Dropping the dome revealed an assembled party consisting of many faces Aiden knew very well.

“I see your friends have arrived,” Leyla said, twirling her scythe while showing her teeth. “Some of them look fun to play with.”

“Play nice.” Aiden took her hand and squeezed it. “Or if you’re restless, you can run off to hunt. You feel somewhat stronger than I remember.”

“My meditation provided fair results, even if it was a giant pain to sit still for that long.” She squeezed his hand back. “I think I’ll go hunting. As much as playing with your lackeys might provide entertaining, it won’t settle the desire for bloodshed.”

Without missing a beat, she let his hand drop, turned, and broke into a sprint before leaping into the sky, her black wings carrying her up and out of sight in moments.

Aiden turned his attention back to the newcomers. “Well, hey there guys. What brings everyone here?”

Clearly the one who attacked the dome, Josh set Bartholomew on the ground. “You’ve been calling me for days. Here I am.”

“I’ve been calling you?” Aiden questioned, unsure of what the big brute was talking about.

“You’re about to make a pretty big decision that might involve a bunch of fighting?” Josh asked knowingly, lifting his arm and flexing. “Well, fighting’s my thing, so of course I came running to join in all the fun.” He gestured to the group behind him. “And I brought the rest of them with. Something about wanting to pay you back for all that you’ve done or wanting to be there for a friend. Mushy emotional stuff, you know.”

Sure enough, behind Josh stood Ian, Isaac, Anna, Adam, and Madison. Or as Aiden remembered them, turtle boy, wanna-be shadow assassin, yikes, bigger yikes, and red lightning problem child.

To add to the chaos, a loud draconic shriek filled the air. A dive-bombing dragon larger than a full-size horse dropped from the sky and landed a few feet from Aiden. She landed low to the ground and immediately prepared to pounce on Aiden.

Someone else got to her first.

Josh threw his arms around Blizzy’s neck and laughed his hearty bellow, wrestling with her and taking great care to not get gored on her crown of horns. “Hey there, big girl! I see you grew up real nice. I wonder if you can still wrestle like you used to.”

Aiden watched as Josh instantly evoked his Avatar form to the fourth level of his transformation and dragged Blizzy away to wrestle. “Better her than me.”

With them out of the way, Aiden turned to look at the group gathered. He was surprised to see Olivia hadn’t come with, but he’d also left her with Aunt Rachel and heavily forbade her from coming. Even if she’d shown up, he would’ve sent her running right back.

But why were the others here? “All of you want to come with me?”

“No,” Adam immediately answered. “Nobody here wants to go, but if we let you go by yourself, you’re liable to screw everything up.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Ian refuted. He puffed up his chest to make himself look bigger, but his slightly shaking shoulders betrayed his words. His runic turtle sat atop his head like a hat, sprawled out with his tiny little arms draped over his forehead. “We couldn't let you go alone. Not after… Well, everything.”

Adam glared at Ian. “How about you watch your mouth, kid. Unless you think you can take me in a fight, nobody asked for your opinion.”

Internally groaning, Aiden prepared to intervene and tell Adam to back off or leave, but a certain red lightning snake hissed his direction. The provocation reflexively had him drawing Silver from his pocket, but he refrained from imbuing it with his new Blizzard Discipline.

When he looked at Madison, she held a single finger to her lips. The manic crazy he’d seen in her eyes last time seemed all but gone. Calm clarity regarded him as she shook her head slightly.

Shrugging, Aiden looked back to see Isaac and Shadow, his panther Companion, both gone from their previous spots. Anna also stood shoulder to shoulder with Ian and defiantly glared back at Adam.

“You sure it’s a fight you want?” Anna asked, a layer of emerald glowing from her skin. The ground wriggled beneath their feet, a promise of violence should Adam accept. When he huffed a breath and stepped back, Anna smirked. “Thought so. Don’t think I won’t take you back to the jail to cool off that hot head of yours in a heartbeat.”

“Boo!” Isaac appeared seemingly out of thin air from behind Adam, his daggers poised. Shadow had its open mouth around Adam’s leg, ready to clamp down.

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“Huh—ah!” Adam jerked away from the two, startled. He nearly tripped in his rush to get away from them, but Madison helped him remain upright. She giggled, only making his reddening face do so much faster. “You think you’re so funny, huh?”

“That’s enough.” Aiden didn’t speak loudly, but all of them stiffened from his command.

“Seems you got a lot stronger,” Anna muttered, her eyes darting between him and anywhere else but him whenever she thought he wasn’t watching.

“He sure did,” Josh called. “Felt that one from over here.”

“Now that the pleasantries are complete, what’s the game plan?” Madison asked, her voice surprisingly gentle. It was the first time Aiden remembered hearing her speak. “Who’s going where, and what are we going for?”

Aiden wasn’t entirely sure what to tell them, since he wasn’t entirely positive himself. He knew theoretically what he needed to find and that it was probably in Halla. The uncertainty made him quite twitchy and restless.

Right now, Leyla’s suggestion of talking to Kyriall was on the backburner. First he would ask V’Yenya and see if the Guardian knew anything, though Aiden didn’t hold out great hopes for that.

The biggest issue Aiden had was the lack of information in regards to Kyriall and the role he played in sealing Khione and how he managed to be the one safeguarding her memories. Why him? What did he have to gain from it? Would he be hostile to them, and if he was, did any of them have even a slight chance of survival?

And that consideration made the first part of the plan too easy for him.

“First, I’ll be seeking V’Yenya, the liaison with the Osh’Tika’Varu, for some information. While I do that, you will all learn to work together and train with James and Arkayan—whenever they finally return from hunting the greater hydra.” There seemed to be a bit of unrest among the group, but none of them voiced their thoughts just yet. “After I know more about what we’re liable to face in Halla, I’ll reconvene and let all of you know the updated plan.”

“So what is the current plan?” Adam asked smugly, rolling his eyes. “Seems like everything is a half-cocked excuse to get everyone killed.”

“Then don’t come,” Aiden growled back, his fist tightening around Silver. His patience was wearing thin with Adam. No matter what, the guy always wanted to pick a fight, and Aiden was starting to feel more than happy to give it to him. Even back in the school, he’d been a giant ass focused more on popularity and being right then making an actionable plan that made sure everyone was safe. “If you’ve got a problem with my choices, remember that you’re the one that dragged all those people back at the school off into the wilderness in a place that’s completely unknown without any ability to fend for themselves. You’re the last person to be questioning the choices being made.”

Adam looked as if he’d been struck and took a step forward, but he didn’t have the chance to take another.

A brutish paw smacked down on Adam’s shoulder and squeezed, causing a crunching sound to echo around the area and Adam to scream and fall to his knees, gripping desperately at the hand.

“That’s right, I’d forgotten all about that.” Josh squeezed tighter, his face completely expressionless. In the fourth form of his Azura’s Avatar state, even Aiden wouldn’t want to be caught in Josh’s grip. “You have a lot to answer for.” Without looking, Josh used his other hand to catch the pissed off red lightning snake as it struck at him. He wrenched the snake toward him, dragging Madison close to him. “And you. Why do you defend him so desperately while knowing he’s a giant moron with an overinflated ego?”

“Like you’re any different,” she bit back, crossing her arms. Aiden saw the shaking in her shoulders and the slight edge of fear in her face.

“Everyone calm down.” Even though she said it, Anna’s pointed glare pinned Adam in place. “We’ve got more pressing matters to concern ourselves with that don’t involve digging up past mistakes.”

“You’d know all about that, wouldn’t you?” Adam quipped through gritted teeth, then immediately let out a pained cry as Josh squeezed harder.

“I already knew you weren’t the brightest tool in the shed, but to think you’d go about insulting the only person here who can heal your dumb ass.” Josh shook his head. “Seriously, does anything occupy the space between your ears, or is it only full of hot air?”

Adam opened his mouth to speak again, but he immediately clamped it closed and resolved to glare back at them silently.

“Josh, let go. Anna, fix his shoulder,” Aiden ordered, meeting both surprised looks with one of unyielding resolve. “If he says another word before I leave, take him back to the jail. And if she,” he pointed toward Madison, “tries to defend his arrogance again, throw her in there with him. I won’t have disruptive presences on this mission.”

While the commotion was being cleaned up, Blizzy sauntered over to lay beside Aiden, huffing an annoyed breath at the loss of her play partner. Aiden patted her neck, soothing her. She’d grown again, making him curious as to what her growth looked like.

Blizzy

Race: Blizzard Dragon

Growth Stage: Young

Attunement: Blizzards

Body+: 60

Mind+: 45

Soul: 100

Aiden ignored the others as he compared her growth to what he’d seen last. She’d gotten over fifty points in her Body attribute and thirty in Mind, which explained why she’d grown so much. She also seemed far more intelligent and acted accordingly.

He didn’t know how to feel about how quickly she grew, especially when he considered that the plus markings meant her attributes were far higher compared to the standard. Fifty percent greater efficiency went a long way and would mean her Body attribute would almost be ready to evolve. It made him wonder why her Mind attribute lagged behind, but that would be a worry for another time.

Now that he’d run a diagnostic to see her growth, he felt proud of her. She must have felt it through their bond and gave a satisfied chirp, nuzzling her back against his legs.

“Yes, who’s a good girl. You are,” he crooned. When he finished showering Blizzy in affection, he turned back and pointed at Anna. “With me.” Nodding, she broke away from the others to stand by his side. “Let’s go.”