With a gloomy look, Cale sat in the tall grass that reached almost to his shoulders. The wild sea lashed against the coast, carrying a strong salty smell that mingled with the scent of the surrounding flowers. The sun was high in the sky, warming his body. Cale had almost forgotten how beautiful spring could be.

Behind him, four dragons were approaching. Palaios, Velence, Chioni, and Fengari.

After Cale had told them about the events of his last life, they had withdrawn for a discussion. Cale couldn't hear exactly what they were talking about, but Palaios' voice kept speaking loudly.

"Apostle Caleb Leuen", Velence said gracefully as Cale stood up and turned to face his conversation partner. He had transformed back into the form of the Frignezers and dressed himself in the clothes of an ordinary traveler.

"You seem to be ready to talk to me", Cale said politely.

"To be completely honest, we still haven't decided how to deal with the situation."

"I thought so", Cale announced. "I suspect you are here to gain insight into my memories, Velence."

All four of them - even Fengari - gave Cale a suspicious look. None of them trusted Cale, which he could understand. He was, first and foremost, a human, even if he was the apostle of a god. None of them knew him, and on top of that, they were on their own - their goddess was not present.

Everything Cale had told them felt strange and simply wrong.

"That was my intention."

"Go ahead, I am familiar with the ability", Cale said calmly and stretched his arm forward. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced briefly at Chioni before the leader of the dragons bent down to make physical contact with Cale. "I will show you how I made contact with the dragons in my past life and what happened afterward."

Silently, Velence let his mana flow while Cale closed his eyes. As he had done so many times before, he conjured up images from the past and revealed to Velence what had happened. The first encounter with Fengari in the mountains of Sylve, the meeting with the eastern group of dragons - all of it appeared clearly before Velence's inner eye.

He saw how Cale learned the truth about the dragons, the gods, and the Thormods, how he freed Chioni from her suffering, and how Cale flew across the vast plains the next morning with Fengari and some dragons. Fengari's arrival at the magistrate's office, her cat form, and the circumstances that led to contact with the siblings also became visible.

Even Velence's first appearance at the weekly meetings - and how much he resembled himself today - did not escape him. He witnessed their public and private conversations, the support he gave Cale, and even the ensuing war.

Velence saw everything.

Velence was the first to break the connection and sit up. Without a word, Cale looked up at the dragon who had watched Cale spend the last minutes of his sixth life - and what the Eldest had done. The memories seemed to affect Velence more deeply than Cale had expected, and slowly the reason for this dawned on him.

The current Velence did not know life without the gods. He could not identify with the Velence from the sixth life and seemed to be weighing up internally whether he would really have acted that way. But since the goddess had assured him that the Apostle would not lie - and Cale had now gained a first insight into his past - there was no reason to doubt it.

"I am not the same as in your memory", Velence said dismissively.

"I am aware of that, Velence. All my life I have had to live with the fact that the people around me change, and I am used to no one having any memories of me. I...", Cale replied in a calm, sad voice. "I have learned to live with it."

Cale was very familiar with the loss of people close to him. Whenever he ended a life, he had to witness anew how these people became new personalities who had no memory of him.

His four young friends from his first life were probably the best example of the torment he had to go through. He had fought with them for life and death, and in the next life, they treated him almost with hostility. Each time, it was this reaction that hurt Cale - even though he could understand their point of view.

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If a complete stranger suddenly claimed to know him from the future, even Cale would declare him insane. This was probably one of the reasons why Cale had never managed to tell anyone about it on his own accord. He was afraid of their reactions, as he could never be sure how similar they were to the personalities from his previous life.

"So... what's the plan?", Fengari asked hesitantly.

"Did you see anything helpful?", Palaios interjected, ignoring Fengari's question.

"Yes", Velence confirmed. "It's as the Apostle said - we were allies... and we were friends. In his last life, we spent a lot of time together, especially Fengari."

"Me?", Fengari asked, irritated.

"Chioni", Velence continued seamlessly, turning to the white dragon. "This Apostle here once helped you to take control over mark."

"Really?"

"Do you think that we...", Palaios began as Velence straightened up.

"I think we can follow him without worry", Velence finally announced. "To follow Parousia's instructions and... to help Chioni. Palaios?"

"Do I look like I would oppose your decision?", Palaios replied provocatively. "What do you think, Chioni?"

"I trust Velence's judgment", Chioni said calmly. "And even if I didn't, I would follow you anywhere."

"Fengari?", Velence asked.

Immediately, the child among the four dragons pricked up her ears.

"Accompany a human! I'd love to!", Fengari exclaimed and jumped up. She landed right behind Cale, causing the ground to shake, so that he tried to keep his balance in surprise. "Pleased to meet you, human child. I am Fengari."

"I know", Cale replied amusedly, turning to face her. "I am Caleb Leuen, but I currently live under the name Zod Adenia."

"What should I call you then?"

"You can call me Zod", Cale said with a smile on his face, placing his hand on Fengari's head before applying the shape-shifting spell to her. Fengari looked around in surprise as her perspective changed abruptly.

Cale had given her a completely new, human form.

"Why did you..."

"Consider it a thank you for what you did for me in my last life."

"I'm a human child!", Fengari exclaimed happily and ran around in circles.

"With this form, you appear to be a girl around 6 years old."

"Magnificant!"

"I would ask Palaios to reduce your true size", Cale explained, turning around. "There is a High-Magician who possesses the all-seeing eyes."

Confused, Palaios did not reply.

"May I accompany you to the cities of humans?", Fengari interjected.

"Of course, as long as you behave inconspicuously."

"You wish us to accompany you to the city?", Chioni asked, now visibly nervous.

"No. Not at all. I demand nothing of you. My last life had come to such an abrupt end that I didn't get around to fulfilling my promise to Fengari."

Fengari tested her new body to the fullest and began running like a madwoman through the tall grass. Her head barely rose above the vegetation as she ran down the flat hill like the wind.

She had the same appearance as in Cale's last life. Only her long hair was now blonde and her eyes blue, matching Cale's current appearance. She also wore a white summer dress, which, together with her childlike appearance, made her look very harmless.

Cale watched as the little bundle of energy jumped around in all her glory before she suddenly started flying and crashed into a thick branch above her with full force. With a dull thud, she fell to the ground, shook her head, and immediately began another attempt at flight.

"If that's the case...", Palaios muttered, drawing Cale's attention back to the three large dragons behind him. "Then I would like to focus on Chioni's problem."

"A Thormod blocked the mana, if I remember correctly", Cale began, slowly approaching the group. "I can stop this ability with my Igrikum, but I can't dissolve it. The Thormod maintaining this connection must die. He's probably in the creature plains."

"Finding him shouldn't be difficult, but catching him is..."

"He can't teleport infinitely, especially once I've broken this connection. However, if you'll allow me, I would like to kill this Thormod myself."

"Oh yes, let's hunt down the Thormod!", Fengari shouted enthusiastically and rushed down from the sky - back to the group.

"Why don't you let us worry about that, Apostle Caleb Leuen?", Palaios replied, ignoring the malicious look Fengari gave him.

"I think it's not a good idea - to put it mildly - for a group of dragons to suddenly appear on the plains. You've hardly left the island before, have you? The people there would only get scared, and the Thormods would surely wonder what you're doing in the plains - again."

"You want to keep our existence a secret, am I right?", Velence summed up.

"I want to prevent the Thormods from realizing what's going on. Until I've developed a plan and spoken to Mellontikos, I would ask you not to attract unnecessary attention."

"Are you confident enough that you can take out this Thormod on your own?", Chioni asked hesitantly, stepping out from behind Palaios. "I only fought him for a brief moment, but he is strong and unpredictable."

"I am much stronger than you might think", Cale replied confidently. "Besides, I don't intend to get involved in a bigger fight with the Thormods."

"If you're sure..."

She still seemed to have doubts, but she didn't voice them. It was strange to see how uncertain Chioni seemed in this life, compared to back then. She seemed to be full of fear toward the Thormods, probably still hurt by the goddess's disinterest in her. But Cale had no problem doing this dirty work for her. He wasn't going to the plains alone anyway, as he had Fengari at his side for protection. There was only one thing he wanted to do in Exarion first.

He was going to pick up Karekama there.

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