"Then we should lure him out so that his magic fades?" Leo asked.
"Even if you manage to do that, it will take some time before his magic breaks down and the ice is devoured by the elemental."
"Ye mean we should free it while we're there," Rory said.
"Not free it completely," Ommanth corrected him. "I don't think you can do that. Rather, you can make a crack and channel its fire and fury at the one who had been keeping it dormant for all these years."
"You're fucking nuts to think you can reason with such a..." Yelena jumped into the conversation, trying to find the correct word. "Such a thing."
"Would you look at that, she can talk," Ommanth remarked sarcastically. "There's not much to reason about. All the elemental needs to know is where its icy tormentor is. You are very lucky that I can speak the language of magma elementals."
"And I suppose we have to trust what ye say to it?" Rory asked, still suspicious of the dragon.
"I appreciate that what I am suggesting is something that might very well get you all killed, and end with myself a part of my worst enemy's hoard," Ommanth said in a cold voice, "but there is a chance of success. If there is one thing that will, without any shadow of doubt, make us all fail, it is mistrust. If you are not willing to trust me, good dwarf, then by all means continue hoarding money to fund a dragon-killing army twenty years from now. And once they're all dead, I hope you survive and come back to me, so we can do this."
Rory considered Ommanth's proposal for a few moments, during which the rest of us just looked at him. He scratched his long beard, his fingers instinctively starting from the mustache he was missing. The one he had no right to bear as a king without a hall.
"Fine, ye fucker," he finally said, and spat into his palm. "Fine. But if we can't trap him, I'm killing the bastard."
I moved back, fearing that he might want me to shake on it but instead he took the orb and shook it as if it was a hand.
"All I ask is that you try and capture him," Ommanth said and then sighed.
"Does this mean we can go now?" Yelena asked and we all turned around to look at her, surprised.
"Who said you're coming with us?" Leo asked.
"Hold on one damn minute," Rory said. "Why are ye coming with us, Leo?"
"It's the least I can do," he replied and sat back on his armchair, casually crossing one leg over the other. "It's only been a few hours since you saved me, after all."
"Same here," Yelena agreed. "You saved me too."
Rory put his hand out in front of him, trying to deal with them one at a time.
"I saved ye, Roman, because ye're a friend, and because ye helped us with the warehouse," he explained. "Ye don't owe me shit."
"If that's how you feel, I guess it's fine," Leo replied and shrugged. "I'm here only because you helped save me. And after the talk I'm going to have with my father about all that's happened, I won't want to stay here. So I might as well join you on this great adventure of yours."
"Bah, ye're a grown-ass man," Rory finally conceded. "Ye can make yer own fucking decisions. But what about ye, lass? Getting ye out was part of our deal with yer wife."
"Okay, but I'm still coming with you. Fighting a dragon sounds like a thrill," she said.
"No. We are fighting it," Rory stressed. "Ye can go wherever ye want now."
"And where the fuck am I supposed to go?" she shouted, her voice stronger than before. "I want to help you destroy this dragon. So shut the fuck up and let me fight it with you."
"Rory--" I said but was immediately interrupted by him.
"Let me guess," he said in a sarcastic tone. "Ye want to come as well right? Because we're such a dandy fellowship and ye don't want to miss the fun?"
"I just wanted to say that if she wants to join us, we could use her help," I replied. "And of course we're coming. I told you I'll help with reclaiming your hall."
"No, ye said ye'd help with funding this operation," he corrected me. "I didn't agree to ye putting yer life at risk."
"Like you did when they attacked me in my apartment?" I asked.
"Like you did when we did my soul-binding quest?" Louie followed.
"Like you did when Abrathion was holding me hostage?" Leo jumped in.
"Fuck yeah," Yelena agreed. "What he said. For me too."
"Gods damn it," he said as he rested his hands on his waist and looked at the ceiling. "Gods damn ye all."
"Does this mean we're all going?" I asked.
"We're all going alright," he agreed and turned his face toward us, his eyes glistening ever so slightly. "But ye fuckers aren't coming as ye are now. First, ye all need to have at least D-grade proficiency and do your class-upgrade quests."
"In that case, we'll need to go through some logistics", I said and turned to the orb. "We'll talk again soon, Ommanth."
"You've given me something to hope for," the dragon said. "I thank you for that."
"Okay, so we do our quests and then we get going," I suggested once I put the orb back in my inventory.
"There is no need to wait for that," Leo said. "Our class-upgrade quests are extraplanar. We can travel to the dwarf's realm and trigger the quests there."
"Then ye need to get your level, Roman," Rory said and bumped his fist on Leo's shoulder. "Best if ye do yer quest with D-grade equipment."
"Right, you guys have already gained your levels..." Leo remarked.
"Which reminds me," I said and retrieved the staff I had stored in my inventory.
"Is that Abrathion's weapon?" Leo asked, surprised by the sight of the intense blue glow of the staff.
"I
