"Tim! Any signals from the south?" Remian asked directly.

Tim nodded. "Five columns! It's Spike…" he trailed off.

There was a sudden, strange silence. Remian blinked to realize everyone meeting the airs.h.i.+p at the airport was staring.

Right. He kind-of expected that. Turning, he half-smiled, half-grimaced as he said, "Everyone… meet Lydia and Phoebe Kites."

The two sisters waved in greeting. "h.e.l.lo!"

"H-h.e.l.lo…" Tim managed.

At least he managed that much. Remian himself remembered the first time he met Phoebe. He hadn't managed much more than that.

Phoebe was stunning. Remian had to admit it. He had met pretty girls before; Mandy, for example, was a head-turner no matter which city she was in. But Phoebe was jaw-dropping, feet-tripping, eye-widening, heart-skipped-beat beautiful.

Max and Marcus were carrying a crate together when they saw Phoebe.

Max dropped the crate on Marcus' foot. BAM!

"AAAARRGH!!!" Marcus howled.

It was a disaster for the defense forces of Frontier Town; their field commander was going to be unable to properly stand on his feet for the next couple of days…

But yeah, that was the kind of effect Phoebe had on guys. Remian didn't blame them. He wasn't even surprised, much less angry. It had taken him the better part of the first day of their trip back to even be able to talk to her. It was a mercy that Mindy talked with her enough for the whole crew.

"Oh, dear. I had hoped things wouldn't go so like this." Lydia sighed. "We even took the trouble to wear armor!"

That was true enough. Lydia had the idea that it was Phoebe's body shape and figure that had guys tripping over themselves. She had her sister put on Iron Legion armor, which was standardized and uncomfortably NOT shaped for women's wear.

How could she know the kind of effect that a woman in their uniform armor would have on the real members of the Iron Legion? Plus, she wasn't wearing a helmet; they could see her face, her hair, blowing in the wind at airs.h.i.+p-dock height…

"Lydia… that might not have been the best idea." Remian groaned.

It was already good that n.o.body fell off the dock. For the Iron Legion officers, it was like seeing the heart-stopping beauty wearing their own clothes…

Meanwhile, Remian himself turned away quickly. The best way to avoid being blinded by the sun, he'd found, was to avoid looking directly at it…

Having said that, he wouldn't feel right interrupting any of the guys here upon their first glimpse of Phoebe. He just marched off the airs.h.i.+p and the dock without disturbing them. Just as he left, he called over his shoulder, "Mindy, settle our guests in, will you?"

"Sure." Mindy rolled her eyes at his back.

Carrie was waiting for him below the docks. Together, they headed straight for KarGoth.

"How far is Spike?" Remian asked Aren as he met the High Rock clan chief at the Pit.

"Already in sight." Aren pointed to a little figure in the distance.

"And our preparations?" Remian eyed the Pit.

It wasn't visible now. All he could see from where he stood was a layer of sand and some stones.

"We're ready." Aren allowed himself a predatory smile.

"All right! We'll do this just as we planned!" Remian said, daring to feel hopeful for once.

"Everyone, take shelter! n.o.body make a sound!" Aren ordered his people.

"No, actually, we should at least shoot at him. He might get suspicious if we don't at least look like we're trying to stop him." Remian said. "Call Mindy, ask her to bring the Foresight up after she's settled our guests. She is to shoot at Spike, but stay out of his range."

Meanwhile, Remian went to look for some insurance.

***

"He's almost here!" hours later, Remian crouched in a large trench behind a man-made hillock a bit south-east of the Pit. "Mindy!"

"Cast the spell!" Mindy called.

"Wind Blessing!" Charlie guided the formation, and the XL Ballista glowed blue. "All yours, Mindy!"

Charlie and the scroll-casters got off the Foresight. Mindy, Candice and three other Adventurers launched the airs.h.i.+p gunboat. It took to the skies and started firing blue bolts at Spike even before it cleared the top of the KarGoth mining hills.

In return, Spike roared back, but at this range, they only heard the sound of the roar. Even so, it was enough to make everyone scramble for shelter.

"Everyone into the mines!" Aren called to Charlie and the casting crew.

Remian watched them from where he waited with a few of his friends, not saying a word, not making a sound. He felt vibrations getting stronger; either the ground was beginning to shake beneath Spike's stomping, or that was his heart thumping in his chest…

Blue streaks lanced out from the Foresight, now twice the height of KarGoth's peaks. Mindy was also pulling back, using Wind Magic to sail the no-drive airs.h.i.+p away from the oncoming destroyer. She was making good time. Her magic was getting pretty strong. Was there some sort of level system to gauge mages' power? If there were, she must have leveled up.

Spike let out another roar, this one frighteningly close. The ground-shaking doubled, then tripled, and then they were all shaking so hard, Remian nearly bounced. He had to keep his teeth clenched or risk biting his tongue.

Then the hulking form of the Spike-Back Lizard pa.s.sed the hillock. Spike towered over the heap of dirt hiding Remian and his friends. They could see his thick, leathery sh.e.l.l, the huge bony spikes protruding on all sides, followed by the club-like tail also outfitted with spikes…

Almost there. Almost there…

Abruptly, Spike paused. He grunted.

No. No, not now, don't stop now…

The Foresight kept firing. Blue bolts slammed into Spike from far above, but Spike wasn't even distracted. He lowered his thick head, sniffing the odd ground in front of him.

"Drop it!" Aren's order sounded in the silent hills.

What? No, it's too early! He's not completely over the Pit yet!

There was a creaking sound, and the floor fell away leaving a gaping hole under Spike's front feet. Spike tilted forward as it fell, almost slipping into the pit.

But he did not fall in. Just a little over half of him remained dangling on the edge. His back legs dug in deep to the ground, and began to pull back out of the Pit. One step… two steps…

"NOW!" Remian shouted to his friends and they charged out.

One Tier 4 wolfcat, one Tier 4 Bear, and a Tier 5 Diamond Bristle Boar gushed out from the trench behind the hillock and ran headlong into Spike.

BAM! Carrie rammed into Spike's tail, where the spikes did not cover, nudging him forward.

POW! Buff hammered another spot-between-spikes from behind and to the right.

And…

BOOM!

Daring Drums, the Tier 5 Bristle Boar, rammed directly into Spike's rear. Tusks and spikes collided; diamond bristles met sh.e.l.l; the impact knocked Remian clear off his feet. He fell backward, onto the stony dirt of KarGoth. DD, likewise, fell back a bit.

And Spike? Spike fell forward.

"URGHK!" Spike went down into the pit head-first.

He landed at the bottom with a terrible cras.h.!.+

"Close it! CLOSE IT!!" Aren shouted.

The lid of the pit creaked, and latches sounded, four heavy thumps.

There was a furious roar from the depths, and the ground shook. The lid shook. Remian's whole body shook.

Then there was a brief, stunned silence.

"YEAH!" Aren's son was the first to cheer. "We GOT HIM!"

In a moment, a hundred other voices cheered along with him.