'' Nightmare answered before he could finish. '.'
''
The direwolf stepped closer, sniffing along the egg’s cracked surface where deep claw marks scarred the shell. ''
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 were close to zero—if not actually zero.
'' 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.
'?' Nightmare asked, lying down beside him.
',' Seth answered. ''
'' the direwolf replied confidently. ''
'' Seth smiled as he ruffled the black fur on Nightmare’s head. ''
The direwolf lifted his muzzle proudly, eyes shining as a gentle breeze swept over them. ''
'' Seth answered with a sigh, glancing up at the clear sky above. ''
''
Seth's eyes widened, then a playful smirk crept on his lips. ''
',' Nightmare answered, sending vivid images of the bloody battle through their bond. '.'
A genuine smile spread on Seth’s face as he glanced fondly at his companion. Coming from the direwolf, that meant a lot. ''
'' 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. ''
'' the direwolf answered, channeling his own aether into Seth’s Well through Link. ''
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 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.
Seth knew with absolute clarity that he couldn't stop; if the flow of energy ceased, the thing inside would die.
And to Seth’s dismay, its hunger was showing no sign of slowing. His own Well was completely drained while Nightmare’s neared its bottom as well.
'' the direwolf shouted.
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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, —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 unclear memories that weren’t his own: piercing screeches that vibrated through the shell for what felt like hours, then the source of its warmth—its whole world—shuddering under and collapsed into silence. Then came the cold emptiness. The steady flow of nurturing aether vanished, replaced by the terrifying, instinctive panic of a life fading before it had even begun.
As the blinding light faded, leaving behind only the powerful bond connecting them, a new, powerful emotion emerged: a deep sense of gratitude, coupled with a fierce determination to protect the one who had just saved his life. He could almost feel the beast vowing that nothing would ever be taken from him again.
But Seth couldn't respond—not yet.
The physical tax of what they had just done crashed down on both of them, paralyzing them. For nearly an hour, neither Seth nor Nightmare could twitch a muscle. They remained completely immobilized, their Wells hollowed out to such a critical degree that even breathing felt like labor. They had poured every drop of their aether and strength into the shell, leaving them hovering on the brink of unconsciousness.
Gradually, as his strength began to trickle back, Seth leaned closer to the egg and closed his eyes. Remembering how he'd initially communicated with Nightmare through emotions, he sent calming images and feelings to his new partner. ''
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. ''
' ''' Seth repeated, raising an eyebrow. ''
'' Nightmare retorted, lifting his muzzle. ''
''
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.
''
Nightmare`s eyes widened, and he shook his head vigorously. ''
Before the direwolf could finish, the beast inside the egg twirled and sent powerful waves of joy through Link—he clearly approved the name.
'' Nightmare growled softly. ''
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.
Seth wondered to himself.
'' Nightmare asked, reading his thoughts. ''
'' 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.
'' Nightmare said beside him. ''
''
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.
'' 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. ''
'' the direwolf answered dryly. ''
'' Seth groaned, rolling his eyes. ''
The direwolf was turning to retort when a clear cluster of emotions surged through Link. ''
Nightmare raised his muzzle proudly. ''
'' Seth sighed, stretching his arms out the side. ''
''
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 and trees 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."
January 15, 2026 (9h30PM ET)
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Thank you so much for reading!
A bit too confident that Ronard...
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Small announcement:
- Over the next month or two, my day job will get quite busy, so I might reply a little less often. I’ll still be reading all your comments during my lunch breaks, though!
- I might be a little slow on your edit suggestion during that time, sorry!
- I’ve already scheduled the next 35 or so chapters during the weekend to make sure I never miss a release. That means I can officially tell you that Book 1 will end on November 7th.
- And there will be no break between books (thank my slow release rate for giving me time to edit book 1 already hehe).
shorter chapters coming up:
- Book 1 has two epilogues, one from Leonard’s POV and one from Seth’s, releasing on November 5th and 7th respectively.
- The Prologue of Book 2 will drop on November 10th.
November 7th, I’ll also reveal the Book 2 synopsis and cover!
Thanks for reading and for all your support, TFTCs, feedback, and comments as always!
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19 advanced chapters on !