"Don't be rude to her, Balthazar," Tom muttered between his teeth.

"Montgomery is a her?!" the befuddled crab said, one eyestalk stretched higher than the other.

"Always was," the tiny slime said, her squeaky voice getting even more high-pitched. "You didn't notice?"

"How was I suppose—" Balthazar shook his shell in utter confusion. "Never mind that! How did you become so small?! In fact, how did you even get here? I thought you were permanently stuck inside that room at the bottom of Tudor's Hall."

"And I am," Montgomery said, her tone somehow still carrying the same gravitas as her previous giant form despite the squeakiness making it completely ineffective at being intimidating.

The crab stared at the small gray blob for a moment, expecting her to elaborate.

"What does that even mean?!" he finally said, after nothing else came out of the slime. "You're clearly here now. Much smaller and less intimidating, sure, but you are."

"And I am also there," the bubbling ooze plainly stated, without elaborating further.

"Erm… Maybe I could help explain things a little better?" said Tom, stepping between the crab and slime with an awkward shrug.

"Yes, Tom, please do!" the confused crustacean said, crossing his arms.

"You may," said Montgomery, bowing her small form slightly.

"So," the skeleton started, extending his arms with palms facing up. "The Montgomery you met—huge, hungry, and glued to the foundation of our dungeon—is still there right now, where you last saw her."

Balthazar uncrossed his arms and pointed a claw at the tiny ball of goo in front of him. "Alright, but then who is this?"

"That…" the undead said, wincing slightly. "Is also Montgomery. Or rather, an offshoot of her main form."

"What?!"

"We, slimes, don't exist under the same rules of existence as you," the undulating gray mass said calmly, slowly, and with a tiny condescending undertone. "When we grow grandiose enough, we can split our being into an offshoot, free to roam and expand elsewhere."

"What she's trying to say is that she got so big she unlocked the ability to reproduce," Tom said with a quick shrug.

"Crass skeleton!" Montgomery exclaimed with squealing indignation.

"So let me see if I got this straight," said Balthazar, holding both pincers up and looking down for a second. "Montgomery ate so much junk and got so big that a piece of her plopped out of her body, and that portion of slime also has her consciousness, meaning she's both here and there at the same time?"

"Yes, you got it right, more or less," Tom said.

"A reductive and tactless way of explaining it!" grumbled the ooze.

"And when she heard we were coming here to repurpose this new dungeon of yours," the undead continued, "she requested we bring her offshoot along, to stay in your dungeon."

"Oh," the crab said, turning to the animated muck. "But… why?"

"Well," Montgomery said with high-pitched dignity. "I wished to see this wonderful new dungeon you have here. I wished to expand my sights to meet new places and people. I also wished to come see my crab friend who never came back to visit me."

"Oh," said Balthazar.

"And because she also wanted to eat more bread," Tom added dryly.

"Oooh," the crustacean said. "Now I get it."

"Indelicate undead!" the annoyed lump of sludge decried.

The skeleton shrugged once again. "It's true, though."

"I should devour you for your affront!"

"I don't think you could digest a single bone as you are right now," said Balthazar. "Which brings me to the question of… how the hell is she supposed to be a 'boss' at the end of this floor?! What is she going to do if an adventurer gets this far? Make them keel over from laughter when she starts squeaking at them?"

"Mannerless louts!" squawked the angered mound of grime. "You realize I'm standing right here, do you not?!"

"Just barely."

"I mean," Tom started, "she can grow. If we feed her."

"Feed her what?!" exclaimed the concerned crab. "I'm not going to dump Madeleine's delicious pastries into a slime!"

"Fresh baked goods?!" Montgomery said. "Pwah! Disgusting! Not a chance! I have no wish to taste such things ever again!"

"What then?" Balthazar asked with a cocked eyestalk.

The pile of goo crawled a little closer and lowered her high-pitched voice to a whisper.

"Do you have any more of that…" Despite having no lips, the slime produced a wet noise of lips smacking that made Balthazar slightly uncomfortable. "Moldy bread?"

The crab looked down and grimaced.

"Uh… No."

"Don't worry, pal," Tom said. "We can do like we started doing at Tudor's after you left. Whenever we go through the packs of the adventurers who don't make it through our dungeon, we just take out and store whatever rations they brought in. Then we wait a few days for the bread and stuff to get stale, ferment, and get perfectly moldy, exactly to Montgomery's taste, before feeding it to her."

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Balthazar's expression of uncomfortable disgust grew even deeper. "Riiiight…"

"And hey," the skeleton continued, "maybe that baker you have working out there behind your bazaar could save some of her leftovers until they're spoiled so we could give them to Monty later."

The other merchant scoffed. "You think I ever leave leftovers?!"

Tom chuckled.

"Maybe you should start leaving some now, if you want to grow a big and scary giant slime to test your dungeon diver candidates."

Balthazar sighed.

"Great. Another mouth to feed."

***

"Again!" Beatrix commanded with her thundering voice that shook the very walls of the cave surrounding her.

Blue growled quietly.

Everything hurt. Her body, her pride, even breathing hurt like a crushing pressure pushing down on her.

Standing at the edge of the cliff overseeing the vast plains, the drake glanced back into the darkness of Beatrix's lair.

The giant red being watched her from inside, her glowing eyes piercing straight into the smaller creature's soul and adding even more pressure.

Blue did not understand. She wished she could, but to her, it was an unfathomable mystery, how such a huge dragon could withstand residing up there, so unfazed, unbothered, so… calm.

The air was thin that far up on the mountain. Each breath felt like almost drowning, the coldness of the air like sharp icicles cutting through her insides every time she inhaled. And it was never enough. The more she breathed in, the less air seemed to enter her lungs, which increased her urgency, only making her more lightheaded.

How did the red dragon do it? What was her secret? Magic? A hidden draconic skill she refused to share?

"I said again!" Beatrix roared with authority. "Resting is not an option for you up here. It will only make your state worse the longer you linger. Take flight, push through the adverse effects, endure and persevere. Only then will you grow stronger."

Blue bared her fangs slightly.

A part of her resented the elder dragon. The drake's pride felt wounded, humiliated from being made to look weak by Beatrix. But her very pride also knew that she was weak. Her body was smaller, frailer, her powers barely worthy of a draconic creature.

Blue wanted to become stronger.

For herself, her pride.

The azure drake glanced down at the tiny body of water at the foot of the mountain.

And for her family down below.

Someone needed to protect them. The small goblin. The smiling rocks. The nice baker. And even the crab.

That responsibility was rightfully hers. They were weak, and she must protect them from harm, as their guardian.

But to do that, she could not be weak herself. She needed to grow stronger.

Stronger than any bone monstrosities, evil mages, or scheming little men.

She needed to endure Beatrix's ordeals.

But the body felt weak. As did the spirit.

"Rise up, child," the red giant behind her said, her voice softer but still strong enough to make the drake's insides rumble. "You are not done yet."

Blue let out a weak growl, her head low as the strength to keep her neck up failed her too.

"Will you lie down and give up too when they need you most?" Beatrix said, her huge head emerging from the shadows and nodding toward the pond below.

The azure drake followed the crimson dragon's gaze and frowned with indignation.

"It will happen," the elder creature said. "And what excuse will you give yourself then? That you were tired? Perhaps that you were just a drake, too small and not as mighty as a real dragon?"

Blue raised her head with difficulty and looked at her mentor with defiance in her gaze as she growled.

"Good," said Beatrix. "Let not those old beliefs get in your way. Drake or dragon, you are a creature of draconic blood, never let anyone try to take that from you. Your soul is fire, and your pride steel. Forge yourself in your hardships, for the truly strong are those who claim their strength from the ashes of their weaknesses. Like him."

The red dragon nodded toward the small roofed shelter at the center of the pond below, and Blue frowned skeptically.

"That's right," the ancient creature said. "The crab. Your foster kin. The lowly creature you so often look down on, despite being the one who brought the warmth of life to you. I have seen in your eyes how you feel about my respect for him. You do not understand how or why a creature like me would respect a mere crustacean. Because you are young. Foolish. Inexperienced. And arrogant."

The drake turned away from the cliff to look straight at her mentor, the crease between her brow deepening as the slits of her eyes narrowed.

"Don't worry," Beatrix said. "Arrogance is part of what makes us proud draconic creatures. But you must learn to temper it with wisdom, and that takes time and experience. Your foster kin, Balthazar, is not worthy of my respect because he is mightier or more powerful than me. He deserves it exactly because he lacks those things, and yet still managed to achieve far more than destiny would ever grant him. I did not believe it myself when Madeleine told me all her tales about her crustacean friend down by a pond. But he is far more than meets the eye. I suspected it when he made it to my lair to rescue his friend. I was certain of it when he faced me as an equal without a shred of fear. Scoff if you will, young one, but you are his kin. Maybe not in blood, but certainly in spirit."

Blue stared up at the mighty red dragon before her. Something stirred inside the young drake, despite her not understanding what it was.

She could sense wisdom from Beatrix. Truth. Insight. But also something else, deep down, where only two of the same kind could see. She felt… sorrow.

"Heed my words and make not the same mistakes of youth that I have," the elder dragon said.

The azure drake gazed up at her with curiosity. The dragon seemed almost tired now, her figure carrying a great weight upon her back. Beatrix looked as if in the span of just a few minutes, several years had worn down on her.

The red giant turned her head up to look at the sky outside before closing her eyes, letting the bitter-cold breeze brush against her scales. Blue noticed the light from the outside hitting the long scar that ran down her neck. It intrigued her. Draconic creatures like them should be able to heal such things in no time, yet hers did not seem to be going away.

"You must keep trying," Beatrix said after taking a deep breath and opening her eyes to look down at her apprentice. "You can fly, but you have not yet learned how to fully master the skies this high up. You can breathe fire, but you have not yet learned how to control your breathing properly."

The drake's frown returned to her expression.

"Try harder," the elder commanded. "You merely spit fire right now. When you are ready, you will be the fire. Go, take flight again. Tame your weaknesses. Endure. Until your body becomes worthy of your pride."

Feeling the challenge that burned inside her stomach, Blue screeched loudly and launched herself off the cliff with wings spread wide. The freezing wind bit like frost into her nostrils, but she pushed through it, determined.

"Yes, you can do it," Beatrix said in a pained whisper as she watched the drake soaring through the clouds. "You must. While there is still time."

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