“Are you sure you must go?” Flower asks anxiously, Tarra and Shrieks watching us silently. Windy hadn’t exactly been quiet about her pleasure that the Bond between us is finally broken, but she hasn’t attempted to attack me. Nor did she stick around after I finally broke our final ties – she returned to partying with extra vigour and without even a backwards glance.

  The others lingered after I carefully snapped their Bonds, aiming to reduce the pain for both parties as much as possible. I’d thought that it was to make sure that Windy didn’t try anything, but now I’m wondering if they had ulterior motives. They don’t seem like they’re preparing to attack – if they were, they would have probably enlisted Windy anyway.

  “I am,” I confirm with regret of my own. After all the effort I’ve spent on the people of this village, it’s a wrench to leave them behind. And my soul is throbbing with the number of Bonds I’ve broken in the last few weeks. I’m so glad that I decided to do it gradually. It’s bad enough as it is without it all happening at once. The level that I earned in Dominate, albeit a Master level, is hardly compensation for the constant aching sense of loss that has actually developed into a physical pain in my chest which no Flesh-Shaping can heal. By the time I was through breaking half of my Bonds, it was almost enough to make me reconsider just taking everyone with me anyway – save myself the pain.

  But taking a whole village with me is unfeasible, quite apart from the fact that I have no idea what awaits me on the other side. And that’s even assuming that everyone would be happy to join me, which most likely wouldn’t. “But you’ll be fine, I’m sure,” I continue saying to Flower. “You’ll need to find your own way, but I’ve given you as much information as I possibly can to do so.”

  Not only have I taught as many samurans as I can the different aspects of the skills I learned through the stones Nicholas gave me – tanning, crafting, weapon-making, armour-creation, blacksmithing, tool usage, carpentry, and more – but I have also taught a number of samurans as much as I know about the internal Energy matrices.

  Although it’s very difficult for the Unevolved to find their internal matrices, it’s not impossible. Practice, observation, experimentation, and in particular, using Cores – natural or from beasts – have proven to be ways a determined Unevolved can find their internal matrix. And if they can find it, they have the possibility of being able to manipulate it. I didn’t share Energy Manipulation with anyone in the end – I was too worried about putting all the eggs in one basket. However, if they can develop a practice which allows everyone to learn to manipulate their own matrices, the future of the samurans will look far brighter. But that’s up to them now.

  As for the natural Cores, I shared the knowledge of how to create them with all of the Pathwalkers, the top three Warriors, and three of the Unevolved council members. It was a bigger group than I really wanted, and I had to give several demonstrations since not everyone could fit down in the tunnel at the same time. But in the end, I concluded that the Pathwalkers needed to know since they would be the ones influencing the alignment of the Energy Hearts, but that I didn’t want them to be the only ones to know. I also showed them what to look for in terms of corruption, and how to deal with it.

  I decided to share my knowledge beyond just the Pathwalkers because I feel they already have enough power in the samuran society – giving them more by being the only ones who know how to create natural Cores seemed to be a bad idea. Ultimately, Warriors and Unevolved can create Energy Hearts, but it’s harder without magic and they won’t be able to control the alignment. But the fact that they now know that means that the Pathwalkers hopefully won’t be able to hold the Energy Hearts over the heads of the rest of the village. But again, I have no real control over what will happen with my den or the stream of Pure Energy beneath once I’m gone.

  I did warn them about what might happen if they make it too obvious that they have access to a much higher Energy density than they should at this point on the mountainside, so hopefully they won’t be stupid and draw the attention of one of those powerful beasts in the valley. So far, I haven’t seen any indication that it’s been detected, even with the vine-stranglers gone, but it’s possible that they just haven’t noticed yet. Or, more optimistically, perhaps not enough Energy is allowed to leak above ground to make it obvious that there’s something of interest here.

  “We will still miss you,” Flower says sadly, and Shrieks and Tarra both indicate agreement with slight shifts of their tails. They might not be as expressive as Flower is, but I’m touched at the fact that they express any regret about seeing me go. None of them were pleased to see me arrive, after all, and now the Bond is gone, their true feelings are being given space to be aired out.

  “And I will miss you,” I tell the small group earnestly. “But it’s time for me to go.” And I mean that in all ways. I’ve had my impact on them; it is time for me to depart. That there has been so little consequence on the daily routine to breaking the Bonds is a relieving sign – it shows I’ve made some real change, not just temporary shifts enforced by the Bonds.

  In fact, the only ones who have caused any issues at all are a few of the Pathwalkers from Flying-blade’s village. Upon the Bond being broken, one of the Pathwalkers tried to attack me. Water-former – who I suppose technically belonged to Tree-whisperer’s village – never got over being rejected by her tribe leader and blamed me until the moment the light left her eyes entirely. I didn’t like it, but I wasn’t about to leave a clearly unstable Pathwalker around my people with me gone. Two of the others attempted to cause a coup to redirect the reins of power back to the hands of the Pathwalkers – and themselves in particular. I let the council deal with them – as far as I know, they still haven’t earned back the use of their magic. The rest have been docile, but I don’t need to warn the samurans that docility can be deceptive.

  At least the Warriors were more straightforward. A group of seven of the Warriors were released on their request after the two moons I’d promised them and by all accounts went straight in the direction of their home, not lingering in my village’s territory. The rest settled into my village without issues. When I released their Bonds, nothing changed there.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Those captured from Tree-whisperer’s lead village seemed to have been sufficiently cowed by the battle and whatever they were told at its end. Besides, they were never Bound, so there were no breaking Bonds to potentially provoke reactions.

  As for my non-samuran Bound, the reactions to me breaking the Bonds tended to be more of a cooling off of feelings between us. No one reacted violently, which I’m glad about. Perhaps it’s because they were smart enough to realise that it was a bad idea to do so considering both my personal power and the support I still have.

  Komodo is the only one who decided to leave entirely. That wasn’t entirely surprising considering he never grew close to any of us, for all that he fought with us multiple times. With the Bond gone, I suspect he wants to search for another group of his kind to join.

  Thorn was the opposite – he likes the partnership he’s built with one of the samuran hunters far too much to leave. Similarly, the three spiderlings are too attached to their own samurans – or perhaps the easy food they get. They’re already several times the size they were when they first emerged from their cocoons, rapidly approaching the size of a big dog. I hope on the samurans’ behalf that they have a capacity for loyalty as otherwise they’ll become a liability if they start approaching the size of their parent. But that’s for the village to manage. And frankly, if I could kill the adult danaris with a small group of Bound, none of which were above Tier two, the village should be able to deal with hostile danaris juveniles with the multiple Tier threes of their own.

  Though Ptera hasn’t built a strong bond with any of the samurans, she’s ultimately a practical being who sees the benefit of having guaranteed food in exchange for nightly patrols of the farming area. And as for the day protection, the kiinas are remaining behind too.

  That one was a bit of a wrench for me. Although I didn’t dare to assume that anyone would come with me, I’d hoped that Hades and Persephone might join us in the next world. Apart from the benefits of having a carnivorous mount who is completely capable of taking care of himself as well as me, I’d thought that we’d built a bond which didn’t stem purely from my Tamer Class.

  But it doesn’t seem to have been enough. Neither of them seemed hostile to me when I released the Bonds between us a little over a week ago, but they were clear that they had no interest in taking a Companion Bond or travelling with us to the next world. As a consequence, the relationship between us has cooled off – they no longer come to me or River for scratches or join the group when eating. They still came back to the den for sleeping, but I have a feeling that was more to do with wanting the Energy than the company.

  It’s a pity, but ultimately that’s why I broke the Bonds in the first place – to give them the choice. I can’t now complain about them choosing something I didn’t want them to. Still, they plan to stick around the village – they appreciate the regular food for what is essentially an easy guard duty. The juveniles will continue as mounts for the Pathwalkers, but I doubt that Hades or Persephone will allow any riders – just a feeling.

  The kiinas weren’t the only ones I released – to make sure that everyone choosing to come with me genuinely wants to, I released them all and insisted that they take at least a day to think about it. Some took more than that, but others returned to me the moment I allowed them to. As a result, I now have Companion Bonds with each of those joining me, even those who had previously had Tame Bonds. I’m not too surprised – if they’re trusting me to come to another world with me, why wouldn’t they trust me with a Companion Bond?

  Though I do still have one particular group to give the choice to. The alcaorises.

  Sending out a general message through my remaining Bonds, I say a final goodbye to the two Tier three samurans and the lead Warrior.

  That provokes a flurry of goodbyes, and my cheek is rubbed by more muzzles than I can count. It doesn’t help that half of the samurans are drunk enough to either miss my cheek entirely or rub so hard that it makes my skin glow red. I absently send a flicker of healing magic to soothe the abraded skin.

  Dusty and Yells are some of the last to approach, their eyes far less clouded by a haze than many of the others.

  “Tamer…thank you,” Yells says earnestly. “I don’t think I would have ever reached my Evolution without you. And I’m sorry.”

  I know why she’s apologising, just as I know it’s not necessary for her to do so.

  “Whether you would have or not, that doesn’t mean you didn’t earn it by yourself,” I remind her. “And there’s no need to apologise, as I’ve told you before. Your duty is to your village. I understand that entirely.”

  “I wish I felt free to come with you, but…” she trails off. I just send her a reassuring closed-mouth smile – even if we’re not Bound at the moment, she’s been connected to me long enough that she recognises the expression.

  “I understand,” I tell her firmly. I turn to Dusty. “And if you intend on apologising too, there’s no need. I wasn’t expecting anyone to come with me. That so many are is still something I can barely believe,” I tell them honestly. To leave everything they know to come with me to a situation that, for all I know, could be a crazily elaborate death-trap? That takes dedication. Dusty shuts her jaws and looks away.

  “I wanted to say thank you too,” she says slightly sulkily.

  “Then I will just say that it was a pleasure to get to know you,” I tell her gently. “Both of you.” I always knew I was leaving, but that doesn’t make the actual parting easier. It doesn’t stop the place where our Bonds used to be from aching, either, the pain worse whenever I’m with the being who is now no longer connected to me, as if both of our souls are reaching out to each other and being denied. Perhaps going to another world will help with that.

  Leaning forwards, I rub my cheek against first Yells’ and then Dusty’s muzzles. Then, not wanting to extend the goodbye any longer, I turn away.

  “Well, this is it,” I tell those around me. “Last chance to back out without losing too much reputation. After this, coming back to the village may be a bit awkward.” I’m partly joking, but mostly serious. Technically, it’s still three days until the portal is due to open, but every step from now will make it harder for them to change their minds.

  I’m with you, Markus, River says firmly.

  As am I, Catch tells me, equally decisively.

  One by one, all the others chorus their own intention to join me – in leaving the village, in leaving the world.

  “Alright. Then let’s go,” I say, feeling slightly choked up at the whole situation. We proceed through the village, clicks and grunts of farewell ringing out around us as we head for the mountainside gate.

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