Before Saiya could reply to his assertion, Officer Wysmont approached and called the others to the area, having just arrived on the scene along with the other members of Bliss’ party. The officer grimaced at the sight of Dazien and Phoenix lying unconscious on the ground, and Uriel made to lift his partner from the snow again.

  With the immediate threats gone and Saiya trying to drown him with her aura, his emotional senses were returning as the earrings recognized that he was truly calming down now and didn’t need their suppressing effects anymore. This meant he could feel his worry for his friends’ wellbeing once more and knew Dazien wouldn’t like being in such a vulnerable position.

  Bliss’ party, Attitude Plus, was led by Chriss to join the rest of them, likely to learn what they all needed to do next. The chimera that had been a rge beast only moments ago now appeared as a furry and feathered humanoid about the size of a pre-teen. She poured a bottle of golden glitter over her head in order to have the magically cleansing potion sparkle away the remnant gore from her. When Bliss seemed to notice him, she gave a fanged smile, but he could only nod in return, uncertain of how to feel towards her at the moment.

  The officer turned to address the Acolyte who had saved Phoenix’s life. Uriel had only glimpsed the damage from where he had been, but it wouldn’t have surprised him if they had needed to come up with some kind of excuse for how Phoenix had survived getting almost cut in half by a chunk of burning metal.

  “Acolyte Barrett, while I understand your concern for the safety of the others, and it turned out fortuitous that you arrived when you did, I will be noting your ck of communication in my report,” Wysmont stated to her party member, who nodded in acknowledgment but didn’t seem particurly remorseful. Then the officer asked, “Now, who can tell me what happened?”

  Uriel flinched at the triggering word that he still hadn’t managed to get over yet. While Daze had learned to avoid starting commands with the word “Now,” many others still liked to use it, and it would always cause his body to instinctively brace for the pain he was sure would follow.

  Luckily, nobody seemed to notice his reaction as the group looked at each other, searching for an answer to Wysmont’s request. Their obvious leaders were out of commission, and when they gnced at Tanner, he turned to Polissa instead.

  She gave him a raised eyebrow, but stepped forward and began to recount the events leading up to that point that she had been able to gather from the various overheard conversations and what she had witnessed.

  At the mention of the army under the mountain, Tanner was able to produce the Sense Stone for the officer to view, who took a few minutes to pce it against her forehead. With a trickle of mana, the magical device activated and Wysmont got that gzed look of not seeing what was actually in front of her as her senses were all overridden by what the stone had recorded of the location.

  Uriel had never cared for the Sense Stones. It was disconcerting to him to not be fully aware of his actual surroundings, and the device didn’t seem to work well as it fought against the effects of his Silencer. Maybe he would have liked them better as a child, but he would never know.

  Once Officer Wysmont had finished viewing the scene of the monstrous army waiting for them, she began to command, “We need to return to Tulimeir at once. That is not something any of us are prepared to encounter, and the capital will need to prepare for a potential assault.”

  Chriss stepped forward to offer, “My party can deliver a message and the Sense Stone along with the injured to the city within two days if we move alone at top speed.”

  The expedition leader nodded, “That’s likely the best course of action while the rest of us move together across the nd. Give me a few minutes to record a debrief while you load up the wayid, the rest of King’s Dream will remain with the Chaos Summoners for the journey back.”

  “Wysmont!” Acolyte Barrett spoke up, “Would I be able to go to tend to the injured?”

  “They’re not exactly injured anymore, Barrett,” she replied with a slight frown, “They’re unconscious but stable, so shouldn’t need a healer in attendance. Besides, Attitude Plus has a healer.”

  The runeforged priest-in-training looked at the Wayfarer that Rayna was lifting off the ground, much like Uriel was for Dazien, and tried to argue, “I would like to request staying with the Chosen of my goddess, please.”

  “Fine,” the officer grumbled, “But this is also going in my report, Barrett.” Then she moved to go record her message away from the groups that had begun to disperse in order to prepare to leave.

  Uriel and Rayna both looked to Noble Stratford, and the bard asked the foreign noblewoman, “So, how exactly are you pnning to transport two unconscious people?”

  The iridescent woman smiled as she walked closer, “I’m a capture specialist. That leads to some rare powers. I have a dimensional space that can transport people,” she expined, gncing at Bliss, who happily bounced along beside her, and she gave the chimera a gentle pet of the wild mane that served as hair.

  Uriel’s perception of the bestial Caster slid back towards more of a Familiar than a monster again, and he rexed a bit more, finally shaking away the remnant memories that haunted his dreams. Chriss then added towards him, “It’s a bit like your fort on the inside.” “I hope Uriel’s ability upgrades to be mobile like that at some point,” Rayna said with a gnce towards him as if he could somehow control what it became when he eventually ascended to Sapphire Caste. “One can hope,” Chriss replied before asking, “Would you like me to carry their dimensional bags? Those cannot enter the space.”

  “Phoenix doesn’t carry one, but I can take Dazien’s,” Uriel said, turning to let Saiya help remove the small satchel from Dazien’s hip.

  Once they were ready, the sparkling party leader pced a hand at the base of her throat while extending the other towards the held Casters. A moment ter, Dazien and Phoenix’s silhouettes seemed to become a haze of energy shifting in iridescent colors and then appeared to get absorbed straight through her hand and into her body. Or maybe it was a function of the glittering dress the noble wore that completely covered her in iridescent crystals like elegant beadwork? Uriel wasn’t exactly sure but didn’t have the courage to question the Sapphire Caste noble.

  “Bliss will transport myself. She is remarkably fast when flying, for a Sapphire Caster,” Chriss expined. The chimera seemed to preen at the praise, straightening her posture, and gave a slight fp of her rge snow-colored wings, which blended well into their surroundings as the snow continued to fall on them all.

  Uriel didn’t like the idea of being parted from his friends, but after thinking about it for longer than he’d care to admit to Priest Jacob, he decided to trust Bliss. That also entailed trusting that her party leader would take care of them and see his closest friends back to the capital safely.

  He then rejoined his remaining companions in grouping up with the Chaos Summoners. Po would act as their temporary leader, which he thought she might actually do well at. The fact that she allowed Tanner to lead in her pce was likely the biggest point against her being as good a leader as his king.

  His observing gaze nded on her quieter brother, and he felt another pang of loss at the sight of Simmon speaking softly to the Wellspring Wyrmling wrapped around his bicep while gently rubbing its adorable reptilian head.

  Uriel had often been told as a child that he had a natural disposition for handling avals, even learning the name of that particur Talent to be [Animal Friend], but his [Storm Attunement] had made the Talent deviate.

  His captor had actually shown him the details of the original Talent before, from the Knowledge Tablet and Identification Orb they would use to check his progress as they pushed, prodded, and molded him into their weapon.

  Natural Talent: Animal Friend

  Your instincts and aura naturally draw animals and avals to you. You are more likely to gain positive reactions from them and can more easily understand and convey your intentions to them.Increased likelihood of unlocking a Familiar Passive ability. The range of your Familiar Passive ability when activating a bonding ritual is drastically increased.

  He had only been given two chances for that second portion to trigger, however. For his fourteenth birthday, the man that had been overseeing his cultivation had forced him to bond to the Fire Aspect which had granted him [Home’s Hearth] for his passive.

  Priest Jacob had ter suggested that his fierce desire to return home during his captivity was the likely cause of that, but his captor had simply been mildly disappointed in it at the time.

  That was also the day he first experienced wearing the Chains of Silence, and those made it even more clear that he was nothing but a tool to be used for killing. He hadn’t been allowed to sleep again either, not till a few days ter when he went through the Aspect Bonding ritual again and it caused him to colpse.

  That was the next chance he got for a more likely Familiar power, which turned out to be his st. When the cultist had made him bond to both the Ice and Storm Aspects at the same time, it sent a clearer signal to his beaten soul that the path of the Elementalist was the one he would be forced to walk.

  The Aspects overwrote his Talents, and when his ensvers chose the Potent Aspect to complete his set, his fate was sealed as a Cataclysm Mage.

  The feeling of a soft furred hand in his own rger one gently pulled him from his thoughts. He looked down at the small voxen who seemed more hesitant than usual around him, “It’s okay to feel sad, Uriel,” Saiya assured him, “If… if you need to talk to someone, it doesn’t have to be me,” she corrected quickly, “I’m sure any of us would be willing to listen.”

  Uriel felt a pang of appreciation and devotion towards Dazien and Phoenix upon realizing that neither of them had told the twins about the information he had shared of his past.

  They had kept his secrets and left him the choice to bring in the people he trusted rather than outing him and putting him in the awkward position of being confronted about it.

  It was difficult to put into words why that meant so much to him, but it did. It also helped give him the courage to share those pieces with the Healer who seemed to be attempting to truly understand him more. Perhaps it was finally time for him to listen to Dazien and Priest Jacob’s advice and try trusting others more.

  Saiya was silently relieved to sense some actual emotions from the stoic Mage. The sadness tinged with grief filling him as he gazed at the group of summoners was heartbreaking to her. He had made it obvious with both his vast knowledge of all types of creatures and the gentle spoiling he always indulged their Familiars with that he desired a soul companion of his own.

  She wanted to ask more, learn about his motivations and history, but was distracted by the sight of Attitude Plus getting ready to leave.

  Acolyte Barrett handed over a small bag before disappearing, much the same way her teammates had, followed by the other members of Bliss’ party doing the same as Chriss hooked their dimensional bags onto her belt.

  The chimera herself was fidgeting and kept gncing over in their direction.

  Saiya could sense the growing impatience and anxiety rising within Bliss, which caused her to get even more nervous about what the bestial Adventurer might have sensed in turn.

  Once that brief spiral continued for a bit, Saiya suddenly realized that it was likely her own fault when Bliss bounded over to her and wrapped her in a tight hug, the rge wings wrapping around her as if to shelter her from all the terribleness of the world beyond.

  When she was over her momentary surprise, she wrapped her own silky tails around the child-sized chimera and patted her head, “I’m alright, Bliss. It’s just Uriel I’m worried about.”

  Her assaint responded by hugging her tighter, burying a fluffy head into her combat robes that offered a bit more protection than a regur dress, and Bliss quietly muttered, “But you smell like worry for everyone.”

  “Good,” Uriel said in a low rumble, “That’s what I told her to do.”

  Saiya looked up to the sky, wondering which god could help her the most at that moment, before correcting them both, “I’m worried about everyone because that’s just who I am. I want to help everyone, and right now everyone is stressed from the fight, the enemy we found, and our downed companions. Uriel is especially worrisome because I understand how much he cares about those companions in particur.”

  Then she ruffled the chimera’s hair simir to how she saw Chriss do it before urging the girl, “Now, will you go get those companions back home to Paul Waynd for us, Bliss?”

  Uriel flinched beside her and she could sense his anxiety spike momentarily, but her attention was drawn back to the chimera enthusiastically nodding.

  Bliss gave her a bright fanged smile before beginning to bound back over to Chriss, but she turned to give a final hug and squeeze of wings. Another moment ter, she returned to the original goal of assisting the crystal-den party leader.

  Saiya could sense the happy emotions filling the chimera once more and was relieved that Bliss seemed to easily bounce back from any negative emotions.

  Chriss and Bliss exchanged a few words, then the tter shifted into one of the rgest birds Saiya had ever seen. The size was only beaten by a few of the higher Caste avals specifically used for transporting people across the continent that sometimes stopped in the capital of her homend. Chriss then equipped the sleek bird form, which was obviously built for speed, with a magical harness that adjusted itself to the rge creature-Caster.

  Another item was pulled from the party leader’s bag and attached to the underside of the harness, hanging against Bliss’s feathered stomach. When the rge bird carefully used an equally rge beak to lift Chriss to fit snugly inside of it, Saiya realized it was a basket of sorts; aerodynamically shaped to let the rider be comfortable without slowing the transport down as much.

  With a powerful fp of wings, Bliss unched straight up into the air like a rocket. The equipment seemed to alter its coloration as well to blend into the ndscape, and the chimera shot off to the east towards Tulimeir.

  That was also when Officer Wysmont began ordering everyone to get ready to move as well, and Saiya turned her focus back towards Uriel. His sadness had risen again for some reason, but all he was doing was looking down the Eastern Trade Road that they were about to travel very quickly on.

  Before she could pry, however, he spoke up first, “It was on this very road that my family was attacked by bandits.”

  “You were fourteen?” she asked, recalling the story he gave them of how his parents had died.

  “Thirteen when we were captured by them,” he corrected, “They sold us to a group of cultists about a week ter. It was there, after I had turned fourteen, that my parents died. I thought my younger sister died when I was rescued over a year ter. Then I found out years afterwards that she survived only to live a few more years before being killed.”

  Saiya stayed very still, worried that if she said the wrong thing he would close up on her. Like a blossom that was scared of getting too much sun that it might wilt.

  Instead of focusing on the terrifying thoughts surrounding his past trauma, she decided to take a different approach. They would have time to explore that tragedy ter anyway if she could get him to trust that she only wished to ease his pain. To that end, she asked, “Would you like to tell me about her while we get on the road again?”

  Uriel took a trembling breath as he nodded and softly said, “Her name was Eirlys.”