The breeze, artificial or not, brought a chill with it and Saelina huddled into her black cape, grateful for the winter clothes Tiyala had commissioned for her. Her companion gave her a look of concern but she smiled reassuringly.

“The cold isn't as severe as on the surface‌, yet it still carries a bite,” Laelith noted.

“Though, compared to the frozen waters of the South Strait, this could almost be considered warm.”

“The South Strait?”

Laelith smiled.

“Ever heard of the Frozen Plains? It's a vast wasteland, a massive island, between the continents of Elea and Farvo, both tropical. It's an almost perfect ring, surrounding a large body of water.”

She used her hands to form a circle, her thumbs staying apart, slightly.

“On the south part, there's a narrow, leading to the ocean, called the South Strait.”

She dropped her hands, breaking the circle.

“It's a remarkable place. Every living thing, whether plant or animal, was instantly frozen and remains intact, encased in the ice and snow. No one knows how it happened or how the temperature stays so low, despite the warm waters surrounding the area. It's a mystery every scholar and mage dreams of taking on, but it's not that easy.”

She shuddered.

“It's a dangerous place to visit. The temperatures reach such extreme lows that you could easily die within minutes. I lost three members of my crew, seasoned men. The cold hits you instantly, there's no warning. One moment, you're fanning yourself with palm leaves, the next, your tits are freezing off.”

“What, on the mortal plane, were you doing there?”

“Sorry, darling. Trade secrets have to remain secret. Though I count my blessings, the weather here is so mild.”

The streets were busy, with people coming in and out of stores, carriages driving past on the main street, along the smooth cavern floor, worn by countless feet and wheels. Most of the people Saelina saw seemed to be servants on errands for their employers, usually consulting notes or counting items on their fingers, while going over some mental list of items to procure.

It all carried an air of normalcy she had not expected.

“Aren't you on the brink of war?” she asked, shooting curious glances at the general apathy, displayed.

Laelith caught on to her meaning and smirked, but there was no warmth in the expression.

“Gaerwhynn is ‌in the heart of Islasa, far beneath a mountain range. It's an understatement to say her people are far from facing the direct effects of the current tensions.”

She looked around, ‌then gestured towards a group of people chatting next to one of the bigger shops.

“However, not everyone is cut off from what's going on at the edges of the country.”

Looking closer, Saelina noticed the grim faces; angry words could just barely be heard over the general noise of the crowd. Paying even closer attention, she could tell that the group in question was being deliberately ignored by the general populace, as most people were giving them a wide berth, without as much as looking at them.

“You feel it, don't you?” Laelith asked.

Saelina nodded. There was an undercurrent, a fervent wish to keep pretending everything was fine, that nothing would disturb their idyllic lives.

“The noble families do their best to keep from acknowledging the coming conflict, but people aren't blind or stupid. And we dumped you right in the middle of it all, with little explanation and even less grace.”

“At least I can hope to learn more about Dhíanvhúr,” Saelina answered.

The nyx captain gave a bright smile.

“Oh, Miralise is the right person, trust me.”

Saelina nodded hesitantly, remembering Ezeas' warning. She considered for a moment whether to question Laelith about the meaning, but the other preceded her.

“Ezeas was none too pleased when I told him of my plan. But even he knows this is the best course of action.”

“Why doesn't he like her?”

Her friend hesitated, seemingly unsure how much she should reveal.

“You know what? It's not really any of my business. And it's not like I need yet another reason for your cousin to hate me,” Saelina said, amicably.

The dark-haired woman looked at her with something suggesting indecision, then released a deep breath.

“Their history is complex. He no longer trusts Miralise because of their shared past and I don't blame him, exactly. But I also can't just stop knowing her.”

She stopped and turned to Saelina, grabbing her shoulders, tightly.

“I trust you to make up your own mind, but regardless of what you decide I want you to remember that both she and Essy are good, if flawed, people. And unfortunately, they're both influenced by matters outside themselves.”

The last part carried a hint of sadness, and all Saelina could do was nod. She had never been touched in a purely friendly manner and was unsure what to think of it. The grip loosened, and the pair continued down a small side street. At first, neither knew what to say, then something occurred to her.

“Will she be speaking Nyxan? Because I'm not confident I can't keep up, yet.”

“No. One of the few things you don't have to worry about, here, is people understanding you,” Laelith declared.

“Why not? Does every nyx just happen to know Lissonése?”

“More or less. You know how one of our primary incomes is ‌renting out our particular 'talents' to other countries? Well, one reason we're successful in that is because we can blend in. Every nyx goes through a decade and a half of extensive language lessons, including dialects and accents.”

“But you don't look human?”

A gesture of her hand, and Laelith's skin became a warm tawny shade, her ears shrunk down and rounded, her midnight blue eyes paled and the exposed incisors in her grin, shortened, until a human version of the captain stood in her place.

Saelina stared at her with wide eyes.

“You can change your shape?”

Human Laelith shook her head.

“It's just a glamour and it takes years to master it. Not only that but we can't change anything too significant. I can't make myself appear shorter or thinner. There's also a cost: our magic will continuously be drained while the glamour is active. At best, we can go for a few days, maybe a week, looking this way.”

“Do you guys have any weaknesses?”

Laelith undid the illusion before answering.

“Well, we don't handle direct sunlight very well, especially for long stretches of time, we can't eat grain and since we live in caves, our population can't grow too big, so we're outnumbered by literally every other country on the continent.”

She smiled.

“That's three things. Or were you perhaps wondering about the hypothetical weaknesses of someone specific?”

Her grin took on a wicked quality and Saelina grew curious.

“Say I were? Would you know something?”

“Tell you what, we'll have a talk over drinks, some time, and I'll let you in on all the secrets,” she answered with a wink.

The pair stopped in front of a two-story house, rather unremarkable among its neighbors. Laelith used the door knocker and stepped back to wait. It took mere seconds for someone to turn the handle and open the door.

Brilliant blue eyes peered out at them, settled in a round face with full, red lips, framed by short, smooth hair. The nyx was slightly shorter than Saelina and seemed rather timid as she smiled, sweetly.

“Hello.”

Laelith grinned from ear to ear.

“Good morning, Mira. Saelina and I would like to talk, if you have the time?”

The door opened wider, and the owner came out, embracing Laelith with a laugh before she ushered them inside. The interior was filled with light and colors; the walls were painted a delicate yellow hue, every painting depicting some animal or other. Saelina caught sight of the raptor-like creatures, phu'rias, in one artwork, attacking a much bigger animal in a group. Seeing the red-eyed predators jumping onto the back of their prey and tearing into it made Saelina hope never to meet a feral one in the tunnels.

The furniture was made from a light wood and only added to the bright atmosphere; they were quickly lead into a library, where soft chairs were set up around a desk. Windows adorned two of the four walls, illuminating the room and giving a spacious impression. Small crystals broke up the rows of books, glowing in soft colors.

Their host gestured for them to sit at the desk and followed suit, patting the stacks of books and rearranging a small pile of crystals as she did so. Her demeanor had changed as she seemed eager and excited.

“I'm so happy you decided to see me about this!” she declared, enthusiastically.

She looked at Saelina, expectantly.

“You must be the dragon-bonded, I'm so sorry, I haven't introduced myself properly.”

She reached out a hand.

“My name's Miralise Vadran, I'm the local historian and I've had a fascination with dragons as long as I can remember.”

Saelina took the hand hesitantly, feeling slightly more at ease with the exuberant stranger.

“I'm Saelina. I'm bonded with a dragon named Dhíanvhúr.”

The nyx's face lit up.

“Yes! Laelith mentioned the name. Would you believe dragons have been the main focus of my studies? I guess my teias has put me on your path.”

“Uhm...what?”

Their host looked puzzled for a moment, then seemed to grasp the reason for Saelina's confusion.

“Oh, by mercy of spirits, I forgot! Humans don't have that, do they?”

Laelith shook her head, chuckling, and Miralise wasted no time before providing an explanation.

“It's a premonition power, of sorts. Every nyx has something that they can predict about a situation, person, decision or something entirely different. For me, I will get a sense of whether a topic will be useful for me to study or not. In this case, I made the choice to study dragons, specifically, years ago.”

Saelina looked to Laelith, who nodded in agreement, and wondered what her power was.

“So, I take it you know a lot about my dragon?”

Mialisa nodded eagerly, then paused and cocked her head to the side in self-doubt.

“Well, not as much as you'd like, I'd wager. No matter how I've searched, there's actually not much info on Dhíanvhúr, in recent times.”

“Why not?”

The nyx shrugged.

“I couldn't really say. But for the last two centuries or so, there's been no recorded activity.”

Saelina felt herself deflate, and the historian quickly continued.

“Still, maybe we should start by discussing dragons‌ before we move to yours specifically?”

Saelina agreed, and the other gave a quick smile of reassurance.

“Good. So, you're probably aware that dragons live a lot longer than any of the other races? In fact, they're considered immortal, as there's never been a dragon death on record.”

Saelina nodded, as it was common knowledge.

“Also, dragons are not inherently male or female. Any dragon can produce an egg through bonding with a mate, since the entire process stems from their magic. Whatever gender they use is self-assigned, or ‌most often assigned by the mortals who interact with them.”

She widened her eyes, having a hard time understanding the idea of not being born as 'he' or 'she'. It also occurred that she had ‌assumed Dhíanvhúr was male.

Do you prefer being a 'he', Dhíanvhúr?

An annoyed rumble sounded in her mind.

I care little for the social constructs of mortals. Whatever you call me beyond Dhíanvhúr, I care not.

“Since their procreation is magical, that means that a dragon need not mate with another dragon. They can form a connection with any magical being who's sentient.”

“Wait, so a human could mate with a dragon?”

Miralise nodded.

“Though, 'mating' would be a misnomer, in this case, I think. There's nothing sexual involved in the process.”

“Are there a lot of half-nyx dragons out there?”

The historian shrugged.

“We don't rightly know. There are only about two dozen dragons that we're aware of and it's believed that we're talking several centuries, before a dragon is mature enough to reveal itself.”

Her tone gave the distinct impression of a spring being allowed to uncoil after years in tense suspension.

“Dragons are rather secretive. The last new dragon was revealed a full seven centuries ago. Jhaehier, she was called. Even if one of them had a nyx parent, the dragon might not reveal it.”

“So, if they're so secretive, how did people ‌get their essence?”

“Our people stumbled upon one, thousands of years ago. It was before we lived underground, when we were just nocturnal tree dwellers, living in Nyxal. Until then, we'd seen them fly the skies like most mortals. Good omens, and all that.

“This is just legends, ‌but apparently, our ancestors saved a dragon who was trapped in a massive rock slide. In return, it granted them the essence of its powers.”

“It's powers?”

Miralise nodded, vigorously.

“Yes, what you have inside you isn't the actual dragon's essence, that's just a short-hand, rather than saying 'partial essence of a dragon's powers'.”

It was hard to argue against that point.

“Since then, it's become a prized achievement that we strive to obtain. We consider the bond between a mortal and a dragon sacred. The nyxis who ‌bond with a dragon and share its wisdom are revered in our culture, even today.”

“Of course, the politicians know to take full advantage of that,” Laelith added.

The historian gestured her concurrence.

“Yes, the House of Blades might very well have made a move against the High Councilor, before you entered the picture.”

“So, to summarize: I'm a political pawn because a grumpy dragon speaks in my head?”

The two other women looked at her with a mixture of sympathy and reluctant resignation. Saelina shook her head with a groan.

“Well, as long as that's cleared up.”

She slapped her hands on her knees and took a deep breath.

“In that case, how do I use my powers? I summoned a massive fireball and now I can barely light a match.”

For once, Miralise looked lost.

“See, that's the thing. I've never heard of someone immediately blowing structures up and then going back to square one.”

She gestured to the loose documents on her desk.

“Some have more affinity with the magic than others, but what you did was almost like...cheating? Not with nefarious intent, of course,” she quickly explained.

“It's like the power you used wasn't really yours and now it's disappeared.”

Saelina leaned forwards.

“You might not be far off. Dhíanvhúr mentioned that he was exhausted because we had pushed the limits of our connection. When it happened, it was as if I wasn't alone. There was someone there...with me?”

Miralise was listening with bated breath while Laelith seemed more uncomfortable than anything, probably still mourning what happened to her crew, or ‌possibly still scared of what Saelina did.

“I have to admit, I've never heard of a dragon, uh..'joining' with a human, or a nyx. Then again, I don't think there's any record of a bonded being so close to death as you were on that ship.”

The historian drew a big breath. Her excitement seemed to settle down a bit.

“I know this is a lot for you to handle. Dhíanvhúr is an enigmatic figure in our lore. He used to be very involved with our people. And now that he's back, as part of you, it's only right that you get some answers.”

She pulled forth a piece of paper, with notes scribbled neatly.

“Dragons don't keep track of their age, but our records show that he's been around for at least four thousand years, possibly more. There are older dragons out there, but none of which have any real presence in our historical texts.

“He's one of the more experienced of his kind, his curiosity often referenced in some of our older writings. He used to be interested in mortal matters, but I guess he got burned out on observing us at some point.”

There was a tinge of sadness in her voice, and Saelina made a mental note to ask the dragon about it at a later point.

“He has mastered several types of magic and is mostly known to use ice and, as you may have guessed, fire. He is also known to have his own set of morals. There are several instances of his bond being severed, when he disagreed with the person to whom he was bonded.”

“Wait, what was that? Dragons can sever the bond?”

Miralise looked at her in surprise.

“Yes, it's happened. Dragons hate being tied to someone they deem unworthy.”

Then why haven't you severed our bond? she asked, silently.

You understand so little. My choice was never for you and now I have lost it.

That makes no sense!

There was no answer, just a deafening silence filled with sorrow. Once again, it hit her like a gut punch and she fought to hold back tears, for which she had no explanation. Her host and companion looked confused and concerned, and she quickly cleared her throat.

“But you nyxis have magic. Why do you need dragon power?”

“Our magic is powerful for mortals but compared to a dragon, woefully limited,” Laelith said.

“Having the power of a dragon is akin to having access to unlimited magic. Their elemental prowess is unlike that of any mage, sorceress, fae or nyx, out there.”

“So, unless Dhíanvhúr undoes the connection, I'm bonded with him, until I die?”

Miralise looked slightly uneasy.

“I believe so, yes. Though, it might be longer than you think.”

“Why?”

“A dragon's power also grants longevity. You will outlive most humans, maybe even most nyxis.”

“Meaning: assuming I survive the war and any other attempts on my life, I'll have a good half thousand years left, as an overpowered human, and the only price is a grumpy voice in my mind?”

Suddenly, her prospects seemed a lot cheerier as Miralise nodded. She felt emboldened to ask her last question.

“Who was supposed to take the essence, if I hadn't?”

The resounding silence which followed the question was pregnant with an unspoken answer. Saelina's temporary soar was suddenly plunged below freezing. She dropped her head into her hands with a heavy groan.

“Of course! Because anything else would just be too damn easy, wouldn't it?”

Miralise was quick to try to assuage her despair.

“Saelina, I know you haven't gotten the best impression of...anyone, really, since being, for lack of a better word 'captured', especially Ezeas. But he won't hold it against you, he's not the kind to-”

“He still holds a grudge against you, and I assume you didn't rob him of the chance to be infinitely more powerful,” Saelina argued, heatedly.

Miralise went quiet, a painful expression on her face, and Saelina regretted her outburst.

“My apologies. It's none of my business what happened between you,” she said, softly.

“I'm just frustrated and apparently I don't have a great handle on my feelings right now.”

She shook her head.

“Don't listen to what I say, Miralise. I'm, what, a fifth of your age? What the fuck do I know?”

Miralise said nothing for a while, and Saelina started wondering if she had ruined a friendly relationship before it began. Laelith stayed silent but tense, waiting for some sign of ‌what she should do.

“Ezeas and I were engaged. I would say it's been about seventy years since then.”

The historian's voice was so low, Saelina thought she had been imagining the answer; as the former spoke, she leaned forward, trying to catch every word.

“We were in love. But things went...very wrong. I was originally from the House of Gold, they're the biggest of the Houses and they've been vying for the High Seat for close to 700 years.”

Miralise breathed deeply.

“We confided everything in each other and somehow, pieces of that information found its way to several high-ranking members of my house. They used it to attempt to overthrow Niranne. They failed. But when the one person you trusted is related to the would-be-usurpers, what are you going to think?”

“But you didn't, did you?” Saelina asked, more for record's sake than out of doubt.

Both Miralise and Laelith shook their heads.

“I tried to explain but there was no arguing. We were done and have been avoiding each other ever since.”

“I...I didn't mean to push you,” Saelina stuttered.

“It's just as well that you know. Laelith trusts you and I trust her teias.”

Saelina looked at the captain, who shrugged.

“I can tell whether a person is trustworthy. Though, that doesn't mean it's always a good idea to trust them. But that's why I believe Miralise, implicitly.”

Miralise nodded and stood from her chair.

“I think this is as good a time to end as any. I'll look into what I can about the incident on the Windrider, and maybe we can discuss it further after the Hastor ball?”

Saelina just looked from one nyx to the other in confusion, and Laelith smiled.

“Oh, now you spoiled the surprise, Miralise!”

The scholar looked suitably remorseful about it. Saelina's heart beat faster.

“A ball, like humans do?”

Her friend grinned.

“Well, we are slightly less formal, but essentially, yes.”

“And I can go?”

“They're probably expecting you to be there.”

Saelina could not hide the smile which burst forth on her face.

“I'm going to a ball? I'm going to a ball!”