“Oh boy Oh boy do you know what time it is Fred?” says the Other in a childlike manner.

“Yes,” says one of the golems following him, “And don’t call me Fred! How did you even get there from Scarlet?!”

“Well, Scarlet is red, and you are kind-of friendly, so Fred!”

The contingent of golems moving with the Other all shake their head, just glad they weren’t the current target of his insanity. Twelve golems in all, carrying boxes and chairs enough for all of them.

“So,” starts Scarlet who is skeptical about their current enterprise, “you want us to play children’s music? To the soul of a Dragon?”

“Well yes~, but it’s much more wonderful than that you know~. I just found out the identity of the dragon our recent visitor slew, and am very much in the mood for some torture! Buah ha ha ha!”

Scarlet looks back over her shoulder at the other golems, who just shrug in response. Shaking her head, she continues onward. “We brought all of the hard-wires like you asked, so I take it there’s something special going on?”

“Oh yes, special indeed. Instruments to wire, wire to you, you to this box,” the other says, tapping a cube, “And all of your audio inputs turned off after going through the next door! One thing though, I know souls don’t ‘sleep’ but you ought to tire right~? Make sure you take some breaks in turn, but keep playing.”

“How long do you want us to play for!” yells Scarlet. “What are we, machines!?”

The Other stops and looks at Scarlet, then at the rest of the golems, then back to Scarlet. “Do you want some help then?”

“Grrrrrrrrr. Two days, every two days switch us out okay? Is there anything else we should know about?”

“Oh yes~,” says the Other with a truly evil glint in his eyes, “Yes there is~”

- - - - -

In the middle of a dark room, atop a pedestal of enchanted metal, sits a small stone retrieved from the skull of Brinlog. Normally this stone would be discarded during the processing of a dragon as it forms after death as it appears to be detritus found around the last wound received.

Lights begin to shine on the pedestal lighting up various magic circles. Suddenly shimmering, lights burst forth from the stone and form a small and translucent red dragon.

“HA HA HA HA! Humans are so stupid! In a few hundred years I shall be back, and yet the only thing you have gained is my wrath!”

“Brin my boy! How are you feeling?”

“What?” replies Brinlog, looking around nervously.

“Oh, you’re awake Brinlo!”

“Mom, Dad? What-”

“We were told you would be waking up soon so we had a communication array set up.”

“Really, we were telling you it would just be a matter of time not even a hundred years ago that you would land yourself in the hands of a monster yet here you are~.”

“That? No! I made sure I would never go anywhere near abnormal healers just in case! I thought you were pulling my tail when I was growing up just to behave!” Brinlog shouts into the darkness. “I can still leave! He is not here yet!”

As Brinlog tries to fly away, he fails to notice for several seconds that he cannot pass any further than the pedestal’s edge, no matter how hard he flaps his wings.

“What is this!” Brinlog yells into the darkness, finally noticing his situation. “The stone should have broken if I’m free!”

“Yes, it should have,” replies a baritone voice in the darkness. “So you should know what that means yes.”

“How cute, our rebellious son is still trying his best to destroy it all~.”

“Atta boy, pride of dragons right there. Now, if only we could have done something about your personality.”

Brinlog settles briefly in the air as the three voices speak, when a dim glow begins to brighten around the Other.

“Lord and Lady, is there anything else you would like to say? I shall return him in what will seem like a short while. After all, humans have a bit of a grudge against him, but I’m not one to go about destroying life.”

“Ah ha ha ha! You say that,” replies the slightly more masculine dragon. “Well Brinlo, we told you about atonement right? Normally it goes the other way around, humans to dragons, but you should come out of this alright.”

“Brin! If you remember when he releases you, come home for a bit and Mama will hunt some delicious things for you.”

“Thank you Lord and Lady, perhaps we shall see you before a century passes. I’ve recorded the last bit and will play it back to him from time to time so he remembers to go home. If you plan any raids though, let me know so I can heal from behind you.”

“Ah, now that you mention it there was someone in golden armor that was trying to cause trouble not long ago. We may do something about that.”

“Golden armor?” replies the Other. “Ah, did he have a green flag with a dragon on a shield with a sword through its heart?”

“That was the terrorist! You know of him?”

“You could say that. Close sources of mine say he died peacefully in his sleep about twenty years ago, so you should be fine for a while, but let me know either way.”

“Somewhat a shame but alright then. Bye son!”

“Bye son!”

“Wait!” shouts Brinlog, only to be met with silence.

“Now,” says the Other, “I hear you have been enjoying causing pain and suffering among the humans for a lõng time now. A number of people would like to repay the favor.”

“You cannot hurt me! Nothing you do will have any effect!”

“Oh, we shall see,” says the Other with a grin, lit from below by a dim light orb. The Other then snaps his fingers, and several dozen projections show up all around the room including the bottom of the pedestal. Within those projections are small, bipedal creatures, playing with each other and with random objects within the rooms or fenced areas they are in. Most are ‘pink,’ but some are green.

“What is this?!” says Brinlog, still panicking. “What are you doing?!”

“Oh these are just children. Mostly human. Some goblins. In case you can’t tell, only one of these is playing the voices of the children right now, and also,” the Other says, snapping his fingers once again, “I’ve prepared some light music to go along with children playing. Oh, and you’re probably thinking you can close your eyes and ears, but you’re just a soul right now you know~? Haven’t~you noticed blinking does nothing~? You can’t sleep and those magic circles are sending this all directly into it for your viewing pleasure~.”

As Brinlog looks around at all the projections trying to decide if there is any escape, he hears a squeak-ah come from the Other. Focusing his attention, he sees a small replica of himself, black and maroon and with open jaws. The Other, seeing he has Brinlog’s attention, squeezes the replica again.

“Also~, I haven’t had time to get new recordings, but I’ve made a number of these with a fantastic little device that makes noise without any magic! I’ll be gifting several to the children and let them play with you.”

“Blaspheme!” shouts the dragon while trying to break out of his invisible cage. “Nobody -plays- with the mighty Brinlog!”

“Ah, you say that~,” replies the Other, dimming the ambient light and walking away, sending off several squeaks of defiance as he closes a door with a resounding boom.