While Meadow and Ikki went to make a reservation for dinner, Kene, Dusk, and I made our way towards the dragon sanctuary, which was… Disappointing.

Not that the sanctuary was disappointing.

It was disappointing that we didn’t actually get to see any of the draconic beings they were taking care of.

The sanctuary straddled the warded walls of Delitone, then stretched out for over three hundred acres. Just from looking around near the entrance, I could see spots of all sorts of strange environments that ran the gamut from a large peat bog, to sculpted caves that dug deep into the earth, to multiple small oceanic environments, to warps in space that hurt the eyes to look at for too long.

Before I could take in any details, however, a woman in her mid-forties bustled over to us and smiled, extending her hand. I shook it, as did Kene, and then to my surprise, the woman extended a finger for Dusk to shake. Dusk did so vigorously, letting out a sound of approval.

“You must be Octavian’s friends,” the woman said, giving us a smile. “I’m his mom, Thea.”

As she spoke, the winds of fortune in my spirit seemed to stir without me needing to put any effort into it, simply reacting to the woman’s presence, not unlike they had to the witch’s prophecy.

“I’m Kene, this is Malachi, and this is Dusk,” Kene introduced, nodding.

“I remember,” Thea said with a smile. “Alright, come with me.”

I glanced at Kene and then at Dusk, before shrugging and following her into a large administration building.

“I thought you needed to verify our identities with Azalea and stuff?” I asked, frowning. Hadn’t Octavian said that normally took weeks?

I caught a flicker out of the corner of my eye, then someone appeared next to me, wind scattering my hair and tail like wild from their sudden stop. She was also in her forties, but from the fact her eyes had spinning constellations in them, the patches of scales over her forearms, and the fact that she had curling, sharp, almost ram-like horns, I took her to be a dragon.

She was projecting her power out, enough that I could get a sense for it even without needing to actively use my mana senses. Her blend of power wasn’t quite like Azalea or Ivy, so she wasn’t a forest dragon, but it felt closer to forest than to any others I’d encountered. Definitely not magma or ocean, though sky didn’t feel too horribly far away either.

And she was strong. I’d never gotten a proper sense for Azalea, since she used the veiling brooch, but between this woman and Kene’s grandmother, it was hard to call who was stronger. This woman definitely would edge out the old witch in mana density, but the witch might have more capacity, multiple affinities, and who-knew-how-many tricks.

“Hello dear,” Thea said, catching the woman’s hand and pulling it to her mouth, like a knight errant in some old story, then she turned to us and gave us a placid smile.

“Kene, Dusk, Malachi, this is my wife, Olive. Say hello, Olive.”

Olive’s face softened as she looked at Thea, then she looked at us with a serious frown.

“I’m also the security for the sanctuary. It will be my job to verify exactly what’s going on.”

“Before you speak to Azalea, you should know something,” I said, and Olive grew tense, but Thea continued to smile, seeming quite unconcerned.

“I swear by the fourteen primes, if you’ve sold what she entr–”

“Do you know – or I guess, know of – the dragon named Elio?” I asked. “Old, powerful, seventh gate gemstone dragon?”

Olive blinked, but Thea responded.

“Yes, we did hear about your little delve from Octavian, and about the rather… explosive… end to the Idyll-Flume.”

Olive’s eyes lit up in recognition, and she nodded.

“Oh, he was the one who gave Octavian a couple of artifacts that are quite useful for rearing terragon and estragon,” she said. “Did he give you something as well?”

Kene shifted and glanced at me.

“You could say that,” I said, then glanced at Dusk. She let out a series of erupting-earth, shifting-sand, and lapping-lake sounds, explaining the metamorphosis-egg that the old dragon had given her, and how it had transformed one of the estragon eggs into a terragon egg.

Olive’s eyes grew wide, and she let out a breath.

“Then… incredible…”

She shook her head.

“Truly incredible.”

Thea tapped her wife’s hand and looked up at her.

“Dear, they’re no threat to us. I can promise you that. Even if they’re not who they say they are, I have a good feeling about them. They’re going to help the sanctuary.”

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Again, fortune spiraled in my spirit, and I had to stop my confusion from showing on my face. Was Thea using the winds of fortune to gauge our connection? I knew connections – both friendly and hate filled – were the purview of fortune. But how was she doing it on command?

Was it another wind, like Dusk’s wind of destiny? Or was it the next stage, the one Meadow had referenced a few times in passing? Or something else entirely?

Olive paused, seeming to fight herself for a long time, then nodded.

“Alright, here’s what we’re going to do. I still need to check on things, to make sure that you’re not a threat to the sanctuary, but since Thea’s vouching for you, I’ll fast-track some of the usual security measures.”

“That would be wonderful,” Kene said, and I nodded in agreement.

“Thank you dear,” Thea said, and Olive kissed the top of her head, then looked back up at Dusk.

“I’ll need to check on the eggs now, I hope you understand. We can’t bring you through the ward scheme and to the environment we’ve prepared, but Azalea told us her husband had set up some enchantments to keep them in a secure environment.

Dusk clapped, and a portal opened, heat blasting out across the office. Light shimmered around Olive as she stepped through the portal and began to examine the eggs. Thea watched anxiously as her wife studied the room, including the massive core of energy that Dusk had stolen from the Sage’s tower.

“I had no idea her husband was so powerful or thorough,” Olive commented, and I shook my head.

“That was a later modification. Dusk took it from the Idyll-Flume before it exploded.”

I frowned when Kene stared at me.

“What? You were there? Remember, the room with the river of lava?”

“I remember the room, but why did you just announce it?”

“Because Olive commented about it?” I said, and it came out as more of a question than a statement.

“I couldn’t hear her,” Kene said, and Dusk whistled that she’d heard Olive.

“I couldn’t,” Thea said. “It’s probably because of the bond you have with Dusk. What are the brownies talking about?”

“There are a bunch of brownies,” I said. “How should I know?”

“Mmmm, and the ones in your cabinet, near the flour?”

“How should I…”

I trailed off, as I realized that I could tell exactly what they were talking about. An older brownie woman was sewing a dress, and talking to her nephew about the techniques of making patches.

I shuddered. That was… creepy.

It was useful, yes, but it was also incredibly creepy. I didn’t want to know everything that every person was doing.

Then again, I supposed that I did need to focus on it. I knew I had the ability now, but that didn’t mean I needed to use it to spy on people. In fact, I was determined to not use it that way. I could use it to find things I’d misplaced, or to search out specific components, but that was it.

“How did you know about our cottage?” Kene asked. “I don’t think we told Octavian about it, and it’s not visible from the portal.”

Thea simply shrugged.

“I didn’t know for a fact, but I’m a very good guesser. If you’re bound to a realm, it makes sense that you’re going to build a home inside. You don’t seem like the type to build an elaborate mansion. Thus, a cottage. The flour, well, most homes have flour.”

I stared at her. That was… Definitely a leap of logic. It had worked out, but there was no way that could normally just… work.

Olive emerged from the portal, covered in sweat.

“Alright, looks good,” she said, taking in deep breaths. “Primes, you practically singed my scales off. It’s good. Better, maybe, than our environment.”

Dusk whistled that she would be happy to integrate it with whatever they had, since she didn’t have much use for a room full of powerful energy aligned to magma.

“You could dump it on an enemy,” Olive pointed out, and I stared at her.

“That was a joke,” she clarified. “We’d be happy to take it. Alright, I’m just gonna ask you all to fill out some paperwork, and I’ll get back to you in a few days or a week.”

I groaned, but we filled out the paperwork, describing our relationship with Azalea, the official story of our work with the forest terragon, and a bunch of other random stuff. By the time we finally left the sanctuary, my stomach was rumbling, and we made our way over to the Seadrake’s Scale.

It was a nice restaurant, the kind that had operated near the bakery, since dad had tried to market upscale, but that I’d never been able to afford to eat at. Kene looked even more out of place than I did, smoothing down their skirt and their cut-off jacket and t-shirt.

“Maybe I should change?” he said. “I mean. Uh. I think I should.”

I waved open a portal for him, and went to go get changed as well. I kept on the black slacks from Orykson’s suit, with a white button down, and left that as is, since I thought the jacket or a tie would be over the top. I threw on some black shoes, tamed my hair, and then did a quick freshen up on my teeth.

Kene changed into a button down flannel shirt and some nice jeans, then sighed.

“I look terrible compared to you,” they complained.

“You look great,” I said, before Dusk chimed out that she was hungry, and leaving without us. She’d put on one of the nice dresses that the brownies had made for her, and spun around to show it off before opening the portal.

Moments after we entered the restaurant, a server approached us and brought us to a booth, where Meadow and Ikki sat together, chatting easily. Meadow had a glass of wine, and Ikki had a glass of water. In the center of the table was a dip of some sort, with a mix of vegetables and flatbread ringing it. Meadow had piled her plate with some, while Ikki had taken a far more reserved portion.

“Welcome, welcome,” Meadow said as we took our seat. “I took the liberty of ordering some baba ganoush for us, and the salad should be out soon.”

“I hope we didn’t make you wait for too long,” Kene said, spooning some of the roasted eggplant dip onto his small appetizer plate.

“You did not,” Ikki said. “Now, if I am to be here for dinner… Catch me up. What happened in the Idyll-Flume and the Beastgate Trial Trail?”

“I admit, I am curious as well,” Meadow said, a smile crinkling the corners of her eyes. “We can’t all have powerful knowledge spirits to keep an eye on things, and while I can see some changes, I want to hear the story.”

Kene, Dusk, and I all told the story about the Idyll-Flume and the Trial Trail, and I was surprised with just how long it took to get through everything. Though it had only been a few months, so much had happened.

By the time we were done talking about the Idyll-Flume, we’d worked through the baba ganoush, as well as the panzanella salad, and it was time for the main course. I attempted to order the appetizer portion of muscles, to save Meadow the money, but she’d glared at me until I relented and ordered alight pasta tossed with butter and lemon, and absolutely packed with mussels, clams, sweet scallops, and a buttery fish that fell apart on my fork.

That set the mood for everyone else to order freely, so Kene got a luxuriously braised chicken, served over some rice, and drizzled with a cream and sundried tomato sauce, while Ikki got a dry aged steak, potatoes, and a side of baked clams. Meadow ordered a dish with scallops served alongside basil, tomato, and a soft local cheese, all drizzled with oil, salt, pepper, and a vinaigrette, and Dusk finished off with a small-sized portion of grilled sea bass.

We picked up on the story as we ate, only stopping when we were each brought a dessert of a creamy gelato, covered in a layer of melted chocolate.

By the end of the night, I was stuffed and extremely happy, so I thanked Meadow several times before opening a portal to allow Kene and I to return to Dusk to sleep.