The Consequences of Meeting a Dragon

Focilo found himself standing in a dark field, lit only by a sky full of brilliant stars overhead.

What? Where was he?

His last memory was settling down in bed with Relisa cuddled up beside him, like normal. Had he fallen asleep? Was this a dream? It felt much too real for that.

But Focilo had experienced a dream like this once before, many years ago. If this was that same place....

He looked up. The sky appeared much the same as it did on any clear night, with the long, glowing cloud known as the River of Spirits snaking across a glittering backdrop of more loosely scattered stars. It was said that the River was what brought spirits into the world and carried them out again once they'd lived out their lives here.

Almost all Forest People believed that was true, but many humans dismissed the idea, saying that the River was simply stars that were clustered more closely together for some reason.

The truth was...they were both right, to some extent. The River that was visible from the physical world wasn't real. The stars had simply been created to imitate it, to remind living creatures of where they'd come from and what their futures held. But the River itself definitely existed.

Focilo was looking at it right now, seeing it for the second time in his life.

The tiny points of light overhead weren't stationary, like stars were. They were all moving, making their way slowly across the sky, like a huge school of fish swimming together.

Those were spirits, being carried along by the river.

And if that was the true River of Spirits, then this place must be the Consort's dream world.

Focilo swallowed. Then he lowered his gaze and looked around him. As expected, the dream beast was standing a short distance away, watching him quietly. Somehow, Focilo could see him clearly, in spite of the dim light.

Well, it was a dream. Things didn't need to make sense here.

The Consort's appearance was just as majestic as Focilo remembered, the white parts of his fur and feathers gleaming softly against the deep indigo of his body, much like the spirits above glowed in the black sky. His horn shone like a pearl.

"I'm honored by your presence, my lord," Focilo said, making a low bow. "How may I be of service?"

"You're a polite one, aren't you?" Ki'shiu stepped closer. "But you don't need to stand on ceremony with me. You're Peqeran's agent, even if you have a lesser contract. And agents are all part of our family."

"I appreciate you saying so. But you're essentially the acting Sovereign.... How can I not show you at least as much respect as I would give a human monarch?"

"Suit yourself," the dream beast said, flicking his long feathered tail.

Was that...like a shrug? Or did it mean he was irritated? Focilo was used to reading unicorns' body language, but he had no idea how well that translated to dream beasts. His voice sounded casual, though, so it was...probably all right?

"I brought you here because we need to talk," Ki'shiu continued. "About Thenio."

"Thenio? I was talking with Eteon about him just a few hours ago.... Has something changed since then?"

"No. But there are things he couldn't tell you in front of the others. Things that I don't think Ariom and Bero should know yet. And that Thenio definitely shouldn't know."

"I see. I'm grateful that you're willing to confide in me." Focilo gave an awkward smile. "Even though Bero was the one who wanted to talk to you...."

"I'm aware of his request. And I'm willing to grant it." Ki'shiu chuckled a little, making the spirits above them sparkle more brightly for a moment. "I'm even willing to arrange for a bit of mythic beast magic in a form that a fire imp is able to eat, since I owe both Humerus and Kalion Obarin my thanks for their help in protecting Thenio. But those things will take some time. I have a lot going on right now."

"Ah...of course. I apologize." Focilo said hastily, lowering his head. "It wasn't my intention to criticize you. I know you're very busy. Please, continue with what you were saying."

The dream beast narrowed his eyes, his ears flattening a little. "I don't mind you acting formal, if that's what you're comfortable with, but you really don't need to kowtow like that." He shook his head. "You're as bad as Thenio. But he has years of trauma to explain his behavior. What about you? Does having a lesser agent contract really make you feel that insecure?"

"I...." Focilo wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"Peqeran doesn't have enough power to make a full contract with you right now. He's the only High Noble in this world, so we've had to place a great deal of responsibility on him. Apart from the Sovereign herself, he's doing more than anyone to maintain the stability of the world and prevent new rifts from forming. Plus providing huge amounts of his sap, leaves, and bark in order to help treat demon poisoning. He's stretched very thin.... But that doesn't mean he doesn't care about you or consider you a real agent. He thinks very highly of you, actually. That's why you're here tonight. Because Peqeran believes that you're trustworthy. He and Brel convinced me that I should tell you the truth about the chaos morphs."

Focilo's eyes went wide. "They vouched for me? Really?"

"They did. I'll admit I still have some reservations, myself...." Ki'shiu's expression turned somber. "I've lived a long time, you know. And I've traveled to many different worlds. I've seen humans do all kinds of horrible things...out of greed...anger...fear...sometimes even simple boredom.... So it's difficult for me to trust a human, especially with something that's so important to me. But Peqeran is my closest friend, next to Taeri. I'm willing to take a chance on you for his sake."

Focilo had no idea what to say. The Lord and the Elder had always treated him kindly, of course. But...they really trusted him? Enough to convince the Consort?

That.... He'd never expected that....

"Though I realize that you already felt intimidated just from learning that I was watching over Thenio," Ki'shiu went on. "So knowing the truth about him might be a heavy weight for you to bear. That's one reason I brought you here to the dream world. Depending on how you react...well, having the conversation here will make it much easier to erase your memory without unwanted side effects later."

"Erase my...what?" Focilo stared at him in horror. "Here you were just saying nice things and building up my confidence...and then you go and hit me with a terrifying thing like that?"

Ki'shiu chuckled again. "It's not a threat, you know. I'm offering you that option as a favor. After hearing what chaos morphs really are...you might decide that you'd prefer not to know."

"It's that bad, is it...?" Focilo was silent for a moment. Then he set his jaw and stood up a little straighter. "No. That won't be necessary. The Forest Lord placed his faith in me and convinced you to do the same. I absolutely can't betray that kind of trust. Whatever you tell me, I'll deal with it. You won't need to erase my memory."

"Oh?" The dream beast's ears perked up a little. "Now that's a good attitude.... All right, then." He turned and started walking into the darkness. "Follow me. I have some other dreams to show you."

Focilo opened his eyes and abruptly sat up, breathing rather heavily.

The dream he'd just had.... That was real, wasn't it?

He buried his face in trembling hands.

Everything...everything was real...?

"Focilo?" he heard Relisa murmur sleepily. His sudden movement must have woken her up. "What's wrong, dear?"

"I just...had the most terrifying dream..." he said, his voice muffled by his hands.

There was movement beside him and soft light suddenly glowed through his fingers. Relisa must have turned on the bedside lamp.

He felt her hand on his shoulder. "You're shaking...." Her voice sounded much more awake and a little alarmed. "Just what kind of dream did you have? It's not like you to be this upset by a nightmare."

"No...it wasn't a nightmare." Focilo took a deep breath and slowly lowered his hands. "'A heavy weight.' That's what he called it." He gave a weak laugh. "And I acted all brave in front of him. I told him that I could handle it, that I definitely wouldn't betray his trust. I had no idea.... I feel like such an idiot."

"Dear, you're not making any sense. Who are you talking about?"

"The Consort. I was just talking to the Consort."

"Ah. That kind of dream. I see...."

Relisa leaned against Focilo's shoulder and started gently rubbing his back. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes. Then Relisa heaved a sigh and pushed back the bedclothes.

"I guess it's going to be hard for you to get back to sleep after something like that. Let's go to the kitchen. I'll make you a warm drink. Are you allowed to tell me about your meeting with the Consort?"

"I am, but.... It was about Thenio. What he really is...what chaos magic really is. Telling you any more than that...." Focilo hesitated. "The Consort said he would leave it to my discretion exactly how much to tell you. And I want to tell you everything...I probably should tell you everything...but.... Well. I'm honestly not sure you want to know...."

Relisa raised an eyebrow. "'A heavy weight.' Isn't that what you said before? Was that referring to what the Consort told you about chaos morphs?"

"Yes. He said the truth would be a heavy weight to bear." Focilo sighed. "And he was right. I have no idea how I'm supposed to interact with Thenio from now on...."

"Well, let's go talk about it over a midnight snack." Relisa slid off the bed and then held her hand out to him. "Come on. If it's that heavy a burden, then shouldn't you share it with me? It will be easier if we carry it together."

Focilo stared at her for a moment. Then he smiled and took her hand.

Really...how had he been lucky enough to convince this amazing woman to marry him? He'd never figured it out, even after all these years.

All he knew for sure was that, out of all the benefits he'd received as a result of becoming an agent, his relationship with Relisa was definitely the best.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Thenio stood on the hill overlooking his dream forest—the place where he'd first met Ki'shiu. He stared down at the trees that spread out in front of him, shrouded by their usual layer of mist.

What was this?

His dream world had always looked like the alpine forests that grew in the mountain region around Kamari: a sea of evergreens dotted here and there by brighter green patches of deciduous trees. But now it looked...weird.

The forest was split down the center in an uneven line. One side was entirely made up of evergreens with dark, greenish-blue needles. The other side was all deciduous trees with white bark and golden leaves.

He didn't see Ki'shiu anywhere. But he didn't need the dream beast's help to understand the symbolism behind the odd change.

The forest had become a chimera. Just like him.

Thenio simply stared at the scene in silence for a long time. Then he slowly started walking down the hill toward the place where the dividing line started so he could take a closer look at both types of trees.

He didn't know as much about plants as he did about animals and magic beasts. But he'd learned to identify quite a few of the more common species as part of his basic alchemy studies. The white and gold trees seemed to be some kind of birches. Ariom had a few birch trees in his garden that looked similar, although they were a weeping variety, and their leaves were currently green. The evergreens were spruces based on the shape of the needles, though Thenio had never seen spruces that were such a dark shade of blue before.

The birches were probably supposed to represent his life affinity circuit, since gold was commonly associated with life magic. So the blue trees should represent the other, might-be-null-affinity circuit.

He had no idea what the connection was between null magic and dark blue spruce trees.... Maybe he could ask Ki'shiu about it later. Would the dream beast show up tonight? Thenio hoped so, although Eteon had said that Ki'shiu was busy with something and might not be able to come for another day or two.

Had there been some kind of emergency? Maybe it was related to the kidnapping and raid on the Order base. Bero had said that the people at the Magic Corps headquarters were all extremely busy right now because of that. Apparently emergency raids required large amounts of paperwork to keep track of things like all the people who had participated and all the supplies they'd used.

Did mythic beasts have to do paperwork...?

Thenio put a hand on the trunk of one of the birch trees, running his fingertips over the smooth, white bark.

Speaking of papers...you could make paper out of birch bark, couldn't you? He wondered what it would feel like to draw on.

Well, why not find out? A lot of his dream magic practice so far had involved recreating art supplies, so he could recreate a few more now, couldn't he? He'd feel bad about drawing all over a real tree, but these ones weren't alive, so it wouldn't hurt anything.

And for all he knew, they'd all have changed again by the next time he came here anyway....

Thenio held his hand palm up. Then he hesitated. This was actually his first time trying to create an object using dream magic without Ki'shiu there. Would it still work? Hadn't the dream beast said that he was doing something to separate Thenio from his real magic and let him practice using artificial magic instead?

This wasn't going to go horribly wrong, was it...?

He stared at his hand for a moment. Then he shook his head. No, surely he wouldn't blow himself up just trying to make a pencil. He could use dream magic in the real world without problems, right? So in the worst case, it probably just wouldn't work.

...probably.

Thenio made a face and then refocused his attention on his hand, thinking about the pencil he'd been sketching with before he went to bed. A long shadow appeared in his palm and slowly solidified into a familiar-looking pencil, complete with Iggy's teeth marks on the end.

Thenio picked it up with his other hand and rolled it back and forth between his fingers.

Huh. Apparently he could do it by himself.

With a small feeling of accomplishment, he turned back to the tree in front of him. He made a few experimental marks on it with the pencil. The surface was a bit rough compared to the paper he normally used, and the curve of the tree's trunk was a little awkward to draw on, but overall it wasn't bad. He found a large patch of relatively smooth white bark and started sketching a sparrow in flight.

A few minutes later, he finished the drawing and took a step back to look it over. The sketch itself was all right. But the grey of the pencil looked a bit faded compared to the dark lenticels scattered over the white bark. Thenio frowned at it for a moment. Then he raised his hand again and concentrated.

Another long shadow appeared across his palm, a bit thicker and shorter than the last one. A minute later, he was holding a stick of charcoal. Taking it in his other hand, he stepped back to the tree and made a few more test marks.

Much better. The softer charcoal produced rich, dark lines that stood out nicely on the pale bark.

Thenio happily started drawing. He hadn't used charcoal very much in the real world because his mother thought it was too messy. But here there was no one to scold him for getting black smudges on his clothing.

He could draw all he wanted, and the mess would be gone when he woke up! This place was great!

Sticking with the theme of animals that lived in trees, he drew a squirrel next, followed by an owl and a monkey. That reminded him of Brel, so he went on to draw the Forest Man hanging from a branch by his tail.

Thenio had filled up all the good drawing spots on the tree by that time, so he decided to move to another one. But he'd only taken a couple of steps toward it when he suddenly froze. "Wha—?! How long have you been there?"

Ki'shiu was standing a short distance up the hill, still as a statue, watching him.

I got here about the time you finished the monkey, he said, starting to walk toward Thenio. I'm sorry for not letting you know I was here, but you were absorbed in your drawing, and...well, it was pleasant to watch you enjoying yourself.

"Oh." Thenio scratched his cheek, feeling rather embarrassed.

Ki'shiu stopped walking and stared at him for a few seconds. Then he burst into laughter, making the air all around them sparkle.

"Huh? What are you...?" Thenio trailed off and looked at the hand he'd just touched his cheek with. His fingers were covered in charcoal.

His cheek twitched a little.

The same cheek which presumably had black streaks all over it now....

Ki'shiu resumed his walk down the hill, still chuckling. Here. I'll get it for you.

A cleaning cloth materialized in midair in front of Thenio, floated over to him, and began gently wiping his face. He stood there awkwardly while Ki'shiu cleaned him off, his cheeks growing rather warm.

It was embarrassing to be taken care of like this....

But...it was kind of nice, too....

There you go. Ki'shiu made the dirty cloth vanish into nothingness. Is it all right if I look at your drawings?

"Uh...sure. If you want to."

Thenio moved away from the tree to let the dream beast get closer to it. Ki'shiu slowly circled around the trunk, pausing to examine each drawing.

They're very nice, he said finally, turning back to Thenio. But I'm curious...why did you decide to draw on a tree?

"That...." Thenio started to reach up and scratch his cheek again, but he caught himself in time and quickly lowered his hand. "Well...they're birch trees, right? Don't people sometimes make paper from birch bark? I thought about that when I saw them and wondered what drawing on bark would be like."

Ah, I see. Ki'shiu nodded. Though the usual method is to peel off the outer bark and use the inner layers for paper. Those would give you a smoother drawing surface. I'm sure Brel would be happy to show you how it's done if you want to learn. But there's nothing wrong with experimenting like this. Dreams are inherently playful and creative things. It's good to explore and enjoy yourself, especially in your own dream world. These are your trees, after all. You can do whatever you want with them.

"They changed, though. You must have seen that the whole forest is split in half like this?" Thenio looked between the two types of trees on either side of where they were standing. "I didn't do that on purpose. It was just like that when I came tonight."

You're young, and you're still learning to understand yourself. It's normal for the appearance of your dream world to change when your concept of yourself changes, especially when it's something as big as learning that you're a chimera. The shock of finding out that you were a chaos morph was what led you to create this dream world in the first place. It was a way for your mind to try to understand and process such a radical shift in your self-image.

Thenio frowned. "So why did you let me find out like that? Why not just tell me the truth from the beginning?"

I did that with many of the previous chaos morphs. It helped in some ways. But it hurt in others.

"What do you mean?"

Magic follows predictable rules...but there's also a strong psychological component to it. You learned that in school, didn't you?

"Yeah, I did. That's why stigmas for the same affinity can look different for different people, right?"

Right. Because a stigma is influenced by the person's mental image of their own magic. It can influence other aspects as well. And that's even more the case for dream magic, since it's closely related to mental magic. Most of the practice you've done so far has involved picturing things in your mind, hasn't it?

"Oh. I guess you're right." Thenio considered that for a moment. "So you're saying it was better for me to not view myself as a chaos morph or a chimera at first?"

Would you say that your opinion of yourself has improved any since you found out?

Thenio lowered his gaze and didn't reply.

Ki'shiu was right, of course. He hadn't had an especially good image of himself even before learning what he was, but he'd at least felt like things might eventually improve if he just worked hard enough.

Now, though....

Most of the other chaos morphs spent their lives in a research center in Telophi, Ki'shiu continued. They were loved and protected. They had the very best medical care and magic training. In some ways, they had much more pleasant childhoods than you did. But they also had a hard time imagining a life beyond that. Beyond being patients and research subjects. Beyond feeling broken and isolated. So for the more recent ones, I decided to try holding off on getting involved a little longer. To let you question and struggle on your own a little more. To let you have a few years of feeling normal before you began to realize how very unusual you are.

Thenio scowled a little. "And did it actually help?"

The dream beast sighed, making the leaves overhead rustle. I don't really know. Dealing with chaos morphs is always a guessing game, even for me. Something that seems like a victory might later turn out to be a curse. And setbacks can often pave the way for future progress. It's difficult to know what the long-term results will be. But I can tell you one thing: You're only the second chaos morph to create a dream world.

"What...I am? Really?" Thenio asked, his eyes widening in surprise.

Yes. Perhaps it's because you've been so dedicated to your drawing practice...but your dream magic skills are actually quite advanced compared to the others.

Thenio stared at him, stunned by that piece of information. He knew he'd lived longer than a lot of the other chaos morphs, but it had never occurred to him that his ability to use dream magic might actually be better than theirs.

He'd gotten so used to the idea that his magic skills were below average....

"Who was the other one?" he asked tentatively. "Which chaos morph was the first to make a dream world?"

He still hadn't read the book of records that Bero had given him, so learning which chaos morph it was probably wouldn't mean much to him. But Ariom might find the information useful.

It was...the tenth one. Ki'shiu's expression and the feel of his words suddenly turned a bit more solemn.

"Wasn't he the one that lived in Ket'qe?"

That's right. Ki'shiu turned away, staring off into the trees. It's interesting that you would be the one to create a forest, rather than him. His dream world was a palace built on an island surrounded by endless water. An isolated place...much like this is.... But it had beautiful gardens and large halls where he could display his sculptures.

"Sculptures?"

Yes. He was a bit like you, actually—he wanted to learn woodcarving from Brel, but he was too young to use a knife safely. So we let him start with clay instead. And he was good at it. He made some really beautiful things. Ki'shiu's ears drooped a little. It's such a pity that his dream world ended when he died and all the sculptures he'd made there disappeared. I could recreate them, of course...but it's not the same....

Thenio didn't know how to respond to that. He looked at the pictures he'd drawn on the birch tree. He had a hard time viewing his own artwork as valuable, but the thought of all his sketchbooks and paintings vanishing the moment he died made his heart hurt a little.

Well, we don't have much time left tonight, Ki'shiu said after a long pause, turning back to Thenio. I'm sorry—I had some other things to do before I could come here. And you've been through a lot recently, so let's just postpone the magic lesson and let you rest for another day. Would you like to keep drawing? Or do you want to go somewhere for the time we have left?

"Um...since it's a dream, we can go places that aren't safe to go in real life, can't we? Like underwater or inside a volcano or something?"

Yes. Places like that aren't a problem.

"Good. Then...would it be okay if we went to visit the bottom of the ocean? I'd kind of like to see what a non-wooden octopus looks like."

Ki'shiu laughed and knelt down. Of course. Climb on.

"Okay," Thenio said happily. He took a step toward the dream beast. Then he paused and looked down at his hands. "Uh...actually...do you think you could make me another cleaning cloth first...?"