Part 1 — Celica’s Warning
The road back to Fenward felt shorter than it should have.
Derpy walked with the group in a tight knot, the contained wall’s hum still lodged in his ears like a headache that refused to leave.
Celica shifted in the back of his mind—quiet, then suddenly sharp.
Are you sure you should be worried about yourself and your friends…
Derpy’s steps slowed.
…when there’s one person who isn’t here. And she’s in trouble.
Derpy’s throat tightened.
“Vespera,” he said.
Lenora’s head turned instantly. “What.”
Derpy didn’t try to soften it.
“Celica’s saying she’s not here,” he said. “And that she’s in trouble.”
Lewd’s gaze flicked toward the treeline, then back.
Vemi’s tail went rigid. “We go back.”
Derpy lifted a hand, stopping them.
“You head back,” he said. “Check the inn. Check the room. Check on Riven. Don’t split further than you have to.”
Lenora’s eyes narrowed. “And you.”
Derpy swallowed.
“I’ll track Vespera,” he said. “Mia and Sphinx can help.”
Lenora held his stare like she was trying to pin him to the ground with it.
“Be careful,” she said at last. “That’s not a suggestion.”
Derpy nodded once.
Then he turned off the road.
Part 2 — The Inn Door Opens
Lenora, Lewd, and Vemi reached the inn and found the front room crowded in a way that made the air feel thin.
A woman stood near the threshold—travel-worn cloak, healer’s hands, eyes that didn’t miss details.
Amy.
Beside her, Cinder lay unconscious, bundled in blankets like someone had tried to keep her from falling apart.
Amy looked up as the door opened.
“Y’all got a Lenora Strayheart in here?” she asked.
The room went still.
Lenora stepped forward.
“I’m Lenora,” she said. “What happened.”
Amy’s voice stayed steady, but the words were heavy.
“We asked a couple town folk,” Amy said, “and they told us you was stayin’ here.”
She gestured toward Cinder.
“Her friends were taken,” Amy continued. “Dragon people. They moved fast. Organized.”
Lewd’s jaw tightened.
Amy’s gaze sharpened as if she was forcing herself to keep the story clean.
“One of ’em—fox folk—disappeared without a trace,” she said. “No tracks. No blood. Just… gone.”
Vemi’s ears angled forward. “And Cinder.”
Amy’s eyes dropped to the unconscious girl.
“She broke,” Amy said. “Let her book take over so she could make it this far.”
Lenora’s hand curled into a fist.
“Where,” Lenora asked.
Amy shook her head once.
“Not far,” she said. “But far enough they had time to vanish.”
The inn’s door creaked again.
And the room got colder.
Part 3 — Riven Is Here (And It Goes Wrong)
Riven stepped inside.
She looked too clean for the road and too wrong for the room—like she’d walked out of a place that didn’t obey the same rules.
Her eyes moved across faces, slow, searching.
“Friends,” she said.
Then she paused.
“But no Derpy.”
Lenora’s stomach dropped.
Across the room, Kara’s body snapped into motion.
Steel flashed.
Kara dashed toward Riven with her weapon raised—too fast for a warning to catch up.
A hand clamped onto Kara’s wrist mid-strike.
Vambasta.
The wolf woman held Kara like she weighed nothing. Her nose tilted toward Riven, drawing in scent.
Then Vambasta spoke without raising her voice.
“You’re a little too comfortable startin’ trouble in my sister’s inn,” she said to Kara. “Calm yourself.”
Kara strained once, then froze—caught between pride and survival.
Riven’s gaze locked on Kara.
Then it slid to Cinder.
Recognition hit her like a switch.
These were the ones who stopped her before.
The ones who kept her from taking grimoires for herself.
Riven’s hand moved.
Cursed sword.
Shield.
She dashed.
Not at the room.
At Kara and Vambasta.
The air tore from the speed of it.
“Riven,” Lenora said—voice hard enough to cut.
Riven stopped inches from slicing them.
Her blade hovered.
Her shield angled.
Her body trembled like it was waiting for permission to finish what her instincts started.
Lenora stepped forward.
“Put it down,” she ordered.
Riven’s eyes flicked—confused, then tight.
Slowly, the sword lowered.
The shield followed.
Part 4 — Kara’s Accusation
Hours later, the inn had been cleared of most eyes.
Amy stayed with Cinder.
Kara sat rigid at a table, knuckles pale.
Lenora stood across from her with Lewd and Vemi flanking.
Riven sat on the floor near the wall like a child who’d been caught in the act and didn’t understand why the room was angry.
Kara spoke first.
“She caused trouble,” Kara said. “She broke my circus area. Mass destruction.”
Riven’s head dipped.
Kara’s voice tightened.
“She was sealed by Mina,” Kara continued. “Mina was taken. And this mess is what we got instead.”
Lenora’s gaze cut to Riven.
“Riven,” Lenora said. “Is that true.”
Riven didn’t lift her head.
A small nod.
Lenora’s breath left her slow.
“You rampaged,” Lenora said. “Destroyed things. Hurt people.”
Riven’s shoulders drew in.
“How do we know you won’t do it again,” Lenora asked. “You haven’t eaten in a while.”
Riven’s voice came out thin.
“I have not,” she admitted.
Lenora crouched slightly, lowering herself to Riven’s level—not soft, but controlled.
“Riven,” Lenora said, “what did you eat. What did you do.”
Riven hesitated.
Then:
“Wood sprites,” she said.
Lewd’s eyes narrowed.
Riven added, quieter:
“And a magical doll of Derpy.”
The room went tight.
Lenora stood.
“Go find Derpy,” Lenora said. “That’s an order.”
Riven’s head lifted a fraction.
Lenora didn’t blink.
“Being here is causing tension,” Lenora continued. “Between you and Kara. Between you and Vambasta. You’re not helping Cinder by standing in the middle of this.”
Riven rose.
Then she turned and left.
Following scent.
Part 5 — Derpy Tracks Vespera
Derpy moved through the trees with Mia and Sphinx padded close.
They were in their chibi forms—small, quick, alert.
Derpy’s eyes kept scanning the dark.
Then he stopped.
A presence ahead.
Pink-white electricity in the air.
A dragon girl stood among the trees, breathing hard like she’d fought something that mattered.
Ace.
Her hammer hung at her side.
Her eyes tracked Derpy as he approached.
Derpy kept his hands visible.
“Hello,” he said, voice edged. “Have you seen my friend.”
He described Vespera—shape, rings, the way her power felt.
Ace’s breathing stayed heavy.
“What’s it to you,” Ace said.
Celica’s voice slid behind Derpy’s thoughts.
Be careful. She looks dangerous.
Ace walked closer.
Too close.
She leaned in, sniffing him.
“You smell weird,” Ace said.
A colder voice spoke in aces head
Queen Seraphine.
“Ace,” Seraphine spoke in ace's mind , “be careful. The boy is a calamity bearer. Retrieve alive if necessary.”
Ace stepped back a few paces, hammer still ready.
“I did see your friend,” Ace said. “She’s my sister.”
Derpy’s head tilted.
“Your sister,” he repeated.
Ace’s chest rose and fell.
“My name is Ace,” she said. “Part of the Sinister Seven. And I’m here for a calamity book.”
Derpy’s voice dropped.
“You’re her sister,” he said. “What did you do to her.”
Ace answered without decoration.
“I broke her.”
She tossed something toward him.
Ring shards.
Vespera’s.
Derpy caught them, fingers going numb.
Celica pressed harder.
I’m your partner. You should listen to me. You can't take her alone.
Derpy’s jaw set.
“I can,” he said.
He opened his book.
And summoned.
Part 6 — The Vambasta Copy
A figure formed beside him—Vambasta, but wrong in the way reflections are wrong.
Derpy touched the copy’s back.
“Help me,” he said.
The copy’s eyes stayed empty for a beat.
Then the scene snapped—like the book showed a truth at the same time it created a tool.
Vambasta’s wrist.
A bracelet-burn ringed around it.
Next to her spiked wrist collar.
A warning written in flesh.
The copy’s voice came out flat:
“Doppelganger active.”
Derpy’s breath caught.
A crash of movement tore through the trees behind him.
Vambasta.
Not the copy—the real one.
She burst out of the dark at a dead run, breath ripping, claws digging for traction as she cut a line straight toward Derpy.
Her eyes weren’t on Ace.
They were on him.
Like she’d scented the split.
Like she’d felt the book make a mirror of her.
“Derpy!” Vambasta barked, voice raw with urgency. “Don’t—”
The warning didn’t finish.
Because Celica shifted.
Derpy pulled her—placed her into the core of the summoned copy.
The copy’s eyes changed.
Sapphire.
Ruby.
A new presence filled the space.
Celica’s voice came out through the double, unfamiliar and ancient.
“Odd way to bring me out,” she said. “But I guess this works.”
A pressure rolled off her—an aura that made the trees feel smaller.
Ace didn’t move back.
She darted.
Hammer swung.
Celica-in-the-double caught it.
Metal rang.
“Little girl,” Celica said, “go home. It’s not worth the trouble to get hurt.”
Ace grabbed the double and shocked her full force.
Electricity crawled over the body like a net.
Celica’s voice sharpened.
“I haven’t had a recharge in centuries.”
She punched Ace in the side.
Ace flew back.
Ice shards formed where the hit landed—frost blooming along her ribs.
Celica turned her head slightly.
“Go get your friend,” she told Derpy. “I’ll hold her off.”
Derpy didn’t argue.
He moved.
Mia and Sphinx at his heels.
Behind him, Vambasta skidded to a stop, torn between chasing Derpy and throwing herself into the dragon fight she didn’t understand.
Part 7 — Hina and Sir Reginal
The clearing opened.
Derpy saw them before they spoke.
Hina.
Sir Reginal.
Sir Reginal held another dragon girl—Queen—limp, wing torn.
Hina stepped forward.
“Hello there,” Hina said.
She swayed side to side, studying Derpy like he was a new toy someone had left unattended.
Yellow bracelets circled his wrists.
A newly developed tail flicked behind him.
Dragon wings shifted as he moved.
“You’re Derpy,” Hina said.
Derpy didn’t answer.
He walked past her toward the ground where Vespera lay.
Vespera twitched—rings gone, body shaking like the aftermath was still trying to decide if she was allowed to live.
Mia and Sphinx expanded—chibi forms unfolding into their larger bodies in a rush of muscle and fur.
Derpy kept his voice even.
“I don’t know what you want,” he said to Hina, “but can we resolve this peacefully.”
Hina’s head tilted.
“Maaaaaybe,” she said, dragging the word out.
Then she leaned forward.
“If so,” Hina continued, “could you tell me—”
The air split.
A portal opened.
Not Celica.
Not Vespera.
Hina and Sir Reginal’s work.
A woman stepped through.
Queen Seraphine.
With her:
Joker.
King.
Joker’s eyes locked on Derpy.
“I didn’t think I’d get a rematch so soon,” Joker said.
The forest held its breath.
Derpy’s fingers tightened around Vespera’s ring shards.
Mia and Sphinx lowered their bodies, ready.
Hina stood to the side like she’d arranged the board and wanted to watch the pieces collide.
And the chapter ended with everyone in the clearing—calamity, dragon, and contract—about to decide who got to walk away.