I add “training Last Shadow” to my daily routine (my minions don't actually need much in the way of management). Last Shadow is intelligent, friendly, and cooperative, so the training is not about getting her to do what I want: It's about getting her used to my weight and burning in the reflexes that allow her to react instantly to normal riding commands. I don't put a bit in her mouth - guiding with my knees is fine. As the various items I made for her in advance complete, I get her used to those as well… and get the saddle enchanted as a Sky Marine’s Elite Saddle, to make riding easier for me, flying easier for her, and let me share any teamwork feats I have with her… which is all the combat ones because of my buffs.

  That takes six weeks. During that time, we also clean out the dungeon repeatedly (and I bring Last Shadow along… she enjoys the variety of food, it seems) and that does lead to something….

  “So,” the cold voice of the grave whispers in my mind one day after clearing out the dungeon again, “Would you like to know what you have for sixth level?”

  “Ah, hello uncle,” I reply telepathically, “good to talk to you… and yes please.”

  “Well, good news for Last Shadow… your mother arranged for her to be much stronger: He wanted you to have a bodyguard, and so got you the Scalykind domain, the animal domain, the hunting domain, and the Primal Companion of the Lunar mystery. Between the four, Last Shadow will be getting boosted to…” Death pauses.

  “Four times my level, minus eight, so at sixth that's as a sixteenth level Druid, with thirteen hit dice, just over double mine…” I do the math in my head, “...and she'll gain a full four levels of advancement for every level I get going forward.” And with all that, more hit dice, a boost to armor css, strength, dex, saves, hit points, and base attack bonus, “She'll be quite the bruiser. How come you can't just….”

  “I used to be mortal. I'm MORE now, but that didn't make me any better at math,” Uncle C expins, “I can look it up without anyone knowing that's what I'm doing by having a me that's not involved in the conversation do so, but it didn't make me a lightning calcutor or anything.”

  “Okay…” I don't get it, my Mom's family is strange and incomprehensible at times, so I'm moving on.

  “Also, you have native access to third level spells now,” The Comforter continues, “So you should be able to manage fourth level spells. Now, if you'd go through that book….”

  “I'm okay, really,” I roll my eyes.

  “I can't interfere with free will,” Death sighs, “Anyway, that's the highlights. There's also the basic numbers and such, but eh.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You're welcome.”

  I of course add fourth level spells to my buff list; Freedom of Movement, Enchantment Foil, Suppress Primal Magic, Death Ward, and others. I find a very fun spell on my search: Code Skill. It lets me give one creature's skill ranks to a construct… which (as far as spells that care are concerned) I am. Combined with Visualization of the Mind’s Intelligence form discharge effect to have the skill, I can Permanently give myself full ranks in an arbitrary skill. If I follow it up with Bestow Insight, it's even a css skill with a nice insight bonus. With Heroism and all three forms of both Visualization of the Mind and Visualization of the Body, I have some pretty nice skills. For a few specialty uses (such as finding and disabling traps) and certain skills (most notably Perception) it's much higher thanks to specific specialty spells like Acute Senses, Find Traps, and Trapfinder's Focus.

  I can cover Roger's party role easily now… but I still let him do it. I also let Bearcw hit things (even though Last Shadow does it better) and Wesley bst (even though I'm a better caster now). Hmm… I think I'm horrifically overpowered for my level… and that's good for me.

  I also switch out to a longbow, an Adamantine Spiked Chain, and a Mithril breastpte… because I found the right spells. Create Armaments makes a weapon, armor, or shield, Instantly. It has a material component of the value of the weapon or armor… but I skip those. The Effortless Armor spell reduces the penalties for wearing armor all the way to zero in the case of the breastpte and I can toss Magic Vestments on top of that; better than the Improved Mage Armor spell I was using, except against incorporeal touch attacks (which is fixed by a “Ghost Touch” spell). The weapons I make are the same way: The Bestow Weapon Proficiency spell makes me know how to use them effectively, Greater Magic Weapon handles basic enchantment on both, Arcane Forge grants them some useful magic weapon properties. Abundant Ammunition, Magic Weapon, Fme Arrows, and Arcane Forge combine on a cheap quiver of arrows to give me unlimited magic ammo as well. I mean, my spells will do better, but there's a couple of reasons for it: First, it's expected for a person to walk around armed. Second, the fancy materials make me look rich. Third, dressed up like a brute, intelligent enemies will throw spells at me rather than charging in with a sword or something… which should backfire on them.

  I give everyone else a simir treatment: All the buffs that apply, and new gear. Roger gets a Mithril Chain Shirt and two Adamantine shortswords, Bearcw gets gets an Adamantine Breastpte and Greataxe, Wesley gets a Mithril Buckler (it doesn't interfere with his casting), and I set Last Shadow up with Adamantine Silken Ceremonial Armor (it has metal ptes, which will stop some damage… her dexterity is too high for anything heavier to help; her actual armor css comes from an Improved Mage Armor spell and her own inherent defenses as my Companion). I also update their scaling buffs… none of it costs me anything.

  My minions finish the Howdah at the same time I finish Last Shadow's training. By this point everyone is sufficiently used to their alternative forms that I don't bother with Countermoon anymore. We do one st sweep of the dungeon before the trip - Last Shadow lives up to her name very well, she is an absolute wrecking ball now. I use Beast Shape II to turn Last Shadow into a leopard (she won't really fit in the Howdah as a full sized Griffon, and it's… somewhat close to her real form). I shift into a Huge dragon, put on the howdah, and everyone climbs inside.

  “Oh, hey…” comments my pet cat, “I get to ride you now!”

  Chuckling, I head off, carrying the four of them on my back quite easily.

  The trip itself is quite uneventful. Oh, we pass a Roc that briefly tries to chase us down (it's a territorial bird with an eighty foot wingspan that likes to pick up rge nd bound creatures such as elephants, drop them, and eat the spttered remains)… but we're moving much faster than it; the bird just can't keep up. A real dragon might be able to catch us… but we don't encounter any of those.

  The Howdah manages to hold up to the sixty mile an hour pace, but conversation doesn't. I chat a little with Last Shadow telepathically, but that's it: The wind makes it essentially impossible to speak verbally, and I'm not quite ready to let everyone know I can do mind to mind.

  The view is amazing: We're flying above the clouds because none of us care about the air anymore. The clouds are all so white and fluffy during the day, yet painted in an amazing array of colors around sunrise and sunset. And when the clouds aren't in the way? I see the forests, fields, trees, swamps, deserts, and mountains fly by beneath us. I also see circles of altered terrain, presumably from dungeons that no longer exist, usually within a few miles of some obvious ruins… walled cities and castles. Lord Srid Fmeflow wasn't the first to try carving a city out of the wilderness… it doesn't always work out.

  Hmm. I wonder who cleans up the dungeons to keep them from spiraling out of control? Eh, clearly SOMEONE does. Maybe I'll ask when we nd… it's probably the guild. I mean, we are registering a dungeon that we're handling, so… that's probably how they manage.

  We arrive safely at our destination in the early morning: Eastgate, where things started. We nd out of easy view of the gate. I shift back, we store the Howdah in my Keyhome, and we walk to the gate.

  We fsh our guild badges at the gate guard: His steel pte armor and rge steel shield are old, but well cared for. The longbow on his back is new, and I can't be sure about the broadsword in a sheath at his side, but it's the signal horn that's truly relevant. He smiles and nods as we enter; Guild members get a free pass through such gates because every town needs the guild.

  I haven't slept, and I just ran ft-out for about twenty hours straight… but I feel fine as we walk to the guildhouse….