[centre][h2]Longsight[/h2] 
[b]&[/b]
[h2]Badboy[/h2]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/Kskn8GF.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/pcXVo2n.png[/img]
[/centre]
[hr]
[centre][img]https://i.imgur.com/JGsd9tb.png[/img]
[h3][b]The BATTLE of the CLIFF[/b][/h3][/centre]
Longsight and Badboy were received by their gobtrotter comrades with awe. Horntusk, who had managed to successfully escape after drawing the monsters out, could hardly believe it was them. Longsight’s blue eye and tattooed face left no doubt, however, and neither did the weapons they so easily wielded – for in the hands of others they became impossibly heavy. “This is most remarkable!” Songster chirruped, examining their sculpted forms and poking now at Longsight’s calf and now scrambling up Badboy’s shoulder to rub his spectacularly squared jaw. Tentongues, brows in a veritable V-shape, also did not cease from pinching and pulling at their forms. Badboy would have usually brushed them off, mouthing profanities, but on this occasion he stood proudly and flexed his muscles subtly. “Simply.. inconceivable!” Tentongues declared at last. “How did this come to be – what magick, vile or fine, could have done this?” Longsight shrugged and pointed back behind him into the caverns. Songster looked into the darkness, eyes wide, and Tentongues likewise gazed into it with a gleam. “We…” Songster began. “Must go and find it.” Tentongues finished. “We will be remembered…” Songster picked up again. “For ten thousand years,” Tentongues chirruped. “This discovery will never be matched!” Songster squealed, leaping from Badboy’s shoulder and rushing deeper into the cave. A loud screech and rumble had him returned as swiftly as he went, however. “Though that can wait, I’m sure it can wait, yes it can wait.” He stammered to himself, wringing his hands.

Longsight considered the two gobtrotters, deep in thought. Now that he thought about it, it was probably a good idea to secure whatever that pool was. It was not unlikely that the terrible wyvern was sculpted out of it, just as their forms were created inside it. He did not want to think what terrible horrors would emerge from the cavern depths if they did not obtain control of the cave’s interiors at least to the pool’s chamber. And, of course, there was water there too. He glanced at Badboy, and then at Horntusk and Saboteur. [i]We eat[/i], he gestured, [i]then sleep[/i], he added. [i]Tomorrow[/i]. Tomorrow was a new day and he would think then. Songster and Tentongues could not bring themselves to cease chattering as all of them ate. Everyone other than Badboy listened good-naturedly, but after some five minutes the fearsome man turned on them, eyes as stone. They never called him Barbtongue after that. “U-uh, D-Deathglare,” Tentongues said, hands raised defensively. He stared at the two for a few moments more. “We- we’ll be quiet,” Songster squeaked, and the two scholars dipped their heads down and ate wordlessly.

That night, Longsight dreamt that he walked through a grotto to the sound of trickling water. Though it was mostly natural, he somehow knew as he walked through its winding tunnels that the ground had been cobbled by human labour. He could hear laughter on the air and thought he now heard laughing nymphs and now felt sylphs about his shoulders – though how he knew what those creatures were he could not tell. He came to a stop in the darkness and looked up to see a statue. A few moments passed, and the statue turned to him. It was bent double, what passed for its back hunched. It groaned under the weight of its deformed body. Its eyes were red and face swollen, but for all that its face was aglow with a certain intelligence and about its mouth – his mouth, for it was a man – was a smile that was only fit for those of cleverness and of wit. “You have come.” The statue said. Longsight cocked his head, frowning. “You… expected me?” He asked. The statue smiled knowingly. “It is good to know you like this. I had grown tired, in truth, of the absolutist you will become.” The statue sighed, then gestured for him to come closer. Longsight did so, and it sat down at the edge of its pedestal. Stone eyes gazed into the one brown eye and one blue of the boy. Aye, for he had reverted to his boyish form, all sculpted muscle was gone. The statue rubbed Longsight’s head affectionately, smiling. “This is not the first time we’ve met and it is not the last. I am sure you have realised, already, that you are not like others. You are a thing of destiny- and I don’t mean to make a narcissist of you in saying that. It is simply the truth, whatever way you cut it.”

Longsight did not think to protest or question the statue’s words. He seemed to be speaking natural truths, things he already knew but had overlooked or not really vocalised. The statue placed a hand on his shoulder. “Listen now,” it said, “being as you are, it will not do for you to be a thoughtless being. You cannot wander aimlessly as the great majority of sapients do, unconcerned with the inner workings of reality, unwilling to truly uncover the truth. Were it so that you were meant to eat, sleep, work, and shit – pardon my French – then you’d not have this,” and he rapped him about the head to indicate his brain. Longsight blinked. “Pardon your wha-” he began, but the statue did not wait for him. He burst suddenly into a deep, resonant chant:

“Say first, of God above, or man below,
What can we reason, but from what we know?
Of man what see we, but his station here,
From which to reason, or to which refer?
Through worlds unnumber’d though the God be known,
‘Tis ours to trace him only in our own.
He, who through vast immensity can pierce,
See worlds on worlds compose one universe,
Observe how system into system runs,
What other planets circle other suns,
What varied being peoples ev’ry star,
May tell why Heav’n has made us as we are.
But of this frame the bearings, and the ties,
The strong connections, nice dependencies,
Gradations just, has thy pervading soul
Look’d through? or can a part contain the whole?
Is the great chain, that draws all to agree,
And drawn supports, upheld by God, or thee?”

Longsight listened in a state of awe and stupor as the statue chanted now in soft tones, like a breeze or ripple, and now rising and surging like a great wind or the crash of waves on cliffs. The meanings washed over him, the words familiar, teasing at the edges of his mind, but immediately foreign.

“Heav’n from all creatures hides the book of fate,
All but the page prescrib’d, their present state:
From brutes what men, from men what spirits know:
Or who could suffer being here below?
The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed today,
Had he thy reason, would he skip and play?
Pleas’d to the last, he crops the flow’ry food,
And licks the hand just rais’d to shed his blood.
Oh blindness to the future! kindly giv’n,
That each may fill the circle mark’d by Heav’n:
Who sees with equal eye, as God of all,
A hero perish, or a sparrow fall,
Atoms or systems into ruin hurl’d,
And now a bubble burst, and now a world.”

The statue did not cease singing, and after some time it took Longsight up in its arms and he watched as it strained and rocked. Its passions caused its form to tremble and the arms that held him to shake. After chanting and singing for what seemed an age, he suddenly bent forward and began crooning conclusively.

“Cease then, nor order imperfection name:
Our proper bliss depends on what we blame.
Know thy own point: This kind, this due degree
Of blindness, weakness, Heav’n bestows on thee.
Submit.—In this, or any other sphere,
Secure to be as blest as thou canst bear:
Safe in the hand of one disposing pow’r,
Or in the natal, or the mortal hour.
All nature is but art, unknown to thee;
All chance, direction, which thou canst not see;
All discord, harmony, not understood;
All partial evil, universal good:
And, spite of pride, in erring reason’s spite,
One truth is clear, Whatever is, is right.”

The statue ceased at last and looked down at Longsight, who had become a babe in its arms. “Whatever is,” Longsight murmured, “is right?” He looked questioningly at the statue. It smiled. “Aye my boy. Or, as you were so prone to say, and as you will be again soon, ‘Thus was it Fated. So shall it Be.’”

Longsight was awake with the first squeak of morn. He had barely opened his eyes when Badboy too awoke and rose swiftly next to him. The two boys looked at one another bleary-eyed. Then their eyes widened and they leapt to their feet pointing at each other and feeling one another’s faces and shoulders. Their sculpted forms were gone! Badboy stamped and stomped around in frustration then picked up Headsplitter and made to march all on his lonesome into the cavern depths. Longsight caught him by the hand and pulled him back, patting his shoulder to calm him down. While he stopped trying to stomp off on his own, he was in a foul mood all through breakfast and both the goblins and greatgoblins made a point of not drawing his attention. Longsight was deep in thought and did not much notice Badboy stewing in his rage. 
For one reason or another, Longsight found he could remember every word and verse that the statue had chanted to him in the dream. He had said, [i]Know thy own point: This kind, this due degree/Of blindness, weakness, Heav’n bestows on thee.[/i] His own point? His own purpose, perhaps? But also his limit? To realise his purpose and know his assigned limits. And having understood that, to [i]Submit.—In this, or any other sphere,/Secure to be as blest as thou canst bear:/Safe in the hand of one disposing pow’r[/i]. To submit- surrender, embrace his purpose and accept his limits, to realise that all things were in the hands of a force, or being, far more powerful and knowing... and of this was to know that [i]All nature is but art, unknown to thee;/All chance, direction, which thou canst not see;/All discord, harmony, not understood;/All partial evil, universal good[/i]. So much was unknown and unknowable to those such as he... and because he could not understand it he perceived that there was good and evil- but the reality, or so the statue poet would have it, was that evil is only observable due to our blindness while those who could truly see- See- saw only universal good. His eyes narrowed in thought and he raised a hand to his blue eye. But was it unknown to him? Was he blind and unable to see? [i]And, spite of pride, in erring reason’s spite,/One truth is clear, Whatever is, is right.[/i] He frowned. Whatever is- [i]thus was it Fated[/i]- is right- [i]so shall it Be[/i].

Longsight sighed, closed his eyes, and rubbed his temples. When he opened them again, they were fixed on the dark depths of the cave. He looked from Badboy to Horntusk to Saboteur. [i]We go[/i], he signalled, gesturing into the cave, [i]we kill[/i], he drew a finger across his throat, [i]we take![/i] he shook his hands into two fists. The others were still, but when he rose and hefted Bonebreaker, they rose as one with him. Even Songster and Tentongues got up, wringing their hands nervously. Though they were advised to stay, they insisted on coming. “This is a monumental- historical- world-altering discovery! We must document it for future scholars and historians!” They cried, amongst other things. Longsight nodded absentmindedly. Saboteur and Horntusk prepared torches – they had wetted some rags with fat from the beasts slaughtered some days back and then wrapped them around some thick enough wooden branches they had found. The torches in this manner burned longer and brighter.

Making their way into the system, it was not long before they began to hear cries and movement. The first beasts they came across were terribly mauled ones of the humanoid variety that was so populace down here. Some were winged (though their wings were wrecked beyond use) and others were terrestrial. “Aggghhhppppp..” a few moaned on seeing them, though others whimpered and tried to crawl away from the light. They did not seem to be of any danger, and Horntusk confirmed this by noting that they were groaning for help. That did not stop Songster and Tentongues from crying up a fuss. Badboy, for his part, casually bashed in the heads of the beasts as he marched past. After a few minutes of that, Longsight flashed him an annoyed glance and gestured for him to stop. Huffing, the bloodstained lad rolled his eyes and complied. Still, he kicked any beast that happened to be strewn in his path out of the way whenever he could. After some time, the beasts they came across were of the less helpless variety and Longsight gripped Bonebreaker in preparation. When they saw them, however, the beasts did not attempt to attack but scampered away into the caverns, shouting in that foreign tongue of theirs. Longsight glanced at Horntusk for an explanation. “They don’t seem to want to fight- not us, anyway.” Horntusk noted simply. 

A movement in the flickering shadows caught Longsight’s eye and he braced himself. A bat-faced monster, completely black, winged, and with rippling muscles, emerged into the light hissing and growling. Badboy stepped forth with a smirk, readying himself to obliterate it. “No, wait,” Songster cried, “it wants to talk!” Badboy paused and partially turned his head towards Longsight, an eyebrow raised. Longsight nodded for him to stand down. “What’s it want to talk about?” Longsight asked Songster. The beast squawked and screeched, and Songster started to translate over its strange speech. “It says their home is defenceless now that their wyvernlord is slain. The rock-eating wyrm, Ak-Gazorm, has not relented from torturing and killing them ever since. It stands over the pool, preventing any one of them from entering the waters and being transformed; without a lord, they have no hope of survival before the other lords and kings of the beasts.” Songster paused for a few seconds as the beast continued its squealing before throwing itself on the earth before Longsight and Badboy. “Uh…” Songster coughed, “it… it places itself at your- but especially [i]your[/i],” he gestured at Badboy, “mercy and pledges itself and its kin to you if you can slay or banish Ak-Gazorm.” Badboy stared at Songster in confusion for a few seconds, and then understanding dawned and his eyes lit up. A smile spread across his face and he stepped towards the beast, which whimpered and attempted to scamper away. But Badboy caught it by one of its ears and brought it close so that his dark brown eyes gazed into its red ones. A silent but electric moment passed between them, and when Badboy released the creature it fell immediately to his feet and grovelled there. He looked back at his companions, and in the flickering darkness he seemed more beast than man. [i]We go,[/i] he gestured. Not waiting for a response, he hurried onward and was quickly followed by the batbeast.

As they continued into the depths of the tunnel system, the cavern seemed to swirl with life all about them as beasts crawled or walked before and behind them. It was a swift and solemn march, and soon the sound of their feet and the swarm was overshadowed by the rumbling of the earth and the grating of metal against stone. “Ak-Gazorm,” Songster breathed, “the chamber is ahead of us.” Longsight caught up with Badboy and fell into lockstep with him. Horntusk and Saboteur flanked them, hands on their sword pommels. When they stood at the opening of the chamber, which was considerably larger than when they had run through it the day before, they saw clearly the form of the great iron-clad wyrm as it slid terribly across the rock earth of the chamber. Everywhere rocks and stalagmites had been crushed and the chamber had been completely smoothed, as though by the skilled hands of a thousand labourers. The pool glistened still at the centre of the chamber. Longsight looked at the giant wyrm and gulped, then he placed a hand on Badboy’s shoulder. The other boy glanced back at him and saw the uncertain look in his eyes. [i]How’re we going to do this?[/i] Longsight seemed to say. Badboy grinned and shrugged casually. [i]Like we always do.[/i] And with that, he leapt into the chamber and the slap of his feet against the smooth stone drew the attention of the wyrm, which screeched and turned on him with fury. Longsight was not too far behind him, Bonebreaker grating the ground in his wake.

Just before the wyrm was upon him, Badboy stopped sprinting, squatted low, and with impossible power lurched upward in a leap that should have been unthinkable for such a small form. The wyrm was so confused by the sudden disappearance of its quarry that it paused. Longsight, however, did not and found himself unable to stop himself from sprinting right into the behemoth’s open mouth. There was a moment of silence as he flopped and rolled over its rock-hard tongue, managed to get to his feet and turn around, and watched with pursed lips as the wyrm’s mouth clamped shut about him. Badboy, atop the wyrm’s head, only realised Longsight’s fate from the cacophony of screams that Songster and Tentongues kicked up. “Timeswooooorn!” Songster wailed. “Eaten, swallowed, consumed! What horror! What terror! Galaxor forgive us, we’ve failed!” He continued. Badboy bashed Headsplitter down into the wyrm’s great armoured head with all his power and might. For all that weapon’s head-splitting prowess, the wyrm’s armour was far too thick and the blow barely left a mark. The wyrm felt it, however, and it reared up shaking its head and, lurching suddenly, launched its head into one of the chamber’s walls. Realising its ploy at the last second, Badboy leapt from its head and felt himself spin and fly slowly through the air. He landed with some six rolls and was then on his feet and running again, Headsplitter spinning like a windmill of death on his fingers. Witnessing his stand against the wyrm, the watching beasts seemed at first awed beyond action. However, a screech rose up among them and a certain energy and zest flowed across the tunnels. Leathery wings beat, feet scampered, claws shrieked against rock, and the beasts swarmed into the chamber to the aid of Badboy, their lord and saviour.

The world rumbled as the wyrm met the horde, and Badboy leapt into the maelstrom and struck with his army. Now the wyrm ripped into the flying synchrony of beasts, now its form crushed those amassing on the chamber ground, now Badboy flew like a spear amongst his airborne squadrons to dole out pain and scars to the wyrm’s face and skull, now he rolled away from its crushing form and wedged Headsplitter between one of its body-plates or another. The stone floor of the great gallery ran with endless rivulets of bileblood that eventually all flowed into the chromatic pool. Badboy lost track of time. His world became one of pure movement- he dodged, rolled, struck, fell back, leapt, swung, lurched, stabbed. Now one of his beasts lifted him so he flew towards the creature’s eye- only for it to wisely close it and swing its head aggressively in his direction, batting him aside. The swarm was quick to cushion his fall and launched him once more towards their behemoth foe. Though he struck courageously and liberally, he might as well have been an ant nibbling at a world-mountain. The wyrm’s armoured head showed little, if any, sign of wear. Headsplitter, however, could not be said to have borne out as well.

Feeling that victory was slipping from them, the beast swarms began to falter. Before Badboy could stop them, they started to break. A small troop gathered about him, grabbed his arms and legs, and flew with him from the cavern. He struggled, but it was of little use – and he was tired anyway. The wyrm, however, had its eyes fixed on him. Even as the chamber disappeared he could see and hear it scraping across the stone. The caverns shook as it started biting and forcing its way up the tunnels after him. When the beasts finally arrived at the cave mouth, they dropped Badboy and the gobtrotters there, then swarmed from the cave screeching and squealing. Badboy punched and kicked whichever ones he could get his hands and feet on and cursed their cowardice. Still, the rumbling did not cease and the growling of the wyrm and the crushing of rock could be heard even now, coming closer and closer. Outside the squeaking and squawking of airborne and terrestrial beasts alike suddenly became more tense and their fear became apparent as they started rushing back into the cave. Horntusk frowned and leapt to the cave mouth, looking out. Badboy joined him, gazing into the sky. In the distance, a great black swarm and many great shapes could be seen. On the cliffs above, terrible monstrosities were amassing. Badboy frowned and Horntusk gulped. “They… they say it is Hylsek Adech, the First Drakhorey, High King of the Drakhorey of the Outer Rim.” Horntusk spoke, his green face somehow ashen. He glanced from the rumbling caverns behind them to the approaching horde outside. “We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.”

Feeling the cave begin to rumble dangerously and the roof above them begin to shake, rocks to fall, Badboy signalled for those around him to escape. They swarmed from the cave and out onto the hillside beyond. Batbeasts flapped desperately above and their strange humanoid kin gathered around Badboy below. It was not long after that the cave mouth exploded and the ironclad wyrm, Ak-Gazorm, emerged under the sky. It had barely emerged before an enormous being, resembling in many ways a lizard (only far more terrible and winged) landed on that hillside. Others like it, also of great size though none larger than the first, landed about it. It roared terror and fury and the heavens were filled with flames. “You have called forth the fury of Hylsek Adech, worms!” It roared in a tongue Badboy immediately understood. “I was there when Roisin Magnolia was the singular flame of skies you will never know! I am the Hickorybane, the great Oakdeath, the Cedarfeller- what are you, fleshlings, to stand before such as I? My claws have brought death to beings whose power you cannot begin to comprehend; my flames scorched the Little god herself! Even now my armies wage war across worldfabrics beyond your imaginings- what! Before me? Before Hylsek Adech you think to stand? Before [i]me[/i]?!” His voice was the very essence of interminable fury, his eyes the quintessence of rage. There was none, not even Badboy, who did not quake at the mighty drakhorey’s declaration. Only Ak-Gazorm seemed unfazed. It flailed its terrible head in the sun and roared furies almost as terrible as those of Hylsek Adech. Then the world became a great cacophony of roars as Hylsek Adech announced the coming slaughter and all those drakhorey with him bellowed it too. On the hills all around, the beasts that called Hylsek Adech king roared and growled- and Ak-Gazorm howled and howled and howled.

The battle that ensued was only chaos and death. Wherever Badboy turned he met monstrosities that curdled his very blood. The poor beasts that had declared him lord – weak things in comparison, hardly beasts at all – fell like so many flies before the indomitable terror that was the drakhorey. In his hands Headsplitter weaved, but it was irreparably damaged and with every swing pieces of it flew in ever which way until it was useless in his hands. Even as he let it drop, the form of Ak-Gazorm descended upon the battlefield and scattered death in the ranks of Badboy’s beasts and those of Hylsek Adech alike. “Oh you over-hard, stupid worm!” Hylsek Adech boomed. “I will slice you until you know fear!” And he landed before the great wyrm and set his terrible claws upon. The wyrm ripped into his neck even as Hylsek Adech’s unnatural black teeth closed upon the ironwyrm’s face. Horrid magicks swirled where the drakhorey’s teeth met the wyrm’s armour, and they sank in as though only a thin smearing of butter protected Ak-Gazorm. The mighty wyrm, resplendent crusher of rock though it was, howled in pain. Hylsek Adech reared his head back, dark flames dancing about his mouth and eyes. However, no sooner had he done that when a tiny shape blurred across the air. Hylsek Adech frowned deeply, his nostrils flaring and eyes widening as he attempted to find the unexpected fly. He felt it when Bonebreaker sank into his forehead, and an ear-piercing roar shattered the skies: “You dare!?” Dark flames immediately enveloped Hylsek Adech, and beneath him the trapped Ak-Gazorm cried out in pain as the flames melted its head armour and made charcoal of its brain. 

Atop Hylsek Adech’s head, Longsight held tightly onto Bonebreaker, which was still buried into the drakhorey’s forehead. His eyes were a burst of palest blue and his form glowed with the colour. About him, a great cerulean aura licked at Hylsek Adech’s flames so that now the black flames advanced and now the azure energies beat them back. Hefting Bonebreaker, Longsight wrenched it free and, raising it into the air so that the veins of sapphiric magick coursed into the very heart of the war hammer, he brought it down with a resounding boom. Hylsek Adech stumbled back, black eyes widening. “A… mere fleshling,” he breathed. Longsight raised the hammer again, and his voice reverberated through the air – though neither from his throat nor from his tongue. “You have said your part, Hylsek Adech, and now hear me: you think yourself almighty above such as I, but here I am above you- you stumble from my blows and your heart is shaken. A mere fleshling, you say, but that is mere flatulence. Vain are the thousand pacts that move on tongues, unutterably vain! Truth silent stands there in the realm of acts! And here, now, one truth is clear: whatever [i]is[/i], is right. Thus was it Fated. So shall it-” Bonebreaker descended with a terrible blue fury onto Hylsek Adech’s head, “Be!” The blow sent Hylsek Adech falling and flailing backwards, and even as he fell he shook his head with such ferocity that Longsight was forced from his head and landed on the bloodied battlefield. The corpse of Ak-Gazorm was like a great wall above him and quiet had descended on the killing fields.

Longsight retreated swiftly, scanning the field for his comrades. He spotted Badboy first, and they were soon by one another. A few dozen batbeasts swarmed above and terrestrials gathered around them- perhaps seeking safety beside the one who had caused Hylsek Adech to stumble. The gobtrotters soon joined them. Saboteur and Horntusk were beaten and injured, but they seemed far better than Tentongues and Songster who hung limply in their arms. Longsight looked at Horntusk questioningly, but the greatgoblin only looked away sadly. The little gobtrotters were dead. A battlefield such as this was no place for such scholarly folk. 

“What is your name, fleshbeast?” Hylsek Adech’s voice arose. “I see it now, how was I blind before? You two…” the form of the First Drakhorey emerged above the corpse of the ironwyrm, “are no mere humans. Your blood has mixed with ours. Your flesh is just as black!” So saying, the drakhorey laughed as though discovering something horribly funny, “oh what little horrors you are! What are we, beasts of the Outer Rim that we are, before abominations such as you? It is good. No, no, I’ll not have you tell me your names – I will tell you.” His black eyes surveyed Badboy first, “hmm, yes. I have known you before… Veztec.” Hylsek Adech almost purred the name. His gaze landed on the two greatgoblins, “and your orcs, of course. Ever unsubtle.” His black eyes rested on Longsight, and a black-toothed smile spread across the drakhorey’s ugly face. “Ah, such bright, hopeful, light-filled eyes. Ahahahah. Savour them while they last, Vowzra!” Rearing back, the drakhorey beat his powerful wings and ascended into the air. “We will meet again, my dear fleshbeasts.” Without another word, he rose into the heavens and his fellow drakhorey rose with him. All across the hillside battlefield Hylsek Adech’s horde retreated.

Longsight stood there, the blue veins of power slowly dwindling and the azure light in his eyes fading. He almost fell, but Badboy caught him and propped him up. They stood there, flanked by their strange new followers, and thought that – on the wind – they could hear whispers. Badboy’s ears pricked up and Longsight’s brows rose. The winds seemed to laughingly coax them with the words: [i]Come and find it, boys.[/i] Closing his eyes, Longsight descended to the ground and Badboy crumpled down by him. [i]What in high hell have we gotten ourselves into?[/i] Longsight thought. There was no grin on Badboy’s face, and his eyes betrayed that the same thought was on his mind.

[hider=Summary]Longsight determines that they need to secure the caverns, especially the pool. When he and Badboy wake up the next day they have returned to their boy forms. During his sleep, Longsight has an odd dream where a humpbacked statue recites one of Alexander Pope’s poems to him. The poem is basically telling him that he can’t know everything and should stay humble, and that everything is the way it is for a reason. 
The merry band then goes into the caverns to secure the pool chamber. On their way they run into some desperate beasts who pledge allegiance to them (Badboy specifically) if they get rid of the ironwyrm, called Ak-Gazorm. Badboy agrees. During the battle with Ak-Gazorm, Longsight is swallowed and Badboy, Headsplitter breaking from the ironwyrm’s toughness, is forced to retreat. Ak-Gazorm gives chase, ripping through rock. Badboy and his arm emerge at the cave mouth, only to discover that Hylsek Adech and his great horde have arrived for them at last. A great battle ensues. Hylsek Adech fights Ak-Gazorm, killing it. Longsight is in this manner freed from it and proves quite mighty indeed. Hylsek Adech is rebuffed and forced to retreat, but not before he reveals that he somehow knows Badboy and Longsight, and he tells them their once (and future?!) names. In the aftermath of the battle, our heroic duo tiredly hear Sylia’s call for them to go forth and make Misrite…

Characters featured or mentioned:
-- Longsight: our lil hero. After running his mouth at Sylia and being imprisoned beyond the wall, he is now a glorious war hammer-swinging chronomancer hero of the lord of time! He’s currently busy conquering caves, fighting sandwyrms, and battling giant outer beast dragons.
-- Badboy: our very own blood-streaked, headsplitting madboy hero. Longsight’s close friend and co-conspirator; absolutely battle-demented. He’s currently busy conquering caves, fighting sandwyrms, and battling giant outer beast dragons.
-- Songster (formerly Fee): A goblin librarian assigned by Galaxor the task of teaching the lads to read and write; does not like fighting. He was killed during the Battle of the Cliff.
-- Tentongues (formerly Fi): A goblin librarian also assigned by Galaxor to teach the lads. He appears to have a degree of diplomatic charisma. Though he also does not like fighting, he can still keep a calm head when under attack. He was killed during the Battle of the Cliff.
-- Saboteur (formerly Fo): A greatgoblin who, having destroyed the foodstuff looted by Badboy from Galaxor, becomes the target of the lads frustrations. He doesn't much like Badboy. A skilled archer, and likely a skilled melee combatant too. He survived the Battle of the Cliff.
-- Horntusk (formerly Fum): A greatgoblin warrior and archer, and part of Longsight's party. He very bravely acts as bait for a veritable army of outer beasts; it is not known whether he made it. He survived the Battle of the Cliff.
-- Ak-Gazorm: A unique sandwyrm that is able to carve through rock. It was the only wyrm beyond the wall. It was killed by Hylsek Adech at the Battle of the Cliff.
-- Hylsek Adech: The First Drakhorey, High King of the Drakhorey of the Outer Rim. A powerful outer beast lord and a veteran of the War of the Trees. He killed Ak-Gazorm at the Battle of the Cliff, but was repelled by Longsight. This prompted him to reveal to Longsight and Badboy the names he knows them by.[/hider]