Torch in hand, Mercy made her way silently through the damp moonlit wood. Her nose twitched as she passed yet another moldering corpse. "He should have ducked." She whispered as she toed the still occupied helmet aside. The steel incased head clanked softly against its former body. Four limbs lay several paces in four differing directions. This was the sixth armored body she had passed. The king had sent his six most trusted knights in a bold attempt to rescue his only offspring, Prince Alexis. As Mercy had suspected, the plan had failed.

The leather-clad woman's full bosom rose in pride. Armor was fine if you wanted to show off your youthful manly strength while parading through a village, but she would choose speed any day! Simple but wicked mechanical and magical traps had ended the lives of the king's champions. At a full forty seasons her eyes were still keen and her body still agile enough to win the day. Of course the stench of the dead near each trap had helped too.

There was a soft rustle in the trees ahead. Without thinking, Mercy threw herself to the ground. A blast of flame roared over her prone body. It felt as if she stood too near a smith's forge. Three seconds! Three seconds before the beast could draw another breath and exhale burning death over her. Three seconds was all she needed!

Mercy leapt to her feet and charged the dragon as it entered the clearing. It was unknown where these creatures had come from. Some say they were a folly of the olden times, when man had dared to tamper with the very essence of life itself. Others say they were sent from the pits of hell itself to punish the wicked. Either way, Mercy didn't care. She just knew it was the beast's life or her own! The dim light of the fallen torch flashed on burnished steel as she drew her sword. The Hell beast opened its maw to discharge another blast. The warrior had only one chance. She screamed in wordless rage as she thrust! Her steel plunged deep into that hideous maw! Mercy felt the solid jar and crunch as the blade continued through the back of its throat and severed the beast's spine. Yanking it free, she danced aside as the dragon convulsed in death. Flame erupted as the foul creature twisted and writhed much as a headless chicken running across a farmyard. No chicken was as dangerous as this! Burning death rained everywhere as the dragon died. Thankfully, aside from a large squirrel that happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, the creature only managed to incinerate itself.

"Damnation!" Mercy cleaned her blade with a scrap of cloth as she watched the funeral pyre burn. The scent of the beast's cooking flesh made her mouth water. It was such a crying shame that dragon meat was pure poison to humans! It would have been quite a bonus to be able to increase her supplies. Still, it was better to keep her pack light. Mercy satisfied herself with grabbing the burned squirrel. It hadn't been properly butchered, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

"That Hell spawn beast had the feel of a guard." She muttered softly as she skinned, and then tore the legs from the squirrel to make her dinner. She tossed away the rest of the animal and picked up her torch. "Guarding what though, I wonder?" Eating with one hand, she bit into steaming meat as she followed the dragon's tracks by firelight. Mercy soon discovered just what it was guarding. Wiping squirrel grease from her hands, she stood and studied the stone outcropping before her. Set into the living rock was a massive oaken door. "Now things are getting interesting!"

The warrior knew the risks involved in opening such a door. She had no way of detecting if any spell were placed upon it. Just touching the surface could give the witch warning of her approach. She had come this far. She just had to see this through! Mercy grasped the iron ring and gave a pull. With a squeal of protest, the door slowly creaked open. The air from below was surprisingly cool against her skin as she entered the stone structure. Thrusting her torch forward, she eyed the stairway ahead of her. This must be it. Down in the bowels of the earth was the witch's lair. Why else would there be such a fearsome guardian? Mercy had no option. Down she must go!

The warrior pulled the door shut behind her, and began her decent. The rough-cut stone steps soon gave way to the evenly spaced cast stone of the ancients. She held her light to the dingy white tile of the walls. Mercy was proud of her learning as she made out the lettering. "PATCO?" she wondered. "Just what was a high speed line?" Few people would dare enter those places that still existed from the olden times. Trust a witch to set up her workshop of evil in such a wicked place! Just in case, she made a sign of warding. One never knew what forces still held after all the passing ages!

The stairs came to an end. Wreckage was all around her as Mercy followed footprints through the dust. Someone had come this way recently. Did the witch carry Prince Alexis? While a full grown man of eighteen seasons, he was slight of build. The warrior smiled grimly. How had the gentle lad reacted to being kidnapped right from his own bed? If only the king had listened and permitted her to bed down for the night on the floor of his chamber! If nothing else, six knights would still be in the land of the living!

"It would not be proper!" the king had shouted at her suggestion. "I can not permit a commoner to sleep with my son!"

Mercy sighed. "Highness, you know the stories and rumors about me. I have no interest in men. I would not be tempted into his bed! Now if you had a daughter that shared his beauty, this would be another matter!" her tone softened. "Even you wouldn't keep me away from her."

The king had smiled at that. "Yes, I have heard stories of your conquests among the serving wenches. I hear tell that even the iciest hearted maiden melts at your touch. At least you do not leave my servants heavy with child!" The smile left his face. "I must maintain the appearance of propriety! You may sleep outside of his door, not within! The matter is closed!"

Thus, on the fateful night, Mercy had slept in the corridor outside the Prince's bedchamber. No sound had come from within to alert her to any danger. Never the less, something had taken the lad during the night. The warrior cursed herself despite bearing no blame. When the knights failed to return on the third night after their departure, she had set out on her own.

Mercy had come to the end of a sort of platform. She faced a tunnel that obviously had originally run in two directions. A massive cave-in made the choice of direction simple. She jumped lightly down and eyed the rusted metal rails set into the ground. "Carts must have been pulled along these tracks." They looked very much like the tracks miners used to hail ore from deep within mines. The footprints had ended. "Perhaps the witch has such a cart!"

Onward she went. Unaccustomed fear gripped her heart as the torch's flame guttered and grew weaker. After another hundred paces, the flame went out! Mercy froze as she was plunged into a darkness the likes of which she had never known! Her normally keen eyes could detect not the slightest glimmer of light! She took a shuffling step, and then another. Catching her toe, she pitched forward to land painfully on the rail she had been following. Soft fur brushed her face and the warrior lashed out.

"Let go!" something screamed as Mercy gripped tightly to what felt like some creature's tail. "Let go or by all the demons of Hell, I'll claw the eyes from your face and eat them!"

"What good are eyes in this pit!" she shouted back while squeezing the tail tighter. "Do you think darkness will keep me from gutting you, whatever you are?"

"I don't suppose it would!" There was a sudden glare of light. "My Mistress would be cross if she had to resurrect me again so soon! Now let loose my tail!"

Mercy blinked her dazzled eyes until she could focus on the creature before her. "A talking cat, what demon work is this?"

"That's right! I'm a demon!" The cat spat. "Have a care, human, or I'll rend the soul from your body!"

The warrior regained her feet and glared at the thrashing feline she now dangled by the tail. "Rend away, puss. I believe you would have already if you had such powers!"

The rather lovely black cat twisted and writhed. "Release me!" she screamed. "Release me or my Mistress will destroy the boy!"

Mercy let the cat drop to the ground. It landed gracefully on all four feet. "Where is the Prince!" she demanded as she once again drew her sword.

"Put that dragon tickler away! If you hurt me in any way, the boy will die screaming!" The cat curled around and licked the base of her tail. "You almost maimed me! You almost ruined my beauty! Humans are so cruel!"

"You say that after kidnapping a member of the royalty itself?" The warrior sighed and sheathed her weapon. "Talk cat. I gather you were sent for me?"

The cat continued grooming herself for several minutes before speaking again. "You're smarter then you look, human! My Mistress sent me when your torch was failing." The cat nudged the brilliantly glowing cylinder that lay between them in the dust. "This is a gift for you. Mistress would meet with the woman who faired so much better then all the king's men."

The human picked up the cylinder. A fiercely bright light glared from the flat of one end. The body was clear as glass, but felt odd. Mercy pulled the knife from her belt and tried its edge on the clear cylinder. A sliver curled up as she carefully carved. "This is a tool of the olden times!" she declared, very nearly dropping the object. She peered closely. A much smaller metal cylinder moved freely within. Giving the glowing device a shake made the metal cylinder travel back and forth inside a centrally located coil of hair fine wire that gleamed not unlike her own fiery red locks. She shook it harder. Did the light grow brighter? Yes it did! Shaking it must be the way to renew the spell! Pressing her finger over a stud on the side of the main body made the light vanish with a soft click. Mercy wasted no time pressing again to bring it back.

"Oh bravo!" the cat cheered. "You figured out its function quite quickly! Mistress will be pleased!"

"I care not how pleased your mistress is! My only care is the safe return of the Prince!" She aimed the light at the feline and watched the flame-like reflection of its eyes. "Lead on, cat!"

Tail held high, the cat spun around and strutted gracefully along a metal rail. "Betsy!" she sniffed disdainfully. "You are not to address me as cat!"

"Betsy?" Try as she might, Mercy could not suppress her laughter. "The mighty demon that threatens to rend my soul is named Betsy?"

The tail bristled. "Betsy is a fine name for a demon! It is not cute in the very least! Betsy is a perfectly fitting name for a creature such as me! Is that understood, human?"

"Perfectly, oh mighty demon!" The warrior followed the feline in silence for several paces. "You are not to address me as human. My name is Mercy."

"That's pretty." The cat stiffened. "I mean what a foolish name! How could you dare mock mine with a name like yours? Betsy and Mercy sound almost alike!"

"I call for a truce, fearsome Betsy of the night. I have no quarrel with you!" The human grinned slightly. She rather liked the little fur face. It was just a shame she was in league with the witch! "Just lead me to your mistress."

The cat looked back over one shoulder. "Truce, Mercy. We're nearly there. Extinguish your light and look ahead."

The tunnel turned towards the right. A bright cheery glow came from some point just around the bend. "Is that her lair?" The warrior could not help whispering. "Is that where she holds the Prince?"

"Yes and yes!" The feline sighed. "Mercy, have a care. You amuse my Mistress for the moment. Be on your guard and you will leave this place with your life!"

"We will see who amuses who!" The human stood tall and strode purposefully towards the light. "Witch, I demand an audience with you!"

A woman of indeterminate age turned from her seat before a glowing device atop her workbench and grinned toothlessly. "The woman warrior demands?"

Betsy raced to the hag's side. "Mistress! That is just her way. I am sure she meant no disrespect!"

The witch lashed out and kicked the small creature. "When I want an opinion out of you, I will give you one!"

Mercy gripped the hilt of her sword tightly as she watched Betsy scramble to the safety afforded under the workbench. "Is this how you treat harmless animals?" she demanded. Betsy hissed as if in anger over the harmless animal comment, but Mercy could detect gratitude in the feline's lovely green eyes. "I have come for the Prince!"

The witch dramatically threw back her rag of a cape and stomped across the cavernous room to face Mercy. The creature was a tiny thing. Her shock of snowy white hair only reached eye level with the warrior. "I know why you have come! I may even grant your rude request. As for now," The witch motioned with a hand that looked like old and wrinkled parchment, stained with the marks of advanced age. "You have no need of armaments here!"

Mercy felt her body stiffen as the sword jerked free from her hand and her knife leapt of its own accord from her belt. Both flew slow and stately through the air and came to rest above a wooden tub of water. "Parlor tricks." She stated firmly, hiding the sudden unease she felt as the steel of her weapons began to glow. Within seconds the metal began to flow. Globules of molten steel fell only to make the water hiss and boil.

"I can always refine the steel." The witch explained as the last of the metal splashed. "If you are very good, I shall gift you with new blades that will put your crude weapons to shame!" She returned to her workbench and tapped her fingers on a platter of many small squares below the glowing rectangular panel. "Yes, I think I'll create some fine carbon steel to replace that crude base metal trash you call a blade!" A soft musical tone sounded. "Blast! The power grows weak again!" The witch frantically tapped the squares again and a tinny fanfare played just before the glow faded.

Mercy looked all around, but saw no sign of any windows shutting down. Why would such a message appear on the small panel the witch was staring at? Did it have anything to do with the large tome on the bench inscribed "Windows for Dummies?" She forced herself to relax. "Who are you?" she asked calmly. "What is that object?"

The hag cackled. "The kingdom of Delphia has known me as The Witch of the Wood for generations! You are actually the first to dare ask my name in these last two hundred years! You may call me Lady Amanda." The tiny hag pulled the now dark panel down to click it in place over the section with all the squares. "This is knowledge!" she announced excitedly. "The ancients called it a laptop. This ancient wonder contains more medical information then all the healers in every kingdom on Earth have in their heads! With the library of books and disks I have unearthed, I have used it to re-learn secrets lost for over four thousand years!" The witch pounded the workbench. "I really must make time to recreate lithium ion batteries! The blasted internal battery can no longer hold a charge!" The hag shrugged and pulled wires from the large earthen jugs on the floor next to her bench. "Oh well, lead acid cells work well enough. I'll need fresh acid and more copper to renew the power supply though."

It was a small price to pay for more information. Still, it galled the warrior to address this creature in such a pompous manner. "Lady Amanda, what is your reasoning for kidnapping the Prince?"

"Four thousand years ago, a great Citadel stood above where we now stand. Those that dwelled there claimed it was a city of brotherly love. From the fragments of information I have gathered from it's downfall, and other Citadels like it, it was destroyed in a single instant! What type of love is that? The fools used nuclear weapons! Who started it, I do not know. I do know that every kingdom capable joined in. They unleashed hellish forces found only within the sun itself to wipe themselves out utterly! What good is conquering your foe if you poison the very land you want to claim for your own? What good is using a weapon so fearsome, if your enemy also will use his? No land was left untouched by this man made firestorm! No matter. The fools did leave me a gift."

The witch jumped up and moved with surprising speed to a rough wall that stretched across the back of the tunnel. She whipped a curtain aside. "See all these old and musty volumes? They lay forgotten and safe all these centuries until someone found this underground complex of tunnels and tracks. Their knowledge is mine! I have brought all I could find and build a library the likes this world has not seen since that foolish civilization fell! I have studied them along with the laptop for decades to reach my level of skill!" As far as the eye could see, the tunnel was lined with endless shelves of books. The warrior had never seen so many in one place before! "The time of learning has ended! Now I begin to add my own knowledge to the library!" the witch grabbed Mercy's arm and tugged. "Come along! I must show you my masterpiece!"

The warrior let herself be lead across the cavern. The witch released her arm and tugged another curtain aside. There finally, was the Prince. The youth was strapped tightly, wrist and ankle to a gleaming metal table. His slender nude body writhed as if suffering the pains of Hell itself! Mercy considered herself to be battle hardened, but what she was in time to witness made her feel ill! As Prince Alexis twisted and moaned something unspeakable happened. His penis sloughed off! The organ fell free to land with a wet splash of blood on the metal tabletop. The warrior watched in horror as the blood flowed down a drain so obviously placed there for just that purpose! The testicles were soon to follow. First the sack slipped free with a small splat. Finally one then the other manly jewel joined the phallus in its pool of bloody gore.

"You neutered him!" Muscles tensed and strained as a killing rage overcame her. Try as she might, Mercy could not move! "You sick filthy creature! You destroyed him!"

The self-proclaimed Lady Amanda laughed. "Nothing as crude as a neutering I assure you!" The hag hurried forward and picked up the fallen penis. "This doesn't look like much now. I wonder if he'll even miss it." The insane woman collected the testicles and their sack too, tossing them phallus and all carelessly into a brightly burning brazier. "Now keep watching. The Prince is dead. Long live the Princess!"

Mercy tried to ignore the scent of roasting flesh. It smelled much like a suckling pig on a spit. This time the aroma made the bile rise to burn the back of her throat. She could not tear her eyes from the open bloody gash between the Prince's legs. "Heavens preserve us!" she muttered as the raw meat began to shift and change. "Lips?" she gasped. "He, he's growing a, a vagina?"

"Of course!" Amanda applauded herself. "Did you think I was some simple butcher? Behold my masterwork!"

The form was more distinct now. The raw bloody look was fading as clean healthy flesh grew. Mercy felt her face grow warm as she gazed on an absolutely perfect flower of womanly love. "Why?" she breathed. "Why shame him like this?"

"No shame! I have brought about his betterment!" The witch motioned to Alexis' chest. "Watch carefully now!"

She knew what was coming next. The hips of the slender youth had already started to widen. Shifting her gaze higher, Mercy watched as the small nipples of a man grew and blossomed into those of a young woman. Now the chest itself was changing. The bosom filled out and swelled. The warrior hated herself for feeling a slight twinge of pleasure when the growth ceased at what she considered to be a pleasant handful. The last change she could detect was when the throat of the youth lost its tell tale bulge and took on a more smooth an supple appearance. Oddly, the face remained much the same. The wispy goatee that Alexis was so proud of had fallen out. The fine golden hairs had sprinkled over the smooth flesh and fallen to the metal table.

A sob escaped Mercy's lips. The handsome young man was gone! In his place was a winsome flaxen-haired beautiful maiden! "Why?" she cried again. "How did you manage this foul deed?"

"Magic my dear!" The witch laughed. "My magic has unlocked all the secrets of the ancient ones! Where they took years of probing, trial, error, and just plain guessing, I can perform a masterpiece in just hours! They had a vast study effort called "The Human Genome Project" Once I discovered this from the old knowledge; I was able to use my gift of sight to see into the very essence of life itself! It was child's play to convince every Y chromosome in his body to become an X! I then merely gave him the required energy to force his organs to change and grow. Behold the result!"

"Change him back!" Mercy managed to take a small shuffling step towards the filthy witch. "For pity's sake, restore his maleness before he awakes!"

"Not so fast! This is where leverage comes to play!" The hag shoved Mercy back. The warrior fell to the floor. "Imagine just how much land the king would grant to have his simpering boy restored to him! I will settle for nothing less then half the kingdom! Remember, I can create all manner of weapons to drive my point home"

"He would never agree!" Mercy didn't doubt that for a moment. The king had a thing for propriety. Nothing about this was proper! He would consider his son dead and wage war! "I'll kill you myself rather then let the kingdom be plunged into war against magic!"

"You, kill me? I think not!" Once again the witch lashed out a boot. Mercy saw stars when the boot connected with the side of her head.

"Mercy, please wake up!" soft fur rubbed against her cheek. "I know well the hardness of her boot, but please wake up!"

The warrior moaned. "Fierce Betsy?" she muttered as the world spun back into being. "How long was I out?"

"Two hours, maybe more! Mistress grew tired of waiting and went to gather firewood. She won't be back for some time." The feline butted her face against the humans. "I was worried about you! I told you to be on your guard! Mistress isn't amused by you any more!"

"The feeling is quite mutual!" The warrior sat up on the straw filled pallet and looked around the cage that surrounded her. One thing became obvious immediately. "The witch stripped me? Why in heavens did she remove my leather?"

The cat looked frightened. "Mistress used her sight on you! She said she was gifting you with what a lover of other women and a warrior of your years so clearly wanted!" The petite cat seemed agitated. "She thinks you will be beholden to her. She thinks you will become her creature, like I am!"

Anger burned the fear from Mercy's heart. "Not much chance of that, Betsy of the darkness!" What had the foul witch meant? The warrior looked down at her body and froze. The scars! The scars of many years of battle were fading! "That filthy monster!" Mercy wore her scars with pride. They were a record of battles fought and won! Several healers had offered to lesson or remove the worst of them. She had only laughed that they thought her so vain. "How dare she remove the chapters of my life like this?" That's when she noticed her hands. The lines of age had faded too! "Betsy! What is happening to me?"

The cat flinched. "Mistress has undone the ravages of time for you. She calls it complete cellular regeneration. Mistress claims any woman would trade her soul for such a gift!" Betsy slowly backed away in fear. "Mercy, I told her you were too strong and just for such a tactic to work! She doesn't listen to me!"

The warrior's eyes opened wide as her bosoms slowly rose on her chest until they rode firm and high as they did when she was a mere girl. She closely examined the smooth supple flesh of her arms and legs. She pulled the long leather tie from her hair and shook the thick mane free. Look hard as she might, she could see none of the invading strands of silver that had been slowly building over the years. Her hair was the uniform blazing flame red she remembered it being when she was..."Eighteen?" she asked softly. "Am I really eighteen again?"

Betsy had burrowed under a pile of straw. "That's what she said she was aiming for! Please don't blame me!"

"No blame falls to you, demon-spawn Betsy!" She clenched her fists. "As for your mistress, she will pay!"

The cat peeked out of the straw that hid her. "Mercy, she granted you another gift! I am so sorry!"

Before she could answer, pain burned deep in her guts. She fell back on the pallet and cried out. "What else?" she gasped as her insides squirmed.

The cat raced forth and sprang up to join the fallen warrior. A raspy pink tongue licked the human's cheek in an offer of comfort. "Something a lover of women would welcome! She gave you a prod of your very own!"

Mercy traced her fingers over the center of the pain. A hard lump was rapidly growing about an inch over her sex. "No!" she screamed when understanding dawned. "Being made a monster is no gift I would welcome!" She groaned and writhed, as the lump grew bigger.

"I know it hurts!" Betsy cried, remembering the long ago pain in her head that brought understanding, speech and cognitive thought. "It will ease soon! I promise it will be over soon!"

The lump was now nearly as big as her fist. "Knife!" she gasped through gritted teeth. "Get me a blade!"

The cat ran as if the demons of Hell were hot on her heels and slipped effortlessly through the bars of the cage. "Hold on Mercy! Please hold on!" It seemed like hours, but the cat returned only moments later. A tiny but gleaming knife was gripped carefully in her teeth. "Scalpel!" she announced as she dropped it into the human's hand. "It is very clean and sharp!"

Mercy was panting as she gripped the tiny blade. Before she could think to change her mind, she acted! Moving swiftly, she traced the blade around the huge blister of tightly stretched skin. A gout of blood burst free as something long pushed its way into the open air. "It's not all out!" the warrior cried as she forced her fingers down along the base of the bloody shaft. Squirming and moaning, she freed the two other objects trapped under her skin. "The worst is over." She gasped as she could finally still her straining body.

The little black cat shivered. "I, I thought you would cut it off!"

Mercy sighed. "Couldn't risk that." She hid the little blade carefully amid the straw. "A male's organ has a vast blood supply. I would have surely bled to death if I did!" She sat up and dared to look between her legs. What had she become? Her own sex remained. Her questioning fingers confirmed that. Now she also sported the shaft and balls of a man! She felt ill as she examined the gore-covered organ. Why had the witch done this to her? Did she think this cursed thing would please her? Such organs had never interested her before. Why in Hell would she want one of her own? She staggered to her feet and headed for the corner of her cage. The warrior shivered as she poured a bucket of cold water over the bloody thing. It looked no better clean.

Betsy wandered over and inspected her friend's new addition. "That is what will please women?" she asked innocently. "That is the second one I have seen, but I still don't understand the attraction." The cat sniffed in disdain. "It looks like a sausage. Why would women like you with a sausage thing sticking out of your body? Yours is bigger then the Prince's was though."

"Surely you jest. Haven't any toms come sniffing around your furry little tail?" Mercy poked the thick shaft and shuddered. Yes, she felt that quite plainly. "Haven't you wanted one to cover you and give you kittens?"

The feline sighed. "No, Mercy. I was born underground. In all of my fifty seasons, I have never been to the surface. I gather toms mean cats that are boys. I never met any of those. The only other four-legs I ever see are mice." The cat cheered considerably and licked her chops. "At least the eating is good down here!"

The now young warrior eyed her feline companion. "Fifty seasons? I gather the witch has worked her age spell on you too."

"Of course. She claims two years is the optimum age for a prime mouser like me." Betsy sighed. "My lot in life is to keep rodents out of her lair. I fear it will be a very long one."

Mercy smiled kindly. "Would you like to see the world up above? Would it interest you to meet any of those toms I mentioned?"

Betsy paused in her seemingly never ending grooming. "Kittens? If only I could!" A note of longing entered her voice. "If you escape, can, can you take me with you?"

Mercy knelt and stroked the sleek black fur of her friend. "Betsy of the demon realm, I swear on my honor to not only escape, but to free you and the Prince!"

Soft purring filled the air. "I'm not really a demon, you know. Mistress reworked my brain so human like capacity would fit in my skull. Then, of course, my lifespan had to be augmented so she wouldn't have to keep creating other's like me. She then gave me the organs of speech. I think that was mainly so she could hear me praise her." Betsy sighed. "I'm no demon. I'm only Mistress's first successful biology experiment."