Chapter Fifty-One: Be At Ease.

“Ares,” Anna said, nodding. She let go of his back leg, her analysis complete. Ares stared at her, huffing. She stood up from her inspection of the creature, petting his back. “You may be small now, but you’ll grow big and strong.”

Turning around, Anna beckoned for the little alien rhino to follow. Now that she found her companion, she wanted to snoop on the others. As much as she disliked the Alliance Contract, gaining a companion for everyone would be a massive force multiplier.

Including Blizzy, their total fighters numbered nine. After they finished selecting from the Great Bestiary, it would be sixteen. Seeing Blizzy’s power against the Shadowborn swarm made her warm and fuzzy about the idea.

Already, she could see little Ares charging into battle with her slinging vine storms left and right from his back, taking down all the Shadowborn monsters that dared get in their way. Shaking her head to clear the fantasy, she spotted Issac leaping around wildly.

James was closest to him, but he seemed intent on running around randomly with the various grassland creatures. His smile was pure and his laugh echoed across the emptiness to reach her. She hoped he found a companion that suited him well.

Turning away, she crossed the grassland and returned to where the Emissary waited. Just as she expected, Isaac was right where she thought he’d be. The panther-like creatures he chased after continued to utilize the shadows to run him in circles, shifting through some space she couldn’t perceive to reappear elsewhere. However, the longer he chased them around, the better he got at predicting where they’d come next.

“Wonder if he’ll figure out how to imitate their shadow walking? That would be a really neat skill…” She watched him, contemplating what it would take to shift a physical body with magic - shadow and nature to be specific.

Already, she’d utilized her Path, Mystery of Vines, to pull her across the quarry. It was a decent mode of transportation, albeit stomach dropping at times, but there was no way for it to compete with instantaneous movement.

The panther creatures did it naturally, though she noticed a pattern. They couldn’t do it in quick repetition, running away from Isaac whenever he guessed their reappearance accurately. There appeared to be a distance limiter as well. The kittens couldn’t go nearly as far as their mom could, and she would often wait for them to come mewling after her.

Continuous observation led her to a realization. Each of them pulsed with a deep violet before the ability activated, whisking them away.

Looking down at Ares, she raised a brow. “Can you do anything special? Got anything hiding I should know about?”

He huffed back at her, looking away as though she’d said something offensive.

“You’ve got an attitude on you.” She crouched, petting his head. He mewled happily, nuzzling into her hand. “That’s okay, though. You’re still cute.”

Turning away from Isaac after he missed again, she smiled at the Emissary. He clasped his hands, bowing in return.

“The Vaulkian Rhinoceros - a very good choice for one of your talents.”

She stared back in surprise, catching herself before her jaw fell open. Never once had she expected the Emissary to communicate with her. It hadn’t addressed any of them outside the Great Bestiary, so she expected that to continue.

“You don’t sound like what I imagined. I expected something more... gruff?” She played with her hair, looking around for others to watch. Glancing upward towards the aviary, she barely made out Aiden leaning against the wall as Olivia tried to catch a four-winged falcon.

“This is not the first time I’ve heard such things, and I imagine it won’t be the last.” Dauvar grinned, watching as Olivia started using her own wind magic to combat the falcon. “I am Dauvar, the Naudox Emissary.”

“It’s a pleasure, Dauvar. My name’s Anna.” While she communicated with the Naudox, she was continuously attempting to parse his body language. A minute passed, and Dauvar didn’t attempt communication again. When she realized he wouldn’t, she took the initiative. “What happens after we’ve all completed the Companion Quests? Will you go back through the portal? Will we be able to reach you again? What about-”

“Be at ease, Anna.” She closed her mouth, stemming the flow of questions. Dauvar stepped closer to her, kneeling down to eye level. “The answers will reveal themselves in due time. You are worried, and it’s understandable to feel stressed. Do not worry. Be at ease. Even if he didn’t use the Alliance Contract, we of the Naudox were ready to support the Candidate that summoned us.”

“But-”

“We appreciate your worry, but there is no need. If he had the Contract and didn’t use it, I would’ve thought him a fool. Fools do not last long as Candidate. Trust me,” Dauvar rested a hand on both of her shoulders. “He made the right choice.”

She clenched her teeth, shaking her head. “It still feels wrong to me, but I’ll let it go if you have no problem with it.”

“It’s for the best.”

Anna shrugged. “I’m not so sure of that. The Shadowborn wished to consume us as resources. Shackling you to our will is similar, albeit less inhumane. I’ve just… seen things. I want us to be friends, you know?”

“I do believe friendship is created with time. You’ve asked what will happen when we leave.” Dauvar looked through the door to the Summoning portal. “I will return home, but my apprentice will remain with you. She waits for my return on Novalx. When I leave, she will relay communications to me through the system.” The Emissary rubbed his shoulders, looking up at the falcon. Almost as an afterthought, he added. “Your Candidate also has many ways of contacting us.”

“He probably isn’t aware of that yet. I’ll pass the message along.” Giving the Emissary a nod, she departed with Ares in tow. She hadn’t seen any trace of Isaac, Josh, or Cloudy. As much as she hated to admit, she really wanted to see what the others got.

Petting Ares on the head, she whispered to him, “It’s not that I don’t think you aren’t a bundle of cuteness that’ll grow up and be big and strong. I just like to stay informed. That’s all, swear on my life.”

Ares snorted, rolling his eyes.

“You little…”

Booming echoed through the forest. Claudia rolled her eyes, glaring at Josh’s back as he continued wrestling the momma bear that tried to bite his head off. She didn’t take kindly to him running up to her cubs, but the muscle head only took her challenge - and attempted murder - in stride.

A small grin crept onto her face as he ducked under a large swing, taunting the antlered bear. He didn’t care that it stood at an impressive ten feet. Bartholomew even rested several feet away on the ground so he wouldn’t hurt her.

As cute as it was, she wanted no part of it.

When she came back, hopefully he wouldn’t be a mauled corpse. Seems like he found his companion. Might take a minute for him to convince momma bear. She seems almost as stubborn as him. A match made in heaven.

Stepping away from the forest, she moved toward the elemental domains. The forest, jungle, and plains were nice and inhabited with plenty of variety, but she wanted something more esoteric.

Walking through several other biomes, she came before a mountain. Smoke floomed from its peak, a river of magma streaming down the side into an underground tunnel.

To the other side of the mountain ran a clear river. Icy floated at the edges of the stream, completely opposing the magma. The image created a beautiful dichotomy. To her surprise, there were creatures riding within the heated waves of magma.

Giggling in awe, she turned to the river. Cold wisps floated up, wafting against her skin. She heated her body with her fire Discipline, stepping away from the river. Despite her hatred for the cold, she still found the critters playing in the water incredibly cute. There were otters by the dozen, playfully jumping onto the banks to disturb the other resting wildlife. They created bubbles around them and then guided the power to torpedo through the water at breakneck speeds. Tiny little turtles, drifting through the water lazily.

Those were the only two types of creature she could identify. The others were all alien to her. Their form, shape, and size left her baffled and awed. Before she got sucked into gawking at some of the creatures, she turned toward the tunnel of magma.

It called to her.

Nearing the tunnel, she noticed writing that glowed blue on the ground and the walls. She couldn’t quite determine its function, curiously studying them as she walked down the path next to the magma stream.

With the application of fire Discipline on her skin, she barely broke a sweat next to the scalding magma. On her journey down the tunnel, she saw many different lizard-like creatures swimming and playing within the magma. They manipulated the earth and fire in a way that made them shoot around fluidly, much like the otters did within the river.

Each one fascinated her, but a ram running across the fiery river with fire in its horns and two long lashes of fire streaming over its head caught her attention. Following after, she saw it standing tall above the rest of the creatures. Another sauntered over, many times the size of the smaller one.

Claudia reached a hand out, gesturing toward the creature. The larger ram huffed a flaming breath, kicking at the ground as a metallic visor covered its face. Kicking and huffing at her, it eyed her dangerously. She raised her hands in a passive gesture, kneeling as she approached the lake of lava.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m nice. Pinkie promise.” She stuck her right pinkie finger up Inching closer caused the big ram to whinny, its eyes alight with burning - blue with white at its center. She could feel the heat from where she stood, but the more it tried to intimidate it, the more she wanted to tame one.

As much as she wanted to tame the creatures, it didn’t seem like it would go with her without a fight. Clenching her fists, she appreciated the new gloves covering her fists. When she compared the rewards from everybody else, it seemed like the pair counted as two items.

Can’t complain. They fit me just fine. Assuming a stance, she grinned at the bigger of the two, beckoning it toward her. As much as she wanted to be the aggressor, she couldn’t fathom walking on magma.

Not yet, at least.

The ram brayed, stomping the ground explosively. The baby watched from behind, jumping back and forth as it watched its parent rush toward Claudia.

Grinning, she rushed forward to meet it. If it was a fight it wanted, it was a fight it would get.