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“Maybe?”

Equinox throws back his head and laughs. “Oh, this is hilarious.”

“Is it? Why?”

“Ornix isn’t going to be able to find it. He’s going to be seeking a seal with a certain signature. But it won’t feel that way anymore. It’s going to only speak to you. If he wants to find it again, he’s going to have to take you back to the human world. That was smart, Melissa. Really smart.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Take credit anyway,” he laughs.

“Why don’t you just portal out of here if you can make them. Ornix just clicks his fingers or whatever and then the world evaporates for him.”

“Ornix is older and more practiced. Portal magic is actually quite challenging. I’m lucky I can do it at all with computers, and he smashed mine all up.”

“He what?”

“When he found you were gone, he broke all my computers, threatened to kill me, and threw me in here. Honestly, it was a pretty restrained response given the situation.”

“Can you make another portal? I mean, even if it’s not perfect, can you make one at all? I think we should both get out of here.”

“If I helped you escape again, he would kill me. And in spite of how terrible the dungeon is, I don’t want to actually die. I’m sorry. I really am. But Ornix is a monster, and I’ve crossed him once.”

“He left me here with nobody to care about me. I don’t even know how to get breakfast. He told me he expects me to have his babies. I hope he doesn’t find the seal.”

“I can’t make a portal, but you might be able to.”

“Me?”

“You need to level magic, but there are books for that. I can get you started with a few low-level spells and you can practice them around the castle. Summoning food is a good start. Summon bread and water.”

“Okay, yes, please!”

“Take my hand,” he says. “Now, be aware, this is dragon magic, so it might make your hair fall out.”

“What?”

“I’m kidding,” he smirks. “But it isn’t inherently compatible with humanity. You’ve been inoculated with seed, though, and you’ve attuned to a seal, so you clearly have the capacity for it. Give me your hand, and listen.”

I put my hand out, and he folds it into his. I hear his voice, no longer speaking the English I am used to hearing from him, but in a tongue older and much more powerful than anything I speak.

I can feel something entering me, knowledge flowing between us. It’s quite intimate, but not sexual. It’s an exchange of energy, and of magic.

“Now. Try. Tavarth. That is the word for bread.”

“Tavarth,” I say.

A loaf of bread pops into existence, fully formed and in my hands. I stare at it, like it’s the most fascinating thing I have ever seen in my life, like I am finally understanding how simple magic is. It feels as though I could have done this all along, if I hadreally wanted to—like I’ve been lazy, even though I know I am anything but.

“Again,” he says. “You need to probably make at least fifty breads and waters before we can level your magic up to the next level.”

“Funny how this works, isn’t it? You don’t necessarily have to do more complex spells, you just have to learn how to do one spell very well.”

“That’s life. There’s a lot of people going very far with a few basic skills they’ve honed well. Literally, bakers.”

“Yeah,” I say. “I guess. Though bakers can usually make more than one kind of loaf.”

“More bread,” he says. “Less talk. Ornix could be back at any moment, and god knows what he will do to me if he catches you in here with me and a hundred loaves of bread.”