It has been many hours since Nicole first entered these shadowy woods. A darkness has settled over them, unlike what the locals have seen in years. Nicole heard of this, and made it her duty to help the village situated on the edge of the woods as best she can. She had dealt with many threats before - whether she'll be treated to a new challenge, or a simple task to gain the satisfaction of helping a village out, she looked forward to this. The village elder warned her of a mysterious figure having been seen traversing the woods, presumably the source of the darkness. A demon, some have said.

With her shield and sword at the ready and her spells ingrained into her mind to conjure in but a second, Nicole had entered the woods, ready for anything.

Indeed, despite it having been daytime, traversing the woods felt more like it was at night. Plants felt like they had gone dormant til the sun through the canopy leaves, and birds that normally chirped a pleasant sound now laid to rest while the sounds of the night howled every so often. But throughout her journey, Nicole had not a single encounter with anything unnatural to this world. Whether it be a wolf tainted by evil or restless hallows, nothing had disturbed her. She was thankful, but at the same time, she had hoped for something to make this deed feel more dignifying.

She rested on a fallen tree and pulled out some dried bread rations, and then took a bite. The few herbs baked in the bread offered some flavour, but it was mostly meant to keep her stomach full and her body healthy, and not to taste good. As she washed some of it down with a swig of water, a rustle in the bush, further away, caught her attention. Trained from many adventures before, she summoned her sword and shield into her hands, and readied herself. Whether tis beast or demon, she needed to be ready. Lest she find herself at the bonfires.

From the bush came forth the most petite, pathetic, but pleasing looking demoness she has ever seen. A faun-shaped feminine creature, with horns, wings, fur covering her limbs and head, and her face pushed out into a muzzle. She resembled a small Baphomet, standing at 5' 7". She lacked any sort of clothing.

"Easy there, I don't mean any harm to ya," the girl said.

"Are you the source of this darkness?" Nicole demanded, still holding her sword and shield. She wasn't taking any chances. Even the most innocent and pretty of creatures could harbour dangers beyond imagining.

The Baphomet girl nodded. "Yeah. Was just passing through and thought I'd have a nap. But it was still daytime, so I thought I'd conjure up some localized nighttime mist so I could fall asleep easier."

"Huh?" Nicole looked puzzled. "But this darkness has been here for a full week! Shouldn't you have-"

"It was a long nap, okay? I was really tired after Tieranizing that that one village a few kilometres from here. Was really cute seeing them all furry and-"

Nicole held up her sword at the Baphomet girl, her eyes narrowing. "You did 'what' to them?! Answer me, Baphomet!"

The girl held up her hands and took a few steps back. "Hey hey! Nothing really bad! Just made them furry, and kinda animaly. No harm done! And the name's Jessie. But yes, I did style my body after one."

Nicole starred at Jessie. She didn't know what she meant by "style" her body after a Baphomet, unless she was a shapeshifter of some sort. Nevertheless, from the sounds of it, she had just turned an entire village into demi-humans!

"Here, let me change you up, and you can see what I'm talking about," Jessie said, as she motioned a hand in the air before propelling it out at Nicole.

In an instant, Nicole's sword and shield had vanished. Nicole's heart raced as she grasped the predicament she was in. With this sort of magic, it was probably a good idea to retreat. But as she stepped back, the sudden disappearance of her boots set her off balance, and she fell over. A mild numbing feeling in her feet forced her to look down at them, and watch her pinkie toes slowly retreat into her feet while her other toes thickened. Her toe-nails reshaped and grew out into small claws on her now four-toed feet. All the while, a fine layer of fur had started encompass them and proceed up her legs. She stood back up to try and get away, but an unusually pleasant warmth filled her, as the fur continud to spread over her chest. And as it did, she felt sensitive points develop beneath her armour, which remolded to fit the new pair of breasts she grew. But it wasn't the only pair. Another, smaller pair popped out beneath them, exposed, due to how her armour was designed. Fortunately, the fur kept the nipples covered, so it wasn't as embarrassing as it could have been.

The changing fur soon reached her face. Her nose tickled as she felt it remold ever so slightly. She touched it with a finger - it was quite moist, almost like a dog's rhinarium, which is exactly what it was now. Her ears stretched out, cartilage forming as they took on a more animalistic look to them. At that point, she felt the warmth leave her, and the transformation was complet-

"Wait, one more thing," Jessie quickly uttered.

Nicole felt her armour warp and reshape, becoming softer and much lighter. Her gaunlets had been replaced by a bracelet and decorative elbow guard, and her greaves had a much reduced design to them, as they became what felt like leather leggings. In fact, it felt like all of her armour had become some sort of leather equivalent of her enchanted armour. A small piece of cloth hung down from her groin, with a diamond design on it.

"There. Turned ya into a Tieran, and adjusted your armour to look more 'traditional' too," Jessie said, marveling her work. "You look quite nice, I gotta say."

Nicole stood there taking this all in. While the transformative warmth was gone, she still felt more at ease with this than she should be. She was transformed into a human/canine hybrid, but was still humanoid enough to function normally.

"This...this is what you did to those people?"

"Yeah, heh heh. They poked fun at how much of an animal I was, and had funny accents. I got the urge to change 'em up accordingly to how they treated me. 'Tier' is German for animal, ya know."

Nicole looked up at Jessie. "How long will this last?"

Jessie chuckled. "Until I feel like reversing it, of course. Anywho, I must be off. See ya!"

"Wait, what?!"

Before Nicole could demand Jessie to clarify, the Baphomet girl vanished into the woods like a ghost into a wall. Nicole was once again alone, a mixture of human and canine now, and the darkness remained. Thankfully, with but a thought, she was able to resummon her sword and shield, though the shield appeared to be made out of wood, and her sword looked more like a claymore. Still, she had them, and she could detect they still had their enchantments. At this point, she had not failed in her quest. Rather, has been cursed in a most unusual manner.

But now the quest was more clear. She must find this demon girl, relinquish these woods of their perpetual darkness, and have her restore everyone back to normal.

---

This here was commissioned by  Scarletsteam. Literally, I saw "undead [like darksouls]" in Nicole's bio, and immediately that was the only thing I could think about when writing this story. XD

It was fun looking Dark Souls facts up, trying to throw in references to the game here and there, as well as trying to capture some air of seriousness in this adventure of Nicole's. Was fun to write, about as fun as it was to draw her as a Tieran! Which, by the way, is true regarding what Jessie said. Which is why I'm thinking of renaming Tierans, especially for each type: Wolf, Bear, and Deer. As they are no longer the only "animal" race in my world, so Tieran isn't quite fitting. And considering that Cartrians are the more German inspired folk in my world, I figure I should find something more "Native Canadian/American" in origin perhaps for the Tierans' racial name(s).

Thought this might be a fun time to show Jessie off a bit. I was going to do Velirai, but felt Jessie might be more fitting for this sort of thing.

For those curious, this is what I'd do for a picture with no paid background. I'll just add something to it to make it feel a bit more finished. Unless the commissioner expresses a desire for it to remain a white background.

Nicole ©  Scarletsteam
Jessie ©  Jesoran