Unlike yesterday, where I'd spent hours finding a single moongazing flower, moonbell flowers were much easier to locate.

  It only took me a few minutes before I found the first one growing in the shadow of a weathered boulder. Then the rest became a cakewalk with Nox's help, his nose led us from cluster to cluster with impressive speed.

  By the end of the day, I had more than two dozen flowers in my pouch, each one carefully picked and wrapped to preserve their quality. The rocky outcroppings had been full of them, hidden in shaded crevices and tucked between stone formations.

  “This was easy.” I said, patting my bulging pouch with satisfaction. At four silver per flower, I was looking at nearly a hundred silver for a single day's work. Not bad at all.

  I was just thinking about heading back to town when it happened.

  ROAR!

  The sound shattered the peaceful afternoon and made my blood run cold.

  Fuck, I totally jinxed that, didn't I?

  Nox immediately went rigid beside me, his ears flattened against his head as he turned toward the source of the roar. Above us, I could see Fei's silhouette banking sharply, his cry of alarm piercing the air.

  So much for a simple herb gathering job. Should've known it was too good to last.

  But I had no plans to confront whatever was making that noise. I wasn't an idiot.

  I commanded Fei to dive down and scoop me up with his talons while directing Nox to run back toward the plains. I had no idea what kind of creature was roaring like that, but I sure as hell wasn't planning to stick around and find out unless absolutely necessary.

  Fei's powerful wings beat the air as he lifted me up, his talons gripping me securely but gently. Below, Nox bounded across the rocky terrain, putting distance between us and whatever nightmare was lurking in those outcroppings.

  From the air, I finally saw what had made that bone-chilling roar, and it made my blood run cold.

  It looked like some kind of dragon—massive, scaled, with a serpentine neck and razor-sharp teeth. The creature's wings beat furiously as it tried to maintain altitude while fighting off its attackers.

  But it wasn’t alone.

  The wyvern was battling someone. No, multiple people. Five figures in coordinated formation, their weapons flashing as they darted around the beast with practiced precision.

  The wyvern was strong—way stronger than Nox or Fei. I could tell just from watching how it moved, the power behind each swipe of its claws and snap of its jaws. But I could also see they were easily handling it. They moved like a well-oiled machine, each member covering the others as they wore the creature down.

  They're toying with it. I realized with a mix of awe and unease.

  One of them looked familiar.

  Marcus.

  So that's his party.

  I watched them deliver the killing blow, the wyvern's roar cutting off abruptly as it crashed to the ground among the rocks.

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  Time to get out of here.

  But before we could leave, one of them spotted me. High in the air, far enough that I should have been nothing but a speck against the sky. How the hell had they even managed to sense me?

  Fear shot through my chest as I saw the mage—a woman in robes—begin casting some kind of spell. Magical circles appeared in the air around her, glowing with ominous light as she pointed directly at me.

  Shit, shit, shit—What kind of paranoid assholes attack first and ask questions later?

  But before she could finish whatever she was doing, Marcus intervened. I saw him grab her arm, pointing up at me and saying something that made her hesitate.

  He recognized me.

  Thank god.

  But seeing that they'd spotted me, I had no choice but to meet with them.

  I commanded Fei to descend, but anger was building in my chest with each wingbeat downward.

  Why the hell did they almost try to kill me? I was just watching.

  Fei touched down about twenty yards from the group, his talons settling gently on the rocky ground. I slid off his back, my jaw clenched with irritation as I walked toward them.

  Marcus was already approaching, his hands raised in what was probably meant to be a peaceful gesture while the rest of his party stayed back.

  "Vera!" Marcus called out, genuine relief in his voice. "Thank god it's you. When Lydia saw someone watching us from that high up, we thought—"

  "You thought you'd blast first and ask questions later?" I interrupted, my anger finally boiling over. "What the hell is wrong with you people?”

  Marcus winced. "I'm sorry. We've been dealing with some... complications lately. Lydia's on edge about surveillance."

  Complications? I wanted to ask what that meant, but I was still too pissed off to care about their problems.

  "Next time maybe try using your eyes before throwing spells around," I snapped. "I could've been killed."

  The mage—Lydia, Marcus had called her—stepped forward, she had sharp features and dark blue eyes that held genuine regret as she approached.

  "You're absolutely right, and I'm deeply sorry." Her voice was sincere, without any of the condescension I might have expected from someone so powerful.

  "We've had... incidents recently with hostile surveillance. But that's no excuse for nearly attacking an innocent person. That was reckless of me.""

  Seeing that she really meant it, my anger started to fade. At least she was willing to admit when she'd screwed up, which was more than I could say for most people in positions of power.

  "It's... fine," I said, though my voice was still a bit sharp. "Just maybe think twice next time.”

  She nodded.

  Marcus stepped closer, relief evident on his face that I wasn't about to storm off in a huff. The rest of his party had relaxed their stances, though they were still watching me with obvious curiosity.

  “Anyways, let me introduce you to my team properly." Marcus gestured to each member in turn. "This is Lydia, our mage." The dark-haired woman nodded respectfully, still looking apologetic.

  "Leon, our party leader and swordsman." The man with gray hair nodded.

  "Rhys, our healer." An elf with pointed ears and gentle green eyes smiled warmly at me.

  "And lastly Flint, our warrior." A stocky dwarf with a magnificent braided beard grunted what might have been a greeting. His massive two-handed axe was strapped to his back, and his arms looked like they could crush stone.

  Then Marcus turned around to them. “Guys, this is Vera.”

  I can see recognition dawning from their eyes.

  Leon stepped forward, his expression showing newfound interest. "Marcus told us about you. The tamer who saved the Millbrook survivors.”

  “The genius tamer.”

  Genius? Who? Me?

  Huh?

  I blinked, completely thrown off by the unexpected compliment. "I'm sorry, what?"

  “We also heard the rumors, you know.” Lydia continued.

  Rumors? What rumors?

  Seeing my confused expression, she chuckled. “You were able to tame multiple monsters all at once. That is impressive.”

  "Having multiple monsters of that caliber is... well, it's almost unheard of."

  Flint grunted his agreement. "Aye."

  I felt my cheeks heat up.

  They all turned their attention to Fei, and I could see the assessment in their gazes.

  "Magnificent creature," Leon said, his face showing genuine appreciation. “I wasn’t aware that great eagles can be tamed.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Great eagles are a very proud monster. They would rather die than be subdued.”

  He paused. "How long have you been bonded with him?"

  Before I could answer, there was a soft rustling from the rocks behind me.

  The change in the party was instantaneous and dramatic.

  "Whoa, whoa!" I moved quickly to stand in front as Nox emerged from the bushes spreading my arms wide and positioning myself between my wolf and the adventurers. "He's with me! That's my other monster!"

  My heart hammered against my ribs. These people could probably kill Nox before I could blink, and the big wolf had no idea how much danger he was in. He just sat down behind me, tail wagging slightly, completely unaware that he almost died.