"We're not friends, Wulfgar," said Coatl-ome.

  "You didn't even let me say anything," said Master Sai. Nichal took a seat at the table opposite Coatl-ome. He was still getting used to acting without commands.

  "That's because we're not friends," Coatl-ome repeated.

  Master Sai sighed. "Can you fix a dragonforged hammer?" he asked.

  Coatl-ome looked up from her work and cocked a head at Nichal. He waved at her. "Alright," she said, turning to face Master Sai. "I'm listening."

  "Thank you," said Master Sai. "I have a dragonforged hammer I want to fix for a grimling smith I met and I need dragonfire to do it."

  Coatl-ome snorted. Flames licked between her teeth. "My fire is the one thing Syn did not take from me when he trapped me in the form of a slave," she said. "Let me see the hammer." She held out a hand.

  Master Sai pulled the hammer from his pack and set it on the table. Coatl-ome glanced at him sideways as she picked up the hammer to inspect it. "Hmm…" she said. She yanked the haft out the hammer's head and tossed it into a pot across the room without even looking to aim. "Yes, this is reparable. I have what I need to fix the head. Do you have anything that I can replace the haft with?"

  "Let me see," said Master Sai, rummaging around. "I've got a few nice oak pieces that might work. Oh, and a bit of animal glue I mixed up."

  "That will do," said Coatl-ome. "Just set them out and I'll start reshaping the head." She took several deep breaths before blowing a tight stream of dragonfire onto the metal of the hammer head.

  Nichal watched Master Sai root through his pack. Soon, the orc pulled out a stopper of glue and an oak branch that was longer than the pack itself. Nichal never tired of seeing Master Sai's pack in action. The lizard couldn't tell if the pack wasn't real or if the things inside it weren't real. His bet would have been on the things Master Sai pulled out of it, most of which he'd never seen the orc put in there.

  "While you're working," said Master Sai, "I have another favor to ask."

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  Coatl-ome stopped breathing dragonfire and considered the hammer head. Nichal blinked. It was already starting to take its proper shape. He hadn't seen her work it at all. "This is about the wyrmsblood I can smell on you, isn't it?" she asked. She blew another stream of dragonfire at the hammer.

  "Well, yes," said Master Sai.

  Nichal watched the hammer closely this time. The flames themselves seemed to be reshaping the metal rather than heating it. Which would explain why the grimling couldn't fix the hammer on his own. After another inspection, Coatl-ome set down the head. It seemed quite cool. "The answer's no, Wulfgar," she said, taking up the oak branch. Master Sai sighed.

  "Please, Great One," Nichal said. "He asks for me, not himself."

  Coatl-ome glanced at him without interrupting her work chopping down the length of the oak with a shard of obsidian. "That's not persuasive," she said.

  "I need the strength to not be a slave again," Nichal told her.

  At that, she did set down her work to stare at him, eyes narrowed. Again her displeasure set off all of the panic responses throughout his entire body. He forced himself to stay in his seat, but he knew his eyes must have shown his terror. "Let me make sure I understand," she said to Nichal. "You want me to help him give you the psychic might of the dragons."

  Nichal gulped. "Yes," he croaked. "Please."

  Coatl-ome turned to glare at Master Sai over her shoulder, and Nichal gasped for breath. When had he stopped breathing? Had she done that to him on purpose? "Did you put it up to this, Wulfgar?" she asked.

  "You've always helped us every time before," said Master Sai.

  That seemed to surprise the Great One. She froze and did not answer for several seconds. Then she snorted and pulled the cap off the stopper of glue with her fangs. "It already bears the blood of the dragons," she said, slathering one end of the branch with the glue. "You'd need to amplify the wyrmsblood with something else from the dragons. A scale or a claw should work."

  "Interesting," said Master Sai. His eyes were distant again. "That makes sense. Can we have one then?"

  "Do I look like a dragon to you?" asked Coatl-ome. She pounded the hammer head onto its rough new haft. "You need an actual, physical dragon scale, which I can no longer give you."

  Nichal's heart sank. "But there are no Great Ones here," he said.

  "No," agreed Master Sai. "There are Draconic ruins, though. Maybe we can find something around here."

  Coatl-ome shook her head. "Not in Somber Tune, you won't," she said, wrapping vines around the head of the hammer. "Trust me, I'd know. But the hatchery ruins extend west into the foothills. If there's a dragon roost out there, you may find a shed scale or broken claw." She handed the repaired hammer to Master Sai. "The glue is still setting, so don't take those bindings off until it's completely dry."

  Master Sai nodded and stowed the hammer in his pack. "It's definitely worth looking for a roost," said Master Sai. "Let's head west, Nichal."

  Nichal stood and bowed to Coatl-ome. "Thank you, Great One," he said. "I hope you are free of this place too someday."

  "Hmph," snorted Coatl-ome.