Nobody moved, although I sensed Bob pulling mana from a few cells, and forming a pattern.

I thought you said a few hours, Bob?

That's what I thought. I forget to take into account that she is mutated. Also, I might not have come across her kind before.

How many types of dragons are there?

Many, Dick. The planar cosmos is large, very, very large. She looks similar to types I've seen before, but could very well be different in some ways.

The dragon looked to be about the same age as Zara, though maybe older. She was pale with hair that was a bright red, reaching down well past her shoulders. The four main draconic features were her ears, eyes, horns, and tail. Her eyes were golden slits and her ears had the slightest of points. Just below her eyes were a few scarlet scales that shone like glitter. Her horns were curved and a darker red as was her tail which swung back and forth lazily. Oh, and I couldn't forget the small claws on her fingers.

Her eyes took in the room and stopped on Bob. They narrowed, and my eyes widened as she started copying the pattern Bob was forming. Bob stopped.

And there it is again. Fascinating.

He started again and she followed, staring at him less like he was an enemy and more like a curiosity. That was good. At least she hadn't just shifted and started attacking, though perhaps her other form wasn’t comfortable. In this human-like form, she looked like a supermodel and had no deformities. However, she was a mess in her dragon form: twisted, and warped.

Bob pushed the mana back into the cells and floated over to my right as Uliena took a piston on my left. “Do you speak English?” I asked slowly. She tilted her head and nodded. “I do speak your language. English?” I blinked, not having expected the posh Oxford accent.

I guess it does suit how she looks.

Although there was also a roughness to it. I glanced over at Bob whose pages were fluttering erratically. He was nervous. I was too. If things went wrong, we’d be forced to kick her out, and then she’d be roaming around in Portland.

“Do you have a name?” Bob asked.

“Litra,” she said. “You are the ones who freed me.”

“Yes, we are,” Bob said quickly.

“Where am I?”

“In a planar pocket,” I said. “You’re safe here, just don't shift.”

Litra winced. “I shall not shift into that mockery of a form. It hurts far too much.”

“Hurts?” I asked, noting the pain and fear in her eyes.

She nodded. “They wouldn't let me shift no matter how much I begged, and it killed me, a dragon, to beg. For what would I need to beg to lessers.” Her eyes were now lit with fury, and her hands tightened into fists. Some mana began to leak from her, and I quickly raised my hands. “It's alright. We won't force you to do anything.”

“Of course you won’t. I’ll be taking over this territory now.”

I frowned. “Excuse me?”

“This place. It’s rather nice and comfortable. I shall be taking it, and you.” She pointed at me. “Can act as a servant.”

This is how she repays us freeing her?

Bob snorted. “Ok, that's it.” He floated over. “You are a guest here and can be kicked out at any time. We freed you from that cage, and though you seem to be able to mimic me, that won’t help you out there, when they find and put you back in a cage. Likely forcing you to shift. You look lovely as you are, but they’ll want the dragon to show off.”

Litra bristled and swiped at Bob who easily dodged out of the way.

“He’s right,” I said. “We brought you here as an act of kindness, and the first thing you do is try and steal from us?” Litra frowned. “I am a dragon, and as my mother taught me, we take what we wish.”

“By what right?” Bob asked.

“By right of being born better than everyone else.”

I stared at her. Bob… is she being for real?

Unfortunately, she is. I’ve met types like her, of many races. This is going to be a problem.

Why don't you bind her as you did me?

I doubt she'd agree. Just asking might get her to attack us, though at least it's not likely she’d shift. That was my main worry. In this form, she is strong, but nothing we can’t deal with, although we might have to get something to suppress that mana of hers. Can’t have her copying everything she sees.

Can’t we try and make a deal?

“Why are you making faces?” Litra asked.

“Huh, oh nothing.” I sighed. “Litra I…” What was I meant to do, explain to her why she wasn’t better? Was I really gonna have to lecture her? And would that even matter? I wasn’t Zara. For now, I just had to get her to calm down and not try anything stupid. “Litra this pocket isn't yours. Nothing here is. You are a guest.”

“Yes,” Bob said. “And you sure as shit will act like one, or you can leave and be recaptured.”

Litra’s eyes showed a mix of anger and fear. Mostly fear. “I… I will fight you for it.”

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“Who, me?” I asked. She shook her head and pointed at Bob. “The talking thing. Clearly, he is the one in charge.”

Bob began to laugh as I shook my head. Laugh it up asshole. You think you can take her?

Maybe, but it's best if you do it. Despite the humor, she needs to understand who's in charge, and it’s not me.

What if she just copies everything I do?

Use your head, Dick. She may be able to copy spells, but I doubt she knows what she’s doing or what they do.

But she copied your spell back at the warehouse.

Out of desperation, and she passed out immediately afterward. There’s a lot we don’t know, but from how she looked, I can safely say, she probably wasn’t a successful experiment.

“Despite it seeming clear, I’m not in charge.“ Bob floated over and opened in my direction. “Dick over here is. And he’ll be taking you on with my aid.”

I looked at Litra. She was a dragon, but not in her true form. Maybe if I could get close, and put her to sleep, then I could win. I had a few ideas in mind, but I was worried about her psychical abilities. How fast and strong was she in this form? I still had my ring on, but it was out of charge, though my mana pool was fully restored. Although I had Bob, and he no doubt had a plan.

“What’s the stakes?” I asked her.

“Stakes?”

“What do you get if you win?”

“Oh. I get this place, and everything nearby.” She smiled, revealing sharp canines. “And you shall act as my servant as will the other two.” She pointed at Bob, then Uliena.

Rick, I can take her.

No, it needs to be mainly him.

“Fine, but if I win, you will…” I looked over at Bob. He sighed. “If the idiot over here wins, you will bind yourself to him. Wholly.”

What! Bob, is that a good idea? You said you doubt she’d agree.

Yes, it is, and I did, but look at her. She thinks she’s gonna win without a doubt. We can use that. We’ve been over this, Dick. We both know you won't treat her like a slave or mistreat her in any way. Just like with the demon over there, this is for our safety and theirs. If we’re forced to kick her out, they’ll find her, and back into a cage she goes; in a form that causes her pain. Also, just think of the increase to your mana capacity.

I sighed and nodded. Despite my misgivings, he was right. I looked at Litra. “Do you agree?”

She nodded and stepped forward. “Till one of us sleeps. yes?” I nodded, and kept my eyes on her face, and not the nakedness below. It was hard, as she wasn’t hunched or hiding it like someone on Earth might do if a stranger were looking.

Just hit her with the one-two. She’s probably gonna rush in with claws. Use that against her. Let her get close, then lock her down, stun her, and put her to sleep. I’ll be with you, ready for if she tries her mimicking.

What about her resistances?

They're reduced while she’s in this form, if she has any, and she’s also been mutated. It might not be visible in this form like it was when she was a dragon, but it's there. The fact she has mana generating all throughout her body and leaking at some points makes it clear.

I had sensed that. Whereas my mana was at my chest, her’s was everywhere. Like all of her was a mana pool, and constantly generating mana.

We got this.

We do. I’ll be acting as backup. If she weren't so cocky and assured of her victory she wouldn't have let me help you. But that's some dragons for you.

We decided that we’d fight in the workshop as it was still pretty empty, and there was plenty of space. Bob also didn't think we’d be needing to use anything really destructive, nor could she. So far, Litra had only shown the ability to copy spells, not from them herself. She also couldn't breath fire in this form.

She stood opposite Bob and I, a smile on her face. She was confident, but so was I. And I had Bob.

Uliena stood in between, acting as a sort of referee. She raised a clawed hand and then swung it down.

Litra, as Bob had predicted, rushed us, her claws at the ready, and tail raised to swing at me if need be. I formed two force walls when she was a few feet away, and she crashed into the first and was bounced into the second behind her. I immediately hit her with a restraining spell, and Bob hit her with something else as a follow-up.

She didn't try and copy any of our spells. Either she couldn't or just wasn’t.

Maybe she’s relying on what she knows.

I rushed forwards and placed a hand on her neck while I sensed Bob forming another pattern. Litra glared at me and struggled, but couldn't free herself. Then I sensed her mana moving, but she gasped as Bob did something. I felt all the mana within her body shift.

Now, hit her with a sleep spell on my count, three, two, one!

I hit her with my sleep spell just as Bob finished his pattern. Litra's eyes rolled up into the back of her head, and she went limp. I hit her with another sleep spell and didn't drop the restraint on her.

“Is she down?”

“Yes,” Bob said. “Just as I guessed, she doesn't actually know what she's doing when she copies spells. She only did so when she couldn't use her claws and tail.”

“What was that you did with her mana?”

“Something I’ll be teaching you eventually,” Bob said. “I essentially jolted the mana in her body. As she was in the middle of shaping a pattern, she was hit with a backlash. Which helped us and gave us the opportunity to hit her with sleep spells. I had to use quite a bit of mana from the cells. But it doesn't matter. We have her now.”

Great job, Rick. I expected her to put up more of a fight.

“Well, she has been mutated and doesn't seem to understand how to utilize her mana properly besides mimicking what she sees,” Bob said. “Her claws and tail are deadly, but not going to do much against magic. As for her magic resistance, well I dealt with that. Now, we might as well get everything ready to bind her when she wakes.”

“What if she lied?” I asked. “We didn't exactly do a magically binding deal.”

She didn’t. Trust me, I can tell. When Bob, a ridiculous name if you ask me, talked about her being caged once again, she was terrified. I think she’d rather pick being bound to you than bound in a cage to be sold. I have a feeling she’s suppressing a lot.

I looked at Uliena. “You can sense emotions?”

To a degree, though it's not what it once was. I’m no empath.

Her shoulders slumped and I was reminded that Uliena had probably been through a lot. Perhaps she’d tell me, though not now. Now, I had a dragon to bind.

Or I guess Bob does. I wonder when he’ll start teaching me more about rituals.