'Something’s amiss.'

  Of this Seralyth was quite certain. A queer air lay over the institute, as though a thin mist of unease and quiet uncertainty had settled upon its halls and courtyards. For a brief moment she wondered whether this feeling might, in some distant fashion, concern her personally, but she dismissed the notion almost as soon as it arose.

  She was important, that was true, and more than a small obstruction to the old and settled clique who clung to tradition. Yet she was not, she thought, important enough to stir the whole place into such a state.

  And yet, there was surely some hidden cause, some guarded secret lying beneath the institute’s carefully restrained surface. Of that Seralyth felt confident, for she had more leisure than most to mark such things. Bureaucracy held her fast in a constant and familiar limbo, and in that stillness she had learned to watch, and to notice.

  'Could you edge a little nearer?'

  That, indeed, was how she had come to her present circumstances.

  She lay upon the grass of one of the well-known lunar parks, stretched comfortably beneath the branches of a tree sustained by steady flows of mana. Her eyes were closed, and to any passerby she would have seemed no more than a young woman enjoying an idle afternoon nap.

  'Fair enough. I suppose that would be asking too much.'

  In truth, she was gazing upon the institute itself through Saeryn’s lenses.

  It was, by any fair measure, a questionable method. The distance thinned the bond between them, and without the stabilising aid of a support pod the burden upon resonance synchronisation grew heavy. Both human and dragon were required to hold a sharp and unwavering focus, merely to carry sensation across the empathy waves and shape it into something Seralyth could clearly comprehend.

  Still, it functioned, if only just.

  'That one’s behaving oddly as well.'

  Thus she was able to see it. Researchers strayed from their usual routines, moving briskly through corridors, their steps hurried as they carried urgent reports from place to place. Day by day, their schedules grew more tangled and disorderly. Seralyth found herself wondering what figures or patterns they had uncovered in their data to justify such a change.

  'Mm. That makes the fifth today.'

  Then there were the railways. They arrived laden with supplies, far more frequently than before, pulling into the institute’s docks with unusual regularity. Ordinarily, there were but two each day, one in the morning light and another toward the late afternoon. Why, then, this sudden pressing need to swell their logistics?

  She suspected, with no small concern, that a new mana reactor had even been brought in.

  'Careful. That one’s empty as well? Hm.'

  And then there were the proving grounds, where daily exercises were held. The moon itself served also as a kind of garrison. The Imperium Fleet stationed a portion of its draconic forces across the astral body, if only to keep watch and maintain a firm perimeter.

  Under normal circumstances these forces would have lingered in idleness. Lately, however, Seralyth felt they’d been driven into far more active service. She couldn't say with certainty what occupied them, but their absence from the facilities spoke plainly enough. They were engaged elsewhere, and with purpose.

  The growing number of adult dragons deepened her unease. When she had first arrived, hatchlings had been far more numerous by comparison. Over time, those numbers had evened out, though for what reason she couldn't yet say.

  'Saeryn, draw back a little.'

  Seralyth severed the resonance. The blurred and distant visions faded, and she returned fully to her own human senses. She allowed Saeryn to climb back toward open space, as though the dragon had spent the time merely frolicking. Strictly speaking, they hadn’t trespassed into any forbidden zones, but discretion was wiser. There was no need for others to learn of their small and quiet inquiries.

  Unsure how best to act upon what she had learned, Seralyth remained where she was, lying still and lost in thought. She doubted that the Imperial Court was unaware of these disturbances. Indeed, it seemed more than likely they were the source, especially where the Imperium Fleet was concerned. That possibility lent the situation an edge of true apprehension.

  In moments such as these, it was a pity that the princess stood alone, without a faction of her own. Not that she regretted it. Her freedom had never been a price she’d been willing to pay, neither in the past nor now.

  'I’m not alone anymore.'

  A flicker of bemusement passed along the bond. Saeryn was uncertain whether it’d understood her meaning. The dragon had always known them as a collective, never as two separate beings.

  The thought drew a small smile to Seralyth’s lips.

  "Dear little old me. I’ve finally found you."

  The smile faded into a straight line as she inclined her head, acknowledging the sudden presence beside her.

  Of course.

  "Professor," Seralyth said, already sitting upright. "I trust you bring good news?"

  Her tone was warmer than usual. Long hours of idleness had taught her that she couldn’t afford to be choosy about allies within the institute. Rynna might care for little beyond her research, but an alignment of interests was no hardship to endure.

  "Hm~ You can tell?" The answer lay plainly in Rynna’s barely contained excitement.

  "Perhaps. Pray, do explain."

  "I persuaded the committee to allow a workaround. Temporary," Rynna said, thrusting a fist into the air in triumph. "You’re cleared to train again."

  "It can’t be so simple," Seralyth replied, giving a slight shake of her head at the display.

  "Well, no. Really, you might show a little enthusiasm."

  "I am."

  "Eh? In what way?"

  "I’m celebrating inwardly. Quite loudly. Now, if you’d be so kind as to explain."

  Rynna blinked, taken aback by the unexpected tease. For a moment she wondered whether the resonance had begun to tug at Seralyth’s emotions in subtle ways.

  "There are conditions," Rynna said at last. "Solo exercises only. And constant observation."

  "Those scarcely qualify as obstacles."

  "Hmph. You may thank me for that."

  "If you insist, then thank you."

  Rynna snorted and bit back her reply. She found herself oddly nostalgic for the days when Seralyth would merely nod with distant acknowledgment. It’d been easier then to ramble at will.

  Seralyth, for her part, gave little thought to Rynna’s inner complaints. She wasn't blind to the shift in her own manner of speech, but it troubled her little. The woman who’d arrived weeks ago was not the woman she was now.

  The resonance she’d discovered held vast promise, and within it she felt unshackled. The restrained bearing of her days as an Imperial Princess was slowly dissolving, worn away by fresh understanding and new possibilities.

  "I’ll send your updated schedule to your pad. Don’t be late."

  And just as swiftly as she’d appeared, Rynna departed. Only then did it occur to Seralyth that the researcher herself had grown remarkably busy of late. At first she’d attributed it to the unresolved state of their bond, but perhaps there was more at work.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  'Someone’s clearly pleased.'

  Saeryn took note of the change through their shared memory. For a hatchling, these long stretches of inactivity had been painfully dull.

  'Yes. I'm as well. I’ve several ideas I’ve been eager to test.'

  At last, the opportunity had come.

  ???

  'This is more than I expected.'

  Through the close threading of their synchronisation, Saeryn stirred and inquired as to the reason. Though Seralyth stood within the very innards of the pilot facility that housed her, and though their resonance was now stronger than it’d ever been before, the dragon still lacked the lived context to grasp the small, peculiar habits and judgments that guided human thought.

  'Do you see those arrays, and that great machinery set about them? Those are heavy installations.'

  Heavy, not merely in the matter of cost, though that alone would have been considerable, but also in their refinement, their efficiency, and the breadth of what they were capable of accomplishing. Either Rynna wielded far more influence within the institute than Seralyth had previously given her credit for, or else the committee had committed itself in earnest to the task of classifying their inverted bond, intent on shaping it into a system of growth that could be charted, predicted, and carefully managed.

  "Bonded pair!" Rynna’s voice rang out through「 Transmission 」, bright and clear. "We’re ready to begin."

  "Very well. So are we," Seralyth answered.

  With careful care, Seralyth adjusted Saeryn’s position, guiding the young dragon until it floated idly at the centre of the testing grounds. In truth, the place was less a proper chamber than an open swathe of land, later adapted by the institute to serve the needs of experimentation. Only a handful of staff and researchers were present, and these stood at a cautious distance, far removed from the other facilities.

  "The objective today is to analyse how the bond alters incantation behaviour and efficiency," Rynna explained, her tone measured and professional. "We’ve calibrated the systems very tightly, so just proceed by using every incantation you know, one by one, and we’ll take our measurements."

  "Understood," Seralyth replied coolly.

  She knew a multitude of incantations, more than most would ever learn in a lifetime. Yet in practice, only those spells that could, in some fashion, be made applicable to Saeryn had any true use through the synchronisation. Were she to cast「 Fire 」, for example, she’d accomplish nothing more than setting alight her own mana circuits and Saeryn's veins. Other spells, such as「 Overdrive 」, carried the risk of spiralling out of control, injuring both herself and her bonded companion.

  'Saeryn. Follow my lead.'

  There was no hesitation in the response. The dragon trusted her without condition.

  Within the synchronisation chamber pod, Seralyth permitted her implants to awaken. The incantation was executed through them, her nervous system serving as a living circuit, routing mana carefully into the waiting arrays. The implants enforced strict limits upon overuse, preventing the flow from exceeding what’d been deemed a safe threshold.

  「 Haste 」

  Through the pod, the incantation, shaped and stabilised by the arrays, was transmitted to Saeryn as a series of resonant impulses, which the bond itself carried and translated into the dragon’s body.

  Though Saeryn was a void-adapted being, and neither generated nor stored mana within its cells, it evolved to accept it through their veins. In this way, the incantation took shape without causing internal collapse.

  Saeryn felt it at once, a quickening of nerves and muscle alike, an unseen support lending speed and grace to its movements. The incantation had taken hold, and it’d worked.

  "Great! Keep going!" Rynna exclaimed, her eyes fixed on the readouts at a separate station.

  「 Harden 」

  The dragon’s scales grew more resistant, their structure subtly reinforced against blunt force.

  「 Stabilise 」

  Saeryn’s thermal output was drawn inward and restrained, settling into a steady equilibrium.

  「 Barrier 」

  A faint, shimmering membrane formed over the dragon’s body, offering resistance against radioactive elements.

  「 Focus 」

  Distraction fled, and nothing could startle or surprise Saeryn, not even for a fleeting instant.

  「 Channel 」

  The dragon’s biochemical reactions smoothed and aligned, approaching near-maximum efficiency.

  「 Heal 」

  Nerves, muscles, and deeper tissues began to knit and bundle together, entering an accelerated cycle of restoration.

  "Hold one moment, bonded pair," Rynna’s voice interrupted suddenly, cutting across the examination.

  Seralyth exhaled within the pod, becoming aware of a faint but unmistakable fatigue spreading through her body. To weave so many incantations in succession wasn’t an easy task, however effortless she might have made it appear.

  "Is there a problem?" she asked at last, doubt edging her voice.

  "Latency is normal, but we detected a desynchronisation spike," Rynna replied, and to Seralyth’s surprise there was uncertainty in her tone. "It’s probably a calibration error."

  "Right. Should I proceed?"

  "Give me a moment. I’ll align the external sensors. There’s some background interference."

  "... very well."

  The pause allowed Seralyth a moment to gather her thoughts. An uneasy feeling crept upon her, an inkling that though her actions were theoretically correct, something about them wasn’t quite right.

  'Not me... you? Do you think there’s a better way?'

  Saeryn couldn’t frame its response in words she might easily grasp. It wasn’t logic, but instinct, a deep sense that more was possible. That Seralyth herself was capable of more.

  'In this case, the inverted bond?'

  Her thoughts began to turn swiftly. If there existed any irregularity that might allow them to break from centuries of established procedure and fashion a method of their own, it’d lie in that singular bond.

  Seralyth felt the familiar urge to rationalise.

  In practice, an inverted bond meant that she led the synchronisation, rather than the dragon serving as the dominant empathic force. The incantation support system had been built upon that very assumption.

  But what if she reversed it?

  Ordinarily, she resolved the incantation within her own body and transmitted its effect to Saeryn, for the dragon would instinctively reject raw, foreign mana.

  Yet the precedence of control had already been reversed.

  'Saeryn. If anything feels wrong, tell me immediately.'

  Reassurance flowed back through the resonance. Saeryn wasn’t afraid.

  'Then neither shall I be.'

  Once more, Seralyth awakened her implants, mana gathering within the arrays. This time, however, she didn’t cast the spell. She allowed its formula to form and then held it in stasis.

  Unresolved, she passed it directly into Saeryn’s body.

  It shouldn’t have been possible for the bond to support an incantation without translating it into resonant impulses. Yet Seralyth micromanaged the transmission, exerting precise control over their connection and permitting the mana to reach the dragon-veins without collapse.

  'Saeryn!'

  The hatchling reeled in surprise. Its veins burned as if lit from within, and it fought instinctively against the unfamiliar pressure.

  'No. Let it flow. Trust me.'

  Trust me.

  The words, refracted through the bond, reached Saeryn’s draconic mind. It ceased resisting and instead adapted, aggressively, to the conduction. There was no pain, only an intense discomfort, and a confusion about how to release it.

  'Yes... yes, like that.' Seralyth inwardly murmured.

  So that was the way of it. Guided by her, Saeryn allowed the mana to take hold and shape itself. It permitted the incantation to resolve.

  「 Heal 」

  Saeryn cast the spell.

  Seralyth froze, stunned, and then a surge of deep excitement welled within her.

  "Hey. What have you done? The arrays are still calibrating," Rynna said sharply. She’d noticed the anomaly, though her protest was swiftly ignored.

  There was something Seralyth needed to confirm. If Saeryn could resolve the incantations itself, then the danger of mana recoil upon her own body vanished. And if she no longer needed to fear the risks of overcasting...

  'Saeryn. Again. This time, it’ll be a larger one.'

  The dragon didn’t hesitate. It understood now, and confidence flowed through the bond.

  The process repeated. Though the formula and raw mana were denser and heavier in presence, the transfer went smoothly. Their synchronisation approached something near to perfection.

  「 Heal 」 「 Focus 」 「 Barrier 」

  'Triple-casting.'

  Had she attempted that within her own body, her implants would have imploded and reduced her to ruin. A dragon’s body, however, was far more resilient than a human’s, and such backlash was of little consequence to Saeryn. Even so, Seralyth remained mindful of the cognitive load, for there was a limit to what her mind could process before failing altogether.

  "Hellooo? Bonded pair? The output curves just went mad. Are you two doing something?" Rynna called.

  Oh.

  Right.

  Seralyth drew a long breath and forced herself to calm.

  'That was reckless.'

  It’d worked, but she should’ve waited. Had something gone wrong, the outcome could’ve been disastrous.

  'Although now I’ve a choice.'

  Should she reveal her discovery, or conceal it?

  As ever, Seralyth reasoned it through. Was there any real benefit in hiding such an irregularity from the institute? Drawing further outside the expected curve would certainly attract attention, but they’d already shown little inclination to restrain her.

  'I may have father to thank for this.'

  Not that His Imperial Majesty had acted directly, but his mere existence made it difficult for anyone to impose limits upon her.

  Moreover, she was no researcher. Her breakthrough had come by intuition, and with Rynna’s help the method could be refined far more safely. Rynna herself was already inclined to support them, driven by curiosity alone. Wouldn't such a discovery only deepen that inclination?

  The decision settled easily.

  "Professor."

  "Oh, at last," Rynna replied with a snicker. "I was beginning to wonder if you’d blacked out. Your vitals were fine, but you went very quiet."

  "I want to show you something."

  Rynna’s gaze snapped back to the data. Her brow furrowed. "That may be difficult. The arrays appear to be glitched again."

  "Is that so?"

  "Indeed." She leaned closer to the display, scrolling through the logs. "There was an energy spike from Saeryn, and from the void. It's... odd. I’d rather flag this report for later."

  "In that case," Seralyth said evenly, "I’ll explain after we’re finished here."

  "Not so fast!" Rynna straightened, her eyes bright. "I have more news."

  "Yes?"

  "We got approval for a void exercise!"

  "That easily?"

  "Of course, we need the data," Rynna continued, already pacing. "If Saeryn can deploy in open space, beyond the influence of any astral body, and still maintain stability, then there’ll be little difference between them and an adult dragon."

  "Aside from the size," Seralyth said with a snort.

  "Aside from the size."

  "When?"

  "It may as well be today," Rynna replied dismissively. "I’ll handle the bureaucracy and verify the preparations. Give me a moment."

  "Very well."

  Seralyth allowed her body to relax, though inwardly she wondered at the haste. It served her interests, certainly, yet it felt odd. The urgency didn’t seem to arise solely from Rynna’s enthusiasm, but from something else.

  'Ah. Me too.'

  Whatever the cause, a shared excitement echoed through the bond. She and Saeryn felt it alike. And as they lifted their gaze upward, the starlight scattered across the cosmos seemed subtly changed, brightened by expectation.