by Saless
Chapter 52

They were quiet on the drive out, as they were all tired from the fighting in the tomb. Jill volunteered to do the ordering since the others had been more active in the fighting than she had. Mike and Erica gratefully found a table to relax in with Sarah following behind.

Once Jill had finished ordering she took her seat next to Mike. "If we're going to be doing that kind of fighting again, I think I'd prefer it be somewhere a little more open." Mike said.

"Claustrophobic?" Erica asked curiously.

Mike shook his head, "No, but most of the forms I've taken so far are rather large. Naga form works in close quarters, but it's not nearly as powerful as a dragon or giant."

"How many forms do you have, anyway?" Erica said.

Mike looked thoughtful and counted them out on his fingers as he said, "The first was a dragon. Invisible giant was next, followed by a different kind of dragon. Naga was after that. After that was T-Rex. Finally, there was that wolf form the wizard forced me into. I think I could get that form back again, anyway. So that makes six, even if two of them are dragons."

"What's the difference between the two dragon forms?" Erica asked.

"Well, the first dragon form is bigger, tougher, breaths fire, and talks. The second dragon form is probably faster, being smaller, and can teleport through time and space. And it's telepathic." Mike said.

"Maybe we should look into getting you more shapes you can shift into." Erica suggested. Mike was about to answer when the pizzas arrived. Everyone's attention was diverted to eating for a while after that.

"So what did you have in mind for getting me more shapes to use?" Mike asked after he'd finished eating his sixth slice.

"How about a demon? A human sized demon would be pretty deadly." Erica suggested.

"I'm pretty sure I'd have to see a demon in order to be able to shift into one. I don't think I really want to do that." Mike replied.

"Good point." Erica said.

"How about a gargoyle?" Sarah suggested.

Mike nodded, "That could work. They're roughly human sized."

"Okay, so what else?" Erica asked, intent on gathering an arsenal of forms for Mike.

"Beholder?" Jill said, and then shook her head, "No, that'd be too dangerous too."

"With the other forms he already has I would think the gargoyle form would take care of it. He can always copy the forms of other creatures we see as we go." Sarah said.

"Sarah's right. Besides, to get the really powerful forms he'd have to get entirely too close to them." Jill said.

"Yeah, gargoyle should do it for now. I'll just make a point of copying any forms I can." Mike said. Erica reluctantly gave up convincing them and got a box for the pizza. When they returned they found Vash had separated several items from the pile.

"Made some progress?" Jill said.

Yes, I have. I checked the bow first after you left, as I thought Sarah would appreciate it. It shouldn't take too much strength to draw, but will fire with much greater force. It's also more durable, as magical items tend to be, and you will be able to shoot with greater accuracy. Vash replied.

Sarah picked up the bow from the pile. It was made of a smooth, nearly grain-less white wood with runes of gold etched into it all along its length. "I'll have to try it out sometime. I haven't done any target shooting since my archery class ended, anyway," she said.

I took a look at the quivers of arrows next. The arrows in this quiver will penetrate almost any armor. Vash said, tapping one of the quivers with his paw. The arrows in this quiver will electrocute whatever creature they hit. Vash said, pawing the second quiver.

"Sounds useful." Sarah said. "It's too bad we don't have more of them.” Each quiver held a dozen arrows.

We do. I almost missed it, but the quivers themselves are also magical. So long as there is an arrow in them, but less than a dozen, it will generate new arrows of the same type. Vash said.

"Cool! Then the first thing to do is take an arrow out of each." Sarah said, doing so.

"Why?" Mike asked.

"So that we never run out of these types of arrows. I'll mark these and store them away somewhere so that if I ever use up all the arrows in the quivers I'll be able to make more of them." Sarah replied.

An excellent idea. Vash said as Sarah marked the arrows and removed the quivers from the pile Vash had already examined and put them with her other quiver. That left three objects; two wands and a pair of bracers.

"What about those bracers?" Mike asked.

They have a similar enchantment to Jill's ring, though not as powerful. They will protect their wearer from physical attacks only, however. Vash replied.

"Sounds like a good one for you, Erica." Sarah said.

"Me? Why not Mike?" Erica asked.

Sarah shrugged, "We don't know how Mike's shape shifting would work with them, and he won't need them in some of his forms. You don't need the magical or psionic defense, so their lack of that won't be a drawback for you."

"I certainly don't need them, my ring does more than they do." Jill added.

Erica looked at Mike and he said, "Go ahead and take them, they're a perfect fit for you." So, Erica took the bracers and put them in the closet with her sword and dagger.

"I don't remember finding any wands." Jill said, looking at the remaining objects.

You didn't, but I found them. They belonged to the wizard. Vash replied.

"So what do they do?" Mike asked.

The green one casts a spell that detects magic. Once the spell is cast the person who cast it will see a glow coming from any enchanted object. The glow will be different colors depending on the type of magic. Red denotes a curse, blue is permanent magic, like in these objects, and purple means the magic is temporary. Vash said.

"That could come in handy, though you seem to be able to do the same." Jill said.

Yes, I can, though it works differently. The red wand casts a spell that fires a magical missile. It doesn't do a lot of damage, but it also doesn't explode on impact. Vash said with a significant look at Sarah.

"Wait, you want me to use these wands like I did the fireball wand, don't you?" Sarah asked.

Yes, I believe you will learn to cast these spells on your own after using them a time or two. Vash replied.

"That really would be helpful. Then you could blast stuff even when it's close up without blasting us." Jill said. "Sounds like those are for you."

Sarah shrugged and took the wands. "How do I use them?" she asked.

They are like the fireball wand, they have an activation word. The green wand is activated by saying 'Desma', the red one by saying 'Macor'. Vash said.

Sarah nodded, "Okay, I'll use them when I can. Thanks for figuring these things out for us Vash."

You're welcome. May I suggest that some practice in your various abilities, and with your new equipment, would be useful? Vash said.

"That's a good idea. There are some areas around here where we wouldn't be seen and could get away with doing some damage to the landscape." Jill said.

"Why not use somewhere in another world?" Erica asked.

"I'd rather not." Jill replied. "Even the safest of places has a tendency to become dangerous, or at least complicated, when we do that. Here we know what we're dealing with."

They debated the point briefly, but Erica was soon outnumbered and gave in. Noticing the time, Mike and Jill decided to go home. "Come on Vash, let's leave the love birds alone." Jill said with a grin. Sarah and Erica both blushed at that and said their goodbyes. Once they'd left Sarah put the wands on the kitchen table and they both got ready for bed.

"I am soo tired!" Erica exclaimed as she crawled into bed.

"I can imagine." Sarah said. "Considering how many times you had to swing that sword of yours. Even as light as it is it's got to be tiring. I'm rather tired, too." Sarah joined Erica in bed, but they were too tired to do more than cuddle up together and drift off to sleep.