74th of Season of Water, 57th year of the 32nd imperial era

Newt was stuck in a maze of fire, had an airborne opponent he wished to eliminate, and what he supposed was a friend, but was really a massive snake he wanted to help. Also, the snake had seemingly gone mad.

What am I supposed to do? The situation certainly seemed hopeless. The sharpbeak, or whatever the monster hunting the Magmin titanoboa was, didn't approach fire, if the insane ramblings could be believed.

That meant Newt either had to fly, which was impossible at his realm, or he had to make an area where the sharpbeak would feel safe enough to swoop in and try to devour him. Another difficult proposal, but perhaps not entirely impossible.

Newt rubbed his chin, looking at the surrounding fires, wondering if an illusion could hide them. Even if I can make them invisible, the heat would make it obvious, and the sharpbeak might have a mindcore. No, that won't do, but I know runes for Fire, Consume, and Disperse — I could make a seal which disperses the fire?

Newt had several doubts about the approach. First, his seal might attract Magmin, and in his deranged state, the serpent was certainly hostile, more likely to attack than ignore him. Second, he might not manage to extinguish the flames, since mana fueled them instead of wood, and lastly, the giant pterosaur might not notice his tiny patch of extinguished flames.

Whether those problems really existed, Newt could only learn through trial and error. He found a cross-section in the maze, and drew the first seal with a piece of chalk, making pairs of Fire and Disperse runes in each of the four directions, with Mana and Consume runes at the center to fuel the seal. The fire rippled and sputtered; the walls shrinking from over ten feet, to less than half their height. Not exactly what Newt had in mind, but a good start.

The lines of chalk visibly disintegrated from the strain. Newt started counting and noticed the problem - the seal broke down on the count of seventy.

Less than two minutes.

The time to achieve his goal was short, especially since drawing the seal took over twenty minutes, but there was no helping it. Chalk was one of the most inferior approaches to rune scribing. It was cheap, easy to correct any mistakes, and excellent for novices such as Newt, but lacked integrity.

No, it's not that bad. If it swoops down towards me, and the seal fails while we're fighting, the fire should hopefully defeat the sharpbeak. Otherwise, the flames wouldn't have kept Magmin safe this long.

Feeling better about his plan, Newt made revisions to his seal, sometimes making it worse, but mostly moving in the direction he had envisioned. Finally, after five hours of fiddling and nearly running out of chalk, Newt had made the seal he wanted.

An open space, twenty yards across, was almost clear of fire, the flames barely reaching Newt's knees. The seal was complex, not a circle, but a tangle of broken lines, which strained the construct further, but it worked and the empty patch was certainly visible from the above.

"What is happening here?" Magmin hissed, his massive head appearing at the edge of the clearing.

A moment later, the sharpbeak shrieked, and terror grew palpable in Magmin's eyes. The titanoboa froze, looking up, and for the first time Newt saw the evolved heart demon. The sharpbeak, already too large for its species, had become a terrorwing.

The creature's massive wingspan made Newt hold his breath and freeze. The awe-inspiring leathery sail spanned seventy feet, its body over twenty feet long from the tip of the beak to the end of its short, stubby tail.

The creature's eyes glimmered with intelligence, its long, sharp beak making it look like a giant spear with which it would pierce all land-bound life. Its shriek paralyzed Newt and Magmin both, then it dived.

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Newt's heart shook, a random thought invading his mind. What would happen to him if the heart demon killed Magmin? Would the realm collapse, freeing him, or would something more ominous occur?

The terrorwing was mere yards away from the giant snake, when Newt acted. He threw himself on the line drawn in chalk, erasing it with his body. The fire flickered, then the seal shattered and the flames surged up, unleashed from their bindings.

The terrorwing screamed in agony, its body enveloped by the inferno. Newt lost sight of both the titanic avian and Magmin, but a dull crash told him the heart demon had slammed into the ground.

Newt drew his twin swords, navigating the maze towards the shrieks and screams of battle. He reached it in a heartbeat, finding Magmin's massive bulk wrapped around the terrorwing, both their bodies covered in Granite Crust.

Magmin had a clear advantage, the flier's wings hung torn, its stick-like arms connecting the leathery sails broken like twigs, but the terrorwing was far from surrender. Its massive beak speared the titanoboa's body, eliciting a pained roar and a fountain of blood as Newt stared, transfixed.

Magmin didn't give his heart demon an inch. He squeezed, rock and bones cracking, but whenever he tried to wrap himself around the terrorwing's neck, the spear-like beak tore into his body, inflicting further injuries.

The battle had reached a deadly stalemate, with both monsters inflicting serious damage to each other, but none managing the decisive blow. Newt snapped out of his daze and found that he was already running towards the two monsters, both of which dwarfed him. His swords were ready, and with a fiery burst beneath his feet, he activated Salamandra's Flight.

Newt soared, blindsiding both Magmin and the terrorwing. By the time the saurians noticed him, Newt had already passed them, landing into the fire. He tripped and rolled, landing back on his feet in a smooth motion before looking back.

The terrorwing's head fell off the severed neck, and without magical abilities to support its body, Magmin crushed it to paste. With the terrorwing gone, the titanoboa shifted its insane gaze and glared at Newt.

"What are you?"

"Magmin?" Newt said in the most friendly tone he could muster.

The serpent winced, but there was no whisper in the back of Newt's mind. Newt swallowed a lump. He wasn't sure what Magmin was; a friend, an ally, a freeloader infesting his realm, but whatever the tiny flying snake's title, Newt had gotten used to him and didn't want him gone.

The titanoboa remained silent, squinting at him, and Newt walked out of the fire, dismissing Granite Crust, minding the balance of elements within his realm.

"It's me, Magmin, Newt." Newt lowered his swords, but didn't approach the serpent, even though he wanted to, he couldn't trust a creature so clearly deranged.

"Newt," the titanoboa repeated, as if trying to recall the name. "What are you doing in my realm, newt?"

"I came to help you with the sharpbeak. Now, would you be kind enough to let me leave this place?"

The serpent stared at him, its cold reptilian eyes fixed on him.

"Not unless you pay me for the passage."

Some things never change.

"I helped you, and instead of rewarding me, you're trying to extort me?" Newt couldn't help but laugh from outrage. Even insane, Magmin only thought of personal gain.

"Yes, you want something from me, you give me something in return."

"And what do you want?" Newt tried not to be upset, then he tried harder, but found it difficult to reign in his anger.

The titanoboa let the silence turn oppressive before it spoke.

"I want," it paused again, "two crystal pinecones, as you called them."

"You cheeky little snake!" Newt shouted, and the titanoboa laughed. "Did you know I was here all along? And you're even messing with me even after I helped you?"

Magmin shrugged, which was an impressive feat. "My mind was muddled before you killed the giant sharpbeak, but then I saw you and remembered everything. What is happening? Where are we, and how did we get here?"

Newt swallowed. He couldn't tell Magmin he was just a realm ghost, and in truth, he wasn't. Realm ghosts couldn't leave their realms, and yet, Magmin lived within Newt's. Perhaps lived was too strong a word, he just existed there as some sort of imprint, but the fact that he could exist and communicate with Newt outside Newt's realm proved Magmin wasn't a heart demon.

"I'm not exactly sure what's going on," Newt said after the silence turned awkward, still no closer to his answer. "I have entered a secret realm, and here you are."

"Odd," Magmin hissed, looking around. "This place is unfamiliar, and yet, I know this titanoboa had made it to protect himself from the giant sharpbeak. Will I go back to normal when we return to your realm? Or could I stay here?"

Magmin had a whole avalanche of questions, but Newt had no answers, deciding to remain silent while the snake debated its circumstances with itself. Finally, the questions and mutterings dwindled, and Newt used the chance.

"Do you think you can will us to leave this place?"

"What, like this?"

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