Despite the awkward direction my conversation with the Queen had taken, it didn't take long for my mind to fixate on one part in particular. Circle-dragon magic. The Queen had said that there was once magic here. Yet ... despite the bondage gear and normalized sexuality here ... they were still not capable of wielding it.

At least ... in the Arch.

Walking alongside Raathgur, back to his room, I asked, “Do any circle-dragons still know how to perform magic?”

Raathgur froze in his tracks, and then turned to study me. It took me a moment to remember, sorcery was a religion here.

So I drew on a gravitational magic I had not practiced in years. Letting all the arousal we'd built together swell the air around us. Until my long curls began to rise around my head. Then, before I could draw too much attention, I let it fall.

Eyes wide, Raathgur's expression then fell to one of exhaustion as he rubbed his temples. Clearly processing more than he knew how to say aloud.

I feared, for a moment, that he would take me right back to the Queen. Maybe even reconsider treating me like a "courteous guest."

Instead, however, Raathgur drew a deep breath and said, “There are ... those of us who claim to.”

"Can I meet them?" I asked, without a second of hesitation. “Who are they?” I spun around so that I was facing him.

Raathgur sighed. “The imposters that the Queen mentioned. Circle dragons who dropped their tails long after childhood ... and tailless dragons who use prosthetics. They have a camp away from the rest of the tailless, in the swamp. And they're ... wary ... of visitors.”

“Can you take me there?” I asked hopefully, even before I knew why I had become so fixated on the idea. But ... maybe if there was magic ... I would be able to learn something. Something that would let me get back home just a little faster. Maybe even something that would help me get through the Mist around the continent.

Raathgur folded his arms and shook his head firmly. “I can’t.” The words came out a little louder than I thought he meant to because he gave an apologetic look and scratched the back of his neck. "As chief of security, I need to remain on the Arch. There's ... so much I need to do, now."

Something about the answer unsettled me. More than that, his entire demeanor was somehow ... familiar. I couldn’t put my finger on why. And I didn’t want to force him into something he clearly wasn’t comfortable with.

“Then … can I go there, alone?" I asked. "Can you tell me how?”

Raathgur pondered this for a moment, as if trying to come to a decision. Eventually he nodded to himself and said, “In three days, the Arch will be in its fully vertical position. The elevator to the island will be accessible for union night. As you have shown engagement with our culture already, I see no reason why you wouldn't also be able to participate.”

“Thank you,” I replied, smiling gently at him.

Raathgur nodded, but I noticed he had difficulty looking me in the face. "That you are a sorcerer is helpful, here. But do not reveal that you are one who knows magic. Not while you're here on the Arch."

-O-

When the Arch was at its highest point, days later, I found myself shuffling alongside hundreds of circle-dragons into a massive lift. The mechanism ran parallel with the arm that held the Arch in the sky.

I had left my formal clothing behind, in lieu of my cowprint top and pink skirt, but kept my prosthetic tail. The last thing I needed was to try to navigate a swamp in bondage gear and a dress.

The last I saw of Raathgur was him staring stoically behind, waving me off as the elevator doors closed. His eyes fixed on the ground, something of immeasurable weight behind them.

“That sexy hunk of a man is hiding something,” Tab whispered from my ear. I felt her holding a strand of my hair in front of her, to keep hidden from all the circle-dragons around us.

“Mhm,” I agreed, trying to make my response sound like a listless mumble so that people wouldn’t think I was talking to myself. Though I supposed that I could have always just lied that I'd been praying to Kavtagro.

As if.

The elevator lowered swiftly toward the center of the island. As we went down, I made a mental note of the nearest section of forest near the landing. We soon reached the bottom and exited onto a guarded platform.

There was a gathering of tailless dragons waiting around us. Many glared lecherously at the circle-dragons exiting out, pausing for only a moment to stare at me before returning to trying to attract a mate. Unlike the circle-dragons, the tailless dragons only had two real outfits–a sort of skirt and puka-shell necklaces for some, and then outfits like naval suits.

The circle-dragons of both groups immediately went out to speak with the waiting suitors. A few couples made eyes at me, but I walked past them. Normally, I might have indulged in a threesome. But I already had a course in mind.

This part of the island was nowhere near as refined as the Arch. Like on Gulversport, there were lots of beach shacks. There were also a few cement buildings … like brutalist rectangles. And the street was waved with smooth stones.

Had it rained, I would have busted my ass already. Under the hot sun, however, I was able to easily pass through the city blocks. Of a city that, as the Queen had told me, did not have the aesthetics of the Arch. These replaced by simplistic statues and memorials.

Still ... I never felt like I was in any danger. Most of the Tailless were content to mind their own business. Enjoying the quiet of a finished war they certainly thought they had won.

Eventually, I reached the overgrown outskirts of a swamp. Sparse, with short willows and a few spindly evergreens. There were plenty of flowers, however, and a pink variation of the tiny, sexy pollen dragons from back home buzzed between them in a happy little flurry. And layers of sand were kicked up over everything.

I did my best to keep step on sand, rather than anything which would poke holes in my bare feet. At least, until I found a path.

By the time that I saw the outline of a building, I was sweating profusely from the humidity. The driftwood structure was overgrown with vines and had several holes in the sides. These had been constructed onto, forming little homes all around the central building.

What I found odd, however, was the absence of any circle-dragons.

This mystery lasted all of about eight seconds before I heard someone say, “Do not move, pirate.”

Surprise made me jump in my skin. Worse, I was barely able to even enjoy any giddiness at being considered a scoundrel of the Wild Seas. Because I then felt the figure behind me grab at my wrist.

It had been a year since my last magic-fight. But the flames of instinct seemed to light inside of me.

I began to circulate the magic that Namali had taught me—drawing on previous lusts. In a single breath, I directed it at my own feet. The resulting explosion sent a cloud of sand up, along with both me and my attacker.

The two of us landed tangled in the sandy path while shapes moved around us, coughing and trying to wipe sand from their eyes.

My circle-dragon attacker circled around me for a moment. Surprised by my show of magic. Her skin was a silver that lightened only slightly along her elven-like skin. She was a bit older, maybe in her forties, if she aged anything like a human. And her tail ... like mine ... was made of cloth.

The circle-dragon dived at me.

I prepared to blast her a second time, but the body of the circle-dragon flashed with overbearing light, like the bulb of a camera.

She was a sorcerer!

My sight pulsed with the negative image of a circle-dragon, overwhelming to my senses. Even when I closed my eyes to keep the sand out, I could see her dancing in my vision.

The circle-dragon pinned my wrists to the ground, and used the weight of her lower lizard body to subdue me. She was breathing hard, her sweat dripping onto my back as her breasts pressed into me. I could feel and taste her humid breath on my face.

Magic intermingling with my lust ... I almost wanted to take the moment further.

“You're a sorcerer too?" the circle-dragon said, seeming hopeful for just a moment before falling back to her previous doubt. "Who sent you? The tailed or the tailless?”

I shook my head. “Neither. My vessel is stuck on the Arch. I mean, someone in security told me about you. That you might be able to tell me about your magic. But I swear, he did not send me to spy on you or hurt you. He wanted me to keep it secret that I was coming here.”

“Raathgur,” the silver circle-dragon said, looking away from me for a moment. And my answer was satisfying enough that she released her hold on me.

I stood, surprised at how quickly the fight had ended. “You know him?”

The circle-dragon didn't immediately answer my question. Her mind, similar to Raathgur's, had fixated on something else entirely. “You have a ship.” She beckoned those still shuffling behind me to come forward.

There were a few dozen of them–some with prosthetic tails, some with obvious scarring from having seemingly removed them surgically. They were dressed in every imaginable combination of styles from the Island, the North Arch, and the South Arch. Of course, most of it seemed fairly worn.

“I am Qasven,” the silver circle-dragon said.

“Lilly.”

“Tell me more about why you are interested in our magic,” Qasven said, beckoning me to her side as we began to walk toward the temple. "Perhaps we can come to an arrangement.

So I did. I gave her a brief summary about being carried to sea in a storm, about my adventures on the islands, and even a little about my time at the University.

For her part, Qasven just listened attentively, seeming to go a little deeper in thought when I talked about my ship.

By the time I finished, we were inside the massive wood building. The inside looked almost like a little city. There were people trading wares in one section, people sleeping on matts in another, and plenty of people just engaging in their own little community throughout.

Qasven led me to the back, into the last room. Where black water pooled into a sort of artificial pond. “I appreciate you sharing freely with me. Our magic ... it is an old one. I can teach it to you, and many other spells, in exchange for a service.”

I nodded eagerly, almost certain I was ready to give her anything she wanted. “What do you need from me?”

“Passage aboard your ship,” Qasven said.

My eyes widened in surprise. Perhaps I was projecting my own fears about being brought out here in the first place, but I couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you afraid that ... the World will stop you from leaving?"

I hoped my question made sense. I had no idea how complete their knowledge of the gods was. Nor my own, for that matter.

"To the contrary," Qasven said. "I understand your doubt. My studies seem to indicate that our islands exist for a reason. Nonetheless ... I also believe that the World brought you here for the same reason it brought you to the tiny person in your ear.”

“How the fuck did she see me?” Tab asked, a little too loudly for how close she was.

Qasven only smiled enigmatically.

However, I was already trying to consider her proposal. Like Tab, the heretical circle-dragons were not like the rest of their people. Hell, they had even recreated Kavtagro's magic. And, if they didn’t want to be here … was it really my job to keep them imprisoned?

Fuck no.

If this was the World using my journey to get people out of their own crappy world, fine. But if Kavtagro had a problem with it, he could get fucked. I may have let my lovers tell me what to do because it was hot, but I would be damned before I would take orders from a god.

I looked at Qasven, about to answer as much.

However, it was Tab who answered. “As Captain of the ship, you’ve got a deal. You'll have passage on our ship. As long as you will take Lilly as your sorcerer's apprentice.”

"Apprentice?" I asked, feeling a little off-balance. Hadn't I just been the ship sorcerer? Was I seriously getting demoted on my own ship? Again?

"You were the one down on yourself for being a magic-college dropout?" Tab said with a shrug I could virtually hear. "If the World needs you to grow ... maybe it's time you started doing that."

I was ... a little speechless.

However, Qasven simply said, "I find your terms more than acceptable, Captain. Lilly's apprenticeship begins now."