Clara's reasoning instead forces her to surrender...

"No... There is a distinct problem with destroying this servant of the demon lord," Clara was **** to admit to herself, as she hung her head and clutched her amulet tightly. Her mind pleaded for Geod's wisdom in handling this situation, but she found only her own voice answering that urgent request. "If I destroy her, I abandon the other 'trophies' she has collected to their fate... I must follow her back to her forest stronghold if I want to rescue the other victims."

"Ho ho ho ho! That is the face of someone who's resigned themself to their fate! Any last requests before I rid you of your body, priestess? One like that, I can understand you being a little remiss to lose, oh ho ho...!" the knight cackled, raising her huge weapon with her surprisingly bulky knightly arms, which didn't seem to fit her voice.

"Wait! Yes, I do have a request..." The priestess clasped her hands together and fixed the enemy with her glistening blue eyes. "Please... Take me as your captive but leave me my body. I will be much better equipped to serve you if I am not a mere trophy upon your belt..."

"S-Serve me, huh?" The knight spoke thoughtfully, lowering their weapon almost immediately and beginning to stroke the chin beneath their helmet with one hand, a motion that looked especially strange when said head was tucked in the crook of one arm. "Serve me with your body... hmmmm?"

"Yes..."

"I'll allow it! Having a fully assembled human **** might be fun for once, ho ho ho ho!" She sounded like a collector, rejoicing that they'd just gotten a new full-sized figure, while trying not to insult their collection of 1/16th size ones. "Now hop upon my horse!"

"Damn... I should have thought of that..." The bandit's head cursed as it flopped painfully up and down against the tassets of the knight's hip armor. "Fuuuuck, I've got a headache already..."

The knight's "forest stronghold" turned out to be a rather small hut near the center of the forest. It looked perfectly fit for a human hermit, but ill-suited for a huge knight like this one. "This... is not what I expected from a stronghold," Clara remarked quietly, as she carefully dismounted from the tremendous war-horse.

The knight set about stabling the horse and removing the saddle, while clicking her teeth indignantly. "I never said stronghold! My forest dwelling is not some castle or defense... I am a predator, not a defender. I have no need for fancy stone walls to defend me..." Scoffing, the knight next began to remove her armor and hang it on pegs upon the stable's wall. It proved to be quite a process... Still, soon enough, the body was entirely rid of its armor, now clad only in a gray peasant's shirt, brown trousers, and tall, black boots.

... The body was decidedly male.

"Y-You... You were a man all along?" Clara questioned, covering her mouth to try and hide the shock in her voice.

"No, I'm not a man!" The demon sounded indignant as her body took her helmeted head and placed it upon another, smaller body hidden in the back corner of the stable. "That's just my servant. Behold, the noble body of the demon dullahan, the fearsome Calcot!" In hindsight, the real body of the dullahan, after recovering its head, was still... remarkably small and lacking feminine features. Indeed, her body was so under-developed, she reminded Clara most closely of Broomi, the church's confessor / dedicated front porch sweeper. Her breasts were nearly flat upon her chest, barely poking against the billowy black blouse her real body wore. Her hips were more noteworthy, pronounced upon the black-and-red, lacy skirt of a noble woman. Along with her black boots- which seemed to add a few inches in heels- she looked perfectly out of place in the barn. The black, armored helmet only made her look more so.

"Ahem... Helmet," Clara coughed, trying to be respectful.

"A-Ah! Right!" the dullahan gasped, pulling it free and shaking out her long, messy, and bright red hair. She hung the helmet with the rest of the armor, then put on a cheeky grin. "Didn't expect your captor to be so cute, did you? This is the kind of cuteness only the demon lord can grant! Bow before your cute captor!"

Feeling increasingly awkward, Clara bowed to the small girl, who was easily a head shorter than she was. "Miss Calcot...Yes, you are very cute, but if I could be so bold... I wish to see your trophy collection post-haste, to further my awe of your demonic exploits."

"Ho ho ho ho! A fine answer, new servant! Let's go see em!" the dullahan guffawed, streaming blue flames out of the slit in her neck as her head bounced up and down loosely upon her shoulders with the speed of her girlish run.

Inside the stable, the leader of the Band of Ten Thieves growled loudly, with only the headless servant, the horse, and the horse's fresh oats for company. He'd been left hanging at the belt of the heavy armor, dangling irritable and forgotten. "Anybody? I'm Gedd, fuckin' leader of the fucking Band of Ten Thieves! Isn't my head worth putting on your stupid trophy case?!"