Yue

 11th January

23:41 GMT +1

Finally found it! Disguised as a simple ring of mushrooms near a menhir in the mountains near Altdorf, my rune stone lights up whenever I bring it near.

Zatanna nods, smiling. "It's been used recently. So either this is where he came through, or other gnomes have been using it."

Amon frowns. "Would it not make more sense to have their gate inside their warren?"

Zatanna shakes her head. "This design only works at specific sites of geomantic significance. They couldn't put it inside the warren."

"I need to wheelbarrow someone about that global thaumic mapping idea. How strong is this site?"

Pink mist wafts around her fingertips. "It's much weaker than the Mountain. I doubt this ring goes outside Europe." I nod. "What do you mean by 'wheelbarrow'?"

"Pick it up and push it to where I want it to go, because no one else will."

"We could do that."

"Hm?"

"Together."

I nod. "True. The team is supposed to be about training people to use their powers, and we've got enough magic users and fliers that we could probably make-" She's looking at me in the way people do when I've missed the point. "-a decent… What?"

"I meant, you and me. I've got the time now, I could use more practice flying at high altitude, and I've been studying the spells involved."

"Ah, yeah, sure. I'm planning on visiting Thanagar for a few days next week, but unless Hinon needs me for something I don't have any other plans."

She beams at me. "Great!"

Amon looks up into the sky. "How long until the bio-ship arrives?"

Ring? "About half an hour."

With evening having arrived in the US, Kaldur thought that it was only fair to ask whether the rest of the team wanted to take part. I barely got to the end of 'dragon' before virtually everyone volunteered. Except M'gann, obviously, because being around a huge number of invisible, fire-breathing mutant gnomes is a bit much to ask of a pyrophobic martian. She's going to be staying in the Mountain while Beryl pilots the Bio-Ship.

"Do we know how big this dragon is?"

"No. Fae dragons are supposed to keep growing indefinitely, but they can't exist on Earth at that sort of size. They can't get enough magic to make a body that big function. The largest dragon we've got… Semi-reliable records on was about two hundred metres long, nose to tail tip. But when I say 'semi', I mean a woodcut illustration made based on a description in another book I haven't been able to find."

"So this dragon could be bigger?"

"Based on those few commonalities in various European accounts from the period when dragons flew around here, my ring's calculations on bone and muscle stress and quantities of magic Atlantean biomancers use when creating novel life forms, I don't think it could be longer than a kilometre."

"That's pretty big."

"That's the absolute largest I think it's worth preparing for. I suspect that it's actually smaller."

"And is it thin or fat? The Chinese usually show dragons as being very thin, but most Europeans show them as being like giant winged iguanas."

"Assuming that European sources have accounts from people who actually encountered dragons in their history somewhere, I suspect that those are more relevant. But I don't actually know. Is the Wisdom of Zehuti telling you anything?"

"At the moment it is just telling me how much a creature like that would need to eat each day. That is a lot of cows. And it would produce a large volume of dragon shit. Unless.. the magic.. deals with that?"

"Hopefully the magic deals with that while the dragon is hibernating, otherwise this is going to be the smelliest mission we're ever been on."

Amon smiles, nodding. I wouldn't smile if I'd just been told that and I was the one with enhanced smell.

"Paul…" I turn my attention to Zatanna. "You haven't mentioned.. Jade lately..?"

"She's joining the Darkstars. They're the reconnaissance and sabotage arm of the Maltusian military…" I shrug. "She's on Maltus for training, then she'll probably be deployed to the Reach side of the Periphery."

"So… Have you..? Broken up..?"

"Oh!" I shake my head. "No, no. We're just.. having a long distance relationship for a while."

"How long is a while?"

"That depends on how the war goes. If Dox wants me around more and we get assigned to the same front, the distance won't be all that great. And… Didn't your dad go on tours while he was dating your mother?"

"I..? Think..?"

"It's not.. ideal. Obviously I miss her-" Zatanna blinks, shuddering slightly. "-being around… Are you alright?"

"Oh. Yes, it's just… Adrenaline, you know?"

Yes. Of course.

Shit. Well, clearly both plan Directly State That You're Not Interested and plan Ignore It Until It Goes Away have failed me. And as much as I'd like to blame the Star Sapphire… It's not as if she wasn't highly attached to me before she started using it full time. After this mission's over I'm going to have to try Honestly Talking About Our Feelings. Maybe ask Diana first? She's got tonnes of experience of getting rid of unwanted suitors.

"Aqualad to Orange Lantern."

"Go ahead."

"Since we are confident that there are no arcane protections on the outer part of the warren, I think that it is best for us to carry out reconnaissance on the outer part of the structure before the rest of the team arrive."

I nod. "Rightyho." I raise my eyebrows at Zatanna, and she raises her staff. When the mists fade we're standing next to Kaldur and a clearly agitated Canis. Brut actually bares his teeth at us for a moment before he gets our scent. Leonid is somewhere above us, watching out for low-flying dragons and ready to intercept them. "Who gets to go first?"

"I should." Canis's mental stress clearly hasn't helped him comprehend the human custom of personal space as he leans down from his saddle and stares into Kaldur's face. "I am the most physically resilient, Mother Box will allow me to detect the gnomes and I will recognise any truly valuable pieces of art before they can be harmed."

"It may come to that, but we will begin by performing reconnaissance, not by attacking. Zatanna, are you able to conceal our approach?"

She nods. "I can prevent them seeing, hearing or smelling us. But if any of them are sensitive to magic, I can't stop them noticing what I'm doing at the same time."

He nods. "Very well. You and Orange Lantern will take the lead. Canis, Osiris, you will follow. Be ready to support them if Zatanna's spell is disrupted."

Canis tenses, but controls himself and nods in reluctant agreement.

Kaldur notices. "In the event that we are forced to fight our way in or out, you will be our vanguard."

Canis nods, slightly more happy, as Zatanna raises her staff once more.