Shanahan pushed the dragons off the hex. They weren't going to eat the beasts, and the carcasses would start attracting other things to the meeting spot. He let them fall into the gap between hexes.

He hoped no one was down there for the bodies to fall on. That would be a surprise.

“I think we should look at this farm for ourselves,” said the Master Carver.

“The door was at the start of the fog, on the Weapon hex,” said Shanahan. “There was a bridge to the Wu Chi hex.”

“I would like to look at this if I could,” said Master Yuen.

“Be my guest,” said Shanahan. He waved a hand at the edge of the hex.

“I think he will need an escort,” said Grandmaster Bao. The wrinkles of his face hid a smile.

“I'm not taking responsibility if he falls to his death,” declared Shanahan.

“I am sure that will be fine,” said Bao.

Yuen's face said it wouldn't be fine with him. He strapped on his paper box and straightened his robe.

“I'm ready,” said the Wu Chi.

“Tie this around your waist,” said Shanahan. He wrapped a rope around himself, clipping it to his belt. “I'll try to make sure you don't fall down.”

“Go with them,Yuri,” said the Master Carver. “We need to see what this looks like for ourselves.”

Yuri nodded. He pulled off his stone armor and left it in a pile to be reclaimed later. He flapped his arms in a tunic and pants. A bag of stones hung from his waist.

“I can't promise his safety,” said Shanahan.

“It will be fine,” said the Master Carver.

Shanahan shrugged. It was not his job to take care of the helpless. If they both got killed going back down the side of the hex with him, that was not going to be his fault. They were warned and had an idea of what kind of danger they might be looking at when they got to the bridge.

If something did happen, he planned to protect the Wu Chi if it came down to it. That would protect Wyndham's standing more than anything else he could do.

He knew he was protecting her the same way he would his kids. He supposed that was something from the Corps he never gave away. He examined the feeling for a second before putting it away.

It wasn't going to help him in the next few minutes.

“Everyone ready?,” asked Shanahan.

“I will go last in case something bad happens to the two of you,” said Yuri.

“All right,” said Shanahan. He didn't offer rope so the Shaper could tie on to them. If the man fell off the wall, that was another man down for their faction.

Grandview would love that if he could take advantage of the situation.

“Put your hands where I put mine,” Shanahan directed the Wu Chi. “I'm going to keep the tether tight in case you slip. Be ready to grab onto the wall and hold on until I can get ahead of you again.”

“I can do it,” said Master Yuen. “Don't worry.”

Shanahan started down the side of the mesa. He took a slower path with Yuen. Wyndham's talent allowed her to pick better grips as she went. He couldn't count on the Wu Chi's experience to help him with that.

They worked their way down until the marine could see the fog starting to drift over the bottom of the canyon. He paused to check on the bridge. It was buried in the white stuff. He decided to get closer before he tried to drop on the bridge.

He paused to look around. He hoped Wyndham didn't come back here from the other side. He would be a lot happier if she stayed in New York until he was done.

“The bridge is below us,” said Shanahan. “I'm going to bring us in closer. Keep an eye open for the frogs. They might still be around, waiting on someone to look for their dragons.”

“I am ready,” said Yuen.

Yuri held up one hand to show he had heard their short exchange.

Shanahan worked his way down until he could see the anchor points for the bridge into the hex. He pulled Master Yuen from the wall and dropped him at the entrance. He dropped down a moment later.

The bridge still looked okay to cross. That was good for them. He didn't see anyone waiting for them on the other side. Were the frogs recovering from what had happened? Were they waiting for someone to arrive at their farm to hold them up?

Yuri dropped down on the edge of the small platform. He started to fall back off the overlook into the fog. Shanahan grabbed a flailing arm and dragged him to more solid footing.

“The dragon farm is across the bridge,” said Shanahan. “I don't know where this goes.”

“Let's look at the dragon farm,” said Yuen. “I can add the placement to my model.”

“Also we don't know if our enemies are in the tunnels here,” said Yuri.

“Fair point,” said Master Yuen.

“I'm going to go first,” said Shanahan. “Keep an eye out. If they wanted to eat us before, there's no telling what they will do now.”

“Understood,” said Yuen.

“I am ready,” said Yuri. He took a piece of stone out of his bag and dropped it in the cave near the bridge. It hummed as it came to life. “That should warn us if these frogs are in this hex instead of the one you explored.”

“They might be in both hexes,” said Yuen. “We only saw them when they tried to kill us.”

Shanahan crossed the bridge. He gripped his rifle's pistol grip in case he needed to bring it up fast. The frogs seemed okay with their weapons, but he wanted to hose them down before they even saw him.

He paused at the open doorway into the farm. He listened and heard nothing. Maybe the frogs hadn't been able to get down to where their monsters spawned after the beasts were released.

Yuen joined him after a moment. He examined the space after they moved into the giant room. He looked around quietly, but didn't touch anything.

“I don't think I have ever seen anything like this,” said Yuen.

“I have,” said Yuri. “The growing process didn't stop when the other dragons freed themselves.”

He pointed at vines falling down from the ceiling. Bulbs hung from the new growths. Something moved inside the fruit.

Shanahan pointed his rifle at the plants. He looked around. He needed a flame thrower to deal with this.

“Automatic regrowth of their monsters,” said Yuri. “I haven't seen anything that worked this fast, but it's obvious what's going on once you have seen it.”

“Why did they all break free at once?,” asked Yuen.

“I don't know,” said Yuri. “I am sure that something is causing them to grow from the vines. If we knew what it was and could cut it off, that would end the problem.”

“The glowing water,” said Shanahan. He pointed at a pool of the stuff near the wall. Fish swam in the liquid. Some of them had rudimentary limbs.

“You're saying the fish are being turned into dragons,” said Yuen. “What do we do about it?”

“I don't have any idea,” said Shanahan. He doubted anything they did would stop the dragons from growing unless there was a way to set them on fire inside their sacs.

“I think we should test if the water will catch fire,” said Yuri. He planted another stone next to the door into the farm area. “That might be the way to stop this from spreading.”

Shanahan took a lighter from his army jacket. He held it over the stream of water spreading down the wall. He thumbed the wheel. The glowing liquid blasted the air with a fury. The fire followed the fuel back into the wall.

“I think that was a mistake,” said Master Yuen. He stared at the wall.

“Run,” said Shanahan. He dropped the lighter back into his coat and pushed the Wu Chi toward the door. “Run!”

Yuri did as he was told without asking any questions. He cleared the room first. He ran across the bridge, only stopping to look behind him once. Shanahan and Yuen ran behind him, the shorter man pulling the paper master behind him like the tail of a kite.

“Cave,” shouted Shanahan. “Cover.”

The Shaper didn't bother acknowledging the demand. He had a feeling the reason they were running was because the strange weapon had recognized a danger in the flame. That was more than enough to take him serious after what they already knew he could and would do.

Yuri cleared the bridge and ran into the cave in the other hex. He looked around for somewhere he could use as a hiding place and shield. He ducked into an alcove in the right hand wall. Shanahan pushed Yuen on top of him before turning around.

The marine grabbed the wall and pulled some of it into the opening. He ducked to one side and crouched down with his hands over his ears.

“What are we doing?,” asked Master Yuen.

“Waiting,” said Shanahan. He gestured for the man not to move.

“What are we waiting on?,” asked Master Yuen. He straightened his tunic.

“For Grandview's hex to collapse,” said Shanahan. “We might get lucky and the flame we started will just burn for the next few years until the supply of water runs out.”

“That's extremely bad,” said Master Yuen.

“Bad luck,” said Shanahan. “Maybe it won't do anything.”

A jet of fire cut through the makeshift barricade next to him. He yanked away from the blast before his coat caught fire. The fire looked like it wasn't going to die down.

“Or it might do that,” said Yuri.

“It didn't hit us,” said Shanahan. “That's all that matters.”

He punched the wall next to the jet. That collapsed part of the mesa on the jet while allowing them to get outside on the wall without too many problems. He stepped out on the edge as the flame continued cutting at his barrier.

“We should go up,” said Yuri. “At least we know we won't have to deal with more of the monsters.”

“I have to agree,” said Master Yuen. “Do you think the fire will burn out?”

A peal of thunder answered his question. The hex shook slightly, throwing dust on them.

“No,” said Shanahan. “Let's go before something else happens.”

He made sure that he and Yuen were tied together before starting up the wall. He didn't want to lose the Wu Chi after everything they had done so far. Falling off the side of the hex to the ground below would be the worse after surviving killer frogs and dragons made from sludge and grown on vines.

At least Wyndham was safe and out of this mess. He had no way of explaining how he had filled Grandview's mesa with fire that may cause the hex to collapse if it kept burning long enough.

Maybe he would think of something when he reached the top.