Geebo clung on to the cloud for dear life, and stared daggers at Aunarox's back.

Not for the first time he considered reaching around and ripping her throat open.

And not for the first time he pushed it down, buried it inside. This new form was much more violent than his old one, and it was... troublesome.

Besides, I can't throat her, or master will... master will...

Master wouldn't do a damn thing. Master had nuzzled him when Aunarox let him out of the ring. At this point he could probably steal Master's hoard, and the dragon wouldn't care.

That just wasn't right!

Geebo was a minion! He had the job to prove it, too!

But he just couldn't fear Master anymore. And this was seriously messing with his skills, at the worst possible time. He would be going up against players, trying to steal back a dragon's egg, while the buff that would help him do that was diminishing by the second.

Agnezsharron: We are getting close. Halt where you are. I shall prepare us.

The flap of mighty wings ahead, and the great green dragon loomed out of the darkness. “Mass Camouflage,” she rumbled, and Geebo stared as Aunarox and Agnezsharron both went transparent, fading from his view. He couldn't see them at all!

This was the power of a high level scout, he knew. Agnezsharron had a century or two on Master, at the very least.

“A good start,” Aunarox said from just ahead of him. “Let me layer our defenses. Phantasm.”

“Unobtrusive,” Geebo whispered. That was from his Servant job. It was small help, especially with his fear of Master down, but every little bit was a tiny bit more between him and horrible death.

The cloud touched down and he hopped off into the frozen streets of the forgotten city. They were brick-lined, glittering like obsidian to match the stone of the towering buildings to all sides. Harsh, yellow light spilled out of deep carvings in each building's front, illuminating the streets below with a sickly, jaundiced glare.

It didn't take a dragon's senses to tell why they'd touched down here. A battle raged to the south, and the screams of the dying mixed with the excited whoops of players.

It had to be players. They alone in this world felt no pain, cared nothing for death. Carnage was a joy to most of them, just another well-done feature in a world that gave them everything.

And it presented another problem.

Geebo: We are going to get stupider the closer we get to that.

Aunarox: Their curse would affect us regardless. We must steal the egg from them, there is no way to do that without approaching.

Agnezsharron: It does not affect me. I shall transform into a small creature, and move in. I need you to wait for the ideal moment to distract them, and do so. When you get my signal, I need you to get their attention. After that you can flee.

Aunarox: It has the virtue of simplicity, but there are many things that could go wrong with this plan...

Agnezsharron: And no time for a more complex one. Are you coming or am I doing this alone?

Geebo: We come. Please give us time to get into position, Mas... um, Great One.

She didn't reply to that, and Geebo loped across the ground, keeping his head low and his eyes moving. He could not see Aunarox, could only trust that she was following.

And after he rounded the corner and saw what lay before him, he forgot his worries about Aunarox. There were far more pressing concerns at hand.

A vast square lay before him, filled with twisted statues. All were bowed, paying homage to an enormous, looming shape that suggested a cross between a structure and a seashell.

Then it was gone.

Geebo blinked, and it was back again. But when he shifted his gaze a bit, it disappeared again.

This must be the seal. It is blocking this building off from reality.

WHUMP!

Fire exploded out from behind a line of statues, and bodies went flying. Whoops and cheers mingled with screaming, and barked shouts to get back in there!

At the western edge of the square, four stood against an army.

And they were winning.

“Grand Challenge!” Roared Tankitaway, and Geebo felt his eyes drawn to the armored figure, wielding a sword made of flame and a shield of golden light.

You are affected by Tankitaway's Grand Challenge!

You may not target other enemies with skills!

“Shit!” roared a frustrated voice. “Bring down the walls again! Regular shots on the mage, everyone else drop the tank!”

Geebo recognized the yeller. One of master's recruits, now wearing the armor of Mayhew's troops. And he wasn't alone, almost everyone else who had been training in the village was here, leading Mayhew's army against the Warmers.

Master had been right not to trust them. Geebo was only sorry that he hadn't killed them more often.

The front lines advanced on Tankitaway, bringing shields and blades up, while the ranks behind them leveled polearms. These were all regular people, Geebo knew. They were too frightened to be anything else. They would die and die and die, just so that their players had the chance to get in a few solid hits.

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And then one of the players behind them stumbled, and fell.

“Rogue!” The guy with the frustrated voice yelled. “Rogue rogue rogue get on him!”

Aunarox: Ah, THERE is the CaptainStabyn.

Geebo: And Geebo sees the other two of their group!

Doctorhealgood and Boombabe were crouched between two of the statues. Boombabe had her hands extended, blasting the ground with a yellow light so bright that it hurt Geebo's eyes. Shielding them, he peered at the ground, noting the very large symbol she was carving into the street. That had to be eldritch, it was too grotesque to be anything but sinister occult bullshit.

Blue walls flickered around them as arrows missed Tankitaway and rattled off walls of force.

Aunarox: We have a problem. I cannot get too close.

Geebo: Why not?

Aunarox: The traitor who built the most faction with me is in that mob. I will be rendered stupid and compelled to aid him if I approach. I hate this slavery! Ah, already I feel the tug from here. It is so hard to resist...

Geebo: What is his name?

Aunarox: Mike. Mike Oxbig.

Agnezsharron: I can kill him if you like. It would mean breaking cover, but I will be doing that soon anyway.

Aunarox: No! I would hate you if you did that! I would surely ruin your plans.

Geebo: You do not have to get close to help. All we have to do is not attack him.

Agnezsharron: This means I cannot use my breath to fight them. This is a problem.

Aunarox: Perhaps I should go...

Geebo: No, wait! Hold on. How would your breath affect them anyway, Great One? They are hiding in a box made of magical walls.

Agnezsharron: They still need to breathe. The box has airholes in it, I am sure. My spores would fill it, and they would wither.

Aunarox: Does the damage prevent healing?

Agnezsharron: No. Though it does sap agility, if the fungus takes a firm enough hold in the flesh.

Aunarox: So it would not be a guaranteed kill...

Geebo: We are not trying to kill them! We are trying to get back your egg, great one.

Agnezsharron: It is not my egg... but you are correct. And brave. Rotgoriel, you allow your servant too much latitude.

Rutger: I am busy!

Geebo: So spores would get through the air holes, and they need to breathe. Aunarox, you can control the air. Can you pull it out of there? Remove the air until they suffocate, like the Boombabe did to Master?

Aunarox: I can try...

Vapor started steaming out from the edges of the blue walls. Copper gleamed as Boombabe looked up, and the yellow cutting light ceased. She waved a hand, and the vapor stopped.

Aunarox: Her power is a thing out of legend! I fear I cannot win in a direct struggle. Perhaps if she was distracted...

After a moment, Boombabe made a gestures, and the yellow light flared again. She kept one hand waving in the air, but the other played the light along the ground, carving the diagram.

Geebo: Geebo feels we are on the right track. Think. Think! Earth. Could earth control be used to break up the thing they are drawing?

Agnezsharron: Yes, but it is a thing we do not have.

Geebo: But do the traitors have it? We could let them know this is a good tactic...

Agnezsharron: That is a thought, but they put a floating slab of rock into the sky. That took both earth and air control. Quite a lot of it. The traitor army does not seem to have anyone as powerful. Perhaps that lich, but he is not here.

Geebo: Fire? Fire would consume the air... and the Boombabe used fire control when she slew Master. No good. That leaves water.

Aunarox: I do not believe they have skill with that.

Geebo: What makes you say that?

Aunarox: We are in a land filled with snow and ice, and they did nothing with it at any point that we saw.

Agnezsharron: This is our angle of attack. But we have no control of water either.

Geebo: But we have illusions, and an enemy army, and I remember at least two of them becoming Water Elementalists while we were training them...

They discussed, as the battle raged on nearby. Geebo watched, biting his claws as the anxiety bubbled in his stomach. Tankitaway was out of potions now, it looked like. But every so often DoctorHealGood would look up from where he was crouching, and a flash of light would show that he was healing his friend.

Aunarox: Get ready!

A fountain burst to life above the group, raining water down on the walls of force. And from somewhere in the crowd, a voice called “Create more water and force it in! Flood them out!”

Then the fountain flickered and was gone. Geebo held his breath...

...and let it go as water appeared out of nowhere, splashing down onto the walls and moving against the flow, worming into the space they'd cleared.

Steam burst up from where the yellow light hit the newly-encroaching fluid, and Boombabe stood again. She waved a hand and the wall behind her disappeared. Water flowed out, and immediately Mayhew's forces shouted and tried to push forward. Tried. Failed, as CaptainStabyn leaped among them, slashing them down as fast as they went.

But Geebo didn't pay that much attention.

Geebo saw the water splashing, as footsteps appeared in it.

Halven-sized footsteps.

Geebo: Cole! Cole is here!

He was moving as he whispered, running for all he was worth, and he was close enough to see Boombabe finish her work, and DoctorHealGood reach into his robes, and pull out something that shimmered and glimmered and danced, green runes over red light. Crystalline and glorious, and something in him recognized it.

This is the egg!

“Pickpocket!”

Benedict Cucumberpatch appeared out of thin air, and the gem was in his hand now. DoctorHealGood whipped around, but the halven was already fleeing, shouting as he went. “Fast as Death! Camouflage!”

And if DoctorHealGood and Boombabe had been his only worry, he would have gotten away clean.

But Geebo's hearing was a thing of beauty, even if his eyes weren't so good. And his nose had sharpened, he'd gained the Scents and Sensibility skill when his body changed. He barreled straight into Cole, heard the man cry as he bowled him over, and ripped into the halven with his claws and teeth as he struggled.

STR+1

Your Brawling skill is now level 17!

Your Brawling skill is now level 18!

“Curse your strength two hundred...” Cole tried. “Shit!”

He couldn't use skills on Geebo. And Geebo couldn't use skills on him. But Geebo had six feet of height, four times his mass, and a whole lot of sharp pointy bits that didn't need skills to hurt.

“Grand Challenge really sucks,” Geebo agreed, before he bit Cole's throat out. The man choked and died, the egg rolling free. Geebo lashed out and scooped it up.

We won!

And then a cool female voice spoke behind him. “Fireball.”

I'm dead.

WHUMP!

The earth shook.

Light flared.

Heat surged...

...but Geebo did not burn.

He cracked open an eye and stared into a solid wall of green scales inches from him.

Agnezsharron had blocked the fireball. With her body.

Agnezsharron: You owe me one. Get out of here.

Geebo fled.

Agnezsharron: And boxed. Again. They don't seem to be in a hurry to kill me, though. She's put up the wall of force again, not sure why. The traitors are keeping the water going in, but... it looks like they're still doing the ritual. Why are they doing the ritual? The egg is gone!

Geebo skidded to a halt, staring at the gemlike egg in his hand. It was real, he was certain of it. It pulsed with a ruby glow, broken by green numbers and alien letters that flickered across it in unceasing bands. This was the egg of a dragon, this was something so bound with magic that it could change the world if used properly. This was...

This was an egg.

Not the egg.

INT+1

Geebo: Oh no!

Agnezsharron: What?

Geebo: They have another egg!

Agnezsharron: What? How could.... oh no. Oh no, I see it! He is shattering it!

The air itself screamed, a long wailing rise.

Red light flared, and turned to sickly gold, as the building, the sealed repository of forbidden lore, faded into this reality.

The statues around Geebo stood, with grinding noises, and pointed the way as great copper doors creaked and opened.

And he watched as Boombabe and the rest of the Warmers dispelled the walls of force and ran for the doors, scattering spells behind them.

Agnezsharron: Rotgoriel. We have failed and I am caught. Free me and we shall flee. There is nothing left for us in this place.