The fire in the pit crackled audibly as a log split and fell onto the metal grating supporting the sizable fire in the pit. The only one to keep the fire company was a young green dragon slightly smaller than a golden retriever, who was curled up on their customary chair with their head watching the activity of the middle room with mild amusement as they reprimanded his charge.

“Sera, your pacing is distracting.” a woman with pale skin wearing a red hood and cloak warned from the other side of the room from the dragon.

“I can’t help it! In just a short while I’ll be able to travel to another plane! I know we’re looking for those hags we need to take down, but there’s a small chance of meeting more dragons! I never expected to encounter Emmiatrix, let alone Lexi or the bronze dragon in just a few short years! What if my luck continues and we happen to find these extraplanar dragons!” Sera answered, tan fur flowing easily in the air as she paced. She could barely contain her excitement, evident in how much her body moved and made the fur covering her shift slightly as if caught by unseen breezes. A riding saddle crafted specifically for her form adorned the crest of her house and creaked lightly as leather rubbed against leather where straps and sacks of supplies and vials rustled faintly from her movement.

“Sera, you’re only making this take longer and we need a lot of concentration for this spell.” The annoyed tone from the woman kneeling on the ground with pieces of chalk, wax residue, and small gems scattered about was unmistakable. “Go curl up with Zephyr or something and let me work. I swear, if you are the reason this spell fails, I’m charging you for the cost of the materials and an additional ten thousand gold penalty for my labor.”

Zephyr was amused as this made Sera seem to freeze, then hang her head down to only a foot above the others’ head height and mumble an apology as she went off to a corner to sulk. The ground faintly shook as the weight of the wild-shaped druid traveled through the ground without upsetting any of the mage’s work. Once she settled down and held her head at chest height with her long neck, Zephyr stretched with a long yawn, then hopped down from the chair and walked over to his charge. She was such a silly half-elf, but she was his, and she got him many shinies and helped him learn finance, enough to let the paladin of shinies-god teach him how to make lots more shinies by ‘investment.’ Letting her imitate his form was acceptable, if only because she protected him from danger and her fluffy fur made for an excellent bed!

He poked at her foreleg, making the tan fur shift and extend one of the limbs out of the dragon-shaped cat-loaf for him to scale, climbing up with a slight flutter of his wings for stability until he managed to claim his favorite spot at the base of her neck amidst the thickest parts of the fluff while his back was supported by the front of the saddle for whoever she permitted to ride there. A small extra bit of skin acted as extra blanketing for his feet and he nestled in happily while they awaited the upcoming trip.

The door to the chamber opened and a few more figures entered, including two differently shaped green-skinned figures.

“Sorry we’re late,” The taller half orc apologized with a charming smile, “just finished some more diplomatic letters and discussing plans for expanding city development again.”

“It’s fine,” the mage on the floor answered before getting up with a grunt, “I think I’m done.”

“Are you sure?” The slightly shorter figure, a goblin, asked.

“That was the third time I checked. I’m sure.” The mage answered.

Zephyr poked his head up slightly as his charge started to unloaf from her spot in the corner, standing up to her full height as she started to get worked up again. He could see his finance mentor, the goblin, and watched him intently, wondering if he would end up staying home in the castle and getting to sleep in the shinies room because it’d be ‘too dangerous’ for him to go. That’d mean more lessons about how to make more shinies and learning more architecture that can hold shinies and important books, but that’d also mean needing to be with all those ‘tutors’ Sera kept hiring for him to learn other things. He snorted as she walked forward. Definitely time for more travel if he had any choice in the matter then.

“Yes, I know, you still want to nap. I’d cast your pet cache spell to let you nap in there, but we don’t know how it will act with the planar travel.” Sera commented, twisting her head slightly to keep an eye on Zephyr as he tried to continue his lazing on her back.

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“I still think he should stay here. We don’t know what dangers you’ll encounter.” the half-orc chimed in his pleasantly gravelly voice.

“Not to mention the inconvenience of needing to purchase replacement reagents for your resurrection spell.” the goblin frowned, “The markets for diamonds are higher at this time of year.”

“Don’t worry, if I die I’ll make sure you get paid the current market rate, not just the price you paid for the backup stash we know you had.” Sera countered, turning back to look at the goblin.

“That’s to be expected. It’s a proper punishment for you dying at an inconvenient time.” he countered with a slight smirk.

“Besides, my spells come to me more easily with him to focus on, which will lessen the chance of our demise in the first place.” Sera answered, then more quietly affirmed, “I know what we’re trying to accomplish here. I will carry Twilight, we will fly and explore the land, find signs of the hags’ activities, and report back.”

“Assuming we don’t scare them off in the first place with a flying furred dragon suddenly being in the skies.” the pale skinned woman from earlier countered. “You aren’t exactly conspicuous, you know.”

“That’s why we’re taking flasks of invisibility Arilana prepared for us.” Sera countered, lightly tapping the bag in question where the flasks were stored. They sloshed very slightly but did not clink together.

“Never underestimate their caution. Even wingbeats could become the sign that they take to move, and then we will only have a matter of days to handle them.” Twilight answered, arms crossing in mild annoyance. “I still would prefer to walk by land and not risk a sudden bouncy landing-”

“I messed up my flight one time!” Sera swiftly protested, face growing visibly heated.

“Boing! Boing! Bounce goes the dragon!” came the cackling laughter of a gnoll nibbling on some mystery meat still on a bone of some sort, using it as a toothpick briefly before chomping on half of what remained.

Zephyr watched as his charge glared sullenly at the gnoll she quietly shared a rivalry against. He knew she was upset over some tree that was worth a bunch getting claimed by the gnoll, but they had other ways to make money so it seemed silly she and the mage would team up for something. He watched with mild interest before seeing her stop her glare after only a few seconds and notice the mage gesture for Sera and Twilight to enter the circle.

His charge stepped forward and stood squarely in the middle, leaving only a little room for the pale one to be within it as well. They both were as careful as they could about the prepared region, stepping only where no markings were left. He wondered if the pale one would get in the saddle before they left, but it looked like she only loosely held onto a strap as she stood by Sera’s wing. Seemed silly to him in case they didn’t arrive on the ground, but that was her problem, not his.

“All right, I’ll begin the spell. No interruptions for the next minute please.” Arilana warned.

“Safe travels.” the goblin said.

“Yeah, what Reverser said.” the half-orc added.

“Relax, I’ll be fine. I’ll try to keep Zephyr and Twilight-”

“Ahem!” The mage cleared her throat giving a look to the talkers.

“Oh, sorry, we’re ready.” Sera quietly answered.

The mage sighed and then took her breath and began the complicated series of gestures and chants of lines as the objects around the marked area started to glow or become lit with a darkened flame. The drawn lines started to glow and a mild light wall of purple began to envelop the cylinder of air between floor and ceiling. The magic started to make the air itself hum halfway through and the chanting’s pace increased, making the light intensify.

A clattering of metal started to be heard outside the room, a guard calling out ‘Halt! The council-’ before another metal sound drowned out a barely heard grunt. The members inside the room other than the gnoll tensed and turned to face the door as they formed a barrier between the door and the circle with hands on their weapons. The gnoll merely smiled toothily and reached for her halberd nearby and got up with a casual attitude. To her credit, the mage Arilana despite her worry continued to chant and focus the magic in the room.

The doors burst open with a loud clatter, wood swinging open and making a loud thud through the sizable room as a female half orc barely clothed bellowed, “BROTHER! I COME BEARING GIFTS FOR YOUR WEDDING! Also your guards are puny! Might wanna fix that unless you’re trying to get-”

The combination of noises and booming voice ripped at the mage’s concentration. Zephyr felt the stance of his charge shift and her wings flared out instinctively at the intrusion, but his gaze noticed the expression on the mage’s face shift. She went from intense focus to horror. He didn’t know much about magic, but even he knew that something had gone horribly wrong even before the light shifted from the purple and green hues to something darker entirely and he clung tightly to the fur of his charge.

“No-!” The mage started to call before the magic activated, making the deep purples and blues of the magic wall collapse around the occupants.

A crushing sensation hit the occupants of the circle intensely, followed by a sense of vertigo and warped conversation later before it became completely dark and quiet.