xanth 40 - isis orb by Piers Anthony

to her.
    Immediately the two were engaged in a hissing, scratching, hair-pulling, bra-snapping, panty-shredding fracas. The three on the path watched, amazed.
    “I don’t believe I have encountered that speech-impaired demoness before,” Zed murmured. “But she is intriguing.”
    “That’s Metria,” Hapless said. “She likes to mess in with interesting things. But she’s another panty-flasher.”
    “Oh?”
    “Polka dots with no cloth in the dots.”
    “That’s really intriguing.”
    “Note that she considers the enchanted path to be her territory,” Feline said, annoyed.
    “Because she has access to it,” Zed agreed.
    Meanwhile the fight continued. Now the demonesses had graduated to dragon forms and were breathing smoke and fire at each other. It seemed to be an even match.
    “Maybe we should move quietly on,” Hapless suggested.
    The others nodded. They left the little tent and walked on along the path, which ended behind them. The tent remained, and the battle, but all else was untrespassed wilderness. There was a faint glow marking the path, so they had no problem staying on it.
    “Please?”
    They paused. It was two children, about age 11, boy and girl, standing just off the path. She had bouncy curly hair, while his was straight.
    “What is it?” Feline asked.
    “Our name is Ari,” the girl said, flouncing her curls cutely. “My brother lost his voice, so he can’t talk; only I can understand him. We’re on a quest to find it.”
    “To find his voice? I’m not sure that’s something you can find by wandering through the forest. You should be home.”
    “Ari can’t go home without his voice. Mom would know we’d been playing where we shouldn’t. Then we’d both be in trouble, maybe even grounded. It’s right here somewhere. Please, will you help us look? It’s not safe to stay out here too long at night, and we’re frightened.”
    Feline looked at the others. “They’re children,” she said, and stepped across the line.
    “No, wait!” Hapless said, as usual too late. He looked at Zed. “I’ve got to help Feline.” Then he dropped his pack and stepped across too.
    The two children morphed into goblins. “Gotcha, fools,” they said together.
    “Oh, bleep!” Feline swore. “We fell for it.”
    “He wasn’t silent at all,” Hapless agreed, chagrined.
    “We’re taking you to the mound for the cook-pot,” the goblins said together. He had a club, while she had a coil of rope. They were closing in on either side.
    “That’s what you think,” Feline said. She became the cat, her claws extended.
    Hapless feared that wouldn’t be enough. He conjured a musical instrument: a trombone. Then he took it apart, taking a bone in each hand. It was a shame to ruin such a fine piece, but this was an emergency.
    Feline pounced on the girl goblin with a screech, tearing at her hair. Hapless swung at the boy goblin, left and right, conking him on the head, bonk bonk! Goblins’ heads were the hardest part of their bodies, so this didn’t really hurt him, but was effective as a demonstration. In only a moment and a half the two were fleeing, defeated. The surprise had been reversed.
    “We make a good team,” Feline said as she resumed girl-form, satisfied. “I’d kiss you, but you might bonk my head.”
    “I bonk only goblins. If he had continued to fight, I would have bonked his feet. That would have hurt him more.”
    “I don’t want my feet bonked either.” She lifted a foot, not quite high enough to show a panty, teasingly.
    They laughed together, then turned back to the path.
    It was gone. There was only untrammeled wilderness. “Uh-oh,” Hapless said.
    “It was more of a trap than we realized. Those goblins may have been simply decoys, setting us up for the real threat.”
    Indeed, now they heard a heavy tromping, as of an ogre approaching.
    “Here.” It was Zed’s voice, close by.
    They both jumped, startled. “I hear you, but I don’t see you,” Hapless