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Fire Within
🕑 Added 2021-10-02 21:10:10 +0000 UTCFire Within.
“Yes!” Tammy sat back and shot her arms up. “Take that, you fucking jerk.”
“Tammy. Pay attention.”
She slammed her hands back down onto her mouse and keyboard. “Sorry, Alex.
Just excited to get to the last phase of the fight.”
“If we die because of your foolishness, you are paying everyone’s repair bills for a month,” cried out Alex.
“Will you two shut the chatter?” yelled Patrick. Tammy adjust her headset to try and stop the ringing in her ears. “We need to stay focused, and you two fighting will get us all killed.”
Tammy sighed. I am not the one who always stands in the fire. She focused on the screen and the boss carefully. Her group had made it to the end of the Castel Predation raid after a long four hours. They had beaten their heads against this boss, the Elder Drake, for two hours alone.
Her character jumped out of the way of the drake’s fire explosion and sent a fiery blast back. Take that. She wanted nothing more for the world's first kill. She had been a casual gamer for most of her life, nothing of note to write home about in her achievements. Even in her work life at the drug store down the street, she didn’t do anything too terribly important, just fill out people's prescriptions and get yelled at. Maybe though, if her guild achieved this, she would have something to be proud of.
“Tammy, get out of the fire.”
She moved her elven caster to the other side of the arena. “Sorry.”
She threw another spell at the drake. The beast was almost down, only five percent health to go.
Suddenly the boss turned on a dime and charged at Alex. “Crap.” Everyone ran away from him as the giant dragon ran up to him and stomped on him. The monster then turned and ran widely around the room.
“Get that thing under control.”
“We are going to die again.”
Patrick ran up and smacked the dragon in the face with his shield. “We are not making another run back through these halls. You are dying here and now.”
Tammy charged up her infernal blast. “Just a bit more.” Fire rained down on her character, and her health started to drop. Don’t die now. A few moments later, Tammy let her spell fly; it soared through the air and into the hindquarters of the drake. The last sliver of the beast’s heath vanished, and the boss fell to the ground, its screams echoing through her headset.
“Yes!” Tammy jumped up, ripping out the cord on her mic. “Yes! Yes! Oh god damn yes!”
Patrick’s voice floated from her computer. “Good job, everyone. Now let’s head into the next room and get some well-deserved loot.”
Tammy sat back down and brushed her dark hair to the side. “Ok.” She realized she had unplugged her mic and quickly put the plug back into the computer port. “On my way to you all.”
The next room was filled to the brim with gold and torn banners. In the center stood a chest. Alex’s half-orc avatar rushed forward to the stone construct. “Ok, time to get some loot.”
“Hold it.”
His character stopped short. “What?”
“You know the rules. We roll off the gear here.”
“Ugh.”
Tammy waited until everyone else had rolled; the rolls were out of a hundred, and two of her nine other party members had rolled eighties. Crap. I want the gear so bad.
“Come on,” Alex moaned through the voice chat. “Roll already, Tammy.”
She hit the roll command and got a 98. “Oh yes. Take that.” She rushed her elven character up to the chest. “First kill, and I get the first loot.” She opened up the chest. “I can’t wait to see what epic gear I get. I. . .” Tammy blinked. “It’s empty?”
Pam broke onto the coms. “That can’t be true.” She walked her human toon up to the chest. “It is empty. Or did you just take all the loot when we weren’t looking, Tammy, and you are lying?”
“I wouldn’t do that?”
“Oh really? Something as valuable as this, I bet you couldn’t resist.”
“Quiet you two.” Patrick muted them both. “We will figure this out next week when we come back here. For now, we will just consider this a bug. We got the kill, and that is all that matters. Good job, everyone. Have a good night.”
Tammy threw her headset off. “I can’t believe he muted me. I wasn’t doing anything wrong.” She stood up and brushed the loose crumbs off of her grey t-shirt. “But oh no, I get punished too. Ugh.” She narrowed her eyes. “That fight gave me a massive headache.”
She walked into the next room and rubbed her head. “I think I am just going to lie down. I was going to have dinner after that group, but my head. . .” She winced. “I might need to run down to where I work tomorrow and pick up some Tylenol.”
She took a few more steps and spotted her couch. “Screw it. I am just going to crash right here.” She fell face-first onto the sofa and quickly diffed off to sleep.
***
Tammy sat in the room where she had fought the last boss with her guild, the drake’s body now cold on the floor before her. She slowly walked up to the massive lizard and ran her hand along the neck. When she reached the drakes head, she stared into the lifeless skull for what felt like hours. Finally, she gently patted the drake just below the eye. “You were a fun foe to fight.”
Just then, the eye burst open, and the drake melted before her eyes. The liquid then shot towards Tammy, sinking into her skin. “Wait, no. Stop it. Get off me.”
***
“No!” Tammy sat up, sweat beating down her forehead. She ran her hands over her body. “I, I am me. Phew.” What a strange dream. I thought for a second I was being attacked by the remains of the drake. How silly is that.”
She threw her legs over the side of the couch and put her hands on her jeans. “What time is it?” She looked over at the digital clock on the table. “Two a.m.?” She scratched her head. “It is still in the middle of the night. Ugh.” Tammy put her head in her lap. “And my head is still killing me. Too bad I can’t go buy something for this headache for another few hours.”
She stood up and wiped the sweat from her forehead. “My head is burning up. I hope I am not getting a cold.” She took a deep breath in. “Even my breath feels hot.”
Shrrik. Tammy winced as she felt pressure at her rear end. “What in the world?” Her hands grabbed her ass. “My butt. There is something back there.” She closed her eyes. “And I can feel it growing. Ugh.” Rshrrip.
Tammy desperately pulled at her pants. “I need to get these off before.” Shrrink. Suddenly a blue tail the size of her thigh shot out of her rear end pushed into the couch.
“What in the world?” She turned around to try and get a better look at her new appendage, her tail knocking over the small table that held the alarm and phone. “Crap.” She turned back around and sat down on the sofa, her new tail sliding between her legs.
“How did this happen?” He put her hands on her scaly new body part. “I can’t show up to work with this?” She sat back and sighed. “This tail is as big as my leg and growing.” She stretched her legs apart. “This is becoming uncomfortable. Gah.”
Tammy squirmed around, so she was on her belly; her massive tail flailed around behind her. “That is better. Now that damn thing isn’t pushing my legs apart.” She looked at her right hand. “Are those scales?” She ran her left hand over the back of her right as blue scales appeared on the back of her palm. “What is happening to me?” She pushed herself off the couch, her tail sliding under her body and resting under her like a cushion. “Ok, I need to get help. Oww.” She slammed her hand on the side of the couch.
Her fingernails grew at an alarming rate. “What is going on? My hands. They are getting so big.” She held it up in front of her. “Can’t move my fingers anymore. It looks more like a massive claw or paw now.” She set her transformed right hand down on the couch. Shrrrip. Her talons ripped through the fabric. “This isn’t my day.”
Tammy’s shoes suddenly felt tight. “What now?” She stood up as straight as she could and looked down as her feet pieced through her shoes. “Not me feet. Ugggh.” She took a few steps back as her shoes shattered apart. Long sharp talons grew out of her nails and a small curved claw out of her heels. More azure scales slowly crept up her legs.
“It is getting hard to stand upright.”
She fell down onto all fours as her limbs started to stretch out. “Please make it stop.” Her shirt ripped apart, and her pants stretched to their limits. Tammy turned around and looked at the door. “I need to get out of here before anything else happens.” She winced as her expanding ass ripped what was remained of her pants and undies apart. “Soon, I won’t be able to squeeze through that doorway.”
She tried to move her arm but fell down, no longer used to her own body. “Ugh.”
Her bra stretched as her chest started to expand. She lifted her left talon to her chest and took a deep breath. “My belly is getting so hard and big.” Her stomach began to become vast and round, pushing Tammy up and off the floor. “I can’t reach the ground anymore. My limbs need to grow faster.” She let out a strange deep roar-like sound.
Her back hit the ceiling, and she cried out. “Gahh.” She twisted her head all the way around. “Stupid small ceiling.” Tammy struck the roof with her head as small spikes sprouted from her forehead. “I can’t be crushed by you.” She banged her head once more, her spikes leaving a small imprint in the tile. “I won’t be trapped in here. I wish my hands could reach the ground.” She stretched her limbs. “Grow, dammit.”
Her body grew but not in the manner that she wanted. Her upper torso expanded outward, her shoulders became hard and round. Her breasts finally snapped her bra off; she shook her head. “I loved that bra.” Her body pressed against the walls of her house, causing the foundation to groan in agony. “Ughhh.” She pressed her shoulders against the shrinking building. “Let me out.”
Suddenly her limbs shot through the walls, growing at an accelerated pace. The foundation crumbled down around her, and she held up a talon to protect her head.
“Gawh.” With a flick of her tail, she knocked down another wall before she planted down her legs and stood up, her body destroying what remained of her home. “Finally, I am free of that death trap.” Tammy shook her body and almost fell over again. “Now if I would only stop chang. . . chaneraw.” She blinked as her mouth began to hurt. “Crrrwrawr.”
Her jaw jutted forward as rows upon rows of teeth grew inside her mouth. Tammy’s nostrils grew in size, and her ears moved to the top of her head as her hair shrank inside her skull. What is happening to me?
She took deep breaths, feeling a warming sensation deep inside her massive chest. It feels like a furnace is growing inside my belly. Tammy scratched at her stomach. I need to relieve this pressure.
She opened her jaws, and flames burst forth. Tammy quickly closed her mouth and blinked. I just breathed fire? Oh my god. Oww!
She bent over in pain as the spikes on her head grew out even more. Why can’t I stop transforming? She slammed her front left paw into the ground. I am enough of a dragon already; let this craziness stop already. The spikes grew well past her head as her neck began to grow. Out and out it went, growing as long as her tail. Her head quickly swayed back and frothed. I am going to be sick getting used to this new body, especially this new neck.
Tammy winced as she felt pressure on her back. What now? She twisted her head to see sinew wings spouting out of her hide. Gross. The appendages quickly grew until they were over half the length of her body and collapsed onto her back.
She shook her body and snorted. I think it is finally over. Tammy stood straight up, her head extended well above the buildings around her. But now, what am I supposed to do?
Tammy closed her eyes. Ugh, my head is still splitting apart. She lifted a claw and scratched at her skull. Why won’t it stop?
Strange images flashed through her mind. She was back in the Predation Castle, and her guild surrounded her. But instead of feeling happy to see them, she felt scared and angry. As Alex took a step forward, she lashed out with her new tail and flung him against the wall. Get away from me. But they kept coming, using their weapons and spells to dig into her hide. No! Again and again, they struck her until she fell to the ground.
Her eyes opened, and flames filled her nostrils. No! Tammy shook her head. How dare they try and kill me. I thought I was their friend! I. . . I. She blinked. No, I was always there, guarding my home. They were the invaders. And they need to be punished like the invaders they are.
Tammy dug her heels into the earth. I need to make them pay. Yes. That is what I need to do first. Starting with Alex. She snarled. He was always trying to boss me around and be a jerk. She shook her head as searing pain shot through her mind. No, he came into my home and tried to kill me. But now, he will be a tasty morsel. Yes.
She flapped her wings and took off into the air. She had never been to Alex’s home, let alone any of the others in her guilds. They all lived in other parts of the country, some not even telling her where they lived. But that didn’t stop her; deep down, she knew where to find that dog, Alex. So Tammy flew north, her mind racing as her wings beat against the night sky.
I will finally get a chance to show Alex who is boss. She shook his head. I mean, I will get my revenge. He will be a tasty morsel in my mouth.
A few minutes later, she spotted a lone cabin. I smell him.
I would never forget his stench. She circled overhead. Time to make him pay.
She dived towards the ground, landing next to the cabin. She then walked up to the side of the house and breathed small jets of flame onto the cabin. In moments the structure was ablaze.
Time to come out, hopefully, a bit well done. She licked her lips.
Alex came rushing out of the cabin. “Fuck.”
Tammy slammed down her tail to cut off his escape.
He jumped out of his skin and almost out of his pink boxers. “What the hell?” He looked up at Tammy. “I hope I am dreaming. Please tell me this is a dream.”
Tammy snarled. Soon you will have all the time to dream that you want to. She lowered her head and opened her jaw.
“Wait, fuck no.”
With a snap, she shut her mouth and swallowed. Mhmmm. Tastes better than my homemade chili. Tammy stood up and looked around. I like the looks of this place. Tammy yawned. I think. . . I think this will be my new home. Her eyes drooped. Fitting that, I will make my new home out of the ashes of the house of those who took my old one away from me.
She walked over and sat down directly on Alex’s burning house, the warmth of the blaze heating her body. Ahh. I think it is time I got the rest I have wanted since the night began. Tomorrow I will go out and find Patrick and give him what he deserves. Until then. . . She yawned and stretched. I think it’s time I resumed making my clutch again. My poor children didn’t have a chance before, but they will this time. With heavy eyes, Tammy fell asleep, dreaming about her new life.
