Nate's arm still throbbed with pain. The hog's foul smell still lingered in his nose, his face was still dirty from the fight, and his entire body still ached. Yet he staggered on with the aid of an old dim flashlight to light his path as the sun had retired to its bed in the west an hour ago.

                He fell into a mindless motion of moving forward. His brain was void of all thoughts but one – walk. Walk. Just keep walking. He didn't feel the gentle decline of the terrain, nor did he notice the ground getting softer until he was up to his ankles in water.

                What's this? He thought drowsily, his mind blurred due to fatigue. Oh. Must be the lake. Might as well get some rest. Fat chance I'll be able to cross it in this state. And quite honestly not feeling the motivation to set up any sort of camp, he simply lay down on the sand and fell asleep.

                The next morning came all too quickly. "The sun's ahead of schedule," Nate grumbled to himself as the sun's brilliant rays shook him awake. "Or maybe I'm just behind...?" He lazily swept a hand through his navy blue hair that turned black at the tips as he sat up, not legitimately caring if it was neat or not. All of his limbs were still sore from the previous day, but he felt a little better. He'd manage.

He let out a yawn. If I don't find the egg before the sun sets tonight, the hogs and slimes will have probably found it, and I'll have failed this quest, he reminded himself when he didn't feel like getting up at first, and all I have is a possibly inaccurate direction in which I need to head.

The water he'd found himself in the night before was indeed a lake, and quite a gorgeous one at that. Its soft ripples reflected the warm oranges of the morning, and it would seem to the normal eye quite a serene place, one that would easily have earned its place in a romance or fantasy novel. Nate, however, could see what most others wouldn't.

The tiniest wave or single bubble could signify a slime, waiting ever so patiently for unsuspecting prey to wander over it. So whatever he used to get across, it would need to be small.

Tying on his long red headband, Nate set to work. The most efficient method would be to build a shaggy raft out of sturdy logs and rope, so he wasted no time in chopping down some stout limbs. He hauled them down to the water one by one, and fairly soon he had a decent pile.

He pulled a coil of rope out from his backpack and began to fasten the log together. An hour and a half later he was sweaty and had used up most of his rope, but the makeshift raft was complete. It was in no way glamourous and frankly quite ugly to look at, but it was small and it would hold his weight which was all that mattered to him.

He stepped back into the woods and searched for the final piece he needed – a long, sturdy stick to paddle and steer with, which he soon found. He plopped down next to the raft when he returned to the beach.

He slipped his shoes off, removed his jacket and shirt, and waded into the lake a couple feet before submerging himself. It was a little chilly, but it would get slightly warmer before the temperature began to decrease again in the evening.

He was going to get wet on his rather unprofessional little raft anyway, so he thought it best to get used to the water while he was close to shore. Besides, he was sweaty and still had some sand in his hair from sleeping on the beach the night before.

Nate trudged back to land after a few minutes, ready to set off. He placed everything he didn't want getting wet (i.e. his shoes. socks, and jacket) back in his bag and tugged his shirt back on.

Reaching deep into his black hole-like backpack, he felt around until he touched the object he desired. He pulled the item out to confirm that it was what he needed – a large plastic bag. Satisfied that he found it on his first try, he placed his backpack in it and zipped it up tight so neither his pack nor its contents would become soaked.

                 He dragged the vessel out to the water, and to his joy, it held even when he was seated on it. He experimentally used his steering stick to push him away from the lake's bank, and that seemed to function properly as well. He'd have to go slowly as not to lose his balance, but he was pretty confident that it would work.

                He gradually pushed himself through the water, intent on floating himself to the island. Even if the egg turned out to be on the other side of the lake, the island would serve as a god place to rest, as he was fairly certain that he wouldn't be able to cross the entire lake in one day.

                A couple bubbles rose up a few feet ahead of him. He stopped moving forwards. Bubbles signified slimes, and going above a slime signified you being attacked.

See, slimes weren't huge on sideways movements, but if something wandered above them while they were concealing themselves on lake, swamp, or ocean floors, they were faster than lightning in shooting up and capsizing whatever had floated into range. It would then proceed to drown and eat its victim. What's more they often hid in groups, so one always needed to be on the lookout for more if they were to detect signs of a slime.

After scrutinizing the area, Nate made a cautious shove to the right. Nothing. One forward. Safe. He continued this way, carefully making his way through the natural minefield one movement at a time. Left. Forward. Right. Right. Forward. Right.

Nate struggled to keep his concentration. The task was tedious, and he had half a mind just to race for the island as fast as possible and hope to out speed the slimes, but the logical side of his brain stopped him before he could to anything of that foolishness.

Finally, several infinitely long hours later, he placed his foot on the dry bank of the island. Tired, he lay down on the dirt and sand in an attempt to dry himself with warm mother sun's evening rays. Once he was satisfied that at the very least his feet were no longer pruney and wouldn't give him blisters from rubbing, he shoved his shoes back on and rose to wander the island in search for shelter, fruit, monsters, or best case, the dragon egg.

He dragged his raft further on to land so it wouldn't drift off in the night. The other side of the lake was too far away to reach before it became dark, and he didn't intend on sleeping where he'd come ashore – it was too unguarded.

A dragon's egg! Nate reflected as he explored. I thought pure dragons were endangered! What am I going to do if I actually find it... Keeping it is out of the question. Why on earth would I want a dragon when a puppy is something I'd never consider? I'll probably see if I can find a way to sell the egg to a community of dragon-morphers. They'll take it in seeing as they're half dragons themselves.

Soon, the end of Nate's third day in the dungeon appeared. He'd found an obscure cave in which to spend the night, and he wanted to go to bed a little earlier than the previous two nights so he could spend every second of the next day searching. The egg was going to be found within the next day or two, whether it be by him or monster. It was vital that he was the one to discover the egg first. Success depended on it. Pulling out his sleeping bag, he went right to sleep.

This time, Nate was not awoken by the gentle sun, but by pounding hooves. Hogs were nearby.

"Again?" Nate complained as he sleepily roused himself. He shoved his belongings off to the side and sat vigilant in case the hogs should rush by and catch scent of him. He yawned and rubbed his dark red eyes which were no doubt glorified by dark bags of little sleep hanging below them.

His eyes were not the vibrant glowing red of children's nightmares, but slightly dulled to show only the edge of adventure. Navy blue hair and red eyes might be considered unusual and scandalous in some lowly remote dimension somewhere, but for one who could use magic in the area where he lived, people with 'oddly' colored hair and eyes were an ordinary sight. Besides, what's to say that there isn't a universe somewhere where blond hair or brown eyes are gaped and laughed at when they appear?

Nate mentally dared the hogs to come after him. "They'd better not have woken me up for no reason," he seethed, feeling rather temperamental at being disturbed during his best sleep in days. Hopefully this herd would be smaller than the one he'd faced a day or two ago. He could probably take anything close to a normal sized herd of 11 hogs. "If they don't come here and fight me this instant, I will find them and pulverize them."

Once he registered his own words, he raised his dominate hand to face level and slapped himself as hard as he could. Get a hold of yourself and think! He commanded himself. You know you go completely braindead when you're tired, so wake up before you do something completely idiotic and end up getting yourself hurt!

Rubbing his poor cheek, he rummaged around in his backpack for a minute until he found a caffeinated drink that he'd bought specifically for circumstances like the one he was currently in. He hated having to use it up as he never carried more than one at a time and he wasn't even certain that the hogs would find him. However, the possibility was there, so he downed it in a few large gulps.

                As much as he longed to back to sleep in spite of being given an energy boost, the heavy footsteps of the hogs constantly reminded him why he could not. So forced to do nothing but wait and see the outcome of the possible threat, Nate seated himself crisscross-applesauce near the edge of the cave.

                This time, Nate was fully prepared when the hogs came rushing in. This time, he bothered to count the hogs as they ran past. This time, there were only nine, two less than a normal herd and eleven less than the herd he'd previously faced. Feeling the energy rush of a battle, he dodged, slashed, blocked, and struck them down one by one.

                The commotion was over almost as quickly as it started with Nate as the clear victor. He didn't have to resort to any fancy tricks or maneuvers, which pleased him greatly.

                What did they want? He wondered. I doubt they could smell me over their odor... not that I smell like roses and daisies myself. He sighed. Ah, whatever. It's far too late for this. Or maybe too early...? It doesn't matter. If it's important, I'll figure it out in the morning during a reasonable hour. 

                And it was extremely important, as Nate learned once he'd groggily dragged his butt out of his sleeping bag the next morning. For at the back of the cave was a stone staircase cleverly concealed in darkness descending into the earth no more than twenty feet from where Nate had slept.

                It was early in the morning when he set out down the spiraling staircase, and with each passing step, Nate grew more and more certain that he was close to finding the egg. The further he descended, the nicer the stairs came to be. They became wider and more evenly spaced. They gradually grew smooth and eventually had a polished shine.

                After goodness knows how long, the stairs opened up into a void of darkness. Nate shown his flashlight on to what appeared to be a torch. Striking a match, he lit it on fire. A chain reaction was set off as a small burst of flame traveled along a string from the torch to another torch, and then many more after that.

                Soon the entire cavern was lit due to the torches being geniusly connected by strings that carried the flame then burned. Onetime-use lighting system, Nate commented, but pretty cool none the less.

                The cavern was gorgeous, almost like a temple. Beautifully carved granite pillars and smooth marble floor made it feel almost like an old palace except for one detail. A large pool of water split the room in two. The water probably comes in from the lake, Nate deduced. It looks pretty deep, but I can swim across it.

                Repeating the same method of preserving his stuff from when he crossed the lake (stuffing it in a plastic bag), Nate began to dip his foot in, but pulled it out immediately. Total lack of sunlight had left the water frigid.

                He grimaced. I'm going to need to cross no matter what, so here I go. A huge splash rose up as he performed a cannonball into the freezing water. He gasped in air as he surfaced. Getting your head wet is supposed to make it feel warmer, he thought, his teeth chattering. That did not help.

                He grabbed the plastic bag containing his backpack and dragged into the water. He'd had the sense to trap plenty of air in so it floated. At least one thing is working for me here.

                Nate began swimming across as quickly as he could, not eager to stay in the water longer than absolutely necessary. He tuned out the whole world around him as he raced to reach the other side. He didn't even notice the bubbles...

                The creature reached him faster than the sound of it shooting up from the bottom of the pool did. He didn't have the time to take even a quick breath before he was dragged under. A flood of air escaped from his mouth as he instinctually thrashed around, and whatever it was momentarily released him.

                Slimes, he realized as he surfaced. They must have floated in from the lake.

                Less than a second after oxygen refilled his lungs, he was dragged under again. He didn't struggle this time; he would only waste the precious seconds he could survive underwater. Instead, he pulled out his pen. Hurry up, hurry up! His mind was racing wildly during the four seconds it took to change it to axe form. My life depends on it!!

                He hadn't stopped to think if there any dangers. He hadn't been careful. And now he was trapped in a dangerous realm where he couldn't breathe. He tried to swing his axe at the slime that held his ankle captive, but the water slowed it almost to the point of being useless. But the water wasn't slowing time.

                Each second ticked by faster and faster as his throat longed for comfort that was only found above the surface. No, it was past the point of comfort and on to need. He strength began to fail him, and his heavy axe slipped from his weakening hands.

                Then the slime let go.

                The next moment Nate could recall, he was desperately gasping in air, his head pounding painfully. He didn't even have the wits about him to move as he was relishing in more oxygen than he could ever want. The slime didn't attack him again.

                Once he'd caught his breath, he began to panic again. He'd dropped his axe; his only weapon; his way of life; his form of magic.  He needed it back.

                He stuck his face under water. Maybe nine feet down lay the quite dead slime, and next to it, his axe. It killed it, he realized. When I dropped my axe, it fell on the slime and killed it. That's why it let go.

                Then he changed his mind to the present. About nine feet, huh? I might be able to make that, especially since I'll have the advantage of pushing off the bottom. I'm going to have to change my axe back to its's pen form as I go, though. In axe form it'll be too heavy for me to make it back to the surface.

                He was reluctant to have to dive so deep after nearly drowning, but he needed to get his axe back. "Okay... three, two, one-" He clawed at the water as he raced to the bottom of the pool. A sense of relief and comfort came over him when his hand wrapped around the axe's handle, but he was aware that he was only half of the way through retrieving it.

                The axe flashed as he began the process of transforming it. His feet landed on the floor, and with a powerful push he rocketed upwards. This time, his breathing wasn't as desperate as he surfaced. His axe was back in pen form, and he was alright. Exhausted and freezing, but alright.

                He slowly paddled himself to the other side of the pool, thankfully reaching it without any other difficulties. He could no longer feel the cold, but he wasn't sure if it was because he was high on adrenalin or if it was because he was just plain numb.

                Once he pulled himself back onto dry land, he simply lay there on the floor without the motivation to move.  The glossy stone ground wasn't exactly a roaring furnace, but he lay there none the less with his limbs sprawled out in a tangled mess and his baggie of belongings seated next to his head.

                It was a good little while before he could arouse himself, but he eventually forced himself up. He put the plastic bag back in his backpack and pulled out a towel which he placed on his shoulders like a blanket. There was a small doorway ahead of him, and urging himself onwards, he entered the next room.

                His world was once again enveloped in darkness, but he soon found another one of the creative torch systems. Nate gasped as the small room was illuminated. The walls, it seemed, were made of pure gold and floor appeared to be crystal. But the room, the most beautiful one Nate had ever seen, held no glory next to what lay on an otherwise ordinary stone pedestal.

                The egg. A dragon's egg. An honest to goodness dragon's egg.

                Nate tenderly ran a hand over the glorious object. There's a live soul in there, just waiting to be born. Under my hand there's a life, one that has not even yet begun. Nate wrinkled his nose in disgust. Now I'm starting to sound poetic. Next thing you know I'll be sitting in an oversized red armchair reading Shakespeare.

                "Well, congratulations. You found the reward," he muttered to himself. "Now it's time to claim it."

                He dropped his backpack onto the ground and it landed with a satisfying thud. Unzipping it, he poked his hand around until he found his blanket, which he then jerked out and carefully wrapped the egg in so it wouldn't get damaged in the bumpy ride while he exited the dungeon. Finally, he shoved all of the contents of his backpack to one side and placed the egg in the gap he'd created.

                Thankfully, the egg wasn't too impractically big; it was only about as tall as one of his hands. It was a beautiful glossy light green, and Nate was certain that even if he could not sell it as an egg, it would probably make a tasty egg sandwich.

                Once it was secured, Nate placed his backpack back in the plastic bag and safely returned to the bottom of the staircase, and soon enough back above ground. It was probably somewhere around 1 o'clock, he estimated. If he were quick, he might be able to use his little raft to float off the island and be back on dry land just as the sun was setting.

                He swiftly made his way back to where he'd landed on the island. The hard part's done, but I still need to make it back to the quest's entrance as it's also the exit. He dragged his raft out from where it had lay hiding in the bushes and strengthened it with more rope. I'll have to buy some more rope next time I'm in a town, he mentally noted. I'm running low.

                "Now to figure out which way I need to go." He pulled his map and compass out of his backpack. "If this is north...," he said to himself, lining up his map with his compass, "then I need to head southwest." He paced his map back in his bag but kept the compass out for reference so he wouldn't drift off course.

                Nate placed his raft in the water and began his voyage across the lake. Then there were bubbles ahead of him. "I've had just about enough of slimes," he growled as he scanned the area to see if there was any safe path around it. Unfortunately, it seemed as if the slimes had oh so conveniently lined up in a row between the island and the mainland to create an impassable barricade.

                He began pushing himself along the wall to see if he could find a break in which to pass through, but for quite a while, he found none. By the time he reached a point where slimes couldn't attempt to drown him (again), only two hours of daylight remained. Thankfully, the obstacles in completing the quest seemed to be lightening up a little bit, and Nate reached land with no issues, save for the fact that the sky was a warm orange due to the sun rapidly disappearing.

                He was so close to beating the quest that he didn't bother finding a place to sleep or setting up camp. He just pulled out his cruddy flashlight and bronze tinted compass.

                Let's see... this is only a medium difficulty find the reward type of quest, so this should work. He held the compass up in his left palm with the lid closed (this was one of those cool metal compasses that you could imagine in an old adventure movie) and tapped it twice with his right index finger.

                As his skin connected with the compass on the second tap, a dim blue wave traveled around the surface of the round metal object, then it returned to its normal hue. Nate opened the compass to find that it was no longer pointing north – just like he expected.

                It wasn't broken. In fact, it was far from it. Nate had simply changed its function, as simple as he would be able to change his flashlight from producing a strobe to shining a steady beam by clicking a button. You know, if his flashlight had any settings other than jumbling out a weak glow.

                I guess the exit's south west of me then, he thought as he began to follow the direction little red arrow pointed. And sure enough, within the hour, he was back where he'd started. He hadn't paid close attention to his surroundings when he'd first entered the quest a couple days ago, but he was certain that he was in the correct spot.

                After all, why else would there be a grey glowing orb just randomly floating in the forest?

                Satisfied that he'd done his job, Nate lay a hand against the orb. Almost immediately, the world around him changed to the same grey light that had surrounded him when he entered the quest. A loud windy-sounding swoosh filled his ears.

                Then he rejoined civilization.

                He was in the town's main square – where the quest board was located. There weren't too many people hanging about, to Nate's relief. Human communication had never exactly been one of his specialties, even though he was a human himself.

                Nate yawned. It was starting to get late, even by his standards. Besides, his backpack was weighing down on his shoulders, his muscles were slightly sore, and he was grimy (something the few passersby gave him disapproving looks for. Nate just ignored them.)

                Rousing himself slightly, he gathered his remaining energy and set off down one of the streets leading to the outskirts of the town. Even in the dead of night, Nate knew the path to his destination as he frequently visited this particular town because many of the quests found there were often to his liking.

                A solid ten minute walk later, he stood outside a quaint building just large enough not to be deemed average size. Even though most of the town had gone to bed hours ago, lights still shone from the first story window. Nate shoved the front door open.

                "Welcome to the Eastside Magnolia Pine Bed and breakfast, would you like a room?" The woman working the night shift recited before Nate had even taken a full step inside. She smiled upon recognizing him. "Welcome back little one."

                "I'm not 'little'," Nate replied dryly as he shuffled over to the check in area and shoved a couple coins at her.              

                "Eh, little in years," The lady responded as she flipped through a guest book. "Room 12 is open. It's a one bedroom, like you usually get." Nate handed her the appropriate amount of money, snatched the room key, then swiftly headed to a nearby stairwell without saying another word.  "Goodnight, little one!!!"

                "How the heck am I little?" Nate mumbled to himself as he tromped up the steps. "I'm almost 6'3"!"

~*~

                Nate tossed his backpack on the room's small bed. He threw his clothes into a tiny washing machine next to bathroom, sprinkled a little bit of stain remover in to vanquish the bloodstains from the run in with the hogs, dumped in a hearty heaving of soap, and set it to wash.

                Finally, he turned on the shower. It was quite late (quite early, actually, the clock beside the bed informed him), but frankly, he honestly didn't care if he woke anyone up or not. They'd just have to suck it up and deal with it.

                He threw himself onto the bed with a loud plop and barely stopped himself in time when he almost kicked his backpack onto the floor so he could go to sleep. He quickly unzipped it and yanked the egg out. To his relief, it was intact even though it had been jostled around quite a bit since being discovered.

                So instead of tossing the backpack with the egg in it off the bed, he carefully placed the egg on a small table that sat beside the bed and then kicked his backpack to the floor.

                Nate turned out the lights and for the first time in days lay down to sleep on a proper bed.

               It was nine thirty seven when Nate woke up the next morning. A little piece of sunshine managed to squeeze its way through closed blinds, and he could hear faint sounds of the town around him.

                He didn't exactly want to get up but he had some errands that he needed to do, so he dragged himself out of bed, narrowly avoided tripping over his backpack that he'd lazily thrown to the ground the night before, and changed out of his pajamas, sloppily dressing himself in his usual (and now freshly cleaned) outfit.

                I'll leave the egg in here. I don't like letting it out of my sight, but it'll be safe. Besides, it'll a pain to haul around all day.

                Nate threw his backpack over his shoulders and made his way down the wooden stairs of the bed and breakfast and to the dining hall. "Welcome home!" the waitress serving breakfast called out to him cheerfully as he entered.

                Nate rolled his eyes and took a seat at the large wooden table at the center of the room. Everyone who works here is so obnoxiously inviting, he thought. Eh, at least the food's usually decent.

                The baby-pink haired server enthusiastically plopped two plate-fulls of pancakes in front of two girls on the opposite end of the table before quickly making her way over to him. "Hello and welcome back! I'm Mariana! You probably don't remember my name since you never do, so there you go!" she rambled off at a breakneck pace. "Anyways, I'm the server here, so let me just tell you the menu. Oh, I forgot to mention! One of the guests is cooking this morning, but don't worry, her food is reeeeeeeealy good, especially her-"

                "Just get me some food," Nate snapped, cutting her off midsentence.

                "Pancakes and coffee it is then!!!!"

                A little less than five minutes later, Mariana strode happily back in, expertly balancing a large plate of pancakes on her right hand. "One order of coffee and Scrumptilitious Sparklfy Super Mega Amazecakes, here ya are! I named it myself."

                "So it seems," Nate replied flatly as he eyed the stack of 'Amazecakes' set before him with an unsure tone.  "And now I would like you to explain exactly what all of this is."

                "Ah, yes. Scrumptilitious Sparklfy Super Mega Amazecakes are simply chocolate chip pancakes that are covered in chocolate syrup and powdered sugar!!!!!!" Mariana laughed upon seeing Nate's shocked and mildly disgusted facial expression. "They taste awesome, trust me."

                Nate was still debating whether the concoction in front of him was safe to eat when Mariana wandered off to great someone else who had just entered the dining hall. He sighed. Well, seeing as this is likely the only thing I'll be able to get for breakfast... He plunged his for into the pile of sugar and took a bite.

               Sweet. Pretty good, but seriously sweet. He ate around half of it (about as much as he could without making himself sick), drank the entire mug of coffee, then got up to leave. To his relief, no one (namely Mariana) stopped him, so he was free to go peacefully about his way.

             The legato sounds of a street-side violinist and other noises of a smallish town filled Nate's ears as he exited the bed and breakfast. Food venders, clothing venders, and small roadside shops selling who-knows-what lined the tightly packed dirt streets.

             "WATERMELONS!!!! TWO FOR FOUR WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

             "GET YER LASTEST FASHIONS HERE AT A KNOCK DOWN PRICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

            Nate ignored all of the noise, all of the yelling, all of the idle chitter chatter. None of it really mattered to him. He flinched as a particularly shrill-voiced woman screamed out her line of publicity. "LADY," he yelled back in utter annoyance, "IF I WANTED WHATEVER IT IS YOU'RE SELLING, I'D BE OVER THERE BUYING IT, NOT OVER HERE GOING DEAF BECAUSE OF YOU!!!!!!!"

           "Well I never!" the woman huffed back in reply.

           "Youth these days," a few passersbys muttered to their spouse. "Yet another reason never to have kids."

           "Hold your tongue, young man," others scolded.

            Nate just rolled his eyes and continued walking.

~*~

                 A bell chimed quietly as Nate opened the door to his first stop. It was a small store, but it held plenty. He grabbed one of the caffeinated energy drinks that were near the front the strode quickly towards the back of the store where the rope was likely to be.

               "Oh. It's you again," the store's owner Mr. Kensaw stated grumpily when Nate set the two items on the checkout counter. "Remind me why I still let you in here."

               "Because I'm a paying customer," Nate growled back. The two glared at each other for a moment. "Well?" Nate prompted.

               Mr. Kensaw sighed. "That'll be fourteen wings," he muttered darkly. Nate shoved several coins at him, snatched up his purchases, then marched out of the shop.

~*~

                The closer Nate walked to his next destination, the fewer people there were around. He kept one of his hands in his pocket, his fist tightly holding his axe-pen should trouble arise. He could hear a loud roar of people likely egging on a fight in a building nearby – the one he was heading to.

               Nate shoved the slightly dented metal door open and shuffled off to the side of the room, trying to avoid contact with anyone there. No one really noticed him anyway; they were all watching the fight in the middle of the crowd.

               Let's see... Anzzi doesn't really like being noticed too much, so he'll probably be in a back room somewhere. He quickly weaved through to crowd, trying to make it to the back of the building. He clapped his hands over his ears as the crowd yelled again. The sooner I'm out of here the better.

             To his relief, the noise quieted a bit when he ducked into another room and close the door. The people in there glanced up to see who'd entered, then looked away again after they decided that they didn't really care. Nate walked quickly and watched his step. A wrong move could result in him being forced into a fight.

            Nate had met Anzzi before, and knew that there was pretty much only one way to find him – go to the loudest, roughest place around, then find the quietest place in there. It didn't take too long for Nate to run in to him.

            Nate opened the last door on the hallway and flicked on the lights. Sure enough, Anzzi had been sitting there in the dark.

           The black haired man smiled. "Ah. I was wondering how long it would be until I had another customer. What do you have for me this time?"

           Nate took a seat. Anzzi was a double agent of sorts. For his nine to five job, he worked for the government (for what department, he'd never said), but during his off time he worked as a middle man of sorts - he bought goods from others to then sell it to someone else for the highest price he could get. Now this would have been fine, but if he wanted something he would gladly buy it, no questions asked on where it came from.

           "I don't have it with me right now, but I wanted to see if you'd be interested," Nate replied, keeping his guard up.

           "Oh? What is it?"

            Nate lowered his voice. "A dragon's egg."

            Anzzi leaned back in his seat, lost in thought. "A dragon's egg, huh? Ordinarily, I'd laugh in your face and call you a liar, but you've got talent, kid. I'll have to see this 'dragon's egg.' Then you might have a deal."

           "Alright then," Nate agreed. "That was rather painless. I'll meet you tonight at seven at the corner between Dayflower Street and Southside Magnolia Pine Road. If you come by yourself, then so will I."

          Anzzi tilted his head slightly. "You're sure you want to do the exchange right there? That area will be rather populated."

          "Are you in or not?"

          Anzzi laughed quietly. "You're the same as always, I see. Both careful and straight to the point. You'll do well in this world, kid. I'm in." Nate stood, and began to head towards the door. "Hey, wait," Anzzi called after him. "One more thing."

          "What?" Nate snapped.

          "Just to clarify, the egg is in prime condition, right? 'Cause if there's any cracks, I'm not even going to bother."

          "There's no cracks," Nate assured as he left. "No cracks."

-------------------------

Do you guys like it? Should I continue?

Don't forget to comment! :)

See ya!

-Scatter