Bam felt consciousness slowly take hold. It began to remember who it was, where it was, and who it was that was winding him up.

Luz withdrew the clockwork key from Bam’s back and the small bombling straightened up.

“There ya go, buddy,” said Luz with a toothy grin, patting Bam on the head.

Bam shook its bulbous head, rattled its two legs, and stood up warily.

Luz took off his goggles, pensive. “Well, any better?”

Bam lifted its right leg, twisting it carefully, and set it back down with an enthused nod.

Luz laughed. “Haha! What’d I tell you, kid? Just some bolts tied a little tight. But we’re back on our A-game now!” He tussled the wick at the crown of Bam’s head affectionately.

Bam walked to the edge of the work bench, checked the distance to the floor, and hopped down. It wondered what they were going to do that day, whether they’d be staying in or returning to the wilds of the Netherstorm once again. It hoped that it would not be left behind in the inn of Area 52, which it imagined to be musty but had no way to get a feel for it.

But since Bam couldn’t speak, it simply blinked its topaz eyes and looked expectantly up at Luz.

Luz unbuttoned his heavy apron and hung it on the wall of his cluttered room. “Don’t worry, Bam, you’ll be coming with me today. What kind of jackass would I be if I fixed your leg just to coop you up in here all day?”

Bam relaxed, relieved.

Luz slipped into a loose wool shirt and began fitting the plates of his suit of armour onto himself. After he had successfully buckled his cuirass, he nodded to Bam. “Pass me my gorget, will ya?”

Bam turned, looking about the room until its eyes fell on the piece of armour in the corner behind the door. He walked over, but having no hands, had to get behind it and push it over to Luz.

“Thanks,” said Luz absently, fastening his clasp tight with a wrench. Particularly in the Netherstorm, armour tailored to goblin specifications wasn’t hard to come by, but since it was largely made by other goblins, it was not cheap. The cycle of costs and gains was ongoing. To support his engineering, Luz needed money for supplies. To get money, he mostly turned in badges of rank within the Burning Legion for bounty from the Aldor. To get the badges, he had to fight demons. To survive fights with demons, he needed to spend money on armour.

The whole affair, sufficed to say, was slow going.

But Bam couldn’t argue with the results. Luz had learned more from his scant months abroad than he had from years of study in Gadgetzan. Though it begrudged Luz to admit it, he had even learned a thing or two from gnomish inventors. The explosives he could make now made Gadgetzan’s bombs look like popping corn kernels. And of course, there was Dorothy.

Bam had had the pleasure of watching Luz advance, and had been with him all the way. It had been caught in more than one of Luz’s violent explosive experiments, but then, so had Luz. And Luz had always put Bam back together. Bam hadn’t ever gotten to the point where Luz would give up on it. And neither would Bam give up on Luz.

So far as Bam was concerned, that’s what love was.

Luz piled his supplies into his backpack. His wrench, his smithing hammer, a hunk of Mag’har cheese wrapped in wax paper, a skin of draenic water, a flask of Don Carlos tequila, and a few pouches of blasting powder. Once the sack was fully laden, he slung it over his back, and opened the door. He walked out, waiting for Bam to scamper ahead of him, and closed and locked the door behind them both.

Bam clattered down the hallway out to the main lobby. At this hour, there weren’t many people up and about. The pristine Achorite Karja was eating a plate of banana pancakes in as elegant a fashion as one could eat anything. Having never tasted either bananas nor pancakes until earlier that week, she had not stopped raving about the two in combination since she had tried it. She was thoroughly enjoying them. Exarch Orelis stood behind her, glowering at three Scryer retainers who sat huddled together on the other side of the room, snickering to each other and flashing scornful green glances at the draenei.

Remi Dodoso leaned on the desk before her with her elbows, idly turning pages of a book.

“Morning, Remi!” Luz greeted.

She sighed, looking towards the open doorway. “Is it? Hard to tell when there’s no sky, to speak of.”

Luz chuckled. “Yeah I guess not.”

“Did you want some breakfast, then?” she asked, straightening up.

Luz shrugged. “Just the usual.”

Remi paused. “I have no idea who you are.”

“Luz?” he patted himself on the chest. “The engineer? Do you remember Bam?” he gestured to the bombling on the floor.

Remi craned to peer over the desk. Bam nodded its greeting. The innkeeper nodded knowingly. “Ah.”

They shared another pause.

“I still don’t remember what you ordered.”

“Tea,” Luz supplied irritably. “A cup of tea. Please.”

Remi swallowed. “The hot water’s all used up. I’ve got kettles on the stove but they’ll be a bit.”

Bam looked nervously at Luz. When he didn’t get his tea he acted like it was the Second Sundering.

The goblin sighed. “Nevermind. Have a good one.”

Remi returned to her book. “I’ll do my best.”

Bam followed Luz out the door and into the Netherstorm. He sighed, adjusting his backpack and grumbling to himself. “Damn elves. Gotta take showers every single day.”

Bam inched up to Luz and nestled his leg affectionately, in the hopes of comforting the goblin. Luz looked down with a smile and patted Bam on the head.

Mission accomplished.

“Well, so much for getting the day off to a good start,” said Luz with a shrug. “Ah well. I guess it can only go up from here, right?”

Bam rolled its eyes.

“I saw that,” Luz chided, gently punching Bam. He sighed. “Let’s get moving.” His eyes darted back and forth, surveying the town. Like the inn, the streets were nearly deserted. He gestured Bam forward and the bombling quietly circled back, leading Luz towards the area behind the inn.

“Luz! Hey Luz!” a voice called from behind them. Bam jumped a little. But when it turned it saw the goblin would-be astronaut, Papa Wheeler, with his arm around a goblin woman. Nothing to be worried about, Papa already knew about Dorothy.

Luz smiled. “Hey Papa,” he walked up to meet him. The two shook hands. “How’s it going?”

“Good, good. Slow, but good,” he replied with a nod. Then, he rushed to a new subject. “Luz, this is my wife, Mama Wheeler. Mama, this is Luz.”

The woman shook Luz’s hand as well. “Good to finally meet you, Papa told me all about your help with the Arklon situation. You’d certainly have a place in BOOM if ever you wanted to settle down a bit.”

Luz blushed a dark emerald. “Aw, come on, it was nothing,” he waved away her praise. In an effort to get the attention off of him, he gestured to the bombling at his side. “This is Bam.”

“Oh yeah,” Papa nodded. “I told you about Bam, remember?”

“Oh man, he’s awesome!” Mama seemed pleased. She crouched down so she was closer to its eye level. “Hello there!”

Bam responded with a modest curtsey.

“Oh he’s so adorable!” Mama exclaimed. She pointed to Luz and spoke to Bam. “He ever stops treatin’ you right you come right on over to us,” she assured him with a laugh.

Bam scampered over to Mama and leaned on her leg. The goblins laughed.

“Hey man, don’t tease,” said Luz with a smile as Bam returned to him.

“So what do you have planned today?” asked Papa. “We were going to do some fuel efficiency tests on the X52, we could sure use your help if you’re free.”

Luz bit his lip. “I’m tempted, but I’ve just gotta pay the bills.”

Papa raised his eyebrow. “Oh, you’re finally looking to settle your debt with McKinley?”

Luz started nervously. “I, uhh... I meant, like, the inn, and stuff.”

“Oh,” Papa nodded. “Yeah, sorry.”

“Plus, I’ve got some tests of my own to do on Dorothy,” Luz added.

“Don’t get too high with her,” Papa warned. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do and I don’t want you falling too far out of the sky when she conks out on ya.”

“She won’t conk out on anyone,” Luz assured him with a smile. “But anyways, we should get a move on. Hope everything goes well today.”

“Thanks, it was nice meeting you,” said Mama with a wave. “You too, Bam!”

Bam bowed before turning and following Luz.

“See?” asked Luz. “Things are already lookin up.”

Assured that the coast was otherwise clear, Luz and Bam slipped into the alley behind the inn. Luz made a face as he tiptoed around the garbage thrown out from the inn, and swatted away the glowing nethermites that buzzed around the trash. Bam, meanwhile, was happy that it couldn’t smell anything.

In the middle of the alley was a something large and long hidden under a slop-covered blanket. Luz looked about summarily, and then swept the blanket off.

Beneath it was a large rocket, with a saddle and backrest fixed to the top. Just in front of the seat was a panel with a number of dials and gauges. The head of the rocket was a steel cone which matched the fins on the rear, and the body was once a bright ruby red which had faded into a smudged, dusty, dark red. Laid across the seat was Luz’s weapon of choice; a large, heavy gear.

The vehicle was an X-51 Nether-Rocket. A prototype devised by Papa Wheeler when testing the explosive chemical reaction which would be necessary for the production of the X-52, the large rocketship secretly being constructed by Papa Wheeler and his crack team of engineers and scientists, in the hopes of piloting it through the Twisting Nether. The Wheelers had joined BOOM, the Braintrust of Orbital Operations and Mechanics, in the hopes of exploring and exploiting the Twisting Nether.

Though the X-51 was too small to actually house occupants and thus protect them from the rigours of the Nether, Papa had realized that it certainly made transportation throughout Outland (and, feasibly, Azeroth) very convenient, indeed. Together with Luz, they had outfitted it to allow a goblin of modest weight to ride and control the rocket. Luz had decided that it was female, and had named her Dorothy.

He looked at her with pride every time he unveiled her. Though Bam had no real penchant for engineering, it still had assisted, such as it could, with Dorothy’s construction and maintenance, and it, too, felt some affinity for her.

With a wistful sigh, Luz slung his knapsack around the backrest, picked up the mace and performed a quick check of Dorothy’s systems. He stuck the mace in a loose holster bolted to the side, picked up Bam and set it on the rocket. Luz pulled out his clockwork key and gave Bam a quick wind before climbing on himself. He set Bam down in front of him and began to fiddle with the controls. After a loud bang, the rocket sputtered to life, awaiting ignition. Luz fastened himself in with a pair of straps that crisscrossed his chest and kept him tight to the backrest, then shackled his ankles into two large stirrups welded to the rocket body. Finally, he slipped a pair of goggles over his eyes.

“You ready, buddy?” asked Luz.

Bam nodded.

“Then here we go!” With the push of a button, an explosion blew them into the air. Bam was knocked back into Luz’s stomach, and the wind resistance kept it there. It managed to turn its head and saw the small outpost of Area 52 retreating behind them as they rose higher and higher into the sky.

As they leveled off, the G-forces subsided, and Dorothy evened out.

On the ground, the Netherstorm was a broken landscape, rife with sadistic demons, poorly-adjusted elves, and unforgiving wildlife. But up above, there was something strangely beautiful about it. Pieces of land and rock suspended between the gravity of the remaining world and the chaotic physics of the Nether made it surreal and ever-changing.

Bam suffered no delusions about itself; it knew what it was. It knew it was a creation, and it knew that it had been crafted to specifications set out by Luz. Bam was almost perfectly symmetrical, for one. It would never grow. It would never change. If someone was always there to wind it, it could potentially never die. Bam never resented this ordered predictability, but nevertheless it felt like the chaos of the Netherstorm represented everything it was not, and experiencing the land as Bam had was thrilling and fulfilling.

Undulating ribbons of violet streaked across the sky here and there, and beyond them the still, unimaginably vast cosmos. Had Bam any breath in its little mechanical body, it would have heaved a contended sigh.

Luz craned his neck over either sides of Dorothy. The demons had their consistent hotspots, but Luz was only one man, and he never just plopped himself in a pile of Legion forces and hoped for the best. He instead preferred areas where he could pull one, perhaps two of the lesser demons away without alerting the rest. Unfortunately the areas he was surveying were too congested and supervised. He steered Dorothy away and continued his search.

They roamed the skies for nearly an hour, with no success. No situations presented themselves, none that Luz was willing to risk. They eventually came to the edge of the Netherstorm, where the terrain broke off and the Nether began. Beyond this, large slabs of land and rock floated.

“Hmm, that’s weird...” Luz remarked. Bam sat up and followed his gaze.

On one of the peaks of the broken landscape stood a dark, armoured demon with a long, thin blade in his hand - one of the wrathguard, by the look of him. He seemed to be looking straight at them. He was alone.

Bam looked up at Luz, wondering what he was going to do.

He could see the goblin squinting thoughtfully under his goggles.

“Nah,” he said finally. “Looks too good to be true. He’s probably got some cronies waiting in ambush or something.”

Bam nodded in agreement, and braced itself as Dorothy veered away with a sigh from Luz.

A loud, resounding crack from behind them caused both Luz and Bam to turn and look. The demon appeared to be gathering his energies. With a swift wave of his sword, a magical, blue bolt shot out at them, trailing a wake of snowflakes behind it.

Luz’s eyes went wide. “Oh crap,” he muttered. “Hold on!” He took hold of the controls and veered the rocket back. Bam looked back and with some horror noted that the frosty bolt had changed its trajectory to match theirs, and it was closing the distance quickly.

Luz noticed it, too, and bit his lip, his mind racing. Bam had a few suggestions, but no means to convey them. After several agonizing moments, Luz glanced frantically at all his belongings, tested the stability of his harness, and then hugged Bam to his chest.

With only one free hand, he disconnected the stabilizer and veered the rocket to the left, barrel-rolling to the side. The world went momentarily topsy-turvy, and the readouts on the panel whirred and zipped chaotically. The bolt sailed past them, but Bam felt the snowflakes flying past its face. Luz quickly reconnected the stabilizer and attempted to regain control of Dorothy, however the momentary lapse had caused her to drift, and she buckled as Luz tried to pull her out of what was quickly becoming a nosedive. Just as she began to tentatively level out, a boisterous laugh echoed through the skies. Bam turned back to see the demon still perched on his mountaintop, and a second ball of magical ice streaking towards them.

They had circled too close; even if Luz had had full control he wouldn’t have had time to react. The frost bolt slammed into the back of the rocket, breaking off one of the fins and immediately extinguishing the jet.

A hyperactive siren sounded, and red lights blinked excitedly. Dorothy began to spiral towards the ground, as Luz desperately tried to gain control of her again. Bam looked around, trying to get some bearing, to see if the demon was preparing to attack again, but the landscape was spinning past it too fast to get a fix on anything.

Luz was sweating, but the wind whipped it from his brow. He set his jaw, hugged Bam close to him with one hand, and wrenched up a lever at the side of his seat with the other.

This lever set off an explosive charge beneath the seat, which blasted it off from the rocket into the air. Immediately, the parachute cloak fastened to the back of the chair released, and billowed out, filling with air. Their rate of descent slowed, but the ground still approached with alarming speed. With a shriek, Bam and Luz watched on sadly as Dorothy plummeted into the ground nose-first. The impact cracked her nose clean off, and the rockets at the rear exploded. The requiem would have to wait, though, as the demon was striding towards them now with his sword drawn.

Luz fumbled to unbuckle the belts that held him to the chair. The seat release was designed to save the pilot from an explosion, but crashing to the ground in the heavy chair could still easily break his legs. When finally he was free, he rolled away from it, still holding Bam fast to his stomach, and he landed a moment later on his shoulder with a loud grunt. The force of the landing knocked Bam from his arms, and the little bombling rolled along the ground until it hit a firm stone with a loud crash. It scrambled to its feet, hearing a few things rattling around inside, but assured itself it was nothing major, at least for the time being.

Luz was dazed, and cradled his shoulder, blood seeping from the joints in the dented armour around his knee as he climbed to his feet.

A heavy thud caught Bam’s attention and it turned to see the demon who had shot them down stomping towards them, his helm framing a stern, fanged grin. Bam hurriedly clattered towards Luz to warn him, but the goblin had already seen the demon, and was rushing towards the remains of Dorothy as fast as his injuries would allow. The demon gave a laugh and quickened his pace.

Dorothy’s wreckage was in flames, and Luz’ backpack had exploded once the blasting powder within caught fire. Gobs of melted cheese and fragments of his wrench and hammer flecked the wreckage. The only thing he needed, luckily, was still intact. His gear-mace, though scorched from the explosion, was in one piece a few yards from the flaming wreckage.

His limp was hampering his progress, however, and the demon was gaining on him. The demon was huge, possibly nine feet tall, and his sword was nearly twice the length of Luz. But he was so fixated on the goblin, Bam thought, possibly, that it might escape notice. It ran towards the demon, hoping to catch him on a footfall and perhaps trip him, or at least slow him enough for Luz to reach his weapon.

As Bam approached him, the demon showed no signs that he had seen the bombling at all, and Bam elated inwardly that it would save Luz. But just as the demon was about to step on it, he suddenly whipped forward his tail, and the metal barb on the end bashed Bam aside. The bombling was thrown only a few feet, but did nothing to stop the demon.

He laughed, and spoke. Bam had seen Luz fight demons before, and many of them had picked up the local language, to a degree. The Orcish language, and the Common language of the humans - both of which both Bam and Luz could understand - were the most commonly heard from the demons, but few had ever mastered it. Yet when this demon spoke, it was as if he had been speaking Common since the day he was born.

“Your contraptions are amusing, lesser creature, but they will not stop me,” the demon mused as he closed in on Luz, still doggedly limping towards the mace. “Oh, yes, creature. One way or another, you shall face Doreongo.”

So the demon had a name.

Doreongo raised his sword high and let out a piercing wail just as Luz scooped up his gear-mace, and turned to catch the falling blade on the thick shaft of the weapon.

Doreongo laughed. “Aha! Excellent form! Yes... you shall do quite nicely, indeed.”

Though Luz held his own, the demon’s sheer size and force were overpowering him. His jaw was set, and sweat was pouring from his brow, but Bam could see the mace was losing the test of might.

Bam righted itself, and ran towards Doreongo. The demon’s brilliant eyes glanced absently at it, and he swept his long tail at Bam. But Bam was ready, this time, and hopped over it, continuing relentlessly. When finally it came to Doroengo’s mighty foot, Bam slammed its foot upon his big toe, jammed its other foot under his pointed nail, and tore it off.

Doreongo howled in pain, and let up from Luz, who quickly rolled away. The demon attempted to kick Bam away, but the limber little bombling ran between his legs and kept out of his sight.

“Troublesome gnat!” Doroengo roared, swinging his tail about wildly, hoping to catch Bam on it. “After I am finished with your goblin master, I will tear you bolt from nut! And after I am finished with him, I’m sure I will know just how to do so!”

Luz had gotten to his feet, and, after winding the clockwork pin in the mace, activated the rotating gear clasped at its head. He rushed forward, and hammered the mace down upon Doreongo’s bleeding toe. The force of the blow mangled Doreongo’s toe and brought the demon to one knee with a bellowing howl of rage.

“Bam, run!” Luz cried.

Bam scuttled out from behind Doreongo and once he caught up with Luz, the two began to run into the wilds of the Netherstorm. But hindered as they were by Luz’s injured knee, they weren’t able to move very quickly. Bam kept running ahead a few paces before noticing that Luz, who could usually run circles around Bam, had fallen behind. He glanced warily back.

Dorengo grit his teeth and jammed his sword into the violet earth, using it to hoist himself to his feet. He wavered a moment until he regained his balance, then issued out a guttural growl and began limping towards them. But even at a limp, he was closing on them at a frightening pace.

Bam ran up behind Luz and pushed him gently from behind.

“I’m trying!” the goblin muttered.

Doreongo came within a few yards of them and suddenly thrust his hand forward. A thick, furious blast of freezing wind suddenly materialized, sweeping past both of them in a surge of snow and knocking them both forward. Bam tried to right itself but found its legs unresponsive, its joints jammed with ice. It saw Luz trying to rise, breaking the frost and ice from himself, as well. His face was contorted in great pain, and Bam wished it could cry with frustration and empathy as Doreongo closed in on his closest friend in the worlds.

Luz tried to push himself off the ground, but Doreongo placed his massive foot - still bleeding steadily - on the goblin’s back and forced him back to the ground. He raised his sword, and impaled him.

Luz reared back and screamed. Bam attempted again to wrest his legs free but all they did was shudder.

Doreongo leaned in close to Luz, and he jiggled the blade, causing the goblin to cry out again, tears streaming down his face. “I have defeated you, lesser creature.”

Luz put his face in the dirt, sucking mouthfuls of breath between sobs.

“Admit it!” Doreongo shouted. “Concede! I am the victor!”

“Fine!” Luz screamed back, lifting his head. “Fine! You win! Just finish it!”

The demon grinned. “Ah, yes, would that this was the end... but I have other plans for you, lesser creature. Your torment has only just begun!”

The blade began to shimmer. It glowed with a white light that quickly engulfed Luz whole. The light was so bright that it would have blinded anyone without automated eyes, but it nevertheless overwhelmed Bam’s vision, allowing it to see nothing else. It only heard Luz screaming.

The light vanished. All that remained was Doreongo, his blade pressed into the earth, still slick with Luz’s blood. The ground where Luz had been a moment before was empty, save a stray wisp of grey smoke, and Luz’s mace. Even as Bam watched, Luz’s blood seemed to evaporate from the blade, until it was once again pristine.

The stray remains of the ice on its legs cracked off, and Bam got to its feet. It glanced at the ground, and then up at Doreongo.

The wrathguard stood, wresting his sword from the earth. He reared back, and stretched his great arms. He then looked down at Bam, and chuckled.

“Bam, is it?” he asked.

Bam started, knowing that it was impossible that Doreongo would know its name.

“Of course it is,” he mused. “Your tenacity and innovation is impressive, for such a simple creation. Had I the power, I would consume you as I did your master Luz; add your essence to my own.”

Bam looked back at the ground around the mace, and pawed at it tentatively, looking for any sign of Luz’s remains.

“Don’t bother, Bam, he has become a part of me. What he knows, I know. His skills shall accent my own, as others have before him.”

Bam was horrified. This, it deemed, was worse than death. Luz was gone from it, and now, he was the slave of this demon. Bam’s head sank. It knew now that it would be destroyed, and it accepted its fate, knowing that it deserved it for not being able to save him.

“Oh, Bam, I know I said I would destroy you, but things have changed. I now know that without this,” Doreongo leaved forward and plucked the clockwork key from Luz’s mace. He held it between his thumb and finger so that Bam could see. “Without this, you’ll destroy yourself.” He closed his fist on it and tucked it away in his armour. “You’ve two, perhaps three hours until you must be wound back up again. And we are far from anyone who would lend you a helping hand.”

Bam often lost track of how far along it was. So did Luz. But it knew that Doreongo was correct, that soon it would need to be wound back up again if it was to operate. Bam turned and ran, heedless of the dubious rattling from its joints and head.

“Go on, little bombling!” Doreongo shouted from behind him. “Wander these wastes until time runs its course! I can think of no better punishment!” He laughed. Bam ran until it could hear him no more.

Its mind raced through the possibilities. It wasn’t sure where exactly it was, but it had seen enough of the de facto sky of Netherstorm to know which way was which. It had no scent, so the wildlife would ignore it, but the local demons and Kael’s blood elves would think it a spy or reconaissance device and destroy it. The ethereals would likely attempt to dismantle it and replicate its technology. If it stayed away from these creatures, Bam surmised that perhaps it could find its way to the road, perhaps be happened upon by more friendly travellers who had the sense either to wind it or bring it to someone from BOOM. Though it couldn’t communicate, Bam was sure that if it could find one of the Wheelers, it could no doubt at least convey to them that something had happened to Luz, and lead them back to Doreongo.

It was a long shot, it knew, but Dorothy had taken them far from Area 52, and they had travelled north which took them in the opposite direction from Cosmowrench, the only other settlement BOOM maintained in the Netherstorm. There was no way Bam could get back to either of them before its clock ran down. Even now, Bam could feel fatigue beginning to set in. Its movements took more effort and its thoughts took more concentration.

As Bam rounded a stone in its path, it saw that it had been running towards the edge of the island it was on. The draenei and goblins had connected them together with bridges since the Cataclysm tore them apart for the sake of travel and convenience, but Bam had no idea in which particular direction a bridge was. It didn’t have the time to try and figure it out; every second meant less time it was getting toward anyone who could help it.

Left. As good a guess as any.

Bam ran along the edge of the island for what must have been an hour. It began to lose hope of finding anything when it saw a structure in the distance; a bridge! Even if its clock ran out on the road, Bam’s chances of being stumbled upon were much greater than out in the wilds of the Netherstorm.

The bridge was still a fair piece away, but sighting it had given Bam a small glimmer of hope. It fought against the onset of its ticking clock with renewed resolve.

As it neared it, Bam could see a signpost at the edge of the bridge, and, to its elation, two dwarves were discussing something at the foot of it, as a brown wolf sniffed around the road. Bam attemptd to run with greater enthusiasm, hoping that the dwarves or their lupine companion would hear its approach. But it felt the strain of fatigue bear down on it anew. It was even close enough to hear the dwarves speaking to each other in their robust native tongue, but its steps took longer and longer to make. Even its thoughts were failing it, its grasp of its situation losing detail. As its movement slowed further, Bam even began to lose sense of itself. It didn’t know who it was, it had forgotten Luz and Doreongo. All it knew was that it was imperative that it reached the road or made itself known to the dwarves ahead.

But its motor was failing. In the middle of a step, Bam could move no further. Its time had run out. The two dwarves left, began walking across the bridge. The wolf looked up, straight at Bam, then turned and followed his masters.

That was the last thing Bam saw before it lost consciousness.

It sat there for a moment more before a swift wind topple it over. It rolled unknowing towards the edge, where it would plummet eternally through the Twisting Nether. Were it conscious, it would experience all the things that the Wheelers and BOOM ever hoped to.

But it was not to be. Bam rolled into a pothole, unwittingly lodging itself there. The wind tried as it might, but Bam was firmly planted. Unless someone lifted it out, there it would stay.

Until what remained of the world crumbled beneath it.