The scarlet-scaled dragonkin Reela was meditating, though her pose differed greatly from my own, as she hovered in the sky, her wings flapping every so often to maintain her altitude. All she had said before flying off was a short, “Do not leave this place,” and she immediately took to the skies. Apparently, my story was troubling enough that she required time to settle her mind. I would have thought that the dragonkin would be more mentally resilient, or was I underestimating just how jarring my tale was to her? It was possible that the revelation of other worlds or the possibility of a world without magic could have been shocking, but –

“I have received word from the elders,” she said, as she abruptly appeared in front of me, teleporting rather than flying down. I only barely flinched this time, becoming more accustomed to her abruptness.

“Wait, so you didn’t need to meditate after listening to what I said? The story of my life didn’t require you to recenter yourself?” I asked rhetorically, stupidly disregarding what she said, as she didn’t even dignify my idiotic query with a response, instead pushing through with her own point…though I did notice she rolled her eyes before speaking.

“In their boundless wisdom,” she said, gritting her teeth as she did so, “the elders have decided that you are to be placed in the custody of the dragons, to ensure you do not bring harm to yourself or others through your…abilities.”

I took a moment to process her words, though I couldn’t help but jump to the worst possible scenario immediately. “...and by custody, you mean –”

“I mean that from now on, I have to look after you, damnable human whelpling,” she snarled. Sighing, she shook her head, “How did my life come to this? Saddled with an outworlder during my prime years…”

She only took a few moments to self-pity before turning back to me, her previous ferocious manner absent. “Let’s go, we’re wasting time.”

“What?”

“And here I thought you were at least somewhat intelligent, human,” Reela said dejectedly. “But it seems my hopes were too high, and I need to spell it out for you. From now on, I’m your guardian, overseer, warden, babysitter, whatever word you wish to use. I’m basically responsible for your life from now on.”

“What! That’s –”

Her mood swung once again, as her eyes narrowed, and she was surrounded by a formless yet suffocating pressure that prevented me from speaking. “Do not think for a single moment that you are losing anything in this arrangement. Whatever your thoughts are, you get to receive protection and training, while I have to postpone all my plans for a family and ensure you don’t go enslaving the whole world accidentally.”

“Look, I get that –”

“Silence.”

That one word had the weight of the world behind it, instantly driving me to my knees, then straight to the ground. I couldn’t breathe. The pressure was overwhelming, and I legitimately thought she was going to kill me out of anger. If I were capable of breathing, sand would have entered my nose and mouth, but as it was, I couldn’t even do that. I tried to do something to show that I would abide by whatever rules she wanted me to follow, but my body was completely immobile. I could feel blood start to pool beneath my face, and that was never a good sign.

A tiny wheeze escaped my lips, and the irritated dragonkin dispelled whatever she used on me, turning back to face the sea as I was able to move once more, coughing and sputtering before savoring the sensation of breathing normally. The lizard-brain part of me was still quivering in fear, wanting nothing more than to run away before such a terrifying predator.

I wiped the blood off my face as my thoughts began running once more. The idiotic and curious part of me was trying to figure out when exactly I could get her to teach me that technique, as I had seen multiple people doing it thus far, yet none of them showed such proficiency with it as Reela just did.

I had barely recovered when Reela turned to me and said, “Rhaaj. From now on, you are under my wing, which, unfortunately, means that others will see you as my disciple, regardless of what the truth may be. So I might as well turn their lies true.” She closed her eyes and began inhaling, the essence in the vicinity somehow condensing before flying into her.

A deep breath punctuated her words, followed by a small stream of flames, as I witnessed dragon’s breath for the first time, albeit a very small and…odd version. I had never seen multi-colored flames before.

She began speaking with her eyes still closed, startling me. But what truly shocked me was that I couldn’t understand a single syllable coming out of her mouth…yet I understood the meaning. To my knowledge, the translation spell that Khime had ‘gifted’ to me so long ago was still functioning perfectly.

And yet…

Reela was making a pledge with the world as her witness, all in order to take me as a disciple. Something that was apparently lightyears away from being a mere student, based on the words she was using….that I could somehow comprehend. The gist of it was that I would keep her secrets and follow her teachings, while she would do her best to nurture and safeguard me.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

At one point, she paused in her recitation and I thought she was done, until her very aggressive voice spoke in my head. Say your name and that you accept the terms of the vow, dimwit.

As much as I loved having autonomy, there wasn’t really any other choice.

I spoke aloud, “I, Rhaaj Achaarya, do accept the terms of the vow.” As soon as the words left me, waves of something rippled out from me, resonating with Reela and something else I couldn’t identify. Within a few moments, the waves had settled down and were replaced by something similar to the usual tamer bond that I had with my tamed beasts, only this was far more complex and cryptic. My gut instinct told me that this wasn’t harmful, at the very least.

“You can rest today, but your training starts tomorrow.” Reela said nonchalantly, ignoring what had just occurred. I could tell from the way her wings and legs were bent that she was about to take off.

“Wait, I have questions about –” I started to say, before she took off, pushing off with her legs and flying into the sky, sending clouds of sand into my eyes and mouth, pushing me into a coughing fit.

We can speak like this from now on, Reela’s voice said in my mind, though it seems you won’t be able to initiate any conversations with me until you have a better grasp on your soul.

Great, I thought to myself. Another voice in my head I have no control over.

So, what exactly is our relationship now? Disciple and…mentor? Actually, how was I able to understand that language you were speaking before? I didn’t fully understand the details, just the general things, not to mention I had to accept the terms without fully understanding them?! What kind of –

Enough with the questions already, she replied. I’m setting a new rule from now on. You can ask me three questions a day, no more.

Seriously? I exasperatedly thought.

Yes, and that does count as one question, she said smugly. How I could infer her emotions was likely due to the vow, but the specifics of it were beyond me. Though I will take pity on you just this once.

Our relationship, such as it is, has changed from today onwards. You have all the pieces, but you’re lacking some of the finer points. As your mentor, I have to protect you from threats that you can’t deal with by yourself, and do my best to help you grow, which for you means we’ll be focusing mostly on combat. As my disciple, you will do your absolute best to follow my teachings, within the limits of your abilities, for the duration of our time together.

I was capable of doing that. If anything, it would just be like going back to school, just with one teacher. And the only subject was combat. And I wouldn’t be able to run away even if I wanted to. I didn’t know if Reela or anyone else would be able to teleport into my beast space, but I most assuredly did not want to find out the hard way. Speaking of which…

Not that I mind it, but why are you so much more…casual, around me now? Is it just because of the vow? I asked her.

Yes and no. The vow itself can’t change anything, it’s simply an agreement of terms between two parties. Since we’ll be together for a long, long, time, I figured it was better to be genuine from the start. Now I don’t have to worry about maintaining my image like the elders do, which is so annoying. That’s why I had to be so aggressive to you before, since we didn’t know if you were a threat or not.

Yeah, I really appreciated that sword you had at my neck, I thought to myself.

Enough chatting, now go to sleep. I promise you’re going to need as much energy as possible for tomorrow, she said ominously.

Time seemed to pass by in a flash, as I was woken up by a loud and unforgiving dragonkin voice shouting in my head to get out of my beast space. I hurtled back into the outside world and came face to face with my new mentor.

“Before we can get started on any meaningful training, I need you to be receptive, body, mind, and soul. And that means….” she trailed off.

“That means…what?” I followed up obligingly, doing my best to stifle a yawn.

“It means that unless you’re much, much more mind-addled than I thought you were, you won’t like what comes next,” Reela said with a smile, something that immediately erased any lingering drowsiness and put me on edge. “So, my disciple, this is the first task I have for you.” She had already teleported us to a different part of the coast, this one untouched by the sun’s rays.

We appeared on the edge of the shoreline where the sand met a natural grove, trees and other flora surrounding us. It was still dark, but I could make out vague shapes on the very edge of the water, as well as grunting and…speech?

“Oi, careful with the goods! Those things are worth fifty of you!” A voice whisper-shouted in the human tongue. I quickly cast the spell for night vision, and the darkness faded, revealing a scene I had only heard about…and the purpose of my presence there. Scores of men were moving around a wooden barge, carrying cages and traps filled with all sorts of beasts and animals, where they would be sold to human nobles. The silence was likely a result of some enchantment, neutralizing any cries or roars that would give away their position. Dozens of men and women also stood in a perimeter with their weapons drawn, scanning for any incoming threats.

While the humans were storing their packed cages onto the barge, they were also leaving just as many empty cages on the beach, an act I found puzzling but was ultimately irrelevant. I turned to my mentor and her eyes met mine. Her voice, which only I could hear through our mental link, was more chilling than I had ever heard it, as she confirmed my suspicion.

Your first task, disciple, is to kill those filthy poachers.