Robbi and Gladis said their good-byes immediately after the work on the bridge was done. Gladiverserac for her part had already secured potables and foodstuffs for their journey to World's End.

She proudly donned her gift from Arisha, taking time to admire the beautiful collar in front of a mirror in the castle. Robbi had a quick meeting with Chumley to coordinate their efforts. At first she was inclined to let him take the flasks of essence which Arisha had presented her as a gift to the Asherouboros, but Chumley had legitimate concerns. He pointed out that though the creature's cravings had become minimized since it consumed Khalis, they were still present and having two flasks of the pure stuff nearby might cause the beast to become agitated, not a scenario he was anxious to deal with, especially with the Asherouboros in the narrow confines of the tank.

Chumley asked Robbi to transport the essence to World's End, where it could be given to the creature upon it's release into the sea. Robbi agreed. She joined Gladiverserac at the entrance to the castle and after securing the albatross' saddle and tying the flasks to it, climbed aboard her friend and soon both were airborne, riding the winds north toward the far ocean.

Chumley entered his quarters quietly, not sure if Belinda was awake. He would be departing in the morning and felt guilty in leaving his beloved wife yet again. Since the disturbing events of the past few months had played themselves out, he had spent very little time with her. She deserved more attention, he knew, but fate had again decreed that he leave. He smiled to himself sadly. She never complained or questioned his behavior, never criticized him for his motives, simply supported and loved him. She deserved better, he chided himself.

He was pleased to find Belinda awake. She walked over and kissed him, then congratulated him for the successful extraction of the Asherouboros. They sat at a small table in the sitting room and Chumley brewed them some tea. He poured Belinda a cup and re-seated himself.

He addressed her gently.
"Ah feel awful leavin' yah again like this. It seems like we 'ardly get any time together, don't it? All mah fault, ah'm afraid to say."

"Belinda placed her paw on Chumley's and looked him deeply in the eyes.
"Chumley Bilgespike, you have nothing to apologize for! One of the reasons I love you is because you are the first to help when you're needed. What kind of a wife would I be if I complained that you were too busy saving the world to hold my hand? Of course I worry about you when you are gone, but it eases my mind knowing you're there, knowing that you'll do whatever it takes to preserve our future. Go and do what you need to, keep us and your friends safe. We need a world that is a safe place to live our lives and raise our children, so stop feeling guilty!"

Chumley kissed Belinda and laughed.
"Ah don't deserve yah, luv. Ah agree with yah, this nasty place the Brotherhood has planned won't be fit for decent beasts and when you and ah decide to 'ave kids, it ain't the world ah would choose for them." He chuckled, "Can you imagine me a father? Now that's a scary thought."

Belinda smiled.
"You have your faults, Dema reminds me of them all the time, but we both think you'll make a great papa."

"Ah 'ope so. Ah promise that when the time comes, ah'll do mah very best."

Belinda averted her gaze and spoke quietly.
"That time may come a little earlier than you expected." Belinda raised her head and again looked deeply into her beloved's eyes.

The meaning of what Belinda had said did not immediately register with Chumley. He stared blankly for a moment and then it dawned on him.
"Do you...are you? Am ah?" he stuttered.

Belinda laughed.
"Yes my love, you're going to be a father."

Chumley sat dumbfounded, unable to speak. His facial expression shifted from shock to disbelief to joy and finally to a mixture of concern and worry. He voiced his concerns.
"Ah know you'll be a great mother, but ah don't know how to be a dad, do ah? Didn't know me own pop, did ah? Spent mah life mostly on the wrong side of the law, didn't ah? Ah'm afraid ah'll be a right dreadful influence on the poor tyke."

Belinda slapped her husband lightly on the brow.
"Don't be silly, it's like Dema says 'it's not how you get there, it's where you end up'. Yes, you're a bit of a rogue and your past is a little checkered, but since I've known you, you've been a great beast, a warrior, a peacemaker, dependable, loving, honorable, loyal to your friends and kind to everyone. There's not a friend of yours who wouldn't risk their life for you, what better testament to your worth?

"You'll be an exceptional father!" Belinda wagged her paw under Chumley's nose, "And don't you dare sell yourself short again! It's a good thing you'll be leaving to save the world with Frega. He's a relatively new dad, he can give you some tips...now give me a kiss, daddy."

Chumley smiled and kissed his wife.
"Yeah, old Frega kin give me some tips, ah hear his sons are fine little beasts. Ah'm not leavin' till tomorrow, am ah? We still got the whole night ahead of us, let's talk about this whole parent thing, awright? Ah want to hear everything you been thinkin'."

By noon the next day, everything was ready to begin transporting the Asherouboros to World's End. The massive wagon was stationed outside Thoth's northern gate ready to traverse the Barbarian Causeway which connected Cragga Isle to the mainland of Morgaard.

A team of forty pullers comprised of moose and reindeer volunteers were harnessed to the front of the hundred-foot long cart while eighty Lokian wolves manned the forty push-bars located along the sides of the wagon. Additional creatures carrying foodstuffs and water stood ready behind the vehicle. The tank containing the Asherouboros stood centered on the cart. The beast itself was still unconscious, twitching occasionally and breathing in the murky water from the Circe Sea.

Along the edge of the tank on the base of the cart, ten teams slowly flexed bellows which were attached to hoses leading into the tank to ensure that the water remained oxygenated enough for the great creature to survive.

Frega Tarchak sat in a chair on the front of the wagon. Beside him, Chumley and Thoris seated themselves after a final inspection of their passenger.

"Everything theems in order on my thide," Thoris reported.

"Yah, mine to," Chumley added, "guess we need to put this carnival on the road, don't we?"

"Let us proceed then!" Frega agreed. He stood and bellowed to the harness crew, "Pullers! Begin!"

The moose and reindeer pulled forcefully on their harnesses. The cart began to creak forward.

"Pushers! Begin!" Frega commanded.

The wolves on the push-bars put their shoulders to the bars and pushed. In very little time the cart was moving up the causeway at a very respectable speed. Chumley leaned back in his chair and smiled.

"So far, so good. Ah think it will be a pleasant trip, at least till old Ashy decides to wake up."

"Do you think he will struggle?" Frega asked.

"Ah got no idea, do ah? If it were me, ah'd sure enough struggle, wouldn't ah. Wakin' up to fand mahself cooped up in a box bouncin' down the road and all, it would be right disturbin'"

"Do you think the tank will hold?...How long is it going to be asleep?" Frega inquired.

"The whole bloody trip, ah hope, but Dema said...probably only a few days more. As for the tank, 'Erman is a fine craft-beast and ah trust 'is work. These next coupla days'll be the easy part of our journey, we maght as well enjoy them. After that it get's tricky, don't it?"

"Thath an underthtatment. Not only do we have to worry about your pet thmashing the tank, but then we have to get him to the ocean and hope he can live in clean water. If he liveth, we have to find thome way to get him to Xenoth, then we have to pray that he wantht to fight the Ürgod, then we have to pray he defeats thith creature we have never theen that may be ten...twenty or more timeth hith thize. Did I remember every thing?"

"You're just a little ray of sunshine, ain't ya Sebastian? You did forget one thing...We got to get some of the Ürgod's flesh for Dema so she can try and save Arisha...Yeah...Yeah, that about covers it...piece o' cake."
Chumley sniggered.

"You did forget one small detail, my friend," Frega offered.

"And what maght that be, my lupine friend?" the rat asked.

"Not much, just that the entire Scarlet Brotherhood as well as the Deev will probably try to stop us."

"Yeah, there is that...well, wouldn't want it to be too easy, would we? Don't wanna get bored or anything," Chumley said with a straight face. All three friends were silent for a second and then burst out in laughter.

Frega clapped Chumley heartily on the back.
"This should prepare you well for fatherhood, my friend."

"About that...Belinda says ah should get some pointers off of you. She thinks your doin' a fine job with yer sons Baldrun and Hagris...so, got any tips?"

Frega laughed.
"Yes, do whatever your wife tells you. That seems to work well with Almunda, she appears pleased with my fathering skills." He could see the concern on his friend's face, "Don't worry, you'll do fine. You are an honorable and loving beast, one couldn't ask for more in a father."

Chumley was silent for a while, then smiled broadly and struck what he assumed to be a heroic pose.
"You think mah offspring will favor me or Belinda."

Thoris laughed and let out an exaggerated shudder.
"If Targath ith kind, they will favor Belinda."

Chumley grinned.
"You ain't no beauty yourself, are yah, mah moley lookin' weasel friend," he glared over at Frega who was about to give his own opinion, "ah wouldn't be to quick to agree with Sebby here. Ah can't trust the taste of a scary-lookin beast what sharpens 'is teeth with a file and colors 'em black and ah won't even say nuthin' about them tattoos or the way yah braids yer mane."

Frega chuckled.
"Yes...we are all horrors to behold, so let us sit back and enjoy our journey."

"That thounds great," Thoris smiled.

"Indeed it does," Chumley agreed.

Frega got up and looked to the back of the cart. He called out.
"Commander, come here!"

Pretor Barus made his way along the moving cart to where Tarchak was standing.

"What do you need, your highness?" he asked.

"Have you finished your marching song about your grand-uncle?"

"I have and your wolves have been practicing."

"Let's hear it then! Nice and loud!'

"Yes sir!" Pretor saluted and made his way to the wolves on both sides of the cart. Soon the air was filled with the voices of a four score Lokian warriors.

" Oh Memza, great Memza
please tell me a tale,
            Of battles and journeys
where heroes prevail,
            Of monsters and witches
and other travails,
   Oh Memza, great Memza
please tell me a tale.

        Sing songs of young lovers
who follow their hearts,
            Whose parents conspire
to keep them apart.
        Sing songs that are joyful
and those which are sad,
            Whose heroes find glory
or go stark raving mad.

        Tell stories of warriors
now fighting for fame,
            And villains so evil,
they butcher and maim,
        Of innocent creatures
confronting their fate,
            Who start humble creatures
and then become great.

         Oh Memza, great Memza
please tell me a tale,
            Of battles and journeys
where heroes prevail,
            Of monsters and witches
and other travails,
         Oh Memza, great Memza
please tell me a tale.

        Sing songs of the battles
where brave young wolves fell,
            Where the song of the fallen
was pealed on our bells,
        Where the foe was relentless
and our blood flowed like wine,
            Yet we vanquished our enemy
in the cold northern clime.

        Tell stories of poets, of monarchs,
and kings,
            Of farmers and teachers
who toil through the spring,
        Of creatures who crawl
and of those on the wing,
            Tell stories of life
in which the truth rings.

        Oh Memza, great Memza
please tell me a tale,
            Of battles and journeys
where heroes prevail,
            Of monsters and witches
and other travails,
         Oh Memza, great Memza
please tell me a tale..."

Thoris sat at the front of the cart looking back toward his two friends who sat side by side smiling while listening to the wolves singing. Behind them, the giant tank loomed and in it beyond the glass, the enormous head of the Asherouboros floated lazily, eyes closed.

Thoris laughed loudly.
"What is funny?" Frega asked.

Thoris gestured toward the rat and wolf.
"I thee before me the three kingth of the Lokianth, ith quite a picture."

"Ah am no king, am ah? Just the Governor Emeritus, retired ah am," Chumley said cheerfully.

"But you were," Thoris corrected, "you were proclaimed king when Khalith perished," he pointed over Chumley's shoulder at the Asherouboros, "and your pet wath king of the Lokianth by law ath thoon ath he ate Khalith," he pointed at Frega, "and Frega ith the prethent and hereditary king. Tho there you have it...the three kingth of the Lokianth!'

Frega laughed.
"But I am the best looking of the kings"

Chumley tapped his forehead while grinning at Frega.
"Yah, maybe, but ah'm the smartest!"

"And the Asherouboros?" asked Frega.

Thoris smiled slyly.
"He'th definitely the thanest."