“We meet again,” I mutter darkly at our new assailants, even as I prepare to shoot with my bow. Actually…. “River, grab their attention,” I order him quickly. Without a word, he does exactly that, roaring loudly as he runs towards the greatest concentration of feathered velociraptors surrounding us.

He succeeds in getting every eye fixed on him, and I quickly take advantage of that to Fade into the background. Temporarily hidden, I take a quick recce to get an idea of the situation. The velociraptors have mostly surrounded River by this point, both ground and tree-bound attackers shifting to get around him.

My Bound is doing well, the spear which is never far from his clawed paws being thrust at them skillfully. The velociraptors have clearly learned that it’s dangerous: after two were left bleeding heavily from well-aimed thrusts, the rest of the ground attackers are being much more careful.

In fact, I wonder with my eyes narrowed, the velociraptors may actually be using the ground attackers as a distraction to allow the tree-bound ones to slow him down with their mud. Where the mud is coming from, I don’t know: last time I was too focused on defending myself to ask the question, but now I can see that the velociraptors in the trees are just...producing it. After a short period of making motions like they’re about to vomit, the mud appears in their mouth. They then pull their heads back briefly before pecking forwards and spitting the stuff. Yuck.

I know from experience that it’ll take a bit of time for the mud to start to have an effect on my Bound, especially since his Strength is probably significantly more than mine was when I was last ambushed by these creatures. Actually, are these the same ones as I was attacked by? Possibly, though it’s a bit of a distance from the last site. They’ve had some new additions, if so.

Anyway, I feel like I’ve got a plan which should work: it’s simple enough, at least. Pulling back the string on my bow, I quickly release an arrow at one of the ranged velociraptors. It hits dead on and the raptor is dead before it lands heavily on the ground. I freeze as the dead velociraptor’s companions turn around and focus on staying hidden, staying invisible. The raptors scan the area but when they turn back to River, I figure they haven’t seen me. Excellent.

Pleased to have had my theory confirmed – that as long as they don’t see me move, they won’t see me at all – I continue picking the raptors off. Where possible, I use cover to hide me from their gaze, and I circle around the action so that the arrows come from different places each time.

The raptors are pretty focused on River who’s doing an excellent job of keeping their attention. His roaring and attention-grabbing movements are as good as anything I could have asked: clearly this kind of combat idea isn’t new to him. He’s not even killing many of the velociraptors near his feet, though I’m sure he could: his thrusts look far more dangerous than they actually are, and he’s moving slowly enough that his targets almost always avoid them. In fact, he’s doing such a good job that I’ve picked off all but three of the raptors in the trees before they realise that there’s a major problem.

I’m paying very close attention to them, so when I hear the same kind of signal to retreat that ended our last encounter, I’m able to warn River. Both of us explode into action. Two arrows are in the air before any of the velociraptors even start to retreat. One hits; one misses, its target shifting just before it lands.

As for River, he’s now proving that his previous actions were what I’d thought they were: attention-grabbing feints. In three thrusts, there are three velociraptors lying at his feet. One gets too close and he releases one paw from the spear to reach down and grab it. Bringing it up to his jaws, he uses his sharp teeth to rip its head half-off.

I’m not idle, either, aiming for the now-fleeing final two ranged attackers. Shooting, I watch in satisfaction as they fall to the ground. In the meantime, River has finished off the rest of the gang which had surrounded him. Even the three which had tried to flee have been cut down to the last.

I’m filled with grim satisfaction as I see the carnage surrounding us. Why they thought they could take us on, I don’t know. Maybe because of their numbers?

“Are you OK?” I ask River.

A few scrapes, but their teeth weren’t particularly effective against my scales, he answers promptly. I beckon him over nonetheless to quickly check him out with healing magic. Like he said, a few slices on his lower legs as the velociraptors couldn’t reach much further up. It doesn’t take much mana to sort the minor injuries out, and I’m personally not injured at all, so within a very short time I’m looking at the bodies surrounding us again.

“Well,” I say with a hint of humour, “with what you hunted for us earlier, and all this, we’re not likely to be going hungry any time soon.” River stiffens.

Do you wish me to reduce my hunting? he asks carefully. I sigh mentally. That’s right – we were talking all about this when we were interrupted by the velociraptors.

“If you want to hunt, hunt,” I tell him frankly. “If we don’t eat it, I’d imagine Kalanthia will. Given how many bodies I had to give her to get her through one day, I doubt we’ll ever manage to hunt enough for all of us and her. Look, let’s just deal with all the bodies here. Take out the hearts, if you can, and then I’ll figure out an easy way for us to carry them home.” Then, as a thought occurs, I add, “Have a few if you’re hungry.”

Very well, River agrees and he sets to digging out the hearts of the velociraptors closest to him with his sharp wooden knife. I scan the area, trying to think of the best way of doing this. It’s a pity that putting corpses in my Inventory wipes out all the remaining Energy in their bodies – that really is the most efficient way of transporting things.

Then again, my ancestors didn’t have my Inventory, did they? My eyes light up as an idea occurs, images seen at school of how prey used to be brought back by the hunters coming to mind. With only one person, it wouldn’t be particularly easy, but with two, it’s perfect.

Picking up one of the long branches I’d cut from the tree, I drop it near a whole load of bodies. Then, setting to doing the same as River, placing the hearts on one of the pieces of raw hide from my Inventory, I start tying the tails of the velociraptors to the long branch with my bark-fibre cord. I don’t cut the cord, just moving onto the next one – I want to reuse it later.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“So,” I say as my hands get busy with the processing of the bodies. “Going back to what we were talking about, what does your village have to do with your Bond with me?”

A mixture of nervousness, fear, and bemusement comes across the Bond between us.

I...when I consented to the Bond, I traded my service for your aid in saving my village.

Oh. Oh. Suddenly I feel like I might be getting a sense of the root of the problem.

“So you panicked before because you thought that if I released you from the Bond, I wouldn’t help your village?” I check with him. I know before he even responds that I’m right; the emotions he sends over the Bond tell me that.

Yes. I shake my head.

“I wouldn’t do that to you, man,” I tell him earnestly. “Don’t you remember? I’ve said before – more than once – that it doesn’t matter if you continue to serve me: I’ll do my best to save your village, regardless. You’ve already fulfilled the service I wanted: you helped me get Lathani back to her mother. That was the only reason I activated the Battle of Wills in the first place.” River looks me with a little bit of suspicion coming through the Bond.

You seemed to be asking for something more committed than that. I did not get the sense that you were proposing only a temporary Bond.

“No,” I sigh. Perhaps I should have used Tame instead of Dominate...but then I doubt I’d have succeeded since Tame doesn’t open a dialogue in the same way as the Battle of Wills does. Besides, “I felt differently at the time – I didn’t know you at that point.”

It makes a difference?

“Yes,” I say definitively. “I feel that you’ve gone above and beyond what I asked from you. You helped me get Lathani out with as little trouble as possible. You protected all of us on the way back. You helped me stay alive even when you probably would have been released when I died. You owned up to your actions to Kalanthia. Even since then, you have done your best to be helpful, not only to me but also to all those around us. Frankly, I feel bad keeping you...chained with a Dominate Bond.”

It’s only as I speak that I recognise my own emotions. I realise why his slips into ‘master’ have been disturbing me so much. Why his overly subservient manner has been making me uncomfortable. It’s because I’ve gone from looking at an enemy who I can use to looking at a friend who I’ve...enslaved. Or that’s how it feels, anyway. I continue, finishing up. “So as far as I’m concerned, you’ve done more than enough to earn your freedom. Just say the word.”

River is silent for a few moments, his hands still as he looks at me steadily. Although feeling on tenterhooks as to his response, I show some discipline of my own and refrain from touching the Bond to read his emotions. I still get a sense of them being tumultuous, but nothing more specific than that. No indication of which way he is leaning.

Do you wish me to go? The question is asked with impressive neutrality considering the direct link I have to his emotions.

“No,” I say honestly. “You’ve very quickly become an essential member of my team as well as a friend. I would miss you greatly if you chose to break our Bond and return to your village. However I want you to be with us because you want to be, not because you have to.” There is silence for a few long moments. Unable to bear the silent tension without moving, I return to my task of tying velociraptor tails to the branch. When I see movement out of the corner of my eyes, I realise that River has done the same.

I do not wish to go, he says finally. I let out a quiet breath I hadn’t realised I was holding.

“Do you wish to have a Tame Bond like Sirocco, then? It is more one of equals than what we currently have,” I offer, looking up again. He seems to consider it a moment before flicking his tail and flashing his spikes red in the way I’ve learnt means ‘no’.

I do not feel that we are equal. Not yet. I frown.

“Because I haven’t yet done what I can for your village? Like I say, I’ll do that regardless of whether you’re with me or not; I certainly will do my best even if we have Tame Bond.”

No. Because I still owe you a debt. A little mirthless humour comes across the Bond. If anything, my debt is deepened.

“How so?” I ask, confused.

Helping Lathani return to her mother was not some self-sacrificing act, he says, acting like he feels this is some sort of confession. I believed you when you said the Great Predator was alive, and I was clearly right to do so. Keeping the cub, letting the shaman and my...the herbalist continue with their plan would have sounded the death knell of our village as surely as if they did nothing and allowed the Forest of Death to engulf us. If anything, I feel like what you consider to be my side of the bargain was in fact to my own benefit anyway. And then, even if you say that that debt is fulfilled, I owe you my life.

“Well, if we come down to it, I owe you mine several times over,” I retort. His ‘no’ this time is sharp, almost aggressive.

It is not the same. I saved you because, apart from the Bond driving me to protect you, I believe you offer the best possibility for my people to combat the threat of the Forest of Death – you brought us unharmed through it, for the ancestors’ sake!

“...Is that the only reason you saved me?” I ask, hating the way that my voice breaks a little. Clearing my throat, I try to pretend that I just had a tickle in it. There’s silence for a moment before River sighs, the air hissing through his teeth.

At first, yes. Now...not entirely. You…you protected me beyond what I expected from our arrangement. It seems only right that I do the same. I’m not honestly sure whether that’s any better, but try to keep my hurt from travelling across the Bond. Not that I deserve to feel hurt – who expects a slave to care for his master’s life? And that's who we are, isn’t it? But River hasn’t finished speaking.

I saved your life out of selfish benefit; you saved mine even though it put you in debt to the Great Predator. You even argued to save my village from the Great Predator’s rightful wrath despite the fact that they...that we treated you like inferior prey. Had the Path-walkers been even a little less interested in your creations, you would most likely have ended up as the next communal carcass. He shakes his head. Even the best of friends do not do such things for each other. Let alone a master for a mere assistant.

I owe you. Until that debt is paid, you are my master, whether you wish me to call you such or not.