Brokenridge lowered his head until it was only a yard away from Tilly showing every one of his teeth, “That was nothing but a lucky blow, human! The only reason I have not snapped you in two is your future usefulness to my cause!” he snarled. The aura of his bloodlust exploding outward, drowning the entire quarry basin in blood and fire.

As it washed over Tilly, his fury stoked to new heights, pushing back against the sudden pressure attempting to lock him up in primal terror. Without conscious thought, fire rippled out from his center writhing him in white and blue flames as his voice cut through the oppressive energy in challenge, “Try it… I already knocked you on your ass once, and I would love to do it all over again.”

Tilly’s almost felt like he was having an out-of-body experience as he bullshitted his way deeper into this hole, but his gut was screaming at him that backing down now could cost his friends their lives. He didn’t have a choice, backing down was not an option, and he had positioned himself as the one to stand up to the dragon.

Standing there, looking into those slitted eyes, everything became simple. He was walking a razor edge, but honestly, it's not like his life was any more at risk than it had been the last four days. At that moment, he realized that if the dragon called his bluff, he was ready to fight again.

Even worse, some part of him thought he might survive such an encounter. The broken thing inside of him that had rushed into burning buildings had now fully transformed into a new brand of insanity. One that might just be a perfect fit for the battle-crazy plane he now inhabited.

That thought caused a smile to relax the edges of Tilly’s glare. Face to face with a dragon that was inches from killing him, and he smiled. Here he was, threatening this legendary creature with a weapon that was smaller than some of its teeth… The whole situation was so insane that the pressure building up in his belly reached a crescendo and demanded release. Laughter exploded from Tilly’s mouth and tears pooled at the edges of his eyes. It might have been the last finger of his grip on reality letting go… but whatever it was, it felt good. Really good.

Brokenridge flinched back in shock at the explosive laughter, and shot glances at the human’s companions, finding them no less confused than he was. His rictus snarl loosened at the sight and a deep rhythmic vibration started at the back of his throat. The bass of the sound shook the loose rock around the quarry, and the rest of the group looked back and forth at the dragon and the deranged human in shock. Even Hiro wore an expression that could have been characterized as mild indigestion.

“I like you, Human! You are going to need those balls for what is coming.” the dragon rumbled, relaxing his crouching stance, and revealing a patch of scarred leather where the hatchet and three scales had once been, “I will delay my pillaging for one week. I need to sleep and consolidate my new Domain anyway. When I emerge, you will show me this tribute you speak of-” He declared, letting the last of his chuckles die, “and if you fail in this, I will burn this pitiful city to the ground.” He finished, pressing his reptilian lips together in a hard line.

“You are here for a reason Brokenridge. Don’t waste the opportunity. But if you want to go off, let me know, and I’ll happily go another round with you.” Tilly answered arrogantly, looping back his hatchet and allowing the flames around his body to die.

The dragon considered him for a long moment before snorting and turning to move smoothly back down the passage, leaving the group stunned at both the sudden arrival and the anticlimactic exit of the legendary creature… A creature that now seemed to be a sort of ally, if a very dangerous one.

As soon as the dragon was out of sight, the group looked at each other, and Tilly opened his mouth to say something, but Hiro held up his hand, gesturing instead to Erash, who shakily lifted her staff and whispered an incantation. The air around Tilly popped and the dragon's movements cut off from his hearing.

“Such creatures are known to have incredible senses, let's not take any chances,” Hiro stated looking down into the subterranean tunnel after the retreating creature.

As soon as she was done, Erash shook her head to herself in disbelief, “Just when I think I have a handle on what is next for this little Faction, everything is flipped on its head… Somehow I can’t shake the feeling that this too, was the doing of that witch…” She muttered to herself darkly, as her eyes swept the quarry basin now covered in solidified slag again, “This will be impossible to work with, but would fetch a much greater price if we processed it ourselves.”

“Forget the rocks for a second-” Tilly broke in, his body beginning to shiver now that the gallons of adrenaline were done running roughshod through his system, “A freaking dragon guys? How normal is this?”

“Surpassingly rare,” Shuji answered absently, “I have read of three such occurrences across the plane in the last thousand years, but now the words of the world announcement and the Sovereign Crystal’s transformation make much more sense. Which leads me to my other essential news.” His eyes sharpened as disparate pieces of information were synthesized in real time for the Librarian.

“The new Faction Upgrade requirements had followed the same pattern we expected, two of the more typical requirements and one Patron-specific Quest. The first requires two Epic-class buildings erected in our capital city, and the second requires an equivalent of 1 million Standard Gold of goods or services to pass through our borders. Both of these would typically be very difficult to achieve for a Faction of our size, but with our growing relationship with the church and several other atypical opportunities, it is feasible that we can have these two done in a matter of days…” He said, before pausing to lend his next words gravity.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“The third requirement was to obtain the patronage of another Origin Facet, but as the dragon’s magic interacted with the Sovereign Crystal, the requirement shifted…” He stated, opening his robe and allowing a sheet of paper to fly free, unfolding in the air before the group.

Patron Quest Update: Assist the keeper of your Bond in deposing the Dragon King and obtain the chief treasure of his hoard, Origin’s Breath, the Facet of Wind and Change.

“I came down immediately to inform you. In light of the plane-wide announcement and our new… guest, I think we have to accelerate our plans.” Shuji concluded as the others scanned his copy of the new requirement.

Ichiro was the first to speak, “I will return to the representatives of the church, and continue negotiations. I believe our initial goals of a temple and an introduction to the Guild of Commerce should remain, but I also think we should pursue an Auction House location, leveraging our newly obtained resource as capital to facilitate this investment.” Ichiro added, gesturing with a sweeping hand at the transformed quarry.

Hiro nodded along with his son's words, before adding a somber warning, “There will be ideas about what has happened here… but we must keep silent for as long as possible. Opening ourselves to outside trade is a necessity. The great powers of Nephesh are now focused on the words of the Contested Lands and the coming conflict. If we are to begin supplying our side with as many effective weapons against Corruption as possible, then anonymity is our only option. Am I correct in the assumption that something as basic as a dragon glass arrowhead, when blessed by one of our priests, would be a significant multiplier in combat?” He asked turning toward Shuji and Erash.

The question pulled Erash into the present from wherever her thoughts had taken her, “That is very much correct, even a dragon glass emblem embedded in our warrior's shields would radically boost their effectiveness on the field, and if we concentrated on spear tips and arrowheads, we would be able to equip almost all of our soldiers in a relatively short amount of time… that is, if we can find a way to work with the material… It took our greatest smith weeks to forge my father's sword and he was an expert in non-metal materials.” She added doubtfully.

At her final sentence, Shuji's face lit up, and he pulled forth another sheaf of paper from his robe, scanning it quickly, “Perhaps… that will not be as large of a problem as we think. The largest rewards reportedly distributed to non-combatants occurred for our three Alchemists and the smithing complex. None of the individuals were offered a new class or unique items, but as the wave from the temple washed over their facilities, they each received an extraordinary upgrade. The Alchemy shop received a large contraption called a Synthiziser that will allow them to combine lower-grade materials and create higher-grade versions of anything used in alchemy, the possibilities of which are very exciting. The Smithy received something called a Neutrino forge, which they have yet to discover how to light…

“The description, however, states that it can melt any substance down into a malleable state, and remove its impurities.” Shuji finished, reading from a report before handing the whole thing to Hiro smiling like a kid on Christmas.

“This is all rather exciting, isn’t it? I am sure there will be a learning curve, but with this, I can’t help but think that all of this is connected,” he concluded, grinning at the rest of the group.

“Yeah… I get that feeling too. I just can’t help but wonder where it is all going.” Tilly added a little more grimly than he intended.

Hiro tucked away the rest of the report, taking Tilly’s words in stride, “We are the masters of our destiny, and will arrive at no destination except the one we choose.” He declared firmly, “There is much to do if we are to prepare for the dragon’s re-emergence, and whatever comes with it. Ichiro, your course of action is well chosen, make whatever promises you have to. We must obtain a Commerce Guild outpost and a currency exchange certification for our Faction. After that, we can petition an Assessor from the Auction House to evaluate us, and hopefully approve access for the Alliance.

“I will go and calm our people, setting them to work. Keep what happened here on a need-to-know basis until we have no choice but to reveal our association. We will do ourselves no favors by broadcasting our intentions to the wide world. Erash, please return to the Temple and use your limited Ability to Commune, we need to find out as much as possible about the meaning behind that announcement, and what our Patron's goals are in regards to the Contested Lands.”

Ichiro bowed and jogged off. Erash tilted her head in acknowledgment before gliding off absently, riding a mound of earth. The air around them popped again, and the noises of the outside world came flooding in as she left.

“Jonathan Tillman, I have a feeling you will have a pivotal role in each of these goals, let alone what will be asked of you as the specifics of this quest are revealed. But, for now, I ask that you remain here for the rest of the morning. I do not believe dragons are creatures of deception, but until we establish some sort of guard, it would comfort me to know you are standing watch here.” Hiro stated, before allowing a half smile to crack his stony visage, “Especially because you seem to relish the idea of another chance to knock the beast down a peg or two…”

The comment and accompanying smile were so surprising that Tilly couldn’t help but chuckle, “ Yeah, I don’t know what came over me…” He replied sheepishly.

“I do. You are our Champion, Jonathan… When no others can make a way, you always do.” Hiro answered, with a calm confidence that remained unaffected by the insane changes his people had faced over the last two months.

His words shook Tilly, not because they seemed false… rather because Hiro’s declaration, and how he made it, resonated so deeply with Tilly that he found himself both terrified and filled with hope.

“I will send a group to relieve you as soon as I can, and then I want you to get some rest. We will need you again soon, I am sure.”

Tilly nodded, still trying to process what the Guardian had just said. Hiro clapped the human on the back and shot away, moving at what was probably a jog for him. With a sigh, Tilly turned back to the melted entrance to the dragon’s cave and settled down into a meditative pose.

As he watched the huge opening for a little longer, he realized he needed this time… There was so much that had happened and he needed to consolidate his gains and process the cataclysmic events that had rocked his world over the last couple of days.

He flicked his eyes up to his blinking notification icon,

“No better place to start” He muttered to himself, sitting in the center of a raging sea of melted stone and shattered glass.