"Rise, wolf."

  Conall got off of his knee and stood looking up at Zephyria. "Thank you, Zephyria. It means more to me than you can know to have a patron once more." Zephyria gently bonked him with the tip of her muzzle. "It is a reward for aiding me when I was weak, it is the least I could do. Without your presence here I may not have lived, and if I did I would have been paralyzed until the poison left my system. The blood loss from ripping that snake's head would have left me even more vulnerable. If the snake did not kill me, something else would have." Conall hesitantly reached out and placed the palm of his paw on Zephyria's nuzzle. When She didn't react negatively he gave her a small pet like he'd seen Asher do before. She nuzzled into his hand slightly before standing up mostly straight once more. She felt the world spin when she moved her head too fast and her legs weren't quite entirely steady yet.

  "How do we actually go about forming the pact, little wolf? I am still feeling the viper's venom, you will have to walk me through it." Conall nodded and said, "The actual process is incredibly easy, actually. All it requires is consent on your part, I can handle the rest. Its the setup that's actually hard. We need to agree on a pact." Asher spoke up and asked, "How are the pacts actually enforced, anyways? Like what happens if the patron and the warlock disagree on what a clause actually means?" Conall scratched his muzzle and said, "Scholars from the Fists are pretty indecisive about the actual reason why, but the magic of the pact seems to think for itself somewhat. If a term is broken the offended party gets a mental nudge to either enforce it or allow an exception. If either side thinks a term has been broken but the magic of the contract disagrees then nothing happens. I'm of the opinion it peers into the mind of both parties and finds some kind of middle ground in interpretation, but I'm not a scholar on the topic." Conall rubbed the back of his neck, "At least, it felt that way with my last patron. Things would have been a lot worse if it had total control over enforcing it."

  Zephyria nodded her head, "Then let us decide the terms, little wolf. Considering I've never seen a pact before, do you have any suggestions on the terms? This should be a gift so I do not mind if they favor you heavily." Conall was silent for a while giving Zephyria a studying look. When he finally spoke it was with the tone of someone reciting an old lesson they had learned, distant and slightly quiet. "The fists provide a standard pact that they've refined down to the essentials. Its up to the warlock and the patron to negotiate alternative terms. Most times this negotiation is simply the patron demanding the warlock accept or leave. I won't bore you with the exact details but the first clause states that I must follow your commands unless they would bring me harm or break local laws. The second clause states that I cannot harm you or your interests unless you attack me first, in return you can't willfully send me off to die or hurt me intentionally. The third clause says I can't lie to you, but also that you can't retaliate against me for telling the truth. The fourth says I have to stay loyal to you and remain reasonably close to your person or territory. If I were to break any of these rules the pact would be broken and I would have my powers severed. If you broke them you'd face some backlash as well, though comparatively its admittedly not much. The Fists work together with other patrons to hold the patrons accountable since the contract can't really. That final part affecting the warlock might not seem like much, but depending on how ingrained the powers are into my soul it could cripple or kill me. When I broke from my last patron I was bedridden for days and I had only been with it a short time. I've heard of warlocks breaking a rule and simply dropping dead on the spot."

  "These rules are fair to an extent, but are undeniably in favor of the patron. You must do as I say without reason or question, else you die? I will not deny the appeal to have such reliable subservience but this is a gift and a reward, not elegant slavery. I will not demand your continual loyalty or such strict subservience, should you wish to leave you are free to do so with your gained powers intact. I ask on a personal level that you remain but I will not enforce such a thing while paying back a debt. We are allies, little wolf. Your strength is my strength and your loyalty shall be earned, not enforced." Zephyria said with a shake of her head. "But what is the pact then, Zephyria?" Conall asked and Zephyria responded by saying, "Can we have a pact without terms? A simple transference of power and nothing more?"

  Conall shook his head and said, "No, the magic requires a contract to be upheld. It is a transaction that gains its power from the terms, somehow. I don't mind the standard terms, they are tried and true despite how harsh they can be. Do you remember a minute ago when I said the magic of the contract thinks for itself and seems to base its ruling on the contract holders interpretations? The rules are intentionally kept vague in short for that reason. Often times Intent of the law matters even more than the text of it. What counts as a 'command', for example? If you ask or tell me to do something that's far different from a command and I'm free to disobey without the pact interfering. Many patrons will spend much time defining each and every word within their contract so that there is no room for this kind of creative interpretation, but if we leave it as it is they will mean almost whatever we want them to mean."

  Zephyria felt unsteady on her feet still and sat down for the moment. She spoke with a voice laced with fatigue, "I am still feeling the toxin, my thoughts swim at the edges and focusing remains difficult. This talk of creative interpretations and rule bending is hurting my head. If you say the standard rules are acceptable, then they shall be acceptable. Remove the one about being forced to remain by my side, this is still a gift and the other terms matter little if you simply leave and go so far that I can not order you to do anything. Correct?" Conall nodded, "That works for me. Thank you, Zephyria. You've been through a lot today and I appreciate you pushing through that for me. The pact thankfully doesn't require physical paper to write upon, give me a minute to write this out and then you can rest while I explore my new powers."

  Zephyria watched as Conall waved his hands about in odd ways and spoke under his breath until a glowing yellow sheet of paper seemingly made of pure mana was sitting weightlessly in the wolf's hands. Asher commented, "That thing is gorgeous, Conall. I don't mean to interrupt the process much but I remember mention of affinities merging, what is your affinity? I don't believe you ever told us." Conall focused for another moment before a made of the same glowing mana materialized in his hand and began to write. After a moment he spoke in between pen strokes, "A weak nature affinity, its why I went for a forest guardian, previously. I've always loved nature and wanted to work to protect it. Its disappointing I helped destroy it instead." He shook his head and continued, "No idea how that will merge with lightning, honestly. Lightning is rare enough as it is, and it being so distant from what I originally wanted I never looked into it." Conall focused writing out four distinct lines upon the paper in a script Zephyria didn't quite recognize but somehow understood all the same. It hurt her head to think about too deeply so she just tried to ignore it.

  When Conall finally finished she held it up for Zephyria to inspect. Upon the glowing sheet was indeed the standard terms Conall had described with the fourth one, the one about staying by Zephyria's side, entirely removed. Zephyria said, "How do I sign, little wolf? I cannot write." Conall smiled a bit, clearly imagining Zephyria trying to use a tiny quill with her large claws. "Just poke it with a claw, will some mana into it, and think about agreeing to it. You'll lose a small amount of power but for a single warlock it should be nearly inconsequential for a dragon like you."

  Zephyria raised a claw and then hesitated, I know I said this was a gift. I'm paying back a debt. But a deep part of me is raging against the idea of freely throwing away power, even a tiny sliver of it. It's like the very idea of helping someone like this is against my very being. What am I even doing helping mortals like this? WE were the chosen of the gods, not these short lived creatures too wasteful to make anything last. No. No! What is the point in throwing away power to a creature that will die in a mere century when I could keep it to myself. The dragon's way is of greed and putting ourselves first for good reason! We must be as strong as possible should the void invade once more! Zephyria began to growl softly, her claw still raised. She narrowed her eyes at the contract as she grew angry.

  All at once Zephyria's running racing mind and growing anger stopped in an instant. She snapped back to reality and saw Conall cowering in front of her, he had nearly dropped the contract and looked ready to bolt at any moment. But it was her little dragon that had shaken her from her thoughts, he had walked up to her and placed a palm upon the front of her chest below her neck and was speaking softly to her. "Zephyria, please. Listen to my voice, Zephyria. Come back to the moment and focus on me. Do you-" Zephyria hadn't even realized her maw had begun to hang open as though she was prepared to bite. She snapped it shut and stopped growling immediately. What? What was that? These are my allies, my friends. They can be trusted and will help me grow in power far faster than doing this alone. It is a sure investment with great returns, not a loss. She spoke with genuine fear in her voice, "I- I am sorry little ones. I don't know what came over me. I just grew so very, very, angry once I went to agree. I don't understand."

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Asher collapsed against her front in a big hug as he breathed a sigh of relief. Asher spoke saying, "I can't explain how, but I could feel it Zephyria. I think... I think that reaction is why no dragon has ever been a patron before. Dragons are normally greedy, right? Greedy and dismissive of mortals. The thought of giving away your power, your heart flame, its against the very core of your being. But our bond changed you so much that generosity seemed reasonable instead of disgusting."

  Zephyria considered it for a moment before saying, "I think you are right, little dragon. It is our bond that is making all this possible, isn't it? I knew it had been changing you, making you more dragon like, but I had not thought it was changing me all that much, but I'm far too friendly and agreeable aren't I?" Asher laughed, "I've not met any other dragons so I can't say, but I think so. I don't think its a bad thing though, having allies is a hell of a lot more valuable than hoarding every last scrap of wealth and power for yourself. I'll take a friendly and agreeable dragon over an aggressive selfish one any day." Zephyria curled her neck around Asher to hug him back best she could like this. "I think you are right once more, little dragon. Even if thinking you are right is a symptom of my mind being altered in ways I cannot control. What an insidious violation of my own sense of self. Am I even the same dragon anymore? Can I even call myself a dragon?" Conall just

  Conall was calming down and picked the magical contract back up, but still clearly shaken badly. "By the old gods, Zephyria, I thought you were going to kill me for a minute there. Asher might have been able to feel you, but I could only see you from the outside. Its hard to put into words exactly, but you changed for a minute there. It was like an entirely different creature stood in front of me. Your eyes shifted, they felt... Empty. More malevolent. It was like looking into the eyes of an animal, clearly alive but devoid of thought, or at least a kind of thinking so different to us its impossible to understand. If that's what other dragons are like then I understand how those stories about them being mindless animals spread, if I didn't know better I would have thought the same." Conall slowly stood up properly, relaxing as he rambled. "You two kept mentioning a bond that messed with your heads but it was hard to understand without context... But now I get it." He looked at Asher curiously. "Makes me wonder what you were like before meeting her, if that's the kind of change you two have gone through." Asher just shrugged nonchalantly and said "It's honestly hard to tell when its your mind being messed with. Its only been a short time since I met Zephyria and yet I can hardly even remember the kind of man I was before. I'm sure if we ever came across one of the few people who willingly spoke to me they could point out the changes." Asher snorted. "If they didn't run from the dragon stood just behind me that is."

  Conall gave a small laugh before steadying himself and holding the contract before Zephyria once more. "Do you want to try again, Zephyria? I understand if not, I can hardly wrap my mind around what you two are going through." Zephyria took a deep breath, reached a claw out, and sunk it into the mana paper containing the warlock's pact. She felt an intense fear and anger threaten to overwhelm her once more but she pushed forward anyways and agreed to the contact by pushing a small piece own heart-flame into it. The contract flashed bright white and then vanished into a shower of tiny sparks and lighting bolts. Conall immediately doubled over, fell to his hands and knees, groaned, and then vomited. Zephyria wobbled on her feet, the toxin coursing through her veins returning with a vengeance. Nearly every scrap of power that she had gained from the Lock Viper's heart was drained from her in an instant. Power, that she had been relying on to stay coherent and stable. The antidote tea she had been fed was clearly still helping, but not nearly quick enough to handle losing that crutch. She stumbled backwards and landed on her tail uncomfortably.

  Asher looked between the two reeling members of his group and asked frantically "What's going on? Did the contract fail? Are you alright? Are either of you alright? Should I-" Conall wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and sat back on his knees, he spoke to Asher weakly, "That took more from her than it should have." He clutched his gut for a moment before continuing. "And it gave me far too much power for my body to handle yet. It felt like my heart was going to explode there for a moment, I think it might have even missed a few beats. I'll be fine. Zephyria said that heart made her feel better right? It probably drained that from her so she's fucked up on Lock Viper venom again. Hopefully not as badly as before."

  Zephyria carefully stood up on shaky legs and spoke with a little bit of a slur, "It is as the wolf says, that drained far more than a 'small' amount of power. What happened, wolf?" Conall looked queasy but responded, saying, "I have no idea. Its not supposed to do that. Fuck, I feel awful. My heart still feels off." Conall laid back on the grass, a little bit of vomit still clinging to his mouth. "I think I just nearly died. First thing my patron does is nearly kill me. An auspicious start to a relationship if I've ever seen one." He laughed a little at his joke and then winced and held a paw to his forehead. "Just give me a little bit. Help Zephyria, if she'll hold still try to go make her more of the antidote. We probably didn't gather nearly enough." Asher crouched down over the wolf and pat the man's head gently, saying, "Get some rest then and let me know if I can help you."

  Zephyria's head hurt. Her body felt deeply wrong again and she just felt so weak. Her thoughts were nearly incoherent as she suddenly decided to walk towards the lake. The water. The water made me strong. The water made me safe. I need... I need to be safe. Fuck my head hurts. The struggling dragon was interrupted by Asher calling out, "Zephyria! Where are you going? You need to rest still!" Zephyria just growled at him softly and kept walking towards the gently lapping lake. She felt the soothing touch of the water upon her paws and kept going. Without hesitation she went from knee deep, to chest deep, to neck deep, to fully submerged in one constant walk. She surrendered her breathing to those funny slits in her neck and felt far more comfortable. She gently bounded off the muck of the lake bed and allowed herself to truly swim for the first time. She didn't need to be able to think clearly to do this, it was even more natural to her than breathing. She waved her eel like tail in an odd undulating motion and propelled herself deeper and deeper into the lake. Without the snake or her own steps kicking up mud and debris the water was perfectly clear with beams of light piercing through the waves while illuminating the odd grass that seemed to make up most of it. Zephyria found it utterly gorgeous. She gently swam in a slow spiral drifting towards the center of the lake taking in the sights of the lake bed. She was enamored by the alien world down here, the odd vegetation and the variety of fish swimming about. At one point she even snapped out and ate one as it foolishly swam by her face. Eventually, she found a patch where the light started to struggle to reach down and the grass had grown tall into something reminiscent of a bush. Despite looking nothing like it, the patch reminded her of that thornberry bush she slept in when the heroes had hurt her badly. Zephyria thought to herself sluggishly, I need to sleep. It will be safe here, just like then. Except I'm no rabbit this time, I'm the snake in the lake. A sleepy, snoozy, snake. She swam down to the very bottom and laid down in the middle of the patch. She curled onto her side and drew her tail up over her nose and nearly instantly fell asleep.

  Asher was staring impotently at the spot the spot where Zephyria had vanished beneath the lake's gentle waves. Conall was still resting on the ground just in front of him, except he too was staring at the spot Zephyria had disappeared. The exhausted wolf spoke with a pained voice, "She'll be alright, won't she? She said she could breath underwater somehow when the snake had grabbed her. What if she falls asleep down there, will she drown?" Asher finally broke his gaze away from the and looked at the slightly panting wolf-man below him. "You know just as much as I do about this, maybe more, honestly." He shook his head weakly and focused on the struggling wolf and not the sunken dragon. "Doesn't matter now, nothing we can do. We'll just have to trust her instincts on this one, as addled by venom as they are. Instead lets focus on the handsome wolf-kin that nearly just died like an idiot in front of me feeling better. I remember you mentioning some flowers with some calming properties when brewed, I could go try to find them for you."

  The wolf gave the chosen a toothy smile. "Calling me handsome and offering me flowers? Might give a dying wolf the wrong ideas if you keep that up." Asher let out a small laugh. "The two most important people in my life have both nearly died like idiots, and I've become the chosen of a dragon. Figure I might as well be honest with myself and the, indeed, very handsome wolf 'dying' beneath me. Now, is there anything I can do to help?" Conall kept grinning at Asher and said, "I'll be fine, its just an overload of mana. The contract isn't supposed to take so much from the patron, but sometimes people are sensitive to the change in power. I'm through the worst of it, now I just need to adjust for a day or two." Conall grabbed Asher's hand. "Just stay with me? I don't want to be alone on this beach like this and your company is more comforting than any medical tea right now." Asher squeezed the wolf-kin's hand and sat down on the grass alongside him.

  "She'll be alright down there... Right?"

  "Probably?"