The Punch With A Punch
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 2313
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Fred pulled the bottle out and showed it to Tarin. Astra nearly
choked when she
saw it. Tarin was surprised as well, he had expected Fred to try to grab
his sword and
attack him with it. He certainly knew very well that Astra had made up the
whole thing
about a new soft ale concoction. But there it was, held out in Fred's
little, hairy hand. But
Tarin-Gazin was no horse's ass. He wasn't going to be fooled. The bubbly
orange drink
was just a ruse to keep him from discovering what the Crystallic
really was.
Perhaps the drink was even poisoned. He chuckled to himself; these two
cursed
demi-foxes
seemed terribly ignorant of the non-human races. It was almost impossible
to poison a
dwarf.
Tarin reached out and grabbed the bottle. "All right then, let's see what it tastes like," he smiled and took a long swig. Fred just grinned weakly and stared at the dwarf, wondering what was going to happen. Astra held her breath. Tarin gulped it down and then wiped his mouth. He waited a moment and then raised the bottle to his face and eyed it appraisingly. "Well my compliments, young foxes," he said with a touch of surprise. "I must say that this drink is most delicious." Fred and Astra stared at him with amazement. Nothing had happened to him! "Give me that!" Astra growled and rudely grabbed the bottle from the dwarf's hand. In a flash she had downed half its contents. Fred reached out to her in shock. What the hell was she thinking? She slapped his paws away and snarled at him. She was pissed. The Crystallic was her only hope of regaining her humanity. And now what was she stuck with? A lousy bottle of fizzy, orange ale! But it just HAD to be the Crystallic, only in a different guise. But what if it wasn't? Damnit, why was this happening to her? Why couldn't she just be human again? Fred gazed at her with fear in his eyes. He was positive that the bottle was actually the Crystallic. It's magic must have reacted to their situation and had transformed itself. But what would happen if a person drank it? Sure, Tarin seemed none the worse for wear, but maybe it took a little while for the effects to be felt. If the dwarf did die it would be no great loss, but Fred was loathe to think that Astra, a great warrior and his comrade-in-arms, would meet her death because of magical poison and die in the crude shape of a half-human fox. Tarin looked upon his two captives with bewilderment. What was this little tantrum all about? Fred acted as if the drink was poison, but if so why did Astra just guzzle it down? Suddenly Astra gripped her sides. The bottle fell to the ground with a soft tinkle. She groaned and doubled over. Tarin took a step back and gaped. Fred looked on with a growing feeling of awe. And of hope. As they both watched, Astra was transforming from a three foot red furred fox into a six foot one inch tall amazonian marvel. Astra had become herself again. Tarin continued to gaze on the beautiful and slightly disoriented figure, but Fred had other things on his mind. He lunged for the bottle and quickly drank what was left. In moments, he too had regained his human shape. Quickly, the two of them pulled out extra clothing from their saddle bags. Luckily not all of it had been magically downsized by Malachi. Once dressed, they turned to each other and began discussing the new turn of events. Tarin the dwarf was completely ignored. And a few feet away, snoring blissfully in the night, his master, Rift, lay peacefully ignorant of all that had happened. Boy, was he in for a surprise. After a short while Fred and Astra came to certain conclusions and both agreed that they had only two options before them: One, return to the dragon lair to investigate the mysterious
schemes of Minestus
and Malachi.
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WolfRun
6/25/1999 6:29:56 PM
21471205 episodes viewed since 9/30/2002 1:22:06 PM.