starlit heroics chapter 6

~*~*~* Chapter Six: We Didn’t Start The Fire *~*~*~


The group of four stepped outside into the cemetery proper, and took in the fresh air as if they hadn’t been allowed to breathe in a hundred years or so. For one of them, that was certainly true. But the group went still and silent when it became readily apparent that they weren’t necessarily the only ones in this graveyard tonight. Hushed, whispering voices came from behind the tomb, and they couldn’t help but find it appropriate to listen in.

“Come on man, I can’t go back now!” They knew this voice as that of the same young man from the Lumentian deli, the one who had been seen with the strange creature.

“You have to, Jack! If you don’t, he’s just gonna keep sending people after you, and- and you’ll get melted!” This voice, which none of them recognized, sounded more like a little girl than any sort of threat.

“Please! We don’t wanna see you get hurt!” A second child’s voice, this time a boy’s.

“I’m not going back. It’s so pretty here! They have food! The leaders don’t kill you if you mess up! There’s so many pretty colors!”

“Jack, please!”

“No no no, kids, hear me out. You stay here with me! It’s great, I promise. Nothing can go wrong.”

“But what about-”

“Nothing can go wrong, I said. Listen. Trust the coffee guy. Sabotaging the kingdoms is for losers and sick weirdos named Virulent who cough on you and get you sick with acid plague like you don’t already have to deal with missing body parts. Denzia wanted to replace my lungs...”

“But he failed! And he got melted!”

“Did he? Good riddance. All the more reason not to go back, right? They have bagels here!”

“Nnnn...”

The four Libratans glanced uncomfortably at each other. It seemed fairly clear that they were listening in to enemy operatives, and the old queen hefted her hammer, only to be held back by Dan.

“No no, let’s just… listen in a little more.”

“His agents have invaded! I cannot abide this!”

“Ma’am! Ma’am, I think we’re listening in on a turncoating. I don’t think this needs to turn into a fight-”

“Shhh! Someone’s here!” One of the children hissed. “We need to-”

“Wait.” Dan spoke up, emerging from around the corner. Staring at him with wide, terrified eyes was a scarred up, sickly, pale looking young girl with red hair and tatted clothes. Next to her, a little boy, very similar looking, with dark hair. They trembled before him, and looked nearly about to cry.

“Please don’t hurt us!”

“Please! We don’t want to die!”

“What...” Dan was caught off guard by their sudden pleading, “Hurt you? Two kids? Why would I do something like that? I’m not a monster.”

“But- but we got sent here to… He made us-”

“No no no, shhh. Come here.” Danielle swooped around the corner and took the two into her arms. “None of that. It’s okay. No one can make you do anything.”

“But- but if we fail he’ll… he’ll kill us!”

“No, he won’t. This, I promise you. On the honor of the Libratan Royal Family, he won’t lay a finger on you, ever again. It doesn’t matter what he sent you for. You are children. Sending children to battle is heinous.” Her eyes locked on to Jack. “You seem like an honest person. If you were as conscientious of yourself and what’s best as it takes to turn tail, then you must be conscientious enough to mind these children.”

“What-”

“I want you to mind them, sir. Wasn’t I clear?”

“I- I can’t kids! That takes responsibilery!”

“...It’s responsibility.”

“Yeah! That!”

“Listen. I don’t know your story. I wasn’t there, and I had no chance to be. But what I do know, is that I heard a man and two children who don’t want to be forced back into some awful circumstances. Perhaps you don’t have a home on Xephixir. That’s well and good. But I believe that these children are best suited to-”

“Let me mind them.” The imposing figure of Queen Menodora stood over Danielle, now.

“Are you sure?”

“If what is said is true then these children deserve to know what their home was like in its prime. And should they be lying, I will take personal responsibility.” She emphasized those last words in a way that made everyone else gathered uncomfortable. “You have no reason to put this on the head of this boy. We’ll be off now. Stay safe.” She took the children into her arms and began to walk off, while they trembled and chattered at each other in a confused manner.

All of that, left Dan, Danielle, Rainer and Jack standing there blinking at each other.

“So… that happened.”

“Why’d you almost give me two kids, man! I don’t know how to parent!”

“They needed somebody who could understand their circumstances, if what I heard was correct. I guess it works out anyway…? But, I have a question. A couple, actually.”

“Er… hit me?”

“All of that was very sudden, and I realize that I may have stepped in without asking, who are you? And who were they?”

“Er… name’s Jack. And they are… were? My… superiors? I guess? Not that that makes it fair. They’re kids! How do kids get in front of me in the pecking order! I mean I guess all I did was get coffee, but how’d they get promoted! How’d they even get in! Bet the boss only promoted them to keep those two ladies he grabbed quiet so they’d ‘have something to take care of’. Asshole. I wanna get to Number Four for doing nothing.”

Danielle blinked. “I- I see. I’m sorry for your loss? Do you maybe want to come back with us?”

“Nah, I’m good. Shiny lady says I got ‘splorin to do.”

“Shiny… lady?”

“Yeah. About yea tall. Blonde, boops out to here?”

“Queen Lucidia.”

“Yeah. That one.”

“I guess that works? Have fun with your… splorin.”

Dan, Danielle and Rainer finally split off from the metal-armed man, and began on the path back to Librata where Queen Menodora had gone before them.

~*~*~

The next morning, Dan didn’t need to be aroused by Letro.

Instead, he woke with a start from more strange, enigmatic dreams. The dark shadows of a bat’s wings, the lonely sobbing cries of a woman and the roars of a monster plagued his mind’s eye until finally he was shaken by the sounds of a scuffle from outside. After quickly pulling on a simple outfit in lieu of his usual princely garb, he dashed down the stairs and skidded to a halt in front of the open doors of Librata Castle.

Taking place on the front steps was something of an argument between two familiar dragonlings – Purple and the young hatchling that they had taken with them from Zempheriea – and another that he didn’t recognize.

This new one bore all the traditional hallmarks of a Balance dragon, from the six horns down the sides of his head, to the bright white scales and sturdy-looking wings, to the crest of pale blue feathers, spiked up like hair. Strangely, though, this one carried naught with him but a large bottle, and seemed to drool a little as he squinted at them with his sharp red eyes.

“Mister Rikth, you can’t just walk into the castle and no one knows who you are!” Little Rose pleaded, “That’s how Zempheriea almost got taken over!”

“Well loop dee doop doo! L-listen little lady-” The white dragon belched mid-sentence, “If the royal family c-can’t see that I’m here to offer them the best, b-better than the rest- urp… in dimensional science, they can geeeeeet fuuuu-”

“Excuse me?” Dan decided now was a good time to interrupt.

“Eh? Who the fuck are y-you.”

“I am Daniel Librata.”

The dragon’s face stretched into what could be called a strange smile, and his entire demeanor changed. “He-he-hey there, buddy p-pal friend! Have you b-been going through your entire shitty mundane life without wondering what’s out there!”

“...What?”

“Y’know, out there in the- urp- great -beyond. D-Danny-boy you gotta hear me out. Just go with it. In sp-sp-spaaaaace.”

“Uh-huh…?” Dan couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. Was this dragon drunk?

“You ever been to… to Space Magmarne, Danny?”

“Space Magmarne.”

“Y-yeah. Space Magmarne. It’s- it’s like regular Magmarne but… but in space, Danny. S-space.”

“Okay, but does Space Magmarne have the crystal we’re looking for?”

“...What crystal.”

“Riiiight… listen, why don’t you come inside? Make yourself at home? Maybe, I don’t know, sleep off the alcohol?”

“F-fuck you- urp… I ain’t drunk. I’m a fuckin’ genius, Danny. I am Rikth Sanchez, I’m th-the best fuckin’ dimensional- urk- dimensional scientist Xephixir’s ever seen.”

“Rikth Sanchez. Dragons don’t have last names.”

“F-first of all, you can’t just- can’t just call me that. You, can call me W-Whitescale. Second of all- urp… you try pitching your- your science w-without a last name. H-humanoid privilege. Everywhere. Tellin’ you.” The small dragon grumbled and drifted inside, leaving Dan and the two hatchlings staring at each other. All parties looked extremely confused.

“So… mind telling me what the hell that was?”

“We aren’t really sure ourselves.” Purple mumbled. “He just showed up and told us he was here to sell you a dimensional vacuum cleaner or something. Weird guy.”

“Huuuuuh… Maybe it’s nothing. Keep an eye on him, for me? I need to fetch my sister and Letro and get on the road.” Unusually, he sounded almost sad about it, but was right back to his usual demeanor within moments. “I asked the Lumentians and Kaj to meet us at the Cat’s Meow for breakfast before we head off to Magmarne. I figure it’s my treat today, since the Lumentians got us lunch yesterday.”

“We can do that!” Rose chirped. “Right, Suacoth?”

“You bet we can!”

It made Dan smile in spite of himself to hear the two sound so eager to help. It put a little bit of ease on his worried heart. Just a little. “Good. Now, I’m off to get Letro and Danielle.”

~*~*~

Lumentia Castle, meanwhile, was very quiet this morning. Attendants milled about as normal, while the Princess and her two companions got dressed in their Monday best. That, of course, meant nothing more than some pairs of jeans and t-shirts for Angel and Starr, while Spirit just wore her usual white sundress.

It didn’t take them more than a few minutes to finish and meet in the Royal Library as they usually did, waving their greetings to the librarian, otherwise distracted by his usual foreign novel, and fetching a few newspaper articles off of his desk. They sat around their usual table and looked them over.

“Magmarnian Dragon Ambassador rumored to be acting strangely, this one says.” Angel sighed. “Always trouble, huh. It’s from yesterday’s paper.”

“Ouch. All I’ve got is an editorial on the world’s hottest curry.” Spirit shrugged a little bit, reading with her bottom eyes while her third eye looked at the people she was speaking to.

Starr peered at them over the edge of her paper. “Yeah I’ve got Magmarnian fashion trends.”

“Well I guess we know what we’re taking with us. Never hurts to check, I guess. Especially now. What with what happened in Zempheriea and all, and the break-in here...”

Angel laughed a little. “Have you seen that guy? Couldn’t diabolical his way out of a paper bag.”

“Tell me about it. Got errand boy written all over him.”

“Maybe Lord Fuckwit just thinks we’re dumb. Nah, fam.”

“He’s got another thing coming, don’t he.”

“Damn straight he does. Gonna rail him so bad he’ll be talking from his ass and shitting out of his mouth.”

“That is an absolutely disgusting metaphor and you know it’s gross.”

“Yeah, but it’s apt.”

“I mean I guess so, but I felt the need to point it out. So is that all we needed?”

“Yeah, that’s all. Dan told us he wanted us to meet him at a restaurant in Bel Air.”

“I guess that sounds alright. Bel Air isn’t far from the Crossroads. Shouldn’t be a far walk if we cab to Time’s End. Right?”

“Exactly.” Angel stood up from her seat and stretched. “I’ve already called Steve. He should be waiting for us.”

The distinct cab, with its ‘fuck you’ air freshener and large, permanently angry-looking driver, was indeed waiting at the front of the castle for them when they exited the front doors. The three women gingerly slid into the back of the cab, buckled up and made themselves comfortable for the ride.

It wasn’t necessarily long, but it was certainly uneventful, and the three were dropped off just as soon as they had been picked up at the golden gates of the Lumentian sector of the cemetery. The cab drove off, and the trio entered to an empty graveyard, feeling just as eerie as any graveyard tends to. The Tower at the Crossroads stood tall before them, and once they stood at its base, Angel decided to step inside.

It was a small room, what waited for her within the Tower, with cracked marble floors which grew weeds within each crevice, and eight doors on the sides. Each door had the crest of the kingdom which it pointed to etched over the top of it, in the granite which comprised its walls. In the very center of the room was an archway which might, at one point, have been magnificent to behold. Along its length were carved out patterns and lines radiating from each of the eight holes along it.

As it looked now, there was no point to its existence, but the three couldn’t help but wonder if that might change with the application of the kingdom crystals.

After a few minutes spent looking at it, appreciating it, and wondering about it, they turned and left the room through the archway marked with a pair of lions supporting a treble clef, the elemental marker of Balance and Sound, and made their way into the Libratan sector of the cemetery.

As they walked along the path toward the iron gates, however, the silence hanging over the graves was broken by a quiet voice. At the distance they were standing away from it, they couldn’t hear what was being said, but it put the three of them on alert and made them wary.

Spirit squinted with all three eyes, the top of which shined an unusual cyan color as her aura sight activated. She began to walk toward something that only she could currently see, hidden behind a row of graves and a fairly large monument. It was a person-shaped mass of dark gray depression and brown bitterness, speckled here and there with flecks of red anger and black hatred. As she drew closer to the mass, however, spots of dark blue suspicion flared up within, and as she rounded the corner to see the person attached to the mass, it lit up entirely with magenta surprise.

The black-haired young woman whom Spirit had evidently been tracking suddenly stood bolt upright, but stumbled, her aura spiking with sharp points of pain. It didn’t take a trained healer to spot the reason why – Her left leg was bent at an angle far too sharp to be anything other than a terrible injury. The rest of her didn’t look very much more than chewed up and spit out, either.

Apart from the leg, one could see all manner of scars marking her tawny skin through her torn and tattered clothing. Though her red button-down was largely intact apart from the sleeves, the jeans were shredded from the knees down. Most of the scarring was too straight, almost too clean to be from any kind of monster or animal attack, and instead looked like the scarring a lash might leave.

Tattered as they were, the clothing also hung entirely too loosely on her, and her underweight condition was even further betrayed of her by her sallow cheeks and sunken face, very nearly masked by her long black bangs, bleached at the tips, but not quite. Over her eyes, she wore a long, black blindfold, yet she still looked at the intruder as if she could see her. In Spirit’s eyes, this was not a woman who was treated kindly at all.

“Hello?” She decided to try greeting her. “What brings you here today?”

“I could ask you the same thing. The fuck you doin’ buggin’ someone who’s mournin’?” The woman’s accent was strangely implacable. Spirit didn’t think she had heard anything like it.

“Well, we couldn’t help but overhear you talking to someone, and we wanted to make sure everything was okay...”

“We?” The woman seemed to look over her shoulder despite the blindfold. “Oh great. There’s more. Listen, all I was doin’ was havin’ a conversation with my momma. That ain’t any business of yours. I’m fine.”

“If I may, though… your leg...”

“Yeah, I know about the leg. You ain’t the first one to point it out. Been that way for years.”

“Years? And you’ve never gotten it healed? Ever?”

“That’s my personal business. Be just my luck if the only fucker who could fix it now’s a fleshcrafter. You know how rare those are?”

“Well aware… If I could, though… I can at least ease the pain for a while. Just a little. So you can at least walk home.”

“...Heh. Y’know what? Sure. I ain’t allowed to say why, but I ain’t supposed to be here. Trust me. Better if you don’t know anyway. It’s all baggage. But I may as well take a shot while I’m here.” She rolled up the tattered remains of her jeans and put her broken leg up on a grave. Up close, you could tell that this break had broken the skin several times in the past. Spirit had to wince as she set to work.

“So… your mother, yes?”

“I told you. Baggage.”

“Right… can I at least have your name?”

“My name ain’t important. If you want somethin’ to call me by, just call me… Midnight. That’ll do just fine.”

“That’s an… interesting name.” Spirit commented.

“Heh. Get told that a lot. It’s just what I like to be called by. I picked my own name and it stuck.” The woman named Midnight laughed a little. “But I guess that’s just me, mmm? I gave y’all my name. What’s yours?”

“Well, they call me Spirit Lumentia, over there are my sister Starr and our cousin, Angel, the Princess.”

The ghost of a frown crossed Midnight’s face, as if she had paused to consider something. But it was gone just as quickly, leaving her with the demeanor she had opened with. “Royalty, huh. Dunno what brings y’out this way.”

“A meeting, with our allies in Librata.”

“Right, guess that makes sense. So what’re y’doin’ stoppin’ by to talk to some nobody like me?”

“We were passing through the Crossroads and couldn’t help but overhear. These are dangerous times, you know. Could’ve been any old ne’er-do-well. Surely you’ve heard by now about Zempheriea.”

“Heard and then some. Nah, I’m just here t’pay respects to my momma...”

“Oh, well… sorry to bother you.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Y’really did me a favor, takin’ the time to fix up my leg a little, y’know? It’s bugged me for a long time. I’ll take all the relief I can get.”

“Still, though. It was rude of us to interrupt at all. We’re probably keeping our friends waiting, anyway. We’ll be out of your way.”

Though Midnight’s head didn’t turn to face her, it was clear she was watching the trio of Lumentians leave. Only when she could no longer see their auras did she dare speak again.

“What the fuck are you doin’, Midnight… Lumentians. Perfectly nice Lumentians, who stopped to fix you up when they coulda just ignored you outright. What’re you doin’ with your life, goin’ around and...” She trailed off, before kneeling down at the small, unassuming grave again. She traced her hand over the face of the smooth marble, where she could feel the name ‘Vargas’ etched into it.

“I’m sorry, Momma. Really.”

~*~*~

The Cat’s Meow was an unassuming little building just on the edge of the city of Bellitudo Arbustum, quiet and out of the way of the real urban hustle. A few people of numerous different races sat around the tables in front of the restaurant, being tended to by unusual feline-looking folk. Dan, on the other hand, chose a large corner booth inside, where he sat waiting with Letro for the other members of their problem-solving party.

The two of them were quiet for a long while, looking at each other somberly while a waitress laid out eight menus around them. The mood was heavy at that table. But the two of them knew without a shadow of a doubt that the mood needed to be lifted before the others arrived.

Dan sighed. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Letro.”

“Trust me. Just trust in me, my dude. If I pull this off, we get a lot of answers.”

“And you’re sure it has to happen now. And that they can’t know.”

“Sure as a Shadowranian Sunrise.”

“Letro that’s a drink, not a saying.”

“Look, point is, I know what I’m doing. I’ve got it all planned out. Do you trust me?”

“Yeah… yeah I trust you.”

Not a moment later, Danielle shuffled her way on over to the table. “The two of you could have waited for me, you know.”

“Nah, we wanted to make sure we could get a wide enough table, sweets. Don’t worry about it.” Letro was back to his usual demeanor in an instant.

“Don’t call me sweets.”

“You got it, sweets. Anyway, we’re waiting on my boy Kaj and his girl, and the Lumentian broads. Right?”

“We are. I expect they have a bit of a trip ahead of them yet. It’ll serve us well to discuss our next move.”

“Not much to discuss till they get here. We go to Magmarne, we fuck shit up, we get the crystal, we call it a day. It’ll be great.”

“I… suppose. Do you think they’ve found anything regarding strange happenings?”

“We’re not gonna know until they get here… oh. Here come the Lumentians now.”

Angel, Spirit and Starlight hurried over to the table and set the newspaper article in the middle before taking their seats and settling in.

“Had an interesting trip over here.” Spirit opened with, “I need you to do me a favor. We met a young woman in Time’s End who looked like she hadn’t been treated kindly. If you happen to spot her, keep an eye out and try to wrangle her into the castle? She desperately needs healing.”

“I mean… I guess.” Dan shrugged. “That isn’t really any of our business though, is it?”

“You’re saying a clear abuse victim with a leg so broken that it could kill her isn’t cause for a bit of kindness?”

“If I see her, I’ll do it. But we have pressing matters to attend to. What have you got?”

“Take a look.” Angel pushed the papers toward him.

“Rumors about the dragon ambassador… hmmm. That’s not good, if it’s true. If that turns into anything, it’s going to fall on Fiametta, Serafina and Dante unless we look into it. You know, because I’m sure they’re nice and prepared to try to fight a dragon.”

“Are we even prepared to fight a dragon?”

“Better prepared than I presume they would be. Still, if we’re lucky, it’ll be easy. Go in, ask for the crystal, leave. That’s it, that’s all we need to do. If we’re lucky, it’ll all be rumors.”

“We’re never that lucky.”

“I know. Don’t remind me.”

“How are we handling this?”

“Flail our weapons at it and hope for the best.”

“Fantastic plan there, Danno.” Letro deadpanned. “Really straightforward. You’d almost think a brick could think of that.”

“Come on Letro. Even you can’t handle fighting a dragon and you know it.”

“Try me.”

“I’d love to, but we don’t have a dragon here to throw at you.”

“What about Purple.”

“You’re not fighting Purple.”

“I didn’t say I was fighting Purple, I was countering your argument that you didn’t have a dragon.”

“Okay, let me rescind my statement and correct myself. We don’t have a fully-sized, adult dragon to throw at you.”

“Fine, I’ll give you exactly that much and not a penny more.”

“Fine.”

Dan thanked the heavens and hells both when Letro was interrupted by the arrival of Kaj and Luna. “Hey, good to see you! Did you guys find anything?”

“Found some tabloid articles with rumors that the dragon ambassador is acting strangely,” Kaj set a few supermarket rag mags on the table in front of them, “but not a hell of a lot else.”

“That’s the same things we found.” Angel held up her newspaper clippings. “Weird.”

“It’s probably a lead, then. So we might have to fight the dragon after all. Great.” Dan glanced at Letro, who was smiling smugly, like a cat who got into the cream.

“Man I told you guys we can handle it. I can handle it. Don’t be weenies.”

“I am not a weenie.”

“I’m sorry sir.” Spirit’s third eye glowed bright blue. “But my senses indicate that you are indeed, a weenie.”

“Look can we just order our food and get on the road? The less time we take the less likely we are to have to fight him.” Dan made a wide gesture at the feline-inclined woman standing at the table and watching them with her head tilted in confusion.

“...Rrrright.”

~*~*~

Deep in the heated, magmatic caverns underneath the Magmarnian capital city, quakes rumbled and shook, concerning the people outside about the possibility of an eruption. It was always a concern for them, as they lived between the Volcanic Castle and the Eye of Fire. But these quakes seemed different to the good people of Fulliverd City. Like they were alive, like whatever was causing them was very much living and very much angry and very much ready to spill forth from the ground and destroy both the city and its crops.

One person in particular, though, prepared to brave these caverns today. A young woman stood just outside the entrance to the inner tunnels of the Eye of Fire, the cluster of active volcanoes said to be inhospitable to anybody but those of draconic blood. Fortunately, draconic blood included her.

“Well Skye… now or never.” She grumbled to herself, pulling on a specially made armored helmet over her dark brown hair and around a row of horns that raked back behind her head and picking up a battle axe. It would be perfect for her purposes, she thought. Smashy, but still sharp enough to take the heads of those responsible for bringing her uncle to harm.

She pulled on light armor, and small plated guards along the joints of two large, leathery, reddish-orange wings down her back. Her mom might kill her for trying to do this, but her mom also didn’t know what they’d done to her brother.

But she did.

She’d seen it. They strapped him down with some kind of crystal she’d never seen and dragged him down off into the tunnels, but not before letting him get irate all over the rest of the council. The tabloids had had articles going about it for days. And Skye, had been preparing. She may only have been a knight in training, but her uncle wouldn’t try to hurt her. Right?

Of course. He’d never try to hurt her. That would mean she could break the crystal off while he was hesitating and everything would go back to normal. But a sad fragment of her knew she might have to fight, and that wounded her internally. Maybe she wouldn’t be alone. Maybe the fifteen year old won’t have to fight her uncle alone. All she had to do was break off the crystal. Right?

Right. This would be fine. If she broke off the crystal he’d go back to normal and no one would try to kill him and inevitably draw ire from the courts of Dragonhome and cause a skirmish. That would be bad.

Into the tunnels she went, her armor donned and her weapon primed. The walls were lit by nothing less than magma held back by the naturally formed volcanic glass in white-hot veins, and even despite her being a half dragon, the heat was nearly unbearable, piercing right through her metal armor and burning against her skin.

It would be an unpleasant trek down into the caverns, to be sure. She soon passed through what looked like a seating room, with metal chairs and tables strewn about a broad chamber. She was not alone in here, as laying about the room were a number of large folk even more draconic than she was. They looked, on no uncertain terms, like dragons standing on two legs, rather than her cobbled together blend of dragon and human. With rusty red scales that trailed back into coal black, they almost blended into the volcanic stone around them.

A few of them watched her as she proceeded through the chamber. One thought to rise from his seat and approach.

“Bongiourno, little drake. What brings you into the passages of the Alighieri Clan? Suppose it would take a half-dragon to make it this far in.”

“I need to find my way into the tunnels under the city. It’s… important. I swear.”

“Not too many want down there unless it’s for dirty deeds, my dear. Now tell me, what’s a youngling like you thinking about going down there dressed for a battle?”

“Have you heard the rumors about the dragon ambassador?”

“Nothing but a load of hoo-ha, don’t read the tabloids little miss.”

“N-no, you don’t understand!”

“Now what don’t I understand about this situation, little miss?”

“The royal dragon is my uncle! I saw it! I saw someone messing with him! They dragged him down here!”

“Those are some wild claims, drakeling.” Another of the ones in the room grumbled. “How, per say, might you go about proving that?”

“Er… alright. What do you want me to do?”

“Well, little drakeling, how about we start with something simple. You must at least know your family’s true names, yes?”

“I mean, yeah…?”

“I earned the honor of learning the royal dragon’s true name through blood and virtue. If he really is your uncle, what is his name?”

“It’s… Leith, sir. He chose the common name Lee based on it. I am Skaerenth, common name Skye, the daughter of Daarith, common name Dahlia, his older sister.”

“...Hm. Very well, I suppose there is some merit to your words. You know know him in some way, drakeling. It seems a bit dishonorable to me, however, to go visiting your uncle carrying all manner of weapons. Look at you. You’re strapped down like you’re going to war.”

“I already told you! There’s something wrong! I saw it! Please, I need to get through...”

“Be calm, drakeling. Tell us what you saw, why don’t you?”

“I was visiting him, a few days ago… they didn’t know I was there. It was an… Animus. It couldn’t have been anything else. It had all kinds of tentacles and things. I don’t know how it was dealing with the heat… I saw it slap a collar on my uncle, with some kind of gross-looking crystal on it. That’s why he went off on the council… I saw it drag him down into the tunnels with… with psionics. The council was all knocked out. I’ve been trying to find him ever since.”

“Hmm… one of our own did say he saw a cloaked, tentacled figure in the shadows in the night. He said by the time he looked again, it was gone. There may be something to this, little Drakeling. Maybe. I have no reason to allow one so young passage, but I will.”

“You’re trusting a child to Leith’s fate?”

“It would be a good litmus test, if she’s lying or not. Where, in the tunnels, do you believe he’s been taken?”

“I think he’s under the castle. The tremors, they’re all coming from that direction. I can’t get in there to get in that way, so I thought I’d try the other side...”

“Follow the torches in red, drakeling. Those will lead you straight to the castle’s lower chambers. If what you’re saying is true you should hurry along. If not, well, you’ll come out without harm, aye? Go along, drakeling. I want to see a fireball like you come out of this. I think it’s what Leith would want.”

“Th… thank you!” Skye darted down the tunnel without so much as another word, leaving the gathering to their own devices. The pair of dragonfolk exchanged glances at each other.

“I give her a day.”

“I give her eleven minutes.”


Soon, Skye’s dash slowed to a walk, the deeper she descended into the dim magmatic tunnels. The further she traveled from the activity of the Eye of Fire, the less the magma lit the caverns, and the more she had to rely on the torches along the wall. True to the word of those she had encountered before, crimson flames burned brightly in the sconces of the path she followed, occasionally intersecting with other paths lit with flames of other colors.

As she walked, she couldn’t help but think it felt a bit like a transit system that some of the cities in other kingdoms had. Not here, though. Fulliverd City was an agricultural center more than it was a shining beacon of technology, and that meant no subways. Maybe it was for the best, she thought. She couldn’t imagine driving an entire subway train into the castle’s lower chambers.

Her face scrunched up as she continued to think. Who would win in a fight? Her uncle, or a train? Probably her uncle, honestly. And that was scary, because what if she really did have to fight him? This internal monologue continued undeterred for a long time. So long, her feet began to ache. So long, her wings began to grow stiff.

What if she hurt him too badly? What if she couldn’t get a healer in time? What if that crystal killed him?

A rumble from further down the pathway snapped her out of her train of thought. “No,” she urged herself, “I have to keep going. He needs help right now. I can’t worry about what’s gonna happen… It did something to him and I’m the only one who saw it. I need to fix this. It can’t be much further now...”

There were two signifiers that told her she had arrived beneath the castle.

One, was the sudden opening of the pathway into a wide room, with lava flowing slowly and stiffly in cascades down the walls into cracks that led who knows where. It, hewn from swirling black and red volcanic rock, was ringed all around by pillars holding up the stone that made up the ceiling, and no doubt, the floor above them.

Two, was the great beast chained to the pillars, growling and snapping at the air. It resembled a dragon in theory, with great, scaly, muscular limbs and broad, leathery wings. But this, was clearly a poor soul who had been affected by some awful kind of magic, become absolutely monstrous.

Its hide was a muddied, dull, blackish color, cracked like stone. Through the cracks you could see the bright glowing of an inner fire. Its eyes and the inside of its massive mouth were largely the same, glowing yellow like a candle in a jack-o-lantern. Along its back were wicked, red hot spines that looked like metal, and its claws were similarly almost molten.

It was chained to the pillars by its limbs and its neck, and stuck into the collar around its neck was a black and red shard that almost seemed to drip with a sinister energy as much as it dripped with blood, too deep into the collar to have been stuck there after the fact. In fact, it looked rather like the collar forced the crystal to pierce the beast’s throat. It pulled at its chains and struggled at its binds and as it did, the pillars cracked more, and the caverns rumbled with its roars of anguish.

Skye took a deep breath. “It- it’s okay, Uncle Lee, I’m here. I’m gonna… gonna get that thing out of your neck...”

The beast’s hollow eyes locked onto her, and it snarled, rumbling the entire room.

~*~*~

“...And that’s when I said fuck it, I’m just gonna punch you in the face. So, that’s how I saved all of Montis Ventum from an unlicensed necromancer.”

The group trotted down the road, their goal of Fulliverd City in sight ahead of them. Letro galloped briskly as he spoke eagerly about his supposed exploits to the rest of the group.

“Fascinating.” Spirit deadpanned. “I suppose you also invented the Shenomire and cured cancer.”

Kaj meekly raised a finger. “If it makes any difference, I was there for this one.”

“A witness! Well, this changes everything.”

“Oh, lighten up.” Angel laughed. “I like the stories. They’re neat.”

“I mean I guess. It just seems a little far-fetched to me is all. There isn’t anything a healthy dose of skepticism can’t help, you know. That’s why us medical professionals don’t just declare everything lupus and move on with our lives.”

“Yeah yeah.” Letro pointed around them. “Look, we’re here. Castle’s this way.”

Dan lagged behind the rest of the group, looking a bit uncomfortable. Was it really worth it not to tell anyone about all this? He hoped Letro knew what he was doing. Still, if he pulled this off, it would be valuable information, and he could tell everyone after the fact. Right?

Don’t think about that now. Just focus on the present.

They were led up a gently sloping, winding trail that ended at the mouth of a grandiosely decorated entryway. Two guards, like humanoid dragons, stood watch at the door. Their eyes narrowed at the approach of the group, but their recognition of the royalty before them softened their gaze.

“Prince and Princess Librata, Princess Lumentia, Princess Zempheriea. To what do we owe the honor of your visitation?” The guard on the left spoke.

“Boys, come on. We were here two weeks ago for movie night. We’re just here to visit our friends.” Angel folded her arms.

“As you wish, milady.”

The pair opened up the gates into the cone of the volcano. As the group stepped through, and once the two were out of earshot, Angel rolled her eyes. “Brucitola. Honor this, honor that. Stubborn, scaly fucks.”

“Come on Angel, they’re just doing their jobs.”

“We get asked this every time, Spirit.”

“But they are just doing what they’re supposed to.”

“Yeah well-” Thankfully, Angel was cut short by the sound of footsteps in the entry hall.

“I told you, I’ve got no idea where that rumbling is coming from-” A trio of well-dressed individuals halted as they rounded a corner, and looked the group over.

“...Huh. I didn’t think you guys were going to visit today.” The original speaker commented, running fingers through pale hair which stood out against his slightly olive-toned skin.

The second, a woman who looked just like the one next to her with the exception of her long, deep crimson hair. “Don’t get us wrong, you’re free to come here whenever. We were just under the consensus that you guys didn’t like all the heat.”

“They usually call ahead first, don’t they?” The third speaker was a mousey-looking girl with fiery orange hair and dusky brown eyes, who carried a magnificent red and orange bird astride her shoulder.

“Er… hey Dante, Serafina, Fiametta. Good to see you guys too.” Dan shrugged a little. “We’re actually on important business here. Two things, actually...”

“Uh… sure? Name it.”

“Well, to put it bluntly, we need your kingdom crystal.”

“Er...” The orange-haired girl raised her hand. “Aren’t we not supposed to touch those? They’re supposed to be power sources...”

“We’re testing a theory, actually… they can’t be power sources to the kingdoms themselves, right? I mean… that would be a little ludicrous. But… Queen Lumentia had a theory that they might power that archway at the Crossroads, and I need to do that because all the Teleporter Stones to Ethernealrus seem to keep disappearing.”

“...Yours too, huh.”

“What? Yours vanished too?”

“Without a trace. All we got were some fingerprints that didn’t match anyone in the system… all over everything. Kinda looked like they were feeling around or something.”

“That’s really weird… anyway. We also wanted to come see about the stuff we’ve seen in the papers. Apparently your dragon ambassador is acting weird?”
“Weird’s an understatement. He tried to attack the council after getting some thing stuck in his neck and then he disappeared without a trace.”

“That… that’s bad.”

“Yeah no kidding. And ever since he disappeared the whole city’s been having tremors like no one’s business. We’re hoping the castle isn’t about to erupt. Again.”

“Or worse,” the pale-haired young man interjected. “Could be the Eye of Fire that blows its top.”

“...Yeah. That would be worse.”

“That would be way worse...” Dan mumbled. “But that’s what we’re here for. Hope that’s not too much to ask...”

“We’re gonna have to ask Grandpa about that.” Fiametta nodded. “But I think if he thinks you’re trustworthy you’ll get the crystal fine. Do they even know what it does? Like, now that you mention it if the fate of the kingdom hitched on it it’d be way better guarded...”

“That’s… a good point.” The red-haired woman shrugged. “Let’s see if we can’t get your grandpa to agree to it. Best to at least try. If our teleporter stones are disappearing we should probably find some way to get to Ethernealrus anyway.”

“Odd that we haven’t been able to pin who did it. Even the Lumentian Spec-Ops hasn’t been able to tag the thief.”

“Look, let’s just… get the crystal and not worry about it now. What’s gone is gone.” Dan sighed.

“What if they’re planning on doing something to Ethernealrus? We heard about what they tried to do in Lumentia, and the dragon ambassador of Zempheriea finally contacted us...”

“Good thing I apparently have to go there then, huh?”

“Why do you need to go there of all places?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll keep it short: divine intervention, is why. I’ll tell the story in front of the king, let’s just go.” Dan began walking off without the rest of the group, confusing the three Magmarnians.

“Has… something gotten into him?”

“No idea.” Angel shrugged. “He’s been acting like this since we met him at the restaurant. All skittish-like, like he’s not telling us something. We haven’t pursued it yet.”

“I say he’s just antsy about the dragon.” Letro laughed. “C’mon, let him be. I told him. I got this.”

“Can we maybe… not kill the dragon ambassador? That might incite a war.”

“No guarantees, my guys. I’m just here for the fight.”

The three shared an uncomfortable glance at each other.

“He’s gonna get us all killed.”

“Definitely.”

The larger group decided not to discuss it further and instead proceeded along the path Dan had left on. When they reached him again, he was on one knee in front of an older-looking man sitting atop the throne. This man, with scars across his face and a silvery beard-moustache combination that would put the greatest facial hair enthusiast to shame, looked considerate at the prince in front of him.

“And to what do I owe the honor of having the Prince of Librata bow before me?”

“Sir Magmarne, I have a request.”

“Well, let’s hear it.”

“I’m here to request the crystal of fire that your kingdom guards.”

The look on the man’s face faded into concern at the notion. “And what need, exactly, do you have of it?”

“No less than a mission from the gods, your Highness.”

“Is that so..?” Now, the king sounded intrigued. It wasn’t every day someone bowed before him, let alone a prince, claiming to be on a mission from the gods.

“As you know, the teleporter stones pointing to Ethernealrus are few and far between. As you also know, they’re very rapidly disappearing.”

“I suppose this relates to the thief that’s been running around, then. My men just received word from the Lumentian Special Forces this morning. The fingerprints found near the scene of the crime are identical. We’ve sent the results off to your mother, to verify our findings.”

“That’s really weird… so it’s all been one person, then.”

“Either one person, or several very talented shapeshifters.”

“Ech… well… anyway, more to the point… I was asked by the Goddess of the Dark to make my way to Ethernealrus. And since the teleporter stones keep disappearing, we were a bit out of luck. I’m here to ask for the crystal on behalf of my mission, but also on behalf of a theory that Queen Lumentia presented to us.”

“And what might that theory be, lad?”

“That the kingdoms’ crystals once powered the archway at the Crossroads Tower. She says it might have been a portal to Ethernealrus, but was closed off because of the Cataclysm.”

“An intriguing proposition, certainly. Very well, I have no reason to distrust you. Come along.” The king rose from his throne, and led the group along, down hallways lit by magma veins and fire and features that spewed not water but molten iron. The ground trembled again below them, causing a murmur of worry through the group. But none was more rattled than Dan, who tucked into himself. Maybe if he looked small, none of what was going to happen, would happen.

The door to the crystal’s chamber was burning hot to the touch, and disgorged a blast of heat so intense that those nearby, save the native Magmarnians, could barely stand it. It smelled of sulfur and heated metal inside, and the pedestal holding the crystal sat in the dead center of a wide room whose walls were less walls and more lava-falls, extending upward far beyond the party’s line of sight.

“Here we are. Step lively now. Might be a bit warm in here for you.” The king laughed. Although, one could tell that it was a bit of a half-hearted laugh, as the rumbling hadn’t yet stopped.

Dan gulped and stepped forward into the room. So hot was it in here that even if he were sweating, it evaporated off of his face and body immediately, leaving him dry and uncomfortable. His lungs burned from the sulfur in the air. It was difficult to even get close to the crystal from the heat, but he was soon able to take it into his hands. It burned to the touch, leaving him unable to hold it in either hand for more than a second, but it crackled and glimmered like somebody took a burning inferno and froze it into solid form.

As he stashed it away in the same storage device where he held the others and turned on his heel to exit the room, the floor quaked even more violently than it had the entire time the group had been in the castle, and began to crack from the center of the room. There was a brief moment’s pause. No one spoke, everyone stilled.

“Oh, shit.”

As suddenly as the quake had shook the room, the floor burst open, nearly sending Dan flying into the magmatic walls. From the tremendous hole where the pedestal had once stood, emerged a tremendous beast, spiraling into the air. It could only scantly be called a dragon. It looked forged of molten stone and steel and its eyes and its mouth glowed like fire. Around its neck was a heavy collar with a horrible-looking crystal dripping with shimmering black and red energy and the fiery blood of the beast in equal parts.

Also clinging to the collar, curiously, was a gangly-looking half-dragon girl with an axe in one hand and a death grip on the collar in the other. As the beast began to thrash about, the girl tried to swing at the crystal, but found it difficult to hold on and swing at the same time, and so was thrown off and slammed into the wall with a sickening crunch sound which caused the already panicking party to wince.

Even Letro had to spare a flinch, before brandishing his katana with a smile on his face. “Alright, lizard. Come get some.”

“Letro, don’t-” Danielle’s objection was cut off by Letro holding up his hand.

“Shh, pretty lady. I know what I’m doing. You and three-eyes, go patch up the noodle. Danno, you and sparky are on defense.”

Dan groaned as he stood up. “What?”

“Say what now.” Angel also looked very confused.

“Alright, you three and Luna, get everyone out and away from the room. Slashy here can back us up. Kaj, I’ve got a plan.”

“Great…” Kaj wasn’t planning on dying today, he thought, but whatever Letro wanted.

“You see that crystal?”

“Yeah.”

“We’re gonna break it.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding. How the hell are we getting up there?”

“We’re not. We’re bringing it down here.”

“Letro how the fuck are we going to bring that thing down here.”

“Just follow my lead.”

Danielle, lacking any reason to question Letro’s judgement, took her staff off her back and dashed forward into the room, drawing the first ire of the beast as it saw her movement. It bellowed a room-shaking roar and loosed from its mouth a torrent of superheated rock and flame, which she was only barely able to keep ahead of. She managed to catch the girl from mid-air as she fell from the wall, hissing as the heat on her scales burned her skin and singed her suit.

As she ran her gauntlet, Letro leaped into action, grabbing hold of the white-hot spines on the beast’s back and, though he couldn’t hold onto them long, used them to get up onto its back. He began a strongly opposed climb up the dragon’s scales, as it swung around and thrashed and struggled to get another tiny annoyance off of its body.

Dan and Angel looked largely confused about what Letro meant by ‘defense’, until the second the creature launched another volley of debris and fire in their direction. The attack was just barely stopped by a barrier of shadow, light and spatial distortion, and lightning from Angel’s palm jumped between the bits of molten metal and into the creature’s mouth, causing it to howl in pain. As it was sufficiently distracted, she turned around to help the three Magmarnians usher attendants away from the scene, only to find a pair of uncomfortably familiar faces ambling around, looking terrified of all the noise.

“Denzia, are you sure it was a good idea to come here?!”

“I told you, Jack! If the queen said we should get to know the kingdoms, it’s best to get a head start! The sooner we get it done, the sooner more bagels! I didn’t know we were gonna be walking in in the middle of an eruption!”

“Get down!!” Angel snapped, startling the both of them. They ducked down to the floor just in time to narrowly avoid getting struck by more debris shooting out of the room.

“Ma’am what’s going on!”

“I have no idea! Just get down and stay down!”

Kaj stood below the great beast and watched Letro ascend. It was always impressive to watch him work, he had to admit. But how was he going to bring that thing down here? He got his answer when Letro grabbed hold of a massive chain dangling from the beast’s collar. He jumped down, and although he should have been no heavier than the chain he held in his hands, he seemed to get heavier as he fell, slamming into, and nearly through, the remains of the floor, dragging the creature’s neck down with it.

The crystal jammed in its collar struck the ground and cracked on impact, causing it to thrash and roar. But it was enough to rouse the attention of the half-dragon being tended to, who pried her way out of the grasp of the healers and picked up her axe again, shooting forward as if her life depended on it. With a great and mighty swing, she brought her axe down into the crack on the crystal and shattered it into two.

At first, there was silence. Then the beast let free a nearly deafening shriek, as fiery blood began to spew from the cracked crystal, disgorging shards of black alongside it. It sizzled as it struck the skin of those nearby it – in particular, Kaj had no idea what to expect and was burned for his troubles.

It began to change shape and color. Its claws lost the molten sheen, and the spines knitted themselves back into proper ridges. Cracked, metallic scales faded to vibrant vermillion, and hollow glowing eyes became normal again. Not long later, a dragon lay where the beast once was, barely conscious and wounded, but alive.

“Uncle..!” The half dragon rushed to the much larger drake’s side. “Uncle, if you can hear me-”

“Hah… good work, Skaerenth… Good work indeed...”

“Uncle, please tell me you’re gonna be alright, Mom is worried sick about you-”

“Shh.” He gave her a weak lick. “I’ll be alright. You’ve done me quite the service...”

“How touching.” A voice deadpanned from seemingly nowhere.

Angel couldn’t help but be surprised as Jack and Denzia suddenly scrambled up and searched for a place to hide. “What are you guys doing?!”

“Look at the time gotta go bye-”

“You two. I see you there.” The disembodied voice hissed. “Slacking as usual. I told the Master that you would do nothing but loaf around, and look at you. Befriending Xephixerians, even.”

One of the leftover puddles of blood began to move of its own volition, pulling itself together into a coagulate, solid form, which soon transmogrified into the semi-translucent black skin of a being that, while it might have had a humanoid body, had arms made up more of tentacles than arm. Its face was completely flat, showing no emotion aside from a pair of glowing yellow eyes. In the center of its chest was a gently pulsing red sphere.

“How disappointing.” The thing shook its head. “I would have thought for sure that running this test on the dragon ambassador might take a kingdom to its knees, but… such sacrifices must be made if I’m to recollect my agents. Must regroup our efforts, send stronger agents… isn’t that right, Letro?”

The entire group turned their heads to look at Letro, who shrugged widely. “What can I say? I’m just doing my job.”

“What are you talking about?!” Kaj demanded.

“Sorry about that, buddy of mine. You had to find out sooner or later. You all did. Nice to hang around with a bunch of pretty ladies, but I’ve got bigger fish to fry. Bigger things to fight. You know how it is.”

“How… how dare you!!” Now Kaj sounded furious. “Traitor! I’ll- I’ll kill you! Watch me!”

“Yeah… good luck with that, friendo.” Letro effortlessly threw backward an assault from behind by Starr, and turned to Dan. “Oh, buddy. Pal. Danno.”

“I’m not your buddy.” Dan growled. Though if one paid close attention, they could hear the resignation in his voice, a detail not lost on the party.

“Yeah yeah. Listen. Valiant effort, but I think it’s gonna have to stop here. Y’know? Can’t let you go foiling master, now can I? That’s not what a good double agent does. You know that. I know that. No hard feelings.”

The two rushed headlong at each other, locking themselves quickly in a sword knot.

“Traitor...”

“Nah, not traitor. Really good actor.” Letro threw him backward and into the floor, then laughed. “Hmmm… you know what? I think I’m gonna let you all think about this one, instead. Think about what you’re up against.”

Now it was Angel’s turn to try to catch him off guard, but her sphere of aura and lightning merely hurtled back in her direction at a swing of his katana, and sent her hurtling.

“Enough.” The being before them lifted Letro, Jack and Denzia with psionics and brandished a deep blue stone. “We take our leave now.”

With a flash of light, they were gone.