Allistor, as confused as the rest, answered.  “That’s Fuzzy.  I introduced you to him-”

She cut him off with the raised ‘talk-to-the-hand’ gesture.  “Okay fine, not who…but what is Fuzzy?”  She glared at him as if he were the slow kid in class and she was trying to drill simple addition into his brain.

“He’s my… oh, shit!” Allistor was suddenly excited.  “He’s my bonded pet!”

As soon as he said those words, the gamers in the group went crazy.  Airmen bent to hug the eggs carefully, whispering sweet nothings to them.  Bjurstrom started giggling again.  “We’re all gonna have dragon pets!”

Allistor cautioned them.  “Not so fast, guys.  We don’t know if taming dragons is possible.  But damn, if it is, that would be awesome!” he couldn’t help himself.   He looked around.  There were at least twenty of the eggs that he could see.

Andrea, with visions of her very own dragonling, said, “I want a guard down here watching over these 24/7.  Do we need to do something?  Keep them warm or something?”

“Probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to get a couple space heaters down here.  For now, maybe take some broken crate bits and start a fire somewhere near the middle?” Helen added.  Her park ranger status gave her words some added weight.   The airmen immediately left off their coddling of the eggs and began to gather wood.    When it was piled in the rough center of the clusters, he used Flame Shot to light the fire.

“When we get upstairs, I’ll add a market kiosk.  Then we can do some shopping.  I’ll get rings for everyone, and see if I can find a scroll or book about the Taming skill.”  Allistor promised.   Fuzzy continued to lick at his favorite egg.

*****

With the threat of monsters eliminated, they were able to use the freight elevator to haul their loot crates back up to the main level.  Helen had insisted they bring the egg that Fuzzy had adopted up with them, packed in a crate with spare clothes wrapped around it.  She wanted to study it further.  Allistor thought it might be a good idea to have Amanda examine it with her special skill as well.

There was indeed a party waiting for them in the mess hall.  Thorne had outdone himself with steaks and potatoes, and German chocolate cake for dessert that even had the coconut mixed into the frosting.   Fuzzy was given a plate along with everyone else, and the whole group laughed as he daintily licked all the frosting off the cake before biting into it.

True to his word, Allistor modified the Stronghold after the meal was complete.  He added the walls outside, the proximity sensors, and the market kiosk.  He didn’t need to add electricity or water options, because the complex was already built with geothermal power and had the underground springs feeding it water.   He also added the greenhouse outside, believing that every stronghold should be able to raise its own food in the event of a siege.