Red looked at Katya, then back at Serenity. “I think I’m beginning to see why Russ wouldn’t say much. All he told me was that you’re Rissa’s Guardian and fiancee, and that you’re not human. I didn’t think he’d ever trust a nonhuman that far.”

“Does Russ have an issue with nonhumans?” Serenity hadn’t noticed any issues at all, other than right after the Void incident. Serenity didn’t blame him for that one; he’d had cause, and even then he’d given Serenity the benefit of the doubt.

“Oh, and that you have some way of protecting yourself from a Decay sliver. Or maybe you’re immune, but he didn’t think so?” Red seemed to have ignored Serenity’s question.

Serenity shrugged and ignored the implied question. It wasn’t likely she could use the method he had, after all; infusing oneself with the power of Death was not generally conducive to health.

“Are you going to tell me how you did that?” Red leaned forward, resting her weight where her arms sat on the kitchen table.

“Not unless you stop ignoring my questions.” Serenity didn’t really object to answering the question, but he did object to being ignored, and she’d done it twice. The first time she’d eventually answered, but only indirectly. He wasn’t even sure she’d realized he’d asked either question.

He became certain she hadn’t realized when she paused, blinked, and seemed confused. “You asked a question?”

Serenity had occasionally met people who became so wrapped up in their own thoughts that they missed anything that didn’t match what they were thinking, and Red seemed like another. This was going to be a frustrating conversation. “Yes. I asked if Russ has a problem with nonhumans?”

“Oh. Um. I’m not sure?” Red stared down at her hands instead of looking at Serenity. It was possibly the most obvious tell he’d ever seen, especially after her earlier words.

Serenity made sure to look directly at Red as he spoke. He knew that he often was off a little, since looking directly at one didn’t improve how well he could see them. “You don’t have to spare my feelings. He’ll be my father-in-law, I’m sure I’ll find out.”

Red shook her head before answering quickly. “It’s - he had a bad experience once. Before he met Phoebe. I think it’s how he met Phoebe, actually. I never got the full details, you’ll have to ask him.”

Between Red’s words and what the woman in the Guardian Sea - Helena? - had said, Serenity had the feeling that there was definitely an issue, yet he’d never felt like there was anything like that between himself and Russ. Perhaps Russ simply didn’t count Serenity as “nonhuman”? That would explain why he’d forgotten Serenity could shapeshift.

Something to worry about later. He hadn’t actually asked because he needed to know more about Russ; he simply needed to make the point that Red couldn’t ignore him and still get her questions answered. To which point, he should answer her question. “It was an accident. A ritual that Rissa and I ended up stuck in, cast by someone who didn’t know what he was doing. I have no idea how he got his hands on a mentirk, but I don’t think the ritual can be cast now.”

Red perked right back up and was watching him again when she realized he was answering her question. “This ritual - it was to dye your clothes?”

“Not at all. He thought it was to open the inner eye. I don’t know where the mistranslation happened, but it actually called out to the Void.” Serenity shook his head. He still couldn’t believe it.

“What happened to the mentirk?” Katya spoke very good English for someone who’d barely even heard of it until recently. Serenity wondered how much of what was going on she understood. Enough to catch the word mentirk, apparently.

There was no point in softening what he was about to say. “I destroyed it. It was too dangerous to leave where it was.”

“How?” Katya seemed startled. “Mentirks are supposed to be everlasting.”

“I don’t really remember,” Serenity admitted, “But I think I just pulled on the power and separated it into its parts and it fell apart.” He wasn’t about to admit that he’d then eaten the power. It was entirely possible he was misremembering; what he did remember was like recalling a dream.

Two hours later, Serenity was more than willing to accept the interruption when Russ walked in and tossed a newspaper in front of him. “Serenity? Looks like we have a task.”

Red grabbed the paper before Serenity could and read the circled article. “I thought you destroyed the decay sliver.”

“We did. This is worse than just a decay shard.” Russ pointed at the paper. “It’s continued, and I have the feeling we don’t know enough about it yet.”

Serenity glanced down at the paper, once again reminded of his vision issue. He grumbled to himself and reached for his human form, only to have the dungeon push back against him. It wasn’t worth a fight, so he shifted into his hatchling dragon shape. It could see well enough to read the paper.

Rust Plague hits another mall!

Shoppers have become scarce at the malls along the I-95 corridor as mall after mall has been hit by something that ages shoppers’ vehicles by years while they are inside the mall. The past weeks have …

The article listed all of the past occurrences, and there seemed to be one a day, starting with the one he and Russ had stopped.

”So. Cute.”

Serenity was interrupted by a hand rubbing his head. When he looked up, he saw that it was Red’s hand. “If you’re going to pet something, pet Curio. Only Rissa gets to pet me.”

Red withdrew her hand and seemed surprised. “Curio?”

As if on cue, a patch of darkness separated itself from its perch on Serenity’s back and flowed onto the table, becoming a shadowy kitten. Serenity knew that Curio was expecting petting and treats, since its name had been used. He inclined his head towards the kitten. “Curio. It accepts petting, treats, and anything new.”

Katya stared at the kitten. “A voidling kitten? That sounds more dangerous than its description.”

Serenity scritched Curio under the chin. Curio rolled onto his back and batted at Serenity’s forepaw. “As far as I can tell, it’s not dangerous at all. Not any more than a normal kitten, at least. He’ll try to eat almost anything.”

“Sorry to interrupt the kitten appreciation, but can we focus on how we’re going to deal with the actual problem?” Despite his words, Russ’s hand gave Curio a pat.

“Does the article give enough to find it? I don’t have enough to do a divination.” Serenity indicated the newspaper, before leaning back in the chair. It was remarkably uncomfortable with a tail; he’d have to ask Raz how he managed.

Of course, as a dragon, Raz generally sat on the floor. Serenity was far too small to do that as a hatchling.

Russ shook his head. “No, but Phoebe can usually find a clue. The article should be enough to let her find which mall will be attacked next. That’s probably all she’ll get, but that’s enough to get us there.”

“We took care of one. How many are there? And where are they coming from?” Serenity looked down at the newspaper again. “Is it one per mall? What happens to them after they’re done?”

“Decay slivers usually come from something that’s been allowed to … well, decay. Generally something in a magically significant place or something that was magically significant themselves. They leave a trail of decay wherever they go. A pattern isn’t-” Red stopped and looked up. “There’s definitely something else behind this. We should check out one of the malls. Serenity’s right; there should be more than just a handful of destroyed cars.”

“You aren’t coming with us.” Russ didn’t question the conclusion that they needed to go, but he clearly didn’t want to take Red. “Not after last time.”

“It worked. The spell killed the-”

Russ interrupted Red. “Your experimental spell splashed bits of the giant alligator everywhere. If it had been anything other than a magically enhanced animal, we wouldn’t be here!”

“Your sword wasn’t working! I had to do something, and it worked!” Red shouted as she defended herself.

“It was blind and I was waiting for it to bleed out.” Russ sighed. He seemed to suddenly lose all desire to have the argument. “What was that spell supposed to do anyway? You never said, but I’m sure it wasn’t supposed to make the target explode.”

Russ’s question made Red deflate. Serenity knew he’d have to remember that; getting mad at Red just made her angry, but the question about her magic seemed to counter the anger.

“Lightning. It was just a lightning charm. All I did was change the starting point.” Red actually looked a little embarrassed. “It shouldn’t have done that; all it was supposed to do was stop its heart! That’s what I did when I tested it!”

Serenity couldn’t help but ask. “What did you test it on?”

“Some mice and some crickets. I had to buy the mice but I caught the crickets. I was even able to revive one of the mice afterwards!” Red seemed proud of that, and Serenity could guess why. It meant her spell had worked as intended. The fact that it was only once was less impressive.

“What happened to the others?” It wasn’t just morbid curiosity; the results she’d had earlier might tell him where her spell went wrong.

“Uh. The other mice were just dead, but the crickets started to smoke a little. I wouldn’t have known how to restart their hearts anyway.” Red paused, then seemed to question herself. “Do crickets even have a heart?”

Serenity blinked. “I think so? It’s not like a mammal’s heart, though.” Serenity knew more about the insides of creatures than he’d ever wanted. Understanding how a creature was put together could be useful in killing it, but mostly it was because he’d raised enough from the dead that he’d become familiar with the bodies of different creatures.

He did prefer to avoid insects, though. Unless they were giant insects, they required a lot of effort to use well.

The problem with Red’s spell was obvious. “So, you’d only used it on small things like mice and crickets, right?”

Red looked at Serenity. He was sure he didn’t look at all intimidating; he kept getting told how cute he was as a hatchling dragon, after all. “Yes?”

“You tried to boost the power to deal with a bigger creature, and one where you maybe weren’t quite sure where the heart was, didn’t you?”

Red still didn’t seem to get it. “Yes?”

“Did you think about the side effects of lightning-caused heat? Rapid vaporization of fluids in a confined area?” Serenity wasn’t sure if he needed to lecture her about not overcharging spells or not. This one sounded like it was hilarious for anyone not caught in the side effects, as long as they didn’t have to clean it up afterwards.

“Oh.” Red looked like she’d gotten it.

Russ, on the other side of the table, was laughing.

Red glared at Russ. “Stop laughing! It still worked!”

“It’s not that. It’s just - it takes another mage to point out the physics problem.” Russ was still laughing.

Serenity was cheered by how Russ referred to him. It seemed like the nonhuman thing really wasn’t a problem after all.