Chapter 2

Silvia clung to the side of the gurney as the paramedics wheeled her mother from room to room until 

finally the tide of motion washed them into a side room. There the doctors and nurses swarmed the 

bed taking her temperature, helping her change into a gown, and attaching various machines to help 

monitor all sorts of things. Time moved in jagged jumps and starts marked by when doctors came and 

went.  Silvia feverishly attempted to recall a vanishing spell or anything that would allow her to 

hide in plain sight. She figured at some point it must have worked because they all ignored her.

They wheeled in one machine or another and then one doctor called another over and they conferred 

in hushed and worried tones. One sent the other out, then turned to Molly. "Molly, we are concerned 

for the child. He," the doctor paused, "He is not turned properly. We need to do a C-Section. We 

need your permission to perform the surgery."

"Granted, save my baby." 

From there the activity grew more hectic and chaotic. Time got more distorted. The little room they 

were in had neither windows nor clocks and Silvia had no idea what time it was. A friendly and 

rather heavy set nurse came in and took Silvia's hand, explaining that she was a caretaker being 

assigned to make sure that Silvia was okay while her mother was in surgery. She took her to the 

cafeteria and got her something to eat, even though she wasn't hungry, then took her up to a room 

where it was explained her mother would be brought as soon as she was out of recovery. Silvia fell 

asleep with the TV chattering in the background.

Arthur arrived at the hospital. He tried the Emergency Room first but got nowhere. The triage nurse 

was busy, overworked, and grumpy. He had just finished asking her for the third time if they had 

admitted any women in labor when she finally snapped at him. "I can't give that information out, it 

would be a violation of HIPPA."

"I'm her husband!" he bellowed at her. 

She put the clipboard in her hands down and finally looked at him. "We have admitted three patients 

giving birth in the last two hours. None of the names you have given match. So, either sit down 

until someone sends for you, or you can go home."

"Her... her maiden name! She might have been admitted under her maiden name, please check and 

see..."

She took down the information then sent him to have a seat. She promised she would look and get 

back to him. A few moments passed and then chaos broke loose in the ER. It seemed that a city bus 

had been hit by a drunken driver and it was all hands on deck. 

"Bloody red tape. Don't see why we 'ave to put up with this tripe."

"Emmoss. He has my focus. Unless you think you have a way to get things moving." 

"Actually, Oi do. See that bus, there?" He wound the watch around his fingers then found what he 

was looking for. "All Oi need now is a distraction... Ah!" He cocked his finger and mimed shooting 

a gun. "Blind."

Down below on the street, just a mere block or two from the hospital they were standing on, a large 

truck swerved as the driver reacted to Emmoss's distraction. The bus rocked as it was hit, then 

rolled onto its' side. Chaos broke out at street level.

"Crude, but effective. Not sure what flooding the ER is going to do for you, though."

"Nevah worked a crowd, Balt? It's so much easier when t'ings are chaotic. Don't disturb me, Oi've 

got to put Arthur back on..."

Arthur/Emmoss cracked his neck. It was always so confining to be inside a human like this. He got 

up and moved behind the desk where the triage nurse had been sitting. He scanned the clipboards. He 

pushed aside all the male names and focused on the female. He flipped each one open and tossed 

aside anything that wasn't what he was looking for. After a few moments, he had scratched down 

three room numbers. He stood up and moved into the swirling chaos of the ER.

The first room was empty. Arthur/Emmoss breathed deeply and shook his head. Wrong room. He pushed 

back into the hall. The second room held a black couple who looked up as he entered. He excused 

himself and stepped back into the hall. One last room. He pushed open the third door and found it 

too, was empty. Another deep breath and he smiled. 

"Right, Oi've got 'er scent. She's moved, though. Dunno where. This is getting annoying, all this 

'unt and go seek."

"Tell you what. Get us to Arthur. I want my focus back. Then I can help you better."

"Fetch this, find that, bloody un'elpful lot you colonists are." He flipped the watch to his other 

hand and drew a rent in the air again. "Translocate." On the other side was a tiny room with no 

windows and a gurney. "After you, Balthiss."

Silvia woke as her mother was brought back into the room. "Mommy! I've been worried, are you okay?"

"Mommy's here, sweetheart." She could hardly keep her eyes open and she looked pretty tired still. 

"Mommy's here. I'm okay." She patted the bed beside her. Silvia didn't hesitate to jump in beside 

her. "Listen. Can you find my focus for me, baby? It should be in with my things." She pointed to 

the foot of the bed, where her clothing and jewelry had been placed in a see-through bag. "The one 

with the ..."

"With the stone. I know mommy." Silvia crawled down the bed and pulled the bag off of its hook. She 

turned around and held the slender silver rod up. "Got it!" She pulled herself up along the bed 

until she could hand it to Molly.

"That's a girl. Now, look away, okay baby? I don't want you to see this. Make sure none of the 

Mundys are watching." 

Silvia hopped down off of the bed and closed the door to the small room. On her way back, she poked 

her head behind the curtain of the other bed, but found that it was empty and made with almost 

military precision. She had almost gotten back to her mom before she turned around. "Almost 

forgot." She darted back to the door and touched the frame. The charm on her wrist flared brightly, 

"Seal," she commanded. The door locked with a very audible snap. The gap between frame and door 

flickered blue a moment then returned to normal. 

On the bed, Molly was gripping the hair stick with a kind of white knuckled desperation. "Healing 

was never something I was good at. Always got crap grades..." She pushed down the sheet and pulled 

up her gown, using both to shield herself from her daughter's view. "Oh, I hate Mundy medicine... 

they always do things the hard way. Ugh and the drugs. My head is swimming..." 

Silvia was watching the door while nervously rocking from foot to foot. She heard her mother 

muttering spells and cursing in pain as they worked or failed. From the sound of things healing was 

likely something her mom should not be trying, let alone on herself in her present condition. 

"When... when will I get to meet him?"

"They told me they were going to bring him in after a bit. They wanted me to recover from the 

drugs. They let me hold him for a few minutes right after, but they are cleaning him up and making 

sure he is okay." Molly straightened her gown and pulled the sheet back up. She opened her other 

fist and dropped a wad of staples onto the bedside table. "I really hate Mundy medicine. So ugly."

"Should I open the door now?"

"Yeah, it's safe, thank you, Silvie."

Silvia touched the door frame again, "Dissipate." There was a loud click again as the door swung 

slightly inward. "I hope I get to see him soon."

Arthur stood in the middle of the recovery room looking around. It was freezing cold and quiet. 

Beds lined either side of the room each separated from the other by heavy curtains and a rack of 

monitoring equipment. Behind and beside him stood Emmoss and Balthiss whom had both acquired white 

coats and scrubs from somewhere. They were speaking together in soft tones when the duty nurse came 

in to check on the patients in recovery.

"Sir, I'm afraid you can't be in here. This is for recovering patients only."

"It's okay, nurse. He's with us." Balthiss moved forward with his focus hidden from her sight in 

his left hand. "We're actually looking for his wife. We were told she was here in recovery? Have 

you been on shift long?"

She eyed the two 'doctors' warily before nodding. "Yeah, about eight hours. What was her name?"

Arthur spoke up this time, "Molly. Molly Fields, but I think there was a mix-up and she is listed 

under her maiden name."

Experience is a cruel mistress. Unfortunately for the trio standing before her, the nurse had her 

own experience with abusive husbands. A very good reason for being listed under her maiden name 

jumped to mind and brought memories of broken ribs along with it. She looked between Arthur and the 

two doctors behind him and narrowed her eyes. "What did you say she was here for?"

Arthur did not notice the change in her demeanor but Emmoss and Balthiss did. They stepped closer, 

fanning out to either side of the nurse while Arthur spoke. "She was in labor. I was down in the ER 

and they sent me here. They told me she was having a caesarean. I've been trying to track her down 

for the last few hours. Please, I'm tired and worried about my wife."

The nurse eyed Arthur critically then nodded. "Wait here then. I'll go see what I can find for 

you." She turned and left before Balthiss could get too close to her.

"Let's hope she isn't gone too long. I am still going to kill that magus." He eyed Arthur, then 

scowled at Emmoss. "This is taking too long already. We may have to just kill the child."

"You know 'e wants 'im alive."

"Yes, but we can't let the child cross to the Hidden World. The brotherh-"

Emmoss hissed loudly, "Don't. Don't talk about them, you'll jinx us bad, mate."

"The you-know-what's are looking for him. Superstitious prig."

"Kindly jog off. We're in this mess togetha now. Oi'm not exactly the low profile kind of bloke, 

and this is wearing pretty thin. 'ad Oi my way, we'd..."

"Shut it. And go see if you can find that nurse. Maybe hurry things along."

The elevator pinged softly as it reached the Labor and Delivery floor. A rather striking couple 

stepped off of the elevator and stood for a moment blocking the slight traffic in the hall. She was 

shorter than him by almost a foot, pale hair somewhere between white-blond and grey although she 

looked far too young to be grey haired. She wore a dark grey dress that fell in ruffled layers. The 

dress had a low neckline, was cut high on her shoulders, and plunged in the back. She wore gloves 

that almost matched the dress but were a lighter shade of grey. Her lilac eyes were particularly 

striking next to her olive skin. Slight lips were pulled into a nearly perfect smile as she looked 

both directions down the corridor.

He was taller and broader. Where she was all curves and soft angles, he was hard planes and points. 

His slight tan looked washed out next to her exotic olive skin. Dark red-brown hair fell past his 

shoulders in long waves with the very ends just below his shoulder blades. Long bangs nearly hid 

his sea foam eyes. He wore a thin shirt beneath a long sleeved shirt which was both unbuttoned and 

un-tucked from black jeans that covered him all the way to the brown leather shoes he wore. His 

right hand rested at the small of her back, the contact both familiar and unconscious. "Which way, 

Aywin?"

"Left. We go left. We are almost there. It is not too late."

"Thank the Power. I ..." he cocked his head to the side, an awkward looking gesture as he peered 

around. "We are not alone in here. I sense Wild Magic."

Aywinnea looked a little green in the fluorescent light. "Myrk. I am worried. This does not feel 

right. He was supposed to be born into fire. There is no fire here."

"Not yet, at least. Let us hope that is a good sign." Gently he pressed against the small of her 

back, urging her forward. 

Balthiss and Emmoss stood outside the door. Emmoss had looked inside and confirmed that the child 

had not arrived. He sent Arthur in ahead to wait the arrival. "Almost time." He rubbed his hands 

together, "So, do we kill 'im, or capture 'im?" he held up his left hand as though cupping 

something fragile, "Kill," and his right, the watch dangling between his fingers by its chain. 

"Capture..." he motioned back and forth as though literally weighing his options. "Dunno about you, 

but either or as far as Oi care."

"Which ever seems more prudent. The point is that the little runt never grows up to stop it. We've 

got too much on the line now for a stupid prophecy to muck things up. Look sharpish, I think I see 

a nurse with a child."

"Can you see it, Balt?"

"See what?"

"Look at the boy. No, you daft twit, not with those eyes, your real ones."

"There are eddies around him. Bits of mist. Well, that is unexpected."

"And you thought this'd be easy. Looks like it's gawn to be fun now." Emmoss whirled the watch 

around his hand and the chain grew shorter with each revolution until it landed in his palm. He 

tucked it beneath several of the loops, allowing him to gesture with both hand and focus without 

having to hold on to the watch. He closed his eyes and found the tether that held Arthur to him 

through the spell laid down on his neck. "Show time..." 

Aywinnea stopped so suddenly that Myrkalis bumped into her from behind. "We are late. See those two 

in the coats? Serithi."

Myrkalis closed his eyes and his horn flashed briefly in the fluorescent light. "I have sent for a 

Warden, but we need to buy some time. I have an idea, get them talking about anything. I will side 

step us all onto the Winding Path." One of the nurses in the hall gave Myrk a funny look as though 

she might have briefly seen the horn. She shook her head muttering about a headache and seeing 

things before slipping to the information desk near the end of the hall.

"You can not bring them entirely onto the path. The Third Children are not able to walk the Winding 

Path."

"I know, my love. I shall bring them only a bit upon the path. Just enough to change the flow of 

time for them."

Aywinnea stopped directly between the two 'men' in white coats. She turned her body just enough to 

be able to watch them both and partially block Myrkalis from their sight. "So. I gather you have 

come for the child."

Emmoss kept his eyes closed, lips moving slightly as though he was murmuring in his sleep. Balthiss 

looked briefly at Emmoss then relaxed visibly. This only set Aywin's nerves further on edge.

"Ah. Clefthooves. Two? Yes, I see you both. Don't think you can hide him from me, nag. You both 

stand out like bonfires among matchsticks."

Aywinnea heard Myrkalis behind her murmur, "Tempora Translocate..." and felt the slight sideways 

pull. The hallway blurred softly and she could see a flowing path before and behind her. Before 

her, the pathway branched several times. Behind her the path was slippery and direct, though it 

wound back and forth over itself. 

Balthiss clutched at his chest and hissed. The sound was so utterly inhuman that it could only have 

come from something with scales. "What... What have you done?!" His eyes flicked over to Emmoss, 

but strangely, Emmoss was slightly blurred as well.

Aywin's gaze followed that of Balthiss and cocked her head at the anomaly. "Myrk, something is 

wrong," She ignored Balthiss. 

"I see..." Balthiss looked down and caught a glimpse of the Winding Path. He had to rub deeply at 

his eyes and plucked the false ones from his mask. When he realized what he was seeing he roared 

with laughter. "Oh you foolish mare. Are we faster, or slower than Man's Time?"

Now Aywinnea looked at him. Ragged holes where the dark eyes had been now showed a pair of golden 

orbs with black slits. "What matter is it of yours, Serithi? Know only that we have pulled you part 

way outside of Time. Wardens are on their way for you. They will be here any time."

Myrkalis had his hand to his face, horn blazing openly now. It was hard keeping all three of them 

on the path. He realized about the same time that Aywin had that there was a problem. Though it 

cost him, he turned and gestured at Emmoss, "Amplify." The whispers of the Serithi he had missed 

became audible now. They slipped around like mercury on glass too fast to understand without 

thinking about. Myrk caught only the odd word here and there. He heard the words "Drake Ignatus" 

and his color drained. He dropped the greater spell and time caught back up to them in a jerk that 

caused Aywinnea and Balthiss both to stumble. Emmoss collapsed to the ground howling in pain right 

before the door to the room they were standing outside of blew off its hinges into the hallway in a 

gout of searing white-orange flame.

Arthur had left the two doctors outside the room. From the look on Molly's face, she was less than 

pleased to see him here. "Where is my son?" He strode the length of the room rapidly and snatched 

the curtains so sharply they tore from the rod. "I want to see my son." His face held a snarl as 

his gaze raked the bed.

Molly sat up straighter and gave him a withering look. "You reek of alcohol, Arthur. And he isn't 

here. The nurses have him, they are cleaning him up. Birth is messy." She spat the last at him like 

a curse.

Arthur practically vibrated on the spot reigning in his rage. "Then I haven't missed anything." He 

pulled a heavy and ugly chair away from the wall and sat at the foot of the bed. "He needs a Name."

Molly blinked and looked down at her hands. They had argued briefly about the name, "I want to name 

him Erin. After my father."

Arthur stared at her, his eyes unblinking. "Fine, so long as he takes Joseph as his middle name."

"Erin Joseph Fields." Molly felt a flicker of Wild Magic. Naming always caused a ripple like this. 

It could not be helped, crafting a name was old and powerful magic.

"Fine." Arthur continued to stare. 

His gaze was causing Molly to get more and more edgy. Why did he not blink? What was going on? What 

was she missing? She opened her mouth to ask a question and a soft single knock stole her moment. 

The nurse slipped into the room bearing a swaddled child.

"Ah, here you are, Molly. Your beautiful baby boy." The nurse looked down at the bundle, then at 

Arthur, "And look! Your father is here too. Lucky little man, you know, not everyone gets to have 

both their parents here these days..." She rocked and bounced the bundle gently as she crossed the 

room. The door closed with a 'snick'. A pair of white blurs stopped outside the door and appeared 

to be in conversation. The small window was made of rippled glass for privacy, leaving little clue 

as to who or what was in the hall.

Molly took her newborn son from the nurse. "Thank you." She sighed and gently tugged the blanket 

down from his face. "Hello, Erin Joseph Fields."

Arthur stood up and raised his hand. He made a clutching motion with his fingers and the nurse 

began to gag. He threw his hand to the side and she slid across the floor to hit the wall. Sylvia, 

whom had been sitting very still to avoid Arthur's notice, screamed as the wall shook. There was a 

muffled 'pop' very much like an egg being broken inside a wet newspaper and the nurse fell to the 

floor dead.

"Aww, now don't you go feelin' bad for poor ol' nursy there. T'was a damn sight more merciful than 

what comes next, Oi guarantee." The smile on Arthur's face showed too much teeth and his face held 

the kind of sadistic glee that Molly had never seen him express.

"Who are you, what have you done with Arthur?" Her voice was quiet.

"Oh, nothin' permanent like, least wise not yet, love. Now, as Oi see this, you got two choices 

'ere. Oi can either kill you lot, or you can give me th' boy. Don't really care which you pick, 

'cept Oi get paid better if the littlest one 'as all 'is limbs in all the right places."

Molly looked sick. Between the pain medication, the shock of the surgery, the drain of the birth, 

and the length of time since she had last slept it was a minor miracle she was still able to call 

upon the Power. She pulled the energy into herself and began weaving her free hand through a 

complicated set of minor gestures before she spoke. "Barrier." There was a minor flare as a blue 

hued sphere encased the bed.

'Arthur' danced in place briefly. "Yeah! That's it, oooh she gots a little fight in 'er, she does. 

And Oi thought this was goin' to be borin'." His right hand came up with a lighter. He flicked the 

spark wheel and drew from the top a cone of fire that was pulled into a tight sphere in the palm of 

his hand. The skin beneath the sphere began at first to steam, then blister slowly. "Oh, looks like 

Arthur's a Mundy, eh?" That manic grin came back. "See, the magic 'urts 'im, unlike us. Ain't that 

roight, love?"

Molly's jaw had dropped as she watched her husband work the fire. She began to realize that this 

was not a simple possession or a homunculus sent to threaten her. Things were getting serious. She 

closed her mouth and flashed Arthur a tight lipped smile. "Fool. Fire is my prime." She mimed 

blowing a kiss, "Extinguish." 

Arthur/Emmoss shook his hand as the sphere pulsed once and winked out. "Oh, think you're funny, eh? 

Bloody pyromagus. Think they know everythin' there is to know 'bout fire. Well Oi'll tell you what 

you don' know jack about," He flicked the spark wheel on the lighter again. This time, instead of 

drawing the fire out of the lighter into his hand, he brought the lighter up before his face and 

inhaled the flame. "Drake Ignatus." The 's' in the last syllable was drawn out impossibly long as 

Arthur/Emmoss exhaled a fire so hot it was almost white, with orange at the very outer limits. 

Arthur's face began to smoke and blister immediately under the assault. A blinding sphere formed 

before him. When Arthur/Emmoss had exhaled as much as he could, he gave her the finger. 

The white sphere contracted from the size of a chair down to the size of a baseball before 

exploding outward so hard and fast it blew the door into the hall and set the entire room on fire. 

The heat was so hot so fast it melted the sprinkler system into twisted lumps of steel. 

Emmoss had dropped to the floor just fast enough that the door tumbled over him. Balthiss had no 

warning and the door hit him full force. The wood and glass broke over him and sprayed outwards in 

a hail of shrapnel. He was slammed into the wall opposite and crumpled to the floor. 

Aywinnea had begun to turn as the explosion reached into the hall with greedy white fingers. Her 

hand and arm had come up far enough that when the shrapnel reached her, it gouged her arm and side. 

She was lucky enough that the worst did not catch her in the face. Her dress sprouted holes and 

bits of glass and wood. The force of the blast pushed her several feet down the hall before she 

landed on her back.

Aside from Emmoss, Myrkalis survived the blast the best. Having been next to the wall he was spared 

from the shockwave and Aywinnea had taken the worst of the debris. He hesitated only a heartbeat to 

see that Aywinnea still breathed before throwing himself into the room.

If the hall was bad, the room was by far worse. The floor and ceiling where the drake fire had 

detonated were both bowed away from the point of detonation. The bed closest to the door was an 

unrecognizable twisted heap of burned plastic and metal. Like almost all of the furniture, it too 

was burning with an unnaturally hot fire. Arthur lay unmoving behind where the blast had originated 

with a black and white flash pattern on the wall that outlined where he had been standing. The only 

thing even marginally untouched by the fire was the bed in which Molly was laying.

Myrkalis was moving as fast as he could, but even still he feared he would be too late. Molly had 

her head down with her focus glowing almost as bright as the drake fire still lashing through the 

room. Her barrier had shrunk to three distinct spheres: one around Erin, one around Sylvia who had 

collapsed in the corner, and the weakest one around herself. Myrkaliss' horn was plainly visible as 

he slid to a stop at Molly's bed. The fire prickled across his skin and began to quickly raise 

welts. He was madly working to build his own barrier. 

Molly looked up as he approached, her eyes drawn to the glowing horn between his eyes. "Now? NOW 

you come?" her voice held pain and anguish that nothing to do with any physical source. Tears 

sprang from her eyes, either from pain, smoke, or heart ache. They evaporated almost as fast as 

they formed.

"Ms. Fields, there is no time..." He could see her barrier failing as the unnatural fire continued 

to pummel it in wave after wave of heat. He reached out to take her hand but she snatched hers 

away.

"No. Not me. You take my children, or none of us."

She could see her words hit their intended target when he flinched slightly. "I want to get you out 

of here, too."

"No." she coughed and sighed, "I'm all used up." As she spoke the words her own barrier flared out 

in a dazzling rush of sparks. Blisters and bad burns began immediately to pop up on her exposed 

skin. "Save them!" Her free hand pointed desperately at her daughter while she thrust her son at 

him with the other.

"I swear by The Power that I will." He gently took the now screaming child from her arms. He tried 

but could not get around the bed due to the fire. Instead he gestured at the fallen form of Silvia, 

"Levitate." The girl rose over the bed and moved towards Myrkalis. "Can you keep them shielded 

until..." he gestured to the door.

"GO!" She screamed at him. Her hair caught fire and her focus began to melt from the heat, but the 

gem still shone bright. Too bright. 

Myrkalis realized in a flash what she was putting into the spell. He could do nothing else but 

follow her desperate plea. He spun in place and dashed through the door, the boy in his arms and 

the girl flying behind him limp and unconscious. He rebounded off the wall near where Balthiss had 

fallen, but while he had been in the hospital room the two Serithi had disappeared. Myrkalis 

dropped to his knees beside Aywinnea. He laid the boy beside her and was startled to find that at 

some point his shirt had caught fire. He threw it off then as Silvia settled beside Aywinnea. He 

jerked his hand through the air, cutting a sharp series of lines that outlined a rough rectangle 

around the four of them, "Metatranslocate!" The two humans and two unicorns seemed to fall through 

the floor into a hole that lead into a green place. As soon as they had passed through, the hole 

sealed behind them with a snap.

Emmoss slapped Balthiss again, this time hard enough that the mask he was wearing tore a bit. He 

could see the black scales beneath the human looking skin, "Rise and shine, ugly!" He glanced 

around the bar nervously. "Oi ain't going to break the news to 'im meself, you're goin' to 'elp me 

even if Oi 'ave to..."

"Emmoss." The growl was almost unreal the way it seemed to crawl around the bar. The lights were 

almost out and only the odd stretch of track lighting here and there cast anything beyond a pale 

amber glow. "Tell me what, exactly?"

Emmoss stood slowly shaking like a man going through detox. He tried to calm himself by slipping 

his hand inside his jacket and drawing out a battered pack of cigarettes. Instead of reaching for a 

lighter, he just snapped his fingers and lit the cigarette he drew from the pack over the tiny 

flame. Slowly he turned. "Well, the truth. Oi mean, 'snot like Oi can lie to you, now is it?" He 

kicked Balthiss one more time.

"Leave him. He's going to be out for a bit." The voice was coming from closer to the ceiling than 

should have been possible. There, between a pair of lazily spinning fans were two fire colored 

pools of light. They were farther apart than the eyes of a human and the light cast by each eye was 

reflecting off of scales. As he spoke curls and spirals of smoke slipped from the reptilian mouth 

with a set of teeth a shark would envy. He seemed to have a tongue of fire within his jaws, as 

light spilled out when he spoke, backlighting his teeth. "And no. At least, I should hope you don't 

think you can lie to me."

Emmoss slumped against the bar, taking his time with the cigarette. He knew, just as the dragon in 

the shadows knew, time was something they had in excess at the moment. Being nearly immortal they 

had no pressing engagements. The dragon was just as content to wait Emmoss out as Emmoss was to try 

and drag this out. That is not to say that he would not be punished any less for how long it took. 

"'e's in the 'idden World." His voice was quiet. Had there been any of the usual noise in the bar, 

the words might have been lost. Instead the deathly silence made it sound as though he had shouted.

"I see." The twin orbs of fire blinked once very slowly. "Emmoss, remind me what you two were 

supposed to keep from happening." Steel bands seemed to circle the words, his control was so tight 

in his voice.

"We were t' kill the kid, or keep 'im from getting to the 'idden World."

"Which you failed to do."

"Which we failed to do." Emmoss stubbed the last of the cigarette out on the bar. Balthiss would 

have hurt him for that had he been awake.

"Then I am glad I sent such... competent snakes to do a drakes job." Heat shimmers blurred the 

outline of the dragon in the room even farther. "You realize I'm going to have to punish you two."

"It... it t'weren't me! Oi swear by The Power, Oi were only actin' on information what Balthiss 

gave me." He jerked his hand at the unconscious form on the floor. "And 'e was workin' on 

information that flake magus gave us. We're bloody lucky we did what we did, consderin' what little 

time we 'ad to do it tonight."

The dragon hardly moved. He swallowed and the light behind his teeth went out. The red eyes went 

blue for a moment before finally flaring back to life as two spheres of green fire. "Yes, well." As 

he spoke, a sickly looking green light now backlit his teeth, "I only need one of you at this 

point." He made a sound like he was clearing his throat and then spat. The light was blinding for a 

moment as a ragged mass of green came flying at the bar. Emmoss shrank back from it, but it became 

obvious his target had been Balthiss when the one on the ground was covered in it. Everything the 

acid touched corroded or began to dissolve. Balthiss did not even wake as the acid reduced him to a 

puddle around a discolored skeleton. The flooring was also being burned by the acid and shortly 

gave way, spilling the whole mess down into the cellar below the bar.

"Oi won't let yah down, sir."

"Yes, well. You see that I don't tolerate failure very well."