Ever since he was 17, Britt Pentworth had lived the life of an adventurer. Going on four years now he'd traveled the globe on quests, encountering and fighting pretty much every kind of monster out there. But even with all that experience, he still got a chill down his spine creeping through a dragon's lair. He was with three others from the First Ascalon guild as he trawled through a wide, stony tunnel. Each person carried a torch to light the way.

The chain of cavernous stone chambers, on the surface, appeared natural enough. Stalactites hung from the distant ceiling, drips of water echoed against the walls, and small insects scattered at the light of a flame. But unlike a cave, this wasn't time's creation. The space hadn't been weathered into existence by shifting groundwater; it had been forcefully melted and shattered away, the work of a dragon trying to make its home deep beneath the ground. Britt waved his torch from wall to wall, observing the different strange rock formations in the cavern. After being through so many of these, it was easy to pick out which had been made by flame and which had been made by claw.

"I've never seen any place like this before..."

A young, feminine voice came from behind. Without looking, Britt could tell it was one of the two newbies along for the trip, a girl named Kendy. Like him, the skinny blonde was a mage. Unlike him, this was only her eleventh quest. Britt didn't know much about her, but from the colors of her long overcoat - red with a snow blue trim - he could tell she was a practitioner of fire and ice magic. It was a little thing mages did, so that in a fight their role could be easily discerned. He wore his own coat much like it, except with a different palette of white and gray. The first for healing magic, the second for wind.

"First time in a dragon's lair?"

Another voice, this time from the front. It was Callister, a man several years older than Britt, one of the highest-ranked members of First Ascalon, and the leader of this four-man party. When you thought of an adventurer, Callister was pretty close to the image your mind brought up: tall, strong, sword in one hand and shield in the other. Britt had actually been on quite a few quests with him, but the two weren't really partners.

"Yeah." Kendy answered, wiping a line of sweat off her forehead with the sleeve of her coat. "It's so cool! Uncomfortably warm, though."

"Underground heat." said Britt. "The further you get, the hotter it gets. That's why dragons make their lairs here."

"Oh, is that the case?" he could hear Kendy perk up. "I was wondering about that, actually. Seems weird for a flying monster to live underground." 

"Bats live in caves." snorted the last party member. It was the other newbie. Britt looked back at her, finding that she had a scowl on her face.

Her name was Bela, and Britt didn't want her here. Callister had made the decision based entirely on her looks. He had picked out girls for that same reason in the past, though it was usually because they were cute. This time, it was because she was buff. Not only was she nearly seven feet tall, she had muscles like a bodybuilder. He figured anyone that built should be strong. When he found out that this would be only her third quest, Britt had voiced his trepidation. But Callister decided to go with it anyways.

"Huh?" was all he could think of for an answer.

"Bats live in caves. It's the same thing as that." she continued, crossing her arms and continuing to walk as she spoke. Unlike the others she didn't seem to be affected by the heat, probably because all she wore were two wraps of bear pelt tied around her chest and waist. "How do you know if dragons like it warm or not? You can't read their minds. They can't talk."

Callister laughed.

"I do know that dragons like it warm." Britt said, trying not to let any arrogance slip into his tone. Really he was just confused as to why she was picking this argument. "They're cold-blooded."

"Cold-blooded?" Bela asked. From how she said it, it was clear she had never heard of the concept.

"Cold-blooded means they need to live somewhere warm to stay warm. Unlike bats, who are warm-blooded."

Bela shook her head.

"All blood's warm." she said. "Ever gotten any on you while killing something? 'Cold-blooded,' my ass."

Callister laughed again as Britt rubbed his temples. "I like this girl!" he whispered to him.

The group rounded a corner, and suddenly Callister stopped in place and stuck his torch out. Everyone stopped where they stood.

"We're here." he said, lowering his voice.

Britt took a few cautious steps forward, peeking his head around the bend and bringing his own torch forward. The cavern widened significantly, opening into a large chamber. Illumination came from scattered piles of uprooted trees lit aflame, a common feature in dragon's dens - a way for them to turn the heat up even more. More trees were piled up in a lowered gap on one side of the den, forming a nest of sorts for three person-sized eggs with leathery black shells. On the other side was a veritable mountain of treasure: heaps of golden trinkets, old coins, jewels, and other rarities that gleamed even in the dim light. And, at the center of it all, sleeping on that golden mountain...

"Oh, that's a big one." Callister said calmly.

He was right. Sizing it up, Britt could tell the thing was at least the size of an average house. It had a thick head like a crocodile, vicious horns and fangs, a long neck, a bloated body, and ruby-red scales which covered it completely. Gusts of flame blew out of its nose with each snore. Each of its four limbs - two legs in the front, two in the back - ended in paws with long, sickle-like talons. He definitely didn't want to be on the bad end of those.

Callister took a step back, gesturing for everyone to move back from the opening and huddle up. Everyone followed but Bela, who stood staring at the dragon, green eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Alright, well, whatcha got Pentworth?" he said, leaning against the wall casually. "Get in, get out I'm guessing?"

Britt nodded.

"Kendy, you've got the keystone, right?" Britt asked.

The girl reached to her neck and lifted up a small pendant of carved black stone. "Yep."

"That's our ticket back home, so keep it safe." Callister said. "Like, super safe. We really don't want to lose that thing."

Every time an adventuring party set out on a long distance journey, they were given a one-use keystone pendant like the one Kendy held now. Their guild headquarters were back in the city of Ascalon, while they were a couple hundred miles away in a country called Durandal. The keystone would let them create a temporary portal back to a special archway at base, which was how they got to Durandal in the first place. There were very few archways in the world like it, and it allowed First Ascalon to operate on a continent-wide scale.

"Britt, you sure you don't want to carry the thing?" Callister turned to him to ask the question. Only a mage could tap its power, so it was either one or the other. He shook his head no.

"I trust Kendy with it." he said. "Just try to hang back if things end up getting dicey. Okay?"

"Understood!"

"Alright." Callister clapped his hands together. "Is that everything? Wait, no. How much time we got?"

Britt figured he probably knew already and was just asking the question for the younger adventurer. Still, he answered quickly.

"See those fires in there? Dragons spend most of their day sleeping, but when the flames burn down they wake up to either light them back up or go get more tinder." he looked from Callister to Kendy to make sure they were getting the information. "The fires are fresh right now, so we don't have to worry about it waking up for a while. Plus, it's a female, judging from the eggs, so-"

"Wait, what do you mean?" interrupted Bela, managing to pull her eyes off the dragon for a second. Britt caught her adjusting and tying up the only weapons she had brought with her, a pair of leather and iron cestuses - armored gloves, basically. "We want it to keep sleeping? We're not trying to kill it?"

"No." he replied with a dismissive snort. "We can't beat that thing, are you kidding me? Not with four people, and especially not with two rookies."

"Who are you calling a rookie?" she said defensively.

Britt rolled his eyes, then went on with the huddle. "The goal isn't to kill it anyways. We're trying to get a ring from its hoard, the signet ring of the Altibeau family. Three emeralds in a triangle shape, all in a setting of a silver band."

"Feel free to take as much gold as you can carry, of course." Callister winked at Kendy. "Britt, we all know you don't need it, your family's rich."

Britt laughed, but Kendy seemed more uneasy.

"With all that treasure, though? Finding one ring will be impossible." the girl said. "Do we have a plan for..."

As the girl was talking, she leaned back around the entrance. Her voice wavering abruptly, she shot back and pressed herself against the stone wall. Her small face was white as a ghost.

"Uhm... was Bela supposed to go in right now?"

At that, both Britt and Callister scrambled to the opening. Without making a sound, the muscular girl had leapt into the chamber. Right now, she was standing right in front of the dragon's head, seemingly sizing it up. Flames blew from its nose as and she stepped back quickly.

"Uh oh." Callister's mouth was a tight line of worry.

"What are you doing?!" Britt whisper-shouted, holding his hands cupped close to his face so his voice was projected further. "Get back here, we're not done!"

She glanced at him, and Britt could see flames of anger in her eyes. She took a boxer's stance, as if she was about to...

"Don't punch the dragon in the face, you idiot!"

She punched the dragon in the face.

It didn't wake all at once. It started by blinking its eyes. Then, it flicked around its tail, sending waves of treasure flying. Finally, it rose up on all four limbs with its wings folded back, craning its neck down to keep it on level with the girl who had punched it. Bela took two steps back, regarding the beast without showing any signs of worry.

She then punched the dragon in the face again.

It was a hard hit, far harder than Britt could have ever expected. The dragon's head reeled back on its snake-like neck and it let out a roar laden with tangible pain. But this time it fought back. Whipping its head around, it released a stream of fire breath that melted a red-hot rut in the rocky floor of its den. For a second, Britt thought the girl had been incinerated, but when the stream stopped he saw that she had managed to sidestep the attack. She continued her pattern of throwing punches and dodging fire breath, and while the dragon was hurt by her punches, it didn't seem like she could put the thing down.

Suddenly, the monster made a faster movement then it had before. Spinning its massive body around, it slammed Bela with its long tail. Swept off her feet, the girl was sent flying towards one of the cavern walls. She hit it with a loud crack and dropped down, but regained her bearings fast. The impact had almost certainly broken a bone or two, but she kept fighting as if the hit had been a light tap. From here Britt couldn't be sure, but it almost looked like her eyes had started gleaming red...

"She's not bad." Callister said with a whistle, turning to his side to find Britt scowling. "Well, what's the new plan, Pentworth?"

"Working on it." he put a hand on his forehead, trying to think. If he let Bela keep fighting the dragon alone, she'd get burnt to a crisp. But he didn't want to fight that thing. And he'd feel guilty sending Kendy in to fight it.

"Are you okay with trying to distract the dragon while Kendy and I look for the ring?" he asked Callister.

It wasn't the greatest plan, but it was all he had. Callister seemed to recognize that. He nodded, then stamped out his torch's flame and cast it aside. Drawing his sword and readying his shield, he leapt into the fray.

That left Britt and Kendy. Kendy looked to Britt, and he could see an anxiety attack about to bloom.

"It's alright." he said, trying his best to be soothing. He put a hand on her shoulder. "Just stick near me. I'm a healer. And trust me, Callister can keep the dragon well occupied."

She took a few deep breaths. "Okay. Let's go find that ring."

The two jumped down into the cavern, dropping to a crouch as they hit the stony floor. Kendy stayed behind Britt as he made his way to the edge of the treasure hoard.

Raising to full height, Britt swept his arms around and called on his wind magic. Summoning a powerful current, he directed it through one of the mounds of treasure, lifting hundreds of gold and silver trinkets in the windstream. He then directed the current around himself, scanning the bits of treasure for the signet ring. Unfortunately fire and ice magic weren't as well suited for sorting, so Kendy had to resort to sifting through the pile by hand.

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While the two mages continued their search, Bela was busy with the dragon. It had caught on that the girl could dodge its fire, so it had started trying to swipe at her with its wickedly sharp sickle claws. Each swing missed by just an inch - one came close, and Bela managed to shatter it with a punch. The dragon roared and staggered backwards. Down its throat, Bela could see a blast of fire taking shape - but she had backed herself into a corner. Nowhere to dodge!

"Nice one, breaking its claw like that!"

Shield extended, Callister hopped in at just the right moment to block the spray of flames. He could feel the intense heat on his face, only lowering his shield when it faded away.

"I'm here to help." he said, turning his attention to Bela. But to his surprise, she shoved him out of her way and stomped towards the dragon. "Hey!"

She looked back at him, and he gulped. It was like her face had transformed - her eyes reflected gold, orange, and red, like those of a predator at night. Her teeth had sharpened into deadly fangs, too. What was this?

"Don't get in my way!" she yelled, a deep growl from the depths of her throat.

The dragon's head shot forward in an attempt to bite her, but a mighty uppercut to the chin sent the beast staggering away. The impact rippled like a wave through the dragon's long neck. Callister blinked. Had she been that strong before?

He blinked again, then he smiled. Alright then, he'd stay out of her way.

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"This is taking too long!" Kendy balled up her hands and threw them against the ground in irritation. She wiped sweat from her forehead. "We're never gonna find this stupid ring!"

"Don't let the stress get to you!" Britt said, his focus kept on the pieces of gold suspended in the air. He had gone through four mounds of treasure using his wind current method and was working on a fifth. No sign of the ring yet. "Just keep looking, alright? As soon as we find the thing we can get out of here!"

"Uhm, Britt?" her voice had gone from tense with stress to shaky with fear. "The dragon...!"

His attention shot to the roaring beast. It had finally noticed the human going through its belongings, and didn't seem happy. Ignoring slashes and punches from the other two adventurers, it snorted out smoke and reared its head back. Dropping the treasure, Britt swung his hands up just in time. The dragon breathed a stream of fire at him, but it was redirected upwards with a column of swirling wind the mage projected forwards.

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"Kendy, find cover!" he shouted through grit teeth, using all his power and focus to keep the gale-force winds up.

When the dragon stopped its attack, he did too, then quickly tossed a blade of razor sharp wind at it. It sliced into its shoulder and the dragon retreated for a second. Britt used that opportunity to sweep up all the treasure he had already gone through with a powerful current and send it on a collision course with the dragon's head. Countless pieces of precious metal battered the roaring monster as Callister and Bela continued to attack it from the rear.

"Kendy?" he turned back to the girl, finding her hiding behind an antique gilded table that had found its way in the dragon's collection. She crept out.

"I'm okay." she said, brushing herself off. "L-let's keep looking. I want to get out of here..."

Suddenly, a burst of flame came from behind - not directed at Britt, but at Kendy. Crying out, she tried to leap away, but the flames enveloped half her body. She fell to the ground, rolling over in pain and screaming. Dark black smoke drifted up from the fire that was quickly ravaging her.

"Kendy!"

Britt summoned a gust of cool wind to blow out the flames, then leapt to her side. As he pressed his hands to the burnt area, he looked back. The dragon was being well contained at the moment by Callister and Bela... phew, no chance of another surprise attack. He cursed himself out for taking his eyes off the monster in the first place.

Focusing his magic, a soft white glow emanated from his hands and spread over Kendy's body. Most mages had two "affinities," or types of magic they could utilize, and this was his primary one. In a second, Kendy's twisted third degree burns shifted from charred black to raw red back to smooth pink. Her blonde hair that had been burnt off her scalp grew back too.

It was like nothing ever happened, no sign of injury, no scar tissue. Only her clothes, burnt up on one side, gave any clue that she had just been halfway roasted with dragon fire.

"You okay?" he asked Kendy. She sat up slowly and nodded, amazed at how quickly he had healed her. "Is the keystone safe?"

The girl placed a hand on her chest, pulling it out. "Yes it is." she answered, taking it and showing it to him.

"Alright." he bit his lip and looked back at Callister and Bela. They were keeping the dragon occupied, but it was nowhere near dead.

After a few moments of silent contemplation, he hung his head and sighed.

"Damn it..." he said, standing back up and straightening himself out. "Stick here and get ready to open the portal, I'm going to go get the others." 

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Callister had to say... he was impressed with himself. He might've just discovered First Ascalon's next big fighter.

It barely felt like he had to be there, the way Bela was handling herself with this dragon. His sword slashes either clanged off against the beast's scales or left only shallow cuts. Meanwhile, her punches clearly caused the dragon a lot of pain. She might not have intended it, but it was really a brilliant strategy. Obviously the monster's scales were near-impenetrable, but that didn't mean a good right hook couldn't rock its brain around in its skull.

Sword and shield at the ready, he watched Bela nail the dragon with a series of rapid fire jabs, switching arms with each one. She wasn't even giving it a chance to use its flame breath. Any time it tried to open its massive jaw, she forced it shut with a meaty uppercut and pummeled it even more as it was stunned.

Her eyes still glinted with that strange, shiny red-orange color that was like a fire of its own. Was she a mage of some kind? Callister had seen a lot, but nothing quite like that. He made a mental note to ask Pentworth about it later.

"Callister!"

Think of the devil. The swordsman turned his head to the side to see Britt running towards him.

"This is a bust!" he called out. "You two can't kill this thing before it kills one of you, and Kendy and I aren't gonna be able to find the ring before it kills one of us either. I say we cut our losses and head home."

Callister's mouth bent into a frown. Britt recognized the expression. It meant he was conflicted.

"I mean... abandon the whole quest? But then we fail..."

"Just gonna point out... that's not my fault." Britt held his hands up in front of his chest. "We could retreat but the thing will follow us. I say we portal back home and take a shot at it another time."

Callister seemed to consider it, then shook his head. "It's such a big payout, though... and they might hire another team in the meantime... what if we put all four of us on the dragon?"

"The rookies aren't gonna live through this, man." Britt was grim but honest. "Kendy already got blasted, and it's only a matter of time until Bela gets it too. I can't keep healing them forever."

"I don't know, Bela seems to be handling herself just fine. We've maybe got a shot at killing this thing."

Britt pointed over to the girl, and Callister's eyes followed. While he hadn't been paying attention, she had sustained a nasty wound on her arm from the dragon's claws, three jagged lines of torn skin. Somehow she was still fighting, completely unaffected. She might've been tough, but a fatal blow to the head or neck would surely put her down, and it seemed impossible she could kill the thing before taking one.

Callister sighed. Britt was right. It was inevitable.

"Alright... alright. I see your point." he was severely disappointed and it showed, but not angry.

"Kendy's gonna open the portal, go keep her safe." Britt said. "I'll get Bela."

Callister rushed off to the entrance, where Kendy was crouched and waiting. Alright... that just left Bela. Who was currently tangling with a massive dragon.

Britt readied himself to create a shield of wind at any moment, then rushed in. He got as close as he could, avoiding stray fire breath and claw swipes. "Bela!" he shouted.

Her eyes flicked to him, then back to the dragon. Up close, he could see that it wasn't just a trick of the light. They really had turned red. And were her teeth sharper, too?

"Bela!"

Ignored.

"Bela!"

Ignored again.

"Bela!"

"Shut up!" she punched the dragon right in the snout, and he could see a loose fang fly out as it retreated. Her voice had become much deeper and much more angry. "All you ever do is talk!"

"Don't you ignore me again, you stupid rookie!" Britt was already shouting, but he rose his voice even higher. "We're getting out of here!"

"Feel free to run away! But I'm killing this thing!"

That made him mad. This thick-headed nobody... who did she think she was talking to?

"You got us in this mess!" he screamed with all the force he could muster. "We would be out of here by now if it weren't for you!"

"I'm not a coward like you are!" she had turned around now, the dragon watching the two squabbling humans with confusion. Walking up to him, she got right in his face, lowering down a little to close the height gap. Those fiery eyes burned holes in his skull.

"When I see a monster, I kill it! I don't sneak around it like a little pussy bitch!"

Britt felt more and more anger rising up in him like waves of lava. It took every fiber of his being to keep himself from erupting, to keep his veins from popping, to keep his hands from balling into tight fists. Shutting his eyes, he took one deep breath in, and one deep breath out. Calm down, count to ten, calm down, count to ten...

"You're suicidal, that's what you are." he said finally, letting out a breath. "Let me patch you up..."

Britt reached for her, hand glowing with soft white light. He touched her wounded arm gently, and while he didn't quite see it, her face flushed red. Just as her torn flesh began to knit itself back together, she brought her other arm around and smacked him away.

"Get off of me!"

The young man wasn't just sent tumbling back... in all the pandemonium, he hadn't realized that he was standing right next to a drop. Staggering over the stone ledge, he felt himself fall a few feet.

Aaaaaah!!

He expected himself to land on hard stone, but his fall was broken by something big that shattered against his back. Something gooey seeped out from it, quickly covering him head to toe and saturating his clothing. Whatever it was, he did not like how it felt in his hair.

Britt struggled to stand up, nearly slipping on the strange slime. What the hell was this? He thought back to when he had first peeked his head into the chamber. There had only been one ledge that he picked out, the one that lead into that small nest of trees.

The nest which kept three huge eggs.

Frantically wiping his face off, he finally found footing. But he felt a gust of hot wind pass his body. Looking up with a shiver, he saw that the dragon was staring right down at him. It might have been a monster, but he could easily pick out the sorrow and pain in its predator glare. Her child had just been crushed before it was even born... slowly, that sadness shifted to rage.

Oh, crap.

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"Where's Britt?" Callister asked as Bela dashed up to him and Kendy. The red gleam had faded from her eyes, and her teeth looked normal again as well.

The girl didn't answer, but he could see guilt on her pale face.

"He fell." she said, avoiding his eyes.

"Fell where?"

Suddenly, all three adventurers heard Britt scream. And then, he shot high into the air on the opposite side of the cavern, propelled over the dragon by an invisible force. A wind assisted leap, Callister recognized. He hit the ground not too far away from them with the fire-breathing monster hot on his trail. Flames licked the heels of his boots as he rushed towards the rest of the party as fast as his legs could carry him.

"What is that stuff on him?" Kendy asked, baffled. He was covered in some kind of clear substance.

"No time for questions!" Callister shouted. "Portal, now!"

Clutching the keystone, Kendy drew a circle with it in the air. A glowing purple trail followed it, and when the ends met, a oval-shaped portal swirled into existence. The young mage was the first through, then Callister, then finally Bela - who only entered it reluctantly.

Britt was huffing and puffing as he tried to keep up his speed. He could see the portal only a few yards away, feel the heat of dragon fire on his back. He only had a few more moments before that thing collapsed.

Summoning a gust of wind to propel himself, he made a last ditch dive for the portal. He flew through, flopping onto the hardwood floor of First Ascalon headquarters face-first. A blast of fire followed him, but was cut off when the portal winked shut. The heat had only just faded as he climbed to his feet.

Everyone was staring at him. Every single adventurer in the lobby was staring right at him. It was probably the egg.

"Is that egg?" Callister asked as Britt doubled over, trying to catch his breath.

"Yeah." he said, coughing and wiping off more of his face. "It's egg."

A few people laughed, and he felt his cheeks burn red. He turned to Bela, who was trying her best to look unaffected and innocent.

"You dumbass!" he stood up straight and jabbed a finger right at her chest. "You almost got me killed! No, you almost got us all killed!"

She remained silent. Callister did, too, crossing his arms and trying to think of something to say. But Kendy spoke up.

"If you hadn't woke up that dragon, we'd have the ring!" she pulled the burnt remnant of her coat over herself. "You ruined everything."

"The ring?" Bela asked. She opened her hand. "I've got it right here."

Britt's eyes shot open wide. He grabbed her wrist and yanked her hand over with surprising strength, and she let it happen. Yes, right there, right in her palm...

"Three emeralds in a triangle shape, all in a setting of a silver band." the words came slowly. Britt's disbelieving gaze moved from the ring to Bela's eyes, then back and forth a few times. He stammered for his next words, but nothing came.

Kendy was shocked quiet as well. But Callister's mouth split into a wide grin.

"Yes!" he clapped Bela on the back, laughing and whooping. "We did it!"

Britt still didn't believe his eyes. He snatched the ring from her palm - getting a not insignificant amount of egg goop on it - and held it up to the light, turning it over and over as if somehow the girl had forged a counterfeit when he wasn't looking.

"When did you even get it?" he asked.

"How's it matter?" Callister said, still celebrating. "Tomorrow we can pop back to Durandal and get paid!"

"It was snagged on one of the dragon's scales. I managed to pull it off while I was fighting it." Bela answered with a shrug. "So, your dumb 'look through all the treasure' plan wouldn't have even worked."

If she had stopped there, maybe he wouldn't have lashed out. But she just had to add those extra four words.

"Who's the rookie now?"

Something inside of Britt just snapped.

He had over three hundred completed quests under his belt. He was one of the most respected members of First Ascalon. He had reached 4-star rank - the second highest you could get - the earliest out of anyone in the entire guild, and he was well on his way to 5-star too.

And now, this girl, this dumb rookie cunt who had nearly gotten everyone killed, had the audacity to say that to him.

Britt shot his hand forward, launching a gale-force burst of wind that hurled Bela back. She crashed into a thick wooden table halfway across the lobby, breaking it to splinters. The action had been almost on instinct. He hadn't realized what he had done until it had already happened.

"Pentworth..." Callister took a step back. Every other adventurer was backing up too, shock on their faces. Some, however, looked excited to see a fight. "Britt, man, calm down..."

On the other side of the lobby, Bela rose up to her feet. She cracked her neck. Staring her down, Britt could see her green eyes go red, her teeth sharpen, her muscles bulge even tighter beneath her skin.

She grabbed one of the broken halves of the table, lifted it up, and snapped it in two like it was a tiny twig.

By now, the tension in the room was thick. But before either of the adventurers could break it, someone else stepped in and did it for them.

"What is going on here?"

Everyone's attention turned to the stately old woman who had just stepped in through the front doors. It was none other than Winnona Winthorpe, the Guildmaster of First Ascalon, number one leader of the guild. Despite her age she was a commanding presence, and as she strode to the center of the hall both Britt and Bela dropped their stances.

"Just a disagreement, ma'am." Bela said.

Disagreement. Britt let out a sour laugh internally. Yeah, that was one word for it.

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Guildmaster Winthorpe might not have looked like it, but back in her day she was a force to be reckoned with. Britt just always forgot how much of a force to be reckoned with she had been. Mounted on her office walls were the heads and pelts of a zoo's worth of ferocious monsters, from goblins to dragons to ugly, vicious-looking things Britt didn't even know the name of. Even the so-far unflappable Bela seemed impressed, looking around at the trophy collection with awe in her eyes.

Both the adventurers were sat in ornately carved wooden chairs. Behind them was the door that lead into the hallway, and in front of them was Winthorpe's antique desk. Like her walls, it was covered in keepsakes of her past quests. Phoenix feathers in a small bottle, a large shard of an emperor dragon egg under glass, and bits of rare treasure looted from ancient tombs. Things that belonged in museums, basically.

Winthorpe was still outside, attending to some business with a few rookie adventurers. On the way to her office, Britt had used his wind magic to blow the egg goop off himself and his healing magic to patch up the minor wounds he had recieved back in the dragon's den. He'd still have to spend a few hours shampooing and a fortune at the cleaners to get the egg out of his hair and clothes, though.

"When you hit the egg, could you feel the little baby dragon inside?" Bela asked idly.

He was tempted to ignore her, but Britt gave the girl an answer. It was just too weird a question.

"A little bit." he said. "It was just some fleshy thing near me, I only felt it on my back."

"Was it moving?" she shifted in her seat to face him. She had the curiosity of a child.

"Not after I crushed it."

She snorted. "So I guess we did kill a dragon after all."

That was almost funny.

"Wouldn't be my first." Britt decided to brag, if only to try and mend his bruised ego. If only his healing magic worked on that.

"You've killed a dragon before?" Bela snorted. "How, did you blow it to death? Or heal it to death?"

"I've been on 5-star dragon slayings." Like adventurers, quests were ranked too. The mission they had just been on was a 3-star - item retrievals were low, but anything involving a dragon was high. So it got the ranking right in the middle. "Multiple, in fact."

"Oh, I see." she said. "So you were healing the people who were actually killing the dragon."

Britt's face twisted into a bitter frown. She didn't know it, but she had touched a nerve. Britt thought the girl was lucky, if they were any other place he'd blast her away again for saying that...

The door opened behind them, and Winthorpe walked in. Bela sat back up straight as the guildmaster took her seat. A pair of pince-nez spectacles sat on a disarranged stack of paper atop her desk, which she took and rested on the bridge of her nose. Tilting her head up, she looked down through them at Britt and Bela, then shifted around some of the papers on her desk.

"Apologies for the mess." she said.

"Apologies for the table." Britt said. "The one in the lobby, I mean."

"I'm sorry too." Bela said. "I shouldn't have been in the way of it, ma'am."

"Don't apologize for that and don't call me ma'am." Winthorpe said to Bela. She switched over to Britt. "And are you making a joke out of it? Do you know how much that table cost?"

"No, no, I was just... apologizing. For real." he said, holding his hands in front of his chest. "And whatever it is, I'll pay you back."

"You mean your parents will pay me back." Winthorpe said.

Britt lowered his hands, wringing them over his lap. They were trembling a little. He thought Winthorpe liked him, he had been buttering her up for weeks about the 5-star promotion! Or, well, maybe she pegged him as just brown-nosing...

"So, lets see here." she pulled out two pieces of paper from the heap and scanned them over, giving them that same odd pince-nez look down. "Britt, I know you. 4-star rank, been here a few years. Bela, you're new. Fourth quest and you're already proving to be trouble. What happened?"

"A disagreement, I told you." Bela said.

The guildmaster studied her with an eyebrow raised, then turned to Britt.

"Well, we were... just kind of arguing the entire quest. It got a little violent near the end. I grabbed her arm to heal her, but she mistook it as me trying to grab her I think. She hit me and I fell into the dragon's nest."

"That explains the egg." Winthorpe said, following along. "Reminds me, gonna have to get the hallway carpet cleaned."

"Yes... the egg." Britt cleared his throat. "Yeah, then that 'disagreement' kinda carried over into the lobby. Sorry, it wont happen again."

"You bet your ass it wont."

Britt felt a twinge of excitement at that. Maybe it meant he and Bela would never have to see each other again.  After a few seconds of deliberation, the guildmaster spoke again.

"Well, you know I can't have my adventurers fighting. Word breaks out about that and people will start looking to other guilds - both to hire from and to work for. Synergy is a big part of what makes a guild successful, and when you have people fighting, it breaks synergy. Not just between them, but the friends they've made."

"I understand that completely." Britt cut in.

"I'm still talking." the guildmaster took her glasses off and put them down on the table. "I could separate you two... but that would break synergy. So, instead, I'm going to build synergy. For your next 20 quests, you two will be working as a party of two. Hopefully that's enough time for you two to build up a nice, strong bond."

Britt's jaw dropped. He snuck a look over at Bela expecting a similar expression of surprise, but she had a wry smirk on her face instead.

"Works perfectly for me." she said. "I can beat things up, and he can hide behind me and heal."

"Excellent." the guildmaster was amused. Folding her hands on her desk, she stifled a yawn. "Well, you two can go now."

Bela glanced at Britt, then stood up and left. Britt got up from his chair too, but lingered a bit.

"Something to say, Mr. Pentworth?" Guildmaster Winthorpe asked.

"Yes, actually." he rested a hand on the top of the chair he had been sitting in. "Are you sure this is the best course of action?"

"Are you questioning me?"

"Yes I am."

She stared at him, then cracked a smile. "Well, I guess you're not just a kiss-ass after all. Yes, I do think this is the best course of action, that's why I took it. Have fun with Bela."

"I don't think I will, honestly." he said.

"Well, guess what? Adventuring isn't all fun. Being a good adventurer isn't about having a good time, or getting a big rank, it's about making money for the guild. And maybe helping people along the way."

Winthorpe stood up and stepped around her desk, looking around at all the heads on her wall. Britt tracked her, shoving his hands in his pockets. They were still gross and eggy.

"Part of being a good adventurer is being able to work with people you don't like." the woman continued. "You think I was friends with everyone I ever went on a quest with? No, I hated half those people. But I worked with them anyways. Hopefully you learn a thing or two from this experience, Britt. Who knows, maybe you'll even grow to like the girl."

"Doubtful." he said under his breath.

Turning to face him, the woman gave him a smile. "Well, I'll see you around. I hope you find it fair if I dock your pay from the Durandal quest to pay for replacing that table and cleaning the carpet?"

He sighed. "Yeah, fair enough."

As he headed out of Winthorpe's office, Britt thought the day over in his head. Sometimes he hated how much he thought about things. If he could just stop thinking for one moment, maybe he could be happy for a few seconds.

He tried that out. But it was hard not to think when his hair was all sticky.

"Ugh." he kicked at nothing. He needed to go take a bath...