"The meal's that good?"

"Teeah roast'd fesunt…" Tess tried to get out, choking down the last of her dinner plate before washing it down with ale. "It's one of their specials, I always get it when I can."

"I'll admit, the atmosphere here is nice. What's this place called anyway?" Ori wondered.

"Conroy's Rest, there's an inn upstairs. Oh, I only told my ma I'd be out tonight, I'll need to be back by morning."

Ori nodded. "I'll have Lucas give you a lift back home after Rue's done with you."

They ate, drank and conversed for hours as morning turned into afternoon, by which time the circle that had come to listen to Eloise's tales had long since dispersed, replaced with the lunchtime crowd, local workers more interested in meals and midday meetings than carousing and post-contract congratulations. Throughout, Ori caught snippets of conversation, from rumours over the circumstances of the dragon's capture, to hushed tales of slavers, flesh traders and demons coming from the south. Ori also heard brief whispers suggesting the rise of a new Demonbane on Twilight, with constant speculation on where the high human might have emerged from a frequent topic of discussion around human-centric groups.

With a piece of his Split Mind tasked to eavesdrop on the surrounding din while he enjoyed time with his bonds, politics and regional information that might have felt distant to him just two weeks before now pressed on Ori with a growing immediacy that reflected his entanglements with this region.

"This bond, you call it the Bond of Fidelity, how close is it, like? I mean, in how it feels, to the… you-know-what." Tess said, voice dropping to a whisper as she cast a wary glance at the surrounding patrons.

Their bond, a brand-new type Ori had instinctively named the Bond of Fidelity, had been forged between them that night in the woods on a whim, using the least amount of soul capacity he could manage. At the time, with their souls already so close to merging, driven by mutual need, he had created a bond that was more symbolic than truly functional.

While Trial of Radiance was temporary, and a Taurna'diem came with steep requirements and implications, distinctly elven in nature, in contrast, Ori's Bond of Fidelity came with no strings or conditions, was just as permanent, required only a kiss, and could work, Ori believed, with any race. As symbolic as it was, it still allowed all his Bondweaver-related spells and abilities to function through it.

"In some ways it's just as useful, you know, like…" Ori began, before casting Whisper and, telepathically continuing, "I can chat to you directly, mind to mind, using Whisper. If you kiss me and properly focus on grabbing the same spell, you could chat back to me, too."

Tess gave a bashful glance around as Ruenne'del smirked, then leaned over the table, clutching at Ori's shirt to pull him in for a long, lingering kiss. Tess, face flushed and her ear tips traffic-stop red, gasped as she sat back down, then, eyes drifting to a high corner, she focused in her particular way as she, as a mortal, searched for the spell Ori's Bondweaver trait enabled for her.

"Like this?" Tess asked silently, over the bond, her rosy cheeks doing little to hide her triumphant smirk.

Ori nodded, replying out loud. "Yeah. It costs mana, so be careful. Also, only me and you will hear what we say, so it'd be best not to speak this way with the company, unless we have to."

Time flowed, and before Ori realised it, the lunchtime crowd had switched out for new revellers, while a tension coming from Ruenne'del over the bond had reached its peak.

"Come, sister, it's time we go."

"What? Really?" Tess said, looking crestfallen.

Ori laughed at her cute expression, the light buzz of hours of drinking leaving everything warm and jovial. "We'll definitely come back here. Now go, I'm sure Rue's lined up someone special for you to meet."

"They'll help you be who you want to be," Rue said.

"I know." Tess sighed, then stood with only the slightest of wobbles despite her mortal constitution.

"I'll have Lucas wait nearby where he dropped us off outside the town. Tess, with Whisper, you can reach me wherever you are, from across Fate if need be."

Tess nodded.Ori stood to hug them both before they left. The sight of Ruenne'del playing the big sister as she tugged a reluctant Tess along, despite Tess being a foot taller than the fairy, drew a smile from him as they walked off and he was left alone at their table in the quiet corner of the bar.

Amongst all the eavesdropped conversations Ori had listened to, the one relating to the location and destination of the dragon had piqued his interest the most. While Ruenne'del had been reticent about offering any more details about the hows, whys and whens he needed to rescue this dragon, a plan, or at least the outline of one, had been spinning in his mind ever since the morning.

Sneak into the guards' overnight camp just outside the town walls, and then, hopefully, Teleport away? Ori did not believe it would be so simple, but it was worth a try, and with no one around in this town who could stop him if he meant to get away, the only risks would be getting spotted before and during the rescue attempt.

His affinity for Modern Warfare also urged him towards doing some forward reconnaissance. He needed to know why Ruenne'del believed his and the dragon's fates were already intertwined. His curiosity about the dragon, the "she" in question, drove him towards action sooner rather than later.

He left Conroy's Rest an hour after the girls, his mind set, his mood cautious yet confident, as, after a turn into a blind alley, Ori's invisibility spell, Prismatic Mist, combined with his Presence manipulation to vanish from sight.

Taking the darker side streets, Ori sobered as the welcoming glow of the high street faded, and the narrower, poorer streets showed a more menacing face to Thorncross.

Seedy bars transitioned into less savoury establishments, with drunks, beggars and worse, obvious to Ori as he passed.

Nearing the city walls, Ori heard a commotion, a familiar voice cursing amidst a heated argument.

Curious, Ori took a detour to see for himself and saw Eloise arguing with a man twice her size.

"Now fooking pay me, you prick," the white-haired woman shouted, her finger all but prodding at the Awakened man, a Greater-ranker twice as wide and half again as tall. He wore a dirty apron as if straight from the kitchen, contrasting with the relatively fancy-looking Victorian promenade dress Eloise currently wore.

"The consignment's changed, love."

"Changed!? The contract's already signed, Mick, I've already delivered, Mick. You pay me, or else—"

"Or else what?" Mick said. Ori watched on from the edge of the street, already aware of three other Greater-rankers approaching to flank the woman. "You'll tell the guard captain?" The man smirked as, from out of the shadows, a lanky man dressed in the uniform of the guard stepped into view. Eloise stepped back, the thin veneer of her fury cracking as her blood chilled. "This… guys? We see dozens like you every season, all bright-eyed and full of bluster, believing Fate owes them a favour. Well, love, Fate don't owe you shit." Mick stepped closer, backing Eloise into a wall. "I don't owe you shit. In fact, why don't you come with me… so we can… better renegotiate your contract, eh, love?"

Snickers from more men in the shadows drew a startled glance from Eloise, who truly feared that she was cornered.

Ori, curious as to what she might do, watched from some distance away, ready to act but unwilling to reveal himself unless he had to. He could see that the resourceful woman held something in her palm, and he frowned with curiosity.

"Get the fook out, or else," Eloise all but growled.

Mick chuckled. "The first one to nab the wench gets the first turn."

Four Greater-rankers closed in on Eloise as her eyes darted between them and the street around. The noise of the town fell away, leaving only the sound of boots on stone and menacing catcalls as the thugs tightened the circle.

That was when Eloise moved. She smashed the glass vial in her hand against the cobbles at her feet. A muffled bang was followed by a thick cloud of smog that rushed out to fill the street, cutting off sight like a smoke grenade.

Ori added to her escape attempt with a Greater Stun, paralysing the men hidden in the smog. He stepped out of her path as she sprinted past him, only for her to slow and turn, staring back at the clouded street in confusion. She clearly knew her plan had been half-baked at best, and that the people after her were Awakened, far out of her league.

Her gaze lifted, searching the upper levels of the buildings that flanked the narrow street.

"Thank you," she said under her breath, before turning away and completing her escape.

With Vision of the Progenitor, Ori inspected the souls of the men. Free from infernal taint, most carried within a kernel of murky grey, their souls tainted with questionable deeds done less out of malice and more out of an inertia that was a product of their environment and circumstance. They were not killers, but had likely taken part in everything short of murder. As such, the White Mage within was less than interested in killing these men in cold blood.

Ori checked the level of permanence woven into his stun. A few hours should suffice as a lesson, he decided, as he turned out of the street and headed out of the town.

Ori inspected the enchantments scribed onto the thick iron chains binding the dragon.

A dozen Greater-ranked soldiers and one Sovereign camped around the giant sledge, keeping watch over their captive. Cook fires and chatter filled the air while an underlying tension, no doubt caused by the dragon in the room, stole every third glance, every hesitant breath between conversation shifts.

And Ori had waltzed through them all, unseen and unnoticed. While he did not fear the men surrounding him, he did fear the complications that would arise should he be discovered.

Still, Ori did not let that stop him as he completed his initial survey and decided how he would make contact.

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Up close, the dragon's skin was a tight mosaic of scales, small and plate-like as they circled the ear hole, growing larger and more jagged toward the jaw. Its colour was a metallic gold shot through with chaotic swirls of molten sunshine and moonlight, hues that stood out all the sharper in a realm where no true sun rose, only the white band on the horizon under a sky where the moon had been replaced by the nightly dance of the aurora. Jagged, brutal spikes jutted from the brow, while a ridge of spines put to bed any thoughts of comfortably riding the creature without significant assistance. Along the side of the face, stubby horns formed a bristling beard of dark, hooked thorns. Despite the foreboding appearance, there was a majesty, a beauty in the monster.

Standing beside it, close enough to touch, Ori felt gravity wax and wane with every step and shift of the creature's breath. Mana flowed through its veins so strongly that it could sense it roaring through its blood. The force of it made him pause, mind already sketching future arcane experiments, future evolution-related research ideas tugging at his thoughts, before he forced himself to focus on the task and the dragon in front of him.

"Hi," Ori whispered into the creature's ear.

He was almost knocked back, the wooden platform shaking as arm-thick chain links rattled, drawing the attention of all the guards. The dragon strained against its bonds, its draconic eyes swivelling around in a manner Ori found surprisingly human, as it sought to find the source of the greeting.

Long minutes of shouting, fury and threats passed by as Ori sat still, his Presence doing just as much to mask him as his spell, while he allowed the commotion to settle. It was coming close to dusk, and Ori had no issue waiting until night to try again.

An hour passed before the increased attention on the dragon shifted, and Ori decided to try once more.

"Hi—Don't move, don't draw attention, they can't hear me," Ori tried again, his voice firm but with a soothing quality he hoped would give the dragon some pause. He touched the dragon's side. "I'm right here, invisible, but right next to you."

Ori watched the huge reptilian eye swivel towards the place where his hand met her scales. The shimmering golden iris made the pitch-black pupil stand out all the more in stark contrast. Under his palm, Ori could feel the shifts in heart rate, the increased muscle tension, as if the creature was willing itself to hold still.

"Blink once if you get me, twice if not."

The massive eye blinked.

"Good," Ori breathed out, satisfied now that things were somewhat under his control. "I'm here to see if I can rescue you—"

The dragon blinked furiously, its body trembling, the response causing Ori to pause.

Back at Conroy's Rest, rumours had floated around of the dragon living her life, until recently, disguised as a young girl in a village on the distant outskirts of Greater Dremsway. Other rumours had pointed to the adopted girl's family being taken prisoner, that even word of their capture and pending execution had been spread as a lure to draw her in.

"You don't want me to rescue you?" Ori asked.

A single blink, and then silence.

Ori sat still, hand resting on scales as he considered his options. It would have been easy to walk away, to consider this none of his business, the ongoing, multi-epoch-long conflict between races being on a scale no one man could deal with. And yet, he could feel it now, that sense of Fate on the verge of turning beneath his feet. Once more, his mind returned to his newest type of bond, one that could give him the faintest of connections with another's soul, one strong enough to track through time and space, life and death, one that could give Ori just enough assurance should circumstances shift and the worst happen before he could react.

It also granted other options, ones Tess had demonstrated just hours ago, options Ori intended to exploit right now.

"This might sound weird, but…" Ori began, voice low. "There's this way I can help you talk to me, silently, as if you can talk directly into my mind. It's called the Bond of Fidelity, and it can also help us in other ways, like letting you know which direction I'm at if we were to part. Is that something you'd like?"

The eye held still for ten long breaths before it gave a single blink.

Ori nodded to himself. "To form this bond, it needs a kiss. Would that be alright?"

An even longer passage of time stretched forth as the dragon contemplated whether he was telling the truth or deciding whether the benefits outweighed the cost. Just when Ori had begun to believe the dragon had simply deigned not to answer, a long blink finally came as reply.

Ori moved to the front of the dragon, his palm sliding over scales as he made his way to the creature's nose. Closing his eyes, he focused, shaping his Presence into a shield almost as dense as Glamour, retaining his camouflage to the guards beyond as the veil of Prismatic Mist fell, and Ori revealed himself to the hundred-metric-tonne mythical creature.

"Hi," Ori said, then glanced at the oblivious guards behind before returning his attention to the dragon. "I'm Ori Suba, let's be friends. When I kiss you, you'll feel something, a question I think. Accept, and we'll go on from there."

The dragon blinked.

Ori leaned in and kissed its snout. He could feel the chaotic mana flowing beneath its scales, a mortal, yet in terms of power, far from what he could have believed possible for that rank. Beyond the paracausal energies, it felt like kissing a leathery wall, awkward and weird in a way that made Ori self-conscious.

Unlike with his connection with Tess, their souls were oceans apart, causing the difficulty in forming the bond to be far greater than Ori had expected.

Still, where there was a will, there was a way, and Ori was not short on will.

Prismatic Mist resumed his invisibility as he ended the kiss, his newest Bond of Fidelity snapping into place as a new entry in his bonds appeared on his page in the Library of Fate.

Fidelity (4):

Tessalyn Éclair D'oran

Merin Tyr

"Hi Merin, can you hear me?" Ori asked silently. The dragon tensed, its heartbeat raced. "I'm using a spell, it's called Whisper, it works through the bond. You can use it too, but it'll need another kiss…"

Ori explained the method of transferring a spell, much like the way Tess had done earlier in the day.

After another kiss, and before long, Merin had worked out how to use the spell.

"H–Hello? Can you hear me?" A voice that was far more young girl than big, terrible dragon came over the bond.

"Hi Merin, I'm glad to finally hear you speak."

"Oh, good. Well then, what happens now? Oh, and how do you know my name?"

"Your name? Merin Tyr. It just appeared on my page in the Library of Fate, as one of my bonds."

"Merin, what?"

"Merin Tyr."

"Tyr?"

"Yes?" Ori said.

"Tyr…" she said as if to herself. Coming to the conclusion that she likely never knew her family name, Ori allowed her time to process the revelation.

"I didn't know," Merin confirmed. "Do you know who the Tyr's are?"

"No, you're really only the second dragon I've ever met. The other was a right bastard, scary and conniving, but he was also part of the reason why I'm helping you."

"Oh?"

"He told me to help humans and dragons come to peace. And maybe you could help?"

"I could?" Merin asked doubtfully. "And why did he ask you?"

"Me? I guess it's because I'm kinda special? As for you… maybe? If you wanted to. Whether or not you're interested won't change me from trying to free you, though."

"Why?"

"Because my fiancée… betrothed? She said I should."

"Oh," Merin said, her voice disappointed, which swiftly turned to anger. "Are you… some kind of pervert? To take advantage of a dragon, I'm sure that's a dirty man's fantasy somewhere, when you're already engaged, too." She finished with an audible snort that drew glances and attention from the guards.

Ori gaped, unsure whether to laugh in amusement or outrage. Instead of trying to defend himself by explaining his magic, Ori decided to tease.

"Well, you are a pretty dragon, and my betrothed doesn't care about my wandering eyes as long as she gets her share of my affections," Ori said, sliding his palm across the creature's side, affectionately.

Merin scoffed, straining against the chains as if to step away from Ori's touch.

"Letch, pervert, cheat, adulterer," Merin hissed.

"Yes, yes, no, not really," Ori chuckled in reply.

"You're teasing me?"

"A little bit, yeah. I…" Ori thought it over, then opened up to her a little bit more. "I've actually got two wives, Harriet and Poppy, and three amazing women I'm basically engaged to in Raven, Tess and Rue. On top of that, there's Freya, Lysara and Lucas, my three familiars, and my mistress Seraphine, who taught me, well, still teaches me magic. They're my bonds, my family, the ones I've made and I'm trying to be worthy of."

"That sounds… The way you say it makes it sound nice. I've heard tales of far-away kings with a harem of a hundred concubines, treating people as possessions, as things to collect and own."

"I was once told I've got a greedy soul, and they were right. It's something I've come to accept about myself, so now I've just decided to do right by the people who I care for."

"Then why did you have to kiss me?"

"Some of my magics, especially the ones that relate to forming connections like the one we just made, relate to the soul, and that requires a closeness I've only managed to achieve with intimacy."

"Oh." Merin paused before continuing. "So are we? Am I? This bond?"

"It's called a Bond of Fidelity; it's the weakest bond I can manage. It can last as long as you want, but I think it breaks as soon as you kiss someone else. All of my bonds can be broken at will by either party involved, for any reason, so don't worry that I've tricked you into something you'll one day regret."

"Well, yes. I've… It's just that I've never been kissed before, not by a boy." Merin's voice grew small towards the end.

"Oh. Well, I'm honoured to have stolen your first, madam," Ori said solemnly. Then he allowed the silence between them to stretch as he surveyed the oblivious guards around them. His mind sorted through all the questions he needed to ask, then arranged them in order of importance, wary of the mortal creature's limited mana supply, though likely, as a dragon, one more substantial than Tess's.

"Can I… break the bond? I want to see if what you've said is true."

"Now? Yeah, I guess so, but you wouldn't be able to speak to me anymore," Ori explained.

"Then… just kiss me again, then," Merin said.

"Alright, just focus on our connection, and think of severing it," Ori described the process, and then a moment later, he felt the bond break. It was the first time this had happened, and it was an odd sensation as he felt the four of his over fifteen thousand points of soul capacity disappear forever, but he considered it a fair price to pay to build some level of trust.

He waited a few minutes, his mind on his next steps as he considered his plans going forward, then whispered,

"I'm going to kiss you again, blink once if that's okay, twice for no."

Merin's giant eye blinked once.

Ori leaned in and kissed the dragon's side, and this time, forming the bond was far easier than before.

"Can we keep the bond?" Merin said after it was re-established. "It's… nice having someone to talk to."

"Yeah, for as long as you like," Ori said, old memories of the first hours in Ghigrerchiax and meeting Freya resonating with the lonely desolation in her words.

"So why don't you want to be rescued?" Ori finally asked.

"They have my family," Merin said. "The ones that took me in when I was little. I… I was just a girl before… didn't know I was a dragon. They tried to save me when the soldiers came, get me to safety, but they were captured. And now they say they will kill them if I misbehave."

"Do you know where they are?"

"I'm not sure, but I think they're in the capital, in Dremsway."

Ori pondered the situation, knowing he'd somehow need to rescue them too. "Alright. What else do you know?"

Merin spent minutes, most of the remaining amount of her mana, explaining to him what had happened to her and her family, and what she'd heard and seen since then. They were taking her to the capital, though her fate was unknown. As a mortal dragon, Merin had heard many explaining how she was an opportunity, though to what end, neither she nor Ori had any idea.

"Can you transform back to being a human girl?" Ori wondered.

"I… I don't know. I don't know how I changed before or how I could change back."

"You should be able to," Ori said, mind picturing Thraxis, while Freya's rote memories described such transformations as being bidirectional and permanent abilities after first being achieved.

"Can you save them? If… If you could, then I'll—"

"No need for desperate promises, to save them will just require a bit of effort," Ori said as he felt the muscles under the dragon's scales sag in relief. "It'll take me some time, maybe a week or so, but until then, with this bond, I can always find you, and you can talk to me from wherever they end up taking you," he added, as long as she can use her mana, Ori left out, a concern that they'd secure her with more stringent chains after delivery to the capital, adding to his list of things to plan around.

"Okay. Thank you, Ori."

"You're welcome, Merin. It's been nice talking with you, and I'll see you soon. Get some rest so that your mana recovers."

"Mmmm," the dragon rumbled wearily as its chin sank deeper into the cart. Ori gave the creature one last pat, then stepped away and slipped out of the encampment just as quietly as he had come.

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