[center][h1][b][color=C9A486]6[/color][/b][/h1][/center]


	Amber gave Jack a quizzical look, then looked at the Chilli, then back at Jack again. Meanwhile the Chilly remained still on Jack’s shoulder, eyes lids heavy as if it were bored. 

‘Nip?’ She inquired, though rhetorically realising he had named the creature, but she added, ‘[i]What[/i] did she do?’  

‘She spoke to me.’  

‘No.,’  Amber replied objectively, ‘that can’t be true.’ 

‘I’m telling ya, the thing spoke to me.’  

The Chilli shifted uneasily. Amber gave her a suspicious glance, and said, ‘I didn’t hear it.’ 

‘That’s because it was in my head.’  Jack said, and turned his eyes to his little friend. ‘Isn’t that right, Nip?’ 

Amber had to think about this, her mind flipping through all the knowledge she had about Chilli’s. ‘There was an old fable,’ she said, ‘about some dragons having the ability to use the power of their mind to communicate. But it was only a story. No one believes it.’  She gazed at the creature, wondering, ‘Did you really talk to Jack?’  She then looked at Jack for a response. 

‘I got nothing,’  he told her. 

‘What did she say before?’  asked Amber. She was clearly mocking him with a sardonic expression. 

‘“Be calm.”’  He told her in a tone that begrudged her derision. 

Amber considered this. ‘Well, it is good advice.’ She then looked around at the burial chamber, and added, ‘It is always best to stay calm, especially while in a crypt.’   

‘You say that like they actually care.’ said Jack, and pointed out in a firm tone, ‘They are [i]dead[/i].’  

Amber puckered her lips to one side as she looked at him in a way that seemed like doubt to Jack.

‘What?’  He glared at her. 

Again, she glanced around at the many tiers of sarcophagus, and replied softly, ‘Well, I mean sure they are dead. Physically. For now. But it’s best we don’t get too excited. We don’t want to wake them.’