We made our way back to the dwarf’s hut and immediately began helping him clean up the damage from the attack he’d suffered. Well, most of us. Burin spent his time digging a latrine. None of us had the heart to tell him that there was already a perfectly functional outhouse.
We helped the dwarf pull up one of his floor tiles. From within the hidden compartment, Gregor pulled out a parcel wrapped in cloth. The dwarf, who we all decided to just call Pop like Terry was, unwrapped it, revealing a finely crafted clockwork limb, which he attached to his shoulder.
“Alright, kid. Now let me have a look at that gun of yours,” he said to Terry, who automatically drew and handed him her weapon. After several moments of study, he let out a whistle. “I’ve never seen anything this well made. The lines are impossibly perfect. Where did you get something like this?”
Terry pointed at me. “She gave it to me.”
“Really?” he asked me.
“My father made it for me. I wasn’t using it and Terry’s gun was broken, so I figured she could use it.”
“Your father made this? Well, just more proof that your father does good work.” He was leering at my cleavage.
“Keep dreaming,” I told him. “I’m far too much woman for you.”
“Oh, I’ll definitely be dreaming about you tonight.” I wondered if Godmother might be willing to help me make sure his dreams were a bit different than he hoped for.
We had a hearty dinner. Pop had informed us that he would be moving and thus figured we might as well eat as much of the food in the cellar as possible, since it couldn’t be taken with him. The rest, we had Cortana process down into freeze dried rations that he could more easily carry. Pop was fascinated as he watched Cortana further enchant Terry’s gun.
A bit after dinner, Pop informed me that he had prepared a bath for me. The way he said it made me think that his bathing room had some way for him to peek inside. Still, the warm water sounded nice. So I had Cortana make a bathrobe for me and just got into the water in my robe. I could dry off with magic afterward.
Before I went to bed, I noticed an alert on my phone from Cortana. She had flagged a recorded conversation from the bug I’d placed on Terry’s phone as possibly relevant. I activated my phone’s unidirectional speaker – Daddy always complains that “In my day, if we wanted to listen to something and not let anyone else hear, we had to use headphones!” – and began listening.
“Just how much do the others know?” I heard Pops ask.
“Not much,” Terry answered. “I think they might suspect some things, but I can’t be sure how much they’ve pieced together from that weird dream thing.”
“Dream thing?”
“Don’t ask.”
“You live a weird life, kid.”
“Yeah,” Terry agreed. “And now Typhon’s goons are after me. At least Toad is dead.”
“Good riddance. But you do know this is all your fault, right?”
“Yes. No need to say it again.”
The dwarf let out a bitter laugh. “That’s where you’re wrong. I warned you not to take that job, kid. I warned you that it would lead to trouble. But you just had to do it. And where did that get you?”
“It got Persephone and the kids killed.” So she HAD been married before. I was now certain that she was older than she seemed.
“Yes, and you would have died as well if I hadn’t pulled you out of that house before the flames got you too.”
“And I’m grateful for that. But it’s obvious we have other problems.”
“Yeah, like the bounty Hercules Melos has on Emily.” Wait. I had heard that name somewhere. I paused playback and did a quick search on my phone. Yeah, there he was, right in the Ranger database. He was apparently the king of some small city-state that had little effect on the world. The only reason it was even in the database was because there was a known member of the Cult of the Dual God who came from the region.
I resumed playback. “What?!” Terry asked, shocked.
“Yes. Apparently Persephone’s sister is barren and he wants to bring his granddaughter home to be groomed as the next heir.”
“Great. So now I have to worry about two-bit bounty hunters on top of everything else. I should have died at that stupid dragon.” She sounded really bitter.
“You’ve mentioned that, but never explained what it means. What happened to you?”
“I took this job to kill a dragon. I needed the money to keep moving and it sounded easy enough. I mean, the group I was with was a little weird, since I got teamed up with Burin and some weird hobo cleric guy in armor made of some really shiny scraps of metal. Actually, now that I think about it, the metal looked the same as the metal that box of Lyriana’s is made of.”
“Have you asked her about it?”
“No. Continuing on, well, we were attacked by a few goblins, then this other dwarf appeared out of nowhere. Looking back, I should have run right then. But the payout was too good.”
“Yeah, you have a problem when it comes to losing sight of danger when it comes to big payouts, kid.”
Terry ignored him. “Everything else was normal, but annoying. I ran headlong into some skeletons, but that weird hobo was there and saved me. And then we fought the dragon. It was really weird. Crackled with lightning and everything. Then the hobo and the two dwarves fell to it, and I finally realized I needed to run.”
“Better late than never, I suppose.”
“It didn’t matter. I made it outside, then I saw two women fighting in the clouds, and the whole world went black. Next thing I knew, I was half the world away, waking up with Lyriana nearby. And now I can’t get too far from the dwarf or I somehow teleport back to him. And if that wasn’t bad enough, when Segrit almost killed him, somehow I teleported in and took some of the blows for him.”
“That was nice of you.”
“I didn’t do it on purpose! I think that if the dwarf dies, I die too! And what’s worse, is everything’s constantly trying to eat him! I don’t wanna die in some monster’s belly alongside Burin! So here I am, stuck with them as they try to save the world from eternal winter or something at the hands of a witch by freeing an even scarier witch.”
“Which puts you right in Typhon’s path.”
“What do you mean?”
“You didn’t know? I figured that since you ran into Toad he would have spilled the beans. Typhon’s working with the Queen of Irrisen, in payment for her bringing him back from the edge of the grave.”
“Shit. I knew it was too much to hope that it was a coincidence that I keep running into his people.”
“Yeah. And that puts your companions right in the same path of danger. Planning on telling them the truth about you so you can warn them about the danger Typhon Lee poses?”
“Not anytime soon. I really don’t want to have that awkward conversation at this moment.”
“It’s your ass. Go ahead and get some rest. I’m gonna go tell the girl with the sweet tits that I’ve drawn a bath for her.”
“I should warn you. If you try to get in the bath with her, she might light your beard on fire. With her mind.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m not that stupid. I’m just gonna peep on her through a secret hole I’ve got drilled in the wall.” Dammit. I knew it.
After listening, I sealed the bedroom door with glue and got some sleep. Again, I didn’t find my way to the Dreamlands, but at least this time I wasn’t treated to horrifying visions of Greta being tortured. No, this time was a little weirder.
I was in a land of ice and snow – not surprising, since I’ve been surrounded by snow ever since this whole thing started – but it definitely wasn’t anywhere I’d been before. No, I was in some kind of city whose architecture and inhabitants were most definitely alien.
There were two different kinds of creatures that I saw. The first was a smaller, more numerous type. They were about six feet tall, with strange, star shaped heads on top of barrel-like bodies that had five tentacles protruding from the base and two large wings extending from the middle. They flew to and fro, speaking with each other as they went about their business. As I watched, I began to understand their language, little by little, and discovered that their conversations were often about mundane matters, usually concerning artistic endeavors.
The second type of creature was some kind of massive ooze-like creature that seemed to serve the smaller ones. They were covered in randomly appearing mouths, eyes and limbs of all sorts – from arms to tentacles to something in-between – in absolutely no discernable pattern. Stranger still, they spoke, muttering in a language I recognized, the language I had awoken knowing one day!
But that wasn’t the weirdest part. The weirdest part was that the stars were right. And by that, I mean they were the stars as seen from Earth! The constellations were different, but I knew for certain that I was right about this being the sky as seen from home. Maybe this was a vision of the past? Or could it be a vision of the future?
Then one of the winged creatures noticed me, and moved to approach. “What are you, I wonder? Perhaps we should take you apart and learn what you might be, yes?”
That didn’t sound like fun, and I was about to tell it so, but then one of the ooze creatures reached out and grabbed it, messily devouring it right there. Once it was done, the ooze approached me, but for some reason, I wasn’t afraid. It then stopped before me, reached out with one tentacle and caressed my face. It formed a mouth, smiled at me, and then shot out another tentacle, snaring yet another of the winged creatures and immediately consuming it.
I willed myself to fly and took to the air. From where I was, I could see the carnage as the large ooze creatures were rampaging through the city. The winged creatures were fleeing in fear, but there was no escape. Yet, for some reason, I wasn’t upset.
It was almost as if this was right. I could feel the emotions of those below, and it felt like the large creatures had been slaves, and now they were taking their freedom. I looked up at the sky and smiled, enjoying the peace of the twinkling lights above.
I woke up more than a little weirded out. And more than that, I remembered the language I had learned was asleep. Once I had prepared my spells and Nebula returned, I asked her about it, but she didn’t know anything. She was more annoyed that I hadn’t come to the Dreamlands and she’d had to entertain herself by hunting giant mice.
I used a solvent to dissolve the glue and went to join the others, who were already sitting down for breakfast. Again, it was far more than anyone needed to eat, but again, the food needed to be used up. I felt a little bad about not wanting to eat anything.
“Tell me more about what happened to Sergei,” Pop said to Gregor. He was talking with his mouth full. Ugh.
“I was hit by something I did not see, he was that fast. Then, as the world faded around me, I heard seven thunderclaps and saw my fellows fall around me. Last I remember was Sergei fighting a man. He struck him, and I saw the man’s head twist. I heard his neck snap. I saw him fall. But then he got back up. So Sergei killed him again. And again the man got back up. This time, it was Sergei who fell. That was when I blacked out.”
Wait. Seven thunderclaps? He had said that before. But in the dream, I had heard seven gunshots, not thunderclaps. And the dream figure had a gun tucked into his belt – a revolver, if I remember, but I don’t know if there are any revolvers with seven chambers. Maybe Cortana would have information on that. It could be a lead on who this man who killed Gregor’s mentor was.
I decided not to say anything until I had more concrete information.
“And you,” Pop said to me. “Just what are you?”
“What?”
“You some kind of witch?”
Ah. That. “No, I’m a wizard.” It was pointless trying to explain what an arcanist was to most people. It was simpler to just say “wizard” if anyone asked.
“I don’t believe you.”
“I have a spell book and could light you on fire with a few gestures if you need proof.”
“Oh, I have no doubt you can do magic. I’ve just never heard of a wizard with such a magnificent pair of those,” he said, indicating my breasts.
Ah. More of this. Some people just couldn’t take a hint. Oh well, we’d be ditching him in a few hours, so no sense worrying about it. “Obviously you’ve never been to the academy on my home world. The more powerful most of the girls get, the more they flaunt it.” It wasn’t true. I’d never gone to a magic academy and the only class I’d trained with had worn modest military uniforms. But he didn’t need to know that.
“That an offer to take me to see it?”
“Nope. Even if I felt like spending more time around you, I’m not powerful enough to travel between worlds on my own yet.” And, of course, that assumes that said fictional academy would have survived the current invasion anyway.
Erdija returned shortly after breakfast, but I wasn’t apparently done dealing with the lecherous dwarf. He pulled me aside and handed me a bundle. “I made this for you.”
“You really shouldn’t have.”
“I’m a master smith, and I’m sure you’ll get plenty of use out of it. Just take it, girly.”
I opened the bundle and found… “Is that… a mithral dildo?”
“Dil-what?”
“Replica of a penis.”
“Oh, yes. I made it just for you.” He gave me a disgusting look. “It’s accurate, to the last detail.”
He was right. I had a great use for it. I made a mental note to have Cortana melt it down into bullets for Terry later, then wrapped it back up and put it in a part of my bag that didn’t have anything else in it that that thing could contaminate.
As we set out, Erdija warned us that a Cold Rider had been spotted by a band of scouts. I was glad that they’d spotted it. Those were really dangerous fey creatures that took joy in murder and butchery. It was definitely best if we avoided it.
Though, I have to admit, part of me wondered if it wouldn’t be better if we sought it out and destroyed it so it wouldn’t be dangerous to the locals. But that would be an unnecessary risk to the mission and we had to put the greater good ahead of things like that.
I could always come back later and destroy it if it had attacked anyone.
Pop traveled with us for part of the way, but bid us farewell and headed south after a time. He wouldn’t say where he was going, only that it was going to be somewhere warmer. As long as it was somewhere we weren’t, I didn’t particular care where he went.
We made our way to the village of the centaurs whose children we’d saved, the last stop on the way to Artrosa. They thanked us profusely, and were quick to offer information. Apparently we weren’t the only ones who were passing through the area on the way to Artrosa.
Apparently, a renegade centaur by the name of Vsevolod had passed through recently. Of course, that name rang a bell. “Didn’t the giants use that name as well?” I asked the others.
“Yeah, that does sound familiar. It can’t be good,” Burin answered. “Especially since they identified him as a priest of Kostchtchie.”
“Who, or what, is Kostchtchie?” Terry asked.
“Demon lord,” Gregor answered. “Was once a man. As he aged, he sought out Baba Yaga, hoping she would grant him a boon of immortality. When he found the witch, he threatened her, saying that his army would destroy her if she did not do as he demanded.”
“What did she do?” Terry asked.
“She agreed to this request, but the old witch is a sly one. She gave him his request, but transformed him into a deformed giant in the process. This angered Kostchtchie, as giants were his most hated foes. But she was not done. As he writhed in agony from the transformation, she plucked out a piece of his soul and placed it in a torc, which she hid away.”
Terry was obviously absorbed in the story. “Then what happened?”
“Ashamed at his new form, the man-turned-giant fled from his people, living in isolation, until one day he found a portal to the abyss. There, he consumed the power of the denizens, eventually slaying the lord of the place, whose name I do not recall.”
“Sithhud,” Burin supplied.
“Yes, thank you.” He continued. “After slaying Sithhud, he became the new lord, and in time, many frost giants began to worship him as Kostchtchie the Deathless Frost. Now, he waits and plans the day he will have his vengeance against Baba Yaga and at last reclaim the missing piece of his soul.”
“Baba Yaga’s kind of a bitch,” Terry said.
“No one comes out of that story looking very good,” I agreed. “Though, at least that time, it’s not like I can blame her. He tried to force her to do what he wanted, rather than trying to bargain for it like he should have.”
“And now we have to worry about one of his priests getting there ahead of us?”
“And at least a few giants,” Burin said.
“As long as there are only a couple, I’m not worried,” I said. It felt like false bravado, after how much it’d hurt when the giant had hit me. We definitely did not need to fight eight giants again. Especially without the hut to back us up if we messed up.
It wasn’t too long outside of the village before we came upon a set of tracks. They looked like hoof prints of some kind, but we couldn’t tell what kind of animal had made them specifically. On the possibility that they were from Vsevolod or one of his people, we decided to follow them. They led in the general direction of Artrosa anyway, so it’s not like we were going out of our way.
About an hour or so later, we came upon the corpse of something. I say “something” because it was too mangled for anyone to be able to tell what it was exactly. It was definitely some kind of deer, elk or maybe even a moose. Probably. It was that mangled.
Erdija looked around and told us that it looked like it was probably centaurs who had killed the creature, but she was surprised that they didn’t seem to have taken any of the meat. She suspected that it had attacked them, which made little sense unless the beast was sick or possessed or something.
Burin found a strange horn in the mud of the battlefield, picked it up and blew with all his might. A cloud of fog issued forth from the horn, billowing out before him. The dwarf cheered in glee and blew again, producing more fog. He then aimed upward, blowing until a pillar of fog rose high into the sky.
Meanwhile, Terry found some more tracks leading away and had begun wandering off after them. Gregor followed after her, shaking his head at me as he did so. It was left to me to wrangle the dwarf and follow, along with Erdija.
“I have the greatest idea,” Terry declared when we reached her.
I had to hear this. “Okay, we’re listening.”
“What if we build a sled so Erdija can carry us all?” Oh dear. This was going to deteriorate quickly.
“Like some kind of pack animal?” Erdija asked, the edge on her tone subtle but dangerous.
“Well, sort of? You have a butt like a horse, after all.” Oh god. Just shut up now before you start digging faster than Burin.
I had to intervene. “We can’t ask poor Erdija to do the work while the rest of us do nothing,” I said.
“Well, at least carry me so I can take a nap?” Terry tried to wheedle the centaur.
“No. I think the walking will be good for you,” Erdija responded, storming off.
“Wait, what did I do?” Terry asked, looking bewildered. Burin just shook his head and followed Erdija. The girl had a lot to learn about being a woman. And part of that was letting her learn this lesson on her own, so I turned and followed Burin.
Terry sulked all the way to the Deeprun Crevasse, a chasm that would lead us to Artrosa. “This is as far as I can go,” Erdija said. “My ‘horse butt’ does not fare well in climbing. Take this path down and follow the river, keeping it at your right until you come to the shallows. Cross there and head east, keeping the river at your back. Do this and you will find your way to Artrosa.” Terry didn’t even look at her when she said it, though the centaur had made a point of giving the girl a pointed look when she emphasized the words “horse butt”.
“It’s fine,” I said. “Thank you for your help, Erdija. Will you be able to safely make it back alone?”
“I spend much of my time hunting and scouting alone, so I will be fine. Thank you for your concern. Please, if you find what you seek, stop by our camp again and tell us of your adventure.”
“If we can do so, we will,” I promised.
The trek wasn’t bad, despite Terry’s foul mood. We reached the bottom easily and made our way across the river as instructed. In a few hours total, we finally could see Artrosa in the distance. Little did we know that it would be another hour before we were close enough to really comprehend the size of the place.
The three statues were massive. And even that doesn’t do it justice. The tallest building I’ve ever been to the top of is that new skyscraper they built in New York, where Daddy and Merlin fought. New Unity Tower, or something, I think is what it’s called. That building is over twenty four hundred feet tall.
Artrosa consists of three giant statues, all taller than even that. I’m pretty sure that one tower in Dubai or the other one in Tokyo are bigger, but not by much. I had Cortana calculate the height for me, and she estimates that we were looking at something about half a mile – or over two hundred and forty stories – tall.
“Well, we’re here. Anyone remember how we get in?” I asked.
“The crows suggested that the gates were on the top,” Burin said. “But which one is open depends on the phase of the moon, which I don’t remember.”
“Waxing,” Gregor said without thinking about it.
“Right,” Burin said. “I think that meant it was on top of the maiden?”
I took a look. The one on the right was that of an old woman, or the Crone. The one in the center was a statue of a pregnant woman, which made it the Mother. So that meant we were going to the one on the left, the statue of the attractive – and naked! – young woman.
“How do we get up there?” Terry asked. “We may want to rest and go up in the morning if we’re going to spend all day climbing.”
Climb? That was boring. I grinned. “We can climb if you really want. Or I can wiggle my fingers and we can fly.”
“We can do that?” Terry asked, perking up a bit.
“Almost as if it were magic.”
“Let’s do that!” Then she thought of something. “Wait. I don’t know how to fly.”
“My magic will compensate for some of that. As long as we don’t have too steep of an ascent angle, it shouldn’t be too hard. Just don’t play around too much. Fly straight where you need to go.”
“Okay, cast away.”
I cast first on Terry, who shot straight into the air. “WHY MUST YOU ALWAYS GO ALONE?!” Gregor called after her as I cast again. Now capable, he flew off after her.
Next was Burin. “Nervous?” I asked him.
“No, I think I can do this just fine. I’m ready.” I cast the spell and he flew off.
Finally, I cast on myself. I beamed as I took to the air. I had really missed this. I shot up and did some aerial acrobatics as I headed towards my destination. “Kittens,” I heard Nebula mutter as she flew after me.
I flew over and booped Nebbie on the nose. “You’re it!” I shouted, giggling as I darted off.
Terry was giving me the stink eye when I finally landed. “I thought you said not to play around.”
“I said that YOU shouldn’t play around. I’m an excellent flyer. I’m not gonna slam head first into the statue’s giant stone bosom just because I made a mistake and lost control.” She didn’t need to know that most of my flying skill comes from my magical headband. “We all have our skills,” I added, trying to console her. “I wouldn’t try to make some of the shots I’ve seen you make, for example.”
The top of the statue’s head was massive. I mean, it was so big, there were trees up there. One of them even moved to prevent us from entering the portal ahead of us. Which was weird. As was its trunk, which was grown in the shape of a young woman somehow.
Then it spoke. “You must prove your worth to pass inside. Offer me something warm, living, and bloody, or I will take a sacrifice myself—one of my choosing. I have stood here for centuries and claimed many sacrifices. Their bones are a testament to their foolishness in thinking they could win their way past me.”
She was right. I’m not sure how I’d missed the sight of the nearby corpses. Most were picked clean, but there was one that looked no more than a day or two old, that of a centaur. Vsevolod must have gotten here before us.
Terry pulled out her gun and shot the tree. We all turned and looked at her. “Is this truly the best course of action?” Gregor asked. “Should we not have tried to bargain with the tree first? It looks dangerous.”
“Oh, right,” Terry said, pulling out a piece of cake, which she presented to the tree. “Hey! Do you work for Baba Yaga?” Her eyes were wild.
“So, you shoot the tree, offer it cake and then ask if it works for Baba Yaga?” Burin asked, his voice pained.
“What would make you do something like that?” I asked.
“What?” Terry asked, getting defensive. “Violence always works for us!”
“I’ve decided,” the tree – a witch tree, from the look of it – said, pointing at Terry. “I want her as my sacrifice.”
“I understand that she’s attacked you unprovoked,” Burin said. “But no can do. Even if I weren’t inclined to protect the little girl, if something happens to her, it’ll kill me too.”
“Good to know,” the tree said. It then cast a spell, mind controlling Terry.
“Nebbie! Try to keep Terry from shooting us while we deal with the tree.”
“A gash across her brow should make it hard for her to see,” Nebula responded, leaping at the girl’s face.
“Burin, keep the tree busy,” Gregor said, cracking his knuckles. “I will deal with the girl.”
I had used much of my more powerful magic on getting us up here, but I still had a couple fireballs left. And I knew that the tree would lack protection against cold, so I altered my fireballs into bursts of intense cold. Unfortunately, the tree had some general magic resistance, which protected it from my attacks.
Burin was doing a bit better, but not by much. The tree kept grabbing him with its vine-like branches, forcing the dwarf to hack the limbs off. Still, his axe was making decent progress.
Gregor seemed to be enjoying himself as he hit Terry. He was pulling his punches to avoid doing permanent damage, but I could tell that hitting the frustrating child was a bit therapeutic for him. Not that I could blame him after this whole thing.
Once Terry was out cold, Gregor teleported behind the tree and began hitting it. This time, he wasn’t holding back. The tree creaked and groaned as he powerful blows struck it. Having been partially disarmed by Burin, there wasn’t much the poor thing could do to protect itself.
I almost felt bad for it as Gregor and Burin landed the simultaneous blows that killed it.
We woke up Terry with a bit of magical healing. “Why did you shoot the tree immediately like that?” I asked her.
“It’s not my fault,” Terry grumbled. “The gun just went off on its own.” Right.
We healed up and decided to rest a bit before entering the dungeon. With the wind, that wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t too bad thanks to the magical campfire and the protective enchantments against cold we each had on our gear.
After our rest, we walked through the magical arch and found ourselves inside what would prove to be a massive dungeon, though that wasn’t clear at the time. All of the walls inside the tunnel we found ourselves in were decorated with beautiful frescos and carvings of beautiful maidens. I was so taken by the beauty of the artwork that I pulled out my phone and immediately began recording images of everything I could see.
Suddenly, Burin called out to someone. “Hello!” he shouted.
I heard voices that sounded like they were whisper-shouting an argument, though I had trouble understanding the language, which sounded like some strange mix of giant, goblin and orcish tongues. We cautiously rounded a corner and found a two-headed ettin standing guard.
“We don’t have to fight, you know,” Burin said. “We can be friends.”
The ettin responded by trying to hex the dwarf. “Now can I shoot it?” Terry asked.
“Yeah, is probable there will be no avoiding a fight,” Gregor said, charging.
As they fought, the ettin shrunk itself – likely preparing to flee – but was brought down immediately afterward. Burin began trying to calculate just how to tie it up so the ropes would hold it firmly when it regrew.
Unfortunately, the ettin was already dead, so tying it up didn’t really matter. The dwarf looked saddened as he made that discovery. “We didn’t have to fight,” he said sorrowfully.
And then a tiny piglet squirmed out from under the giant’s corpse. Burin dove on it and caught it. “It’s a familiar. Maybe it can tell us something,” he said, holding the squealing pig at arm’s length. Gregor moved over to calm it.
Terry slid under Burin’s arms and cooed at the terrified thing, trying to feed it cake. After a moment, Terry and Gregor’s efforts paid off and the pig calmed down. “Who’s the cutest little piggy in the world?” Terry asked, scratching under the pig’s chin. “You’re the cutest little piggy. Yes you are. Yes you are!”
Burin looked uncomfortable with the girl standing basically in a hug between him and the pig. “Um… do you want to hold it? This is getting a little weird.”
“Yes, I’ll take the cutest pig in the world. Yes I will.” She took the pig – who was greedily eating the offered cakes – and held it with her arm under its front legs.
“You must support the back side, or is uncomfortable for pig,” Gregor told her, prompting the girl to shift her grasp.
“Nebbie, can you speak to it?” I asked.
“I believe so, though it will not retain its intelligence long with its master dead.”
We didn’t learn much. What we did learn was that the pig was named “Bekkin” – ha – and its master, Gurragurra, had been put there to guard the passage by someone named “Jadrenka”, and had been arguing with herself because she’d let some others pass recently, a group of centaurs escorted by a hag who the pig recognized but didn’t like.
Terry continued feeding the happy pig cakes. “You should give the pig corn or some vegetables,” Gregor cautioned. “You will make her sick if you keep feeding her nothing but cake.”
“Lies. Cake is all anyone needs,” Terry said. “And coffee. Yes, I should give Bekkin here some delicious coffee. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Yes, you would. Yes you would!”
Oh boy, this was going to be one interesting dungeon.
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