Djona watched soldiers run like crazed ants all over the volcano’s slope. He stood before them, raising his scepter and urging them to follow his instructions. He had thought the confusion of the failed sacrifice would scramble the minds of the troglodytes enough for him to influence them en mass, but the opposite was happening.

  He usually had no problem controlling small groups as he moved through the isnd, giving orders to half a dozen at a time. Through the magical device, he could feel the thoughts and desires of the lizardmen, and if any group or individual felt trauma or distress, he was quick to react, but he never had to control the entire group at once.

  Instead of the chaos leaving their minds open to suggestion, he found it made them resistant to any mental influence, especially from an Ordered priest like himself. Their initial instinct had been to run from the dragon fire attacks. Then Djona told them to run toward the volcano. A few had listened, but most revolted violently against that notion and did not know what to do. Such an absolute rejection of his command had severed their bond with the scepter, and now he worked desperately to reattain it.

  The priest raised the enchanted rod toward an isoted collection of troglodytes, who seemed to be regrouping and debating what to do. Before he could activate the magic, his arm suddenly froze solid, encased in several inches of solid ice. The limb was too heavy to stay aloft and crashed back to his side, nearly dislocating his shoulder and dragging him to the ground. The ice was brittle and cracked when it hit the sharp volcanic rock at his feet. As he banged it desperately against the ground to free himself, he realized he needed to worry about who had cast the spell.

  He turned just in time to see Pharah stalking toward him. “Traitor!” she screamed. “How dare you defy me!” She closed the distance and kicked him hard in the stomach. “I knew I should have never trusted you.” The queen reached down, ripped the neckce from him, and tossed it blindly over her shoulder. The strand broke, beads and teeth scattering on the mountainside.

  Joe’s illusion ended, and he was a human lying on the ground, his suddenly soft skin instantly cut by the sharp va rocks beneath him. He wore the simple loincloth of the lizardmen, so he had little protection. Pharah grinned at his discomfort and kicked him again. Her cwed feet did additional damage to him.

  “Now you die!” The queen lifted her arms for one final spell but disappeared in a fsh of white fur.

  Joe spun about on the ground to see the orc’s winter wolf tackle Pharah to the ground, and the two tumbled out of view behind an outcropping. He was thankful for the rescue and turned back to his trapped arm. Without the thick scales, his human limb was considerably thinner than his troglodyte arm had been, and the cavity in the ice was rge enough that if he let go of the scepter, he could free himself from the block.

  Once released, he scrambled to his bare feet, picked up the ice with both hands, and smashed it to the ground. The scepter popped out, and he hastily retrieved it. He knew as soon as his fingers closed on it that the magic was gone. It had been linked to his troglodyte blood, even though it had been an illusion, and now that he was a human again, it wouldn’t work, and no lizardman would listen to him. The only potential benefit was that the soldiers’ tridents’ ability to Stun opponents with their electric attacks was directly linked to the priest’s control over them. Djona had wanted his guards to use non-lethal attacks, so he had granted them that spell through his connection.

  Now, their weapons would do 100 points of electrical damage with a reasonable difficulty to save against. None of the workers had been able to resist the attacks, but Joe hoped these heroes could. The priest kept his eyes peeled for any soldiers that might want to attack a nearly naked human but didn’t see any takers. He limped over to a clump of rock for cover, entered his inventory to retrieve a set of clothes, and changed.

  Once he had a yer of thick leather between the bottom of his feet and the sharp ground, he felt better. He traded the scepter for a mace and looked for a way he could help. Pharah wasn’t visible anymore, and he spotted Leah and Rock fighting off a group of troglodytes. He ran over to offer his aid.

  Psycho used his Rapid Shot ability in the opening round of combat, sending three electric arrows toward Lamashtu. Using the feat reduced his accuracy, and since the demon was already suspicious of the strange fire and taking to the air slightly, two of his three shots missed, the third hitting the demoness in the protruding stomach and nearly shocking her out of the air. She screamed in pain and, before Psycho could continue the attack, fpped her wings to elevate herself to the very limits of his weapon.

  Or so she thought. Psycho traded his elemental bow for Dragonwing, pulled one of his mithril arrows, and lined up a kill shot. Lamashtu didn’t pay the ranger any attention as she surveyed the chaos below her. It looked like she wanted to direct traffic when Psycho released his shot.

  It should have killed her. If she hadn’t been a demon linked to a god linked to a massive volcano, it would have, but she had numerous boons to her Death Save, and she was only Dazed from the attack. Still, the damage was nearly enough to make her fall unconscious. She opened her mouth in a silent shriek that sent shockwaves through every magically attuned being in the area.

  “Well, kill her already,” Esther said, fighting off the nearby troglodytes to ensure the archer wasn’t bothered. Her bdes were poetry in her hands, cutting and sshing arms and legs in every direction. She took particur delight in cutting off the lizardmen’s tails as they reminded her of the squid from st night, and she was still mad about the ink that hadn’t washed out of her hair that morning.

  The troglodytes responded with electric attacks, but Esther and Psycho had several bonuses to save against elemental magic and took little damage. When the enemies resorted to melee attacks, the tridents were piercing weapons, which her level 20 armor didn’t specifically protect against. Still, they had to hit her first, and that was proving a problem as the rogue dodged and danced about the uneven ground, consistently pcing herself between the enemy and Psycho, giving the ranger plenty of room to work his bow.

  Lamashtu flew even higher, and a shimmering wave of magic passed over her. Psycho’s next shot was just as accurate, but instead of diving into the demon’s distended belly, it veered at the st second and struck one of the two skulls covering her chest. The ranger cursed and fired another arrow to be sure and got the same result.

  “I can’t touch her now,” Psycho said. “We need to find a way to get that brassier off her.”

  “Really,” Esther said as she dispatched the st two troglodytes nearby. “I didn’t think she was your type. I’m in touch with some demons, you know. I can put in a good word for you.”

  Psycho ignored the sarcasm. Instead, he kept his eyes on Lamashtu. Once she realized she was immune to the arrows, she allowed herself to drop in altitude to have more influence over the fight below. Several dozen troglodytes still ran about the mountainside with no clear direction. He saw Draya and Jace fighting Moloch toward the edge of the volcano. In the same direction, but closer, he saw Snowy tangling with Pharah and rolling out of view into a depression. Beside them, several dozen feet away, were Rock and Leah fighting against a handful of lizardmen.

  The ranger watched for a moment to make sure they would be okay since the troglodytes outnumbered them and were of a higher level. The lightning attacks were ineffective as the witch could save against them, and the dwarf had plenty of natural resistance. Leah then cursed the enemies, and Rock bashed their heads in with his hammer. It looked like they would be okay.

  “They are becoming more organized,” Esther said, drawing Psycho’s attention back to her.

  He looked to see what she meant and saw clumps of troglodytes returning to the area in marshaled groups. They had initially fled in every direction and now appeared to want to enclose the prisoners by fnking them. The ranger switched bows and began picking off targets as he ran after Esther. They hit the left fnk hard, preventing the lizardmen from surrounding the group. Psycho gnced up and saw this coordination effort was because of Lamashtu finally getting low enough to use her mind magic.

  “We’ve got to knock her out of the sky,” Psycho said. He looked over his shoulder and saw two organized groups closing in on Rock and Leah. It looked like Joe was in human form and running to their aid, but Psycho didn’t expect the priest to be much of a fighter. He sent a few arrows in that direction to scatter the attackers.

  “How?” Esther asked, casting her patented combination of web and acid toward a cluster of troglodytes to their right. “I can’t jump that high.”

  “Don’t you have wings?”

  Esther grew cold as she stared at the elf. “Not in the sunlight, I don’t.” Jace had let her keep the undead stone they had liberated from a lich’s tomb, and with it, she could become her old vampiric self, wings and all. However, in direct sunlight, she would instantly turn to ash.

  Psycho was momentarily drawn to the fight with Moloch as Draya flew away violently from the conflict. When she went back in, Jace shouted something to her, and she diverted away from the va god and climbed into the volcano. Lamashtu veered dangerously low to follow the woman and then came back up to summon one of the organized clusters of troglodytes.

  “How high can you jump?” Psycho asked, grabbing the woman’s arm and pulling her up the slope.

  “With one of Jace’s Athletic spells, pretty high, but it still isn’t enough to . . .” her voice trailed off as she looked away from the lizards crying in agony from her st acid spell and turned up the slope. Lamashtu was low again, but she was hovering over the volcano, not solid ground. If Esther Hasted herself, cast an Athletic boon, and jumped from the very edge of the lip, she might make it.

  “If I miss . . .” she said, not wanting to finish the sentence.

  “Then don’t miss. Draya just went down there; maybe she can catch you.”

  Esther gave him an eye roll. “If I drown in va and lose all my equipment, there will be hell to pay, Mr. Elf.”

  “Hey,” Psycho said. “At least it would probably get all the ink out.”

  “When did you learn to use sarcasm?”

  “Maybe you should strip down naked again like st time?”

  Esther didn’t bother giving the comment a response. Not only did she need most of her equipment to make the jump, but the idea of running across the jagged ground barefoot was almost as unpleasant as falling in va. At least the second one would be over quickly. With no more sarcastic suggestions, Esther cast her Haste and Athletic spells and sprinted toward the top of the volcano.

  Psycho watched her go, picking off a few troglodytes that might get in her way. Esther ran like bck lighting, streaking up the slope, her skirt flying in the breeze. She timed her steps perfectly, reached the crater’s lip with an outstretched leg, and vaulted into the air. Lamashtu was watching the group of troglodytes she had directed into the volcano and didn’t see the woman flying toward her until it was too te. The demon tried to rise out of reach, but Esther tched on to the bird-like feet, and her Grappling skills were too good to be kicked off. Within seconds, she climbed up the oddly shaped body and began a mid-air wrestling match.

  Hello, dragon friend. Where are you? This pce is . . . is . . . wonderful.

  Draya sighed as the demon's voice invaded her mind. “Not now, Ignis,” she said. “I’m kind of busy.” The footing down the inside wall of the volcano’s throat was tricky. Lava had flowed up and down the inner wall countless times and carved a swirling path to the bottom. Draya thought about just flinging herself over the edge, nding in the va, and swimming to the isnd, but she worried about the fall. She didn’t know the surface tension of magma and guessed it wouldn’t be as gentle as nding in water. Even if it was, she didn’t want to jump from 75 feet.

  Is this . . . is this . . . a volcano? I’ve never been in a volcano before. It is so . . . so . . .

  “I’m trying to concentrate,” she said, nearly slipping on a loose stone and catching herself on the sharp rock. “Ouch,” she cried. “Look what you made me do.”

  I think I love you.

  Draya did not have time for this. When Gromphy had cursed her dress to deal continual fire damage to her, he had linked it to a demon with a very one-track, juvenile mind and no concept of how the realms worked. He didn’t understand why Draya did anything other than burn things. She had made the mistake of bringing her cursed dress to school one day. Practicing illusions quickly drained her mana, and she wanted the dress to fill her back up. Ignis bugged her incessantly, insisting she burn down every other wooden building in Crestfall. She tried to pcate him by burning trees around Jace’s stronghold, but Psycho caught her once, and he didn’t like it.

  “Don’t get comfortable,” she said, jumping over a break in the path and finding a ledge leading her more directly to the isnd below. She almost lost her bance but used her staff to steady herself. “I’m doing a job, and we are leaving as soon as I am done.”

  But . . . can’t I stay here? You could leave the dress.

  “I’m not leaving my dress!” Draya tried to calm herself. “Just be quiet and let me think.”

  Draya paused in her descent and evaluated a few potential routes when a sound from above caught her attention. She turned to see a handful of troglodytes following her trail. “Fine,” she said. “You want to burn something? Burn this.” She released a fireball toward the intruders. The spell traveled 20 feet, veered sharply downward, and spshed into the va pool.

  Ooh, very nice.

  “Did you do that?” Draya asked the demon. She didn’t wait for a response and cast again, getting the same result. She could tell it wasn’t Ignis. The volcano was magical and drew in heat like a magnet. She held her staff in her left hand and cast another spell, using mage fire this time. The volcano sucked it up again. “Then I guess I better hurry.”

  Draya skipped, hopped, and jumped down the st 30 feet to the level of the bubbling va. A thin ledge encircled the main pool, and the mage had to ftten her back against the wall and creep out toward the isnd. She knew the va shouldn’t hurt her, but something about jumping into a magma pool didn’t seem wise, especially since it had just sucked at her magic.

  Closer to her destination, Draya saw obsidian pilrs rising just above the surface of the melted rock, creating properly spaced stepping stones a dozen inches across. Draya had to jump to the first one and almost toppled over. She didn’t have the agility of Esther or Psycho, but she used her staff to bance and could hop from stone to stone, arriving at the isnd without incident.

  The pilr in the center resembled its own mini volcano, with a rge emerald resting on top. Draya reached for the gemstone tentatively, feeling the powerful magic surging through it. As her fingers touched the green stone, the volcano lurched around her, and she almost lost her bance. A scream brought her attention halfway up the side of the throat, and she saw one of the troglodytes slip and fall from the quake, spshing down into the va.

  If she removed the emerald, what would happen? Jace believed this stone made the volcano alive, allowing Moloch to bond with it. Likely, the god could control it as well. Nothing would keep the chaotic mountain from erupting at will if she removed the stone. It had years of pent-up pressure to release. Now, all that energy was being funneled through this gem and brought prosperity and fertility. Draya knew a natural volcano could produce life in a region, but it did so in unpredictable cycles of destruction and rebirth. She didn’t wish that for this isnd. Not only would Jace, Snowy, and the rest die, but a massive eruption could end the lives of everyone back on the pntation.

  Her dilemma took a backseat for a few moments as she saw the remaining troglodytes traversing the st few levels of the path. They were less than a minute from reaching the stones that led to this isnd. Their powerful, scaled legs looked almost strong enough to leap to her ptform in one jump. They would have no problem with the obsidian pilrs. Draya decided to add an extra challenge.

  Focusing on the half dozen bck circles protruding from the va, she closed her eyes and imagined many more of them. The design of the illusion spell took her six seconds, and when she opened her eyes, she released a load of mana, and three dozen of the stepping stones appeared.

  The first troglodyte reached the pool's edge a few seconds ter and regarded the plethora of travel options. His slow brain was trying to tell him all those stones weren’t there a minute before, but he couldn’t remember which ones were real. His friends behind had relied on his scouting expertise to lead them down here, and none of them had looked this far ahead to realize anything was amiss.

  Eventually, one of the lizardmen got impatient and leaped to a stone half the distance from the isnd. He vanished beneath the surface of the va without so much as a scream. The pilr he had leaped to disappeared. Most of the troglodytes grew cautious now, but another eager soldier jumped to a closer stone. He also sunk into the pool of magma.

  The remaining three troglodytes weren’t sure what to do. The lead scout was the smartest and found some loose stones to throw. His aim was excellent, and for each fake nding spot he hit, the illusion disappeared. Eventually, he found a real one, and one of his friends thought that was all they needed. He jumped to it, nded safely, and then proceeded to the next closest one in line. The va accepted him hungrily.

  The remaining lizardman understood what was necessary and also started throwing stones. Draya was feeling extra cruel at the moment, and when they aimed at one closer to her isnd, she cast another illusion to make it look like the rock bounced off a solid pilr. The remaining troglodyte, who was not the scout, now had two verified stones to jump to and leaped toward the isnd. He nded safely on the first one but not so on the second. The st troglodyte left was the scout. He wasn’t ready to trust anything at this point but still had the urging of Lamashtu to track down the mage.

  Draya briefly felt sorry for him but then returned to her own problem. She couldn’t remove Moloch’s control of this volcano without repcing it with something else.

  Or someone else.

  “Okay, Ignis,” she said, pulling a rge ruby from her gem bag. “You get your wish. You want to be joined to the volcano?”

  Do you mean it?

  “Yes, but under one condition. You can not burn the entire isnd, and you cannot kill humans. You can let the volcano erupt occasionally and burn a few trees, but do not destroy the vilge at the bottom of the mountain.”

  Yes, yes, of course, I agree. I don’t want to burn everything at once. Where would the fun be in that? I could burn a little at a time. Make it st forever. And then the trees grow back, and I burn some more. Or I could let the va drain into the ocean. I’ve never burned water before.

  Draya realized he could go on and on if she let him. “Good. If I do this, you will owe me big time, understand?”

  Yes, yes, of course, of course, I will do anything you want.

  “Okay. Then you need to tell me how to curse you into this ruby I am holding.”

  Yes, yes, no problem, it is easy. The curse is in the dress. You should be able to feel it. You are good with magic. You can copy it and cast the spell. It should be easy for someone as powerful as you. You only need . . . he paused in his ranting. Um . . . you only need a life. A sacrifice.

  Draya smiled, happy that her burn-first-ask-questions-never demon friend was hesitant to take a life. Her eyes went over to the far edge of the pool where the st troglodyte was still trying to figure out how to cross. “That shouldn’t be a problem.” Draya dismissed the illusions, and two-thirds of the pilrs vanished, leaving only the real ones.

  The scout didn’t trust his luck and threw two rocks at each nding pad before proceeding. Soon, he was close enough to jump the rest of the way and hissed at the mage before him. “I have you now!” He leveled his trident at her and released a lightning attack.

  Draya saved and took half the damage. The scout had hoped for more but charged behind the magical attack anyway. The woman blocked the initial thrust and countered with an overhead smash that hit the troglodyte on the head, exceeded half his health, and knocked him unconscious. Draya released her right hand from the staff and clutched at the troglodyte’s vest, keeping him from falling. She stowed the staff on her belt and gripped the ruby firmly in her left hand.

  The mage was intimately familiar with the magical workings of her dress and picked out the specific curse Gromphy had put there. Once she felt confident she could duplicate it, she released a jet of fire through her right hand and stole the remaining health from the scout. Since she was touching him, the va pool didn’t have a chance to steal it. Draya held the power of the lizard’s life in her hand for a moment and funneled it down her arm, into the dress where it pulled from her deep mana pool, and out the other arm to the ruby.

  The shock of the spell caused her to open both hands, dropping the dead troglodyte with her right, and the ruby fell from her left. It bounced once, then twice, and Draya recovered enough to catch it before it hopped off the isnd.

  “Did it work?” she asked.

  I sense another bond was formed, Ignis replied.

  Draya walked to the altar with the emerald resting on top. She held the ruby in her left hand and hovered her right over the green gemstone. She counted to three and then made the swap. Instantly, she felt the volcano shake and shudder, the va rising like water flooding into a bathtub. Her isnd was almost swamped in the first few seconds.

  THIS IS AMAZING!!!

  “Ignis!” Draya shouted. “Control it! Not yet.” The quaking simmered for a moment. “You can have your fun in a few minutes. But I need to get out, and my friends need to be safe.”

  I could lift you out?

  Draya saw the va rise a few more feet until it pped at her boots. “No, I will climb. I’ll be fast. Please, try to control yourself.” The pool receded for a few seconds until she could see the obsidian stepping stones again. After storing the emerald in her gem bag and taking her staff in hand, she leaped back to the far ledge and began to climb out, wondering if she’d made a colossal mistake.