It turned out to be quite exhausting, and one thing cats weren't fond of was exhaustion. Though, the one exception to that was having a fine meal of fresh devotion and faith as a result, and Sandwalker fed well. They had, until now, left the mortal realm mostly to its own devices, only touching briefly on their own adherents. Now they had been pushed by a young human woman with a destiny so bright that a god of the sun could scarcely ignore her.

  "I could have handled that."

  Rare as it was for new gods to grow from a mortal, it happened from time to time. Sandwalker never felt bad about assisting her former kitten to his rightful place, but that didn't stop them feigning ignorance of his presence for the moment.

  "Why did you step in at all, Mother?" The armor-clad warrior crouched and, removing his mailed gauntlet, carefully petted the sprawled-out feline on the head. "It's not like you to take so much interest above the equator."

  All true, so far as Sandwalker normally operated. Rolling to their belly, Sandwalker stood up and stretched as they did, arching their spine and letting loose a happy mewl as Brogdar changed his petting to a long stroke down their back. Only when the little ritual was complete did they reply, "A young priestess-to-be asked for my help. In her paws lies the future of that entire kingdom. You and Scales didn't see her until it was too late."

  Far from the most he'd ever heard his "mother" speak, it was nonetheless more than usual—also a small rebuke. "I was too focused on what my priests were doing. You seemed to have a claim on her that predated anything I could have managed."

  "You learn to see far in advance, as you age." Leaning against the hip of their kitten, Sandwalker looked up at his armored face and nuzzled into his hand. "I thought you had this continent under control?"

  "I thought we did. The main player is Scales, but something has stirred up ambition in a particular noble family. I don't think it is another god, but it's taking time to rule one out." He smiled at one thing, though. "Bookkeeper is having fun."

  "She always will."

  "Those dungeons have been adapting so much— I heard her giggling." Brogdar had to slip off his other gauntlet to do his mother's coat justice. "Her creations are amazing."

  That reminded Sandwalker of another of their priestesses. Shaking their head, they let out a sigh. "She feels trapped. She thought it would be easy to invest only a little of herself in a dungeon and its boss. My priestess does nothing by half."

  "Will you give her your advice?"

  "If she took the advice of another, when it comes to her heart, she wouldn't be my priestess." Yawning, Sandwalker rolled her shoulders and then gracefully lowered themselves. Slipping onto their side, they closed their eyes.

  Knowing his mother, Brogdar left Sandwalker to their sunbathing while he tended to the flood of prayers coming from the aftermath of the little show Sandwalker had put on. Reassurance was the order of the day—urging his followers to trust in events and denying the presence of any evil.

  Felna felt emotionally drained, but the gulf was refilling slowly—in no small measure because she had found peace. Leaning back against Travis' heart, she lounged every bit as relaxed as her god. She was purring, too, which spoke of how much her feelings had been bottled up, and how much of a relief it was to have hashed things out with Travis.

  She had no idea if Travis was focused elsewhere, but he didn't warn her in advance before a tiny green head poked into the room and looked around. "Oh no, a brave goblin adventurer is here to beat me up and take over the dungeon," she said.

  Lifting the saucepan lid she'd secured to her right arm and the little carved wooden "sword" in her left, Mixie charged at Felna with a war-cry that would surely have chilled the very bones of any dungeon monster, what with the giggles and snorts mixed into it.

  Putting on as stern a defense as she could under the circumstances (sitting on her butt without anything but a sharp knife she'd never draw against the girl), Felna quickly succumbed to the ferocious attack and flopped on the floor. "I'm worth twenty gold and thirty experience points," she mumbled.

  Diving onto Felna, Mixie found her prize and liberated the woman's coin purse. "One. Two. Three. Four. Five…"

  "When did you learn to count?" Felna asked, making a half-hearted grab for her money.

  "… Twenny." Folding the top back over the purse, Mixie passed it back. "You said twenny gold."

  "I—did. Well, now you've beaten the dungeon monster and have free rein over the dungeon, what are you going to do?" Felna took her far lighter purse back and slipped it into the pocket she normally kept it.

  "Now I, queen Mixie, am in control of dungeon, I can marry whoever I want!" She glared at Felna, daring her to gainsay her new status.

  In all his time as a dungeon, Travis had found there was nothing quite so attention-getting as a warrior goblin rampaging into his heart room. The combination of noise, activity, and radiant gremlin energy created a potential that couldn't be ignored.

  Looking up at Travis, and getting the mental equivalent of a shrug from him, Felna mirrored the gesture physically. "Okay."

  Nodding, Mixie sheathed her sword (sliding it through her belt and then twisting it so it didn't fall down), set her shield aside, and cleared her throat. "You and Trav are now mawwied! Pen-Pen too!"

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  Felna's blush, when Travis noticed it through her fur, made Travis happy he couldn't be seen to blush. "Fel, please, say something so this doesn't get awkward."

  The nickname snapped Felna out of her shock. She opened her mouth to shout a denial at Mixie, but the big grin on the girl's face shattered any hope she had of a sane recovery. "Sure, kitten, why not." She stood up and then made a show of bowing to Mixie. "What does her royal majesty wish next?" Felna practically purred the words out, sweeping one arm around her body to make the bow look far more fancy.

  "We had royalty in our midst and I didn't know? I'll have to buy red carpet." Travis asked, mocking shock.

  "Did you expect anyone so regal could not be an empress?" Gesturing at the goblin girl clad in pots and pans, holding a toy sword, Felna repeated. "Your Imperial Highness?"

  "I want…" Mixie lifted the edge of her shield to her mouth and chewed on the hard metal rim—leaving teeth marks. "Ride! Flying! I asked the wyvbirds, but they said no! Then want sword! Shield! Magic!"

  "Kitten, you don't want much, do you?" Picking Mixie up and setting her in a seated position behind her neck, Felna carried the girl to the exit of the heart room, pausing there to look back at Travis. "We'll talk more later, Trav. Could you let Mixie's mother know where she is?"

  "Way ahead of you, Fel." Trying to not sound too smug, Travis nonetheless giggled to himself when Felna twitched once more. "She said Mixie should have two talismans on her, if she hasn't eaten one again. Do you want a class, Mixie?"

  Eyes growing huge, Mixie nodded so much she almost headbutted Felna. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Wait! Mom said it's okay?"

  Travis laughed. "She did! This one is a special one. You know why?"

  "Why?!"

  "Because it makes you an honorary kobold!" Travis purchased the class for a thousand gold and bestowed Mixie with it. "There, now you have an ability called Expanded Slip. It lets you walk through walls like a kobold can!"

  Gasping and kicking her legs in excitement, Mixie let out a squeal. "I'll be the best honry kobold ever!"

  "Do you have both your talismans on?" Felna asked, doing her best to ignore the crazed little green devil on her shoulders.

  "Nnnnn—Yes!"

  "Are you sure? Show them to me."

  "They shouldn' make the ink so tasty." Pulling out her only talisman, Mixie passed it to Felna.

  "You might as well finish this one too; you've licked the ink off." Passing it back, Felna headed for the second floor temple to Brogdar. "If you're really good, and don't eat any talismans, I might be able to convince a wyvern to take you flying more often."

  Mixie, realizing she was going to get to fly more, did her best to not eat the new talismans when she got them, and didn't kick too much until, nearing the Wyvern Beastpens, she couldn't help herself. "Are we really gonna ride one?"

  "No, silly. We'll ride two; one each. You're a big girl, after all." What Felna didn't tell Mixie, of course, was that it would mean she could fly lower than the girl and try to catch the girl if she fell. "Pick one and ask them if they want to fly around some."

  Having grown a little in the time since moving into Travis' dungeon, Mixie didn't simply run around biting the wyverns until one took notice of her. "Hi! I'm Mixie! Do you want to go flying with me?"

  "Be careful, but don't be too gentle with her, please. She needs to learn how to handle one of you properly, and she's tough despite how small she is. She's our friend," Travis told his wyverns, trying his best to reassure them that everything was okay.

  When the first two wyverns walked away from her without even letting her pet them, Mixie growled and turned to the third nearest. "I want to go fly!" She glared at the wyvern, daring him to refuse her.

  Tilting his head, the wyvern stepped closer to Mixie until the tip of his nose touched hers. Opening his mouth to reveal stiletto-like teeth—each as long as Mixie's fingers—the wyvern roared at the girl, spraying her with his saliva and before closing his mouth and considering her more.

  Holding her ground, Mixie leaned forward a little so the wyvern had to lean back, opened her mouth, and roared back at the wyvern.

  Jerking his head back, the wyvern winced at the smell of the little goblin's breath. When at last the girl stopped screaming at him, he felt an itching sensation in his nose and, unable to maintain his superior airs, sneezed.

  "I win! You have to let me ride you now!" Mixie said, reaching up to clean the wyvern snot off her face. Blindsiding the wyvern, she managed to jump high enough up his side to grab onto a wing, then climbed the rest of the way onto his back. "What's your name? Mine's Mixie!"

  From sneeze to having Mixie on his back had been only scant confusing seconds, but in that time the wyvern realized he'd lost to a far more ferocious foe. On the bright side, it meant he got to go for a fly. Leaning to one side, shaking the opposite wing, then swapping, he gave a little bounce. When Mixie was still seated, he decided it was good enough.

  Felna had much less trouble finding a mount. She approached the largest of the wyverns, leaned in close, and whispered promises of sanding scales and luxurious dust baths and she dipped a wing and let the priestess climb on. "Are you ready, kitten?" she asked Mixie, who let out a whoop of excitement and charged out the exit of the room. "Trav, I believe I may have overestimated my abilities."

  "You'll be fine, Fel. Remember, you're amazing!" Travis couldn't stop laughing as the odd little group charged through the tunnels and up toward the surface. It wasn't a hard decision to make on where to send them, and soon enough the wyverns dashed into the open plaza of Northridge.

  Axel had a single moment to appreciate his little sister leading a charge out of the dungeon, before she was in the air and shooting skyward on the wyvern. The sound of his sister's screeching climbing a few octaves as she gained altitude. Taking a slow, deep breath, Axel shook his head. "I don't think I want to know. Trav, at least tell me Mom is okay with this?"

  "Your mom said, and I quote word for word, 'If you can find something to tire her out that doesn't involve swords, do it.'" Travis watched through Axel's eyes as the two wyverns and their riders became lost to his sight in the sky. "She has two fresh talismans, just in case."

  Shrugging his shoulders, Axel continued walking back to the dungeon. "I need to work on these rods for Tinpot. He has me using some weird new machines to make them. I like the flat table he made me and the ruler. The northerner commander, Hilda, asked me to make her some new heavy plate. I think I can create her the best armor she's ever worn, but I'll need to test some things first."

  "Use all the metal you need. We're still sending a lot to the King's smiths to work with, but there's a new city worth of workers who are negotiating access, and that means more tithed resources." Travis wasn't sure how much longer rampant greed would keep working, but in the meantime he wasn't going to rock the boat.

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