“Well, it took a lot of work,” I said. “Have you ever aspected a demiplane before?”

“I’ve helped,” Octavian said, nodding. “It takes a lot of effort, time, and magic to manage.”

I glanced oddly at him and he shrugged.

“We use them for some of the more dangerous eggs we have to incubate.”

“Right…” I said. “Well, my mentor helped a lot, I couldn’t have done it without her. But we aspected the demiplane to forest mana and bound the entry point into a nascent blob of forest power with a lushloam seed. The entry point, forest power, and seed all fused together and, well, Dusk popped out. A spirit who can open her way to a demiplane.”

I figured if I blamed it on existing power, a rare seed, and a demiplane, it would make Dusk sound rare, but not as exceptional as the full spirit of an astral plane.

“Oh, interesting,” Octavian said, nodding. “Spirits can do weird stuff like that from time to time, supposedly. Never heard of that specifically, but I do know of a frog that sometimes does something similar.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Yep. They’re called…” Octavian screwed up his face, thinking. “I think they’re called stomach storage frogs? Something of that sort, at least. I’m afraid the story of how Araceli and I met is rather less interesting. You’re right that terragon aren’t normally born until they’re third gate, but Araceli’s egg was found by a group of poachers and mishandled. My mom, Granny Kater, caught and… dispatched them, but the egg had already cracked. Araceli was losing her built up stores of energy fast, and without a solidified mana-garden to account for the loss, she wouldn’t have made it.”

I gestured at Octavian.

“You said you were a warlock. Your legacy saved her?”

“Right,” he agreed. “My legacy lets me construct bonds between my unchosen mana gates, and pass mana and energy between bonds. I bonded to her, and passed all of the mana I could to her, until she was able to stabilize her mana-garden. Still, she was only first gate, as was I.”

Dusk peeped out a question, asking if that was why she was so calm on the boat, and Octavian shook his head.

“Nah, nothing of that sort. She’s just been more socialized from an early age than most terragon are. Plus, just ‘cuz they used to have a tendency to eat people doesn’t mean they’re inherently that way. They got hunted for a long time, it’s only natural they’d have a base distrust of humans.”

“Hah. I think I get that,” I said. “It’s like how if you raise a wolf around people, it’s going to be tame.”

“Tame, but still wild,” Octavian agreed. “Araceli may be well behaved, but she’s still draconic.”

He patted her head affectionately, and she rolled so she could nibble at his fingers.

“She’s a sweetheart,” I said, smiling. “I’ll admit, I’ve never seen her breed before. It’s very tempest-forward, though, like how forest terragon are life-forward.”

“Sky dragon mana,” Octavian explained as we wound our way around the deck of the boat, passing by a small black cat licking its paw. I tried to call it over, but it just flicked its tail.

“Sky?” I asked. “Wouldn’t a sky dragon be blue?”

“Some are. They come in two variants – blue and gold. Blue have a bit more lunar, and more command over storms and shadow, while gold have more solar and control over clear skies and light.”

“Interesting,” I commented, “I guess I can see it.”

Dusk waved her hand and pulled out a strip of beef jerky. I stared at her.

“Where did you get that?”

Araceli also focused on the stick of meat, sitting on her haunches and letting her tongue loll out.

Instead of answering me, Dusk tossed the strip into the air, and Araceli leapt up, snapping her jaws around it and swallowing it down.

Dusk let out a cheer and furious applause, and I shook my head, smiling.

“You’re going to spoil my dragon,” Octavian said, though he didn’t actually seem that upset. Dusk just let out a wind-woosh and told him that she deserved it.

“But seriously, where did you get it?” I asked her.

She chirped like a bird to say she’d gotten it from the boxes Liz left us, and I ran a hand through my hair.

“Okay, just… don’t take anything else, okay? That’s for us to eat. Just because I can make nutrient potions doesn’t mean I’m able to stretch food infinitely.”

“You’re an alchemist, then?” Octavian asked, sounding interested. Dusk proudly told him that her demiplane let her grow plants.

“Really?” he said, then glanced at me. “I’d love to trade some with you. I have some plants you may not, and vice versa. Wanna grab lunch and discuss?”

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Abruptly, I realized that a very pretty man was asking me to lunch. Even if it was to discuss work…

“Let me grab my partner, Kene, and I’d love to. They’re a better alchemist than I am,” I said.

“Works for me,” Octavian said. “It’ll be good to meet some new people. None of my family other than Araceli and Roh were able to earn a ticket.”

At its name, the will-o-wisp flickered its face into a small smile and waved one tiny arm of ghost-fire. I waved back to them and then left to head down below decks, to the cabin, where I explained things to a slightly green looking Kene. The story actually seemed to interest them some, and they took the pillow off their face, while Dusk leapt off my shoulder to go speak to the brownies in her realm.

“A baby terragon using potion magic? That’s interesting for sure. Let me take something to let me keep lunch down, and get ready, and sure, I’ll go.”

“You look fine,” I reassured them, and they just grunted. A quick change of clothes and a small vial of orange colored liquid later, and they looked much more like their normal self – gray tank top, skirt, and jeans, with a hoodie.

More importantly, their stomach settling potion – the sterner version of the pills – had them acting much more like their normal self as well.

“Now, with how jealous you were about Kamal, should I be worried about this Octavian?” Kene smirked at me, and elbowed my side slightly. “And you knew that vampire too. Are you just going around collecting monster people? Should I have been the one worried about Kamal? Oh, and you knew Ivy too… And Mallory, she’s a werewolf, isn’t she?”

“I wish I had a water spell,” I said wistfully, and Kene raised an eyebrow inquisitively. Seeing his look, I continued. “That way, I could drench you for those implications. Blademoss, Pinpoint Boneshard, or even Fungal Lock are too aggressive. They don’t work Also, I don’t think Octavian is a monster person. He’s more of a monster tamer.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you’re not a water mage, then,” Kene said, smirking again before kissing my cheek.

We found Octavian at a table in the dining hall, speaking to a tall, slender woman with white hair. When he saw us, he waved us over.

“This is Cetty,” he introduced.

“Cettilyn Carter,” she said, shaking each of our hands. “Delitone’s Blue Serpent Auction House. I’ll be running the weekly auctions. Pleasure to meet both of you.”

“Malachi,” I said, and Kene introduced themself as well.

“How do you know Octavian?” Kene asked, and Cettilyn’s eyes sparkled with mirth.

“The Blue Serpent Auction House has a standing deal with the dragon sanctuary,” she said. “I’ve had more than a few interactions with little Tavi.”

“Cetty!” Octavian said. “I hate that nickname. Granny gets to call me that, nobody else.”

Cettilyn just grinned and gave us a wave as she slid away, quickly linking arms with a shorter, dark haired woman.

It was only when she was gone that I realized that I hadn’t felt anything from her mana in the slightest – her veil was good.

The three of us got in line for food, leaving Aracelli and Roh to keep the table and watch over Octavian’s bags.

I wasn’t too concerned. Anyone foolish enough to challenge a baby terragon was very foolish indeed.

“We’re out of rice,” the mustachioed man working the kitchen said. “Someone broke in and stole our entire stock. Other than that, we have bread rolls and potatoes for your carb options. All our meat and veg is still stocked up, though.”

I got some potatoes as I wondered how exactly someone had managed to steal the entire stock of rice. That had to be a ton of rice – there were thousands of people on the ship, and we’d just gotten a resupply in Delitone.

I shrugged it off as I took some chicken and spinach, Octavian took bread and fish with a fennel-carrot mix, and Kene got chicken and squash.

After we’d eaten a little bit, Octavian finally broke the silence by pulling out his satchel. He put it onto the table and flipped it open to reveal that its interior was spatially expanded – to a rather extreme degree. There was a pair of small blocks filled with vials of dried herbs that he lifted out, as well as a row of potions, and a small board with four potted plants, their pots coated in sharp, angular runes. I peeked into the bag itself, and at the bottom of the bag, I could see a cauldron and some other basic alchemical equipment like knives and a mortar and pestle.

Kene let out a long whistle.

“Primes, that’s an impressive bag,” they said, and I nodded my agreement. Octavian let out an embarrassed laugh and shrugged.

“My mom made a really big deal out of my eighteenth birthday, and she enchanted the bag and cauldron for me. Still, as impressive as the spatial warp is, it’s no demiplane.”

I swept my senses over the four plants, trying to find out what I could about them. They were where my interest lay, more than the dried herbs.

The first plant had wide brimmed green leaves with golden veins, and the veins glowed softly. It felt strongly of life, death, solar mana, but in a way that I wasn’t entirely able to interpret. It was definitely soothing though – the spiritual parts of death, not the murdery necromantic bits. The arrays inside the plant were new to me – but not to Kene, who traced their fingers along the stem.

“Spiritbalm?” they asked. “I’ve never been able to keep it outside of the greenhouse, and even then, usually not at an expense that makes sense.”

“Exactly,” Octavian said. “It’s common in Delitone, though, with our warmer climate.”

“Some sort of spiritual healing plant?” I asked, and Kene nodded.

“It has a similar effect to some of the solar spells I cast on you after you ripped up your spirit,” they said.

The next plant was made of long, black tendrils that bloomed into small red flowers. Itfelt distinctly of desolation mana, with solar mana running beside it, and bits of tempest.

“Firecreep,” Octavian said, tapping its pot. “It’s no sun lotus, able to release burning waves of heat as an attack, but with some alcohol, rotten eggs, and charcoal, and you can make a pretty decent explosive potion. Mana–rich sulfur or a sun lotus can stand in for the rest.”

“Or saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur,” Kene mused. “It’s pretty good, I’ll give you that.”

The next plant felt like my healer’s heart, sunset marigolds, dewdrop feverfew, and more. It looked weird though, with bright orange stripes.

“Tigerbalm,” he said.

“Good for healing potions,” Kene explained. “Nothing vital, though. You already have the ability to produce those.”

I nodded and focused on the final plant. It felt strongly of tempest mana, and for a moment, I felt my hope spike. Meadow had talked about potions of leaping, slowfalling, flight, and levitation… Flight wasn’t able to be managed until third gate, but even a leaping potion would be great.

“This one I don’t recognize,” Kene said, and Octavian grinned.

“That’s cuz it’s a mana source, and can be brewed to make some overcharging and wind enhancement potions.”

I let out a sigh of disappointment, but pointed at the firecreep and spiritbalm.

“What do you want for those two?” I asked, then glanced at Kene. “Do you want anything?”

“I’m not giving up my plants,” Octavian said, and I shook my head, realizing he’d misunderstood.

“Just a cutting for my greenhouse,” I said, and Octavian relaxed.

“I’d love to use the spiritbalm,” Kene said. “But I don’t have the resources to grow it.”

“Use mine,” I said. “If I can get a cutting?”

“What do you have to trade?” Octavian asked, leaning forward.