Melly stared transfixed at the page before her. She was enthralled by the Fanswald Guide to legendary Magical flying beasts. Sitting comfortably, she found a perfect reading spot on top of the wagon in the warm sunlight. Her attention was currently gripped by an outlandish tale of an enormous magical Shoebill Stork. First-hand accounts of the monstrous bird depicted a scene where the beast had engulfed a whole village. The lifelike illustration of the monster had an entire house within its bill.

Melly shivered at the nightmarish possibility and turned to the next page. This time there was a picture of a three headed crow that lured victims to their death. The description also contained a set of instructions on how to summon the creature.

“Yeah, no thanks,” Melly said to herself and flipped to the next page.

She had quickly come to realise why the book was kept in the restricted section and wondered why she was able to get her hands on it. There was a complete list of dangerous creatures and ways to find or summon them. Almost every creature came with a warning under its name, the most memorable being:

Warning: Creature will kill you, and everything you have ever loved!

Warning: Once summoned, the creature will stop at nothing to consume the entire plain of existence and devour all life until the universe is left barren for all eternity!

She continued to skim through the pages until she found the chapter, Powerful Magical Beasts that won’t just murder everything for fun. There she found information on the Phoenix, Cockatrice, Griffin, Hippogriff and even the ever-elusive Werechicken. All suitable candidates for animal companions, but few she could fly.

Before Melly could continue her research, screaming in the distance broke her concentration. The voice came from the green hill of the inner-city garden. A destination she was excited to visit. The locals had told her of its beauty and the stunning view from its peak.

As she watched the grassy expanse, a small streak of smoke snaked its way into the sky, then…

Boom!

The force of the explosion knocked her off her seat and sent her book flying.

“What the heck?” she screamed.

Melly scrambled to her feet and watched as a sea of earth rain down from the sky. The inner-city park, famous for its beauty had vanished. In its place sat an immense smoking crater.

People screamed in panic, rushing through the streets in confusion as more earth rained down.

Derrick poked his head out of the wagon and shouted, “What in the blazes was that?”

Melly pointed towards the smoke. Derrick's eyes widened as he saw the evidence of his handy work.

“Um, a little too much powder I think,” Derrick said sheepishly.

“What powder?” Melly asked with a look of suspicion.

“Ah, nothing.”

Rushing towards them, Melly saw a flash of blue robes belonging to a group of flustered mages. They were the same group she had seen in the restricted section the night before. When the group got closer, two new people came into view behind them. Two awkward looking players and a sad-looking whale. Approaching the wagon swiftly, Clemiticus pointed towards Melly.

“There she is!” he said.

“What have you idiots done?” Melly asked, her tone motherly, with more than just a hint of anger.

When the mages approached the wagon, they called out to her with deadly serious expressions.

“You there, girl. Come hither. Bring your dwarf friend!” said the mage with the gold rope around his waist.

“Why?” she replied with her arms on her hips.

“There is no time to waste! Girl!” commanded the mage. “Come! Don’t argue!”

I’m not a damn dog, Melly thought. Her father shrugged then leaped off the wagon without protest while Melly scooped up her fallen tome and tossed it through the door of the wagon. She did not want the mages to steal yet another book. This one at least was hers.

“I’m coming!” she answered, following her father.

The mages looked stone-faced and didn’t utter a single word as they directed the party towards the royal quarter. Melly saw the library pass by as they walked further into the fancier part of town. The stone underfoot brightened as if dirt offended it while the buildings were constructed in a grander fashion. There’s definitely tonnes of money in this part of the city, thought Melly.

After a few silent moments, they came to a huge, gated property that housed a single mundane building. The kind of place you would store basic food items and nothing much else. Clemiticus shot Melly a look of confusion as they passed through the gates.

A shimmer wobbled over a magical barrier and a massive alabaster tower appeared before them. Melly gasped at the sheer size of it. Standing far taller than anything within Skull city, the tower was as high as a volcano. Even a brood of dragons could comfortably roost on its peak with plenty of room to spare.

“Welcome to the mage's tower. Also known as Skull Tower!” the mage said proudly. “I am one of the head mages. You can call me head mage Jim, or simply Jim!”

“Okay, Jimmy it is!” Clemiticus replied cheerfully.

The head mage looked at the young bard and simply shrugged.

“That will do, I guess.”

The towers lawn was currently occupied by dozens of younger mages wearing brown robes. They all held a personal item that glowed with magical power. One at a time they practised incantations against each other.

“As you can see, some of our students are currently busy. Next week is exam week.” Said Jim.

A short, determined girl mage hiked up her brown robes and shook a crooked wand towards another student. Her opponent was a lanky boy who looked frightened beyond his wit's end.

The young girl then cried out, “Slappa Kazzam!” And an enormous pink hand instantly grew from the end of her wand. Her opponent winced as he feebly produced a magical shield. Wind buffeted as the hand swept forward with tremendous force.

Slap!

The young man sailed backwards, crashing to the ground with the sense knocked out of him.

“Well done, Barbara!” Jim clapped. “Nice incantation!”

The head mage turned to Melly and whispered, “She’s one of our brighter students.”

The head mage Jim held out his arms and shouted, “Cease practising for a short moment kiddos! We need to get past!”

The young mages paused, thumping one another as the group was led to the tower's entrance. Once inside, they were thoroughly impressed by the unique designs of the interior. Melly had a familiar sense as when she entered Nuecuses' magically charged wagon. The outside was massive, the inside INSANE!

Resembling multiple tables of chess, the ever-expanding walls of square rooms moved with constant precision. There were stairs that led upside down to nowhere, classrooms that hovered on their side and hallways that did the walking for you. Jim turned to the group and enjoyed watching the looks on their faces.

“Welcome to the place of impossibility!” he said cheerfully.

Melly now understood that the city had a new meaning. From the power and complexity of this place, she realised that the entire city was just a support network for the operation for this tower.

Jim clicked a finger and a red velvet hallway moved like a snake and appeared before them. With a flash of red, they found themselves surrounded by walls with Jim gesturing down its length. They took a few careful steps forward and judged the apparition to be real then followed Jim into a lavishly decorated room.

“Welcome to my office!” he spoke with a smile.

“Um, thanks.” Clemiticus said, eyeing the pictures on the walls.

“And, don’t worry about the park. We will rebuild it in no time!” Jim said quickly. “We have much more important matters to attend to.”

“And that is?” Melly asked.

Jim pointed towards Thea. “Can you please young lady, tell us how you killed a Drey Vine?”

“A what?” asked Thea.

Jim cleared his throat. “A day ago, our young mages had found a specimen of Drey Vine near the entrance to the city. Luckily, they could contain the beast with magic. However, where there is one there are always many.”

Thea glanced over to Clemiticus as a look of understanding passed between them.

“There’s little known about them. So we conducted research and dabbled in a few experiments.” Jim pulled out a tall leather chair and sat down with his arms crossed. A look of determination painted his features with seriousness.

“Nothing we throw at it kills the plant. Not ice, not fire, nor any of the magic we mages possess. Steel multiplies the weeds and water no matter the toxicity levels strengthen them. So I ask you young lady what makes your explosion of fire different.”

Thea looked over at the dwarf and shrugged.

“It’s just wood and gunpowder.” Derrick supplied.

“We have tried that as well.” Jim replied.

Clemiticus scratched his chin then said, “Was it because the bomb a conjured item?”

Thea shrugged.

“You can conjure items? Are you a mage? Where did you study?” Jim asked in quick succession.

“Yea, nah! Um, I didn’t.” she stammered in response.

“Fascinating.”

“Wait. When I shot it with the net, it ate it.” Thea said quickly.

Clemiticus nodded. “The net wasn‘t an attack. I wonder if there is a way to test it?”

Jim smiled, then waved a hand. Suddenly, a door appeared on the side of his office, opening to a bright white room with a solitary table in the middle. On top was a wire cage with the plant monster inside.

The group entered the room and surrounded the curious creature. Melly turned to their floating friend and told him to stay back.

“Thea, can you create a sharp object? I have an idea.” Clemiticus asked. “Like a toy sword or something.”

“A blade? Didn’t you listen! The beast will simple multiply.” Jim replied.

Clemiticus shook his eyebrows up and down. “You said steel. The weapon I used before was a crafted item from Derrick probably from a garbage heap.”

Derrick nodded without protest.

“And if Thea conjured bomb worked, then maybe a wooden weapon will as well.”

“And what if you 're wrong?” asked Jim.

“Don’t worry!” Clemiticus chuckled then said, “I’m feeling lucky!”

Thea pulled her book from her pocket and flipped it open.

“Here we go she said. I think this might be perfect for the job.” She said, placing her hand on the page.

“Summon object! Sharp stick!”

A sharp wooden object flashed into existence before Clemiticus who caught it before it could fall.

“Open the cage a tiny bit?” he asked.

Jim gave him a resigned look and obeys the crazed bard. He flipped open the lock as the cage flew open. The Drey Vine leaped for Clemiticus who dodged with the elegance of a disgruntled swan and slashed at the plant, slicing it in twain.

Each half fell to the floor and bounced harmlessly on the floor. The head mage Jim conjured a ball of magic ready to capture the newly revived beasts.

The Drey Vines didn’t move.

Instead, the green stems blacked and shrivelled until they were no more.

“Ah ha! I told you!” Clemiticus cheered. “My gamer senses were tingling!”