Myria says “No, I agreed not to lose my motivation. I never said anything about not being bitter about it!”

  Leafa says “I will pass the message along.”

  “How is the tree? Is there anything it needs?”

  Leafa says “The tree is great! It is amazing! Although, that is going to cause a complication.”

  “Oh? What’s wrong?”

  Leafa says “My bond with it is permanent. Meaning that I will not be able to return to Soul City until it dies. Unless something happens, the tree is going to live for thousands of years. I was not expecting that when we made the summoning contract.”

  “I don’t really see that as a problem, unless you wanted to return sooner. To me, that just means my capital will have a guardian long after me and my family are gone. I find that reassuring.”

  Leafa says “No, I am not against it. I just didn’t want you to think I tricked you or anything. Bonding with the tree has given me a path to becoming stronger. I may even be able to evolve again at some point.”

  “That’s great news! Congratulations! It looks like this arrangement is going to work out well. And you Damona? How are you settling in? I see you have already found out about how talented Bella is.”

  Damona says “Bella is awesome! I’ve seen magical tattoos before, but they were just lines, nothing this beautiful! I’ve also never seen tattoos that work on demons, or at least not for more than a few weeks. I’m guessing that is due to the ink and that I have you to thank for that.”

  “Well, I had to figure out a way to keep my regeneration from removing the ink. I imagine it is the same for you.”

  Damona says “It is, and for many other races. If we could get Bella to Soul City, she would be able to make a fortune! Especially if this ink would work for a dragon?”

  “I believe it will, but that is easy enough to test. I’m sure Everburn would like a tattoo or two. Although it might be a little scary for Bella, his aura is strong.”

  Bella says “I can handle it.”

  “That still leaves the problem of how to get Bella to Soul City. She would need to be able to go there physically. I’m guessing you already have something in mind?”

  Damona says “Yes, but it will take a while. For starters, she and I are going to go through your military training. I know how to fight in soul battles, but my physical skills are weak and so are hers. I will also be taking her, along with your wife and kids, to a few worlds in the hallway that are perfect for training. You have given them a good start, but I have a little more experience than you. Finally, once Lin returns, I will break my contract with her and forge a new, much stronger one, with Bella.”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Alright. I appreciate you including my family in your plans. Bella, are you alright with this plan?”

  Bella says “Well, I am not thrilled with the military training, but I am willing to go along with what Damona thinks is best.”

  “Alright. So, what will this new contract do?”

  Damona says “It will be a full partnership contract. It will share my lifespan with her, allowing her the time to grow. It will also slowly share my aspect with her, eventually turning her into a half-demon.”

  Bella says “Before you ask, yes I agreed to this. Actually, the thought of being a half-demon excites me.”

  “I guess that shouldn’t be a surprise. Damona, would giving Bella blood infused with dragon essence benefit this plan of yours?”

  Damona says “Would this Everburn really give you such a thing?!”

  “Actually, he already did and I absorbed it, so I doubt he would again. I have the essence of the gold dragon we killed and I just learned how to infuse essence into blood. I plan to use it on some of my family.”

  Damona says “That is a priceless treasure! However, Bella can’t make proper use of it currently. She would need to develop a core first.”

  “Oh, good point. Do you know a technique for a human to build a core?”

  Damona says “Yes, I do, but again it takes time.”

  Mercy says “Could you teach me along with Bella?”

  Damona says “Of course.”

  Mercy says “Great! Ash, save me a dose of that essence as well!”

  “Sure.”

  Leafa says “Who all are you planning to give the essence to?”

  “Well, Ekard and Mushu for starters. As drakes, I am hoping that this will open the path for them to become dragons at some point. Kechara as well for the same reason. I also plan to offer it to Mulan since the dragon essence has a fire aspect. I am not sure of the others. Oh, and Lizzy, she volunteered to be the test subject.”

  Damona says “What about your wives?”

  “Whoever wants it.”

  Mercy says “I would like to have it once I have a core.”

  Myria says “If it would work with my core, I would want it as well. Anything that will help me catch up to your cheating butt.”

  Damona scans Myria and says “Your core is a little odd, but I would say it can handle it.”

  Brightfire says “Count me out, fire isn’t for me.”

  Leafa says “That’s a lot of people to enhance from one essence. Can we see it?”

  “Sure, here.”

  Leafa says “That is beautiful! Just the people you have listed so far are going to use up the majority of it though.”

  “True, but I won’t need to use it all at once and I can let it recover between uses.”

  Damona says “Oh how I wish I could eat that! I get the feeling it would be enough to rank me up to demon lord!”

  Leafa says “Wait, you know how to get the essence to recover? I thought that once it was removed it was fixed?!”

  “Yeah. You can feed lesser essences to it and it will recover. Of course, it will take a lot of strong essences, but luckily I know where to find them.”

  Damona says “That’s amazing! Just how is it that someone as young as you knows more about essences than we do?!”

  “Because I didn’t have much information from others and had to figure it out on my own. That reminds me, do either of you know how to remove the elemental aspect from an essence?”

  Damona says “I don’t. Leafa?”

  Leafa says “I’ve never tried it, but you should be able to run it through a filter to strip the aspect from it. Although, I would try it on something else first, I don’t know how much essence would be lost. Why do you want to strip it?”

  “Well, if I can get it down to pure dragon essence it would be suitable for all of the kids. It’s not like I am likely to get any more dragon essence, let alone one with the right element.”

  Damona says “Actually, I know a couple of worlds where dragons are somewhat common. You would just need to be able to defeat them!”