The sky had gone overcast and cloudy by the time they came running across the snow, and Rotgoriel loped to the edge of the village to watch their approach. He saw LivingDeadGrrl’s red name first, followed by Geebo’s green one. There was a third name right near the human’s, but it winked out as he watched. Strange...

“You have the items?” Rotgoriel asked as they came near.

“Geebo has the following items in his inventory—” the draggit started, but LivingDeadGrrl smacked him on the side of the head.

“Yes! Hand them in quick; they’re not far behind! Geebo, give him the shit.”

“I am sorry, but I do not take orders from you,” Geebo started, neck frills rising.

“Give me the quest items,” Rotgoriel said.

That settled that.

The Icon was waiting outside his hut. It swayed as they approached, put one hand to its head.

“Here!” Rotgoriel said, thrusting the hoop, the seal, and the pane forward. It was awkward standing up on his hind legs to do so, and he resisted the urge to tell the Icon to go faster as the yellow-robed servant of darkness took them one by one, looking each one over.

Finally, he was done.

I Wear No Mask quest complete!

You are now EXALTED BEYOND ALL OTHERS with the Children of the Yellow Icon.

You are now a level 6 High Dragon Hatchling!

CON+25

PER+25

STR+25

WILL+25

Armor+15

Cool+15

Mental Fortitude+15

Rotgoriel roared his joy as he felt his bones shift inside his body. His muscles tightened and bulged, and when he looked up, he realized that he was looking at LivingDeadGrrl’s eyes on an even level for once.

“Damn,” she said. Then she narrowed her eyes and shot the Icon a look. “We don’t get anything for being in the party?”

“Experience for private quests is not shared among party members,” Geebo informed her, cheerfully.

The Icon seemed to shake, before it reached a trembling hand into its robes, and pulled out a glass sphere. “Fear not, Exalted hero. Your actions have unlocked a secret quest.”

LivingDeadGrrl’s eyes went wide, and she took the sphere from him. “Thanks! Sorry Rutger, I have to do this one alone.”

“I understand. Go quickly, our foes will be here shortly,” he told her.

“Relax. I got skills for this. Fast as Death!” she said and bolted out of the village.

Oddly enough, she slowed just before she left his sight and turned her head to the side, lips moving as she argued with thin air. Whatever the argument, it was short, and she sped off across the tundra.

A minute later, the surrounding villagers perked up, and Geebo rubbed his forehead. The Icon gave a sigh and pointed after the way she’d gone. “Shu vassa, maak hooli.”

“Mak hooli!” The villagers around him nodded, gathered their weapons, and set off on her trail.

“Little Great One?” Geebo asked, uncertain. “That seems ominous.”

“Follow me, and I shall craft for you the mirror of souls,” the Icon said. “Hurry! We have too little time!”

“Yes,” Rotgoriel said, staring off after the pursuing villagers. “Because our enemies are coming, and you have sent every defender this village could muster away. Why is that?”

The Icon paused in the act of reaching for the hut’s doorway blanket. “It is irrelevant,” it said. “Once you have reconciled yourself, you will be a match for our foes.”

“How?” Rotgoriel asked. “They slew my mother, and she was surely greater than I.”

“But she was not twice-named!” The Icon shook but managed to get ahold of itself. “I have told you of the veil. We could not enact this ritual while the hero was here, and her veil was clouding my mind. Do not fear, she will return in time to serve one last purpose. Come! It will have been all for nothing if we do not proceed immediately!”

He wasn’t lying about that. But Rotgoriel wondered about some of the other things he’d said.

“Come, Geebo.” He walked toward the hut as the Icon held the curtain.

“He must wait outside,” the Icon said.

“Master?” Geebo asked.

Now Rotgoriel found himself very suspicious. But if worst came to it, he was twice-named. He could die and return. Perhaps it was best his servant was away from a potential threat if the Icon tried betrayal. The dragon lowered his voice. “Stay out here. Hide at the edge of the village, and if he returns without me, flee back to the vault. I will find you.”

Geebo nodded and slunk away. The Icon watched impassively.

And once more, Rotgoriel entered the Icon’s lair. A featherlight touch ran across the scales of his back as he did so, and he flinched before he could stop himself. But when he glanced back, nothing was there. Perhaps he had shuddered? Perhaps he had tripped some unseen ward?

Some of the words on the walls seemed different this time. And as the Icon entered behind him, appearing from the blanket like a phantom fading in through a wall, they flashed red and started to pulse.

“Do not be alarmed,” the Icon told him. “I have sealed this place. None shall enter until we are finished.” With that, he placed the three things Rotgoriel had given him on his altar and started pulling out boxes from below it, revealing dusts of all colors and crystals of varying sizes.

Rotgoriel felt his eyes grow wide. When the ancestors had sung to him of treasures, they had spoken of reagents and crystals that were the raw stuff of magic itself. This... this was a hoard beyond compare.

“Spellstore forty Planar Contact,” intoned the Icon. “Embed Spell Planar Contact. Spellstore thirty-five Soul Dominance.”

And just as Rotgoriel had started forward to get a better look at the shining, priceless hoard, most of it vanished, flaring into multi-colored light, light that flowed up into the items on the altar.

The items rose and chimed as they warped and distorted.

The silver hoop expanded, turning into a larger, thinner oval. The pane of airy crystal grew as well, then contracted as it lost its corners and flowed into the hoop, filling it like water before freezing in place. And the lock-like LDAP sign opened and twisted, sealing around a hole in the bottom of the daemonsilver before it elongated, forming a handle of sorts.

The Icon took it by the handle, and the lights faded. “Centuries of power went into this,” he told Rotgoriel. “But it will do. Say the word ‘activate.’ Then say the words ‘planar contact’, and concentrate on the face of the one you wish to confront.”

“And the soul dominance?” Rotgoriel asked, suspicious. “What was that about?”

“That will let you destroy your invader’s soul and claim your body as your own, of course. All it takes is willpower and determination. You have those, do you not?”

“I am a dragon, am I not?” Rotgoriel answered the question with a question and grabbed the mirror from the Icon’s hand. “Activate Planar Contact.”

ERROR! ILLEGAL SPELL#@!#!%

SPELL NOT [email protected][email protected]%!%~

OVERRIDE...

….searching...

Executing Eldritchfuckery.exe

CONTACT ESTABLISHED

Everything went dark, dark with green light gleaming around the edges.

And there, in front of him, blinking his stupid eyes, and staring at him with visible surprise, was the human who kept stealing his body.

“I didn’t log in,” the human said. Now what had the Frederick human called him? Richard, that was it.

“Richard,” Rotgoriel rumbled. “You have taken that which was not yours.”

“What are you... how am I even talking with you? This is crazy,” Richard said.

There was a hole in the blackness behind him. Rotgoriel saw a land of ash, and the bald man, along with some other unfamiliar humans. They were approaching Richard but slowly, slowly, as if they were moving through tar.

“You are not mad. Nor am I, despite your best efforts. I will have my body back from you, human.”

“Body...” Richard blinked, and Rotgoriel watched realization dawn. “You’ve been taking mine, haven’t you,” Richard whispered. “This is like darknet AI gone horribly wrong. I’ve been logging in, and while I’m logged in you’ve been controlling me, somehow. It’s like that Ghostjumper movie.”

“I know not of that.” Rotgoriel frowned. “Do not change the subject.”

“You have, haven’t you? You’re the reason I got beaten up and woke up in jail!”

“Yes,” Rotgoriel said, as the concept of jail drifted through his mind.

“And you were talking to Mister Tassle while I was fighting the Rock thing!”

“I was.”

“Why did you let my dad die?” Richard yelled.

Rotgoriel jerked back in surprise, and for a second everything faded, as the blackness started to fade, and the glaring red light of the hut began to replace it...

“No!” the Icon shouted. “Do not break the spell yet!” He wasn’t in sight, but Rotgoriel couldn’t spare a second to look for him. Instead he focused on Richard again, on the human’s fading face. It snapped back into focus, as the black-green void encircled them both.

“I did not let your dad die!” Rotgoriel retorted. “Why didn’t you help my mother? They killed her, and I was stuck... you were controlling me then!”

“She was dead before I got there,” Richard said. “I like literally logged in and fumbled around in the dark and then they chased Geebo into the hatchery. There was nothing I could do.”

“You should have tried to kill them, at least! They’d just fought her; they were weak!” Rotgoriel protested... but he felt the thinness of it. And Richard could see it, too.

“So were we,” the human said. “There wasn’t anything we could do. I’m sorry. There wasn’t anything.”

Rotgoriel stared at him, tried to feel loathing. Tried to feel hatred. But he found himself curiously drained. “Dragons don’t apologize,” he finally said. “But... I... regret your father’s death. I tell you that I do not know what I could have done to change things there.”

“You could have not gotten us thrown in jail. Then Haskeen wouldn’t have... no. No, that’s not right,” Richard’s face sagged. “He was watching me. He would have found some way to talk to me, and it probably would have ended up the same. Damn it. Damn it all.”

“I am supposed to dominate you and take my body back,” Rotgoriel said. “I think that’s what has to happen, here.”

Richard snorted. “Why bother? They’re going to gloat at me then burn me to death out here. You’ll be free of me soon enough.”

Rotgoriel stared. “That is what is happening there?”

“Yeah. Bad guys win. Good guys lose.” Richard shut his eyes. “And it’s not just me. They’re gonna toast Mister Tassle, too.”

“Tassle... the Frederick?”

“The Frederick.”

“I find this unacceptable. He gave good hugs.”

“Well now he’s not going to hug anyone anymore ever. And it’s our fault for getting him into this.”

Rotgoriel thought harder than he’d ever thought before. He searched his heart and came to a conclusion that he knew had been there for a while. “I do not hate you.”

“I don’t hate you either. I’m freaked out that you controlled me, but... I mean, I guess I controlled you, so it’s not fair to get pissed about that,” Richard said. “I’m worried that either I’m going nuts here or some kind of Echo hack is going on, but since I’m going to be dead in a few minutes, what’s it matter? Sorry man. I really wanted to do some awesome stuff with you.”

“You have.” Rotgoriel told him. “I am level six now. This is no small thing. This is decades of work. You got me there in less than two days!”

“Yeah, and we died a bunch along the way. I fucked up a bunch,” Rich said.

“No. No, we fucked up.” Rotgoriel sighed. “I decided I wanted vengeance because that’s what a dragon should do. Not because it made me happy. I am a dragon. I’m the only dragon around here! I should get to decide what a dragon should do, not a bunch of stupid ancestors that don’t talk to me anymore!”

“For what it’s worth, I hope you do fine in the game,” Richard said. “Go kick some ass, man. Have fun. Maybe remember me every now and then.” Then his eyes widened, and he stared past Rotgoriel. “What is the Icon doing?”

Rotgoriel started to turn, but he felt a presence next to him. He flicked his eyes sideways, caught the copper mask in his peripheral vision.

“You haven’t finished off your foe yet?” the Icon asked.

“He is not my foe,” Rotgoriel said. “And his death is coming regardless of my actions.”

“What?” the Icon sighed. “The young are tedious, at times. Fickle. Well, if you will not slay him, there is one more matter to attend to. Swear yourself to the Thing in Yellow. Pledge him your fealty!”

“That I can do,” Rotgoriel agreed. “I so vow.”

YOU HAVE PLEDGED YOUR DARK ALLEGIANCE TO HASKELL—

ERROR! PLEDGE CONFLICT! EXISTING PLEDGE EQUALS YES!

EXECUTING ROLLBACK...

Everything happened at once, then.

Rotgoriel shrieked, as space stretched, the void blurring in all directions, including through him. He himself twisted like clay, deforming in the space between worlds...

...and then the human was there too, his thoughts colliding with Rotgoriel’s own, running over and through them as their emotions blended together.

“No! I will not be denied!” the Icon roared. Rotgoriel felt bandaged hands clamp over his horns. “Give me your body, wyrm!”

Then they were back in the black space, all three of them, and the Icon’s mask was growing, looming over them as it opened its great copper mouth. Time slowed...

But Rich and Rotgoriel found that they could think very, very fast now. Their memories were open books to one another, all secrets gone.

This is like a dream, Rich thought. And if he’s getting bigger, then why can’t we?

Rotgoriel growled back, and then they were snapping open wings that could blot out a sun, roaring with jaws that could swallow a moon. He struck at the mask, and it cracked as it danced backward with speed that belied thought.

Then it spewed lightning from its mouth, and Rich screamed in pain...

...but Rotgoriel knew pain. He cared little for pain. He slapped the mask, open pawed, and sent it tumbling away into the void. More cracks now, and a hollow shriek that held nothing human.

Let me talk. Rich took control of the mouth, just for a bit. “You told us, you wear no mask. You showed us, in the images over the fire. You were honest. You are the mask, aren’t you? The Icon’s just the host.”

The mask laughed, eyes crackling with yellow energy. Then it shot toward them again, and the void shattered as it passed, pulses of energy or something that broke the very space around them, ripped through draconic flesh like monofilament wire. Rotgoriel shrieked, and started to fade...

It’s a dream! Do what I do! Rich thought and willed the body to change.

And what was a series of falling dragon pieces became hundreds of tiny dragons, unfurling wings and swarming like a flock of birds, turning to follow the mask. Flame burst forth from hundreds of throats, and the mask screamed and melted.

Rich and Rotgoriel waited a moment. The mask didn’t reform. Yellow light bled in through the cracks in shattered space, crawling and burning, but nothing burst out from the weakened spots.

“Is that it?” Rich asked through the dragon’s throat.

“I do not know,” Rotgoriel replied through the same mouth.

“Hurry!” A shrill voice shouted. Shrill and squeaky and familiar to one of them. “Come back to yourself!”

And thanks to their memories combining, they recognized her instantly.

Aunarox, the djinn.

They turned their head and stepped back...

...and stared through the world through copper eye sockets.

The Icon stood behind them. Its bandaged hands held a very familiar copper mask above the dragon’s muzzle. But those bandaged hands were held back by tiny blue arms, as Aunarox stood on their head, and did her damnedest to keep the Icon from forcing his mask onto the dragon’s face.

And as her arms buckled, they could see she had lost the struggle.

Less than a second.

Rotgoriel started to turn.

No! Rich thought. No time! He’s behind us! We have a skill that can get him! Use Tail Slap!

No time to check it, no time to think, no time to do anything but trust that the human who’d co-opted him in mind and body, and now soul, knew what he was talking about.

No time to even speak the skill.

Rotgoriel roared it instead, and Draconic Tongue took care of the rest.

Your Tail Slap skill is now level 2!

The dragon’s tail slammed into the Icon, sending his thin body flying. The mask fell...

...and Aunarox spiked it aside, in a way that Rich compared to a pro volleyball player smacking one home.

Then Rotgoriel was in control, and his jaws found the Icon as the figure, revealed to be an old, old man, struggled to rise.

He didn’t rise, and blood painted the runes.

Instantly, red snapped to bright, blinding yellow, and Aunarox screamed as a blue ‘31’ ripped out of her skull. Richard and Rotgoriel felt a whisper in their heads and saw words fly by.

The Icon’s Code Trap deals 15 points of sanity damage to you!

The dragon oriented itself, and Rich shot a look around the hut. To the little blue woman, clutching her head and groaning. To the Icon’s copper mask, rising up from the ground, eyes glaring yellow and mouth opening in a grimace. And to the mirror, turning in the center of the hut, black and green void around it fading, slowly.

And on the other side of the void, they could see Richard’s body staring blankly, as it collapsed to the ground.

There was a tugging sensation in their mind. I think the mirror’s spell is ending, Rotgoriel thought.

What happens if it closes and we’re both over here? Rich thought back.

“Swear to Anjuuta, quickly!” Aunarox squeaked as she struggled to stand. “Please! I need my power back to help fight this abomination!”

“I swear!” Rotgoriel roared through the dragon’s mouth.

A great wind swept through the room.

One line of symbols on the wall cracked and snapped, going black.

And Richard and Rotgoriel gasped as words flashed across their view.

You have pledged your dark allegiance to Anjuuta!

You have learned the Conceal Status skill!

Your Conceal Status skill is now level 1!

You have learned the Curses skill!

Your Curses skill is now level 1!

You have learned the Darkspell – Fool’s Gold!

Your Fool’s Gold skill is now level 1!

You have learned the Enhance Pain skill!

Your Enhance Pain skill is now level 1!

You have learned the Occult Eye skill!

You have learned the Transfer Wounds skill!

Your Transfer Wounds skill is now level 1!

But while they were distracted, the mask spoke. “Ward against life,” it said, and symbols flared in the ground below it.

Meanwhile, the maddening light flared from the walls, boring into the dragon’s skull, visible even when it shut its eyes. It wore on their brain.

“Do not approach it!” Aunarox said, back to human height again and back to her usual sultry tones. “His ward will burn your flesh through your scales, oh dragon!”

“We have to do something,” they spoke through their throat. “Our sanity will go quickly...”

That’s the plan, Rich realized. He’ll wait until we’re knocked out from sanity loss, then plop the mask on our face and boom, we’re the next Icon. This whole plot was to get the Icon an immortal and invincible body.

So, what do we do about it? Rotgoriel thought back. I could breathe fire on him from here. Fire would not be stopped by such a ward.

Rich shot a look at the closing wisp of void around the mirror. Then at the walls full of symbols. They’re code, he thought. I could shut them down if I had time. This is like that door with the shocking gates. There’s a way to do it, but... I need to get back to my own body! I don’t know what’ll happen if that mirror shuts off now.

I will do it. Rotgoriel thought. You handle the Icon.

And then, without giving Rich the chance to protest, Rotgoriel willed himself through the mirror and back into Richard’s body.

RUTGER'S CHARACTER SHEET

Spoiler: Spoiler

Name: Rutger Royal

Age: 2 Days

Jobs:

Cultist (Anjuuta) 1, High Dragon Hatchling 6

Attributes Pools Defenses

Strength: 206 Constitution: 203 Hit Points: 409 Armor: 105

Intelligence: 42 Wisdom: 40 Sanity: 82 Mental Fortitude: 105

Dexterity: 14 Agility: 39 Stamina: 53 Endurance: 0

Charisma: 37 Willpower: 201 Moxie: 238 Cool: 105

Perception: 201 Luck: 34 Fortune: 235 Fate: 6

General Skills

Brawling – Level 13

Dodge – Level 12

Fly – Level 14

Ride – Level 1

Stealth – Level 2

Swim – Level 2

High Dragon Hatchling Skills

Burninate – Level 10

Chomp – Level 8

Draconic Tongue – Level N/A

Dragonseye – Level 15

Flameborn – Level N/A

Hoarder – Level 1

Limited Equipment – Level N/A

No Thumbs – Level N/A

Scaly Wings – Level N/A

Slow to Age – Level N/A

Tail Slap – Level 2

Cultist Skills

Conceal Status – Level 1

Curses – Level 1

Darkspell: Fool's Gold – Level 1

Enhance Pain – Level 1

Occult Eye – Level N/A

Transfer Wounds – Level 1

Unlocked Jobs

Cleric, Conjuror, Fire Elementalist, Grifter, Knight

Gear: