The Rat King stayed quiet during the meeting, casting his ballot for the majority while considering a proper rebuttal. It was known that Fey was currently in Haven. With the help of a dragon that practiced Spatial magic, the council had been keeping tabs on her. During Alpha team's fight in the Tembai Academy arena, someone had managed to tear off a piece of Fey's robe. They had been using this to monitor her closely ever since.

Gharon the Black closed the meeting, sending everyone back to the original council chambers. The heavily armored dragon stood immediately and faced his fellow members. "I will bring Ethoryst his payment; with that, we will be able to pinpoint her location once she leaves Haven."

Nix stared calmly at the walking dead man; he'd already decided that both Gharon and Ethoryst should be killed at once. In exchange for Ethoryst's cooperation, the council was granting him a high-level Spatial scroll. During the closed council discussion, Gharon recommended that they kill the Water Witch that often accompanies Fey.

The Rat King's calm yellow eyes stared at the Gharon the Black. When he left, Nix used [Rat Vanish] and followed him.

Nix hadn't seen much of the Council building; Gharon led him up a winding marble staircase to a well-lit hallway that ended in a small courtyard. A large fountain adorned the middle of the cobblestoned aviary, the sounds of dozens of songbirds chirping and singing was a pleasant accompaniment to the steady falling of water. The Aviary was topped by a clear glass dome that flooded the area with natural sunlight.

The Aviary was built in a circle that was bordered by twelve heavy doors. Each of these doors marked the entrance to a council member's office. As an Adjunct Council member, Nix had never bothered to look into it.

When Gharon the Black traced a symbol on one of the office doors, it opened wide for him. The Rat King was hot on his heels, moving through the open space before the dragon was even inside the room.

Had the Rat King been able to whistle, he would have done so. The office was quite large, with a floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked a vast expanse of sky. The walls were covered with bookshelves, some of which looked tattered and worn, while others shined as if recently printed.

Nix has activated his bloodline [Final Form: Dread Beast].

Unlike previous activations when the summoned creature was calm, this time, the yellow eyes were filled with rage. Hundreds of silver strands extended from its heavily armored body; the dragon sensed its presence too late as the barbed tips pierced through the heavy armor, stabbing deep into his limbs.

Gharon the Black has cast [Protection][Evacuation]

[Interupt!] Nix has activated [Burst].

The dragon's human limbs disappeared in a brilliant flash of silver dread flames and air. The dread beast pounced immediately, pinning the bloody torso down with a clawed forefoot that punched into the ribcage of its badly wounded target.

For the first time in his life, Gharon the Black experienced terror. Had he changed forms immediately, he may have been able to escape. The wounds he received had made that impossible. "Who are you? What do you want?" Blood bubbled out of his mouth when he spoke. His last view of the world was the creature's mouth opening wide.

A shriek of terror and agony was cut short when razor-sharp teeth crunched through Gharon's neck, consuming everything above it. Without pausing, the claw pinning the torso to the ground tore open the chest and exposed the still-beating dragon heart.

The beast feasted on dragon heart, its powerful jaws crunching easily through ribs and spine while it consumed Gharon, the Black's soul.

[You have received the Khalam'Zur token]

[You have gained a Dragon's soul.]

[Your Fire-based abilities have improved.]

After eating, the beast raged for several seconds, tearing the corpse into unrecognizable pieces that coated the floor and walls in dragon blood. It then proceeded to bathe the room in silver dread flames. When the window exploded outward, the beast finally stopped, its yellow eyes staring at the blue sky. With a single flap of its flaming wings, it exited the office and disappeared from view.

**********

The black sparrow sat comfortably on Maric's shoulder as the Pestilence Mage walked toward the training grounds. He was followed closely by the Dread sisters, who seemed determined to unravel what they considered the 'mysterious first year.'

Lulu pursed her lips slightly while playing with a strand of her bright orange hair. Her voice was pleasantly soothing, like listening to a bard recite verse. "Perot is still in the Infirmary! I heard it will be weeks before he is fully healed!"

Tifa's black topknot bounced when she nodded in agreement. "He's a complete ass, but as far as I know, you're the first one to defeat him."

Maric shrugged slightly. He hadn't realized his pestilence abilities would hit Perot so hard, but it had been the Rat King who disabled the bully so badly. "Why are you two following me? Don't you have something better to do?"

Lulu shook her head. "No."

Tifa shrugged slightly, "not really."

Without warning, the black sparrow took flight; keeping low to the ground, it headed directly east.

Lulu broke into a run and began chasing it. "Pon's leaving!"

"Pon the Magnificent," Tifa corrected.

Maric stared at the two running females. "That's not even my bird..." With a heavy sigh, he broke into an awkward run and started following the group.

The sparrow flew through the training grounds where dozens of pairs were sparring with both magic and martial skills. The end of the training grounds was marked by the entrance to the Bivouac area, a heavily wooded forest where the Academy held its field exercises.

Maric slowed when he saw both of the Dread sisters enter the woods. "We aren't supposed to enter this place without supervision!" He stopped at the entrance and weighed his options for a brief moment before succumbing to curiosity. Who was Pon the Magnificent? Who was the Rat King? "We're going to get kicked out of the Academy."

The bird weaved in and out of the deep woods; his short, curved wings made for impressive feats of aerial maneuvering. He found his target sleeping peacefully at the base of a large fir tree. "Nix?"

The creature didn't move when its name was called, nor when the bird landed on his heavily scaled head. Its Phoenix wings were furled against his side, bright orange and red feathers contrasted the armored emerald scales.

Lulu skidded to a stop a few meters away, her eyes moving from the bird to the creature. "That's a Dread Beast!"

Tifa arrived a moment later, pulling her sister away from the slumbering animal. "D-Don't wake it! Let's get out of here!"

The loud crashing of someone not versed in woodlore announced the arrival of an out-of-breath Maric. "Shit... Why are we running thru the forest?" He froze in place when he spotted the Dread Beast. "We're gonna die."

The air around the creature shimmered for a moment and then morphed into the image of a sleeping man. The three students watched as the bird took flight again, putting a few meters between him and the man.

Lulu moved closer, studying the sleeper. "Handsome... He looks pretty fierce. Who is he?"

Tifa fixed her sister with a dark-eyed stare. "We should contact Grandpa. He knows about..." Her words filtered off when the sparrow expanded outward, his body taking on enormous proportions as it morphed into the Titan cub.

Morti waddled forward, his enormous tongue hanging out of his mouth. "Can you place him on my back?"

"B-B-BEAR!" Lulu clapped her hands excitedly. "You're a bear!"

Neither sister showed any hesitation when they crowded Morti, their hands sinking into his soft, black fur.

Maric had moved to Nix's side, examining him for wounds. "Seems like he's sleeping."

Morti's big head nodded up and down. "I'll lie down; please put him on my back."

"Right!" Lulu pulled her sister toward Nix and Maric.

Between the three students, they managed to place Nix onto the Titan cub's back. The giant bear stood carefully.

"Thanks for helping," Morti's deep voice rumbled as he activated his guild recall.

Lulu was the first to speak after the pair disappeared. "You have the best friends, Maric!"

Tifa pondered the black bear for a moment. It had felt powerful and dangerous. "Both of them and the Rat King? No wonder you kicked Perot's ass."

The trio was slowly making their entrance back toward the Training grounds when the Academy Klaxon started up.

Lulu held a hand to her lips. "Not a word!" As someone who regularly got in trouble, she was aware that there were no such things as coincidences. The arrival of the Dread Beast and the enormous bear was most likely responsible for the klaxon.

"Agreed," Tifa answering before nudging Maric. "Right?"

Maric nodded quickly. "Are you kidding? There's no way I'd say anything."

"You're fucking cool, Maric." Lulu leaned closer, peering into his eyes.

Tifa rubbed her hands together as if conspiring some future event. "Your room is really big; let's just stay there all the time!"

******************

Shae moved closer, resting her head on Nix's shoulder. When Morti delivered him to the Haven ranch a few hours earlier, she had immediately brought him to the Master bedroom. "This is my day, trouble maker. We're going to spend it together, even if you are sleeping!"

The salamander pulled him closer, enjoying the warmth of his skin. Within a few moments, her eyes closed, and she fell asleep.

/Inferno: Semmi: Guild meeting at the TOC (Tactical Operation Center) tomorrow. Let's plan on noon.

Shae opened one eye and read the notification; hopefully, he'd wake up sometime during the night.