Beauty and a beast

"Let’s see," Tara said as she wedged one hand between her legs and used her other to summon the almanac, "according to the map, The City Gates should be -"

"Well, well, well. Lookie here!"

Tara looked up and squeaked at the sight of a group of female thugs standing in front of her. The leader, a tall, muscular and tan Amazon of a woman, stepped forward and looked Tara up and down. "Funny," she said as she licked her lips, "my birthday isn't for another two weeks."

"Well, uh, h-happy early birthday, I guess." Tara chuckled nervously. It was too early for an obstacle on this quest. "Perhaps you nice ladies can point me towards the city gates. I'm supposed to meet someone and -"

"Ah, but of course we can show you!" The Lead Thug said with a chuckle, her two henchwomen snickering behind her. "However, we're not a charity, Love. How about this: We show you the gates, the girls get your jewelry, and I get the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on as my bride? Deal?"

"Uh..." Tara chuckled nervously, not liking where this was going. "A kind offer, Ma'am, really. However, I already have a girlfriend, and I kinda need these for a quest I'm taking part of, so..."

"Are you..." The Lead Thug began, her eyes narrowing. "Are you rejecting me? ME?! Clarisse The Scourge?! The Bandit Queen?!"

"Yes! Now, if you're not gonna help me, I -" Tara yelped as Clarisse stood over her with an enraged glare, the people in the square having stopped to watch in concern.

"Nobody rejects Clarisse The Scourge and lives to tell about it!" Clarisse growled as lightning crackled from her hands.

"I hope this armor actually works!" Tara gulped as she waited for the blow...

"She said she wasn't interested!"

Tara and Clarisse turned to see a redheaded elf with pale skin walk forward and step between the two. She was dressed in a light green tunic and brown pants. The elf towered over Tara, but was only slighty shorter than the Amazon in front of her. However, this did not deter the glare in her emerald green eyes.

"Do you have any idea who this is?!" The Elf demanded, gesturing to Tara. "This is the chosen one who is destined to save our world from Intectus! And on top of that, she is wearing the legendary Indestructible Armor of Algermor. Just like how you," she gave a sly smirk as she lifted up a small blue pendant in her hand, "were wearing The Pendant of Thor to bully this city into doing whatever you wanted."

Clarisse went wide eyed in surprise as she patted her pants pockets, not feeling the pendant that was now in the elf woman's hand. She growled as she said, "Screw the pendant! I don't need it to pummel you both, you elf freak!"

"Are you sure about that?" The Elf asked, closing her eyes. Opening them again, her eyes took on a yellowish color as her teeth became sharper.

"What the..." Clarisse began in shock as a series of loud cracking came from The Elf.

The Elf was slowly gaining more muscle as brown fur with black spots grew over her body. Her face became more canine in appearance as a loud laugh like noise escaped from her snarling jaws, her nails becoming sharp claws as she grew an entire head taller than Clarisse. Surprisingly, her clothes remained fully intact. The Elf glared down at her with a low growl.

"Uh..." Clarisse squeaked in fear before chuckling sheepishly.

The Former Elf roared as she swiped out with her clawed hands, causing Clarisse to jump back in terror. However, Clarisse's clothes suddenly were reduced to ribbons before falling to the ground at her feet and leaving her in just her boots, exposing her miniscule bug bites and hairy womanhood. And to add insult to injury, the sound of hissing was heard as Clarisse felt the warmth of her fear run down her legs as her bladder emptied, a puddle forming at her feet.

The townspeople laughed at the mortified thug, Clarisse biting her quivering lip as her eyes began to water and her entire body turned red. "MOMMY!" Clarisse cried out as she ran off, bawling loudly in humiliation as she headed towards the city gates.

Her two henchwomen merely blinked as their jaws hung loose at what just happened. However, their blood ran cold as they looked up to see the Elf-Hyena monster let out a growl. Not needing to be told twice, the two henchwomen turned and ran towards the constable's house to turn themselves in.

The crowd exploded in applause and cheering as The Elf Woman slowly turned back to normal, turning back to Tara. "Are you alright, Ms. ...?"

"Tara. And I'm okay, but that was awesome!" Tara exclaimed. "I mean, it was terrifying too, but that was so cool seeing that in real life! What are you? Some kind of... Were-Hyena?"

"I am Emily La Rutherford. I am a wood elf trained in the magical art of shape-shifting." The Elf, Emily, replied with a bow. A second later, she admitted, "Of course, I am half-Gnoll on my father's side. I have come to collect you for our quest, and when you failed to show up at the gates, I went to look for you. Little did I know your heroism lead you to try and free this city from that brat and her goons."

"... Yeah, let's go with that."

"Now come!" Emily exclaimed as she led Tara to the gates to start the beginning of their quest. "We still have four more heroes to collect before we're ready to overthrow Intectus, and our journey will be a long one."

"Well, as long as I can get back home and get dressed afterwards, I don't care how long it takes." Tara said as they exited the gates.

"I do have one question, however."

"Shoot."

"What is the significance of the strange war tattoo you have above your right breast?"

"Ugh! It was a dare I took while I was drunk!" Tara groaned loudly. "Let’s please just drop it! Where are we heading now?"