Shanahan and his temporary partners reached the top of the hex. He let Master Yuen and Yuri explain what happened to the best of their ability. He didn't have an answer to the problem.

He doubted letting the fire burn until it was out was going to be what Grandview wanted to hear when he got back.

If they had some explosives, he might be able to blow the fire out at the source. He didn't know enough about how that worked, but he had seen Red Devils enough times to know it was something that was done and could be put in a movie.

“The water catching fire was unexpected,” said Grandmaster Bao. “I'm not sure what we could do about it without Grandview's talents. Still, I know a little something about things.”

He looked around. He walked to a clear spot. He drew a circle on the grass with the heel of his shoe.

“Everyone!,” he called. “Please bring your paper here.”

The gathered Wu Chi brought their bags of paper to where the grandmaster stood. He smiled as they dumped the pages out in front of him. He didn't need it to be in neat stacks, just enough to do what he wanted.

“Let's see what we can do about Grandview's problem,” he said. He raised his hands and exerted his will.

The paper came to life, pulling itself into a long sinuous shape. A head full of sharp teeth and empty eye sockets rose above the crowd. Wings sprouted with a wind causing swing to ready for flight. More paper emulated scales as stumpy legs supported the winding body.

“Grand dragon,” said Master Bao. “We need a way to stop a fire burning in the mountain there. Can you help us?”

The dragon roared back in reply. It beat its wings and dove over the side, heading down to the jet still lancing into the Wu Chi's hex.

Shanahan watched it go. He decided that he didn't like lizards as much as he used to in the desert. They had become too big, and too strange.

Give him a rat any day.

“Grandmaster?,” said Yuen. “How can the dragon help us?”

“Remember that it has all of our skills such as fire shaping,” said Bao. “The only question is about how well its skill will do against what was started.”

Shanahan doubted that the dragon would do that well. He needed an exit strategy in case Grandview had problems with what had happened. Maybe he should try to find one of the oracles and ask for advice on how to get home in case Wyndham didn't come back.

He hoped the mesa didn't collapse and kill everyone on the top of it. A lot of people lived under Grandview's protection in the city and the farms around it. He didn't want to kill all of them by accident.

He looked over the edge. The paper dragon seemed to be directing the jet down into the gap of clouds so that it could enter the dragon farm under the frog city. It had to rip the doorway open with a claw so it could enter without a problem.

Should he go down and watch things from a closer point of view? It didn't feel right to let the dragon do all the work, but he didn't know what he could do to help.

He decided to wait. Maybe something would present itself for him to help out. Bao would let him know if there was something he could do. He didn't want to owe the master weapon any more than he already did.

He could already see being dragged back to handle one thing after the other because of collateral damage while he was doing what was asked. He could do without that.

At least he didn't have to explain this to the girls. That would be beyond embarrassing to him.

“It's working,” said Bao. “The grand dragon has started dampening the flames in the water, and cut off the flow of the stuff from its source. Grandview will want to know about such a dangerous stuff under his hex. I don't know what he can do to fix the problem.”

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Shanahan said nothing. Grandview had twelve powers at his command. One of them might be control of water to go with whatever else he had. The Eye would give him a point where he could apply whatever he thought he could use to solve his problems.

Luckily, he wouldn't need the partners for that.

That wouldn't stop him from trying to call in a chip if he thought he could get away with it.

“The flames are dying down,” said Yuri.

“How do you know?,” asked Master Yuen.

“Remote viewing through the stone I left behind,” said Yuri. “It's giving me a view of what's going on.”

“Things are better than I thought,” said Bao. “The grand dragon has fixed everything for you. I think that wiping out the vines will be the explanation for your experimentation.”

Shanahan nodded. That was better than saying they almost killed a whole mountain of people by accident. And it got Yuen off the hook as well.

“There's another tunnel into this hex,” said Yuri. “There might be others in the other hexes.”

“I think we should have a conclave to see what everyone wants to do,” said Bao. “We might have to engage in open warfare with the underground people if they have the means to send more dragons against us. We can't depend on the Weapons to kill all of them for us.”

“I will show the Master Carver what I saw,” said Yuri. “Hopefully he will agree to another meeting.”

“Thank you very much,” said Bao. “I would like a peaceful solution, but I fear that will not be forthcoming.”

Shanahan doubted the frogs would want anything to do with the surface except as a source of food. He wished the factions the best of luck clearing them out.

Grandview appeared in a pop of air. He looked around. He settled on his counterparts. He knew something had happened during his absence. He wondered what kind of lie they were going to tell him instead of the truth.

“Why are you looking down there?,” he asked.

“The glowing water in your hex is highly flammable,” said Shanahan.

“Really?,” said the master weapon. “And how do you know that?”

“Because we set it on fire,” said Shanahan. “It wiped out the dragon production stuff.”

“That's good to know,” said Grandview. “So the water has no use except as a fuel, and a monster maker.”

“You could try to bathe in it,” said Shanahan.

“I will not do that,” said the weapon. “But it does lead me to think about finding out what it would do to someone I don't like.”

“Probably turn them into a frog,” said Shanahan.

He idly wondered if that is how the frogs had got together under the surface of the hex. He decided that problem was something for smarter people than him.

Grandview grimaced at the thought of turning his enemies into cannibals with nothing to show for it.

“Master Grandview,” said the grandmaster. “We are trying to decide if we should ask for another conclave. Apparently there are more tunnels in our hex, and the other hexes might need to be checked.”

“I'm sure that the other leaders will love to hear that after what happened with the dragons fleeing into their territories,” said Grandview.

“Yuri the Shaper says he has proof there is another tunnel in the Wu Chi hex,” said Bao. “We have to make sure they know there is a possibility of danger living under their cities and territories. Just because Master Shanahan possibly ended one threat does not mean there aren't more waiting to attack.”

“I will ask them to attend,” said Grandview. “I think that's the best I can do. I expect you and Seera to also be there, Shanahan.”

The marine shrugged in his coat, face closed to any possibility of compliance.

“What haven't you said?,” said Grandview.

“I don't have any way to tell Wyndham to be here, and less of a care,” said Shanahan.

Grandview stroked his mustache as he stared at the smaller man. Pulling his arms off was looking good at the moment.

“Master Shanahan will be our guest until we sort everything out,” said Grandmaster Bao. “We need someone to advise our younger masters on fighting tactics.”

Shanahan gave him a look that said he wasn't going to do any of that.

“Mistress Wyndham will return for you,” said Bao. “She will want you safe until we decide what we want to do about things.”

“And I owe you,” said Shanahan.

“It's just good manners, Master Shanahan,” said Bao.