The four of them had been chasing after an evil sorcerer for many years and finally confront him in a forgotten temple belonging to an unknown goddess. The bate itself didn't end well for them, but the slumbering goddess has other plans for them.

Story set in the School for Dragons setting.

----
“Just remember, it all ends today. After this, I don't want to see any of you ever again,” Galen spoke solemnly, his voice rasped with hard bitter experience . His good eye stared out into the empty hallway in front of him, as if trying to see through the darkness within. His eye patch barely concealed a vicious scar over the other. He anxiously held his sword, his hands unsteady from the call of battle. On all the ones here, he was the oldest, the most battered both by time and battle. His armor reflected it, showing the obvious signs of patch worked replacements and quirk repair jobs. “We go in, end Eridus. That’s it.”

Selene’s eye shifted to a scowl, her gaze wary of the others as she held the gnarled oak staff between her cold grip. “Hmph. And here I was thinking we were all such good friends.” She was in much the same state as Galen before her. Old and withered from hardship and long life, her grey hairs ran past her side. Her dark robes were ragged and ancient. She was almost like a hag, the kind that parents would warn their children to be wary about.

“Careful sorceress,” said the another. Rhea didn't wear much in the way of armor aside from a padded cloth and leather and white animal furs from the north that had been wildly stitched together and kept to the bare minimum . A number of weapons and tools were placed onto her belt. She was by far the youngest and healthiest looking, her red hair still wild and full of life, but she was still past her prime. “Once your master is done I will come for you next.”

“What I do is not a crime,” replied Selene letting out a smirk as she did. “In some jurisdictions anways. Besides, you're hardly one to talk, Butcher.”

Rhea looked at the other with distaste and barely contained fury. She spat into the ground. “For the last time, that was a... misunderstanding.” Although those that knew would understand what she was hiding. There was no pride in her.

“We all have our share of reasons for society to loath us so,” rasped the last member of the group. Krios pushed the lever on his wheel chair and moved himself to the center, his wheel chair letting out a motorized hum as it moved. The rest of his other limbs were limp and even his neck leaned sideways as though he barely had any function in the rest of his body. “I have little no doubt once Eridus is done with, my colleagues in the Guild, once free of hunting him down, will wonder how I survived despite losing my heart…and wonder about Brutus.”

And steel clad behemoth in the shape of a gorrila knuckles over to its master and bent in submission.

Galen looked at his “allies” under a steely gaze. “Easy. This is our last chance everyone. if we don't stop Eridus here, who knows how many years it'll be before we find him again. We can't waste time here tearing each other's throats.”

“Don't see why we don't just turn the city guards against him.” muttered Rhea. “Let them die for our sake.”

“And bolster the legions at his command? I think not.” Selene uttered.

Galen nodded his head. “Best if no one knows that we decided to break in to catch a fiendish sorcerer attempting to breach a recently discovered archeological site within city limits. Less complications.”

Rhea’s head tilted sideways and she leaned closeragainst the wall. “I suppose you're right. Fighting him will taste sweeter I think if it's more... personal.”

“The temple belongs to a forgotten god,” Krios spoke, his head leaning sideways. “Eridus and the archeology team have discovered and disabled the traps by now, but take cautiin. We don't know why Eridus choose this place.”

“Yes. Of course that is why your contraption should lead the way.” Galen suggested in a somewhat insisting kinD of way.

Brutus leaned it's head over to one side as if the question the man's statement.

Krios glowered, not exactly liking putting his companion in the direct line of fire, even if it was a machune. “Fine. But I don't owe you anything after that.”

“Fine, fine have it your way…”

Everyone turned to each other and made one final check of their belongings, while simultaneously ensuring none of their so called friends decided to take “preemptive measures.”

For all of them this was an alliance of convenience, nothing more nothing less. Each of them were old and battered from a life on conflict hunting down a single man all for various reasons. Had they not, they might have all killed each other a long time ago.

They entered the hallway, having already bypassed the city guards and security checkpoints on the way over.

The hallway was an odd one, being quite large and vast enough that creatures many sizes larger than a human could have easily fit in and long enough to make walking painfully annoying. It was just a straight path, tilted slightly downward. Most of the siderooms had caved in since the place had fallen into disuse. The floor had been cleared to make travel safer and to allow,carts the ability to move back and forth. Thee area was dark, torches being a rarity, but guidance wasn't a necessity


“Good thing the archeology team went to the inn tonight to celebrate…” Rhea muttered. “Else wed have to cut through them too.

The group moved through the long hallway and before found themselves at the end. The room was large, easily bigger than most throne rooms with a ceiling large enough to comfortable fit large beasts. Columns and decorations were inlaid in fine brass that glimmered oddly to provide illumination. And at the very end was a broken statue surrounded by a pool of blackened water, which in turn was surrounded by a mass of hooded figures, all pointed directly at the intruders.

The hooded figures dispersed and immediately stepped forward to meet the war band, their motions deathly silent.

The four travelers did the same, their guards up and readied. Everyone knew a fight was likely to break out.

The two groups met each other in the temples midway point, going to each other face to face. Then, the cloaked figured lost their cloaks as though their garments dissolved into darkness, leaving most of them as boney, shadowy figures in threadbare clothes with blackened swords at their hips. Shades were old and powerful undead monsters, something like a ghost but far more physical in nature yet not really… there. They were mockeries that needed to know they were dead.

Only one of the previously hooded figures had a face. “Ah there you are,” Eridus seemed to be a young man with dark blonde hair and a face that fit on beautiful paintings of angels. Yet those who knew him knew that this guise was only an illusion, wrought from stolen life force and dark magic. He smiled in a way that sent chills up everyone else's spine, a devil in the flesh if there ever was one.. “I was wondering when you'd show up… I didn't anticipate you would take this long. You're all often so behind.”

Everyone glared at him, drawing their weapons to stay on guard. “You know why were here.” Galen answered. “It's them to end you.”

Eridus raised a finger and wiggled it in a scolding tone. “ Ah but do you children know why I am a here?” He was of course mocking the age and experience of his opponents. Though Eridus seemed the youngest, he was by far the most ancient thing here aside from the ancient temple itself.

“Does it matter?” Rhea muttered. “Your presence here is desecration. And I don't think I worship the same gods the temple's builders praised.”

“It does,” said Selene letting a grin. “Powerful magic is here. Can't you feel it?”

Krios let out a sigh and his mechanical gorilla stepped forward to block the way. “Even dead gods can dream I guess.”

“And that is precisely what I need you for.” Eridus said as he neared his opponents. His undying minions did the same, pulling off their darkened blades. “I need the spark of life, yours to take her powers. With it I will become as a god myself.”

“You're crazy!” said Rhea.

“Am I? Well it won't matter before long. Kill them all!” Eridus commanded, his undead monsters came charging in.

In response, the adventurers attacked back.

Rhea took two axes and rapidly tore into the offensive lines, throwing shades left and right and caving one's head before it disappeared into darkness. She let out a ferocious war cry and took on many attackers with whirling blades.

Selene rose her staff and twisted moon light exited out from its tip and blinded the mass of undead warriors while at the same hurling bolts of magic at Eridus as he glided overhead.

Meanwhile, Krios backed away by guiding his wheelchair away as his ape of a machine plowed his way through a dozen shades all at once and ground several into powder by passing them alone.

Galen held up a shield and blocked blades and darkened magic under an iron bulwark. He cracked and slashed his way through the enemy line, almost seeming superhuman as he did so.

But as powerful as the four of them were, they were still outnumbered and losing ground.

Krios learned this first when a shade knocked him out of his seat. “agh”

But before his guardian rose to protect him, Eridus blasted the mechanical beast and it fell down like a mess of spare parts.

“Brutus!” he sounded in desperation. But there was no saving him now. He fell under a mountain of shades and was engulfed entirely…

“I have you now!” Selene shouted and hurled a bolts of silvery moon light onto the dark sorcerers chest.

Eridus bellowed and howled as he took the blast and hurled to earth. Shades went in and took Selene off guard and struck her low, but not out of the count.

Galen went in charging the shadowy minions and cut down a few to force his way through to his enemy’s side, uncaring of the wounds or injuries he took as he went in.

Rhea cleaved her way through as well, cleaving enemies and throwing them aside. but Eridus had his own plans. He hurled Rhea away with a bolt of magic, knocking away her weapons before she landed on the ground. Shades went in to take her out but she proved to be dangerous even without her weapons as she ripped their heads off.

Eridus didn't quite like that though and with a dark word, she fell down and stopped moving.

Selene made one last strike of moonlight at her opponent but Eridus retaliated by breaking her staff. she rolled to the side, bleeding and injured.

The shades were thinned quite a bit there numbers reduced just enough for Galen to push through. While he was distracted, he made a wide arcing swing and took Eridus by surprise, wounding him in his side….

Eridus howled in agony and pushed forward through his shades and struck at Galen, shattering his shield in the process.

Galen reeled back but he didn't fear death. he butted his head against his foe, causing a Eridus to relent.

The last shades charges Galen and he chopped them down as he could. but it wasn't enough. He lost his sword as one parried it away. two more came n and grabbed the man by the arms bad pinned him.

“I will make this slow and painful!” howled Eridus as he went in for the kill. He lunged forward and reached toward Galen’s face. he touched him and rapidly drained the life from him.

Galen shouted in agony as his strength was sapped from him.

But before anything could be finished, one last bolt of moonlight seared Eridus’s face. the sorcerer howled in agony for a brief moment before a boot pummeled him in the face.

Galen lunged free from the shades one last time and hammered the sorcerer squarely on the nose.

And then Eridus fell through the floor, disappearing as though he were a ghost.

The rest of the shades followed suit, disappearing along with their master. Whether or or not Eridus was dead or not, no one were sure… but only that the fighting here was at an end.

Galen fell to his knees and breathed hard, his throat dry and hard to control. He turned towards his side and found Selene, dressed in cut up robes and injured.

Both of them turned to each other and had a silent discussion using their eyes alone. Ut was done, and neither of them were likely to survive this. Even if Eridus was alive they dealt a blow that was going to make it so that he was going to spend plenty of time to reform. They also didn't want to see what happened to their companions, they didn't want to ruin the moment.

Galen turned on his back and breathed ,sigh of relief. He raised his hand up and tried to imagine what awaited him up ahead. It probably didn't matter now… Maybe he had people he wanted to meet on the other side.

And then his hand went limp and he fell.

Selene cackled in macabre glee. “I am the last.. the last…” but even she too knew that she couldn't last for very long.

She closed her eyes and went silently. No point now...

---

When Selene opened her eyes she found herself standing in a field. It was surprising to say the least. She had expected hell fire and brimstone, knowing what she did in life.

Yet here she was in a field of nowhere, a peaceful tranquil place that just sickened her to the core.

She was as she was, but uninjured. She felt like nothing happened as though she hadn't just came from lethal fight. Was she dead? Her spirit must have been unhindered by life's pains. Though it didn't explain why she still “felt old”.

“Yes, you are… and for a time barred from receiving judgement.” a voice said from nowhere.

Selene knew what was going on and turned towards the sky. No one was there but it seemed appropriate of a guess to make. After all, she fell on holy ground. “So am I to be your hostage, goddess?”

“Once I decide to do with you all.” Said the voice.

“You are the goddes of that shrine, are you not? This is your realm.” spoke Celene. “Why did you take me here?”

“To question you. I wanted to see who had disturbed me in my slumber.” spoke the goddess her voice everywhere. The field grew brides and thorns. “you are stained by darkness, not as much as your fallen master but plenty. Enough that I wonder if I should be concerned.”

Selene let out another hag’s grin, ignoring the thorns. “Maybe. But I was never gifted in necromancy as my master was… I remained old after all.”

“Perhaps.” said the goddess. “Do you know who I am?”

“No,” Selene said gloomily. “Quite frankly I don’t care. I am already dead… I don't see how my talking to you will change anything.”

“That can be fixed.”

Selene squinted her eyes at the sky to let her skepticism known. “What are you getting at?”

“Merely that I wonder if there is a merit to rewarding you for protecting my temple and stopping an usurper,” said the goddess.

The thorns and brambles the goddess rose dropped and then Selene found himself looking into a field of flowers. The old witch was disgusted at the sight.

“But at the same time, I find you all rather… twisted, broken... And more. But I suppose it is normal for humans to be so impure.”

Selene spat a silent curse and held her staff to the heavens. “And you intend to ‘cleanse’ me goddess?”

“Perhaps. I admittedly wouldn't be considering this otherwise, but….” the world then shifted to a barren wasteland, full of bones. “Those that served as my...disciples, my children are so few in number. I want to correct this, to restore my children.”

Selene rose and thought of this for a moment. On the one hand, she didn't quite like the idea of becoming a thrall for some forgotten god. On the other, she knew several beings in the great beyond wanted a piece of her once she died. If the goddess was being honest, such an extension of life would all least keep her in the clear for a few more years at most.

“If it matters, I will also convince them to forgo your debts, though it'll come at a price.”

Selene squinted her eyes. It seemed like it was too good to be true. “What price?”

And oasis in the wasteland appeared around Selene and she saw herself, but as a child, no older than six years of age. Not only that but after a moment a green coating of scales and reptilian features grew on the child’s image. “When I mean I wish to have more children, I kind of meant it literally. Abandon your dark pursuits and accept my gifts. That is all I request.”

Selene hissed. “How dare you! I am no child!“ This was just… too much for her. She had laboured tirelessly, evaded capture so many times, all to gain powers that were above even what others hoped to keep. There was no way how this goddess could have been so insane as to think she would accept, would she? “I won't accept this, your terms are…”

“Are what?” asked the goddess.

Selene found her gaze turning towards towards her youthful reflection. It changed back into herself, old, dark, yet powerful. It was a lonely and dangerous existence, one embarked long ago in the pursuit of more. Yet it would be a lie to say that she hadn't considered deterring from it back when she was still young. Mostly she just kept at it because it was all she knew. Selene sighed. “...Excessive.”

“I know I ask you a great deal. But I also offer you a great deal as well,” said the goddess.

Selene considered it another time. If the goddess was going to seek for children, would that mean she would become a demigod? Maybe not, but at the very least it implied that the goddess would offer replacement education. There were possibly powerful secrets there, thujgs that were beyond normal mortals. It also came with some….immediate benefits, such as settling things with certain creditors. She supposed if things didn't work out, she could always renege later on. “Maybe….” She muttered.

“That's all I need,” spoke the goddess.

Selene found herself looking her reflection yet again. She knelt down and touched it, changing the image, and blurring it.

The image changed, looking height and stature and with the skin turning a greenish hue as it smoothened out and became supple. Tiny, almost too small wings sprouted from behind her whilst a small nubby tail grew from the rear. The darkened robe as it changed colors and became child’s dress, a gentle white and soft as snow. The eyes were the strangest change though, having softened from a hard and predatory stare and becoming more… gentle, innocent as they turned bright gold.

Selene blinked and then noticed that she had become her reflection, a mere child. “It… It happened,” spoke and touched her throat upon hearing her voice. “I’m so…young.”

“because you are. Now, let go of your knowledge.”

Selene examined herself. Trying to understand what had happened. She felt so strange, as though she was struggling to determine what she was supposed to do from here… and then she noticed her blackened staff, which hadn't changed along with her. It represented everything she had learned and was everything the goddess wanted her to give up. A deal was a deal, right?

She let go of her staff and it fell into the oasis and sank a bit at a time.

In that moment, Selene let out a gasp as she realized the full extent of what she had done. As it sank, Selene just understood she had condemned herself into becoming AN ignorant child. The goddess’s enchantment did as was promised but it was only then Selene truly understood what was lost. She leapt into the water to chase after it.

But instead of resurfacing with her staff in her hands, Selene rose out of the water and let out a laugh. “Wow the water’s great!” She shouted.

“Of course it is….” said the goddess. “My child.”

Selene for a moment hesitated but then the darkened desert became fields, blooming with wild flowers. She let out a giggle at the thought of running through them. She leapt out of the water and rolled into the grass, letting out a belly laugh as she did. “...does that make you my mother?” She asked. She didn't fully understand what had happened to her, she knew that her entire perspective changed… and now she couldn't help herself.

“In a way, child,” replied the goddess. “But I think I need to see the others. Please wait.”

“Aw, okay...” Selene pouted. She felt so disappointed, she wanted to be with her mother more.

-


Krios lay on a metal operating table, the one in his own laboratory, unable to move. He had been here once before, long ago. He didn't move, not that he could. Only his good hand had any function and it was rather limited without his wheelchair to guide him.

A blinding light appeared over him and the only thing he could make out was the hazy silhouette that told him nothing. “I know what you did,” spoke the goddess. It was quite obvious as to what happened since the last Krios knew, he was…. Well it didn't bear thinking about. “You hold a heart that is not your own.”

Krios’s eyes widened in shock. He wanted to move to get away from his captor but his paralysis prevented any of that. “Spare me, goddess! I am a broken man already.”

“And you already dead,” she said. “So I will make my offer simple. You took a life, precious to me, I will ensure you live to replace it.”

“Uh … what?” Krios didn't fully understand what the goddess was offering but it was a way out. He rationalized that maybe it had to do something about his last moments were spent defending her temple from a desecrator. That must have made her opinion more favorable … though he didn't particularly understand why what he did so long ago angered the goddess so. It was probably best not to ask questions here. “... Uh sure, what did you need?”

“You stole the heart of own to survive. You will replace the life you stole.”

Krios raised an eyebrow. “You mean you'll turn me into a dragon? Are they important to you?”

“In a way,” said the goddess. “do you accept or not?”

“Uh sure… “ Krios replied. “But about this… life I am supposed to replace but uh….”

“Do you want to be my child?” came the question,quick and easy yet all too implying.

Krios found himself trying to understand what was being asked of him, trying to grasp just what the goddess actually meant. In truth, all he could do was wander aimlessly in his own mind. Why was he here, what was the purpose? Was it just so that he could be in the wheelchair again? As much as he was loathe to rely on it, it wasn't like he could even move otherwise.

Then Krios fell through his table, as if it was taken from him as he laid. He fell aimlessly and forever, seemingly to no end. He shouted and screamed for help, but no one came.

He wanted control, guidance, anything…. And then he.. turned onto his back and dove down on his own will, an instinct in his mind guiding him.

Krios glided through the air and soared the heavens, letting laughs raise his spirits high. Never in his whole life feel anything quite Iike this, l nor had he had this much control over his own movement since he was a...kid.

And then at that moment he stopped flying and landed into what appeared to be a bundle of hay. “Just a taste of what's to come, my child. Though it'll be a few years before you can do that on your own.”

Krios rose from where he laid… and paused for a second when he resized that he did that under his own power and as smoothly as he had done it all it the time. “Wha…” he wanted to complain, but his own astonishment kept him from doing that. Krios’s hands turned a glinting silvery-grey hue, like he was covered in some sort of metal instead of ordinary skin. He realized that whatever had happened the goddess had already struck the bargain with him. “...bu’ I did't agwee to anyting yet…” he spoke in a barely comprehendable tongue.

“But you did,” said the goddess. “You wanted freedom from your own body. I gave you that.”

Krios pouted and raised a somewhat pudgy fist in protest. “But wha bout my degwees!”

“Your what?” The goddess asked, her tone playful.

“My degw….?” Krios blinked and shook his head. He didn't even remember what they were called, though he had a vague idea of what he was complaining about… something that made him smarter because grownups had them. “Hey!” he complained.

He could almost hear the goddess laughing at his expense. “Oh dear child you'll have plenty of time for them later. Besides, don't you think being able to play is more important right now?”

Krios didn't understand what she was going on about but out of a strange forgotten instinct, he rose on sharpened feet. It took him a while to realize it, but he did. He did it before, sure but now he fully came to realize the gift he had been given. “I can walk!” he shouted. “I can walk! I can walk!”

“And run and dance and play,” added the goddess.

Krios performed a series of quick leaps and skips in exasperated glee. He didn't quite understand what the goddess did for him, but he now even didn't have to be stuck in a wheelchair all the time. But that was when he remembered something and started tearing up inn the eyes.

“Something wrong?” The goddess asked.

Little Krios nodded his head, just like a child would when speaking to his mother about a broken toy. “It Bwutus…”

The goddess let out a gentle laugh, amused by it though not spitefully so. “I… think I can fix that.”

---


Galen sat on the barstool, his gaze moping endlessly at an infinite expanse. A dozen empty beer bottles littered the table in front and every so often Galen would pull another one to take a swig. His motions were unsteady, dizzied.

“I see you are troubled…” said the goddess, her voice coming from nowhere in particular.

“Leave me alone…” moaned Galen. “I don't care who you are… just leave me here to die.”

“You're already dead,” pointed out the goddess. “I can't make you even more dead.”

“...well, good…” Galen muttered as he took another bottle. He threw it away from him. “I shoulda died a long time ago…”

“You know the only reason you're feeling drunk right now is because you retreat to that feeling for comfort right,” the goddess commented.

Galen rose from his seat and toppled the entire table, sending the bottles flying. The scene changed from a nondescript bar into some sort of empty void. He sniffled his nostrils and wiped them clean. “I’m an old soldier. I have too many regrets. I just want to forget…”

“There is no shame in wanting to live,” said the goddess. “Even if it does leave you as the sole survivor. You are fortunate to have lived so long.”

“I don't feel like I do.” Galen mjtrered. He didn't understand the point in speaking to this...thing. It was just a distraction. “Eridus took everything from me…. And now that he's gone, at least for now, I might as well go right after him.”

The goddess let put a pleased laughed that echoed through the emptiness. “This is almost too easy, I say.”

“What?” Galen questioned.

“Ssh…” the goddess whispered. “It's alright I'm here for you, if you let me.”

“What?” Galen repeated.

The world around him changed into an inviting meadow, a soft breeze echoed in the distance. Far in the distance, a single oak tree stood on a hilltop. Galen felt a tugging sensation in his heart and that urged him to approach. “Come close, child…”

“But I'm not a child…” Galen muttered softly. He still approached. Each step felt heavy as the weight of years pounded on him and it seemed like he wasn't even getting closer.

“Let me help you to let go…”

Galen’s sword fell from his hips and with it the knowledge of swordplay. His pace quickened and he seemed to advance. “... What did you do?” Galen paused, but didn't stop moving forward.

“Helping you,” said the goddess. “Do you wish for me to stop?”

Galen didn't say a word as his armor fell from his chest, his greaves and boots left behind his steps. Gauntlets fell to reveal sharpening nails and red scales. This was not merely physical, for Galen was a spirit in the realm of a goddess. The warrior found his eyes begining to water as the found himself reliving battle after battle, imagining the losses he'd endured. “... this hurts….” he whimpered.

“Ssh, it's okay…” whispered the goddess in in a comforting voice. “It'll all be over soon.”

Galen’s steps hastened as more than just the physical prices of his equipment were shed from his body, with the only things left to him were a simple tunic and shorts and the eye patch that covered his bad eye. His frame quickly lost definition and honed strength, and in return gained a youthful vigor, a lot of it. His stature declined too, going from his adult height to half, and then even less than that in a blink.

He was tender, young, and got more so as he went on his journey. Each time he grew younger, the memories he held onto, the scars he bore were opened up as though he had just received them, only to be closed and to be removed. In a way, it was as though he was being wounded bodily and spiritually, to make it so that he never was at all… like being hurt in reverse.

Before he knew it, Galen found himself at the base of the oak tree, tears streamed down his face in a hard to control tide. “... I did it…” he sniffled.

“Better?” The goddess asked.

Galen moved himself over to the oak tree and sat on it. He nodded his head at the sky. “... yeah…” he felt so timid and vulnerable now. He didn't know what the point was. But he could still feel that this was pleasing to the goddess.

“Good. One more thing.” And then a gust of wind came in.

Galen braced himself to avoid it, but the sudden gust blew his eye patch away. When Galen realized what had he happened and opened his eyes. He saw the oak tree again but… something was different, something had changed about him.

Galen climbed the tree before anyone old stop him, climbing each and every branch til he was as high as he could go. It was so exciting to climb high. And from this vantage point, he could see the entire meadow. It looked fun to play in, and was so inviting.

“I give you the gift of innocence, my child,” said the goddess. “No more are you burdened by the full grasp of everything that has happened to you.”

Galen blushed at that, almost embarrassed at being relieved at being brought so low. “Uh yeah… I… I see that.” The whole world seemed…different now, transforming from a place of sorrow and old histories into a new adventure. And he was fine with that.

One last change overcame Galen. “Enjoy, my little dragon,” said the goddess. And then Galen was partly a dragon. Crimson red scales covered his body, whilst the extra appendages came in, sticking through newly formed openings in his clothes.

“Cool!” shouted Galen as he leapt off his perch. He didn't see any downside.

---

It was a mess, a dizzying spiral of malformed ideas and half thought mess. The landscape, if it could be called that, had no regard for reason, of sanity. There was no down or up, left and right could be the same direction. Even the land was a random patchwork of varying terrain and stone types, there was no rhyme or reason in their arrangement or composition. About the only thing consistent were the screams and whispered voices that happened always just out of direct line of sight. To Rhea, this was a maddening prison that she only wanted to destroy.

“Let me out!” she roared. She held her axe and carved the walls and floor, cutting it like it was or melting butter or cheese. Yet for all of her struggling, her prison was vast. “Shut up!” she said, hurling boulders at invisible voices.

“Strange, you'd think with their owner no longer maintaining the spell, this should have stopped…” muttered another voice.

Rhea groaned in frustration. “Great, another one! Leave me alone!”

“No,” refused the voice. “I am here to get you out of this nightmare.”

“Yeah as if I haven't heard it a thousand times!” Rhea declared. She picked up a log and swept it aside. She turned a cliff on its side to make it into a floor, but then it broke apart into many glimmering and twisting fragments. ”Drat!” She cursed.

“I can help you with that.”

“Oh yeah?” Rhea said. “Prove it.”

“Where are all of the other voices?” questioned the voice. By now Rhea realized it had to be female…. It just sounded like it.

Rhea turned and listened to the world around her and all was dead quiet. This was a first as far as she was concerned. “ Okay, you might have had a point. What do you want.”

“Only what a mother would want for her children,” said the voice. “I am the goddess of the shrine you saved, I am here to help you.”

“Okay…” Rhea muttered, unsure of how to take this divine aid she hadn't really wanted. “Well what are you waiting for.?”

“For you to change,” laughed the goddess.

“Change?” Said Rhea. She was not quite sure she wanted to…change, whatever that meant.

“You rage and howl at the madness inside your own mind, yet nothing happens,” said the voice again. “You make up for this weakness out in the physical world, sometimes at your own leisure, but you don't always have control. This stains you.”

Rhea’s lips quivered and she urged her head up and raised a fist. “Don't judge me!”

The world swirled and contorted, and became like water, showing that even in this realm of madness, the goddess had power over it. It had almost become smooth and orderly . “Forty years you have endured this nightmare, all to do never dream it again is just ask, my child

“Child,” Rhea whispered to herself. She saw images of herself in the swirling liquids, no older than 5, as she ran and played in the woods of her old homeland so far up in the north. She knew that this was to her fate, should show accepted. It seemed almost idyllic, peaceful. “...but I can't….” She said. “I'm needed…”

“You can go back to your people,” said the goddess. “They'll understand, just as well as they'll see what blessings I offer.”

Blue-white scales formed on the youthful images in Rhea’s sight as well as on her own body. She let out a laugh as she felt herself return to her prime. Gone were the days of decline and into her own bloom, the time she was at the peak of her power and vigor. “This is strange…”

“I generally don't have people go through this multiple times, so no one ever gets used to it,” admitted the goddess.

Rhea eyed her own chest in a disapproving manner. Her breasts were… more lively than she remembered them being. “...I dunno, but why couldn't you just leave me an adult, is that so hard?”

“Yes,” said the goddess, her tone almost unashamed to admit it. “I deal in children and I cannot aid adults except parents or parents to be. But I like children better, especially if they were once adults before. They tend to.. overdo it. ”

Rhea watched herself as she left adulthood behind her and then came into puberty in rapid succession. She saw herself in her prime and was working backwards, with her hair growing appropriately shorter as the years receded. It was especially humorous to see her assets deplete away; it might have been more awkward a any other time, but now, she almost felt… glad she wouldn't need them.

Rhea’s tail came in next, sprouting from her rear from a hole in her arrive that wasn't there before. She grabbed onto it it and shook it a few times. “Wow! Look it! Look it!” She eagerly declared.

The waters turned into walls or prismatic ice and falling snow. The dream had been transformed from a dark and confusing place into a thing of sheer beauty. “I see.” said the goddess. “You're coming along nicely.”

“Uhuh!” little Rhea declared, her tail wagging in glee.. She couldn't believe what was happening to her and around her. Everything was so clear and perfect and calming. And she herself had been changed to suit it.

Rhea got the feeling of the goddess smiling down on her as if it were a congratulations of her new found immaturity. “It's sad to say, but things have to come to an end.” the goddess declared.

“Aw but why?” Rhea demanded. It wasn't lost on her that she wanted escape from her own dreams…. Now she wanted to stay forever.

“Because it's time to wake up…” and that was the last Rhea felt before her eyes opened.


---

Rhea was the first to awaken, finding herself in the temple's main chamber. She found herself surrounded by torn pieces of leather and a pair of axes so much larger than her own arms…her own axes in fact. She looked upon herself and let out a laugh. It was real after all. She was a child that bore a simple dress made up of brownish wool for the herm and skirt, with animal skins for her tiny boots and toys. The young dragoness was almost relieved at her waking.

“Rhea!” a girl’s voice shouted.

Rhea turned and saw the newcomer stop within arm’s reach of her. She didn't know how or why but she knew her… even if she looked so much different. “Selene? You too?”

Young Selene let out a laugh and did a little twirl in response, her tail and white dress swishing about as she shown off a flexibility she never realized she missed. “Uhuh!” she almost seemed proud to declare.

Rhea blinked a few times, almost surprised. She had a hard time understanding how the Selene she once knew would be happy about becoming a child. Then again, she probably should be acting differently too; it was almost like the two of them were different people now.

“Oh and sorry for calling you mean things ” Selene said, her thumbs twiddling together. “Mom said it was bad.”

Rhea let out a blush and realized that she probably shouldn't have done that either. “Oh… uh… sorry too… I guess…. For calling you things behind your back.”

Selene let out a pout and crossed her arms. “Hey!”

“But what about me?” The duo turned and saw Galen step forward. Gone were the days where he was their senior, and he was now just like them, red scaled whelp dressed up in simple pants and clothes. He no longer bore an eyepatch or armor, instead he had a hat that seemed a little large for him.

The girls laughed at how silly it looked on him. “Galen… wow, you're… short…” Selene chuckled.

Galen apparently let out a burning snort. It was one of the downsides of their new state, girls matured faster than boys at this age and throwing generally meant boys were shorter. He couldn't think of any reply save one. “Well…well… you're… ugly.”

“Hey!” both of them complained.

“Take that back right now!” Selene said to him.

Galen stuck out his tongue and the boy ran off. “Make me!”

The two girls chased after Galen and though both of them were taller, Galen definitely seemed more athletic, even with their relative ages taken into account

Galen darted and weaved around fallen statues and crumbling pillars, but the girls managed to win the upper hand by dividing and taking the boy off guard. When Galen went one way, Rhea went to cut him off while Selene followed behind him.

At the last possible moment, Rhea grabbed onto the boy’s tail. “Hey, let go!”

“No!” Rhea shouted.

At this pointed Selene leapt onto both of them and the three of them came tumbling down and rolling into a laughing heap of scaly clad children.

They rose to their feet in overjoyed expressions and we're almost ready to begin chase yet again when they realized they heard a faint laugh.

“Krios?” Galen said, moving towards the source of the sound. Near the entrance, he found the last member of the group transformed and sitting in his old wheelchair

Little Krios was now the youngest of the group and now shone it. He sat in his old wheelchair but he clearly didn't really need it with the way he was kicking his tiny shoed feet off the. His outfit was a pair of overalls over a black tunic. A pair of goggles were just over his eyes and between two tiny horns. He wiped tears from his eyes, not tears of sadness but of joy.

The object of his affections was a small mechanical dragon that was no bigger than a puppy. It sat in Krios’s lap and wagged it's tail.

“What’s that?” Selene told him.

“Bwutus,” Krios said in an excited juvenile tone. He was clearly the one who now had the least maturity but he didn't seem to mind. “Mommy fixed him! Now he's da best!”

The now tiny Brutus let out a bark and shook it's tail. It had once been a big gorilla meant for combat and menial labor, now it was just a toy… which made it very valuable to to children. Although none were sure how their shared mother could have done such a thing.

“Oh can we play?” Rhea was the first to ask.

Krios looked like he was deep in thought, trying to think if he was supposed to share here. It was a very important question, one of the most important he knew he need to answer.

But he was soon cut off short when Rhea stole it from him, prompting the younger dragon to follow pursuit in his mechanical wheelchair. The other two carried along, and this started what had to have been the most fun the four of them had since the last time they were kids. It was a weird chase that almost seemed to have not consistent rules, other than somehow, someone had to chase someone else. And at one point, Brutus was both the objective and a chaser. And another it was boys versus girls over the matter of who had cooties or not. But none of them cared about the specifics of their game.

At the end, four former adventurers sat in a circle, tired and exhausted from their fun. They gave each other smiles and laughs and celebrated their renewed lives together with childlike and carefree abandon.

As grownups, they were all at best unlikely allies, but now they felt it right to call one another friends...or maybe siblings at case may be.

And they were too wrapped up in their pleasure to notice the group of men who entered the room. Each bore mining or excavation equipment but others had textbooks. It was the archeology team. “Hey!” said their leader. “What are you kids doing here?”

The children all yelped in surprise. “Whoops.” Krios said. “Stayed hewe for too wong.”

“Surprised they aren't freaking out,” commented Rhea.

“That's cause we look like normal kids now,” Selene pointed out.

Each of the other children stood and looked at each other and found themselves looking normal. Well, as normal as it was for them to be kids at any rate. Each of child was as he or she looked like when they were actually children. And it was surprisingly disappointing since they were kinda liking their shiny scales and cool looking class.

“Aw man. But when did we… ugh nevermind.” Galen groaned. He walked up towards the head foreman and let out a chuckle. “Well, we were adults and just had a battle against an evil sorcerer and now we're kids!” he said, omitting only part of the truth. It was kinda crazy to be fair to add the part of being all scaly too, but that wasn't true right now.

The foreman groaned, very obviously not buying what was almost the exact truth. “Uhuh. Scram kid. We don't want you here where you can mess things up.”

Galen groaned. He thought his story might have at least earned some praise but he just threw up his head in defeat. If he could, he'd show them what he really looked like now… but maybe that was something he was going to have to wonder about later.

Selene stuck her tongue out of the disappointed former warrior and let out a shrug. “What can you do? Let's get out of here guys.”

“But I wanted to be here!” Rhea complained. As she walked her long braided locks jangle as she step. “It’s where… well…” where they were reborn… and it's where their apparent mother was.

“Gullies are jewks,” Krios supplied letting out a pout as he pushed his wheelchair along. Brutus was sitting on the seat. He obviously had the experience, though couldn't pronounce the words correctly.

The four children all let out dissatisfied frowns as they made one last look at the shrine before leaving.

In a flash, they realized with full clarity about just what they had gave up to be as they were now… and of the new life that awaited them outside.

Most of them really had nowhere to go. Whatever families or connections they had were either long gone or so far away or so…problematic to get in contact with that it was going to be an issue. It was going to be very hard to explain this to anyone who might even be remotely interested. By being children, they were pretty much going to have to either get luck or make things up as they went.

But that was fine with them, they had each other.

Images flashed in their minds about the lives they once lived, now almost like faint dreams.Krios held Brutus close, almost afraid of the dark things a crippled man did to survive.
Rhea couldn't fathom how anyone could have been so strong from horrible nightmares and saw everything as an extension of that twisted realm. Galen wondered why a man who had lost anything and wanted to die would be so hard to kill. Most of all, Selene was terrified of how unhinged and willing that a wicked witch was in the pursuit of her own power; she was glad mother had tricked her into giving up her power. Each of the was glad to not be those people, not anymore. In a way, they really did die here… well to be fair they were dead already. But hey, it's a good thing they're alive.

“...Maybe I can get us to my place,” suggested Rhea. “I was an elder in my tribe.”

“And now yous like the kiddies yous suppose ta be teachin,” Krios let a laugh escape his lips.

Rhea stuck out her tongue in response. “Least I'm not a toddler.” Though Krios did have a point. She was not going to be teaching anyone anything anytime soon, now that she was in need of lessons herself. “I can ask them to take care of us our share while. It'll be fun we just have to get there.”

“I have money, it's in my room,” said Galen. And then he let out a frown. “Were going to need to get in there somehow.”

Krios leapt into his wheelchair and did a thoughtful pose, clearly thinking about how to solve this latest problem.

“So… what do you think happened to Eridus?” Selene questioned, catching everyone else of guard. “We saw him go down.”

“He just disappeared,” said Galen. “Hey could have ran away!” Of course, that was the scary thing to thin about. If Eridus ran away and decided to come back for the four of them, well, no one was combat trained anymore.

“I say he’s an ewg….” Krios muttered, “He's gotta be real littler than us. Cuz that's momma’s place.”

Rhea let out a smirk. “That'd be karmic.” of course none of them really believed that's what happened. The goddess was only able to reach them after all because they were dead or half-dead. And if she was capable of defending herself or her shrine, she should have crushed Eridus like a bug. “Say… what is our mother’s name anyways?” Rhea said as they came out the temple’s entrance. “We’d be bad kids for not knowing it.”

Krios and Galen both poked quite embarrassed look for not having thought of it.
“Oh I know!” Selene said.

“What?” Galen said.

Selene pointed at at sign a sigil at the top of the main entry way. It was an odd script one clearly not something in any human language. The children were each very aware that none of them were literate anymore, let alone literate in a language they had never seen before. It was going to be the last they would have read before needing to learn it again. The only reason they could read it at all, was because they were intended to read it.

The sigil was a name and an honorary title to the temple: ISCANTRA - MOTHER GODDESS TO DRAGONS

It was like their mother had specifically let them know, now that they wanted to.

And that wasn't all she gave them. The children felt a word forming itself in their tongues. And as they uttered it, the children changed again to their draconian forms, letting out dances as they returned to themselves. It was particularly amazing to Rhea, Galen, and Krios since this was their first time using magic on their own. They knew it for what it was, the gift of change, they could change themselves how they wanted now.

“...I guess that means it begins today,” Galen muttered. “... an adventure that is…”

Selene let out a laugh. “I'm glad we could be friends.”

“Hey watch yourself,” said Rhea. “It'll probably freak out my… daughter. Wow, this is going to be so confusing.”

Krios let out a snigger as he bounced Brutus on his lap. “Come on, let's go!” he said.

---

... Many years later long after the four of the Childress had grown up again and went on their separate ways, Selene traveled to a far away land that spoke a different tongue, a different language. She had a single goal in mind. Her mother had ensured her well being, now it was time she did the same thing for her.

A goddess needed worshipers first, they'd have plenty of children that she could instruct too. Although teaching them would require a proper school… and for that she'd need money. And then there was going to be the problem of taking care of the special children, especially the ones that used to be adults.

Selene almost laughed at herself, realizing how far she had come. She had definitely changed for the better, trading away the selfish desire for power for the responsibility of caring for others.

Oh how she wished her brothers and sisters would have come join her. Things would have been much more interesting if they wanted to come with.

But she could take care of herself.