Wearing His Gaze

The little green menaces were hanging from Cassara's arms, grasping at her legs. The power behind her sword was dampened by their weight, nicking and cutting when it should have been hacking and slicing. Her armor, interlocking plates gleaming in the mage-light behind her, safeguarded her against their rusty blades and jagged rocks.

But safe though she may have been under her steel skin, the goblins threatened to make a break past her, toward her companions. The narrow corridor stymied their attempts to push through, forcing them to reckon with the imposing metal-clad woman. She was determined that they would not pass her.

She could feel Oswin's effulgent presence as much as hear his low chanting as he suffused her with the power of the Light. His words of prayer were accompanied by the "twang--thunk!" of Faeron's arrows, each one claiming its mark. This deadly rhythm was interrupted at times by an arcane medley as Davin used his spell work to keep the horde at bay.

Still, the heroes' counterparts had their own tricks. Past the swarm, a lone goblin with a gnarled staff and a dark robe sent coruscating bolts past Cassara, harrying her companions to create an opening.

Just as a few managed to squeeze around her and avoid the hindered swipes of her blade, Davin slammed his staff into the ground and shouted an incantation. A deafening boom resounded down the corridor. The goblins were blown back, off of Cassara, rolling to the feet of their mage.

Cassara smiled under her helmet at the timely reprieve. While she enjoyed the unflagging stream of arrows from Faeron and the constant support from Oswin, it was Davin's watchful interventions she appreciated most. Always so attentive to her needs, he had once again acted at the perfect moment.

But the mage, unaffected by the blast, took advantage of the clear shot. An azure ray sprang from it, this time targeting her. Standing stalwart, she was slow to dodge. She felt a sudden weightlessness. Then her ears, still ringing from the blast, were assaulted by a discordant clanging like malformed church bells. The spell left her feeling strange, uncoordinated. And she was trapped in the dark.

Where was her armor? She felt a soft layer between herself and the floor, not firm metal. Her hands and feet dug into the oddly-cushioned surface she rested on. It felt strangely familiar, but she didn't have time to wonder where she'd felt this soft texture before. The goblins would be regrouping at any moment, and she needed to be between them and her companions. There was a sliver of light. She scrabbled toward it.

She emerged from her prison into the harsh mage-light. She recognized the rough stone of the corridor, but it was far larger than it should have been. She looked back for her companions and saw distant giants towering over her. And the goblins on the other side, still reeling, dwarfed her. She turned to look over her shoulder and was met with the sight of brown fur and a wormy tail.

The mage had turned her into a rat, she realized. And looking down, she saw that she hadn't escaped a prison, but her unyielding armor. But before she could scurry back into its reassuring casing, she heard Oswin call out, "Not to worry, Cassara. I can undo a hex like that in a moment."

Undo it? Cassara's little eyes widened in horror. She grasped at the armor with her paws, but outside its confines, its cool firmness offered her no comfort. There was nothing between her and the dungeon except her warm fur. And when Oswin finished his spell, she wouldn't even have that. She would be completely exposed to her companions, who rarely even got glimpses of her face, let alone everything.

Then, just as suddenly as she was a rat, she was human again. The cool air nipped her bare skin, and supple flesh once hidden under layers of protection was revealed. She stood stark naked under the merciless mage-light, looking back at her companions. They could see everything: the fullness of her figure, the mole above her left breast, even her grooming habits. Her arms were rigid at her sides, the sharpness of her sudden vulnerability rooting her in place.

Oswin's widened eyes mirrored her own. "My deepest apologies," he intoned. But his eyes stayed locked on her even as he chanted through gritted teeth. The two shared winces at his undivided attention, knowing he had no choice but to focus on her to maintain his sanctified power even in her exposure.

Past him, Davin was stopped mid-gesture. His jaw had slackened to loose an incantation, but he'd trailed off, dumbstruck at her nude form. His gaze roamed upward, briefly lingering on her alluring hips and what lay between, then again on her chest. Never could he have imagined how much she'd kept hidden. Then his eyes reached hers.

There was a rawness to the look he gave her as they stared. As he seemed to comprehend just whose assets he'd been appreciating--and realized this new dimension of the woman who'd been his steadfast bulwark these past years--Cassara felt all the more exposed. The depth she saw in him was more daunting than any foe she'd stood her ground against. Both stood transfixed, utterly revealed to each other.

But past her, despite Faeron's unabated arrows, was a mob of goblins resurgent. Entrancing though her curves were, they offered scant protection against the makeshift armaments of her foes. Davin's brow furrowed in focus, and he pointed at Cassara with his staff as he spoke a precise incantation.

Immediately the comforting embrace of armor returned. But without the padding of her gambeson, her curves felt like they were being squeezed and molded, his invisible embrace buttressing her. When she looked down, she saw her bare flesh still. Compressed, as against glass. Her nipples were oddly emphasized by the effect, her breasts seeming to jut out thanks to the support of the arcane armor.

She turned and crouched down, trying not to think of the show she was giving her companions as she retrieved her sword and shield. It was far from the first time she'd needed to collect something in front of them, though now the motion gave them a direct view of her powerful muscles beneath smooth skin. But with weapon in hand, reassured by her newfound protection, she returned to battle, as fierce and imposing in transparent arcana as she was in concealing steel.

The report of Faeron's bow reverberated still, felling goblin after goblin and keeping Cassara from being overwhelmed again. Oswin's power coursed through her, and Davin's magic kept the enemy lines disorganized. Cassara's sword swung unfettered once more. She was struck by how fixed she felt in her raiment; there was no bounce or jiggle to her physique, only frozen exaggeration.

Thanks to the leeway granted by the thinning threat, Cassara found more opportunities to check on her companions. Oswin's abashed concentration remained firm on her as he empowered her. And the glances Davin stole at her rear, made all the more shapely by his spell's constriction, kept her face scorching against the dungeon's chill. She longed to cover herself, but her limbs were occupied keeping the goblins at bay.

One final "twang--thunk!" signaled the fate of the goblin mage, the last to fall. The party stopped to breathe, the fight finally over. Cassara looked down at the pile of metal at her feet, utterly useless on the floor. She awkwardly crossed her sword-arm over her sizable chest and hid her bare sex with her shield. Then she turned back to her companions.

Faeron's pointed ears perked up at the sight of her, his concentration on his archery finally ended. "Cassara, why aren't you in your armor?" he asked, his lilting voice light, as if he were asking after how she planned to spend the dungeon's bounty.

Cassara's nervous energy at her predicament--and dread of when it would end--burst out in a sharp, "You've only just noticed?" She shifted her pose, trying to account for the solid yet invisible coating over her arms and chest as she covered herself.

Oswin forestalled further chatter with a curt order to Davin. "Get Cassara's armor in your magic bag."

Davin, though grateful at having somewhere to rest his gaze, nevertheless balked at the instruction. "Wh-why not have her put it back on?" he demanded, unable to resist taking another glimpse even as he spoke.

Oswin shook his head, running his hand over the talisman around his neck. "We need to face the goblin lord before my blessings and your enchantments end. We don't have time for her to re-equip it--and that spell of yours works well enough."

Before she could change her mind, Cassara took a resigned step back from her armor, clearing the way for Davin. He hesitated, locking eyes with her again. Already he was the architect of the unseen force shaping her. Now he would steward her decency utterly. At her nod, he approached with the bag. The bag's mouth expanded to swallow the discarded armor, leaving her with nothing but her sword and shield.

She turned, presenting her nakedness once more. With every step, she wondered if the armor's lifting effect that emphasized her curves also afforded a view of what was hidden between her legs. She fought the urge to look over her shoulder, loath to see Davin's ardent gaze on her. Though she could certainly feel it.