In the Thorn City Chambers, Darmae had made short work of Mason’s mushroom men. The man was about to cast his spell when she knocked his sword away with a magical blast from her left hand. She aimed her other one at Mason, telling him “you failed again, Treling boy.”

Just as she was about to execute her latest spell, the doors at the entrance slammed open; a small green rablin ran in first, followed by a young boy. And was that John Jr. in the distance? Out of instinct, she shot a blast of magical energy at Rainbow, who was able to dodge it fairly easily.

Mason took full advantage of the distraction; in a split second, he noticed that the kid behind the rablin had a dagger. Now his spell wouldn’t be wasted. With no time to waste, he said the magic word: “amanita.” With that, Caleb was startled as he saw white spores magically appear and cling to the sharp part of his weapon.

The druidic man began to yell. “Stab her with it, boy! The poison-” He did not get to finish his thought though; at that moment, an infuriated Daemae shot him with another blast of energy, knocking him a ways away and out cold.

Looking back at her three opponents, the angry elderly woman asked a question: “so, who wants to die first?”

-----

“Oh, that’s not good” Roger said with concern in response to Edward’s news. After thinking for a moment, he said “Edward, go get Sara please, we may need her for what comes next. I can help in the meantime.”

“Okay, Mister Roger!” Edward said as he took off running again. Roger took off his stethoscope, put it in his bag, and ran with Ribbon to the Great Oak. He slowed down just before he got there; he saw about nine or 10 gnome warriors advancing to the tree and he knew he would need to stop them. The skeleton doctor coughed a few times, adjusting his pitch as he did. It had been a few years since he had used his “dark undead” voice, but right now it was precisely what was needed.

Walking towards the armed enemies, Roger spoke. “Halt! I am the great and powerful Deathbone Skullcrusher, skeleton necromancer to the almighty dragon Lord Blackflame Inceneratus of the Empire! He desires the Great Oak for himself. Leave now or I will enslave you all to do his bidding!”

This pronouncement achieved the desired effect amongst the gnomes; most were scared, although unfortunately a few were still skeptical. One thought to ask “what could a dragon want with the tree?”

Roger replied, not missing a beat. “If you want to know so badly, I can take you to the Empire, where you may ask him yourself.” After saying this, he shot a blast of dark magic up in the sky. Once the spell was cast, the skeleton doctor got what he wanted; all of the gnomes ran away in terror, some even dropping their weapons in the process.

After waiting a few seconds to make sure they were all gone, Roger laughed, all signs of darkness as gone as those gnome’s courage. That spell he casted wasn’t even strong enough to tickle those enemies, much less hurt them. Looking at the sky, he couldn’t help but think of his departed friend John - he would’ve been proud of that bluff. He walked over to a sword and picked it up, then started to walk towards the Great Oak’s entrance. Ribbon dutifully followed behind him, with both of them steeling themselves for what might happen next.