Myran has run off and the handmaiden has been enslaved for 30 days. Olekto is a slug, with Gunther tap dancing on him. They all walk back further into the palace.
LIa notices behind them that the handmaiden has reached for her sword and she is running towards Lia to attack. Lia casts fear and the handmaiden takes psychic damage for disobeying Thoradin.
Miss Moss walks up to her with her giant slaying sword and scratches her achilles. Thoradin fires a bolt at the handmaiden and a bright flash of light hits her. Gunther catches a glimpse of deep blue and they are reminded of the gargoyles that blew up in the desert. This is dragon magic.
They move back through the palace back to the chamber towards the throne room. The two Hill Giants are standing guard before the huge doors. Tug and Cog. They tell them to stop. Miss Moss tries to reason with them. They let them pass.
Cerisa sits in the middle on a great throne with dragon skulls. Uther sits on the left and Imera sits on her right with a handmaiden. There are more stone giants around. Miss Moss asks to speak to Cerisa alone. There is a stir, surely anything they can say can be said in front of the advisers.
Thoradin begins to explain what has happened, about the slug and the exploding handmaiden. Cerisa isn’t sure what to think but Imera and Uther protest. Imera suddenly gets up and walks across to the fountain and disappears.
The fountain is a tunnel.
Nimh grabs hold of the sceptre in Cerisa’s hand and begins to run towards the fountain. The handmaiden gets in the way as the people start to follow. She dives into the fountain.
Uther stands and watches. Cerisa is deathly still, paralysed and frozen in time.
Uther rushes at the handmaiden and rushes over. He brings the sword down and shatters the gargoyle into a million pieces. He calls out, “Follow me” and runs out. They come to a room with a Killer Whale in a pool.
They see Imera standing with Nimh in her arms and a knife on her throat and she is holding the sceptre in her hand. She slices Nimh’s throat and Nimh falls dead on the ground. Imera says “You pathetic creatures, you’ve gone and ruined all of my plans”.
She begins speaking in Draconic and curses small folk. She flicks into the form of the ancient Blue Dragon. She disappears completely with the sceptre.
There is a stillness. Uther cries out “We’ve failed.”
A little later, Uther is in charge and realises that they were right. Nimh is dead and Myran ran off towards her quarters in the palaces. They share everything they know. Uther explains that the sceptre grants power to the ruler. This is the most powerful weapon in the land and they’ve heard about it before.
A storm giant asks if they can reanimate the Queen, but she’s been dead for months and lies in a mausoleum.
Thoradin casts a spell and Nimh is brought back to life and immediately incarcerated.
Uther comes over and explains that there was something Cerisa was going to share. He goes into a little chest and says “When the queen was murdered and her body washed up on the shores of the island, there was a clue left. We hope this will lead us to the murderers.”
He pulls out a tiny object and passes it across. It is a little wooden coin with a goose on it. It is a chip from the Grand Dame casino. Lord Dryland’s crest.
Uther sees the recognition on their faces and asks if they can help. Before they do, Uther confirms there will be no vote against the small folk and they take a long rest.
The next morning
They confirm that they have the conch and Uther grants them teleport to Yartar.