Night fell by the time Paul came around. Richard barreled into the golden dragon with relief.
"Ow. Hi Reesh." Groaned Paul.
"I thought you died, you idiot! Don't do that again!" Cried Richard.
Till pried the two apart letting Paul have some space and scolded Reesh for almost waking Ceru up. Now that the two trouble makers quieted down, they went to the next matter at hand. Shifting to their human forms they gathered around.
"What attacked you?" Asked Olli.
"It kinda looked like us but not." Said Paul.
"That's not helpful idiot." Scolded Richard.
"Not my fault that I couldn't get a good look at my attacker while my guts were hanging out." Shouted Paul.
Everyone quieted at Paul's near death incident. Flake quietly walked over to Paul and placed a bony hand on his shoulder. Using his magic of knowledge he routed around until he found what he was looking for. Going over to Till, he did the same, but this time instead of reading he projected. Showing Till an image of Paul's attacker he told him to make a replica out of earth.
Concentrating, Till managed to shape the earth to exactly how the image Flake showed him. The others gathered closer to see an imperfect metal dragon with pieces missing. Going with what Flake showed him, Till had the statue constantly changing just like the mechanical dragon.
"Why is it still shifting?" Asked Doom.
"I think it's unstable. Its core can't sustain the entire body so some parts lose its shape and then reforms when it has the spare magic or needs the part." Explained Flake.
"Core? So they found a replacement for Ceru." Said Olli.
"I'm afraid so. The seal in Ceru was supposed to bind her to a dragon shaped puppet and I think this is it." Said Flake.
"So are they still looking for her?" Asked Richard.
"Most likely since their current core doesn't have the magic capacity to fuel the entire thing. Ceru has more than enough. So if they find her then they'll replace the current core with her or stuff her in another puppet." Said Flake.
Everyone went numb at the news. They couldn't bear to imagine the little kid they practically raised being turned into a battery. They had fallen in love with her and she had fallen for them too. Six dragons and a human teenage girl.
"We need to destroy it." Said Doom.
"How?! That thing ripped through Paul like he was made of paper!" Shouted Richard.
The reminder made the golden dragon flinch and slink slightly closer to Till.
"First question is how do we even destroy it?" Said Olli calmly to not add to the fire.
Everyone turned to Flake who looked back at the others.
"I may be the dragon of knowledge but that doesn't mean I know everything. But from what I saw from Paul's memories it's probably the stomach area where its magic glows the brightest." Said Flake.
"What about the metal shell?" Asked Doom.
"Most likely titanium, it probably coated it's claws in magic which made it possible for it to slice through Paul." Said Flake.
"That covers how to destroy it but what about the people that made it in the first place?" Asked Olli.
"We would have to kill them too to prevent another one of these from being built." Said Flake.
"Alright we have a plan. We'll burn those sons of bitches that hurt Paul-Chen while Till destroys the giant metal dragon." Said Richard all fired up.
"I-Uh... can't." Said Till quietly head lowered in shame.
All five of them turned to stare at their sixth member.
"What do you mean?!" Said Richard bristling.
"I mean... I don't want to." Said Till.
"Why not?! Paul-Chen was almost killed by that thing!" Shouted Richard like a volcano going off.
The five of them waited for his answer but Till couldn't tell them. Running off to his knook he created a massive barrier of earth sealing himself off from the others.
Olli, Doom, and Richard blasted the barrier of earth with little results.
"Till! The fuck is wrong with you!" Shouted Richard.
Paul pulled him away to calm him down while Flake waved the others away to give Till his space. In their commotion they woke Ceru who looked around in confusion. Her muddy mind only caught the end of what Richard shouted and tried to put together what happened. Peaking over from behind a boulder she counted five of them talking amongst themselves. Seeing that Till was nowhere to be seen, Ceru concluded that Richard was most likely shouting at Till. Heading back over to Till's knook she found a massive rock wall that wasn't there before. Giving a knock Ceru announced her intention before using her magic to create a hole big enough for her to slip in.
