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“That’s the seal?”

“It usually shines brighter than this, but the kobolds thought it was a decoration.”

“Oh, they upcycled it. Or maybe downcycled it. May I…”

He hands it to me. It only takes up space in his palm, but it requires both of my hands to hold. It has a hefty weight to it, but somehow I know that I am not going to drop it. I almost feel as though I couldn’t let go if I wanted to.

I rub my thumb over the top of it, pushing away some of the kobold paint that is already starting to peel off. What is revealed is something deeper than gold, but shinier than brass. There are deep indentations in the shape of claw marks.

“Bjorn Birna,” I murmur under my breath.

“Yes,” he says.

I know what the seal is, of course. I know that there are seven of them, and that they are artifacts of great power. At least they are in the game. This world is deeper and more dangerous than the pixel world I once played in.

“He’s been hurt. Or captured. Or killed.”

“Do not worry about that, little mate,” he says. “I intend to make sure the matter is looked into.”

I close my fingers around the edge of the seal. I want to keep holding it. It calls to me. I feel its power rippling through me. I am the lake, and it makes energy pulse through me in lazy circles.

“Careful,” Ornix says. He reaches out and takes the seal from me. A whimper escapes my lips as I feel its loss. I want more of that feeling. More of that sweet, sweet energy. “These things can cause trouble in the wrong hands, and you are absolutely the wrong hands, given your tendency to trouble.”

“I wasn’t doing anything.”

“No, but you wanted to. I saw the way your eyes lit up, I saw the hunger on your face. Be careful. Power is not as exciting as it seems. It is almost always a trap of some kind, and it likes to demand its payment in blood. Whatever has befallen Bjorn is unlikely to be pleasant, and I will not have it happen to you, so keep your fingers far from this trinket from now on, do you understand?”

I nod, hearing the sternness in his voice and knowing he means what he says as he slips the seal into his robes. I can still feel it, more faintly now though. I wonder if I attuned to it when I held it, because I certainly didn’t feel it before he gave it to me.

I decide to keep quiet about that. The look on his face when he was censuring me was enough for me to know he doesn’t want me too closely connected to that thing.

CHAPTER 6

Melissa

Our time alone ends with a dramatic shriek, the cry of a dragon.

A shadow passes overhead, followed by a roar. We are no longer alone. Several dragons are approaching, having apparently been searching for us. Having spotted us, they land.

One looks like a smaller, younger version of Ornix. He hangs back, looking a little guilty. There is also a bright, red-scaled dragon, who turns into a humanoid with red hair, bright green eyes, and a muscularity that is impressive as hell before he shrugs a conjured black leather jacket over his shoulders. There is magic in this place. I wonder if I will be able to wield it. I’d quite like to try. The other one is a steel gray-blue creature who transforms into a humanoid with some obvious age to him. His hair is swept back over his head in a silver cascade, and his eyes are bright blue. He makes me nervous, because he’s so imposing in the way quiet, smart men are. Actually, it might be because he reminds me of the dean at college.

“Sire, it is good to see you,” he says.

“Arkos,” Ornix says. “Good to see you. All is well. I have obtained my mate, the horse, and something else besides. We will speak of it more when we return to the castle.”

“I’m Equinox,” the younger version of Ornix says, sidling up to me. “I’m his nephew.”

“Equinox, why do I know that name… Oh, my god, you’re the developer!”

“Yes,” he grins, flashing white fanged teeth. “I coded and wrote the original game and now there’s a whole company. Ow!”

The last part, the ow, comes from the smack he gets from Ornix.

“This boy is the reason there is so much trouble.”

“What trouble?”

“You, for starters, running off because you think you know the forest.”