Cara spat out what seemed to be an endless supply of dirt from her mouth. Clouds of dust stung at her eyes, making it impossible to see. Her head rang like a bell, and her whole body felt sore, but she was just glad to be alive after the explosion.
Cara was a paladin, a holy knight in service to Goddess of the Dawn. For the last three weeks, she had been traveling with three fellow adventures, trying to vanquish a dark evil that had befallen the realm of Athenford.
The party had been founded by a halfling bard by the name of Melessi, who had a habit of telling bawdy jokes that Cara often frowned out. She'd recruited the powerful orc barbarian Mokor, who largely kept to himself, something Cara appreciated. The last member of their party, and in Cara's eyes, least, was a demonspawn by the name of Harci, who had a habit of triggering traps.
Cara had been wary of Harci from the start. Cara had been so sure that Harci was evil incarnate. How could she not? Harci was short and slender, her skin bright red, her two small curled horns, and her tail, long and menacing, ending in a heart shaped spike. It had taken a minor miracle for Melessi and Mokor to stop Cara from smiting her on the spot.
As they had travelled, Cara had realized that Harci wasn't evil. No, not evil, just a cursed menace. The girl was clumsy, naïve, and completely lacked discipline of any kind. She often fell asleep during watch, or wandered off during a mission, her fancy caught by some shiny object. And now, it appears, she set of some sort of fireball that had nearly killed them all.
"Is everyone okay?" Cara called out.
"I-I'm fine," Melessi called out, followed by a coughing fit. "I hurt my hands, but I'll make it back to camp. Mokor's alive, but he's out cold,"
Cara let out a sigh of relief. She could hear someone moving on the opposite side of the room from where Melessi's voice came from. It was where Harci had been standing.
"Harci, what did you do this time?" Cara called out.
"That's not fair!" Harci replied. "Every time something goes wrong, you always think it's my fault."
"Did you set off the trap?"
"...Yes...but it wasn't my fault!" Harci whined.
Cara put a hand on her face in aggravation. " We need to get back to camp and rest up. If those ogres find us, we'll be an easy target with Mokor and Melessi hurt. Can you just come over here?"
"I can't," Harci said.
"Why not?"
"I'm...I'm stuck."
"Stuck how?"
"It's...it's my tail...just come help me, please?" Harci begged.
Cara muttered a curse under her breath as she made her way to Harci. The room was starting to settle, and she could see Harci, sitting on the ground. The petite demon girl seemed to be pouting. The fire and blast had shredded her close, exposing her skin, from her cleavage, to her toned stomach, to her shapely calves.
Cara could immediately see her problem, too. Sitting next to Harci where the ruined remains of a metal contraption, one that Cara had ordered Harci not to meddle with. Before the explosion, it had looked like a fine tuned machine, a work of cogs and metal pipes that were clearly the work of some master engineer, a machine that worked to some end Cara could not comprehend.
After the explosion, the machine was pile of worthless broken metal. Harci's tail was interwoven through the various pipes. It had even gotten stuck, wrapped around itself and a metal pipe near the heart shaped spike at the end.
Cara stood over Harci and said, "I told you not to touch it!"
"I know," Harci pouted, "But I saw a trap and thought I could disarm it. I wanted to be the hero for once..."
"Well you almost killed us all!" Cara shouted.
"I know, I'm sorry" Harci whined.
"Look, just, stay still. I think I can free your tail, I just need to grab it and unwrap it here."
"No!" Harci shouted.
"No?"
"No, you can't touch my tail! No one can touch my tail. The only person who can touch my tail is my...my..."
"your what?"
"It doesn't matter. Not you. Look, if someone has to touch it, can't it be Mokor?"
"Mokor is unconscious, and Melessi hurt her hands. You choices are me, or stay here and die. Which is it,"
Harci seemed to seriously consider 'Stay and Die', but she eventually conceded. "Just, be gentle, okay?"
"Sure," Cara said.
Cara reached her hand into the metal pipes carefully. As she did, the back of her hand grazed part of Harci's tail.
"Ooooh," Harci whimpered.
"What, am I hurting you?" Cara asked.
