Chapter 3: 3

Chapter Text

Balgruuf did not hesitate in the slightest, simply saying, "Everyone with me. Irileth, what do we know?"
We all fell in behind him and Irileth began to give her report.
Two of the guards we had stationed at the tower ran here to report. The rest stayed behind to fight the beast. The runners say they left the tower a little over 30 minutes ago. There's no telling how much damage the dragon has been able to do in that time."
Balgruuf looked to Svarline and said, "How long did it take for the black one to burn Helgen."
Svarline froze up a little at the question. "I… I don't know. I wasn't paying attention. I was too focused on getting out." She looks like she's starting to zone out so I pick up the question for her.
"It couldn't have been any longer than 45 minutes at the most. If I were to guess I would say it took around 25 minutes to bring everything down."
Balgruuf cursed as we made our way back into the throne room. We were immediately rushed by a horde of nobles blabbering about their holdings, and needing protection.
Balgruuf stopped it all with a yell. "Enough! No one in this room will speak unless spoken to." The room grew deathly silent almost immediately.
Damn this dude has a presence. Now I'm curious.

Jarl Balgruuf
Jarl of Whiterun
Level- 54
Race- Nord
HP- 450
Thoughts about you- Your experience could save his hold so he needs you right now

Ya, he's a bit of a badass.
"Hrongar," Balgruuf turned to his brother. "Send a runner to the Companions immediately. Tell them of the situation and have them send any warriors they can to the front gate. We'll need as many men as we can get. Irileth, gather any guard we can spare and send them as well. Farengar gather any potions and scrolls you have that might be of use and get them to Irileth. You will stay behind in case the beast heads this way. You two." Balgruuf turns and looks to Svarline and myself. "I cannot order you to aid me in this endeavor, but you have both seen these things up close. Your support could be invaluable. If you fight I will see to it you are rewarded."
Svarline freezes for a second, before her face hardens and she steps up, "I'm with you." she says, then looks at me.
Fighting dragons! Just the thing I wanted to avoid when I came here. I don't know if I'm willing to do this.

Quest added!
[Slay the Dragon!]
A dragon has destroyed the Northern Watchtower and could move towards the city. Kill it before it has the chance!
Objective- Slay the Dragon
Bonus Objective- Slay the Dragon without more then 40 defenders dying
Bonus Objective- Slay the Dragon without more than 20 defenders dying
Bonus Objective- ???
Rewards- ?, ?
Bonus Rewards- ?,?,?,?

Oh, those damn question marks are going to be the literal death of me. Wait, Northern watchtower? Isn't it supposed to be.. You know what? Not important.
"I'll fight." I say, prompting Svarline to smile and Balgruuf to give a grateful nod.
"Go to the front gate and wait for the rest of our force. Thank you both." Balgruuf says to us before rushing over to another man in heavy armor and issuing more orders.
"Suppose we should get going." I say looking over to Svarline. She looks, excited? Great. Just throw it on top of the 'worry about later' pile I guess.
She nods and says, "Let's go kill a dragon." With that she takes off running out of the castle and I follow on her heels. We exit the building to see the sun slowly sinking below the mountains. We have maybe an hour of sunlight left before we'll be fighting at night. We need to do this fast.
We weave our way back through the streets and towards the gate we originally came through.
A short run later we come to a stop before a mass gathering of people. A few dozen guards all armed with bows, and swords. The alchemist Arcadia, and her… apprentice?, who are passing out a number of potions with various effects. As well as a group of over two dozen Companions with Farkas, Vilkas and Aela among them. More people trickle in as we stand and wait for the order to move.
"Hello again." Vilkas says as he walks up to us. "Didn't expect to see you again so soon. Are you here to fight with us?"
"Yes." Svarline answers. "The Jarl believes that since we've seen one up close we'll be able to help.
Aela grins as she joins Vilkas. "The more the merrier. We will bring this beast down yet!"
Before anyone can say more a group of heavily armed and armored men with Whiterun's crest emblazoned on their chests arrives behind Irileth. Now that I'm looking at them I realize they were standing guard in Dragonsreach. Balgruuf's personal guard? Or maybe just elit soldiers? Wow I need to focus.
"I'll keep this brief." Irileth says as she arrives. "That worm in the sky is a threat. It has already shown hostility towards us, and might attack us here. Attack our homes, our families. So we will kill the beast, and be remembered in song as the first heroes of the age to fell a dragon! Move out!"
A loud cheer erupts from the assembled warriors and we all start to jog towards the tower.
No words are shared as we make our way. Everyone prepares for the battle in their own way.
I summon Mr. Rogers to my side, getting a few strange looks before everyone accepts it. He barks happily and starts running at my side. I don't expect him to do any damage. I'm going to have him take part in search and rescue. Finding the wounded so Svarline or I can heal them. I want those bonus rewards damnit.
Speaking of rewards...

Gacha Coin x4
Use this trusty coin to get one random item or ability from the Gacha store. You could get the Infinity Gauntlet! Or Goldilocks's too cold porridge. Care for a spin?

Please in the name of all that is holy give me something good.

-1 Gacha Coin
Item Added
A Mop
Use this trusty mop to clean up all sorts of messes and spills.

…..…..
I AM GOING TO MURDER A FACE!!!!!
Are you kidding me?!
A freaking mop?!
I am walking into a battle with an age old entity that yells fire!
We are going to do this again, and you are going to give me something useful.

-1 Gacha Coin
Spell Added
Chidori
Costs 175 MP to cast
This mana equivalent works just the same as the chakra version. It grinds and slices anything you touch to the sound of chirping birds!

Ok I am really grateful to receive such a useful skill, but I meant useful as in it can be used to survive the impending dragon fight! I have to be within arms reach of the thing to use this! Arms reach of a freaking dragon! I'll be long dead by then!
Please please please please please give me something I can use to live through a dragon attack.

-1 Gacha Coin
Item Added
A lucky penny
This penny will always land on heads when flipped

This is it. I am actually going to die. I didn't last two days in this nightmare.
I'm begging you! Please give me something that will let me live.

-1 Gacha Coin
Spell Added
Godspeed- Speed of Lightning
Costs 300 MP to Cast
Infuse yourself with lightning to overcharge your muscles to become as fast as lightning! Warning! Excessive use can result in the user being unable to activate this ability for as long as a week.

Thank you! Thank you so much! I can live! There's a light at the end of the tunnel! I have a way out!
None too soon either, as we had just come within sight of the crumbling remains of the watcher tower.
"Spread out and watch each other's backs." Irileth called. "It might not be gone."
The company split up into smaller groups as we began to look around.
Mr. Rogers put his nose to the ground and started sniffing around. Don't ask me how a ghost dog can smell. The only answer I have is magical shenanigans.
Mr. Rogers sniffed around a little more, then looked towards a piece of collapsed tower and barked. I ran over to find a still living guard bleeding out under a large piece of stone. The man tried to talk but I ignored him in favor of pulling the spear out and casting three heals.
"No!" He cried when he could talk once more. "It's using us as bait! It's still here!"
The entire company pulled their weapons up and began frantically searching for the beast. Mr. Rogers started sniffing around the area again. He pauses, looking at another piece of debris and growling. Something wasn't quite right about it. It seemed translucent, but not, so I took a closer look and activated observe

MIRMULNIR
Allegiance. Strong. Hunt.
Level- ???
Tier- ???
HP- ???
Thought about you- ???

Huh, my first question marked opponent. I should really commemorate this day by living to the end of it.
The wise ass blended in with the broken tower to get the jump on us. I yelled, "It's here!" and covered him in liquid lightning to act as a beacon to my allies.
Everyone looked over as the lightning fell. Once it impacted the now visible stone colored dragon, he let out an earth shaking roar as he stood to his full height. Time to run.
I cast Godspeed, causing my hair to turn from ash in color to a bone white as lightning danced across my skin. I grabbed the guard that I just healed and ran.
Mirmulnir opened his maw and let loose a torrent of fire in the place I was just standing.
Having got over the shock, most of the warriors we brought with us began to rain arrows down on the dragon. Most clinked against his scales and harmlessly bounced off, but there were a few that found a weak point and slid into the dragon's hide. Not that they did much damage. They might as well have been pine needles for all the good they did.
I let the guard go once we were out of the danger area, then ran over to Svarline. She jumped when I suddenly appeared next to her. She relaxed a little when she saw it was me and I spoke. "My lightning won't get through his scales. I need you to transmute one of the arrows stuck in him into copper. The bolts will be able to completely bypass his scales that way."
She looks confused for a moment before saying, "Ok, but I need to wait for him to be closer."
"Ok, just do it as soon as you find an opportunity." I started moving to a place Mr. Rogers was indicating and found another downed guard. He looked like he got caught in the fire earlier. I heal him twice so he is able to move, then I kept going.
I looked up to see the dragon flying in circles around us as he played with his food. All of the lightning from my spell had fallen free of him at this point.
I'm glad this guy is arrogant as all hell or we would be pushing up daisies right now.
We need a way to ground him. If he stays in the sky we're done for. If I could get some chain lightning inside his wing, then it might at least drop him if not cripple him. I look around the battlefield until I spot Aela letting loose arrow after arrow. I deactivate godspeed and run up to her.
"Aela!" she turns at my call. "I need you to put an arrow about halfway down one of his wings. It needs to be deep."
She regards me for a moment before nodding. "I'll get it done."
I run back over to Svarline and say, "Aela is going to put an arrow in his wing. Change that one into copper as soon as you can!" She nods and I move on.
I look out over the battlefield and see devastation. I've never seen a man burn to death before, it isn't a pretty sight. I probably would've lost my lunch if I didn't have Gamer's Mind. I move around healing anyone who has a chance to live while waiting for my chance to strike.
"Got it!" I hear Aela call, and look up to see half an arrow sticking out of the dragon's left wing.
"Svarline!" I call.
"I know!" She shouts back. "Be ready the next time he passes over!"
I stop healing people to regenerate a small amount of mana and wait for Svarline's spell.
Mirmulnir sweeps overhead once more prewing his fire into a group of Companions and I see Svarline cast her spell. "Now!" she yells.
Not needing any more prompting, I reach out and send some chain lightning in the direction of the changed arrow. I don't need to be precise, just close, because I've successfully turned the dragon's wing into a lightning rod.
The bolt hits the copper arrow and the wing seizes up. Without any ground to get rid of the charge, Mirmulnir is left spasming in the air as he begins to fall. He comes crashing down hard, unable to counteract the effect.
"Now men!" comes the voice of Irileth as she leads the charge towards the downed dragon.
Mirmulnir goes to prop himself up and take flight but I hit the arrow with another spell, locking it back down. He lets out a howl of pain which is quickly cut off as Irileth unleashes a torrent of frost magic directly down his throat. Vilkas and Farkas move as one and batter the dragon's right wing after seeing his left effectively out of action.
I focus on making sure he can't use his left wing as the assembled warriors fall upon the downed beast.
Mirmulnir tries to burn everything near him with his fire but Irileth counters a large portion of the effect with her frost magic. I see two arrows embed themself in both of his eyes at the same time and he howls once more. Aela and Svarline keep hitting him in vulnerable places with their arrows while all the melee fighters seek out any chinks in his armor.
We have him grounded, we've cut off most of his avenues of attack, but he just won't die. He is simply too tough.
I come up with an idea, but dismiss it as too risky and keep firing bolts into the copper arrow.
Mirmulnir uses his tail and catches two guards and a companion in one swing. They're all sent flying like rag dolls, and end up in an unmoving heap.
Screw it. This isn't working.
I send one final bolt into the arrow to give myself an opening and reactivate godspeed.
The thing that makes the chidori so effective is the speed it's practitioners possess. Able to take advantage of any opening. Along with their eyes that allow them to see attacks coming before they happen, to create new openings. Now, I'm nowhere near as fast as Kikashi, but I'm cheating with magic. My eyes might not be able to predict minute movements, but my target is a freaking dragon. I won't miss.
As fast as a lightning bolt I appear under Mirmulnir's throat and cast a Chidori in either hand. I then thrust both arms up into his long neck.
Mirmulnir lets out a wail of agony as my hands slide through his scales and keep going.
He delivers an off balance kick to my stomach in a desperate attempt to get me away from him and I'm sent flying.

-327 HP

He took out over 3/4ths of my HP with one hit. It wasn't even a solid hit! He sissy slapped me, and it almost killed me! No wonder we're dropping like flies.
I look up from my place in the dirt to see Mirmulnir with two gaping holes in his throat. He desperately tries to take to the air once more.
I cast another lightning bolt as I stand that keeps him grounded. Prompting a growl of frustration from the beast.
He looks towards me, and gets ready to shout at me.
I prepare to dash away, but it's unneeded.
As he exhales an axe embeds itself where my right hand was, and a greatsword finds the gap left by my left hand.
Shout abandoned, Mirmulnir goes to bite at the two Companions when he is stopped cold by two more arrows.
Irileth follows the attack up by unleashing frost magic into the dragon's feet. Freezing the ground and making movement next to impossible.
Mirmulnir looks scared. He looks mortal.
What guards and companions remain all collapse onto the dragon to hopefully end it with one last charge.
Vilkas and Farkas dig and twist their weapons. Tearing as much of the dragon's flesh as they possibly can.
Irileth and I take away his mobility by crippling his flight, and destroying any traction he can find on the ground.
Aela and Svarline cover everyone by making sure an arrow always blocks any attack the dragon could make with his maw.
The rest of the warriors we brought with us hack and slash any place that bleeds to increase the flow of red.
The dragon's movements grow slower, and slower. He tries to break free once more, only to find a guard's warhammer knocking him back into the death trap.
He weakly tries once more to fly, but a combination of my spell and Farkas's axe bring him back down.
Vilkas takes the opening to thrust his sword as far as he can into the gap he has been hacking at. The remaining scales give way beneath the blade, and Vilkas sinks it in all the way to the hilt.
The dragon goes still. Then slowly starts to fall.
I see a blast of hot air escaping his snout, showing he is still alive.
"I am immortal." Mirmulnir weakly exhales. "You will never truly kill me."
He begins to dryly chuckle as we all move in for the kill.
An arrow disappears into the gap left by Farkas's axe and the dragon's eyes shoot wide open and fixate on Svarline.
"Dovahkiin?!" he cries in alarm. "Noooooo!"
He uses the last of his strength to unleash his fire in Svarline and Aela's direction, but it is once more diverted by Irileth's frost. Igniting the area around them in flame, but leaving the both of them unharmed.
"Nooooooo!" The dragon lets loose one last cry as his skin starts to smolder apart and flake off of him. He collapses as his flesh flies away leaving nought but a large skeleton behind.
"Back away now!" Farkas yells, as he and any others close to the skeletal form dive away from the floating ashes.
"What is this?!" Irileth cries as the particles surge towards Svarline.
"Help!" She cries as she tries to swat the now translucent ash away. "Stop it!" The beams of yellow energy seep into her skin and she glows a brilliant gold as the soul is absorbed.
The glow dissipates and Svarline is left standing unharmed with wide eyes.
Everyone uneasily looks towards Svarline. Unsure if the danger has passed.
"What in Oblivion just happened to her?" Irileth shouts at me.
"Don't look at me! I've never seen a dragon die before." I say, technically truthfully, as I begin to heal my hit points back.
"Do you feel ok?" I ask Svarline as she stares down at her hands.
She looks up at me, then back down to her hands. "I feel….. I feel powerful."
"You're dragonborn." We all turn to see one guard staring open mouthed at Svarline.
"Dragonwhat?!" Irileth asks.
The guard looks to Irileth before looking back to Svarline. "She is dragonborn."
More of the warriors begin to look at Svarline in a new light.
"What in Oblivion is a dragonborn?!" Irileth cries. Still uneasy, and wondering if the fight is truly over.
"A warrior with the soul of a dragon." Aela answers as she studies Svarline. "Said to be able to steal the souls of dragons she slays. Taking their power for her own."
Irileth begins to relax as she looks towards Svarline as well. "And she's this dragonborn?" she asks the group.
"We can't be sure." Vilkas responds. "The dragonborn is said to be able to use the language of dragons to produce a thu'um. Can you shout?" he asks of Svarline.
"I…. I don't know. I…" she looks up from her hands and gets a faraway look in her eyes. She looks up to the sky and shouts out, "FEIM!"
Her body turns into a ghostly version of itself, not unlike Mr. Rogers's form.
Huh, guess she wouldn't have unrelenting force without Bleakfalls Barrow, but where did she get Become Ethereal from? Questions for later.
After a few seconds where everyone stares at the ghostly woman. The shout expires and Svarline returns to normal.
"I'd say that proves it." Farkas says, breaking the silence.
We lapse into silence once more as everyone takes in the damage around them, the corpses of their comrades, and the skeletal remains of the dead dragon.

Quest Completed!
[Slay the Dragon!]
A dragon has destroyed the Northern Watchtower and could move towards the city. Kill it before it has the chance!
Objective- Slay the Dragon(Completed)
Bonus Objective- Slay the Dragon without more then 40 defenders dying(Failed)
Bonus Objective- Slay the Dragon without more than 20 defenders dying(Failed)
Bonus Objective- Ensure the dragonborn lands the final blow(Completed)
Rewards- 3 Gacha coins
Bonus Rewards- 2 Gacha coins, Portable Alchemy Lab

Portable Alchemy Lab
This Alchemy kit can be kept in your inventory at all times, and is fully stocked with the equipment needed to make potions. It also has an extra dimensional space you can use to grow ingredients but it doesn't start with anything grown. You must collect ingrediants on your own.

Level Up x32
For killing an enemy over 100 level higher than you, you level up an additional 5 times!
Gain 260 Stat Points

Dusk
Level- 52
Class- Electromancer- LVL 52/100 [93%]
Crafting Class- Alchemist LVL48/50 [77%]
Tier- Mortal
Alignment- ???
HP- 1950 [260 per minute]
MP- 6160 [616 per minute]
SP- 1950 [260 per minute]
STR- 125
END- 130
DEX - 128
INT - 308
WIS - 308
CHA - 125
LUK - 130
MP Regen= WIS x 2
MP= INT x 20
SP/Health Regen= END x 2
SP/HP= END x 15

For Reaching Level 50 in the Electromancer class, you have unlocked higher tiered lightning magic!

Lightning Form
Costs 200 MP
Turn yourself into living energy, halving damage from all sources.
Any equipment you are wearing or holding changes with you. Cannot change other creatures
You may pass through objects in this form so long as there is space to move through(An iron gate can be passed, but a solid stone wall cannot)
Any enemy who comes into contact with your form takes INT x 2 Electrical Damage

Electric Sphere
Costs 100 MP per 5 meter radius
Create a custom sized sphere of lightning with various effects.
Can be used as a prison, grenade, etc.
When the sphere comes into contact with a target, the target takes INT 75 Electrical Damage and is forced back in the direction they came from. Stronger opponents can resist this effect

Lightning Teleport
Costs 100 MP
Fire a lightning bolt and teleport to the location where the bolt hits
Cannot bring any other creatures with you

Call Thunder
Costs 200 MP
Call a bolt of lightning from the sky to devastate all nearby targets
Must be cast with clear view of the sky
Bolt deals INT x 3 lightning damage to all targets within a 5 meter radius

Electric Weapon
Costs 150 MP
Create a weapon made of pure energy with which to wield against your enemies
Weapon deals INT 25 lightning damage and STR 30 Slashing or Piercing damage

For reaching 100 STR you gain a perk!
Unflinching
Attacks that would normally stagger and disrupt you can be withstood

For reaching 100 END you gain a perk!
Tough
HP and SP now equal END x 15

For reaching 100 DEX you gain a perk!
Agile
You can jump twice as high, three times as far, and move twice as quick

For reaching 100 INT you have gained a perk!
Multitasking
You are able to follow two trains of thought simultaneously with no drawbacks

For reaching 200 INT you have gained a perk!
Research assistant
Any task that requires research(alchemy, spell creation, enchanting, etc.) has its research time halved

For Reaching 300 INT you gain a perk!
Studious
You have learned a lot about the world, and have become an excellent learner.
All EXP gain increased by 15%

For reaching 100 WIS you have gained a perk!
Mana Battery
You regain your mana twice as fast(MP regen=WIS x4)

For reaching 200 Wis you have gained a perk!
Meditation
You can enter a meditative trance.
While in a trance, all curses, poisons, venoms, and spirit injuries are healed/removed over the course of 5 hours
Can be used as an alternative for sleep

For Reaching 300 WIS you gain a perk!
Knowledgeable
You've been around the block before and have the experience to prove it
Once per week, may gain insider information on a specific area or creature.

For reaching 100 CHA you have gained a perk!
Businessman
You are 50% more likely to get a better deal when you barter

For reaching 100 LUC you have gained a perk!
Felix Felicis
Once a week for 1 hour you will become extremely lucky

Dusk
Level- 52
Class- Electromancer- LVL 52/100 [93%]
Crafting Class- Alchemist LVL48/50 [77%]
Tier- Mortal
Alignment- ???
HP- 1950 [260 per minute]
MP- 6160 [1232 per minute]
SP- 1950 [260 per minute]
STR- 125
END- 130
DEX - 128
INT - 308
WIS - 308
CHA - 125
LUK - 130
MP Regen= WIS x 4
MP= INT x 20
SP/Health Regen= END x 2
SP/HP= END x 15

That was a ridiculous number of pop-ups. I guess I did just help to kill a dragon. Svarline got the final hit? Huh, wonder how she's looking?

Svarline The Dragonborn of Legend
The Last Dragonborn
Level- 64
Race- Half-breed(High Elf/Nord)
HP- 2940
Unique abilities- Soul of a Dragon(Can absorb dragon souls and use their knowledge to learn shouts)
New Ability discovered!- Soul Devouring(When absorbing a dragon soul, if the dragonborn dealt the killing blow, the dragonborn steals more than the dragon's knowledge. Siphoning the dead beasts strength and power for their own. Can be used to obtain a number of benefits.)
Thoughts about you- You are her friend. The two of you have been through hell together. You are an equal

Ya, she got a pretty huge boost too. New ability too. That is broken if there's no ceiling on it. Especially if she goes through the main quest and killa Alduin. Name and title change too? Does that have something to do with the new ability? I'll figure it out later.
Looking away from my considerably better stats, as well as Svarline's new changes, I look at the bodies littering the field. We lost over half of the number we set out with. Most of them were taken by the fire while Mirmulnir was still airborne, but a not insignificant portion was also killed while he was grounded.
Looking around at the other survivors, I see the Companions celebrating the kill, while the guards mourn their dead. Different lifestyles I suppose. Looking over at Svarline, I see her clenching and unclenching her fists. She has a large grin on her face as she tests her new strength. She almost looks high.
She looks up and spots me. Her smile grows even wider as we make eye contact. She walks over to me and says, "We just killed a dragon! I just stole a dragon's power! I feel so much stronger now!" Her smile now borders on manic as she looks at me.
I smile back at her. "Ya, we just brought down a damned dragon!" Because we just brought down a goddamn dragon. I'm allowed to be happy about that fact.
She looked to the corpse then back to me. "What was that thing you did to his chest? We wouldn't have been able to kill him without it."
I hold up my hand and cast a chidori. "New spell, it grinds down and cuts through whatever it touches at a very high rate."
She looks at the chidori for a moment before meeting my eyes again. "When did you learn this if it's new?"
Ummm, how do I answer this question without saying anything about the Gamer?
Svarline continued to look at me expectantly.
Half-truth it is.
"I get stronger when I overcome great danger." I say, "I got this after we made it to Whiterun."
She stopped to think for a moment. "We just killed a dragon. I can't think of anything more dangerous than that. Did you get anything from it?" She asks looking back up at me.
I would really prefer to keep as much of this as close to the chest as I can, but she's the damn dragonborn. If there is any ally I want, it's her. "Ya, I got quite a bit from him actually. I'd prefer not to demonstrate in front of an audience though."
Her expression immediately grows guarded as she looks down to her fist again. She looks back up and nods. "We'll talk later." she says.
Moving back to the group, we see all the bodies have been gathered together, and the survivors are preparing to return to the city.
Irileth sees us approaching and walks towards us. "My men tell me the two of you kept them alive during the fighting. Thank you for that, and for what you did to the beast itself. I doubt this would have gone as well as it did without you here." She looked over to the pile of corpses, then back to us. "I just wish the cost wasn't so high."
This is the first time I've seen her official demeanor crack, and it helps to drive home the fact that the NPCs are actually people now.
"I'm sorry we lost so many." I console her.
"Me too." She turns back to the remaining warriors. "Alright, time to head home. The sun's all but gone, and I want to be behind walls before night sets in."
I go to follow the group when I realize we're missing someone.
Where's my dog?
I look around but can't find him.
"Mr. Rogers?" I call out.
*Woof!*
I look towards the sound and find Mr. Rogers with a dragon femur in his mouth. He wags his tail at me as he tries to drag the oar sized bone over.
He is best boy.
Seeing the group walking around the hill I move over to Mr. Rogers and quickly inventory the massive bone. "I'll pull it out for you later."
He wags his tail and pants as we both run to catch up.
We make it back to the group and Svarline smiles when she sees Mr. Rogers. "I'm glad he's ok. I would have been furious if he'd been hurt."
I give her a deadpan stare. "He's a ghost dog. That doesn't work."
She tilts her head, "Really? Huh, you wouldn't be able to tell if you weren't looking. He's a dead ringer for the real thing."
I continued my stare. "That one was somehow magnitudes worse."
"That's how you know it's good! When everyone else hates it!" she says enthusiastically.
"To think you killed a dragon not ten minutes ago." I sigh.
She smiles and goes to respond, but is interrupted by a thundering sound that seems to emanate from everywhere at once.
"DO-VAH-KIIN!!!!!"
Oh, I forgot about those guys.