Arlie shifted slightly in her seat. It had been a couple of hours since she had woken up, and she was still all here. Not hiding somewhere in her own mind. She was now at a table with both of her best friends, Lily and Rose. It was clearly a date, and she was starting to feel a little conscious of that. Rose had found them a nice place in town to eat. A lovely tavern not far from the inn that focused more on the food than the drinks they served.

They had been here for a while, mostly talking about unimportant things when Rose finally asked her something. “About that spell, you dreamed up. Any idea what it does?”

Arlie nodded, looked around, and then said, “I do. It’s some of the most advanced spellwork I have ever seen. I’m not even sure I can cast it. I have a feeling that a god showed me that spell work. Those dreams seemed to have meaning, the gods wanted me to know something, but I have no idea what.”

Lily frowned and leaned forward a bit, her breasts pressed against the table. Lily had been a little different all morning. She had been moving differently, deliberately drawing attention to things like her breasts. Just like she was doing now. Arlie certainly appreciated the view, she even noticed the way her nipples were poking through her top, and the one was threatening to slip out of the small top she was wearing. That was another thing, Lily wasn’t dressed as conservatively as she normally dressed. She was wearing a short top, that barely covered her chest and a mid-length skirt. She also knew from earlier that there was nothing under that skirt. Although she was also pretty sure that skirt flip earlier was deliberate. It seemed almost as if Lily wanted her attention. Lily was being far more flirty today than she had ever been in the past. Arlie was sure something had happened but wasn’t yet sure how to broach the subject. Rose seemed to have questions as well but had not yet asked either.

“You don’t know what they were trying to tell you?”

Arlie stared for a moment, and then shook her head, “I don’t know yet. The gods showed me four dreams, but other than the one, I have no idea what the other three were trying to tell me. All of them had a peculiar feel to them. I think they were memories, but I don’t know whose. The last one though, I think was meant to show me that spell.”

Lily glanced at Rose, and shifted her posture. Rose gave her a look and then said, “I saw those formulas and they were way beyond any spell formula I have ever seen. What kind of spell was that?”

Arlie was silent for a moment. She spent that moment framing her response, “Well, that is mainly because I haven’t shown you advanced element spell forms. This is of course beyond most of those. The spell is a hybrid elemental spell of advanced elements, the advanced form of fire, plasma, the advanced form of light, celestial, and the advanced form of lightning, divine lightning. It’s certainly the kind of spell work worthy of the gods. I need time to study it though.”

Rose glanced at her sister, and then asked, “About the other dreams, what can you tell us about them?”

Arlie relayed what she could about the dreams. Pausing only briefly when the waitress came by with their food. Only there was not a lot to tell. Each of her dreams had been brief, a fragment that told her almost nothing. Her friends, judging by their expressions clearly did not know what to make of them either. Before they could share any thoughts on them, a voice spoke up from behind.

“You really should not be leaving open spell books lying around. Especially one with such a dangerous spell in it,” said a very familiar voice.

Arlie looked over her shoulder to see the familiar and naked figure of Aurora. Right there in Aurora’s hands was an item that Arlie recognized instantly. It was her own spell book. She gasped, and immediately reached for it. Only to have Aurora pull it away. Aurora tutted, and then said, “Not quite yet, we have a few things to talk about first. Let’s start with where you saw these spell formulas.”

Arlie shuddered, and didn’t like where this was going. As Aurora settled into an empty seat, she noticed her friends try to leave, only to be forced back into their seats. Arlie guessed Aurora didn’t want them to leave. It seemed her date was already going wrong, and not in a way she had expected. Arlie took a moment to center herself, she didn’t have any reason to lie either and relayed how the spell came to her.

Aurora’s eyes widened briefly, and then she gave a large grin, “Really!? That is good news. I can’t wait to teach you how to properly use this spell.”

Arlie felt a chill go down her spine. It seemed this date was turning into a nightmare. She could see it now, the three of them were about to be dragged out of the tavern, and forced into hellish training. How exactly do you say no to an ancient dragon, that can seize control of your limbs? That was the question she would have paid almost anything to have the answer to. It would make her life so much easier. Little did she know that the only person who could answer that other than the dragon was herself. The dragon’s shift in mood was certainly not a welcome one. Maybe she should have lied instead, but what exactly could she have said about the spell that would have led to her being left alone anyway? Yet another question she would have loved the answer to.

This was a date she had been dreaming of for years, and now it was all going wrong. Sure they had already had some sex, but that was like hugs and kisses. You shared that with people you like. Your close friends, but it was not the most intimate of acts. Even if some girls zealously guarded their purity. That was mainly because they were ignorant of true intimacy. What she wanted was far more intimate, in a far more meaningful way. Not a simple physical bond, but a bond of spirit and mind. She wanted to share her spirit and mind with these two, and this date was finally a step in that direction. Only with Aurora here, that was all crashing down around her. Why was that dragon even in her room in the first place? Maybe if she had closed her spell book this would not have happened.

Aurora spoke, breaking her line of thought, “Now before I give this back to you, I need to make sure you understand why you don’t leave these things lying around.”

She groaned. Unfortunately, there was little she could do but sit there and listen to the lecture. Thankfully Aurora didn’t drag them out on a training session, but by the time she left none of them were in the mood to continue their date. Instead they trudged back to the inn with a lot on their minds.

Arlie slumped onto the bed heavily. She was aware of the twins settling on the bed with her, but she said nothing. Neither did they. They just laid there in silence, letting the moment stretch on into eternity. She just didn’t know what to say. Neither did the twins it seemed. Not that she blamed them. All of them had something they had wanted out of that date, and not just to share in a conversation about dreams. That was just a pretense, she knew it, and Arlie knew they did too. Being lectured by Aurora had not been part of the dating plan, and the twins had not been spared from the lecture either. They too had been lectured on the importance of zealously guarding their spells lest the ignorant do something foolish. She understood that point, but what were the chances that someone would have gone into her room? Much less understood enough about spell formulas to actually try and cast one themselves.

Arlie sighed, then again, there were mortals who had done stupid things with magic. Very stupid things. The kind of things that would get people killed or worse. A few mortals had even been so stupid as to experiment with magics forbidden by the gods. An act that often motivated the older mage clans, and the temples to raise forces to eliminate the foolish mage or mages who dared conduct such an experiment. It was never pretty when that happened, but it was a necessary evil. Allowing them to complete their experiments was always worse.

Finally, as the silence threatened to go on forever, Arlie broke it. While suppressing an urge to sniffle, she said, “I’m sorry. I ruined our date.”

Lily rolled over, gave her a look, and said, “You did not ruin our date.”

Rose was quick to concur and added, “If anything, Aurora should not have even been in here.”

Arlie chuckled wryly, “Yeah, she shouldn’t have, but try telling her that.”

They all giggled wryly at the thought. That dragon was a force of nature, and the best they could do was try and stay out of her way.