“I am uncertain I approve of letting them live,” Brixaby grumped — loud enough for the men below to hear — as he took to the sky with Arthur astride his neck. “They attacked you. We should leave only one behind, cardless, as a warning of what happens when anyone touches my rider.”

“It wasn’t their fault,” Arthur said. But then he had to admit. “Well, I mean, it was. And it certainly wasn’t a mistake. It was a choice. But Brix, they were driven by desperation.”

The dragon snorted.

He sighed. “If I find out this group has been attacking people on the road again after I’ve given them the means to save themselves and possibly become wealthy by introducing a new pepper to the market... then you can raze their homes to the ground. How’s that?”

The dragon thought about this for a few moments. “I like that very much.”

Arthur patted his neck. He only felt comfortable making that promise because, by the look in Kirun’s eye, he had nothing to worry about.

Once the farmer-turned-bandit had realized what he had been given, he’d been properly thankful. Almost groveling, which had been uncomfortable.

Turning his mind from that, Arthur signaled Brixaby to move higher into the sky. “They said there had been an eruption nearby. I want to see the cone.”

“It’s to the southwest,” Brixaby said. “Joy and I saw glimpses of it.”

He looked around and saw nothing. “Really?”

“Yes, while the sky looks clear, there is much moisture which makes it deceptively hazy,” Brixaby said with all the confidence of a creature born to fly.

Arthur kept a careful look around, and once or twice had to tell Brixaby to slow to allow Joy — who had a different wing configuration with only two wings to Brixaby’s four, and who couldn’t simply buzz straight upward — to catch up.

Luckily, there was no sign of other dragons in the sky. It seemed the hives only did their raiding in the mornings before the vendors had time to properly set up. That was… odd.

... Or they’re busy elsewhere with another eruption, he thought with an internal frown.

Soon enough, though, he picked up the vague darker triangle of an eruption cone rising out of a mildly hilly horizon. It started as a shadow, which grew deeper by the moment as the dragons flew closer. When it was fully resolved, he was shocked to see the size of it. The cone had grown so high that the top gathered its own clouds.

Brixaby hovered in place, and when Joy caught up, Arthur and Cressida spoke via shouting.

Arthur gestured with an out-flung hand to the cone. “Look at the size of it! It took them too long to get that eruption under control!”

She nodded. “Do you think a Legendary came out of it?”

“No,” he called back after a moment’s thought. “They usually destroy the top when they crawl out, right? It’s still intact.”

This high up, he could see the brown to gray shading of where the land had already withered and died. The new dead lands started not far from where they flew and continued right up to the base of the scourge-cone.

However, there were patches here and there that, out of luck, survived and were still green. They were islands out in a vast sea in a barren desert.

He directed the dragons to land in one of these patches, which was thick with trees on the borders, yet grassy in the middle. Surrounded by dead lands, he was certain that they wouldn’t be watched or overheard.

The moment he dismounted, Brixaby turned to him eagerly. His previously foul mood was forgotten. “I smell the new cards on you. What did you get? Something good, I hope?”

Arthur was still half-inclined to lecture the dragons about following the carriage. They had disobeyed them entirely. But... Brixaby’s timing on capturing Kirun had been perfect. He and Joy had worked like a seamless team.

Also, he appreciated that his greedy dragon hadn’t ripped any new cards from the bandits’ chests.

So, he put it aside for the moment. “Let’s wait for Joy to land.”

Brixaby danced from foot to foot in impatience, looking uncharacteristically young.

Finally, when Joy landed and Cressida was on the ground, Arthur put him out of his misery. “Actually, one of the cards is for you, Brix.”

“Wait,” Cressida said. “You’re not taking it for yourself?”

“No. Well,” he hedged, “Brixaby and I share a linked deck. You know that. We’ll both be using two of the cards. But everyone will get the benefits of the main card.”

“Ah,” she said.

Brixaby exploded. “Enough talking around the cards. Show them to me!” He sounded like a starving man seeing a meal wheeled in for him—one he could not touch—and the way he hovered over Arthur might have been threatening if he didn’t know his dragon so well.

Come to think of it, because he knew Brixaby it was fairly threatening.

But Arthur was used to that.

With a flourish, he brought out the Knockback card. Brixaby immediately snatched it from his hand.

His dragon’s expression went from devious to horrified. “This cannot mean...”

“Yep,” Arthur said, entirely enjoying himself. He pulled out the illusion card and the mana generator. Brixaby was smart enough to understand how all three could work together without him pointing it out. “You’ll be visiting Blood Moon hive as a Rare. A very purple Rare.”

****

They returned to their base in New Houston that night, via Brixaby’s Ferryman Portal.

No one was especially thrilled about the voyage. Especially when the Ferryman seemed to look right at Arthur and ask. “Did you get what you came for?” in a rattling voice, as if the wind from his chest had to bypass shattered ribs.

“Uh, I did. Yeah,” he said, taken aback.

“I look forward to the results.” With that, the Ferryman pushed the boat off the dock and started down the river while screaming nightmarish figures formed in the sky overhead.

Joy did her best at small talk, but the Ferryman once again ignored her attempts.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

They arrived at the converted barn late into the night, where all found their beds and slept deeply.

Not only did everyone need the rest, but Arthur wanted to give Brixaby time to become used to the idea that he would play the part of a lesser ranked dragon. He expected a lot of pushback.

However, when Brixaby realized that everyone else would be brought down a rank as well — from Rare to Uncommon — he was surprisingly okay with the idea. All was well, as long as he maintained one rank above the rest of his retinue.

Arthur rolled his eyes but didn’t argue.

That next morning, he gathered everyone together to show them the new cards and outline their plan.

“Originally, I wanted to visit a few cities,” Arthur said, “But I don’t like the fact that the Hives are so comfortable raiding civilians. We were lucky that Brixaby and Joy weren’t seen. Though we can still go back to the city if we need additional cards. What do you think of these...” And he outlined, briefly, what the Knockback card could do, as well as the others.

“It’s just an illusion, though?” Soledad asked. “It doesn’t actually… alter us?”

“That’s right,” Arthur said, and pointed to the line of the card. “It won’t actually push you down a rank. It will only give you the appearance of being lower.”

“Why?” she asked, bluntly.

Cressida rolled her eyes, which surprised Arthur as it was distinctly unladylike. “Because it will be just barely believable if one Rare dragon pair and a bunch of Uncommons show up in a new Hive. Leadership doesn’t like to give up any Rares — especially in smaller hives like Wolf Moon — but it can be done, and there’s more movement in the larger hives. But a Legendary and a handful of Rares?” She shook her head. “At best, it’s a big political statement. At worst, it will be seen as a threat.”

“Brixaby stands out,” Arthur added dryly.

Brixaby nodded and puffed out his chest, clearly taking this as a compliment.

Soledad took on a stubborn look. “Well, if it’s such a big deal, how do we explain a bunch of us, plus some baby dragons showing up at the same time?”

This time Horatio was the one who answered, though his tone was much more patient than Cressida’s. “Rare dragons don’t have full retinues like the Legendary’s do, but strong-willed ones tend to collect clusters of Uncommons around them. It won’t be that strange.”

“Yes,” Brixaby said proudly. “The weaker are often attracted to the strong.”

Joy squawked and batted at him with a wing, sending a miniature gale through the barn until Sams snorted at her to cut her off.

“I’m not weak!” Joy complained.

Brixaby looked somewhat surprised. “Certainly not! You would never be allowed in my retinue if you were. And I would never allow a weak Uncommon to follow me around, either, when I’m pretending to be a Rare.”

Marion cleared his throat and raised his hand. He spoke when all eyes fell on him. “I still do not understand why Blood Moon Hive will allow a cluster of brand-new dragons and their riders to come in with no research into who they are.”

“Well, I don’t intend to ask permission,” Arthur said. “We’ll sneak in. Hopefully, no one will ask too many questions. I don’t get the impression they’re more organized than any other hive.”

He looked to Horatio, who had the most experience being a full rider in a hive. He shrugged.

“People do change hives, though a Rare taking off for somewhere else is a bigger to-do. I don’t think we’ll get away with not being noticed, so we’ll have to come up with a backstory. We could even say we’re coming from Flower Moon or Wolf Moon — no one pays much attention to them. And the fact that Brixaby will show up as a Purple...” He trailed off with a shrug. “Sorry Arthur, but they’re just not as well thought of as other colors.”

“Why not?” Brixaby demanded, though everyone knew why.

Horatio still took the bait. “Not as big or impressive. Plus, the Commons and most of the Uncommons are flat-out dumb.”

“I think they’re cute,” Cressida said.

If anything, that seemed to annoy Brixaby further. “I do not want to be cute! I am impressive, and if anyone dares to tell me otherwise, I—”

Arthur knew his dragon was about to threaten to tear the heart card out of anyone who opposed him, but to his surprise, his dragon snapped his jaw shut.

Was Brixaby actually... thinking twice before speaking?

Arthur knew his dragon had gone through some trials during the Dark Heart challenges, and hadn’t told Arthur everything. He made a note to get the full story from him later. Whatever had happened has caused him to grow up. Some.

“You have seen Purples,” Arthur said to him. “The higher ranked tend to have... deeper thoughts.”

If it were possible, he would have liked to illusion Brixaby down to an Uncommon, but then he would have to pretend to be more... purple minded. Meaning sweet and dumb. Both were beyond him.

Soledad raised her hand. “So, is this card we’re after hidden in a library, or are we going to have to kill someone and take it from their heart, or what?”

Blunt as always.

“We think it’s probably hidden, not in a heart deck,” Arthur said. “Or at least, that’s the feeling we get from the card. It’s not exact, and the seeker card gives us a map, but until we get closer, we won’t know for sure.”

Cressida had been giving Soledad a narrowed-eyed look across the table. “Why exactly are the baby dragons coming along? No offense,” she said to Soledad in a way that meant the opposite. “But until your dragons grow up, they will not be of much use to us.”

To his surprise, it was Sams who rumbled out the answer. He and Joy were much too large to sit at a table, but they craned their heads over to listen to the conversation. “Young dragons need more of their kind, and Equinox and Asha are at an age where they will soon require the discipline of training.”

Those two had been growing rather rambunctious recently, Arthur noted. There were gnaw marks on almost all the furniture, and Equinox had a bad habit of heating things up just to see what would happen if it would melt or burst into flame. He didn’t remember Brixaby ever being playful like that, but Brix never had much of a childhood. He had hatched out fairly mature and intelligent from the start.

“I’m going no matter what,” Soledad said. “I signed up for this whole thing to go on adventures and kick scourgling butt, and we’re all out of scourglings.” She shot her own glare across the table. “You’re not keeping me from going in and exploring a brand new kingdom.”

“I should probably not stay here much longer,” Marion admitted. “My father’s dragon knows that I’m here, and I don’t want to push my luck. No one can stop a Mythic.”

That put a gloom in the room. Even Brixaby was underpowered against Lung Bei and her nullification magic.

Soledad turned to him. “But if you come along with us, wouldn’t you be closer to her? It’s her kingdom.”

“I will eventually have to go to the capital, but for now, switching places is probably for the best,” Marion said.

“What about Sams?” Horatio asked.

Arthur blinked. “What about him?”

But Sams was the one who answered his rider. “It is unlikely anybody from Blood Moon will recognize me. I believe I don’t have any strong contacts left.” He looked pointedly to his stomach, which had been growing purplish scales over the last few months. This wasn’t him slowly turning from a Yellow or a light-based dragon into a Purple or agility-based dragon. This was purely an effect of bonding with Horatio. Their shared card had something to do with ultraviolet light. “I look different, and I will have to go by a different name.”

“How about Sam?” Horatio said with a smile. “No one will look for Sam the Uncommon.”

“All right, that’s it then,” Arthur said. “We’ll still have to scout it out, just to be sure. In the meantime, let’s pack up everything we can. Brixaby and I will carry it in our Personal Spaces.”

“Oh, I want to see you as a Purple,” Joy said to Brixaby.

“I already am a Purple.”

“You are a dark, dark, dark, dark Purple,” Joy said. “That doesn’t count as much.”

“How does that not—” Brixaby started but Soledad cut across him.

“Why does he have to be a Purple?” She asked. “Everything you guys have said, they’re all as sweet as my grandfather’s dumbest hunting dog. That doesn’t sound like him at all. Why don’t you make him a green or something?”

“Four wings,” Arthur said. “Purples have four wings—and some of the lower-ranked Blues. None of his natural magic works as a Blue, but he is amazing in the air.”

Sams agreed. “He will have to be a Purple with his natural magic being flight speed.”

“I am quick in the air,” Brixaby said, pleased.

Sams gave the younger dragon a severe look. “You’re gonna have to be more than quick. If you’re going to be a Rare purple, you’ll have to show every trick you can. I don’t think that you have been around many real purples since you’ve been a hatchling. They are absolute masters of flight. As a Rare, you will have to be better.”

That was the right thing to say. Brixaby straightened up and his eyes gleamed. “It doesn’t matter how fast they are, they are merely Commons and Uncommons. And I am only pretending to be Rare. There will be no comparison.”

“Well, that’s it then,” Arthur said. “Before we all pile in, we need to scout out and figure out the best time to arrive.”

“A scourgling eruption,” Cressida said with a nod. “It’s chaos and the perfect time to switch hives.”

With a nod, Arthur looked around the table. Of course, his natural thought was to bring Cressida along with him to scout, but...

“Soledad,” he said, “will you come with me?”

He didn’t miss the black look Cressida gave him. Horatio didn’t seem impressed, either.

Soledad, however, agreed with a sunny smile.