When we swoop into the clearing, Kalanthia is waiting for us. Not unexpected – she must be impatient to see how Lathani has progressed. The young nunda is so excited that she doesn’t even wait for Raven to set the capsule down; instead, she jumps out as the alcaoris circles slowly down towards the ground.

  Our journey has been far quicker this way down than going – the sun has only just dipped below the horizon on the same day we killed the fellapodil. Having a Tier three’s strength and mana pool to strengthen the wind current beneath Raven’s wings has made it a far easier task for him to carry us. He did borrow Ptera’s Lighten ability for the first hour of the journey, but Windy’s contribution meant that even after that faded, we didn’t lose much more time.

  Of course, that was only after we had all healed up from Windy’s accidental attack. Most of the wounds were minor – getting my Bound into the cavern was a key factor as they were able to avoid both the lightning strikes and the boulders. Raven was the worst injured – not only had he been hit by several lightning strikes, but also by a number of the boulders which had fallen when Windy’s cyclone failed.

  Although his large health pool had kept him out of danger, even he couldn’t just shrug off a cracked wing. He hadn’t been too keen to let my healing magic into his body but gave in when he realised that without it, he wouldn’t be able to fly for at least a couple of days, and that was only if I splinted it and he didn’t put it under strain.

  When he discovered that he had to actively give permission for me to be able to intervene in his body, and that by withdrawing his permission he made it practically impossible for me to operate, he was heartened. Fortunately, due to his stalwart defence of them, the hatchlings were the least injured of the group.

  I left Windy until last – she’d caused the problems; she deserved to live with the consequences until everyone else was comfortable. I didn’t even let her out of the earthen-trap until then, wanting to make a point. Only after her emotions settled to something more like resignation than rancour did I let her up and clear her system of the mana-inhibitors.

  I glance over at the samuran in question. She’s been quite subdued ever since I released her. I’ve continued keeping a close eye on her emotional state, wary about her starting something once everything has had a chance to sink in. Hours on, though, I’m fairly sure that she’s not going to cause trouble – yet. Her emotions have been filled with frustration, resentment, and more than a few flickers of guilt, especially when she saw small injuries on her sisters caused by the uncontrolled wind and debris.

  Either way, there hasn’t been any sense of scheming or an obvious mismatch between her exterior emotions and her internal ones. I know I’ll need to keep my eye on her, but hopefully if I can find a way to give her more responsibility or a more important role in the village to suit her desires for influence and recognition, that will be enough to keep the lid on things until it’s time for me to leave. Though I do worry about what might happen once I’m gone – I’d rather not add her to the list of those coming with me.

  Still, the struggle with Windy has had at least one positive consequence which I will be taking with me.

  I can’t remember how many times I’ve looked at this notification, but I pull it up again, pleasure running through me once more.

  My third Master Skill…and this one is a fundamental Class Skill. I have to spend time exploring these new effects, but they have the potential to be hugely important. I’ve spent a good portion of this trip thinking over the implications of this new Skill and feeling the differences between how I connect to the Bonds between me and my various Bound, and yet I still feel like I’ve only touched the surface.

  Right now, though, I need to redirect my thoughts to my next moves.

  We land with a small thump, Raven struggling as always to land without stepping on the capsule. I untie myself, and slide down his neck, thanking him on the way down and checking on his recent injuries with a concerned eye.

  They do not hurt, he reassures me, then he continues. It was a more productive trip than I thought it would be, he admits as my Bound all spill out of the capsule or slide down Raven’s side themselves. The Cores you gave me were worth the journey, if nothing else.

  While I have the fellapodil’s Core tucked safely in my Inventory – Raven judged it as a reasonably powerful Tier three’s Core, despite its lack of intelligence – we managed to retrieve a little treasure trove with Dusty’s help.

  Something, probably the fellapodil itself, had stored a small collection of Cores down in a small cave at the bottom of the tunnel, where it fed into the massive lake of water beneath. Most of them weren’t particularly high quality – almost all of them water-focussed, and all but three were Tier two. But two of the three higher-Tier ones were more interesting for my Tier three ally. One was poison-focussed, and the other was acid-aligned. For Raven, that made them even better for him than most of the Guardians around here would have yielded.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  I’ve handed out the other Cores to those in my party who wanted them. Dusty, of course, was very happy to have any water-focussed Cores, but only Sirocco and Bastet actively refused the Cores on offer. I guess because their paths are too different from the paths the beasts were taking, or something like that. There were two Cores left over which my Bound insisted I take. I’m happy to do so – maybe they can help me learn Water-Shaping.

  Heading over to greet Kalanthia, I see Lathani eagerly demonstrating her new abilities.

  And when I do this, I can do…this! Lathani exclaimed, dropping through the shadow of a tree to pop out of Kalanthia’s own shadow with Shadow Hop. And I can even control it a bit, she adds, focussing hard on the shadow of Kalanthia’s head. The shadow shifts a little, making Kalanthia grimace.

  That feels very odd, my cub, she says levelly.

  I know. I can’t do much with it yet, and it’s tiring, but everyone always says it feels funny, Lathani admits. That’s true enough – when she practised it on me, it felt like a mixture between a tingle and an ache. She also can’t seem to do more than make the shadows twitch a bit – at the moment. I have no doubt that with practice she will be able to show far more capabilities.

  That is always the case when you first gain your Shaping ability, Kalanthia consoles her. Continue practising and you will soon learn what it is capable of. Shadow-Shaping is a powerful ability, and it does not surprise me that my powerful cub has earned it. That you have gained two other complimentary abilities is an even greater advantage. She looks up and meets my eyes, moving over to meet me and rub her head against the top of mine. I reach up to stroke and scratch at her chin and she rumbles happily.

  You have given my cub the opportunity to grow and develop past what I could have, she tells me directly, almost emanating pleasure and approval. And in doing so, have allowed me to earn a significant benefit.

  “I know,” I admit, eyeing her cautiously. She turns her head to fix me with a golden gaze, silently prompting me to say more. Why does it feel like I’m standing in front of the headteacher of my school again? I shuffle my feet slightly. “Since we have the temporary Tame Bond, I got access to the details of your health, mana, and stamina pools, and I saw both your abilities and how giving Lathani her…blueprint, affected you.” Kalanthia goes still, her previously approving aura transforming into something a lot more displeased. “I brought you a gift to say sorry,” I hurriedly continue, pulling the Core from my Inventory that I saved for her.

  This was the third of the most powerful Cores in the fellapodil’s collection and is earth-focussed – seeing it I know that it would be a perfect way of admitting to invading Kalanthia’s privacy and hopefully appeasing her.

  The massive nunda leans forwards and sniffs at the Core, then licks at it with a rough tongue.

  It is a suitable gift, she allows, then fixes me with her golden gaze again. However, next time, just ask. And if I choose not to answer, I expect you to respect that.

  “As long as it doesn’t put myself or any of my Bound at risk, I will,” I promise. This couldn’t be argued as having such philanthropic aims – I looked because I was curious more than for any real reason.

  Then I will forgive you this time, she announces, taking the Core delicately from my hand. She tucks it into the earth, into the little hidden pocket that she apparently moves along with her wherever she goes on this little trip. I get the impression that normally she leaves it at her den, but that at the moment she’s keeping it close at hand. Certainly, her concealment is good enough that I can’t sense its presence even when I sink my awareness into the earth. It might be something I do later too, but my Inventory works pretty well for most things. I take it your trip was a success, she states, projecting her words to anyone present.

  “It was,” I answer on everyone’s behalf. “A bit tricky at times,” I admit, “but we succeeded with everyone’s help. Even the smallest of us,” I continue with a smile, looking at the raptorcat cubs and the alcaoris hatchlings. Daphne and Ivor have both grown noticeably as a result of the Energy they earned at the fellapodil’s death. Storm and Ninja haven’t, but I can see that their progress towards Tier two has jumped by the same as that of the alcaoris hatchlings – around fifteen percent for each of them. Noir, without the internal matrix of his siblings, unfortunately seems to have missed out on all that – his progress remains at a stubborn zero percent.

  He’s the only one of the whole group not to have made any gains. Though some members obviously jumped further than others, everyone made at least a little progress towards their next tier.

  I see that you have also gained a more powerful member of your group, Kalanthia continues a little warily, and I sense that this is directed to me personally. I respond in kind.

  Yes. Though I’ll admit that I have concerns over that one, I sigh, sending across the memory of what happened directly after Windy Evolved. Kalanthia considers the memory carefully.

  Abilities fresh after an Evolution are always hard to control, Kalanthia warns, and I know from first-hand experience that storm-related abilities are harder than most. They are easy to generate and grow, but much harder to control in detail. Creating a lightning strike is easy; directing where it will strike and how many strikes will happen is far harder.

  Like fire, I realise. Eager to spark and consume, but hard to prevent from consuming everything.

  “Thanks for the warning,” I say finally. “How did your own hunting go?”

  Kalanthia looks very smug. Very well. I do not even need your aid anymore with the Guardian – she has chosen to seek opportunities elsewhere.

  I eye the nunda, then decide not to ask for more details – I’m not sure I want to know.

  “That’s good, then,” I say instead, relieved that she doesn’t need the help – after dealing with the fellapodil, I’m not eager to face another Tier three for a while. We all survived the fight, but it was close and that was even in a situation where we could set a trap and control most of the battle to some extent. It just shows me how much further we all still have to go – training will be in all of our futures, I think.

  I look around at my group. Everyone is now on the ground, the harness has been taken off Raven, and the Warriors are beginning to take the capsule apart – Catch checked with me just before we began to land if that was what I wanted them to do. I do want to experiment with the materials a bit, but I can’t put the whole thing into my Inventory as it is. “I guess we’d better be off.” We’re way ahead of the deadline – it’s actually been just over a day since the challenge was issued – but I suspect that the sooner we get back, the better. “Lathani, do you want to stay with your mother, or come with me?”

  Come with you, Lathani answers after a moment of hesitation. She quickly goes to press herself against her mother and rub heads with the massive nunda, then bounds over to me. I note with amusement how she’s actually able to butt heads with Kalanthia without her mother needing to lean down much now – it’s amazing how quickly they change. And I was right – the contrast between the black leopard and sandy-coloured leopard is beautiful.

  “Thanks again, Raven,” I tell him, rubbing the alcaoris hatchlings’ heads in silent goodbye. Noir in particular presses himself against me and whines plaintively, clearly not wanting me to go again. “I’m sorry little buddy,” I tell him apologetically. “It’s best for you to stay with your dad, OK? I’ll try to come and visit tomorrow.” Then I look around at the party – now including a Tier three samuran. “Everyone ready to show off our wicked gains?”

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