The Heart Grows

Infernus The Wizard looked around herself, at the chaos and madness unfolding between the other lizards and a pack of rats, and snorted derisively at the question asked of her. "What do you mean, I'm late? I can't be late. Wizards are never late." She drew her staff up high, infused it with her magic power, and brought it down firmly between the eyes of one of the rats.

What Infernus hadn't expected was that Frilly's message to get the band back together had included new friends. One of them, a very small and angry looking lizard with spikes all over its body, was running around and biting rats with complete disregard for safety, the rats biting her back, or even the pile of panicked, bleeding rats she left behind. "I don't believe we've met, uh, Miss?"

"Bitesalot," the angry little lizard said. "Sir Bitesalot." She demonstrated her name by sinking her teeth into the neck of another rat shaking it like a rag doll, and throwing it across the tunnel. "I come from the city of Leggs."

The high-pitched and somewhat manic words brought to mind happier days. Days unlike the one Infernus was experiencing right now—in which she was beating rats to death with her staff. "Well met! Are we done having fun here? Where's Frilly?"

Frolly The Not-So-Pious hissed a laugh. "You sure know how to make an entrance, Infernus. You've met Sir Bitesalot. This other excellent lizard here is Snailbait The Canny. Snailbait, Bitesalot, this is Infernus, the lizard wizard. I am Frilly's sister, Frolly The Not-So-Pious." To demonstrate her less-pious-than-her-sister-ness, Frolly punched a rat in the face, causing it to stagger backwards into range of Bitesalot of Leggs.

"Whoa." Bitesalot of Leggs' eyes widened at the introduction, pulling her teeth from the neck of the rat Frolly had punched. "The Wizard Lizard! It's an honor!"

Infernus the Wizard Lizard nodded her head in mute acknowledgment of her fame—and kicked another rodent.

"What I called you all together to do is a bit more taxing than killing rats," Frolly The Not-So-Pious said, gesturing at the vermin, all dead now and many missing bites out of them. "No. Today we must deal with the lord of the city. He's become corrupt and has been funding the gangs of rats. What we need to do, more than anything, is find evidence of his guilt and deal with him."

"Lord Flopsy is the villain behind all the rat attacks?" Snailbait The Canny asked. Reaching out one talon, he brushed the head of his companion-slug out of a reflex need for reassurance. "But he's—"

"Got amazing public relations, yes." Leading her group through the sewers, Frolly The Not-So-Pious explained the situation with a little more depth. "My sister was investigating rumors about his involvement with the rat organized crime when she went missing. That itself is strange, since Frilly The Pious is more than a match for a group of rats. I checked her favorite sunning spots and found a note hidden under a rock."

Taking the note from Frolly The Not-So-Pious, Infernus The Wizard read through it.

Frolly, if you are reading this, it means they got me. Lord Flopsy is crooked-dealing with the rat gangs. With the rest of my crew away, I don't know who else to ask, but if you can get Infernus The Wizard Lizard and some other reliable friends, you can bring him down. Please hurry!

Huffing out a sigh, Infernus licked one of her eyes clean and read the note again—this time aloud. She gave a moment for them to gather their thoughts on it before continuing. "Frilly The Pious wasn't a lizard to make up lies. If she says this is so, and I recognize her writing, then it means this is so."

The other two looked at Infernus The Wizard for a moment, seeming to evaluate her words. Sir Bitesalot of Leggs shrugged. "Sounds good." To which Snailbait The Canny made a committed grunt.

Satisfied her legend alone had saved the day, Infernus The Wizard asked, "Do you know where to start, Frolly?"

Nodding her head, Frolly The Not-So-Pious gestured to a side tunnel. "The Biting Swarm are down this way. Frilly told me not long ago that of all the rat gangs, they're the most organized." She smiled at Infernus The Wizard and winked. "Let's go ask their boss nicely if he can answer some questions."

Rats with knives. Rats with blackjacks. Rats with weird flails that were two sticks linked together (they were the noisiest ones). All fell before the group. Sir Bitesalot of Leggs led the charge with a surprisingly spry huge slug beside her. She had been told to avoid biting the slug, and had managed a passable job of it so far.

Infernus The Wizard had an easy job of it. The party had almost been like her old one, with the big defensive Ratslayer The Hammer getting and keeping the attention of rats while she could burn away their life. She suspected Sir Bitesalot of Leggs would be much like Ratslayer, however, if they came to a library. She shuddered at the thought of all the books with bites taken out of them. "Surely we're almost there?"

"Should be through that door. Remember, we need the boss alive." Frolly The Not-So-Pious waited until she got nods from everyone before she opened the door for Sir Bitesalot of Leggs to charge into the room unimpeded; which she did.

… and immediately into a pit trap. Growling and snarling, she tried to climb out but the walls had no hand holds. "Uh, a little help!"

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"You think"—the big rat at the other end of the room said, standing up and leaning over his desk—"that you could come into my house and kill my family and get away with it?! Boys, teach these stupid skinks a lesson!"

Like a single-footed missile, Snailbait The Canny's pet slug skirted around the edge of the pit and engaged with the thugs. Stab after stab hit the huge slug, but its hide was so thick that it was taking very little damage.

"Spider-Lizard Climb!" Infernus The Wizard shouted, pronouncing her spell like every good wizard does. This had the effect of making Sir Bitesalot of Leggs to grow four extra limbs that had amazingly adhesive pads on them, and not at all tiny hairs since those wouldn't work at a macro scale.

With Sir Bitesalot of Leggs reaching the top of the pit and the giant slug holding the rats' attention for now, Frolly The Not-So-Pious took a long, deep breath and spat a ball of flame toward the boss' desk at the back.

As the gang boss ran around, squeaking in panic at the fire igniting the fancy suit they were inexplicably wearing, it gave the party time to focus on his henchrats. With the party's tank doing an effective job of getting attention, it let Infernus The Wizard and Frolly The Not-So-Pious cast spells to their little reptilian hearts' content.

While Infernus The Wizard rained fire down wholesale, Frolly The Not-So-Pious was a more focused damage dealer. Her directed magic arrows and gouts of flame slammed into single rats at a time with devastating effect.

About the same time they had defeated all his henchmen, the boss rat shook himself out of his smoldering dinner jacket with a flourish. "You useless mice! Dicer! Slicer!"

Walking out from behind some panels lining the side of the room, two rats with huge, curved swords moved to stand in front of their boss—just close enough that they don't get in each other's way.

"It's in times like this," Infernus The Wizard said, lifting a cigar to her lips and lighting the end of it with one burning finger, "that I am glad I remember what my mentor taught me."

The silence in the room became heavy. Everyone wanted to know the answer, but none were willing to risk becoming an early target by speaking up. Finally, the boss rat asked, "What did he—"

"Fireball!" There was rarely a perfect set up for the spell. Either an ally was too close, the room was too small, or a noncombatant was inexplicably in the thick of things. That was why she only kept one such memorized. Now, though, she had her dream engagement. Though she cursed only having one on hand.

While the blast that lit up the room didn't kill any of the three caught in its area of effect, the boss was once more on fire. The two rats with swords had somehow avoided much of the damage, though the tips of their tails smoldered.

The blast was the signal to begin fighting again. The samurai rats tried to gang up on Snailbait The Canny's slug, but Sir Bitesalot of Leggs interposed herself between their target and the slug, and presented a more difficult target for them to hurt. "Is that all you've got?" she snarled, when she dodged one attack and knocked the other aside with the light armor she wore.

"Enlarge Lizard!" Snailbait The Canny called, casting the spell through his familiar slug and making Sir Bitesalot of Leggs grow much larger.

Having worked with Snailbait The Canny before, Sir Bitesalot of Leggs knew exactly what was happening and how to make use of her newfound size. Battering aside the swords of the rats, she reared up and roared. Then Sir Bitesalot of Leggs breathed radioactive fire and slashed twice with her claws at the nearest of them.

With one of the rats down for the count, the other seemed invigorated by the loss of his fellow swordsrat. Going into a frenzy of slashes, he drove Sir Bitesalot of Leggs backward, threatening her face and limbs with the blade. Relying on her speed for defense, she had to give ground or take harm. "I need some help with this one!"

"We have to stop it there," Travis said, to a hail of cries from his four players. "I don't want to get in trouble with your mom again, Mixie."

Having been watching for the last half hour, Grace shook her head. "You can play a little longer." She found herself a seat at the table and sat beside her daughter. It was hard to hide her smile, so she didn't bother.

"Flame Nova!" A pillar of fire erupted where the swordsrat stood, summoned by Infernus The Wizard.

With the last of the two rats now panicked and on fire, Sir Bitesalot of Leggs was able to deal with him now he wasn't swinging his blade in a screen of slashes. One, two, three—her attacks dispatched the last of the rat boss' henchmen. Now alone, his smoldering shirt on the floor beside his jacket, the fight seemed over.

"I'll tell you everything!" the rat said. "It was Lord Flopsy! He told us to rough up the town!"

Travis was more firm this time, given the fight was now over. "Okay, now for sure. Sorry for keeping her up a little late, Grace."

"Quite alright. I'm glad my little wonder has found something she enjoys that doesn't involve the opportunity of physical harm." She barely restrained herself from saying more, and waited until Robert, Katelyn, and Felna had said their goodbyes, she'd gotten her daughter back to their home, and tucked Mixie into bed before venturing back down to his heart room. It was, after all, the only place to have a private conversation with him. "Travis?"

"Grace. Did Mixie forget something? I—"

"No. I wanted to say a special thank-you. Before we came here, we feared she'd not survive another year. Mixie was always either terribly withdrawn or so forward it was impossible to keep her a secret. Trying to keep her hidden has meant she didn't get much chance to talk, which…" She was rambling and Grace knew it. She sighed. "Now you have her performing sums in her head and speaking as plainly as her big brother."

"I'd take all the credit, but Axel is at least half to blame. He set the example for her to follow. All I did was give her something she enjoyed more than flying a wyvern. Well, that she could do when none of the wyverns wanted to be flown."

Beaming in delight at her son, Grace figured out who she'd be baking extra cookies for in the morning. "Thank you for everything you've done. It's hard for me to find words sometimes, but I think I can take a leaf out of my daughter's book and learn some new ones."

Watching Grace leave his heart room, Travis felt a lightness fill him. If there was one thing he could say for certain he'd accomplished, it was protecting his friends.

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