“Good morning young man!” She said cheerily.

“Oh, hey Edna! I’m actually just about to head out-”

“Oh shush. I know you young people are busy! I just wanted to stop by and make sure you were bringing enough food with you before you left on your little trip.”

Tilly was about to ask how she knew he was leaving… as far as he knew the only people who even knew about the details of the encounter with the dragon were the council and a few of the Alliance’s elites. Then her words actually sunk in.

He hadn’t actually packed any food for the trip! His mind had been consumed with weapons and strategies… and he hadn’t actually put a single thought into how long this quest would take, or what practicals he might need to bring…

Edna’s eyebrow rose expectantly as she watched Tilly’s thoughts play out over his expression. Once his face had settled on frustrated despair she reached up and patted his cheek affectionately, “Now, now. Don't you worry, George and I stopped by that nifty little shop they set up across from the bank and picked you up a little gift.” she continued, patting his cheek way more times than she needed to.

She then reached into a fold of her simple working linens and pulled out a cloth square with four leaf clovers stitched along one side. “Oh Edna, you didn’t have to do that. I can grab something on the way out.” Tilly protested weakly as she took his hand and put the strange item in it. As soon as the item touched his skin, he briefly heard a faint melody of fiddles and stomping before it faded away as quickly as he noticed it.

“Now, now. You have enough on your plate.” She said with a wink, causing Tilly’s eyes to narrow at the pun, “Let us old-timers make sure to keep you fed, and you can focus on the rest. Here now deary, take this. I’m sure you’ll make good use of it. George and I stuffed it chock full of goodies for you.” She said, closing his fingers around the item.

“Uh. Thank you guys…” He said peering down at the item.

Paden the Leprechaun’s Snack Pocket (Epic)

An enchanted piece of cloth produced by the Lucky Charms Faction. When sewn onto a piece of cloth or leather armor, it forms a basic ‘pocket’ dimension that is charmed to hold food in stasis until it is retrieved. You can not choose which food item emerges when you reach in.

Tilly’s eyes barely finished scanning over the system description when the sleeve of his armor suddenly hummed and began to glow. The cuff of his sleeve was barely touching the cloth square, but the area of contact began to vibrate fiercely. Concerned, Tilly tried to separate the two, but the Snack Pocket fuzzed in his hand, moving through his fingers like sand, before disappearing entirely.

“What the-”

Then he felt an absurdly irritating tickling sensation skitter to life on his right buttcheek. He slapped the spot in annoyance, and his hand found a newly added square of material had been stitched onto his pant leg right below the flap of his jacket. Feeling around the edges of the square, and discovering its open top, Tilly grumbled about magic bullshit and flicked open the notification icon that had begun happily flashing the moment he had discovered his new pocket.

Congratulations! The base form of your Growth Type Primitive armor set has discovered a compatible enchanted item, and has absorbed its capability, modifying its basic form.

+10% to base Endurance.

+Pocket Dimension for Snacks.

Tilly reread the notification, bemused as he reached into his flat back pocket and pulled out an apple. He looked up to ask Edna how she and George chose- She was gone…

He had been freaking Batmanned again. Kindle chirped curiously from his shoulder, and he sent her a quick inquiry of where the older lady had gone. Kindle sent back the bird equivalent of a question mark, leaving Tilly with nothing.

He shrugged and took a bite of the apple, which was of course sweet, crisp, and tangy all at once. He had just eaten, but he couldn’t help but groan in delight at how good the fruit was.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“New rule,” He said around a mouth full of apple as he began to stroll through the city in dawn’s early light, “When Magical Bullshit is working for you, just roll with it. When it works for your enemies… complain bitterly.” He announced to himself, happy to have formed a new lens from which to experience the utter unpredictability that Nephesh often operated under.

…

A short time later, the sun was just edging over the mountain range, and Tilly was turning the corner of the road that led to the quarry, and entrance to the mine. Erash was already there, waiting deep in thought. Workers bustled around the site, carefully harvesting the last of the dragon glass under Shuji’s watchful eye.

Nearby stood a watchful Hiro, still as a statue while his eyes took in everything around him without focusing on anything in particular.

“Are we ready?” Tilly asked, walking up. He couldn’t help but smirk as he asked the question, well aware of how ridiculous it was, but unable to think of anything else to say in greeting.

“Ah, Mr. Tillman, one moment please,” Shuji acknowledged in greeting, before turning back to the workers, “That's it! Clear out and do not return until sent for… Get that last load as far away from here as possible. I say this again, you want to be clear in the next half a stick!” He announced loudly.

The workers who had already been moving with some urgency, obviously aware of some sort of time frame, doubled their efforts, loading up the large sturdy wagon with huge chunks of slag and semi-melted stone, showing bright veins of the valuable substance. A minute or two later the wagon was loaded up and being hauled off, followed by the entire mining team, some thirty workers with classes suited to the work.

“To answer your question,” Erash huffed tiredly, looking like she had hardly slept, “None of us is ready for what is coming… But we will all do our best, and desperately hope it is enough.”

Hiro’s stone visage cracked at that, and a small smile broke up the relentless lines of his normally unreadable expression, “Such is Karma, we play in a game much bigger than ourselves, and it will turn out however it must. In the meantime, we will move our pieces as shrewdly as possible, and be ready for any opportunity that comes.” he declared, not taking his eyes from the opening to the mine.

“We have truly experienced a meteoric rise to significance on the plane! Such things are rare, and never uncontested!” Shuji added ominously. His words were juxtaposed by the bright enthusiastic smile on his face.

“Well, if no one else has any final thoughts, I’m going to go wake the dragon and see if we can’t get him moving in the right direction. It's been six days and we are running out of time.” Tilly said, gearing up to once again do something incredibly stupid. This time without the added insurance of access to his Title Abilities, which he had to get back before reaching the Contested Lands.

“Yes, the magic of the Wylds is thickening around you. The mark calls to them, and I can hear the sound of the horn in my dreams.” Erash breathed, watching the skies warily.

“Yeah, about that. I know you are coming, and in any encounter, I will be the obvious target. How do you feel about holding off and staying in reserve as long as possible? I have a few surprises for your Father that will be incredibly dangerous to you, and I would rather save you for dire need than have you openly contributing from the start.”

“We are in agreement on this. Even if you die, I have vowed to destroy my Father at all costs.” She answered darkly. Tilly’s face fell, and he opened his mouth to encourage a slightly earlier intervention but was interrupted by a tremor rippling up through the tunnel and into the quarry, followed by a deep rumbling voice, “You are early, little mice. But no matter, my blood boils for conquest!” Those words were followed by an incredibly deep growl that was slowly building into a full-on roar.

Tilly sighed, shoving down his answer to the fey princess’ fatalistic outlook, and turning to watch the mouth of the highway-sized tunnel, “Hiro, is our demonstration ready?”

“Momentarily, Jonathan Tillman.” He responded loudly over the growing rumbling of the dragon's burgeoning roar. In a move almost too fast to follow, Hiro slipped out his sword and waved it lazily a few times before resheathing it. A chunk of stone a few feet in front of Tilly detached itself from the rock wall and cracked to the ground at Tilly’s feet. It was mostly the normal stone that the quarry had been providing for weeks, but the center had formed into a large piece of Dragon Glass after last week's events.

“ROOOOAAARRRR! My time has come!” Brokenridge announced as he exploded from the base of the mountain in a flurry of wing and claw. Even as the wind from the Dragon’s too-fast movements hit him, Tilly maintained his calm expression and stepped up next to the chunk of stone.

Brokenridge landed in a powerful crouch at the entrance to his lair, blue flames dancing in his eyes and in between his teeth. He had not been lying when he claimed that his strength was directly tied to the worth of the Alliance. However his Domain magic worked, it had fully registered the increase in monetary wealth of the Faction as well as the strengthening of its citizens.

Where before the dragon had been imposing in every sense of the word, now he practically radiated power. His scales shone with a metallic gray hue and his teeth and claws practically glowed with sharpness so real, it bridged the gap between actual and conceptual in a way that hurt Tilly’s eyes.

“Well done, my sheep. I am pleased with your progress and will reward you with your lives. I go now to win the glory that was always meant to be mine.” He breathed triumphantly, each exhale billowing out streams of unintentional flame as Brokenridges energy levels fluctuated wildly. An aura of unquenchable ambition and wild ferocity radiated from the bowl of the quarry, and Tilly found himself having to set his feet against the almost physical pressure, as he breathed in deeply and called out in challenge.

“Not so fast, you big lizard! We have a plan that you need to hear!” Tilly shouted, puffing out his chest and channeling every bit of machismo he could. The dragon blinked owlishly at his claim, frozen for a moment at the audacity of one of his lessers. Then, in the space between breaths, he moved and was suddenly breathing heavily in front of Tilly, fangs bared just a foot from his face.

“Now, my little pet. Push me any further, and I will happily take the paltry loss in strength your death would cost me.” Brokenridge breathed. His words washed Tilly in a gentle stream of flames, which, due to their composition, did nothing to him.

“I’m happy to go another round big guy… But this time, you’ll be napping for much longer than a week.” Tilly growled back. To his surprise, even without his armor in its Dragon Emissary form, he began to feel his own aura manifest under the dragon’s spiritual pressure, flickering brightly like a candle before the sun of Brokenridge’s ancient fury.

As the leading edges of their souls pushed against each other, Tilly was shocked to feel how similar they were. Both were more than willing to throw themselves against incredible odds, and both had survived many things that would have destroyed lesser beings. Brokenridge obviously felt it too, as he suddenly cut off the pressure of his aura, and sat back on his haunches, eyeing the human curiously, something that might have been a smile pulling at the edges of his jaw to reveal even more teeth.