Orchenia looked up at the cat. "Power does come from more places then your strength. Sometimes the strongest power comes from other places like trust and loyalty. Did the others have that?"

"That's not the power I'm talking about." The cat laughed. "My presence challenges your physical and mental strength directly. Your body will be connected to mine, and my mana will be flowing into you."

" Don't beat yourself up over it... If I didn't trust you I wouldent Have gone" she said handing him back the orb

He smiled sadly as he accepted the orb. "Thank you, but it's the truth. It's too dangerous for someone like you, and especially with no skills." He said, walking down the path you two had originally come from.

" You may be right, But if it would help I'd gladly do it again" she she smiling little

He shook his head. "I'm not letting you go back there without proper skills." You both emerge onto a field... it's the field you first started on.

Link: https://www.sylestia.com/forums/?thread=50963&page=188#1877 Author: Aphelion Time Posted: 12/13/2017 at 2:22 AM "Shh, don't interrupt my thoughts." He raised a hand and touched your cheek. Not very surprisingly, his hand was icy cold. "I can see... your name is Iist. Looking for The Creator's Pax Excitium crystal. How interesting!" He dropped his hand. "Again, my name is not of your interest. I do magic here, because the black magic is strong here. Do you not feel it?"

Iist tried to move her head away from his hand. "Mind reader too? That's just unfair." She looked down at the pentagram on the ground behind him. "This forest has had a certain...feel to it, and it makes sense that it's black magic." She looked back up at the mage. "What kind of black magic are you doing?"

Since you were in the middle of nowhere, there were tons of plants and natural things. You could try to chop of your hair with a sharp stone or something, but Dragon suggests that you don't worry about it, because something is going to happen in that cave and you won't die.

(oh okay) She sighed. She'd never be able to get rid of her clockwork parts and just decided to make a flower chain to go over her hair for luck.

Orchenia nods contemplating and seeing if the cat will say more.

The dragon closes his eyes for a brief second before opening them again. "That isn't your only goal, so why do you feel the need to lie to me? I can read your mind, and your ultimate goal is to find the Pax Excitium crystal of The Creator, no? Becoming a powerful mage is the least of your worries." He eyes you, scrutinizing you.

This caught Ailsa off guard. Who would have thought she'd bump into a dragon that can sense her true intentions? "I didn't think, how?"