Noah was right. The royal couple was more than pleased with his and Chastity's performance last night. They were so delighted they didn't hesitate to lend them a dragon. The dragon would also come with a dragon rider -- an elf named Justice they were now on their way to meet.

In the center of Hoomtree is a hill, and at the base of that hill is a wide cavern, which stretches deep underneath Hoomtree. Noah and his companions were led through this massive cave to the Magma Pits -- the place where the dragons under Hoomtree rested.

Speech was not acceptable within the caverns, so Noah couldn't ask all the questions that came to his mind as they stepped through the hot cave. Instead, he quietly took in his bizarre surroundings. There were strange, glowing plants, clusters of glowing crystals -- the same ones that ornamented elven apartments and public buildings -- and even large, crawling, insectile life. Noah wanted to ask what they were, or if they were dangerous, or if the elves ever ate them, but he had to stay quiet. He exchanged silent looks with the others in his group, who seemed equally fascinated at the abundance of subterranean life.

Noah stepped over a massive armored centipede which was slowly moving across the mossy stone floor. They turned a corner and the cave -- which until this point had been lit by glowing crystals of blue and green -- took on a red-orange color. They were close to the magma. Turning another corner, the cave opened up even wider than it already was and everyone in the group stopped to take in the view.

"Whoa," gasped Cardi.

The cave was immense. Around the edges were all manner of subterranean vines, trees, and crystals. In the center were massive lakes of magma. Noah could see over a dozen colossal dragons bathing themselves in the magma. They looked to be asleep. There were a few buildings constructed from wood a safe distance from the magma, which they were heading toward. Outside this building was one of the few dragons who were not sleeping in the magma, and the dragon's rider.

She was a young-looking elf woman. She looked younger than Chastity, but who knew how old she actually was. She wore a long, yellow robe just like the other dragon riders Noah had seen. Her soft, brown hair was long, and went down past her butt. On her back, she had two short staves -- one topped with an hourglass, and the other with a clock. Noah thought these looked intricate and strange, and must be magical. She looked unusual for an elf -- her skin was pale white, and her irises were yellow. She had a simple, bored expression as she waited with her arms crossed for Noah and his group to arrive.

The elf guide bowed to her, and she bowed back. Noah's group hastily copied the expression. The guide handed her a piece of paper, and she read it, frowning. She nodded, and pocketed the paper. The elf guide nodded back, and turned to return to the surface.

"What-" started Noah

Whack! Noah felt a rod slam into the side of his face. "Ow!" he cried. The elf dragon rider had taken one of her rods -- the one with the mechanical clock on the end -- and jabbed Noah in the face with it. He looked at her angrily and rubbed his sore face.

She bowed again to the group, and beckoned them to follow her inside the wooden hut. They did so. It was cramped. The hut had a desk and two chairs, and so everyone except the woman and Noah had to stand.

"There, we can talk now, right?" asked Noah cautiously. Chastity rolled her eyes at him and smiled.

"Mine name be Justice, Dragon Rider. May the Eye watch over ye all," spoke the woman in a high-pitched, singsong voice. There was an edge to her voice that hinted at displeasure underneath the politeness.

"May the Eye look over ye, too. Mine name be Chastity, Diplomat," offered Chastity, bowing slightly. Each member of the group introduced themselves to Justice in turn.

"I understand ye've an important mission, and wish Undoing and I to assist ye," said Justice.

"Yeah," said Noah. "It's really, really important. Who is Undoing?"

"The dragon, I presume," said Sven.

Justice nodded. "He has but wakened a few weeks ago, and so begins mine career as a dragon rider. That makes me nobility twice over. So, why should I deign to help a group of ragtag Heretics? Not to mention, a group that uses flamebloods, beasts, and children," she said, looking at Jori, Berenice, and Sven in turn.

"What the hell? The Queen told us you'd help us," said Noah. "So that's your job, right? Maybe you don't like the fact that we're Heretics, but like, too bad."

"Yeah, screw you, lady!" said Cardi. "There's nothing wrong with being a Heretic! Not a Heretic of the Heart, anyway!"

Justice narrowed her eyes. "Ye should address me with reverence. As I've told ye, I be nobility. I be second cousin to the Queen of the Southern Isles. And ye be?"

"I'm the guy who was inside of the Queen of Hoomtree last night," said Noah angrily. "I'm pretty sure that beats being distant cousin to the Queen of another whole nation."

"Noah!" exclaimed Chastity.

Justice leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. She looked angry. "Ah, so ye'll not even veil yer vile nepotism? And ye speak plainly of profane matters best never discussed. Ye be not Heretics merely in class, but at heart!"

"That's right!" said Cardi proudly.

The room fell silent as Justice glared at the group and the group stared back at her. Noah felt a sudden shiver in his spine, like her cold stare pierced his body just for a moment.

"Very well," said Justice, her demeanor suddenly relaxing. "I cannie do away with ye all -- trash that ye be -- so what choice have I but to join yer mission? It be that or cast mine own self into the magma pits and be reborn a surly dragon."

"Wonderful! Thou wilt find we art not so bad," said Berenice, forcing a friendly smile.

"Likely not," said Justice. "Come, let me introduce Undoing."

They left the small house, exiting single file, until only Berenice and Cardi remained. Berenice was waiting for Cardi, but Cardi was still standing, looking a paler shade of pink than usual.

"Art thou alright, Cardi?"

Cardi blinked, speaking slowly. "I don't know. I just feel weird. Sorry, it's nothing." She paused for a few seconds and then spoke again. "It's funny. I just had the strange sensation of being a corpse."

"What? A corpse? Alas!" smiled Berenice. "Thine imagination is adorable. Come, let us catch up."

They left the building and went to the magma pits. They looked up at the gargantuan Chinese-style teal dragon, which knelt down obediently for Justice. She stroked the side of his ever-open mouth, looking into his eyes with kindness. Noah couldn't help but stare at the giant fangs. He wondered if the thing could even bite with its jaw frozen open like that. If not, they could probably breathe enough fire to melt a boulder.

Undoing stretched his neck, cracking his ancient bones. The reverberation was enough to make Noah step back, startled. He made a note to himself not to piss off Justice any more than he already had. Or Undoing would crush him like a bug.

Justice turned and looked at the group, tilting her head, studying them. Noah felt another shiver go up his spine. Next to Undoing, Justice was even more intimidating.

Justice looked frustrated suddenly. She silently beckoned the group to follow her out of the caves. Noah followed, but looking back he saw that all the others seemed stunned, staring at Undoing in awe.

"Come on guys, he's not that scar- Ow!" exclaimed Noah, having been whacked again by Justice.

"See?" whispered Cardi to Berenice. Berenice didn't reply, only staring back at Cardi in silent confusion. Everyone in the group except Noah had briefly felt what Cardi had felt in the building -- the sudden sensation of being dead, despite being wholly alive. They eventually attributed their distress to the dragon, and followed it and Justice out of the cave.

Once they were back in the streets of Hoomtree, Cardi casually accused Justice of bewitching them.

"I am sorry?" asked Justice. "This be not the place to speak!"

"You did something to us! What the heck was that?" asked Cardi.

"I know not what ye mean, pinkface," said Justice.

"I felt something, too," said Sven. "In the cave." Jori nodded with him.

"As did I," said Berenice. "'Twere as if I were a soulless body."

"I didn't feel anything," said Noah.

"Silence, Heretics! Ye feel merely the might of Undoing. He be a bringer of death, and he be under mine command, so show some respect!" she spat at the group and drew both of her rods, one in each hand.

Cardi yelled nervously at Justice, stepping back so she couldn't be struck. "What magic did you do to us? It wasn't the dragon, I know it! You must be a Heretic or some weird Leader class!"

"Peace in the streets!" cried Justice, swinging at Cardi but missing. Berenice stepped between them, putting a hand on Justice's chest that she swatted away. "Ye know naught, pinkface. I be a cavalier of level three. I have no magic to bewitch ye with. So hold yer ugly tongue! We will meet outside the gates in an hour and depart immediately thereafter. Understand ye all?"

The rest of the group nodded. She mounted Undoing with a quick, impressive leap. The two of them flew West toward the city gates. Undoing's takeoff left gashes in the otherwise perfect stonework.

"Well, that was weird," said Noah.

"Yea," whispered Chastity, shaking her head. "Come, Noah, let us fetch Angel. Could the rest of ye fetch the supplies from the storehouse?" She looked around while whispering, scared to be seen talking in the streets.

Sven nodded, leading Jori, Berenice, and Cardi to the storehouse.

Noah and Chastity fetched Angel and the rest of their belongings from Chastity's apartment, and then headed to the city gates.

***

Flying on a dragon wasn't as fun as it sounded. They each had a saddle to hold on to, but that was it. The saddles shifted whenever Undoing turned in the air, making Noah's stomach sink each time. The wind was intense and cold. Angel was securely tied onto the side of Undoing, and looked to be asleep. Noah wished he had been tied to the dragon, too, because flying on a saddle so high in the air freaked him out.

The only one who looked comfortable was Justice herself. Undoing seemed to go exactly where she willed. If she turned her head more eastward, Undoing turned, and Berenice and Cardi screamed. If she turned her head more toward the North, Undoing curved north, and Berenice and Cardi screamed again. They had left Hoomtree far behind, though there were still dense forests below. Noah had spotted New Gnom City in the distance to the West, too, but it was also long behind them now. They had been flying for hours, and would need to fly essentially all day every day to get to Golgotha quickly, stopping only for nights.

It was at sunset that Noah saw the tiny shapes hovering in the distant sky. Airships, keeping their distance. Emperor Antimogne was monitoring them. Noah nudged Berenice behind him, pointing toward the airships (speech was impossible on top of Undoing, with all the wind). Berenice nodded, indicating that she'd noticed the ships. The ships wouldn't dare come close with Undoing present -- apparently he could spit fire a mile away -- but they could ambush them at night and then flee before Undoing could respond. They'd have to take turns watching the sky during the night.

The first night would be spent on the shore of a great lake. They would set up camp there, then the next night would be in an actual town, with beds and everything. Noah looked forward to that. But tonight, they'd be sleeping on the ground.

As the sky went dark, Undoing descended and landed on the rocks next to the water. There was a beach consisting of large rocks and boulders that went a few dozen feet before giving way to a thick forest.

Justice leapt off Undoing. "Come, ye cowardly, lazy Heretics. Set ye up a camp. I have done mine deed -- now do yers."

Noah and the others took a long time to climb down the ropes that hung from either side of Undoing. Cardi screamed and fell onto the rocks. "Ow!" Chastity got down and freed Angel, who woke up and stretched herself out. Angel started sniffing around at the area that would become their new camp.

Cardi rubbed her shoulder. "So you're not gonna help us make a camp?"

"I be royalty. I do not labour. It be bad enough I be asked to sleep nigh to yer stench, ye pinky bitch. Do me a favour and drown in the snakelake, so I shall be spared of having to look upon ye any longer."

"Hold!" cried Berenice. "Speak not to Cardi in such manner!"

"Ye can drown with her, ye soulless beast," said Justice, standing close to Berenice, ready to fight, trying to intimidate her by standing uncomfortably close.

"I am not bereft of soul. I am humanborn, even as thou art!" said Berenice, standing her ground.

"I know all too well of yer brutish might. Yet I can also smell yer bare, unwashed cunt. If yer civilized, why do ye not wear clothes?"

Berenice shoved Justice, who sailed back over twenty feet before rolling backward and landing on her feet, both rods in hand. Justice wore a surprised and angry expression.

"Enough!" said Noah. "Stop! Stop fighting! We are all on a mission. I don't care if you all hate each other -- and I do hate you, by the way, Justice, you fucking bitch -- but we are trying to save the world, so everyone shut the fuck up!"

Justice said, "I nie would mind some silence, so long as it be mutual."

"And you're gonna help us set up camp?" asked Jori.

"Peace, child. The ensouled elderfolk be speaking."

Jori looked up at Sven, who shook his head 'no' at Jori. Jori crossed his arms and glowered at Justice.

"I don't care if you help us set up or not. You can sleep on your dragon if you want. Okay? Just leave us alone."

"I scarcely need such an invitation from ye, round-ear," scoffed Justice. She went to the other side of Undoing, away from the group.

"Okay, let's set up. We'll need wood. Jori can light the fire. Okay? Did we pack an axe? Or maybe Berenice, you could just..." He mimed punching down a tree, and she nodded. The group split into setting up camp using the supplies the elves had given them, unpacking them as needed from the side of Undoing closest to them. Some supplies they could have used but didn't crucially need were left untouched because they were on Justice's side of Undoing.

At one point, while Berenice was loading Cardi up with an armful of wood to carry to the camp, Cardi asked her a nervous question. "Bee, did she say 'snakelake'?"

Berenice just shrugged.

***

They set up tents on flat boulders, and a campfire on another boulder. Setting up the fire was surprisingly difficult even with Jori's flaming punches, but they finally managed to make it work. It was only after they went through the trouble of setting up a campfire that Undoing breathed a deafening jet of dragonfire on the boulders in front of him, melting them to lava that would glow the rest of the night and keep them all toasty warm. With that, they allowed the campfire to languish and went into their tents: Noah and Chastity (and Angel), Jori and Sven, and Berenice and Cardi.

***

"Sorry," whispered Noah, hunched over Chastity's naked body in the cramped tent. "The hissing is freaking me out." Her legs were splayed and ready for him, but he wasn't yet hard. Angel was already snoozing outside the tent, and they could hear her snoring.

"Relax, mine love," smiled Chastity, pulling him closer. "The snakes in this area be small and not perilous. But if there be any visnakes among them..."

"Huh?" asked Noah, kissing her. "Visnakes?"

Chastity giggled. "The only visnake I am worrying about now is yers, mine love." She reached her hands down between her legs, and began to stroke his hardening dick.

***

Jori and Sven's tent was unfastened, and Jori was sitting just outside the tent, keeping watch while the others were supposed to sleep. But Sven insisted on chatting with him.

"It really was such a strange feeling, was it not? I think something is up with that girl, Jori, mark my words."

"Besides the dragon?" asked Jori, looking up at the sky. He looked bored, as always.

"Yes, besides the dragon. She says she is a cavalier, but what about her artifacts? We don't know what they do. They have timepieces on them. Perhaps their power relates to the flow of time? We ought to find out soon."

"Sure," said Jori. "Good night, Sven."

"Yeah, yeah. Good night, Jori. Wake me up in a few hours when it's my turn to keep watch."

***

"Oh, zounds, Noah! It doth feel fucking wondrous! Ah!" squirmed Berenice. Cardi was sucking her dick. The Mirage Necklace and her other artifacts sat next to her, so the blue dick was not invisible.

Cardi sucked on Berenice's cock, taking it all the way into her throat. At Berenice's request, she had been practicing going deeper. At the same time, she fingered Berenice's pussy, and Berenice found it overwhelming. She leaned her head back, moaning, covering her mouth with her own hand, trying not to be too loud as she came.

There was no cum to swallow, since Berenice didn't have the organs necessary for that. After the dry pulsing subsided, Cardi pulled her fingers out of Berenice, and the dick out of her mouth. "I love you, Berenice," she said in her shoddy Noah impression.

Berenice lay back and sighed. "I thank thee, Cardi."

Cardi climbed up on Berenice and kissed her on the cheek. "It was good?" she asked in her normal voice.

"Aye," whispered Berenice.

"Great. You'll do me next? I love having sex!" she said, a bit too loud.

"Cardi..."

"Sorry, Bee. Too loud. I know."

Berenice paused, then asked, "What do you think of that Justice girl?" She seemed pensive and serious.

"Not Noah's type, if that's what you're worried about," said Cardi.

"Nay, that was not it. I am certain he would not betray Chastity. And I support their marriage, verily, I do. However, this Justice woman seems untamed. I believed elves to be a polite kind. She shows such rudeness!"

"We hate her," Cardi nodded.

"Thou dost not harbour hatred for anyone, Cardi," said Berenice.

Cardi smiled. "True. I love everyone, including her. Even if she is a shitbag. I think I'll use my hearts on her to make her love me."

"Dost thou believe it shall suffice?"

"Nope," said Cardi. "I can make her love me, but some people are even more cruel to the people they love than to strangers."

"Then wherefore trouble thyself?"

"For the sake of love! Now lick my cunny! I'm horny!"

***

"Oh, mine love," said Chastity, sighing. "Yer youthly vigour reinvigorates me so. Ye have such power over me."

Noah smiled, and kissed her cheek. Chastity didn't pull away from the contact, even though the sex was over. She clung to him tightly, even nervously. The hissing outside was growing louder and was unsettling to them both. They could hear slithering movement across the edges of their tent.

"I must bring Angel inside, with all these snakes." She reached over and opened the flap to the tent to let Angel inside. "Angel!" Through the opening, though it was dark, Noah saw several snakes sliding along the rocks. He was glad they had the tent to keep them away. Angel lumbered into the tent and fell instantly asleep inside.

"You're sure those snakes are all non-venomous?"

"Yea, they be harmless kinds," said Chastity, lying back down with Noah, cuddling with their naked bodies. "But if ye mean that snake of a dragon rider. She be full of venom. I understand her religious conviction, yet... When ye first met me, was I so swift to judge as her? Was I such an unrepentant racist? Was I so horrid?"

"Well, yes, you were a racist. Berenice, remember? And her husband?"

Chastity was quiet, and looked ashamed. "I do treat her well now..."

"Yeah, well, she's humanborn now anyway. But if she wasn't, you'd still treat her well?"

"Yea. I have considered the things ye said to me long ago. I mused on them long. What makes humanfolk special, soothly? Be humanfolk unusually kind? Be they unusually wise? Nie and nie. The only thing that makes them special is that they have a soul. But if a non-humanfolk may become humanfolk as Berenice did, what does that mean? And if the Eye determines who has a soul, what does that mean? I have many questions and few answers, but I am no longer a zealot. I accept ye and yer heresy. Though in general I support heresy not, and still worship the Eye. But not blindly. Not like Justice. I know now what I do not know. And I see how ugly her certainty be."

"Yeah, she's a bit of a bitch. Hopefully her hatred of Heretics doesn't get in the way of her doing her job," said Noah.

Chastity nodded, and yawned. She lay her head down on Noah's chest, and the two of them eventually fell asleep.

***

Noah woke up with a sudden shiver. He looked at Chastity, seeing that she had just woken up the same way. Angel, too, became animated, and started barking.

"What be it, whelp?" Chastity asked Angel, petting her, but she kept barking.

The sound of snakes outside was much louder than when they had gone to sleep. Noah peeked out of his tent. Thousands of snakes had left the river and were slithering across the stones, covering them completely. They were mostly headed in one direction -- into the forest. He shuddered.

"Even if they're not venomous, they could sweep us away!" said Noah.

"Nie, the tent will hold. Methinks," she said, petting Angel, who was growling at the snakes.

Noah spotted Justice walking through the snakes near Undoing and the glowing, melted stone (which the snakes were avoiding). "What is she doing?"

Chastity shrugged.

***

Noah lay awake in the tent for about an hour, but he couldn't sleep. The snakes slithering past his tent were like a waterfall raging outside. He tried covering his ears, but he couldn't tune out the knowledge that he was surrounded by a gyrating mass of snakes.

Just as he was finally starting to fall asleep, he heard a guttural scream outside. It came from Justice. Noah opened the flap of the tent to see what she was screaming about. She was standing close to Berenice and Cardi's tent, and across from her, near the ashes of their campfire was a huge red snake with four glowing eyes. The snake opened its mouth, and a beam of red magic shot toward Justice, striking her on the neck. The red energy seemed to suffuse into her body. She screamed again and sprinted toward the snake, her twin rods at the ready.

Noah felt a shiver go up his spine, and at the same time, Justice suddenly turned around and ran in the other direction. It was strange, as if she had suddenly changed her mind about attacking the snake and decided to run away. The snake shot another angry beam at her, but missed. The visnake slithered after her and would surely catch her at the speed it was moving.

Noah readied himself for combat, and Chastity spoke "Enlarge Beast!", causing Angel to grow massively in size. Noah had no doubt this was a visnake, and they needed to kill it before it killed them.

Berenice emerged from her tent. Behind her Noah could see a fully nude Cardi hiding inside. Berenice was large and made of solid metal, having hurriedly put on her metalskin ring and her other rings, but not her Mirage Necklace. Sven was already outside sitting beside his tent, and Jori sprung from their tent, too, taking in the situation. Noah looked down by the water where Undoing was laying and saw two more visnakes attacking him. There was a new patch of molten rock on the beach, and Undoing was now glowing red and turned on his side, breathing out puffs of smoke as the visnakes laid into him with beams of red. He wriggled and twitched helplessly, but couldn't overcome whatever the snakes were doing to him. Since he was their ride to Golgotha, they'd have to save him from the snakes as well as Justice.

Noah watched as Sven and Jori exchanged a quick few words, nodded, and separated. Jori walked toward Cardi's tent, apparently to guard her. Sven started running through the torrent of snakes toward the two visnakes assaulting the dragon. Chastity and Angel followed him wordlessly. Berenice, on the other hand, started sprinting toward Justice. Noah could see she wouldn't be fast enough. He watched the visnake shoot another red beam at Justice, who screamed, and dropped to her knee. She started vomiting, crawling forward across the snakes as she did.

Noah dropped into a shadow and appeared at the forest line next to Justice, putting himself between Justice and the visnake. It hissed, and shot at him with a red beam. "Ether Walk!" he barely managed to say before the beam passed through him. The snake watched him as he strafed to the side, tracking his movement. Apparently, it could still see him, or sense him somehow. But it couldn't hurt him while he was incorporeal. The Ether Walk ended, and he swung his Tesla rod at the visnake.

The air cracked. The visnake was burned along the side of its body. It was still alive, and angry. It hissed, and tried to shoot Noah with another beam. From the corner of his eye he saw Justice crawling pathetically across the snakes on the ground. He didn't want to get hit with the same thing she'd been hit by. "Ether Walk!" he shouted again, turning incorporeal. He wanted to get close to the visnake to use Eclipse Strike, but the visnake could see him approaching and backed away, readying another beam. However, the visnake was so focused on Noah that Berenice was able to come behind it and punch it in the head with her metal fist. The hit was impactful, sending the visnake's head slamming into the rocks. The blow left the visnake momentarily stunned for long enough that Noah could step forward and say, "End Ether Walk!" and then punch the visnake with his bare fist. The impact exploded with bright, white light. Noah felt breaking bones underneath the visnake's blood red scales. The visnake stopped moving. It was still alive, but its eyes were pure white, and it couldn't move. Berenice picked the visnake up -- quite a feat, since the thing was over 15 feet long and as thick as a tree trunk -- and threw it into the lake using the Mega Toss ability. The distance of the throw was incredible. The injured, paralyzed visnake sailed through the air, nearly clearing the entire lake, becoming a tiny speck on the horizon.

"Art thou alright?" Berenice asked Justice.

Justice got to her feet. She started to sway, holding her head. There was still vomit on her face. "Yea, I shall be alright. But Undoing! We must... We must save him!"

They looked toward the dragon. Two more visnakes had come from the water. There was now one heading toward the camp, and three more engaged with Chastity, Angel, Sven and Undoing.

"Shit," said Noah. Berenice and Justice started running toward Undoing. Noah stepped back into the shade of a tree, and allowed himself to fall into the shadow, emerging from Undoing's shadow. The dragon was rolling and twisting in sickened agony, and his tail swatted Noah, sending him flying onto an exposed area of rock.

"Noah! Nie let them smite ye with their noxious beams!" screamed Chastity, firing an arrow into one of the visnakes. She dodged to the side, narrowly escaping contact of one of said beams.

Sven was using his blood magic to tear scales and blood from the visnakes, but they were robust creatures, and the damage was minimal. Angel was engaged with one of the visnakes and winning, biting and tearing at its neck.

Noah still had 4 Favor left, and could Ether Walk twice more if necessary. However, he seemed to be getting lucky enough to not need it: red beams passed by his head and between his legs without making contact as he ran toward one of the snakes and started blasting with his Tesla rod. Combined with Sven's magic, they managed to take it down.

Justice and Berenice arrived. Berenice picked up the injured visnake that had been bitten by Angel and cast it into the horizon, screaming "Mega Toss!"

Justice pointed the rod with the hourglass on the end at the last visnake and it froze completely. That gave Berenice the time she needed to walk toward it and hurl it into the lake.

While she did so, Noah looked back at the camp. He could see a visnake repeatedly biting a prone Jori, ripping him to pieces while Cardi stood helplessly right next to him.

"Jori!" cried Sven. He flew toward the camp with haste, his eyes glowing red with magic, and assaulted the visnake. Noah watched in horror as the visnake ripped the flaming heart from Jori's chest and swallowed it whole. "No!" cried Sven, tearing scales and pieces of meat from the side of the visnake, exposing parts of its long ribcage. The visnake looked up at Sven, then back at its fallen comrades, and took off into a lightning-fast slither. Sven chased behind it, tearing more flesh from it.

Noah ran toward it, too, and shot a lightning bolt at it. Two arrows flew past Noah at the snake, one striking its side. But the snake reached the shoreline, and disappeared into the lake. Sven crashed into the water, diving underneath, disappearing after it. The water went still. Noah exchanged nervous glances with Berenice and Chastity.

After two minutes, Sven sullenly emerged from the surface of the water. "Another friend," he muttered.

Jori was dead. His body lay mutilated at the campsite, and his heart was gone. Without the flame heart, he could not be resurrected.

"I be so sorry, Sven," said Chastity. Sven just walked past her, and into his tent, closing it behind him. She looked nervously at Noah.

"How could this happen? I thought visnakes were rare!" he said to Chastity.

"They be full rare," said Chastity. "Mayhaps Undoing's magic did attract them? They do feed on magic," she said.

"Ah, is that why..." asked Berenice, looking at Jori's body.

"Yea," said Chastity. The visnakes had targeted Undoing because of his magic, and swallowed Jori's flame heart for the same reason.

"Why didn't you warn us?" Noah asked Justice in an accusatory tone.

"Warn ye? The screams were too subtle?" she mocked halfheartedly. She still looked pale in the face. She was walking around Undoing, inspecting him. The dragon was pale, too, and groaned. Smoke poured from its mouth with every breath.

"Will he live?" asked Berenice.

"Yea," said Justice. "He shall recover."

"Where is Cardi?" asked Noah, looking at the camp.

"Likely getting dressed. She was naked before. We were caught by sudden surprise... Speaking of which, let me go fetch mine Mirage Necklace." Berenice still looked to be made entirely of metal without it. And had a small metal dick nestled in her steel wool, which she tried awkwardly to hide. She walked back toward the camp, entering the tent.

Chastity shrunk Angel to her normal size. She told Noah they should head back to the camp, but Noah stopped her. He was looking curiously at Justice. "Ether Walk," Noah whispered while Justice's back was turned, and he snuck up behind her, invisible. When his Ether Walk ended, he struck her on the arm. There was an explosion of white light, and Justice's arm bled with the force of the impact. Her eyes went white, and she stood still, frozen. Noah disarmed her, taking both of her magical rods from her.

"What are ye doing, Noah?" exclaimed Chastity. "Why? What did she do?"

Noah tripped Justice with his foot, but caught her with his hands, lowering her to the ground. "I'm not sure," he said, "but she did something."

Justice's eyes regained their normal color, and she flinched in surprise at being suddenly on the ground. She made a motion to get up, but Noah told her to stop and stay sitting. She realized her rods were both in Noah's hands. "Ah, so ye figured it out, have ye? I thought ye were a dullwit."

"Figured what out?" asked Chastity, looking to Noah for clarification.

"She's been doing something to us. I think she's been manipulating time somehow." He glared at her, but she didn't shrink under the accusation.

"So what if I have, Heretic?" she said, spitting on the ground -- or rather, on the snakes slithering all around her.

"See?" Noah said triumphantly. She's been using this artifact to look forward in time. I saw her holding it, and I felt a shiver down my spine, and at the same time, she changed directions, like she had just seen the future."

Justice laughed mockingly, but said nothing.

"What? What's so funny?" asked Noah. "You think something's fucking funny?"

"We have felt the same quivers since we met her, nie?" asked Chastity. "She has been using time magic to forecast her future? Why?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'll know once I try it. I saw her freeze the visnake with this one, so I assume it's this one that does it," he said, handing Chastity the freezing rod.

"Ye toy with magic beyond yer understanding. I warn ye: if ye use that artifact, ye will surely die," said Justice. She spoke gravely, but Noah could see right through her act.

"Sure, you'd like that, wouldn't you? No, I'll be trying it out. How do I... Oh, I see, I probably just twist right here..."

Noah's stomach lurched as he was pulled backward through time. He watched as the other rod went from Chastity's hands back into his. He rewound maybe fifteen seconds into the past. The blue mana indicator on the rod shrunk, indicating he'd used about half of the remaining mana in the process.

"Figured out what?" asked Chastity.

Noah looked at her in surprise, then down at Justice. He had just gone back in time! Noah's mouth hung open. Recognizing what had just happened, Justice screamed.

"Undoing! Attack! Attack!" she cried. The lathargic, sick dragon merely let out a small puff of flame in response, and groaned. Its tongue rolled out of its mouth and lay on the stone in front of him. Justice clung to the dragon, cowering.

"What? What happened?" asked Chastity.

"I just went back in time. Like fifteen seconds. And she knows. She knows I've found out what her artifact does." Noah stared at her hatefully. "And she knows what I've figured out."

"What did ye figure out, Noah? That she can turn back time a few seconds with her artifact?"

"Remember when we kept feeling those strange feelings in the Magma Pits? And each time, some of you would say you felt briefly like you had died?"

"Yea..." said Chastity. Then, suddenly, her eyes opened wide in recognition, staring at Justice. "Oh! Oh, Eye!"

"Yeah. She kept trying to murder us all, but every time she failed, she rewound time so we'd forget. She only had fifteen seconds to do it -- or maybe more, if this thing is fully charged with mana -- and she couldn't pull it off in time. Then last night she tried again while we were sleeping, but she failed."

Justice groaned. "Yea, I failed to slay ye all. Yea, it be true!" she said, looking at Chastity, taking pleasure in the revelation. "Ye be a frustrating piece of human filth, Noah Turner! All yer friends be fools and easy to butcher. Especially that pink maiden, bless her heart. She dies so pathetically each time! All she has to defend herself are those bubbles! I nearly feel bad slaying her. But ye, Noah, ye never die! No matter how hard I try to slay ye, no matter how stealthily I approach, I always fail! Some branch breaks, or the grasshound wakes up, or something gives me away by chance. Have ye a sky-high Luck stat or something? What fool puts points into Luck! And even when yer Luck saves ye nie, that stupid, cowardly ability turns ye to shadow, and I be forced to rewind time! Fuck ye, ye cowardly Heretic!" Justice was red in the face, and saliva flew from her lips as she screamed. She spat at Noah, but the saliva fell short.

"Eye help ye, Justice, Dragon Rider," said Chastity. "Even if ye failed, yer soul be tainted with murder forevermore."

"Well, what are ye to do? Slay me? Ye need me to control Undoing! Besides, I be nie the sole murderer in this encampment!" Justice flashed a contemptuous grin.

"What the fuck do you mean, you're not the only murderer here? Who else?" asked Noah.

Still red in the face with anger, Justice smiled and took pleasure in taunting Noah. "Let us merely say that yer flameveined little friend fell nie to the visnake of his own accord."

"What the fuck does that mean?" asked Noah, but Justice laughed in his face. "Cardi?" Noah kicked her, but she just laughed at him. She was seething with contempt. "What did you see? Why do you expect me to believe a word you say?"

"I can already see ye believe me, so why need I to convince ye?"

Noah looked at Chastity, and then they both looked toward the camp. Berenice and Cardi were carrying Jori's body parts toward the forest, presumably to bury them. Noah and Chastity looked back at one another, neither of them sure what to think.

"Ye nie think she could have hurt poor Jori, do ye, mine love?" asked Chastity.

"No," said Noah, uncertan. He thought about Cardi, and how Jori was the strongest opposition to her plan to make the Heart the prime god of this world. She was a strange girl. But she was so kind. Was it possible? "I don't think so. I'm sure she's just lying," said Noah.

Noah and Chastity tied up Justice, and hauled her into the camp. They intended to force her to fly them on Undoing, and would have to hold a knife to her throat to ensure she complied.

Noah and Chastity kept Justice close, keeping an eye on her. They would have to stay right next to her at all times, so she couldn't have Undoing attack them without getting hurt herself. After Noah explianed to them about Justice, Berenice and Cardi finished burying Jori in the forest. Noah tried talking to Sven, but he wanted to stay alone in his tent. He assured Noah he would be okay, but his voice was shaky, like he'd been crying.

As the sun rose, the snakes began to slither back into the snakelake. As the hours passed, Undoing seemed to recover from his sickness, and eventually they were able to leave. By the time they did, there wasn't a snake in sight.

Undoing glared at Noah as he held Justice at knifepoint, but he obeyed Justice's orders. Sven sat at the back of the dragon and didn't say anything to anyone. Cardi was smiling, like nothing had happened. Noah eyed her curiously. Could she have done it? Would she have?

They took off into the sky one fewer than when they had landed. By late that day, they would arrive in town.