Oh no. Mina scrambled to her feet and turned to peer through the portal as she fumbled with her boots.

"Who are you?" Ir'alith demanded in an exceptionally hostile tone. Her long neck swung back behind herself to look around, but Vol had already returned to stand in front of her.

"Nah, you're not a dragon," Vol said. "Dragons're bigger."

"Mina, remain beyond the gate while I kill this pest," Ir'alith said.

"No, no, Ir'alith, it's okay," Mina said hurriedly. These confounded laces are so much more difficult to tie when I'm attempting to rush!

"Ohhh, so this is the breath-stealing attack," Vol said. "Which means you're the one who attacked Salonina last night?"

Ir'alith's giant form rapidly shrank until she'd retaken the more compact, scaled one she'd assumed the previous night. She assumed a fighting stance just as Mina dashed through the portal while throwing her scarf around her neck.

"Please, you needn't fight!" Mina called out, waving her hands.

"Mina, return to the other side of the gate," Ir'alith said. "This one is dangerous. It is not human."

"What?!" Vol exclaimed. She turned to look back at Mina. "Don't believe this shit, I'm so fucking human." She leaned backwards, narrowly dodging a strike from Ir'alith's claws. "See? If I wasn't," she continued talking while twisting slightly to evade a tail strike, "human, why the fuck would," she took a step to the side and hopped, barely avoiding a sweep to her legs, "I bother dodging?"

Ir'alith sprang backwards. "If you were human, you would be near death from lack of breath." She tilted her helmeted head down and tensed her body for another attack. "What are you?"

"Hey, that was a good rhyme!" Vol said, looking back and forth between the shivering Mina and the pouncing Ir'alith. "Wasn't that good?"

Ir'alith snarled and leapt forward again, bouncing off some manner of invisible ceiling in midair to alter her leap as she struck with her tail.

Vol ducked the strike, at the same time hopping backwards in a beguiling display of nimbleness as a gout of flame consumed her previous position. "Mina, if you consider her a friend, make her stop before there's bones to mend." She batted away a claw strike with her hand, and the simple motion sent Ir'alith spinning away to the side.

"Ir'alith, please, you've no need to fight," Mina called again as she clutched her arms around herself. "She's simply a friend of Carl's, the same as you!"

Ir'alith landed on her feet and paused. "You? A friend of Carl?"

Vol puffed up a little. "Yeah! I—Hey, you're Carl's friend too?" She frowned.

Mina clasped the bridge of her nose. Oh my, why is this so difficult. The surrounding air suddenly grew warmer, and she let out a sigh of relief. "My thanks, Ir'alith," she said.

"What are your intentions towards Carl?" Ir'alith asked. The scales visible between her armor changed from a deep blue to a lighter shade of purple.

Surely not… Mina let out another sigh, this one from frustration.

"Intentions?" Vol tilted her head. "What the fuck does that mean? We're just friends. We hang out and do fun shit together. Wait, you're Ir'alith?"

"I am," Ir'alith said, still sounding wary. "You are strong, friend of Carl."

"Call me Vol. I'm the strongest," Vol said.

"No, I am the strongest," Ir'alith countered.

Vol tapped her chin a few times. "Nah, I'm way fucking stronger. Trust me."

Ir'alith paused for a moment. "I ch—" A ball of snow hit her in the front of her helmet.

Vol was already holding a second one. "If you're Carl's friend, we're not gonna fight, but I'll throw snowballs at you until you accept it." She tossed the snow at Ir'alith, but her tail blocked it.

A different ball of snow hit Ir'alith in the same spot in the front of her helmet.

Mina stared at Vol, who was still holding a ball of snow. I don't believe she moved after tossing the first one?

Vol threw her ball of snow straight up into the air.

Another ball of snow struck Ir'alith in the exact same spot.

Vol caught a ball of snow and grinned. "This is fun, right?"

Mina giggled. At least she's not changed. Ooh, I wonder… She sneakily bent down and collected a rough blob of snow, then tossed it towards Vol, who was still watching Ir'alith.

It struck the other woman in the chest, and she looked down at herself in dismay. "Fuck, now my shirt's all wet," she grumbled.

I was certain she'd avoid that. Mina giggled again despite herself. "I'm terribly sorry, I'd aimed for your face."

"I will accept that you are a friend of Carl," Ir'alith said. "Mina and I seek to accomplish a task. Do not slow our progress."

"Vol, I'm aiding Ir'alith with…a matter of truly minor significance," Mina said, walking closer to the other woman. "I believe it'd be for the best if you returned to—"

"What?" Vol gave her a disbelieving look. "Nah, I'm not gonna miss a chance to hang out with the Queen of fucking Demons! Can't believe you know her too!"

Mina grimaced. Perhaps I can persuade her to—

"So where're we going?" Vol said as she looked back and forth between them. "Stop wasting time, let's go!"

"Vol, we're attempting a rigorous development of science," Mina tried. "I've no doubt you'll be quite interested by—"

"Yeah, yeah, sounds really fucking boring, but I'm still gonna go," Vol said. She looked around. "We doing this rigorous science shit here, or are we going somewhere else?"

Mina groaned inwardly. This muscle-brained woman will surely disrupt our plans. I'd hoped to further our tests with Valgud's scrap finder tonight as well!

"Mina, I will leave the decision to you," said Ir'alith. She began to change, growing once more into her dragon form.

If she's truly more powerful than Ir'alith, I've no desire to anger her. Is possessing such strength even possible for a human? Mina chewed on her lip. Vol did appear to have no difficulty evading all manner of attacks, but—

A ball of snow struck her in the shoulder, and Mina frowned.

"Stop fucking about. Let's go," Vol called. "Where're we going?"

Mina sighed. "Alright, you may accompany us. Ir'alith, have you brought Valgud already?" She floated into the air, grimacing again at the discomfort of it.

"Oh, hey, I'm floating," Vol said as she floated next to her.

"I have," Ir'alith confirmed. "I prevented him from bringing any of his thinking brews, and I did not allow him to bring his thinking pipe."

Good news at last. "I imagine he should be considerably more productive in this case."

Ir'alith leapt into the air and began flying swiftly through the night sky.

"Who's Valgud?"

"Valgud is a dwarf from—"

"You know a fucking dwarf?!"

Mina fought to avoid clasping the bridge of her nose as she frequently did when she was irritated. "Yes, Vol, I am acquainted with a dwarf. He's been assisting us with this task of—"

"What task?"

"It is not your concern," Ir'alith said. "I have accepted you as a friend of Carl's, but I do not trust you."

"Then why're you bringing me along?"

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Mina clasped the bridge of her nose. I'd thought her irritating before, but she's somehow—

"Hey, I'm just trying to figure out why Carl's almost-daughter is hanging out with his friend, the Queen of Demons, while he's asleep," Vol said. "It's really fucking interesting!"

It felt as though her scarf was just a little warmer at the reminder, and Mina squeezed the edge of it with her fingers. "It's… We've become friends as well," Mina said, attempting to avoid speaking about the issue.

"Oh, so you guys hang out sometimes when he's not around?" Vol was peering down off the side of Ir'alith's back. "I get it," she called over her shoulder, "sometimes you just wanna do things without worrying about him landing on his fucking head all the time."

Landing on his head? He's not spoken to me about this. It's a good job I'd requested Ir'alith place a durability glyph on those sun-blocking glasses if what she says is true.

"So, Ir'alith, you guys—nah, that feels wrong… You demons really hate humans, huh?"

"I cannot speak for my kin," Ir'alith said, "but my hatred extends to only those who have wronged those of the other races. I speak of the dwarves, the elves—"

"I spent time with an elf this morning," Vol interrupted, now laying on her back. "He's got great legs."

"Vol, when you say you've spent time with this elf," Mina said, her interest piqued, "could you perhaps elaborate?"

Vol looked up at her with a confused expression that was illuminated by the glow of Ir'alith's armor. "Yeah, if you wanna know. Uh… Well, first we woke up, and we—well, just him—were a little tired since we spent most of the night fucking, but then he w—"

"You did what to an elf?!" Ir'alith snarled.

"Uh, you really want the details? Okay, um, let me think b—"

"I believe she's concerned you may have fornicated with this elf against his will," Mina interjected.

"What?!" Vol cried. "Hey, I'll have you know I stopped when he said he was too sensitive, even th—"

Ir'alith roared.

"To be quite clear," Mina said quickly, "would he happen to have been wearing a pink collar around his throat?"

Vol gave her a disgusted look. "I forget you're a fucking Char sometimes. Obviously Sylmare's not wearing a fucking collar. What kind of fun would that be?"

It's quite a revelation speaking about this with someone from outside Charus Kingdom, even if that someone is Vol. I suppose I'd somehow believed that all humans thought as we—as they did.

"This Sylmare is your lover?" Ir'alith asked.

"Eh, not sure I'd go that far? We like hanging out, and we like fucking, but it's not like we always wanna be together."

She speaks as Carl does with some of the same outworlder words and phrases, though she does so in the Stadalite language. Is she also… No, she's already spoken of being raised in the Empire. How strange. "How did you ever manage to meet an elf?"

"Why am I getting asked all the questions?"

"Well, you've forced your way into our gathering, so perhaps you might consider this the price of accompanying us," Mina replied.

"Fine, fine. If I think back… Fuck, that was a long time ago. But not really. I was traveling the world looking for people with great legs to fuck, and I realized I'd never fucked an elf. So I—"

"I've already begun to regret my question."

"I as well."

"If you're gonna ask, then you're gonna have to listen to the fucking answer. So I decided to start looking for some elves. I heard they liked to live in forests, so I checked forests all over until I found some elves. Then I saw Sylmare's legs, and I persuaded him that what he'd always wanted was to fuck a human."

"I see."

"I do not understand. It is said that elven males do not often desire sex. They would not seek a human woman over the chance to breed with one of their own."

"I can be really persuasive when I wanna be."

"Somehow I'm skeptical of that claim."

"Got you to stop sitting around crying in your chair, didn't I?"

"Ooh, why must you remind me of those days!"

"Cheer up, princess, it's been hours since you last cried now."

"We have arrived."

Mina scowled at Vol as Ir'alith landed near the lanterns. "You've no need to be cruel about it. I've apologized as much as I'm capable."

Vol sat up, then stood up and looked down at the shorter girl. "Apologies are one thing, actually changing is something else. If you win tomorrow's race, I'll accept that you've changed. Okay, princess?" She gave a false smile before hopping off the side of Ir'alith's wing.

"This is pretty fucking far away," Vol called out. "Where the fuck even are we?"

Perhaps she's correct in a certain sense. Mina took a deep breath. Tomorrow I'll need to race while Emma watches. I'm certain she'll be present. If I'm unable to conquer my fear at that time… She carefully dropped off the side of Ir'alith's huge body and started heading for the smaller shape in front of Jungrathol. No, I've no time to think of that now.

"It's you!" Vol exclaimed as she neared the red giant, pointing at him.

"Fast human!" Jungrathol said as he continued to hold the machine down. "I remember you."

Vol turned around with wide eyes for a moment before turning back to him. "I can understand you now! Hey, what the fuck! I just wanted to go hang out with all you g—demons!"

"Who are you?" Valgud's surly voice called out.

Vol gasped. "A dwarf!"

"What gave me away? Was it my height or my beard?" Valgud's face seemed set in a permanent glare.

"Valgud, Jungrathol, this is Vol," Mina said. "She's…a friend of Carl's."

"Alright, now get out of my way so I can keep settin' this up." Valgud waved for Vol to move, but she only moved closer to the machine.

"And what the—Huh." Vol tapped her chin. "This thing's really fucking big," she said as she looked at the machine.

"Yes, it is indeed," Mina said coming up next to her. She gently prodded the other woman. "If you'll step aside and, ideally, remain aside, we've a task to accomplish."

Vol shrugged. "Okay." She walked a few steps to the side. "So Jungrathol—that's a really fucking long name—why didn't you let me in when I tried to hang out that time?"

"I cannot use magic. I could not let you in if I wanted. You are human though, so I would not let you in."

"Valgud, what've you come up with?" Mina asked as she walked over to him.

"You had more horns back then, didn't you?"

"I did."

"Almost nothing since I can't even have a damn drink while I'm out of my workshop today," Valgud grumbled. "Made this new scrap finder today though. It's—"

Vol started laughing. "Scrap finder?"

Valgud glowered at her. "Yep, scrap finder." He hefted the large cylinder of iron with copper cables wrapped around it. "Got a problem with dwarven naming?"

Vol started walking back towards their landing site. "Nah, it's a great name. I know exactly what it does. Gonna hang out back here for a while. Let me know when you need me."

"Sorta annoying," Valgud muttered.

"Yes, I'm well aware," Mina said. "Have you tested this one yet? I note that it's considerably larger. I assume that makes it more powerful?"

"Yep, provided we get enough lightning into it," Valgud said, patting it with one hand. He turned back towards their magic-user. "Ir'alith, you…" he stopped speaking, continuing to stare blankly.

Mina turned her head to see what he was staring at and groaned.

Vol was sitting in her reclining chair, which was partially reclined, with a large mug held to her mouth and a keg on the ground next to her. "Keep going, you're doing great," she said, raising her mug in a toast.

Valgud tossed the scrap finder on the ground, then he marched over to Ir'alith and stood with his hands on his sides. "What's goin' on here?" he demanded. One arm whipped out to point accusingly at Vol. "She can bring her thinkin' brew, but I have to work out here in the fucking desert?"

"I—"

"Hey, Valgud, I brought more mugs if you wanna drink with me," Vol called. "Always wanted to try drinking with a dwarf."

The speed with which Valgud changed locations was quite remarkable given his short stature.

"Is that by chance a dwarven seal I see on that keg?" Valgud said as he fawned over the small barrel.

"Yeah, I bought it the other day when Carl and I were throwing cars at the castle in Charus City."

"Valgud," Mina began.

"Don't you Valgud me," Valgud said. "Can't be keepin' a dwarf from his drink when work time's over!"

"Here," Vol said, holding out a second mug.

Valgud took it, and the keg started to float away.

"There will be no thinking brews tonight," Ir'alith said.

Vol clamped a hand to the top of the keg, holding it in place. "Perfect height."

"Sure is," Valgud said with a slight giggle. "Where's this from anyway?" He pulled on the spigot.

Mina clasped the bridge of her nose yet again. It's going to be quite the long night, isn't it.

"Charus City, like I just said."

"No, I mean…" Valgud paused while he drank from his mug. "Who made it?"

"Uh… I was in a hurry, so I just bought up all the kegs I could."

Valgud immediately brought his mug back to his mouth and gulped repeatedly. "All the kegs?" he asked after letting out a belch. "Vol, I'm feelin' like maybe we got off to a bad start."

"This is just like I always imagined," Vol said while Valgud refilled his mug. "Drinking with a dwarf really does make it taste better."

"Ah, fuck," Valgud said calmly as he finished another gulp and stared down at his mug. "This is a little too strong for a thinkin' brew."

"Ir'alith, perhaps we might continue on our own while they get acquainted," Mina said while she worked to pick up the scrap finder. This is quite a lot heavier than Valgud made it appear.

"Yes, that is wise."

"I believe we've a need to test the effective range," Mina continued. She walked the scrap finder forward until she was a few steps away from the machine before setting it back down. "If you could—"

"Step away," Ir'alith said.

Mina retreated several paces to the side, standing next to the large lodestone Valgud had used the night prior.

A blast of crackling lightning shot out and struck the scrap finder, persisting while she watched.

"Jungrathol, do you sense the machine weakening?"

"Some," he replied.

The scrap finder floated into the air and moved forward.

"It is very weak now," he said when the scrap finder was roughly two steps away.

"That's sufficient, Ir'alith." The lightning ceased, and Mina grimaced. I'd hoped for a much more significant increase over the smaller one. If I assume the same increase in size—

"Right," Valgud said as he sidled up next to her, mug in hand, "m'all set now. Valgud capacity at thinkin'."

Vol giggled. "Fuck, this is stronger than!"

"What's it lookin' like?" Valgud asked. He took a sip from his mug. "Test the Valgud missed."

Mina blinked at him. "Perhaps you'd mind repeating that?"

He frowned. "Said I missed the first test. You Valgud your losin'?" He took another sip.

Mina tipped her head back and let out a sigh. I've made a terrible mistake.

Valgud ambled forward a couple steps, then turned around and continued walking backwards until he reached the scrap finder. "This as far as it worked?"

"So it would seem."

Valgud stroked his beard. "That's far very Valgud."