I awoke to Myra sleeping half on top of me. I blushed. It had been different when we were enemies and had no choice then. This time it felt too…intimate, and yesterday it took everything not to stop what I was doing, and search for whoever had done whatever that was! It felt like one intimate caress to my soul, and it felt…too damn close for comfort. It was within me. Inside me. I still felt shivers even now thinking about it.

  I slowly settled Myra down on the ground beside me, and grabbed the giant pillow we were sharing. Slipping from under her was a task, but I managed and went out to do my business and take care of something pretty damn embarrassing. It's a good thing I always woke before her.

  When I returned the kettle was on and Myra was cooking oatmeal again. I was gonna get tired of the stuff fast if we had it every morning. I sat down and was offered a plate of eggs instead. Myra scrunched her nose as I eagerly dug in.

  “I still don’t see the appeal of eggs,” she muttered, while serving herself oatmeal.

  I gobbled an egg and swallowed. She made a face of disgust, and I chuckled. “Really? It’s food! When you’re starving, anything looks appealing even your own…”

  “I’m eating Jonah! Seriously, unless you want to start the day with oatmeal on your head, shut it,” she muttered, spooning oatmeal into her mouth and swallowing.

  I smirked and held my egg in front of her face. She backed away hitting a root. Having nowhere to go, I put it right in front of her nose. She grabbed my hand and tried to remove it, when said hand glowed gold. I felt the power travel through me to the egg and watched as it transformed into the egg before it was cooked. It quite literally cracked, and a baby bird hatched from it.

  We sat stunned before she let her oatmeal down and put the baby bird on the ground between us, laughing.

  I was still stunned. “Did my breakfast hatch?”

  She nodded, laughing. “Sorry about that but now you know why they say don’t play with your food.”

  “I don’t think they actually mean for that to happen,” I muttered, scratching my five-o clock scruff. Last year I had nothing to worry about. Boom hit eighteen and facial hair, BO, and well I’ve had that since I was fifteen but being with Myra exacerbated it.

  It's just since we weren’t really friends before on our first trip, I didn’t notice her curves or her nice…gotta think about something else now. Ugh, hormones. I hated them.

  “My powers are still out of control. I can’t disappear anymore, but I have always been able to use healing and it's out of control for some reason.”

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  I glanced at the baby bird and wondered if I could trick time and make it evolve into a grown bird. My hand glowed magenta, I touched it. It made a gurgling choking croak, then a squeal but grew a few weeks.

  Myra panicked and healed the bird which now had a smattering of brown feathers with its grey ones all along its wings and scruffy neck. The chest however was furry, and its talons were growing to be mighty sharp. “Jonah what did you do? That almost killed it!”

  “I was trying to evolve it but it wasn’t my intention to hurt it! Only help it along since we kinda gave birth to it?” I fumbled, blushing.

  Myra held the bird and glowed a deep gold before transferring it to the bird. “Try, now.”

  I once more started to turn forward time for the bird and watched as it transformed from a hatchling into a huge brown hawk creature. It had ram horns and fur on its chest of a bright red color. The beak curved slightly, and the wingspan was double that of a normal Earth hawk.

  “Can it fly?” she asked.

  I shook my head and simply admired the bird thing.

  “Well, Papa, get to it while I clean the dishes,” she said pointing to the lake we were near. This really was the same exact place we ran to six months ago for us. The net of roots were all along the trees roots binding trees together in a system as far out as the eye saw. The lake was a crystal blue and every few minutes flyfish jumped out to eat bugs on its surface.

  I took my hawk creature and slowly tried to teach it to fly with the same method mother birds did, except using my wind abilities to hoist him in the air and let him go slowly. It was slow going and Myra was done with the dishes before my bird creature could learn to fly.

  “He needs a name,” she said stashing the pots and pans in her scarf.

  “How about Chronos? Titan of time?” I said, and she smiled nodding.

  “So have you thought about how we are going to find and rescue the Kin beast?” I asked petting Chronos.

  “Obviously runes and Dancer. I can’t rely on my powers. I was hoping you would help with that?”

  “Depends on what you want to do?”

  She looked sheepish now.

  “Myyy? What are you planning?” I turned to her seriously. Runes weren’t to be played with. They were dangerous and volatile in many circumstances. She knew that.

  “Has a rune ever been made to follow a bond?” she asked, hands playing with the hem of her dress sleeve.

  “One, and it’s extremely hard to do. You’d be leaving the novice level entirely and entering the Master level. Due to the twin bond between Datha and I, it might alert her to where we are, or even bring her to us,” I petted Chronos head watching out for his horns. He head butted my hand and crooned.

  Myra clasped her hands together and folded them in front of her. “I'm willing to take that chance if we can free the Kin Beast.”

  I smirked. “First, we need the exact reading of your bond. I’m gonna need some help with this. I hope Noali isn’t busy.”

  A cool voice answered from behind me. “No, I am not. I know what you intend to do. For a trade-off, I will help.”

  We turned around. “What do you need from us, Noali?” Myra asked and I nodded. This was remarkably similar to last time and last time it led us to Athnie, the council members and imprisonment plus a whole bunch of shit that ended with Myra’s death and resurrection. I was wary.

  “Both of you know Datha’s unwillingness to be the savior. You also know she broke the Oracle’s most sacred rule. I have no one to give the gift to except one, and she too has acted undeserving.”

  Noali walked up to Myra almost pleadingly. “I have no one else Myra. This will not be good for you as Oracles see the possible futures, and you have to battle psychosis, but you are the only one I can ask. Will you be an oracle? Will you safeguard our truths and our lives? Will you safeguard all futures, and will you give your sanity over to the gift, to Sapherine?”

  Myra and I stood stumped. If we said no, then Myra could say goodbye to the Kin beast and the rest of the scroll. If we said yes, she’d go crazy eventually, maybe even before she was finished with her calling.

  I wanted to say no. Forget all of this, find a way back to Earth, and just forget Sapherine. At least she’d be whole and safe.

  Myra stood staring into space, probably talking to her voices. This would affect them too. We were all waiting on her choice.