The Systems Challenge

While she didn't have any strength to move, she still had enough to listen. In regards to eating, Elin seemed willing to feed her, but there was something different that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Like she seemed distracted as she helped Kim eat, by bringing the steak that had been made to her mouth so she could chew the bites.

Even the color of Elin's dress of mauve wasn't any more helpful than any of the other colors it had turned, supposedly a reflection of how she was feeling. Which was difficult to work with, since there wasn't a manual about which colors meant which emotions.

"So, did all of you encounter the fire dragon at the same time?" Jonas asked as they were finishing with the dinner.

Owen shook his head. "Not really. It was Patricia and Patrick who had encountered it first. Then after they escaped, it met up with my group, but eventually it fled itself. My guess is that if it didn't realize it could have done that in the first place, it at least learned it could when Patricia and Patrick did just that on their encounter."

"Hey, don't blame us because you guys left it an opening. That's what Patrick and I used when we could tell we were getting overwhelmed," Patricia protested.

"Doesn't really matter," Bart chimed in. "It still managed to get away when we all fought it the next time after that."

"Whose side are you on, kid?" Owen asked, laughing.

"If you don't want to face the facts, that's your problem," Bart retorted. "I don't live in a world of fantasy where I can't handle facts and essentially call anything that I don't like a lie."

"I don't do that," Owen protested himself.

Bart shrugged. "Maybe not directly, but I've heard plenty of politician's do just that without saying it directly." Barth paused for a moment before adding, "It's rather annoying to be honest."

"Well, if we have that settled," Patrick chimed in, "should we start out telling them about all the encounters with the fire dragon as well as all the details about how we finally beat it?"