A week after the King’s audience, the order came sealed and cold:

  Aurelshade owes the Choir’s silence to the Wanderer and his company. Mission complete. Return to Dragonia for debrief and commendation.

  Kael folded the parchment between gloved fingers.

  Kael: “Commendation means they’ll ask what I broke.”

  Bram slapped his back, grinning.

  Bram: “Then let’s leave before they find out it was the sky.”

  By midday they rode east through the Gate of Bells. Behind them, Aurelshade shimmered—half glory, half ghost.

  Lio turned in his saddle.

  Lio: “Do you ever think it’ll stop singing?”

  Kael: “Cities never stop. They just change the lyrics.”

  The dunes stretched before them—sand glittering like forgotten glass, the road winding through ruins half-buried and humming with residual mana.

  For the first time in weeks, the air didn’t taste like mourning.

  The peace lasted forty-three minutes.

  Then the ground trembled.

  A shadow rippled across the dunes—broad as a cathedral roof.

  Bram’s eyes lit up.

  Bram: “Oh, come on. You all feel that?”

  Nora: “No, I just hallucinate seismic activity for fun.”

  A roar followed—wet, metallic, hungry.

  Kael: “So much for the quiet return.”

  The beast rose from the sand: a mire drake, its scales slick with tar, wings tattered but burning with residual magic—a remnant of the Undead War, mutated by time and decay.

  Bram spun his spear with glee.

  Bram: “All right, same rules!”

  Nora: “Same foolishness.”

  Lio: “Whoever deals the final blow eats free.”

  Kael: “Whoever barely scratches it buys dinner.”

  Bram: “So Nora pays again.”

  Nora: “Not this time. I’m bankrupting you all.”

  Kael: smirking “Ah. Statistical comedy.”

  The drake struck first.

  Sand exploded upward as its tail slammed down with enough force to make the dunes quake.

  Bram met it head-on.

  His spear flashed in spirals, mana surging up the shaft.

  When it hit, the shockwave rolled through the beast’s armor like thunder trapped in metal.

  Bram: “That’s one!”

  Nora: “That’s one scratch.”

  She hurled three vials in perfect sequence. They burst into violet vapor that crystallized around the drake’s chest.

  Nora: “Alchemical frost, density level—”

  The drake inhaled—and breathed fire.

  Nora: “—irrelevant.” She dove behind Kael’s coat as the flames roared past.

  Kael didn’t flinch. He lifted his wand, tracing a symbol midair.

  The fire bent midstream, split, and rolled back toward the monster like an obedient tide.

  Kael: “Reflect Harm. Basic editing.”

  The drake screamed as its own fire consumed it.

  The dunes turned to glass.

  Lio dashed in from behind, twin blades flashing. He vaulted off a broken pillar, sliced through the webbing between its wings, and flipped away before landing in a crouch.

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  Lio: “Call that two points for me!”

  Bram: “Points deducted for surviving!”

  The drake’s tail whipped across the battlefield.

  Kael grabbed Nora by the collar and yanked her down as three rocks lost their heads instead.

  Kael: “You’re welcome.”

  Nora: “You’re late.”

  She threw another vial straight into the creature’s open mouth.

  It detonated inward.

  The drake convulsed, smoke spilling from its jaws.

  Nora: “And that is chemistry.”

  Kael lifted his wand.

  Kael: “Try to keep it breathing; I’m improvising.”

  He carved glowing letters into the air, each stroke burning gold.

  Kael: “Verse One — Cage of Comprehension.”

  Invisible lines snapped around the drake, trapping it mid-lunge.

  The air vibrated, every echo rhyming with itself — magic built on meter.

  Bram jammed his spear into the ground.

  Bram: “My turn!”

  He leapt high, spinning, shouting a Dwarvish war rhyme that barely rhymed with violence.

  The spear hit the drake’s skull like a punctuation mark.

  The spell shattered.

  So did the creature’s restraint.

  It reared and bellowed, sending a shockwave through the dunes.

  Lio was thrown into a dune; Nora barely stayed upright, hands flying across another alchemical circle.

  Nora: “Kael! Little help?”

  Kael: “Counting lines.”

  Nora: “Count faster!”

  He flicked his wand once.

  Kael: “Verse Two — Reversal of Burden.”

  A whirlpool of ink swelled beneath the drake’s feet.

  Its immense weight turned to mist; its roar fell into a whisper.

  Bram saw his moment.

  Bram: “For free meals and temporary glory!”

  He charged through the haze and drove his spear through the drake’s heart.

  The beast screamed once — then fell still.

  The ground sighed and collapsed into steam and sand.

  When the dust cleared, Bram stood atop the carcass, hair smoking, grin feral.

  Bram: “Last hit was mine!”

  Nora: “You tripped and fell into it.”

  Bram: “Exactly. Destiny tripped with me.”

  Lio, coughing:

  Lio: “At least it’s dead.”

  Kael: “Mostly. Give it a moment to consider reincarnation.”

  The drake hissed once, exhaled smoke, and went still.

  Kael tapped its snout with his wand.

  Kael: “Certified deceased. Winner: Bram the Accidental.”

  Bram bowed with mock grandeur.

  Bram: “Thank you, thank you! My legacy begins now.”

  Nora: “Your legacy smells like burnt lizard.”

  Kael chuckled quietly—enough to startle them.

  Kael: “Enjoy the victory. The world rarely gives honest ones.”

  By sunset they made camp in the hollow of a broken archway.

  The wind sang through the ruins, a tired harp.

  Bram roasted drake meat over the fire.

  Bram: “Tastes like expensive regret.”

  Lio strummed faintly, tuning to the key of exhaustion.

  Nora scribbled formulas by lamplight, muttering to herself.

  Nora: “Next time, I win. Probability will bend to intellect.”

  Kael poured tea, smiling faintly.

  Bram: “Careful, boss. That’s almost optimism.”

  Kael: “Don’t tell anyone. It ruins my reputation.”

  The laughter came easy—soft, sincere, fleeting.

  For a few minutes, it felt like the world hadn’t broken.

  Later, Kael reached for his flask—and found an envelope instead.

  Black wax. Overlapping rings.

  His smile vanished.

  He broke the seal.

  Inside, written in his own hand:

  How many monsters will you kill before realizing which one you are?

  The ink shimmered, then dissolved into smoke.

  Kael stared into the fire.

  The flames flickered, rising in time with his heartbeat.

  For a moment, they formed letters—his name, then Neil’s.

  Across the campfire, Bram laughed, oblivious.

  Bram: “Boss, what’s with that face? Don’t tell me you’re counting our debts again.”

  Kael looked up, smiling thinly.

  Kael: “Something like that.”