I felt the earth shake when each formation collided with the ground, sending a deafening roar through the chamber. The sharp scent of crushed minerals mixed with the icy coolness of the cave's air; it was an aroma that was simultaneously fresh and suffocating.

  Each impact sent ripples of vibrations underfoot, while a chilling wind, born of the displacement, whooshed past. This chill wind carried with it an orchestra of crumbling rock and the lich’s desperate and furious incantations. The sounds all mingled to make an eerie symphony of desperation and strategy.

  I beat my wings and willed the magic of Ileria to hold me aloft out of the way of the falling rock. As expected, the damage spread further than would have been ideal, but my calculations hadn’t been far off. I was able to limit the cave-in to a fifty meter radius from the center of the room.

  Dust filled the entire cavern, and the floor still shook, but Cami had been warned and her own wings held her aloft. When I caught a glimpse of her in that form, I had to admit there was something marvelous about her. Perhaps it was the wings…

  While the unbreakable dome stood strong, its base was soon surrounded by a mountain of debris. The stalactites piled upon one another, building higher and higher, until they created a veritable tomb of crushed stone around the lich. It was clear that while the force-field itself could not be broken, the barrier and its occupant were well and truly buried under tons of rock.

  Within moments, what once had been a clear view of the lich became a view of mounded rock and stone. The mountain itself buried him beneath its weight. The shimmer of the dome was barely visible through the gaps in the rubble and as the last of the rock fell. Soon even that flicker of magic was hidden under the monstrous mound of rock.

  Catching my breath, I looked over at Cami. She spun her spear and drove its bladed tip into the skull of her last remaining foe. The fiery tip sunk through the ogre ghoul’s flesh like a dragon’s claw through a cow. Flesh and bone parted to her power and then the red light that animated the creature’s eyes was replaced by a scorching fire.

  Apparently, even ghouls gave voice to a scream when they met her strange soul-fire. The shrill noise only lasted an instant. And then the cave was silent, except for the sound of settling debris.

  "Well, that's one way to deal with the problem," Cami remarked, dusting off her armor.

  "It seemed like a rock-solid plan," I agreed.

  Cami groaned. “No… just no. No puns. My cousin Dakota couldn’t manage to say three complete sentences without using one. Everyone liked him, but… ugh… the pain his punishing jokes induced...”

  I laughed.

  She rolled her eyes, seeking whatever it was she checked inside her head, but grinned cheekily. "Let's hope the lich doesn’t enjoy his new accommodations. How long do you think it'll keep him?"

  "Long enough," I replied, surveying our handiwork. "But the point was never to trap him. It was just to…”

  I let what I was saying trail off as I felt the magic of Ileria warp with a teleportation spell. The lich suddenly appeared atop the top of the mound of rock.

  “You think you’re so clever?” he shouted. “Let’s see how you like this!” Then he shouted a spell.

  Your Skeleton, My Toy.

  Interlude 2 - Dancing

  Cami stood behind Nico as the lich made himself known. She immediately sensed the threat this creature represented. Something was different about him from the lich that Tolston had been. It was unlikely that he had the raw magical power of a legendary level Archmage, but that couldn’t be ruled out. What felt different, though, was how stable he felt.

  It was like undeath was his natural state.

  She watched as Nico and the lich bantered. It worked for her. Nico was good at infuriating people and an infuriated enemy was a vulnerable enemy. Of course the lich wasn’t just monologuing, he was using the time to allow the lesser undead to encircle them. This was one of Nico’s blind spots—but that’s what he had her for.

  She focused on her spear. It had changed as she had worked reshaping the blade back at Lord Nagafen’s forge. The weapon had undergone an evolution of sorts. She hadn’t had the chance to share this with Nico, but truthfully, she was still trying to figure out what it meant.

  A part of her mind watched how the enemy moved into place, but another part sank down into her weapon. The connection between them had grown stronger. She still remembered the bizarre notification she’d gotten while working at the forge about the chance she had to evolve the weapon. It had taken naming it, and fusing the essence of the white dragon into the weapon.

  The results had been impressive, if unexpected.

  She had thought she’d be able to add some elemental ice to her weapon, but it wasn’t ice she was able to recoup. The infused blood had brought with it a sliver of the dragon’s shredded soul. Apparently becoming a dracolich had left it in quite a ruined state. Now that she saw his former lair, she understood why.

  The place reeked of necromantic magic and felt completely unnatural. The dried husks of the dragon’s former minion’s remains were a testament to the destructive nature of the ritual used to convert the dragon into a dracolich. Even his gold hadn’t survived.

  Cami felt the tangible pang of grief and disgust this caused in Nico. She even felt saddened herself. She might not lust after gold like a dragon did, but it was beginning to grow on her.

  Cami knew for a fact that her spear would have shattered but for her bond with Nico. The spear was fueled by and formed from a shard of her soul. That would have been incompatible with the sliver of Iskaldurdauoi’s soul it had absorbed along with his blood. The ancient dragon’s soul had already been corrupted and weakened by death, so she only got something closer to the echo of a soul.

  It had been enough to evolve her weapon and perhaps even cause something of a change in her—although what change that might be remained undetermined. She had been able to cleanse the taint of undeath in the forge. When she did, the blood and the echo of soul that it carried had merged with her soul shard in the spear.

  Her mind had expanded and she’d gained both a quest and knew the name of her weapon.

  Dragon’s Truth

  Quality: Growth

  Weight: 16 lbs.

  Restriction: Soul bonded to Cami Westfork

  Elemental Adaptations

  Fire 3 - XP: 512/1000

  Lightning 2- XP: 108/500

  Plant - XP: 41/100

  Poison - XP: 0/100

  Soul Cut 2- XP: 413/500

  ??? -XP: 100/100

  This spear was once simple, but is now filled with boundless potential. It has evolved and taken a name. The sentience of the spear has grown a bit, but communication is still impossible. The spear now represents a fundamental truth of Ileria: Dragons are different from every other form of life in the world; they are different from those being that live in the beyond—those which touch the world. The soul of a dragon is irrevocably tied to this world and severing that connection causes them to stop being a dragon.

  As this spear was created with a shard of your soul, you as its creator have also been impacted. The results of this impact are as yet undetermined. Feed your spear to see what happens. Change is inevitable, but decisions have consequences.

  As for the new ability her spear had gained, she had yet to try it out. Perhaps these undead would provide an appropriate test.

  Soul Cut - The fire of your spear burns more than flesh.

  The quest she’d obtained was worrisome. She was afraid to share it with Nico. Would he hate her for having this quest?

  New Quest Received: Dragonize - Your soul has been touched by the souls of more than one dragon. Figure out how to deepen that connection… if you dare.

  Time Limit: Till death

  Reward: Variable - Transform your soul to become truly draconic, gaining a unique link with the magic of Ileria.

  Then Nico had attacked the lich, and the time for contemplation was done. She saw that he was going to be okay as he evaded the ghoul’s initial attacks, so Cami focused on her problems. Most of the larger undead went for Nico, but that still left her with one ogre ghoul, several goblin ghouls, and a number of skeletons from both races to deal with.

  Spinning her spear, she grinned. Nico must truly be corrupting her, because she never felt as alive as she did in combat. A goblin ghoul leaped for her throat, thinking her to be easy prey. But as Nico had said, she was no one’s prey.

  Ghouls probably couldn’t feel regret, but this one likely would have if it had been aware after she’d finished with it.

  She spun out of the way of its leap, using her momentum to turn defense into offense. Her spear whirled in her hands and the blade erupted into fire. Cami willed her soul, the soul in Dragon’s Truth to come alive. The results were nothing less than spectacular.

  The physical flame the blade emitted burned hot enough for her to feel the scorching heat. It easily severed the goblin ghoul’s outstretched hands. That should teach it to keep its hands to itself.

  Then she sidestepped and spun the spear’s blade horizontally. It took the creature’s head from its shoulders and she hardly felt any resistance as it sliced through undead flesh and bone with ease. It was almost too easy.

  Even as the soul fire in her blade burned brighter, she sensed the undead weakening before its flame. When she’d cut the head off the tiny ghoul, she felt the thread to its soul snap and it fled to whatever realm goblin souls went to. It was horrifying to consider that the dark magic which made such a creature trapped its soul in its body, where it would rot and decay as inevitably as everything else in this world did.

  But that foul magic could not resist her spear’s Soul Cut. The connection between its body and soul was tenuous and unnatural at best, not at all like a living being which would resist such an attack. Cami laughed in the joy of battle as she realized she had been handed a weapon custom designed to defeat the undead.

  With every graceful flourish, Cami's newfound understanding of her weapon deepened. Each slice, each stab, was an intimate dance between her will and the blade's desire to purify. Its ethereal flames flickered like ghostly serpents along the length of her spear. They seemed to hunger for the very essence that bound the undead to the mortal realm.

  It was a fundamental truth of dragons that they were the only beings truly bound to this world.

  Setting the souls of undead vermin free of this mortal coil was surprisingly easy. The goblin skeletons, though numerous, were brittle and their bones crumbled beneath her strikes. Unlike the ghouls, they lacked flesh—stabbing them would have been pointless. Yet again, she was glad she’d been inspired to forge her spear with an extended metal blade.

  The bony undead swarmed her, hoping to trap her in a maze of skeletal limbs and rusty weapons. Even surrounded, Cami was a tempest and her spear a blazing whirlwind of destruction. It left trails of blue and gold fire in its wake, fire which gnawed at the very threads that held these creatures together.

  She watched with satisfaction as the lesser undead all fell. Then, just as she was about to turn on the last ghoul, she heard Nico’s voice echo in her head. She followed his instructions without hesitation, knowing he wouldn’t have interrupted her mid-battle if it wasn’t urgent.

  No sooner had she reached the cave wall than she realized what he was up to. Nico’s power was incredible, but she shook her head at his recklessness. The cavern, perhaps the very mountain, began shaking. Using her transformation ability, she sprouted draconic wings. With them, she launched herself into the air and hovered at the very edge of the room.

  Because of this, when a couple hundred tons of rock came falling down, she wasn’t thrown to the ground. The cavern reverberated with the force of it all and she heard Nico’s shout of victory. The ogre ghoul she had yet to deal with fell to the ground, but Cami didn’t dare approach until the world stopped shaking around her. It was all she could do to maintain her place in the air.

  As the shaking subsided, the ogre ghoul made it back onto its feet and then lunged at her from beneath. Its grotesque and misshapen form moved with a speed that belied its size as its gaping maw of rotten teeth and fetid breath snapped at her.

  Cami deftly parried its attack, the force of the clash causing her to feel the creature's malevolent hunger deep in her bones. But the real wonder was her spear's reaction—Dragon's Truth vibrated in resonance with the soul trapped within the ghoul. She pivoted, twisting her body in a smooth arc, and allowed momentum to power her strike. With a roar, she slashed her spear deep into the creature's head.

  There was more dark magic within this creature than had been in any of the other undead she’d fought so far. Its mouth opened again as its glowing red eyes were overcome by the ethereal flames of her blade. Then it did what she least expected—the ghoul began to scream in undeniable agony.

  The power of Soul Cut went down the blade, but as the ghoul sought to resist it, force surged back up the haft and into her hands. Cami shook as she felt the resistance. This magic within it was much more settled; it didn’t want to release its captive soul. She sensed the darkness’ dire hunger as it hung on to the tatters of the ogre’s soul.

  When the flames enveloped the ghoul, Cami felt a pull, almost like a tugging sensation from deep within her weapon. The creature's connection to its dark master weakened and its soul yearned for release. Pulling back, she watched as first the ogre's head and then its entire body disintegrated into ashes. In moments, all that was left behind was a misty apparition. After a brief moment of clarity, even this dispersed into the ether, finally freed from its wretched captivity.

  A smirk played on her lips. “Come on then,” she whispered, her voice carrying the weight of newfound power and determination, “who's next?”

  When no new threat presented itself, Cami took the chance to catch her breath, taking stock of her surroundings. There weren’t any more lesser undead to face, and the lich was buried under a mountain of rock that stretched more than halfway to the roof of the cavern. She looked up at Nico, recognizing that all too smug look on his face.

  She’d told herself she wasn’t going to feed his arrogance, but that she was drawn to his confidence was undeniable. It was intoxicating, and she wanted Nico to be Nico.

  When they exchanged a bit of banter, it was easy to forget they’d just been fighting undead monstrosities, or that they had the most dangerous of foes trapped under all that rock. Nico was just so alive; that was what drew her to him. The details were things other beings could sweat. Nico was larger than life.

  Then the lich reappeared.

  Nico had been right that the rock hadn’t done him in, but at least he was out from under his shell. Then she felt a pulse of magic from the undead creature. It was fast—so fast she didn’t have a chance to dispel it. The spell hit Nico and his movements became jerky. His body fell to the ground as if he were a puppet and his strings had been cut. Then, he thrashed about.

  No one did that to her bonded. Grim determination took over, and she dove on widespread wings straight for the lich. She yearned to see how Soul Cut would work against the powerful undead, but more than that she longed to make him choke on his cackle of triumph.

  But before she could grab the lich, a powerful body interjected itself between her and the undead. Nico moved faster than any of the ghouls and grabbed her in mid-air. His claws cut into her arms and would have done serious damage but for her armor.

  Cami was too shocked to resist as he landed and spun her around, hurling her into the wall with concussive force. She tried to rise but something had broken in her back and her legs wouldn’t move. Darkness threatened to swallow her.

  Chapter 12 - Bones and Magic

  I laughed, or rather I tried. I couldn’t seem to move my jaw. That was impossible, Dragons were immune to paralyzation. We were born with that innate protection; it was as fundamental to me as lightning.

  Something was very wrong.

  Then Cami shouted a battle cry and dove at the lich. She was really something to behold. I smiled inwardly, though I couldn’t make my bones work. The lich was about to get what was coming to him.

  But then, my body was moving and I couldn’t control it. The motion began from my bones rather than my muscles, but the rest of me moved along with it. Each step was jarring and felt like my bones were trying to rip themselves out from inside of me.

  Before I knew it, my body leaped into the air, my tail slapped Cami’s spear aside, and my claws grabbed her. I felt resistance from her armor, but then that started to give way. Pain flooded across the bond and her blood stained my claws. Then I saw the horror in her eyes and I flung her across the room.

  Her body slammed into the wall. I felt the pain blossom in her body and knew something was drastically wrong. However much I wanted to, I couldn't rush to her side. Instead, I fell to the ground, as my wings didn’t seem to be able to move.