“No, Zerine does not accept,” Cassel said, shooting both Zerine and the elf a sharp glare.

“I can-” Zerine said, but Cassel spoke over her.

“When stakes get added, it stops being a challenge and turns into a duel. A duel if you lose, we can’t even follow through on.”

“She gets special treatment! This will not stand for a non rider and one that clearly groomed a familiar who is now a rider,” the elf said, puffing up with indignation.

Zerine, meanwhile, was annoyed that Cassel was trying to stop the fight because he assumed she would lose, even though he was the one that basically set them all against her. The elf was probably one of the stronger recruits and most likely a bonded rider too. The way he was currently puffing up, she could guess that he was part of an intergenerational dragon rider family or his family was part of a major faction in the riders. Or, knowing her luck, both.

The next year and half is going to suck if politics is what I’m going to deal with. Both fairy and dragon rider politics, she thought, irritation flaring.

“Patients Zerine. Don’t fight them today. You’ll have plenty of chances to prove yourself and you most likely won’t have a choice in the future either,” a voice thought to her easily by passing through her mental defenses. No, not bypassing. It was like she had unconsciously allowed them to connect. It was familiar too.

“Vinessa?” Zerine thought back, confusion washing away her mounting frustration.

“But of course. And don’t worry about their intentions with Varino, either. Think of this as a splendid chance to practice navigating the wonderfully annoying realm of politics. Something from my connection to your mind I see isn’t something you're great at or like. So perfect for training in my eyes. Ta-ta.”

“Wait Vinessa! How did you even get into my mind? I was told my mind defenses were designed to fight against mind benders!?”

But the connection faded, and she could have sworn she heard Vinessa’s laughter.

Yep…this is going to suck, she thought, bringing her attention back to the puffed up elf. Fortunately, mental conversations occurred at a far faster speed than normal time, so less than a second had passed.

“Fine, I rather get on with our training. Duels don’t interest me,” Zerine said with a dismissal wave of a hand.

“If you won’t fight for honor, then I’ll have to put an official complaint in and have you removed for cowardice, grooming a rider spirit as a familiar, and wasting an S-rank trainer’s time,” the elf said. He seemed even more outraged than before. In fact, she was fairly certain if he got any more puffed up or outraged, he would pop a blood vessel.

I’m not going to play Vinessa’s or their game. I just want to get whatever I can out of this training, she thought. With that thought, she decided what to do.

“I’m not the one wasting training time,” Zerine replied, looking bored. She had to work at keeping the bred appearance because, at her words, the elf’s eyes practically bugged out of his face.

Varino chittered a laugh as the elf gaped at Zerine.

“Quite right. You can lodge that complaint after training. We already have one recruit missing training. I don’t want to waste more time,” Kaz said.

“Very well. Sorry, sir,” the elf said and bowed, but he shot Zerine hateful gazes.

“Then let’s get to it,” Kaz said and glanced at Bob, who had been watching silently.

“The monster fields correct,” Bob said, lifting a hand. Power gathered, turning into a tiny ball of light.

“Yep,” Cassel said.

“Perfect. This will get them all to cool off,” Bob said before his power covered the entire group.

***

Vinessa lounged on a couch that floated in a volcanic cavern. The red and orange glow of the magma lit the chamber ominously, but Vinessa felt no danger, so she relaxed. At her rank, the heat and toxic fumes had no effect.

“Celestial one, why aren’t you with your charges?” a deep rumbling voice inquired.

“I’m watching them just like you.”

A massive red dragon head emerged from the magma. Glowing streams of molten rock poured off its head as it looked up at her curiously. Its orange and gold eyes locked on to Vinessa, who waggled her fingers at the dragon, who chuffed in response.

“Why is it you're so stiff and focused on formalities until there is only one person near you?”

“You know…the expectations,” she replied theatrically, getting rolled eyes in response. “It’s been a chore to be the stern, wise trainer and to be honest, I probably have been a bit to…” she waved a hand. “lacked, or chill? Pick one of those.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

The Lord of Flame gave Vinessa a flat look, but they had known each other for more than a millennium, so he knew his old friend was only partly paying attention.

“Looking at the tribunal or investigations?”

Vinessa sighed.

“All the above,” she replied, rolling her eyes.

“It doesn’t look good from an outside perspective,” Escanar commented.

Vinessa scoffed.

“Please, talk to the spirit and you’ll find out she has been hell bent on becoming a familiar since meeting Zerine. When Varino bonded with Bronte, Cal and Ava both talked to Varino about what she wanted to do and guess what. It was bond with Zerine. It’s like a spirit knows something that few even recognize.”

Escanar’s gaze narrowed, looking up at his old friend. A claw emerged from the magma and a large image appeared, displaying an area of the burning plains. Zerine appeared in a blink, alone in the area with E-rank monsters, if Vinessa remembered correctly. Soon, there was another blink of light and a small group of hatchlings along with Arashi were nearby.

“I thought you would be more interested in the solar fairy. Not this crestless.”

“I can watch both,” Vinessa said with a grin.

“And yet your true gaze has been locked on the crestless.”

“The investigation will discover that Varino has been loved and cared for. Even officially being adopted. And yet, the spirit has been fixated on bonding with Zerine. Even though she will be C-rank around when Zerine turns eighteen and, to be frank, she won’t get her crest around that time from what I can see,” Vinessa spoke quickly.

“I’m noting the change in topic,” Escanar said, which got a snorted laugh in response.

But before Escanar could continue, they both watched as a blue hatching happily bounded up to Zerine, who scooped the dragon up, then spun around with the hatchling in her arms. From their view, it was clear the dragon was happy to see Zerine before they heard squeaks. The thrashing tail was a kind of clear sign.

“Bronte even likes Zerine,” Vinessa observed with a grin.

“Bronte hasn’t been known to get along with many of the two-leg caretakers since his parents have been visiting,” Escanar said. His words only made Vinessa’s smile grow.

“Hmm, oh, look, the other hatchings are now curious,” Vinessa said, her smile now revealing teeth.

Sure enough, the group of purple, green, orange, yellow, and brown dragon hatchlings were now surrounding the pair. Bronte did some kind of introduction for Zerine, or Zerine said something. Vinessa wasn’t sure, but the hatchlings jumped around excitedly. Arashi, meanwhile, looked curiously on.

Soon the group was out hunting. Zerine, handling anything that the little ones as a group would have struggled with.

“Isn’t it insulting to drop someone off in the hatcheries monster and hunting grounds?” Vinessa wondered.

“Like she-”

“She is the one that blew up part of area four. It was at D-rank, thanks to Varino being the one that it was calibrated to,” Vinessa interrupted. “I get that in the past grooming a familiar or even brain washing a young rider has occurred. But I can guarantee once you talk to Varino and get details from Cal and Ava, you’re going to find that Varino is her own person. They aren’t codependent, nor is Varino dependent on Zerine. They are just joined at the hip and good luck stopping a spirit from following their instincts.”

“Instincts?” he wondred. Vinessa’s grin turned from amused to teasing. Just by that look, Escanar knew he would not be getting any details. “I am not going to throw my weight around. I’ll let the process continue as intended. But if the spirit were to open her mind and explain why she is so attached to Zerine, we-”

“You know that a spirit’s reasoning is special and very personal.”

“Yes, but it will clear things up. You never know if she has been affected by a Mind Bender.”

“The only Mind Bender that Ava and Cal know hasn’t been around enough to impact their relationship. You’ll only find the reason Falkor has taken an interest in Zerine. And Zerine’s ability isn’t a Mind Benders. It’s something else.”

“Oooh? do tell,” Escanar said, turning from the floating image of Bronte breathing lightning that only reached three feet from the little dragon as the group hunted shadow bunnies. A very accurate name, as the creatures in question were literally bunnies that were all black with wisps of shadow. Instead of hopping around, the bunnies hopped through shadows. A tricky foe for the hatchlings to hunt, but good practice.

“Meet with Zerine in disguise, and you’ll see most of it.”

“Why do that when I can ask someone whose gaze can see more than practically everyone on this plane of existence?”

“Aw thank you,” Vinessa said, preening. Her four wings fluttering slightly.

“No more stalling or changing the subject. Tell me what you see.”

“You all see a fate breaker. Where I see a powerhouse that hasn’t hatched yet. And is one reason I haven’t pushed against the treatment that Zerine has received from her trainers. Or lack thereof.”

“We make the strong and don’t coddle the weak. Cassel is a solid instructor with a proven track record,” Escanar said, sounding a little defensive.

“You know, the impetus of this joint training between our kind was started by Marigold, Ava, and Falkor. It started after Varino bonded with Bronte and because they have trained Zerine as much as they can and needed another perspective and path for her,” she glanced at the floating image to see Zerine with dragons latched on to her back and shoulders. It appeared they were using her as a mobile platform to cast spells from. If she was honest, it was kinda adorable in a swarm of tiny death machines kind of way.

A flash of multi-colored flames made the image brighten as the hatchlings combined different dragon breaths to fry a golem that had attacked the group. As this was a training area, the dragons would face the challenge of hunting prey and fighting real monsters to test their abilities. The golems were only sent if a group was pushing the boundaries of the area.

As another multi-colored flame roared out, destroying another golem, Vinessa changed her mind.

They are adorable in a glittering rainbow of death kind of way…right? Hmm.

“That is true. But Zerine isn’t the focus. Cal simply wants his blood to become a rider. Clearly, she can get along with my kin. Although for so many hatchlings that usually attack first and learn what not to after, is odd.”

“Oh, this is just mild strangeness on her part. There is always more.”

“Yes, training area four’s incident,” Escanar said, and the image changed to the recording of Zerine and Varino’s ascent. They watched the entire three ascents the pair had done that day.

“Hmm, her willpower is far more refined than I would expect. Then there is her flighting…” Escanar trailed off as he thought about the events.

Meanwhile, Vinessa pondered the problems that would arise from the bonded familiar issue. Zerine’s name and situation would spread rapidly through the recruits. Which would only mean more pressure and situations that Zerine would have to navigate. Both a boon and potential bust. It would depend on how Zerine handle E-rank recruits challenging her. Or just how many duels she would have to draw blood from.

Willpower as a crestless can only be improved under distress. Will you make it through all of this? Also, how will Varino handle this situation? Great learning opportunities either way, she thought.

“Ah, I see. Now, explain what Indra has to do with this child…and what you may or may not have done.”

Huh, he saw more than I expected, Vinessa thought, mentally facepalming.