"Holy hell, it can talk to me!" Fred thought. The dragon's "talk" was completely different from Jim's friendly letters. This sounded like sound to Fred. The dragon had a deep, intelligent, classy sounding voice, and Fred could hear it somehow, even though its mouth wasn't moving.

Fred tried simply thinking. "Hello? Can you hear me?" He thought. Like when he "spoke" to Jim, his words appeared in front of him, like a computer screen (whatever that was). The dragon's words didn't do that.

"Yes, I can hear you. Your thoughts are so strange. I've conversed with many Spirits, but none spoke in the way that you do."

"Okay. Um. Sure, let's talk. I'm Fred."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Fred. You may call me Martin. I'm a True Green dragon, from the Clan of the Eastern Marshes. But now, I suppose, I'm from here."

"Okay, well, uh, welcome. I'm the Earth Spirit of the Mountain. This mountain."

"An entire mountain is a large domain. Are you here all by yourself?"

"Um, well, there are lots of different creatures in this domain, my domain."

"I meant other Spirits, like you."

"No, I'm the only Spirit thing around here, that I know of. Come to think of it, what do other Spirits look like?"

"Much like you. Invisible to most eyes, enmeshed in the element they are a part of. Confused about the wider world, and their place in it."

"Hey, why did you call me a dungeon just now? Isn't that what the humans say?"

"Yes, that's what the humans call you. Beings like yourself."

"Wait, so there's more of me? Like, more Earth Spirits? With domains? Filled with creatures?"

"Yes. Many more, all over this world. Did you not know?"

"No, I didn't."

"You seem to be a strong Spirit, with a growing domain. Who has been teaching you?"

"Jim." The word slipped out, and Fred immediately wondered if he should have said that. Jim had talked about dragons taking up residence, but he'd never discussed what to say if a smart one started asking questions. Jim had never prepared him for dealing with smart, talkative creatures at all. And since Jim hadn't introduced him to anyone else, he got the feeling that Jim might not want others to know about him. Maybe. Fred suddenly wasn't sure about anything.

"Well, this 'Jim' doesn't seem to have told you everything. Has he told you anything at all?"

"Condescending asshole sez what?" Fred grumbled to himself. Then he panicked, wondering if the dragon had "heard" that, but those words didn't appear in front of Fred's eyes, so he figured he was safe. Still, he was starting to recoil from this pushy dragon. It was big and imposing, and seemed to know a lot. But it, no, Martin, wasn't the sort of person Fred would have gone to get a beer with.

"Yes. Jim has been there for me from the beginning, and never lied to me, and helped me in many ways. I, uh, just never thought that there might be other Earth Spirits out there, doing what I'm doing. I guess I've been too busy to think about that."

"Well, I'm glad you have such a good and helpful friend. I'd love to meet Jim sometime. Is he or she around now?"

"He's always around, but I'm not sure how you could speak to him. Why don't I ask him later, and he'll tell me how to do that. In the meantime, is there anything I can get you? Is your lair right?"

"Well, I wouldn't say no to just a few more coins. I mean, what dragon would?"

Fred made it rain again, for thirty seconds or so.

"Ah, so good. Very comfortable. And this gold you're making is very pure. I approve."

"Okay, then, Martin." Fred wanted nothing more than to end the conversation and go think about all this. But then he remembered.

"Listen, Martin. We've gotta talk. About all the humans you killed."

Martin blinked very slowly, and then said, "What about them?"

"Well, you shouldn't have done that. And you didn't need to."

"Oh, but I did, my friend. Humans are foolish little creatures, who only understand force. And pain. If I didn't assert myself properly, they'd give me no end of trouble."

"Well, I'm here to train them, and make them strong, so they can fight off the demon hordes. They can't do that if they're dead."

One giant dragon eyebrow went up. "Train them? That's your job? Did Jim tell you that?"

"Yes. Why? Was he wrong?"

"You're an Earth Spirit. Blessed with a lifespan as long as mine. And an entire mountain at your command. I hardly think you need the help of humans with anything. And they might fear these 'demons', but you hardly do."

"What do you know about demons?"

Martin puffed out another foul green sigh. "Oh, I know a great many things about many things. I was here the last time the demons came to visit. They want to drink the blood of all living things, of course. But you have no blood. They won't even know you exist."

"But I'd know if no one else existed. It'd be damn lonely. And don't you have blood? How did you survive? And the demons have been to Aeru before? When? Just how old are you?", Fred babbled out his annoyance.

Both dragon eyes closed. "That's quite a few questions. Do you have the patience to listen to the answers?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I've got patience. You're right; I'm not going anywhere."

"Good. Then you'll have time to answer my questions, too, Friend."

Fred thought of time, and that made him think of the humans, and that made him look away from the dragon. He stretched out to see what was happening with the humans. He didn't see a soul. Even the woman in black had gone. Not a human in sight. "Jeez, I hope they come back," Fred thought exasperatedly.

He went back to paying attention to Martin, who lay with his eyes closed. The silence stretched into discomfort. Finally, Martin said, "Yes. Yes, I have blood. And demons find it delectable."

"But they didn't eat you? Why?"

"Because back then, I did what I'm doing now."

"What's that?"

"How do you not know? I'm hiding in your domain. Where I'm guaranteed a resurrection."

"Oh. Yeah. That is how it works," Fred mused.

"Yes, and I'm very glad I found you before some other dragon did. Not everyone will be saved. Not everyone can be saved, when the demons pass through."

"Pass through? I thought they were invading. What, are they just wandering through, like a herd of… something?"

Another annoyed huff escaped Martin's nostrils. "Not precisely. But let me get to your previous questions, intemperate as they were. The last demon incursion was five thousand years ago. I was a very young dragon back then, scarcely a thousand years old. The demons were unopposed, for the most part, and almost everything was eaten."

"But the humans survived. Probably a lot of them."

"Tsch. Please. Humans breed like the vermin they call rats. One pair leads to cities and civilizations in no time at all. In fact, they're just like rats. One would think the two species would get along better. They're practically identical."

"So you're saying very few humans survived, last time."

"Very little of anything survived, last time."

"Including dragons?"

"Dragons… have ways. Many managed to escape this world by magical means, one way or another. But now it's MY turn to ask some questions."

"Okay, I guess."

"You called this world Aeru, right? Did Jim tell you that?"

"Yes, why?"

"Well. We dragons know it as Egh'tghn'sher. Which is Dragon for 'smelly, but good enough for now'. I'd never heard the name Aeru. Tell me, is Jim just another word for Aeru?"

This was a weird question, Fred thought. He'd never thought to question Jim's assertions that Aeru was a world that thought and wanted things. He also knew that he really didn't know that much about Jim, in detail. And he worried that this dragon would use the little Fred did know against Jim. It was clear that Martin wouldn't be a big fan of Jim's plan to prepare the humans for battle.

"I talk to Jim all the time. We have a thing where he checks in every dawn and dusk. He's always told me that he works for Aeru, helping me help the humans get ready."

Both dragon eyes flew open suddenly, and then seemed to focus right at Fred. "I see! I've been so puzzled. You don't have many minions, but they are of such variety. I can smell them all, and what I smell is so… unusual. The Earth Spirits I know specialize in just one or two species. They are the vaults. The arks, if you will. Protecting enough of each species to repopulate this world, after demons denude it. Just one breeding pair won't do, you know."

"No, I didn't know. But Jim told me to train humans for battle, not collect lots of… bears, or ogres, or such. And besides, I don't pick what comes to live here." He thought to himself privately, "I wouldn't have picked you."

Dragon eyebrows waggled again. "Fred? How old are YOU?"

"About four weeks now, I guess?"

"What a liar. Earth Spirits take decades to become as powerful as you."

"Well, I'm not a liar. How many Earth Spirits have you talked to lately?"

"Well, not many, not lately. Matilda was a good one. I talked to her perhaps five hundred years ago? Give or take. But I know they're around. Spirits don't die, not like mortal beings do."

Fred suddenly remembered the weedy wizards. "What if they're attacked? Can't they be killed?"

"I've certainly never heard of such a thing. Did Jim tell you you were under attack?"

"No. I've actually been attacked by some greasy wizard types. Twice. They had little feather totems, and they chanted, and I felt itchy and dizzy, so I squashed them."

"My. And you really thought they could hurt you? Humans are meaningless trash. You are a nigh-immortal Spirit. Of the Earth, no less. I'm sure those wizards were trying to curry your favor. Or perhaps they wanted to control your minions. But I guarantee they weren't capable of hurting you at all. Still, I'd have liked to have seen them squashed. You did it with a big rock, I presume?"

"Yes, but I'm still not lying. They were out to get me. I wonder if they got to any other Earth Spirits?"

"Well, you can ask Jim, hmm? You can ask him lots of important questions, like why didn't he tell you about the other Earth Spirits? And why is he making you train silly humans, when they won't last a second against demon-kind?"

"I'm not a liar. I've only been here a month. Look, you can ask my creatures how long they've been here. My wolf has been here longest. Ask him."

With a rush of metal, the dragon settled its head into the blanket of gold coins. Martin's eyes were closed again. "I don't talk to animals. I am not one myself. I resent the implication."

"Well, I'm not a liar. All my creatures are here to battle humans and make them stronger. And that's your job now, too, so long as you're in my domain."

The Spirit and the dragon stared silently at each other for a few more moments. Then Fred purposefully went to check every creature in the place.