<div dir="ltr">This is a challenge from Charles Matthias to see if I could write a story with no dialogue. Challenge Accepted This is a prequel story taking place during Three Gates. As it deals with the second gate, there are some sexual themes, including rape and naughty bits. They are toned down to try and keep a PG-13 Rating. You have been warned. Prince Matthew Hassan didn’t know it yet, but today was going to be a day he’d look back on for the rest of his life. A day he’d wish to relive, a day he’d wish to rewrite, a day he’d regret to see the end of. For this was the last day he spent as Prince of his own kingdom. An attack, an attack from the infamous wizard Nasoj, many had already died. Duke Thomas Hassan, Matthew’s adopted father had come up with a plan. The royal wives would be taken to Loriodina in the second gate, the lords and Duke would stay in Metamor Keep proper. That way if the Keep was taken their loved ones would go without harm and best of all. The Prince would be protecting them with a large squadron of soldiers, Metamor would follow under his leadership should the Keep fall. Currently they were in Castle Loriod, waiting for an attack. Pre-emptively and because it was a time of war and the lutins could come storming in any moment. It was a very high pressure situation as not only could the siege start at any moment, but Altera Loriod and her hand-maiden had gone missing during the commotion. Matthew scanned the crowd, it was possible he had overlooked her. Putting a hand to his head he looked harder still. He saw one of the ladies he was protecting, but it wasn’t Loriod’s wife. No Loriod’s wife was beautiful, very healthy and of high class, her weight proved this. Altera also smelled of imported perfumes all of which had a quite pleasing armoa, but at this strength they were more like a rotted seal carcass that hath been sitting out in the sun for a grand total of three years. This woman had a degree of pounds on her due to her wealth, but it wasn’t to the extent of Loriod’s wife’s weight, the hair was all wrong, she wasn’t wearing anywhere near as much in the way of jewelry for which Altera never showed restraint, and her perfumes weren’t as overpowering. No other figure in the room was remotely feminine shaped. Most of the servants stayed in their rooms under careful supervision of the guard. There were more knights here than the Prince had seen in Barracks Inspection, it was truly impressive the amount of concern the Lords had for their wives. So impressive in fact that Matthew gritted his teeth in rage, he couldn’t let Alvarez down, he had to ensure the safety of his wife. No matter how unpleasant she may be. Sir Yariv, the Lady’s bodyguard, was already looking into it, but that wasn’t good enough. How could he possibly explain that the Lady of Loriodina just went missing, the wife of the man who owned this castle! Missing! It was beyond infuriating. It seemed though that the search would have to be called off, a man was coming in. He was about to talk and say something, whatever it was would likely been important, he seemed horrified. Like he had eyed something ghastly that no one of this Earth should EVER lay eyes upon. Something like the hordes of lutins and trolls behind him. He would have been able to say something about it if it weren’t for the fact that just as he was about to open his mouth an arrow became quite lodged in his throat. The lutin archer making screeching noises in celebration was likely responsible, but it was just a hunch. Matthew narrowed his eyes and cleared his mind of all thoughts outside of defending his kingdom. Sword already drawn he pointed his blade forward at the lutins, the knights of Metamor didn’t need any more indication as they charged forward. Men at the front using large shields to deplete the arrows until the archers were dealt with. As much as Hassan would have loved to stay and fight, the other lady needed protection and so without warning he grabbed her hand and moved deeper into the castle. Seeing the lord’s private chambers as too obvious, it was too full of valuables, the lutins would think to look there immediately, but the basement below, now that seemed promising and so that is where they ventured. Luckily his men for winning, for now. The lady was scared and looked at the prince dozens of times, pondering if things were going to be alright, but Hassan just smiled at him. He knew in his heart that they’d see their way through this. Nasoj was never going to get Metamor, not while he still drew breathe. The lady was comforted by his enthusiasm and tried to put on a brave face to match his. It was working, the Prince knew that the first rule of being royal was to always have a brave face! If the people can not look to you for strength, than who can they look too? No one! Once they were in the basement cellar that’s when things were difficult. For while running down the stairs the lady had tripped and hurt herself. Much to Matthew’s dismay. The lady cried out in pain, grabbing her foot and crying, breathing in and out heavily. Upon closer inspection it appeared she had broken her leg. Matthew was afraid, it was his idea to hide in the basement and she had been in his care, thus it was entirely his fault that she was in this condition. He looked quite guilty as he looked her over, though he apologized several times, sorry doesn’t fix anything only a medic would. Being a mage Matthew did know some minor healing spells which he cast. The Prince’s hands glowed a bluish-green as the touched the wounded leg and evaporated the pain, just the pain. The woman was very grateful and began breathing a little easier, until making the mistake of trying to walk mistakenly believing the leg to have been healed, but Matthew wasn’t THAT strong. She nearly fell over, but fortunately the Prince anticipated this would happen and had gotten into position to catch her the second he saw her trying to get up. No the spell was merely to dose the pain, the damage would remain and that’s why Matthew unsheathed his weapon once more, he needed to find a proper medic. With a fire once again kindled in his heart, he gave the maiden a bottle of wine from the cellar and told her he’d be back with proper medicine. Though with the war going on he didn’t know if he’d actually be back, but he couldn’t share that fear with her, otherwise she’d be afraid too. Since she was to be left alone, the last thing she needed, was fear. Especially since she seemed to realize this. As Matthew left to the upstairs, the Lady’s face took on a blood chilling sorrow, unable to move, no one to talk too. The Prince felt guilty about this, but he knew it was the only option. Though he promised that if he found two troops in good enough condition, he’d send them to her care. Even if the battle was going poorly. The basement was dark and dank, a bad place to be left by oneself, this could easily drive a woman insane and the war going on outside was not helping! As he was about to be up the staircase the lady called for him to be careful, Matthew nodded in agreement and continued. Meanwhile above things had gone and went to hell quickly, Nasoj was no fool. Brutes like trolls and lutins the knights of Metamor could handle, but magic users had entered the fray and people were exploding, freezing to death, and catching on fire, it was madness. A dying man crawled up to Matthew’s leg and grabbed it, looking into his prince’s eyes screaming for help. But a robed looking figure held out his hand and the prince looked in horror as the dying knight’s head began to appear as though something heavy was pushing it in both sides until it exploded, blood and brain now stained the Prince’s armor. The cultist laughed as he did this, but the prince did not appreciate this brand of humor as he charged at him and gutted him right through the heart in vengeful fury. When he confirmed the mage had died he kicked him over and spat on his corpse. Another who saw this began chanting something in a demonic tongue and formed on orb of residual energies. Matthew would have rolled his eyes if he wasn’t so royally ticked off and consumed with the bloodlust of war. Holding up a single hand and hacking away at nearby lutins he said a quick chant and tossed a small bolt of pure light right in the orb. The mage conjuring it became afraid as his dark orb flashed many colors and back unstable, exploding right there taking off his hands and burning through much of his ribcages. This left him in great pain, but Matthew was merciful and stomped through his exposed skeletal and squishing his black heart under his boot. With two of the mages down the warriors stood a better chance, and once the situation became more under control two of the knights were ordered to go check on the lady while the Prince searched for a medic. So far he hadn’t found one even after trenching through the mass amounts of corpses and entrails both human and lutin, hearing bones crunch under his boots, there had to be a medic on the field SOMEWHERE. Soon however Matthew would forget about that as a bigger problem would arise. The remaining mages cheered as they noticed a fiery arrow launch into the sky giving a signal they had been waiting for. The head mage closed his eyes and began unleashing an unholy force that made the prince’s blood turn frozen solid. Something in the air, it was already like hell, but now the prince felt as though he were literally in hell. What was in the surrounding area, the magical energies in the air now, was nothing but pure evil of the highest sort. Matthew looked toward where it was coming from, a single man in the middle of various other mages channeling this, unholy force. Rising up from their hands though was a blue and pink distorted image of the Daedra of Lust, Suspiria. On a scale of 1 to 10, this was a 100 as far as really bad signs go. Matthew tried all of his magic to disrupt the spell, but anything he threw just evaporated before them. So there was option B, the sword. Matthew ran towards one of the mages planning to slay them one by one, others had the same idea. However men could only look in horror as their weapons broke and shattered like glass once they were raised towards the mages. Matthew had only one idea, RUN! Back to the castle where it would be safe. Yet, it wasn’t safe. The image of Suspiria had become clear and very visible and blew a kiss over the land. The energies spread out all through out the second gate. Matthew threw up a shield and tried to resist, but the magic was too powerful. Never before had he even read about strength like this as his very mind and soul became assaulted, luckily Matthew’s strongest shield was the one surrounding his brain. If this was a mind control thing, he’d at least have a sporting chance. The magic was intensifying, Matthew put up a hand to try and look away from the blinding light illuminating off of the figure of Suspiria , and it worked slightly, mainly because Matthew didn’t care about the light or the daedra anymore. Just his hand, his hand was shrinking and his nails were becoming longer, like a woman’s hand! Was this a joke!?! Matthew was expecting his demise, but instead it’s girly hands? No, girly other things. He quickly grabbed at his crotch and became frozen in terror that nothing was there, what’s more his hips were getting wider. Matthew screamed, not sure what was going really as breasts began developing. The force of the magic knocked him on his back just as his hair burst out. This knocked him out for a bit, or rather, it knocked her out for a bit. It wasn’t long until Matthew came too, she was fine once the spell was over, she was feeling something. Not fear, not pain, no nothing like that. Instead she was feeling, needy. Her body craved carnal pleasure, it needed a buffet of touching and kissing, no more than that. Matthew had a wet hot sex that needed to be filled. Yet, the shielding on her mind and saved most of her brain so she wasn’t completely crazy, just, ravenous. A mage smiled at her and began to disrobe in front of the now-Princess and he had quite the complexion and big stiff… NO! Matt recoiled in pain rubbing his head. She raised a hand and began charging up a spell as she rubbed her aching head. Yet the mage came closer, and as he did, the princess felt comforted by his presence, especially when he put his manhood closer to her face. The magic in her body compelled her to act and for a time this mage would have some fun. Matthew didn’t care about the war, about the keep, about the lady in the basement, just fulfilling this new longing. After all, weren’t these mages guests in her land? A good princess shows a welcome guest a good time, especially ones who were so nice to replace those worries with carefree lust and offered her wondrous sex. Sure there was a voice nagging in the back of her mind begging her to stop, but that was her old life, her new one was in laying back and enjoying the gift of this mage’s masculinity. Even though she did for some reason have a very strong urge to throw some dirt into the hole of the genitals of her rapist. Some time had passed and the monarch’s son-turned-daughter had done things she couldn’t previously imagine in a vain attempt to appease her endless hunger. At the moment she was naked and trying something else with two partners at once in different parts of her body. The princess was endlessly moaning in pleasure and complementing the girth of the lutin partner who was attempting to appease her endless lust. The voice in the back of Matthew’s head was stopping, it had accepted that this was her now, this was her purpose. To be used for pleasure. What in life could be better than that? A lot of things actually, and once a second wave had come over the land she was able to recall that. For a brief moment the princess became quite dizzy and pondering why she felt odd, why her chest felt heavy even if it was shrinking, slightly, and why her body ached around her groin and rear end as though something had been inserted into both Once she found the answer to all of these questions she screamed. The mage tried to ask in a calming voice what was wrong, but found a hand on his throat that was charging a fire spell burning a hole in it. After getting the lutin off she kicked him in the crotch and flung a stalactite of ice threw his heart. She re-dressed and found the rest of her, well women now, were having similar rude awakenings and beginning to eviscerate their partners. Many were too enraged and embarrassed by what had happened to look at themselves now. It was quite a scene, if Nasoj had been told this morning that his army would be toppled by hordes of beautiful and naked women he would have laughed at this person and asked where he got such ridiculous ideas. Yet here it was happening. Matthew would have laughed at such a sight if she wasn’t panicked. If she was a woman, did that mean the lady was…. Oh no, no no no no no. It was bad enough that the Metamor Military was now mostly female along with Matthew herself, if the Lady was now a Lord she’d really be in for it. Rushing to the basement, easy especially given the tides of battle were now on the Keepers’ side as they had the element of surprise and the opportunity to literally catch Nasoj’s voices with their pants down, Matthew prayed the spells only affected men and was horrified to see that it wasn’t the case. Worse still, what happened with her and Nasoj’s men seemed to have happened down here. The knights were not in their armor and instead were facing away from the lady blushing bright red, the lady, now a rather dashing man in a very expensive dress was staring at himself in sheer disbelief. At least the spell cured his broken leg, that’s, something. Matthew started rubbing the skin between her eyes, they did not have words to describe days like this, once he was done rubbing, the only thing she thought to do was sit down. Sit down and ask herself, what now? Well, Prince Matthew wouldn’t cut it anymore, it would be hard to take for citizens and foreign ambassadors, so unless a reversal for the spell could be found, he’d have to get used to being called Princess Malisa. Eventually the war was won and Malisa and her forces reported to the Keep with the man he had been protecting and Loriod’s wife, well husband now. Who seems to have been the sole witness to the only person who had died from the curse, his handmaiden. Malisa thought it was suspicious, but she had no proof of anything and she didn’t care. All she wanted to do was go back to being Matthew. Hopefully her mother, or was it father still? Would have had a remedy by now. Once things calmed down she began to realize how much she didn’t like this body. Nothing fit, everything felt wrong, the sensations were off, this extra weight on her chest, the way her hips swayed when she walked. It was ghastly, nothing about it felt natural or even the slightest bit pleasant. However it seemed not only had there been no progress on reversing the spell nor on calming anyone as cursed keepers argued and bickered, pointing fingers at one another and demanding curse, but also everyone in the third gate had been turned into animals! Foxes, Bears, Badgers, Cats, Dogs, Horses, Birds, Some Fish, A bug or two, if you could name it it was here, even a few animals Malisa couldn’t name. Oh and a porcupine, wait, Malisa knew that goofy smile, was that Pascal? Well she certainly got younger, and female. All of them said the same thing, the curse appeared to be permanent, no, no that couldn’t be. Malisa would have to hit the books hard to fix this, but she would, she knew she would. This body felt terrible, her skin so soft, her voice so angelic, no, no no no, she would not live like this. First, thing was first though, she had to see him, she had to see her father and know what he had become. After scanning through various animals, she saw him. A black horse wearing a crown and the Hassan Family Royal Seal. That was definitely him. Such a magnificent looking stallion, how Malisa envied him. This new body of her father’s seemed powerful and majestic, if anything it seemed more like her father than his old body did. In a way, she was happy for him. Thomas was speechless seeing his daughter for the first time, he knew it was her because those were her favorite robes. That and Malisa just hugged him as tears rolled down her cheek. The studies to reverse herself would begin as soon as this hug was over, explanations were given, and a speech was prepared, but she began wondering if any of that would happen. As the hug it seemed would last forever. Yes the Princess hated the way she was now, but that she could learn to stomach if she really had too. The real loss would have been if her father had perished in the attack. <div> </div></div>