The rest of the day had been pretty uneventful, all in all. After I had told the Kobolds to never ever under any circumstance offer me anything alcoholic again, even at parties. I had toured the rest of the floors and apologized for my drunken behavior. It went over as well as I had expected, with everyone taking it remarkably well. Though I did have to explain to Unguul and the Eyes what drunk meant. The Evil Eyes decided they liked me better sober, I couldn’t agree with them more if I tried!

A bit after sunset, after I had tasted Lienru’s newest invention, Mushroom bread with Shroomcow steak, a tasty treat that was light and filling. It was, in my opinion, a perfect end of the evening. The Alarm suddenly went off.

. It was still way early for more cores, wasn’t it? And it was Ezekiel yet again. Granted the previous time was Xi, but he did arrive the time before that too. What was going on? Still, at least he had arrived after dark now, so that was as agreed on.

I dissolved and flew out of the dungeon. Once outside it took me a bit to find Ezekiel. Why was he on the Northside of my domain? Caelyn laid to the south oh why? Yndali has been traveling? She is a merchant after all and without the Cores maybe she had to leave the city to do some trading elsewhere? . This was giving me the creeps, I reformed in the air above Ezekiel and landed in front of him. The moon barely allowed him to see me in the dark.

“Mandol should be the one to be here, why are you here in his place?” I tried reading his thoughts, but all I got was the expectancy of riches, man this guy’s greed was just too much. It was making me feel queasy. “The Cores went and disappeared on us, and Mandol got sick. And now there are no Core to cast “Cure Disease.” And on his salary he should not be able to afford a cure disease potion. So in order to not arouse suspicion, he asked me to go in his stead. So, I will be taking a Diamond today and bring to him.” Ezekiel finished, that sounded… off.

That aside, considering the overwhelming focus he had on gems, it was pretty clear to me Mandol would see neither hide nor hair of that diamond. But then that was not my problem, but theirs. “I see, do you have the bag?” I asked, this entire interaction was getting stranger by the second. “Of course, here you go” he tossed it to me and I grabbed it. Ooh, three of them! I opened up the bag and peered inside, then upended it. Two of them fell out. Damn, the third must have snagged on something. I stored the two that had fallen out. Then peered inside the bag and reached in with a claw to poke it loose. Too late.

There was a flash, a sudden sense of disorientation, then a wracking pain and an overwhelming sense of weakness as I collapsed to the ground. My body tried to disperse itself and return to my domain for about a split second, before the surrounding ground glowed with arcane runes. The pain stopped immediately and dissolved as well, but I still couldn’t work up the strength to move a muscle. Heck, I barely had the strength to breathe.

. No shit… my vision finally cleared enough for me to take in my surroundings. Umm… Archives, if you have any idea how to get out of this mess I am VERY open for ideas right now. “The core has been trapped, begin the Taming.” I might not have a second!!!

The sense of sluggishness and disorientation from when Indella had tried to tame me returned. But this time it was so much stronger, like a tidal wave seeing as there were over a dozen of them at it this time. It was like being chained right in front of a speaker, blasting out the sound of someone chanting commands at you over and over. This was terrible. Darkness swallowed me and in the darkness were small motes of light, slowly, very slowly creeping closer.

Didn’t take a genius to figure out what that meant. How’s that escape plan coming along? I tried moving, but the damn motes of light kept up with me. I could also hear whispering from them now. That was probably not good.

. There had to be SOMETHING. Huh? Penumbra, this is not the time for a poor connection!! Wait, this was like a puzzle. “The disc....nt one”? It took me about half a second even as I dodged one mote by a hair, they were now charging me.

Oh, I got it. Archives, which of these motes are not like the others? WHICH IS THE DISCORDANT ONE? I didn’t hesitate. I didn’t have time any longer, and one of these motes would get me. Better trust that strange message from whom I assumed was Penumbra. It wasn’t like lying to me would make matters worse at this point. It was the only thing I had to go on; I touched the mote that the Archives had named, hoping it was right. As I did, a voice boomed in my head, drowning out my own thoughts utterly…

“THE BOND HAS BEEN FORGED, A PACT IN THE SHADE, FOREVER ENTWINED, ONE SOUL WE ARE MADE. FOREVER AS ONE TILL DEATH DO US PART. THIS IS OUR BEGINNING, OUR NEW START. SO HEED MY COMMAND AND HEED IT WELL, AS I HEREBY NAME YOU...” there was a sudden burst of white light and I knew no more.

-------

The flash arrived, and we all saw the Core appear in front of us. She had changed since last I saw her; She was bigger, and looked more mature too, with a longer flowing mane on her back that had a dark pattern in it. She was beautiful. Too bad the others would never truly understand this. I shook my head, couldn’t afford to space out now, I had a job to do.

“The core has been trapped, commence the Taming.” A bit late on that guildmaster, I had started the split second I realized what I needed every edge I could get to claim her. I was already deep in the chant when the others began. It was a good thing that I had Silent Casting as I think everyone would have been a bit put off if they heard my chant otherwise.

Still, it quickly became apparent that this was anyone’s race and all of us wanted first prize. She was incredibly strong-willed; We had been at this for nearly 15 minutes already. Most normal monsters would have caved long ago. No! Focus, no need to lose yourself to admiration, you need to win this!

Everyone was jumping at the bit now, even getting in each other’s way as we continued. There were others around casting “Stamina Surge” on us, so we could keep the ritual going. She was beyond resilient. Never had I fought a core this strong-willed before. But she was tiring, I could feel her resistance crumble, any second now one of us would make contact. Then suddenly I could sense her will rush towards me and touch my magic. Why the sudden movement, it made no sense!

I was about to do the usual taming chant but, just as I prepared to do so, a presence fell on me. A warm dark presence, utterly undeniable in its overwhelming power as it forced me to step aside, I yielded control of my own body and chanted through me. I was just a passenger in my own body as she enacted the chant while the others were still desperately trying to snag the Core. They were unaware she had already been caught.

“The bond has been forged, a pact in the shade, forever entwined, one soul we are made. Forever as one till death do us part. This is our beginning, our new start. So heed my command and heed it well, as I hereby name you... Rindell!” the moment the last words escaped my mind there was a burst of energy. The others were tossed off their feet and so was the tent I was inside. I took a step forward and a horrible vertigo overcame me, I don’t even remember hitting the floor.

------

Light, bright light in my eyes, and a throbbing pain around my left, I slowly opened my eyes. I was in a rather large marble covered room, sleeping on some mats. They were actually pretty comfy. On the bed next to me was a young roman with short red hair and freckles. She seemed unconscious still. Yet I knew she would wake up soon, didn’t know HOW I knew, but I knew.

. I am, but I am not 100% sure what happened, though. . The bad news first, please. .

What? Is the bond messing with my hearing? Shouldn’t I just kill the human to get rid of the bond since I felt no compulsion to protect her? .

How in the world do you botch a Taming attempt? I mean, she should know what to do if she was part of that plan. Even in disguise, and she tried to Tame me before that too.

Why do I have a feeling Penumbra are skirting the rules here? . So Inlas is in timeout for what she did? .

I looked at my legs, what bracer? Didn’t see any, my left leg had this throbbing pain but there was no bracer on any of my legs. . City?

.

Any other impossibly dreadful news? Oh, just peachy. Well, if we are going to do this acting thing right, I need to inform my dungeon about that. . With that Archives went silent, and the door opened up.

“So you are awake, good” he looked pleased, though I scoffed in response. “For you, perhaps, I honestly see very little good about my current position.” he shrugged. “Look on the bright side, at least you retain your personality. I very much doubt you would have done so if the Guildmaster had his way. That was no normal taming chant they were hurling at you. They planned to lock your mind up so deep within your head it would never surface again and replace it with just obedience to your orders. An empty shell.” He seemed utterly disgusted, interesting.

I snorted. “Why the hell do you care?” he sighed. “This isn’t the way to capture cores, you’re supposed to defeat them in battle, show them you are more powerful. Then and only then can you attempt to tame them. This, this… mockery… is just wrong. There is no honor in this. If you cannot capture a Core, it’s because you are not strong enough. Pitting thirteen against one, never giving you a chance that has no place in our guild, or anywhere else.”

He sounded… angry. Furious even, he looked at me and to my surprise bowed. “For what it’s worth I apologize for the part that I and my Party played in this. And I hope you will find it in you to forgive us, to be kind to Indella. She went through a lot to save you from Guildmaster Saol.” He then turned and left before I could even finish planning a response.

Sacrificed a lot? . Oh… Shit, I looked at Indella now with newfound respect. That sure as hell was some dedication she had to keep me safe, yeah no killing her. Heck, I felt ashamed I had ever entertained the thought. Which also made me realize I had thought of her as “A human” my guess was my synchronization had gone up.

How in the blazes did it get that high? I… can’t remember.

. I could make one guess as to what happened and probably guess right. . Archive sure as hell didn’t sound sad.

And now the Archives were being coy with me. Will wonders never cease. It took about another hour for Indella to wake up. When she saw me her first reaction was happiness. Then it shifted to confusion. Then, somewhat understandably, fear as she realized we did not have a bond of Owner and Tamed Monster.

Using telepathy, I spoke into her mind, calming her. “We are bonded, yes, but I owe you more than you could possibly understand right now. I have no intention of bringing you harm, not now, nor ever in fact. My priority is to keep you alive for as long as possible, as my freedom hinges on your survival.” Her eyes widened in surprise.

I spent the better part of the next hour explaining the situation to Indella from my perspective. When I finished she was shivering and I could sense the outrage radiating off of her in waves.

Indella clenched her fists, then looked up at me. *When I get my hands on that bitch of a goddess, I… I… Oh, what does it matter? I am just a girl that is way in over her head.* She shook her head, so I decided to cheer her up a bit. “Look on the bright side, I can talk for the both of us since I can hear your thoughts.”

I used a paw pad to rub her head, and she nodded in understanding as I continued. “Although we have to find a way to get this thing off of me. I assume it’s on the left leg?” She looked at it. *Yeah, I see it clearly, it looks… Heavy. So if you can’t even notice it, I am guessing it’s enchanted.* I studied my leg for a bit before responding. “I am feeling a slight throbbing pain but that’s it”

Indella seemed lost in private thought for a moment. *Well, at least now I can have a conversation again, that’s nice, this telepathy thing is so cool.* She sounded happier now. Indella jumped. *GAAAH WHAT WAS THAT!!!?* . I pondered for a moment. Maybe the bond added the ability for us to share certain skills? I mean you are not a racial one so it might be possible, right?

. I held up a paw. “I don’t feel that would be wise, no idea if Inlas have a way to spy on us here.” Indella looked up to me. *Rindell has a point* she thought. “Who?” was all I could respond. *Rindell that’s the name you were given* she explained.

. Tapping my chin, I mumbled to myself. “I doubt anyone here actually knows enough about Duergar customs to know about that one” though Indella shook her head. *Oron, Tarad or Dally might know, they are dwarves after all.* Hmm, that could be trouble.

*That aside, what do I call you then?* Indella looked up at me with a curious expression, “Does anyone else know what you called me?” I replied, deflecting her original question for now. *I don’t know*, she replied. Hmm, I patted her again. “I will think of something, I am the one who speaks for both of us now after all. So, it’s not like they can confirm it with you outside of you nodding or shaking your head.”

Just then there were noises coming from the door again and someone who looked like a guard popped his head in. “You are wanted in the courtyard” He held the door open and I sat down on the floor “Hop on” I called to her. *Huh?* She seemed confused. “You are supposed to be my Owner. It would be weird if you would be walking when you have me as a mount, wouldn’t it?” she seemed to get it. *Right* She hopped on and quickly found a position to sit that was comfortable for the both of us. This bond was not all bad.

I walked into the hallway and the Guard led me through the place into a rather big courtyard, I noticed that bound to two poles was Merchant Yndali and Mandol; they looked like crap, Mandol also had clear signs of having been given a severe beating.

Besides them was Ezekiel, grinning like an idiot and chewing on some form of pastry. Given their circumstances, I had a pretty good guess who had betrayed me and who had not. I doubted Yndali would be hogtied to a pole if she was in on it, let’s just take a peek.

Popping into Yndali’s mind was easy. She was so down right now she had practically no mental defenses up, while Mandol was so out of it he couldn’t defend himself either. He was barely conscious as it was. Yep, Ezekiel was the traitor. And Yndali was convinced she would die after I would admit that she had sold cores to me. Oh ho, well then. A plan formed in my head rather quickly as I spoke directly into Yndali’s mind.

“If you wish to live, do not show any surprise and behave as much as an indignant and pissed off noble as you can. You will know when to start the racket.” She looked up at me then, with an inquisitive expression. Good, good, that would help make it more convincing later on.

Looking around the room, I also saw a man dressed in priestly garb and carrying the emblem of a raven. A priest of Rubolg. *The high priest of Rubolg, actually.* Confirmed Indella when I asked her about it, even better.

There was Rael, and the others too. To say that they looked displeased would be an understatement. They were shooting their disgruntled look at a fat, sweaty, short man wearing a dress that was not unlike that of a medieval monk. Only it was pistachio colored and made out of silk. He was also wearing far too much in the way of personal adornment, so he looked gaudy as all hell, that had to be Saol, he felt… wrong somehow.

He began to speak. “Everyone, we are gathered here today to obtain testimony from this Tamed Core. A testimony about the illegal trading of cores between it and the defendant, Merchant Yndali.” His voice seemed to scurry in my ear. What the hell. This was insanely unpleasant to listen to. . What does that do?

.

Even if it’s a racial skill? . Indella scratched her ears. *He sounds like he is speaking through a ton of cotton to me* She commented. . That was good. The last thing I needed was for Indella to wind up agreeing with that scumbag.

Meanwhile, the Guildmaster kept yapping on about how heinous their crimes were. I noticed that several of the people there were looking a bit, “out” of there in their expressions. Time to put a stick in the Guildmaster’s wheel.

I rose and cleared my throat, a rather loud sound when you are nearly four meters tall from paw to forehead, then I spoke out loud. “I am terribly sorry to interrupt you Guildmaster Saol. But my Owner is still exhausted from the ordeal earlier, and she is feeling rather uncomfortable with all these people around. Might we move this along?”

My sudden interruption broke everyone out of their stupor, including a few of Rael’s party members. The guildmaster himself, having clearly not expected the interruption, seemed flustered for a few moments. “Huh, oh right, so I ask you, Core, do you recognize these two people and have you made business with them before, answer truthfully now.” I looked at Yndali, tilted my head to the side. As if studying her and Mandol. “I have never seen the two people bound to those poles. I recognize the one eating that cake, though. He offered me some pretty stones in return for gems, since gems are easy for me to get, I accepted.”

Complete and utter dead silence. You could have heard a pin drop. I kept my face neutral. “Are you absolutely certain?” The Guildmaster now looked VERY uncomfortable, while the High Priest and the well-dressed man beside him, who had to be a high-ranking noble, looked suddenly VERY interested and angry, respectively.

“Guildmaster, with all due respect, I am a Sphinx, I have a memory meant to span Millennia, I do not forget things that happened as recently as this.” The guildmaster was now sweating buckets, and this was when Yndali took my advice.

“I told you I was innocent, you worthless commoner! She huffed herself up, “Now then release me and my poor bodyguard from these poles this instant! I demand reparations for this. And you Guildmaster are to repay me trice over for every. Single. Core you gave to this… Beast from my personal collection in your fanatical witch hunt!”

Guild guards rushed over and released them both while the old man next to Rael rushed over and started to cast healing spells on Mandol, Indella saw him too. *He’s Erem* she noted, Rael however was looking at me, and his eyes said it all, he knew I had lied. But he was keeping silent about it because we now had a common foe. Was it betrayal if the one you betrayed was actively trying to brainwash you? No, I decided, after a short contemplation on the issue, it was not. I refocused on the present where Yndali was now in the guildmaster face in a very convincing display of utter outrage. She was screaming accusations of some pretty horrific things that supposedly happened to her and Mandol. Both the High Priest and the dapper Noble, we’re looking at the guildmaster with some very VERY serious faces. The guildmaster should probably keep a very low profile for a while.

Then I interrupted Yndali telepathically and her focus redirected to the now securely gagged and restrained Ezekiel, I had… plans… for him. To say that Yndali gave a 5-star performance would be an understatement. With a dramatic flourish, she whirled around and walked up to Ezekiel and looked him dead in the eyes. “I demand Right of Retribution for his betrayal and passage to kill him in the same hole he did business in.” The dapper noble eyed her for a moment. “Granted” he said simply. Ezekiel lost control of his bowels at this moment, probably because I had planted a mental picture into his head of what awaited him.

It was a surprisingly easy thing to get the Dungeon to be on its best behavior for Yndali; I had the range to reach out to other Psionic minds within a 64-kilometer radius thanks to my evolved skill; the Archives was kind enough to point out and Duplica was Psionic, like all Doppelgängers. Once I explained the situation she was more than happy to help out, my only regret was that I would not be able to personally witness it.

Once Yndali had been given an absolutely absurdly big bag of gold, from the Guildmaster’s personal wealth. Because he had not done his “investigation” through official channels. She marched a now all but panicked Ezekiel out of the room with an absolutely murderous look in her eyes. I had shown her and Mandol as well what awaited him, and they approved. Both me and Indella were escorted back to our room, this time by Rael, Mordred and Erem, who had intercepted the guard and volunteered for it.

Mordred took the word first. “We can speak freely, unless you have a Divine spying skill you are not getting past the ward I just cast around us. Now tell me, how in the world did you lie? My intuition skill lit up like a flare screaming. “She’s Lying” so don’t even bother to deny it.” I smiled before responding. “One man’s truth is another man’s lie, your truth is that Lady Penumbra is a horrible abomination. My truth is that she is my Mother, neither are a lie for those they concern.”

Mordred’s eye twitched, “Stop being pedantic, you know what I mean. A Tamed Core cannot tell a lie, ever. So, how did you do it?” I just responded with a question of my own. “What’s 1 + 1?” he answered with a deadpan “Huh?” To which I repeated. “What’s 1+1?” Mordred looked at me. Not understanding what I was insinuating at all. Erem did though, as he stopped dead in his tracks “You’re not Tamed” he concluded.

Mordred tripped over his own feet from the surprise of the statement, and Rael looked, unsurprised. Not much of a shocker there. Though Mordred’s Intuition skill had to be pretty damn good to set off warning bells so strong that he would go this far just to confirm them.

I didn’t confirm Erem’s claim, nor did I deny it, I just smiled. “1+1 = 2, if 1+1 cannot equal 2 then that means you do not have two 1’s.” Mordred grumbled as he got back on his feet. “You are talking in circles and riddles, speak plainly.” He demanded angrily. “I am a Sphinx, speaking in circles and riddles is what I do.” Rael and Erem laughed at that, and even Indella smiled weakly.

“By the way, you three” my smile vanished as I swapped to telepathy. “I should warn you, never go into lengthy conversations with the guildmaster. He has a Unique skill he is using to talk people into just smiling, nodding, and going along with whatever he wants. It just takes time for it to kick in” at my words the trio went pale as sheets. Rael shot a look up at Indella “Is she lying?” Indella shook her head, “Well, shit. That’s terrible news” he concluded in response. Mordred cursed rather strongly.

“I take it the Core has immunity to it then?” Erem inquired. “I have a skill that blocks all but divine level mental assaults and most mental status effects too. And because of the bond I share with her, she has the skill too.” I responded as I pointed my tail at Indella. She looked a bit uncomfortable being the center of attention suddenly. Then Rael took the word again, “So the reason you interrupted the guildmaster was…”

“A single interruption is enough to send his progress with the skill down to zero. Also, anyone with any form of “Stubborn” skill is immune to it. So if you feel you can trust your dwarf friends, tell them. “Dwarven Stubbornness” and all that. Though I would try to see if you could get some mental blocks for the little firebrand, the female knight and the mousey archer. They all were among the first to zonk out as the guildmaster talked.” The three nodded slowly, getting around to the idea.

We were still talking about stuff an hour later; We were back in our room, Indella was sitting between my front legs, leaning against my furred chest. Mordred was lying on the bed while Rael and Erem were sitting in the two chairs in the room. By this point we had all but openly declared an alliance against the Guildmaster. As the three got far more info on what had been transpiring and the insight I could share because of the Archives.

Mordred had to renew the spell twice by this point. Not that he cared. He seemed genuinely absorbed by what I had told them of what had transpired from my point of view. The trio looked… about ready to throw up when I was done. Can’t say I blame them.

“We do have one problem though” I said at length, “Hmm what?” Mordred looked at me with a curious expression. “Me and the girl can’t stay here, as mentioned Rubolg basically gave Inlas a full communication ban for a few days as part of her punishment. If we are still here when that expires…” I paused and let the unspoken words hang in the air. “Inlas will inform the guildmaster you are not a nice obedient little kitten. And he will arrange to have the girl killed and haul you off for a second round on the “merry-go-taming” right?” finished the Cleric.

I nodded. “Bingo, but we can’t leave too quickly either. If we make our escape before Yndali returns…” Mordred interrupted me this time. “She’s a dead woman, and she would be a very good ally to have against the Guildmaster. So, we need to arrange for a plausible cause of escape before the ban lifts, but not before she returns. This leaves us with a rather tight timeframe.” Rael was thinking I could practically see the gears turning in his head.

He slowly spoke. “The only way I see for an escape to be plausible would be if we faked Indella’s death. With the owner “dead” you would be “freed” from the taming effect. Still, no clue how we could excuse getting you out of that bracer though.” The other nodded slowly. They had been quite surprised when they learned the truth of Indella, but it was all cards on the table right now.

I grinned “I do, Will Binder, you know how it works I assume?” They all looked… uncomfortable at the notion but slowly nodded until Erem, seeming quite reluctant, finally said. “Indeed that would do it, can’t be held responsible if your mind is not your own.”

The talks continued to sunrise, with Mordred renewing the spell, just as they were rising to leave however I remembered something. “Say Mordred, you wouldn’t know how to cast illusion spells?” He looked at me. “Only a few why?” I answered plainly for once. “I have “Innate Spell Casting” and “Illusionist” but no clue how to cast spells. I could fake her death with an illusion if I could just learn how to make one.” Mordred looked at me for a few seconds in utter silence before answering. “That… could work, we begin tomorrow. For now, I need some sleep, heck we all do.” He wasn’t kidding, Indella was already soundly asleep leaned up against me.

I waved at them with my wing before saying. “Don’t forget to tell the dwarves, it would be bad if they commented on my “name” being, well…” Rael nodded. “See two later, sleep well.” I nodded as I carefully lifted Indella into bed and tucked her in, then curled up beside the bed.