Io's Labyrinth

[Anastasia]

The dragon regards you all at those words. "We need a shield and a sword," Oberuth says, "As you are, you're only a fragment and nothing but a fragment."

The wyrm's attention turns to Alicia and then Moore, "Then you say I am merely biding my time, that I am not enough by myself?"

[Ebiris]

"You cannot be slain, you cannot be defeated, you will never fall... that provides a remarkably solid base, but what do you do," Alicia asks the dragon in turn.

[Anastasia]

"A hellreaver fights," Antenora declares, "We strike down fiends and yet we protect and heal others." She steps forward now, "Shorn of one and we are suicidal, charging in to die against our foes. Shorn of the other, we are helpless, protecting others and surviving only so long as others fight our battles."

"There's no such thing as an invincible foe," Amaryl adds at that, "No matter how you protect yourself, sooner or later we will find a way to win if you can only endure."

The wyrm is silent after all those words, "Perhaps so," he finally says. "The battles in the Fiefdoms suggested that and the battle for Lifasa proved it. Answers come from our blood, sweat and tears."

[Ebiris]

"Even if we are not strong enough to never fall - we must be strong enough to pick ourselves back up again afterwards. How many worlds have fallen as Lifasa did and never recovered? The lesson it teaches will reverbate across Creation for eternity," Alicia concludes.

[Anastasia]

Silence.

A long silence stretches on until at last the dragon fades away with a laugh. "There may be hope for you yet," he says, as a glittering thing falls to the ground in its wake.

[Ebiris]

"That's the idea," Alicia says, summoning the glittering thing to her hand.

[Anastasia]

It looks like a part of a key.

[Ebiris]

"Hmm, does this fit together with the platinum one?" Alicia turns to Seira to try pressing them together to see if they magically merge.

[Corwin]

Seira shakes off her anger to try this!

[Anastasia]

With a click the two parts become one, a platinum key created.

Loot update incoming for the key.

[Corwin]

"Shiny!" Seira exclaims, dark thoughts forgotten. "Let's go gather more of them~"

[Ebiris]

"I don't think there's any other routes here, so lets go back to where we fought the spectral dragons? There was a path going on North from there we haven't explored," Alicia suggests, heading back to the teleporter to go that way.

[Anastasia]

"Progress," Antenora agrees, "I think we're done here, let's go back through the teleporter."

[Anastasia]

The trip back to where you fought the ghostly dragons is without incident. As you go...

"Pale Mother, The Father. A couple," Antenora muses aloud, "Do you think there's anything to that? From what I understand, the Father has a way of intruding into reality and consuming everything. Moore, did you ever face his manifestations?"

[Nephrite]

"When the book he was sealed in was on Aurora, I did have occasional... attacks, I suppose you could say." He says. "Overcome with hunger, that sort of thing. I never fought any actual manifestations though."