Through Kalli’s blurry eyes, the first thing I saw was myself cradled in her lap. Not wanting to open my own eyes, I consoled my girlfriend through mate chat.

I’m okay, you know.

She sobbed out loud. Both of your arms are broken.

With the adrenaline starting to wear off, I realized she was right. A dull throbbing told me where the damage was. I flooded my arms with mana, squeezing my eyes shut through the pain as the bones set themselves. Using my control over blood, I was able to repair the damage to my arteries and veins. The throbbing lessened as the blood flow returned to normal.

I could feel Kalli wincing as she shared my pain.

I’m sorry that I’m hurting you.

Kalli gently stroked my hair and intently watched me work. It’s okay. I like being here for you, even when it hurts.

The affection I felt for her at that moment was matched only by her own for me. We both felt it. While I wanted to rest there in her lap forever, I knew I had to get up to take stock of the situation. Just because the battle ended didn’t mean we were out of danger.

Does anyone know where Kiki is right now?

Kalli turned her head to look across the room. Through her enhanced vision, we could see a lot but there were plenty of places where Kiki could be hiding.

I opened my eyes and smiled up at Kalli. By that point, my arms felt strong enough to hold my weight, so I tried to sit up. With Kalli helping me, I managed to struggle to my feet.

The first thing I noticed was that the dragon, Kur, was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Byakko. Worried that something happened to my summon, I called out to him.

Byakko? Buddy? Are you there?

The gruff voice of my summons chuffed. Of course I am. Where else would I be?

I was worried that he defeated you.

Byakko seemed concerned when he replied. You called me back. Do you not remember?

Another voice hissed. I too am have returned. Never use my mana without my permission again.

I sighed at Quetzalcoatl.

Would you rather have me die?

The snake hesitated for a moment before replying. I would prefer that you finish my quest first. Then you can die.

A loud noise from the entrance of the cave caught my attention. Joe’s spider had turned into some sort of an excavation machine and was clearing debris from the tunnel.

Wendy and Stefanie sat next to Joe as he worked diligently to dig a way out. The large group of prisoners were congregating in the middle of the chamber talking quietly amongst themselves.

Slightly concerned about Kiki, I started to walk in the direction that Kalli had looked. She followed me quietly, keeping her arm around my waist to steady me.

We climbed over a pile of debris and saw three people standing around a fourth prone figure. The man in red was speaking with the other two people while holding the fourth down with his foot.

It soon became apparent that the figure on the floor was Kiki. I tried to run the rest of the distance but Kalli held me back. The man in red turned when he heard me coming and said, “Good job taking out that dragon. I was starting to think you weren’t going to make it.”

Rundell and Raverly were with him. A groan from Kiki informed me that my sister wasn’t dead at least. I asked the man in red, “Can she breathe like that?”

He looked down indifferently and asked, “She hasn’t stopped yet. Why was she in league with a dragon? Do you know?”

I knelt next to Kiki and asked, “Are you okay?”

She grunted in response but said nothing. Looking up at the man in red, I replied to him. “She was enthralled by the dragon, forced to do his bidding by some kind of magic contract.”

The man in red knelt, not taking his weight off of Kiki’s back, “Is that true? You were enthralled by a dragon? Are you still under its spell? Answer truthfully. I will know if you lie.”

Kiki coughed and spluttered, trying to speak. “I, ugh, cack, still…hear…his…voice.”

The man removed his foot from her back and knelt on the floor next to her. “Do you still feel compelled to do his will?”

She rolled over, breathing heavily for a minute, before sitting up and answering, “No. His words have no bearing on my free will now. I don’t know why I can still hear him.”

The man in red’s voice took on a softer tone when he spoke. “A strong magical bond isn’t something that you can sever in a day. You will probably have a residual connection for quite some time. I know from experience.”

Kiki clutched her knees to her chest and peered over them at the bounty hunter. “What happens to me now?”

The man looked up at me and asked, “Do you care about this girl?”

Kiki and I locked eyes. As betrayed as I felt by what she had done, I knew that on some level she had no control over her actions. Kalli squeezed my arm, sharing my emotions through our bond. She spoke for both of us when she said, “We do care about her.”

The man in red sighed and said, ‘Then she needs to disappear for a while. She involved a lot of innocent people who are going to be at liberty to talk. There will be repercussions for this though I know not what they are. I am still facing sanctions for my role in the Shaw incident.”

Kiki looked at him and asked, “Are you saying you’re going to let me go?”

He pointed a thumb at me and said, “I work for him at the moment and there’s no bounty on your head. Yet.”

My sister looked at the exit which Joe was still clearing with the spider and then back to the crowd of people that I had freed from the alcoves. She trembled as she said, “No. I can’t run. I need to face this and get it over with.”

“Well, you’ve earned my respect.”, the man in red informed Kiki.

Once Joe cleared the passage to get out of the mountain, he set to work making a vehicle big enough to accommodate all of the new people we picked up.

After we watched the metal twist itself into several different shapes, Joe grumbled, “I don’t have enough materials to make anything big enough.”

I examined his latest creation, a small motor-car towing a rather uncomfortable-looking trailer that he had fashioned out of the spider and the car I arrived in.

Laughing at the first failed piece of tech that I had seen from the technomaner, I asked, “What kind of thing were you trying to make?”

Joe shrugged at me and said, “Something like a bus would have worked perfectly but we don’t have enough metal to make one.”

I rummaged through my bag for my M-Phone while Joe got back to work. Since I didn’t know much about busses, I needed to do some research. The first thing that caught my eye was the school bus. It would have been funny to show up at The Academy in a big yellow bus.

However, that didn’t seem very comfortable. I scrolled down the list until I found the perfect one. Then I picked up a rock.

Item:

MotorCoach (Edited)

Components

Metal, Leather, Oil

Item Rank:

D

Item Level:

1

Item Owner:

Murphy

Several people dove out of the way when the bus appeared out of thin air. Joe walked up to me with his arms folded across his chest. “How did you just do that?”

I laughed nervously as I explained, “I am a summoner after all. I just pictured what I wanted and made it appear.”

The man in red pulled me aside while Wendy boarded people on the bus. “Do you require any further assistance? I would rather not accompany you back to the school if I can help it.”

Shaking my head, I told him, “Do you have another business card? I should be able to unlock your mana sometime in the next week.”

He reached into his pocket and withdrew another card. “Shall we consider the price paid for your services then?”

Realizing that he wanted his services to count as gold paid, I protested, “I really need that 500 gold. It’s life or death.”

He sighed and replied, “Fine. In exchange I want you to do one more person.”

“Who?”, I asked.

He smiled wistfully. “My wife.”

Without waiting for a reply, he vanished in a puff of dark smoke.

The bus ride back to The Academy was a quiet one. Fina drove and most of the people we rescued seemed to be in shock. Kiki sat alone at the back of the bus. She looked down and refused to make eye contact with anyone even though most of the passengers on the bus kept stealing glances back at the negotiator.

Mr. Ramsey and men in uniforms from the administration were waiting for us when we got back. The majority were escorted into The Academy while Kiki was put in another car that drove off.

Before we left, I made sure to remove the edit from the bus, turning it back into a rock.

Mr. Ramsey wanted to talk to me alone but the rest of the group was having none of it.We ended up in a conference room where he sat heavily in a chair and asked, “Do any of you want to tell me what exactly happened?

Wendy sat across from him and started, “A dragon living in the Inland Empire has been abducting and using students as mana batteries. We defeated it and brought back the students.”

Mr. Ramsey passed his judgemental gaze over all of us. “What about Kiki? I am told she was behind this.”

I spoke up for my sister. “She was forced to do it by the dragon. He manipulated her. If she disobeyed she would have died.”

“I see.”, he said, clasping his hands in front of him on the table.

Worried about her, I asked, “What is going to happen to her?”

He stood up and informed me, “For starters, she has been expelled. The administration will have to decide if any further punishment will be given to her. Her standing with the guild may also be affected.”

“What about us?”, Raverly asked, looking stricken.

Mr. Ramsey smiled for the first time since we got back. “Well, you guys are heroes. You rescued a great number of our students and from what I’ve been told, you slew a dragon. Well done.”

We gathered together in our dorm room after that. Classes had ended for the day and we were all too amped up to eat. I decided it was safe to speak in group chat.

Ki, are you there?

She hesitantly responded. I am here.

Wendy tried to reassure the negotiator. We don’t hate you Kiki. We know the evil dragon made you do it. Right?

Even through the group connection, we could all feel the intense guilt that my sister was feeling. She evaded the question by replying. I’m being detained right now. They aren’t quite sure what they want to do with me. Kur might as well have killed me because my life is effectively over.

Her confession killed the mood to celebrate. Joe made everyone hot cocoa and put on the baseball game through the hologram. We all watched in silence. I snuggled with Kalli under a blanket and we both smiled when Joe nervously wrapped his arm around Wendy’s shoulder who sat next to him.

I was feeling a little drowsy when a loud slap woke me up suddenly. Stefanie stood abruptly in front of a stunned-looking Raverly. Rundell laughed at the boy while Stefanie stomped off, announcing, “I’m going to bed.”

Run and Rave both went to their rooms soon after, leaving just the four of us largely ignoring the game on Joe’s projector. Kalli and I fell asleep on the couch, more comfortable in each other’s arms than we were in our own beds.