As eager as I am to hear his report, I offer to let Igneous rest. Though appreciative, he declines the offer, preferring to make his report first. He shows me images of what he saw beyond the city.

He started by following one of the major roads leading out of the city. Initially there was mostly sparse bushland with occasional structures dotted around. As he moved further from the city the structures became fewer and the bushland more dense.

Herds of cattle could be seen grazing in some of the more open areas. He even spotted some horses at one point. Eventually he came across a group of buildings, around twenty structures in total. He observed from the air for a while, looking and listening for any sign of human presence, but he detected none.

He dropped down to investigate and found many of the buildings to be even more dilapidated than those in the city. He entered some of the more intact structures to inspect their interiors. The first two he looked into were houses; both were quite empty inside. Cupboards and cabinets were left open and drawers pulled out. Nothing useful appeared to have been left behind. Whatever remained was either damaged or too big to be easily moved. Whoever lived here previously either took everything of value with them or the place was looted after they left.

The next building he entered looked like some kind of small store by my guess, with a few rows of shelves and large fridges with glass doors. As expected, it also appeared to have been emptied of anything I imagine humans would find useful or valuable and some of the shelves were knocked over. Finding little of interest, he headed back outside and took off into the air again.

Despite the state of disrepair, at least some of the buildings still looked livable, though still a little too close to the city for my liking. I mention that to Igneous and he indicates agreement, which is the reason he continued his search.

He kept following the road until it came to a bridge. It crossed over a creek with rapidly flowing water. It is nowhere near as wide as the river that cuts through the city and I idly wonder if it is an offshoot of that river or maybe joins up with it later on. From that point on, Igneous decided to abandon the road in favor of following the creek.

By the time the sun started to set, he had not found anything else noteworthy. He descended to find a place to rest for the night. Apart from needing sleep, he also can not see well in the dark so it makes sense that he would not continue through the night. He found some large boulders grouped together near the creek’s edge so he settled down beside them and disguised himself as a rock to wait out the night.

I wonder if it might be a good idea to simply find a place out in the wilderness to settle. If we found somewhere where the bushland was dense, far away from any roads or settlements, it is doubtful we would be easily discovered.

The question is how my imps would handle such conditions. Rose did once mention imps that live in forests, so I suspect survival would not be a serious issue. I have also observed them sleeping on the floor on numerous occasions despite having beds they could use so they do not seem to have high standards when it comes to comfort. It would probably be good for the hellhounds to have more space to move around and not be stuck inside a building. They can go outside anytime they want of course, but they cannot open doors on their own.

While it does not seem like a terrible idea, it would also be far from ideal. In the off chance that we were discovered, no matter how unlikely that might be, we would not be in a defensible position. It would also leave my creatures exposed in case of extreme weather. My imps do not seem to mind being out in the rain, even going out just to play in it sometimes, but I do not know how bad the weather can get at its worst or how safe my imps would be if they were stuck in such weather. Having some form of shelter would be better.

Igneous resumed his search as soon as it was bright enough to see. He continued to follow the stream for many hours, flying far enough that he could no longer see the city anymore, even from his position in the air. It was late in the afternoon when he discovered another human settlement, a small town this time, much larger than the cluster of buildings he previously encountered.

Though larger, it appeared no more populated. As before, he observed from the air for any evidence of current human habitation, but could see no indication that any humans had been there recently.

He flew over the town numerous times, performing as thorough an inspection as he could from the sky before landing. This town consisted of hundreds of structures, mostly residential housing by the looks of it. On one side of the town was a large crater, roughly the size of one of the houses. All of the buildings closest to the crater were little more than rubble.

On the outskirts of the town there were multiple areas that looked like they were once organized plantations, though they clearly had not been tended to in a long time and had become overgrown. The trees did not appear to be of varieties that would be grown for their wood; though it is difficult to accurately gauge their size from this aerial perspective, none of them appear to be much greater than several meters in height.

Igneous believed the plantations were worth investigating as he landed in one of them. Inspecting the trees up close, the small flowers and developing fruit make it clear that this was an orchard, the other plantations likely are too. The fruit in this orchard appears to be some variety of citrus.

He pulled the largest fruit he could find from the closest tree and took a bite. The sensation he shares indicates that he did not enjoy the taste, but that fruit was still partially green so probably not fully ripe and he also did not peel it. After that he headed back towards the town.

The condition of the town is much the same as the smaller settlement. Overall, the dilapidation was worse than in the city, but most of the buildings were still standing. He flew over the town much closer to the ground this time. One street close to the approximate center looked to be where most of the businesses in town were situated.

Landing on the roof of one of the larger buildings, one of the few in town that has more than one story by the looks of it, Igneous cautiously looked at the street below. After not seeing or hearing anything to indicate danger, he spread his wings to glide down to the ground.

Most of the former stores and businesses along this street had large windows on their front, but many were cracked or broken. He peered through several of these windows as he walked past. There did not appear to be anything of interest inside, at least not that Igneous could see, though he did not enter any of them to investigate further, perhaps because the sun would soon be setting.

He continued to explore on foot until it was too dark to see anything before returning to the roof he had perched on earlier. He curled up there to sleep once more. It was still dark when he stirred sometime later; the moon was not even visible in the sky. That, combined with his generally poor night vision made him effectively blind.

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Yet as he took to the sky, the darkness did not hinder him as he started his journey back here. He must have an excellent sense of direction because he made a beeline for the city.

Based on what I saw from his report, that town looks like it might be a good place to evacuate to, if it becomes necessary. It is quite far from the city and though there is a small road leading through the town, it is not a major highway like the one Igneous initially followed out of the city.

Those orchards could also serve as a valuable source of food, assuming the imps would actually eat fruit. Their teeth suggest a carnivorous diet, but the same could be said of Igneous. He recognized the fruit as food, even if he did not enjoy it, so he may be omnivorous or at least a facultative carnivore. The imps did enjoy the pretzels, so the same may be true for them.

It will require much more thorough scouting to be sure of the town’s viability as a potential new home.

Thank you for your report. I appreciate you doing this for us. Are you willing to return to that town for a more in-depth investigation? After taking appropriate time to rest first of course.

He nods in assent.

Could you also carry some imps with you? I am sure it would be faster and safer to investigate if you did not have to do it alone.

After some hesitation, he replies with an image of himself carrying just one imp.

Only one?

He nods. That is not much, but surely even one would still make things easier.

Violet would be the best choice in that case as I can still communicate with her when she is outside. She is also the one who would be most able to defend herself in the event they did encounter anything dangerous.

Take some time to rest and relax, a day at least. You have certainly earned it.

Igneous ambles over to his customary corner and dons his usual disguise. When Violet wakes and notices the large rock sitting in the corner of the room she rushes over to give him a hug. She quickly climbs to the top of the rock and begins to recount all the events that occurred while he was gone. While there is no visible reaction from Igneous, Violet does occasionally pause in her storytelling. I suspect that he is listening and responding to her, even if he does not show it.

When she finishes her tale she sits quietly for a while, bobbing up and down slightly. She soon stops bobbing and starts asking questions. I guess he is now talking about what he has been up to the past couple of days.

Once their exchange is complete, Violet bounces over to my core with an air of elation.

“Igneous said he found an empty town far away from the city and it has fruit trees!” She exclaims. “Though he said they did not taste very good.”

That is right, the one he tried may not have been ripe though. But even if those specific fruit are not very good, there are other orchards that may have something different. Imps like fruit then?

“Of course, when we can get it. I love sweet things. He also said you want him to go back and take an imp with him. Can I go? Please?” She pleads.

I was planning to ask you. This makes Violet squeal in excitement.

“Thank you! I can’t wait. What about River and Rose and Coal…And Fuzzy! Can they come too?” She asks.

Not this time, no. Igneous has to fly you there; do you really think he could carry you all, especially Fuzzy, and fly that far?

“Oh, right, yeah. Just me then?”

For now. If you do not encounter any major problems we may organize additional expeditions in the future. A larger group would have to travel on foot so we will leave that for another time.

While momentarily dejected, she quickly brightens up again

“When do we go?” She asks. She can barely contain her excitement, but she is going to have to be patient.

After Igneous has had some time to rest. Tomorrow perhaps, if he feels ready by then.

I do not actually know much about Igneous’ physical capabilities or how much time he needs to rest as he has spent the vast majority of his time since he was summoned just sitting there in the corner. I will just have to trust him to know his limits and tell me if I am asking too much of him.

When Rose wakes the first thing she wants to do is continue where we left off before she went to sleep.

You really want to get right back into it straight away?

“Of course, there’s a lot I still need to learn and it’s all very complex.” She retorts.

Yes, so it might be better to pace yourself.

“But you said we could keep going when I awoke.” She says defiantly.

Alright, but before we start, there is something I would like you to test first.

“Oh? What is it?” She asks, becoming curious.

It is something I should have thought of before. I can still communicate with Violet when she goes outside; I would like to know if I can do the same with you now that you are also a guardian.

“But didn’t she only gain that ability after she died?”

That is true, but your circumstances are a little different from hers so I believe it is worth trying.

“I suppose so. I just need to go a little outside the dungeon’s border right? So one of the unclaimed rooms across the hall should suffice,” she reasons.

Yes, that should work.

As Rose starts towards the hallway she spots Igneous in his corner.

“Oh, he’s back. Did he find anything interesting?” She inquires.

I believe so; I intend to send Violet with him for a more thorough investigation later.

Standing in front of the door to Room 6, she waits for my instruction.

Whenever you are ready, go ahead.

She steps through the doorway and beyond my perception. Unlike in the past, though, I can still feel our connection, just like with Violet. I concentrate on that connection and attempt to contact her.

Can you hear me?

‘I can. Violet was right, this does feel a little strange,’ she replies. That is a little alarming. Violet has never mentioned anything like that to me.

Is it causing discomfort?

‘Not at all. It’s just a little tingly, but not unpleasant.’ As she steps back into the hallway she looks to where I am standing by the door. “I guess that confirms that it works,” she says. I am so used to people not being able to see me that it actually feels kind of weird to have someone looking directly at me when speaking to me.

Indeed it does. This will be quite advantageous to us, I am sure.

“I must admit, I’ve been quite envious of Violet for a while now. Her ability to speak to you from outside and her exceptional physical prowess have made her an invaluable asset. I’ve felt it hard to measure up. I’m glad I can be more useful now.” She says, beaming.

I have never judged you or anyone else by how ‘useful’ you are. But to be clear, you have never not been useful. You know that right?

“Yeah, thank you. If that’s all you wanted to test, can you tell me about what Igneous found?”

I thought you wanted to get back to learning about science and magic?

“Yes, but I'm curious now. We can continue with the magic stuff after that.”