The Mook Maker

I wasn’t quite certain why, or how, was the ‘Lady’ back, but I couldn't help myself to appreciate her new, significantly more anthropomorphized, and quite charming, form, more reminiscent of the ones my girls had. Her original body, the serpentine shape of the eastern-style dragon, hadn’t shown anything that would suggest the preferred gender, but now, now she had femininity to share. 

 

Unfortunately, she was apparently not too happy about the improvement, and in her rage, she burned the face of the human onlooker that tried to look at her from deep bows, heads lowered to the ground. 

 

I had her teleported away, and ordered the burned man healed, not bothering to check who he was. 

 

Taking the raging ‘Lady’ back to the city was a split second decision. 

 

I wasn’t quite certain whether her new form could survive the trip through the ‘Displacer’ rifts, and taking her into the city full of humans could prove even more disastrous, but I simply guessed she didn’t like the humans admiring her new form. It was, without a doubt, very different, and it did not come with any clothes. 

 

It was quite clear he didn’t appreciate peeking. 

 

The temple on the palace grounds seemed a perfect location. It was a shrine dedicated to the Viridian High Lady, originally alongside the rest of the dragon pantheon, before her rogue priest took the hammer to the representation of her ‘siblings’.

 

It was isolated from the city behind the high walls, yielding unparalleled privacy within. I assumed that the shrine within the palace complex was only for the privileged few, unlikely to draw the attention of regular worshippers, random out-lookers or the explorers, especially in the aftermath of the riots. 

 

Arke should have that place locked down, considering how much she loved lounging in the Viceroy’s throne room, much to the legitimate ruler's dismay. 

 

That was, too, a mistake. Seeing her own statue, portraying her in their original, eastern-style dragon form, enraged her even more, but at least it provided her with a convenient punching bag she could crush. 

 

She wasn’t weak. Not only could she conjure small fires to inflict wounds, her strength and durability was far above human, allowing her to crack the stone, and as far I could tell, she could even levitate for, at least, limited time. 

 

I watched her rampage, one eye on the ‘Overview’ screen, the other on the raging dragoness, while the rest of my girls arrived in force. Tama, and Miwah, along with Narita and Ekaterina, also Kuma, Lily, Nereida, even Sora with all of her ‘Warpstalker’ sisters, with the few ‘Mutators’ and ‘Overseers’ buzzing and circling overhead, yet the ‘Lady’ didn’t attack any of them. 

 

The Master
<The Root of All Evil, level 9>		<Divinity, level. 2>
Skills <9/9>
<Scorched Earth lvl.38>	<Slayer of Men lvl.35>	<Great Devourer lvl.73>	<Green Hell lvl. 42>
<Slayer of Champions lvl. 20>	<Stalker on the Boundary lvl. 10>	<Messengers of the Ever-Living Horde Lvl.21>	<Viridian Dominions Unbound lvl.4>
Terror From the Abyss lvl.3	<Unlock in 6>		Resource: 305 <+2 / day>
Mates
Miwah, The Broodmother of Darkness and Deceit		Tama, The Broodmother of Purging Flame
Narita, The Bride of Essence		Mai, The Bride of Forest
Ekaterina, The Bride of Soul Steel
Progeny
<1 * Germinal Stage / Purifier-strain>		<3 Egg Fertilised / Corruptor-strain>
Units (Active)
<Helmy, The Purger Alpha>	<Evolved Alpha> <Commands> <5,921/6,389>	26 Named Purifiers 1 Named Purger	5,894 Purifiers
Brave, The Eradicator Alpha	<Evolved Alpha> <Commands> <6412/6907>	57 Named Eviscerators 8 Named Eradicators	6,347 Eviscerators
Mia, The Devourer Alpha	<Evolved Alpha> <Commands> <6,355/6,508>	8* Named Devourers	6,347 Defilers
Lily, The Corruptor Alpha	<Commands> <2856/3288>	14 Named Corruptors	2,842 Corruptors
Kuma, The First Obliterator	<Evolved Alpha> <Commands> <664/1294>	4 Named Ravagers	659 Ravagers 1 Obliterator
Sora, The Warpstalker Alpha	<Evolved Alpha> <Commands> <392/1112>	4 Named Warpstalker	392 Displacers
Arke, The Overseer Alpha	<Evolved Commands> <410/1031>	7 Named Overseers	363 Fleshspeakers 40 Overseers
Kirke, The Mutator Alpha	<Commands> <48/822>	1 Named Mutator	47 Mutators
Nereida, The Tidereaver Alpha	<Commands> <18/279>	n/a	18 Tidereavers
Auxiliary
Ari, The Herald of Root and Serpent		Lady, The Fallen
4* Deacons		79* Acolytes	794* Flesh Drones
Units (In queue)
None	None	None	None
Sealed units
n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

 

A few times, I glanced away from the floating screen, flinching, instinctively trying to duck or dodge the incoming debris, but none came my way. 

 

The ‘Lady’ was quite satisfied with destroying her own statue, along with a couple of already defaced ones that were once likely portraying her brothers, but that was about it. 

 

Still, I couldn’t tell what happened.

 

The ‘Lady’ now referred to as the ‘the fallen’ was indeed listed, not as the ‘unit’ the way the rest of my girls were, but as the ‘Auxiliary’, a section that has been reserved for the humans brought into the fold under the varying circumstances. Ari was, essentially, only a volunteer there. The dragoness’ former clergy were mostly driven insane, while the rest were nothing more than the flesh puppets controlled by the ‘Fleshspeakers’. 

 

None of it had explained precisely what happened. 

 

I suspected either Ari or one of the rogue priests tried to perform the ritual to wake her up, possibly in tandem with Kirke, since it was another of the alien trees that served as a cocoon, but…

 

“What the..” I cursed when a loud crash signalled the end of Lady’s temper tantrum.

 

Once she was satisfied with obliterating the statues, and collapsing the roof that originally protected the shrine’s altar from the rain, she sat on one of the collapsed beams, huffing and puffing, likely more from anger than exhaustion. 

 

She stared down at her clawed hand again. I would expect some bleeding, or even broken bones, if a human did the same thing she did, but she was apparently relatively fine.

 

Her plumed tail bashed against the ground. Unlike ‘Corruptors’, who had feathers, the ‘Lady’ had dark ochre fluff, or rather hair, at the end of her tail, somewhat matching her blue-green scales.  

 

Judging from the expression,I guessed her tail movements weren't a ‘happy’ sign for anthropomorphic dragons.

 

“What did you do, Root?” she asked, visibly upset, while she clawed the empty air, almost as she was trying to grab something only she could see. If she saw the same floating windows as I occasionally did, I couldn’t see them. 

 

I didn’t know what to say to ease the tension, so instead of tempting fate with something not-quite bright and unfit for the situation, I went with the simplest: 

 

“We tried to wake you up…” 

 

It wasn’t any better. The rage she unleashed on her surroundings still smouldered behind her glowing eyes as she shot her gaze towards me.  

 

“How? What did you do, Root?” The ‘Lady’ asked again, distressed, when Kirke landed nearby. 

 

“You came from the tree Kirke created.” I answered. It was true, though it explained very little, as we, ourselves, were quite in the dark about the rules that governed the dragons themselves, and their magic, centred around worship and ritual. 

 

I only knew that the ‘system’ now recognized her as the part of us, and considering the zombified ‘drones’ exist, membership wasn’t always voluntary. 

 

“It was the ritual the human priest remembered and Ari performed, Master. Sacrifices had to be made upon the altar…” Kirke explained, her mandibles twitching nervously, as did her wings. The idea of the ritual gone horribly wrong - or right, her new form wasn’t awful to look at - was plausible… 

 

It must be the ceremony I saw in my dreams. I never thought of it until it was too late. 

 

“Sacrifices? How?” the dragon lady asked, paused, then burst out once again almost as she realised something. 

 

“You turned me into your spawn! What did you do?” she boomed and jumped up. Kirke, despite being quite fragile, was quick to place herself between the angry dragoness and myself, as the rest of my girls also prepared to intervene, but there was no need.  

 

“Did you attempt to bind me?” 

 

“We…” I said, carefully, with a pause: “...we attempted to wake you up. There was no guarantee you would wake up on your own after you went suddenly quiet. As far as I understand…”

 

A pause from my side -a few, painful seconds at which my mind raced along with the rising whispers at my head - then I continued, slowly, deliberately: 

 

“Your powers are fueled by worship, as you told us, but we either couldn’t provide you with enough, or we didn’t know the correct …” 

 

“So you supplanted my wanting powers with your essence! You turned me into your spawn!”  she yelled. 

 

I didn’t know that. I wasn’t even sure if ‘spawn’ fitted - even if it was, if I recalled correctly, how the dragons referred to my people, and the red one had used the same expression - the ‘new Lady’ hasn’t been listed among my usual followers. If anything, she was shoved in the same category as Ari was, along with drones and insane priests. A ‘converted’ could be an appropriate term, but I opted for better words. 

 

“I would say, local ally.” Then, slightly frustrated by the entire situation, I summarised: “We restored you back to consciousness and reunited you with your worshippers. I tried to honour our agreement…” 

 

“You ruined everything!” She raised her voice in accusatory voice,   

 

“You left us with very little to work with.” I said, stepping forward, in the attempt to show confidence and defuse the situation: “You are still clearly you, and alive. There was no guarantee you would ever wake up…”

 

It wasn’t exactly the smartest idea, since the Lady’s current form was quite powerful. I saw her punching rocks, throwing the wooden beams, or causing burns from the distance, but it couldn’t be helped. 

 

“You turned me into your spawn,” she repeated, then paused, considering something. Her eyes searched her surroundings, looking for something. It started to be rather strange, almost as she perceived the world quite different from me, then she looked down on her own body, and then, once again, bursted out in the accusatory: 

 

“It’s all gone! Everything is gone! There is no point!” 

 

I only guessed she referred to her previous, more traditional, dragon body, as opposed to the more humanoid shape she had. 

 

“You are quite beautiful, as all my girls are.” I said, assuming her objection was against waking up in an entirely different body, much akin to my girls rather than the local idea of the dragon.

 

The whole inner struggle of why I felt this way about my girls, considering the short time spent together, wasn’t solved for me, but there was very little I could do to calm the ‘Lady’ and her unexpected transformation. It was a stupid line when I thought of it.  

 

“No! Not the physical form! Everything. The essence! The connection with the barrier! My power! Everything is gone!” she rambled, “The voices of your spawn! Do they ever shut up?” 

 

I didn’t know the answer to that - the link, the permanent presence of the host - I used to be shielded from it for most of the time, then out of the sudden, become accustomed to it, even tuning it out. 

 

Whether she indeed lost her powers was indeed a question, as her current body certainly has at least some magical abilities to her name, and wasn’t, by any means, helpless. I could assume it was the measure of scale that bothered her, however, before I could say anything, the dragon lady continued, 

 

“...my worshippers. They are there. They are screaming into the dark!” 

 

It made me puzzled whether her being able to hear the voices of her worshippers was an ability she had before, or was related to her sudden ability to hear the rest of the host. Ari certainly gained a certain level of connection with us, abruptly being able to understand without learning the language, and her unexplainable immunity to power, but that certainly wasn’t an universal rule.

 

Or was it? 

 

“I could certainly reunite with your followers.” I offered, but she ignored me. 

 

The ‘Lady’ looked around, searching for something only her eyes could see, while I remained rather confused and lost in how it all worked. 

 

“....the barrier had weakened too! I know it is there, but… it’s…” 

 

Another pause. 

 

“...it is not what I wanted…” 

 

She turned back and returned to sit down on the overturned wooden beam and went quiet. 

 

Despite her increasingly erratic behaviour since she had awakened, one that made her potentially quite dangerous to bystanders, considering her considerable strength and unpredictable outbursts, I still sat down next to her. 

 

My girls tried to surround us, coming closer, ready to intervene, to grab her should she try to grab and throw me around as she did with stone and wood, but no such thing happened. The ‘Lady’ stopped caring whether Ekaterina looms above us, or for Tama trying to flank us, not even for the little ‘Displacer’ coming close enough to drag me through the rift. 

 

The dragoness, now, felt rather depressed, gloomy, melancholic even, almost as some unseen switch swapped it over. Maybe she was always prone to outbursts, or perhaps some realisation dawned on her. 

 

I didn’t know. 

 

“I am afraid.” She said it was the part of her I didn’t see before, as she was more boisterous, or enraged, before. Now, however, it changed, like with the flip of a switch.. 

 

“I don’t know what is going to happen after the barrier collapses, Root,” she added, her tone unexpectedly dejected and notably sad. 

 

“Didn’t you say that attempting to destroy the scrolls would destroy the barrier?” I said, vaguely remembering she once said that. It was, as far I could tell, her motivation to even offer us the agreement, the pact of sorts.  

 

“Yes, it would….” 

 

“We did not destroy the scroll.” I said, which was true. 

 

I didn’t understand the issue - not only we never tried to destroy the artefact we recovered, we also tried to prevent its activation. 

 

The ‘Lady’ shot me a glance with her glowing eyes, her rage now replaced with the resignation behind them. It made me wonder briefly why I was even so adept at reading the expression. But then she spoke again, with a sigh that reflected more sadness than frustration. 

 

“When we ascended, immortal, powerful beyond imagination, we came aware of the worlds beyond this one where our power mattered very little. We were gods, but there were beings more powerful still. We became afraid. Pooled our power, raised the barrier around the world, so we could reign unrestricted….” 

 

Her voice, once angry, was suddenly rather soft and melancholic, which was quite unlike her previous outburst filled with fury. 

 

“...we removed your taint, Root, and this world was ours to rule as we saw fit.” 

 

“I am still here.” I said, even if I, for a fact, didn’t remember any of it. Memories had become a somewhat touchy subject recently, and rather than referencing Earth, I decided to simply run with the Lady’s idea of me being the ‘Root’ she referenced. 

 

“Yes, you are, Root…” she said. It sounded more like an unfortunate fact than anything else, no hint of her considering that I might be a different person from the one she once encountered. 

 

“...then we discovered the scrolls. They weren’t scrolls back then, but puny tablets of clay the mortals wanted to use in search of power that rival ours. We crushed them too, the would-be sorcerers along with their writings. Our might was unrivalled.” 

 

She explained.  

 

“The scrolls are still there. I even found one, buried under the sea. ” I said. 

 

It was even here, in the palace, somewhere nearby, transmitting its presence, wanting to be found. The ‘Lady’ couldn’t miss it. Though, one we found wasn’t certainly a tablet, it was a parchment, or perhaps some enchanted, durable paper, or a similar material. 

 

“Yes, it was only a matter of time before they were re-created, carved into stone…” she continued, apathetic to the artefact’s call. 

 

“The casket? Sarcophagus buried at the sea that housed the scroll?” 

 

She was not around when we found it, still in her slumber. 

 

“.No. Not the containers, those were created by us. The other versions of the scrolls are gone now. They are a very primordial power that could and would defy us, one that predates our very ascension, and couldn’t be permanently destroyed. We could destroy the vessels, stone, clay, paper, but their very essence would remain in perpetuity. We didn’t know it back then. We thought they would be gone for good…” 

 

I looked around. 

 

My girls were still on alert, hovering over us, while the ‘Lady’ clearly experienced something akin to the depressive phrase, focused on telling the story. 

 

“....we were distracted, fighting your repeated incursions…” 

 

My incursions? 

 

I have never been there before. At least, I didn’t have any recollection of those events, and the idea of them even transpiring seemed rather unbelievable. My memories were, if anything, exclusively about Earth. 

 

“...I don’t think I remember.” I admitted, finally. 

 

She doesn’t seem to notice my confusion about this.

 

“I don’t think I remember how many times we killed you, either.” 

 

“Each time we destroyed the scrolls, and they were forcibly recreated, the barrier became more and more difficult to maintain.”

 

I opted to stay silent, allowing her to continue the story. It wasn’t quite the answer I was looking for, but if I am going to learn anything about the origin of this power that brought me here, and how it even came to be, it was now.  

 

“Remember when we banished you last time...the barrier was barely holding, but we had won…” 

 

Somehow, I had even more questions now, however; I realised it wasn’t the time or place to ask them. 

 

“It took a longer time for the scrolls to be recreated, and we made certain that we would confuse the mortals this time to make them weak, pliable. This Pho-us-kah made it easier for us to gain complete control where all the power was. We don’t know where he came from, but it didn’t matter. Only his version remained, and we had them.” 

 

A pause. Her sad, somewhat melancholic attitude, contrasting with the animosity she had shown a moment ago, confused even the host, as the whispers in the back of my head continued to query. Yet no one spoke up aloud. Only the dragoness. 

 

“...we didn’t care when humans fought over the Scrolls. They didn’t seem to understand they did not necessarily need all of them anymore, and the guardians we appointed were now even more faithful.” 

 

“Hmmm.” I acknowledged it, but the ‘Lady’, she did not pay me any mind right now, and didn’t look a single bit like she would throw another wooden beam around. I let her talk. 

 

“...then our Chosen One took the scroll…”

 

Who was the ‘Chosen One’ she spoke about? As far I could assume, all the priestesses - or priests, since the ‘Lady’ had a male clergy - were chosen by the dragons, bestowed powers, and probably under direct order to fight me for every inch. It was what happened in the coastal town, wasn’t it?  

 

“...I don’t know how it ended with you…” 

 

“What? The scroll?” 

 

I gazed away, first at Miwah nearby, then on the ‘Displacer’ that lurked ever closer, then on the sky above, trying to remember. I was adamant we never encountered anything like the relic we lifted from the sea floor.

 

There was a message when the ‘Ravagers’ were created which spoke about it, yes, but not the actual, physical item we could interact with, one that could call to us. That was hard to miss. I didn’t know what to make out of it, but I remained silent. 

 

“My brothers wouldn’t tolerate your pathetic incursions, but I had enough. It was not going to end. How many times we did this! I said, let you take some land, twist it with your magic as you always did! Humans would never get past your monsters if we didn’t help them!” 

 

She jumped up on her feet, or rather, talons, and exclaimed, 

 

“If we gave you your share back then, at the start, nothing of this would have happened! You could have filled a continent with your abominations, and there would still be a space left for everyone! If we shared the world with you back then, nothing would have happened! And now…” 

 

She turned around, her fluff-tipped tail lashed around, missing me, and took a few steps. The ‘Lady’ looked around, her eyes once again fixated on something she could only see. It was sufficiently different from the ‘Alphas’ gazing on the unseen horizon directing around the breeds, enough to question the dragoness’ sanity. 

 

It was worrisome. 

 

“...now…” 

 

Her behaviour felt increasingly erratic. 

 

Maybe our efforts brought her back … wrong, somehow. It was worrisome. Her mood swings were sudden and violent, even if she didn’t cause any injury to us directly yet.  

 

“It’s not all gone! The protection! Protection I placed upon you, it is still there! It is weak, but still there. You took this much from me, but it is still there! I don’t know how it works.” she ranted on, once again acting like she chased the invisible flies bothering her.

 

“...but how? It was a blessing! I needed my divine power for it. It was draining my reserves, but now, it is all gone…” she, once again, continued to rabble on.

 

Her eyes continued to dart around, making me once again question either her mental health, or the way she received the world around her. It was frustrating. She was lucid moments before, and now it looked like she slipped once again. 

 

I could try to infuse her with the life-force, force a healing. Narita was there, and the garden was just beyond the gate, now filled with overgrown plants, ‘Mutator’ experiments, and a unique tree of Arcane. 

 

That tree played an increasing role in our current predicament. I peered at Kirke, but I couldn’t blame my moth-girl for anything, though I wondered if Arke, and the ‘Fleshspeakers’ would make it worse if her constructs served as the base…

 

“Would it disappear if I am gone?” 

 

The ‘Lady’ continued to rant, but then, unexpectedly as it started, she suddenly quieted down, and asked,

 

“Can I die?” 

 

I was out of ideas on how to handle the slightly bipolar dragoness, so seeing her distressing phrase, I made a call - I made a few steps forward, and hugged her. 

 

It was a risk. We saw her punching the stone, collapsing the pillar - she could snap me like a twig - but she didn’t.

 

“I am not interested in betraying you, if that is your concern.” I assured her, “I don’t know how it works for you, but I won’t let you get harmed, either.”

 

I held her. She was quite warm, despite the scaly nature of her body, and soft, despite her apparent durability. I could feel her on my skin. The whole commotion caught me shirtless, and she herself didn’t get herself any clothes either, and hugging her wasn’t any different from hugging Mai. 

 

“Root?” she breathed out, surprised, but not offended. I think she wasn’t certain what to do, what to say.

 

Good, because I didn’t know either. 

 

“You turned me into your spawn,” she whispered. It didn’t sound as accusatory this time around.

 

“I care for all of my spawn.” I responded, even if it was strange to refer to my girls as that. 

 

“Your spawn…” 

 

She looked at me, the tears in her glowing eyes, almost like she had never been hugged before, and then a sudden, unexpected flash of realisation, an idea perhaps, flashed behind that gaze. 

 

“Your spawn!” she exclaimed, enthusiastically now: “I understood! Copy of the copy of the copy of the copy of the copy…” 

 

She darted forward towards one of the ‘Ravagers’ that blocked the entrance to the shrine, but she stopped after a few steps, turning around, whipping the surroundings with her tail. 

 

“That’s why you look different!’

 

The ‘Lady’ looked happier this time, which was progress, though I wasn’t any closer in understanding what the hell she meant. 

“That’s why I don’t have the powers. Why don't you show powers! Your spawn! More of them there are, the more powerful you are. More powerful you are, the more of them you spawn! You couldn't do anything else!” 

 

She laughed maniacally, jumping up and down, chanting. 

 

“Copy of the copy of the copy of the copy….” 

 

Now I was positively certain she was crazy, which was a dangerously common occurrence among any friendly humans we encountered, save perhaps an overworked viceroy. Even Ari wasn’t quite in her right mind when she joined… 

 

It was worrying. Terrifying.

 

“You are giving all your power to your spawn! That’s what happened! You are giving even the power of the scroll to the spawn! And they go on and on, until they consume everything in their path, making even more of themselves, until there is nothing else left…” 

 

I remained silent while she continued to laugh. 

 

“Copy of the copy of the copy…” 

 

Yes, I was nearly certain the ‘Lady’ was insane. Ari was too, which made it an unsettling trend, though the memory-eating snake was real… 

 

I didn’t know anymore, but the ‘Lady’ didn’t stop. Now she was excited. 

 

“There would be more of them! More and more and more…” 

 

The exponential growth was more the cause of concern for me than a benefit, as I didn’t want my girls to suffer from the lack of resources. 

 

“Then we would bring down the barrier, along with my brothers, and remake it anew, with combined numbers of your spawn!” she proclaimed, almost like she wanted to address the heavens above. Maybe, in a way, she did, but even knowing that her brothers - the other dragons - were demonstrably real, it still felt slightly unhinged. 

 

“They said I was crazy! They will pay for not listening to me!” she continued, “We should have given you the land for your spawn from the start, but now, now everyone gets eaten!” 

 

She howled and laughed and made a few steps forward. I think she was about to hug me, and had another thought about it - an abrupt change in her behaviour was worrying. 

 

I decided to be rational about her latest obsession.

 

 “Weren’t you afraid what would happen should the barrier around the world go down literally a moment ago?” I pointed out, “I don’t think destroying it is wise.” 

 

Not to mention, impossible, considering taking on other dragons directly would very likely be beyond our collective capabilities, and I still couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that the entire planet could sit in the middle of the immense barrier, like one that would harm, if not kill, my people, without disrupting our own existence.

 

How did it even work? 

 

The world barrier, a planetary shield, whatever it was? 

 

Not to mention the scroll and its astronomical diagram - I was afraid to even ask about the fog, if it was outside the boundary of said shield. Unfortunately, if the ‘Lady’ knew the answer, it was not a suitable moment to ask the crucial question now. 

 

“I don’t think I fully understand what your barriers do.” 

 

I objected, but she continued to pace around, back and forth, clearly excited, and continued to babble. 

 

“Yes, because you don’t make it! Your spawn must do it!’ she continued, “I can’t do it. But…” 

 

She turned around once again, almost as if she had the ‘eureka’ moment. 

 

“You could empower your Chosen instead! Then, we could deal with my brothers’ champion! One fifth of her power is gone with me being your spawn!” 

 

I don’t even know if I could empower anyone, let alone to turn anyone into a chosen one in order. Ari was, I think, previously referred to as my chosen, but also a witch, and certainly a few other words I didn’t catch before. 

 

“I think we shouldn’t make any rushed decisions.” I said, and the irony of me saying that wasn’t lost to me, but the ‘Lady’ seemed to be dead set on trying something. 

 

I was now completely certain her brain had suffered in the transformation. 

 

“Let me reconvene with my followers! I can still hear them! I’ll answer them! And perhaps they could turn into your spawn!” 

 

This sounded like a horrible idea, considering she had wounded one already, but considering we were already out of ideas about what to do with the entire camp of the dragoness’ former clergy, I was ready to let it slide.

 

“Rest and get comfortable with your new body, please.”

 

The ‘Lady’ didn’t listen. Though, I thought she didn’t, as it was obvious she was onto something. She could get us into trouble, but, nevertheless, I didn’t see much point in even attempting to contain her, especially when she could somehow speak both our and local languages.

 

“Sora? Could you get her some clothes and take her to the village where we hold all her former priests?” 

 

“Yes, Master.” 

 

The cat girl wouldn’t be roaming this time. Luckily for me, she didn’t object, and the ‘Lady’ still ranting about her scaling up shield experiment wasn’t much to talk about, but it was a start, all things considered. 

 

When they disappeared into the rift, I looked at my girls, much relieved that the crisis was somewhat over. Tama was about to remark something, I could feel it, though the ‘Fleshspeaker’ passing above forced me to remind them: 

 

“And tell Arke, Angela and others - no zombification!” 

 

I was certain any attempt to somewhat change the dragoness’ remaining followers would result either in the mindless thrall, or the abomination like the ‘brain-bug’ and was prepared to veto any ideas the ‘Lady’ would come up with.

 

After all, I wanted her to somewhat stabilise first. 

 

Then, looking through the shrine’s gate into the garden, I was also stricken with the sudden inspiration. Perhaps, instead of letting the ‘Lady’ give ‘Fleshspeakers’ ideas, I could try to use the Tree of Arcane in a more appropriate way than a huge cocoon for the erratic dragon girl. 

 

I could use its fruits.

 

The fruits of Arcane were safe for us. Ari was completely immune to the negative effects of our power, so the glowing, arcane fruit could indeed empower her just as it ‘evolved’ my girls. What would be a result was still a mystery, but I was reasonably certain it was safe. 

 

Maybe the ‘Lady’ wasn’t so crazy about suggesting this option. We had to try and expand our options to survive this world, and whatever was lying beyond it. 

 

I was certain it would go better this time.