Chrysalis

[We hate you!]

[Don’t come back!]

[You’re hurting my feelings! Why don’t you fly over here next to me and say that!]

[Get stuffed!]

[In your dreams, mate!]

[Turn off your lousy magic and THEN talk smack, ey? EYYYY?!]

[Why don’t you come over here and make me? Huh? Need me to go easy on you? Too weak for the real stuff?]

[Get off our island!]

[Yeah! You bleedin’ cheat!]

[Bah! All of you can bite my carapace! Your mums are all classy ladies, but you’re rubbish!]

To a chorus of mentally projected howls and insults, I float down and away from the Wandering Isle. Some of the Magpei follow, unwilling to let us go without getting the last word in. I take note of how they keep their distance from me, though, unwilling to be caught up in the gravity well.

Gweheheheh.

It’s taken a lot of mana to maintain it for this long, but it's been worth it. Looking at the suffering expressions of their faces every time they try to fly up and punch me has been a joy, bringing light to my dark, dark heart.

[Are you still going with them?] the mage, Olivis asks me.

[Of course! As long as they’re willing to serve it up, they’re going to get it back.]

[There will never come a time they are unwilling to serve it up. They’re the Magpei. They’ve been doing this for thousands and thousands of years.]

is why they’re so good at being annoying, I suppose. If there’s a Skill for irritating strangers, they must

anything wrong with matching their energy. They want to be discourteous, rude and confrontational? Fine!

find it…

[No?]

She looks at me.

back at her. And in many

are you,

old, why

[No reason.]

hard to remember how old I

use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the

told that some ants have taken an interest in the clockmaking arts. So… it probably won’t be long until we do carry them

everyone else on the force platform, me lowering myself gracefully with my gravity well, I get a good look at the Legion fleet. Interestingly, they didn’t seem to bother us all that much while we dealt with the Wandering Isle. From what I know, only a few of them came up, not Morrelia, sadly, and other than observing, they pretty

intend to take pot shots at us, like they did when I was falling, but no. The massed fleet of hulking, armoured warships just sits, idly, with many a soldier and officer watching

at something else! If they were admiring my glorious carapace, that would be one thing, but this is just

position, flopping on the deck once more. Mapgei are STILL floating overhead, flinging insults at me, but I think I’ve had my fun. With a flicker of concentration, I allow

the dark nature of the forbidden one begin to recede, like oil on an ocean falling back from

is the exact moment that Odin chooses

there

my babysitters, Odin only groans,

their presence at

not! They’ve specifically evolved and

[Gah! Let me up!]

about no? Sit there and think about how not to be weird. When we get back to see Sarah again, I want to see a marked

bitterly struggling demon, I turn to Eran Thouris. I suppose I should give a little thought to the actual purpose

[So, how was trade?]

nature, it does an outsized amount of trade. They were quite interested in your foodstuffs, and we’ve arranged some contracts with several distributors. Tea was popular, as was the furniture, oddly enough. They don’t have ready access to wood, so they have to trade for it, and

that’s good news,

have to put up with the

me an