\n And part three.  I hope you will enjoy it.

\n As always, comments are apprecaited and requested.

\n -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

\n Continued from part two...

\n The first thing I perceived when my mind came back to itself, was Sarah's scent, and her delightful presence, pressed against my chest. For a few moments, through the fog of sleep, I perceived nothing else, and remembered nothing else. The only thing that intruded upon my serenity was an odd warm feeling within me, something akin to absolute satisfaction but so much more as well. And, as I came back to myself, I understood what it was. I was with my mate, and as long as I with her, I would be happy, I would feel like this. Smiling and keeping my eyes closed, I cuddled closer to her, pulling her nearer as she slept on beside me, her warmth the only thing that concerned me. And then, gradually, as wakefulness weakened sleep's hold on my mind, details began to come back, things I had forgotten while sleeping. First off, I was still a wolf, and more than that, we were still tied. There was something about that thought that I felt should have concerned me, but my sleep-clouded mind remained blissfully ignorant of what it was. My next thought was to consider just how long we had been like this. Surely it couldn't have been very long. Surely my knot would have shrunk after a few minutes and I would have been able to pull out. Gently tugging my hips backward told me that I was still solidly locked within her.

\n Drawing in another slow breath filled with the scent of my lover, I opened my eyes, finding that while the bedroom was dark, obviously the middle of the night, I could see everything with perfect clarity, as if it was still light out. And then, as I considered the sleeping form of my mate against me, nestled deep in my thick fur, I realized what I knew should have been bothering me about still being a wolf. Although we both had tomorrow, (or was it today?), off of work, I would have to go back sometime. There was no way I could walk into work looking like this. Sighing gently, I tried half-heartedly to find an edge to the mask once more, to find some way to take it off, but no such luck. And then, suddenly, a hint of light, not the cool blue-grey of the coming dawn, but wild, glowing green, flashed out of the corner of my eye. Turning my head, I saw that it was emanating from above my dresser and I suddenly felt like kicking myself. I had completely forgotten about the paper that had been stuck to the bottom of the mask. And though it wasn't written in English, I had a Gaelic dictionary on my bookshelf. Maybe I could translate it well enough to understand. Maybe it had the answers. Of course, it wasn't like I could go get it right this second anyway. Laying my head back down on the pillow, I took a breath and let my concern go. It wasn't important. I had at least a day to figure that out.

\n Finally, after laying in silence for a few minutes, I felt Sarah begin to stir, murmuring and snuggling closer under my arms. Grinning mischievously, I played my fingertips along her exposed side, making her shiver. A few moments later, she opened her eyes and turned her head, glaring at me with her eyes twinkling.

\n "Do you mind?" She whispered, her tone playful, "I am trying to sleep."

\n "Sorry." I replied, not stopping my gentle tickling. "Didn't realize I was disturbing you."

\n "Yeah, I bet you didn't, you bad wolf you." She teased, settling back into place, her gaze finally catching the bulge in her belly. "Are we still...?"

\n "Yep." I replied, hugging her close once more, nuzzling her head.

\n "How long have we been asleep?" She asked, smiling.

\n "I don't know." I said, giving her ear a gentle lick, making her giggle.

\n "You sure are affectionate like this." She stated, pushing back against me as I nuzzled her once more, planting gentle kisses on her neck and shoulder every so often. "Not that I am complaining, mind you."

\n "Um, Sarah?" I began, after a few minutes of tender cuddling in silence. "Do you remember me telling you how I got like this?"

\n "Vaguely." She replied, looking back over her shoulder at me. "I had other things on my mind at the time, if you recall."

\n "Right, well," I said, stopping my affectionate ministrations for a moment. "What I forgot to mention is that there was parchment piece on the back of the mask that might have some answers. Its over there on the bureau."

\n "And..?" she replied, pushing back against me once more, encouraging me to go back to nuzzling and kissing her. "I am not gonna move, not while we are stuck together. Speaking of that, do you have any idea how long this is supposed to last?"

\n "Not a clue." I answered, relenting to her gentle encouragement. "It can't be too much longer."

\n "'kay." She said, smiling once more. "I am in no hurry."

\n As it turned out, it was another fifteen minutes until I felt my knot start to shrink, the bulge in her belly vanishing as my body finally decided to calm down. It still took another minute or two before I could pull out of her, but when I finally did, it was accompanied by a sudden gush of our mixed fluids from her, the sight of which, for some reason, made us both start giggling. Still laughing, Sarah turned over so she faced me once more, wincing a bit.

\n "I am going to be sore tomorrow, I can tell." She said, laughter in her voice as she snuggled close to my chest ruff once more. We held each other and laughed together for another minute or so before we were able to get a hold of ourselves.

\n "Well, what are we gonna do now?" I asked, and she giggled once more, unable to hold it in.

\n "Well, I am going to take a shower and clean up," She replied. "And while I am doing that, you can change the sheets. You kinda made a mess."

\n "Me?!" I asked indignantly, "It was your idea."

\n "Yes, you." She answered, giving me a kiss. "But not right this second. I am comfy." I smiled at her and settled back into her embrace. She began to trace the white patterns in my fur with her fingers and I shivered, still very sensitive. "You know, these are really pretty. I wonder how they were formed. I especially like this one." As she said this, she reached up and traced the trinity on my forehead, and another shiver ran through me, a shiver that was something more than the tickle of her fingers. A second later, I felt a shudder run through my entire body and I instinctually shifted back from Sarah. I suddenly felt cold, and I realized my fur was vanishing, as if growing in reverse, revealing human skin beneath it. Even as my fur retracted into my skin, I experienced another, very disconcerting sensation when my tail was sucked back into my body like a piece of spaghetti, the added muscle fading away in the same instant, leaving me my normal self once again. And then, after a few moments of stubbornly clinging to me, the mask fell from my face, landing face up on the comforter. For a moment, we both lay there, staring at the mask, then we looked up at each other in disbelief.

\n "That's it?!" I cried, staring at the mask incredulously, as if it could understand me. "That is all I had to do to take it off?" Sarah immediately started laughing and I glared at her.

\n "I'm sorry, but that is too funny!" She said, putting a hand to her mouth to stifle the giggles (rather unsuccessfully).

\n "You have no idea how much of a panic attack I had when I heard you coming and I couldn't take it off." I stated, picking up the mask and glaring at it as if the whole thing had been its fault. The mask was just plain, ordinary wood once again, still carved in its perfect likeness of a wolf. Except for one thing. Almost imperceptibly, the mask's shape had changed, taking on a look almost like smug satisfaction. Sighing, I tossed the mask back onto the pillow and sat up. "Well that is annoying. Might as well get up now I guess."

\n "I guess." Sarah replied, reaching up to the headboard for some tissues and wiping herself with them. "Why don't you get a fresh comforter from the closet, then you can join me in the shower."

\n "Okay." I replied, hauling myself up to my feet once more.

\n Placing the mask on the top of the bureau as I passed, I set about replacing the comforter on the bed, listening as Sarah went into the bathroom and started the water in the shower. Hurrying a little, I tossed the new comforter haphazardly over the bed and then tossed the stained one into a laundry basket before heading towards the bathroom. I had always looked forward to this as well after we loved. There was just something about bathing together that was...sensual, I suppose. But, as I passed the bureau, the piece of parchment suddenly lifted off the top, borne upon the breeze caused by my passage and plastered itself to my chest, making me pause, sighing. Peeling the page off my chest, I glanced down and then paused in mid step, my jaw falling open. The page had not changed, the ogham letters still written in the strange, glistening emerald ink that made it seem as if it were wet, even though they were bone dry. And yet, it, or perhaps I, had changed. I was still staring at it a few minutes later, when Sarah came back out of the bathroom looking for me.

\n "You coming?" She asked, touching my shoulder. When she saw what I was looking at, she came around to my side, looking at it as well. "That is ogham right, the tree language?"

\n "Yes." I said, my voice coming out distant in my disbelief, my eyes flicking back and forth across the page once more. "This is a message written in Gaelic."

\n "And..?" She prompted.

\n "And I can read it." I replied, looking up from the page at last. Sarah looked at me for a moment, confused.

\n "But I thought you didn't speak Gaelic." She said.

\n "Well, I don't, but I can understand this." I explained. "It says 'If you are reading this, than you have worn the mask I have provided. If I am right, then you have already trusted the instinct I sensed in you and enjoyed my gift and all it has to offer. But, before you go much further, there are a few things that your instincts can't tell you that you should know about my gift. First, if you haven't yet figured out how to take it off, simply trace the trinity and it will free itself from you. Secondly, you must take care with where and when you use it. It would not be a good thing if someone was to see you and cause a panic. Thirdly, now that you have worn it, the mask will be bound to you, only working for you, and the transformations will not be nearly so jarring. In fact, they can be quite enjoyable after the first time. And lastly, you will soon find that the gifts of your new form will be yours for as long as you live, even if you never wear the mask again. Have fun, my young friend. Signed, Orlan.'"

\n "What did he mean, 'instincts'?" Sarah asked, looking at the note in amazement.

\n "I couldn't stop myself from putting it on when I unwrapped it," I began. "And I just knew how to use my new body when I came to. I also knew somehow that we would be safe doing it without protection."

\n "I wondered about that." She said, taking the page from my fingers and guiding me towards the bathroom. "But the rest can wait love."

\n "I guess so..."

\n ***

\n Smiling broadly, I walked along the festival street once more, arm in arm with Sarah. She was dressed in the apparel of a noblewoman, her dress blue with black highlights, the opposite of my leather accouterments. It was the second weekend of the festival and, though we wandered along the streets like any other festival goers, we were both looking out for a very specific shop, our journey leading unerringly towards the edge of the grounds. It was raining again, an odd pattern of weather considering we lived in a very dry place, but the fine mist also insured that there would be no lines for shows, an added benefit to be sure. Besides, both of us being druids, we actually liked being rained on.

\n The last week had been more than a little bit fun, to say the least. As we were drying off after the shower, Sarah had smiled coyly, reminding me that we both had the day off tomorrow. I had returned the smile, knowing exactly what she wanted. The moment we had returned to the bedroom, I had put the mask on again. The note was right; the transformation was much easier this time. There wasn't any pain or itching this time around. Instead, there was just a very pleasant sort of tingling sensation. The feeling of a tail growing from my back and my legs becoming digigrade once more was still a little disconcerting, but the instinctual comfort with new form came back in an instant. Sarah was still a little sore from having my knot in her, so we didn't have sex again right then, just cuddling up naked once more beneath the covers, holding each other close until we fell asleep once again.

\n I had woken up at around noon to find that Sarah was once again playing with my privates, obviously horny once more. She had acted surprised that I had caught her, but she hadn't stopped. She had ended up riding me, taking care not to allow my knot into her this time. We had showered together again afterwards and I had discovered just how hard it was to dry a body covered in fur. She and I had went back to cuddling while I air-dried and, enjoying the touch of my fur on her skin, we had decided to spend the day without clothes. She and I had spent the entire day in something of a blissful haze.

\n We couldn't keep our hands off each other when we were in the same room, and if we spent a lot of time in each other's company, we tended to get aroused rather quickly. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun that day, starting the time I ambushed her in the kitchen soon after I dried off completely, and after that, we took turns being aggressive, catching each other all over the house. After a late dinner, we made love one last time, and Sarah allowed me to knot her again, something about that act being much more pleasurable than even regular sex was. We had fallen asleep once again still tied together, waking only when I had shrunk enough to pull out. Every day that week, we had gone to work and then hurried home as fast as we could to have even more fun. I wore the mask every moment I could, often pausing only long enough when I got home to take off my clothes.

\n It turned out I had been right on with my prediction. Sarah was very sorry she had missed the opening weekend this year. As such, it had been Sarah's suggestion that we go to the festival that weekend, and my friend had agreed to let us stay again. I had another motive to going to the festival again, besides wanting to spend the weekend in her company of course. I wanted another crack at finding Orlan's Oddments. I had a feeling that it might be there this time, since it was quite clear that I wasn't imagining things. Looking around, I spied the spice shop I had left just before I had found Orlan's shop and I nudged Sarah's shoulder.

\n "That is the spice shop I told you about." I said and she grinned at me.

\n "The one you found before you found that one shop?" She asked, using the code we had developed. We didn't want anyone to think we were nuts or something, or to jinx it by actually saying the name of the shop.

\n "That is the one..." I said, trailing off as I looked to the opposite side of the street. I felt my eyes grow wide and Sarah, seeing the look on my face, followed after my gaze. "Tell me you can see that."

\n "You mean the shop labeled Orlan's Oddments?" She asked and I smiled in relief. "Yes I do."

\n "Shall we go in?" I asked and she nodded eagerly.

\n A few strides later, I stepped into the doorway leading into the shop, my heart thumping wildly in my chest, though I did not know why that would be the case. Parting the curtains with one gloved hand, I allowed Sarah to go first, then followed her inside. The inside of the shop had not changed from when I had entered it last, the magnificent items in the same places they had been. What had changed was that Orlan seemed to have been waiting for me to return. He was seated behind the counter, writing in a large leather bound book with an old style quill. He was dressed in the same green robes he had been wearing before, and as I entered he looked up, an easy smile on his lips.

\n "Ah, welcome back my young friend." He said, wiping the nib off on a cloth and capping his inkwell. Standing up, he took his staff in hand once more and continued, looking Sarah over as he did so. "I take it you two enjoyed my gift."

\n "Yes," Sarah replied, smiling at him as he came closer. "But something I would like to know is why you gave it to him."

\n "Of course." He replied, motioning for us to follow him back into the plant covered room once more. If possible, even more plants decorated the room than last week, and a few were flowering, bringing a sweet scent to my nose as we entered. "The explanation will be a bit long I am afraid, since there is more you must know before I can tell you." The old druid settled back in a chair, its wood groaning as he sat down. "It began many years ago, when we druids guided the ancient peoples. A few of us eventually grew so in tune with nature and all its wonders that we discovered that we had the power to change ourselves, to alter our forms at will. It didn't take long until those few began to take on the forms of their favorite animals. Some went all the way, becoming wholly like the animal they liked best, while others only took certain traits, finding a form halfway between to their liking. Of course, when the druid faith was almost destroyed, the ability to change ourselves died off almost completely. But the legends remained, and it is there that most of our mythological beings come from.

\n But, as our faith is now being resurrected by people like you and I, it falls to those who can use the power to revive it. As you have no doubt guessed, I am one of those who can use that power, among others. Unfortunately, the ability cannot be learned anymore, or taught, or acquired. It is something one must be born to do. I spent long years of my life trying to find a solution. And I think, at last, I have. The mask I gave you is special, imbued with the power to take on the form it shows. I have other masks as well, masks of dozens of species. And of course, it isn't just masks that can do this. In theory, any object can be made to serve such a function. As for why you, well, that is a little harder to explain. Only a furry would truly appreciate the gift I have given you, and only a druid could see the power in our ancient symbols, as you did." With that, he paused, opening the carved wooden box once more, revealing the crystalline sphere within it. "This is what we call a spirit crystal. It reads the truth of a person, and if someone with the right experience uses it, they can tell a lot about a person. When my crystal told me who and what you were, and that you had this lovely woman in your life, I knew you were worthy of the mask and what it can do."

\n "So...how does one know if they have that natural ability?" Sarah asked, and Orlan smiled.

\n "Well, there are tests that can discern it, but usually it manifests itself during puberty. It is one of the greatest gifts anyone can have." Orlan said, regarding her with curious interest. Then, with a smile, he got up once more. "Actually, on that note, I have something for you." With that, he disappeared into the next room, the same place he had gone when he had gotten my mask. He wasn't gone more than a minute before he was back, his hands held behind him. Then with a broad smile, he brought the object he had retrieved into view. It was a mask, beautifully carved in the shape of a fox's face, its lines so fine and smooth that it was quite clearly female...