Staring down at the brown-and-amber egg, Seth swallowed the very little saliva left in his mouth. 'Do you think I should—'

'Yes,' Nightmare answered before he could finish. 'If the bird killed that thing's mother, it must have been Silver.'

'What if it was killed by something else?'

The direwolf stepped closer, sniffing along the egg's cracked surface where deep claw marks scared the shell. 'Those scavengers couldn't break it… it's certainly not Copper.'

Seth's lips tightened together, his gaze studying the egg before shifting to the surrounding carcass. Sure, making a bond in a place like this was dangerous, but the odds of stumbling across another similar opportunity in the near future was close to zero—if not actually zero.

'Alright,' he finally said, taking a deep breath.

Seth moved closer to the egg and sat in the shade of one of the large pieces of remains that jutted out from the sand. He closed his eyes, waiting patiently for his Well to refill. With no idea how much aether would be needed to form the bond, it was best to play it safe and wait until he was fully replenished—which, with the absurdly high aether density of this place, would take less than ten minutes. As he waited, he cast Intermediate Identify.

Egg of ???

Potential: ???

Rank: ???

'Do you think making a bond with that thing will lower the bonus attributes I give you?' Nightmare asked, lying down beside him.

'I don't know,' Seth answered. 'We'll find out soon enough—if it accepts the bond.'

'It will,' the direwolf replied confidently. 'When you're young, survival instinct is stronger than anything.'

'True.' Seth smiled as he ruffled the black fur on Nightmare's head. 'That's how I ended up with such an amazing, powerful beast as my partner.'

The direwolf lifted his muzzle proudly, eyes shining as a gentle breeze swept over them. 'And that's exactly why I'll pick which beaststone I eat before this one does. It can have my leftovers.'

'Oh, gods,' Seth answered with a sigh, glancing up at the clear sky above. 'Shouldn't it be the opposite? So it can catch up to us more quickly?'

'Nope. As co-leaders of this pack, you and I should always stay ahead in terms of Ranks.'

Seth's eyes widened, then a playful smirk crept on his lips. 'Co-leaders? When exactly did I get promoted?'

'When you killed that Rank-45 Gnoll Barbarian,' Nightmare answered, sending vivid images of the bloody battle through their bond. 'That was badass, and it earned you the right to lead with me.'

A genuine smile spread on Seth's face as he glanced fondly at his companion. Coming from the direwolf, that meant a lot. 'I wouldn't have won without Chains of Darkness, though.'

'Don't worry, I know,' Nightmare answered proudly, his tail thumping softly against the sand.

Several more minutes passed, and finally, Seth's Well reached full capacity. Taking a calming breath, he placed his hand firmly against the earthy, rugged surface of the egg. Focusing inward, he reached deep into his chest and grasped with his consciousness the unused thread extending from Link toward his core. With deliberate care, he then guided it toward the egg.

The moment the mysterious energy touched the shell, the creature inside seized it eagerly. A blinding flash exploded from Seth's palm, forcing him to shut his eyes against its intensity. The creature inside tugged aggressively on the thread and connected the strand to its completely empty Well.

Seth managed to open his eyes, yet the sight he met was entirely different from when he'd bonded with Nightmare. He couldn't see his future partner, the egg before him shining so brightly it obscured whatever lay within, as if countless stars had been compressed together to form the shell. The light gradually intensified, and Seth felt a strong force continue to pull aether out of his Well, draining it at an alarming pace.

"Shit," Seth hissed through clenched teeth, feeling the thing nearing its bottom. 'Nightmare!'

'On it!' the direwolf answered, channeling his own aether into Seth's Well through Link. 'Tell that greedy little prick to slow down!'

Following the thread with his mind, Seth reached into the beast inside the egg and sensed its Well—which was still empty. Every ounce of aether Seth gave was instinctively pulled into its body against its will; it was as if the beast had starved to the point its muscles and bones had stopped listening and were determined to relentlessly absorb all aether until they were finally full. To Seth's dismay, that hunger was showing no sign of slowing, and his own Well was completely drained while Nightmare's neared its bottom as well.

'Give me the Guardian Gnoll's stone!' the direwolf shouted.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Understanding the idea instantly, Seth pushed through the searing pain, pulled out the gray crystal from his pocket, and tossed it to Nightmare. The moment the direwolf crushed the beaststone in his jaws, a surge of aether burst through his body—instead of absorbing it as he normally would, he redirected the energy through Link into Seth's core, and subsequently the egg.

As soon as the aether reached inside, it spread throughout the unborn beast in a blinding flash. Though Seth couldn't clearly see his new partner through Link due to the high density of the shell, he could distinctly feel its—no, his—emotions through their newly formed bond. Unintentionally, the beast sent out waves of raw emotion as it absorbed the Gnoll's stone.

Overwhelming rage flooded Seth's mind, accompanied by memories that weren't his own: visions of a giant owl screeching as it repeatedly pierced the unborn beast's mother with its razor-sharp talons again and again for what felt like hours until she collapsed lifelessly to the ground. Following this was a cold emptiness, the abrupt rupture of steady flow of nurturing aether, the grief of losing his mother, and the terrifying fear of death.

Gradually, another powerful emotion emerged: a deep sense of gratitude, coupled with a fierce determination to protect the one who had just saved his life. Seth could almost hear the beast vowing that nothing would ever be taken from him again.

As the blinding light faded, leaving behind only the powerful bond connecting them, Seth leaned closer and closed his eyes. Remembering how he'd initially communicated with Nightmare through emotions, he sent calming images and feelings to his new partner. 'Everything will be fine now.'

The creature stirred within the egg, sending a whirlwind of emotions back. While that happened, Nightmare scanned the horizon, the sun now slowly going down. 'Alright, Little Bite, it's time to come out now. We need to get out of here, and I'm definitely not carrying you.'

' 'Little Bite'? ' Seth repeated, raising an eyebrow. 'Did you see the size of these remains? Within a year he'll be four times your size.'

'Exactly why he needs a name like that right from the beginning,' Nightmare retorted, lifting his muzzle. 'He needs to know who's in charge.'

'Wow, you're such a great leader.'

Seth took a moment, glancing at the carcass surrounding them, then looked back at the egg. He couldn't cast Intermediate Identify on their new partner through the dense shell, so he couldn't be absolutely certain of his species—but there was no doubt he would grow to be massive.

'Colossus.'

Nightmare`s eyes widened, and he shook his head vigorously. 'Absolutely not! It will just make his ego—'

Before the direwolf could finish, the beast inside the egg twirled and sent powerful waves of joy through Link—he clearly approved the name.

'Rrgh,' Nightmare growled softly. 'I'll still call him Little Bite.'

Seth chuckled softly, eyes drifting toward the distant sky. Hopefully, that owl was the reason behind the distortion field and it would soon disappear. While he could channel aether through Link, pushing it anywhere else outside his body was still impossible—which meant he couldn't store the egg in his necklace.

Even if Seth somehow managed to convince Nightmare to carry or roll the egg, the risk would be extremely high. They'd be vulnerable to any encounter with a Desert Snake or any other powerful beast. Their best bet was to wait here for the distortion to go off.

But who knows how long that might take? Seth wondered to himself.

'What if it stays on?' Nightmare asked, reading his thoughts. 'I can survive days without water and food, but you can't.'

'I'll figure something out,' Seth answered with a sigh, staring at the sun dipping below the horizon.

Hopefully, the scavengers that had attacked Colossus' egg wouldn't return when night fell. Seth had barely managed three hours of sleep in the past two days so a few undisturbed hours of rest would be more than great.

'You can sleep,' Nightmare said beside him. 'I'll take the first watch again.'

'Thanks, Nightmare.'

Seth settled against one of the enormous pieces of remains, crossed his arms tightly, and tucked his hands away from the chill of the night breeze. For a brief moment, he checked on Colossus through their bond; the beast was slowly taking aether from Seth's Well, matching its regeneration rate. Finally, exhaustion overtook him, and Seth drifted to sleep.

The night passed uneventfully while Seth and Nightmare took turns on watch. When the morning came, the distortion field was still present, so Seth decided to sleep an extra hour even if the sun had been slowly rising above the golden dunes.

The moment he opened his eyes again, he saw Nightmare engaged in what looked like an increasingly frustrating attempt at teaching Colossus how to communicate. For some reason, the yet-to-be-born beast hadn't been able to clearly express himself through emotions and images the way Nightmare had done as a pup.

Instead, Colossus sent out jumbled waves of emotions and confusing pictures, leaving them both struggling to understand his intentions. Nightmare was convinced it was because their new companion was dumb, but Seth thought otherwise.

His main two guesses were that either they had misjudged its Tier potential and it was only from a Copper species, or since he had yet to hatch, the young beast was too immature to even communicate that way.

'Show me you're hungry,' the direwolf repeated for the fifth time, glaring at Colossus' large egg.

Watching the scene, Seth retrieved his last piece of dry meat he had stocked away in his jacket two days ago and tore it in two before biting into one of the pieces. 'Want the other half?'

'No,' the direwolf answered dryly. 'Listen, Little Bite. If you don't show me that you want aether, we're just going to let you starve.'

'Come on, Nightmare,' Seth groaned, rolling his eyes. 'That's not how it works.'

The direwolf was turning to retort when a clear cluster of emotions and pictures surged through Link. 'Hungry. Yes. Aether.'

Nightmare raised his muzzle proudly. 'Ha! See? It works.'

'That's ridiculous.' Seth sighed, stretching his arms out the side. 'Threats aren't a good teaching method.'

'Maybe not for humans, but for beasts it's fantas—'

Before the direwolf could finish, the ambient aether stirred, then shifted, flowing smoothly and harmoniously around them once again. Seth's eyes widened, and he immediately channeled his aether into his necklace while focusing on his bond with Colossus. The next second, the massive egg disappeared, causing one of the twin teardrops to turn from a gentle blue to a rich hazelnut brown.

After moving Nightmare into the other one, Seth plunged his hand within his Endless Pouch and yanked out an Escape scroll. With Selena now likely out of the Rift, and all other prisoners either freed… or dead… there was no reason to stay even one more second.

Closing his eyes, Seth channeled aether into the scroll and crushed it in his palm. A brief gut-churning sensation surged through him for a moment, and as he reopened his eyes, the sun was now bathing the rugged plain ahead with its morning rays.

With a brief sigh, he turned to leave for trogan when a sudden movement on the left drew his attention. Sitting casually on a rock, a tall man with black slicked hair and a scar running down his right cheek raised his head. The figure immediately grabbed the large two-handed axe next to him—Ronard, the leader of the Black Hounds.

"Finally," the man growled, his cold eyes locking onto Seth as he pushed himself up with his weapon. "I've waited all night for you."

Seth's heartbeat immediately began hammering his ears, and adrenaline rushed through his veins, sharpening every sense. A smirk then spread across his face.

"I'm glad you did."

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