Zephyria stood there looking at the town of Rannoch in the distance that the beast-kin had lead her and Asher to. She was only more nervous, though she didn't let it show. I still don't care what these mortals think of me, but I will not ruin this for Asher. He needs to learn about our strange connection, as discreetly as reasonable in case it is something that can be used against me.

  "Zephyria? I just had an idea." Asher said to her, pulling her from her thoughts. He turned to the rest of the group and asked, "If I were to ride Zephyria into town would that send the message that she can be trusted and that I am her ally, or will people misconstrue it as me treating her like some kind of simple mount? Zephyria is not a pet, and it is unwise to imply otherwise."

  The wolf-kin looked to Arbutus for answers as he ran a hand along his own muzzle in thought. "I'm.. unsure. It is not unusual for a Great Patron to have a personal guard or advisor that travels with them like that, but like I said before its also not uncommon for people to assume dragons are mindless beasts. It could honestly go either way. Exactly how unwise would it be to imply that she's a pet?" Zephyria growled low and deep at him and Asher responded quickly, "The last mortal to do that got ripped apart in a rather spectacular fashion. Extremely unwise." Arbutus swallowed and said, "Make no mistake, Zephyria. Great Patrons are people in their own right. By the Patrons' claws, most of our city leaders and government are made up of them. We have more Magical beasts deciding our laws and decisions than we do have actual mortals. We revere the Great Patrons. But I can't promise that some of the people might not mistake you for a wild animal. Most will listen to us, most. Not all."

  "Give us a moment, please." Asher turned and walked a distance from the group gesturing for Zephyria to follow. Once they were far enough away Asher spoke softly to her. "Zeph, it sounds like at least some people are going to assume your my pet no matter what. If I ride on your back into town we will be able to convince people more easily you aren't a danger to them, but that also means that the same people who think you are a wild and dangerous animal will keep thinking that but see you as tame or domesticated somehow. What do you think?"

  Zephyria worked her claws into the grass beneath them in frustration. After a few seconds she said, "I don't know. These mortals have valuable information. We need them to trust us in order to get without causing problems for you." She got close to Asher's face and asked cautiously, "What do you think, little one?" Asher responded without hesitation, "If you promised to not kill anyone, do you think you could keep it? Not threaten or scare, or accidentally break something. Just killing." Zephyria looked at him perplexed but responded honestly. "Most likely, but you are aware of the dragons temper. I cannot truly promise that." Asher put a hand on her muzzle and said, "Then lets use this to practice controlling it. Worst case you eat someone and we find somewhere else to ask around." Zephyria rumbled in amusement, "So practical and callous, perhaps your beginning to see things the dragon way." Asher looked disturbed. "That's.. concerning. I hadn't considered that whatever this bond is would be influencing how we think. I hope I'm not changing for the worse." Zephyria rumbled in amusement some more, "Who is to say the dragon way is worse? Let us face this city, little dragon. I promise I will try not to kill anyone." She held her horns for and together they swung Asher up and onto her back.

  The pair rejoined the group and this time the warlock woman, Erna, approached the pair. "I take it a compromise was reached?" Zephyria rumbled in amusement once more, "Indeed. I promise to try not to kill anyone." Erna looked unfazed by the implication that Zephyria might kill someone anyways. Conall continued to look nervous and Arbutus just ran a paw along his muzzle anyways while sighing. "Well. Wouldn't be the first time a patron killed someone for disrespecting them. That will have to do." He looked truly exhausted after the activities of the last few days and just gestured for the rest to follow him as they finally approached the town at last.

  As planned the four wolf-kin approached the border of the town while Zephyria and Asher waited behind for them to be invited in. Zephyria was surprised to see it didn't have any walls at all but rather a surprising amount of guards patrolling along the edges. Although given the sound of what I think are bells ringing and the rather fierce wall of spears between me and the city, I think their entire guard force might be present. Zephyria could see and slightly hear Arbutus shouting at the panicking guards. "Zephyria, I can't really see past you very well. Do you think if I stood on your head you would be able to keep steady?" Asher asked her with nervousness in his voice. Zephyria couldn't help but find the imagery amusing enough to try it anyways. "Go ahead, little one. If I can pull you with my horns I'm sure I can hold still for a few minutes." She felt Asher clamber up her neck and very carefully balance upon the center of her head between her horns. "I thought I would have more room up here. You feel so much larger than life at times but you really are just a particularly massive, long, and strong draft horse. Size wise, I mean. Your not… You know what I mean." Zephyria purred in amusement as she kept very still so her human wouldn't fall.

  Zephyria found it amusing how the entire situation seemed to change when Asher became so visible. She didn't understand mortal body language or tone well enough to understand what they were thinking from here but they all seemed to calm a little. Asher spoke from above, "I think they're genuinely shocked seeing me up here. I suppose it must be an odd sight. I didn't consider that before, I just wanted a better view." He adjusted his weight carefully for a moment and continued, "I think Arbutus is waving at us, can't tell if its good or bad from here." Zephyria started to nod, nearly throwing Asher off. He scrambled down as Zephyria responded, "Then let us walk over and find out. Worst case we kill a few and fly away."

  Asher sat back down on her back and the pair walked towards the crowd. As they finally approached Arbutus as he spoke to several important looking beast-kin. He called out to them as they approached, "Zephyria, Asher! Meet the Cardinal Guard, Petra. Petra, meet the Great Patron Zephyria and her companion Asher." Zephyria lowered her muzzle to be closer to this guard. Another wolf woman stood before her in heavy scale mail metal armor, her palm on the pommel of her blade. The wolf woman looked strong, fierce, and confident to Zephyria's eyes. The two stared at each other for a long moment, Zephyria surprised the entire group by saying, "I like the scales. They show strength compared to the soft bodies of your other guards." She gave the woman a toothy grin. Again to the rest of the surprise of everyone present the wolf woman gave an equally toothy grin and said, "I like your scales too. They look durable and shine nicely. Should get your human some scale mail painted blue, would make him look a little less.. Soft." Zephyria let out a rumbling laugh that put several guards on edge but didn't faze Petra at all. "I like the way you think, Petra. You'll have to show me to the right craftsman then." Petra gave her a grin so toothy it might as well have been a snarl. She turned around and shouted at a volume that impressed Zephyria. "It's a visiting Great Patron! Go back to your damn stations and someone go tell that fool to stop ringing the damn alarm." A nearby spear-man's voice wavered, "But it's-" Petra cut the guard off harshly. "SHE, is a visiting Great Patron who is obviously here in peace. If you can't get over the fact she's a dragon I'll help feed you to her." Zephyria laughed even harder, delighted by this woman's behavior. "I've never tasted beast-kin before. But, I suppose I did have a very small meal this morning. I wouldn't mind going for something more.. Filling." The guard shuffled backwards and shook his head furiously. "No ma'am. I'll follow your command, Cardinal Guard. There won't be a need for that."

  Asher finally dropped down off her back and joined the conversation. "If all is well, Cardinal Guard Petra, may we enter? We've been traveling for some time and I haven't had a proper meal in ages." Zephyria finally realized this Petra woman was exceptionally tall compared to everyone else. She stood a head taller than Asher, who was already taller than most men. Petra looked to Arbutus and started to bark out orders again. "Arbutus, you look like your half dead on your feet. Go take a nap then report to me everything since you left. Erna and- Whatever the void your name is go help him home, I'm not convinced he won't fall over and drown in a puddle. Conall, guide these two around wherever they need to go. If they need anything immediately just send me a note later for the cost and I'll repay you, anything past that show them to the guild and they can earn coin like the rest of us." Petra snapped at the crowd of gawking guards that still hadn't left, "I said you fuckers were dismissed! And, would SOMEONE please go tell the moron at the bell to shut the fuck up? The ringing is giving me a headache." She looked at Zephyria and spoke more gently but still firm and authoritative. "Try not to kill anyone, if you do make sure you had good reason and then tell me. Laws for Great Patrons are a lot less restrictive, but if you piss off too many people the local Great Patrons will come by and chase you out. At bare minimum you'll have a swarm of warlocks trying to crawl up your tail-hole to kill you. You understand?" Zephyria just kept laughing at the crass woman in her deep rumbling way. "I understand perfectly, Petra. I'll try not to break anything or anyone. But you are all so small, I cannot make any promises." Petra gave her a toothy grin, "I know what you mean. Well, be off then. Conall will show you to where you need to go, he's at your disposal until I say otherwise."

  Zephyria turned and looked at the incredibly defeated looking wolf man and then back to Petra. Petra waved Zephyria closer and when Zephyria obliged she whispered into the dragon's ear. "Just give him a chance, alright? He's a good, dependable man. A talented warlock and loyal to a fault. But he had serious run of bad luck and none of the local patrons will believe his story, but my paws are tied. He's a warlock without a patron and you seem like the kind of woman who might give him the opportunity to stand on his own again." Zephyria looked at the woman with a new appreciation. She practiced her new skill of whispering to respond. "I'll try, but I make no promises." Petra gave her a genuine look of surprise, Zephyria almost started to defend herself before Petra spoke flabbergasted. "By the patrons claws, you can whisper! I've met a dozen patrons and over half couldn't even speak at anything less than a booming shout. The other half couldn't manage anything lower than a raised voice. A whispering dragon! You see something new every day. I look forward to working with you, Zephyria." Zephyria just gave her a look of confusion before slowly nodding. Petra made a sharp turn and walked away imperiously, her scales clanking as she walked.

  Conall moved to stand before Zephyria and gave a shallow bow with a grimace on his face. He spoke with a weary strain in his voice. "It seems I'm your liaison for the time being. I look forward to aiding a Great Patron." Zephyria looked the man over suspiciously. Asher walked up to the man and spoke to him softly. "Are you alright, Conall? I'm sure we can find our way around if you need to rest." The wolf man seemed to look at Asher appreciatively, Zephyria wasn't sure but it looked like he was going to take up the human's offer until he saw her looking at him. Conall took a deep breath and said, "No, no. I can handle this. We must show Great Patrons our respect." He nodded to Zephyria specifically, "Is there anything you need first or something you wish to see, Great Patron?"

  "I've never been in a mortal settlement, I would not know where to start. That, and we still have our conversation from before those goblins attacked. I have more questions for you." Conall just looked nervous and a bit sad. "Yes, Great Patron. Perhaps we should start with a meal? If the Cardinal Guard is paying I'm sure we can get you a properly sized meal to start and that gives us time to finish our discussion before we eat." Zephyria and Asher shared a glance and then both nodded to the man. Zephyria asked, "I'm still unclear on the relationship between a warlock and their patron. You mentioned a pact and rules which seems to make sense, but I do not understand how the power is gifted to a mortal nor how that impacts the patron." Conall gestured for them to follow as he responded easily but still with a weary tone, "Affinities are the core of all of this for the mortals. Every mortal has an affinity for a type of magic, magic of that kind comes intuitively and if a type is too far from their affinity they won't be able to cast it at all. Someone with a fire affinity will struggle with water magic, for example. The same is true of all life, even the great patrons. If I had to guess your affinity is for lightning, Zephyria." Zephyria gave him a cautious nod as Conall continued. "Then if you contracted with a mortal their mana core would swell in strength, but more importantly their affinity would merge with yours to create something different. This new merged affinity is cast intuitively by the mortal, but still requires significant practice. It can be impossible to predict the outcome, but a water and fire affinity merging might create something like a steam or smoke affinity."

  Zephyria looked around as she listened to the man, fascinated by the odd structures around her. They seemed to be made of wood and clay with odd soil and grass covered roofs. The ground they walked on seemed to be made up of a dirt packed so impossibly tight it looked like reflective stone. It was such an unique form of artistry that Zephyria actually felt a little bad as her claws chipped and scratched it. I never thought I would see the day where I look at dirt and think it is beautiful, I wish I could take a large chunk to my hoard to remember this.

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  "Zephyria? Are you okay?" Zephyria looked around suddenly, Conall and Asher were many paces ahead of her as she had entirely stopped without realizing it. She responded "The roads that make up this town are fascinating. How did you get the dirt to take such a smooth polish? The way it shines is mesmerizing." Conall actually smiled at that, "I know the man who does it. A talented warlock who had the earth affinity and pacted to an eccentric water affinity Patron. The result is that he can form dirt into a hard material with a mirror finish. Too weak to build buildings out of on its own, but it makes excellent roads due to its ease of repair. That one man handles most of the towns in this region, and the Patron specifically seeks out talented water warlocks to make more of them. The polished earth roads can be found in any city controlled by the Fists of the Forgotten."

  "I would like to know about these 'Fists of the Forgotten', but before you tell me about them I must know if a Patron loses anything granting mortals power like that." Zephyria rejoined the pair walking as Conall shrugged, "The Great Patrons don't speak about the exact details of a pact often, but from what I know its a temporary loss in power that is easily restored. Some of the largest orders have thousands of warlocks all bound to the same Patron." He spoke softly and a little nervously now, looking around like he was saying something that would get him in trouble, "There might be one exception to that rule... The chosen. Nobody knows anything about them for sure, they never leave their patrons side, are loyal to the point of insanity, and have seemingly endless mana in a fight. Instead of affinities merging, the Patron's mana overwhelms the person entirely. Their affinities become perfectly matched with their patron's, their bodies become corrupted and transformed. I saw one of the chosen, once. It was terrifying. Rumor is, it was a cat beast-kin before, but their body was entirely coated in bright red feathers just like their patron. Instead of a muzzle of any kind their face had a sharp beak.." Asher looked at him astonished, "Are you sure it wasn't just a beast kin from another land, somewhere far away?" Conall got closer to Asher and spoke conspiratorially, "I'm certain. The patron itself said they were selected from a city not far from here, no other bird-kin has ever been seen. Especially not one that resembles a Phoenix so strongly."

  The unusual trio reached a building that was strikingly different from the others in its design. A building far taller than the others with a connected part that stretched out and was seemingly missing a wall. A large table bigger than any mortal sat against the outside of the building against an oddly placed shutter door. Zephyria wasn't sure at all what she was looking at. Asher spoke up in confusion, "What is this place? It looks surprisingly like many of the inns with an attached stable, but what's with the odd design?" Conall gestured towards Zephyria. "Every town and city by order of the Fists has to be able to accommodate at least one visiting Great Patron. The stable is enlarged with some added amenities and has an optional wall we can put up if the patron dislikes having the open air. That table is for the patron to eat at and the window connects directly to the kitchen for easy delivery. This is a fairly new town, all things considered. This building used to be a regular inn and stable but was converted." He spoke towards Zephyria, "You're actually the first Great Patron to visit Rannoch. The staff will be thrilled to finally put their hard work to use."

  "Will they have more of that Wyrmgrass?" Zephyria perked up, excited to have her first dragon sized meal that was actually seasoned and prepared. Conall just shrugged and before he went inside he said "I'll order something and make sure the staff expects you to stay here for however long your stay is." As soon as Conall went inside Asher spoke to Zephyria with a soft tone. "Does he seem odd to you? He seems.. sad in a way I can't really place. He's unreasonably subservient to you, but refuses to even look at you when he can avoid it." Zephyria whispered back to Asher, "I cannot say, mortals are hard for me to understand at the best of times. But Petra told me he's had some kind of back luck and is without a patron, something bad happened that people won't believe him about. She told me to give him a chance." Asher looked surprised. "No patron, something bad. Must have broken one of those pacts? He did mention he hurt some people before, but he doesn't seem the violent type. I don't know, we'll see if he tells us I suppose." Asher walked over to the large raised table on the side of the building, "This thing must be seven or eight feet off the ground. I guess other 'Great Patrons' are at least as big as you Zeph. Mind pulling me up? I'd prefer to eat with you when we got food." Zephyria pulled him up without hesitation and he landed with a loud thump.

  One of the shutters on the serving window flung open and an angry cat woman started shouting at Asher so fast that Zephyria couldn't even make out the individual words. Asher was too surprised to defend himself from the angry tirade so Zephyria jutted her head into the cats face and let out the most intimidating deep growl she could manage. The low deep rumble was so intense several small objects rattled near her. Once Zephyria was satisfied with the cat's silence, she growled out a few words. "The human is mine, cat." The cat woman nodded repeatedly and so fast Zephyria thought something might actually be wrong with her. The cat quickly bowed impressively low, her head nearly touching the ground despite her legs being entirely vertical still. She spoke sounding like she was about to cry, "Apologies Great Patron! Do as you please Great Patron!" Asher looked like he was trying not to laugh.

  A moment later an extremely panicked Conall slammed back out the front door running and shouted, "Zephyria! Don't kill anyone!" Zephyria spoke a single word to the cat "Begone." Turning to Conall she assured him, "All is well, little warlock. I wouldn't kill someone for disrespecting me, merely make them fear for their lives." Conall looked like he wanted to argue, but just went back inside shaking his head. Zephyria looked to a still struggling Asher, "Amusing, wasn't it little dragon?" Asher looked embarrassed. "I don't think I ever would have found someone's fear so amusing. But, the look on her face!" He stifled a laugh. "You're a bad influence, Zeph." Zephyria just purred in delight. "Good"

  A while later an entire four legged creature that neither Zephyria or Asher recognized was pushed through the window on a massive platter, with a second regular plate for Asher. Asher was sat on the table cross legged holding his plate up with a hand. The two ate gleefully. At once point during the meal Conall checked in on them but declined when Asher invited him up.

  Fed and happy the pair were approached by Conall once more. "The last thing for the day is the guild. Your stay here is free of charge, but you'll still need to compensate the staff for the food in the future. Discounts are available if you provide the meat yourself. The patrons get many privileges, but even they need to serve the communities they take from." Asher carefully dropped down from the table and asked "What kind of guild is it? Petra just called it 'the guild' as well." Conall explained, "Its a subsect of the Fists of the Forgotten. I think its official title is 'Fists of the Forgotten Public Worker's Guild'. An awful name. Everyone just calls it the guild. The important thing is that they handle distributing work of any kind. Everything from general work positions or one time labor requests. Importantly they also handle bounties for monsters that are causing issues, which is what you two will be interested in. At least I assume so, I doubt you're going to be washing floors to make Zephyria money." Zephyria purred in amusement, "Asher, I demand that you take a cleaning job and then give me the reward. It will entertain me greatly." Asher looked at her with flat look and just said, "No, you silly lizard. Would be far funnier to watch a dragon try to manage a mop and sponge anyways." Conall cringed away when Asher back talked Zephyria.

  Asher looked at Conall with concern. "I didn't wish to point it out before, but you look extremely uncomfortable any time I talk to Zephyria. Especially if I express anything more than pure subservience. Do you have a problem with the fact we're close?" Zephyria thought to herself, I certainly didn't notice that, but these wolves are hard to read. Humans were bad enough. So many tiny social queues that go over my head, its frustrating. Asher is oddly easy to read. Zephyria whipped her tail in slight frustration at missing all of this. Conall just looked nervous while Asher looked pleased by her support in confronting the wolf. Whoops.

  Conall spoke hesitantly. "You two do have an unusual relationship. I won't deny that. I've seen a few Great Patrons and saying 'no' to one is liable to get you reprimanded if you don't have good justification. They aren't entirely unreasonable but.." Asher finished his sentence. "But they aren't friendly or supportive, either. Not like Zephyria is with me. But that's not all, is it?" Conall tucked his tail between his legs and just looked sad. After a second he finally said. "My last patron was not kind. It was cruel. Refusal was met with threats of torture or death. It was a pitiful time in my life" Asher blanched. "I'm.. I'm sorry Conall. I shouldn't have pushed. I had thought that you were judging us, ashamed of our lack of manners. I had an unpleasant upbringing, a lot of judgment from people who should have been supportive. I'm overly sensitive about it sometimes. If you want to talk about it, I'm available." Asher placed a comforting hand on Conall's shoulder as he spoke.

  Zephyria was growing steadily more frustrated with all of this. Secrets, body language I can't follow, tasks from people I don't know to support people I don't know, because of problems I don't know about. Asher has has told me some of his past. But I don't have a clue what's going on with this warlock. Do I just let Asher handle it? I hate the standing around and waiting for these mortals to open up to each other. "Zephyria?" Asher asked. "Are you alright? You seem angry, but I can't tell why." Conall whispered to Asher, "She does? How could you possibly tell?" Asher just gripped the wolf's shoulder to shut him up and just looked at an indecisive Zephyria. I cannot just break all of their norms, Asher needs them to generally like us. This warlock mortal especially so, he is useful. Zephyria finally said, "I will be fine. Let us continue onto the guild." Asher looked at her with concern and empathy, where Conall gave her another look she couldn't quite understand. The two mortals just nodded cautiously and continued on. Zephyria remained frustrated.

  They approached the guild and Zephyria took it in, it was the tallest of the buildings she had seen so far. She couldn't see in the windows very well but it looked crowded and busy. A crowd was outside the building as well, a few street vendors selling things to laborers and adventures alike. It was all a bit overwhelming for Zephyria. Asher stopped Conall to say, "You know, you should pick the job out with us." He looked at the very much not dragon sized building. "Well, pick a job with me and then join us on the job. You fought well before." Asher looked to Zephyria, clearly about to ask a question. Zephyria cut him off saying, "I clearly cannot fit in there and I am not concerned about what you pick for us to fight. Something strong that pays well." Zephyria eyed the late afternoon sun. "I will return to the inn and find somewhere comfortable to rest. We have been busy these last days and a nap would be perfect right now."

  Asher nodded at her confidently, and then asked "Do you want me to wake you when I return to the Inn or should I just go to bed?" Zephyria barely thought about it, "Both are acceptable. I do not mind." Zephyria turned towards where they came and retracted her steps to the inn. During her walk she reflected on her situation with a degree of anxiety. I don't know what I'm doing. In my quest to kill a few pathetic mortals I ended up in an entirely different land with a bond to a mortal I do not understand. I am stuck following their customs and rules, debasing myself as a dragon. Any other dragon would have simply killed Asher the moment they noticed something odd with him. And yet I cannot help but be intrigued by the situation and feel compassion for him. A dragon! Feeling compassion for a mortal.

  Zephyria reached the inn and walked into the modified stables, her mind still lost in thought. She noticed that instead of straw there was a large sturdy blanket set out, as well as a raised basin of water for her to drink from. She took a drink and laid upon the large blanket. She tried to sleep but her mind would not let her. What would my mother think of me now? What is the point of honoring her death with vengeance if I debase myself to the level of mortals. Allow them to command me like an equal! I should snarl and roar, tell them what to do and make my demands reality and yet here I am laying in a stable of all things waiting on a mortal to decide my future. I should be angrier about this entire situation, shouldn't I? I should be furious at how I've been treated like an equal. And yet.. In some ways I've enjoyed it immensely. Asher is delightful company and as frustrated as I am trying to unravel Conall's story I can't deny that I actually care about him somewhat. I am not a very good dragon, am I? But if I'm not a good dragon.. what am I?

  As Zephyria ruminated in her thoughts, struggling with herself she failed to fall asleep laying awake as the sun fell and the realm of night took over. Zephyria was beginning to worry she would not sleep at all when Asher stumbled into the converted stable. He was unsteady on his feet and had an odd smell Zephyria did not like at all. She lifted her head and spoke softly and with concern. "Asher, are you okay? You seem ill." Asher slurred his words slightly as he approached Zephyria. "mhm. yep. I'm fuckin great. Wolf boy bought me drinks. We got a little drumpk. Drunk. Its poison we drink on purpose, feels good. He's cute when he's drink." Zephyria was no less concerned hearing her little one speak. "Asher, do you need help? A mortal healer?" Asher laughed a little too loud, "Nope! I jussst gotta sleep it off. I was gonna sleep in the inn but the beds arn't comfy. Your more comfier. cmere." Zephyria decided to just trust her human and lifted her wing up so he could lay against her side. He tripped over her hind leg and caught himself on her side. With a laugh he laid down against her belly and rested his head on her leg as a pillow. Zephyria spoke softly, her voice still tinged with concern. "Little one, I have a hard time believing my hard scales are softer than a mortal bed, they are made with feathers aren't they? Are you sure you want to sleep here?" Asher just laughed, then laughed a little more drunkenly, and finally looked just a bit sad. "I tried. Beds are softer than you. But they- uh. yous- I feel safe under your wing. Like sleemping near family. Its familiar.." The thoughts that had been plaguing Zephyria faded as her human fell asleep almost instantly against her side. Whatever it is that binds us.. it will make us stronger, not weaker.

  Zephyria laid her head back down, covered Asher with her wing, and finally fell asleep within the town of Rannoch.