A Load of Bull

We had tracked our target down by word of mouth from a tavern patron at a nearby town directing us to these ruins, but things had gone bad. I'm not even sure how things could be much worse, other than the fact that the mad sorcerer had attempted to turn me into a steaming pile of bull dung and failed. Instead he managed to turn me into the bovine itself, and for that, at least, I am thankful. However, things did manage to get worse.

"Shame it's probably only temporary," chuckled Rikin Fogwater, the halfling Rogue in our merry little band, "it's a huge aesthetic improvement."

I gave the most annoyed look I could muster with my cow face and blew air out of my nostrils while I scraped a hoof on the ground and made a threatening motion with my wide, pointed horns.

"The craven milk drinker got away." huffed our esteemed Dragonborn Battle Master, Gexis Eralasar, as he came back from giving chase down the tunnel dug into the moss-covered stone ruins that the sorcerer had escaped into. "I only managed to singe the hem of his robes with my acid breath. When we catch up to him I mean to cleave him asunder for my dear sister!" he fumed as he gripped his great axe with his massive onyx-scaled hands.

"I understand the tuskless spell-slinger enchanted and bedded Kristash, but we have a more immediate concern." Rahkuri, our female half-orc Paladin nodded in my direction. "I am going to cast Dispel. As terrible as he was at casting, I should be able to turn you back."

Rhakuri concentrated, calling on the blessings of Re-Horakhty, a white light glowing in her sword and shield. She aimed the face of her shield, emblazoned with an intricate image of a fiery sun, directly at me, and I also became engulfed in the white glow of her spell. I felt a warmth engulf me and an electric tingle across my hide.

Then it fizzled.

"Uh oh." Rhakuri said.

"'Uh oh', what?" inquired Gexis in my place.

"Oh, this is golden." Rikin said as he leaned against one of the stone pillars with his arms crossed as we stood around just at the entrance to the tunnel and chuckled as he believed he had already surmised the answer.

I grunted and dug ruts in the dirt with my hoof in frustration as I became increasingly impatient for more information on my conundrum.

"I don't know how to tell you this..." Rhakuri started.

"You did it, didn't you?" Rikin guffawed and smacked his leg.

"Would you stop hedging and just get to the point of it? Spit it out!" Gexis shared my impatience, albeit for different reasons. "The honorless piglet is getting away!"

"Since your mind is as thick as that scaly hide of yours, and our armored green friend here keeps scuffling around it, I'll tell you," Rikin grinned mischievously. "She critically failed her spell."

Rhakuri removed a tome from her leather satchel then checked and double checked to be sure of the consequences of such a failure. She replaced the tome, then slowly got up and turned from the group, running her hand through her long black locks that fell down over her plate pauldrons.

"The polymorph... may be permanent now." Rhakuri said in a tone barely more audible than a whisper.

Shit.

My heart skipped a beat as Rikin snorted and howled in amusement at my continued misfortune. Gexis simply stood there and blinked his big yellow reptilian eyes as he processed the situation and it's various implications. I had been Casreus, their Tiefling Druid companion, and I was accustomed to polymorph spells that I used to transform myself for battle - Giant Shark, Giant Owl, even a Giant Ape - but this was ridiculous.

Now I was just a big dumb longhorn, and it seemed I was stuck this way.

Little did the rest of the group know it was my fault to begin with. I had seen the miniscule, talentless half-elf start casting polymorph and attempted to cast counterspell and had also failed critically.

"Well," Gexis said, interrupting my ponderings on recent events and whether or not I could have broken a mirror or walked under a ladder without realizing it, "maybe we can find a spell or a more powerful wielder of magicks once we return to town, but right now we need to finish our task at hand. Besides, this was never all about my sister - he pilfered our haul from the goblin caves and the owlbear we defeated after an arduous and drawn-out engagement."

"You're right. Let's get on with it, then." Rikin's smile was replaced with a grimace at the mention of the loss of such treasures, particularly ones so hard-won.

Rhakuri, now having some doubts about her own spellcasting abilities, lit a torch and led the way forward into the dark tunnels of the ruins. Rikin followed, then myself with Gexis bringing up the rear. As we started our descent, I began to contemplate the future ahead of me. I had read about at least one similar situation to my own and an existential dread gripped me as I recalled how it was recorded that the poor creature eventually lost all that they were before, becoming no more than the animal they had been polymorphed into.

It wasn't long before we came on our first goblin corpse. Both the body and the walls of the tunnel were scarred and singed with what could have only been caused by a sorcerer's fire bolt. We stopped for a moment to survey the scene and gather any more information we could before moving on.

"Fresh blood and several sets of tracks." Gexis said as he knelt down and ran his fingers through the dirt. "Looks like about half a dozen more goblins continued chasing after him this way. It isn't a lot of blood, so he's not yet in mortal danger. All the better for me - I plan to finish him myself!"

"Just don't go rushing in. We have no idea if there could be more goblins or other dangers ahead." Rhakuri replied.

I responded with a grunt and Rikin only chuckled from the shadows.

A while later we heard our target screaming in what I could only assume was goblin tongue, but I had never taken the time to learn the language myself. Our party hastened our step, though remaining ever vigilant, and we came to a chamber of the cave that widened. A small underground pool was off to the left side of the cavern, and beyond that was another opening. Our quarry was currently pinned helplessly against the cave wall on the right by four of the goblins while another was prodding at him with a spear as they found delight in tormenting their captive. It seemed the sorcerer had managed to take out the sixth one shortly before he was captured as the poor thing had quite obviously tried to run to the pool of water only to succumb from the fire magic only a few feet short of salvation.

"Looks like that is all of them, at least in this area." whispered Gexis.

"Are we all ready?" Rhakuri asked.

I nodded my large bull head awkwardly and lightly ran my hoof across the dirt.

"Ready." Rikin whispered from the shadows.

"On my mark." Rhakuri said.

"RAAAAAAAAAAA!" Gexis suddenly broke into a full charge, roaring as he closed in on the goblins and our currently helpless prey.

Rhakuri sighed and shook her head then started invoking the blessing of Re-Horakhty as she started forward after Gexis. I took up the charge behind her as Rikin stayed close to the walls to remain unseen.

The first three goblins went down easily as Gexis smashed into the one with the spear, breaking him against the cavern wall without even swinging his great axe, and two of the others holding the sorcerer cried out as throwing knives hit their marks, then slumped lifelessly to the floor. One of the two remaining managed to pick up the spear from the ground, but only long enough for Rhakuri to knock the point to the ground with her foot and snap it in two with her shield. She followed up with a divine smite to devastating effect. Close behind her, I used my weight to my advantage and trampled the remaining goblin when he attempted to flee.

"Well, well. It seems our luck is changing." chuckled Rikin as he came walking out of the shadows, our party gathering around the injured sorcerer to block his escape.

"The gods saw fit to favor us again this day, praise be to Re-Horakhty." Rhakuri replied.

"I don't know about your gods, personally," said Gexis, "but I have my strength and my axe."

Just as we were beginning to celebrate the capture of our quarry, he managed to evoke a cantrip. No sooner had Gexis spoken when he found himself roaring in pain as frost spread up the handle of his axe to the hilt, causing him to drop his weapon. The sorcerer followed up with a fire bolt, narrowly missing Rhakuri, sending her to the floor and biting at Rikin's cloak and sending him running to the pool of water in the cavern. I charged as he started uttering the words to another spell and caught him with my horns, tossing him into the air. He screamed and flailed desperately as he fell into range of my hindquarters just before I lifted my rear hooves and caught him with full force. There was a sickening crunch on impact, then he flew across the cave and slammed into the far wall before hitting the floor. The battle was over.

"I suppose I shouldn't have counted my whelplings before they hatched." Gexis said as he removed a potion from his sack to heal his frostbite. "He got in some lucky shots, but thanks to our Casreus we pulled through."

"Don't forget, he's less ugly this way, too." said Rikin, grinning as he rejoined the team and wrung out his cloak then stopped to dump the water from his leather boots.

"This isn't everything we lost, but at least this should help pay some higher level caster to change you back." said Rhakuri as she retrieved the deceased sorcerer's satchel and checked him for any other valuables. "Wait. Is this the same sigil as the one we were seeking out?" she held up a crest she tore from his robes.

"Not even close." Gexis replied. "Are you saying this isn't the one we have been pursuing after all?"

Rikin burst out laughing so hard he snorted.

Oops.