In the Rush of Things...

In the distance, Andrea's and Synizn's ears perk up suddenly as they hear....the scrap of metal armor on scales?

Annafrid

"There's only one thing to do," I sigh as one of the mages floats the slain man's body onto one of the awaiting magical platforms. A few gold and steel coins get whisked along with the levitation spell, but we're in a hurry here so neatness isn't top priority.

The Astra of this world had demanded they take the body along and we didn't need any arguments delaying us, thus the body.

Maybe she wanted to see if those elder Champions can raise him from the dead? I asks myself as we prepare, Or, perhaps she just wants to body along so she can say goodbye to Sir JH before she burries him. Shall see later.....hopefully.

The one knows as Frozh makes a moaning sound as the "wish" spell continues to slowly try to do it's magic. Jarlath himself had said the activation word to activate the magical scroll with it's pre-generated wish (parameters set by Morgana herself before hand as she etched the eldritch magick into the vellum beforehand) and it.....was slow going: wouldn't know if it worked right or not right up until around the time of the wedding of Inquirer and the Doctor!

Oh, it wasn't like Morgana couldn't have coached that wish into just transforming Frozh into Fred, but the elf had pointed out several complications when I'd asked. First, there was the fact that just a straight transformation wouldn't do here. The end result of that would be Frozh's mind being in charge of a body that was a male human instead of a dragon-lady. The thing was, there were two souls within Frozh's body, and the spirit called Frozh had the better claim. Indeed, sooner or later the spirit of Fred would have soon depart, leaving Frozh in sole possession of this body if we weren't doing anything. Second, Slith had pointed out that Frozh was a child, if nothing else. She's doing all of this out of a sense of doing something good to please her parent, if you will, not knowing the truth of the matter.

Morgana and Rugen weren't going to just send that "child's" soul into the darkness when Fred got back to normal. Being that they were the only two people who could save this Fred trapped inside Frozh, we couldn't really force the matter with them. So, instead the wish spell is slowly preparing Frozh body to fission into two pieces which will grow into two new bodies. One of them will be a male, human body for Fred. The other will turn into a dragon-woman for Frozh. The last part has something to do with what Slith has planned on trying to "talk down" Frozh when she does regain consciousness.

Wish the Sivak there luck in that endeavor, but right now I and the others are busy making a tactical retreat.

True, it's not the stuff of bard songs, this retreating. However, we came and basically accomplished some of what we came to do. Some proved to be impossible due to prior events (like Sir JH somehow becoming this monster).

Now, the thing was to avoid capture or confrontation if we can as we get back to the landing zone....

Later

Astra the Djinn

"You all look like you've been through a meat grinder," the one known as Rugen says with a trace of irony in his voice, looking up at our battered group, "That and you seemed to have arrived with more company than you left with."

His gaze drifts from me (still rubbing the lamp), to the two severely wounded, unconscious dragon-women we took along after our last encounter. One of them got a wing cut off and another an arm! Leaving them behind would have meant they'd bleed to death from injuries shortly thereafter!

Then his gaze (low as it was from his position) fell upon Sir JH.

Blinking, his face is an elegant question mark. Slith and Kang, who'd lent a hand early on in this misadventure, are also full of questions.

While the others are tending to their own hurts, I take it upon myself to explain what happened and why.

Rugen, later, will be able to magically cypher out that Sir JH had gotten a hold of a wish ring and, after wishing a poorly worded wish, got turned into an evil dragon. The dragon had been able to free itself, killing the witch who'd held Sir JH captive. That and soon came upon the insane idea of world conquest through abducting and transforming various dragonslayers from other realities.

A quick scan (modified tricorder that Rugen had obtained over the years) confirmed of the coins from the Hoard was of a similar quantum signature as that of the draconians. In other words, the wish ring and the Hoard had come from a world similar (if not the same world) as Krynn.

That one left a few raised eyebrows (or equivalent) for the Draconians, who'd wondered just where some of "Junior's" Hoard had gone to after meeting Scott (re: 16197). While the odds of it being exactly from their world are small.....there is the fact that odd, unlikely things happen around Scott (whichever one you are talking about)...

Things like wish rings having an extra wish in them despite the fact they should be depleted after reaching a certain number?

Things like large chunks of Dragon Hoard ending up elsewhere?

Nevermind.

"Does she want the body raised from the dead?" Rugen asks, seeming to prepare, "While...."

"No," the Astra of the realm we'd just left says, coming over, "There is a dignity in death, and I shall not rob my husband of it. Against his and my beliefs, really, to use magic to scrabble for yet a few more years...."

She stops, breaking down a little. The Fred of her world hold her closely, whispering softly comforting words.

I get the feeling that that Fred will be able to help pull that other Astra through, I think to myself, seeing a vision, That and.....I do believe that there are wedding plans and children in the future.

The "others" had said that Astras and Freds seem to have a tendency for falling in love by the time they'd gotten to the Dragon Lair of the Northern (Southern by Allarian reckoning) Cavern. Had chuckled at that thought, but now?

.....

No matter.

What is what to do now?

What happens next is rather anticlimatic, but realistic enough (given the odd situation).

Probe and several fellow Golems go in and "round up" the remaining dragon-women and "put them on ice" until Morgana can look at them. Funny thing is when they actually get the dragon-woman to Nantucket Earth, something odd happens to the unconscious dragon-women. While somewhat like Draconians before due to their maker's having some lingering touch to Krynn, they hadn't been proper draconians, until now. Seems that the Dragon had taken shortcuts in creating their Matrixes, and the presence of "real" Draconians in the vicinity caused them to mutate into either female Sivak or Bozak Draconians!

That one floored both Slith and Kang, let me tell you!

The body of Sir JH is buried in a fine ceremony in a church in Nantucket. The Astra of his world wants him to have a decent burial as soon as possible, period.

That done and goodbyes said, she and his Fred soon depart back to their home reality. Duty called, you see....

Astrid is soon released from her Lamp prison, transformed into a masterless djinn just like her "sister", Astra the Djinn. The Lamp disintegrates as Synizn hoped, releasing the two djinn from any further dangers posed by it. Both find the world of Nantucket Earth fascinating and decide to set down roots here for now. Later, they would come and visit Terra Prime, but right now they had some exploring to do here....and there are family members here as well.....so why not?

Jarlath's group, still distraught at not having a total "win", comfort themselves with the fact that they did the best they could. Did outstandingly, despite the fact that some objects of their quest proved impossible to achieve due to it being too late when they'd began.

The remaining question now was:

"So, how's the final results of your labors?" Slith asked anxiously, looking down at the weary elfin woman named Morgana.

The Sivak would have laughed at the blinks he gets from the newlyweds (who'd been isolated during the time in question here) if it hadn't been so serious....

She'd been in and out of a hastily set up mage lab, looking over her patients.....and had managed to break away long enough to attend the great event!

"It was a success," Morgana said simply, "Both the Fred in question and Frozh are sleeping it off."

At least this time I didn't fail, she thinks to herself as the others quietly congratulate her (cheering loudly in church didn't seem.....right), No causality loops like I had with Triakoth with the last wish spell.... (re: 16701)

That still left a bad taste in her mouth, that business.....

"I and the others will do what I can," Slith says solemnly to the elfin woman, "Just need to borrow that special Mirror that I loaned Lord Steven Deschain here in a bit....and I think it'll work for the best."

Some looked at each other, wondering what Mirror this was. Jarlath 2 just shook his head, telling them he'd tell about it later....

That done, the Elder D'Honaire's feel that the best people to help this stranded Fred (newly restored) adjust to his situation (i.e. being lost on an alien world) would be family.

Worked in the past and hopefully would work now!

After noting a disturbance with a group that was hanging around Inquirer and the Doctor (something to do with a new quest for them to save a man named Omega it turns out), Jarlath's group is going on a last few set of quests to help their displaced "brothers" and "sisters" abducted into the Red Pyramid awhile ago here.

The majority of the remaining abductees were already being aided by other family members, but a few were left over.....

After that, it seemed that it was Astra 9's turn for a diplomatic trip out into the non-magical realms. Had snuck up on her, this duty, and she wasn't looking forward to it, but duty was duty....

For later, of course.... "But that aside," she smiles, setting it aside, "Let's turn to the business at hand, right?"

1. Demifox Fred and Demifox Astra looked up at her and the others.....

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