CHAPTER 52: A CRUMPLE OF COURAGE

The Glimmerfen permit office courtyard was a bureaucratic circus, a chaotic spectacle of flaming hoops, swinging axes, and a pit of quills that looked ready to stab my dignity and hang it out to dry. The locals munched dragon-scale popcorn, their cheers echoing like this was their daily dose of entertainment, as if watching a muddy fool like me fail was better than any bard’s tale. I stood at the start of the Trial of Worthiness, my coat a muddy, quill-studded disaster, my Loafbearer powers long gone, but my determination burning like a cheap candle in a windstorm—flickering, but refusing to die. Lilith’s "give up" from the Wyrmdancer fight stung worse than a dragonet’s bite, but I was going to prove her wrong. I was Cecil Dreggs, not some quitter who’d lost to a goat in a staring contest and had to wear its straw hat for a week. My crew watched from the sidelines, their faith in me lower than a tavern’s last-call ale. Lilith’s scythe gleamed with doubt sharper than its blade, Vorren’s knife-sharpening sounded like a silent funeral for my ego, Jex clutched his apples like they were the only thing keeping him sane, Yvra’s glare screamed she was ready to divorce this entire adventure, and Mister Fog sipped tea that smelled like bureaucratic despair and old socks. Sir Thrain and Sir Gorrim tried to stand tall, but Thrain’s backward helmet wobbled like a drunk weathervane, and Gorrim’s mustache, still tangled with Wyrmdancer ribbon, flopped like a festive disgrace.

Percival the Picky clapped, his dragon-embroidered robe fluttering like he was auditioning for a wizard fashion show. "Begin the trial, you muddy miscreant! Prove your worth, or be banished from Glimmerfen forever!" he declared, waving his quill like a scepter of doom.

I raised a fist, trying to channel a hero’s swagger despite looking like a swamp monster. "Let’s do this! That dragon’s going down, and I’ll be signing autographs by supper!" I charged the first hoop again, dodging the flames by sheer dumb luck, only to trip over a loose cobblestone and roll into the quill pit with a SQUELCH that echoed like a wet fart. The quills poked my back, not deadly but humiliating, turning me into a human pincushion. The crowd roared with laughter, one guy spilling his popcorn in hysterics.

"Cecil!" Yvra shouted, rubbing her temples like I was her personal migraine. "You’re embarrassing me in front of these popcorn-chomping peasants!"

I climbed out, quills stuck to my coat like a porcupine’s worst day at a barber shop. "Just a setback!" I yelled, shaking off quills like a soggy dog. "Watch me conquer!" I charged the next obstacle—a swinging axe—ducking with all the grace of a drunk ox, only to trip on my own feet and land in a pile of permit papers that scattered with a FLUTTER like a flock of angry pigeons. The clerks gasped, clutching their scrolls like I’d burned their sacred texts. One wailed, "My filing system!"

Vorren snorted, his knife scritch-scratching like it was laughing at me. "You’re proving Lilith right, mate. You’re a walking disaster with a side of mud."

Jex whimpered, hugging his apples tighter. "Can we bribe the clerks? I’ve got an apple! Maybe they like fruit? Please don’t make me fight quills!"

Mister Fog floated closer, his tea steaming like it was plotting revenge. "Focus, Cecil. Worthiness is not about strength but persistence. Or at least not falling into every pit."

I stood, quills and papers falling off me like a shedding bureaucracy monster. "Persistence? I’ve got that in spades! I’m a grit machine!" I tackled the next obstacle—a rope climb over a mud pit. I grabbed the rope, slipped immediately, and splashed into the mud with a SPLORP that sprayed the crowd. They howled with laughter, one kid shouting, "He’s muddier than my pig!" Thrain, ever the hero, shouted, "For valor and the crown!" and ran to help, only to slip and join me in the pit with a SPLASH that sent mud flying. Gorrim tried to pull us out, tripped over his own ribbon-tangled mustache, and fell in too, his mustache sinking like a soggy, sparkly flag. "The mud conspires!" he wailed, flailing like a drowning walrus.

Lilith crossed her arms, her scythe glinting ominously. "This is pathetic, even for you, Cecil."

I crawled out, muddy but unbowed, spitting out a quill. "I’m not giving up! I’ll pass this trial, slay that dragon, and—" A clerk tossed a form at me, hitting my face with a SLAP that stung worse than Lilith’s hand. It was Form 89-Z, "Acknowledgment of Incompetence." I tore it up, shouting, "I’m competent, you paper-pushing lizard lover!" The crowd cheered, probably for the drama.

Percival smirked, adjusting his spectacles. "One last challenge: the Dragon’s Riddle. Answer correctly, or be banished to the land of paperwork shame!"

A clerk wheeled out a stone tablet carved with a riddle: "What breathes fire, hoards gold, and fears no blade?" I grinned, my brain finally firing on one muddy cylinder. "Easy. A dragon!" The tablet glowed, and the clerks gasped like I’d just invented fire. The crowd cheered, and I puffed out my chest, feeling like a hero for the first time all day, maybe even all week.

But then the ground shook like it was done with my nonsense. The tablet cracked with a SNAP, and a massive dragon head—stone, but still terrifying—rose from the courtyard, its eyes glowing red like two angry lanterns. Percival cackled like a villain in a bad play. "The riddle was a trap, you fool! Face the Guardian of Permits, or perish in bureaucratic doom!"

Lilith drew her scythe, her eyes narrowing. "This is why I hate paperwork. And clerks. And you, Cecil."

Vorren cracked his knuckles, the sound like breaking branches. "Finally, something to punch that isn’t a chicken."

Jex hid behind his apple, his voice a squeak. "We’re doomed! I should’ve stayed in the fruit business!"

Yvra sighed, drawing her dagger with a flourish. "Cecil, stay out of the way, or I’ll pin you to the next form."

I ignored her, grabbing a stick from the mud like it was Excalibur’s sad cousin. "I’m not useless! I’ll fight this rock lizard!" The stone dragon roared, spraying gravel like a gravelly sneeze. I swung my stick, hitting its snout with a PING that did nothing but make my hand sting. Lilith sliced its side, chipping stone with a CRACK. Vorren tackled its leg, cracking it with a THUD that echoed like a dropped anvil. Yvra’s daggers flew, hitting its glowing eyes with PINGS that dimmed them. Jex threw his apple, which bounced off harmlessly with a PLOP, and he wailed, "I’m out of ammo!" Thrain swung his lance, missed the dragon, and knocked over a clerk’s desk with a CRASH that sent quills flying. Gorrim, still muddy, shouted about "honor’s triumph" and tripped into the quill pit again with a SQUELCH, yelling, "The quills mock my valor!"

I swung my stick again, shouting, "Take that, you bureaucratic boulder!" It snapped against the dragon’s scales with a CRACK, leaving me stickless and looking like an idiot. I was useless, a flailing fool in a hero’s coat, tripping over my own hype. The crew fought like legends, chipping away at the statue until it collapsed in a pile of rubble with a BOOM that shook the courtyard. The clerks fled, screaming about "ruined forms," and Percival dropped his quill, surrendering with a whimper. "You win! Take your permit!"

I stood, panting, stickless, muddy, and covered in gravel dust. The crew glared, their faces a mix of exhaustion and disgust. Lilith sheathed her scythe, wiping stone dust off her sleeve. "You did nothing, Cecil. Less than nothing. You’re a walking minus."

I grinned weakly, spitting out gravel. "I... distracted it? With my epic stick moves?"

Yvra shook her head, sheathing her dagger. "You’re hopeless. I’m writing to the palace to request a new hero."

Vorren snorted. "Stick to mud, mate. It’s your best skill."

But as we trudged toward the now-open gates, I spotted a fallen clerk’s quill—a fancy one, engraved with a tiny dragon that gleamed in the sunlight. I grabbed it, slipping it into my pocket with a sly grin. It wasn’t a victory, not even close, but it was something—a tiny spark of usefulness in a sea of failure. Maybe I wasn’t done yet. Maybe I could still prove them wrong, even if it meant facing a real dragon with nothing but a quill, a torn coat, and a stubborn refusal to quit.