Summary

Chapter 1 – Villain Lord Ballister Blackheart meets Nimona, a feisty redheaded girl who seeks work as Ballister’s sidekick. Ballister insists he does not need a sidekick, but hires Nimona when he learns she is a shapeshifter.

Chapter 2 – Ballister unveils a plan to Nimona which involves kidnapping the King from the downtown parade with genetically modified dragons, demanding ransom, then flying off and exploding the building behind them for emphasis. Nimona says the plan should involve killing the King, killing Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin, and destroying the city. Ballister says there are rules, and that he just can’t go around murdering people. He says that if anyone will kill Goldenloin, it will be him. He reveals that he and Goldenloin used to be best friends at the Institute of Law Enforcement and Heroics, but after a joust which Ballister won fairly and cleanly, Goldenloin attacked...