Hours later, Duke had set up the Portals in the agreed-upon locations in both Tannish and Ansky before quickly returning to his own kingdom. He was about to head for a third destination but was interrupted by a call from a Jewel of Whispers.
“Duke, you need to come to my workshop as soon as you can. This is important,” Baslin’s whisper carried urgency that Duke couldn’t ignore. He TELEPORTED directly to Baslin’s workshop within the Inn-.
The Archmage practically jumped out of his robes at Duke’s sudden appearance, dropping his Jewel of Whispers to the stone floor. The Jewel shattered, scattering fragments of crystal across the floor as the glow of magic quickly faded from the crystal shards.
“Sorry about that, Baslin. You sounded worried so I came as fast as I could.”
“Nevermind the crystal. I can make a replacement easily enough. Come with me.” Baslin hurried Duke through the workshop that clearly had expanded significantly since the last time Duke had been inside it. There were whole wings that did not exist previously.
Their rushed passage ended in a mostly empty chamber. The only things in the chamber were a magical contraption projecting some sort of flickering blue field over an enormous egg. Duke’s mind immediately flashed back to meeting with the Tannish emissary and the gift from their kingdom – the egg of the Great Serpent Illuyanka.
“As you can see, my stasis field is failing. The egg will hatch any moment now and you need to be here for it in order for it to bond to you.”
“Shit. I forgot about this.”
“Like so many other things, Your Majesty,” The mocking tone of the honorific was not lost on Duke.
“Yeah. I got busy saving the world and all that.”
“Saving the world? I just thought you were taking your girlfriend out for a ride.”
“Baslin, have you actually developed a sense of humor?”
“No, had I sense of humor, I would have dropped the egg in your lap in the middle of a session of court and watched you scramble to take care of it and keep your dignity. But, alas, you never really hold court, do you?”
“OK, I get it. I’m a shitty ruler by this world’s standards. But I much prefer the ‘hire experts and let them do their work without looking over their shoulders all the time’ approach.”
“Sounds lazy to me.”
“Yep, definitely a small sense of humor there. But enough of that. It seems that I have an egg to hatch. And a scroll to use.”
Duke retrieved the scroll from his INVENTORY that he had been given with the enormous serpent’s egg. He quickly IDENTIFIED the scroll hoping that it would show if there were any hidden tricks within. The Ability only showed it as a straightforward, if powerful, spell scroll casting a Bond Creature spell. Shrugging, he prepared the scroll in the flickering blue light and gave Baslin a nod. The Archmage reached up to his device and ended its effect. The response from the egg was immediate.
As the first crack splintered across the thick, obsidian egg, a shudder of anticipation filled the chamber. Moment by moment, the shell cracked more and more until the eggtooth finally pushed its way though. The tooth worked at the shell, breaking more and more of it until the shell burst apart, splattering the area with shell fragments and unknown fluids.
Coiled in the remnants of the shell was an ebon serpent, its forked tongue darting forth to sample the air for the first time. It slowly began to move, gently rocking back and forth as it gained familiarity with its body. Then its eyes opened, glowing like two fiery gates to hell. The power of its presence was palpable, radiating off the serpent in waves. Baslin took an unconscious step backwards. The serpent’s head snapped to orient on the retreating Archmage, its jaws opening wide enough to fit the mage’s head as if testing him for size.
Baslin nervously whispered to Duke, “Use the damned scroll.” In response, the serpent coiled more tightly, tensing as if to strike.
Duke held the scroll and paused before using it. Instead, he spoke to the serpent using his XENOGLOSSIA, “You don’t really want to hurt my friend. You’re just hungry, curious, and a bit scared, right?” At the same time, he dropped his LASTING DISGUISE that was hiding his own glowing eyes.
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The serpent paused as if noticing Duke for the first time. Its hiss was indistinguishable from any of its other noises to Baslin, but to Duke, it spoke volumes, “Hungry, yes. Must hunt. Must feed. Must grow.”
“Then let me give you something to eat. Baslin would not be a good meal.” Duke used his DUNGEON CREATURE CREATION to create a young pig in front of the serpent. The pig squealed and started to run away but the serpent was far faster. It snapped forward and latched onto the pig with its fangs. The pig struggled for a half-second before stilling. Effortlessly, the serpent lifted its head up and gobbled the pig down its throat with a trio of convulsive movements of its triangular head and neck.
“How was that?” Duke asked, still holding the scroll in his hand.
“Tastes good. Satisfied. Good provider.” The serpent’s coils visibly relaxed as its eyes remained fixed on Duke’s.
“Now that you are no longer starving, let’s have a more in-depth chat.”
“Too many words. Sleep now.” The serpent didn’t wait for a response as it curled its head into the rest of its body and drifted off to consume its meal.
“Stop hissing at it and use the scroll already. I’m not having this thing hanging around my workshop and munching on my experiments.”
“I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to use the scroll to bond it to me.”
“Do you have a monster-tamer class that I don’t know about?”
“No, but I can talk to it.”
“Yeah, I can talk to demons. It’s not like any of them are going to jump over to my cause just for the hell of it. It’s a magical monstrous serpent, not a simple beast that you can train with food rewards.”
Duke reluctantly unfurled the scroll and cast the spell. The scroll erupted into a crimson flash of magic, filling the room with crimson radiance. Slowly, the radiance coalesced down to Duke and the serpent as it created and sealed the bond. Duke felt a burning sensation pass through his body, infusing his arteries and veins. The burning pumped through his blood for several seconds before coming to rest in his heart where it settled and infused itself into the muscle. Duke also felt a sharp pain in the roof of his mouth which he ignored, concentrating on the serpent.
At the same time, the serpent writhed at the unfamiliar sensation. It hissed at its interrupted sleep but eventually stilled as the spell completed the bond.
*** You have bonded with Ophirian, the offspring of the Great Serpent Illuyanka. A bond with a creature of such potential is exceedingly rare and the full effects of which cannot be easily identified. Instead, they must be discovered over time. The immediate effects are as follows:
You have gained a new set of organs – poison sac and fangs. You now have retractable fangs that can deliver a powerful paralytic poison.
Ophirian gains access to your most potent Ability and 10% of your Characteristics.
You and your bond may communicate mentally at a distance equal to the range of your shared Ability.
Grow your bond wisely.
***
Duke looked up from studying his notification and met the gaze of his bonded serpent. A sense of understanding passed between them in an instant and Duke knew the serpent was content with the bond. He felt Ophirian’s mind brush his own with a simple message. ”I am going to sleep now. We will speak of what you have done and what it means for us later.“
“Guess Ophirian is going to sleep now.”
“That’s the serpent’s name? Ophirian?”
“Yes, that is his name. do you have any experience with bonded creatures?”
“No, that’s never been something that interested me. What did the bond do for you?”
Duke stared Baslin in the eyes and extended his fangs. Baslin started and then leaned in to stare at the fangs, “Are they functional?”
“I have venom sacs to go with them. I am going out on a limb and saying that you do not want to be bitten by them.”
“Not on my list of preferred activities. If anyone’s going to bite me it’s going to be a certain kidfolk.”
“Speaking of Brindlehoof, how is that going?”
“Slowly, but better than expected. Thank you for the assistance there by the way. Strange that after all these years, I find myself tongue-tied.”
“Just what a good wingman should do for a friend.”
“I have no idea what a wingman is, but I think I get the context. What keeps causing me to hesitate is the age gap. I’m old enough to not just be her grandfather, but her honored ancestor. There is a wrongness to this even though I know it is normal for the long-lived to do so.”
“I have to admit that the age gap would be a serious problem for the world I came from, but I only know a small bit about the traditions on Teldin.”
“Things are a bit more open here but there are some who would frown on the relationship. In the past, some of us would alter our appearances to seem young, which made objections far less. I call that the ‘elf’ effect as they appear young for centuries but that is not my style. I am who I am and if you can accept that, great. If not, then it really is your problem, not mine. Now, I believe we had some runescripting to decipher.”
“Indeed we do. Let’s get to a different section of the workshop first though. I think it is best to leave sleeping serpents lie.”
“You learn quickly. This is good.”
Duke was heading out of the chamber before Baslin even realized that the man had started moving. He quickly followed with only a brief worried glance back at Ophirian. Strangely, as he got further away from his new bond, he felt the pull of the bond stronger and stronger. The pull was strong, but his will was far stronger but he knew that he would be returning to Ophirian soon enough.