B4 Ch44: Combat Challenge (Patreon)

Brixaby and the rest of his retinue emerged into the clear open air, very, very far away from the ground.

Brixaby gave a squawk of surprise that he would later insist was merely an exclamation and certainly not a yelp like a new hatchling. Quickly buzzing his wings, he situated himself upright in the air. Sams and Joy, both being larger with a greater wingspan, took longer. 

Unfortunately, when the dark heart had taken them to the challenge, Cressida and Horatio had been standing near Arthur and had not been astride their dragons. So they continued to fall.

"Cressida!" Joy tucked her wings and dived, completely ignoring Marion, who was clutching onto her neck for dear life. 

Sams did the same, diving after the flailing Horatio.

That was right and proper in Brixaby's opinion. No dragon should ever be expected to care for some random person over their own linked rider. 

But Marion was not experienced in dragon riding, and though Joy was doing nothing more than diving, he managed to slip off Joy's neck.

With a roll of his eyes, Brixaby sprang into action. He didn't simply dive—he buzzed his wings and flew down, even faster than a normal dive. 

Just as Joy swooped neatly under her rider and allowed the woman to cling on to her saddle and pull herself aboard, Brixaby caught Marion under the man's arms. He was heavier than Arthur, which made it a struggle to zip back up out of the dive, but at least Marion wasn't screaming. Much. 

However, there was no question about letting anyone else aside from Arthur ride him. Swooping back up, Brixaby neatly dumped Marion on Joy's back before he turned to check on Sams’s extra passenger. 

The yellow dragon had caught his rider. Somehow, Soledad had managed to cling on the entire time, probably because Sams had a much wider neck. 

Only then was Brixaby able to take a proper look around. They were still very far up in the air—he didn't know why the falling humans had screamed so much—and the blue ocean extended as far as he could see. The only spot of land was an island nearly directly below them. Green and lush, it was dominated by an upthrust volcano. 

And that volcano appeared to be erupting with scourgelings. 

"Oh, I just got a quest," Joy said, a moment before words bloomed into being in front of them as if a large, invisible painter had taken a brush to the sky.

Challenge Objective: Defeat enemy scourgelings and save the island.

Joy scoffed. "I was about to say that, Mr. Dark heart. Anyway, we need to clear out as many of the scourgelings as we possibly can, without letting them destroy the island first."

Then she paused, frowning, and became unusually silent.

Cressida touched her neck. "What is it?"

 "I don't know," Joy said. "I just don't have a good feeling about that volcano down there."

Brixaby made a dismissive sound. "Of course you don't. It is erupting with scourgelings. This is a grand challenge fit for dragons."

"I agree," Sams rumbled.

All this time they'd been talking, they had been in a spiraling dive. The island, which at first had seemed tinier than a foreclaw, was now growing larger and larger. This would be quite the space to defend, which was a good thing in Brixaby's opinion. That meant there would be a lot of scourgelings to kill.

"What are your orders?" Sams asked.

Brixaby felt a rush of pride that he was to lead his own retinue in a proper battle. However, that pride was mixed with a little regret and irritation that Arthur was not here to share this moment with him.

"Kill as many scourgelings as you can, and harvest everything," Brixaby announced, and saw dragon-ish grins on Sams and Joy's faces. Cressida and Horatio looked enthusiastic, too. In fact, the only one who seemed a little ill was Marion, but that might be an after effect of falling several hundred feet.

Brixaby went on, "I, of course, will attack from the air. Sams and Horatio, use your light to burn anything on that western slope there." He pointed down to the rockier side of the island that was free of the lush vegetation. That meant there would be less places for any scourgelings to hide. "Joy and Cressida, sweep the jungle. Seek out the higher-ranked scourgelings and poison them."

"It looks like they're chewing on the vegetation for some reason," Joy said, squinting downward. "When they're not setting it on fire, they're just... chewing it down to the bare earth.

"Excellent," Brixaby said, pleased. "That will make it easier for you to find them." Then he looked at the two riderless humans. "You two: try not to slow us down or die. That would be most inconvenient."

The girl scowled at him, and Marion threw what had to be the worst salute ever.

But Brixaby was distracted a moment later when Joy flicked her tail at him.

She was looking at him with concern. "Brixaby, I want you to be very, very careful. I don't have a good feeling. 

He scoffed, "I will be victorious—I mean, we will all be victorious, and will return with many shards! Now, follow me!"

It was a shame, he thought, as the dragons dived to meet their enemy. Arthur was really missing out.

****

An hour later, Brixaby was still having a grand time. He had positioned himself near the mouth of the volcano, which was as close as he could get while avoiding the hot poisonous gasses.

He was currently practicing interesting ways to kill scourgelings as they were thrown free.

Most were the non-flying type, and as they were ejected upward, they unfurled themselves in midair in preparation for a landing. This was when they were the most vulnerable.

Brixaby used any number of offensive capabilities to kill them. His personal favorite was his stunning shout which paralyzed or knocked them unconscious and kept them from landing correctly. The splat sound when they hit the ground was most satisfying.

His Night-Mare Fire had a very similar effect which put stunning fear into the heart of any being who witnessed it. However, he had to be careful using that effect, in case any of his allies looked up at the wrong moment to see him.

Occasionally, he would simply take out several weapons to test out on scourgelings from his Personal Space. He had forged several swords, and affixed different basic runes with his enchanting skills. Though cutting down an enemy was more of a human thing, it could be satisfying.

Unfortunately, he could not test out his berserker rage or use his superior ability in the air and snatch shards out of the hearts of the falling scourgelings. Because when they exited the volcano, they were scorching hot. Most came out glowing orange and red with some kind of earth elemental touch to them. Even with his toughened scales, he could not get too close.

If they landed in vegetation, they started fires. However, a few minutes out of the volcano had them cooled down enough to approach. He often broke off from killing new ones to go harvest shards from the cooled, stiffened, dead.

Unfortunately, those shards were only those odd blanks without a proper rank. He threw them in his Personal Space anyway. There had to be some use to them.

The best part of this eruption was that he gained levels in his movement skills. Experience appeared to be accelerated. In fact, Brixaby was getting even more movement skills than he had when he was fighting those scourgelings in his forge challenge.

Quick flying sprint, pin-point turn, barrel roll, and flying accuracy all received multiple levels.

With all this, he was only one dragon and could not kill them all. The scourgelings that escaped his wrath usually recovered from being ejected out of the volcano and ran straight into the forest, where their hot hides inevitably started a forest fire.

That was not an issue. Plants grew back, and his retinue were all far too strong and clever to get caught in a forest fire. He caught glimpses of Joy's bright pink hide in the foliage as she hunted scourgelings while being careful of the flames. With her abilities, only one scratch from her venomous claws meant certain death. He fully expected that she and her rider were getting their own shards as a bounty.

Meanwhile, Sams and Horatio were on the opposite slope of the volcano, which was much more rocky and provided little cover from aerial attacks. Brixaby wasn't quite certain how light could injure something that was already glowing hot from lava, but occasionally he would catch bright flashes out of the corner of his eye as Sams or his rider powered themselves up from the sun. Then, suddenly, a swath of scourgelings on the far slope would die.

Arthur had tried to explain what Horatio had told him about invisible burning light, but Brixaby didn't have the patience to listen. He just trusted his retinue to do their job. 

Finally, the other two dragonless humans were off a little ways in a freshwater lagoon. Occasionally Brixaby would climb high enough to see over the top of the forest and check on them. He saw multiple versions of the boy, all confusing the scourgelings. The girl seemed to be doing most of the fighting, using one of the swords that Brixaby had left her. 

They were, in Brixaby's opinion, in very little danger. By the time the scourgelings had reached that far, the molten hot hides had cooled down, making them stiff and awkward. Perfect practice for somebody who didn't even have a dragon to aid them. 

Yes, he was feeling quite self-satisfied, right up until the point where the volcano sputtered out three last scourgelings, and then no more. 

"That cannot be it!" Brixaby used his Flying Sprint skill to quickly take himself over the mouth of the volcano. He had to do this quickly because those hot gasses were corrosive and could burn through his scales despite his protections.

The open throat of the volcano glowed ominously orange. And... was there something moving inside?

He grinned, a feral dragon's grin, and flitted through the turbulent air to get clear of the volcano. Then he accessed his mental thought subskill, a reward for eating a mind card. With that, he spoke into the minds of his retinue. We may have a demi-scourgeling emerging.

At least, he certainly hoped so. The emergence of a demi-scourgeling meant that there was a Legendary card at play.

The creature that crawled out of the mouth of the volcano was huge and so hot that its hide glowed white with streaks of red and orange. It was shaped like an iguana with an extra-long backwards facing shield over its head to protect its neck and spine. That told Brixaby that was its most vulnerable point.

It was as long as three horses put together, nose to tail. But to Brixaby's disappointment, the power he sensed coming out of it was Rare. This was a mega-scourgeling, not a demi-scourge.

Still, it should provide him with some valuable cards to harvest.

After it crawled out, the volcano coughed as if it had been stuffed up behind the mega-scourgeling and waiting to explode again.

This time, no more scourgelings flew out, but dozens of glowing lava bombs did. Brixaby was hard-pressed to dodge out of the way. It wasn't just the balls of lava that, when they hit the ground, exploded, but the shards of molten rock that flew along with it and filled the sky like rain. He nearly lost the tip of his right bottom wing trying to avoid one deadly shower. And, for the first time, he was glad Arthur was not with him. If he were hit…

Then again, he would have told Brixaby to stay away from the edge of an erupting volcano, and he might have had a point.

Most unfortunately, Brixaby’s distraction allowed the mega-scourgeling to start heading down the lush, rainy slope of the volcano. Wherever it stepped, plants exploded into flame, and rock melted.

The lava bombs were reaching the top of their arc and starting to fall down again. Looking at the distance, some might even hit the lagoon. Brixaby quickly sent a mental message to Marion and Soledad to take cover. He didn’t not know how they could, considering they were wingless, but Brixaby could not possibly think of every detail. He had bigger scourgelings to fry.

More lava bombs were ejected and fell into the jungle, starting new fires. These joined others which had already been started by red-hot scourgelings. He suspected that soon they would have a conflagration on their hands.

Joy and Cressida flew out of the jungle. Since Joy had kept well clear of the mouth of the volcano, she was able to keep an eye on falling lava bombs. She made an ooh sound as she spotted the mega-scourgeling.

"Is that the boss?"

"It is no boss! If anything, I am the boss of it," Brixaby said, irritated.

And he proved that he was much better in every way by inhaling deep and directing the full force of his stunning shout directly at the mega-scourgeling.

He had been practicing with his shout over the eruption, and like everything else in this challenge, it too had leveled up. Now it had reached level 15.

Harnessing that power, he directed it in a tight, focused beam to the base of the creature's neck, in a gap between its back and the fleshy shield that extended backwards from its head. He intended to carve through flesh and sever the spine... or whatever the equivalent a scourgeling had.

His stunning beam hit, but instead of cutting through like a scalpel, the hide rippled. No, it was not hide at all. The irritating creature was covered completely in molten lava.

There was more than one way to kill a scourgeling. They could not live if their magic was ripped out of their hearts!

With a growl, Brixaby dived.

Joy yelled a warning, but Brixaby ignored her.

What did she know about snatching cards from enemies? Nothing!

By the time he got thirty feet above the creature, the sheer heat of that molten rock made him pull up sharply. It was like hitting a wall of fire, and if not for his toughened scales, he may already be burned.

"Brixaby, look out!" Joy yelled, too close behind him. When has she dived? He glanced over and saw her coming fast – close enough so they were in danger of crashing. What was she thinking?

Then in the next second, Cressida shouted something as a red and orange whip of lava came straight up from the mega-scourgeling. It impacted a hastily thrown up shield by Cressida. Some of that lava was reflected straight back to the scourgeling, but as it was already coated, that was not a problem for it.

Brixaby’s Counterfeit Siphon card activated.

New Counterfeit spell obtained: Mana Shield

Remaining Time: 59 Minutes 59 Seconds

 

 

New Counterfeit spell obtained: Kinetic Shield

Remaining Time: 59 Minutes 59 Seconds

Cressida dropped the shield a moment later, and Brixaby and Joy quickly put space between themselves and the scourgeling.

Brixaby tried not to show that he was shaken. Even his Scales Hard as Stone card wouldn't have helped if that lava whip had landed on him, and if he had Arthur riding along...

Arthur would have never allowed me to get that close to a lava scourgeling. The thought came in a small voice, which he rejected immediately, even though he knew it was correct.

Well, no matter. They still had to kill the enemy and harvest its delicious cards.

"If it reaches the tree line, what's left of the island will burn," Joy said in a mournful tone.

Brixaby perked up. "Excellent. It will burn its own cover away, and that will make it all the easier for us to attack at range."

She gave him a shocked look. "Brixaby, don't you remember the challenge? We have to save the island, and right now, it's burning down. If we don't do something soon, there'll be nothing left to save."

He looked around and took in the multiple growing fires with a new light. She... might have a point.

Perhaps he should not have sent Sams and Horatio to protect the rockier downslope. That side of the volcano dumped straight into the water, and the scourgelings taking that track would not have burned anything. But he had been thinking more about the harvest of shards and destroying the enemy as simply and efficiently as possible.

Saving stupid trees on top of that complicated the matter horribly.

Speaking of Sams, the large dragon had finally arrived. He took one sweeping look over the battlefield, snorted, and said, "Keep your eyes peeled for more of those lava bombs. Better yet, close your eyes in three... two... one..."

Brixaby did as he was told, and even through his closed lids he sensed a bright, piercing light. Opening them  a moment later, he saw rock scorched in a dark ring around the scourgeling... and it barely seemed to be affected at all.

New Counterfeit spell obtained: Sunlight Mirror

Remaining Time: 59 Minutes 59 Seconds

Annoyed, he accessed his copied sunlight mirror spell to cast his own beam. And even though Brixaby was a Legendary dragon—so it stood to reason that anything he fired would be much brighter and more powerful—his beam was lesser and didn't even scorch the rock, much less do anything to the scourgeling. Other than illuminating it a little.

Sams had his linked rider with him, and was likely using an entire deck’s worth of internal cards to boost all their light-based attacks.

How annoying.

Ignoring them, the mega-scourgeling continued doggedly to the tree line. It was close enough that the few remaining scraggly trees at the front of the line started to catch aflame. 

Cressida yelled, and a moment later her bear made of fire galloped down the air as if there was an invisible staircase that led down toward the scourgeling. Brixaby didn't have much hope for it considering it was also a being made of fire, but he was proven wrong a moment later.

The heat from the lava did not affect the bear at all, and when it landed on the scourgeling's back, it lifted a giant paw and slammed down into it, carving some of the lava away.

The scourgeling finally reacted, throwing its tail in a whip to catch the bear, but Cressida's summon was made of flames, and there wasn't anything physical to strike at... though the wind of the tail did seem to dampen the flame a little.

Brixaby got an idea. He looked to Cressida and said, "Send your water cranes down and have them strike a specific point right behind the head. Pour all of your power into it. All of your mana."

She frowned. "Shouldn't we aim for the joints? Slow it down?"

"We do not need to slow it down. We need to kill it!"

She looked doubtful but nodded. Then three cranes made of water appeared and shot straight down. One was knocked away by the tail, but two others had a successful suicidal dive and struck one after the other at the point Brixaby had described.

The creature tossed its head back and bellowed, and though much of the water had been instantly lost to steam, Brixaby saw a dark patch grow on the hide.

"Again! More cranes!”

“I can't do much more," Cressida said. "Two more waves like that will probably take the rest of my mana, then I won't be able to use a shield against the lava bombs."

"I'll keep an eye out," Joy said. “We’ll dodge in time.”

That was a good thing because more lava bombs had just erupted from the volcano with such vigorous frequency that Brixaby thought the scourgeling might have some sort of control over it.

Cressida cast her cranes, and by the time the third group had appeared, she looked fatigued. But by then, she wasn't the only one suffering.

The mega scourgeling now had a patch of cool stone nearly three feet long and the same length wide. The scourgeling thrashed around wildly, throwing out lava whips in different directions. It didn't seem to have the ability to look straight up to see and attack the dragons, but some of those whips were not so accidentally landing on the back of its neck and reheating the cooled rock.

It was time.

Brixaby folded his wings, tucked his legs, and tipped his head so that his nose acted like the point of an arrow. He dived down at maximum speed in the way that only a purple could.

One lava whip arced up at him, but he avoided it by feet and was moving so fast that the massive heat didn't sting him. And when he hit that wall of heat from the scourgeling itself, he activated Cressida's mana shield.

It was a huge drain on his own mana pool, but he kept it up. He only needed it for seconds. 

He dropped it just before reaching the scourgeling. The heat hit him like a physical thing. Worst of all was his wing membranes, which stung like they were being hit by needles from the heat and screamed at the effort of pulling up at the last second.

He ignored that and reached down. The tips of his claws scraped the cooled stone at the back of the scourgeling's neck, and with a mental wrench, he pulled out two full cards and a handful of shards.

The scourgeling collapsed inches away from the trees.

Unfortunately, the first few dozen feet were already starting to catch on fire, but at least the thing would not make it further into the jungle.

Brixaby arrowed upward, shaking out stinging claws and shivering his wings to rid himself of heat. He even double-checked just to make sure they weren't on fire. They weren’t, but he’d definitely been singed.

It had been worth it.

Above, Joy and Sams roared, and he heard the triumphant yells of their humans.

Behind them, the volcano coughed and died.

Triumphant, Brixaby sailed over the tops of trees, a few of which were not burnt, and landed with a ploosh into the lagoon. Though the crystal-clear water was now tainted by fire ash, the cool water stung in a good way. He dipped under for a second.

On the beach, several Marion clones who had been keeping watch puffed out of existence. Then the real Marion came out from the trees. 

"You're burned," he called.

"I will heal, it is but a surface burn," Brixaby growled.

He gave him a hard, assessing look, then nodded. "You will, but I assume you have some burn cream or something like in your Personal Space? I doubt Arthur would have let you leave his sight without it."

"I do," Brixaby grumbled, because it was the truth. 

Remembering the supplies his rider had foisted on him, he grabbed a few squares of gelatin made from the healing chicken soup and popped them in his mouth. Then Brixaby waded out of the water and pulled out a jar of oil-based salve. He allowed the dragonless human to apply the salve to the burns on his wings and stomach.

Meanwhile, Brixaby the new Rare cards. His reward for an excellent kill.

Joy and Sams landed nearby. All gathered round to see what Brixaby had gotten. 

Lava Whip

Combat/Elemental

Rare

Using a nearby source of heat that is at least as combustible as a flame, the wielder will be able amplify that energy. Then, using mana, they will generate a whip made of pure molten rock. Length of whip and effectiveness will depend on skill with the weapon. Warning: This card does not protect against thermal damage. This card does not unlock mana.

Seek out other cards in this deck for additional elemental whip skills.

For The Love of Lava

Combat/Elemental

Rare

The wielder of this card will have lava come out of their pores to create a shield of incredibly hot liquid rock. While the outer shell is too hot for most to touch (or get close to) the wielder’s body will remain a pleasant temperature. Lava shield effect ends when the lava cools down into lava rock. It is highly recommended the wielder cancels that effect before they are encased in stone. Card usage is limited to once every 24 hours on a rolling basis. This card does not use mana.

Joy's head drooped. "Oh, nothing to put out the fires.”

“Why do you care about stupid trees so much?" he asked, annoyed. This was supposed to be his moment of triumph. "The challenge is over, isn't it?”

“If it was over, wouldn't there be a way to leave?" Cressida asked, which was annoyingly logical. 

"Besides," Joy added, "I got a side quest to save the forest."

That piqued his interest. "What is the reward?"

"A life lesson.”

He snorted in disgust. But... the two of them might have a point. A tiny one.

He had killed the mega-scourgeling, and yet they were still here. Perhaps the challenge was to kill the mega-scourgeling and all its lesser scourgelings? Or do all that and save the stupid trees as well?

But no, Brixaby felt like it must be something else. The cards he had were Rare ranked, but not overly powerful.

For example, the Lava Whip required a source of heat nearby, so it wasn't a power that could be self-generated. The other one did not seem useful while flying at all. Besides, Brixaby did not like the idea of cooled lava-rock getting stuck between his scales.

And the shards he had picked up were completely blank, like the others.

"Did anybody harvest shards worth anything?" he asked.

"No, just more blanks," Horatio said with a thread of disappointment in his voice. "I figure they'll be worth something and that this isn't a big waste of time… Well, I hope."

Brixaby wasn't going to waste any more time guessing. He accessed his Call of the Heart card and focused his full attention on the grand prize of this challenge. Instantly, he knew where to find it. His true prize was so close, in fact, that it did not come with an accompanying map.

"That is it," he said, "the volcano."

Then he shook the annoying healer human off before flapping into the air.

"Brixaby!" Joy took off to follow him, leaving her rider behind.

Sams made moves to follow as well, but he was only a yellow and so much larger that he needed a much wider launch point to get into the air. He was in no way comparable to the speed of a purple.

Brixaby aimed straight for the volcano which was now completely silent without even a wisp of smoke coming out of the top.

"Brixaby, wait up!" Joy yelled. Puffing, she was able to catch up to him, which was irritating. Perhaps his wings were a bit more singed than he wanted to admit, otherwise she would have no chance of matching him in the air.

"Where are you going?" Joy asked.

"The true prize is within the volcano," Brixaby said, "I intend to secure it before this challenge ends."

"You can't go into a volcano! It's too hot in there... Oh, no. It isn't," she said, as the two of them were easily able to overfly the mouth.

Looking down, the depth of the volcano was not glowing anymore, and there was none of those terrible corrosive gasses, either. It was as if it had been quiet for centuries.

"Brixaby, I don't have a good feeling about this."

She had feelings about everything. So, ignoring her, he tucked his sore wings and dived right in. The throat of the volcano was dark and foreboding, but not nearly as bad as those terrible tunnels back in that free hive that the Mind Singer had taken over.

For a moment, it was as if he was there again. He could almost smell the overpowering stench of scourge-rot in his nostrils.

...Why was he thinking about that right now? He dismissed the memory, and a moment later he was through and winging into a wide cavern. And there, sitting on a pedestal made of stone, was a card. Legendary power seemed to come off of it in waves, and Brixaby practically salivated.

"It is mine," he hissed, landing so he could run straight toward it.

In the next second, Joy tackled him.

She was trying to take his card! Brixaby almost triggered his berserker rage, but then... A trickle of what Joy had been yelling finally caught his attention. He had been ignoring it for the last few moments.

"Activate your mental shield! Brixaby! Your mental shield! Do your shield thing!"

On reflex, Brixaby concentrated on the skill that he had honed while fighting in the doomed Free Hive. Why was he thinking about that terrible place again when there was a Legendary card in front of him?

The skill came up and something struck against it so hard that it shook his mental shield, but it held.

Blinking, Brixaby tried to look around. He was encased in Joy's wings, and through the sliver of an opening at the top, he saw her face. Her eyes were squeezed shut.

She seemed to be concerned he was no longer fighting. "Brixaby, are you dead?"

"I'm not dead! Get off me."

"No, wait! Do you have your mental shield up?"

"Of course I do," he said, angry and embarrassed. Meanwhile, something was striking his shield from the outside. It was as if it was trying to batter its way in, but Brixaby had faced worse. It had no chance.

Well… no chance now that he was aware there was an enemy.

"Okay," she let out a breath of relief. "I'll let you go. Just... don't look at the cards."

"Cards?" he asked.

Ignoring him, she continued, "I have had a bad feeling all day. And then when you dived into the volcano, I got a quest."

"Why haven't I gotten a quest from you?" he demanded, but then realized with a shock that he had. He just hadn’t paid attention to it.

 

Quest: Find the lie behind the illusion.

You have been tricked! Bamboozled! Possibly scammed! Find out who, or what, is behind this lie for a reward.

Reward: Illusion card.

Again, something battered at his shield, as if it were enraged.

Arthur had always been better at these mental skill things. He'd been better at planning and thinking for the both of them, too. He should be here with Brixaby. They were a team.

Now that his mental shields were up, and he was able to think clearly again, he realized he dearly missed his rider.

Though... he supposed it wasn't too bad being encased in Joy's wings, though they could not stay here forever.

He wiggled. "Release me."

"Okay, but then we should get out of here—"

"No, my quest is to discover the lie of this place."

 Joy hesitated, but then, carefully, she unfolded her wings back, and Brixaby was able to stand on his own. Though his mental shields were up, he was very careful not to look at the podium. He had the feeling that if he did, he might very well be caught again.

However, it seemed that the chamber inside the volcano had changed... or perhaps now he had his mental shield up, he saw it for what it really was: A large chamber made of glittering crystal, and the floor was absolutely covered in glowing runes.

This volcano was enchanted.

"Are you okay down there?" Sams called from above.

"Yes," Joy said, "But don't come down. There's a nasty illusion. Brixaby is using his mental shields, and I'm not looking. Join us, you'll get caught too. So just stay up there."

With a bit of guilt, Brixaby accessed the area of effect portion of the skill and extended it over Joy. He should have done it from the beginning.

She shivered. "Oh, that's much better. But, no offense, I'm not opening my eyes."

He paused for a moment, thinking. "Perhaps put your wings over your eyes, too. This illusion is strong.."

"I know," she said, doing as he suggested. "I keep hearing whispers, even with your shield over me. Whatever you’re about to do, please hurry."

Brixaby let his mind sink into his Personal Space.

Once there, he spent a few moments growling and pacing. He pushed over a stack of metal ingots, and they crashed to the floor in a satisfying clatter. But that still did not bring him back into balance.

As much as it pained him to admit... he may have been too rash during this challenge. He often chafed against Arthur's restrictions and admonitions to be careful and to think about things. But... perhaps, sometimes, that wasn't too bad of an idea.

If Joy was right, the forest that they had been charged to protect was burning. And instead of killing the remaining scourgelings, he had flown off to collect the grand prize, leaving the rest of his retinue behind.

That was not the mark of an effective leader.

And then he had almost been caught by some enchanter’s trap.

With another growl, he went to his mental bookshelf, which he shared with Arthur, and pulled out volumes on runes. Even though he had access to Arthur's eidetic memory, perusing the books calmed him down. He compared the runes in the book to the ones that he had seen on the floor. Most were unfamiliar, but some were close enough to the examples on the pages that he was at least able to know how to destroy them safely.

He had flown straight into an array that was meant to focus the power of a card. He suspected it was one with illusion or mind powers.

Coming out of his mental Personal Space, he located the proper series of runes and ran a claw down the line, down the middle of them, destroying their cohesion. Slowly, the line of runes dimmed and lost power. And then, so did the rest of the floor.

The battering against his mental shield stopped.

Once the last of the light faded, he turned to the pedestal.

And there, he saw two cards, still Rare-ranked, yet infinitely more valuable to him.

One was a trap card: Card of Covetousness.

The second was the promised illusion card: Mind Trap.