Two points from Lucinda’s recent conversation stood out: That not all those at the gathering were from the Circle of the Wild; and that spiders were definitely one of the species where females were larger than males. Both points inevitably brought her to the unusually pierced woman she’d shared a bath with. Sevi – and a man that Lucinda was sure was her husband – were sitting together in the grass just a short distance from the lake.

“Hi again,” Lucinda greeted as she approached the spider-adorned woman. Holding out the small plate she’d brought with her she smiled at the couple. “I brought you some food.”

“Ah, Lucinda! That’s so sweet of you!” Sevi replied. “This is Prathin, my husband. Prathin, Lucinda.”

“Great to meet you!” Prathin replied in a cheery voice.

Like Sevi, Prathin was a bit unusual in appearance. He shared the same pale complexion, though his hair was an unnatural dark green in colour. He had several ring piercings through his upper ears, a stud on his tongue, and even another ring in his nose. Of course, he too possessed body art: An imposing snake, waiting to pounce, upon his chest; And two smaller snakes drawn around both of his forearms, and another two around his lower legs.

“Mmm, these are nice,” Prathin said as he dug into one of leaf-wrapped treats Lucinda had brought. “Should have visited here sooner.”

Lucinda smiled as conclusive proof of her suspicion was revealed. “Where are you from?” she asked.

“You two didn’t talk about that, huh? We’re from the Circle of the Shrouded Wood.” Lucinda’s lack of recognition seemed to prompt further explanation. “It’s a forest located in Tabapukshe, a loong way south-west.”

“Mmm… Oh, that is far,” Lucinda agreed as she recalled the country so named.

“You should come visit!” Sevi said. “It’s nice here, but our home has a better atmosphere. It’s spooky!”

“Spooky?”

Prathin laughed loudly, while his wife continued grinning.

“Yeah!" the husband replied. "Some locals even think it’s haunted! Can’t really blame them; We don’t get much sunlight, it’s full of spiders and other awesome beasts, and we even use webbing for all sorts of things.”

“Spider silk hammocks!” Sevi exclaimed. “The flower beds here look nice, but it’s not the same…”

“I see.” Lucinda grinned at Sevi. “No wonder you like it so much then.”

“Who wouldn’t!?” Sevi demanded playfully.

“Is anyone else from your circle here?”

“Nah, sadly,” Prathin replied. “Bit outside our usual range here. We’re currently on a bit of a wander. Checking out some places we’ve wanted to visit for a while, seeing the sights, that kind of thing.”

“Then, we’ll be returning home, and I’ll be getting pregnant.” Sevi’s words were filled with obvious joy, and the tender moment that passed between the couple made Lucinda smile despite the suddenness of the announcement.

“A big trip before you settle down…” Lucinda replied. “That’s a really nice idea!”

“I’m happy we got to meet a Shifter too,” Prathin said.

“Oh… Are Shifters disliked down there too?”

“Hmm, not really. Prilemia’s crazy law is known about, but not really cared about. I’m honestly not sure why we have so few…” Prathin turned to his wife. “Babe?”

“Most of our members like to stay in the forest…” Sevi said. “Maybe that’s got something to do with it?”

Lucinda nodded as understanding reached her. “That would make it harder to get a lot of forms.”

“Don’t let that stop you visiting us though! We still know how to throw a party!”

“Sure.” Lucinda smiled warmly at the recurring invitation. Sensing it might be time to reveal her true goal, she continued. “Are your companions here somewhere?”

Both Prathin and Sevi grinned knowingly at her words, forcing a sheepish smile onto Lucinda’s lips.

“Mine is right here,” Prathin said, indicating a patch of grass to his left. The unmistakable head of a snake emerged into view, before more of it followed suit. “She’s called Vesi,” he added.

Lucinda turned to Sevi with an inquisitive look on her face as she heard the name. She was met with a smile and a nod from the spider-loving woman.

“We’ve known each other since we were young,” Sevi said.

Turning back to the snake, who had continued to emerge from its hiding place, Lucinda examined it more closely. Its head was flat, wide, tan-coloured, and triangular, with what looked like a small horn on the tip of its nose. It appeared to be quite large, perhaps somewhere between one and two metres in length. It was a very attractive looking animal due to the scales it bore, with a mixture of light and dark browns in a repeating hourglass-like pattern along its sides, and strips of alternating colour along its spine. However, Lucinda’s knowledge of snakes was not up to the task of identifying it.

“She’s pretty,” she said. “What kind is she?”

“A butterfly adder,” Prathin said with obvious pride in his voice. “They’ve got huge fangs, and wicked poison!”

“I see…” Lucinda felt some reluctance towards petting the reportedly dangerous snake, despite how silly she knew such a feeling was when dealing with animal companions. With some encouraging smiles from both Prathin and Sevi, she managed to overcome her resistance before long, and as the snake wound closer to her, she gently touched the back of Vesi’s head.

Shapeshifts Name Base Attributes Attribute Bonuses Base Level Rank Bonuses STR AGI END STR AGI END Viper 31 42 21 1.2 1.4 1.0 8 1 Inject Inject (Viper)

Inject poison into target. Potency increases while the initial bite is held.

Scales with Base Level and Spirit.

Cost: 5% Base Mana per second.

“Ah, got it! Thanks, Vesi!”

“Great, how about we join you?” Prathin asked.

Lucinda barely had time to process his words, before the snake-loving Druid and his spider-loving wife began shifting forms. Seeing their bodies shrink rapidly, she didn’t hesitate in starting her own transformation.

Shapeshift: Viper!

The word ‘bizarre’ didn’t even begin to cover the rush of sensations Lucinda experienced as her body turned into that of a reasonably large snake. While it was true that her dragonling form possessed scales, it also possessed limbs. Feeling her arms and legs suck up inside her body and then vanish altogether was disturbing, to say the least, and the difference in head shape was similarly disconcerting.

Once shifted, the Druid couple looked identical in every way as far as her relatively weak serpent eyes could determine. Of course, she did have another method of sensing the world, and she quickly put it to use. Snaking her forked tongue outwards, Lucinda tasted air for the first time in her life.

Oh wow… That is so strange!

With just a few exploratory tastes, Lucinda learnt so much more about the environment than her human form could ever hope to. It was true she’d used forms with superior olfactory senses before, yet the snake’s alternative method made her aware of entirely new things. Describing what those differences were, was something she doubted she would be able to accomplish without a lot more experience as a snake; While using it to determine which of the three snakes surrounding her was which, was certainly possible.

They taste different… Time to try moving…

Despite her lack of limbs, Lucinda didn’t encounter any issues moving her body around. Thankfully, like all of her forms, knowledge of how to locomote came with shifting. That fact did not prevent it from being one of the strangest experiences of her life, and one of the most fun.

She began flexing her upper body, sending her snaky head twisting through the air from side to side. The way in which she could weave about so dextrously was unlike any of her other forms, and there appeared to be almost no limit to what she could accomplish.

I wonder if I can I tie myself in a knot?

Prathin and Sevi mimicked her movements for a time, but then chose to weave about it each other in what looked like a rehearsed dance. Lucinda continued gently swaying from side to side as the two Druids showed off their fascinating display, and she was then even more impressed when they began winding tightly around each other, ultimately producing what could have passed as a two-headed snake.

It was at that point that the couple shifted back to human form, reappearing side by side in the grass, each with one arm wrapped about the other.

Aww, that’s nice…

“I can see you’re having fun,” Prathin said, with a grin that Sevi was duplicating. “You have to try attacking, though. It’s the coolest thing!” Prathin held out one arm in front of his body. “Go ahead, bite me.”

Lucinda was quite hesitant to do as she’d been asked, despite the man’s words, and the continuing smiles both Druids were offering her. But, as Sevi began repeatedly miming a snake biting her husband with one hand in a reasonably ridiculous manner, Lucinda eventually gave in.

Coiling her body tightly, she swayed backwards and forwards ever so slightly as she prepared to unleash the coiled energy she felt within her body.

Here goes…

She shot forwards in an instant, her fangs emerging from their hiding place as her mouth snapped onto Prathin’s arm. It was too fast for her to properly process, one second she was committing to the attack, the next her fangs were buried in human flesh.

“Oww! You got me,” Prathin announced. “Fun, huh?”

Releasing the male Druid from her piercing attack, Lucinda shifted back to human form. Fortunately, Sevi cast a healing spell on her husband that removed the small bloody pin-pricks on his arm, allowing Lucinda to smile gratefully at her ex-victim.

“I’m not sure about the biting… But, everything else was! Thanks… Umm, do you both have a spider form too?”

“We do!” Sevi replied. “But, would you mind waiting a bit to meet my companion? She’s really shy. And prefers the dark.”

“Aww, okay.”

A silence slowly descended upon the group, during which Lucinda found herself gently petting the snake named Vesi. She was surprised by how pleasant it was to run her hands over the smooth scales, and by how much her attentions seemed to be enjoyed.

“Probably time we went meeting and greeting ourselves,” Prathin said. “Hope there’s more food left…”

“Oh!” Sevi exclaimed, her gaze locking onto Lucinda. “If you’re still interested in the piercings, maybe you and Grissa could drop by our hut tomorrow morning? It’s the second one on the left in the middle section. Or we could meet in the baths and go from there?”

“Umm…” Despite having sort of agreed already, it took a moment for Lucinda to more officially accept the offer. “Okay.”

“Great! We’ll see you later!”

Lucinda bid farewell to Sevi and her husband, and then cast her eyes about the lake. Marrow was still playing in the pool, though the children had turned their attention to the large cats. Instead, Emalin’s eagle had come to join the slightly larger bird of prey, and both appeared to be enjoying themselves. She also spotted one animal she'd missed earlier: A giant otter, whose presence left her wondering as to what exactly counted as aquatic. Then, after a brief mental exchange with her companion, Lucinda found herself staring intently at the massive green caterpillar that was still partially submerged within the clear water. It hadn’t moved at all since she’d arrived.

I hope it’s not dead…

A quiet giggled escaped her lips at the silly thought, but was cut short as a voice called out to her.

“Think you’ve solved the mystery?”

Turning to the voice, Lucinda saw a well-tanned man standing over her. Even sitting down she could tell he was comfortably above average in height. It took her only a moment to decide the same was true for his looks, though the wild mass of shoulder-length hair diminished that somewhat. Of course, like all the men at the gathering, the small garment he wore was hard to ignore. With the man’s well-muscled form, age that appeared to be only a handful or so of years above her own, and his mostly pleasing appearance, the evidence of that fact made itself known through the slight flush that reached Lucinda’s cheeks.

It really is different when you can see the bulge… Maybe that’s what it’s like to be a man…?

Smiling in greeting as he sat down next to her, Lucinda answered his question with another.

“You mean the caterpillar?” she asked.

“That I do.” Lucinda’s flush increased ever so slightly, as the man’s eyes dropped from hers briefly. “Love the outfit, by the way. Great colour.”

“…Thanks. Did Cro make yours?”

“Sure did. Mighty impressive those Dryads, aren’t they? He didn’t pull the grass from his body like I heard Fi can do with her flowers though; just turned it blue and made it into this fetching piece.”

“It’s… nice.”

The man smiled and held her gaze, before offering her a hand. “I’m Gelrior,” he said.

“Lucinda.” Once their handshake was complete, Lucinda steered things back to the previous topic. “Have you solved the mystery?” she asked.

Her words seemed to amuse Gelrior, who laughed briefly before replying. “Can’t say I have. I arrived about two hours before you did. It’s not moved a muscle that I’ve noticed, and no one’s approached it neither.”

“Oh…”

“How about you? Or was that pretty laugh of yours for something else?”

“Ah…” Lucinda briefly debated whether or not to admit the truth. “I… thought it might be dead.”

She felt some relief as Gelrior burst into laughter, and even found herself chuckling slightly as he did.

“That’d be a shame. Bit of a mood killer too.” Gelrior suddenly glanced about to either side of Lucinda. “Maybe I should go give it a nudge? See what happens?”

Lucinda liked the idea quite a lot, but had to conclude that it likely wasn’t actually a good idea all things considered. “Mmm… maybe we should let it sleep?”

“As the lady wishes.” A dramatic bow brought more pearls of laughter from Lucinda’s lips. “Shall I introduce you to my animal companions, instead?”

“Companions?”

“Indeed.” Gelrior’s eyes twinkled mischievously. “Two to be exact. Care to guess which?”

“Two…!?” Lucinda’s eyes flew wide as the man reaffirmed his claim. “That’s not possible…”

“I assure you, it is. If you can find them, I’ll even tell you how.”

Gelrior continued to smile widely as Lucinda frowned suspiciously at him. Ultimately, there didn’t appear to be much for her to do but search as he’d suggested, and she soon did just that. Just like their human counterparts, many of the animals had been moving around the lake and elsewhere since she’d arrived. However, based on the appearance of her current conversation partner, she didn’t have far too look before a potential solution found her.

“The lions?” she asked hopefully.

“And what makes you think that?” Gelrior was clearly amused, but gave no hint of whether she had guessed correctly.

“Well, your hair is kind of like a mane…”

The man boomed out a sudden spurt of laughter. “You’re saying I look lion-ish?”

It was obvious just how pleased Gelrior was with the possible similarity, and Lucinda saw no reason to disappoint him.

“I am.”

“Mmm, I thought so!” Lucinda felt her cheeks heat further as the man’s grinning stare bored into her with an obvious intensity. With another brief laugh, Gelrior broke eye contact and turned towards the lake. “I’m happy to announce: you are correct!”

Lucinda was reasonably happy about that fact too, and even more pleased to see the lions start their short journey towards her and their apparent human partner.

I guess I can’t blame him for wanting to look more like his companion, but it just doesn’t look the same on a human…

“Meet Pursley.” Gelrior indicated the male lion. “And Pureen.”

“They’re beautiful,” Lucinda said as she admired the two large felines. “Are they really both bonded to you?”

“How about I prove it?”

A few moments after his words were released, both lions shuffled closer to Lucinda. As they reached her they both sat down on their haunches, and then held out one forepaw in an unmistakable gesture. Lucinda could not suppress some giggles as she took and shook both of large paws offered to her at the same time. Unfortunately, no status notification was forthcoming.

“Aww, they must be too high a level…” she complained.

“Ah, that’s a shame.” Gelrior offered her an apologetic smile. “Or maybe it’s fate giving us another reason to meet up in the future. I usually adventure with a group across the southern border in Shelqa’fa. Any time you feel like petting some lions, I’ll be available.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that.”

“So, you want to hear my secret, do you?”

“I do!”

Gelrior chuckled quietly in the face of Lucinda’s enthusiasm.

“It’s quite simple. I’m a Beastmaster.”

Lucinda blinked rapidly several times. “Is that a class? I’ve never heard of it…” Gelrior’s encouraging smile was enough to answer her question. “…Is it just two companions you get? Or is there more? … Are you more like a Druid? Or a Ranger?”

Gelrior released another brief laugh. “I have a limited selection of spells like a Ranger, though not all the same. The other big difference is that I fight in melee alongside my friends here.”

“That sounds like fun.”

“Hmm, maybe you’d like to see it in action? My group wouldn’t say no to a new member, even if we’d have to level you up a bit. I could also help convince them you’re a Druid. Unless you have other plans?”

“That’s a really generous offer, thanks. I kind of have another group in mind already, but I’ll think about it!”

“No sweat, it was just a thought. Here’s another one: How’d you like to stop by my hut tonight? There’s just me in there, and it’d give us a chance to talk more about my group. Of course, talking isn’t all we’d have to do…” Gelrior winked suggestively.

Lucinda’s heart beat heavily in her chest as Grissa’s words suddenly proved themselves to be true. It wasn’t that she’d thought otherwise, but more the sudden realisation of how things actually were.

…I could just say yes. That easily, and I’d be… doing that. No one would mind… Grissa would probably even approve… Ahh… tempting!

Despite how uncomplicated the situation seemed, and despite how acceptable a partner Gelrior appeared to be on a surface level, Lucinda couldn’t quite bring herself to agree to his request. She was certainly tempted, but with the gathering lasting several days, she saw no particular reason to rush things. There was also the vague plan she’d already made already for the evening.

“Sorry, Gerlrior… I… Umm… This will probably sound silly. But, I promised Marrow – my companion – that I’d cuddle with her tonight in the flower bed.”

Her heated cheeks were further inflamed as Gelrior laughed out loud.

“There’d be nothing stopping you from doing that once we were done.” Gelrior held up a hand to forestall Lucinda’s reply to his words. “But, I get it. You know where to find me if you change your mind.”

A wave of relief passed through her as Gelrior smiled amicably at her. She was extremely glad to see the other part of Grissa’s words prove true as well. Smiling earnestly at the man, she replied.

“Thanks. I’m sure you won’t have trouble finding someone else…”

“Mmm, I…”

Gelrior’s response was cut short as an unusually loud splash reached their ears from the lake.

“It moved!” Gelrior exclaimed, pointing past Lucinda to the lake.

Turning away from the suddenly animated man, the obvious lack of a lakeside caterpillar met Lucinda’s eyes. In its place, she spotted the agitated state of the water’s surface, as well as a dark blob somewhere underneath it. A dozen or so seconds was all it took for the mystery of the large green beast to unravel when a woman emerged from the depths. Her eyes roamed over the gathered groups, passing by Lucinda as they did, but then snapping back to her once complete. Persistently wondering about the ages of those present, Lucinda noted that she seemed to be the oldest person yet.

“This is delightfully convenient,” the woman said, as she approached Lucinda and Gelrior. “You must be Lucinda. How wonderful it is to meet you at last.”