“I already have one lined up, Boss,” Kidd said, squeezing out the last drop of blood from the Wind Ray into a hilling stack of canisters, scratching the word ‘Wind’ on them.

  The existence of Ewan’s spell disregarded the importance of matching the element of the blood with the bath cycle—the wind blood could become the blood of any element he wanted. Nevertheless, the selection of proper prey from the start would negate the need for the mountainous and cumbersome labor of doing so, not to mention he hadn’t revealed its existence to his three brothers yet… A thought he mulled over in the quiet afternoons, lounging under the false sunlight on the deck.

  “Redboon is really good, Sae’sa,” Lance said, rubbing the gory smear off the matte-red and the dim runes of his armor.

  “If it works as planned, the defense should get better the more blood it absorbs,” Nana said, jotting down Lance’s review. “The time limit is only a few minutes though; I’ll try to improve that.”

  “Spellcrown looked good too, the boost almost doubled the damage I think,” Stefan said.

  “Yeah, I really like it,” Ewan said, smiling at Nana, his mind a bit lost. “It’ll be a perfect fit for my Elementalist.”

  The Ewan of Obria could never trust anyone to expose his spell except Nana, but time had chiseled the Ewan of Stormfalcon, he’d braved the years with the three, and it birthed the branches of trust in him. He would live longer if he never trusted anyone, his Pa deemed it so in desperation. That hectic day in the funeral hall hammered it in his character, and Ewan followed that code with all his heart. But just for now, just for those who always had his back, just for his three brothers, he wished to break it.

  “What? Is there something wrong?” Nana asked.

  Ewan laughed and heaved a defeated sigh inside, and the turmoil mauled his heart. Not yet, not just yet… The walls he’d created towered over him; they were too tall and rigid for his change. His time on the warship spread the cracks in them but the light from the other side had yet to cross over… “Nothing, I just complemented it,” he said.

  “You looked lost,” she said.

  “Why are you so damn sharp?” Ewan retorted then took a deep breath. “It’s about….” He looked at the three men, the fissures allowing some of his words, while Nana widened her eyes. “I can't tell you about it just yet, I need more time, I need more change,” he said, and his shoulders slouched a bit.

  “Is that something we must know about, Boss?” Kidd asked, scratching his head. “Is it something complicated? I probably won't understand it.”

  “Vraan, I can’t use spells anyway,” Lance said, his armor dismantling and shrinking into a small round token that hung by his neck, and he tucked it under his shirt. “I won't be able to use it even if you tell us, I can't concentrate on those complex circuits, Stefan’s was more than enough.”

  “You don’t need to use it,” Ewan said. “You just need to know its effect; I’ll tell you when I’m ready.”

  “I want to see their faces when you tell them,” Nana said, tittering.

  “Won't be any better than yours.” Ewan chuckled. “You freaked out for days, I wish the spirit blobs showed faces. Alas, I missed it.” He clicked his tongue.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “If we’re sharing secrets, I would like to add something,” Stefan said. “Lance was trying to bed that waitress at the citadel, he talked to her for so long, but in the end, he stammered at the main point and couldn’t bring it up.” He scratched his ears with a smirk and fixed his blindfold. “I hear things,” he said.

  “I wasn’t!” Lance shouted.

  “Yeah, you were.” Kidd cackled. “You came back with a flushed face when she walked away.”

  “I just a-asked for a glass of brandy, but they were out of stock,” Lance said, slurring his words.

  “Sae’sa,” Kidd said. “How long will my dagger take? I really want to test it out.”

  “Next up is Stefan’s blindfold,” Nana said. “I’m almost done with it, should be ready within a week or two. After that I’ll work on your dagger, you’ll have to use something else while I modify it.”

  “Head back while you talk, don’t loiter where we just killed,” Ewan said, and led them to the Stormfalcon. “How was the marking spell, Stefan? Any hiccups?”

  “The circuit had some bumps when I traced it in a hurry, some curves also took longer than others,” Stefan said. “It’s a lot different than when I tried it on the ship.”

  “Hmm, let’s adjust it when we get back,” Ewan said.

  “I really wasn’t trying to bed her!” Lance hollered at the back. “I won't fail if I really tried!”

  Kidd patted his back and shook his head, clicking his tongue. “Yeah, you’re a lady killer. Such a pity though, you killed her with your suave, so much so that she never came back after that.”

  “Yeah…I wanted more of that chocolate,” Stefan said with a sigh.

  …..

  The verdure isle in the front had crowned its king among the land walkers, the ginger-color leather skinned iguana that countered every ounce of the surrounding, for it breathed fire and guzzled lava from the only volcano among the green.

  Stormfalcon parked in the distance and Nyte took over the security, the protective cover shimmering under the break of dawn, while the five hovered over the island, staring at the horde of iguanas who came out to the sandy beach to greet the sun, puffing balls of fire.

  “You found a Fire Iguana…” Ewan gaped at Kidd whose eyes sparkled and implored for praise. “To test my fire spell…”