kobold had been inflicting. Again, a double talon strike tore into the unaware victim’s flanks, producing more screeching, and bringing more blood out into the open.

“You can do it, Marrow! Show that monster how strong how you are!”

“Marrow!” her companion replied, her communication filled with happiness.

Clearly upset by the surprise attack it had received, the kobold lashed out in Marrow’s direction. Unfortunately for it, the clawed lunge it attempted was stopped in its tracks when Marrow’s beak snapped down on the offending arm’s wrist. There was no crunching of bones to suggest the arm had broken, but when the kobold demonstrated its rather poor reasoning abilities by yanking its arm backwards and partially flaying its own pale skin, it no longer mattered. Even having freed itself from Marrow’s clutches, the creature didn’t last long under the combined assault of her and the smaller lynx that was still assisting from behind. However, just as the kobold seemed to be dangerously weakening, a loud growl brought her attention back to Wollow.

In a blur of motion, a large cat pounced upon the kobold that the stag had been keeping effortlessly pinned. There was a single pained yelp from the prone creature as feline teeth met flesh, and then it lay still.

Aww… That must be Grussi…

“Marrow! Fight!” Marrow cried out silently, refocussing Lucinda’s attention back on the second kobold, or what was left of it.

“Good job, Marrow!” Lucinda felt a swell of pride as she saw the very healthy state her companion was in – not that it had exactly been a fair fight.

“Bone?”

Lucinda laughed out loud as she was caught off guard by the sudden request – although it came out as a series of huffs from her feline mouth. The thought of Marrow feasting upon the recently deceased creatures almost gave her pause, but not quite.

“Go on then, just try not to make too much of a mess. And be ready in case more show up!”

“Bone!”

Before she had even finished shifting back to human form, Lucinda was set upon by the large cat. She found herself forced onto her back, and then summarily assaulted by a very forceful nuzzling attack against her neck. There was nothing she could do except laugh good-naturedly and endure the surprising greeting. Grussi was far larger than her lynx form, and clearly possessed immense musculature throughout his almost three-metre length body.

“You must be Grussi,” Lucinda said as she stroked the beautiful sandy fur of the large cougar. “You’re a lot friendlier than Wollow.”

A low bleat from Waflaw’s companion brought more laughter from Lucinda’s lips. However, the appearance of a new notification brought an abrupt stop to her vocalisation.

Shapeshifts Name Base Attributes Attribute Bonuses Base Level Rank Bonuses STR AGI END STR AGI END Cougar 31 27 18 1.3 1.2 1.0 6 1 Pounce Pounce (Cougar)

Deals greater than normal damage if attacking from behind, and much greater damage if undetected when initiating.

Scales with Base Level.

Cost: 20% Base Mana

Yay! Another form for my collection!

It took considerable effort to push Grussi off of her, but once clear Lucinda wasted no time in shifting to her newest form. Having been a cat only moments before, the process was incredibly familiar. Her body lengthened and rearranged internally, while fur sprouted across every centimetre of her. The usual feeling of grace and power became hers as she landed on all fours, but it was even more pronounced than with her lynx form. Intending to test her new form with a spot of exercise, Lucinda made it only two steps before Grussi was once more upon her. She reacted as best she could, blocking one or two paw strikes, and weaving around a playful bite, but with only a single proper catfight under her belt (that she’d lost) victory wasn’t to be hers.

Pinned down to the floor by her attacker, Lucinda felt a spike of fear as Grussi stared into her eyes and growled menacingly at her. However, her worries were quickly put to rest when the larger cat reached out with one paw and booped her on the nose, before pulling back and releasing her.

Grrr… If he wasn’t however many levels higher than me I might have had a chance! Even if he is much bigger than me as well…

“Friend?” Marrow enquired as Lucinda climbed back to her feet.

“I’m okay… How are the bon…”

Lucinda’s mental words fell short as her eyes drifted to Marrow. The large bird was covered in blood, and standing in a sizeable pool of the stuff to boot. Her stomach pulsed unpleasantly as she noticed the scattered remains of the kobold lying about; especially the parts that weren’t just liquid.

“What happened to not making a mess?” she asked.

“Bone!” Marrow replied, her sending tinged with something akin to indignation.

Ah, what did I expect? If only I had that water spell Waflaw has…

“Sorry, I’m not mad really. It might even help us defeat the other kobolds. You look quite fierce drenched like that.”

“Marrow! Fight!”

Shifting back to human form, Lucinda addressed the two more powerful animal companions.

“There’s quite a few more of them further in. They’re not very strong though… I guess we can just take them head-on. Grussi, would you mind letting me and Marrow kill them if possible?”

Her words were met with silence from Wollow, and a brief mew from Grussi. Mostly confident her request had been accepted, Lucinda healed Marrow’s minor health deficit, recast Wooden Flesh, shifted into lynx form – her desire to rank it up just beating her desire to further test her cougar form – and finally recast her Animal Ally spell. Her mana pool was left well under half full, but with the presence of the Druid animal companions, Lucinda felt adequately prepared for battle all the same.

Delivering a quiet meow of her own, she initiated the beginning of the animal procession towards their destination. Powerful feelings of excitement and contentment flooded her body as she led the group down the tunnel.

If only I could have more than one companion all the time… Maybe I can bribe Wollow to stick with me? Oh… This will be a good story to tell Bryn!

Even with her powerful but temporary allies in tow, Lucinda couldn’t entirely stave off concerns for her and Marrow’s safety as they approached the cavern. Other than the quiet footfalls of Wollow’s hooves, and Marrow’s talons, no other noise reached her ears as they approached, but she knew that didn’t necessarily mean the kobolds were still sleeping. The sight that greeted her as the larger space came into view did, however, prove that ugly creatures were in fact still sleeping.

Maybe I overestimated these things…

From what she could recall, it seemed only the single pile that had been closest to the tunnel had reacted to her deer emissary’s presence. A quick headcount in the gloom revealed 9 kobolds that she could see; though the bunched up manner in which they rested precluded perfect accuracy.

“Fight?” Marrow sent as she waddled up beside Lucinda.

“Can you see okay in here?” Lucinda asked.

“Kobold!” Marrow sent an image with her words that revealed her vision in the low-light setting was not quite as good as Lucinda’s lynx form, but still adequate.

Lucinda was partway through considering how to go about defeating the sleeping creatures before them, when Grussi darted past her without making a sound, and then collided noisily with the nearest pile of pale monsters.

Ah, crap…

Lamenting the probable loss of experience the large cat’s hasty actions has caused, Lucinda began edging closer to join the battle. However, Grussi quickly abandoned the trio of kobolds he had awoken, leaving all three alive, and quite angry. Into the next group, he ploughed, awakening more of the ugly creatures, and further adding to the noisy growls and squeaks that had begun filling the cavern. Before long, the entire collection of kobolds had been woken up in the same manner, and were angrily chasing after the feisty cougar as it ran about the chamber.

Still watching from the entrance into the larger space, Lucinda’s intent to join the fray was put on hold as Grussi’s idea of helping became known to her. It was far from what she had planned, but a short stint of observing the large cat’s antics revealed it to be an effective strategy, as despite the total number of kobolds being one short of a full dozen, they had utterly failed to land a single hit upon their adversary.

“Let’s try and pick them off one at a time,” Lucinda sent to Marrow.

“Kobold!”

Quietly laughing to herself at her animal companion’s apparent enjoyment of the particular word she continued to use, Lucinda moved into the chamber in search of prey. Giving instructions to Wollow wasn’t practically possible, but she was happy to let him decide what was best, and had no real way to stop him regardless of what he chose.

As Grussi and his rabid followers passed by once more, a mental command to her conjured lynx prompted a slight change in circumstances. The kobold she’d ordered to be leapt upon was separated from the pack easily enough, yet awareness of the attack quickly spread through those nearby causing four more of the creatures to lend assistance. Beset on all sides, there was little hope of survival for the smaller lynx; Lucinda was not bothered by that fact, as it gave her the perfect opportunity to do some real damage.

A faint orange glow helped illuminate the cavern as she began casting her spell. She hissed quietly to herself as she belatedly realised how much attention she had drawn to her presence, but she had no intention of stopping. The kobolds seemed happy to continue attacking – or trying to attack – their current targets, all except for one who split off from the pack following Grussi to charge straight at her. The sight of its hideous visage highlighted by her mana manipulation was not a welcome one, and nor was the gnashing of its pointed yellow teeth as it moved. Fortunately, Marrow was ready to step in and defend her, and she did just that.

“Acid?” Marrow asked, as she intercepted the charging kobold and spread her wings wide in an abundantly intimidating fashion.

“Just one,” Lucinda replied. “For that one,” she hastily added.

With more space to manoeuvrer in, Marrow was better able to demonstrate her combat capabilities, and with Lucinda’s blessing, she unleashed herself upon the unlucky kobold. A powerful flap of her wings launched her upwards and above her foe, allowing for a clean hit to the top of its skull with her sharp talons as she passed over it. Lucinda winced as she saw the blood spurt forth from the dual wounds her companion had inflicted, but wasn’t surprised to see the creature spin around to counter-attack. Except Marrow chose that moment to fire off a blast of her acid spit directly into the face of the wounded creature, producing a horrific cry of pain that almost caused Lucinda to lose her focus.

It was in that instant that Lucinda’s conjured ally winked out of existence, having succumbed to the combined might of the five kobolds it had faced. Her spell wasn’t quite ready as the creatures silently agreed to help their friend against the bearded vulture it faced, but it was by the time they reached her.

“Spell coming, Marrow!” Lucinda mentally warned as she let her magic loose.

In line with another tactic they’d practised, Marrow dodged backwards at almost the perfect moment. The kobolds were still in the process of spreading out to overwhelm the large bird, but they were still close enough for her magical assault to contribute heavily to their impending defeat. The orb of fire she fired off soared through the cave, dispelling the darkness with the light it produced as it travelled, and so consumed by their intent to dish out vengeance for their maimed companion, only one of the group detected the attack before it was too late.

With a woosh of displaced air, the ball of flames erupted into a painfully bright explosion. Three of the kobolds were directly struck by the blast, while the heavily injured one was caught by the fringes, leaving only the most wary of the bunch unharmed. Hitting multiple enemies with her spell for the first time was incredibly satisfying, and even more so when the most injured kobold collapsed to the ground in obvious defeat. So satisfying in fact, that she had every intention of doing so again immediately.

“Behind me!” she sent to Marrow, as she transitioned straight into casting her other area of effect spell.

Marrow delivered a swift beak strike to the nearest kobold, before doing as she’d asked. That the kobolds were furious with not only the intrusion into their domain, but the fiery assault they’d endured as well was undeniable, and the speed with which they charged straight for Lucinda as a result, brought them to her long before she was ready to follow up with another spell. Fortunately, Biting Frost was a much swifter spell in terms of cast time, and with her Wooden Flesh spell still in effect, Lucinda again took no damage from the multitude of clawed hands that assaulted her.

The brilliant blue light she had been cultivating between her paws and mouth flared as her spell reached completion, while a familiar crackling of ice sounded out as she unleashed it upon her foes. More screeching and wailing burst forth from the kobolds as they endured the explosion of icy magic she’d conjured. Of the four attacking her, three were caught in the blast, though she was no longer sure which was which, and none of them fell as a result.

Despite having received no damage, Lucinda’s mana reserves were almost entirely spent. Of course, as well as dealing direct damage, her latest spell had left the majority of her foes slowed, making the subsequent melee that much easier. Together with Marrow, she focussed on the only kobold to have avoided her magical attack, while using careful positioning to keep it between her and the remaining enemies whenever possible. The first fell when Lucinda’s paw strikes upset its balance, and Marrow then bore it to the ground from behind and finished it off with a piercing beak attack to its neck. Still slowed by the lingering magic, two more of the creatures succumbed before long, which also caused her lynx form to rank up to 4 in the process. Distracted by the notification, Lucinda was too slow to react as the remaining kobold tried to flee, but the ugly monster didn’t make it far. Marrow managed a passing slash with her talons, yet it was Wollow’s first overt contribution to the cavern battle that ended the creature’s chance of escape once and for all.

Phew… Still some more to go…!

Glancing across the cavern, Lucinda’s determination to keep fighting faltered as she saw the remaining kobolds. She had considered the possibility that Grussi might have killed them – as she was sure he could without any difficulty – but instead, she found the creatures were still engaged with the agile feline, albeit in an unmistakable state of considerable exhaustion. In fact, as she examined the scene more closely, she realised the tables had turned entirely; with Grussi hounding the wearied creatures with feints and light body blows, rather than using his energy to keep out of their reach as he had been doing previously.

“Fight?” Marrow enquired as Lucinda continued to observe Grussi.

“I guess so…” she replied.

Finishing off the remaining kobolds wasn’t a difficult task, but nor was it quite the walkover Lucinda had expected. She suffered more than enough damage to dispel her absorption spell, with some leftover; while Marrow took a little more than a third of her total health before victory was achieved. Of course, the damage they both received was a small price to pay for the experience she received as a result, and was easily restorable once she had the mana to do so.

Back in human form, Lucinda addressed both Wollow and Grussi – at least once she’d finished the complimentary hug she’d offered alongside her Heal spell for Marrow. Thankfully the blood upon her companion and her own body was mostly dried by that point.

“Are Waflaw and Grissa done yet?” she asked. “It’s been a while…”

Wollow’s response was an unmoving silence, while Grussi remained equally quiet as he licked one paw and held her gaze. Annoyed by the lack of a reply, but unable to do anything about it, Lucinda sighed quietly to herself before deciding on some cave spelunking to pass the time.

“Could you stay with them?” she asked Marrow.

“Wollow!”

“I’m glad you get on with him so well… I’ll let you know if I run into trouble.”

There was a single opening in the far wall of the chamber, roughly diagonally opposite from the entrance they’d entered through. With how dark it already was, Lucinda had no choice but to shift to her most suitable shapeshift form for such a situation; namely, giant spider. Outside, the eyesight from its many eyes wasn’t anything special, and was noticeably weaker than several of her other forms, but in places like the inside of the cave, the opposite was true.

Scuttling along on her eight spindly limbs, Lucinda proceeded deeper into the underground area. She could clearly see the walls and ceiling of the tunnel she was travelling through, at least for a reasonable distance in front of her before things grew murky again. However, her search didn’t take her far before she ran into a dead-end, and if not for the small pile of objects her eyes spotted at the foot of the tunnel’s end she might have been disappointed.

Ooo, treasure! For Marrow at least…

“Look what I found!” she sent to her companion, adding an image of the small pile of bones that lay nearby.

“Bone!” Marrow replied with abundant eagerness.

“Woah, hold on,” Lucinda commanded as she felt Marrow edging closer through their bond. “I’ll bring them out.”

“Friend!”

“That’s right, I told you I’d be your best friend, and I meant every word of it!”

With the help of a summoned not-quite-so-giant spider, Lucinda had soon shifted the bones to the larger underground room. Marrow was overjoyed to receive such a delectable bounty, yet Lucinda had also found a few silver coins and a sword that had seen better days. It wasn’t too surprising a discovery, as the bones she’d found quite obviously belong to two humans. That Marrow was to sup upon them did not bother her overmuch. Having been dead for some time, they definitely no longer needed them, and there was also the fact that in nature, food was food; A point that Grussi was glad to help clarify when he began helping himself to the recently deceased kobold remains.

With Marrow's guidance, Lucinda set to bundling up the choice bones for later. The task required her human hands which meant she was essentially blind during it, but with her companion's assistance, she managed. As she was finishing tying the knot around the shirt she’d used to wrap them up, the unmistakable voice of a certain female Druid reached her ears.

At last… I wonder who won? If they were actually fighting…! Or maybe she’s killed Waflaw and she’s here to finish me off?

After giggling to herself briefly in the darkness, Lucinda shifted to cougar form, picked up the bundle of bones in her mouth, and then fell into step behind Wollow and Grussi with Marrow at her side as they jointly departed from the underground chamber.