Upon crossing the threshold to the Elemental Plane of Spirits, the first thing Shane did was connect to his realms and use storm sorcery to float up into the magenta sky. A new purple crystal spire had been constructed in the distance, atop the red rock cliffs near Dragon's Landing, at the point where the river split into a delta. Alice fluttered up alongside him, floating in place atop the Pegasus Mercy.
"That's too far away," Alice said. "Mercy will get tired carrying Felix all the way to the spire. You will need to carry him."
Shane, however, saw an opportunity. He floated back to the ground and landed beside Felix. The hulking man looked somewhat disoriented.
"Where do we go?" Felix asked.
Shane pointed above the treetops. "That way."
"Are you going to make me walk?"
"Potentially. You should really learn how to fly using storm sorcery. After all, if you fall out of the sky again, I won't be there to catch you."
This comment seemed to disturb the man. Shane was expecting Felix to protest, but he appeared to consider the offer in silence. Then he nodded.
"Teach me."
"Are you coming?" Alice cried out from above.
"You go ahead!" Shane replied. Alice raised her spear and then fluttered off over the treetops, out of sight. "We should go down to the river."
The river delta was flat and empty, except for thousands of ghostly souls lying flat at various levels. The streets were almost empty, which indicated that it was most likely nighttime on the other side. Shane was not certain how long they had spent traveling to the Plane of Light, but they were both allowed to spend one night at a fancy hotel in the city of Twin Fates. He never got over the fact that the housekeepers were basically zombies with their mouths sewn shut.
They arrived at the river bank, where the water was shallow and turbulent.
"Immerse yourself in the river," Shane said.
Felix nodded and stepped up to the edge. He stripped down, tossing his clothes behind him. The left side of his body was completely covered with lustrous golden fractures. Shane had seen the same effect etched into his own body when he had showered in the hotel. Naked, the man waded out into the churning water and sank in.
"I hope it's not too cold," Shane said.
"It's fine."
Shane had expected the cold weather in the north to impact the river. He had read that water is very good at retaining heat, and he reasoned that the water had been flowing for a long time through the jungle before the desert froze over. Satisfied with this reasoning, he reached out and connected only to the Realm of Water. Using pure water magic, he grasped the water in the river, manipulated it into a tall column, then pulled that water up into a floating orb.
"Do you feel this?" Shane asked.
"Not yet."
Lowering the glove, Shane snatched Felix up out of the river and caused him to levitate, completely trapped by the intense surface tension of the water. The man began kicking, desperately trying to swim, locked in place. The orb lowered, then broke, freeing Felix to sink back into the river. He started coughing.
"A warning would have been nice."
"Did you feel anything that time?"
"Something."
"We'll keep trying."
They practiced establishing a connection, Shane estimated, for about an hour. The sound of beating wings announced the return of Alice. Hooves landed in the reedy grass with a muddy squish. The Pegasus snorted and trotted about uncomfortably.
"Felix!" Alice said, blushing. "Why are you naked?"
"I don't want my clothes to get wet."
"Daughter of the Elemental Queen of Spirits!" Alice cried. A magenta Elemental appeared at her side. Her face looked somewhat gloomy. "I Wish that Felix was wearing a bathing suit!"
And then he was, instantly, wearing a magenta bathing suit. The man began to inspect the garment.
What a foolish thing to Wish for, the Elemental grumbled. You cannot hide your thoughts from me mortal. You secretly enjoyed seeing his youthful body.
"Nobody asked you!" The woman snapped. "Shane, make haste to the spire. A decision has been made. Astrid is expecting you."
"We are almost done," Shane said. "I think."
Alice waited for them as they continued to practice, complaining occasionally. When Felix was finally able to connect to the Realm of Water, Shane connected to all three realms and levitated out over the river.
"Leave the river and dry off," Shane said. "You can learn to replicate the correct combination as we fly."
"Finally!" Alice said.
Halfway through the flight to the spire, Felix managed to copy the combination. His body began to crackle with sorcerous lightning. Shane released him, and he simply floated in place, feet dangling over the jungle. He started kicking around, flailing, before converging on some semblance of control.
"There are six ways of moving," Shane offered. "Three directions of velocity, three directions of rotation."
"I get it," Felix growled. He leaned forward and began to fly over the jungle canopy, unsteady, as if trying to balance.
But he was flying, and by the time they reached the red cliffs of the spire, he was flying quite well. However, he was not able to pull enough power through the realms to allow him to fly all the way over the escarpment. Shane pulled Felix into his own storm sorcery and carried the man up instead.
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Princess Elvira, the Purple Dragon, was waiting at the edge of the escarpment, looking down at them with bright purple eyes. Her face betrayed deep amusement.
"My sister is waiting for you on the other side, and she is irritated," Elvira said. Then she began softly humming.
A portal opened. In a flash of cyan light they returned to the Plane of Dreams. It was indeed nighttime, and bright plumes of purple flames flashed in the sky to the east, within the river basin. The animated armor were busy roaming around with cyan torches and bloody weapons, clearing away the dead bodies of Rilnese clansmen who had been slain.
Princess Astrid stood in the yard in front of the crystal spire, hands planted firmly on her hips. "You dallied!" she hissed.
Felix and Shane fell to one knee at the same time. "Almighty Dragon," Shane said, "I thought only of the safety of your valuable servant, Felix."
"A cleverly worded lie," Astrid replied. "Light Elemental! Show yourself!"
Shane's Light Elemental materialized at his side. The golden armored Elemental floated up to the Purple Dragon, swirling around her in a circle.
"Not so close," Elvira snapped. "You know that she cannot see you."
How can I show myself, I wonder? This critter is clearly blind.
"Elemental!" Astrid said. "Why did you allow Shane to lie to me?"
Technically everything he said was true. Shane feared that you would send him away immediately after returning to the spire. He thought only of the safety of his companion, your valuable servant.
"Felix is fated to survive!" Astrid protested.
Foolish critter, this is the path that your universe has taken to improve his chances, the Elemental retorted.
"How rude! I am not a critter!"
Critter! Critter! Critter!
The Purple Dragon endured this abuse in disgruntled silence. The Elemental continued to float around playfully, illuminating the night with her rainbow crystal light. Pools of blue blood remained in places where corpses had been removed.
"It is my fault," Astrid said. "I should have known better than to attempt to converse with the daughter of that monstrous creature."
You are a monstrous creature.
Astrid did not take the bait. "As I was saying, you took your time returning to me. Look around you. The constructs are agitated. The whelps living in a nearby village saw fit to launch a night raid on the spire. A foolish thing to do, of course. For all their brave efforts, they have only earned Brigid's ire."
More plumes of purple flame flashed in the night. Shane thought he could hear distant screaming.
"Almighty Dragon," Shane said, "we are here now. Say the word, and we will aid in the defense of the spire."
"That is not necessary, the battle had ended before you arrived. Yet I must delay my beauty sleep because of you."
"Dear sister," Elvira said, "certainly we can wait until after we have all rested? Let us retire for the night. Brigid will return when her vengeance is complete, and she can stand witness tomorrow morning."
"Sage advice," Astrid said. "Servants, use your sorcery to help clean up this mess. I want the spire to be spotless!"
Arm-in-arm, the two Purple Dragons sauntered off toward the purple crystal ramp leading into the spire.
"Elemental," Shane whispered. "Can you prevent me from lying?"
Yes, the Elemental replied. Your body is branded with a command. You cannot contradict yourself, and since you shall enjoy knowledge of the lies of others, so too shall you be forbidden from lying yourself.
"It doesn't matter," Felix said. "I don't really lie anyway."
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The following morning, Shane woke to the voice of Brigid.
"Princess Astrid wants to begin traveling to the north," she said. She dumped a pile of purple clothes on the foot of his bed. Then she handed him some vials of clear liquid. "Bathe yourself outside, and use these vials of soap and perfume. I put a new pair of shoes beside your bed."
Shane used storm sorcery to float above the ground as he bathed in the woods. Felix must have thought this was a good idea, because he started levitating as well. The purple clothes turned out to be some form of elaborate regalia, laced with gold, silver, cyan, and magenta filigree, stamped with devices that resembled Purple Dragons, and studded with purple crystals. The outfit was complete with matching shoes and a hood. The clothes were perfectly fitted as well, though Shane thought the collar was somewhat tight.
"It seems a bit like a military uniform," Felix whispered as they walked. Shane nodded, but said nothing.
Alice was not dressed in the same regalia when they returned to the spire. She was sitting on top of her Pegasus at the base of the ramp. The two Purple Dragons were waiting for them at the top of the ramp, and Brigid stood in between them, with a greatsword in both hands, the tip resting on the crystal below.
"It is remarkable how refreshing sleep can be!" Astrid said as they approached. "Alas, we must be on our way to the north with dear Felix. However, there is one small matter to take care of. Servants, it is time that you swear your oaths to House Anna-Rhea, the Royal Family of the Purple Dragon Tribe. You are invited to kneel."
They knelt. Elvira began singing. It was not the soft, haunting song that she had sung in the past. Instead, there was a certain glory to the song, as if it was meant to accompany a military anthem. Indeed, the animated armor summoned musical instruments and began to play what could easily be some national anthem.
"Before we begin," Astrid said, "I will now describe to you the purpose and ideals of House Anna-Rhea. The Elemental Plane of Dreams is inundated with outsiders. They have little skin-in-the-game here in our Elemental Plane. They see our world as a place to acquire spiritual energy to power their magic in the Physical World. The purpose of House Anna-Rhea is to advocate in favor of the Elemental Plane of Dreams, at the expense of all other worlds. Our long-term plan is to have an absolute monopoly on spiritual energy."
That makes a lot of sense, Shane thought.
"We will strive to eliminate the influence of outside institutions, persons, and Elementals. We especially seek to counteract the meddling of the Elemental Queen of Darkness." Astrid stood in silence for a moment after she finished speaking.
"You are invited to ask questions," Brigid said.
Felix said nothing. Shane asked: "How are Vaska and Ingrid related to House Anna-Rhea?"
"Vaska knows about our plans and she fully approves of our approach and our methods," Astrid said. "She is a reliable ally and she enjoys some capacity to distract and limit the Elemental Queen of Darkness."
"The Queen of Light mentioned that you are attempting to uplift our civilization into the golden age of flight," Shane said. "For what purpose?"
"The humans of the Physical World possess many advanced aircraft. The precepts set in place by Ashe prevent them from invading, but we cannot rely on Ashe to uphold these restrictions indefinitely. This century, or maybe the next, perhaps in a thousand or in ten thousand years, Ashe may betray this world and allow a human army to invade. As beautiful and noble as we are, no Dragon can compete with a fighter jet. So we skirt the precepts, we help various lands to invent flying machines."
"I have no more questions," Shane said.
Brigid approached Felix first. She placed the sword gently against his shoulder, on the side of his face that was laced with golden cracks. The purple crystals embedded into the greatsword matched the crystals embedded in the gold epaulets.
"Who stands witness?" Astrid asked.
"I, Princess Elvira of the Elemental Plane of Spirits, stand witness."
"I, Reese of the Elemental Plane of Water, stand witness," Brigid said.
Reese? Shane wondered.
"On behalf of my mother, the Queen of the Purple Dragons, I, Princess Astrid of House Anna-Rhea, will now hear your oaths. Do you, Felix, swear to serve House Anna-Rhea as a loyal retainer?"
"I do so swear," Felix said.
"Shane, do you swear to serve House Anna-Rhea as a loyal retainer?"
"I do so swear," Shane said.
"With two witnesses, it is done. You may rise. You are no longer my servants, but full retainers of House Anna-Rhea. As retainers, you will have certain duties, and you must follow certain rules. Brigid will furnish documents that explain these duties and rules. Now, Felix, let us be off."
"Wait," Shane said. "Forgive me, Princess, but I have a request."
"Retainer Shane, I will hear you request."
"If my sense of time is correct, then today or tomorrow there will be a Clansmeet where the Chiefs may name me Chief of Chiefs."
"Certainly you can convince them of your merits without my help," Astrid said.
"I was hoping that Felix would make an appearance at the Clansmeet."
"An appearance?" the Purple Dragon asked. Her full lips twisted into a knowing smile. "Shane, you brute! You wouldn't dare!"
"Almighty Dragon, you have surmised my purpose."
"I think I have," Astrid said. "Very well, we will linger in the south until after the Clansmeet. Felix, prepare to rehearse your performance with Shane, if you please."
"Performance?" Felix asked.
"Every crisis needs a hero," Shane said. "And every hero needs a villain."