"From the little I saw the city looks rather peaceful. Why is that?"

Zilla says "All the major merchants got together and agreed that anyone causing trouble would get black listed. Since most people come here for trade that would be the end of their business. Aside from that the merchants employ several guilds to keep the peace."

"So the hydra owns the city, but the merchants run it?"

Zilla says "Basically."

Before I can ask any more questions several human women enter carrying our dinner. They all have purple skin as well and when I look down I see that all the food is purple. Even the drink I am given is purple, I'm already getting sick of the color.

Zilla says "It may look weird to you, but I promise it is quite tasty. Also, don't worry about taint, it doesn't transfer from food."

"Didn't you say something about having taint allows you to eat and drink here without issues?"

Zilla says "Yeah, I did."

"So, if I don't have any taint, what is eating this stuff going to do to me?"

Zilla says "Oh, well it shouldn't do anything too serious. Depending on your constitution, maybe an upset stomach?"

If it is based on constitution I should be fine, so I take a chance and try the food. Even though it looks like it should taste horrible, it actually isn't all that bad. Nothing like the food at my inn or the tower, but still edible at least.

Zilla says "So, what else do you want to know?"

"If it's not too rude, what race are you?"

Zilla says "What do you think I am?"

"From your build, I would guess a sub-species of ogre?"

Zilla says "Got it in one! I am what's commonly referred to as a spell ogre. Less size and strength more intelligence and magic."

"How did you end up here surrounded by humans?"

Zilla says "My world has many gates to the shadow realm, I ended up finding one while being chased by a mob of humans. Since there is no discrimination here I decided to stay. Much later I ended up saving a group of humans and haven't been able to get rid of them since!"

"What do you do here? What was the river liquid for?"

Zilla says "We act as a small guild basically. The shadow water was just a small job we took."

"If I end up needing to make some money to be able to get home, is there somewhere I can take jobs? Or do I have to join a guild?"

Zilla says "There is what amounts to an adventurer guild here, but guilds tend to make more money."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Alright, that's it for my questions for now, but there is something I need help identifying. It's on my mount, I'll be right back."

Zilla says "Whatever."

When I stand up I give her a small bow before heading back outside to look for Lizzy and Bones. I find them in the stables, they have Lizzy in a big stall that isn't very roomy for her. Bones is standing guard at the stall door, as if anything could hurt Lizzy.

'Lizzy, are you alright in here?'

Lizzy 'Yeah, for just one night it will be fine.'

'Alright, do you want Bones for company?'

Lizzy 'No, I'm fine. Besides, the humans keep giving him weird looks.'

'Alright.'

"Bones, I'm going to unsummon you until we need to fight again."

Bones says "Yes, master."

After Bones is dismissed I take the egg from Lizzy and return to the room Zilla is in. After I sit down I wait until no one else is in the room and carefully uncover the egg and show it to her. Zilla stares at the egg for a minute and then her eyes go wide and she jumps to her feet.

Zilla yells "Are you insane?! You stole a shadow drake egg?! Worse, you brought it here? Into my house?!?"

"Hold on! Calm down! I didn't steal it! I found it when I killed a really big shadow panther!"

Thanks to her yelling there are people looking into the room from every doorway. As soon as the first head appears I cover the egg, but I doubt it helped. When Zilla notices the audience she yells at them to get back to work, then she sits down and tries to calm down.

Zilla says "Tell me exactly how you got that egg!"

So I tell her how I arrived and wandered around, also I tell her about the shadow demons I killed. Then I tell her about entering the forest and the shadow panthers I killed. Finally I tell her about the giant panther in the clearing and the fight that took place.

"When I finally killed the big guy it dropped a huge crystal and this egg. The egg then absorbed the big crystal and every other crystal I had."

Zilla says "You seriously killed the king of the forest?!"

"If that's who the big panther was, then yes."

Zilla says "He must have eaten the egg, but he wasn't done absorbing it yet."

"So, it for sure is a shadow drake egg?"

Zilla says "It must be. I don't know of any other shadow beast that lays eggs."

"Where would the big panther have found it?"

Zilla says "The shadow drakes like in the mountains on the other side of the forest from here."

"Drakes? How many are we talking about? How powerful are they?"

Zilla says "From all the stories I have heard there are a dozen or more. The hydra could probably handle one drake, but two would level this entire city."

"What are the odds of the drake following this egg all the way here? For that matter, how did the panther even get an egg?"

Zilla says "How should I know? If the drake does come here you are a dead man. The citizens will serve you up on a platter to keep the drake from attacking."

"So, what should I do with it?"

Zilla says "First, get out of Shade. Retrace your steps in case a drake is tracking you. If you meet one, give it the egg before it eats you."

"What if I don't meet a drake?"

Zilla says "Then you keep going until you reach the mountains. Returning the egg is your only hope of survival. Who knows, the shadow drakes might even reward you."

"Alright, I'll leave in the morning."

Zilla says "No, you will leave right now! I want you and that egg as far away from my people as possible!"

"I guess I can't blame you. Okay, I will leave."

Without another word I head for the stables and collect Lizzy, she seems surprised but doesn't complain. I mount up after stowing the egg in the saddlebag and quickly ride out of the city. After leaving the city I try to follow our exact path that we took to get here while keeping an eye on the sky.

As I ride I quickly explain everything I learned to Lizzy, including the nature of the egg. She doesn't interrupt me but she does crane her neck around and take another sniff at the egg. We don't stop until we are once again overlooking the valley full of beasts.

Lizzy 'Are we going to fight our way through again?'

'No, just wait here. I will fly across and then summon you. No point in wasting time on the beasts.'

Lizzy 'Alright, I will wait here.'