It had taken hours, but Eriko had finally tracked down the dragon that had tricked her daughter. As a mother, her instincts had screamed at her to drag her wayward daughter along for this meeting, but her instincts as a queen told her not to. After so many years, she had learned when to listen to which set of instincts. At the moment, her experience told her to listen to the second set of instincts. As such she had left her daughter behind, so she could focus her energies on the meeting. There was quite a bit she had to say. Now that she had finally met the dragon in question, she felt it was the right choice.

As she settled into a seat at the outdoor eatery which the dragon had brought her to for this discussion. The dragon said, “You know, I didn’t expect you to find out about that contract so soon.”

She leaned forward, “What did you think? That I would be too busy to have time for my daughters or something?”

The dragoness chuckled, “No, mothers have an uncanny ability to notice things like that.”

“I noticed faster than you expected though.”

“Something like that, and I guess now comes the very awkward part of the conversation.”

“If you don’t like this, you should not have tricked my daughter. Release her, now, and we can skip the unpleasant conversation.”

Zemoria just gave her a grin, “I’m just following my nature, and what I did will help her. Well, as much as it helps me.”

Eriko rolled her eyes. This was going to be a long conversation.

Meanwhile, Xatali knelt before the shrine of a naked woman. A part of her could scarcely believe that she was turning to gods for help, but she saw no way out. Never one to pray, she hesitated for a moment or two. Her mind wondered if she was even doing this right.

She looked around, no one was there, and the walls around the shrine made it semi-private. Then she considered what she needed. Her mind churned over everything she had heard about gods. She recalled various beliefs, especially those she had heard in regard to sins, and confessions. One struck her as particularly symbolic and appropriate. She pushed herself back off the ground and then reached for the fastenings of her mage’s robe.

Given what she planned to do, in her mind, it seemed best to come before the goddess naked. It was not something she would normally consider, besides the goddess had stripped her once before. 

Her clothes fell to the floor, and she knelt before the statue again. She clasped her hands and prayed. In an instant, space distorted, and she was before Dewari.

Dewari smiled, “Interesting choice, maybe not needed, but I think Arlie will appreciate the symbolism.”

Xatali just gave a nervous smile.

Dewari grabbed her hand, and pulled her along. Leading her to a small garden. “I’m going to leave you here. I suggest you take a moment to pull yourself together, and when you are ready step through that arch. It will take you to Arlie.”

The arch Dewari mentioned was in the center of the garden. Xatali nodded and settled onto the grass near some flowers. The peace of the garden was actually nice. A part of her was glad that she had this moment of peace before visiting Arlie. She needed it, actually. 

She did not however stay long. After a few minutes of enjoying the peace of the garden, she made for the arch and stepped through the black void sitting there. What greeted her on the other side was a surprisingly comfortable sitting room. Arlie was already seated and pointed out a second seat.

“Welcome, and do sit down. Dewari told me to expect you. Not that she needed to.”

Xatali just stood there for a moment looking around before she sat as directed. Arlie said nothing, and for several minutes the silence dragged on. Until finally Xatali decided to speak, but it just didn’t feel right being in the chair. She tried to move, but something held her there. She sighed and decided it was Arlie.

Looking down, she began, “I... I messed up. I lost my ball, and now I need your help.”

Arlie said nothing, and she just continued. At first, she stuttered her way through this, but like a damn breaking, she soon started to gush. Until she finally ran out of things to say.

Arlie leaned forward, and said, “Yes, you did mess up. True you didn’t know everything, but as you surmised you knew enough to avoid this. The past can’t be changed though. Dewari was right that I could help you, and I will.”

Excitedly she looked up, with disbelief, “You will help me!?”

Arlie nodded, “Xatali dear. I have every reason to help, and none not to.”

Relief filled her. She had secured the help she so needed. Arlie was going to help her, and so easily too. She tried to speak only to choke on her own words.

“Zemoria installing herself as your master is unfortunate. While she could teach you a great deal, her predilections prevent her from seeing your full potential. She sees only your potential as a nature mage and ignores your greater affinities. Although I am sorry to tell you that two of your highest affinities require you to wear less, but thankfully, neither of them is actually your strongest. Tell me what two elements have you found easiest to control?”

She thought for a moment, and of the elements she had tried to work with, two did stand out. “Fire and Lightning. Why do you ask though?”

Arlie smiled, “I thought so. Would it surprise you to learn that in my youth those were my main elements?”

She blinked, “Are you saying we both have the same primary affinities?”

“Not all our primary affinities match, just those two. Not to mention, mine no longer matter.”

“What do you mean your affinities no longer matter?”

Arlie looked away for a moment, and then turned back, her expression different. “I’m old, very old even by the standards of my race. Most Soleans don’t know it, but I have actually lived long past the normal limit of our lifespan.”

“What does that have to do with your affinities?”

“I was getting to that. We Soleans have a hibernation cycle. We depend on mana, specifically Makaiju to live, but unlike most races we cannot replenish our reserves simply by resting. Our bodies use too much to recover it naturally except in areas that have unusually high mana densities. Now we can create these artificially, but we do eventually end up depleting even our massive reserves. When we do, our main method to recover is to hibernate. We sleep deeply in a special place we have prepared for this purpose. Often that sleep lasts so long that our bodies turn to crystal. Although there are other options. Some forbidden, others not. Most aren’t as effective or efficient as hibernating though.

“I can no longer do that. I have not been able to hibernate for nearly 1.3 million years now. You may be wondering how I still live despite that. The answer is something called the Elder’s Metamorphosis. A mystical ritual that allows an elder of the highest rank to ascend to greater heights. The ritual allows one to master all elements, and replaces one’s natural affinities with Omni-affinity. Not without price or cost. For a time after the ritual I was weakened, until I mastered the elements, and restored balance to my body. Although, if I had failed I would not be here now. Many had tried the ritual before me and failed; resulting in their deaths.

“I did not, and the changes wrought by the ritual allow me to live without hibernating. Unlike the rest of my kind, I am a mana source. I produce all the Makaiju I need to live. Mana densities no longer matter to me.”

Xatali didn’t know what to say at first. It was... she had no words for the feelings welling up in her, but she wondered what it was like to reach such heights. Arlie had just told her she had exceeded the limits of her own race. “Would I ever be able to do the same?”

“Many races have their own ascension rituals that allow them to exceed their limits. I can help you reach the peak, but crossing it will be up to you. How you do that, is something you must discover on your own. I can not tell you.”

That was alright. She had time, and at the moment she was more interested in learning magic. “Well, it might be a long time before that. Anyway, how are you going to help me?”

Arlie shifted in her seat, “Come here. I already went ahead, and reset the ball to minimal control settings.”

Xatali pushed herself out of the seat, glad that the mysterious force keeping her there was gone. Slowly, she approached Arlie. When she got near, Arlie gestured for her to settle on the ground, which she did.

“There are few things I can do that Zemoria would respect,” Arlie’s hand suddenly brushed her naked uppermost left breast making her jump. “I would like to offer you my mark. It will mark you as my priestess, giving me certain rights over you. This will also allow you to channel a small portion of my powers, but in exchange, you become an extension of my will.”

She frowned, pulling away from the touch, “That sounds like trading one form of slavery for another.”

“It is not. You will keep your free will. Basically accepting my mark, means that you are agreeing to become a servant of my will. I may ask you to do something to further my own agenda, but how you go about doing that will be up to you. You are also free to refuse a task. I can’t order you around like a slave, and I certainly can’t order you to do something like walk off a cliff.”

That was reassuring, actually, but there was still one question left. “I do have loyalties other than you. What if...”

She was cut off, “At the moment, it is unlikely for the foreseeable future that anything I ask will conflict with your existing loyalties. One of my goals is to help your Union grow into a respectable rival for the Empire. However, in such a case you are still free to choose but do keep in mind the mark is a contract. With everything such an agreement entails.”

Arlie paused and reached to her side pulling out a crystal sheet with text emblazoned on it. “It’s a fairly simple one as outlined here.”

Xatali took the sheet and started to read over it. It was filled with the normal legal language, the kind most never bothered to read, but then again they were not in her situation. She read over it carefully, then again. She kept reading until she was satisfied that she understood what this agreement entailed, what she was agreeing to, and how this would affect her. This seemed like a very good option, and she was inclined to take it. First however, she chose to ask, “If I refuse this, what are my other options?”

“You could challenge Zemoria to a bet over ownership of the ball, but that is risky. Especially when you consider that you have very little to bet.”

Yeah, that didn’t sound good. Xatali really didn’t have much to bet that the dragon likely didn’t already have. Not to mention, she wasn’t much of a gambler, she much preferred sure-fire solutions or at the very least low-risk ones. Some of her past experiences had taught her that taking chances was just as likely to backfire if not more so than achieve the desired result.

“There is also trying to negotiate a contract with Zemoria or you could try taking the ball back from Zemoria, but both of those are also risky. I can help you with the one, but without accepting my mark there is very little I can do to help you.”

She thought about it for a moment and categorized what she knew. The young Liritian quickly came to the conclusion that the mark was her best shot. Quietly she said, “I’ll... take the mark.”

Arlie gave her a motherly smile, and then suddenly pressed a hand firmly against her chest. “This will hurt a bit,” she warned, but before Xatali could register that, she felt the pain. It was intense, but thankfully quite brief. Vanishing completely the moment Arlie lifted her hand away. Revealing a glowing scar seared into her flesh right in the center of her chest. Just between her uppermost set of boobs. A symbol she had seen before was there in stark contrast with her skin. Three concentric circles ringed a pair of lightning bolts striking the same spot at the bottom of the innermost circle. From that point, a bolt of fire was depicted shooting straight up.

She stared at it for a moment, and then she realized that she was feeling a little different. The way the mana in her body flowed had changed.

“I’m going to deal with Zemoria, now. As for your first task, I need you to help someone else. They too are being targeted by that Dragon...”