To break, Neso had to use all of his body and claw his paws into the ground, I held on to his back by plucking at his fur. We stopped only inches from the outskirts of the farmlands.
Someone was already waiting for us there, Dragan was working the land, and an elder was telling him what to do, giving him instructions. The elders were in an un-evolved Grimalkin state, most of the villagers were like that.
Two and two together, made me think that those not in the Grimalkin military, choose never to evolve and live their lives in this tiny state.
I got off from Neso, he shook off the dirt from the stop like a dog shaking water off its fur.
The racket Neso had made piqued the interest of everyone.
Dragan suddenly started to approach me.
God, this is awkward. He wasn't saying anything, he didn't even wave hello.
He just walked towards me with determination in his eyes, he must have something to say, or scold me in some type of way. I did leave him for a whole day after our big fight.
Without saying a word.
>Information flow has been restored, between the user and Dragan.
Did he just unblock me?
When we got close enough, I saw him in a somewhat different light, he looked quite good in those denim leather pants, and a plaid shirt with a half-tied-up jumper. It was dirty from having been working on the farm all day I assumed.
Had he had a change of heart?
What did the elders tell him?
Everyone was looking at us, we were the talk of the town after all.
"I owe you an apology," suddenly he started.
"Huh?!" that was not what I was expecting, I was half expecting for him to still be mad at me.
Dragan suddenly took a deep bow, while still standing up.
"I'm an idiot and the way I manipulated you was toxic and it's completely my bad! I should have told you about being a Dragonkin from the start, I shouldn't have asked Kamika to lie for me, I know now that I don't deserve you, and if you wish to break our soul bond I completely understand," he said still bowing.
I - I don't know what to say.
I looked back at Neso, who was looking at the scene with his arms crossed and a wry smile on his face.
Neso pushed me forward with a simple nod. 'Go on, apologize,' he said without saying anything.
I hopped and turned human.
"Come on, raise your head," I said grabbing Dragan's chin and gently pushing it up.
Tears were forming in his eyes, his cheeks were red, and the bag under his eyes suggested his been crying for more than a couple of hours. He looked exhausted.
How long did the Grimalkin elders make him work the fields?
Was it some kind of punishment?
Was it some kind of therapy?
Was this how Grimalkin's solved problems among themselves?
I had no idea, but I was thankful to them, now I felt like things could get back to normal.
Like Dragan and I could fulfill what we set out to do from the beginning.
To answer the call of adventure and see where it takes us.
We didn't need any type of Druid or Cleric training, we had fought wonderfully against the Graffe, and Neso had taught me ways of controlling the mana around us.
In a sense our fight had been good for the two of us, Dragan had finally taken a humble/chill pill, and I could feel my magic power growing.
He was defiantly back to normal, and if he was apologizing verbally, something must have happened with the Grimalkin elder. He looked apologetic.
"I was out of line," he said through somber tears.
I didn't say anything, but just held him, I hugged him with all my body.
"Then, you forgive me?" he said snubbing, it was getting kinda ugly. I didn't want to say anything, because nothing had to be said.
We both had gotten angry, we both had said things that we wish we could take back. We were both at fault.
Yet here he was, this big fella, crying his heart out, how could I not forgive him? It had been a spur of the moment.
I could feel everyone's heart lift as we finally got this chapter out of the way. Forgave each other with no judgement for each other, and what we were. Our true selves were finally out in the open, and it seemed we both had no choice but to accept them, then and only then could we finally start loving each other again.
…
After some time Dragan calmed down, and I got the gist from the elder, it seemed he had done something akin to what I had imagined. Chills ran down my spine at the thought of this little fella making Dragan submit to him. It seems Dragonkin and Grimalkin don't mix, and both have tendencies of isolation, so at least there was some common ground they could take foot in.
After everyone had gotten back to their predetermined roles within the village, those working in the fields went back to work, Neso went home and took a cat nap. Time moved forward. The night was going to be falling soon, the sun shined red through the mountains that enveloped the Grimalkin village.
Dragan had worked the fields all day, and I had helped water the plants on his back. We were double-timing in the best way possible.
The awkwardness had dissipated through hard work, sometimes our silence spoke louder than words, and because of all of it, my anxiety had left, I hadn't turned back into a slime, so
I didn't know anything about the dark cloud in my slime body.
I rested my head on Dragan's shoulder and enjoyed a cold drink as the day came to a close.
We stood there in silence.
"I'm sorry I made Sibyl take sides," said Dragan. "I would have asked her to allow the information flow, but every time she tried, it failed because I lacked sufficient mana," he explained.
I hadn't thought about that, but it seemed logical. I felt bad for blaming him so badly for the block.
"Ugh! It just feels so bad - I just feel so bad," he started.
"What do you mean?" I asked perking back up to allow for direct eye contact.
"It's like I have some type of disability,"
"Don't say that - you don't - you're perfect just the way you are," he paused for a second, looking at me like he was sulking at my words.
"The truth is I do," I looked down at the ground, it was true in a way. Dragan could never hold mana by himself, he would always need someone to borrow or barter the mana from.
But he had me now!
"What if - we make a deal?" I asked.
"Like part of our soul bond?" he asked.
"Yeah - if that's even possible, you take as much mana as you need from me, whenever you need, without asking or having to seek permission,"
"That would - " he started. "Be like a dream," he said with a chuckle.
"Well, what are we waiting for?"
>May I suggest something?
Suddenly Sibyl started up. We both looked at the sky hearing her words.
>The Sun God is still active within confinement
>Releasing it would create an active skill; Mana Regeneration.
"Oh I see!" said Dragan.
"I'm confused," I said. "And what sun god?" I had completely forgotten about the incident in Tarragon.
"I would only need to bask in the sun to create mana, is that correct Sibyl?" he asked looking at the sky.
>Affirmative, mana would flow to Dragan upon basking in the rays of light.
"What about at night, wouldn't your life be in danger then?"
>Negative, the effects would still be active, however in a lesser form than during the day.
"That sounds very optimistic," I said.
>I would take over vital functions such as regenerating mana when you're close to death by mana depletion.
>I could set it as a parallel processing skill.
"That sounds magnificent!"
>However parallel processing would also affect all of Dragonkin, not only Dragan.
Dragan got all serious for a moment. I could tell he wasn't comfortable with that last part. He clamped up and threw his eyes to the ground.
"What's going on you can speak to me?"
"I can't do it-" he said. " I can't give that to my family,"
"Why not?" I asked softly.
"It's not right - not because of the way they had treated me, it wouldn't be fair - they also get the sun mana influx,"
>Keep in mind this would take effect in the future as well.
"If we do this, it means you never had mana depletion,"
"What do you mean," he said confused.
"It means our paths were destined because if we do this in the past, then future you also get this boost, you didn't know it at the time, but your present self affects your past and your future, it's a paradox," I explained.
"You're right, it's like we would be changing timelines," he said. And it was very true, this decision would affect the future of Cronus in a significant way. Which is also our past.
Time travel is weird.
"Sibyl, and how long would this sun mana blessing for Dragonkin last for?"
>The current sun star orbiting this quadrant is around at 9% of its lifespan.
>Model predictions include another 5 billion years before it implodes into a supernova and becomes a black hole.
"That's long after we're death," said Dragan with a swift chuckle.
So it would last for as long as the sun is active and healthy. Which is way far past our lifetime.
"Are you going to let your family ego get in the way of giving future Dragonkin generations the power to channel mana from the sun?"
There was a beat.
"When you put it that way…" said Dragan. "You're right we should do it!" he finally said with determination.
>Should I prepare to release Sun God from imprisonment?
YES - NO
Dragan and I looked at each other, there was fire in his eyes, and I was ready to go through with this.
Had we ever used the power of the sun god?
I'm assuming all of the mana had come from the earth since Neso had taught me how to channel it.
"Why did we even capture the sun god in the first place?" I asked.
"I thought I could channel it from you since he is one of the few elder gods of Cronus,"
"WHAT!? We had captured an elder god?!" I exclaimed.
"Sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but I guess Sibyl saw through my plan since she put imprisonment within you," he said with a hand behind his head.
>Negative; I was only following common procedures.
"Is that right?" said Dragan.
"Sibyl, hold on a minute, wouldn't the rays of mana also affect plant life on Cronus, and would anyone who knows about this be able to channel sun mana?" I asked.
>Correct; it would become an extension of earth mana, however, a higher caliber of channeling would be required.
>Only high-level casters would be able to channel it directly from its rays.
"So not everyone, is what I'm hearing," I said.
>So should I prepare?
Dragan nodded in agreement.
"Yes, please, we're counting on you," I said with great determination.
>Starting parallel processing.
>Success
>Initiating hibernation mode; 48 hours remaining.
I swear I could hear something like a computer going to sleep, then just the slow hum of something running in the background. Sibyl had done this once in the past,
"And if we keep it a secret within the Grimalkin …" said Dragan not thinking what comes next, or what he was saying exactly.
Suddenly shock swept through us, and how we got here in the first place; how we were sent to the past, made a lot more sense.