This was the stench of undeath. Dark necromantic magic must have been employed to restore Tolston. There had obviously been a price. Galbrecht didn’t have a spell to detect the exact level of his foe, but he did have a finely tuned sense based upon decades of fighting in dungeons. Tolston was weaker than he’d been, of that there was no doubt.

  Once again, Galbrecht used his Miracle ability. It was a very limited power and perhaps he’d been reckless with it, but he had only focused on one thing. If Nico had to fight a dragon, he couldn’t fight the former Archmage at the same time. So, the Paragon of Miseria had done the one thing that all wizards feared more than anything else—he’d stripped him of all his prepared magics.

  The multitude of spells which lay wrapped about the skeletal body in which Tolston now dwelled had exploded with the divinely powered anti-magic. There was so much magic that when his foe’s magic shattered, Tolston left bursts of prismatic light in the air.

  It had even dispelled the buffs his allies had cast. That was an unfortunate side effect, but decisiveness led to victory.

  Oddly, the only magic that wasn’t dispelled by the divine anti-magic was the blizzard which still swirled around the white dragon. The winds were cutting and the snow blinding. The force of such a storm had to be magical, and yet a legendary level spell which tapped directly into the power of his goddess hadn’t dispelled it.

  Galbrecht pushed the thought out of his mind as he tangled with a significantly weakened Tolston as they were in free-fall, rushing at the ground a few thousand feet below at terminal velocity. The winds of the storm buffeted them, but then they were past it. Fortunately, Galbrecht’s paladin class based defenses had only increased in power after he had reached a legendary level upon becoming the sole paragon of his goddess.

  Galbrecht figured they only had a little more than a dozen seconds left before they hit the ground. He had to make the most of it.

  Tolston tried to cast a spell, but prismatic light fizzled around his hand.

  Galbrecht replied with a class skill.

  Holy Strike

  His fist slammed into the skeletal jaw, creating spiderweb cracks up and down the side of the skull.

  Tele… the spell fizzled.

  He tried again. Slow F…

  Another slamming blow from the Paladin broke the mage’s concentration.

  Etherea…

  This time Galbrecht’s free fist slammed into the skeleton’s side and came back with a snapped rib in his hand.

  Galbrecht didn’t care if it was a teleport, a slow fall spell, or something that caused Tolston to become ethereal. There were many ways an Archmage could circumvent the danger of a fall—even from this height. The one thing he seemed unable to do was complete a cast as Galbrecht battered his body.

  Tolston hissed, “You fool. We’ll both die.”

  Galbrecht didn’t bother to respond. He was done talking to evil. It was clobbering time.

  With the sounds of the fading blizzard above them, the world around Galbrecht and Tolston seemed nothing but a silent void, punctuated occasionally by a harsh, icy wind that ripped through them, clawing at them as they plummeted. The ground below—a vast expanse of trees and patches of still unmelted snow on one side with the capital on the other side—rushed towards them at a breakneck speed. It came up so fast, that its disorienting image blurred amidst the rapid descent.

  Galbrecht, driven by a single-minded fervor, did not relent. Tolston was going to die and he would stay dead this time. The trick was going to be staying alive himself.

  The fiery warmth of Miseria’s divine favor protected him from the biting cold of the air, wrapping him in an aura of gold. Each strike he delivered, though it did little to deter the undead Archmage in the grand scheme of things, had one purpose–to disrupt any and every attempt to cast a spell. Every blow, every grapple, was calculated to prevent Tolston from voicing the incantations that could save him–or worse, spell the Paladin’s doom.

  In contrast, the mockery of life and everything Galbrecht’s goddess stood for that was Tolston's body was not affected by either the chill or the altitude. It had no heartbeat, no breath to be stolen by the altitude, the chill, or the speed of their descent. But every shattered bone and splintered fragment disrupted the ancient cadences he sought in vain to voice.

  Theirs was a battle of wills–well, that and attrition. Galbrecht could only wonder if he would reach a point where he had dismantled the skeleton so much that Tolston’s soul would have no choice but to travel to its just desserts in the afterlife.

  He had to imagine that would be a truly awful afterlife, given the man’s traitorous nature.

  A brief flash of purple light emanated from Tolston’s skeletal fingers, as a cluster of dark—ethereal chains—sought to bind the Paladin. The wizard had gotten a spell off, but the necrotic energies failed to penetrate the radiant blessing of Galbrecht’s goddess.

  The target of the spell grunted in pain as though kicked, but held on firmly, refusing to let the mage go. The shadowy chains which tried to extend around him broke and dissipated into wisps of smoke. But even as they clashed and spells flashed, the ground drew ever closer.

  Galbrecht's armor, resplendent and shimmering, was now streaked with Tolston's shadowy essence. And though Tolston’s undead form had started to splinter and break under the relentless assault, his eldritch eyes glowed with a malevolence that would not be extinguished.

  Both knew the end was inevitable.

  Galbrecht just had to time this perfectly. He twisted the until Tolston was firmly under him. The skeletal body wouldn’t provide any protection from the force of the pending impact, but in order for his plan to work, the mage had to hit the ground first.

  The Paladin landed one more solid blow and felt Tolston’s skull give way completely. It didn’t extinguish his foe’s life force but it did buy Galbrecht the second he needed to cast one of his new Tier 10 spells.

  All Encompassing Judgement - Just Rewards

  A golden rune suddenly appeared on his forehead and the shattered remains of Tolston’s skull. Everyone within twenty feet of him now fell under the judgment of Miseria. Galbrecht knew was throwing his life into the hands of his goddess, but when had he not? This spell was meant to cause her to judge and then properly reward all those within the spell’s radius.

  When Tolston hit the ground, the light was driven from his eyes.

  And then Galbrecht hit—just as he was casting his final spell.

  Second Chance

  Both their bodies were shattered by the terminal impact—hit points only account for so much. Tolston’s skeletal frame was shattered, bone dust scattering in the force of the impact. A dark tendril of necrotic magic reach out from the sky to pull his soul to whatever device was intended to keep it, but a golden light appeared and snuffed out the magic.

  A soft voice unheard by any mortal ear said, “Not this time.”

  A second golden light appeared and Galbrecht was left standing in a patch of snow just outside the city walls. He patted himself up and down, hesitant to believe it had worked.

  Slumping to his knees, he bowed his head, suddenly exhausted. “I’m getting too old for this crap.”

  Chapter 1 - What to Think

  I felt the power of the storm as it drained from me. Still, deep within, there remained a remnant. It was cold, chaotic, and deadly. Yet I felt more alive than ever before.

  Cami’s voice came to my mind, “That was amazing! You were incredible.”

  I felt joy at her words. Her praise meant a great deal to me. That realization alone caused my thoughts to slow for a second.

  When my mind caught up with the thunder of my beating heart, I replied, “You were deadly too. I chose well, when I chose you. Even the foul undead can’t evade your power.”

  I felt a tingling sensation from Cami through the bond. It was like all the blood in her body began racing at a frantic pace. She shivered, took a pair of deep breaths, and then agreed, “We are pretty awesome together. Just let the horrors try to take our world.”

  Strangely, I felt no need to remind her that Ileria belonged to dragons, not to humans. I barely considered Cami a human anymore, which was, of course, a promotion for her. At least for the moment, I felt such a closeness with her that, to me, she might as well have been a dragon. Such is perhaps the rush of emotions which followed combat. A good hunt is a joy, but the kill at the end was that which gave meaning to life.

  Then Cami gasped, “Galbrecht… is he …?”

  She left her question unspoken, but by drawing attention to the paladin she broke our shared moment of revelry. For a brief second, I had felt almost like she and I were one. But then I remembered myself, I had just slain an ancient dragon… well I’d done so with Cami’s help. My mood soured just a bit as I silently admitted to myself that Galbrecht had been useful, too, not that I’d ever say so out aloud.

  It did, however, remind me what I needed to do. The best part of any kill—at least after the initial rush—was the loot that followed. The DKP and XP rewards had been significant, but I pushed those notifications aside. I’d gain a level later and see about spending more of the DKP. But first, I looked forward to other things—this foe hadn’t been just anyone, after all.

  For all that Iskaldurdauoi had given in and allowed himself to be perverted by undeath, he’d once been a dragon. That meant that he had a hoard out there… a poor lonely hoard in need of a new dragon to make it feel treasured.

  I could sense Cami’s impatience to help Galbrecht. I supposed that, as far as humans went, he wasn’t that bad. Actually, he was one of the best of them.

  I beat my wings and began making circles around the area, looking for Galbrecht. After a minute or two, I saw a bright flash of light and I felt the surge of divine magic. That had to be the paladin. Looking down, I saw that he was whole—if perhaps a bit the worse for wear. It brought to mind the molting that some lesser reptiles went through.

  “He’s fine and not that far from the castle…” I let my thought trail off.

  I was being stupid. I might not be willing to divert my hunt for loot to pick up the paladin, but I did need to ensure that Tolston was well and truly gone this time. Supposedly, he’d already been killed. And yet here he’d been, some type of undead upon the back of a dragon who’d likewise been infected with undeath.

  I dove down toward the spot where I saw Galbrecht. There were stone buildings all around him. Humans were running, screaming and running every which way. I caught a whiff of smoked meat coming from one of the building and once again my stomach growled.

  This hunger was becoming a nuisance.

  “Nico, your Dragon Fear…” Cami sent, “turn it off.”

  I grumbled, “I already did. The humans are just fearful… but can you really blame them in light of my majesty? They likely don’t want to offend me.”

  She snorted, but didn’t say anything. By now, I knew that meant she didn’t agree with me. Once, I would have simply ignored her or discarded it as noise the way that I’ve seen humans do when their pets chittered, barked, or whatever other annoying noises they made. Instead, I found myself getting annoyed with myself for not understanding what caused Cami to snort.

  I was missing something about the humans’ reactions. Was it possible that they thought I wanted to eat them? Could this be genuine fear, rather than a response to my Dragon Fear?

  For some reason, those questions rankled me. Did they not know how bad humans tasted? They were typically considered a food of last resort.

  Ugh… that was a stupid thought. Of course, the humans didn’t know what they tasted like. They likely would no sooner eat one of their kind than I would have considered eating Iskaldurdauoi, even if he hadn’t been cursed with undeath.

  Maybe they could hear my growling stomach. I was hungrier than I had been in some time. The pertinent question, though, was why should it matter? Except for Cami—and I could make the argument that she wasn’t completely human any more—humans were hardly high on my list of beings I wanted to associate with.

  Learning from them was one thing. I’d already conceded that they did some things better than dragons, and it was foolish to turn down power in any form. Their treatment of domesticated dragons hardly warranted any kindness from me.

  Perhaps it was simply that as I grew, I was beginning to see this world as mine. Since they were a part of this world, unlike the horrors or gods, that made them something I had a slight amount of responsibility for.

  I guess it could also be that all the screaming and running around was kind of annoying. They’d just seen me save their city. That should count for something, right? Except maybe they didn’t understand what I’d done. They’d probably seen two dragons fighting and had simply been awed by the majesty of it.

  Perhaps their little minds couldn’t understand.

  Slowing my descent, I looked for a place where I could land without causing more damage than necessary. It didn’t look good, though. If I tucked my wings in tightly, I could have landed on some of the wider roads, but then I would have been able to take off again without spreading my wings and knocking down buildings.

  With a frustrated sigh that some of the scurrying fools below seemed to take as a growl or another gurgle from my hungry stomach, I decided it was best simply to hover over the buildings. The beating of my wings caused quite a bit of air to blast around. Bits of parchment, children’s toys, articles of clothing, and foodstuffs were all blown everywhere.

  I opened my mouth, being careful not to show my teeth more than necessary. “Humans,” I called out, “return to your lairs. I am not here to harm you. My dragon knight and I have slain an enemy who meant to destroy your city. Rejoice, for you have been saved. You need only bask in my glory.”

  That didn’t seem to help. Well, maybe it helped a little.

  Most of the shutters and doors had shut. The running and screaming seemed to be winding down. I could still hear some of it from inside the buildings, but it was muted and much less grating.

  Galbrecht called up, “You aren’t helping, Nico.”

  “I only came down to make sure that Tolston had been dealt with once and for all.”

  “As best I can tell... Miseria judged him and found him wanting.”

  I wanted to make a comment about how flawed the judgment of gods could be, but decided that I was too hungry to worry about it. “You’re certain? You thought he was dead before.”

  “He did die before,” Galbrecht argued, “but I admit I hadn’t factored in the possibility of him coming back as an undead.”

  “I suppose it is unfair to expect you to consider the nature of souls, so I’ll try to be patient.”

  Galbrecht stared at me for a second before continuing, “That was solved this time. His soul was forcibly removed from Ileria. I have assurances from my goddess.”

  I lowered my tail and growled, “Don’t tell anyone about this, but I’ll carry you back to the castle. I owe you at least that much for helping in the battle.”

  He seemed surprised, but quickly clambered up behind Cami.

  In my head Cami said, “Thank you.”

  “A dragon pays his debts both for good and ill. Just remember that when the immediate threats have been handled and it is time for judgment to be passed on the empire of humans.”

  She didn’t respond, though I felt a knot of anxiety form within her.

  I dismissed this anxiety and beat my wings again, pushing up and willing the magic of Ileria to lift me. Soon, we were up over the castle. The devastation the ancient White had wrought was huge—by human standards. A huge chunk of the outer wall on one side had been knocked down. All of the ornate glass was shattered.

  Servants and mages alike worked on the cleanup. I was surprised to find the King, his guards, and a number of other nobles still in the banquet hall. Many had fled, but these few seemed to be made of sterner stuff. Maybe Forlay bred a slightly tougher type of human.

  I did a quick scan of the area and realized there would be room for me to land in the banquet hall, if the humans all moved back.

  Cami said, “I’ve got this.”

  Then she spread her wings and leaped from my back. My dragon knight flew down and started shouting orders to the humans. Some froze up, but most began doing exactly as she demanded. When the space finally cleared, I flew down through the shattered wall and landed in the space they had made.

  As I landed, I noticed Lisella. Of course she hadn’t fled. A corner of the room had been turned into a triage area and she was healing any and all who needed it. With all the shattered glass and flying bricks, I imagined there were more than a few wounded. Once again, I pitied these humans and their soft skin.