For two millennia, the bones of Cymbal rested in silence beneath the growing city-state of Gnome.

The city-state became an Empire, and the bones were guarded day and night against those who would misuse them.

The Empire warred with dragons, and with peace came eggs to plant inside the city. And wisely, the Emperor had one placed with Cymbal's bones.

Even after the Empire crumbled, the dungeon kept her remains safe from Necromancers and those who would misuse them. And when things settled down, the few Custodes left had a quiet word with the new rulership and convinced them to appoint a noble post to guard reliquaries and other problematic things... including the bones of a dead goddess.

Today, they failed.

Today, thanks to the nicest Necromancer that Chase had ever met, they rose again, pushing through the lower floors of the Basilica, reclaiming the ancient weapons she'd once born with fleshy hands and strolling out onto the streets of Gnome to slay a beast that should never have been born.

At least, that's what Chase expected was going on, as the Basilica crumbled to the south and a huge form loomed, silhouetted against the giant dust clouds.

“You know, I'd wondered why you worked so hard to convince Lord Barriano to empty the Basilica,” Thomasi remarked as they ran.

“Yeah.” Chase grinned, as a white skull the size of a hut loomed out of the clouds, turning empty eye sockets until it caught sight of the black wyrm. “We... should probably leave town pretty quickly once this is done.”

“Agreed,” Thomasi said, and then they saved their breath for the marathon.

They were having to take the long way around to bypass the oncoming Dracolupus. Fortunately Cagna had scouted the streets fairly well, and knew all the shortcuts. They made the most of Dijornos' Forced March ability, and met no other serious opposition along the way. There were a few growling forms back in the shadows, but those that remained were more concerned with following their abominable master than fighting the interlopers.

They slowed a bit as Tabita led them around the frozen and warped spot where the creature had breathed, and Chase nearly shrieked as Carmina tapped her on the shoulder. “Hey! What are we doing now?”

The halven bit back harsh words. “We're trying to get to Therasimalazyn. If he's still alive I can maybe heal him up, so that he can trap the black dragon between him and the undead. That might distract it so Vitale gets a clear shot.”

“Oh, sweet! How do I help?”

Chase glanced back. They were up on a bit of a hill, and she had a clear view of the bridge. The army was spilling out from behind its fortifications, doing their best to find new positions between the Dracolupus and the landmark. They'd pay a heavy price, she knew. But if it got across the bridge it could easily reach and destroy the spike-launcher they'd rigged up on the lightning road.

And if Thomasi was right, that would be the end. If it took the spike launcher to kill it, then nothing could stop the beast from this point on.

Nebs' prophecy would come true, and the world would be doomed.

A massive skeletal foot came down among the tide of soldiers as she watched, and they scattered, reacting to the new threat behind them. But the skeleton ignored them, eyesockets glowing red now as it raised two shining metal disks to the sky...

...and then brought them together with massive force.

Even from this distance, the wall of sound hurt Chase's ears.

She expected to see the army flattened... but all they did was drop their weapons and cover their ears.

Then the building across from the bridge exploded.

The one behind it followed suit.

Then the two nearest it behind that.

The three behind that only wobbled a bit, a few shingles blowing away as the massive, directed burst of sound finally lost a bit of its force.

The skeleton considered its weapons almost sadly, Chase thought. Then it seemed to shrug, and its red, red eyesockets found the Dracolupus.

“Now's our chance, move!” Chase said, and the party pulled itself away from the spectacle and ran.

They found the green dragon lying in a crater of wreckage, writhing, trying to snap at the loose cordon of weredrakes around him.

They seemed to be keeping him at bay, leaping in to cut at his torn hide when opportunity arose, then dancing back before he could strike. A few shattered corpses spoke to the inefficiency of this strategy, and Chase wondered at it until she saw their leader. It was a hunched and elderly white-maned weredrake painstakingly tracing symbols with glittery dust in a large ring around him.

“Dolce's Mom!” Renny said. “Oh that's bad, she's making a ward around him!”

“None of that, then!” Chase said. “Attack!”

It took precious minutes, but they had the jump on the beasts and they managed to scatter them before anyone got bitten.

Therasimalazyn considered them from where he lay. “YOU ARE TOO LATE.”

“I refuse to accept that!” Chase snapped. “Diagnose!” Then she slapped her hand over her mouth.

“YOU SEE NOW.”

“Yes,” Chase said. “Well. I can help with at least one of those.” She moved down into the crater, not taking her eyes off the dragon. She took a deep breath as she passed through the line of weredrake corpses, but Therasimalazyn didn't seem inclined to kill her.

Feet crunched and she looked up to find Thomasi and Cagna next to her, with Renny behind them, hands poised in his air manipulating stance. They're ready to save me if this goes bad, she knew. And her heart warmed to see it. Come what may, she had her friends. There were no finer people to see the end of the world with.

Of course, it would be better to save it. So she knelt by the great dragon's head and placed her hand on his bloody scales, digging into her apron for her worm jar.

“Absorb Condition, Transfer Condition,” she spoke, and the dragon's spine mended, letting it move its lower body once more. She spoke again and its wings mended. And on the third use, his bleeding stopped.

“THANK YOU. BUT YOU KNOW THAT THIS MATTERS NOT.”

“Yes it bloody does!” She said, dropping a suddenly-bloody and panicked worm onto the ground. “We need you to go attack it from the back while Cymbal fights it head on!”

“I AM TOO WEAK. AND IT MATTERS NOT. THE CORRUPTION HAS TAKEN HOLD. I MUST DIE.”

“Yes,” she said, for she had seen the truth with her diagnosis. Just like the werewolves she had examined, his very being was different now. The curse had taken hold of him.

But the full moon was tomorrow night. “But you don't have to die NOW. You're going to help fix this, then you can die!”

He snorted, and hot air washed over her. She hurried back, worried that he'd incinerate her. But there was no fire in his breath. Only self-pity. “WHY SHOULD I? I WILL DIE. WHAT DOES ANYTHING MATTER NOW?”

Chase put her foot wrong, slipped, fell backward...

...and a gloved hand caught her, as Thomasi stepped forward. She could just hear him muttering under his breath; “Silver Tongue, Stage Voice.” Then he spoke, more loudly. “You know, that was one of the things that Zenobia always threw in our faces.”

“WHAT?”

“That we were selfish, unfeeling, uncaring fools. Short-sighted spoiled princes who had the world handed to us on a platter, and didn't think we had any responsibilities to it.”

“THIS IS NOTHING LIKE THAT—”

“Selfish, greedy bastards, who thought that the world ended and began with us!” Thomasi shouted, and Chase gasped as the dragon fell silent.

“But it doesn't! And if you don't care about us, fine, whatever! But there are other dragons, and they'll end up corrupted if you don't act, here and now! And you know what they'll do then?”

The dragon's eyes were narrowing, and Chase could almost feel the hate rolling off it it. This was dangerous...

“They'll laugh at you! The runt who couldn't stop their master! They'll hunt you down and piss on your grave, you sorry excuse for a dragon!” Thomasi's voice turned sing-song, and he made little flappy motions with his hands. “Oooh, I got beat up! Ooooh, I didn't have the scales to stop her! I guess I'd better mope until they come and kill me! Wah!”

“YOU!” The dragon rose up, pulling itself to its full height...

And Chase whispered “Foresight!”

She watched her words fall on deaf ears, and tried again. “Foresight!”

Again, the Ringmaster died, and this time she did too. Time resumed and the Dragon's mouth stretched wide as his head lowered.

“Foresight!”

And the third time was the charm.

Your Foresight skill is now level 48!

“If he annoys you, think how much he'll vex her!” Chase shrieked as the dragon's jaws reached Thomasi's hat.

The great wyrm paused, ready to swallow him in a bite.

A chuckle loud as thunder washed over them. “VERY WELL, LITTLE SACRIFICE. GET ON MY BACK.”

“Er...” Thomasi paused. “What?”

“IF YOU WANT ME TO FIGHT SO BADLY, YOU'RE COMING WITH ME. MOUNT UP OR GET IN MY BELLY, IT'S ALL THE SAME.”

Thomasi blanched. Then the Ringmaster held very, very still as the dragon scooped the human up and put him on his back.

Another wall of sound.

Another blast that blew up buildings.

This time met by a reverberating roar, and a breath of that crystalline black wrongness.

“The skelly won't last long,” Madeline whispered in her ears. “It's doing damage, but taking too much back!”

“Damage... Hang on, we need to heal you up,” she said, running over to the green dragon's leg. “Lesser Healing! Ah... wait, what's this?”

In among the clotted wounds and ripped scales were green-feathered bolts. They glowed with sickly light, and the flesh around them looked melted.

“THE ABOMINATION'S SPAWN FIRED CROSSBOWS AT ME. IT HURT.”

“Those are the dragon-slaying bolts that we found!” Cagna gasped. “This thing changed them.”

“Like it changed the people who were here.”

“A FEW OF THE SPAWN HIT THEIR MASTER BY ACCIDENT. SHE KILLED THEM FOR THEIR AFFRONT.”

“The bolts will hurt her!” Chase realized. “Cagna, how many did we have? Do you think there are any left?”

“I'm not sure,” the dog-woman said, pulling the bolts free one by one. “Keep healing him up, I'll do a count.”

Precious moments slipped by. Chase burned through two of the fortune restoring potions that Lord Barriano had given her. Dragons had a lot of HP. But finally he nodded. “THIS IS ENOUGH. FOLLOW ME AND DIE WELL.”

“We will,” Chase said, and looked toward Cagna. “How many?”

“I think there's at least a box left,” the dog-woman said. Then she looked around at the ruined and blasted rubble. “I have no idea where they might be, though.”

“Oooh! Ooh! Let me!” Carmina said, and Chase suppressed a shriek as the catgirl popped up behind her. “I'm good at finding stuff! I'll go get them! And... why do you want them again?”

“Bring them to us!” Chase yelled over the dragon's wingbeats as it took off. “We'll be with him!”

“And bring crossbows too!” Cagna yelled.

And then Therasimalazyn and Thomasi were gone, the former one roaring a challenge and the latter screaming and hanging on for dear life.

“He's got a few Tamer levels, he'll be fine,” Chase said, mostly to reassure herself. “Let's go!”

This time it was easy to find a path.

Between the wreckage left in the trail of the Dracolupus and the exploded buildings, the way was mostly clear.

They arrived to see a battle of titans.

A broken and stumbling skeleton hammered at the jaws of the wolf-headed Dracolupus, as it tore through its ribcage two bones at a time, darting in and snapping loose marrow with every hit.

Behind it, Therasimalazyn fought with care. He'd called up vines around the battlefield, and they grasped and hindered the abomination's step. But his foe was fast, and he couldn't capitalize on her disadvantages.

Ahead of them, on the near side of the bridge, Barriano's troops fought against the remaining weredrakes. They had numbers, but the weredrakes were strong, and only a few of the Lord's army seemed to have silver weapons. Spells crackled and hissed from the rear ranks, keeping them from being overwhelmed, but that was all.

Something was off, though. The Dracolupus was fighting far more cautiously than she had before. Why? Was it because he was corrrupted? Was she hoping to keep a powerful minion alive until the moon rose and she gained his servitude?

She watched as the abomination avoided an easy shot at Therasimalazyn, and something about it made her wonder... Then the abomination's tail lashed his side and he staggered back, a red '264' rising to the sky. No, no she wasn't trying to avoid killing him. What was going on here?

Again Therasimalazyn snapped at her, and again she didn't retaliate...

...and Chase's eyes found the red-coated figure on Thomasi's back.

“Oh my gods! She's still a player!” Chase gasped. “She can't get him unless he activates his PVP switch or attacks her!”

WIS+1

“That's awesome!” Renny cheered. “Wait. How can we use this?”

“That's... I don't know.” Her eyes went wide. “Cagna! Whisper Thomasi, tell him that he can't hurt her! Under no circumstances should he attack—”

But she had been seconds too late.

Thomasi's voice echoed through the air, and Chase groaned as she saw a yellow '12' rise from the abomination's head.

She lashed out, lightning fast, clamping her wide jaws around the green dragon's neck, barely missing the red-coated form as Thomasi leaped for dear life.

“Control Air!” Renny shouted, and stopped his fall, pulling the Ringmaster away and out of the fight.

Therasimalazyn screamed and fought back, claws scrabbling to get her loose, but she dug in, lashing the skeleton with her tail. Cymbal gave one last scream as her battered ribcage collapsed and the unded crumbled to the ground.

BOOM.

The silver light arced upward.

Faster still, Tabita scrambled back, releasing Therasimalazyn...

...and failing.

The greenwyrm curled itself around her head, held her to him with the last of his strength.

The silvery bolt spike slammed into them both.

Chase didn't catch the red numbers that flew overhead, but when the dust cleared the great green wyrm lay on the ground in an ocean of blood. He didn't stir, and Chase knew he never would again.

And next to him, Tabita's black bulk lay motionless.

For a second, for a hot moment, for the briefest of moments Chase dared to hope.

And then the abomination twitched.

Then it shuddered, and with a mighty heave, tore the silver spike from its chest, screaming as a red '757' rose into the air.

The weredrakes below gave a mighty howl, and the defenders cried in despair, as the minions redoubled their efforts. They were forced back onto the bridge, and armored bodies fell into the water as Chase watched in horror.

“Oh no,” Bastien whispered.

“Are we immune to her? Tell me we're immune, we still have that pvp protection thing going on,” Cagna said, her voice dour.

“Nope,” Dijornos said. “I got flagged when Thomasi attacked her. This party ain't safe no more.”

“We wahn't in the first place,” Madeline said, flapping to the ground.

The Dracolupus reeled as it stood, looming over the bridge. It gathered its breath...

...and blood spurted, as it choked and sputtered.

“Sucking chest wound,” Cagna said. “I don't think it can breathe... whatever that stuff is, anymore.”

“Yah, but she's still like twenty tons of supah-annoyed dragon,” Madeline said. “Don't think that bridge'll stahp her fah long.”

“I'm sorry,” Thomasi said, landing neatly as Renny pulled him in. “I'm sorry. I couldn't think of anything to do to help.”

“No, it's fine,” Chase said. “We knew it'd come to this anyway.” She walked forward, pulling her cards as she went. “Everything comes in threes,” she spoke, not knowing how she knew this, only knowing it was true. “Three dragons. Three shots. If we can hold her here, then that third shot will end this. It's down to us now. We're all that's left.”

Silence around her.

Silence rudely broken, as Dijornos swore. “...hell, what've I got to lose at this point?”

“Still got a respawn?” Thomasi asked.

“Nope.”

“Let me fix that.”

The big man stopped, and stared. “Dude. I don't... you'd do that?”

Thomasi smiled. “You've come a long way from that foul-mouthed murderer I met over a decade ago.”

For a second it looked like that craggy, scarred face was going to cry.

Then the abomination roared again and Dijornos scowled instead. “Getting tired of her. Let's go shut her damn mouth. Fight the Battles!” he roared, and Chase smiled as one final buff washed over her.

“Fight the battles,” she agreed, nodding in satisfaction as Dijornos took the gold tokens Thomasi gave him. Real tokens this time, not the false ones he'd given Pwner.

But it was Renny who broke the moment. “Guys? She noticed that!”

And Chase looked up to see it was true. The massive creature had caught the flash of gold, and she was dragging her twisted, heavily-wounded form towards the group.

“She's getting out of the line of fire!” Cagna warned.

“Cazza!” Chase swore, then pointed to the crumbled remnants of a warehouse. “There! We'll make our stand there!”

Even with forced march up, even with Tabita's many injuries and hindrances, they still barely got to cover before she reached them. Heavy talons slammed down just behind Madeline's tail, and the little wooden dragon swore as she rolled through an empty doorway.

Concrete exploded as Tabita's tail lashed the wall, opening a large gouge.

“Get her!” Chase shouted, and Dijornos roared, leaping through one of the windows to slam his axe into Tabita's leg.

In the dimming light she saw the Muscle Wizaard working his way around her. She didn't know what he planned, but she threw a quick “Influence Fate,” his way, paying no heed as the skill rose.

Cagna's pistol cracked, and Tabita roared in surprise. She'd used a silver bullet. How many more did she have? Hard to say.

Leather wings beat the sky and Madeline rained down fire from above. Lightning churned next to Chase as Renny found holes in the wall and threw blasts willy-nilly. The time for illusions was over.

And Chase gasped as Dijornos took hundreds of points of damage in the space of seconds. “Lesser Healing, Lesser Healing, Lesser Healing!” she chanted, feeling her sanity drain with each invocation. She breathed easier once he was out of the danger zone...

Then with a roar and a screech of jaws on metal, he was right back there again. Grimly Chase set her back to the wall and healed for all she was worth.

And after a few moments, she knew it wouldn't be enough.

He was keeping Tabita's attention pretty well, and he and the others were laying in damage, but at some point she'd straight-out kill someone with a single hit, or run Chase out of sanity. And then...

Leather boots slapped the stone as Thomasi skidded to a stop in front of her. “We can't do this forever!”

“I know!”

“I'm keeping her attention on Dijornos, but she's got obscene willpower! And sooner or later this building will finish collapsing. We need another plan!”

Chase gnawed her lip... “We need to shift it up!” She healed Dijornos a few more times. “Renny, find Cagna! Get her to tell Dijornos to back off when she goes after Madeline. Then message Madeline and tell her to get to a safe distance and harass her. Tease her, lead her around a bit.”

“If she goes too far the railgun won't be able to hit her,” Thomasi warned.

“We can drag her back, Vitale probably needs a few more minutes to load a new one anyway. We need a breather! Thomasi, go with Renny, when Cagna finishes messaging then shift Tabita's attention to Madeline.”

“This'll get us minutes at most,” he warned.

“I'll take it. Go!”

Then it was more frantic healing, and Chase downed one of her sanity potions. It brought her back to half sanity and she winced.

“Ovah heah, doggy!” Madeline shouted during a brief bit of silence, and then Dijornos crashed through a windowframe, taking the broken wood and weakened stone with him.

Claws the size of carts pounded the ground as Tabita shifted, moving off into the distance. It wouldn't last, but for now it was working.

“God DAMN,” Dijornos said, raising himself to his elbows. “Did you see that Dee pee ess? Champion stats, man. And I'm the tank.”

“That's nice, but we need to change the game,” Chase said. “We're dead if we keep this up.” While she talked she dug out the jar of worms, and got the abomination's curse lifted off him.

Dijornos shrugged. “We got a plan, Wiz and me. Just need to get her back here. It'll hold her still so they can shoot her.”

“For how long?”

“Maybe ah... half a minute?”

“Not enough of a window,” Chase said. “Cagna? Cagna!” The dog-woman pounded downstairs, loading her pistol as she went.

“Yeah?”

“Whisper the Lord, get him to have one of his scouts check with Vitale, and tell us when the next shot is ready.”

“On it,” Cagna nodded, and muttered silently.

Renny tugged on Chase's skirt. “Madeline says she's coming back! She can't take another hit like that!”

“Already? No, I need more time...”

And then she paused.

I have a skill for that, she knew.

“Foresight.”

And when it was up, “Foresight,” again.

Sure, she usually used it to see the future. But the fact was that each use gave her ten uninterrupted seconds to think.

And eight uses later, she had her answer. Not a great one, but enough. “Thomasi, you've got a skill that targets her moxie? Those were what those yellow numbers were, right?”

“Yes, but she's got cool like you wouldn't believe. Turning into a dragonwolf did something for her in that department.”

“Doesn't matter, get out of here to sturdier ruin and use it as soon as she returns. I'll target her fortune. She's got hit points out the wazoo, but she might be weaker elsewhere. I'll try some things on her. Maybe I'll get lucky.”

“You're built for that. And me?”

“Illusions! Make multiple Thomasis and Chases.”

“Okay...”

“Three minutes,” Cagna said.

“What?”

“That's when the shot will be ready.”

“Threes again. Always threes. Okay, okay... Dijornos, I need you to stay here and wait. Understand? Wait! And when I yell now then you and Bastien do your thing, okay?”

“All right... You sure you don't want me—”

“No time! Get in position!”

Chase ran out of the building, almost colliding with Carmina. The catgirl shrieked and dropped bundles of sticks at her feet.

Chase looked down, stared at the green, sickly-glowing bolts, then back at Cagna. “Great! Light her up when Dijornos and Bastien hold her!”

Carmina screamed. “Get out of my way, it's comin—”

“Just go!” Chase howled. “Your master might be at the Basilica, go go go!”

And then, not waiting to see if it worked, she ran out into the street. Around her, multiple Chases sprang into existence, holding silvery cards up to the charging black bulk bearing down on them.

“Bad Fortune!”

The Dracolupus resists your curse!

“Ugh! Bad Fortune!”

You inflict 6 points of Fortune damage on Dracolupus!

Your Bad Fortune skill is now level 18!

“No good!” Chase yelled as a claw came down on one of her duplicates. She ran for it, hearing Thomasi shout from the other side of the street.

“Shout Down! My Tabby, you've put on weight!'

Medium was out. No good attack skills in there, beyond the bad fortune curse. Oracle... unlikely. Even if she could overcome the dragon-thing's resistance, she didn't have any good conditions to transfer to her. And now wasn't the time to be gambling with random afflictions...

Gambling!

She thought about slot machine.

She discarded the idea. That backfire chance... and the price tag. Her fortune was down, and she only had one more white potion left. And she had two and a half minutes to stall the thing.

Well.

I do have all these silver, magical cards, now don't I?

“Razor Arrow, Suit Sorcery!” she yelled, throwing a random card at the black dragon-thing...

...and watching with amazement as a grinning fool's head flashed into existence as it impacted the beast.

Joker! You have inflicted 63 universal damage!

Red, blue, green, yellow, and white numbers escaped from the Dracolupus' head, and it immediately whirled to face her. It left off going after Thomasi and Chase gasped as her outermost duplicate got trampled.

Then she ran like never before, repeating the trick. Icy hearts, fiery diamonds, and elements of all kinds flared as she dumped her hand...

...to no avail, as a massive paw slammed down in front of her. She squeaked, escaping death by a hairs' breadth.

It was over her now, long neck flexing, maw opening as the creature twisted, head coming for her...

“Suit Sorcery!” Chase said...

...and stared in surprise at the eight of rogues.

Her cards had gotten mixed again.

But even as the abomination's maw stretched toward her, even as it gaped wide, Chase couldn't rip her eyes away from the card.

It was glowing in her hand, the figures moving, knives sorting themselves out as the eight rogues split their hard-earned gains up across the table...

And that one skill, the one that Chase had thought useless came to her memory unbidden.

“Draw Fortune, Suit Sorcery!” Chase said, and drew a single card.

Congratulations, by combining a Medium's mysticism with a Gambler's luck, you have unlocked the Hand of Fate job!

Would you like to become a Hand of Fate at this time?

The abomination's breath was hot on her, its maw meters from her face.

“Yes!” Chase screamed, staring at the card she'd drawn.

And a dragon made of pure green energy burst out from the card, catching Tabita square in the jaw as it rose skyward, sending her tumbling away.

Chase ran, reading as she went.

You are now a level 1 Hand of Fate!

LUCK+10

You have learned the Draw Skill!

She had no time to read the skill, no time to know what it did. She was too busy enjoying the surge of raw energy and getting the hell out of there.

Behind her, a cry and she looked back to see her green dragon caught in Tabita's jaws. She crunched down and it dissipated into sparkling nothingness.

Then more images sprouted around her, and Tabita howled in rage. Multiple halvens, extra green dragons, chanting and jeering Thomasis...

And Cagna's voice, cutting through the din. “It's time!”

“Over here!” Chase yelled. “Come get me you slimy wolf worm! Draw!”

The six of wizards stared back at her from the card, and words appeared in front of her.

Choose a target for this fortune!

“Ah...” Tabita was bearing down on her, and she got this? This wasn't so useful! “I choose my party!” She shrieked, and ran again.

Your cool and mental fortitude are buffed+10 from Chase's Draw!

“That's great!” She screamed, as she ran back to the kill zone. “Just fabulous!” She howled again as Tabita's mouth snapped shut mere feet behind her, destroying another image.

“Now!” she howled the second she got within range of the shattered warehouse.

And Dijornos leaped out, threw himself into Tabita's path, and slammed into her wounded foreleg with all his strength.

Caught unaware, the massive creature stumbled. Just for a few seconds.

But it was long enough.

Bastien leaped out from behind her, caught her tail, and cried out “Suplex!”

And against all the odds, against everything Chase knew of natural law and physics, against every bit of despair she'd felt a few seconds ago, the dragon rose into the sky.

Then she crashed into the ground so hard that dust flew, and for a few seconds Chase was blind.

“He's got her!” Renny cheered. “He's bending her in... wow!”

And when the dust cleared, Chase stared at Bastien, who was clinging to one of her rear legs, with his own legs wrapped around her tail, contorting her spine with sheer muscle power.

But her neck was free, and Chase shrieked a warning as the muzzle came up to him, jaws opening wide to take his head off...

Clack!

The crossbow bolt took her in the eye, and the abomination shrieked, rearing back—

BOOM.

And the spike took her full on in the chest, knocking her out of the hold, pinning her to the street.

You are now a level 20 Oracle!

CHA+3

LUCK+3

WIS+3

You have learned the Trance skill!

Your Trance skill is now level 1!

You have learned the Unerring Strike skill!

“Yes!” Dijornos cried. “Yes yes yes—” The rest of his speech devolved into cursing.

Chase joined the rest of the group as they crept toward Tabita's gasping form. Carefully, carefully... piano, piano, as the late, unlamented Don Coltello would have said.

“Marcus,” the abomination gurgled, as her good eye fixed on them. “Greg.”

Chase didn't understand at first. Then she saw how Thomasi and Dijornos had gone still, and it became clear.

“You're still in there, huh Grace?” Dijornos said.

“Yes. Greg, listen,” her voice was soft, far softer than it should be for something this size. “The boss is dying. I'm in control again.”

“I suppose you want us to heal you up, let you go?” Thomasi said, and there was something in his tone...

Pity.

He felt pity for her, even after all she'd done. Chase's stomach churned.

“No. Listen. I know the way home. I know how to get back.” Tabita begged, gurgling a bit. Blood welled from her mouth.

“How?” Dijornos barked. “Tell me!”

“She's lying,” Bastien warned.

But Chase couldn't tell.

“Give me tokens,” Tabita begged. “Six tokens. I'll tell you.”

“No!” Renny burst out.

“I can control it! I won't rampage again... the boss is dead! It'll be me in charge this time!”

It was convincing.

But Chase remembered how it had avoided attacking Thomasi, until his pvp immunity was broken.

Instinct? Perhaps.

Or perhaps...

“I... I need to know how,” Dijornos said, looking around at them wildly. “I can't pass this up. If there's a chance, if there's any chance—”

And Chase understood, almost too late, the meaning of the card she'd drawn earlier. How curiosity was their true enemy here.

She turned her back on the dragon.

“Silent Activation, Silver Tongue.” Then she said more audible words. “I agree, you can't pass this up.

“What?” Renny burst out.

“Hell naw!” Madeline said, sidling around, clearly measuring up Dijornos.

“Thomasi, give her the tokens,” Chase said, winking at him.

And thank Hoon, thank his clever, clever wit, thank his beautiful lying heart, he nodded. “Well. She has owned her mistakes.”

Chase nodded, and smiled as she saw him rub his face, covering his mouth for just a brief moment, before kneeling next to Tabita's paw and putting golden tokens into her claws.

And the abomination laughed.

“Heh... ha ha ha...”

“Oh you idiot! That's bad, raht? What you just did was very stupid, raht?” Madeline asked.

“I'll be back, you fools!” Tabita said, foul breath washing over them. “I'll be back, and—”

“Tabby, please,” Dijornos said, staring at her, his face crumpling. “Tell me the way back. Please.”

She only laughed harder. “I have no clue, you little punk!”

And with a roar of pain, Dijornos charged forward and put his battleaxe through her head.

They stayed there for a while, as her laughter echoed and died through the ruined city, and up to the fat and rising moon.

CHASE'S CHARACTER SHEET

Spoiler: Spoiler

Name: Chase Berrymore

Age: 15 Years

Jobs:

Halven level 12, Cook level 5, Archer level 10, Gambler Level 10, Grifter level 16, Hand of Fate 1, Medium level 10, Oracle level 20, Painter level 2, Teacher level 6

Attributes / Pools / Defenses

Strength: 78 Constitution: 44 / Hit Points: 122 / Armor: 10

Intelligence: 74 Wisdom: 146 / Sanity: 220 / Mental Fortitude: 60

Dexterity: 153 Agility: 70 / Stamina: 223 / Endurance: 0

Charisma: 256 Willpower: 62 / Moxie: 318 (367) / Cool: 73

Perception: 148 Luck: 316 / Fortune: 464 / Fate: 57

Generic Skills

Archery – Level 1

Brawling – Level 8

Climb – Level 15

Dagger – Level 2

Dodge – Level 13

Fishing – Level 14

Ride – Level 10

Stealth – Level 19

Swim – Level 7

Throwing – Level 31

Halven Skills

Fate’s Friend – Level N/A

Small in a Good Way – Level N/A

Cook Skills

Cooking - Level 20

Dishwasher – Level N/A

Freshen - Level 12

Archer Skills

Aim – Level 9

Crippling Shot – Level 1

Demoralizing Shot – Level 9

Far Shot – Level 1

Flame Arrow – Level 1

Missile Mastery – Level N/A

Quickdraw – Level N/A

Rapid Fire – Level N/A

Razor Arrow – Level 8

Ricochet Shot – Level 21

Gambler Skills

Ace in the Hole – Level 2

Ante Up – Level 8

Assess Challenge – Level N/A

Cardsharp – Level 9

Deadly Dice – Level 1

Double Down – Level 7

Gambler’s Fortune – Level N/A

Hold’em – Level N/A

Slot Machine – Level N/A

Suit Sorcery – Level 10

Grifter Skills

Bluster – Level 1

Feign Death – Level 7

Fools Gold – Level 4

Forgery – Level 11

Master of Disguise – Level 15

Mega-Moxie – Level N/A (+16% Moxie)

Old Buddy – Level 7

Pickpocket – Level 21

Silent Activation – Level 36

Silver Tongue – Level 35

Size Up – Level 9

Unflappable – Level N/A

Hand of Fate

Draw – Level N/A

Medium Skills

Bad Fortune – Level 17

Crystal Ball – Level 10

Draw Fortune – Level N/A

Focus Vision – Level 5

Fortuna – Level N/A

Good Fortune – Level 18

Object Reading – Level 1

Palmistry – Level N/A

Séance – Level N/A

Stack Deck – Level N/A

Oracle Skills

Absorb Condition – Level N/A

Afflict Self – Level 1

Diagnose – Level N/A

Divine Pawn – Level N/A

Foresight – Level 47

Grant Vision Level 7

Influence Fate – Level 15

Lesser Healing – Level 51

Omens and Portents – Level N/A

Random Buff – Level 9

Short Vision – Level 17

Trance – Level 1

Transfer Condition – Level 18

Unerring Strike – Level N/A

Painter Skills

Fast Dry – Level N/A

Painting – Level 5

Teacher Skills

Lecture – Level 24

Red Ink – Level 3

Smarty Pants – Level N/A

Unlocked Jobs

Farmer, Herbalist

Gear

Enrico’s Last Hand

Light Leather Armor