《Not Your Usual Magical Girl》 Prologue: A very, very long weekend The night Susan Hill was kidnapped from her home and taken away to another world was actually quite nice. The streets were cool despite the summer heat thanks to a gentle breeze, lying dark and quiet thanks to the absent moon. Susan herself was still awake, lying on her bed and reading an article off her phone. She was almost as still as the world outside, until a casual glance at the clock above her door made her do a double take. She was on her feet the next instant, cursing up a storm. She knew it was her fault, she shouldn¡¯t have let herself get distracted reading internet articles. But there had just been a new article released detailng advances on CRISPR gene modification and she¡­ was getting distracted again. Stumbling steps took her past the overstuffed bookshelves that filled her room and over to her dresser. It took a moment to focus her heavy eyes enough to safely place her phone on the charging cradle. Then she had to pause when her wandering eyes found herself in the mirror. Slowly taking in her blonde hair that normally hung down to her shoulders, now arrayed in tangled curls over a plain, sallow face that was a little too pale from a lack of sun. In other words, she looked like a mess. A wide yawn threatened to bowl her over, but she fought it down. It took a moment of fighting to pull open the drawers of her ancient wooden dresser, not helped at all by her drowsiness. Finally freeing her pajamas from its confines, she moved to undress. Then froze the moment her t-shirt came over her head, light blue eyes locking onto the sight of the dark blue bruise that covered the entirety of her right shoulder. She gulped. Last Friday the head cheerleader, and resident terror of her high school had hip checked Susan so hard she¡¯d been sent careening across the hall and into a bank of lockers. The girl¡¯s cackle as she fled the scene still echoed in Susan¡¯s ears two days later as she stared at the evidence of the encounter. Susan had hoped that there wouldn¡¯t be a bruise. But her shoulder had taken on an interesting color over the course of the weekend and now there no denying what it was. ¡°Freaking Kelly,¡± she growled under her breath, ¡°Freaking high school, freaking everything.¡± Couldn¡¯t the girl just leave her alone, it wasn''t like she was a nerd or anything. She didn''t talk about anime or D&D or anything, she just read science articles in her free time. Unfortunately the decision wasn¡¯t hers to make, and Kelly had lumped her in with the rest of the social outcasts at their school as easy prey. She was so stuck in the events of the past week in her head that she failed to notice the sound of a door opening. Then the little pin lock of the bathroom door directly behind her popped as it was locked and she couldn¡¯t help but jump in surprise. Turning, she slowly walked over to the door. The light was on in the small bathroom that sat between her and her little sister¡¯s rooms. Tentatively, she reached out and gave a light rap. It took her until the doorknob began turning for her to realize that she didn¡¯t want Elizabeth seeing her shoulder. Turning the bruised away from the door, she crossed her other arm over her chest to cover it with her hand. The door opened and a familiar head popped through. Elizabeth shared Susan¡¯s blond hair and blue eyes, but that¡¯s where their appearances diverged. Only in middle school, the girl was a head shorter than Susan¡¯s four foot ten, and a love of sports had given her tanned skin and an overall healthier look. ¡°Oh hey,¡± Elizabeth said with a nonchalance that shouldn¡¯t have been possible at this hour, ¡°Do you mind if I take a shower real quick?¡± Susan stared at her incredulously, wondering if this was some exhaustion induced fever dream. ¡°It¡¯s two in the morning, who takes a shower at two in the morning?¡± She almost whispered. ¡°Look, is it fine or not?¡± Elizabeth shot back. ¡°But you already took one today!¡± Susan couldn¡¯t help but retort, waving her arm at Elizabeth. ¡°I got dirty again, alright? I just need to take another- wait a second, what¡¯s that?¡± Elizabeth asked, eyes widening. Susan¡¯s arm had come off her shoulder to wave at Elizabeth. She immediately slapped it back in place, but the lance of pain brought a grimace to her face. Elizabeth¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°It¡¯s nothing!¡± Susan almost shouted. ¡°I just fell, go take your shower okay?¡± Elizabeth frowned at her response, ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yeah totally fine¡­,¡± Susan trailed as Elizabeth nailed her with a flat stare, ¡°¡­Please don¡¯t tell Mom and Dad.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so telling mom and dad.¡± ¡°T-then,¡± Susan warbled as she searched for an appropriate retort, ¡°I¡¯ll tell them how late you''re staying up!¡± Elizabeth froze, then her eyes narrowed into a glare, ¡°¡­Fine.¡± She vanished back into the bathroom, the door snapping shut behind her. Susan¡¯s hand fell away from her shoulder and she slumped in place. That had been a cheap shot by her. She didn¡¯t want her parent¡¯s looking into her sleeping schedule any more than Elizabeth did. But the idea of them finding out about Kelly terrified her even more than a curfew. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. She felt¡­ heavy. She moved back to the dresser and got changed as her mind ran through the last few minutes over and over. Flipping off the lights, she wobbled back to her bed and flopped down on it so that she lay face up. She let out a sigh, only Elizabeth could drive her crazy like this. What even possessed the girl to stay up this late anyway. She realized something was wrong when she tried breathing in again and failed. The weight from earlier had grown. Now it felt like there was something pressing down on her chest and into the bed. She began to panic, was she sick, was there something wrong with her? It got worse when she tried to raise her head. It was an impossible effort, like pushing her forehead against a wall. Her eyes moved desperately back and forth, but there was nothing she could see. The only sight was the dim paint of the ceiling above her. The weight seemed to grow with her panic. Her fingers impotently scrabbled against the sheets as it grew to become an all encompassing pressure. Instead of being pressed down, it now felt like she was being forced into herself. Black spots began to grow in her vision as a lack of air threatened to take her before the pressure could. She wanted to scream, cry, anything, but she couldn''t. Her mouth flopped open, attempting to force out whatever air remained in a desperate cry for help. And then she vanished. The only evidence left of her being rumpled bed sheets and a disgruntled sister.
On the other side of the interstate from Susan¡¯s home lay the local park. Far away from the road and nestled within the forest that made up the grounds, a section had been cleared and prepared for spectator sports. Unfortunately, lack of budget meant that every sport popular with the local children was only made playable by a creative use of white paint and portable goals. The only permanent structure being cheap aluminum seating for the parents. As the clock in Susan¡¯s room moved to two thirty, the vibrant green of the well cut grass was barely visible. The dim moon was shadowed by clouds, its light almost completely cut off from the empty grounds. The breeze stopped. The chatter of animals and the roar of the interstate stopped. For a few long moments the world froze in place. Something appeared. Long necked, long limbed, and impossibly large the creature dominated the field. The sinuous neck waved a huge head back and forth, as if daring the world around it to move. Out on the interstate the sounds of cars could again be heard, but in the field silence reigned as every animal felt the presence of a predator like no other. ¡°I made it,¡± The dragon named Susan whispered at a volume that was louder than a shout from a human. Her voice was different now, deep and reverbant, though it was still vaguely recognizable as the one she had before. She gathered herself and stood. Things were different now though. Four legs pushed up instead of two, and a huge head rose on its elongated neck as a sinuous tail swung around from behind. The nostalgic view warped and vanished, and the towering trees shrank as Susan now looked down on their leafy tops. ¡°Oh dear,¡± She whispered, ¡°This won''t work.¡± Two huge scaled eyelids closed and enormous lips pursed in concentration. The dark towering form that stretched the entire width of the football field from head to tail seemed to shiver. It stilled for a split second before it seemed to collapse in on itself. The neck shrank, the tail and scales vanished, and the enormous muscled limbs thinned until the figure that remained almost perfectly resembled the Susan of before. Not everything was the same. As Susan looked down with pride at her human form, her eyes fell on fair healthy skin and toned muscles. And nothing else. She blinked and tried to resist the urge to facepalm. ¡°Right, clothes,¡± Susan muttered in her normal voice. She crouched on the ground and began tracing a small circle made of strange symbols on the ground. She stood and looked down at it, with a snap of her fingers the symbols glowed before vanishing as a coarse cotton robe appeared over her body. Susan nodded in satisfaction and turned in a circle, getting her bearings. From her memories, the sports fields should be within a few miles of her house. She remembered trudging next to an excited Elizabeth as their family walked to the baseball pitch and seeing the football scoreboard in the distance. ¡®Which would mean¡­¡¯ Susan turned toward the empty scoreboard and did an about face before marching confidently towards the field, the dark night a stark contrast to the brilliant summer day of her memory. She quickly passed through the shadowed fields, and onward into the lightly forested park beyond. As she walked under the dark canopy of the trees ahead she couldn¡¯t help feeling excitement bubble up in her chest. Her feet picked up speed, abandoning her dignified walk as Susan broke into a sprint. The dark trunks rushed by as she reached a speed faster than most cars. In barely an instant she was out of the woods and on the hard concrete of her neighborhood streets. She blurred past the cookie cutter two story houses of her neighborhood as they looked down with their large, eye-like windows. She didn¡¯t even feel the exhaustion of running but her breath still picked up from the excitement. She took one turn, then another through increasingly familiar streets. Nothing in the neighborhood noticed her passing, her bare feet making barely any noise despite the force she put into each stride. Before she even realized it, she was turning onto a familiar driveway next to a lawn turned yellow from the early autumn heat. All of the sudden she found her chest tightening, despite the elation she still felt. Stopping in place, Susan¡¯s excitement drained away, replaced with worry at what she might find. What if she was days or months early, or years late? No, the grass was right¡­ she thought. It had been so long since she had last seen that lawn, what if she had still gotten the time wrong? Susan shoved away the paranoia, the house still had its familiar painted walls and shingle roof. Shaking her Head, Susan forced herself to refocus on getting in. She could knock¡­ and freak her parents out. Or wake up Elizabeth¡­ and freak her out too. No, the best way was just to go through the window to her room. Having decided to break into her own house, Susan looked up at the window poking out from the roof on the second story. She could have climbed, but habits built over the years she had spent away from Earth were hard to break. Crouching, Susan took a quick breath before pushing off the ground and leaping toward the window. Her feet pushed deep into the lawn and she flew twenty feet over and up onto the sloped portion of the roof that her window sat over. Her feet touched down softly on the tile and she grabbed the top part of the window frame to hold herself in place. Before she could get stuck worrying again, she reached down, grabbed the bottom part of the window and lifted. The metal lock that had faithfully stood guard for the sixty years of the house''s existence popped off the window and landed on the floor. Susan crouched and crept through the window and onto the bed below before stepping down onto the wood slatted floor of her bedroom. Susan looked around at the room with shimmering, tear filled eyes. No longer needing the electric lights to see, she took in the shelves, brimming with books and topped with medals and ribbons from science fairs. The familiar doors, the dresser, the desk, the everything that called out to her with its comforting sameness. She approached her phone and reached out with a trembling finger to tap the screen and bring up the home screen. The tap brought her phone to life, its screen like a tiny beacon. The date was right. The time was right. The phone had barely even charged ten percent since she had last touched it. Stumbling back to her bed Susan sat heavily on it. ¡°The date is right¡­ I¡­ was right. I¡¯m home,¡± She whispered to herself as tears fell to the floor below. Hugging herself, she let out a quiet chuckle. Basking in the quiet ambiance, she couldn¡¯t help the next words that slipped out her mouth. ¡°It only took a thousand years.¡± Chapter 1: Back to school blues The bus roared as it turned the corner onto 1st street. All Susan could see of it in the dim morning light was the shining headlights and flashing top light. She couldn¡¯t help but frown at the reminder of how early it was. Everyone knew that her high school started unreasonably early. ¡®Leonard Gaynor High School¡¯ had a terrible name and worse hours and the student body had publicly protested both to no avail. The unreasonable hours had just never hit Susan quite so close to home before. After she had stopped crying, Susan had gone downstairs and parked herself at the kitchen table with a pile of her books to wait for her family to appear. Catching up with her science articles managed to calm her down completely, but as time progressed she had found herself more and more distracted by the changing number of the clock that heralded her parents and sister¡¯s arrival. It was only when the cartoony alarm on her phone echoed down the carpeted stairs from her room that she remembered it was Monday. Unfortunately, thanks to her family¡¯s haphazard wake up times and her unforgivingly early schedule, she wouldn¡¯t see them for another ten hours. Susan had returned her books and prepared for school in a daze, nearly crying when she turned her back on the familiar white paint of the house¡¯s front door. The squeal of the bus¡¯s tires and the clunk of the door swinging open brought Susan back to the present. She thumped her way up the steps and turned into the aisle. She barely glanced at the familiar drab interior as she tossed her backpack into ¡®her¡¯ seat. Laying down across the seat she bunched up her backpack to use as a pillow and settled in. She let the nostalgic sounds of the bus wash over her as she gazed up at the unpainted metal ceiling. She barely noticed as the bus started and stopped on its route. Her only move the whole time was to take her leg out of the aisle when another student complained about it. Susan woke up from her daze in an instant. Her mind raced for a few seconds wondering what had happened when a thump came from the seat in front of her. She couldn¡¯t help the smile that broke out on her face. It must have been eight stops since she had gotten on the bus, apparently her mind had forgotten her old schedule but habit hadn¡¯t. ¡°Hey Susan.¡± A familiar squeaky teenage voice said as a mop of shaggy brown hair popped over the edge of the seat. ¡°Cole!¡± Susan exclaimed as she bounced up in her seat, revealing blue eyes and a pudgy face as the rest of the self proclaimed anime lover appeared. A grin split his face. ¡°Hey, great to see you¡¯re alright!¡± Susan paused at this. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I be?¡± She asked. The mood turned from jovial to awkward in a moment as the teen awkwardly raised an arm to scratch at the back of his head. He shuffled in his seat so that he was better positioned to look back at Susan. ¡°Um, well, you know¡­ last Friday,¡± He began slowly, ¡°When Kelly pushed you across the hall. It looked like you took a nasty fall, and well, I was just kinda worried about you.¡± Susan blinked a few times as her mind ran in circles digging up what it remembered of Kelly. She was¡­ a cheerleader, kind of annoying, a bit of a psychopath. Oh, and the reason she and Cole were friends. The Susan of last Friday had nightmares about her, the Susan of today vaguely remembered someone similar to an angry chihuahua. ¡°Oh her! Sorry, I totally forgot about her.¡± Susan said with an awkward smile. Cole stared at her like she had just grown a second head. ¡°You forgot about Kelly Baker?¡± He asked with wide eyes. ¡±Yeah, I had a really crazy weekend and it slipped my mind,¡± Susan said with a shrug, which only seemed to draw a more incredulous reaction from the boy in front of her. ¡°Susan, she threw you into a locker,¡± Cole leaned in and whispered. ¡±Look, a lot happened over the weekend and honestly, Kelly Baker is like, the least of my problems right now,¡± Susan explained with an awkward wave of her arms. ¡±Oh, is everything alright?¡± Cole leaned back, looking even more worried now. ¡±No, no. Nothing bad happened, but I was super busy and the school stuff just took a backseat, okay?¡± Susan snapped back. ¡±Yeah okay,¡± Cole let out a breath, some of the tension leaving him. ¡°I get you. One time I went to this huge summer camp, made new friends, did a bunch of new things, went on adventures and stuff. When I got back to school everything seemed super different for a while.¡± Susan sat back against the poorly cushioned seat to think for a second. One day, or a thousand years ago, depending on how you looked at it, Susan had been kidnapped away from her home. She had then spent the next millennia in a near constant fight for survival, trying to get back. In that moment, Susan looked back over a thousand years of war and madness and reflected on how it might have changed her. ¡°Kinda like a really bad summer camp I guess.¡± She said lamely. ¡±That¡¯s alright, I guess. It¡¯s just that with everything going on with Kelly, I was really worried you wouldn¡¯t show up today,¡± Cole said, looking visibly relieved now. ¡±No, the locker thing is fine, didn¡¯t even leave a bruise,¡± She said, pulling up her sleeve to show her pristine shoulder. Cole smiled for a second before his eyes widened. ¡°Woah, what''s up with your arms, you been working out?¡± Susan looked down at her arm and saw the muscles that definitely hadn¡¯t been there the week before. Her mind flashed through the settings of the shapeshifting spell she used to look human. She froze as she tried to think of a way out of the awkward realization. ¡±Yeah, crazy weekend, right?¡± She responded with a completely normal and absolutely, definitely unworried voice. ¡°Guess so.¡± Cole trailed off awkwardly, either missing or ignoring her awkward deflection. ¡°Anyway, want to hear about this new anime I¡¯ve been watching?¡± He said as he changed back to a more comfortable topic. When Susan waved him on, he quickly launched into an animated description of epic action scenes and shoehorned love triangles. Susan sat back and smiled, not entirely listening but just letting the familiar drone of nerd-talk wash over her. The bus rumbled on.
The school day began as scheduled. Bells rang, concrete halls filled with the squeaking of shoes and yelling of teenagers then fell silent again. Susan sat through an English class she hated, and then began her math class that she¡¯d learned the curriculum too long before she took the seat in class each day. Like Cole had said, it didn¡¯t take long for the reality of high school to reassert itself. Susan sat slouched in one of the hard backed plastic desk chairs as the sub droned on, barely caring that no one in the class was paying attention. Why Mr. Hanson, the hard headed and gym obsessed football coach was even considered as a substitute math teacher was anyone¡¯s guess. The one positive was that he didn''t care what the students did so long as they looked mostly awake. As the robotic drone of his voice faded into the background, Susan felt all of the memories of the other world slip away. They seemed to fall into a dreamlike space in her head where for a few moments, she found she could pretend they hadn¡¯t happened. A wad of paper struck her back. Snapped out of her reverie Susan whipped her head around and saw a familiar head of shoulder length black hair three seats behind her. She grimaced as she fully remembered the person who had haunted her nightmares so long ago. Kelly Baker was a tall, blue eyed and pretty Sophomore at LG High. With the combined looks and confidence of a natural diva, she would have gotten the attention and envy of the entire school if it weren¡¯t for one small problem. She was pure evil. A thousand years of yearning for her old life had apparently painted over some of the darker aspects of Susan¡¯s past. And dark aspects those were, because some of Kelly¡¯s harassment went well beyond high school bullying. Susan had heard rumors that some of her victims had called off school for days or weeks after incidents with her. Looking back at her, Susan kept an eye out for her fellow victim. After all, Kelly would never be caught doing anything questionable by the teachers. Despite the fact they were all well aware of her proclivities, she was careful enough not to be caught in the act. No, she would press gang some innocent bystander into doing it for her. There he was. The lanky boy seated across the aisle from Kelly had a half guilty, half relieved expression that he was trying to hide behind a textbook. Susan took a second to think through her options. She could avoid Kelly, let her be someone else¡¯s problem and wash her hands of the situation. On the other hand, if there was a perfect use for the unthinkable arcane might she now wielded, it was dealing with her high school bully. She glanced at the clock, it was only five minutes till the end of class. Turning her head back to the boy she locked eyes with him and mouthed the word ¡®bathroom¡¯. She saw his eyes turn to the clock and widen at the realization that he could leave and hide out until the end of class. His hand shot up like a rocket and when he was called on he almost shouted his request. Barely waiting to hear the grunted assent of Mr. Hanson, he grabbed his backpack and fled towards the door. Passing Susan he let out a whispered ¡°Thank you.¡± Susan barely noticed the next five minutes, but as the bell rang and she stood up from her seat she saw Kelly¡¯s thunderous expression and couldn¡¯t help her smile.
Susan walked through the roaring cafeteria, tray in hand as she tried to spot Cole. Her shoes squealed over the glossy tile as she dodged around wandering students in the too thin aisles between the tables. She saw a flash of color from the corner of her eye and turned to see Cole waving to her from a table in the far corner of the cavernous room. It was partway filled with people from one of the nerd cliques. The assortment of a dozen different anime and superhero shirts made for a noticeable splash of color in the chaos of the lunch room. It took her a solid minute to travel the hundred feet across the room, dodging through the heavy traffic of the early lunch rush. She dropped her tray on the table with a clatter and settled down on an uncomfortable plastic seat at the far end of the table across from Cole. They exchanged nods and turned back to continue his discussion with a tall scrawny boy seated next to him. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s going on here?¡± Susan asked. ¡°Just telling Andrew,¡± Cole turned back and gestured to the long haired boy wearing a t-shirt with a bad math pun sitting next to him, ¡°About the isekai genre.¡± ¡°The what genre?¡± Susan replied, leaning back and trying to relax as she waited to hear the translation for the name of the latest anime thing to catch Cole¡¯s interest. She had never quite understood his love of anime. Especially when the most basic things such as genre titles needed a dictionary to understand. ¡±It''s the ¡®in another world¡¯ genre. It¡¯s a big fad right now and-,¡± Cole cut off as Susan instantly went from relaxing in her seat to leaning forward with a look of intense interest on her face ¡±No, go ahead,¡± Susan said, waving her hand for him to proceed. ¡±Uh, OK,¡± Cole replied awkwardly. It took a few seconds, but nothing short of a death threat could stop him when he got talking about his interests and he launched off back into his explanation. Apparently, Isekai was where the protagonist of the story got sent to another world, usually because they got hit by a truck of all things. Then they would get superpowers of some sort, maybe fight a demon king, and almost definitely get a harem of beautiful anime girls. Susan tuned out the yelling of students and clatter of trays and shoes as she focused on Cole. Cole wasn¡¯t alone in his confusion at her sudden interest; she noticed some of the other teens at the table sending glances her way. Everyone there knew this was completely out of character for her. Susan usually spent her day chained to a book or her phone, tuning out anything non science related- that usually being her fellow nerds. ¡±Does the protagonist ever get turned into a dragon?¡± Susan interjected as Cole paused for a moment to scarf down some of the tasteless cafeteria food. Susan had ignored hers, she didn¡¯t want her first proper meal back to be something that made her want to re-¡®isekai¡¯ herself. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Well,¡± he started again as he pushed away his tray, ¡°That does happen from time to time. There¡¯s like a whole sub genre where people get turned into various monsters, and I¡¯m pretty sure there are a few dragon isekai stories out there. But it¡¯s not like its own thing.¡± ¡±Huh,¡± Susan said as she finally relaxed from her perch against the edge of the table. She ignored the looks of bewilderment from the people around her. Cole resumed his explanation of the anime genre as she mulled over the new information. Could she have saved herself some trouble if she had been aware of this genre? Should she do some research into these anime? She thought about it for a second before realizing that this would require her to watch them and abandoning the idea entirely. Watching anime would take time away from her scientific papers. Maybe she could grill Elizabeth later. Her musing was cut off when she saw Cole freeze in place as someone settled on the seat next to her with a thump. She turned to see familiar black hair and a smile that would have won awards. Probably by murdering the competition. Susan found herself taking her first good look at Kelly Baker for the first time in over a thousand years. Kelly was wearing a blouse and skirt that were definitely more than Susan could afford and definitely were not school approved. If Susan had an eye for fashion beyond anything other than her typical comfy sweater and fraying jeans she would have noted the perfect color coordination, and maybe the spots of black on the skirt that didn¡¯t quite look right. What did draw Susan¡¯s attention was the suspiciously clear white skin of Kelly¡¯s face, and the distinct smell of magic. ¡°Hey Sue,¡± Kelly said with sugar sweet voice, ¡°I missed you in class earlier.¡± ¡°Sorry, can¡¯t talk right now.¡± Susan said before pulling up her phone and scrolling through it blindly while inside she panicked. Magic was not supposed to be here. She had no memory of it and had entirely expected to never see from anyone other than herself ever again. Beside her, Kelly¡¯s white skin turned red with anger as her face turned into a snarl. ¡°Don¡¯t think you can ignore me!¡± She hissed as she slammed her hands against the table with a bang and stood up to tower over Susan. ¡°Did you think I¡¯d let you off the hook for your little stunt with John earlier?¡± Susan broke out of her reverie, mind readying itself for a fight. Judging the magic concentration around Kelly, she was surprisingly dangerous¡­ for a teenager. Susan ran though a couple scenarios through her head before realizing her best option was just to drive Kelly off for now. The middle of the cafeteria during the lunch period was not the time or place to have a magical throwdown. ¡±Sit down, okay?¡± Susan said, placing a hand on Kelly¡¯s shoulder and pushing down, planting her solidly back on the seat. Kelly¡¯s mouth flopped open in sheer incredulity. Susan wasn¡¯t sure whether it was from the indignity of being forced to sit down, or the indignity of having someone standing up to her. Susan watched a myriad of emotions run through Kelly¡¯s face. First confused, then her mouth closed and her jaw snapped shut, jaw tensing in anger. Finally, Susan saw her come to the inevitable conclusion as Kelly processed the secret that only the two of them knew. Kelly had an impressive amount of magical power at her disposal, with a good amount of it enhancing her body. Enough that Susan shouldn¡¯t have been able to move her against her will. Kelly¡¯s skin went pale again and her eyes widened, staring straight at Susan as she put two and two together. Without a word she stood and stalked back into the rush of bodies coming from the cafeteria line. Susan watched her go before turning back to her table to see the slack jawed expressions of everyone there. Cole was the first one to speak up. ¡°What was that?¡± He asked, voice raising as his hand waved to accentuate his words. Susan shrugged, ¡°Just thought I¡¯d make her leave.¡± Susan saw the rest of the table break out of their shock, and began quietly muttering to each other. She was well aware they wouldn¡¯t be thanking her for fending off Kelly. That would make her come back for revenge like lightning to a lightning rod. The best option for them now was just to sit back and hope they weren¡¯t caught in the splash zone of whatever retribution was coming. Kelly was like some sort of pagan god to them. They just hoped they could appease her and prayed that she ignored them in return. None of them thanked her, even Cole. He just gave her a nod, she didn¡¯t blame him. They both knew that if he supported her and then her spat with Kelly went truly bad for everyone, neither of them had the social capital to rejoin the group. Susan glanced down the table and paused as her eyes reached the end. Interestingly enough, their group had an outlier. Susan didn¡¯t know her very well, though she knew her name started with an A¡­ oh Anne. The diminutive brown haired girl was staring at Susan, her large black eyes glittering with excitement and hope. As Susan looked over at her the girl noticed the attention and looked away. Susan narrowed her eyes, there was something going on there. Every other person at the table, even Cole, was betting on Kelly punishing Susan for her stunt. One look at Anne told Susan that her chips were solidly on the other side of the table. Except that she shouldn¡¯t have any evidence to back that idea up, unless¡­ Well, there was already one magic user, what was one more? Susan shifted on the hard plastic seat, trying to get as comfortable as she could. She spared some looks around her and caught a few sympathetic looks from the students at nearby tables. She wasn¡¯t the first person to fight back against Kelly, though in their minds she might very well be the last. Susan returned her focus to her food, pushing it around the congealed mass of bread and meat the cafeteria called a burger. She let out a sigh, wasn¡¯t she supposed to be relaxing and enjoying the first true freedom she had felt in centuries? Well, this was the price she paid for returning to a world where vaporizing your problems wasn¡¯t a legally justifiable solution.
School had ended. The gray halls were empty, the teachers holed up in their rooms to look over their students'' progress. Cole and his friends were locked away in a dusty classroom squirreled away towards the back of the school. Susan should have been well away from here taking the bus home. Instead she stalked the halls like a patrol guard, not looking for anything, just seeing what there was to see. She couldn¡¯t use the sixth sense for mana a normal mage would have. Susan saw and smelled it. A flash of pink cosmetic magic near the entrance to one of the bathrooms, a whiff of a common cheating cantrip coming from the door to one of the classrooms. It wasn¡¯t common, it wasn''t as if every hall were alive with clouds of magic like in a mage school. But it was there, in opposition to every part of Susan¡¯s memory and knowledge of earth. Solidly confirming that no, Kelly wasn''t a fluke. Magic was here on Earth, like finding mold on fresh bread. Susan sucked in a long breath and let it out, this would complicate things. It was better in some ways, yes. She wouldn¡¯t be isolated and alone with her knowledge of magic like she had expected. The existence of magic here just meant a bucketful of monkey wrenches would be thrown into her plans. Powerful mages, headstrong dragonslayers, and inevitably, dealing with the insufferable dance of politics made magic. Susan¡¯s shoulders slumped as she remembered that. She would have happily taken a few millennia of loneliness if she didn¡¯t have to deal with magic politics again. She straightened up, at least this didn¡¯t change her plans too terribly much, it just meant hiding a little better from now on. A burst of magical power rolled over her like a miniature shockwave. Susan resisted the urge to punch a wall as the universe itself seemed to laugh in her face. Darnit, regular humans might notice magic this concentrated. The wave had come from behind her, deeper in the school. Susan didn¡¯t hesitate to turn face and march headfirst into the danger, intent on giving it a piece of her mind.
The water hissed as Anne scrubbed her hands of soap. She never liked the school bathrooms, everything from the plastic walls to the toilet paper had been scraped thin to save on money. The one she was in now had the added benefit of being cramped , the space between the sinks and the stall walls was barely enough room for two people to walk past each other. She still used them, it would be stupid not to. Every second she spent at the school, in a club or just hidden away in a corner was a second not spent back home. Even if it meant dodging Kelly all day, staying away from the Brick was always worth it. The telltale sound of the door squeaking made Anne turn her head to the side to see who was coming in. She froze in horror at the same time as a predatory grin spread across the dark haired entrant¡¯s face. ¡±Oh hello Annie,¡± came the too-sweet voice. The grin widened as Anne remained silent and shrank in on herself. ¡±What¡¯s wrong?¡± It continued. ¡°N-Nothing,¡± Anne managed to squeak out in reply. ¡°Oh that¡¯s great!¡± The smile seemed like it was stretching the sides of Kelly¡¯s face now, baring teeth that gleamed in the clear white light of the bathroom. ¡°See, I was just feeling a bit peckish and I was hoping you would help.¡± Anne froze in place. She had known Kelly was bad news. Now her mind was running back through the past month of interaction with her. The pale skin, sharp teeth and dozens of puns and snide remarks about eating pointed towards a terrifying conclusion. Kelly Baker was a vampire. Kelly stood still, watching and looming as Anne¡¯s mind flashed through her options, none of them good. Low on options and desperate she opened her mouth and let out a scream of, ¡°HELP!¡± Before the noise could start to echo down the hall Kelly surged forward. Her hand launched out to clamp down over Anne¡¯s mouth. She continued forward, shoving Anne back and slamming her into the wall with a shattering of flakey plaster. ¡±Oh, you shouldn¡¯t have done that¡­¡± Kelly whispered, staring Anne in the face with narrowed eyes before she glanced downward toward Anne¡¯s neck. Kelly threw her head back and opened her mouth wide to show her canines elongating into needle-sharp points. ¡±Beautiful, aren¡¯t they?¡± Kelly asked as she stared down her nose toward Anne, reveling in the wide eyes and shaking limbs of her victim. Anne was beyond terrified at this point, but she still managed to reach up with quivering hands to grasp at Kelly¡¯s arm. She desperately shoved at the arm holding her in place but failed to push it back. She couldn¡¯t even dent the skin, the flesh of Kelly¡¯s arm was as ungiving as iron. ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve been smelling you for weeks now,¡± Kelly said. ¡°See, I know your little secret, you''re not human either, are you?¡± She continued, the steel grip of her arm denying any form of escape or rebuttal from Anne. ¡°So I¡¯ve been wondering¡­¡± Her voice got quieter and quieter as she moved her head slowly towards Anne¡¯s neck. ¡±What does another monster taste like?¡± The door swung open with a bang. ¡°Is everything alright?¡± Cole shouted breathlessly. Both pairs of eyes moved to stare at Cole. He stood just past the still swinging door, chest heaving as he stood staring at the two girls across the room from him. His brain desperately played catch-up as he realized that he had unthinkingly charged into the women¡¯s bathroom. A bathroom with a vampire in it. Anne couldn¡¯t tell if she should be elated or horrified as she looked upon her rescuer. Cole was a good person at heart. He had heard a scream and come running to help. And now, watching him take in the sight of Kelly pinning down someone while sporting a mouth straight out of a horror movie, he just straightened his shoulders like he was preparing for a fight. ¡°Oh what¡¯s this?¡± Kelly said with a curious tilt of her head, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be here¡­¡± ¡±P-Put her down!¡± Cole responded, balling up his fists and holding them out in a sloppy boxer¡¯s pose. ¡°Or else!¡± ¡±Else what?¡± Kelly spat. She held up her other hand and snapped her fingers. A pulse of magic rushed out from it and Anne watched in horror as the walls of the room took on the telltale shimmer of isolation magic. Cole looked around in shock at the changed walls, and then the blood drained from his face as Kelly turned around fully. Dragging a struggling Anne behind her like she was an awkward bag of luggage, she began stalking towards him. Cole seemed to realize the true danger or what was happening and reached behind him to tug at the door. His breath picked up as it refused to move for him. ¡±Sorry, can¡¯t be letting you escape now.¡± Kelly said as she switched back to her ¡®normal¡¯ singsong tone. Her hand flashed out and she grabbed Cole¡¯s shoulder before turning and without any apparent effort, ripping him off his feet and dragging both her struggling captives back away from the door. She threw them both against the far wall, ignoring their cries of pain. Anne collapsed into a heap. Cole struggled to remain standing before his knees gave out and he followed her to the ground. Kelly loomed over them, her figure silhouetted by dingy fluorescent lights. ¡±Looks like a two for one deal,¡± Kelly said with a knife tipped smile. ¡°Except, what to do with the extra?¡± She reached down and trapped Cole''s jaw in a vice-like grip, forcing his head up to look him in the eye. . ¡°I was going to do a little catch and release program, but SOMEONE just had to walk in.¡± Cole had tried running and fighting, now his body seemed to fail him and he stammered out a desperate question. ¡°W-what a-are you going to do to me?¡± ¡±I-I-I¡¯m going to kill you!¡± Kelly said with a cruel, mocking voice that definitely shouldn¡¯t have come from a teenager. Anne should have been terrified of the situation but she couldn¡¯t help but find herself hating it instead. Her weakness and bad luck had meant that now Cole was doomed, not just to a life of servitude like she was, but to death. Her body shook and she desperately tried to move her shaking muscles to lash out. But they betrayed her, remaining where they were. Kelly¡¯s mouth opened again, not to mock this time but to feed. The long fangs lengthened even more as she leaned in towards Cole¡¯s shivering body. The door slammed open with a bang, admitting an annoyed looking Susan. Looking over the room with tired eyes she let out a quiet breath. ¡±A vampire, really?¡± Kelly spun around, face snarling and fingers curled like claws. Anne¡¯s mouth fell open in incredulity while Cole slumped down as Kelly let him go. Anne couldn¡¯t help but question what was happening. Kelly was powerful; all vampires, even a young one, were creatures of unquestionable power. Anne had thought so, right up until Susan had walked through Kelly¡¯s wards like they weren¡¯t there. Now she was staring at Kelly from across the room like she had spotted a really big spider on the wall and was wondering how to kill it. ¡±This isn¡¯t some party! Get out! Get out and I''ll let you live!¡± Kelly shouted, her frustration at being interrupted again clearly overriding any consideration for the situation. Susan didn¡¯t move, continuing to stare silently for a few more seconds. ¡±Okay, here¡¯s how things are going to go,¡± She said in a bored monotone. ¡°I¡¯m going to fix these two up,¡± Susan waved a hand past Kelly towards Cole and Anne. ¡°Then we,¡± She pointed at herself and Kelly, ¡°Are going to have a talk.¡± Silence reigned for a few seconds. Anne moved from questioning her life to questioning her sanity. Cole slumped down against the wall, passing out under the stress of the situation. Kelly¡¯s breathing slowly began to pick up, her whole body trembling as her muscles clenched in anger. ¡±You little witch.¡± Kelly almost whispered. ¡°You got your hands on some magic didn¡¯t you? Went and fooled around for a few cantrips and now you¡¯re back thinking you can be top dog, huh?¡± She stomped forward, shoes cracking the tiles beneath her with each step. Her voice rose to a scream, ¡°Well if you want to die to a vampire I¡¯m happy to help!¡± Kelly lashed out with her fist. Susan didn¡¯t even try to dodge as the fist crashed into her stomach. Anne watched in horror as Susan vanished completely in a shriek of steel and an explosion of dust and rubble. Kelly stood in place for a few seconds, arm still out as her chest heaved. Annes breath caught in her chest as the dust cleared, revealing a gaping hole where the door had been. Her mind went blank as she fully processed that Kelly had straight up murdered someone. She had come close only seconds before, but Anne seeing it with her eyes was something completely different. Kelly finally straightened up, turning her head back to Anne with a happy little grin on her face. Like she hadn¡¯t just murdered a fellow student at their school. ¡±Now where we-¡° Kelly¡¯s voice was cut off as a rush of magic came from the hallway. The shimmer of Kelly¡¯s magic on the walls was wiped away and replaced by a heavier glow that left the bathroom almost totally empty of sound. A second later footsteps echoed from outside. A figure came through the empty doorframe. It was Susan, clothes full of dust and massive tears, hair ruined, and with the same unworried expression on her face. ¡±Okay, next time, let me get the silence rune up before you go smashing stuff.¡± She said, with a roll of her eyes. Chapter 2: Battles and Bureaucracy Susan held back a sigh as she looked over the scene in front of her. There was Kelly, standing in front of her, the immaculate blouse she once screamed at another girl over staining now covered in a thick layer of dust. Anne and Cole huddled against the wall behind her, clothes rumpled and torn from their ordeal. Cole had passed out while Anne stared back and forth between the two fighters with an expression of mixed hope and terror. This just wasn''t her day. First she couldn¡¯t see her family, then it turned out her school was positively swimming with magic. Now, Kelly Baker the high school bully turned out to be a vampire. A vampire. Of course it had to be a vampire. It didn¡¯t matter what world, or dimension, you were on, they were all the same. Ten percent edgy goth, and ninety percent raving egomaniac, they were one of the single hardest to deal with magical species purely due to their utter self obsession. And now she had to do the impossible by talking one of them down without resorting to vaporizing them. ¡°Alright,¡± She said, holding her hands up placatingly. ¡°Let¡¯s all calm down.¡± ¡°And why should I do that!¡± Kelly snarled. Susan pointed a hand behind her while still staring at Kelly. ¡°Were you paying attention just now? The bathroom needs a new door, and all I need is a new shirt.¡± Kelly sneered, ¡°Wow, you¡¯re tougher than a door, good job. Now go back to play with your magic sugar daddy so I can finish up here.¡± Susan rolled her eyes, ¡°First of all, never assume you know how somebody else uses magic. It¡¯s a good way to get blown up right when you think you¡¯re safe.¡± She pointed at Kelly. ¡°Now you are going to shut up and quit attacking people, I''m going to fix up Anne and Cole and then we¡¯re going to have a nice long talk with whatever idiot decided to turn you into a vampire.¡± As Kelly¡¯s face twisted into a snarl, Susan belatedly remembered that she was supposed to calm the situation down. ¡°You think you¡¯re better than me?¡± Kelly whispered as her hands clenched into fists. Her eyes flashed bright red as her fangs seemed to lengthen in her mouth. As Susan watched the vampire work herself into a frothing rage, she decided to change strategies. Quietly, she slid a hand behind her back. Her hand moved quickly through the air, glowing lines appearing in the wake of its movements as she sketched an arcane symbol. Unseen by the rest of the bathroom¡¯s occupants, the symbol glowed briefly in the air before breaking into streaming lines of energy that coursed into Susan. Then she gave her response to Kelly¡¯s challenge, ¡°Yep.¡± Kelly charged forward with a scream. Unlike before, things went sideways the moment she got within a few steps of Susan. At least, Kelly went sideways. With barely a batted eye, Susan backhanded her. In a fraction of a second Kelly went from charging forward to flying sideways into the stalls, vanishing in a hail of ceramics and plastic as her flying body demolished half the bathroom. Susan was across the bathroom in the next instant, crouching over the bodies of the two damsels as shards of ceramic bounced off her back. She couldn¡¯t help but feel some consternation at the fact that her first great fight in this world was taking place in a school bathroom of all places. She really hoped this wasn''t a portent of things to come. Something in the sight of Kelly¡¯s former victims broke off her train of thought. It wasn''t the torn clothes, or developing bruises from being thrown around the bathroom. No, it was the look in Anne¡¯s eyes as she stared up at Kelly. Susan had seen hero worship before. This certainly wasn''t her first time saving people, and some people surprisingly didn''t mind being saved by a building sized dragon. The look in Anne¡¯s eyes wasn''t hero worship. Hers were the eyes of a sailor in a storm finding a lighthouse against all odds. Anne stared up at her with a desperation and a zeal that had Susan dreading their next meeting. There was a quiet moment between them, the bathroom falling silent for a brief moment as the last of the debris landed. Anne and Susan tried to school their expressions away from hope and exasperation respectively as they stared each other down. The moment was broken as Susan heard a clatter behind her. Kelly moaned as her body fell out of the vampire shaped impression in the wall onto one of the toilets below. Susan sighed again. Standing up, she walked over to the insensate vampire draped over her porcelain throne, carefully stepping over the remains of the stall as she went. Reaching down, she grasped Kelly under the arm and hauled her to her feet. A few light slaps brought her back to her senses. ¡°Ready to negotiate now?¡± She asked in a tired voice that should have come from a fast food worker and not the victor of a magic duel. ¡°I¡­ buh¡­ wah¡­¡± Kelly mumbled. ¡°Great, we¡¯ll talk later.¡± She pulled Kelly from the remains of the stall and set her against the wall on the other side of the sinks from Anne and Cole. She looked around the shattered remains of the bathroom with a tired eye. The sinks and the toilets were the only things left standing. Everything else was in ruins. The door was in pieces somewhere down the hall, the plastic stalls weren¡¯t exactly helping with privacy anymore with the entire top half blown away. And to top it all off was the cartoonish Kelly shaped imprint in the wall over the toilets. Susan was pretty sure the amount of sheer exasperation she was feeling at the moment wasn''t healthy. It was just frustrating. She had done it, made her glorious escape and yet the exhilaration and joy hadn¡¯t even lasted a day. Crushed under the mountain of problems that she hadn¡¯t even seen coming. She held back the urge to sigh again. She got the worrying feeling that this was going to be a regular occurrence. ¡°Well, first things first,¡± Susan muttered under her breath. Moving away from Kelly, she went to stand in the center of the room. Crouching down, she placed a finger on the floor and began drawing on it. The glowing symbol she traced this time was much more complex, three concentric circles with a dozen different symbols interspersed between them with a larger one commanding the center. She could see Anne gape at the mass of glowing lines, but tuned her out to focus on what came next. Without a sound, the detritus of the bathroom; the splinters from stalls, shattered tile, and broken porcelain rose in the air as one. It hung there suspended for a moment before beginning to flow in the air in great clouds of debris. The wall stitched back together, silhouette gone. The stalls reassembled next, each shard slotting back into place like a mad Jenga puzzle. Finally, the door snapped back into place with a heavy clunk. The bathroom was left exactly as it had been mere minutes before. Even the students'' clothes had been perfectly repaired, the dust and grime stripped away and returned to where it came from. ¡°What¡­ what was that?¡± Anne whispered in the silence that followed. ¡°That was a rune.¡± Susan said. ¡°They¡¯re my favorite kind of magic. They work off of a standardized system that allows for an optimized and efficient flow of magic. It¡¯s perfect for achieving a desired result unlike some of the other magical arts that¡­ err, where was I?¡± She trailed off as she caught herself going off on a tangent. ¡°I¡¯ve seen runes before,¡± Anne said quickly, ¡°Just nothing like that!¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s probably just because they weren¡¯t powered by a dragon.¡± Susan responded with a casual wave of her hand. Anne stared blankly for a few seconds before responding. ¡°A what?¡± ¡°Oh I guess I haven¡¯t introduced myself yet,¡± Susan gave Anne a small formal bow, ¡°I am the A... I am the Dragon known as Susan.¡± Anne¡¯s stare this time was more incredulous than worshipful. A moan from behind Susan cut off the response. ¡°Why¡­¡± Kelly moaned. Susan blinked, ¡°Why what?¡± ¡°Why are you doing this to me?¡± ¡°¡­Are you asking why I stopped you from attacking teenagers?¡± Susan¡¯s question seemed to break Kelly out of her stupor ¡°It would have been fine, okay!¡± She snapped, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have really hurt them. Just scared them so that they have to accept me into the Dark Tower.¡± ¡°Oh come on!¡± Anne cried, startling both of them. ¡°You mean to tell me that the person harassing the entire school for a month is just another tower climber?¡± ¡°What¡¯s this Dark Tower thing?¡± Susan broke in. ¡°Wait, hold that thought.¡± She shook her head, cutting herself off as she turned to face Kelly and jabbed a finger at her. ¡°Who is your maker?¡± ¡°My what?¡± Kelly responded, confused, ¡°Wait, do you mean Rob?¡± ¡°If Rob¡¯s the one who stuck his fangs in you, then yes. We need to talk to him.¡± Somehow, it was this declaration that made Kelly look genuinely worried for the first time. ¡°Um, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the best idea. Rob really doesn¡¯t like visitors,¡± She said. ¡°Don¡¯t care, he decided to vampirize random people, he gets to deal with the consequences.¡± Susan said with a glare. ¡°No,¡± Kelly shook her head, ¡°He¡¯ll go ballistic, believe me.¡± ¡°If he lives in the, uh, ¡®Dark Tower¡¯ then I can probably help.¡± Anne said. Susan turned to look at her. Anne had a smirk that said she was enjoying Kelly¡¯s discomfort maybe a little too much. Susan might have disagreed with the sentiment, but she couldn¡¯t help the smile that spread over her face. ¡°Wonderful.¡±
It took a few minutes for Susan to haul Cole down to the nurse¡¯s office. Thankfully it was still staffed despite the hour and they left him still passed out on one of the rickety blue beds. Anne left a note with a half baked explanation for the encounter that left Susan dreading her next discussion with the boy. In a silent procession the three girls collected their things, stored them in their lockers and left the school. It was only until they were well away from the school grounds that Susan decided to break the silence. ¡°So what¡¯s the Tower?¡± She asked as she hauled Kelly along by the arm, following Anne down the sidewalk. The streets were almost totally silent, most of the residents had fled indoors from the afternoon heat. The only sign of life was the three girls walking alongside the yellowing lawns of the tall gray houses. Anne turned back to look at her. ¡°Well, before I answer that, could you tell me how much you know about magic?¡± She said as she awkwardly tried to walk and talk back to Susan at the same time. ¡°On Earth? Basically nothing,¡± Susan responded as she pulled Kelly forward so that they were walking alongside Anne. Anne side-eyed her for a moment. ¡°...Right, well, I guess I should start from the beginning. So, way back in the fifties the government got this big idea to cover up magic.¡± ¡°They what?¡± Susan exclaimed. She paused, then actually thought about it. ¡°Nevermind, that actually makes a lot of sense. So that¡¯s why I haven''t heard about magic before, is it some kind of government cover up?¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Anne nodded in response. ¡°Yeah, it all started in the Cold War. You know how they were doing a technological arms race right? Well they were also doing a magical arms race where they gathered up and hid away all the magic they could.¡± ¡°What, so the Tower is some kind of magic warehouse like in Indiana Jones?¡± Susan blurted out. Anne shook her head, ¡°No¡­ well actually they do have those, but not in the Brick. Basically, they didn''t stop at stockpiling magic items, they also grabbed up all the magic people too. The ¡®Tower¡¯ is one of a series of giant housing developments the government built and then bullied everyone into living in so the Commies couldn¡¯t get us. Susan was left somewhat flabbergasted as she tried to process this. ¡°That actually worked?¡± ¡°I don''t know, kind of.¡± Anne shrugged. ¡°Most of the weaker ones, witches and werewolves and all that were forced to join, but anyone really powerful didn''t join unless on sufferance.¡± Susan watched the cracked sidewalk pass underneath them for a little bit, digesting this new information. ¡°And besides,¡± Anne continued, ¡°It¡¯s not even called ¡®the dark tower¡¯ everyone just calls it the Brick.¡± ¡°No,¡± Kelly said. ¡°Everyone knows the right name is the Dark Tower!¡± Susan turned her attention back to the girl she had been dragging along. It was a bit suspect that the first words spoken since they had left the school was an argument on nomenclature. What did Kelly know about all of this? ¡°Really?¡± Anne snapped back before she could speak, ¡°You know nobody other than tower climbers call it that, right?¡± Susan raised an eyebrow, ¡°Tower climbers?¡± She asked. ¡°A bunch of magicless idiots. You can¡¯t live in the Brick without having some magic, so they try to get their own by catching one of the magical diseases like lycanthropy or vampirism. It¡¯s kind of like Russian roulette, but with a lower life expectancy.¡± Kelly listened to the mini rant at first with indignity, but as it went on she seemed to deflate. Susan was enjoying the display, but decided to cut her a bit of slack. ¡°So, what do you know about the Brick?¡± She asked. ¡°It¡¯s not-¡± Kelly cut herself off as she realized she was playing into the stereotype. ¡°Not much, I guess¡­ Everything I learned just came off the internet, and she already said it all. Um, I do know the town was basically built around it, though.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Uh, I think so?¡± Kelly¡¯s voice trailed off as she realized she was quoting hearsay in the presence of a first hand witness. ¡°Pretty much.¡± Anne said, ¡°The Brick and places like it were built near small population hubs partly to hide them better, and partly to make them cheaper to build and supply. This way they didn¡¯t have to bother building schools or malls or anything else inside the brick, they could just outsource it¡­ Oh, we¡¯re here.¡± Susan looked forward for the first time in a little while. The three girls stood at the end of the road. The houses and sidewalk were cut off in a straight line in front of them, going from quiet suburb to impassable forest in a matter of feet. Susan knew this area, it was a mile wide stretch of woods that cut a wedge into the surrounding suburbs. The houses continued on either side of it, but on and behind the enormous lot there was nothing but trees until the state park a dozen miles further down the road. Susan recognized the area from the incensed descriptions of a dozen older neighbors and the front of many a local political ad. The snarl of zoning laws that made the area impossible to develop had made it a hot topic in almost every election for as long as anyone remembered. But despite the years of legal action and even some public protests the land remained undeveloped. Susan had even heard several conspiracy theories surrounding the subject, but looking at it now she could tell that this went further than anyone had ever guessed. There was the shimmer of glamour magic here. Everywhere in the woods, every tree, bush, and root had a telltale gleam on it. Looking up, the glamour even extended into the sky, extending so high it was almost impossible to see where it ended. Susan couldn¡¯t help but feel the mad wizard vibes coming off of it. Contrary to expectations though, instead of a chant to enter the enchanted forest, Anne pulled a keycard out of her back pocket. With all the ceremony and aplomb of a minimum wage employee on their third shift, she waved the card out in front of her. ¡°Annabeth Sekh, plus two to enter, please.¡± The forest in front of them shivered. The trees and bushes wavered in front of them, the trees shifted, bushes turned to the side and a thousand vines whipped out of the way. In moments a scenic dirt path framed with arching trees had cleared through the previously impregnable forest. The scene would have reminded Susan of a Disney movie if it weren¡¯t for Anne¡¯s utterly deadpan expression. Anne marched forward, the other two girls on her heels. Kelly looked around them with awe in her eyes, and for once Susan found herself agreeing. The magic on display before them held a level of casual power that was frankly ludicrous. She had seen impressive feats of magic before, entire cities shielded or hidden away from the world. But those were the work of entire nations or the magnum opus of great geniuses. This was something the size of a small mountain hidden from the view of an entire town. For logistics. Ahead of them, Anne crossed the boundary of the forest and vanished in a swirl of light. Kelly¡¯s steps seemed to falter, but with Susan¡¯s arm pushing her forward there was no time to stop. They passed through the boundary with a flash of light that left both of them blinking spots out of their eyes. The view that greeted them was one of epic mundanity. It was like someone had tried making a hotel lobby the size of a cathedral. The result was a towering room, held up with immense granite pillars. A vaulted ceiling hung over a blandly tiled floor, while the walls were lined with doors. Every imaginable size of door. Some were human size, others wouldn¡¯t fit a human¡¯s hand, others looked like they could comfortably fit a T-Rex. A few chairs lined up in rows off to one side seemed to have the same sizing arrangement, some so large Susan would have needed to climb to sit on it. Sitting in the middle was a tall walled, circular reception desk. A bored woman in a polo slouched behind, glancing over at them as they walked the small marathon between the door and the desk. Looking at the bizarre architecture, Susan couldn¡¯t help but wonder what kind of government madness resulted in the decision that the building made for people ranging in size from gnome to giant could only have one lobby. It took the three girls a good minute to make their way to the middle of the room. The receptionist barely paid them any attention until the last dozen feet when she sat up and looked the three girls over. Susan took the lead, marching up to desk and meeting the receptionist¡¯s dispassionate gaze. ¡°If you¡¯re here for an entry application its door 4A in hallways F, L, and R.¡± She said in a monotone, ¡°For legal difficulties, you want door 3, and for specialty medical difficulties there is a clinic through door 2.¡± A quick glance showed that the doorways surrounding the room had plastic letters placed above them. A closer inspection showed that the referenced hallways had a large range of sizes. The clinic door had a red cross, while the law office door looked like someone had tried kicking it in. ¡°Sorry, but we were hoping to meet with a Rob¡­¡± She turned and gave Kelly a look. ¡°Uh, R-Robert Ross.¡± She stammered out. The receptionist looked to the side and Susan heard the rustle of papers for a few moments. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± She said, ¡°Mr. Ross is not taking any visitors at this time.¡± ¡°It¡¯s urgent.¡± The receptionist, Ronda according to her nametag, didn''t bat an eye. ¡°I can take a message, but Mr. Ross is very insistent that he not be disturbed.¡± ¡°Not even for his latest vampireling?¡± This got her attention, in a moment Ronda was straight backed and looking over the three of them with a sharp eye. Susan heard her the click of a button behind the desk and one of the normal sized doors to the right of the room swung open. ¡°Let me put in a call, would you mind waiting in room four, it''s on the left.¡± She said with a frozen smile and a wave of her hand towards the door. Susan was off without another word, Kelly towed along in trepidation while Anne followed calmly. The receptionist stammered something out behind them but she didn''t try to repeat it so it must not have been important. Room was a concrete square with two blockish metal chairs around a drab table. The three girls looked over it awkwardly. ¡°So that¡¯s what she meant,¡± muttered Anne who must have heard Ronda¡¯s lost words from earlier. Susan didn''t speak as she left the room and returned a moment later with two more chairs pilfered from the next room over. It took her a moment to rearrange the chairs around the table, before settling down in the chair now facing the door. Anne sat next to her without a word. In contrast to the other two¡¯s ambivalence, Kelly looked like a deer in the headlights. The whole time they had been in the building she had seemed to hold some sort of strange reverence to the place, like it was some kind of temple. Now she stood almost trembling as Anne and Susan committed their transgression against government seating arrangements. Susan couldn¡¯t bring herself to care. It felt like this day was wearing away at her slowly. It reminded her of one of the times she went with Elizabeth on a jog. After a while it felt like she was so exhausted that she wasn''t even running anymore. Just moving forward on inertia alone because it was harder to stop. She wanted to go home. She wanted to be with her family again. She didn''t want to deal with Kelly, or vampires, or magic, or the government. But here she was, wrangling Kelly, a vampire, and about to deal with more government madness while waiting for the hit from whatever shoe Anne was going to drop on her. While Susan desperately wished the day away, Kelly managed to drum up the courage to take the seat across from Anne. She looked around the room for a little bit before turning to address Anne. ¡°What was up with the receptionist earlier? I mean, this is the Dark Tower, shouldn¡¯t she be¡­ I don''t know¡­ important?¡± She trailed off under the deadpan gazes of the other two. Anne¡¯s slightly incredulous look seemed to fade as she realized that Kelly had asked the question in good faith. ¡°The help desk is only really there for in person applications to join, nobody uses it otherwise.¡± ¡°But aren¡¯t there a lot of those? The other tower climbers you mentioned earlier? There are plenty of people online who want to get into the tower.¡± Anne sighed and shook her head. ¡°People trying to get the magic necessary to get in, yes. People succeeding, no.¡± Kelly took this news surprisingly hard, staring down at the table with a wretched look while she clenched her fists beneath the table. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Susan asked. Kelly looked at her in surprise before she seemed to remember her fear and grief at the same time and looked back down at the table with intensity. ¡°The ritual was posted online.¡± She half whispered. ¡°I was hoping that maybe some of the others could join.¡± Susan and Anne shared a look. Anne gave a tiny shake of her head. Kelly must have noticed, as she leaned forward to rest her head on the table and let out a groan. Susan looked between the two and couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback at the complete reversal of the situation from earlier. Anne sat tall over the prone figure of Kelly, completely in her element when it came to the strange bureaucracy of the tower while the other girl floundered. The scene was interrupted when the door cracked open. In an instant Kelly sat straight again, joining the other two girls as they stared at the room¡¯s new occupant. It was¡­ a man. That was all that could really be said about him. There was nothing unique about him. His hair and eyes were an unremarkable brown, his face and looks didn''t warrant a second look. He wore a bland suit that might have been worn by a million different people across the world. He was completely and totally normal. Susan couldn¡¯t look away. This was one of the strangest feats of normalcy she had ever seen. It was a face so uniquely bland that it had to be artificial,but it had none of the strangeness of plastic surgery, and no sight or smell of magic. This utter blandness really was how the man looked. He broke the silence with an awkward, ¡°Hello.¡± Unsurprisingly, his voice sounded normal. Which shouldn¡¯t have even been possible given it had to have a distinct tone or accent, but there was nothing. It seemed to slither in one ear and out the other without leaving anything that would let you identify its speaker later. The sight of the two additional girls seemed to take him aback, but he quickly moved to take the seat next to the door without commenting on it. ¡°My name is John Smith from the Bureau of Supernatural and Magical Protections,¡± He said upon settling down. His introduction petered out as Kelly looked away awkwardly and Susan looked at him with tired eyes. Meanwhile Anne stared him down with a level of contempt that made Susan wonder what was going on with the girl. John seemed to feel the awkwardness of the situation as he shuffled in his chair and slipped a small tablet from his jacket pocket. After fiddling with it for a second he placed it on the table and addressed the room. ¡°So,¡± He began, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, could I get your names? Kelly glanced at him before taking a deep breath and responding. ¡°Kelly Baker,¡± She said in a small voice. John smiled and nodded as he tapped a few keys on the tablet. ¡°And you?¡± He asked, turning to look at Anne on the other side of the table. ¡°I am not here in a legal capacity, I am not required to give any information.¡± Anne responded with a sneer. The hostile attitude must have been a familiar one as he tactfully ignored the hateful condescension wafting off the girl and turned to Susan. His disarming smile failed him again as Susan just shook her head in denial. John sighed before turning back to Kelly, ¡°So,¡± he began, ¡°You¡¯re the one claiming to be Mr. Robert Ross¡¯s, ah, offspring?¡± ¡°She¡¯s not claiming it, she is.¡± Susan interjected. John turned to her with professional calm. ¡°Would you mind if I get your name for the transcript?¡± ¡°Yes I would mind.¡± ¡°If you are not willing to give a name and therefore not here in a legal capacity would you mind informing me of why you decided to be here?¡± He retorted. ¡°Because I want her out of my hair.¡± Susan replied, deadpan. John seemed to think it over for a second, ¡°Well I¡¯m sorry, but unless you can offer proof that she is the offspring of Mr. Ross, then I can¡¯t help you contact him. Susan gave him an exasperated look. ¡°I don¡¯t care about this Rob guy, I want you to do something about the baby vampire that¡¯s running about attacking people!¡± John¡¯s eyebrow went up and he glanced around the table at the fiery Anne and cowed Kelly. ¡°Judging just from appearances, you seem to have the problem well in hand.¡± Susan rolled her eyes, ¡°I haven¡¯t solved anything yet, and believe me, you wouldn¡¯t want me to. My problem solving tends to be very¡­ biblical.¡± ¡°I¡¯m assuming you mean more Sodom and Gomorrah and less turn the other cheek?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He sat back in his chair and sighed as he massaged his nose. ¡°I am afraid we got off on the wrong foot here.¡± He said, looking over the group in front of him. ¡°I havn¡¯t even gotten all your names and I¡¯m already being given death threats.¡± He gave a bemused smile that fell flat in the face of the fear, disinterest, and hostility that pervaded the room. ¡°Look,¡± Susan said, ¡°Can you give Kelly the instruction she needs to stop attacking people before she goes and ticks me off again?¡± ¡°Of course, the B.S.M.P. offers a suite of instructional classes for new supernaturals to help them grow into their new powers responsibly.¡± Susan took a moment to savor the agency¡¯s unfortunate acronym before standing quickly enough to send the metal chair screeching back across the concrete. ¡°Then I¡¯m done here.¡± She proclaimed. Anne imitated her. ¡°Ditto.¡± The two almost raced out of the stifling confines of the room. As the door closed behind them Susan felt a weight lift from her shoulders. She took in a deep breath and let it out, savoring her moment of freedom. Anne¡¯s voice stopped her cold. ¡°Susan, could I ask you something?¡± Chapter 3: The Million Dragon Question ¡°Susan, could I ask you something?¡± Susan turned back to face Anne. The comforting view of the door to the lobby was replaced by the sight of the dull parallel walls of the hallway that fell away behind Anne like a bottomless pit. Part of Susan wished she was the kind of monster who could say no to the desperate gleam in Anne¡¯s eyes. ¡°Go ahead.¡± She said, trying not to grumble. Anne shook her head in response. ¡°Not here,¡± She said. ¡°Could you follow me?¡± Susan held back the urge to sigh for what must have been the tenth time today. She knew how this was going to go. Anne would have a problem that would need solving, then that would lead to another problem, and another, and within a week she would be off fighting eldritch horrors or something equally stupid. Susan still found it within herself to nod in agreement. Anne smiled at the sight and turned around, darting down the featureless hall ahead of Susan. Once she was out of earshot, Susan let out the sigh she¡¯d been holding back, then followed.
Susan turned the fifth corner since they had begun walking twenty minutes ago. At this point it was quite clear that the administrative section of the Brick certainly wasn¡¯t built for convenience. Door after door interspersed with dull gray wallpaper blurred together as the dizzying turns flowed into each other. The monotony of doors moving past faded into the background as Susan¡¯s mind began to wander. Looking at Anne it was clear that she was familiar with the layout of the building. She had a casual confidence in leading the two of them that only came with experience. Susan¡¯s mind stopped wandering when they stepped in front of a bank of elevators. None of them had the erratic sizing of the doors in the lobby so Anne pressed the call button on one and they settled in to wait. Thirty extremely awkward seconds of shuffling in place later, the light above the elevator came on. The doors opened with a soft creak. They silently walked into the elevator together. The elevator was a rather drab affair, with bland metal and faux wood walls. Susan walked to the back wall and leaned against it. Meanwhile Anne walked to the enormous wall of buttons that took up the space to the right of the doors. The bottom row was barely two feet off the ground while the top row reached at least six feet high. Floor numbers and buttons warred for space in between, Anne had to reach up to select her desired floor, pressing the very top button before moving across the elevator to lean back against the wall. Susan couldn¡¯t help but notice that Anne had settled into the corner best hidden from the outside. She decided not to comment on it. It was a long minute of waiting before something happened. The indicator light had barely made it a third of the way up the slab of buttons on the wall when the doors opened on a young man. He bore a striking resemblance to Anne, sharing the same shade of brown hair and her large black eyes. He differed in that he was tall and very well muscled. The resemblance clearly wasn''t a coincidence as Anne visibly stiffened as she recognized him. He gave a bored look around as he stepped in, not even acknowledging Susan. He turned to the bank of buttons and casually tapped the one for the next floor. He turned away from the buttons and saw Anne. His eyes widened. He was across the elevator in an instant. ¡°Anne, perfect I¡¯ve been looking for you!¡± He said, slapping a hand down on her shoulder that she tried and failed to dodge. The elevator doors closed behind him with a somber clunk. ¡°Joseph said he wants to meet with you.¡± He continued in a voice that was a little too lighthearted. ¡°Sorry,¡± Anne squeaked out, ¡°I¡¯ll talk to him later, I¡¯ve got something going on right now.¡± ¡°Really? He¡¯s had me searching the tower day and night trying to find you. Besides, it''s just a quick meeting,¡± The man replied, hand still solidly clamped on her shoulder. Behind him, the elevator doors opened to a still hallway. ¡°Sorry,¡± She repeated, visibly sweating now. ¡°I have a friend over, can¡¯t keep her waiting.¡± The boy shot a glance at Susan. It was very clear that her presence was the only reason Anne hadn¡¯t been trussed up and carted away already. ¡°Hey there, names Terry,¡± He said with a smile. ¡°Mind if I borrow Annabeth here for a few minutes?¡± Beside him Anne started to shake her head. Susan saw his hand flex and Anne stopped with a wince. ¡°Sorry, we¡¯re a bit busy.¡± Susan said. ¡°Look, it won''t take long. In fact, why not just come along? That way it will cut into your time less?¡± Susan shook her head. ¡°No can do,¡± She said, stepping up to him. He frowned, standing up taller to loom over her. ¡°Look, this is an urgent problem and she¡¯s coming with me-¡± Susan kicked him in the stomach. The rune of strength she had made earlier still had some effect even an hour later. So when her foot connected with his stomach it was more than enough to catapult him through the open doors and across the hall. Susan reached over and pressed the close door button. Her last sight of Terry was him curling up into a ball on the carpet. An agonized moan reached her ears as the doors shut with a clunk. She turned to face a wide eyed Anne. ¡°Let me guess, this is what you wanted to ask me about?¡± Anne nodded wordlessly. She wrapped her arms around herself and shrank into her corner of the elevator. The girl didn''t seem to see Susan as she huddled there with the harried eyes of someone who had just barely dodged a bullet. Susan wished she knew what to say to help her here. Most of her talents lay in the laying waste to her enemies department. Comforting a lonely and desperate girl was definitely not one of them. Without a better option she moved to stand beside Anne. Not saying anything, just trying to give a comforting presence. She let a minute pass as they listened to the hum of the elevator moving. ¡°Wanna tell me about it?¡± She asked. ¡°Not yet, it''s not safe here,¡± Anne replied softly, still curled in her corner. She stared out at the rest of the elevator as if waiting for a monster to leap from the wall to attack her. Susan decided to let it be for now and settled in to let the elevator finish its trip. She stared at the door as she relaxed against the wall, daring them to open. It was a long couple of minutes before the elevator dinged. Anne moved from her corner for the first time since the encounter, walking across the elevator to look at the buttons and see which floor they were on. She visibly relaxed at the sight of the top button lit up alone. The doors slid open to show gray tiles. Anne stared out into the hall like it was a minefield. Susan decided to cut her some slack and led the way out. The hallway she stepped into looked like it was meant for maintenance. The walls were a tepid gray color, with metal doors every thirty feet or so. There was no one to be seen. Susan shot Anne a thumbs up and the girl stuck her head out the door. After a quick check left and right she scurried out the door and down the hall to her left. Susan followed silently. They went a hundred feet down the hall before entering the propped open door to an emergency stairwell. Unpainted concrete stairs and plain steel handrails greeted them. A quick look over the edge showed that the bottom was a long way away. Anne wordlessly led the way up the stairs to another emergency door. The ¡®alarm will sound¡¯ sign above it proved useless as the door opened silently. Anne swung the door open without stepping out, scanning the area beyond like some sort of military operator. Susan stepped past her and out into the sun. As it turned out, Anne¡¯s exodus had taken them to the roof. Susan had guessed from the immense glamor surrounding the place that it would be large. She was wrong. It was enormous. The area they stepped into must have been measured in square kilometers. It was a mostly flat gray roof, made of some rubbery material that squeaked underfoot. In the distance enormous AC units stood out like mountains on a plain. The maddening size made Susan want to question her sanity. Why build this? The murmur of voices from behind her made her turn around. In the distance a group of people only recognizable as gray dots were gathered underneath one of the towering units. It looked like they were playing a game of soccer. Looking more closely, Susan could see more groups spread around, but thankfully there was no one close enough to identify people by sight. She gave another thumbs up and Anne hesitantly joined her in the sun. After confirming for herself that they were unnoticed, Anne took off toward the far edge of the building. They walked for a few minutes across the sweltering roof. The sun¡¯s rays glaring up from where they were reflected from the dull sheen of the roof. Susan quickly decided that if Anne were to have another problem she would just incinerate it rather than walk another marathon across this hellish plain of rubber and heat. It took a few minutes for her to recognize Anne¡¯s destination as the edge of the building came closer. The roof ended in a parapet, a raised ledge interspersed with drainage holes that stretched off into the distance to wrap around the rest of the roof. The line of the parapet was so large it seemed to bend. So wide it seemed almost unreal. Susan briefly entertained some darker thoughts as to what Anne¡¯s request might be. She quickly shook them off as she remembered the girl¡¯s fiery spirit from earlier. In the end she decided not to say anything as Anne took the final steps up to the parapet. She sat down on the raised edge and swung both feet over to face down the side of the building. Susan joined her, perched over the gargantuan drop. The world stretched out beneath them. Anne had chosen the side of the building facing away from the town. They looked down on the enormous forest stretching away from the back of the building like a shadow. Looking down over the edge they sat on, the title ¡®the Brick¡¯ seemed appropriate. The building was clearly shaped like one balanced on its end. Susan tried not to think about how high up they were. She couldn¡¯t give a precise number from the angle she was looking from, but it was definitely at least a mile. It made her briefly contemplate whether the size was a product of the sheer number of the residents, or the enormous size some of them seemed to have. She had to shake her head to bring her mind back to the girl next to her. Anne was quiet. Susan gave her a few moments to gather her courage and was rewarded when she spoke up. ¡°You''re strong, right?¡± She began quietly. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How strong? I know you can beat a vampire, but¡­¡± Susan thought about how to answer. ¡°I¡¯m a dragon, there¡¯s not a lot out there that can stop me.¡± Anne sat there, looking down towards the ground for a few moments. ¡°I need protection,¡± She finally said. Susan didn''t respond, trying to give her room to speak. No words came. The encounter earlier must have rattled her badly. ¡°So tell me,¡± She said softly. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± Anne took a deep breath. ¡°It¡¯s my uncle. He¡­ well¡­¡± She started trembling. Glancing at the tiny girl, she saw her shrink in on herself. Leaning over, she put an arm over her shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± she said quietly, ¡°It¡¯ll be alright.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. The shaking didn''t stop, Susan looked down, worried. Her eyes widened. Anne fists were clenched shut and her eyes stared into the distance with a burning fury. ¡°He¡¯s a monster,¡± Anne whispered with a vitriol that defied her tiny frame. ¡°He¡¯s the leader of my tribe, the mousekin. Most of us are weak. Not him though, he¡¯s strong. When the Mousekin were relocated here, he declared himself our champion and basically took over.¡± Susan couldn¡¯t help the sigh from coming out. ¡°Let me guess, none of them know where he got his power from?¡± ¡°They do now!¡± Anne snapped. Susan leaned back, before she realized that Anne wasn''t talking to her. She was glaring off into the distance, still staring at her phantom tormentor. ¡°My family used to be pretty big. Grandma always talks about my aunts and uncles and cousins. They¡¯re gone now. They vanished one by one. Nobody knew why at first, but as my uncle got more and more powerful people started to put two and two together. Except by the time they found out it was too late. He was too powerful, and everyone was too used to having a champion.¡± Anne turned to look at Susan, her rage finally breaking to reveal true fear for the first time. ¡°I¡¯m the only one of my family left, and he¡¯s coming for me.¡± ¡°What about your grandmother, is she alright?¡± Anne looked down, embarrassed. ¡°Oh, she¡¯s not my grandma, she¡¯s my great times a million aunt. She¡¯s a really powerful and really old seer and basically the only reason I¡¯m still alive. If she hadn¡¯t protected me, my uncle would have gotten me ages ago.¡± Susan blinked. ¡°So what do you need me for?¡± ¡°She can protect me when she¡¯s around, and my uncle can¡¯t interfere with school. Everywhere else though? He can get me.¡± ¡°And the magic cops, whoever they are, they won''t help.¡± Anne shook her head derisively, ¡°The BSMP? They¡¯re useless. You¡¯ve met one of them already, that John guy.¡± Susan thought back to their meeting earlier. ¡°Let me guess, they wont do anything unless something is actively causing them problems?¡± Anne huffed out a defeated laugh. ¡°Pretty much.¡± The two of them sat in silence for a few moments. Susan watched a few birds fly around below them. They were more than high enough to look down on most of the birds that flew around their town. ¡°Alright, how about this?¡± Susan began. Anne turned to stare up at her. ¡°I don''t do bodyguard stuff, it never works out well,¡± She plowed on even as Anne¡¯s face threatened to crumple. ¡°But I would like someone to hang out with.¡± Anne¡¯s face bounced between despair and hope. ¡°You think that will work?¡± Susan smiled, ¡°Yup.¡± Anne sat thinking for a second. Her expression still seemed dark, but it finally firmed up as she turned back to Susan. ¡°Want to go get ice cream then?¡± She asked in a voice that was depressingly hopeful when compared to the mundanity of her request. Susan shrugged, ¡°Eh, why not.¡± Leaving the tower was a significantly happier experience than entering it. Clearing out most of her problems really was a good pick me up. Thankfully, there were no more unfortunate encounters with other mousekin or vampires. Without any more interruptions they reached the nearest ice cream parlor. Somewhat ironically located across the street from their school, it was a relic of the fifties. Garish chrome, checkered tiles, and red leather seats decorated the inside. They both got sugar cones, the waffle cones infamously dissolved on contact with any liquid, and took a booth looking out the window facing away from the school and tower. Susan didn''t think the semi busy street was all that good a view, but it beat being reminded of the events of the past day. They ate for a few minutes before Susan decided to pry more into Anne¡¯s circumstances. ¡°Hey Anne?¡± Anne looked at her with a hint of worry. They had been chatting off and on as they watched cars drive by. The hanging question must have caught her off guard. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°If you don''t mind,¡± She began carefully, ¡°Could you tell me more about your uncle¡¯s power? I know it must have something to do with sacrifice, but not much else.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Anne looked both relieved and pained at the same time. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about it, just that it involves sacrifice. All I really know is what my grandma has told me.¡± Susan nodded encouragingly. ¡°She said it¡¯s a being beyond mortal comprehen-¡± ¡°Goddam it.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± Susan ducked her head as she tried to hold off a grimace. The universe seemed to have it out for her today. ¡°Can you tell me anything else?¡± She asked with a smile that was probably a little forced. ¡°Well, grandmother says it''s something alien to this reality. Like, it''s not compatible with our world. She¡¯s guessed that part of my uncle¡¯s deal with it is to help it sort of sink its teeth in and stay here.¡± Anne trailed off as she saw the pained look that Susan couldn¡¯t hold back. ¡°Is everything alright?¡± ¡°Yep,¡± Susan said quickly, ¡°I just think I know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve seen it?¡± Anne sat up. ¡°No, this kind of monster tends to pop up from time to time.¡± Anne¡¯s eyes started to gleam, ¡°Do you think you can kill it?¡± Susan quickly shook her head, ¡°Unless you know exactly where its lair is then no.¡± She hesitated, ¡°Do you?¡± Anne shook her head as well. Susan sat back. Her best option at this point was to accompany Anne when she could. Outside of that she didn¡¯t have many options to help other than outright stalking the girl. Then she remembered that she was no longer living in the dark ages. ¡°Wanna swap numbers?¡± Anne acted nonchalant as they did the exchange, but Susan still picked up on her relief at the additional safety net. They spent another hour snacking on ice cream and talking. At the end Susan walked her back to the Brick. This time they took an elevator in the lobby, and went down instead of up. It was a much shorter trip than the one to the roof. The doors opened to a well graffitied concrete hallway. A half obscured sign on the wall said that they were headed to the parking garage. A roar of voices and light from beyond a bend in the hall twenty feet ahead indicated that parking cars probably wasn¡¯t its use anymore. Anne stepped out and turned around to face Susan. Her lips quirked up into a half smile. ¡°I¡¯ll be good from here,¡± She said. ¡°And thank you.¡± Susan smiled, ¡°No problem.¡± The doors slid shut between them. Susan pushed the button for the lobby and settled in to wait. She couldn¡¯t help the deluge of thoughts that came over her. Her teeth clenched as every bit of the frustration and anger at the ridiculousness of her day hit her all at once. Her breath hissed in and out as she tried to push it back but she failed. Everything, everything she ever wanted to avoid was back and in spades. Well.. almost everything. Though if an evil empire so much as peeped its head out she was going to go nuclear! She ended up sitting and stewing there as the elevator hummed its way back up to the lobby. She stepped out still preoccupied but stopped as she came into view of the desk. She stopped with her foot midair as she took in the room. The receptionist was gone. Someone new stood in the center of the cavernous lobby. A light skinned, dark robed figure that seemed to darken the air around him. Susan had a sinking suspicion she knew who it was. ¡°Hello?,¡± She called out, voice echoing over the tiles. No response came. She carefully made her way towards the door, trying to give the creepy figure as much room as possible. Her mental fingers were crossed that this whole surreal scenario was someone else¡¯s business. Her hopes were dashed when she had made it halfway towards the door. ¡°Would you be the one to bring a yearling vampire to the tower, claiming it was one my spawn?¡± The voice was male, scratchy from disuse but loud and arrogant. It demanded both attention and obedience. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡± Susan called across the room. She was closer to the desk now, but with the size of the room that didn¡¯t mean much. The mysterious figure was still plenty far away. The distance hopefully made her question believable. The figure didn¡¯t move for a few moments. Susan was about to keep walking when the room darkened. The incredibly bright bulbs that lit the room dimmed. The light reduced to almost nothing, making the shadows grow into a looming mass. The darkness seemed the strongest over the help desk, hiding the figure from sight. As suddenly as it had come, the darkness left. The lights returned to full strength, returning the room to its full boring glory. The figure was gone. Susan shrugged and turned to walk back to the door. A voice came from behind her. ¡°Are you trying to play with me?¡± Came a low hiss. Susan turned around. The figure now stood only a few feet away. It was a young, twenty-something man that wore a heavy black cloak. His face was the same porcelain shade as Kelly and as he spoke a flash of fang appeared below his upper lip. ¡°Sorry, honest mistake. I couldn¡¯t hear you over here. Anyway, what¡¯s the problem?¡± Susan replied. She tried to keep a calm demeanor, but her frustration gave her words a biting tone. ¡°Someone has brought in a yearling vampire and claimed it was my spawn.¡± ¡°And?¡± Susan deadpanned as her mind ran through the implications. This was the vampire that created Kelly. And apparently he was just as crazy as she was. ¡°It is a stain on my name,¡± He hissed. ¡°You mean you got a slap on the wrist for it and now you''re mad?¡± Susan asked with a cocky grin as she crossed her arms. The man leaned in closer with a sneer. Susan could see him better now. He had a sharp angular face with thin skin stretched over harsh bones. Dark hair fell in messy curls from under the robe. ¡°So it is you who brought the yearling, I recognize the arrogance in your words,¡± he snarled. ¡°That''s not exactly solid proof.¡± She replied, not moving. The vampire smiled. It didn''t look good on him. ¡°Oh, it is. Very few people would dare to insult me.¡± Susan really wished he would move away. He smelled like mildew and something rancid mixed together. ¡°Really?¡± Susan asked, not even bothering to keep the sarcasm out of her voice anymore. ¡°Spare me your platitudes,¡± The vampire hissed in response. ¡°I know your type!¡± ¡°My type? What¡¯s that?¡± Susan said with a quirk of her head. ¡°A powerless, arrogant human challenging creatures she does not understand.¡± The vampire leaned in closer. Both of them were well past the turning point now. He was barely restraining himself from attacking. But Susan was actively looking forward to letting off some steam as well by this point. Neither of them even wanted to stop anymore. ¡°Let me clarify something first though, I¡¯m not human,¡± Susan said as a grin spread across her face in anticipation. ¡°What does it matter if you''re human or not? I will still punish your arrogance.¡± The vampire replied with a dreadful grin that matched hers. ¡°Oh believe me, it matters¡­¡± She transformed. The vampire recoiled back from the expanding wall of steel gray scales and muscle. The smile that spread over her mouth was much much wider now. The ¡®fight¡¯ began.
Susan meandered down the street, still frustrated. The vampire had gone down in one hit. One hit! Sure it had trashed half the lobby and left the vampire unconscious in a crater the size of a car, but still. Just one hit! This was half the reason why vampires were so terrible, you didn¡¯t even feel good after beating them up. She had left the lobby quickly afterward. A quick inspection showed Ronda the Receptionist passed out within the floor of the circular counter. She was fine so Susan pressed the help button, and ran out the lobby doors. Once again human, she breathed in deep and let it back out. Now that she was out of the stifling halls and maddening rules of the tower she was able to properly think over her actions. The fight¡­ had definitely been a mistake. Not because it wasn¡¯t fun, but because it pulled her more into the small town magic politics of the Brick. Anne¡¯s family situation was plenty enough for now. Susan didn¡¯t need revenge crazed vampires coming after her now. And that wasn¡¯t even considering whatever John and the government cronies would do in response. She decided to put her thoughts in order. First off, her problem free high school life was done for. That sucked. Second, she had to figure out a permanent solution to Anne¡¯s family problems. Third, she had a problem. One she had been avoiding. What was she supposed to do? She was a dragon, a being of near unstoppable power. What did she do with it? There wasn¡¯t much in the world you could fix with mindless conquest or wanton destruction. If that were possible the world would already be a much better place. As it stood, her powers weren¡¯t good for much in a world that had forgotten magic. She shrugged. Time would tell. She didn''t have any big plans just yet, so if any trouble was coming her way she wouldn¡¯t solve it just by worrying about it. Susan was broken out of her thoughts when her stomach grumbled. Thinking back, she quickly realized her problem. She had missed breakfast and skipped lunch. The most substantial thing she¡¯d eaten all day had been the ice cream from earlier. A thought occurred. There was a pizza parlor on the way home. What better culinary reintroduction to Earth than a liberal serving of bread, sauce, cheese and grease? Her stomach rumbled in agreement.
The door slammed shut behind Susan as she stepped inside the house and froze. Her family''s living room stood in front of her. It was nothing special. A couch and a loveseat were arranged around a widescreen tv that faced the door. The entryway to the kitchen was off to the right. The sight made her so happy it hurt. It wasn¡¯t just the nostalgia, it was the smell of frozen lasagna cooking in the oven. She could hear her mother clanging her way through the kitchen as she assembled a readymade salad. It was a scene out of a dream or memory from long ago. One she had almost given up on without realizing it. She didn''t even notice as she teared up. She hung her backpack on the hook next to the door with shaking hands almost unconsciously. Her shoes were kicked off into the plastic tray for her family''s shoes through habit. The only other pair were her mothers work shoes, her father and Elizabeth must still be out. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± Her mother¡¯s voice called from the kitchen. Susan couldn¡¯t answer. ¡°Hello?¡± She called again. When Susan didn''t answer the second time her mother must have noticed something. The clatter of forks tossing salad stopped and a moment later her head popped through the entryway to the kitchen. Her mother, Chay to anyone who asked, was a tall, fit woman. Where Elizabeth was an athlete, and Susan formerly a couch potato, Chay had a toned body she alway attributed to yoga. Her black hair differentiated her from her daughters, but anyone who looked them in the eye could tell they were family from the shared blue irises. ¡°Oh, Susan are you alright?¡± Chay asked upon seeing Susan¡¯s eyes. Susan still couldn''t say anything. She was already across the room hugging her mother with everything she had. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? School go alright?¡± She asked. Susan laughed into her shoulder in response. She stayed there for a little while before pulling away. ¡°Yeah, school was kinda crazy today.¡± Chay gave Susan a concerned look. The oven timer¡¯s harsh beep interrupted the moment. ¡°Tell me about it over dinner, okay?¡± She said before rushing back to the kitchen. Susan couldn''t help but smile at the sight. Whatever happened with the vampires or the mousekin didn''t matter anymore. Everything was right again. The door opened behind her. She turned around to see Elizabeth step into the house. She quickly kicked off her shoes and beelined to the couch, not even acknowledging her sister off to the side. ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± Echoed from the kitchen again. ¡°Just me!¡± Elizabeth called back as she plopped down on the couch. Susan couldn''t hold back a grimace at the thought of her sweaty sports uniform all over the fabric. ¡°Why are you home late too?¡± Came her mother¡¯s voice again. Susan decided to leave. Her mother and sister were perfectly happy to scream a conversation across the house and she wanted none of it. With a roll of her eyes she turned to head up the stairs just to her right. ¡°Problem at the sports park. Something destroyed the turf on the football field.¡± Elizabeth yelled back as she looked around for the TV remote. Susan froze. ¡°Really? Chay continued the shouted conversation. ¡°That¡¯s terrible, what did it?¡± ¡°No idea.¡± ¡°Huh,¡± Chay yelled to the sounds of plates rattling, ¡°Was it a bear or something?¡± ¡°No, they don¡¯t think it was a bear.¡± Elizabeth called. Her muttered continuation froze Susan in place. ¡°Maybe a dragon though...¡± Everything was not right. ¡°Well I hope they catch it.¡± Chay¡¯s voice was echoing more now, she had probably moved to the dining room. ¡°Nah, don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Elizabeth yelled. Her voice continued again, low enough that Susan had to strain to hear it. ¡°I will.¡± Everything was definitely not right. Susan¡¯s mind was definitely in panic mode now. Elizabeth knew about her arrival. Elizabeth knew about dragons. Elizabeth apparently fought dragons. Her whirling mind came grinding to a halt as Elizabeth spoke to herself again. ¡°Wait¡­ too?¡± Elizabeth¡¯s head swiveled towards Susan with the weight of a swinging sledgehammer. Her mouth fell open in shock. Then her eyes narrowed, and her face hardened into a scowl. Susan wasn¡¯t sure how, but it seemed that Elizabeth was able to see the magic emanating from her body. A bead of sweat formed on the back of her neck. Everything was extremely not right. Chapter 4: Sibling Rivalry The living room was dead silent as Susan and Elizabeth stared each other down. It was a strange scene. Elizabeth¡¯s head barely came over the back of the couch, resembling a groundhog. Susan was still standing frozen next to the stairs, just as she had been for the past minute as discovered her sister¡¯s true nature. Susan broke the standoff as she forced a grin onto her face and gave Elizabeth a wave. ¡°Hey.¡± She said as she desperately tried to ignore the mounting tension around her. Elizabeth didn¡¯t respond, her eyes just bored into Susan with an intensity that didn''t look right on the face of a middle schooler. Thankfully she found her escape when their mother called out, ¡°Dinner,¡± from the dining room. She practically fled the living room. She darted through the kitchen, still feeling Elizabeth''s stare burning into her back. It didn¡¯t let up. Susan worriedly glanced back to see her sister following along behind her like a lion stalking its prey. She darted into the dining room at top speed to see her mother seated at the head of the oval table they used for meals. At least the room was the same as it had been. Sports and science trophies studded the walls while a dingy china cabinet lurked in the corner. She almost skidded into the seat next to her mother across from the entryway into the kitchen. She felt like a child hiding behind her mother¡¯s skirt as she stared down the doorway with a level of fear she hadn¡¯t felt in years. Chay gave her a confused look but didn''t say anything. Susan almost sighed in relief before Elizabeth walked into the dining room with all the grim majesty of an executioner. The lights in the room didn''t seem to reach her face as she glared darkly at Susan. The dinner was well and truly ruined. The nostalgic taste of cheap frozen pasta didn''t even reach Susan¡¯s tongue as she mindlessly shoveled into her mouth. She didn¡¯t think Elizabeth was enjoying it either. She was so focused on Susan that she almost missed her mouth with the fork several times as they ate. The audience for their staring contest looked on in annoyance. Chay was unfortunately well used to her daughters¡¯ little spats. This one made doubly problematic because it doomed her planned talk with Susan from the start. Any attempt to engage the sisters in conversation only returned a muttered ¡®sure¡¯, or ¡®okay¡¯. Susan could feel her eyes on both of them as they ate. Chay seemed determined to force her daughters to get along through sheer force of will. Her gaze had an intensity that was rivaled only by Elizabeth¡¯s as she glanced between them. The combined weight of their attention worked to choke the air out of the room. Susan fled as soon as humanly possible. She barely remembered to take her plate with her as she ran, almost throwing it into the sink as she passed by. She didn¡¯t breathe until she was back in the safety of her room. The familiar mess of her little sanctuary of science calmed her enough to think. For what good it did her. Any attempt to think through what had happened only seemed to make her more confused. Elizabeth was planning to hunt her, a dragon. How did she plan to fight a dragon? Could she fight a dragon? What made her think it was possible to fight a dragon in the first place? Was she at that level of power? Had she fought dragons before? Susan simply didn''t know enough to make any kind of plan. Her mind stayed trapped like that in a perpetual state of questions and more questions as time wore on. The clatter of dishes downstairs told her that dinner was over. Some time later the pad of footsteps along the call and the thunk of a door closing announced Elizabeth¡¯s return to her room. The sound broke Susan out of her mental flailing. Glancing up, the clock already read eight. Later than she thought. Susan breathed out, trying to force the useless thoughts out of her brain. When that failed, she padded over to her bed and knelt on it to look out the window. When she was younger she used to look for her father¡¯s car as it came home every day. She would race down the stairs to greet him at the door every time she saw the familiar shape of his car pull into the driveway. She tried to call up the memory to calm herself. She wished he was home tonight for dinner. He usually had a quip or bad joke to break up an awkward situation. Unfortunately the past couple of years he was routinely held up at work until late on weekdays. When asked he¡¯d just said that he had to do some processing work he couldn''t avoid. Her eyes fell on a twisted piece of metal and Susan had to hold back a scream of frustration as she finally noticed the broken lock on her window. She really hadn¡¯t been thinking last night when she had returned. Apparently the rush of getting home had pushed all thoughts of safety and subtlety straight out of her head. As if Elizabeth needed any more evidence to connect her to the magical happenings down at the football field. The creak of the window from the next room caught her attention. She idly wondered if Elizabeth was doing the same thing she was. Staring out her window in an attempt to calm down. A rhythmic creak-creaking sound came from Elizabeth¡¯s room, moving towards her. Susan frowned. Something was up. The roof only sounded like that when her father cleaned the gutters or late at night¡­ Susan frowned at that thought and a connection was made in her mind that her sleep-addled brain had never managed to put together. She pressed her face against the window only to catch a glimpse of blond hair in the corner of her vision. Her mouth fell open as she saw Elizabeth drop off the roof of the house down to her right. Susan instantly knew what Elizabeth was doing. She had planned out the perfect way to sneak out of the house in her head a dozen different times. You just had to move over to one of the blind spots between windows on the right side of the house. Then it was a relatively short drop to the ground from the roof. After that you could sneak through their neighbors'' hedge to escape the watching eyes of the parents. She had just never done it since she wasn''t an idiot. Like Elizabeth. Susan was out her own window before she could think. She shuffled her feet along the roof in a way she hoped her mother couldn''t hear, not daring to breathe. Reaching the edge she only barely caught sight of Elizabeth jogging away from her down the sidewalk. What to do? Follow Elizabeth or stay at home? Panic made the decision for her. Before she realized it, she was hanging off the roof and dropping onto the grass a few feet below. She hardly thought before she had ducked through the hedge and was racing after Elizabeth. It was still bright out when they left. The shadows stretched long over the streets around them, but it was nowhere near enough to hide Susan. She had to stay far enough back that she wasn''t spotted, but close enough to see what street Elizabeth turned down. It was a tough needle to thread. One that she wasn¡¯t even sure she was doing properly. Thankfully Elizabeth never bothered to turn around, so despite a few hair raising moments, Susan stayed unnoticed. As the blocks passed by, Susan quickly picked up on where they were headed. They were following the reverse path she had taken from the sports fields. It wasn¡¯t exactly a surprise but it wasn''t exactly good either. Couldn''t Elizabeth have snuck out to do whatever normal sports-obsessed, otaku middle schoolers usually did? Illicit soccer cosplaying? Whatever. The sports fields were strangely empty when they reached them. Susan hadn¡¯t been to the place except for Elizabeth¡¯s games, but she still knew that there should be some people here enjoying the cooler temperatures of the evening. If Elizabeth noticed the oddity she didn''t seem surprised. She walked straight across the fields towards the football field Susan had appeared on. Susan decided to break off Elizabeth''s trail. Going through the trees that surrounded the park, she circled around to the back of the football field. As she got closer, she frowned as she felt the tingle of magical wards pass over her skin. Thankfully, there were no detection wards, but there was a barrier to stop sound. Susan frowned as she passed another one that acted as a privacy barrier. It seemed Elizabeth hadn¡¯t just been fixing up the fields. Susan just had to shake her head at that and keep going. As she neared the field she found a pine tree thick enough to hide her and peeked around it. The field was not a pretty sight even under the dim light of the setting sun. Susan hadn¡¯t realized that her claws and tail had gouged out lines in the turf. Her clothing rune had even been roughly traced in chalk at the center of the field. Thankfully her guess that Elizabeth was headed to the football field had turned out to be correct. The girl in question had walked onto the field half a minute after Susan had found a spot to hide. She came to a stop in the center of the field, looking down at the chalked rune. Susan wondered for the hundredth time what was going through her head. Elizabeth didn''t seem to do anything as she stood there. She seemed content to stand there alone in the field. ¡°I know you''re there.¡± Elizabeth¡¯s voice hit Susan like a slap to the face. She almost jumped in surprise but held it back, huddling closer to the gnarled bark of the tree hiding her. ¡°Come on ¡®Susan¡¯ I know you''re there.¡± Elizabeth''s voice rang out again. Susan didn''t like how Elizabeth said her name, like it was some kind of insult. Still, the gig was up. The whole situation stank of a trap, but those were never her expertise anyway. It was easier to trip the wire and see what happened. Taking a breath, Susan straightened up and walked around from behind the tree. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Hey Elizabeth, sorry about following you. I was worried when you snuck off like that.¡± She called back. Elizabeth did not respond immediately. Her eyes raked Susan up and down in a distinctly threatening way. ¡°Uh¡­ Elizabeth?¡± Susan repeated, walking closer. ¡°Where¡¯s Susan?¡± Elizabeth¡¯s answer came back, harsh and demanding. ¡®Uh oh.¡¯ Susan muttered to herself. She stopped advancing. She really had screwed things up last night. It didn''t take a genius to spot the evidence of a magic beast and transformation. Then add in the fact that her draconic body radiated magic like a bonfire, and you had evidence for a body snatcher. But why did it have to be Elizabeth that did the detective work? ¡°I said. Where¡¯s my sister?¡± Her voice cut off Susan¡¯s thinking. ¡°Okay, I think we have a bit of a misunderstanding-¡± ¡°WHERE¡¯S MY SISTER!¡± Elizabeth screamed over her. ¡°I AM YOU¡¯RE SISTER,¡± Susan roared back. Elizabeth¡¯s expression darkened. ¡°Alright then,¡± She spoke quieter but still more than loud enough for Susan to hear. ¡°I¡¯ll beat it out of you.¡± She kicked her legs apart, put one hand on her hip and threw the other skyward in an idol pose. ¡°TRANSFORM!¡± She cried in a voice that echoed across the fields. Light blinded Susan for a moment as a glowing rune exploded into existence around Elizabeth¡¯s feet. When she blinked the spots out of her eyes she looked back to see the light flowing around Elizabeth like water. The light quickly condensed, shaping around Elizabeth until it formed¡­ a dress? It was something straight out of one of those anime she liked. A shimmering dress with puffed sleeves and a miniskirt Susan would have mocked in any other circumstance. The dress was a dark red at the top that faded to a deep blue when it reached the skirt covered in glittering silver stars. A matching silver tiara, plus stockings and shoes completed the ensemble. Susan had to stop herself from laughing. Her sister had finally obsessed over magical girls so much she had managed to make herself into one. A movement from Elizabeth made her refocus. She raised a hand into the air, pointing it at Susan. ¡°Disillusion,¡± She intoned. Susan grimaced as the wave of magic blew past her. She felt her transformation spell unravel as her body began to change. Susan knew the jig was up the moment Elizabeth saw her true form. There was no part of her dragon body that implied any kind of peace. She stood on the ground with muscle bound legs ending in foot long claws. A head the size of a small car sported a mouth full of shark-like teeth the width of a forearm. Enormous whitish-gray scales were arrayed like armored ribs over a torso the size of a school bus. On her back a set of wings carefully tucked against her torso fluttered nervously. She was designed top to bottom for violence. It was not a good look for convincing little sisters she meant no harm. Elizabeth seemed to agree as stepped backwards into a martial arts stance. ¡°So it really was a dragon.¡± She said, her voice projecting over the fields like she was some kind of cartoon hero giving a speech. ¡°WOULD YOU CHILL FOR A SECOND!¡± Susan bellowed in response. Her roar startled Elizabeth and she took another step back in response. ¡°So that¡¯s how it¡¯s gonna be.¡± Elizabeth said to herself. ¡°Wait-¡± Susan began but it was too late. In an instant Elizabeth was leaping at her in a flying kick aimed right at her head. Susan dodged the attack with a casual twist of her neck, letting her sail past. Negotiating with her insane sister might be impossible, but she could do fighting. She had to hold back a chuckle as Elizabeth¡¯s brightly colored uniform rushed past her with such speed that she completely overshot her landing, flying into the trees. The distant crash and roar of falling wood told her that Elizabeth¡¯s landing wasn''t comfortable. Turning around she saw Elizabeth standing over a fallen pine tree, facing away from her. She held back a snicker. It was clear from Elizabeth¡¯s stiff posture that she was trying to hide her embarrassment. A huff of air escaped her lips. Elizabeth whirled around in a fury. ¡°You think this is funny?¡± She roared. ¡°Where¡¯s my sister?¡± She reached behind her, picked up the pine tree she had knocked over and threw it at Susan. It wasn¡¯t a small tree, at three feet wide and fifty feet tall it was enough to completely block out Susan¡¯s line of sight as it careened towards her with the force of a freight train. So when she ducked her head underneath it, she was completely caught off guard at the sight of Elizabeth flying towards her fist first. Her eyes widened in shock. She couldn''t dodge this time and the attack caught her full in the chest. Elizabeth was only the size and weight of a human but her magically empowered punch still managed to send the multi-ton form of Susan stumbling. Susan barely had a second to get her bearings before Elizabeth was flying at her again. A backhand caught her sister midair, sending her careening back into the forest with a shriek. Something about the sight of her sister cartwheeling across the quarter mile to the woods brought a vindictive smile to Susan¡¯s face. She settled back on her haunches to wait, barely out of breath. A moment later Elizabeth stomped back out of the woods. ¡°Ready to talk yet?¡± Susan¡¯s voice boomed across the field. Elizabeth screamed and charged Susan. Each step rocked the ground beneath her and sent her flying forwards. Susan could only curse her big mouth before Elizabeth was on her, throwing punch after punch. Her tactics had changed, no longer using big charging attacks. Instead she was taking small leaps back and forth, throwing a punch or kick every time. The strange leapfrogging attacks came at lightning speed, Elizabeth zipped back and forth like an angry bouncy ball. Susan could barely keep up, dodging each punch. Her bulky body slowed her down and she caught glancing blows from Elizabeth. Susan didn''t want to strike back, Elizabeth would easily dodge her attacks after all. Instead she waited. It took a few long, terrifying seconds of dodging attacks flying in like bullets. Finally, her opportunity came. Elizabeth launched some sort of spinning axe kick attack. In the moment she hung in the air, Susan leaned forward and launched a breath of air at her. The gust caught Elizabeth and threw her back across the field. She landed in a superhero pose, one hand and knee on the ground as she caught herself before she hit the ground. Her eyes never left Susan as she knelt there, panting from the exertion. She barely stayed there a second before she was charging back at Susan once again. However, Susan was ready this time. Elizabeth probably noticed as her hips swayed back and forth and her tail moved oddly behind her. But her expression when the tip of Susan¡¯s tail swung around her and hit her with a thunderous whip-crack was one of pure surprise. In an instant she was gone again, the sound of shattering wood off in the distance the only sign of her departure. Susan sighed. Now that the itch to smack her brain dead sister around had been scratched she was finally thinking straight again. She really wasn''t sure how to deal with this. Her chances of talking Elizabeth down from her rampage were low. Add in the fact that Elizabeth was currently attacking her and it got even more difficult. Her thoughts were cut off as a fist slammed into her chin. She hadn¡¯t even seen Elizabeth move. The girl had practically teleported in front of her face. Her head snapped back, the force of the blow enough to lift her torso off the ground. A pair of hands grabbed the base of her tail where it met the ground and pulled up. Susan yelped in confusion as her body tilted back, then back again. She realized something was wrong when she felt her feet leave the ground. Elizabeth heaved up with a roar, Susan roared as well as she was lifted up and off the ground. She hung in the air for a moment, before gravity and Elizabeth¡¯s iron grip on her tail pulled her back down. She hit the ground on her back with a small explosion of dirt and sod. The field was silent afterwards except for the heaving breaths of Elizabeth as she fought to catch her breath. Susan lay stunned in a roughly dragon shaped crater. Her instincts told her to get up and keep fighting. Her mind instead decided to take a break and chill while she tried to figure out what had just happened. Elizabeth¡­ had suplexed her. Elizabeth had suplexed a dragon. She would have laughed at the sight, if only Elizabeth had done it to someone else. Susan didn¡¯t notice when the sound of Elizabeth¡¯s breathing vanished. She did notice when a hand grabbed her chin and yanked it up. Without warning the felled tree from earlier was shoved directly into her mouth like a bit. Her mouth snapped shut in fury. The log, intended as a gag, was reduced to splinters that she spat out in a hail of ruined wood. She rolled over and pushed up with all four limbs to bring herself to her full height. It took real effort this time to hold back from attacking Elizabeth. One proper breath attack and¡­ Well that would be sibling-icide, not exactly a solution for the problem at hand. Elizabeth stood in front of her ¡°You¡¯re pretty tough, aren¡¯t you?¡± She shouted at her. Susan¡¯s mouth opened to respond. Before she could get a word out Elizabeth was leaping towards her. Susan¡¯s body was already moving to the side as she saw her move but Elizabeth wasn''t aiming for it. Before Susan could react Elizabeth was in her mouth and down her throat. Her eyes widened before battle hardened reflex had her clamp her throat down on her sister. A surprised shriek echoed strangely in Susan¡¯s chest as Elizabeth realized her predicament. ¡°Why the heck is your throat armored?¡± She screamed. Susan smirked in response. Elizabeth had fallen for one of her favorite tricks. Plenty of enemies she had faced came up with the idea to attack her from the inside. It was a classic move when fighting giant opponents after all. An armored throat, though she had it for reasons incidental to fighting, had stopped those plans in their tracks many times already. A claw reached down to the field below her and began carving a rune into the ground as Elizabeth''s screaming continued. A short minute later a slightly tinny version of Susan¡¯s voice echoed around her as the sound rune activated. ¡°Ready to talk now?¡± Though artificial, the rune still managed to convey some measure of smugness. ¡°GIVE ME BACK MY SISTER!¡± Elizabeth screamed. Susan was taken aback by the desperation in her voice. She hadn¡¯t fully considered the context of the fight. She had only thought of her annoying sister refusing to listen to her. Not a girl desperate to save a sister she thought was stolen away. She needed to help her- ¡°COME ON YOU FAT LIZARD!¡± ¡°I¡¯M RIGHT HERE YOU BRAIN DEAD IDIOT!¡± The artificial voice roared over the fields. Susan could feel Elizabeth stop moving. Sensing an opportunity she quickly leaned forward and spat her sister out on the turf in front of her. Elizabeth''s dress was crumpled and soaked in spit but as she stood it magically righted itself. The spit dried and the creases straightened until it was immaculate again. The girl who wore it remained a sniveling mess. Tears streaked her face and she quietly hiccuped out a desperate, ¡°Prove it.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Susan stood tall and held a finger to her chin as she thought back. ¡°You¡¯re Elizabeth, my idiot sister. You love magical girl shows, you''re obsessed with sports, and you won''t clean out the shower drain.¡± She could see Elizabeth¡¯s desperate expression fade and she tried to quietly scrub her tears as Susan talked. ¡°You cry when the bad guy wins in movies and once tried to adopt a raccoon. You came home crying when you were in fifth grade because Vivian from your class stole your science fair award. I¡¯m the one who had to break into your room and feed your hamster when you used to forget-¡± ¡°Okay, okay I get it. You''re actually my sister.¡± Elizabeth¡¯s tone was back to its former brashness but Susan could hear the relief in it. ¡°But¡­ how?¡± Susan grimaced, not at all excited to have to explain her dragon-ness again, ¡°Well¡­ have you ever heard of isekai?¡± Elizabeth stared at her for a few seconds, as her mouth furled in confusion. ¡°What¡¯s isekai?¡± Susan sighed, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll get to it. But first, let''s get the field fixed up.¡± The field around them was absolutely destroyed. The aftermath of their fight left it looking like a war zone. Splintered wood was spread like chaff everywhere while the grass was carved with dozens of enormous gouges from Susan¡¯s claws and Elizabeth¡¯s attacks. The crater from Elizabeth¡¯s suplex sat as the centerpiece of destruction, fifty feet in long and ten feet deep. If it rained soon Susan was reasonably sure it would look more like a mud pit than a sports field. Still, the damage wasn''t much when faced with the sheer magical might of the sisters. Elizabeth had much easier access to repair magic than Susan¡¯s runes, throwing out spells with the same infuriating ease as her earlier disillusionment spell. In the end it only took a few minutes to repair the field. Once they were done they sat together on the edge, facing towards the distant suburbs. Susan laid down, lowering her head so that she could look her sitting sister in the eye without Elizabeth craning her head. It didn¡¯t take long for Elizabeth to wrap her head around the concept of ¡®world hopping plus superpowers¡¯. ¡±So basically, you got summoned to another world?¡± ¡°Pretty much,¡± Susan said with a shrug. ¡°So you woke up like that? ¡°No, actually¡­¡± Susan paused as she tried to plan out a decent explanation, ¡°Okay before we begin, how much do you actually know about dragons?¡± ¡°Uh, they''re big and stompy and I have to fight them off every once in a while.¡± ¡°Right, of course,¡± Susan muttered ¡°Hey!¡± Susan cut her off with a glare ¡°Fine, go ahead,¡± Elizabeth pouted back. ¡°Right, so,¡± Susan took a deep breath as she tried to organize her thoughts. ¡°To begin with, dragons aren¡¯t born, in fact they''re not even really a species. Dragons are made.¡± Elizabeth stared back at her. ¡°Yeah I kinda figured that out,¡± She said with all the know-it-all smarminess of a middle schooler. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Uh, yeah. I fought one made of molten metal once, seemed pretty obvious.¡± ¡°Oh, ok. So anyway, to become a dragon you have to use magic to rebuild your body into a form better suited to magic, that being a dragon. ¡°Uh, why?¡± ¡°What.¡± ¡°Why would anyone do that?¡± Susan had to take a minute to think that over. She knew why people became dragons, but the innocent question of what hubris drove people to those suicidal heights in the first place put her on the back foot. She shook her head and refocused. ¡°Okay, let me start from the beginning.¡± Chapter 5: The Isekaing of Susan Hill- Part 1 Last night, or a thousand years ago¡­ Susan¡¯s back and head smacked against the ground. She would have yelled, but there was no air left in her lungs. Instead the hurt was lost under the waves of confusion she was already feeling. ¡®Is it morning already?¡¯ Susan thought, staring into the bright sky above her. For a second she thought that she might have fallen asleep at her desk. Now the light of the rising sun was waking her¡­ But no, that was wrong. Her muddled mind took a second to process it, but there was no connection between that familiar early morning panic and the all encompassing terror of this situation. Finally she got some air back into her lungs. With fresh oxygen, her brain finally began processing some of the new information around her. There were other people here. Susan could hear them grunting and groaning around her. With desperate effort, she forced herself up into a sitting position. Black spots swam in her vision as her body still fought for oxygen. Still, she could see around her now. She was a part of a group of eight people. All of them lay sprawled out on the ground, gasping for breath. There was a woman in long red robes and a thunderous expression to her left. Two men and a woman dressed in peasant clothes from a renaissance fair were to her right, still gasping for air. In front and behind were a man dressed in leather armor, and a woman in something out of a Victorian court. Beyond all of them lay another teenager in a uniform. Susan vaguely recognized it as a Japanese schoolboy uniform from one of Elizabeth¡¯s anime. Then she looked past the people around her, and her heart skipped a beat in shock. They lay on a large square stone ledge about fifty feet across. An enormous diagram was chalked into the ground around them, to what purpose, Susan had no idea. But beyond that, half her view was a wall of craggy gray stone. Turning her head the other way, she saw blue skies and green forests stretched out below her. Her mind struggled to process what was going on. The thought occurred to her that she must have been kidnapped. She wasn¡¯t in her room anymore, and she didn¡¯t remember leaving. So someone knocking out and moving her wasn¡¯t a great leap of logic to make. Except they probably would have taken her to a warehouse, or creepy shipping dock or something. Not the side of a mountain! A deep rumble from behind caught her attention. She looked back to see part of the cliffside moving. There was a door there, two enormous slabs of stone that swung inwards on unseen hinges. A spark of hope ignited in her chest, could they get out? Even just getting off the deathtrap of a ledge would be an improvement. The doors finished opening, revealing a line of what could only be medieval knights. Clad in gold lined suits of armor that covered them head to toe, they formed an impregnable wall of steel between Susan and the passage beyond. Susan barely even felt the hope in her chest vanish. She was too confused. She could ignore the people in fancy robes and weird clothes. They were probably cosplayers or something. The mountain they were on was just that, a mountain. But enormous stone doors, people wearing what was clearly medieval armor. They didn¡¯t change Susan¡¯s understanding of the situation, they completely upended it. She barely had the energy to be scared anymore. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Susan said to herself. ¡°Nothing good, believe me.¡± The robed woman muttered as she sat up. She was tall, with an angular face and sharp eyes. Around them the others were also sitting up. As one, they all stumbled to their feet and looked around at the guards. ¡°The empire?¡± One of the men, a large man with brawny arms said. ¡°What?¡± It was the other teenager who spoke up this time. ¡°That symbol.¡± The man pointed towards the men surrounding them. Looking closer Susan saw a three headed dragon adorning the chest plates of the men around them. Each of the dragon¡¯s heads reached up, its three mouths yawning open to swallow three spheres; the sun, the moon, and a star. ¡°That there is the symbol of the Altan Empire.¡± The man explained. Susan shivered as a cold wind blew past them, her pajamas doing nothing to stop it. ¡°Wait, how are we on a mountain?¡± Someone asked. Some of the others must have heard as she saw heads turning and quiet swears. A movement among the knights caught her attention. The two knights in the center of the line stepped to either side to create a small corridor, and a man stepped through. If the knights were dressed gaudily, then this man was on another level. He looked like King Midas from the Greek myth. Kingly robes that looked woven from gold covered him head to toe, and a crown inset with what was probably a small hoard of jewels sat on his head. But all of that was secondary to his ears. His six inch long, very pointy, elf ears. Even from where she sat, Susan could tell they were real. The coloration and movement made it clear they couldn¡¯t be some kind of prosthetic. The sight didn¡¯t help Susan¡¯s confused state of mind. She had been kidnapped and taken to the side of a mountain by¡­ imperialist, elven LARPers? ¡°Greetings!¡± The gaudily dressed man¡¯s voice rang over the mountaintop, interrupting Susan¡¯s spiraling thoughts. He walked toward the group, stopping just outside the chalk circle they stood in. Now that he was closer, Susan could see he had golden hair and eyes and a threateningly wide smile. ¡°Greetings, brave travelers, who have come to help the great Atlan Empire in its time of need. Far you may have come but fear not for your true destiny is at hand!¡± He announced, voice booming over the stunned group. Susan looked on, stupefied. She wondered what kind of cult had managed to kidnap her. ¡±For centuries, our great empire has worked to bring light to this dark world. Fought back against the darkness of fear and isolation that plagues us all. But now the enemies of light and hope are arrayed against us! Even now they attack and destroy the protectors of our great empire. They even work to turn our peoples against the great empire that protects and nurtures them!¡± Susan¡¯s mouth had fallen open at some point in the speech. She shut it, and continued to watch as the man in front of them talked. And talked. Admittedly, it was a good speech. He delivered it with a zeal and fire that made it hard to ignore. As it continued the man began to wave his arms, giving wild gestures that would have had a crowd roaring along with him. His current audience however? A look around showed most of the group staring at him with a mix of confusion and horror. The only ones who stood out were the robed woman, who stared daggers at him, the uniformed teen and the leather armored man. They both appeared to be listening to the speech carefully. ¡°But fear not!¡± The man caught Susan¡¯s attention again as he seemed to reach a turning point in the speech. ¡°For the sorcerers of our great empire have devised a spell to save it. The very same spell to bring you here. The thing that shall save our great empire shall be the secret technique of Dragon Shaping that you shall discover for us!¡± The robed woman beside Susan gasped. Susan glanced at her to see an expression of disbelief and fear on her face. ¡°You have been called here to use your incredible talents and extreme compatibility with the art of Dragon Shaping. Though you may not know it, this technique rests within your very souls. ¡°Now, I send you to the Great Caldera! Discover the secrets of Dragon Shaping, bring them back to us and you shall be rewarded beyond measure. Beyond imagination! Become the heroes that our great empire so desperately needs and bring the light of hope to this fearful world!¡± He finished the speech with a grand wave of his arms, only to be met with stunned silence. Without another word, he turned around with a grand flourish of his robe, and walked back through the line of guards. The platform rumbled underneath Susan¡¯s feet as the door closed. With a lurch, the stone they stood on moved down. Susan barely noticed it. ¡®Dragon transformation?¡¯ What was going on? A clap rang out. Susan looked around to see it was the red robed woman. ¡°Well,¡± She said in a loud voice. ¡°I believe that before we go into any discussions of our current situation, we should introduce ourselves. My name is Luthera.¡± She pointed at Susan, ¡°And yours?¡± Susan stared at her hand for a few seconds, still somewhat stunned from the insane rush of the last few minutes. The familiarity of the situation finally snapped her out of it. ¡°Uh, Susan Hill,¡± She stammered out. The other teenager was next, ¡°Fukuta Takeo.¡± He said. Susan looked at him as he talked. He looked Japanese, with dark hair and eyes. He stood out for being the only other normal looking person around. He also stood out for being someone that belonged on another continent halfway around the world. ¡°Thank you Fukuta, now-¡± ¡°My name is Takeo,¡± He interrupted, looking annoyed. Luthera looked slightly bewildered, but opened her mouth to continue when Takeo cut her off. ¡°I I might suggest a better course of action-¡± Luthera cut him off in return, ¡°Not right now, boy, let''s just introduce ourselves.¡± ¡°Who put you in charge?¡± He shot back at her. The large man who had spoken earlier stepped forward and placed his arm on Takeo¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Don''t challenge a witch, boy.¡± He said quietly. ¡°I am not a witch, I am a Rune Mage. But yes, I believe it would be for the best if I lead the group right now.¡± Takeo seemed to want to argue more, but stepped back. The introductions continued. The tall, strong looking one was Timothy, he wore a roughspun tunic and sandals. The leather-armored man was Graff. He had the face of a cinder block and the disposition to match. The next was a shorter and somewhat pudgy man who was Bartholomew. His tunic was more ornate with finer cloth, though now crumpled from their arrival. The fancy clothed woman, Nikolina, had pale skin, wide eyes and the glare of a vulture as she answered. The last woman, who almost whispered her name, was Edith. She didn¡¯t stand out much, wearing the same plain clothes as Timothy, who she was almost hiding behind. Susan¡¯s mind barely processed their names, before turning her attention back to Luthera as they finished. ¡°Thank you,¡± Luthera said, ¡°Unfortunately, the situation we find ourselves in is not a good one.¡± ¡°Even a dead mole-rat could see that!¡± Rumbled Graff. ¡°And what situation even is it? That gaudy fool completely failed to explain anything!¡± Nikolina snapped. ¡°That gaudy fool is Emperor Altus of the Altan Empire.¡± Luthera responded somberly. Nikolina visibly swallowed. ¡°But why would their spell choose us?¡± Timothy rumbled. ¡°I am a farmer, not some spellsmith.¡± ¡°Spells? Like magic?¡± Susan blurted out. The group all gave her odd looks. ¡°Yes, like magic.¡± Luthera said, looking a bit confused. ¡°But magic¡¯s not real.¡± Susan said, looking around desperately hoping that someone would agree with her and things would start making sense again. Luthera¡¯s answer was to lift one arm and snap her fingers. A small flame appeared in the air above them for a second before flickering out. Susan¡¯s head swam. That¡­ that couldn¡¯t have been real, right? She stumbled away from the group and over to the edge of the platform trying to calm down. It didn¡¯t help, what she saw only confirmed her worst fears. It wasn''t a mountain that their platform sat against, it was an enormous series of cliffs. Measuring in the thousands of feet high, Susan could see them continue far into the distance. Where they eventually wrapped around to completely encircle the forested region that lay below them. They must have been in a sinkhole, or a caldera. Except on a scale that Susan had never seen before. The area below them must have been hundreds of square kilometers in total. That wasn¡¯t what proved that magic existed, however. But the trees were. Their leaves glowed. The blue glow stood out visibly in the light of the sun. It was too strong to be any kind of bioluminescence. And while it could be some elaborate trick by their kidnappers, any kind of artificial lighting system would burn the forest down, judging by the amount of light coming off the leaves. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. That made the third option most likely. The glowing leaves didn¡¯t have a scientific explanation. It was¡­ magic. She felt a hand on her shoulder. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± She asked in a slightly broken voice. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Luthera¡¯s voice came from behind her. ¡°Who was that, what was he talking about, why are we here, how did we even get here?¡± Susan stammered out. The hand on her shoulder gave a gentle tug backwards. ¡°Come away from the edge, I can explain.¡± Susan¡¯s legs carried her back to the group without her even realizing it. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with her?¡± Nikolina asked, staring at Susan like she was blocking a hallway. Luthera ignored her and turned to stand in front of Susan, looking at her carefully. ¡°Susan,¡± She asked gently, ¡°Where are you from?¡± ¡°Indiana, or, um, America.¡± Luthera¡¯s face didn''t change but Susan heard Bartholamew¡¯s breath hiss through his teeth. ¡°Well, what''s the problem?¡± Edith snapped. Luthera looked conflicted for a moment before Bartholamew broke in. ¡°There¡¯s no place called ¡®Indiana¡¯ anywhere on Themus.¡± Susan wanted to protest that such a thing wasn¡¯t possible. Unfortunately, at this point the scientific part of her mind decided to betray her. It happily pointed out that with the presence of magic forces, elves, and giant empires unseen on Earth, the chances of her being on another world were distressingly high. Her mind whirled around and around, questions bouncing endlessly until one finally came to the forefront. ¡°T-then,¡± She stammered out, ¡°They seriously want us to turn into dragons?¡± Luthera sighed. ¡°I suppose this is as good a time as any to explain.¡± She motioned to the full group and they gathered around into a loose circle to listen. Straightening her back, she took a deep breath and began speaking. ¡°One of the fundamental rules of magic is that mana is intrinsically tied to force and motion. In the bodies of mammals, the organ that most embodies these ideas is the heart. It is ever beating, ever moving, and it is the center of all magic in the body. This means that the most efficient way for a person to increase the amount of mana available to them is for them to increase the efficiency and power of the heart.¡± As Luthera paused to take a breath, Susan glanced around the small group. She had to suppress a shiver when she saw their faces. Each and every one of them, Takeo included, had expressions of terrifying anticipation. Susan was inadvertently reminded of the time she had seen a lottery drawing on TV. That expression of anticipation on the participants faces was the same one she was seeing here, except magnified a thousand times. The idea of becoming a dragon must be something similar for these people. That ¡®Emperor Altus¡¯ person knew what he was doing when he sent them here. She had no doubt that each and every one of these people would jump on this chance to gain the fame and glory of becoming a dragon. She saw a strange expression come over Luthera¡¯s face, but the woman continued anyway. ¡°The goal of becoming a dragon is to craft the dragon heart. An object of pure force and motion that allows a person to channel the mana necessary for the greatest spells this world has ever seen. All else is incidental to that goal. Even taking the form of a great beast is a mere stepping stone on the path to gaining a Dragon Heart.¡± Luthera paused and looked around the group with somber eyes. ¡°Emperor Altus has no desire for dragons. A dragon is the pinnacle of mages, a goal that only the brightest and most talented will ever reach. Altus merely wants beasts of war, untiring monsters fueled by the endless power of the Dragon Heart. Capable of nothing but destruction.¡± Luthera breathed in deeply, ¡°This is what you will become if you decide to follow Altus¡¯s commands. Powerful beasts, and nothing more.¡± The group was silent after that. Susan shuffled in place, trying not to think about how terrible the situation was. Instead she looked around. Except for Graff and Nikolina, everyone looked like the wind had been taken out of their sails. ¡°What¡¯s to stop us from flying out of this place after we¡¯re done with the transformation? We¡¯ll have wings, won''t we?¡± Graff interjected, still looking eager. In response, Luthera walked closer to the edge of the platform and pointed towards the cliffside next to them. ¡°Do you notice the runes along the cliff here?¡± She asked.¡± Susan had to take a second to look. It looked like a mess of craggy stone all across the cliff face. Then it clicked. From top to bottom the entire cliff was carved with one enormous symbol, looking like a mix between an Egyptian hieroglyphs and a Mayan calendar. She hadn¡¯t seen it before simply due to the impossible scale of the thing, but now she could see an entire line of them repeating along the enormous stone walls. ¡°We currently stand above the Great Caldera, long believed to be the birthplace of Dragons on Themus.¡± Luthera said as she began another lecture. By this point the constant talk about magic was beginning to grate on Susan. But at least Luthera was trying to help, so she tried to pay some attention. ¡°Many of the best and brightest wizards in eons past came here to try their hand at dragonhood. Many failed, but over the years this place bore witness to the rise of new dragons. And if there is one thing dragons are best known for, it is their lust for conquest.¡± Susan had a feeling she knew where this was going, and a glance at Graff¡¯s dour expression showed he knew it too. ¡°Several thousand years ago one of the nearby nations had finally had enough of fighting off upstart dragons trying their hand at kingdom building. So they carved the cliffs here with sealing runes to keep the newborn dragons inside until they could be reasoned with. As of this moment, the only way in or out of the caldera is through this lift. And Altus holds the keys.¡± A ¡®tch¡¯ came from Nikolina. ¡°Alright, you have made your case. What can we do instead?¡± Every head turned back to Luthera, who sported an almost invisible smile. ¡°Yes,¡± she said. ¡°I do have another option.¡± Susan was starting to feel like a yo-yo with how this conversation was jerking her around. Thankfully no one interrupted Luthera again and she continued. ¡°I am a member of the Wizard¡¯s Congress,¡± Luthera glanced at Susan and must have noticed her confusion. ¡°The great gathering of wizards dedicated to the overthrowing of the Atlan Empire. One of our plans, before I was caught up in the summoning today, was to sneak a group into the Great Caldera in order to become dragons.¡± ¡°And get stuck here like us?¡± Takeo asked. Luthera smirked, ¡°What Altus doesn¡¯t know, is that the eastern section of the mountain range is heavily eroded. Even with the runes strengthening them, a group of dedicated dragons could break through given enough time.¡± ¡°So,¡± Nikolina said, ¡°We can either become dragons and serve Altus, or become dragons and break free? The options you are peddling seem rather limited.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Timothy nodded along, ¡°I for one don¡¯t have any sort of idea what I¡¯m supposed to do as a dragon. This caldera seems nice enough.¡± He gestured towards the glowing trees spread out below them. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be too hard for some of us to eke out a living here if we choose to.¡± Luthera only shook her head. ¡°Unfortunately, Nikolina¡¯s summary of our options is more correct than she knows.¡± The canopy of the glowing trees rose up around them, lighting up the platform in blue. Susan startled, she had forgotten the platform was moving downward with everything else that was going on. Then she felt a tingling. It began everywhere in her body all at once. Her skin, muscles, even her bones seemed like they were being jabbed with thousands of needles. ¡°Gah, what is that!¡± She heard Takeo shout. ¡°What you are feeling is highly concentrated mana,¡± Luthera said through clenched teeth, ¡°It will sustain our bodies, entirely removing our need for food or drink. It will also prevent us from sleeping, slowly wearing away at our sanity.¡± One by one each person in the group moved to stare at her, the itching temporarily forgotten. ¡°The option of remaining human vanished as soon as we were summoned to this lift,¡± Luthera said, ¡°If we do not start the path to dragonhood, we will all go mad before the month is out.¡±
Gravel crunched under Susan¡¯s bare feet as she gingerly picked her way between the glowing trunks of the forest. The group was silent except for the occasional grunt or huff as they followed Luthera. The group had tried to debate what to do once they arrived on the forest floor, but there hadn¡¯t been much to discuss. The ¡®deliberation¡¯ over their two options had very quickly devolved into a discussion of the numerous failures of the Atlan Empire. The empire, as it turned out, was evil. Susan didn¡¯t really have a better word for it. They were rampant conquerors, subjugating every other culture they came across, and enslaving anything that wasn¡¯t an elf. They had committed practically every war crime in existence save for genocide. And that was just because they needed to feed their slave trade. The ¡®bringing light to the world¡¯ that the emperor had talked so long about was just the sugarcoated name for his ongoing world domination. Between this and the fact that the Emperor had sentenced them all to either insanity or Dragonification, there wasn¡¯t much support among their group for the Empire. By the time they made it out of the clearing the platform landed in, they had unanimously agreed to take Luthera¡¯s option. Now they were trekking through the forest towards what Luthera promised was a safe house she knew about. Susan had to stop herself from scratching her arm. It wouldn¡¯t help the itching. In fact, she had tested it a few times and was pretty sure that it temporarily increased the amount of itching. She was very bored. A break in the trees showed gray. A few shouts echoed off the trees as the others noticed as well. Susan was just glad to see something other than the glowing bark of the trees. A dozen more steps let her see the streak of gray for what it was, a stone wall about thirty feet high. Luthera raised a hand to get their attention and spoke, ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± ¡°Finally,¡± Graff rumbled as he jogged up to the wall, ¡°Now how do we get in?¡± ¡°No need to climb the wall,¡± Luthera called, ¡°The gate should be open.¡± Without another word, she turned to the right and started walking away, parallel to the wall. Susan walked after her, the rest of the group following in a rough line. It took another few minutes to find the gate of the fort. In that time it became readily apparent that the wall was a part of a star fort, a rough square with arrowhead shaped extensions jutting out of the wall at each of the four corners. The construction confused Susan, this style of fort used its sharp edges to deflect cannon fire. Did they have gunpowder here? The armor she had seen looked to be designed to stop swords, not bullets. The question bounced around in her head for a moment before she realized there was an easy way to get an answer. She jogged a bit to catch up with Luthera, ¡°Why are the walls shaped like this, is it because of cannons?¡± Luthera barked out a laugh, ¡°Hah! The barking irons? There isn¡¯t a mage alive who could be downed by one of those. No, these walls are for deflecting spells.¡± ¡°Really, you don¡¯t have guns here?¡± Susan asked. ¡°Oh we have them,¡± Luthera said, ¡°Just not very popular. Fireproofing spells, you see, are some of the most popular spells in existence. It is a poor wizard who cannot stop every spark within a hundred paces of himself on a whim. So guns, which so heavily rely on combustion, have never found any place on the battlefield.¡± She seemed to relax as she spoke. Her talk reminded Susan of some of her favorite teachers, always happy to spread a little knowledge around. She gave a small smile. Despite being a bit manipulative, Luthera did seem like a good person who was at least trying to help the rest of the group. Susan decided to ask some of her other questions, ¡°I¡¯ve been wondering since earlier, how do we understand each other?¡± Luthera raised an eyebrow at her, ¡°Magic, what else?¡± ¡°Right, of course,¡± Susan let their feet carry the conversation for a second, listening to the sound of feet on gravel for a few seconds. ¡°So what do we do once we¡¯ve escaped from the Caldera?¡± She asked. Luthera hummed, ¡°Well, the original plan put forth by the Wizard¡¯s Congress was to attack the nearby stronghold at Tiberius, then stage an attack on Altus¡¯s Capital. But with so few members, our group would be better off heading southeast towards Beringia.¡± ¡°Beringia?¡± ¡°The only remaining free continent, currently protected by the Wizard¡¯s Congress.¡± Susan sputtered, ¡°The only free continent, w-wait, how big is the Atlan empire?¡± Luthera looked at her, then frowned. ¡°I suppose the discussion earlier wasn''t exactly informative was it?¡± ¡°I guess not!¡± Susan replied incredulously. Luthera pursed her lips, thinking a second before she replied. ¡°As of right now, the Atlan empire occupies three of the four habitable continents on Themus. The two continents to the west of us are still untamed and wild places, and not easily settled. So the Atlans have devoted much of their resources to securing Beringia.¡± Susan had to take a moment to let it sink in. Luthera wanted them to join in the fight against an empire that spanned three continents. ¡°But how are the wizards even stopping them then?¡± ¡°Geography, mostly,¡± Luthera smiled, clearly enjoying Susan¡¯s reactions. ¡°The oceans separating Beringia from the rest of the continents are prone to sudden and powerful storms, discouraging any ocean passage. The only safe way between the continents is the Beringian Passage, a small land bridge between Beringia and Oberia. ¡± ¡°And the Mage¡¯s Congress controls the land bridge?¡± Susan asked. ¡°Precisely,¡± Luthera answered, then turned to face the rest of the group. ¡°We have arrived,¡± She announced, pointing to her left. Susan turned to look. The conversation had taken up all her attention, so she was quite surprised to turn towards the wall again, only to see a large open gateway standing in the center of the stretch of wall next to them. It was enormous, easily large enough that tanks could have passed through it with no problem. Thankfully the huge iron gates hung open, leaving plenty of space for the group to enter. Walking between through the gates Susan couldn¡¯t help but feel amazed, not just at their size, but at the thickness of the walls. The walls were so thick they were walking through what seemed like a short corridor at least a dozen meters long. It was clear that whatever conflict the walls had been built for was well beyond the medieval image this world presented itself with. The passage opened up into a huge gray floored courtyard about a hundred feet across. The ground here was covered in a layer of soft clay, which was a relief for Susan¡¯s abused feet. Looking around showed only a few doors leading into the walls around them. Susan frowned, somewhat confused by the lack of infrastructure. Where were they supposed to eat and sleep¡­ oh right, they couldn¡¯t. Even now, despite the several miles they had walked to get here, Susan couldn¡¯t feel any urge to rest. She did feel some soreness from walking barefoot on gravel, but it was completely overwhelmed by the energy bouncing around within her. With that dour thought in her head, Susan turned to look at Luthera, hoping for some sort of guidance once again. Luthera didn¡¯t disappoint, clapping her hands together to catch the group''s attention. ¡°We have arrived,¡± she announced. ¡°Welcome to one of the ancient sites of Dragon Making.¡± ¡°Then what is the fort for?¡± Bartholamew blurted out, then paused. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking.¡± Luthera gave a shrug, ¡°Wizards have fought against each other since time began, this of course extends even towards their efforts to become dragons. This is an old remnant of one of those conflicts, left behind for later generations to find and use.¡± She waved a hand, in front of her seven clumps of clay rose out of the ground and formed into rough looking seats. ¡°Take a seat if you wish, and we can begin our lessons on dragonification,¡± She said. Susan chose to stand. Luthera turned away from the group and waved a finger at the ground. A jet of air blasted away from it and carved a line. She continued this for about a minute, the symbol she was carving slowly taking shape. It was two concentric circles, with a series of runes placed in between. She finished with a twirl of air that carved the final circle, before turning back to the group. ¡°This,¡± She said, ¡°Is the magical circle that will allow us to become dragons. It will allow us to feel and shape our bodies into receptacles of power like no other.¡± Beside her, Takeo took a quick step forward, only to stop when a gust of wind erased the circle with a snap of Luthera¡¯s fingers. ¡°But that will come later. First, we need to cover a few subjects.¡± Susan decided to take a seat, Luthera¡¯s tone implied it would be a while before they got anywhere. Everyone else seemed to agree, shuffling over to finally use the clay seats Luthera had set up. Once they had settled down, she began talking in earnest. ¡°First of all, I must warn you. What we are doing is going to be incredibly dangerous.Trying to change the body in such an extreme manner is a task that even the greatest of wizards have a disastrously low chance of success at. ¡°This is because of the unbelievable difficulty of properly designing a working dragon heart. The question of how to build an organ that not only moved blood through the body, but also contained a disproportionate amount of force for its size, stumped the best minds of wizardry for thousands of years. Then, around twenty thousand years ago, the first dragon, Diadallo, pioneered a method that finally worked. ¡°His solution was the creation of what he called the great furnace. It was, as the name might imply, an enormous oil fueled furnace that he created within his chest. The heat from the furnace warmed the blood which expanded, and using this Diadallo created an ingenious series of chambers and veins that allowed for the circulation of blood. ¡°This led to the creation of the original dragon, the fire dragon. It is the one that I hope to recreate with all of you.¡± Susan couldn¡¯t help but stare at Luthera as she talked. The ideas she was putting forth were completely insane. But as Susan¡¯s mind turned them over and over in her head, they started to make some sort of twisted sense. Moving blood via thermal circulation wouldn¡¯t work normally. But if you changed the viscosity, maybe added some materials with better thermal expansion¡­ Then you would have to completely redesign the veins as well¡­ But then¡­ Luthera talked on, explaining the basic theories of how they would be changing their bodies. Susan was light years ahead of her. What had started as incomprehensible magic was slowly becoming bioengineering¨C her forte. Ideas flashed through her mind. Wild concepts that she had ignored or forgotten were pulled from dark corners of her mind and examined. Many of them were impossible things; indestructible scales, upgraded blood cells. All of it impossible simply due to the practicalities of evolution and physics. Magic didn¡¯t have to obey physics. All those wild concepts were now very real possibilities. . For the first time since they had arrived on this world, she felt like she belonged here. She was going to design dragons, this was awesome! Chapter 6: The Isekaing of Susan Hill- Part 2 Susan lay on her back inside of a magic circle. She tried to ignore the uncomfortable warmth of the sun above, paired with the seeping cold of the clay below. She breathed in, then out. Her heart thrummed in her chest. She felt uncomfortable¡­ and not much else. She distantly heard the cadence of Luthera¡¯s voice. She was currently lecturing the rest of the group on the other side of the courtyard. The first thing Luthera had done once she finished her initial lectures was to split the group between those who had experience sensing mana, and those who did not. Susan¡¯s group, including Takeo and the two farmers, was the latter. Luthera had carved a set of new mana circles into the ground for them, apparently designed to help them sense their mana. They were supposed to sit still and listen to their heart, trying to feel a ¡®second heartbeat¡¯. Luthera said that mana followed the motion of the body so intrinsically that the first step in sensing it was simply learning to differentiate it from those ordinary motions. Clay crunched a few meters away. Susan opened her eyes to see Takeo striking a pose from just outside his own mana sensing circle. ¡°Only four hours to get familiar with mana, what do you think?¡± He said with a grin. ¡°Uh, cool,¡± Susan said, trying to hide the irritation in her voice. She was officially the last person to sense her own mana. The other two people, the ones dressed as peasants, and as it turned out- were peasants, had finished quickly. They already knew what they were looking for, just needing a bit of guidance. They had already left to join the other group, which alternated between lessons from Luthera and practice with the proper Dragon making magic circles. Takeo had actually sensed mana for the first time a few minutes ago, but had stuck around to get the feeling down. Now he was done too. Unlike Susan. She really didn''t want to start getting jealous of him, that wouldn¡¯t help anything. She glanced back to Takeo who was¡­ still standing there looking at her. She raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°What, no reaction? Luthera seemed impressed,¡± He said with a shrug. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m still having trouble.¡± Takeo could probably hear her irritation this time. ¡°If you have some advice I¡¯d be happy to listen, but otherwise I need to focus.¡± ¡°Fine, be that way,¡± Takeo snapped back and stalked off. Susan breathed in deep, and let out a heavy sigh. Takeo was definitely a bit high strung. Overall though, he seemed to be taking the whole ¡®interdimensional kidnapping¡¯ thing better than she was. Susan wasn''t entirely sure. She had only barely confirmed her suspicions when he had made an offhand comment mentioning the internet. Well, at the very least, one of them wasn''t actively freaking out. Takeo in particular seemed eager to become a dragon. Susan couldn¡¯t really blame him, it wasn¡¯t every day you got handed a chance to become a creature of legendary power. She just wished she got a choice in the matter. Or could sense whatever this ¡®second heartbeat¡¯ thing was. She turned her attention back to her body. Her heartbeat thrummed in her chest. Her lungs rushed with air, in and out. The ground was cold beneath her, the sun beat down overhead. She felt her bones itching! A shadow blotted out the glow of the sun. Susan opened her eyes to see Luthera¡¯s face looking down on her. ¡°Sorry, did I wake you?¡± Luthera asked with a grin. Susan could only shake her head, ¡°I still can¡¯t feel it,¡± She whispered. Luthera¡¯s smile twisted into a frown. ¡°Are you sure? The magic circle should delay the movement of mana in your body slightly. It can be subtle, but it should be there.¡± Susan¡¯s grimace was enough of a reply. Luthera stood up from where she had crouched over Susan. Susan scrambled to her feet to see what she was doing. Luthera reached into her pocket and slipped out a small white stone. ¡°Here, take this,¡± She said, handing it to Susan. Susan took it and looked at it for a few seconds. She looked back at Luthera, ¡°It¡¯s¡­ a rock, right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s, well¡­ I¡¯m sorry,¡± Luthera said with an ugly expression. Susan stared at her, half in fear, half in confusion. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± She asked. ¡°If you cannot feel anything different about that stone, then you must be mana blind,¡± Luthera replied. Susan gulped, ¡°Then¡­¡± ¡°You cannot use the magic circle.¡± Susan felt the hope in her chest wither. If she couldn¡¯t become a dragon then within a month she would be¡­ Insane. Susan didn¡¯t want to go insane. Her mind was the best thing about her. The idea of it slowly betraying her was something she would have had nightmares about if she was able to sleep. She had only a month of sanity left. But the way Luthera talked implied the rest of the group would be in the Caldera for years at least. Since they needed to be taught from scratch, Susan thought that might have even been a more conservative estimate of how long the transformation would take. Except¡­ Luthera had mentioned the four humors at one point in her lectures. Specifically to explain how they needed to avoid upsetting them. Susan turned to look Luthera in the eye. ¡°So, I have about a month before I go crazy, right?¡± Luthera sighed, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but yes.¡± Susan nodded, ¡°I guess I should show you how to design a proper thermocirculatory system, then.¡±
Susan carved a zero into the clay beneath her. The last two weeks had been¡­ excruciating. She hadn¡¯t been able to sleep. Every time she tried, she couldn¡¯t get past the prickling in her bones. On top of that, she just didn¡¯t feel tired. Her eyes didn¡¯t feel heavy, her muscles didn¡¯t hurt, but there was a fatigue just beyond any of her senses that told her she needed sleep. She could understand now what Luthera meant by madness. It wasn''t the straight jacket and padded room kind. But if she didn¡¯t escape the caldera soon, she knew that she would just find a corner and curl up in it. Just laying there desperately trying to get any kind of rest until her body gave out or the elements took her. The others at least didn¡¯t have this problem. The magic circle they used agitated the stagnant mana that kept them awake, so they could sleep after a session of body shaping. Which at least were going decently well. The process was surprisingly simple. They lay in the magic circle, which apparently gave them the ability to view and shape their body, then started changing things. This was where Susan came in. Over the course of their first few days in the Caldera, she had managed to design a theoretically functional Dragon body. Then she spent the next week after that coaching everyone on how to follow her design. The end result had the group transforming into dragons at a speed that stunned Luthera. At the rate they were going, Susan¡¯s tutoring would have everyone transformed into dragons just a few days before her insanity deadline. In fact, Takeo was already going through the process to finalize his dragon transformation. His surprising talent for transformation magic had him already resembling a dragon while everyone else just looked like large, scaled humans. He was now a fifty foot long dragon that resembled a Komodo Dragon from back on Earth. Everyone had gathered to watch at Luthera coached him through the last step; transforming his heart into a high efficiency furnace designed by Susan. They had actually had to leave the fortress to do it. According to Luthera, the results could be rather explosive if done wrong. Though she assured everyone that there was practically no chance of that. She had still decided to be prudent by leaving their one remaining pure human inside the fort. Then creating a clearing outside for Takeo to transform inside of. Susan had found herself left to her own devices for the first time in three weeks. Which if the group had taken a second to think about, was probably a bad idea. She was not doing well. It was obvious to everyone, herself most of all. She had found herself losing time. Snapping out of a stupor to realize that minutes, or hours had passed without her realizing it. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Luthera had taken to chatting with her whenever she had the chance. Discussing math, science, and especially, magic. Which was when, in the dead of night three days ago, she let something slip she probably shouldn¡¯t have. The runes weren¡¯t necessary for magic circles to work. Magic, apparently, needed three things to work. Mana, instructions to follow, and a path to flow through. As long as you fulfilled these conditions, the magic would work. It didn¡¯t matter if you sang a song, a chant, or even wrote something down, as long as you gave the mana motion and directions, you were good. Runes worked because the mana was drawn into the concentric circles, followed the instructions given by the runes, and then performed the spell. Apparently even Susan could theoretically do magic, she just couldn¡¯t do it with the high precision necessary for the dragonification spells. The runes used in the magic circles were actually an entire language. The runes weren¡¯t words, however. They were entire concepts summarized and distilled into a single symbol. But that¡¯s all they were, symbols just like any other. Luthera had, of course, warned Susan against any attempt to write her own spells without the use of runes. There were all number of different ways things could go wrong, and homemade spells had a way of following instructions to the letter. To the detriment of the person casting the spell. Except there were two things pushing Susan to try it anyway. One; Luthera¡¯s descriptions sounded suspiciously like writing code, which Susan had a good amount of experience writing. And two; Susan wasn''t going to escape the caldera. Luthera had said there was a way to predict how long you would last before the mana induced madness set in. Susan hadn¡¯t dared to ask her to elaborate. Such knowledge would just be another straw on her back, joining together with everything else in this nightmarish caldera attempting to crush her. Susan knew with a certainty that terrified her that she had about five more days. Not the two weeks the others needed. So she waited until they left. Then she summoned every scrap of scientific knowledge she had available to her, grabbed a stick, and started drawing. She knew she would need space, so she drew her outer circle large enough to fill the entirety of the clay covered courtyard she worked in. Her plan was to supplant her lack of magical knowledge with scientific knowledge. She had no idea what a unit of mana was even supposed to be or how to measure it, but she had a workaround. As long as she ensured that the conditions around her body stayed the same, the amount or the flow of the mana she was using shouldn¡¯t matter. That meant that as long as the temperature of her body needed to stay at 36 degrees celsius, and no forces acting on her other than gravity changed. As long as those as well as a thousand other conditions stayed the same, then she should be safe. This was where her good old friend the metric system came into play. The metric system was a system of measurements based on several fundamental forces of nature that didn''t, or that Susan hoped didn''t, change between universes. That was the problem of how not to die solved. Now onto her real plan. Susan was gonna become immortal. Well, not really. But at least immune to aging. There are several suspected causes of aging in the human body. So she was gonna take care of all of them. A few changes to how her body processed DNA, creating more stem cells, and a few other changes. And with that, Susan would be¡­ Well not immortal in the truest sense of the word, but she would definitely live much longer. She carved another zero, and then a one. A look up showed an enormous spiral of ones and zeros scrawled madly in the clay within the outer circle. Maybe she shouldn¡¯t have written this in binary. It was safe though. Words and letters could be misspelled or misread. Modern coding languages were easier to work with, but a single misspelling could break the logic chain. Ones and zeros on the other hand? If she was misspelling those she might as well give up. If only it hadn¡¯t taken her six hours to write all this out. The others would be finishing soon, she had to hurry. A series of movements from her arm finished the last line of text. Susan had to force herself to walk slowly, carefully tracing the inner circle. She had to deliberately ignore the chafing of her clothes. She couldn¡¯t sweat due to the mana, but that didn''t stop her pajamas from accumulating grime and wrinkles. They now resembled freshly skinned roadkill pelts more than anything else. She jabbed the stick into the ground at her side. With the completion of the innermost circle, the mana began to flow inwards. The letters on the ground began to glow faintly and she felt the spell begin. Her body immediately heated up, then cooled back down. She breathed a sigh of relief. The circle would run for about thirty seconds before automatically deactivating. In that time, her body shouldn¡¯t run hotter than 36 Celsius. So it should be a matter of waiting it out and- Susan got a mild brain freeze. She breathed in and out, waiting for it to leave. Her breath hitched when it instead got worse. Wait, oh no. Her sleep deprived brain had managed to screw her over one last time. The average body temperature was 36 C. The average BRAIN temperature was over 38 C. Oh, she was such an idiot. Only Susan Hill, scientist extraordinaire, could remember the full DNA sequences required for this, but forget about brain temperature! Her breath picked up, and she collapsed to her knees in despair. Warmth seemed to flow through her body. Her panicked brain could only think one thing. Feeling warm when you were experiencing hypothermia meant you were going to die. Her mind ran in circles. She was going to die! Her body grew warmer, then the pain started to recede. No no no! She wasn''t ready to- Wait a second, she felt fine. Her brain finally caught up to the fact that it felt warm because it was actually warm. The spell had already run its course, it was no longer trying to freeze her. The air rushing in and out of her lungs as she slowed as she calmed down. She was alright. She was an idiot, but she was alright. She pushed herself to her feet. Susan breathed in and let it back out. Her bones didn¡¯t itch. Her bones didn¡¯t itch. A look around showed the field looking mostly the same, but the scrawled writing around her had been muddled by the mana pouring through it. It appeared the magic circle was one use only. A splash of color to her right caught her attention. It was the tree branch. Its bottom had taken root in the clay while the top grew a few scraggly leaves. It occurred to Susan that she knew very, very little about magic, and she was very, very lucky. A wave of tiredness ran over her for the first time in two weeks. Susan smiled as her knees wobbled and she felt the urge to lay and sleep for the next three days. A roar and yells of triumph echoed from the forest just outside the gates. Susan smiled, turning towards it. Sleep could wait a little bit. There were two victories to celebrate now. The roar came again. So did the yells, except this time they didnt stop. Wait a second, those weren¡¯t yells. Those were screams. Susan¡¯s feet had her running towards them before her brain had even caught up to what was happening. Despite now feeling her exhaustion, the supernatural endurance given by the mana stayed. So it was barely a minute before she was getting close enough to see the enormous bulk of Takeo through the trees. Was he okay? He hadn¡¯t exploded, what had everyone so panicked? Susan burst into the clearing to see a fifty foot black dragon rake a handful of footlong claws through Graff¡¯s chest. The sight locked her legs in place as she skidded to a stop. The clearing wasn''t as big as the fort, barely large enough to fit both Takeo and the magic circle he was using. Maybe seventy feet across with the enormous glowing trees of the forest serving as a border. Bodies littered the ground. They weren¡¯t quite human anymore. Each one of them stood ten to fifteen feet tall, covered with scales and with inhumanly large torsos to contain their forming mana hearts. At least, that¡¯s what the various members of the group had looked like when they left the fort earlier that day, laughing and cheering Takeo as he and Luthera led the way to the clearing. Now they lay in twisted shapes, unmoving on the ground as the violence continued around them. The one screaming was Edith. She had been standing paralyzed behind Graff as he fought the dragon. Her shrill voice cut off when the dragon moved past the fallen form of the former mercenary and backhanded her through a tree. Susan¡¯s eyes desperately looked for Luthera. She could fix this, she would have some sort of plan. She was one of the shorter ones, only ten feet tall but with a unique rainbow scale pattern that made her stand out. Her eyes landed on an unmoving form in the middle of the clearing. The shape was right, the color too. But the twisted form on the ground contained none of Luthera¡¯s animation, wit, and¡­ life. The dragon¡¯s head turned towards Susan with a predator¡¯s grace. Susan ran. She made it barely ten steps before a clawed hand the size of her torso crashed down on her. Pinning her to the ground. ¡°Hello, Susan,¡± The voice of Takeo came from above her. ¡°Takeo? What are you doing?¡± Susan shouted from where her face pressed into the dirt. Takeo¡¯s voice now much deeper and heavier came again. ¡°Really? Hasn¡¯t that brain of yours figured it out?¡± Susan¡¯s panicked breaths stilled as her panicked, sleep deprived mind slowly put the pieces together. ¡°We were going to get out! What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± ¡°I made the smart choice,¡± Takeo retorted. Susan¡¯s chest buzzed as his words echoed with incredible force through his body. ¡°These idiots were going to follow that wizard and throw away the chance of a lifetime!¡± Susan couldn¡¯t help but sob as he threw Luthera¡¯s death back in her face. ¡°The Atlan Empire is willing to give us anything we want for the secrets of Dragonification!¡± He crowed, ¡°And I¡¯m all set to cash in! ¡°In fact, I should probably be happy none of the others agreed with me,¡± He continued, ¡°Now there¡¯s no need to share the prize.¡± Susan¡¯s hands gouged furrows in the dirt as she fought to get out from underneath the monster¡¯s claws. ¡°WELL WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME!¡± She screamed as loud as she could. She didn''t want this, laying here surrounded by the bodies of people she was beginning to call friends. Didn¡¯t want to acknowledge that the only one of them that wasn¡¯t dead had become something far worse. ¡°I just wanted to have a little talk with the only other Earthling here.¡± Takeo rumbled. ¡°So you finally decided to tell me you''re from earth?¡± Susan yelled back, ¡°Is that supposed to make me agree with you? It doesn¡¯t make you any less of a monster!¡± ¡°Oh please,¡± Takeo laughed, the noise echoing around the clearing, ¡°There was nothing for either of us on that planet, we were just bricks in the wall there. Drops in the ocean of humanity.¡± ¡°No. That was just you, I actually had a life! I don¡¯t need to turn into some brain dead monster to be happy you piece of-¡± Susan¡¯s tirade was cut off as Takeo pressed down with his hand, forcing the air out of her lungs. He let up after a second, leaving her gasping for air. ¡°No need to be rude, Susan. Now where was I?¡± A breath of blistering hot air blew over Susan as Takeo leaned his head closer, ¡°See, you can escape anymore without us to piggyback off of. And you¡¯ll go mad in a few days anyway, so there¡¯s no problem for me if I let you go.¡± ¡°SCREW OFF!¡± ¡°Aw, it looks like our resident scientist doesn¡¯t like me, how sad. Well, either way, I¡¯m a dragon of my word.¡± His hand came off of Susan¡¯s back. She was running before she even fully got to her feet. Rushing away as fast as her legs could take her. The dragon¡¯s booming laughter chased after her. ¡°Why don¡¯t you come and watch me leave, I could use an audience,¡± Takeo roared after her.
Susan only stopped when she hit the wall of the caldera. She barely noticed it in time to get her arms up, and crashed into it. Her back hit the dirt before her brain could catch up to what was happening. A sob escaped her throat. A second later she was curled up in the dead leaves and dirt of the forest floor, crying for all she was worth. Everyone was dead. As she sobbed, her mind would keep trying to parse this fact, then stutter. Then the image of their bodies would pop back into her head, and the misery and horror would come back even stronger. Something rumbled in the distance. Adrenaline carried Susan to her feet in an instant. Takeo was still out there, he might be coming after her. Motion caught her eye. It was the lift, Takeo perched on top like an Egyptian sphinx. Susan wondered if the blood was still on his claws, or if he had cleaned them before leaving. It probably wouldn¡¯t matter to the Atlans either way. For an instant, Takeo¡¯s body lined up with the setting sun and his entire figure glowed as the light reflected off his scales. Susan was reminded of the symbol on the chest plates of the soldiers. The three-headed dragon, consuming the sun moon and stars. Takeo had become the monster Altus had asked for. Well, if he was going to become the symbol of their empire, become the sun eating abomination, then she was¡­ she was going to stop him. Takeo was from her world, and she had helped teach him Dragonification. He was her responsibility. At that moment, a tiny flame started in her chest. Fury joined the fear and revulsion. The Atlans were going to get the dragon they asked for, they just didn''t know it yet. It didn''t matter if it took her a hundred or a thousand years. She could become a dragon, and there was nothing they could do to stop her. And Takeo? A tiny bit of inspiration wormed its way into Susans head. She smiled. It wasn''t a happy smile. She was going to make Takeo eat his own hubris. Chapter 7: Garage Sale Drama A soft breeze blew over Susan and Elizabeth as they lay underneath the stars. Susan was sprawled catlike around Elizabeth, silent as she stared off at the distant glow of the town. It wasn''t the town she was seeing. Instead her mind was reliving that day from a thousand years ago. Her eyes looking up at the distant figure of Takeo as he was lifted from the caldera. ¡°Susan?¡± Elizabeth¡¯s voice came from below, where she sat cross legged on the grass of the field. ¡°Hm,¡± Susan hummed in response, ¡°So is that your whole backstory or is there more?¡± Elizabeth said in the sing song voice she reserved exclusively for annoying Susan with. Susan whipped her head down, spearing her sister with a glare. ¡°No there''s way more, I spent like a thousand years there!¡± She snapped. ¡°Well is there like a pre episode recap? ¡®Last time on Susan Hill¡¯ or something?¡± Elizabeth shot back, wearing a cocky grin as she stared up at the hulking form of her sister. Susan couldn¡¯t help the chuckle that followed. A trunk-like arm came up and gave Elizabeth a shove, who laughed in response. Susan didn¡¯t notice as Elizabeth ducked her head to hide a relieved smile. ¡°Alright, let''s leave the recap for some other time,¡± Susan said, ¡°Though is there anything you want to know about Themus?¡± Elizabeth frowned for a second, ¡°So about that Takeo guy, did you ever, y¡¯know, get him?¡± Susan sighed, ¡°No, that rat¡¯s still out there.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Elizabeth asked, looking Susan¡¯s body up and down. She knew Elizabeth was looking over the meters of sculpted muscle, razor claws and heavy scales. ¡°In the end it didn¡¯t really matter how well designed my body was,¡± Susan shook her head sadly, ¡°The one time I saw Takeo afterward, he just set his bodyguards on me and ran.¡± Elizabeth nodded in understanding. ¡°So what about you?¡± Susan asked, ¡°What¡¯s the deal with you and your magic powers?¡± Elizabeth shrugged, ¡°Nothing crazy, honestly. A couple years ago I saved Amy from a tree falling on her. Next thing I knew, I was being chosen as one of the protectors of earth.¡± ¡°Wild¡­ wait you WHAT-¡± ¡°Aaanyway,¡± Elizabeth shouted over her response, ¡°I was super confused about what to do at first but the others helped me figure things out.¡± Susan definitely wanted to talk about Elizabeth being involved with falling trees but something else caught her attention, ¡°Others?¡± ¡°Yeah, other magical girls,¡± Elizabeth replied, ¡°Oh, here comes one now.¡± She pointed upward. Susan had to take a second to question whether or not Elizabeth was trying to distract her before she gave in and looked. At first she only saw a shooting star. A tiny pinprick of light streaking across the sky. Then she realized that it was coming toward them, fast. And it was getting larger. Barely a second later, it hit center of the field with the force of a meteor. Susan squinted as a wave of pulverized grass and dirt blew past her. A woman stood at the center of the crater. Tall, with dark black hair and skin, she stood up from a crouch on two powerful legs. A golden glow illuminated her as she looked up and her eyes locked onto Susan. Susan blinked to make sure she wasn''t seeing things. ¡°Hey, that¡¯s not a magical girl!¡± She exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at the her. Instead of Elizabeth¡¯s dress and frills, she wore what resembled Greek armor. A close fitting bronze chest plate, as well as bracers, greaves, and an armored skirt. The woman herself was tall and muscular, with her hair in a heavy braid down her back. The only real similarity between her and Elizabeth was that they were both women, and not clearly not a fan of Susan¡¯s dragon-ness. ¡°Elizabeth, are you there?¡± The woman shouted with a lilting accent that Susan couldn¡¯t place. ¡°Oh hey Abana!¡± Elizabeth called back as she walked around the front of Susan¡¯s torso. ¡°Oh hey, OH HEY?¡± Abana almost screamed, ¡°The last thing I heard from you was that you were going to confront a dragon. A dragon! With no plan, no backup. Are you stupid girl?¡± Susan guffawed, ¡°It took you long enough to figure that one out!¡± Abana seemed to remember that Susan was there, placing herself in front of Elizabeth and dropping into a crouch. ¡°I don¡¯t know what game your playing, but-¡± A worried looking Elizabeth cut her off by tapping on her shoulder. ¡°Uh¡­¡± She said, tapping two fingers together, ¡°So as it turns out, she, like, is my sister¡­ sooo¡­¡± She trailed off under the wrathful gaze of Abana, who seemed to be losing in a fight against her urge to smack the girl in front of her. Susan watched in bemused silence as she was once again forgotten by the two. ¡°And did you not think to check, perhaps, if this is true?¡± Abana asked with a face trapped between worry and amazed disappointment. Elizabeth¡¯s sudden interest in the night sky was enough of an answer. Abana forced out a heavy sigh, before turning back to Susan. ¡°So,¡± She said, ¡°You claim not to be a skinwalker like Elizabeth believed, but instead to be her sister in truth?¡± Susan answered with a shrug of her enormous shoulders. ¡°Yep, pretty much.¡± ¡°And how did you explain becoming a dragon overnight?¡± Susan let out a heavy sigh of her own that sent the grass around her rustling. ¡°Well, as I was just telling Elizabeth, I got stuck in another world for a thousand years. Seriously, becoming a dragon isn¡¯t something you do in a day, it took me a decade to formulate the basic design of my body alone.¡± ¡°Wait, no way!¡± Elizabeth burst in, ¡°Did you get so obsessed with making your dragon body absolutely perfect that you wasted the entire thousand years?¡± ¡°What, no!¡± Susan exclaimed, ¡°It was only one hundred and fifty!¡± All it took was one look at Elizabeth¡¯s toothy smile to know she had been outplayed. ¡°S-shut up,¡± Susan retorted feebly, ducking her head to the side. Abana looked back and forth between the two with tired eyes. ¡°May God have pity on me, there¡¯s another,¡± She muttered. ¡°What?¡± The sisters asked simultaneously. ¡°Ahem, there is a method to verify your claims,¡± Abana said, ¡°Rawiyah Sekh at the Brick should be able to divine the answer.¡± Susan leaned back in shock, ¡°You want to get answers from a seer?¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with that?¡± Elizabeth shot back, somewhat suspiciously. ¡°Well they¡¯re f-¡° ¡°They can be unreliable or manipulative,¡± Abana interrupted her, ¡°But Rawiyah has known our group for centuries and can be relied upon.¡± Susan gave her a long look, then shrugged. They would see eventually. ¡°Alright then, climb on,¡± She said, climbing to her feet and unfurling her wings and stretching them. They resembled scaled bat wings, attached to her back above and behind her normal arms. The motion created an enormous gust of air that made the trees surrounding the field shake. ¡°Hey, when did you get those?¡± Elizabeth shouted up at her. Susan rolled her eyes, ¡°How about you pay attention next time, I¡¯ve had them the whole time.¡± A flap of her wings made Elizabeth and Abana braced themselves against the resulting gale of wind. Elizabeth laughed and sprinted toward Susan, making a running jump at her. Susan had to duck her head to avoid the surface-to-air-sibling. Elizabeth sailed over, and Susan felt her land somewhere on her expansive back. ¡°You can¡¯t just,¡± Abana cut herself off and rolled her eyes, ¡°Never mind.¡± A wave of her hand fixed the crater she had made when arriving, before she turned and jogged up to Susan¡¯s side. A much more conservative jump placed her behind Susan¡¯s head. Susan waited until they settled, and began sketching a rune on the ground. ¡°How do you plan to fly?¡± Abana said from where she sat. ¡°I do not believe your wingspan is great enough for it.¡± ¡°Oh, so you noticed,¡± Susan smiled. Abana was right, Susan¡¯s wingspan was about the same width as her body, one hundred and fifty feet from tip to tip. It was certainly impressive, but for a creature of her scale the physics would never work to get her airborne. ¡°Well, my wingspan isn¡¯t enough for normal flight, but with a bit of magic I can make things work.¡± Her hand finished forming the rune, and watched its glow illuminate her for a moment. Her body began to feel lighter as the pull of gravity lessened. She grinned and with a flap of her wings she was rising above the treeline. Soon she was sailing high over the town, headed toward the distinctive shimmering of the Brick¡¯s glamour. The streetlights of the town spread out below them, forming a glowing pattern of squares. ¡°This is awesome!¡± Elizabeth shouted from her back. Susan¡¯s snakelike neck slowly turned her head around to stare at Elizabeth. ¡°You can fly, right?¡± She asked. ¡°Yeah, but not on a dragon!¡± Elizabeth yelled back. Susan shook her head as she faced forward again, she never could win an argument with her goofball sister. It only took a minute to reach the tower. Susan decided to travel around to land in the forest on the other side for some privacy to transform back. After resuming her human form and magicking on the same wool robes as yesterday, Susan was ready to meet this Rawiyah Seck. It was Elizabeth who let them in this time, performing the same introductory speech as Anne. It wasn''t until they had entered one of the elevators and selected a surprisingly familiar floor that Elizabeth broke the silence. ¡°So what¡¯s with the sack?¡± She asked as she leaned back against the wall. Susan was standing next to Abana as she selected the floor, and turned to glare at her. ¡°You exploded my clothes when you forcibly canceled my transformation spell,¡± She said, trying to hold in the following, ¡®you idiot¡¯. ¡°Oh,¡± Elizabeth said, looking away. Susan rolled her eyes and turned back to Abana. ¡°So the government knows about you guys?¡± She asked. Abana shrugged, ¡°They do. They cannot do anything to stop us, and it would be entirely detrimental if they did, so their policy is to leave us alone.¡± Susan nodded in understanding. ¡°So where are we heading? I¡¯ve been down to this floor before, but didn¡¯t enter.¡± Abana shot her a look, her eyebrow raised, ¡°You¡¯ve been to the Brick before?¡± Susan shrugged, ¡°Yup, I didn''t get the chance to explore though, I was just dropping off a friend.¡± Abana¡¯s eyebrow didn''t go down, ¡°Haven¡¯t you only been here for a day?¡± ¡°Yes, a very, very long day.¡± The doors opened to the familiar hallway. Susan moved out of the elevator before the others, quickly moving past the riot of graffiti and the old ¡®parking garage¡¯ sign. She wanted this side mission over as soon as possible. She turned the corner and stopped in her tracks. The roar of noise she had heard earlier had done nothing to prepare her for this. A riot of light sound and color washed past her as she stared out into an enormous, low ceilinged room housing a market. She couldn¡¯t see much from her position in the hallway, but her current position already afforded her a view of crowds of beings both human and inhuman milling around. Attending and visiting an equally mad assortment of stalls. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Abana and Elizabeth walked past her toward the market, apparently unsurprised by the sight. A smirk from Elizabeth told Susan that the girl was greatly enjoying her reaction. Susan walked after the pair, fully exiting the hallway and entering the chaos. Her head was almost on a swivel, staring at the crowd in shock. A wave from Elizabeth caught her attention and she made her way over to the two magical girls who stood by a concrete barrier. Abana looked bemused while Elizabeth was outright grinning. ¡°Welcome to the Garage Sale!¡± She shouted, waving a hand behind her. Susan looked past her and finally saw the full scope of the place, her jaw dropping. They stood in a parking garage. Except it was anything but a normal parking garage. Susan was reminded of the variety of elevator sizes she had seen in the lobby. It appeared the same design philosophy had been carried over here. The bottom floors were enormous things, easily tall enough to fit semi trucks length wise. But as the room slowly spiraled up and up, each successive floor became smaller and smaller. The top floors were barely visible, each only a foot or two high. Everything was wrapped around a hollow center that looked large enough to let rocket ships pass through. The empty space at the bottom was taken up by an enormous arrangement of folding chairs around a circular stage, where it seemed an auction was going on. The final effect was a cavernous space that could have housed several armies at the same time. All painted with enough art and graffiti to make it a museum. Except it seemed it had been turned into the world¡¯s largest flea market, instead. The size of the building no longer held any surprise for Susan. She had seen grossly oversized buildings before. What had her attention was again the sheer variety of peoples on display. Susan¡¯s time on Themus had been largely confined to a single continent. While she had been told of rare and fantastical creatures of the other continents, most of her time had been spent interacting with humans, elves, and the occasional orc or dwarf. Those were present, but lost in an impossible variety of other creatures that filled the enormous hall that they stood in. Animal creatures seemed the most common. Bear, wolf, hawk, and every other kind of animal fused with humans in a variety of ways. A bush with legs caught her attention as it walked by, arm in arm with a lion walking upright. Susan also noticed the pale skin of vampires, red skinned Japanese Oni, and a wide spread of attendees with skin every color of the rainbow. The combined noise of their talking and shouting came together into a cacophony of noise that left Susan reeling. But that was only on the middle section of floors she was currently on. The upper floors held entire petting zoos of rabbits, foxes, as well as halflings, goblins, and many more. All buying and selling with little regard for their surroundings. The lower floors were even more insane. Susan caught a glimpse of full size dinosaurs, even a T-Rex, talking and chatting with giants, ogres, and walking trees. She turned back to the magical girls. ¡°What is this place?¡± She called over the noise. ¡°It is a market, run by the very Rawiyah Sekh we plan to see,¡± Abana said, leaning in close to be heard over the noise. ¡°But, how did this even happen?¡± Susan asked helplessly as she waved her arm at the cacophony of life around them. ¡°Oh, I know this one,¡± Elizabeth said, leaning in, ¡°When they built the Brick, they made the parking garage too for all the cars they thought people would bring. Except they forgot that almost everybody here can run or fly faster than cars. So nobody used it. Then Rawiyah showed up and turned it into the Garage Sale.¡± ¡°It is not the Garage Sale, it¡¯s proper name is the Goblin Market,¡± Abana interrupted. ¡®C¡¯mon nobody calls it that,¡± Elizabeth said back, from her position on the other side of Susan. Abana turned away from her and back to Susan. ¡°If you do call it anything, do not call it the Garage Sale in front of Rawiyah. She hates that name,¡± She said. Susan shrugged helplessly in response. ¡°Uh, lead the way, I guess,¡± She said, hoping for direction out of the chaos she had found herself in. Abana nodded and began making her way up the spiraling concrete of the parking garage. They made their way past a thousand different storefronts. Some were small buildings, some tents. Some were just collections of card tables covered in swords, tools, magical items, and sometimes just normal items, like clothes or books. One thing caught attention, however. Every so often, Susan would spot a person with brown hair and black eyes in the crowd. She remembered the boy who had attacked Anne in the elevator. He had shared her hair and eyes, like the people she saw now. Anne had implied that her people were largely taken over by her uncle. That made their heavy presence in the market around her¡­ a bit concerning. They walked past an enormous beehive selling magical honey next to a modern glass storefront advertising pedicures. Someone caught her eye, standing in the storefront. An older woman, her silhouette seemed familiar.. Her height was shortened with age but she still stood tall, with a straight back. Then a familiar head of dark hair, streaked with gray. She stood facing one of the bees, shaking a fist at it while it buzzed angrily back at her. Susan¡¯s steps slowed, and she turned towards the pair. That woman¡­ it couldn¡¯t be who she thought it was¡­ right? She hoped it wasn''t. She wasn¡¯t sure she could deal with people she knew randomly turning out to have magic powers three times in one day. Kelly and Elizabeth were more than enough. She was interrupted, as a group passed between her and the stall. When they had left, the woman had vanished with them. She wanted to keep moving towards the stall, find the woman and put things straight. Instead she found her head turning towards the group that had passed by. It was mostly composed of the same humans she had seen everywhere through the market, with brown hair and black eyes. Terry was with them, talking and chatting with a few other men. There was a cheery camaraderie between them. Susan didn''t like it. Anne had implied she was safe here. The heavy presence of her ¡®extended family¡¯ implied otherwise. A shout from Abana caught her attention again. The two magical girls had left her well behind and were once again waving to catch her attention. Susan jogged to catch up with them, eyeing Terry to make sure he hadn¡¯t caught sight of her. She didn''t know if he¡¯d remember her, and did not want to find out. Their walk eventually took them to the upper floors, where Susan found herself needing to crouch to move forward. The variety and chaos around her never seemed to stop until she found herself crouching with Abana and Elizabeth in front of a miniature service door about two and a half feet high. Abana rapped on it, before opening the door and entering. Elizabeth waved her forward and Susan stepped through. The room she found herself in was not what she was expecting. For one it was tall enough for her to stand up in. While still not as tall as a normal room, it was still a good six feet high, and maybe twice that wall to wall. The room was the normal square design of the brick, but the walls and ceiling were covered in an intricate pattern of colored tiles. The sight reminded Susan of pictures of an Ottoman palace she had seen. Three doors sat in the center leading further into the building. Low couches lined the rest of the walls, while a three foot tall pedestal sat in the center. It was odd, resembling a table with a large central pillar to hold it up and a wide top. But it had a coiling bar that ran from the outer edge of the top down to the floor, spiraling around like a staircase. The top was empty, except for a triangle of metal pins sticking up from the center. Susan found the room to be quite interesting, most of the other seers she had met were more gaudy. Preferring gold as their primary form of decoration, and source of color. Abana was already seated on one of the couches across from the door. She had made herself comfortable, arms thrown over the back of the couch, and one leg crossed over the other as she sat back. Susan settled down on one of the couches perpendicular to her. A moment later Elizabeth bounced into the room. In a moment she had laid herself out on the couch next to Susan. A moment of silence followed. Susan turned to Abana and raised an eyebrow. ¡°So-¡± ¡°Hello,¡± came a voice beside her. Susan¡¯s head whipped around so see an empty room. ¡°Down here, child,¡± The voice came again. Her eyes found the speaker. It was a mouse, standing on its hind legs looking up at her. It was old, so old its hair was a solid white, but with huge black eyes that seemed to take in Susan all at once. She leaned on a tiny cane with one paw, a bulbous square handbag in the other. ¡°Susan, I presume?¡± The mouse, clearly Rawiyah, said in a squeaky, yet somehow powerful voice. ¡°Yep,¡± Susan said through her teeth. She¡¯d had her suspicions when Abana had mentioned going to see a seer. It mirrored Anne¡¯s statement of her Mousekin grandmother being one as well. While connection had been easy to make, Susan had been hoping against it. Having a personal connection to a seer was never good. The incredible power of foresight only attracted two kinds of people. Desperate people, and power hungry manipulators. Interactions with seers usually left Susan constantly second guessing her actions as she found herself floundering within their multilayered plans. Susan hoped for Anne¡¯s sake that things went well between her and Rawiyah. The majority of her dealings with powerful seers had ended poorly for the seer in question. At least Susan thought they had. That was the problem with seers. ¡°So you are the one Annabeth was speaking about,¡± Rawiyah said, breaking her out of her thoughts. Susan nodded. ¡°Thank you,¡± The mouse said, nodding her head. Susan blinked, somewhat taken aback by the entirely reasonable response. Rawiyah turned and walked away from her, heading toward the table at the center of the room. Reaching it, she began making her way up the spiral around the edge. It really was a staircase, the tiny ridges making steps for Rawiyah to walk up. She reached the top and paused. Setting down her cane, she opened the top of her bag, and pulled out a small marble. Then, moving to the center of the tabletop with the metal pins, she set the marble in between them. The pins held the marble at about the shoulder level of the mouse, acting as an odd sort of stand. Finally finished, she turned to Abana. ¡°So what is it you wish to know?¡± She asked. ¡°We need to know if she is really Elizabeth¡¯s sister.¡± Abana said, pointing to Susan. ¡°You fear she is a skinwalker of some kind?¡± ¡°Not anymore,¡± Abana said with a glance towards Susan, ¡°But we need to be completely sure.¡± Rawiyah nodded before turning to her marble and gazing into it. There wasn''t any change in it that Susan could see, but Rawiyah definitely saw something. She leapt back from the marble, head whipping to stare at Susan. ¡°A dragon!¡± She shrieked. Susan blinked, somewhat taken aback. Abana looked confused, ¡°Yes, what is the problem?¡± ¡±Joseph, is what,¡± The mouse squeaked, throwing her paws in the air in frustration. A few seconds later, she calmed herself and turned back to the now visibly concerned Abana. ¡°He plans to confront me tonight,¡± She spoke quickly, ¡°I am sure you noticed the Mousekin gathered in the Market. My visions show that he will force his way through my protections, then try to claim Annabeth for his ritual!¡± Her words quickly were almost shouted by the end. Elizabeth seemed confused by the tirade. Abana looked furious, with her fists clenched by her side. Susan looked on, now very worried. The conversation wasn¡¯t making sense, the emotions too high, things moving too fast. She opened her mouth, planning to speak up and calm things down. She was interrupted by a squeal as the door on the other side of the room opened. They must not have been the only ones who heard Rawiyah¡¯s shouting. A familiar head of brown hair popped through the opening. ¡°Grandma, is everything alright?¡± Anne asked. The mouse seemed to shrink in on herself, ¡°I am afraid not. Come and sit down, we must talk.¡± Anne slipped into the room, looking around at its other occupants. She jumped on seeing Susan seated across from her. Susan waved her over. Anne almost dashed across the room, settling on the couch next to Susan with her knees pulled up in front of her. Rawiyah sighed, looking apologetically at Anne. ¡°I am sorry Annabeth, I appear to have trapped one of your friends within my plans again.¡± Anne¡¯s jaw clenched and she looked away, ¡°Again?¡± She asked in a trembling voice. Rawiyah shook her head, ¡°Yes,¡± She whispered. She turned back to Abana, ¡°I had foreseen Anne¡¯s latest protector,¡± She said, raising a hand towards Susan. ¡°I saw a figure of great power that would appear to stop Joseph¡¯s plans tonight. Unfortunately, I had not anticipated it would be a dragon.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you see her future?¡± Abana asked. ¡°She can¡¯t see the future of a person with too much magical power,¡± Anne said quietly. Rawiyah nodded, ¡°And Anne had not informed me of her protector¡¯s race.¡± ¡°Uh,¡± Susan managed to speak up for the first time since the conversation began, ¡°Why is me being a dragon a problem?¡± ¡°Joseph uses Eldritch magic,¡± Rawiyah said. Beside Susan, Elizabeth froze in place. Throughout the conversation she had been looking ready to explode. Clearly the idea of not immediately helping didn¡¯t sit right with her. But the instant Eldritch magic was brought up, the excitement seemed to drain out of her, replaced by fear. She seemed to draw into herself, a shiver passing through her. Susan quickly moved closer and placed an arm over her shoulders, pulling her in close. The reason for Elizabeth¡¯s worry was obvious. Eldritch mana was a corrupting force to the reality around it, and especially to other mana. Any mana touched by it immediately warped, becoming unstable and dangerous. Enough exposure and it would become Eldritch mana as well. For beings like Magical Girls, who practically ran on mana, it would be the ultimate poison. For Susan though? She took a moment to stare at the mouse; shouldn¡¯t Rawiyah know at least the basics about her? Whatever problems Rawiyah had seeing Susan, she was still a seer. A thought occurred to her. This entire conversation was off. Everything was happening too quickly, too easily despite the tension. She narrowed her eyes. There was a way to spot a seer''s plans. You could never look at how they acted. You had to judge whether or not the end situation lined up to their benefit. As it stood, Anne, as well as two magical girls were being threatened by Joseph¡¯s attack. The consequences of him reaching any of them would be disastrous. This made Susan the only person able to fight him off. If she had come on her own, or had things gone a different way, she could have just taken Anne and run away. While she didnt see herself doing that, the option was now gone. The Mousekin¡¯s presence in the market was too heavy to easily escape. Susan only had one option available to her now, stay and fight. She stood, still glaring at Rawiyah. ¡°You could have just asked,¡± She snapped. ¡°You would have said no,¡± The mouse said calmly. ¡°No, I-¡± Susan stopped herself, ¡°Wait-¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Rawiyah said, ¡°You would have said no to my actual request.¡± Elizabeth looked confused, but the other two had clearly caught what was going on and were staring daggers at Rawiyah. Abana quickly turned to Susan. ¡°Are you sure you can do this?¡± She said, ¡°I can hold them off and give you enough time to get everyone out. They locked eyes for a moment. Within Abana¡¯s determined gaze, Susan saw an iron resolve. There was a promise there. No matter what happened to her or Susan, Anne and Elizabeth would survive tonight. ¡°Wait, but what about-¡± Elizabeth broke in, before Susan interrupted her with a bop to the head. ¡°I''ll be fine, Eldritch mana can¡¯t hurt me,¡± Susan said, ignoring the fact she was stretching the truth a lot with that sentence. A thunderous boom from the door made everyone jump. ¡°They are here,¡± Rawiyah said, not having moved an inch. Susan looked back at her. The mouse stood on the edge of the table, her marble abandoned. Her paws clenched over her cane as she leaned forward. She didn''t seem to see the disapproving stares of the others in the room. She was completely focused on Susan, carefully watching her every move. Susan couldn¡¯t help but be reminded of Anne from earlier in the day. When she lay crumpled on the floor of the bathroom, staring up at Susan with hope in her eyes. A realization hit her and she finally saw why Rawiyah was so different from the other seers. She hadn¡¯t met Susan with the intention of drawing her into her power grabs and money schemes. She was someone who had seen a rope and grabbed onto it, perhaps a little too hard. Schemes and all, this little old mouse-lady was trying to save herself and her great-niece. Or Susan was being manipulated again. Who knew, really. A second boom from the door echoed through the room. A dent appeared,as the steel of the door was forced inwards. Susan shook her head, trying to clear her muddled thoughts. Shooting a look at Abana, she gave a jerk of her head towards Elizabeth. Abana nodded, then quickly moved over to sit down next to the young magical girl. ¡°Right, be back in a sec,¡± Susan said, before walking over to the door. Upon reaching it, she stopped and turned to look back over the room for a second. She saw a small mouse, head bowed in relief, standing on the table. Around her the other girls still sat seated on the couches. Anne looked angry, both at the situation, and Rawiyah. She shot Susan a thankful smile, before glaring at Rawiyah. The two magical girls sat next to each other. Abana had her arm over Elizabeth¡¯s shoulder, comforting the younger girl. The woman had a calm and unbothered expression, but her frequent glances over to Rawiyah betrayed the fury she was feeling. The casual way she had described Rawiyah implied that while the two women may not be friends, they were certainly on good terms. Abana¡¯s furious glances said that their relationship was not going to survive Rawiyah¡¯s choice to use her like as a pawn in her schemes. As for Elizabeth, the younger magical girl was seated properly for once, Back straight, hands on her knees and eyes forward, she maintained a stoic look over her face. Unfortunately for her, Susan¡¯s familiarity with her as well as the girl¡¯s young age let Susan see through it easily. Elizabeth was terrified, both by the nebulous threat of eldritch mana, as well as for Susan. She shot a supportive smile at Susan, but it didn''t do much to hide the hurt confusion underneath. Susan¡¯s realizations about Rawiyah had killed most of her animosity toward her, but this brought it back some. Though it would have to wait until she was done with the mousekin. But first she shot Elizabeth a smile, ¡°Wanna see something cool when I¡¯m done?¡± She asked with a grin. Elizabeth nodded back, her smile a bit more genuine this time. Susan sketched a rune in the air and waited for a moment. A third boom came from the door. Susan leapt forward and pulled it open. She was met with a half dozen burly Mousekin crouched under the low ceiling beyond the door. They held a battering ram between them, about nine feet long and held up by metal bars welded every few feet down its length. Apparently the Mousekin took Rawiyah¡¯s threats seriously. Unfortunately for them, Susan did too. ¡°Hey there!¡± She said, before completing the inner circle of her rune. It flashed and a wave of concussive force blasted the group back like dolls kicked by a child. Susan ducked through the now empty doorway and slammed the door shut behind her. The sound of it closing echoed over the small army of mice-kin waiting in the space beyond. Chapter 8: The Knight in Eldritch Armor Susan¡®s eyes swept over the mass of people around her, counting perhaps fifty or sixty total. They held a mixture of weapons, mostly swords and clubs, though she spotted a few modern firearms slipped into pockets or holsters. The sickly stench of eldritch mana hung heavy in the air. Every one of the weapons present glowing with it. A bead of sweat dripped down Susan¡¯s back even as she kept her cocksure smile firmly on her face. Her vague plan of attack against the mousekin assaulting Rawiyah¡¯s home had fallen apart not even a second after she stepped through the door. She had wanted to kite the group, make them chase her around while she picked them off one by one. Instead, the mousekin had decided to surround her. Making a rough semicircle around her and the door that didn''t leave much room for escape. Now any attempt to run off would lead to her getting dogpiled and beaten with eldritch weapons until she got infected. And that wouldn¡¯t go well for anybody. There was a silver lining. Joseph hadn¡¯t joined the attack group. Susan wasn¡¯t sure why, it was probably something to do with politics and plausible deniability. But it meant his goons were left leaderless now that something had gone wrong. So despite their numbers, the mousekin didn''t want to press to the advantage. They shuffled in place, glancing between each other, but holding off against attacking without somebody to give the order. Susan didn¡¯t blame them. Watching people get thrown across a room left an impression. And the semiconscious battering ram crew that lay sprawled across the concrete floor around her seemed to be distracting many of the group. Her main problem was that she was just as stuck as they were. The low ceiling meant that she couldn¡¯t use her most powerful weapon, her true form. That left her with magic, which wouldn¡¯t work against a group this large. A large wave of mana like that would just mean more surface area for the eldritch mana to infect. The stuff was like poison. It would stick to any non magic surface it touched like glue until washed or burnt off. And the second it interacted with mana it would spread through it until and fester until all the mana present was completely corrupted. If only she had a spell that would let her deal with this group physically, and then maybe comfort Elizabeth once she was done. Her sister had not taken the situation well, and she clearly needed something to help calm her down. Maybe something she could hug¡­ Susan¡¯s mouth twitched into a ghost of a smile as she realized she could kill two birds with one stone. She just needed a distraction to cast her spell. Her eyes scanned the crowd, flitting from face to face. Some of them stared directly at her in challenge, looking for weakness. Others glanced between each other, trying to find a leader. Some still gazed distractedly at the concussed mouskin lying on the floor. Then she found the right person. He was barely visible, almost hiding behind a larger group of mousekin off to her left. ¡°Oh, is that Timmy?¡± Susan shouted, hand blurring behind her back as she sketched a complex series of runes, ¡°How ya doing, Timmy?¡± ¡°YOU?¡± Echoed a scream that made some of the mousekin jump. ¡°Shut up, Terry, now¡¯s not the time,¡± someone from Susan¡¯s other side shouted. It was a heavyset mousekin that stood almost bent in half below the low roof. ¡°That¡¯s the psycho who kicked me across a room!¡± Terry shouted back. ¡°It was only a hallway,¡± Susan called back sweetly. ¡°I SAID SHUT UP!¡± Roared the man who had just spoken, ¡°NOW GET HER!¡± He bellowed as she charged her. The standoff broken, the rest charged as well. The wall of faces drew in closer and closer until they were almost on top of her. Susan cackled as her spell completed. Her neck extended, a tail erupted from her back. She fell forwards onto all fours, torso shrinking as she transformed into a miniature version of her dragon self. Now eight feet from head to tail tip she let out a screech, before jumping towards the man who had started the charge. He was charging headfirst, torso almost horizontal to the floor, so Susan couldn¡¯t go for his chest or stomach. So she went for his legs. The man let out a grunt of confusion as he found that instead of his legs, the only thing holding him off the ground was a very angry dragon. Susan heaved up, smashing him into the ceiling before she threw him bodily backwards. The unfortunate mousekin behind him bowled over as the man went flying. The crowd of mousekin stalled upon seeing the screaming eight foot dragoness. Susan picked out her next victim from them immediately. A short leap had her in close proximity to a very unfortunate mousekin, who suddenly found he couldn¡¯t breath on account of the fisted dragon claw buried in his diaphragm. Susan took a step back while he folded himself in half in his search for air. She took a wide stance, then pushed down with all four legs. Her claws buried themselves almost completely within the concrete. The off white tail wrapped itself around the wheezing mousekin¡¯s leg a moment later. The mousekin man found his voice again as he was pulled off his feet and whipped through the air around Susan at lightning speeds. He and the other mousekin screamed as the improvised flail created a rapidly expanding circle of space around the crouched form of Susan. When Susan decided she had enough space, she quickly looked around and found the largest clump of combatants. She lined up the shot and on the next rotation of her victim, she let go. The man was slung across the intervening space, crashing into the group and sending them tumbling like bowling pins. Susan quietly tugged at her claws as she took a moment to swivel her head around, surveying the destruction she had caused. As she had expected, they were stuck. She wouldn¡¯t normally go for a risky move like this, but she needed the shock and awe factor it brought with it. She clenched her fist, crushing the concrete beneath them to pebbles before wrenching her claws out of the ground. One of the mousekin behind her seemed to notice the action, causing Susan to silently curse.The woman charged, cocking her arm back and taking a wide swing at Susan¡¯s back. Susan¡¯s tail met her wrist with a nasty crack, launching the club out of the woman¡¯s hand. She screamed in pain, quickly grabbing her wrist in a vain attempt to fix the injury. She didn¡¯t have long as Susan quickly took the opportunity to get free. She quickly crushed the concrete beneath her, ripping out her arm and legs one at a time. Finished, she turned to face the woman. Her eyes widened momentarily before Susan headbutted her. She collapsed to the ground unconscious. A crack echoed through the parking garage as something impacted Susan¡¯s side. Her head whipped around as she found the cause. A man holding a smoking gun aimed at her with shaking hands. He fired again and again, some of the bullets going wide, but most hitting his target. Sparks erupted from her side as steel met scale. The last of the bullets fired. The echoing boom fading away to be replaced by the desperate clicking of the trigger as the man kept trying to fire the empty gun. The watching mousekin took the opportunity to ready themselves for another attack. Wising up slightly, this time they formed into three larger groups to keep Susan from picking off individual members. Susan watched them carefully, waiting for the groups to ready themselves. The second they started their charge, she let out a booming cackle. It echoed as loud as the gunshots, shocking the mousekin and turning their mass charge into a collective stumble. She didn¡¯t try to hide her smile as a collective terror settled over the group. All she would need is one more push, and their courage should finally break. ¡°Did you really think bullets would hurt me,¡± She said derisively, projecting her voice over the trembling mousekin, ¡°My scales are made of bioceramic layered with graphene. They wouldn¡¯t break if they were hit by a cruise missile.¡± She turned her head, making eye contact with every mousekin still standing. ¡°Face it, your best weapons are wooden clubs and pointy metal sticks. Run now, and I might just let you live,¡± She finished. The mousekin wavered for a second, some at the back of the groups even glancing around to see if they might run. ¡°EVERYBODY GET HER!¡± One of them screamed, and the mousekin charged. Susan let out a scream of frustration. Seriously what had Joseph promised these people! Free trips to Disneyland? The fight became a blur. Properly surrounded this time, she was forced to spend most of her time dodging. Her head and neck drew the most attention. It was only hard earned experience that kept it away from the sickly glow of the slashing blades. The thunderous crack of her tail echoed over and over, cracking hands and heads as she once again used it as a bullwhip against her attackers. She leapt around the small space she had, punching, kicking and head butting anyone that came into range. Her vision became a blur of screaming mousekin as she fought her away between them. A voice nagged in her head as she punched one woman across the jaw, only for her to be pulled away and replaced with another. She could just kill them. It wouldn¡¯t even be hard, she just had to use her claws or teeth. Let loose with them and teach these idiots a permanent lesson. But she couldn¡¯t¨C this was Earth, not Themus. These weren¡¯t the hard faced soldiers of the Atlans, sent out to pillage and enslave entire continents. These were a bunch of misguided people that had bought into the easy power promised by Joseph. And more importantly, she didn''t want to let Elizabeth see her like that. ¡°CEASE,¡± A voice roared over the crowd. Susan found herself standing on an unconscious man. Her fist was in the middle of slugging a woman in front of her, while her tail was wrapped around the wrist of another man as they wrestled for control of his knife. At the word the group around her broke away. The dozen or so people left stumbling or running away from her and toward safety. She let the ones attacking her go and they fled as well. Susan took in a shaky breath as she stepped down from her perch and looked around. Perhaps a dozen unconscious mousekin lay around her, while a new group of mousekin approached coming up from the lower levels to her left. The person leading them stood out. He was tall, standing bent over beneath the ceiling, but he somehow managed to make it look heroic. Like most of the mousekin, he had brown hair and eyes, though his were flecked with purple. A shirt and jacket stretched over bulging muscles and bronzed skin gave him the look of an action hero, though Susan recognized something in him. It was a vague instinct honed over centuries of conflict. A feeling that told her the person she was looking at was a bad egg. So this was Joseph Seth. The group behind him was odd. Shorter and slimmer than the people she had just fought, they clearly weren¡¯t fighters. They stood clumped together, staring out over the battlefield with wide eyes. A few of them broke off from the larger group to run in and assist the remnants of the old group in hauling away their unconscious brethren. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Susan walked a few steps away from the groaning bodies to give the rescuers better access. A few of the mousekin looked worried, likely expecting another attack, but they still moved in to pull them away. Susan looked on in confusion at their almost alien courage. These people weren''t trained fighters. But despite knowing what she was capable of, they still continued to approach her. Her eyes finally went back to the person behind the mousekin¡¯s courage. Her eyes narrowed. She would need to change her approach. ¡°Now, I think you¡¯ve hurt my men enough!¡± Joseph proclaimed, the crowd moving back from him as he lifted a golden blade to point at Susan. The gentle curve of the blade gave it the classical leaf shape of a Bronze Age sword. The scene was like something out of a medieval painting. The knight facing off against the dragon. A glance at the awed expressions of the remaining mousekin told Susan that it was very intentional. ¡°Me too!¡± Susan replied in her cheeriest voice. The proclamation shattered the dramatic air. The worshipful expressions on the mousekin quickly shifted to confusion. Even Joseph looked befuddled. ¡°Wha-¡± ¡°After all,¡± Susan cut him off, pitching her voice to ensure it reached the whole group, ¡±If you hadn¡¯t sent your goons to attack an innocent teenager, I wouldn¡¯t have had to beat them up.¡± Joseph¡¯s expression quickly turned serious. He clearly knew what she was planning. Nobody brought noncombatants to this mini war zone without a reason. Joseph clearly needed to push some narrative among them. Convince them of his strength or something. It also made things much easier for Susan. All she had to do to get rid of Joseph was threaten his little dragon slayer storyline. ¡°Don¡¯t think stalling will save you from my blade, I have defeated dragons before. You will be no different¡± Joseph declared. His dialogue could use some work. Susan had fought some downright elegant dragonslayers before. She had to give him credit, that was a good attempt at a save. But she couldn¡¯t hold in a laugh at his response. ¡±Oh, that¡¯s a good one,¡± She said, ¡°Let me guess, you killed some drake didn''t you.¡± Joseph blinked in confusion. ¡°Stop with your distractions, and fight me,¡± He said as he shifted into a low sword fighting stance. ¡°I¡¯m not distracting you, I¡¯m trying to tell you something. Not all that is big and scaly and mean is a dragon, genius,¡± Susan snarked, ¡°It¡¯s a tale as old as time, a sword wielding maniac attacks a flying lizard then calls themself a dragon slayer.¡± Joseph gripped his blade, glowering at her. Susan grinned back, she had gotten her point across. ¡°Then I will add your blood to my sword,¡± He said, before charging Susan. Susan didn¡¯t move. Instead she flexed a specific set of muscles inside of her chest. Heat flowed out of her Dragon Heart, then into an array of thermoelectric generators. She had told the mousekin about the carbon reinforcing her scales. She hadn¡¯t told them that her claws were made of the same material. She had neglected to mention the metals that impregnated them as well. As the electricity flowed into an intricate series of carbon conductors that spread through her body, she directed it into her claws. Once there, it flowed through the carbon and into an array of heat-conducting metal. The concrete began to smoke beneath her as her claws glowed red, then white hot. Joseph didn¡¯t have the time to notice. Reaching Susan he let out a powerful battle cry, thrusting his blade forward toward the center of her chest. Susan dodged to the left, letting the blade fly past before she swept up with her right arm. Joseph¡¯s cry was punctuated by a tinkling sound as the chunks of his former sword scattered over the ground. He stood frozen, one leg forward and one back as he leaned into the thrust. His eyes were wide as he stared down at the miniature dragon he had just left himself wide open to. His entire body stood frozen in anticipation of her next strike. He was left standing there, staring at the glowing claws only a few inches from his face. Susan knew the feeling. She watched closely as his brain took a second to realize that she hadn¡¯t actually attacked yet. The muscles of his arms and legs locked in place as he waited for the other shoe to drop. Susan lazily waved her still raised claws back and forth in front of Joseph¡¯s eyes. They followed the glowing digits with rapt attention. ¡°Careful there,¡± She whispered, letting her hand drift forward until it lightly tapped against his chest. There was a tiny sizzle and slight smell of burnt flesh. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t want that pride of yours to bring Ruin.¡± Joseph finally moved as he leapt back from her. His eyes wide as his chest finally started taking in air again. He looked like he had just watched a car streak by as he tried to cross an empty road. He quickly calmed himself, before surreptitiously glancing around at the few mousekin remaining. Every one of them stood frozen in horror, their eyes whipping back and forth between their beaten hero and the victorious dragon. Susan didn''t bother to hide her smile. Joseph may have built himself up as a hero, but the mousekin¡¯s belief in him would only ever be as strong as he was. ¡°Run along now,¡± She called out, using her still glowing claws to wave them away. She turned and walked back to the door. She curled up in front of it, laying her head over her back so that she could keep an eye on the group. They fled, shoes squeaking underneath them as they scrambled to gather up their unconscious comrades before running. Joseph himself grabbed an unconscious mousekin under each arm as he called out orders. His shouted commands and encouragement to the mousekin echoed back to Susan even as the group drew further away. But the halo the worshipful mousekin saw over his head had cracked slightly. Now there was an undercurrent of fear in their movement. A desperate speed that hadn¡¯t been there before. It took them a minute or two to fully clear out of the area. Susan didn''t move in that time, taking the chance to finally think over the events of the night. The nonstop rush of the past few minutes had ensured that she¡¯d never had the time to get any proper idea of the situation. But as the last of the mousekin scurried away hauling the enormous bulk of the first man Susan had downed, she let out a heavy growl. The group screamed, abandoning any attempt at carefulness and sprinting away with the man¡¯s body dragging along behind them. Susan couldn¡¯t help it, she was trying to hold in the roar of rage threatening to burst out of her. Rawiyah had well and truly played her. As it stood, she had just become the single greatest obstacle in all Joseph¡¯s plans. Challenging his power had been a good idea to drive him away temporarily, but now if he wanted to reclaim that power he would need to kill or defeat Susan. Then add to that the fact that she was an ally of Rawiyah, and that she was keeping him from getting to Anne? He was going to come after her. And the worst part was that she couldn¡¯t kill him. Not that she lacked the ability. Granting Darwin Awards to the terminally stupid was an integral part of being a dragon. The problem came from his connection to the eldritch. Until the eldritch monster that fueled him was killed, Joseph would be a never ending font for its power and mana. And if he died that power wouldn¡¯t go anywhere. So unless she wanted to start poisoning the mana of entire regions, she needed to deal with the man carefully. Rawiyah hadn¡¯t just used her to defeat Joseph just this once. No, she was using the opportunity to squarely dump the entire problem of Joseph onto Susan¡¯s shoulders. Susan punched the ground as she stood up. ¡°I am never going to another seer. Ever. Again!¡± She said, punctuating her words with another two punches. She had to shake her head to clear it out. She wasn''t done yet, she still had a sister to comfort. But first, she had to deal with the eldritch mana. Despite her dodging, there were still dozens of spots where her scales glowed with the stuff. Moving further away from the door, she settled on the floor. She took a moment to check around herself for any remaining people. A glance showed nothing but a few spots of blood and empty concrete as far as she could see. The fight appeared to have driven off most of the market that had been in the area. Susan flexed the muscles around her Dragonheart again. This time, instead of her claws, she directed the energy to her scales instead. Her entire body ignited into an incandescent glow as it heated to temperatures rivaling an industrial furnace. Susan¡¯s eyes swept back and forth over her body as she watched the eldritch mana burn off. She breathed out a sigh of relief as the last of the purple glow left her. She gave it a few more seconds before cutting off the flow of electricity. Feeling the ground shift beneath her, she took a few steps from where she had been standing. The concrete looked near molten, four perfect imprints of her claws left behind. Susan let out a sigh, the air in her breath igniting into a spurt of flame as she breathed out. She really wished she could do this without destroying the local area every time, though it cleaned her scales wonderfully. It took a long minute for her scales to cool down enough to touch. Once done Susan walked back to Rawiyah¡¯s door. Putting her hand on the handle, she steeled herself. Susan was pretty sure Elizabeth and Abana probably hadn¡¯t gotten a good look at her dragon form so far. It had been dark for most of their interactions, so judging by her body shape they had probably assumed she resembled a Chinese dragon. The thing was, Susan hadn¡¯t actually used any reptiles as inspiration in designing her body. She had actually turned to a family of mammals called mustelids. A family that included weasels, otters, wolverines, and the ever-famous honey badger. She had chosen them for their ferocious nature and physical abilities that allowed them to fight animals dozens of times their size. So her final body looked like a weasel with a lengthened neck and snake-like tail. Then there was her head, in particular, her face. One of her worries when designing her body had been staying as human as possible. Thankfully, dogs had already evolved the ability to show facial expressions humans could understand. And Susan being the scientist she was, stole their work wholesale. So she had the small face and enormous eyes of the weasel, with the expressive eyes and face of a puppy. The end result of this meant that despite her scales and snakelike neck and tail, her dragon form had ended up looking somewhat¡­ well¡­ she was stalling wasn''t she? Her hand turned the handle and pushed the door in. Every eye in the room turned towards her as she stepped inside. There was a moment of collective confusion, then understanding as they took her new form. Anne¡¯s eyes widened in realization, Abana gave a wide grin, and Rawiyah simply nodded. Elizabeth¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°No way¡­¡¯ She breathed in. Susan held back a grimace in anticipation of what was coming. Elizabeth loved animals. Animals did not love Elizabeth. This was because she approached them the same way she approached everything else. Like a freight train. She crossed the room in an instant. Susan felt her vision blur as she was yanked into the air and pressed against Elizabeth¡¯s body in a crushing hug. The fact that she was still currently the size of a horse made no difference. ¡°You¡¯re ADORABLE!¡± Elizabeth screamed. Her voice was muffled as it pressed into the bulk of Susan¡¯s body. Susan spent the next thirty seconds discovering what it felt like to be a stuffed animal in the hands of an excited toddler. Her tail was played with. Her wings were examined and determined to be adorable as well. An attempt to pet her was made, only to be fended off with a swipe of her tail. It was probably the most embarrassing thing Susan had ever done. But any trace of Elizabeth¡¯s former fear vanished in a deluge of joy at finally being able to play with an animal that didn¡¯t run at first sight. Once Elizabeth¡¯s excitement faded, she shifted her grip on Susan so that she was carrying her like an enormous stuffed animal prize from a fair. She turned to Abana, ¡°Well, I¡¯m ready to go,¡± She declared. ¡°Hold on,¡± Susan said, using her neck''s length to curl her head around to face Elizabeth properly, ¡°I still have to talk to Rawiyah.¡± Elizabeth stared right back at her. ¡°Are you really going to talk?¡± She asked, ¡°Or are you going to threaten each other nonstop until you storm out because everybody¡¯s too mad to keep going?¡± Susan opened her mouth, then closed it, ¡°Well¡­¡± ¡°Rawiyah,¡± Abana stood up, ¡°I have one last question.¡± The mouse turned to her, ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Are they truly sisters?¡± ¡°You cannot possibly still be in doubt after that display,¡± Rawiyah waved a hand dismissively. ¡°Check anyway,¡± Abana snapped back. Rawiyah seemed to realize she had pushed Abana too far as she quickly scurried over to her marble. It only took a glance at it for her to look back at Abana. ¡°They are,¡± She said quickly. ¡°Then is there any piece of information necessary for us to know?¡± It was phrased like a question, but Abana spoke with the uncompromising command of a drill instructor. Rawiyah shook her head as she spoke, ¡°No, the dragon should have all the information she needs.¡± Abana didn''t speak another word. She practically stomped out of the room with Elizabeth quickly following, still carrying Susan. Once they were out in the softer lighting of the parking garage Abana stopped. As the door clicked behind them, she slowly breathed in, then let out a heavy sigh. She turned back to look at the sisters, ¡°I¡¯m sorry things ended like this,¡± She said. Susan looked at her and shrugged, ¡°As encounters with seers go, that went pretty well.¡± Elizabeth paused a moment before shrugging as well, bouncing Susan in the process. ¡°Eh, it worked out,¡± she said. Abana paused, then rolled her eyes, ¡°Rawiyah was right, I shouldn¡¯t have bothered her.¡± Susan chuckled, but paused as a flicker in Abana¡¯s eyes alerted her to something behind her. ¡°Susan?¡± Anne¡¯s voice trembled as she stepped out into the market.. Susan turned back to face her. She shot Elizabeth a look, who nodded and moved to set her down. She walked over to Abana before both magical girls moved further away toward the railing of the parking garage. ¡°So, same time tomorrow?¡± Susan asked. Anne blinked in surprise, ¡°You mean you still want to-¡± ¡°Your grandmother being who she is doesn¡¯t change our friendship,¡± Susan said with finality. Anne gave a sigh of both guilt and relief, ¡°Thank you, and I¡¯m sorry about her.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Honestly, as seers go she¡¯s not that bad.¡° Anne raised an eyebrow at that. Susan nodded back, ¡°Seriously, remind me to tell you about the first seer I ever encountered tomorrow. That guy made Kelly look downright reasonable. Besides, if Rawiyah ever manages to find out where that eldritch monster is, we can kill it and be done with this whole thing.¡± Anne paused, ¡°Wait, you weren¡¯t kidding about that?¡± It was Susan who raised an eyebrow this time, ¡°You thought I was kidding?¡± Anne sputtered for a second and Susan couldn¡¯t hold in a laugh. ¡°Alright, I''m going to go home and crash. Stay safe, I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡± That finally got a smile out of the girl, ¡°Got it dragon girl,¡± She said back, before slipping back through the door behind her. Susan turned and made her way over to the waiting magical girls. Moving closer to Abana to avoid the grasping hands of the other magical girl, Susan caught her eye. ¡°Please tell me we¡¯re done for the night,¡± She asked. ¡°We had better be.¡±
The light of the moon came through the window of Susan¡¯s bedroom, shining dimly over the empty bed and untouched bookshelves. It was deep into the night, the entire house silent except for the soft creaking of the walls. There was a thump from the lawn outside, before the roof outside the window creaked with added weight. A second series of squeaks from the roof started soft but quickly grew louder as the person making them drew closer to the window. Hushed voices began speaking, then grew louder. Susan¡¯s window squeaked as she pushed it open, before crawling through it. Human once again, her movements were much more awkward, contrasting the fluidity of her dragon form as she smacked her elbow on the sill. Hissing, she moved further into the room to make way for her sister. ¡°Seriously,¡± Elizabeth hissed as she slid into the room, ¡°Don¡¯t jump from the lawn, Dad¡¯s totally gonna ask about it when he next mows it.¡± ¡°Alright, alright, I get it,¡± Susan whispered back. ¡°Really?¡± Elizabeth shot back as she stood and shot a glare at Susan, ¡°Because I saw two sets of footprints already!¡± ¡°Look, I haven¡¯t done the whole ¡®sneaking out¡¯ thing before!¡± Susan said, throwing up her hands. ¡°Fine, now shush. You¡¯re gonna wake Mom and Dad!¡± Elizabeth whispered as she mimed for Susan to be quiet. She turned and tiptoed over to the bathroom door. She opened it and went to go through but paused. Standing there for a second, she seemed to be considering something. She turned back to Susan, her mouth pursed in thought, ¡°By the way, am I crazy or did you see Grammy Hilda at the Garage Sale too?¡± Susan stared at the wall for a moment, not turning to look back at her. ¡°I¡¯m going to bed,¡± She said finally. ¡°Uh, ok,¡± Elizabeth whispered, before finally leaving. Once the door clicked shut behind her, Susan moved to her bed, before stretching out to lay face down on it. Pressing her face into her pillow with both hands, she let out a long, hard scream. Chapter 9: Over the Dragon and Through the Woods The door clicked closed behind Susan as she stepped into the house, ready to crash. Her second day at school had been well and truly exhausting. She breathed in deep, waited a second then breathed out. As she did, she tried visualizing all of her negative feelings leaving as well. She failed the second the image of Cole¡¯s face flashed through her mind. She groaned, kicking off her shoes and before thumping her way upstairs to her room. Her bedroom door opened to reveal Elizabeth crashed on her bed. She was sprawled out on her stomach, reading through a comic book. The bright colors of her middle school¡¯s mandatory polo shirt and skirt clashing with the calm grays and browns of Susan¡¯s bedroom. Her head perked up as she saw Susan. ¡°Oh hey you¡¯re ba-¡± Her voice cut off as Susan slammed the door shut between them. ¡°What was that for?¡± Elizabeth¡¯s muffled whine echoed through the door. ¡°Why are you in my room?¡± Susan shouted back ¡°I thought we were gonna see Granny Hilda about the Garage Sale!¡± ¡°Why would we do that?¡± Susan roared. ¡°I thought we should find out if she was at the Garage Sale last night!¡± Elizabeth¡¯s voice echoed back. Susan growled, throwing the door open as she marched into her room. A toss left her backpack thudding to the ground next to her desk as she walked over to her bed. ¡°Can¡¯t it wait?¡± She asked, staring down at her sister with her hands on her hips. Elizabeth tilted her head in confusion, ¡°Isn¡¯t it better to find out and get it over with?¡± Susan turned and walked away, throwing her hands up in the air helplessly, ¡°Can¡¯t I just pretend my family doesn¡¯t have insane magical powers for once?¡± ¡°Hey,¡± Elizabeth protested as she sat up, ¡°It worked out fine with me, didn¡¯t it.¡± ¡°You SUPLEXED me and then I had to fight my friend''s evil uncle!¡± Susan whirled around to point an accusatory pointer finger back at her. Elizabeth crossed her arms as she stared at Susan for a moment. ¡°Why are you so mad?¡± She asked. ¡°I¡¯m not mad!¡± Susan yelled back. ¡°Really?¡± Elizabeth deadpanned, giving Susan a look. Susan¡¯s arms flopped by her side as she deflated. Elizabeth looked scarily like their mom when she did that. ¡°Sorry, guess I am kind of mad,¡± She said, ¡°Cole was driving me crazy today at school.¡± Elizabeth gave her a second, but when no elaboration came, raised an eyebrow. ¡°¡­Uh, who?¡± ¡°Oh right,¡± Susan resisted the urge to facepalm, ¡°He¡¯s a friend from school that I saved from a vampire yesterday. I was hoping he¡¯d forgotten about it but he¡¯s been trying to ask questions all day, and it''s been getting harder and harder to deflect him.¡± Elizabeth gave an understanding nod, ¡°Need any help? I can get rid of the vampire if you want me to,¡± Susan decided to ignore that slightly ominous response. ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± She said, ¡°I took the vampire to the BSMP yesterday and I heard that she was taken out of school this morning. As for Cole, I don¡¯t know. Anne said she had an idea to get him off our backs, but I¡¯m not sure how well that¡¯s going to work.¡± Elizabeth waited until she had finished, then gave her a second to fully calm down from her rant. ¡°Sooo¡­.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Susan caved.
They didn¡¯t leave immediately. Susan did not plan to visit her grandparents in her typical ratty jeans and sweater. Instead she took a few minutes to find a nice blouse and a slightly more formal pair of pants. Then it was time to go. Lacking their parents to drive them, the two had to hitch a ride on the bus. Their grandparents lived in a nice two story log cabin far into the woods on the other side of town. It was nice to see, but a pain to visit. Upon reaching the edge of town, you either had to drive or walk down a series of roads that definitely weren¡¯t passing any safety inspections to find it. The public bus was about as boring as you¡¯d expect. The most visually interesting thing was the monotone colors splashed over the uncomfortable plastic seats that filled the long interior of the bus in rows. Standing metal bars and grab handles took up the most space besides the seats, despite the fact that the city bus system never saw enough usage to ever require them. Which made it surprising that there was a mousekin lounging in one of the back rows. He idly glanced toward the front, then stiffened as he spotted Susan. She saw his eyes lock onto her hair for a second, then her eyes before whipping to the side to stare back out the window. She quietly settled in one of the seats at the front with Elizabeth. The ride didn¡¯t take long, only about fifteen minutes. Though plenty long enough for Elizabeth to get bored and hang off the support bars for entertainment. Susan spent her time watching the panicking mousekin out of the corner of her eye. He had quickly grabbed his phone, sending out a text before returning to his charade of nonchalance. It wasn¡¯t convincing. He clearly knew he was trapped on a bus with someone capable of fighting dozens of mousekin at once, and the knowledge visibly ate at him. That wasn¡¯t Susan¡¯s focus though. What worried her was the way he seemed to be looking for her based off of a description. It indicated that Joseph was trying to keep tabs on her. Apparently the man knew exactly how annoying he was to kill, though she doubted he would ever phrase it that way. And yet somehow he didn¡¯t seem to fully understand what she was. Their stop came. A carefully placed illusion spell ensured that the mousekin wouldn¡¯t notice them leaving. They stepped out onto the sidewalk of a lonely road just off of the main thoroughfare leading out of town. The stop was a metal sign that demarcated the bus stop, the entire area covered in enormous pines that surrounded the road. The sun beat overhead, with no hint of a breeze to help with the heat. Susan could see the unmarked road that led to their grandparents house further down the road, about a half mile away. She turned to look at Elizabeth, ¡°How far is the walk to their house again?¡± Elizabeth pursed her lips, ¡°Uh, a couple of miles or something?¡± ¡°Hm,¡± Susan nodded a few times in understanding. A quick turn of her head showed that no cars were coming, so she quickly started drawing a runic circle in the air. A few seconds later she was transforming into her miniature dragon form as Elizabeth squealed in joy. ¡°Are you gonna fly?¡± Elizabeth gasped. ¡°Well I¡¯m certainly not walking,¡± Susan groused back. ¡°Can I ride you?¡± Elizabeth begged, shooting Susan with her best attempt at puppy eyes. Susan immediately went to turn her down, but found her words dying in her throat as she stared at the enormous doe eyes in front of her. ¡°You already did it yesterday!¡± She cried hopelessly. Elizabeth just stared harder.
The second part of their trip was much more enjoyable than the first. Even with her troglodyte younger sister hanging off her neck and whooping with every flap of her wings. It was hard to stay worried as she drifted along the winds toward her destination. Elizabeth¡¯s joy was infectious. The numerous problems she had concerning the mousekin and their mad leader seemed to drift away as she flew along the familiar path to their grandparents house. It seemed like only a moment before they were settling down on a wider patch of the gravel road they were following. It was disappointing to end the flight so soon, but much better than terrifying their grandparents. Or in the worst case scenario, they had magic and decided to attack the flying intruders. She waited until Elizabeth had hopped down to the ground before transforming back. At least this time when she changed back into her human form it was into her usual clothes. Unlike her outfit from last night that had been shredded into oblivion by the sudden collapse of the subspace magic that hid her body. Once again in her human form, she glanced around. The two were still a few hundred yards away from their grandparents house, still hidden by the subtle curve of the road ahead. It took another five minutes to cover the distance. And despite flying most of the way, Susan was still sweating by the time they made it to their grandparents lawn. Unlike the American standard of bright green grass squares, their grandparents had a circular lawn covered in wildflowers. Walking along the footpath to the porch, Susan mused for the thousandth time how much it resembled a flowery fairy circle. The house itself had a very similar air. The two story log cabin with its enormous front porch had always seemed a photograph away from the front of a children¡¯s storybook. A younger Susan had always loved the quiet brown wood of the walls, the bright red brick chimney and the gray slate roof. An older Susan was noticing the security runes formed by the pattern of flowers around the lawn. They made it to the porch, rapping the enormous bronze knocker that stood out from the plain wooden door it hung over. They heard the knocks boom through the house before stepping back to wait. It took a long minute before the latch clicked and the door swung open to reveal a familiar figure. At almost ninety seven years old, age had taken its toll on Grandpa Zach. Heavy eyebrows bleached white hung over wrinkled eyes and a hooked nose. Time hadn¡¯t quite beaten him though. In spite of his sapped muscles and shrunken height, he still stood with a straight back and walked with a skip in his step. He was wearing an older style of shirt and pants, like something you¡¯d expect to find on a farmer from the last century. Susan smiled as she took in the familiar bright brown eyes, sparkling with joy. ¡°Hey Grandpa Zach,¡± She said before her throat closed up and she had to fight back the familiar tears of joy. ¡°Girls!¡± He exclaimed in his familiar raspy voice, ¡°How wonderful to see you!¡± He threw his arms wide and rushed through the doorway, quickly pullIng both girls into a hug. Susan returned it, wrapping her arms around her grandfather''s bony frame as she quietly basked in the familiar comfort of family. Elizabeth happily grabbed both of them in a group hug, squeezing happily. Grandpa Zach laughed at her enthusiasm, ¡°Careful there girl, you¡¯re going to twist me into a pretzel!¡± Elizabeth laughed as well as she let them go and hopped away to give them space. Susan decided to let go as well, stepping back as she quietly tried to clear her throat. She was interrupted when Zach put his hands on his hips and leaned forward in a familiar gesture. ¡°So what brings you two to my door?¡± He asked, looking between the two of them with a grin on his face. ¡°Grandma¡¯s sweetbread!¡± Elizabeth shouted. Zach laughed again, ¡°Well come on in then, and I¡¯ll see if Hilda can whip some up for you.¡± He stepped back into the house and waved them in. The girls followed, Susan giving her sister the side eye as they did. Elizabeth was the one who wanted to come here, what was she doing getting distracted by desserts. Even if they were good desserts. Neither of their grandparents were from the United States. As a result, most of the food they cooked was odd or unfamiliar, some of it entirely distasteful to Susan and Elizabeth¡¯s American palates. This was not the case for Granny Hilda¡¯s sweets. Whatever pastries or treats came out of her oven were seen as works of art in the eyes of her granddaughters. Especially her sweetbread. Susan had tried multiple times to find the recipe online, but something about the name never translated properly leaving her unable to find it. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Susan started as she found herself plop down next to Elizabeth on top of an old wooden couch. In the time she had been distracted thinking about sweets, the small group had already settled down around a low wooden coffee table in the living room. The door they entered through was across the room from them to their right, to its left the stairway that led upstairs. To their immediate left sat an ornate brick fireplace, while behind then was the entrance to the kitchen. The room itself was filled with a lifetime''s worth of keepsakes and knick knacks that crowded high up shelves and tables. Each one a piece of the near century long story of their owners lives. Grandpa Zach was sitting on another couch across from them, calling for their grandmother in the other room. ¡°Hilda dear, the girls are here and they''re asking for your sweetbread again!¡± He called through the doorway to the kitchen. ¡±Well,¡± Susan said a bit awkwardly, ¡±We weren¡¯t exactly here for sweetbread.¡± Zach chuckled, ¡°Oh, I know. But if we''re going to talk it might as well be over something tasty.¡± A booming laugh came from the kitchen, ¡°Listen to your grandfather, he knows his stuff.¡± The speaker stepped through the kitchen door, a steaming tray of sugared buns held aloft on one hand. Unlike her husband, Granny Hilda had won in the fight against old age. She still had the thin skin typical to the elderly, but on her it was stretched over heavy muscles. She stood tall, a straight-backed woman who easily dwarfed most men. Black hair streaked with gray reached her shoulders, and she had the same blue eyes as her granddaughters. Grandpa Zach always had the calm and kindly demeanor of a grandfather. Granny Hilda on the other hand still maintained some of the cocksure attitude of a younger woman, and it would take something stronger than time to take that away from her. She dropped the tray on the coffee table in front of the two girls before settling down on the couch across from them. Susan¡¯s hand reached out automatically to snag one of the buns and bring it to her mouth.She couldn¡¯t help the smile that covered her face as she bit down. It was savory, sweet, and wonderfully fluffy in a way that no other desert she had tried ever managed. ¡°So what brought you here?¡± Hilda asked, a wide grin splitting her expressive face as she threw an arm around her husband. Elizabeth surreptitiously glanced at Susan. She just stared back blankly, another sweet bun halfway to her mouth. It had been over a thousand years since she¡¯d last tasted her grandmother''s cooking. Any awkward questions regarding her grandparents magical abilities could wait until the beautiful balls of sugary goodness were eaten. Elizabeth sighed in response while both grandparents looked on with knowing smirks. She let out a heavy sigh, ¡°So Susan and I were at the Garage Sale when we thought we saw you.¡± Both grandparents stiffened. Susan stopped mid chew as she watched. ¡°And we thought we would come over and ask if you knew about the Brick and magic and all that-¡± ¡°Now hold on a minute. You were at the Goblin Market?¡± Hilda cut Elizabeth off as she spoke up. Her back was ramrod straight as she glared back and forth between the two of them. Elizabeth shot a worried glance at Susan, who returned it with a raised eyebrow. This was Elizabeth¡¯s idea, she would deal with it. Elizabeth quickly turned back to their grandmother. ¡®Uh, yes?¡± She said with an awkward grin and a shrug. Both grandparents looked outraged at this. They shared a look for a moment before turning their laser focus back onto the girls. ¡°And who exactly was escorting you?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Uh,¡± Elizabeth stared back and forth between them with a grimace before muttering, ¡°No one?¡± ¡°YOU WERE ALONE?¡± Hilda roared. Susan choked down the last bite of sweet bun. The entire conversation was rapidly going off the rails. Their grandparents clearly assumed that they were newly taught students of magic playing tourist to the dangerous creatures of the Brick. And Elizabeth¡¯s answers, while technically true as they weren¡¯t being actually escorted by Abana, weren¡¯t helping. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we weren¡¯t in danger,¡± She spoke quickly. It didn¡¯t help at all, Hilda only looked more furious. ¡°The Goblin Market is not a joke!¡° She shouted, leaping to her feet. Susan jumped, any plans for further debate driven from her mind as she leaned back in to look up at her incensed grandmother. Hilda stood there a moment, breathing heavily as she glared down at her granddaughters. She started as Zach reached up to pat her on the leg, glancing back at him. He gave a minute shake of his head and she seemed to come down from her rage a bit. She huffed before turning back to face Elizabeth and Susan, only to pause upon seeing their startled expressions. Letting out a heavy sigh, she settled back down on the couch. Elizabeth looked ready to speak but Zack leaned in first. ¡°No matter what magics you may have learned, the world is full of dangerous creatures and it is easy to get their notice or ire,¡± He said, ¡°And unless you are as powerful as a dragon, you cannot go running into places like these without supervision.¡± ¡°But she is a dragon!¡± Elizabeth practically wailed, throwing up her hands in desperation. Zach looked confused before shaking his head, ¡°Elizabeth, please. There are no dragons on earth.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Susan blurted out, ¡°Oh, that explains so much!¡± So that was why the mousekin were so careless around her. Why Joseph was so willing to mess with her. They had no frame of reference for the true danger of what they were doing. Both grandparents stared at Susan for a moment as she parsed this information. They turned back to Elizabeth. ¡°This is not something to joke about,¡± Zach said, his mouth drawing into a line as he stared at her with a severe expression. ¡°Dragons are dangerous beings, and bringing them up like this is not going to make your punishment any lighter.¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Susan said, immediately drawing the attention of both grandparents, ¡°She¡¯s not lying, I am actually a dragon.¡± ¡°Susan,¡± Zach said flatly. Elizabeth spoke up, ¡°You''re just going to have to show them.¡± Susan nodded, standing up and moving to stand at one end of the end table under the expectant and incredulous eyes of her family. She held up a hand, then paused as an idea passed through her mind. A grin tugged at her lips as she began sketching a new transformation circle in the air in front of her. An intake of breath came from one end of the table as Zach watched her hands blur into motion, drawing glowing lines on the air itself. His eyes widened as the glowing lines formed into the familiar pattern of arcane symbols within concentric circles. The circle completed, Susan stepped back. She widened her stance, put one hand on her hip and thrust the other into the air. ¡°Transform!¡± She shouted, a glowing rune appearing beneath her feet a moment before she lit up in a flash of light. Her family watched in various degrees of shock as her incandescent body warped and grew. The shining light condensed as it formed around her into clothes, just as it had last night for Elizabeth. As the transformation finished, the now quadrupedal Susan looked out at them with a toothy grin. A glittering silver tiara sat on top of her head. The rest of the magical girl outfit wouldn¡¯t work on her body shape. So she was left with a frilly pink skirt that sat roughly where her hips would have been if she were still a human. Elizabeth leapt to her feet, ¡°You stole my transformation?¡± She shrieked. Her bug eyed expression sent Susan crashing to the floor, howling with laughter. She hadn¡¯t expected her paranoia last night to pay off so much. The magical girls had mostly used their strange instantaneous magic the day before. The only exception being the magic rune that had accompanied Elizabeth¡¯s transformation the night before. Susan had memorized it, then deciphered its functions during her free time today. It had been challenging, a truly unique spell she had never come across before. The spell formed magical armor out of pure mana according to the desires of the user. She¡¯d put it out of her mind after it was decoded, just relieved it wasn¡¯t anything nefarious. But as she¡¯d stood up to do her transformation, the opportunity to tease her little sister had presented itself and she just had to take it. After she had picked herself off the floor, she sidled up to Elizabeth. ¡°So what do you think?¡± She teased, ¡°I think I make a pretty good magical girl, just need a fancy name.¡± She had to hold back another laugh at Elizabeth¡¯s indignant pout. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ I could be Princess Pretty Pteradactal, Resplendent Royal Reptile¡­The Silk-Stockinged Snake¡­¡± Susan continued her butchering of Magical Girl names. Elizabeth clearly wanted to stay mad, refusing to look her in the eye. But a smile began to tug at her lips as the names continued to get more and more outrageous. Susan took a moment after her latest name, Lucent Lady Lizard, to gauge the reactions of her grandparents. Granny Hilda looked surprised, but also somewhat relieved at the revelation. Grandpa Zach on the other hand, made Susan stop her teasing and do a double take. He looked like he was having a religious experience, his eyes wide as a smile of pure joy lit up his entire face. ¡°A dragon,¡± He whispered to himself before speaking louder, ¡°We have a dragon in the family.¡± Hilda shot him a glare and he sputtered. ¡°Alright,¡± He said after gathering himself for a moment, ¡°It¡¯s good to know you two weren¡¯t doing anything stupid. Now how about we all sit down and talk things over.¡± Susan nodded. She quickly drew the transformation runes, and within a few seconds she was sitting on the couch in human form next to Elizabeth again. Her hand snagged one of the last few sweetbreads while Zach and Hilda took a moment to think. ¡°Well,¡± Zach began, ¡°I believe the first thing to do now would be to congratulate you. You are the first person in over five generations of our family to succeed in becoming a dragon.¡± Grandma Hilda nodded, ¡°Though I gotta ask, how did you manage to pull that off in the time since we¡¯ve last seen you?¡± Susan shrugged dismissively, ¡°I got summoned to Themus for a couple centuries, that¡¯s all.¡± That got a pair of raised eyebrows as both grandparents stared at her questioningly. ¡°Themus, truly?¡± Grandpa Zach asked. Susan nodded. ¡°That''s¡­ quite the coincidence,¡± He spoke slowly, seeming to mull over his words as he said them. ¡°What year?¡± Hilda asked excitedly, leaning forward. Susan frowned as she thought about it. She didn¡¯t have exact dates of when she¡¯d been on Themus, but she knew more than enough to guess. The problem was, she didn¡¯t want or need her grandparents finding out about her time there. That was a can of worms that could stay closed for all she cared. Lying wasn¡¯t an option though, Elizabeth knew more than enough to call her out and she didn¡¯t have the time to convince her otherwise. That left blind luck as an option. Just hope that they had lived long enough before her that they had no clue of what was happening at the time. ¡°I think I would have arrived¡­ 3114 or so?¡± ¡°Well blast,¡± Hilda said, smacking a fist into her cupped hand, ¡°We left the place in 2551 or so, must have missed you by six centuries.¡± Susan held back a sigh of relief. That was a weight off her shoulders she didn¡¯t know she needed. ¡°Hold on a moment Dear, it¡¯s better to double check first,¡± Zach said, before turning to Susan, ¡°Do you know which calendar you are counting from?¡± ¡°Uh, give me a second,¡± Susan had to take another moment to mutter to herself, ¡°Tzolk¡¯in?¡± Grandpa Zach blanched, which drew a worried looks from everyone else. ¡°What¡¯s wrong Dear?¡± Hilda quickly asked. ¡°That would have been in the middle of the Atlan Empire,¡± Zach said quietly, giving Susan a long searching look. Susan stiffened, he knew. Grampa Zach¡¯s eyes narrowed in response. He definitely knew. That was two for two on family members sniffing out her secrets immediately. Granny Hilda looked at her as well, but it was a worried one shared between her and Elizabeth. She seemed to think for a moment, before standing up from her seat. Walking to the other side of the table, she dropped down between her granddaughters. Throwing an arm over each of them, she pulled them in close. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± She said quietly, ¡°I wish we could have been there to stop it.¡± Susan locked up for a moment, before relaxing into the side hug. She was an idiot, of course they weren¡¯t going to assume the worst about her at the drop of a hat. Why would they, she hadn¡¯t run in and declared herself to be a violent madwoman. She¡¯d just admitted to living through the Themian equivalent of the Chinese three kingdoms period. Wait a second¡­ ¡°I¡¯m glad you''re safe,¡± Grandma Hilda continued, breaking Susan out of her train of thought, ¡°I¡¯d hate to lose either of you like that.¡± Susan took a moment to enjoy the closeness, reveling in the warmth of the hug. Looking back towards her grandfather, she saw the same worried look on his face as Grandma Hilda. He definitely knew what she¡¯d gotten up to on Themus, but he was still her grampa. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you two lived sometime after that?¡± She asked, finally breaking the somber silence. Zach nodded, ¡°Indeed, we left the planet about three and a half thousand years after your arrival.¡± ¡°Hold up,¡± Elizabeth spoke up, ¡°How does that make any sense? You and Granny Hilda must have come to earth like fifty years ago, and Susan only left it last week.¡± Grandpa Zach¡¯s back straightened as he listened to Elizabeth¡¯s question. Both girls felt dread freeze them in place as they realized what was going to happen. ¡°The thing you must understand is that when we speak of different worlds, we really mean different realms,¡± He said in the smooth cadence of a lecturer, ¡°These realms, while operating on the same physical principles, each have a flow of causality independent of one another¡­¡± He continued speaking as Susan slowly tuned out the drawl of his voice. She blamed Elizabeth for this. They both had learned long ago not to get their grandfather talking on any subject at length. He¡®d be stuck ranting like this for the next ten minutes and there was no stopping him. Hilda snickered as her granddaughters started to go slack in her arms. Zach seemed to notice her distraction, quickly pausing his speech when he saw the glazed looks on the faces of his audience. ¡°Why don¡¯t we let Susan explain for once?¡± Hilda asked with a cheeky grin. Susan perked up as the lecture stopped. Seizing the opportunity to speed things along, she leaned forward to glance around her torso and catch Elizabeth¡¯s eye. ¡°It¡¯s like Narnia.¡± ¡°Oooooh, that¡¯s cool.¡± Grandpa Zach huffed in indignation at their display, to Hilda¡¯s obvious amusement. ¡°Well, I already told Elizabeth about my time on Themus, and I think Grandpa Zach already knows who I am. So what about you, what¡¯s your story?¡± Susan asked. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing to exciting,¡± Zach said with a wry grin, ¡°Your Grandma was a self made adventurer who ran into me after my family lost its noble status-¡± ¡°That''s why he¡¯s so nutty about you bein¡¯ a dragon,¡± Hilda whispered as she nudged Susan, who frowned in response. ¡°Really?¡± She asked. Zach coughed to get her attention, ¡°Ahem, yes. After you left Themus there was a revolution in transformation magic, leading to a golden age of Dragons. They became so common that a noble family would lose its status if it went to many generations without a member achieving dragon hood.¡± ¡°Huh,¡± Susan muttered, ¡°That would have been nice to see.¡± Zach nodded, ¡°Indeed it was.¡± They fell silent a moment before Hilda broke in. ¡°Anyways,¡± She began, ¡±After we hooked up we went around adventuring together. Then after a couple decades, we started to feel our age catching up to us. So we decided to go out with a bang and jump dimensions for a big final adventure.¡± Susan felt her mouth fall open as the speech continued. After it was done, she pushed away from her grandmother. Scooting away on the couch so she could fully take in the woman¡¯s confident grin with wide eyes. ¡°Are you insane?¡± She almost shouted. Hilda gave a leisurely shrug as Zach awkwardly looked away. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Elizabeth asked as she peeked around Hilda to look at Susan. ¡°That whole idea is what¡¯s wrong!¡± She shot back, ¡°Jumping worlds is some of the most dangerous magic that¡¯s not explicitly forbidden. I only risked doing it because I was able to reverse the spell that initially summoned me, and send myself back to earth.¡± Granny Hilda now had a bashful smile as Susan¡¯s rant continued. ¡°The realms have basically nothing connecting their timelines together, so each time you travel in between them, it could be to an entirely random time and place! You could end up on a planet before life even existed. Or in the middle of an apocalypse, or in literal HELL!¡± Susan was left breathlessly panting as she stared at her grandparents. Tales of Realm hoppers varied and spectacular deaths littered every tome of dimensional magic she had ever read. Hearing her grandparents had done it was like them telling her they used to go skydiving without parachutes. ¡°Eh, it worked out,¡± Hilda said as she reached out to snag Susan¡¯s arm and pull her back into the group hug. Susan wanted to keep protesting¡­ but the hug was comfy. Her further complaints slowly died out before they reached her lips. Hilda was right. However stupid it was, it had happened. No need to get mad about it. ¡°After we got to Earth,¡± Hilda continued on like nothing had happened, ¡° We poked around and realized that there wasn¡¯t exactly much to do. So we settled down and had your mother.¡° She and Zach both smiled in tandem at the memory. ¡°And that was plenty enough of an adventure for both of us,¡± She finished softly, gazing down gently at her granddaughters. A quiet moment followed. Their collective questions answered, the group settled into a more mellow mood. Susan took the opportunity to snuggle closer to her grandmother. It had been far too long since she¡¯d last had the opportunity. ¡°So,¡± Elizabeth broke the silence, ¡°What¡¯s this other world like?¡± ¡°Oh, it''s an incredible place,¡± Zach said with a smile. ¡°At least when people aren¡¯t trying to conquer it,¡± Susan muttered, then paused. She hadn¡¯t meant to say that. A look around showed worried glances directed her way, the upbeat mood thoroughly squashed. ¡°Sorry, it''s not actually that bad,¡± She quickly backpedaled, ¡°I just didn¡¯t see it at a great time.¡± The statement did nothing to stop the stares sent her way. Susan waffled a moment before an idea occurred. ¡°How about I tell another story from there?¡± Elizabeth¡¯s mouth pursed, ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Totally, this one''s fine!¡± Susan said, ignoring the increase in the intensity of her grandparents'' gazes. ¡°In fact, I think this one will include someone Grandpa will recognize!¡± That caught Grandpa Zach¡¯s attention. ¡°Well tell on, then.¡± Chapter 10: Beringia or Bust Arrows rained down around Susan as she bounded through the woods. Trees shuddered with her passing, her enormous limbs crushing the loam beneath as they pushed her away from her pursuers. Her ears picked up the careful intonation of spell work somewhere behind her. She sped up, leaping forward in a desperate attempt to keep out of range. Fear and need had taught her to recognize the sounds of spell work with incredible precision. Sometimes it meant pitfalls and earthen walls summoned from nowhere. Other times the spells sped the soldiers up to keep pace with her. Or sometimes it meant- The trees around her exploded into a storm of wood chips as her world erupted with light and noise. The heat washed over Susan¡¯s back as she was blown forward by the force of the explosion. Despite the immense size of her body, her feet left the ground as she went airborne for a moment. For a second she hung in place, before the earth came up to meet her one more. Four legs caught the ground and pushed off again in a show of coordination Susan didn¡¯t know she had in her. She huffed out a laugh as she ran. The shouts of her pursuers dimmed for a moment as she drew away. For the first time in a week, her enemy''s magic worked against them as it helped gain her just a bit more distance. It would have been wonderful if this represented any form of escape from her pursuers, but Susan knew perfectly well that her advantage would be gone within a day. There was an entire army chasing her, after all. It had been a week since she escaped the Great Caldera. The moment her Dragon Heart ignited she had blown her way out and started moving southeast toward the Beringian Strait, her best chance at escape from the Atlan Empire. Her eagerness cost her, though. As it turned out, the Atlan Empire still kept watch over the Great Caldera. A group of soldiers had found her within days of her escape. She hadn¡¯t been initially afraid. Considering the size and power of her transformation, any fight with normal soldiers should have been easy. That belief went right out the window the moment one of the soldiers had fired a spell at her. She had dodged to the side, then watched as it arced over her shoulder and hit a tree behind her. And disintegrated it. Susan didn¡¯t feel like sticking around after that. So she ran. And kept running. Stumbling and crashing as she carved a trail of broken pines through the forests of the Oberian continent. All because she hadn¡¯t taken the time to familiarize herself with her new body. Her shoulder ramming into a tree brought her back to the present. Its trunk was smashed into pieces around her, the remaining top section crashing down somewhere behind her. Triumphant shouts from behind reached her ears, accompanied by more arrows that clattered over her scales. Susan pushed off with all four limbs, entering into a heavy sprint even as she cursed her distraction. The shouts faded behind her for a moment, before a new voice emerged. This time from her right. Instinct had her limbs scrabbling beneath her to get out of the spell, but it was too late. She felt a wave of heat and force wash over her body once again.Trees shattered around her as her body left the ground and she was thrown sideways in a messy tumble. For a moment she saw nothing but blue sky and brown wood, before she crashed back down to the ground. Her body rolled a few times before she came to a stop. Taking a second to shake the disorientation away, she pushed herself to her feet. Instead of more forest like she expected, Susan found herself in the middle of a road. Fifty feet wide and made of flat square stones, it stretched far into the distance until it disappeared over the horizon. With a ditch dug on either side of the road and an additional fifty feet of cleared land on either side, the construction rivaled most modern roads from earth. The trees stood tall on either side of the road, boxing it in except for the area she had been thrown through. The pocket of broken pines echoed with the shouts of soldiers. They were catching up. Susan glanced between the road and the forest, she needed to pick her escape route. The road offered the opportunity for a speedier escape, but not in the direction she needed to go. A glance up toward the sun showed that the road headed¡­ southeast? A grin split her face for the first time in days and she kicked off. Running for all she was worth over the cobbles and toward freedom. The sounds of the knights behind her, their shouts, spells, and even the clank of their armor faded away as the flat road allowed her to really put her new quadrupedal form to use. The wind rushed over her face and the trees began to blur by on either side as her bounding gait carried her over the cobbles faster and faster. For a brief moment she could almost believe that she had escaped. Her incredible hearing gave no indication of anyone near her. The chatter and clanking of soldiers appeared again, this time ahead of her. Susan growled in frustration as she spotted the culprit. It was a carriage. Ornately styled with golden engravings, it was pulled forward by a quartet of horses and surrounded by a contingent of mounted knights. They must have been expecting her as the group was already preparing spells to fire at her. Susan let out a roar that echoed down the road, startling the horses and making the soldiers pull them closer to the carriage. Susan moved to run along the strip of land along the side of the road, hoping to avoid another confrontation. The turf crumpled her feet, slowing her speed as she drew closer to the carriage. The guards seemed worried, but not panicked as they stared her down. Moving to form a circle around the carriage, several of them raised their hands in the air and a transparent dome appeared around them. The door of the carriage opened and a person stepped out onto the road. Tall, blond haired, and wrapped in a frilled golden corset, the woman was clearly a noble. And clearly an elf as well judging by her enormous pointed ears. She watched with a sneer as Susan began to close in. An arm raised in the air as she began to chant. Susan couldn¡¯t hear the words, but the air around the woman began to tremble. Her legs dug into the ground but momentum carried her forward and further into the woman¡¯s range. A cruel smile came over the noblewoman¡¯s face as the spell completed. A bolt of energy erupted from her outstretched arm, crossing the space between her and Susan in an instant before hitting the dragon in the side. The breath was forced from her chest as her entire torso compressed. The incredible momentum she had built up with her run stopped in an instant as her body folded around the incredible force of the spell. Head met tail as the impact made her flip in place before falling to the ground in a heap. Desperation had her pushing herself back up within moments despite the ringing pain in her head and chest. She could deal with pain. She couldn¡¯t deal with another one of those attacks. A fireball hit her in the chest, the following explosion throwing her off her feet and back onto the ground. Susan hadn¡¯t noticed when but the carriage had drawn closer. She had been a thousand feet away when the spell had hit her. The group had closed over half the distance in the time that she had been down. The noblewoman was already preparing another spell, while several of the knights were preparing their own. Susan scrabbled for a moment as her feet failed to get traction on the soft ground beneath her. One of the knights finished their chant. Something coalesced in their upturned hand. A brightly burning spark, suspended within a softly glowing transparent sphere They leaned back on their saddle before quickly whipping their entire torso forward to throw the spell like a fastball. It zipped across the distance between them like a bullet, aimed squarely at her torso. Her claws finally dug deep enough, jerking her forward just enough to dodge the spell. It vanished somewhere behind her, followed by an explosion that sent Susan stumbling to the side back toward the road. Her claws met hard stone again and she took off. A barrage of spells were thrown but fell short as she pulled away from the group. Susan cursed her bad luck as she ran. Of course the only road heading southeast had some insane wizard noble traveling on it. Now she was going to have to circle around them somehow, all while avoiding the soldiers already after her. Something caught her legs. Her brain didn¡¯t even have the time to process it before she was tumbling head over tail across the stone cobbles. Triumphant shouts echoed around her as the armored Atlan Knights shimmered into existence around her. Her breath caught in her throat as she recognized the trap she had fallen into. There was no warning before spells began to pelt her. Explosions tossed her back and forth while piercing bolts of energy sent stabbing bolts of pain as they peppered her. She tried to whip her tail around to hit one of them. The tip of her tail hummed through the air as it flew toward one of the steel covered men, only to be deflected by an earthen shield conjured by another. A retaliatory barrage of spells thrown by the surrounding knights sent her stumbling back. The knights drew in closer. Soon the explosions and bolts were replaced by conjured whips of steel, earth and water. She felt the coils wrap around her neck and limbs, then pull taut. She braced against the yanking of the cords but found herself losing against the pull. Susan roared and thrashed, but found each of her attacks stopped or deflected. As her struggles stilled, the knights grew in confidence. Their whips increased in number and she found herself constrained even further. Her breathing quickened, as she felt herself slowly pulled down further and further towards the ground. ¡®Hello Miss Dragon,¡¯ A voice whispered in her ear. Susan jerked back, whipping her head back and forth looking for the source of the sound. ¡®Sorry for startling you,¡¯ It continued, ¡®But I¡¯m afraid we have more pressing matters at hand. Now please just give me a second to get things set up.¡¯ The earth rumbled, sending some of the knights stumbling. Susan pushed up, snapping some of the cords and pulling knights off their feet. Standing up on her hind legs, she let out a roar so loud the air shook. Towering a hundred feet over the ant-like forms of the knights, she readied herself for the first true fight in her new form. ¡®Wonderful!¡¯ The voice whispered again, startling her again, ¡®Now I need you to play dead.¡¯ A figure appeared in front of her floating midair. An elven man, dressed in traveling leathers and wielding a bastard sword in one hand. He was straight backed with a severe face as he looked down on Susan. She reared back in surprise, then snapped forward to bite at him. Enormous teeth snapped on nothing but air. The man vanished the instant before her mouth closed on him. ¡°DIE BEAST!¡± A voice roared from behind her. Her head whipped around to see him grasp his blade in a two handed grip and swing it forward horizontally. A brilliant arc of light appeared as he slashed the air. It hung there for a moment after he finished the swing, then shot forward with impossible speed. It moved from in front of him to her neck in an instant. Susan gasped as she watched the glowing line pass through her body with no resistance. Horror grew within her as she waited for whatever terrible result would come. A cheer from below startled her. She glanced down, only to freeze in shock as she watched her own severed head hit the ground below her. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Susan¡¯s head whipped up to stare at the elven man in shock, he winked back. She let herself fall forwards, her body hitting the ground with a teeth rattling thud that made the cobblestones of the road jump in the air. The world lay silent for a second before a second, louder cheer erupted all around her. Her eyes took in the celebrating knights around her as they pumped their fists skyward and roared at the sight of her¡­ dead body. That was a surreal thought to have. The sight of her own decapitated head on the ground was distracting enough that she barely noticed when the knight''s cheers were interrupted by the clattering of a carriage. The ostentatious thing appeared at the edge of her vision as it pulled to a stop. The door swung open to let out the elven noblewoman a moment later. She stalked toward Susan¡¯s prone body as the Elven man floated down from above. One of the knights stepped forward to greet them. Distinguishable by the gold filigree that colored the emblem on his chest and the edges of his armor, he swept into a low bow. ¡°My Lord, my Lady,¡± He spoke. ¡°Thank you for coming to our assistance.¡± The still floating mage simply nodded while the Noblewoman snorted. ¡°Bah, it was nothing,¡± she said. She cast her eyes over Susan for a moment, taking in the heavy scales and snakelike form. She sniffed in disdain before speaking, ¡°So this is the beast I was called here to put down.¡± ¡°Indeed my lady,¡± The knight responded, still bowing. ¡°A strange thing, where did it come from?¡± She said with a glance toward the knight. ¡°It escaped the Great Caldera, we have been chasing it the entire week since.¡± The noblewoman¡¯s head whipped toward him. ¡°Impossible,¡± She snapped, ¡°No creature could ever escape the cliffs.¡± The knight did not move a muscle, even under her glare. ¡°It did not, it was let out.¡± This time even the elven man¡¯s head turned to look at him. Susan couldn¡¯t see the look on his face but she assumed it was something like the open mouthed incredulity the noblewoman was showing. ¡°Tis¡¯ the truth,¡± The knight continued, ¡°The creature escaped through a newly cut tunnel passing through the whole of the eastern cliffs.¡± The noblewoman frowned, ¡°What fool would dare tunnel into the Great Caldera? Have you found the culprit?¡± ¡°We search for him now, though the search has not been as fruitful as our hunt here.¡± The discussion continued but Susan began to tune it out. It was ridiculous. Could they really not conceive of a dragon strong enough to break through the Caldera wall? The elven man, unnoticed by the other two, approached Susan¡¯s fake head. He took a small bag from his belt, before holding it up, mouth pointing outwards. The illusory head trembled, then shrank down until it was barely the size of a marble. Then jumped up and into his bag. That got gasps of shock from some of the onlookers, but the elven man didn''t seem to notice. Approaching her body, he did it again. She watched wide eyed as her body seemed to do the same, shrinking down before vanishing into the tiny sack. A look down her length showed that she was now completely invisible. ¡®Now quick,¡¯ the whisper came again, ¡®Into the woods.¡¯ The next minute was extremely awkward. With her neck, tail and stomach held high, Susan must have resembled a badly drawn W as she tiptoed over the heads of the knights. It was good that she had fallen on the brick road. She wasn¡¯t sure if the invisibility spell on her extended to the footprints she would have left otherwise. She couldn¡¯t help but hear the conversation continue as she crept along. ¡°Incredible,¡± The noblewoman said. ¡°I didn¡¯t know there were any masters of space magic within the empire.¡± ¡°Hmm, really?¡± The man spoke up, his voice oddly squeaky. There was a brief moment of silence as every other elf on the road turned to look at him. ¡°Well shit.¡± A bang echoed from behind her and she chanced a glance back to see what had happened. The elven man was¡­ Gone? The knights seemed confused, but the noblewoman¡¯s head snapped up, her face contorted with rage. WIth a wordless cry, she shot out a shockwave of magic that blasted over the surrounding area. Susan felt her scales tingle as it washed over her. A look down at her body showed that it was once again visible. ¡°Well,¡± A voice came from her back, ¡°I do believe it''s time to run.¡± Looking at the twisted snarl of fury that adorned the noblewoman¡¯s face Susan couldn¡¯t help but agree. Quite literally turning tail, she ran. The collective roar of protest from the knights behind her said they wouldn¡¯t be far behind. The roar of explosions started up once again like an extremely violent band giving an encore. Glimmering sparks of magic landing all around her before vanishing in eruptions of light and sound. ¡°Can you fly?¡± The voice shouted. ¡°What?¡± She called back. ¡°You have wings, can you fly?¡± ¡°Maybe!¡± She yelled, jumping to the side to avoid a quintet of spells flying at her, ¡°Haven¡¯t tried yet!¡± The voice fell silent for a moment, and Susan turned her focus back to running and dodging for her life. ¡°Now I¡¯m going to try something,¡± The voice shouted over the noise, ¡°So when I say jump, I need you to jump.¡± ¡°Sure!¡± Susan said as she glanced back again. She caught a glimpse of the noblewoman riding behind them on a horse stolen from one of the knights. The woman was in the middle of chanting another spell, hand held high above her head as she screamed out the words. Susan leapt forward, trying to push herself to go at least a little bit faster. She knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough. ¡°JUMP!¡± The voice roared. Susan jumped. She shot into the air easily rising to twice the height of the treetops. A black bolt of energy shot along the road below her, shattering the paving stones as it passed over them. Her body hung in the air as if suspended by a string, before slowly beginning to drift back down. Her wings unfurled, catching the air and, impossibly, holding her body aloft. ¡°Fly, fly!¡± The voice shouted. Susan flapped her wings and rose. The feeling was incredible. Flight under her own power was not something she had expected to achieve soon, but now that she had she regretted not trying earlier. It was breathtaking, even more incredible than the act of tearing down the cliffs of the Great Caldera. Rising into the air under her own power, a dream shared by practically every person since the dawn of time. She turned her head to stare at the wide V of scaled skin formed by her wings. They shouldn''t be able to lift her. She¡¯d designed them, and she knew they weren¡¯t meant for this kind of flight. As she ascended higher and out of the range of the knight''s spells, she turned back to the person who had made this possible. It wasn¡¯t hard to find him. The brightly colored figure stood out among the light gray scales of her back. He was every bit the opposite of the simply dressed elven man he had disguised himself as earlier. Barely two feet tall, the miniature man wore an enormous red hat that added a foot to his height, and a large coat of the same bright red that covered him down to his ankles. A pair of black eyes sparked from within an enormous black beard that fell from his face to his knees. ¡°Allow me to introduce myself, madame dragon,¡± He spoke in his squeaky voice, ¡°My name is-¡±
¡°Hadwigis!¡± Grandpa Zach shouted, ¡°You knew Hadwigis!¡± Susan¡¯s audience was seated around the coffee table in the same arrangement as when she started her story. Grandpa Zach was seated across from his wife, who had both granddaughters caught in a hug. He had been leaning further and further forward as Susan slowly described the mysterious figure. His excitement must have finally overcome his sense as he excitedly shouted out his guess. ¡°Don¡¯t interrupt dear,¡± Hilda said with a sigh Susan felt through their hug. ¡°But¡­¡± Zach trailed off as he looked around and took in the annoyed stares of his granddaughters. He coughed into a closed fist. ¡°He, uh¡­ was quite famous for his work on purity magic,¡± He muttered awkwardly, looking to the side. Susan rolled her eyes, ¡°Anyways.¡±
¡°Hadwigis,¡± Hadwigis finished, ¡°Might I have your name.¡± ¡°Susan,¡± She responded distractedly as she tried to direct their flight more southeast. ¡°A fine name,¡± He said, ¡°It is good to finally meet you, though I must admit, it wasn¡¯t a meeting I was at all expecting. You see, I came to be in the area after a teleportation experiment went wrong. Imagine my surprise when I found myself not only in the middle of the Atlan Empire, but also an uproar over a ¡®beast¡¯ escaping from the great caldera.¡± He raised an eyebrow at her, ¡°Then I find myself even more surprised when the great beast turns out to be a dragon in disguise. Despite me knowing perfectly well that there are no mages currently planning the feat, seeing as the Atlans have control over every known dragon transformation site.¡± ¡°Wait,¡± Susan glanced back at him, ¡°Are you from that Mage Group Luthera told me about?¡± ¡°You met Luthera?¡± Hadwigis almost spoke over her. ¡°Well, yeah, she was in the group I was summoned to the Great Caldera with.¡± His mouth opened to respond, then stopped and frowned. ¡°I think it would be for the best if we started over from the beginning.¡± And so Susan found herself devoting the better part of the next two hours to narrating her arrival on Themus as she flew further southeast. The chaotic arrival, Luthera¡¯s plan and-
Hilda roared with laughter, her shaking sides bouncing Susan and making her cut off her story. She had been in the middle of giving an extremely abridged account of her arrival on Themus to her grandparents. The moment she had mentioned guiding the group''s efforts in dragonification, Hilda had started her outburst. ¡°You hear that Zach?¡± Hilda was almost red in the face as she shouted across the table, ¡°After all that nobility hookum about not havin¡¯ a dragon in the family, and it was your granddaughter that started the whole damn golden age!¡± Grandpa Zach was staring up at the ceiling with his mouth pulled down into a heavy frown. He looked like he¡¯d broken into his own car only to find the keys in his pocket. Hilda paused in her laughter, ¡°Oh, sorry dear. Are you alright?¡± She asked. Zach breathed in heavily through his nose, then breathed out what must have been a century¡¯s worth of frustration in the heaviest sigh Susan had ever seen. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± He said quietly. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Grandma?¡± Susan broke in, ¡°Can I keep going?¡± ¡°Oops, sorry again,¡± Hilda gave her a cheeky smile as she knocked herself on the head with a closed fist.
Hadwigis, now located atop Susan¡¯s head like a very strange hat, sat quietly as Susan¡¯s story drew to a close. Her voice had slowly dwindled as she narrated Takeo¡¯s betrayal, and the final part of her beginnings on Themus. ¡°Well,¡± Susan spoke up as she tried to push down the memories clawing at her attention. ¡°It took me way longer than I thought it would to finish the dragon transformation, like two whole centuries. Apparently binary coding and sand aren¡¯t exactly the best tools for turning yourself into a giant lizard.¡± She gave a shrug before realizing that her listener probably wouldn¡¯t be able to see it. ¡°Anyway,¡± She quickly continued, ¡°After I was done, I cut my way out of the caldera and then got chased all the way here.¡± The only response was a light ¡®hmm¡¯ from the top of her head. Susan waited a moment, but it seemed Hadwigis was still thinking things over. Instead of speaking again she decided to look down and take in the world below her. The great road they had fought on now looked no thicker than a pencil, while the dark green of the deciduous trees had given way to brighter colors and flowers. She was relatively sure they were now moving over a more tropical forest. She spotted a muddy blue line on the horizon. A minute of flying closer showed it to be the ocean. A few minutes more and another ocean appeared to her right. She had finally, finally, made it to the Beringian Strait. Her wings picked up their pace a little. She focused her attention back to maintaining the smooth rush of air around her flapping wings when Hadwigis finally spoke. ¡°It is disheartening to hear about Luthera,¡± He said quietly, ¡°She was a brilliant mage, and a good friend. Her disappearance threw the whole of the Mage¡¯s Congress into disarray. I had not believed that she would still be alive after all this time, but I had certainly hoped for a better end for her.¡± ¡°Yeah, she was great,¡± Susan murmured. The two shared a moment of silence before he spoke again. ¡°Tell me,¡± He asked, ¡°Did you ever find the circumstances of your abduction strange?¡± Susan frowned, ¡°You mean other than being kidnapped by a race I thought didn''t exist using magic I didn''t think existed?¡± ¡°Ah, of course, you do not have the perspective I do,¡± He muttered before trailing off into silence again. Susan had to resist the urge to try and glare at the top of her own head. ¡°So?¡± She asked. She felt the man jump a little in surprise before speaking again. ¡°Apologies, what I meant to say is that Altus''s claim of using the spell to find people with talent is quite suspicious.¡± Susan tilted her head as she thought back, before quickly straightening it when she heard a yelp from the man above her. ¡°Sorry,¡± She mumbled out before speaking, ¡°But, Luthera was always saying that the others had a pretty good talent in transformation magic.¡± ¡°Yes, but a search for talent shouldn¡¯t bring in people from another world entirely, and especially not someone blind to mana.¡± ¡°¡­huh,¡± Susan found herself speechless. The time immediately surrounding her arrival on Themus was chaotic, and afterwards she hadn¡¯t really wanted to remember it. But looking at it now, there was something wrong about the whole situation. ¡°Then what was the spell really?¡± She finally asked. ¡°I believe it must have been some kind of Causality Magic.¡± ¡°¡­And, uh, what¡¯s causality magic?¡± She asked again. ¡°It is a forbidden form of magic that forces fate to conform to an outcome desired by the wielder. I believe the Atlans used it to guarantee that whoever left the Great Caldera would both have a working transformation technique, and be willing to turn it over.¡± It made sense to her, but something about his statement seemed odd. ¡°Wait, there¡¯s banned magic? How do you ban a form of magic?¡± She asked. Hadwigis chuckled dryly, ¡°You can¡¯t, at least not truly. Instead it is the apocalyptic consequences of using such magic that deter anyone from using it.¡± ¡°Oookay¡­ So, uh, you¡¯re one hundred percent sure it didn''t go wrong or anything, right?¡± Susan asked with a calm, definitely not trembling voice. ¡°Don''t worry,¡± Hadwigis said, his body shifting back and forth on Susan¡¯s head in a way that made her think he was shaking his head, ¡°If the magic went wrong we wouldn¡¯t be having this conversation. Instead time itself would have ground to a halt as you and the others summoned with you repeated the first few weeks at the Caldera over and over due to the spell trying to force an impossible outcome.¡± An updraft caught Susan¡¯s wings and she stopped flapping for a moment as it pushed her higher. Her mind had checked out for a moment as it tried to process the fact that reality itself may have just up and ended when she wasn¡¯t looking. Like she had watched a building collapse behind her the second after she had walked out of it. Her mouth opened to ask one of the thousand questions running through her head. Then her heart told her to leave the potential existential crisis for another day and she closed it again. She didn''t need to know every intricacy of how she might have died. What mattered was that the empire full of insane world conquering elves was actually an empire full of suicidally insane world conquering elves. Which when she thought about it, wasn''t exactly a surprise. ¡°On to happier news, I think I see our destination!¡± Hadwigis said from atop her head. Susan was about to ask what he was talking about when she spotted something strange about the horizon. There was a gray line there. A dark and jagged streak that contrasted heavily with the smooth hills and valleys of the forests around her. They drew closer quickly and Susan was able to get a better look at it. She was reminded of a line from history class about the Great Wall of China. It had not been the work of a single person, or even kingdom. Instead it was a collection of smaller walls and fortifications, all combined into a greater whole in order to keep out invading armies. The thing in front of her was like someone had taken that idea and fed it every steroid and performance enhancing drug ever created. Twisting wizard¡¯s towers, dark spires, and tall forts jutted up from the ground, forming a rough line across the landscape in front of them. An immense wall a hundred feet high ran in between them, transforming the line of towers into an impassable bulwark. That wasn¡¯t all of it however. In front of the line of towers lay a zone of absolute destruction. It resembled the surface of the moon. Craters upon craters of burnt earth and melted glass layered on top of each other until they resembled something out of Jackson Pollock''s nightmares. The road below them ran ahead until it ended in a series of small, roundish lakes a short distance from the wall. Which considering the rest of the landscape, probably weren¡¯t natural. Susan gaped as she took in the incredible sight. ¡°Welcome to the Beringian Passage,¡± Her passenger declared, ¡°Or as I like to call it, the Beringian Impassage!¡± Susan rolled her eyes. So that was where Luthera had gotten her sense of humor from. A smile tugged at her lips though, and each pump of her wings made her feel lighter. For the first time since she entered this world, she had found freedom. Chapter 11: Kind of Sort of Excalibur Susan looked around at her family as she finished the story. Grandpa Zach seemed enthralled, leaning forward eagerly from his position on the other side of the coffee table from her. Though judging by the eyes peeking around Granny Hilda from the other side of the couch, Elizabeth was just as interested. The biggest reaction came from Granny Hilda herself who looked down with a bemused smile and chucked. ¡°You call that a tale?¡± She asked as she ruffled Susan¡¯s hair, ¡°Where were the heroics, the shirtless Cimmerians? You didn''t even slay a great monster!¡± ¡°Grandma, I am the giant monster in this story!¡± ¡°You could fight a different one. Besides, everyone knows that for a proper tale you need a barrel of mead and a drinking hall!¡± Hilda finished her teasing with a hearty laugh. Susan sighed and looked away from her, ¡°Any other questions?¡± She asked with a wry smile. Grandpa Zach looked pensive for a moment, head tilted to the side in thought. ¡°Have you ever heard about the Guivre Manuscript?¡± He asked with a hopeful smile. Hilda slapped her knee, interrupting any chance Susan had of replying. ¡°Not this again Zach!¡± She exclaimed. ¡°Hilda please,¡± Zach threw his hands in the air, ¡°What other opportunity am I going to have to speak to someone from the time period!¡± ¡°Plenty!¡± Hilda snapped back, ¡°But some other time, not today!¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine Grandma,¡± Susan chuckled as she watched the two rehash another one of their ancient arguments. She looked back at Grandpa Zach, ¡°So, what exactly is the ¡®Giver¡¯ Manuscript?¡± Zach¡¯s look of confusion was priceless. Susan and Elizabeth couldn¡¯t hold back giggles, and Granny Hilda outright guffawed at the sight. ¡°Of course she¡¯s never heard of the thing!¡± She collapsed back against the couch with a wide grin, ¡°That''s the name you scholars came up with after the fact.¡± The realization that flashed across his face afterwards was nearly as funny, but Susan managed to hold in her laughter this time. Zach deflated a bit as he chuckled at his own mistake, ¡°Sorry, looks like my excitement got the better of me again. After the Atlan Empire fell, much of their knowledge on dragon making was left behind. But none of it was usable, as no one could understand the measurement system used. This was until the Guivre manuscript was unearthed in Beringia detailing the conversions. It was a godsend to the wizards of the time, but the question of where the scroll came from has dogged researchers for millennia.¡± Susan blinked a few times. ¡°Was there a dragon in a pair of pants doodled on the front?¡± She blurted out. A smile flashed over Zach¡¯s face, ¡°You know it?¡± Susan nodded, ¡°Yeah, one of Hadwigis¡¯ students made it. He¡¯d started teaching me runic magic, then got frustrated that we kept using different units. So he had Dagny figure out the conversions.¡± Zach¡¯s eyes took on the distant look of realization. ¡°And so the spark that began the Golden Age of Dragons was born,¡± He breathed in awe, ¡°And one of the great mysteries of history, finally solved.¡± Then a small frown crossed his face, and a hand came up to stroke his beard. ¡°But another mystery remains,¡± He mused, ¡°Why was the dragon wearing pants?¡± Susan¡¯s face turned a fluorescent red and she slid back against the couch to hide herself. Grandpa Zach seemed too distracted to notice, but Hilda looked down at her and grinned wide. Susan met the look with a horrified stare. She could never let knowledge of the dragon pantsing incident see the light of day again. ¡°Pants¡­ you say?¡± Elizabeth spoke up from the other side of Hilda, Susan could hear the grin in her voice. ¡°What a mystery, indeed,¡± HIlda drawdled. ¡°Anyway!¡± Susan almost shouted, ¡°After that I learned magic, then I fought the Atlans a few times, wanna hear about that?¡± ¡°No, no, I think we¡¯ve had plenty enough of stories today¡± Hilda said, before pausing for a moment. ¡°Say,¡± she said, clapping her hands and standing up, ¡°How abouts I show you my magic sword?¡± Elizabeth was on her feet in a moment. ¡°Yes!¡± She shouted, pumping both fists in the air, ¡°I so want to see Excalibur!¡± Hilda threw her head back and laughed, before patting Elizabeth on the back with enough force to make the girl jump a foot forward. ¡°It¡¯s better than that old thing,¡± She threw her head back and put her hands on her hips in a heroic pose, ¡°I¡®m the wielder of Liss, the Blade of Innocence!¡± At those words, Susan felt her stomach turn to ice. ¡°Why don¡¯t you show her the armory first,¡± Zach spoke up, apparently finished with his moment of distraction. ¡°That too,¡± Hilda declared, ¡±Onward, to the upstairs!¡± She charged off toward the staircase, dragging along behind her a bemused Zach and followed closely by an excited Elizabeth. Susan managed to keep up the charade of normalcy long enough for them to head up the stairs. Then she took the opportunity to hang back, before breaking off and slipping out the front door instead. She shouldered her way through it, walking across the wide porch to the railing. Practically collapsing against it, she let out a heavy sigh. A wind rustled through the flowers around the house. Their scent filled the air around her, making for a truly idyllic day. She didn¡¯t notice it. The taste of ash choked her mouth and nose, and her eyes could only see a shining blade thrust point first into the dirt amidst a broken world. Fallen towers and shattered walls filling the burnt wastes around it. Her fingernails ground against the porch rail, though the sensation barely registered. She grit her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut, forcing the sight and smells out of her head. Her head fell down until it thunked against the smooth wood of the railing. ¡°It just had to be Liss, didn''t it?¡± She muttered. The mention of Liss always dredged up old memories and old hurts. Ones she had hoped would hurt less after all this time. The door thunked shut behind her, making her jump. She whipped around, trying to lean back against the railing nonchalantly. ¡°I feel we¡¯re going to regret introducing Elizabeth to the armory,¡± Zach drawdled as he slowly made his way across the porch. He stopped next to Susan, letting out a sigh as he settled down against the railing. He stayed silent for a moment, watching the wind roll through the wide clearing around them. Susan felt the knot of tension in her chest loosen a bit as the silence continued. Maybe he didn¡¯t notice? ¡°Are you feeling alright?¡± The question hit like a fastball. A glance showed Zach staring at her with obvious concern. She huffed, tilting her head back and staring at the porch''s roof. ¡°Was I that obvious?¡± She asked tiredly. ¡°No,¡± She could see the shake of his head from the corner of her eye, ¡°I am simply more familiar with the history of Liss than Hilda is.¡± ¡°So you did recognize me, then.¡± That got a chuckle. ¡°There weren¡¯t exactly many gray dragons from the time of the Atlan Empire,¡± He replied, ¡°And the lead coloring of your scales was more than enough of a clue on its own. Metal dragons are¡­ quite well known after all.¡± ¡°You can say that again..¡± She said, then her head came back down. ¡°There aren¡¯t any on earth, right?¡± She asked quickly. ¡°No,¡± Zach replied, before shooting her a pointed look, ¡°But don¡¯t go dodging the question now.¡± Susan found herself examining the other side of the porch in great detail. A quick look back the other way showed Zach giving her a worried look. She met his eyes for a few heartbeats, the honest concern in them mollifying her. ¡°Okay,¡± She whispered, turning around toward the railing again. Leaning on it, she looked over the flower fields once again. ¡°I just want to put everything that happened on Themus behind me,¡± She continued in a low voice, ¡°But all of it, the magic and the monsters and the power hungry fools seem to have followed right after me.¡± She leaned her elbows on the railing, and put her head in her hands. ¡°Even that godawful name they gave me,¡± She mumbled, ¡°I genuinely believed I would never have to speak it again, but there I was, using it within a day of arriving back on earth.¡± An arm fell across her back. It was old and frail, but she still felt herself begin to relax. ¡°You should know,¡± Came Zach¡¯s voice softly, ¡°That name of yours was only terrible to you and the Atlans. To the rest of the world it was the name of a hero and liberator.¡± His arm tightened into a good hug, ¡°I don¡¯t think it would be so bad if it spread to earth as well.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Susan looked away again, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Zach gave her a light shake. ¡°Don''t get your nose stuck in the past like one of your textbooks,¡± He said, ¡°Otherwise you¡¯ll never be able to see the world around you.¡± Susan huffed. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I heard you tell Elizabeth that when she cried after spilling juice on your favorite book,¡± she said, rolling her eyes. Zach reached up to tousle her hair. ¡°Good advice is good advice, girl,¡± He grouched. ¡°Don''t waste it.¡± A stronger breeze came through the trees, making their limbs shake. It whipped up the flowers as well, their heads whipping back and forth as they danced. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. For a moment the world around the cabin seemed alive with motion. The smell of the flowers reached her, and this time she managed to breathe it in. The smell was nice. The arm around her was warm. Deep within her, Susan felt some of that age-old hurt begin to fade. She wanted to laugh at herself. She¡¯d tried so hard to pretend everything was fine. But apparently what she really needed was someone to talk to. She breathed in, then out, her chest lighter. ¡°Sorry,¡± She said as she finally turned her head to face Zach properly, ¡°You¡¯d think being a thousand years old would make me better at all this. He shrugged in response. ¡°Such is the curse of immortality,¡± He said quietly. Susan chuckled, ¡°Yeah, it took me a few decades to realize that becoming a teenager forever might not have been the best idea.¡± They stood there in silence for a few minutes. The sun still hung high in the sky, but its heat was held back by the shade of the roof and the heavy breeze. Susan wondered if she might have to find a cabin of her own to stay in for a while. It should make for a good vacation, growing wisteria and napping. Zach finally broke the silence. ¡°It¡¯s about time I headed in,¡± He said as he pushed off of the railing, ¡°You might want to join me, Elizabeth managed to wrangle Hilda into letting her hold Liss.¡± Susan¡¯s hand was on the doorknob a moment later. A look back showed Zach frozen mid step as he stared at her. She stepped to the side to hold the door open while shooting him a raised eyebrow. ¡°You coming?¡± She asked. Zach frowned heavily, ¡°I didn''t know it was a race.¡± Susan glanced inside, eyeing the path to the stairway as she bounced up and down in impatience. ¡°Hilda has been showing Liss off for decades now,¡± Zach said as he resumed his walk, ¡°Elizabeth will be fine.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Susan said as she watched him slowly advance towards the door. Her voice trailed off until it was a near whisper, ¡°But you don¡¯t know Liss like I do.¡± A minute and slightly longer than she would have liked later, she helped Zach up the final step of the staircase and into the long hallway that ran the length of the upper floor. A line of doors followed the wall to the left, lit up by large squares of light coming from the windows on the right. Zach let go of her arm with a nod of thanks, and began walking down the hall with Susan on his heels. First door was the bathroom, then next was the flower covered door to her mothers childhood bedroom. Past that a storage closet, then finally, an open door leading into the master bedroom. The inside had a simple layout. A bed was set against the wall next to the door, a desk covered in scrolls and heavy tomes just past it. They sat opposite two windows showing the front yard, a dresser and mirror in between. A heavy wooden mannequin stood in the corner, dressed in heavy woolen robes. Something that Susan only now realized might not be something grandparents normally kept in their rooms. Two more doors were across the room on the right wall, though they were quite different from the ones found in the hall. The one on the left, a thin closet door, was closed. The door on the right, however, was a different beast entirely. It was made of heavy wooden planks held together by metal bands. Opening outward on enormous steel hinges, the entire construction made for an incredible sight. To Susan though, it had simply been one of the background features of her grandparents house. And while the contents of the room had served as the basis of plenty of childhood fantasies, the mystery had never been solved. The door now stood wide open, its mysteries laid bare. Susan didn''t notice though, her focus entirely on the two people that stood just past the door. Bright lights from within shone down, illuminating Hilda and Elizabeth before spilling out into the dim bedroom beyond. Elizabeth was still wearing her school uniform, but now sported an oversized helmet. The t-shaped visor of the barbute only rose high enough to show her nose, but she didn''t seem to mind as she struck a dramatic pose. Hilda had changed into a pair of bright gray shirt and pants that looked suspiciously like steel. A wide grin splitting her face as she applauded. With the distinctive form of Liss nowhere in sight, Susan finally relaxed. Stepping up to the doorframe alongside Zach, she leaned against it and looked past the duo to take in the rest of the room. A childhood¡¯s worth of fantasies had not done justice to the truth of what lay within. An army¡¯s worth of weapons covered the walls, while a half dozen more wooden mannequins covered in heavy armor stood grouped together on the far side of the room. The variety was incredible. Shelves of wands and staves as well as racks every kind of weapon imaginable. The armor wasn''t just common plate either, It was custom work. Some fur lined and insulated, others glowing with the sheen of heavy protective magic. They were clearly made for Zach and Hilda as well, intended to give the duo protection in a variety of dangerous environments. Looking away from the weapons, she noticed that it was all lit by a variety of glowing orbs. Vials and gems that hung haphazardly suspended by strings above their heads. The treasures of what must have been a dozen different kingdoms transformed into cheap lighting with a casual irreverence that could only have come from Hilda. Taking it all in, Susan could almost see how the two adventurers might have believed they could rely on more than luck in realm hopping. Hilda finally noticed the two of them and her clapping slowed. Elizabeth kept posing for another second before noticing she¡¯d lost her audience''s attention. She pushed up the helmet just enough to see again, then grinned when she saw Susan and Zach. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re finally here,¡± She exclaimed, ¡°Now we can get onto the magic sword part!¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Hilda said, her face taking on a more serious look, ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± Having said that, she promptly turned and walked out of the room. Watching her pass by from her place by the door, Susan couldn¡¯t help the befuddled frown that came over her face. From her place still in the room, Elizabeth watched her go with her own look of confusion. Taking the helmet completely off her head and settling it under her arm, she followed behind Hilda slowly until she stood next to Susan and Zach by the door. They watched with identical frowns as Hilda ended her walk at the bed, then turned back to look at them. ¡°What,¡± She asked with a raised eyebrow, ¡°You weren¡¯t expecting me to keep Liss locked in there, right?¡± Susan just shook her head, ¡°Please don¡¯t tell me you keep one of the most dangerous magical artifacts ever created under your pillow.¡± ¡°Course not!¡± Hilda proclaimed, before reaching down and pulling the blade out from underneath the mattress instead. Susan held in her sigh. Her face smoothed back into a more serious look as she stepped back over to her granddaughters, both arms held out with the palms up. The blade lay across them, gleaming under the light that spilled out from the armory. Liss, the Blade of Innocence, wasn''t what most people would think of when they imaginaged a blade of legend. It certainly didn''t look like the weapon of a hero. In fact, it didn''t look much like anything at all. The three foot bastard sword was made of a perfectly translucent glass, only visible by the faint reflection across its surface. A spherical pommel, oval shaped grip, and straight handguard made up the handle. The blade was two inches thick at the base, it thinned along its length until reaching a needle point at the tip. It was a working of magic of the highest order, indestructible, immortal, and unimaginably deadly. Staring down at the blade, Susan couldn¡¯t help but feel the familiar sting of disappointment. ¡°Are you ready?¡± Hilda asked with a pointed look at Elizabeth, catching Susan¡¯s attention again. Elizabeth furiously nodded. ¡°Yes, She said with a look of total seriousness. ¡°Well I¡¯m glad to hear that¡­¡± She trailed off. Susan could see she had Elizabeth by the nose, the girl leaning forward with wide eyes, ¡°But there¡¯s something else we need to do first.¡± Elizabeth¡¯s face fell, before morphing into an indignant pout. ¡°Grandma¡­¡± She whined furiously. ¡°In your grandmother¡¯s defense, there is a proper order to this,¡± Zach spoke up from his place beside them. He had watched the entire preceding with a tight grin, trying to hold in his laughter. Hilda smiled as well, before becoming serious again. Changing her grip on the sword so that she was holding the handle pointing towards Elizabeth, she began to speak. ¡°To those who wish to wield the Innocent Blade,¡± She began, her voice taking on a deep timber as she spoke in a lilting rhythm, ¡°A warning must be given.¡± The blade in her hands began to hum softly, the sound joining with Hilda¡¯s speech so that it became something like a song. ¡°If there be even the littlest of evils in your heart, flee, and never look back. For this is the blade that wields its wielder. Take it up, but know that you shall become a hero, or nothing at all.¡± Susan looked on with a raised eyebrow. A glance at Zach showed that he was watching on with an expectant smile. And while Hilda spoke with reverence, her speech lacked the tension that a true warning would bring. The speech finished and Elizabeth eagerly reached out toward the handle, but was stopped when Hilda pulled it back. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Hilda asked, half worried and half teasing. ¡°Don''t worry, I''m a magical girl! Being pure of heart is like the most basic requirement,¡± Elizabeth scoffed. Hilda didn¡¯t respond, and just smiled indulgently as she held the sword back out. As Elizabeth¡¯s hand once again crossed the distance between them, Susan couldn¡¯t help but feel a somber air come over the room. Even within the normal bedroom of a house that Susan could have walked into off of any street, there was a gravity to the moment that couldn¡¯t be denied. The unreal form of Liss dredged up visions of knightly oaths and fantastical deeds. Elizabeth¡¯s hand touched the handle and the blade erupted in a flash of pure white light. The shadows in the room were banished for the slightest second before the sword dimmed back down again. Hilda took the opportunity to quickly let go of the blade and step away. Elizabeth stared in awe as the blade in her hand shifted, the handle shrinking while the blade shortening a foot to match her height. The glow slowly faded and Elizabeth¡¯s head came up to stare at the rest of her family with a look of pure joy. ¡°Did you see that?¡± She exclaimed, barely able to find her words, ¡°It was¡­ the sword¡­ It¡¯s so awesome!¡± Susan couldn¡¯t help the enormous smile that came over her as she applauded along with Zach and Hilda. Elizabeth¡¯s excitement was infectious. Even with her experience as a magical girl, she still showed a deep love for the fantastical side of magic. So much that it could make even Susan see Liss as a weapon of myth and legend. Elizabeth¡¯ head turned to look at Susan expectantly, ¡°You¡¯ve got to try this.¡± She just laughed in response. ¡°Yeah, no,¡± She said, waving her away, ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± ¡°Hm, okay,¡± Elizabeth said, before looking back at the sword. She seemed eager to share, but equally happy to keep the awesome magic sword to herself. She moved to grip it two handed, then gave it a light swing back and forth. The tip hummed through the air, even the light wave giving the impression of a blade swung at much more dangerous speeds. It stopped when Hilda reached out and grabbed the tip, locking the sword in place. ¡°Alright kiddo,¡± She said, ¡°How about I show you how to actually use a sword before you go loppin¡¯ somebody''s hand off¡° Elizabeth paused, then nodded and let Hilda take the blade back. She seemed to think for a moment before speaking up again. ¡°Grandma¡­¡± She asked slowly. Hilda cocked an eyebrow. ¡°Do you think I could use Liss when I go on missions?¡± Hilda¡¯s mouth moved to respond then froze midway open as she processed the words. ¡°What missions?¡± Zach asked quickly. ¡°Um, y¡¯know, as a Magical Girl,¡± Elizabeth asked, now just as confused as her grandparents. ¡°YOU''RE A MAGICAL GIRL?¡± They roared together. ¡°Yes! I just said that!,¡± She cried, before looking to Susan for help, ¡°I said that, didn''t I?¡± Susan was too busy laughing to respond.
The van roared as it flew down the road. Heavy steel plates covered the blocky sides, all painted a pitch black. The white SWAT letters painted on the side gave it just enough normalcy that the people seeing it didn''t wonder why there was a small tank driving down the roads of their sleepy town. The inside was just as strange as the outside. The layout resembled an actual SWAT vehicle with heavy padded benches running along either side of the van below armored windows. But the people that filled it were an eclectic mix of fantastical and normal. The two seated in the front were human, not so much the group in the back. An enormous orc, a woman with a wolf¡¯s head, and two short green goblins sat with two more humans. Each of them was armored in heavy riot gear, kevlar suits and helmets fronted with tough glass. Though on the more nonhuman members it had been somewhat customized to fit them better, or entirely discarded in the case of the wolf headed woman. One of the two human members, a short, black haired woman, sat slumped against her seat next to the back doors. She stared out one of the windows as she listened to the mission briefing. ¡°Alright people, we¡¯re hunting a literal dragon today!¡± The man riding shotgun twisted around in his seat and shouted to be heard over the roar of the engine. ¡°We killin¡¯ it?¡± The orc shouted back. ¡°Nope, it¡¯s sapient, and also way out of our weight class. John¡¯s been telling me that it¡¯s hunkered down with some human unknowns. Our job is to flush it out and let Gamma team deal with it, any questions? ¡°Yeah, a lot,¡± One of the goblins shouted back, ¡°You''re barely giving us anything to work with here!¡± ¡°Sorry, that¡¯s a rush job for you,¡± He shouted back with a shrug. ¡°Rob¡¯s got an address,¡± He jerked a thumb at the man driving the van beside him, ¡°And I just told you everything John told me about the mission. Anything else?¡± The woman pushed herself into a more upright slouch. ¡°Yeah, can this wait? I wanted to be at home with the girls, Martin!¡± She shouted towards the front. The rest of the group chuckled. ¡°Leave the flirting at home,¡± The orc called over the roaring of the engine, which got another hearty laugh. ¡°Sorry honey, priority assignment!¡± Martin shouted back. She slouched back down in her seat and turned her attention back to the street. Trees flashed by as the discussion continued around her, barely any of it relevant to her. She was the demo expert, capable of taking down any door or barrier her team may meet. A necessary job, but somewhat redundant when Forman, the orc seated across from her, could run through walls. Even if she was needed she¡¯d take the door down in a second or two, then step back as the rest of the team cleared the house. Then she¡¯d do her paperwork and go home. The job certainly had its moments, but she didn''t love it the way Martin loved mission planning and strategizing. She felt her weight shift forward as the van swung to the right, the tires crunching as they moved from concrete to gravel. Her eyes barely registered as a street sign passed across the window in front of her, but then her brain caught up and processed the name on it. She bolted upright, jumping up and over to the rear window to confirm. The blood left her face as she realized where they were. ¡°Oh no,¡± She whispered. The wolf headed woman had felt her move and turned to face her. ¡°Anything wrong Chay?¡± She asked, a look of worry passing over her canid features. Chay turned to stare at her with wide eyes. ¡°This is the road to my parents house,¡± She whispered. Chapter 12: Professional Breaking and Entering The wood creaked softly in Rana¡¯s grip as she pulled herself onto the roof of the covered porch. Getting to her feet, she turned to help the other members of Team One. First Augusta, a short goblin woman with leaf green skin who barely fit in the provided Kevlar armor. She was thankfully light, not carrying much equipment besides a thin wooden wand she kept in a holster by her side. Then Gerald, a squat, muscular man with a speckled gray beard. He wore heavy kevlar, thick and covered in so many enchantments it made him a one man wall. Rana and Augusta had to work together to help him up, heaving up on his enormous iron studded metal gauntlets. Her ears managed to pick up the sounds of team 2 getting into position below them, directly in front of the door. Rana took in a heavy sniff, air rushing into her snout, then frowned at the information it fed her. She still followed procedure though, and pointed out the only occupied room to the others. Getting down, they carefully crawled below the windows of the second floor and settled with their backs to the wall. All carefully positioned so that they would be invisible from the room within. With a moment to breath, she turned toward her companions on the other side of one of the windows and began making hand signs. ¡®4 occupants, all human. Male, old, strong magic. Female, old, strong. Female, teen, reptilian, extremely strong magic, target. Female, young, magic.¡¯ She saw the frowns that covered their faces through the heavy plexiglass of their helmets. There should only have only been three occupants, and now her nose was telling her the dragon had a human form as well. That meant the dragon had access to magic. Which meant the dragon was much more dangerous than HQ had projected. Which was just another nail in the coffin of the disaster that was this mission. It had started out weird, a total rush job that got even weirder when Chay had revealed that the people housing the dragon were her parents. Experienced, powerful, and owners of a Tier 4 magical weapon, they weren¡¯t people to piss off lightly. So the team had made the decision to break from procedure The sound of a fist hammering on heavy wood echoed up from the porch below as Chay began the operation. Augusta had divined that the dragon was on the second floor. The plan was to attempt negotiating with her occupants to turn over the dragon. If that failed, the former adventurers would hopefully be split up so that the team could overpower them and flush out the dragon. The smell of the old woman vanished from the room. A minute later the latch clicked, followed by the squeak of the door opening. ¡°Oh, hello Chay. Weren¡¯t expecting you today. What''s the occasion?¡± Came a voice that was an odd mix of raspy and powerful. ¡°Mom, why is there a dragon in your house?¡± Chay asked with a heat in her voice that Rana had only heard her use when she was seriously angry. A befuddled, ¡°Huh?¡± Echoed up. Forman cleared his throat, ¡°Ma¡¯am we¡¯ve been sent here to bring in a dragon that we believe is currently in your home. Please allow us in, or we will have to use force.¡± There was a long pause. A series of knocks, so quiet none of the humans would have normally noticed, echoed up from below. So subtly she barely noticed it, one of the smells in the room behind them changed. A scent of adrenaline wafting through. She couldn''t hear if they spoke, but the teen¡¯s smell began to change as well. It lost the wafting scent of hormones and gained a taste of heat and ash. The dragon had resumed its true form. Rana frowned, then sent her own message, ¡®Occupants alerted. Dragon in true form.¡¯ The grimaces on the other two mirrored her own. From below, Hilda spoke again, her voice guarded. ¡°Chay, we¡¯ll talk later. As for the rest of you¡­¡± She trailed off, and when she spoke again it was a cheer that froze Rana to the core, ¡°Come on in, it¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve had fun.¡± The door slammed shut. Rana could only shake her head. ¡°That answers that, I guess,¡± Forman said. ¡°Forman¡­¡± Chay said slowly, ¡°You really don¡¯t want to go through that door.¡± ¡°She didn''t have the blade on her,¡± He said, ¡°We¡¯re good to go, now stand back.¡± On the roof, the team got into position around the window. Augusta slipped her wand out of its holster. Holding it to her lips, she whispered an incantation and the wand began to glow with power. Rana slipped an air pistol out of its holster on her belt. The barrel on the thing was enormous, making it resemble a blunderbuss in design. Reaching into a protected pocket, she removed a small crystal. She loaded it with careful hands into the gun, not even breathing until the breach finally closed around it. Gerald took a deep breath. His fists clenched within the gauntlets to the faint squeak of leather.. Then he was through the window in a cacophony of shattering glass. A simultaneous roar of splintering wood echoed from below as Forman charged through the door. Rana was the last to go through, quickly checking behind the group to ensure they weren¡¯t being flanked. That was the only reason she saw Forman clip the edge of the porch¡¯s roof as he was sent cartwheeling backwards over the lawn. Instinct and training had her ducking through the window before her mind could catch up and stop her. She stepped into a small bedroom, though her mind didn''t take that in. Instead she laser focused on the gray scaled creature in the middle of the room. Maybe ten feet long and three tall at the shoulder with a triangular head like a weasel, it was a strange mix of cute and terrifying; its large blue eyes uncannily human. It stood crouched protectively in front of a white haired old man and a girl with blond hair and blue eyes, both strangely calm despite the situation. Gerald had already hunkered down, making a barrier for Rana and Augusta to hide behind. Augusta¡¯s wand was already pointed toward the target, the heavy glow shooting forward as a bolt of energy. The glowing bolt winked out midair. Augusta let out a quiet wheeze of disbelief, even as Rana raised the gun and fired. With a whoosh of compressed air, the crystal blurred across the room so fast it was invisible before shattering on the dragon¡¯s hide. The dragon looked down at its hide and frowned. It only seemed to realize what was happening when the team abandoned their position, diving out of the way of the window. An instant later the dragon found itself yanked off its feet and launched out the window. Its offended screech trailed off as it flew away over the lawn while the old man and the girl gave yells of protest. The second before it hit the ground, it expanded. Rana gaped as it went from a ten foot lizard to a one hundred and fifty foot monstrosity in a split second. Wings that could have covered entire houses unfurled, catching the air and settling it gently on the ground below. Then it was sent sprawling as a giant form charged across the lawn and gave it a flying tackle. Rana wasn¡¯t idle while this was happening, she and the others began extraction the moment the dragon left the house. She was halfway out the window, one leg in the air when something caught her around the middle and yanked her back into the room. Even as she hit the floor, whatever had caught her continued to tighten. A glance showed a vine wrapped around her stomach and holding her to the ground. Her fingers scrabbled at the vine, but it had no give. To her left, Augusta was in the same position, her spells bouncing uselessly off the conjured creeper. ¡°You think you can walk away from Cathasach Olbrecht after attacking his granddaughter in his own home?¡± The old man snarled. Rana blinked, then her eyes widened. If he was Chay¡¯s father then- ¡°That was a mistake, old man,¡± Gerald said as he tore his bindings off himself and stood, ¡°Now release my teammates or things are going to get messy.¡± The girl stepped forward before anyone else could speak. She hadn¡¯t moved much so far, but now there was a fiery gleam in her eye. ¡°Move kid,¡± Gerald commanded with a dismissive wave of his hand. Her head tilted and a snarlish smile came over her face. ¡°Sure,¡± She said in a falsetto. She vanished. A moment later she appeared behind Gerald. Her arms wrapped around his waist, then heaved him backward into a German suplex. He hit the ground with a thud that made the floor shake. He didn''t move afterwards, out cold. The girl got to her feet, then turned to consider Rana and Augusta. ¡°Waiwaitwait!¡± Rana finally got out, voice stumbling over the words, ¡°There¡¯s been a misunderstanding.¡± ¡°Misunderstanding?¡± The girl asked with a twisting frown, while Augusta shot her a look. ¡°Yes!¡± Rana continued, ¡°We work for Thunderbird Securities, a¡­ an asset retrieval company. The BSMP got a report of a rogue dragon and contracted us to bring it in. But we didn''t know that it was a team member¡¯s daughter. If we had known we would have turned them down immediately!¡± Beside her Augusta turned a shade of lime green. The girl looked at her, confused. Meanwhile the old man just frowned. ¡°Interesting, but it doesn¡¯t exactly solve the problem we have right now,¡± He said, ¡°I think it¡¯s time to get serious.¡± He held out an arm, palm facing upwards and uttered a word. It wasn''t any word Rana understood, but each syllable echoed with a power that shook air around him. A circular pane of energy, perhaps a foot wide and completely flat, appeared above his palm. Then around the edges, color began to appear. A border of first green, then reds, blues and every other color began to appear as the circle of color crept inward. Patterns slowly became apparent, strangely familiar patterns¡­ Rana blinked and realized that it was the flower gardens outside being copied onto the image above his palm. ¡°Oh noooo¡­ That''s an archmage¡­¡± Augusta whimpered under her breath, ¡°We attacked an archmage¡­¡± Rana held in a scream of frustration. Only Chay could spend ten minutes explaining how dangerous her parents were, and then just forget to mention that her father was a damn archmage. Rana was going to slap that woman. Although that would have to wait until after Chay had finished murdering the entire team for attacking her daughter. The pattern finally reached the center and a perfect copy of the cabin rose up from the center of the circle. Around it the illusory form of the dragon and Gamma team appeared, fighting among the flower fields. ¡°Well now,¡± The ¡®former adventurer¡¯ said, his gaze narrowing as he stared down at the image in his hand, ¡°This is interesting.¡± - Susan was not expecting a movement spell. Spell crystals were expensive to make and difficult to use, so most people on Themus never bothered with them outside of specific cases. Using it with an air gun was actually a brilliant move. Using compressed gas as a propellant wouldn¡¯t damage the crystal, effectively negating its biggest problem and allowing for incredible utility. Though the fascinating uses of spell crystals weren¡¯t exactly her focus as she grew to her natural size and touched down on the flowers. She could go crazy over the new magic later. For now, she had to be wary. The attackers wanted her outside for a reason. Then a T-Rex exploded from the trees, leaping directly at her. It must have been fifteen feet tall at the shoulder, and it was covered in brilliant blue feathers like a peacock. It was wearing a Kevlar vest the size of a shed, THUNDERBIRD emblazoned on the front. Sheer disbelief gave the T-Rex the time it needed to cross the distance and catch her in the jaw with a flying kick, sending her sprawling to the side. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Experience was still stronger than confusion, and she was rolling to her feet in an instant. Then she found herself ducking under a flying javelin the size of a telephone pole. A moment later her vision was filled with flying T-Rex again and she had to jump to the right away from its attack. She leapt forward to get distance from it, then spotted the source of the javelin. It was a fifty foot tall Cyclops, decked out in an oversized version of the Kevlar armor. Golden haired and stern faced, she protected herself with a shield the size of an oil tanker. The cyclopes free hand reached out toward an additional dozen javelins stabbed point down into the ground next to her. Ripping one out, she reared back and threw. The javelin flew toward Susan¡¯s head like a bullet. She ducked underneath it. A leap took her toward the treeline, where she reached out and with her tail and wrapped it around a squat conifer. A single pull was enough to wrench it from the ground. With a whip of her tail she sent it flying toward the Cyclops, the branches hissing through the air as the tree flew like an arrow. Then a brown form appeared in front of the Cyclops and Susan¡¯s impromptu projectile was caught midair. It took Susan a moment to identify it as a Treant. The bottom half of its trunk split into two halves, forming legs. In the upper part of the trunk a series of knots and whorls formed something like a face. The tree was caught in one of the two enormous branches that curved down from above the tree¡¯s face to act as arms. Then there was a flash of light and a roar of noise in front of her face as lightning struck the ground in front of her. Susan reared back in surprise, before the beating of heavy wings in front of her told of a new arrival. ¡°SURRENDER YOURSELF, DRAGON,¡± An eagle the size of a small passenger plane bellowed. Susan laughed in response. Muscles twitched within her heart, and energy began to flow through her body. It reached her arms and legs, then flowed into the muscles waiting there and overcharging them. For any normal animal this would be a death sentence, but for Susan¡¯s overengineered body the only problem was coordination. Her next leap had her meet the Giant Eagle midair. It squawked in protest, flapping its wings and summoning a gale of wind to push her away. The attack came too late though, and she managed to bring her head down in a devastating headbutt that sent the eagle reeling. She landed on the ground still laughing. Even as the T-Rex and the Cyclops both charged toward her. A second twitch of her heart sent energy flowing through her again, and a moment later she was leaping toward the Cyclops with the speed of a bullet train. The Cyclops¡¯ reflexes were much better than the giant eagles, however. She had her massive tower shield up and ready to block Susan¡¯s charge in the split second it took her to cross the distance between them. Susan felt her head smack against the bulk of the shield, then bounce up, followed by the rest of her body. She found herself deflected upward, launched higher in the air uncontrollably. An instant later the air around her turned scorching hot as a bolt of lightning hit her. Her muscles seized, throwing her into a messy tumble. A row of trees on the edge of the yard were reduced to splinters as she crashed back down to earth. For a moment, she was locked in place. Then the energy wracking her muscles vanished, sucked into the conduits that filled her body. Her scales heated infinitesimally as she dumped the energy into them. She was on her feet in moments, taking in the enemy. Her mistake had cost her. The team had pulled back to the other side of the yard, gathered around the Treant who was in the middle of casting a spell. Each of its branches weaved independently, tracing circles and runes in the air as it roared out booming syllables that shook the air around it. Around it the rest of the group stood crouched, guarding it as well as helping to fuel the spell. A final word echoed from its whorled mouth as it brought its limbs together. The glowing signals surrounding it winked out as power flowed from the Treant and into the T-Rex in front of it. Then the peacock colored reptile began to grow. Slowly, then growing faster and faster. Susan¡¯s head went front looking down at it to almost looking up as it reached eye level. The T-Rex let out a roar as it reached its final height, now reaching nearly sixty feet tall. ¡°CEASE YOUR RESISTANCE,¡± The booming voice of the eagle came again, ¡°YOU ARE OUTMATCHED, OPERATIVE BARBADOS IS NOW FULLY EMPOWERED.¡± It continued speaking, but Susan ignored it. She took a moment to look over at the cabin that lay amid the destruction of their fight. She blinked in surprise. It was immaculate. Not even a speck of dust marred the exterior. And despite the titanic impacts that had occurred so far, the only damage was the window and the door. A quick look over the rest of the yard showed the flowers growing at an incredible pace as they filled in the channels and divots dug by gargantuan feet. Susan smiled. She and the T-Rex, Barbados apparently, met each other¡¯s gazes. The echoing drone of the Eagle¡¯s pontificating continued as they gauged each other. There was a calm in his eyes that matched her own. Neither of them expected to lose the coming fight. They charged each other without another word, meeting in the middle with a titanic impact that made the earth tremble. Ducking under the gnashing teeth of the tank-sized head, Susan smashed her head into Barbados''s chest like a battering ram. Moving forward, her arms caught him around the chest. She heaved the T-Rex skyward, before throwing him back down in a thunderous impact that sent dirt flying. The noise and debris seemed oddly muted, the ground seeming to flow around the impact instead of being blown away. Then Barbados kicked up, clawed feet catching her in the torso and knocking her back. The T-Rex took a moment to get to his feet. First he rolled belly down, then crouched his legs beneath him and stood. It gave Susan enough time to settle herself and examine her torso. A lazy eye looked over the heavy gash now crossing her chest just above her arms. Red blood welled from it, then just as it began to spill over it stopped. In front of the group¡¯s widening eyes, the wound began to close. Susan shot Barbados a smug smile as the gash sealed shut. The only evidence left being split scales that even before their eyes began to fuse back together. His mouth fell open, a surprisingly human gesture for the dinosaur. The group behind him shuffled closer together as they took the sight in. Then his eyes narrowed. He crouched low, then leapt. He and Susan stood perhaps two hundred feet away from each other. Barbados crossed the distance in a single bound. Susan dove to the side as he crashed down where she had been standing. Barbados turned to face her in an instant, only to catch Susan¡¯s tail as it whipped across his face. His head was sent snapping to the side, but the T-Rex still managed to retaliate. Turning his entire body into the blow, he turned full circle so that his tail whipped around to catch Susan along the full length of her body. Her world turned upside down as she was sent tumbling. Catching herself, she whipped her head around to spot the T-Rex but found nothing. Then two enormous feet impacted the ground behind her as Barbados landed in a crouch. Something caught Susan around the middle and she found herself hoisted into the air. She twisted her head around to see her torso caught firmly between Barbados¡¯s jaws. His eyes glittered smugly as he took in her captured form. Then they widened when she turned around in her skin. Susan didn¡¯t know why people were surprised when she did this. She was clearly a weasel in shape, why wouldn¡¯t she have the loose skin that made mustelids such dangerous fighters. But despite his surprise Barbados didn''t flinch even as he saw her claws coming straight for his head. Instead of dropping her he whipped his head, forcing her arms and legs out and away. Then, continuing the motion, he turned in a full circle like a discus thrower and released her mid turn. Susan found herself flying again, this time toward a well entrenched group. The Cyclops had her shield up, protecting the Treant who was bracing her. The Giant Eagle hovered above, feathers crackling with electricity. Susan couldn''t help but laugh as she aligned herself midair. Did they really think she couldn''t learn their tricks? She hit the group like a cannonball, entirely ignoring the Eagle¡¯s lightning bolt as it struck her. A magically empowered tailwhip took the Cyclops¡¯ shield from the side, bashing her out of the way. Susan¡¯s hind claws grabbed the Treant and smashed him into the ground, while her head reached up to snag the giant eagle between her teeth. She whipped its body back and forth with a vengeance. Then finished by tossing the now unconscious eagle away to crash down on the lawn next to her. There was another roar and the explosive thuds of gargantuan footfalls as the T-Rex charged her from across the lawn. His jaw opened wide to catch her, then snapped shut as it hit the ground. An enormous root had tripped him. Within seconds more joined them, wrapping around his thrashing legs and head. His movement stilled as the roots continued to thicken, then began to sprout enormous colorful flowers. Slowly but surely, Barbados was reduced from a threat to a very strange lawn ornament. The cracking of limbs around her made her look back to the insensate bodies around her. The flowery vines growing up and around to entrap them as well. Then a small weight settled on her head. ¡°That was awesome!¡± Elizabeth yelled happily, dancing a jig just above Susan¡¯s eyes. Susan had to bite her tongue. She shouldn¡¯t have mentioned Hadwigis¡¯s old choice of seating. ¡°An impressive fight,¡± A soft voice came from her left. She turned her head to see a flowering rose the size of a room, set precariously atop a flagpole-like stem that raised it almost fifty feet in the air. Grandpa Zach sat serenely among the petals, looking down at the entrapped giants. ¡°Thanks for the help,¡± She said somewhat sourly. ¡°Sorry,¡± He said, ¡°But I thought the simplest way to stop them from attacking again was to simply show them they couldn¡¯t defeat you.¡± She shot him a glare, then decided to change tactics ¡°By the way, where¡¯s Grandma?¡± Zach did a little jump and gave a small cough. ¡°She¡¯s finishing up with the rest of the raiders,¡± He said, ¡°Oh, and also explaining things to your mother.¡± Susan felt herself freeze in place. From atop her head Elizabeth quietly crept forward until she could stare down at one of Susan¡¯s enormous eyes. They locked gazes for a moment. It didn¡¯t take much effort to translate Elizabeth¡¯s look. Susan swallowed heavily. Despite the fact she was a thousand years old, and technically not even guilty of hiding her status as a dragon from her parents. She still felt a familiar twinge of fear at the thought of them finding out like this. Then the rest of the implications hit her and her gaze turned back to Zach. ¡°Yes,¡± He said, ¡°Chay is a part of the group that assaulted us. Apparently this whole fiasco is the result of a great deal of miscommunication among them.¡± He looked at Susan again, ¡°And us.¡± She mulled that over for a few moments ¡°So everybody in our family is magic, and I was just the last to know?¡± She finally asked. ¡°I don¡¯t believe Martin¡¯s extended family does, but otherwise yes,¡± Zach said with a shrug, ¡°When you were born and we discovered you were mana blind, Chay decided that she would raise her children without magic.¡± They sat silently for a second as Susan joined Zach in staring down at the carnage laid out beneath them. ¡°Well that backfired spectacularly.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Movement finally came from the house as Hilda walked through the empty doorframe followed by Chay, who was speaking into a small black phone.. ¡°Hey,¡± Hilda called to them, ¡°Their boss is coming!¡± - It took a few minutes for a slate black jeep to roar up the road and park on the edge of the field. By the time it had arrived the door and window were fixed, and the two assault teams were trussed up and carted out to wait next to the road. They had largely mellowed out after the situation was explained to them. Going from hostile to mostly resigned as they settled down to wait for the situation to resolve itself. The two older generations of Olbrechts stood together on the cabin¡¯s porch. Susan hadn¡¯t quite believed her grandfather when he said that her number obsessed father was involved with magic. But a minute into their repairs a SWAT van roared into the field, skidding to a stop before releasing their father onto the scene. He now loomed next to Chay, the second tallest within the group behind Hilda. His brown eyes and blond stubbled face hidden behind one of the plexiglass fronted helmets. Susan herself lay curled around the cabin like the world¡¯s most dangerous fence, desperately dodging looks from her mother. Elizabeth had chosen to remain atop her head, as far away from her parents as reasonably possible. It was almost a relief when the door to the jeep opened, and a Native American man dressed in a suit stepped out. Even from where she sat Susan could see he looked ready to explode. Though interestingly, his ire wasn''t directed at his subordinates or the people who had subdued them. Instead he was staring down at a tablet in his hands. Martin was already jogging across the lawn toward him. With the gentle violence reserved for frustrating yet valuable electronics, the man pressed a button on the tablet and turned to greet him. They conferred quietly for a bit. Susan surreptitiously tried to listen in, but was distracted when she felt someone land on her head next to Elizabeth. An ¡®eep¡¯ from Elizabeth and a glance toward the porch told Susan it was her mother. ¡°Hello girls,¡± Chay said quietly. ¡°Hi, Mom,¡± Susan and Elizabeth squeaked out together. The weight of her mother on her head felt like the blade of a guillotine waiting to fall. Susan didn¡¯t know what to say to her, didn''t know where to begin with the mess of secrets that had been revealed. Then the two weights vanished from her head, Chay and Elizabeth landing in front of her eyes a moment later. Their mother looked between them for a moment before shaking her head. ¡°So you two learned about magic,¡± She said with a sigh. ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Only recently¡­¡± They mumbled at the same time. Both examined the treeline, quietly hoping for another T-Rex to attack Chay gave another heavy sigh. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said. Susan stared at her in equal parts hope and terror as she continued. ¡°I thought magic was fading, most people do these days. Even the group I work for is dealing with less and less serious problems. So when you were born mana blind I thought we could just go without magic,¡± Chay finished with a shrug, looking down. They stood there for a little bit, the distant babble of Martin and his boss filling the background. Susan wasn¡¯t sure what to say. This mess wasn¡¯t technically her or Elizabeth¡¯s fault. But it did occur to her that the thought of telling her parents about magic had never even crossed her mind. She had made plans for how to hide her agelessness, but there was simply an enormous blind spot when it came to communicating with her family. ¡°Sorry¡­,¡± She mumbled, then amended it when Chay looked confused, ¡°For hiding it, I mean. Elizabeth followed a moment later with her own quiet apology, then frowned ¡°Though, about the magic thing,¡± She said slowly, ¡°It¡¯s not really vanishing.¡± Chay¡¯s head whipped toward her. ¡°What?¡± She asked instantly, making her daughter jump. ¡°The government guys just swept all the problems under the rug,¡± Elizabeth spoke quickly with a frantic wave of her arms, ¡°All the big stuff is just hiding or sleeping.¡± Chay stood stock still, Elizabeth wilting under the intensity of her gaze. ¡°John is going to need to hear about this,¡± She said, finally looking away. ¡°Speaking of,¡± Susan said, happy to spare her sister her mother¡¯s attention. ¡°So you¡¯re the dragon,¡± The man shouted as he walked over to her. Susan picked herself up off the ground and moved forward to loom over him. ¡°Yes.¡± His steps slowed as he took in her true size. He shook himself, then narrowed his gaze on her face. ¡°Hello, my name is John and I¡¯m the manager of this group. I¡¯d like to begin by apologizing on behalf of Thunderbird Securities for the misunderstandings that led to this,¡± He said, taking a moment to shoot a meaningful glance at Chay. Susan considered it for a moment, then shrugged, ¡°Eh, it¡¯s whatever.¡± John nodded, then held up his tablet again. Pressing a few buttons, he turned his attention back to Susan. ¡°Thank you for that,¡± He said, ¡°But I do have a few questions I would like you to answer,¡± He said. Susan just shrugged again. ¡°Alright then,¡± John looked down at the page and began reading off of it in a monotone, ¡°Do you have any plans involving mass destruction or overthrowing governments?¡± ¡°Not anymore.¡± John stared unblinking down at the tablet for a few seconds. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ going to mark that down as a ¡®no¡¯ then,¡± He said finally. The questions continued, mainly focused on whether or not Susan had any plans to maim, kill or destroy anyone or anything. Slowly but surely the conversation slowly turned to focus on Susan¡¯s biggest source of grief, Joseph and the mousekin. It didn¡¯t take long to piece together what had happened. Joseph¡¯s follower must have tracked her and Elizabeth off the bus, then reported them to the BSMP who probably had a bone to pick with her because of yesterday. Susan probably shouldn¡¯t have blown them off. Though to be fair, she hadn¡¯t been planning to fight a vampire and a small army of mousekin at the time. ¡°This is very interesting,¡± John said with a smile that didn''t go past his lips as Susan finished a rundown of the situation. ¡°So¡­ are we good?¡± Susan asked, hoping that the smile would go and point at someone else. ¡°Yes, it appears I have a few questions for my namesake at the BSMP concerning who¡¯s reports he¡¯s vetting.¡± Susan nodded along. She could understand where his anger was coming from. Joseph had taken a cheap shot at with his report to the BSMP, who had taken their own cheap shot by vetting the it. Now the Thunderbirds were stuck between a dragon and a bureaucratic hellscape, and there wasn¡¯t much they could do about it. Susan herself wasn''t happy with the situation either, but no one she cared about was hurt, and she wasn''t going to get in a fight with the chosen representative for an unholy entity of pure suffering and madness over nothing. And also Joseph, who was a pain, but currently not worth the trouble of going after. The conversation for a little longer, then finished with Zach finally releasing the Thunderbird team from their restraints. They stood, then gathered themselves quietly and began to leave. The human sized group, minus Chay and Martin, returned to the van along with Barbados. He gave Susan a nod before shrinking down to the size of a horse and climbing inside to the audible complaints of the vans occupants. The Giant Eagle flapped a few times to get in the air. Then its talons grabbed onto a hook on the back of the Cyclops¡¯s vest and it began ferrying her away. Meanwhile the Treant walked into the woods, vanishing among the trees. Susan watched as the van finally peeled away, then vanished as it turned a corner down the road, leaving the flower fields quiet once again. ¡°By the way girls,¡± Chay said. ¡°Yes?¡± They chorused. ¡°You¡¯re still totally grounded.¡± Chapter 13: DIY Isekai Susan¡¯s grounding had gone great. The first two days after her arrival on earth were complete madness, and so she was more than happy for an excuse to stay at home. Elizabeth, of course, had protested vehemently, and eventually managed to get her punishment rescinded. Mostly on account of being one of the ¡®protectors of the Earth¡¯. As for Anne, without the shadow of her Uncle leaning over her, she had blossomed into quite the social butterfly. Spending each day with an ever expanding group of friends. And after she had followed through with her promise to deal with the dangerously inquisitive Cole, Susan was left free to relax into the blissful numbness that was high school. They still met each day for walks to and from the Brick, but Susan¡¯s days mostly passed by in a blur of classes, homework, and reading science articles on her phone. The weeklong grounding had ended the day before to little fanfare, and Susan had been eagerly looking forward to another bland Wednesday. Which was why she hadn¡¯t exactly been happy to receive a whispered request from Anne for help with a ¡®problem her friend had¡¯, that morning as she passed through the front gates of the school. Now she found herself surrounded by hordes of chattering freshmen, awkwardly making her way to the back of the cafeteria. She almost missed Anne, barely spotting the mousy girl waving to her over the group freshmen between them. She was standing at the far end of the last cafeteria table in the row, next to another girl sitting facing the wall. Susan stared at her friend for a moment, wondering exactly what ridiculous situation she would be dragged into this time. Then sighed and kept moving. Finally reaching the seat across from them, she dropped her backpack down on the table with a thunk before plopping down in the seat and settling her back against the wall. Then her face scrunched up in confusion as she recognized the girl hunched over next to Anne. ¡°Mattie Shirden?¡± She blurted out. ¡°Shhh, not so loud,¡± Anne hissed, ¡°We¡¯re trying to hide this from Cole.¡± Susan could only blankly nod as she tried to process Anne¡¯s statement, she personally considered the idea of keeping anything involving Mattie Shirden a secret to be pretty much impossible. Her eyes had to travel up quite a bit to take in the near six foot frame of the girl in front of her. Add the heavy black jacket and jeans, and the girl wasn''t exactly a champion at hide and seek. Though that was only what made her recognizable. What made her impossible to hide was the fact that she was the instrument by which Anne had fulfilled her promise to Susan concerning Cole. Last Thursday in the middle of the school courtyard as Susan desperately dodged another pointed question from Cole, Mattie had appeared. Standing over the table they were sitting at, she glared down at the boy with a heavy gaze. Then she awkwardly sat down next to him, dark clothes clashing with Cole¡¯s brightly colored anime shirt, and asked him out. The school rumor mill had suffered a grain dust explosion and burnt to the ground as every gossipmonger glommed onto the brand new whirlwind romance. The subject of their attention now sat hunched in her seat, dark eyes glowering at Susan from behind her equally dark locks of hair. Together with her impressive height, her position made her loom over the table. ¡°So why is she here?¡± Mattie grumbled, her naturally dour face making her scowl truly impressive. ¡°She is here to help us with your problem,¡± Anne said with a look and a nudge of her head. ¡°But she doesn¡¯t know anything about¡­¡± Keeping her eyes glued to Susan, Mattie leaned down to Anne and whispered, ¡°You know what.¡± Susan rolled her eyes. ¡°Is this another magic thing?¡± She, unable to keep exasperation out of her voice. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°No.¡± The girls answered simultaneously. Anne sighed. ¡°We need help making Cole into a hero.¡± Susan stared at her for a few seconds until she finally realized Anne wasn¡¯t joking. Then she frowned. This was not the kind of problem she was expecting, and definitely not something they needed her for. ¡°Just hand him a magic sword and throw him in a vampire den!¡± She said with a dismissive wave of her hand. ¡°Exactly!¡± Mattie exclaimed, slamming a hand down on the table. ¡°Can we not go for the most dangerous option?¡± Anne exclaimed, ¡°We need him to actually survive becoming a hero.¡± ¡°Then do you have a better idea?¡± Mattie shot back. ¡°I do, but we need to explain things to Susan!¡± Anne said with a nod her way. ¡°Okay?¡± Susan said with a shrug, half exasperated with their antics and half relieved it wasn¡¯t another eldritch monstrosity she had to deal with. ¡°So,¡± Anne said, planting both arms on the table and leaning in, ¡°Mattie comes from an ancient line of witches from England.¡± Susan pursed her lips, then leaned across the table and gave Mattie a sniff. The girl actually did give off the smell of alchemy and spell work, if a little weak. ¡°Huh, that¡¯s cool,¡± She said under the incredulous gaze of both of the other girls. ¡°Aaanyway,¡± Anne continued, ¡°Her grandmother is super old fashioned-¡± ¡°Freaking medieval,¡± Mattie muttered. ¡°-and so she cursed Mattie so that she could only court a man worthy of her.¡± ¡°A hero,¡± Susan finished for her. ¡°Exactly,¡± Anne nodded, ¡°I knew about her problem. So after Cole tried to save me from Kelly, I realized that he might have done something heroic enough to count.¡± ¡°Except it wasn¡¯t,¡± Mattie grumbled, almost to herself, ¡°He has to save me, specifically, from a monster for the curse to lift.¡± Susan frowned, ¡°Okay¡­ but why specifically Cole? Aren¡¯t there other possible heroes out there?¡± ¡°Because-¡± Mattie cut off before looking down. ¡°She actually likes him,¡± Anne said. Susan could only stare as Mattie turned red as a beet. ¡°Seriously?¡± She couldn''t help but blurt out. She was friends with Cole, but nothing about the overweight nerd had struck her as boyfriend material. ¡°Yes,¡± Mattie snapped back, ¡°He¡¯s nice and kind and adorable and I want it to be him!¡± Her emphatic defense ended with her leaning halfway across the plastic table, and Susan found herself pressed up against the wall behind her. Mattie seemed to recognize the position she was in, so she flopped back onto her seat and wrapped her arms around herself. ¡°Look,¡± She said, none of her intensity diminished, ¡°I like him and if that stupid spell doesn¡¯t understand he¡¯s worthy of me then I¡¯m going to make him a hero so great that even Grandma herself is going to come and get in line to kiss his a-¡± ¡°Aaand that¡¯s where you come in!¡± Anne cut in, eyes tracking a teacher that was passing by a few tables away. ¡°And how exactly does Miss Einstein come into this?¡± Mattie asked, finally cooling down. ¡°Susan is a dragon,¡± Anne said simply. Mattie¡¯s head slowly turned to stare sidelong at Susan. ¡°Yup,¡± She shrugged. Mattie¡¯s eyes narrowed as she thought things over. ¡°I see¡­¡± She muttered. ¡°So,¡± Anne said, putting her arms on the table and leaning in, ¡°Are you interested in playing the evil dragon for Cole?¡± Susan settled back against the wall to think things over. On one hand this was a complete waste of time and would probably end like some kind of terrible reenactment of a King Arthur play. On the other hand¡­ ¡°I have to admit¡­¡± She started slowly. ¡°I have always wanted to kidnap a princess...¡± She trailed off as a smile slowly spread over Anne¡¯s face, she knew Susan was hooked. Mattie smiled as well and leaned in, ¡°So here¡¯s the plan, have you ever heard of a ¡®Grader¡¯ before?¡± Susan pursed her lips, ¡°That''s a kind of magic training device, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, I still have the one I used when I was a kid. It can make him stronger fast, and¡­¡± Mattie leaned further in with a gleam in her eye, whispering conspiratorially, ¡°It does it exactly like one of those litRPG stories Cole loves so much.¡± Susan was nodding along, but paused when she got to that. ¡°It¡¯s not a bad idea,¡± She began, ¡°But I can¡¯t just fight him immediately, magical enhancement doesn¡¯t work quickly and needs a lot of fuel.¡± ¡°Don''t worry,¡± Mattie said with a dark smile, ¡°I know the perfect person for that. But first, what do you know about the Isekai genre?¡± Fifteen minutes and a hastily devised kidnapping plan later, the three girls absconded to the other end of the cafeteria. It took them a long minute to find Mattie¡¯s friend, and even longer to convince her to join them back in the freshmen section. Now, after explaining their plan, they found themselves being stared down like criminals before an angry judge. ¡°You want me to what?¡± Ruth asked for what must have been the third time as she rubbed her temples. Her well cut shirt and pants contrasting with the expression of bafflement that spread over the dark skin of her face. Bright gray eyes peeked out from a canopy of midnight black hair as she looked at the three of them. ¡°I need you to beat up my boyfriend for me, okay?¡± Mattie said, before frowning as she seemed to realize the words that had just come out of her mouth. ¡°Did he cheat on you or something? Because this just sounds like some sort of insane revenge plot.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like that!¡± ¡°Please, are you in or not?¡± Anne said, leaning in to cut off their glorious leader¡¯s pleas. Ruth shrugged, ¡°Sure, I¡¯m in. Nothing else to do on a Wednesday night.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Mattie said with a heavy sigh, losing some of the tension in her shoulders. ¡°I am wondering,¡± Ruth said, moving to rest her chin on her hands, ¡°Why aren¡¯t we using summoning magic to transport him? It seems easier than breaking into his house.¡± ¡°We are not using summoning magic!¡± Susan snapped, eliciting a trio of shocked looks. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it''s not a problem,¡± Mattie broke in, ¡°I already have something for that.¡± Both girls turned to her, ¡°Really, what?¡± ¡°A coffin.¡± Anne joined the other two in staring at Mattie, who looked back and forth between them with a confused frown. ¡°Mattie,¡± Ruth began slowly, ¡°Why do you have a coffin?¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯d be surprised how useful they can be,¡± Mattie said completely innocently. ¡°No,¡± Susan broke in, ¡°Why, and I mean specifically here, in this context, do you have a coffin?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± Ruth turned to the other two girls, still giving Mattie a sidelong look, ¡°Are we sure he didn¡¯t cheat on her?¡± ¡°I think we¡¯re going to find out,¡± Anne replied slowly.
Cole woke up with a start. His room was dark, and his bed was strangely uncomfortable. He shook his head, then had a moment of disconnect when he felt grass moving beneath his head. He jolted up, stumbling to his feet as he began to realize that this definitely was not a bedroom. He stood in the middle of a small clearing in the forest, about twenty feet across and covered by an uneven layer of sod and dirt. The grass crunched beneath his bare feet as he took in a starry sky mostly hidden by towering oaks. A wind whipped around him, the cold reaching right through his threadbare pajamas. ¡°Where¡­ am I?¡± He whispered, mind still not quite processing what was happening. Though a little ember in his heart couldn''t help but dream up visions of other worlds and godly powers. ¡°Cole¡­¡± A voice came from behind him. Cole nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned to see a veiled woman, dressed in flowing white robes standing behind him. ¡°Mattie needs your help¡­¡± She continued, and the ember of warmth in Cole¡¯s heart froze solid. ¡°M-Mattie?¡± He whimpered. The older girl had entered his life completely out of nowhere. But in the week since he¡¯d begun dating her, he had rapidly realized that he now couldn''t imagine himself without her. The thought of her being in trouble, of something like what he had seen with Kelly happening to her was terrifying. ¡°She has been taken by a terrible dragon¡­¡± The whisper came again, and his chest clenched. A dragon dragon? The figure continued without pause, ignoring his inner turmoil, ¡°Take up these and become the hero you are meant to be¡­¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. An arm gestured to a flat stone behind the figure. A longsword lay across it, along with a small metal sphere. The mysterious woman looked at him for a moment, then turned to the side and walked silently into the woods. Cole watched her go with wide eyes, before turning back to the stone. Stumbling steps took him to it, and a trembling hand reached out to the sphere. It was perfectly round and light like a ping pong ball but his fingers couldn''t feel any give in the structure as he grabbed it and brought it up to his face. A blue square appeared floating in the air in front of him.
/DO YOU ACCEPT THE SYSTEM/
YES/NO
¡°Yes,¡± Cole whispered reverently. The sphere melted into his hand without a sound, but instead of fear at the surreal feeling, the only thing he could feel was pure elation. Even with the threat to Mattie, Cole couldn''t resist the visions of glory that ran through his head and a grin came over his face. Magic was real. Systems were real. So what if there was a dragon, what could possibly stop him now? A tiny unicorn appeared, floating in the air next to Cole¡¯s head. It was only a foot tall and looked like a plush toy, with tiny limbs and cartoonishly huge eyes. And it was colored like a neon rainbow. Just looking at it made Cole¡¯s eyes ache. ¡°Hi! I¡¯m Rainbow! Do you want to be friends?¡± It shouted with manic enthusiasm. ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAH!¡±
A deep rumbling laugh echoed through the woods. An enormous dragon, its bulk bathed in shadow, waved its stubby arms wildly in the air. Glowing lines followed each finger, drawing glowing arcane symbols. The world around it seemed to tremble as the images completed, and enormous amounts of magical power flowed through them. The scenery, the trees and grass and even the very air warped and changed to the dragon¡¯s whims. Walls and towers grew like grass around it, the area only barely lit from below by floating arcane fires and the blood of the very earth. High above, trapped within a cage that sat suspended from an enormous stone arch, a fair maiden clothed in a white gown looked down on the beast cackling to itself below. ¡°I think the lava moat is a little overkill,¡± She called. The great maw of the beast whipped up so the dragon could glare at her. ¡°Shut up, it''s fine!¡± Susan snapped back. ¡°It is supposed to be an evil dragon¡¯s lair,¡± Ruth spoke up from where she stood leaning against the side of the stone arch. She was now barefoot, and wearing a fluffy bathrobe despite their place in the woods. ¡°Thank you, Ruth,¡± Susan said sweetly. ¡°Uh, hello?¡± A voice shouted from beyond the maze of walls and lava moats, ¡°Can I come in?¡± Susan jumped in place, making the earth rumble before turning around to look toward the sound of the voice. ¡°Sorry, sorry, I forgot to make the drawbridge!¡± She cried. A few seconds later an avalanche of stone and gothic ironwork appeared midair, then formed into a wide stone lane leading through her improvised fortress. ¡°Thank you,¡± Anne snarked as she came marching over towards them, dressed in the flowing robes that had shocked Cole only minutes before. ¡°How did it go?¡± Mattie called down. ¡°It was humiliating!¡± Anne almost screamed, ¡°We forgot to include an exit! I went over the lines, and then had to just walk away! I¡¯m lucky he didn''t just follow me back here.¡± ¡°Looks like I¡¯m up,¡± Ruth said. Stepping away from the arch, she began to grow. The bathrobe hit the ground behind her as shoulders broadened, legs thinned and lengthened, and her long hair thickened into a mane. She gave the others a quick nod before bounding off into the woods. ¡°Be careful with him, please,¡± Mattie shouted after her. The only response was a huff that echoed back through the stone walls. ¡°Seriously, why couldn''t we make the Grader do the exposition part?¡± Anne grouched. ¡°It would have taken too long,¡± Mattie shouted back, ¡°I had plenty of trouble erasing the old avatar as it was.¡± She stopped, and then a frown crossed her face. ¡°Wait,¡± She muttered, ¡°I did remember to erase Rainbow, right?¡± Susan looked up from forming another rune. ¡°How should I know,¡± Her voice boomed, ¡°You wouldn¡¯t let me touch the enchantments on the thing.¡± Mattie¡¯s eyes widened, and a second scream echoed through the dark night. ¡°NOOOOOOOOO!¡±
Cole finished screaming, but the gaudy abomination was still there. ¡°Are you OK?¡± Rainbow said with exaggerated care. ¡°Buh¡­ What. What?¡± Cole stammered. ¡°I¡¯m a unicorn. That¡¯s a kind of magical horse. I¡¯m here to show you magic, help you not die, and have fun!¡± ¡°D-die?¡± He asked, trying to take a step back. The unicorn just followed, staying barely a foot away from his face. Cole¡¯s eyes were starting to water from having to look at it. ¡°I was told there was someone in trouble. Do you want to save them?¡± It asked. Cole nodded furiously, ¡°Yeah, Mattie, my girlfriend. She¡¯s the one in trouble.¡± ¡°AMAZING!¡± Rainbow shouted, throwing its hooves in the air, ¡°Can I help you?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ sure,¡± Cole said calmly. By this point he had simply given up on understanding the eldritch children''s mascot. ¡°Hooray! Let''s see how strong you are!¡± The unicorn¡¯s face drooped and its eyes began to open wider and wider, the cartoonish orbs ballooning to terrifying proportions. A shiver instinctively ran down Cole¡¯s spine, but was stopped by a wave of heat running upward. It seemed to linger for a moment in his chest and head before vanishing. All the while the unicorn stared on with its terrifying multicolored eyes. Then, after an agonizing few seconds, the plush abomination returned to normal. ¡°I¡¯m all done! Now I¡¯m going to show your Power Points. Power Points show how strong you are. A higher number means you are better at something! Can you count?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Cole mumbled helplessly. ¡°That¡¯s incredible!¡± Rainbow shouted, floating to the side only for a square pane to appear in its place.
Physical Powers! Magical Excellence!
Strength 5 Mana 1
Agility 3 Sensitivity 0
Constitution 6 Knowledge 0
Resisting the urge to claw out his own eyes at the color, Cole read through the information. He didn¡¯t say anything for a minute. He wasn¡¯t sure, but single digit stats were usually reserved for the start of the story. And dragons were reserved for the end. ¡°These are pretty bad, aren¡¯t they?¡± ¡°Totally, you are super weak! But don''t worry. I''m here to help!¡± Rainbow said, still with its usual cheer. ¡°So, do I have any cheat skills? Or anything, really?¡± He pleaded. ¡°If you are in danger then I can make you stronger with magic!¡± Rainbow said. ¡°Great! So what¡¯s the best way to increase my stats the most?¡± The unicorn paused for a moment with a frown, then began speaking again, ¡°Oh, you mean the Power Points. To make your Power Points go up, you need to find somewhere with lots of mana! Can you find the mana?¡± Glittering eyes stared at Cole, begging him to try. He could only stare back helplessly. ¡°No¡­¡± He gave in with a confused shrug. ¡°That¡¯s ok, you did your best!¡± He had to hold himself back from punching the thing. ¡°You can also find magical animals! They have lots of magic I can use to help you!¡± Cole wanted to cheer. At least this was something he could understand. He could cultivate or hunt down monsters to get stronger. He had been confused at the start, but the more things aligned with the litRPG and isekai stories he had read, the more confident he became. Plan in mind, he grabbed the sword and lifted it up before him. It was about four feet long, with a long handle that fit both of his hands easily. The design was simple, like And¨²ril from the Lord of the Rings movies. The only difference were the sides of the blade, which had a strange wavy pattern of different colored metals that he vaguely recognized as Damascus steel. He swung it back and forth slowly, trying to get used to the unfamiliar weight. ¡°Now I just need a wolf to fight and it¡¯ll be a proper isekai,¡± He whispered. A deep growl echoed through the clearing, the sound so deep and heavy it made his chest vibrate. Any kind of intelligent thought vanished from his mind as a wolf stepped out onto the soft grass of the clearing. It was covered in heavy black fur, and so tall it came up to his chest. Gray eyes shone in the gloom, above a mouth filled with the kind of teeth you usually saw in the prehistoric section of a museum. Cole had been feeling a lot of different things. Worry for Mattie, hope and joy at the situation, and annoyance at the unicorn. All of that was washed away by a tide of fear. He had seen scenes like this in manga and anime. The hero always fought a wolf once they were ¡°isekai¡¯d¡±. It was so common in the genre that he had even ranted to Mattie a few times about it. But now¡­ now he was living it. The wolf was leaping at him before his brain could process it. He tried to swing the sword at it, but couldn''t do much more than get it between himself and the wolf. The action at least did something. The wolf twisted midair to avoid the blade. Instead of catching him with its jaws, it instead smashed a shoulder into him and sent him sprawling. His back hit the ground, sticks and stones digging into his skin as he clamped his eyes shut. He waited for a second for the feel of teeth around his neck, then wrenched them back open once nothing happened. The wolf was just standing across the field, barely visible in the dim light except for its eyes which watched him with glimmering amusement. He spent a panicked second scrabbling to his feet. Then held the sword out in front of himself, between him and the wolf. Then the wolf was moving again, ducking under the outstretched sword and hammering its head into his stomach. Cole hit the ground again, but this time he barely felt it. His attention was instead focused on the all consuming need to get more air back in his lungs. It took a moment to get his breath back, but his quivering lungs didn''t settle. The air rushed in and out of his over and over in a quick rhythm as he scrabbled backward away from the monster. ¡°W-w-why are you- what are you- what is happening?¡± He almost screamed out. The wolf stared at him for a few seconds, silent and unmoving as it stood crouched a few feet away from him. Slowly it lowered its head and opened its mouth. ¡°test, for, hero,¡± It coughed out word by word, the sound horrifying as it rasped from a throat not meant for human speech. ¡°you,¡± It continued, ¡°fail.¡± Childish defiance and fury got Cole to his feet. He stared down the wolf with defiant eyes, even as his shaking hands made the sword held between them jump back and forth. ¡°Hey!¡± Rainbow abruptly appeared in Cole¡¯s face, making him jump back with a scream. That was the only thing that saved him from the wolf¡¯s next leap. The sound of its closing jaws snapping together rang in his ears like a gunshot. ¡°Hey Cole!¡± Rainbow repeated. ¡°WHAT!¡± He screamed, even as he watched the wolf gracefully land and swivel around to stare him down again. ¡°I have a lot of mana now! I can make you strong-¡± ¡°YES!¡± ¡°Are you sure you want me to make you stronger?¡± ¡°AAAAAAAAH,¡± Cole screamed as the wolf leapt at him again. Then as the bulk of the beast rushed at him, wide jaws and gleaming pointed teeth filling his vision, it seemed to slow. Cole could see it now. The wolf, each and every hair drawn with incredible detail to his eyes, and its trajectory. It wasn¡¯t aiming at him. The creature¡¯s claim of it testing him was true. He could see now that the head was positioned so that it could move down and ram him in the chest instead of biting him. With a speed and coordination Cole had never experienced, he kicked himself backwards. The wolf¡¯s teeth clacked shut just in front of his chest, but this time he didn¡¯t feel panic. He simply watched it happen with complete surety. The wolf¡¯s feet barely touched the ground before it bounced backwards, landing on the ground at the edge of the clearing. Cole watched it go. The strange feeling that had come over him was incredible. It wasn¡¯t like the wolf was moving slowly now. Instead, his mind was just able to process what was happening fast enough to keep up, along with the near instinctive reactions given by his body to avoid it. ¡°I¡¯ve just made you stronger,¡± Rainbow chirped, ¡°Now I¡¯m going to show you how to use a sword!¡± Cole shot it a look, but had to keep his eyes on the wolf as it began to slowly stalk to the side. His feet shuffled awkwardly as he was forced to turn to keep it in view. ¡°Now stand like this!¡± From the corner of his eye, he saw the unicorn stand on its cartoonish hind legs. Materializing a blocky copy of his sword and holding it in both hands in front of itself, the unicorn took on a light crouch. With no better options, Cole copied its pose. His grip firmed up on the sword, and instead of the embarrassing poses he might have made with his uncoordinated body before, he now imitated the unicorn perfectly. The wolf readied itself to leap again, but a swipe of his sword stopped it. The motion made him frown. His improved vision could now see how messy the arc of the blade was. ¡°And swing like this!¡± Rainbow swung its sword, slowly tracing a perfect slash. He swung again, and the blade hummed as it sliced through the air. Cole smiled. The wolf frowned. ¡°Good job!¡± Rainbow said with that artificial warmth reserved for very small children. Cole groaned. Then the wolf was rushing at him, low to the ground this time. His sword was swinging down immediately, on a trajectory for its head. The blade bit deep into the soil as the wolf nimbly dodged to the side. Fear of retaliation crashed down on him again, but this time he pushed through. His feet kicked up the loam beneath him as he charged down the wolf, sword whipping in a horizontal arc. He saw its eyes widen, and then it jumped. It''s body rising and legs curling up just enough for his sword to hiss by harmlessly underneath. Its paws touched the ground, and before Cole¡¯s sword had even finished its arc the wolf¡¯s head was shooting forward. Their foreheads connected with a crack, and Cole was sent sprawling backwards. His feet tripped on the uneven ground of the clearing, and then he was on his back again. He was still blinking back spots when a weight settled on his chest. It was the wolf, its front paw on his sternum, the other pressing down on the arm that still held his sword. It leaned in until gray eyes and gleaming teeth were the only thing he could see. ¡°better,¡± It spoke, ¡°but, still, not, hero.¡± It held him there another moment before getting off him and trotting away. Cole stared after it as it vanished into the woods without another word. After a few stunned seconds, he stumbled to his feet before turning to face an overjoyed Rainbow. "Great job on not dying!¡± The unicorn shouted. ¡°Yeah,¡± Cole muttered, staring it down while he debated whether or not to scream at the magical Alexa. Squashing the urge, he finally spoke again. ¡°So, how are my stats?¡± He asked. ¡°They look great!¡±
Physical Powers! Magical Excellence!
Strength 5 (+8) Mana 1
Agility 3 (+14) Sensitivity 0
Constitution 6 (+4) Knowledge 0
¡°Wow, you¡¯re doing so much better!¡± Rainbow said. Though Cole barely heard it as he read. ¡°So I guess I¡¯m the swordsman class,¡± He muttered to himself. ¡°To take a class, you need a teacher. Do you want to find a teacher?¡± Cole had to take a second as the gaudy abomination shot down the last of his dreams of a traditional litRPG isekai. Then he squared his shoulder and looked outward, past the edge of the clearing. ¡°Alright,¡± He said, ¡°Now how do I find the dragon?¡± ¡°Always remember. If you want to fight a dragon, don¡¯t!¡± Rainbow said, ¡°But my friend told me, ¡®Follow the footprints to find the dragon¡¯!¡± It finished by making exaggerated air quotes with its hooves. ¡°Follow the footprints, how am I supposed to find¡­¡± Cole trailed off as his eyes drifted downwards. He had noticed earlier that one half of the clearing was higher than the other. That was incorrect. One half was lower, pressed down into the imprint of a paw. The thing was enormous, ten feet long and half that wide with five enormous claw marks carved into the dirt at one end. Cole found it hard to move his eyes away from the sight. The mysterious woman had said a dragon. He had heard her, but not understood her. After fighting the wolf though, having truly seen the ridiculous strength and speed a creature like that could produce? The idea terrified him, made his legs tremble beneath him as he contemplated a creature that could and would kill him by stepping on him. But¡­ ¡°Mattie,¡± He whispered, the name sparking an unfamiliar feeling inside his chest. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± Rainbow asked. ¡°No.¡± Cole looked to see where the toes pointed, and, ignoring the fact that he could probably curl up inside the depressions they made, began walking. Five minutes, and about fifty enormous footprints later, it was starting to sink in that this adventure might take slightly longer than he may have expected. He had no sheath for the sword, so he was forced to awkwardly carry it over his shoulder. The grass was soft under his feet, but every few steps something sharp or spiky would poke his feet. Was it too hard for whatever god or cosmic being that brought him here to have included shoes? A twig snapped somewhere in the distance. He was in the sword fighting stance in an instant, sword pointing toward the origin of the sound. Then he blinked in surprise, and the point of the sword lowered slightly. ¡°Hello?¡± He called toward the figure he had just spotted halfway hidden by one of the thick trunks around him. ¡°A fellow traveler? How unexpected,¡± A raspy voice echoed back, the figure stepping out from behind the tree. Taking in his appearance, the idea finally sunk home that Cole might, actually, be in another world. A cloak so dark it blended in with the night sat on the shoulders of a man with skin whiter than stationary. Blood red eyes stared out from beneath a cowl, and a hint of fangs poked out from the man¡¯s sneering mouth. Cole¡¯s mouth opened and closed a few times. ¡°Are you a vampire?¡± He blurted out. ¡°Are you a brainless gob?¡± The vampire sneered back at him, ¡°Obviously I am one of those blessed by the night!¡± The insult barely registered, as for the first time since he saw the footprint, Cole saw an opportunity. ¡°So¡­ are you hunting the dragon too?¡± He asked. The vampire jumped. ¡°How did you guess that?¡± He snapped, stalking forward and making Cole bring his sword back up, ¡°Have you been following me?¡± ¡°What, no!¡± Cole shook his head vigorously, then pointed to the ground beside him, ¡°Why else would you be following the giant footprints?¡± The vampire¡¯s lips pursed for a moment, before calming and taking a step back. ¡°You are correct,¡± He said, ¡°I hunt the dragon that left these.¡± Cole nodded slowly as he considered things. This was a vampire, a magical creature. He was volatile, but there might be an opportunity here. ¡°Hey, so I¡¯m actually hunting the dragon as well. What would you say to working together?¡± He asked, slowly putting his sword back over his shoulder. The vampire stared at him for a few seconds, probably doing the same mental math Cole had the moment before. ¡°Acceptable.¡± He said with a nod, ¡°Follow after me then.¡± He immediately turned and began walking again. Cole had to rush to follow after the vampire¡¯s quick strides. He was taking a risk. But fighting a dragon was a risk too. This way he might have an ally. And even in the worst case scenario, he should have a free source of stats. Fighting the wolf had given him a good amount of respect for the threat that magical creatures represented. And looking down at another one of the enormous footprints, Cole knew he needed whatever edge he could take no matter what it was. ¡°By the way,¡± He asked, wincing as he stepped another stick, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°You can call me Robert Ross.¡± Hey, he had a name for the vampire now. What could go wrong? Chapter 14: The Isekai That Never Was ?anywaTeaming up with the vampire had been a mistake, Cole decided as he listened to Robert begin another long winded rant. Their conversation had started out light and guarded. Cole had made the decision very quickly to hide anything about his isekai, and at first the vampire had seemed to be just as reticent. But as the conversation continued, and Cole had failed to understand more and more references to things like ¡®the Brick¡¯ and ¡®the Bureau¡¯, the vampire had slowly changed. He seemed to assume that Cole was some country bumpkin who understood nothing about ¡®real¡¯ magic, and so had taken it upon himself to explain everything he thought Cole needed to know. About himself. In exhausting detail. ¡°To think that the filthy creature would dare to touch a direct descendent of the Primos Vampirus!¡± He said for the fifth time in half an hour. ¡°It should have known that such an action would result with its head on a pike within a fortnight. After all, it is the duty of any true vampire to avenge such an insult!¡± Cole was well past listening at this point. He had been interested at first, but by now the unceasing chatter was starting to grind on his very last nerve. He didn¡¯t even understand why the vampire was here. From what he understood, the vampire and the dragon met. Then the dragon insulted, and possibly cheap-shotted him. It didn¡¯t seem to be the kind of thing to declare blood-feud over to Cole, but by this point he was too distracted to care. Instead he had started imagining different ways to make the vampire shut up as a coping mechanism. Currently, he was repeatedly visualizing smashing the vampire over the back of the head with the flat of his sword to knock him out. It wasn¡¯t like anyone would blame him. Not even the other vampires. From what Cole could piece together from his rants, Robert was some kind of vampiric nepo-baby who had managed to royally piss off the other vampires to the point that they had banished him to the middle of nowhere. Cole wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they outright thanked him for knocking the guy over the head. ¡°But to think!¡± Robert ranted again, loud enough this time to catch Cole¡¯s attention again, ¡°That my own kin would deny my right to lead them in battle against the greatest of prey! They would not even allow me the use of the great artifacts to bring in the beast.¡± That at least was a helpful piece of information. Cole had started paying attention again when he¡¯d first heard Ross mention magical super weapons, but the vampire only ever brought them up to rant about how unfair it was he couldn¡¯t use them. Shockingly, the other vampires were not willing to use their rare and incredibly valuable artifacts unless they believed they had a solid shot at defeating the dragon. Which Robert did not. Not that the narcissistic nightwalker would ever admit it. Cole¡¯s mind began to wander again and he distractedly looked down to begin analyzing the tracks they were following. They came in pairs, spaced forty or fifty feet apart. Almost like the dragon was hopping, though Cole didn¡¯t know enough about animals or tracking to figure out what that meant. Then he paused. Something was wrong¡­ Robert had stopped talking. Cole¡¯s head quickly came back up, only for his jaw to drop open as he realized what had happened. They had found the dragon¡¯s lair. It wasn¡¯t exactly hard to miss. Ahead of them the forest had been reduced to ashes and blacked husks in a line almost half a mile thick. Beyond that a great swath of earth had been torn up, raised into an enormous wall of twisted stone taller than an apartment building. The area the dirt and stone had been taken from was now a chasm, radiating light and wavering heat that Cole could see even from where he stood in the woods. The footprints ended at an wide stone bridge that crossed over the moat. Behind it a stone arch, fifty feet high and equally wide, allowed passage through the wall. The two of them shot each other a glance, then Robert threw his head back and started walking again. Cole swallowed, then followed. As they drew closer to the bridge he could see gothic ironwork forming rails on the sides, contrasting the rough stone of the walls. Reaching the front of the bridge, a questing glance showed the source of the moat¡¯s light. It was lava. The dragon had a lava moat. A river of molten stone running through a channel almost twenty feet wide and twice that deep. Cole went to swallow again but his tongue stuck in his throat, the moisture wicked away by the stifling heat around him. A glance at Robert showed an identical shell shocked expression. ¡°This should not be here¡­¡± The vampire whispered. Cole waited for him to continue, but when Robert failed to say anything, he was forced to take the lead and begin walking again. Then he paused mid stride. Walking straight into a dragon¡¯s lair might not exactly be the best idea. A few steps took him to the side of the bridge and he began creeping along, following the twisting ironwork. A moment later he heard Robert begin to pad along after him. They quickly reached the end of the bridge and passed under the arch, only to pause. Once again staring up in a mixture of shock and awe. The wall extended for almost a mile in diameter, encircling what looked like the grown up version of the Roman Parthenon. They faced the front wall, a gigantic roofed edifice that must have been hundreds of feet tall. Far beyond that in the distance, Cole could see a dome that could swallow a sports arena crowning the gargantuan building. The mass of gray stone that made up the construction had been taken from the ground below, forming a second, larger moat that traveled all the way from the outer wall to the foundations of the building. As it turned out, the pair were crouched not at the end of the bridge, but almost the beginning of it. They took it in for a moment, before Cole finally turned back to Robert. ¡°So what¡¯s the plan?¡± Cole whispered, then muttered a command to Rainbow to show him his stat sheet again. He eyed it worriedly as the vampire paused to think. His stat growth from proximity to the vampire had slowly tapered off as time passed. Now he was sitting in the twenties for all physical stats.
Physical Powers! Magical Excellence!
Strength 5 (+21) Mana 1
Agility 3 (+27) Sensitivity 0
Constitution 6 (+19) Knowledge 0
They were certainly a lot higher than when he started, and he could feel the difference in the way he saw and moved. But staring back up at the small mountain of a building, he didn¡¯t know if it would matter. ¡°Simple,¡± Robert proclaimed in a soft, but still dramatic voice, ¡°You shall attack and distract the dragon while I circle around and ambush it from behind!¡± Cole had to hold back a grimace. The suggestion was unfortunately what he had expected to hear from the vampire. An attempt to use Cole as bait while leaving himself the chance to run. ¡°Any other plans past that though?¡± Cole asked in a voice he hoped was casual, ¡°I mean, we need to have a backup plan in case the dragon survives your ambush.¡± The vampire shot him a raised eyebrow. He clearly wasn''t in any doubt over his ability to kill the dragon. Or Cole''s chances of survival if they followed his plan. Cole wanted to continue protesting, but the reality of the situation was pretty bleak. The fact of the matter was that he was not going to be able to convince the headstrong vampire of any other course of action. So that left him with a simple choice. He could attack the dragon with, or without Robert. Meaning the only real option was to go along with the vampire¡¯s suicide plan and hope to survive it. So Cole just nodded his head and turned around to keep walking. The stifling heat washed over him again, even hotter than before, but he grit his teeth and kept moving. An enormous hole cut out of the front wall allowed entrance into the cathedral. Creeping up to the one side, they took turns peering inside. The interior was a simple stone hall, with two rows of pillars on either side supporting a vaulted ceiling a hundred yards across. The height and thickness of redwoods, they lined the corridor like silent watchmen, looming over Cole as he looked in on them. Burning braziers hung in between the pillars, casting a wavering light that only barely managed to illuminate the imposing structure. Much further into the building, in a wider area Cole was pretty sure sat underneath the dome, he spotted movement. He glanced back at Robert, and the vampire nodded. He had seen it too. The duo carefully entered, then silently crept from pillar to pillar. Pausing behind each one, they would glance around it to check for the dragon. Though they never actually spotted anything, to Cole¡¯s simultaneous relief and frustration. Eventually though, once Cole had lost count of the number of times they had run the distance, he found himself dashing towards a new kind of pillar. Where the others were the size of trees, the one he approached could fit a house within its footprint. Looking up, he saw that they had finally reached the area underneath the dome. Once the two reached the shadow of the pillar, Robert turned to look at Cole. He quickly pointed towards his eyes then around himself before creeping around the side of the pillar. Cole imitated him, heading around the other side to examine the room. He took in the mad architecture with wide eyes. Above him, the vaulted room he had entered through transitioned into the vast dome. Four of the larger sized pillars rising hundreds of feet skyward to support it. Beneath its vast cover, Cole found the first source of color in the building. It was the dragon¡¯s hoard. A disappointing one. Instead of mounds of gold and silver, a small hill had been constructed entirely from books. Hundreds of feet across and dominating the center of the room, the messy pile of tomes rose up almost a hundred feet before the top caved inward to form a sort of nest, Cole briefly read a few of the covers. The ¡®Effects of Rhetoric on Emphatic Magic¡¯ sat on top of a reference dictionary, which itself was on top of a book on the ¡®Elemental Classification of Dragons¡¯. Science books, the dragon hoarded science books. If only he could tell Susan, she¡¯d have the thing dead in a day. He continued creeping around the pillar, then came to an abrupt stop when he saw Robert coming around the other end. Their eyes widened in realization. ¡°Hello,¡± A deep feminine voice echoed from above them. Cole¡¯s eyes went up. That was how he spotted the cage suspended from the center of the dome. The dome was so high that he could barely see the thing, but a flash of light reflecting off the side helped him notice it. And the dragon. He finally laid eyes on the creature and promptly leapt backwards in a panic. It was a strange combination of snake and weasel, with bat wings curled up incongruously above its shoulders. Only the size of a passenger airplane. It hung from the pillar above them like a spider looking down at the prey in its web, grinning at Cole with a mouthful of teeth longer than his forearm. Then the beach ball sized eyes turned to the side to stare at Robert and the smile became a frown. ¡°Well you¡¯re not supposed to be here,¡± It said. ¡°Do not taunt me, beast,¡± Robert snapped back viciously, stepping forward, ¡°I know your true form now, and before this night is out I will drink you dry and erase all memory of my humiliation from the world!¡± Cole took a step back as he spoke, trying to keep the very ambitious vampire between him and the giant monster. As the vampire took a breath to continue, he began to glance around. A plan slowly started to come together as to how he might reach the cage above him. In front of him the vampire seemed to take on a dark aura. Energy coalesced around his hands and formed into heavy black claws that seemed to warp the light around them. As Cole stepped further away gathering his feet under himself to run the other way, the dragon began repositioning itself. It crouched lower and bared its teeth, getting ready to leap. Then, as the energy finished settling around him; the vampire began to speak again, screaming out his next words. ¡°Your servants and slaves will join you in death as they rue the day-¡± Cole¡¯s sword impacted the back of Robert¡¯s head with a vengeance. The vampire stood still for a moment as Cole whipped the sword back and took up a fighting stance. Then Robert slowly tilted forward before flopping to the ground with a thud. The room was perfectly still afterward, not a sound breaking the moment. Cole¡¯s eyes rose to meet the dragon¡¯s. It slowly blinked as both of its enormous eyebrows raised in surprise. ¡°CONGRADU-¡± ¡°SHUT UP!¡± Cole roared over the exultant unicorn, chest heaving as he came down from the rush of adrenaline that had pushed him forward. He had practically moved on instinct when the vampire threatened Mattie. Now he was down an ally and the only reason he wasn¡¯t ash on the floor was because the dragon seemed too bemused to react. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°AHAHAHA,¡± The dragon bellowed, ¡°Oh, this is going better than I thought.¡± It dropped down to the ground with a world shaking thud, and the long tail reached down to wrap around the prone Robert. The appendage swung around slowly, then sped up and with a thunderous crack of air the vampire was thrown back across the hall like a bullet. Cole¡¯s eyes could barely track the flying form as Robert shot back out the front archway and into the distance. And then it was just him and the dragon again. ¡°Right,¡± The dragon finally stopped laughing, ¡°Now where were we?¡± It looked down on him, and Cole swallowed as he looked at the mouth more than large enough to swallow him whole. It frowned. ¡°Hmm,¡± The dragon hummed to itself, eyes scrunching up in thought, ¡°Could you give me a sec?¡± The long neck twisted around so that the dragon could stare back at its body. It took a moment for Cole to understand what was happening, but then he spotted some odd black squiggles on the dragon¡¯s forearm. They were words, he realized. Someone had written something in sharpie on the scales. ¡°Hmm, yes,¡± The dragon muttered before turning back to him. ¡°BEHOLD,¡± It¡¯s voice boomed across the cavernous building as it reared up on its hind legs, ¡°I AM QUE- wait.¡± It checked its arm again, ¡°Que-zo-co- how do you even pronounce that?¡± It fell silent for a moment. ¡°Do you mean Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent from Aztec myth?¡± Cole spoke up slowly. The dragon¡¯s massive head came up slowly to glare at him, then leaned down. Its lips dragged open over razor-sharp fangs. Cole swallowed and stepped back. What kind of attack would it- ¡°Nerd,¡± It spat out. ¡°Hey, your ¡®dragon¡¯s hoard¡¯ is made of textbooks!¡± Cole yelled, but the dragon just chuckled to itself at his reaction. Cole wanted to laugh, or maybe scream, at the insanity of the situation. The deadly dragon he was sent to fight seemed to have no idea at all what it was doing. But, it was a dragon. The part of him that wanted to laugh was drowned out by all the other parts that were gibbering in fear. Every time it moved he felt his stomach drop. As he watched, the dragon began examining its arm again. It slowly stumbled over the name a few more times, before shaking its head in frustration. ¡°Well, he said I should try using it,¡± The dragon muttered, before finally rearing up again, ¡°BEHOLD, I AM RUIN.¡± Cole turned and ran. Behind him the dragon cursed, but he ignored it as he focused on one of the pillars. It rushed towards him as he crossed the distance in seconds thanks to his increased stats. Then, leaping upwards, he positioned his feet toward the pillar and tried running up it. Somehow, his legs seemed to know what to do as they caught the stone of the pillar and kicked backwards. It still took his brain a moment to realize he was actually doing it. His feet pushed off the pillar over and over and he saw the ceiling start to draw closer. For the first time he managed to get a real look at the cage he was aiming for. It was a silver birdcage, ornately designed and hanging from a golden chain. Within stood a woman in a white gown, her height and hair making it obvious she was Mattie. He finally drew level to it, and with a mighty kick from both legs he leapt away from the pillar and towards the cage. He could see Mattie fully now. She was staring at him with a wide smile, one arm reaching through the bars of the cage and out towards him. He smiled as well, and then he saw her eyes flicker down and something caught him around the ankle. He was torn from the air with a scream. The dragon landed with a heavy thud back on the ground from where it had leapt, Cole held upside down from the ankle by her tail. ¡°That was rude,¡± Her voice roared over him despite her quiet tone as she held him almost directly in front of her face. His sword lashed out in response, but was deflected off the scales of her face with a shriek of steel. ¡°WOULD YOU CUT THAT OUT? I HAVE A SPEECH TO GIVE, DAMMIT!¡± The dragon roared in response, and Cole had to desperately cover his ears. ¡°GIVE IT TO SOMEONE WHO CARES!¡± Cole shouted back, putting his sword between them. The dragon¡¯s face twisted into a sneer, ¡°FINE!¡± Then Cole found himself flying backwards towards the front of the building. He fell in a messy tumble, only barely straightening out his fall so that he landed on his feet. Even so, with the incredible speed he had been thrown at, he ended up skidding backwards another hundred feet until he finally came to a stop. He breathed out a quick sigh, thankful for the increased stats that made the maneuver survivable. A gray mass appeared in front of him forcing him to duck under it. As the object slammed into a pillar behind him with a thunderous boom, Cole realized that it was one of the massive bricks that made up the humongous structure. He turned back to see the dragon using its claws to pry up another mammoth piece of masonry out of the floor. ¡°SO YOU DODGED THAT, HUH?¡± The dragon roared, its tail circling around behind it just like it had earlier when it threw Robert out the door. Cole knew what was going to happen, but he didn¡¯t even get the time to move before the boulder was flying at him. With no chance to dodge Cole instead swung the sword, desperately hoping to blunt the force of the impact. His eyes began to close in anticipation, only to open again when he felt something tug at his chest. A beam of light erupted from his blade, cutting the car sized projectile in half. The two halves of the boulder struck the ground on either side of him harmlessly as he looked on with wide eyes. ¡°Hi!¡± Rainbow shouted, eliciting another shriek in response, ¡°I made your mana better!¡± ¡°YOU CAN DO THAT?¡± Cole screamed back. ¡°Now you can use the magic sword¡¯s super ability!¡± ¡°THE WHAT!¡± Cole had to dodge another boulder that crashed down on his position. He barely noticed, locking eyes with the unicorn. ¡°IT CAN WHAT?¡± ¡°To use the sword¡¯s super ability, just give your sword mana! Can you feel your mana?¡± The unicorn asked with its guileless eyes, unblinking as another boulder passed through its body to crash against a pillar. Cole turned away, trying to focus back on the sword even as stones crashed and thundered around him. It felt like there was something running from him into the sword, some sort of heat that seemed to come from his heart. He tried to make the flow increase, and the blade began to hum in his hands. His feet planted on the ground, and he turned to face the next boulder thrown at him by the dragon. And with a swing of his sword, it was reduced to pebbles. He shot a triumphant look at the dragon, chest heaving as he exalted in the heady rush of doing magic for the first time. The dragon simply frowned, dropped the chunk of stones it was currently holding, and crouched low to the floor. Then it was halfway across the room, shooting towards him like a rocket. Cole screamed and jumped as hard as he could, then screamed even louder as his desperate leap shot him almost a hundred feet in the air. The air hummed around the monster as it passed below him. ¡°Show me my stats!¡± He snapped to the Unicorn hovering by his side. Wide eyes examined the pinkish screen, then got even wider. His stats were in the hundreds.
Physical Powers! Magical Excellence!
Strength 5 (+126) Mana 1 (+63)
Agility 3 (+197) Sensitivity 0 (+9)
Constitution 6 (+131) Knowledge 0
¡°Wow! Look at how many Power Points you have now!¡± cheered the unicorn. ¡°I¡¯ve been using them to help make you faster and stronger!¡± Cole ignored it, dismissing the screen and turning his attention back to his fall. His feet touched the ground and the next instant he was running as fast as he could, not even looking back to see what had happened to the dragon. An indignant roar told him more than enough. Even as his strengthened legs carried him dozens of feet in a single step, he felt a rush of fear as the cacophonous footfalls of the dragon began to echo following behind him. His legs threatened to shake themselves apart underneath him as the adrenaline began to eat away at his coordination. As he huffed out another shaky breath, an idea wormed its way into the back of his mind. He could just run. With such incredible stats he could probably outrun the dragon. Leave, train, and come back to fight another day. Whatever god sent him here probably didn¡¯t want him to just kill himself like an idiot. They wouldn¡¯t mind, right? He squashed the idea. He didn¡¯t care about some supernatural quest, what mattered was Mattie. So what if it killed him? Cole was going to save her. A shriek echoed from up ahead of him, one his mind quickly realized must have come from Mattie. He had to get to her- No, he had to kill this damn dragon first. His feet caught the floor, bringing him to a skidding halt even as he turned. His mind pushing the connection between himself and the sword until the blade screamed with unreleased power. His eyes locked on to the beast bounding towards him. Its eyes began to light up as it saw him turn, and its jaws opened wide as its head swung down on top of him. Cole swung the sword. The blade disintegrated into a thousand pieces as a beam of pure energy exploded forth. It caught the dragon in the middle of the neck and passed through it to scorch a line across the far wall. For a hair raising moment, the dragon continued to fly towards Cole. Then the head and neck flopped over him to crash down somewhere behind. The headless body thundered to the ground, rolling to a stop barely ten feet away from him. His lungs heaved air in and out as he stared at the crumbled body for a moment. ¡°I¡­ did it?¡± He gasped. ¡°YOU DID IT!¡± A voice screamed behind him and two arms wrapped around him in a crushing hug. ¡°Youdidityoudidityoudidit!¡± Mattie screamed in celebration, jumping up and down even in excitement. ¡°Mattie, you''re alright!¡± Cole shouted. ¡°Of course I am!¡± She said, eyes sparkling as she stared down into his eyes, ¡°The cage unlocked as soon as you became a true hero!¡± ¡°A hero?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± She screamed, ¡°Now we can start dating!¡± Cole blinked, ¡°We weren¡¯t dating before?¡± He blurted out. ¡°Oh, well,¡± Mattie looked away, scratching the back of her neck, ¡°It''s a long story.¡± Cole¡¯s eyes returned to the headless body behind them. ¡°I guess it is.¡± He decided to leave that for later and enjoy the feeling of her arms around him and the joy of winning a fight he hadn¡¯t believed he would even survive. It was a heady feeling, made better by the fact that he didn¡¯t even have the nightmare unicorn staring him in the face right now. Then he frowned ¡°Huh, that¡¯s weird.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Mattie asked quickly. ¡°Usually Rainbow would be congratulating me for defeating my enemies by now,¡± Cole said, looking around until he found the unicorn floating behind him. ¡°What do you mean?¡± It asked, tilting its head in confusion, ¡°You didn¡¯t beat anyone.¡± Reality did a barrel roll. ¡°Hmm,¡± He stared at the unicorn for a long moment, ¡°What.¡± His head turned toward the dragon¡¯s corpse, only for it to dissolve in front of his eyes. Around both of them, the grand building began to fade. Grass appeared beneath his feet, and trees appeared off in the distance. Cole gaped around at the clearing that had replaced the stone and lava hellscape. Something boomed behind him, making the pair jump. A quick turn revealed the dragon clapping its paws together, an enormous smile covering its face as it lounged in the middle of the clearing. Incongruously, Anne stood in front of it, wearing a familiar white dress. Next to her was a Junior girl in a bathrobe that Cole vaguely recognized as one of Mattie¡¯s friends. ¡°So what did you think?¡± She shouted, grinning. ¡°Dragon!¡± Cole shrieked, only to be cut off by a hand tugging at his shoulder. He turned to look at Mattie only to see the single most awkward expression he had ever seen. ¡°What?¡± He asked. ¡°Uhhh,¡± She stammered eloquently, eyes whipping back and forth, ¡°So, um, y¡¯know that long story, right? Well, thing is, there¡¯s a curse I needed to remove, and so I¡­ we¡­ err¡­¡± ¡°We kidnapped you and faked the whole isekai!¡± The dragon shouted. ¡°Oh, shut up Susan!¡± Mattie shouted back, ¡°You¡¯re not helping!¡± Cole¡¯s head turned back glacially. ¡°S-Susan?¡± He sputtered out. ¡°Yep! What did you think of my performance?¡± ¡°Uhh,¡± Animal instinct warred with human familiarity until a single thought bubbled to the forefront of his mind. ¡°Your hoard sucks!¡± He finally blurted out. Ruth and Anne both burst into laughter as Mattie slapped a hand over her face. Susan was left sputtering with outrage. ¡°What?¡± She blustered, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with science books?¡± Cole had to join the others in laughing, the incongruity of a dragon spouting the most classically ¡®Susan¡¯ line ever finally getting to him. ¡°Come on,¡± She continued, even more flustered, ¡°Like you would have done any better, you would have just hoarded manga!¡± It didn¡¯t help. They only laughed harder.
An hour later, the group had relocated to a 24 hour diner on the outskirts of town, having flown back in, of all the things, a magic coffin. They sat crowded into one of the red leather booths, a smattering of coffees and milkshakes covering the table. Cole found himself seated next to the window alongside Mattie. Anne, Ruth, and Susan, now all human and properly clothed, were seated across from them. In the background the chatter of the television played over the empty restaurant. The situation had been well explained by this point, and most of Cole¡¯s questions had been answered. He now sat staring at his reflection in the dark window, mulling things over while the amateur kidnappers chatted. He really wasn¡¯t sure what to make of the whole situation. His isekai experience had been terrifying and a complete mess, and he was still reeling from learning that the whole thing was all a lie. But he couldn¡¯t help the joy he felt at the fact that Mattie genuinely liked him enough to have done it in the first place. In the end, the only thing he got out of the whole thing was a really weird story and a girlfriend. Cole stopped when he had that thought, realizing he was probably being stupid. A look to the side showed the girl in question. She was looking down at the table with a heavy blush, a hand idly twirling a lock of hair as she waited for his reaction. A nudge got her attention. ¡°So, are we still on for anime Friday?¡± He asked. ¡°R-really?¡± She asked, biting her lip in anticipation. ¡°Yeah, of course,¡± He said with a shrug, then watched her go from awkward to happy in an instant. ¡°Absolutely,¡± She said with a wide smile, and Cole found himself smiling back. ¡°Okay,¡± Susan broke in, ¡°Before you two get any more distracted, let''s get the Grader deactivated.¡± ¡°But,¡± Cole began, only to be interrupted. ¡°No, you can¡¯t keep it,¡± She said, ¡°Artificial strength enhancement is super dangerous long term.¡± Anne and Ruth turned towards Mattie simultaneously. ¡±Wasn¡¯t this thing meant for kids?¡± Ruth asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Yes- Well no, but,¡± Mattie threw her hands in the air, ¡°Didn''t I already tell you about this?¡± ¡°When?¡± ¡°When we were getting Cole!¡± Ruth leaned forward, both eyebrows now raised, ¡°Was this that thing you were talking about when we were dragging Mr Hero here out his window in that coffin of yours.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Cole broke in. ¡°It was nothing!¡± Mattie squeaked as she looked away from him, ¡° Anyways, to recap, the Grader is supposed to encourage kids to exercise and learn more about magic; the enhancement thing is just for emergencies. I actually had to jailbreak it to get it in permanent emergency mode like that.¡± ¡°And forgot to delete ¡®Rainbow,¡¯ apparently,¡± Susan said with a wide, shark-like smile that Ruth and Anne quickly mirrored. ¡°Oh, yes, tell us more about this ¡®Rainbow¡¯,¡± Ruth said, leaning in. Cole saw from the corner of his eye as Mattie¡¯s eyes widened in horror. ¡°It was nothing,¡± He said, trying to avoid the three sets of eyes boring into him with barely disguised glee. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Susan had settled her chin on her hands as she stared him down, ¡°Even for say¡­ Two weeks of Math homework?¡± ¡°Very sure!¡± Cole said before he had time to talk himself out of it. The wide eyed smile from Mattie made it very hard to regret, though. ¡±No¡­¡± Anne spoke up, and Cole breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°We won''t convince him tonight, we¡¯ll need to wait a few weeks.¡± And now Cole was right back to being worried. ¡°Lets get that Grader out already!¡± Mattie burst out, and Cole nodded vigorously in agreement. They turned to face each other, both trying and failing to ignore the three girls watching them. ¡°Right, so, show me where you took it in?¡± Mattie asked, and Cole held out his hand. Holding both hands out over it, she muttered a few words in a language Cole didn¡¯t recognize and the eye searing form of Rainbow appeared in front of Cole. ¡°Hi,¡± It said, ¡°Is it time to go now?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Cole shouted, then winced, ¡°Okay then, bye bye now!¡± The unicorn shouted, waving at him with a hoof. A second later it faded away, leaving Cole staring at Mattie again. Then his strength began to bleed away. It was a surreal feeling, one moment he had the instinctual knowledge that he could put his hand through the wall with minimal effort. The next, that instinct was replaced with the quiet understanding of exactly how much that would hurt. A weight appeared in his hand, and then he felt Mattie¡¯s hands brush against his as she reached down to pick up the silver sphere that had appeared. She gave it a quick look before slipping it into a pocket. Cole couldn''t help the look of longing he sent after it, feeling weak after the loss of all that power. Mattie must have noticed, because she smiled and leaned in. ¡°Don''t worry,¡± She whispered, ¡°It''s just basic magic enhancement, I can teach you to do it yourself.¡± They sat there a moment, faces close and just looking at each other before a light cough caught their attention. ¡°Any last questions before we finish things?¡± Anne asked as she absentmindedly reached for her coffee. ¡°Yeah,¡± Cole said, turning to face her, ¡°Just one.¡± The coffee paused halfway to her mouth, ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°How the hell is Susan a dragon?¡± All eyes quickly turned to Susan, who rolled her eyes. ¡°I got isekai¡¯d, duh¡± She said with a dismissive shrug, and Cole¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°Really?¡± He asked quickly. Susan shot him a look, ¡°Yes, really.¡± ¡°Like, an actual isekai, not a kidnapping?¡± Susan rolled her eyes at that. ¡°Yes, a real isekai, though it was actually a kidnapping.¡± Cole¡¯s mouth paused halfway open when he heard that, but any response he might have made was cut off when Ruth spoke up from across the booth. ¡°Uh, guys?¡± She asked, pointing a finger towards one of the old blocky TVs hung in the corner of the room, ¡°Are you seeing this too?¡± Cole turned to see the TV showing what he was pretty sure was a Pok¨¦mon. It looked like an alligator snapping turtle, but with a flat brass colored shell and a thick club on the end of its tail like a dinosaur. It was also huge, crushing trees beneath its feet as it waddled through a forest. The image came from a helicopter, which seemed to be hovering well away from the beast with the camera zoomed very far in to capture the image. ¡°MONSTER ATTACKS YOSEMITE!¡± Scrolled over the bottom of the screen, and Cole felt his jaw drop open. Then a dot appeared, shooting towards the camera which began to shake. There was a hair raising moment as the dot drew closer, but then it began to resolve itself into a figure. It was a young girl in a red and blue dress. She quickly drew closer to the helicopter, then once she was close grabbed onto the side. There was a flash of light that left the camera blinded, and when the picture became clear again it had changed. Instead of the park, the helicopter now hovered above a department store parking lot filled with people. They all wore outdoor clothing and backpacks, some looking shocked and others relieved. The girl watched the crowd for a moment, then nodded to herself. Shooting the camera a smile, she floated away from the helicopter before vanishing into thin air. The sound of Susan¡¯s head thunking against the table broke the silence that had fallen over the group. ¡°Was that a magical girl?¡± Cole blurted out, looking back to the others. Susan let out a sound between a scream and a groan, still face planted into the table. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Anne asked, and Susan raised her head to look at her. ¡°We have to go.¡± ¡°Now?¡± ¡°Yep, I have an idiot little sister to go save.¡± That got her looks from the entire rest of the group, except for Anne who stiffened in her seat. Her hands tightening around her mug in a death grip. Cole frowned at that, shooting a confused look at Mattie. She quickly shook her head and mouthed, ¡®later¡¯. ¡°Don''t worry,¡± Susan said quickly, ¡°There¡¯s a place nearby that should be safe to stay while I¡¯m gone.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Susan smiled, ¡°Oh yes, my grandparents.¡± Chapter 15: Super Smash Dragons Zach¡¯s hand turned the dial of the stove off the moment before the kettle started whistling. Decades ago, when he had first come to this he would have spent an hour struggling to turn the thing off before resorting to magic. But time had bred familiarity, and now habit had his hand in the correct position just in time. Like clockwork, the kettle was then taken off the stove and boiling water was poured into two mugs already prepared with tea leaves. At the same time Hilda turned around holding two bowls of porridge, and Zach picked up the mugs. They headed to the porch, settling onto the deck chairs there and began to enjoy their breakfast in the dark of the early morning. Hilda would begin her morning training soon, and Zach had long ago scheduled his daily meditation so that they could do them together. It gave a more structured pace to their mornings that he had come to enjoy. Zach¡¯s bowl was soon empty. He set it aside, then settled back in the chair with a sigh, enjoying the quiet. Then the wards around the house hummed and he sat up again with a second, much more tired sigh. ¡°Susan is coming by,¡± He said, ¡°It appears she is in a hurry.¡± Hilda nodded and the two of them stood before walking over to the edge of the porch. They stood for a moment, waiting. ¡°What are we going to do about that girl,¡± Hilda mused to herself, ¡°Immortal at sixteen and a dragon to boot. Zach stood quietly, letting her think aloud. ¡°At least she¡¯s the one of the better kinds of immortals,¡± She continued, and he had to nod along to that. There were many different kinds of people, and many different ways that they reacted to the curses and boons of immortality. For some, the incredible weight of eons crushed their spirits and left them walking husks. Others were driven to madness, or forgetfulness. Susan though, was the kind who simply didn¡¯t notice it. In a thousand years, she would look up from one of her textbooks and awkwardly realize that the flag hung over her desk was for a country that no longer existed. Or perhaps that the school she taught at had changed names when she wasn¡¯t looking centuries before. She could still learn, grow, and hopefully mature now that she wasn¡¯t stuck in the hellscape that was Themus during the Atlan Conquests. ¡°Think I should cook up the sweetbreads?¡± Hilda asked, catching his attention. He considered for a moment, then shrugged, ¡°It would probably be better to wait.¡± They soon heard a whistle of air approaching. Then the gray bulk of Suasn¡¯s body landed on the ground with an earth rattling thump. She was immediately moving, twisting around to grab a small group of people off her back and placing them on the field in front of her. She spoke in a blur the entire time. ¡°Elizabeth-is-fighting-an-earth-dragon-I¡¯m-going-to-help-her-Could-you-protect-Anne-while-I¡¯m-gone-Thank-you-bye!¡± A flap of her wings took her back into the sky, and Zach turned to take in the small group as the whoosh of her wings faded above them. There was a short brown haired girl he recognized as Anne from Susan¡¯s descriptions. Next to her was a pudgy boy holding hands with a tall girl in dark clothing. The entire group looked windswept, hair blown back as they blinked owlishly and rubbed their eyes. ¡°Ugh, I think I understand why Ruth didn¡¯t want to come,¡± The boy said, then coughed. ¡°Why¡¯d you want to, anyway?¡± The girl next to him snapped. ¡°I dunno, Susan said they were adventurers and I thought maybe I could get some advice.¡± That got Hilda¡¯s attention. Zach couldn''t hide a smile, she needed a new punching b¨C student. They stepped off the porch and approached the small group, quickly capturing their attention. Hilda herself marched directly up to the young hero, looming over him with a grin. ¡°So you want to be a hero, huh?¡± She asked with both hands on her hips as she eyed him. A mute nod was more than enough assent to her and the next second he was being dragged off to the protests of his girlfriend. Zach didn¡¯t pay them much attention. He had seen Hilda ¡®induct¡¯ new students plenty of times. Instead he focused his attention on the last girl, the subject of Susan¡¯s request. Anne was quiet, still looking upward after the receding form of Susan with a frown. Spotting Zach, she quickly hurried over to him. ¡°Do you think she is going to make it in time?¡± She asked. The window panes rattled as a sonic boom split the air. Anne¡¯s head snapped back up to see Susan, now a rapidly shrinking dot on the horizon. ¡°I don¡¯t think it''s going to be a problem for her,¡± Zach drawled. - Abana stalked around a floating model of earth, carefully examining the colored dots that covered it. It was huge, five feet across and so it took her several minutes to carefully examine the entirety of the finely detailed surface of the globe, a duty she took very seriously. Each of the dots marked a potential threat to Earth. Size meant strength, and color meant hostility, They went from blue, meaning peaceful and then ran through the color wheel to red, which meant extremely hostile. As things were, the globe looked surprisingly good. There was the usual smattering of dots throughout the oceans and sparsely populated continents. The familiar red circle that dominated Eastern Europe was there. Along with the fuzzy purple blob covering the center of North America, the persistent reminder of the Eldritch creature lurking there. Her teeth clenched as she spotted one of the spots within it, a small red one denoting the Eldritch Avatar she had encountered just last week. It was a biting reminder of Rawiyah¡¯s betrayal. She must have been hiding its existence for at least a decade if not more. All for one of her ridiculous schemes. With a huff she looked away towards the other new dot. A large light blue one that sat almost on top of it. It was almost as frustrating to her as the one representing Rawiyah¡¯s nephew. Something about it just didn¡¯t make sense. Instinct and experience told her the dragon was strong, stronger than what the dot represented. She stared at the red and blue points for a few long seconds, blindly hoping they would open up and explain things to her. Eventually though, they began to dance before her eyes and she was forced to look away. Feet wandered further away from the globe, and she tried resting her eyes by looking at the circular walls that ringed the Globe. They were slate gray, made of a perfectly smooth crystal. The room itself was barebones, with a monolithic style. Five huge rectangular pillars lined the circular wall of the room beneath a tall flat ceiling. She finally slowed as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. With a huff, she shoved the problems of the past week to the back of her mind where they hopefully wouldn¡¯t bother her. Then an ethereal chime rang in her ears and she sighed. Then it rang four more times and the sigh turned into a startled cough. Bare feet slapped across the crystal floor and back to the globe. A red dot had appeared in the bottom left of North America. It pulsed, quickly growing to eclipse the ones around it. She quickly turned, looking towards the pillars around her. On four of them, the front began to change. The gray crystal gained color until each one displayed a perfect image of a woman. From left to right it was Miura Pon, a middle aged Japanese woman dressed in the beige clothes of a zookeeper. Then Nora Montanari, a tiny Italian woman who stood stooped with age wearing soft sleeping clothes. Next was the blond and blue eyed Elizabeth Hill, wearing a onesie covered in brightly colored magical girls. And finally, Daisy Dixon. Dressed in flannel pajamas, the tall dark haired woman was practically a giant compared to the rest of the group. The images seemed to solidify, then each of them stepped forward and out of the pillar. The Guardians of Earth, now assembled. Nora was the first to look around to take things in, her eyes widened and she turned to Abana. ¡°All five?¡± She asked. Abana could only nod. The others started at her words and quickly looked around, double checking that it was true. An appropriate number of Guardians were summoned based on the threat posed. The last time all five had been needed was for an invasion of squid monsters in the early two thousands. The group quickly rushed to the center of the room and assembled around Abana. Questing eyes finding and taking in the new mark on the globe. ¡°What is it?¡± Elizabeth asked, glancing towards Abana. ¡°Don''t know,¡± She answered, ¡°It¡¯s too soon to tell.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t anything to do with your sister, right?¡± Daisy asked with a look to the younger girl. ¡°No she¡¯s off busy kidnapping someone tonight,¡± Elizabeth said, which earned her even more looks from the rest of the group. ¡°We¡¯re not going to have to deal with that later are we?¡± Miura asked quickly. ¡°Nope, it''s just her friend''s boyfriend or something.¡± ¡°Wha-¡± ¡°Moving on,¡± Abana broke in, more than familiar with Elizabeth and Susan¡¯s collective ability to make a mess of things, ¡°We need to get suited up.¡± Wide grins immediately appeared on the faces of Elizabeth and Miura, and both of them practically leapt away from the group to strike poses. Elizabeth with one hand over her head and Miura with both hands held to her sides, pointed up and away. Then both vanished in twin flashes of light. A moment later the light vanished to reveal Elizabeth in her red and blue dress. Meanwhile Miura reappeared wearing a bright pink jumpsuit with a white diamond pattern covering the chest. A pink helmet covered her head with a large black visor covering her eyes. Nora and Daisy both shook their heads at the others'' antics, a light chuckle coming from the older woman. Abana on the other hand wasn¡¯t immune to the dramatics that fueled the first two girl¡¯s transformations. The Guardians were each allowed to choose their own outfits, and inevitably took inspiration from the heroes they had looked up to as children. But unlike Nora, who was too old to care, and Daisy who was utterly blind to pop culture, Abana couldn''t help the thrill that ran through her every time she began her transformation. Spinning in place with her arms held wide around her, a third flash of light covered the room. A bronze breastplate and pauldrons formed over her, followed by the rest of her armor. As the flash of light dimmed and she finished her spin, her spear appeared in her hand and she planted it on the ground. She shot a look at the still untransformed Nora, who only chuckled again in response. ¡°What? I just wanted to watch,¡± She said with a wizened grin, ¡°You girl¡¯s transformations get crazier every year.¡± Her hand reached up and she snapped her fingers in the air. Unlike the flash of light that marked the others transformations, Nora was simply covered by an ethereal glow that hung in the air around her before vanishing. The wizened woman now possessed the size and build of a professional bodybuilder, muscles bulging beneath a purple spandex outfit. It covered her entire body except for her face, which was covered only by a black domino mask. To her right, Daisy finished her own transformation. She now wore a dress like Elizabeth. Of sorts. The top was a hunting jacket, and the ¡®frills¡¯ on the camo colored skirt looked suspiciously like ghillie netting. A pair of shotguns crossed behind her back made something that resembled a bow. The entire ensemble was the result of a disastrous campaign from Elizabeth and Miura to make her wear a more normal magical girl outfit. And while they had been horrified by the costume, Daisy had loved it and it somehow stuck. Abana looked around herself as she took them in with a wry smile. The protectors of earth, dressed like the dregs of a comic con. Then she steeled her expression and straightened her back. ¡°Everyone ready?¡± She asked in a more professional voice. The Guardians looked toward her and nodded. The group marched to one of the pillars. The face began to change again, greens, browns and blues blooming and melding together to paint a picture of a small clearing on the side of a tall hill. Towering sequoias loomed on one side, while mountains dominated the far horizon. As one, they stepped into it and the world blurred around them. Abana¡¯s foot landed on soft grass, and when she looked around a small breeze brushed over her face. It was a quiet morning, almost idyllic with the sun barely peeking over the tops of the mountains. Then the earth seemed to jump as a THUMP echoed from ahead of them. They barely had to look to find the cause. It was a turtle, a flat brass shell covering its back and a club tail swinging behind it. Five hundred feet from head to the base of its tail, the thump had come from a single step from one of its apartment building size legs. The entire body beneath the smooth shell was warped and craggy, with a viscous beak for a mouth and heavy claws on each of the feet. The building-sized head swiveled form side to side, examining the trees and mountains with beady eyes. ¡°That¡¯s a bigass snapping turtle¡­¡± Daisy breathed. ¡°So we¡¯re going to need evacuation,¡± Abana finished for her, ¡°Support me.¡± The others quickly gathered around her as she held her spear in the air. Then mana from her and the others began to condense around it. A small strand of light appeared, shooting from the tip into the woods to mark a bystander. More followed, and within seconds thousands of strands of lights had connected from the spear to every person within twenty miles of the monster. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The spear began to vibrate as it hummed with power, threatening to shake itself out of her hand. She bellowed, clenching the spear with every muscle in her arm before slamming it downward and into the ground. The beams of light winked out simultaneously, and Abana was struck by the downdraft caused by thousands of tons of mass being displaced at once. She had to take a heavy breath afterward, before a rapid thumping noise caught her attention. ¡°What is that?¡± She asked the others, ¡°Did we miss something?¡± ¡°I got it!¡± Elizabeth said, immediately zipping off into the forest with supernatural speed before anyone else could get a word in. Abana sighed, ¡°Daisy, could you keep an eye on her?¡± The woman nodded, and dashed off after the runaway magical girl. ¡°Okay, Abana continued, ¡°Now what is that thing?¡± ¡°Looks like an Earth Dragon,¡± Nora said, looking the beast over. ¡°Wasn¡¯t one enough?¡± Abana grumbled, earning her looks from the other two. She coughed awkwardly and tried to move on, ¡°Anything to look out for?¡± ¡°All dragons are a little different,¡± Nora replied, ¡°But I don¡¯t like the look of that tail.¡± Abana nodded, looking it over for another moment before she reached into a pocket on her dress and took out a small crystal. ¡°Is the evacuation done?¡± She spoke to it. ¡°Yep, a helicopter was left behind. But Elizabeth got it,¡± Daisy¡¯s voice echoed through it. ¡°Right,¡± Abana said, pocketing the crystal, ¡°Everyone, forward!¡± She leaped upward, then kicked off one of the tall trunks around her, charging forward over the tops of the trees. The others moved to follow her, The leaves and branches blurred past underneath them, and it barely took a second for the creature to come into range. It finally seemed to notice them, both of the black and brown orbs of its eyes swiveling to face them. Abana drew in a breath as she ran. ¡°PLEASE STOP MOVING SO WE CAN NEGOTIATE,¡± Her voice, magically enhanced into a bellowing shout rolled over the turtle. It heard her, the huge eyes zeroing in on her. Then it breathed in. The air around Abana rushed toward it like she was in the middle of a hurricane. The wind finally slowed as the turtle finished, the world seeming to pause before it finally spoke in a voice so loud it wasn¡¯t even a sound anymore. ¡°NO.¡± She could see the word it spoke, rushing out in a shockwave that rolled over the trees until it smashed into her. Her ears could barely understand what she was hearing as the noise rolled over her in a roaring wave, but she got the gist. It wasn¡¯t planning to stop. The crystal was in her hand in an instant. ¡°Go ahead girls,¡± She said, and began prepping her teleport spell. An instant later a bolt of energy in the shape of an arrow impacted the turtle¡¯s side. It was minuscule compared to the bulk of the coppery shell. But it sent the entire creature stumbling to the side, shearing the tops off a stand of trees. Its legs shook as it caught itself, the head turning around to search for the origin of the shot. Then a sound like gong rang out, and the turtle was sent reeling back the other way. It roared in protest, catching itself mid stumble before turning away from the stand of trees to reveal the purple form of Nora. She stood on top of one of the broken trunks, fist still held out from her punch. The turtle roared, and its clubbed tail rose high into the air before falling back down like a meteorite. Nora vanished a moment before it hit. The impact shattered the remaining trees and caused a shockwave that blasted apart the surrounding forest for hundreds of feet. Abana found her opportunity. Teleporting in above the tail, she hovered in place and held her spear high above her head. The bronze began to glow, then the spear lengthened, quickly growing to the size of a flagpole. Then in a move that twisted her entire body, she threw it downward with every bit of strength she had. The spear flashed downwards before the turtle had time to react. It hit, then pierced the tail fully, the tip digging into the ground below to pin it in place. Abana teleported back to the starting area a moment later, her chest heaving from the effort of putting forth that much magical might in such little time. She spoke into the crystal again, ¡°Move in.¡± ¡°Wait!¡± Roared Daisy through the connection, even as Nora teleported to the center of the turtle¡¯s back, barely more than a purple dot against the bulk of its shell. Her fist reared above her head in preparation to hammer the giant turtle into the ground. The turtle noticed, drawing its head in toward its shell. Nora began to punch downward, and then Daisy shot out from the trees beside the turtle. She flew toward Nora like a bullet, tackling her to the side and sending them both flying away from the shell. Then the turtle¡¯s head launched upward. Its neck was terrifyingly long, allowing its head to curve up and around its shell, the massive beak snapping shut mere feet from the fleeing Guardians. The wave of air caused by the jaws closing sent both of them tumbling, disappearing into the trees around it. Abana was already charging forward before they landed, charging a teleport spell as she did. The two weren¡¯t out of range of the turtle¡¯s attack. Even as she moved in, she could see the turtle¡¯s head pull back in preparation. The eyes zeroed in on something, and a moment later Abana spotted it. It was Nora, still picking herself up off the ground, her teleport spell as unready as Abana¡¯s. The head shot forward, jaws open wide enough to swallow an entire pool as they moved in to swallow her whole. To the side, another figure appeared. It was Elizabeth the tiny girl barely a speck to Abana¡¯s eyes as she shot toward the head. Her fist smashed into the side of the turtle¡¯s head, knocking it to the side. The next instant the group stood back in the clearing they had started from. The idyllic spot was already mostly destroyed from their fight, the trees toppled and the grass buried by a small avalanche of stone and gravel. Nora was gasping for air with wide eyes, even as the others moved to surround her. ¡°It can do that?¡± Nora almost screamed as she stood with her hands on her knees. ¡°Yes,¡± Daisy snapped back at her, ¡°All snapping turtles can do that!¡± Nora shot her an incredulous look, then shook her head. ¡°What is wrong with this continent?¡± She groused. ¡°Alright, we know it can do that now,¡± Abana snapped, still trying to recover herself, ¡°What else?¡± ¡°We¡¯re overexerting ourselves,¡± Miura said. ¡°Gee, didn¡¯t notice!¡± Daisy snapped. ¡°Daisy,¡± Abana snapped, and the woman quieted, ¡°Anyway, Miura is right. It¡¯s too magically dense, I could barely pierce its tail.¡± ¡°GUYS?¡± Elizabeth half shrieked. Abana turned to see her pointing at the turtle, which had crouched down to partially hide within the trees. It wasn¡¯t hard to see what caught the girl¡¯s attention, the thing was radiating magic like a furnace. She felt a pulse of magic run through it, and then the sky darkened overhead. A glance up showed an entire hill falling towards them. The mass of earth and stone had been telekinetically ripped from the ground a mile away and thrown toward them like a hacky sack. ¡°This¡­¡± Daisy grumbled and slipped one of the guns from her belt. She pointed it upwards and pulled the trigger. A blast of white energy exploded forth, striking the falling hill and blasting it into pieces. Chunks of stone rained around them as the turtle rose once again. With a roar of pain, it ripped its tail free of Abana¡¯s spear and raised it high once again. As it did, the mana flowing within it continued to grow in strength, almost beginning to erupt from it as the tail reached its peak. ¡°That¡¯s not good,¡± Daisy said. The tail began to swing down. ¡°Make a circle, one mile radius,¡± Abana snapped, ¡°Then form a shield, GO!¡± The Guardians rushed to make their formation even as the tail descended. Each of them running or teleporting into place to form a rough pentagon around the Earth Dragon. Abana teleported to a craggy outcropping of rock, standing high enough that it still gave her a good look at the turtle. Holding out her hands, she braced herself and called upon the mana flowing through her. A wall of energy appeared in front of her hands. It was small but first, but quickly expanded. Rushing outwards to connect with the spreading walls of energy created by the other Guardians. Then the newly formed barrier grew upward, curving over the turtle to create a dome. It was barely in time, the hole closing just as the club hit the shell. The shell vibrated, a wave of sound expanding from it like a solid wall of force. Within their shield, the world disintegrated. The sound wave from the turtle reduced every hill, rock, and tree to dust. The land around it became a flat plain, etched with a series of concentric circles around the turtle. Abana would have gaped at it if she weren¡¯t putting every ounce of her power into maintaining the shield around it. She roared with the effort, muscles screaming as she was forced to push inward to counteract the cataclysmic forces being put forth by the turtle. It finally ended, and she had to stop herself from collapsing, desperately gasping for air as she looked through the hazy smoke toward the monster. It looked about as exhausted as she was, its legs shaking as it slowly settled down on the newly barren ground. Then any hope that the situation might be over was crushed when the air above the turtle began to warp. It seemed to be forced away from a center point, forming a strange negative that was barely visible from the shimmer it produced. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Elizabeth¡¯s voice echoed from the crystal in Abana¡¯s pocket. ¡°That¡¯s symbolic magic!¡± Miura shouted back, ¡°I think the shell is meant to be some sort of gong!¡± ¡°Well, any idea what it means?¡± Abana asked back. ¡°Gongs announce and call for things,¡± Nora said, ¡°It¡¯s summoning something.¡± ¡°Can we stop it?¡± Elizabeth piped up, to a round of muttered no¡¯s. The group fell silent for a moment, except for a muttered question by Daisy. ¡°The hell¡¯s a dragon need to summon?¡± As if to answer her question, something appeared to fill the negative formed by the shimmering air, a huge feathered beast. It looked like an albatross, with a heavy chest and wide flat wings. But a second pair of taloned legs came from the chest, making it resemble a gryphon. And its head was thicker and more angular than an albatross, with a wide triangular beak. The one positive was that it was ¡®only¡¯ a hundred feet long from head to tail. Its wings spread wide, letting it drift down to land on the turtle''s back. The head swiveled back and forth as it took them in. ¡°What is it this time?¡± Abana whispered. ¡°Another dragon,¡¯ grumbled Nora, ¡°But this one¡¯s an Air Dragon.¡± ¡°Heed me, o¡¯ Guardians,¡± It spoke in a powerful voice that stirred up the quavering dust around it, ¡°I am the speaker of the Shogun, the great servant of the Empress. This world has been chosen to join the Empire of the Dawn. Surrender, or be destroyed.¡± Abana grit her teeth. ¡°I¡¯ll keep the shield going,¡± She whispered, ¡°Get ready for a slugfest.¡± ¡°Here we go again,¡± Nora whispered back. Then the enormous beak and eyes of the dragon were pointed at her. The two halves of the triangular beak opening wide into a black square . The chest widened as it drew in a breath, and then it smashed inward. There was a heartbeat of time after the chest compressed, and then Abana felt the wall shatter around her as she was blown backward by storm force winds. When she got her bearings again, she found herself half embedded in the side of a mountain at the end of a long tunnel of shattered trees. Wood chips and dirt still filled the air as she ripped herself free from the shattered stone. Her feet had barely touched the ground before she was running back down the tunnel. She reached the end to find a scene of total disaster. The Earth Dragon was keeping Nora at bay with swings of its tail, while the Air Dragon dueled Miura. A small mountain now jutted from the center of a small plain, marking where Daisy had stood while she held the shield. The shaking of its sides meant the woman was awake and breaking her way free, but she was still out of the fight. Abana quickly charged toward the Air Dragon. Its fight with Miura was going badly for the Guardian. She would fire her arrows at it, then desperately dodge the powerful blasts of air it would fire back at her. But each one of its attacks split rocks and shredded trees like a sandblaster, leaving her with less and less places to hide. As she watched, the dragon finally caught her in one of its blasts. The pink bodysuit vanished in a storm of wood and earth. The dragon quickly moved to capitalize, pouncing forward toward the site of the blast. Then Abana teleported in and kicked it in the side. The dragon was knocked away, but before she could move again a wing smashed her out of the air. She crashed against the ground and bounced, flying away in a head spinning tumble. ¡°Teleporters,¡± The Air Dragon rumbled derisively, not even looking at her as it jumped away. Abana quickly looked to see where it was headed. There was Miura, breaking free of the torn earth. Then Elizabeth appeared in front of her. Eyes blazing, she stared down the approaching dragon. It quickly spotted the new arrival, but instead of stopping it sped up. A leap took it high into the air above the girl. Talons extended as it fell towards her. Then it vanished in a blur of gray scales. A second later a sonic boom slapped Abana in the face, and she couldn''t hold back a smile. The Earth Dragon¡¯s head whipped around to follow the blur of moving bodies, until they finally struck a distant mountainside in an explosion of dust and shattered stone. Then a few seconds later, a second, smaller explosion came from the site of the blast. Finally, the air cleared enough that Abana could see the gray, snakelike form of Susan. She was lifting the other dragon into the air with both arms. Then she brought it back down in a vicious body slam that shook the earth beneath them. As Abana watched, the Air Dragon was lifted skyward again, then fell again. And again. And again. The Guardians and the Earth Dragon collectively paused for a moment as they watched the Air Dragon get brutalized. ¡°She¡¯s on our side, right?¡± Daisy asked through the crystal. ¡°Yeah,¡± Elizabeth replied, sounding a little worried herself. For a moment, the entire fight seemed to be over, then the Air Dragon managed to open its mouth towards Susan and a blast of air sent her careening backwards. She caught herself, digging each of her claws into ground to slow down. Four sets of claw marks left across the stone after her. ¡°What¡­¡± The air dragon gasped out, barely managing to get to its feet, ¡°¡­Is this madness?¡± Susan didn¡¯t reply, instead charging again. The Air Dragon immediately jumped away from her into the air and spread its wings wide. It breathed in again, chest inflating as its wings spread wide. Along the bottom of the ribs, a set of flaps appeared, gaping open like a fish¡¯s gills. Then the dragon flapped its wings down, and its chest compressed with the same incredible force as its earlier breath attack. But this time the force was directed backwards, shooting the dragon upward like a rocket. It soared into the air, a few more of the air powered flaps taking almost a mile above the ground where it hovered, staring down at Susan with hateful eyes. ¡°Is¡­ is that thing flying without magic?¡± Miura stuttered out through the communicator. ¡°I think so,¡± Nora murmured back. Abana watched, just as shocked. The dragon wasn¡¯t using magic. The idea was ridiculous to her. For creatures like this, magic was intrinsic to their very survival. For it to be able to go so far as to fly without it was¡­ Then the Air Dragon¡¯s mouth opened again and Susan vanished in an eruption of dirt and stone. She walked out of the cloud of dust a moment later looking somewhat annoyed. Her head tilted up to take in the Air Dragon, and then she smirked. Its eyes twisted into a furious glare, and then it started firing again. This time at the Guardians. Abana was forced to run, ducking and weaving around the blasts of concentrated air that rained down around her. Her vision jerked, and suddenly she found herself flying through the air. Stones pattering against her as they were indiscriminately tossed along with her by Air Dragon¡¯s attack. A gray hand the size of a truck caught her out of the air, and quickly moved down to tuck her against the huge gray wall of scales that made up Susan¡¯s side. ¡°Hey Abana,¡± Susan said in a bellowing voice that made her entire body vibrate. ¡°YEAH?¡± She shouted back, desperate to be heard over the sound of explosions. ¡°Can you make it stop shooting for a second?¡± ¡°SURE!¡± Abana roared back, ¡°JUST NEED MY SPEAR!¡± Down the long body she could see the huge head twist back and forth, then lock onto something. ¡°I see it!¡± Susan cried, ¡°Sending you there now!¡± ¡°GREAT, WAIT WHA-¡± Susan¡¯s arm reared back and threw her feet first like a javelin. Cursing the dragon as she flew, she spotted the gleaming copper of her spear and angled her body towards it. Unfortunately it still lay within range of the Earth Dragons tail, and the monster was keeping a careful watch over it. So as Abana began descending toward from the apex of the throw, she suddenly found the building size copper sphere swinging at her from below. Screaming out another curse at Susan, she kicked down at it. The impact shook both her legs and sent her flying skywards again, but sent the tail crashing down to the ground earning an air shaking bellow from the turtle. She hit the ground a few seconds later, running to where her spear lay buried in the dirt where it had pinned the turtle¡¯s tail. Her hand grasped the handle, and it immediately shrunk back down to its normal size. Twirling it so that the head pointed upward, she reared back and threw it. As she kicked off and ran away from the turtle, she heard a heavy whoosh of air from above. She glanced up to see the Air Dragon use its air jets to shoot to the side, easily dodging the spear. But it wasn¡¯t shooting anymore. Then a scream from below captured her attention. It was Susan. She seemed to have her own gills opening on her torso. One around her collarbone drawing in air, and a second at the base of her ribs like the Air Dragon above her. Susan¡¯s ribs expanded with her own massive breath, but unlike the Air Dragon she held it. Then streams of superheated air began to flow from the openings at the base of her ribcage. Her chest seemed to be sucking in the air and heating it somehow, before shooting it out the back like a- Abana¡¯s mind rejected the idea outright, then she realized that whether she believed it or not, it was happening. In front of seven sets of incredulous eyes, Susan took off from the ground like an oversized jet fighter. The air dragon tried to dodge, ducking into a roll that took it to the side. It didn¡¯t help, a twitch of Susan¡¯s tail realigning her trajectory. Then she was smashing into him from below, a scattering of feathers the only reminder of its previous air dominance. On the ground the fighting continued, except this time solidly in the Guardian¡¯s favor. Exhausted and without backup, the Earth Dragon quickly found itself under attack from all five Guardians. It still fought, the head struck out at them and the tail swung viciously back and forth. But close range and brutal familiarity with its attacks allowed them to coordinate quick counterattacks and keep it on the back foot. When the Earth Dragon snapped at Abana, Miura punished it with magic arrows. When it swiped at Daisy with its tail, Nora retaliated with a flurry of empowered punches. Drawing on their power too quickly could be dangerous, but now that they were in a protracted battle the Earth Dragon couldn¡¯t hope to compete against the sheer power the Guardians of Earth could bring to bear. In short order, the Dragon was pummeled into the ground. Finally the creature seemed to understand it couldn''t compete anymore and pulled its limbs and head back into its body. Abana leapt on the opportunity. With a shouted command into the communication crystal, the Guardians assembled themselves around the Earth Dragon in a pentagon. This time the formation was much smaller, barely giving the monster the space to move. A second dome of energy was formed around it, and then, with a pulse of mana that sent Abana to her knees, made permanent. She stood back up on shaky legs to look inward at the captured Dragon. It looked surprisingly calm, eyes the size of garden ponds examining the surrounding Guardians. It took a few seconds for the others to teleport over to Abana. Each of them appeared, then slumped in place looking exhausted. Abana gave them a moment to catch their breath, but very quickly turned her attention to the ongoing battle above them. Further away towards the mountains, she spotted the Air Dragon perform a perfect barrel roll that allowed it to perfectly avoid another charge from Susan. A perfect swipe of its claws catching her wing as she shot by. The attack barely phased her. A second later she was flipping around midair to shoot back at it, forcing another dodge. As Abana watched her continue to attack, it quickly became obvious that Susan outclassed the other Dragon almost completely. She couldn¡¯t compete with its experience, but her form of propulsion was much faster, and the forward sweep of her wings seemed to give her far greater maneuverability. The quick attacks she was doing were forcing the Air Dragon to move constantly, and it was visibly beginning to lose energy. Each of its jets of air now came less and less frequently. Finally, Susan caught up to it. Snatching it out of the air and pinning both of its wings with her arms, she used her own wings to position herself above it. Then the jet engine that was her torso fired downward, and the dragons fell together like a meteor. The mountains shook, and a small mushroom cloud erupted as she piledrived the Air Dragon from a mile up. ¡°They really are sisters, aren¡¯t they,¡± Miura deadpanned. Chapter 16: No Rest For The Dragon Susan stepped out of the crater, dragging the unconscious Air Dragon along behind her using her tail. As she finally escaped the cloud of dust that lingered around the blast sight, she looked around for the Magical Girls. Their brightly colored suits were easy to find in the dust covered landscape, and Susan quickly spotted them standing in a group a half mile from the Earth Dragon. Most of them looked happy for the mess to be over, leaning over and catching their breath. Elizabeth however was hopping around furiously, to the visible amusement of the others. One of them dressed in a pink bodysuit even turned away to laugh into a closed fist. Susan began walking over to them with the air dragon in tow. As she did, she looked around, examining what remained of the park. Yosemite had seen better days, the forests felled, the meadows torn to shreds. Even the mountains lay shattered and scattered over the ground like kicked ant hills. She finally drew close enough to hear the group''s chatter, then grinned. ¡°I do not piledrive everybody I fight!¡± Elizabeth shrieked. ¡°No, of course not,¡± Susan called, catching the group''s attention, ¡°You also suplex them.¡± Elizabeth whipped around, looking shocked. Then she began charging over to Susan. A running leap took her high into the air, and she landed on Susan¡¯s nose directly in front of her eyes. ¡°You have to tell them we don¡¯t fight the same!¡± Elizabeth demanded. Susan paused, trying to cross her eyes to focus on Elizabeth while she processed the non sequitur. ¡°I mean we kinda do?¡± Elizabeth huffed at that, and stomped her way to the end of Susan¡¯s nose where she jumped down to the ground. Susan¡¯s eyes followed her, finding that the rest of the magical girls had come to stand in front of her in a ragged semicircle. ¡°So, you¡¯re Elizabeth¡¯s dragon sister, huh?¡± Asked the pink suited one who she had seen laughing. ¡°Yes,¡± Susan nodded, ¡°And you are?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Miura, but you can call me Ranger Rose!¡± She cried, striking a pose where she crouched down with both arms held out in the air. ¡°Nice to meet you?¡± Susan said, silently reeling from the horrifying truth that Elizabeth might be considered normal for their group. ¡°That was an epic takedown, you do that a lot?¡± Miura continued, this time with a mischievous lilt in her voice as her helmet turned infinitesimally to glance at Elizabeth. ¡°Well, no. Not usually,¡± Susan said, deciding to spare Elizabeth just a little bit, ¡°I kind of freaked out a little when I saw the Air Dragon attacking Elizabeth.¡± She looked at the shattered mountainside where she had first tackled the Air Dragon and winced. ¡°A lot.¡± ¡°Say,¡± A camo colored magical girl spoke up, ¡°I¡¯ve been wondering. If there are Air Dragons and Earth Dragons, what kind of dragon are you supposed to be?¡± Susan¡¯s expression froze as she was hit with ¡®that question¡¯. ¡°A fire dragon,¡± She said, eyes sliding away from the group and back towards the now inviting crevices of the broken mountains. ¡°Really?¡± The woman shot back, half incredulously. ¡°Yep! According to the elemental classification system, I am technically a Fire Dragon!¡± That earned her a dry look. ¡°That¡¯s a hell of a ¡®technically,¡± she heard muttered. ¡°Everybody,¡± Abana announced with a clap of her hands, ¡°We have a bigger problem.¡± ¡°Oh, right,¡± Elizabeth nodded, smacking a fist into her open hand, ¡°The evil empire!¡± Susan¡¯s head turned to stare at her. ¡°The. What.¡± She snapped out. ¡°Yeah, the¡­ um, what did the Bird Dragon say it was?¡± Elizabeth looked to Miura for help. ¡°The ¡®Herald of the Shogun of the¡­ Dawn Empire?¡± The rose suited woman muttered, apparently not sure herself. ¡°Empire of Dawn,¡± Abana finished, then looked to Susan, ¡°Since you¡¯ve been off-world relatively recently, I was wondering if you might know anything about it.¡± That got her a heavy sigh in response. ¡°What do you know about travel between the realms?¡± Susan asked. ¡°Frustratingly little,¡± Abana responded, ¡°Most of the Realm Travellers we deal with aren¡¯t the type to chat.¡± ¡°Right. Thing is, the only reliable information that spreads between realms is on high profile names. Apocalyptically powerful monsters, demon lords, ah, certain dragons, that sort of thing. I can tell you for certain that there wasn¡¯t any kind of ¡®Dawn Empire¡¯ on Themus before the Atlan Empire, but nothing really beyond that.¡± ¡°No cross realm empires then?¡± Abana asked. Susan¡¯s mouth stopped halfway open as she went to respond. ¡°Susan?¡± ¡°Sorry, did you say cross realm?¡± Susan blurted out. ¡°Yes, were you listening?¡± Abana asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Yes-no- but- That¡¯s seriously what it said?¡± Susan asked, half wondering if the woman was joking. ¡°Yes,¡± Abana exclaimed, ¡°What¡¯s so crazy about that?¡± ¡°A multi-realm empire isn¡¯t possible!¡± Susan exclaimed. ¡°Uh,¡± Abana gave her an odd look, ¡°Yes it is.¡± ¡°No, it''s not,¡± Susan said, ¡°To create the permanent connections between realms needed to maintain such an empire, you would need the mana output of entire planets, the whole idea is insane!¡± ¡°Susan,¡± Abana¡¯s voice cut off her rant. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Please take my word for it,¡± Susan met the woman¡¯s eyes as she spoke. The dark orbs were dead serious, ¡°It¡¯s very much possible.¡± Susan sat back on her haunches, head reeling. It wasn¡¯t every day that she had her entire sense of scale for what was possible for magic completely upended. Just the raw numbers involved were beyond mad. The largest spells the Themians had ever designed were meant to be fueled by multiple dragons at once. The mana output of planets was magnitudes beyond that. She still wasn''t convinced it was even possible, and she had lived for several centuries with an army¡¯s worth of suicidally inquisitive wizards. ¡°RUIN,¡± A voice boomed, breaking the silence. The word was barely understandable from the distortion caused by the small shockwave that accompanied it. Susan¡¯s head rose up to see it was the Earth Dragon. It was watching her carefully from where it crouched on the far side of its prison. ¡°WHAT?¡± She shouted back to it. ¡°YOU. ARE. RUIN.¡± It rumbled, each word a small explosion that forced it to wait for the shaking earth to settle before it spoke again. ¡°YES- WAIT,¡± She continued, ¡°GIVE ME A SECOND, OK?¡± With a nod to Abana, the two of them left the other Magical Girls to imprison the Air Dragon, and moved over to the Earth Dragon¡¯s cage. A claw hurriedly scrawled a rune into the stone below her. It was the same one she had made back when she needed to speak to Elizabeth during their fight, only this time she added a few symbols to transfer control of the runic construct. A moment later a mechanical voice was echoing through the air, the heavier tone giving it a masculine air. ¡°Thank you for your consideration,¡± It began, ¡°My name is Gilleasbuig, a scout of the Imperial Army.¡± ¡°Alright Gilleasbuig,¡± Abana said, stepping up to the very front of the barrier and staring the Earth Dragon in the eye, ¡°What do you want?¡± The huge eyes considered her for a moment. ¡°Mercy.¡± ¡°Mercy?¡± Abana repeated with a frown. The vast head nodded up and down slowly, before turning toward Susan. ¡°The Ruin of the Atlans is well known within the Empire of the Dawn. The Shogun¡¯s Herald may be a braggart, but I have duties I must return to. So I ask for clemency for the both of us.¡± Abana¡¯s head turned to Susan, who smiled in what she hoped was an innocent way. ¡°Susan?¡± She asked. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°If I ask around, will your name be turning up as one of those ¡®certain dragons¡¯ you mentioned?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± Susan shifted back and forth awkwardly, ¡°Maybe?¡± Abana threw both hands in the air and stomped away. Susan looked after her awkwardly, until she returned a few seconds later looking visibly frustrated. ¡°Okay, before anyone gets any ideas, we¡¯re sending you two right back where you came from!¡± Abana announced, pointing a finger solidly at the looming bulk of the Dragon. The thing had the gall to look relieved. ¡°But,¡± Abana turned back to it with a glint in her eye, ¡°I do want to hear more about this Empire of Dawn you come from.¡± The mouth wide enough to swallow Susan whole turned down at the corners. ¡°NO.¡± The word ripped past them, and Susan heard the startled shouts of the other Magical Girls behind them. ¡°Apologies,¡± It rumbled, glaring at Abana, ¡°But you must ask elsewhere for secrets, I have none to give.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Abana''s mouth furled, but eventually she seemed to accept it and slumped down with a sigh. ¡°Fine,¡± She said, ¡°But both of you will be taking oaths not to strike against our world again.¡± ¡°We do not speak for the Empire,¡± Gilleasbuig snapped back, moving closer to Abana¡¯s side of the dome to glare down at her. ¡°No, personal oaths only,¡± Abana waved the complaint away, which mollified the Earth Dragon. ¡°Acceptable,¡± It answered, settling back down. Then a roar broke their newly made peace. ¡°HOW DARE YOU,¡± The Air Dragon roared behind them. Susan twisted her head around to see it furiously attacking the sides of the dome that surrounded it. Sparks flew as its talons scraped against the sides and blasts of air thundered around inside, but the conjured walls were durable. Nothing reached the outside. ¡°WE ARE THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GREATEST EMPIRE THE REALMS HAVE EVER BEHELD,¡± It was almost screaming now, ¡°THERE SHALL BE NO PEACE IF WE ARE NOT SET FREE!¡± A huff of air like a foghorn echoed from within the other cage as the Earth Dragon sighed. Susan saw its huge eyes roll in annoyance at the theatrics. ¡°Can you shut him up?¡± Abana yelled to the other Magical Girls. ¡°HERALD.¡± The word from the Earth Dragon made the earth tremble, and made the Air Dragon jump in surprise. Its head turned toward the other dragon, staring at it with a mixture of incredulity and fury. ¡°LEAD. SCALE.¡± The two words from the Earth Dragon ended the Air Dragon¡¯s fury instantly. Its eyes flicked over to Susan, then widened. The beak fell open and hung there, then closed with a snap. WIthout another word, it walked to the far side of the dome from Susan and settled down. ¡°The Herald did not recognize you,¡± Gilleasbuig explained. ¡°I figured,¡± Susan deadpanned, trying to ignore the collective stares of the entire troupe of Magical Girls. The conversation didn¡¯t go anywhere after that. Neither dragon was willing to speak much more. Especially the Air Dragon which spent its time side eyeing Susan, as if waiting for her to attack. It didn¡¯t take long for the Magical Girls to finish securing them, and within minutes they were ready to banish the dragons back to their home realm. As Susan watched, both of the glowing domes began to solidify. Then runes formed over them, etching themselves into the walls of the dome with a crackling energy. Once that was finished, the five magical girls began to charge the runes with power. A minute later the spell had drawn enough power to be completed. The glowing domes flared with light, then vanished, the dragons vanishing with them. Susan and the others were left staring at the empty wasteland left behind. Ruined trees and shattered peaks filling the land that had once been Yosemite National Park. ¡°Well it looks like it''s time for fixing things,¡± Abana proclaimed, to a chorus of groans from the other Magical Girls. So began the lengthy reconstruction process, which Susan decided to stick around for on account of being slightly responsible for just a little bit of the damage. It actually made for a fun time, chatting with the magical girls as they regrew the forests and returned the mountains to their former glory. Susan quickly learned the names of the group, and was quite happy to discover that there was another sane team member besides Abana. The older Italian woman named Nora. Who made for a fascinating conversation partner as the oldest active Magical Girl. The ¡®Fantasma¡¯ as she jokingly called herself had been around since the 1930s, and had a small library''s worth of stories to share as a result. Though she made sure to mention that the group¡¯s actual titles were Guardians, and not Magical Girl, Ranger, or Superhero like some of the others might claim. Susan had fun, but eventually the conversation dried out as they all focused more on the restoration. A few hours later she found herself split off from the group refilling the crater caused by her earlier mile high piledrive when a new sound caught her attention. She looked up to spot a helicopter approaching. It was still distant, just barely peeking over the top of the distant mountains, but it was moving fast and the colorful decal covering it marked it as a News helicopter. ¡°Susan!¡± Abana called, waving her over to where she was regrowing a stand of trees with Miura. ¡°Yeah?¡± Susan asked as she trotted over. ¡°Could you leave before the chopper gets here?¡± Abana asked, ¡°You being here¡­ might make things more complicated.¡± Susan frowned at that, ¡°Wait, I thought you guys would have some large scale illusion magic or something. You know, keep the no-magic thing going.¡± ¡°Nope,¡± Abana said, shrugging, ¡°That¡¯s all the BSMP.¡± Beside her Miura chuckled, ¡°Yes, they and the MMG are going to be pissed.¡± ¡°MMG?¡± ¡°The Russian version of the BSMP. They hate each other, but they do pretty much the same thing so they¡¯re kind of interchangeable.¡± ¡°Yes, they probably shut down all military or civilian aircraft in the area, but there¡¯s only so much they can do to keep things quiet,¡± Abana spoke up. ¡°Right,¡± Susan said, nodding, before turning away to take off. ¡°Though, one last thing?¡± Abana spoke behind her. ¡°Hm?¡± Susan looked back to see she had the woman¡¯s full attention. ¡°Could we talk later? I have something to ask you.¡± ¡°Ok, sure,¡± Susan shrugged, ¡°Today?¡± ¡°I don''t know, I have a debrief to do,¡± Abana said, with a grimace. ¡°Yelling at Daisy, more like,¡± Miura muttered. ¡°What? Am I supposed to ignore the fact that she just a little late mentioning certain turtle facts we might have wanted to know?¡± Susan turned away as the two¡¯s bickering continued. Getting some distance from them, she crouched down. Then leapt into the air and shot off into the sky.
At least the flight back home was short. Susan¡¯s method of jet propulsion allowed her to fly at altitudes that no other dragon could dream of, serving as an effective shield from any prying eyes below. She approached the outskirts of town in the late morning, the roar of her flight covered by silencing and illusion spells. Her exit that morning hadn¡¯t exactly been subtle, and ticking off the already angry BSMP probably wouldn''t be the best idea. Within a few seconds she was approaching the circular field that surrounded her grandparents house. Then the first problem became apparent. The front door was halfway across the lawn, broken into two pieces. Susan sped up, landing on the lawn in a move that buried all four limbs wrist deep into the ground. She was tearing her way free from the turf the next moment, galloping to the door. Cole was rushing out the door the next second. ¡°Susan, they got Anne!¡± He shouted. Ice ran through her veins as she heard him, and she skidded to a stop. Her claws clenched, tearing four holes in the lawn beneath her. Anne was in danger? One of her friends? Her vision narrowed and the muscles surrounding her Dragon Heart flexed dangerously. Around her the air slowly began to warm as a wave of pure fury ran through her veins. Then a heavily muscled arm reached through the door, grabbed Cole around the collar and yanked him back inside. A moment later Hilda appeared through the doorway, looking worried but much less panicked than the boy. Susan wasn¡¯t happy for the interruption, but appreciated the second it gave her to reign in her fury. Dragonfire wouldn''t be the solution to this problem. YET. ¡°Was it the mousekin?¡± She asked through her teeth. ¡°No,¡± Hilda shook her head, ¡°It was half a dozen vampires.¡± Susan¡¯s mouth was already open to ask the next question, but stopped when the answer finally processed. ¡°Vampires?¡± ¡°A dozen of them, yes. Attacked about an hour after you left,¡± Hilda continued, ¡°Broke through Zach¡¯s wards in an instant, covered the whole house in shadows and when it cleared they¡¯d already snatched Anne and run.¡± ¡°Is he alright?¡± Susan asked, a sliver of worry slipping through the floods of rage. Forcibly breaking wards could hurt the mage holding them. Grandpa Zach might be experienced, but that only meant so much. ¡°He¡¯s sleeping it off, but he¡¯ll be out of commission another day,¡± Hilda said, and Susan sighed in relief. ¡°Great, great¡­¡± Susan breathed, then turned away. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Hilda¡¯s voice stopped her mid step. Susan¡¯s head twisted back to face her. ¡°Going to get Anne,¡± She said. ¡°Alone?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Susan said, her voice completely serious for the first time since she¡¯d come to earth. Hilda met her eyes, and there seemed to be a moment where she finally connected Susan with the tales she had been told about the Ruin of the Atlans. Her mouth twisted, and her lip quivered for a moment. Then her expression steeled, a fire lit within it that matched the fury roaring within Susan. ¡°Give the bastards hell for me, yah?¡± Susan nodded, and a second later she was shooting away from the yard so fast she left a vapor trail. The shimmering illusion surrounding the Brick was visible to her even from across town. A twitch of her muscles increased the flow of air running through her upper torso, and she sped up. Cutting a wide circle around the town to approach the Brick from the back, she flew in low. Her wings barely clearing the treetops as she aimed toward the parking entrance. She needed to get to the Garage Sale. Rawiyah represented her best chance at getting to Anne in time. Joseph would probably have some plan in place to stop Susan from reaching her, but she would have to bet on the wily old mouse having a backup plan. As she finally drew near to the Brick, she spotted something out of place. A figure floating in the sky in front of her. It was a person, dressed in heavy black robes with a cowl that covered his face. Incongruously, he held a wide umbrella, shading himself from the sun. Judging by the heavy clothes, and the umbrella that practically glowed with protective enchantments above his head, the man was a vampire. He waved to her with a gloved hand, then pointed downward to a small clearing in the forest below them. It took a moment of wrestling with herself, but Susan finally decided to follow along. She would really rather just let loose with dragonfire, but Anne¡¯s safety took priority so negotiating was unfortunately the way to go. A twitch of her muscles closed the openings around her body. The airflow now cut off, she dropped like a stone toward the ground below. Her legs dug furrows in the ground as she skidded to a halt in the clearing. The vampire floated down to land on the other side like an evil Mary Poppins. Then he lifted the cowl to reveal a familiar face. It was Robert, the vampire that had gate crashed Cole¡¯s hero trial only the night before. ¡°Funny meeting you here,¡± Susan boomed, causing a breeze that sent the vampire''s clothes ruffling, ¡°I thought you would still be digging yourself out of the crater I left you in.¡± His face twisted with rage before smoothing back over. ¡°Crow all you like, we have your friend,¡± He snapped. ¡°You, not the mouskin?¡± ¡°Pardon?¡± He asked. ¡°I thought you vampires were just playing mercenary in all this.¡± He had the guts to laugh. ¡°Oh no, you misunderstand,¡± He said, now with a predatory grin, ¡°We have our own stake in the matter.¡± Susan¡¯s eyes narrowed, ¡°And what would that be?¡± ¡°You.¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes, dared to hurt one of our own,¡± Robert said with a confident lilt to his voice that made it quite clear who he was referring to. ¡°I doubt the other vampires care that much for your smarmy ass,¡± Susan sneered at him. ¡°You dare insult one who carries the blood of the greatest of all vamp-¡± ¡°SHUT UP!¡± Susan roared, her rage boiling over, ¡°Shut up and get to the point or I will spread your CONSTITUENT ATOMS ACROSS THE NEXT THOUSAND MILES OF FOREST!¡± She ended with a scream that made the trees and earth around them tremble. A red glow illuminated Robert''s face. He looked down to see that her claws had heated to incandescence. The vampire took a quick step back. His face was drawn thin as he looked up to see the gigantic teeth revealed by snarling lips. ¡°Y-your friend is in our possession,¡± he stuttered out, ¡°Comply with our demands and she will remain unharm¡­¡± He trailed off under Susan''s glare. She stared for a few seconds as she processed the ultimatum. Then she made herself look away and think it over. The vampires must have known Robert would get under her skin. They probably even had plans in place for if she killed him. The entire situation was engineered to make her angry, impulsive. It was always easier to manipulate someone if they were angry. Unfortunately, even thinking things over as carefully as she could, she didn¡¯t see another option. Complying with the vampires was a bad idea. Susan knew that. She also knew vampires were bastards. The kind that would stab a baby for twenty dollars and a handshake. They would hurt Anne if she didn¡¯t comply. After a long moment she wrenched her gaze back toward the terrified Robert and spoke. ¡°So long as Anne remains unharmed, I will comply with your demands.¡± A relieved smile bloomed on his face for a moment before he managed to cover it up. ¡°I only ask that you put on a bit of jewelry,¡± He said, reaching into his robes and taking out a large stone ring the width of his outstretched hand. It was made of a mottled brown rock, with a warped and pitted appearance as though it had formed naturally rather than having been carved. He held it out for her to take, the trembling of his hand betraying his nervousness. Susan stared at it, then sniffed at the magic bleeding off of it. She recognized the spell. It would be dangerous, but she would survive it. She had to. She wasn¡¯t going to lose another friend today. One of her trunk sized forelegs moved forward towards the ring. When her claws had almost reached it, she paused. ¡°Just to keep things clear,¡± She said. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Keep to the spirit of our agreement. This is your only warning.¡± He swallowed, but didn¡¯t say anything. Susan let her claw drift forward until it caught the edge of the stone ring. It vanished. A moment later she felt a weight appear around the base of her neck. Then it began to suck up the mana within her body. Its weight increased, growing heavier and heavier and yet seeming to pull in a direction other than down. Susan¡¯s teeth grit at the familiar pull of a summoning spell. Before she could even swear, a wave of mana exploded from the ring. An incredible force pulled her in and out, and she vanished into thin air.
Her eyes opened the second the pressure on her ceased. There was only darkness around her, darkness and stale air. It took a second for her eyes to adjust, and she looked around. She stood in a cavern made of whorled stone, beneath a tall roof filled with drooping stalactites that fell down to the floor to make pillars. They formed a forest of stone around her, so thick that she could barely move more than a hundred yards in any direction. Within the stone forest stood a horde of vampires, staring in at her like spectators at a carnival. Susan noticed that they stood just far enough back that she couldn''t reach them, making the natural cave formation into something like a barred cage. Turning away from her surroundings, she twisted her neck around so that she could examine the stone ring that now sat around her neck. Even now it continued to draw in her mana, leaving her entirely empty. A sniff of the magic in the air confirmed her earlier suspicion. The stone of the cave was magically paired to the ring around her neck. The stolen mana from the ring was being sent into it, then used to keep her trapped within its bounds. It was simple, and brutally effective. Turning back to her surroundings with a huff, Susan focused on the vampires. The crowd, perhaps a thousand strong, mostly showed faces of excitement and bloodthirsty anticipation. A voice broke the silence. ¡°I bid you welcome, Dragon,¡± One of the vampires spoke. He stood at the front of the crowd, an easy smile covering his face. He was old, truly ancient, and it showed. Time had ground away the unnatural beauty of vampirism, crushing his body into a twisted hunch, and warping his skin into a wrinkled nightmare. The smile on his face resembled the snarl of a wild animal more than anything human. But his eyes were bright and sharp, looking Susan up and down as he analyzed her. ¡°It has been many years since one of your kind has graced these humble caves,¡± He rasped out, yellowing canines poking from his desiccated lips, ¡°I am Jaroslav, and I shall be your caretaker during your stay here.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t be staying long,¡± Susan spat, her head moving to the edge of the ring to glare down at him. ¡°Where is Anne?¡± Jaroslav smiled, showing only teeth. ¡°You ought to be more concerned for yourself, Dragon. You will not be leaving this cavern alive, after all.¡± Chapter 17: Dragonfire Susan laughed, a derisive bark that thundered over the assembled vampires. Many of them jumped backwards in surprise, unlike Jaroslav. He just kept staring at her, smiling. ¡°You think this,¡± She gave the ugly stone band around her neck a tug with a claw, ¡°Is enough to kill me?¡± ¡°Why yes I do,¡± Jaroslav¡¯s smile didn¡¯t budge, ¡°You see, we vampires know you dragon¡¯s dirty little secret. Those incredible bodies of yours are not as perfect as you claim. Every little failure in their design requires mana to smooth it over. And those add up. Your body might be a little too heavy to support itself, or your muscles too strong for your bones¡­¡± An emaciated hand pointed to each body part in turn, ¡°Maybe the fire within your chest burns a little too hot. As you are now, without mana, it is only a matter of time before one of those little problems finally becomes too much for you to survive. I am fascinated to learn which will be the case for you.¡± Susan took in the manic smile covering his face. ¡°You really are confident, aren¡¯t you,¡± She said. ¡°Of course, He said. ¡°Did you really think that there were no other dragons in this world because of mere coincidence? No it was because we vampires wished it to be so. And when you are gone the upper world will return to the way it should be, with us as its apex predators!¡± His voice raised until it was booming. It echoed back over the crows and Susan saw many nods and grins form the other vampires. ¡°There is no escaping here, " He continued, ¡°No magic can occur here unless we will it, and there is no one within a hundred leagues to carry news of your plight to the guardians of Earth. Susan wasn''t paying attention to his rant, instead she was examining the crowd. Many of them looked and smelled young. The vampiric curse on them was not even powerful enough yet that they had to avoid the sun. A wolfish smile crossed her face as she realized something. Jaroslav wasn''t speaking to her. He was preaching to the crowd. This was a lesson on vampiric dominance for the youngsters. That meant she had an easy way out. Intimidation. Thankfully she was good at that. The stone beneath Susan¡¯s claws began bubbling, catching Jaroslav¡¯s eye. His smile dimmed as he spotted the claw she had slid underneath the stone band, now glowing white hot. ¡°An impressive trick,¡± He said quickly, ¡°But the collar is tied to the very stone around us. To destroy the collar, you would need the strength to tear apart the entire cave. And you are no Earth Dragon to split stone like water.¡± As he spoke the spell activated again, pulling away the heat and pushing it into the cave around her. Susan felt the room¡¯s temperature increase infinitesimally, but that was it. ¡°Well,¡± Susan said, ¡°You¡¯re right about one thing.¡± Her scales ignited. The entire room was lit in stark colors as the center of the cave around Susan was turned into a hellish furnace. A wave of burning heat blasted away from her, but stopped at the edge of the room when it splashed against an invisible barrier. Some of the vampires jumped away, but a screamed command from Jaroslav pulled them back. As one they reached out and began pouring spell after spell back into the cave. Quickly, the temperature of the room began to dip back down as legions worth of cooling spells were cast. The warming stone cracked beneath the tide of frost that rushed over it. ¡°I¡¯m not an earth dragon,¡± Susan continued, not having moved from where she stood in front of Yaroslav. It took a long moment for the mask of calm to reassert itself as he confirmed that the vampires were successfully overpowering her heat output. That was what Susan had been waiting for. ¡°I don¡¯t have a vital flaw.¡± With a hum that shook the air, her heart fully activated. The Mages Congress had called her insane when she finally explained to them what it was. Their science barely allowed them to comprehend the extent to her creation, but what they knew terrified them such that they had begged her never to spread the knowledge of how she had done it. Within her chest was the two meter wide black sphere that she called her ¡®heart¡¯, a superheated sphere of condensed hydrogen held in place by an array of electromagnets. In other words, a miniature thermonuclear reactor. Now, the electromagnets began to power up, compressing the core even more and increasing the power coming from it by magnitudes. The heat in the room very quickly went from warm to apocalyptic. The frost forming upon the stone boiled away in an instant, and moments later the stone itself began to melt in an expanding ring. Above her stalactites began dripping molten stone, and her claws started to sink into the softening floor of the cave. Susan watched as the vampires tried to fight back, but this wasn¡¯t a contest of magic. It was a contest of pure physics, and she had every advantage. It took a while for Jaroslav to grasp what was going on. His expression went from absolute calm, to worried, then panicked as he whipped his head back and forth to the other vampires. His expression began to truly widen in fear as he realized that every one of the other vampires truly were putting their full effort into contesting Susan for control of the room. And losing. His eyes turned to Susan, and she grinned. Rearing back, she spoke in a booming voice that rolled over the packed vampires. ¡°DO YOU GET IT NOW?¡± She roared, ¡°THERE IS NO CAGE PROTECTING YOU. THERE IS NO ARMY YOU COULD CALL UPON TO STOP ME. THE ONLY THING KEEPING YOU SAFE RIGHT NOW IS THE LIFE OF ANNABETH SEKH.¡± Jaroslav stared open mouthed, and Susan could see in his eyes the entire illusion of superiority he had crumble to pieces. ¡°You are the Archdragon of Ruin,¡± He said lamely. Susan gave a nod. ¡°Yes,¡± She said. ¡°I am the Nuclear Dragon.¡± Jaroslav¡¯s eyes seemed to spin, and Susan¡¯s mouth split into a grin. Her time on Themus had often been frustrated by the lack of scientific advancement. She had never made a secret of what kind of dragon she was, but the number of people there who understood what it meant was practically nonexistent. And while she hadn¡¯t wanted to freak the Guardians out by telling them she was a walking nuclear reactor, the vampires were fair game. And now she could finally, properly intimidate someone without needing a flowchart to do it. It was such a rush to finally have someone understand just what she was. The ancient vampire finally came back to himself. With a shake of his head he refocused on her and spoke again. ¡°You will have your friend.¡± Susan¡¯s smile widened. Finally, the crushing weight of worry seemed to lift and she breathed out in relief. With a few shouted orders at the other vampires, Jaroslav was soon brought a small hand mirror. Under the red glow of Susan¡¯s body, he cast a communication spell. The smiling face of Robert quickly appeared, then the smile gradually vanished as he took in the older vampire''s face. ¡°Elde-¡± He began, only to be cut off instantly. ¡°Do you know where Annabeth Sekh is?¡± Jaroslav snapped. ¡°Yes, of course,¡± He replied guilessly. ¡°Well?¡± ¡°Well what?¡± Robert asked with a frown. ¡°WHERE IS THE GIRL?¡± Jaroslav roared. ¡°She¡­¡± Suddenly Robert seemed unable to look at the other vampire. ¡°SPEAK, ACEZAR!¡± Jaroslav roared with the tone of a mother calling her child¡¯s full name, his face twisting into a reddened snarl. ¡°I turned her over to the mouskin!¡± Robert shrieked. In Susan¡¯s heart, the smug confidence she had created was snuffed out. Cold replaced it, and her next breath came in short and fast. For the vampire, the news took a moment to sink in. The mirror tumbled from his unmoving hand to shatter on the ground, and all expression fell away from his wrinkled face. His eyes raised to meet Susan¡¯s. ¡°I ask for mercy for my kin¡¯s foolishness-¡± ¡°Run,¡± Susan said. ¡°What?¡± ¡°That is all the mercy I can give right now,¡± Susan said, not even looking at him. Instead she focused on the roof. The mottled stone above her was probably limestone, a light rock. A small part of her mind analyzed the situation. Tunneling out through hundreds of feet, or even meters of rock was dangerous, and could leave her hurt or trapped. The rest of her didn¡¯t care. Within her chest, her heart began to heat up. Her neck stretched out, pointing upwards. In her chest, her heart opened. As the last of the panicking vampires vanished into the recesses of the cave, Susan breathed out fire and light. The collar around her neck shattered into molten fragments.
John Smith breathed in. Then he breathed out and tried to center himself. Today had been a complete shitshow, and it wasn¡¯t nearly over yet. With the threat of magic being revealed to the world hanging in the balance, the BSMP had mobilized its entire workforce to combat the problem. John himself had been woken up at an ungodly hour to deal with an order to get whatever information he could from Rawiyah Sekh. He had entered the mousekin¡¯s sanctum in the Garage Sale to find her in a panic. When she had calmed enough to get a word out, the news had been chilling. The appearance of the dragons had overturned every single one of her predictions. Most problematic among them was her nephew, who had gone from a nonissue to an immediate threat of massive proportions. Joseph Sekh had allied with the vampires in order to get his hands on his niece. The ploy had succeeded, and now he was on his way to sacrifice the girl to an Eldritch Beast and ascend to become the first full Eldritch Avatar in Earth¡¯s history. Now it was late in the morning. Every one of John¡¯s lines of inquiry had been shot down by the seer, and now he sat collapsed on one of the low couches to the side of the room. In front of him, Rawiyah paced around the edge of her table, eyes wide as her tail whipped back and forth behind her. He was tired, and she was furious, but his superior had ordered him to be here. Any nuggets of wisdom she could throw at them would be more than worth the effort. So he weathered the scorn and fury she threw at him as he tried to find a way out of the shithole the BSMP had dug for itself. His phone buzzed, and he glanced down at it to see another update request. ¡°Is there anything new?¡± He asked, then looked away from the furious return glare from Rawiyah. ¡°No,¡± She snapped. ¡°Could you at least check?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°My superiors-¡± ¡°Caused this, you fool!¡± Rawiyah shouted, ¡°You could have granted my niece protection years ago. Instead I had to manipulate a dragon into helping her!¡± ¡°Oh yes,¡± John said sitting up, ¡°The dragon you failed to warn the BSMP about.¡± Rawiyah scoffed at that. ¡°I did warn the BSMP about her.¡± ¡°You call the incapacitation of an entire attack team a warning?¡± John asked.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°Yes,¡± She scoffed, ¡°The only kind of warning you fools ever listen to.¡± John frowned, ¡°We listen to warnings.¡± ¡°No, you do not,¡± Rawiyah shot him another scathing glare, ¡°It is why your organization will fall.¡± John rolled his eyes, it wasn¡¯t the first time he was hearing about this tonight. ¡°Can you check the damn ball now?¡± He asked. ¡°What else do you need to know?¡± Rawiyah screeched, ¡°The vampires have already caught the dragon, and my niece is almost to the abomination.¡± Then she sighed and looked down. ¡°The die is cast, and it fell against us,¡± She finished quietly ¡°There is a team on its way¡­¡± Rawiyah¡¯s glare made him trail off. ¡°The world will shiver in fear beneath the might of a fully powered eldritch avatar,¡± She said, ¡°That is all my visions hold.¡± John let the conversation end there. This was the third time they had this argument, and he didn¡¯t feel like suffering through more of it. His attention returned to his phone, and his thumbs traced the familiar message back to his superior, ¡®No news¡¯. A thump echoed from outside the room, a huge, heavy noise that reverberated through the concrete around them. John frowned, glancing over to Rawiyah. The mousekin looked surprised. Her reaction had him on his feet with his gun out in an instant, though fear dragged at his limbs. Anything the seer couldn¡¯t see coming was way above his weight class. ¡°Check the damn ball!¡± He snapped, and Rawiyah nodded. She scampered to the center of the table. Grasping the tiny ball with both hands, she stared down into it with narrowed eyes. Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to let out a huff. More followed, and soon she was cackling wildly. A shouted request from John returned only more laughter as she fell on her side on the table, still heaving. Screams and shouts echoed in from the Garage Sale outside, the source of the sounds quickly drawing near. John stared down the door with wide eyes, hands shaking despite his training. The laughter of the mouse, the screams outside, he didn¡¯t know what to do beyond staring at the door and pointing his gun at it. Finally, Rawiyah stopped laughing and stood back up. Turning around, she faced the door with a calm smirk over her lips. Then four glowing blades tore through the steel of the door above the handle. With a hiss of melting metal, they carved a semicircle around the handle, then vanished, taking the door handle with them. Then an impact blasted the door open, bouncing it off of the wall beside it. The figure that appeared through the doorway was straight out of someone¡¯s nightmares. A long snarling animal head on top of a long sinuous body held up by stubby legs ending in claws glowing with heat that John could feel on the other side of the room. He belatedly recognized it as Susan Hill from the security camera footage of her confrontation with Robert. ¡°You were an archdragon,¡± Rawiyah squeaked happily. The word set off alarm bells in John¡¯s head, though he wasn''t familiar with it. He knew of Archmages, mages who had completely mastered a specific type of magic. Most of them sat comfortably on the list of people the BSMP couldn¡¯t afford to mess with. He had no idea what ¡®archdragon¡¯ could mean. He wasn¡¯t sure he wanted to find out. Unfortunately, he had the sense that he was going to find out soon anyways. Uncaring of either of their considerations, Susan stepped into the room. Each movement from her was sharp and angry, and the glowing claws seemed to pulse in a furious tempo. ¡°I have had to deal with a lot of shit just to get here,¡± She hissed in a low voice, ¡°So tell me quickly, where is Anne?¡±
The world that passed by Anne seemed to be made up entirely of yellow and brown. Barren plains stretched around her, interspersed with the occasional craggy hill that whizzed past her. An oppressive heat filled the air around her. Together with a dust that seemed to strip every bit of moisture from the environment, it worked to make the landscape feel truly hellish. Anne just felt cold. The jeep she sat in jolted as it passed over another rock. A round of curses from the other occupants of the car reached her ears, but she ignored them. A few hours ago life had been going pretty well. She had spent a fun night with her friends, and while she was dreading attending school the next day it had been worth it. Then a dozen vampires had kidnapped her out of Susan¡¯s grandparents home, dropped her off in a room with a smarmy looking vampire, and left. All of ten minutes after that, Joseph had shown up and pressured the idiot into handing her over. She had tried to fight, tried to run. The mousekin had trussed her up at first, then threatened her, then yelled at her. It hadn¡¯t dissuaded her, and she kept trying. Right up until they finally let slip why exactly it had been the vampires to kidnap her. They wanted to get at Susan. The mousekin didn¡¯t know or care why. What mattered was that Anne was the only person who Susan was attached to, but not strong enough to protect herself. So in getting help from Susan, Anne had made herself the dragon¡¯s only real weakness. Her ploy to survive hadn¡¯t just failed. It had backfired, and now Susan was in danger as well. So now Anne just felt numb. Even now, packed into the back of a dusty jeep with a half dozen other mouskin, she simply couldn''t muster the rage or fury to keep fighting. It didn¡¯t seem worth it anymore. A shouted command from the front of the jeep caught her attention as Joseph gave another direction to the driver. She mostly ignored it, until the jeep began to slow. It rolled to a stop at the edge of a small empty plain. The craggy hills continued around it, but the entire area was flat ground except for the area in the center. Instead of another hill, the land dipped down into a yawning pit. The chasm was entirely dark despite the bright day, and the air around it seemed to warp. Not shimmer like the heat, but warp and twist in ways that seemed to trick the eyes. The only thing in the area around them was an oddly formed boulder. A ledge was carved into the side facing the chasm, and two protrusions jutted up from it that seemed shaped like¡­ armrests. Anne¡¯s heart sank into her stomach as she stared at it, but the rock refused to change shape under her gaze. It was like she was staring at a guillotine, a tool designed for nothing but death. There was clatter as the small group clambered out of the jeep. A moment later Anne found her fears realized as she was hauled out of the back of the jeep by two burly mousekin, then sat on the ledge with her arms tied to the two protruding stone arms. Joseph appeared in front of her, staring at her for a moment. He didn¡¯t say anything, but did give a small smirk before turning around. Arrayed before the both of them were the rest of the mousekin, seven in total. Joseph¡¯s head swiveled back and forth as he looked over them. Then he reached down with his right arm and rolled back the sleeve on the other. With slow, reverent movements, he took out a small knife, and scored a cut across the back of his arm. ¡°The bargain is fulfilled,¡± He intoned, ¡°The final servant given. Bestow to her your knowledge, and to me your power.¡± Everyone watched as a line of blood welled up, then flowed down until it began to drip down to the ground. As the first few drops struck, a small tremor made the dust around them shake. A horrible groan came from the chasm, and the air around the group was sucked toward it as if by a breath Some of the mousekin¡¯s heads began to turn to look back, but a snapped command from Joseph had them looking away once again. ¡°The beast stirs,¡± Joseph said, startling her, ¡°In only a few minutes, the ritual will be complete, and we mouskin will return to the Brick not as servants, but as masters¡­¡± He kept talking, but Anne barely heard him. Instead she was distracted by the emotion welling within her. Rage. She had felt it before, a fury at Joseph. At his idiotic scrabble for power, and everything she had lost to it. The feeling had been snuffed out by the realization of what had happened to Susan. But now, listening to him prattle on about his empty headed plans to rule the world, even as her death loomed over her head? No amount of fear or dread could calm her down. ¡°Would you shut up!¡± She grated out, interrupting him mid word. ¡°Quiet,¡± He snapped, turning to face her again. ¡°Or what?¡± She asked with a manic smile, ¡°You¡¯ll do something terrible to me? Guess what, you beat yourself to the punch on that!¡± ¡°Someone shut her up,¡± Joseph said, not even looking back toward the other mousekin. One of them stepped forward with a rag, but he had barely begun to move his hands around her head when Anne snapped her teeth towards his fingers. He leapt back with a yelp, and the rag fell to the ground. Anne choked out a laugh as he stumbled away. ¡°Did you really think you could gag a mouskin?¡± She said in between chuckles, ¡°Sharp teeth is one of the only abilities we get!¡± Her body stilled, and she looked up to meet Joseph¡¯s cold eyes once again. ¡°Grandma¡¯s right, you really are a failure of a mouskin,¡± She said, and watched him turn red. ¡°Do you really think you''re going to be the master of anything? ¡°I know why you decided to ally with the vampires. You saw the news about dragons in Yosemite and realized that no matter how many people you kill, you still can¡¯t fight people with actual power. No matter how high a mound of corpses you build, you won''t ever stand high enough to reach the top!¡± The other Mouskin were staring at her now, several glowering while others seemed worried. Anne didn¡¯t care. ¡°I¡¯d ask where you got the brains or the spine to even get that far,¡± She spat, ¡°But I already know the answer to that too. You stole them from someone better than you-¡± Joseph¡¯s backhand caught her across the face and sent her head snapping to the side. She tasted copper, but couldn¡¯t hold back a smile. She met his eyes, knowing she¡¯d hit home with that insult. He looked back towards the group. ¡°Bring it,¡± He snapped. The mousekin at one end of the line, a tiny man dressed in dark grey clothes, moved back towards the jeep. He returned with a long wooden box held in both arms. Standing in front of Joseph, he held the box out in front of himself. Joseph spared him a nod, then flipped the box open. He reached out to pick up whatever was inside, then paused and looked back at Anne with another smirk. ¡°You know,¡± he said, ¡°I wouldn''t have gotten this without you.¡± Anne met his smirk with a glare and didn¡¯t answer. ¡°It was only by having the dragon followed that I even found out about it,¡± He continued, ¡°After her scuffle with the Thunderbirds, one of my agents came back to me with news of a Tier 4 magical weapon hidden away by the Olbrechts.¡± Anne¡¯s breath caught in her throat. ¡°And so while the vampires were capturing you, Steward here managed to sneak in and get it out for me,¡± By the end of his speech his smile was distinctly predatory, with a glint in his eye as he watched Anne. Anything she might have said died in her throat, and she had to fight to keep her jaw from clenching. She couldn''t give him this. No matter what he said, she wouldn''t give him the satisfaction of seeing her break. Joseph watched her for a moment, but seemed to give up on waiting for her to break down and instead turned his attention back to the box. His hand reached in with deliberate slowness, and the inside of the box lit up a deep green. He lifted out what Anne assumed to be a sword. It was completely transparent, to the point that it looked like Joseph wasn''t even holding anything. The only thing that let her see it was the green glow that emanated from it. The group stared on in awed silence, and Joseph¡¯s grin widened into an expression of pure glee as he looked down at the blade, the fantastical object slowly growing to fit perfectly in his hand. Then Anne saw wisps of smoke rising. The smile on Joseph''s face vanished as every part of his body touched by the green light began to smoke, the flesh dissolving as if it were being touched by acid. He threw the sword away from himself with a yell, and Anne saw the clear blade imbed itself to the hilt in the soil a few meters away. Joseph stumbled away, still roaring with pain. The group of mousekin leapt around like a herd of deer, some of them jumping away, others moving forward to try and help. A raised hand held them off, and they watched with wide eyes as the skin of his body began to glow violet. Starting from his chest, the light flowed under his skin like a living tattoo. When it reached the bleeding injuries, it intensified and Anne had to look away. When she looked back Joseph was whole again, as if everything that happened before was a dream. The only thing that didn¡¯t change was Joseph¡¯s expression. When the light had finished healing him, he stalked forward like a storm toward the sword. ¡°Alright then,¡± He growled, grabbing the sword around the hilt and tearing it from the ground. The green light began again immediately, but this time Joseph gritted his teeth against the pain. The violet light appeared again, flowing through his arm and toward the sword. It reached his hand and intensified as if being blocked for a moment, then in a rush it flowed from Joseph and into the blade. He opened his mouth with a wide grin, ready to gloat. He never got to finish. Instead the sword in his hand flashed, and the clear material that made it up began to warp. For a moment the sword seemed to twist in on itself, then it snapped back to its normal shape. Only now Joseph¡¯s vice grip was holding the blade instead of the guard. Under the horrified gazes of the mousekin the blade fell to the ground again, surrounded by a rain of severed fingers. Even as the violet light flashed again to restore Joseph¡¯s body, Anne was laughing hysterically. His expression turned thunderous but it was interrupted when a breeze blew past them, followed by a deep moan that made Anne¡¯s ears ache. Joseph turned back to the chasm slowly as her laughter choked off. ¡°It''s awake,¡± He said, and the spiteful warmth in her chest was snuffed out. In front of her and Joseph, and behind the backs of the other mouskin, something came out of the chasm. Anne tried to look away at first, but a strange magnetism seemed to draw her gaze back to it. At first there was a haze around it, like her eyes weren¡¯t focused on it properly. But then it became clear and the pain started. The very action of looking at it seemed like pins were being pushed into her eyes, while a headache burned through her mind like a wildfire. The creature itself was like nothing she had ever seen. The entire thing was a strange violet color that seemed to twist inward on itself in a mind searing pattern. Anne couldn¡¯t tell if the thing walked or crawled, whether it had eyes or noses or even a face. The twisting patterns made it look like it was all eyes, all noses, all limbs. She couldn''t even tell what shape it was underneath the kaleidoscope of violet madness. Her mind and body screamed with pain, but one thing kept Anne from succumbing. Rage. She hated this thing. She hated it more than Joseph. She hated it with a fury that made the pain in her mind seem insignificant by comparison. The creature wiggled in her eyes as it moved closer, but Anne didn¡¯t let herself succumb. She screamed, trying to hold herself together even as her vision turned red and something dribbled from her eyes and ears. Then something caught her eye, drawing it away from the nightmare in front of her. A glowing dot floating somewhere in the sky above the abomination. It grew brighter like a star, before a brilliant white beam of energy shot down to strike the eldritch creature. The beam was incredibly thin, barely a wire''s thickness from Anne¡¯s perspective, but the world around it seemed to tremble as the white glow suffused it. It was like the fury of the sun had been unleashed in front of her, the beam piercing the eldritch creature to dig into the ground below. Anne could barely feel it. Not the rush of sound and air that made the other Mouskin jump, or the wave of heat that followed and made them run for cover. It was only when the violet colors blackened under the incredible heat of the beam that she came back to herself. After a few seconds the beam of energy cut off, leaving behind a towering black blob where the eldritch abomination had been. As Anne watched the scorched remains seemed to deflate, before collapsing inwards in a rush. They vanished with a squelch, sliding down into the newly bored hole in the empty plain. Anne sat silently for a moment, then wheezed out a laugh. Within seconds she was sniffling, then crying as the enormity of the situation washed over her. At some point she heard the tires of the jeep tear off behind her, signaling that the other mousekin were gone. She didn¡¯t care. They couldn''t threaten her anymore. Instead she looked up through teary eyes toward whatever it was that saved her. The dot in the sky was still there, and looked like it was glowing brighter than before. Then Anne realized that it was getting closer. A second later it grew large enough to be recognized. It was Susan, the gray scaled giant as easy to spot as ever. Anne¡¯s heart soared, only for her joy to sour when a groan caught her attention. Joseph was still there, stretched out on the ground. His body seemed duller now, his face white as if the blood had been pulled from it. Despite whatever backlash he had suffered when the Eldritch Beast died, he still managed to pull himself up. The roar of Susan¡¯s approach caught his attention, and his head twisted around to look at her. The growl that came from his throat sounded like something from a wild animal. His maddened eyes locked onto the magic sword again, and he forced himself into a stumbling crawl over to it. His hand hovered over it as Susan began to draw nearer, and Anne realized his plan with a start. She turned her eyes back to Susan ready to scream out a warning, but it wasn¡¯t necessary. The dragon had spotted Joseph already, and was turning away. As they watched, she cut a wide wide circle around the barren plain to approach them from the side. ¡°COME ON,¡± Joseph screamed, crouched down with his hand by the sword. Susan¡¯s wings caught the air, slowing her approach. She glared at Joseph, arms held forward and ready to lash out. Joseph¡¯s eyes locked onto something and he frowned for a moment, then broke into a grin. ¡°Perfect,¡± He whispered through withered lips as he watched Susan approach. Anne tried to follow his eyes, then gasped as she spotted what he¡¯d seen, a series of vents around the base of Susan¡¯s neck drawing in air. She tried to scream out a warning, but it was too late. Susan rushed in, claws outstretched and ready to cut as Joseph grabbed the sword and leapt toward her. As the green light began burning away at him, he began to shrink. He vanished into his clothes, only for a tiny brown mouse carrying a glowing green blade the size of a toothpick to appear shooting out from them. Even as the clothes were shredded behind him, he flew upwards and vanished into one of the vents. Susan¡¯s head twisted around, eyes wide with shock. ¡°YOU IDIOT!¡± She roared, then her eyes rolled up in her head and she hit the ground in a thunderous tumble. Chapter 18: Rescue from the Nightmare Despite being almost noon, the sky was dark. Clouds of ash blotted out the sun over a world of shattered stone and broken bodies. The only thing that provided light was the burning remains of towers and bodies. Dominating one horizon was a long line of sundered stone, the collective corpses of two armies filling the fields in front of it. Humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes; their bodies littered the ground among burning hulks. Black scaled dragons that lay torn and scattered like hills. This nightmarish landscape stretched from horizon to horizon, a scar on the world so brutal it was visible from space. At the center of this hellhole, the bodies of almost a hundred of the dead dragons lay piled in a small mountain. Perched among the broken spines of the topmost dragon, was Susan. Currently in human form, she sat curled in on herself with both arms wrapped around her knees. Blank eyes took in the burning ruins, the terrible stench of burning and death barely even registering to her. She had no idea how or why this was happening, and she wasn''t sure if she cared. She barely even moved. Just feeling empty, like the bottom of her soul had fallen open and everything tumbled out. ¡°What the hell?¡± Someone swore behind her, and Susan jumped in surprise. She nearly stumbled and fell, but barely managed to catch herself on one of the spines beside her. Turning around, she found the source of the noise. It was a woman in bronze armor, holding herself up with one of the spines while she stared around at the burnt landscape in horror. ¡°Abana?¡± Susan blurted out. ¡°Susan!¡± Abana exclaimed, quickly turning to look at her, ¡°You¡¯re here!¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Susan said, not entirely sure what was happening. ¡°Amazing!¡± Abana said, then realized her awkward statement and continued, ¡°You¡¯ve been unconscious for so long I was scared the dream spell wouldn¡¯t work.¡± ¡°The- oh,¡± Susan frowned, ¡°That explains a lot.¡± Abana¡¯s face half fell and half twisted up in confusion. ¡°What did you think was-¡± She muttered then shook her head and spoke again, ¡°Anyway, you collapsed and we haven¡¯t been able to wake you up. We¡¯ve been trying to use dream magic to communicate with you. Now can you tell me what¡¯s wrong?¡± Nodding at her words, Susan made herself think back to what had happened before she had arrived in this world. The thoughts and memories felt hazy, but eventually she managed to pull herself together enough to remember- ¡°Wait- Anne!¡± She gasped, ¡°Is Anne alright?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Abana nodded, ¡°She¡¯s with us.¡± ¡°Great, that''s great,¡± Susan sagged with relief. Abana gave her a moment to collect herself, but eventually shot her another questioning look. This time when she tried thinking back, it was easier. She had been trying to save Anne. She had shot the Eldritch Creature with her breath, then flown in to get Anne. She had spotted Anne¡¯s crazy uncle standing next to her and flown at him. Then¡­ ¡°Oh, Joseph stabbed me with Liss.¡± Abana continued looking at her expectantly, and Susan pushed through the haze to keep remembering. ¡°Right, I needed to reduce the radiation, so- ¡°Excuse me, the what?¡± Abana cut her off. ¡°I have a nuclear reactor for a Dragon Heart. With Liss piercing it the radiation couldn¡¯t be effectively contained,¡± Susan explained blandly. Abana stared at her for a moment, completely still. Then her eyes slowly raised toward the sky and she let out a deep groan. ¡°These damn sisters, I swear¡­¡± She growled out. ¡°Anyway,¡± Susan continued, ¡°In order to protect Anne, I reduced the output of my Dragon Heart as much as I could. But that means that my body doesn¡¯t have enough energy to sustain itself, so I fell unconscious.¡± ¡°This was intentional?¡± Abana raised an eyebrow. ¡°No, the sword must have gone in deeper than I thought,¡± Susan shrugged, ¡°Normally my body should be able to remove it.¡± ¡°Right, okay,¡± Abana nodded as she spoke, ¡°So we just need to get the sword out.¡± She vanished without another word, leaving Susan once more standing alone on top of the dragon. She stared at the empty air for a few seconds, then sat back down. She probably should try to do something, but the world around her seemed to suck out any energy she had. Instead her eyes found the burning plain once again and returned to their empty vigil. ¡°SUSAN!¡± A scream ripped through the ashy air, and something slammed into Susan¡¯s side. She caught herself immediately, then looked down to find Elizabeth wrapped around her midsection. ¡°You¡¯re okay!¡± Elizabeth mumbled, face pressed into her side. ¡°Yeah, I am,¡± Susan said slowly, steadying herself and reaching down to pat Elizabeth on the back. A moment later she pulled back to look up at Susan. After giving her a good looking over, Elizabeth finally stepped back. ¡°Sorry,¡± She said somewhat bashfully, ¡°I was really worried.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Susan said, giving her a wry grin. Elizabeth nodded a few times, then her eyes went wide as she finally took in the rest of the dream world. ¡°Uh, by the way,¡± She started awkwardly, ¡°Where are we?¡± She trailed off, head sweeping back and forth to look at the burning vista. Susan followed her gaze for a moment, then decided to look back at Elizabeth instead. ¡°This is the Beringian Passage,¡± She explained, then realized the explanation was somewhat vague, ¡°After a¡­ battle.¡± ¡°Yeah, but like,¡± Elizabeth shrugged helplessly, ¡°Why are you dreaming about it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± Susan began, then trailed off. A shudder rolled over her. ¡°Lets, um¡­ sit down or something¡± Elizabeth said quickly. They settled down on either side of one of the broken spines. Elizabeth¡¯s arm immediately snaking around it to hug Susan. They remained there a few minutes, neither speaking. ¡°This is what remains of the Mages Congress,¡± Susan finally said, her voice barely above a whisper. ¡°Wasn¡¯t that the group that the mage who helped you was a part of?¡± Elizabeth asked, sounding horrified. ¡°Yes,¡± Susan whispered. Elizabeth¡¯s arm trembled, then pulled her closer. ¡°That¡­ that¡¯s awful,¡± She whispered. Silence fell again. The fires continued to roil below them, until Elizabeth finally spoke. ¡°D-do you want to talk about it?¡± She asked. Susan huffed at that. The line was delivered so awkwardly that it was almost certainly something that Hilda or Chay had told her to say. ¡°Sure,¡± The word slipped out of her mouth almost without her noticing. She blandly wondered whether or not she should continue, but eventually decided she might as well. ¡°It started when-,¡± She stopped, ¡°Well it really started with Liss.¡± ¡°Wait, Liss?¡± Elizabeth, who had been looking at Susan from the corner of her eye turned her head to look at her fully. ¡°Yep,¡± Susan nodded, ¡°Do you remember how Hadwigis thought the Atlans might have causality magic?¡± Elizabeth nodded in turn. ¡°Well, the mages congress was really worried about it. So much so that they decided to build a weapon specifically to counter it.¡± ¡°Liss,¡± Elizabeth finished for her, then frowned and looked around, ¡°It¡¯s here?¡± Susan nodded mutely, then pointed down toward one of the larger broken piles of stone. There, only visible because of the flicker light of the fires, was the faint outline of Liss. Thrust point first into the blackened ground, it stood among the hulking bodies of a dozen dragons. ¡°Oh,¡± Elizabeth breathed. ¡°Yeah,¡± Susan continued quietly, ¡°I was just the person they needed to make it. The mana requirements for forging a Kalian Blade are absurd, literally only a dragon could fulfill them.¡± Beside her Elizabeth frowned. ¡°A¡­ what?¡± She asked. ¡°The Themians used a five tier system to denote the power of magical artifacts. Kalian was the fifth tier,¡± Susan recited blandly. Elizabeth¡¯s brow furrowed. ¡°I think we use that here,¡± She began slowly, ¡°But didn¡¯t Mom say Liss was a tier 4?¡± Susan paused, then made herself go through the motions of dredging up the memories. ¡°Uh¡­¡± Susan shot Elizabeth a look. ¡°The Themian tier system is totally different from the Earth tier system and Liss is absolutely a tier 4 on Earth.¡± ¡°Uh huh,¡± Elizabeth said with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Right, anyway. We spent centuries working on it in between battles with the Atlans. It took about a decade¡¯s worth of my power to finally finish it. We quickly found a pure of heart person to wield it, but before we could do anything, the Atlans¡­¡± She trailed off again. It was several minutes before she spoke again, this time in a voice so low it was only a hint of a whisper. ¡°The Atlans attacked. We weren¡¯t that worried about them most of the time. With me there to power the defenses they could barely even scratch the wall. Their only real threat against us beyond causality magic was dragons and their whole plan to make them had basically ended in failure. ¡°They didn¡¯t have my understanding of the body, so their only method of making dragons was to take Takeo¡¯s body and just¡­ copy-paste it onto other people. It was horrible. Incredibly painful and so dangerous that the survival rate was barely one in a thousand.¡± ¡°Woah,¡± Elizabeth breathed. ¡°I know,¡± Susan shook her head slowly, ¡°We assumed we would have centuries before they built up a respectable force.¡± She fell silent for a minute before speaking again, ¡°They attacked us with one thousand dragons.¡± ¡°A-¡± Elizabeth choked off. ¡°Yes, a thousand dragons, made with a survival rate of one in one thousand. A million lives thrown away just for that attack. But it worked. The mages fought with all they had, but it just wasn¡¯t enough. Roland, the boy they chose to wield Liss, dueled four dragons at once and won. I think Hadwigis defeated a dozen on his own. But there were just too many dragons, and one by one the towers fell. Until I was the only one left. Fighting alone against what remained of the horde.¡± Susan trailed off as her eyes slowly slid to face the side of the battlefield away from the wall. Instead of the disastrously piled bodies, dozens of deep channels had been carved into the landscape. ¡°I wasn''t a fighter before then. I had never even used my beam attack against a living creature. But in that moment, when it was just me surrounded by dead friends and an army of dragons¡­¡± ¡± ¡°You¡­¡± Elizabeth could barely get the words out, looking over the scarred world behind them. ¡°Just kind of lost it. The next thing I remember, I was here, and the dragon army was¡­ this.¡± Elizabeth didn¡¯t say anything for a few seconds, then her head slowly turned to look at the broken wall again. She finally turned back to Susan again, her expression hard.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Did you at least beat up the Atlans though?¡± Susan choked out a laugh. ¡°I burnt the whole damn empire to the ground. Took like two centuries. But yeah, I got them.¡± Her voice cracked and she fell silent. Elizabeth turned and wrapped her other arm around Susan in a fierce hug. ¡°I''m sorry,¡± She said. ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry too,¡± Susan croaked, then felt tears spill from her eyes and a sob broke out, ¡°I failed them.¡± More tears fell. More sobs came. Elizabeth just held her. Inside Susan''s chest, within the twisting knot that was her heart something finally loosened. They stayed there another few minutes, truly silent this time. After a while, Elizabeth finally spoke again. ¡°The others say they''re ready to take the sword out.¡±
The vent in Susan¡¯s chest loomed in front of Anne. The gill-like flap of scales formed a long trapezoid, the bottom edge of which was almost touching the floor. Hanging open like a door, the flap represented Anne¡¯s only chance of saving her best friend. When Joseph¡¯s attack had hit home and Susan collapsed, she had been left in a state of panic. Thankfully the Guardians had been quick to arrive, and ferried both of them back to their home base. Once safely enclosed within the blank grey walls, they had begun working to revive Susan. Now, after a quick dream spell from Abana, they had found a solution. They needed to remove the sword from her chest. Which meant they needed someone small enough to fit inside. And Anne had been happy to volunteer. She currently stood in mouse form, looking into the same vent she had seen Joseph leap into as the Guardians did the final preparations behind her. ¡°Are you ready?¡± Abana asked, her footfalls booming as she walked up behind Anne. Anne had to look up to meet her gaze. As she was currently the height of one of Abana¡¯s shoes, it was a long way up. Anne nodded. ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± She said. ¡°Good, you have the amulet?¡± Anne looked down to give it another look. Despite the weight that she could feel sitting against her chest, she couldn¡¯t really see it. Like Liss, the amulet was made of a strange transparent material that was only visible by the faint outline it created. According to the Guardians, it would grant her a limited form of their protective abilities. Hopefully enough to let her survive the irradiated interior of her friend¡¯s body long enough to remove the sword. Anne still wasn¡¯t sure what to make of that. She and Susan were going to have to have words about it later though, that was for sure. Friends told friends if they were walking nuclear reactors. Anne was pretty sure that was in the friendship rules somewhere. Well, they would just have to talk about it if she lived- Cutting off that thought, Anne looked back up to meet Abana¡¯s gaze and nodded. ¡°And you¡¯ve checked it is bonded?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Anne replied tersely. Abana kept her gaze, but Anne could see her swallow. ¡°It¡¯s okay if you don''t want to-¡± Abana began only to be cut off when Anne snapped at her. ¡°I¡¯m going to!¡± She squeaked, ¡°I have to!¡± ¡°You-¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get it!¡± Anne continued, ¡°You weren¡¯t there! You didn¡¯t stare that thing in the faces! Sure, I might die here, but that would be so much better than having my mind erased by that¡­ that¡­¡± She stopped and closed her eyes for a moment. Then she opened them again and met Abana¡¯s concerned look head on. ¡°I have to do this,¡± She said, ¡°Susan can¡¯t die because of me.¡± Abana looked like she wanted to protest again, but bit her lip and looked away. ¡°Alright,¡± She said, ¡°Go.¡± Despite her earlier worlds, Anne still had a hard time taking the first step into the looming vent. The dark inside seemed ready to consume her like the chasm from earlier today. ¡°Anne-¡± Abana began, but that was all the push she needed. She stepped inside, the darkness swallowing her for a moment before the amulet on her chest began to glow with a soft white light. She found herself inside of a narrow tunnel, the ceiling and floor slanted but still giving her enough grip to move. Almost immediately, she found her way blocked by a strange membrane, the porous material stretched over the vent like a net. Looking around, Anne spotted a way forward. Above her the membrane had been slashed open, a triangle of it still hanging in the still air. A leap and a scrabble of her feet got her through it, and she tumbled to the floor on the other side. Then it was further inwards, her footsteps more sure now as she got used to the twisting environment. Quickly, she found herself at the end of the tunnel. There was another gill-like flap, this one sporting a wide semicircular hole carved out of it. Stepping through, Anne trailed to a stop as she felt her mouth fall open. She stood in what she assumed to be Susan¡¯s right lung. Though not one anyone would recognize as a lung, the cavernous expanse of the organ was made up of a strange chitinous material that seemed straight out of science fiction. She was in a sort of transition area. Behind her an array of vents sat against what would have been the top of the lung, while in front of her a series of enormous flaps stretched from the ribs to the back wall of the lung above. Resembling the fins of a jet turbine, they sported thousands of tiny ridges that ran along their length. Anne couldn¡¯t help but gape at the blatant exhibition of Susan¡¯s scientific knowledge. She had frequently heard the girl complaining about the limitations of the current technology, but she had never quite realized just how valid those complaints were. Apparently this was what Susan could do when she could just magic away things like material costs and time considerations. Then Anne¡¯s eyes trailed up, and she finally found what she was looking for. Above her at the very back of the lung was an organ, likely the Dragonheart. It was hidden behind a mass of bone and cartilage, but the blue glow that emanated from it allowed her to see the rough outline of a sphere. And hanging down from it was the rough shape of a sword. Coated in a strange white goop, only the last foot of blade and the handle were visible. The rest of it was solidly embedded into the heart. Then her gaze fell again, and she spotted a strange outline marring the chitin in front of her. The dark shape resembled a shadow, showing the huddled outline of what might have been a mouse. ¡°Dumbass,¡± she muttered, and returned her attention to the hanging blade. Scrambling up the side of the lung, she quickly got herself to the same height as the handle. Grasping the amulet around her neck and praying that the Guardian¡¯s magic would work, she leapt forward. Clearing the foot between her and the blade, she barely caught herself on the crossguard of the sword. Scrabbling against it, she quickly felt her paws begin to sink through the strange goop that surrounded it. Her paws quickly began to grow warm as they sank, the heat feeling uncomfortably similar to standing in the sun. She pressed on though, and she quickly felt her paws hit something hard. The faintest flash of light was visible from beneath the goop, and then the sword began to shrink in her hands. It popped free from the heart above, and for a split second Anne felt the true heat of the heart above her. It blasted against her fur, and for the shortest moment she felt a searing warmth that seemed to go through her entire body- And then the white goop rushed in to fill the hole and the light cut off. Anne hit the bottom of the lung in a heavy sprawl, the sword held above her still pointed straight up. Body aching with an impossibly dull pain, Anne felt the first twinges of real fear run through her. She let the blade fall to land flat along the ground, before reaching up to feel where the light had touched her with trembling hands. Her paws touched bare skin, and Anne felt cold fear sap at her. She still wanted to talk to Susan, hang out, make more friends. She didn¡¯t want to go like this. From her chest, the light of the amulet began to grow. White light washed over her, and Anne felt a shiver run through her. Sitting up, she looked down with wide eyes to take in her body. The fur on her entire right side was gone and the skin bleached white, though under the light of the amulet she saw the color return. In a matter of seconds her fur had regrown and she had returned to normal. ¡°Woah,¡± She muttered, the heady rush of manic fear and elation almost knocking her back over, ¡°I¡¯ve got to stop it with the high stakes magic shit.¡± Stumbling to her feet, she began making her way back toward the broken vent. But before she made it even a few steps a rumble rolled through the body around her and knocked her back off her feet. A teeth shaking hum echoed around her, and the lung began to glow brighter. Wide eyes raised up to see the Dragonheart beginning to shine with that strange blue glow. The breath hadn¡¯t even had the time to catch in her throat when something moved to block the deadly light. It was the goop, the whitish substance flowing around her and the sword to form a spherical room. Her breath shuddered as the weight of the last few moments settled over her, then with a concerted effort she shoved it all to the back of her mind to deal with later. Standing again, she held the sword close to her side before reaching out to touch one of the white walls around her. The substance was smooth but strangely tough, unlike what she would have assumed from its appearance. She wasn¡¯t sure what to do now. Abana had outlined a plan that was basically just Anne running in, grabbing the sword and running out. They hadn¡¯t accounted for deadly light or strange goop. Then the room shook, and she had to brace herself as she heard air thunder around the body as Susan once again began to move. After a few seconds, the clamor stilled and she felt the white room begin to move like an elevator. There seemed to be a lot of stopping and going as she was shifted around Susan¡¯s body. Then almost a minute later she felt the movement end. The goop flowed away to reveal a circular tunnel, the walls and ceiling coated with a strange clear substance¡­ ¡°The throat? Really!¡± She yelled into the tunnel. A huff of air nearly knocked her off her feet before Susan stilled again. Anne sighed, then looked back and forth to see where she should go. Behind her the blue glow of the Dragonheart was barely visible through the walls of the tunnel, so she went forward. Paws squelching in the¡­ eww¡­ she tried to ignore her surroundings as she barreled forward. Eventually she found the end of the tunnel, and stepped onto a long red tongue surrounded by tall white teeth. With a hiss of breath, the jaw opened to reveal the outside world. Abana and Elizabeth stood in front of Susan¡¯s mouth, both of them smiling expectantly. Nodding to them, Anne walked to the edge of the tongue and dropped down to the floor below. A moment later a pulse of mana ran through her and she transformed back into a human. Then shivered as the cold air of the Guardian¡¯s fortress ran over her bare skin. Abana was there a second later with the bathrobe, throwing it over her shoulders and stepping away. She was followed by Elizabeth, who moved in to take Liss from her. Anne let the sword go with a sense of deep relief. The knowledge of the impossibly sharp edge had sat in the back of her mind for the entirety of her journey through Susan¡¯s body. ¡°Is there anything else I need to do?¡± She asked. ¡°No, Elizabeth will be able to return Liss without any issue,¡± Abana said, ¡°Just give us a minute to finish things up and we can talk things over.¡± Elizabeth flashed a thumbs up to Anne and Susan before teleporting away. Abana rolled her eyes at the girls'' theatrics, then turned and walked away toward a hallway on the other side of the room. Anne watched her go, then turned around to face Susan properly. The dragon was crouched beneath the low ceiling of one of the side rooms in the Guardian¡¯s base. Anne looked over the smoothly moving limbs and toothy grin with a smile, relieved that she was able to see it again. Then the smiles fell from both of their faces. ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± They said at the same time, then frowned at each other. ¡°Hold on a second,¡± Susan said, ¡°What are you sorry for? ¡°I could say the same thing!¡± Anne snapped, ¡°You didn¡¯t do anything wrong! If it weren¡¯t for me getting involved with you, the vampires wouldn¡¯t have been able to attack you like that.¡± Susan¡¯s head shook back and forth. ¡°No,¡± She said, ¡°I was never in any danger. But I did put you in danger.¡± ¡°How?¡± Anne tilted her head in confusion. ¡°I came back to earth to hide away, just put my head in the sand and pretend that everything was normal. It worked, but if I had just made it clear to everyone what I was then none of this would have happened. The vampires and mousekin would have never even tried to go after me.¡± The apparently unbelievably powerful dragon hung her head and looked away. Anne just sighed. ¡°You don''t know that-¡± ¡°Anne,¡± Susan cut her off, ¡°I¡¯m an archdragon.¡± A cough echoed from the corner of the room. Anne and Susan both turned to see the Guardians looking into the room from a tunnel off to the side of the room. The purple suited one¡¯s eyes were bulging, and Abana was tiredly patting her on the back. They both turned away from the peanut gallery to face each other again. ¡°So¡­ what''s an archdragon?¡± Anne asked with a tired shrug. Susan¡¯s mouth opened, then closed and she let out a sigh so heavy that it made Anne¡¯s hair blow around behind her. ¡°This world is going to drive me insane,¡± She muttered, then met Anne¡¯s eyes and spoke, ¡°An archdragon is¡­ a really powerful kind of dragon. I guess.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Susan shot her a look. ¡°That¡¯s the five second version, yeah.¡± Anne met her look and rolled her eyes. ¡°Sure, whatever,¡± She said, then took a breath, ¡°Susan. It really wouldn¡¯t have worked. Giving everybody in the world a death threat would just make things crazier. Joseph being insane was his own problem. It¡¯s not your fault.¡± Susan¡¯s entire head turned away from her, and a shudder rolled over her entire frame. ¡°Fine,¡± She rumbled in a quavering voice, ¡°But it''s not your fault either, ok?¡± Anne watched her shake for a moment, then walked forward. Stepping up to the dragon''s side, she opened her arms wide and pressed herself against it in a weird sort of hug. Susan didn¡¯t say anything, but one of her arms reached around her and pressed her in. It took a minute for Susan¡¯s shaking to stop, and for Anne to speak again. ¡°By the way Susan? ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Being inside your body sucks.¡± Susan¡¯s body rumbled again, but this time it was a wheezing chuckle. The rumbling quickly became too much for Anne to handle and she had to step away to let the dragon shake with breathless laughter. ¡°I mean seriously,¡± Anne continued, ¡°You made me walk out your throat!¡± The laughter didn¡¯t stop, and Anne soon found herself laughing too. ¡°Sorry,¡± Susan finally wheezed, ¡°I already repaired the holes Joseph cut on his way in, so the throat was the only way out.¡± ¡°Suuure¡­¡± Anne drawled out, then fell back into giggles. They finally quieted, and Anne could see when Susan finally stopped messing around and began properly examining the room they were in. ¡°So where exactly are we?¡± She asked, giving the strange gray floor a poke with a talon. ¡°The Guardians¡¯ home base, apparently,¡± Anne said. ¡°Hm,¡± Susan nodded, ¡°That explains the conjured walls then. They¡¯re using a very advanced form of magic. Almost like Liss¡­¡± Anne smiled as she watched her friend get lost in scientific exploration once again, quickly forgetting about the rest of the world as she examined the building around them. The soft thuds of footsteps heralded a new arrival. ¡°Are you all finished up here?¡± Abana asked as she walked over. ¡°Pretty much,¡± Anne said, then remembered the weight that sat against her chest, ¡°By the way, do you want your pendant back?¡± ¡°No, you should keep it,¡± Abana said, shaking her head. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Abana said, her eyes flickering over to Susan for a moment, ¡°Please keep it.¡± Then she turned to face Susan, catching the dragon¡¯s attention with a light cough. ¡°Right, we really need to talk.¡±
Susan stood over the glowing globe at the center of the Guardian¡¯s base, trying to pick her jaw up off the ground. It was hard not to when face to face with the single greatest piece of magical engineering she had seen in her entire life. Within the globe, visible only because of her enhanced eyes, sat a rune. A four dimensional rune. Filling the entirety of the glowing shell, the spherical construct of glowing lines warped and changed with each passing second. The very fabric of reality warping around it like air around a fire, as if the universe itself was protesting the slight against it. And the complexity wasn¡¯t the only terrifying thing about it. Running through each of the lines was a channel of mana more dense and powerful than anything she could create in decades. Susan had studied up to three dimensional runes, but the wavering lines that flickered in and out of reality before her eyes were so far beyond anything she had ever studied it was almost comical. And that wasn¡¯t even mentioning the absurd scale the construct operated on. ¡°Could you please stop staring at that thing so we can talk?¡± Abana almost shouted in her ear, breaking her concentration. Her voice was filled with a mix of fear and exasperation. She had brought Susan to the center of the Guardian¡¯s base to ask the question she had alluded to after the fight with the dragons. But the second Susan had laid eyes on the globe at the center of the room any questions Abana might have asked took a backseat to her investigation of the thing. ¡°Don¡¯t you see it?¡± Susan asked incredulously, waving an arm at the glowing construct in front of them. ¡°What?¡± Abana looked back and forth between her and the globe helplessly. ¡°You¡¯re drawing mana from the planet!¡± ¡°Yes! Most spells do that!¡± Abana snapped. ¡°No, they draw in small levels of ambient mana. This,¡± Susan pointed at the globe again, ¡°Is channeling the mana output of the entire planet. It¡¯s permanently restricting large scale spells from even happening!¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Abana said, ¡°Well that¡¯s all very cool, but its not relevant right now.¡± ¡°Not relevant?¡± Susan asked slowly, finally breaking her gaze away from the rune to stare at her. ¡°Yes,¡± Abana said, throwing up her arms, ¡°We have bigger problems than a millennia old spell empowering the planet¡¯s guardians! ¡°That,¡± Susan went to respond and paused, ¡°Is fair. What¡¯s the problem?¡± Abana let out a full bodied sigh as she finally got Susan¡¯s attention again. ¡°The problem,¡± She said, ¡°Is that our fight with those dragons was like throwing a rock in a still pond. Every mana sensitive creature on Earth felt it. Each one of the markers on the globe you see is a potential large-scale threat to life, and our fight woke them up.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Susan¡¯s eyes finally focused on the glowing globe for the first time. ¡°Which is why the Guardians could use your help,¡± Abana said, ¡°You¡¯ve proven yourself to be solidly on the side of good, and I was hoping you could step in if the Guardians become stretched too thin. Susan looked over the speckled globe, eyeing the galaxy of dots that spread across its surface. ¡°Sure, I¡¯m in,¡± She said. ¡°Thank you,¡± Abana breathed out. ¡°But uh¡­¡± Susan¡¯s wandering eyes sat frozen on a specific spot in Eastern Europe, ¡°What¡¯s the deal with the giant red one? ¡°That one,¡± Abana sighed again, this time sounding tired, ¡°Is why this rune, and the Guardians as a whole exist.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°That dot represents the Demon King.¡± ¡°Oh shit.¡± Chapter 18.5: Midnight Meetings John watched the screen in front of him in a state of dreadful tedium. If you had asked him before today whether he believed the BSMP would collapse, he might have taken time to wonder. Now though, he completely agreed with Rawiyah¡¯s assessment. They were doomed. He currently sat at a table next to Rex Scuggums, the Director of the Brick, and George Sprong, their chief security analyst. The group all faced a television screen on the far wall, currently displaying the empty smile of Henry Gatchet, one of the army of indistinguishable BSMP head secretaries in Washington D.C. Normally John would have been surprised at being called into a meeting about his report on the Eldritch Avatar so quickly, but buzzwords like ¡®unimaginably powerful rogue archdragon¡¯ did have a way of catching people¡¯s attention. ¡°As it stands the BSMP sees no reason for a change in policy,¡± Gatchet said, his smile refusing to break even as he spoke. ¡°Sir, are the higher ups fully briefed on the situation?¡± Director Rex asked. He projected an air of calmness and professionalism, but John could feel his leg bouncing from nerves just under the table. He had initially been against leaving the dragon alone, even going so far as to use the mousekin¡¯s report as an excuse to have the Thunderbirds capture it. But after the disastrous end of that scheme he had quickly reversed his opinion. John himself hadn¡¯t needed the reminder. He had been firmly for leaving the dragon alone after watching the security footage of her smashing a full-blooded vampire like a bug. ¡°They have been informed of the relevant details.¡± ¡°Do they even know it''s an archdragon we are dealing with?¡± John asked, leaning in over the table. ¡°They have been informed of the relevant details,¡± Gatchet said again. ¡°So no,¡± John leaned back again with a sigh. ¡°Excuse me sir, I would just like to clarify,¡± George spoke up, ¡°You are aware that Archdragons are by definition unkillable, correct.¡± ¡°You have said that,¡± Gatchet nodded. ¡°And your orders are for us to kill it?¡± ¡°That is correct.¡± ¡°How?¡± Director Rex asked helplessly, ¡°The vampire¡¯s lair in New Mexico is a molten crater, and that was one of the only known dragon killing sites in the world!¡± ¡°That isn¡¯t relevant,¡± Gatchet said, still with that damn smile, ¡°What is relevant is that the Dragon is a powerful rogue element. A creature this strong threatens the balance of power on a global scale. Your orders are to kill it, and I expect a report on the projected time of removal from you in the next week.¡± The screen winked out, leaving the room in darkness. With a deep groan Rex slowly fell forward until his head hit the desk with a thunk. ¡°John?¡± He asked quietly, ¡°Any advice on how the hell we do this?¡± ¡°Are you a religious man?¡± John asked. ¡°No?¡± ¡°Then I¡¯m afraid not.¡±
The night was dead silent as Jaroslav approached the dimly lit apartment block. The peeling paint and graffitied concrete of the structure gave no illusions as to the quality of the apartments, but the lights on in some of the windows said well that there were people more than willing to brave the ancient premises for cheap living. Behind him trailed a shivering Acezar, or ¡®Roger¡¯ as he¡¯d apparently been calling himself recently. Something about going by a name more pronounceable by the local humans. The young vampire was pulled in on himself, no doubt terrified of the night to come and the punishment Jaroslav had promised him. It only helped demonstrate the boy¡¯s utter incompetence. If he knew anything about Jaroslav and the man he swore fealty to, he would have run and died like any sane creature. Instead he blindly followed Jaroslav up the crumbling staircase to the third floor, their steps silent as they glided past the rickety wooden doors lining the hallway. From the corner of his eye, Jaroslav watched the young vampire stare fearfully toward each passing room number. He flinched at every new one, clearly wondering which Jaroslav would enter. Jaroslav suppressed a sigh. He wanted to be disappointed, but by this point he was barely surprised by the boy¡¯s failure to notice the pulsing beacon of mana emanating from one of the rooms ahead. The door quickly came into view, and Jaroslav slowly drew to a stop in front of it. His hand still paused as it reached for the handle, a thousand years old habit. The ancient rules that governed his race were hard things to ignore. Still, he reminded himself that the occupant of this home had abandoned those protections, and his hand landed on the doorknob. The door opened smoothly despite rusted hinges, and both vampires stepped into the darkened room beyond. Within, piled clothes and refuse covered the furniture, and a vast collection of video game cases and plastic figurines spoke of a life poorly lived. Deeper inside the house the dim flickering of candlelight was visible, likely within one of the rooms without windows. Likely a bathroom or closet. The ritual the home¡¯s owner was following recommended it. The spell had to be cast on the darkest room of a house on the night of a new moon, in total absence of natural light. Jaroslav would know, he had been the one to translate the spell into each of the modern languages and upload it to the internet. Instead of days of intricate spellwork revealing the slight fluctuations in mana that would lead Jaroslav to these out of the way meeting places, he could simply write a computer program that told him the IP address of whomever downloaded the spell instructions, and even calculate when they would next see a new moon.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. The internet truly was a beautiful cesspit of the worst parts of humanity. You could send some idiot a ritual spell to summon a literal demon and the blood would be drying in the appropriate runic circles before he even finished reading it. Jaroslav wouldn¡¯t have it any other way. ¡°This isn¡¯t hard!¡± A nasally voice whined, ¡°I want to be a werewolf!¡± ¡°I simply seek to understand your desires, supplicant,¡± Rumbled a deeper voice, ¡°Your request is novel to me.¡± ¡°Great! Then-¡± ¡°Quiet,¡± The deeper rumble cut the first voice off, ¡°Someone approaches.¡± Jaroslav took that as his cue, stepping into the room perfectly on time with the end of the sentence. His eyes passed over a dilapidated bathroom, then landed on the human standing guilt-stricken in front of a glowing runic circle sketched in dried blood. The man was rather unimpressive, sallow skin covering a boney frame. A shaggy mop of greasy hair almost totally obscuring two bright blue eyes. It appeared that the days of powerful warlords asking for the might to crush their enemies was over. Now it was children asking for petty scraps. Behind the human, standing within the runic circle was a powerfully built demon. Bulging muscles, red skin, pitch black horns and eyes, it was the spitting image of the classic monster. It raised a single heavy brow as Jaroslav entered the room, then smiled. ¡°Jaroslav, welcome,¡± It said, ¡°I was not expecting you.¡± It stepped forward and out of the runed circle. The human¡¯s eyes bulged as the demon broke what he thought were the fundamental rules of the summoning. Unfortunately for him, the information provided on the spell hadn¡¯t exactly been honest. The only true information Jaroslav had provided was the target of the summons, and that the spell had to be cast by a mortal creature.The runic circles provided no protection whatsoever. Humans were simply too trusting about what they found on the internet. Before the man¡¯s incredulous eyes, the demon began to transform. Impressive muscles deflated like bellows, and the powerful frame shrank. Within seconds the imposing figure was reduced to a more natural height. In its place was a young man, fair skinned with warm brown eyes and a kind smile. He looked like a handsome Shakespearean actor, the image made complete by an ostentatious Elizabethan suit. A bright white lace ruff the width of his shoulders encircled his neck, above a pink silken shirt with billowing sleeves. Pitch black pants stopped at the knee to reveal blood red stockings over high heeled boots that must have been three inches high. The human summoner¡¯s jaw dropped. Then the man smiled and his ridiculous clothes ceased to matter. Human lips stretched wide over human teeth, all perfectly normal. But there was something wrong with it. Something that made even Jaroslav, a thousand year old monster, suppress a shiver. Madness lurked within that smile, making the twinkling eyes seem like they were staring not at Jaroslav, but through him. The cruel joy of a child with a magnifying glass finding an ant. ¡°Greetings, Milord Dhruv,¡± Jaroslav said, the deep guttural name seeming to scrape his throat as it came out. Beside him Acezar¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°It has been too long, Jaroslav! Care for a hug?¡± The man asked, holding his arms wide and speaking with a deep warm voice. ¡°I will decline,¡± Jaroslav demurred, knowing full well that if he ever accepted he would be left a pulverized mass of tortured flesh. After all, to Lord Dhruv, Demon King and First Among Vampires, every creature on Earth was little more than a plaything. His whims were the stuff of nightmares, and it took a practiced hand to survive even a short conversation with him. ¡°W-what¡¯s going on!¡± The human sputtered, glancing wildly between the transformed demon and the two intruders. ¡°Ah, my apologies for the ruse,¡± Dhruv¡¯s eyes turned to the human, who shut his mouth so quickly he nearly bit his tongue. ¡°It simply grows tedious explaining to every supplicant that human fashion reached its zenith four hundred years ago. Now while I catch up with my good friend, why don¡¯t you have your wish?¡± He raised a hand and softly snapped his fingers. As the sound echoed through the room, the human crumbled to the ground to writhe in silent agony. ¡°A very interesting wish, that one,¡± Dhruv said as he watched the man begin to claw at the floor, ¡°He wanted to be the leader of a group of human wolf hybrids that follow a dominance based hierarchy, all inflicted with an infectious curse that only activates at night.¡± ¡°I am aware of the concept,¡± Jaroslav said, barely flinching when the smiling face turned back to him, ¡°Merely a fanciful story that has been popular among humans these last few decades.¡± ¡°Hm,¡± Dhruv shrugged, ¡°It did seem a little too complex an idea for such a simple mind to create. It never even occurred to the man that I could grant him incredible power without the overcomplicated pack dynamics.¡± ¡°The bounds of stupidity are truly limitless, milord,¡± Jaroslav said, nodding his head. ¡°Right, what reason do you have to meet with me?¡± Dhruv asked, losing his smile. ¡°An Archdragon has appeared on earth.¡± ¡°You discovered this the hard way, I suppose?¡± ¡°Indeed, we lost over a hundred vampires thanks to the impressive incompetence of Acezar,¡± Jaroslav nodded to the shivering vampire at his side. ¡°Great-Grandsire, I-¡± Acezar¡¯s frantic words were cut off as the Demon King¡¯s hand shot out and latched onto his jaw. He clawed at the arm, finally stopping as he realized that he couldn¡¯t even scratch the soft silk covering it. Then he caught the quiet gaze of the man in front of him and stiffened like a frightened animal. ¡°Did you think me a mortal that cares for things like whose blood runs in your veins?¡± The Demon King asked, head tilted innocently to the side. Others may have assumed this was a taunt, but Jaroslav knew the monster was genuinely curious. If Acezar was smart, he might have talked his way out, gambling on the Demon King¡¯s notorious desire for entertainment for a chance to escape. Unfortunately for the young vampire, Jaroslav didn¡¯t think his abilities were up to the task. His message delivered, and his sacrificial sailor firmly in Scylla¡¯s mouth, Jaroslav drifted into a corner to wait. Dhruv¡¯s hand loosened around Acezar¡¯s mouth just enough to let him speak. Several long seconds passed, but no words escaped the young vampire¡¯s mouth. Finally Dhruv sighed and shook his head. ¡°Boring.¡± A wave of his hand sent Acezar crashing into the wall, where he crumpled to the ground in a heap. ¡°Consider yourself lucky,¡± Dhruv said, moving to stand over him. ¡°I have a more interesting way to play with you.¡± He waved a hand to the summoner, the man still writhing on the floor in pain. In the short time they had turned away from him, his body had warped and grown. In place of the scrawny figure from before was a hulking, hairy thing. ¡°This summoner wished for power, yet forgot to ask about the caveats. His body is now more powerful, but it has now entered a heavy mana deficit to fuel his transformation. To sustain himself he must now seek out a source of mana and¡­ consume it.¡± To Acezar¡¯s credit, it only took him a few seconds to grasp the implication. A moment later he was scrambling for the door, slamming it behind himself as he ran. A shriek of metal echoed from the outside, followed by the heavy thud of something landing at the bottom of the stairwell. It appeared Acezar had taken the fast way back down to the first floor. From behind the two vampires, came a bestial growl. The former summoner stood on shaky legs, its mane of dark fur now scraping the ceiling. It sniffed the room, two pain glazed eyes desperately whipping back and forth in search of sustenance. Its instincts must have been strong, as despite the two enormous sources of mana in front of it the creature didn¡¯t even seem to notice them. Instead it lowered its head and slowly moved to the broken wall where Acezar had fallen. Then with a flurry of movement it was gone, the door now a mass of splinters in its wake. Dhruv trailed after them, followed by Jaroslav. They made their way to the outside, following the trail of destruction. Stopping by the ruined railing, they watched Acezar vanish into the trees, trailed closely by the slavering beast. ¡°Do you have any plans for the Archdragon, Milord?¡± Jaroslav finally dared to ask. ¡°Something this interesting?¡± The Demon King smiled like a child on Christmas morning. ¡°Of course.¡± Chapter 19: New Day, New Problems ¡°The footage is obviously faked, when people investigated the park it was totally fine!¡± Someone shouted, the noise breaking Susan out of her doze. Her head was pillowed in her crossed arms, the cold plastic of the table slowly beginning to register as uncomfortable in her mind. ¡°But what about the people who say they were teleported?¡± Someone else whined. ¡°Mass hallucination, or a prank!¡± The first voice shot back. The discomfort of the table as well as the impassioned argument made it clear that she wouldn¡¯t be getting any more sleep, and her head came up slowly but surely. It took a long second for her bleary eyes to recognize where she was. She was currently in her customary seat at the cafeteria nerd table. That at least was normal. But the typical chatter of anime and manga had stopped, the entire table now watching Andrew and Lucy debate on the Yosemite Dragons. A passing teacher shouted over to them to cut it out, but when the volume failed to reduce she just sighed and kept walking. It really spoke to the scale of the debate going on. A full month had passed since Susan¡¯s fight with the dragon, and the debate on whether or not it was true raged on in the halls of Leanord Gaynor high. The who''s who gossip had practically vanished from the halls, to be replaced with furious deliveries of facts, logic, and insults on whether or not dragons and magic could really exist. Susan might have cared if she hadn¡¯t spent the entire last month laser focusing on either fighting monsters, or trying to decipher the Guardian¡¯s tier 4 rune. The whole thing had led to a slightly unhealthy sleep schedule, one she was paying for now. ¡°Hey Susan!¡± Lucy snapped around to look at her. ¡°Bwuh?¡± She said with great aplomb. ¡°Could dragons really exist?¡± It took a long second for the words to pierce the veil of sleep over her mind. ¡°Yeah,¡± She finally said. ¡°See, I told you!¡± Andrew pointed an accusatory finger at Lucy. ¡°But the square cube law should make it impossible!¡± ¡°No, you just need to treat it like architecture,¡± Susan drawled, her eyes beginning to slide closed as sleep won out again, ¡°For the larger size you just need to use more optimized materials. Carbon superstructures for things like bones, more powerful and size efficient muscles, etcetera. Biggest hurdle is honestly the blood.¡± She fell silent, the bemused stares of the entire table focused on her. ¡°Wow, you really thought this out,¡± Lucy said, looking frustrated. ¡°Yeah,¡± Susan said, eyes now fully closed and head drifting back down to her arms. ¡°That''s Science Sue for you¡­¡± Someone muttered as her head touched down. ¡°Well?¡± Andrew said triumphantly to a frustrated growl from Anne. ¡°Well the glowing girls are still obviously fake!¡± ¡°Come on, wouldn¡¯t it be awesome if magical girls existed though?¡± ¡®Guardians¡¯ Susan corrected in her mind, as visions of the tier 4 rune resumed their dance before her closed eyes. Each one of its intricate lines flashed in and out in mesmerizing patterns. As if instead of the simple meaning imparted by lesser two and three dimensional runes, the rune was imparting an entire concept. The idea germinated for a moment. It had some validity, three dimensional runes could communicate entire paragraphs worth of information. But even if her guess was right, what kind of concept could the rune she had seen be connected to- Her head came up slowly, eyes staring blankly into the distance. ¡°The name was literal?¡± She whispered incredulously, earning a look from Andrew. Then his eyes slid to the left and a voice came from her right. ¡°Susan?¡± ¡°Ya?¡± Her head turned to see Anne looming over the table with her arms crossed, a disapproving glare taking in Susan¡¯s bedraggled appearance. Beside her stood Ruth, who instead of Anne¡¯s heavy glare sported a worried frown. Her normal calm seemed lost as she glanced around the room. ¡°We need to talk,¡± Anne said.
The school library was normally Susan¡¯s favorite place in LG high. Shoulder high bookshelves filled the room, with small tables filling the space in between. It was rarely used for its intended purpose by students, mostly just being a quiet spot to swap rumors, but Susan loved it. Except now, fully awake and seated across from an antsy looking Ruth and a glowering Anne, she found it somewhat hard to relax. ¡°Could you please stop obsessing over that rune?¡± Anne began, still glaring firmly at Susan, ¡°You look awful.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I just figured it out,¡± Susan said with a half grin, then wilted as the glare intensified. After a long moment Anne put a hand over her eyes and sighed. ¡°Well good timing,¡± She said, ¡°Because we have a problem.¡± Ruth nodded along emphatically. ¡°There¡¯s something strange going on around town,¡± She said quickly. Susan let out a sigh, ¡°What now?¡± ¡°I don''t know,¡± Ruth said, ¡°It¡¯s¡­ well the main issue is the animal population around the brick. My family spends a lot of time out there, and we noticed that many of the animals are being over hunted. Especially the magical varieties.¡± The worried frown that came over Susan¡¯s face matched Ruth¡¯s perfectly. Anything that could hunt magical animals was a problem. Something that could do it en masse even more so. ¡°What does the BSMP think about this?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± Ruth scoffed and gave a dismissive wave of her hands. ¡°The BSMP has basically shut down recently,¡± Anne broke in, ¡°It happens from time to time, but it means that their even more useless than usual for the time being.¡± Susan frowned. She really didn¡¯t want to get roped into another mess. She had run into enough of those in her first week on earth¡­ but it would be stupid of her to ignore this one. She sighed. ¡°Alright, so how do we do this?¡± The look of relief on Ruth¡¯s face was palpable, and she quickly leaned in and began speaking. ¡°To start,¡± She said, ¡°We need to search the woods around the brick for clues.¡± ¡°Ok,¡± Susan nodded along, ¡°I should be able to fly us around-¡± ¡°Hold that thought,¡± Ruth interrupted her, ¡°I want to try tracking this thing down based on scent, and the only thing I can smell after you transform is ash.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Susan threw up her hands, ¡°Then how do we even do this?¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­¡± Ruth sighed, ¡°Going to call backup.¡±
Five hours later Susan and Anne found themselves sitting on the side of the road. It was thin, with only two lanes and wound its way through the woods behind the back of the Brick. Overhung by a heavy canopy of branches and leaves, the two of them had their backs to one of the thick oaks as they waited for Ruth. ¡°Didn¡¯t she say three?¡± Anne groused, glancing down at her phone, before returning her attention to the woods around them as they looked around for their truant friend. Susan shrugged, ¡°She did say she needed to get things together.¡± A bird chirped in the distance. ¡°Besides,¡± She eventually continued, ¡°Somebody¡¯s always late.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s late?¡± A voice broke in, making them both jump. ¡°You!¡± Anne snapped, holding a hand over her heart as Ruth stepped out from behind the tree they were seated against. ¡°Oh, sorry,¡± Ruth said, then offered a hand to her. ¡°Ugh, just warn me next time,¡± Anne grumbled as she was helped to her feet. ¡°By the way,¡± Susan asked as she got up, ¡°What are you wearing?¡± She gestured to what Ruth now wore, a well worn set of exercise clothes. The scent of magic wafted off of them, one surprisingly novel to Susan. ¡°Oh, these?¡± Ruth gestured downwards, ¡°Transforming clothes for my wolf form. We¡¯re not kidnapping a classmate today so I was able to get them from my parents without any trouble. Way better than a bathrobe.¡± That got a raised eyebrow from Susan. ¡°Would you say it''s cheaper than a subspace enchantment?¡± She asked. ¡°A-¡± Ruth paused, ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d say most things are¡­¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± Susan mumbled, oblivious to the other girl¡¯s side eye. ¡°Moving on,¡± Anne said, rolling her eyes at Susan, ¡°Ruth, what¡¯s the plan?¡± ¡°Right, to begin with I need you to blow this,¡± Ruth said, pulling a small object out of her pocket and holding it out to Susan.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. It was a small silver tube whistle, the metal dull and scratched from untold years of use. It was only by the scent of magic around it that Susan could tell that it was anything other than mundane. She took it without prompting, though she shot a confused look towards Ruth as the other girl quickly clamped both hands over her ears. Susan and Anne shared a look, then she put the whistle in her mouth and both of them covered their ears. Turning back to the woods, she drew in a breath and blew the whistle. There was no sound. It was strange, as Susan should have been able to hear noises well past the human spectrum of hearing, but the entire time she blew nothing came from the whistle. There was something there though, a hum that seemed to lower into a deep crescendo as she ran out of breath. Finished, she took the whistle from her mouth, then turned back to Ruth. ¡°Is that all?¡± She asked. Ruth nodded, slowly taking her hands away from her ears. ¡°We just need to wait now,¡± She said, taking the whistle and stuffing it back into her pocket. Susan frowned, turning her attention back to the woods to wait for whatever Ruth had called. For a long moment they lay silent, before a howl echoed in the distance. It was quickly joined by others, the disparate howls seeming to join together in a clamoring group that quickly closed in on the girl¡¯s position. Susan shot a glance toward Ruth to see the other girl looking entirely nonchalant at the situation. The howls reached a peak, and a half dozen snarling wolves exploded through the trees across from them. The hulking things landed almost simultaneously on the ground, forming a massed group that stared down the girls. It was an intimidating sight, at least until Susan looked closer and noticed the too large paws and still floppy ears. Mentally comparing them to Ruth¡¯s own wolf form, she realized that they were in fact tiny compared to her. Barely larger than a regular wolf where Ruth was the size of a horse. Then, before anyone could speak, one of the wolves'' tails swung back and forth, slapping the one next to it across the flank. The offended wolf quickly turned to snap at it, and the next moment the group had dissolved into a six way all out war between the wolves. Susan watched in bemused silence as Ruth¡¯s backup spent a long minute chasing their own tails. Truces were made and broken in moments, cheap shots taken, and any try for victory foiled by a failing leg or thrashing tail from one of the other fighters. A second look towards Ruth showed her tapping her foot quietly, but otherwise seeming entirely unsurprised by the turn of events. Then during a lull in the fighting, one of the wolves began shrinking. It quickly became a young boy, around the same age as Elizabeth and wearing the same skintight clothes as Ruth. Leaping toward one of the others, he used his newly gained hands to pin its legs to its sides. It quickly joined him in human form, becoming a slightly older boy who used his larger size to catch him in a headlock. The others followed, and in moments the fighting wolves had been replaced by a pack of furiously fighting children. Ranging in age from twelve for the biggest boy to a tiny girl who looked barely older than five, they all shared Ruth¡¯s black hair and grey eyes. Ruth let the chaos continue for another few seconds, before stepping forward and bringing her hands together in a thunderous clap. ¡°ATTENTION!¡± She bellowed, and each one of the fighting children jumped. The battle ended immediately, and they scrambled together to form a rough line in front of Ruth. Going from oldest to youngest, the panicking expression of each child formed a rough line running downward. ¡°Alright, time for introductions,¡± Ruth said, ¡°Susan, Anne.¡± She pointed to each of them in turn. ¡°I want you to meet Caleb, Jeff, Ralph, Seth, Kurt and Ada.¡± She pointed to each of her siblings in turn, until she reached the tiny Ada who she reached down to ruffle the hair of. The girl responded with a beatific smile, one Susan had seen too many times on Elizabeth to fully trust. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s going on?¡± Jeff asked in the too loud voice of a young boy, ¡°Who are they?¡± ¡°They¡¯re Anne and Susan, duh,¡± Ralph said, elbowing him. ¡°I know that,¡± Jeff growled, elbowing Ralph back, ¡°I wanna know why they''re here.¡± ¡°Ask Ruth then, duh,¡± Ralph shot back. Jeff didn¡¯t have a response for that, grabbing his brother around the neck, he went in to knuckle his head only to be stopped by another clap from Ruth. The two of them returned to their places in line, Jeff glowering and Ralph smug. ¡°Boys,¡± Ruth said, ¡°I have a proposition for you all.¡± That got their attention. As one the group calmed their expressions as best they could, a gleam appearing in their eyes. ¡°So, you know how the jackalopes keep disappearing?¡± Ruth asked to a chorus of nods, ¡°Well I want your help to find whatever is doing it.¡± ¡°Dad said we weren¡¯t supposed to,¡± Seth shot back immediately. ¡°No, you won''t be,¡± Ruth said quickly, ¡°Me and my friends will. I just need you to search the woods and see if you could find places for us to investigate.¡± That got a series of understanding nods. It appeared the boys were well used to rule bending. ¡°What¡¯ll ya give us?¡± Ralph asked, his expression thoughtful. ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s a good point¡­,¡± Ruth said with a glint in her eye. The two eldest brothers narrowed their eyes. ¡°Hey, here¡¯s an idea,¡± She put an arm in the air, ¡°Do you know the silver dragon that appeared a month ago?¡± Any feigned nonchalance the boys might have had vanished, all five of them now staring at her in silent awe. The only one unaffected was Ada, whose chubby face now sported a calculating look. Susan swallowed and shot a glare at Ruth. ¡°What, you don¡¯t?¡± Ruth continued with a wide grin, clearly knowing she had them hooked, ¡°I thought you all would know¡­¡± ¡°We know! We know!¡± The group cried desperately, every one of them now wide eyed and hopping in place desperately. ¡°Well I happen to be a friend¡­¡± The boys leaned in, ¡°Of a friend¡­¡± Despite her dread at the idea of being trapped dealing with a half dozen excitable boys, Susan had to hold in a laugh at the looks of mounting frustration on their faces. ¡°Of the dragon. And if you help me I might be able to introduce you.¡± As Ruth finished, her amusement now obvious for all to see, the boys quickly began trading wide eyed looks. Most of them were nodding, except for Ralph who shook his head vigorously. He opened his mouth, probably intent on continuing negotiations, but Jeff slapped his hand over his mouth. ¡°Cut it out,¡± He hissed, ¡°You¡¯re going to ruin it!¡± Ralph responded by biting his hand. That earned him a punch, which he reciprocated and the two began brawling. A flying leg smacked into Kurt, who was only too happy to join in and within moments the chaotic melee had begun again. Ruth stepped back looking entirely satisfied. ¡°Just give them a minute,¡± She whispered over to Susan and Anne. ¡°This is not what I signed up for!¡± Susan shot back, to which Ruth shrugged helplessly. ¡°I needed something,¡± She hissed, then frowned and looked down. Susan followed her gaze to see Ada reaching up tug at Ruth¡¯s pant leg. Seeing that she now had her sister¡¯s attention, Ada reached up her arms in a silent request to be held. Ruth sighed, but acquiesced, grabbing Ada under the arms and pulling her up. As the melee continued in the background, Susan caught the young girl eyeing her. She shot back a raised eyebrow, but Ada continued staring unabashed. Susan held her gaze for a second, then sighed and had to look away. ¡°Some dragon I am,¡± She muttered. A half minute later the fight concluded. The boys resumed their former positions, except for Jeff and Seth who were now restraining a struggling Ralph. ¡°We¡¯re in,¡± Caleb proclaimed over his muffled protests. ¡°Perfect,¡± Ruth grinned, ¡°Now here¡¯s the plan.¡± Putting Ada down, she formed a huddle with the boys and began talking quickly. Susan half listened, but found herself unable to follow the rapid fire instructions. Ruth now speaking entirely in personal references like, ¡®that tree where Kurt got attacked by hornets¡¯, and ¡®the creek we threw Caleb in¡¯. Halfway through, Ada walked over to her and raised both arms. Susan eyed her for a moment, then shook her head. Ada kept her arms up. It didn¡¯t take long before Susan caved and picked her up. They watched as the discussion ended and the group broke up, each of the boys returning to their wolf forms before bounding back into the woods. Ruth watched them go, then turned back to her and Anne. She raised a brow at the sight of Susan holding Ada. ¡°Got you too, huh?¡± She asked with a smile, and Susan looked away. ¡°Anyway,¡± She continued, ¡°I have them splitting up to check out different sections of the wood. They¡¯ll return in about an hour to tell us if they found anything.¡± ¡°Should we be worried about them?¡± Anne asked with a frown. ¡°No,¡± Ruth said with a shake of her head, ¡°Whatever is out there doesn¡¯t hunt during the day, we¡¯re sure of that.¡± The next hour passed slowly, mostly spent entertaining Ada. The young girl was very insistent about getting her way, and none of the girls had it in them to tell her no. That was how Susan found herself playing patty cake with her as the boys finally began to return. One by one they appeared out of the woods, returned to their human form, and flopped exhausted onto the grass along the side of the road. Once Ruth counted all five of them, she stood and walked over to them. ¡°Anything?¡± She asked. Most of them shook their heads, but Seth nodded. ¡°Found a cave that smelled weird,¡± He said with a grin. ¡°Do you mean normal weird or weird weird?¡± Ruth asked. ¡°Weird weird,¡± Seth nodded, ¡°It was out by Bkwake Hill.¡± The other kids slowly turned to look at him. ¡°That¡¯s pretty far outside of our territory,¡± Ruth frowned. ¡°I¡­¡± Seth¡¯s eyes flickered around, ¡°I ran fast.¡± Ruth eyed her little brother for a moment, leaving him to squirm. ¡°You¡¯re lucky I¡¯m busy right now,¡± She muttered, then spoke up, ¡°Now where is it?¡±
Half an hour later the trio found themselves in front of a wide cave entrance. Twice their height, and four times as wide the yawning cavern was completely dark inside. It was set into a low hillside, one side of it cut away to form a cliff roughly twenty feet high that the cave was set into. The group now stood within a small circular clearing that sat just in front of the cave entrance, the ground mostly bare dirt and spots of weeds. Susan found it hard to focus on, most of her attention devoted to stumbling over to the rocky cliff so that she could lean against it. She was more than a little saddle sore, most thanks to the group''s method of transportation. Still banned from transforming by Ruth, she and Anne had been stuck riding her enormous wolf form. An experience made harrowing by Ruth¡¯s clear lack of experience with passengers. The two of them had spent most of the journey dodging hanging tree limbs as they whisked by. ¡°Can we please never do that again?¡± Anne asked, leaning against the cliff side beside her. ¡°It wasn¡¯t that bad, was it?¡± Ruth pleaded, to which Susan returned a glare. The question still pulled Susan¡¯s attention away from the comfort of the cliff, and she found herself examining her surroundings more closely. A few steps took her further into the cave, and she took in the dim interior. It was a simple cave, little more than a shallow tunnel that traveled a few dozen feet into the hillside. Bare stone walls and floors all the way to where a small pile of rubble marked the end. Susan glanced around, then turned around as she heard Anne and Ruth step up behind her. They stepped inside, eyes quickly adjusting to the dark as they investigated. Susan frowned. ¡°This isn''t it,¡± She said quickly, earning a hiss of air from Ruth. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Susan shook her head, ¡°It seems like something passed through here, but it''s long gone.¡± ¡°An old lair, then?¡± Ruth asked, ¡°Seth is right, there is an odd smell here.¡± ¡°No, It wasn¡¯t an animal,¡± Anne spoke up, earning questioning glances from both of them. ¡°Look,¡± She scuffed the dirt floor with a shoe, ¡°No bones, no crap. Nothing lived here.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± Ruth huffed, ¡°There is something, I just don¡¯t know what.¡± Susan shrugged helplessly. ¡°Hold on,¡± Anne said, walking to the end of the cave. Reaching the pile of rubble, she laid a hand against it. ¡°I want to check something,¡± She said, then turned back to the others, ¡°Watch my clothes?¡± Susan nodded and Anne vanished, her empty clothes tumbling to the ground. As Susan approached to gather them up, a tiny brown form hopped out from within them. It scampered forward before vanishing into the rubble. Squeaks echoing back to them for a moment before being swallowed up by the snarl of stone. Draping the clothes over one arm, Susan stayed standing in front of the wall. Ruth joined her, both of them staring at the heavy stones as they wondered what had caught Anne¡¯s attention. A long moment passed. ¡°Lots of waiting today, huh,¡± Susan said, trying to break the oppressive silence. Ruth shrugged, then her head began to tilt to the side. ¡°Something sounds weird,¡± She muttered. A deep rumble made them jump away from the wall. Then, before their incredulous eyes, the entire back wall of the cave began to sink into the floor. Dust and stones sent tumbling around them by the moving of the wall. Light spilled out from behind it, revealing a wide hallway lined with stark white floors and walls. Before them the minuscule form of Anne hung from the side of a security panel, a guilty paw pressing one of the buttons on it. ¡°Hey guys,¡± She said, dropping to the ground, ¡°Look what I found.¡± ¡°Uhh,¡± Ruth muttered, ¡°What exactly did you find?¡± ¡°I dunno,¡± Anne moved to Susan¡¯s leg where she scampered up her clothes until she reached her shoulder. She and Ruth wandered further into the hall. It was actually quite short, and as empty as the cave. The only thing of note being a heavy pair of steel doors at the end. ¡°Looks like an airlock,¡± Susan muttered as she moved closer to it, trailing a hand over the walls. Instead of plaster or brick, they seemed to be solid steel and a look above showed that the floor was made up of the same. ¡°Hold on,¡± Ruth said, grabbing Susan¡¯s arm, ¡°I hear something.¡± Her head began to tilt to the side as Susan watched, brows furrowed in concentration. Slowly, she began to mouth along to an unknown speaker. ¡°Sensor tripped,¡± She muttered, ¡°Possible false alarm¡­ investigating.¡± Susan frowned and moved further in front of Ruth. A wave of her hand sent Anne leaping from her shoulder to Ruth¡¯s. ¡°Do they seem dangerous?¡± She asked, keeping her eyes solidly on the door. ¡°No, they actually sound,¡± Ruth paused, ¡°Kinda familiar.¡± The snick of a heavy lock turning came from in front of them. Then, in contrast to the clatter caused by the hidden door, the doors swung open in total silence. A man stepped out from behind them. The bland face and dark suit were easily recognizable to Susan and Anne. One hand was pressed into an earpiece on the side of his head, the other planted on a gun holstered at his side. At the side of the girls he froze midstep, his mouth falling open in total shock. ¡°Susan Hill?¡± He blurted out. ¡°Hey John,¡± Susan said with a wave, ¡°Funny meeting you here.¡± Chapter 20: Loophole Abuse The room was perfectly still after Susan¡¯s greeting. John barely moved as his eyes flickered between each of the three girls, who stared back at him like hawks. ¡°You know this guy?¡± Ruth asked, her eyes flickering to Susan for a moment. ¡°Unfortunately,¡± Anne grumbled from her shoulder, her voice shrill thanks to her being in mouse form. ¡°He¡¯s one of the government stooges at the BSMP,¡± Susan said with a shrug, then her eyes narrowed. ¡°Who I definitely didn¡¯t give my name to.¡± Finally gathering himself, John straightened up. Slowly moving his hand away from the gun, he crossed both arms in front of his chest and took a long steadying breath. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said, ¡°but please remember that you transformed into a dragon and attacked a vampire in the lobby of one of the most surveilled locations in the country.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Yes, now would you mind explaining why you¡¯re currently breaking into a top secret government facility?¡± John asked with a helpless wave of one of his hands, ¡°I can¡¯t exactly stop you, but it would really help in filling out my report.¡± ¡°Uh, we¡¯re not really,¡± Susan said, a hand moving up to scratch at the back of her head, ¡°unless the BSMP is hunting down all the magical creatures around the Brick?¡± She ended with a half shrug and a tilt of her head, to which John frowned. ¡°Not as far as I¡¯m aware,¡± he said. ¡°Oh,¡± Susan¡¯s shoulders slumped, ¡°dammit.¡± ¡°Well, something is hunting them,¡± Ruth spoke up, ¡°any idea what it could be?¡± John looked away for a moment, thinking. ¡°Wait, you¡¯re actually going to answer that?¡± Anne blurted out. ¡°Well yes,¡± John said, meeting her look, ¡°I am under duress, after all.¡± That earned him questioning looks from the other two as well. ¡°Really?¡± Susan asked. ¡°Oh absolutely, I¡¯m terrified for my life right now,¡± he said, tone utterly deadpan. When none of them responded, he let out a barely audible sigh and continued. ¡°According to the BSMP rules and regulations, agents are allowed to share up to class one information when under duress. So long as they believe the information will not damage BSMP interests.¡± Susan¡¯s eyes turned to meet Ruth¡¯s, then Anne¡¯s. Finding the same considering looks in their eyes, she turned back to John. ¡°Well, explain away, I guess,¡± She said. ¡°Well, the BSMP first noticed the problem two weeks ago when one of our field agents went missing. When an investigation into the occurrence was launched six days later, the trail had gone cold. But the agents sent to investigate found evidence that suggested that several non-magical persons were involved. ¡°We then lost contact with them, but a follow up team discovered that the people involved had no knowledge of what was happening. Instead the team believed that the cause was some form of sleepwalking, likely magically induced. We then lost contact with that team as well.¡± Susan felt her jaw drop, the agency¡¯s staggering callousness seeming unreal despite John¡¯s clear knowledge of the subject. He talked with a deceptive calm that made it easy to forget that he was talking about entire groups of people vanishing to likely horrible ends. The only thing she could feel besides horror was mild surprise that the BSMP even managed to keep the lights on. ¡°Three days ago,¡± John continued, either blind or indifferent to her shock. ¡°A follow up team uncovered the source of the problem, an infectious curse that transforms people into monsters. It is spreading fast, but the leadership decided that our best option was to leave the problem alone, and disbanded the investigation. Which leads us to now.¡± Susan¡¯s mouth closed with a snap. She turned to the others with a look of incredulous horror, only to freeze at the sight of Ruth. The other girl was furious, her hands clenched into solid fists while her face turned a deep shade of red. Without a word she turned and walked back out of the cave, disappearing into the sunlight that shone in from the entrance with a worried Anne still clinging to her shoulder. Susan glanced back at John. The man seemed entirely nonplussed at having driven one of her few friends into a frothing rage, so with a sneer she turned and began walking back out. ¡°One last thing, Miss Hill?¡± John¡¯s voice came from behind her. Briefly warring with herself over whether she was willing to entertain him again, Susan finally sighed and turned around. ¡°Yes?¡± She spat. ¡°Please be careful,¡± John said, still in his perfect deadpan. ¡°It¡¯s just an infectious curse,¡± Susan said, waving away his words and turning away again. ¡°Please be careful,¡± He repeated, and Susan stopped. Just a moment ago, John had abused a loophole in the BSMP rule book to give her information to solve a case. So if he was trying to warn her now, then that meant he was aware of a threat against her. Which knowing the BSMP meant¡­ ¡°Damn it,¡± She swore, then turned back to John. ¡°Please tell me your agency isn''t planning to kill me.¡± John met her gaze and held it for a second. ¡°That is classified,¡± He said. ¡°Shit,¡± Susan muttered, ¡°shit, how dumb even are you people?¡± She took a step toward him, then remembered Anne and Ruth and turned back toward the outside. Then her anger won out again and she was turning back to John. After a few more turns, the immediate problem of the infectious curse won out over her knee jerk reaction to turn the entire area into so many miles of melted slag. There was an army of cursed to cure. She could deal with an uppity secret organization later. Stalking away before the urge to nuke something overtook her better judgement, she was just outside the door when she paused. ¡°John?¡± She said, not looking back at him. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°I have no idea what you''re talking about.¡± Susan stepped into the clearing outside the cave with a pensive frown covering her face. Then it quickly shifted to worry when she caught sight of Ruth. She was just as red faced as she had been back in the cave, now stomping around the far side of the clearing with a worried Anne calling for her to calm down. ¡°They knew?¡± She screamed out toward the woods, ¡°they knew and didn¡¯t do anything?¡± Susan moved closer, but found herself pausing mid step when a growl echoed from the other girl¡¯s throat. ¡°Ruth?¡± Anne squeaked from her shoulder, tugging at one ear with a paw. ¡°What?¡± Ruth snapped, barely pausing in her pacing. ¡°It¡¯s okay, calm down.¡± ¡°No, it''s not!¡± Ruth growled back, ¡°They could have done something, anything!¡± She threw her hands in the air, her speed increasing as she traced a circle around the edge of the clearing. ¡°Ruth,¡± Anne¡¯s voice was sharper now, ¡°its¡­ Well, it¡¯s not okay, but freaking out isn''t going to help.¡± ¡°B-but the boys, they could-¡± Ruth stopped when Susan grabbed her arm. Her head whipped around to stare at her, and Susan met her wide eyes. ¡°They¡¯re going to be fine,¡± she said slowly, ¡°we¡¯re going to make sure of that, right?¡± Ruth let out a breath, and her eyes slowly closed. A few more breaths and they reopened to meet Susan¡¯s eyes. ¡°Yes,¡± She said, ¡°we will.¡± ¡°Good,¡± Susan said, releasing her arm and stepping back. ¡°Just¡­¡± Ruth threw her arms in the air, ¡°why not?¡± Susan sighed. ¡°I hate to give them credit for anything,¡± she said, ¡°but in this case it kind of makes sense.¡± ¡°How,¡± Ruth squinted at her. ¡°Same reason I thought they wouldn¡¯t attack me,¡± Susan said, earning an open mouthed stare from Anne. ¡°Some price tags don¡¯t come in dollars,¡± she continued, ¡°they come in square miles.¡± Ruth¡¯s brow furrowed, and Susan used her stunned silence as an opportunity to keep speaking. ¡°The Guardians would have taken care of it eventually, so for them all that really matters is keeping the cover up going.¡± ¡°¡­But why not just tell the Guardians now?¡± Ruth huffed out as the last of the fight drained from her. ¡°Fat chance of that,¡± Anne spoke up. ¡°They engineered some sort of catastrophe big enough for the Guardians to show up, and then tried kidnapping one of them. It¡¯s one of Grandma¡¯s favorite stories to tell.¡± Ruth¡¯s shoulders slumped and her eyes turned upwards in exasperation. ¡°Of course they did,¡± she said in exasperation. She stayed like that a moment, before her eyes slowly came back down to meet Susans. ¡°Alright,¡± she said, ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± ¡°Good¡­ now what was that about ¡®thought they wouldn''t¡¯?¡± Anne asked, turning back to Susan. ¡°Eh, normal government stupidity, I¡¯ll deal with it later,¡± Susan said, ¡°I¡¯d rather see what these werewolves call home.¡±
¡°A shithole, apparently,¡± Susan muttered, looking over the crumbling ruin of an apartment complex. The crumbling three stories of concrete didn¡¯t look like it would survive another day. A single government inspection or even a light breeze threatening to end its continued existence. It matched the rest of the area pretty well. Ancient self storage facilities sat to either side of the apartments, and across the street lay a strip mall that had seen better days. The only business that still even had the lights on was a car repair shop down the street that had all of its rolling doors firmly shut. The scenery had nothing on the smell however. The scent of the curse emanating from the apartments in front of them was overpowering, and Susan felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise as she examined it. Curses weren¡¯t uncommon in the magical world, Susan herself had been cursed plenty of times already. But the stench around the building was like nothing she had ever seen. It was a cloying, rotten smell that permeated the air so thickly that it felt like it was trying to seep through her skin. The look of utter disgust on Ruth¡¯s face a few feet ahead said that her own magically enhanced nose wasn¡¯t smelling anything pleasant.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°Are you two okay?¡± Anne asked, now human again and walking closely behind Susan. ¡°Nasty curse,¡± Susan spat out. ¡°By our standards or yours?¡± ¡°Mine.¡± ¡°Damn.¡± ¡°Come on,¡± Ruth said, shaking herself before stalking towards the building, the other two following on her heels. The one upside to the abominable stench was that it was very easy to find the source. It noticeably strengthened the further up the stairs they went, and they were soon walking down a hallway on the third floor. The shadows were long now, the long hours of running having added up so that the sun now hung uncomfortably low over the horizon. The daylight remained strong, but Susan felt a mild regret at letting Ruth do the transport as she looked at the long shadows around them. She spotted the apartment that the curse originated from, hidden from the reaching arms of sunlight in one of the corners of the hallway. The curse was almost visible there, the warped mana wafting away from the walls like fog. ¡°Is anyone here?¡± Anne whispered from behind her. Susan looked back to see her examining the doors and windows they were passing. Each one was closed, and every window she could see had the blinds shut. She frowned, stretching her senses to try and detect any signs of life. Then frowned further when she detected none. ¡°They¡¯re inside,¡± Ruth muttered from just ahead of Susan, ¡°deep inside the apartments, and away from the windows.¡± ¡°Makes sense,¡± Susan said, nodding along and earning a confused glance back from Ruth. ¡°It¡¯s the curse,¡± she continued in a low voice, now conscious of the cursed residents around them. ¡°One this powerful probably has side effects as strong as lesser curses. Nocturnalism, agoraphobia, heliophobia, it could be anything.¡± A hand reached forward to tap on her shoulder, Susan turned to see Anne staring at her. ¡°English, please,¡± she whispered. ¡°That was!¡± Anne¡¯s look didn¡¯t change. ¡°Check the dictionary!¡± ¡°Not the time,¡± Ruth hissed from ahead. When Susan turned forward again, she resumed her slow march toward the door. Finally reaching it, the group stilled. Ruth¡¯s hand moved forward slowly until it grasped the handle, then tried to turn it. ¡°Locked,¡± she whispered. ¡°Let me,¡± Anne said, tapping up to the door. Crouching, she reached down to the door jam where years of footfalls and warping had created a not insignificant gap in the cheap wood. Her brows furrowed. ¡°There¡¯s a barrier here,¡± She muttered, and Susan sighed. ¡°Alright, I got it,¡± She said. ¡°Wait!¡± Ruth said quickly, ¡°try to keep it down.¡± Susan rolled her eyes. ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± she muttered, before stepping to the side of the door. She began sketching runes, some in the air and others against the wall. Mana flowing from her and into the world in glowing lines. ¡°The door¡¯s over here,¡± Anne muttered confusedly, and Susan turned to her. ¡°But it''s warded,¡± she said, finishing the last of the runes with a flourish. ¡°And besides, I¡¯m kind of over secret or magic or whatever doors today.¡± Her feet shifted to brace her against the ground, and her arm extended forward to press against the wall. Then she stepped forward, and her arm went right through the drywall and into the next room. Despite the destruction, the noise of the destruction never came. Even as she took another step and her foot smashed through the wall in a cloud of dust the only sound was the whisper of wind through the hall. A third step sent her entire body crashing through the wall, and the wall caved in to create a roughly Susan shaped entryway into the room. A final step took her fully into the room, and with a shake of her head the clinging dust fell from her to the floor. Watching the small waterfall of particles, she couldn¡¯t help but notice that she wasn¡¯t making the floor much dirtier. In fact the carpet of dust she was creating seemed to make things look better. The light shining in from behind her was the only thing illuminating the room, and what little it showed didn¡¯t paint a pretty picture. Dust covered a ruined floor, shattered toys and wood splinters spread over a carpet that had been torn to shreds by enormous claws. The scent of the spell was even stronger here, and Susan felt a deep pit of dread begin to open up in her stomach. The light behind her flickered as Ruth ducked through the ¡®doorway¡¯, followed by Anne who took in the room with a muttered, ¡°yeesh.¡± ¡°Quiet,¡± Ruth hissed, ¡°Do you hear that?¡± Susan¡¯s ears perked, but she just frowned and shook her head back at Ruth. Then Ruth¡¯s eyes widened as they flickered to something past Susan. Her head turned only to be greeted with the flash of steel as a sword flew straight toward her head. She locked eyes with the person wielding it, and watched as their eyes widened. As she watched,the blade began to pull back from its arc, shifting away from her even as the bulk of the attacker still continued rushing forward uncontrolled. Instead of being bowled over, Susan stepped forward. Ducking past the blade, she swept a magically enhanced leg beneath the swordsman¡¯s. He crashed to the ground at her feet in a tumble of limbs, and Susan quickly checked the rest of the room for more attackers. Her eyes landed on a tall dark figure in the previously empty doorway, their hands glowing as they gathered mana for a spell. ¡°Mattie?¡± She asked, stopping them mid movement. Susan¡¯s head tilted downward to look at the swordsman, as the glow left Mattie¡¯s hands and her mouth fell open in shock. ¡°Hey Cole.¡± ¡°Susan?¡± Mattie shouted from the doorway. ¡°What the hell?¡± ¡°What the hell yourself?¡± Ruth shot back, ¡°why are you attacking us?¡± ¡°We thought you were werewolves!¡± ¡°Werewolves?¡± Susan raised an eyebrow. ¡°Yeah,¡± Cole groaned as he pushed himself to his feet, ¡°isn¡¯t that why you¡¯re here?¡± ¡°We were here hunting a group of magically cursed humans responsible for depopulating the forests around the Brick,¡± Susan said, then paused. ¡°So now that I think about it, probably.¡± ¡°Great,¡± Cole said as he rose to his full height and slid the longsword he held into a sheath at his side, ¡°because we''re totally in over our heads.¡± Susan couldn¡¯t help but note the transformation he had gone through. Her grandmother had chosen to take the boy under her wing, and the results already showed. Much of the fat covering his frame had been burnt off, now replaced by a wiry muscle that already promised to develop into a physique worthy of a Schwarzenagger movie. ¡°Really?¡± She asked, poking him in the chest with a finger. ¡°Yeah,¡± he replied, ¡°it all started when a friend of mine told me that he thought his girlfriend might be cheating on him¡­¡± As he began talking, Susan had a terrifying premonition of exactly why Hilda had chosen Cole as a student. It wasn¡¯t just the budding seed of heroism that burned within his chest. It was also the way he told the story, delivering it exactly the way he would one of his anime rants. No matter how rudimentary a detail or stupid a comment, it was told with perfect emotion and emphatic glee. Hilda hadn¡¯t just chosen Cole to train because he was a hero, she had chosen him because he perfectly displayed the qualities she desired in a hero. Namely: epic storytelling. Her eyes drifted to the side to meet Mattie¡¯s. The other girl was looking at Cole with an expression of perfect contentment as she began to relax against the doorway. Susan gave Cole a minute to explain, then another as he went on to describe how an interrogation of his friend had revealed that the wayward girlfriend was in fact vanishing at night under mysterious circumstances. An emotional confrontation led to the revelation that the girlfriend was under a dreadful curse, one too powerful for Mattie to cure. An improvised harness and a tracking app downloaded to the girl¡¯s phone led the duo to the werewolve¡¯s base of operation. Which had led to now, where an interrupted investigation of the summoning circle had led to an unexpected meeting. ¡°So yeah, sorry for attacking you,¡± Cole finished awkwardly, scratching at the back of his head. ¡°Uh, Susan?¡± ¡°Hm?¡± Susan snapped out of the fog she had slipped into halfway through the tale. ¡°You okay?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she snapped, ¡°uh, let''s go investigate the curse!¡± She bustled past a frowning Cole, but the chorus of agreements from behind her said that Ruth and Anne appreciated the distraction as well. Stepping past Mattie and into what looked like a dilapidated bathroom. It was pitch black, but she was able to spot a lantern flashlight perched on the sink that Cole and Mattie must have been using. Flicking it on, she took in the grisly scene. A circle had been drawn in blood on the floor, one that oozed power. From the mana surrounding it alone she was able to draw multiple conclusions. None of them good. Walking around the circle, she looked it over and the sinking feeling in her stomach she had felt earlier became a lead ball sitting in her gut. A hand raised into the air as if on instinct, sketching a rune with frenzied grace. The rune flashed, and at her feet the summoning circle faded. The tile it sat on did as well, creating a circular indent in the tiling that revealed the bare wood underneath. Her eyes rose back up until they met the startled expressions of the rest of the group. It took her a moment to find words as she wondered whether or not to tell them the full truth of what lurked in the dark corners of the world. In the end, she chose to give them the cliff notes, leaving out the worst of what she had heard from the Guardians. ¡°Well,¡± she began, ¡°I have good¡­ well no. I have bad news, and worse news.¡± The explanation was short and succinct. ¡®An insanely powerful Vampire got summoned here and we¡¯re all very lucky he didn¡¯t decide to blow up the town for shits and giggles, but he did leave us with an army of homicidal werewolves to deal with,¡¯ could never be called good news but it could be called the lesser of two evils if you were feeling optimistic. She finished and paused to take in the groups¡¯ reactions. Ruth looked darkly determined, Mattie looked to be a reasonable amount of terrified, and Cole was trying to look calm. Anne barely looked ruffled, having taken the news in with a disinterested stoicism. ¡°So¡­ what do we do?¡± She asked with a shrug. Susan shrugged back at her. ¡°Depends on how many werewolves there are,¡± she said, ¡°we could take a couple hundred ourselves, but if there are too many we¡¯ll need to call in the Guardians.¡± ¡°Wait, we¡¯re not going to hurt them right?¡± Cole burst in. ¡°They¡¯re trying to kill us, of course we¡¯re going to have to hurt them,¡± Susan said, ¡°But no, we''re certainly not killing innocent people caught up in a curse.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Cole deflated with a relieved sigh, ¡°Okay.¡± The group started as a jingle echoed from his pocket, and Cole blanched. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Susan raised an eyebrow at him. He met her eyes slowly. ¡°That means it¡¯s five minutes to sunset,¡± he said quietly, and a hush fell over the group. Mattie drew in a breath, but reached up to pat Cole on the shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± she said, ¡°we have Susan.¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t just going to piggyback off me, right?¡± Susan asked, not sure how to react to the unasked for confidence in her. The lack of eyes that met her face was damning, except for Anne who was choking back laughter. ¡°Fine,¡± Susan said, stalking out of the room, through the entryway and back into the outdoor hallway. She turned to the side, where she could barely see the sun kissing the horizon from the other end of one of the long corridors. She turned back to the others who looked out at her from the apartment. ¡°We wait.¡±
The first sign that the sun had set wasn¡¯t the dark. It was the cacophonous howl that echoed out from outside of the apartment complex. It ripped through the air like an explosion, rattling the windows and making the group clap their hands over their ears for relief. It was followed by a thunder of doors opening and feet stomping against the concrete floors. The apartment complex finally coming alive for the first time since the group had arrived. Susan and the others sat within relative safety of the bathroom, looking out the door and through the hole in the wall as enormous hairy forms rushed past outside. Once the clamor ended, Susan turned and signaled for the others to follow her. Every one of them wore cloaking runes, capable of seeing and hearing each other, but invisible to the outside world. Careful steps took her out of the apartment and she started down the hall as the noise of the werewolves grew ahead of her. Grunts, howls and barks echoed through the air, seeming to grow in number and noise as she continued down the hall. By the time she reached the end of the hallway that overlooked the outside of the building, the sound had grown to a collective roar that buffeted her ears just as much as the earlier howl had. She stopped at the railing, and her jaw fell open at the sight of thousands of werewolves. They filled the street in front of the apartment in a single mass, the grey fur stretching for hundreds of feet in every direction in a flurry of bodies so thick Susan felt she could walk across it. ¡°What the-¡± Cole gasped from where he crept up beside her, ¡°how have people not noticed this?¡± ¡°What do you think?¡± Anne whispered back. ¡°Everyone in miles must be werewolves by now.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Susan muttered, ¡°or¡­¡± ¡°Or?¡± Cole asked. ¡°They don''t plan to hide.¡± Cole gulped. Then, as one the small army stopped and turned in a single direction. The thousands of snouts pointing directly toward the still lit garage. The glass walled lobby within still seemed empty, a notion quickly dashed when a grey clawed hand the size of a table slid beneath one of the rolling doors and pulled it up. What stepped out was an entirely different creature from the werewolves that filled the street in front of it. The size of a shed, each of its steps echoed over the noise of the other wolves, and the gnarled fur and flesh that covered it managed to look even more revolting than the others. The sea of fur parted around it as it made its way toward the center of the street directly in front of the apartment complex. Once there, it stopped and turned in a circle to examine the crowd around it with two glowing eyes the size of baseballs. A single glance was all Susan needed to know that this thing was the source of the curse. The mana inside of it was a riot of confused flows so awful it was plainly clear that this was no natural creature. ¡°Susan?¡± Mattie whispered. ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°How the hell do we break the curse on that?¡± Susan watched as a single labored breath from the enormous torso made the hunched back rise and fall entire feet. Impressing the simple truth that no matter how much of a disaster the magics fueling it were, it was still big enough to kill a man by casually stepping on him. ¡°Let¡¯s find out.¡± The rest of the group took a step back as the two of them quickly began sketching a mess of runes around them. Mattie using chalk and paints pulled from almost invisible pockets on her clothes, and Susan drawing on the air itself. As they worked, the werewolf reached the center of the crowd. Pushing itself to its full height, it threw both gnarled arms out to the sides and roared. The crowd around it joined in, the cacophonous noise continuing for a second before ending. The world seemed silent after, the only audible noise following the collective roar being its echo coming from off in the distance. The great werewolf grinned in the silence that followed. ¡°Minions,¡± it rasped, ¡°my fellow creatures of the night. Tonight we enact the first part of my ultimate plan.¡± Susan swore under her breath but still kept writing runes. She had to force herself to alternate between strengthening and protection runes for the others around her, as well as diagnostic runes to better understand the cursed being in front of her. ¡°To those new here, I am Lupus. The origin of our kind. It was my brilliance in summoning the great Demon King that granted me this incredible power, and under my guidance our breed shall rise to even greater heights.¡± ¡°The hell?¡± Mattie muttered with narrowed eyes as she watched the speech. ¡°What?¡± Susan shot back. ¡°He controls the whole damn crowd, he¡¯s basically talking to himself.¡± The two shot each other equally exasperated looks. ¡°This world has a low bar for megalomaniacs,¡± Susan spat, and turned her attention back to the crowd of werewolves, which were taking in the speech with rapt attention. ¡°For the past month we have grown in numbers, and now we ready ourselves to spread the curse to everyone who lives in this insipid town. With our numbers increased to the tens of thousands, we will finally be ready to challenge our real enemy. The Bureau of Supernatural and Magical Protections. They are the fools that have held the secrets of magic from the deserving, and by the end of the night we will be ready to challenge the seat of their power, the Brick. Once it is fallen, and the Bureau vanquished, we can spread unimpeded until I rule the entire country!¡± Susan¡¯s mouth fell open at the sheer audacity of what she was witnessing. ¡°But first,¡± and here Lupus¡¯s grin turned into a rictus of glee, ¡°we must deal with our guests.¡± ¡°Uh oh,¡± Anne muttered, and the group took a collective step back from the army of werewolves. ¡°Well, at least we don''t have to listen to him talk anymore,¡± Cole said as he slid his blade from its sheath with a whisper of leather. Then a scream echoed from the other side of the street. Susan started, leaning forward over the railing as she tried to catch sight of the source of the scream. The werewolves made it easy to spot, dozens of them climbing the facade of the strip mall on the other side of the street. A half dozen small figures danced around atop the building, weaving in and out of the blocky air conditioning units to avoid the snapping jaws of the werewolves that had interrupted their spying. The blood drained from Susan¡¯s face as she recognized one of them, a young boy dressed in exercise clothes ducking beneath the swiping claws of a werewolf. Ruth made a strangled, half-animal sound as she saw them. A moment later she was charging forward, leaping over the railing and into the crowd of werewolves. Chapter 21: Trial by (Werewolf) Combat Susan felt a sinking feeling as she watched Ruth charge toward the strip mall. It had taken all of three seconds for their ¡®plan¡¯ to go off the rails. Ruth¡¯s brothers had somehow followed them, and now were in danger from the absurdly large army of werewolves that filled the street in front of the building. Now Ruth had effectively split the party, and Susan was stuck trying to play catchup. Ruth was halfway across the street when her head-on charge was interrupted. The huge form of Lupus appeared in front of her, and she had to leap to the side to avoid a swipe of his claws. Then Cole was leaping over the balcony next to her, sword in hand as he chased after Ruth. In a flash he had crossed the distance between him and Lupus, introducing himself with a downward slash of the blade against the back of Lupus¡¯s neck. Lupus responded by dislodging the teen with a casual shake of his back, and then the three way battle between him, Cole, and Ruth was on. A furious flurry of teeth and blade filled the center of the street. The surrounding werewolves seemed more than happy to watch the fight take place, but Susan could see that many were inquisitive enough to keep investigating the litany of shrieks and yells coming from the strip mall across the street. Muttering out a dictionary''s worth of swear words, she began tracing glowing runes in the air. Twin circles quickly appeared, followed quickly by a dozen more symbols. ¡°Uh, Susan? Do we have a plan?¡± Anne asked with a worried look to her as one of the more inquisitive werewolves poked its head over the railing. ¡°Yeah, hold on!¡± Susan snapped back. A snap kick knocked the railing out of its sockets, sending it tumbling down into the crowd below. The werewolf dodged the railing and snarled. Before it could capitalize, Susan grabbed Anne by the arm before reaching over to snag Mattie. ¡°Wait, wha-aaaaaaah!¡± Anne¡¯s question morphed into a scream as the hundred yards of space between them and the roof of the strip mall¡¯s roof compressed into an area the thickness of a pancake. With a humming sensation that felt like they were standing still and falling at the same time, the trio found themselves standing atop the brick facade of the shopping center. ¡°-Aaat the hell?¡± Anne asked. ¡°Movement spell,¡± Susan said, quickly looking her and Mattie over for injuries. Thankfully the two looked fine, though judging by the smear of blood over Susan¡¯s shoe, the overly inquisitive werewolf had learned the hard way how dangerous spatial spells could be. The moment she finished checking them, she returned her attention to the rooftop around them. It wasn''t looking very good, the rubber matting stretched for hundreds of feet around them served as the staging ground for what looked like the most dangerous game of tag ever played. Dozens of werewolves dashed around over it, chasing the fleeting figures of Ruth¡¯s brothers. Snarls and shrieks echoed around them as the boys only barely managed to evade the snatching claws. ¡°Right,¡± Mattie muttered, breaking free of the disorientation, ¡°let''s get to it.¡± Then she was jumping down to the rubber matting of the roof below. Reaching into her pocket, she retrieved a small glowing vial. A shake caused it to begin glowing, and she threw it forward. Then a muttered word and a wave of her hand caused a small gust of wind to catch the vial and sent it flitting forward toward the nearest group of werewolves. It caught their attention one by one, and soon the group was so enamored with it that they chased it right off the edge of the roof. Meanwhile, Anne had vanished into her mouse form. She gave a squeaking war cry before charging directly toward the largest werewolf on the roof. A flying leap sent Anne flying forward where she vanished into the huge werewolf¡¯s fur. A moment later it was howling in pain as it tried to dislodge the furious rodent that dashed over its body, biting and scratching as it went. Its smashing limbs utterly failed in their attempts to stamp out the attack, the protection granted to Anne by the Guardian¡¯s amulet left her entirely unscathed. Before long the werewolf was fleeing toward the edge of the roof, chased by an irate mouse. Meanwhile, Susan once again raised both hands in the air and pushed mana into her hands until they glowed with it. Stepping down to the roof below, she began creating a new rune. Long hours of practice allowed her to begin tracing runes with all five fingers, each one acting in concert to create multiple lines at once. In moments a small sphere of runes began forming in the air in front of her. They hovered in place, slowly drifting towards each other and linking into a dizzyingly complex formation. Carefully splitting her attention between the street fight below, the rooftop chase, and her own spell, she tried to keep an eye on everyone. Even as she continued her rune creation, she reached down and tore a brick from the facade. A casual throw sent it crashing into the face of a werewolf that seemed to be getting a little too close to one of the fleeing boys. A moment later the tiny form of Anne was leaping over to it and the werewolf found itself distracted by the scratching of the furious mousekin. Susan found herself ducking down to avoid the flying form of Ruth. A glance back saw Lupus roaring with laughter, crouched in a classic pitchers pose. A sneer covered his face until it was interrupted by a furious tackle from Cole. Twisting midair, Ruth managed to land on the roof with all four legs. Catching the roof with her claws, she cut four pairs of claw marks in the rubber until she finished skidding to a halt. Then she was charging forward, catching one of the werewolves in the chest with a body slam that sent it careening backwards and off of the roof. She rushed over to where Mattie was furiously casting spell after spell, and the two quickly worked together to make a small safe area free of werewolves for her brothers. Even as more werewolves began to appear over the edge of the roof, the area around Mattie was quickly filled by the boys. Each of them collapsing to the rubber matting in a panting heap. ¡°Hi,¡± a small voice came from behind Susan, and she turned her head to see the diminutive Ada crouched behind her. ¡°Hey,¡± she replied, then bit her lip as she had to use all ten fingers simultaneously to craft a singularly complex rune. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Came Ada¡¯s voice again as a pair of small arms wrapped around her leg. ¡°Something really stupid,¡± Susan muttered, half to herself. ¡°Mom says you''re not supposed to do that,¡± Ada continued, and a glance down showed her staring up at Susan with her enormous doe eyes as she watched the runes be sketched in the air. ¡°Well, she¡¯s not wrong.¡± ¡°Then why are you doing it?¡± A second look down showed the same placid innocence on the child¡¯s face. Susan sighed and refocused on her rune. ¡°Because I¡¯m desperate,¡± she finally responded. The truth was Susan had played this game before, and she knew she couldn¡¯t win. She had set herself the goal of breaking the curse on the untold number of werewolves, as well as protecting the double handful of people around her. It was an absurd task with a thousand and one variables conspiring together to ensure no matter what choice Susan made she couldn¡¯t save everyone. But no matter how impossible it seemed, she had a chance. A path forward to avoid bloodshed that she didn¡¯t have before. So she took it. ¡°M¡¯kay,¡± Ada responded, blind to Susan¡¯s inner turmoil. The fight continued on around them. The three oldest of Ruth¡¯s brothers had joined her and Mattie in the fight. They would corral the werewolves chasing them into packs, letting Ruth and Mattie deal with them easier. Against all odds, the group was managing to hold their own against the increasing tide of werewolves. Though even as Susan thought that, another dozen heads poked themselves over the edge of the roof and the werewolve¡¯s numbers began to swell even more. ¡°Are ya gonna help them?¡± Ada¡¯s question came again. ¡°I¡¯m trying!¡± Susan hissed back. She spared a moment to check on the fight back on the ground, only to wince. Lupus had Cole on the ropes now that Ruth was gone, and seemed to be driving him back up against the front of the strip mall. Slashing claws came again and again, barely deflected by swings of Cole¡¯s sword. A second brick, once again torn from the front of the building, smashed into Lupus¡¯s warped skull but was ignored. Desperate eyes looked for a second option, only to catch sight of a small brown shape leap from the front of the building and down onto Lupus¡¯s back. He ignored it the same as the brick, until it scurried up and over the hunch of his back to jam a tiny paw directly into his eye.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. That earned a yowl from the hulking werewolf, and Cole leapt on the distraction. A jump forward let him catch Lupus in the other eye with the tip of his sword, and then before he could retaliate Cole was snatching up Anne and jumping again. He hit the wall of the building and kicked off of it. Then in a move that seemed straight out of a parkour video, he planted both feet squarely on Lupus¡¯s head and used the monster as a springboard. The move launched him upward, high enough for him to catch the edge of the roof and pull himself over. He hit the matting and collapsed, eyes wide as his chest heaved. He lay there a moment, even as Anne pulled herself from his unresisting hand to rush back into the fight. ¡°That was crazy,¡± he muttered, before finally pushing himself to his feet and looking over to Susan. ¡°Everything good up here?¡± He asked with false cheer. ¡°Better than down there,¡± Susan said as she grabbed another brick to send flying into one of Lupus¡¯s eyes. Ignoring the resultant scream of pain, she focused on Cole. ¡°Also, where did you learn parkour?¡± She asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Hilda says it''s the basics of being an adventurer,¡± he said, then raised both hands to mime air quotes, ¡°Only a dumbass looks for adventure. And being a dumbass is a good way to get yourself killed. So the best way to survive being an adventurer is being able to run like hell when ya do something dumbass.¡± Susan listened to him with a blank stare, eventually responding with a shrug. ¡°Yeah,¡± she said, ¡°that¡¯s Granny Hilda for you.¡± Their conversation was broken up when down below Lupus leapt backwards. In an instant he had crossed to the other side of the street and out of range of Susan¡¯s flying bricks. He howled, and the dozens of werewolves that filled the roof around them stopped. In perfect unison they fled, leaping off the roof and back into the horde below. The rooftop was suddenly clear, leaving a bewildered group of teens looking around with wide eyes. Spotting Cole and Susan by the edge of the roof, they quickly regrouped by the wall to look down on the werewolves that gathered around Lupus below. ¡°Hm,¡± Susan mused, ¡°that¡¯s probably not good.¡± A snarl of a smile came over the hulking werewolf¡¯s face. ¡°Thanks for grouping up for me,¡± he crowed, before crouching down and jumping. He shot into the air, easily crossing the space between the street and the roof in a high arc that had him coming down on top of the closely grouped teens. Nearing the apex of his jump, he looked down at the roof below and let out a booming laugh that echoed over them. ¡°I am the cataclysm¡­¡± Mattie took a single look up at the looming figure and huffed out a laugh. She spat out a few arcane words, and waved both arms up and over her head like she was throwing something backwards. A gust of wind followed, whipping up the hair of the teens on the roof. Up above, Lupus¡¯s fall faltered, and then he was being wrenched out of the air, his leap transformed from a careful descent to a screaming freefall that hit the roof below and went right through. He impacted the ground below with a reverberating thud that sent dust rocketing back up through the newly punched hole in the roof. It cleared to reveal a smug Mattie, surrounded by an awestruck group of five boys. ¡°Awesome,¡± Seth breathed. He and the other boys looked up at her with wide eyes, but found their gazes drawn back downwards when the sound of rubble falling was interrupted by a heavy scraping from below. A word and a wave of Mattie¡¯s hand swept the remaining dust away to reveal Lupus standing up from an werewolf shaped crater carved into the concrete on the floor below. He looked up to meet the group¡¯s gazes, and then his mouth quirked upward in a twisted rendition of a smile. A gargantuan arm raised high in the air and came down on the concrete. It hit with the force of a battering ram, pulverizing the ground below it and sending cracks shooting through the concrete around it. Susan sent another brick flying at him, but he casually dodged it with a huff. Then he was vanishing further into the building, where the sound of more impacts echoed. The roof trembled beneath their feet, and Cole¡¯s head whipped to the side toward Susan. ¡°I really hope that rune is ready!¡± ¡°In a sec!¡± She snapped back. ¡°Please tell me you mean that litera-¡± Cole found himself interrupted when another howl echoed from below and the roof bucked as a calamitous thud resounded through the cinderblock and steel of the building. A dozen pairs of eyes turned downwards before the entire structure collapsed beneath them. The teens yelled, the boys shrieked, and they all fell, vanishing into the cloud of dust that rose up from the collapsing building below. All except for Susan. Even as the others fell, she hung in the air, the sheer amount of mana she had used making the reality around her almost plastic. Her finger crackled as she forced the mana output of a dozen archwizards into it, and she thrust it into the center of the circle of runes she had been creating. ¡°Guardianship,¡± she whispered, focusing the entirety of her mind on the concept even as she sketched out a simple shield. She retracted her finger, before placing each hand on either side of the circle of runes and pumping as much mana as she could into it. As she increased the power the simple shield began to flicker. Slowly growing more and more ephemeral, it wasn¡¯t until Susan was reaching the very limits of the mana her Dragonheart could produce that something happened. The symbol warped, turning in on itself like a m?bius strip as it began to glow with a gleaming light. A rune appeared in the air beneath Susan¡¯s feet, and her entire body shone with light. It faded a moment later to reveal her now wearing a frilly pink ball gown straight out of the Wizard of Oz. The silver tiara from her previous transformation capping the ensemble, she looked down into the dark ruin of the roof to see nine more glowing transformation circles. She frowned as she counted one short, then looked down further to see a wide eyed Ada still hanging onto her leg. Only she was now wearing a golden ball gown. ¡°Whoa,¡± was the girl¡¯s only comment. Whatever Lupus had done had demolished the entire store the group had been fighting on top of. On either side the strip mall remained standing but the section of mall Susan now hovered over was entirely gone, replaced by the thick cloud of dust. A glowing figure appeared from below. Cole, now wearing his own glowing green ball gown, and carrying a blushing Mattie in a princess carry took a flying leap upwards to land on a jutting shelf of cinder block that overlooked the now ruined shopping center. Carefully setting Mattie down, he turned to launch an impressive glower towards Susan. ¡°A dress,¡± he called, ¡°really?¡± Susan cackled in response. ¡°A necessary part of the spell,¡± she lied fluently, trying to hide the relief she was feeling that it had actually worked. Ruth, still in wolf form and now sporting the classic tutu and tiara combo, was the next to make it to the roof, followed by the tumbling forms of her brothers. They seemed completely dumbfounded by their new strength, several of them completely overshooting the edge of the roof and landing further down the roof before rushing back to where Cole stood. The last person to arrive was Anne. Now a blue clad mouse, she took a twenty foot leap from the rubble below and up to Ruth¡¯s back before looking around warily. Her caution was unfounded. The crowd of werewolves outside of the strip mall had pulled back, and were now looking in at the ruined building with wide eyed worry. ¡°Woah, this is awesome,¡± Seth breathed, making a light jump that carried him a yard in the air. ¡°Yeah but it''s a dress,¡± Jeff groused, looking down at the glowing yellow lace he now wore. ¡°Yeah, but look at this,¡± Ralph said, then punched him in the chest. Jeff went flying a dozen feet backward where he hit the roof in a tumble of limbs. He was up a second later with a snarl, before he seemed to realize he was fine. A grin replaced the frown. ¡°Yeah, definitely awesome.¡± A collapsing pile of steel and masonry signaled the reappearance of Lupus down below. He laughed madly and began pawing through the rubble, before realizing that none of the teens had fallen. With glacial slowness, his head drifted up to meet those of the waiting teens. They met his gaze, and with equal slowness viscous smiles covered every one of their faces.
¡°What do you mean she found the Black Site?¡± Henry Gatchett snarled, voice tinny as it echoed from the tablet in John¡¯s hand. ¡°She was searching for the source of the infectious curse spreading around Orienda,¡± he answered, deadpan. ¡°Locating one of the loading bays was simply a coincidence.¡± ¡°Well I don¡¯t want any more ¡®coincidences¡¯ after this, got it?¡± Gatchett continued unabashed, ¡°this project has to go off without a hitch!¡± ¡°Yessir.¡± He wasn¡¯t surprised Gatchett was onto him, the man could smell a rat from a mile away. Thankfully he hadn¡¯t quite figured out how John had betrayed the BSMP, and Gatchett couldn¡¯t move against him without evidence. ¡°Sir,¡± he said after a moment, ¡°I do want to note that if we had dealt with the infectious curse when it was first identified then-¡± ¡°Not an option,¡± Gatchett shot back, ¡°I want the circle active within the hour. Get to it.¡± His face vanished, leaving John staring down at the black screen of the tablet. Rolling his eyes, he tucked the tablet under his arm and resumed his march. The hall he was walking down was completely empty, the squeak of his shoes the only sound audible despite the sprawling complex around him. The Black Site wasn¡¯t usually well staffed, the glut of procedures and paperwork as the BSMP bureaucracy grew ever larger made sure of that. But the halls were especially empty today, even the cleaning staff having been moved off site in preparation for today¡¯s ritual. That was why he had been the one answering Susan Hill¡¯s earlier breaking and entering. Normally such an event would have been met with a full hit squad, but they had all been pulled out the building an hour before her arrival. It was an incredible coincidence, and had almost certainly saved the ongoing project. Though the higher ups like Gatchett would never realize it for the blessing in disguise it was. The thought of the dragon, and her actions earlier today, brought a frown to John¡¯s face. Her immediate reaction to being told the government was planning to kill her hadn¡¯t been one of fear, but indignant rage. The absolute confidence she had in herself was obvious, though he wasn''t sure if it was a blessing or a curse in this instance. He had almost hoped that she would raze the complex to the ground in rage, but she had chosen to prioritize the problem presented by the curse. The choice had preserved what peace remained for now, but John was pretty sure that wouldn''t hold true in the future. Rawiyah¡¯s warning echoed in the back of his head, now louder than ever as the final hour approached. A sharp left had him turning into another bland white hallway, this one differentiated from the others by the huge pair of double doors at the end. He shouldered through them, and stepped into the ritual room. The cavernous space was a simple rectangular room, but sized up until it was large enough to house a jumbo jet. Etched into the ground within was an empire¡¯s worth of gold forming a single enormous runic circle. It filled the entire massive space, stretching so far that the multi feet tall runes that made up the spell were barely dots to John¡¯s critical eye. His gaze came up a moment later, and he spotted a small group gathered along one of the edges of the circle. A short walk took him over to them, and he exchanged nods with a few of them. ¡°John,¡± Rex Scuggums said with a smile that seemed almost genuine. ¡°Just the man I¡¯ve been looking for. Any news from headquarters?¡± The man didn¡¯t look good. Now wearing a grey suit and a sheen of sweat, a heavy mechanical switch dangled from one hand. Thick cords connected it to the floor, and a single press of the covered switch on the top would activate the huge circle that stretched before them. ¡°No,¡± John replied, and the man visibly wilted. Susan Hill¡¯s appearance had been their last chance to delay the project, and now they faced the deadline. As the highest ranking official in the state, Rex was required to begin the operation. He wasn''t taking it well. Let alone making an even greater enemy of the Guardians, the higher ups still didn¡¯t know the full scope of what they were doing. Every bit of information they had been able to glean about the Archdragon of Ruin spelled disaster. Reports from multiple other realms spoke of calamitous power, and a terrifying propensity for mass destruction. They still didn¡¯t even know if their current plan would work, but it was the only one with even a chance of succeeding. So here they were, hearts in their throats as the seconds ticked forward towards the oncoming confrontation. ¡°Anything from Rawiyah?¡± Rex asked, and John had to shake his head again. ¡°Just pronouncements of our inevitable demise,¡± he said with a shrug. ¡°Right,¡± Rex said, shoulders hanging for a moment until he raised his head and steeled himself with a deep breath. ¡°Let¡¯s begin.¡± A flick of his thumb uncovered the switch, and a shaking hand reached over to turn it with a quiet click. A wave of tingling energy followed, rushing over the men and flowing towards the center of the massive runic circle. As the power flowed through the gold runes they began to glow red hot, and the air above the circle began to shimmer. John felt his skin suddenly prickle with sweat as a wave of heat blasted back towards them. Above the massive circle the air was pushed apart, an void of empty space forming into an impossibly large shape. ¡°And may God have mercy on our souls,¡± Rex muttered as the shape formed by the void grew and grew. Chapter 22: Get Were-Worfed, Punk There was a long moment where the world seemed frozen. Susan hung in the air above the ruined shopping mall, the glowing runic sphere still pulsing between her outstretched arms while Ada hung from her leg in awestruck silence. The other teens stood on what little roof remained to the mall, staring down at Lupus who met their gaze with incredulous shock. Just outside the broken walls stood the small army of werewolves, now silent and unmoving without the command of their leader. The breathing of a thousand creatures was the only sound, a continuous rushing of air that made the world around them seem to beat in anticipation. The moment was broken when Cole launched himself downward with a war cry. Breaking out of his stupor, Lupus lashed out with and met his charge with a swing of one of his enormous arms. Then he was sent flying backwards, crashing into the rubble behind. He burst free a moment later, and then was leaping back and away from a follow up swing from Cole. His reprieve was short lived, as he found his escape interrupted when Ruth body slammed him with enough force to send him careening backwards. He caught himself when his long arm caught a piece of jutting steel and brought him to a wrenching halt. Then he was jumping again to avoid a glowing vial shot at him by Mattie, and the next several seconds were filled with a flurry of motion as the teens launched attack after attack that had the enormous werewolf leaping and dashing around the rubble strewn remains of the strip mall. Susan watched it happen with a wry smile. Maintaining the rune took a huge amount of her concentration and mana, but every second of security for her friends was worth it. It had been a true Hail Mary, a desperate attempt to recreate the fourth tier rune she had seen in the Guardians¡¯ base. She hadn¡¯t even known if the rune overcharging array would work the way she wanted it to. It was a novelty, something that she and the Wizards Congress had discarded as useless the second they had discovered it. Who could have guessed that the technique might not just be an object of curiosity, but the gateway to something much greater. A deep growl from Lupus caught her attention again, and then the crowd of werewolves was rushing into the ruined building. Cole and Ruth found themselves swamped with a dozen werewolves each, and where their strikes now sent dozens of the creatures flying at a time it was enough of a distraction. Lupus vanished into the horde without a sound, and a moment later the werewolves were pulling back again. The group was left in an empty ruin, looking back and forth between each other with worried looks. ¡°Do you really think this is going to accomplish anything?¡± Lupus¡¯s voice echoed over the ruins. Susan turned her head to the side to look at him, as below her the rest of the group rushed back to what remained of the roof to look over the surrounding army. It had pulled away from the strip mall, and now gathered in a solid wall of bodies across the parking lot. In the center of the group, standing in a wide empty circle of cracked concrete was Lupus. He stalked back and forth, staring up at Susan with two beady eyes. The sneer from earlier had never left his lips, and as the group assembled on the edge he looked over them with narrowed eyes. ¡°Just give up,¡± he continued, raising his arms at his sides as if he was presenting them with a reasonable suggestion. ¡°No matter how much you attack me in all your glowing glory, in the final hour you will all serve your one true king¡­¡± Off to the side where he stood on the edge of the roof, Susan could see Cole¡¯s mouth fall open. At his side Mattie¡¯s brow furrowed and her head slowly tilted to the side ¡°Is he¡­ quoting a video game right now?¡± She asked slowly. ¡°He¡¯s, yeah, WoW,¡± Cole managed to get out. ¡°And not even correctly.¡± Lupus appeared to hear them, as both ears flicked back and a deep growl escaped him. ¡°Fine,¡± he snarled, ¡°I¡¯ll just kill you then.¡± At his words barks and howls began to echo around them once more, and the horde of werewolves charged inward in a tide of tooth and fur. Uncaring of the danger, Susan turned to Ruth and met her eye. A simple nod was all it took to get her message across, and Ruth¡¯s mouth gained its own toothy grin. A single bark from her was all it took to catch the attention of the boys. Five identical smiles flashed over each of their faces, and with howls of their own they charged to meet the roiling tide. The moment the two groups met was cataclysmic, a pluming cloud of dust sent flying into the air by the impact. Then five glowing figures appeared out the other side to continue crashing through the packed ranks of werewolves. Lupus watched his army dissolve around the assault of hyperactive tweens with disbelieving eyes. The boys seemed to treat the entire thing like one of their playfights, sending the werewolves tumbling like bowling pins with wide punches and wild kicks. Numb to the destruction around him, Lupus¡¯s head slowly turned back to stare up at the group still standing atop the strip mall. A now human Ruth met his gaze and grinned wide. ¡°Thanks for that,¡± she shouted down at him, ¡°they really needed to burn off some energy.¡± Lupus¡¯s face warped into a furious snarl, before he launched himself upward toward the group. A long arm reached out to swipe at Ruth¡¯s side, but the claws found no purchase on her magical ball gown and simply slid off. Ruth met his charge with a backhand that sent him flying bodily back into the rubble below Susan. He impacted in a flurry of debris and dust, but was back on his feet in a moment. Two furious eyes swept over the group, then settled on Susan who still floated in the air with her hands around the glowing sphere of runes. The eyes narrowed, and then Lupus was leaping again. This time at Susan. Cole launched himself forward to intercept, but a single swipe of Lupus¡¯s arm was all it took to send him careening away. Susan watched him come, but instead of dodging focused all of her attention on kicking her leg out to the side. Ada shrieked as she found herself dislodged, but flew down to the roof where Ruth leapt to catch her. Then Susan¡¯s vision was all grey fur and gnashing teeth, and it was all she could do to kick away and send herself flying back down to the rubble below. Even as she hit the ground she focused her attention on listening for the cry of triumph that came as Ruth desperately managed to catch her sister. Then Susan was forcing herself back to her feet, but found herself pausing when she felt an odd pain in her arm. Unheeding of the crash of metal and stone that echoed as Lupus impacted the ground a dozen feet away, her eyes drifted down to see her arm. A sliver of skin had been gouged away there, taken by seeking claws. The glow of her dress flickered and dimmed as the flow of mana going to the rune lessened, and a huff of air resounded from the bulk of Lupus who lay embedded in the rubble. ¡°Hehehe,¡± he chuckled, ¡°You should always protect the supporter.¡± Susan raised wide eyes to meet his enormous ones, and his smile widened as he got to his feet to loom over her. The bulk of his body almost blotted out the stars, but Susan barely noticed it as the cursed mana took hold of her body and began to warp it. ¡°You asshole!¡± She gasped, but Lupus only laughed more. ¡°Do you have any idea how much of a pain in the ass it is to create a human form?¡± She shrieked. This time Lupus¡¯s laugh stopped, now replaced by an echoing chuckle coming from Cole who was getting to his feet over by the edge of the roof.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Lupus¡¯s eyes squinted at her, then widened as her form began to change, growing in size until her head was level with him. Then they widened further as she continued to grow. By the time she had grown to dwarf his body he seemed to realize that something was wrong. Wide eyes took in the tank like scales, and he gave an audible gulp as a baleful eye the width of his snout turned down to glare at him. Susan shot him a toothy smile, taking a moment to relish the look of disbelieving horror that covered his face. Then she twisted, and the sinuous curve of her tail whipped around her body to impact him in the chest with a crack like a gunshot. Lupus practically flew across the street, impacting the apartments in an explosion of concrete and steel. With a groan of crumbling stone collapsed in a roar of concrete and rebar that sent a cloud of dust rushing through the area around it to paint everything a dusty grey. A rain of pulverized wood and concrete rained down on the street in front of it, clattering over the army of werewolves that looked on with wide eyes at the cause of their leader¡¯s defeat. A deep chuckle echoed from Susan, who stepped out from the ruins of the mall to look down over the army. From the corner of her eye she spotted one of Ruth¡¯s brothers stare at her with wide eyes. She watched as he incredulously mouthed ¡®no way,¡¯ and had to hold back a sigh of annoyance. Her plan had been to avoid that particular bag of cats for as long as possible. Then she noticed something odd, the werewolves seemed to share the same awestruck expression. Each and everyone of them had turned to her with wide eyes, staring toward her with the strange synchronicity that they had followed Lupus¡¯s order with. A thought belatedly ran through her head. If these really were a warped rendition of the modern werewolf, then they must be compelled to follow the strongest being around. Which considering Lupus was lying buried in the remains of his old apartment, must be her. A smile grew. ¡°Sit,¡± she said in a voice that boomed out over the crowd. At the word, the thousands of werewolves practically jumped to the ground. Once there, their eyes returned to Susan, as if awaiting further orders. ¡°Now¡­¡± She mused for a moment. ¡°Could you all go down the street and wait for us to finish?¡± Under her smug gaze, the thousands of monsters got back to their feet and dashed away in a thunder of pounding feet. Within a matter of seconds the last of them was already down the block and vanishing into the dark. Susan¡¯s smile dimmed as she belatedly realized that she hadn¡¯t specified how far they should travel. A panicked check of the street signs confirmed that the horde was traveling away from town so she just shrugged the problem off for later. Her gaze returned to the collapsed building that entombed the former werewolf leader, and a lazy flap of one of her wings sent another cloud of dust billowing up from the ruins. It cleared to reveal Lupus stumbling to his feet, his entire body so caked in dust that he looked like a solid grey blob. After a vigorous shake of his head, he spotted Susan. His eyes swept the street the moment after, and upon finding it free of werewolves he let out a deep growl. ¡°Had fun?¡± He snapped, refocusing his gaze on Susan. ¡°Not really,¡± she replied with a casual shrug, ¡°but it will be nice to finally finish up this little farce.¡± ¡°I wouldn''t say we''re done,¡± Lupus said, a heavy grin paradoxically growing over his face. ¡°Really,¡± Susan asked, quickly losing her smile and shifting so that she was in a firmer stance. ¡°Your army is gone, wouldn''t it just be easier to let me remove the curse and move on with your life?¡± She didn''t like this. Abrupt boosts of confidence in her enemies had two ways they could go. They could be delusional, or plain wrong, and nothing would change. Or they could be right. The second option was rare, but the few times it had happened hasn''t exactly been pleasant and Susan didn''t want a repeat. ¡°Oh, yes,¡± Lupus continued, his smile somehow still growing as he eyed Susan. ¡°You¡¯re done, but I¡¯m certainly not. After all, you just gave me exactly what I needed.¡± ¡°What?¡± Susan asked, shifting into a low crouch. Lupus didn''t answer. Instead his body stilled, and a moment later the mana around him began to rush inward. It flowed into him, suffusing his entire body which quickly began to grow. Bones popped as they shifted and expanded, and Lupus collapsed to one knee to let out a growl of pain. The change didn''t stop though. Even as the growl shifted to a whine, and pain and hunger glazed over Lupus¡¯s eyes. The flow of mana quickly began to weaken as the surrounding area became depleted of it, but even then the growth continued. Susan watched with widening eyes as a void of mana began to form within Lupus¡¯s body. ¡°RUN,¡± she roared to the teens behind her. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Cole yelled back. ¡°Mana Eater,¡± she snapped. She didn¡¯t spare a glance back to see if they had listened to her, but the thudding of footsteps coming from the strip mall took a weight off her shoulders. Mana Eaters were¡­ bad. Complete nightmares to deal with in the best of circumstances and downright apocalyptic in the worst, Susan could hardly believe that the Demon King had the guts to create one on a planet he was currently living on. But even as she thought, she was readying her breath attack. Her neck straightened and the nuclear fire within her chest grew as it was compressed inward by the array of electromagnets that contained it. By now Lupus stood at almost thirty feet tall, his body now the size of a two story house. The heavy head rose the slightest bit so that two crazed eyes could fix themselves on Susan. Her mouth began to open, the breath attack ready. And then Lupus was leaping at her. The next moment he was slamming one grotesque arm into her head, snapping her mouth shut with a crack. She retaliated with a swipe of her claws that sent stinking blood flying from four heavy cuts scored across Lupus¡¯s chest. He barely heeded them, instead lunging forward again to clamp his jaws down over her shoulder. Supernaturally enhanced fangs scraped over Susan¡¯s scales with an ear rending screech, but failed to penetrate. Capitalizing on it, she grabbed Lupus by both arms and shoved him away from her. He growled as he failed to pull free from her grasp, and so brought his teeth snapping towards her again. This time she was ready, and met the attack with a swing of her tail that sent his head rocking to the side with an air splitting crack. Then she swung it back around her body to catch Lupus on the other side of the head with a strike that made his entire torso sway. She didn''t stop, sending his head rocking back and forth with crack after crack of her tail. It was only when her tail began to ache and Lupus¡¯s body had slumped in her arms that she stopped. Both wings stretched to their maximum length, and the vents along her sides opened wide. Then she was shooting into the air with Lupus in tow, flying away from town and into the woods behind the brick. A sigh of relief escaped her when the brick and concrete of the town transitioned into dark treetops. Then Lupus began to stir in her arms. Under her disbelieving eyes, he began to struggle again. Twisting his arms so that he could kick at her with his legs. The miles of air between them and the ground didn''t even seem to register to him, the entirety of his mad focus devoted to bringing her down. Susan tried to hold him away, but the design of her body failed her for once and her stubby arms allowed him perfect freedom to continue his attacks. A flailing kick struck her wing, and a moment later they were both plummeting toward the ground in a mad freefall. They struck down in a small mushroom cloud of dirt and debris, the shockwave of the impact flattening a small copse of trees around them. Susan tore herself free of the ground a moment later, and then was forced to duck beneath a swipe of Lupus¡¯s claws. Even as she was blinking dirt free from her eyes Lupus¡¯s mad swings continued. Swipe after heavy swipe came from the hulking brute, and Susan found herself forced to duck and weave to avoid them. The mad desperation that drove Lupus never waned, his eyes and mouth now flecked with dirt he didn''t even have the cognizance to dislodge. Susan leapt backwards, but he matched her leap and continued the assault. Leaning to the side to avoid a kick, she narrowed her eyes. Inside of her chest, her Dragonheart began to ready itself once again. Once it was warm, she waited. The mad attacks still came from Lupus but now she dodged with deadly patience. She never got the chance to fire. Instead Lupus seemed to vanish, and a moment later Susan was slapped in the face by a wave of heat and noise. Stumbling backwards she shook her head to clear it, she quickly looked around for where he had gone. She found him easily. A trench had been dug into the ground in front of her, following it with her eyes she found Lupus at the end of it. He lay on his back panting, but as she watched his head came back up and an arm raised toward her with the claws bared. It was all he could do though, the foot wide hole punched through the side of his chest making sure of that. His futile gasps began to slow, and with a final spasm of his claws the reaching arm slumped down to the ground. The curse seemed to die with him, as with his final breath his body began to shrink. The hill of flesh receded in on itself until all that was left was a skinny man lying on the ground. Susan watched it with wide eyes, before jerking her head back the other way to see where the shot had come from. Instead of the artillery battery she was expecting though, the sight made her jaw drop open. Stalking toward her through the trees was a Kirin. On its head two saberlike horns rose before splitting into a dozen razor sharp points, and it was covered in a coat of metallic scales that shimmered in a rainbow of golden tones. It must have been fifty feet tall, the bottom of its torso barely scraping the trees below while something within its barrel-like chest thrummed with power. ¡°They summoned him?¡± Susan breathed incredulously. In response, the rumble from within the Kirin¡¯s chest seemed to intensify. Then it opened its mouth, its jaws widening far beyond what a normal horse could do. Susan caught a glimpse of razor sharp teeth and immediately took evasive action. She leapt to the side, a projectile whizzing by a moment later to tear a channel through the earth in a rain of sod. The boom of cannon fire followed, echoing from the torso of the looming Kirin. Her wings swung open, and then she was jumping. Air rushed through her torso, kicking up a smokescreen of debris as she quickly accelerated away from the Kirin. She quickly angled upward, feeling the concussive rush of air as the projectile whizzed by beneath her. Both wings caught air, and then she was rising into the sky and rushing away from the Kirin. She spared a look back, and watched as the huge jaw slowly closed. The Kirin watched her blast away, and began to trot along afterward. Its pace quickly picked up, and soon it was matching her pace. Trees and boulders before it were smashed to pieces beneath its hooves, but it didn¡¯t spare the attention to avoid the obstacles. Instead it kept its laserlike focus squarely on the fleeing figure of Susan. ¡°Well that¡¯s definitely him,¡± Susan muttered. A twitch of her wings sent her heading further south, and then the flow of energy from her Dragonheart picked up. The air around her heated up, and the lights of Orienda shrank behind her as she accelerated. She needed to get to Antarctica. Chapter 23: Super Smash Dragons Melee The earth practically exploded beneath the Kirin¡¯s feet as it raced along after Susan. Each kick of its hooves struck the ground in a furious rhythm that sent it rocketing forward at near supersonic pace. Susan watched it move with a careful eye, then twitched her wings to skirt the edge of another town that had popped up among the forests she was flying over. The monster following her was dogged in its pursuit. Whatever obstacle it met was bowled through with little to no regard for if it was a wall, tree, or mountain. Susan was just glad that it was nighttime, and she was able to cut across roads and interstates with impunity thanks to the lack of cars. Though even with the cover of darkness, she had no doubt that this chase would make national news the next day. The BSMP, obviously the party at fault for this, were probably going to cause a panic ten times the size of the one caused by the dragon battle last month. She was going to have to wait to worry about that though, for now she had to survive this fight. Down below the ground transitioned from forest to grassy plain, and Susan breathed a sigh of relief as she finally spotted the blue line of ocean water up ahead. She spared another glance back at the Kirin, and smiled as she saw it finally beginning to slow down. It came to a stop on a grassy knoll a few miles from the start of the beach, still staring up at her. A glow of magic appeared surrounding it, and so Susan turned her attention back forward and increased the power running through her Dragonheart. The air rushing through her chest increased in intensity for a moment, and a crack echoed around her as she passed the sound barrier and the shoreline at the same time. Her tail turned to catch the air, carefully positioning herself so that she was flying southeast. She looked back one more time to see the Kirin rapidly shrinking as it faded into the horizon. The glow surrounding it grew, then receded in on itself as it flowed back into the Kirin. Bending low, the creature crouched for a moment, and then shot forward in an explosion of sand. Its hooves hit the water and kicked off of it before the surface tension could break, and then the enormous metal horse was galloping over the waves. It quickly shortened the distance between them, the water kicked up by its charge forming a wide wake behind it. ¡°Now that¡¯s just bullshit,¡± Susan spat before accelerating even more. Her claws began to glow with magic, and a hand came up to sketch in the air. ¡°SUSAN!¡± Someone shouted from her back, and Susan stopped midmotion. ¡°WHO?¡± She roared back. ¡°SUSAN WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?¡± The voice continued and Susan quickly recognized it. ¡°Abana, is that you?¡± She yelled, now trying to be heard over the roaring air. She twisted her head around to see Abana standing in the center of her back. She had her arms crossed, eyes narrowed in a glare directly squarely at Susan. ¡°Yes,¡± she answered, ¡°now why the hell is there a trail of destruction across half a damn continent?¡± ¡°Not my fault,¡± Susan snapped back, ¡°the BSMP summoned a thrice-named archdragon to kill me, I had to get it out of the country somehow!¡± The person on her back said something very un-magical girly and fell silent. She turned to look down at the Kirin running along over the waves after them. ¡°Alright,¡± she forced out, then turned back to Susan. ¡°What¡¯s the plan?¡± ¡°We need to keep the damage contained to the Antarctic Continent,¡± Susan said. ¡°I need you to evacuate and ward the place to hell. Then find and destroy whatever the BSMP¡¯s using to keep him summoned.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± Abana quickly nodded, then frowned. ¡°But what about you, will you need any help holding him off?¡± ¡°No, focus on keeping the damage contained.¡± Abana met her eyes for a moment. Her jaw clenched, but she gave a second nod of confirmation. A shimmering pillar appeared in the air behind her. She stepped through it and vanished from Susan¡¯s back. With her gone Susan returned her focus to her flight, then raised both arms and began sketching glowing lines. A few seconds later, a runic circle flared to life. Mana poured into it from her body, and the fabric of space around her began to change. A mile ahead of her the air began to warp, thickening until it resembled an enormous magnifying glass showing an image of icy seas and distant cliffs. She grit her teeth, and then she was flying into the warped space. A moment later she was flying above the ocean half a world away, the blood of several hundred unfortunate birds speckling her scales and her entire body feeling like it had been put through a blender. For a moment the peace of the isolated continent washed over her. The only noise she could hear was the distant rush of waves and the screaming protest of air blowing past her. Nothing else disturbed the world. Then she glanced down. Over top of the waves below a second tunnel of compressed space ran, pointing Northwest like her own. A moment later the Kirin appeared through it in a roar of water and noise. Its head pointed up, and quickly latched onto her and the Kirin¡¯s path turned towards her as it resumed its pursuit. Susan rolled her eyes, then her body, and then she was flying directly south and into the heart of the icy continent below. It was only when she reached an endless plain of windswept ice that she began to slow down. The world was empty below her, utterly inhospitable to even the barest hints of life. The only thing visible from where she flew was a line of enormous mountains huddled on the distant horizon. She lowered herself until she was flying just above the lines of snow below and closed the flaps around her torso. All four limbs hit the ground at the same time, digging channels through the ice below as she drew to a stop. Turning her head to face the way she came, she took in a heavy breath and let it out. Behind her the Kirin came to a similar stop, a thunderous roar echoing over the barren plain around them as all four legs dug into the ground to bring it to a halt. ¡°Greetings and salutations, Terminus Rex,¡± she said, voice booming over the snowy tundra. ¡°May I have a moment of your time?¡± ¡°Why?¡± The looming Kirin said in a voice that was deep but quiet. ¡°So you can set off whatever trap you have placed here?¡± ¡°No,¡± Susan said quickly, ¡°I just want my allies to finish warding the continent.¡± That earned her a raised eyebrow from the Kirin. For the first time since she had seen him, he turned away from her. Then he was walking to the side, circling her at a slow pace as both dragons eyed each other. ¡°How¡­ egalitarian,¡± he finally spoke, ¡°not something I had expected from a kingdom slayer.¡± ¡°Destroying empires isn¡¯t exactly something I was planning to make a habit of,¡± Susan said with a shrug. ¡°Honestly I¡®d rather not fight at all, if I could help it.¡± That earned a huffing laugh from the Kirin. ¡°Have you heard my other names?¡± was all he asked. His words earned a nod of grudging acknowledgement from Susan. Archdragons'' names came from their accomplishments, feats so great that they spread even to other worlds in legends and cautionary tales. Susan herself hadn¡¯t exactly wanted to be known as ¡®the Ruin that befell the Atlans,¡¯ that was just what the Themians called her. Like she had told Abana, the Kirin before her had three events he was named for. The Blight of the Dragon Lords, the End of Conquest, and finally, the name Susan knew him by. Terminus Rex, the Last King. The two fell into a lull. The Kirin maintained its slow pace as it walked around Susan. Off in the distance, Susan could see the barest hint of a flash. She wasn¡¯t sure, but there should have been a research station in that direction. It appeared the Guardians were doing their job, though Susan wished they could maybe do it a little less efficiently. ¡°Why?¡± She asked, the tension finally getting at her. ¡°Because all power corrupts,¡± Terminus proclaimed like a school teacher, slow and loud. ¡°And to be a dragon is to have a power like no other. I have seen the destruction wrought by this corruption. You have seen it too, in the destruction you have brought to an entire empire.¡± ¡°Don''t you dare defend them!¡± Susan snarled, her entire body whipping around to face him. Terminus continued his slow march, raising one huge eyebrow at her outburst. ¡°I had not intended to,¡± he rumbled. ¡°But you must understand the cause of my concern. After all, is there anything that sticks out to you, looking back upon the ruin you left behind?¡± The silence stretched out once more as Susan looked away and her shoulders slumped. ¡°¡­It was easy,¡± she muttered, and Terminus nodded. ¡°Indeed. Once a killer, always a killer. Once a ruiner, always a ruiner. It is such an easy slope to fall down, to give into the urges of destruction and tyranny. And so I have taken it upon myself to tear out that dark urge by its roots. To destroy every dragon.¡± Susan fell silent again, a wind whipping by and stirring up eddies in the snowy plains. ¡°Every one?¡± She finally asked, ¡°What if the dragon were pure of heart?¡± ¡°An interesting argument,¡± Terminus said, then tilted his head in thought. ¡°But the power presented by dragonhood is not one that tempts the pure of heart.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Then his eyes narrowed and his gaze returned to Susan. ¡°And even if one existed, we both know that you are not it.¡± ¡°Harsh,¡± Susan said, voice much lighter than her heart. ¡°But fair.¡± A shimmering pillar appeared in the distance, and both Archdragons shifted to look at it. Abana stepped out of it, and looked around until she spotted the two of them. The sight of them standing together got a raised eyebrow, but after a moment she just raised her hand in a thumbs up and stepped back through the portal. The next moment the barren plains exploded as both Dragons threw themselves at the other. Terminus threw a kick into Susan¡¯s chest as her tail swung around to smash in the side. Both were sent flying backwards, Susan landing in a messy tumble that she ended by grabbing onto the ground with all four legs and gripping. She wrenched to a halt, then opened her mouth and let loose with nuclear fire. Susan¡¯s breath attack was actually quite simple. She would open the carbon superstructure within her chest, venting the miniature sun out through her throat. The electromagnetic carbene rings within it would then concentrate and accelerate the superheated plasma into a narrow stream. That part made sense, it was just the physics involved that complicated things. Like the fact that when she did the math, the final result said that when it exited her throat the hydrogen should be moving at a small percentage of the speed of light. She wasn¡¯t really sure. After all, hydrogen wasn¡¯t even normally magnetic. But considering the theoretical power output of the electromagnets she was using, the laws of physics were more of a friendly suggestion anyway. That was why she was very concerned when the beam of energy struck Terminus squarely on the chest, only to ricochet. It continued on until it reached the mountains behind him, scoring a line of molten stone across their slopes. Terminus stumbled backward at the strike, but quickly righted himself and then fired his own attack back at her. Without the chance to dodge, the bullet hit Susan squarely in the chest. She was sent crashing backwards through the landscape, her body punching into the snow and burrowing into it so when she came to a stop it was at the end of an enormous icy tunnel. ¡°Yeah, the North Pole would have been a bad idea,¡± she mused to herself, then raised both arms to her chest and began sketching runes on it. As she finished, her entire torso lit up with glowing light. Her neck straightened, her mouth opened and she breathed fire a second time. This time instead of a mere beam of energy, what erupted forth from her mouth was a column of unbridled power. The tunnel around her exploded, her icy tomb instantly replaced with clear sky. As the Dragonfire carved a tunnel forward through the landscape, Susan began to twist her body to the side. The beam turned as well, and the entire landscape in front of her was transformed into a lake of melting ice. As the beam swept further on, Terminus appeared. Leaping upward to avoid the blast, he turned midair to point his torso towards her and his mouth opened. Susan snapped her mouth shut, cutting off the beam before she leapt to the side. Then her world turned upside down as Terminus¡¯s own attack struck the ground where she had stood. Instead of digging a channel, the strike shattered the ground beneath it. A tidal wave of ice was blasted outward as a crater was punched deep into the landscape beneath. Susan¡¯s wings opened, stopping her flight and she opened up the vents on her chest to shoot upward out of the cloud of debris. She cleared it, then spotted Terminus landing a few miles away. Her chest roared as air rushed through it, and she shot towards him. He spotted her, and then was running as well. Susan quickly straightened her body and opened her mouth to fire blast after blast of dragonfire toward the fleeing Kirin. He dodged each one, zigging and zagging over the ice and snow as he fled toward the distant mountains. Her attacks nipped at his heels over and over again, but each leap from the Kirin somehow had her over and under-correcting each time she lined up another shot. They approached the mountains quickly, and Terminus began charging toward the highest peak. Coming in low behind him, Susan readied herself and fired another beam of energy towards Terminus. He ducked to the side, and the beam swept by to dig deep into the base of the mountain. Another leap finally took him to the bottom of the mountain where he kicked out with both front legs to bring himself to a standstill. The mountain rumbled, rocks and snow falling from its sides in enormous avalanches as the entire thing shook. Then with a crack that sent a blast of air blowing past Susan, the entire thing was torn from the ground and thrown upward into the sky. It blotted out the sun as it flew over her, then came roaring back down in a tidal wave of stone. Susan pivoted, g-forces dragging at her as she turned midair and increased the jets of air running through her to their max. She shot backward, but wasn''t fast enough, the jagged bottom of the mountain coming down around her like a hand swatting a gnat. A quickly drawn rune flared to life, and another tunnel of compressed space appeared before her. Bracing herself, she flew into it only to have her entire body fold in on itself as it hit something. She came to a moment later, her body screaming at her as she ragdolled through the air. Her head stabilized just enough to see the mountain touch the ground, and then she was sent flying again as it impacted in a noise like a thousand thunderclaps. The shockwave sent her tumbling back into the air, but this time she was ready. Both wings flared, and air rushed through her torso again to send her rocketing upward. She cleared the clouds of snow kicked up by the mountains impact, quickly rising a mile into the air before turning back to look at the destruction below. The mountain had shattered; enormous masses of stone the size of hills tumbled like marbles even as they shattered under their own weight. What once had been a plain was now a thick cloud of snow that roiled beneath her. The reverberations of the mountains impact keeping it airborne. Then the golden hide of the Kirin appeared through the clouds, the horned head raised as he looked up at Susan. Their eyes met, and Susan¡¯s narrowed. ¡°You know what?¡± She snapped, ¡°screw this.¡± She turned and shot upwards again, Terminus shrinking into a glimmering dot below. ¡°Screw this Archdragon,¡± she continued, ¡°screw the BSMP.¡± The nuclear fire within her chest stoked until it roared within her, and she felt its heat even through the wall of the reactor built to contain it. ¡°AND SCREW THIS STATUTE OF SECRECY BULLSHIT!¡± She roared, pointing herself downward and letting loose with her dragonfire. The column of energy came down like the hammer of God, striking the ground below to draw a huge channel into the ice below. A glowing line followed behind where it led, filling the line in as Susan turned her head to carve a miles wide line that circled around the Kirin. It was only when the line was complete that she cut the flow of energy off. Then she was firing again, except this time making smaller and more minute movements to create a shape of ever growing complexity. Another followed, then another, the shapes taking the form of impossibly huge runes that spread over the icy tundras like roads. Terminus fired shots at them, but quickly gave up as the craters his shots blew into the ground barely managed to scratch the enormous runes. Susan finished with a flourish, drawing the inner circle in a single smooth movement like the swing of a headsman''s axe. She was miles above the icy plains, but she still felt the pulse of mana as a runic circle a quarter of the size of Antarctica activated. Below she could see Terminus running to escape the confines of the circle, but she just smiled down at him. Her grin widened as she began feeding mana into the immense construct below. ¡°Starfall,¡± she whispered the name of the spell as it activated. - Thousands of miles above Susan hung the impossibly large garbage bin of every space agency in the world. The parts and pieces of hundreds of rocket launches that to this day still remained spinning in an impossible dance of orbits. One by one, they each began to glow and the millions upon millions of pieces of debris encircling the globe began to change in their course. All pulled inexorably downward towards the south pole. - The glowing figure stared down at John like an angry god. He looked up, and met the glare with an expression about as dead as his heart. They stood in the small clearing outside of the service door Susan Hill had broken into earlier that day. The figure had appeared in a thunderclap a moment before, and it was only because John had expected the arrival that he had even been there to greet them. ¡°Where is the summoning circle?¡± The Guardian commanded in a voice that was a little too squeaky to be intimidating. With practiced slowness, his mouth opened to respond. ¡°I¡¯m afraid-¡± He cut himself off as above, he saw something streak across the sky. A trail of glowing energy streaking behind it like a comet''s tail. More followed, and soon the entire sky was lit up by glowing streaks of light shooting across it. ¡°Oh that¡¯s not good,¡± he muttered, and the Guardian twisted to look up as well. ¡°That¡¯s south,¡± she whispered, and her head came down again. Then she was blowing past John, rushing into the confines of the bunker. He watched her vanish into the labyrinthine halls and sighed. ¡°If you had just given me a moment¡­¡± He said, then shrugged and returned his attention back to the light show above. ¡°I told them this was going to happen.¡± - The first pieces of space debris to strike Antarctica hit with little impact, falling down in small explosions that sent clouds of snow puffing upwards. Terminus watched them land, then looked back up at Susan with wary eyes. His fears were justified when dozens more streaks of light followed, falling to the ground in a series of thunderous impacts. Susan watched his eyes widen as the first real wave of space debris came screaming down like rain, covering the hundreds of miles spread out below her in a thick blanket of explosions. Terminus flitted back and forth across the ground, masterfully dodging the falling stars. But the waves of impacts never ceased, instead growing more and more in intensity until the entire world seemed to be made up of shooting stars and explosive impacts. Susan smiled as he vanished beneath the tide of explosions, finally letting off the flow of mana going to the magic circle. She was so glad that she had listened to that idle thought from when she was learning magic back on Themus. Normally such wanton destruction would have taken a small army of dragons to fuel. But thanks to the wonders of space exploration, all Susan had to do was create a slightly overcomplicated pull spell and gravity did the rest of the work. The toughest part had simply been making sure she didn¡¯t pull down anything important like satellites. Below the cacophony of destruction finally began to die down, the last of the space debris vanishing into the pluming mushroom cloud of dust only to be followed a second later by the distant roars of their impacts. Susan drew another runic circle, and as it activated the cloud of dust began to collapse in on itself. The clouds condensed into small balls of stone and snow, then fell back to the ground as a rain. Susan hovered above it all, still looking downward in search of Terminus. If she was lucky he would be down for a couple of minutes, and- Something struck her in the chest, followed a moment later by a roar from the ground. Susan screamed out in pain, and tried to take off. But the roar of air through her chest only served to make her twist in the air as she fell toward the ground. She struck down, her landing punctuated by two following thuds as something hit the ground next to her. Struggling to her feet, she looked to see why she had fallen only to gasp in shock. A massive gaping wound marred her side, blood flowing from it like a river while her left arm and wing lay on the ground a few meters away. She grit her teeth as she felt her failsafes take effect, the blood flowing back into the wound and beginning to clot. She shuddered as she regarded the wound. Her redesigned nerves prevented her from feeling the pain, but the fight had started mere minutes ago and she had no idea how long it would take the guardians to shut off the circle. A huff of air echoed to her side, and her head raised with a snarl to see the Kirin standing a hundred feet away. It looked the worse for wear, some of its scales torn away but almost untouched otherwise. ¡°How?¡± She gasped. ¡°There is a curious metal, difficult to synthesize without sufficiently advanced science or magic,¡± Terminus said, slowly crouching as he readied himself for another shot. ¡°What few know is that it can be used to form flesh, a process I used to build this body.¡± ¡°You made bio-organic titanium?¡± Susan blurted out. That took the Kirin by surprise. He paused in his preparations, the whirring of his chest dimming for a moment as he regarded her. ¡°You know the process?¡± He asked. ¡°Yeah, titanium is pretty well known here,¡± Susan said, and he blinked in surprise. ¡°But,¡± she continued, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have given up on carbon.¡± Her tail snagged her fallen arm, and she grabbed her wing with her working arm before leaping to the side. Terminus¡¯s attack came a moment too late, blasting the land she had stood on into smithereens. She brought the wing up to the shoulder it had been blown from, her tail doing the same for her arm. Where the limbs met flesh, a whitish substance flowed from the wounds. Susan¡¯s white blood cells, redesigned over a century of effort into something entirely new, grew out from her body to form a facsimile of the missing flesh. Then it began to change. Bone and sinew regrew to reconnect the skeletal structure, with muscles forming around it. A moment later the top changed to show pinkish skin already growing a fresh coat of scales, and Susan settled back to the ground now on all four limbs again. She looked back at Terminus, whose huge mouth had fallen open in shock. ¡°That is not the power of a once-named Archdragon,¡± Terminus spat out. ¡°Not all of us kill dragons for a hobby!¡± Susan shot back. ¡°Maybe I just want to advance science, huh? Did you think of that?¡± Terminus frowned at the words, then shook his head. ¡°No matter,¡± he said, ¡°Conquest was no different. It was arrogant of me to expect anything other than a battle of attrition.¡± His mouth opened once again, and Susan matched him. Both Dragonhearts roared with power as they prepared for round two. Then Terminus blinked out of existence. ¡°Huh?¡± Susan blurted out, her head whipping around to see where he had gone. There was no sign of him, the only thing surrounding her was shattered ice and the slow patter of falling clumps of rock and snow. Then the realization struck her and she laughed. ¡°Hah, Abana did it!¡± She exclaimed, then collapsed in an exhausted pile of limbs. Chapter 24: Agent Smith鈥檚 Big Day It took Abana a few minutes to arrive after the fight ended. The shockwaves caused by their attacks were still reverberating through the continent, throwing up clouds of snow. She appeared over the horizon, zipping over the settling snow as she headed toward Susan. The dragon herself was still lying where she had collapsed, now having turned so that she was spread-eagled and staring up at the sky. ¡°Susan, are you alright?¡± Abana shouted, skidding to a halt in front of her. ¡°Yep,¡± Susan said, shooting her a tired glance. The normally unflappable woman was looking around with wide eyes, mouth open as she took in the wanton destruction around her. ¡°What¡­ was that?¡± She finally asked. ¡°Archdragon fight,¡± Susan deadpanned. ¡°Our bodies don¡¯t require mana to work, so we can devote our entire output to other things. Like enhancing our breath attacks.¡± ¡°Yeah, okay. Sure,¡± Abana muttered, rubbing the back of her head as she took in the sight of the steaming fields and shattered mountain. ¡°Well,¡± her shoulders slumped, ¡°let''s get started fixing this.¡± Susan¡¯s head fell back to the ground. ¡°Goddamn it.¡± ¡°You break it, you fix it.¡± ¡°I know, I know.¡± She said, slowly turning over and getting back to her feet. Fixing the continent was at least mercifully quick. Several enormous magic circles were all it took to restore the shattered mountains and plains. The only real worry had been the mass of debris shunted into orbit and the shockwaves caused by some of the impacts, but the Guardians had done their job well in warding the continent so the worst of the effects were contained. Susan was pretty sure the planet would see a fractional dip in temperatures for the following month, but nothing apocalyptic.
It was only a few hours later that she was flying over the BSMP black site. It was much easier to spot now, as the entire top of the hill that had housed it was torn away like a bedsheet from a restless sleeper. The labyrinthine halls of the base were now exposed to the air, twisting through the earth like a hedge maze. Then there was the center of the blacksite, where a singular room so large it resembled a dried lake sat. The tile floor was broken apart by a thousand cracks that radiated outward from the center. Elizabeth and Nora stood at the center of the circle, next to the imprint of a fist embedded in the broken floor. An assortment of BSMP agents huddled on the far side of the room, seemingly hiding from the irate Elizabeth who glared at them from the other side of the purple suited form of Nora. As Susan came sweeping in over her, her head snapped up. Then she was shooting into the air in a single leap that had her slamming into Susan¡¯s head. ¡°You¡¯re okay!¡± Elizabeth cried as she pressed herself against Susan¡¯s nose in a facsimile of a hug. ¡°Well don¡¯t sound so surprised about it,¡± Susan grumbled, but couldn¡¯t hold back a smile. ¡°But Abana was saying you were fighting some sort of super dragon, and so I went to find the problem, but it wasn¡¯t there so I asked your friends and they told me about this place, but then I started getting lost in the halls, and it took me so long to find the circle¡­¡± Susan watched as Elizabeth trailed off, then sighed and raised her arm to pat Elizabeth on the head with a finger. Elizabeth frowned at this, and a lightning fast swipe of her arm batted the offending digit away. ¡°Sorry. But hey, I¡¯m fine aren¡¯t I?¡± Susan asked with a shrug, and Elizabeth¡¯s expression turned stern in response. ¡°Oh yeah, well what is that?¡± She shot back, pointing a finger to Susan¡¯s shoulder. The scales there were still fresh, practically shining compared to the others which were stained with a mixture of brick, earth, and blood from the succession of fights over the night. A frown flashed over Susan¡¯s face as she regarded the guilty skin. ¡°Let¡¯s see what Nora¡¯s up to!¡± She declared. Elizabeth pouted at her, but didn¡¯t say anything as Susan began drifting down toward the broken summoning circle below. Regarding it as she drew closer, Susan could see the formation of runes used to summon Terminus. She felt a brief moment of relief as she read through the shattered golden lines and realized that the BSMP had not, in fact, used anything like Lupus¡¯s insane, unguarded summoning circle. The thing spread out below her actually had the proper safety features. Able to hold, teleport and return the summonee, it was a far cry from the suicidal stupidity she had come to expect from the organization. She landed in the center of it, then looked down at the very center of the circle. There was an imprint of a fist there, buried several inches into the ground with the thousands of cracks that sundered the floor around her originating from it. She slowly looked up from it and toward the missing roof. Then her eyes rolled back to look at Elizabeth, who sat on the top of her head facing away from her. She readied to speak, but had to cut herself off when Nora turned away from the group of BSMP agents to look up at her. ¡°S-¡± her eyes flickered back to the agents, ¡°Ruin, just the dragon I was looking for.¡± ¡°I am?¡± Nora¡¯s face scrunched up at Susan¡¯s reply. ¡°Did she forget to tell you?¡± ¡°Uh, I guess so?¡± Susan shrugged. ¡°That girl,¡± Nora threw her arms in the air, ¡°always too worried about the fate of the world, never even thinks about anything else!¡± ¡°That being?¡± ¡°Have you at any point renounced your U.S. citizenship?¡± It took Susan a second to parse the question, the nonsequitur taking her entirely by surprise. She wasn¡¯t entirely familiar with the laws, but- ¡°Don¡¯t answer that!¡± Someone shouted, and she turned to see one of the BSMP agents, a sweaty man in a gray suit, marching over to her. With deliberate slowness, she turned her head back to face Nora. ¡°I don¡¯t think so, but I¡¯ll have to check.¡± She smiled at the sputtered reply that earned from the BSMP agent. He waited for her to turn back to him, but when she refused to acknowledge his presence he let out a huff. ¡°I would ask that you do not take any actions against the BSMP,¡± he said. ¡°As the only governing body of magical creatures on the planet-¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Former,¡± Susan snapped. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Former governing body,¡± Susan said, then sighed. ¡°Look, it''s not like I can just leave you guys alone now can I? The Thunderbirds were one thing, but Terminus Rex has a track record longer than my tail. None of it good.¡± She was met with silence. Up until this point the BSMP agents had been communicating in a low murmur, glancing between the Susan, the Guardians, and the demolished room around them. As Susan spoke, the noise cut off, the agents turning as one to stare at her. Even Elizabeth, still seated on her head, was now looking down at her again with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Well that¡¯s good to hear,¡± Nora spoke up with a light smile. ¡°Really?¡± Susan asked, turning to regard her. ¡°Yes, I think we may have a common enemy.¡± ¡°Uh, what? No.¡± The BSMP agent sputtered out. ¡°You, you can''t-¡± He froze as Nora turned to spear him with an icy glare. ¡°We can discuss the details later,¡± she said, ¡°let''s finish up here for now.¡± She took a few steps over to where the BSMP agents stood. ¡°Before we get out of your hair,¡± Nora said, ¡°we¡¯re going to need all copies of the summoning spell you currently have.¡± The head agent drew himself up as he met her gaze. ¡°We will not be able to comply-¡± ¡°This one is the only one left,¡± John spoke over him, walking from the back of the group and over toward Susan. ¡°I already burnt or deleted our other copies.¡± ¡°John, you-¡± ¡°What?¡± He cut the protester off, ¡°got rid of something we never should have had? You saw what happened to Antarctica!¡± ¡°The damage-¡± ¡°Was never going to match the projections!¡± John roared, ¡°the fight last month was between normal dragons, and none of them even died!¡± He finished, breathing heavily as he stared at the group, then turned on his heel and marched over to Nora. ¡°Anything else you need help with?¡± Nora smiled then raised an arm, and snapped her fingers, and Susan jerked as her feet tapped against the ground. She looked down to see that Nora had teleported the entire ruined summoning circle away, leaving everyone standing on the bare concrete below. ¡°Nope, that was the last thing I needed doing,¡± Nora said, ¡°How about the rest of you?¡± John shook his head. ¡°My resignation is already on Rex¡¯s desk.¡± ¡°I¡¯m good, though I do have one last question,¡± Susan spoke up, then turned to look at John. ¡°Where did you even get the summoning spell?¡± ¡°We discovered it when we were inventorying a small library seized from a raid a few weeks ago.¡± ¡°Who the hell keeps the summoning circle for an Archdragon in their library?¡± Nora muttered, and Susan looked away. ¡°A certain Vurhd, apparently,¡± John responded, and Susan¡¯s head turned back to him glacially. ¡°Vurhd?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Damn it.¡± ¡°What?¡± Everyone turned to look at her, and Susan lowered her head so that she could put a hand over her eyes. ¡°John, Vhurd?¡± The group kept staring at her, until a flash of realization came over John¡¯s face. With stiff movements, he turned around and marched back to the group of BSMP agents. Both arms came up to grab the lead agent by the shoulders. ¡°Goddamnit Rex!¡± He said, shaking the man back and forth, ¡°I knew that name was wrong!¡± ¡°J-John?¡± ¡°It was his name, just backwards!¡± ¡°Who¡¯s?¡± ¡°The damn Demon King¡¯s!¡± ¡°Oh- oh shit!¡± ¡°Yes ¡®oh shit¡¯ you idiot!¡± As the argument continued, Susan settled on the ground. Elizabeth seemed mildly entertained by the confrontation happening in front of them, but Susan found herself turning toward Nora instead. ¡°So what makes you so invested in all of this?¡± ¡°Oh, it''s nothing dramatic. I just grew up before all of these silly restrictions about hiding magic from the world,¡± She responded, eyes taking on a distant glint. A pause followed, the silence filled by the shouting still coming from the group of agents. ¡°Alright, what do you want me to do?¡± ¡°Nothing much, just some paperwork and¡­ oh I think they¡¯re done.¡± Susan turned to see the agents, now approaching her as a group. John stood at its head, followed by Rex, then the rest in a tight clump. As they finally got close enough to Susan to begin looking up at her, the group held back leaving John moving forward alone. ¡°Alright,¡± he said, then took a card from his suit pocket and presented it to Nora. ¡°Here¡¯s my card, call me whenever you need me.¡± She took it, and gave it a look over, and then the card vanished into a hidden pocket in her suit. ¡°Great,¡± he continued, ¡°With that done, I hope you all have a wonderful night. As for me and everybody else here, we¡¯re going to go, get blackout drunk, and forget today ever happened.¡± He turned and marched off toward one of the distant exit doors, followed quickly by the gaggle of agents. ¡°Things may be happening sooner than you think!¡± Nora shouted after him. ¡°As long as it''s not tomorrow morning!¡± The reply echoed back. Nora watched him go for a moment, then turned to Susan. ¡°Well, I have some things I need to work on now,¡± she said with a smile that sent a shiver down Susan¡¯s spine. Before this conversation, she had been formulating some vague plans for how to deal with the BSMP. Her best idea had been to begin teleporting their important infrastructure to slightly less convenient locations, the middle of a volcano, perhaps. But that was mostly for her own amusement, and she had planned to save the actual plans to deal with them for when she was better rested. But staring down at the wide that covered the face of the aging Guardian, a thought occurred. The BSMP had been doggedly working to screw people over for the better part of a century, to the point Susan might not have to do anything at all. She returned a wide smile of her own to the Guardian, and a few goodbyes later the older Guardian was vanishing through a summoned pillar. The two sisters were left alone in the dark of the broken room. Susan sat crouched above the smooth concrete of the floor. While Elizabeth sat cross legged atop her head, facing away from her. ¡°Sorry,¡± Susan said after a moment, the noise echoing back to them after a moment. Elizabeth let out a ¡®hmph¡¯ and didn¡¯t turn around. ¡°Elizabeth. Come on.¡± ¡°Hmph,¡± the reply came again. ¡°Elizabeth¡­¡± Susan tried again, and when no reply came her jaw clenched. ¡°Look, I¡­ it''s not like I planned this to happen!¡± ¡°But it happened, didn¡¯t it?¡± Elizabeth shot back, finally turning to face her. ¡°Yeah, so?¡± ¡°So ask for help!¡± Elizabeth snapped, standing and hopping down to Susan¡¯s nose so she could glare down at her properly. ¡°So you don¡¯t get stabbed like last time, or blown up, or whatever made your shoulder like that!¡± She finished with a shriek, hand pointed damningly downward toward the offending scales. ¡°But¡­ but you might get hurt!¡± Susan¡¯s jaw trembled as she stared up at her sister. Elizabeth held her gaze, and her jaw firmed. ¡°Yeah, but you will.¡± Susan¡¯s mouth opened and closed gormlessly. The very idea of Elizabeth coming along with her for an actual fight brought to mind memories of burning fires and thick ash. Every cell of her body rebelled at the idea of her bright eyed little sister getting hurt. But staring into the girl¡¯s eyes, she couldn¡¯t help but see the bright scales of her shoulders reflected in her gaze. Her mouth finally shut, and it was with a spine tingling shudder that she spoke again. ¡°Fine.¡± She said, then glanced away. The words felt like ash in her mouth. ¡°Good,¡± Elizabeth replied, and Susan looked back to see her with both arms crossed and a worryingly smug smile across her face.This promise was going to be hard to get out of.
The front door to the house squeaked slightly as it closed behind Susan and Elizabeth. Flicking the lock behind her, Susan trudged over to the couch before collapsing onto it face first. Elizabeth padded past her towards the kitchen, and a moment later Susan heard the clatter of cups and the faucet running. She then returned to the couch, where she plopped down next to Susan¡¯s prone form. ¡°At least we don¡¯t have to use the windows anymore, right?¡± She asked in the same careful voice she had been using since the end of their argument. ¡°Mnmph,¡± Susan mumbled into the couch in agreement. By far the best thing to have come from being outed as beings of unimaginable power was the fact that neither of the Hill sisters were restricted by a curfew anymore. Being called upon to save the world at odd hours had its perks, apparently. Of course Susan had immediately abused that loophole to spend several straight weeks attempting to decipher a rune, a thought that made her frown into the couch. ¡°Morning girls,¡± a cheery voice snapped her out of her ruminating, and her head came up in shock. The time was- her jaw dropped at the sight of the clock. ¡°It¡¯s six?¡± She mumbled in horror. ¡°Sure is,¡± Chay, who now loomed over the back of the couch with a grin, proclaimed. ¡°Nooooooo,¡± Susan¡¯s voice trailed off as she pressed her face back into the comforting plushness of the couch. ¡°Nmorning,¡± Elizabeth mumbled as she drank from her glass of water, sounding equally exhausted. Susan heard their mother ¡®tsk¡¯ at that. ¡°You two might be off doing magical guardian things, but you have to get some better sleep.¡± Susan¡¯s head came back up slowly, and her eyes met Elizabeth¡¯s. They shared a moment of sisterly conspiracy, then nodded. ¡°Okay,¡± they chorused. ¡°Good,¡± Chay said, ¡°I¡¯d hate for you both to be too tired for our big day today.¡± Susan frowned, and Elizabeth finally put down her glass of water with a frown. ¡°I didn¡¯t hear anything about a big day,¡± she said. ¡°Really, I thought Susan was going to tell you.¡± Susan¡¯s eyes flickered back and forth in confusion, then froze in place as a vague memory flickered through her mind. Something she had been told, the words lost in the fugue of sleepless study of the 4th tier rune. ¡°I¡­ forgot?¡± Chay let out a sigh, and settled down with her arms resting on the back of the couch. ¡°The ¡®take your daughter to work¡¯ day, your father¡¯s been looking forward to it for weeks now.¡± ¡°Oh. That.¡± She bit out, trying to avoid Elizabeth¡¯s accusatory glare. ¡°Well at least you''re both here for it,¡± Chay said, ¡°I¡¯d hate for us to go Gashadokuro hunting without one of you.¡± Susan¡¯s face fell, at the thought of going another day without sleep. A pleading look at Elizabeth got her nothing, her sister seemingly of the opinion that justice was being served. ¡°Yay?¡± Chapter 25: Take Your Dragon to Work Day ¡°It¡¯s going to be great!¡± Martin said with a smile as he looked back at Susan through the car¡¯s rear view mirror. Susan met his smile with one of her own, though she couldn¡¯t seem to kick the sinking feeling that had formed in her gut. They had been driving for twenty minutes, the town far behind them as they headed toward wherever Thunderbird LLC¡¯s headquarters was. ¡°I¡¯ve been telling everybody for years now about you two. It¡¯s been killing me that you haven¡¯t been able to meet them.¡± Martin prattled. Susan took it in from where she sat slumped against the window in the backseat. Beside her Elizabeth had slid down in her seat until she was nearly horizontal, eyes pointed skyward as she listened to the ongoing commentary. Leaving her sister to stew, Susan tuned out the talk and turned her attention to the road passing by. It was entirely unfamiliar, a quiet reminder of just how well their parents had hidden the world of magic from her and Elizabeth. She probably shouldn¡¯t still feel so surprised by that fact, but the centuries spent in Themus had solidified the idea of her family as entirely normal. Now she watched as her mother casually cast a timekeeping spell, the glowing numbers that sprung from her hand contrasting the digital clock that sat only a few feet away on the dashboard. ¡°By the way, are you two girls going to want to keep things incognito?¡± Her fathers voice brought her back into the moment, and she glanced up to see him regarding her with a raised eyebrow in the rear view mirror. ¡°It would¡­ probably be better that way.¡± Martin nodded sagely at her words, then looked back toward the road. Meanwhile Susan sighed through her teeth, and rolled her eyes skyward in exasperation. One thing that had become clear in the last month was that her father had come from entirely mundane origins. It was clear in the way his attention seemed drawn toward occurrences of it in the world around him. Even when driving, Susan had seen his eyes turn toward the glowing clock her mother had summoned just seconds earlier. Maybe she could make use of that unfamiliarity, pass off a few of her more powerful warding spells as something mundane to make sure everyone was properly safe. Elizabeth and Chay had shot down some of her more¡­ explosive home defense options, but if she played her cards right- Something must have shown on her face, because she spotted her mother¡¯s head turn minutely to the side. Now spearing Susan with a glare, she gave a tiny shake of her head. Susan felt a shiver run up her spine. Her eyes quickly returned to the passing landscape, any thought of parental manipulation wiped clear of her mind. They were passing through another forest, tall trees whipping by on either side of the car. Beside her Elizabeth seemed to realize that their father¡¯s praises had stopped, so she sat up. They both sat there watching the world outside for a moment. ¡°So what''s up with the Gashadokuro?¡± Susan finally asked, breaking the silence. ¡°Nothing crazy,¡± Chay said, ¡°just hundred foot tall skeletons born of resentment and cursed to destroy the cause of their creation.¡± ¡°Oh. That doesn¡¯t sound good,¡± Susan said, the explanation bringing to mind the many sources of resentment in America. ¡°Yeah, turns out road rage is really good at creating them, so there was a bit of a problem for a while with giant skeletons attacking the Department of Transportation. It took a some work, but they finally got things running again by changing the on-paper location of the building to ¡®Nowhere¡¯. Susan¡¯s eyes narrowed as a long forgotten piece of trivia made its presence known in the back of her mind. ¡°Wait a minute.¡± ¡°Yup, the Gashadokuro spent a few decades wandering the wastes of America harmlessly, until somebody had the bright idea to name a town Nowhere. Now the Thunderbirds have a yearly contract to clean out the infestation of monsters there.¡± ¡°It can be pretty boring, so people tried to make an event out of it. And so take your daughter to work day was born.¡± Susan nodded along to the story, still watching things speed by outside of the car. Up ahead she noticed a warehouse appear at the end of the road. Head leaned against the window she continued to watch it draw closer, then frowned and sat up when she realized something was off about it. The white concrete walls of the long, low building seemed to grow as they approached. The distance hid the building''s true height until the car reached its shadow and Susan looked up as the walls began to loom over them. Unconcerned with the odd architecture, Martin sped the car along toward one of the rolling doors that sat along one side of the building. As they approached, it rolled upward with a roar of metal and then they were inside the building. Susan¡¯s mouth fell open as she took the place in. The immense space reminded her heavily of the Brick¡¯s maddening architecture. Hundreds of thousands of square yards devoted entirely to office workspace. A quarter of the floor space was covered by desks, the workspaces covering an immense range of sizes to cater to the building''s occupants. A couple dozen towers of wood and steel seemed devoted to the company''s larger employees, then slowly trended downward in size into an ocean of normal sized desks half filled with shouting people in suits. The rest of the space was taken up with training halls, equipment racks and changing rooms, all with that same dramatic difference in size. People filled the space, training, talking and working to fill the entire warehouse with a healthy roar of noise. Martin barely seemed to register any of it, just turning the car to the side and pulling to a stop next to a huge steel rack that stretched to the ceiling. A host of cars covered the shelves, painting the white wall in a rainbow of reds and whites. ¡°Alright, everybody out,¡± he declared. And in a flurry of practiced motion Susan found herself standing outside of the car and looking around at the people filling the building. ¡°Hey David!¡± Martin shouted, and Susan felt the floor rumble from behind them. She turned to see a Cyclops in grey coveralls step over their car. Without a word he reached down, snatched it up, and deposited it onto the shelf along the wall among the other cars. He nodded to Martin¡¯s shouted thanks, and walked away to a distant mop bucket the size of a truck. Susan watched him go, mouth still open wide. The entire interaction simply failed to compute for her. On Themus, magic was an integral part of society. There, the idea of hiring a member of one of the most powerful warrior races just for cleaning would be considered insane. But looking at the vast space around her, the idea somehow worked. Her musings ended when her father started walking, and she found herself following him into the maze of desks. Faces both human and animal blurred past until she found herself standing in front of a low wooden desk. It was very clearly her fathers, covered in a small mountain of paperwork and a few framed pictures of blond haired babies. As Susan looked them over, Martin took a step forward and snatched one of the sheets off the top of the mountain. ¡°Here we go,¡± he proclaimed, then he was turning around and leading them back through the mess of desks and people. A minute later Susan found herself entering a small clearing among the madness. It was a grey carpeted area a few hundred feet across. Only a few dozen people filled it, a few armored adults and a cluster of young children and teens. Martin was headed straight toward a familiar face, John Hunt, the man from the assault on her grandparents house from a month ago. ¡°Martin,¡± he said, turning away from the group he had been talking to as he spotted them. ¡°Hey John, here¡¯s the paperwork.¡± ¡°What paperwork?¡± He asked, frowning as he took the offered papers. ¡°The take your daughter to work day request forms.¡± ¡°You know nobody fills these out, right?¡± John asked, eyeing Martin. ¡°Whatever, who are you bringing¡­¡± He trailed off as he scanned over the papers, his head coming up to look over the three people behind Martin. ¡°You didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°What?¡± John stared at Martin¡¯s guileless look of confusion, then sighed and passed a hand over his face. ¡°Whatever, fine. I have an interview to do anyway.¡± ¡°New hires?¡± Martin perked up, ¡°who?¡± ¡°Bunch of former BSMP agents. I think they¡¯re trying to get away from the agency after whatever happened last night.¡± ¡°Wait, what happened last night?¡± ¡°Somebody blew up the South Pole,¡± John said with a shrug, ¡°Looks like the Guardians took care of it, but whatever it was is going to be causing waves.¡± ¡°Right, we better get on that,¡± Martin said, and a moment later both men were wandering off as they chatted about the new disaster. Chay watched them go, then turned to the girls. ¡°Alright, now I have to go too. Stay safe, and don¡¯t blow anything up.¡± Ignoring both girls'' protests to the contrary, she turned and walked off after Martin. Susan and Elizabeth left alone among the mess of people filling the building around them. ¡°Hey, who is this?¡± A voice asked from behind them. ¡°Are you here for¡­ oh no.¡± Susan and Elizabeth turned to find a familiar wolf headed woman standing behind them. ¡°Hi, you¡¯re Rana right? I¡¯m Elizabeth!¡± Elizabeth said with a smile. Susan gave one of her own, feeling distinctly out of her element. She vaguely remembered the woman who had shot her out of a window last month. But she certainly didn¡¯t remember her name, and she barely recognized the woman at all. Instead of the heavy kevlar gear from last month, the wolf woman was now wearing a snappy dress and ¡®Hi, my name is RANA¡¯ name tag. Her mouth hung open in shock, eyes locked firmly onto Susan as Susan looked back in hellish awkwardness. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Hi?¡± She began, ¡°we¡¯re here for the ¡®take your daughter to work¡¯ day?¡± ¡°Of course you are,¡± Rana finally got out, her mouth finally shutting to give a toothless smile. ¡°Lets, uh¡­ let''s meet the other kids?¡± Susan shrugged wordlessly, and Elizabeth gave an enthusiastic smile. So with stiff backed movements, Rana turned and led them toward one of the small groups of children that filled the carpeted space. ¡°Well everybody, I found two more people for our group,¡± she said, and began to introduce everyone. Susan felt the names slide past her as she took in the eclectic gathering of children around her. They seemed to have the usual spread she had come to expect from the magical communities in the brick. A chaotic smattering of races that had probably not even known of each other¡¯s existence back on Themus, but who seemed perfectly familiar with each other here on earth. She paused in her considerations as she recognized one of the faces in the group. A curly haired boy who met her gaze and froze like a deer in headlights. ¡°And this is a distant cousin of mine, Caleb,¡± she said, waving a hand toward the boy in question. She seemed to notice the boy¡¯s reaction to Susan, and raised an eyebrow. ¡°Oh, do you two know each other?¡± Susan held the boy¡¯s gaze, and watched as he gave a minute shake of his head. ¡°Nope,¡± and noticed his shoulders slump imperceptibly. ¡°Oh, ok,¡± Rana nodded along, then continued giving introductions. Beside Susan, Elizabeth looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. Susan glanced back and mouthed ¡®later¡¯. Elizabeth nodded at that, and returned her attention to the introductions. ¡°Alright, now who here has gone Gashadokuro hunting before?¡± Rana asked, to a smattering of raised hands. ¡°Okay,¡± she nodded to that, ¡°Well for those of you who haven¡¯t, we usually try to keep things simple. We¡¯ll hover above where the skeletons gather, and shoot down at them until they are all gone. If you have any magical abilities you are free to join in, and if you don¡¯t then just sit back and watch the fireworks.¡± A hand raised in the back of the group. ¡°But how do we get there?¡± a voice came. ¡°Well,¡± Rana finally smiled, ¡°we''ll get started in just a moment and you can see then.¡± That got a series of disappointed ¡®awws¡¯ but Rana held firm and eventually Susan turned her attention away from the group and toward what was going on around them. The amount of armored people had massively increased. The carpeted floor space was now crawling with dozens of people all armored in the heavy Kevlar gear. Susan recognized Chay standing in a small group on the other end. They were chatting together, but Chay noticed Susan watching and gave a small wave. Susan sent one back, then kept looking. She quickly spotted Martin in another small group, then found her attention drawn to the person beside him. John, now wearing a slightly more formal suit, stepped toward the center of the area and clapped his hands. The chatter slowly quieted as the disparate groups turned toward him. ¡°Alright,¡± he shouted once enough people had stopped, ¡°is everybody ready?¡± He was met with a smattering of cheers, and smiled. ¡°Then let''s get this show on the road!¡± That earned an even larger cheer, and then the floor jerked. It earned several shrieks from the group of kids around her, but the adults only cheered louder. A rumble above them caught Susan¡¯s attention, and she looked up to see a massive skylight overhead sliding open to reveal cloudy skies. The floor rocked beneath her, and she realized with a start that she was rising. The world around her dropped away, leaving the entire hundred person group standing on top of an enormous flying carpet. Roughly the size of the football field, the space could have easily fit one of the giants that strode around the Thunderbird¡¯s headquarters. Susan heavily suspected that it had. The shrieks from the children around Susan changed from surprise to excitement, and with a whoosh of air the carpet shot through the open skylight and into the air above. They quickly rose through the clouds, the roiling of the carpet beneath their feet sending the children stumbling. A barked laugh came from Rana as she looked down at them, her legs perfectly steady on the uneven surface. That earned a series of shouted complaints from the children, which only got a bigger laugh. Then their complaints turned to gasps of surprise as the carpet beneath them began to change colors. The fibers that made up the rug shimmered, switching form their former dull grey to browns and greens. In moments the entire floor had turned into a perfect image of the ground below, a transparency Susan was sure that the bottom shared as well. Rana¡¯s grin never left their face, but as the carpet finally slowed in its descent and the camouflage fully took effect she finally began to talk. ¡°Now that we''re at cruising altitude, we¡¯ll be reaching Nowhere in about an hour.¡± Then before the children¡¯s wide eyes her smile began to widen. ¡°In the meantime, who wants to learn how to shoot a fireball?¡± That earned looks of horror from the adults around her, and one woman quickly rushed over. A whispered discussion kicked off between them, and Susan decided to use the moment of distraction to get away. Wandering away from the group, she ambled towards the distant edge of the carpet. Some of the groups of adults noticed her go, but most of them didn¡¯t seem to mind one of the older tagalongs wandering off from the group and just turned back to what they were discussing. The edge of the carpet was marked by a line of brass poles, a velvet rope running between them to form a barrier. The sight reminded Susan of something out of a movie theater, but as she drew closer she noticed that the poles were nothing like the cheap things you might normally find. Hundreds of intricate runes were carved into them, forming the magic circles that powered the construct. She walked up to one, running a finger over the carved letters to feel the hum of magic running through them. Looking past them, she could see the ground blurring by below. The carpet was probably moving at hundreds of miles per hour, a protective wall of mana stopping them from feeling the wind screaming by. ¡°The Thunderbirds have some really nice toys, don¡¯t they?¡± ¡°WHAT THE-¡± Susan spun around to see a tiny old woman standing behind her, looking distinctly out of place among the armored operatives and hyperactive children. Her mouth opened to challenge her, but then her eyes narrowed as she recognized the incredible flow of mana through the woman. ¡°Nora?¡± ¡°That¡¯s me,¡± she replied with a smile. ¡°How did you- Wait, how did you find us?¡± Nora raised an eyebrow at that, and turned to point a finger at Elizabeth, who stood further toward the center of the carpet, talking animatedly with Caleb. Susan¡¯s eyes narrowed at the sight. There certainly wasn¡¯t anything good that could come from her crazy little sister meeting with Ruth¡¯s nutty little brother, but she managed to return her attention to the current problem. ¡°Alright then, why are you here?¡± ¡°Did you forget?¡± Susan frowned at that, then sighed and lightly smacked herself on the forehead. ¡°Right, the BSMP thing, sorry.¡± ¡°It¡¯s no problem,¡± Nora said, stepping up beside her so that they were both looking down at the countryside below. A wizened hand passed Susan a paper. She looked it over, seeing that it was a summarized list of U.S. citizenship laws. A hand came to her chin as she regarded it, and eventually it came down and she turned back to Nora. ¡°Well it looks like I¡¯m still a U.S. Citizen,¡± she said with a shrug. ¡°Perfect,¡± Nora shot a smile back at her, ¡°that¡¯s just perfect.¡± They fell silent and Susan found herself watching the scenery pass below. Nora seemed content to let the moment lie, and the two of them spent a minute there. ¡°Well, good luck with that,¡± Susan finally broke the silence. ¡°As long as I don¡¯t dragged into more of the BSMP¡¯s bullshit I¡¯m happy.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Nora smiled back, a vicious one this time. ¡°If I have my way none of their leaders will see the outside of a jail cell for a good long time.¡± Susan smiled at that. She took a breath to reply, then frowned at the sensation. Her chest and shoulders felt oddly heavy as pressure settled over her. The breath hissed out of her as she realized what was happening. Within the warped space that hid her true body, her dragon heart roared to life. The mana flowing through her and pushing back against the grasping pressure that tried to drag her away. ¡°Not again!¡± She growled, bringing a hand to her chest where the weight of the summoning spell had settled. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Nora caught her attention, and Susan looked up to see a frown covering her face. ¡°Someone¡¯s trying to summon me,¡± She said, and Nora¡¯s frown deepened. ¡°Are you alright?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, should be,¡± Susan said, ¡°It¡¯s just¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°The spell is still going.¡± ¡°¡­Meaning?¡± Susan¡¯s head came up to meet Nora¡¯s, both their gazes sharp. Nora though had one eyebrow raised as she regarded Susan. The thought occurred that despite the Guardian¡¯s extensive knowledge of things that go bump in the night and how to beat them silly, they seemed to have very little knowledge of Realm travel. ¡°Whoever it is that is trying to summon me,¡± Susan finally said, ¡°they have my name. My real one. That¡¯s the only way they could sustain a summoning spell like this.¡± ¡°Do you need any help?¡± Nora asked quickly. ¡°No, as long as I have enough mana I can resist the spell, but just¡­¡± Susan grumbled and began to pace back and forth in front of Nora. ¡°My name shouldn¡¯t be known outside of Themus.¡± Her hand came up and quickly sketched a rune in the air. It glowed for a moment, before the glowing lines shifted to form a word; the homeworld of whatever idiot was trying to summon her ¡°Exulum? What the hell kind of name is Exulum?¡± She muttered, barely noticing as the letters faded. ¡°Susan,¡± a hand landed on her shoulder, ¡°relax!¡± ¡°But- but-¡± ¡°Susan,¡± Nora continued, ¡°there are two Guardians here. If there¡¯s any time you don''t have to worry about a problem getting out of hand, its now.¡± ¡°Fine. fine.¡± Susan turned to meet Nora¡¯s look, ¡°I just¡­ Damn it, why can¡¯t I just be done with all this?¡± That earned a shrug and a half grin from the old Guardian. ¡°I think you¡¯re asking the wrong person.¡± ¡°Heh,¡± Susan let out a chuckle, ¡°yeah.¡± She took a deep breath and let it out, this time ignoring the pressure that pulled within her. The weight of Nora¡¯s hand remained a constant comfort on her shoulder, and soon she found herself properly calming down. ¡°Hey Nora, what are you doing here?¡± A voice came from the side, and both of them turned to see Elizabeth walking toward them with Caleb in tow. ¡°Hello little Liz. Who¡¯s your friend?¡± ¡°This is Caleb, he¡¯s great,¡± Elizabeth said, shooting a glare at Nora before turning to Susan. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me you can make people magical girls?¡± ¡°It didn¡¯t come up?¡± ¡°Come on, that''s like the coolest thing ever!¡± Elizabeth whined. ¡°You have to do that again. It¡¯ll be so awesome!¡± Susan rolled her eyes at the reaction, tuning out Elizabeth''s further complaints and turning back to Nora. She met her gaze and raised an eyebrow. ¡°I would like to hear more about that,¡± she said, interrupting Elizabeth as she went to take another breath. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of someone copying the Great Rune before.¡± ¡°Only if you have three hours to waste,¡± Susan said with a shrug. ¡°Not now, then.¡± Nora nodded, ¡°I have some extra time but I am on something of a schedule.¡± ¡°Oh yeah,¡± Elizabeth said, ¡°Why are you here, anyway?¡± ¡°Nothing much, just the destruction of the BSMP,¡± Nora deadpanned. ¡°Oh cool.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± Caleb broke in, voice shrill. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Nora said, patting him on the head. ¡°It¡¯s Guardian business.¡± Judging by the boy¡¯s open mouthed expression, the platitude had utterly failed. Though his mouth did slowly close as he stared around at the bland calm of the others. ¡°Anyways, I do need to be going,¡± Nora said. A snap of her fingers conjured a shimmering pillar, and she vanished through it a moment later. It winked out of existence, leaving the trio standing in a rough circle. ¡°So¡­ about the magical girl thing,¡± Elizabeth said. ¡°Hey, I think they¡¯re finally starting!¡± Susan said, fleeing from her spot at the railing to head over to where a crowd was forming on the other side of the carpet. A whistle blew from its center, catching the attention of the still talking groups. As Susan approached, the crowd thickened until she couldn¡¯t see to the center anymore. ¡°Alright everyone,¡± a voice she recognized as John Hunt¡¯s came from the center, ¡°we¡¯ll be arriving in Nowhere in a few minutes. The lures have already been set up. Now we want all noncombatants at the center, but anyone who wants to join in the extermination can pick a spot along the edge and start firing.¡± ¡°For anyone who hasn¡¯t heard,¡± he continued, ¡°the prize for killing the most Gashadokuro this year is a fifty dollar gift card to Doe¡¯s Dough. Thanks to its owner, one of our very own members, Barbados!¡± Susan¡¯s mouth watered on reflex. As far as local restaurants went, Doe¡¯s Dough was the town¡¯s pride and joy. It¡¯s donuts were sublime. She tried very hard to ignore the new information that it was, in fact, owned by a dinosaur. She heard a gasp from Elizabeth behind her. ¡°Doe¡¯s Dough?¡± They didn¡¯t wait for the speech to finish, instead hustling over to the edge of the carpet. Reaching it, Susan looked around the lures John had mentioned. And the giant skeletons. The Gashadokuro were hard to miss, dozens of feet high and crashing their way through a grassy plain. There were hundreds of them, all following along after a dozen glowing spheres. The spheres hovered in the air just out of reach of the skeletons, which swiped at them with enormous clawed hands. ¡°Did you hear what he said?¡± Chay¡¯s voice came from behind them. Susan turned to see her and Martin, both with wide grins as they stepped up to the edge next to her and Elizabeth. ¡°I think this is the first time they¡¯ve ever offered anything genuinely good as a prize,¡± he said, reaching into a pocket and taking out a small packet of papers. Twin fireballs lit up in Chay¡¯s hands as she shot him a grin. It was matched by two others from Susan and Elizabeth. Martin smiled back at Chay, the entire family united in their desire for fancy pastries. Their reverie was broken by the shriek of a whistle from the center of the carpet. It was followed a moment later by a tidal wave of magical force that rained down from the edges of the carpet onto the helpless skeletons below. The Hill family wasn¡¯t far behind. Sketching a few runes in the air, Susan sent down a flurry of fireballs that exploded among the skeletons and sent them flying. Beside her, Chay was throwing her own. Conjuring them one after another in her hands she would toss them down like baseballs where they impacted the gigantic skeletons heads with unerring accuracy. Martin¡¯s papers turned out to be business cards sketched with magic circles. One by one he charged them with magic before flicking them downward into the morass of explosions and tumbling skeletons. Elizabeth seemed to be trying to keep her identity a secret, but Susan did spot her surreptitiously shooting down the glowing spears of energy that resembled Abana¡¯s. She hit one Gashadokuro, sending it collapsing to the ground in a pile of bones. Her head came up, looking around with wide eyes to see if anyone else had spotted her. Still watching her, Susan let out a laugh. Elizabeth retaliated with a poke to her side, forcing Susan to jump away. Even as she was still chuckling she threw down another fireball to a triumphant shout from Chay as one of the skeletal giants toppled. The pressure in her chest twinged, but she ignored it. The demon kings and Archdragons of the world could wait. Today, she was going to have fun. And donuts. Chapter 26: The Trial Susan swallowed her last bite of donut as she walked through the gates of LG high the next Monday morning. The prize of the Gashadokuro killing contest had made for a truly wonderful Sunday morning, the only sour spot being the dagger-like glares of the shop owner; who, now that she knew to look for it, had rather short arms for a man of his height. The leftovers had made for a wonderfully unhealthy breakfast, though the sweet taste in her mouth seemed to sour as a roar from the school courtyard up head reached her ears. The concrete square, which sat cradled within the tall walls of the C shaped front of the high school, usually spent its Monday mornings filled with a few dozen bleary eyed students waiting for class to start. Usually that is, as today it seemed that the entire population of the school had arrived early to crowd into its boundaries. She and the rest of her fellow bus-mates approached the crowd with slow steps, shock clear on each of their faces as they took in the sight. Susan¡¯s head was on a swivel as she approached the crowd, and it wasn¡¯t hard to see the cause of their excitement. Smartphones were being waved around, videos depicting the passing of a grey or gold dragon being waved around for the world to see. ¡°What the hell,¡± Susan muttered as she flitted through the crowd, barely catching snippets of conversation after conversation on the subject of the dragon sightings and other strange occurrences from the past Friday. She finally spotted something familiar in the sea of faces. The nerd group had commandeered one of the tables on the far side of the courtyard. Struggling her way over to them, Susan arrived to find the group huddled around Andrew. The resident ¡®Dragon Truther¡¯ as he had come to be called recently, had a map of the U.S. pulled up, a series of red dots running from Indiana to the East Coast on it. ¡°See!¡± He declared with a wave of a lanky arm, every movement fueled by the kind of mania you could only get from sleep deprivation. ¡°If you plot out the locations of where people took the videos from, you get a line pointed straight toward Antarctica.¡± ¡°That line is pointing east,¡± Lucy, the shorter and messy haired girl griped from behind him. ¡°No, no,¡± Andrew''s sandy hair flew back and forth as he shook his head, ¡°if you follow the line it cuts between Brazil and South Africa to reach Antarctica!¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± Susan asked as she dropped her book bag next to one of the seats and settled down on it. ¡°Andrew thinks that dragons blew up Antarctica,¡± Lucy said, rolling her eyes at the person in question. ¡°That didn¡¯t take long.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I said that¡¯s quite the theory.¡± ¡°Hey Susan,¡± a new voice broke in. Susan turned to see Anne rushing over to the table. ¡°You have to see this!¡± She said, thrusting a phone into her face. Susan took it in for a moment, then her eyes widened. The phone was playing a video of a courtroom, with the normal trappings of a trial going on. That was until Susan looked closer and noticed that many of the people filling the back of the room had decidedly inhuman features. Then her eyes flickered toward the front of the courtroom to see a familiar purple suited woman sitting next to the prosecuting lawyer. ¡°¡­the trial of the magical peoples of America vs. the Bureau of Supernatural and Magical Protections,¡± a tinny voice came over the speakers, and Susan¡¯s mouth curved into a smile. ¡°Hey what¡¯s that?¡± Someone asked, and a minute later the video was playing on Andrew¡¯s laptop as the group looked on in varying stages of shock. ¡°There¡¯s no way that this is real,¡± Andrew muttered as he sat hunched in front of the glowing screen. ¡°Dragons are fine but you draw the line at magic?¡± Lucy muttered back, to which he shrugged. Needless to say not much got done that day. The bell rang, and students appeared in classes. But even when the teachers tried to teach instead of watching the trial along with the students, they were never able to catch their attention for long. Susan spent the few hours before lunch listening to a chorus of tinny voices echo from different smartphones as the trail slowly started. There weren¡¯t many highlights beyond the prosecutor listing the extensive crimes of the BSMP, some of which had even the most dedicated teachers pausing in shock as they listened. It was only a few minutes before lunch when someone was called up to the stand to testify. A messily dressed man carrying a sheaf of papers he was still flipping through even as he stepped up to the stand. Susan listened to him be sworn in as she walked to lunch, settling in with the rest of the nerd group as they regathered around Andrew¡¯s laptop to watch the proceedings. The half dozen students formed a rough semicircle around the laptop, with Susan sitting across from them. She gave the ongoing trail half an ear as she picked at her lunch. Apparently the man was some BSMP bean counter, currently being sacrificed by the higher ups so they could avoid the trial. The Agent, Susan had already forgotten his name, clearly hadn¡¯t wanted to spill that information so easily, but Nora¡¯s lawyers smelled blood. It wasn¡¯t long before they were dragging the truth out, question by question. Then the trial started in earnest, and Susan tuned it out in favor of watching the multitude of incredulous expressions in front of her. People watching wasn¡¯t one of her preferred habits, but the open mouthed shock on the faces of the teens across from her were endlessly entertaining. Cole and Mattie appeared at one point, both staring down at a phone as they settled next to Susan at the table. Anne appeared a minute after, quickly spotting the open laptop and scampering over to it. Shuffling between the gathered watchers, she claimed one of the seats to Andrew¡¯s side before propping her head up on both hands to watch the proceedings. The wide smile covering her face seemed to garner a few odd looks, but she barely seemed to notice. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°How can you not watch this?¡± Lucy spoke up, catching Susan¡¯s attention. ¡°Hm?¡± She refocused on Lucy to see an incredulous expression now being directed her way. ¡°The government has been hiding freaking magic! How are you just sitting around like that?¡± ¡°No way. No way there¡¯s magic,¡± Andrew interrupted, his head shaking back and forth even as he stared at the screen. ¡°Why not?¡± Susan asked, the spark of curiosity finally overtaking her desire for entertainment. ¡°Well,¡± Andrew sputtered a moment, ¡°there¡¯s no proof.¡± Susan regarded him a moment, before reaching down to her tray and grabbing the milk carton there. It was still cold, a film of condensation covering the sides. Placing it in the center of the table, she swiped a finger along the side to get it wet. It took a moment to draw a circle, and she had to rewet her hand several times before she was able to complete a small magical circle sketched in water. A smidgen of power was all it took to activate the circle, and with a soft hum it rose into the air before the wide eyes of the surrounding students. ¡°Proof,¡± she said blandly, waving a hand at the floating cardboard. She was met with utter silence, the group in front of her barely moving as they eyes tracked the rising milk carton until it stopped rising about a foot above the table. As one, the eyes flickered over to stare at Susan, and she raised an eyebrow at them. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You knew?¡± Lucy spat out. ¡°Yeah.¡± Susan shrugged. ¡°But¡­¡± she trailed off, ¡°¡­I thought you were into science?¡± ¡°What, you think science can¡¯t be applied to magic?¡± Susan asked, her head tilting to the side. ¡°Oh no,¡± Mattie groused from the side, and the group turned to regard her as one. ¡°You¡¯re not doing that ¡®magic is science¡¯ bull are you?¡± ¡°But it clearly is,¡± Susan¡¯s finger pointed to the floating carton. ¡°No, magic is by its very nature undefinable!¡± Mattie shot back, and the heads of the nerd group turned back to Susan as if they were watching a tennis match and she had the ball. ¡°No, magic just conforms to the beliefs of the people using it. If you approach it with the belief that it can be measured, then it can.¡± ¡°Ugh, come on!¡± Mattie groaned as if physically pained. ¡°Don¡¯t suck the magic out of magic!¡± ¡°I-¡° ¡°Miss Hill?¡± Someone spoke up, a deeper voice this time. Susan turned to see a teacher standing at the end of the table. He too was staring at the milk carton with wide eyes. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Please follow the laws of physics while on school grounds.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Susan shrugged. A hand swept through the watery circle, the thud of the milk carton hitting the table following a moment after. The teacher nodded, and with mechanical movements he turned away from the table before walking off towards the doors of the cafeteria. ¡°But how did they cover that up?¡± Andrew spoke up. ¡°Did they really like, kidnap and brainwash everybody who ever tried drawing a magic circle?¡± Susan just raised an eyebrow at that. He met her eyes, before his eyes returned to the laptop in front of him and his mouth slowly closed. ¡°Uh-¡± ¡°Shut up,¡± Anne snapped, ¡°They¡¯re getting to the good part.¡± She appeared to have missed the ongoing discussion, her nose almost touching the laptop screen in front of her as she leaned toward it with a smile that was somehow wider than the one she had earlier. Susan¡¯s eyes slid to the side, where she could catch a glimpse of the video playing on Cole¡¯s phone. The BSMP agent was looking much worse for wear, his face now pouring sweat as the lawyer paced in front of him like a hungry shark. ¡°I am unable to comment on the events of last Friday,¡± the agent was saying. ¡°Are you attempting to hide the fact that the BSMP summoned a dragon to kill an American citizen?¡± The lawyer shot back instantly. ¡°Objection,¡± the voice of the defense lawyers came through the speakers. ¡°The Prosecutor is testi- wait, what?¡± The video switched viewpoints, now showing an open mouthed lawyer frozen in the middle of standing up from a desk. After a moment he unfroze, now moving to lean down so he could speak to the man seated next to him. ¡°What the hell?¡± The whisper could be heard despite the camera¡¯s distance from the two. ¡°It is need to know only-¡± ¡°That wasn¡¯t just some citizen we took action against, it was a dragon!¡± The whispered reply was cut off as the response from the Agent being questioned exploded through the courtroom. The following quiet was absolute, both in the courtroom and the school cafeteria. Susan¡¯s eyes flickered up for a moment to see the entire room standing frozen in various stages of stock as they stared down at the sea of phone screens showing the court case. ¡°Then you admit to it?¡± The prosecuting lawyer¡¯s response echoed through the silent hall. ¡°Yes, but the BSMP was simply attempting to remove a threat to national security,¡± the agent said with the fervent words of a man facing a firing squad. ¡°Besides, don¡¯t you know its name?¡± ¡°The dragon wishes to remain anonymous,¡± the prosecuting lawyer snapped back, kicking off a furious discussion between himself, the agent and the judge. ¡°It has a name?¡± Lucy spoke up, breaking the silence in the cafeteria. ¡°Yeah, why wouldn¡¯t I-t?¡± Susan asked. ¡°But that means it''s like, sentient and stuff,¡± Lucy said, waving her arms helplessly. ¡°They said it was a U.S. citizen, didn¡¯t they?¡± Andrew said, looking at her. ¡°But that means its a completely sapient species!¡± ¡°Yeah, it''s great right?¡± Andrew said with a wide grin. Lucy stared at him for a moment then looked away. ¡°I hate you,¡± she muttered. ¡°Shh,¡± Anne hushed them, and they all turned back to the video. ¡°Do you believe your organization is truly working to better the world?¡± The prosecuting lawyer was asking. ¡°Of course,¡± the Agent said, ¡°Is there any proof of this beyond the rather dubious claims of said organization?¡± ¡°Well yes,¡± the agent continued. He took a breath, eyes firmly fixed on the prosecuting lawyer so that he missed the BSMP higher up standing up from his chair and holding up a hand for him to stop. ¡°The BSMP at this moment is moving to remove the single biggest threat to world peace.¡± ¡°Not another U.S. citizen, I hope.¡± ¡°Of course not. The target of our current operation is the Demon King.¡± His declaration was met with another moment of total silence. The video switched to show the judge, his forehead pressed against both palms. ¡°There''s a damn Demon king now?¡± He muttered. Susan didn¡¯t hear the conversation that followed. Instead she was thinking about her encounter with the Mana Eater last week, and her conversation with Abana the month before. Was the BSMP delusional, they had to have some information on the Demon king. Besides, who could they even hire for it? A frown slowly spread over her face as a rather worrying idea occurred to her. Then she stood and started walking toward the cafeteria doors.
The house was empty. It made sense, it was the middle of the day. But for some reason the echo of her footsteps seemed like they belonged more in a mausoleum than her own home. The pressure in her stomach dragged at her, making every step seem harder than the last as she walked toward the dining room. Then she stopped entirely as she entered the room and saw a paper covered in her fathers neat scrawl sitting on top of the table. ¡®Sorry girls, your mother and I got called for an extended trip today.¡¯ She read, even as the paper trembled in her hands. ¡®Food is in the freezer, and there¡¯s some money for dinner if we''re not home tomorrow. Love you.¡± It wasn¡¯t a confirmation, she told herself even as her stomach dropped out. The paper crumpled in her hands, but before she could think of any sort of plan of action she heard the front door slam. She was dashing through the kitchen the next moment, skidding on the carpet as she came to a stop in the living room. Then her mouth fell open in surprise as she saw Elizabeth standing in the doorway. ¡°Susan, what are you doing home?¡± Elizabeth asked, head tilted in confusion. ¡°Me, why are you here?¡± Susan shot back. ¡°They were serving pizza today.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that got to do with anything?¡± ¡°Well it''s awful, so whenever they serve it I teleport home to make a PB&J.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Elizabeth must have seen something in Susan¡¯s face, a frown forming on her face as she looked up at her. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Have¡­ have you been keeping up with the trial?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± Susan held out the crumpled paper. Elizabeth took it, her face going from concerned to alarmed as she read it. ¡°So, you think¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, Mom and Dad are in danger.¡±