Now, in all fairness to her, Cheerilee wasn't wrong to believe that the library should be maintained for pursuits that one considered "proper". It was, after all, a place of learning, of quiet contemplation, or simply a place one went when they felt the need to expand their minds with the wisdom of the ages. What it wasn’t usually thought of, however, was a place for students to come along, dressed in bizarre costumes, and sit around a table while throwing dice. But, to Cheerilee's slight irritation, that was exactly what was going on right now. However, to her credit, she never said a word on the matter, instead sticking to her work of making sure that other books, which had simply been laid about willy-nilly, were put back where they needed to be. In some instances, she even took some small measure of amusement in seeing what the youths were doing, but, as ever, she simply watched from afar. As for the four youngsters who had taken to that aforementioned game, there was, at the very least, some genuine enthusiasm on display, particularly from the one lone girl in the group.

"Behold, mere mortals! For the Great and Powerful Trixie the Wizard will amaze and astound you with feats of magic the likes of which your feeble minds could never even dream of!"

Shaking the dice in her hands, she rolled the thing with great vigour, and all eyes looked down to see it fall. But, sadly, when it finally stopped, the number that came up gave Trixie some measure of dejection, as well as amusement for the two boys beside her.

"Hehe, just a two!" Snips remarked.

Snails chuckled.

"That means your big fireball is only a little spark!"

The two boys laughed, but Trixie, far from being annoyed at this, simply smirked at them both.

"Do I need to remind you two that the reason I was trying to cast a fireball was because you were about to be eaten by a dragon and needed help?"

The laughter halted, and the two boys looked to one another.

"Oh...yeah...she was doing that, wasn't she?" Snails conceded.

Taking on a rather nervous look, Snails stuttered for a bit before turning to look at the final member of their group, Big Mac.

"Um...we can get out of this, right, Mac?"

The older boy took the dice himself, shaking it and giving it a roll. Again, all eyes looked to it, and when the numbers were revealed, Mac gave a nod.

"Eyup."

Trixie rolled her eyes.

"Yes, yes, good for you. The dragon slipped, giving you a chance to escape."

Snips and Snails, naturally, gave a sigh to that.

"That was a close one!" Snails remarked.

But Snips, by contrast, merely snickered.

"Hey, it's no biggie. I'd have just used my super-sneaky elven hiding powers to get away if things got too bad."

Snails turned to him.

"But...what would I have done?"

Snips considered that, eventually shrugging his shoulders.

"Dunno...maybe play a song to lull it to sleep?"

Snails, in an uncharacteristic move on his part, gave a frown to his friend.

"I said I'm a barbarian, not a bard!"

Snips blinked.

"Oh...right."

Trixie, after having listened to all of this, let out an irritated grunt.

"Ugh! Mac? Just roll it again!"

The farm-boy nodded, and did indeed roll the dice. The group looked down, with Trixie giving a short nod.

"Hmmm...looks like you both get away...but now the dragon turns his eyes to Big Mac instead!"

However, rather than looking like he was at all fearful or bothered by that apparent turn in fortunes, Big Mac merely chuckled, cracking his knuckles before holding up his character card, pointing to it with a smug-looking smirk upon his face. Trixie, seeing that, understood immediately, smirking right back.

"Oh, I get it. You berserkers have a natural defence against fire. So the dragon can't incinerate you like he would for these two," she concluded, pointing to Snips and Snails.

The latter two boys looked from Trixie, to Mac, and then back again.

"But...but...but the dragon could still eat him, right?" Snails asked.

Trixie, tapping the end of her chin, considered that.

"Hmmm...it could..."

Her snicker returned.

"That is...assuming Mac rolls a six or lower."

Big Mac retained his look of confidence, and once more took hold of the dice. All eyes were upon him, waiting with fear and anticipation to see if his roll would be true, or if it would condemn him to death by dragon-digestion. The throw was made, the dice bounced all along the table, it ground to a halt, and then, with baited breath, the group looked on to see what was in store for Big Mac. Trixie, seeing what now lay there before her eyes, gave an approving nod.

"Huh...twelve."

Snips' head snapped in Big Mac's direction, his face one of utter awe.

"That...that means you use your great berserker strength to punch that dragon right in its face! And you knock it out too!"

Leaning back into his chair, Big Mac gave a satisfied nod to that.

"Eyup."

Trixie gave a dry laugh.

"Yes, yes, well done, Mac. But, as you probably know, we came to this dragon's cave for a reason, remember?"

The boys all looked to one another, then back to her, giving nervous laughs, prompting a sigh on her part.

"Right...of course you forgot."

Rubbing her temples slightly, she then gestured to the still-idle dice.

"Well then...let's see what great treasure we've unearthed after all this."

This time, it was Snails' turn to take the dice, and he gave an enthusiastic roll. When it was done, many shoulders slumped.

"...Four," Trixie remarked.

"Eyup," Big Mac concurred, sounding let-down.

"Well...it might still be good, right?" Snips asked.

Taking the instruction book, Snails read through it for a few moments, then looked to his friend and shook his head.

"Actually...if we roll a four, that means the treasure is only a hundred gold pieces."

Leaning back slightly, Trixie grunted.

"Ugh! That barely covers the cost it took for all those healing potions we used a while back!"

Snips sighed.

"So...what now?"

Snails, perking up slightly, looked to all of his colleagues before weighing in.

"You know...we still have that treasure map from before, right? It talked about a whole bunch of treasure chests in that big old castle, remember?"

Looking to him, Trixie raised an eyebrow.

"The castle? Surrounded by a moat of lava? Guarded by the legions of the un-dead?"

Snails, in that oblivious way of his, nodded.

"Yep, that one! Do we go?"

The group all looked to one another, and Trixie, after having weighed her options, merely let out a long sigh.

"Well...I suppose it does give me a chance to try out my fireball spell again."

Resuming her earlier smile, she gave a hearty nod to her younger companion.

"Very well, little barbarian, lead the way!"

Snails, now excited at this, grinned widely.

"Then onwards, my friends! To the castle of unyielding doom!"

The others, looking to him, blinked slightly, with Trixie ultimately voicing their shared sentiment.

"Okay, for the record...I did not know it was called that before I agreed to go there."

Then, to their shared surprise, somebody nearby cleared their throat, gaining their attention. They turned, seeing Cheerilee looking to them all, and after a few moments of hesitation on her part, she spoke up with a nervous smile.

"Um, I'm sorry to interrupt, but...could I play too?"