Okay. &nbsp;This one's been a long time coming. &nbsp;Yeah, I know. &nbsp;You can say that pretty much about any of my stuff. &nbsp;But according to DA, the previous chapter of this series was posted six years ago, almost to the day. &nbsp;And I'm pretty sure I started this one shortly after posting that one.<br /><br />All the blame for the long wait goes to me and not my co-writer. &nbsp;DKFenger and I worked out the plot on it even before the last one was posted, again, almost six years ago. &nbsp;So, be sure to send all complaints for the long lead time my way.<br /><br />Another issue is that this one kept growing, with scenes not in the original plot forcing their way into it. &nbsp;Again, my fault. &nbsp;It just kept growing on me, and I found I couldn't part with any of the new scenes. &nbsp;Luckily, DK agreed. &nbsp;However, the additions led to the story going about 3KB over DA's file limit.<br /><br />So, long story short (pun intended), like an earlier chapter in this series, this one will need to split into two parts. &nbsp;Surprisingly, it just happened to have a nature break point almost exactly in the center. &nbsp;So, this is part one.<br /><br />And don't worry. &nbsp;I'll be posting part two immediately after this one.<br /><br />And for anyone looking for the entire series up to this point, go here and look for the series among my stories:&nbsp;<a class="external" href="https://www.deviantart.com/users/outgoing?https://www.magicbookshelf.net/">www.magicbookshelf.net/</a>