The Newt and Demon - Book 8 Chapters 55,56,57 (Patreon)

Chapter 55

Through the Storm

“Oh, yeah. I love vague item descriptions,” Tresk said.

Theo held the vial, clicking his tongue as he read through the description.

[Through the Storm]

[Dragon Elixir]

Unique

Created by: Theo Spencer

Grade: Ancient

Commune with the Storm.

Elixir Restrictions:

Only consumable by those at Ancient Grade.

The description wasn’t helpful, but there were some interesting things to note. The grade was weird, and only ancient dragons could drink it. Having a unique designation meant almost nothing other than the concept that it was strange. From the outside, Theo could assume that the Storm was something related to dragons, but he couldn’t glean much more than that.

"We know that dragons are segmented into flights, right?" Theo asked, tapping his chin as he rolled the concept over in his mind. "I suppose we can therefore assume there is some kind of elemental designation between them, which means there might be a Storm Flight."

"Take it a step farther," Tresk said with a laugh. "We know the other properties of this potion produce something either related to cold or to the shard network. Is it possible the Storm Flight is directly involved with the shards?”

Theo felt the foundations of his thoughts rocked for only a moment. He looked upon his small lizard-like companion, and a broad smile spread across his face. They had come a long way since assuming that everything that moved in a strange way needed to be stabbed. Even within himself, he noticed change. A desire to look deeper than the surface level bloomed within his mind. He wasn't sure if it was a permanent thing or just out of necessity, but he also wasn't sure if he was altogether unhappy with it.

Theo shook himself out of that momentary lapse. He would stop patting himself on the back for doing the most basic investigation and move on with his life.

"Of course, we could simply ask Pogo," Theo said with a shrug. "She's been very happy to share what information she has, especially now that she thinks we are dragons." Theo took a few more moments to think about the best approach to this. Figuring it out on their own was an interesting endeavor, but there was a quicker way, and he could feel it blossoming within Tresk's mind. “Really? We’re still doing that?”

Tresk stood there, potion already pressed against her lips. She shrugged. “Why not? What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Well, for starters…” Theo trailed off. Instead of lecturing Tresk, who had already quaffed the potion, he saw the world through her eyes.

“I get it! Layers on layers!” Tresk shouted, her voice echoing through the cave. “Like an onion? What was that movie?”

Around Tresk, a blizzard had formed. An impossible storm that filled the cave, obscuring everything. When Theo’s voice came, it came through the storm, muffled and distant.

“Focus. You’re saying this is a layer? Like the old realm system?” Theo asked.

“Yeah,” Tresk said, sending her senses as wide as they would go. “Yeah, feels like a fake place. Or an in-between place, maybe.”

“Well, you’re still here. Most of you, anyway,” Theo said. “But your soul is between two places, and I can’t sense where your soul is going.”

Theo’s brain went off to do the Theo thing of pretending to understand stuff right away, but Tresk wasn’t convinced. The only thing she knew was how much this felt like layered realms. But the power within wasn’t something she could sense. If anything, it felt as though there was no power here at all. Which would make it useless. But the dragons wouldn’t just do something with no purpose, would they?

A voice rumbled through the storm, almost stinging the edges of Tresk's senses as she stood. For a moment, she regarded the storm the way she did most things: asked something to stab. But once she reminded herself that more than likely this place was immaterial, she calmed down and listened to what the voice was saying.

"I had half expected an unknown fledgling to enter the storm. Instead, I find you," the voice said. It was clearly that of a dragon, sounding as though they were lingering somewhere distant, coiled to strike at any time. Tresk got the distinct sense that she was being hunted through the sheet of snow that obscured her vision. "Tell me, young one, why have you come here?"

"I noticed you didn't ask how I came here, which is pretty impressive. Seeing as I'm guessing you only have one way in and out of this place," Tresk said, looking around. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find the form of the dragon that spoke. "I came here because if there's a potion, it needs to be quaffed. I'm something of an expert potion quaffer, so here I am, I guess."

“That is a very flimsy reason to visit the storm from the way you're probing every inch of it. I presume you mostly know what it is,” the voice said.

“Mostly,” Tresk said, nodding with agreement.

“Then you’ll know how important it is. You’ll know that you shouldn’t mess around here the way you’ve messed around elsewhere.”

Although it was an attempt to screw with a random proto realm created by the dragons, Tresk nodded once again. “I understand. But you have to let me know if my suspicions about this place are true.”

The dragon grumbled somewhere in the distance. “Fine. Make it brief.”

“So, we got this middle-place layer over the sector, acting as a shield for the shards, right?” Tresk asked, tapping her chin. It was true she was drawing heavily on Theo’s understanding of how space and all that crap worked, but she was making the conclusions. Mostly. “I’m gonna guess there are more barriers like this? But, what is the purpose?”

The dragon bellowed a laugh, causing the snow to hang mid-air for only a moment. Tresk thought she caught a glimpse of the beast for only a moment. After pushing down the desire to draw her daggers and stab it, as she often did, she listened to what the dragon had to say.

“Astute. I’m happy to learn you’re walking the path to become one of us. When we work together, I’ll look forward to ways you and your bonded companion improve the Nets,” the dragon said. “Until then, goodbye. The effects of your potion are wearing off.”

Of course, Theo had been watching the entire exchange through Tresk's eyes. He helped steady her when she stumbled forward. She shook her head to remove whatever strange psychic connection existed between her and the dragon. There was a lot to go through here, including the fact that Tresk was apparently classified as an ancient-grade dragon now. That was not supposed to happen for a while, but they had apparently made more progress with their new identities than he had expected.

"So what exactly does that mean?" Tresk asked with a nervous laugh.

"I'm not entirely sure," Theo said. "I think we're looking at something similar to an interdiction field of sorts. If you consider a singular field of magic resting over an area with the sole purpose of catching people traveling using the system's interdiction methods, I believe this Storm we witnessed will do something very similar."

"That's right, he called it a net," Tresk said, punctuating her words by jabbing a finger into the air. "So they're trying to catch people. But how does that work?"  

"Through the same mechanism you just described. People from outside the sector come in using the interdiction feature, and then that storm catches them. But what does it do after it has them?"

“Who knows?” Tresk asked. “Sends them to hell, or something?”

“Could be,” Theo said, reaching out to touch the Storm once again. But he couldn’t find it. Unlike the other layers of the world, which had now been spread out to appear more like a solar system, he couldn’t find where it was. He could sense the paper world, and all the various realms that had gone into disrepair. “The dragons might be stronger than we thought.”

“I thought the dragons were pretty strong. Just for the record.”

Theo waved the statement away. "That's not what I meant. I meant that in the way that they can maintain something like this. It's well outside of the system's bounds, and what I would consider in line with the concepts of celestial magic. To maintain something like this over a long period would be difficult, if not impossible, for people like us. That puts them in a class far above us.”

“So, we joined the winning side. Got it.”

With absolutely no way to probe and sense any other realms the dragons had established, Theo filed this misadventure away in his mind. It rested among many other ventures they had undertaken. He didn't have the kind of power required to get proper answers. Although it was unfortunate, the only thing the alchemist could do now was to continue his daily life, as arduous as that had become. He looked to his companion and nodded.

“Let’s check on a few things before we go back to eating dragon energy,” Theo said. “I need to be sure of something.”

After thinking about the concept of the dragons’ proto-realm for a while, it made Theo curious about something. Since Tresk wanted to come along, he dropped them into the void and lingered in the darkness for a while. First, he checked to ensure there were no more stars in the sky, which there weren't. All of Elrin's people had been activated and, from what he understood, were currently assaulting the godly realms. Next he probed the edges of the heavens, sensing places in the seal that were weakened from the attack. He frowned as he looked at them, getting closer and imagining it as a massive wall that barred entrance. The truth was, anybody right now could slip through the cracks and enter if they had the knowledge.

“What are you thinking about?” Tresk asked. “Thinking about patching the holes? Is that your job?”

Theo shook his head, not because he wasn't thinking of patching the holes. Of course, he was thinking of patching the holes. He was trying to determine if this was his job. He focused on the Dreamwalker’s Core in his chest and developed a slight twinge. It was as though it didn't want to volunteer for the job, but it was within his responsibilities to maintain barriers like this. That got him thinking about what the dragons had done and if he could help. Sure, on the grand scale of things, the system's authority wasn't everything, especially when it came to things that might come from outside the system. But the power of that core was expansive, encompassing everything within the void.

Although Void himself had more authority, he was a bit busy.

Theo held his hands out, feeling the seals that kept the heavens segmented. He couldn't quite understand the underlying magic that shielded them, but he could tell where there were holes. He added his own energy to those places, the Dreamwalker's core provided the massive amount of energy required for such a repair. The alchemist flitted from place to place, patching things and reinforcing what felt like a weak shield. He then turned his eyes to the distance, where the edge of the void rested and the far-flung parts of the universe awaited them. He couldn't help but consider something similar to the storm the dragons had erected. That constant blizzard drew on the power of the shards to maintain itself. He thought about doing something similar.

"So we're just taking on more work," Trask asked. "Do you really think that's a good idea?"  

"I don't know if it's a good idea, but I know it's necessary," Theo said, shaking his head. "We need to talk to somebody who knows what's actually coming. I have a feeling we'll be trapped in this sector for the rest of our lives, and our jobs as the dreamer and the dream walker will take most of our time. We might as well get good at it before the temporal barrier drops." 

“Sweet. I’ve always wanted to be a space wizard.”

Chapter 56

That Was Metal

Of the many people who lived in this sector, there was perhaps only one who knew anything about what would happen after the reset. In the early days, Theo had considered people like Khahar to be the experts. But as time went on, it was revealed that only a handful could truly grasp the weight of everything that was going on. Unfortunately, one of those people was a once murderous king whose entire family now hated him. Even worse was the fact that the king was on the other side of a temporal barrier that locked them all in a moment.

"How do you expect me to approve something like that?" the system asked, acting more erratic than ever. "You want to leave the sector. For what reason? You realize that maintaining this barrier is taking everything, and I'm going absolutely insane. The agony grows greater by the moment. Even if you two have managed to stave off my inevitable demise, I still see it on the horizon like a carrion crow, come to pick my corpse clean."

“That was metal,” Tresk said with a nod of approval.

The system shot her a silencing glare.

“I need to talk to Leon, and this is in service of my duty as the Dreamwalker. So don't get too bent out of shape," Theo said. "And yes, we bought you some extra time so we can make sure everything was perfect for the transition. Is it too much to ask for five minutes to talk to that guy?”

The system's crystalline features narrowed, locking on to Theo. After a moment, she shook her head. "You should have opened with that. You said you wanted to leave the sector, but Leon isn't outside of the sector. He's in. Well, just on the edge. Outside of your puny mortal senses. Yes, you're so small I could squish you right now and be done with the irritation."

Tresk leaned in, elbowing Theo in his side. "I think the system's losing her mind. Maybe we should reset earlier."

“Yes, perhaps we should!” the system shouted. Then she began sobbing. When she was done having a good cry, she barked a few manic laughs. “Right now, maybe!”

“Let’s not get hasty,” Theo said, trying his best to defuse the situation. “Can we do anything to help you?”

The system twitched, vibrating slightly. “Die,” she said, glaring as she faded out.

“Yeah, okay. Screw that,” Tresk said, turning to walk from the platform. “She’s absolutely nutso bonkers. One hammer short of a toolbox. What’s another saying?”

“Three sheets to the wind? Or is that for drunk people?” Theo asked, rubbing his chin. But he hadn’t been idle. As the system was going insane, he was taking readings from her. Although it was nearly impossible to probe deeply into the system, he observed a few interesting things. Her issues stemmed from an imbalance of energy. She couldn't get everything into equilibrium, not until the reset happened. It likely had to do with her remaining in her humanoid form for too long, maintaining the barrier and, of course, the effects of that barrier. “Seems like she’s having a rough time… I think this sector is like a microwave… Or some large metal container where signals bounce off, repeating as it passes through her.”

“Dumb it down for me, homeboy,” Tresk said, looking back from her spot near the stairs. “I’m stupid, remember?”

“The temporal barrier lets some energy in. We know that because we can eat up celestial energy.”

“Or there’s a finite amount of that energy,” Tresk corrected.

“That’s even worse,” Theo said, throwing his hands up in the air. “Either way, she’s getting cooked by this energy.”

“A siphon?” Tresk asked, scratching her chin. She clapped her hands after a moment. “A repeater? Maybe a big dish that shunts the power through the worlds.”

“Or diffuses it,” Theo said. “Recyclers?”

Tresk snapped her fingers. “A big old gong!”

Theo gave her a flat look. “Huh?”

“Yeah, a gong. Those big metal things that you smack with a mallet, and they make a gooooong sound,” Tresk said, nodding as though any of that makes sense. “You wanna build a big machine? Screw that, sounds like too much work. I’m gonna turn my planet into a gong.”

If Theo didn't have access to Tresk’s brain, he would simply think she was insane. But as he looked at her thoughts, he realized it actually made sense. His first idea was to take the energy that was bouncing within the sector, absorb it, and then re-emit it in a measured form. That way, he could ensure that all of these energies that were never meant to mingle together in a closed system could do so in measured quantities. That, in and of itself, would be the largest project he had ever worked on, and the resources to make it happen didn't likely exist in the time frame he needed. Tresk's idea of a gigantic gong actually made sense, and it made him want to cry.

“Why does that make sense?” Theo asked, rubbing his face. “So if we get the planets to wiggle at the right frequency, they’ll eat up the signals and… do what with them?”

“Well, if the planets wanna work with us, they’ll release them in measured quantities. We only need to handle three forms of energy, so it should work just fine.”

Theo winced as he realized something important. The Ascendants had done the world no favors, but they had likely helped keep all those energies in check by creating massive amounts of their own energy. Now that the heavens had been sealed, the way their energy interacted with the world was minimal. Destroying the Ascendant system had likely accelerated the timeline for the system, and he felt a twinge of regret for that. He knew it had to be done, but seeing her suffer like this was not enjoyable in the least.

Tresk was very eager to see if her idea would work. Although Theo had little faith in it, he didn't want to give her the wrong impression. With a sigh, he surrounded them with his aura and teleported directly to his planet, appearing in Boar Hollow an instant later. After a quick report from Belgar, the alchemist was eager to see if the planet had any opinions about it. Unfortunately, Tero’gal couldn't speak directly to them, not yet anyway. Even Belgar himself couldn’t get a word out of it.

“A big gong?” Belgar asked, laughing nervously. “I can’t tell if you’re serious.”

“A big old gong!” Tresk repeated, throwing her hands in the air. “Makes perfect sense. Trust me.”

Theo frowned, unsure how to pose the question to the planet. According to Belgar, all he had to do was concentrate and send his intent to the world. It was as easy as explained, but understanding the confusing rush of feelings and thoughts coming from it was almost impossible. Although it took a while, Theo got some kind of sense from the planet that the gong idea wasn't entirely stupid. It agreed, but there was an entire layer of the message the alchemist simply couldn't understand.

“She says the gong thing won't work,” Belgar said, jumping in to interpret for the planet. Theo wanted to be slightly offended that somebody could understand his own planet better than him, but he pushed those emotions down, listening to what the man had to say. “The idea of resonating makes sense to her, but the other parts don't. She says you should build a statue made of… I don't know what that is… of something and place it on all four planets. Then the planets themselves will do the rest."

“Made of what?” Tresk asked, looking up at Belgar with a wild look in her eyes. “Cheese? Does she want cheese?”

“What? No,” Belgar said, looking skyward and squinting. “Some kind of powerful material. A resonant material that can carry energy?”

Theo shook his head. There was barely enough information to go on, but he understood. It was only because he had just been thinking about the Ascendants that he knew what she would need. After all, he had used this material for his own purposes before. While there was a finite amount of it to work with, he suspected they would have the exact right amount. The concept was similar to the way the Shards worked back on Iaredin.

“We need to go grab a few thrones,” Theo said. “Smash them up, reform them… No big deal.”

Belgar chuckled nervously. “Sounds like a big deal to me.”

“Nah, we got plenty of those,” Tresk said. “But we got a problem with that plan. Those thrones already have energy alignments.”

“Then we’ll need to unalign them,” Theo said. “Come on, let’s go.”

“I’ll just… stay here,” Belgar said, jogging off before they could rope him into the adventure.

There were quite a few realms to pick from. Using the throne dust as ingredients in his alchemy seemed like a perversion of the thrones themselves. Not that Theo had much love for them. Instead, using them for statues that would help the wider world seemed like a much better approach. He was uncertain about which realm he should target but avoided the ones that came with innate evil concepts. That ruled out the Burning Eye, Zagmon, and Fan’glir. Instead, they stopped by Toru’aun’s realm first, finding the mysterious realm in shambles.

"I think that used to be a tower," Tresk said, "just strung to a structure that had completely crumbled."

Theo nodded. He had a sense for where her throne was and took them over a rocky landscape to a massive amphitheater. At the center was the throne itself, which, unlike the surrounding structures, seemed untouched by time. The Alchemist pressed his hand against the throne and shook his head. There wasn't much energy left within it. He was reminded of how the Ascendant powers had faded over time, lingering for a bit, but eventually dropping off until they were nothing.

“This is gonna be easier than expected,” Theo said. “Her throne is pretty much drained.”

“Easy work, then. Right?”

Although it wouldn't be difficult, it certainly wasn't going to be effortless. Theo pressed his other hand against the throne and probed it with his senses. It was difficult to get a read on it, but he figured he could simply siphon the energy away, sending it into the atmosphere and clearing the stone of its power. When he began, he felt the familiar energy rush through him. The power drained from the throne, and he wasn't excited to see that it would take a while, even at such a scant amount of energy.

When it was completely drained to the alchemist's satisfaction, he equipped his earth sorcerer's core and interacted with the stone itself. Of course, it would have been impossible for anybody else to move the throne, but with his immense willpower interacting with the core, he was able to separate it from the ground and levitate it.  

"I'm not much of an artist," Theo admitted. "What kind of shape should we make it into?" 

“Don’t complicate things. Just make a big square,” Tresk said. “We don’t need anything fancy. And if we do, you can change it later.”

With a shrug, Theo got to work. He reformed the throne which had once given a dronon impossible power. He rendered the symbol of her station down from a high-backed stone throne to a large square block with a wide base. It didn’t pass his notice that it was almost a perversion of the old Ascendant system, but perhaps that’s what they deserved. Maybe they didn’t get to be remembered as anything but a mistake. Even if there were some of them that were worth celebrating, the entire project had been a sham.

Theo took one last look at his work, ensuring that all the seams had fused together properly. When he was satisfied with his work, he turned to Tresk and nodded. “Okay. Let’s see if Tero’gal likes this.”

“We still gotta train,” Tresk said, shaking her head. “And we’re supposed to do more commentary.”

“This might be more important,” Theo said.

Chapter 57

Earth Flight

It was hard to find a place to put the big stone block. Belgar wasn’t happy with it in the center of town, claiming it was too ominous. But Tero’gal wanted it in a particular spot, so his desires were overruled. Of course, the locals were flocking to it to see what was going on. No one could’ve guessed it had once been the place where a being they recognized as a god once rested their butt. Especially not a ‘god’ that had been so elusive.

“Looks like crap,” Belgar said, folding his arms and glowering at the statue. He went rigid when the planet sent a series of thoughts. “I suppose this is where it shall remain.”

“Is it happy?” Tresk asked.

“I think so,” Belgar said with a nod. “Tero’gal is talking with the other planets, I think. So… Go do the other ones, I guess.”

Theo and Tresk shared a look. “Okay,” they said in unison.

The instant they dropped into the void, Tresk gave Theo a look. “We’re doing our other stuff, right?”

Theo waved the question away. "I can handle it on my own later. I don't think I need the company, or if I do, I'll take Alex or somebody else. I would take Fenian if he hadn't vanished."

"Yeah, we're gonna talk about the missing elf, right?" Tresk asked. "Or are we just gonna pretend like nothing happened and move on with our lives?"

Theo thought about it for only a moment before shaking his head. "I believe we're going to pretend like nothing happened, since Fenian is his own person, and we literally can't do anything about it."

The duo headed back to the mortal world and checked on the arena games. There were some exhibition matches coming up that they had to participate in, but nothing for now. The most important of those matches was the one between Tresk and the lizard-people. It would be a one-sided fight if she participated herself, but the exact rules of that pairing were still yet to be established. It was hard to tell if the lizard-people were adamant about getting the money back for their stolen herbs or if it was all posturing. The end of the world was nearby, so the alchemists couldn't see them holding onto a grudge like that forever.

After checking in with the organizers of the games and finding that he wasn't needed there today, Theo inquired about those fights. Tresk, without letting him know, had selected a champion to represent her in each of the games. While she was currently tied with the participants from the Lizard Islands, all this would end in an exhibition fight between herself and the strongest member of those clans. No matter how strong the person was, Theo knew it wouldn't end well for them, rendering Tresk the ultimate victor.

Theo was lucky enough to run into Sarisa during his visit to the arena and forced her to promise to show up at the manor tonight so the group could have dinner together. Once he had tied up all his loose ends there, he and Tresk traveled to the paper world with Pogo for some more training. It was more of the same, and she seemed quite pleased with their progress. She was even happier to hear their idea about the gong and offered some suggestions to improve it.

“You’re coming to dinner tonight, right?” Theo asked, sitting on a paper log and observing his companion’s progress.

“Naturally,” Pogo said, flipping her hair to one side dramatically. “I enjoy mortal food as much as the next person. But I have a very important question.”

“What is that?”

Pogo gestured between Theo and Tresk. “You don’t appear to be more dragon-like. Even if you’re reaching our highest stages of development.”

Theo looked down at his skin, releasing his grip on that side of himself. Scales spread across his skin, his horns elongated, taking on a more spiky appearance, and the nubs of wings sprouted from his back. “We can hold our true forms if we want. It might be harder for people with less willpower, but the Tara’hek has a lot of willpower to spare.”

“Interesting,” Pogo said, looking him over as though to study the changes. “This is the first time I've seen a dragon hybrid like you. Do you think it's possible to create more, or is this a situation where your unique station affords you the ability?”

Tresk's eyes snapped open. She had been cultivating more of the energy but felt the need to intrude on the conversation. "You're discounting the idea that other unique situations might occur. It's very unlikely that someone else will form this kind of bond, but it doesn't mean that somebody who's really good at manipulating energy couldn't do the same thing. The principle is that we're weaving dragon energy together with celestial energy to create something our bodies can process. There's nothing special about us. We've just used the time dilation areas to develop the skills, and since we can share those skills in the bond, that makes it so much easier for us."

Theo scratched a mark in the log he sat upon. It was apparently the hundredth time they had had this conversation. The unfortunate part about spending decades within the time-dilated realm was that conversations were cyclical. They could hash it out as many times as they wanted, but as long as the conversation was flowing, they would always come back to something like this. There was one thing he hadn't talked about though, and perhaps it was time to finally get some answers from Pogo.

"What's up with the Storm?" Theo asked, looking up at the dragon to see if he could glean any information from her facial expression. The small smile that spread across her face was hardly helpful.

“Sneaky little alchemist,” Pogo said. “My companions in the Storm Flight told me about an intruder, but as with all things they were vague about what had happened. What do you think about it?”

"I think it's pretty impressive," Theo admitted freely. "I didn't know the power of the Dragon Flights extended to something like that. I was wondering if you could give me a detailed explanation about what exactly it does."

“Well, I’m part of the Earth Flight,” Pogo said, stretching out and yawning. “But here’s what I know…”

Theo and Tresk had been right on the money about what the realm did. It was a literal net that would catch people trying to interdict themselves into the sector, and it would redirect them to a set location. They couldn't outright stop people traveling from other parts of the universe, but they could catch them and put them in a certain spot. Now, what that spot was remained a mystery. Pogo didn't seem eager to share that bit of information, and instead, they danced around it, saying they would find out eventually.

It was no coincidence that Pogo perked up when Theo mentioned visiting Leon. He filed it away, realizing the net would send people to that planet, before listening to her wisdom on that matter.

“I would avoid talking to Leon if you can. The man is a grumpy old king who has been through many trials,” Pogo said. “We worked with him in the old world, but only briefly. Since then, we’ve simply tracked him as best we could.”

Today’s training session was truncated. Theo and Tresk were reaching the upper-limits on how much energy they could absorb. Since both of them were getting to a stage where their draconic energy output was somewhere near that of Pogo, they didn’t have much else they could do. But absorbing the energy was only half the battle. They had to figure out the best ways to use it. Sure, the goal of this exercise was to become power plants that created the energy, but it didn’t mean they were willing to let the benefits fall to the wayside.

“Unfortunately, if my math is right, we need to go to dinner,” Theo said, tapping his foot on the ground. “Everyone cool with that?”

Tresk rubbed her belly. “I’m starving.”

“As am I,” Pogo admitted. “I await your weird form of teleportation, Theo.”

The alchemist nodded. Getting a lock onto the manor. A blink later, and all three of them were standing outside of the gates leading to the front door. Even before he approached the door, Theo could smell the food cooking within. Sarisa had taken his word seriously, and had made some barbecue. Meat slathered with thick, slightly sweet sauces weren’t a surprise when considering the half-ogres in Broken Tusk. They were a meat-loving people, raised on what little monster meat they could harvest from the swamp.

Now that things had calmed down, they ate like kings every chance they got.

“Fancy seeing you here, stranger,” Theo said, nodding toward Sarisa.

The woman was setting the table, her brother working in the kitchen to get everything presented on platters. “Well, you hardly need a guard anymore, do you?” Sarisa asked, fussing with the placement of the plates and silverware. “And we have a dragon as a guest. Gotta make sure everything is just right.”

“Are these your servants?” Pogo asked. She had a bright look on her face as though she respected Theo a bit more for placing people into indentured servitude.

Rowan barked a laugh from the kitchen.

“Not exactly,” Sarisa said. “Please. Have a seat.”

“Time dilation is hungry work,” Tresk said, rubbing her hands together as she took her normal spot at the table. “Feels like I haven’t eaten for years.”

“Unless you count whatever rations we bring, you’re not wrong.” Theo took his own spot, gesture for Pogo to sit next to him.

The dragon sat with elegance, placing her hands in her lap as though waiting at a fine dining establishment. “I enjoy the dried meat,” Pogo said. “The fact that you have year’s worth in your inventory is troubling, though.”

Theo jabbed a finger at Tresk. “You should see what she has in the shared inventory.”

“A rock,” Tresk said, plucking a small stone from nowhere. She had a massive grin on her face. “A live frog. Just kidding, this one is dead. A spear, because why not?”

“Twelve eggs. Two-hundred chairs. Where did you even find that many chairs and why do they stack?” Theo asked.

“Of course they stack,” Tresk said, narrowing her eyes. “Wait. One day, you’ll see the glory of my furniture hoarding habits.”

“I doubt we’ll see anything useful out of that,” Sarisa said, laying plates of food on the table. Rowan helped her, creating a spread that would make Xam blush. “Everyone dig in while it's still hot. It just ain’t right cold.”

“You can say that again,” Rowan said, groaning as he took his seat. “Never thought I’d say this, but I can’t wait for the world to blow up.”

Rowan and Sarisa had truly created a barbeque feast. They didn’t have all the stuff Theo would’ve expected from old Earth, but it was close enough that he wouldn’t question it. There were plates of braised ribs slathered with a thick, sweet-smelling sauce. Bowls were filled with mashed zee, while grilled kernals had been sliced and arranged in squares on another platter. Although the greens were sparse, they had cooked an assortment of green vegetables in a butter sauce, topping it with a thickened cream sauce.

“What’s going on with you two?” Theo asked, trying not to drool that much. He mentally targeted the ribs, praying they had more in the kitchen. When Tresk reached out to take the entire rack, he slapped her hand.

Tresk hissed.

“We’re doing odd jobs, like most other adventurers.” Rowan released a dramatic sigh, rubbing his face as though staying awake took everything he had. “Sarisa and I were running security today, which is easily the worst job.”

“We had to bolster our ranks with outsiders,” Sarisa said, offering a pained smile. “Things are getting out of control and we can hardly keep it together at this point.”

“Just a few more days,” Rowan said, closing his eyes as though he could taste the freedom.

“I can migrate you guys now,” Theo said. “No better way to avoid responsibility than leaving the planet.”

“No, we already promised Alise we’d help her,” Rowan said. “She’s gonna be the first marriage on Tero’gal, right? Dunno if I could stand the look she’ll give me if I leave early.”

Theo cut into the ribs, taking four of them for himself. Tresk followed suit, although he could feel her desire to take more than that. Even before he took a bite, the alchemist could tell they were fall-off-the-bone tender. The scent was extremely close to the barbeque sauce he remembered back on Earth. It had a sweet smell that leaned toward tangy. The first bite confirmed two things: it was very tangy, and the meat was soft enough that someone without teeth could easily eat it.

“Oh, damn,” Theo said, closing his eyes as he savored the flavor. “Put a fork in me, dude.”

Tresk squeaked a laugh. “Cause he’s done! Get it!?”

Rowan and Sarisa rolled their eyes in unison.

“This is quite good,” Pogo said, holding up a half-eaten rib. She had sauce smeared all over her face. “My compliments to the puny chefs, who I’m sure would taste just as delicious.”

Rowan and Sarisa now shared a nervous look.

“I’ve got more in the kitchen,” Rowan said, springing from his chair and casting nervous glances around the room. “This next rack is for her, okay? No one else touch it.”