A month has passed since the meteor strike, and life has returned to normal.

Vinnie, Wildflower & Igor

After they restored him to life, Vinnie and Wildflower got on well with the marching-band member, Igor. The three have become fast friends, and are often found relaxing at Igor’s house of an afternoon. Igor may be a little greyer-faced than before, and a little stranger, but his hospitality cannot be faulted.

This afternoon, though, their relaxation was interrupted.

“You have to come at once!” The giant’s “whisper” was far too loud. “It’s Meth’s experiment. It’s attacked him.”

Vinnie and Wildflower ran as fast as they could. Igor spread his wings and leapt into the sky, but it took him time to navigate the updraughts and pillars of Kathrakopolis. By the time he arrived, the engineer Meth was on the ground. A creäture made of sewn-together sharks stood over him, still punching.

Igor drew two knives, and began to cut. Moments behind him, Wildflower grabbed the creäture and began wrenching it limb from limb.

Vinnie took a moment longer to assess the situation. His friends were having a hard time injuring the bloated, flabby thing, and his usual powers might not work against something itself made with lightning.

The gout of flame he used instead made it pause. But even with that distraction, Wildflower had a hard time holding it back; and the destructive creäture seemed unusually interested in the Pillar of Harmony across the street.

Igor could see the star-iron in its neck was pulling it to the pillar somehow. But cutting out a piece didn’t seem to distract it — though the metal did look valuable.

“Don’t kill it!” Meth’s assistant failed at the creäture with a hooked pole. “We’re going to tame it, I’m sure. We have to finish the experiment.”

In moments, Wildflower had the creäture tied to the copper lighting-tower; but their chains weren’t perfect, and they couldn’t hold it forever. And the creäture’s creator showed no signs of waking up.

“I’ll handle this.” Igor sketched a circle on the ground, and the street beneath the creature dropped into a pit, then closed above it: a secure, stone cell.

The trio relaxed.

***

With the monster out of sight, the street began to fill up with people.

One of them approached Vinnie and Wildflower. “Bonjour! I am Laciée Alonnge, and my readers would like to know what happened here.” She glanced at Meth, still lying on the pavement. “For instance, what happened to this man?”

She didn’t speak Koine [Common] that well, but Vinnie eventually managed to explain: the mad scientist had been mugged by a lightning-using gang of hoodlums.

After the reporter was gone, Vinnie turned to the scientist’s assistant. “It’s good to have things under control here, but we don’t work for free. Could you be seein’ your way towards some consideration for our services?”

“Um… I…”

Vinnie glowered. The giant looked up, over the hero called Paladin’s head. Several people there had pitchforks.

“Fine.” He handed over a small bag of gold. Igor made a similar request, and received a second bag.

Wildflower would have refused, if the giant had asked.

***

Later, they remembered their invitations. One had been stuck to Vinnie’s shoe, and a soldier had delivered another to Wildflower, the wrestling champion:

You and your guest are invited to a Symposium at the house of Thane the Elder, to be held tonight. We shall expect you at one hour before sunset.

Lyssa Thane has also sent Jethan and Chapton the same invitation.