Joseph’s eyes shot open, and he turned his head to the side. He had slept by the fire, sleeping with his body hunched over, his torso propped up by his sledgehammer—which looked a bit deformed. A familiar face came into the camp, and Joseph frowned. “What took you so long? Where’s Danielle?”

Keith scratched his head. How was he supposed to explain the situation? “Do you remember Vur?”

“His Majesty?”

“Yeah,” Keith said and nodded.

“Is this a trick question?” Joseph asked. If it weren’t for the fact the party had been running away from Vur, would they be here now after having their ship invaded by Mary? “Stop speaking in riddles. Why can’t you ever say things directly?”

“When I say things directly, all of you keep telling me to shut up,” Keith said, making a face. Upon seeing Joseph’s eyes narrowing, Keith cleared his throat. “Grimmoldesser is Vur’s uncle. Helping Mary kill him is a bad idea.”

“I know it’s a bad idea,” Joseph said. “Do you think I want to risk my life for a crazy woman? She’s trying to slay a dragon because it’s targeting her pet turtle! Did you already forget how badly she beat us on the boat?” Joseph exhaled and took in a deep breath. “Where did you learn that information, and what happened to Danielle?”

“We were kidnapped by Grimmoldesser’s children along with all the other scouts,” Keith said. “I talked them into letting me go, but they have a cruel pet goat, and it made one of the baby dragons—there’s two by the way—curse me. I told them I’d be able to convince you into backstabbing Mary during the hunt for Grimmoldesser, and if that doesn’t happen, then apparently my soul will disintegrate bit by bit until I’m left with an empty husk of a body.”

Joseph furrowed his brow. “And I assume Danielle and the rest will suffer bad ends if we don’t help Grimmoldesser during the fight?”

“I’m not sure,” Keith said and shrugged. “I was more worried about getting myself away from there; I might’ve forgotten to ask.” He crossed his arms over his chest and met Joseph’s glare with his eyes. “If you were the one kidnapped by dragons, you’d have made the same choice as me.”

Joseph exhaled again. “Perhaps,” he said. “Did the dragons give you a way to contact them?”

“No.”

“Do you know where they’re keeping Danielle and the rest of the scouts?”

“Yes….”

“There are only two baby dragons there? What about Grimmoldesser? Do you know where he is?”

“Don’t tell me you’re planning on attacking those two dragons,” Keith said and made a face. “Weren’t you listening to the part where I said I was cursed? If we don’t cooperate with them, my soul will disintegrate. Do you know how painful that is? I don’t, but I don’t plan on finding out!”

“Curses can be lifted,” Joseph said. His eyes narrowed. “What do you think will happen if we capture Grimmoldesser’s children? Do you think he’ll trade his life for them? Even if he’s an evil dragon, he’s still a parent in the end, no?”

“Boss man, are you really not going to consider the fact Grimmoldesser is Vur’s uncle? If we help him deal with Mary, we’ll be killing three birds with one stone: Vur will likely forgive us; Grimmoldesser won’t eat us; and Mary won’t be around to kill us. What does kidnapping Grimmoldesser’s children do? I die of a curse; Grimmoldesser hates us; Vur will hunt us down to the very end; and most importantly, I die of a curse!”

Joseph rubbed his chin. “Who do you think is stronger between Vur and Mary?”

“Vur,” Keith said without hesitation. “He’s a dragon. If Mary was capable of killing a dragon by herself, do you think she’d be asking us to help her?”

Joseph raised an eyebrow. “That makes a lot of sense,” he said and looked Keith from head to toe. “The curse you’re put under must’ve jumpstarted your brain.”

Keith’s expression darkened. “So, we’re helping Grimmoldesser, right?”

“We’ll see what happens,” Joseph said. “How about you bring me to the place where Danielle and the rest are being held captive? I’ll negotiate with those two baby dragons.”

“The baby dragons aren’t the issue,” Keith said and shook his head. “You have to be wary of the pink-eyed goat. She has a name, but I’m not sure how to pronounce it. Are you sure you want to go? You might get cursed too.”

***

Tafel waved a piece of dripping bear meat in front of Vur’s nostrils. His nose twitched, and his eyes creaked open. He let out a yawn as he sat up, Tafel moving the piece of meat away to prevent him from bumping into it. “Good morning,” Vur said and rubbed his eyes with the backs of his hands. He leaned over to the side and wrapped his arm around Tafel’s waist, pulling her closer to the bed. He rested his head against her stomach and yawned again before closing his eyes. “Snooze?”

Tafel scratched Vur’s head. “No snooze. I want to show you something.”

Vur sighed and leaned back, sitting upright on the bed. He turned his head to the side of the room, where the Recordkeeper was feasting on a plate of bear meat. Vur turned his head back to Tafel. “What is it?”

Tafel took a step back and waved her hand. A thin film of mana appeared in the space between her and Vur. “Look.”

Vur scratched his belly while Tafel took a step to the left.

“Can you see where I am?”

Vur furrowed his brow. “You’re over there,” he said and pointed at Tafel’s image. Before Tafel could say anything, Vur pointed towards the right. “But you smell like you’re over there. Strange.”

The film of mana disappeared, revealing Tafel’s figure, which was being pointed at by Vur. “What do you mean my smell is over here? You can smell me?”

“I can smell a lot of things,” Vur said.

Tafel frowned. “I guess this spell doesn’t work too well, huh?” she mumbled. She nodded to herself. “Alright, I’m going to learn the second one.”

Vur looked around. “Was that it?”

“Yes, that was it,” Tafel said. “Sorry for waking you. If you’re hungry, here.” She reached into a portal and pulled out a tray of cookies. “Fresh from the oven. Make sure you don’t lose the tray, or your grandma will be upset with me again.”