"How dare you!" Thiwick squealed.

I could almost feel her cold eyes, but Casiron ignored the outburst, focusing on me.

"Although it gladdens me that she survived, as it means there might be more, it seems I'll have to ask you to ignore her presence until I have sufficiently taught her about our people's ways."

"I am a silver scaled one, a queen! How dare you-" Thiwick began.

Casiron snapped his head towards her, and a wave of emotions burst from him. I caught some of it, and it was a mix of humor, deep sadness, and a crisp annoyance. It silenced Thiwick as she froze midair, gawking at him.

"Your mind has not yet gone through the second transition," Casiron snapped. "I am your elder by over four thousand years and three transitions. You will address me as such!"

His pressure almost made me want to sit down, straighten my back, and keep quiet. There was a little resistance from the silvery Dracoserp, which was snuffed out almost instantly. Her silvery body turned into a shivering loop as she almost bit the tip of her tail. Then she turned silent and still, and when her voice came out again, I barely recognized it.

"Yes, elder," she said in a soft, high-pitched girl-like voice.

"Good. Now, hand control back to the Sandasin, and don't come back out until I call for you," Casiron said calmly.

By now, I was sitting, but not because of Casiron's pressure. I was staring at the interaction while feeling entirely out of place, like I was watching a father chastise their child. Not something I was too familiar with.

Thiwick's face was highly expressive for something so reptilian and alien, and I saw she wanted to complain. Then she sighed and set her jaw.

The silvery light vanished, and the air rushed out of Grem as his body slumped down. It took a few seconds for him to get himself back together, then he looked up at Casiron.

"Thank the Stone. You worried me when you bent down to her. I worried I would have found another young one," Grem said, a wide grin coming to his face. "She is really, really upset right now. Screaming some nasty things about you."

Grem's smile widened. "And at me for snitching on her!'

Casiron lowered his head to Grem and sniffed him.

"You have more of your mind left than you should when bonded to the soul of a scaled silver queen. Even one as young as Thiwick," he said.

Grem's grin turned crooked, and he brushed his hair back. "Yeah. It helps to be the only mage with a learning rate of eight. When she tried to take over, fumbling and insecure, I learned how she did so, and when she merged with my soul, I copied what she did. So we are somewhat… entwined right now. You wouldn't happen to know a way of untangling us, would you?"

Eight? I thought, suppressing the desire to whistle. As far as I knew, seven was the highest official learning rate. I'd had eight for a short while, and I recalled how it had been. Learning things so fast had been intoxicating. Still, this didn't seem to be the moment to ask about it. What was surprising, though, was why he casually mentioned it like this? So far as I knew, most people kept these things to themselves.

"I've never heard of a situation like this," Casiron said., closely inspecting Grem. "You will need to tell me what happened. How you found her, where and everything you recall from the bonding process."

Grem nodded enthusiastically, and I quickly stepped forward. Although it seemed interesting, I had other plans, and having these two attempts to figure this out would likely cause too much time.

"Before you do any of that, I need you to uphold your end of our promise from before and get Casiron's new body flying," I said.

Casiron's head snapped towards me, and an almost palpable hunger emanated from him.

Grem sighed and crossed his arms. "Seriously? Do we have to do that right now?"

"Yes," I said. "Because we won't be here for much longer, and I need to know how fast and how far Casiron will be able to travel.

Grem sighed and deflated a little. "Fine, let's get this over with then."

Glad he wasn't going to be difficult, I sat back, wondering how he would accomplish this.

Grem headed to the wall where he had carved hundreds of glyphs that he said represented gestures. Some were arranged in groups, others in long lines, but he moved to the final iteration. He had only finished that one this morning, and it looked like a small chessboard.

Grem inspected the symbols, prodding them a few times. Then he moved back to Casiron and began casting an elaborate spell. It took almost ten seconds, and I only recognized a few gestures. When he finished, he pressed his hands on Casiron, who had been calmly waiting. A bluish light flickered from Grem's hands and surged across Casiron's massive body, causing him to glow. The glow rotated around him until it congregated below his folded-up wings. A sudden dazzling brilliance erupted from between the folded wood.

Casiron rose in a single motion and extended his wings outward, causing a thunderous clap, almost like a sail strumming tout. The bottoms of his wings were burning bright, and he let out surprised, happy laughter. Before anyone could respond, he took two leaps forward and jumped into the open sky beyond.

"Hey," I shouted, afraid all my hard work would go undone just like that.

Casiron ignored me if he even heard, and the light below his wings flared up like a jet engine, propelling him up at an astounding rate. He reminded me of a racing drone I'd seen flash between the mass flats back home. The sound of his laughter and the hum of energy disappeared in the distance, and I looked at Grem, who looked back at me in dismay.

"He is coming back, right?" Grem asked, his voice a few pitches higher than before.

"Definitely," I said, pointing after Casiron. "More importantly, why the hell don't you use this to fight in wars? You could have easily decimated those incoming armies if you created flying vehicles and put archers or mages atop! Hell, why didn't they use this, for that matter?"

Grem blinked in surprise, then laughed. "Definitely not from this world," he said with a grin. "First question, I'm the only mage that I know of who can cast that spell, and I don't wanna relegate my day to powering up weapons of war. Second question, they don't even know the spell!"

I blinked, then scratched my head. "Right," I muttered, ideas of magically powered massive drones that rained death and destruction on my enemies, vanishing with a sad poof.

"Think he will be back soon?" Grem asked, staring back out.

I focused on Casiron and felt a wave of joy and exuberance, which he usually kept under a tight lid just like the other intelligent Vengeful Spirits did.

"But probably not just yet. How long can he fly?"

Grem sighed wearily and slumped on the ground.

"I've got no idea. Longer than an hour, shorter than a day."

I nodded and quickly sent Casiron a warning that he might have only an hour of flight. I got a nondescript, vague reply that made me grin.

"So we are going to fly?"

Libidi's usually cool voice snapped me out of my wanderings, and I looked up to see her look at me. Her eyes were narrowed, and I saw her hands shaking softly. Was she afraid?

"Yes," I said, watching how she would react.

"Oh."

She moved to the edge and looked out.

That's all we need, I thought as I saw her shoulders shaking some more. Fear of heights!

It had never occurred to me that she might be afraid of anything, let alone flying. I looked into the air, beyond the ridges ahead, and imagined sitting on Casiron as he soared through the sky. Without a seatbelt or stool and no ability of my own to get down safely.

I shivered suddenly as if someone had stepped on my grave.

Perhaps I should add those to his back, I thought, moving back to focusing on my smaller carving projects as a distraction.

Casiron came back almost three hours later. The glow beneath his wings had dulled and his speed low. He landed lightly, folded his black wings across his sides, and walked into the back of the shelter. I put down a string of small ball-like carvings I was experimenting with and looked at him just in time to see the remaining bluish glow vanish.

"I can feel when the energy diminishes," Casiron said as he lay down and looked at Grem. "How do I refresh it?"

Grem had been lying on a grass bed, looking at him askance.

"You can't. Someone has to recast the spell each time," he said.

"Can you teach Est?" Casiron asked, his eyes narrowing.

It was the same question I'd asked a few hours prior.

"Only if we can wait for a few years as he learns," Grem said. "That would be fine with me, you know? It would give us time to work on my problems. Remember?"

I grinned as the mage sniffed at the massive dragon, then I got up and beckoned Libidi.

"Before we get into those obviously important things," I said. "It's time I explain what we are going to be doing."

Grem raised an eyebrow but got up and moved towards us, and a moment later, the three of us sat in front of Casiron.

"Do you have a map with all the villages, towns, and cities in Fastris?" I asked Grem.

"Well, I might be missing a few more recent additions," he muttered as he scratched his chin. "But, yeah. Most of them.."

"Good. Can you plot a course that will pass as many as possible while leading to the Demon Blood Sea?"

Grem blinked, then his eyes widened as he began nodding vigorously. "I see! You're planning to spread your title again?"

Quick on the uptake, I thought as I nodded as I pulled up my Karma.

> Karma 100/200

The messages of people using my title had slowed down, now coming in short, infrequent bursts. I assumed that meant most people in the city had used it, and although I was still sending a few hundred to Rathica's realm each day, it wouldn't last, nor was it even enough.

"How long should the trip be?" Grem asked.

It was a question I'd asked myself as well. I still had no idea how much time I had to find Ux Disir Lar, stop him, free the Deities, or how to go about doing any of that. Still, with Casiron's new ability to fly, we would be saving weeks of travel time regardless, probably more if I accounted for the armies in between us and our goal.

"A week," I finally said. "But I need to create some things before we go."

I pondered for a few more moments as the others looked at me. I would prefer to roam longer and gather more Karma for Eliandra, but I couldn't leave Rathica and the other Deities locked away. There was no saying what troubles that would bring. Besides, Karma would flow back to her domain as soon as I freed her.

Grem nodded, and his eyes unfocused and flickered around as he looked at something only he could see. Likely his status window.

"We will save as many of the villages as we can," I said as I looked at Casiron. "Which is where you will come in. Libidi and I will start practicing Controlled Conflagration, and we will be doing something called bombing runs."

"What?" Casiron muttered, his heavy, scaled lids lowered as he looked at me.

It took me only a short while to explain what I had in mind, and by the end, Libidi was staring at me without blinking, a nasty smile on her lips.

A short while later, I got up and left Grem and Casiron talking. The mage was explaining how he had inadvertently awoken Thiwick's spirit from where it was locked in an ancient artifact. Most of their conversation went above my head, mostly because they kept using terms and places I'd never heard about. Besides, my mind kept drifting off, not wanting to pay attention.

As I walked towards the line of small trees, Libidi followed me. I had a good idea of what she wanted, and when I reached my ax and equipment, I'd steeled myself for what was to come.

"Ready?" I asked as I looked at her.

Libidi's cold blue eyes heated up rapidly, a soft blush covering her cheeks. She nodded and sat down beside me, huddling up a bit too close for comfort.

How will I ever explain, I thought as I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to Picture Eliandra's accusing glare.

As a sort of self-punishment, not that I'd actually done anything, I began forming the mental exercises without giving myself time to prepare.

--

"Drop it," I shouted.

The wind made my hair fly around like a chaotic, dirty, tangled mess. All four of my hands flitted through the movements of Controlled Conflagration, controlling both the fire that I had created and that of Libidi. It had combined into a massive blanket that hung behind Casiron.

"Done," Libidi shouted needlessly.

I instantly felt my attention split when the green fire rebelled when she relinquished her control to me. I'd had many moments where having four hands had been an advantage, a small part of me thought, but right now, I was doing something no one with two arms could. I was maintaining a double-casted spell originating from two casters on my own.

As I struggled to keep my fingers moving in unison, the fire fell from below Casiron, plummeting to the ground. It covered the mud and the soldiers below like a curtain of weed-killing fumes from a crop duster.

Screams of pain and anger echoed up and behind us. A wave of arrows rushed up from below, some with red glowing tips. When they struck Casiron's body, he rocked and shook, and I felt my balance shift to the side.

I caught a glimpse of the ground far below, and my hair stood on end as my heartbeat skyrocketed. If I stopped casting, the fire would whisk out, but I'd slide off if I didn't grab something!

Can't fall, can't fall, I chanted as I clenched my legs in a desperate attempt to stop the motion. Casiron's maneuvers as he dodged another wave of arrows, however, dislodged me, and I slid sideways.

With startling suddenness, Libidi's arms wrapped around my waist, and I stopped sliding. Just in time, as Casiron banked left, which would have thrown me off. Relieved, I leaned heavily into Libidi's arms.

"There's another flock of those Go'in'la coming," Grem shouted from where he sat just behind Casiron's head.

Because that's what we needed now! I thought, annoyed.

Sadly, I couldn't respond, as I needed my flagging attention on my hands and the fire, most of which disappeared from me almost falling before.

Luckily, a quick look showed that the army of thousands of soldiers had been reduced to a few hundred. All along their former marching line now lay hundreds of charred corpses, while a hundred-foot wide streak of green fire was rapidly disappearing in our wake.

"Do something about it!" Libidi screamed at Grem, almost deafening my left ear.

"I am," Grem roared, and I heard something screech through the air as a pale glow flew past my side.

Come on, come on, I thought, watching a group of almost a hundred cavalry spurring their Cindermare's forward. They represented the last of the army, and the officers should be there. My hands were starting to cramp up from the rapid moments of the changed spell, but we had to finish this. If we left any, they would act out their vengeance on the tiny hamlet beside the river to the east. We'd seen things like that many times the last few days.

Grem needs to find a way to improvise this bloody spell, so it doesn't involve constant casting, I thought. Maybe I should ask Par to upgrade it...

"Incoming," Grem screamed in panic, and at the same time, something slammed into me.

I scrambled for a handhold, then I was weightless and plummeting down, Casiron's body swooshing to the left and away. Libidi hung above me, dangling from one of Casiron's hind legs. A small cloud of Go'in'la was flitting around them, and I saw Grem constantly casting silvery daggers, picking them off.

"Shiiiiiiiit," I shouted as I plummeted down.

I spun around and saw the yellow grass and green scrub-covered ground. With fear-induced speed, I grabbed the wooden handles on my shoulders. With a prayer to Rathica, I pulled them while preparing to be slammed into the ground.

A soft whip-like sound came from my back, and then it felt like a giant hand yanked me up, my neck cracking as the downward momentum stopped almost instantly. The sound of dangerously creaking wood came from my back, and I prayed some more for it to hold. I glided forward, all four arms outstretched, holding on to the wooden wings. My body constantly tried to roll over, my stress levels rising, when I suddenly found my rhythm. Just like that, I was gliding forward, minute, almost instinctive movements keeping me level.

A grin widened on my face as I swooshed forward, the wind battering my face. The ground was only twelve feet away and slowly closing, and I pulled the back flaps slightly. The ground turned from below to ahead, but my speed diminished.

Now, where to land? I thought as I looked around.

I looked to the left and almost lost control. Twenty or so riders were rushing my way, snarls on their faces. My joy vanished as I looked ahead. The town was a few hundred feet away, its low wooden wall closing in fast. I wouldn't make it through.

Ten seconds later, I suddenly angled down, my momentum no longer enough to keep me going. I yelped and covered my face with my hands as I slammed into the ground. I rolled and flipped over as I lost direction and orientation while tumbling head over heels. Things cracked and snapped behind my back; then, I lay still.

"Rathica be damned, that hurt," I groaned as I pushed myself up, struggling with the wood that had partially wrapped around me.

A thunderous noise came from ahead, and I saw the soldiers closing in, spears and shields ready.

"Get off," I roared as I ripped the remains of my makeshift glider from my back. It had saved my life, but it was only a hindrance now.

A quick lookup showed Casiron soaring towards me. It would be close to who would be here first, and I decided to increase my odds. I turned and dashed towards the nearby town. I could probably beat the riders, but the risks didn't outweigh the results. Besides, I didn't have my ax...