literature

The Ring of Power

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The Ring of Power

The times were grim. The evil Overlord Bob was extending his tyrannical reach farther with every day. Many heroes have gone to stop his evil, but all of them failed, most being transformed into various female forms and becoming a part of his household. There seemed to be nothing that could defeat the dark ruler and save the land, but there were some who were determined to keep trying.

The master wizard, Standoff, was one of those who wished to see the downfall of Overlord Bob, but he was wise enough to see a direct confrontation would be futile. One of his colleagues had attempted to defeat Bob, now she was a bunny girl magician who would rather use her magic to give stage performances than any true wizardry. Standoff certainly didn’t want to lose his dignity or his manhood. A stealthier means of defeating Bob was in order.

That’s why Standoff has summoned the two hobbits. Fraudo and Scamwise were known to be among the best burglars in their trade, being able to sneak into almost any secure place without anyone noticing them. There were rumors that a Halfling rogue who had attempted to steal from Bob’s treasury, but Standoff wasn’t quite sure what became of him, or probably ‘her’ now. Still, hobbits were more reliably than Halflings, having less human greed.

“This mission is of great importance,” said Standoff to the two hobbits, “The fate of the world could be tipped whether you succeed or fail. This might be the only way to defeat Bob.”

“So what kind of weapon do you expect us to steal from him?” asked Fraudo.

“I’m not asking you to steal. In fact, it’s the opposite,” said Standoff, “I’m asking you to return something to where it came from.”

“Why would you want to do that?” asked Scamwise.

“To destroy it,” said Standoff before placing a small object on the table in front of them. It was a gold ring, completely unadorned except with the engraving of an odd symbol: a circle that was only broken by a small line at the top. “This is the Ring of Power,” said Standoff, “One of Overlord Bob’s most precious possessions.”

“If it’s that precious, then how did you get it?” asked Fraudo.

“That’s not important,” said Standoff in a slightly annoyed voice, “We know not its full capabilities, but we know it powers one of the most important machines in Bob’s arsenal. As such, it must be destroyed.”

“Then can’t you just blast it with lightning or something?” asked Scamwise.

“No, this ring was created using much power. Only Overlord Bob’s infernal furnace has the necessary power to destroy it. So what you must do is infiltrate his castle, descend to his basement, find the furnace, and throw it in.”

“Sounds simple enough,” said Fraudo, “But how are we supposed to find our way to the furnace?”

“There is someone who has been under Bob’s castle. Someone who can be your guide,” said Standoff before gesturing at a door. It opened and a rather ugly little creature came through it. He was humanoid, about the same size of the hobbits. But he was skeletally lean, had bulbous eyes and large disc-like ears, and barely had any hair on his head. The only thing he wore was a rather filthy loincloth. “This is Gottem,” said Standoff, “He has roamed Bob’s dungeon for many years. He knows its layout like the back of his hand.”

“I don’t like the look of him,” said Scamwise immediately, “Everything about him says ‘sneak’.”

“He’s been trapped in an overlord’s dungeons for years,” said Fraudo, “Who knows how much his mind has been twisted?”

Gottem approached the table, eyeing the ring on it. “Ooh…pretty shiny…” he said in a high-pitched voice as he reached for it.

Standoff rapped him on the knuckles and said, “It’s not for you. It’s meant for disposing in Overlord Bob’s furnace.”

Gottem hissed and said, “Gottem not wants go back to nasty place…”

“There will be treasure if you go,” said Standoff.

“Gottem will take pretty shiny,” said Gottem eagerly.

“No, you will guide these two so they may dispose of the ring,” said Standoff, pointing at Fraudo and Scamwise.

Gottem narrowed his eyes and said, “Hobbitses will slow Gottem down…”

“We can keep up,” said Fraudo, “Just take us to where the furnace is. You’ll have nothing else to worry about.”

Scamwise narrowed his eyes. “I’m keeping an eye on that thing.”

---

Unknown to any of them, Overlord Bob had left a spying spell attached to Gottem. He did that with all his prisoners. And it was a very well-hidden spying spell so that others like Standoff couldn’t find it. Bob had been flipping through his various spying networks until he stopped at Gottem’s and learned all about the plot to destroy the Ring of Power.

Most overlords would fly into a rage and declare war just to retrieve their lost artifacts. But the Ring of Power was less important than Standoff thought. Yes, it did power one of Bob’s machines, but it was not irreplaceable. The only reason he didn’t have it was because the stupid delivery service mixed up the packages. (Memo to self: take vengeance on delivery service.) And while it was possible to get another Ring of Power, it was too much effort when the ring he had ordered was being brought to him.

However, the hobbits would be a problem. Especially the extra-twisted Gottem that got out of his dungeon. He was going to have to do something to keep his ring from being destroyed. As well as keep the sticky-fingered little runts from snatching any of his treasure. So Overlord Bob went to his collection of scrolls from the Overlord’s Guide to Classes and Races and How to Deal with Them collection. They have been very useful in dealing with all the other heroes that have come after him. Eventually, he found the right scroll on the ‘H’ shelf and read it.

“Hobbits- short little weirdos with hairy feet, not to be confused with dwarves. Hobbits are shorter than dwarves and tend to lack beards. They are also not as susceptible to greed or corruption, excluding the exception that’s twisted and deformed. They are very good at sneaking into places without being noticed, making them good burglars. Tempting them with treasure usually doesn’t work, but their devotion to their job can make them singled-minded and obsessive. Finding a way to turn that obsession to your favor would be your best option.”

Overlord Bob thought it over. He was nothing if not resourceful. He had dozens of artifacts that he could use as traps for adventurers which had an uncanny knack of fitting what he needed right now. The Tri-Ring would useful against those would-be thieves.

---

Having been in the dungeons for years, Gottem knew everything about them, including where all the secret entrances and exits were. The small trio were walking past a corridor of cells, most of them empty. “Doesn’t Bob keep any prisoners?” asked Fraudo.

“Most not prisoners long,” said Gottem, “Bob twists them into pretty things and takes them upstairs.”

“How comes he never did anything with you?” asked Scamwise suspiciously.

“Gottem too lowly for notice,” said Gottem.

“Scam, lighten up on the poor thing, would you?” asked Fraudo.

“I don’t like him,” said Scamwise stubbornly, “He’s leading us into a trap, I know it.”

“He has no loyalty to Bob,” said Fraudo before asking Gottem, “How much further to the furnace?”

“Still long,” said Gottem, “Bob not keeps hot place close to cellses.”

“Course he doesn’t,” grumbled Scam.

The three of them continued until they came upon an empty room. Suspiciously empty as it was spacious but nothing in it except for torch sconces. But then, the light caught on something. On the floor were three triangular rings, each made of gold. “Ooh, pretty shiny,” said Gottem, immediately going for the ring on the left.

“Hey, we’re on a job, you little creep,” said Scamwise, though he was immediately grabbing the ring on the right.

“Scam, lay off of him,” said Fraudo as he picked up the center ring, “Let’s just go-”

Suddenly, all three rings started glowing. In a flash, they disappeared from their hands and reappeared around their necks, larger than they were before. Then a magnetic force yanked all three of them together until the rings clicked together to form a larger triangle. The three hobbits tried to pull themselves free. Fraudo was in the center with Gottem on his left and Scamwise on his right.

“Oh now look what he’s gotten us into!” snapped Scamwise.

“Not Gottem’s fault!” snapped Gottem.

“Will you two just cut it out!” snapped Fraudo.

Their arguing would soon be made moot as the rings started working weird magic on their bodies. Their shoulders soon merged together as everything below them began blurring together into a single humanoid shape. However, their body was also becoming a lot taller than a hobbit’s, larger than the three of them combined even. There was also a clear change in race as brown fur started to appear as the hands and feet became paws and a furry tail grew out. The clothing they wore also melted together before they became darker. They clung tightly to their body, which served better to emphasize their growing feminine figure.

Before long, the hobbits were now three heads joined to a very different body. It was clearly that of some type of dog woman, with a curvy muscular figure that was wearing black leather armor. The armor was very form-fitting and showed off plenty of brown-furred skin. Then the triangular rings around their neck stopped glowing before shrinking down, changing color, texture, and hardness. Quite soon, they were now each wearing spiked dog collars, each with a tag that had their first initial on them.

But the magic hadn’t settled there. Now the hobbits’ heads were being affected. The first change was their hair growing a lot longer. In Gottem’s case, it became a lot fuller and more luscious, though he was probably not a blond beforehand. “Gottem feels, like, kinda funny…” said Gottem, his voice changing a lot as his eyes became bluer.

“Grr… this is your fault,” growled Scamwise, his teeth becoming sharper as his face started to push out into a muzzle, “You had to touch the ring.”

“Girls…I mean guys…we need to…focus…” said Fraudo with difficulty as the brown fur started extending up their necks.

But focusing was impossible as the magic altered their minds as well at their heads. As their faces became more canine, their personalities changed, becoming less interested in stealing than guarding. They were also thinking a lot more femininely and what loyalty they had to Standoff was erased as they became totally devoted to Overlord Bob.

When the magic completed, the female Cerberus warrior stood tall and proud. Her three heads were very different: the blonde ditzy Getcha, the calm, logical raven-haired Frieda, and the easily-irked and quarrelsome Scamantha. The three of them had no interest in the treasure in this dungeon. Their main concern right now was to take the ring back to where it belonged.

---

Overload Bob looked up expectedly as the door to his dungeon opened and the Cerberus warrior walked out. She marched right over to Bob and placed the Ring of Power into his outstretched hand.

“Your ring, sir,” said Frieda.

“Did we, like, do good?” asked Getcha.

“Can we go already?” growled Scamantha.

“You’ve done well,” said Bob, “Go patrol the halls and familiarize yourself with the staff.” The Cerberus nodded her three heads before walking off. Once she was gone, Bob finished reading the rest of his scroll;

“Once hobbits have been repurposed to serve you, you’ll find that they will make effective watchers. If they retain their knowledge, they’ll know the best places to keep an eye on for other thieves. Though they may lose their concentration if they are distracted.”

Bob made a mental note to make sure musical intruders wouldn’t get past his new watcher so easily, though that seemed unlikely after word of what happened to the last bard who intruded spread. But now it was time to turn towards matters more important.

Getting up from his throne, Bob walked over to a small box that had his crystal ball placed on top of it. He placed the Ring of Power into a specially-designed circular groove in the front of the box. As soon as it was inserted, a green symbol matching the one on the ring appeared with the enclosed circle. Bob pressed on the symbol before walking back to his throne. As he sat back down, a holographic screen appeared, showing a battlefield that showed several enemies. Bob picked up his game controller and quickly started dealing with those enemies.

As Overlord Bob played, he could feel his stress unwind. He had been waiting weeks to play this game and that stupid wizard nearly cost him several more weeks before he could enjoy it. He’ll have to do something about Standoff at some point to keep that annoying mage from getting in his way. Perhaps Usa could use a new lovely assistant.
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Will-Reierson's avatar
I just got as far as 'the Evil overlord Bob' and cracked up. This is amazing xD