I was grumbling in faux annoyance as we arrived at the tree. At some point Ashley transferred herself to Asha's shoulders. Though she seemed displeased with the current situation, I could sense a hint of amusement though our bond. I snapped my fingers, "Oh yeah, Ashley, what happened to your little friend?"

She cocked her head, confused at the change of topic. Asha had finished the less exaggerated fight against the Hydra and Ashley was asking about Unicorns. I had stopped paying attention as something had been niggling at me. I finally remembered Ashley's pet moth larva she had found some time ago. Finally, it clicked what I was talking about and she grinned, "Goldy? She's right here!" She took off her backpack and pulled out a golden cocoon.

I raised my brows, "Oh? How long has Goldy been the her chrysalis?"

She shrugged, "I dunno, a few weeks? I found her like this when I went to feed her some leaves."

Eli narrowed her eyes, "How do you know its a female?"

With all the nonchalance in the world the child replied, "She told me." Normally, we would chalk this up to a child's imagination, but in a world of magic...

Before I could ask about it, April spotted us emerging into the area. "Lord Sanguine, you're back! Ashley, sweetie!" I waved to her and Ashley jumped down from Asha's shoulders and sprinted to her mother.

"Momma, they said you beat up a bunch of monsters!" She was nearly jumping up and down.

April laughed and picked up her child, "Yep, your Mom's a regular ol' monster slayer now."

Eliara, it seems, wasn't going to let the previous topic be forgotten, "April, has Ashley told you her pet was speaking with her?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, she's always talking to her little friend, more so now that its in it's cocoon. I think she's a little lonely."

Ashley rolled her eyes, "Mooom, I'm not lonely, I talk to Goldy whenever she isn't sleeping."

April was about to give the typical reply to a child's ramblings when Eli suddenly got really close to Ashley's face, staring deep into her eyes. Ashley giggled and said, "You can't beat me in a staring contest, I'm really, really good."

Just then Eliara appeared to find what she was looking for and her jaw dropped. I tapped her shoulder, a bit worried, "Wanna share with the rest of class?"

She shook her head in disbelief, her reaction starting to worry April. She cleared her throat and tried again, "It, um... It looks like Ashley here is a natural beast tamer. A powerful one. She's bonded to Goldy, she has a tamer's seal. There, in her eye."

We all looked deep in to the now blushing girl's eyes and indeed, there in her pupils were some type of golden spell form. I blinked in shock. I knew the kiddo was talented, but how did she learn this? Actually, "How did you learn to tame, Ashley?" I voiced my question aloud.

She looked confused at both the question and the attention she was receiving, "What do you mean?"

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Eliara came to her rescue, "She didn't learn it from anywhere, its her natural talent. Though the reason she so easily bonded with the Dragon Emperor Moth was due to it being such a rare magical creature. It's probably more apt to say that it bonded to her rather than her to it."

April frowned, "Is it dangerous?"

Eli shook her head, "There are different types of contracts from what I've heard. Technically speaking, the bond between Asha and Victor is one such type. In rare types of bonds, the aspects of one can effect the other. In this case, Ashley's intelligence imprinted on her bond granting sapience while the moth likely granted her some of its longevity."

Ashley raised a hand, "What does long-evity mean?"

I chuckled, "It means you'll live a long time kiddo. Probably as long as your mom." A tension that even April didn't know she was holding seemed to leave her body. While she didn't really think of it, it was likely a concern that she would outlive her own mortal child now that she had the immortality of a Vampire.

"Oh," was all she said, though it was clear that she didn't fully understand. I booped her nose and told her to let us know when Goldy becomes a moth. She giggled and dropped down to tell her friends that she was a tamer.

I smiled after her, wondering what was in store for the child. I glanced to Eliara and Asha, "Either of you two know how she can train this new ability of hers?"

Eli shook her head, "One of Mother's officials was a tamer, that's how I could recognize it. Unfortunately, I don't really know how to grow her power. I do know that she just has to treat her bond with respect and love, which is a task I do not think she will have a problem with."

I nodded in agreement and looked to my own bond, who shrugged, "I'm your bond, not the other way around. Besides, our bond is pretty different, however unique our actual relationship may be. Most people treat their demonic servants like slaves, not usually the same as tamers."

"Gotcha," I scratched my chin in thought before shrugging, "We'll improvise I guess. She's a smart kid, so if the moth got a fraction of that, then it should be fine." We then turned out attention to more pressing matters, deciding nothing more could be done.

I clapped my hands, "Alrighty, hundreds of people in the woods, what's needed. We got water, that's the most important. Plenty of meat. So, I guess shelter is really the main thing?" I looked around and tried my best to visualize a budding settlement. Come on city building games, don't fail me now.

Back in Nashville, we used magic to build up walls or shore up damaged buildings but not create entire new structures. I'm pretty sure we have plenty of former construction workers, not to mention all the Dwarves. I scratched my head before shrugging, oh well, nothing to do but dive head first.

It took a good few minutes but we got our earth and plant mages together along with the people with building experience. All in all, there were a mix of about forty Humans and Dwarves. I climbed onto a giant root and clapped my hands. With my current strength, a resounding clap rang out and the people in the front had to hold on to any hats they were wearing.

"Alrighty, y'all! We've got a big project here. We need to build up some homes for everyone and quick. A rough count of everyone is about two hundred and fifty, better to round up to three hundred just to be safe. For safety, our primary residences will be in the middle of the trunk, so we have about two hundred feet of verticality to work with in that regard. We'll want to start our main structures around eighty feet up. The Floor will be home to our main entrance and farming areas. At the very top of our territory will be our military district as the most powerful creatures are nesting in the canopy." I let that sink in and a mixture of fearful and calculating glances roamed around the tree.

While they were wary of the dangers both above and below, they seemed burning with furvor, finally able to do something rather than huddling in a group while the powerhouses protected them. While I was talking, Asha and Eliara joined me. I smiled at them and followed up with, "You won't be alone in this. You will be guarded so don't worry about any threats. Plus we have plenty of people itching to do something, so don't hesitate to ask someone for help. Don't be afraid to offer up any advice, I may be pretty good at killing monsters, but I know next to squat about buildings."

People chuckled and began discussing and planning, I smiled warmly seeing a true spark return to my people after the Nashville disaster. hopefully, this truly will be our new home.