The Warriors on guard at the gate open the wooden doors with almost ceremonial solemnity…and then they close behind us with a thud that feels far more meaningful than any time before.

  We’re alone. As alone as we can be, considering how many of us are in the group. When I envisioned leaving this world, I never thought I would be accompanied by so many beings – and our group is possibly not even complete yet.

  Solemnly, we travel the familiar path to the den, the darkening sky no impediment to our passage. All of us have better night vision than the average human, and beings like Bastet, Ninja, and Fenrir are almost as comfortable in the dark as they are in the light.

  As we travel through the farming area, I find my thoughts touching on everything around me, the shapes looking different under the moonlight than they usually do.

  The not-bee hives which have been set up – though my first hive didn’t want to move down here, my description enabled several samurans to find other swarms. Convincing them to make their homes nearby was relatively easy, lured by the promise of safety and the access to nutritious food sources in the fields nearby.

  The herd beasts, far greater in number than before, and growing all the time – the magic-enhanced plants the farmers grow are apparently both very tasty and very nutritious. Having a steady access to them is enough for more and more beasts to be willing to give up some of their offspring every now and again. It helps that many of the beasts are oviparous, so they don’t develop attachments until the child has hatched, enabling them to put their own care ahead of a few eggs which might not have hatched anyway and which are removed to be raised in another area entirely.

  The irrigation system, designed and implemented by teams of samurans with advice from me, the Water-Shapers, Earth-Shapers and even Kalanthia, which now covers all of the planted fields and an increasing number of unplanted fields.

  The patch of woodland where specific trees have been cultivated – we recently had a group of massive herbivorous beasts actually ask to become part of our herds so as to get access to a steady supply of their favourite trees. That took a bit of effort – to find enough examples of the trees to then be able to start growing them properly – but considering one of the beasts will be enough to feed at least ten samurans, it will be worth it.

  And finally, the den, now bare of its previous protection of vine-stranglers. I can’t say I miss the sense of unease that I used to get when travelling through the trap trees, for all that they were doing a job for us. We’ve planted some normal trees around the den in the hopes that they will soak up some of the Energy overflow. They’ve grown large in a very short time, and nothing has come to investigate – to our knowledge – so I’m optimistic that it’s working.

  In front of the den, his shape clear even in the darkness of the night, Raven stands. Daphne and Ivor’s bright colouring stands out in a way that he doesn’t – his green hide is far less obvious than their pale shades. Noir, of course, is practically invisible, though I can sense his presence.

  I should feel glad that Raven has stayed true to his word, and returned before I have to leave, even if he’s cut it fairly close, but all I feel right now are nerves.

  “You had a good trip down to the hatching grounds?” I ask even as the two pale-coloured alcaoris hatchlings run towards me. They’ve grown, I realise, and I brace myself just in time to be hit by first Daphne and then Ivor. Even braced, the force with which they hit is enough to take me off my feet and give me a good few bruises. “Careful!” I scold them and the two of them draw back with guilty expressions, sending apologies through the Bonds between us.

  At the plaintive expressions on their faces – they’re able to make surprisingly good puppy-dog eyes when they want to – I relent and start scratching them in their favourite places.

  It was good, Raven answers my question, his satisfaction evident. My brothers were far more appropriately admiring of them this time. Especially those who had known what they were like last time. They enjoyed playing with their own generation. As I’m sure you can tell, they have benefited from the bigger and more powerful animals we were able to hunt nearby too.

  “That’s good,” I say, though a lump rises in my throat. I know that Noir is definitely coming with me – if it hadn’t been obvious that Raven had given up on him, he has himself expressed determination to stay as part of my group – but losing the other two hatchlings who I’ve worked on will be painful. At the same time, I want them to be happy and as successful as they can be. And if they will get that by staying, then I support them in that.

  I clear my throat, swallowing down my emotions. “It’s time for them to choose.”

  Raven looks at me for a long moment and then dips his nose briefly. It is, he agrees.

  I focus on Daphne and Ivor. Perhaps they sense the seriousness of the situation through our Bond, but they still, their eyes fixed on me. They don’t even complain when I stop scratching them.

  “I’m leaving. In three days’ time. And I’m not coming back. Do you want to join me or would you prefer to stay with your father in this valley?”

  I’ve learned from experience that the simpler the explanation, the better, especially with Tier ones. The alcaoris hatchlings are smart – they’re at least the rival of Bastet at that level. But there’s still a vast difference between them and a Tier two. Well, most Tier twos anyway. Fenrir, bless him, needed just as simple an explanation. But then he’s a simple creature – for him, the only thing that mattered was travelling with the pack. Where, was irrelevant to him.

  The two alcaoris hatchlings look at each other uncertainly, and then up at their father. I sense them communicating with him in some non-verbal way. A flicker of movement to the side draws my attention to what looks like a moving shadow – Noir. He, too, communicates with his siblings. I could probably interpret their ‘words’, but I don’t try. I will know soon enough what their decision will be – and I want it to be their decision and not influenced by me.

  Finally, Daphne steps forwards, a plaintively sad note in her voice. She nuzzles me and I accept it as the goodbye gesture that I’m sure it is. She sends me an image of several large alcaorises of all different colours, and clutches of eggs. I understand. That finding compatible mates in Nicholas’ world is by no means guaranteed is something I know well. With sadness welling within me, I break our Bond as gently as I can. She still whines in pain and flinches. I reach up to stroke her again, but she scampers back and presses herself against her father. I let my hand fall limply to my side, loss raking through me.

  Ivor eyes me for a long moment, shifting uneasily. His head turns towards his father and sister, and then back to me. It feels like hours have passed by the time he gives his decision, though probably it’s only been a minute or so. He nudges my shoulder with his heavy head, sends me a flurry of images, and then walks steadily back to his father and sister.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  They both make sad noises as they nose at him, the goodbye this time between the alcaorises. Then, Ivor moves over to sit next to Noir and looks at me expectantly. His decision is clear.

  From the images he sent me, I have to guess that he’s assessed just how many other males there are around and he’s noticed how many of them are bigger and stronger than him – their difficult start is still evident in their delayed development. He’s uncertain how successful he will be in mating and obviously thinks that going to a new world is worth the risk.

  “I will be happy to welcome you,” I tell him, whatever his reasoning. “But first, I must be sure that you are making this decision of your own will. I will break our Bond. Stay with your father and siblings for the night. And in the morning, when we leave, we will pass by the entrance to your tunnel. If you are there, I will offer you a new Bond. If you are not, I will wish you all the best.” I turn to Noir. “The same for you. Just to be sure,” I reassure him when he whines plaintively, clearly not happy with the idea.

  I wait briefly just to ensure that they’ve understood me, and then reach out to break their Bonds. No matter how many times I’ve done this over the last few weeks, no matter how much pain I’m already in, it never fails to ache. I flinch as I hear the whimpers from the two alcaoris hatchlings – I know that it’s far worse for them than it is for me. It’s enough to make me feel guilty, but I stand by my decision – with a choice of such significance, I refuse to allow doubt to creep in about whether they made the decision purely based on the emotional component of the Bond. I’d have preferred to give them longer, but Raven has come back later than I was expecting – I was beginning to wonder whether he wouldn’t come back at all before I left.

  “Alright, get some rest everyone,” I tell those around me. “We’ll be setting off before the sun is up tomorrow.” I wait patiently for the area to clear, no one arguing with me. Then I look back up at Raven. He’s looking thoughtful. Perhaps he didn’t realise that I would actually release the Bonds to give them the decision. “You still owe me two favours.”

  I owe you one, he contradicts me. I have already carried out two.

  “And Daphne has chosen to break our Bond. We agreed that you would owe me another favour for any of your children who chose to leave me after the healing was done. And that’s assuming that Ivor and Noir will stick to the decision they made after a night to consider it.”

  They will, he says with no doubt in his voice. Therefore, you already have two of my children, and will take them far away from me. What more do you want? Raven demands, baring his teeth slightly.

  Don’t deny that you are only truly upset about losing one of your children, I point out to him mentally so as not to hurt Noir by the reminder if he can understand me even without the Bond. You had already given up on Noir.

  Raven growls slightly, but doesn’t argue. You still have benefited significantly from this arrangement of ours.

  “I have,” I agree. “If you’re right and Noir and Ivor both choose in the morning to come with me. But I’ve also put a huge amount of time and effort into it too. Time and effort I could have spent on other things, like my own development, or the development of others of my Bound.” How many more points might I have been able to give myself if I hadn’t had the alcaorises’ healing cutting into my Meditation time? How much could I have enhanced beings like Bastet or Fenrir if I’d had the time to experiment? “And apart from that, we had an agreement. Will you go back on it?” I challenge him directly.

  As happened last time I called him on this, Raven doesn’t answer immediately. But finally he sighs gustily.

  I will not. What do you wish for your two favours? I release a silent breath, relaxing slightly. Technically, I have no way of forcing this – our alliance does not oblige either party to act in any way. Relying on his sense of honour is uncomfortable, but is my only choice. Having him acknowledge his debt will have to be enough.

  “I wish to combine them into one. I wish you to keep an eye on the village. You don’t need to protect them from every attack, but if they face a foe that threatens to overwhelm them, I want you to step in to help.”

  I will not be at their beck and call, Raven warned with distaste in his voice.

  “I’m not asking for that, though I do request that you meet with one of the Pathwalkers from the village in two days’ time and accept a device which will allow them to notify you if they need help.” A recent success from Hunter, even if it is only one-use, it should be brought by Bares-claws – Beast-friend. I’ve been planning this conversation for a while, and am relieved that it’s going much as I was expecting.

  The adult alcaoris considers the idea carefully.

  How long is this to last? I will not do it forever, he warns.

  “I would not ask you to,” I assure him. “Two years – from now for two summers and two winters.” Hopefully that will be enough to establish the idea that this particular village is off-limits.

  Raven takes a little more time to consider it, but then assents.

  My sons will be here before dawn’s light, he tells me and then takes off into the air, followed by his three children. They head off to their own den. I don’t blame them for wanting to have a final night together as a family. I’m sorrowful that they cannot all come with me, but I knew that Raven joining me was never in the cards.

  As the alcaorises disappear into the night, I’m left outside alone. Or so it might seem.

  “Artemis? You can come out now.”

  It’s silent for a long moment and then the wolf-like deri slinks out of the shadows. She’s accompanied by a single other deri, bigger even than she is and wary.

  We never broke the Bond, so I’m easily able to sense her mixed feelings.

  “You’ve decided what you want to do?” I ask her.

  Yes. I found a mate. We wish to join you. Her explanation is as short and to the point as she usually is, but I suppose that if there is any time for her to be clear, this is it.

  “Alright.” I eye her and then hesitate. “You know that with the situation as it is, I’ll need to use Dominate? At least to start.” If we were staying in the forest, I would be willing to offer him a Tame Bond, but without knowing what we’re going to head into in Nicholas’ world, I don’t want to risk it. Pride is one thing – I know him well enough and I know he’s fiercely loyal to Catch who is himself loyal to me. And Artemis herself is fine – again, we’ve had our Bond long enough for me to trust her. But an unknown is another question.

  We understand, she answers simply. I gaze at her for another moment and then shrug a little. Looking at the other deri, I meet eyes with him and pull us into the Battle of Wills.

  There is some resistance, but not as much as I was expecting from the intelligence I saw in his gaze. I don’t need Inspect to tell me that he’s already gone through his first Evolution, yet the resistance here is barely more than I would expect from a Tier one.

  When I reach halfway between us, I feel little fear from him. Wariness, nervousness, yes, but there’s more…resignation than anything else. It’s intriguing. And although the nervousness increases as I get closer, nothing truly changes.

  “Why are you here?” I ask him when I’m just an arm’s length away from him. He takes a moment to answer.

  I lost my pack, my mate, my siblings, my children. His tone is oddly contemplative. The same attack almost killed me. Artemis found me, brought me kills, licked my wounds. I am hers. She says that she is yours, for much the same reasons. And so I am here. I am her protector. And while she protects you, I am yours as well.

  His voice is firm, decided.

  “And if that means going away from here, leaving everything you know behind? Accepting the Bond that you can feel waiting for you?”

  Then so be it, the deri answers. I am hers. She is yours. That is all.

  I nod slowly then shrug again. By this point, I’m tired of this conversation, and I know that I still have Kalanthia to deal with. If he wants to come with me and he’s willing to accept the Dominate Bond, then that’s good enough.

  “Welcome to the pack,” I tell him, touching him between his eyes.

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