Bst of energy fly over the forest from the False Dragon. The beast tripping over itself as it attempts to attack the people below it. Unable to focus its attacks, it stomps about with its heads waving around in the air like vestigial appendages. The shockwaves from its stomping forces everyone back as the monster slowly gains its bearings.

  Zanrit charges in, swinging his club and smashing it against the creature’s side. The creature yells out in pain as Mi charges in. She spins around with her tails afme and shoots out a fireball that burns through its sown-in scales. Miller leaps towards the new weak point and swings his sword. His bde pierces its flesh but a dark purple liquid comes out of the wound. The liquid hits his hand, burning it as he dislodges his sword and leaps back.

  “Brother!” Mi asks.

  “I’m fine, just some acid.” He swings his sword, flinging the acid as the bde drinks his blood to regrow. “This thing is a pain in the ass.”

  “Yeah, Fenwick had this thing built like a fortress,” Glyn says.

  “Glyn!?” The siblings yell out.

  “This wasn’t part of the pn. You were supposed to watch the prisoners.” Miller scowls.

  Glyn turns away. “They're secure. But I had to see this thing.”

  “Why?”

  “On the fly strategizing.” He looks at the monster as it lumbers about. “Thankfully, the stupid thing doesn’t know how to move itself. So, we have more time to stop it. Sadly, that also means it doesn’t know how to regute Mana.”

  “Meaning?” The two ask.

  “It’s burning through its Mana almost anytime it moves. Its attacks are also stronger because it’s putting in the max for everything it does.” He rolls his eyes. “The damned thing’s so stupid it’d kill itself if it wasn’t so well made.”

  “Then what do we do? We can’t dismantle it like this, can we?” Miller asks.

  “No.” Pepper appears. “The creature’s blood is not only corrosive. But it’s also toxic. If its blood seeps into the nd, then nothing will grow here for ages to come.”

  “Damn it! Is there nothing we can do?”

  Glyn thinks on the subject, staring up at the creature and making note of the stitching between its bodily segments.

  “We need the find the Core.”

  “Core?” The three ask.

  “It’s what powers that mess of a body. If we take it out, the whole thing comes crumbling down.”

  “Then what do we do?” Miller asks.

  “We have to attack until we can find the damned thing. It’s probably in its most defendable pce. So likely around the underbelly.”

  Miller rolls his eyes. “Fine then. Let’s go, Mi.”

  “Right!”

  Glyn stares at the creature as the two charge ahead, returning to the battle. He tries examining the beast, looking for any tells or weak spots on the monster’s frame.

  Miller and Mi rush underneath as the creature stomps about. Mi leaps up, stabbing her bde into its underbelly only for the sword to bounce off its scales. Miller tries the edge of his bde growing sharper as he swings, only to barely scratch the surface.

  “Damn it!”

  “Brother, we have to move.”

  Tendrils fall from above, trying to trap the pair. Before it can hit, an arrow flies out, hitting the ground and sprouting a tree that knocks the monster over. The two rush ahead to find Tisha standing in a tree aiming at the monster.

  She shoots out her arrows, barely piercing the monster. Vines grow from her arrows, wrapping around the beast and pinning it as it screams out in its horrid menagerie of voices. Zanrit swings his club against one head, smashing into it and leaving a minor wound. The creature unleashes a bst of energy that knocks Zanrit back as it fights against the vines. As it struggles against them, fmes erupt from its back, burning away the pnts as Glyn watches a shining object in the middle of its back.

  “That’s where it is!” He yells.

  “The Core?” Mi asks.

  “Yeah. Something is shining on its back. I’m assuming that’s the Core where its Mana is concentrated.”

  She nods. “Brother!”

  “I’m with you.”

  “So am I!” Fiona yells holding her ax. “Let’s go!”

  The three charge forward as Tisha and Zanrit nod at each other. Zanrit swings his club at the monster’s legs, forcing it down with Tisha firing an arrow. The arrow digs into the ground and vines erupt, trapping it for mere moments. The three leap up onto the monster's back just as it breaks free and lets out another painful scream.

  Mi spots a shining sphere lodged in the monster's back and everyone charges ahead. Various limbs and tendrils erupt from the monster's back, surrounding the three and trying to block their path. Fiona swings her ax, cutting through their numbers with Miller joining her. Mi stands gathering fmes on her tail and swings around.

  A wave of fmes shoots out from her tails and burns away the various body parts in her way. Miller and Fiona run across the burned surface towards the shining object. The two swing their weapons at it only for a pair of humanoid figures to shoot out of its back. The offshoots tackle the pair as they slice through them, causing them to miss the sphere.

  “Mi!” The two yell in unison.

  Mi runs in holding a fming sword aiming for the sphere as another offshoot emerges. Before it can reach her, Otso hits it with an arrow, knocking it away with the force of the blow. Mi continues ahead and thrusts her bde forward, stabbing the sphere and shooting a burst of fmes through it. The orb cracks open, breaking into pieces before burning away, leaving no trace behind.

  The monster lets out one st cry and then its body stops going cold suddenly as it crashes to the ground, dead.

  “We did it!” Mi yells out.

  Miller nods. “Thanks for the assist, Otso.”

  Otso nods. “I figured you guys could use the assistance. So, I had that Fae chick help me up here.”

  Pepper appears from behind Otso and walks forward. “It would appear that the beast is now dead.”

  “Why weren’t you helping?” Fiona asks.

  “I was. Did you not notice your wounds healing and how the area isn’t as damaged as it should be?”

  Miller looks around. “Your right. This pce should be a wastend, considering all the fire this thing was putting out.”

  Pepper smirks and holds out her hand. Wind flies across her fingertips and then a small gust hits Miller in the face. He looks down at his hand where the wounds from his sword close up immediately.

  “While I can attack and have offensive spells. My specialty is in support and healing magic.” She expins. “I was working on shoring your defenses and healing your wounds as needed in that battle.”

  Fiona nods. “Okay, that’s cool. Honestly, that’s pretty convenient.”

  “I thank you. I hope we work together from here on.”

  “Sure, but isn’t Glyn quitting this game?” Fiona asks.

  Pepper looks around. “Is he? Honestly, it doesn’t seem like it. It seems that….”

  “Everyone get away from that thing!” Glyn yells.

  The monster sparks to life, with fmes erupting from across its body. The two heads screech, their cries reverberating through the air. Before the fmes can hit them, Pepper forms a barrier of wind that lifts the group off of the beast’s back. It fires off fming bsts into the air, causing explosions that echo across the isnd. In a maddening fit, it fps its wings rapidly, taking off into the air as fmes envelop its body.

  “What the hell is that!?” Miller asks.

  “A st resort move of some sort,” Glyn says. “Without the Core, its body is unstable, and it looks like it’s pnning to explode and burn the entire isnd along with it.”

  “I thought it was supposed to die without that!?” Fiona asks.

  “Normally it would. It must either have greater energy stores than I was aware of or some backups in case of an emergency. And in this case, it’s going to use everything. It has to take us all down with it.”

  Everyone stares up at the burning monster as it stares back down at them. The fmes across its body slowly eating away at its mass.

  “Is there anything we can do!?” Tisha asks.

  “I’m thinking. If I had more spell charges, then maybe I could do something, but I haven’t recovered from st night.” Glyn clenches his fist.

  “I have an idea,” Aoife says with Eliana at her side.

  “Mom!?”

  She walks forward haggardly.

  “Mom, you shouldn’t be moving right now. We have to……”

  She holds Glyn’s hand. “Glyn, I’m happy I’m here now.”

  “Mom?”

  “Listen. We’re going to use magic our ancestors would be proud of.”

  “Wait, what’re you talking about?”

  She smiles. “I’ll show you. We’re going to use Ancient Spirit Magic.”

  “What!?”