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Grayson recognized a figure on the other end of the market square, after a solid double or even triple take.
"Mia!" He called out without thinking, cursing himself as many people looked at him with alarm. Luckily they were mostly all Paganum, with no imperial guards in sight. He mumbled an apology as he rushed off, leaving the deal he was in the middle of undone.
He could just barely keep her in his sight as she left the square. She was heading South. Eventually the crowds dissipated enough as they went that he wasn't worried so much about losing her, and kept to a more casual pace.
To his concern, Grayson noticed Mia's posture was drawn in, and she cast nervous glances around often. Was something wrong? Maybe she knew something about this part of town he didn't. Maybe someone was after her. To be safe, he decided to keep a hand on the hilt of his sword. Ready to defend himself or Mia if they were jumped by anybody.
For many minutes she kept walking, her path turning in a wide arc around the city. Almost aimless. Was she looking for something? Lost? Sightseeing? The colorful patterns painted on the buildings were a sight to behold, but she didn't seem to be stopping to admire them. Gradually the roads narrowed, and she took sharp turns into a network of alleyways that were a lot more difficult to keep up with.
As Grayson stepped through an archway, his face met the handle of a broom.
"Augh! What-" Another blow. Right to the nose. Grayson stumbled back, trying to blink through the involuntary well-up of tears.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" His attacker asked. "Stop following me!" It was Mia's voice.
"Woah woah woah woah!" He put his hands up. "Stop, Mia! It's just me!"
"What!? Grayson?"
"Yeah, did you really have to hit me with a broom? Good Goddess!"
Mia huffed. "Well what else! Am I supposed to do! When a mysterious figure! Follows me! Into an alleyway! Ready to draw a sword!?"
Grayson blinked. Then grimaced, and hid his face in his hands. "No, you're right. You're right. I did deserve that. I specifically didn't want to startle you, I am so sorry."
"And just how was what you did supposed to not completely scare me out of my skull?"
"I don't know, I just- I didn't want to turn any heads if I alarmed you. I already was so surprised to see you that I drew too much attention in the market. I'm lucky no soldiers were around."
"Oh yeah? Well- well-" Mia finally lowered the broom and sighed. "I'm glad to see you too, stupid."
Mia pulled him into a brief hug, then looked him over quizzically.
"So where's your little one?" She asked.
"Uh... my...you mean the egg?"
"Yeah! I mean, you're kinda light on gear today, so it doesn't seem like it's with you." She gasped. "Oh! Has the dragon hatched alrea-"
"Shush!" Grayson cut her off. He didn't see anyone when he looked around, but continued in a hushed tone anyways. "It's fine. It's elsewhere. Stowed safely. But if we're gonna discuss it, we'll need a more secure location. I might as well show you."
"Ah, okay. Good move, probably." She set the borrowed broom back against the wall she found it against. "Lead the way!"
—————
"Wow, you really put some effort into hiding this thing. We're already what, four whole hills away from the city? Seriously?"
"Yes, seriously. Drake mentioned something about the egg having a magical signature. If he were here we could figure out exactly to what extent, but for now it's better safe than sorry. Until we have a base that can secret it away, it needs to stay well off the beaten path, even when I have to risk coming into town for supplies."
"Makes sense. Who's 'we' though?"
"Huh?"
"You said 'we' about the whole base thing."
Grayson stopped walking for a second. "Oh, I meant all of us. Drake and I, but you too if you like. I- I didn't mean to assume anything. If you just want to get back to your normal life-"
"No! No, you're fine. I won't complain about being included." They resumed walking. "Besides, there's not much of a normal life to get back to anymore. I tried. Didn't work out."
"Oh. Sorry."
"It's okay. I figured that'd be the case when I tried to go home. Everything I saw with you two... It stuck, and I could feel it, like, seeping into the world around me and taking root like a curse. The nightmares, asleep or not, made it hard to pretend that nothing had happened." After a moment of silence, Mia tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "That and the wanted posters with my face on them. Those also didn't help."
"What!? I haven't seen you on any posters."
"Oh, you haven't? They made some for all of us!" Mia gleefully pulled some folded-up pieces of paper from her pockets and unfolded them to shove into Grayson's face. "I collected the whole set!"
He couldn't help a bewildered laugh. "Why do you have these? You know that could be extra incriminating to have on you, right?"
"I couldn't help it. Their devious little faces tugged at my heartstrings. I just had to give them a home."
He took the posters to get a closer look. "What is up with my beard on this? I've been on nicer wanted posters before, why not just reuse the old ones? Maybe it's a sign, Mia. Do I need to shave?" He stroked his scruff with an exaggerated frown.
She laughed. "No no, I think it means you should grow it out more. To match. Become what they fear. It is your destiny."
Grayson chuckled and kept leafing through them. When he reached Drake's, his face fell. "They made him look so... monstrous."
"Yeah, it's not exactly flattering."
He kept staring at it for a moment. "I don't suppose you've run into him since the library."
"Nope. I assume you haven't either."
He shook his head.
"Well now you've got me around, so that's twice the eyes looking for him. If I'm doing the math right, that means we'll find him in half the time." Mia grinned and leaned over waiting for a response, but he didn't laugh this time.
His eyes weren't even focusing on anything, either. He just nodded hesitantly.
Mia bumped her shoulder into him. "Hey. You worried about him?"
"Worried? Yeah. I mean- well, sure, but I don't know about worried worried. I have... a level of concern. But... I mean it's not like..." his effort to sound as nonchalant as possible tapered off into incoherent mumbling.
Mia gave him a quick side-hug. "It's okay, I miss him too."
It was nearing sunset by the time they reached the small mouth of a cave. Mia didn't even notice it until Grayson had already stopped to remove his backpack so he could squeeze in.
"Cozy," she commented.
"Don't worry," Grayson said as he helped her through. "That's about the worst of it. It's nice and roomy further in. Just keep your hand on the wall to your right and you'll see."
"Aren't you gonna light a torch? It'll only get darker from here."
"You'll see," Grayson repeated.
The cave did indeed widen as they went, and darkness soon wasn't an issue. As the chamber opened up, they were bathed in the warm glow of bioluminescent berries on vines that hung like curtains from the ceiling. A small brook wandered through here, watering a thick blanket of moss and other flora. Its babble as it flowed from pool to pool sounded around the cave walls in a playful echo.
Mia squealed as she spotted the egg, half-buried in a makeshift moss bed. "There it is! Aww, look at its little nest. Did you make this yourself?"
"Needed to make sure it'd stay secure." Grayson set to work on lighting a campfire on a nearby patch of bare rock.
Mia laid back in the moss. "This feels like the right place for a dragon egg, you know? Soft, quiet, magical... plus plenty of berries to snack on and water to splash around in when it hatches."
Grayson sat back once the fire could sustain itself. He looked around like he was seeing it all for the first time. "Yeah, I suppose that would be nice. But it'd have to serve as a daycare, if anything. Unfortunately, it'll only hatch in one place."
"What do you think it is about the hatchery that the egg needs? Is it like a certain temperature or elevation, or is it some magical signature of the place?"
He shrugged. "All of the above? That's as good as I could come up with, too. I just hope the answer will be a little more obvious once we get there, I have only the vaguest idea what the process will involve. But puzzling it out when we get there should be a little easier with an archaeologist on the team, right?"
"Of course. You don't have to ask me twice, I already know it'll be the experience of a lifetime. Have you made any headway finding it yet?"
Grayson sighed. "No. I have the map from the library, but the whole thing's sort of been on the back burner."
"Back... burner?" Mia mouthed to herself. She decided not to question the unfamiliar phrasing and just let Grayson talk.
"I..." a few times he opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't seem to summon the words until he brought his hands out to gesture. "I've tried to summon the drive I used to have for getting this thing hatched. But it's just not as strong anymore. The moment I found Drake again, and he asked me to help him save Armen, it just... faded. And of course I still want to keep it out of the Empire's hands and see if it could be used against them, but what if he-" His jaw set. "... I think until we find Drake, I just won't be able to focus on it."
"Okay. It's settled then, we'll get Drake back first." Mia patted the egg's stony shell. "Sorry buddy, you'll just have to wait in there a little longer. Got any ideas where to find him, map guy?"
Grayson hesitated. "One idea. But I'm not excited about exploring it, 'cause if I'm right, he's in a lot of trouble."
"Can't be that bad, can it? I mean he's gotten through so much already."
Grayson glanced at Mia dubiously, then stared into the fire. "I've been hearing rumors from the Badlands. Things haven't gotten much better there. I figured after we destroyed a diamond and Herobrine lost the body he had, the attacks would stop. But they haven't. Maybe they did for a month or so, but there's still more bloodshed."
"So you're saying... he has another vessel? You don't think-" Mia covered her mouth.
"I hope not. There's a chance he found someone else to use, but..."
"But Drake already had a piece of the fiend in him."
Grayson nodded grimly. "If he's lost control already, I'm not sure what we can do about it."
"Well, Drake was the one doing all the magic needed to destroy the diamond last time. So if we want to help him, we'll need to figure out a different way to get rid of the others."
"Destroying another diamond? Forget how we even do that, wouldn't that endanger Drake? It didn't help Armen like we thought it would."
Mia pursed her lips in thought. "Things should be different this time, in theory. From what I understand, Armen was taken as a last-ditch effort to stay alive, right?"
Grayson nodded hesitantly.
"Well, then that means Herob- whoops, that was close. The demon was constantly sustaining Armen's body from the verge of death. Armen didn't have any vitality of his own to sustain himself or to fight back. Drake's curse is more gradual, so If we shake him loose it might hurt, but he should still have enough strength to stay alive." Mia crumpled in slightly. "Or at least, I think so. Magic isn't really my expertise, I'm only tangentially familiar with how it connects to my other studies."
With a sigh, Grayson dropped his tense posture. "Well, I guarantee you know more about magic than I do. I'm not of this world. So If you think that's the way to go, I'll... trust you on it. On one condition: I want to find Drake first. We need to know what we're working with."
"Don't worry, that was already part of the plan."