“Salutations, Lirra,” I greeted her.“Greeting, Cure David,” she returned.“Please, just David,” I smiled.“I’ll leave you to it,” Abno... added as he withdrew with a cheery smile.“Please, sit, David,” Lirra indicated a chair.“Thank you,” I nodded. “They did explain what it is I have to do?”“Yes, very bluntly,” she replied with a wan smile.“It pays not to have a patient under any illusions,” I chuckled, making her smile grow a little wider.“Yes, though my Uncle was already aware of what it is a Cure. ”“Oh you are so wrong love. Everyone I spoke to when we got there wanted to know who the beautiful girl in the blue dress was. I should have told them then that you were my girlfriend but I didn’t have the nerve until Mark pissed me off, I’m sorry love, I promise I’ll never deny what we’ve got again, to anyone.”I stepped towards her and pulled her close to me, as I hugged her I untied the single strap that kept her dress up. Wishes felt me untying her and went to do the same to my dress.“Uh uh,. He had a choice to make: either enter the dragon’s lair right now, while hungry and tired from the last Challenge, or retreat and hope to make an entrance later.He hated to turn away, but the growling from his stomach was insistent. That organ probably would’ve made the decision for him, but the dragon chose that moment to glance his way. Even without the Sight, he knew he was spotted. If this one was anything like her sister up North, she’d keep sending ever more dangerous minions after him. And if he didn't finish hiswork soon, a bullet in the brain might seem like a blessing.The alienplague. Planet by planet, star by star, they had swarmedthrough the heavens. Nothing stopped them. Shit, nothing they tried hadeven slowed them down. These outer colonies were their final stand. Theweapon system he was working on was really their last chance. Two yearsago, when he first proposed it, no one took him seriously. But as thealienplague spread, their options dwindled. They took him serious.