Morgan sat behind the desk in the tower’s study and frowned at the little alchemy book. Gaerwolt’s Secret Recipes was half recipe book and half love letter. Each recipe was prefaced with a love poem or essay about a memory Gaerwolt had with the woman for whom he’d intended the book. Still, it was filled with a dozen or so very promising-sounding recipes, especially one near the back that purportedly created an elixir that would “delve a person’s heritage for racial advancement.” Morgan cleared his throat and called, “Tiladia?”

“Yes, Morgan?” the tinkling voice responded after just a couple of heartbeats.

“Tiladia, can you please read this alchemical recipe and tell me if any of the ingredients were among the herbs, flowers, and fruits we harvested from the atrium?”

“Of course, please lay the book open on the desk there, and I’ll take a look.” She flared and swiftly moved to hover near the desk. Morgan put the open recipe book out before her, and she pulsed slightly, perusing the words. “Yes, Morgan, nearly all of these ingredients should be among your harvested ingredients, save some of the more common ones you can easily purchase. Also, you’re missing one rare ingredient, ‘Petals of a Threen Sun Rose.’ I know not where to acquire such.”

Morgan laughed, “Ahh, now it becomes clear. I was awarded some of those along with the book you’re reading.”

“Then you should be able to replicate this recipe if you have the requisite alchemy skill and equipment.”

“I don’t have any skill or equipment, I’m afraid.” Morgan sighed—nothing was ever easy.

“Morgan, there is a very well-equipped alchemy lab on the sixth floor of this tower.”

“Hmm, that’s right. You did tell me that. I haven't thought about challenging guardians in a while, and it didn’t occur to me. What do you think my odds are?” Morgan stood and slipped the book back into his ring.

“I sense that your overall power has increased significantly, Morgan, but I’ve yet to see you in action with your missing limb. If you are as nimble as you once were, and judging by your increased Energy levels and new abilities, you have an excellent chance.”

“Well, I seem to do fairly well with the one-handed sword, though I’m sure I’d be better off with a shield or something in my other hand. Still, maybe I’ll give it a try.”

“Give what a try?” Issa asked from the doorway. Morgan hadn’t heard her approach and jumped a little in surprise.

“The next guardian. There’s an alchemy lab up there, and...”

“Do you think that’s a good idea right now?” Issa cut him off with a frown, looking pointedly at his arm.

“Maybe you could let me finish my thought?” Morgan sighed and walked closer to her.

“I’m sorry, Morgan.” She glanced at Tiladia, almost like she blamed the spirit for Morgan’s interest in the sixth floor.

“Listen, Issa. What would you do if there were no way to heal my arm?”

“There are ways to heal it, though!”

“Just answer the question, please. Also, put yourself in my shoes. How would you feel if you had my injury and I tried to talk you out of doing anything dangerous?” Issa frowned even more, and Morgan wanted to lean forward and kiss her, but he knew that would only upset her.

“Okay, I get it. Still, there are things we can do without you fighting right now, aren’t there?”

“Sure, but listen: that alchemy book we got as a reward back in the dungeon? It has a recipe to advance someone’s race. One ingredient is those glowing flower petals we got. Don’t you think the System is trying to tell us something?”

“Yes, but do you trust the System? If you do, that still doesn’t mean we need to open the alchemy lab on this tower right away. There are alchemy labs in this settlement! I don’t know how well equipped they are, but there are alchemists in Tarn’s Crossing. We could be there in a few days!” Morgan had to admit she had a point.

“I think that’s a good point—I don’t know if any of the humans have much skill with alchemy yet, anyway. Well, you were right. Isn’t it nice when we talk things through?” He asked, arching an eyebrow. Her frown turned to a grin, and it was she that reached up to kiss him. After she pulled away, Morgan continued, “I don’t want to waste time. Let’s head out first thing?” She nodded. “That means we need to get a lot done this afternoon—Arthur wanted to meet with us, and I want to talk to Tiladia and Ykleedra about their findings. They’ve finished reading and translating two of those Yovashi texts, isn’t that right, Tiladia?”

“That’s correct, Morgan, and I think you’ll be intrigued.” The falling crystal sound of her voice approached as she spoke, and Morgan thought he heard a note of excitement.

“Well, I want to visit the Ardeni lodge some hunters built here. I’m excited to hear about what they’ve accomplished with your people. I’ll go do that now, and you talk to Tiladia, okay?”

“Sure, then we can meet for dinner at the tavern and talk to Arthur.” Morgan reached out and gently squeezed Issa’s shoulder. “Thanks for talking a little sense into me.”

“Well, that’s what people do when they care about each other,” she purred, nuzzling into his chest.

“Alright, just ‘cause you got your way, you don’t have to be all affectionate now,” he chuckled, squeezing her into a hug. He felt a sharp pain on his left pectoral and realized she was biting him. “Ow! You’re going to draw blood! Your teeth are sharp, you know!” Issa snarled, gripping his flesh between her teeth, but when he looked down at her, he saw the amusement in her eyes. She released him and grinned wickedly.

“You weren’t complaining about them last night!”

“God! That was different!” Morgan rubbed his chest, making a show of looking under his shirt to see if he was wounded.

“Big baby! I’ll see you for dinner,” she spun and gracefully strode out through the foyer.

“She’s a handful, Tiladia.” Morgan chuckled and walked through the central chamber to the library. “Tiladia, can you give me the report on these books now? Do you need to get Ykleedra?”

“I will be able to describe what we’ve found with great accuracy, Morgan. Ykleedra is napping; she turned to a nocturnal schedule while you were away.”

“Did she? It doesn’t seem healthy—I wanted her to get to know some of the colonists. I need to remember to talk to Maria about coming to the tower and engaging her in conversation or lessons while I’m gone. I know Maria is busy, but maybe she can recommend someone else if she can’t do it.”

“A wonderful idea, Morgan, though I do spend a lot of time with her.” Tiladia’s tinkling voice followed him into the library.

“I appreciate that, Tiladia. I really do. Well, what did you find in these books?”

“Would you like me to be verbose, Morgan? Or shall I speak briefly and then answer questions?”

“Uh, well, how about you just start explaining things, and then I’ll interrupt if I need more clarity?”

“That sounds fine, Morgan. One of the texts we translated was a brief history of the Yovashi on this world. We learned that the Yovashi and another race called the Ilyathi shared an origin world. Their world was combined with three others when the System came to this section of the universe. Prior to the System’s arrival, the Yovashi were rather powerful Energy users, having learned to create class patterns and abilities from Energy without the System's assistance. The System offered them methods to perfect what they already knew, promising much more efficiency, power, and growth. The Yovashi refused, preferring to do things their way and refusing to subjugate themselves, as they put it. Part of their resistance was that the System taught the Ilyathi how to use Energy and helped them to free themselves from the Yovashi. Prior to that, they were treated as a race of enslaved people. According to the Yovashi text, the madness that descends on the males of their species is due to the conflict with the System. They call it a curse, though the mechanism by which each new male is infected is not known.”

“So they weren’t exactly nice people before the System came and before their males were ‘cursed?’”

“If you refer to their treatment of the Ilyathi, then no, they weren’t very nice. They also performed ritual sacrifices.”

“Jesus. Did Ykleedra read all this?”

“I’m afraid so, Morgan. I needed her help with the translation, and we’d already read a lot together before I realized the extent of the darkness contained in that history. I felt it was better to confront the facts together and for me to explain the faults with her people’s history than to cut her off.”

“Well, hopefully, that was wise. I’m not exactly qualified to decide. Still, I think it’s more important than ever for Ykleedra to get involved in a healthy society. So, back to the text—is it really possible for people to create classes and skills and spells without the help of the System?”

“Yes, Morgan. We elder races did it also. Dragons used Energy to fly, wield powerful breath weapons, and even transform our shape. We did all this without any sort of System, so I’m not surprised to hear about the Yovashi. I must say, though, I don’t think they were as mighty as we dragons. The System didn’t try to assert itself on my world.”

“Don’t you think that it’s possible the System just hadn’t gotten to your world yet?”

“I suppose so,” Tiladia sounded wistful, and she assumed her dragon shape, looping around the library for a moment while Morgan watched.

“Tiladia!” he called after her, “What about the second book you translated?” She swooped down and spun around him, then returned to her amorphous form.

“Oh, it was a book describing the best methods to flay and dismember a person without causing their death.”

“Are you fucking serious?” Morgan looked around the tabletop for the book in question.

“I’m afraid so, Morgan. It’s that one there. It has disturbing images within.” Morgan picked up the book, not bothering to flip through the pages. He carried it back into the study and put it into one of the desk drawers.

“Keep Ykleedra away from that!” he said, turning to Tiladia, who had floated quietly behind him.

“Yes, Morgan. Why not destroy it?”

“I have a hard time destroying books, and who knows what in that book might be valuable to history someday.”

“Wise,” Tiladia tinkled, bobbing up and down.

“Are you patronizing me?” Morgan asked, arching an eyebrow at her.

“No, Morgan! I’m sorry, my thoughts are distracted, thinking about my life. We dragons were so magnificent, Morgan! I hope you can find a way to travel to one of the worlds where we dwell. I’d love to introduce you to some of my kin!” Morgan laughed, realizing, once again, that Tiladia was a person with her own feelings and thoughts.

“Thanks for all your help, Tiladia. I’m sorry I treat you like a computer sometimes.”

“A computer, Morgan? I’m excellent at counting, but I never enjoyed maths.”

“Just ignore me; I’m not making a lot of sense. Thanks again for your help, though. Do you think you can translate the rest of these texts without Ykleedra? I would rather she didn’t read any more disturbing things about her people.”

“Yes, Morgan, I have a good working knowledge of the Yovashi alphabet now. I’ll continue to work on them, and when I’m spending time with Ykleedra, I’ll teach her about dragon philosophy and history, if you don’t mind.” She spun around excitedly, again taking the form of the brightly glowing mist dragon.

“I like you, Tiladia, and you seem to have a strong grasp of right and wrong, so yes, I think that would be healthy for her.” Morgan nodded, trying to see a flaw in the plan.

“Excellent! Of course, if you find her a Human tutor, we can devise lessons together!” She grew even more frenetic, performing a backflip.

“I can see you’re excited about this, Tiladia!” Morgan laughed, watching her performance.

“Yes! I’m beginning to think of Ykledra as one of my nestlings. I think I can help her to find greatness!” Morgan smiled, thinking of the idea of a dragon’s spirit teaching and raising one of the last of the monstrous Yovashi. It seemed insane, but it also seemed perfect.

“Alright, Tiladia, I’m heading out. I’ll do a bit of shopping and touring before I meet Issa for dinner.”

“Goodbye, Morgan. Pick up something tasty for Ykleedra!”