[Homeward Bound]
“So you are leaving.”
I nodded slowly, unsure of what else to say. I was once again in Tiamat’s grove, though this time not for training. The incredibly beautiful dragon was in her human form, staring up at me from where she lounged under the shade of a tree, yellow eyes narrowed. Her face seemed displeased though her tone was neutral, and I wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about my imminent departure.
“Your training was great. I feel more in control of myself than ever,” I replied, clenching a fist. “Now that I’ve got my power on a leash again, it’s time for me to get out of here and get back to my life.”
Tiamat tilted her head, regarding me. “You believe a few weeks of training is enough to fully gain control of yourself? The power that lurks under your skin?”
“I believe it’s given me the tools I need to keep moving forward,” I shrugged. “I’m not saying I’m perfect, but I’m a hell of a lot better than I was when I got here, and it’s not like I can stay here forever.”
Tiamat let out a breath that rumbled the flowers around us. “You have been an exceptional student, I’ll admit. Few beings could grasp what you did with as little instruction as I gave you.”
Pride flushed through me at the compliment, and I couldn't resist a smirk. “I'm guess I am pretty good, huh?”
“Do not let that pride wash away your sense,” Tiamat huffed as she saw the effect her compliment had on me. “You still have much to learn in the ways of manipulating your own power. You’ve begun to grasp it, but there is quite a bit I could still teach you, had we the time.”
“I wish we did,” I said, and I honestly meant it. Learning under Tiamat was pretty damn fun, and not just because of the view. Learning from another dragon was so much easier than doing the same from someone like Marcille or even Miyo. Being millennia older than me gave Tiamat an incredible amount of experience to draw from when tutoring me. If anything, she was the reason I got ahold of shapeshifting so quickly.
Tiamat’s face seemed to soften as she stared at me. Her expression shifted through a chorus of emotions, as if she was debating something in her mind. Eventually, whatever she was thinking seemed to settle, and she spoke.
“Perhaps...” she began softly, rising onto her knees and gazing at me intently. “Perhaps there is a way we might continue your instruction.”
I blinked, somewhat surprised. “You want to keep teaching me? I thought you didn’t even want to do this.”
“I’ll admit, you’ve grown on me somewhat,” Tiamat said. “Though this may have began as a mere favor for someone I consider friend, you’ve managed to pique my interest during our sessions. You might liken it to getting attached to a stray dog you meant to only feed once out of kindness.”
I squinted. “Not too sure about that analogy, but I’m glad you kinda like me?”
“Mmh,” Tiamat hummed, stretching her arms high into the sky. Her breasts pressed against the thin fabric of her dress, outlining them perfectly, and I openly stared for a few seconds before remembering who they were attached to.
Glancing back up, I was met with a pair of amused eyes and a mischievous smile, and I got the feeling that she had done that on purpose. Guess she really was starting to warm up to me.
I cleared my throat to break the moment. “So—uh, what do you mean you can keep teaching me?”
Tiamat rose from her position beneath the tree, standing tall and stepping towards me. She loomed over me, her pale blue hair cascading down her back like a waterfall, and I found myself craning my neck to maintain eye contact.
I held her gaze, refusing to look away even as my power stirred beneath my skin, responding to the proximity of another dragon. The desire to move was there but I quelled it, just as practiced.
Tiamat’s lips curved into a smirk, and I got the sense that I had done something right. I opened my mouth to ask what this was about but before I could get a word out, Tiamat’s hands reached out, cupping my cheeks with a softness underlined by enough strength to shatter mountains.
There was a single, breathless moment where we were just staring at each other, me with shock and her with something I simply couldn’t discern.
And then she kissed me.
My eyes went wide as her lips crashed against my own, rough and demanding yet oh-so soft. It was entirely different from Miyo or Aika or even Mittelt. Tiamat wasn’t just kissing me, it was more like she was claiming my mouth as her own territory.
My hold on my power loosened in my surprise. I felt it surge upward, responding to the call of Tiamat’s own aura as it mingled with mine. Her own energy responded in kind, seeping into my very being. My own magic tried to do the same but it was washed away underneath the waterfall of her aura.
Tiamat deepened the kiss, her other hand coming up to grip the back of my neck, holding me in place as our powers began to intertwine. I could feel her everywhere—against my lips, in my veins and soul. It was strangely... intimate in a way that most kisses weren’t.
I began to give in. My hands drifted toward Tiamat’s hips, my fingers brushing the fabric of her dress as I titled my head and pressed forward. J was just about to cop a feel of that magnificent ass when Tiamat pulled back.
The separation was abrupt, leaving me blinking in confusion, my lips still parted and tingling. Tiamat stepped back, looking entirely too pleased with herself as she licked her lips.
“That should do it,” Tiamat said, her voice almost smokey
I blinked, reeling from everything that had just happened. It took me a moment to remember how it had even started, and what it had supposedly been for.
“Was that necessary?” I managed, my voice coming out rougher than intended.
Tiamat’s smirk widened, eyes flashing in delight. “No. The contract could have been formed through simpler means. But it was pleasant, was it not?”
I opened my mouth to respond, but couldn’t find the words. I was so confused and turned on right now that I barely knew where I even was.
Tiamat had no such problem. She licked her lips again, tilting her head. “An amusing taste. Woodsmoke and citrus. Not what I expected from you.”
“I—what?”
Tiamat chuckled. “No matter. The contract is complete. Our powers have mingled and are now known to each other. You may call on me when you please, and I shall be able to sense your whereabouts at all times. Do try not to abuse the privilege.”
I nodded slowly, finally coming back into myself. Now that she mentioned it, I could feel something was different. There was a foreign presence inside me, as if she had left a piece of herself when she pulled away. It was colder than my own power, and far more intense.
“Dope.” I said eloquently.
Tiamat snorted, stepping back and returning to her spot beside the tree. “Indeed. Now begone. Our training has concluded so your presence is no longer needed. I find myself in need of a long nap.”
“Right, sure.” I turned to leave, pausing at the edge of the clearing. “Thanks, Tiamat. Really. For everything.”
The dragon didn’t respond, but I thought I saw the corner of her mouth twitch upward before she closed her eyes. I took that as my cue and made my way through the grove, following the familiar path toward the exit.
Mittelt tapped a foot beside me, arms crossed in annoyance as we waited in the courtyard of the Sitri estate. I stood easily, hands shoved in my pockets as I watched Serafall bounce her way down the stairs
“Okay, okay, I think I’ve got everything! You’re good to go!” She said, giving us both a big grin as she placed a suitcase at our feat.
I grinned, lifting it easily. “You really didn’t have to do this, you know?”
“Those clothes look good on you! And besides, it’s not like we don’t have plenty,” she waved her hand dismissively, before leaping forward and pulling me into a tight hug.
“It was fun having you around!” she chirped as her boobs squished against my much flatter chest. “I’m almost sad to see you go.”
“You’re welcome to visit me anytime if you want to hang out,” I said, my voice slightly muffled by her dress.
Serafall giggled. “I might just take you up on that!” She then leaned up on her tiptoes, her lips brushing against the shell of my ear as she whispered, “I’d give you a goodbye kiss too, but… well, I’ll leave it as a surprise. She’d better make a move fast though, before I scoop you up for myself.”
I blinked, but before I could question that, Serafall had already stepped back, her expression innocent as could be. She tapped a finger against her chin, her head tilting to the side as a thought seemed to occur to her.
“By the way,” she said slowly. “How are you planning to get back to Earth? Since you hate teleporting and all.”
Mittelt blinked and turned to look at me, realization dawning across her features. “Hey, if we were on Earth when we passed out, then how do you think we got he—”
I slapped my hand over her mouth before she could finish that sentence, my eyes wide. “Shh! Don’t bring that evil into being!”
Mittelt glowered at me over my hand, her blue eyes promising retribution, but I ignored her as I turned to Serafall.
I turned back to her, clearing my throat and driving the existential dread away with the phlegm. “Anyway, I’ve actually been working on that problem for a little while now.”
Serafall’s eyebrows rose. “Oh? Do tell!”
I held up my hand, and in a flash of orange light, Abyss Eater materialized around my fingers. I flexed my claws experimentally, watching as the jewels gleamed.
“I have a dragon inside me that used to chew on the roots of Yggdrasil,” I said. “According to Norse mythology, it’s a nexus between all realms. And if he could come and go from there at will, it stands to reason that I can as well.”
Serafall’s eyes widened, understanding dawning. “You’re going to use the World Tree as a pathway?”
“More or less.” I took a deep breath, centering myself. What I was about to do would require a lot of power. Normally, I’d have to tap into my Overbooster and risk burning myself out, but luckily, I’d just gained access to a new source of energy.
I reached deep inside myself, calling forth my own power. It rose readily, swelling around me in a corona of orange energy that crackled in the air. My skin glowed, and I could feel the others’ eyes on me.
As my power peaked, settling above my skin like tongues of flame, I dug deeper, carefully dipping into Tiamat’s power as well.
The difference was immediately noticable. Where my energy was a roaring inferno, and Nidhogg’s was like a void deprived of even light, Tiamat’s was like an ocean—cold, deep, and endless.
Flickers of blue appeared in my aura as I harnessed it, intertwining with the orange but never truly mixing.
I took a deep breath, focusing my thoughts and power beyond myself, beyond this realm. Yggdrasil connected everything; roots stretched into every corner of existence.
If I could find one of those roots, I could follow it anywhere I wanted to go.
I reached out with both hands, feeling for something that was both there and not at the same time. My claws closed around nothing, and for a moment, I thought I had failed, but then I felt it—a thread of something vast and ancient, humming with a power so immense that it made my head spin. I grabbed hold of it, my claws disappearing into empty air, and clawed it open.
Furrows of orange magic peeled back the layers separating the realms. A massive rift in reality itself stretched in front of me, easily big enough for two people to step through side by side. It was a swirling void of blues and purples and greens, shifting and churning just like the sky I saw whenever I visited Nidhogg, and I could feel something immeasurably vast on the other side. I knew instantly that I’d done it.
“Holy shit,” Mittelt breathed, her earlier irritation forgotten as she stared at the rift with wide eyes.
“Works better than I expected,” I said, unable to keep the grin off my face.
Serafall stared at the rift, her violet eyes wide with wonder.
“That’s...” she breathed, trailing off. “Its so pretty! I’ve never seen anyone do something like this before”
“First time for everything,” I said, flexing my fingers. The power required to maintain the rift was immense, but with Tiamat’s energy supplementing my own, it was manageable. “Ready, Mittelt? I can’t keep this open for long.”
The Fallen Angel tore her gaze away from the swirling vortex to look at me, her expression wary. “We’re really going through that thing?”
“Yeeeeap,” I said with a grin.
Mittelt’s mouth opened, then closed. She looked at the rift again, then back at me, before letting out a long sigh. “Fine. But if I die, I’m blaming you.”
“Noted, but I think we’ll be fine”
I turned back to Serafall, giving her one last smile. “Thanks for everything. I really owe you one.”
“You owe me more than that!” She giggled. “I’m sure we’ll work something out. Safe travels.”
With a nod, I stepped toward the rift, Mittelt close behind me. The air around it was cold, tingling with energy that made my skin prickle. I could feel Yggdrasil on the other side, a vast nexus of power. It was like standing on the edge of a beach, looking out into the ocean.
“Here goes nothing,” I muttered, and stepped into the water.
I don’t think I could describe the following sensation if I tried. It was like taking a dip into a ice bath, except for my entire being, soul included. Energy to fuel a million worlds passed through me, yet didn’t leave the slightest impression apart from the knowledge that it was there.
We emerged onto a branch overlooking a billion others. Around us, the world was a maze of twisted bark and gnarled wood, stretching in every direction as far as the eye could see. It was just like the world within my soul, except far, far grander.
The branch we stood on was wider than a highway, bark ridges creating natural footholds in the surface. Above us, leaves the size of cars rustled in a wind that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. Below us, more branches stretched out in an endless labyrinth, some thick as redwoods, others thin as willow whips, all of them converging and diverging in patterns that made my eyes water if I tried to follow them.
“Well,” I said, looking around at the impossible landscape. “This is... big.”
“That’s one word for it,” Mittelt said, her voice small. She was pressed against my side, her hand gripping my arm tight enough to leave marks. “How the hell are we supposed to find our way back to Earth from here?”
I opened my mouth to respond, then closed it. She had a point. I’d gotten us here, but I hadn’t exactly thought about the navigation part of the plan. I’d been more focused on not thinking about the alternative.
Nidhogg, I called out internally. A little help here?
What makes you think I know how to navigate the World Tree? Nidhogg’s voice rumbled through my mind.
Uh... The fact that you lived here?
I lived among the roots, gorging myself on the energy of all nine realms. If I needed an escape, I would simply claw my way out as you clawed your way in.
I wasn’t sure I had enough energy for that. The very air here was oppressive. Pushing my way out would be much harder than getting in.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, letting out a long breath. “Okay, so—”
“OI!”
The voice came from above, sharp and loud enough to make both of us jump. I looked up just in time to see a blur of red fur rocketing toward us, landing on a nearby branch with the grace of an acrobat.
It was a squirrel, though only in the vaguest terms. Easily the size of a dog with fur that was a reddish brown and seemed to gleam in the light of the tree, it held itself more like a fuzzy human than an animal. Its eyes were bright and intelligent, and a long, bushy tail swished behind it as it regarded us with obvious curiosity.
“Well, well, well,” the squirrel spoke in a surprisingly deep voice. “What do we have here? Visitors? On my tree?”
I blinked, my vague memory of mythology springing to mind at the sight of the talking squirrel.
“You’re Ratatoskr,” I said, making him jump in surprise.
“Oh? Know of me, do you? But I don’t know you. What are you doing crawling on my tree; only I allowed to do that!”
I stared at the oversized squirrel, my brain struggling to process the situation. Of all the things I’d expected to encounter on the World Tree, a snarky rodent wasn’t high on the list.
“Yeah, I know of you,” I said, recovering my wits. “Norse mythology. You’re the messenger who runs up and down the tree, carrying insults between the eagle at the top and the dragon at the bottom.”
Ratatoskr’s his bushy tail swished behind him. “I prefer gossip broker to messenger. Sounds more distinguished, doesn’t it?”
“Sure,” I said, not caring enough to argue semantics with a squirrel. “Look, we’re just trying to get back to Midgard. We didn’t mean to trespass or whatever.”
“Midgard?” Ratatoskr’s nose twitched, and he leaned forward, studying me with bright eyes. “You clawed your way onto Yggdrasil just to get home? That’s either very brave or very stupid.”
“Can’t it be both?”
The squirrel let out a bark of laughter. “I suppose it can! Though I have to say, it’s been a long time since anyone’s used the tree as a shortcut. Most have the good sense to use proper pathways.”
“She doesn’t like teleporting,” Mittelt muttered, still pressed against my side.
Ratatoskr’s ear swiveled toward her. “Oh! A Fallen Angel! How interesting! An angel and a dragon! What an odd pair you make!”
Mittelt bristled against my side and I could tell that she was already tired of this conversation so I decided to cut to the chase.
“Could you help us find the way to Midgard?”
Ratatoskr’s nose twitched. “Help you? Hmm. I suppose I could. I know every branch, every root, every twist and turn of this great tree. Finding Midgard from here would be trivial for one such as myself.”
“Great,” I said, sighing in relief. “So can you point us in the right direction?”
“But why should I?” Ratatoskr tilted his head, his beady eyes gleaming with mischief. “You seem to be in such a rush. Why not stay and see the sights? Yggdrasil is quite beautiful.”
I felt my eye twitch. “Look, we just want to go home.”
“Home, home, home,” Ratatoskr chanted, skittering along the branch. “Everyone always wants to go home. Nobody ever wants to stay and chat with poor old Ratatoskr.”
“We’d love to chat, really,” I said, fighting to keep the impatience out of my voice. “But we kind of need to get back. People are waiting for us.”
Ratatoskr stopped his skittering, turning to face me with his head cocked to the side. “Hmph! Fine! I’ll show you the way. But in return, you must do something for me!”
I eyed the rodent warily. “What?”
Ratatoskr chattered excitedly. “In return for my help, you must tell me how Nidhogg came to reside in your arms. I’d love to hear how the tale of how the great Devouring Dragon ended up as nothing more than a fancy bauble.”
I exchanged a glance with Mittelt, and shrugged. “Okay. Its not very exciting, though.”
Ratatoskr waved a paw dismissively. “Maybe not to you, but I imagine it’s a tale seldom told, and I do so love a fresh story. Come! You can regale me about the grouchy lizard’s fate while we walk! We have quite the journey ahead of us so don’t skimp on the details.”
Ratatoskr bounded down the tree, barely pausing to see if we’d followed. I looked at Mittelt, finding her staring back at me with narrowed eyes.
“Guess we better follow him,” I sighed.
“Next time, I’m teleporting myself and leaving you to deal with the crackhead squirrel Validation,” she grumbled, stomping after him.
“That’s fair.”