The Qu’Sella temple was not what Ann expected it to be. Instead of the reception area that many other temples had, the door opened into a massive atrium. Three floors high, with wooden balconies running the perimeter, it was lit by stained glass windows and chandeliers. Bookshelves lined the walls, with an equal amount standing free on the ground floor. Each wall and each level contained several doors leading out into hallways to get through the rest of the complex. The front desk, as it was, was a circular counter set into the middle of the room. It surrounded a spinning globe in the middle, which was floating by some sort of enchantment. Scholars bustled everywhere, chattering to their colleagues and leafing through tomes.

The Sella sect of the Temple was easy to differentiate from the Qu portion. Sella being the patron of magic reflected in her followers being festooned with small enchanted items. Floating pens and books were common, along with light sources and other needs.

The Qu sect were more traditional scholars. While several of them had enchanted items of their own, they mostly eschewed the copious use their colleagues practised. Most wore well weathered faces, cracks and wrinkles earned from years out in the fields studying their specific areas. A few were more done up than that, but they seemed rare.

Ann, Kat and Rosalyn approached the main desk. Kat led the way, while Ann and Rosalyn gawked at their surroundings. Ann had been in a collegiate library before, but this put that one, and plenty she’d seen online, to shame.

“So many people,” Rosalyn said. She shrank against Ann, grabbing hold of her kilt as she kept her head on a swivel. “Still, it’s so big. So much knowledge!”

“Yeah, this is nuts,” Ann said. She needed to see if they had texts on art history here. She really wanted to know how many styles were repeated over the millennia of her coma.

“Welcome to the Temple of Qu’Sella,” the elderly woman at the central desk greeted them. She was hunched, with deep wrinkles at the corners of her mouth and eyes. Her voice was tired and a little slow, but her eyes themselves were bright and watchful. “Ah, your highness. Looking for Master Bren, are we?”

“Yeah,” Kat said. “Not sure if he’s still ‘ere.”

“Oh, he is. Let me see… checked out various books on Thrundol history, the treatise concerning the Life Debt, and several other pieces on the topic. No doubt he’ll want to take some of that with him. At least he always returns them in top condition. Now then, he’s on the second floor, east wing, room 213. That’ll be on your left, dears. Anything else I can help with?”

“Maybe on the way out,” Ann said. She was going to get that book.

“We don’t normally rent out books beyond these doors, but if Master Bren vouches for you, an exception can be made,” the lady said. “Stay safe, stay informed, stay curious.”

Kat led the way to the lifts at the back of the atrium. They were interesting devices. Pulled up on a chain over pulleys and gears, with gems set into the cogs, visible from the outside. Each dinged as it reached the destination floor, an accordion grate opening to allow passengers through.

They stepped into the car, the gate sliding shut behind them. Kat threw the lever to the second position, and they rose without a noticeable jolt. The enchanters in this place clearly cared for this contraption well.

Stepping onto the second-floor balcony, Ann got a better view of the floor below them. The rows of shelves were broken up infrequently by pockets of chair, tables, and benches for the occupants to use. Ann watched the scholars and mages bustle through the organised rows, checking shelves and pulling tomes. It was a lively, but cosy atmosphere, with the background chatter being reduced to a murmur by the shelves.

The group made their way to the door the librarian had indicated and stepped through. They found Bren sitting at a table, books laid out before him, diligently flipping through a ragged tome. Lucia laid sprawled out on a couch, fiddling with a knife she’d been carrying. As they entered, she used it to clean under her thumbnail, flicking the dirt away.

“Was fast,” Lucia said as she absently returned to her nails. Find the newest release on novel⚑fire.net

“Or ye’re slow,” Kat said, moving around to Bren. “Find any loopholes?”

“No. Just more and more about the divine and Bryltia’s absolute refusal to revoke this burden she placed on her people. It is infuriating!” Bren shouted, slamming his fist on the table, then burying his head in his arms.

Ann jumped at the passion in his voice. It was the most emotive she’d ever seen him, even after everything they’d been through. “Dude, we’ll figure it out,” she said.

“I.. I know. It just vexes me that an entire people is beholden to this curse, and now that Lucia is bound to me, she seems not to care.”

“Said before. Knew what I was doing. Did not make choice lightly,” Lucia said. “Don’t know why so upset. Can feel your anger.”

“You can feel it, but do not understand it,” Bren sighed. “Blast it all, it is unfair and imbalanced. I would rather us get along as equals than have this thing hanging between us.”

“Then we make friends with it. Not big deal. Maybe easier?”

Bren just stared at her like she was a rock that had begun speaking. “Ann, can you please try to translate for me?”

Ann sighed and opened her mouth to speak, but Rosalyn cut her off.

“Actually, I think I get it. It’s like with Ann, Kat and I. I like being kinda manhandled and tossed around, and am fine with them taking control, but that’s something that’s kinda grown with our relationship? You’re basically skipping all of that and given Bren all the power over you, your life, your choices. It’s scary, because he’d rather you like him for you than because you’re stuck together. Does that make sense?”

Lucia stared at Rosalyn, and Ann could almost see the gears in her brain trying to catch up with the rapid fire torrent of words that had just been thrown at her. Then she nodded slowly. “Think I understand. Bren has been very careful. Nothing forced, well, besides waking up earlier. But why is it a problem? Know he will not abuse it. By Bryltia’s bow, he made an oath under the gods. What will it take to stop having conversation?”

“Me being free from this burden!” Bren retorted. “I will not stop looking for a fix to this, Lucia. At least until we are freed from the Debt. I feel that, by the way. That dismissiveness. Oh, do not give me that.”

Immediately, the pair devolved into bickering, no doubt helped along with that by the Debt feeding each the emotions of the other.

Ann had enough. “All right, listen. You, Bren, are being selfish. No no, listen,” she said, cutting him off as he tried to retort. “She made the decision to ask you for this. You accepted. Time to own up to that. Quit trying to weasel out of it and find out what you need to do to fulfil the damn thing. Lucia. You’re being inconsiderate of how Bren feels about this. I know you can tell how he feels. You also need to own up that your opinions on the matter are different. Gods, if I didn’t know it’d make the fucking problem worse, I’d lock you in a room until you fucked it out of your systems.”

Bren went crimson, while Lucia turned an incredibly dark shade of green.

Oh, wow, Ann thought. That was a bigger reaction than I thought I’d get.

“To be clear, I’m joking. Still, figure out the middle ground. Lucia, help him find a way to fulfil the Debt. Bren, stop treating her like she’s a lost puppy. You’re both adults. Come on,” Ann sighed, rant over.

Kat took Ann’s arm, entwining them at the elbow. “Shhh, mutt,” she said. “Yer tail’s all fluffed up.”

Ann looked back and grumbled, then started flattening out the unruly fur. “Makin’ me all flustered. Damnit.” The fur that ran down her spine had also bristled, and she thanked Orenous for her high Dexterity as she contorted to smooth it.

The bonded pair glared at each other for a minute. The tension in the room was heavy until Lucia relented with a sigh.

“Fine. Will help with this. Only if you stop treating like a problem that needs fixed.”

“I made my oaths,” Bren said. “However, I will try to stop being dismissive of your opinions on the use of the Bond.”

“Good. Good start ye two,” Kat clapped, still not letting go of Ann’s arm. “Now, ye gonna kiss an’ make up?”

“No!” both responded at once.

That set Kat and Ann to laughing. Rosalyn joined them shortly and soon after, everyone was sharing in the mirth.

“Oh, christ’s sake,” Ann gasped. “I needed that. So, you two good?”

“I believe so, for now,” Bren chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye. “I am sure we will find something else to disagree on.”

“Is life,” Lucia said, shrugging. “Makes interesting.”

“Very true,” Bren agreed. “So, I have leave to take some of these with me. Even if I am not trying to get out of the Debt immediately, I still wish to learn as much as I can.”

“Too many books make you dull,” Lucia said. “Need to experience. Is once in a lifetime.”

“Please, just humour me on this,” Bren said. “So, should we be off to the Bryltia temple? I know you wanted to offer some prayers, Lucia.”

“Appreciated,” Lucia nodded, standing. She then crossed the room and held a hand out to Bren. He paused, staring at it for a moment, then took it.

“Thank you,” he said, still looking confused.

Lucia simply nodded.

After Bren gathered his things, they made their way out, and across the concourse to the Bryltia temple. Ann never did get her book.

Bryltia’s temple was something else. It was styled less like a building and more like an artificial jungle. Plants and vines covered nearly every visible surface. What surfaces were visible were either made of brown granite or wood, further reinforcing the natural look of the place.

A blast of humidity and heat overwhelmed Ann as she stepped up to the entrance. Looking around, she spotted the glowing red flecks that indicated heating gems peeking through the vines.

“I thought you all would prefer a colder climate,” Ann said, feeling herself start to sweat.

“Not all,” Lucia said. She pushed open the gate — the temple didn’t have a door or front wall — and led them in through the vine covered pillars.

It was dark inside. Lighting was sparse, and imitated pictures she’d seen of the denser areas of the Amazon jungle. The floor, at least, was stone, and free of vines, so she didn’t have to worry about tripping.

As they walked, she spied several priests and priestesses. Far more skin that was typical elsewhere in the city was on display. They passed Thrundol priestess dressed in a brightly coloured sash and nothing else knelt, praying to a statue set into a water feature. In another alcove, a human priest led several worshippers in prayer to what looked like a massive cat skull with six eye sockets.

The heat was getting to Ann, and she wiped sweat off her brow for the third time. Rosalyn wasn’t doing much better and was flagging as she walked. They were both made for cold weather, and this was a brutal adjustment. Ann spent her Health on a Mutation, thinning her fur and hair out significantly. As about half of it fell out, she felt much better, but that didn’t help Rosalyn.

“Lucia, is there anywhere cooler for us?” Ann asked.

The Thrundol looked back, red eyes flicking between Ann and Rosalyn. “Ah, sorry. There are pools. This way.”

A couple minutes later, a clearing opened up before them. Vine covered pillars still surrounded them, but a large pool of glistening water dominated the centre of the room. Surprisingly, this alone was enough to cool off the ambient heat significantly. Rosalyn breathed a sigh of relief, and Ann started regrowing her shed hair.

“So, what are we here for?” Rosalyn asked. “And can we use the pool?”

“Yes. Can sit in. Do not bathe,” Lucia said. “Wait here. Will bring priest I need to speak with.”

As Lucia stalked off back into the temple, Kat sat and started undoing her boots. An audible sigh escaped her lips as she dipped her feet into the pool. “Feck, I may not ‘ave yer cold resistance causin’ me problems, but it’s way too soddin’ warm in here.”

“At least I can get rid of my hair if I need,” Ann said, joining her girlfriend. “You ok Rosalyn?”

“Doing a bit better. It was getting really intense for a minute there,” the druid said.

“This temple is always interesting to visit,” Bren said. He hadn’t joined them in the pool, despite the sheen of sweat on his brow. “There always seems to be another alcove, cave, trophy, or secret buried away. I have been here a few times, purely out of curiosity. I do wonder what Warped that skull back there was from.”

“Ooh, me too!” Rosalyn said. “It was massive. The living thing had to be thirty feet long with a head like that. Probably ten feet tall? Think of how much muscle something like that would have. I wonder what its diet was? Carnivore, obviously, but what did it hunt? What made it need to be that big? Or was it that big because it hunted smaller prey and the size just made that easier?”

“Maybe we’ll run into one later?” Ann said. “We’re gonna be going into more and more Seeds. Who the hell knows what we’ll find?”

“Not even just in the Seeds. Warped are far and wide. Mutated creatures, changing ecology and biology. It’s fascinating and widespread.”

“Ah, another interested in the creatures of the land,” a strong baritone voice came from around the corner.

Lucia returned with a middle-aged Thrundol beside her. He was massive. Taller than even Polaris, with a thick chest and bulging biceps. Despite his size, he moved with an uncanny grace as he walked, almost like a dancer. His blonde hair fell over his light brown skin. It wasn’t a tan like a human could get. Almost like burlap. The light from the pool played off his single tusk as he smiled at Rosalyn, baring the broken and filed down nub of the other.

“Greetings, friends. The temple of the Huntress welcomes you. Now, Lucia, would you introduce me? Besides the princess. She needs no introduction,” the man bowed.

“Yes. Annita Kronforst, Bren Hedera, Rosalyn Losenska. Mercenaries and party to Katlyn. Everyone, this is Temtil. Good priest of Bryltia. Known for some time,” Lucia said in her usual curt manner.

“A pleasure to meet you all. I must apologise for Lucia’s manner of speech. I have tried to get her to be more eloquent every time she visits, but I’m afraid that is an exercise in futility. Still, she puts up with me, so I think I’m rubbing off on her,” Temtil said with a cheeky grin. “Well, what brings you here today, Lucia?”

“Need to ask questions. About the Life Debt,” Lucia said, plainly.

“Well, that is something important to our culture, isn’t it?” Temtil said. “What made you so interested all of a sudden?”

Lucia simply raised her right arm.

“Blood of the Best,” Temtil swore, taking her arm in his massive hands. “You didn’t.”

“Did. Too late now. Know I made the right choice. Just need information,” Lucia explained.

“With whom?”

Lucia pointed to Bren, who raised his own vine tattooed arm.

“Well, I pray that it was the right choice, Lucia. That is the genuine deal. You are fixed to him, body and soul. I do mean the soul part literally. Can you feel his emotions?”

Both Lucia and Bren nodded. “He is nervous.”

“She is also nervous,” Bren said, closing his eyes.

“Well, that’s understandable. Two youngsters like you getting into something more serious than marriage is quite the commitment. Give me your hands, please.”

Bren and Lucia took Temtil’s massive hands, and the man closed his eyes, focusing. A warm light spread from his chest, down both arms, and into Bren and Lucia. They both flinched, but quickly relaxed. Slowly, the light receded back into Temtil and he opened his eyes.

“Who else knows that you’ve made this oath?” Temtil asked.

“No one,” Lucia said.

“Well, that’s for the best. I would keep it as secret as you can. When I said the soul, I meant that literally. Sit, first, Lucia,” Temtil said, gesturing to the ground as he sat cross-legged on the stone. “What I said about the soul was not an exaggeration. This goes beyond a simple mind link, not that those are simple. Regardless, your existences have become interwoven. A normal Life Debt is a connection between two people. Bryltia herself oversaw this oath. That fact alone deepened the connection to the point of, well, absurdity. I am fairly certain that if one or the other lost their life, so would the other. It is that powerful.”

“Hoooly feck,” Kat said in awe. “Bren, the feck did ye do?”

“Now, before you all get too worried, there are upsides to this as well. There are, of course, the commands that the debt holder can give to the debtor. These can be useful.”

“And extremely unsavoury,” Bren grumbled.

“Well, yes, but think about an instance where you’re in combat, yeah? She needs to duck out of the way, but would have to hear you, think about it, then duck. You tell her to duck and she will without question. Tell her to jump and she will. The power is fairly extensive.”

“So I have read,” Bren nodded.

“You will also, over time, come to know the other’s mind better than anyone else. Whether this is a feature of being exposed to another’s emotions or something Bryltia intended for the Bond is a debated topic.”

“Maybe you will learn how to speak properly,” Bren said, smirking at Lucia.

“Maybe you learn to be quiet,” Lucia sniped back.

“Ah, another downside. Just, please try to remember that you are metaphysically tied to each other. With a Debt of this power, I’m actually not certain whether the effects will end when the Debt is fulfilled.”

“How would that be done?” Bren asked, pouncing on the statement.

“That is more complicated. You saved her life. Generally it requires her to save it back. There is a stipulation that it not be in service of repaying the debt, otherwise this wouldn’t have been so problematic to our people. No, the debtor must willingly save their partner’s life purely from altruism. It is a tricky difference, and one that will be the culmination of your time together. Bryltia has spoken that her intent with this Debt was to draw her people closer. To bind those who do good and protect others to those they protected. On a hunt, such a Bond would be invaluable. Sadly, it had been perverted and abused in terrible ways.”

“That is… concerning,” Bren said, looking dour.

“Oh cheer up, friend,” Temtil laughed, patting him on the shoulder. “You are bound to a wonderful woman. She will serve you well until she decides she can live up to her part of this oath. Take care of her, and I have no doubt you will have this off your shoulders quickly.”

“I guess I will have to do so,” Bren said, nodding. “Any questions, Lucia?”

“No. This was for you. Needed to understand our side of thing,” Lucia explained. “Already knew all this.”

“Ah. Well, thank you. It does help to hear it from someone in the faith.”

“Good! Now, anything else I can answer for you?” Temtil asked.

“Yeah, how the hell do we get out of here without sweating our asses off again?” Ann asked from the cool water.

Temtil laughed heartily.