<"You can talk to us in your mind?">, Cale admitted in amazement, straightening up. He stepped out of the tub and grabbed a large towel before stepping over to the mirror at the sink.

<"To be precise, I can connect the senses and thoughts of living beings">, the dragoness Chioni explained. Cale incidentally opened the window a crack and rubbed his hand against the mirror, so he could see his own stunned face.

"That works?", he announced aloud.

<"Quite obviously, yes. They are the gods' gift to us">, Chioni explained in her calm voice as Cale stared into the slightly fogged mirror.

<"You'll have to explain that in more detail, please. The gift from the gods?">

<"Why does that surprise you so much? You Apostles possess a gift from the gods as well, don't you?">

"We possess...?", replied Cale aloud, but fell abruptly silent. Partly because he struggled to answer just in thought, and partly because he guessed what the dragon was talking about.

<"Do you mean the Igrikum? The mana of the world?">, he asked cautiously.

<"The mana of the world, as you refer to it, comes from the gods themselves. We call it the ability. Each of my siblings received it at birth as a gift from the gods.">

Cale watched his wet hair drip onto the sink and looked around to the back. On the shelf, he had put down his dagger, which he was walking towards.

<"So basically you're telling me that every dragon, without exception, possesses Igrikum?">, he replied, confused.

<"You could equate that to that, yes. The ability of dragons and the Igrikum of you Apostles are very similar.">

Wordlessly, Cale reached for the dagger and looked at his old friend he so rarely used while letting the dragon's statement sink in. Chioni was just letting him know how powerful the dragons were compared to normal humans, when each of them possessed some form of Igrikum.

<"And your own mana?">

<"We do not possess our own mana. We dragons are creatures born through the three gods themselves. We are not like you Apostles who already lived and were later be deemed as worthy.">, the white dragoness calmly gave voice. Cale could feel his worldview changing once again. Strictly speaking, the Apostles were thus not something like half-gods, but rather half-dragons. Apostles were people who received the ability of a dragon? Only their bodies handled this gift differently?

<"Hello there!">, another delighted voice suddenly spoke up.

"Fengari?", Cale announced in surprise, stopping in the middle of the room, dagger in hand.

<"That's me. The great Fengari!">, the second dragon in his head proudly gave word.

<"I called her in. Fengari originally wanted to talk to you">, Chioni explained. Whatever the dragoness did exactly, Cale was visibly impressed by it. To have such an ability was nothing short of a miracle. The dragons didn't need communication crystals to talk to each other. They only required Chioni's abilities. This also explained why humans did not know that dragons possessed the universal tongue. They simply spoke to each other in their minds without the outsiders knowing.

<"What can I do for you?">

<"It's about the Thormods">, Fengari quickly gave himself, giving Cale a shudder. He had broken up with them only a few hours ago, what had happened in the meantime?

<"What happened?">

<"Nothing of that kind. Why do you assume I failed?">, interjected Fengari seemingly offended by the statement. <"We were finally able to kill the Thormod after a lengthy chase. Only your land may have been affected a little.">

Presumably, Fengari was talking about how the group of dragons had burned the fertile land of Altona with their fire because the Thormods had teleported outside the creature plain.

<"That's all right. I'm glad to hear you were able to sort out the problem. With that, the mark should be gone from you, right Chioni?"

<"Correct. As you had foreseen">, the dragon confirmed, so Cale nodded in satisfaction and unsheathed the dagger from its disguise.

"Was that the only..."

<"Was that the only reason you wanted to talk to me?">, Cale repeated in his mind. He reached with his free hand for the comb, which lay in front of him, and began to carefully comb his long, black hair. It had grown uncomfortably long by now, so that it completely covered his shoulders.

<"No">, Fengari admitted to Cale's surprise, while the High-Magician tamed his mane and then put the comb aside. <"I want to help you.">

<"Help me?">, Cale repeated in confusion, grabbing his hair and holding the dagger in his other hand as he looked at himself in the mirror.

<"Yes. If you wish to kill the entire colony of Thormods, I will gladly stand by you. If you are looking for a way out of the time loop, then I will try to assist you to the best of my ability. In general, if you need anything from me, let me know.">

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<"Why? Why do you want to help me? It doesn't add any value to you, does it?">

<"Oh yes, it does. I like you humans, you seem like interesting creatures to me and besides...">, Fengari replied delightedly as Cale slid the sharp blade through his hair. All at once, he held a loose bundle of hair and eyed it skeptically before making it disappear with fire.

<"Are you bored?">, Cale completed the statement.

<"Yeah, pretty much. Nothing exciting ever happens around us, all the adventure seems to be happening to you right now. Not to mention that the gods didn't exist currently, so we're free to act">, Fengari explained.

<"Don't exaggerate, Fengari">, Chioni admonished her a moment later. Astonished at the dragon's honest statement, he looked at his reflection for a few moments before grabbing the next strand and trimming it to shoulder-length.

<"I don't know about that. If you want to attach yourself to me, you will inevitably come into contact with other humans and mages. You can't very well hide the fact that you're a dragon, Fengari.">

<"Palaios could change my size, then it should be okay, right?">, the bluish dragon replied hopefully, causing Cale to sigh in annoyance and unintentionally cut his hair a bit too short. Sullenly, he stared at the result and lowered the blade.

He had never dreamed that Cale would receive such an open offer with the support of a dragon. But did he really want it? He had reason enough now to keep his secret understood, but an entire dragon?

<"Is that his ability? How small can he make you?">

<"As small as a human's hand">, Chioni interjected in her lovely voice. She didn't seem to question Fengari's intention, on the contrary. It almost seemed as if she approved of it.

<"Hm, I don't know about that. The Thormods are a formidable problem, yes, but I don't want to kill them right away. I want to find out if they know about the disappearance of the gods or can provide other useful information. I generally don't have a concern with you trying to help me, I just don't know how, Fengari. Furthermore, I'm afraid it won't be as exciting as you hope.">

<"It doesn't matter. If I get bored, I'll leave anyway.">

For a brief moment, Cale laughed out loud before surrendering and loosening his wet hair with his hand. Some loose hair fell to the ground or stuck to his hand, causing Cale to roll his eyes in annoyance.

<"Can you completely suppress your mana?">, Cale finally asked, freeing his hand from the hair before reaching for the towel and beginning to dry the hair completely.

<"Of course. No one will know who or what I am.">

Still bent forward, he rolled his hair into the towel and turned around to face the back, until it occurred to him that he had completely forgotten to bring himself fresh clothes. He was so used to being alone that he had forgotten the obvious. Quickly, he grabbed another towel and made his dagger disappear with the help of his zero magic before opening the door and sprinting into the room next door.

<"Alright, fine by me. However, you must promise to hide your existence as a dragon. As I said before, the humans pretty much hate dragons and convincing them otherwise is simply impossible.">

Cale could feel William stepping out of the guest room into the hallway, while Cale quickly put on a fresh pair of pants and stopped in front of the socks. He had to remember that Fengari was still recognizable as a dragon, despite her small form. Should he put clothes on her so that she wouldn't be immediately recognized?

<"That's doable. I'm looking forward to it, I'm already on my way!">

<"Already?">, Cale replied, holding the sock in his hand, deep in thought.

"Cale?"

William knocked on the closed door of the dressing room, causing the mage to turn backwards. The whole conversation with the dragons had made him completely forget how annoyed he actually was with the world and how he had acted towards his friend today.

<"Why not?">, Fengari gave voice in his head.

Somewhat taken off guard by the statement, Cale let his eyes fall on a sweater on the shelf to his right, which was too small for him. It should be feasible to cut a makeshift disguise with it until he had a better solution.

<"Fine... I'm coming up to the roof. Wait for me, please, and make sure you're not seen coming.">

"Come in", Cale announced surprisingly loudly as he took a seat in the chair, shirtless, and pulled on his socks. Carefully, William opened the door and stared silently at Cale for a moment before entering the room, closing the door again behind him and stopping quietly in front of him.

<"Of course!">, Fengari exclaimed delightedly, causing Cale to sigh softly, put on the second sock, and look at William.

"Sorry about earlier", the two of them gave simultaneous words, causing both William and Cale to look up in surprise. William gestured for him to speak first.

"Sorry, I was rather rude earlier. I didn't mean for our reunion to go so... lousy. A few things have happened in the last few days that have been quite troubling to me, it's just... William there are things that I can't and won't tell you. So I can't help but ask you not to inquire further", Cale explained calmly and stood up. He was wearing the black Magistrat trousers and light socks, next to him was a dark shirt and jacket that he liked to wear.

"I... I wasn't really fair to you, either. I'm really sorry. I know you're doing everything you can to keep the city safe and the people safe. I was just a little... pissed. Pissed at you and pissed at myself. I took it for granted that you would talk to me and I would always know what was going on. However, when you were gone and not responding to my attempts to contact you, I was pretty hurt. To me, you were and always are a good friend, which is why I sometimes forget that you are a High-Magician of Altona and put the country first."

William's gaze slid to the floor and he rubbed his arm nervously, causing Cale to breathe a sigh of relief.

"In your presence, I can't contain my curiosity. There are so many things I don't know that somehow I always fall back on you without thinking about how you're doing. I've been learning quite a bit from Aaron lately, about his life and the origins of the Magistrat, that so many questions have come up that I couldn't explain and neither could Aaron", William added.

"Guess you get along well with him", Cale returned quietly, thinking about the fact that the High-Magician had spent the night in his study. The fact that he hadn't woken up at all like that, even though Cale was standing right next to him, had puzzled Cale. But it was beginning to make some sense. Maybe Aaron could sleep so carefree because he felt safe?

"Aaron is... not a bad person. I thought you trusted him at first, which is why your statement had confused me quite a bit. I...didn't know you knew about his past. Aaron clearly didn't either. I don't know what you were fighting about, but he didn't mean it."

"He wanted to use you three as bait to draw out the Kormandent's", Cale interjected, causing William to look up in surprise. The prince wanted to say something in reply, but made no real sounds. Cale closed his eyes and sighed as he turned and pulled the towel off his head. "Do you understand why I don't tell you everything? Aaron is a person who thinks pretty rationally. For him, there is only black or white, nothing in between. I trust him as a mage, but not as a human. He's more dangerous than you think, Will. That's why I don't want you to be alone with him. I'm afraid he'll hurt you or the others if I'm not there."

Cale reached for the fresh shirt and pulled it on before turning to William, who had a pitiful look on his face.

"Aaron said to me that his hatred was only for the Fiet's family and no one else", William brought out meekly. Cale, meanwhile, slipped on his shoes before holding his jacket and damp towel in his other hand.

"And what do you think he would do if he came across a member of the Fiet's family?"