Fool Queen Aetherspace Adventures, Volume 3:

The Kings of Lorfenada

by Thul, Son of Tae

.oO()Oo.

It is the Age of Ascension, and those mortals touched by Fate can rise and
become gods. But power is hard to attain, outside the confines of the great
Cities and the Communes. For those unwilling to shoulder the endless war between
the great powers, for those cast out, for those who simply seek to be free, only
aetherspace remains.

This is the continuing tale of a band of such rogues, the crew of the
aethership Fool Queen. Bound to no power, theirs is a tale of hardship,
survival, and adventure.

Leading the crew and piloting the ship is the aslaran scholar Dartan Blackhide,
formerly of the Glomdoring. The Fool Queen is his, and it is his stern hand that
guides both his ship and his crew through the dangers they face... when any of
them deign to listen.

Acting as empath, recordskeeper and occasional entertainment, the squirrelkin
bard known as Balomahama ("Bal" for short) makes her home aboard the Fool Queen.
A little Tainted, a little immature and a little crazy, she alternately holds
together and maddens the rest of her crew.

And finally, acting as gunner, security, and chef for the ship is the massive
taurian called Kohrdal of the Wrong Way. His fists are mighty, his temper is
short, and his strawberry tart is surprisingly good.

We rejoin our crew as they explore an undiscovered aetherbubble, after being
tossed randomly into the aether by an unstable vortex. Again.

.oO()Oo.

"Yes. This is everything I've been hoping for," Kohrdal said flatly, his arms
folded across his broad chest. "Glorious battle with strange foes under a
strange horizon. My heart has never known such excitement."

Bal blinked a few times at Kohrdal, and then giggled. "Silly taurian. There
aren't any enemies here."

"Of course there aren't any enemies here!" Kohrdal snapped, kicking at the
grass irritably. "There's nothing here at all! Just a few trees and some grass!
Even Dramube had some things to kill!"

"There's more here," Dartan said firmly. Kohrdal was almost right... besides a
few trees and some grass, the aetherbubble seemed entirely deserted. But a
strange arch stood in the middle of it all, made of twisting stone and runed all
over with characters he hadn't seen before. "I know there's more to it. Have you
ever heard of a free-floating aetherbubble before? Space doesn't even thicken
around it. I'm amazed we could moor here."

"It's a nice place," Bal said airily, lying back in the grass and stretching
out. "Warm but breezy. It'd be nice to have a picnic. No bugs or birds to bother
you, no clouds." She chuckled. "Well, unless you wanna act like the passing
cloiers are clouds."

The aslaran blinked and looked up from his work. "No bugs, even? This bubble is
sterile, too? Huh..." He looked thoughtful. "I wonder what..."

He was cut off by a quick thump on the head from Kohrdal. "Get to work on the
arch already. If you're wrong about this place, I want to know quickly so we can
get out of here."

Dartan rose quickly, a low growl building in his throat. "You watch it,
taurian, or so help me I'll leave you on this worthless bubble," the black
feline hissed softly.

Kohrdal blinked and flinched back for a second, before scowling. "You wouldn't
dare."

"Try me, you giant steak on legs," Dartan growled louder. "After that last
stunt you pulled in front of the Mags, I don't even know why I..."

"It's open," Bal said cheerfully. Dartan cut off mid-sentence, and indeed the
gate was shining golden, a few segments of the archway now spinning about.

"What'd you do?" Dartan and Kohrdal said at much the same time.

"Got bored. Last one in's a rotten egg!" she replied cheerfully, before hopping
through the portal.

"Bal! You stupid..." Dartan cried in alarm. "You don't know what's through
there!"

Kohrdal cracked his knuckles, grinning faintly. "She can't hear you, and
there's only one way to find out. C'mon, captain."

Dartan glowered at the departing bull, black fur bristling. "I need a better
crew," he muttered to himself, before jumping through after them.

-=+=-

Dartan emerged from the arch and into chaos. The landscape was much as before,
oddly pristine planes beneath a strange false sky, but there were more trees,
and some structures in the distance that looked only half-built. But this was of
secondary concern.

Bal was in the middle of a pile of strange creatures, squealing... giant balls
of fur, spherical creatures with fat little arms and legs and tails and muzzles
and ears sticking out of them. Kohrdal roared with delight as he delivered a
massive kick to one of the things, causing it to visibly fold inwards for a
moment before flying off into the distance. "Whee!" it cried, as it sailed off.

"Get them off Bal!" Dartan cried in alarm, before stopping. Something was off,
and it took him a moment to figure out what. Was Bal laughing? The aslaran's
face turned into a grimace of disbelief as three of the things charged him. He'd
heard a few battlecries in his time, but "Hugs!" wasn't one of the more
terrifying ones.

"Kohrdal, stand down! Stand down!" Dartan called, even as the bull sent another
furball flying. "They aren't hostile. Balomahama, calm yourself."

"They're tickly!" the furrikin replied happily, picking up one of the creatures
and hugging it close. It was just a foot shorter than she was, and her arms
wouldn't go all the way around.

Dartan sighed as the creatures mobbed his legs. "Yes. They are. I'm not
ticklish, you bunch. Shoo..." the aslaran growled, before turning his head
sharply as a hollow thump sounded, followed by a fading squeal of delight.
"Kohrdal! I told you to stop. They aren't attacking."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But this is fun," the taurian replied cheerfully.

"Kohrdal!"

"They think so too," Kohrdal replied defensively. "It's the same one that keeps
coming back. Look, he's all giggly about it."

As Dartan watched, the furball waddled back up to the taurian, and bounced up
and down a few times in front of him, squeaking eagerly. There was, in fact, a
definite sense of glee in the creature's voice as Kohrdal punted it across the
aetherbubble.

"Stop it anyway. It's disturbing," the aslaran decided, before shaking off the
furballs mobbing him. "What are these things, anyway?"

"Snuggleballs!" Bal cried cheerfully. Her voice was echoed with a wordless cry
of delight from the strange round creatures, which promptly gathered around her.

"She's not wrong," Kohrdal said, grinning a bit at Dartan's grimace of
distaste. "They do kinda look like furrikin, now that I look at them. And act
like them, too... stupid fat round furry things that're only good for cuddling
and kicking." He grinned all the wider he ducked a little plush peep doll that
Bal threw at him.

"You've actually got a bit of a point," Dartan mused, ducking sideways to avoid
a second doll. "It's like they're proto-furrikin. Look, that one's a fox, that
one's a rabbit."

"That one's a hamster," Kohrdal added, wryly.

"Oh gods where we need to kill it," Bal said, all cheer vanishing.

"I was just kidding, Bal."

"They're pure evil. Kethuru holds no horror like a hamster."

"Let's focus, here," Dartan said firmly, shaking off one of the furballs from
his leg. "These things aren't hostile. And we've got a lot more bubble to
explore now. With buildings, too. Let's split up... I'll take the blue building,
Kohrdal, take the big one over there. Bal, pick one of those other ones, and try
not to get lost."

"What about these anklehumpers?" the taurian asked.

"Gods, fine. Punt them if you have to," Dartan replied irritably.

"Yes!"

"But let's get out there and see what we can find, alright?"

-=+=-

"I am the Archivist." The figure looked much like a human, but he was
unnaturally thin, with stringy black hair and eyes of blue fire. Clad in fine
robes of blue and black, and surrounded by scrolls and impressively-decorated
tomes, he should have been imposing, but there was an odd emptiness about him, a
hollowness in his voice and behind his eyes. "I am the project of Gheasia and
Raezon. Welcome to my library."

"Thank you," Dartan replied, bowing simply before the man. "Forgive me for
arriving unannounced."

The Archivist stared straight ahead, not seeming to register the aslaran's
presence any longer.

Dartan frowned a moment, but went on. "So you're a... project? Of the Elders?"

This brought no response either.

"You're a project of Raezon?" Dartan ventured.

"Raezon and Gheasia, like the other Elders, desired a true child," the
Archivist intoned. "But it was not to be. Despite many long years of research
and experimentation, all they could produce was failure. All they could produce
was me. And so they moved on, leaving me here with the rest of the failures in
Lorfenada."

Dartan just stared a long while, wondering how the Archivist could say this
with such dispassion. But it occurred to him: that was it. He was empty, barely
responsive to outside stimulus. Two Thinkers would never have accepted a mere
doll as Their son. But still... "So They just left you here?"

No response.

"They left you here in Lorfenada?" Dartan tried.

No response.

"Everyone here is a failure?"

"Yes, I'm a failure. They said I would never have Their insight, Their desire
to learn. And so They left me here," the Archivist said, his face empty of
emotion.

Dartan shrugged, and opened his mouth to speak, when the Archivist suddenly
exploded.

"They abandoned me, in this room of empty books!" the man howled with
indignation, his eyes literally flaming. "Said it would be fitting. He told
me... He TOLD me to my face that I was dumber than the burbles out there! Less
than the products of those two mindless snugglebunnies! How dare He?" The
Archivist's face twisted into an ugly mask of hatred, and his thin fingers
clawed into the wood of his desk. "I will kill Him for the insult. I will kill
Him I will kill Him I will..."

The Archivist's rage faded as soon as it had appeared, his hands relaxing and
unfolding back into a resting position on his desk. His face quickly dropped
back into its usual blank state.

Dartan stared a few moments longer, before turning and leaving in a hurry. The
Archivist didn't even notice.

-=+=-

"So we've found the dumping ground for all of the Elders' failed breeding
experiments," Dartan explained to the other two, as they sat among a pile of the
round, furry creatures. They'd concluded that these were the burbles that the
Archivist had referred to, and that his rage had been warranted. At least the
burbles weren't supposed to be smart. "That's why this place was hidden and
sealed away... I guess They were all embarrassed."

Kohrdal huffed. "They'd better have been embarrassed. This is a kingdom of
retards," the taurian said darkly, kicking out at another of the furry
creatures. It giggled as it bounced into a pile of its fellows, scattering them
all.

Dartan gave Kohrdal a pointed look for a moment. "That's just rude. How could
you say that?"

"I found their king."

-+-

The figure's skin was a deep, royal blue, studded in places with pearly white
shells that somehow grew naturally out of his body. One of these shells grew out
of his chin, giving the impression of a goatee, while other shells fanned out of
his skull, like crests. If he'd had gills and scales, he might've passed off for
a merian, but as it was he looked merely like an odd human. Whatever he was,
though, he was clearly meant to be in charge, regally holding a great golden
trident atop a white, shell-patterned throne, flanked by two burbles with pot
helmets and armed with planks. His fur-trimmed robes were white and gold and
much longer than his body, draping down his legs, down the stairs of the dais,
and all the way down to the floor in front of him. The effect was rather
impressive, but seemed like it would be impractical if the king ever wanted to
move. Not that that seemed likely... he seemed perpetually locked in a position
of royal authority.

Kohrdal walked into this scene, sneering at the gaudiness of it all. That taken
care of, he noted that neither the guards nor the king himself seemed to have
taken any notice of the hulking stranger before them. "Uh. Hello?"

That seemed to get a response. "Kneel, vassal," the king said grandly. "I am
the King of Lorfenada, and you will show respect in my halls."

The taurian blinked slowly. "How about you go screw yourself?"

Contrary to all of Kohrdal's expectations, he was not immediately rushed by the
guards, or zapped with some strange magic from the king's trident. In fact, his
rudeness failed to get any response whatsoever. The taurian was actually a
little confused. Had he not gotten his point across? "You're not my king. I
don't answer to spineless prats in women's ballgowns."

"By order of my father Meridian, I am the rightful King of this land," the king
said brightly, as if there'd been no insult at all. "My rule has brought peace
and prosperity to Lorfenada."

"Yeah, that's great," Kohrdal said, eyes narrowing slightly. "I just called you
a crossdresser. Are you deaf, or are you stupid? What's the problem, here?"

The king merely continued to look regal.

"Are you even listening?" Kohrdal grumbled, before walking right up the dais,
taking care to trample the robes as he went. "Hello? Insulting you here, you
hairless blue bastard," he bellowed, right into the king's ear.

The king acted like nothing had happened at all.

-+-

"And after twenty minutes of that I got bored and left," Kohrdal finished.

"That's not true," Bal said, as she rode around on the head of one of the
burbles, which gleefully ran around in circles.

"Screw you, woman!" the taurian barked. "I totally left him alone this time. No
matter how much he needed to die."

"You'd better have left him alone," Dartan said pointedly. Kohrdal snorted at
him.

"No, not that. You didn't find the king," Bal said, singsong. "Because I found
the king!"

-+-

The figure throne seemed mostly human, and a handsome human at that. He was
taller and more regal than any man, though, and his long, silvery hair gleamed
bright. Nowhere in the Basin would you find such beautiful and
intricately-embroidered robes, deep crimson and bright red and silver-white.
From atop his ruby throne, he looked the finest prince in all Creation.

"I am the true king of Lorfenada," he said, before giving a regal sniff.
"Despite what some others may think."

"Hail to the king!" Balomahama said brightly.

"I am the true king of Lorfenada," the king said, before sniffing. "Despite
what some others may think."

"Hail to the king!" Bal repeated, cheerfully.

"I am the true king of Lorfenada," the king said, before sniffing. "Despite
what some others may think."

"Hail to the king!"

"I am the true king of Lorfenada." Sniff. "Despite what some others may think."

"Hail to the king!"

"I am the true king of Lorfenada."

-+-

"And after twenty minutes of that I got bored and left," Bal finished.

"See?" Kohrdal said to Dartan. "Kingdom of retards."

"Shut up," Dartan said, sitting down to think. "Well, there's an opportunity
here. If there are really two kings vying for control over this bubble, we might
be able to earn some sort of reward for helping one or the other," the aslaran
mused.

"Oh yeah?" Kohrdal perked up.

"Oh yes," Dartan said, brightly, whipping out a sheet of paper and beginning to
jot down notes. "Even if the Elders abandoned their experiments here, they left
a lot of wealth behind. It should be relatively easy to make this work. We just
have to manipulate the populace here into supporting one or the other. I expect
we can bribe the burbles here with candy or shiny toys or something. Maybe we
can find some way to get the Archivist and the others to take sides. Bal,
Kohrdal, both of you fan out and start figuring out what we'll need."

"Kohrdal's not here," Bal noted cheerfully, as she nestled comfortably against
the belly of a burble.

"What?" Dartan looked around, scowling. "Where the Nil did he go?"

"Oh, he left the second you said something about a reward," the furrikin said,
stretching out. "I thought it was rude, but you were in the middle of talking so
I didn't want to say anything. You do love hearing yourself talk." She grinned
widely at the dirty look Dartan gave her.

"Hey, I'm back..." Kohrdal called, carrying a bundle over his shoulder.

Dartan snarled as he got up, stalking over to the approaching taurian and
smacking him across the muzzle with the rolled up paper. It crumpled uselessly
but the sentiment was there. "You giant lunkhead," he growled. "You're part of
this team, which means that you don't go running off while we're in the middle
of planning."

"Who needs a plan?" Kohrdal said, grinning widely. "You always try to do things
all difficult. This thing's simple. There were two kings, right?"

Dartan groaned as Kohrdal slung the bloody bundle down in front of him. His
face crushed and his arms broken in several places, the Blue King laid lifeless
in front of the aetherfarers, wrapped up in his own robes.

"Now there's just one," the taurian finished.

-=+=-

"I don't see why you're so upset. This is easy. It's... you know, a power
vacuum thingy," Kohrdal said, as Bal led the way to the Red King's chambers.

"Politics is a delicate art, Kohrdal," Dartan growled as he stomped along.
"There are any number of factors you have to consider. If the people of this
land won't accept him, this has all been for nothing."

"Uh, boss? What makes you think that anyone here is actually smart enough
for..."

"Shut up, Kohrdal," the aslaran snapped. "We're just going to try and salvage
this as much as we can." He sighed deeply, before putting his arms out. "Give me
the body." He grunted and stumbled as Kohrdal dropped the bundle one-handed into
his paws, steadying himself before striding with as much dignity as he could
muster into the throne room.

"Hail, your majesty," Dartan called as he came forward. "I bring you the body
of your rival."

"Welcome to my kingdom, vassal," the Red King said grandly. "I am king of
Lorfenada, and all this land answers to me."

"Yes. And now you are king without question," Dartan said, placing the body
before the throne.

"I am the true king of Lorfenada," the king replied, before giving a regal
sniff. "Despite what some others may think."

"Yes. You are the king. You have no rivals now," Dartan said, fighting his
failing hope. "Thanks to us."

"I am the true king of Lorfenada," the king said, before sniffing. "Despite
what some others may think."

"Yes. We have the body right here. Do you not see it?" the aslaran tried. It
warranted no response, and Dartan had to bite his lip to hold in a nasty curse.

"Let me try this one," Kohrdal offered, coming forth to pick up the body.

"What are you doing, Kohrdal?" Dartan muttered lowly. His eyes widened as the
taurian marched right up the dais and dumped the body straight into the king's
lap. "Oh gods, what's wrong with you?"

The taurian's behavior failed to draw a response, however, from either the king
or the guards. "Hey, buddy. You're king now. Do you get it?"

"I am the true king of Lorfenada. Despite what some others may think."

"Okay, no. I've got one last idea," Kohrdal said, taking the body back out of
the king's lap. With an expression of clinical detachment, the taurian began
hammering the Red King over the head repeatedly with the bundle.

The king finally responded, screaming for his guards and firing red lightning
from his fingers at the taurian. Still, it was over before Dartan and Bal could
do more than drive off the guards, Bal knocking one rolling away with a swing of
her lute, and Dartan making the other ricochet off the wall and out the door
with a vicious kick. Kohrdal stood over the Red King's body, fur smoking but
looking immensely content.

Dartan stared flatly at the taurian for a long while. "At some point, I'm going
to be angry at you, but I can't bring it up just now," he said, before letting
out a sigh. "Does he have any money on him?"

"Eh, only a bit," Kohrdal said, disappointed.

"Grab it and let's go. We'll split it up on the ship," Dartan said, smoothing
out his clothes. "Along with whatever you took from the Blue King."

"Bastard."

"Whatever, let's go." Dartan marched out the door quickly. Kohrdal shrugged and
dumped his improvised weapon where it laid, and Bal had to jog to keep up.

"Why're we in such a hurry to get back?" the furrikin asked as they headed back
towards the arch. "This place is fun!"

"There's nothing else of interest here. We can write a scroll about it and
maybe sell it to one of the nexuses once we're back on Prime," Dartan said
flatly, "but for right now all we've got are a bunch of little furballs."

"Yeah, there sure are a lot of them," Kohrdal grumbled, shaking a burble off
his leg again. "What's the deal with that?"

"Oh, can't you tell?" Bal said, cheerfully. "They're Bollikin's creatures.
Tae's too, probably."

"So what's that got to do with anything?"

"I would guess," Dartan said flatly, "that those two 'experimented' together. A
lot."

"Oh." Kohrdal paused a moment. "Gross."

"Grow up? Please?" Dartan muttered. "Come on. I'm getting hungry."

"Hey, guys?" Bal said, looking a little confused. "Why's the arch so bright?"

Dartan blinked. The arch was glowing much brighter than before, pure white
instead of the earlier gold. As he watched, a figure emerged from the portal, a
woman with twin swords at her sides.

"What are you mortals doing here?" she said, in a cold voice that didn't seem
to reach the ears as much as go straight to the mind.

"Oh, gods," Dartan mumbled.

"Oh hey!" Bal said brightly. "It's Terentia!"

-=+=-

Dartan immediately went down onto one knee. Kohrdal remained standing, folding
his arms across his chest, but keeping his eyes averted. Terentia, for her part,
seemed largely confused at their presence. Bal whipped out a piece of paper and
busied herself sketching the immortal.

"What are you doing here?" Terentia repeated, Her green eyes flashing
dangerously.

"It was an accident," Dartan said hurriedly. "We got sucked into a vortex..."

"Again," Kohrdal muttered.

"And we saw this bubble," the aslaran continued, shooting Kohrdal a dirty look.
"We were simply exploring."

"Well, leave swiftly," Terentia intoned. "There are places where no mortal
should tread, and this is one of them."

"All finished!" Bal said cheerfully, holding up her picture for all to see. In
the picture, Terentia looked stern and unamused, Her expression and Her weaponry
an odd counterpoint to the lacy white lingerie that only barely concealed Her
lithe, well-toned body.

"Oh. Wow..." Kohrdal grinned for a moment, before coughing and looking at the
ground.

"Bal!" Dartan shouted. "What the Nil is wrong with you? Why did you draw Her
like a Delport trollop?" He looked to the goddess with a terrified expression,
before his face screwed up in confusion. Terentia was, in fact, wearing exactly
the outfit that the bard had drawn.

There was a long, awkward silence.

"So do you like it?" Bal asked.

Silver armor materialized out of thin air, slamming loudly into place around
Terentia's body. "Leave," She said firmly, before marching stiffly away from the
arch.

"Does She not like it?" Bal pouted and looked at the sketch a moment until
Kohrdal took it from her.

"I like it. Gods, that's hot..." Kohrdal crooned in delight, before snarling in
protest as Dartan grabbed him by one horn.

"Run, run, run, run, RUN!" the aslaran growled softly, yanking both his crew
members towards the arch. The burbles whined in disappointment as they left, but
Dartan was having none of it, kicking them out of the way.

Kohrdal grunted in surprise as Dartan flung him bodily through the portal,
landing on his back on the other side. Bal fell on top of him afterwards with a
squeak. "What the Nil is the matter with you?" the taurian snapped as Dartan
emerged, and started running for the ship. It wasn't until they were all on
board and locking into their modules that the scholar answered.

"That woman... and don't say Her name right now... showed up looking like that,
not expecting anyone else to be there. What would you say She was there for?"
Dartan said, as they pulled away from Lorfenada.

"Duh. Booty call," Kohrdal replied. "But... wait. Who would She.."

"She is known to have had an unrequited thing for Meridian."

"So the blue guy was the next best thing. Alright. Ew, but alright." Kohrdal
grunted in thought over the aether. "But wait, didn't we just kill..."

"YES, dumbass."

All of Creation trembled as a goddess's howl of fury resounded across the
planes.

-+-

"Maybe that's not so bad," Kohrdal said, right before the ship shook violently.

"Damage to all systems," Bal noted calmly.

"We can't move," Dartan muttered. "What the Nil is wrong here?"

"You foul wretches." It was Terentia again, Her voice much louder than before.

"Is She in the ship?" Kohrdal asked. "What's going on?"

"No... that's not the problem," Dartan replied flatly.

Floating in the aether, some hundred feet tall, Terentia gripped the Fool Queen
in one hand. On Dartan's viewscreen, Her glaring green eyes took up the whole of
his vision.

"I can shoot at Her," Kohrdal ventured, but even he seemed aware that this was
a bad idea.

"More damage..." Bal reported. "Can't you just tell Her to go away?"

"Uh. Maybe." Dartan thought for a moment, as the ship shook again. "Oh gods,
here we go." He cleared his throat, before growling out. "Terentia, you'd better
lay off or else!"

The ship groaned as Terentia squeezed down. "Fool mortal. You think you can
threaten Me?"

"I mean it, woman! Do the other Elders know what You've been up to here?"

Terentia blinked. "That is no concern of yours, murderer."

"Please... he'll be back soon enough and you know it. I'll tell You what..."
Dartan said, licking his lips. "You let us go unharmed, and we won't tell the
whole of the Basin that You've been taking advantage of Meridian's... disabled
child."

The Fool Queen creaked audibly as Terentia squeezed down. "You won't make it
back to the Basin, you fools..."

"Yes we will, if You're thinking about killing us here," Dartan said quickly.
"We'll go right back to the Portal of Fate. And we'll be pissed."

Terentia looked uncertain, so Dartan pressed it as far as he dared. "You drop
us right now, or I'll use the F word."

"The what?" The goddess looked taken off guard.

"I'll give you a hint. It ends with 'ain' and He'll be laughing at you for
years to come." The aslaran ventured a cocky grin.

Terentia stared for a long while, but finally released the Fool Queen. "Nothing
of this place to the Basin, or I shall revel in your deaths for a decade. Do you
understand?"

"Loud and clear." Dartan grinned. "We'll just be on our way, then."

"Yes, you shall. Let Me help you with that."

"Oh Nil."

The viewscreen filled with the image of Terentia's thumb and index finger,
curled and primed to flick.

-+-

"Well, that sucked," Kohrdal said, once the spinning had stopped. "But we're
alive."

"That was fun!" Bal cried.

"I shall have to scour My hands now," Terentia's voice, now distant, echoed.
"Why you would shape your craft like that..."

"I told you it was a good shape," Kohrdal said cheerfully.

"Ugh. Focus, people..." Dartan grumbled, bringing up a map of the local area.
"Oh Nil. I don't recognize this place."

"Don't sound so glum about it," Bal replied cheerfully. "It's not like we
weren't lost before."

"Shut up, woman," Kohrdal muttered.

"So all's well that ends well!"

"Yes, Bal, except we're in dragon territory," Dartan said grimly. "Get ready
with the grid. Let's get out of here..."

.oO()Oo.

To be continued...