Oaguz and Karita had been chasing Grizt when something had gone wrong. The rude sage wannabe had up and tripped on her own two feet. In the resulting tumble, Karita had badly twisted her ankle. This had presented a major problem. She needed the annoyance and her expertise to safe disable her leader. She also needed to be there to help Shritoo. She almost considered abandoning the injured woman. Almost. What stopped her was remembering the broken state her leader had been in during the voyage to this land. If she screwed up, she feared she'd rob the Boss of ever being able to move on her own again. It horrified her to think what would come after. It would be death or a life that some would argue was worse than death. It was this reason she had stopped. She needed to do something to fix the situation.
She just had to think on what to do. As fun as it would be to just drag the woman behind her, she was much smaller than the woman. Even if she had the strength, she would take far too long to get to the Boss. Since that was out, she had to find another way to speed things up. However due to the rush of people fleeing or pursuing, She very much doubted she could safely pull that off. She needed a healer. Not just bandages and poultices either. She needed magic. The kind that was granted by the spirits. The ones she hadn't heard in a long time. She pushed the thought to the side when she spied an overturned wheelbarrow with a load of what was likely a type of magic ore spilled out. ~That'll do.~
The whole time that Oaguz had been thinking and planning, Karita had been grumbling and complaining. She had tried to get the useless goblin to help her, She had ordered it to help her up. The little monster had done no such thing and just stood there looking around and ignoring her. It then noticed something.
"Hey you! I am clearly a superior to you! Now hurry up an- Dammit listen to me!" She called out to the loathsome creature. She was really learning to hate goblins that day," Damn, the bitch up and abandoned me!"
With this thought, the mage went about slowly trying to get up on her own while using a nearby wall for support. She had finally stood up with all weight either leaning on the wall or her good leg. It was only then that something bumper into her and hard. The next thing she knew, she was falling and landing in something. ~Did that little bitch just!~ She thought as she noticed she was now in a wheelbarrow of all things. She creamed at the indignity to which Oaguz only smiled. To the goblin, it was music to her ears.
Soon enough they were rushing once more. It wasn't long before they came upon the square and found Grizt and Shritoo. It was strange. Grizt was looking at Shritoo as humans fled the area. She spoke a single word to Shritoo, She told her "no" and went back to terrorizing the humans. Oaguz noted that Shritoo was alone. This had to mean that Stranbrai had put something more into motion. At least she hoped.
"What are you doing!? We need to stop her. Look what she's doing!" The ever annoying woman commanded.
"Not yet. She's not killing anyone and we need all the time we can get. Speaking of," Oaguz explained before grabbing a halberd that someone had dropped. It was likely the unconscious man in armor not ten feet way from it. She quickly took the man's sword as well before rushing back and handing the halberd over," Here, use this to walk. I'm going to get her ready."
She turned around and was about to join the fight when Shritoo spoke up once more,"Who?"
She demanded. Something about the tone worried Oaguz. She decided to wait and see what the response would be. Clearly something important was going on beyond her leader going crazy if she could speak and respond. It was for this reason that she waited as the last human in sight besides the one she left around the corner.
It was then that Grizt spoke to Shritoo," You want to know who I am? I have no name but I have purpose!" the fake Grizt declared with a laugh," I'm Nunya, as in nunya business!" she slowly began to approach the injured goblin as she went on," But it's not like you need to worry much longer. Someone like you could be trouble. And I have enough of those-"
At this moment, everyone noticed the goblin had taken a sword from one of the guards. Just like the one Oaguz now held. They were short by human standards/ They were likely close quarters backup weapon that was designed to work well in narrow places. However they were long enough for goblins.
"Not so fast you fake Boss!" Oaguz cried out as she came charging at the fake who dared to walk in her Boss's body. The fake muttered a low and guttural curse as she turned to meet the new threat's blade. She quickly parried and stepped to the side while slashing at Oaguz. Oaguz had been prepared for this and dropped into a tumble and rolling back onto her knees. Her objective had been to get between Shritoo and the fake. She couldn't risk her foe deciding to finish Shritoo off in the midst of their little fight. Unfortunately, this had cost her as proven when "Grizt" followed in and didn't give her time to get back to her feat. She couldn't dodge with her limited movement on her knee and it was had to try and fully recover while on the defensive. She went for what would at least by her time and hopefully leverage to even the playing field. She leaned into the blow and locked blades with the thing before her. At least she tried. She hadn't considered how much stronger the magic had made her Boss. She barely managed to hold onto the blade, but she paid for it as she was sent sliding painful across the street.
"Why are doing any of this?" Oaguz asked.
Grizt smiled and promptly ignored her. Oaguz quickly found herself putting up one desperate defense after another. It was clear the fiend wasn't going to drag this out any longer. The problem was that the one controlling her Boss's body had no idea how to fight like her. It had been the one thing saving Oaguz as she wracked her mind for any option. The problem was it was so hard to focus with the whispers...
~Wait!? Whispers? Who in the hell is whispering in my ear!?~ The goblin thought as she tried to doge another slash from her "Boss". The key word being "tried". This time she was hit. Fortunately it was only a shallow cut across Oaguz's arm thanks to a last second kick to throw the blade off course. Things were starting to get desperate and the whispers kept distracting her at the edge of her mind. The injuries only increased as the fight dragged on. She was clearly losing.
By all appearances, the princess had been replaced. Standing before the goblins was a winged female knight with fair skin and golden hair. She stood taller with a frame that spoke of strength and femininity. Her face, while beautiful, touched upon androgyny though her body was clearly female. The armor had a strange glow to it and almost seemed phantasmal in nature while exuding elegance. The only thing the might have hinted at the person's identity were her eyes. They shone red as always.
"What is this!?" Grace demanded as she looked at herself while the goblins clapped. ~There's no time for now, Grace. You need to deal with the goblins' leader.~ An unfamiliar voice spoke within her mind. As fear and confusion mounted it spoke again.~Worry not, I'm your friend. I'm Jade.~ With that, the princess saw a ghostly image of her pet floating before her.~Don't worry about it. Just know that no one can see me. Now please hurry. Stranbrai knows the way!~
The princess nodded and quickly turned to the slightly swaying goblin who nodded.
"Just grab me and start running that way! We need to hurry. Later Weye!" Stranbrai called out the last part as the now rushing, female "knight" picked up the goblin and began to sprint down a nearby alley that had been pointed out by the strange, drunk goblin. She couldn't help but notice that she felt lighter than ever. Even the sun on her face felt warm and comforting. Even more, she could feel power thrumming throughout her. She never had an aptitude for magic. She just seemed unable to touch the flows or even feel them. She had always wondered at what it must be like and now she knew. She knew a new part of this world as she power suffused her in warmth and comfort.
As she ran, Stranbrai gave her directions. Soon enough, they caught up to Grizt.