《Memory Bonds》


 Prologue

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    The girl slowly sat up. She could feel the sand fall off her back, and hear the soft hiss as it did so. She looked around with a frown. She was fairly confident she was a girl, but that was the only information available to her.


    It seemed like she was in the desert. It was hot, the sun beating down, the wind dry on her face, sand swirling up around her. The sand was all she could see in most directions. There were some hills, but they were so slight and the same color as the sand around her, so they were hard to make out. Maybe she was imagining them in entirety. Like a mirage. Yes, that was a word and concept she understood, wasn¡¯t it?


    But there was still one direction she hadn¡¯t looked. Turning directly behind her, the girl saw a small town. A village, really. A bunch of huts with dried leaves for roofs, and windows that were just open space without any glass. There didn¡¯t seem to be much in the way of roads either. It was only clear were people usually walked because their footprints wore the sand down and made it more compact.


    The huts were in a circle. And at the center of the circle, was a well.


    That was the most useful thing she¡¯d seen so far, so the girl got up, and got to it in a few strides. She pulled a bucket out from the bottom. There was some water in it. It was warm, and some sand had drifted in, but she drank the grainy stuff anyway. Her throat was dry, and drinking the water only seemed to make that more obvious. Who knew how long she¡¯d just been lying there in the sand?


    Too long. She was hot enough she wanted to pour some of the water on herself instead of just drinking it, and her hair was stiff because sand was still stuck in it.


    Before dumping the water over herself, she set the bucket down and used the liquid to see her reflection.


    ¡®Huh. So that¡¯s what I look like,¡¯ she thought.


    She had straight brown hair that hit her shoulders and fell in front of her face. Maybe it would look better when it was clean, but right now it looked incredibly dull. Her eyes were green. Her skin looked like . . . well, it looked like she¡¯d been tanning out in the sun for hours. At least it wasn¡¯t sunburn.


    And the strange thing was, she had pointed ears. She moved her hair to be sure, but she¡¯d seen the tips even before that. The species she knew of that had pointed ears were elves and gnomes. She definitely wasn¡¯t a gnome. Too tall. But she couldn¡¯t be an elf. Her face and eyes were too round, too wide. Elves usually had long pointed faces. Besides that, it just didn¡¯t sound right.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    A half elf.


    The girl jolted. The information hadn¡¯t even felt like a thought. It just popped in front of her. And sounded right.


    She nodded to herself. Yeah, that was right.


    Moving on, she looked like she might be 15 if she was fully human. Maybe 16. 14 was very unlikely. But as a half elf that would make her more like 30. . .


    The girl grimaced, rubbing her forehead. She felt lightheaded, like she was about to tip over.


    OK. She wouldn¡¯t think too hard right now.


    She took another sip of water to help her head, and finally splashed some on herself. She hit her arms and her head, feeling the water drip down from her hair onto her neck and dampening her shirt. It felt good right now.


    Next up, she should worry about finding out where she was, and were to go from here. She¡¯d need something to eat, and somewhere to sleep that wasn¡¯t sand, after all. Maybe she should talk to the people here.


    She frowned as she straightened up and focused back in on the buildings around her. It was weird no one had come to her, now that she thought about it. The place was small, anyone would¡¯ve seen her standing in the middle of the village for so long.


    Suddenly, she felt more nervous. She walked to the nearest hut and peered into the window. There wasn¡¯t much furniture in there. A low table that you clearly sat on the ground to eat at, a cot, and a cabinet. It was all broken. The cot was sliced in the middle, the cabinet doors ripped off the hinges. There was a blackish lump in the corner. She couldn¡¯t tell what it was. The girl squinted at it.


    Her heart skipped a beat and she swallowed back bile. She decided she didn¡¯t want to know. She whirled around, and proceeded to trip on the sand, falling to her knees.


    When she looked up, she was in a good position to see the back of a neighboring hut. This time it was far harder to deny. There was a body lying in the back of that hut, in with some garbage. There was a slice down the middle where you could see ribs, and some green liquid was coming out of their stomach. It smelled horrid.


    The girl stumbled back to her feet, scrambling back.


    Despite her decision not to know, and her terror at seeing dead bodies, she ran to one more hut and peaked inside. Three people lay dead in there, this time with bullet holes in them. Two of them were children. Actual children, and not a teenager like she seemed to be.


    Legs shaking, she slowly backed into the well, clasping her hands together.


    The people here, all of them, they were. . .


    The girl¡¯s breaths got heavier and she began trembling so hard she felt like her knees were going to pop out.


    She had to get out of here. She looked around wildly, trying to look between the huts, and away from any dead bodies.


    Her eyes finally settled on something in the distance that wasn¡¯t sand. She squinted and moved closer. Stepping between two huts, she could make out something in the distance. She couldn¡¯t make out the colors. It was all gray. But she could see smoke, and the shapes in the distance were square and rose higher than the huts. Another, larger, town? One that wasn¡¯t slaughtered?


    (Was it slaughtered too? There was smoke. What if everyone there was dead? What if-? No. The smoke could just be a blacksmith or a factory or something.)


    She wasn¡¯t sure what was there, but she knew she didn¡¯t want to stay here. She gripped her elbows, arms crossed over her stomach like that would stop her from throwing up. Then she started running across the sand to the closest signs of civilization.

 1: Civilization

    Whatever town she was reaching, it was larger. It had more water. It had more technology. And it was alive. Oh thank God it was alive. Even as she got to the edge, she could see people bustling about on the roads. A dwarf was complaining to an elf about what kind of eggs he was selling. Two humans were hurry back to a house, carrying a large bag together. A colbber was out on the side of a house, fixing the window. (The window had glass in it this time.)


    The girl¡¯s heartbeat slowed down as she saw this, her breath steadying, her feet slowing. She hoped her eyes didn¡¯t look too wide and crazed. She didn¡¯t know what was going on, and she really wanted a better idea before drawing too much attention to herself.


    As it was, she saw the colbber watch her in concern as she reached the street. And the elf¡¯s eyes flashed in recognition when he saw her ears, only to notice her face and pointedly look away. But aside from that, no one acknowledged her. And that was just fine with her.


    The girl walked a little further down the street. With the sun setting and the shadows from the buildings falling across the ground, the pavement was actually cool. Or maybe there was something beneath the path that was cooling it. The ground did almost seem to be vibrating. It was a little odd that she hadn¡¯t come upon any vehicles, but maybe they were rare in this town. City? It was large enough.


    The buildings here were very different than the huts from the village. They were mostly larger than one room, and made of brick, concrete, or stone. Mostly. There was some variety in the buildings. For example, one was a small sloped stone house, built in a way that it almost looked more like a door in a hill than a real building. Then, right next door to it, was a building that had so many plants growing on the wall she couldn''t tell what the actual building was made of.


    There were yards, but most of the yards seemed to just be sand, maybe with a desert plant or two in the mix.


    As she moved further down the street, the buildings got closer together. More people came into sight as well. She should really ask someone if they knew what was going on. After all, everyone here seemed okay, seemed to just be going about their day. But the village wasn¡¯t that far away. Surely someone should¡¯ve noticed something was wrong?


    The girl looked around, spotting a random human who was standing outside and checking a pocket watch. She took a deep breath and smoothed her shirt down a bit. Remembering the way the elf had reacted to her, she also fiddled with her hair a bit, getting it to hide her ears. Without them, she passed as completely human.


    Then she headed over.


    ¡°Sir?¡± she asked.


    The man looked up from his watch. ¡°Yes?¡±


    He sounded vaguely tired, voice slurring and gaze changing slowly.


    ¡°What happened to the town East of here?¡±


    The man frowned. ¡°What town?¡±


    ¡°The town East of here? It¡¯s in walking distance?¡±


    She pointed back in the direction she¡¯d come from. You could still see the desert from where they were. A bit of it, anyway.


    The man just frowned harder. ¡°There¡¯s no town in walking distance to the East. The next nearest town is Oasis in the desert, West of here.¡±


    The village she¡¯d been to certainly wasn¡¯t an oasis. And it wasn''t West. So what was going on? Did he not know a village had ever existed there? How was that possible? Was he one of the people that had slaughtered them? Oh God. Was that why he was pretending it didn¡¯t exist? Had she just put herself in danger by admitting she¡¯d seen it? She didn¡¯t know. But one thing seemed certain, she had to get out of here.


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°Sorry sir. I was told to stay away from the town to the East, so I thought I¡¯d ask.¡±


    The man¡¯s frown faded slightly, but his brow was still furrowed, like he was thinking over her words.


    She thought it had been a pretty good explanation. She nodded to him one more time, and walked away from him before he could respond.


    She could feel her annoying heartbeat again. But she kept her breath steady, walked normally, and put her hands in her pockets so no one could see them shaking. When she reached the next intersection, she turned and leaned against a building, out of anyone¡¯s immediate line of sight. There, she caught her breath.


    ~~~


    The girl walked into a hotel. It was made of some sort of dark purple brick on the outside going up about three stories. With all the other buildings in town, it didn¡¯t stick out much. It was nothing special on the inside either. Dark carpet that looked clean, a few seats to wait in, halls going in either direction, and a front desk. There was a yellow lighting in here, but it was dim, like it wasn¡¯t electric lighting at all. That was just fine with her, seeing as she was trying to avoid any attention.


    There was a human at the front desk. The girl took about two steps, all it took to reach the desk. The sun was setting outside, and she¡¯d been moving ever since she woke up, including the long uneven trek between towns through the desert. She needed somewhere to sleep.


    ¡°E-excuse me? I¡¯m looking for a room,¡± she said.


    ¡°There¡¯s no other reason to come in here,¡± the man pointed out, sounding annoyed. ¡°Name?¡±


    ¡°Harmoni.¡±


    She was struck silent for a moment after that. She¡¯d surprised herself. Because she hadn¡¯t been thinking of a name before this, hadn¡¯t been considering it. And she¡¯d woken up having forgotten that as well. Was Harmoni really her name? It certainly sounded familiar. She couldn¡¯t think of why else it would spring to mind.


    ¡°Alright,¡± the man said, writing the name down. ¡°It¡¯s going to be 50 rells.¡±


    And Harmoni was silent again. She felt around in her pocket, taking a peek at the coins she had. It seemed like she had exactly that much. But . . . spending only one night here? When she wasn¡¯t sure where she was going or what she was doing? She¡¯d need money for food and things as well.


    ¡°Un, n-never mind,¡± Harmoni managed.


    The man just seemed annoyed with her. She felt her eyes getting a bit wet, and blinked a few times. The feeling successfully stopped. If she was going to cry, she wasn¡¯t going to do it in front of him.


    ¡°Do you know where I can get some money?¡±


    ¡°Get a job, like everyone else,¡± the man said with a flippant shrug. He crossed her name out on the sheet, but when he looked up, he leaned forward and sounded a bit more sympathetic. ¡°Or get an apprenticeship. You¡¯re on the young side. I¡¯m sure someone around could use an apprentice. Not me. But someone. Now go on.¡±


    Well, that was fine. If she wasn¡¯t staying the night, Harmoni didn¡¯t want to stick around too long. She turned and went out the exit at a brisk pace.


    Once she was outside, she leaned against the wall again. No place to sleep. The only clothes she had were the jeans and white t-shirt she¡¯d woken up in, and honestly, she was pretty sure the shirt was supposed to be an under shirt. You wore it with a button up or something. The only things in her pockets were fifty rells. She knew places she could get water. She¡¯d passed a fountain someone had been standing in earlier. But she didn¡¯t have any food.


    She took a deep breath and looked at the sky, running through what she needed to do. She should get water, and she should find someplace out of the way to sleep. It was getting late. Tomorrow she could look for an apprenticeship.


    As she thought, she could see the sun dip a little lower. It was hot and dry, and there wasn¡¯t much in the way of clouds. But she did see a spaceship pass overhead, probably going to land somewhere in the open desert.


    But . . . that wasn¡¯t the only thing moving in the sky. She could see some sort of creature, flying high above. She couldn¡¯t make out the details from this far, but it was clearly large, for her to notice it.


    She looked back down across the road, and she found another creature. It was long and muscular, walking on four legs, with green scales still reflecting some of the sun¡¯s light. But there was also skin folded against this one¡¯s back. Given the one in the sky, it was easy to guess the folds were wings. There were horns on this one¡¯s head, but that was an extraneous detail at this point. Harmoni knew what she was looking at. This was a dragon.

 2: The Apprentice Search

    Harmoni left the hotel wall, keeping an eye out for someplace to sleep.


    She looked around again, this time specifically looking for dragons. And now it seemed incredible that she hadn¡¯t seen any before. The dragons came in many different sizes and colors. They had different numbers of horns in different patterns, and some had no horns at all. A few had sharp fangs bared. One didn¡¯t even have any wings, just four legs and a serpent like body. A few had hair by their faces or tails. But all of them Harmoni could easily say were dragons.


    OK. Fine. That was fine and normal.


    She¡¯d woken up in a massacred town with no memory of who she was, how she got there, or anything like that. She was on a very dry planet she might not even be from, with dragons, and a very limited amount of money.


    That was fine.


    That was a lie. But she¡¯d already panicked three times today. If she was remembering correctly. She genuinely didn¡¯t think she could respond that way again, her brain was panicked out. And anyway, she had things she needed to do. She couldn''t do that if she was freaking out.


    She had to get more money tomorrow. She had to look for an apprenticeship. The only other option she could think of was to curl up and slowly die, and she¡¯d like to avoid that.


    ~~~


    There was a stone building nearby. It was smaller than most of the buildings around it, with a larger yard space that was growing herbs. There were round windows, but they were hard to see into. A gold-colored metal formed a circle with little rods extending out that looked a bit like the sun, only little rods extended inwards too. It was that symbol that had drawn Harmoni to the building. That was the symbol of an alchemy workshop.


    Harmoni wasn¡¯t an expert on alchemy, but it was a familiar sight in a decidedly unfamiliar location. And she knew a little.


    There were three ways to gain . . . supernatural abilities. Clerics, magic users, and alchemists all did what most people would consider impossible. Clerics gained their power from a god, through prayer. It was a little unpredictable, but the easiest way to get other worldly powers. Alchemists required certain materials or ingredients to get results. (Was that why all the herbs were growing out here? Harmoni didn¡¯t think they used plants very often, but what did she know?) It required more work and preparation, but you knew what you were getting. There was an explanation for what you were getting, even if it didn¡¯t always seem correct if you looked at it from a chemistry perspective. And magic was . . . somewhere between those two? There was something you did for results, but it definitely didn¡¯t have a scientific explanation.


    Harmoni was pretty sure that was how it went. She knew a bit, but she¡¯d say she¡¯d never been trained in any of the three. Based on the knowledge she had. If she had to get an apprenticeship, working for an alchemist would be very cool.


    She . . . didn¡¯t want to talk to a stranger. The events of yesterday hadn¡¯t helped with that. But she would try, given the alternative.


    She took a deep breath, and tried to stand up straight.


    She walked inside. It was kind of dark inside, the only light coming from two round windows and a glowing green flask on the table. Despite the windows, with the darkness and the stone walls, it felt a bit like she was underground. The area in here was all one large room, but she could see a staircase going up, and one going down, at the other end.


    There was a dwarf stirring a flask, wearing goggles and some sort of heat resistant gloves. There was also a dragon beside the dwarf. Only coming up about as high as the table, it was breathing a small stream of fire under the flask, like a living Bunsen burner.


    As Harmoni took another step inside, the fire sputtered. It flared brightly before going out, and the dragon¡¯s one visible eye widened slightly, before narrowing to something more like a glare.


    Not a promising start. The dwarf turned to the dragon, but between the goggles and the dim light, Harmoni couldn¡¯t hope to read the dwarf¡¯s expression.


    The dragon stayed at the table, watching over the top of it. The dwarf, on the other hand, went around the table, coming closer to Harmoni and raising the goggles.


    The dragon, from what Harmoni could tell in the dim light, was dark green, with golden eyes. The difference was so great the eyes practically looked like they were glowing. She didn''t think that was literal though.


    The dwarf had reddish brown hair that was styled into braids along their head. Their eyes were brown too. Harmoni couldn¡¯t hope to guess a gender, she didn¡¯t know enough about dwarfs. This one had a beard, but it was definitely on the short side for a species known for having beards. Unlike their hair, they couldn¡¯t style it. They were built like a box, but you could say that about most dwarfs. And there weren''t any other obvious signifiers.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°Kid. Can I help you?¡± the dwarf asked.


    Well, the voice was gruff, but at least they didn¡¯t sound as angry as their dragon was.


    ¡°Maybe. I¡¯m looking for an apprenticeship.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± The dwarf watched Harmoni with a hard to read expression. They had their hands on their hips, and Harmoni tried not to look at the large axe they had attached to their belt. ¡°Sorry, but I¡¯ve already taken an apprentice who¡¯s started recently. I¡¯m not training two at once.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Harmoni clasped her hands behind her back, thumbs shifting slightly with her nerves. ¡°Well. Thanks anyway.¡±


    The dwarf didn¡¯t answer, already going back to the table while the dragon watched Harmoni.


    Harmoni walked backwards out the door before turning around.


    Well. That could¡¯ve gone better. She was hoping to find something she¡¯d actually enjoy doing for an apprenticeship, but she might have to broaden her search. Eventually.


    ~~~


    The bakery was really busy. There were all sorts of costumers. The gnome at front was standing on a box to see everything better. She took orders, swatted away anyone who got too close, shoved coffee or food into people¡¯s hands, and scribbled things down in a language Harmoni didn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°Apprenticeship? Sorry dearie. Noneed for help and noplans toretire. And when Ifinallydo, myfamilycan takeover. And untilthen they can gettheirhands out of mybusiness.¡± She turned to the ceiling, opening her hands towards it. ¡°Hearthat? Youjustwait till I drop dead!¡±


    One of the customers shuffled a little further away.


    ~~~


    The zenny running some sort of taxi service with his huge dragon shook his head before Harmoni even asked.


    ¡°We run on dragon power here."


    ~~~


    The human didn¡¯t look up from his paperwork, stacks of it on the desk. ¡°Now why would I need an apprentice? And I only hire people who are adults, which you¡¯re clearly not. So shoo.¡±


    ~~~


    ¡°This hotel was designed for imps. Your diet wouldn¡¯t be compatible.¡±


    ~~~


    ¡°An apprenticeship?¡± the human in the tech store asked. ¡°Aren¡¯t you a little young for that? What about school?¡±


    ¡°I was home-schooled.¡±


    Did this city even have a school? If it did, it wasn¡¯t well labelled.


    The human rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ¡°How old are you?¡± His eyes flicked towards her ears before he added, in a more tired tone, ¡°In a number I¡¯ll understand.¡±


    ¡°Um . . . about fifteen.¡±


    The man sighed, slumping slightly. Evidently that was the wrong answer. ¡°Sorry kid, but I don¡¯t believe anyone who stopped getting an education at fifteen, or earlier, is ready to handle this stuff.¡± He waved a hand at the technology on display behind him.


    She wanted to be angry. This was the second time she''d been told she was too young to work, but evidently old enough to pay. And if Harmoni was fifteen in human terms, that meant she was actually thirty years old, and that was a lot of time to get an education.


    Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t know much about technology, didn¡¯t even recognize everything on the wall. So that clearly wasn¡¯t where her teacher¡¯s priorities had been. If this man wanted someone with prior knowledge, that wasn''t her, and she wouldn¡¯t be able to bluff her way through.


    She wanted to be angry. Really, she was just stressed.


    ~~~


    The elf in the clothing store looked at Harmoni like he¡¯d never seen a human before. ¡°Listen . . . small person, we already have an apprentice here. How about . . . you just take a lollipop and go home to your parents?¡±


    Harmoni got the distinct feeling he had a hard time telling the difference between a teenager and a five-year-old. She took a lollipop anyway.


    ~~~


    Harmoni sat by a fountain at the edge of the city. Luckily, she wouldn¡¯t get in trouble for drinking from the fountain. It seemed dragons did that more often than people, but she¡¯d seen a couple people drink from it at as well.


    Having drank some water already, she also splashed some on her face, cooling herself down.


    This was the second day looking for an apprenticeship. She¡¯d bought some food yesterday, and she suspected she¡¯d have to do so again today.


    The city wasn¡¯t as big as you¡¯d find on planets like Morivon or Jurona, but it was still big. There were still a lot more places she could check, so no reason to give up hope. But if anything, the place was too big. She didn''t have time to check every shop and business. She wondered if there was a more efficient way to search.


    Her thoughts were interrupted by a scream. A human woman came running in from the desert. People outside turned towards her, and one or two actually peered out their open windows.


    Harmoni¡¯s heart skipped a beat for a moment, but she quickly realized this was not the direction she¡¯d come in from, so the woman had probably not seen the slaughtered town to the East.


    ¡°What is it?¡± a zenny asked.


    ¡°I just saw a monstrous creature,¡± the woman managed, breathing heavily. Her pupils were round as well. ¡°It looked like it was made out of slime. Like . . . like it had just climbed out of a swamp.¡±


    The zenny waved a hand, almost dismissive, and said, ¡°Oh, you saw the slime man.¡±


    What?


    The woman slowly stood up straight, her breath steadying. ¡°You . . . know about it?¡±


    Yeah, that summed up Harmoni¡¯s thoughts.


    The zenny nodded, slightly before she finished talking, like he was impatient. Well, zennies could see five seconds into the future. Harmoni didn¡¯t understand how it worked, but it probably did make you impatient.


    ¡°I heard he used to look like a normal human man. But he was . . . a figurative slime ball, so a cleric cursed him to be literally slimy.¡±


    Another woman, leaning out of a window on the second floor to eavesdrop, wrinkled her nose. ¡°I met him, and believe me, he deserved it.¡±


    The three kept talking, but Harmoni essentially stopped listening. She had a lot to take care of, and this didn¡¯t seem relevant.

 3: Found

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Harmoni didn¡¯t feel so good. She swayed on her feet. Black spots danced in her vision. The sun baked down on her, and sand stuck to her like a second skin, not helping at all. When she stepped forward, she stumbled. She wasn¡¯t even sure what was ahead of her. Maybe she should lie down, and get some more sleep.


    When she first started feeling bad, weak, she was worried. Now she was too tired for such a strong emotion.


    She turned, blinking without really taking in her surroundings. But she did see a space between two buildings that was small. It would give her some shade and keep her out of the way while she rested.


    She moved towards that spot. She remembered stumbling again, and remembered the world going dark as soon as she closed her eyes. She wasn¡¯t sure if she even made it to the little alcove.


    ~~~


    Harmoni had a hard time explaining what was going on. She felt sort of like she was floating through the dark. Her mind was too aware to claim she was sleeping. In fact, she had the distinct feeling she¡¯d had a dream she couldn¡¯t remember, one of those things just on the edge of your mind that you couldn¡¯t reach. If she was no longer dreaming, and no longer remembered the dream, she was probably awake. And yet, her senses didn¡¯t seem to be working.


    She tried to calm her turning mind, and see if there was anything she could focus on.


    And there was. She could smell things. It seemed like soaps, those flower-scented ones. There was enough of the smell to be a little overwhelming.


    When she focused on touch, the ground below her was soft and comfortable. It sloped a little, lifting her head. Very different than where she¡¯d been sleeping lately.


    Sound came back next. She could hear multiple things moving around. One of the sounds seemed like regular footsteps. Well, another sounded a bit like footsteps as well, but too heavy, and there was a sort of low rumbling sound coming from that direction too.


    And OK, it was time to find out what was going on. Harmoni tried to open her eyes. That was a struggle, a far greater one than she¡¯d wanted or expected. For a while, she could just feel her eyelashes fluttering, without really opening and letting her see. But slowly and surely, she managed to crack her eyes open, and keep them that way.


    She was lying in a bed with about nine different pillows used to support her head and shoulders. On both sides of the room she could see shelves along the wall. They had what looked like bars of soap, bath bombs, bubble baths, and more like those.


    Across the room was a wooden door, different than the almost yellow stone surrounding it. And to her right, in front of a shelf, was a person.


    The person was a human man. He had dark skin. His eyes and short hair were dark too, although the hair was graying in places. He sat on a wooden stool, staring down at a wooden bowl while he stirred whatever was in it. Probably soup.


    For a second, she was able to just take in him and the room. Then he slowly lifted his head, definitely noticing her open green eyes, staring at him.


    ¡°Oh, thank God. I don¡¯t want to know what it would¡¯ve looked like if you¡¯d died here.¡± He looked down. ¡°Aqua?¡±


    Something shifted below him, too low for Harmoni to have seen before. A long scaly head with a few pointy teeth poking out rose into her field of vision. Harmoni gasped, and the only reason it wasn¡¯t more obvious was because she was still so weak. It wasn¡¯t much of a gasp.


    The dragon in the room was blue, a darker shade on the back than the belly. The pattern where the two shades met sort of resembled waves. It had some spikes along its back, but the spikes were connected by webbing. The spines seemed more like bat wings, or frills on some reptiles, than a weapon. It was probably large, but its serpent like body let it sit comfortably in the room. Really, all those things made the dragon look like it would be better off in the water than a desert.


    The dragon also had red eyes, and it was intimidating to be so close to one. But all the dragon did was bring a cup up with its foot, webbing between its talons as well.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    The man took the cup and brought it to Harmoni. It looked like regular water. Tasted like regular water too, as Harmoni was in no condition to resist drinking it.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Harmoni croaked out once she could speak.


    ¡°I found you passed out along the side of the road,¡± the man explained.


    The dragon watched from over his shoulder. It looked suspicious, but maybe Harmoni was just bad at reading a dragon¡¯s emotions. She already might have underestimated their intelligence. This one had responded to the man calling for it by bringing up a glass of water, and was watching like it understood the whole conversation. She knew they had some brains in there. The other dragon had been helping the alchemist after all. But this went past even that.


    ¡°When I realized you weren¡¯t dead, well, I figured I¡¯d better make sure it stayed that way.¡±


    The man got the bowl of soup and brought it over. This time, Harmoni was a little more skeptical. Still, it smelled good. And the man was good at getting the water and soup in her mouth without making her choke on it.


    According to his story, if he¡¯d wanted her dead, there were much easier ways to do it. So she accepted the help, for now.


    ¡°What were you thinking?¡± the man asked, after getting some soup in her. ¡°And where are your parents?¡±


    That was a good question. Harmoni tried to focus, but she couldn¡¯t think of an answer. No ideas popped into her head, like when someone asked her name. And she wouldn¡¯t say she didn¡¯t remember. That would open up a completely different bag of worms. She wouldn¡¯t be telling a man she just met that she had total amnesia.


    ¡°Why would I tell you?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Aqua or I could let them know you''re still alive.¡± The man nodded to the dragon. ¡°And I¡¯d feel better knowing you got home after all this.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any parents,¡± she answered. She was ready to add to the lie, say she had an uncle in another town waiting for her, should she need it. You were safer if someone was expecting you. But she sort of wanted to see how he responded, get a hint on how to play this.


    ¡°Oh.¡± The man paused for a moment. ¡°Oh, I see.¡±


    He was clearly thinking about something. He looked to the side and covered his mouth with his thumb and finger, the other fingers curled up, but at least he didn¡¯t look overly sad about it. She didn¡¯t want him pitying something that was possibly a lie. Well, if she was from that destroyed town it was probably true. But she still couldn¡¯t remember any parents. It would be silly if he was sad about her hypothetical parents while she was not.


    The man meanwhile, had apparently come to his own conclusion. ¡°Tell you what, I¡¯ve been looking for an apprentice recently. Would you be interested?¡±


    Harmoni¡¯s fear was forgotten at that. She bolted into a sitting position, fast enough to make her hair swish. ¡°Yes!¡±


    Both the man and the dragon stared at her, and the fast movement made her head feel worse.


    ¡°You don¡¯t even know what I do yet,¡± the man pointed out.


    ¡°Sorry. I am interested. That was what you asked,¡± she pointed out. ¡°I¡¯m good at a lot of things. But I could change my mind later, if it makes you feel better.¡±


    She really, really wanted an apprenticeship. And he was the first one to offer, without her even asking. But she wasn''t stupid. A healthy dose of skepticism was good. So she hadn''t committed to anything yet.


    ¡°I see,¡± the man said. Harmoni didn¡¯t like the way he was frowning, but he let it go. ¡°My name is Udo. And the dragon is Aqua.¡±


    She nodded. ¡°Harmoni.¡±


    ¡°Well Harmoni, finish up your soup first, and then I can show you around.¡±


    Then Udo sat down on the stool, and started eating a second bowl. Turned out, he had his own soup.


    Well then, Harmoni could manage that. It felt good to get a real meal into her. So she sat on the bed and finished her soup.


    When both of them were done, Udo moved to the other end of the room, gesturing for her to follow.


    Harmoni got out of bed. She wobbled slightly, but was able to stay standing. She didn¡¯t even feel that tired any more. Her legs were just out of practice.


    The dragon, Aqua, stayed behind her as she joined Udo. He opened the door, and when they stepped out, they were literally in his business.


    The place they¡¯d just stepped into was large. It was at least two stories tall, and large enough to have multiple dragons the size of Aqua inside. It seemed he¡¯d gotten away with this by not having a fourth wall. There was a wall on the front and along either side, and the roof seemed to slope in that direction, making it taller in the back than the front. But then the back just opened up, creating more open space if you needed it.


    The walls that did exist were a pale blue. The floor had what Harmoni realized, after a moment, were pools. (They had the same pale blue tiles.) There were different sizes, but two of them were big enough to go past that missing wall. There were carts along the sides with herbs, rocks, and more bath supplies on them, easily able to be wheeled around. She saw things like brushes or clippers on one of them as well, but more heavy duty than anything she''d seen for a bath before. The brush looked like it should be scraping rust off of metal instead. Up at the front was a door, and a desk in the corner. There were two doors along the wall, one of them the one they''d just come from. And above them was a narrow metal walkway leading to more doors on the second floor. Looking to the side, Harmoni could see the staircase leading up there.


    Compared to this place, the room they¡¯d just come from must¡¯ve been a storage closet.


    ¡°Well, here we are.¡±

 4: Considerations

    ¡°It¡¯s nice, isn¡¯t it?¡± Udo asked. Funny, he almost didn¡¯t sound sure of himself. ¡°I was thinking-well, Aqua and I were thinking, there are plenty relaxation places for humans to pamper themselves. But nothing was set up for dragons.¡± Aqua nodded along.


    Harmoni squinted around.


    The desk up front had some brochures on it, too far away for Harmoni to make out, but there was also a large poster behind the desk. It had words too, but was mostly taken up by pictures.


    ¡°Many dragons can¡¯t read,¡± Udo explained with a shrug, evidently following her gaze.


    Right. Harmoni had just been staring out at the room without speaking for a while, with narrowed eyes at that.


    ¡°I¡¯d still be interested in working here, if you were wondering,¡± she told him.


    ¡°If you¡¯re sure?¡±


    Harmoni turned to him. Never mind her, was he sure?


    ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong. I could use some help. But I¡¯m not forcing you. There are other options.¡±


    ¡®Not that I¡¯ve seen,¡¯ Harmoni thought. But she wasn¡¯t about to point that out. ¡°No. I¡¯m sure.¡±


    Udo shrugged. ¡°OK. Let¡¯s get everything sorted then.¡±


    He led her into one of the doors behind them.


    Aqua slithered out of the storage room they''d come from, and stayed in the main room, but was glaring at Harmoni as the door closed. Harmoni didn¡¯t like the look. Having an angry dragon on the other side of the only door was making her nervous again.


    She tried to swallow it down as Udo looked around the room. She needed to be focused on what was going on, but not nervous. That would make things worse.


    They''d walked into some sort of office. It was a regular sized room with a regular sized desk and chair, clearly not made for a dragon to be in. Udo took a seat behind the desk. He had one of those spinning office chairs. Harmoni followed his lead and sat in the stationary chair in front of the desk. It was a little less fancy than Udo''s, but not uncomfortable.


    ¡°Right then. If you could just write your name down here.¡±


    Udo handed her a paper. Harmoni scrawled her name on it and he took it back.


    ¡°Huh. That''s a surprise spelling,¡± he commented. He took the pen and started writing some things of his own. ¡°How old are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m 29,¡± she guessed. At Udo¡¯s expression she quickly elaborated. ¡°That would be about fifteen in human years.¡±


    Udo glanced at her ears, and Harmoni had to resist making sure they were completely covered with her hair. Maybe she should¡¯ve lied and just said 15? But he or the dragon had surely noticed the ears before.


    Udo was no longer looking at her though. He was writing. He took a minuet or two to finish, the both of them sitting in silence. Harmoni could try to read what was going on the paper. His hand writing was clean enough. But she couldn¡¯t read upside down that well.


    ¡°OK. . .¡± Udo said, finishing up on something. ¡°You¡¯ll be working here Wednesday through Sunday. You¡¯ll work either from 8 until noon or noon until 4, depending on what I need. Does that work for you?¡±


    Well it wasn¡¯t like she had anything else going on. If anything, that sounded like too little. But she nodded. If she needed to, it probably wouldn¡¯t be too hard to ask for more hours after she¡¯d started.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°OK. I have a guest room at my house you can stay at. I can add meals as well, but it would mean you¡¯d barely be paid anything.¡±


    ¡°Woah, woah, wait,¡± Harmoni said, sitting bolt upright again. ¡°That¡¯s too much. That¡¯s. . .¡±


    Not to mention . . . well, it wasn¡¯t Udo specifically. She trusted him as much as she trusted any of the people she¡¯d tried to get an apprenticeship with, maybe even a bit more. But there was a difference between working with someone and living in their house.


    ¡°It¡¯s not too much. You think I¡¯m going to let you wander the desert like when I found you?¡± Udo asked. ¡°I have a guest room that is magically enchanted to disappear and reappear as needed. I didn¡¯t make it. It was just like that when I got the house. But the point is, it would be no effort to let you stay there. It has no negative effect on me whatsoever, and is only a positive for you.¡±


    ¡°But . . . why are you helping me?¡±


    People didn¡¯t just do that. Did they?


    ¡°Because I can,¡± Udo said, evidently thinking people did do that. They both stared at each other for a moment. ¡°You don¡¯t trust me.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t a question. It wasn¡¯t a surprise revelation either. Udo sighed and leaned back in his chair.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure I can calm your concerns, but let¡¯s try. What ulterior motive could I have? If I wanted you dead, or if I wanted to rob you, I could¡¯ve done both while you were unconscious. If I wanted to ransom you back to your parents, we have already established that wouldn¡¯t work. If you¡¯re worried about something of a more . . . unsavory nature, several people in town could tell you how uninterested I am in anyone, much less that.¡±


    He . . . had a point. She still couldn''t understand why he''d do so much for her, but she couldn¡¯t think of anything bad he could do that he couldn¡¯t have already done. People who brought you back to consciousness were probably some of the most trustworthy people you could find. She just . . . was surprised, if that was really it.


    ¡°If it helps, there is one thing I would like you to do for this apprenticeship.¡±


    Actually, that might help. She nodded. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like you to bond with a dragon.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°The dragons in town. The only ones who live with us have bonded with a rider. Well, that¡¯s what they call us,¡± Udo added when he saw the funny look she was giving him. ¡°It¡¯s easier to bond with one when you¡¯re younger. And working in a spa for dragons, it would certainly help to have one. Can you do that?¡±


    Again, he was trying to give her choice, but Harmoni didn¡¯t see how she had one. She could ¡°bond¡± with a dragon, whatever that meant, and have someplace to work and stay. Or she could refuse and be back and square one. Those were the options, weren¡¯t they?


    ¡°Am I bonding with a dragon right away?¡± she asked.


    Udo shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s dark out.¡± The sun had been setting when they entered the office, but maybe it had disappeared by now. ¡°We¡¯ll go tomorrow. Or, if there¡¯s a specific day you had in mind. . .¡±


    ¡°The day after tomorrow,¡± Harmoni said.


    If she had a free day, she could ask someone about bonding with dragons. She could maybe even run away if she needed to. Though she hoped it wouldn¡¯t come to that.


    ¡°Alright. The day after tomorrow,¡± Udo agreed. ¡°Now, how about we iron out the rest of the paperwork.¡±


    He showed her what he had so far. Harmoni¡¯s name was at the top of the paper. Below was the schedule he¡¯d told her about, and the pay he¡¯d give her, with the note that a small amount would be taken out for her living arrangements.


    ¡°I could take out some for meals too, or you could arrange those on your own.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have one meal with you. Each day.¡±


    That would guarantee she was getting something and hopefully leave her making some money. She had a feeling that would come in handy. For getting an outfit other than what she''d woken up in, for example. How many days had she been wearing that? Three days? Four?


    Udo nodded and added it to the paper.


    ¡°Now, I know elves are vegetarian,¡± Udo said. Correct. Elves had a harder time digesting meat. The only thing they¡¯d have were shellfish, or things like that. ¡°Are you . . .?¡±


    Harmoni couldn¡¯t remember. Of course. ¡°It¡¯s better to play it safe.¡±


    She wasn¡¯t going to risk finally getting some food, only to throw it up.


    Udo nodded. She was almost astounded that he was still willing to cook for her, if it meant going vegetarian once a day, but he¡¯d already been so generous the shock was wearing off.


    They discussed a little bit more. Like how often Harmoni should be paid, and if she had any other possessions they should grab. Harmoni said she wasn¡¯t going to bring anything else with her, but she worded it vaguely, so it was possible did have possessions she simply wasn¡¯t bringing. But overall, the rest was all pretty basic. They had the broad strokes down. They were just ironing out the details.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Udo said. He handed Harmoni a copy of the paper. It seemed he¡¯d pressed hard enough to make two copies. ¡°How about I show you the guest room?¡±


    Yes, that sounded good. And then she could figure out just how big the catch was, to working here.

 5: Investigation

    Udo¡¯s house wasn¡¯t far from the dragon spa. (That''s what she was calling it now, anyway.) It was the next street over to the East and took maybe two minutes to get to. Harmoni looked around on the way there, but honestly there wasn¡¯t much to see. She hadn¡¯t walked down the block the spa was on before now, but nothing much stood out on it. It was the last street in this area, opening up onto the desert to the South. This made it easier for the building to have a missing wall, she supposed, since it just opened up to desert. She had walked down the block Udo lived on, but it seemed to be all houses.


    Udo opened the door and the two stepped inside.


    Harmoni couldn¡¯t help but let out a little sight of relief. After being in the hot desert for so long, it was nice to be someplace cool.


    She took a brief look around. To the right was what looked like a living room. Ahead of them was a hall that opened to a kitchen. There was also a staircase ahead of them. It was narrow, leaving more space for the hallway, but at least it didn¡¯t look steep.


    ¡°Shoes off in the house please,¡± Udo said.


    He slipped his own off and started to climb the staircase.


    Harmoni couldn¡¯t take her own shoes off nearly as easily. She quickly fumbled with her shoelaces, and jogged after him.


    They reached the landing. The hall swerved to the right, with doors along it, but there was also a door to the left. Harmoni frowned as Udo turned to that one. She¡¯d seen the house from the outside. The second floor was smaller than the first. (Not that it was a huge house to start with.) This door shouldn¡¯t open to anything except a wall.


    That was obviously not what happened. At first, when he opened the door, it looked like a brick wall. But then the bricks moved back and out, stretching into a regular rectangular room. Objects popped up like the room was a popup book. Or maybe it was like a tent. You could fold it up for travel, and then make it expand with a tug. When it was finished, the walls were white and the floor had carpeting. The room had a bed, a dresser, and a chair. There was even a door that led to a very small closet. As she walked into the room to see it, the carpet gave a soft bounce beneath her, and if she pressed the wall it seemed real enough. Everything in the room was a very plain white, but it looked comfortable. And honestly, the bed and the room itself was bigger than she needed.


    ¡°I take it this will work?¡± Udo asked.


    Harmoni nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡± She knew she was still a little distant, metaphorically speaking. She was caught up in whatever magic this was. ¡°This is good.¡±


    Udo smiled. ¡°If you¡¯d like to make changes to the room, you¡¯re welcome to. Although, if it¡¯s a permanent change, run it by me first. Now, I¡¯m going to my room. If you need anything, it¡¯s the door on the right side of the hall. You get settled in tomorrow. The next day will be busy.¡±


    Right. Because she¡¯d have to bond with a dragon.


    She shut the door once Udo had walked away, sliding down it to sit on the carpet. This was the first time she¡¯d been alone since she¡¯d gone unconscious. She was fine. Everything was fine.


    Except, she had to figure out what bonding with a dragon meant. She wasn¡¯t going to get any sleep tonight, was she? Maybe she could ask someone tonight instead of tomorrow? It was late, but surely some people with dragons were still up.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    She listened at the door. She didn¡¯t hear anyone moving around. She opened the door a crack, and looked around. She didn¡¯t see Udo or Aqua.


    With that, she slipped out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind her. She was good at making her movements quiet when she wanted, and she was soon down the stairs and out the front door without anyone asking where she was going.


    ~~~


    ¡°You want to know about owning a dragon?¡±


    Harmoni nodded.


    Once again, she hadn¡¯t even had to ask. The zenny here repaired spaceships. As soon as she¡¯d approached, he¡¯d spoken up.


    He was standing on a dragon¡¯s head, the dragon helping him reach high spots on the spaceship. The dragon rolled its eyes. Was it doing that towards the zenny? That made more sense than rolling its eyes at her.


    The zenny set a wrench on top of the spaceship, and put his hands on his hips. His hands were so grimy they would stain the clothes, if they weren¡¯t already black. Was that why the zenny¡¯s typically had black uniforms for space travel?


    ¡°I suppose I can humor you,¡± the zenny said. ¡°For starters, you don¡¯t really own a dragon. Or if you do, they own you as well.¡±


    Harmoni was confused. The zenny continued. And this time, she doubted he was seeing the future. She hadn¡¯t been planning to say anything.


    ¡°When you ¡®get¡¯ a dragon, you go to one of their homes, and sit with them. There¡¯s a mutual decision where you and a dragon decide you like each other. I¡¯m not sure how you find each other. Magic, I suppose. Magic is also what allows you to bond. It connects your souls.¡±


    Harmoni gasped and couldn¡¯t help the little lurch she did. ¡°You mean a bond with a dragon meddles with my soul?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t really consider sharing to be meddling. Or if it is, you¡¯d both be meddling.¡±


    ¡°Why would anyone do that?¡± Harmoni asked.


    ¡°Hey! You realize you¡¯re talking to two of us who did do that?¡±


    The dragon huffed, apparently also indignant.


    The zenny carried on. ¡°Personally, I don''t see why you wouldn''t want that. Why would you get married? Why would you stay in touch with family after you move out? Why would you have a pet? People like company, and a dragon can fill that role better than anything. You¡¯re always connected, even when you¡¯re not close by. And you can understand each other better than anyone else. There''s no misunderstandings, or judgements, and you can help each other through your connection. I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m not good at explaining this. . .¡±


    He looked back at her and sighed. ¡°And I can see I¡¯m not getting through to you. Well, tell you what. Bonding with a dragon has to be a mutual decision. If you go there, and a dragon wants to bond with you, you still have to decide to make that connection. To agree to it. If you get there and still don¡¯t want to bond with a dragon, it¡¯s not going to happen.¡±


    Harmoni straightened up a bit.


    The zenny sighed and ran a hand across his face. ¡°Yes, really. Can I get back to work now?¡±


    ¡°Right. Sorry to bother you sir. And thank you.¡±


    With that, Harmoni turned and headed back into the city. (Ship repairs were naturally done at the edge, where there was more space.) By now, it was getting late, and dark. A few street lamps lit the way, but they seemed to be placed without any rhyme or reason. She saw more from lights inside buildings, or the stars above. Or the moons. There were three moons for Xentron, it seemed. All of them were in different phases in the sky, one of them incredibly hard to find.


    Well, Xentron was a pretty big planet. Did that make it more likely to get moons?


    She wasn''t really worried about bumping into trouble. She¡¯d been wandering around outside all day and night before this, and nothing had happened. Sure enough, she got back to Udo¡¯s home without any issue, and slipped inside.


    She stayed in the landing for a moment, ready to hide in case she¡¯d woken anyone up. But if she had woken Udo, he wasn¡¯t coming. She went back up to her new room, and laid in bed.


    The zenny was right about his inability to explain. Harmoni wasn¡¯t sure she understood this ¡°bonding¡± any better than before, and what she did pick up raised more questions than it answered. But he had said bonding with a dragon was optional, that she had to want it. And that part was good. With that cleared up, she was able to calm down, at least enough to get to sleep. Her eyes got heavier until she closed them, falling into dreamless sleep.

 6: The Cave

    Someone was knocking on the door. Harmoni groaned and rolled over onto her back, arm falling over her face. The bed was so soft and comfortable. She didn¡¯t want to get up yet.


    ¡°Harmoni? Are you awake in there?¡±


    Harmoni¡¯s eyes snapped open at the unfamiliar voice. And for a second, the room seemed unfamiliar too. Then the context came back to her.


    Yesterday had been a nice break in the action. By the time she''d woken up, Udo and Aqua were gone. And she''d already asked about dragon bonds, so she didn''t have anything pressing to do. She''d gotten cleaned off and tried to relax. She hadn''t eaten much, lying when Udo asked, but it had been enough.


    But now that was over. It was time to get to work.


    ¡°Harmoni?¡±


    ¡°Coming Udo!¡±


    Harmoni swallowed thickly. She got up and looked at the small mirror on top of her dresser, in the corner. She was a mess. Her brown hair was matted. Her shirt was wrinkled, considering how many days she¡¯d worn it while sleeping outside. She smoothed down her shirt and pants, and ran a hand through her hair. It didn¡¯t actually make her any cleaner, but it did make her look a bit more presentable.


    She opened the door. ¡°So, where to?¡±


    Udo gestures towards the stairs with his head. ¡°This way. We¡¯ll take Aqua.¡±


    Harmoni was a bit confused by that, but it turned out, he was being completely and sincerely literal. Aqua stood outside with a foot extended. Udo climbed it like a ramp and sat on her shoulders, gripping one of her spikes with one hand. The skin flaps Harmoni had seen before, that should make that difficult, weren''t there now. She could fold them down? Udo extended his other hand to Harmoni.


    Well, she couldn¡¯t reach his hand from the ground. She looked at Aqua. The dragon looked back impatiently. Harmoni took a deep breath and started up the dragon¡¯s leg. It wasn¡¯t steep or anything like that. But it was a leg. It sloped. It had the hard scales outside, but it was still soft. Different than climbing a solid path.


    Harmoni slipped and wobbled on the smooth scales. Her hands swung out on either side of her, but Udo caught her wrist, and pulled her up. She took a seat behind him.


    ¡°Ready?¡±


    Harmoni swallowed thickly, but nodded. Even though Aqua hadn¡¯t seen, she must¡¯ve gotten some sort of cue from Udo, because she launched herself down the street.


    ¡°Woah!¡± Harmoni cried.


    Harmoni didn¡¯t know if she¡¯d ridden any animals before, obviously, but this was an experience. Aqua¡¯s body moved less up and down and more side to side like a snake, even as she ran with four limbs. She didn¡¯t have to pay attention to things like roads or rails like a vehicle, and just seemed to be taking the shortest route. Her body was wider than a horse, and the scales could be painful if Harmoni rubbed against them the wrong way. Fortunately, she¡¯d have to be swaying back and forth to experience that, and that wasn¡¯t happening. Harmoni was jerked left and right instead.


    Udo didn¡¯t seem to be having any problems. He even grabbed Harmoni when she slid too far to the right, almost losing her spot entirely.


    As they reached the edge of the city, Harmoni got more used to the movement. She swayed less. Udo didn¡¯t have to grab her.


    Aqua ran across the sand as well as she ran in the city, but it was more than that. This was a direction Harmoni hadn¡¯t gone in before. The ground was turning more to dirt than sand. The air itself felt less dry. Which was a relief. Harmoni¡¯s face had stung before.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    The desert plants fell away, trees growing instead. At first, they were very small. You could mistake them for bushes or grasses. Harmoni was sure Aqua must¡¯ve stepped on some of the saplings sprouting up around them. Then they got bigger. Taller than Aqua. Taller than the buildings in the city. Taller and wider than Harmoni realized trees got. Aqua shoved off one of the trees with her leg, a good way to change directions without changing speeds. It didn¡¯t even leave a mark in the bark.


    It was darker now as well. Some sun got through the leaves, but even that seemed far away.


    Then, abruptly, they were slowing down. Harmoni lost her balance again, and Udo caught her.


    She looked out. It was hard to tell, with all the tree trunks, bushes, and vines, but there was a cave nearby. A tree was growing on top of a rock formation, and there was a small hole in that rock formation. It was too dark to see much inside, but the hole clearly went down.


    It seemed a little small for dragons to go in and out of though.


    ¡°Well, this is the place,¡± Udo said. He slid off Aqua. (He slid off with a lot of grace, considering how wide and tall Aqua was.) ¡°Are you ready?¡±


    ¡°As ready as I¡¯ll ever be,¡± she answered honestly.


    Harmoni didn¡¯t want to jump down like Udo had. She tried to climb down Aqua, slipped on her scales, and had to be caught by him.


    (She was pretty sure she¡¯d nicked her hand on a scale, but since blood wasn¡¯t streaming out it wasn¡¯t a big deal.)


    ¡°Is this really a dragon¡¯s cave?¡± Harmoni asked, tilting her head.


    ¡°Yes.¡± A moment later, Udo seemed to realize the problem she was really thinking of, and elaborated. ¡°This entrance is basically only used by us rider species. The dragons have a different entrance.¡±


    Well that did make more sense.


    The two walked up to the hole. Harmoni slid down. There was a bit of a drop at first, but not too bad. If you were tall, you wouldn¡¯t slide at all. She turned back towards Udo, standing on her toes to see him.


    He shrugged. ¡°I can come with if you like. But I¡¯d just be standing there.¡±


    Well true, maybe she didn¡¯t want him as an audience. Harmoni nodded, and hoped her head didn¡¯t tremble too much. ¡°I¡¯ll go on my own then.¡±


    She was so quick to turn away, she almost missed it when Udo smiled and waved. She waved back, and headed deeper into the cavern.


    While the entrance to the cave had been small, dark, and unassuming, it didn¡¯t stay that way. After dropping below ground and walking a few paces, the tunnel opened up into a large cavern. There were several other tunnels along the wall here. All of them were huge, large enough for the dragons she¡¯d seen to get through. It was also brighter now. The cavern she was in had fire burning along the wall. She wasn¡¯t even sure how that was possible, seeing as the flames just seemed to be sprouting out of the rocks. Rocks weren¡¯t flammable last she checked. But it was happening. It bathed the round cavern in a mostly red light.


    Harmoni took a few more steps forward and peered down the tunnels. They were lit too, either by more flaming rocks, or by rocks that glowed in the dark. One of the tunnels even looked like it had glowing mushrooms.


    Harmoni frowned. She wasn¡¯t sure which way to go. All the tunnels looked different because of how they were lit, or their general shape. So there was no going down the same tunnel twice. But she didn¡¯t know where any of them led, so this would still take a while if she had to guess.


    There was nothing here but the sound of dripping water. She couldn¡¯t see where it was coming from. Probably one of the tunnels.


    Then a clicking noise came from behind her. Harmoni tensed up and turned around.


    There was a dragon there. It resembled gray mossy rocks near water rather well. If the cave wasn¡¯t filled with fire, Harmoni might not have seen the dragon at all. But there was still something majestic about this one, same as the others. And Harmoni didn¡¯t like the look it was giving her.


    That was becoming a bit of a pattern. Oh no. Was she really here for bonding? Or were they going to eat her or something?


    She shuffled back a step. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said. ¡°I was told to come here by my boss. I¡¯m . . . supposed to bond with a dragon?¡±


    Would the dragon understand her at all? She didn¡¯t know enough about dragons to understand how that worked.


    The dragon stared at her impassively for a moment. Though that was better than glaring at her. Then it snorted. It turned around and started back down a tunnel. It had just fit its entire body down said tunnel when it looked back at her. It flicked its tail. The movement reminded her of a hand gesture when someone wanted you to follow them.


    She hesitated, but took a step forward. When she didn¡¯t become a pillar of fire, she took another step. As she got closer, step by step, the dragon snorted and continued walking down the tunnel. For a creature that size, it was moving slowly, taking small steps.


    Well, Harmoni wasn¡¯t stupid. It was clear by now that she was supposed to follow, so she did.

 7: Fleck

    The tunnel Harmoni and the dragon went down wasn¡¯t very long. It quickly led to a large, brightly lit cavern. The light in this one was more yellow and white than the red outside. A bit less intimidating. It was almost perfectly round, with only the one way in and out. There were stalactites, stalagmites, and other rock formations. But any rock formations in here seemed smooth compared to most caves.


    And there were several young dragons in here. Harmoni could tell they were young dragons by their size and behavior. They reminded Harmoni a bit of puppies or kittens. They ran around playing tug of war, knocking each other off of higher ledges, or batting at each other¡¯s tails. And none of them were taller than her knee.


    There were other people too, five of them. None of them were older than her, and a few were younger. They sat watching the dragons. A dwarf and human briefly glanced her way when she came in, but the others didn¡¯t look away. They mostly eyed the dragons like they were looking for one specifically, but had only been given a poor description of what they looked like.


    The dragons paid Harmoni more mind than the other people. Only, it wasn¡¯t good attention. Several of them moved further away from her. A few of them growled at her. All of them became more alert as she entered.


    Harmoni tried to shuffle back at the attention, but the large dragon who¡¯d led her in snorted, and shoved her forward with its head.


    Harmoni stumbled forward, limbs flailing. She tripped over one of the smaller dragons running below her, though she managed to catch herself before face planting into the rocks.


    ¡°Oh. I-I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said, turning back towards the dragon.


    The little thing stuck its tongue out, tongue zipping back and forth like a snake. Then it turned and darted away.


    Harmoni pushed herself to her knees, but didn¡¯t go any farther, simply staring at the ground. She hadn¡¯t been interested in bonding with a dragon, but this was going worse than she¡¯d expected. She wasn¡¯t in a hurry to stand back up and deal with more of it. But she wasn¡¯t going to cry either. The last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of people younger than her, and dragons who seemed to hate her.


    She kept her expression blank and took a few deep breaths. When she was ready, she lifted her head.


    There were fewer people and dragons in here now. Maybe she could go back to Udo too, tell him it hadn¡¯t gone very well. It was certainly true.


    Then, something nudged her hand. Harmoni turned. Below her was a golden dragon, with a silver belly, about the size of a cat. It was looking up at her, blinking with big snakelike gray eyes. Its snout looked softer than the rest of its scaly body, which probably explained why the touch had been soft.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Harmoni said. ¡°I¡¯ll be leaving in a moment.¡±


    The golden dragon tilted its head in confusion. Then it shook its head.


    ¡°What?¡±


    The dragon nudged her again.


    Harmoni frowned, not understanding. She got up and headed towards the exit. The dragon who¡¯d led her there wasn¡¯t even there anymore. She should be able to leave easily. It was just before the reached the tunnel that she felt it.


    The zenny was right. This was a hard feeling to describe. It was like string, or little wisps of spider web. The feeling lightly brushed against her, but like it was brushing against her mind instead of her body.


    She turned back to the dragon, who was sitting there and staring at her.


    ¡°Is that . . . you?¡± she asked.


    It nodded.


    ¡°You . . . you want to bond with me?¡±


    It was the only explanation she could think of.


    It nodded again.


    He. The dragon was a he.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Harmoni asked. She took a couple steps closer, and squatted so that they were closer to eye level. She herself wasn¡¯t sure, but that wasn¡¯t why she was asking right now. ¡°Everyone else is avoiding me.¡±


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    The dragon shrugged. If Harmoni focused on the wisps brushing past her she could get . . . sensations from them. Right now, for example, the dragon really didn¡¯t care what other dragons thought. He had a confidence in himself that Harmoni wasn¡¯t sure if she envied, or was embarrassed by. After all, you had to care at least a little about what others thought, right?


    ¡®Do you not want to bond?¡¯


    Harmoni jolted in surprise. And considering she was already squatting, she tipped backwards.


    The dragon grabbed her arm in his mouth and pulled to stop her from slamming against the rocks. She could pick up the feeling that he didn¡¯t want her hurt.


    She¡¯d picked up his thought too. At least, that must¡¯ve been his thought. He hadn¡¯t made any noise, and she knew it came from him. The voice was a boy, but probably before puberty started making the voice deeper.


    ¡®Sorry. We don¡¯t have to bond if you don¡¯t want to.¡¯


    The dragon did want to bond, but he couldn¡¯t force her. And okay, he supposed he wouldn¡¯t force her, even if he could.


    It was amazing how much easier it was to pick up on the dragon¡¯s perspective, the longer they interacted.


    Harmoni knew she could still sever the connection. The wisps fell away from here if her mind didn''t reach for them. She could end this as easily as hanging up the phone. But now, she wasn¡¯t sure she wanted to. She knew this was sort of a big deal, that things wouldn''t be the same if she accepted him. But what had she had before anyway? She hadn''t had a normal connection with anyone since she woke up in that destroyed town, much less a magical one. It was comforting to have another presence with her. It felt less invasive or mind altering than she''d expected.


    And it was like holding the last piece of a puzzle, or the last piece of a clock. She didn¡¯t have to slide the last piece into place, but it would be considerably more satisfying to do so.


    So she did.


    ~~~


    They didn¡¯t leave right away. The dragon had to talk to an adult, and let them know who he was with and where he was going. It gave Harmoni more time to adjust to the bond.


    They could communicate with their mind, with their thoughts, like the dragon had done earlier. But they didn¡¯t really need to. Harmoni seemed to have some of the knowledge the dragon did. She knew which way he would turn before he moved. She knew he didn¡¯t have any parents, but did have two older sisters, both bonded to people. She could tell he was a little smug to finally join them in having a rider. She could tell that was the emotion he was feeling, and could even feel a bit of it herself.


    It was a bit odd, and the dragon certainly agreed with that.


    Harmoni did get to see some cool bits of the cave this way. The craziest part was the large cavern, wide enough for dragons to take off in, and deep enough Harmoni could see only darkness. She could see a few dragons spread their wings and glide across, or one who jumped out across from them, and dove to a deeper level.


    Once the dragon was done talking to an adult, they needed a bit of teamwork to get out of the cave. Harmoni knew the exit they were looking for, the one that would take her back to Udo, but she didn¡¯t have the foggiest idea how to get there at this point.


    The dragon wasn¡¯t too familiar with that exit, but he knew the area she¡¯d ended up in. He took the lead, bringing them back in that direction.


    They reached the entrance. It was a bit of work to climb back out. First the dragon scaled up out of the cave, then he turned around and helped pull her up. Udo must have caught on because he joined a moment later, grabbing Harmoni¡¯s outstretched arms and helping her get up.


    Udo seemed happy. She couldn¡¯t tell how Aqua felt.


    Aqua was pulling a pretty good poker face in general, but she¡¯d probably talk to him later.


    Harmoni frowned. Aqua having a name, just made it more obvious her dragon did not. She had knowledge from him, and he knew her name. Surely that was something she should¡¯ve learned.


    The dragon also frowned, or at least the dragon equivalent of it. He did have a name, and Harmoni should really already know it, but most riders had trouble making the sounds for dragon names. Their vocal cords and mouths weren¡¯t made to pronounce that. Certainly not the elves.


    ¡®I¡¯m only half elf, actually,¡¯ she thought at him.


    ¡®Oh. My bad.¡¯


    Just when he thought he had the rider species down, something had to go and be needlessly complicated.


    The point still stood though. He and Harmoni would need a name she could call him out loud. Normally, they¡¯d need one he could call her as well, but since her name was an actual word, he could just translate.


    That didn¡¯t seem fair to Harmoni, but she could tell the dragon seemed excited about getting a new nickname. She supposed, if she had to come up with a different name for dragons to call her, it wouldn¡¯t be too bad. She wouldn¡¯t be all happy about it like him, but she couldn¡¯t mind it.


    Well, with that out of the way, she should come up with naming ideas. The dragon thought they should pick a name that was already a word, like Harmoni¡¯s. Harmoni had to admit she felt a little put on the spot. She wasn¡¯t even sure if she should go with a human name, or more like what you¡¯d name an animal. Aqua was the latter.


    Well, the dragon was gold. Maybe she could do something with that. What was gold? Rays of sunlight, apples, shells? Only one of those was a good name. Gold came in bricks, foils, flecks-


    ¡®That¡¯s a good one.¡¯


    With their odd bond, she had no doubt which word he¡¯d responded to, and she could feel his approval almost as if it was her own. She checked anyway.


    ¡®You want to be named Fleck?¡¯


    ¡®Absolutely.¡¯


    The dragon nodded. He knew Harmoni thought it was odd, and he knew why. But he liked the name, thought it was fitting. And it was going to be his name, not hers.


    Fair enough. Harmoni smiled faintly. ¡®Fleck it is.¡¯

 8: The FIrst Day

    ¡°I take it you have a name for your dragon?¡± Udo asked.


    Harmoni had almost forgotten she¡¯d left him and Aqua hanging. Luckily, they didn¡¯t seem to mind. Udo had gotten a bucket of water that Aqua was now drinking from, and he was watching her. When he picked a branch out of her scales, Harmoni figured out what he was doing, giving Aqua some nice treatment after she got them here.


    It probably hadn¡¯t even been that long. Communicating through thoughts, and information they automatically got from each other, had to be faster than talking.


    Anyway, Udo¡¯s question.


    ¡°Er, yes. This is Fleck.¡± She gestured to Fleck, while Fleck made his own introduction to Aqua.


    ¡°Pleasure to meet you Fleck,¡± Udo said.


    Aqua, meanwhile, made a low rumbling noise. She bumped her nose against Fleck¡¯s.


    Aqua swung her neck back to Udo. ¡°We should get going.¡±


    Harmoni tried not to jump at suddenly understanding Aqua, and having her be so normal. So that was how it worked.


    Given Fleck could communicate with his rider without speaking, had Aqua spoken out loud for his sake?


    Udo nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s get back to shop.¡±


    Right. It was late morning. Udo¡¯s shop should be open by now, right? Harmoni didn¡¯t know what time it was right now, or normal spa hours.


    Neither did Fleck.


    ~~~


    ¡°Now, I¡¯ve got a few calls to make. Aqua can show you what to do, can¡¯t you?¡±


    Aqua nodded.


    They¡¯d made it back to the shop. Udo headed for his office, while Aqua flipped the sign around to open with her tail as they filed in.


    Another flick of her tail was a gesture for them to follow. The two headed to another door, Fleck in the lead, as Aqua opened the closet.


    Fleck backed up a step or two. The smell of the cleaning supplies were strong, and sometimes contradictory.


    Harmoni¡¯s nose was definitely not that strong. Aside from cleaning liquids, she could see buckets, mops, sponges, and large brushes on broom handles.


    Yes, aside from the cleaning closet, Fleck was much better and smelling the main area as well. While Harmoni was just getting floral smells, Fleck could tell you the specific smell. He also picked up some other scents, like sand, cave, or lava rocks.


    Harmoni didn''t think that was the typical smells of soaps.


    They were scents dragons might like.


    But now he had to focus.


    Aqua rumbled some instructions to Fleck. Unlike most rider languages, dragons didn¡¯t just communicate in the spoke word. Body language, especially the wings or tails, was useful. They could also use smells, or even use smoke or water to communicate. But Aqua was mostly audibly speaking, and flicking her tail for this.


    She wanted them to start cleaning the two small pools. She would work on the larger pools, but if any customers came in, Aqua would deal with that.


    Harmoni grabbed a bucket, and put a small amount of bleach in it. Aqua then sprayed water in, from her mouth. It was the way most dragons looked when they breathed fire, but a different substance.


    When the bucket was full, Aqua went off to one of the larger pools.


    Harmoni and Fleck looked at each other, and dropped into the closest pool. Harmoni took one of the brushes with a broom handle, and used it to start cleaning the walls. Fleck just held a brush between his teeth and started that way. Harmoni tried not to stare when he put the brush in the water, getting bleach on his teeth and open mouth in the process. She knew he¡¯d be fine.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Hopefully they could finish before more sand blew into the pool. There were covers, but they couldn¡¯t keep that over the pool while cleaning it.


    Together they worked in silence. Harmoni didn¡¯t mind. This was a simple task, with obvious results. When she wiped a part particularly well, she could see her reflection in it. After all the worrying, this was nice to work on. But even the smallest pool here was pretty big, and they were alone, so this was a good chance to talk.


    ¡®Hey Fleck?¡¯ Harmoni thought. ¡®Do you know why dragons always seem so . . . angry to see me?¡¯


    Fleck slowed. ¡®It¡¯s because you smell.¡¯


    Wait. No. He¡¯d explained that badly.


    He had, but it made Harmoni laugh. She quickly covered her mouth to muffle the sound.


    ¡®It¡¯s because you smell like foul magic.¡¯


    Well, that was the best word he could think to use for it anyway. She stank because she had some sort of magic, in a negative way.


    Fleck had never smelled foul magic before her, so he didn¡¯t realize. The dragon he¡¯d talked to on the way out had told him.


    He did know a little about what that meant though. Dragons were a bit different than the rider species when it came to magic. While most species felt magic, it was more appropriate to say dragons smelled magic. So it was a different experience, and there weren''t always nice parallels. He supposed if another species felt this, they would be feeling dark magic. That was when you did bad things, and it made your magic stronger. But doing bad things didn¡¯t always make your magic stronger, that would be crazy, so there was something else involved. But he didn''t know what. He barely knew about about foul magic much less dark magic.


    Harmoni wasn¡¯t laughing now. Her brush clattered to the ground. She could tell from their connection, that bad things weren¡¯t mild. It wasn¡¯t like shoplifting some gum. It was more like killing, or torturing.


    ¡°But-but I haven¡¯t done anything!¡± Harmoni shrieked, out loud. She pressed her palms to her chest, but then dug her fingers in, like she was trying to grip her own heart.


    Fleck flinched at the high pitched noise.


    Harmoni pressed on, too distressed to care. ¡°I couldn¡¯t have-I don¡¯t want to do anything wrong!¡±


    ¡°I know!¡± Fleck jumped, claws hitting the tiles. He growled a little for emphasis, stomping his front feet like a particularly angry skunk. ¡°Let me finish! I said it was the closest parallel! I didn''t say it was the same thing! Magic smelling bad is like bread smelling bad. It could be evil, but there''s other reasons bread might smell bad. You could have a foul magic smell for like, being sick or something.¡± Or, more liked cursed.


    "That''s not helping," Harmoni told him, voice going high.


    ''Pull yourself together,'' Fleck thought, remembering they didn''t need to speak out loud, and that maybe he shouldn''t belt these things out loud for everyone in the large room to hear. ''I can smell you too, and I chose to bond with you. You think I''d do that with someone evil?''


    Admittedly, no. Fleck was feisty, a little firecracker, but he was very confident in his own goodness, and Harmoni agreed.


    He was very confident in her goodness too. He wasn¡¯t just . . . tolerating her, or something. He liked her. He¡¯d permanently fused his soul with her. He didn¡¯t think she had any dark deeds to worry about.


    Before Harmoni could question that logic, she heard the front door open and shut, and heard the sound of very quiet footsteps on the floor. She tensed. Had a customer come in? But, the customers were dragons, and those footsteps were clearly too light.


    Harmoni moved to the edge of the pool, and carefully peered just over the top.


    Staying out of sight was a wasted effort. The person there was already looking down on her and Fleck, nose wrinkled, brow furrowed just a little.


    Said person was an elf. She had light skin, brown eyes, and black hair. Unlike many of the people Harmoni had seen in the city, she hadn¡¯t done anything with her hair. It just dropped down to the middle of her back, a strand or two lying limply over her face.


    ¡°So, you¡¯re Udo¡¯s new help,¡± she said.


    Harmoni heard the skeptical intonation on the word ¡°help,¡± and the way her eyes briefly darted towards Harmoni¡¯s ears. She thought her own long hair was a good way of hiding those, but maybe she could find a more consistent way to cover them.


    But Harmoni nodded, confirming the statement.


    The elf sighed. ¡°Very well. I am Ferren, Udo¡¯s work partner. I don¡¯t have a dragon, but I¡¯d say I do good work.¡±


    Ferren dropped down into the pool beside them, bringing another bucket along. ¡°Now, let¡¯s get back to work. We need to get this done, preferably before someone needs it. Be efficient.¡±


    Her voice wasn''t sharp or harsh per say, but she was very confident and to-the-point about ordering Harmoni around.


    Harmoni didn¡¯t think elves usually rushed that much. Why worry about getting things done when you lived forever? But she certainly wasn¡¯t going to argue, especially not on her first day.


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡±


    ¡°Well, at least you have some manners.¡±


    They went back to working in silence. If Ferren had something more to say, she could speak. Harmoni didn¡¯t.


    A customer came in while they worked. Aqua brought the dragon to a different pool, leaving the trio to themselves.


    Then, ¡°So where are you from, little half of?¡±


    Harmoni gripped her brush a little hard, causing it to slip against the tiles. They were basically done, but she stayed in the pool and kept her voice low, like Ferren had done, giving themselves a little privacy.


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember?¡±


    Ferren¡¯s vaguely guarded expression dropped for the first time. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I . . . don¡¯t remember. I have amnesia,¡± Harmoni tried explain. She suddenly felt like she¡¯d done something wrong. She had kept this a secret before now after all. But between Udo''s kindness bringing her guard down, and her mind distracted by several other things, it had just sort of slipped out. ¡°I remember my name.¡±


    That probably hadn¡¯t helped. Then Ferren schooled her expression back to something Harmoni couldn¡¯t read.


    ¡°I see. Well, we¡¯ve got another pool to clean. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Ferren put her bucket back outside and practically jumped out of the pool.


    Well, Harmoni didn¡¯t have that much grace, but she had better follow. She had to make a good impression on her first day.

 9: Whats Next?

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    The rest of the work day passed much like the start, with a bit less talking. Harmoni scrambled to work, mostly to clean pools and keep sand off the ground. Udo and Aqua talked with the customers, brought the dragons anything they needed, and helped clean them. She saw Udo use that rough brush, that looked like it was for scraping rust off metal, on a dragon''s scales. Ferren worked, but she also kept an eye on Harmoni and Fleck. She mostly cleaned, like them. But she also went to the spa''s various closets, dragging Harmoni along, and talking to her about taking inventory. Harmoni followed along as best she could.


    Ferren concluded that wherever she came from, she wasn¡¯t a spoiled brat who¡¯d never done work in her life. She did have some skill in cleaning. Ferrent also concluded Harmoni was clumsy and jittery, and was ruining her own efforts because of it.


    Still, it wasn¡¯t a complete disaster. When she headed for the exit after noon, Udo smiled her. He even briefly squeezed her shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about Ferren. I know she¡¯s a bit . . . difficult. She¡¯d just been alive a very long time. It makes her a bit out of touch. She¡¯ll warm up to you.¡±


    Harmoni wasn¡¯t too sure about that, but she appreciated the gesture. At least someone was welcoming to her.


    Udo continued with a smile. "And where would I be without her? She helps make soap and is much more organized than I am."


    Then it was time to get back to Udo¡¯s house. Because they¡¯d started late, they were also ending late. But not late enough that Udo and Aqua were done. When they were, they''d come back and cook dinner, and Harmoni and Fleck would join them for that. But Fleck was pushing her to eat lunch.


    He was certainly going to.


    So Harmoni spent the rest of the money she¡¯d had in her pocket on food, but she felt alright with that. She had someplace to stay, and someone to stay with. Well, multiple someones. And Fleck helped her pick out good food using his sense of smell. Which was a good thing, because she wasn¡¯t sure what a lot of these foods were.


    The two headed back to Udo¡¯s house. Harmoni knew the way from here. It was only about a street away. But if she did somehow manage to get lost, Fleck could also find the home with his sense of smell.


    He knew what Aqua and Udo smelled like.


    Witnessing a dragon¡¯s sense of smell like this was truly something. Harmoni could smell, of course. She could tell when someone needed a bath, and could probably guess what food she was holding in her hand by smell. But Fleck took it to another level. He could pick out individuals like Aqua and Udo. He could guess what species someone was, because all of them had distinctions in their scent. It was remarkable.


    They reached Udo¡¯s house quickly. Harmoni opened the door, and brought Fleck up to her room. They ate something small, not long until dinner now.


    It took an embarrassingly long amount of time before Harmoni remembered she should take the food down to the kitchen. It probably wasn''t hygienic to keep it all up in her room, and it wasn''t like Udo was going to steal it. Was he?


    Fleck sincerely doubted it.


    So Harmoni took the bags, and opened the bedroom door. And immediately stopped. She heard voices downstairs, and it wasn''t like Udo would be talking to Aqua.


    ¡°What were you thinking?¡±


    Harmoni tensed, shoulders going towards her ears. That was Ferren. She wasn¡¯t yelling, but Harmoni heard the disapproval oozing off her.


    ¡°I was thinking of being helpful to a homeless young girl,¡± Udo replied calmly.


    "Did she mention she has amnesia?"


    A pause. "No. She didn''t actually. But I guess that makes sense."


    ¡°Makes sense? You have no idea who she is, or where she¡¯s from. You don¡¯t even know if she¡¯s telling the truth. She didn''t tell the truth about her memories. You could be putting yourself in danger.¡±


    ¡°And what should I do instead? Advertising I have a lost child to everyone is asking for trouble. There aren¡¯t really any authorities who could help. I could look for someone who can break amnesia, but it will take time.¡±


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Ferren made a sound Harmoni couldn¡¯t really make out before speaking again. She sounded less angry and more exasperated now. ¡°OK, let¡¯s say that logic is sound. It¡¯s not, but let¡¯s suppose it is. Why is she working at the spa? You have a jumpy girl who¡¯s afraid of her own shadow, who¡¯s not an adult by half elf standards, and who seems bad at talking to people. You put her to work? Isn¡¯t that a faulty plan?¡±


    She was pretty sure Udo sighed. ¡°I think you know I can¡¯t afford to just help everyone who needs it. And even if I could, you¡¯ve seen her. I don¡¯t think she¡¯d take free help. Besides, this is long term. It''s more stable than anything else I could do for her. And she¡¯s only working part time. Plenty of teenagers do that. So I don¡¯t think it¡¯s particularly morally questionable.¡±


    It was silent for a moment. ¡°I can see I¡¯m not going to change your mind,¡± Ferren eventually declared. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll leave you alone. I¡¯m going home. You can find me there if this falls down around you.¡±


    There were footsteps coming closer. Ferren was leaving.


    And they should leave too, before she looked up and saw them staring out the door.


    Harmoni slid backwards, away from the door. Her carpeted floor meant she wasn''t making a sound.


    They both waited, keeping breaths silent, as the footsteps passed. There was the sound of the door closing a moment later.


    Harmoni slowly lowered her head, digging her fingers into her hair. It was more than Ferren disliking her. She didn''t trust her. Harmoni had been so worried about herself, she hadn''t considered the other two might feel similar about her. This was all too much. She wanted to go home, but she didn¡¯t know what home was.


    This place wasn¡¯t home for Fleck yet, that was still the underground caverns. But in terms of people, he felt more at home with Harmoni.


    Yes . . . yes that was true. The feeling was mutual.


    And he could smell food down the hall. Udo must be cooking. They¡¯d feel better after some food, he thought.


    That . . . was probably also true. Now that Harmoni was paying more attention, she could hear his footsteps as he moved about the kitchen.


    Personally, Fleck was more insulted that Udo thought they needed that much help. He was going to have to prove they didn''t need that kind of hand holding.


    Harmoni just shook her head. She took a deep breath, and went to see if she could help with the cooking.


    ~~~


    Harmoni and Fleck went upstairs to their room, Harmoni closing the door behind them. Harmoni had had dinner with Udo, and Fleck had done the same with Aqua. Though their meals had been . . . fairly different.


    Fleck climbed off her shoulders and started looking around, sniffing the bed and the closet. He¡¯d lived in a cave his whole life. While he had two sisters who lived with riders, they usually visited him, not the other way around. Being in a house was new.


    Harmoni, meanwhile, dropped face first onto her bed. It was nice. She lay like that and might have fallen asleep if Fleck didn¡¯t jump to the window ledge.


    The view was amazing!


    Harmoni lifted her head up, blinking a few times. Curious, she got up and joined him. She could see the desert from this window, hills of sand rolling out in front of them. But on top of that, the sun was also setting. Clouds were stained pink and purple, with the sky above them dark. Meanwhile, the rays of the sun turned the ground red, orange, and yellow. The pale sand did little to dull the vibrant colors, like grass might. And OK, that was pretty impressive.


    They both watched the sun set in silence. Harmoni scratched the back of Fleck¡¯s head, right by the neck.


    The sun sank lower, making the clouds hard to see, and turning the sand blue.


    Fleck turned to Harmoni, putting a claw on her wrist. ¡®Harmoni? Can I ask you a question?¡¯


    Well, asking was sort of a moot point, but she nodded.


    ¡®Why haven¡¯t you looked into your amnesia? Like, if there¡¯s something you can do about it? Isn¡¯t that important?¡¯ He thought people would want to know, in situations like this.


    Harmoni tensed. She could feel her eyes bulge a bit as she looked out over the desert. ¡®I woke up in a town full of slaughtered people. What good memories could possibly come from that?¡¯ She knew she might not be part of the slaughtered town. They might not be friends or family she grew up with. But no other explanation for how she ended up there was any better, was it? She dug her free hand into her hair again. ¡®I don¡¯t want to remember. And I don¡¯t need to.¡¯


    Fleck tilted his head, considering. Not the amnesia thing. When she thought of it like that he understood. ¡®So, what¡¯s your plan?¡¯ That was the only thing he wondered. ¡®Are you just going to . . . stay here with Udo forever?¡¯


    Harmoni¡¯s distress stopped spiraling, and she slowly lowered her hand.


    Which was good. The reaction had seemed kind of extreme and he was glad to distract her.


    Yes. She could tell the stress hadn''t been nice on her stomach or head, but it was only because she''d been under so much stress lately. Maybe if things could calm down for a few minuets, the building feelings would stop.


    But back to Fleck''s questions.


    ¡®I¡¯m not sure,¡¯ she admitted.


    It was only her first day with Udo, after wandering the city and the desert before that. This was the first time she was really settled someplace.


    ¡®I don¡¯t think I should decide yet,¡¯ she concluded. ¡®I¡¯ll see what working with Udo is like, and what else the city has to offer. And maybe a plan will present itself.¡¯


    But she was OK with it if that didn¡¯t happen. Besides, she and Fleck both had pretty long lives. They didn''t have to rush anything.


    ¡®Now, let¡¯s get to bed.¡¯


    Harmoni wasn¡¯t sure what time it was, but it was dark, and it had been a long day, and there would be more work in the morning. She dropped to the bed, Fleck curling up at the foot of it, and was asleep in seconds.

 10: Normalcy

    Something was off.


    Harmoni was looking at an area of dark rocks. The walls and floor were mostly smooth, but there were jagged rocks sticking up in places, and a wide crevice in the middle of the area.


    She saw all this, but it was like trying to see it through water. Her vision wasn¡¯t right. And it seemed like the only sense that was working. Considering how good her hearing was, that was very wrong.


    The scene before her rippled, again like water. Suddenly, her view was closer to the crevice. And not only was it wide, but deep, with more jagged rocks poking out along either side. But other dragons were egging her(?) on, and she could see wings spread out on either side.


    The scene rippled, and she could see a dragon halfway across the gap, wings spread out.


    It was at that point, that Harmoni figured out it was a dream, and not hers.


    The dragon¡¯s wings failed it, it started to fall.


    Harmoni was awake now, but could tell the dragon was falling down the deep pit, in danger of hitting the spikes as the vision rippled.


    She shoved Fleck. She shoved him hard, but made sure not to knock him off the bed. Falling in real life wouldn¡¯t help now.


    Fleck¡¯s head shot up and he swung his gaze around the room, but he quickly remembered where he was. The sights and smells were very different from the cave, and Harmoni¡¯s presence helped ground him even faster. He wasn¡¯t in the cave, and he didn¡¯t even have wings yet.


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    Harmoni shook her head. ¡®Don¡¯t be.¡¯


    Nightmares happened sometimes. They were nothing you could control, and nothing you needed to apologize for. And having one reminded her Fleck was just a person, just like her.


    ~~~


    Harmoni was getting well adjusted to her life. After the first day, it was simple enough to know what to do. She mostly cleaned, but she also took inventory, or moved things in and out of storage. Udo and Aqua had her and Fleck join them to make soap one day.


    She avoided the customers. On the off chance neither Aqua or Ferren could help, Fleck would talk to the customers.


    He didn¡¯t really know more than Harmoni, but he could let the dragons know they weren¡¯t being ignored. And he''d be better at that than her.


    He didn¡¯t resent Harmoni for being shy or nervous though. He didn¡¯t really get that way himself, but he felt what it was like through their bond. And really, it was terrible. With feelings like that, Fleck admired her for coming to work every day, and for being so willing to walk up to strangers and ask for an apprenticeship before this.


    The work could make her sore. She noticed she was getting slower with each day, and that with only working half days. She''d have to build up a little strength.


    But she liked work. She could do it, and do it well, and being busy stopped her from feeling too stressed.


    After work, or before one day, they went back to Udo¡¯s home. She¡¯d explored the house while he was at work, though there wasn¡¯t much to see. The entrance was on the left side of the building, with most things being on the right when you walked in. Downstairs there was the living area. It had a few comfortable seats, an end table with a lamp, and some bookshelves. He had a decoration or two, but they seemed . . . arbitrary. You wouldn¡¯t guess much about Udo from them.


    There was also the kitchen and eating area, merged into one room. And there was a bathroom under the stairs. Upstairs there was her bedroom on the left, which couldn¡¯t be seen from the outside and clearly needed magic to exist. On the right there was a hallway with three doors. One of them was the bathroom. That hadn¡¯t taken long to find. Another door was Udo¡¯s bedroom. Harmoni had opened the door to see what it was, but she wouldn¡¯t be snooping around in there.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    The third room was an office. There was a desk with a computer at it. There was a filing cabinet, and a cardboard box next to the desk. She opened the box to reveal paperwork. Some of it was related to the spa, work he brought home maybe. But there were also things like an electric bill for the house, and a ticket to Xentron from years ago.


    And that was enough snooping.


    There wasn¡¯t a lot of space in the room, but if Fleck stayed on her shoulders, she could move around.


    When they weren¡¯t at work, Harmoni and Fleck could use the computer. They played games on it. Harmoni used it to find a bit more information about her new home once. They lived in Xentron City, the biggest civilization on Xentron.


    The biggest civilization the riders made. There were plenty of dragon civilizations that had it beat.


    Xentron apparently wasn¡¯t considered home of any ¡°sentient¡± species, so it wasn¡¯t very populated.


    The computer gave her a chance to contact other people, basically anywhere in the galaxy, but she kept to herself.


    Aside from the computer, Harmoni read some of the many books Udo had.


    Fleck, like many dragons, couldn¡¯t read.


    So Harmoni read to him. The nonfiction book about edible plants on Xentron was interesting, and useful. And she liked the mystery series about an investigator team on Morivon. She¡¯d tried to read a book about space travel. What she could make out seemed interesting. But it was a bit above her reading level.


    They found a deck of cards in the end table, and Harmoni taught Fleck how to play go fish and war. Fleck wanted to invent his own card game. It was a funny bit of trail and error, where he¡¯d make up ideas, but clearly hadn¡¯t thought of all the situations that might come up while playing.


    That took up a lot of their time during their half days. But if they weren¡¯t playing games or reading, they did some work. Harmoni washed the dishes or cleaned her only real outfit. (Udo had given her some spare clothes, but they were so huge on her, they only really worked to sleep in, or to wear while she cleaned her clothes.) The day before her first day off, she cleaned all the floors in Udo¡¯s house. He¡¯d seemed a little stressed when she left work that day, and she wanted to do something, even if he might not notice.


    He''d kept his promise of sharing dinner with her, and sometimes she would help him with that.


    Fleck helped out with the other work, but not with that. Harmoni was a vegetarian and Fleck . . . very much wasn¡¯t. He joined Aqua for meals. But, he probably would¡¯ve anyway. It was a tight fit inside for Aqua, so she preferred being outside. Fleck liked giving her the company. And he was used to being around dragons all the time in the cave. Having them be only half his company now was a bit of a shift to get used to.


    Harmoni and Fleck also learned a bit more of each other''s differences. For example, while Fleck had an amazing sense of smell, and Harmoni''s hearing was better than his, their sight was different too. Fleck was better at seeing in the dark, but Harmoni had a wider range of colors.


    Fleck shrugged when they first realized that one. Dragons lived in underground caves or out in the desert. Seeing blues and reds was important. Green was just green.


    They also had different opinions about some of things in town. They hadn''t seen much together yet, just walking between work and home, but she knew he hated the plant building she''d seen on her first day, when she brought it up.


    Some people had desert plants in their yard, windows, or roof. And those were alright. But emphasis on desert. The building almost covered in plants didn''t seem like it could be that. Xentron City was probably built here because the underground water source was closer to the surface than in some places, but there was still only so much. Those plants were a waste.


    Yes, Harmoni¡¯s first five days with Udo had gone well. Then, on her first day off, she woke to Fleck nudging her. He had a request.


    He wanted to do something. Go somewhere. Udo¡¯s house was nice, and he¡¯d had fun these last few days and all. But there wasn¡¯t enough to keep them entertained the whole day.


    Harmoni groaned and put her cheek to the pillow, facing away from him. She wasn¡¯t ignoring him, and he knew it. She just wanted to lie there a bit longer.


    ¡®Where do you suggest we go?¡¯ she mentally asked.


    Fleck paused from where he¡¯d been bouncing up and down like an idle animation.


    He hadn¡¯t really thought of anything specific to do. He¡¯d only lived in the city for five days, and he had no idea what to expect in the rest of it. He mostly wanted to go exploring.


    ¡®But hey, if you want go somewhere specific, I smell something I¡¯ve wanted to check out,¡¯ he suggested. He¡¯d noticed it on the walk to and from work, but it was far enough away it seemed kind of silly to go out of their way until now. ¡®It smells like metal, and fire, and dragons. I want to know what that¡¯s about. And if you¡¯re worried, it smells like its in the middle of the city? I think.¡¯ He didn¡¯t really know where the city ended. ¡®They wouldn¡¯t be doing anything too dangerous there, would they?¡¯


    Harmoni didn¡¯t know, but she wasn¡¯t that worried. He didn¡¯t have to comfort her in this case.


    Well, maybe she could afford a change of outfit.


    Right then. Time to eat breakfast, and go exploring.

 11: The Arena

    It wasn¡¯t just a straight trip to what Fleck was smelling and back.


    Which was good. That sounded short and boring. It was a final destination, but he¡¯d wanted to see more of the city in the first place.


    As soon as they were past the street that had the grocery store and Udo¡¯s shop, they slowed down. Fleck climbed onto Harmoni¡¯s shoulders. They might go to the grocery store later. Harmoni liked Udo¡¯s cooking, but his ideas for vegetarian dishes seemed limited to sandwiches and pasta. There was a lot of variety you could get with those two, but there was more you could do. Salads, casseroles, soup. Why, she knew he could make soup.


    ¡®Soup in the desert?¡¯


    ¡®There¡¯s cold soups.¡¯


    ¡®You can have cold soups?!¡¯


    Harmoni laughed into her hand, just a little. Then the two of them looked at what was on this street.


    There was a caf¨¦ on the street. Based on the smell it would be a nice place to eat when they had a bit more money. There was another restaurant further down, and a few places to stay. Not something either of them needed.


    There was also what looked like a tacky gift shop. It had shirts and mugs, but most of what Harmoni saw in the window was figurines. They sold dragons and . . . roly-polies? The weird little bug things. That¡¯s what it looked like anyway.


    Harmoni wasn¡¯t sure she understood the logic of the gift shop, or the hotels. Who would be taking an expensive, multi-day flight across space to only give Xentron a short visit? And there weren¡¯t many other towns on the planet people could be visiting from. But if these places were open, she assumed people were using them.


    She slowed as she saw a clothing store. There were various knee length skirts and white dress shirts. There were red dress shoes in the window that caught her eye, and she stopped completely to stare at them for a moment.


    ¡®You should get something from here,¡¯ Fleck suggested.


    He didn¡¯t really understand clothes, but then again, his scales would just tear them. He did know she could use more.


    Harmoni glanced at Fleck. ¡®Your scales cover up the unacceptable bits.¡¯ That wasn''t the only reason to want clothes, but it was a reason dragons didn''t have to worry about.


    She turned back to the store. She did need more clothes, and she was drawn to some of these. But she had limited money, and these were nice clothes. They weren¡¯t a good choice for working at the spa. She needed to be practical.


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    Well that was disappointing.


    It was. But Harmoni knew for a fact there were more places that sold clothes around here. She¡¯d tried to get an apprenticeship at one. She wasn''t sure she wanted to shop at that one specifically, that sounded awkward. But she could, hopefully, find something she liked at a different store.


    The two continued on their journey. As they moved, they reached an open space, where the buildings were farther apart. It left three open squares of sand.


    Harmoni had been here before, before she met Udo. It was sort of like a park, or a sports arena. Whichever one people wanted to use it for. The last time she¡¯d passed through, it had been mostly empty, a family or two having a picnic in the space. Today, there were a lot of people outside, taking up space in the left half of the area. Both dragons and riders stood in the crowd, cheering, groaning, or jostling each other. Harmoni could just make out a low stage, temporarily set up on one side of the crowd. But she couldn''t tell what was going on in the center.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    Both her and Fleck were curious by now, so she turned, and walked towards the crowd.


    As they drew nearer, they saw an imp and a blood-colored dragon about the size of a bicycle dipping and waving through the crowds, asking for bets. No one was at the stage, currently.


    Harmoni pursed her lips and furrowed her brow. She wove into the crowd, trying to make her way through. But there wasn¡¯t a lot of space in the crowd, especially with people clumped close to who they knew, and Harmoni didn¡¯t attract a lot of attention.


    ¡°Excuse me. Sorry. ¡®Xcuse me. If I can-never mind. Sorry.¡± Harmoni paused, and slowly let out a breath. She could more or less see through the crowd now. She saw a square of sand. It had been tossed up enough, it had clearly been used for something, but she still wasn¡¯t sure what. ¡°Well, what is this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an arena.¡±


    Harmoni jumped. She hadn¡¯t been expecting an answer. She¡¯d been thinking out loud, and to Fleck.


    She turned around. There was a colbber kid next to her now. Looked about her age, maybe a little younger. His nose looked like it had been broken, and healed poorly. He had dark brown hair and eyes. His skin was also a sort of lighter brown, but it came with an orange tint. Combined, it made his skin look a bit like rust. That kind of tint was very common in colbbers.


    Colbbers were also natural born cyborgs. There was a bronze metal rim going around his left eye. He had a metal exoskeleton on his right arm, starting at the elbow and running all the way to his fingertips. There was still flesh on his arm and hand. You could high-five him and his palm would be all skin, but the metal on top was clearly built to replace bones. He had the same thing on his left leg, starting just above the knee and dropping into his shoe. He was wearing shorts, and the metal stuck out far enough it would probably be hard to wear long pants.


    And he had a dragon!


    Fleck quickly flipped directions so he could see her. The dragon was standing by the colbber¡¯s feet. She was pale silver, or maybe even white. Like the moon. She had gray eyes. She was about the same age and size as him, but she was a bit thinner, and longer. Rather than being shaped like a cat or fox, she was shaped like an alligator.


    She¡¯d been keeping her head level and watching people¡¯s feet, probably making sure she didn¡¯t get stepped on, but she looked up and smiled when she noticed Fleck watching.


    Fleck wagged his tail a bit before returning to what the colbber had said. ¡°An arena?¡±


    The colbber nodded eagerly.


    Well, that confirmed he and the dragon were bonded. It was the most likely reason he understood Fleck.


    ¡°This place is an arena, for fighting. Safely. Lots of people with healing abilities around. It¡¯s really cool. Lots of people have some sort of power or trick to keep things interesting. Look.¡±


    He pointed at the arena. At this point, the imp and dragon from earlier climbed onto the platform on one side.


    ¡°Welcome! Everyone!¡± the imp shouted. Considering he had no microphone or anything, he could really project. ¡°Is everyone ready?!¡± There was a fair amount of cheering. ¡°Good! Today¡¯s first round: Piese versus Erna!¡±


    Two people walked out onto the sand, accompanied by some cheering. One was a zenny, his gray skin so pale he could almost pass for a human, all be it a short, sickly one. He had green eyes, and amber hair. Like all zennies, his eyes and hair had some darker streaks in them. It made them look deeper than they were.


    The second person was a gnome. She was, of course, short with pointy ears and big eyes. She had light skin, and brown hair pulled back into a pony tail. Harmoni couldn¡¯t see her eyes. She was wearing sunglasses.


    ¡®Well that doesn¡¯t seem like it can stay on.¡¯


    ¡°These two have both fought here before. From what I learned about them, Piese is a magic user, and Erna is an alchemist. Now, I don¡¯t want to knock alchemy, but I think Piese has got this,¡± the colbber explained. He was trying to speak quietly, but it was a stage whisper. ¡°He¡¯s got the five second foresight advantage and Erna is . . . like that.¡±


    He waved vaguely at her. Erna was hopping on one foot, spinning slightly to wave at the crowd.


    The imp at the podium raised a gun. Not a show one either. That was an actual gun. Why was everyone so calm?


    Harmoni¡¯s eyes got a little wider. She put a hand on the colbber¡¯s wrist, ready to yank him away.


    Then, the imp pointed the gun at the sky, and fired harmlessly up. The match had begun.

 12: Cooper

    The match was interesting. Harmoni wasn¡¯t sure how much she''d like watching people fight, but she could say that much.


    Piese made the first move. He took out a wand, and made a giant piece of the arena come out and fly towards Erna. She quickly stepped to the side. As the boulder flew past, she threw dust at it. The dust sort of resembled gunpowder, and when it hit the rock, it blew up. Smaller chunks of rock flew around the arena.


    Erna turned to Piese with a smile. He¡¯d seemed intimidated a moment before, but as she turned to him, he swallowed and adopted a more neutral expression. He pointed his wand out, and sent an earthquake under Erna¡¯s feet.


    Erna managed to jump out of range, but Piese turned the ground into mud where she landed. She tried to move forward, and immediately slipped.


    Erna glared up at him, sunglasses finally a little cocked. Piese smirked, despite breathing a little harder. It seemed a little weird he was tired. They hadn¡¯t been going very long.


    Erna reached down, doing something to her shoes. When Piese sent more rocks, Erna moved to the side, walking as easily as on solid ground.


    Erna took her cloak off, laying it flat against the ground. When she yanked it away, there were little tubes against the ground. The tubes shot explosions. Harmoni could see little red flare-like lights shoot out towards Piese. With a wave of his wand, rock walls came up in front of him, creating a thin stone shield. The explosions harmlessly hit them instead of him.


    With another twitch of his wand, which Erna probably couldn¡¯t see through all the rocks and dust, the ground morphed. It knocked Erna¡¯s tubes down, and wrapped around one of her feet, trapping her in the ground.


    Erna struggled to get out of course, but the ground was now solid rock, and anything she had that could break rock would probably break her own foot as well. So she didn''t do anything, and Piese didn''t do anything either, content to just stand there at the ready.


    A moment later, the imp on the podium spoke up again. ¡°Tell me, Erna, can you move?¡±


    Erna looked at him, and at her stuck foot. She glared at the ground, ears dropping like an annoyed cat.


    ¡°No,¡± she said quietly.


    ¡°Then we have a winner!¡± the imp shouted.


    ¡°Woo!¡± the colbber beside Harmoni cheered. ¡°That was awesome!¡±


    He was probably the most enthusiastic. Harmoni flinched slightly, from being near the loudest person in the crowd. A few other people applauded or cheered, but they were a bit more subdued. Or maybe he just seemed loud because he was close to her? No one else seemed to notice, after all.


    It seemed like the crowd was expecting more violence.


    ¡°Did you really like it that much? Harmoni asked.


    She did not need more violence. But Fleck, who liked that kind of thing more, thought the whole fight seemed brief, and neither of the fighters had done anything extraordinary. And she could agree with that.


    ¡°Well, yeah,¡± the colbber said, lowering his voice and turning to her. ¡°I love magic. Always have, always wanted to use it. Of course, at some point, I learned I can¡¯t and . . . yeah. I learned I can¡¯t.¡± He scratched the back of his head.


    Harmoni shifted her weight, not sure how to respond to that. She¡¯d always found magic a little overrated. It seemed like a lot of work and study for something that you¡¯d rarely have reason to use.


    It sounded like another fight would be starting soon, but neither of them were paying much attention.


    ¡°Sorry that didn¡¯t work out,¡± she managed. ¡°But you can be good at other stuff, right? You¡¯ve got that . . . thing in your head.¡±


    The colbber smiled, but something in his expression changed, and Harmoni wondered if she¡¯d said something wrong. ¡°The implant. Right.¡±


    While they talked, Fleck was getting acquainted with the dragon. Apparently, she¡¯d bonded with the colbber pretty recently, close to the same time as Fleck and Harmoni. The silvery dragon introduced herself as Moon.


    The colbber jumped. ¡°Right. And my name¡¯s Cooper."


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Moon turned to Fleck. "Well, I call him Copper," she explained.


    And Fleck had to admit, that was a pretty charming nickname.


    Harmoni kind of agreed. She got the nickname thing better now.


    Cooper continued. "We¡¯re apprenticed to an alchemist in town.¡±


    That was it! That was what Fleck had been smelling earlier. They had a bit of that metal and fire scent he¡¯d picked up earlier. It wasn¡¯t as strong as the place the alchemy was presumably made, but it wasn¡¯t a surprise the two of them were from there.


    Well, mystery solved.


    Harmoni smiled and shook his hand. ¡°I¡¯m Harmoni, and this is Fleck.¡±


    ¡°Well hi there Harmoni and Fleck. Do you two want to . . . do something else? It¡¯s just, I haven¡¯t seen much of the city yet, and there don¡¯t seem to be people our age in Xentron city.¡±


    There weren¡¯t?


    Harmoni shrugged. Fleck was more interested than her, but she wasn¡¯t against the idea. ¡°We can if you like. But Fleck and I haven¡¯t been here long either, if you wanted an expert.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Well, any idea where you want to go?¡± Cooper asked.


    ¡°No. We haven¡¯t been here that long,¡± Harmoni repeated.


    ¡°We don¡¯t really know what¡¯s here,¡± Fleck added.


    Moon looked at him, then at Cooper. ¡°Well, the city garden was pretty cool, right?¡±


    ¡°The garden!¡± Cooper exclaimed, snapping his fingers. ¡°Of course!¡±


    At Harmoni¡¯s blank look, he elaborated.


    ¡°It¡¯s a garden on the edge of the city, easier to fit there. It¡¯s not for food though. It¡¯s a sort of wildlife garden, grows a lot of plants you can find here on Xentron. And some that people have brought over. It¡¯s a nice place if you like plants. Good for inspiration too. Gave me an idea for something I can invent, with alchemy.¡±


    Well, that sounded nice enough. And Harmoni hadn¡¯t exactly seen many plants that could grow here before now.


    So the group took a sharp turn, wound themselves out of the crowd, and headed for the Eastern edge of town. Luckily, they were already pretty close to that edge.


    There was a gate at the edge of town. At first, Harmoni couldn¡¯t see anything on the other side. She couldn¡¯t even see a fence going all the way around, just at this side. But she squinted as they moved closer, and noticed a sort of veil over the gated area, a curtain that was almost invisible except for where it seemed to fold in on itself.


    It was definitely magical. Fleck could tell by the smell, but he could also still smell the plants inside.


    There was a guard outside the main gate. Or at least, Harmoni was pretty sure it was the main gate. It was the only one she saw. The guard was an elf wearing some light armor, and Harmoni was pretty sure the symbol of the clerics was on his belt. He asked their names when they came up to the gate, along with what they planned to do inside. Harmoni found herself answering with flippant honesty before she¡¯d even really thought of what to say. Then they were allowed to enter.


    Magic induced honesty?


    Well, more like the power of God, considering that was a cleric. But same result.


    As they passed, Harmoni glanced at the clipboard he had. It seemed he wrote down who came in and their species, and numbered how many people came in.


    Harmoni entered, and paused with a gasp. A lot of the plants in here seemed to be cacti, unsurprisingly. But they¡¯d brought in plants from the forest Harmoni had seen earlier. There was a tree near the back fence, in the center, reaching so high Harmoni couldn¡¯t see the top. Even the cacti were nice to look at, a few flowering. But the stand outs were the weird, alien looking plants. There was a blue squishy looking cactus, like a water balloon, and trees that grew upside down, with leaves coating the ground and roots in the air.


    ¡°Harmoni? You coming?¡±


    Harmoni blinked a time or two. She¡¯d been so busy staring at everything, she hadn¡¯t noticed Cooper and Moon go further into the garden. While Harmoni could see a lot of the tall or large plants from here, you probably got a better experience by walking around.


    Harmoni smiled. ¡°Right. Coming.¡±


    It was a good time. Harmoni and Cooper walked along the paths, looking at small or low growing plants.


    Fleck wasn¡¯t all that interested in plants, but he and Moon were having fun. They rolled in the dirt, near the plants that needed more water. They also chased each other around. The open space was good for that.


    There was signs about some of the plants. Apparently, the upside down ones probably grew leaves near the ground so they wouldn¡¯t dry out on the desert planet. That was the leading theory anyway, but it didn¡¯t explain the roots.


    And as they walked, Cooper explained some of the plants that were useful in alchemy. Either as a literal ingredient, or as inspiration. The squishy cactus for example, looked like it should be fragile. But in practice, the outer skin was really hard to tear or pop, it was just also flexible.


    ¡°Can you imagine what we could do with that?¡± Cooper asked. ¡°You could make unbreakable bags with them, or make your own skin like that, so it¡¯s hard to hurt.¡±


    A little freaky, but okay.


    ¡°Are you doing something with it?¡±


    ¡°Maybe. I''ve got one in my room, and I''ve been studying the skin. I was going to make some sort of shield or forcefield with it, but it¡¯s not rigid enough. Maybe I¡¯ll get back to that later, but I¡¯d rather use the plant for something it¡¯s naturally good at.¡±


    When they were done, Harmoni and Cooper parted ways with a wave. They hadn''t been in there too long. The place wasn''t too big. You could see most of it from the front entrance. And ironically, they never did get to the alchemy shop Fleck was smelling.


    But that was probably for the best. They''d already been out for a while before meeting Cooper and Moon, and Harmoni wasn''t sure she''d wanted to wander around all day.


    And as for the alchemy shop? Well, if it was the one Harmoni had seen before, what was the rush?


    Moon hopped onto her hind legs and shouted goodbye to Fleck about half a block away.


    Harmoni and Fleck were welcome to visit them later. Cooper hadn¡¯t asked what the two of them did, and Harmoni hadn¡¯t told him. Though if he wanted to see her again, his dragon could probably find them no problem.


    Probably.


    It had been a good day, and it had been less stressful than her early days. But they''d still seen a lot. It was time to head back to Udo''s.

 13: Tour

    Harmoni and Fleck stood at a bus stop with two other people.


    Neither of them had dragons. Disapointing.


    It wasn¡¯t a public stop, that took you to places in the city. In fact, Harmoni was pretty sure they didn¡¯t have public transport in the city. People walked, or biked, or took a dragon. There were a few vehicles around, but calling them cars was a stretch. Golf carts maybe.


    No. This bus stop was the start of a tour. A zenny had redone an old bus, to show off some sights around Xentron City.


    It had been a week since she and Cooper had been to the garden, and it was her third day off. The second one had been good. She¡¯d bought another plain shirt and another pair of jeans. While the place Udo had shown her for groceries was good, there were a few specialized places that had more varieties of certain foods as well. The bakery Harmoni had tried to work at was one example. There was also a place that sold just produce, if you were looking for a specific fruit or vegetable. Easy to track down with Fleck¡¯s nose. The oddest was the butcher shop owned by a dragon, without a rider species in sight.


    (It seemed Fleck had gotten her to call them that as well.)


    The rider might not be in sight, but Fleck was positive they existed. He doubted any dragon would set up shop in the city if it wasn''t soul bonded to another species.


    Xentron City seemed a bit different from cities on the other planets. There were a lot of specialized stores. Aside from the food examples, Udo and Aqua made their own soap, and only one other place seemed to sell soap in the city.


    Xentron didn¡¯t have a big population.


    It had a pretty big population of dragons.


    And it wasn¡¯t easy to transport things to different planets, long journey. That might be why.


    She¡¯d found a library in the North East corner of town. It worked a bit different than other libraries. Anyone who wanted to check a book out or use resources needed to pay a small fee every other month. But you could just sit inside the building and read a book without paying if you wanted.


    She¡¯d read one of their books and browsed some of the others during her time off. (Aside from her full day off, she only worked half days at Udo''s, after all.) She¡¯d even found some small cards on the galaxy¡¯s planets and sentient species that she wasn¡¯t sure were supposed to be there. They¡¯d been slipped into a book and seemed incomplete. Still, despite being small, and probably biased, they¡¯d had some information Harmoni hadn¡¯t known.


    She had also seen the advertisement for this bus tour at the library. They had a lot of time, and this seemed like a logical way to spend it. They might learn some new things, and could see more of the city without constantly walking.


    The week at work had been alright, good even. But nothing much was different than the last week. Except that she''d gotten one of the rough brushes and helped scrub a dragon. Still didn''t really talk to them, but she could help with the cleaning.


    One of the dragons had actually thought she was mute until she''d slipped on the floor, and yelped.


    ¡°You have a dragon?¡±


    The question broke Harmoni from her thoughts. She turned. It was one of the people waiting at the stop with her who¡¯d asked the question, a human woman.


    Harmoni nodded. She still didn¡¯t like talking to strangers.


    Did she like talking at all?


    But the topic outweighed that. ¡°I thought almost everyone had one,¡± she admitted.


    ¡°Almost,¡± the woman emphasized. ¡°I was deemed too old to form a proper bond.¡±


    Harmoni frowned. That had come up before. It was why Ferren didn¡¯t have a dragon. It wasn¡¯t really about age; it was about life experiences. It was harder to bond with someone who¡¯d had something very unique in their life. Harder to conceptualize, if you hadn¡¯t done it. It was just, the older you got, the more likely you were to have one of those.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Harmoni said.


    The woman shrugged. She turned to the other person at the stop, an imp man. ¡°What about you?¡±


    The imp opened his mouth. Harmoni didn¡¯t want to judge, but it looked like he was bearing his pointy teeth. ¡°I¡¯m not about to have my mind altered with a thing like that.¡±


    Fleck tried not to show how angry he was. Harmoni had been worried, but worry didn''t seem like the emotion happening here, and Fleck didn''t like it. Dragons weren¡¯t some evil corrupting force, they were sentient beings. As many other sentient beings liked to forget. And the bond was mutual. If there was any mind altering, it was equal.


    Harmoni didn¡¯t want to start something, but she didn¡¯t want anyone to speak about Fleck like that either. Luckily, they were interrupted by the bus pulling up.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    The doors opened. Inside was a zenny, who quickly bounded down the stairs, and out the entrance. He had brown hair and amber eyes. His skin was mostly dark gray, but unlike any zenny she¡¯d seen before, or anyone at all really, he had lighter gray splotches on parts of his skin.


    ¡°Hello people!¡± the zenny greeted, giving a huge wave. ¡°And dragon. Huh. Usually dragons are a little big for the bus.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Well, you¡¯re all here for the tour. Come on in.¡±


    He didn¡¯t wait for any of them to confirm they¡¯d bought a ticket or anything, but having foresight, maybe he didn¡¯t need to.


    He stepped aside and gestured for everyone to go up. Harmoni didn¡¯t right away. He spoke so fast, she was sort of processing it. The human apparently agreed. The imp just laughed and got on.


    Fleck climbed onto Harmoni¡¯s shoulder, then they went in as well.


    Inside there were some seats up by the driver¡¯s seat. It was about two rows on either side. So the bus could hold about eight people. After that, there was a white curtain blocking their view.


    Based on the smells, he probably lived back there. Fleck could pick up the smells from a kitchen easily. There was also the smells of what was probably a bathroom, and a bed.


    Huh.


    The public area of the bus seemed nicer than most busses. Harmoni was pretty sure. Had she been on a bus before?


    Anyway. The seats were completely covered without any tears. The walls were painted a blue that looked nice, and would probably hide a lot of stains.


    There weren¡¯t many, based on smell.


    The windows were open, and Harmoni didn¡¯t even see any glass that could close them. But there were pulled back curtains that could close over the windows. Fabric curtains with several stripes of color.


    ¡°Alright!¡± the zenny shouted.


    Harmoni jumped, and dropped into the nearest seat like a rock.


    The zenny clapped. ¡°I¡¯m Roosher. I¡¯ll be giving you your tour. Now, let¡¯s get this show on the road.¡±


    His speaking had slowed down just slightly, but he might¡¯ve been thinking of what to say.


    With that, he swung into the driver¡¯s seat, and the bus rumbled to life.


    ~~~


    ¡°And that¡¯s the Tower Royal. About the closest thing you¡¯ll get to a government in this city,¡± Roosher explained as they drove past. ¡°There¡¯s always some project going on in there. And it¡¯s the best place to go if you run into any local trouble.¡±


    The imp snorted. ¡°Assuming they¡¯re not causing the local trouble.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Roosher actually agreed.


    Harmoni looked at the building. It was tall, red, and in the middle of Xentron. But it didn¡¯t stick out that much. It was about the same height as the buildings around it, and there had been stranger colors in the city.


    There were a lot of naturally colorful rocks on the planet, in the cave systems. Probably explained that.


    Maybe if you saw the sign on the front door, you would realize the building was important.


    The building was large, with openings on the wall, so it seemed at least some dragons could get in. That was nice. Even if some of them would probably be perfectly happy outside, like Aqua.


    The human, sitting in the row behind Harmoni, raised her hand. ¡°I¡¯m confused. Are there really no-¡±


    ¡°Xentron¡¯s a relatively newly discovered planet. You might get something like a mayor in the towns. But in terms of planet-wide government? The closest things are the three groups vying for power.¡±


    ¡°By groups, he means gangs,¡± the imp translated.


    ¡°That¡¯s a little disingenuous,¡± Roosher said. ¡°Anyway, the groups are the Faradays, the Divergence, and the Desert Crest. The Desert Crest are the ones who live in Tower Royal. They¡¯re just, generally the best group to go to if you¡¯re a random civilian, and they do have a crest. You can see it on the sign.¡±


    You could also just go to the dragons. They didn¡¯t have one ruler of the entire planet, but they were from Xentron. They had some systems of power set up.


    ¡°Now, if there¡¯s no more questions here, we have more stops.¡±


    ~~~


    ¡°And out here is one of the dragon caves. I¡¯m sure there are more entrances, and more caves.¡± Roosher glanced back at Fleck. He was still driving the bus, without looking ahead. Fleck just pulled his lips back into something like a smirk. ¡°Alright. Keep your secrets then.¡±


    Harmoni smiled.


    Fleck liked this guy. He had no dragon, and definitely couldn¡¯t understand his language, but he still spoke to Fleck like an actual person.


    This entrance wasn¡¯t the only one. For one, it was out in the desert. And unlike the one Harmoni had entered, it was designed for dragons. A rider could try to enter this way, but it would be a long drop, and the rocks were jagged. The dragons, being able to fly, could work around that.


    Roosher took them further out into the desert, not heading for the forest at all. Despite the sand dunes and lack of road, the bus ride was surprisingly smooth. More than taking Aqua, at any rate.


    ~~~


    ¡°Out here you can find the only remains of the dragon versus people battle.¡±


    Fleck¡¯s head bolted up in alarm, and he swung it towards Roosher.


    Roosher did at least look sheepish. ¡°Now this is a significant thing people living on the planet should know about, but I hope I didn¡¯t say anything wrong. I know it was a brutal war for all involved.¡±


    Fleck wasn¡¯t sure what he thought about the word people. It was a useful word for separating dragons from the other sentient species, he supposed. But by some people¡¯s definition, dragons were people. This was why he used "riders" and not "people".


    Harmoni meanwhile, looked out the window. She gasped as she saw what Roosher was talking about.


    There were a few things lying out in the sands. Some of it was metal, like pieces of spaceships or weapons. But there were also bones. The rest of the bodies were gone, decomposed or eaten. But it was easy to tell the bones belonged to dragons.


    Harmoni clung to Fleck.


    ¡°Dragons and people didn¡¯t originally get along. This is the dragon¡¯s home planet, and they saw us as intruders. But when people got here, they didn¡¯t know dragons were sentient. All they saw were monsters coming out of the woodwork. And, well, you can see the results out there.¡± Roosher waved his hand out at the graveyard outside. ¡°Lucky for all of us, the first dragon rider bond was made during this time. They put a stop to the fighting.¡±


    Fleck bristled, scales rising slightly as he growled. That was an interesting way to put it. Last he heard, the riders that came here weren¡¯t just interested in living here, they were interested in conquering here, destroying the area and remolding it for their own purpose, regardless of if that would work. Yeah, maybe the dragons had been a little aggressive the first time they interacted, chasing the rider species away from their home, but had this guy considered how people treated non-sentient life? The riders were ready to treat them worse than beasts. They didn¡¯t want to believe the first rider about their sentience either. That would be too inconvenient.


    Harmoni gripped Fleck tightly, but this time it was less for comfort, and more to make sure he didn¡¯t do anything stupid. But he had moved to her lap, below the back of the seat, so Roosher probably didn''t see. Harmoni didn¡¯t say anything either, but she might when the tour was over.

 14: Wyss Village

    ¡°Out the window on your left, you¡¯ll see the Dalton labs coming up.¡±


    They drove across the desert, now around some large rocks poking out of the sand, closer to a large gray concrete building. It looked less fantastical than the buildings in the city. More like a bomb shelter.


    ¡°This building was also part of the dragon war,¡± Roosher explained. ¡°This is where people studied dragons. They wanted to know how they worked, and wanted their scales or horns. Both can be used in magic or alchemy.¡±


    He was being vague about what went on in there, but it didn¡¯t help. It clearly must¡¯ve been awful.


    Fleck was pretty sure dragons used to be killed for their horns and scales, which was a bit like killing a human for their hair or nails. Well, the horns were a bit sturdier than either of those, but still.


    He no longer felt angry though. He mostly just felt nauseous.


    ¡®Sorry,¡¯ Harmoni thought, rubbing a comforting hand down his back. ¡®I should¡¯ve asked about what we¡¯d see before getting on.¡¯


    There had been plenty of other sights to see, and there were one or two stops after this. But this was the second stop related to a war, and the second one in a row. That was significant enough, she should¡¯ve found out.


    Fleck shook his head. This was on him. He¡¯d known about the ¡°dragon wars¡±. It was hard for any dragon not to. But she hadn¡¯t. He could¡¯ve easily guessed a tour on Xentron, that had few people actually bonded, would talk about that.


    ¡°People have tried to use it for other things since then,¡± Roosher said. ¡°It¡¯s briefly been an alchemy lab, spaceship equipment testing ground, and a museum. But that concrete brick isn¡¯t suited for much, and people who have gone inside report an uncomfortable, hard to describe feeling. So it¡¯s currently abandoned.¡±


    ¡°Could it still be used for something?¡± the imp asked.


    ¡°If you want to try, you¡¯re welcome to,¡± Roosher said. ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone actually owns the building, so you could just, take it over. Who knows? Maybe you¡¯ll get lucky.¡±


    ~~~


    ¡°Before we get back to Xentron City, we¡¯ll be passing Wyss Village. It¡¯s a small town out in the desert. It¡¯s small, and lacks much technology, but it¡¯s the closest town to Xentron City.¡±


    Harmoni frowned, looking around at the view outside. She knew all parts of the desert could look similar, all sand and rocks. It was a big reason it was so dangerous. But something about this section seemed particularly familiar.


    It wasn¡¯t to Fleck, but he looked out the window too. He had a bad feeling.


    ¡°While Wyss Village doesn¡¯t look impressive, and it¡¯s not, there¡¯s a powerful magic user living there. A church of the clerics is also there. Depending on where you live, the church there might be closer than the only one in Xentron City. So there are some trading arrangements set up between the village and Xentron City.¡±


    Roosher was still talking, probably about said arrangements, but Harmoni couldn¡¯t hear him anymore. The sound of her heartbeat was flooding her ears, and her breath was getting ragged. She knew where they were now. They were about to clear a hill. She could see the wooden or thatched roofs just poking into sight. This was the slaughtered town she¡¯d woken up in. There would be no more trading with these people, because they were dead. And Roosher didn¡¯t seem to know. He wasn¡¯t even facing the town. He¡¯d turned around to face them as he talked, relying on foresight to avoid smacking into things.


    Sure enough, as they cleared the hill, it became obvious this town was destroyed. It was no longer smoking. The sand wasn¡¯t blood red anymore. But all the buildings were darkened, some with holes in them. A door was wrenched off one of the buildings, and there were still the remains, the bodies, of dead people here. You couldn¡¯t see all of them, but there was enough behind one of the buildings, and inside one with an open door.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    It also smelled like death, if you were a dragon.


    Someone screamed. Roosher shouted something in a language Harmoni didn¡¯t recognize.


    ¡°Oh my God!¡± the imp yelled.


    ~~~


    The bus pulled over to the side. The imp and the human continued to panic. Only Roosher was vaguely calm as he went into living area, and called someone on a phone in there. And even he must be struggling to stay calm. Harmoni couldn¡¯t make out specific words in her own sickened state, but she could tell he kept switching languages.


    Standard was the most common language in the galaxy. It was unlikely the person on the other end understood the other language he¡¯d accidentally switch to.


    Fleck was able to pick up more than Harmoni right now. Everyone was panicked or distressed because people were dead. No one thought she was in any way connected with it, which he knew was one of her worries.


    Roosher had called the Desert Crest. The imp had suggested they leave, but Roosher wanted to wait until someone arrived.


    Harmoni slowly turned back towards the others, gathered around the doors. Weird, despite her fear, she might look the most outwardly calm right now.


    Well, she wasn''t blinking, which was a little freaky.


    ¡°It could still be dangerous here,¡± the human said. ¡°I¡¯m out of here.¡± She got up and rattled at the bus door. ¡°Let me out.¡±


    ¡°If you think it¡¯s dangerous, you¡¯re safer in the bus than running exposed through the desert,¡± Roosher pointed out, standing between them and the controls.


    ¡°You¡¯re being awfully calm about this,¡± the imp accused him.


    ¡°People are dead!¡± the human shouted, rattling the door harder.


    Roosher driving them to a destroyed town and then trapping them in the bus was admittedly suspicious, but Fleck didn¡¯t think he had anything to do with this.


    Roosher still wasn¡¯t panicking per say, but he didn¡¯t seem to know what to do. He shuffled his weight and was silent, probably considering what to say. Then he suddenly looked up, out at the sand.


    Everyone followed his gaze. Harmoni could see a dragon, flying towards them. It was still sort of high up, and far away, but a dragon that size would be hard to miss. The dragon was dark red, a bit lighter on his wings and belly. He landed by the bus and an elf slid down off him.


    Roosher opened the door to go talk to them.


    Harmoni moved to the entrance to hear what was going on.


    The elf looked much like you¡¯d expect an elf to. He was tall, with sharper features than most humans. When he moved towards Roosher it was with silent grace, and if you couldn¡¯t see his feet moving, you might assume he was floating instead of walking. But unlike the other elves Harmoni had seen, and Harmoni herself, his ears didn¡¯t end in a single point. Instead, they looked a bit frayed, like a maple leaf.


    He introduced himself as Amier, and his dragon as Argone. And Harmoni almost smiled, though the conflicting feeling made her stomach turn. The name might sound impressive, but she knew the truth. Argone was "rust" in Elvish.


    The two were from the Desert Crest.


    Roosher started to explain why he called, but Amier raised a hand cutting him off.


    ¡°I¡¯m well aware of what happened.¡± His accent was different than other elves she¡¯d heard too. He was a bit harder to understand.


    ¡°You are?¡±


    Amier nodded. ¡°Or rather, Argone does.¡± He nodded to his dragon. ¡°This is the work of the Hidden Cult. Argone recognizes the smell from other confirmed attacks.¡±


    The human looked around wildly, like she expected someone to come out and attack them.


    The imp in the bus inhaled sharply. ¡°Are you sure?¡± he asked.


    Amier and Argone managed to give identical unimpressed gazes. Impressive, with how different their faces were.


    ¡°Yes, I''m afraid so,¡± Amier said. ¡°And if you¡¯d like more proof. . .¡±


    He turned around. As he spoke, Argone dug a clawed foot through the sand, bringing up a black cloak in his talons.


    The imp turned away, glaring at the ground.


    For Harmoni, meanwhile, her feelings of fear were shifting to feelings of confusion. ¡°What¡¯s the Hidden Cult?¡± she asked.


    Roosher and Amier looked at her in surprise. ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± Amier asked.


    ¡°Obviously not.¡± Fleck growled slightly in annoyance. He didn¡¯t know either. He wanted to find out.


    ¡°Right.¡± Roosher ran a hand through his hair. Maybe his foresight had given him a hint, or maybe he was just good at reading a room. Either way, he was the one who answered. ¡°Well, the Hidden Cult is what most people call them. Supposedly, it¡¯s what they call themselves too. But so few people knowingly meet a member and live, it¡¯s hard to say for certain. They¡¯re a large cult, with members of every species. They just . . . create massive carnage. They¡¯re known for going to small or weak towns like this on any planet, killing everyone, and disappearing.¡±


    ¡°Wyss Village wasn''t weak. It had at least two powerful members. To kill this town, they must¡¯ve had massive magic at their disposal. . .¡± Amier said.


    But Harmoni wasn¡¯t interested in that. They killed everyone? And so few people survived they didn¡¯t know the true name of the cult? But Harmoni had woken up in the slaughtered town.


    Suddenly, she found herself puking in the sand.

 15: Rain

    ¡°Harmoni!¡± Udo ran up to where she was sitting in the sand, head on her knees.


    Aqua was there as well, talking with Fleck, but Harmoni focused on Udo, slowly lifting her head towards him.


    Udo squatted beside her. He briefly reached for her shoulder, but paused, and dropped his arm. ¡°Are you OK?¡±


    ¡°I-yes,¡± Harmoni said, nodding. ¡°Just shaken.¡±


    She was still literally shaking a bit, but she was calming down.


    Udo smiled sympathetically. ¡°Can¡¯t say I blame you. Why don¡¯t we go back now?¡±


    If he knew about the puking, or noticed the shaking, he didn¡¯t say anything.


    ¡°We can leave?¡± Harmoni asked.


    Udo nodded. ¡°The other three are going back on the bus, but we¡¯ve got Aqua. We can go now.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t . . . doesn¡¯t Amier and Argone want people to stay?¡±


    ¡°Nah.¡± Udo shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s obvious this was a while ago. There¡¯s nothing more you can do.¡±


    ¡°Oh. OK.¡±


    Harmoni was ready to leave.


    Fleck too.


    Udo stood up and offered her a hand. Harmoni let him pull her up. They climbed onto Aqua. Fleck did too, being too young to fly.


    ¡°Ready?¡± Udo asked.


    Harmoni glanced back at the slaughtered town. It looked mostly like it had last time she saw it, but somehow more abandoned, like it had been years since anyone lived here. If when she woke up was any indication, it had been between two and three weeks. Roughly.


    ¡°Is anything going to change in Xentron City?¡±


    ¡°From this? It¡¯s already happened, and we know who did it, so not much. Amier might have more people on guard in Xentron City, in case anyone tries to attack the place. But Amier¡¯s got limited resources. Even the Hidden Cult would be pretty bold to attack a place as significant as Xentron City, and he knows this.¡±


    Harmoni frowned at the blue scales beneath her.


    It sounded like this Hidden Cult would just get away with this. Fleck didn¡¯t like the sound of that.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± Harmoni finally answered Udo¡¯s question. ¡°I just want to go home now.¡±


    Fleck saw Udo look surprised for a second. Then he smiled fondly. Before Fleck could process it, Aqua took off. They were going back.


    ~~~


    It was darker than usual in the shop. Well, Udo hadn''t turned on any lights, it was early in the morning, and it was cloudy.


    "We might get rain," Aqua said. "It smells a bit like it."


    "I''ll warn you, that saying that it never rains unless it pours is rather literal here," Udo said.


    Harmoni nodded, but continued to stare at him expectantly. They''d come in a little early. She doubted it was to talk about the weather, and it didn''t seem to be about work either.


    Udo held out a small cylinder, mostly brown, with a gray dial at the top. "Do you know what this is?"


    Harmoni shook her head.


    "This is a Link."


    Ferren stopped writing at the front desk. Placing some sort of order? She was watching them now.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "It''s for communicating. More convenient than a phone. I''d like you to take it with you on your days off."


    "Excuse me?" Ferren stated. "You want to give her something from work on her days off."


    "Work has a phone," Udo corrected. "This is my personal one."


    "Even worse," Ferren said. "This isn''t a charity. You can''t afford it, and she doesn''t need it."


    "I''m not giving it away. It''s for communication in case something happens. If anything it could help with work."


    "Do you think I care?" Ferren looked at the still silent Harmoni. "Don''t take it."


    Aqua turned to Ferren and snuffed. Even without Fleck, Harmoni could hear a warning when she heard it.


    Udo was a bit kinder when he spoke, but still a little annoyed. With Ferren, and not Harmoni. "I don''t believe you''re in charge of that."


    ~~~


    The rain drops were coming down now.


    It was a normal day. Udo had been right. A few people wandering around seemed more armed, walked with company, or both. But otherwise, everything had been the same the past couple days.


    Harmoni and Fleck were cleaning the floor, but they were actually on top of it today. All the pools and the bathroom for the riders was clean. Once the floor was done, they¡¯d be done until a new customer came in.


    True to Fleck''s words, Harmoni could hear the faint ping of rain outside.


    And true to Udo¡¯s word, it was soon coming down hard, creating sheets on the windows, and forcing everyone to avoid the part of the building with no wall. It didn''t even seem to go into the ground, the desert surface and pavement both too hard. Instead, rain ran down the street or in ditches like a river, or pooled in lower places.


    But it wasn''t so bad.


    The sound of rain was peaceful, because they were inside.


    At least, Harmoni had thought so.


    They were supposed to go home soon, but maybe they could stay for some extra time today.


    She and Fleck put the mop away. Harmoni moved to the front door and watched the dark clouds roll overhead, debating. It wasn''t a storm per say. There was no thunder and lightning. And the clouds were light gray, instead of black. It was just a lot of water.


    Good thing Ferren was off today. She''d scold Harmoni for blocking the entrance this long. She had before, after all.


    Harmoni glanced back into the spa. It wasn''t too busy of a day. Probably because of the weather. There was one guest right now.


    Then a tapping came from behind her, at the door.


    ¡°Harmoni! Hey Harmoni!¡±


    Harmoni turned towards the door, and stared. Cooper and Moon were standing out there, without an umbrella, water dumping on them. And yet, Cooper had some big dopey grin on his face.


    Harmoni was slightly concerned. She opened the door.


    ¡°Cooper?¡±


    Her concern changed to surprise as the two stepped just inside. Cooper shook his legs a bit, and got water to actually pour out of one of his shoes, like it was a bucket instead of a shoe.


    Thankfully, they stayed in the entrance, not traipsing water all over the shop. Probably for the best that.


    ¡°Cooper!¡±


    ¡°Woo!¡± Cooper whistled. ¡°You could use a kayak in this weather. Feels like all the water on the planet¡¯s coming down.¡±


    ¡°Then what were you doing out in it?¡± Harmoni asked.


    Cooper turned to her with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s dry and dusty even when you¡¯re taking a bath on this planet.¡± Now that was a little hyperbolic, but she got what he meant. ¡°This weather feels great.¡±


    ¡°You think so too?¡± Fleck asked Moon.


    Rain was all fine and good for people with naked flesh, like those two, but it could get stuck in their scales and be pretty uncomfortable.


    And Moon seemed to understand. She nodded. ¡°At a certain point, any more water stops making a difference. And the alchemist and the dragon we live with, those two made a device to dry people off. Makes this whole thing much better.¡±


    Cooper stood just inside the doorway, and stretched out his hand. ¡°Come on Harmoni, you should join us.¡±


    Harmoni pressed her lips together. She glanced out the door, and at Cooper¡¯s hand, and at Udo. He and Aqua were helping a dragon out of the pool. They¡¯d both spared a glance in their direction when Cooper came in, but had mostly ignored the whole thing.


    Aqua actually gave a tiny nod in their direction. She¡¯d given them the OK.


    Cooper stepped just outside, rain falling back down on him. But he kept his hand outstretched. ¡°Try it.¡±


    The image would make a fantastic painting.


    With that thought, she took his hand, and let him pull her out. The rain was coming down pretty hard, and her clothes clinging to her was uncomfortable. But once she was used to that, it was nice. It was colder and wetter than anything she¡¯d experienced on this planet. So, more so than anything she remembered, really.


    Cooper spun ahead of her and jumped in a puddle. She knew that was the clich¨¦ fun thing to do in the rain, but the puddles were getting so big she probably wouldn¡¯t.


    She did hold her arms out, and tip her head up. She spun on the spot, feeling rain come down on her face and outstretched palms. She could hear Cooper jumping nearby, even with her eyes closed.


    Fleck watched out the window for a little, content to watch and smell. The water and rocks reminded him a bit of the cave. The faint wind was new though. He came out to be near Harmoni, and to join Moon.


    Moon repaid him by splashing him with her tail. While he closed his eyes against the water, she ran off, and he was soon chasing her. They splashed each other a few times, ran up and down the path, and Moon came to a sudden stop. Fleck crashed into her and they rolled across the ground, a tangle of limbs and tails.


    Soon Harmoni joined the others in laughing, lowering her head just as Cooper joined her on the side of the path.


    ¡°So?¡± he asked.


    ¡°You were right,¡± she agreed. ¡°It¡¯s nice out here. But, I should probably get dried off.¡±


    If she just stood out in the rain with Cooper like this, she was going to get a cold.


    ¡°How about you come back with me?¡± Cooper asked. ¡°Uh. If you''re done of course. You and Fleck should join us, and meet the alchemist.¡±

 16: The Alchemist

    Cooper and Moon led Harmoni and Fleck back to a small, familiar building. It was stone, one of the few buildings in the city that was only two stories tall, and had a yard with more plants than most people in the city. And of course, there was the sign hanging over the door, a wooden symbol swaying slightly in the wind, that marked it as an alchemy shop.


    The four walked in. The dwarf and the dragon that Harmoni had met, asking for an apprenticeship, were inside. They were by the table, making tea at the moment.


    ¡°Cooper, you¡¯re back. Who¡¯s your friend?¡± the dwarf asked.


    Cooper gave a sideways smile. It was . . . endearing. ¡°This is Harmoni, and Fleck. I met them a few days ago. We went to the gardens.¡± He didn¡¯t mention the fights out in the courtyard. ¡°Harmoni, this is Cembra and Evergreen. They run the alchemist shop. I¡¯ve been learning from them.¡±


    He bounced slightly in enthusiasm.


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen you before,¡± Cembra said, thick brow furrowed until they placed it. ¡°Ah. No hard feelings, right?¡±


    Harmoni shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m good where I am.¡±


    ¡®But learning alchemy still would¡¯ve been your first choice,¡¯ Fleck called her out.


    ¡®Maybe so. But Cooper¡¯s happy here, and Cembra always gives me a funny look.¡¯


    ¡®You just don¡¯t want to be a bother.¡¯


    ¡®. . .Maybe so.¡¯


    Cembra (finally) turned away, attention back on the table. ¡°Well, you¡¯re all soaking wet. You ought to dry off.¡±


    Cembra gestured to an arch pressed against the wall. They gestured with a double-bladed axe.


    Cooper and Moon didn¡¯t seem to think anything was odd about that. They headed towards the arch. Cooper was smiling. Moon jerked her head, gesturing for them to follow.


    There was only room for one person at a time in the arch. Maybe one person and their dragon, if they arranged themselves properly. But that wasn¡¯t a problem. The arch worked really fast. Hot air blasted in from the arch, drying the water or knocking it off, and Cooper and Moon stepped out good as new.


    ¡°Come on,¡± Cooper urged once Harmoni got her turn. He was standing at the base of a small staircase going up. ¡°I can show you the inventions I¡¯m working on. While we wait.¡±


    That did sound good.


    Harmoni and Fleck followed the other two upstairs. It was a small upstairs area. If Cooper was any taller he¡¯d probably be bumping the ceiling, and there was only one room.


    ¡°Cembra doesn¡¯t like coming upstairs,¡± Cooper explained. ¡°We¡¯ve got a basement as well. But this is where I live.¡±


    He stepped into the middle of the room and spread his arms out.


    Harmoni glanced around. There was a bed in the corner, with drawers in the bottom that presumably kept Cooper¡¯s stuff. But most of the room was a workshop. Workbenches lined two of the walls. Several items were laying on the tables or leaning against them. There were tools and safety goggles, and there were materials. But Harmoni didn¡¯t see many completed projects.


    Cooper grabbed a box of what looked like metal boots from under a table. He started putting them on. ¡°These are my rocket boots. They¡¯ll let you fly through the sky, can even join your dragons.¡±


    Moon puffed up proudly, despite Fleck¡¯s teasing that she didn¡¯t have wings yet.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be so cool.¡±


    A whirring noise came from under Cooper¡¯s boots, and he began to hover a couple centimeters off the ground. Nothing appeared under him, strictly speaking, but the air did seem a little hazy.


    Harmoni¡¯s eyes went wide. Then the boots made a sputtering noise. They dropped, only to shoot Cooper abruptly up towards the ceiling. This time blue flames did shoot out the bottom.


    Cooper must¡¯ve done something to turn them off.


    Or they just broke.


    Either way, he fell back to the ground. ¡°Or, it¡¯ll be cool when they actually work,¡± Cooper groaned, sitting up.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Are you OK?¡± Harmoni asked.


    She instantly scampered over, even though she wasn¡¯t sure what she¡¯d do if something was wrong.


    Fleck shrugged. He could smell a first aid kit around somewhere. One of them would grab that, while the other would let Cembra and Evergreen know.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Cooper assured them both, holding up a hand. ¡°Partially metal anyway.¡±


    That was true, but he¡¯d slammed against the ceiling, and his skull didn¡¯t seem to have any metal showing. But he was already back up and putting the box back like it was nothing, so apparently he was fine.


    ¡®Don¡¯t worry so much,¡¯ Fleck thought. ¡®People take a tumble all the time.¡¯


    ''You were worried too.''


    Cooper slapped the table. ¡°And! I¡¯m working with those plants I told you about.¡±


    Yes, Harmoni could see the plant¡¯s skin on the table, along with one potted plant at the end, and some scissors that he¡¯d probably used to get the skin into shapes.


    ¡°Making a bag?¡± Harmoni asked.


    Cooper shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll probably start with that. I¡¯d like something a bit . . . bigger. But any other ideas are kind of ambitious, and I should really finish up on something. . .¡±


    He stared at his project with a frown, and Harmoni wasn¡¯t sure if she was supposed to say anything.


    She didn¡¯t have to figure it out. Cembra chose that moment to call them, and the four went back downstairs.


    Cembra had prepared tea, as well as little fungus sandwiches, and sausages Cembra and Cooper could have.


    And the dragons.


    That part might be mainly for the dragons.


    They ate in silence at first. The cups were thick ceramic mugs rather than tea cups. And the tea was sort of, spicy? Like it was made with turmeric or something. But it tasted good. Cembra did eventually ask a few cursory questions, like where Harmoni worked and what planet she was from.


    Harmoni answered as best she could, though given she had amnesia, it wasn¡¯t going so well. Ferren had already taken the fact she had amnesia really badly. She probably shouldn''t go advertising that to everyone immediately.


    Luckily, the dwarf was willing to talk about themselves as well. Cembra was fifty. (Dwarfs lived about 350 years or so, so like Harmoni, Cembra was aging slowly.) They¡¯d owned the alchemist shop on Xentron for about fifteen years, and had a good thing going. Not many skilled alchemists sold out their products so freely.


    The braiding in Cembra¡¯s hair was an intentional pattern. Dwarfs could style their hair or beard to mark their family or clan, showing where they belonged even planets away.


    The reason Harmoni couldn¡¯t tell if Cembra was a man or a woman was because dwarfs had more physical differences than she¡¯d realized. Dwarfs had three variations in sex chromosomes that were all fairly common, instead of two.


    Harmoni leaned forward slightly, with eyes wide, all while Cembra talked. She found it all fascinating.


    Then Cembra took a sip from her mug, and there was the odd slurping sound that meant it was empty.


    Harmoni looked at the bottom of her own mug with a frown. There was still some hot liquid sloshing at the bottom.


    ¡°Well, I have some orders to complete,¡± Cembra said.


    ¡°And it stopped raining,¡± Evergreen chimed in.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you two go home?¡± Cembra told Harmoni and Fleck. Then they turned to Cooper. ¡°And can you grab me some of the snazk wood from upstairs?¡±


    Cooper had jumped to his feet, basically before they finished. ¡°You got it!¡± he called from the stairs, Moon hot on his heels.


    Fleck slurped up another sausage, one for the road, and headed for the door.


    Harmoni quickly drank the last of her tea and followed him. But Cembra stopped them from leaving.


    Specifically, Cembra held out an axe near her neck as she was leaving, blocking the doorway and putting a sharp blade near her skin.


    Harmoni gasped, freezing up.


    Fleck spun around with a growl, but Evergreen was making it very clear what would happen if he tried to jump in.


    "Leave her alone!" Fleck snarled, stomping his front feet again.


    Compared to Evergreen, Fleck was like an angry poodle. And Evergreen just had to stand there, to achieve it.


    ¡°Listen closely,¡± Cembra started.


    And Harmoni tried. But she was also trying to think of a way out. She could move backwards, but this was the only obvious way in or out. She could run upstairs to Cooper and Moon, but Evergreen could probably stop her. . .


    ¡°Cooper might not know the aura you give off. But I do. Evergreen doesn¡¯t even need to tell me. It would be foolish to be surrounded by so much magic without at least dabbling in it. I can feel the dark arts steeped in you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what that means!¡± Harmoni exclaimed. ¡°I haven¡¯t done anything!¡±


    ¡°Do you think I¡¯m a fool? This isn¡¯t Star Wars.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what that means either,¡± Harmoni objected, voice higher than usual.


    ¡°You know full well what I mean. But in case you don¡¯t know the consequences of your own deeds, fine. I¡¯ll humor you. You don¡¯t get that kind of dark magic aura with thoughts or feelings. It¡¯s not a special subset of magic spells. The only way to get dark magic is through actions. And your actions must be pretty deplorable for me to sense them.¡±


    ¡°Wh-why are you telling me this?¡± Harmoni asked.


    She was still stressed, still wanting a way out, but it was odd Cembra would just tell her this if they were planning to kill her. No need to. And if they weren''t planning to kill her, why tell her so much?


    That was more than Fleck had considered. He never thought he¡¯d see the day where he was more stressed than Harmoni.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to get into a fight unprompted.¡±


    Hah. Only reason Cembra wasn¡¯t fighting was because they were afraid to lose. Fleck snarled.


    ¡°But I want it clear I know what you are. If I see any dark magic being used, or if Cooper or Moon come to harm, there will be consequences. Do you understand? You will wish for a quick death.¡±


    Cembra managed to shove the axe even closer to Harmoni, who nodded like a deranged bobblehead.


    Luckily, she could hear footsteps upstairs. And for the first time in this conversation, the sound was close to the staircase.


    Cooper appeared at the top, Moon carefully weaving in front of him. As they came into sight, Cembra pulled the axe away like that hadn¡¯t just happened.


    ¡°I got-!¡± Cooper started. ¡°Harmoni, you¡¯re still here.¡±


    Harmoni gave a faint smile, then turned and walked out the door as fast as she dared.

 17: A (Half) Day in the Life

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Harmoni went to Udo''s shop on Sunday morning, the last day of her work week. She took off her shoes and socks, and rolled up her pant legs for cleaning. Then she and Fleck got the cleaning supplies and set to work on the pools. She worked faster than her first day, and didn''t get sore so easily.


    When they were done, Fleck went to help with one of the guests, while Harmoni took inventory. They needed more bleach. But when Harmoni got to the front, she stared between the phone and the note in her trembling grasp. Her gaze wobbled.


    Ferren brushed past her with a scoff and picked up the phone. (Udo was talking to someone who just wanted to buy soap from him. Again, he was only one of two people who seemed to sell any. So no help from him right now.) But she got her revenge on Harmoni by sending her outside to deal with a wiv nest on the side of the building.


    It wasn''t the first time. Ferren had had her work on mold growing in the wall the day Harmoni got the Link. Harmoni had worn a cloth across and her face and everything. And she''d had her clean the rider sized bathroom after a dragon mistakenly used it the day she dropped her cleaning bucket on the floor upstairs, causing bleach water to run down like a wasteful waterfall.


    The wivs looked a bit like hummingbirds in size and shape. But they were insects. What looked like the iridescent feathers of a hummingbird was actually a hard shell, and their "beaks" had a sting.


    But Harmoni had a plan. The shop next door, a candle store, had a dumpster. She was pretty sure the dragon from the store would carry it off when it was full, but that wasn''t the point. She hopped inside, the lid open, and flung things from the dumpster at the wiv nest hanging from their building. She was pretty sure she was grabbing things like jars or candle wax, anything with enough weight that she could throw it, and it could dislodge the nest. When she did hit the nest, the thing falling off at an angle, she grabbed the lid of the dumpster, and closed herself in the metal container. Based on how dark it was, there weren''t any easy gaps for anything to get in.


    That was clever.


    Outside there was still the plink of something hitting metal. She waited until that and the buzzing sounds passed, and went back inside.


    Fleck was cleaning the claws of a dragon. This one was sort of tan or peach color. Either way, she would blend in well with the sand outside.


    She''d actually asked Fleck for a story about "the youth", as she put it. He tried not to scoff. He liked to tell stories after all.


    So he was telling her about the time he and his sister, Glow, got lost in their caves. Glow was older, and tried to take on the role of a wise older sibling, who would heroically lead them back to safety. But she was just a middle sibling, who was used to being lazy and getting her way, because she could mostly be ignored. It was actually Fleck who got them out.


    Harmoni smiled. She liked listening to Fleck''s story too. But she should contribute.


    The dragon in the bath looked mostly plain-


    Insulted


    -but she had what looked like beautiful hairs on her head. It reminded Harmoni of long trailing peacock feathers, but the material was definitely hair.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    She grabbed some liquid soap, rarer than the solid stuff in this shop, put it on the hair, and began digging it in.


    While they worked, another customer came in. This was a small pink dragon, smaller than Fleck, even though she was an adult.


    "Don''t worry," Aqua said. "We have something for you too."


    As Aqua spoke, Udo went to a closet. He came out with a metal tub, like the type you might do laundry in. He seemed pretty pleased with himself too.


    Aqua filled it with water. Udo tossed a cube of soap in, which turned to bubbles inside. And the small dragon slithered happily inside.


    When it was time to go, Harmoni put her socks and shoes back on. Fleck clambered onto her shoulders, and they headed for the door.


    Udo tugged the back of her shirt as she passed, just the shirt, and lightly, enough to let her know to stop. Harmoni paused, and Udo handed her fifty rells on the way out.


    By the time you accounted for her short hours, the room in his house, and the dinners, that was what she made each week. It wasn''t much. She wasn''t buying anything too complicated for breakfast or lunch. But she could manage. If she was in truly dire straights, she just had to stop buying other things, like that tour.


    And Fleck hunted some of his food. He was tempted to go after a wiv.


    Harmoni would prefer he not do that, if there were still any in the area.


    They went back. Harmoni looked at the calendar. This was the end of their third week with Udo and Aqua.


    She and Fleck made some lunch and sat in kitchen to eat, watching the view out the back window. The way the rain had run off the ground the other day, Harmoni didn''t think much had been absorbed. But maybe she was wrong. There were more plants out the window now. Mostly small things close to the ground, in shades of green Fleck couldn''t see.


    ''Never going to let that go, are you?'' he asked with a shake of his head.


    Or there were flowering ones. One had what looked like leaves, but were clearly stiff, like a cactus. Another was a flower that looked so solid it was like it was made out of glass, or gemstone. Those were the stand outs, anyway.


    The plants would be gone soon. They came from the rain, and they''d drop again.


    Fleck tilted his head, thoughtfully. He knew some riders scavenged the plants they could find. ''If you want to do the same, you should soon.''


    They were interrupted by the crackle of the Link. Harmoni jumped, and pulled it out of her pocket.


    The Link reminded her of a radio with the sound it made and the basic way it worked. But it was like a phone in that you only talked to one individual person at a time. You could adjust the dial to get the specific person you were looking for. Harmoni only knew how to get Udo so far.


    "Yes, hello?" she asked, pressing a button and speaking into the top of it.


    "Hello Harmoni," Udo''s voice came through the Link. "Listen. I just wanted to tell you I''ll be back late tonight. I''m joining a get together with the neighbors. We''re talking about roads." There was some false cheer on the end of that sentence. "A deal''s a deal, so I''ll bring you back some food from our meeting." A pause. Like he was considering. "Or you could join us."


    He made the offer, but Harmoni wasn''t going, and she suspected he knew that.


    The rest of the day was a nice time with just Fleck.


    He told her a few more stories, like the time Glow got stuck in a hole in the wall, or the time he accidentally scared one of his friends, because he''d gone and fallen in a pile of poop. He didn''t have to speak out-loud for this, but he did anyway. For fun.


    ''To hear your own voice.''


    "You also want to hear my own voice."


    ''True.''


    Harmoni lay on her belly smiling at him as he spoke. She liked hearing him speak. And she liked hearing about his normal life. And she knew he''d like hearing her stories too. If she had any.


    When it grew dark out, they went outside to the "backyard." (Could it be called a yard when it just opened up onto untouched desert?) They watched the stars from there. Harmoni wasn''t an expert on stars in any sense of the word. She couldn''t say she was looking at. But at the edge of the city like this, there were a lot of dots in the sky. They both even got to see a couple stars streak across the sky. And only one moon was out. Harmoni could sort of find the other one if she really looked, a dark rock in the sky, but it wasn''t lit right now.


    All in all, a nice day. But they should eat some of Udo''s leftovers, and go to bed. They had another trip to take the next day.

 18: Racing

    Harmoni and Fleck rode a dragon to the town West of Xentron City. Oasis. Neither had been in a hurry to go on foot across the desert, and the planet didn¡¯t have many vehicles. In fact, the dragon they road was basically a living taxi.


    She''d seen a few dragons pulling wagons or carriages as well, but it wasn''t super common.


    Not many people wanted to be living transportation, dragon or otherwise. Apparently, a few were up for that though.


    They slid off at the edge of the town.


    She put some money into a bag. The taxi dragon had few bags slung over him. He nodded, a bit of smoke puffing out in approval. Then the dragon turned, and took off back towards Xentron City.


    Harmoni turned and headed into town, looking around. Fleck had been here before, but it was all new sights for her. The buildings were smaller than in Xentron City, and some seemed to be almost entirely underground. The only evidence they were there would be a door or a yard. There was more space between the buildings, and larger yards, but the yards were emptier. Mostly sand and rocks, though a few scraggly things grew under the rocks. And it was quiet.


    The hair on the back of Harmoni¡¯s neck rose. She couldn''t help feeling nervous. She looked around, straining her pointed ears. She could barely hear anything, except the whistle of the wind. Her ears were good. She should surely hear something. Where was everyone?


    Fleck could smell the faint traces of people. And none of the scents seemed dead or injured. This town was somewhat nocturnal. If they had to be outside, they tried to do it at night. That was all.


    Sure enough, a moment later, Harmoni heard the soft whoosh of wings behind her. It didn¡¯t stay that silent for long.


    ¡°Yee-haw!¡±


    Both Harmoni and Fleck turned around. Harmoni did so quickly and sharply, wanting to see who was coming down. Fleck jumped high, catching some serious air, and was smiling.


    The dragon in the sky was about the size and shape of a van. She was golden, like Fleck, with yellow light coming down through her thin wings. But she also had a black stripe around her eyes and going along her back. And her golden eyes matched her scales, unlike Fleck¡¯s gray eyes.


    That was Fleck¡¯s oldest sister. The riders called her Glimmer.


    Harmoni could certainly see the resemblance.


    ''Wait,'' she thought. ''So you have two older sisters, and the human names for you are Glimmer, Glow, and Fleck?''


    ''Yes?''


    ''You sure you didn''t get the short end of the stick?''


    ''Hey!''


    Fleck was coming off indignant, but he was playing it up a bit and they both knew it. It was fun, but Harmoni should probably pay attention to the situation. Fleck''s sister was coming in.


    On Glimmer¡¯s back was a rider. As she dropped closer to the sand, Harmoni got a better view of them. The rider was a human woman. She had a helmet, a leather vest, and leather boots and gloves. But Harmoni could see some blond hair poking out from under the helmet. She had gray eyes and light skin. She was tall for a human woman, and muscular.


    And she always smelled like sand.


    Harmoni tried not to laugh.


    The rider jumped off Glimmer¡¯s back and waved at Harmoni and Fleck.


    ¡°Ey there Fleck. Long time, no see. And you must be ¡®is rider. Suzan Flin, a pleasure.¡±


    She extended a dust covered glove.


    ¡°Harmoni.¡± She held her own hand out.


    The handshake was vigorous.


    ¡°Come on, this way,¡± Suzan urged. She turned towards one of the yards, jerking with her head for Harmoni to follow. ¡°I owe Glimmer some water.¡±


    Fleck climbed onto Harmoni¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡®Suzan has some sort of spring in the bottom of her house. She always rewards Glimmer for her flights with it,¡¯ he explained.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Of course, riders should always do nice things for their dragons sometimes. Keep it an even relationship. But Glimmer worked hard on her flight, and not many riders could just pull clean cold water out of the ground. So the exchange was sort of specific.


    Sure enough, Suzan entered a side hatch around the side of her small house. She came up carrying a large bucket of water that she poured into a trough. She made the trip two more times before speaking.


    While she did that, Glimmer licked Fleck a few times. ¡°Good to see you little buddy.¡±


    ¡°We weren¡¯t too late, were we?¡± Suzan asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t . . . think so?¡± Harmoni said, glancing at Fleck.


    ¡°You weren¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Good. We were just practicing for the Xentron race. We¡¯re going to win it for sure this year.¡±


    That seemed . . . unlikely.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Glimmer huffed. ¡°My rider is apparently crazy.¡±


    Suzan actually stuck her tongue out at her.


    Glimmer shook her head, and turned to Harmoni. ¡°Suzan and I love racing. And flight shows with some of those fancy stunts. But we¡¯re decidedly not the best at it.¡±


    Flexible dragons like Aqua had the advantage there.


    ¡°. . .I see,¡± Harmoni finally managed.


    It was quiet for a moment after that. Glimmer drank her water. Fleck took a few laps too. Suzan sat on the door to her cellar.


    Getting to understand what was going on was a new and nice experience. He''d been to visit them before, but since he couldn''t understand Suzan on his own, it had been pretty frustrating. And Glimmer had probably picked up on that, even if neither she nor Fleck had said anything.


    ¡°So, uh, what do we do now?¡± Harmoni asked, wringing her hands.


    ¡°Hmm, tell you what? This is your first visit. ''Ow about a ride?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Suzan shrugged, rocking back and forth slightly as she spoke. ¡°Fleck¡¯s gone with us plenty before, but you should get to experience what racing is like. The wind in your face. The ground and sky equally untouchable. The land rushing by below you. The thrill of competing. The look of defeat on your opponent¡¯s face when you crush them.¡± Suzan briefly curled her fingers into a fist and glared at it, before relaxing it. ¡°It¡¯s great. And who knows? If you like, maybe you and Fleck can get into racing.¡±


    Fleck liked . . . part of it. He doubted he¡¯d get into racing when his wings grew in though. Like his sister, he was shaped a bit too much like a box anyway, better at pure strength.


    But he agreed. Harmoni should totally give it a try.


    Harmoni felt her lips quirk up. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Woo!¡± Suzan cheered.


    She ran inside, and came back out with another pair of gloves and a helmet. The helmet had to be adjusted a lot to fit on Harmoni¡¯s head.


    ¡°Trust me, you¡¯ll want it,¡± Suzan said.


    Oh she didn¡¯t have to say.


    Glimmer crouched down all the way, belly on the sand. She reminded Harmoni of a cat when they were laying down with just their feet poking out.


    Suzan gave Harmoni a boost up, basically flinging her into the saddle, where her feet fell into the large saddle bags.


    Considering there were only two stirrups, that was probably the best place for her legs to go.


    Suzan put one of her own feet in a stirrup, and leapt onto Glimmer, grabbing the reigns.


    ¡®I thought you¡¯d hate reins?¡¯ Harmoni asked internally.


    ¡®Well normally, yes.¡¯ If you were bonded with a dragon, you didn¡¯t need reins. You and the dragon could fly practically as one. And if you weren¡¯t bonded? Well, dragons weren¡¯t a mindless animal. ¡®But for racing or stunt flying it¡¯s kind of a safety thing.¡¯


    Fleck climbed onto Glimmer as well, his claws able to get a better grip on the scales than a rider could do.


    ¡°Ready?¡± Glimmer asked.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Suzan cheered.


    Harmoni gripped one of Suzan¡¯s shoulders, and grabbed a rein with the other hand. Then she nodded.


    ¡°Ready!¡± Fleck confirmed.


    Glimmer launched them into the air. She moved fast, like a bullet from a gun, and Harmoni was forced back. She gripped Suzan and the reigns a little harder, and when she tried to lean forward, both Fleck and Suzan gave her a hand. It helped that Glimmer was slowing down. That momentum could only last so long. Harmoni couldn¡¯t get a better grip on the reins, but she could cling closer to Suzan, practically hugging her.


    Like a sloth.


    ¡®. . .Yeah sure.¡¯


    Harmoni had good timing, or maybe Suzan and Glimmer were talking. As soon as she was more secure, Glimmer spread out her wings and flapped, pushing them forwards at higher speeds again.


    She kept flapping. Harmoni could see her flap, pull her wings in at least partly, and then spread them out and flap again, many times in a row.


    Reducing drag.


    Well no doubt about that. They picked up speed with each flap. They shot forward across open desert. A few clouds of sand and dust rose up below them, but it didn¡¯t reach high enough to breath in. Hot wind hit Harmoni¡¯s face. The desert below all looked kind of the same, but she could see the clouds whiz by up above.


    It was actually kind of fun, if uncomfortable. Harmoni smiled faintly.


    Then the landscape changed. A canyon was coming up. It rushed up on them, and suddenly they were between two steep rock walls, with the occasional jagged edge sticking out.


    It felt like they were going to hit something. Then they moved closer to the rock wall. And Glimmer started angling sideways. Harmoni had to squeeze Suzan to make sure she didn¡¯t slide off as the rocks rushed towards them.


    Fleck grabbed Harmoni¡¯s shirt in his mouth.


    Glimmer hit the wall, kicking off with her feet, and immediately swung the other way to do it on the other side, zig-zagging across part of the canyon.


    Harmoni tried not to cry.


    Fleck wasn¡¯t worried about death by rock wall. Glimmer was better than that. But this route always made him . . . nauseous. But it would probably change when he did the flying himself. Every dragon flew. Getting nauseous while flying would be like a human getting nauseous from walking.


    They were suddenly exiting the canyon. Harmoni had been too distracted by fear (and Fleck¡¯s hurt stomach) to notice they were reaching the end.


    Glimmer flapped a few times to clear the edge, and turned around, flying along side it.


    This was a short route. Normal races took hours. Maybe Glimmer and Suzan were being considerate. Or maybe Glimmer was already tired. They¡¯d been flying earlier. Or maybe it was too hot. The races were often at sunset or later. It was pretty late in the afternoon, but not that late. Whatever the reason, they were heading back.

 19: Visits

    When they landed, Suzan immediately went to get more water. Which was good. It gave Harmoni a chance to slide down and feel her feet on the ground again. Fleck was no help there. He was lying on the ground and taking deep breaths, trying to, literally, shake off the nausea.


    Harmoni was feeling better by the time Suzan had finished pouring the water, but of course, Glimmer had seen her. So there was no point pretending she liked the whole thing. Something she¡¯d forgotten about.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry you didn¡¯t ave a good time,¡± Suzan said.


    Fleck just went over and took some small gulps of water.


    Harmoni shook her head. ¡°Some of it was good. I liked flying over the open desert.¡± Her smile faltered. ¡°But that canyon. . .¡±


    Suzan shook her head. ¡°Terrain change is a part a every race, part a the experience. An'' if that doesn''t work for you, you wouldn''t like racing in general. But it might¡¯ve been too much, to start you on that canyon.¡±


    Harmoni . . . couldn¡¯t think of an argument against that.


    It was probably true.


    They stood in silence for a moment.


    Fleck finished drinking and stepped back. He was feeling better now.


    Suzan clapped her hands together. ¡°Well, you¡¯ve been out in the desert for a while, and it¡¯s gettin late. What da ya say we go in, have some water of our own, an something to eat?¡±


    Glimmer took her head out from her trough. ¡°We¡¯ll give you a ride back after. You won¡¯t have to get back in the dark.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t have to get back in the dark alone,¡± Fleck corrected. It could still be dark by the time they finished.


    Glimmer pushed his head in the sand. Gently.


    Harmoni just nodded. The two went inside. Harmoni looked back at Fleck.


    ¡®The upstairs area is small,¡¯ he thought to her. ¡®If Glimmer goes inside it¡¯s in the basement. And I¡¯d like to stick with her.¡¯


    He and Harmoni didn¡¯t have compatible diets anyway.


    Fair enough. Harmoni didn¡¯t want to separate them. She didn¡¯t really get it, how they interacted with each other, but the dragon siblings were clearly fond of each other.


    Sure enough, it was small inside Suzan¡¯s house. There was a bathroom to one side, but the rest was all one round room. There was a kitchen area, a table, a bed, and someplace to hang jackets. (And helmets.) Harmoni saw another pair of dusty boots under the bed. That was about it, but there was a hole near the wall, with stairs going down.


    Outside, Glimmer was getting some dried meat for her and Fleck, bragging about how she caught it herself.


    Inside, Suzan got some fruit out of a cabinet. At least, she said it was fruit. It looked sort of like a cactus, but when Harmoni tapped a spine, it was soft. When she ran a hand along the green shell, it felt almost fuzzy.


    Suzan smiled sympathetically. ¡°Oh I know. The food here can be wild. But give it a try. You¡¯ll like it.¡±


    She started cutting the fruit in half, and Harmoni¡¯s eyes widened. It was purple inside. Harmoni was pretty sure Udo had cooked with it before, but she¡¯d always thought it was like, some sort of sweet potato. Because he¡¯d already gotten rid of the shell by the time she saw it.


    ¡°So, Fleck¡¯s been here a couple times, but it¡¯s nice he finally got a rider. He says you work at the spa. The one Udo and Aqua run?¡±


    Harmoni nodded. ¡°You know about it?¡±


    To her knowledge, Fleck hadn¡¯t known Aqua until the day he bonded with her.


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    ¡°A course. Not many places that cater specifically to dragons. I¡¯ve taken Glimmer there a time or two, after the races. She deserves it.¡±


    Glimmer and Fleck were doing their own thing outside. Mostly eating and asking if Fleck had made any dragon friends. But they were, of course, aware of what was going on inside. Glimmer puffed up proudly at the mention.


    ¡°I gotta say, I feel a bit bad for Ferren.¡±


    ¡°You do?¡±


    Out of anything Suzan could¡¯ve mentioned, that was certainly not what Harmoni expected. Wasn¡¯t on the list, hadn¡¯t crossed her mind.


    ¡°Well yeah. I mean, she works at a spa for dragons, but is too old and has lived through too much to bond with one herself. She gets to be surrounded by a bond she can¡¯t take part in, and can never have a major role there, because it¡¯s hard to communicate with dragons without aving one. Udo will eventually die, and she won¡¯t. And then she¡¯ll either have to close down the spa, or work for somebody else.¡±


    Harmoni had not thought about it like that before. Was that why she was always in a bad mood?


    There was one thing that still made it hard to feel sympathy for her. ¡°But if it¡¯s so bad, why does she work there?¡±


    Harmoni didn¡¯t want to sound bad but . . . she wouldn¡¯t mind if Ferren. . .


    Left? Nothing wrong with that. She was intimidating.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s the great mystery, isn it?¡± Suzan took a scoop out of her fruit.


    When it didn¡¯t seem like Suzan was going to keep speaking, Harmoni changed the subject. ¡°What do you and Glimmer do?¡±


    ¡°Oh you¡¯re seeing it. Glimmer an I get our food off the land, through hunting or scavenging. If we need money, we get that from the races. We don¡¯t win often. But we can make some bets.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Harmoni had never met someone who lived like that.


    ¡®You wouldn¡¯t know if you¡¯ve met someone like that,¡¯ Fleck pointed out.


    ¡®I still have information, like what this planet is called and what bleach does to your clothes. I think I¡¯d be more familiar with the concept if I¡¯d seen it before,¡¯ Harmoni pointed out.


    "Isn''t that . . . a lot?" Harmoni asked. She wasn''t sure what it was a lot of. Work? Knowledge? Time?


    Suzan seemed to get what she was saying. She wagged her spoon at Harmoni. "Darlin, most people on Xentron do some amount a foraging or gardening. An you''ve seen that, haven''t you? In Xentron City? There''s just not enough farmers for everyone to be separate from food."


    Harmoni hadn''t thought about it, but most yards did have plants. (Not many. Desert.) And a lot of them were probably edible.


    Fleck shrugged. If it was what Glimmer wanted then she could do that, but Fleck didn''t see much point in living with riders if they were still going to live like a dragon.


    Harmoni took another bite of her fruit. She and Suzan kept talking, but they were almost done eating, and it was getting dark. Soon, it would be time to go home.


    ~~~


    Visiting Glimmer and Suzan was always fun. It was also always a little . . . intense. It helped to have a lot of energy.


    Glimmer was the eldest, and came off as the stereotypical powerful and perfect eldest sibling with little effort. There was no chance of catching up to her. That was also an intense part of the visit.


    The same would not be said of Fleck¡¯s other sister, Glow. The middle child. She lived in Xentron City, sort of Northeast of where they lived, on the other side of the fighting arena.


    It was a courtyard. It was just used for fighting sometimes.


    According to Glow, it used to be exclusively a fighting arena. You had to get permission from the owner to use it for anything else. And if he said yes at all, he¡¯d charge a lot of money for it.


    ¡®What changed?¡¯


    Fleck shrugged from where he sat on Harmoni¡¯s shoulders. ¡®The old owner was run out.¡¯


    ¡®I. See. Anyway, are we close?¡¯


    Fleck nodded. Actually, he could see the place from here. ¡®It¡¯s that one.¡¯ He pointed with this tail.


    The red building was a magic shop on the first floor, and a living area on the second floor, though both were a little small. Fleck used to be bored when he visited Glow. There wasn''t space to do anything. But he was older now. He could appreciate Glow¡¯s life better. And he had Harmoni with him, so he¡¯d know what the rider was on about without Glow translating for once.


    Harmoni just hoped she wouldn¡¯t be accused of being evil again.


    By his sister and her rider? He¡¯d bite the rider¡¯s head off if so.


    Harmoni laughed, just a little. ¡®But don¡¯t,¡¯ she told him.


    Feeling better, she knocked on the door.


    The person who opened the door was an imp with black hair pulled back into a pony tail. He had blue eyes, and black horns curling to both sides. His skin was a pale red. Maybe you could call it pink.


    And he looked familiar.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you fight in the arena?¡± Harmoni guessed.


    She didn¡¯t really watch the arena fights, but she walked this way sometimes, after work, especially if she wanted to go to the library. Also, Cooper had bet against this imp. He¡¯d been right to.


    The imp blinked, apparently a little taken aback. Maybe Harmoni shouldn¡¯t have said anything?


    Then he smiled, pointy teeth showing on the side of his mouth. ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t say I¡¯m a regular. I¡¯ve got this shop I¡¯d rather run. But yeah, I¡¯ve been down there a time or two.¡± He scratched his neck. His nails seemed sort of sharp for that, more like Fleck''s than her own. Imp¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t move like the other species. You couldn¡¯t just follow their gaze. But Harmoni did see him move his head, just slightly, to get a better view of Fleck. ¡°You must been Fleck¡¯s rider. And I¡¯m Glow¡¯s rider. Name¡¯s Rial.¡± He didn¡¯t extend his hand.


    ¡°Harmoni.¡±


    This time when he smiled, is mouth was completely closed. It hid the pointy teeth. ¡°Charmed. Well, let¡¯s not stand out here. Come on in.¡±

 20: Magic

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Rial led them inside, and past the magic shop on the first floor, towards a staircase in the back corner. Harmoni still looked around as they passed. She could see potions, enchanted robes, wands, and spell books. There was also a table along the right wall, low enough that you could kneel by it. There were bowls set on the table, but nothing in them.


    The first floor was interesting, but she didn¡¯t linger. Rial was still going to the stairs, and Harmoni should meet Glow.


    Upstairs, there was a locked door between the magic store and living space. Rial quickly let them through.


    It was . . . messy. Clothes or plates sat on the surfaces. The apartment had a lot of shelves and drawers, but things still poked out, the doors not closed properly.


    Glow was sitting on the kitchen¡¯s island. Her scales were a pale yellow, unlike her siblings. But her eyes were a deep gold, even more so than her sibling¡¯s scales.


    ¡®No need to swoon over her so fast,¡¯ Fleck thought at her. Harmoni was clearly fond of how Glow looked, and it was annoying.


    Harmoni just shook her head.


    Anyway, Glow was about the size of a bicycle.


    And had been for years. Not likely to keep going.


    She had wings, but they were folded up.


    There was an open bag of chips on the island, some chips almost falling out. Occasionally, Glow¡¯s tongue would zip out and grab one, like a frog.


    Sounded good. Fleck jumped up on the island with her. Glow¡¯s tail thumped as he came up, and she let out a low rumble in greeting.


    ¡°Get off you two,¡± Rial said, hand on his hips as he leaned forward. ¡°There¡¯s not enough space for both of you.¡±


    That much was true. Fleck was partly on top of Glow, and her back half was sliding off the island.


    They both made sure to give him disappointed looks before jumping off.


    Glow trotted up to Harmoni. "Hi there. You''re my brother''s rider? I''m Glow. Or. That''s what the riders call me."


    Harmoni nodded. "I''m Harmoni."


    Glow stood a little taller, head going towards Harmoni''s hand, and Harmoni scratched the top of it.


    While they got introduced, Rial sat down at the island himself, hands clasped together. After a moment, he turned to her. ¡°Well come on over. Take a seat. I assume you¡¯ll be here a while.¡±


    ¡°If they¡¯re doing that, we should take the comfy seats,¡± Glow said.


    She led Fleck to a corner of the room with a beanbag chair, pillows, and cushions.


    Harmoni dropped onto a stool beside Rial.


    Like Suzan, Rial asked a little about what she did, where she lived, if she liked it. He titled his head when she mentioned that she lived with Udo. But he nodded a moment later.


    ¡°And what about you?¡± Harmoni asked. ¡°You fight in the arena and run a shop?¡±


    Rial tugged at his ponytail. ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t put so much weight on the arena. I do it for fun sometimes, and to get out of the building. But it¡¯s not my thing. I make magic. Literally.¡±


    Harmoni nodded. ¡°I noticed. It looks . . . cool.¡±


    Rial tilted his head again. ¡°Would you like to see some of it? I mean, working on magic items. I was going to get out a deck of cards or something. I have a very good poker face.¡± He grinned, pointy teeth flashing. ¡°But if you¡¯re interested in magic, we can go back downstairs. Those two can join us if they want.¡±


    He jerked at thumb at the dragons. Those two were currently playing tug of war with a rope, like a dog.


    They might join the riders some time, but they weren¡¯t done here.


    Harmoni laughed a little. ¡°That sounds nice.¡± She nodded.


    Rial led her back downstairs. He shut the blinds and turned on the lights instead.


    ¡°The sign says closed. But people try to come in anyway, if they see the owner inside,¡± he explained.


    Harmoni nodded along.


    Rial stepped into the center of the room, and clasped his hands together. ¡°Now, what would you like to know about? I¡¯ve got my finished products for sale, but I¡¯ve got some materials in the closet. We could always work on something new.¡±


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Is that what the table''s for?¡± Harmoni guessed.


    ¡°Sort of.¡± Rial nodded. ¡°I work on projects out there, even when the store is open. People like seeing the process in the same place they buy the product. Sometimes. But sometimes people work on their own projects there too. I provide the supplies. They do the work.¡±


    ¡°OK.¡± She still had to answer Rial¡¯s question. It seemed so open ended. ¡°Uh. We can make something. Yeah.¡±


    Rial went to the closet and started pulling out jars and bags, while Harmoni dropped by the magic books, and started reading titles. Lots of variety. She saw a spell book, a potions book, and a book on magic theory all in her first glance.


    ¡°Ah. I don¡¯t write any of those,¡± Rial clarified. ¡°Some of them come from Iva. The elves have always had a natural affinity for magic. But, some of them come from Xentorn as well. Those are the steals. Anyone who writes a magic book here usually has a bold, experimental idea.¡±


    Yeah, that tracked with everything else Harmoni knew about Xentron.


    It seemed Rial was done, spreading everything out on the table. So she got up and joined him. There was a bit more discussion. They went over what Rial could actually make with the supplies and time they had.


    In the end, they agreed to make a waterproof cloak for Harmoni. Harmoni worked with water. And Xentron didn¡¯t really get colder, but it did have a wet season. And maybe she could play a little prank on Cooper. Go out in the rain with him again without telling him about the cloak.


    That was the most mischievous Fleck had seen Harmoni act, and he welcomed it.


    Rial handed Harmoni some sort of blue crystal. She was supposed to grind it with a motar.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you make waterproof clothes without magic?¡± Harmoni pointed out.


    ¡°Well yes, but depending on what supplies you have, one method might be easier than the other. And, have you felt raincoats? I think the magic waterproofing is more comfortable.¡±


    Harmoni nodded along to the logic. She finished crushing the crystals. Rial pushed a small cauldron with a flame underneath it at her, and took the crushed crystals.


    ¡°Been a while since I had to use the Bunsen burner,¡± he commented.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Glow sang.


    She didn¡¯t sound very sorry, and Fleck immediately started teasing her for being lazy, and not doing her work.


    Harmoni started stirring the cauldron of what looked like soup, while Rial started putting the crystal powder on the cloak.


    ¡°So, can¡¯t you use magic without ingredients? Or even words?¡± Harmoni asked.


    Rial tugged his ponytail again. ¡°Well me personally? I¡¯m, uh, not as good at that. There¡¯s a reason I have a shop of pre-made magic items. All the time in the world to make more. But if you mean in general? Magic is an energy, a power, that flows through the universe. Nonverbal spells really only last as long as you¡¯re focusing on casting that specific spell, crafting the energy into the result. It¡¯s, uh, not always super practical. A spoken spell lasts longer, but if you want something with real sticking power, you use ingredients. I can take the cauldron now.¡±


    Harmoni pushed the cauldron to him, and Rial grabbed the ladle she¡¯d been stirring with, and started pouring the liquid onto the cloak.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that really close to alchemy though?¡± Harmoni asked.


    ¡°Sort of. Uh, sometimes it really helps to be able to feel magic, to make a potion. You can sense which items are most potent. Or which ones you can use to get a specific result. You don''t always want the most potent ingredient."


    Fleck was pretty sure dragons could do something similar with smell. For example, he could tell some of the necklaces hanging up in the shop had more magic clinging to them than others, based on scent.


    "Other times, like right now, you want to combine your ingredients with a spell.¡± He pressed his hand on a corner of the cloak, and whispered something in a language she didn¡¯t recognize. He wasn¡¯t really that quiet, more like a stage whisper. Maybe you were supposed to whisper for this part? ¡°But, I guess if you don¡¯t need either of those things, you could argue it¡¯s alchemy. The line can be blurry.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t mind that?¡± Harmoni asked.


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    "People just like labels," Glow added.


    Rial touched two more corners of the cloak, and whispered two more spells. Then he stopped. He pressed his hand against the table, and his breath was a little . . . heavier than before.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Harmoni asked.


    Rial smiled. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°Why did you stop?¡±


    She assumed he had to get the last corner.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know much about magic, do you?¡±


    Harmoni shook her head. ¡°Don¡¯t know anything.¡±


    Rial hummed. ¡°Well, magic flows through things. I¡¯ve . . . mentioned this, haven¡¯t I?¡± She nodded. ¡°Well, it flows through some things and people more than others. If you, uh, want to go with the water metaphor, elves have an advantage. Some elves seem like they¡¯ve got a waterfall of magic flowing through them, and I¡¯ve never met an elf who didn¡¯t have at least one spell under their belt. Colbbers, meanwhile, are more like a drip of water coming out of leaky sink. Magic flows through them, because it flows through everything. But the more magic that¡¯s flowing through you, the more you can pool and use. You could pull more magic to you, but it does take effort.¡±


    So that was why colbbers couldn¡¯t use magic? ¡°That doesn¡¯t seem fair.¡±


    Rial stared at her. She wasn¡¯t entirely sure what that expression was supposed to be. Was he skeptical? Incredulous? It seemed like something along those lines.


    ¡°They have a metal exoskeleton. They are part computer and could crush your bones by squeezing. I think it evens out.¡±


    Rial turned back to the cloak, frowned, and kept talking. ¡°Anyway, the point is, my magic isn¡¯t great, admittedly. Not enough magic is flowing through me to continuously fire off powerful spells, so I paused. But hey, that¡¯s why I work in the shop.¡± He grinned, tilted his head. ¡°I can wait until more magic has pooled to complete my work. I can even figure out some tricks to make the spells or potions better. And I can sense magic just fine. If someone brings in supplies, I know if it¡¯s really magical, or if someone¡¯s lying through their teeth. It comes in handy.¡±


    He pressed his fingers to the cloak¡¯s last corner. He whispered the spell there, and on the hood.


    He was talking a bit, about the next step, but Harmoni wasn¡¯t listening. He had answered all the questions she¡¯d asked about magic and then some. She¡¯d learned more about how it worked than she¡¯d expected. But it left one glaring question.


    Fleck knew what she was thinking. He didn¡¯t want her to ask it. They were having a good time. He didn¡¯t want her to invite trouble.


    The trouble should already be here, and she didn¡¯t want to dance around it every time she saw Rial.


    She snapped her head back towards him. ¡°If what you say is true, about sensing magic, why haven¡¯t you said anything about me?"


    And she was really going to do this. Great. Lovely.


    "Everyone I¡¯ve met who can feel magic says I have some sort of . . . corruption.¡±

 21: Gone

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    ¡°Yes you do, what of it?¡± Rial asked.


    Harmoni¡¯s eyes bugged a little wider, though her mouth closed tighter, if anything.


    ¡°Wait. Are you telling me people actually believe you¡¯re evil for that? That¡¯s not how anything works.¡± Rial tugged on his ponytail again. ¡°There are other explanations for having corruption magic near you. Not many, but there are some. You might be cursed. Or you might be carrying a cursed or corrupted item with you. If you were near cursed or corrupted magic for a long time, or during a significant event, it can stay with you for a while as ambient energy. Anyone with even the basic understand of magic should know this. What is the world coming to?¡±


    ¡°But. . .¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re going to say those are all farfetched, that might be true if I was dealing with someone completely random, but not in this case. You''re sincerely bonded to Fleck, and I doubt he''d put up with someone evil.¡±


    About time.


    Harmoni got Fleck''s frustration. Their bond hadn''t stopped Cembra from judging. Among others. But this also wasn''t the first time someone had used Fleck as the reason Harmoni wasn''t evil. She agreed Fleck wouldn''t bond with someone horrible, but it still seemed like the wrong logic to use.


    ¡°The cloak has to sit for about an hour,¡± Rial said, patting her back. ¡°What do you say we get some lunch?¡±


    "You have plants?" Harmoni asked. From her, admittedly limited knowledge, elves and imps had pretty different diets.


    Rial blinked. "Oh right. Half elf. Damn. Yes, I do have plants."


    He stood up and gestured for her to follow.


    "You know foxes?" he continued. Harmoni frowned, not sure where this was going, but nodded. "Well, my diet is a little like that. Foxes do eat things like fruit or nuts, but meat is part of their diet. And a kind of vital part if they don''t want to slowly starve."


    Ah. Harmoni had not known that information about imps.


    Fleck didn''t get it. He was still thinking about Harmoni''s "corruption." She was so insistent that she wasn''t evil, but also didn''t believe people like Rial here, giving her an out. Did she want to be evil?


    No! Of course she didn''t! Her brain still was denying the idea of being evil. It could shut down the implications real fast. And if she wanted to be, she could start acting horrible, which she obviously wasn''t going to do.


    Obviously.


    It was just. . .


    She wasn''t sure what it was, actually. Maybe the "outs" she was being given just weren''t very satisfying.


    ~~~


    Harmoni and Fleck headed home, Harmoni enjoying the feeling of her new cloak against her shoulders. It was gray, and not much to look at on the outside. But it was soft. It felt good against her.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Fleck bobbed along beside her, sometimes spinning around her legs like a puppy with too much energy.


    He did have a bit of energy. He couldn¡¯t spend it all up at Glow and Rial¡¯s small apartment.


    They turned, going around the courtyard, rather than through it. It was darker than Harmoni had expected. She¡¯d been out this late on her work days, when the afternoon was free, and it hadn¡¯t been this dark before.


    Fleck shrugged. They didn¡¯t get winter, but the days could get shorter.


    He launched ahead of Harmoni with a single bound, and froze. He was pretty sure he heard a dragon calling.


    Harmoni stopped, straining her hearing, her pointy ears twitching. The sounds of the city were obvious. Dragons and riders moving around, doors opening and closing, the sizzling of someone cooking outside. But she knew that wasn¡¯t what Fleck was picking up.


    In the other direction, she could hear it now, a low moaning on the wind.


    That was a call for help! The dragon was in trouble! Could be in pain! They had to go!


    Fleck was ready to run off immediately. Harmoni was a bit more . . . worried. What if the danger was still there? If a dragon was calling for help, what hope did the two of them have? Her mind instantly flashed to worst case scenario, Wyss Village.


    Fleck growled, and if it was anyone other than Harmoni, his reaction would be worse. But he didn¡¯t have time for this. If Harmoni wanted to stay here like a coward, she could. He was going to help the dragon.


    He took off running towards the edge of the city. It was only a street or two over from here.


    Harmoni shook her head and ran after him. She was still scared, still didn¡¯t want to do this. But right now, she needed to make sure Fleck stayed okay. If something happened to him, well, she couldn¡¯t even imagine what happened next. Her mind just stopped as soon as he was in danger without her.


    That was more important than her fear. So she followed him. She couldn¡¯t hear the moaning dragon anymore, but she could just stay behind Fleck. He seemed to know where he was going.


    Fleck couldn¡¯t hear the dragon anymore either, but he could smell a dragon out there. It was even easier now that they were out of the city, fewer competing smells. He ran out into the sand to where the scent ended, but no one was there.


    Fleck spun on the spot, sniffing and scanning the sand. Nothing. Just sloping sand dunes everywhere but behind them.


    He knew Harmoni had caught up to him by now, and that she was concerned for him, but he ignored it as best he could.


    He climbed on top of the nearest rise in the sand, but he couldn¡¯t see anything from there either. It wasn¡¯t just the lack of dragon, there was no evidence a dragon had been here in the first place. The scent just disappeared. There were no footprints except him and Harmoni. But they had both heard the dragon, and Fleck had smelled them. He wasn''t going crazy. He knew someone had been here.


    Harmoni, meanwhile, was getting worried again. If a dragon had disappeared without a trace here, what stopped the same thing from happening to them?


    Always just thinking about the two of them?


    ¡®Well keeping us alive is important, yes!¡¯ Harmoni mentally snapped.


    She took a deep breath. Fleck understood her fear in other occasions, because he could feel it through their bond. Likewise, she could feel his concern, his fear for another dragon¡¯s safety and protectiveness over the species. She liked that trait of his. She didn¡¯t want to fight him.


    Besides, getting mad at him was a little like getting mad at herself. Their emotions were like two very full cups sitting next to each other. Separate, but easy to splash into each other even when they weren''t trying.


    Oh. Oh Fleck was getting mad at himself, wasn''t he?


    ¡°I''m sorry." And he''d know she really meant it, was speaking out-loud partly for emphasis. "But I don¡¯t think we can do anything now. Standing in this spot isn¡¯t going to make the dragon reappear, and we don¡¯t know where to go from here.¡±


    And it was now dark, the sand looking sort of blue below them. Would they even be able to find their way if they kept wandering the desert?


    . . . Fleck hated that she was right. He growled again, but turned around, and fell into step beside her. The two headed back towards Xentron City.


    Harmoni was still trying to comfort him, suggesting they go to someone or come back in the morning, but it rang a little hollow. The dragon was gone. By tomorrow, the scent would have faded even more, and any trace in the sand would be gone. The window of opportunity had passed.

 22: Faces of Xentron

    It was Wednesday. The start of Harmoni''s work week. She came into the spa before it opened. Udo had only ever asked her to work the afternoon shift once.


    It was Ferren''s day off, so that was nice. Just her, Fleck, Udo, and Aqua. Then Udo went out to get soap supplies.


    Aqua grumbled about that a bit. She fancied she was better at getting supplies than Udo.


    "But I have to stay, and help our customers," Aqua said, tilting her head back and forth. "Even if Udo learned to understand our language perfectly, dragons couldn''t understand him."


    Fleck paused. "Wait," he said, with a frown. "Can riders learn Draconish?"


    "I mean they could try, the same way we could try to understand Standard. But some differences are hard for them to parse out. And never mind the scent part of the language."


    That was fair. A lot of the sounds the rider species made sounded similar to him, and sometimes when he heard differences, that turned out to be tone, not words.


    Fleck and Aqua were interrupted from the, genuinely interesting, conversation when the bell up front rang.


    Speaking of languages, the rider who entered seemed to only know Gnomish. If she knew Standard, she certainly wasn''t using it.


    But Harmoni was surprised to realize she understood a word or two as the gnome looked over the brochure and talked, either to herself or to her dragon. It was sort of like Elvish, but not. Like if you took a sappy romance song, and turned it into rock.


    Luckily, it was more important that they could understand the dragon.


    The one that had come in with the gnome was bright red, like a ruby. She had orange eyes and some trailing orange hair. Her body was snake-like, with four relatively small legs. It was a bit like Aqua, but without any aquatic traits. (The webbing was not there.)


    Light flashed across the dragon''s eyes, like someone had thrown a spotlight across them. She turned to Harmoni, glared, and took a step forward.


    Both Aqua and Fleck slid between them. Aqua more placating, Fleck stomping his feet again. Even the gnome raised her hands in a stopping motion.


    "No need for that," Aqua said. "She''s one of us. She''s good."


    Ah. Of course. All the dragons could smell the magic on Harmoni. This was just the first time one of them had acted on it.


    Because it didn''t mean anything on its own. And if she was in this store, she either wasn''t evil, or you probably shouldn''t be a costumer. This dragon was just being rude. And she seemed to know it, because she pulled her head back closer to her feet.


    With a derisive snort.


    "Of course," she said. "I wasn''t going to do anything untoward."


    Ha. She was probably embarrassed.


    Harmoni took a deep breath. That was enough standing there feeling sorry for herself. And Fleck had done enough back talk too. She should get to work.


    She turned around and headed for the open space out back. She had to make sure any water that spilled out there was actually draining, and not just pooling into gross sandy puddles. Especially with more rain clouds rolling in, now was not the time for water to build up.


    ~~~


    The next customer pair included a dwarf rider with dark skin, and a thick black beard. Cembra was right. The braids in his beard were clearly different than the zig-zagging pattern on Cembra''s head. So not part of the same group.


    The dragon that came in was wider than he was long. He was large, but not particularly tall. He was gold, about the same shade was Fleck and Glimmer. But his belly and eyes were black.


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    ''A relative?'' Harmoni asked Fleck.


    She hadn''t seen a gold dragon who wasn''t.


    Fleck wouldn''t know. He was raised in the creche. Many baby dragons lived and grew up in the same cavern together, with a few adults to see to them. They were so good at it, even dragons with living parents spent a lot of time in the creche. And Fleck''s parents were dead. And part of the reason he and his siblings were so close was because Glimmer made sure they were.


    It wasn''t like family was unimportant. The dragons with parents loved them. Some of them couldn''t shut up about them. And he''d been told Glimmer and Glow were his sisters, so clearly the adults considered that important to know.


    But, well, it wasn''t the same as the riders. At least, not some of them. They didn''t live in individual spaces away from anyone not related to them. And most dragons didn''t know their extended family.


    Fleck looked at the black and gold dragon.


    Still, it might be nice to know. He had his sisters, and Harmoni, and Aqua. Oh. And Moon. It might be nice to know a man some time.


    ~~~


    Fleck watched Harmoni scale up a pipe to the roof with a mixture of awe and fear. He was impressed she could climb so well. If Fleck tried that, either his claws would poke holes in the gutter pipe, or his weight would make it fall off the wall.


    On the other hand, he was worried the same thing would happen to her, especially as she reached the roof, and had to vault onto it. Udo''s roof was metal, ran at a slant, and there was no wall on one side.


    ''Be careful,'' he urged.


    ''Don''t be paranoid,'' Harmoni scolded.


    Compared to everything else she''d done since waking up with amnesia, this was nothing.


    ''I think we''ve got different ideas about what''s nothing.''


    Harmoni had this. She swung a leg onto the roof, moved an arm further up, and dragged herself on.


    Once that was done, she carefully got to her feet. She stood slowly, stooped with her arms spread out, until she was confident she wasn''t going to go rolling down the slope. She scanned the roof.


    There! In the corner, at the bottom of the slope, a frisbee had gotten stuck on the gutter.


    A boy and his dragon, even younger than Fleck, had tossed it up there on accident. Harmoni was pretty sure the dragon was related to one of their customers, waiting for her to finish.


    Of course Harmoni would''ve offered to help anyway.


    She shuffled towards the frisbee, more sliding across the roof than stepping. She''d just reached down to grab it when the wind picked up. Harmoni closed her eyes against the sand, wobbled, and suddenly her feet weren''t on solid ground.


    She spun through open air for a moment, feeling herself flip. She made a little noise, but didn''t have time to scream before teeth sank into the collar of her shirt, and she stopped.


    Fleck had been coming around the side of the building. He let out a huff of relief to see Aqua up on her hind legs, holding Harmoni near the roof in her jaws.


    ''Well I''m glad one of us can see.''


    Harmoni still had sand in her eyes. She started rubbing as Aqua lowered her to the ground.


    "That was a dangerous thing to do," Aqua pointed out. "Why didn''t you go for help? I can fly you know."


    "I didn''t want to be a bother." Harmoni could tell Aqua was skeptical even without Fleck''s help. She further defended herself. "You were busy."


    Aqua had more to do than she did, after all.


    Aqua shook her head. It seemed sort of pitying. Fleck wasn''t sure how he felt about that.


    "We''re not that busy. You could''ve at least let one of us know what you were doing."


    "I''m not mad at you," Aqua elaborated. Fleck didn''t think she needed to. There was no hostility in her voice at all. But clearly, she wanted to play it safe. "I just think you can rely on other people."


    ~~~


    Harmoni sat at the front desk of the spa. Fleck sat ON the front desk of the spa. He was staring out at the pools, sort of pouting.


    It was raining outside. It seemed it really did rain more this half of the year.


    She¡¯d barely seen the dry part of the year. The wet part was pretty short. She could properly appreciate the dry part soon. Sort of.


    It sounded like Fleck preferred it when it was hot and sunny and dry.


    ¡®Yes.¡¯


    ¡°Hey Harmoni! Hey Fleck!¡±


    Fleck¡¯s head shot off the desk as he swiveled towards the door.


    Harmoni¡¯s gaze wasn¡¯t far behind. Cooper had walked in. He was smiling widely, carrying Moon. He had her cradled in the arm with a metal exoskeleton. That left the fully flesh hand free to stroke her, like she was a particularly silver cat.


    ¡°Cooper.¡± It could be a greeting, but it was really more of an observation. Harmoni was surprised.


    Fleck tilted his head. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Spa day!¡± Moon cheered, bouncing a little in Cooper¡¯s arm.


    His strength in that arm was impressive.


    Cooper nodded along. ¡°We¡¯ve saved a bit of money.¡± He laughed a little sheepishly. ¡°Some of it . . . was from betting on the fights.¡± Moon nudged him. ¡°But either way, we¡¯ve got enough to Moon to take a bath. Figured I¡¯d treat her. Thanks to you two, I know about this place.¡±


    Harmoni looked at the spa. Udo and Aqua were further down, talking to a dragon costumer and his rider.


    Harmoni had never worked with customers before. She cleaned, took inventory, and was learning how to make soap from Udo. Sometimes Fleck talked to the guests, as he was the dragon. But they were separate when that happened.


    But today Udo had asked her to watch the desk. And was Cooper really a customer?


    No.


    He was a friend.


    And Moon was the customer.


    Harmoni was surprised. She was so taken aback by the odd, but correct, logic, she started laughing. She covered her mouth, but it didn¡¯t help, giggles escaping between her fingers.


    Fleck grinned. Cooper and Moon looked pretty confused. He would fill them in. Maybe.

 23: The Slime Man

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Harmoni bolted up, woken by the thunder crashing over the building.


    Fleck was awake as well, though considerably less startled. He¡¯d lived in Xentron his whole life. Most of the year, the only water on Xentron was in the forest rivers or deep underground. He saw it when he was living in caves. But a few months of the year, the water would come up and slam into the earth. It was a good thing if you lived on the surface.


    Harmoni got up and pressed her hand to the window. She ran the fingertips of her other hand along the ledge. It was dry.


    Fleck could¡¯ve told her that, based on the smell.


    She knew that, but she wanted to look for herself.


    Outside, thick black clouds covered the sky. The rain hit the window more like a sheet than individual drops. The streets looked a bit like rivers, and the unpaved areas had large puddles.


    Then lightning flashed across the sky, letting her see outside a bit better, and she gasped. Someone was out there.


    This time, Fleck bolted up, head appearing out of his nest of pillows in the corner. ¡°What?!¡± Little fleshy riders shouldn¡¯t be out in this weather.


    Harmoni agreed.


    Now that she knew the figure was there, she could see them moving down the path. Whoever it was, they were sticking close to the edge so they weren¡¯t swimming. They moved in an uneven way, like they were limping. Maybe they¡¯d already been injured. And they were trying to move away.


    Harmoni was going to help. She had to catch them before they were gone from sight. She wasn''t going to mess up this time.


    She grabbed the waterproof cloak she and Rial had made. While Fleck opened the front door, Harmoni put on a pair of boots from up front. They were probably Udo¡¯s, and certainly too big for her, but it was better than her shoes.


    ¡°Hey!¡± the figure called down the street. ¡°Can anybody-?!¡±


    He stopped, slowly turning towards the door, when Harmoni stepped out.


    Harmoni didn¡¯t gasp. She didn¡¯t respond at all, as much as she wanted to, standing very still.


    The man was covered in some sort of . . . sludge? Slime? It looked like what you¡¯d find in a swamp. She could tell from the light of the house that it was dark green, but you could also mistake it for black. She could still see the silhouette of a man, but nothing else. She couldn¡¯t even make out his eyes. From his height and shape he was probably a human, but he could technically pull a surprise on her.


    Hadn¡¯t someone talked about this before? A man cursed to be covered in slime? Was this him?


    The man tried to take a step forward. He was struggling in the deep water and soft ground. ¡°Help me. I can¡¯t be out in this.¡±


    He gurgled a little, with his words. There was probably also slime in his mouth. Ignoring how gross that was, Harmoni understood him. He needed help.


    She moved closer and flung her cloak over both of them. It didn¡¯t do much for their legs. It barely fit over both of their shoulders, and she let the cloak favor him, getting her own shoulder a bit damp.


    ¡°You can come inside with us,¡± she told him.


    She tried to walk with him, but he slipped. It seemed he wasn¡¯t just worried about the rain. The slime near his feet kept the ground slick.


    Harmoni extended a hand. He took it. She tried to grasp his arm in return, but there was enough slime, she wasn¡¯t sure she¡¯d succeeded.


    She walked towards the door, practically dragging him along.


    Fleck was still waiting in the doorway, ready to close it once they were inside. He grimaced as they got closer. The smell was terrible, and Aqua would notice quickly.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Would she notice if they put him in their room?


    Probably not. The door would muffle some scents, and the magic of the room was supposed to offer more privacy.


    They''d do that then. No point explaining everything to people who might say no.


    They were just inside the doorway when the man stopped, squeezing her arm tighter and bending down slightly, wheezing.


    Harmoni glanced helplessly at Fleck, but he didn¡¯t know what was going on either.


    Then the man coughed up some slime, splattering on the floor.


    ¡°Nasty curse,¡± he warbled.


    ¡°So it was you? Who was cursed by a cleric?¡± Harmoni asked.


    Fleck closed the door and went to get Udo¡¯s rags. They¡¯d need it for the floor.


    The man turned towards her. ¡°You know who I am?¡± he rasped.


    ¡°Vaguely. I just . . . heard about someone cursed to be slimy because of his slimy personality.¡±


    ¡°Well, I hope you don¡¯t believe that cleric actually cared about who¡¯s a ¡®good person¡¯. Do you think I never tried to break the curse? No. That cleric wanted an excuse to make someone suffer.¡±


    It was not hard to believe him. His breath came out in labored wheezes, he struggled on the steps to avoid sliding back down, and surely he had to have a hard time seeing or hearing. This was just a lot of suffering.


    It was, but Fleck was more skeptical. A cleric had come and healed some of the dragons when he was young, after they got into an incident with the rider species. It was an apology, of sorts.


    Anyway, clerics had specific rules to follow, and their Gods could take their power away, if they didn¡¯t follow the rules. Inflicting suffering just for kicks might not be against the rules, he didn¡¯t know them all, but it seemed like a risk.


    Harmoni frowned, but she and the cursed man were at the top of the stairs now, and she was busy making sure he didn¡¯t fall on top of her.


    Supporting the man with one hand, Harmoni opened the door with the other. ¡°Sorry sir, but what¡¯s your name?¡±


    The man froze in the doorway. Harmoni tried not to feel frustrated.


    Fleck scrambled in past him.


    ¡°My name?¡±


    Harmoni clasped her hands together. (Might have been a mistake. Both her hands had some of his slime on them now.) ¡°I mean, I don¡¯t know your name. I don¡¯t think you want me to call you slime man.¡±


    A gurgling sound came from her. Harmoni couldn¡¯t tell what the sound was supposed to be. Maybe a growl, like when Fleck was angry. ¡°Evin. My name is Evin Deriby.¡±


    He stepped into the room, and closed the door. Evin dropped into the chair in her room, taking a few deep, rasping, breaths. Harmoni sat on her bed. Fleck shoved a towel under Evin¡¯s chair, then joined Harmoni.


    For a moment all three of them were happy to sit there and catch their breath. It looked like Evin tried to mop his face, but it went about as badly as expected.


    Harmoni had to use the bathroom. She slipped out of the room to do that, closing the door behind her. She figured the three of them could come up with a plan when she was done. After all, was Evin just going to sit in that chair until it stopped raining?


    She was washing the slime off her hands when it happened. She was connected to Fleck. She knew his eyes were closed. And she knew when he got picked up. Her gaze snapped up, staring wide eyed at the mirror.


    Fleck writhed in Evin¡¯s grip, almost slipping out of it, but Evin didn¡¯t have to hold him long, and Fleck couldn¡¯t scratch the man beneath the slime.


    In a few seconds, Evin had gone from holding Fleck over the bed, to launching him out the window.


    Harmoni was running. It was hard to bolt from a bathroom, but she started running as soon as she knew Evin had Fleck, flinging water and slime off her finger tips. But she had two doors to get through, and by the time she was back in the bedroom, Fleck was gone. Evin stood, back to her, in front of the now closed window.


    ¡°What did you do?!¡± she shrieked.


    Evin turned back towards her. He spread his arms out. ¡°I should think that was obvious.¡±


    Harmoni shifted her feet, hands clasped together for a different reason now. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? I¡¯m going to rob you,¡± he snarled. ¡°It¡¯s obvious I need stuff more than you. Now get out of the way.¡±


    ¡°No!¡±


    Harmoni tried to run towards him, not that she was all together sure what she was do if she reached him. She didn¡¯t. She slipped on a puddle of his slime and hit the ground face first.


    Before she could even think of recovering, she could feel Evin¡¯s knees drop onto her back, his weight effectively trapping her. When she struggled, he tried to grab her wrists. He failed the first couple of times, but he had time. Harmoni couldn¡¯t fight back from where she was, lying face first on the ground.


    Evin eventually managed to get a grip on her wrists, and she felt something against them. Rope? Where did he get rope?


    Harmoni screamed, but if Udo hadn¡¯t heard the commotion by now, he wouldn¡¯t hear that. Why couldn¡¯t he hear? The room was magic. Right. They''d wanted that a few minutes ago.


    ¡°You¡¯re making this so much harder than it needs to be,¡± Evin snarled, yanking her closer to the bed post. She figured out, as he spoke, that he was tying her wrists to the leg of the bed. ¡°You were supposed to take longer. I could¡¯ve been in and out. But no. You just had . . . to make things . . . difficult!¡±


    Evin stepped back. Harmoni couldn¡¯t move from where she was, butt on the floor and back against the bed. She tried to kick at him, but he easily stepped back.


    Fleck had run to the front door as soon as he could, but it was locked, and he couldn¡¯t just bust through the door or windows. He wasn''t that strong yet. (He''d let himself get caught by Evin too. This was all his fault.) He bounced back and forth, calling out for someone, and looking around wildly to see if anyone was coming.


    But no one was coming. Of course they weren''t.


    Meanwhile, Evin turned, and started going through her dresser, easily ignoring her and Fleck.

 24: Let Him In

    ¡°You don¡¯t have a lot, do you?¡± Evin sneered.


    But he had found the small amount of money she¡¯d been saving in the dresser, and her waterproof cloak. He moved to the closet, which unlike the dresser would be empty.


    ¡°I helped you!¡± Harmoni cried.


    She struggled so hard against her bonds that she could feel the rope breaking her skin in places.


    ¡°And now I¡¯m helping myself, in a way that¡¯s a lot more permanent. You see how that works?¡±


    Evin held his hands out again, facing her.


    Harmoni¡¯s thoughts felt blurry. It was hard to function, something about this situation was causing problems beyond the obvious. Fleck was struggling too, but he was helping her focus, so she tried.


    ¡°You know, I was worried the ploy wasn¡¯t going to work this time,¡± Evin explained. ¡°I thought maybe everyone had wised up. But you? You let me in, even knowing who I am.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got a funny way of thanking me,¡± Harmoni said.


    It might¡¯ve worked better if she could glare, or sound angry, instead of sounding like a fish out of water.


    She was gulping for air and staring at the floor, so she couldn¡¯t really see what Evin was doing, but she could see his green, dripping, feet pass by her periphery. ¡°You want thanks, you should force people to give it to you. You think anyone really does anything out of the goodness of their hearts? That''s not how this works. And that includes you. You wouldn''t have given me anything if I didn''t force you to.¡±


    He stopped. ¡°Well, this room is a bust. I should see what the rest of the house has.¡±


    There was a gigantic crash downstairs, like a bookshelf falling over.


    The front door actually. Aqua had heard Fleck¡¯s calls, and smelled Evin. Even with Fleck¡¯s barely put together explanation, she got what was going on. She smashed her head against the front door, and the whole thing flew off the hinges, rattling against the hallway.


    ¡°Now Udo¡¯s awake,¡± she said.


    ¡°Or I could go instead,¡± Evin said.


    He shot out of her door. He slipped as soon as he was out the door, on hardwood floor instead of carpet. But he managed to keep moving, skidding forward instead of face-planting, and he was soon out of sight.


    Udo came into the doorway a moment later. She didn¡¯t have to wait long, but she knew Evin had gotten away by now. In part because she knew Aqua had gone looking for him, and wasn¡¯t able to find him inside.


    ¡°Harmoni? Are you OK?¡± Udo asked.


    He didn¡¯t wait for an answer, coming in. He set the flashlight he¡¯d brought in on the dresser. In his other hand, he had a pocket knife. He immediately set to work cutting the rope at her wrist.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Harmoni was shuddering, but she tried to shake less, while Udo was working.


    ¡°I¡¯m, I-I¡¯m sorry,¡± Harmoni stammered out, dropping her head again.


    Udo freed her hands, now able to put his whole focus on her. ¡°Harmoni, what could you possibly be sorry for?¡±


    Rather than answer, Harmoni just shook harder, her body going limp and vision getting blurry. She leaned forward slightly.


    Udo caught her. He held her in a very loose hug at first. She could pull away if she wanted. But when she didn¡¯t, even putting her head against his chest, he tightened his grip. He rubbed his hand up and down her back.


    ¡°Hey now. It¡¯s OK. You¡¯re alright. You¡¯re safe now.¡±


    ~~~


    Udo offered to give her the next day off, let her recover from an experience that left her shaken. (Shaken was the specific word he used.) Harmoni shook her head. Evin had taken her money, it would be good to make more. And being busy in the morning might be better than just sitting in her room, thinking everything over again and again.


    And Ferren would be at work, and would notice if she or Fleck wasn''t. And she didn''t want to deal with that.


    Besides, now that was it was over, she realized it could¡¯ve been a lot worse. Evin hadn¡¯t hurt her. (Unless you counted the ropes, but most of that damage had been from her own struggling.) He hadn¡¯t killed her or Fleck. He¡¯d barely been interested in her at all. That was lucky.


    Fleck thought Harmoni needed to rethink her definition of lucky, but he was a bit preoccupied with his own situation.


    Fleck wasn¡¯t mad at Harmoni for her shyness, but he was mad at other people, and how they responded. Harmoni got pushed around a lot. He was supposed to help with that. He had confidence. He wasn¡¯t afraid to fight, verbally or physically. But what good had that done? He hadn¡¯t been able to protect her from Evergreen and Cembra. He couldn¡¯t do anything against Evin last night, and an ill human like him should¡¯ve been an easy target. He hadn¡¯t been able to help the dragon they heard almost a week ago now.


    That didn¡¯t have to do with protecting Harmoni, in fact she still arguably hindered him, but it followed the pattern. He thought Harmoni got pushed around too much, but if he couldn¡¯t help, why was he here? How could he keep making a fuss?


    Harmoni, of course, disagreed. Fleck always helped her. He helped give her confidence, and kept her grounded. And last night, he had in fact, helped. His help was just getting Aqua.


    But if she knew that, and he was still upset, no amount of telling him was going to help.


    He did know how she felt. But he wanted to do more.


    So they went to work, and neither felt great, but both acted normal, and both might have benefited from a normal day.


    There was a comfort to be found in each other, even if they weren''t so good at it. Harmoni grabbed Fleck when they had some down time, rubbing a hand on his side. He liked to be stroked, and Harmoni liked to cling to something, so it worked out.


    Harmoni did, however, go to the library after work. And she went specifically to look for information on Evin Deriby. They had half a day, after all. And Harmoni wanted to know more about this man everyone else apparently knew to distrust.


    He was the one who¡¯d originally owned the fighting arena. Some of the information she found on him was expected. Like Fleck had said, he had tight control over the field. And he¡¯d paid his fighters pennies while stacking the fights so his bets would win. Harmoni wasn¡¯t sure how you did that with a fight. It wasn¡¯t a card game. But that was the claim the article online said, and what the librarian agreed with, when she looked over Harmoni''s shoulder.


    One thing that was a surprise, was that he kidnapped someone¡¯s sister to keep him fighting in the arena.


    ¡°He groped the cleric who cursed him too,¡± the librarian said. ¡°She was being pretty patient with him before that.¡±


    ¡°You believe he really did that?¡± another library patron asked.


    ¡°Clerics can¡¯t lie,¡± the librarian pointed out.


    ¡°Well yeah, but the rule is they can''t knowingly lie, and no one actually saw it happen. . .¡±


    ¡°Oh my God,¡± the librarian groaned.


    Harmoni sort of tuned them out. She¡¯d gotten the information she¡¯d come for.


    She ran a hand through her hair. ¡®And I let him in,¡¯ she thought.


    She stood by her previous statement. She was lucky things hadn¡¯t gone worse.

 25: Flight

    "What are we doing?"


    "Don''t get the wrong idea. You need a haircut. You''re not going to do it, and despite what he''d tell you, Udo can only manage his own hair. So I''ll be doing it."


    Harmoni flinched as Ferren''s comb tore through a knot. Harmoni''s hair hadn''t looked bad this morning. That was apparently deceiving.


    "Now try to relax," Ferren urged. "This will be easier if you do."


    When Harmoni did not relax, Ferren let out a quiet, but still annoyed, sigh. "If you''re so worried, let your guard dragon watch me."


    Ferren gestured to Fleck with her comb.


    He was already watching.


    So Harmoni eased back in the chair, and tried to unclench her face.


    Surprisingly, it worked. Not right away, but the rhythmic feel of a comb through her hair and sound of snipping scissors did lull her into a relaxed state. She even closed her eyes.


    Ferren cut her hair so you could just see the back of her neck. It was less than she was used to, creating an odd feeling when she turned her head. But it felt freeing in the desert sun, and it would be a while before she needed to do that again.


    Ferren had styled her hair a bit as well, making the part asymmetrical and pinning a braid to her head. A short braid. Again, not as much hair. It was nice, but made her look more obviously elvish, and not just because it left the pointy ears on display.


    Harmoni kept the part, no need to be rude, but she dropped the braid as soon as she thought she could get away with it.


    ~~~


    A few more days passed. It would rain sometimes. Some dragons came for a bath. On her and Fleck¡¯s next days off, they just walked some parts of Xentron city they hadn¡¯t been in yet. With the spa, Udo¡¯s house, the courtyard, and the library all sort of being on one side, Harmoni hadn¡¯t been West very often. Then it was back to work with Udo and Aqua. Maybe they could make back some of the money Evin stole.


    So, she¡¯d say it had been about a week and a half when Cooper saw her again.


    ¡°Harmoni? Hey Harmoni!¡±


    At the familiar greeting, Harmoni turned away from the library¡¯s front entrance, and saw Cooper running up the road. Moon bounded along on the road beside him, tongue lolling out like a dog. Cooper waved at her, and Harmoni couldn¡¯t help but smile, giving him a much smaller wave in return.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got great news,¡± Cooper exclaimed, screeching to a halt in front of her. ¡°Guess what?¡±


    With how excited he looked, Harmoni decided she¡¯d actually try to guess. She hummed and pursed her lips, looking him up and down.


    ¡°Does it have anything to do with the rocket shoes on your shoulders?¡±


    Cooper had his regular sneakers on his feet, but he¡¯d tied the rocket shoes together, and strung them over his shoulders. They looked metal, and must still be heavy, but they certainly hadn''t slowed him down, and he¡¯d slimmed them down since she¡¯d last seen them. Two weeks ago now? A little more, she was pretty sure. She¡¯d been at Udo¡¯s home about five weeks. She could see that on his calendar.


    And that didn¡¯t count the days before Harmoni had met him.


    There hadn¡¯t been many of those.


    Anyway, Cooper¡¯s smile grew even wider at her guess. ¡°Yes! They¡¯re actually working now. Moon and I went on a test flight with them. And they steered right and lasted the whole time and we landed without crashing and everything.¡±


    Moon hopped back and forth beneath Cooper. ¡°I¡¯ve got good news as well,¡± she told Fleck. ¡°You might want to step back.¡±


    Bemused, Fleck stepped to the side, getting a little closer to Harmoni. Moon opened her mouth, and shot ice out of it. Just tiny shards, like knocking icicles off a roof, but still. Fleck stared slack jawed. She was . . . young, to be pulling that off.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Harmoni smiled. ¡°That¡¯s great. I¡¯m happy for you. Both of you.¡± She meant it too, even if her enthusiasm seemed a little lackluster.


    ¡°I want to show you,¡± Cooper said.


    Harmoni¡¯s smile flickered. ¡°What?¡±


    That statement was genuinely vague, and could mean more than one thing.


    ¡°I mean, you don¡¯t have to come if you don¡¯t want to. But I¡¯d like to have a flight with you, if you¡¯ll let me. You can see how well the boots work. And how cool the desert looks from above.¡±


    A dragon could show her the latter, but he and Moon weren¡¯t old enough or big enough for that yet.


    ¡°What about Moon? And Fleck?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I can really only carry one person at a time. Moon¡¯s already gone. But you and Fleck would just have to take turns.¡±


    Moon nodded. ¡°It is pretty cool. Especially for a rider to pull off. You should give it a try if he¡¯s offering,¡± she told Fleck.


    Fleck would be cool with that. But Harmoni should go first.


    Well it seemed everyone was making this decision for her.


    ¡®You were going to say yes anyway, weren¡¯t you?¡¯


    ¡®Yes.¡¯ She turned to Cooper, trying to hide the light hearted exasperation she felt. ¡°OK. I¡¯d like to try.¡±


    ¡°Cool!¡± Cooper fist bumped the air. He quickly crouched down and swapped out his regular shoes for the flying boots, tossing the other pair at Moon, who caught them in her mouth. Then he looked up at Harmoni. ¡°I guess the easiest way for us to both fly is if you grab my back like this is a piggyback. It¡¯s pretty close to what I did for Moon.¡±


    ¡°I rode on his shoulders,¡± Moon elaborated.


    ¡°Or I could try carrying you in my arms. If I rely on my metal one, it should be no problem.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the first option,¡± Harmoni said.


    She reached her arms over Cooper¡¯s shoulder, clasping them at his chest. She let him grab her ankles, lifting her feet just a little off the ground. She could feel his hair on her cheek. It was a little awkward, but the alternative had sounded even worse.


    She could hear the engines on Cooper¡¯s boots start. He jumped, putting a lot of the weight on his metal foot. They shot up, dipped back towards the earth, and then slowly went back into the sky. Cooper adjusted his grip on Harmoni¡¯s legs, and then they were moving, and it was less uncomfortable.


    The duo rose above the library, and the two-story buildings beside it. They got higher in the sky, giving Harmoni a clear view of most of the city¡¯s rooftops. The air was warm, wind included, but it wasn¡¯t sweltering.


    Cooper leaned forward slightly, sending them past the few buildings in the corner and into the open desert beyond. And he was right. It was an impressive sight.


    From the air, you could see far across the desert. The sand rolled out before them, the hills faintly visible. At first, the ground was just the orange-yellow color of most sand. But after the rain they¡¯d had, there were more plants growing in the sand. Harmoni could see the weird green balloon looking plants below. There were also more normal looking cacti, and scraggly grasses. Flowers bloomed off some of the plants, and creatures flew up to them. If Harmoni had to guess from here, the creatures looked like a cross between a bird and a dragonfly.


    Up ahead, creatures ran across the open sand. They looked like giant roly-poly bugs.


    Cooper turned, and the scenery changed. In this direction, the sands changed colors ahead of them. There was blue sand out here. Rock formations sprouted out of the ground, patterned in red and orange layers that stood out compared to the blue sand. Some of them formed odd shapes, like the arch Cooper was heading for. He lighted down on top of it, and slowly lowered Harmoni¡¯s feet to the ground.


    She slid to the ground, and Cooper faced her with a lopsided smile. ¡°So, how was that?¡±


    Harmoni actually let out a short laugh. ¡°It was good.¡± Aside from the view, it was less terrifying than her usual flights on dragons. Cooper flew slower and closer to the ground, and she was always worried about having a secure enough grip on a dragon. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Hey, what are friends for?¡±


    Cooper sat down, legs swinging off the arch they were on. That seemed . . . bold.


    Well, Cooper could fly if he fell off.


    ¡®Fair.¡¯


    Cooper pulled a bottle of water off his belt. He drank some, before offering it to Harmoni.


    Harmoni slowly sat next to him, careful not to fall off. Then she took some of the water.


    They sat like that for a little while, enjoying the view and drinking some water. The sun moved across the horizon, but it was still a long ways off from setting. After sitting with nothing bad happening, Harmoni swung her legs in the open air.


    Then Cooper let out a sigh, closing his bottle and shoving it back into its pouch. ¡°Well that was fun. But should we head back? Fleck needs to get a turn before it starts raining again.¡±


    Harmoni looked around. The sky was a clear blue, no storm clouds in sight. The ground was still damp. There was less dust near the earth, and puddles in places, but no sign of anything new. But, she did want to give Fleck a turn.


    ¡°Yeah. I think Fleck will-¡±


    She paused. As she looked around, she saw something moving across the sand. Something manmade.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    Cooper leaned forward. Once again, seemed dangerous. She was pretty sure the lens over his left eye zoomed in, like binoculars.


    ¡°It looks like one of those sand rovers,¡± Cooper answered. ¡°Like a snowmobile, but built for sand. But what¡¯s it doing all the way out here?¡±


    The sand rover moved past the stone arch without anyone noticing them. They could still see it, moving in the distance towards the more normal colored sand.


    ¡°Is this an unusual place to be?¡± Harmoni asked.


    Cooper frowned, elbows on his knees. ¡°It¡¯s just . . . the nearest town in this direction isn¡¯t close. Like, it¡¯s late in the day to be going there. The nearest thing out here is . . . the abandoned lab.¡±

 26: Dalton Labs

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Fleck and Moon had kept themselves occupied while the riders were gone. They played a game at first, trying to tap the people coming in and out of the library without being noticed. After the librarian¡¯s dragon threatened to hunt them down for sport, they stopped that.


    Fleck suggested reading, but Moon said she couldn''t read. At that, he smiled, all smug.


    Fleck grabbed a book, and showed Moon some of his reading skills. Harmoni had been teaching him the alphabet, and he was getting pretty good. Moon had never been interested in learning to read, but she seemed impressed by him.


    They went along the shelves, looking for books they''d be interested in. The one about Xentron geography seemed kind of interesting. But they knew more about Xentron than most rider species. So looking at nonfiction might just be annoying. Moon suggested a Western.


    They weren¡¯t paying too much attention to what their riders were doing.


    Until Cooper said someone was going to the abandoned lab. Then Fleck dropped the book they were working on, and he and Moon raised their heads. Moon looked around like she expected someone to come out and grab them.


    The abandoned lab? Like the one where they used to experiment on dragons?


    Harmoni got the urgency. ¡°Do we tell someone?¡±


    She asked it, but she wasn¡¯t too convinced on the idea, and Cooper seemed the same.


    ¡°Eh, who would we tell?¡± he hedged. ¡°We don¡¯t even know what we¡¯re reporting. That we saw someone in the desert? And just look at the Divergence wandering free, and Wyss Village being slaughtered.¡± Harmoni flinched, but Cooper didn¡¯t seem to notice, still staring at the crawler. ¡°I¡¯m not sure who would help.¡±


    ¡°Well we have to do something!¡± Fleck roared.


    He was shushed by the librarian.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here,¡± Moon suggested.


    ¡°We will do something,¡± Cooper said. He fixed his completely flesh eye on Harmoni. ¡°Follow him?¡±


    Harmoni clenched her hands into fists, and nodded firmly.


    Both dragons wanted to come, but Harmoni and Cooper were already so far away, and going further. It would take a while to get to them. At least on foot.


    ¡®Stay there for now,¡¯ Harmoni instructed. ¡®If we get into trouble, you can get help.¡¯


    Cooper got them much lower to the ground with his rocket boots. They skimmed across the ground for a moment, practically touching it, but going much faster than on foot.


    Squinting up ahead, Harmoni could see the sand crawler pull up beside a concrete building. She vaguely recognized it, from the time she and Fleck had taken a tour. It sat out there like a prison, only a few rock formations around it in the open desert.


    Cooper dropped to the ground completely as they got closer.


    ¡°Don¡¯t want to attract attention,¡± he explained.


    Harmoni nodded.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The two wordlessly tiptoed closer to the lab, darting between rocks and ridges, so they could stay out of sight.


    It was too dark to see inside the lab through it¡¯s few windows, but the windows still looked a bit too bright to be unused. Like someone had a lantern inside. And the person on the sand crawler was obviously inside. They weren¡¯t in sight out here, and Harmoni had heard a door close earlier.


    Her ear twitched as she heard something clatter inside. The sound was muffled, and Cooper didn¡¯t seem to hear it at all. She grabbed his shoulder to stop him from getting any closer, pointing to the window the sound had come from.


    A shadow moved across the window a moment later. It was hard to make out any details, but it was definitely humanoid. Probably not a dwarf or gnome, they¡¯d be too short to see. Probably not an imp, the horns would stick out.


    They both squinted at whoever it was for a moment, leaning in, in the faint hope of getting a better view. Then the figure turned. Harmoni saw a shine of light in their eye. They were looking out the window.


    She and Cooper dropped behind the nearest rock, the window disappearing from sight.


    ¡°Did they see us?¡± Cooper whispered.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Harmoni answered.


    Cooper peered around the rock. ¡°Oh boy. They¡¯re not at the window anymore.¡±


    ¡°We should go,¡± Harmoni said.


    ¡°Yeah. Yeah, I think you¡¯re right.¡±


    The two backed away from their rock, then started running. All the rain made it a little easier than running in sand usually was. Unfortunately, that also made it easier to leave tracks.


    Cooper grabbed Harmoni, not waiting for to her get on his back this time, and lifted off with the boots. Harmoni heard a door open and clang shut just as they took off into the sky, Cooper swerving towards the taller rock formations, to get out of sight.


    Harmoni tried to look over his shoulder at whoever had come out, but she just couldn¡¯t see anyone.


    Cooper wove them through the rock structures, twisting from left to right, and also up and down. He seemed to care very little for where they were going, as long as it was away from the lab. She hoped he could find the way back.


    When he came to a large platform, partway up one of the rock formations, he dropped them both there. The two just gasped, catching their breath for a moment. Harmoni pressed both hands against the rock wall beside her. Cooper put his hands on his knees.


    ¡°Do you think they saw us?¡± Cooper asked. Again.


    ¡°No idea. Did you see them?¡±


    Cooper shook his head.


    ¡°What do you think we should do?¡± she asked.


    Other than panic. At least despite that, their breathing was evening out again.


    ¡°I-¡± Cooper cut himself off, and looked at the sky in thought. ¡°I wish we knew what was going on in there. It could be entirely innocent.¡±


    ¡°Do you think it is?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± He bit his lip. ¡°I don¡¯t trust any of the groups in charge here. They''re gangs, whatever they say. But I don¡¯t think we can handle this on our own.¡±


    ¡°We could talk to the people we know,¡± Moon suggested. And she must¡¯ve said it for Fleck and Harmoni¡¯s sake, because she didn¡¯t need to speak to Cooper out loud. ¡°Evergreen and Cembra. Or Jay and Ollien.¡±


    Moon listed out a few more. Aside from Evergreen and Cembra, he had no idea who they were.


    It seemed these two got out more.


    ¡®Not necessarily.¡¯ They might just know different people. After all, the two of them knew Udo and Aqua, and Fleck¡¯s sisters and their riders. Moon and Cooper wouldn''t know them.


    Cooper, meanwhile, nodded along to Moon¡¯s suggestions, crossing his arms. ¡°Yeah. We know a few people who can help.¡±


    Harmoni drew in a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to Desert Crest.¡±


    Cooper immediately uncrossed his arms, staring at her. ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    Yes, but no. She nodded. ¡°I like your idea.¡± Mostly Moon¡¯s idea. ¡°And I don¡¯t know if any gang will do much. But it seems like we should tell someone in charge. And I¡¯ve talked to Amier before. So I¡¯ll do it. We can split the work.¡±


    And as much as she didn''t want to talk to Amier, it would be better to talk to him once than several people over and over.


    ¡°You¡¯ve talked to Amier before?¡± Cooper¡¯s voice cracked.


    Cooper seemed very hung up about this.


    Not Harmoni¡¯s business, if it was true. "I have." But she didn¡¯t want to talk about her last, and only, encounter with Amier and Argone. "And I''ll do it again. Unless you think it''ll make things worse?"


    There was no guarantee it would make things better, but she didn''t think telling would make it worse.


    It seemed Cooper agreed. He sighed, looking to the side, thumbs fiddling with his belt loops. "No. If you''re up for it we-we could do that."


    Harmoni nodded. ¡°We should go then. We need to hurry, right?¡±


    If something bad was happening in the lab, they needed to let someone know as soon as possible. Even sooner if someone had actually seen them.


    Cooper nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    She climbed on his back. She heard his boots start up, and he took them back towards Xentron City.

 27: Rescue?

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Cooper flew them back to the library on the rocket boots. There, they parted ways. Cooper and Moon went to find their friends. (Allies? Harmoni wasn¡¯t sure she could really call Cembra a friend.) She and Fleck headed for the Desert Crest¡¯s office, near the center of the city.


    Harmoni tried to swallow her fear as she moved closer. She had talked to Amier before. She did think this should be done. And clearly she was more willing to than Cooper. But she couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that this was going into the lion¡¯s den, like going and asking for help was doing something wrong. And her stomach twisted.


    ¡®I could do it on my own,¡¯ Fleck offered.


    Harmoni shook her head. She said she was going help, and she was going prove herself right.


    Besides, it was silly thing to be worried about.


    They went into the entrance hall. It was crowded. A man and his dragon were talking to people, but multiple people were vying for their attention at once. There was some semblance of a line, but it seemed more like five people were trying to go at once, instead of the two they could manage.


    Harmoni might feel bad for them, but Fleck wasn¡¯t waiting around. He wove through the people, small size coming in handy, and started calling out to the dragon taking complaints. The dragons already talking to her had such minor complaints, and Fleck jumped up and down to get her attention.


    Turns out, that might¡¯ve been excessive. As soon as he mentioned the Dalton lab, not waiting for her full attention, the dragon swiveled towards him.


    A second later, they were taken out of the entrance hall, through a door on the right, at the end of the hall.


    The dragon practically pushed them into the room with her face. It was clearly Amier¡¯s office. He sat at a desk, filling out papers. His rust colored dragon didn¡¯t have much space, but he could lie against the back wall.


    When the door closed, Amier lifted his head and gazed at her, just silently staring for so long, Harmoni thought she¡¯d done something wrong.


    ¡°Well, what is it?¡± Amier asked. ¡°I assume it must be urgent, for Wave to shove you through the door so fast.¡±


    ¡°I think the abandoned lab it still being used,¡± Harmoni said.


    Behind them, Argone lifted his head off the ground, rather long neck swinging towards them. Amier also looked surprised. His ears even flapped a little. (Given how frilly they were, it reminded Harmoni of fish gills. She would not be saying that to him.) But he cleared his throat, and his expression cleared. He might¡¯ve just been influenced by Argone.


    ¡°Care to run that by me again?¡±


    ¡°The Dalton labs, out in the desert? They¡¯re still being used.¡±


    She started to recount what she and Cooper had seen. Amier tapped his pen against the desk a few times, eyes narrowing and lips pursed. With a glare from Argone, he switched to taking notes.


    ¡°This is . . . dreadful,¡± he concluded, after she finished. "We have to send someone at once, and find out exactly what they¡¯re doing in there.¡±


    Argone, meanwhile, stood up and went through the wall. Literally. He pressed his head against the wall, and it spun like a giant revolving door. It looked like that wall took him outside.


    Fleck was pretty sure humans had cartoons with stuff like that.


    Harmoni . . . didn¡¯t remember any cartoons.


    ¡®You don¡¯t remember anything,¡¯ Fleck pointed out.


    Harmoni ignored that. She didn¡¯t have specific memories, but she was more familiar with some concepts than others.


    ¡°Come along,¡± Amier urged, unaware of the internal conversation.


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    He was already at the door, and starting down the hall. Harmoni stumbled after him, grabbing the door before it could close.


    ¡°That was fast,¡± she couldn¡¯t help but comment.


    ¡°Do you want to go to war with the dragons? I don¡¯t. Personally. Now come on. I sent Argone to get some backup. You¡¯re reporting it. You need to come with us.¡±


    That was fine with Fleck. He wanted to get some answers anyway.


    Sure enough, when they went outside, there were two people and two additional dragons waiting for them out there. One was a colbber, with a white dragon resting on top of her head, small enough it could be a hat. The other was a dwarf, standing in front of a dragon with bright red and orange scales, like metal that had just come out of magma, and was still glowing. Unlike the colbber¡¯s, this was the biggest dragon Harmoni had ever seen.


    He was up there in size in general. Without riders, dragons had plenty of space to grow out in the open desert. But most dragons slept or lay eggs in a cave, and that created a size limit.


    ¡°You two will be riding with me,¡± the dwarf said gruffly. ¡°Sunset¡¯s better at carrying multiple passengers than Argone.¡±


    Harmoni, Fleck, and the colbber climbed on. They got a little help from the dwarf pulling them up. Then the group took to the sky, shooting across the sky into the desert.


    It didn''t take long for them to get there, not at a dragon''s flight speed.


    They lighted down. Amier pulled out a wand. The dwarf had an axe and the colbber. . .


    Harmoni had no idea what she was holding, but presumably it was a weapon.


    Argone slammed his head into the front door. The door clanged, but stayed in place, which was surprising. A dragon his size should have no trouble knocking a door down.


    ¡°Well you can¡¯t expect a door designed to keep dragons in is going to work like that, can you?¡± Amier asked, presumably for everyone else¡¯s sake, and not Argone¡¯s. ¡°Daradyn, you try.¡±


    The dwarf, must be Daradyn, lifted his axe, and swung it at the door. It didn¡¯t have much effect at first, but he kept swinging, and Harmoni realized there was a method to the madness. She could hear the difference in the clangs, where the door was weaker, and gave a bit more. It didn¡¯t take too long before the door tilted diagonally across its frame, the first two hinges having given away as it was pushed in.


    Daradyn grunted and wandered in, not even needing to duck. The other two riders, and the colbber¡¯s dragon, climbed in after him. (Argone and Sunset would¡¯ve had some trouble.)


    Fleck paused. With the door open, the smell was horrid. Someone had clearly tried to clean it. He could smell bleach. He could smell enough cleaning solutions that a section further down the hall was poisoned. Luckily, it was probably a closed off section. And it hadn¡¯t even worked.


    Beneath that, Fleck could still smell blood, piss, and the goo that clung to you after you hatched out of an egg. It was coming from the opposite direction.


    It was horrid, and he didn¡¯t want to be here. Harmoni had hesitated too. But she had gone in after the group. And if Harmoni was braving it, so could he.


    The hallway they were in had a railing. It was actually some kind of catwalk going around a lower level. At least this part was. To the right, where Fleck had smelled the cleaning solutions, the path turned into a hallway with doors on either end, all closed up. To the left? Well, it was dark on this side, with windows shut and not even the muggy yellow lights of the hall on.


    Amier shot an orb of white light out of his wand, almost like a star, and it hovered over the center of the room.


    There were cages down there. There were eggs in some of them, and baby dragons in others. Even the biggest cages weren¡¯t big enough for some of them, scales smashed against the bars. Some of them looked waxy, lay very still, and were still covered in egg goop. Fleck was pretty sure their eggs had been forced open, instead of them breaking out on their own. And if it wasn¡¯t that, some looked underfed, and some were injured. A few of them wailed at the bright light Amier had cast and. . .


    Oh. He recognized one of those calls. That was the one he¡¯d heard out in the desert, who¡¯d disappeared without a trace.


    A distressed noise escaped him, and he found himself backing up.


    Harmoni clapped her hand over her mouth (and nose), eyes welling up a bit. This was horrid, and she knew this was worse for Fleck. It would¡¯ve been awful for her no matter what, but she was connected to him, and this was his species. If she tried to think of this with humans or elves, she decided to stop thinking.


    Amier swore. In Elvish. Possibly thinking she wouldn¡¯t understand it, or possibly just forgetting Standard in the distressing moment.


    ¡°Anna, check the room only you can breathe in,¡± Amier ordered, pointing at the colbber. ¡°Daradyn, escort the kids out of here.¡±


    Wait. That meant her and Fleck.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Daradyn grabbed her free hand and pulled her towards the door, but Harmoni dug her heels in. ¡°You wanted us to come!¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯ll still be here. Outside. But there¡¯s no need for you to see this.¡±


    ¡°A bit late for that, isn¡¯t it?!¡± Harmoni snapped.


    Fleck just . . . stood in the doorway. He genuinely didn¡¯t want to be here anymore.


    Amier glared at her for a moment. ¡°Go outside. We have a lot to do you¡¯d get in the way of. And someone could still be here, waiting to attack us. You¡¯ll be safer outside. So go, would you?¡±


    Harmoni was also cross at him now. Ask her to come to the place she discovered, and then try to dictate what she should or shouldn¡¯t handle? But was it worth fighting? Or, more importantly, leaving Fleck in this situation? She turned around and marched herself out the door, moving sharp and fast enough she simply left Daradyn¡¯s grip.

 28: Magic Expo

    Argone wasn¡¯t there when they went outside. Apparently he¡¯d gone to get more dragons.


    They¡¯d need help with the dragons inside. And it would be better if the dragons still living in the caves, without a bond, found out about this sooner than later.


    So they stood outside as Daradyn and Amier got dragons outside. Anna and her dragon still seemed to be exploring the other areas of the lab, the cleaner part dragons wouldn¡¯t be in.


    Fleck and Harmoni still weren¡¯t being directly told any new information, but there wasn''t much attempt to hide things from them either. People talked out loud, and it seemed no one expected Fleck to read. When Anna came out with some papers, Fleck walked underneath her to read them. It seemed like whoever had worked here, was sending baby dragons out to other planets.


    Seemed like very cruel treatment for such a simple crime.


    They were treating dragons as potential pets. Harmoni should go back to thinking of if this happened to humans. Of course whoever was doing it wouldn¡¯t care much for their lives.


    More dragons showed up. Which was good, because quite a few of the babies had been brought out by now. They''d need someplace to go. Both dragons from the caves and from Xentron City had shown up. One had even brought a cleric with them.


    Harmoni just rubbed Fleck¡¯s head, trying to bring him some comfort.


    Then, Amier walked up to them. ¡°No people in there,¡± he announced.


    Harmoni blinked. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Daradyn and I have been carrying the dragons out, but Anna and Snowflake have been specifically looking for people. They couldn¡¯t find anyone, and according to Snowflake, no one¡¯s been in there for a while.¡±


    ¡°Why would you tell us that?¡± Harmoni asked. He seemed perfectly willing to keep them in the dark before.


    ¡°You were here earlier. You said you saw someone was here. Would you have any idea what they looked like?¡± He cast a glance at Fleck. ¡°Snowflake¡¯s having a hard time picking up any specific scent, with all the cleaning supplies.¡±


    Harmoni frowned. ¡°We never saw them from close up,¡± she pointed out. ¡°We were trying not to get seen by them. I don¡¯t think it could¡¯ve been a gnome, a dwarf, or an imp. Wrong body shape.¡±


    Fleck shook his head. ¡°And I wasn¡¯t with them.¡±


    Amier sighed. ¡°Less information than Snowflake could offer up then.¡±


    Wait. Less?


    ¡°Well, thank you. You¡¯ve done all you can. You don¡¯t need-¡±


    ¡°What did Snowflake find out?¡± Harmoni cut him off. Amier frowned. ¡°And don¡¯t tell me I don¡¯t need to hear about it. What if whoever owned this place saw me? I could be in danger.¡±


    Amier sighed again. ¡°The only thing Snowflake could pick up was the smell of the species. There¡¯s been an elf and an imp in there. She might be able to recognize the specific elf and imp if she saw them, but right now, that¡¯s as far as we¡¯ve gotten.¡±


    He put his hands in his pockets. ¡°You two aren¡¯t suspected as being involved, if you¡¯re wondering.¡±


    Harmoni had not been wondering. She had not considered the possibility, but that was good to know.


    ¡®You were briefly worried someone here might be involved, weren¡¯t you?¡¯ Fleck wondered.


    ¡®Yes but I worry about everything. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s the same.¡¯


    Amier continued. ¡°I''ll warn you, this seems difficult for an elf and an imp to pull off on their own, without any help from a dragon."


    "You think a dragon betrayed their species like this?" Fleck asked.


    Amier shrugged. "It''s basically impossible to tell for sure. There''s no way to tell if the smell of dragons inside the lab are just from the babies, or if there was a bonded one in there. But it would be considerably easier if they had one, so I''m just letting you know."


    Fleck was angry at the idea, but partly because it wasn''t impossible. A dragon could have the right malice, ambivalence, or be bought with the right price.


    "It seems like you¡¯ve told us everything you can. Unless you¡¯ve got something else, you two can go home.¡±


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    The two stared at each other for a moment. Did Harmoni have anything else? Cooper might know more. He had the binocular vision after all. But he¡¯d been avoiding the Desert Crest.


    But if he did know more, he should tell someone. There were two dragon kidnappers on the loose, who might have seen the riders when they went to the lab.


    The compromise was probably to go to Cooper themselves. If he remembered anything more specific than them, he could warn them, and could go to the Desert Crest. Their office wasn¡¯t exactly hard to find. And if he hadn¡¯t seen anything, no one would bother him.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s it,¡± Harmoni sighed.


    ¡°What¡¯s going to happen to the dragons?¡± Fleck asked, stepping in front of Harmoni.


    The baby dragons had been released from the cages, but were still largely just lying there. Ones with obvious, serious injuries were being healed by the cleric, while the others were being looked over by the adult dragons. Argone was helping with this, but he must¡¯ve been paying a little attention, so Amier could understand Fleck.


    ¡°They¡¯ll go back to the cave systems for now,¡± Amier said. ¡°The adults will try to see if they have family, but with some of these, it will be hard to tell, and to my knowledge, most baby dragons grow up in a sort of nursery together anyway.¡±


    Oversimplification but sort of. Fleck supposed they could have normal lives in the creche after they healed.


    ¡°You could always visit them after they¡¯re settled in. You tell the dragon healers you found these ones, they¡¯ll let you in,¡± Amier assured them.


    Harmoni nodded, head actually dipping forward far enough, it could be a little bow. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    She was annoyed at his insistence that they stay out of things, but she was glad that he¡¯d helped so quickly. And she was glad he¡¯d answered their questions.


    Amier nodded back. ¡°I have to get back to work.¡±


    Then he wove into the crowd of dragons.


    Harmoni slowly looked down at Fleck. Amier did say they could go home. ¡®Do you want to go home?¡¯


    ¡®Yeah.¡¯


    The answer wasn¡¯t that straightforward in his head. He wanted to know what happened to the babies, but felt terrible standing here, but felt bad that he couldn¡¯t stomach it. . .


    But at the end of the day, they¡¯d done what they were supposed to. There wasn''t really anything they could help with. Fleck didn''t know how to take care of babies. They should go home, and maybe take Amier up on that offer to visit the babies later.


    ~~~


    Harmoni stood inside one of the tubs, cleaning it out. She leaned on the brush as she cleaned the wall, putting a lot of weight on it. Today was . . . surprisingly busy in the dragon spa. Harmoni had to get this tub clean so they could use it again.


    Fleck wasn¡¯t surprised. It was getting colder out. Taking a hot dust bath in the sand was out. Unless you were an ice dragon, going into the hot water would be nice.


    ¡®I thought you said it didn¡¯t get cold here?¡¯


    Fleck shrugged. There wasn¡¯t a winter on Xentron. For a while, it would rain more than usual. And for an even shorter while, it would get colder. But the cold lasted . . . about a month? Maybe. With a gradual shift before and after it.


    ¡°Hey Harmoni.¡±


    Harmoni lifted her head, and saw Cooper leaning over the side of the tub. He smiled, dropped down beside her, and pulled out a brush of his own. He started cleaning beside her.


    ¡°So, what did I miss? I heard about something going on at the lab, but it would be nice to hear it from you.¡±


    Moon hopped down beside Fleck. ¡°We did tell other people about the suspicious activity,¡± she told him, as Harmoni caught Cooper up. ¡°But it looks like the Desert Crest were fast this time. There was already some big crowd gathering by the time any of us tried to show up.¡±


    Cooper frowned as Harmoni recapped what had happened.


    Moon cringed back, but nuzzled Fleck to comfort him as the story went on.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t really see the person any better than you,¡± he admitted. ¡°The only time the binocular vision came in handy was when they were shooting across the desert on the sand crawler. And they had protective clothes on during that. Best I can say is our mystery figure was probably a man. Well, I could¡¯ve guessed species, but you said they already figured that out?¡±


    Harmoni nodded.


    ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll be OK? The dragons?¡± Cooper asked.


    Harmoni glanced at Fleck.


    Fleck looked at the ground and shrugged. ¡°The younger ones might not remember this, as they get older. But I don¡¯t know about the ones who will.¡±


    They worked in relative silence after that. What was there to say? Finding out about this was a good thing. They¡¯d saved the dragons. Udo had congratulated her this morning, and had promised they¡¯d do something to celebrate this evening. But it seemed a bit early to celebrate, in a way.


    It was probably more like rewarding the two of them. But that word would¡¯ve been even stranger to use.


    It was an awkward position. They''d "rescued" the baby dragons, but things weren''t alright. It seemed too early to celebrate, in bad taste to go around like normal. But it also seemed bad to be bogged down by this. It was pointless if they couldn''t do more to help, and would just make things worse for the people around them.


    It was as they were climbing out of the pool that Cooper spoke again. ¡°So, I wanted to ask you something. If everything¡¯s wrapped up. . .?¡±


    Harmoni nodded. Aside from work, she had nothing else going on now.


    Cooper¡¯s eyes lit up, and he leaned in. ¡°You want to come to the magic expo with me?!¡±


    Harmoni couldn¡¯t help but flinch as he spoke so loudly, so close to her face.


    He must¡¯ve picked up on that, because he quickly pulled back, rubbing his neck sheepishly. ¡°Sorry.¡± He took a deep breath and started again, speaking slower. ¡°There¡¯s a magic expo traveling the galaxy. It¡¯s supposed to be here in about a week, in the courtyard where they host fights. I can¡¯t do magic, obviously,¡± he laughed nervously. ¡°But I¡¯d like to see what they¡¯re showing off.¡±


    He''d slowed down, hands clasped together, but he was still smiling as he spoke.


    Harmoni wanted to say yes. She¡¯d liked learning about magic from Rial. She liked spending time with Cooper. And he seemed so happy about this. She didn¡¯t want to disappoint. And it would be a good distraction. But there was the slight complication that she¡¯d be around incredibly powerful people who all sensed something wrong with her.


    Maybe they could go see Rial again? See if there was any way they could hide that feeling?


    ¡®Good thought.¡¯ Harmoni smiled back at Cooper. ¡°Yes. I¡¯d love to come.¡±

 29: Blocked Magic

    Rial crossed his arms and frowned, as Harmoni explained her request. He tapped a finger on his arm.


    ¡°He¡¯s just thinking,¡± Glow assured them.


    ¡°Yeah, actually,¡± Rial concluded. ¡°That is doable. Sort of. If you wanted to hide or cancel the dark magic everyone senses, I think that¡¯s something you¡¯d have to do internally, through feeling the power of the universe. And I¡¯m not teaching you that in a week.¡±


    ¡°He just doesn¡¯t think he¡¯d be a very good teacher.¡±


    Rial sounded slightly more annoyed as he continued. ¡°But you could always mask the feeling, by covering it up with something else. Overwhelm any magic user with a new feeling.¡±


    They were not the only people inside the shop today. Unlike last time, the place was actually open. Glow nodded to Fleck, and went to sit on the front table like a cat. She got there just slightly before a customer came up.


    Meanwhile, Rial was free to lead them around the shop. He led Harmoni and Fleck to a shelf with necklaces. The chains were easily long enough to go around a rider¡¯s neck. Some of the chains had some sort of pattern or weaving. Most of them had something dangling at the bottom, like a rock or a gem. One or two of the rocks even seemed to glow. There were a few with vials of liquid as well, or metal shapes Harmoni didn¡¯t understand the significance of.


    Rial looked at the shelf, finger on his chin. He¡¯d turn his head or drop into a squat to look at some of the necklaces better. He muttered to himself a bit, about needing something stronger than his own magic.


    She didn¡¯t think he wanted her to hear. The only other customer in the shop certainly hadn¡¯t. but Harmoni had good ears.


    ¡°Ah-ha! This might do it!¡±


    Rial finally pulled a necklace off the shelf. It had a silver rock dangling off the bottom, glittering in places. Harmoni was pretty sure it was black on the inside. She could see the darker patches where the silver had faded. The actual part you put around your neck was a ribbon, blue thread that worked well with both the silver and black.


    ¡°This checks out,¡± Rial said. ¡°The stone was from a meteor shower. And it was already magical. I just made it less volatile.¡±


    That explained the smell. Fleck thought it smelled like space, and stardust. The smell was separate from the magic feeling it also had.


    Fleck didn¡¯t think Rial¡¯s "drowning out" trick would work on him very well, but he understood dragons and riders had a different relationship with magic. If Rial said it would work, he believed him.


    ¡°The necklaces are each supposed to have a certain enchantment, or blessing. This one is supposed to keep you safe during travels. Being from space, it¡¯s fitting. But, the power it gives off is strong, and more importantly foreign. It should cover up any dark magic spike in you. If someone notices, they¡¯d have to be specifically looking for the dark magic feeling. That says more about them than you.¡±


    Harmoni believed Rial, in that she believed he thought he was right. But she wished there was another magic user she could test this on.


    Rial undid the clasp, and hooked the necklace around her. Harmoni touched it. It was a bit like touching sand, subtle grains along it. It looked like a shiny rock you could stumble upon naturally, which she supposed Rial did. But she knew it was magic, not just on Rial¡¯s word, but the smell Fleck could pick up.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    ¡°How much does it cost?¡± Harmoni asked.


    She didn¡¯t have much money after all. Especially thanks to Evin.


    Rial was quiet for a moment, finger on his chin. When he spoke, he moved closer to her, putting his hands on his knees as he dropped to her height. And he spoke very softly. The zenny up front squinted at them for a moment, but didn¡¯t seem to successfully overhear.


    It helped that Glow was distracting him, trying to get him to pay or make another purchase.


    ¡°I can¡¯t give it to you for free I''m afraid. That¡¯s valuable, and wearing it is going to drain some magic, even if it¡¯s a very small amount. But, I''d like to think we''re friends. Tell you what. You want it for something specific? You can use it temporarily, return it to me, and pay for the amount you actually used.¡±


    Harmoni was a little shocked he¡¯d offer that. It made sense now that he¡¯d said it. But she hadn¡¯t thought of it, and it seemed very . . . generous.


    ¡°What if something goes wrong?¡± Harmoni asked. ¡°What if I lose it, or break it, or accidentally use it all up?¡±


    ¡°Then you can pay for the whole thing when that happens,¡± Rial said with a shrug. ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯re the type to take it and run. And even if you are, I can find you. I¡¯ve got my own magic and Glow¡¯s sense of smell to track with.¡±


    Well. That wasn¡¯t ominous at all.


    ¡°But for the record, breaking it or using it all up would be exceptionally difficult. It¡¯s a magic bit of meteor. You¡¯d have to be using it for like, a hundred years.¡±


    Possible, given her and Fleck¡¯s long lives, but unlikely.


    With that in mind, Harmoni managed a smile. ¡°Thank you Rial.¡±


    ~~~


    It was Harmoni¡¯s day off. She still headed to the spa, because that was where Cooper was waiting for her.


    Fleck remembered where Evergreen and Cembra¡¯s shop was. The spa was sort of on the way for Cooper. The house was very much not.


    Did Cooper even know where they lived? Where she worked, sure, but she didn¡¯t think they¡¯d ever met at the house.


    Fleck shrugged. Maybe he didn¡¯t know it. But if he wanted to find out, Moon could probably track them by smell.


    The four met up, and headed towards the magic symposium. Harmoni and Cooper walked side by side. Moon and Fleck ran ahead of them, but never by much. Fleck was getting a little too heavy to ride on Harmoni¡¯s shoulders anymore, or they would¡¯ve done that. A sad realization for both of them, but they were making it work.


    And hey, someday, they¡¯d switch, and Harmoni could ride his shoulders instead.


    ¡®Unless you only grow to Glow¡¯s size.¡¯


    ¡®Hey! I¡¯m going to grow bigger than her! My guardians say so!¡¯ He jumped up and down on the spot in indignation for a moment. This got Moon laughing at him.


    ¡°I like your necklace,¡± Cooper said.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Harmoni automatically brought her hand up to it, clasping it in her palm. She smiled faintly. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    She¡¯d actually gotten confirmation from Ferren of all people that it worked. The first day she came into work with it, Ferren stared at her, actually relaxing her jaw. She went back to the pinched look when Harmoni tried to ask why. But Rial said just about every elf knew a spell or two. With some pushing, confidence to do so courtesy of Fleck, Ferren agreed the necklace hid her presence.


    ¡°Of course if anyone wants to track you with magic, they could still just use the alien magic around your neck. So don¡¯t get any funny ideas about being untraceable,¡± Ferren had said.


    Well, being untraceable wasn¡¯t what Harmoni was going for. She had confirmation the dark magic was hidden by someone who didn¡¯t like her. So she didn¡¯t have to worry about that. She could just enjoy this. And that was the important part.


    The courtyard was coming into sight now. At least half of it was occupied with stalls. Tents and tables set up along makeshift paths. There were strings of glowing bulbs set up along it that hadn¡¯t been before. It was crowded, though no more than the fights were.


    Yet.


    It was easy to pick up the murmur of voices as background noise, though Harmoni could also pick up a few specific voices. Someone was advertising their bracelets, designed so two people could wear them, and feel the other faintly through the magic connection.


    Seemed like a weak version of the bond he and Harmoni had.


    Someone else was trying to haggle.


    In the part of the courtyard that wasn¡¯t being used for stalls, a dragon had set up an ice rink. It didn¡¯t feel below freezing to Harmoni, but it was cold enough that a dragon spraying ice out on top of the sand wouldn¡¯t have to worry about it instantly melting. Maybe magic ice had better staying power.


    They shouldn¡¯t get rained on either. It was cloudy, but it didn¡¯t smell like rain.


    Cooper stopped just outside the courtyard. He turned to Harmoni with a smile. ¡°Ready?¡±


    She returned the smile. ¡°Ready.¡±

 30: The Barrier

    Harmoni and Cooper started down the path, past magic displays. One magic user was hovering off his table, without any assistance from rugs or brooms or anything. Ice sculptures were visible further down the path. Fire sculptures were also visible further down, their flames holding shape better than fire was supposed to. A human changed something about his appearance through sheer willpower every time someone passed. At least, Harmoni was fairly certain the person was a human. And a man. Again, changing appearance. And a gnome had collected a crowd just by eating things that should be deadly or inedible. People in the crowd were calling out suggestions of what she should try next.


    Fleck thought that one was pretty fun, actually. He¡¯d drag Moon to it when she came back. Unfortunately for him, she¡¯d gotten all excited about the dragon spraying ice on the other side of the courtyard, and left. Right now she was bothering him, probably wanted advice on her own ability. They were too far away for Fleck to see if she was making any progress.


    So for now, he followed Harmoni and Cooper on his own. Moon would come back, or he¡¯d drag her back later. In the meantime, he was perfectly occupied with the sights and smells. He could pick up the scents of all the sentient species and most of the planets. There were the smell of potions and magical items. And there was the smell of magic itself. The smell of fire burning near the middle of the courtyard was different than the smell of fire coming out of an imp¡¯s wand.


    The displays were cool, but most people did remember they were supposed to sell things. One human was bragging about the quality of his wands, while the older woman next to him offered robes and cloaks. It reminded her of what she and Rial made. An elf was talking about a magic school on Iva that was always accepting new students. Cooper actually took a pamphlet for that. Though he took it as he passed, without breaking his stride and barely reaching out his hand. Presumably, he didn¡¯t want to be mocked.


    There were species of all sort, as Fleck had already noticed. There was a lot of variety in the crowd, of course. (And despite how busy it seemed to Harmoni, someone was complaining about better turn outs on another planet.) But that went for the people at the stalls, selling their wares as well.


    There was even a colbber selling potions, and a book on potion recipes. Cooper smiled with his teeth, so bright it was competing with the sun. The feeling was mutual. The colbber selling things also lit up when she saw him, shaking his hand vigorously and giving him some pointers on how to make his own potions, as he bought some black glistening ones from her.


    ¡°So Harmoni, what do you want to do now?¡± Cooper asked.


    There was a faint clinking of glass as he walked over. He had a cloak he hadn¡¯t worn when the weather was (slightly) warmer. He might¡¯ve put his potions inside.


    Back to the question though. ¡°But . . . you¡¯re the one who wanted to come here.¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah. But. You¡¯re supposed to enjoy yourself as well. It¡¯s hard to do that if I¡¯m just dragging you around everywhere.¡±


    Harmoni shook her head. ¡°You¡¯re not dragging me anywhere. I wanted to come too. And there¡¯s so much to see, just walking down the path like this has been easy.¡±


    Fleck rolled his eyes. ¡°You two are both tripping over yourself way too hard here. Just pick something.¡±


    Harmoni didn¡¯t know much of what was here. And she didn¡¯t have any specific magic she wanted to look at first. Or, focus on first. They''d seen a lot of magic just in passing. And they had been here a little while. So she decided on something else.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    ¡°Maybe we could take a break and get some food?¡± Harmoni suggested.


    ¡°I can smell where it is,¡± Fleck said.


    ¡°Fleck could lead us to it,¡± Harmoni translated just in case, since Moon still wasn¡¯t there.


    ¡®I¡¯m dragging her to us after I show you the way,¡¯ Fleck thought.


    But he was being playful about it. Like when he mocked Glow.


    Cooper smiled. ¡°Well sure. Lead on Fleck.¡±


    They followed Fleck to an area with food. The food stalls created a small square, with open space with tables to eat at, and some trash cans around.


    Some of the food also seemed to be magical. There were fries that glowed, and a zenny was advertising beans that would fill you for the whole day in only three bites. But Harmoni just wanted regular food, which was thankfully also in abundance.


    There was an elf serving soup that smelled good, but seemed a bit . . . misplaced in the desert. Even on a day like today. Cooper went to a dwarf cooking meat over a fire. Harmoni settled on a simple sandwich place.


    The elf in line in front of her smiled at her, then did a double take.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am, that¡¯s an unfortunate magical block you have. Would you like some help getting rid of it?¡±


    ¡°. . .What?¡± Harmoni managed.


    The only time anyone said magic was around her, they were talking about the dark energy. That was supposed to be covered up. And it didn¡¯t sound like that was what the elf was talking about. But Harmoni didn¡¯t have the faintest clue what she could mean instead.


    Fleck didn¡¯t know either.


    The elf frowned, ears dipping a bit, the same way Harmoni¡¯s could. The same way Harmoni¡¯s did when she was feeling apologetic or confused actually. ¡°The block? The magic . . . wall around you? I¡¯m certain it¡¯s not coming from you. And it must be effecting you in some way, though I¡¯d have to look to figure out more. You don¡¯t sense it?¡±


    Harmoni shook her head. ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t. Sense it, that is.¡±


    ¡°What are you apologizing for? That¡¯s a far bigger problem for you than for me.¡± The woman leaned back with a frown. ¡°Actually, would you like me to take a look at that for you? I could find out what the block actually is.¡±


    The person at the sandwich stall had slid an order to the elf, and crossed his arms, vaguely annoyed neither of them were paying attention. But Harmoni continued ignoring him.


    ¡°What would that entail?¡±


    ¡°I can sense the magic around us, including the barrier around you. But I would have to focus on the barrier specifically to find out more. With a probe or two, I should be able to figure out how strong it is, and what topic it¡¯s blocking. It certainly wouldn¡¯t break the barrier. That would take more work. And I wouldn¡¯t be able to tell what¡¯s on the other side. If that makes sense?¡±


    It was a little oddly worded, but from what Harmoni could piece together, there wasn¡¯t really an easy way to explain what she was doing. Especially if you didn¡¯t use magic. But it didn¡¯t sound too invasive, or painful.


    ¡°Uh . . . so you would just sense a specific area of magic?¡± Harmoni asked. ¡°And you could do that here? Right now?¡±


    ¡°Uh. I hope you don¡¯t mean literally right here,¡± the sandwich server pointed out. ¡°Because I think you¡¯ve held up the line long enough.¡±


    Oh right.


    Fleck was almost back now, Moon in tow. And the man at the sandwich stall had a dragon.


    (Most members of the magic expo had been traveling from planet to planet, but a few residents of Xentron had seen the opportunity, and set up shop.)


    Fleck could handle the order and Harmoni could take care of this right now.


    And now he¡¯d be close in case she needed him.


    With that sorted out, Harmoni and the elf went to an empty table. Cooper frowned from his table as he saw her walk off, but hopefully he could wait. She¡¯d explain when she was done.


    The elf talked her through what she had to do, but it wasn¡¯t much. Harmoni placed her hands on top of the elf¡¯s open palms, the two lightly touching. The elf woman looked like she was staring into space, eyes moving a little further apart and gazing at an empty stretch of desert over Harmoni¡¯s shoulder. Harmoni could¡¯ve sworn she did feel . . . something. A wind passing between her hands and the woman¡¯s maybe. Or the breath of a whisper.


    Then the feeling ended. The woman gasped like she was coming up from water. Had she breathed at all in that time?


    ¡°So?¡± Harmoni asked after a moment. She tapped her fingers nervously against the table.


    ¡°It has something to do with your memory.¡± Harmoni stopped tapping. The elf nodded. ¡°Yes. I can tell there are memories blocked behind that supernatural barrier. Though what memories they are, specifically, I couldn¡¯t say. Do you have any gaps in your mind? Places you know a memory is missing?¡±


    . . .Ah.

 31: Blocked Past

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Harmoni sat very still.


    Internally, she was taking it better than Fleck expected. She wasn¡¯t freaking out like she had when he asked about retrieving her memories, or when they saw Wyss Village.


    ¡®Wait? You¡¯re not planning to ignore this too, are you?¡¯


    ¡®No.¡¯


    Harmnoni still didn¡¯t think she wanted her memories. But with magic in the mix, that was a little messier. She¡¯d have to look into it. And she would, but not right now.


    Harmoni took a deep breath and stood up.


    Today, she wanted to have a good time with Cooper. And she wanted to get some rest tonight so she could get back to work tomorrow. Later she could look for information at the library, and ask Rial. He was the only one who used magic that she was particularly close to. In the meantime, she was going to put it out of her mind.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± she told the elf woman. ¡°I should get going now.¡±


    She turned, and headed back to the table Cooper and the dragons were at.


    He and Harmoni did enjoy the rest of the day. They went to a stage. People were putting on plays with the aid of magic, or showing off displays of their power. Harmoni paid to get her shoes magically rejuvenated. They¡¯d been getting a bit worn. Cooper got an enchanted pair of gloves that he could actually put on his hands without the metal on his right hand ripping through them. He was planning to go back the next day as well. Apparently he wanted to go look at more books.


    ¡°Can you afford more books?¡± Harmoni asked with a tilt of her head.


    ¡°No!¡± Cooper cheerfully told her. He got a bit more subdued as he continued. ¡°Or, probably not. If I¡¯m really lucky, maybe I can trade some of my alchemy work for a book. But I mostly just want to make a note of books I can look for later. Get the titles and authors while there¡¯s the chance.¡±


    Harmoni nodded. That made more sense.


    They reached the edge of the courtyard and parted ways, heading home.


    Moon waved her tail good-bye. Fleck made a noise like a bark after her, then bounced after Harmoni. Part of it was that he still had energy. He hadn¡¯t gotten the exercise Moon had, training at the ice rink. But also, his shoulder had started itching partway through the day. He was trying not to scratch.


    Harmoni frowned. Was that normal? It sounded more significant than any little itch or scratch Fleck had gotten before.


    Fleck wasn¡¯t sure. He¡¯d have to look into it.


    ¡®But don¡¯t think you¡¯re off the hook. You can look into your memories and I can look into my shoulder at the same time,¡¯ he told her. Assuming his problem didn¡¯t solve itself.


    Harmoni sighed. Ah, a problem solving itself sounded nice. But apparently it was a bit much to ask for.


    Well, they better get home.


    ~~~


    It was a week later, on their next full day off, that Harmoni and Fleck went to visit Suzan and Glimmer.


    The plan had originally been to look into Harmoni¡¯s memories first. But both of Fleck¡¯s shoulders itched now, and he actually had looked into it.


    ''It''s not like I''ve been doing nothing this whole time,'' Harmoni thought. She''d been going to the library in the afternoon to look for books on magic. She''d also tried to subtly ask about it with someone at the magic symposium, since that was still up, but it was hard to subtly ask about magical memory loss.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Anyway. Aqua didn¡¯t know what was wrong.


    So they were going to see if Glimmer could be any more help. Maybe there were better places to turn, but Fleck also wanted to see his sister. Two birds, as the humans said. If she couldn''t help, he''d go back to the dragon caves, ask his guardians growing up.


    This time, the two of them weren¡¯t getting a ride. They were walking across the desert. Possibly an odd choice, but they¡¯d left early in the morning. There would be plenty of time to spend with the other two, and Glimmer would probably give them a ride back.


    They¡¯d probably be sleepy. Most of their waking time was night, but they didn¡¯t follow a strict schedule like most people in Xentron City. Clocks were a suggestion, and they¡¯d be happy to see Fleck and Harmoni.


    Harmoni smiled faintly. That reassurance did make her feel better. She would¡¯ve visited them at night, but it didn¡¯t seem feasible.


    Then she slowed. They were about halfway between Xentron City and the small town Suzan and Glimmer lived in. And something seemed different. The wind blew more frequently, and harder, bringing sand up against her legs.


    Fleck hopped onto his hind legs, tail against the ground. He sniffed the air. Yeah, they were about to have a bigger problem. He could smell sand on the ground, but also in the air, and the clouds. A sandstorm was coming.


    ¡®Are you sure?¡¯ Harmoni thought.


    ¡°Have I ever been wrong before?¡± Fleck asked, distressed enough he said it out loud instead of in his head.


    He wasn¡¯t, typically. And Harmoni knew that. She¡¯d asked more out of surprise, and fear, than any skepticism.


    They had to get out of here. They were out in open desert. Harmoni started running.


    Fleck ran after her, but he had his doubts. There wasn¡¯t time to get to Glimmer and Suzan.


    Harmoni knew that. It wasn¡¯t the goal. The goal was just to find something for shelter, instead of the flat expanse they were currently in.


    The sand was whipping up higher around them, scratching against Harmoni¡¯s legs and making it harder to move. But she could see something ahead, on their right. A rocky outcrop.


    It was a good thing she spotted it when she did. Enough sand soon filled the air, it would¡¯ve been impossible to see. Harmoni had a hand in front of her face, eyelids fluttering. Fleck wrapped his tail around her pant leg, and led her forward. He knew where they were going. He¡¯d seen it, and could still smell the rocks in the distance.


    Harmoni gave up on keeping her eyes open.


    Fleck had a second, clear lid to help with that. Not that he could see much even with his eyes open right now.


    She covered her face with both hands to stop the sand from getting into her nose. She couldn¡¯t see, she could only feel sand, and hear the wind. It was awful. And then, just as abruptly, it was over. They¡¯d gotten to the rocky cliff, and out of the direct line of the sand.


    Harmoni drew in a few gasping breaths, and rubbed at her eyes and mouth.


    ¡°And what do you think you¡¯re doing here?¡±


    Harmoni froze. She knew that gurgling voice.


    Fleck could smell it too. He hadn¡¯t been able to before, barely able to smell more than the sand, and focused on getting them to safety.


    Harmoni opened her eyes. It seemed the cliffside they¡¯d been aiming for had been tall enough to have a cave in it. That was where they were now.


    Could barely call it a cave. It was so dry, and based on smell, it didn¡¯t go back very far.


    Harmoni slowly turned away from the entrance, and towards the voice. Not that she needed to. She knew who it was.


    Sure enough, there was Evin, standing over her with his arms crossed. While she couldn¡¯t make out his face, she got the distinct impression he was glaring.


    ¡°I just-¡± Harmoni coughed. ¡°I just wanted to get out of the storm.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Oh right. You live in Xentron City, and just happened to get shelter where I live, in the middle of nowhere, instead? You¡¯re just here for revenge. You want to rob me, don¡¯t you? Admit it!¡±


    Evin jabbed a slimy finger at her. Harmoni just stared at him for a moment, not sure how to respond to something so . . . audacious.


    ¡°We don¡¯t all think like you,¡± she said.


    ¡°Most people do, and that includes you,¡± Evin boldly claimed. ¡°You¡¯re awful!¡±


    Harmoni¡¯s breath came up short, and the word rang in her ears for a moment, at the expense of everything else.


    She was brought back out by Fleck standing between her and Evin. Evin had his hand reached out partway, and he started to reach around Fleck.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that,¡± Harmoni said.


    Evin paused.


    This was important. She shouldn''t get distracted. Harmoni focused back in on him, trying to make eye contact where she guessed his eyes were. ¡°If you do that, Fleck is going to bite. I think he¡¯d like to take a few of your fingers off.¡±


    She knew all of this was correct.


    ¡°He couldn¡¯t do any damage to me before,¡± Evin sneered. ¡°Why would he now?¡±


    ¡°If you believed he was harmless, you wouldn¡¯t stop and argue with me,¡± Harmoni told him.


    They both stared at each other for a moment.


    Fleck was pretty sure Evin was glaring. Harmoni¡¯s face was full of less hatred, but no less intense.


    ¡°Kicking us out would risk Fleck fighting you, and guarantee you don¡¯t get anything more from us,¡± Harmoni finally said. ¡°I know you don¡¯t want us to stay here for free, and neither of us are inclined to give you anything. But if we leave, the low odds change to zero, assuming Fleck doesn¡¯t hurt you.¡±


    That would make the odds . . . negative.


    ¡°So? What¡¯s it going to be?¡±

 32: The Trader

    ¡°Fine. You can stand there for now. After the storm, I want you out. I live here. This cave is mine.¡±


    He then stalked to a nearby chair.


    Harmoni kept at least part of her focus on him, but she widened her gaze to the rest of the cavern. Lived here, huh? There wasn¡¯t much in here. Like Fleck had guessed, it was small and dry, smaller than the living room in Udo¡¯s house. He had a chair. There was a shower curtain between the cave and the outside world, acting as a sort of door. There was a card table. In the far corner, there was garbage piled up.


    And boy Fleck did not like the smell of it.


    In another corner, close to the front, Evin had a crate of miscellaneous things. She could see a plate, a clock that was no longer telling time, and a very familiar cloak.


    Then Evin pulled something else out from under the crate. A small cardboard box, full of cigarettes.


    Fleck was pretty sure those were cigars, actually. They were bigger, and smelled nicer to him. But of course they would be stronger, and worse for anyone other than dragons. Dragons were practically made for inhaling and exhaling smoke.


    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t do that. Smoking¡¯s bad for you!¡±


    It was also bad for the people around him, but Evin had proved he didn¡¯t care about that.


    It was quiet and still for a moment. She knew Fleck was in a bit of disbelief, and Evin might be too.


    Then, Evin very slowly, very deliberately, put the cigar to his mouth, drew in a breath, and sprayed it back out.


    ¡°You have some gall telling me what to do in my own home.¡±


    Harmoni didn¡¯t like him.


    Oh same.


    ¡°As for my health? I am covered in slime and spent most of my money trying to break the curse. I live in a cave, essentially scavenging for what I need, can¡¯t get help if I¡¯m sick or injured, and haven¡¯t changed clothes in over two years. I¡¯ll take the enjoyments I can get. My health can¡¯t get much worse.¡±


    Harmoni clenched her fists and stared at the ground, but she wasn¡¯t angry. Well, not just angry.


    ¡°You¡¯d get more sympathy, if you weren¡¯t a traitorous ass at every turn,¡± she pointed out, trying to explain the feeling.


    ¡°And why should I care about people¡¯s sympathy? Beyond what it can do for me.¡±


    ¡°Other people matter.¡±


    ¡°Who do you think made the open area of sand you call a courtyard worth anything? If other people have it so terribly, they should improve it. I did.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re doing so well at that now!¡± Harmoni snapped back at him.


    Fleck was appreciative. She¡¯d basically lined him up for that one.


    Harmoni felt kind of bad, the way Evin froze up.


    Regardless, they should probably end this conversation. He could still decide he¡¯d had enough, and kick them out.


    ¡°You said I was awful, the same as you,¡± Harmoni pointed out, voice calm again.


    ¡°That doesn''t mean I care.¡±


    ¡°That means, you know you¡¯ve done the wrong thing.¡± Harmoni took a deep breath. ¡°If you really don''t care, and you really haven''t grasped that other people matter, I don¡¯t think I can force you. So, I think we¡¯re done here.¡±


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    She sat down on the cave floor, mostly turned towards the exit, but still able to keep Evin in her peripheral. Well, that and she trusted to Fleck to watch her back. Literally in this case.


    ¡°Oh, you think you¡¯re oh so high and mighty be being corny,¡± Evin said. ¡°I told you before, I tried the being nice thing, to break the cleric¡¯s curse. Didn¡¯t change anything. Doesn¡¯t have anything to do with me. The cleric wants to make people suffer.¡±


    Clerics couldn¡¯t lie, and Evin had manipulated her and more. So she kind of had her doubts about that. But she said they were done, and she would hold herself to that.


    ¡°Oh, and now you¡¯re giving me the silent treatment. Because I¡¯ll care about that,¡± Evin mocked.


    ~~~


    ¡°Do you think I care if you talk?¡± Evin asked.


    Well, based on his tone she¡¯d say no. But this was the second time he¡¯d brought it up.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been alone for two years. You¡¯re not even someone important. Your conversation means nothing.¡±


    ~~~


    ¡°You know, I have family who''s still alive. I had friends before the curse. See any of them around anymore? They weren''t interested if I don''t have power or money to share. Don''t call me awful. I''m an average part of the population.¡±


    ~~~


    ¡°You know something? I can force you to interact. Yes. You can start talking, or I can throw you back into the storm.¡±


    Slight problem with that. The storm was over. He could hear it in the stillness outside, and the air smelling like actual air, rather than sand. He pulled at the curtain to prove it. The flap was partway open when Evin abruptly stood up, crossed the cavern in two steps, and closed it again.


    ¡°What gives?!¡±


    Evin couldn¡¯t understand dragon, but he must¡¯ve noticed Fleck¡¯s anger or Harmoni¡¯s confusion, because he basically answered the question. ¡°Did you see the person out there? Did you recognize the uniform?¡±


    Harmoni stared blankly at him while Fleck shook his head.


    Evin sighed. ¡°That¡¯s a member of the Divergence." Harmoni recognized the name. One of the three groups that wanted to control Xentron, yeah? Like Desert Crest. "And if they¡¯re wandering around the desert, armed with a capture net, immediately after a sandstorm, then they¡¯re looking for new people they can steal for the slave trade.¡±


    Harmoni inhaled sharply. It seemed Divergence was not like Desert Crest. She could . . . vaguely remember hearing about the Divergence, and how unfriendly they were, but this was new information.


    ¡°But, Xentron City doesn¡¯t have. . .¡±


    ¡°Slaves? No.¡± Evin confirmed. ¡°But in case you haven¡¯t noticed, there¡¯s a few towns and cities scattered around, and Xentron City doesn¡¯t control everything.¡± He lurched his head to one side, sounding more annoyed than, say, horrified.


    Harmon shifted her weight, hands clasped together.


    ¡°Now you¡¯re getting it,¡± Evin said. Despite being annoyed, and dismissive, his voice was low. He was trying not to be overheard. ¡°I don¡¯t care to run into them either. But they¡¯ll have more interest in you and your dragon than me, so better wait until we¡¯re sure he¡¯s gone, instead of doing something stupid.¡±


    ¡°Fleck will be able to smell when he¡¯s gone,¡± Harmoni whispered.


    Evin shrugged. ¡°Better than guessing, I suppose. And it means you¡¯ll be gone sooner.¡±


    They stayed like that and waited, but to Fleck¡¯s alarm, the slave trader didn¡¯t seem to be getting farther away. In fact, he was getting closer. His scent was getting stronger. He could smell the clearly human scent on him, as well as his clothes, and high-tech capture net.


    And Harmoni could hear his breath, and footsteps even with the sand muffling them.


    Evin probably didn''t notice yet, but he could read their reactions.


    There was a place to hide. There was a small space between the crate of miscellaneous stuff, and the curved wall beside it, a crack it would be hard to see into.


    Harmoni scrambled into the space, but it was tight. She had to tuck her knees against her stomach, otherwise her legs would poke out, and her side scraped against the cavern. Not enough to break skin, but enough to be uncomfortable. So what about Fleck? He wouldn¡¯t fit here.


    Fleck could blend in with the sand, and the dull orange of this cave. He went to the back, behind as many objects as possible, curled against the wall, and closed his eyes. He should look like a rock now.


    Harmoni couldn¡¯t check from this angle. And at that moment, the slave trader swung the curtain open. Harmoni couldn¡¯t see all the way up to his or Evin¡¯s face. She could see about halfway up on them. But the curtain swing had been dramatic, and had probably hit Evin.


    ¡°Hey! Haven¡¯t you heard of knocking?!¡± Evin snapped.


    The man leaned back like an animal had shaken itself off in front of him, probably avoiding the sludge.


    ¡°You need a door for that,¡± the man replied. ¡°Now listen slime monster, I¡¯m looking for someone specific.¡±


    He said that, but based on the way he was moving, he was trying to look into the cave, either over Evin¡¯s shoulder or to one of his sides. ¡°A few days ago, we went to check on a town we do business with, about fifty miles south of here. Turns out, it was slaughtered. We did a search. Everyone was accounted for, namely because they were dead, except one slave.¡±

 33: After the Storm

    Harmoni couldn¡¯t move from where she was, couldn¡¯t cover her mouth, but her cheeks did puff out as if she was going to vomit. She was pretty sure her eyes got wider while her pupils shrunk. She obviously had no way to check this, but it was a very distinct feeling.


    The slave trader couldn¡¯t be talking about Wyss. That sounded too far away, and in not quite the right direction.


    Which meant they couldn''t be talking about her, either.


    But something so similar had happened? Harmoni didn¡¯t like the pattern this was setting.


    ¡°Why should I give a fuck?¡± Evin asked. Harmoni saw a few drops of slime hit the ground. He¡¯d probably gestured enough to shake them loose.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that. You help me with this, I might be able to do something for you. I don¡¯t know, get you real food instead of the squirrels or whatever it is you eat out here.¡±


    Squirrels were real food.


    ¡°Or, I¡¯m looking for someone specific, but if you know someone in general. . .¡±


    It once again looked like he was trying to look inside the cavern. He even took a step closer, despite already being close to Evin. Suddenly he took a step back, and a glob of dark green slime hit the spot he¡¯d been in. Had Evin intentionally lobbed it at him? Seemed like the only way to get the result.


    ¡°Does it look like I see a lot people?¡± Evin snarled. ¡°I don¡¯t know who you¡¯re looking for, and I frankly don¡¯t care. Get out.¡±


    The man took another step back and more slime hit the sand, a trail of it like he¡¯d swung his hand out this time.


    Based on the smell, some of it had hit its target this time.


    ¡°Fine. Goodbye slime freak.¡±


    Harmoni saw him turn on his heel, and start walking away. She heard his footsteps get further away.


    Evin took a moment to close the curtain, and it was even longer before Harmoni wiggled out of her hiding spot, waiting in case this was some sort of trick.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. He didn¡¯t see you. If he did, no amount of slime would¡¯ve kept him away,¡± Evin said.


    Harmoni stood up, and froze. She could see Evin¡¯s eyes, the area around them clear of slime for the first time.


    ¡®Rude to stare, especially if he hasn¡¯t noticed,¡¯ Fleck pointed out.


    Right. Harmoni shook her head slightly. ¡°You could¡¯ve told him about us,¡± she pointed out. ¡°You didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Oh what? Because I¡¯m awful, I''m therefore down for any type of evil? Sorry but that''s not my style. Besides, he¡¯s an ass. I don¡¯t want to help him, and I doubt he¡¯d keep his word.¡±


    Harmoni frowned, brow furrowed. She knew she was pushing her luck. He already wanted her gone. But this was the nicest he¡¯d been, and she was going to point out the holes in his logic.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you sort of enslave one of you fighters?¡± Harmoni asked. At his confusion, clearer now that she could see his eyes, she elaborated. ¡°Kidnapped his sister to keep him working.¡±


    ¡°I paid him,¡± Evin said. She managed to see him roll his eyes.


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Harmoni . . . didn¡¯t know where to start with that. But in fairness, she was stretching the definition of slavery. It was messed up, but a different kind than what most people thought of when they heard that word.


    She walked past him to the curtain, Fleck coming up beside her.


    ¡°You know,¡± she said. ¡°I could see your eyes after you kept us hidden. They¡¯re blue.¡±


    Without waiting for a reaction, she walked back into the desert, speed walking toward Suzen¡¯s home.


    Harmoni kept her ears strained. Evin said they¡¯d fooled the slave trader. But if he was just waiting to see if anyone came out, she wasn¡¯t going to be surprised.


    Maybe she should call Udo on her Link. He and Aqua would probably want to know they were alright, if they knew about the sandstorm. And then it would be harder for the slave trader to nab them. If he was still around. Fleck didn''t think he was, based on smell.


    ''Good idea.''


    ~~~


    ¡°So, you¡¯re having some trouble with your back?¡± Glimmer asked.


    ¡°Uh, yes?¡± Fleck shook himself for emphasis. He¡¯d just finished explaining that.


    Glimmer started to laugh, hard. She was laughing so hard, she slung her head up to the sky.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Fleck bounced back and forth, this time in anger. ¡°What¡¯s so funny about this?!¡±


    ¡°Sorry. It¡¯s just, I know something you don¡¯t know.¡± She said that last part in a sing-song, mocking voice. That didn¡¯t seem particularly sorry. She did get more serious a moment later. ¡°I¡¯ve got a scratching post. It¡¯s a little big for you, but if you use the side instead of the top, it should be fine. And I¡¯ve got some cream that might help as well. It¡¯s not made for riders. Just us dragons.¡±


    Glimmer took him to the side of the house, where the entrance to the cellar was. It was cooler down there, and Fleck could hear the drip of water. There were jars of food along a wall. The smells from them were impressively muffled.


    Glimmer took one that had been opened before, smelling strongly of cactus and rock. It was a bit bigger than the other jars, but Glimmer still only used a singular claw to pick out the cream and spread it on Fleck¡¯s shoulders.


    ¡°I¡¯m only doing it for you once, so you know what you¡¯re doing,¡± she told him. ¡°You¡¯re on your own after this.¡±


    Fine with Fleck. This was embarrassing, like a human helping their younger sibling take a bath.


    But it did work. The itching went down.


    ¡°Let¡¯s join the humans,¡± Glimmer suggested as she finished up.


    Harmoni wasn¡¯t fully human. The smell told any dragon as much.


    ¡®You know what she meant,¡¯ Harmoni thought directly at him. She didn''t want to point out he''d made the same mistake when they first met, but through their bond it was hard not to. ¡®Probably flows better than calling us riders.¡¯


    And, well, it was odd to consider herself half of two things, when she had amnesia. You could argue she wasn¡¯t much of either one, and so far, her stronger traits were the human ones.


    That was her perspective.


    He and Glimmer came back up. Glimmer pushed open the door to the first floor. She wouldn¡¯t go in. The space would be a little tight. But Fleck could enter if he wanted. He sat in the doorframe.


    Suzan and Harmoni were eating salad inside. Suzan had added meat to hers, but it seemed like the base was still good for Harmoni. Smelled right.


    ¡°So, what are we doing today?¡± Harmoni asked, pushing the leaves on her plate around. ¡°Did you have something in mind?¡±


    ¡°Actually, I was thinking of visiting the forest,¡± Suzan suggested. ¡°If yer up for it.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Suzan shrugged. ¡°The forest just north a ''ere? Hard to live there, but it¡¯s where a lot of our resources come from. I figure Glimmer and I could do some scavenging there today, and you could at least get a change of scenery, get out a the sun for a bit.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Uh, that sounds nice.¡± Harmoni took a bite. She¡¯d done this wrong. There was more cheese left on her plate than anything else. ¡°Let¡¯s do that.¡±


    ¡°Well, no need to sound so excited about it,¡± Suzan teased.


    Still, the two were almost done. They finished up, Suzan set the bowls aside, grabbed a bag, and they headed outside. Everyone climbed on Glimmer, and headed out, across the desert.


    It didn¡¯t take as long as their last trip to the forest. Well, Glimmer wasn¡¯t exactly slow.


    Never was.


    She lighted them down at the edge, where the trees were still spaced out far enough that landing was feasible.


    Suzan slid off Glimmer and faced the forest. She smiled, hands on her hips. ¡°I always loved these forests. They¡¯re so dense, and unexplored. You could find anything ''ere.¡±


    ¡°You mean unexplored by riders,¡± Glimmer corrected, tilting her head and smiling. ¡°We could tell you what you find here.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t ruin this for me,¡± Suzan said, snapping her fingers. ¡°Besides, I know you ''aven¡¯t seen everything in here either.¡±


    Glimmer shrugged.


    Fleck shook his head. He knew they were just having fun with each other, but they were having more fun than him and Harmoni.


    ¡°Enough talk. Let¡¯s go,¡± he insisted.

 34: Stolen

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    The area where they had landed had short trees. The tallest were only about the size of a doorway. But there were other plants in this area as well. They looked like vines, ferns, and roots. No, really. One of the plants in the area looked like it was just a root structure growing up against gravity in a small area. Or maybe it was like corral? She didn¡¯t think it was one of those upside trees from the botanical garden.


    It was not. Different smell. And Fleck would go with the corral comparison, despite never seeing corral. He doubted there was enough water on this planet for something like that.


    As they went deeper into the forest, the trees got taller and thicker. Farther up ahead there were ones even Glimmer couldn¡¯t wrap around. But there were fewer of the other types of plants. A few logs and stumps lay around. There was what looked like mushrooms growing off them.


    They weren¡¯t mushrooms like you¡¯d find on Morivon, but in terms of the decomposing function? Yeah, they were basically the same.


    She could see moss patches around. The ground turned from the tan of the desert to almost black.


    It also went from feeling like coarse sand to the softer dirt, but Fleck¡¯s scales protected him from the latter.


    ¡°Mind the poop,¡± he warned the riders. He had smelled some up ahead.


    Harmoni stepped around it, grateful. She didn¡¯t have the sense of smell, and hadn¡¯t seen much yet, but she could hear animals. There was rustling in the leaves. She¡¯d heard something hiss earlier, and there was a buzz almost no matter where they went. There was also the scream of what she would assume were birds. But according to Fleck, there weren¡¯t birds on Xentron.


    Fleck shrugged. For the most part, they had things with feathers, and things that could fly. Not both. The only exception was that some dragons could have feathers, but was anyone going to argue a dragon was a bird?


    They passed more of their time walking through the forest like that. Harmoni saw what looked like tiny glowing pine trees in a hollow log. That was very cool.


    Suzan would pick a couple small plants, or pick things off branches. Harmoni left her alone in that. She didn¡¯t know what these things Suzan was foraging were, and she didn¡¯t care enough to ask. It would just bother Suzan.


    It probably would not.


    They even saw one of those feathered creatures Fleck had mentioned. It had vaguely bird like legs, but all four of its limbs were like that. And it was large. Its yellow feathers were thick and long, like a mophead dog. It wandered through the trees to the left of them, and started eating ferns. Seemed pleasant enough, but Harmoni was OK steering away.


    They reached a river.


    ¡°It¡¯s wider than the last time I was ''ere,¡± Suzan said. ¡°Just a trickle in the mud that you could ''op over. Must¡¯a been all that rain this winter.¡±


    Right. Wasn¡¯t it still technically winter? That was disorienting to think of.


    Suzan looked around. ¡°I guess if we want ta get over this time, Glimmer will have ta carry us.¡±


    There was a crack on the other side of the river, followed by rustling, and dull thudding noises. Harmoni looked across the river. She could see ferns moving, like something was brushing them aside, but she couldn¡¯t see what was causing that. And it should be right in front of her.


    ¡°Oh it¡¯s probably one of the invisible bears,¡± Fleck said.


    ¡°One of the whats?¡± Harmoni gaped.


    ¡°One of the invisible bears,¡± Suzan and Fleck chorused.


    They were carnivores native to the planet. Their fur kept them invisible. They only lived in the forest though, if she was worried. Not the desert.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    Harmoni squinted out where she could see movement. Now that she knew, she could sort of see something there. A faint outline of sorts. But it didn¡¯t look like anything. At best, it was like watching glass.


    Fleck could tell it was there by sense of smell. But in fairness, fighting it would be hard. Where were the limbs?


    ¡°Are we in danger?¡± Harmoni whispered.


    Suzan snorted. ¡°From that thing? You¡¯d be in more danger from those giant Roly polies. We¡¯re too small for ¡®em, and they¡¯re not about to fight a dragon. That would be just stupid.¡±


    Glimmer watched the invisible bear, tracking its movements a lot better than Fleck and Harmoni. She growled quietly for emphasis.


    Suzan patted Harmoni¡¯s shoulder. ¡°We¡¯re safe. But it¡¯s getting late. We should go. Glimmer and I will give you a ride back to Xentron City.¡±


    ~~~


    Harmoni took a bucket of gross cleaning water, and dumped it out behind the spa building. It hadn¡¯t rained again in a while. It was quite possible most of the water would slide away.


    And that would be a good thing. Harmoni had been doing a lot of hauling today. Udo¡¯s shop was so busy, she wondered if there was some kind of holiday she didn¡¯t know about.


    There was not. But their singular month of winter was almost over. Maybe dragons wanted a trip in the hot water before that ended.


    That was good enough for Harmoni. She went back in, and set to work cleaning another tub. When it was clean, she grabbed her bucket and went for the open wall to dump it again.


    They dumped it at the side of the building, technically, but the open back side was the easiest exit.


    Fleck followed, fully planning to help, when he bumped against a cart. One of those ones on wheels that Udo and Ferren used to carry soaps. His back bumped against the bottom of a shelf, and he heard something rip.


    He froze. Something was happening on his back. He could feel something coming out of the side, near the top. It didn¡¯t hurt. Almost the opposite. It was like when riders wore clothes that were too tight, and finally got the chance to change.


    He slowly turned to look behind him. There was something like a bat wing behind him, lying on the floor on his right side. The bony part was the same gold color as his scales, the webbed part a transparent yellow. The attachment started at his shoulder, and went all the way back to his hind leg. He tried to move it. It only twitched. His muscles were still tiny and unused there, but the wing had responded. It was his.


    He felt his mouth twitch open. A wing. He had a wing!


    Fleck jumped up and down, spinning in the air in his excitement.


    This was it! This was why his back had been so itchy. And Glimmer had known and hadn¡¯t told him the cause. Oh, she was going to get it later.


    Harmoni laughed into her fist at that. Just a little.


    ¡°I¡¯m happy for you,¡± she said.


    And she was. She still had to dump the bucket she had, but she mentally shooed Fleck away. He wanted to rip his second wing open, and he should focus on that.


    Harmoni yawned as she dumped the water out. She watched it drain down, but her eyes felt heavy. They flickered a few times as she looked down.


    Why was she so sleepy all of a sudden?


    ¡°What?¡±


    Harmoni¡¯s body slumped. Fleck seemed concerned. Maybe she should be concerned too, but she couldn¡¯t figure out why. She was too tired for much complicated thinking.


    She turned to go back inside, and her legs gave out. Her eyes slowly closed. As she fell, she saw someone in the shadow of the building, pointing a wand.


    Oh. Was that related to the exhaustion?


    ~~~


    Fleck wasn¡¯t affected by the magic. He knew something was wrong when Harmoni suddenly got so sleepy, and he was running for the front door by the time Harmoni toppled.


    There was a wyvern at the door. Fleck had never seen one of those before, but he¡¯d heard of them. They were like dragons, but with only four limbs. Two legs, and two wings. Also, while their bite could burn or poison or other things, they couldn¡¯t spray the damage out like a dragon.


    And this particular wyvern wasn¡¯t letting Fleck pass. Fleck had basically ignored him when he pushed the front door open, but he kept blocking Fleck¡¯s path with his foot or tail.


    Fleck¡¯s mouth felt hot, and he automatically tried to flair his wings up. They just weren¡¯t strong enough yet. ¡°Get out of the way!¡± he roared.


    He bit the wyvern¡¯s ankle.


    ¡°Fleck!¡± Aqua called. ¡°What are you doing to Versith?¡±


    Oh there was no time for this. ¡°Harmoni¡¯s been kidnapped!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Aqua gaped.


    Udo spoke too. Fleck couldn¡¯t understand his words, not while Harmoni was asleep. But based on his tone he felt similar.


    Fleck growled again. They were wasting time. ¡°Harmoni was put to sleep! By magic! And he won¡¯t let me past!¡±


    Fleck pointed at the wyvern, Versith apparently, with his head for emphasis.


    He was vaguely aware of Udo heading for the back, out the opening there. Aqua, meanwhile, growled. Versith made the mistake of side-eying the building, glancing towards the side where Harmoni had last been.


    As soon as his focus split like that, Aqua roared. She launched forward, slamming into him and knocking him down. Versith fell onto his back, but bit into her limb, which started burning from the heat he was making. Aqua met the attack with water.


    Fleck bounced past the two fighters and to the side of the building. Udo came at it from the other side, but it was no use. They¡¯d wasted too much time. The area was empty, with no trace of Harmoni. Fleck couldn¡¯t even pick up her scent, or the scent of her captor. She was gone.

 35: Kidnapped

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    When Harmoni awoke, her eyes only opened enough to let in a thin slit of light. No. Wait. Her eyes were completely open, it was just that only thin slits of light were getting into this room.


    She moved her head around, trying to get a better look. The room she was in was small . . . maybe a closet? It was dark. The small amount of light wasn¡¯t coming from under the door or the walls. It was coming from the ceiling. The wooden panels above weren¡¯t put together perfectly, leaving a small gap or two to let the sun in.


    Where was she? What had . . . happened?


    Harmoni tried to get up. She couldn¡¯t move her hands out from behind her back. She tried again, tugging, but there were ropes around her wrists. She shoved her feet at the closet door, but it didn¡¯t open. It rattled a few times, wiggling as she kicked it with both legs, but she was pretty sure it was locked.


    No.


    She was locked in a closet. Suddenly, the space felt very small, the air stale. Suddenly, she wondered when she¡¯d last ate, or drank, or gone to the bathroom. The stone floor and walls were rough against her skin, and there wasn¡¯t enough space to move.


    No, no, no.


    This wasn¡¯t supposed to happen again.


    She thrashed, trying to get the door open, trying to free her hands, trying to just stand up. Then the door flung open, and someone stepped in.


    ¡°Would you shut up? Honestly, I should put you back to sleep.¡±


    Harmoni froze and looked up at the man in front of her. He was an elf. He had the pointy ears, the long sharp fingers, the angular face. He was tall. His black hair must¡¯ve been long, but it was pulled up to the top of his head, none of it dropping off. His brown eyes narrowed down at her.


    ¡°Who-who are you?¡± she managed. She didn¡¯t recognize him.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not act like you don¡¯t know. Playing the dumb game won¡¯t help.¡±


    ¡°No. I really don¡¯t know who you are.¡±


    And she was trying not to panic about that, because she didn¡¯t know how to prove it.


    The man pressed his lips together. One hand looked like he was trying to tightly grip a pencil, but there was nothing in his grasp. ¡°The dragon lab? Ring any bells?¡±


    Harmoni gasped. ¡°You ran that horrible lab?¡±


    ¡°You . . . seriously never saw me before?¡±


    Harmoni shook her head. He was presumably who she''d seen, but she certainly wouldn''t have been able to pick him out of a crowd. She¡¯d gotten close, but she hadn¡¯t been able to make out any details. He hadn¡¯t known that? He might¡¯ve kidnapped her either way, but he presumably wouldn¡¯t have given himself away if he knew.


    She was angry, and hurt, on behalf of Fleck. What he¡¯d done to the dragons was horrible. But she was also scared. What was he planning to do to her?


    ¡°Oh.¡± The man straightened up, no longer looming over her. ¡°Well, that is unfortunate. But I suppose it¡¯s not a total waste.¡±


    ¡°Hey Hatanier!¡±


    The man dropped his ears halfway and pursed his lips. ¡°Hathanier,¡± He corrected.


    An imp slid into sight. She had bright red skin, green eyes, and duller red hair. Her tall black horns curved as they went up.


    She spoke again. ¡°Can we kill her now? Eben ip she hadn¡¯t seen ush bepore, she sure hash now.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not killing her. Yet.¡±


    Oh.


    Somewhere outside, in the desert, Fleck picked up on that, and froze.


    Hathanier looked back down at her. His eyes focused on her. His head didn¡¯t move at all.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    ¡°You¡¯re a dragon rider? Aren¡¯t you? I¡¯ve heard terrible things happen, if you sever the bond between dragon and rider. Now, there¡¯s been some proof of that, but it¡¯s not something most people are willing to purposefully experiment with. I¡¯d love to see what happens if we kill just one of you.¡±


    He leaned down over her again.


    ¡°And make no mistake. That¡¯s what you¡¯re still awake, and alive, for. I need your dragon.¡±


    ¡®You heard that. Fleck, you can¡¯t come here,¡¯ Harmoni thought.


    She didn¡¯t know if Hathanier was planning to kill her or Fleck, but he wouldn¡¯t do either if Fleck wasn¡¯t there.


    If Hathanier didn¡¯t get what he wanted, he¡¯d kill her anyway. He couldn¡¯t keep her imprisoned forever. Fleck wasn¡¯t sitting back while everyone else did a rescue. He was going to help.


    He was going to-wait what?


    ¡°And den I¡¯m going to eat you!¡± the imp cheerfully declared. She jumped in front of Hathanier. (He leaned back a bit like he¡¯d narrowly dodged stepping in shit.) ¡°Hearts are considered a delicashy on my home planet. Did you know? But hearts prom a sentient species are always prowned on. I look poward to trying it out.¡±


    She . . . she wanted to eat Harmoni. It wasn¡¯t technically cannibalism but . . . she wanted Harmoni to die, and then she wanted to eat her. And she''d just, announced it to her. Harmoni felt a little queasy.


    As she spoke, the imp moved closer to Harmoni, her head tilting and her smile getting wider. It looked like she might bite Harmoni¡¯s neck. She could feel her breath on her when Hathanier spoke up.


    ¡°Cyep. I¡¯m pretty sure, I just said, we¡¯re not killing her yet.¡±


    Cyep pulled back, eyes narrowed and lips pressed together. ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to do anyting. What? You tink I just bite anyting my teet can tear?¡±


    Hathanier didn¡¯t directly respond. ¡°Her dragon isn¡¯t here. We shouldn¡¯t be in here.¡± His gaze moved to Harmoni. ¡°We have someone to watch for.¡±


    Cyep smiled and shrugged, acting far less threatening. ¡°Pine wit me.¡±


    She walked out of the room.


    Hathanier followed her, closing the door behind him. Harmoni supposed she should be glad she was awake. But now she was just locked in a dark closet, alone again. Her breath seemed very loud in her own ears.


    ¡®Deep breaths Harmoni. Just hold on. You¡¯ll be alright.¡¯


    Fleck was trying to reassure her, but she could sense fear in him as well. Not as bad as hers, but at least he could move across the desert. Do something.


    ¡®Udo and Aqua know you¡¯re gone. And we found a colbber who can track you through your Link.¡¯


    Cooper?


    ¡®Err . . . no. His eyepiece is a little defective.¡¯ They¡¯d gotten the help of a colbber from the magic symposium, the one who made potions. ¡®And we¡¯re coming now. Hang on.¡¯


    They just had to figure out how to get in. Fleck paced in the sand a bit, occasionally shooting his head up and looking ahead of him, like a dog that had heard a noise.


    If Hathanier noticed them too early, he could kill Harmoni before they had the chance to stop him. And the area Hathanier was in was supposedly a flat expanse of desert, where it was easy to see things coming.


    Not helping.


    . . .But they could work around that.


    The group had Udo, Aqua, the colbber who made potions, Fleck, and Ferren in it.


    That last one was a surprise for Harmoni.


    Well, Ferren might not like them, but she¡¯d have to be pretty heartless to know what was going on and not help.


    ¡®You were going somewhere with this?¡¯


    Right. The group had been trying to come up with a plan. They were working a little too slowly for Fleck¡¯s liking, but after finding out Hathanier¡¯s plan, he was more inclined to listen.


    The colbber¡¯s idea was finding a way to turn invisible. But none of them had the ability, it could take a while to find someone who did, and they probably wouldn¡¯t be able to hide everyone. Aqua especially, would be a little tricky.


    Udo tentatively suggested teleporting inside, but it was the same problem.


    Ferren had wanted to go forward without them. People cut through this stretch of the desert all the time, and unlike Udo or Aqua, they weren¡¯t likely to recognize her as part of the rescue. She just needed to get between Harmoni and the other two inside, and the others wouldn¡¯t need to sneak any more.


    A noble idea, according to Aqua.


    And one that, again, surprised Harmoni.


    But that had risks as well. Hathanier and Cyep probably wouldn¡¯t be suspicious of someone passing by. But someone coming inside the meat processing house? They might go ahead and kill Harmoni, or kill Ferren herself.


    Harmoni was in a meat processing house?


    ¡®Yeah. I think. Might be a slaughter house, based on the smell,¡± Fleck admitted. ¡°Are those two different buildings?¡¯


    He didn¡¯t really know what he was saying.


    He quickly turned and looked at the building, as close as he could dare get.


    For a moment, Harmoni got a head-splitting case of double vision. She was obviously still in the closet. She could feel the stone floor and wall. And she could still sort of see it, if she focused on it. But she could also see a vast stretch of flat desert, with few plants, animals, or rocks. In the distance, she could see the building she must be trapped in. It was smaller than the labs, but like them, it looked like there were very few openings for windows and doors.


    It was Fleck¡¯s vision, overlayed on top of hers. Which was neat, and handy, but it was also giving her a headache, her mind desperately flipping between the two perspectives, trying to hold too much information at once.


    Fleck looked away, breaking the weird double vision.


    ¡®You¡¯re sure they can¡¯t see you?¡¯ Harmoni asked.


    ¡®I¡¯m small and gold. I blend into the sand,¡¯ Fleck pointed out.


    And if Hathanier or Cyep had seen him by now, they would¡¯ve reacted.


    Fleck looked behind him, where the rest of the group was. He couldn¡¯t understand what they were saying without Harmoni there. Aqua had to translate.


    But based on tone and expressions, they were still debating. Fleck growled. Harmoni was in danger. They had to do something. They couldn¡¯t just sit in the desert, spit balling ideas forever.

 36: Run

    Harmoni could tell the debate was still happening, thanks to her connection to Fleck. Apparently, aside from Hathanier and Cyep, there was a wyvern they were worried about as well.


    So that was the "dragon" who''d helped them kidnap so many others?


    Probably.


    Aqua had won the fight against him in that she was stronger, but she lost in that she let him get away. He made a run for it when it was clear he¡¯d lose.


    It wasn¡¯t that Harmoni didn¡¯t have faith in any of these people. Of course she had a good opinion of them. And they¡¯d already done more than she expected of them. Aqua taking on a wyvern and Ferren willingly helping out especially.


    But she was afraid, and they were struggling, and she was just sitting here helplessly if Hathanier came in. Or maybe Cyep would decide not to listen to Hathanier, and would come in to eat her.


    Her stomach turned and she swallowed something down, staring at the ceiling for a moment.


    Deep breath. Enough of that. She had to see if she could do anything to help.


    It looked like it would be tricky to break the ropes with anything in here. Nothing sharp enough, or sticking out far enough from the walls.


    With a bit of struggling, she managed to get to her feet. She turned around and tried the knob. Locked.


    There was a way to bust a locked door open by like, kicking the knob? He''d heard?


    Harmoni raised her leg, and immediately toppled over. She wasn¡¯t used to lifting her leg that high, and her hands were tied behind her back. Terrible for balance.


    She remembered when Evin had done similar, and her dismal attempt to stop him. People might imagine scenarios like this happening to them, but having it happen in reality was different. It was scary. It was hard to think clearly, and anything someone could imagine doing turned out to be harder in practice.


    Well yes, and Fleck wasn¡¯t an expert on busting open doors. Most of the doors he''d seen didn''t even have knobs. Even in homes, like Udo''s, the push handles were more common. Easier for a dragon to manage. So all he could give her was a statement he¡¯d heard.


    ¡°But don¡¯t give up!¡±


    She wouldn¡¯t.


    Harmoni rolled over, and slowly got to her feet again, struggling to get up without her hands.


    Listening near the door, she didn¡¯t hear any signs of her kidnappers moving out there. If they¡¯d heard her moving around, they weren¡¯t doing anything about it. Still, she¡¯d have to be careful. Hathanier would have good ears.


    The closet was small. Harmoni used the wall for support, and kicked. Nothing happened. She kicked again. The knob rattled, but still nothing. She dropped her leg, and stumbled a bit. She stared at the knob, and her vision went blurry. She sniffed, and blinked a few times, clearing her vision.


    Fleck had told the others what she was doing. He wished he could do more.


    Harmoni tried slamming her whole body against the door this time, but it worked even worse, just hurting her shoulder.


    That¡¯s when she heard footsteps. Not good. It seemed she¡¯d made too much noise after all.


    She backed up to the far end of the closet. She was trembling, eyes wide. She had to do something. If she didn¡¯t, there was a good chance Hathanier would put her back to sleep, or just kill her.


    The door opened. Harmoni dropped her head and charged at Hathanier¡¯s stomach. She couldn¡¯t see his expression, but the way he went slack, he hadn¡¯t been expecting that.


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Harmoni slammed him as hard as she could, and he fell backwards onto the wooden floor outside.


    She stood up straight and tried to keep running. And almost slammed into a collection of meat hooks hanging from the ceiling. She yelped, turning slightly, since she couldn¡¯t outright stop in time.


    Hathanier got his wand out. No doubt he¡¯d use that sleep spell again.


    Harmoni had to get moving. But there were sharp objects hanging from the ceiling, and the floor below seemed questionable. She heard some of it give beneath Hathanier when he hit the floor.


    Outside there was a roar. Versith erupted from behind the building, wings cupped. Aqua charged him again, but he was prepared this time, biting on her neck. Without her scales, that would¡¯ve been bad.


    Fleck still darted past them, into the front door.


    Harmoni turned off the main path, into a hall that was darker, but emptier. She didn¡¯t see any holes in the floor either. The path led to a table, and a back wall. To the right more meat hooks hung on the ceiling. On the table was a board of knives, and a fluid that was almost certainly blood. There was no second exit.


    She couldn¡¯t get out this way.


    She dropped under the table, covering her mouth and holding her breath as she heard the soft thudding of footsteps. It might be dark under the table, but it was also an exposed space. It wasn¡¯t a good hiding spot, and she knew it.


    Based on his sense of smell, Ferren had also some in. The colbber and Udo were outside to help Aqua. He didn¡¯t know if Udo could be much help, but he couldn¡¯t blame him for the choice. Fleck was doing the same.


    ¡®So Ferren or I are going to find you. Just hang on.¡¯


    Hathanier¡¯s lower body came into sight. He was still in the hallway, but all of a sudden, Harmoni was getting sleepy again. She knew what was happening. She tried to fight it. But fighting magic, especially without being able to use it yourself, seemed to be a losing battle. Was there something she could do? She wasn¡¯t sure. She was so tired it was hard to concentrate.


    A bright stream of light burst past Hathanier, illuminating the room and getting brighter still, hurting Harmoni¡¯s eyes.


    It distracted Hathanier too. She heard him grunt, and the spell on her was broken. It didn¡¯t instantly end all the side effects. Harmoni¡¯s body still felt sluggish, her eyes a bit heavy. But it wasn¡¯t getting any worse. She rubbed her eyes to wake them, and her mind was active enough to know she had to get moving.


    ¡°How did you find us so quickly?¡± Hathanier asked.


    ¡°The dragon helps with that,¡± Ferren answered. ¡°Get going Fleck. I¡¯ve got this guy.¡±


    ¡°An arrogant assumption.¡±


    Fleck sort of agreed with Hathanier on that one, but the distraction would help.


    Harmoni had already gotten out from under the table. Fleck grabbed her pant leg and tugged, urging her to move.


    But where would they go? The only exit from this room was where Ferren and Hathanier were fighting. Ferren might be keeping Hathanier busy, but he could probably reach out and stop her if she tried to run past.


    Hathanier pointed his wand at Ferren, but was forced to move out of the way as she physically charged him. Harmoni saw his eyes dart to the table, where the knives were, but they were too far for him to reach. So far.


    Harmoni said the flooring was weak. ¡°Want to break it on purpose?¡±


    She¡¯d take it.


    Harmoni was better at spotting the loose boards than Fleck. (It relied on sight, not smell.) She spotted one nearby, that wouldn¡¯t send them crawling through hooks to get to. She and Fleck jumped on it, hitting it with all their might. It buckled beneath them, sending them to the floor below.


    It was dark in here as well. And smelled bad. Seriously bad. He was pretty sure the wood here was moldy. And he could smell something fermenting. And he could smell blood, but that was sort of all over this building.


    Harmoni couldn¡¯t smell the blood like Fleck could, but her nose was picking up something when she breathed in. And it made her feel icky, like there was some gross film on her skin.


    And her eyesight might be better. She squinted into the dark here. As her eyes adjusted, she saw another table. Something sharp glinted on top of it. There were shelves behind it as well. She stepped closer, to get a better look.


    And then she took a step back. Those were, yeah, those were hearts, sitting in jars. Not all of them, some had different ¡°foods¡±. And she supposed the hearts could be from animals, but she wasn¡¯t optimistic. Especially since she knew the wildlife on Xentron. These hearts seemed a little small for the large creatures here.


    Fleck could confirm, based on smell. Also, there were lumpy black bags in the corner. Fleck didn¡¯t want to look in them. His sense of smell was already telling him they were discarded body parts. He hadn¡¯t wanted to tell Harmoni that, but he noticed it, so she knew.


    Harmoni stumbled back. It felt like the room was tilting. Each inhale just made everything worse.


    And yet, she still heard movement, her ear flicking. She dropped to the side just in time. Cyep leapt out of the darkness behind her, knife swinging. It still sliced through Harmoni¡¯s upper arm, easier than many knives could, scraping at her muscles and causing a lot of blood to come out. But if she hadn''t moved, that would''ve been in her shoulder, or worse.


    ¡°Well, well. The two ob you are alone,¡± Cyep said.


    Fleck was tense, in an attack stance, but he was also trembling slightly.


    Harmoni covered her arm. Was she dizzy from fear, or blood loss?


    ¡°Hatanier was a pool por just waiting to get caught. We should habe killed you right away. But, I still can.¡± She smiled and shrugged. ¡°Guess I can tell him what happens when one ob you dies.¡±


    Then she lunged again.

 37: Blown Up

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Harmoni scrambled back, and bashed against the table. She hadn¡¯t realized just how close it was. She leaned back, desperately trying to avoid Cyep''s multiple thrusts.


    In another circumstance, maybe she could talk her way out. What Cyep was doing was self-sabotage. She could be using this time to get away instead. But she didn''t have time to argue this, and she suspected Cyep wouldn''t listen anyway.


    Fleck bit into Cyep¡¯s leg and yanked her back. He still wasn¡¯t the biggest, but he was strong, and he had sharp teeth. Cyep cried out and lifted her hands up, the knife moving away from Harmoni.


    Cyep kicked him with her free foot. She bashed his head repeatedly. It didn¡¯t seem that bad, but that was because it was a distraction. He didn¡¯t realize until he saw a glint through the hole in the ceiling, the knife in Cyep¡¯s hand still.


    Fleck jumped back. Cyep took a second knife, the glint Harmoni had noticed on the table earlier, and flung it at him.


    Harmoni had found a door. She rattled the handle. Locked of course, but the wood was weak. It might give in.


    Then Cyep¡¯s attention turned back to her. She slammed Harmoni as hard as she could, practically falling on her with her bitten leg. Harmoni felt one of her horns bash against her, though thankfully not the tip.


    Fleck could see through the gap in the ceiling. Hathanier and Ferren had both also grabbed weapons, Hathanier a knife and Ferren a meat hook. But Ferren did not seem comfortable with that. There wouldn¡¯t be help from upstairs.


    Harmoni almost fell to the ground, but Cyep was standing, and she kept Harmoni on her feet. She grabbed her, digging into her arm with sharp nails.


    ¡°Going somewhere?¡±


    Harmoni felt hot breath on her ear.


    Fleck bounded towards them, but they¡¯d moved farther away, and Cyep had nicked him. He was moving slower than usual.


    ¡°Let me go.¡± Harmoni jolted, but it didn¡¯t help. She wasn¡¯t very strong, and was at an odd angle.


    ¡°Now hold still,¡± Cyep said, jerking her back. ¡°You struggle and your death¡¯s going to be a lot more painful.¡±


    The blade went near Harmoni¡¯s neck. She found herself moving back, closer to Cyep, to avoid being stabbed. But there was nowhere left to move and nothing left to do. The knife was close to her neck. Cyep was behind her, face in her hair.


    ¡°I said let me go!¡±


    There was a pop in the air. It was subtle, more like a cork out of a bottle than any explosion, but it was important.


    Harmoni opened her eyes. Everything seemed froze around her for a moment. The knife hung in the air. Fleck had screeched to a stop just out of reach. And Cyep? Cyep was gone. The only thing where she had been, was a small haze of red droplets in the air. For a second, everything hung like that.


    Then, Harmoni was forced to move, to catch her balance. Fleck also shuffled his weight, spreading his wings to avoid faceplanting. The knife clattered to the ground. The red paste fell like a splatter of paint, hitting the floor, and hitting Harmoni across the side.


    She gasped, staring at nothing, breath a little unsteady. It was Fleck who spoke.


    ¡°What the fuck?!¡±


    ~~~


    Of course, they weren¡¯t alone in the former slaughter house. (Or, maybe you could argue it was a current slaughterhouse.) Ferren popped down a moment later, with the news that Versith was defeated, and Udo and the colbber were making sure Hathanier was secure.


    Harmoni wasn¡¯t able to explain what happened. Fleck was even more confused than her. She actually had a guess, but she wasn¡¯t going to tell Ferren. She lied and acted like she¡¯d had nothing to do with it.


    Fleck didn¡¯t think she had anything to do with it. After all, how could she-


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡®Fleck. Stop,¡¯ she thought at him.


    Ferren narrowed her eyes, but Udo chose that time to appear. He came between Ferren and Harmoni, grabbing Harmoni¡¯s shoulders. She could see him looking her up and down. Checking to see if she was hurt?


    ¡°We should get out of here,¡± Udo said. ¡°The woman outside is contacting the Desert Crest. But, you¡¯re hurt. You fell through the ceiling? We should worry about that now.¡±


    He put a hand on her shoulder and gently guided her away. His grip was loose. She didn¡¯t have to let him do this. But she was too shaken to do more than wobble along beside him.


    Fleck followed. He¡¯d been nicked by one of Cyep¡¯s knives. He¡¯d have to get that looked at. But it wasn¡¯t bad. She¡¯d hit his wing. Not much blood.


    Udo had come from the door on the first floor, so it wasn¡¯t locked now. Udo and Harmoni went out. Ferren stayed in the room. She seemed to be waiting for something. Fleck didn¡¯t like her expression.


    ¡°You can use my sand rover to get back!¡± Ferren called out. ¡°Since Aqua¡¯s busy.¡±


    Udo nodded and muttered a thanks. Then the three of them went outside.


    ~~~


    Harmoni sat in her room, alone at Udo¡¯s house, looking out the window. She was looking out, but barely seeing.


    It should be over. Hathanier and his wyvern had been caught. Cyep couldn¡¯t hurt them. They were back at Xentron City. They were safe. A cleric had healed her arm and Fleck¡¯s wing.


    Fleck thought they might¡¯ve healed it better than it was before. His one wing seemed just a little stronger when he flapped it.


    But . . . Cyep couldn¡¯t hurt her, because she was dead. Blown up. Turned to nothing but red droplets of blood. Fleck could lie and say she didn¡¯t do it all he wanted, but she knew otherwise. She had wanted Cyep off, and she had sort of felt something. It was like when a trolley abruptly shifted tracks, but deeply internal. And with their link, Fleck should probably notice this as well. She had done it. She felt kind of sick.


    There were noises downstairs. She heard someone open and shut the front door, and shuffle around near the front.


    Udo must be back. He¡¯d been out talking to the Desert Crest about what happened. They''d have to decide what to do with Hathanier, after all.


    Harmoni wasn¡¯t particularly ready to talk to him, but she probably should. He¡¯d let her sit out the conversation with Desert Crest, even though she was the one who¡¯d been kidnapped. She should see how it had gone, and if they¡¯d need something from her after all.


    She slipped off the bed and left her room.


    It wasn¡¯t Udo at the front door. It was Ferren. She stood with her arms crossed, wand in one of her hands. It was pointed at the floor, and Ferren was standing beside the stairs, instead of directly in the way, but Harmoni slowed down anyway.


    ¡°Going someplace so soon?¡± Ferren asked.


    ¡°I, um,¡± Harmoni sputtered, miserably failing to explain her thought process.


    ¡°Good,¡± Ferren interrupted, as if Harmoni had answered. ¡°You know, I sensed magic in that slaughterhouse. Not just Hathanier¡¯s magic. Not a normal level, either. That was more like if three elves cast the same spell together.¡±


    The only reason Harmoni was breathing evenly, was because she was afraid of what Ferren would do if she stopped. ¡°Why are you telling me this?¡±


    ¡°Because it was you, wasn¡¯t it?¡± Ferren asked. ¡°Did you expect me not to notice?¡± She uncrossed her arms. It would now be easier to use her wand if she wanted. ¡°I¡¯m not actually the best at sensing other people¡¯s magic. It all kind of blurs together, and it¡¯s hard to notice the subtleties in different people¡¯s magic. But I will notice if someone casts dark magic directly below me. Udo might be ready to trust just about anyone, but I am not. And I won¡¯t let him get hurt because of it.¡±


    Ferren moved her wand hand. Harmoni didn¡¯t wait to find out what she was going to do. She didn¡¯t remember going down the stairs. She was near the top, she moved forward, and was at the bottom like she¡¯d leapt the entire staircase. She opened the front door and ran for it, not bothering to close the door behind her.


    Fleck was behind her. He was fairly certain Ferren had cast a spell after them, but whatever it was, it wasn¡¯t enough to stop them. The only spells he''d seen her cast before were light spells.


    Harmoni wasn''t going to assume she was safe because of that.


    For a while, she just took turns at random. Well, not entirely random. She knew Xentron City better than when she¡¯d first arrived, after all. She was steering away from the most familiar locations. She felt exposed. She didn¡¯t want to see anyone she knew. It felt like they¡¯d instantly see her for the horrible person she was.


    She wasn¡¯t horrible.


    ¡®Oh? Because I killed someone! I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s as horrible as you can get.¡¯


    That¡¯s . . . well . . . if it was most people, maybe. But Harmoni had killed someone on accident. And it was someone who had tried to kill her, and certainly had killed other people. And eaten them. Didn¡¯t people like that get executed anyway?


    That . . . really, really depended on the location.


    Harmoni still hadn¡¯t wanted to kill Cyep. She still felt horrible. There was accidentally breaking a dish, getting into a traffic accident, or even accidentally hurting someone. But then there was accidentally murdering someone. That was a whole different level of feeling bad for your mistake.


    ''And I don''t care that technically, you can''t accidentally murder someone, Fleck.''


    But Fleck¡¯s point, more grounded in reality than his flat-out denial earlier, was enough to slow her down. She stopped and took a few deep breaths, putting her hands on her knees.


    She had a vague idea where she was. The only times she went this far East into Xentron City were to get to Suzan¡¯s house or that time she went to the Desert Crest. And she was a bit farther South than she¡¯d been for either of those. The only other soap shop in the city was on this street, but she¡¯d never had any need to go there while she was working with Udo.


    So she¡¯d successfully gotten away from Ferren, and anyone else she¡¯d known. Now what?

 38: What Next?

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Harmoni wasn¡¯t sure what to do. She was used to living with Udo and Aqua, had gotten comfortable in her life here. She¡¯d never really considered what to do if she had to change something as foundational as that.


    Fleck was still not totally on board with changing it. They should find Udo and Aqua, and tell them what happened. It was Udo¡¯s home and Ferren didn¡¯t get to kick them out.


    But he knew Harmoni didn¡¯t approve of that option. They could also go live with Suzan and Glimmer. Or maybe Rial and Glow, though it was a bit more crowded with them. Or they could go back to the dragon caverns. At least for a little while. The babies they''d rescued would probably be happy to see them. But the dragon caves weren''t super good for riders to live in.


    True. The caverns were a good size for dragons, not riders. There were also the cracks or ledges that you really needed to be able to fly to deal with, and it wasn''t like there was furniture lying around.


    ¡®. . . And you¡¯re thinking of something even bigger than that, aren¡¯t you?¡¯ he asked.


    Harmoni nodded. She had gotten away from Ferren. Fleck¡¯s suggestions could keep her away from Xentron City, and the people she knew here. They could give her someplace to live, at least temporarily. But that didn¡¯t really solve the larger problem, did it?


    The problem was, despite being young, she had amnesia of about the last 30 years. The problem was, she had an aura of dark magic around her, that far too many people noticed. The problem was, she had a mental block on her memories that she couldn¡¯t feel. That was scary, but it was a little frustrating as well. It was like being blind while everyone talked about what color you were. She assumed. She¡¯d never been blind, so she couldn¡¯t test it. The point was, it was a problem. And it wasn¡¯t going away.


    She needed to learn more about magic. And she needed to keep away from people like Ferren and Cembra. So what were her options?


    She could tell Fleck was thinking about it. She herself looked around as if the answer would walk up to her, shake her hand, and offer her help. That didn¡¯t happen. But something almost as convenient did. There was a flier in a window. Harmoni recognized it from just over a week ago, the one Cooper took about magic school.


    ¡®That¡¯s it!¡¯


    Fleck jumped on the spot.


    ¡®Er. Sorry. It¡¯s just, magic school. We could go to the magic school.¡¯


    She dropped down and gripped his shoulders for emphasis.


    ¡®Are you sure you want to?¡¯


    Fleck was glad she was finally being proactive about this, and he would follow her into hell itself if she thought that was the best option. But the school was on Iva, right? Home planet of the elves? Moving planets was kind of a big deal, and even if they could get a ship there, it wasn''t like they could just hop on a ship and go back if they changed their mind.


    ''Never mind if I''m sure. Are you sure?'' Harmoni asked in her mind.


    She was pretty sure the person with fliers for the school had had a dragon. But it wasn''t like there were any dragons from Iva. She didn''t want Fleck to feel too isolated.


    ''Are you kidding? That''s the cool part.'' Fleck did a little dance. How many dragons traveled? Most of them couldn''t, on account of being huge. This was a cool chance.


    Harmoni smiled, just a little, as Fleck slid around and wiggled his wings.


    Then she thought about staying here, about Cembra, and Ferren, and Cyep. Right. Time to get serious.


    ¡®I¡¯m getting that necklace from Rial,¡¯ she thought. The one that would disguise her evil presence. ¡®See if you can get our stuff from our bedroom.¡¯


    Mostly Harmon¡¯s stuff, but Fleck had some oil for scale shinning as well.


    Fleck nodded. He understood. Unlike Harmoni, he didn''t need to go in the front door to get to their room. He could fly now. A far cry from the last time he''d been cast out the window.


    The two headed off in different directions. Harmoni started off running. She didn¡¯t stay that way. There¡¯d simply been too much traveling on foot today, and getting from the Southern center of the capital to the North-Eastern corner wasn¡¯t short. But she made it, and if Rial had heard anything about her misadventure, he didn¡¯t say. (So he probably hadn¡¯t.)


    She considered asking him about the hearts thing, Cyep said it was common where she was from. But she''d also said the cannibalism part was not. Asking Rial about it just because he was the same species seemed . . . uh . . . insulting. Besides, she was on a mission.


    But, she couldn¡¯t afford to buy the necklace outright.


    Harmoni glanced at Rial, currently ringing up another customer. Glow was watching her with concern, but not suspicion. She turned back to the necklace, and took a deep breath.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    ¡®I¡¯m sorry Rial.¡¯


    Then she took the necklace to the front, and lied. She told him that she needed to borrow it again, and that she¡¯d return it when she was done. Rial nodded, and let her have it. Telling her he¡¯d charge her according to what she used, when she came back.


    ¡®When I come back. Right. . .¡¯


    ~~~


    ¡°Hathanier is a citizen of Iva. He lives there. He should go back with us to Iva to face the proper trials and punishment. You don''t even have real law here.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s all fine and good. But he¡¯s lived on Xentron for the past few years. He¡¯s effected the people on Xentron. He¡¯s effected dragons most of all, almost all of whom live on Xentron. He and his wyvern should be put to work here, making up for their crimes.¡±


    Harmoni and Fleck slowed as she picked up on the, Elvish conversation. Once she and Fleck had met back up, Fleck had used his sense of smell to take them to the right people, the one who¡¯d had the flier for magic school. Apparently, they were at the steps of the Desert Crest¡¯s building.


    Amier stood at the top of the steps, blocking the door going in, though probably not on purpose. Argone stood beside him at the side of the building.


    ¡°Speaking of the wyvern, how were you going to keep him contained on Iva, hmm? The other wyverns, dragons, and reptiles his size can keep him in line here. A wyvern even came in to apologize about Versith, as if they¡¯re responsible for everything any one wyvern does,¡± Argon pointed out.


    ¡°We have this thing called magic,¡± the other dragon said.


    The other two here arguing were the elf who¡¯d passed out fliers on magic school, and his dragon. The elf had long blond hair pulled into a ponytail, his sharp grey eyes getting exasperated as he argued with Amier. He was tall and thin, but his features were less intense than some elves could get.


    His dragon was about the same, large, size as Argone. Both his eyes and body were dark green, but the body was a sort of green you might get in the forests of this planet, while the eyes were an even darker deep green.


    This was where their eye sight differed. Fleck looked at the dragon and his mind told him that was green, but it was all one shade, and was about the same shade as any other green he''d ever seen.


    ¡°Look, the trials will bear all this in mind. He might just get banished from Iva, and you can do what you like with him. But not going through the proper steps is-¡±


    His dragon suddenly lifted his head a little higher, zeroing in on Fleck and Harmoni. He felt Harmoni tense beside him.


    She had slowed to a stop as the four came into sight. Maybe she should¡¯ve picked a less obvious spot to watch, but those four already had a bit of an audience, people who stared as they walked past or people who came to a dead stop. She didn¡¯t think anyone would pick out her and Fleck specifically.


    But they had been speaking in Elvish. A lot of people were moving past when they realized they couldn''t understand the argument. Even Harmoni struggled a bit with words you didn''t hear very often, like "trials." But she was ninety percent sure that was what he was saying.


    Well, they wanted to talk to these two eventually, didn¡¯t they? He gave Harmoni a nudge. She lost her balance, stumbled forward, and then walked towards the steps like a normal person. Fleck followed at her heels.


    ¡°Ah. You¡¯re Harmoni, yes?¡± Amier asked, switching to Standard. Right, he would know who she was by now. ¡°Is there something we can help you with?¡±


    He sounded pleasant enough, smiling at her, but she could see the peek of dread behind his eyes. She did tend to bring bad news.


    Well, this would be good news for him.


    ¡°Uh, I actually wanted to talk to him.¡± She turned to the elf from magic school. ¡°Sir? You have the fliers for magic school. That¡¯s you, right?¡±


    The elf gave a single nod, a head bow. ¡°My name¡¯s Tolith. This is Asplenium.¡± He nodded up at his dragon. ¡°I work there as a healer, among other things. Although, we¡¯re not the only magic school in existence.¡±


    Fair enough, but there didn¡¯t seem to be one on Xentron.


    ¡°Will you be going back soon?¡±


    Another nod. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Amier. ¡°Whether I take Hathanier back or not, I have to get back to teaching soon.¡±


    Harmoni bobbed on her heels slightly. ¡®Right. Here goes nothing.¡¯ ¡°Can I come with you? I¡¯d like to learn at the school.¡±


    Amier¡¯s eyebrows shot up. Now that she thought about it, he¡¯d used magic, right? Had he sensed something wrong with her?


    Meanwhile, Tolith just furrowed his eyes. ¡°My ship has limited space. Most people make their way to Iva on their own.¡±


    ¡°Sir, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s always feasible. Especially if you¡¯re coming from Xentron.¡±


    Space travel was expensive in general, but Xentron also didn¡¯t have much of a population. There was no official spaceport, and no one here seemed to build spaceships. They could repair what was here, but those just came from other planets.


    Tolith seemed to understand. He nodded, just slightly, to himself. ¡°May I ask, why do you want to learn magic?¡±


    Right. How much to tell him?


    ¡®Uh, you can¡¯t tell him all of it?¡¯


    ¡®I¡¯m going to leave out the part where I make someone explode through my terrifying presence, thanks.¡¯


    ¡°I was told there¡¯s a magical block on my mind, blocking my memories.¡±


    Tolith tilted his head. ¡°If you want the memory block removed, I could try. Or if not me, someone could do it, surely.¡±


    ¡°Maybe they can, but I¡¯d like to know what¡¯s going on for myself.¡± Harmoni shook her head. ¡°I didn¡¯t even know the block was there until someone told me.¡±


    Tolith pursued his lips. ¡°Are you sure you want to do this? Don¡¯t misunderstand. I have no problem helping you, and Edinar is the best place to learn magic from. But learning takes time and patience, and space travel isn¡¯t exactly easy or common either. I don¡¯t want you to become isolated at a school you don¡¯t really want to be at.¡±


    Harmoni nodded. ¡°I understand. But, you had those fliers for Edinar over a week ago? I¡¯ve had time to think about it.¡±


    She hadn¡¯t thought of it until today, but she and Fleck had still considered it on the way here.


    ¡°I¡¯d still like to go. If you¡¯ll take me. If not I¡¯ll . . . find another solution.¡±


    ¡°No need to be hasty,¡± Tolith said. ¡°If you want to come with me, I¡¯m leaving today. But in the evening. Asplenium and I have some more business to see to. If there¡¯s anything else you need to do, I suggest you do it now.¡±


    Harmoni inhaled, eyes getting wider. ¡°Thank you! Thank you, sir. You won¡¯t regret it. I¡¯ll make it up to you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not necessary,¡± Tolith said, and he even seemed vaguely uncomfortable. But the emotion disappeared, replaced with a gentle smile. ¡°Just make sure you do well in your studies, OK?¡±


    Harmoni nodded.


    Argone, meanwhile, had been smiling at Asplenium and Tolith. Asplenium just eyed him, waiting for whatever horrible thing he was going to say.


    ¡°You know,¡± Argone said. ¡°You don¡¯t have much room on your spaceship. If those two are coming with you, I guess Hathanier and Versith are staying here after all."

 39: To Iva

    That evening, Harmoni and Fleck met Tolith and Asplenium at the edge of town, near the library. He had his spaceship out there, and it looked like he and Asplenium had just finished loading their own gear.


    A quick word to make sure they had everything, that they were ready, and the group went inside. Tolith seemed a little confused by how little they were taking, but he didn''t comment on it, so neither did Harmoni.


    The spaceship was big, but still cramped, thanks to Asplenium. Most of the spaceship was one room. There was a separate small space at the front of the ship, about the size of a bathroom, for controls. There was another elf already in that area.


    ¡°My copilot,¡± Tolith explained. ¡°Takes two to fly most ships.¡±


    There was another door to the side that, according to Tolith, had an actual bathroom. The rest was a large room Asplienum could fit in, though he did fold his tail and head close to his body.


    Asplenium griped about the small space, and claimed Fleck was lucky. Fleck couldn¡¯t argue. He was excited to see a new planet, but he could see why the dragons who did space travel were usually smaller, like Glow¡¯s size.


    The main room also had a table Harmoni and Fleck took a seat at, and bunkbeds pressed against the wall. The boxes Tolith and Asplenium had loaded were under the furniture, presumably to save space.


    Harmoni put her own bag on the table for the moment. She could also probably put it on her bed. It was only the one bag, holding a spare change of clothes, toothbrush, and hairbrush. It wouldn¡¯t exactly take up must space.


    It also had Fleck¡¯s scale oil and some cushioning he could use as a pillow. But the point stood. Small.


    Tolith went to the controls with his copilot, and got them into the air. Going up was . . . not fun. Harmoni was shoved further into her seat, her head hurt from the pressure, and her ears popped multiple times as they went higher towards space. She was barely aware of her surroundings.


    But, just as she was beginning to be lost, feeling this was all she knew, they leveled out. There were only windows in the control room, but by leaning forward, Harmoni could see the stars, and the darkness of space around them. Now it was almost like they weren¡¯t moving at all. Harmoni could hear it more than feel it, the sound of the engines pushing them forward.


    Fleck wiggled out of his seat and to the entrance of the control room. He wanted a better view of stars.


    Harmoni leaned back against her chair, taking a few deep breaths after that.


    It was needed, but after a few minuets of recovery, everything seemed . . . boring. The stars outside were neat-


    That was putting it mildly. If Fleck looked around, he could see space in every direction, no clear up or down. He could see small planets of the galaxy off in the distance. It was cool.


    And a bit disorienting.


    ¡®Well, there¡¯s just no pleasing some people.¡¯


    Harmoni smiled faintly. The point was, the stars were neat, but it didn¡¯t feel like they were moving quickly, so the view wasn¡¯t exactly changing. She hadn¡¯t brought a book or anything else to occupy her time, not that she''d owned any, and she couldn¡¯t see anything to do in this singular room.


    She turned to Tolith, as best she could. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were a pilot.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t except you to, seeing as we just met,¡± Tolith pointed out. ¡°But yes, I am. It¡¯s more convenient than getting a pilot.¡±


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°You¡¯ve still got a copilot,¡± his copilot pointed out.


    ¡°If I could make Asplenium drive, I would,¡± Tolith said.


    It was silent again for a moment. ¡°Isn¡¯t it really hard to learn piloting?¡±


    ¡°Yes. And I am still learning. But I have plenty time.¡±


    Right. He was sort of immortal.


    Another pause.


    ¡°How long does it take to get to Iva?¡±


    ¡°About two days.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Harmoni froze, eyes a little wider than usual. That muffled voice hadn¡¯t been hers. Hadn¡¯t been either of the elves or dragons either.


    Both Tolith and the copilot got up and at least poked their heads into the room. Asplenium grabbed the bathroom door, and yanked it. The door was ripped right off its hinges, revealing a familiar slimy man in the bathroom.


    ¡°That explains the smell,¡± Asplenium growled.


    ¡°What the-?¡± Harmoni sputtered.


    ¡°Hell.¡± Tolith finished for her. ¡°You snuck onto my ship?¡±


    ¡°If you couldn¡¯t figure out I was here, I think that¡¯s on you. Especially with the sniffers there.¡± He gestured to the two dragons. ¡°I¡¯ve wanted off that planet for years, but I can''t exactly travel like a normal person. Iva sounds a lot easier to live on. And you.¡± Harmoni still couldn¡¯t see his face, but she could tell he turned, and then he pointed at her. ¡°You were right about one thing. I did have less slime after your little visit.¡± He drew in a ragged breath. ¡°I should spend more time with you, see if we can¡¯t replicate that.¡±


    ¡°So you stowed away on a ship to outer space?¡± the copilot asked. ¡°Where there¡¯s limited fuel and food, and only the vacuum of space to turn to for days? That¡¯s . . . not very smart.¡±


    ¡°You were planning to bring a man and his whole dragon to Iva to punish him. I¡¯m pretty sure you have the supplies for a stowaway,¡± Evin pointed out.


    Harmoni felt sickened by his comment when he first made it, as she was by many things Evin had said or done. He was creepy. But she recovered as they spoke. She gazed at him with wariness, and almost exasperation.


    ¡°If you wanted to lose slime by being a better person, you¡¯re off to a terrible start. You should¡¯ve asked first. I don¡¯t want you anywhere near me.¡±


    Evin shrugged. ¡°What are you going to do about it? Shoot me out into the vacuum of space? I don''t think so. And I doubt we¡¯re about to turn around and drop me back at Xentron. I still get off that awful planet either way.¡±


    Tolith flung his hands up. ¡°Well, this has all the makings of a terrible trip.¡± He glared at Evin. ¡°I won¡¯t throw you out, but you won¡¯t be following us when we get to Iva.¡±


    Tolith turned to her. ¡°Now, Harmoni. The crate under the table has books on meditation and magic. I suggest you look at them, get ahead before we land.¡±


    ~~~


    Tolith was partly right. It was a long trip to Iva, in a confined space, with people who were hostile to each other. There was a lot more sitting in silence and glaring at each other than Harmoni would like. During those moments, she ducked her head and tried to ignore it, tried to be busy with whatever else she had on hand. Usually a book. At one point a puzzle box. And she helped Fleck oil his scales.


    It was also disorienting. There was no obvious indication of if it was night or day, or how much time had passed. But time was passing, and she could feel the effects. Harmoni had to check the clock to guess if it was a good time to eat, or sleep.


    But, it wasn¡¯t all bad. The crate under the table had board games. She would play them with the others sometimes, or just Fleck. She read the book Tolith had suggested, and tried some meditation.


    They ate some of the rations on board, all dried food. Evin grumbled about there being no meat in there.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make you meat,¡± Asplenium threatened.


    Evin couldn¡¯t understand him, and Asplenium didn¡¯t mean it, but it was so funny. Fleck laughed at seemingly nothing for two minutes, chuckles slowly winding down.


    Harmoni shook her head, but she smiled.


    They also had to sleep eventually. Tolith turned off the lights, put the ship on autopilot, and everyone made use of the beds in the ship.


    According to the clock in the ship, and that clock was on Iva¡¯s time, it was somewhere in the afternoon when they arrived at the planet. Harmoni got a brief glimpse of it, white, blue, and green; smaller than Xentron. Then they got too close to view the whole planet at once.


    The flight down was about as terrible as the trip up. Harmoni¡¯s jaw rattled and her stomach flopped, especially when she briefly lifted into the air.


    Fleck was built for flight, and taking it better, but dragons were much better at this taking off and landing thing. Maybe he should find a ship builder and give them some pointers.


    Evin slid in his spot. He tried to grab the armrests, but of course they slipped from his grip.


    ¡°Great,¡± he muttered. ¡°That elf¡¯s going to get us killed.¡±


    Harmoni thought that was a little hyperbolic, but she agreed with the sentiment.


    They hovered for just a moment, near the surface, then the ship dropped. It gave a weird little bounce when they hit ground. After that, it was still.


    ¡°Thank God,¡± Evin said.


    ¡°Well, we¡¯re here,¡± Tolith said, striding into the room.


    Asplenium grabbed a crate in his jaw, and went down the ramp.


    Harmoni had not completely recovered from that landing yet. But it would probably be better out in the fresh air then the enclosed cabin. She grabbed her bag and went for the exit.

 40: Edinar

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Fleck ran at Harmoni¡¯s feet, as usual. Then they hit the ground, and he froze, his mouth making a little ¡®oh¡¯ shape.


    They were standing in shallow water, only just covering the rider¡¯s ankles. It had made a splashing sound when they hit the surface. Even with his scales, he could feel the water gently lapping at his legs. If Fleck looked behind them he could see land, but ahead, stretched out to the left and right, was more of the shallow water. It smelled like salt.


    Fleck had seen water before of course. He lived in a cave. But he had never seen so much in one place, out on the surface of a planet. He¡¯d been excited to see a new planet. He didn¡¯t think he¡¯d get something so amazing already. It was vast and impressive.


    Harmoni was more shocked that it was pink. Even in the distance, where she could tell it got a little deeper, the water was still pink. It was maybe, just a little darker.


    This wasn¡¯t as big as an ocean you¡¯d find on, say, Morivon. She could see the beach on the other side. And it seemed shallow in most parts. But that color was new.


    ¡°Is the magic school really near here?¡± Harmoni asked.


    Tolith and Asplenium looked at each other.


    ¡°Sort of?¡± Tolith said. ¡°The school is still a bit of a walk from here. This is just the closest place anyone could hope to land a ship.¡± He waved a hand behind them for emphasis. The forest behind them wasn¡¯t as thick as the jungle on Xentron, but the trees would make landing a ship hard. ¡°Don¡¯t worry though. Asplenium will get us the rest of the way there. Won¡¯t you?¡±


    Asplenium nodded. ¡°Finally. A chance to stretch my limbs.¡± He winked at Fleck.


    ¡°Ready?¡± Tolith asked.


    Harmoni nodded, and let Tolith help her up.


    Asplenium and Fleck discussed what he¡¯d do. After a bit of talking, they decided Fleck would also ride Asplenium. He had the wings now, but he barely knew how to use them. Right this second was not the time to learn.


    ¡°You¡¯re not coming,¡± Tolith reminded Evin.


    Evin didn¡¯t acknowledge him. He just walked off into the shallows, slime changing the color of the water around him.


    With that, Tolith joined the other two on Asplenium¡¯s back, and the dragon took off.


    The area they were going through was a forest, with comparatively ordinary trees, but it wasn¡¯t dense. There were many patches of empty grass. And as they went, the area got rockier. A cliff appeared on one side. And against the cliff, was a castle.


    Asplenium stopped flapping, slowly lowering them by the front entrance, while Harmoni took in the sight.


    The castle, stone made of white and gray patches, was clearly the same type of rock as the cliff. It was three stores tall, except for the two turrets near the cliffside. Those had five floors. The space didn¡¯t seem to be completely cleared to make room for the castle. The castle wall swerved around a large cropping of rocks in one area. A tree was growing in the wall in one spot. At least, Harmoni assumed it was still alive and growing.


    Smelled like it.


    There was just a wall on either side.


    Small plants were growing in pots on the outside, especially along the windows.


    Based on smell, there were some growing on the roof as well. Smelled like something riders would eat, like vegetables and herbs.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    Some of the plants looked like that. Some of them looked more normal, or what some might even call weeds.


    Fleck shrugged. Riders walked past plants they could technically eat literally every day.


    The two front doors were large and wooden, though not big enough for Asplenium to fit. The words ¡°Edinar Academy¡± were carved into the wood. It was in Standard.


    Tolith slid down and pat Asplenium¡¯s head, between the eyes.


    Based on their expressions, Tolith was sending some sort of comfort to Asplenium.


    Then the older dragon turned to Fleck. ¡°Fleck? Do you want to stay with me?¡± he offered. ¡°You can fit in the building, but it can¡¯t offer you much.¡±


    He answered so fast it might not look like it, but Fleck did consider it. He shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ll join you later. I want to stay with Harmoni until she¡¯s settled.¡±


    Asplenium¡¯s eyes slid toward Tolith. His expression was so fond it was sickening.


    ¡®If I ever look like that, just kill me,¡¯ Fleck thought.


    ¡®Hate to tell you, but I look at you like that,¡¯ Harmoni pointed out.


    Through their bond, she could feel Fleck flounder for a moment.


    ¡®Well . . . yes, but . . . it¡¯s a good look on you! It would be garbage on me!¡¯


    Unaware of their silent conversation, Asplenium nodded. ¡°Fair enough.¡±


    Then he wandered off.


    ¡°He¡¯s going to the stables,¡± Tolith explained. ¡°He¡¯s not a horse, but it¡¯s a good place to get pampered by the stable hands. And I¡¯d say he deserves it.¡±


    ¡°Darn right he does!¡± Fleck said, slamming his front feet into the ground for emphasis.


    Tolith opened the door, and gestured for Harmoni and Fleck to go inside. The hall was still made of stone, and there were no electric lights. Despite this, the place gave off a light, cozy feeling. The windows against the right wall were huge. Any rider species could step through the frames without a problem. Plants were growing along one side of the hall, only stopping at doorways. A trickling stream of water was on the other side, a grate over it if anyone had to step down in the area. A purple rug with a vine pattern that looked like it must¡¯ve taken a while to make stretched out across the hall. And there was the occasional portrait hanging on the wall.


    Well that, and it was literally warm in here. The windows were letting in a lot of sun, and there were some candles lit. It made the place warmer than the outside air. That would¡¯ve sucked on Xentron, but the weather had been pretty mild outside.


    Tolith walked ahead of them. He moved slowly, possibly so they could keep up, but that was slower than needed.


    It wasn¡¯t a long trip. Being on the edge of the building, all the doors were on the left. Tolith walked them less than halfway down the hall before knocking at one of them.


    ¡°Come in.¡± The muffled voice was in Elvish.


    Tolith opened the door, and the group filed in. Inside was a desk, filing cabinets on either side, and a plaque on the left side that told you this was the headmaster¡¯s office. It reminded Harmoni of Amier¡¯s office back on Xentron, only smaller. This one didn¡¯t need to fit a dragon.


    It was a bit more . . . sterile, than the rest of the castle so far. There was nothing alive except the headmaster, and no windows. Without that or electric lights, it was a bit dim inside. But there was a lantern on the desk, and as the headmaster was an elf, with better eyes than a human, that would be enough.


    ¡°This girl would like to enroll,¡± Tolith explained to the elf at the desk, gesturing to Harmoni.


    ¡°I see,¡± the headmaster said, looking up. He''d switched to Standard.


    Like most elves, he was tall, with long hair. He had the pointy ears Harmoni saw most often. His features were sharp, and that was true even by elf standards. His fingers and chin were so sharp it made him look less like a person, and Harmoni tried not to react.


    He pulled a paper out of a drawer. It was clearly a form of some kind, but it was dark in here, and the paper was upside down. Harmoni would need to be closer to make out more. ¡°Well human, if you could fill this out, you¡¯ll be ready to go.¡±


    Harmoni pumped her fists a little, and spoke in Elvish. ¡°I will. But you don¡¯t need to speak in Standard. I know Elvish.¡±


    The headmaster grimaced. ¡°Understand Elvish maybe.¡± He was still speaking Standard. ¡°But I wouldn¡¯t speak in it. Besides, this school has many people who don¡¯t speak Elvish. We invite them. Standard is the language of the school.¡±


    Harmoni frowned. While she was in thought, the headmaster set the paper on the desk, and headed for the door.


    ¡°You¡¯re leaving?¡± Tolith asked.


    ¡°Not for very long,¡± the headmaster assured him. ¡°I¡¯ll be back to help her get settled soon. But I have two other last minute students, and a situation in the cafeteria. So if you¡¯ll excuse me. . .¡±


    Harmoni just frowned as she watched him go. ¡®He called me human.¡¯


    ¡®He probably can¡¯t see your ears,¡¯ Fleck pointed out. ¡®They¡¯re hidden by hair.¡¯


    That was true. But there was also his reaction to her switching languages and, well, she didn¡¯t like it.


    ¡°Sorry about that,¡± Tolith said. ¡°He usually stays. Likes to get to know his students.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s . . . fine.¡±


    And in a way it was. She could work in silence, get some time to herself after having none of that in the spaceship. She came here with a purpose, and didn''t want the headmaster peering over her shoulder.


    ¡°You can go too.¡± She shrugged at Tolith¡¯s startled expression. ¡°I know you want to.¡±

 41: The Dorms

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Tolith gave her another paper before he left. ¡°A list of classes,¡± he explained at her blank expression. ¡°History of Magic, Feeling the Universe, and Potions are all required classes for beginners. But there are some others you can sign up for, especially if you figure out magic quickly.¡±


    Well that was interesting, but it seemed like a lower priority. She put the list under her other sheet, and sat down.


    Harmoni filled out the form to the best of her ability. It would sometimes ask things she simply didn¡¯t remember, and she didn¡¯t want to get into that with the headmaster. At Fleck¡¯s suggestion, she used Udo¡¯s last name and address for her own. He and his home were clear on another planet. There didn¡¯t seem to be much technology on this planet, the forms hadn¡¯t asked for a way to contact her through Link or email. Even if the headmaster wanted to look into the information she gave, which she doubted, it wouldn¡¯t be easy.


    The form asked if you¡¯d need housing. There was an asterisk by the box. Flipping the sheet over, Harmoni saw more information. The housing didn¡¯t have to be paid for with money. Which was good, because she didn¡¯t have much, and it wasn¡¯t in the right currency. If you weren¡¯t paying with money, you did have jobs or tasks you had to do in exchange. Some examples included cooking, working in the horse stables, or volunteering in the nearest town. None of those seemed so bad. Except maybe working in town. Harmoni wasn''t exactly the most social.


    ''No. Really?'' Fleck teased.


    That done, she stretched her legs, and opened the door a crack. The headmaster still wasn¡¯t in sight. And it was nicer out in the hall. Sunnier, with nicer air than the spaceship, and even the office. So she stepped outside, and leaned against the door, looking at the class list.


    Fleck could read and all, but he wasn¡¯t that interested. He went to the nearest sun patch and lay down.


    ¡®Like a cat,¡¯ Harmoni thought with a smile.


    She lifted the paper and looked at her classes. She had just looked over the required classes, where and when they were, when she heard footsteps.


    Elves from the smell of it. Then again, this was the home planet for elves. The smell was everywhere, in the background.


    ¡°A new student?¡±


    ¡°Another human? Isn¡¯t that just great?¡± He didn¡¯t sound like he actually thought it was great.


    Harmoni looked up. Sure enough, it looked like the three people in front of her were elves. The one on the left had the pointy ears Harmoni usually saw, the type people thought of when they thought of elves. She had brown eyes, curly brown hair, and the darkest skin of any elf she¡¯d seen so far. (She¡¯d admittedly started to wonder if there was a different range in humans and elves.) She wasn¡¯t terribly tall for an elf, but still beat Harmoni out. And she had the long face and fingers common in elves, but so did the other two.


    The one in the middle was the tallest of the bunch. Pale, with gray eyes and black hair. He had pointy ears, but they had little ridges like . . . a chestnut leaf, maybe. His face was a bit wider than the other two, and he''d actually kept his hair short.


    The last elf had her midnight blue hood pulled up, hiding her ears and part of her face. But Harmoni could see some black hair poking out, and her eyes were brown. Red? Did elf eyes come in red? She had light skin, and her fingers seemed a little . . . sharp.


    She also gasped when she saw Harmoni, hand coming to her mouth. ¡°Wren?¡±


    The other two turned to her. ¡°You know her?¡± the girl asked.


    ¡°Who?¡± Harmoni asked, at about the same time.


    The red eyed elf slowly lowered her hand. ¡°You don¡¯t know who I am?¡±


    Fleck looked nervously between the group of three and Harmoni.


    The elf looked back at Fleck.


    He didn''t like the look, though he wasn''t quite sure what it was conveying.


    Harmoni squinted at her. Should she know who this was? She was trying, but nothing came to mind. ¡°No.¡±


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    She sighed. ¡°No. I don¡¯t know her.¡± She turned to Harmoni. ¡°Sorry. I must¡¯ve mistaken you for someone else. My name¡¯s Eddie. And what is that. . .thing?¡± She gestured at Fleck.


    "This is Fleck. He''s a dragon," Harmoni explained, a little unsure. She thought that was obvious? Even if you thought dragons weren''t real, most people had heard of them, in concept.


    Fleck struck a pose, making sure to spread his wings a little, and that the light hit his scales just right. He knew she still didn''t look impressed. Confused maybe. But he wasn''t going to be put off that easily.


    ¡°Why are you bothering?¡± the boy asked. ¡°She¡¯s a human. She¡¯ll be out of here before you know it.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Harmoni asked, genuinely unsure.


    ¡°Daphon. . .¡± Eddie said, warning him.


    The boy, Daphon, chugged on. ¡°Humans live how long? A hundred years? You¡¯ll take the knowledge of magic and leave in the blink of an eye. There¡¯s no point getting to know a human,¡± Daphon told Eddie. ¡°Maybe it¡¯ll be worse, and after you¡¯ve learned magic, you¡¯ll use it to conquer some poor unsuspecting planet. That seems to be all humans use anything for. Can¡¯t appreciate magic at all.¡±


    Eddie was glaring at him, though her expression was a bit subdued. She took a half step forward, only for the still unnamed girl to put her hand up.


    ¡°He¡¯s got a point you know. The last human here seemed all nice and friendly. Then he got into a fight with someone he¡¯d always disliked, and ran back to Morivon before he could be punished. Apparently, he¡¯d learned all he needed.¡±


    Her tone was far too cheerful for the topic.


    Harmoni wasn¡¯t sure how she was supposed to respond. Apologize for people she¡¯d never met? Argue that she wasn¡¯t like that? Argue that she wasn¡¯t fully human?


    And Daphon was leaning pretty far into her personal space.


    Fleck figured she shouldn¡¯t answer at all. Daphon hadn¡¯t asked her any questions, and any response seemed like a trap. They should just walk away from the group, a little farther down the hall.


    And as for personal space? Well, Fleck could enforce that.


    ¡°If you hate aliens so much, why are you going to the school that¡¯s specifically advertised to other species? There are a lot of other magic schools,¡± Eddie pointed out.


    That took the wind out of his sails for a moment.


    Fleck was disappointed with how fast he recovered.


    ¡°This was the closest school to home. By far.¡±


    They hadn¡¯t planned it, but this did make a good distraction. While those two talked, Harmoni tried to slide to the side, go around them.


    ¡°Hey. Where do you think you¡¯re going?¡± Daphon asked, quickly moving so he was still in her way.


    ¡°I could ask you the same question.¡±


    Daphon¡¯s eyes got comically round before the three of them turned around. Harmoni glanced between their shoulders. It was the headmaster. He was taller than all three of them, with sharper hands and face. The way the sun was hitting put him in the shade, blocked out some of his features. It was an. . .intimidating look. Harmoni couldn¡¯t see the expressions of the three students, but she was pretty sure they glanced at each other before scooting to the side, letting the headmaster through.


    ¡°Harmoni, isn¡¯t it? The new half human?¡±


    ¡°Oh my God, those are real?¡± the unnamed girl asked.


    Daphon didn¡¯t seem any happier. He snuck in a glare at Harmoni as the headmaster looked at the girl with a very weary sigh. ¡°If we could be polite Lona.¡±


    The girl slouched, head dropping closer to her shoulders. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    The headmaster turned to Harmoni. ¡°I¡¯m sorry too. As some of our younger students here, these three are still maturing. You understand?¡±


    Well, yes. But that was because she was also still maturing. In those terms, they were probably the same age as her.


    ¡°Anyway, you¡¯ve finished your application?¡±


    Harmoni wordlessly held it out.


    ¡°Excellent. I¡¯ve got a space ready for you. Better show you that.¡±


    The headmaster turned and started down the hall. Without taking the application. Harmoni was aware of Daphon and Lona laughing at her.


    OK. . .


    She kept the application on hand, and followed the headmaster.


    Fleck followed at her side, growling at Daphon when he tried to trip her. He¡¯d never seen someone backtrack so fast.


    They passed a few more doors. Most of them were closed, but based on smell, one of them had the cafeteria.


    Near the middle was also an open door that led out to a courtyard. There were some people in a circle under a willow tree. They sat eyes closed, legs crossed.


    Then, as they reached the back of the school, they reached an area where the walls curved out.


    ¡°This is the tower,¡± the headmaster said. ¡°Anyone who lives in the school sleeps here.¡±


    He opened the door, and swept inside.


    The first floor was empty. There were cushioned chairs and a table in here, and a fireplace. There wasn¡¯t much else, and there wasn¡¯t much space for more.


    The headmaster started them up the large spiral staircase that ran along the wall.


    ¡°The second floor is for temporary stays,¡± he explained as they went up. ¡°Anyone who needs to spend a night or two here for any reason. Perhaps because their house burns down.¡±


    He sounded very casual about the possibility.


    ¡°The third floor is the boys¡¯ dormitory. Nothing for you there. The doors are magically enchanted so no one goes in the wrong dorm. The fourth floor is the girls¡¯. The fifth floor is for people who don¡¯t fall into either of those categories.¡± Like Cembra? ¡°Or people who don¡¯t mind coed. You¡¯re in the fourth floor right now. You could change that if you liked, though I don¡¯t know why you would.¡±


    Harmoni shook her head in response to the suggestion.


    They reached the fourth-floor landing and came to a stop. Harmoni tried not to seem too bothered. It was nice to have someplace to sleep, and seemingly with very few catches. But going up and down to the fourth-floor every day might be a bit much.


    ¡°Now. Any questions?¡±

 42: Roommate

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Harmoni bit her tongue. Carefully. She was in no hurry to bleed. She did have one or two questions, but she didn¡¯t want to bother him.


    If he didn¡¯t want her to ask questions, he shouldn¡¯t have offered.


    People did that all the time, but Fleck¡¯s encouragement helped. She asked one of the two questions she¡¯d been wondering. ¡°Do you have a map? Of the school?¡±


    She could probably find her way around, especially with Fleck¡¯s help. But this place was large, might be nice to speed up the process.


    The headmaster frowned. ¡°Ah. No. But one of the teachers is working on one. I¡¯m sure it will be available for you soon.¡±


    Harmoni nodded. ¡°OK.¡± A pause. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± He held out a hand, and Harmoni finally handed off her application. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you to unpack then.¡±


    He started back down the stairs. He was slow. Harmoni could¡¯ve called out to him if she wanted. She didn¡¯t. She turned to the door.


    It was a twist knob. Not very common on Xentron, even amongst the houses. Those knobs were some of the hardest for dragons to use.


    Inside was a circle of four beds. There was a dresser next to each one. If they really wanted to fit another bed or two inside, they could squeeze these closer together to make room. But it wouldn¡¯t leave much space in the middle.


    A large window let in some light. There was a fireplace as well. But it wasn''t lit, and given the shape, it was probably for heat more than light.


    The room was very green. The dressers were white, but the bedsheets and bed curtains were green, with a sort of darker green pattern on them that might resemble leaves. Vaguely. It was the closest real-life pattern she could think of. The curtains for the big window were also green. Despite all that, there were fewer plants here than on the first floor, where they¡¯d just been part of the flooring.


    Fleck could smell some growing outside, on the windowsill, but you¡¯d have to be looking for them.


    Two of the four beds were obviously taken. One bed wasn¡¯t made, while the other had a fuzzy robe hanging on it, and both had some sort of luggage underneath.


    The bathrobe smelled like Eddie, so they¡¯d be seeing her again. The other bed smelled like an imp was there.


    Harmoni nodded along.


    She was getting tired. It had been an eventful day.


    She picked one of the empty beds, and sat on it. She didn¡¯t have much to unpack, but she could put her pajama shirt on the bed, maybe put her toothbrush in the bathroom, and get her bag underneath. Then she could get some rest. Classes were still two days away.


    ~~~


    Harmoni did get a little nap in, waking up to the see the sun setting. Fleck was still asleep under the bed, and she hoped she didn¡¯t disturb him. He seemed . . . restful. No bad dreams or restless energy.


    She took a look at the class sheet. She still hadn¡¯t gotten a chance to do that. There were the three that were required, but there were also a few optional ones. She certainly had the time for it. So she glanced over them. A lot of them seemed advanced. You had to know how to use magic, and what type of magic you¡¯d specialize in, before jumping into them. But she looked at the ones she could understand anyway.


    There was a class focused on ¡°blessing¡± items. As far as Harmoni could tell from the synopsis, this was what Rial did to make magical items at his store. They all did something beneficial, like the waterproof cloak. The waterproof cloak that she¡¯d had for less than a week.


    Conversely, there was also one about cursing, doing something detrimental to an object or person. This one had some stricter rules about who could learn, and a warning that it was harder to make curses stick than blessings. If you wanted either one to be permanent, you¡¯d be better off going to a cleric.


    Harmoni thought of Evin. ¡®No doubt,¡¯ she thought, sardonically.


    The only other one she might learn something from as a beginner, was a class on spoken spells. This one taught you a few basic spoken spells, talked about the translation, the limitations, and pros and cons of spoken spells versus mental ones. That kind of thing.


    Harmoni was still studying them, chin on her hand in thought, when someone appeared in her peripheral vision. Harmoni couldn¡¯t make out much. She saw red hair, horns going up, and pointy claw-like nails. Suddenly, Cyep was reaching for her heart again.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    ¡°Gyah!¡±


    Harmoni lurched away, looking wide-eyed towards the person there. She also leaned so far to the side she fell off the bed.


    Fleck jolted awake at the commotion, and Harmoni¡¯s general distress, bumping his head on the bottom of the bed.


    ¡°Ah heck. Are you OK?¡±


    Definitely not Cyep¡¯s voice.


    Harmoni grimaced, but still sat up, and opened one eye.


    The person standing there, grabbing a bedpost so she could lean over and see Harmoni, was an imp. But she was mostly not like Cyep. She had much darker skin. It was still technically red, but some people might see black instead. The horns went mostly up, but curved forward slightly. She had the same dull red hair as Cyep, and might be the same height, both with and without the horns. But her eyes were the same red as her hair, and she was certainly younger.


    She was wearing a turtleneck and some sort of zip up sweater, but she would still probably be considered attractive if you were into imps. Or girls. Harmoni wasn¡¯t sure if she was interested in either. It was very low on the priority list.


    The point was, Harmoni¡¯s scream had been quite the overreaction.


    ¡®Extremely,¡¯ Fleck agreed. ¡®And hate to make things worse, but you¡¯ve been starring at her in silence for a while.¡¯


    Right. Given her interaction with those other students, she should know not to make snap judgements based on species. Knowing this, did not seem to change her expression.


    It did not.


    Harmoni took a deep breath, tried to calm her irrational heart. ¡°I¡¯m fine. You just startled me.¡±


    The imp frowned. She came around to the same side of the bed as Harmoni, so she no longer had to lean forward. Harmoni couldn¡¯t understand her expression.


    ¡°Well, glad you¡¯re alright. I¡¯m Rasha.¡± She extended her hand.


    ¡°Harmoni.¡±


    She didn¡¯t take the hand, busy pushing herself to her feet. She could see Rasha slowly lowering her hand, out of the corner of her eye.


    Well Fleck was also glad Harmoni was alright. But he was awake now, and being in the cramped space under the bed was getting uncomfortable.


    He slithered out, and stretched.


    Rasha turned to him as he stretched like a cat. For a moment she just starred. Then she grinned, all pointy teeth flashing. Also, her slit pupils went round, and she squealed. It seemed abrupt.


    Fleck had a moment to snap his eyes open in surprise. Then Rasha dropped lower and hugged him.


    ¡°Oh my gosh! You have a pet dragon!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not a pet!¡± Harmoni snapped.


    Fleck also let out a little growl.


    Rasha stopped snuggling him, pulling away. She wasn¡¯t smiling when he could see her face again.


    ¡°I er. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ve ne''er seen a dragon before. What are they, then?¡±


    Harmoni was going to have to answer that, as the only one Rasha could understand. She took a deep breath, expression going blank. ¡°Dragons are sentient species, same as you and I. It just shows differently, so people write them off. You can . . . soul bond with one? I don¡¯t know how to explain it.¡±


    Fleck wasn¡¯t either.


    ¡°You can share a soul with a dragon, and vice versa. You have a connection.¡±


    ¡°Oh, and you know what they know, without needing to talk or think. And you can share emotions too, in a way?¡± Rasha asked.


    ¡°. . .Yes. How did you know?¡± She''d caught on very quickly, considering Harmoni''s poor explanation.


    ¡°There¡¯s a ceremony we can do back at home, on Morgou,¡± Rasha explained. Right. Morgou was the imp¡¯s home planet. ¡°We don¡¯t really have marriages, at least not in the part I¡¯m from. If you want to live with your romantic partner and have a kid with them, you can just . . . do that. So people who want a little something more will soul bond. Sometimes. I¡¯ve heard of people doing it with their friends or siblings too, but you¡¯ve got to be ''ery sure about that before you become privy to all of their thoughts and feelings forever.¡±


    Harmoni and Fleck exchanged glances.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know other species could do that,¡± Fleck admitted. Out loud.


    Harmoni shrugged. She hadn¡¯t either. It seemed a bit more . . . uncomfortable, in that context. Then again, she liked her bond with Fleck so much, how could she blame anyone for wanting the same?


    Yeah.


    Fleck looked between Harmoni and Rasha. Harmoni¡¯s blank look wasn¡¯t as blank as she thought. There was a certain intensity there, and it was probably making Rasha uncomfortable.


    Attempting to help with that, Fleck went over to Rasha and nudged her hand. When she looked down at him, he smiled, wagging his tail a bit like a dog.


    Rasha smiled, but if Harmoni had to guess, Rasha wasn¡¯t sure if she should be happy. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I misjudged you,¡± she said. ¡°It was very rude of me.¡±


    Now that the soul bond was cleared up, Harmoni noticed Rasha had trouble with the letter "v." Not as bad as Cyep, but there wasn''t much emphasis on it, sometimes skipping over the sound in entirety.


    She turned to Harmoni. ¡°He can understand us?¡±


    Harmoni nodded, and tried to smile too, taking Fleck¡¯s observation under consideration. ¡°I¡¯m translating for him, basically.¡± Fleck then spoke to Rasha, and Harmoni translated back. ¡°This is Fleck. And he says he doesn¡¯t mind hugs or scratches. Just as long as you listen to him.¡±


    ¡°OK. . .¡±


    For emphasis, Fleck tilted his head, exposing his neck and chin, and put them near Rasha¡¯s sharp nails.


    ¡°Like . . . like this?¡± Rasha asked, scratching Fleck¡¯s neck.


    Fleck smiled, mouth closed, and his tail thumped against the ground in approval.


    At the response, Rasha¡¯s scratches got less hesitant, her body less tense, and she smiled.


    Then she glanced at Harmoni. ¡°Anyway. Uh. I guess we¡¯ll be roommates now? Only other person in here is Eddie. It¡¯ll be nice to have someone else?¡±


    Now why was that last part phrased like a question?


    Probably their weird first impression.


    Harmoni shrugged. ¡°I suppose so.¡±


    Rasha stopped scratching Fleck, and stood back up. ¡°Well . . . well I have to eat. I just came up here to get supplies.¡±


    ¡°You have supplies . . . for eating?¡± Harmoni asked.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Rasha brought what looked like a spear out from under her own bed. Harmoni tried not to be alarmed by that. ¡°I mean, the school really only serves vegetarian options. I suppose most species could live off those, even if they chose not to, but imps can¡¯t. The headmaster promised he¡¯d do something about that, but I can¡¯t exactly sit around and wait for him to do that.¡± She brandished the spear. ¡°No worries though. I¡¯ve been having a lot of luck fishing.¡± A pause. ¡°Anyway, see you around.¡±


    Then she was out the door, and Harmoni was alone in the room again.

 43: First Day of Class

    At first, Harmoni sat back down on her bed. Alone. The room and quiet and still. She didn¡¯t have any objections to that, really. She¡¯d been surrounded by people since . . . well the last time she was alone was when she¡¯d been locked in the closet. Or maybe in her bedroom, before Ferren showed up? Fleck had been there, but he didn¡¯t count. So a bit of time to herself was not only fine, but welcome.


    But it didn¡¯t last very long. Rasha had a point. She was hungry.


    She got up and headed down the tower. Slowly. The sun had dropped low enough it was dark inside, and the last thing she needed was to miss a step, and go tumbling down.


    But it was fine when they reached the bottom. She remembered where the cafeteria was, and Fleck¡¯s sense of smell could also guide her.


    She entered, and wandered the dinner options. There was an area where you could make yourself a salad or sandwich. (Baring any meat items, obviously.) There was a soup that seemed like tomato. There was some sort of vegetable pasta, and garlic bread.


    Harmoni scooped up some soup, put some regular bread next to it, and sat at an empty table.


    Fleck sat in the chair next to her. He tilted his head.


    ¡®You can join Asplenium now if you want. You should get some dinner too,¡¯ Harmoni thought. Wasn''t like the cafeteria would cater to him.


    ¡®Not yet. Are you alright? You¡¯ve been very quiet.¡¯ And she kept making that blank look.


    Harmoni frowned. ¡®Both were true on Xentron.¡¯


    ¡®Yeah but not as much. You haven¡¯t even talked to me much. And! I can see in your mind, remember?¡¯ He knew something was wrong.


    It wasn¡¯t that something was wrong, necessarily. . .


    It was just a lot. Harmoni had ended up in the deep end again, with everything changing around her, and no certain allies except Fleck. Of course, she had chosen to come here. She wasn¡¯t going to complain. She wasn''t in any obvious danger like when she''d been captured. But she also wasn¡¯t going to assume everything was happy and fine.


    ~~~


    The next two days before classes were pretty uneventful. Harmoni signed up for the class about magic language, on top of her required classes. Then she spent a lot of time wandering the halls, finding where everything was. It seemed beginner classes were held on the first floor, and the odds of going to the second or third floor were slim. (The third floor was actually smaller than the first two.)


    She saw a few other students around, mostly the ones that were staying in the dorms like her. There was Eddie and Rasha on her floor, of course. There was a gnome named Weslessinal, and a zenny named Ziq on the floor below.


    There were also a fair number of adults who were here as students. From what Harmoni had picked up, they were taking the advanced classes.


    Harmoni was assigned duties she¡¯d do, seeing as she didn¡¯t have money for the school. The one she¡¯d do regularly would be helping with the stables. There were also two towns nearby. She was supposed to chose one, and help out there. Apparently, aside from the students from other planets, most of the students came from those two towns.


    She¡¯d also found a small church room in the back corner, with seats and an altar at the front. The window was stained glass instead of clear like the rest of the school¡¯s windows, but otherwise the room was mostly a plain wood. They apparently had a cleric on hand, to do services here. (And maybe recruit students to be clerics, but that was the quiet part.)


    Fleck had enjoyed his two days. He spent a lot of time at Harmoni¡¯s side. But Asplenium had offered to give him flying lessons. The first attempt had involved taking Fleck to the top of the cliff, and whacking him off the edge with his tail.


    It had been pretty funny, once he landed. He¡¯d laughed at the bottom of the cliff.


    Harmoni still thought he was a little crazy for that.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡®What? I caught myself before I hit the ground all on my own.¡¯ If nothing else, he could glide now. ¡®And Asplenium said he would¡¯ve caught me if it looked like I was going to fail.¡¯


    Harmoni knew, she¡¯d heard it through their bond. She still thought it seemed a bit . . . extreme.


    ¡®You¡¯re just being overprotective.¡¯ Fleck jumped off the bed and walked to the door. ¡®Now come on. Isn¡¯t your first class starting soon?¡¯


    That much was true. It was now her first day of classes. The days felt like they''d passed quickly.


    They literally did. There were 26 hours in a day on Xentron, and only 20 on Iva. Asplenium had told him. He had also told him the elves didn''t exactly mind the shorter days. What were fewer hours in a day, when you lived forever?


    The school didn¡¯t have much in terms of technology, but it did have clocks. There was one in just about every room from what Harmoni had seen. Clocks didn¡¯t really require technology. At least, not electricity. So some were just made normally, but there was one or two Harmoni was pretty sure ran on magic.


    The clock in the dorm room told her she had about ten minutes to get to class. That was plenty of time, but it might be good to get there early.


    She went to the bathroom attached to the dorm room. Given the size and shape, this room was probably magically attached to the building, like her room in Udo¡¯s house. And thankfully, there was running water.


    She checked the mirror. Compared to the elves, or even Rasha, she looked rather plain, no striking features. But her clothes were clean and unwrinkled. Her brown hair was combed, falling at her shoulders and hiding her ears. The necklace blocking her horrible dark magic lay on her chest, like any normal necklace.


    And it was still working, and she smelled fine, and etcetera, etcetera. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Fleck urged, out loud for emphasis.


    Harmoni smiled. He seemed more excited for this than her.


    But he was right. She took the lead, Fleck struggled with the dorm room''s twist knob, and headed to class.


    Harmoni wasn¡¯t an expert on what classrooms were supposed to look like, but this one seemed normal. A long window ran along the wall, giving them a view of the courtyard, and light to see by. There was a second door that seemed to take you outside, unless there were more magical surprises behind it. The room had several white desks, with a larger one at the front.


    She took a seat near the front, but along the edge of the room.


    Other students slowly trickled in. She recognized some. Others must¡¯ve been people from those towns.


    ¡°Um, excuse me?¡±


    Harmoni looked up. Lona was standing beside her, hands behind her back. Her expression was vaguely uncomfortable, like she had to use the bathroom.


    ¡°Oh. Uh. Yes?¡±


    ¡°Uh, I couldn¡¯t help but notice, did you bring anything to take notes with?¡±


    Harmoni¡¯s gaze slowly fell to her empty desk. She didn¡¯t have anything like notebooks or pencils while living with Udo. Why would she? So she certainly hadn¡¯t brought supplies like that.


    ¡°No.¡±


    Lona nodded. ¡°Uh, you can take this paper and one of my pens. Uh, just for today. You should get some of your own. After classes.¡±


    Harmoni bowed her head, hair falling in her eyes, but took both from Lona. ¡°Thanks,¡± she mumbled.


    Lona didn¡¯t answer, shuffling off to a desk somewhere behind her.


    A moment later, the teacher entered through the courtyard. She was an elf, unsurprisingly. She was a woman who was tall even by elf standards, with light skin, wavy light brown hair, and equally light brown eyes. She wore a hair band of willow leaves, but it didn¡¯t actually seem to keep hair out of her face. It certainly still covered her ears.


    ¡°Welcome everyone,¡± the teacher said. Her voice was sort of dreamy, like if a voice could float. It had an odd effect on Harmoni, like her head got a bit more dazed. ¡°I¡¯m Ava. And this is Magic Theory. Where you learn to feel the power of the universe.¡±


    Harmoni frowned. Ava? Was that a first name or last? They must have both, but if any elf here had used their last name, they hadn¡¯t specified.


    ¡°Now. Does anyone already know about that power?¡±


    Lona quickly raised her hand. ¡°The power of the universe is what lets us use magic.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but what is the power, specifically?¡±


    Lona¡¯s eager expression fell. ¡°Uh, I didn¡¯t think anyone knew what that power was. If, uh, if they did, it wouldn¡¯t be called magic.¡±


    Ava¡¯s smile dimmed just a touch, eyes getting duller. ¡°It¡¯s true this power is not something you can understand, in the same way science can be understood. But there are something things we know about it.¡± She turned to the board at the front, pointed her blue wand at it, and words started appearing. ¡°The power of the universe is also called magical energy.¡±


    Well, seemed like it was time to start writing notes. This was probably basic information. She was pretty sure she¡¯d heard Rial use the two terms interchangeably? But she was new at this.


    She started writing, and the pen blew up before she¡¯d finished the first word. Blue ink flew everywhere, breaking the tip of the pen and splattering onto the paper. Also onto the desk and her sleeves.


    ¡°It flows through the whole universe, especially-¡± Ava stopped, gaze falling on Harmoni. ¡°If we could behave, and avoid any disruptions.¡±


    Harmoni could see Daphon smirk, though he managed to avoid audibly snorting. When Harmoni looked back at Lona, she was staring at her paper. But she¡¯d had time to school her expression, if she needed.


    Meanwhile, the teacher was blaming Harmoni. Because covering yourself in ink was something people did on purpose? He wanted to get out from the under the desk and growl at her, or worse, but he knew it wasn''t socially acceptable. Not how rider species handled things. And Harmoni shot him down as soon as the thought crossed their minds. She didn¡¯t want to get in more trouble.


    She couldn¡¯t take notes now, obviously. So she sat and listened, and did her best to remember what Ava was saying.

 44: Ovant

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    There was a bit of a pause between that class and the next. Time to clean the ink off, at least.


    Hands clean, she went to the potion classroom.


    This time, the teacher was there before her. And he was human. Slightly above average human height, and slightly below elf average in height. He was pale, with brown hair in a jagged cut, and brown eyes. His eyes locked not on her, but Fleck. ¡°Pets aren¡¯t allowed in Potions.¡±


    ¡°Fleck is not a pet,¡± Harmoni said. There was still some bite to it, but less than what she¡¯d used on Rasha. That had been a mistake. ¡°He¡¯s sapient.¡±


    Fleck nodded along.


    ¡°Well, he¡¯s certainly well trained, I¡¯ll give you that. But sentient? This is the potions classroom. We deal with volatile ingredients. It¡¯s dangerous to let animals in here.¡±


    Fleck growled below, and Harmoni scrunched up her face. She wondered if she should keep arguing, or just try to avoid an incident.


    ¡°She¡¯s right. He¡¯s sentient.¡±


    Harmoni turned around. Rasha had just entered the classroom.


    ¡°I talked to Fleck, he¡¯s sentient,¡± Rasha repeated. ¡°Besides, don¡¯t one of the teachers have a dragon? Tolith? Surely you know how he works.¡±


    The potions teacher was quiet for a moment. He didn¡¯t exactly seem happy about this. But now Rasha had sided with her, and multiple other students had come in, and he let it go.


    ¡°Very well. But if I think there¡¯s going to be a problem, I will say so. If it¡¯s best he leaves, he will do that.¡±


    Oh he made his opinion very clear, but Fleck wasn¡¯t a student. He wasn¡¯t doing anything. He was just here because he enjoyed being with Harmoni, and could give her emotional support.


    Still, he nodded his understanding to the teacher.


    With that settled, the two headed into the room. Unlike the last classroom, this one had tables, instead of individual desks. The tables looked like they could fit four people, if not comfortably, and had cauldrons at them. There was a rim for fire built below them, but those weren¡¯t lit. And there were no ingredients or tools out, nothing like that.


    Harmoni sat at a table that was still empty. It didn¡¯t stay that way.


    ¡°Hey.¡±


    Harmoni turned. A gnome was sitting on the other side of the table. Well, right now he was actually standing on the stool, so he could reach across the table, or so he could stand with his hands braced against the surface.


    ¡°Uh, hi,¡± Harmoni said.


    ¡°Hey, if Lona offers youapen, you shouldn¡¯t take it. She likesto prankpeople with, uh, prettybad pens.¡±


    Harmoni tried not to give him a withering look. He didn¡¯t say?


    ¡°You¡¯re Weslessinal, right?¡±


    ¡°I mean I am,¡± he quickly agreed. ¡°But that¡¯samouthful. Speciallyif you¡¯re speaking thatslow. Most people callme Wesles.¡±


    Harmoni nodded. ¡°I¡¯m Harmoni. I suppose . . . we¡¯re going to share this table?¡±


    It wasn''t like there were enough tables for her to have her own.


    Wesles shrugged. ¡°Doubt we¡¯re doing anythinginteresting today though.¡±


    He was right. Once everyone was inside, they mostly went over safety. Protective gear, first aid if anyone did get hurt, the rules of what they would or wouldn¡¯t be doing in here. (They¡¯d get more freedom as classes went on, and the teacher got more confidence in them, apparently.) All of it was that kind of thing.


    Then it was over. Harmoni headed for the cafeteria for lunch. History of Magic wasn¡¯t taught today, only Tuesdays and Thursdays. She did have the language class later. Much later.


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    With nothing else going on, they headed to the stables. There was an elf there. He seemed young, but with elves, it was hard to tell. Especially since his appearance could be an older teenager or younger adult.


    The point was, he had worked at stables for the past year. (He seemed mildly surprised when he said it. Evidently, he hadn¡¯t realized how long it had been until he had to tell her.) He explained the expectations. He would also be showing her how to clean and feed the horses.


    Harmoni and Fleck did some of it. She didn¡¯t think this would be too hard. There was technically some overlap between this and the spa work. Though, of course, the horses couldn¡¯t tell her what they wanted. And Fleck''s increasing size, and more importantly increasing strength, would make the heavy lifting easier.


    ¡°They don¡¯t know their own strength compared to yours,¡± the stable hand pointed out. ¡°Our horses are well trained. It¡¯s not that they¡¯re mean. But they might be dangerous without meaning to. So be careful.¡±


    As opposed to dragons, some of whom were dangerous while meaning it.


    Harmoni could manage that. She nodded along and looked at the horses. They looked similar to the ones on Morivon. But that was a different planet. Surely there was a difference?


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you get going?¡± the stable hand asked. ¡°Everything¡¯s done in here for now. And you probably have more classes?¡±


    Right. Off to the class on magic language. Which was . . . boring, actually. Of course, it was the first day. The other two classes hadn¡¯t had anything important either. But the teacher just sort of droned on in a voice he might¡¯ve thought was nice. It was not.


    He handed out two books they¡¯d use in the class. One was for translations, while the other taught basic spoken spells. The one with basic spells had to stay in the classroom, but they were welcome to take a copy of the translation book, provided they kept it in one piece. They¡¯d have to return it at the end of the school year.


    And the school ¡°year¡± was not the same as one on Morivon, so that would be a while from now.


    ¡®What about Xentron school years?¡¯


    ¡®I . . . don¡¯t think Xentron has schools to have school years, to be honest.¡¯


    ¡®Fair.¡¯


    While the class was technically a beginner¡¯s class, and was on the first floor, there were more adults in this one. In fact, Eddie was the only person Harmoni recognized in this class.


    Afterwards, Harmoni took her translation book upstairs, and set it under her bed. She sighed, leaning against the back of the bed. It had been an eventful day.


    ¡°It¡¯s only 4PM,¡± Fleck pointed out, out loud. He was tired of being quiet.


    Harmoni managed a glare. He sounded far too cheeky. And 4PM here was later than it was on Xentron.


    Still, he had a point. If she slept at, say, 10PM, she could still wake up at 7 and get the correct amount of sleep, and get to class on time. Which meant there were still a lot of hours in the day left, and aside from looking at the translation book, she didn¡¯t have anything to do up here.


    After about five minutes to catch her breath, she got up, and slid her shoes on. ¡°You want to go to one of those towns now?¡± she asked.


    ~~~


    There were two towns close to Edinar school. Harmoni had learned that much in her brief stay here. One of them was, well, Edinar. It was to the North, and you could really call it a city, not a town. It was the one that had grown when the school was built. It apparently had a restaurant and light path of some fame.


    The other was Ovant. It was smaller. It had been built in the middle of nowhere before the school was there, and it stayed that way. But it was the closer one, so she and Fleck were going there.


    They were walking. They could¡¯ve asked about using a horse, or even asked if Asplenium could take them. But Harmoni didn¡¯t want to bother anyone, was afraid to ask more like, so they were walking.


    Fleck could smell both towns from the entrance to the school. He let his nose lead the way, taking a worn path in the direction of Ovant. Sometimes, he would jump and glide part of the way. And he was always aware of Harmoni following him, even without turning around.


    The town was . . . a little weird to look at. The buildings were clearly man made, most of them looking like log cabins. But the rest of the town didn''t seem to have much. . .structure? The roads were dirt, and seemed to be made by people just walking in the same place over and over, which led to small winding paths. Harmoni wasn''t sure if there were yards. And if there were, she couldn''t tell where they ended and the forest around began. And anything man made, like the buildings, seemed to be built in spaces that already existed, rather than clearing an area for them. The forest''s trees were sort of far apart, so it worked out, but it was weird in places. One building curved around a tree where there wasn''t space.


    Was that bad?


    Maybe not bad, but a little. . . disorienting. Considering she wasn''t used to it.


    There were a few people out. All elves, Fleck could smell it. There weren¡¯t many, and they were all silent. If he couldn¡¯t see feet, he might assume they were hovering just above the ground instead of walking across it. One of them was hovering just above the ground actually. So, that one was showing off his magic a bit.


    They matched the forest pretty well, in things like the clothes they wore or hair they had. They weren¡¯t about to do any chameleon levels of blending in, but it didn¡¯t stand out like wearing pink in pine trees would.


    A few elves turned to look at them as they passed, but they never said anything. It seemed everyone had somewhere to be. And, if anything, he garnered more attention than Harmoni.


    Harmoni wet her lips, swallowed, and looked around. The place seemed nice enough. The people seemed . . . distant, but that didn¡¯t mean anything bad. But everything was kind of indistinct. The buildings gave no indication of what they were from the outside.


    ¡®Do you know where we should go?¡¯ Harmoni asked Fleck.


    Fleck sniffed the air again. One of the buildings smelled like paper, ink, and leather. It was probably that one.


    ¡®Probably,¡¯ Harmoni agreed. And they were off again.

 45: The Trade

    A bell tinged as Harmoni and Fleck went inside. There was a faint yellow glowing orb hanging in the middle of the room.


    Well, that explained how it was so bright in here. Harmoni had yet to see any electric lights on this planet.


    The elf at the store front set down the book he was reading. ¡°Ah. Another student, yes? What can I help you with?¡±


    He was speaking in Standard. It was a Standard with an odd accent Harmoni couldn''t quite figure out, but she knew what he was saying.


    Harmoni shuffled her feet, hands behind her back. She could try speaking in Elvish with him, but she remembered how that had gone with the headmaster, and opted out.


    ¡°Can I just look around?¡±


    The store keeper shrugged, and went back to his book.


    Harmoni wandered around. The store was small, but the shelves were full. There were notebooks and pens, like she had wanted. There were books along the back wall. Harmoni liked books, and was tempted by the titles on some of the spines, but she should probably check the school library first.


    And there was more. White out. Tape. Scissors. It seemed this store really was for students.


    Harmoni grabbed a notebook and a set of pens. She headed to the front, only to slow as she reached the counter.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have money, do you?¡± the store keeper asked.


    Harmoni just shuffled, gripping her things a little tighter.


    ¡°This always happens,¡± the store keeper said. He was speaking in Elvish this time. It was possible she wasn¡¯t supposed to understand. He couldn¡¯t see her pointy ears, after all. They were hidden behind her hair. ¡°That school really needs to work out a better system. Other planet¡¯s currencies are useless here, and I can only take nick-knacks so many times.¡±


    Harmoni didn¡¯t even have nick-knacks. Nothing she could barter with, as far as she knew.


    The store keeper¡¯s gaze fell back on them, and he stood up taller, so he could lean over the counter. He switched back to Standard. ¡°Excuse me? Is that a dragon?¡±


    Fleck tensed a bit, eyeing the man.


    ¡°Yes. Why?¡±


    ¡°Relax, I¡¯m not stealing him.¡± The man waved a dismissive hand.


    Harmoni finally figured out what was off about his Standard. He put the emphasis on the first syllable every time, and it didn''t always go there. Harmoni wondered if she should speak that way in Elvish.


    ¡°It¡¯s just, dragon scales, or horns, or teeth. They¡¯re very valuable. So. We could trade. . .¡±


    Harmoni and Fleck exchanged glances. It seemed like their best option. They traded a scale for the notebook and pens, with the store keeper assuring them they could always come back.


    If dragon scales were so valuable, he was probably short changing them. Fleck accepted trading his scale since the man had asked, instead of just trying to take. But it still came off a bit like asking for a finger nail. It was weird and he hadn¡¯t liked this. He liked it even less with that knowledge.


    Fleck was probably right, but there was nothing else in here she really wanted. She wasn¡¯t going to pick a fight trying to get more things, or worse, money.


    ¡®Come on,¡¯ she thought, rubbing Fleck¡¯s head. ¡®Let¡¯s get back to school.¡¯


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ~~~


    Harmoni had completed her first week and . . . nothing eventful. Her four classes were mostly talk so far. On Friday in Basic Magic, they did meditate for the first time. Harmoni had sat perfectly still with her eyes closed for about a minute, and she¡¯d been truly relaxed. Then she started to feel uncomfortable. Then sitting there with all her other senses active made it very tempting to open her eyes. After all, she could feel the wind and hear things moving in the grass. She wasn¡¯t sure how long she sat there before giving in and cracking one eye open, but it happened eventually.


    When she opened an eye, she could see Rasha sitting perfectly still, but both her eyes were open. She shrugged when she saw Harmoni looking at her. The elves in class seemed to be doing better, but not universally. Eddie shifted her weight, and another student might just be asleep. The zenny picked a wedgie.


    Wesles wasn''t there. She''d originally thought he was taking the class at a different time, since she hadn''t seen him the first day. But no, he''d just skipped the first day of Basic Magic. Something about not being interested in orientation. And it seemed he''d skipped this day too. Or walked out in the middle of it without anyone noticing.


    So not the best first session. Harmoni hoped she¡¯d get better. The whole reason she¡¯d come here required meditation and feeling the power of the universe.


    As for the other classes, Potions was mostly things like stirring or boiling water. The basics, supposedly to make sure they understood them. Wesless was clearly bored by the whole thing.


    Harmoni stayed with him, as his potions partner. He was easy to spend time with. He didn¡¯t demand anything from her socially, but was ready to pick up anything she put down. And he was easy to work with for the potions. That part was important.


    History of Magic class was interesting, though it seemed more like history of Iva.


    Fleck sometimes joined her in classes, but sometimes went out and did his own thing. He''d kept training with Asplenium one day, but another day he''d spent all on his own, wandering the forest and learning about the nearby area. Not like he was missing anything. He knew the knowledge she learned, and she''d know the things he did.


    Same with sleeping really. Sometimes he''d join Harmoni in the dorms and sleep under the bed or at its foot, but Asplenium had shown him his cave. And there was a bit more space there.


    Harmoni had to check the stables each day. They were supposed to be clean in the morning, though she usually cleaned them in the evening, as one of the last things she did. Sometimes, she didn¡¯t have anything to do in there. It was relatively clean, or enough people were already working there wasn¡¯t much point.


    She visited the library early on, and found a romance book to check out.


    Fleck wouldn¡¯t have taken her as a romance person.


    And maybe she wasn¡¯t, but one thing was for sure, she was tired of nonfiction.


    It could be tricky to read sometimes if it was late or cloudy. Again, no electric lights. But a few rooms, like the library or study rooms, had magic light. And if she sat close to fire she could read. Eddie even showed her and Rasha a trick, where if you put something reflective behind the fire, it created more light.


    She finished reading on Saturday. Nothing much happened, the characters were overdramatic, and it wasn¡¯t realistic. Even she and her zero real-life romance experience knew that. But she found she was entertained by it. If nothing else, it was funny.


    The next morning, she got her breakfast at the cafeteria, and sat down with Fleck. Fleck sat on the floor, rather than a chair, and dropped his head on the table.


    Then someone plopped down across from Harmoni.


    That was unexpected. The only person she talked to much, aside from Fleck, was Wesles. And she hadn¡¯t seen him outside of classes.


    She looked up.


    ¡°Rasha? I didn¡¯t think you ate here?¡±


    ¡°Well, I have to go and eat meat sometimes, but it¡¯s not like the food here¡¯s inedible. This weird jello of theirs is good.¡± She poked the clear blue jello on her plate. It seemed to move more like liquid than anything else.


    Harmoni tried to smile, but it might¡¯ve been strained.


    It was.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t the headmaster supposed to help with your diet?¡±


    ¡°Well.¡± Rasha glanced around, and her voice was quieter when she spoke. ¡°I think he was also supposed to get maps of the castle.¡±


    And he hadn¡¯t done that yet either.


    Fleck tilted his head in concern. ¡°Are you eating alright? You can always come with Asplenium and I in the morning. We eat meat.¡± Obviously.


    Harmoni relayed the message.


    Rasha laughed, covering her mouth. ¡°Thanks Fleck. I might take you up on that sometime.¡± She spoke directly to Fleck, something both he and Harmoni appreciated. ¡°It would be nice. But honestly, it¡¯s not so bad to go alone. And I sometimes have company now. There¡¯s a man out by the pink ocean who also goes spear fishing.¡±


    It was quiet for a moment.


    ¡°Really?¡± Harmoni asked, trying not to sound too high pitched.


    Rasha nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t see him every day. I don¡¯t go spear fishing ''ery day. But it¡¯s nice to have some company when I go to the pink ocean. He¡¯s apparently new, and a human like you.¡± She tilted her head and frowned. ¡°At least I¡¯m fairly certain he¡¯s human. He¡¯s covered in a lot of slime, so it was hard to tell at first.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±

 46: The Best Potion

    It took very little imagination to guess who the mystery man was. Harmoni and Fleck had finished in the cafeteria as quickly as possible, and headed for the pink ocean.


    Fleck felt kind of bad. They¡¯d left with barely another word to Rasha, not even an excuse. He¡¯d looked back at her and shrugged, but there wasn¡¯t much more he could do. She couldn¡¯t understand him.


    But, no time to worry about that now. He put the thought out of his head, and focused on finding Evin¡¯s scent. It wasn¡¯t hard.


    He led Harmoni through the trees. He could hear waves to the left, and smell salt and sand. But the ocean wasn¡¯t visible from where they were.


    They were getting close. There were visible patches of slime on the ground, or droplets on the leaves.


    Sure enough, Fleck jumped through some bushes and there was Evin, leaning against a tree. He might¡¯ve been sleeping, but he stirred when Fleck dropped to the ground with a thunk. He was completely awake by the time Harmoni stepped through.


    ¡°You two again,¡± Evin griped, standing up. ¡°What do you want?¡± Bits of slime spat out with the words.


    Evin made Harmoni nervous ever since their first meeting.


    Considering how their first meeting went, that was fair.


    The point was, Harmoni might¡¯ve turned right around and left if it was about herself. But this was about Rasha.


    ¡°Another student says she went fishing with you?¡±


    ¡°She did mention she was a student,¡± Evin chuckled.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Why did she mention it?¡± Evin stroked his chin. ¡°Well, it¡¯s a bit boring to sit in silence. Mentioning your ¡°career¡± is one of the first things people usually talk about.¡±


    Harmoni was not amused by the antics. She could tell Fleck was even less so, and tried to soothe him through their mental link.


    ¡°I mean, why are you fishing with her?¡±


    ¡°Oh what, you think I always have some nefarious reason for what I do?¡± Evin put his hands to his chest like he was offended, or at least surprised.


    Harmoni didn¡¯t answer.


    It didn¡¯t take long for Evin to keep going. ¡°Fine. I wanted to find out how to spear fish. She seemed a lot more knowledgeable, and had more supplies. But I got what I wanted, and I¡¯m still glad when she comes down here.¡±


    Fleck didn¡¯t buy it.


    Harmoni did. Maybe she shouldn¡¯t, but she remembered when she''d refused to talk to him. He didn''t have anyone to talk to, and that seemed to bother him. And he was less slimy than usual. Maybe not by much, but she could see both his eyes and his breathing was less ragged. And while she couldn¡¯t see the skin on his hands, she could make out the individual fingers, like when he¡¯d stroked his chin.


    ¡°And you know, funny thing,¡± Evin said. He leaned in with too wide of a smile. Though strangely, he didn¡¯t seem to tower over her like he had on Xentron. ¡°She mentioned that school was kind of lonely. That her two roommates were a bit weird, and neither of them talked to her that much. That¡¯s you, right? Maybe, you should care less what I''m doing, and more about how you''re being cruel.¡±


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ~~~


    ¡°Rasha, come up front, would you?¡±


    Rasha swallowed thickly, but joined the potions teacher at the front of the room.


    Said teacher¡¯s impassive face broke into a smile as he stood up and gestured to her. ¡°Congratulations. You had the best potion in the class.¡±


    Rasha blinked. ¡°Really?¡± she asked, quietly.


    At Harmoni¡¯s table, Wesles leaned forward slightly, looking at the surface. He fingers twitched.


    The teacher smiled proudly, and he gave a single nod. ¡°This is an excellent sleeping potion, for a first try.¡± He turned to the rest of the class. ¡°You all did well, but I¡¯ll be leaving this potion up here with my own for comparison, if you¡¯d like a look.¡±


    Wesles ran a hand through his hair. He pulled kind of hard, too.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Harmoni asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m good at potions too,¡± Wesles muttered. ¡°I know I am. Thewholereason I came to the school was to learn morepotions. I didn¡¯t care thatmuch about the otherstuff.¡±


    Yes that tracked with everything she''d seen. Harmoni wondered if there wasn¡¯t a better option for someone like Wesles. Maybe coursework just focused on potions. Because she could tell he didn¡¯t care about the other classes as much. Maybe she should ask?


    Before she could decide, Wesles ran his hand down his face. As he did, his expression changed. ¡°Let¡¯s go look at those potions,¡± he said. ¡°I want to compare.¡±


    He grabbed the vial of their sleeping potion off the counter, and headed for the front.


    Harmoni looked around. Class was officially over. The teacher was still in the room, but was reading at his desk. Rasha had left. Harmoni had seen her pass their table, trying to suppress a proud smile. And she wasn¡¯t the only one who¡¯d gone.


    Well, this was important to Wesles. She didn''t have to follow him, could''ve gone to meet back up with Fleck instead, but she did.


    This was the first potion they¡¯d made in class. A sleeping potion, apparently helped you get to sleep fast, and would prevent nightmares. Maybe not one of the easiest potions to make, but one of the safest.


    Harmoni looked at the two potions up front, and the one in Wesles¡¯ palm. The biggest difference was that he and Harmoni had made a white potion, while the vials up front were blue. An extremely pale blue, like where the sky faded into the surrounding area, but blue none the less.


    ¡°Ready to go, Wesles?¡±


    "Not yet.¡± Wesles leaned in a little farther. He tucked a notebook into one arm, jotting down a few things with his other hand. ¡°You don¡¯t haveto stickaround though. I think youhavea class later? Idon¡¯t.¡±


    ~~~


    It was early. Very early. It was 5AM on the clock when Harmoni first woke up, which was still early even with this planet''s odd hours.


    She sat on the roof of the tower, eating a stuffed croissant. It had been too early for the cafeteria to be officially open, but it had been unlocked, and there had been some pastries. She had grabbed two before making her trip to the top of the building, where she could eat and watch the sun rise. Right now, most of the sky was dark, but she could see orange and a pale blue between the branches for the trees. It was slowly spreading out as she finished breakfast.


    It was quiet. Even with her excellent ears, she didn¡¯t even hear bugs. Just a few birds. Sometimes the wind would come and lift her hair or rustle the trees, but it wasn¡¯t strong enough to create much noise. There was no sound of people moving down the halls, or talking to each other. No crackle of fire or creak of floorboards. Just her and the fading stars.


    And she was glad. She¡¯d been keeping herself busy. Even when she wasn¡¯t in class, or working the stables, she was running to a store or reading or any other thing she could think of. And she lived in a school with two roommates. There was usually someone close by.


    There was nothing wrong with her keeping herself busy. That was nice, in fact. And the company was . . . fine, she supposed. But it was nice to take a break from all that.


    There was nothing happening. Nothing and no one demanded her attention. And while there were plants inside, and the windows were often open, there was a difference between inside the castle and out here. The air was nice.


    She had time. There was only History of Magic later today, and she¡¯d woken up early.


    She¡¯d finished breakfast, but she watched the sun rise a bit. When she felt a bit more daring, she dangled her legs over the side of the roof, and swung them back and forth. If Fleck was awake, he might be concerned. But right now even he was asleep, tucked into Asplenium''s cave.


    The stars and orange light faded from the sky, as more of it became a pale blue. Iva had more than one moon, but you rarely saw both at once. They were on such different cycles. The one that had been visible last night was still visible in the morning sky, but only because Harmoni knew where to look. It certainly wasn¡¯t glowing anymore.


    Well. She stood up.


    That had been nice. Time to face the day.


    She went back to the trapdoor she¡¯d found to the roof, slid through it to the ladder below, and started down the tower.

 47: Flecks Chapter

    Fleck slept through most of Harmoni¡¯s peaceful morning. He tried not to ruin it for her when she did wake up.


    He wouldn¡¯t be joining her today. Asplenium would be teaching him about flight.


    Not that that was a surprise. When Fleck wasn¡¯t with Harmoni, Asplenium was teaching him about flight, and which animals were actually safe to eat on this planet. The first day Fleck had tried to spend alone on Iva, he''d eaten something that blocked your sense of smell.


    That was already disorienting on its own. Fleck used his sense of smell so much, it was analogous to how most rider''s used their sight. He could even make an argument it was how most people used their sense of touch. That was used for everything, in a way people really wouldn''t notice unless it was taken away.


    ''Terrifying idea,'' Harmoni agreed, already imagining if she couldn''t feel the floor beneath her feet or how hard she clasped her pen. ''But I think you''re getting a little carried away.''


    ''Fine.''


    Point was, already not a great time. Then night had arrived, and it was dark with the trees above and no technology around to light it. So. That had been fun.


    He was grateful that Asplenium helped. He just wished he felt less like he was being babied. Looked down on.


    ¡®I don¡¯t think you¡¯re being looked down on,¡¯ Harmoni thought from her spot in the castle.


    ¡®I know.¡¯


    He¡¯d used ¡°felt¡± for a reason. It just felt like it.


    But enough about the embarrassment. Today, he¡¯d gone up the cliffside the school was at, and joined Asplenium in the small clearing up there.


    The older dragon usually had food for them. Usually something humans would consider fish or amphibian. And OK, Fleck was starting to see why elves didn¡¯t eat meat. There wasn¡¯t a lot, at least compared to Xentron. Evolution wise, wouldn¡¯t it be inefficient?


    After breakfast, with their bellies full and bodies filled with energy, they would work on an aspect of flight. Today was slightly more complicated than usual. Today, Asplenium was showing him how to work with air currents. If he flew in the right layer, the wind could push him along. And if he had to go against the wind, well, there were certain parts of the sky that wouldn¡¯t fight him as much.


    On the plus side, it was nice to learn something challenging. Asplenium wasn¡¯t treating him like a toddler. On the other hand, this seemed a bit overly complicated. They could fly at least in part because of magic. Shouldn¡¯t they be able to ignore the wind?


    Asplenium frowned when he questioned that. ¡°Well, I guess you could power through with strength and magic, but that kind of thing takes energy. It¡¯s much more cost effective if you learn to ride the air waves. Or do you not care about that?¡±


    Fleck groaned. Reminded him of his teachers growing up in the cave, before he met Harmoni.


    Looked like he¡¯d learn to ride the air waves.


    ~~~


    Fleck dropped down at the edge of the lake. (There was one at the top of the cliff. Near the edge, but not close enough it would run over anytime soon.) Asplenium was already there, watching the water intently.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Fleck lapped at the water with his tongue. Like all their training days, today was demanding.


    Asplenium¡¯s neck shot forward, and he grabbed a fish out of the lake, dropping it between them. A big fish too. He and Fleck could both eat some, and while it might not be the most filling, it would do for lunch.


    Fleck¡¯s eyes darted from the fish to Asplenium, and he grinned, all pointy teeth flashing. ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t want us taking fish from here.¡±


    Something about large dragons over-fishing in a small lake.


    Asplenium huffed. ¡°It¡¯s a large lake, and I¡¯m not a moron. I think I can judge when we can take the occasional fish.¡±


    Harmoni sort of expected Fleck to be offended that Asplenium thought he couldn¡¯t judge that.


    And maybe sometimes he would be, but he was too busy processing the fact that Asplenium said the word moron. Seemed too close to a crude swear for his rider.


    ¡®Well, you and I are pretty different too.¡¯


    Fleck couldn¡¯t help but smile softly.


    ''I thought you didn''t want to look soft.''


    ''Hey, I''m not being that bad yet.'' He wasn''t being sappy. Or . . . gooey.


    He and Asplenium ate at the fish, recovering their energy. (Well, probably mostly Fleck¡¯s energy.) it was Asplenium who broke the silence.


    ¡°You¡¯re getting good at flying, Fleck.¡±


    Fleck sensed there was a "but" coming.


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Have you started breathing fire? Or, anything else, yet? I could help you with that as well.¡±


    Fleck¡¯s shoulders hunched and he turned to the side. ¡°No. Nothing like that.¡±


    Asplenium tilted his head. ¡°That¡¯s unusual.¡±


    Yes, it was. At his age, Fleck should''ve been showing signs of something by now. But Asplenium wasn¡¯t pressing the issue, so Fleck wasn¡¯t sure why he said what he did next. Maybe he just wanted to talk to someone. The only people he could talk to directly on the planet were Asplenium and Harmoni. And they were good, and he could talk to people through Harmoni, using her as a translator. But the situation often left him bursting with things to say.


    Maybe it was because Asplenium had proved himself such casual company, or because there was no one Asplenium could share with. To whisper the information behind Fleck¡¯s back.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to breathe fire. Or anything else for that matter. I never showed signs, and the elders said it wasn¡¯t going to happen.¡± Maybe he had wyvern genes in the blood or something.


    ¡°Ah.¡±


    Fleck jumped, widening his stance and stretching his wings. ¡°And-and I don¡¯t need that look the elders gave me!¡± It wasn¡¯t pity, when they said it. It was more like he was fragile. It hadn''t helped with his sisters either, who already had some idea they should protect their "baby" brother. ¡°But it¡¯s really frustrating! I have to help Harmoni. I¡¯ve already failed so many times! This just makes it more likely I¡¯ll fail again.¡±


    He wasn¡¯t glass. He could take care of himself. But apparently, he couldn¡¯t take care of the person closest to him.


    Asplenium just tilted his head. ¡°You want to protect your rider that much?¡±


    ¡°Um, yes?¡± Wasn¡¯t that obvious?


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a little insulting to Harmoni? Being over protective? She is her own person. Tolith would certainly be upset if I assumed he always needed rescuing.¡±


    Fleck hadn¡¯t thought of it like that. And he might not have, but Asplenium used "over protective" specifically. He had called Harmoni that once. He didn''t like that.


    Harmoni hadn¡¯t thought of it like that either. She paused in her eating, thinking back through any time Fleck had been a bit over protective.


    ¡®If it helps. . .¡¯ she thought. ¡®I don¡¯t think you¡¯re being . . . infantilizing.¡¯


    ¡®Nice word.¡¯


    ¡®Yes, yes.¡¯


    Harmoni seemed to wind up in danger a lot. And even when that wasn¡¯t happening, she wasn¡¯t very good at standing up for herself. It wasn¡¯t unreasonable to want to protect her. She certainly wanted the same for him.


    She rarely got that feeling of protectiveness she could get from Fleck. She appreciated it. Tolith might not, but he was an immortal with healing powers. That was a bit different, in terms of situations.


    ¡®There, you see?¡¯ Fleck thought to no one. He stood up a little straighter and his tail swayed in pride.


    He had a duty to look after Harmoni, and that was what he¡¯d do.


    But. . .


    "This won''t change anything, will it?" Fleck asked. "That I . . . I won''t be breathing fire." Ever. His shoulders even hunched a bit as he asked.


    Asplenium tilted his head again. Fleck wished he''d just answer. "Perhaps, but not in the way you might be worried about," Asplenium quickly assured him. "It''s just, if you can''t breath fire, or anything else, I should give you some fighting training as well. It certainly wouldn''t hurt for you to be prepared."

 48: Sabotaged Stables

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    As the sun set, Harmoni and Fleck headed for the stables, to help with the horses. The stable hand who¡¯d shown them what to do was gone for a few days. It would just be the two of them while he was gone.


    Harmoni opened the door to the stables, and her heart stopped. Hay and straw littered the floor, both in and out of the horse stalls. It was on some of the fences as well. Horse poop and mud had been spread around not just the floor, but smeared across the walls and rubbed onto door handles as well. It made everything sticky. Grain had been knocked over in places, and gear like the saddles had been taken off the walls. It looked like someone had even tried to break some of the equipment, they¡¯d just failed rather badly.


    Harmoni¡¯s jaw dropped, her body shaking slightly as she took in the sight. It was beyond a mess. This was a disaster that someone had to have purposefully done.


    Fleck couldn¡¯t pick up the scent of who, over the horrid smell, but he could guess.


    Harmoni could guess too, but that wasn¡¯t important. She drew in a deep breath and clenched her teeth and fists. She looked at the mess, a new determination in her eyes, even if it was born out of desperation.


    They had to get this cleaned up before someone came in the next morning. They would be blamed for not cleaning it. She and Fleck were the only ones cleaning this place until the other stable hand came back. They were the only ones who could''ve failed at the job. Even if the adults believed someone else caused this mess, they¡¯d still say it was Harmoni¡¯s job to clean it.


    Unfortunately, she was right. Good thing they were experienced in cleaning. Ferren had liked giving them unpleasant tasks, and even without that, some of those pools could get rank.


    Now where were the buckets? He couldn¡¯t use smell to find those right now, funnily enough.


    After spending entirely too much time looking for buckets that were supposed to be in the downstairs closet, they found two in the upstairs loft. One was for scooping waste into. The other was for cleaning water.


    Fleck started shoving muddy straw into the waste bucket. He could use his wings and tail to get it in even without a shovel. Though he was barely breathing against the smell. He would want to wash off after this.


    Harmoni technically agreed, but she was too worried about the stables to care about that right now.


    There was a pump outside. She filled the bucket mostly with water, then tossed some soap in. There were small soap bars in the cleaning closet. Luckily those hadn''t been removed. They were so inconspicuous whoever sabotaged her probably hadn''t even noticed. They were supposed to dissolve in the bucket. Harmoni bounced up and down slightly, waiting for that to happen.


    It took less than a minute. She knew that from the times she wasn¡¯t in a hurry. But it felt so painfully inefficient now.


    ¡°What¡¯s this? More cleaning? What¡¯s the point of going to an entirely different planet if you¡¯re just going to do the same thing as always?¡±


    ¡°Get out of the way Evin!¡± Harmoni shouted. She grabbed the bucket and moved towards the stables as fast as she could without spilling half the water. Normally, she¡¯d ask what he was doing so close to the school. But all of her time and focus had to go into this. ¡°Now¡¯s not a good time!¡±


    Evin, annoyingly, followed her. She could hear his footsteps before he stopped at the doorway. He leaned against the frame and whistled.


    ¡°Someone doesn¡¯t like you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah! I got that!¡± Harmoni shrieked.


    She started scrubbing the saddles, reins, and other equipment. When one was clean, she hung it back up.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    ¡°Still, whoever it is isn¡¯t trying very hard,¡± Evin continued. ¡°If they really wanted to make your life hell, they could¡¯ve walked off with the sponges. I would¡¯ve poked holes in both buckets, personally.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care what you would do!¡±


    Fleck was pushing the full bucket of waste towards the door. Harmoni¡¯s own bucket of water had gotten pretty gross.


    ¡°You still want to be a better person?¡± Harmoni asked. ¡°Dump that bucket in the compost.¡± She jabbed a finger to the bucket Fleck was holding.


    And if Evin didn¡¯t want to help, he should get out of the doorway. Fleck wouldn¡¯t be considerate of him.


    Evin raised an eyebrow. (And Harmoni could actually see enough of his face to tell.) ¡°You realize I can¡¯t clean, right? I¡¯d just create a new mess of slime behind me.¡±


    Harmoni dug a hand into her scalp, ignoring how gross that had to be by now. ¡°That¡¯s why I asked you to take stuff outside and not step foot in here!¡±


    Evin didn¡¯t immediately respond, except to blink in surprise.


    Harmoni had wasted enough time on this. She turned back to her work.


    Fleck was going to shove past Evin, but as soon as he was close enough, Evin yanked the bucket out of his teeth and walked off, saying something about how Harmoni¡¯s nice girl act only lasted as long as it was convenient for her.


    Well that was annoying, but Fleck would take the help. There was a chance Evin was just going to walk off with the bucket. But if he was feeling that immature and petty, Fleck could track him down.


    He ran up to the loft. There was still some salvageable hay and straw. He started pushing them into two separate piles. When Evin came back with the bucket, he¡¯d dump more of the not salvageable stuff in.


    It continued like this for a bit. Fleck got a lot of the physical grime out, either in the bucket or just sweeping it out the door. Just flapping his wings shoved small bits of dirt and muck forward.


    Harmoni scrubbed the items and the building. Then she put things back where they belonged.


    Evin would empty the buckets, both of them, and refill the soap one.


    Harmoni wasn¡¯t sure how much time went by. A lot. It went from sunset to night, and just kept going. The sky got darker. It got hard to see in the stables. It must¡¯ve been Evin who eventually lit a lantern hanging by the door.


    She hadn¡¯t seen him do it. Everything around her was just becoming a blur. But there was no one else around who could have.


    Then it was over. Harmoni scoured the place, but everything was clean. Everything was back where it belonged. The horses weren''t directly effected by this, even if they were a bit shaken up, and Harmoni had made sure they had clean food and water. The barn had less straw, hay, and grain than they should. But Fleck had saved what he could, and they couldn¡¯t do much about the rest. The stables were not only clean, they looked better than usual.


    Harmoni drew in a few ragged breaths. Her legs wobbled.


    Fleck lay on his belly behind her, keeping her upright when she nearly tipped back.


    Evin leaned against the entrance again, arms crossed. If he was tired, he was doing a good job hiding it. He smiled smugly. She couldn¡¯t see the whole expression, but she saw enough changes in his face to tell.


    "Thank you," she said.


    Maybe she''d regret it, but he had helped her. Carrying those buckets might be the easiest task, but they were still enough to keep a person busy.


    Evin actually looked thrown for a moment. He opened his mouth like he was going to say one of his usual obnoxious comments, closed his mouth, looked at the floor, and then apparently recovered. ¡°This happen to you often?¡± he asked.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± Harmoni gasped.


    Technically the answer was no. She was isolated here, compared to Xentron. Clearly some people didn¡¯t like her. But they¡¯d mostly dealt with that by ignoring her. So far.


    ¡°What were you doing here anyway?¡± Harmoni asked. ¡°Want something from me?¡±


    Evin shrugged. ¡°Actually, I was planning to rob their cafeteria. Or ask Rasha to bring me something, if I saw her. It''s not all about you. It was pretty funny to watch you panic though.¡±


    And yet he''d helped her. And he hadn''t given a reason. Not even something like testing if it made his slime go away. If he had a reason, an excuse, surely he''d jump to use it.


    ¡°The cafeteria¡¯s probably closed now,¡± Harmoni said with a frown.


    ¡°Which will make it all the easier to rob,¡± Evin pointed out. ¡°I can still get to that.¡±


    He turned around and started walking to the castle. ¡°Goodbye.¡±


    Harmoni stopped leaning on Fleck, and stumbled to door. But Evin was gone by the time she got there, and she hadn''t asked why he¡¯d helped them clean.


    ¡®Speaking of cleaning,¡¯ Fleck thought.


    He sniffed under his wing, and grimaced. He should really get to the river.


    The castle did have running water, but Harmoni might join him at the river first, rather than trekking through the castle and leaving a trail of mud and. . .worse, behind her.


    And they should hurry. It was clearly late, and she had classes she¡¯d have to wake up in time for tomorrow. And the days here were shorter than on Xentron. . .


    Harmoni sighed. Well, better get to work.

 49: The After Image

    Daphon seemed disappointed when he saw her in class the next day, and by the time dinner rolled around, he kept glancing out the window. Towards the stables. It might have been subtle if you didn¡¯t know what he was looking for, but Harmoni did.


    She¡¯d suspected it was him.


    Fleck had thought him or Lona would be a good bet.


    Lona seemed a lot less confident about being an ass.


    But before Daphon gave himself away, there were more choices than just those two. It seemed all the students either ignored her or were . . . unpleasant. Rasha and Wesles were the exceptions to this, and they weren¡¯t her friends.


    She was used to it by now.


    ¡®It¡¯s only been a week and a half.¡¯


    Actually, it was closer to two weeks since classes officially started. But it didn¡¯t take much to get used to. They''d only been together on Xentron for what? Two months? Not that much of a baseline to compare it to. And Harmoni had never been very social, and she had Fleck to fill that need.


    ¡®No pressure or anything,¡¯ he thought to her.


    But he was joking, and she knew it.


    Harmoni finished her food, set her plate down, and headed back to the dorms. Tomorrow she only had the one class, so she¡¯d have some free time. She started thinking things she and Fleck could do. (If Fleck wanted to join her. He¡¯d probably spend part of the day with Asplenium.)


    She was so lost in thought, she didn¡¯t notice footsteps coming closer, until it was too late. She bumped into someone, top of her head clocking their jaw, and the two stumbled away from each other.


    Harmoni rubbed the top of her head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I-Eddie.¡±


    She finally noticed who she¡¯d bumped into.


    Eddie was an elf. She was tall. How did Harmoni manage to hit her jaw?


    Harmoni had probably grown without noticing, much like Fleck himself. He was up to her stomach now, roughly, and was longer than he was tall.


    Wait. Seriously? Oh. Ohhh no. If she was coming up to Eddie¡¯s chin, that wasn¡¯t just getting taller. That was getting abnormally tall for a human woman. A possible, but unlikely height. More of the elf genes were coming out. And if Lona¡¯s reaction had been anything to go by, that wouldn¡¯t help her.


    She was so lost in that thought, she¡¯d practically forgotten about Eddie. Until she spoke up.


    ¡°Oh. It¡¯s alright. You¡¯re . . . Harmoni, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh. Yes. That¡¯s me.¡± Harmoni straightened up and smiled. It probably wasn¡¯t the best smile, but Fleck wasn''t there in person to tell her.


    They both stood and stared at each other for a moment. It seemed neither was ready to leave, but both were waiting for the other to go first.


    Harmoni had seen Eddie before, of course. They shared a dorm room. But they never really talked. Eddie was rarely in the dorm. At least, not at the same time as Harmoni.


    Maybe Eddie had been avoiding her.


    ¡®Didn¡¯t she give you a pair of slippers, because she thought your feet looked cold?¡¯ Fleck thought.


    Not something you did for someone you didn¡¯t like. Right?


    This would be easier if Fleck was here, and not just launching his perspective from where he sat on the clifftop.


    Would it though? Eddie didn''t seem to have a good opinion of him.


    Well you couldn''t just get along with one of them and not the other, that wasn''t how this worked. He''d be more help if he was here. But he wasn¡¯t. And Eddie wasn¡¯t saying anything. So it fell on Harmoni to do something, even if that something was leaving.


    What did she know about Eddie? Fleck was right. She¡¯d given Harmoni a pair of slippers, because the tower had a stone floor, and Harmoni was moving around with bare feet. She was quiet, not just towards Harmoni, but in general. She¡¯d spent time with Daphon, but she didn¡¯t seem like his friend, unlike the other people he spent time with. She felt the power of the universe on only the second day of meditation, if her word was to be believed.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Apparently it was. Ava was already trying to find what area of magic she might be best in. Harmoni didn¡¯t totally understand, but it seemed each person had certain bits of magic that came easier to them than others. It was why Tolith was a healer, and didn¡¯t seem to have other spells outside that.


    And, there was one other thing about Eddie that seemed likely.


    ¡°You¡¯re not from Iva then?¡± Harmoni asked. ¡°Since you live in the dorms?¡±


    Eddie blinked. It seemed whatever she was expecting, it wasn¡¯t that. ¡°Er, no. I grew up on Morivon.¡± Her eyes slid to the side as she said that.


    Morivon was the home planet of humans and colbbers, but it wasn¡¯t unusual for the other species to live there, especially in certain locations. Planets were big.


    ¡°That¡¯s nice,¡± Harmoni said. ¡°I was living on Xentron.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡±


    Harmoni smiled awkwardly, shoulders going up towards her ears. Of course she¡¯d been living on Xentron. She had a dragon. You¡¯d only meet them in one place.


    ¡°But you know,¡± Eddie continued. ¡°I could¡¯ve come from this planet, and live in the dorms. Iva¡¯s a huge planet.¡± Sort of. It was smaller than Xentron and Morivon. ¡°If anyone wanted to go to this school specifically, most towns are too far away.¡±


    ¡°Sort of like what Daphon said? About why he goes here?¡±


    He was presumably from Edinar, the town to the North.


    Harmoni tried not to sound too bitter when she mentioned him, but based on Eddie¡¯s reply, she failed. ¡°Yeah . . . Listen. Don¡¯t let Daphon push you around. He¡¯s an idiot. He was here last year, and yet he¡¯s taking beginner classes again. Do you know what that means?¡±


    ¡°. . . He flunked?¡± Harmoni guessed after a moment of genuinely thinking about it.


    ¡°I think that word usually carries slightly different connotations. But yes. That is the general idea.¡±


    Harmoni hadn¡¯t put the clues together before, but now that Eddie pointed it out, Daphon did seem to know his way around really well. And he did seem to stare off into space during potions and history, while still doing well in them. But in the Ava¡¯s class he was like any other student. Ava¡¯s class, where unlike the other two, memorization didn¡¯t take you very far.


    Eddie nodded like Harmoni had made her observations out-loud. ¡°Elves are known for their skill in magic. Whether that''s a fair assessment or not, being one who¡¯s bad at it is kind of a big deal. He¡¯s humiliated. He¡¯s got something to compensate for.¡± She slowed down on ¡°humiliate¡± and ¡°compensate¡±. Probably not just for emphasis, but to make sure Harmoni really under understood the words. ¡°So don¡¯t let him get to you. Don¡¯t pander to him.¡±


    With that, Eddie slid past Harmoni, going down the hall, her cloak swishing against the ground.


    Harmoni watched her go for a moment. There had been some bite there. For someone who spent time with Daphon, she didn¡¯t like him.


    ~~~


    Harmoni moved through the trees. She didn¡¯t go very far, just enough that the stables were out of sight, and she¡¯d have to look to find the castle. But she could still find her way back, even without Fleck''s nose.


    She leaned against a tree, and closed her eyes.


    Ava had suggested they practice meditation on their own, and Harmoni had taken the advice a time or two. Harmoni¡¯s meditation was complicated by the existence of Fleck. On one hand, Fleck could always feel magic in some way or another. On the other, he didn¡¯t feel it in the same way as the rider species. Their bond could just be a complication that made it harder for Harmoni to find the power of the universe. And so far as she could tell, she had to find it herself. She couldn¡¯t just use whatever Fleck was sensing.


    She wished she could talk to Rial in moments like this. He had a dragon and used magic. He¡¯d understand how it worked.


    But she¡¯d never asked, and Harmoni was still improving, the practice paying off.


    Rial had described magic to be like flowing water, but Harmoni thought it was more like light. The light could be like a star, or a candle, or a spotlight, depending on where it came from. It touched everything, but only came from certain sources. Living things, namely.


    If she really tried, she could pick up the metaphorical lights of other people. Daphon¡¯s really was dim compared to other elves, but other elves only. It didn¡¯t seem unusually dark in the grand scheme of things. The headmaster¡¯s, conversely, was like the sun. His light was so bright, it could hide the others in the area. Eddie¡¯s was odd. The light thing was a metaphor. Magic didn¡¯t really glow, and it didn¡¯t have colors. Harmoni compared it to light because it was the best way for her, personally, to conceptualize it. But, if that was the metaphor she was using, Eddie¡¯s light was like someone had placed colored film over a bulb. She definitely had magic, but something was off about how Harmoni was sensing it.


    She normally couldn¡¯t hold her focus for very long. These were just impressions she could get if she focused in class with Ava, or sitting and staring at nothing in the cafeteria. Brief flashes before her connection sputtered.


    It was different out here. She¡¯d held her connection for a few minutes, in the peaceful forest with nothing to distract her. She could metaphorically see the lights around her. It was time to look at herself. She¡¯d taken her necklace off for just this reason.


    She turned the focus on herself and. . .


    Well, she could see why magic users were startled. If she was going with the light metaphor, her own magic was something like the space rock from her necklace. It glowed and shone a faint blue. But in the case of her magic, a jagged red slice broke through the middle. The two halves of normal light were still connected, still close, but the red light seeped out, like if rocks could bleed.


    No other magic user had looked like this. No other magic source in general The shock was enough to snap her out of her state. The feeling of magic disappeared as Harmoni¡¯s eyes snapped open, and she sat up with a gasp.


    Harmoni pressed a hand against the tree for support, her other hand clinging to her chest. She drew ragged breaths. She could no longer sense magic, broken from her trance, but the feeling, the after image, was burned into her.

 50: Enhancer

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Fleck had gone with Harmoni to meditate. Of course, he had. He wanted to make things easier for her, if he could. He liked spending time with her. And he liked being outside more than in.


    (Part of it was that he couldn¡¯t speak to anyone directly, yes. But the building was not built for dragons either. It was odd and alien, like any rider species trying to live in a dragon cave would be.)


    He would¡¯ve noticed her distress from anywhere, but being right next to her made it easier to act on.


    Fleck put his front legs on her shoulder, sitting on his back legs and tail to keep most of his weight off her. He put just enough weight on her shoulder to ground her, hopefully. He tried to do so in other ways as well, radiating calm and sending her the sights and smells he could sense. Basically, trying to remind her of the real world.


    He wasn¡¯t alarmed by her magic essence. He sensed it all the time, after all.


    The broadcasting sort of worked. Harmoni grew more aware of the scales on her shoulder, the claws that rested against her skin just lightly enough to avoid hurting her. She was aware of the bark against her palm and back, the bumps on the uneven ground below her. Her heart had hammered away, flooding her ears, but it was going back down. In fact, she was feeling a bit silly now. She¡¯d clearly overreacted.


    Fleck frowned. He didn¡¯t think that was true. Necessarily. He¡¯d take it badly too, if he felt a crack like that in his magic.


    ¡®Right,¡¯ she thought. ¡°Right,¡± she repeated, out-loud. She stood up. ¡°I think that¡¯s enough meditation for today. Let¡¯s get some lunch.¡±


    ~~~


    Ava¡¯s classroom had an unusual setup today. A lot of objects were up front on her desk. There were multiple staffs leaning against the desk, crystal balls on stands on the surface, and wands. There were also two daggers sitting on top of books, and a device or two that Harmoni wasn¡¯t familiar with. There were no more than two of each object, with the more unusual ones only having one.


    Then Ava herself swept in, flowing robes making it look a bit like she was floating. She turned to face the class, robes giving a silent swish. The movement and pale colors she''d chosen made Harmoni think of a ghost.


    ¡°Welcome class. Can anyone guess what we¡¯ll be talking about today?¡±


    Lona¡¯s hand, predictably, went up. The student next to her even looked annoyed.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be learning about enhancers today,¡± Lona answered. ¡°And maybe even . . . picking one out?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± Ava said, expression cryptic. ¡°Do you know why we have enhancers?¡±


    Lona nodded, hands clasped together. ¡°Harnessing raw magic is dangerous, like trying to harness raw electricity.¡±


    ¡°Just so. The enhancers are our protection.¡±


    Another student, Harmoni didn''t know his name, raised his hand. ¡°Soo, it¡¯s possible to do magic without one?¡±


    Ava looked a bit uncomfortable. ¡°Technically. That¡¯s why they¡¯re just called enhancers. However. Unless you would stretch out your hand to catch lightning during a storm, you don¡¯t want to cast magic without one. And if I catch anyone trying, they will be kicked out of this school.¡± Ava¡¯s normally soft, flowing voice got cold and sharp as she explained. Then she drew in a breath, and the hostility disappeared from her face and tone. ¡°Are we clear?¡±


    Various nods and murmurs came from the students.


    ¡°Good.¡± She moved to the side of her desk, providing a clear view of the items on it. ¡°I¡¯ve gotten a range of different enhancer types today. You should at least be able to narrow down which type works best for you.¡±


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    Harmoni had to admit, she was a little surprised they¡¯d be looking at these already.


    Wasn¡¯t it the end of the second week? And this class was mostly about doing, training. So it wasn¡¯t the surprising.


    Maybe, but it seemed fast considering magic was peddled as being hard to learn. And it was especially fast for this elven school. The headmaster still hadn¡¯t provided maps of the school, and the cafeteria still couldn¡¯t do much for Rasha¡¯s diet.


    ¡®Fair.¡¯


    Ava continued her explanation. ¡°To choose your enhancer, you want to feel the power of the universe. There will be some around the enhancers, and while you¡¯re feeling it, you should be able to feel a connection. This will be even stronger if you sample various enhancers, by picking them up. You shouldn¡¯t even need to cast a spell.¡±


    So, students went up one at a time to test out enhancers. Ava continued to teach students how to get their own, as this happened.


    Fleck was glad he¡¯d come with Harmoni to class today. This seemed important.


    ¡°Today we¡¯re mostly looking at the type of enhancer you might want, be it staff, wand, or something else. You could take one of these, if they call out to you, but I suggest looking at a larger sample size first. Both towns nearby sell magic enhancers. You could also try making your own, though that can be a long process. There¡¯s also the option of asking someone to make a custom design for you, or modifying one you buy. The more comfortable you are with your enhancer, the easier it will be to use.¡±


    ¡®Well duh.¡¯


    ¡°Most times magic flows and collects through living things, as I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve all noticed,¡± Ava continued. ¡°Enhancers are nonliving items that do similar. They still need input from someone to be wielded, the amount of magic they can store is usually slight, with the ability to channel your own stored magic through the item being more important. But both are important. Sometimes an enhancer is created without interference, through sometimes unknown mechanisms, such as an item being near a magic school.¡± Ava smiled, clearly aware of the irony. ¡°All that exposure can cause magic to seep into the item, and make it better for channeling, more flexible. You can also, of course, make an item like that yourself.¡±


    While Ava talked about how to make items malleable, various students tried out the enhancers. Daphon had luck with a dagger and a book combo, even getting a small flame to come out of the dagger. He briefly seemed surprised about that, but smiled smugly afterwards, like it was always the plan.


    Rasha didn¡¯t cast any spells, but was clearly fond of a purple wooden staff she swung around a few times. Ava had to remind her to put it down before she hit someone.


    Lona didn¡¯t pick up any enhancers, but she did hover by the crystal balls for a while.


    Then it was Harmoni¡¯s turn. She frowned as she focused on the items. They really did have more connection to magic than say, the desk, but none of them stood out to her. It might help if she knew what she was looking for. From what Ava had said, she would know it when she felt it. But the only one that seemed unique was a wand Fleck wrinkled his nose at. So that wasn¡¯t going to work out.


    And it was getting harder to focus on feeling magic. She was painfully aware of people watching her, the students still in line wanting their turn.


    She turned back to Ava. ¡°I can¡¯t find what you¡¯re looking for.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not about what I¡¯m looking for. It¡¯s what you¡¯re looking for,¡± Ava corrected. ¡°Still. It¡¯s possible none of these are a good fit for you. That happens sometimes.¡±


    Figured. Just another way Harmoni¡¯s connection to magic couldn¡¯t be simple.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be disheartened. We have plenty more time to find the right fit for you. It¡¯s good to avoid rushing,¡± Ava assured her.


    Harmoni nodded along.


    ¡°In the meantime, let¡¯s let another student try.¡±


    ~~~


    Fleck could smell Asplenium, out in the forest and getting closer. But he hadn''t called out to Fleck yet. And he was being awfully quiet in general. For someone that big, that took work. So Fleck could guess what was happening here.


    He saw a shadow in front of him. It moved like something going up in the air. Fleck tensed and jumped to the side, just as a green tail came crashing down.


    Fleck spun around. He could now see Asplenium, the older dragon smiling.


    "Good job Fleck," he said. "But we''re not done yet."


    Yes Fleck kind of figured. This wasn''t the first time they''d practiced fighting.


    Asplenium wasn''t breathing fire in their fights yet, though he said he''d introduce that later. Something about leading by example, and also not burning the forest down. He lunged forward, jaw open.


    Fleck moved to the side just slightly, at the last moment, feeling Asplenium''s jaw snap shut beside him. He ran along his teacher, nipping at his shoulder, and then swinging a claw at his belly, where there''d be fewer protective scales. He couldn''t do too much though, had to watch out for Asplenium''s feet and tail.


    ''I see you''ll be a bit busy for a while?''


    Fleck ducked under Asplenium''s swinging tail. He turned around again with his mouth open, more saliva in it than usual as he panted. He was vaguely aware of Harmoni thinking he shouldn''t tire himself out too fast.


    ''A bit, yeah,'' he agreed.

 51: Lantern Festival

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    They¡¯d done it. After all this time. They¡¯d finally reached Edinar.


    ¡®Oh don¡¯t be so dramatic,¡¯ Harmoni scolded with a smile.


    They were close to the town of Edinar now, North of the school.


    They still hadn¡¯t used one of the horses. They¡¯d walked the longish distance to Edinar. Fleck had done more of the walking. Harmoni had ridden on top of him for a brief while. He was big enough she could theoretically do that, but small enough they couldn¡¯t do so for long. And that said nothing of Harmoni¡¯s own height. She¡¯d looked into it after Fleck pointed out her growth spurt. She was approximately 183cm.


    So she could feel bad, but she knew how tired he really was through their connection. He was, in fact, just being dramatic.


    ¡®Yeah yeah. Should we get on with it?¡¯


    Harmoni smiled, even if it was a little strained. ¡®Right.¡¯


    They weren¡¯t here for pleasure. Well, maybe they¡¯d have some fun eventually. But right now, they were here to work. There was a holiday tonight and tomorrow, some sort of lantern festival. Harmoni and Fleck were supposed to help, as part of staying at the magic school for free.


    Harmoni turned ahead. It was sort of hard to tell where the town was until you were on top of it, built into the forest as it was. Fleck had, as usual, helped guide her, but they had arrived now.


    There were buildings on the ground, built between or below trees. A large round one sat near the center. (At least Harmoni assumed that was the center.) But the town was built in the treetops as well. Harmoni could see a staircase built into one of the nearby trees, another with a staircase spiraling outside the trunk, and a third that had a ladder going up. Above, she could see bridges, and buildings wrapping around trunks. Someone peered over a platform, down at Harmoni.


    Harmoni¡¯s own eyes got a little wider. The ledge had a railing, but still.


    The trees here were a taller and thicker than the ones in Ovant, so building up them was probably more practical.


    The leaves were all an orange, red, or yellow, as they tended to turn when it was fall. They were all like that. Harmoni didn¡¯t see any brown leaves. She did see one with two colors on the side of the path that made her gasp.


    This was completely new to Fleck. Trees didn¡¯t lose their leaves on Xentron. He might not be good at seeing green, but these colors were great.


    On one hand, it did make the path and the leaves on the trees very pretty. Some of the leaves were even piled up on tables as a display. On the other hand, Harmoni could see more dead branches than you¡¯d get in the summer. It didn¡¯t really help the aesthetic.


    Fleck just shook his head. ¡®We¡¯re supposed to meet someone in the capital building, right? Want to bet it¡¯s the big round one in the middle?¡¯


    ¡®Probably.¡¯


    Harmoni walked further down the path. The trails were a bit clearer here than on Ovant. There were lights strung between trees, small lanterns that seemed to be made out of paper, with something glowing in the middle. There were the tables with the leaves set up, but some of them had other things as well. One had a larger, cylindrical paper lantern sitting on the edge. (The ones strung across the trees were round.) Another had, currently empty, plates set on it.


    Fleck could smell food from the buildings they were passing. Seemed people were still cooking.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ''Do you think it''ll be good food?''


    ''Well I don''t know. It''s elvish food. And we don''t at all have the same diet.''


    Then they reached the round building near the center. There was a sign up front that labeled it as Edinar¡¯s city center. It was written in Elvish, but that wasn¡¯t a problem for Harmoni.


    She tested the door. Unlocked. She was in a hallway. There was a sign, again in Elvish, telling her where to go for the front office. Dead ahead. The office was in the center of the building.


    Harmoni opened the door to find the man at the front desk already talking to someone. Someone familiar.


    ¡°Eddie?¡±


    Eddie smiled at her. ¡°What? You didn¡¯t know I also need community service?¡±


    She apparently wasn¡¯t paying for her stay in the dorms. From her tone and expression, Harmoni couldn¡¯t tell if she was teasing, or if she was being intimidating. Looming over Harmoni and shaming her for not knowing. Or daring her to comment. Something.


    Normally Fleck would say Harmoni was being paranoid. But he was having a hard time as well.


    ¡°Ah, another one of you,¡± the man at the front desk said. He was speaking Standard, and had the best accent Harmoni had heard on this planet so far, if she was being honest.


    ¡®What about Tolith?¡¯


    ¡®Right. I guess Tolith is better. But I did first meet him off the planet.¡¯


    The man at the desk gestured for her to come over. ¡°Edith here was just telling me what she might be suited for. What about you? What are your skills?¡±


    Harmoni briefly glanced at Eddie. Edith? Well, she supposed that made sense.


    But right. Skills? ¡°I-well-er.¡±


    Eddie put a hand on Harmoni¡¯s shoulder. ¡°What work do you do at the school?¡±


    ¡°I, uh, clean the stables?¡± With a little nudge from Fleck, she added, ¡°I¡¯ve cleaned other places as well. It¡¯s probably my best skill.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± The man up front stroked his chin. ¡°Tell you what? You should go to the room down the hall, and help make more lanterns for tonight. Then, tomorrow morning, you can help clean up the night¡¯s festivities. That should give you some time to enjoy them in between. It¡¯s not far between here and the school. . .¡± There weren¡¯t any windows in this part of the building, but his gaze did slide down the hall. ¡°But if you really want, you can also spend the night here.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Harmoni said.


    Eddie nodded and headed for the door.


    Harmoni wasn¡¯t quite done. ¡°That¡¯s very kind of you,¡± she added, a bit quieter and twiddling her fingers together. It was, in her opinion, nicer than most people had been so far.


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯m always happy to help the new students,¡± the man said. Eddie had left the room by now, but the man also got a bit quieter for the next part. ¡°Besides, I think we have some things in common. Don''t we?¡±


    He pushed some of his hair to the side as he spoke. As he did, Harmoni got a view of his human, rounded ears. Harmoni actually gasped, before nodding along.


    He must¡¯ve been half human. Unlike her, whose rounder features and taller height were obviously mismatched, he wasn¡¯t nearly as obvious until she saw that. Then again, he was sitting down, so Harmoni couldn¡¯t see all of him.


    ¡°Name¡¯s Ryo. If you have trouble, you can come to me sometime.¡±


    Harmoni nodded again, vigorously. But now it was time to get to work.


    She left the office, and almost slammed into Eddie. She was still waiting out here?


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Harmoni said. ¡°For uh, the work question.¡±


    Eddie smiled, but it seemed . . . strained? No. Pained. Like she had been stabbed in the guts, but also sincerely wanted to smile, for some reason.


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    They headed down the hall together. Of course, they wouldn¡¯t stay that way. The lantern making was happening in another room in this building. Eddie and Ryo had been talking about cooking when Harmoni had come in. She knew that wasn¡¯t in the same building, much less the same room.


    ¡°So, your name is Edith?¡± Harmoni asked, as they approached the front door.


    ¡°It is. But stick to Eddie. Edith is . . . pretentious.¡±


    Interesting.


    They stopped at the front door. Eddie was supposed to go out it, while Harmoni was supposed to turn to the left. They didn¡¯t right away. They paused and stared at each other. Eddie glanced at Fleck a time or two, though it seemed she was trying not to.


    Harmoni rocked on her heels a bit. ¡°Well. I guess I¡¯ll see you later.¡±


    ¡°Hold on,¡± Eddie said, before Harmoni could finish turning away. ¡°Can I ask you something?¡±


    ¡®You just did,¡¯ Fleck thought.


    Harmoni mentally rolled her eyes. She hummed at Eddie, an acknowledgement to keep going.


    ¡°Why are you learning about magic?¡±


    Harmoni blinked. And stared. It took Fleck literally nudging her, bumping his snout against her leg, to remind her to actually answer the question.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to ask that,¡± Harmoni said, explaining her silence in total honesty, ¡°I mean, no one¡¯s asked why you¡¯re here, have they?¡±


    ¡°I have a slight understanding of magic already. I¡¯d like to gain better control,¡± Eddie said, answering her own question.


    ¡°You could say the same is true for me,¡± Harmoni said quietly.


    ¡°Hmm.¡±

 52: Lantern Making

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Harmoni and Fleck went to the room where people were making lanterns. It was a large room with a curved window stretching across the outer wall, letting a lot of the day¡¯s sunlight in.


    One of the people inside was scared to see Fleck at first, might have overreacted a little bit. But no one thought Harmoni was strange. One even helped her do up her hair as a braid along her head, with a tasteful leaf or two placed in there. She still wasn''t sure how she felt about having her ears on display, but it wasn''t like she could hide the elf traits that easily anymore. And in here it didn''t seem too bad.


    The people working on the lanterns asked Harmoni about school when she first stepped in. And where her home was, if she had any siblings. They seemed friendly enough about it, but Harmoni had to admit, she felt a little overwhelmed, all the smiling people pressing their attention in on her.


    But they pulled away after a few of Harmoni¡¯s stammering replies.


    Fleck was pretty sure they¡¯d caught on to her discomfort, were trying to be nice.


    They talked amongst themselves instead. About family, or how their trees were doing, or what pattern they were making on their paper lanterns. Apparently, while the people in here were making a lot of the lanterns, they wouldn¡¯t be the only ones doing it. Usually, each household made at least one.


    ¡°But the more there are, the better,¡± one of the elves said.


    Harmoni wasn¡¯t very good to start with, kept it basic, like making squares or moons. But with a bit more practice, she got a bit more ambitious, even trying to cut a pattern in the shape of Fleck.


    Fleck tried to help a bit. While he was good at cutting patterns into paper, he was pretty bad at making lanterns. His talons were sharp. So were his teeth. He couldn¡¯t grip these things without poking holes in them.


    Fleck seemed like he was doing just fine to Harmoni. One of the elves even decided he must be a wise and powerful creature.


    ¡®You saying I¡¯m not that?¡¯


    The elf brought him some pillows to comfortably rest on, a large bucket of water, and even got some meat for him from somewhere. Well, she and the other elves she¡¯d wrangled into this.


    Fleck . . . certainly didn¡¯t mind being waited on hand and foot.


    Harmoni tried not to laugh at how much he was enjoying this, and how different he probably was from how he was being perceived.


    The elves also sang at some point, using it to make the work pass faster. Harmoni enjoyed it, but really didn¡¯t know the words. (Plus it was in Elvish. She understood the language well enough, but it was harder to follow along with songs.)


    When they were done, Harmoni and Fleck went out into the streets to enjoy the festivities. The sun was setting. It reminded Harmoni a bit of the magic symposium on Xentron.


    There was a musician playing and people dancing by him. At some point, the musician swapped out. (Harmoni didn''t know when, she hadn''t brought a watch.) Most of the musicians throughout the night played the beautiful, slightly slow, songs people might think of when you mentioned elves. But at one point a gnome did come up and sing rock music. According to the people dancing she hadn''t even come here for the festival. She lived here.


    There were items to buy. Harmoni walked along the tables even though she didn''t have any currency. Someone was selling robes. Another enhancers. Harmoni once again tried to get a feel for them, and once again, none called to her.


    Someone was selling leaves a bit like the ones in Harmoni''s hair, but they were a thin metal instead of real. You could have them forever.


    There was a man who sold framed art, but his seemed to be made entirely out of rocks, instead of painted or drawn. Harmoni couldn''t help but slow down for that one. It was neat, but more than that, those were elaborate. He created some detailed images using rocks of different sizes. And he wasn''t the only one who created detailed art. The woman selling paintings, well, Harmoni didn''t think you could make a single painting that detailed in a human''s lifetime, and she was selling more than one. Harmoni stared at the paintings, and stared at the woman. She didn''t think it was a rude stare, for once. She was more in awe. The woman smiled serenely back. She looked like she was still in her twenties.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    But they didn''t hang around the sale stalls all night. It was a holiday, and there were a few free items. Harmoni ended up with a sort of necklace of fall leaves around her.


    Fleck got one too. The younger elf at the stall, who Fleck was pretty sure went to the school actually, used magic to unclip a necklace, and then wrap it around Fleck''s neck. Different from Harmoni, who''d just had one dropped over her head, but Fleck''s head was a bit different.


    A bit of the food was free too. One place was making cider, of the thickly pressed, non-alcoholic variety. You could get it hot or cold, and with various additions. When Harmoni came over, the rock musician was standing on a stool, ordering a cider with strawberries, sprinkles, and ginger. Harmoni wasn''t sure how that combo worked, but OK. She stuck to cinnamon for her own.


    For food she got something much simpler. It tasted like a bagel, but there was no hole in the middle. Instead, it was stuffed with a filling. She could easily eat it and walk at the same time.


    Fleck didn''t get anything to eat, and he knew Harmoni felt a bit bad about that, but he''d been given food earlier.


    ''Remember?''


    Besides, he did try the cider. He could point to additions with his nose, aiming for the spicy side with his, and the elf had served him his order in a bowl that was easy to drink from. Hadn''t even needed Harmoni as translator.


    Harmoni climbed to the treetop area next, getting to watch the small figures below here and the stars above. There were flickering lights lining the paths up here, possibly so no one accidentally fell off. And there were less people up here, creating a nice ambiance. Except for one area. The path seemed to lead to nowhere, and there wasn''t a railing where it ended.


    Someone chuckled. "You''re confused, I can tell," the elf who''d snuck up behind her said. "Here, let me show you. This is pretty cool, actually."


    He walked past her, and kept walking, right off the ledge. Harmoni gasped and reached out her hand, but she was still hesitant, still didn''t quiet reach his arm. And as it turned out, that was a good thing. The man didn''t fall, he continued to walk as if there was still a path beneath him. He turned back to her, walking backwards.


    "I told you it was cool, didn''t I? This area''s been magically enchanted. Come on. Try it."


    Harmoni did want to try. She was also still nervous. Her body naturally resisted the action of walking off a ledge, instead urging her to at least crawl.


    Fleck tried to urge her to walk. He could fly, and was big enough to carry her on land. If she fell, he''d catch her.


    Harmoni wasn''t sure he was actually big enough to fly with her. But then she didn''t want to insult him, and that gave her the last metaphorical push to step forward. (Thankfully, no literal pushing.) And there she was. Nothing below her if she looked down, except people moving about the stalls, but her feet where obviously on something. It wasn''t like gravity stopped working, it was just like there was an invisible floor. It was still definitely cool. And she let the elf come up to her and pull her into a dance with the music below.


    The sky grew darker. The music stopped. People were less spread out.


    "It''s starting soon," the man she was dancing with said. "Come on."


    He led her back to the wooden walkways, and then down the stairs. He was holding her hand, but it was a very gentle grip. She could pull away if she wanted.


    Or Fleck could bite him.


    ''Excessive.''


    When they were down by everyone else, he let go.


    Then, the lanterns were released. Harmoni wasn¡¯t sure how it was done, but they were all released at the same time, sending thousands of glowing lights, all with their own pattern, into the sky.


    Harmoni watched them with a faint smile on her face. In fact, she stood and watched the sky for longer than about half the crowd, vaguely aware of people going home around her.


    She didn¡¯t get any stares during the festivities, though Fleck got a few. She wasn¡¯t the only one here who wasn¡¯t an elf. It had been happy. Light.


    She sighed.


    All wistfully.


    It had been a nice evening.


    And the lantern makers earlier had assured her and Fleck that the lanterns were made of degradable materials. They were designed to break down into natural components. They''d shared this for environmental reasons, but it also meant they wouldn''t be going around picking up lanterns tomorrow morning, when it was time to clean.


    But now the place was dark and quiet. Everyone had either gone home, or were still watching the sky in silence. And while Harmoni could certainly keep doing that, she and Fleck should get back to the school. They needed to get some rest, so they could help out in the morning.


    ¡®Ryo said we could stay here,¡¯ Fleck pointed out.


    ¡®I don¡¯t want to impose.¡¯


    ¡®Of course you don¡¯t.¡¯


    But he was laughing, as he said it.

 53: Stairs

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Harmoni and Fleck stumbled back into Edinar School. It was late morning, just a little before lunch. Unless you wanted an early lunch, she supposed. They''d gone back to the town of Edinar after waking up. There''d been a few festivities when they got back, but the highlight had been last night. You couldn''t release lanterns during the day. So everyone was winding down.


    Harmoni and Fleck had helped clean up, and then been sent home. It didn¡¯t look like the people in Edinar were completely done, but Ryo had insisted they¡¯d have no more help from the students.


    ¡°Besides, we have magic, and you don¡¯t yet. It makes you doing the clean up and us not very inefficient.¡±


    They¡¯d mostly done things like clearing the tables, washing the dishes, or taking strings of lights down. Fleck was particularly good at the last one.


    But that was done. And they¡¯d walked the distance between the school and the city four times in two days.


    ¡®And whose fault is that?¡¯


    So Harmoni was ready to take a nap, and get some lunch. Or maybe she should eat first, then rest. . .


    Suddenly, she heard a raised voice, coming from the entrance hall. She cringed, shoulders rising towards her ears.


    Her ears dropped too, like an annoyed cat.


    Her first thought was to move away. Then she recognized the voice as Eddie¡¯s. That was different. Eddie always seemed to mumble her words.


    Harmoni moved a little closer, straining her ears to pick out the specific words. But she pressed herself against the wall. She and Fleck had been in one of the smaller halls, one that wound past some classrooms, and the library. She didn¡¯t want to be immediately noticed as she tried to hear the conversation around the corner.


    ¡°Harmoni was there with me,¡± Eddie insisted. She wasn¡¯t yelling per say, but her voice was easily carrying. ¡°I saw her get assigned a job in the office. I could see her working from the window. So could anyone passing the city center. Any idiot could tell you she was there yesterday.¡±


    ¡°Be that as it may,¡± the headmaster started, sounding genuinely confused, ¡°a few other students say they saw Harmoni here at the school yesterday. She can¡¯t be in two places at once.¡±


    When Eddie spoke again, her voice was more subdued. Harmoni had to lean further to the side to hear.


    ¡°And would one of these students be Daphon?¡±


    ¡°Well, yes but-¡±


    ¡°To hell with Daphon!¡±


    ¡°Language.¡±


    ¡°To hell with language! Harmoni did the work! And Daphon has been nothing but an ass to her since she got here. And no one has ever done a thing, you included. If you-¡±


    Eddie suddenly went silent, aside from a muffled sound of someone trying to speak with their mouth closed. Even that ended quickly. Eddie realizing it was futile?


    ¡°Enough Edith.¡± A pause. ¡°More than one student told me they saw Harmoni at the school at that time. Your opinion of Daphon is somewhat moot. However, Ryo did just send a letter letting me know Harmoni was there.¡±


    Harmoni couldn¡¯t help but smile. Of course, Ryo would.


    ¡°That is why I am leaving. To look into the discrepancy. If Harmoni was as obvious as you claim, this should be easy to clear up.¡±


    The headmaster then started to talk to Eddie about her ¡°disrespectful¡± behavior. Harmoni considered going around the corner and defending her, like she¡¯d just done for her, but she didn¡¯t get the chance.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Harmoni heard footsteps behind her.


    ¡°Oh? Is there a problem with your work?¡± a familiar voice mocked.


    Harmoni turned around in time to see Daphon, leaning against the wall, arms crossed. He was a bit farther down the hall than her. But the hall was narrow, straight, and emptier than the front hall. It was very easy to see and hear him, for Harmoni. She moved a bit closer anyway.


    ¡°I wonder how that happened,¡± Daphon continued.


    ¡°What is your problem?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Harmoni was surprised herself. Truthfully, she hadn¡¯t meant to stay that out loud.


    ''Yes!'' Fleck mentally cheered.


    He was so pleased on Harmoni¡¯s behalf. She was getting better at standing up for herself.


    Maybe not. She just had a limit. She¡¯d done the same with Evin, after all.


    ¡°What is your problem?¡± Harmoni repeated. ¡°I¡¯ve never done anything to you, yet you make my life difficult every chance you get.¡±


    ¡°I told you,¡± Daphon said. But he sputtered a bit before he found his stride. ¡°You only have, what? 100 years? Maybe 200, given you¡¯re a freak. You think you can just come in and learn magic like it¡¯s a superpower. You can¡¯t appreciate it you-¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it,¡± Harmoni said. She picked good timing in cutting him off. He¡¯d not only found his stride but was going back to his usual, hostile, self when she stopped him. Harmoni glared, stepping into his space. ¡°I don''t think you actually care if someone appreciates magic as more than a superpower. I''m not sure you appreciate it more than that. You¡¯re jealous. This is actually your second year. Did you think you could keep it a secret? I wonder how it feels, seeing the older students you knew last year? How embarrassing for you.¡± She leaned in, before pulling back with a disgusted look. ¡°What? You think I¡¯m so much better at magic? You want to cover up your shame by-¡±


    ¡°I hate you, because you¡¯re a creep!¡± he spat out. ¡°An absolute freak, and weirdo. You just sit there with intense expressions, like you¡¯re threatening something that¡¯s not there. If anyone tries to talk to you, you clearly don¡¯t know how to talk back. You walk around with a monster half the time." He gestured at Fleck. Fleck growled slightly, standing between Daphon and Harmoni, but she didn''t think the threat was physical here. "You''re the one who''s never made the effort of living here. Never mind why I specifically don¡¯t like you, why would anyone like you? Better question, why are you still here? You clearly don¡¯t want to be. You¡¯re just here to use us. Well, I know you¡¯ve felt magic. You got what you wanted. How about you get out?¡±


    ~~~


    Harmoni sat up in bed. She blinked her eyes blearily, aware of her hair in disarray. Full elves didn''t have that problem. She was roommates with Eddie. She''d seen her wake up with perfect hair, and go out the door without doing anything.


    ''Not even brush her teeth?''


    ''You don''t brush your teeth either.''


    ''Well I don''t have to brush my teeth, but I do enjoy it sometimes.'' The stables had provided him with something for that.


    Morning light was streaming through the big window, but it wasn¡¯t bright as usual. The days were certainly getting shorter.


    She sighed, staring at her lap for a moment. Standing up to Daphon had gone better than expected. He clearly hadn¡¯t been prepared for someone to call him out so bluntly, and his tone had taken on some desperation even at the end. But, he had hit a sore spot with that last point. She was well aware she struggled with social interactions. Fleck had pointed out the same to her. She thought she didn''t want to socialize. She thought she hadn¡¯t minded being bad at it. But here she was, feeling stung.


    She took a deep breath. Well, no point in sulking. She¡¯d done enough of that yesterday. And the weekend was over. She had classes to get to.


    Fleck was just waking up as well, getting a view of Asplenium¡¯s scales. Asplenium could be pampered at the stables, but he didn¡¯t sleep there. It was made for horses. He¡¯d be crowding the place. He showed Fleck a cave in the cliffside by the school, and Fleck certainly wasn¡¯t complaining. He¡¯d grown up in caves. He liked it.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got the wrong rider species if you like caves,¡± Asplenium pointed out.


    But he was sort of joking. After all, he also liked caves, and had an elf rider instead of a dwarf.


    Fleck stood up and shook off.


    ¡®I think I¡¯ll join you today,¡¯ Fleck decided. He sent the message mentally. Asplenium was still asleep, and Fleck didn¡¯t want to wake him. ¡®Can you let me into the dorm?¡¯


    ¡®No point,¡¯ Harmoni thought.


    She stood in front of the bathroom mirror, fixing her hair.


    ¡®I¡¯ve got to get to class.¡¯


    The sun usually woke her up with plenty of time. Today, since the sun rose later, she woke up later. She wondered if the clock had an alarm or something so she¡¯d never be late. She¡¯d never slept in too long, including today, but she should head straight to class once she was out of her pajamas.


    ¡®So I¡¯ll just meet you at class.¡¯


    ¡®If you say so,¡¯ Fleck thought.


    Harmoni finished up, left the dorm, and started down the stairs.


    She only made it a step or two when she heard footsteps behind her.


    Harmoni turned, and saw a figure, but didn¡¯t have time to make out more than the blurry silhouette, before she was shoved in the back, hard.


    Harmoni tipped forward, her feet sliding off the step. She gasped, but didn¡¯t have time to scream as the stairs raced up towards her. Her hands flew up automatically, and it did stop her from smacking her teeth against the stairs, but she still slammed against them. Her face hit her knuckles, and she practically rolled the rest of the way down.


    She could just pick up Fleck¡¯s panic, before the world went black.

 54: Rest

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    When Harmoni woke up, she could feel something warm on her head. It seemed like something was being knit back together up there. She¡¯d compare it to getting stitches, but she¡¯d never had that before, and she was pretty sure they hurt more than this. Then again, her own awareness was a bit muffled. Maybe if her senses were sharper, she¡¯d be in more pain.


    Harmoni¡¯s gaze slid around. She could see shoes to the side of her head, and a loose pair of pants. They looked familiar.


    Harmoni slowly raised her gaze. Sure enough, Tolith was standing there. She thought so. Most people here wore robes that covered their legs, even the human potions teacher. Tolith was one of the few adults who had visible pants, though each leg was so wide, you might not be able to immediately tell.


    He had a crystal ball in one hand, and had pressed his other to her forehead.


    She could see Fleck standing behind Tolith, peering around him and getting very into his personal space as he tried to get a better look at her. But, as she sensed his emotions, she felt him go from worry to relief.


    Because Harmoni was alright.


    Tolith had made Fleck stand back so he could concentrate, and for a few other reasons? He was pretty sure? But Fleck probably wouldn¡¯t have listened if Tolith wasn¡¯t a rider himself. He had some understanding of the situation, and was still asking that.


    As soon as Fleck had sensed Harmoni falling, he¡¯d gone back to Asplenium, who instantly sent the knowledge to Tolith. Then both Tolith and Fleck had gotten here as quickly as possible.


    Fleck was just glad the one with healing magic was also the one with a dragon. It saved precious time.


    ¡°You should be more careful,¡± Tolith said, all be it in a gentle tone. ¡°Those stairs are designed to be hard to fall down, but it¡¯s a bit of a drop if you do.¡±


    ¡®I noticed,¡¯ Harmoni thought. But that wasn¡¯t the problem. ¡°I didn¡¯t fall. I was pushed.¡± Tolith removed his hand and raised an eyebrow. Since he was apparently done, Harmoni slowly moved herself to a sitting position. ¡°I felt someone push me.¡±


    She could still easily recall the feeling of palms against her shoulder blades. And that was ignoring the blur of a figure she¡¯d seen.


    ¡°Who could¡¯ve done that? You¡¯re the only one in your dorm this morning, yes?¡±


    Fleck thought it smelled strongly of Daphon, for a guy who hadn¡¯t been there. Not that he needed the scent to think of Daphon.


    Neither did Harmoni. She relayed the message.


    Tolith chewed his lip, two teeth just barely visible. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Tolith asked. ¡°He lives in Edinar. He doesn¡¯t have any reason to be in the dorms at all, much less right now.¡±


    Harmoni and Fleck exchanged glances.


    The headmaster and Ava had made it clear they didn¡¯t believe her about such things, but Tolith might not know about that. She hadn¡¯t seen him very often since she got here. He was the healer. He healed students who got sick or injured, and worked with an older one who also had healing magic. As Harmoni wasn¡¯t either of those, until now, she''d just see him around sometimes, by coincidence. But she didn¡¯t have a great track record with these teachers.


    Maybe not, but the question did seem genuine. He wasn¡¯t shooting her down like sometimes happened.


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ''You''re just biased because you like Asplenium.''


    But maybe Harmoni was also biased, because she took a deep breath and tried again.


    ¡°But there¡¯s nothing stopping him from entering the tower, right?¡± Harmoni asked. ¡°The dorm rooms themselves have locks, but not the tower itself?¡±


    ¡°I suppose. . .¡± Tolith reluctantly agreed.


    ¡°I mean, it might not be Daphon for sure,¡± Harmoni quickly back peddled.


    Fleck would¡¯ve face palmed if he was a rider species. As it was, he didn¡¯t truly have palms.


    ¡°But someone pushed me,¡± Harmoni said. ¡°And Fleck¡¯s not usually wrong with his sense of smell.¡± She looked down and muttered the next part. ¡°And Daphon and I have never really gotten along.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m well aware of how good a dragon¡¯s sense of smell is,¡± Tolith said, voice fonder than before. ¡°I¡¯ll mention this to the headmaster.¡±


    Harmoni sagged a bit. Not much. It was just, well, the headmaster didn¡¯t have the best track record. But, Tolith wasn¡¯t done.


    ¡°And I¡¯ll talk to Ava about adding some more precautions to the tower. She¡¯s most suited to handle that. She should at least be able to cushion the bottom of the stairwells with magic, in case we get any more tumbles. How does that sound?¡±


    It would sound better if Daphon was expelled.


    Harmoni wouldn¡¯t mind that herself right now. But it felt like an overreaction even if he was behind this. What Tolith was offering was more than usual. She smiled up at him with genuine gratitude. ¡°Yes. That sounds good.¡±


    Tolith sighed softly. Relief. ¡°Good. I should get on that. And you should get some rest.¡±


    Harmoni¡¯s eyes popped a little wider. Rest? Oh no. There was a reason she wasn¡¯t doing that.


    ¡°No. I have class now.¡± Harmoni stumbled to her feet. ¡°I should go. I¡¯ve probably missed the start, but-¡±


    Tolith put a hand to her chest. Not particularly hard, but enough to stop her from going anywhere.


    ¡°Everyone takes a rest after being sick or injured, even if they get healing for it.¡± He paused, sighed in defeat, and continued. ¡°If you really want to be active the rest of the day, you can. But not your first class, which you¡¯ll have missed about half of by the time you get there anyway. I¡¯ll explain to Ava when I go there.¡±


    Fleck was also telling Harmoni to rest, with a lot more aggression.


    Harmoni was feeling a bit of defeat herself. She didn¡¯t feel hurt any more, just a bit out of it. Her mind was processing things a bit slower than normal, and only if she focused on them. Alright. It seemed she¡¯d be getting more rest.


    ~~~


    As it turned out, Harmoni did rest most of the day. She fell back to sleep when she got back to the dorm room, missing the start of potions class as well.


    Since it was now pointless, she wasn¡¯t in a hurry to get up. She was bored though. Fleck had to get her a book from the school library, and she had to open the dorm¡¯s door to let him back in.


    She read for most of the day after that, sometimes stopping because reading words off the page for too long made her sleepy, or just because she¡¯d been doing the same thing for so long. Being on a planet with so little technology certainly made passing the time different.


    It was getting dark. Harmoni lowered her book, looked at the time. Yes. It might be a good idea to get dinner.


    Fleck sat up from where he was curled up, along the side of the bed. Yes, that sounded good. He¡¯d join her in the cafeteria, and then get some food of his own.


    They went to the bottom of the tower, and headed to the cafeteria. It was mostly uneventful, except for a run in with Wesles. He was standing in the hall, leaning towards the door to the potions room, holding something in the lock above the knob. His ear was angled towards the knob, and twitched a time or two. Which might explain why he didn¡¯t sound surprised when Harmoni spoke up.


    ¡°Wesles? What are you doing?¡± she asked.


    ¡°What¡¯sit look like? Breaking into the potions room.¡± Wesles answered quietly, without looking away from the lock he was jiggling. ¡°Likehell amI waiting while theteacher coddles us. Iknow I¡¯m goodat potions. AndIcan be better with a bit more practice.¡±


    The lock clicked, and the door popped open a crack.


    Wesles finally turned to them. ¡°Why? Areyoutwo going totell onme?¡±


    He seemed oddly OK with that possibility.


    Harmoni bit her lip. ¡°It¡¯s just, isn¡¯t that dangerous?¡±


    Wesles shrugged. ¡°No more dangerous than when the teacher¡¯s withus.¡± He must¡¯ve seen she wasn¡¯t convinced, because he pressed on. ¡°I¡¯mnot stupid. I¡¯m not goingto put myself indanger onpurpose. I¡¯m just goingto learnmore on myown. That¡¯s normally a good thing.¡±


    It was true. Having your own initiative was usually considered a good thing. At least on Xentron it was. It seemed a bit less smiled on here. And this felt a little different. But she didn¡¯t want him to get in trouble.


    Harmoni sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you to it. But, be careful. Both with making potions, and with getting caught.¡±


    ¡°Of cooourse,¡± Wesles dragged out. ¡°I¡¯mnot anidiot.¡±

 55: Explosion

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Rasha did end up taking Fleck up on his offer, the one to hunt with the dragons. She asked on a morning when both Harmoni and Fleck were in the dorm room, where Harmoni could run translations. Then they headed down the cliffside, and to Asplenium.


    They didn''t go to the cave. That was actually part way up the cliff. Easy enough for a dragon to get to, difficult for species that didn''t climb or fly.


    It was nice. Rasha rode on Asplenium''s back while they searched for prey. Again, not that many animals on the planet, comparatively speaking.


    They couldn''t understand each other''s words out here. (Not most of them, anyway. Fleck was pretty good at recognizing his nickname.) But they didn''t need to. Rasha stayed balanced on Asplenium even when he made a sharp turn or sped up. She even pointed to an animal on the landscape at one point. And when they stopped to eat their catches, she scratched them both, either at the back of the head or under the chin. She smiled, and Fleck was pretty sure she was thanking them, when she spoke.


    Asplenium offered to cook the meat, for all three of them, but Fleck was good. And to his surprise, so was Rasha. She grabbed some of their food and just started eating it, like it was something you were supposed to eat raw. Which, for a dragon, it was. He liked her attitude, and he grinned.


    ~~~


    Harmoni made her way from the cafeteria, back to the dorm rooms. Fleck had been with Asplenium most of the day. Rasha had been with both of them in the morning, but she''d made it back in time for classes. Those were over for the day, at least Harmoni''s were, and she was heading back to the tower.


    The other doors along this stretch of the hallway were study rooms. One of them did have a group of students studying, one pushing her disheveled hair out of her eyes and glaring at her book, another tapping the desk at a certain rhythm, and looking for validation from the third student. Since Harmoni didn¡¯t recognize the three, they were probably older students.


    Another study room only had one student inside, sleeping. Or maybe he was just meditating in a really weird position.


    Fleck could only see him through Harmoni¡¯s eyes, but he chuckled at the idea. Maybe he and Harmoni should try meditating that way next time.


    Harmoni gave a smile of her own as she entered the bottom of the tower.


    In the common area, Rasha was bragging to two other students. Apparently, she was going to get some special lessons from the potions teacher, make things more advanced than the beginners class.


    Well, Harmoni kind of hoped Wesles didn¡¯t find out. He''d become a bit self-taught, using the books at the library to learn more about potions. He mentioned the value of Fleck''s scales once, as an ingredient.


    All the more reason for Fleck not to go to Potions Class, if you asked him. And he, for one, was happy for Rasha. She seemed to get the short end of the stick at this school. Could use something going right.


    Bringing attention to yourself sounded awful to Harmoni, but she supposed, if it really made Rasha happy. . .


    The two other students didn¡¯t seem to care anyway. One of them didn¡¯t even look up from her book.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Harmoni had seen them in the three required classes, but barely outside that. They¡¯d eaten lunch with Daphon multiple times. She was fairly certain they didn¡¯t live here. Not that she could blame them for spending time the common area anyway. It was cozy.


    Well, no one was paying attention to her, and she preferred it that way.


    She headed for the stairs. She had just reached them, putting her hand against the wall, when she felt the wall vibrate. Harmoni frowned.


    ¡®What. . .?¡¯


    Whatever had hit the wall hit it again, much harder, causing the tower to shake.


    Harmoni stumbled back, Rasha desperately shifted her weight, and the boy counting marbles gripped the table, his marbles rolling away.


    ¡°What was that?!¡± Rasha cried.


    ¡°Probably the wildlife trying to kill us again,¡± the book reader said, glaring at the ceiling in annoyance.


    ¡°. . .What?¡± Rasha managed.


    ¡°There¡¯s some pretty weird and powerful wildlife in the forest out there,¡± the marble student explained. ¡°There¡¯s magic defenses. . .¡±


    The wall shook again, dust falling loose from the floor above.


    ¡°But I guess they¡¯re not working right now,¡± book girl said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go towards the center of the building,¡± marble student suggested. ¡°A teacher will be here to take care of it soon. Come on.¡±


    He gestured for them to follow, but didn¡¯t wait. Book girl and Rasha were close, falling into step behind him. Harmoni was not, darting across the room to catch up.


    None of them made it out before something began to form in the doorway. Little brownish gray clumps formed in the middle, a small pile at first, before rapidly expanding into the shape of a deer. Rough shape, not size. It was larger than any deer Harmoni had ever seen, taking up the entire doorway, and looked like it was made of mushrooms.


    ¡°What kind of creature is that?¡± Rasha exclaimed.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s a fungus,¡± the marble student said.


    Well. Harmoni had said it looked like mushrooms.


    Then, the mushroom deer grabbed the student. Harmoni could ostensibly say it used its mouth, though it didn¡¯t truly have one of those. The mushroom pieces just parted to create a gaping hole that could grab someone. It flung the student up towards the ceiling.


    Book girl screamed. Rasha puffed up her chest and jabbed her pointy horns into the thing''s leg. The leg came off, easily from the looks of it. But as soon as Rasha stepped back, the leg just reconnected itself.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Rasha said.


    ¡°It¡¯s a fungus!¡± Book girl exclaimed, flapping her book for emphasis. ¡°You can¡¯t just kill or injure it like an animal!¡±


    Harmoni thought that was a little unfair. At least Rasha had tried to do something.


    No time to dell on that now though. The creature swung its ¡°head¡±, forcing book girl and Rasha to scramble out of the way. From the sound it made, the fungus had hit something, but not enough to send them flying.


    Not like marble student. He had pushed himself into a sitting position, but his hand was pressed against the wall for support, and there was a dazed look in his eyes, blood dripping down his forehead.


    Book girl took a step back, and wobbled on the ankle the fungus had hit.


    The fungus monster, meanwhile, grew even more. Its neck extended and its limbs grew thicker.


    Stone from the doorframe started to fall, forcing Harmoni to move.


    She tripped on the fungus limbs below. They¡¯d started stretching like roots, and she hadn¡¯t noticed.


    Something was wrong with her ankle, around where it had touched the fungus. It was red, like touching a plant you shouldn''t, but based on the pain it was going to get worse.


    Rasha swiped at it with her horns again, but it seemed even less effective than before. ¡°If it¡¯s a fungus, why is it trying to kill us? That doesn¡¯t sound right.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± book girl shouted, screeching from stress, and potentially pain. ¡°Fun!¡±


    The fungus¡¯ ¡°head¡± appeared over Harmoni. Her heart pounded. There wasn''t time to move, and even if there was her swelling ankle made that difficult. It opened its maw again, and grabbed her.


    It was awful. She could feel the grip on her waist. It was tight and might leave a mark like it left on her ankle, and probably book girl¡¯s. But her entire upper body was soaked in weird slime as well. And she felt herself launching up, feet first, head dipping a little deeper into the fungus creature''s body. It was moist and humid, and getting darker. It was hard to breath in here, not that that would be a problem for much longer.


    She remembered it flinging the marble student. It wasn¡¯t hard to guess what it was about to do to her. She panicked and. . .


    She did it again. The thing she¡¯d done to Cyep.

 56: Red Eyes

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Harmoni fell to the ground, the creature no longer existing to keep her in the air. That hurt. Damn it hurt. Something was probably broken.


    But that was low on her priority list. She sat part way up with a groan, struggling to get farther. She opened her eyes.


    ¡®Don¡¯t!¡¯ Fleck warned. ¡®Your eyes look different! Stay down!¡¯


    If he knew that, he must be close.


    ¡®No duh.¡¯


    She had noticed, sort of. She''d realized he was coming towards the tower as soon as the creature attacked. She just didn''t realize he was close enough to see.


    She gave up on sitting up, which was nice. That had been hard. She dropped back against the stone, kept her eyes closed, and tried to look through Fleck¡¯s eyes. Like when she¡¯d been kidnapped.


    It worked. In fact, it was easier than before. They were in the same room, not vastly different environments. And her own eyes were closed, not giving her conflicting visuals.


    Fleck was standing in the doorway. The explosion didn¡¯t seem as effective this time, but it had still been devastating to the creature. The fungus had blown up like someone had placed a bomb inside it. Some of it had turned to paste, tiny droplets hitting the walls like paint. But some of it just fallen as big clumps, looking like small piles of mushrooms sticking together.


    Fleck had been the first into the room, but Tolith swept past him as Harmoni was taking in the sight.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Tolith asked.


    Marble student let out the most unconvincing ¡°fine¡± Harmoni had ever heard.


    ¡°No,¡± book girl whimpered.


    ¡°The others are injured,¡± Rasha explained. She really was the only one still fine. ¡°The fungus did something to them.¡±


    Tolith moved in. He started with marble student, which was for the best.


    With everyone else distracted, Harmoni shifted her weight and clenched her hands together tightly. When Fleck said her eyes looked different, he meant they were red. He hadn''t wanted to tell her that, but he hadn''t had much choice. She''d shoved the realization down when she''d felt it, because there were other, more pressing matters to attend to. But that was bad. What did it meant to blow something up with dark magic, and then have red eyes?


    Did it have to do with the dark magic? It hadn''t happened last time.


    Was that true? Or had neither of them noticed?


    The dread sat there in her stomach. She made something explode again, just by panicking. And this time she''d had some training in magic, some familiarity. She¡¯d felt herself reach into the metaphorical red crack of her magic, expanding it and drawing out incredible power.


    And shouldn¡¯t someone else have noticed that? Even with the necklace on, shouldn¡¯t someone have sensed that kind of magic? She didn¡¯t care if they did at this point. They should punish her.


    Fleck cared. And he didn¡¯t think punishment was going to help her stop, which was the whole point.


    What he was concerned with was if her eyes were still red. She couldn''t just keep them closed for all eternity.


    Yes, well, luckily her internal spiraling hadn''t taken much external time. With Tolith healing the marble student, Harmoni risked cracking an eye open. It was weird to look at Fleck, and look at herself through Fleck''s vision. But she could see her eye was green again, not just through Fleck''s knowledge, but through his gaze.


    Good thing too. Tolith went to her after marble student. He seemed to be doing it based on how injured everyone was.


    Which was fine, but Harmoni was so deep in her head she barely noticed her injuries, or the difference once Tolith was done.


    He went to heal book girl, who complained about how the school was supposed to have protections against this kind of thing.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°Is everyone OK now?¡± Tolith asked, standing up in the middle of the room to look over his handy work. He seemed put together, hands on his hips and eyes going over each of the students, but something seemed off. He half sighed the question, for one.


    ¡°I¡¯m-I¡¯m fine,¡± marble student managed.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± book girl asked.


    Tolith looked behind him at the doorway. His head rolled, letting gravity do most of the work in moving it.


    It looked like there were small clumps of mushrooms sticking together on the floor. The doorframe was wrecked, there was a hole or two to the outside world in the wall, and the ceiling was cracked.


    ¡°Well, the good news is, I think we just got some new food.¡±


    The other two did actually look happy about that. Harmoni thought that was a little strange. She just hoped they made some changes to the mushrooms before serving them, make them a little more appealing.


    Fleck exchanged a look of solidarity with Rasha. They could eat the fungus, but still needed that meat.


    ¡°Uh,¡± Tolith continued. Oh he was definitely tired. Harmoni had never heard him use a filler word before. ¡°You should probably leave the tower for right now though. Until someone can repair it. There¡¯s plenty of space in the meeting rooms or the library if you need someplace to relax.¡±


    Book girl perked up.


    ¡°What about the dorms? Sir?¡± Rasha asked, taking a step forward. ¡°The two of us sleep in them.¡±


    She pointed between herself and Harmoni, who remembered, belatedly, to nod along.


    ¡°The thing about magic is, I¡¯m sure repairs will be done by the time you need to sleep. But, if they¡¯re not, we can set something up in the cafeteria. Any other questions?¡±


    Apparently not.


    Tolith gave a single nod. ¡°Good. Now if you¡¯ll excuse me, I have to make sure someone is coming to repair this stone, and I should have a word with the headmaster. If you need anything, you know where to find us.¡±


    "Will the headmaster be able to help?" Rasha asked. She sounded mostly concerned, shaken, after that little run in. But Harmoni could hear the skepticism in her voice, just barely.


    "Of course. I was taught by him back when I was a student, you know? Very powerful magician. He knows his stuff."


    ''Liar,'' Fleck internally scoffed.


    Well not necessarily. Tolith was an adult elf. Who knew how long ago he was a student? The headmaster might genuinely be good at magic, and at teaching it, but he didn''t do that anymore, did he?


    Tolith swept back out of the room, practically gliding down the hall. The rest of them shuffled out, with a bit less grace, and paused just outside the tower.


    And if none of them were saying anything about the fungus monster exploding, Harmoni was not going to bring it up. ''Understand?''


    ¡°So, now does anyone want to play marbles?¡± marble student asked.


    ~~~


    Harmoni did in fact play marbles with him, in a clear patch outside. He had apparently asked the other two when he¡¯d first entered the tower, but they¡¯d said no, so he¡¯d been reduced to just looking at his marbles, counting them up.


    ¡°They could always use a quality check anyway,¡± he said with a shrug.


    They played a few rounds, of which he was far, far better. Harmoni didn¡¯t think she¡¯d ever played before.


    The feeling of horror at her own capabilities didn¡¯t go away per say. It was still awful. The fungus might not have been sentient, but killing two things by accidentally blowing them up wasn¡¯t a good precedent.


    But Fleck was being persistent. He still believed punishment was pointless, only things that stopped another accident from happening were worth her time. And she knew there was nothing she could do to prevent another one immediately. She had practice. She had to get better at magic, and maybe take the barrier around her memories down. So she had to play the waiting game.


    That and the marble game lulled her mind back into a sense of . . . normalcy. The feeling of dread and horror could stay, but they could stay at the bottom of her stomach, where she could ignore them until she could do something.


    But it was getting late. It was getting harder to see their game, and Harmoni wanted to see if she could go back into the dorm room. Most of the tower had been fine. It was just the entryway that had been damaged.


    ''And the ceiling,'' Fleck reminded her. If the ceiling on the first floor was damaged, wouldn''t that effect the higher floors?


    ¡®Would you like me to spend the night with you?¡¯ he offered, stepping closer.


    Harmoni gave him an unimpressed look. He liked it better outside, and they both knew it.


    ''Yeah, but I stayed with you last night. And during the day before that.''


    ''Which makes it all the more logical you go back to the cave tonight.'' She would manage on her own tonight, and she knew Fleck got the picture.


    With that settled, she headed back indoors, and started across the main hall. She slowed when she reached the headmaster¡¯s office. The headmaster and Tolith were still talking.


    ¡°You think someone sabotaged the protections?¡± the headmaster asked.


    ¡°Not exactly what I said.¡±


    ¡°You were implying it.¡±


    A pause. They were both speaking in elvish, but that wasn¡¯t a problem for Harmoni.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tolith confirmed. ¡°There are protections around the school to prevent things like this. You probably know how well they work better than I. And, you¡¯ve seen those fungus creatures before.¡±


    Another silence. It was possible there were some gestures going on here, which of course, Harmoni couldn''t hear.


    Tolith continued. ¡°So, if the wards didn¡¯t need renewing any time soon, and the fungus creatures aren¡¯t strong enough to break them on their own. . .¡±


    ¡°Someone¡¯s been tampering with them,¡± the headmaster concluded. He didn¡¯t sound happy that Tolith was right. ¡°The good news if it¡¯s one of the students, they¡¯ll either have been very sloppy, or they¡¯re more experienced than they¡¯re pretending. Either one should be easy to notice, now that we¡¯re looking.¡±


    ¡°And if it¡¯s not one of the students?¡±


    ¡°Then we have bigger problems than just IDing them.¡±


    Well, that was bad. This conversation was filling Harmoni with dread. But the conversation was clearly winding down, and Harmoni did still have enough sense to start walking again. She didn¡¯t need to be caught obviously eavesdropping.

 57: Organ Donor

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    It was raining.


    It was cold AND raining.


    Despite that, Fleck seemed to like it.


    Fleck shrugged. He was from a desert. This kind of thing was a new experience, and he was more than willing to run across moss in the rain, feeling the small droplets from the sky, and the big droplets from the trees.


    Fleck was out enjoying the weather. Harmoni was inside, in the girl¡¯s dorm. The fire was lit, and she was reading a bad romance book from the library. The sound of the rain outside made her feel all the cozier in here.


    Harmoni¡¯s only class for the day was done. There were the stables to clean, but Fleck had checked them recently and they seemed fine. As in, no sabotage. As long as that stayed true, she had plenty of time, and could clean them at the end of the day. Maybe by then, the rain would die down a bit.


    Fleck shrugged again. If it hadn''t, and getting wet really bothered her that much, he could use his wings as an umbrella.


    In the meantime, Harmoni could just relax.


    Then the door opened, shutting with a slam, before Harmoni even got the chance to look up.


    Rasha was there. She was leaning against the door, trembling slightly. Her expression seemed pretty blank, or maybe Harmoni was just bad at reading it, but her breath was ragged. Harmoni could see that was obvious, even as Rasha tried to compose herself.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Harmoni asked, setting her book aside and sitting up.


    ¡°I-you-you see. . .¡± Rasha grabbed at her horns as she spoke. But then she swallowed, pushed herself off the door, and looked around. Harmoni could see her physically move her head. ¡°Is anyone else in here? Or the bathroom?¡±


    Harmoni shook her head. ¡°No. It¡¯s just us.¡±


    And Rasha could probably see that for herself by now.


    ¡°Something terrible¡¯s happened.¡±


    Well obviously.


    ¡°The potions teacher . . . he. . .¡± Rasha grabbed at a horn again.


    ¡°I can¡¯t read your mind,¡± Harmoni pointed out. She said it as gently as she could, but she really wasn¡¯t sure what to do.


    ¡°He tried to saw off my horns!¡± Rasha snapped.


    ¡°What?!¡± Fleck froze, snapping his head towards the castle with a growl.


    ¡°He-I went to one of those special potions classes of his. This was the second one, actually. And he just. . .that was the reason he had those lessons. So he could take my horns.¡±


    She sounded bitter, but she was still trembling.


    Harmoni didn¡¯t have anything like a horn, but Fleck did.


    On the outside, horns were just a hard dead layer. But there was soft skin underneath, and even if there wasn''t, those were slow growing, permanent fixtures. You didn''t just wack them off like hairs or nails.


    Rasha wasn''t the only one going through some emotions. Fleck clearly was as well, and he was pushing them onto her.


    ¡®No shit,¡¯ Fleck thought, heading towards the castle. ¡®Man¡¯s an organ harvester. From living people.¡¯


    And with the lovely description, Harmoni was getting an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    And she could see a dent at the base of one of Rasha¡¯s horns now. Had that always been there, or had the potions teacher been more successful than Rasha implied? Harmoni hated that she wasn¡¯t sure. Hadn¡¯t paid enough attention until now.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Harmoni asked. "How did you escape?"


    Rasha took a deep, shuddering breath. "He slammed my head into the table by grabbing one of my horns. Something about being easier to take off from that angle." Her voice flip-flopped between being wobbly and nervous, and bitter. "He-he had some sort of tools on the table. When he brought a hand down to grab one, I bit him with my pointy teeth. Then I ran out."


    It was lucky the teacher hadn''t used some sort of potion on her first, to make her weaker. Or maybe he had, and that was how he''d been able to slam her into a table.


    Also, taking horns off someone might not be fatal, but Harmoni had to wonder what the plan was there. What was the potions teacher going to do to make sure he didn''t get caught?


    She didn''t share either of these thoughts with Rasha.


    ''Definetly don''t.'' Thinking of the possibilities just made things worse.


    Rasha rubbed at the base of her horns again. It looked like she was squeezing kind of hard on the one that wasn''t injured. ¡°He¡¯s a teacher. Am I going to get in trouble? He¡¯s bleeding. Maybe . . . maybe I should go to the headmaster.¡±


    Harmoni¡¯s concern got stronger as Rasha spoke. It hardened into . . . something else, then.


    ¡°He won¡¯t help,¡± Harmoni said firmly.


    After all, he hadn¡¯t helped with the map, or Rasha¡¯s diet, or Daphon. They would handle this on their own. She had an idea.


    Harmoni got up and headed for the door. ¡°Come on.¡±


    ~~~


    ¡°. . . Well, I must say you¡¯re creative.¡±


    Evin stared down at the group. Harmoni and Fleck stood side by side at the front, Fleck having used his sense of smell to track Evin down. Rasha stood behind them. If you didn¡¯t count her horns, she was shorter than Harmoni, and she was slouching right now.


    Thunder rumbled outside the stables. That was not where they''d found Evin, but he had been out in the rain, and Harmoni did want a bit of shelter. They''d need it for this plan, if Evin agreed to it.


    ¡°You think it won¡¯t work,¡± Harmoni said bluntly.


    ¡°Oh, I never said that. People like your teacher sound like they could use my curse. That would be funny," he sighed wistfully. "Anyway, there''s a very good chance he will get scared off at the first sign of trouble. But I''ll warn you, the next most likely thing he''ll do is double down like he''s got something to prove. There''s not much in between with his type."


    Harmoni frowned. She did believe Evin''s expertise on this one. She turned around.


    "Rasha?" It was her situation after all.


    Rasha pressed her lips together and looked at the floor. She looked up a moment later. "I-I''d like to try your idea," she agreed. "E''in? Are you going to help?"


    She didn''t look or sound any more confident than before, but she was agreeing to it, even taking some initiative, so Harmoni believed her. And it seemed Evin did too.


    "Of course I am. We''re friends." Well that was new, even if he clearly just meant Rasha. "Well then.¡±


    Evin held his arm out over Fleck. Small amounts of slime dripped off onto the dragon. Evin frowned, Harmoni could tell from the changes to the visible parts of his face. He swung his arm like when you didn¡¯t have a towel to dry off, and a much larger pile of sludge fell onto Fleck.


    Fleck glowered at the open space ahead of him. Had he mentioned how much he hated the smell?


    ¡®A few times.¡¯


    Luckily it was for a good cause.


    Harmoni didn''t believe the headmaster would help them. She''d cooked up a plan using the people and resources they did have. She''d thought it up so fast she surprised even herself in hindsight, but Fleck approved, and it seemed the other two did as well.


    They would cover Fleck in Evin¡¯s dark green slime. Make him an unrecognizable, and terrifying, monster. The potions teacher had done some self sabotage there. Potions Class was the one Fleck was least likely to join Harmoni in, because of what had happened their first day. That meant the potions teacher had seen him the least often, and was least likely to realize who it was.


    Anyway, Fleck would then scare the teacher into leaving Rasha alone. Fleck was pretty large these days, and had the sharp teeth and claws. The slime might even contribute to the fear factor.


    And the potions teacher wouldn¡¯t necessarily think Rasha had anything to do with this, not directly. After all, how could she? Meanwhile, there were many unexplained phenomenon in the galaxy. From his perspective, this could be one of them.


    And if it didn''t work? Well, she doubted Rasha would go around completely defenseless after this. They''d cross that bridge if they had to.


    ¡°How are you going to communicate?¡± Evin asked. At Harmoni and Rasha¡¯s blank expressions, he scoffed and explained. ¡°Well, you need him to know this is in some way connected to his attack on Rasha, yeah? Or at least that''s it''s not a random attack from one of the monsters out there, and won''t go away as easily. That¡¯s not intuitive. But he won¡¯t understand Fleck and he¡¯d recognize both of your voices. You have some sort of visual that will make the connection?¡±


    Harmoni felt herself slouch. She, again, had thought of this plan fairly quickly. And once she''d had it, she hadn''t worked out many details.


    ¡°I expected something like this,¡± Evin said, flicking his hand and dropping more slime on Fleck. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I can¡¯t handle that part as well.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Harmoni asked.


    ¡°Sure. Watching this go down will be funny.¡±

 58: Diversion

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Harmoni and Rasha slipped back into the tower. They would want to be in bed when Fleck and Evin completed their step, just in case there was a way to check, say through magic, where Rasha was. But while Harmoni went for the stairs, Rasha stepped to the side, going to the wall under the stairs.


    ¡°Rasha? What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Using the shortcut.¡± Rasha shrugged. ¡°I guess you can take the long way if you like.¡±


    Then she stepped into the area beneath the stairs, and was seemingly swallowed by shadows. Harmoni stepped closer without going under. From what she could see and hear, Rasha really had vanished.


    ¡°Why am I just finding out about this now?!¡± Harmoni cried, in a way she wouldn¡¯t if she wasn¡¯t alone.


    Fleck chuckled from where he was outside. He had no trouble knowing where the potions teacher slept. His sense of smell could lead him. The window he''d stopped at was about as close as he could get. (Didn''t want to dribble slime all over the castle.) But now he should get through. Wanted to be in the room before he was noticed.


    Harmoni clenched her fists. She stepped into darkness. The next step she took dropped her off on their floor landing. She opened the door. Yes, this was certainly the right dorm room. She recognized her bag under the bed, could see Eddie sleeping in the bed closest to the stairs, and could see Rasha sitting on her own bed.


    Harmoni took a seat on her own bed, facing Rasha. She could tell through Fleck that everything seemed to go well. Fleck couldn''t understand the specific words Evin or the potions teacher were saying, if any, but both Fleck and Evin played their parts, and the teacher certainly seemed afraid.


    He even fled the bedroom.


    Harmoni relayed the message, the general idea. She was quiet and vague, in a way where it wouldn''t make sense unless you already knew the context. She was almost positive Eddie was asleep, based on the sound of her breathing, but she didn''t want to wake her up.


    Rasha smiled, tight-lipped. "Thank you. I-" She reached for Harmoni. She paused just above Harmoni''s hand. When Harmoni didn''t react, she took it. "I mean it. And I''m sorry. The way you acted, before tonight, I thought you didn''t like me. Or I should lea''e you alone. I misjudged you.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Thank you.¡±


    They went silent after that. Maybe Harmoni was supposed to say more, but what did you say to that?


    Possibly acknowledge her own weird behavior.


    Before Harmoni could try that out, there was a groan, and Eddie rolled over. She sat up, looking at the two. ¡°What are you two still doing up? It¡¯s two in the morning.¡±


    It was?


    Harmoni glanced at the clock. And so it was.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Rasha apologized, slouching.


    Harmoni nodded. "Good night." She dropped back onto her own bed.


    Eddie watched the two of them for a moment longer, before lying down, and presumably falling back to sleep as well.


    ~~~


    The next day was normal. Rasha sat next to Harmoni for History of Magic, the first time she''d done that, and Harmoni found she liked it. Rasha confirmed that it was, indeed, mostly history of Iva¡¯s magic. When they left Rasha told Harmoni a bit about her own planet''s history of magic. And the planet, Morgou, in general. Apparently, the days were 375 hours long, instead of 26 like Xentron, or 20 like Iva.


    Harmoni couldn''t help but gape at that. "How does sleeping work?"


    "Oh the amount of daylight doesn''t really matter," Rasha explained with a shrug. "We sleep in shifts. I mean, the world and life keeps happening while you sleep, even when it''s dark. It would be crazy to all sleep at the same time."


    Fleck openly laughed while Harmoni tried to hide her own embarrassment.


    Harmoni wished she could return the favor, but she wasn¡¯t even sure what her home planet was.


    Not Iva, or Xentron. Possibly Morivon? It was the most likely place to find humans, of which she was half, and she did subconsciously use Morivon as a standard.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ''Possibly.''


    After History of Magic, Harmoni went to clean out the stables. Rasha joined her, so she joined her for her own task of cleaning inside the school. Even if Harmoni couldn''t talk about her home planet, she told Rasha a bit about Xentron. The imp''s eyes shifted from slit to round with awe when she explained how big some of the creatures there got. (It wasn''t just dragons, after all.)


    Spending so much of the day with someone hadn¡¯t happened in a while. Harmoni hadn¡¯t realized she missed it until now.


    ''Like when you didn¡¯t notice you were hungry, until you started eating.''


    ¡®Something like that.¡¯


    And nothing bad happened the whole day. But the next day did have a Potions Class scheduled.


    Apparently, no one had seen the potions teacher since before Fleck had scared him off, but none of the three were sure what to expect.


    It was actually Rasha who was more for going to class. If she did have to see the teacher again, she wanted it to be in a classroom full of other students.


    Harmoni wouldn''t have blamed her if she wanted to pretend to be sick.


    Fleck was in Harmoni''s head. He knew she''d considered taking Rasha, and heading for the hills.


    ''Considered, yes.''


    But where would they possibly go? Aside from the cost of space travel, not many ships came to Iva. The idea of trekking to a different part of Iva instead did, admittedly, have its appeal. The planet was beautiful.


    ''Admittedly, yes.''


    But Harmoni was the only one who spoke Elvish. On the home planet of the elves.


    Anyway, this was Rasha''s choice. So the two started down the hall, for the potions room.


    Then an explosion sounded from around the corner, the boom ringing in Harmoni¡¯s ears, the smell of smoke hitting the hall even without Fleck''s great nose.


    ¡°Holy shit waffles!¡± Rasha shouted. ¡°Are we getting attacked by a monster again?!¡±


    Harmoni didn¡¯t think that was right. And there was a scream. This one didn¡¯t have words. It was just a long, drawn out, scream. Coming from the potions room, around the corner. And Harmoni recognized the voice.


    She raced around the corner. Smoke was coming out of the potions room, the door flung off its hinges. Harmoni could see droplets of blood in the doorway, but she couldn¡¯t see inside properly. Bad angle, and too much smoke.


    Harmoni kept moving, but as she reached the doorway, she hit a mostly invisible wall, stumbling away. It was like glass. She could just barely tell if it was there or not.


    ¡°Get back.¡±


    Harmoni looked further down the hall. Tolith was there, crystal ball in hand. Based on the expression he was making, he was creating the clear wall.


    ¡°Wesles is in there!¡± Harmoni shouted.


    The gnome had stopped screaming, but Harmoni could still hear pained, panicked, rasps of breath from inside. That couldn¡¯t be good. He was getting weaker. He was going to slowly die right in front of Harmoni.


    ¡°I know,¡± Tolith said. He was, thankfully, moving to the door now. ¡°But you need to stay out of the way.¡±


    The clear wall dropped. Tolith stepped inside and the wall went back up behind him.


    Harmoni stood there. Rasha had joined her at some point. She stood just behind Harmoni, mouth covered.


    Wesles was carried out a moment later, but neither of them got to see him. Tolith had tossed some sort of white cloth over his body, carrying him in one arm, and presumably healing him with the crystal ball in his other arm.


    Wesles was still breathing. Harmoni could hear him breathing, and kept reminding herself of that.


    If the goal was to hide the damage from them though, Tolith could¡¯ve used a cloth in any other color. Dark red stains were obvious on multiple parts of it, spreading in one place. And while Wesles was small, the bundle seemed even smaller.


    Harmoni thought, distantly, that she should maybe stop looking. That she would regret staring so hard later, of memorizing every little detail. But she didn¡¯t tear her gaze away.


    Other students had shown up as well by now. A quick ¡°out of my way¡± got Tolith past any blocking him. Then he was out of sight, leaving everyone to stand in the hallway.


    It was Lona who finally broke the silence. ¡°What do we do now?¡±


    Most everyone looked at her, but Harmoni was still staring at the door to the potions room.


    Lona started to, nervously, elaborate. ¡°Uh, I mean, we¡¯re not having Potions now. Uh, are we?¡±


    Harmoni, meanwhile, moved towards the door. She was vaguely aware of someone staring at her, and Rasha calling out to her, but they were easy to ignore.


    The potions room was still filled with smoke. There was a small fire or two, in places where there was actually something to burn. So much of the place had been blackened or broken.


    The worst was the table Harmoni and Wesles normally sat at. It looked like it had maybe buckled in the middle, but so much of it had splintered apart it was hard to tell. And starting at the table, and sliding back towards the door, was blood. Well, not just blood. The trail also included something that was probably burnt flesh, something squishy that was probably an eye, and a bit of bone. The bone was in too many small shards to identify where it came from.


    Wesles had clearly been alive a few seconds ago. He¡¯d been screaming. She¡¯d heard him breath when Tolith took him away. But this looked . . . bad.


    Suddenly, someone grabbed her shoulder and pulled her around. Harmoni¡¯s eyes went wide, her heart skipped a beat, and she almost panicked further. Then the person who had grabbed her spoke.


    ¡°Are you listening?¡± the headmaster asked. ¡°I said you shouldn¡¯t be in here.¡±


    The headmaster. It had just been the headmaster. Oh God. If she wasn¡¯t careful, if he hadn¡¯t spoken up. . .


    She could¡¯ve made the headmaster explode.


    Fleck wasn¡¯t too sure of that.


    ¡®You¡¯re just saying that.¡¯


    ¡®I¡¯m not.¡¯


    Harmoni had felt surprise and fear the last two times, true. But she felt that when she was pushed down the stairs as well, or when Evin threatened her, or when Cembra threatened her. Those two things couldn''t be the only requirements, and it wasn¡¯t going to happen now.


    . . . But he could tell she felt bad. He wished he could come to her, but he and Asplenium had left the castle and gone farther into the forest to get food. It wouldn¡¯t be a short trip back. An hour? Maybe less if he let Asplenium carry him. . .


    ¡®No. I¡¯m fine.¡¯ Well that was an obvious lie. ¡®I will be fine.'' And she was already connected to Fleck. His physical presence sometimes helped, but she didn''t think it would in this case. ''I¡¯m more upset about Wesles than anything else.¡¯


    Understandable.

 59: Interruption

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Harmoni mumbled to the headmaster.


    He put an arm loosely on her shoulder, and guided her back out. Then he stood up straight in front of the door, eyes sweeping over everyone in the hall.


    ¡°Weslessinal is still alive,¡± he assured them. ¡°You will be able to visit him, but not today. He needs time to recover, and to get further healing.¡±


    The headmaster drew in a deep breath, and continued. ¡°As you can see, we won¡¯t be having Potions Class today. However, our classroom will be repaired soon. As the beginner class, I believe your next scheduled class is on Friday? You may return then.¡± He clapped his hands together. ¡°Dismissed.¡±


    ~~~


    Harmoni had trouble sleeping that night. She kept smelling smoke or blood that wasn¡¯t there. When she closed her eyes she could see the ruined classroom, or Tolith taking Wesles away. One flash wasn¡¯t even that. It was of the slaughter of Wyss Village, though it was a bit odd. The angle that she was looking down from, when she closed her eyes, didn¡¯t seem right.


    She supposed she was doing better than Rasha, who woke up screaming. Wait, was that because of Wesles, or because of her horns?


    Rasha didn¡¯t specify, when Harmoni asked. Just assured her she was fine. ¡°Do you want tea? I¡¯ve got some. We could heat it up in the common room,¡± she offered instead.


    ¡®I think she partly wants the company,¡¯ Fleck thought, nudging Harmoni to accept.


    He didn¡¯t need to. Even she understood this time. And yes, that sounded good.


    (And they''d be able to leave Eddie alone. She''d woken up to the scream, but otherwise seemed to be sleeping soundly.)


    The two went down, the only ones in the common room. Rasha used the fireplace to heat up water, creating an uneven orange glow as the only light in the room, while Harmoni set out the two cups Rasha had brought down on the round table. They were two fancy, fragile, tea cups instead of mugs. She even found something they could put the kettle on when it was done, so it wouldn''t burn the table.


    "Sorry," Rasha said, pouring the tea. "Our sleep schedule''s going to be ''ery off."


    Harmoni shrugged, even though with the shorter days, this kind of thing did make a difference. "We''ve only got the one class tomorrow, yes? The History of Magic one?"


    "Actually, uh." Rasha shifted her weight, holding her cup. "I''ve been taking a class on naturally found magical items as well."


    Huh. Harmoni didn''t remember seeing that one on the list.


    ''Well the list was pretty long, and Harmoni hadn''t looked super thoroughly.''


    ''What are you doing awake anyway?''


    ''Notice you didn''t care when I was helping out. And I woke up because of your dreams.''


    Right. Made sense.


    She focused back in on Rasha. Communicated with Fleck didn''t take very long in real time, but she should still respond before too long.


    "Oh? How''s that going?" She took a sip of the tea. It tasted good and sweet, though also a bit grainy. Like someone had put a rock in it.


    "Alright," Rasha shrugged. "I was hoping we''d learn about naturally found magical items that actually do something. And we have. Apparently there are items that just cause a random magical effect, like turning your hair blue or making things float, none of your power required. But a lot of the class is more finding items you can warp to your will. For example, if you find a tree with more magic than most, you could probably use it to make wands or staffs. Shouldn''t kill the tree though. That would be ruining a naturally made gift, and would probably cause it to stop working." She paused to take a sip of her tea.


    "Say, if you only have one class Tuesdays and Thursdays, what do you do all day?" Rasha asked.


    So Harmoni tried to explain how she spent the days. Practicing feeling magic, spending time with Fleck, readings books.


    It was nothing really. They were talking about nothing. Either they''d exhausted other topics really fast, or neither could be bothered to think of something more substantial right now. But it was nice. And when the tea was finished, and they went upstairs, they were both able to a be a bit more restful, for the rest of the night.


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ~~~


    Harmoni put on a new sweater.


    She¡¯d traded it for another dragon scale, but Fleck didn¡¯t mind. It was obviously getting cold out, and Harmoni had wanted nice clothes.


    A light blue sweater wasn¡¯t what Harmoni would consider dress clothes.


    But it was the nicest thing she owned.


    ¡®Fair.¡¯


    Besides, now that she''d been here a little longer, she understood the value of his scale better.


    True. She had gotten other, if less fun, things with it as well. Like more undergarments and a new toothbrush.


    Anyway. No shopping today.


    She headed out of the school, and started down one of the well-worn trails. Unlike most of the other major ones, this didn¡¯t lead to either of the closest towns. Harmoni didn¡¯t think it led anywhere in particular. There were other paths like that around the castle. So far as Harmoni could tell, they were simply used as nature trails, with no particular destination in mind.


    It was Thursday. She¡¯d had History of Magic. There were no more classes for the day. Rasha was away at her magical item class. Wesles probably still couldn''t have visitors. And after everything that had happened in the past two days, Harmoni felt rather . . . drained. She could use some space. Well, with one exception.


    Fleck came out of the stables as she passed, and fell into step beside her.


    Harmoni smiled. She didn¡¯t even smile at him per say. She just smiled, and he knew it, and he was happy to see her too.


    At first, they just walked along, enjoying the new sights and smells. It really was so different from Xentron here, with the cool damp air hitting their faces. The sky seemed grayer and less intense even on sunny days. And the trees and bushes, spaced kind of far apart and smaller than the colossal trees Harmoni had seen in Xentron''s forest. It was also, on the negative side, almost eerily quiet compared to how forests were supposed to sound.


    Harmoni could hear waves, and Fleck could smell salt, but neither of them could see the pink ocean. They were running parallel to it, but this trail wasn¡¯t particularly close.


    Harmoni came across a tree with a wide trunk, with moss growing on it.


    ¡°Is that a good spot?¡± Fleck asked.


    Out loud.


    Fleck shrugged. The only other person he spoke out loud to, with words, was Asplenium. And Tolith, he supposed. He¡¯d take the excuse.


    Harmoni nodded, both in understanding, and answering his question. The trunk was wide enough to lie against, and the moss would make this a soft spot.


    Fleck sniffed the air, but couldn¡¯t pick up the scent of anyone nearby. He was pretty sure Evin spent some time here, but the smell was old and stale.


    So Harmoni laid against the tree. Fleck curled up next to her, and she set her hand on his head. She stared out at the trees and bushes around them and let herself feel magic, the power of the universe, again.


    She¡¯d had enough practice, in class and on her own time, it wasn¡¯t hard to find the feeling this time. Soon, she was surrounded by the metaphorical glow of magic. While she still didn¡¯t like the feeling of her own, she could experience it without breaking her connection now.


    With that done, she tried to find the barrier, the magical wall she supposedly had.


    She wasn¡¯t sure how long it took to find. Time was a little blurry when she and Fleck did this. But she did succeed. There was something around a part of her magic, like the shield Tolith had put up against the potions room. Hard to notice unless you were looking for it or ran into it, but undeniably there and firm against any pushes to it.


    Well, Harmoni would try anyway.


    Ava had mentioned something like this in class, in part because Harmoni asked, wording her question vaguely. Magic like this, a long-term spell, still required magical energy. If you stood out in the rain with a magic rainproof coat for long enough, the enchantment would wear off. Harmoni¡¯s necklace was hiding the presence of her dark magic. It had a lot of energy left, but that was also slowly being drained. Rial had mentioned that. Ergo, putting magical energy against the magical barrier, would eventually cause it to break.


    But what was the best way to do that?


    Harmoni thought about magic in metaphors. With light, or Rial¡¯s water metaphor. So she continued that.


    She tried to pouring magic against the barrier, like a drill. It was like trying to drill metal. Unpleasant, and ineffective.


    Harmoni was new to magic, changing the metaphor and making that actually work could be difficult. But to the best of her ability, she tried to imagine her attack as more of a sledgehammer than a drill. Rather than continuously pushing on it, she slammed it repeatedly. She tried to find a metaphorical crack, a weak point where maybe she could start. It wasn¡¯t working. The barrier seemed perfect, with no weak spots to go for. And she was going to drain her own magical energy long before she drained this thing. She didn¡¯t think she¡¯d changed it at all yet.


    Was that unusual, or was she just shit at magic? Fleck was a magical being. Maybe they could pool their power to attack the barrier. But she wasn''t exactly experienced with magic. Would she be able to do that without breaking her connection?


    As if to answer the question, Harmoni¡¯s own thoughts brought her out of her connection with magic. She quickly took a deep breath, and tried to reconnect.


    Fleck didn¡¯t want to interrupt, but he was pretty sure Harmoni was getting tired, and since she''d been forced to pause anyway, now was a good time to bring it up.


    ''Someone''s out by the pink ocean. In fact, I''m pretty sure a ship just landed.''


    ¡®What?!¡¯ She didn''t think a ship had been out there since she arrived.


    Harmoni snapped back into focus. Literally. Her body gave a little spasm.


    Fleck hadn¡¯t been kidding when he called her tired. She felt herself falling back towards the tree trunk. Continuing to sit upright was tiring. Keeping her eyes open was hard. She hadn¡¯t noticed while she was connected to magic, too busy trying to use it.


    Meanwhile, Fleck shifted onto his back feet, front ones in the air.


    ¡®A ship''s landed at the pink ocean,'' he repeated, with more certainty. ''And I''m pretty sure you want to know about that.''


    ''I do. Let''s see what''s there.''

 60: Familiar Encounter

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Fleck knew there was a ship out by the pink ocean. And he knew people had gotten off by now. But that wasn''t super closer, and the smells of ocean and spaceship were stronger than the smell of any individual person.


    He wanted to know who was there, and he knew Harmoni did too. She was just, having a little trouble.


    Using the trunk to support herself, Harmoni shakily got to her feet. At one point, a leg buckled, and Fleck caught her.


    They started for the ocean, going off the trail. There wasn¡¯t enough undergrowth for cutting through the forest to be a problem.


    Something was unusual here. He could tell two different people had left the ocean, their scent getting stronger. And they seemed. . .familiar. As they got closer, he was pretty sure one of the people was a colbber. And the other. . .seemed like a dragon.


    He stopped, eyes widening.


    Harmoni figured it out at the same time as Fleck. She knew who it was when the bushes started rustling in front of her, and two blurs came racing through. It was still a surprise though.


    ¡°Harmoni!¡± Cooper cried, launching into a hug. He lifted her up, and it was a good thing, because she was not sure she¡¯d stay standing otherwise. ¡°It¡¯s so good to see you!¡±


    Moon¡¯s greeting was similar. She jumped on top of Fleck, only one leg and her tail landing on the ground. Her tongue hung out a bit, like a dog. Then she pulled away and started jumping back and forth, getting a better look at him.


    Fleck had liked the bit of tussling. He rolled his eyes at the change, but looked at her as well. Moon had gotten bigger, about the same height and a little longer than him. She was lean, compared to his boxy build.


    Harmoni laughed, just a little, thanks to Fleck¡¯s overwhelming feelings. But, she had her own feelings to work on.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± she asked Cooper. ¡°How are you here?¡±


    ¡°We came to see you, obviously,¡± Cooper said. ¡°And uh, it was sort of hard to get here, but a ship was coming from Xentron anyway. Made it possible to get a lift.¡±


    Ah.


    That wasn¡¯t insignificant. Sure, maybe you could fly one way, but there was the trip back as well. And spaceships weren¡¯t common to Iva. Harmoni wasn¡¯t even sure if they had any spacestations, or if all ships just landed where they could, like this shallow ocean.


    She sort of wanted to yell at Cooper.


    She wanted to be mad at Cooper in general, but she wasn¡¯t. Not completely. And Fleck wasn¡¯t at all. He was touched, and excited to see the familiar faces.


    ¡®You¡¯re just glad you have someone you can speak out loud to,¡¯ Harmoni thought. Before now, she and Asplenium were the only options.


    Well, maybe. But that made Moon and Cooper¡¯s action more sweet, not less.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad we found you. What have you been doing?¡± Cooper stepped back and held his hands out. He didn¡¯t sound angry, just . . . concerned. ¡°You just vanished without a trace. I went to Udo, but he didn¡¯t know where you were either, and apparently he couldn¡¯t call you on the Link? I traced the Link when he mentioned that. It¡¯s how I knew what planet you were on. But even then, I couldn¡¯t get a very specific location, and the Link died shortly after? It''s a good thing you were close by, so Moon''s sense of smell could help.¡±


    Yes, colbbers could trace technology like that, couldn''t they? That''s how they''d found Harmoni when she was kidnapped. But last she checked, Cooper hadn''t been able to. It''s why they''d used a different colbber.


    ¡°Udo and I were really worried,¡± Cooper finished.


    ¡°You were?¡± Harmoni managed, putting that thought aside for the moment.


    Cooper sputtered for a moment, mechanical hand twitching. ¡°Of course?¡± He sighed, and his voice and expression became a little slower. ¡°You¡¯re my friend. I don¡¯t know exactly how Udo sees you, but you matter to him too. Someone I care about vanishing without a trace, on a planet with a shaky idea of law, right after you were kidnapped? Yeah. I was going to worry. And, you know, the galaxy is a big place. Nine planets? Where do you even start when someone disappears?¡±


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    The dragon¡¯s reunion was less intense. The two were content to lightly wrestle each other, and catch each other up on what they¡¯d been doing.


    "We saw the baby dragons! You know, the ones you two rescued from the Dalton labs?" Moon had been telling him. "They''re doing much better. They were playing with the other dragons their age when we went. And they''re looking healthier. Some of them look like nothing ever went wrong at all. They wanted us to pass along their thanks. Which is what I''m doing. Right now."


    But it would be hard to ignore the rider¡¯s conversation, even if they wanted to.


    Harmoni was having a bit of trouble keeping up. Oh she was processing the words, and she felt a little bad as Cooper''s sank in. But it was taking longer to do that and form a coherent response than usual, still tired from trying magic and listening to two topics. At least it was nice to hear about the babies.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± she said. ¡°I thought-with Cembra and Ferren-¡±


    Cooper cut her off, putting a finger to her lips. ¡°Woah, wait. This has to do with Ferren?¡±


    ¡°Sort of.¡±


    Ferren had told her to get lost, and she had done so. But that was only because she¡¯d rightly called out Harmoni¡¯s dark magic, after Harmoni used it to kill someone.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Cooper took a step back. ¡°It¡¯s just, Udo and Ferren had some sort of falling out. I don¡¯t know if she¡¯s officially fired, but something happened, and I haven''t seen her at the spa in a while. I guess it has something to do with you.¡±


    Maybe that was supposed to make Harmoni feel better, but it just made her feel worse instead. Maybe it was time to change the subject.


    She looked back up at Cooper. This really just involved not looking at the ground. Harmoni was taller than him. She hadn''t been before, when she last saw him.


    Filing that away. She let herself smile sincerely. It wasn¡¯t hard. ¡°I¡¯m glad you came. It¡¯s good to see a friend again. But, uh, about getting back. . .¡±


    ¡°Oh. Don¡¯t worry. The spaceship here goes back to Xentron in a week. Apparently the planets are doing some kind of supply trade?¡±


    ¡°We helped!¡± Moon exclaimed, poking her head up.


    Fleck was pinning her shoulder down, but she didn¡¯t seem to mind.


    ¡°Yeah, apparently Moon¡¯s ability to freeze things was nice.¡±


    ¡°And your ability to lift,¡± Moon snorted.


    Given space was already cold and frozen, the bizarre nature of Cooper¡¯s statement was not lost on Fleck.


    ¡°So uh, we can go back in a week.¡± Cooper rubbed the back of his head, with his flesh hand. ¡°I was sort of hoping you¡¯d come back with us.¡±


    Harmoni smiled still, but it was strained.


    Fleck would describe it as sad.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t. I loved Xentron.¡±


    And she was a little surprised to realize she meant it. Despite its problems Harmoni had liked Xentron. It wasn¡¯t just a place she passively accepted being in, and it wasn¡¯t just Fleck¡¯s emotions sloshing into hers (though that probably played a role). It was a place she genuinely enjoyed and would chose to be at.


    ¡°And I missed you.¡± And Udo and Aqua. ¡°But I started going to the magic school here.¡±


    ¡°You mean like, the one I took a pamphlet for?¡±


    Harmoni nodded. ¡°The same. So. If I left now, I wouldn¡¯t get much learning done.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Well, it¡¯s a shame you won¡¯t be coming back, but I don¡¯t blame you!¡± Cooper quickly assured her. ¡°That sounds really cool! In fact! Do you think, maybe, you could show me around?¡±


    Fleck and Moon paused what they were doing.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± Fleck asked. ¡°Think we should tour with them?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Moon seemed pretty eager to explore a magic school that wouldn¡¯t be any good for her. But then again, so was Cooper. ¡°But you have to show me where you¡¯ve been hanging out as well. I doubt it¡¯s just this school.¡±


    ~~~


    Harmoni, Cooper, and the dragons had a fun wander. Harmoni showed him the stables where she worked, and the tower where she lived. She showed him the cafeteria, and mentioned what the classrooms were for as they passed, if she knew.


    Moon and Fleck listened, but also talked a bit as they traversed the halls. There was certainly time in between destinations.


    Apparently, Moon had joined some other dragons in playing ice ball. It was a bit like hockey, but instead of a puck there was a round ball made of ice. And the dragons used their legs or tails to hit the ball. (Using their wings or mouth was against the rules.) And since the dragons used their own ice to make the "rink", and they were creatures that could fly, the playing area could take on some interesting configurations. Slopes or platforms were common. Apparently, Moon had helped make some interesting spiral configurations. There were regular meetings, and she''d had fun playing.


    Without Cooper. Or any other riders. Harmoni had never felt like Fleck was overprotective, and she still didn''t think so, but now she was a bit concerned. After all, the only time he seemed to meet other dragons was when they were with a rider of their own.


    ''I can''t play ice ball. I can''t breath ice.'' Or anything else.


    Harmoni frowned. ''You need to breath ice to make the rink, but you don''t need it to play the rest of the game, do you?''


    ''Don''t lose track of your tour.''


    She hadn''t.


    They poked their heads into a few classrooms, but Harmoni didn''t want to disrupt things if there was a class going on, and the empty rooms themselves weren¡¯t that interesting. Except maybe the potions room.


    It smelled like it had never been damaged.


    But the door was locked, and Cooper couldn¡¯t put anything in the key hole. It would fail like he was pressing it against the door, instead of an opening, bouncing away.


    ¡°There was a little accident with the potions room,¡± Harmoni told him.


    ¡®Keeping it vague I see.¡¯


    ¡°I guess they put up some magic defenses.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Cooper drooped, but it only lasted a second. ¡°Maybe I can see the room when there¡¯s a class.¡±


    Fleck remembered how it had gone when a dragon tried to go into the room. Harmoni was remembering that, and Rasha¡¯s situation as well. But while Harmoni was worried, Fleck thought it would be hilarious. And yes, even if the same potions teacher did dare show his face, it would be safe. There''d be two dragons to make sure of it.


    "But, uh," Cooper continued, "We can leave for now. If there''s anything else you want to show me, let''s go there."

 61: Tour

    The last stop on Harmoni¡¯s tour was the library. Cooper really seemed to like that. He¡¯d walked in with a smile, but he¡¯d slowed to a stop once inside, and looked around with wide eyes.


    He turned back to Harmoni. He bobbed up and down on the spot in excitement, but it was contained, and he kept his voice down when he spoke. ¡°Do you understand how much magic stuff is here?¡± Well, it was a magic school. The library had more books than just that, obviously. But the magic stuff was front and center. ¡°This stuff is-you don¡¯t just find it just anywhere. There are people on Xentron who would sell their limbs on the black market for books like these.¡±


    Harmoni sincerely hoped that was hyperbolic, but she was starting to think she should¡¯ve looked at this library more.


    Well, she''d only been on Iva, a month? Maybe? No time like now. Cooper wanted to read some of the books, so Harmoni sat down next to him, and grabbed another from the shelves.


    Fleck and Moon, on the other hand, headed back out. Fleck was going to take her flying, see some of the his favorite spots from above.


    ¡°OK, but what about the other dragon?¡± Moon asked. ¡°You mentioned there was one here.¡±


    Fleck nodded. ¡°And there is. And we¡¯ll see him. At the end. You seriously want to be bothered by an adult right now?¡±


    Harmoni tried not to laugh. Cooper, apparently, didn¡¯t try. A little snort came from him even as he looked at an open book.


    He was reading some sort of theory book. Ideas on what the power of the universe was. Where it came from. If it could be measured or explained in any way, other than handwaving it as magic.


    Harmoni¡¯s first thought was that you could measure it. After all, obviously some people and things attracted more of the flow than others. But she¡¯d never heard of say, a unit of measurement, which seemed like it should come up in Ava¡¯s class if it existed. Maybe it would? Further into the year?


    Beside him, Cooper also had a book on natural magic. Places or items that had magic, that created magical effects without any input from sentient beings, like what Rasha had talked about. Then there was a book on potions, and one on the history of magic, all stacked up beside him.


    Harmoni was glad Cooper found something that made him so happy, but she did wonder if he was really planning to read all of those, in their entirety. She was pretty sure they¡¯d be kicked out for the day before he finished.


    Well, she wouldn¡¯t worry about that yet. If he wanted to take the books with them, she could always check them out for him.


    She picked up the history book. Looking at the table of contents and flipping through some pages, it seemed to talk about magical history for all the species, and not exclusively the elves on Iva like History class had covered so far.


    Fleck meanwhile, was having a great time giving Moon a tour of his own. He showed her his favorite places to hang out, both in the forest and the caves. Except the cave Asplenium slept in. He¡¯d show her that later, when they were ready to bump into Asplenium. He showed her the lake on top of the cliff, and places he and Asplenium had worked on flight. He flew across the area he and Asplenium usually hunted in, further East, and the burbling stream that cut through the forest there.


    He commented on what was good to eat around here, and shared stories of some adventures, both ones he¡¯d had with Harmoni and on his own. He¡¯d gone from so little talking to so much talking, his voice would probably hurt later.


    He mentioned watching over Harmoni, and once again, got a bit more push back than he was expecting.


    Moon rolled her eyes. And OK, that wasn¡¯t much pushback. Fleck could¡¯ve left it alone. He didn¡¯t.


    ¡°What? You think I shouldn¡¯t protect my rider?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t see me protecting Copper, now do you? How many times has Harmoni actually been in danger.¡±


    ¡°Five.¡±


    Moon stopped, drifting down and forward as her wings hung there. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You heard me. Five times, in the three or so months that we¡¯ve been bonded. And I could count more, I¡¯m sticking to the simple and unambivalent times.¡±


    For example he was counting the kidnapping as one continuous threat, and wasn¡¯t counting the fact that Harmoni had been taught by an organ harvester for the past three weeks.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°That . . . that is unusually high,¡± Moon said. ¡°Unless the number of times Copper is in danger is unusually low. I mean, we have a threat we¡¯re looking out for, but it hasn¡¯t come up often.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re telling me you wouldn¡¯t help if it did come up? That you¡¯re not already actively helping him out?¡±


    Moon finally remembered to flap, adjusting her wings before she plummeted. She looked away from Fleck as she worked. For a moment she did look like she felt bad. But she didn¡¯t comment on it, instead sticking out her tongue at him.


    Fleck laughed. He¡¯d won.


    Harmoni was reading her book, but she was also eavesdropping. Did it really count as eavesdropping if you were connected to someone?


    She slouched. She felt a bit bad for always getting into trouble, even if Fleck didn¡¯t blame her, even going so far as to blame himself for failing to protect her. It seemed he''d get less flack if that didn''t happen.


    She was still sitting like that when an excited gasp came from further down the aisle. ¡°Harmoni, you have another friend?¡±


    Harmoni frowned. Wesles was also her friend.


    She and Cooper looked up, Cooper still holding his book upright, to see Rasha in the middle of the aisle. She was smiling very wide, pointy teeth on full display.


    ¡°You know this person?¡± Cooper asked Harmoni.


    ¡°She sure does,¡± Rasha answered before Harmoni could. ¡°I¡¯m Rasha.¡± She held out a hand. As Cooper shook it, she closed her mouth, smile dipping a bit. ¡°You¡¯re not a student here, right? I mean, I guess you could be joining late. I just . . . don¡¯t think that¡¯s likely.¡±


    Cooper still smiled, but it looked a little strained. ¡°You¡¯re right, I guess. I¡¯m Harmoni¡¯s friend. I was just visiting. But I like magic, and this library¡¯s impressive.¡±


    ¡°It is,¡± Rasha agreed, with a bit less enthusiasm.


    ¡°Anyway, my name¡¯s Cooper. I came to visit for a week.¡±


    ¡°A whole week?!¡± Rasha gasped. ¡°Oh man. There¡¯s so much you can see.¡±


    ¡°Really? What else have you got?¡±


    Rasha¡¯s pointy teeth flashed as impressively as a shark. ¡°There¡¯s a cliff nearby that¡¯s really good for star gazing. And you¡¯ve probably seen the pink ocean, but there¡¯s some cool caves there too, along the cliffside. Er. There¡¯s cool caves if you¡¯re there for low tide. They¡¯re more, er, the putting you in danger of drowning type of caves during high tide.¡±


    Cooper laughed, which did seem to be the goal.


    ¡°We¡¯ve also got two towns nearby. The smaller one, Ovant, doesn¡¯t have that much to see, but there is a fortune teller. I think she¡¯s the real deal. I sensed her using magic one time.¡±


    Rasha could just casually do that? It seemed she was ahead of Harmoni. Harmoni had to stop what she was doing and focus to feel magic, much the less the flow from someone using it.


    ¡®Want to try feeling it right now?¡¯ Fleck offered.


    Harmoni shrugged, and gave it a try.


    Rasha, meanwhile, had even more suggestions. ¡°The other town near here, Edinar, is built into the trees. So that¡¯s always cool to see. But it¡¯s better to see at night. Some of the trees have these glowing lights, like if you hung glow worms from a tree. They¡¯re not that. I checked. They seem to be a part of the tree.¡±


    Rasha waved a hand. ¡°Anyway, there¡¯s also an invisible walkway. And at night there¡¯s a dance near the center of Edinar. It¡¯s supposed to strengthen your connection to magic. What looks like giant bubbles appear in the center of the circle, so I guess it¡¯s working.¡±


    Cooper was staring with his mouth in an ¡®oh¡¯ shape by the time Rasha was done.


    Harmoni frowned. ¡°I didn¡¯t know about that,¡± she admitted quietly. ¡°Or the caves. Or . . . a lot of those, actually.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Well. We haven¡¯t been close friends very long. Otherwise, I probably would¡¯ve shown you some of these. I guess you . . . haven¡¯t been out much?¡±


    Harmoni thought she had. She¡¯d been to Ovant for shopping, and Edinar for the holiday, and she and Fleck had wandered around the forest a bit. But she supposed she did keep her head down and kept to herself a lot, including in the towns.


    ¡°Well then, you can show both of us,¡± Cooper suggested.


    Harmoni smiled. ¡°That sounds nice,¡± she agreed.


    ¡°Great! So, er, what are you doing now?¡±


    Cooper lifted his book up higher. ¡°Reading about magic. It¡¯s really interesting. It seems like there¡¯s a lot of naturally found magical items on Xentron.¡±


    When Rasha tilted her head, not comprehending, Cooper elaborated. ¡°Oh. That¡¯s where I live. I¡¯ve got some things to do when I get back.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to go looking for magical artifacts?¡± Rasha asked. ¡°Won¡¯t someone own most of them by now?¡±


    Harmoni hadn¡¯t had much success connecting to magic while she¡¯d been talking. That was a bit much. But now that she was just listening, she was able to try a little harder, and get more results.


    It was hard. The books in front of them blurred, and Rasha¡¯s voice got farther away. Harmoni couldn¡¯t really focus on the words and the magic at the same time.


    She still angled her senses towards Rasha and Cooper. Both did technically have metaphorical light coming from them, the power of the universe spreading out. But compared to other people Harmoni had sensed, Cooper was like having a nightlight with a bit of fabric over it. The light existed, but Harmoni could understand why colbbers couldn¡¯t use magic if this was normal.


    Then she realized both of them were staring at her, and the magic went away like wisps of smoke.


    Harmoni shook her head. ¡°Sorry. I was practicing magic.¡±


    Rasha nodded like she already knew that.


    ¡°Really?¡± Cooper asked. ¡°Just like that?¡±


    She supposed ignoring them to feel their magic was rude. ¡°Sorry,¡± Harmoni said again. ¡°What did I miss?¡±


    ¡°Since Cooper wants to keep reading, I¡¯m going to leave you to it, and we can do something tonight. We were wondering what you¡¯d like to do though.¡±


    Out of the nighttime options, Fleck wanted stargazing. Moon did too.


    Harmoni quickly relayed the vote.


    Rasha frowned slightly. ¡°What about your pick?¡±


    ¡°No. I think that sounds good too,¡± Harmoni assured her, tapping her fingertips together. She wasn¡¯t sure she wanted to be around too many people, which the dancing would do.


    ¡°Sounds good,¡± Cooper said. ¡°You can meet Moon then.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s Moon?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s my dragon.¡±


    Rasha smiled, slit pupils going round. ¡°You have a dragon too?¡±

 62: New Potions Class

    Friday meant three classes for Harmoni. While she and Fleck headed to Basic Magic, Cooper and Moon went back to the library.


    It was a normal class. Harmoni took her seat, with Fleck beside her.


    They¡¯d reached a point where everyone in class was at a different level. Some students still struggled to feel magic, while some were starting to narrow in on a focus, a specialty. Rasha, for example, had her purple staff, and was showing signs of healing magic. Ava had apparently already introduced her to Tolith, and they were setting something up so Rasha could learn from him.


    ¡°Just once a week, or a few times if you like. We¡¯ve got an expert on healing and shielding. It would make sense if you learned from him.¡±


    Book girl, from the fungus incident, was also being offered an expert, a teacher in Edinar who knew mind magic. Harmoni thought that sounded kind of creepy.


    ¡®Isn¡¯t mind magic what¡¯s effecting you?¡¯ Fleck asked. ¡®Maybe we should talk to that teacher as well.¡¯


    Harmoni filed away that good idea for later, and focused on her own training, namely strengthening her magic connection, and looking for a good enhancer. Couldn''t get much farther without an enhancer.


    ~~~


    They did have Potions today. A glass cabinet was conspicuously missing inside the potions classroom, but aside from that, there were no obvious changes.


    The teacher didn¡¯t show up right away. There were a few whispers about if he would.


    Then someone new swept in. She was an elf. She had the long face and fingers, and Harmoni spotted pointy ears beneath her wavy red hair. But she was a bit short for an elf, might actually be shorter than Harmoni. And she looked young. Harmoni had thought she was a new student or something, until she stood at the front desk, putting the books she was carrying onto it.


    "Right. Hi everyone. I''m Mirra. I''m from Edinar. I''ll be taking over Potions Class." She held her hands up. "Just for a little while. But, I know a good bit about potions, and I''ve been looking over what you''ve covered so far. So, so let''s get started. I''ve got an idea for today."


    Harmoni frowned. So she was temporarily taking over the class. Were they looking to get the old potions teacher back still? Or were they just getting someone older?


    The last thing Harmoni had heard about the old potions teacher was that he was missing. There was no word if he''d been found, or if they''d found out anything about the nefarious deeds he''d been doing. Not that the teachers were updating the students or anything. Harmoni heard things through rumors and eavesdropping.


    Some of the other students seemed doubtful as well, but that was for a different reason. It went away when Mirra explained what they''d be doing that day. She''d brought a list of "fun" potions they could make. Ones that changed their hair color, made their eyes glow, let them walk around with multi-colored bubbles spiraling around them. Things like that. Each table could pick one to work on for the day, though she''d go around and check them before any student was allowed to apply one. That got people excited.


    Harmoni turned back to her table, frowning at the open seat across from her. Wesles would''ve liked this. Seemed unfair that when they were finally doing something interesting, he wasn''t here.


    Then Rasha took a seat across from her. Rasha smiled. Not too wide. It seemed she understood what was on Harmoni''s mind. But it was kind.


    "Well Harmoni? What do you think we should work on?"


    ~~~


    Harmoni and Cooper sat outside, on a low tree branch. Cooper was eating an egg sandwich Harmoni had brought out for him. The dragons chased each other below. They were facing West. The castle was behind them. If Harmoni turned around she would see it. The forest wasn¡¯t dense, and they were still close. But they were far enough no one from the castle would immediately notice them.


    For a while, Harmoni was content with silence. She was spending time with an old friend, and that was all that was required.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°So, what have you been doing in Xentron?¡± she eventually asked.


    Fleck and Moon had gotten the chance to catch up, but they hadn''t talked much about what Cooper had been doing.


    ¡°Since you left? Nothing too different. I sold the old rocket boots. But don¡¯t worry! I¡¯m working on a new, less clunky pair.¡±


    ¡°Yes, he brought his work here,¡± Moon added.


    Harmoni supposed that was good. Something else to work on while she had classes.


    ¡°I¡¯m working on a few other projects as well. People really seemed to like the rocket boot idea, when I sold it, so maybe they¡¯ll like my other ideas?¡±


    He took another bite of his sandwich. Suddenly, his face lit up. His spine straightened, and he swallowed in a hurry to keep talking.


    ¡°Oh! You know that visiting colbber? The one who made potions for the magic exposition?¡±


    Harmoni nodded. ¡°She helped rescue me. Traced my Link.¡±


    Cooper¡¯s face flickered briefly, at the reminder. But it passed. He pressed on. ¡°She helped me too! She found out my eyepiece was broken.¡± Cooper¡¯s enthusiasm disappeared and he shifted his weight. Sheepish, maybe? ¡°I mean, I could still do things like use a night vision lens, and binoculars. But I couldn¡¯t create my own internet signal, or any of the more technologically advanced things eye pieces are supposed to do.¡±


    Harmoni nodded along. She was pretty sure Cooper had mentioned something like that before. ¡°And she fixed that for you?¡±


    That was kind of a big deal. She hadn¡¯t known it could happen, though she felt a little silly for never considering the possibility now.


    ¡°Well not completely,¡± Cooper said. ¡°I can¡¯t like, create my own internet signal the way most colbbers can. So it¡¯s not very useful here on Iva. But I can connect to anything else that¡¯s in the area. It''s how I traced your Link." That explained it. "So that¡¯s pretty neat.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s . . . true.¡± Seemed like an understatement to her.


    ¡°And, there¡¯s a reason I¡¯m telling you.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know where you¡¯re from, yeah? I could help you find out now. I could scan your face, and go looking for if there¡¯s any matches. But only if you want?¡± He held up his hands, clearly trying to be as disarming as possible. He was even risking his balance to do so. The tree branch they were on wasn¡¯t that thick.


    Which meant Harmoni must¡¯ve looked worried.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t appreciate your offer,¡± she quickly assured him. ¡°I do. Thank you for that. And for visiting.¡± It was so good to see him again. It wasn''t just that she appreciated having him as a friend, though that was certainly true. Just having him here reminded her of the good things on Xentron. Nostalgia. In a way. ¡°It¡¯s just, something I want to find out on my own.¡±


    She had to find out about her past, whether she wanted to or not. But what if she didn¡¯t like what she found? How could she let Cooper find out first? Or maybe she was just a coward, putting off the inevitable. Maybe that was the real reason she couldn¡¯t break the magic barrier on her memories.


    Cooper shrugged. ¡°Fair enough. I promise I won¡¯t look into it then. But if you ever change your mind. . .¡±


    Suddenly, Moon shot up, body tense, staring without blinking at the bushes ahead.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Fleck asked.


    Moon didn¡¯t answer, and instead roared at the bushes, and dove towards them.


    And based on Cooper¡¯s expression, he was OK with that, which didn¡¯t seem like him.


    Then there was the sound of cursing.


    ¡°Evin!¡± Harmoni shouted.


    She¡¯d recognized that voice immediately. She jumped off the tree branch, ignoring Cooper¡¯s surprise as she ran for the bushes.


    Fleck didn¡¯t like Evin, but he¡¯d helped them out twice since getting to Iva. And, if he was being honest, working together to scare the potions teacher had endeared him to Fleck a bit more. He couldn''t tell the exact words Evin had been saying, but from the sound of it he''d been having fun.


    ¡°Moon! Knock it off!¡±


    Fleck jumped through the bushes, breaking a few of their branches. On the other side, he could see Moon growling at Evin, back arched like a cat. Evin had grabbed a thick branch, arguably a log, to keep her back.


    ¡°Hey! No fighting!¡± Fleck urged, jumping between the two of them.


    Harmoni burst through the bushes a moment later, Cooper on her heels.


    ¡°Mind calling off your attack dog?¡± Evin bit out.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a dog!¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not a dog,¡± Cooper said, at basically the same time.


    ¡°I¡¯ll call it as I see it,¡± Evin said, glaring at Moon.


    Moon returned the favor, but did take a step back, her lips going back over her teeth. It was probably thanks to Fleck¡¯s urging.


    ¡°Harmoni? Why are you two defending him?¡± Cooper asked. ¡°Isn¡¯t he, like, terrible? And what is he doing here?¡±


    Harmoni was clearly having a bit of trouble keeping track of Moon, Evin, and Cooper, so Fleck helped out a bit.


    ¡°Evin stowed away on the spaceship we came in. Seems to live by the pink ocean now. And he hasn''t been causing us any trouble. In fact, he''s been helping us. And we shouldn''t have to say that, might I add," Fleck said, tilting his head in a sharp, aggressive motion at Moon. "Attacking someone first is a dick move."


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about that,¡± Harmoni said to Evin. ¡°She¡¯s not going to hurt you. She hasn¡¯t already, has she?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Moon sniffed.


    Fleck couldn¡¯t smell any injuries on him.


    From the way he was glaring at the dragons, Moon hadn¡¯t hurt him, and he knew he couldn¡¯t lie about it.


    Cooper had grimaced when Fleck said Evin had followed them from Xentron. That had, admittedly, been a little creepy. Thankfully, Cooper didn¡¯t seem angry, maybe just confused.


    ¡°But . . . if you¡¯re usually at the pink ocean . . . what are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Oh? I didn''t know I was imprisoned at the pink ocean, and needed your gracious permission to leave,¡± Evin said. He shrugged. ¡°But right this second, yes. There''s a weird magical item out there that I thought the weird magic users could check. Make sure it¡¯s not about to explode or turn us all into frogs or something.¡±

 63: Crystal

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    ¡°But last I checked, you don¡¯t use magic,¡± Evin told Cooper, glaring at him pointedly. "And really, I was hoping to find Rasha. But I suppose if she''s not here, you''ll do," he said to Harmoni.


    "I am here."


    Harmoni wasn''t surprised Rasha was here. Fleck could smell her getting close before. Though she hadn''t expected her to step into sight and start speaking right that second.


    Evin did look surprised, but he recovered in a second. "Ah excellent. If you¡¯re willing, you can come take a look,¡± Evin said.


    He gestured for Rasha to follow, but looked over his shoulder to see if she was.


    Rasha did follow, so of course Harmoni and Fleck did as well. But Moon and Cooper hung back a moment longer. Harmoni could see the shocked look on their faces.


    Fleck didn¡¯t bother to hide his little snicker about it. The ones who weren¡¯t dragons might not even realize it was a laugh.


    The two fell in step beside them a moment later, Moon shooting Fleck an annoyed look.


    ¡°He seems, nice to you,¡± Cooper muttered to Rasha.


    There were enough of them, spread apart far enough, that Evin might not be able to make out the words. But Harmoni could.


    Rasha just hummed along as confirmation.


    ¡°Do you think . . . are you at all worried he wants something else?¡± Cooper managed.


    Rasha kept walking, but Harmoni saw her shoulders tense, her fingers twitch. It wasn¡¯t in the way Cooper meant it, probably, but Rasha was familiar with men wanting something else.


    ¡°I . . . he doesn¡¯t seem. . .¡± Rasha stammered.


    ¡°If. It. Helps.¡± Evin turned around, walking backwards as he spoke. Ah. Seemed he could hear. He wasn¡¯t glaring, didn¡¯t even sound super angry. More of his usual dismissive and mocking tone. Yet Harmoni could still tell he was mad, low on patience. ¡°I¡¯m not interested in sixteen-year-olds.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m seventeen,¡± Rasha quietly corrected.


    ¡°And I''m not really interested in aliens either, if we''re being honest. I know you like to have zero faith in my morals or claims, but I think you can at least have faith in my own self-interest.¡± He folded his hands behind his back. ¡°Now, I only need magic users, and if we¡¯re being perfectly honest, I only need one of them. So if you want to continue this discussion when I''m right here, you can get out.¡±


    Cooper didn''t respond, didn''t even show much in his expression, just let his gaze drift to the side so he wasn''t looking at Evin head on. This was apparently enough to satisfy Evin. He turned around and kept leading the way, but he was skulking, compared to before.


    He led them to a cliff. It was close enough to the pink ocean, Harmoni wasn¡¯t surprised he¡¯d seen it. But bushes and mosses still grew in the area, contrasted to the ocean¡¯s sands and rocks. Spiky rocks poked up from the base of the cliff. And there, in the clump of jagged rocks, was one that was translucent. It wasn¡¯t completely clear, matching the color of the other rocks and looking foggy, but if you waved a hand under it, you¡¯d notice. And a few white sparks came off it, dissipating in the air and making it look like white smoke was around.


    ¡°Here we are. This thing¡¯s magic, right?¡± Evin asked, waving to it.


    ¡°Neat,¡± Cooper said.


    Rasha crouched down, staring at it. ¡°Well, it is magic,¡± she confirmed. Right. Harmoni could¡¯ve connected to the power of the universe, and also known that. ¡°I don¡¯t know what it does though.¡±


    She reached for the spike at the top of the crystal.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Um,¡± Harmoni started. If they didn¡¯t know what it was, maybe it was time to get a teacher? Tolith, at least, she trusted. ¡°Is it really a good idea to-¡±


    Rasha touched it before she could finish. There was a white light and a snap, like a firecracker had gone off.


    Harmoni blinked, her eyes fluttering after being blinded. As she recovered her sight, things seemed decidedly unfamiliar. They were no longer by cliffs, but on a flat plain.


    The air smelled different. It was still a lot wetter than he was used to, but fresh water. Based on the smell, they must be near mountains, not forests and sandy oceans.


    Harmoni wasn¡¯t sure about oceans, but there were still trees around her. Maybe it wasn¡¯t dense enough to qualify as a forest. The trees were even further apart than the ones near Edinar school, with fewer branches. There were also fewer bushes and mosses beneath.


    The trunks were the same brown or gray as most of the trees she¡¯d seen, in the same gnarled patterns, but the top was unusual. The branches didn¡¯t have leaves or needles. Instead, it was covered in a thick fluffy fuzz, in vaguely the same texture as cotton candy. While there was the rare green fuzz, a lot of the trees were white or blue.


    Evin groaned. ¡°Great. We¡¯re in ''The Lorax¡¯.¡±


    Harmoni frowned. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t get out much, do you?¡±


    Fleck also had no idea what he was talking about.


    And he was getting a little concerned. Nothing here smelled familiar. Wherever Edinar was, it was out of his range.


    Evin stepped forward, spinning around to face Cooper, and throwing his arms out. ¡°So, still think that was neat?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Cooper said. Harmoni couldn¡¯t tell if he genuinely meant it. ¡°A teleporting crystal? That is incredibly cool. And, it means a part of the planet none of us have seen.¡±


    Evin pressed his finger tips together. At least, he certainly came close. The green sludge was still complicating things. He narrowed his eyes. ¡°And do you know what part of Iva this is? Or how to get back?¡±


    Rasha had already been spinning around on the spot, had been since they arrived. Harmoni found out why when she turned towards them. ¡°There¡¯s no crystal on this side,¡± she gasped.


    Well, Fleck could¡¯ve told her that. With his sense of smell he noticed right away.


    So there was no clear way to know where they were, or how to get back.


    Cooper pressed his fingers to his forehead. He looked a little more nervous than usual, but honestly not by much.


    ¡°OK . . . OK. Well, there¡¯s got to be people somewhere,¡± he said. ¡°If we can find them, we can get help. And we¡¯re not going to die in the meantime. Moon can smell where water is. And food shouldn¡¯t be too hard either.¡±


    ¡°Assuming we don¡¯t poison ourselves,¡± Evin muttered.


    Cooper smiled, but it was definitely fake by now. ¡°Well then, we¡¯d better start searching. If uh . . . if that¡¯s alright with everyone.¡±


    ~~~


    In the end, it was the dragons who went searching for civilization. Not surprising. They could always find their way back to the group by smell if they got turned around. The riders couldn¡¯t.


    Also, the two had a better chance of finding civilization, or something familiar. They had their sense of smell, and they could fly. It was faster than going on foot, and let them see farther.


    Both jumped into the air, gliding over the treetops. With the fluffy blue and white trees below, the ground looked a lot like the sky.


    Moon whooped, squiggling and flying in loops with greater flexibility than Fleck could manage.


    But he did have more powerful wings. One flap and he was caught up with her.


    They flew like that for a while, chasing each other around open air, or trying to show off. Moon spun in a tight coil up, like she was on a spiral staircase, and Fleck returned the favor by flying almost straight up. Then he folded his wings up and dropped towards the ground, making it close enough to worry Moon before spreading his wings out again and shooting forward. Though he did have to pull his feet up to avoid slamming into a rock.


    Moon didn¡¯t try that, but she did dive straight down, only to spread her wings back up and curve into the air. It was like moving on a roller-coaster as opposed to leveling out like Fleck had done.


    He grunted.


    He knew Harmoni was worried, but he also knew it didn¡¯t matter if they were searching this way, or studiously scanning. They were covering ground either way, possibly even more this way, and this was more fun.


    And he knew Harmoni knew this, even if she would still worry.


    Cooper apparently didn¡¯t know this. Moon came up beside him.


    ¡°Cooper said we should stop racing. Mentally. He didn¡¯t just shout it out to the others. But, uh, he said something about conserving energy.¡±


    Fleck huffed. ¡°You think he¡¯s right?¡±


    Moon¡¯s look was annoyed. ¡°I¡¯m going to listen to him, yeah.¡±


    Fine.


    They glided across the sky, no longer putting so much effort in.


    Fleck scanned the ground below him, looking out as far as the eye could see. He sniffed the air too, of course.


    He could see Moon doing the same beside him.


    ¡°See anything familiar?¡± she asked.


    Fleck once again scanned the horizon, and sniffed in a deeper breath than usual, but there was no change. He shook his head.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± he said, for Harmoni as much as Moon. ¡°We¡¯ve only just started. We¡¯ll find something.¡±

 64: Moon People

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Fleck and Moon went down to drink shortly after that. They¡¯d more or less left the forest behind, for what looked like a field of pebbles. There was a river running through it. On the other side, in the direction they were going, Fleck could see the mountains he¡¯d been smelling. The pebbles turned to larger rock, the ground got steeper, and bits of snow appeared.


    There hadn''t been many animals near Edinar, but there didn''t seem to be much life in this area in general. There were the trees and grasses behind them, but there wasn''t much in the field of pebbles that Fleck could see or smell, and there wasn''t much in the mountains either. It was weird. He knew of places like this on Xentron, but that was because it was a desert, and the lifeless areas had no water. Dangerous places to go.


    It made him wonder if this was a good direction to go in. Maybe they should follow the stream. It was cold even down here, at the bottom of the mountain. It made the water refreshing.


    Fleck''s concerning thoughts aside, Harmoni was glad they were taking a break. She didn¡¯t know where dragons got all their energy.


    ¡®Gut fire.¡¯


    Well Harmoni knew he was lying there, since not all dragons breathed fire. (Fleck didn¡¯t breathe anything.)


    He tried not to react to the reminder. ¡®You still need mechanisms to make something in your gut, and spit it out. And we all have that.¡¯


    ¡®In that case, that should use energy, not create it.¡¯


    ¡®You have to be efficient with energy if you¡¯re using it to make fire.¡¯ Or ice. Or whatever. ¡®And if we¡¯re not-¡¯


    ¡°Do you smell that?¡± Moon asked, shoving her face against Fleck.


    He was a little annoyed. But she was right. He could smell something new he hadn¡¯t noticed. Elves. There was a town nearby.


    ~~~


    Moon went back to get the others while Fleck waited by the river, and made sure nothing changed.


    They didn¡¯t all go into the place. They were a big group with two dragons. They didn¡¯t want to overwhelm anyone.


    In the end, Fleck pointed Harmoni and Cooper in the right direction, and they took off alone. Harmoni could speak Elvish if that was needed, and Cooper was a less jarring sight than Evin or the dragons.


    Fleck was right that there wasn''t a whole lot of life in the area, at least none Harmoni could perceive, even if she connected to magic. But there was an oasis of sorts in the mountains. A leveled out space with a lake and trees.


    The town was . . . weird. The elves here were all very pale, with white or silver hair. Sometimes their skin even looked a little gray or blue. If Harmoni had to explain it, she¡¯d say they reminded her of the moon. They moved quietly like most elves. They held their heads high, but seeing as they didn¡¯t bump into anything, including Harmoni and Cooper, they must be able to see the ground. There were indoor areas people came in and out of, but Harmoni honestly couldn¡¯t tell if anyone had built those structures, or if they were natural.


    Elves always had an affinity for nature, and could be ethereal if they wanted. But Harmoni would call these ones downright eerie. Internally. She would not call them eerie out loud.


    One of the elves stood up from a circle, where she¡¯d possibly been meditating? She walked over to them, and while she didn¡¯t make eye contact, she did angle her head down to speak to them.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°Can I help you?¡±


    She asked it in Elvish, and fortunately not in an indecipherable accent. The worst part was that she half sang the words.


    ¡°Do you know where Edinar school is? From here?¡± Harmoni asked. She clasped her hands together. Tightly.


    Any tighter and she¡¯d draw blood.


    ¡°Edinar? That¡¯s on another continent.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Harmoni barely managed to get the word out.


    The elf laughed, and it genuinely sounded more like a bell than a laugh. Harmoni had good ears. She would know.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯d say you¡¯re about as lost as you can get.¡±


    ¡°Is-do you have a way we can get back?¡± Harmoni asked.


    The elf woman stopped laughing. She angled her head to the side and frowned. And she looked at Harmoni. Really looked.


    Cooper managed not to look worried, but he did look confused by now, eyes darting between the two. He, after all, didn¡¯t understand a word being said.


    Fleck could tell Moon, who would automatically relay it to Cooper.


    Sounded like a round about way of translating when Harmoni could fill him in soon, but it would be easier than talking to this woman and translating for Cooper.


    ¡°You are weighed down,¡± the elf woman said. ¡°By worries, burdens, duties. Are you sure you want to return to them? You are bound when you return to the wider galaxy, but you need not be.¡± She began circling Harmoni. Despite the intimidating gesture, her tone was still polite, questioning. ¡°Everyone else, so distressed by the unimportant. So focused on things that won''t matter in a hundred years, or even two. You could stay here with us. Here, with nature, you could achieve true enlightenment and happiness. Better than that school could offer.¡±


    Harmoni smiled, but she could tell it looked fake. ¡°Thank you. But I would rather go back to Edinar.¡±


    She thought she understood. This place was one of those places where people lived simply, with minimal things. And in a way, the offer was tempting. No more worries or distractions. But this place was a little creepy. And Harmoni was a dragon rider who made people explode. Would living here in isolation really make that problem go away?


    The elf woman didn¡¯t respond right away. For a moment, Harmoni thought she might attack them with some horrifying, unknown force, and they¡¯d have to be rescued again.


    Then, the woman sighed. ¡°Very well. Forcing you to stay would rather defeat the point. But try to take heed. You are living an overly complicated life.¡±


    Harmoni nodded. Was the woman making a guess, or did she somehow know this?


    ¡°Now, how many of you are there? We have someone with teleporting magic here in town.¡±


    ~~~


    It was hard to explain teleporting, in that there was so little sensation. If she was the one using magic, she was sure that would be different. But as a passenger, there was no sound, no warping visuals, no feeling of travel. It was just, one moment they were in one place, the next they were someplace else. It was like blinking.


    The teleporter had to take a few trips, with there being so many of them.


    His job done, the teleporter gave a sweeping bow, and was gone.


    ¡°Err, sorry, about that,¡± Rasha said. Her head dropped partway into her shirt. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have just . . . touched it.¡±


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have,¡± Evin agreed, crossing his arms.


    ¡°But it worked out,¡± Harmoni quickly assured her. Fleck nodded firmly beside her.


    ¡°And it was pretty cool,¡± Cooper said. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen a town like that before.¡±


    ¡°Me neither,¡± Harmoni assured him.


    Rasha shook her head. ¡°We should . . . we should probably warn someone about that crystal, huh?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s still there,¡± Evin said. They all looked at him. ¡°What? I know magic only has limited energy. Well, unless it''s done by a cleric. That seems to be an all or nothing type of supernatural." He lifted up a gross, cleric-cursed hand for emphasis. "For all we know, transporting four people and two dragons was all the juice that crystal had.¡±


    Well, looked like they still had some loose ends to tie up.


    Fleck and Moon went out to check the crystal. Despite getting tired, they were still faster than people walking on land. And Harmoni and Cooper could learn what they knew. They wouldn''t have to make it back to relay the message.


    Once they confirmed it did in fact still look magical, Harmoni and Rasha went into the school. They slowed to a stop in front of the headmaster''s office, but neither seemed to be in a hurry to open the door. They both glanced at each other. After a moment of failed silent communication, where they raised eyebrows or made faces, Rasha giggled.


    "Sorry. Just. Maybe we should just talk."


    Harmoni smiled as well. "I don''t really want to talk to the headmaster," she spelled out.


    "Me neither," Rasha agreed. "I''ve talked to Tolith lately. You know, learning healing magic. But I think he''ll. . .be a bit busy right now."


    Right. Putting that aside, the new potions teacher probably couldn''t do much. "Ava," Harmoni suggested, nodding decisively. "Let''s talk to Ava."


    And by the time that was done, well it was late. Days were short here. Harmoni was ready for some rest. She''d just, say goodnight to Cooper first. He and Moon were sleeping on the spaceship, but he was still waiting to hear back from them, before he headed to the ocean.

 65: Awake

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    ¡°Hey! Harmoni!¡±


    Harmoni looked up from where she¡¯d been walking down the hall. Rasha was running towards her. (Fleck was still outside. He''d introduced Moon to Asplenium this morning.)


    ¡°Harmoni! Harmoni, Wesles is awake! And Tolith is letting people visit him now.¡±


    Harmoni¡¯s eyes popped a little wider, breath catching. It was the weekend. Harmoni had been planning to check on the stables, and then spend the day with Cooper and Moon. But the first task paled in comparison to seeing Wesles. She would think about him sometimes, when she was going to sleep, or trying to meditate. Or when she thought he might like to do the things she was doing with Rasha and Cooper. And it was always in the context of that bloody bundle she¡¯d last seen him as. If she could see him as not that, she¡¯d like to do so.


    As for Cooper and Moon. . .


    ¡°I¡¯ll let them know where we are,¡± Fleck assured her. Besides, if she wanted to introduce them to Wesles, there was no time like the present. ¡°Get going.¡±


    "Sorry Asplenium, Moon and I have something we''re going to do." He jerked his head towards the exit to the cave, gesturing for Moon to follow. "Come on."


    Harmoni followed Rasha down the hall.


    Rasha had indeed talked to Tolith about her potential healing magic. According to her, that was how she already knew they could visit Wesles.


    She worked fast.


    She reached the medical room, and pulled Harmoni inside.


    The room was circular, and white. There were a few beds inside. There were a few cabinets with medicine and first aid as well, sitting in little glass vials. But since Tolith used mostly magic, there was less of that than one might think.


    And there was Wesles, sitting up in bed. He was pale, but he wasn¡¯t bleeding anymore. He was almost the same size as before, if a little thin. And he was healed up, except. . .


    Except he was missing an arm.


    Harmoni tried not to stare, especially as Wesles noticed them.


    He smiled. There were obvious shadows under his eyes, and Harmoni had seen him smile before. He was clearly tired now, by comparison. But it seemed genuine.


    Well duh? They were friends.


    ¡°Rasha! Harmoni. Man isit good tosee you.¡±


    Rasha grinned and slid into a seat next to him. ¡°Good to see you too. How are you?¡±


    Harmoni didn¡¯t know how she managed that. She didn¡¯t think Rasha knew Wesles well, but she was already treating him like nothing had changed.


    Harmoni didn¡¯t want to make a habit of staring at her friends.


    A bit late for that.


    And she supposed it wasn''t that big of a big deal. He was alive. This was much better than the last time she''d seen him. But she was a little shocked.


    ¡®If it helps, you stare intensely sometimes. Your friends probably don¡¯t think much of it by now.¡¯


    ¡®That does not help,¡¯ Harmoni assured him.


    If anything, the stress would make her expression worse. But Wesles, meanwhile, was trying to answer. So Harmoni shook her head and tried to focus on that above all else.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    ¡°F-Well, it sounds stupid tosay that, huh? But, I mostly feelfine? Believeitornot. Tolith healed meup prettywell, aside from theobvious. He offered to bringin a cleric for the obvious. But he installed this magical port inthemeantime.¡±


    Wesles tapped a metal covering on his left shoulder, where his arm used to come out. He turned in bed slightly, so they could see better. The cover was split into slices like an orange. Five out of six were glowing a faint blue.


    As soon as he moved his right hand away, something appeared there, flickering in and out for a moment. It was see through, with a faint sparkle, like it was made out of a star''s trail. But it was clearly in the shape of an arm and hand. He moved it around a bit, bending it where an elbow should be, and using the fingers to pick up the blanket before letting the arm disappear, like a computer going into sleep mode.


    ¡°No way,¡± Rasha said, sitting up straighter. ¡°That¡¯s insanely cool.¡±


    It kind of was actually.


    Wesles grinned. ¡°The only downside is it takes magicalenergy torun.¡± He pointed at the metal port. ¡°The lights tellme howmuch magic isleft. Eventually, I¡¯ll have to put morein, like castingaspell. Bestnotto waste energy when I only need onehand.¡±


    Rasha noticeably looked around the room, moving in her chair to do so. ¡°Is there anything else to do?¡±


    Wesles dropped against the pillow, running his hand across his face. ¡°Ugh. That¡¯s the problem. I¡¯ve been sleeping alot. But now I''mawake. Tolith broughtsome books. But it was getting sodull. That¡¯s why I¡¯mglad you¡¯re here.¡± He blinked and seemed to realize the implications. ¡°It¡¯s not theonly reason I¡¯m glad you¡¯re here. Ofcourse you¡¯re friends andI¡¯d be happytoseeyouanyway-¡±


    Rasha and Harmoni quickly assured him they understood.


    Cooper and Moon chose that moment to make their appearance, opening the door.


    ¡°Right,¡± Cooper said. ¡°What are we doing?¡±


    ~~~


    After some introductions, card games were what they ended up doing. Cooper found some decks in the cabinet beneath the counter, and they all knew different games. It led to some interesting playing.


    ¡°Behold! A two!¡± Wesles held up his two in victory. He probably would¡¯ve jabbed it at them with even more vigor if he wasn''t still propped on the pillows.


    ¡°Wesles . . . you can¡¯t play a black two on a red two,¡± Rasha told him. ¡°That¡¯s your game, not mine.¡±


    ¡°It could be your game,¡± Cooper suggested. ¡°Combining the rules is its own kind of fun.¡±


    ¡°Not when the rules are contradictory," Rasha shook her head. "He just needs a number bigger than a two."


    ¡°Oh.¡± Wesles put his card down, pulling up another one. ¡°Behold a Queen! What are you going todo now?¡±


    Rasha smiled. ¡°Reverse card. Your turn again.¡±


    ¡°No!¡±


    Harmoni laughed, hard. Wesles picking up more cards made her laugh even harder if anything, tears springing up in the corner of her eyes. It wasn¡¯t that funny. She knew it wasn¡¯t that funny. But most of the game had progressed like this. Wesles wasn¡¯t the first to overreact, and Harmoni wasn¡¯t the first to laugh.


    The dragons had had a laugh earlier, during one of the other games. They hadn''t been playing. They didn''t have hands. But if they viewed the cards in Wesles and Rasha''s hands, Cooper and Harmoni would know what they had. They''d have to, by nature of their bond. The two without dragons had forgotten, or not known this, the first round.


    The dragons thought it was really funny. Harmoni felt a bit bad about making Rasha and Wesles lose so thoroughly, but it was hard to ignore the knowledge once she had it, and she had to admit it was a little amusing, watching them be increasingly confused, and watching their realization when Cooper filled them in, at the end of the game.


    The dragons were supposed to stay with their rider after that. Or under the bed. Or somewhere they couldn''t see anyone''s hands.


    Fleck didn''t mind. He enjoyed looked at Harmoni''s hand, and giving her advice.


    ''Play the 12.''


    ''There isn''t a 12. You just want to give bad advice.''


    Fleck grinned.


    This was just . . . fun. Nice. She wondered if more things were supposed to feel like this.


    Well, it seemed like the feeling Fleck got when he played with Moon, or when he played with other dragons in the nursery, before he¡¯d joined Harmoni. Before they''d learned he wouldn''t grow up exactly like them. So yes?


    Harmoni could appreciate his wrestling a little more now.


    ¡°So Wesles, the rest of us were going to Ovant tomorrow,¡± Cooper filled him in. It was actually Cooper¡¯s turn. He looked between his hand and the pile. ¡°We¡¯re going to see a fortune teller. Do you think you¡¯ll be well enough to join us?¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll be wellenough. I don¡¯t know if Tolith will giveme formal permission toleave. But Ithink I can just walkout anyway. It''s notlike he''s watchingthis room allthe time. Obviously.¡±


    Harmoni didn¡¯t know how he did that. Disregard what authority told him so easily.


    ¡®You ignore the headmaster,¡¯ Fleck pointed out.


    Because he also ignored her. That was very different. If he told her to do something, she wouldn¡¯t want to refuse.


    And as much as she worried about Wesles¡¯ health, she kind of envied him for that.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think youcan distract me,¡± Wesles said. ¡°You still haveto take a turn.¡±


    Cooper gave an exaggerated pout, and started pulling cards.

 66: Future Seer

    The next day, they woke up early in the morning, and went under the window of the medical room, like Wesles had told them to.


    With it being early, and close to winter, it was still dark out. But between the dragons¡¯ sense of smell, Harmoni¡¯s hearing, and Cooper¡¯s night lens, they were managing.


    While they stood under the window, looking up, Harmoni glanced at Rasha''s back. She had her purple staff strapped to it. She''d mentioned she wanted to practice later, on the way out of the tower. But Harmoni hadn''t been sure how she''d attached it. Here in the dim light of morning, with all of them standing still, she saw that it was Velcro.


    Harmoni also wondered if Cooper was cold, after living on Xentron. He was wearing a thicker cloak, and he hadn¡¯t said anything, but he wouldn¡¯t, would he?


    He would not. Just like Harmoni.


    She noticed Cooper moved around a bit more than on Xentron, especially bouncing his legs if they stood still for too long. He couldn''t wear long pants properly. The metal exoskeleton on his one leg stuck out too far. The cloak dropped low enough to help with that, but still.


    But then she was distracted from her thoughts by Wesles¡¯, er, grand escape. He opened the window, they could see him poke his head out and look down. Then he stood backwards on the window ledge. His ghost arm appeared, gripping the edge of the windowsill, and he repelled down like it was a rope for rock-climbing.


    Harmoni stared. Her eyes went wide, and by the time Wesles was on the ground, her mouth was open. A quick glance at Rasha said she felt the same way.


    Wesles let go of the ledge, and his ghost hand disappeared.


    Cooper just crossed his arms. ¡°I¡¯m impressed.¡± When Harmoni and Rasha looked at him, he shrugged. ¡°It was a little crazy. But I can be impressed with a little crazy.¡±


    Wesles rolled his eyes. ¡°Comeon. Let¡¯s goto Ovant. Don¡¯tyou have classes to worryabout?¡±


    They did today. It was why they were going early in the morning.


    Harmoni had to admit, she was a little excited. Even if it turned out to be inaccurate, a scam, she wanted to know what the fortune teller would say about her future.


    ''Isn''t that ironic for someone who doesn''t know their past?''


    ''Isn''t the future usually considered the more important one?''


    Fleck thought it was a little more complicated than that, but he didn''t have a retort ready.


    The fortune teller actually waved them over as they came close. She had a small building behind her, with a purple curtain over the doorway, rather than any door. But she was in the open space outside the building, the grasses growing tall in the area, and hiding her feet and the bottom of the furniture out here. She sat on a rocking chair. There was a wooden chair across from her, with a cushioned seat to make it a bit more comfortable. And she had a small table beside her, with a teacup on it.


    Whatever Fleck smelled from it was decidedly not tea.


    The fortune teller squinted through her glasses. (Despite the old lady glasses, she looked like she was in her thirties, at the latest.) ¡°Now, I believe I¡¯ve seen one of you before.¡±


    Rasha nodded. ¡°That¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°Now, I hope you know I can¡¯t read your future again. Well, I suppose I could. See if anything changed. The future is fluid, after all. But for most people, any changes I could find are so minor, they don¡¯t find that worth it.¡± Her eyes roved over the others, stopping briefly on each of them. ¡°So, I¡¯ll assume you¡¯re here for your friends instead.¡±


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Harmoni thought that was rather obvious. Based on his strained expression, Cooper agreed. But neither of them said anything. Then again, they didn''t get the chance.


    Wesles slid to the front, bouncing around and waving his hand to be more visible.


    ¡°That¡¯sright!¡±


    Then he climbed onto the chair. He stood on it, but given his height, that still didn¡¯t make him very tall. His ghost hand appeared, and he put it in front of the fortune teller, a cheeky smile on his face.


    ¡°Are you going to tellusourfortune?¡±


    Harmoni thought that was a little rude, but the fortune teller responded before she could.


    ¡°I prefer future,¡± she corrected. ¡°But let¡¯s see.¡±


    She actually leaned forward, looking down at the palm he¡¯d made with magic. ¡°It would be easier if I could touch that hand. My eyes aren¡¯t as good as they once were. But from what I can see . . . you¡¯ve lost one sibling before. I¡¯d say you¡¯re going to again, I¡¯m afraid.¡±


    Wesles stared, and started to speak in what Harmoni assumed was Gnomish, before he corrected himself. ¡°How are you doing that?¡± he asked, speaking better Standard than usual. ¡°That hand¡¯s not real.¡±


    The future seer looked over her glasses like a strict librarian. ¡°It¡¯s ¡®real¡¯ in the way all objects are real. But more than that, you make it with your magic. I¡¯d say your magic is very telling. It might even be easier than a regular hand.¡±


    Oh the irony. Wesles struggled to keep his face composed, and Harmoni felt her lips tugging up.


    The future seer continued to look at Wesles¡¯ magic hand, but there wasn¡¯t much else that she reported. He was supposed to live a long life, no dying in potion accidents. He¡¯d get married, but that was a long way off. (Considering gnomes could live 500 years, it could be a very long way off.) Harmoni thought that sibling thing sounded significant, but Wesles barely acknowledged it, so she didn¡¯t either.


    Fleck just wondered if she could read his and Moon¡¯s future. They didn¡¯t exactly have palms, but she was using Wesles¡¯ magical hand to tell the future.


    He hadn¡¯t been that interested in seeing the future seer before, but he hadn¡¯t thought it was remotely possible to get his own future read before. The odds looked better now.


    Quite possibly. Though even if she couldn¡¯t, Fleck and Moon would probably come up when she looked at Cooper and Harmoni¡¯s future, right? They were soul bonded and all.


    Cooper held out his palm next.


    ¡°Giving me a challenge, are you?¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Cooper asked. He smiled, but he shuffled in place.


    ¡°Connecting to your magic is how I see your future, or part of it, and make sense of what I¡¯m seeing. Magic flows through everyone, even you. So, I can do it. It will just be a little harder than your friends.¡±


    Fleck could see Cooper¡¯s discomfort. It might not have been a good idea to share so much with him. And he knew elves and Iva were big on magic, but it was really rude that people kept bringing this up to Cooper. It reminded Fleck of how the other dragons all acted differently around him for not having breath magic, even if they didn''t acknowledge that was the reason. He''d have to find some way to show his empathy and make Cooper feel better later.


    But Harmoni wasn¡¯t really paying attention to that. She was caught up in her own, understandable, worries.


    She had just realized the implications of the future seer¡¯s statement. Wasn¡¯t Harmoni¡¯s own magic an unusually dark, volatile thing, that no one should be sensing? But if she refused to get her future read, wouldn¡¯t that be weird? She could claim she wasn¡¯t interested, had just come to hear everyone else¡¯s future, but she¡¯d specifically been looking forward to this before now. And getting huffy or indignant would be. . .out of character.


    The future seer, meanwhile, hummed at Cooper¡¯s palm. ¡°You should beware an injury in the following weeks. Like his, it will be serious.¡±


    She nodded towards Wesles, and his missing arm.


    ¡°Shit. Really?¡±


    ¡°If you make it to the end of the month, you¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    That did not seem like enough information to avoid.


    ¡°It gets less clear after that. Something good will happen about a year from now.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s vague.¡±


    The future seer gave him a look. ¡°The future after the first month or so is always cloudy, as it is in flux. You''ll notice the predictions I had for him were not very specific about the time." She nodded to Wesles. "I¡¯d say you have an eventful month coming up. But, if I had to be more specific, in about a year I¡¯d say an old fear will be relieved.¡±


    Cooper frowned. It wasn¡¯t in a skeptical way. Quite the opposite. It was more like he knew exactly what she was talking about.


    The future seer¡¯s grip loosened, and Cooper dropped his hand, turning. ¡°Harmoni, are you ready?¡±


    Well, the future seer hadn¡¯t said anything about Moon. Fleck could ask for the dragons¡¯ future to be read. Stall.


    That sounded like it was just delaying the inevitable. But Harmoni didn¡¯t have any better ideas. She was about to accept when an explosion sounded in the distance, behind them, vaguely to the North. There was a boom, and light flashed across the sky, changing it from blue to white.


    Fleck could feel the rumble and smell smoke. Whatever had been hit, it had a lasting effect.


    What the hell had just happened?

 67: The Cult

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Rasha flinched back like she¡¯d been slapped. Moon jumped into Cooper¡¯s arms, despite how big she was now, and he held her in a vice grip.


    ¡°What was that?!¡± Rasha exclaimed.


    Good question. What was going on?


    Wesles squinted ahead. ¡°Ithink that came from theschool.¡± He pointed at the smoke in the distance. It was hard to make out, but possible. ¡°Theburning is comingfrom the castle.¡±


    ¡°Burning?¡± Rasha squinted out, but it didn¡¯t seem like she could see what Wesles and Harmoni could.


    ¡°We should get back there then!¡± Cooper shouted, setting Moon down.


    The future seer put a hand on his shoulder. ¡°You hear the school is in danger, and your first thought is to run into it? My dear, they¡¯re going to be getting students out, away from potential danger. What you want to do is entirely counter intuitive.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯m not a student, am I?¡± Cooper asked, shrugging her off. ¡°I can help.¡±


    Harmoni would feel bad about just sitting here while an emergency was happening at the school, but. . .


    . . .the debate was pointless. Someone was coming this way. He could pick up the scent getting closer. It wasn¡¯t an elf, and it wasn¡¯t a scent of someone he recognized.


    ¡°Fleck said someone¡¯s coming,¡± Harmoni warned.


    Though based on the way Cooper tensed up, Moon was experiencing the same thing.


    There was also a roar from Asplenium, carrying easily through the trees.


    ¡°Get inside,¡± the future seer instructed. Her tone didn¡¯t leave room for argument as she pointed to the doorway. ¡°Stay out of sight. I need to find people in town who can fight.¡±


    That didn¡¯t sound encouraging. But for the moment, no one argued as they went inside. It was some sort of living space, couches and even tables cushioned. Between the purple curtain over the door, and the dark blue curtain over most of the window, it was dark.


    But, that meant there was a window. All of them went over to it, and peered out, using the curtain to stay at least a little hidden. The window was so high up they were left looking out the bottom of it, which also helped.


    The future seer whisked out of sight, quickly.


    ¡°So. We¡¯re not actually stayinginhere, right?¡± Wesles asked.


    ¡°Absolutely not,¡± Rasha whispered.


    Harmoni shook her head. She was still a little torn on what they should do, but she''d known they would do something, that they''d just gone along with the future seer''s words to save time.


    Cooper nodded along, but didn¡¯t look away from the window. ¡°It would be nice if we knew what we were dealing with though.¡±


    Moon actually shrugged.


    Fleck didn¡¯t blame her. The smell hadn¡¯t told them anything useful. That was their best line of knowledge.


    Well they were about to get a new line of knowledge, because someone was coming closer, appearing out of the trees¡¯ shadows. Their face itself was hidden by their cloak, but something about the cloak seemed familiar.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Justoneperson?¡± Wesles asked. He shrugged. ¡°Well, that¡¯s goodthen.¡±


    ¡°Hang on. Something¡¯s not right.¡± Cooper held up a hand. ¡°I know this person. Or rather, I know where they¡¯re from.¡±


    Harmoni saw a glint of red beneath the hood. Then someone else, an elf from the village, came from the opposite direction and cast a spell at the figure. The figure stepped to the side, into the shadow of a tree, and disappeared. Completely. They¡¯d all seen where he was going, and yet none of them could see him a second later. Harmoni had seen the way his dark cloak matched the shadows fairly well, but you would still notice him. He simply, wasn¡¯t there anymore.


    The figure reappeared, rising out of the shadows of some bushes, behind the elf. He sent a bolt out of a wand. The elf didn¡¯t notice in time, couldn¡¯t respond fast enough. He hit the ground, dead.


    Rasha covered her mouth, trying to lessen the reaction she was clearly having.


    Cooper just kept staring intently out. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the Hidden cult. I¡¯m pretty sure.¡±


    Harmoni took a step back. The cult that had attacked two towns on Xentron? Including the one she¡¯d woken up in?


    ¡°They¡¯re serious,¡± Wesles said. ¡°We¡¯ve gotto warn people. Help them!¡± He hissed.


    Cooper nodded. ¡°If there¡¯s only one, the people in this town can beat him. They just have to know what they¡¯re dealing with.¡±


    Before he killed them all.


    Rasha nodded. Her lips were pursed, but she tightened her grip on her purple staff, adjusting how she held it so it was more like a weapon.


    ¡°I can cause a distraction,¡± Cooper offered. He grabbed a few black glistening vials from out of a pouch inside his cloak, holding them between his fingers. ¡°The rest of you should warn as many people as you can.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t fight him on your own,¡± Harmoni gasped.


    ¡°I won¡¯t be-we don¡¯t really have time to argue about it,¡± Cooper said. He gestured out the window as the clocked figure stepped into another shadow, and disappeared. ¡°Moon will be with me. If you want there to be more help, then hurry up and warn other people so they can join in.¡±


    Cooper whisked past the others before they could react. Moon bounced after him, so even if someone did try to follow him, the dragon could stop them. Or maybe, the others agreed with him, and it was only Harmoni who wanted to stop him. Either way, he was gone.


    Fleck could go with him, if she wanted. It wasn¡¯t like he could talk to the elves.


    Harmoni nodded. ¡®You do that.¡¯


    She opened the door. She, Wesles, and Rasha nodded to each other. Then they all went in different directions. They could cover more ground that way.


    Fleck took off after Cooper and Moon¡¯s smell. They hadn¡¯t stayed in the area, but Moon was probably tracking down the cult member with her own sense of smell.


    He could still smell smoke coming from the castle, and hear Asplenium¡¯s roars. He wasn¡¯t sure if he could smell blood and burns coming from that direction, or if that was from Ovant, or if his imagination was running a little wild. No matter what, he was pretty confident there was more than one cult member in the area.


    And he could tell that made Harmoni worry, wondering if they should go running back to the school. But he didn¡¯t think they should. It was a little late to warn anyone there, and everyone else there was better equipped to fight than them.


    He wanted to go back too, but he knew it was pointless. So he shook his head, trying to clear the school from his mind, and charged forward, focusing on the actual situation, and the people he promised he''d help.


    Harmoni tried to do the same. She warned everyone she could find. Some people went to fight the cult member while others, most of them, were more concerned about safety. They talked about barricading themselves into safe zones, or evacuating. At least everyone seemed to believe her. One offered to take her into their magically enforced safe zone, that sounded a lot like a bunker, but she shook her head.


    She had to keep helping. She had to make sure Cooper got some backup. She-she had to-


    Then, Harmoni reached the end of the dirt path, and the shadows in the trees in front of her began to shift.


    Harmoni tensed, her legs locking up, as a familiar cloaked figure dropped to the ground in front of her.


    She could see a bit more of his face now. He was probably human, but his features were a bit . . . off. His eyes were red. His teeth looked like they were made of metal when he smiled. His skin looked a bit like stone, like a carved figure coming to life.


    ¡°Ah, Wren. So, you are here.¡±


    Harmoni felt her heart give one thunderous thump in her chest, then go quieter. What did he just say?


    ¡°I was a bit skeptical. But I suppose, I should let someone know.¡±


    He took a step back, and disappeared.


    Harmoni continued to stare at the trees, like he might reappear. No. Not like anything. She just stared. Her own heart was the only thing she heard, and it wasn¡¯t even that loud right now.


    That man. He''d been there and gone before she could blink. He''d been very abrupt. But he had definitely been talking about her. And she¡¯d known he was a man, even when the cloak should¡¯ve made it hard to tell. And. . .


    ¡°Harmoni!¡±

 68: A Choice

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    ¡°Harmoni!¡±


    Rasha¡¯s familiar voice broke through her thoughts, just as the imp came smacking into her, literally, wrapping her arms around her.


    ¡°Thank God,¡± Rasha gasped. ¡°Are you OK?¡±


    Harmoni did not think she¡¯d ever been happier for someone to be there in her life, and that was a high bar to clear. She hugged Rasha back, tightly, before letting go.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± she lied. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°The shadowguy disappeared,¡± Wesles said. ¡°He¡¯s notin town anymore. And weheard students were takingtheteleportingrock. To escapetheattack. We should probably jointhem while wecan.¡±


    It took Harmoni a second to catch what he was saying. He¡¯d always talked fast before, but now he was slurring a lot of words together. Probably because they were in a hurry.


    But right, the teleporting rock. If that thing was still functional, it was a handy exit strategy. Took you about as far as you could go and still be on the planet.


    ¡°What about Fleck?¡± she asked. He¡¯d been oddly quiet for a second now. ¡°And Cooper and Moon?¡±


    ¡°Cooper said he¡¯dmeetusoverthere,¡± Wesles said. ¡°Apparently shadowman put somekindofspell on thedragons, but they¡¯realive.¡±


    Harmoni covered her mouth at the realization. Of course. She could tell Fleck was asleep now that she was paying attention. She could also tell he was still alive. Thank God. Her first instinct was still to go running to Fleck, to hell with any other dangers.


    Rasha apparently noticed, because she grabbed Harmoni¡¯s wrist and gently pulled her forward. Rasha¡¯s pace started slow, letting Harmoni find her footing, then picked up.


    ¡°We¡¯ll meet them on the way,¡± she assured Harmoni. ¡°But we don¡¯t have time to waste, so come on.¡±


    ¡°Wecan multitask,¡± Wesles added, running after them.


    Harmoni stumbled at first, but she didn¡¯t fall, and quickly found her footing.


    They were staying off the path, probably a wise idea. It also gave Harmoni something to focus on. She kept her mind on making sure she didn¡¯t fall down, and making sure they were going the right direction. She shoved other thoughts away, and it was surprisingly easy right now.


    They were currently heading away from the school. Which was right for getting to the pink ocean in general. But they¡¯d have to go further North to get to the teleporting crystal.


    Harmoni squeezed Rasha¡¯s wrist, and gently shifted to the right.


    Rasha seemed to take the hint, and turned slightly.


    They hadn¡¯t gotten very far that way when the sky lit up again, turning the area around them white.


    Harmoni looked up in time to see a giant fireball hurtling through the sky, and coming down near them.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Wesles shouted.


    Harmoni was pretty sure he kept going, but she didn¡¯t catch what else he said.


    She launched herself to the side, tearing away from Rasha¡¯s grip in the process. She hadn¡¯t meant to do that, but she hadn¡¯t meant to take Rasha with her either per say. She just reacted.


    She dropped to the ground on her knees and elbows, head between her arms.


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    It only marginally helped.


    The force of the blast knocked Harmoni away, sending her tumbling along the uneven, rocky ground. She fell on her back, the air knocked out of her. She hadn¡¯t been directly set on fire, but there would probably be marks on her hot skin. She couldn¡¯t tell if the black clouds above her were smoke, or spots from slamming her head so hard. And there was a ringing in her ears.


    For a moment all Harmoni wanted to do was close her eyes. Sleep didn¡¯t sound so bad.


    Then, Rasha¡¯s silhouette came into her vision, along with her staff.


    Harmoni couldn¡¯t have known for sure that that back of her head was bleeding, but she got the distinct feeling it had stopped now. The main source of pain in her head faded to a faint throb, and sound came back around her. She could hear the crackling of fire, and when Rasha spoke, she understood the words.


    ¡°Are you OK? I haven¡¯t really had a chance to practice healing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Harmoni managed, sitting up. ¡°Much better than a second ago.¡±


    That second sentence was truer than the first. Rasha hadn¡¯t healed her head completely, and she was still scraped from her tumble. But she didn¡¯t seem to have burns anymore, and she could hear and ignore her headache.


    Rasha meanwhile, was slouched, like sitting up straight was too much effort. The crack on her horn was now wider, and deeper. Harmoni could see blood at the edge of it, and if someone knocked on it, it would probably break the rest of the way. She was also missing a tooth.


    So Rasha had picked the most important part of Harmoni to heal, possibly at the expense of herself. She hoped they could find someone to heal her soon. If not Tolith, than someone from that weird village on the other side of the crystal.


    Speaking of. They should find Wesles and keep moving.


    It seemed Rasha had a similar idea. Harmoni got up first, but Rasha looked around from the ground, then used her staff to push herself to her feet.


    Then, Harmoni heard a crack. It wasn¡¯t the crackling of fire near them. It was the breaking of a stick, the rustling of leaves. The soft thunk of boots on dirt. Someone was coming.


    Harmoni heard it first, having better ears. She stood between the noise and a confused Rasha, looking towards it.


    A figure appeared out of the burning forest. He was human, and wearing a black cloak, but he was obviously a different person than the shadow figure earlier. He was shorter, with broader shoulders, and a bit of bright hair poked out of his hood. The shadow man definitely didn¡¯t have that.


    But aside from the black cloak, he had red eyes, and the stone like skin. Cultist.


    ¡°You¡¯re here for me, aren¡¯t you?¡± Harmoni asked. She spit it out before he could hope to say or do anything.


    The figure paused. The only movement came from all the fire.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure how many of us believed Edith. But this was as good a place to attack as any. And you¡¯re here. So hey, bonus.¡±


    Harmoni understood very little of what was going on. And right now, she couldn¡¯t afford to puzzle everything out or let the implications set in. But she thought she knew enough to carry her through this.


    Wyss Village had been desolated when she woke up inside it, with her as the only survivor. They were trying to do that same here. For all she knew, they were already close. But even if this was the worst-case scenario, even if anyone who hadn¡¯t teleported was dead, Rasha and Wesles were alive. Fleck was still alive too, though being unconscious, she couldn¡¯t tell what state he was in. She cold save them. And she focused on that, rather than any hypothetical horrors.


    Fleck was asleep. The only person with her was Rasha, and Harmoni was focused on saving her. No friends to help. No voice in her head. Just her. And just she would make the decision she was about to. Fleck would probably have tried to stop her anyway.


    ¡°Well, you have me now. I¡¯ll come with you. But we should leave now, before any reinforcements come in.¡±


    ¡°Harmoni?¡± Rasha asked. Her voice was far away.


    The man raised an eyebrow. ¡°Careful Wren. You¡¯re not in charge here. In fact, you¡¯ve given us a bit of trouble. Really want to cause more?¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t call off the attack, I¡¯ll resist, and it¡¯ll take you longer to leave. And even if I didn¡¯t, Edinar school could get reinforcements at any moment. Iva is a planet full of magic users, you know? They prioritize it. It wouldn''t take them long to contact help, or for that help to get here. You really want to deal with such a large percentage of the planet? People who can fight back?¡±


    Harmoni spoke quickly, out of fear he¡¯d cut her off, and just fear in general. But she meant it. She held eye contact. Her legs were tensed and ready to run, but they didn¡¯t shake.


    The Hidden Cult were cowards. Roosher had said it as well. They hid in the shadows and didn¡¯t go after groups that had much chance of fighting back.


    The man¡¯s eyebrows rose farther, if that was possible. He seemed less than happy about it, motion intentionally tense and sharp as he reached into his robes, and pulled out a Link. But he did pull it out, and unlike Harmoni¡¯s, his actually worked. He very clearly and verbally asked for everyone to fall back to a meeting spot, staring at Harmoni the whole time.


    ¡°There,¡± he said. ¡°Care to come along now?¡±


    Not really, but she knew better than to resist. She walked towards him, resisting the urge to look over her shoulder at Rasha, letting him grab her tightly at the wrist when she got close enough. Then, the two of them walked away.

 69: A New Perspective

    The figure stepped out of the shadows again, close to the center of town, if Cooper had to guess.


    Moon would guess that too.


    The figure¡¯s back was to Cooper, but he was too far away to attack directly. The cloaked man raised a wand at an elf in front of them. If she noticed, she gave no indication. Cooper flung one of his rocks, different than the vials he was saving. It hit the ground between them, and transformed, blooming open into a stone statue of what might be an owl? Whatever it was, it took the brunt of the attack, bursting to pieces.


    And that certainly got the elf¡¯s attention. She turned around, and stumbled back in shock.


    Or fear. Moon figured it was mostly fear.


    Well, more importantly, the figure knew they were there now. Cooper could see a flash of red eyes beneath their hood.


    ¡°You? You don¡¯t even have magic.¡±


    Cooper . . . was getting really tired of hearing that.


    Then the figure disappeared into the shadows below.


    Moon and Cooper quickly faced in opposite directions. There was no place the cult member could come up where one of them wouldn¡¯t see.


    Sure enough, he rose on her side, knife in hand instead of a wand. To be close enough to stab Cooper from behind, he had to be close to her.


    Cooper dropped to the ground, catching himself on his toes and elbows, when he knew the man was lunging.


    Moon meanwhile, grabbed the man¡¯s ankle in her teeth, biting down. She could hear, and feel, the crunching of bone. The man screamed above her. She might have bitten his foot off then and there, but he pointed his wand at her with his other hand.


    Seemed he knew how to duel wield.


    Moon jumped back as a black bolt of magic hit the ground. She flapped her wings to propel herself back even further, and faster. She could¡¯ve sprayed ice at him as well, but she knew why Cooper wanted to face him alone, despite how much he hated fighting. Knew she couldn¡¯t kill him yet.


    And, if she was honest, she was a little uncomfortable with straight up killing sapient life.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s talk,¡± Cooper said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not,¡± the figure said, gnashing his teeth.


    He was obviously in pain. It was clear in his eyes and his shiny mouth. And he wobbled a bit on only one leg. But when he vanished into the shadows, Cooper had no doubt he¡¯d come back up.


    He dropped one of his glass vials, and it erupted into a black smoke cloud. It might¡¯ve looked like a normal smoke bomb. It wasn¡¯t. It was a potion. He¡¯d bought some from the colbber back on Xentron, and some he¡¯d made himself. So how was that for magic?


    He and Moon couldn¡¯t see in the smoke cloud, but he doubted their opponent would be able to either, and Moon could smell him.


    Sure enough, when the man popped back up, he wasn¡¯t near either of them, and didn¡¯t move right away.


    ¡°Last I heard, you killed everyone in the towns you visited,¡± Cooper said. ¡°Is that true?¡± He had it on good authority that it wasn¡¯t. ¡°What¡¯s up with that?¡±


    There was a swishing in the air. Suddenly, something slammed into his back. It was heavy, and clawed, and sent him toppling to the ground, though it didn''t break skin with those sharp claws. And it wasn¡¯t Moon.


    ¡°Fleck? What are you doing here?¡±


    Fleck grunted. ¡°I can¡¯t talk to elves. And you¡¯re welcome. I just took a knife for you.¡±


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    So that was the swishing sound.


    ¡®Is Fleck OK?¡¯


    ¡®He¡¯s not bleeding,¡¯ Moon assured him.


    It would be harder to hurt a dragon with a knife than a fleshy creature like Cooper.


    Being called fleshy when you were partly made of metal was its own irony, but it seemed the time to talk was over.


    The smoke cloud began to clear, faster than it should, like someone had pointed a fan at it.


    The cloaked man stood, hands behind his back. The cloak hid part of his face, but Cooper could tell he looked smug.


    But there were two dragons here, and more elves were coming in. Two of them had wands. A third was carrying a knife. If Cooper and Moon could hold him off, he didn¡¯t stand a chance now.


    And apparently, he agreed, because he faded into the shadow just as a magic bolt came towards him.


    He didn¡¯t immediately reappear this time. One of the elves asked something, but it was in Elvish.


    ¡°It might be a little early to celebrate,¡± Moon said.


    Fleck nodded, but the movement was lose and listless. More like a bobblehead than anything normal.


    Moon could smell something new in the air. It . . . it had started while the smoke cloud was still up, actually. She just . . . it hadn¡¯t been as strong. Her eyelids fluttered. And . . . and the smoke scent was probably covering it up.


    She closed her eyes. This time she didn¡¯t fight it. She just needed five seconds. Then she¡¯d open them again.


    ¡°No! No open them now!¡± Cooper shouted.


    He caught on to what was happening a lot faster than his half-asleep dragon. His own smoke was cleared, but a faint blue fog was rising up from the ground. It came up to about his waist.


    He cringed at the thumps around him. Make that his fully asleep dragon. It had affected the elves as well. The only one who hadn¡¯t been affected was him. It was the built-in filtration system. Probably. Only explanation he could think of.


    He could breath in poisonous gasses, and his cybernetics would filter them out. That was the most extreme use, anyway. Apparently, it worked on magical sleeping mist as well.


    For a moment he just stood there, shoulders slumped, staring at the sleeping bodies before him.


    Then he heard just the faintest noise behind him. He whipped around to see the cloaked man was back. He¡¯d picked up the knife he¡¯d thrown earlier, and was about to plunge it into one of the elves.


    Cooper launched himself between them, and held up his metal arm as a shield.


    That was still his arm, technically his bone. Having a blade bounce off it wasn¡¯t a pleasant experience. But it wasn¡¯t injured.


    Cooper glared the man down. ¡°You just don¡¯t know when to quit, do you?¡±


    He must¡¯ve seen Cooper was still awake, and he chose to attack anyway. He could¡¯ve taken the chance to leave and hadn''t. He just had to kill these people that badly.


    It just made Cooper¡¯s own experience that much stranger.


    The man once again didn¡¯t answer him. He stepped back, and was clearly surprised for a second. But he recovered, glared back at Cooper, and shot forward with his knife.


    Cooper blocked it with his metal arm again. The man pointed his wand at Cooper, and Cooper launched out of the way before he could be hit by a spell. The man cast another bolt towards him. Cooper ducked under it, and took the offensive, bringing his metal knuckles towards the man¡¯s kidney.


    It was true what Moon had said earlier. He didn¡¯t like fighting. Really didn''t. It was like how some people felt about doing math. According to some people, colbbers were predisposed to dislike fighting. According to other people, this was why people on Xentron were willing to enslave colbbers, despite how impractical it was in other aspects. But he found his own dislike didn''t matter much now.


    It had briefly mattered, but the cloaked man had an advantage, having two weapons and probably more experience. Cooper had zero weapons. He had his body, and smoke bombs that would disservice him as much as the cloaked man. At least without Moon.


    But he had to try, because he knew the cloaked man wouldn¡¯t give up until everyone here was dead. He knew how thorough the Hidden Cult could be, with an exception that obviously wouldn¡¯t happen this time. And he knew what the end result of their ruthlessness looked like. He didn''t want to die, and he didn''t want anyone else here to die either, if he could avoid it. There wasn''t time to think about his own dislike.


    So he kept going with a frenzied desperation. He blocked the knife with his arm. At one point he titled his head and took a knife to his lens eye instead of the unprotected one. He dodged the magic attacks, trying desperately not to get between the cloaked man and the sleeping people around. He failed at that at one point, and the man¡¯s spell hit one of the sleep elves. Cooper didn¡¯t have time to see what it did, if he''d killed her. He tried to go on the offense with his metal limbs.


    And he was starting to see an advantage of his own. The cloaked man was tiring faster than him. He was too slow to block a metal elbow to his side. Cooper¡¯s elbow was duller than many colbbers, but getting such a forceful hit from metal still forced the cloaked man to lean over and wheeze.


    Cooper backhanded him across the face with his metal hand, and he bled. When he snuck in another attack, using his metal leg to take his knee out from under him, the cloaked man disappeared back into the shadows.


    Cooper looked around wildly. His own breath was ragged, sweat sliding down him. There was now a crack on the left side of his vision, and the cloaked man had definitely nicked him in a few places before he tired out too much. But the cloaked man didn¡¯t return. It was just Cooper and the sleeping bodies.


    And it was still that way when Wesles came into the area, and Cooper had to shout at him to stop before he walked into the sleeping gas.

 70: To Morivon

    Fleck woke up with a throbbing pain in his head. He shifted, slowly getting up and shaking his head. That didn''t help his headache. It did help him get his senses more in order though.


    Cooper was saying something, but Harmoni wasn''t here, so Fleck didn''t understand it. He was still with Cooper and Moon, but they were no longer in Ovant. Instead, they were getting close to the school. Cooper was carrying Moon, and two elves from Ovan were coming along. One of them was clearly using magic to carrying Fleck along, floating him above the ground.


    "What happened?" he asked, voice still blurred from sleep. And where was Harmoni?


    Moon, looking annoyingly peppy for someone who''d also just been asleep, lifted her head and fell into step beside him, no longer being carried by Cooper.


    "Well. Apparently, that cloaked man used some kind of magic to put us to sleep, and then buggered off. So Cooper''s going back to the school to meet up with the others, and these elves are coming with to see if the school needs any help."


    But while Moon was explaining, Harmoni was also giving him an answer. Mostly against her will. He was just catching up with her knowledge.


    Fleck abruptly lurched from where he was floating in the air. They were regrouping with Rasha and Wesles, but they wouldn''t be regrouping with Harmoni. Because she wasn''t there. Because she was at the Hidden Cult''s spaceship, with the Hidden Cult. Even as they spoke, drifting peacefully towards the school, someone was scolding the cloaked man for picking a fight he couldn''t win.


    ''Don''t chase after them yet,'' Harmoni thought, because she knew he wanted to. ''They have to get off the planet. They need to leave these people alone.''


    And Fleck had his own things to worry about, even if he disagreed. The two of them had different definitions of ''drifting peacefully'' for sure.


    ''And what about you? I should just let them take you?''


    He knew what her answer was without her saying, knew if before he even asked. But he disagreed with her. She wasn''t some martyr, an acceptable sacrifice so others may live. He wouldn''t go along with that.


    And he was about to tell Moon and Cooper, when a familiar smell hit his nose, and he went stiff.


    That smelled like Asplenium, but that wasn''t all. His scent mingled with another now, and Fleck was familiar with it, mostly from when Aqua brought back dinner for the two of them. That was the scent of death.


    Fleck bolted to the left, wiggling from his floating position like a child trying to escape a ball pit. He either beat the magic, or the elf let him go. Either way, he hit the ground and ran through a few burning trees, and found Asplenium lying on his side. The dirt built up behind him suggested he''d been pushed against the ground for a while. He was clearly injured, blood staining parts of him, but no longer flowing out. And his chest wasn''t rising or falling.


    Fleck ran over and nudged him, but it was more force of habit than anything. He felt embarrassed for trying a moment later. He was. . .he was gone.


    He stepped back so he could more easily see all of Asplenium at once.


    His eyes went wider than what was strictly comfortable for a dragon. He fell onto his haunches, and his tail and wings drooped. Asplenium had been . . . well, friend wasn''t the right word. He was his superior after all. But he''d been Fleck''s teacher, a confidant, and one of the few people Fleck could talk to here. Even when Asplenium wasn''t training him, they slept in the same cavern, and usually ate together.


    He should maybe stop looking. Part of him wanted to drop his head. But it was outweighed by the part that wanted to stare.


    "You should go with Copper."


    Moon was behind him. There was her scent, but even more so, he''d heard her come up.


    She had to be here for Fleck''s sake. She''d only met Asplenium once.


    "Copper and I don''t need to be attached at the hip. We can connect from far away just like you and Harmoni. You, on the other hand, I can''t do that with. And you seem like you could use some company."


    Right. Harmoni. Unfortunately, this had worked in her favor. He could tell the Hidden Cult''s spaceship had just taken off. They were gone, and even if he got help, and they went as fast as they could, he probably wouldn''t be able to reach Harmoni until she landed.


    He could be upset about that, but he just felt tired. Moon came up beside him, and he slumped against her, head on her shoulder.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ~~~


    It was a grim sight, when Cooper and the elves arrived at the school. Not the grimmest he''d ever seen, but worth a mention. Holes had been blasted in the walls, windows shattered, fire still burning in places. There were dead bodies in the open headmaster''s office, some looking bad enough that Cooper flinched and looked away.


    And he wasn''t exactly faint of heart. He''d seen a lot. He just knew what sort of things would haunt him, if he took in too much.


    He and the elves continued on. Cooper was dragging his feet by now, his injuries and the strain of the fight catching up to him. But if anyone noticed, they didn''t call him out on it, and that was good. He had things to do.


    The living people seemed to be in the cafeteria. Tolith was healing the injured. The haggard headmaster explained to the elves that they''d sent most of the students away using the teleporting rock. Some of the teachers and adult students had stayed behind to hold the cult off, and make sure they didn''t see how everyone was escaping. Otherwise they could just follow.


    Cooper wasn''t exactly good at guessing elf ages, but the people who''d stayed behind did seem mostly older, capable of fighting back.


    "We got some of those monsters though," the headmaster snarled, with more energy than he''d said anything else. "Their bodies aren''t here, with those we should honor."


    "Only two of them died," a teacher chimed in. Cooper was pretty sure he was the history teacher? Harmoni had said? "And then mostly thanks to the headmaster. Not everyday you truly see the magic he''s capable of."


    "Is now the time?" the headmaster asked. "Ava died."


    "Yes. I wish the old potions teacher was here. He would''ve been more useful in the fight," the history teacher said.


    A woman in the corner shifted her weight, arms crossed and looking at the ground. Was she a teacher? Cooper had thought she was one of the students.


    "Asplenium''s gone too," Tolith said, voice completely flat.


    Cooper tensed. He knew what had happened to Asplenium through Moon. Cooper couldn''t imagine it. If a dragon or rider died of old age, they''d technically have to live without the other for a little. But not very long. If one half of a soul bond was snapped by a violent death? He couldn''t conceptualize it.


    "Are you OK?" he asked Tolith. An instinctive question, and possibly a stupid one.


    ''Very stupid,'' Moon agreed from where she sat with Fleck.


    "I''ll live," Tolith said, not looking away from the person he was healing. "But I wish I wouldn''t."


    Tolith finished who he was healing, and turned to help Cooper. He had just started when Rasha and Wesles came in, both also looking tired and a bit beat up.


    "Oh thank God you''re here," Rasha gasped, slumping against the doorframe.


    "Rasha. I''m glad you''re alright," Tolith said.


    He didn''t sound glad. His tone didn''t change at all. He simply finished healing Cooper and moved on to her.


    "Where''s Harmoni?" Cooper asked, eyes darting between the two and the empty doorway. Maybe not the most tactful question, but she obviously wasn''t here, and that was important.


    "That''s why we came looking for you!" Rasha cried out.


    "Well, we were goingto meetup anyway, but yeah," Wesles agreed.


    Rasha kept trying to peer around Tolith, or move around him. But he held her in place as he healed her.


    "Harmoni''s been kidnapped!" she bursted out. "By the Hidden Cult!"


    "What?!" Cooper exclaimed.


    "What?!" Moon echoed.


    "What?" Fleck asked, genuinely confused, as he couldn''t know what they were talking about.


    "Kidnapped by the cult? That is highly irregular," the headmaster said.


    "Forget irregular. It doesn''t happen," the history teacher drawled. "The cult kills everyone it contacts. And even if it didn''t, why take someone with them?"


    Rasha pursed her lips together for a moment before pressing on. "Well they did. They''ve taken her, and she was still very much alive."


    "Oh yeah. I was going to tell you about that soon," Fleck said, as Moon explained. He sounded far too casual about the whole thing.


    He was probably. . .dazed? In shock? Something along those lines.


    "What are you talking about? You mean you just let this happen and didn''t say anything?" Moon asked.


    "Well I didn''t have much choice! They were already on the spaceship by the time I woke up. We can''t catch them until they land on Morivon. Do you think I don''t desperately wish that was different?"


    "You''re sure that''s where they''re going?"


    Fleck nodded. "Positive."


    "Then we need to go to Morivon," Cooper concluded with a nod. The sooner they got started the better. "Are any ships going there?"


    He was met with a, temporary, less than promising silence.


    "Young man, there aren''t many spaceships on the planet at all. And that says nothing of cost," the headmaster pointed out.


    Cooper wanted to be angry that anyone could think of cost at a time like this, but he knew it was true. It was lucky he''d gotten to Iva in the first place. And that ship was just going back to Xentron.


    He wanted to be angry that no one else seemed to have the same urgency about rescuing Harmoni as he and Rasha had. And that one was fair. But he couldn''t show it. It wouldn''t help.


    "What about magic? Can''t someone use magic to get us there?"


    The answer was also no. The headmaster was the only one who could teleport, and if he could teleport to another planet, it couldn''t happen more than once. Teleporting that far apparently had pretty large limits. It would be impossible to take all of them.


    Cooper was about to suggest splitting the group when the headmaster continued. "What we need to do, is heal who we can, put defenses back around the school, and hold funerals."


    That was understandable and all, but it sounded like he was already writing Harmoni off as a lost cause. At best.


    "Maybe Evin can help you," the headmaster suggested.


    "Evin?" Cooper asked, both shocked that Evin could be helpful, and shocked the headmaster knew about him.


    The headmaster nodded. "He''s been near the school for a while, apparently He helped us evacuate the school, as one of the few people who knows where the teleporting crystal is."


    Right. Still a little crazy, but right. Made sense. Cooper didn''t think Evin would be much help for getting off planet though.


    Then Wesles raised his good hand. "If it helps, I''m . . . I think inStandard, my family''s royalty. Icould arrange aship."


    Cooper and Rasha stared at him for a moment. Even Moon and Fleck seemed a little surprised at that one.


    "You''re what?" Rasha asked.


    "Wellyeah. Why d''you think they gaveme a valuable magic armport? They wouldn''t givethat tojust anyone."

 71: Worker Man

    "There''s, there''s something I haven''t mentioned," Rasha said.


    Cooper looked up from where he was sitting on a rock, the sounds of the ocean waves lulling him.


    Moon was already translating for Fleck.


    They were waiting by the pink ocean for Wesles'' ship. There was, thankfully, one he could get from right here on Iva, so they wouldn''t be waiting days before they could start following Harmoni.


    They''d bumped into Evin on the way to the ocean. Seemed the headmaster had been telling the truth about what he was up to. He was covered in less slime than usual. There was less slime than not slime. Cooper had actually been able to see clothes. Turned out, Evin had been wearing a suit with coattails, but red instead of the usual black. Or at least, it used to be red. Age and slime had done a number on it.


    He had followed them to the ocean. Cooper wasn''t sure if that was because he lived in the area, or because he was going to help rescue Harmoni. Before today, Cooper certainly wouldn''t believe he was doing that latter, not without an ulterior motive at least. But something was clearly going on with him.


    But back to Harmoni. They''d all been content to just wait, peering over the ocean. They were probably all tired, not just him. But here was Rasha, standing up straight and looking at them. She swallowed thickly.


    "It''s not just that Harmoni was kidnapped." She shifted her weight. "She went with them. And-and they were looking for her. They knew her."


    "So what?! You think Harmoni''s a villain?!" Fleck asked, leaping up as Moon translated.


    He looked far too close to an attack stance for Cooper''s comfort.


    "He wants to know if you think Harmoni''s evil," he translated for Rasha.


    "I don''t like that word," Rasha said.


    Evin frowned, brow furrowed.


    "I have a hard time believing anything bad about Harmoni," Cooper assured Fleck, putting up a placating hand.


    Harmoni was kind and sweet almost to a fault, at least on Xentron.


    "I-I guess I get that," Rasha said. "I don''t know why I brought this up at all. I''m still going to rescue her. I just. . ." She tapped her horn a couple times, gripping it where it had been injured before Tolith healed her. But it seemed to calm her down. "It''s just scary. Maybe more scary, than if they''d just kidnapped her. I don''t know what to expect but . . . that context feels like it changes things. And it seems like something we should all know."


    ~~~


    "Why don''t you like evil?"


    "Huh?"


    "You said you didn''t like the word evil," Evin pointed out. "Why not?"


    Rasha shrugged. "It makes you think of one dimensional villains on TV. Or like, you can''t be evil and a person at the same time. Or it makes a lot of people think like that. But no one''s really like that. And I don''t think it helps you to assume they are."


    It was quiet for a moment.


    "Even potions guy?" Evin asked.


    Rasha flinched. "Well, I ne''er saw more than the one dimensional part. But, but I suppose it must exist, yeah?" She asked the question through clenched teeth.


    Cooper. . .had not idea what they were talking about.


    ~~~


    Fleck lay on his belly, but wriggled impatiently, causing a squiggle in the sand.


    "How much longer?" he asked.


    He saw Cooper speaking, probably relaying the question. Then Wesles spoke. Then Moon translated.


    "About half an hour."


    She was efficient. She didn''t even wait for Wesles to finish speaking before starting her translation. And she didn''t even seemed annoyed about constantly needed to this. But Fleck still HATED it.


    Back on Xentron, communication with the riders was easy. He had his own rider, and most rider species had dragons. Communication was pretty instantaneous. When he was with Harmoni, it was still OK. He couldn''t directly communicate with rider species, but at least he instantly knew what they were saying, and instantly knew Harmoni was translating accurately, if he tried to speak to them.


    Now? Without her? He really wished he''d taken lessons on Standard, like some dragons did. They didn''t speak it. A dragon''s vocal cords weren''t designed for Standard. But he''d at least be able to understand them.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Now he had to sit isolated from a bunch of people right beside him, who''d he''d have to rely on. Now he had to play the waiting game to rescue Harmoni, and have her beside him again.


    ''You know, my name is probably Wren,'' Harmoni thought.


    She hadn''t been paying much attention to what was going on on Fleck''s end. It was disorienting when they were far away from each other, and there''d been enough going on around her. But now she was just sitting in a ship with a bunch of people she was terrified to be around, and she could pick up on the repeated use of that name.


    ''You don''t know that!'' Fleck snapped back mentally.


    ''Fleck. . .''


    She didn''t think more. Not in clear words. She didn''t need to. He knew the feelings going through her head.


    ~~~


    The ship finally arrived.


    Cooper had to admit, he was a little shocked. They didn''t have royalty on Xentron, but they had people who were very, very well off. Didn''t mean he was used to this experience.


    Wesles had just called a ship from outside, and it just, arrived at the ocean. It was a small ship for all of them to cram into, but it was made for passengers, unlike the one Cooper had arrived in, that was mostly bringing things. There was a table and seats. The seats were cushioned, and more comfortable than most chairs he''d sat on, if he was honest. There were beds along the wall, and what looked like a chest that had food in it. And that said nothing of the bathroom, which was much larger and cleaner than you''d expect in most transports.


    Smelled better too.


    There was a pilot sitting at the front, asking Wesles if he was ready. If they needed anything before they left.


    It didn''t show on his face, but Cooper tried not to be bitter.


    Cooper, Rasha, Wesles, and Evin could all take a seat around the table. Fleck and Moon lay on the floor instead, under the table. Moon was beside Cooper, head and neck poking out so she could lift her head up and be part of the conversation. But Fleck just disappeared completely.


    ''Is he alright?''


    ''Given the circumstances? No. Absolutely not. But he''s only telling me so much.''


    They didn''t get to speak more, because on that concerning note, the ship took off. None of them interacted much as it left the planet, because the take off was so rocky.


    "It depends on ship size, unfortunately," Wesles said, once they leveled out. He drew in some ragged breaths. "Smallerones tend tobe worse on the comingandgoing."


    "Ugh," Rasha said, head against the table.


    Cooper thought it was more helpful to tilt his head up, but hey, what did he know?


    He stared at the ceiling and swallowed. He could hear the others'' ragged breathing or groans as they recovered. He could feel Moon''s discomfort too, but apparently being a flying creature made turbulence easier on her.


    They were all quieting down. No one was talking. Everyone was barely moving.


    Fleck, despite everything, might be going to sleep. She hoped so. It might be best for him.


    Cooper bounced his knee. He couldn''t blame everyone for the silence or stillness. This was stressful. Harmoni was in danger right now. And even when they got there, what were they going to do?


    He didn''t know what to say. He wouldn''t be able to sleep yet, and he while he could eat, he knew the others might not be able to.


    But this was going to be a long ship ride. Over twenty-four hours until Morivon? He was pretty sure? So sitting like this for the entire time was out.


    Well, if he needed something to pass the time, and wasn''t ready for the serious things yet, there was always the old standby.


    "Once there was a worker man, who sailed the seven seas


    He wrangled in the fish each day,


    And counted all the bees."


    "Excuse me, what?" Evin asked.


    Cooper looked down, away from the ceiling. All three of them were staring at him. Right. Most people probably didn''t know about that song. And it had come out of nowhere from their perspective.


    For a second, he just wanted to disappear into his cloak. It was thick and comfy for the cold weather.


    But most people didn''t mind when he explained. And that would be better than disappearing on his new friends.


    There was an aggressive emphasis on friends and explaining. He could sense Moon coming out from under the table, as she tried to give him emotional strength.


    "It''s an improv song," Cooper said, trying not to sigh. "In theory, you have the first three lines, but someone has to come up with the rhyme on the spot. It''s fun when you have the energy, and can take your mind off things," he added quickly, trying to justify why he was singing now, of all time. "But I can stop if you like. . ."


    Rasha shook her head.


    "Got anotherverse?" Wesles asked. "I''d like somefun."


    Well, if they said so. . .


    They did. ''Told you so.''


    Cooper started singing. He couldn''t help sitting up straighter as he went, his eyes taking on a little shine. It had been a while since he''d played this game.


    "Once there was a worker man, who worked the village square


    He set up sales each new day,"


    "And cut off people''s hair?" It was Evin of all people who filled in the rhyme.


    Cooper was so surprised, it fell on Moon to smile and nod in encouragement.


    ''Hey now, I''m not that shocked,'' Cooper thought.


    He might have been thrown for a loop, but he kept it together enough to start another verse.


    "Once there was a worker man, who worked a circus tent


    He set up all the shows each day,"


    "So he could pay the rent!" Rasha finished with a shark-toothed grin.


    And Cooper couldn''t help but smile back. This was silly. This was fun. He was glad they''d done it. And they weren''t done yet. He knew some more verses.


    Then, Fleck came out from under the table.


    "What are you doing?" he shouted, stomping his front feet. "Wren''s in danger! The cult could kill her right now! And you''re just-just have fun?!"


    ''Oh dear,'' Moon thought. She''d come out from under the table. She hadn''t noticed he was waking up.


    Yes, Cooper had tried to keep his voice down when he started, wanting Fleck to be able to sleep. Unfortunately he''d sort of forgotten about that as they went along. Or maybe he''d started too loud.


    He and Moon where the only ones who could understand Fleck''s specific words, but the others could probably get the idea. Wesles looked at Fleck first with surprise, then confusion. Evin looked down his nose like Fleck was a minor annoyance. Rasha looked like she felt bad, hand curled in front of her mouth.


    "I hate you all!" Fleck declared.


    He spun around, tail lashing, and stormed into the bathroom, using his tail to slam the door behind him.


    Rasha started to move, but Cooper but a hand on her shoulder. "Wait," he suggested. "You should give him a second to cool off. And, uh, I should talk to him."


    It had been his idea that he could explain. And, there was something else he could tell Fleck, to help with that.


    Moon swiveled her head to him. ''Are you sure?''


    He''d be telling Harmoni as well. And she knew he didn''t like talking about this with anyone.


    Cooper nodded. ''I know what I''m doing,'' he thought, even if that wasn''t totally true. ''And I''ll need you with me. To translate.''

 72: Stress

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Fleck sat in the bathroom, large enough for him to slump on the floor, and seethed. He thumped his tail against the walls or the toilet. He huffed. His breath was hot, but no smoke came out of his nose.


    They''d stopped singing out there. There wasn''t much noise outside in general. He wanted to be angry about that too, but without more noise to annoy him, well, he wasn''t getting angrier.


    He wasn''t getting calmer either.


    Fleck tried not to snap at her for that. After all, she had enough emotions of her own to worry about.


    After stewing for an unknown period of time, there was a knock on the door. "Can Cooper come in?" Moon asked. "He''d like to apologize."


    That really meant both of them coming in, but he grunted, and shifted. He was still lying on the floor, but with his tail and neck curled in properly, there was a bit more space.


    Cooper opened the door and gave a sweeping bow. He was also speaking.


    "He says sorry," Moon told him.


    "Tell him to cut the dramatics," Fleck said.


    Moon didn''t actually have to tell him. At least not out loud. With words. He did, in fact, stop, looking a lot more somber than before. Moon climbed onto the toilet seat, front legs on the back of it. Cooper, meanwhile, closed the bathroom door, and sat down beside Fleck. Fleck could feel his pants against his back leg. He spoke again. He sounded a lot more subdued than Fleck had ever heard him.


    "Copper would like to tell you he was once a slave," Moon translated.


    There was clear reluctance on Moon''s part, but he barely cared about that. He jolted up, head in the air. "What?"


    That even got Wren''s attention. She sat up straighter, staring at the wall with greater concentration, as if she was in the same place.


    Cooper talked a bit more.


    "Yes. You know some of those towns on Xentron do whatever they want, including have slaves. He was one until relatively recently." Moon shook her head. "But he doesn''t want to talk about that much."


    Cooper kept talking, with Moon translating at the same time. It made it a little hard to focus on. If he had to guess, Cooper was a little uncomfortable, shifting his weight and clicking his fingers together, but it had nothing on Moon''s urgency to move on. Like when Fleck was being protective.


    "He wants to explain that taking your mind off stress isn''t always a bad thing. That if you can''t change the situation, being stressed about it is just going to wear you down and tire you out before you''ve actually done anything. He just brought up the slavery so you know he''s not full of hot air. He''s had plenty to stress about. But he is, genuinely sorry. Because he could''ve handled the situation a little better. For your sake."


    Fleck wanted to be angry anyway. He was still mad that they''d been singing. And he did feel a little talked down to. . .


    ''Didn''t you say you wanted to do something nice for Cooper? Now''s the time,'' Wren urged.


    ''Yeah, yeah.''


    And he knew, rationally, that Cooper had a point. Fleck himself had basically done the same thing when they all got teleported by the magic crystal. That was enough to stop him from lashing out again. Even if he wasn''t going to be magically happy.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    "You should do what you want," Fleck said, trying to speak with as little anger as possible.


    It worked. He mostly sounded tired.


    He sighed. "I''m going to stay in here. Someone can knock if they need the room."


    Cooper frowned. It seemed he was a little reluctant to leave things like this. But eventually, he patted Fleck''s shoulder, and left with Moon.


    ~~~


    Fleck did in fact stay in the bathroom most of the flight, though he did have to get out for everyone at some point. Rasha hugged him when he left, wrapping her arms around him and moving her hand slowly up and down his back in a way that was either supposed to be soothing, or an apology. He appreciated it either way.


    At some point some of the others ate. He could smell it through the door. He wasn''t sure he could manage food right now. Having nothing was better than being sick.


    He did, however, manage to get to sleep at some point. Cooper really was on to something. He''d drained himself enough sleep wasn''t hard.


    Harmoni, or rather Wren, just tried to keep her head down. It wasn''t hard. None of the cultists were talking much. At first they just seemed to be tired, or injured. Content to lick their wounds in silence. But it was a little over 24 hours to Morivon, and even after some time had passed, they all seemed content to stay in their own little worlds. Not that she was complaining.


    She wished she could talk to Cooper about the news he''d dropped on Fleck. But Cooper wasn''t here. And he didn''t want to talk about it, did he?


    They landed while Fleck was asleep. Morivon looked. . .very different than Iva or Xentron. She supposed it had its own impressive sights, but she wasn''t going to appreciate them right now, as she was led away by the cult.


    Fleck woke up to Moon knocking on the door again.


    "The pilot, uh, he''s asking if anyone knows where to land on all of Morivon," Moon told him.


    Right. Fleck focused on his connection to Harmoni again.


    ''Wren.''


    Fine. He focused on his connection to Wren again. Wren wasn''t too familiar with where she was, but she had at least seen signs when she landed.


    "They''re in Springfield," Fleck said, coming out of the bathroom.


    There was a bit more of the rider species talking. The pilot said something that seemed less than polite.


    "Apparently, there''s a lot of Springfields," Moon translated at Fleck''s look.


    Based on the way she avoided eye contact, she already knew how that was going to go.


    Fleck growled. Moon almost immediately got between him and the door to the pilot''s room.


    "Don''t start a fight."


    He wasn''t the one starting it.


    "Evin just asked how many Springfields have a spaceport. From the sound of it, we''re going to the only one that does."


    Well, that did appease Fleck a bit. He looked at Evin, and tried to convey his emotions with that look.


    Then they were going down, and that was about as unpleasant as going up, but worse for the riders than him and Moon. Still, he should show these spaceships how flying was properly done. Whoever made them would be embarrassed by time he was done.


    They landed. After taking a few minuets to compose themselves, the pilot and Evin left the ship.


    Apparently, they''d done some planning while Fleck was locked away or sleeping.


    "Not much of a plan," Moon said. "But I can give you a bit of a rundown."


    According to her, the pilot was refueling, and Evin was getting disguises. Evin had apparently been born on Morivon, and lived there until he moved to Xentron as an adult. He was the only one with any familiarity with the place. He was also the only one the cultists hadn''t seen, and with how little slime he was dripping lately, he wasn''t super distinct either.


    "So he''ll be able to hide our friends," Moon said with a shrug.


    "Our friends, yes. What about us?"


    "I don''t know," Moon admitted. "It feels like maybe we should go separately from them. . ."


    Fleck lashed his tail. He''d pace, but there wasn''t enough space. "I don''t mind leaving right now."


    He still had his connection to Wren. He knew she needed help. He wanted to get to it.


    "How would our friends find us later though? I''m the one who can track her." Both through his connection, and his sense of smell if he could pick up the trail.


    "Well, I''m connected to Cooper. So he can still find me. Or we could double back and rejoin them later."


    Fleck blinked. He didn''t like the idea of doubling back, but he genuinely hadn''t thought of her first suggestion.


    Even far away, and in a stressful situation, Wren was a little amused at Fleck''s embarrassment.


    ''Oops.'' He scrunched his shoulders up.


    But it was nice to have Wren happy for a brief moment, so he''d take it.


    "Then can we go?" Fleck pushed, standing up.


    He could tell, from their expressions, that the rider species had mixed feelings about this. But he had a rider of his own, and he would put that first.


    "Yes," Moon said, after a pause. "We can go."

 73: Coopers Past

    Cooper sat at the table, hands clasped together. The only other people in the spaceship were Wesles and Rasha. He was fine with that. He was, in fact, feeling a little overwhelmed. There was no technology on Iva. There''d been some on Xentron. But it had nothing on how much was here, on Morivon. He was instantly connected to more information than he knew what to do with. And that was just stuff the public was allowed to access. There was plenty his eyepiece couldn''t get into, but he could probably bypass security with more ease than the other species.


    He tried to do that with the cameras actually. It felt like there was one on every corner, and it would sure be nice to look through them. (It also made him glad Evin was going to get disguises. He''d clearly been on to something when he mentioned how fast the cultists could notice them without any.)


    He was still working on that when Rasha spoke up.


    "Er, Cooper?"


    "Yes?"


    "Um, well, it''s just, you should probably know, we could hear you. Through the door. I mean, the door''s pretty muffled, but it''s a small space, and Wesles especially has good ears. . ."


    Of course they had. Cooper didn''t like telling people that. He didn''t like dwelling on it, and he didn''t like them dwelling on it either. Moon knew, but he had no choice about that. He hadn''t even told Cembra.


    Though they and Evergreen probably guessed, based on the way they treated him.


    Yes, they were rather accommodating, weren''t they? Speaking of, he was going to be gone a little longer than Cembra thought. He should probably let them know. He could send a message with his eyepiece. He did that, and turned his focus to the stammering Rasha.


    "It''s fine," Cooper raised a hand.


    He didn''t sound like it was fine.


    "It''s probably not even as bad you''re thinking. Evil people are still going to be practical, and kids just aren''t that useful." And the oldest he''d ever been as a slave was fifteen. "The number one reason children get abused in any capacity outside of slavery is that they''re convenient targets who can''t fight back. And guess what''s true about adult slaves?"


    No. He had a friend who''d been used in an alchemy experiment, because it''s not like he was good for work.


    Cooper himself was hit a fair bit by his "owner," but that was because the guy was terrible at it, didn''t even know how to throw a punch, and children were the only people he could consistently hurt even with terrible form.


    From the way Rasha was frowning at him, she was still concerned.


    From Wesles'' wide-eyed look, he had something else on his mind. "How did you escape?" he asked.


    Cooper looked to the side. His hands were still clasped, but he''d been clenching his fingers and adjusting this thumbs. That was probably going to leave a mark later. He considered not answering at all. But he didn''t know how to deflect the conversation unless Evin walked in right now.


    He didn''t.


    "I didn''t escape. The Hidden Cult came into the town I lived in, and killed everyone. Except me. I don''t know why I was spared, and I didn''t see the person who spared me on Iva, if you were wondering."


    He hadn''t known about the cult before they attacked town. Why would he?


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    He''d been terrified out of his mind, trying to find a place to hide. Instead, he''d just tripped over some garbage bags, and fallen back in the narrow space between two houses. It was dark back there, and there were the bags to hide him. So Cooper had laid still, and tried not to be spotted. It had failed with a single member of the cult, the hooded figure turning, stepping into the alley, and staring right at him.


    And that should''ve been the end of it. He should''ve died. But instead, he''d seen two red eyes and pale skin peer out of the dark cloak. She''d slowly raised a finger to her lips. Then she''d turned, and walked away, and no one passed that area again. Or if they did, they assumed he was a dead body. He''d kept himself very limp back there.


    On one hand, he''d been intentionally spared. Someone had seen him, and still kept him alive. And they''d saved him from a rather miserable existence by killing all the slaveholders in town.


    On the other hand, they''d killed literally everyone else in town. The other slaves, the girl who''d treated him like a person instead of a slave, the guy who gave out free bagels if they didn''t come out right. He''d heard the fighting. Well, slaughter was a more accurate term. And then he''d had to get up, wander through what remained, and find a way to live.


    He tried to put the slavery behind him, and he wouldn''t hear any critiques from Moon on how he was doing that, thank you. It wasn''t like he''d gone out of his way to solve the mystery of what happened that night. But now that the cult had shown up again, and he''d be going towards them soon, well, it would be nice to know why he was alive.


    The door to the space ship opened. "I''m back."


    Cooper jumped, and turned around.


    Sure enough, Evin was standing on the ramp to the spaceship, bag slung over his back. He''d changed his clothes. Instead of the worn red suit, he was wearing a black dress shirt and black jeans, a light blue vest and gloves, and a black hat with a light blue ribbon around it. The outfit actually hid what was left of the slime rather well. And he must''ve washed his skin too. It was too stain free to be anything else.


    He probably knew Cooper''s backstory too. Or at least, the part he''d told Fleck in the bathroom. He''d known there was a nonzero possibility the others could hear him (though he''d forgotten about Wesles'' better hearing). It didn''t mean he''d wanted them to. He just, he hadn''t really thought too much about what would happen if they heard.


    But Evin didn''t say anything about that, when he spoke. "And, I didn''t come alone."


    A woman stepped onto the ramp, appearing from the side. "Well what do you know? It looks like he was telling the truth."


    The woman was a human, but awfully short for one. Probably 153 centimeters? Best guess? Her red hair was pushed back, with a gray streak or two in it. Her sharp brown eyes reminded him more of a hawk than a human''s. When her gaze fell on you, she managed to make it seem like she was towering over you, though the intensity passed after she''d looked the three over.


    And it might not be just the gaze. On her black robes, pure black unlike the dark blue of the cultists, was a golden pin. It looked like a bird, more specifically a peacock or phoenix, its tail spinning to meet its neck. The symbol of the clerics.


    "Er? Hello?" Rasha greeted hesitantly.


    "Right. Introductions." The woman stepped forward, and bowed to them. "I am Elice, a cleric. But you probably guessed as much." Then she smiled, eyes narrowing even further, if possible. "I''m the one who cursed him."


    Now that, Cooper hadn''t guessed. He looked at Evin.


    Evin must''ve guessed his silent question, because he answered. He huffed, adjusting his gloves. "I went to a cleric temple to get our clothes. They have some free stuff for the less fortunate. I didn''t expect her to be at this one."


    He glared daggers into Elice at that. She wouldn''t be able to see him, standing in front of him, but she probably guessed it.


    "You have to understand, I was a little skeptical he had any good intentions after the last time I met him."


    Evin pressed a hand to his chest. "I would''ve been one of the less fortunate you supposedly care so much for even if I wasn''t with these three," he said.


    He was clearly annoyed, but Cooper couldn''t guess if he was annoyed he had to admit to being poor, or still just annoyed with this cleric''s existence.


    Possibly both.


    Yes, that did seem rather likely, didn''t it?


    "Anyway," Elice continued. "What''s this about fighting the cult?"


    Cooper shrugged. "Not much choice."


    "Our friend was taken. We will go after her," Rasha said with a steadier surety than she must really feel. She certainly hadn''t shown it before now.


    Elice bowed her head. "I can respect that. I won''t simply let you wander off though." She tossed Rasha a Link. "I''m going to see if any other clerics can join you on your quest. And, there''s a few things I''d like to look into. This seems like a strange situation. But I suspect I can''t ask you to wait. If you need help before I''m done, I want you to contact me." She raised a finger to point at the Link. "I will show up, and I will be able to help a good deal."

 74: Heading Out

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    That was abrupt. It was so abrupt Cooper called out to Elice before she could leave, making sure that was it.


    Elice shrugged. "I came to verify Evin''s story. Now that I know it''s true, I''ve got things to do, and can''t stop you from what you''re doing. There''s no more reason for me to be here. In fact, it would just slow us both down."


    And Cooper supposed that was fair.


    Evin had been riffling through his bag even before she left, but once she was gone he pulled out two spray cans. One of them seemed to be for turning hair black. And the other was for spray painting metal to make it gray? Wasn''t most metal already gray?


    "Uh, what are those for?" Cooper asked.


    "Well, most humans only look at the superficial details of an imp or colbber. I could probably just change the color of your metal, and the color of Rasha''s hair, and half the population on this planet wouldn''t recognize you. But I''ll do a little more. Pretty sure the Hidden Cult has members of every species."


    He said that, but based on his smile, he might also just be looking forward to this little makeover.


    He held out the hairspray, and Rasha stepped forward. She didn''t object as Evin set to work. She did press her lips together and tense up when Evin grabbed one of her horns.


    "Sorry. Just trying to get the space between them."


    He adjusted so only one finger was touching the top of her horn. Enough to guide Rasha''s head, but only if she let him.


    Cooper was pretty sure he couldn''t have gotten the sprays from the cleric temple-who would generously donate that?-but he wasn''t going to object.


    "How easily does that stuff come out?" Cooper asked.


    Evin shrugged. "Pretty easily. I mean, I had to make sure it had a little lasting power. So it wouldn''t come off in the sprinklers, or if you step in a puddle. But if you use soap, or one of those disinfecting wipes, it should come clear. And that''s true for both of you."


    That was more reassuring than Cooper would like to admit. He didn''t think he was particularly vain about his appearance, but he disliked the idea of changing his metal more than his clothes or hair.


    Evin finished spraying Rasha''s hair from red to black, and put it into a braid. He then put the braid up on the side of her head, making her face and horns look different than usual. He also handed her a pink dress.


    While Rasha went to the bathroom to get changed, Evin frowned at Wesles'' missing arm. He''d apparently already thought that through though. He gave Wesles a poncho looking thing. Well, its shape was like a poncho. It was made out of slightly nicer material. It was big, and only had holes for arms instead of sleeves. So the missing arm wasn''t completely obvious. It could just be hidden in the poncho. He also pulled out a pair of boots somewhere between rain boots and work boots. And Evin proceeded to give him the galaxy''s fastest haircut. It was genuinely impressive that, while it didn''t look good, it wasn''t a laughing stock.


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "I like this better than the old cut," Wesles admitted. "My parents always wanted me to keep something on the elaborate, regal end."


    The shorter choppy look Evin gave him was definitely not that.


    As for Cooper, Evin had the spay can, of course. He also pulled out what looked like a long, but lightweight and loose, bathrobe. At least, the sleeves were wide and loose enough to go on without Cooper''s metal hand tearing through. Evin tied the rope on the robe''s waist, and put the hood over him. Then he put sunglasses on Cooper''s face.


    "Congratulations. You are now a magic user," Evin said.


    Cooper didn''t think he''d meant it as a jab, but it still felt like one.


    Evin, meanwhile, stepped back and admired his handiwork. And explained his thought process to Cooper a bit more. "With that look, and the alchemy toys on you, most people will mistake you for a magic user. It also solves the problem of one imp, one gnome, and one colbber being a pretty distinct trio. But if you do mess up and reveal the metal bones, at least they''re the wrong color."


    And considering Cooper was the one the cult had seen the most of, probably, he supposed he should appreciate that.


    The sleeves of the bathrobe were long enough to cover both hands, but Cooper put the metal one in his pocket anyway. And some of his alchemy supplies had been on his person, but he had a few pouches in his cloak. He should probably transfer anything from the cloak to the robes. He set to work on that.


    "These are some specific clothes. You really had no trouble?" Rasha asked, stepping out of the bathroom.


    The dress was nice, and covered most of her, but she kept making little adjustments anyway. It seemed she was used to more cloth on her neck.


    "Specific?" Evin asked. "Maybe. But they''re all pretty plain. Some of the first stuff people get rid of if they want to donate and feel good about themselves. And come on, you think that bitch would''ve let me take these if I got them in an immoral way?"


    "You shouldn''t call her that," Rasha said.


    "Don''t tell me how I should respond to the person who cursed me. Do you have any idea what the last few years have been like? And don''t defend her. I promise you, she can do that on her own."


    Oh boy. Here they went again. This had the potential to get heated.


    "All right, we''ve all changed our appearance," Cooper said. "Can we get going now?"


    Wesles nodded. "Nothing more todo in here."


    "I suppose so," Evin agreed.


    "Lead the way," Rasha urged Cooper.


    "We''re all going to die," Evin said.


    ~~~


    Fleck was relieved to be away from the others. He was tired of being stuck in a small space. He was tired of Moon constantly running translations, tired of being left out when he was the one whose soul bond was in danger.


    Now he was out, and could focus on getting to Harmo-Wren. He could save her.


    There were so many cameras, they''d been hoping to go outside. But the weather was kind of rank. The air smelled of human activity, including a fair amount of pollution. Fleck could feel something coat his nostrils and mouth when he took a breath.


    But there were cameras inside. And Eddie was a cult member. If she saw Fleck, she''d know what that was about. Not to mention how unusual it would be to see a dragon on Morivon in general, just for anyone.


    So they stayed outside. This area of Morivon had large buildings containing multiple parts of the city, and tubes connecting those buildings, so you didn''t have to go outside to get around.


    Fleck perched on top of one of the tubes, looking out in the direction he knew his rider had gone.


    "Fleck!" Moon called from the ground. "What''s the news?!" She was, rightly, letting him call the shots.


    The news was that the easiest way to get to Wren was to walk along the ground, or fly. Following the paths the humans had made by, say, crawling along beside the tunnels would take them out of their way. They should walk there directly, or maybe fly. Then they could fly over any man-made structures in the way.


    He clenched his legs, rattled his tail, spread his wings, and jumped into the sky. Moon got the idea. She was a bit slower, since she had to take off from the ground. But she joined him, and the two raced across the clouded gray sky.

 75: Arrival

    "Wren? You still with us?"


    Wren was broken from her stupor by Eddie elbowing her.


    "Of course."


    She had been distracted. Of course she had been. Her friends were coming to "save" her, something that could kill them. And she knew there was no talking them out of it. (And if she was honest, she was selfishly glad for that.) So she had to find some way to help.


    But she also had to pay attention to the present. It had already been tense riding back on a spaceship with these people. Now that they were on the planet and getting close to the cult''s base, her present situation probably took precedent over Fleck''s.


    ''Probably,'' Fleck loudly agreed.


    Wren didn''t appreciate that thoughts could be loud until now.


    But focusing on her present situation.


    Eddie stared at her with an expression she couldn''t read, and then was looking away. It was too late to parse.


    "We''re almost there," Eddie said out of the corner of her mouth.


    Wren looked ahead. They''d actually reached the end of the city, and gone outside a while back, so Harmoni could sympathize with Fleck''s air problem. It was unpleasant, but at least her sense of smell was worse.


    The area they were in was pretty barren. They walked on gray dust, and passed rocks without any plants in sight. Of course, it was hard to see in general. Some of the rocks littered around easily came up past her head. And she was 182 cm, when last measured.


    The area wasn''t exactly cliffy, like part of Xentron had been. But there were tall rock formations around, as well as abandoned, dilapidated buildings, falling in on themselves. And there was a thick fog around. Looking too far turned everything to blurs and blobs, and Wren had to make her best guesses. And based on her best guess, they had just passed a building graveyard. Empty buildings slowly falling part, but without any plants to make things break down faster. They just sat in an unnatural crumbling and blacked out state, looking a bit like actual tombstones, and it had been creepy.


    The group she was with had more than the three members they''d seen attacking Edinar, but it still seemed like a small group for attacking a magic school. Arrogance and all that.


    The man who''d shot fire balls was named Murv. The shadow man was Pauth. She''d heard both their names on the trip here. She hadn''t caught anyone else''s name, but those two seemed like the ones she''d most need to know. They were in charge? Sort of?


    She noticed while Pauth''s skin looked like stone, the others looked worse. Pauth at least might be high quality stone. The others were more like old stone, or rock turning to dust, in Murv''s case. It was only Eddie who had regular skin.


    They were coming up on another building. That wasn''t unusual in this area, but they weren''t going around it. More of it was coming into focus. The building was large, but dilapidated, like the ones before it. A window or two were shattered. A small part of the roof had fallen into the third floor. Two of the walls seemed to be falling into each other. There was a porch, but there were so many holes or loose boards, Wren was shocked when Murv just walked up to the front door like there was nothing wrong.


    With a push, the door swung inwards. And the other cult members started to follow him. So Wren took a deep breath, and followed their steps, being as exact as she could.


    The cultists hadn''t talked to her about her situation, but they didn''t seem to have the full picture. She''d rather it stay that way. And she''d rather not fall through a hole or weak point in the floor.


    At least there was none of the dense gray fog inside. It was just dark. There wasn''t much inside, at first glance. What was there, like a table and sofa, seemed to be broken, like outside. But as Wren''s eyes adjusted, she could see things like support beams propping up the leaning walls. So it wasn''t completely untouched.


    Murv walked to what looked like a refrigerator, and pushed the chair leg sticking up from the floor beside it. Yeah, scratch that. That wasn''t a chair leg, it was a lever. And it wasn''t a refrigerator either, apparently. It was an elevator.


    This place was hidden in a convoluted and childish way. Good to know. Shame the cultists either didn''t know that they were feeding Fleck that information, or didn''t realize how dangerous that was. He relayed what he was learning to Moon, who could send it along to Cooper.


    Wren wasn''t sure what expression was on her face, but it must not have been neutral, because Pauth smiled sympathetically at her.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    "We have magic ways to hide our base too, but it''s better to use practical ways where we can."


    Murv looked over his shoulder, red eyes narrowed. "Funny. I thought Wren''s memory problems were exaggerated. That''s why she came with us, isn''t it?"


    "I''m not sure anyone explained the security measures to her in the first place," Pauth defended her.


    Murv still looked like he was expecting something, but one of the other cult members raised his hand. "Can we go down now?"


    The elevator was just sitting open in front of them, it''s faint light casting the room in a green glow.


    Murv shrugged. "Not my problem."


    He stepped inside. Eddie, Wren, and Pauth went with him. But seeing as the elevator was disguised as a refrigerator, there wasn''t much space. The rest of the cult members would just have to wait their turn. One of them groaned, while another one slumped onto his shoulder, but none of them really made any complaints.


    The elevator closed, and they went down. When it opened again, it was like they were someplace completely different.


    The hall below was small, but well lit with smooth white walls. Up ahead was another hall cutting through, resembling a road''s intersection.


    A dwarf slowed in the middle of the intersection. Broad shouldered with a square face, but no beard. She had gray eyes and blond hair. The blond hair was not done up in an intricate pattern like Cembra''s, but based on the way the strands clung together, she''d once had it like that.


    "You''re back!" she exclaimed. She moved towards them at a brisk walk. "Oh. And Wren really is back. Anvon will want to hear that. Though he''s not here right now. Should be back soon. In the meantime, you should go to the ballroom. There''s food inside. And you can rest there."


    Murv essentially brushed past her, walking around her before she was even finished talking to them.


    Pauth, meanwhile, nodded respectfully. "Thank you."


    The dwarf looked a little annoyed, but stepped to the side, making it easier for the rest of them to go on.


    Wren tried to keep track of where they were going, though the identical white halls made it hard.


    They took a right down the hall, then another right down a much smaller hall, and then into a door on the right. Along the way, they passed a few other doors. Wren didn''t know the layout to this underground base, but it was clearly large. As was the "ballroom".


    Wren stumbled to a stop. This place was huge. The space could even fit dragons like Argone. It seemed more like a natural cave than the halls; the walls were rough, rocky, gray instead of white, and curved upwards to form a dome. And the area echoed. But there weren''t any formations. And it was dry.


    A chandelier hung above, casting everything in a yellow light. On the opposite end of the cavern were tables with food, and along the curved walls were couches or fancy chairs. Wren wasn''t sure how well it worked when the walls were made of rock, but aside from that, this was clearly a fancy spot.


    "You should get something to eat," Eddie suggested.


    She couldn''t keep her voice down in here, it echoed. So everyone would hear the suggestion, but the others were already finding spots they wanted to be in around the room, and no one glanced at the two.


    Well, Eddie probably had the right idea. Wren didn''t feel hungry, but she hadn''t had a meal since Iva, only barely nibbling on a snack bag during the ship ride here. She was feeling unfocused, like there was a veil between her and everything. So Wren grabbed a cup of water, put some food on a plate, and moved to one of the couches.


    Once the food was near her mouth, she really did want to keep eating it. Could you feel nauseous and hungry at the same time? Wren was certainly putting that to the test, the way her stomach churned and twitched with nerves, but her body also cried out for more food.


    The people who''d brought her here also ate. Some more cult members joined them in the room, though thankfully none sat near her so far. Wren watched and listened to them as they talked about nothing. A stubborn son, a job change, rising rent in their apartment. Little things, like some members hadn''t just gone out and slaughtered a school. Or tried to, anyway.


    "I''m telling you, you should move underground," someone said, in response to the rent issue.


    "Or I could just kill management. I think the other people there would thank me."


    And there it was. She even said it jokingly, like when people jokingly talked about suing, or burning their bills. Only these people actually did murder people. Wren knew this. Pauth was the one she''d seen do as much, and he came off as the friendliest of the bunch.


    Well, they hadn''t seen it. But with Murv''s ability, odds were he''d killed Asplenium.


    She wanted to get out of here. She had to get out of here.


    Eddie took Wren''s plastic cup out of her grip. Wren blinked a few times, coming back to reality.


    Her grip had tightened and shook on the cup, without her noticing. Eddie had taken it before Wren could crack it, or otherwise spill it all over herself.


    "Honestly."


    Eddie had taken a seat on the same couch as her. On the opposite end, Wren hadn''t even noticed, but close enough to get her cup like that.


    Eddie seemed to be sort of shafted, fidgeting at the edge of the group, just following them around silently. Like Wren. Well, she did seem younger than the others. (Not in literal years, seeing as she was an elf, but in maturity.)


    Eddie was watching Wren now. Not intently, per say. More like watching an injured baby bird. "Wren? Are you OK?"


    Well wasn''t that a loaded question?


    It was.


    Before Wren could figure out how to answer it, the door swung open again. It was much more dramatic than before, and everyone fell silent when the new man entered.


    He was just a hair shorter than Wren. He was broader, but not in a way where she expected him to start flinging people around. He had black hair, and the red eyes everyone in the cult seemed to have. He had light skin, but it was looking very dusty. Considering things like his eyes and veins were were still bright and solid, almost too much so, it was . . . a little disconcerting to look at.


    He clearly commanded respect, and Wren got the distinct feeling she should know him.


    "Anvon!" Murv greeted. He seemed to be the happiest he was there. "You made it."


    Anvon grunted in response, and came further in. "And I see you brought back my errant daughter." He paused, heels clicking together, and turned towards her. "Though I''m not sure why."

 76: Father

    It felt like blood had flooded Wren''s ears. There was the sound of roaring liquid, and the word ''daughter.'' Repeating over and over. ''Daughter. Daughter. Daughter.''


    ''Focus,'' Fleck thought at her.


    But she could tell through their bond that he was shocked too.


    And so he was, but he also knew they had to listen. They couldn''t afford to miss anything after that.


    He was right. Wren tried to focus back in. Looking at Anvon again, she could unfortunately see some resemblance. The similar face shape was probably the most damning. Her rounder features certainly hadn''t come from the elves.


    Pauth was talking to him, and thankfully, she didn''t seem to have missed much, by the time she could focus on the words.


    "-don''t understand. Don''t you want her back?"


    "Of course," Anvon said. And he did genuinely sound insulted at the insinuation. "But what did you tell me? She has amnesia?"


    He glanced at her like she could confirm it. Wren shifted her weight and stared at him with wide eyes. Anvon turned back to the group like that was an answer to his question.


    "Someone could be tracking her."


    Well, technically that was literally happening.


    "She might even be letting someone track her."


    Yes, that was also happening, wasn''t it?


    "Because she has amnesia. Because she doesn''t know any better. And you decided to bring her to our biggest base of operations. Do you realize how incredibly dangerous that is? Do you realize it''s a threat?"


    He stepped further into the room, almost pushing the rest of the group into one section. His shadows, multiple shadows cast by multiple light sources, seemed to loom over them. And he was absolutely keeping an eye on her with his peripheral vision, light flickering across his red eyes.


    "I remember some things," Wren said.


    The room fell still. Even natural things like shadows and light felt like they''d stopped moving, even if they couldn''t really have. She was well aware that had been stupid. The cult members had made assumptions about her, and she''d been doing best by coasting along on those assumptions.


    Even if she was in danger, which was likely, that was a pretty bold faced lie. Would she be able to back it up?


    "Well yeah. She clearly remembered something when she talked to me," Murv said. "I wouldn''t have brought her along otherwise."


    "Oh really?" Anvon asked. He was clearly speaking to Wren, not Murv.


    He spun back towards her. Really, his movements were impressive. It was like he was made of shadows, or the cloak he was wearing, instead of legs. Humans weren''t a species that were naturally good at that, and it wasn''t magic. Wren would sense if that was being used.


    And now Anvon''s full attention was on her, and she did her best to keep her face neutral, like she hadn''t told a lie. Whether it had been a good idea or not, she''d done it. She had to stick with it now.


    "There was another name you were going by. Harmoni. Who was she?"


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    Harmoni was someone else? And she''d better know who, before her own silence became damning.


    Her mind went about twenty places at once, Fleck gave some input, and Wren spit out, "My mother."


    Anvon deflated, taking a step back so he was no longer looming over her. She''d gotten it right.


    She held herself carefully still, to avoid showing relief.


    Pauth shuffled, then spoke up. "I was casting some detection spells on the way in. If she was being tracked by magic, I would''ve noticed."


    No, she was being tracked by soul bonds.


    And a good thing too, because Wren had not noticed he was doing that.


    Anvon cleared his throat and stood up straighter. "Very well. Wren, if you could come with me? I can check and see if you''re being tracked through any technological means."


    He extended a hand. Wren hesitated, but just for a moment. This was her father, and she got the feeling if she was reluctant, he wouldn''t take it well. She took his hand, and let him lead her out of the ballroom.


    Anvon was her father. From the sound of it, her mother was also in the cult. And so was she.


    It wasn''t a shock, in fairness. She''d known since Iva, since blowing up Cyep, since she''d first heard of the cult on Xentron. She''d known, or suspected at least, but this was worse than she''d imagined. Her father was the leader of the cult. And now she was in the cult''s base with him, and it was no longer a detail to be ignored.


    ~~~


    They had their disguises. The dragons were up ahead. They should get going. They had some idea which direction they were going thanks to the dragons. Cooper could get the specifics with his eyepiece.


    That did not mean it was easy. There had been very little technology on Iva, and a grand total of zero internet. He could connect on Xentron, of course. But Xentron had a small population and only so much technology his eyepiece could. . .bond with.


    Morivon was, by comparison, all technology. Even before he started looking things were going off in his eyepiece. He had to find a way to block ads before he gave himself malware. Some information was not available to him, and he''d never tried hacking before. And when they stepped out, his eyepiece offered to translate one of the signs in front of him. It had its instructions in Standard, but also had what appeared to be Elvish and Dwarfish underneath.


    Cooper got rid of the suggestion. Standard was the language of Morivon, and most signs and speakers would probably know it. And he doubted his eyepiece translation would be very accurate anyway.


    There were also a lot of cameras. Just, so many. And they were just what his eyepiece could detect.


    But that was enough of that. They''d exited the spaceship. He was the one who''d wanted to. And while no one was saying it, or outright staring at him, they were looking to him. He was the one who was supposed to know what to do next.


    "Right then," he said. His left eye twitched from all the information streaming past him, but the sunglasses hid that. "This way." He tried not to sound tired.


    It was hard to keep an eye out on both the internet and the area around them, but he did his best.


    He led them out of the sterile white walled spaceport, by taking them down the stairs into a sort of subway area in the basement. The stairs going down had a dark carpet. The walls were a dark blue and the floor a slightly lighter blue tile, but you could only see so much of the walls. There were a lot of posters, screens, or projections on the walls, advertising all sorts of things. Cooper saw ones for musicals, food, a zoo, and the subway itself, to name a few.


    The blue and purple lighting down here reminded Cooper a bit of the indoor bowling alley he''d been to.


    Moon preferred the partially outdoor bowling alley they''d been to. If you messed up, you risked your ball rolling off into the yonder, but chasing it down when you were really bad was part of the fun, and the sand meant it wouldn''t go too far.


    Well Cooper agreed, but bowling really wasn''t the point right now. ''And I really don''t need any more distractions.''


    ''Sorry.''


    She was outside with no one but Fleck, and had much less going on. She arguably could use the distraction.


    ''Well, just keeping half an eye on us,'' Cooper suggested.


    The subway building had multiple rows of tracks, and multiple layers. They took another staircase down and suddenly, aside from the rails on this floor, there were train-cars going both above and below them. They moved at high speeds too. They came to a complete stop when they reached this station, of course. But they took off like bullets out of the station, flying off in almost every conceivable direction.


    He heard Rasha breath a quiet "woah" behind him.


    Cooper really wanted to grab the left side of his face. But he didn''t. This was fine. And it was, genuinely, pretty cool.


    "I know which one to go on," Cooper said. He''d, admittedly, been figuring it out as he went. He''d just lucked into finding the right one on time. "Wesles, can you pay for the tickets?"


    He was the only with any money to speak of.


    "Cando," Wesles confirmed, flipping a coin in the air.

 77: Carousel

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Springfield was a big place. The subway they were on was supposed to specifically service the edge of town, namely the East edge Harmoni and the cult members had left through. There was one that hit all major areas of town, including that edge, but it would only stop in one spot along the East border. This one specialized in the area, and should get them closer than the single stop would. They would still have to walk from the edge of town to the abandoned building somewhere out in the wastes, but it would be less walking.


    Since the spaceport was in the West section of town, the subway took off at full speed, through the tubes the dragons had noticed from outside, and would likely stay that way for a little while.


    It was roughly . . . two minutes, before Rasha broke the silence. "Does it seem really empty in this cart to anyone else?"


    Cooper looked up, and she was onto something. She''d whispered, but it was empty and quiet enough, everyone in the train car had probably heard her.


    Aside from their group, there were three other people on this car. There wasn''t even a driver at the front. The subway was self driving. And that might be fine and normal, but this was the first car. People liked to congregate up front. He knew that. Also, Cooper could see the car behind them. There was a window. It looked more crowded.


    One person in here was an older, thinning, human man. He sat near the back reading a newspaper. An actual paper one. One was a boy, probably about their age, elbows on his knees. Based on his worn clothes and sort of dirty face, he''d seen better days. Or maybe he hadn''t. Cooper hadn''t seen "better days" until the Hidden Cult killed all the slave holders, and he fled to Xentron City.


    The third was a colbber woman, younger than the man, but older than Evin, if Cooper had to guess. Like Cooper himself, she didn''t have a helmet-like metal on her skull, but the visible exoskeleton on her eye and hand was the rare gold, instead of the more common bronze or silver.


    She''d been staring with wide eyes at the window across from her, not that you could see anything out there, but turned towards them when Rasha spoke.


    When her gaze fell on Wesles, Cooper could''ve sworn he heard the faint click of her eyepiece focusing on him. "I know you."


    "You do?" Wesles asked.


    The woman launched from her seat, even pushing herself off with her metal arm to move faster. Her other hand stretched out, palm first, for Wesles'' head.


    "Ah heck."


    Wesles escaped by sliding off his seat. The woman''s momentum meant her hand hit the wall of the train instead, and it proceeded to burst into splinters. Like it had gone through a woodchipper. Only Cooper was pretty sure most of the wall had been made of metal.


    The man near the back dropped his newspaper while the boy grabbed a pole, despite being in a seat, to avoid being sucked away. They were moving at fairly fast speeds without a wall.


    Rasha screamed.


    "What the fuckery?!" Evin exclaimed.


    Cooper stood up. He could feel the wind move by, pulling towards the gap in the wall. It made his hair get in his face a bit, and his metal leg was pulling more weight than usual, to keep him in place, but he could still stand, and see their attacker.


    "You''re from the Hidden Cult, aren''t you?"


    "And you''re witnesses, weren''t you?" she asked. "This is what happens when people get funny ideas about leaving before the job''s done."


    Well, he supposed that explained why they usually killed everyone in any given town. Fairly obvious reason in the grand scheme of things.


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The woman launched herself at him, and was close and fast enough there wasn''t a lot of time to respond. The boy on the train fired a gun at her.


    "Cooper!"


    And then the train turned sharply, causing people to slide.


    The bullet sailed past the woman and hit the old man at the back. Based on the moaning, he was still alive. Cooper saw Rasha wobbling back there to heal him. Cooper himself fell backwards, causing the woman to miss him, hand going over his shoulder. Evin almost slid out of the train car, unable to get a grip on anything with his gloved hands or feet. Wesles caught him with his ghost arm, and pulled him further inside.


    So the cult woman had failed to get any of them twice now. But he wasn''t about to let her try a third time.


    He dropped another smoke bomb from his pocket, filling the car with thick black clouds.


    He had time to roll over onto his belly and prop himself up on his elbows. Then, abruptly, his metal exoskeleton locked up. He fell to one side, his elbows no longer balanced. He couldn''t move his metal bones anymore.


    He could hear the sounds of shouting and scuffling. Possibly more fighting, possibly just trying to get organized.


    He was still mostly organic. He could in theory still get up, and use his inoperable metal limb as a peg leg. But it was hard to get into a standing position with only one good arm and leg, the other two acting as dead weight, especially when he was starting from his belly and the train car was still pressing on.


    The good news was, he managed to grab a pole with his good arm, and pull himself up. The bad news was, the only reason he managed to squirm into a standing position, was because the train was slowing down. They were rolling into their next stop, and with an automatic driver, the train was treating this like normal.


    When the train came to a complete stop, the cult woman swept past him, leaping out. There was still a lot of smoke in the car, but she''d been close enough he could see her.


    "Cooper," Wesles scolded, like he should''ve stopped her when she passed him.


    "I can''t move some of my bones," Cooper pointed out.


    "We should go after her," Rasha said. "She could put more civilians in danger. Or be getting more of her friends to help her."


    Or maybe finding a weapon or something. Cooper understood Rasha''s concern, and it seemed the other two did as well. Wesles jumped the gap and was after her before Rasha had even finished talking. Evin followed, and seeing as he had longer legs and lighter shoes, he was doing better at keeping pace.


    Rasha finished healing. She thankfully grabbed Cooper, putting his dead arm over her shoulder, and helping him move after the others. Well, she was practically dragging his stiff body along. Movement and feeling was coming back to his limbs, but slowly. He needed the help.


    They weren''t keeping up with the rest of the group, but Cooper could watch their progress through the cameras in the hall, having found some luck accessing those on the subway, and told Rasha where to go.


    Outside of the room where the train let out, the crowds were a bit thinner, and parted for them. They must be near the edge of town. The hallway was light blue, cleaner in a way that came from less use, and there were fewer doors to exit out of.


    Maybe that was a good thing for them? Left the cult member with fewer places to go?


    If she really wanted to, she could blast another hole in the wall. But she seemed to have some sort of destination in mind. She reached a white door, standing out against the blue walls and rare brown door, and went inside.


    Meanwhile, Cooper''s limbs finally seemed to be unfrozen. He moved his leg up and down a few times to be sure, and it creaked the first couple times in a way that made Rasha wince. But whatever mild pain was there faded quickly, and his leg was back to normal.


    The two moved faster, catching up to Evin and Wesles as they reached the white door, and they all went inside.


    Cooper put one foot on the ground, and the ground moved beneath him. He stumbled in the new room, vaguely aware of the others coming in, and doing similar around him. Except Evin. Despite being the first one to reach the door, he didn''t seem to be inside yet.


    When Cooper had steadied himself, he saw the room was round, the ground was spinning, there were mirrors on all the walls, and music was coming from a few corners. (Could you call it a corner if the room was round?) Metal animals on poles moved up and down.


    "What is this?" Cooper asked.


    "Well, I believe most people call it a care-oh-sell in Standard," Evin said, finally stepping into the room without any trouble. "Of course you could argue it''s a merry-go-round but-"


    "Would you shutup?" Wesles demanded. "Unless you''ve got somethinguseful tosay."


    "I do actually," Evin said. He stepped further into the room and looked up, like he expected the cult woman to drop from the ceiling at any moment. "This is the Orich Carousel. Five stories high. A few other smaller carousels around this large one. Quite the attraction here on Morivon. My parents took me here once as a reward for good grades."


    Yes, from what Cooper had heard, that sounded like a normal childhood thing. "But, what''s our cultist doing here?"


    "No idea, I''m not a mind reader," Evin said. "But I don''t like that we can''t see her anymore."


    Neither did Cooper.

 78: Coming Down

    Cooper wanted to find their cultist. Luckily, there were cameras here on the carousel. Unluckily, the area was more disorienting than he''d like to admit. Evin was right. There was the large round platform they were spinning on here, and then four more smaller ones spaced around it. This one went up five stories. The other four only went up three floors, but it was still a lot.


    The mirrors on round walls meant everything was reflected endlessly back, and at odd angles. And everything was constantly in motion. The horses, zebras, orcas, and other animals on the ride were going up and down, but the floor itself was also slowly spinning. You''d have to step backwards at an awkward pace to stay in one place. It was all very impressive, and it would probably be a fun attraction, but it was a lot right now.


    He tried to ignore it, and just look for a person. Luckily, there weren''t many about. Maybe this was closed?


    "She''s between the fourth and fifth floor," Cooper said. "Going up."


    "Elevator''s this way." Evin pointed to the elevator doors, incredibly hard to make out since they were also mirrors.


    Evin took the lead, going to the doors and asking out loud for a trip to the fifth floor.


    The person they''d been chasing had been on the stairs.


    "Will this be faster?" Cooper asked, as they got in.


    "It can be, if you like."


    That voice had come from the elevator, seemingly everywhere in the elevator.


    "Argh!" Cooper put a hand to his chest and stumbled forward, closer to the middle of the space.


    "Would you relax? It''s just the AI," Evin snapped.


    Rasha frowned. "I didn''t think real AI existed."


    "Oh it doesn''t. They call it that to make it sound more impressive," Evin assured her.


    "I resemble that remark," the elevator said.


    It was maybe supposed to be a joke. But the elevator voice lacked any intonation, so whatever it was going for, Cooper couldn''t tell.


    The conversation ended there though. They''d reached the top floor, faster than the cult member. And, admittedly, it was less energy to take the elevator than run up four flights of stairs. Everyone piled out onto the spinning room, slightly smaller than the one they''d come from. Prepared this time, there was less stumbling around.


    "Thanks," Cooper called back automatically.


    "You''re welcome," the elevator chirped back. Then the doors were closed.


    Unfortunately, looking through the camera, he could tell more guests were coming in on the first floor. Of course. Now they showed up. Maybe they could send someone back down to warn people. . .


    The door to the stairwell clanged open.


    The colbber woman gasped. "You again?"


    "I mean, are you surprised?" Evin asked, raising an eyebrow.


    The colbber launched a hand at him, or at least, tried to. She hit a reflection instead. The mirror shattered, revealing the aging metal panel behind it.


    Evin''s reflection laughed. (The real Evin was still getting farther away, thanks to the rotating floor.) "Good job," he mocked.


    The colbber woman glowered. She shot both hands out, lashing out at them. But she missed, hitting more walls. At least, Cooper wanted to say she missed. The reflections made things confusing, but she didn''t seem to be trying very hard, and at one point she hit one of the horses. Cooper didn''t see how you''d hit that unless you were trying to.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "You''re not very good at this, are you?" Evin asked. At this point, he was coming back around towards her.


    The colbber moved from the crouch she''d been in, standing and looking at him. The real him. Not his reflection. And she smiled. "Oh, aren''t I?"


    She launched away from him, towards the center of the room, her metal leg giving her more momentum. Evin looked confused. Cooper wasn''t. He heard the way the top floor creaked and groaned after all the explosions. And he saw the way she stretched her hand towards a large, thick beam in the floor, near the middle of the room.


    "Don''t let her-!" Cooper started, trying to move after her. But she was in the lead. Her hand pressed the beam, cracks appearing in it and the floor around it. "Or do."


    Less than a second later, the ground erupted where she''d touched it. Small metal shards from the wrecked center pole went flying. Support beams and wires snapped. Animals fell from their places into each other. Even if the colbber woman hadn''t destroyed the whole floor, the chain reaction she set off would handle the rest. Especially since she''d weakened various spots before hitting the center.


    Gaps below them widened, showing the floor below. There were a few guests down there. They screamed, adults pulling children off the animals and towards some semblance of safety.


    That was sort of reassuring, but the safest places where the elevator and stairwell, and that was a little limiting.


    ''They''re not the ones you should be worried about right now,'' Moon thought at him.


    And as she thought it, the ground dropped out from under Cooper. For a second, he was standing on air. Then he wasn''t standing any more. He was falling. And several large hunks of metal or shards of glass were falling down after him.


    But he had his rocket boots. He''d changed into them on the ship, predicting he''d need as many of his tricks and tools as he could get. Good thing he had.


    Cooper shot up, and forward, avoiding falling debris.


    Now the others, the others. He saw Wesles'' ghost arm snake around one of the few beams still standing on this floor''s skeletal frame. That left Rasha and Evin.


    Rasha would be easier to carry.


    He saw her falling to the left, a little further from the door than he''d been.


    Cooper shot for her, extending a hand, mostly ignoring the creaking, groaning, and snapping around him. Then, when he had almost reached her, a shadow fell over him. Or rather, part of him.


    The words of the future seer came to him, unbidden. He knew Moon had also thought of it, urging him to pull back. He yanked his hand away, rocket boots pushing him back a little.


    A large metal plate came falling past. If he''d stayed in that spot, he''d probably have lived, but he would''ve lost his arm, at the very least.


    But now Rasha was out of sight.


    Well, as much as he wanted to kick himself, wasting even one second was a bad idea.


    He looked around frantically. He didn''t see Rasha, but he did see Evin , now below the fourth floor as well. (The fourth floor wasn''t as completely destroyed as the fifth, but all the rubble falling on it wasn''t doing good things to it.)


    Cooper dropped, using his rocket boots to push him down faster than gravity would''ve, still keeping an eye out for falling rubble. A beam still hit his side, and it was enough he was probably bleeding, but it hadn''t impaled him or ripped anything out, so he''d take it as good enough.


    He grabbed Evin''s collar with his completely flesh arm, then managed to put his metal hand lower down, scooping Evin up entirely just before they hit the ground.


    "Well then, that was close," Cooper said.


    "We''re not out of danger yet," Evin reminded him.


    Right. Cooper swerved and wiggled backwards, bringing them to the stairwell. It was built away from the complicated machinery the cult member had blown up, and it was still intact.


    Cooper desperately looked around out the open door, and tried to take stock. He could use the cameras again. The ones that were still working, anyway.


    The first two floors weren''t looking quite as bad as the upper floors. All of floor five had been destroyed, and the momentum had certainly wreaked havoc on the lower levels, but the momentum weakened with each level, and the fifth floor had been a bit smaller than the other levels anyway. There were still gaps in each floor, letting broken bits of metal and glass in, but it seemed anyone on the first floor, at least, had been OK. On their floor? Dust drifted in the air, and he was pretty sure some of the stains now on the floor were blood.


    Now he could kick himself. Was Rasha in the rubble? In saving himself a nasty, but survivable, injury, had he sentenced her to death? He could hear other people on the stairwell. There was a child crying, and someone promising security would be here soon. But none of them were Rasha.


    ''If you lost your arm, you still wouldn''t have been able to help her.''


    Moon said that, but he could tell she was also nervous. And guilty. (She had, after all, asked him to save himself.)


    "There''s our girl," Evin said, pointing up.


    Cooper looked up above, through the gaps in the ceiling. He could still see Wesles on a beam near the top. And he still had his magic arm out, gripping Rasha beside him.


    Cooper sighed, shoulders slumping just slightly in relief.


    Then he looked at a camera on the first floor again. It wasn''t the best angle, but he could tell someone was struggling with a door knob on the other side of the room, opposite the stairs. When she stepped back to kick the door, he could confirm it was indeed the cultist. Cooper glared. He was getting tired of their little chase.

 79: Exploration

    Cooper went back into the stairwell. It was crowded in there. He jumped over the railing, using his rocket boots to bring him gently to the first floor, rather than fight his way through the crowds. The boots made a bit more noise than usual. Well, he hadn''t flown them for very long, but flying around an attraction as it was demolished could have put a strain on them.


    He slipped out onto the first floor.


    Wesles was letting Rasha down. He could see his magic arm stretching down out of the corner of his eye.


    The ground wobbled under Cooper. He must''ve stepped on some rubble, or maybe the floor was just giving way to the dirt that had to be down there somewhere. Either way, he stumbled to the side, and the ground clanged beneath him.


    The cultist turned towards him. She stared wide-eyed at him. But she also, without blinking or turning away, turned the knob again. There was a crunch, and this time she pushed the door open.


    Cooper''s swearing was entirely internal, with no one but Moon as witness, but it was very much there. He stumbled forward, no longer worried about subtlety, and grabbed the door before it closed.


    Rasha gagged behind him. The air on the other side of the door was green smoke, some of it billowing inside now.


    "We can''t follow her through that," Rasha said.


    There was some more clanging behind them as Evin and Wesles tried to catch up.


    "I can," Cooper told her. He smiled. "Built in filtration system."


    Without waiting for an answer, he moved past the door.


    The area back here was filled with vents and pipes, a few of them hissing. He was pretty sure he could hear gears moving somewhere as well, though he couldn''t see them. Most of the walls and equipment seemed like they were supposed to be black, but there were several brown patches on them. He hoped that wasn''t rust anyone should be concerned about.


    There wasn''t much space to move, between the machinery and the walls that popped up everywhere. He wasn''t even sure if he was outside, or just in some kind of maintenance area. He couldn''t see the sky, but with the green clouds, that might not mean much.


    ''I don''t think maintenance areas are usually this hostile,'' Moon said.


    ''I''ve been in one like this.''


    ''I don''t think you have the normal experience.''


    She was right, but Cooper was going to ignore that for now. He could see the cultist up ahead. Well, in these conditions he couldn''t see much more than her vague shape, but he knew it was her. He couldn''t let her get farther away.


    He started after her. It truly sucked out here. He accidentally went to close to a pipe, and it burned his shoulder. He tripped on some sort of thick wire that had stretched across the ground, hard to see in these conditions. His filtration system stopped him from breathing poison, but it didn''t just create new oxygen. And it did still smell pretty bad. But the cultist had to be having the same problem.


    He did see someone else out here. They were small, presumably a dwarf or gnome. They were entirely covered in some kind of thick jacket, gloves, and a gasmask. They had taken a panel off the wall and were fixing it. Or possibly sabotaging it. Cooper didn''t know enough about this space to guess.


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Either way, they swiveled to stare at the two as they came by. The cultist put a hand out, didn''t even have to reach very far, and the person blew up as her fingers brushed against them.


    Cooper gritted his teeth. That was unnecessary. All of this was unnecessary, but that was going so far out of her way to be cruel to an innocent person who didn''t know what was going on, wasn''t causing her problems, it really angered Cooper.


    The cultist climbed under a wide pipe in their way.


    Cooper jumped over it. If he got his timing just right, he''d land on her.


    He didn''t get it right. There was some sort of grate on the other side of the pipe, on the floor. And it was more like there were two poorly fitting pieces covering an opening. They fell as soon as he landed on them, and he fell down the hole they''d been covering, to whatever was below.


    ~~~


    Anvon''s test to see if she was being tracked was basically just to go to a colbber, and have him mentally scan her. She didn''t have any technology on her, hadn''t even brought her Link with her. So they left. Anvon put a hand on her shoulder and guided her to a room she could sleep in.


    "I''d love to stay, but I have a lot of matters to attend to," he told her. "I''ll come check on you in an hour. I''m sure you can manage until then."


    He turned and started walking, only to slide back into sight at the doorway. He actually smiled faintly at her, the first time that day.


    "And Wren? It''s good to have you back."


    Wren stayed standing, even after he was gone, his footsteps getting quieter. She looked around. The room was pretty basic. There were six beds, some stacked on top of each other like bunk beds. The only other furniture inside was a dresser that couldn''t possibly be large enough for everyone who slept here, and a plain dark rug.


    She remembered what the cultists had talked about earlier, about trying to convince someone to move in permanently. This room seemed, to her, to be temporary. Somewhere you slept when you were visiting, before you went back to the real world.


    And Wren was certainly tired. Like food, she''d gotten some sleep on the spaceship, but it was very restless. But she wouldn''t rest now. Even if she tried, it would probably be restless again.


    More importantly, this was the first time she wasn''t being escorted around, or watched. She had an hour to herself. She''d be a fool not to use it.


    ''Careful.''


    Wren looked out in the hall. Empty. She slipped out.


    There was a room with a glass door nearby that was probably a classroom, but right now all the desks were pushed to the side and two kids were playing in it. One noticed her and waved. Wren gave a smile that shouldn''t have been convincing, and waved back.


    There was a kitchen, and Wren grabbed a bottle of water out of that. There was a room with basically wall to wall computers and a faint humming noise that she was pushed back out of. And there was a locked metal door.


    She headed back in the direction of the entrance. She''d done her best to keep track of the layout as she was led around, but it was confusing. On the plus side, it seemed the large main hall looped around. (It didn''t go in a nice neat circle, but it got back to where it started eventually.) As long as she could find it again after slipping into narrower or darker halls, she''d be alright. She''d be back at the hallway with the bedrooms eventually, and could go right back down it.


    And maybe it would be move comfortable then. The hallways felt a little claustrophobic. They felt narrow or precarious, like they might cave in, even when they were obviously wide and well built. And she kept moving because the feeling was worse when she was just standing there.


    Wren passed a few other people in the halls. Most of them ignored her. One offered a welcome back. Murv asked if she was supposed to be in the bedroom.


    "I had to use the bathroom," she lied.


    At this point, she''d passed at least one of them. Hopefully, it was close enough to the bedroom for that to be a realistic lie.


    She heard a few people behind closed doors, the muffled sound of their voices. But there honestly wasn''t too much of that. Maybe everyone was still in the ballroom. Or getting some rest.


    She wasn''t sure what she was looking for. Maybe nothing in particular. The exploration was mostly to give her options in here. Something she could cause a distraction with, or a less protected exit. Or a weapon, though she was reluctant on that front.


    Then she found a short, silent hall with very few lights in it. She stepped inside. It wasn''t exactly easy to see in the hallway, but she could tell where the first door was. She opened it up, and blinked a few times. It was . . . bright. There was a screen on the opposite end of the room that streamed in the yellow light of the sun, showing blue sky and clouds, like you could actually see the sky. It was very convincing, but of course, it couldn''t be real. They were underground.


    And even if you were outside, you couldn''t see the sky out there. Fleck would know.


    Wren stepped inside, closing the door behind her.

 80: Assassins Guild

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Cooper blinked, vaguely aware of the square of light above him. Wherever he was lying was cool, damp, and smooth.


    ''Cooper, Cooper, Coo-you''re awake.''


    ''Have you just been thinking that the entire time I''ve been passed out?''


    ''Well, yes. But you''ve only been out for like, a second.'' Thank the Gods.


    ''Well yeah. That''s how passing out usually works,'' he told her as he pushed himself into a sitting position.


    His left arm shook under the strain. He took stock once he was sitting up. He left arm hadn''t taken the strain very well, wobbling under his weight, but it didn''t hurt. His shoulders felt like he''d maybe knocked one out of place. And his head was throbbing in the back, where it had lain. He put a hand to it. Ah yeah. That was sticky. But head wounds bled easily, so that might not mean much. Overall, it wasn''t too bad.


    . . . The two of them, once again, had different ideas of too bad.


    Well all his limbs were seemingly fine. He could probably knock his own shoulders back into place, and his head would be alright. Though he didn''t think he could solve that one on his own.


    Ugh. It was at times like this he wished he actually did have a metal skull.


    ''The robes Evin gave you are pretty loose. Could you use some of the fabric to wrap around your head?''


    Fair.


    Cooper ripped some cloth off the bottom, wrapped it around his head, and pulled the robe''s hood back up, so it wasn''t obvious he had makeshift bandages around his head.


    He didn''t have the sunglasses anymore, lost them in all the scuffle. But they''d already been recognized.


    With that taken care of, he stood up, and looked around. He was inside some sort of underground tunnel. A manmade one. The walls curved, turning into a rounded ceiling, instead of having corners. He was on a path, sort of like a sidewalk. There was water flowing beside him, but he didn''t know if there was supposed to be water, or if this abandoned tunnel had merely eventually filled with it.


    It was a little slimy beneath his feet, the way wet stone could be, but not gross.


    ''It''s not?''


    At the very least, he was confident this wasn''t a sewer, even without Moon''s nose.


    He tapped his shoes together, trying to get them to start up. There was a wheezing sound. And nothing.


    Cooper frowned at his shoes. ''Hm.''


    ''Do you have to do anything? Surely the others can help you.''


    ''How would they know?''


    The others couldn''t follow him. They didn''t know where he was, and he had no way to contact them that either he or Moon could think of.


    No, he could handle it. The shoes probably weren''t even broken. Something had just gone out of alignment, and could easily be put back. Something to bear in mind if he kept workshopping the flight shoes. He dropped down to take a look. He was still doing impromptu repairs when he heard something. Faint clicking of footsteps on the weight floor.


    Cooper turned. Three people were coming down the tunnel towards him. Two of them had lights. Otherwise, it would be too dark to properly see in that direction.


    The person on the right was a zenny, whose light was attached to a helmet. She also had to wear a mask against the rank air. The slit of visible skin between the mask and the helmet, where her eyes were, was pretty narrow.


    The man on the left was a colbber, and he didn''t need a mask. But he was still wearing a lot of cloth. The poncho and bandana he had made him look a bit like a cowboy. Unlike Cooper and the cultist, he did have a partially metal skull.


    The third figure was cloaked entirely in black clothes, so thoroughly Cooper couldn''t guess species or gender. The only ones he''d rule out were gnomes and dwarfs, as even imps could have their horns filed down far enough to hide. Their mask seemed to come with some sort of voice synthesizer.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    And they''d noticed him before he noticed them.


    He noticed all three of them had weapons as well, even if the zenny was the only one holding hers.


    It was silent for a moment, the only sound the water moving beside them as the three stared him down.


    "Who are you people?" Cooper asked.


    "Assassin''s guild," the colbber said.


    "Shaun," the zenny hissed.


    "Oh. Were we not going to silence him later? I thought we were going to do that."


    "Phonetic Shaun," the one with the full mask, and synthesized voice, sighed. "Killing random people who fall down here is a waste of time and resources, and could draw unwanted attention. And even if you were going to do that anyway, you probably shouldn''t tell them. In case you fail."


    "Ah."


    While they talked, Cooper shuffled back a touch. He strangely preferred this over if they''d said, say, human traffickers. Biases and all that. But it didn''t mean he wanted to be here. Unfortunately, his feet made noise against the damp floor. It was quiet, but the masked figure turned to him.


    There was something about that one. Shaun and the zenny were a bit harder to take seriously, once they started talking. The masked figure could say ridiculous things too, but their face was covered, and their slow voice didn''t sound like a person. They didn''t move much either. It made them hard to read and. . .off-putting.


    "Well, you''ve seen us, and you know Phonetic Shaun''s name. For a colbber, that''s more than enough information to be a problem."


    "Maybe if I wantedtocatchyou. But Iwanttohire you," Cooper quickly tried, giving Wesles a run for his money in speaking speed.


    Moon, instantly getting the idea, asked if Fleck knew the names of any of the cult members.


    "You''re definitely not going through the right channels."


    The zenny laughed even as she raised her guns. Given the situation, Cooper didn''t realize "channels" was a pun right away, but it explained the laugh.


    "Look, look, wait," Cooper urged, raising both hands. The zenny''s fingers weren''t on the triggers, so hopefully she was still at least considering. "I do want someone dead. Murv Fauths. And I can pay up." Possibly a lie, but if he actually ended up paying, maybe Wesles could float the bill. "I don''t know the channels for hiring an assassin, but not many people do. Can you honestly say all of your clients do?"


    That didn''t seem like a business model they could afford.


    Both the zenny and Shaun seemed to be looking at the masked figure, at least out of the corner of their eyes. The masked figure seemed to be considering. Though once again they were still and silent, not even crossing their arms or tapping their fingers. And of course there was no face to read.


    Cooper didn''t move, barely even breathed. He''d gotten out of a lot of shit in his life, but this was it. Out of ideas. If they decided to take his offer, it would be one cultist out of the picture. If they didn''t, he couldn''t think of a way out of this. Then-


    "Oh my God. We really do have an assassin''s guild on this planet."


    The only one not surprised by the new voice was the zenny, who swung her guns angrily towards the left, but strangely still kept her fingers off the trigger.


    Cooper looked right, mentally adjusting his eyepiece to night vision, as he looked away from the light source.


    As it turned out, there was another, smaller, tunnel branching off on the other side of the water. At the mouth of it were his friends. Rasha, Wesles, and Evin were there.


    Was Evin a friend?


    Honestly close enough at this point.


    And they''d brought someone else with them as well. A familiar short figure in a black outfit, the clasp on her black cloak the familiar pattern of the clerics. Though this one was red, instead of gold. Was she allowed to do that?


    She might still be carrying the gold one under her cloak or something. Her allegiance was clearly advertised, either way.


    Sure enough, the zenny hissed softly.


    "Ah shit," Shaun muttered.


    "I don''t suppose you''ll let us keep working on this deal?" the masked figure asked.


    On the one hand, Cooper was pretty sure they''d been about to turn him down, or at least had more reluctance, before the cleric showed up. On the other hand, he was OK with an assassin killing a cult member, actually.


    "What do you think?" the cleric asked, lifting her chin.


    "I think you''ll try to arrest us," the zenny snarled.


    "Clerics don''t really make arrests, but I had a similar idea in mind, I suppose."


    "Oh. Oh. Are you going to hit them with my curse?" Evin asked.


    "Maybe." Elice kept her eyes trained on the assassins. "Slimy is a better word for businessmen than assassins though."


    Evin''s narrowed expression was both insulted and disappointed.


    Shaun, meanwhile, apparently decided he''d had enough. He flung something round and crackling, like a firecracker, towards the group.


    "Shaun no!" the zenny tried to warn.


    But she was either too late, or he ignored her.


    A red rim appeared around the color of Elice''s eyes. Her eyes were still brown, and they still had whites, but both shrunk to make room for the faintly glowing red ring.


    The bomb disappeared in its arc towards her, and suddenly a loud explosion went off over Shaun''s shoulder. The right one. Not the side his heart was on.


    "What did you do?!" the zenny shrieked.


    "Merely turned the attack back on its caster." Elice slowly tilted her head. "I''d say that''s fair karma, wouldn''t you?"


    Shaun stumbled back, gripping at his shoulder with his good hand. He wasn''t dead, clerics weren''t allowed to kill people, but it was nasty.


    Might explain why the zenny hadn''t attacked. If she''d been planning to, she''d see what would happen.


    "Cooper! Come on!" Rasha urged, extending a hand.


    "And who said you could leave?" the masked figure asked. "You hurt Phonetic Shaun, even if he was an idiot."


    Elice fixed her gaze on the masked figure. "Oh? We can stay. Do tell, what are you going to do?"


    Cooper took the moment of them having a staring contest to dash forward, leaping into the air and using his metal leg to launch as far as he could. He was pretty sure he was still going to end up in the gross water, but the less he had to wade through it, the better.


    He was at the high point of his leap when the cloaked figure took out what looked like a gun, and launched what looked like a flare. But they hadn''t aimed at any people. Instead, they fired at the ceiling.


    The tunnel shook. Rocks and dust fell lose. Cooper felt something hit his shoulder, and he was going down.

 81: Pictured Past

    Cooper was falling. He felt his shoulder throb from where it was hit, felt one of his shoes and pant legs get wet as he dropped closer to the water, then something was grabbing the back of his shirt. It was an odd feeling. Clearly, something was there, and was real enough to stop him from falling into that water. But it didn''t feel substantial. It was like if water could make a hand shape and grip things.


    Then he was yanked forward, smacking into the ground on the other side, where his friends where.


    "Are you OK?" Rasha asked.


    Cooper just coughed. He pushed himself to his knees and opened his eyes, getting a view of Wesles'' magical, shimmering, arm as it pulled itself back into his poncho, and disappeared.


    ''Ah.''


    Yeah, Cooper had forgotten about that too.


    "That''s handy," he croaked out. Everyone stared at him with less than impressed looks. "Oh. Right. Believe it or not, I wasn''t trying to make a pun." He turned to Wesles, and smiled as gratefully as he could. "Thank you."


    "Anytime. But canI restit now? Allthis stretching is draining the power. I''ll haveto tryand putsomemore magical energy in."


    "Well, you''ve still got a little while before you reach the cultists," Elice said, turning towards them. She spoke so slowly. "You should be able to recover by then. And might I suggest, staying underground as you go? These old tunnels stretch beyond the current borders of Springfrield, and while I suppose someone was in them, you''re less likely to run into trouble now than on the surface."


    She glanced at the direction the assassins had been. They could no longer see the other side of the sewer. The rocks from the cave in effectively blocked the view. Might be for the best. Cooper didn''t think the masked figure would be happy if they figured out everyone had escaped alive and, relatively, unscathed.


    Rasha meanwhile, followed up on her point. "And Elice has a boat. So we don''t have to walk in the sewers the whole way."


    "That-that sounds good," Cooper agreed, standing up and trying to ignore how injured he was. He was getting really tired of getting banged up. He turned to Elice. "But it''s your boat. Does that mean you''re coming with us?"


    Evin scowled. "I''d rather walk."


    "Don''t be stupid. I was planning to come with you either way," Elice said. "You got in trouble so quickly, and you can''t deny my abilities would come in handy against the cultists." She turned to Evin. "Can you?"


    Evin looked like he was contemplating a murder, but he couldn''t really argue. He shifted his weight and opened his mouth, before giving up, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking away.


    Elice turned to the rest of the group. "Should I take you to my boat?"


    "Yes. Please," Cooper said.


    Elice turned and silently led them a bit deeper down the tunnel. The boat she led them to looked an awful lot like a yellow rubber lifeboat. But it was a bit bigger, and the controls for it were a bit smoother when Elice got in and started the boat. It moved faster than if you tried to row it, but it went smoothly, not bumping through the water and spraying them with the gross stuff.


    Cooper took a seat at the edge and leaned against the wall. He was sore from all the falling, and having things crash into him. And they''d been running around for a while in general. Not that he would complain, or ask Rasha to heal him. She was still learning, and he didn''t want to ask too much of her. But he would enjoy the chance to catch his breath.


    "How did you find us? Anyway?" Cooper asked. He started tinkering with his flight shoes while they spoke.


    "Elice''s Link," Rasha explained, sitting up straight. "The one she handed us."


    Right. Rasha was the one who kept a hold of that.


    Elice nodded. "They contacted me as soon as you went through a door they couldn''t follow. Although, it was something of a lucky guess that you were down in these tunnels. If you hadn''t fallen through, we would''ve wasted time going down here to check for you."


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    "Well, uh. I''m glad you did."


    It was silent again for a moment. It seemed everyone could use the time to catch their breath, and take stock. While Cooper worked on his shoes, he noticed the port on Wesles'' arm as getting more light. Must be putting magic back in.


    Moon and Fleck were also taking a rest. It had been hard to convince Fleck, but they''re been going on foot or on the wing since they got here, unlike the riders who got to take the subway and a boat. It wouldn''t do them any good to be exhausted by the time they reached Wren.


    "What isit you cando anyway?" Wesles asked Elice. "You''re powers seem kindof random."


    Elice frowned. "I don''t think it''s any more random than other clerics, but yes, my specialty is a bit different than most. You''ve seen my best ability. I can attack people, but only with the force they were going to use on me. And like all clerics, I have to be careful not to kill anyone, in the process. I can also cast a variety of curses, as you know."


    Evin glared at her. Elice''s expression was less angry, but also very intense as she glared unblinking and unapologetic. Then she turned back to the controls and continued.


    "But I suppose you could put my curses into two broad categories. One is, on its own, unchanging. There''s nothing you can do to change it through behavior or actions. But those are the kinds of curses that can be removed by curse breakers. The clerics blessed by the God of Tyby are particularly good at that. Or, I suppose, the curse would break when I die."


    She sounded surprisingly accepting of that.


    "The other type is like Evin''s there. Those are harder for curse breakers to deal with, and will last after my death." She gave Evin a pointed look. "Because there''s already a loophole to get rid of them. In his case, it''s to be less of an exploitive creep. This is also were things like using true love to break a curse comes from. There''s a cure built in. Generally a bit easier to cast. Higher success rate, as the Gods aren''t going to just hand out the other type."


    ''Huh.''


    "Your own God is the one from Morgou, right?" Rasha asked. "That''s really cool."


    Elice nodded and smiled, just a bit.


    There was a God for each planet, even ones like Tetra and Everlyn, where no people were from. The clerics only got their power from one. Humans (and colbbers) usually got their power from the God of Morivon, that being their home planet, but there were clearly exceptions.


    Then, Cooper was interrupted. By the dragons.


    Fleck had gone from lying down, recovering from the long walk they''d taken so far, to bolting up and moving again. Moon jumped in front of him, tried to demand what was going on.


    He made a frustrated roar that got louder in his throat the longer it went on.


    "Wren''s in trouble! She''s in trouble now!"


    What? She''d been fine for hours. What changed?


    "Evidently a lot. And you guys better hurry up," Moon urged, going after Fleck.


    The two dragons were still closer to the cult than they were, and she didn''t think Fleck could be encouraged to wait any longer.


    ~~~


    Aside from the screen fashioned as a window, the room Wren had stumbled upon was a normal bedroom. There was a bed with a red and white patterned quilt on it pushed against a wall. A dresser with one drawer partway open, and with a lamp turned off on top of it, sat nearby. The screen pretending to be a window had a sill, and there were a few things on that.


    Wren walked closer to it.


    There was a plant. And it was real, Wren could tell. Maybe this weird screen window did give out UV light.


    There was also a small collection of rocks, five of them. While most of them seemed ordinary, one drew her closer. It was red, shiny, and almost perfectly round. It seemed to be darker near the center than the edge, like looking at a strange eyeball. It was also exuding magic. Sort of.


    The power of the universe was flowing through it, like it flowed through most things. But it wasn''t all passing through. Some was getting stuck, like putting powder in a strainer. Most of it fell through, but the parts clumped together would get stuck. Not that magic clumped. . .


    ''I get it,'' Fleck told her, urging her to move on.


    Wren picked it up, rubbing her fingers along the top. It was about the size of a mandarin orange. Small, but just the right size to grip in her palm. It felt nice. Comforting, somehow. And Wren didn''t put it down. Her grip was still on it as she slid to the last item on the ledge.


    The last thing was a framed photo. It showed a tall lean elf woman, with rolling brown hair and eyes. She looked a touch older than most elves Wren had seen, minus the headmaster. The eyes and smile seemed tired, but sincere, as she held the other person in the picture high enough up to be in the frame. The other person, a little girl, was young. Five? Or she would if she was human.


    ''Or should I say fully human.''


    It was hard to tell given the age, and picture quality, but there was something very familiar about this image. A round face. Straight brown hair. Pointy ears. Green eyes. Like when she''d looked in the mirror almost every morning on Iva.


    ''That''s me, isn''t it?'' Harmoni thought.


    The younger Wren in the picture was smiling, but was looking more at the woman than the camera, and had her mouth open like she was saying something.


    Wren leaned down and reached her hand out. She wasn''t sure what she was planning to do. Just pick it up to get a better look? Take it with her? To where? Take it out of the frame to see if something was on the back?


    She didn''t get the chance to figure it out. At that moment, the door opened, and Wren leapt back.


    "And what do you think you''re doing in here?" Anvon asked.

 82: Control

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Wren looked up. Anvon stood in the doorway, essentially taking up the whole frame. He was watching her with heavy eyes, like looking at the face of a large statue.


    Wren knew it hadn''t been a full hour yet. But she''d been wandering so mindlessly, maybe her trip wasn''t as subtle as she''d like.


    She basically ignored his question, taking a step closer and standing taller despite his intimidation tactic. She was actually taller than him if she stood up straight.


    "This is my mother''s room, isn''t it?" she asked.


    Tellingly, it wasn''t his room. There had been dust on things like the ledge and dresser top. Everything was put away, and the bed looked too small for two people. No one had been here in a while. Or if they had, they hadn''t done much. Watered the plant, maybe.


    "Do you think I''m a fool?" Anvon asked.


    What?


    "I''ve been watching you from our security room the whole time. I wanted to see what you would do. And, interestingly, Arra tells me some people from Iva are here, heading to the edge of town."


    Who was Arra?


    Possibly the colbber Cooper and the others had just encountered. She would certainly know where Wren''s friends were, and being a colbber, she could send messages pretty easily.


    They didn''t get to ponder any further. Anvon took advantage of Wren''s confusion, and grabbed her wrist, pulling her a little closer.


    "I don''t know what you''re talking about!" Wren objected, even knowing the lie was obvious.


    She tried to yank out of his grip, and immediately froze up. Not out of her own fear or anything either. Something more was going on. Her senses were still working fine. She could feel his hand on her wrist, see his feet from where her eyes were angled, and she could hear his voice when he spoke up again. But she couldn''t move at all. Not even to change her gaze.


    "Stop playing dumb, it''s insulting. You barely remember a thing, if you haven''t forgotten entirely. And you''ve brought some friends right to our doorstep. If you were anyone else, you''re punishment would be more severe. But, we''ll be ready for your friends. Maybe you''ll learn your lesson when we deal with them, and you spend a few hours in the closet."


    Wren had already been afraid when he used some kind of magic to freeze her. It only got worse as he spoke. She thought of her friends being in danger. She remembered Hathanier locking her in a closet while planning to kill her, and Cyep trying to eat her. And there was another, latent, fear in the back of her head. So the emotion peaked. For one second it was all she could feel, a blinding feeling like a flash bomb going off inside her.


    Then Anvon let out a gasp. It sounded a bit like a stifled scream. He let go of her wrist and stumbled back, breaking his magic hold on her.


    Wren wasn''t entirely sure what had happened, but she wasn''t going to sit here and puzzle it out.


    Anvon was still shaken. She ran past while she could, out the door and back into the hall.


    Of course, once she hit the main hall, there was the problem of the cameras. Even if Anvon didn''t have some way of contacting everyone, it would be easy for anyone to notice something was wrong. On the cameras or in person. The halls weren''t exactly abandoned.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    There were two people talking up ahead. One pointed as she came running up the hall, and both turned towards her.


    Wren panicked, arms swinging out. She couldn''t just retreat. The only path behind her was the one she''d just come from.


    She put her free hand to the nearest wall, the other still holding the rock, and intentionally blasted it with dark magic. Damn. She''d tried to hold back, and a larger chunk than she wanted was still torn away, rocks and dust flying everywhere. But there was a room on the other side of the opening, and she was going in.


    At this point, Fleck was also panicking. Well, she might be feeding him some of that emotion, but he''d feel it even without that. They had to act now.


    Fleck jumped up, shouting at Moon when she tried to get between him and the cult''s building. They were out of time to wait.


    Wren didn''t want Fleck to get killed by flinging himself at the cultists, but she knew she couldn''t convince him not to come. Especially while the alarm sirens were going off in her head as she ran, complete with a red flare around the edge of her vision sometimes.


    Fleck wasn''t exactly right on top of the cultist building. Wren would just have to hope the dragons would take a little longer to get there, and that their other friends could catch up before anything too bad happened.


    And that Wren didn''t get killed while she waited!


    Yes that too. And not to make Fleck move even faster, but that wasn''t going so well.


    This was a meeting room of sorts. There were a few rectangular tables pressed against each other so they could circle around, with chairs set up around them. Pauth stepped out from the shadows of the tables, where he certainly hadn''t been before. With the momentum Wren had going, she had to sort of run sideways to avoid running into him.


    "Going somewhere?" Pauth asked.


    It wasn''t as intimidating as if Anvon or Murv had said it. He tried, but that kind of intimidation really wasn''t his style, evidently.


    It did not take away from the fact that he was a dangerous cult member with a death spell. He reached forward and she quickly backed away. Pauth whipped out his wand. While he wasted time on that, Wren zoomed for the door on the other side of the room. It was locked. She just yanked in futility at the handle.


    Pauth cast a spell. It looked a bit like his death spell, but the dark green bolt was smooth instead of jagged. It hit just above her ankle, slicing through her skin like a particularly sharp blade. Wren tipped. Another slice and she dropped the rock, the attack going through part of her wrist and hand.


    Pauth reached for her again, closing the distance while he cast spells. Wren moved away from him again. She got out of his reach, but almost immediately hit a chair and fell back. Pauth grabbed her arm, and she felt him twist it behind her back as he lifted her back up.


    "What are you going to do now?" Pauth asked. "You don''t have your enhancer."


    Enhancer? She didn''t think she''d picked one of those.


    But Pauth still had her hand behind her back, making it hard to do anything, and that was more important. She didn''t know if he was planning to kill her, drag her off somewhere, or some third option she hadn''t thought of. But she didn''t think any option was good.


    For a moment, in her fear, the dark power that made things explode rose up. She stamped it down. She still didn''t want to turn him to paste. But it reminded her she wasn''t completely helpless.


    She knew there was a metaphorical deep red crack in her magic. She had just stopped it from spouting like a volcano. But she''d tried intentionally using it just a minuet ago, and she could try again.


    This was incredibly dangerous. She''d never managed to control this ability, even when she''d tried five seconds ago. And despite it all, she didn''t want to kill him. But what else was there?


    Calming down and ignoring Pauth as much as she could, she focused on the crack in her magic, and let just a tiny, tiny amount seep out for use. As small as she could manage, forcing the metaphorical pieces back towards each other when they threatened to split. A drop of water from a leaking sink.


    It was still so hard, but in some ways, it seemed easier when she intentionally tried to use it.


    There was a bang as an excessive amount of power went off. She felt warm blood hit her arm and back. Pauth screamed. But if he screamed, he was still alive. She was pretty sure she''d turned his arm to bits. But she couldn''t get a good look. She could move again, and she wouldn''t waste time.


    She grabbed the rock off the floor and took off running again, her own blood dripping from her hand and ankle, his blood staining her shirt. If the door was locked, she''d just have to blow it open.

 83: Invisible

    Elice did pick up the pace when Cooper said something. To his immense surprise, when they reached the exit to the tunnels, she just kept going, taking the "boat" up the ramp and out onto the wastelands. So. Good to know it could do that.


    ''There are already people outside,'' Moon warned, as Fleck nearly got shot.


    She could smell three. Two on the crumbling rock formations outside, and one inside the shack.


    Cooper warned the others and grabbed his last smoke bomb potion.


    "If one of them launched an attack at us, can you warn me?" Elice asked.


    Right. Elice could do something about that, couldn''t she?


    One of the cult members sent what looked like black shards of glass out at Fleck and Moon, slowing them down in their quest to get to the building. Moon turned and sprayed ice out of her mouth, creating a wall between her and the shards. She heard several of them ting against it, getting stuck in the ice. In places where her wall was thinner, they came through, and she had to shift to avoid getting slicked.


    This didn''t stop Fleck, who leapt into the air, spread his wings, and ignored the attack as he flew past. Though he still had to have gotten injured.


    ''Are you alright?''


    ''Fine. But I have to wonder why that other cult member isn''t firing.''


    There were three. Even if the one in the building couldn''t attack yet, the one who''d first shot at them had a good chance to try again.


    ''Yeah, I think we''re getting into range,'' Cooper admitted.


    The location they were coming up on looked a lot like what he could see from Moon''s perspective.


    ''So do something about it!''


    Cooper dropped his last smoke bomb, and heard, rather than saw, a gunshot go off.


    "You might''ve warned me," Elice said. "I did tell you to."


    The good news was, the person who fired missed them. The bad news was, they hit the boat. Cooper heard the air being let out, and felt as it sank lower to the ground. Elice tried to slow them down, but the stop was still sudden.


    Cooper briefly rolled on the ground. When he looked up, either someone had cleared the smoke, or he''d moved past it. He saw the cult member with a gun fire down at him. Rasha stood beside him. He could see her try to create a magic shield. He could also see it shatter like glass as soon as a single bullet hit it, but at least they hadn''t gotten shot.


    Behind them, the other cult member tried to make more shards of not-glass. Moon did her best to intercept again, but again, there were too many.


    "Move," Cooper croaked out a warning.


    He stood up and back-peddled. He grabbed Rasha''s wrist, but she was thankfully already coming along.


    Meanwhile, Evin splashed a bucket of his own slime onto the rock formation the shard cultist was standing on. So that was what he''d been doing with the bucket. Wesles grabbed the cultist''s leg by stretching his ghost arm out, and yanked. The cultist fell, and trying to get purchase wasn''t going so well with the formation dripping slime. At least near the top.


    He could probably get his grip closer down, and even if he couldn''t, he''d probably live. It wasn''t exactly the tallest point.


    But Cooper didn''t have time to see what more was happening. There was still the gun woman to worry about.


    ''Not just her,'' Moon thought. "Someone else is coming out of the building!"


    A fourth person. She could smell them.


    Cooper looked ahead. He could see the shadow of a figure in the building, coming closer. More importantly, he could see what looked like three meteors forming above the building. Well, smaller than actual meteors, obviously, but the sentiment was there. Now he knew what happened to Asplenium.


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    The meteors flew forward, but then they disappeared, crashing down behind the building instead.


    The building was wrecked, wood buckling down or launching out, leaving flattened, flaming rubble in its wake. The figure, Murv, was knocked forward. He fell, slumped, right in front of the porch. Or what was left of it.


    Cooper could see the person with the gun out of the corner of his eye. She suddenly seemed a lot more reluctant to shoot.


    "He''s not dead," Elice warned. "I can''t do that, or I''d lose my cleric abilities."


    "Well the rest of us aren''t bound by that," Evin said. "Let''s kill him while he''s down."


    "We-we can''t just do that," Rasha sputtered.


    Elice grabbed Cooper''s shoulder and pulled him closer. "Moral debates aside, they''ve got more members than this. Now that they know what they''re up against, they''re going to bring more people out. And I can''t surprise them with that trick again."


    Cooper nodded. They might not be able to stop her from doing that, but they''d know it was coming.


    "Do you have a way to get into the base unnoticed?" Elice asked.


    Cooper nodded again. Maybe she was thinking of the smoke bombs, but he had an even better option.


    "Good. Use it. The rest of us can keep them distracted."


    On the one hand, Cooper felt bad about just leaving the rest of them out here to fight a losing battle. On the other hand, they''d held on so far. Without him. He hadn''t really helped. And he didn''t have anything to use as a weapon aside from his own metal limbs. If this truly was a losing fight, someone had to grab Wren so they could get out of here.


    ''Moon? You coming with me?''


    ''Sorry. No,'' Moon thought.


    She was attacking the gunner with ice shards, forcing her to move.


    And she really was sorry. She''d been separated from Cooper before, but this was a far more intense split than usual. They hadn''t been able to appreciate their reunion. And now they had to separate again.


    But at least one dragon should stay and be a help in the fight.


    Cooper couldn''t argue with that. In fact, it made him feel better about "bailing." And with the gunner on the defensive, the shard cultist trying to get up, and Murv knocked unconscious, no one would see what he was going to do.


    He grabbed what was essentially a sheet out of the robes Evin had given him. But he''d made it out of fur from the invisible bear on Xentron. He tossed it over himself, and disappeared.


    He''d have to get underground to get to Wren. The dragons had filled him in on that much. But he''d fixed the rocket boots.


    ~~~


    Fleck ran past, or rather through, the black shards. He flapped, pumping himself into the air and launching himself forward. It wasn''t perfect. His scales offered him some protection, but not completely. He was nicked in a few places. He couldn''t see anything put blood out of one of his eyes, and he didn''t know how bad that was.


    But he wasn''t cut to ribbons like the cultist had probably been going for. And he didn''t need both his eyes.


    Fleck hit the ground and skidded forward, not slowing down for his landing. He bounded across the short distance to the shack. The door was closed and had a knob, but it was old and toppling. Fleck jumped through the window and didn''t even have to break through the glass. It had already (mostly) come out of the frame.


    The dwarven woman was in there. The one with the blond hair Wren had seen earlier. She didn''t seem afraid or surprised to see Fleck. She reached a a hand towards him. He opened his jaw, fully ready to tear that hand off.


    ''DON''T LET HER TOUCH YOU!''


    Fleck swerved at the last minute, pumping his wings to move further away from her, and to avoid sprawling on the ground as he turned so sharply.


    He''d heard Wren be panicked, worried, and doubtful before. In fact, he was very familiar with those kinds of feelings from her. This was different.


    ''Why not?''


    ''I don''t remember,'' Wren admitted. ''But you can''t let it happen.''


    ''I won''t.''


    Fleck wasn''t like most dragons. He couldn''t spray out fire, or ice, or anything. Which meant the only way to attack her was to touch her. Which they''d established he shouldn''t do.


    But the dwarf wasn''t attacking him either. She''d pulled back, standing by the refrigerator. Where the elevator was.


    So she was guarding it. Well, there had to be another way down. What if the elevator broke?


    Fleck''s sense of smell was picking up a lot right now. Most of it was the foul air. There was also the dust. And the blood. Most of the blood smell was coming from him.


    But if he actively sought it out, he could smell something else as well.


    He slammed into the wall next to the refrigerator, using his wings to jump high, and slam down. The wall broke beneath his weight and power. Again, this building was already old and breaking on its own. He''d just hurried it along. The dwarf reached for him when she realized what he was doing, but when the wall burst apart, she was at least slowed down by the rubble.


    The tunnel on this side of the wall wasn''t reassuring. It was narrow and dark, and there weren''t steps or anything. The way up and down was on rusty ladder rungs. But Fleck didn''t need to take those.


    He folded up his wings and dropped. And when he could close to the bottom, when he could see light and smell a more used area, he spread his wings out again, slowing to a glide.


    It was a bit later when he could smell Cooper, though not see him. He said what Fleck recognized as his name, and a question. Fleck slid closer to where he knew Cooper was, and his friend lifted a sheet up a bit, enough to get it over Fleck.


    They squeezed together, Cooper dropping to Fleck''s height and putting an arm around his back. It was hard to keep both of them under the sheet, but as long as they were mostly hidden, the cultists hopefully wouldn''t notice them. They seemed more preoccupied with the fighting above.


    A red light alarm had gone off, and parts of the ceiling buckled, threatening to cave.


    The two were hidden well enough. They continued deeper inside, Fleck taking the lead towards where he knew Wren was.

 84: Shattered

    Moon knew he couldn''t do much out here, but part of her wished Fleck had stayed. She and Elice had carried them this far, and another dragon would be helpful.


    More cultists had come up. And like Elice had said, they expected the rag-tag group to have some fighting skills now. The colbber with the explosions chose to make her appearance from behind them as well. An imp came out from under the rubble of the building. Elice reflected an attack back at him, and it made his bones twist and snap unnaturally. He was still alive, but Moon was glad that attack hadn''t hit any of them. There was a magic user, an elf who pinned Rasha''s limbs up, like she''d been tied by invisible rope. And there was a dwarf, who Moon was pretty sure had been in the shack from the start.


    Moon sprayed ice at the colbber when she reached for Rasha, and the fight was off again. Moon didn''t have much time to focus.


    She had to stop the colbber from touching anyone. At least Mr. Bone Crunch was down for the count, but someone new came out, and she had to dodge his hands too. The elf made dust rise up and swarm around them. Moon had to briefly close her eyes against it. That stuff wouldn''t hurt her skin through the scales, but it could get her eyes. Her wings went up around her head automatically, shielding her herself as best she could. Her eyelids fluttered as she felt the intensity of the dust fade away, and she squinted out.


    Evin was pulling away from the colbber who made things explode. Moon sprayed ice between them to help. It came out as shards, smaller and messier than she''d have liked. Turned out doing this so many times in a row was tricky.


    Then it happened. The elf created a dark orb in the sky. It wasn''t large. Maybe the size of a bowling ball. But it was unnaturally dark, and the air around it wavered, like more light was being sucked away. It launched towards Wesles.


    Elice reflected it. At the same time, the dwarf was coming up close to her. Moon wasn''t sure if Elice hadn''t seen her coming, or had made the choice to protect Wesles instead. Either way, she didn''t respond, and Moon couldn''t. Aside from the risks of spraying ice too close to an ally, it happened so quick. It had been maybe half a second since she''d defended Evin. The dwarf grabbed Elice and she. . .aged. In front of their eyes, Elice rapidly grayed and wrinkled, shrinking slightly. The light in her eyes dimmed to nothing, and her dead body continued to dissolve as the dwarf dropped her.


    ~~~


    Wren had hidden in the bathroom shortly after escaping Pauth. That would work for a little, but not long. At some point, someone would figure out the person in here wasn''t actually using the toilet.


    When the fight started outside, something she knew of thanks to Fleck, she slipped back out, and risked running again. When something hit the ceiling above, it worked even better. Dust dropped down and beams cracked, threatening to fall in entirety. A fire started somewhere. Everyone was either interested in fighting the threat above, or getting out of the underground base, before it collapsed on them or burnt them. They were underground, the smoke from the fire didn''t exactly have many places to go.


    The downside was that that meant her friends were in more danger. Even the people just interested in fleeing would pass them when they exited. And she couldn''t ask Fleck to warn the others. He''d come down here. So she had to join him and get out of here as soon as possible, for all their sakes.


    She ran forward. The easiest tunnel to move through had piles of rubble in it, and the ceiling might''ve been wobbling. So she turned and took a slightly longer route.


    Then, something changed, shifted in her mind, and she felt herself stumbling sideways as she tried to keep running, while the world around her metaphorically tilted. It was metaphorical. She might not even notice if she hadn''t learned magic. But she had, and it felt very real. It also felt like foggy glass in front of her, something she barely noticed, shattered, and her mind cleared.


    ~~~


    "Mom! Hey Mom!"


    Wren ran down the hall after the familiar figure. Her mom stopped and turned around. Her eyes always seemed kind of tired, but she always smiled when she saw Wren, and Wren thought she meant it. Even when she scolded Wren for something, it was done gently. Not like her father.


    "What is it Wren dear?" her mom asked, squatting down to be a little closer.


    (She was so tall! Wren had asked if she was going to be that tall someday. She''d laughed and said "maybe.")


    "Look at this rock I found!"


    Wren held up a smooth red rock, shinning in the hall light.


    "I found it in the mining cavern." That was the section the cult, mostly the dwarven members, were expanding. It was an in-progress space, and left a lot of neat rocks piled in the hall. "I thought you might like it. Since it''s not drab and gray like all the other rocks."


    Her mom always seemed unhappy underground. But maybe Wren could help. While she agreed most rocks were pretty boring, this one was nice.


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "Thank you Wren. But are you sure you don''t want to keep it?" She spoke in Elvish, as she often did, so Wren could pick up on the language. Sometimes the elves down here spoke to each other in Elvish, using big words and speaking too fast for Wren to understand yet, so she didn''t mind her mom teaching, looked forward to when she could understand easily.


    "I''m sure," Wren said, also replying in Elvish.


    "Then thank you Wren." With one had, she let Wren place the rock on her palm. With the other, she put her hand on Wren''s head. "I will always treasure it. Like I treasure you."


    ~~~


    Harmoni and Wren sat together, Harmoni teaching her to sew. Apparently, where Wren''s mom came from, you could put magic into sewing. A design was sewn into a blanket or quilt, and the design could help cast a spell, the same way speaking a magic word did. Or maybe the pattern sewn in could just make the blanket extra warm. You could make some pretty complicated patterns with a big flat space, but Wren was new at this, and she was starting small. The pattern on this quilt was supposed to create a faint light, like a nightlight. Magical power still had to be put into the pattern to create light, which Wren didn''t know how to do. But maybe if she did really well at this part, Harmoni would teach her how, instead of just pushing power through the symbol for her.


    Their peaceful moment was interrupted. Anvon slammed the door open. Wren dropped her side of the blanket and Harmoni pricked herself with her needle.


    "Wren! What''s this about skipping classes!"


    "I, uh, I was just learning something else," Wren tried. She was, after all, learning how to sew and learning about magic.


    "My daughter is not going to be an idiot."


    Well that was a little much. "I know the lessons for today," she tried.


    She didn''t grow up as fast as the imps or zennies or full humans. Even with her class work adjusted for that, she had time to get ahead.


    Anvon just grabbed her wrist, pulled her up, and used his dark magic to freeze her if she gave even a hint of resisting.


    "There''s been no decision on if you''re even going to learn magic. And if you do, there will be a proper plan for it, like Edith."


    "Leave her alone," Harmoni protested. She reached out. "I was the one who-"


    Anvon also reached for her with his free hand, and she recoiled. Didn''t want him using his freezing ability on her as well, probably.


    "You and I will have a different conversation later," Anvon said. "Come on Wren."


    Not that there was much choice. He dragged her stiff body along to the closet at the end of the hall. He put her in. As soon as he let go of her to close the door, his effect promptly broke. But she stumbled forward, bumping her shoulder on a wall in the small space. By the time she was turned around, he''d locked the door, and she could hear him walking away.


    She took a few ragged breaths, trying and failing to be fine. This wasn''t the first time he''d put her in the closet. She knew struggling wouldn''t work. The door was sturdy. There was no breaking it down. Pounding and screaming wouldn''t bring any help. No one was going against Anvon who, if anything, would be satisfied to know his punishment was working so well. So she wouldn''t freak out while he could hear.


    But she wasn''t sure how long she''d be left in here. That seemed to vary. (To keep her anxious? Maybe?) She could get hungry, or thirsty. If she had to go to the bathroom, he wouldn''t let her out for that either. Did she have to go to the bathroom already? Or did it just feel that way because she was thinking about it? Would he leave her in here over night? He''d done that once, when she tried to sneak out alone, not telling anyone where she was going. This seemed like a far lesser problem, so hopefully not. It wasn''t comfortable to sleep in here.


    She was standing there, drawing in heavy breaths, when she was interrupted.


    "Wren? Wren are you in there?"


    "Eddie?" Wren asked, coming closer to the door.


    "Hey there," Eddie greeted. There was the sound of her sliding against the door.


    "What are you doing here?"


    Most of the cult''s children lived in the underground base. Better than outside. Wren was one of them. Eddie was another one. She was cool. She could stand tall and walk all flowing without disturbing the bottom of her robes. She didn''t use any real magic yet, at least as far as Wren could see, but she could do some stage magic. She wowed the younger kids with that. (Including Wren, when their age gap was bigger.) She always seemed so composed and unflappable when Wren was younger.


    But that was when Wren was much younger than Eddie. Now she was only a little younger, and they''d probably hit adulthood at the same time. Such was the fate of a full elf, slow growing up.


    Now Wren knew Eddie was intimidated by some of the older, more powerful members, same as Wren. What seemed like a stoic attitude was sometimes just her hanging back. But that didn''t ruin things for Wren, per say. It made Eddie easier to approach as a friend, and not an idol. And it was pretty neat that she could look so cool while being afraid.


    "Thought I''d keep you company," Eddie explained. "I''ve got a game. I''m looking at something out here. And I want you to guess what it is."


    "The vase with the blue cracked pattern," Wren said.


    Eddie was silent for a second. So was Wren.


    "Well, you just take the fun out of things by using common sense," Eddie said.


    Wren smiled a bit, and sat down on her side of the door. The vase the only thing in this hall.


    "Well then, think of something harder," Wren urged. "Not something in the hall."


    "Alright. I''ve got something." There was the sound of Eddie shifted against the door, probably getting more comfortable. "You ready for twenty questions?"

 85: Flashbacks

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    There were classes for the children living underground. There was reading and science and math and such. There was also a class on fighting. A lecture on how bank accounts worked. Pauth once taught them how to make a travel burrito.


    "It''s not much like a typical burrito," he told them. "But it''s wrapped in a tortilla, and it''s easy to carry, and eat without sitting down. Good for if you''re on the go."


    Anvon talked to them sometimes. Lately, he''d added that something was going to change, something big. Soon.


    "And I do mean soon," Anvon added. "Do you really think I''d put myself through all the pressure and responsibility I do, if it wasn''t in my lifetime?"


    When there weren''t classes, Wren could read a book. Play a game. Watch a movie. There was an actual theater down here, where you could watch things on a big screen. She could grab a snack in the kitchen. She didn''t spend much time with the other children, except Eddie. And she didn''t spend much time with the adults. They scared her.


    ~~~


    Wren tripped into Eddie''s side, who stumbled sideways. Wren turned around, gripping Eddie''s favorite cloak fearfully. Eddie just stared behind them with her blank expression that could be intimidating if you didn''t know better. Wren knew better. Eddie was afraid too. But her fists were raised. It seemed she wasn''t going down without a fight.


    It had been a normal day. If anything, it had started as special, in a good way. Eddie''s parents had wanted her to go outside. There was a park nearby they''d suggested. (It wasn''t even really outside. There was a dome over this town. The park was simulated.) Wren had gotten to tag along.


    It had started off nice. They got to see the (fake) sun. And there was more space here than the narrow halls or small rooms of home. But Eddie''s parents had left them alone, and some boys across the park from them had noticed them, and started heckling. There were five of them, probably around Eddie and Wren''s age. Maybe a little older mentally. At first glance, all of them but the dwarf seemed to be human. But one of them might''ve been a half elf, like Wren.


    "Ignore them," Eddie had urged.


    It didn''t work. One of the boys actually dropped his pants lower, and slapped his ass. Another chucked a rock at the back of their heads. It wasn''t very big, but it was time to go.


    The boys followed, throwing larger things after them. Wren felt the sharp edge of an opened can hit her. That was when she stumbled.


    "I''ll warn you," Eddie told the jeering boys. "I''m part of the Hidden Cult."


    They paused for a moment, some of them losing their amused expressions. Then one of them, probably the leader, stepped forward and smirked at them. "Yeah, right. Say you''re from Preventative Measures next time." One of the other boys stuck out his tongue. "At least that would be believable."


    The boy reached for Eddie. (Wren was busy practically hiding behind her.) Eddie shifted her feet into an attack stance, but Wren didn''t get to see her fight. The lead boy froze up, shaking slightly on the spot like he''d just gotten a small electric shock from a doorknob. Then he aged. Wrinkles appeared on his face and hands. His teeth got slightly more yellow and his hair turned stringy and gray. His eyes dulled until they glazed over entirely. Then he fell, aged body crumpling to a fragile heap and revealing Sistout, one of the dwarfs from the cult, behind him.


    "Holy shit!" one of the others exclaimed.


    "Run for it!"


    The other four all dashed off in different directions, as best they could on a narrow street. The dwarf grabbed one more of them, hands sinking into the back of his shirt. This time, he aged so thoroughly his body turned to dust by the time it hit the ground.


    But the other three put some distance between her and them, and she didn''t seem that interested in chasing them down. She turned to the two.


    "Are you alright?" Her voice was gruff, and deep for a woman, but it was genuine, and Wren had never been happier to hear it.


    Wren nodded, even if she was still wide eyed and hadn''t let go of her raptor-like grip on Eddie''s cloak.


    "Fine," Eddie agreed. Though her clipped tone said she wasn''t completely fine either. "Thanks."


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "Sorry about the mess." The dwarf waved a hand at the aged body still there. "I thought it best if I leave one body as an example to the others. I should get rid of it now though. Don''t need to draw too much attention this close to home."


    Neither of them had anything to say to that. What did you say, really?


    The dwarf shifted and clicked her tongue slightly. "Anyway, what do you say I get you back home?"


    ~~~


    "Oh you want to know about Preventative Measures?"


    Wren and Eddie nodded. They''d asked about it when they got back, mildly curious about what the boy had been talking about. (And maybe wanting a distraction.)


    The imp they were talking to bared his fangs a little. "Preventative Measures is the only other cult that has members across the entire galaxy. Well, except for one planet. They seem to think imps are just innately evil, and must be wiped off the face of the galaxy for the good of everyone else." The imp put his fingers on the top of his glass, spinning it around slightly. "It''s to your father''s point Wren. Because, funny thing, if people are going to think I''m evil no matter what, well, I might as well get power and comfort out of it."


    ~~~


    "Yes, I know about Preventative Measures," Anvon told her, when she came and asked him about it. "It doesn''t surprise me, that it exists. The galaxy is inherently cruel and selfish. Our predecessors considered calling the cult the Universal Cult in honor of that. But that, didn''t come out quite right. . ." He trailed off and looked at the table. He shook his head and got back on track a moment later. "Anyone who says otherwise is cruel and selfish as well. They''re just lying about it. Possibly to themselves. It''s why Preventative Measures doesn''t like to be called a cult. And really, that''s a waste. You get far less out of your actions if you''re not honest with yourself. Better to be up front about it. Like us."


    ~~~


    "And that''s enough. Pack it in for today."


    Wren drew a few deep breaths and set her knives aside.


    All the members of the Hidden Cult got trained to fight. Of course. If anything, Anvon wanted her to get more fighting training since he heard about what happened in the park. And for once, Wren agreed with him.


    There was experimentation. Each person had to try out multiple fighting styles at least once. But since everyone had a limited time on this earth (except elves, sometimes), their fighting instructor usually had them focus on the one or two fighting methods they showed the most promise in. Before this morning that would be fist fighting and handguns for Wren, and it seemed likely to stay that way. The full human she''d been fighting was much better at the knife thing.


    And, if people weren''t good at much of anything, there were other options. Pauth studied magic, and Sistout fought with explosives, not that she seemed to need those.


    Wren hadn''t completely seen the point before. Why learn to fight with props, or your fists, when you got supernatural powers from higher beings? She understood better after the incident in the park.


    As Wren left the training room, Eddie slid up beside her.


    "You did well," Eddie said.


    "I did not," Wren said. She smiled faintly. "But thank you."


    Eddie shrugged. "Better than I did with knives."


    OK, that much was true. Eddie''s attempt had, admittedly, resulted in her slicing herself.


    They walked and talked together a little more. They got lunch out of the kitchen, and took it to Harmoni''s room to eat in private. They didn''t talk much on the way, but that was fine. They both just liked the other one being there.


    Harmoni wasn''t there when they went to the room. No surprise there.


    Wren turned off the fake window light as they entered. It was a little much. Then, they sat eating. Well, Wren was eating. Eddie pushed her food around on the plate. She glanced at the door, ear flicking. Still silent, so far as Wren could hear. There weren''t many things down this hall. Not much reason to come down it.


    "Hey Wren, do you, uh, do you. . .think this whole thing is. . .really necessary?"


    "What?" Wren asked.


    The question was too vague and weird for her to guess what Eddie was talking about.


    "I mean, well, maybe necessary isn''t the right word. But the cult? Do you think we should be in it? Like that''s a fine thing to do?" Eddie was staring at nothing, which was probably good, because she missed Wren tense up, inhaling. "If everyone is so terrible, why does no one gain power until we start killing, specifically?"


    Wren was quiet and tense for a moment longer. "I don''t understand," she eventually said. "Getting powers from the higher beings isn''t about doing bad things." Or, not just bad things. "Or they''d go around giving it everyone. It''s about proving your loyalty. And, we won''t even be here much longer. It won''t matter. We''ll be joining them soon, in Father''s lifetime. And then we''ll be away from all these other people."


    He''d said so. It was the big thing coming.


    Within Anvon''s lifespan meant soon, especially for longer lived people like Wren and Eddie.


    Maybe Wren sounded mean. She tried not to. She was just confused where this was coming from.


    "I know that. I just. . ." Eddie shook her head at her plate. "Never mind."


    Wren frowned. Maybe she had sounded mean. "Eddie. . ."


    "It''s fine," Eddie insisted. "It''s fine, you''re right. Let''s just. . .forget it."

 86: How We Got Here

    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    Wren was above ground again. Alone, again. She''d gone with Anvon, and a couple of his higher up friends. Wren didn''t go to the surface very often, and it was even rarer she went with Anvon. He usually had things to do. So when he''d offered, she''d of course come along.


    They took a bus to get a little farther than they usually would. Wren sat with her face very close to the glass, watching the scenery pass as Anvon talked to the others.


    He did spend some time with just her. The first stop for the two of them was an indoor pond, where Anvon told her how to identify different types of ducks.


    But then, he rejoined the others at a bar. They did offer Wren a pretty yellow glowing drink that didn''t have any alcohol, and she did sip at it. But they were talking about adult things, and having adult drinks, and there weren''t really food options. (Beyond say, pretzels) And the room was noisy, at least to her ears.


    Anvon noticed. He slid some money to her and patted her head. "Why don''t you go explore this area of the city? I''m sure it''s new for you, and you can find something interesting. Just be back here in about an hour, and I promise we''ll do something before we get back. Just the two of us."


    So Wren checked the time, and headed back onto the street.


    She started down the hall, but something felt off. She didn''t recognize the downward sloping hall she was in, even though she surely must''ve at least glanced it when they went inside? She kept seeing people watching her out of the corner of her eyes, but they were always looking away if she turned to them. Not a friendly sort. And they sort of looked. . .different if she saw them out of the corner of her eyes versus full on.


    It also felt like it was literally getting darker in here. There were fewer lights in the hall. The shops seemed to be open, but without the bright glowing lights or signs that usually advertised shops.


    Someone grabbed her arm. Wren gasped, and tried to turn, though the way she was being held limited her movement.


    She hadn''t even heard someone come up to her, and she had good ears.


    "Where do you think you''re going?" the figure leered. "You shouldn''t be down here on your own."


    "Let me go," Wren protested, tugging.


    "No. I don''t think I will."


    He wasn''t loosening his grip. There were people around, but they clearly weren''t helping. But Wren had been warned about this kind of situation. She''d practically already lived it once, with the boys a the park. She wasn''t going to sit here and take it again.


    She pulled a gun out using her free hand. She had been trained on how to use them. Anvon had suggested carrying at least one around when she was outside of their base. She was about the age where she was supposed to prove herself to the cult anyway. She fired at the man''s head. His eyes had just enough time to be surprised before the bang went off, and blood started coming out of his head.


    She knew there were people around, even if she was having trouble focusing on them. Someone had probably seen that. Which meant she should get out.


    She dashed away, deeper into the hall.


    People and their words were only a blur and murmur around her. She heard the sound of a weapon other than her own go off. Were they attacking her?


    Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see a staircase going back up. She made a swift turn for it, but only made it the first step before bashing into someone on the stairs.


    The voice of the person sounded startled, but also tried to grab Wren''s arms. Both arms. Wren quickly jerked back, and fired the gun again. She hadn''t had much time to aim, but from this close, it would be hard to miss. The body slumped, rolling down the steps.


    Wren stood for a moment, aware of the life draining from the corpse. She''d have to go around it to go up the stairs.


    Then, the veil over her lifted. She was still in a dark hallway that was probably underground, but the blurs and muted sounds came back into focus. The staircase had a railing it hadn''t before, at least not that she''d noticed, and she recognized the person she''d shot. She recognized her so well, she should''ve noticed before firing.


    Wren''s gun clattered out of her hand.


    ~~~


    Wren sat in a small ship. It was dark and rattling in here, designed for decent rather than space flight.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    She had killed her mom. She had shot Harmoni. It wasn''t even all that recent anymore, but the simple fact still sat there in her brain, refusing to sink. Anvon said all people were awful. It seemed she was her own proof of concept all along.


    Eddie was fidgeting as they went down, occasionally glancing at people, but never for long.


    Wren just stared ahead, seeing nothing but what the faint shafts of light showed her inside the ship, as they got closer to Xentron.


    They landed on Xentron and split up, Eddie going in a different group. From what Anvon had said, Xentron was a big planet that lived in isolated groups compared to most. It would be easy to do what they came here for, and duck back out. They''d brought enough people for two groups, and still no one would notice.


    Eddie glanced back towards her, but Wren didn''t look her way, and pretty soon she turned around to keep pace with her own group.


    The town Wren''s group was targeting came into sight. She went first. Despite moving like a zombie, all stiff movements and blank expression, Wren didn''t attract much attention.


    She knocked on a door. A woman answered. Wren shot her.


    That attracted attention. Someone ran towards Wren. Pauth slipped out of the shadows and intercepted him. Wren was free to shoot the panicking kid inside. She did so. She''d killed her own mother. Nothing else mattered.


    She walked outside, through the back door. Someone grabbed her shoulder. She panicked, and felt something rise out of her. Whoever was holding her exploded. She hadn''t even see who they were.


    So that was her dark magic ability.


    This would be over soon. They hadn''t brought that many people. The town technically outnumbered them. But Wren had met no resistance whatsoever. She couldn''t speak to the other cultists, who''d moved further on, but she''d catch up to them in a moment.


    She took a step forward, only to see a thin shine of metal heading toward her face. She stepped back to avoid getting her nose sliced off.


    Wren turned. A short fat woman in all back, with red hair, and a familiar clasp on her cloak had attacked her.


    "A cleric," Wren deduced. Basically no one else wore that symbol, after all.


    "Concerned yet?" the cleric bit out, glaring.


    "Should I be?" Wren''s head lolled to one side, keeping it straight was an effort. "You can''t kill anyone, and you can''t heal the dead."


    "There are other ways to stop you." The cleric clasped her symbol, completely covering it.


    That probably meant she was going to use some sort of ability. Wren fired her gun. The bullet didn''t hit the cleric, instead doing the impossible and clipping Wren''s shoulder.


    Wren dropped the gun and grabbed her shoulder, stumbling to the side. She glanced up. The cleric was still grasping her symbol, and her eyes were going red around the rim. In fact, the unnatural red glow seemed to be spreading.


    Wren launched forward. She felt herself lose momentum halfway through, and unlike the rest of the day, she was actually trying. It was just like trying to escape a spider''s web.


    "Goodbye, young cultist," the cleric said. "You won''t remember this. Or anything else, for that matter."


    ~~~


    The ground below buckled, tiles cracking to reveal earth. A flaming beam dropped from the ceiling in front of her. Wren stumbled back, but that wasn''t why.


    Smoke filled the hall. She dropped to a crouch, gripping her hair.


    Anvon said all people were selfish, that the galaxy was inherently violent and cruel. That time he''d told her while talking about Preventative Measures wasn''t the first or last mention. It was sort of an important part of the cult really. If it was inevitable, might as well get something out of it, rather than pretend. She wasn''t sure if that was the way all the cult members felt, but it was certainly an advertised way. And was it true? (She''d certainly proved she herself was violent and cruel.)


    She thought of Edinar''s headmaster, who never did the things he said he would. Of the potions teacher, who was only kind so he could steal organs. Of the generally mean and distant students. She thought about Hathanier and Cyep''s awful plan on Xentron. Or how about the fact there was slavery on Xentron? Or how long had she wandered the streets on that planet without any help what so ever? Not even when she volunteered to work. A lot of the galaxy certainly seemed the way Anvon said. (Fleck didn''t count. They were soul bonded.) Maybe she should just burn here.


    "Wren! Wren? Are you here?!" a familiar voice called out.


    Wren slowly lifted her head.


    "Fleck says you''re near!" Cooper continued, in an awfully clear voice, considering the smoke around.


    Cooper. Cooper wasn''t awful. He wasn''t cruel or selfish. In fact, when she thought of slavery, she''d felt bad for him being forced to endure it. Yet he wasn''t awful or violent. He was kind. He tried to make people happy, and seemed pretty happy himself. His inventions were helpful. He was disappointed that he couldn''t use magic, but never seemed to hold it against magic users. The only selfish thing he did was invent things he wanted to use himself, and Wren wouldn''t call him an awful person for that. Not in the way Anvon painted people to be, or in the way her younger self had thought of people, from personal experience.


    And now that she remembered him, she remembered others as well. Of Udo and Aqua, who had opened their home to a stranger, clearly caring more about helping her than anything she could do for them. Of Wesles, who was nice to everyone without needing a reason. Of Ryo, who''d offered to help the first time they met. Of anyone who disproved Anvon''s statement not just towards her, but in general.


    She hadn''t been separated from the cult that long. About three months. And only two of those had been on Xentron, a place that gave her fonder memories than Iva. But it had been enough.


    She couldn''t believe Anvon. Her own life was incongruous with that. And if her examples were small, well, maybe she just didn''t want to believe Anvon.


    She stood up. "I''m over here!" she called out.


    Something shifted on the other side of the flames. Cooper and Fleck were standing there, when they hadn''t been a moment before.


    Right. The sheet.


    "Wren! Come on!" Cooper extended a hand.


    Wren took two steps back, and charged forward, jumping over the flaming ground.


    She wasn''t sure she was going to make it. She was going down too soon, getting close to the flames. And if she hit the floor in entirely, that was burnt up, heated from the flames. That would sting a bit.


    Fleck moved to the edge of the burnt area, scales protecting him against the heat, and flapped. It wouldn''t work for the entire underground, but in this small area, he could do enough. The flames in the immediate area went down, struggling against the gusts of wind.


    Cooper''s hand went around hers, clasping at her wrist, and he pulled.

 87: New Goal

    Because of Cooper and Moon''s bond, the group underground could instantly tell the group above that they''d succeeded. That they could go.


    They''d been spared from deciding if they''d abandon their friends or die in a fight that might not even help.


    Running was pretty easy. The cultists were also fleeing the flaming wreckage, and apparently they''d rather keep doing that than murder some teenagers. If they noticed the group at all.


    They regrouped in one of the closest buildings, at the edge of town. It was some sort of strip mall, but half of the stores were shut down. And one of them looked like it belonged to the shady man who sold poisons in stories.


    Which was for the best. No one gave a second glance when their group ducked into the burnt out shell of a store.


    Wren stumbled further into the room, staring wide eyed at the back wall, with scorch marks in it. She knew her eyes were still red, likely permanently. Everyone was apparently just kindly ignoring that.


    Or they hadn''t noticed. Most species had small eyes, and you had to be looking to notice. Except gnomes. Gnomes had unusually big eyes.


    The cult was wrong, or at least they were wrong enough Wren would no longer fall in line with them. And they had escaped danger. And that left Wren with nothing to do but sit with her own crimes. And sit, and sit. No distractions. No excuses.


    She had killed people. Including a child. Including her mother. She''d murdered her own mom.


    It. . .that wasn''t entirely true. She hadn''t done it knowingly. There was clearly something off about that memory and someone else might''ve tampered-


    Wren turned back to him, lips pulling back as if her own teeth were impressive to bare.


    "Shut up!" she snarled.


    She was aware everyone stared at her. Except Rasha, who might''ve been asleep? Moon whimpered like a kicked dog.


    Wren switched to thoughts. ''You always, ALWAYS do this, pretending there''s some perfectly innocent reason for things. At least, things related to me.'' She was aware being angry at Fleck was like being angry at herself. She didn''t care. She loomed over him, eyes narrowed. ''Well you''re not helping some poor harassed victim. And you''re not making some bold progressive statement about morality. You''re just doing whatever you can to avoid the truth. That you chose wrong. You''re living with a horrible murderer, and you should stop being in willful ignorance about it.''


    She raised a finger towards the door. ''Get. Out.''


    It would''ve been better if she kept yelling.


    Then he left.


    ~~~


    Despite the outburst, everyone went to sleep shortly after that. They''d been awake for. . .too long. They needed it. Especially Rasha, who''d been using magic, draining her energy.


    No one commented anything to Wren. Maybe they were just too tired. Or maybe they''d actually read the room, and knew that was a bad idea.


    Fleck had wandered the abandoned mall a little longer, happy to put some distance between himself and everyone else. He walked into rooms, and even into ones that were still shops. No one stopped him. Then he found an empty store that would be a good place to sleep, and did some of that himself.


    He''d been too worked up at first, but walking calmed him down a little, and Wren falling asleep also took some of the emotions out of him.


    No one came to him, not even Moon. But this was good for him as well. He was in no mood to try and explain.


    He was feeling resentful. Good. He still didn''t feel resentful enough in Wren''s opinion.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    Then Cooper climbed onto a table that probably used to be for check-outs. He was crouched, so he still didn''t tower over everyone, but it did draw attention to him.


    "Hey. So. Good news, we did what we came here for. We succeeded. Hooray." His voice had taken on a sort of strained happiness. "But, we should probably figure out what comes next. Rasha was saying she was hungry, and we can''t just squat here forever more."


    They kept talking, discussing options, but the gears in Wren''s head were slowly churning. Bits of her newly retrieved memories were coming together.


    "Myparentsprobably don''t want me stuckon Morivon forevermore. I can getusback to Iva."


    "I wasn''t technically living on Iva," Cooper pointed out.


    "Icould takeus to Xentron?"


    "Well I''m not going to Xentron," Evin said.


    "No one is going anywhere," Wren said.


    Fleck slowed in the hall he was in, trying to find the source of a wood smell.


    She stood up and faced them. And in that time, she realized she''d probably sounded more intimating than she''d wanted. "We can''t yet," she explained. "The cult gets their dark magic from some sort of higher power. They do terrible deeds, and in exchange, they get magic. And on May 5th, they''re supposed to join those higher powers. They''re going to tear open a hole in reality and join them. And I can''t imagine that will be good for anyone around."


    "May 5th?" Cooper asked. He frowned at his lap. Then he brought his head back up, hands tearing into his hair. "That''s tomorrow!"


    Wren nodded. "Hence why we have to act now."


    When Anvon said the day was coming soon, he wasn''t kidding. And it probably explained why the cultists had abandoned their base so quickly, without taking revenge on the people who wrecked it. They didn''t need it any more.


    The others exchanged glances.


    "Wren? Do you know where this is going to be?" Rasha asked.


    Wren nodded again. "Gramon."


    "I know the place," Evin said. "It''s close. Nearest town West of here."


    Well yes. Wren hadn''t known that, but it made sense. The cultists would want to live close to where they were eventually going. Good. They had time to actually get there.


    Evin shrugged, arms crossed. "If you want to warn them, I can take us there. And we should get going. It''s close, but a day''s still not a lot of time."


    Wren nodded.


    "Lead on," Cooper urged.


    ''Oh? May I perhaps be allowed back now? Do you deign it?'' Fleck asked, doing a a mock bow, spreading his wings out and everything.


    He was bitter. Wren could feel the emotion rolling off him, like his cup sloshing into hers. Good.


    ''Oh you''re rejoining us,'' Wren confirmed, as the group headed out into the hall. ''But we might be coming to you.''


    "We won''t just be warning them though," Wren told Evin.


    Cooper nodded along. "We have to help. If we can."


    "Of course we do," Evin sighed. "Hey, I said we," he added, before anyone could complain. "I''ll be joining you. I''m just going to complain about it."


    "Thank you," Wren said.


    She wasn''t fine. She certainly wasn''t a good person. She was a murderer who should hate herself. And she did. She could multitask. But right now, people were in danger from her cult, and she could do something to help. That was more important. So she should focus on that. Until this was all over.


    "You know a lot of this area," Cooper said.


    "Of course. You realize, I used to live on Morivon? Until I moved to Xentron as an adult. Easier to set up something new on a recently colonized planet than one that''s been home to humans since. . .forever. Though apparently, I should''ve stayed here."


    Evin led them through the twisting halls of the mall back into the town. Fleck found them and joined in along the way. Evin took them to the Western edge, where a very short train ran between this town and its neighbor. Nothing fancy like the subway. No self-driving cars or hundreds of tracks. Just a short train, driven by a human, on the one set of tracks between towns.


    There was a line at the station, but not much of one, and the train went continuously. Went to one town, unloaded, filled up, went to the other town, repeated the cycle. They got on the train the second time it filled, and were on their way.


    They all took a seat where two of the train benches faced each other. There were more than four of them, what the usual limit for this arrangement was. But Wesles didn''t take up much space, and the two dragons were perfectly happy lying in the empty space in the middle. Most chairs weren''t really built for their body shape anyway.


    Cooper sat next to Wren. The other three were on the other side. Wesles looked out the window, even before the train started moving, when the only view was the station. It was still hard for her to read Rasha, but Rasha was right across from her. She looked at Wren, then dropped her gaze. Her head twitched a bit more, like she wasn''t sure where to look. Eventually, Wren was pretty sure her gaze fell on Fleck. She even patted the dragon''s head, both of them relaxing a bit when she did so.


    Evin had no such qualms. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and kept explaining.


    "So, the good news is Gramon has a cleric temple. And, you know, law enforcement. We''re not pulling a fighting force out of nothing here. The bad news is that Gramon is just a town. And not a particularly big or important one. Yes, they live in a dome, which creates a stricter boundary than most towns have. But people can still just kind of come and go as they please."


    The train reached the station by the time he was done speaking, and that sort of proved his point. Everyone got off the train. No one searched them, or any bags people had, or forced them to go through scanners. The other train goers just walked out into Gramon.


    "So, what do we do?" Rasha asked.