Baddock is presently in the hands of the Aelfin monks of the Sacred Grove, still bandaged up from his fall through the trees, but having healed rather nicely. Thankfully, there were no broken bones. In fact, he may have even healed faster than the Aelfin seem to expect. (But then, they are a small folk, probably only used to dealing with other Aelfin, and the fragile Eeee to the north.)

Once he was evidently strong enough to get out of bed again, he was assigned a most disagreeable task. Or, that is, it's fairly safe to assume what his task might be, as he has been stuck in an open area that looks like it may have once been some sort of meeting hall, but the roof is long since gone. Now it's just an open floor surrounded by crumbling walls, with a pretty nice view of the countryside through the gaps. He has been given a chitin shovel, a wooden wheelbarrow … and pointed toward a large pile of manure. By the pantomiming of the Aelfin who is overseeing his duties (and who doesn't speak a lick of Rephidim Standard), he's apparently supposed to shovel this mound of … material … across the chamber, over to what looks like a garden at the far edge. Not exactly an adventurous quest.

Baddock has been deprived of his sword, bo staff, and – wouldn't you just know it? – the sugarfir leaves he procured earlier.

An airy, rumbling noise emits from a doorway to one side of the clearing, then silences again. The doorway apparently leads into one of the areas of the ruins that still has a roof over it – a large room that is shadowed from the sunlight, though a few flickering torch-lights can be seen peeking from inside.

Baddock idly twirls the shovel in his hand as he looks up at the sky and ponders things the way they currently stand. He was grateful to the Aelfin monks for assisting with his training thus far, but he was confused by this new twist. He knew that manual labor was good for strengthening one's muscles and raising one's endurance … heck, he had done loads of it back at the Shinryuu temple … but Baddock decided that right now, he would much rather go back and spar some more with the monks at the Sacred Grove. Those guys were awesome fighters, and it was nice to have opponents who were the same size as him, for once. Looking towards the doorway, Baddock makes up his mind, and knows where he wants to go.

He studies the chitin shovel in his hand. It isn't much, but it might suffice for a weapon until he can get his bo staff and his sword back. Twirling it up and holding it behind his back, he smiles happily and starts off toward the shadowed hallway.

The Aelfin overseer starts out of a near-doze, and begins shouting something … but it's in that strange Aelfin tongue, and so it doesn't mean a thing to Baddock. At least this Aelfin hasn't got so much as a weapon, and it doesn't look like he's brave enough to come attack or anything.

The room inside the doorway is fairly dark, yes, but not to the point where the contents can't be seen. There are some torch sconces set on the walls, illuminating the crumbling chamber, and a large pile of what at first looks like gems in the middle of the floor. Hanging on the wall right next to one of the sconces is a familiar-looking sword and bo staff, but the "gems" are between Baddock and his possessions. Upon further focus, however, the "pile of gems" resolves itself into a large sleeping three-headed dragon, his bulk blocking a clear view of what might be further down this stone hallway. There's no guarantee that this way even leads out of the ruins.

Wow! There they are! His sword and bo staff are right there … and Baddock was afraid he might have had to search all over for the place for them. Unfortunately, Baddock recognizes the large, sleeping creature as the same one who attacked him back in the Sacred Grove. It probably wouldn't be any happier to see him now, and Baddock has no desire to wake it from its peaceful repose. If it tries to use one of its breath attacks in these close quarters … well, Baddock isn't even going to think about that.

Quietly, Baddock reaches up and grabs one of the nearby torches from off the wall. It may come in handy. Tucking the chitin shovel into the back of his belt, the young boy carefully makes his way toward the spot where his weapons hang on the wall. He watches the dragon for any sign that it might be stirring as he slowly makes his way along the walls, moving toward his weapons.

Baddock's sneaking is pretty good, though it can't help him to have a shovel strapped to his back. Still, even despite banging the shovel handle against the wall once, and one of the dragon heads briefly stirring – then settling down again – he manages to make it just within reach of his weapons. As he does so, he can get a better view of the corridor behind the dragon. It continues further into darkness, with no more torches to light the way. Some ambient light glints off of something shiny, but there's no way to see just what it might be in the gloom. Just then, however, the middle, purple head of the dragon snorts, and smacks its very large mouth, blinking sleepy eyes as it slowly rises.

The purple eyes snap open, and glare balefully at Baddock. It looks like at least one third of the dragon is awake now.

It's at times like these that Baddock can't help but wonder why he ever wanted to train in the first place. Still, there was something inside this kid that always told him he'd be wasting his life if he wasn't pushing himself to his limits. He knew it would pay off in the long run, assuming he lived long enough. Baddock finds himself looking back at those purple eyes, and knows it's "go" time. He grabs his weapons from off the wall and races for the corridor, clutching his bo staff and sword tightly under one arm as he holds the torch in his hand.

The purple head lurches after Baddock, snapping its jaws at the child … but it comes to an abrupt stop, as it has the weight of two sleeping heads holding it back. However, smacking and grunting noises hint that the other two heads may be rousing as well.

As the boy charges down the corridor, it reveals itself to be a continuation of this same grand hall. At the end of it is … a double of what he's avoiding! There's another three-headed dragon, curled up and asleep, crouching upon a giant nest made of wooden branches, dried straw and stones.

Baddock is grateful that at least one of the creatures is still asleep. Quickly, he removes the shovel from his belt and ties his bo staff and sword around his back in the same style as when he last had them. Sliding the neck of the shovel back into his belt, he listens, watches and waits, keeping an eye on the sleeping dragon and hoping it stays put, then looking back down the corridor he's just come through.

The still-sleeping dragon is … well … still sleeping. However, three heads are peering in from the front of the corridor, and none of them look very friendly. One head is blue, with a frosty mist coming from its nostrils. Another is red, with a bit of smoke coming from gaps in its mouth. The middle one, purple, just glares balefully at Baddock.

Great. A standoff. That was the last thing Baddock wanted. Slowly and quietly, not wanting to wake his sleeping friend (as long it is sleeping, it is his friend), the boy draws his sword from its sheath and looks back down the hall. Baddock clears his mind, focusing on the situation. Clenching his sword tightly in one hand, the torch in the other, he watches the dragon peering back at him, and waits for it to make its move.

The dragon heads move about … but, perhaps curiously, they don't do anything just yet. A snort comes from one of the heads of the sleeping dragon, though.

Baddock, unfortunately, doesn't have a degree in dragon psychology, and has no idea what's going on in any of the beast's triple heads. The best he can do at the moment is guess. Almost subconsciously, he nods back to the dragon, trying to get a feel for the creature's behavior pattern as he watches it.

The purple head's mouth contorts … and it looks like it's filling up its cheeks with air!

Baddock hadn't seen the purple head attack back in the Sacred Grove, so he can only imagine what's about to come flying out of its mouth. He stands at one side of the corridor and watches, bracing himself and getting ready to jump out of the way.

As the dragon exhales, a shrill whistle builds in intensity, and reverberates through the chamber.

It's of a high, uncomfortable pitch … and the three heads of the second, sleeping dragon, begin to stir, snorting in annoyance.

The red and blue heads seem a bit perturbed as well.

As the three heads of the formerly sleeping dragon slowly rise, and its tail closes in to take their place, Baddock can briefly glimpse something large and round – an enormous egg! – in the clutch of the second dragon. But then, that would probably be appropriate to be found in a nest.

Wincing at the godawful sound emitting from the dragon at the other end of the corridor, Baddock watches nervously as the second dragon now wakes up. Peering suspiciously at the egg, the boy slowly backs away from the nest until he's out of the dragon's current striking range. He looks back and forth between both dragons, deciding to take the defensive and let their next actions determine his own.

One by one, the three dragon heads of the waking mama dragon see the young boy … and each pair of eyes lights up in fury, each mouth opening up to hiss angrily.

The shouting of an Aelfin voice can be heard past the first dragon, in the direction of the doorway. The meaning is no more intelligible than before, but the three heads momentarily snap their attention away from Baddock to glance back at the entrance curiously.

At last, it looks like Baddock has an opening. Slowly, he draws closer to the front of the corridor, watching to see what the dragon will do next. He turns back to keep an eye on the second dragon as he gets further from it, then returns his attention to the dragon he's getting closer to.

The second dragon hisses and lurches … but doesn't so much as get up from the nest. The red head of the dragon starts to angle back to look at Baddock, the distraction only being temporary…

Baddock comes to a dead halt as he sees the dragon's head turning back in his direction. He takes a step backwards and watches the beast carefully.

The other two heads seem to be about to turn this direction, too. The red head just glares at Baddock, waiting for the other two to catch up. Whatever it's calculating in that reptilian skull right now, it can't be terribly good.

It's gut-check time. This is starting to look more and more like Baddock's first, last, best, and only chance to escape. He makes a break for it and charges down the corridor, his eyes furiously scanning for an opening.

The red head roars in anger as it dives under its own body after Baddock … but one disadvantage to having three heads is that it requires a committee agreement to get the body to move. As Baddock rushes past the legs, there's light up ahead – the doorway he came through to get into this chamber in the first place. The Aelfin "guard" is standing there … and at the sight of a fully armed boy coming at him, he yelps and rushes out of the way.

Baddock extinguishes the flame on the torch and tosses it away as he tears out of the doorway and blows out into the garden in a fast run. Slapping his sword back into its sheath, he races off, feeling a renewed sense of vigor as bolts out of the yard.

As Baddock rushes out … he is greeted by the clamor of battle. He's rushed out of one conflict … and right into another!