The door opened as Beornia was about to leave the room again. The padin had just finished convincing Nova that it was too dangerous for her to go out into the city without a talisman. Sapphire entered the room holding the hand of her uncharacteristically happy companion.“Where did you two go?” Beornia asked with a stern look on her face. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest.“You can tell them all about it!” Sapphire encouraged her companion.The human beside Sapphire took in a deep breath then let it out slowly. The wolf-kin wrapped her arm around them encouragingly.“We went to the temple to do a ritual of transformation. Could both of you treat me as a girl in private? Could you call me Wulfwynn as well,” The artificer said slowly and deliberately. “We can do that,” Beornia said as she shared a look with Nova, “Why didn’t you come to me first? I would have escorted you. It’s not safe to walk through the city at night. Especially for a Fertility Priestess,” Beornia reprimanded them. “We can handle ourselves! We are not kids you have to protect,” Sapphire responded indignitaly.“I doubt a few thugs would be able to take Sapphire on,” Nova spoke up in her girlfriend's defense. “Your desire to keep us safe is sweet, but we are both strong and can take care of ourselves,” Nova wrapped her tail around the padin.

  Beornia looked unconvinced, but she didn’t voice any more protests. Nova and Sapphire sat down on the slime. While Wulfwynn sat on one of the beds. Beornia was busy taking her mail off. “Do you want to join me tomorrow? I will be investigating monster attacks in the northwest. We might be gone for a while,” Sapphire asked Nova.“I would love to come with you,” Wulfwynn interjected before Nova could respond. “Of course I will accompany you,” Nova stated as she nuzzled her girlfriends cheek. Wulfwynn blushed and looked away from them.“When do we need to leave?” Beornia asked.“You need to stay here,” Sapphire responded, “Or did you forget that you are training the Ice Witch?” “We could just bring her with us?” Nova suggested as she saw the conflicted look on Beornia’s face.“That would be awkward,” Sapphire responded as she shared a look with Wulfwynn.“We will be fine. We dealt with the wind demon just fine. You need to trust us. I promise to be careful,” Nova said.Beornia finished taking off her armor. She sat down right next to Nova and pulled her into a warm embrace.“If anyone harms you…” Beornia didn’t finish but the tone of her voice sent shivers down Nova’s spine.“I will invite Kat to come with us. They took down a wyvern all by themselves!” Sapphire suggested. Beornia responded with a resigned sigh, “just be safe.”

  “Do you want to come over here and sleep on me?” Nova asked Wulfwynn.“I think I will just sleep on this bed,” she replied, her cheeks getting red.The artificer quickly colpsed onto the bed hiding from Nova.

  _ _ _

  Pain wracked Nova’s side. The succubus slowly woke up. Sapphire groaned loudly, and thrashed around. Nova gently woke up her girlfriend. She pulled the sobbing wolf-kin into an embrace. Wulfwynn rolled out of bed.“Is she okay?” The artificer asked with concern etched on her face.“She will be fine,” Nova replied while she petted Sapphire’s ears and hair.Wulfwynn sat down next to Nova, and petted Sapphire’s back. The wolf-kin turned around giving the artificer a teary eyed smile. “I’m okay, you can go back to sleep,” Sapphire said in a gravelly voice.“I will go work on the talismans. I can’t sleep. Do you want to help me?” Wulfwynn asked.“Later I'm too tired,” Sapphire said while suppressing a yawn.Wulfwynn pnted a gentle kiss on Sapphire’s cheek. The wolf-kin buried their face into Nova’s breasts while smiling. The artificer awkwardly left the room while they blushed.

  Nova held Sapphire tightly, rocking her back to sleep. She moves on quickly didn’t she just break up with Wynnfd today? I will need to keep an eye on her. Nova thought about Wulfwynn.

  _ _ _

  The noise of birds singing woke Nova up at dawn. She stretched out, waking up Sapphire who was still snuggled right up to her. Beornia had already left. “We need to prepare for the journey!” Sapphire decred.Nova’s excited girlfriend jumped off of slime Nova. She ran around putting some changes of clothes into her pack. She grabbed an empty pack.“I will go to the storage room to grab some dried provisions,” Sapphire decred as she left the room.Nova waited a while for Sapphire to return, but she didn’t come back. I really need to never let that wolf-kin out of my sight. Nova sighed. She hid under her cloak, and made her way to Wulfwynn’s workshop.

  Inside the workshop Sapphire was sitting right next to Wulfwynn working with her hands. Nova approached her girlfriend.“We just finished the talismans!” Sapphire decred. She turned around to face Nova while holding two talismans in her hand.Wulfwynn turned around looking tired. “That is great Sapphy!” Nova proudly patted Sapphire’s head. “Will you be okay Wulfwynn?” Nova asked.

  “I got a few hours of sleep. I also embroidered a rune into my clothes that will keep me alert. Can I use your hair to make it more efficient?” Wulfwynn responded.“Are you sure a rune like that is safe to use?” Nova asked, raising an eyebrow.“As long as I don’t overuse it I should be fine. I don’t want to sleep for a full two days again,” Wulfwynn responded with a shrug of her shoulders. “How long did you stay awake that you slept for two full days?” Nova asked as she hit her forehead with her palm while she pointed her tail at the silly artificer. “Nearly five whole days,” Wulfwynn responded as they blushed, and hunched over.“I will keep an eye on her. Make sure she gets a reasonable amount of sleep!” Sapphire volunteered her cute tail wagging excitedly. “I don’t trust either of you, but if you show me you can be responsible I won’t take it back,” Nova said as she grabbed a loose hair that had fallen on her tunic. She handed it to Wulfwynn. I’m probably going to regret this. The succubus let out a sigh.

  “Kat should be waiting for us at the adventurers guild,” Sapphire said as she hopped off the bench.“Can you keep this bag charged with magic?” Wulfwynn asked while she handed the enhanced space bag to Sapphire. Sapphire nodded then slung the bag over her shoulder. Wulfwynn put one of the talismans inside an off-white purse. She handed the purse to Nova. The succubus tied the purse to her belt. With a sigh Nova put on the talisman. They soon looked very human. Slime Nova hid inside her own cloak.

  The adventurers guild was further away from the temple than in the border town. It was still on the mainroad, but it was situated in the far less affluent part of town. The sun was rising slowly behind the buildings. There were only a few people on the streets. The adventurers guild itself was a nice building, the first floor was made out of stone and it had two more half timbered floors. The pce did not have gss windows for obvious reasons. Nova could just imagine all the trouble rowdy adventurers could get into.

  The doors opened up to a big hall. There were a few intricately carved thick circur wooden pilrs. A diverse amount of adventurers eating at tables. Or considering quests by the quest board. Kat waved Sapphire over. The dwarf was sitting at a table with a sky alf. They had bck wings and bck feathers on their head reminiscent of hair. The sky alf wore a blue tunic that was red around the edges.

  “I’m Kemen,” The sky alf introduced themselves to Sapphire and company, while he nursed a drink in a wooden tankard. “What's going on?” Sapphire asked, as she sat right next to Kat on the bench. Nova sat down next to Sapphire.“Two companions hiding behind illusions does not help your case Kat.” Kemen said.“What is going on?” Sapphire asked. “I’m not taking the risk of travelling with a demon in disguise,” Kemen said as he assessed Sapphire’s garb. Nova reached out and grasped Sapphire’s soft furry hand under the table.“I can prove to you that my girlfriend is not a demon,” Nova said. The succubus summoned a small ball of holy magic. She kept up her poker face while she suppressed the pain. The ball of holy magic exploded all over Sapphire.“See she isn’t a demon,” Nova announced. “I wouldn’t contradict a priestess of the goddess,” Kemen responded. “You all may join my party as long as you can keep up with me,” Kemen said as he spread out his bck wings. Sharp wind blew right into Nova's face causing her eyes to tear up.

  “The princess will provide us with her four griffins,” Wulfwynn announced. “What she will?” Sapphire inquired after she turned around and faced Wulfwynn. The artificer nodded at her. Sapphy, you need to keep some things to yourself. Nova sighed.“Is the princess providing mounts or not?” Kemen asked impatiently.“She is,” Wulfwynn said firmly, “She will also provide equipment for Nova and Sapphire here. I’m Wulfwynn,” She introduced everyone.“Meet me at the gate soon after sunrise. If you aren’t there on time…” Kemen said before he drained his tankard, and left.

  Getting a new adventurers card was easy. They asked all the questions that Nova expected. Sapphire’s tail wagged excitedly as she answered all the questions that the cute guy behind the counter asked her. She is such a shameless flirt. Nova smiled to herself. The succubus grabbed Sapphy’s arms with both her arms. “Maybe you should ask him out?” Nova whispered near Sapphire’s ear.The wolf-kin blushed and rocked a bit, as she took her adventurer’s card from the twink.

  A royal huskarl came into the guild, she approached Nova and Sapphire. “Follow me,” She said. The huskarl led them into the alley right next to the adventurers guild. Nova put on the equipment as the huskarl handed it to her. A gambeson followed by a mail hauberk. She attached the sword to her belt. Secured the arming cap to her head. She slung the white circur shield onto her back. The huskarl handed her a great helm.“I would prefer something I can actually see in,” Nova remarked, as she noticed that Sapphy was carrying a spangenhelm.“It’s the helmet that the princess picked out for you,” The huskarl responded stone faced.She pushed the helmet into Nova’s arms despite her compints. The huskarl finally handed Nova a rge two handed axe. Sapphire was also wearing a hauberk and had a circur green shield on her back. The wolf-kin’s mail shirt was shorter to give her tail freedom of movement.

  The beams of the sunrise shining off her new helmet reminded Nova of their deadline. “There are griffins waiting for you outside of the city gate,” The huskarl said before she pulled the empty cart away. Sapphire set a brisk pace, her tail wagging quickly. Nova tried her best to keep up.“Sapphy can you slow down a bit?” Nova asked.The wolf-kin held Nova’s hand, and slowed down.“I can’t wait to meet the griffins!” Sapphire said as the sun sparkled in her eyes.

  AnnouncementI made new cover art. I also started a patreon you can find my old cover art and some other art I made on there for free. I also now have 1 and 5 patron tiers for those that want to support my work :3