Amber nearly activated her Soul Shift as she stepped inside the grocery store. The presence of such a powerful soul, chilled her to the bone. Not to mention the smaller souls that were just as strong as her roaming about.

Steeling her resolve, she walked in and waved at the first baby dragon. The small red creature sniffed at her before laying down as if she didn't matter. Snubbed, she proceeded further into the building.

"Has food willingly entered my domain?" a soft feminine voice asked.

Amber froze.

Laughter filled her mind a moment later. "I only jest, Amber, or should I call you Queen of the Night."

"Call me Amber."

Humming the dragon shifted at the back of the store, raising her head to peer down the aisle at her. "I much prefer your tougher side, Amber. How will I know James is taken care of if you don't embrace the dark side of society?"

Closing her eyes, Amber took a moment to think. "I will embrace the dark when needed. But James has shown me a better side of life."

"And yet, he is with another woman. Do you wish he had found you first?"

Amber reluctantly nodded. There was no point in hiding the truth. "I do. It's not fair."

"Life is not fair, young one. You may not be able to mate with him, but you have his ear and trust. After all, he sent you to me and not Luna. Why is that, I wonder?"

Eyes narrowing, Amber walked down the aisle. "I don't know. I didn't stop to ask."

The massive white dragon lowered her head to the floor as Amber approached. "I like you, Amber. You are terrified of being in here, yet you came anyway. You trusted James so much that you put your life on the line to please him."

"I would do anything for him," she stated.

"Why? Because the Matron told you that you were destined to be with him?"

Shaking her head, Amber stopped in front of the dragon. "No. Because he doesn't see me as the filth of the world. He didn't care that I controlled the slums with fear and a strong hand. He knew I was the queen and didn't judge me. Now, I can use all of my power to help him in the cities."

"He likes your tail," the dragon teased.

Grabbing her tail, she pulled it around front. "Really?"

Another chuckle filled the air. "He cares for you greatly, Amber. When everyone else drank and left him at night, you were there for him. He needs someone that will listen, especially for what is to come. You have already proved to him that you are that person."

"Is it that simple?" Amber whispered.

"It is. Luna may be his wife and first love, but you will be cherished in other ways. Ways that he will not share with others."

Smiling, Amber let her tail go. "What is he?"

"That, I cannot tell you. But I foresee great pain in his future. Pain that will destroy his soul and rebuild him. That is when he will need you."

Shivering, Amber didn't know what to say. But she felt in her very soul that the dragon wasn't lying.

"Is there anything I can do to help him avoid this pain?"

The dragon shook her head. "You cannot. If I were to tell you what was going to happen, then something much worse would come. All I can do is prepare you."

"Prepare me how?" Sinking to her knees, Amber rested her hands on her legs.

"First and most importantly…"

***

James finished parsing through the vegetables and gathered what he wanted. It wasn't common to find vegetables growing in the wasteland. In fact, he had never seen it happen before, but now he had some to plant, and some to eat. If his body would let him eat.

His puppet stayed by his side, tugging on his sleeve every few seconds to point to the nearby buildings. James would nod along, understanding that there were more souls to harvest. That also meant more vegetables to gather.

Finally ready, James turned to his puppet. "Let's try to kill them before they all gather together this time. I pulsed my soul last time and they attacked. Maybe this time, we go from house to house?"

Nodding, the puppet walked away, not bothering to wait for further instruction. Sighing, James took the other side of the street. He could sense the souls through the walls of the homes but didn't dare spread his soul out to encompass them.

Pushing open the front door of a red Victorian three story abode, he sniffed the air a few times and nearly fell down. The pollen from before was thick in the air, creating a haze that stopped his breathing.

Backing out, he recovered over the next handful of seconds before bracing himself. He was going to have to get used to the pollen if he wanted to secure the area.

Stepping back inside, he took small, measured breaths. Each one was laced with pain as he felt his lungs inflame and roar with a fiery sensation. He might as well have been breathing in liquid fire as he scanned the living room.

Pots of plants lined the wall with bright purple and green flowers. Their open petals turned toward him, shimmering with their souls as they tried to kill him with pollen. Frowning, he summoned his sword as he pulled in his soul as much as he could.

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Stepping up to the first of a dozen pots, he cut down the flower and felt an infusion of Soul Energy. The rest of the flowers shrank away, but before they could call out for help, he Siphoned them, killing their chances.

Pausing for several seconds after the attack, he made sure his soul was pulled in. The air vibrated around him, but the plants didn't seem to care about that. What did matter was that he attacked one of them.

Even though he had killed a dozen plants, there were still at least four dozen more to go. Moving to the next room, he found the kitchen was covered in vines that crept towards his entrance. Their long leafy limbs curled and contracted as if trying to taste the air and grab him.

He may not have been able to use his Soul Senses to find the souls, but his vision worked just fine. The base of twenty pots were filled with life that he quickly latched onto with Soul Siphon.

The vines writhed in agony before falling still. Only a handful of seconds passed before his level eight strength decimated their souls.

Taking a small breath, he noticed the pollen was thinning. It still burned like nothing he had ever felt before, but he was adjusting. In fact, his resistance had already leveled one more time since coming into the house.

Feeling that there were still plenty of souls in the house, he moved to the next room and then the next. Each room he found more plants until he reached the second floor. Where bedrooms should have been, he found one large open space with a pulsing growth stuck to the wall.

What the hell is that thing?

He could sense a powerful soul inside the growth and had reason to believe that it was in charge of pulling all of the plants together. Small tendrils of soul energy flowed through the upper floor, connecting the growth to the rest of the plants.

He wouldn't be able to Soul Siphon it instantly and it would likely react if he did. Instead, he would need to stab it, siphon it, and Soul Strike it at the same time. Hopefully his puppet determined the same.

Inching forward, he noticed the growth didn't respond until he was nearly on top of it. When his powerful soul brushed the growth's the monster surged to life. Before it could call on aid, he stabbed it, breaking its soul as he used Siphon and Soul Strike to kill it.

The tendrils leading to the rest of the house were snuffed out and James could feel that the plants' souls were gone as well.

All I need to do is destroy this growth and I can clear the house. It felt like I gained the souls of the other plants as well. This may be easier than I expected.

Dismissing his sword for the time being, he took another shallow breath and left the house. Stepping into fresh air, he felt his eyes water and become blurry as the pollen stopped irritating them.

Holy shit that burns! I should have made Amber do this! Her sensitive nose would have been worth sacrificing compared to mine.

Thinking of the cat made him laugh. She was likely trembling in front of the dragon at the moment, debating if she was going to be eaten. He was definitely looking forward to making fun of her after he got back.

Turning to the next house, he sighed. He had hours before he needed to turn back and there were hundreds of houses that he could use to grow stronger. If each plant gave him fractions of growth, they would all add up if he kept going.

Wiping his eyes, he started toward the next house. Across the street, his Soul Puppet did the same. Its energy had refilled, having claimed part of the souls that should have been sent to James. The thing was greedy.

***

"That's a lot," Amber said as the dragon finished.

"Yes, it is, Amber. The rest is up to you. We cannot be seen together like this again. We have already spent hours talking and the others will grow suspicious."

"Can't I say I was playing with the kids?" Amber questioned with a worried smile.

Chuckling, the dragon nodded. "You may. Everest will show you to the entrance."

"Everest?" Before she could get an answer, a icy blue dragon hopped up to her side. She was smaller than the others, but had a goofy grin as she stared up at her.

"I help!"

Frowning, Amber regarded the little dragon. "Yes, you can help."

"I help! I help!"

The mother dragon giggled before nudging her daughter with her claw. "Go play, Everest. James is nearly here."

"He's coming here?" Amber asked.

"Yes. He sensed that you were still with me. I assured him that you were safe, but he is still worried."

Sighing, Amber felt conflicted knowing that she was going to be seeing him so soon after her talk with the dragon. She had been told what she needed to strive for to help James the most. She didn't know what was going to happen in the future, but she was scared. Scared that James would break and she would lose him. If she couldn't grow their bond, that was exactly what would happen.

"Let's go, Everest."

"Yay! Play! Fish?"

Laughing, Amber rubbed the dragon's head. "I don't have any fish for you. I do have some boar though."

Every dragon in the building snapped their attention to her. Even the mother eyed her with interest.

"Are you that hungry?" Amber asked.

"Yes," the mother said. "It has been many long nights since I have been able to feed my babies."

Pursing her lips, Amber felt rage flow through her. Gazing upon Everest, she realized why the dragon was so small. Her soul was still strong, but not nearly where it should be.

Pulling boars out of her ring, she set down two dozen corpses that she had gathered throughout the forest. "I hope this helps."

Screeches of joy filled the air as all of the dragons rushed the food. Even Everest pushed past her to partake in the fresh meat. The mother took one entire boar for herself, eating it in a few bites.

"Thank you, Amber. I know James sent you to see if we were in need, but I didn't know if you had enough."

"I have more than enough, Mother." Amber bowed her head. "The others in my party have food as well. We'll make sure you don't starve until we can leave together."

"Thank you, Amber. I know the stories of my kind are not flattering, but we simply want to live in peace. We were taken from our homes and brought here. Now, we seek to live free."

"I'll remember that, Mother." Bowing again, Amber turned to the entrance and found James standing with a smile. He was gazing upon the children with warmth in his soul.

"Didn't get much fighting done, did you?" James questioned.

Smirking, Amber gestured to the children. "And miss out on this? It makes me envision what our children will look like."

Rolling his eyes, he walked over to her. "As long as they don't take after your looks." Shivering, he added, "they'd have a face only a mother could love."

Gawking, she started punching his arm as many times as she could. "Fuck you, James!"

The dragons all laughed before continuing with their dinner. James was forced to catch her hands after several strikes.

"You really should have gone out to get stronger. I shouldn't be finding you here," he chided.

"I just needed a break," she said softly. "Days of fighting to the death without a hobby is tiring."

Nodding in understanding, he said, "that's why I started crafting."

Smiling, she walked over to Everest. "I have to go."

"Go?" the little girl asked.

"Yes, Everest. My knight in shining armor has come to take me away."

Giggling, Everest turned to James. "My knight too."

Small tears welled up in Amber's eyes as she nodded. "Yeah, he can be your knight too."

"Everything okay?" James asked.

Wiping her eyes, she hurried back to his side. "Just saying goodbye to my new friends."

"If you have more food in a few days, we'd be thankful," the other dragon said as they started to walk.

James turned to her. "I'll make sure you are fed. Even if that means I hunt down every Forsaken in this city."

Amber's heart warmed even more after his declaration. But tomorrow, she really would have to grow stronger. She needed to reach level seven faster than even Luna. She needed to be ready.

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