“Took you fucking long enough,” Joey spat out.

“I win,” Reysha declared triumphantly.

“We all win,” Aclysia responded.

“Which makes the bet totally worthless…” Korith grumbled. “Why even have bets that you can’t win anything from?”

“We estimated you would be irate no matter how quick we made it back,” Apexus explained to the captain.

Joey clicked his tongue, his heel hammering on the wooden floor of the building. They were in one of the buildings by the docks. The primary purpose was to store wagons and horses, which were needed to get supplies from the ships to the fortress. The room they were in was an extension of it that was mostly used for shelter from the rain. Joey had been using it to quarter his crew while they waited. It had a little more comfort than the ship.

“Guess you were fucking right,” the old half elf just growled and forced his leg to stop. “Especially since you come back with an extra passenger.”

“Don’t worry Joey, I was here the entire time,” Mai responded.

The captain furrowed his eyebrows, the part of his hair that still sported the most of the once universal blackness. He opened his mouth slightly. “Do I know you?” he asked after a moment’s hesitation.

“Name is Mai,” she responded with a little bow.

“Ah,” Joey remembered immediately and leaned back. “How is the husband?”

“Not too bad with me away, I hope,” the teacher sighed, wantonly gazing off into the distance. “Hubby will have to get up and make his own breakfast…”

“How unreasonable,” the captain remarked drily. “Can Rentilas still tie his shoes by himself or did you pamper that out of him?”

“I haven’t gotten him there yet.”

“Ya two know each other?” Reysha asked.

“A little,” Mai answered. “If you stay long enough, you eventually sail with this short-fused bastard.”

“I liked you better when you were withdrawn and didn’t open your fucking mouth,” Joey responded aggressively. “But yeah, we just see each other like once every two years or so. Not that I recognize her shape-shifting ass when it’s not attached to her husband like the world’s clingiest piece of slime.”

“You’ll die alone if you don’t correct that tone, young man.”

“Gods, I hope. Peace and quiet in my final moments,” Joey grunted and leaned back. “Enough with the chit-chat, we done here?”

“Yes,” Apexus confirmed. Waiting several seconds for the humanoid chimera to add something, Joey shook his head and then turned to his crew.

“Get your asses into gear, we’re leaving with the next high tide!” he shouted at the sailors, most of whom had already started to move. The room was quickly emptying, leaving only the quartet, the teacher, and the captain around a simple table. “So, did you get it done?”

“Yes,” Apexus responded again, then grabbed his bag. He, alongside everyone else in the party, started to put the spoils onto the table.

The various scales from Kaladar’s hoard made for a prismatic display. Every colour was present in some shade, albeit red, blue, and green were by far the most represented. Size was even more chaotic. The red dragon had usually made off with whatever scales he got his claws on after the duel had gone on long enough to sate his hunger for violence. Because of this, some of the scales were of the larger variety that covered the back and some were the miniscule ones on the hands of the large beasts. Similarly, the quality was inconsistent. Some scales had been shattered into pieces during the combat, others had been broken from the start. Same went for the several horns they placed on the table. The largest was twice the size of a deer antler and twisted, while the shortest was just a curved tip, barely longer than a finger.

Although the spread of quality made it difficult to discern the total value, Joey grinned as he scanned over his payment. “Here I thought I’d be stuck with red scales,” he hummed.

Apexus felt borderline disturbed by seeing the old half elf be happy. It was like witnessing a frog casually walk on water. Sure, the frog lives in the environment, and Joey had the facial features required for the expression, but enabling that bit more was a leap in what the slime understood to be normal.

Continuing to hum to himself, Joey stroked his smooth chin. “This’ll fetch a nice price…” he reached down to his waist and grabbed his coin purse. The metal inside rattled in that satisfying way only coins could. Swiftly, he fished five gold coins out from inside and threw them across the table.

One of them hit the table at an angle and started rolling. Korith smashed her hand down on it with enough force to make the entire table shake. Rapidly, she picked up the other four coins and looked at them with big eyes. “For Hoard?” she asked.

“Fuck if I know what you’ll do with it, fact is I’ll make a killing… also I guess you killed a dragon and that’s sort of impressive.”

“I’d like to see ya try,” Reysha purred.

“So, you’d like to see me die?” Joey asked, while looking around the room. He found an empty barrel. Carrying it to the table, he began filling it with the various dragon scales. “Big guy,” he barked in his usual, aggressive tone, and stopped himself when Apexus stared back. The humanoid chimera knew this aspect of him, which was comforting, and his usual response was to maintain physical dominance. It kept the tone humble. “Could you carry this to the ship for me?” Joey requested.

“Yes,” Apexus said, for the third time.

‘I can never read that guy,’ Joey thought, while Apexus did as asked and lifted the heavy barrel with both arms.

________________________________________________________________________

Two hours later, the ship was starting to sail away from the island.

Apexus looked back at it with a mixture of emotions. ‘Was this a hunt or a mission?’ he asked himself. ‘Did I come here to eat something or for something more?’ he reformulated, hoping to find an answer.

The fundamental purpose of the trip had been to acquire the magical cortex. In that regard, it was a hunt from the outset. What he had seen of the world here made him feel like it was a mission with a purpose though. If that was the case, what had that purpose been? To leave the Dragon Islands better than he had found them?

The main thing he had learned was that he didn’t have that level of power. It was too vast a place with too many people. He had killed Kaladar, which led to people all around being safe at least for a little while.

‘The Dragon Isles are a little safer. That’s all I can do for now,’ Apexus embraced the endpoint of the train of thought. He had come to hunt and accomplished a little more. He had also found at least one creature that had, doubtlessly, deserved death. Exposure to it helped come a little closer towards the answer of who he should spare and who he should kill. Whether he would ever reach it was questionable.

Maltos had often told Apexus about a Monk’s search for enlightenment being a road all of them travelled. “In all my years,” the teacher had said, “all those that I considered to have reached a point of true wisdom in one or all fields never considered themselves fully learned, while simultaneously being insistent on what they were certain about. Truest enlightenment appears to be the humility to accept that we’re never done learning.” He had let out a little laugh. “I know your stance towards idioms, but maybe you will like this one: keep your feet on the ground and your head in the clouds.”

‘How could I be that tall?’ Apexus had wondered then and was still sort of wondering now. ‘I’m taking this too literally. Probably something about being rigid and flexible at the same time? Clouds aren’t that flexible though. They’re easily disrupted.’

Dismissing that thought, Apexus turned away from the railing and walked into the chamber that he, alongside his party and Mai, occupied. Inside there, Korith was eagerly laying out her playing cards and dice in a deliberate pattern. For once, it was not a preparation for some kind of game.

“Only four?” Korith asked for the tenth time.

“Yes, four, a total of eighty percent of the exceedingly large sum we have been paid surprisingly,” Aclysia responded, her tone hard to reflect her unbudging conviction on this topic. “Your devotion to your deity is admirable. It will not see the total ruination of our finances.”

“Maybe just 50 silver on top?” Korith bartered.

“No.”

“Awwww…” the kobold pouted. Aclysia did not budge. Relenting, the blonde shortstack put four gold coins in the middle of the circle of playing cards and dice.

Summoning worked through physical metaphors and esotericism. What made up the summoning circle was directly linked to what it aimed to achieve. In order to reach the Hoard, a number of items representing chance around tokens of value was a tried and tested method of communication. As a Goldborn kobold, Korith knew every last one of the ways to communicate with Hoard. This was a magic she had been schooled in since she knew how to write.

Rituals, in general, were difficult magic. Almost anyone could set one up if they followed the instructions. Creating the proper conduit to achieve what was desired and channelling one's magic to use it were two wildly different skills, however.

Nervously, Korith approached the circle she had laid and put her finger on the ace of spades. It had been a while since she had offered to the Hoard. Waiting any longer would have been improper though. Hoard deserved to grow at all times.

Everyone else in the room, even Mai, followed with interest as the small woman closed her eyes and concentrated. Almost immediately, the dice and cards began to glow. Lifting off the ground, they hovered a finger width above the planks. The coins at the centre flipped into the air and hit the ground with a pure ‘pling’. Each of them individually, in a constant rhythm, flipped and fell. One, two, three, four – one, two, three, four – one, two, three, four – the constant fling was almost hypnotic.

Then the sound of what they landed on shifted from wood to other gold coins. One, two, three, four – and all of them were gone. Vanished through an invisible portal. “Nice,” a voice, pure and androgynous, echoed in the room.

The hovering dice fell to the floor. The ace of spades under Korith’s finger darted off in a diagonal line. It slipped underneath the next card over, then the two of them moved to the third, then those three towards the fourth. This continued clockwise, until the entirety of the deck had been gathered up.

It shuffled itself. The sounds of the cardboard moving were emphasized, filling the room more than the whisper of paper should ever be capable of. When Korith opened her eyes, the deck slowly settled where the coins had been. The upper three cards of the deck settled down in front of her, still hidden.

Fingers wiggling, Korith looked between the three. She reached for the middle, then stopped. Then she reached for the right one and stopped. She tilted her head and looked at the left one. She hummed. She kept prolonging the moment. The excitement of not knowing what exactly her deity had in store for her.

Then she finally took the middle one and flipped it over. The two of hearts laid before her. The red symbols on the worn playing card glowed intensely. At the height of their illumination, they suddenly shifted to blue and with a ‘poof’ a blue gemstone manifested. “Thank you for your contribution,” the voice of the god said as the presence of the Hoard faded away.

“Thank you for being the best!” the kobold responded excitedly and picked up the blue stone. She marvelled at its intense colour, like the clearest sky, and the beauty of its teardrop shape. The surface was worked unevenly, adding a natural note to the man made form. “See how great Hoard is?” Korith asked and showed everyone else the stone.

Everyone bowed over what the kobold so gleefully presented. The colour was indeed pretty. It was small enough to fit inside someone’s palm. More important was what it was made of. “That’s quartz,” Mai stated.

“Ya serious?” Reysha asked. “I thought that was something cool for a second! Is it magical?”

Apexus put a finger against it and sensed for any mana radiating from it. “No,” he said.

“Four gold for a piece of quartz is not a worthwhile investment,” Aclysia said.

“I-it’s totally worth it!” Korith stammered and pressed the stone against her chest. “Hoard thanked me for my contribution, this stone is super special.”

“I know Shamans that can create something just like that in ten minutes,” Mai chuckled.

“Well, uh, there may be many like it, and maybe everyone can replicate it, but this one is mine! I earned it with money I gave Hoard, so it’s the best one.” Korith’s voice grew weaker as she defended the gift she had received. Not because she grew any less convinced of its value, but because the crowd clearly wasn’t buying it.

Apexus knelt down beside her and put a hand on her head. His large palm barely fit between her horns. Gently, he scratched her golden scalp. “I don’t know what the stone is worth,” he said, “but I don’t need much money. Your smile is more important.”

Clutching the stone, Korith kissed Apexus on the lips. “I love you!” she said.

And they made their way home.