It surprised Arthur that Pydes hadn’t met them in front of the store from the way the dragon was pacing about.
As soon as they’d gotten to the roof, he’d turned and raced toward them. Arthur flinched, remembering the last time the dragon had charged him. However, this time he stopped short, his tail swishing behind him. Any trace of his normally dignified persona was gone.
“You did it!” He cried out, almost jumping for joy. “Level fifteen!”
From beside him, he could see Nyssa relax her shoulders slightly as she took a deep breath. When Pydes turned his attention to her, she let out a weak smile.
“Hello Pydes.”
He sniffed, breathing in deeply, before he recoiled. “Nyssa. You have the demons stink on you.”
“She killed one earlier; we had a bit of an attempted break-in.”
“Mm.” Pydes nodded. “Well, splendid show. Congratulations. Now!”
This time, Arthur stepped back as the dragon closed in on him. Those icy blue eyes locked onto his, filled with a longing greed that was almost overwhelming. Smoke poured from the dragon’s nostrils, making him cough and step back once more.171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR05GYgHFz0
“Would you like to unlock The Golden Orchard?” The dragon’s voice came out as an eager whisper.
“Will it cost me a perk point?” Arthur asked. He remembered Pydes mentioning it was a free upgrade, but he thought it was best to check. With the dragon this excited, he didn’t know what to expect.
“For this? No. But we can talk about spending that after. So, are you ready?”
He tossed a look towards Nyssa, who shrugged. “I’m curious now.”
“Me too,” he admitted. “Alright. Yes, I would like to unlock The Golden Orchard.”
Pydes roared, a sound of pure joy. As he roared, Arthur looked up to see the clouds moving across the sky. They were storm clouds—dark and roiling. Nyssa moved beside him and squinted.
“Should we get inside?”
“I don’t think we’ll have time.”
His prediction proved correct.
However, it wasn’t just rain that fell from the sky. As the droplets fell, soaking his clothes, balls of light came down with them. He could hear small squeaks as they drew closer, and one stopped to hover in front of him.
Now that it had stopped, he saw it was a tiny blue-scaled dragon. As he watched, tiny droplets of moisture formed at its wingtips. Each flap sent a small spray of water around it, and it gave a happy squeak as it waved a claw at him.
“Aww,” Nyssa said from beside him as she watched a few of her own squeak and circle her head.
One flew closer and nuzzled against her cheek before it soared off. The next time Pydes roared, he wasn’t facing the sky. This time he pawed at the ground, kicking up dust that Arthur knew shouldn’t be there thanks to the rain.
Lights floated out from inside the cloud, and green balls hit the ground and slid about on the slick surface. Everywhere they traveled, grass sprouted behind them. Each of a uniform height and color.
A small grunt from his foot caused him to look down and see a tiny figure headbutting his shoe. This was another tiny dragon, but with leaves and flowers growing from its green scales.
His smile grew as he moved to the side, and the dragon flapped its wings as it scooted past. Soon, both he and Nyssa were hopping about, trying to stay out of the little dragon’s way. Pydes didn’t need to join in, having taken to the sky in a single bound.
From his position in the air, he roared again as trees sprouted in ordered rows. Tall and thin, they created three rows of three, bringing him to nine total. They grew with speed, with bark darkening and leaves turning from a neon green to a dark emerald.
As soon as the last leaf changed color, the rain stopped. All the little dragons squeaked and moved about. The blues came together, wings flicking as they created a miniature pond between two trees that they all happily dived into. Though he knew there was no way it could be more than a shallow puddle.171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDweToqSlEk
All around him, green dragons squeaked and bounced around. None of their steps so much as bent the grass beneath them. In fact, as he watched, he noticed it seemed to glow faintly with their passing.
Pydes landed, his snake-like body easily fighting between the trees. He beamed, ignoring the green dragon, who hopped up onto his head.
“Welcome, Arthur. Welcome to the Golden Orchard.”
A familiar popping sound echoed around him, and he looked at the message in front of him.
“Small?” He asked as he waved away the message.
“What, you didn’t think this was as big as they got?” Pydes said with a laugh, laying down as more of the green dragons climbed onto him. A few of the water dragons flew close by, sprinkling the grass with every flap.
“I suppose not. What is this? What are those?”
Arthur was about to ask more questions when a nearby sight caught his attention. Nyssa had sat at some point, several of the green dragons crawling into her lap. They squeaked and yawned as she played with them.
The smile she wore was genuine, and she laughed as one tumbled onto the ground with a defeated squeak.
“Those?” Pydes said. “Earth and Water elements. Mother’s design, of course.”
“Of course,” Arthur echoed faintly as one of the tiny water elements flew close to his face.
Its breath was chilly, and he could see ice dotting its tiny claws. He returned its wave and tried to ignore the chill as it landed on his shoulder.
“I wonder if I can take them downstairs? I bet Lucy would love one.”
As though sensing his thoughts, Pydes chuckled. “Yes, they have free rein in the store. But they won’t leave here often. The magic of the place will keep them alive. Speaking of which...”
He scooted a few of the dragons off of him as he stood.
“We should talk about how the orchard works.”
“Please,” Arthur said.
“You have heard the old saying, money grows on trees, right?” Pydes was smirking.
Arthur shook his head. “No way.”
Squeaks that sounded suspiciously like laughter rose from the earth elementals riding on Pydes’ back.
“How does it work?” Arthur grumbled.
Pydes grinned as the elementals let out a squeaking cheer. “Go get your gold, and I’ll show you.”
***
“So, treasure goes in and gold comes out?”
Arthur asked as he finished tossing the small pile of golden knickknacks Captain Swordsman had given him into the hole Pydes directed him to. From what Nyssa said, the dragons had created it, but she didn’t know how.
He didn’t bother to ask; he was more concerned about why he was tossing away his valuables. The heat in his throat burned as the dragons covered it with dirt.
“A temporary loss. I need to keep the store if I want to get more. This is an investment, nothing more.”
It was a weak argument, but it got him through. However, even with Pydes’ insistence, he refused to part with his locket. The hat pin and signet ring stayed too, though the dragon seemed less interested in those.
One of the water dragons flew close to the locket and sneezed before shaking its head and flying away.
“If you want to make it sound simple, sure.”
With a shake of his scaled head, he gestured. “The trees feed on the gold to produce the coins at the end of every week. The formula is simple. What you pay out in quest rewards plus thirty.”
Arthur opened his mouth to speak, but Pydes cut him off.
“Questions at the end. If you wouldn’t mind?”
He followed the dragon’s gaze and saw there was a single scoop of dirt left to replace. Under the watching eyes of the elementals, he scooped it up and placed it on the mound. Before his eyes, a golden light spread out in a circle as new grass grew over the dirt.
When the light faded, it left the small patch of land as golden as the treasure he’d buried.
Squeaks rose into the sky as, all around him, the trees shook. Small flashes of light filled the trees as he watched coins spring to life. They hung from branches in bunches, swaying gently as the boughs took on the additional weight.
Without hesitation, the water elements raced about. They fluttered into the branches, jumping up and down until the coins fell. When they did, the earth elementals scampered about, collecting them into a pile.
“We need baskets,” He thought as he watched them. “There has to be a better way to collect them.”
From her spot on the ground, Nyssa was taking coins from an earth elemental even smaller than the others. With effort, it got a coin onto its edge before it rolled it with a series of headbutts.
“Made a friend?” He called out to her, and she waved to him.
“Can I work here instead?”
Arthur snorted. “Sure, if you can train someone else to take your place.”
“Don’t tempt me.” Her tail flicked. “This is a lot of gold.”
“Better be; I spent a lot on that knight’s quest.”
As the dragons continued to collect the coins, he turned to Pydes. The bigger dragon was snorting smoke and seemed happy as the elementals crawled over him.
“I had a question. My Perk Point.”
“Oh?” Pydes looked at him. “Is this about getting a bigger building? You should be at the correct level soon, no perk point needed.”
Arthur paused. “No. Actually, I wanted to know about fixing the mutagen tank in the basement.”
A small chase broke out between several water elements, interrupting their conversation. Water droplets flew every which way as they dashed about, squeaking and laughing. Pydes snorted when they got too close, and they moved away.
“You want to spend a point on that? I suppose you can. Would you like to do so now?”
There was something in the tone of his voice that made him hesitate.
“Shouldn’t I?”
Pydes shrugged, almost dislodging an earth elemental. “You may have other options soon. I said Gastho would have something for you. My advice? Spend it on something you can’t get another way.”
“Like what?” He tried to think back to the list he’d first seen. “Can I have the general list again?”
“Of course.”
Three options on the list stood out to him: Management Courses, Customer Empathy, and Night shift Endurance.
The first two would be great when wheeling and dealing. Now that he had the Grove, he didn’t need to push for sales as much, but it wouldn’t hurt. Plus, it would help him deal with the Leo situation.
Night shift Endurance was a more personal option; however, it still tempted him. If another attack came, it wouldn’t surprise him if it was in the dark. A boost, no matter how small, might make the difference.
He explained his reasoning to Pydes, who nodded.
“All of that seems sound. Well-thought-out. Makes a pleasant change.”
“Ha,” Arthur replied. “What do you think? Or should I get some furniture, or maybe another security option? Can I upgrade the cameras?”
“You could, but I wouldn’t recommend it. No. I would say that you need to do what you think will aid you the most.”
Arthur nodded and selected the Management Courses from the list. He didn’t feel different, but as he looked at Nyssa and thought about his new perk, something in his gut twinged. Emotions and thoughts that weren’t his ran through his head, and he understood.
Nyssa’s motivation was simple: she was an artist at heart. She wanted freedom to create, along with safety and security. The grove and its fantastical nature were filling the former, but the latter was being left behind.
A grin bloomed on his face as he looked at Pydes. There was nothing that popped up for him, as if something had blocked him. He smiled and ignored it.
“Thanks. This will help.”
“If I can get one cultist inside my store, I might figure more out. I wonder if this one is upgradeable. It would be nice to get more than impressions. Nyssa is simple; I know her. However, if it’s someone new? That will be a different thing entirely.”
“Are you ready to head back?” He asked Nyssa, who was now cradling the earth elemental in her arms.
“We are.”
Arthur raised an eyebrow. “We?”
“Me and Splotch.”
“You named the elemental.” His tone was neutral, even as he tried not to smile.
Nyssa nodded. “Yes. He’s my assistant.”
“Sure. Come on. I can’t wait for you to see what the trees did to the walls.”
Splotch let out a concerned squeak as Nyssa ran towards the fire escape. Arthur waved goodbye to Pydes, a smile on his face as he followed behind her.
Things were looking up.171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Ps6VqID7W
