Mallory gave me a tight nod, then looked at Riley.

“I’ll let you two catch up. I’ll be in the room.”

She slid out of the way, and I breathed a small sigh of relief. I hadn’t wanted a confrontation with Mallory, and though we’d ended things on… okay… terms, I couldn’t imagine that the loss had done well for her pride.

“I’m gonna lie down,” Kene announced, pecking my cheek before sliding into our cabin.

Once both of the doors were shut, Riley arched their eyebrow at me.

“Really? You’re shacking up with a hag?”

I normally might have blushed at the implications in that statement, but I was too annoyed by the last part.

“They aren’t a hag,” I said. “Not yet. Not ever, if I have anything to say about it.”

Riley held up their hands in a ‘don’t shoot the messenger’ gesture.

“Sorry, I was just going off the smell.”

“Moonlit graveyard?”

“Moonlit graveyard,” they agreed, then eyed me. “You aren’t a vampire, though, how did you know that?”

“Vampiric Senses spell,” I said.

“Oh. So what are you doing here?”

“My old mentor arranged for me to go as a last act of charity,” I said. “You?”

“My boss – the hag you met – told me to go, and to go with Mal. Oh no, this is going to be confusing. You’re Mal One now.”

“I don’t think Mal Two is going to like that,” I said.

“Well, then Two should have met me first,” they grinned. “But in all seriousness, I don’t know what I’m doing here. I was just ordered to go. Something about the Emsley clan of werewolves and the hag. But I’m basically Mallory’s servant for now.”

I winced at that, and they shrugged.

“She isn’t so bad.”

I just nodded, then we stood there in silence for a long moment. I finally gave Riley a very awkward handshake before heading into the cabin.

It wasn’t too bad. About as big as my own bedroom, but with a pair of bunk beds, instead of a single one. Kene had slung themselves onto the bottom bunk, so I glanced at the ladder.

Dusk popped her head out of my pocket and looked up at me, annoyingly chirping that she didn’t like to just sit around for so long.

“You have an entire five acre realm you could go to,” I pointed out.

She huffed and hopped out of my pocket, drifting over to the tiny desk provided. I sat at the foot of Kene’s bed and glanced at them.

“You doing okay?” I asked.

“I’ll be fine,” they said. “I just… Get motion sickness. Flying Isn't bad at all, but boats? Ugh…”

I rubbed their arm gently and stayed with them.

It took us three days to dock in Dragontooth, and my first impression was… Cold.

I thought that Mossford winters were cold, but in Dragontooth, the ships wards had to actually crash trough ice in order to make it to port, and the entire landscape was absolutely coated in snow, even though it was just into Frost-Creep.

Kene left the boat quickly, aided by a pair of pills from their storage ring, headed for the nearby public library. I watched the new people boarding.

They were all interesting, one girl even having two small spirits that looked vaguely like cutouts in reality.

But there was one person who blew them all away.

A dragon, with blue-white scales, tightly swept back horns, and snow white wings, swept down onto the decks with a loud thundering. They were easily the size of a horse, and when they landed, they held out one of the Idyll-Flume cards.

“D-do you have a companion?” a very nervous attendant asked.

“No,” the dragon growled.

People shuffled away, and I thought I understood why Ivy’s parents had rushed him to reach third gate as soon as possible. The dragon was just another person, but most people didn’t think that way.

I… got it. If I hadn’t seen Ivy’s draconic form, and met several dragons, then the overwhelming power the dragon was giving off would have thrown me off too.

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

It wasn’t just the mana that they were putting out – the dragon was strong, but my bar for draconic strength was skewed. This one had none of the absurd depths that Ivy’s power had, though they were definitely stronger than a normal second gate mage.

It was the strength of their body, the weight of every swish of their tail. Sure, they weren’t the size of some of the ones from myth, the size of an entire house, but… They were also only second gate.

In a fight between myself and the dragon, I would have put my money on the dragon.

It was harder to say when I tried to measure up the dragon against Kamal or Liz. But I didn’t want to say I’d bet against the dragon. I just wasn’t sure I’d bet for them either.

“I’m.. Not sure we have quarters suitable for you,” the attendant said.

“I shall lie on deck,” the white scaled dragon said, curling up like a cat and thumping down, though its eyes swept over the deck.

“O-oh, I see,” the attendant said, then scurried off.

I chained together a few Foxsteps to approach the dragon. There was a ring of clear space around it that most people seemed to be unconsciously enforcing, but I stepped over the invisible line.

“Hey, I’m Malachi,” I said. “Nice to meet you.”

The dragon looked at me, then let out a slow rumble of laughter.

“You may call me Aputathrax,” they said. “Why do you approach me, little human?”

“Little human?” I asked, crossing my chest. “Please, you don’t have to pull that act. I saw your display, it was very impressive, but you’re not all that much stronger than me. If nothing else, I know I could escape you.”

The dragon locked eyes with me, staring intently. I stared back, defiant. I’d had one dragon try to mess with me by pulling the human stereotypes about nature spirits and dragons.

“Call me Aput,” the dragon finally said, more rumbling laughter rolling out of their chest. “But in all seriousness, is there anything you need?”

“No, I just wanted to say hello,” I said, shrugging. “I could feel enough of your magic to get a sense you’re going to be a real contender.”

“You must have impressive senses,” the dragon named Aput said. “And a truly formidable veil. You feel like you’re on the middle-lower half of the people on the ship.”

“Hah, no veil,” I said. “I’m really that weak. But I only woke up my magic about… Eight months ago?”

“Not bad,” Aput said, nodding his head slightly. “But you don’t contest the senses.”

“I don’t,” I said. “Why do you not have someone with you?”

“Mother wants this to be my coming of age ceremony,” the dragon said with a sniff. “I’d have to find my own people to work for me.”

“Ah,” I said. “I was involved in one of those not long ago myself.”

“Really?”

I told Aput the story of the terragon egg, though I made sure to tell him the version that I told the Wyldwatch, and he nodded.

Kene arrived a while later, and I introduced the pair, then left to go get lunch.

Liz, Kene, Travis, and I all had training after lunch, and we worked on cooperative drills. Liz split them into two types – pairs, and full team. It made sense to me – Kene and I would be likely to split off to do our own thing, after all.

It took us four days to arrive in Delitone, and I made sure I was up on the top deck to watch as we approached.

Dragontooth was our northern neighbor, it was similiar to us. Colder, icier, and it had stereotypes of being meaner, but… Still similiar.

Delitone, though… They were a wild city-state. That was neat, new, interesting.

As we sailed in, at first I thought they were snowed in too, which didn’t make sense. It was way too warm outside. Oh, sure, it was still winter, but it felt like a slightly chilly spring day in Mossford.

As we drew closer, the blurry city resolved into the shapes of buildings, carved from marble that had thin streaks of blue running through it. The sunlight shimmered off the white and blue stone, giving the entire city a slightly ethereal appearance.

Now that I was closer, other color stood out too. Most of the buildings seemed to have domed, almost onion shaped, roofs, and each roof was painted in a vibrant color. Some shade of blue seemed to be popular, but I spotted reds, oranges, yellows, and greens scattered throughout the city as well.

Thirteen tall towers stood around the city, the only buildings with unadorned roofs, and even from here I could see glowing mana that ran along the towers, linking to one another in some sort of defensive formation or ward.

Made sense. They were a wild city, after all. Monster attacks would be more common.

The docks were also made of the white-blue marble, and I wondered how they were able to keep them afloat and matching with the tides. Some sort of telluric enchantment, maybe?

The crowd of people who had a token in Delitone was far smaller than the crowds in Dragontooth, only about twenty or so.

One man, though, stood out immediately.

He was handsome, with unnaturally vibrant blue eyes, brown hair that had been braided in the back, a smattering of freckles that stood out against his pale skin, and traveler’s garb, complete with a backpack and messenger satchel.

He had a will-o-wisp bobbing between his fingers, and my own peacepyre floated out of Dusk’s realm in response, bobbing happily.

His other hand, however, rested atop the head of a vibrant yellowish-gold terragon. She was only about the size of a large dog, which was smaller than she should have been.

I swept my mana senses out across the decks and over him. A few things tugged at my attention as I did.

First, the terragon was only second gate. Normally, a terragon didn’t hatch until they were already third gate, so something must have happened to her.

Second, the man had some sort of connection to the terragon, and to the will-o-wisp. It reminded me of my own connection to Dusk, in a way.

Third, the man’s satchel was stuffed to the brim with magical plants and alchemical concoctions, almost all of which had clearly been made with the same sky-like power of his terragon.

And finally, I felt a gust of fortune blow across my spirit.

The man looked up and locked eyes with me, then gave me a cheerful wave.

Dusk crawled out of my pocket, whistling that there was no point in hiding from him – he’d already sensed our bond. I nodded and headed over to the entrance, then waited for the man to board. He was given a room key, then smiled at me.

“Hello,” he said, extending a hand. “My name’s Octavian. This little rascal is Araceli, and my will-o-wisp is named Roh.”

“Malachi,” I said. “This is Dusk, and my peacepyre.”

Now that he was closer, I could see that his own will-o-wisp looked slightly more… Alive… than normal, with a face and small, nub-like arms.

“You’re not a warlock,” Octavian said. “I thought you were at first.”

“No, Dusk and I just have a special bond. Odd circumstances.”

“I’m sure,” Octavian said with a smile. “I’d love to hear the story.”

“I’d be happy to tell you, but I have a quick question: could I get to the dragon sanctuary and back before the boat leaves in a few hours? I have a delivery from Professor Azalea Greenscale.”

Octavian thought for a moment, then shook his head.

“No, sorry. You could get there in time, but it isn’t a petting zoo. It takes about a week for them to vet you, and a while to pass through the wards and stuff. I don’t think rushing there, saying you have a delivery, and asking them to vet you during the competition is wise.”

“No problem,” I said. “I’ll have to do it another time. Say, how about I trade you the story of how Dusk and I met for how Araceli’s already hatched?”