For once, Tatalia found herself wholeheartedly agreeing with the horse. Err, with the detective.

"That is so true! The blatant disregard for historical accuracy and the stifling of the opinions of underprivileged peoples is the bane of scholarly advances in my field as well!" the ponified goblin complained, letting out an audible snort and tossing her mane. "Indeed, there are altogether too many gaps for us to believe that anything in official recorded history bears any merit at all! The texts so often are written by self-aggrandizing Sun Elf nobles who have everything to gain from the empire being cast in a positive light and everything to lose if they don't obfuscate any wrongdoings! That they've been assumed to have a divinely ordained right to rule when the gods are dead doesn't exactly make me trust them any more easily, either...

"You know, after we get cured, I really should send you a couple chapters I've been working on for my book," the scholar rambled on cheerily, seeming entirely enraptured by the prospect of having a fellow academic to speak to. "I've already compiled a list of curious locations I encountered during my archaeological expeditions, and I've started retelling my adventures and describing those sites in detail. However, I wouldn't mind having a little peer review if-"

The adventurer stopped talking midway. She stopped moving for a split second, too, her hooves digging into the dirt.

"Oh, right," she muttered. "I'm your nemesis, apparently. Yes, that does complicate the peer review process. Hmm."

An awkward silence fell briefly. Tatalia decided not to break it.

The horse and pony marched along after their guide and were eventually led to a cluster of trees arranged in a perfect circle. It reminded Tatalia very much of the fairy circles she had encountered previously in her travels, even of the very circle of flowers that had transformed her! Still, there didn't seem to be any supernatural activity afoot. There were, however, different symbols painted upon the trees, and different ornaments hanging from them that Tatalia assumed had religious significance.

The guide left the pair to their own devices as she went to fetch the healers. There wasn't much to do but wait, however. After a few minutes of enjoying the crisp, cool breeze, the healer returned with a trio of people following behind her.

"Ahh! An herbalist, an alchemist, and a Child of Solaria if I'm not mistaken," mused Tatalia as she watched them approach. "I have no doubt they'll try to assess us to make sure we aren't evil spirits before helping us, but I doubt it shall be a painful process. Cooperate with them, kindly! They shall surely have the means to restore our forms."

“Oh, I can understand that I need the truth to be honest and fair without some asshole hiding it for the sake of their ends. Knowledge is meant to be shared, to be spread, and to be learned. Not locked up behind the prison of self-service and greed it’s wrong and completely unfair. Especially considering the new events in the world it’s hard to keep living and pretending that everything we’re being told is true. After all, it took a madman to open our eyes and see what was going on and that’s a sad fact, especially considering all the wrong he did. You’re completely right on everything you’ve said. It's unfair and wrong that the kingdom has been ruled through lies and half-truths. Makes me think of what I can believe in at this point besides myself if the gods I thought were true and the people I trust to keep rule over me are not what I thought they were”.



He shakes his head mumbling the last part tucking that thought into the back of his head to think about for a later day, hopefully when he isn’t a horse.



“I’d be delighted to take a look at your book considering if it's even half as interesting as the information you told me. I’m fully intrigued by the subject and think archaeological expeditions are pretty cool. I’d love to peer-review them…”, he pauses in his response to Tatalia feeling the silence in the air.

Once again he was reminded that Tatalia wasn’t his friend, she wasn’t a peer. She was a criminal whom he was here to bring to justice. At least he thought so, he wasn’t sure at the moment anymore. He stopped talking and just followed the guide looking and glancing at the sights around them, he was engrossed and completely enthralled by their surroundings. It truly was a beautiful place filled with rich culture and significance. He stayed silent as the two waited for the guide to return with their healers. Raoul looked a little nervous as he saw the child of Solaria, still thinking how his bloodline would affect this whole thing.

He listened to Tatalia and responded in a serious tone, “I’m fine with that and will comply wholeheartedly, I’m just a little worried about how my being a dhampir will affect things”.

"You're a what?!" Tatalia whispered, her pony eyes bulging as she regarded the horse next to her sternly. "You didn't think to mention that small fact until just now? This could be incredibly bad...

There was no time to discuss the matter further, however. The healers approached the pair and began to inspect them closely.

Verifying neither talking animal was some sort of demon turned out to be a lengthy and time consuming process. The Child of Solaria held a holy censer over each individual, sprinkling them with holy water and lighting incense to try and draw out any evil spirits. Thankfully, those acts didn't seem to do anything harmful, probably because both the dhampir and the goblin were, well... a horse and a pony respectively, not what they used to be.

Eventually, the healing began, but there weren't any immediate results. The trio inspected the pair one at a time, using a combination of both magic and medicine to diagnose their ailment. Several things were tried, and several things were ruled out. Soon there were empty potion bottles, holy symbols, and magic scrolls set off to the side upon a stone, each having failed to restore the adventurers to their true forms.

But there was still one last option. The Child of Solaria regarded both the thief and the detective very seriously.

"This curse is a unique one," they said seriously, stroking their chin as they regarded the horse and the pony. "It is linked to not one of you, but both of you. You are suffering this hex together, your very souls chained to each other until it is broken. To heal one of you, we must heal both of you, and we can only do that if the correct energies flow to the correct place."

"Ahh! Something akin to the concept of Yin and Yang from the Crescent Isle?" asked Tatalia curiously. "We must let negative energies flow to the positive source, and positive energies flow to the negative source? And in doing so balance is achieved?"

"Correct," replied the wizened healer, folding their fingers together. "And you, little one, are the positive source. So, negative emotions must be directed to you. And since he is the negative source, you must channel positive thoughts toward him."

Tatalia blinked. She snorted. "So, he gets to insult me, but I have to tell him what a good lad he is? This seems to be a particularly lopsided arrangement! I refuse!"

"The alternative is to stay as you are," replied the Child of Solaria. "If you wish to return to your true selves, you must do as we instruct while we use our magic to heal you both! But the large one must start first. The way your spirits are entangled, he must first throw as many negative thoughts and words at you as he can."

Tatalia sighed. She prepared for the roasting of a lifetime.

Raoul whispered back hurriedly to Tatalia, “I thought it was pretty obvious Ms. Archaeologist, what did you think I was? I thought the very pale skin, fangs, red eyes, and my avoidance of sunlight were all dead giveaways”.



The process of being checked if the two were demons or not proved very anxiety-inducing for the dhampir fellow. Thankfully thanks to his new horse body which seemed not to carry on his curse he wasn’t affected. His nerves calmed as he realized that he wouldn’t immediately be found out considering their current ailment. However, this did raise a concern for the man he kept to himself, what would happen once he was turned back to normal? For what they would see before them would constitute immediate fear and hatred considering it was hard to miss that something was off about him. Normally he’d be extremely averse to holy water having it usually burn his skin but this time around it just felt like spicy water. For all the annoying aspects of being a horse, being freed from his curse of not enjoying light, the sun, and other things was nice. He was beginning to get worried as the healer's methods proved useless. He stood irritated at the sight of empty potions and scrolls that were supposed to be their only hope. He was about to resign himself to the life of a horse when he heard The Child of Solaria speak. He felt odd about his very soul being chained to Tatalia, the thought of being connected to a naughty criminal like her annoyed the fellow. The talk of flowing energies did seem to make sense strangely.



He smirked as the revelation of what needed to be done was said, “Well that seems like a pretty wise solution to be honest. Apologies Tatalia but if we are to return to our previous forms I simply must comply”.



He stood across from Tatalia and waited for the Child of Solaria to signal them to start.



He then sighed and took a deep breath and went, “Alright where do I even begin? You break the rules like some sort of childish, immature, lawless cretin. For the wise explorer, you parade yourself as you surely act like the world bends to your will. You think not of the consequences of your actions nor the people whom you may affect. You ignore any sort of order and rules for the sake of satiating your selfish curiosity. You’re much too stubborn, pig-headed, and overconfident. You know what’s the worst part? You seem like an alright person. I think you’re pretty funny and I’d like to be your friend but I can’t right now. For if I were to be your friend it would be like betraying everything I stand for, how can I be friends with someone who so obviously shows no care for the natural order around them”.

"No care for the natural order?!" retorted Tatalia, incensed by the Dhampir's words. "Oh, I'll show you pigheaded and stubborn, you incorrigible ignoramu-"

"AHEM." The Child of Solaria gave Tatalia a judgmental look.

"Wh- Excuse me, but I have every right to be up-"

The Child of Solaria stared.

"This treatment I'm receiving isn't equivocal to-"

Stare.

Tatalia sighed. She took a deep breath, whinnied irritably, and willed her brain to stop racing with insults. She had to let positive energies flow, apparently. She decided the ritual rules were all bullshit and she'd make her own, better ritual later when she wasn't a pony.

"Look, I don't... hate you or anything? You're no nemesis to me," replied Tatalia, looking off to the side. "I actually found our contest fun! Do you know what a thrill it is to finally have a battle of wits with someone that can match your plays with equally clever ones? You're capable, and resourceful, and you obviously know an impressive tailor, so kudos to whoever that is! And... well..."

Tatalia heaved out a sigh. Giving earnest praise to an enemy was not exactly something she normally did. But she had to keep going, it seemed.

"The fact that you hold so true to your morals says you're a man of real integrity," Tatalia admitted. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "And to be honest, I wish I had the same self-assured faith in my own virtue that you do! I certainly don't agree with kowtowing to the tyrannical rule of Sun Elf law at every opportunity, mind you, but that you obey your rules without any doubt is... impressive, really."

Tatalia stood in place for a moment, then threw her hands up and opened her eyes. "Alright! When do you turn us back to normal?" she demanded of the Child of Solaria.

The Child of Solaria just smirked at her. Tatalia blinked. She looked down at her hands... Her hands? Her hands!

"Oh, thank whatever deity-like entities are watching us right now!" the goblin cried, throwing her favoritest hands in the world up in the air with unrivaled aplomb. She waved them around for good measure, relishing every second of not being a damned pony.

A snort escaped the horse’s mouth as Tatalia looked like she was about to argue, he was about to open his mouth to rebuttal but the look that the Child of Solaria gave the pony deterred him. He simply flashed the pony a small snarky smirk seeing that she was completely silenced. It was funny to see that the ever-talking Tatalia got completely shut up. Hell, he was thinking of asking them for tips on how to do it.



He then stood waiting for the pony to begin with a cocky grin on his face, “You know I like this ritual a lot, it makes total sense”.



Raoul then stayed silent as he heard the ‘positive energies’ begin to flow through him. It was pretty nice he had to admit to himself when the goblin wasn’t being a total nuisance she could be sweet. He thought about what she said was true except for being a bootlicker to the monarchy that he disagreed with but decided to stay silent. He then closed his eyes awaiting for the transformation to take place immediately but then peaked his right eye open expecting some sort of grand change.



“When is it supposed to happen?”, he asks confused and begging to lose hope he tried walking forward but noticed that his balance was different than before. He looked down and noticed that he wasn’t standing on all fours. Hell, he wasn’t even a horse anymore, relief struck his body as he jumped for joy.



“HELL YEAH LETS FUCKING GO”, and he jumped around happier than can be, he was back in his body. He smiled with delight, truly grateful and happy to be back. He patted the sides of his body just to be sure it was real.



He began laughing as he swung his hands with joy when he stopped at the realization that his identity as a dhampir was fully revealed.

Jubilation turned to frozen fear as Tatalia realized how much their saviors were staring at herself and her nearby companion. Actually, no; they weren't staring at her at all. Goblins were often viewed with some suspicion, but they were much, much, much too busy staring at Raoul the Dhampir Detective.

"Erm." Tatalia stood up straight, cleared her throat, and shuffled awkwardly toward Raoul. "We're going to just- we're going to go, if that's quite alright? Thank you very kindly for all your help; we owe you a debt of gratit-"

"A creature of darkness stands on consecrated ground!" rumbled the Child of Solaria, raising their staff high. "We are not a violent people, but we cannot allow the curse of undeath to spread in these lands! You will both-"

And that's when Tatalia flashbanged everyone.¹ She didn't offer any warning, not even to Raoul, though he probably wasn't looking directly at her and so probably wouldn't suffer the worst of the magic. She just slipped her dagger out of her sleeve² and into her palm, channeled its magic, and tried to grab the Dhampir by the sleeve and drag him away from danger.

"Runrunrunrunrun!" squeaked the incredibly worried goblin at an increasingly higher pitch as she fled the scene.

Tatalia was no stranger to the strategy known as retreat. In fact, it was probably her favorite strategy to employ in the face of trouble because a successful retreat meant she didn't have to get hurt and neither did anyone else. She'd developed a great many methods of making her escape in the past, and she was never too proud to admit she was outmatched.

"Take this!" Tatalia shouted, tossing a potion toward Raoul.³ "Drink it! Don't stop running, and whatever you do, don't lose track of me! I have a plan!"

Tatalia always had a plan. She just quietly wished she didn't need to always have a plan. Unfortunately, with as many tribesmen spotting the fleeing pair and picking up their weapons or rushing forward to demonstrate their prowess with their fists, finding a way to escape an angry village of purported pacifists meant that Tatalia's plan needed to be really good and really successful really soon.

---

_{1. Flash Enchantment (Dagger); 2. Quick Palm; 3. Quick Speed Potion}

A nervous chuckle escaped the dhampir detective’s lips as he stood awkwardly, his arms still in the air frozen in anticipation.



“Ehehe don't mind little old me”, he stammered, lowering his arms and glancing around wildly observing the crowd around him. He didn’t think about what he’d do after he was cured. He was so focused on getting back to normal that he waved off the earlier thought of this happening. He slowly turned his body the opposite way and raised his right leg ready to start quickly walking away but before that, he already heard Tatalia’s uneasy gratitude get interrupted. He was already expecting the usual talk of divine retribution so wasted no time as he started to sprint forward. Before he could even make it a few steps forward he felt a large flash occur all around them he faintly felt it invade his eyes and stun him for a second. He staggered back for a moment before keeping his eyes closed to recover letting out a loud, “Fuck”.



Suddenly he panicked as he felt someone grab his jacket sleeve wildly trying to break it loose thinking it was the Child of Solaria before relaxing as he heard Tatalia’s voice. He followed her lead still recovering his eyes faintly returning to their original non-blinded state.



“Don’t have to tell me twice”, he yelled as he quickly booked it as quickly as he could. He looked back, noticing that the people, although completely stunned, would soon be on their trail. The man was no athlete nor some sort of physically gifted individual so he wasn’t sure he could keep up the running. He began slowing down and his feet grew tired, oddly enough he missed the horse's body's speed and stamina.



Suddenly he heard Tatalia’s shout and barely was able to react to it, having it almost fall to the floor and break before catching it.



“Got it, be careful next time throwing stuff”, he yelled back as he quickly uncorked the potion and chugged it as fast as he could. He felt a surge of energy go through him as he tossed aside the bottle and yelled, “WOOOOOOOOO”, before quickly running after Tatalia. His body felt incredibly light and speedy as he was barely able to spot the various warriors on their trail, barely able to keep up with following them.