I gingerly peeled myself away from Ferrisdae, and she released me. She looked embarrassed as she stood up, wiping her eyes clear. “Come on, let’s go and get back in there,” I said, already leading the way back into Oristrella’s Dungeon. “We’ll probably see the Dungeon Master after this next door, are you going to be okay with that?”

“Through what door-“ Ferrisdae began to respond, but once I crossed the threshold into the dungeon a sheet of solid light appeared before me. “Oh, that one.”

Turning around, I saw that the blue glow returned to the others as they entered the dungeon. The DTER was still in place here, but it seemed my aura sight that was foisted upon me worked as long as we were in a dungeon, though it was still unclear if it would work in one not owned by the Dungeon Master.

I looked up at Ferrisdae. “Are you going to be okay with that?”

Ferrisdae hesitated. “I’ll be okay,” she responded, though I didn’t quite believe her.

Looking past her, I caught Cojisto’s eyes. “You, Ferrisdae, and Moose are to head directly to the red wagon. I’ll speak with Serto on the way by, but I expect him to be speaking with Himia and the Dungeon Master about-“

“What about my darling?”

A husky, feminine voice came from behind me, and I turned around to see Oristrella walking across the ice. Despite how fragile it was, her footsteps didn’t cause the frozen pitfall trap to break underneath her. She was still clutching her precious rectangle.

“Oristrella,” I said stiffly.

“Ori,” Ferrisdae greeted, bowing slightly.

“That’s the Dragon?” Cojisto whispered behind us excitedly. “I mean, I was hoping to fight her in her Dragon form, but this one’s got a powerful aura, too.” I closed my eyes and shook my head.

When the woman got within twenty feet or so, she stopped. Despite being her Human appearance, her blue, slitted eyes stayed the same as they did in her draconic form. Those eyes kept glancing between Ferrisdae and myself, a range of emotions playing across her face as she did so. Her aura had started yellow with some green seeping into it, but it slowly turned orange. I became tense, but didn’t draw my sword just yet.

“Dungeon Inspectors,” she greeted in return, ignoring Cojisto and Moose. Her eyes glanced down at me. I focused, and noticed that she was looking at my hand. The same one I had used to punch the Dungeon Master. “What about my darling?”

“We’ve come to an agreement,” I replied, just as stiff as my greeting. I had wiped it off on the clothes I had been wearing before changing into my normal outfit, but a Dragon’s sense of smell was powerful; she undoubtedly smelled the Dungeon Master’s blood still on it. “We were about to return to the eye of the Thousand Year Blizzard and finish the subjugation of Raitheus Razorbeak.”

Oristrella was still wearing that same light blue ball gown she had originally worn after I requested she cover herself up, and it was long enough that we couldn’t see her feet. When she approached us, it seemed like she was gliding despite the fact that I could clearly hear her footsteps on the ice.

“Did you come to an agreement through violence and intimidation?” Oristrella challenged as she stood uncomfortably close.

“I avenged my junior before having a long discussion about what you can and cannot do to a person’s magical wellspring,” I answered without backing down. Despite the fact that she towered over me, I looked up at her calmly. “Can you not see the unnatural change made to Junior Dungeon Inspector Ferrisdae?”

Sniffing loudly, Oristrella’s gaze shifted to Ferrisdae. The young Forest Elf gave the Dragon a nervous smile and a wave. “I’m… still getting used to it.”

“Power is power, young Ferry. You’d best get used to it,” Oristrella said. When my junior lowered her head, the Dragon reached out and cupped her chin, raising it back up. “Do not look ashamed. You are you, no matter what someone else has done to you. Do not let it define you or control you. The power inside you now is enough to make sure it is unlikely to happen again.”

Ferrisdae reached up and took Oristrella’s hand in both of her own. “Thank you for your counsel, Ori,” she said diplomatically.

“Of course,” the Dragon said dismissively, waving the conversation away with her other hand. “I wish for you to come back, remember? It is doubtful that your stuffy organization will allow that if they do not think you have the willpower to stand up to a superior race.”

I was about to say something, when Ferrisdae nodded. “You’re absolutely right. I have to bring you books and read the manuscript, after all.”

“That’s right, dear,” Oristrella cooed. She shifted so that she was linked arm in arm with Ferrisdae and she looked down at me. “Is it safe to assume that my darling is on the other side of this portal?”

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“If he’s not there, then Himia definitely will be,” I answered, tearing my eyes away from Ferrisdae to catch hers. “But our goal is the subjuga-“

“Yes, yes, the bird brain.” Oristrella waved me off. “Come, little Ferry, let’s go.”

With a nod, Ferrisdae allowed herself to be led into the portal. I looked back and caught Cojisto’s eye. “Thanks for not just punching her.”

Cojisto shrugged. “Ferry said she was a friend. I only punch friends when they need to get punched.”

“Oh, great. Good to know,” I said before heading into the portal.

As I had requested, the Dungeon Master’s doorway had let us out in the center of the Thousand Year Blizzard. There were a few differences that I immediately noted from the last time we were here. Of the caravan dungeons, only the final red wagon was still standing although it was covered in ice. Unlike before, this time it seemed to stick. The others were smoldering piles of ash as if they had just been burnt to the ground.

Serto and his men were still set up around the obelisk that was glowing noticeably brighter than it had. It was still dim, but light rolled around the inside like waves on an ocean. The Snow Elves were looking nervously from the obelisk to Serto, who was talking to Himia. The blue haired Information Elemental was standing eerily still, answering the archmage’s questions as they were asked.

Ferrisdae was also proven right about her overdungeon theory. Despite the fact that we couldn’t clearly feel the DTER, I could see the auras around the Snow Elf researchers. Most of them were yellow, indicating their indifference, except for the elderly mage who had tried to stop us. His was orange. Serto’s was fully green, at least.

My eyes fell on Ferrisdae and Oristrella. The Dragon was whispering something in my junior’s ear, who was just nodding along. A doorway opened up not far from the two, and Oristrella pulled free from Ferrisdae. She placed her hand on the Forest Elf’s shoulder before heading through the portal. It closed behind her immediately after.

Ferrisdae turned around to face us. She seemed fine now, at least. “Are we ready to go?” she asked.

“Let’s talk to Serto first,” I said, causing Cojisto to groan. Rolling my eyes, I turned to look at him. “Why don’t you and Moose go and check out the red wagon if you feel so terrible about the Mage’s Guild?”

“We shall do that,” Cojisto said, reaching up to pat Moose on the neck. “Come, Moose, let us go and see about this ice.” Moose nodded his head and croaked, causing Cojisto to laugh before they headed towards the red wagon.

“What was Oristrella telling you?” I asked as we started towards Himia and Serto.

“Just some advice,” Ferrisdae answered mysteriously. When she didn’t continue, I didn’t push it. It wasn’t a long walk to the obelisk, anyway.

“Dungeon Inspectors!” Serto called as we approached. “Please tell me that you two have nothing to do with this?”

“I’m assuming you mean the Dungeon Master and his plot to stop the Thousand Year Blizzard?” I asked. “No, we had nothing to do with that. He came here specifically to stop it.”

“What gives him the right?” Serto yelled before looking back at Himia. “This storm has been raging for over seven centuries now! Every decade that we’ve studied it has brought us more and more magical knowledge. To get rid of it is to destroy the path to our own future!”

“Not to be rude, but as you said your people have had seven hundred and twenty seven years to study this storm,” Himia responded. Her voice wasn’t heated despite being yelled at. There wasn’t any emotion in it at all. “That is at least three of your people’s generations. I believe that, if you were already going to understand the secrets of this storm, then you would have done so already.”

“A storm this complex can’t possibly be understood in such a short amount of time!” Serto countered. “It’s-“

“Please forgive me, but that assertion is assuredly false,” Himia interrupted, putting on a hollow smile. Now that I wasn’t caught off guard by my surroundings, I could see just how unnatural her mannerisms were. “In fact, I have been here for a short time and yet I understand the magic spinning around this place at a much higher level than your notes indicate that you do.”

I held up a hand as Serto opened his mouth “She’s an Information Elemental, arguing with her isn’t going to do any good.”

The Snow Elf looked down at me in confusion. “What does that mean?”

“Doesn’t matter, she’ll either tell you or she won’t,” I answered. “But you need to send someone back to your tower. I just got back from making a call to my supervisor. Because of everything going on, there’s likely to be a conference between the Department of Dungeons, the Mage’s Guild, and the Adventurer’s Consortium about the whole thing. I wanted to warn you before we went off to subjugate Razorbeak.”

“Is that it? Just a warning that things are going to change?” Serto asked angrily.

I scoffed. “Don’t take it out on me. I learned about it twenty minutes ago and told the Dungeon Master that he or his secretary needed to tell you what was going on, so I think the turnaround on getting you this information is miraculously quick.”

The archmage took a moment to compose himself before nodding. “Very well, Dungeon Inspector. I suppose I better go tell the others,” he said after a few seconds. Serto pointed at Himia. “Don’t you go anywhere, I’m not done with you yet.”

“Yes, sir, I’ll be right here,” Himia said cheerily. She turned to face us. “You may enter whenever you’re ready, Dungeon Inspector Badger. As per your request, the only thing changed about the dungeon is that it’s been locked so that Raitheus Razorbeak and his gang cannot escape.”

“Anything else we should know?” I asked, eying the red wagon. Cojisto was poking at the ice while Moose stood behind him, but nothing was happening.

“Nothing else comes to mind,” she said. “To enter, simply reach for the door handle and the ice will melt for you.”

“Got it,” I said before looking up at Ferrisdae. “You ready?”

The Forest Elf nodded grimly. “I am, let’s go subjugate a land pirate.”

I nodded in return and started towards the red wagon. Moose noticed our approach and nudged Cojisto, who turned around. "We're getting a go at him, right? Damn ice isn't moving."

"We're going to have a go at him, Cojisto," I confirmed. Approaching the door, I reached for the handle and the ice began melting away. I gripped it tightly and looked back at the group behind me. "It's time to finally do what we were sent to do."