"Did he pass out again?" Abigail said, walking up to Ob's body to examine him. "Honestly, how often has he passed out since being in this world? I wonder if he passed out back in his other world?" Abigail could sense that he was fine; he had just used all of his manna on that final attack. She grabbed a manna potion from her pouch and opened his mouth to get him to consume some. She only poured in a fourth of the vial, and he didn't need too much. His recovery was far ahead of anyone's on the team. This would at least reduce the headache he surely is experiencing.

  "Zephyrus," Abigail said to the griffin. "Can you carry his body towards that shelter?" she nodded towards a small shack. The shack would barely fit all of them, but it was the only intact building remaining after years of damage and their battle. "We'll sleep there for the night, then get a move on when we are all recovered. Any objections?"

  "Yeah, I do." Vincent said, "he was our cook! Are you telling me we have to drink potions to recover?! I'm starving, that's not fair!"

  "Vincent, stop complaining," Abigail said, "this is how crusading works. We eat little and are sustained by potions. Not every party is lucky enough to have a cook."

  "Sure, but I say we throw his head in the cold ocean, wake him up, and have him cook dinner!" Maeva said. Vincent cheered in agreement. Abigail shook her head. "Children, I am a leader of children." She couldn't help but laugh, though. They had a great battle, and they won. It would be good to relax and have some fun.

  "Waking him up to cook would be counterproductive. He will not have any manna to help our recovery anyway." Abigail said, "Are you not tired? I am exhausted. A small potion and bed sound ideal."

  "A proper shower sounds ideal, love." Maeva said under her breath, "Yeah alright, let's get some rest. Eclipse yeah, you mind getting a small fire going for us. It's cold on the coast."

  As the party settled down inside the shack around the fire, they started talking to each other about various things. There were stories of love, stories of adventure, and stories of family. They would laugh and silently listen to each other. Maeva paused from the silent listening and watched her friends. She looked at the passed-out Ob in the corner; he was starting to look a little more conscious. She smiled; she had never thought such kind people would surround her.

  Maeva didn't grow up bullied or without friends. She was quite popular around her city, and many people liked her. She just didn't click with all of them. As Maeva got older, her mom had gotten sick. This pulled her attention away from friends and other activities that would be normal for her age. She spent so much time caring for her mom that she felt stuck. Felt like all of her activities were surrounded by being a caretaker. That helped breed her desire to want to find a crusader party. It was when she left her home that she found her original party. They were a group of female centurions. They were strong, loyal, wise, and strategic but cold and distant.

  They were good and efficient in battle and completing quests. They were not good at being warm and fuzzy toward each other. If someone made a mistake, they would hear about it. Even if the leader made the mistake, she would find a way to blame someone else. No sense of responsibility, and it rubbed Maeva the wrong way. To find out that she was the next victim and her punishment was suspension from the party, she lost it. She blew up on the leader, and they kicked her out after that.

  With this party, she has seen Abigail not only admit when she made a mistake, apologize for it, and watch the other two forgive her and move on. This team was efficient in battles for a different reason: trust.

  "You look deep in thought," Eclipse said from behind Maeva. "What is troubling you?" This prompted the rest of the group to stop talking and look at Maeva.

  "Cheeky little dragon," she said, smirking at Eclipse. "I'm grateful for y'all, that's all. Well, I guess not all." She said, looking down, slightly embarrassed. "I come from a solid life before crusading. People liked me, and my mom recovered from her sickness quite well. I was enjoying my life. Then I left to find something more, yeah. Then I met the Centurions. They were a party of amazing women. They let me in their party without having to be a Centurion. It was awesome, and I was so excited.

  But they weren't like this. They didn't have laughs, we didn't tell stories. We spent the whole time strategizing and forming the next plan. If we messed up, we had to do something for the whole party. Y'all, though, are so welcoming and so lovely. We are sitting here after a huge battle and are just enjoying each other's presence, yeah. I love it.

  Thanks to that one," she said. She looked at Ob. "I can't thank him enough for asking me to join. I appreciate it, and I don't think I have the words to express my gratitude. I love y'all loves."

  Zephyrus walked over to Maeva and nudged her, "he knows."

  "I am grateful for you all too." Eclipse said, "I know you do not like dragons Abigail, yet you have been quite kind to me. It is rare. I can not begin to express my gratitude."

  Abigail looked down, somewhat embarrassed. "How did you know I did not like dragons?" She asked.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  "I saw the way you used to look at me." Eclipse replied, "it was obvious you were not happy with me or Ob. There was resentment."

  "Yet you did not react. Why?"

  "Truthfully, Ob. I think he knew that I would get more frustrated with him by calling me a princess to distract me from my feelings. I think he knows what it is like to feel unjust resentment."

  "Oh he most certainly does, love," Maeva said, "that man there is like walking on the edge of a cliff, not sure which way he falls. Yet it is always to safety."

  "Regardless," Eclipse said, bringing the conversation back on topic, "thank you for giving us a chance. We would have been fine on our own. With y'all we are great."

  Zephyrus sat watching the group talk about Ob. He looked over to his new companion. He watched as Ob's chest rose and fell slowly. Ob had somehow brought these people together. All people who have the potential to be good individually, but together, they can be great. Highly unusual, most physical beings compete with each other. That diminishes their potential for greatness, typically. With Ob and this group, they reign in their egos and work together.

  They must prepare for the dangers that are to come. He began to daydream about the day before joining the Soul-Link offer.

  "There is a celestine," a deep female voice said. "He may need help. It appears he has been brought here by one of them."

  "By the throne?" Zephyrus asked. "I thought they stopped doing that a millennia ago, Xenoa?" Xenoa was a griffin, just like Zephyrus. She was his older sister, a member of the King's war council. She was smart and tactical. She could create a strategy that was brilliant and led to several victories. She loved and cared for her younger brother. He just had a knack for getting himself into trouble.

  "They did, made a vow and everything. That must show the extremity of the danger that is present to the seven realms." Xenoa responded. She had only heard of the throne in passing but hadn't done too much research. That was surely going to change.

  "Mmm, how sure are you that someone on the throne brought this celestine to the realm?"

  "Without a direct meeting, I'm not very confident," Xenoa said as she finished her sentence. An energy wave washed over the two of them. This feeling, although not common, was well known. It was the feeling of an offer to join a soul-link. An eternal partnership. It was a wave projection of the soul, and it could be compared to reading a resume. The soul told a story, a story of who the partner was, their powers, their temperament, and most importantly, another soul-link, if any.

  When this landed on Zephyrus and Xenoa, they both looked at each other. It was clear he needed to take this and form his own path. He was not a soldier, and he did not want to kill other beings. He wanted to find ways to disarm, which was very noble but unbecoming of a soldier. This could be a fresh start for him.

  It was obvious that this link was to that very Celestine. It also told a story that was most intriguing to Zephyrus. It told the story of a man who is seeking to maintain inner balance. Where his potential for magic is unmatched by any mortal, it rivals great beings. It tells the story of a man who is seeking answers but is content to explore and have fun. It told the story of a man who needed to keep looking at his values and principles before he fell too far forward.

  Zephyrus wasn't sure how this would go. Especially knowing that there is an astrological dragon already as a soul-link. That was also interesting. He was ready to accept.

  "Before you go," a melodic voice said. "Let's talk about my daughter."

  "Queen Flaxornora," Zephyrus bowed, "to what do I owe the pleasure."

  "You are calm Zephyrus. You are loyal. You are strong. My daughter shares most of these qualities. She is your opposite though, she is brash and feisty. Eager to defend the honors of those being raised. I want you to mentor her, if you would be so willing. Proper guidance from a truly magical being can steer her into being the best companion for our friend Ob."

  "Thank you M’lady. I will certainly work with her. I feel she can teach me as well."

  "Very good." Queen Flaxornora said, "Oh and one more thing."

  "What's that?"

  "Don't fall in love with her… too quickly," The Queen said with a slight giggle.

  Zephyrus was surprised by the comment. He had never considered it. He thought she must be quite pretty for the queen to say such a thing. Zephyrus did not come from royalty. He was a hard-working general in the Griffin army. That was it, so to hear the queen of a dragon clan mention love threw him for a loop. He chuckled and said, "I'll do my best."

  It wasn't until he met her that bright, moonlit night. "Shoot. She is stunning." Zephyrus thought to himself. "Well, we'll see how this goes."

  Coming out of his thoughts, he looked over at the young dragon staring back at him. Zephyrus had sensed that there was something there, but he wasn't sure what. Dragons and griffins don't love the same way Ob and Helvuna do. For magical beings, it's like a magnetic pull. They are drawn towards each other, and once that is set, there is no avoiding it. They could try, but eventually, they would find each other again. Sometimes, this worked in beautiful ways. Sometimes, it was destructive and dangerous. Based on how things hadn't gone too bad by them being near each other, Zephyrus assumed it was beautiful.

  "What did my mother say to you?" She spoke to him.

  "To be your mentor." He responded.

  "What else?"

  "She said… to not fall in love with you too quickly."

  "And. Have you?"

  "Not yet, but I feel the mate bond to our souls being formed. I assume you do as well?"

  "I do. It has some time before it's fully established. I estimate a year or two."

  "Just as you say. How do you feel about it?"

  "I feel that someone is setting things up. That being said. If it had to be anything but a dragon, you're not a half-bad choice."

  "Do you think there is something at play?"

  "Doesn't there have to be? So many coincidences are happening all around one focal point."

  "Mmm, you are correct. Is it worth investigating?"

  "That is Ob's path," she said. "He must figure out how he fits into this. It is our job to support him in that. While also figuring out the mate of the souls."

  "There is not much to figure out, Eclipse. The drawing has already started. We are not destructive, which is nice. It is only a matter of time."

  "Are you old?"

  Zephyrus laughed, "No, we are the same age."

  "Good. Is that why it will take some time to develop? "she asked.

  "Yes. We are not quite at the proper age for it to be fully created. Once we are, it will take a few months or so. In the meantime. Let's get some rest before Ob wakes up."

  "Well then… can't wait for a year to come," Eclipse said with a bit of a flirty tone. Then she put her head down to sleep.