With the tip of her wand glowing with a faint white-blue light, she smiled and vanished from his mind.

***

Waking from that kind of trance always was a bit of a letdown for Iris. She roused herself from her half-sleep and cleared her throat, stretching her tight back.

"That went well," she decided. One of the attendant wisps watching her body while she was gone flickered with a happy sort of swirling. "Yes, I think I will. Thanks for keeping me safe." The wisp flickered on and off, then zipped away.

She put on her slippers, set aside her wand, and went shuffling down to the kitchen to see if there was something brewing.

House Domina was almost empty, most of the time Iris had been there. She'd spent her early teen years at one of the minor Schools, but had never quite been Sorted into a true House. That inability to be classified led to Iris being shuffled about from one House to another, through four other Schools until her 19th birthday.

When she was escorted through the last School, one Sorting device had to be prodded by an odd looking orange-haired woman into speaking a new House name: Domina. Perhaps if Iris didn't belong to the traditional houses, there was a rather new, unconventional one just started up. If even one or two students were Sorted to Domina, that was a miracle.

Iris turned to the head of her new House, and bowed, sealing their official relationship as Professor and Student. It had been easy for both young women to get along, and it seemed to Iris that Zora was still learning, herself, even while teaching.

Iris glanced at the kitchen door, hoping that it wasn't going to burst open just at the wrong moment. It'd happened before, causing some hilarity and a lot of spilled soup ... And fortunately for Iris, this time, there was no one waiting on the other side of the door for such an occurance.

The kitchen smelled better than the whole rest of the school, except -in Iris' mind- for the freshly cut grass outside on the practice fields. This evening there was bread fresh-baked, honey butter and a gigantic ham glistening with its brown sugar coating. Yams, carrots and fresh greens completed a plate that Iris loaded up.

"Y'sure are skinny fer such a big eater," commented one of the cooks.

Iris turned and lifted one eyebrow at this, but said nothing, prefering to poke a bread stick into her mouth and make her way back to the dining hall.

There were three students and a number of the staff lounging about and eating when Iris got there. She sat next to Trudy, preferring the loud ghost-catcher to the eerie mental taint that Lucas had around him at all times.

"How'd it go?" Asked Trudy, brightly.

"It went well. The boy had not slept in days, the imps were ready to overtake him. They gnaw at young life like that." Iris said. She noticed how Lucas looked away with a distant scowl.

"But anyway I distracted them well enough that I could place some hidden healing spells and a shield around him, and when the imps had enough of me, they couldn't stomach chewing on him any more. I think he'll be okay." Iris was dutifully proud of her work. It took years of study to find spells that could be placed on people's souls from a distance the way she worked. But she'd mastered it sufficiently that she could now banish most evil things from minds.

She got the feeling that there were such things gnawing at Lucas, by the way he listened and changed his expression. But she was still a bit scared of him - after all, wasn't he like older than dirt and...

"Imps are nothing, but it is good that you can conquer them," he said, startling Iris and almost making her drop her fork.

"They're hardly nothing," Iris said, echoed by Trudy.

"Well, then," Lucas said, rising and taking one or two bread sticks for himself wherever he was headed, "I dearly hope you never encounter the things I've had to live with. It would crush you."

He walked away, and Iris watched him with narrow eyes. "If you'd ever talk about it, maybe I would be better prepared. If ever that happened to me."

Though he was halfway down the long hall, Lucas stopped, and paused for a moment at Iris' words. "Come along then," he said. "Leave your dinner. You won't want it in a minute."

With a tightness in her gut, Iris thought about this. Follow him? She'd barely gotten up from her extended battle with the spirit imps, and now what? Well, though she was hungry it wasn't all that big of a deal to cast a preservation spell upon the plate of hot food. She'd get to it later. For now, she rose and went after the elder man.

The evening sun came through the large stained glass windows of Lucas' hallway. No one else but his two odd children would go down this hall, so most Domina house inhabitants called it 'his' hall. Iris was uncomfortable in his presence. She was tall, taller than the other women in the House at least, but not nearly so much so as this lean man beside her.

With her experience in healing arts, she knew that there was something different about him. Iris' senses in the magical spectrum showed him as a dark, tainted mess of desires, fears and scars. But there was something more to him too. He tried so hard, in fact there was never a time when he seemed actively trying to scare anyone. He was usually apt to help out at the infirmary when there was an accident, he always had some clever spell or bit of information when in the Dark Arts Defense classes. If anything, Iris wondered if there was something preventing him from being seen in a better light?

He was silent, as they walked. Completely silent, Iris heard nothing, not even what should have been the swishing of his clothing or the gentle sound of skin on marble floor from his bare feet.

"Staring is rude," Lucas said, with a smirk only visible on the half of his face that Iris couldn't see.

"Sorry -" Iris said, faintly.

"But it's all right with me, if you want to stare. My ego needs plenty of fuel." Said so flatly, Iris wondered if he was joking or not. They stopped at a tall doorway at the end of the long hall, and Lucas opened it. "Please come in," he said.

Hesitating, Iris wondered, what could be beyond the ... Well, it was just a room after all. She looked and then stepped inside when it seemed she'd been standing there a little too long. A nice room, actually an antichamber with several doorways leading to darker or more private rooms.

It was filled with books, potions, and objects. But there were also several chairs, a nice large table, and globes which came to life when they entered the room lending a warm glow to everything.

"So you believe imps to be the limit of your warding ability, do you?" Lucas said, sitting down at a tall-backed chair. He indicated another, soft looking one, which Iris took for herself.

"I had a difficult time keeping track of them all," Iris said. "They're quick, and they seem to be everywhere at once."

"That is their main playing point," Lucas said. "But they are merely causing havoc. Damage requires actual intent."

Iris pondered this. "You mean to say that imps are just like... an effect? They have minds of their own, you know," she said a bit too snidely.

"They have the minds of young eager destructive children, yes. But little more than that. They take direction very well." Lucas leaned into the back of the chair, "very well."

"... And are you implying that they were there under some... thing's direction?" Iris asked, concerned. If that were the case, then...

"I am, they usually appear where they are directed to go."

"Well what about the imps at this House?" Iris said, not quite wanting to believe him.

"They belong here. They've been here since long before most other creatures. They were probably sent by something or some one who is long dead, to pester the inhabitants because of some grudge or other. Who can say why they remain."

Iris mulled through the things he'd said. "Well, then, I should find out why this boy I've been helping was being attacked."

Faintly grinning, Lucas nodded his head. "That would be prudent."

Iris stood, but Lucas waved his hand for her to sit.

"I should get on it," she said, pausing.

"But you'll just be back shortly to ask me about what you find. And did you not express interest in that very subject mere minutes ago?" Lucas said.

"You just wanted to spook me out," Iris muttered, sitting back down. Then she looked back at him, as he gave off an amused chuckle.

"It is never quite my intent, but I always do, don't I?" He said. "No, listen. Iris, your duty, it seems to me, is to guard against intrusions and keep pure those people who need defending. You should know that there are far worse things with more deadly intentions than just a pack of imps set upon a young elf."

"So you've said." Iris said, "but what does that mean, exactly?"

"There is a ... heirarchy, levels of evil among demons. Imps are the lowest form. Their masters could be anyone, but they are usually some minor troublemaker."

"Do you think I would be able to fight one of those?" Iris asked. "I mean, I did have a rather long battle. I was using some clever spells."

"I'm sure you were," Lucas said. "And yes, I believe you would be able to hold your own against a ghoul."

Iris drew herself up a little, grinning. But before she said anything stupid or self-congratulatory, Lucas added, "shall we find out?"

Sputtering, heart skipping a beat, Iris said, "what?! NO!"

"Why not?" Lucas said, standing and glancing at a darkened room. "I've got the capability to summon one. It would only be a small one, and it couldn't get away until you banish it."

"I ... no! I don't think I-"

"I think you could," Lucas said. "And more, I believe you should. Just to know the next step. You're quite young and rather inexperienced. But you have enough talent to take on a ghoul."

He waggled his hand, tossed his head toward the dark room, "come on. I won't allow you to be hurt."

"You vile tempter, you," Iris said, half against her better judgement standing and following him.

The dark chamber that Lucas led the young woman into brightened into a more conventional and far less scary hexagonal stone-walled room. It was clearly ment for summoning or practicing some kind of heavy-duty magic. Inscriptions along each wall and the doorway read as protective spells.

The whole floor was covered in rich dust, colorful ash, and waxy residue from what appeared to be old summonings or rituals. It unnerved Iris slightly that perhaps Lucas kept summoning things just to ...

"What is it you do in here, Professor?"

"Lucas, please," he said, "I summon things. What does it look like I do?"

"Ooooookay, totally way to go creeping me out," Iris muttered as Lucas set up the room. Since Iris wasn't well versed in the summoning arts, she didn't much know what he was doing. She knew the basics of course, everyone was taught to recognize certain things. The protective symbols on the floor had long been burnt in and were being reinforced by the new set of candles Lucas set down.

"Don't spill that," Lucas said, "bring it here. It's a bit of mercury." He pointed to a tall bottle. When Iris handed it to him, he explained how certain elements did different things in combination when in summoning circles.

And as always, and yet again, Iris was bothered by the apparent dichotomy that Lucas presented. Here he was, ready to summon something that he intended her to fight, but he was all chatty about how-to this or that, always the bright instructor. She listened closely to his instructions when the circles and protective diagrams had been etched into the ashes on the floor.

"When the ghoul appears, it will be slightly disoriented. Use this moment to your advantage. I assume that you have quick scrying or informative spells?" Lucas said. Iris nodded.

"Always," she said. Then, suddenly, Iris' heart quickened. "But - I don't have my wand!" She almost panicked, but Lucas straightened.

"I thought most of House Domina's students didn't require such things." He said, with a smirk. "Hold on."

With his left hand Lucas gestured and a sort of small window opened. "Tell it where your wand is," he said.

Iris said, "in my chambers, third floor last door on the right, on top of the big chest of drawers." She peered through the silvery-rippling portal, and saw a dash of motion. Then, a pause in the blurry image, which focused on her wand. Suddenly it hovered in the air nearby.

"Take it, it'll drop," Lucas said, turning back to his inscriptions. Iris grasped the wide glass wand-staff and it felt good in her hands. As she prepared herself, and as Lucas took pinches of this powder and that dust, Iris thought about what she'd be doing in a moment.

Information. That was the first key. She'd have to find out ... what? Where it was from was largely irrelevant, wasn't it? Then, something she'd used many times came to mind. She would be able to sense this ghoul's fears just as readily as a child's sleeping mind. She'd done it dozens of times if not hundreds. Checking in on her favorite charges in the dreamlands.

But then what?

She barely had a moment more to think, when Lucas spread the last ash and flicked the bright red dust over a candle flame. A burst of red-black smoke filled the second of many concentric rings that lined the floor, and a shape appeared in it.

It was larger than an imp by twice or three times, but certainly not even the size of a human teenager. Skinny, gaunt even, and its visage made Iris wince. It looked as though all its flesh had been burnt off of it's...

No time to think on that. Iris gripped her wand and it glowed. The moment of surprise for this poor ghoul had come. It was apparently in the middle of something entirely else, when summoned here. It paused, threw its thin arms over its head and shrieked.

A sound like rending metal reached Iris' ears, but she was already concentrating on what visions her wand was giving her. An outcast? Perhaps - and this creature feared being caught by its old master. Oddly familiar.

But it had dozens of imps in its past, so what Lucas had said was true: they were just minions. And it was possibly the case that this ghoul was also someone's minion and had escaped.

Moments later, though, this ghoul stood back up and snarled. "How dare you rip me from my sanctum!" The hair on Iris' arms and neck rose. "I'll boil you in tar! Strip your skin from your flesh!"

"I'll send you back to your master," Iris said, hissing and with a gleam in her eye. The light from her wand burned brightly, and the ghoul stiffened like a puppet on taut string.

"You wouldn't! You couldn't! You dare not!" It cried, dancing around its little circle helplessly. "Tacks and stones!"

Iris realized that was a spell incantation a moment too late, but true to his word Lucas (who was merely watching from the doorway half a room away) protected his student from any serious harm. Stones rained around Iris, and a field of tacks dropped from an invisible place onto the floor beyond the circles where the ghoul was kept. Iris didn't move from her spot, hence she didn't step on anything.

Iris noticed about then that Lucas had placed her on the opposite side of the circles from him, so she would be the only thing visible to the ghoul when it showed up. He was hardly noticed, while the ghoul spun in its angry circle. Iris met Lucas' eyes and gave a little smirk when she realized that he was protecting her precious glass wand as well as her own body.

The ghoul saw that she was immobile, and wasn't seeming to mind the rain of stones. Snarling fiercely, the ghoul uttered a string of curses that caused the air around Iris to turn hot, and then frightfully cold. On impulse, Iris brought up a protective spell that kept elements at bay.

"Foul little wench!" It spat, and aimed a full blown and rather powerful force blast at Iris. The ghoul couldn't know that Lucas was carefully keeping an eye on such things, and the blow was deflected to a spot just near Iris, near enough to make it look like she'd been hit and hadn't been damaged or moved in the slightest. Weary of this, Iris decided she'd seen enough.

"Behave yourself," Iris said, curtly. "It would take a moment to send a message bird to your old master. I'll have him here before you can say another spell."

Cringing, then, the ghoul whined and nodded. "Bring me here will you... think you're clever and you're just cruel. Make a good ghoul you would." It said.

"Hardly," Iris said. She was left with a strange feeling, but she knew that this was the end of the line for their little conversation. She would have to dispell this creature herself.

She didn't quite know how, but she wound up with a spell incantation that went along the lines of 'replanting in the same place through time and space'. The ghoul vanished in a greasy blot of smoke.

Panting, but not really exhausted from any particular exertion on her part, Iris looked at Lucas from across the room.

"So that is a ghoul."

"Yes."

"And it's higher on the scale than an imp."

"Yes."

"... What's next?"

Laughing, Lucas cleared the floor of debris. Stones and tacks and ash and all swirled gently into the air and were separated as to their future usefulness.

Lucas escorted her to the edge of his domain, and when Iris had turned out of his long hallway, he went back into the summoning room.

There, he replayed a spell that brought the ghoul back to his chambers.

"Rat bastard - you caught me in the middle of catching a rabbit!" The ghoul growled.

"Sorry," Lucas said, leaning against the stone wall. "What do you think?"

"Think? I think that vixen is trouble for me! Worse than you!"

"Good. Good."

"What's so good about it!?" The ghoul hissed, but had an odd grin on its twisted face.

"Perhaps your master will find out," Lucas said. At that mention, again the ghoul stiffened, but then slipped into a more conspiratorial pose.

"Do you think?" It cackled. "Is that what you're up to?"

"We shall see. She was on the path anyway. I apologize for breaking your hunt. You were... necessary for her training."

"I'd curse you," the ghoul said, preparing its own portal to return to its home, "but you're already so bleak it's a wonder humans even think you're one of their kind any more. I don't hope to hear about this again unless it's to say that His Lordship is dust."

"I am sure that you won't be the only one interested in that." Lucas said, a private smile on his narrow lips.

***

Over the course of the next few weeks, Iris concentrated intensely on these new studies of hers. She had no idea that this far into her magical career she'd find something different and beyond her original scope. But she also found that this course of action gave her life some meaning that it perhaps hadn't had before.

While she wanted to help people, her dreaming manipulation was good for that, she pretty much waited and watched instead of acting first. She would still prefer to do that, but now had a more defined knowledge of the levels and ranks of the disruptive forces of Darkness.

Every day, or nearly so, she would attend Lucas' Dark Arts Defense course, and then have a private session every few days. In this manner, she began to see the heavy layers of tradition and influence that the dark forces exerted even upon itself.

"This minor demon lord, then," Iris said of an image in a big musty old book, "he's got a dominion that the other lesser demons and ghouls and such reside in."

"Just like a king presides over his subjects, yes." Lucas said. "It's all very organized, but not always clear. If you'd been there you would be able to tell immediately who defered to whom."

The way he said that put Iris on edge. "You make them sound almost human," she said.

"They were almost human. They are a civilization after all. Just brought up in a rather different manner than humanity and its ilk." Lucas seemed a bit uncomfortable himself. "They understand domination and fealty. The stronger of them, however," he paused and took a long serious gaze at Iris, "are also the smarter. The higher up the chain, the deeper into Darkness you look, demons are more powerful, smarter and harder to defeat."

"This comes from experience," Iris said, half offhand.

"Yes, it does. I served a demon lord for more than forty years," he said, and that haunted look he was well known for plastered itself on his face. He looked as though he didn't want it there any more. "In Hell."

"But you're alive." Iris said. "You can't have been in hell - like, the hell, and survived."

"Don't tell me what you think," Lucas said, "tell me what you see. I would hardly say I thrived there, but I did most certainly survive. It is a miserable place. If you ever get the chance to go there," he said with a strange contradiction on his eyes, "...don't."

After an uncomfortable silence, Iris fiddled with her wand and set it aside. "Why were you serving a demon? Or should I ask that? I mean, you drive a mean dark arts course, but ..."

Sighing, Lucas looked away. "I was sold to him. It was hardly my idea. It was luck and timing that saved me from that place and that demon lord."

Iris folded her eyebrows together. If there was one thing Iris was, it was intelligent. She began to put two and two together.

"Then you ... what. You're training me to fight demons?" Iris said. "I don't know if I'm meant to be flattered or terrified! You could have said something."

"You would have declined and backed away entirely. And now you are much too far along and intense in your training to doubt that it is what you are meant to do." Lucas said. His voice was weak, though he clearly did not doubt himself, or his actions, he did obviously feel bad about not having told her.

Iris sat, momentarily unable to do anything but fume. Slowly, though, she sorted her thoughts. She was never able to fit in to a House until Domina came along. It gave her the first sense of belonging that she'd ever had once she'd crossed into the magical lands. And that had been almost a decade before.

Now, she felt she did have purpose, a direction to take. She had wandered long enough? No, she would still wander... But now...

"You can't defeat that demon lord yourself?" Iris finally asked.

"It isn't that," Lucas said. "I could. But there are hundreds more just like him. Believe me. I met them. He would take me to their ... parties." He shuddered unconsciously, and his eyes had glazed over slightly. "Iris, you are a pure light of hope. Do you know how long it has been since there was hope for the humans in that place?"

"... There are more?" Iris said, more than a little stunned.

"Of course there are," Lucas said, flatly and too defensively. "If I had been the only one to live through it don't you think I'd be parading myself around as a miracle of nature?" He blinked, looked away again. "Sorry. Yes, there are many magical realm and even mundane folk forced to live there. Servants to demons and devils. The more people that can get free of their bonds, the better. That is where you come in."

"You're a very convoluted person," Iris said. "I wish that you had just told me."

"No," Lucas said. "I was told, when I was to be given off. 'Lucas you are of no concievable use to me any longer'" He mocked someone in his past, "'and so I have found someone who can get some use out of you while you yet live. Have fun.' He said." Lucas had closed his eyes, "and there I went." He snapped his fingers, to illustrate this. "Putting you into this without first preparing you and showing you the steps necessary, would have done the same thing to you as it did to me. Do you think I'm this way because I want to be? I was tainted by external forces that wouldn't let me die. You ... you have the ability to shrug many of those things off and still come away with a smile and a kind word. Do you have any idea how valuable that is?"

"... I guess I didn't," Iris said. "Are you still going to teach me more?"

"There is much more, but I think you might find it easier on your own. Or, more challenging and more rewarding - either way." He said, "But either way of course I will be here to help you if you need it."

"Okay." Iris said. She was drained, and was pretty sure that Lucas felt the same way. The silence became a bit stifling, but then as if to clear his head and make some attempt at being civil, Lucas rose and waved his hand for Iris to follow him into a chamber where many odd devices and items were kept on shelves.

He reached for a particular item, it looked like a fracture of ice, a three-dimensional snowflake of glass. It was about the size of his fist, held under glass. At first, he almost looked like he didn't want to pick it up, but then he glanced at Iris.

She was still so full of wonder and potential.

"Do you know what this is?" He asked, picking up the glass covered object. It seemed to remain in one fixed direction, though it floated freely in its bell shaped enclosure. When he brought it off the shelf, and held it at half-arm's length to himself, it turned a strange color.

Black, unreflective and tarry, the clear crystaline substance looked as though it had been dipped in some caustic goo.

Iris shook her head, "no, I've never seen anything like it. What is it?"

Fascinated, Iris watched the glimmering light.

"It's what is called a soul-scrying crystal. It ... reflects the nearby souls." Lucas' voice was distant, hollow.

Iris snapped out of her little trance, thinking about how he'd held it and... "Oh." She said, a little edgy.

"Yes, 'oh'." Lucas said. "Now, is it more clear why I want you to help me?"

"... yes and no?" Iris said. "Look, I can't-"

"He holds a portion of my soul, Iris," Lucas said, a hissed whisper. "It was given over to him by my master - a safe trade to make sure I couldn't get out of it. My soul is in pieces and some of it is still sitting in Hell, in the hands of a demon who at any time might come calling for the rest of it. It wasn't my idea," he sighed.

"I am nowhere near strong enough to help get a piece of a soul I can't even say I would recognize if I saw it, out of the hands of a demon in Hell!" Iris said.

"I can't ask you to do that, I want you to help me do it. When and if you're ready." Lucas admitted, softly. "If you never are, then it will be my weight alone, again. It has been long enough, I am used to it."

Iris fumed again. Lucas was so ... It was true that she didn't want to hear everything he'd tell her. She was afraid there were things he would say that could make her lose her mind, or fear for herself more than she already did as a mage. But if all he had to do was ask for help, he could have an army of wizards!

"You could have asked the-"

"No," Lucas said, flat and firm. "I have asked, already. I cannot risk asking again. Individual mages, witches like yourself, certainly. But there are not nearly enough of them at your level who operate independantly from the Schools. I will not risk endangering too many people with responsibilities - and yours so far is purely to yourself and those you place under your care voluntarily."

Iris wasn't sure what to do, but Lucas put the soul-scrying crystal back on its shelf. She couldn't help but notice how he flared his nostril in anger at it when it turned black again, before going softly crystaline again. He turned to her and gently took Iris' shoulders. She looked up at his eyes, which had all the signs of being about ready to burst into tears.

"I am asking you, Iris. Will you aid me, freeing whoever is left under his Lordship's power, and getting my soul back?"

Iris blinked. Then she put her hand onto his - he gripped her fingers tightly.

"I will need some help, but yes. I'll be your paladin, Lucas. We'll get it back. I can't say when, but we can try."

It was several weeks later, with training and classes continuing almost as normal - almost as though nothing had happened between them - when Lucas came to the dining hall with an odd smile on his face.

Both of his odd children were with him, and both made the inhabitants of the dining area fidget with unease. Iris would have squirmed at the sight of his daughter Lumiere, thinking her more demonic than draconic. But she now knew better than to think so - the big wings were elegant, and she had no innate sign of taint the way that ghouls, incubi or demons did.

"That help you wanted?" Lucas said to Iris, making the other students wonder what it was that they had going betwen them? "I belive I have found it."

With a bit of surprise, Iris said, "what is it?"

"I'd like to know," Zora said, casually as she would usually be, "what it is you're talking about, Lucas. You've got one of those smiles on your face and I never trust those."

"I am not allowed to smile?" Lucas said, "I am afraid I will fail that test."

Lumiere nudged her father, who became more serious.

"I would rather keep most of this private," Lucas said, sitting down. His daughter did so with a bit of work - her tail was quite in the way, and her brother didn't have to bother, his pose on four legs led easily to sitting. "But I would like to say that there is a place that might have the kind of assistance you would require - strong, and with the right kind of emphasis."

"Lucas," Zora said, but before she could get another word in, Iris had stood up and gleefully sat back down next to her elder. This surprised everyone, including Zora.

"What is it? I'm dying to know, now. And you've worked our headmistress into a tizzy already. I'll tell her later," she said, tilting her head to Zora and getting the orange-eye-rolling effect she knew she would.

"There is something that you have been missing, something important to warriors like yourself." Lucas said.

"She's hardly a warrior," Bhaktar muttered, but Zora booted him in the shin and he shut up.

"Annnnnd, that would be...?" Iris asked.

"Every paladin requires a mount," Lucas whispered, hardly able to contain what appeared to be the most excitement he'd had in years. "And I know of a place which has mounts that could ... do, what you need them to do. And that could aid you, greatly. Innate powers, that sort of thing."

Iris gazed at Lucas and wondered if she would be able to get used to the broad smile on his face. If she succeeded in her task she would have to. "What kind of mount?"

"There is a place called the Ring of Fire," Lumiere said for her father who seemed to be unable to speak, "it is a dragon world. There, a nest or two of Spirit dragons has been laid and waits potential bonds. These are powerful healers, these Spirit dragons."

"... Dragons?" Zora said, and was immediately echoed by a spat of other voices and the same word. "Lucas, I mean, I know you've got dragon friends and all, but... Dragons, to pair up with?" She got that strange look on her face which everyone recognized as a 'are you thinking something dirty because I sure am' look.

"Not like that," Lucas said, "hardly like that. Remember that I am an exeption to the rule. Normally, our dragons eat humans."

"But these don't," Iris asked, "they would be... Like a familiar?"

"Like a paladin's mount." He corrected. "I'm sure you could find yourself a perfectly good familiar if you'd only look for one." Lucas tossed his hand in the air, "you've wandered around enough to find one anyway."

"Are you talking about you, or me?" Iris said, which confused pretty much everyone but Zora. Not too many people were privy to as much information as Iris and she had about Lucas' prior life.

"Hey, I have my mate," Lucas said with a wave of his hands and another smile.

"But that's different," Iris replied. "What about you?"

"Spirit dragons would never pair with him," Svedok, the centauroid half-dragon said, quietly. "But there are others out there that might."

Lucas moved his eyes to see his own son who had apparently been leaving something out of whatever they'd been discussing before he came to the dining hall. "We'll talk about me later. Right now, I would like to hear you say that you would go to this Ring of Fire and see about their hatchlings."

"Just show me where to go, and I'll pack." Iris said. She was well and truly more excited than Zora or anyone else had seen her. Possibly, more than in the whole rest of her life. Suddenly, it seemed that Iris the wandering witch had a purpose beyond anything she could have imagined.

Zora watched her friends, the two eldest instructors other than herself in the House, as they went away to discuss this event in private.

But of course it had sparked everyone into thinking. Sure, everyone knew that Lucas and his half-dragon kids had family out in the wilderness. And sure, there was room near the House's grounds that was more than suitable for a big creature like a dragon to live. Maybe even several of them.

Zora waved her hands and had to cast a brief silencing spell on everyone. "Hey! We can figure this out later. Studies now, dragons later. Right?"

With grumbling assent, the students and staff went back to their own business. Not one of them hadn't considered sneaking away to listen in on Iris.

***

Iris had packed away some things, but she would easily be able to slip back and forth between the Ring of Fire and House Domina. Like most magical schools, there was a kind of easy air about getting through realities near it. Plus the warding on the castle was very specific to allow students and inhabitants proper access. She wouldn't be blocked, if she tried to teleport in abruptly.

By this time, nearly a week after the first announcement, Lucas had had to explain that 'dragons talk' and that was how he learned of these Spirit dragons from another world. Everyone was quite interested of course, in getting their own bond. Imagine riding a dragon in to a Broomball match!

Practically the whole student body (all what, twelve students?) and the staff turned out to bid Iris fair travels. Because he was more adept at it and knew where to look, Lucas opened the portal to the Ring of Fire world, and without more than a wave of her hand and a smile tossed over her shoulder at the gathering, Iris stepped through.

Before she vanished, she reached back, and hugged on to Lucas. She wispered into his ear, "I will do it, you know. Thank you for showing me I could."

Iris walked a bit, then looked up at the grand place that was known as the Ring of Fire. Typical as a wanderer would, she sized up the place and thought about how it would be defended, who might be watching from what peak, and what kind of welcome she'd be getting when she got to the inhabitants.

It turned out that she was expected. Lani, apparently in command here, greeted her with a hidden grin and a welcoming gesture. "We've a place for you here," she stated.

"Well that clears that up," Iris muttered. "I don't want to pry, but is there anything I need to know about this place before I settle in? Do I have to make any plans or anything?"

"Oh, no, no." Lani assured her. "There will be some things you should read up on, though - I've been told that your dragons are a bit different from ours."

Lani showed Iris to the library, through the labs, and an assortment of other places where she felt Iris ought to know about. At last, though, she got to her dorm, and relaxed. She set her staff up so that it glowed softly, adding familiar light to the electric lighting already there.

To have the comforts of real civilization at a place like this, Iris grinned as she fell to sleep, that's very fine indeed.

***

Not long after her arrival, when a couple others who had gathered for this odd Spirit pair of clutches, the announcement went out that the eggs were glowing - and they would be hatching soon.

Iris' heart fluttered. This would be it! A great day! She wondered about the things she'd read. The Spirit dragons were healers, like herself able to do different kinds of magic but they concentrated on things which would help rather than harm. Like her, their defensive magics would aid people or creatures in distress.

Lani announced that they didn't quite know yet, if the Spirit hatchlings would even bond. Lucas had warned her too, that there was always the possibility that something would change or not quite go as predicted. So Iris stood eagerly waiting - even though a couple of the others were squirming and agitated with this news.

She hardly dared look at the beautiful phoenix who had come to bond, too. Iris knew that her own heart was good, sound and kind - but this creature was far beyond mortal reach.

Naturally, the phoenix bonded first! A number of hatchlings came from their glowing shells, as Iris and the others watched. Many different onlookers from various worlds had decided to attend, and applauded whenever a new hatchling came from its shell. The hatchlings either named themselves, or their mother would announce them, and it was shortly apparent that they did not require bonding, nor did they refuse it.

A cute cheetah-boy paired up with a mottled copper white, and then a few moments later the girl White Lily paired off with a lovely dragoness whom she found in the shell.

There were only a few eggs left on the small nests when one popped out of the nest and cracked open on impact. A lovely silvery-white with blue wingsails that had starry markings on them came away from the nests. She barely shook her head free of the sand that had gotten on it, and gave off a little chirrup and happily moved toward Iris.

"Iris, you are a paladin, and I will help you on your journeys. My name is Mistylia." She said, adding a chirp.

Iris helped brush the last of the sand from her dragon's head, and said, "you're beautiful," in a whisper.

"Thank you. So are you, and you do beautiful things."

Iris' heart filled with joy to hear her soul-friend say this. They left the sands with the others, though they heard later about a man from the stands bonding to another dragonet who had hatched almost alone.

***

Iris and Mistylia practiced daily, while the dragonet was growing. Her powers of healing were strong, and she learned that there were things beyond this world that would need cleansing. Things, and people.

"You like this man, Lucas," Mistylia commented one day, as Iris and she were packing up to move again.

"I do, and I want to fulfil my promise to him. We must go back there, now. And I think he'll be able to teach both of us more than we know now." Iris got serious, and turned to face her soul's partner. "But Mistylia, understand that we will be in danger. It's not just practice any more. He's got demons after him, and people who want to hurt him. I can't let that happen any longer."

"Then neither can I. Yet you still hold some fear of him, why is that?"

Iris didn't answer her friend immediately. The dragon could sense deep thoughts and emotions better than any person could, and of course was privy to things that even Iris denied in herself.

"He is still dangerous, to himself, to others. Sometimes I'd see him taking his anger out on things. I'm glad he decided to go outside and chop wood or dig or something." Iris sighed. "He could punch holes in solid stone, Mistylia, so I do worry."

"So can I!" Mistylia tittered, lashing her long tail. Iris rolled her eyes. The medium sized dragoness was much stronger than any man - including Lucas - but she was hardly a big burly type!

Story continued a bit, in Lucas' page. *note that he does not bond a Nexus dragon until this point! his dragon partner is local, Lennuv her name; she is not on a page

Bonded at the Ring of Fire

**

Dragon

Name: Mistylia (miss TIE lee ah)
Gender: Female
Size/Shoulder/Length: medium 11' s / 37' l / 90' ws || humanoid form 6'2" at head
Colors: Silver White, and Blue - body a sparkling pale silvery white with high-gloss contrast; wingsails reflective blue from royal through bright cyan sky blue depending on the angle seen, with purple and white starry markings; mane on neck and head brilliant glass-white sky blue toned; eyes blue; horns gold, claws white
Features: Ring of Fire Avyndal, Spirit dragon; dimorphic with larger and longer horns on males, and shorter mane only on neck for females; four legs with large-clawed paws, two leather wings with three visible fingers for flaps, and two long wrist fingers all heavily clawed; head is narrow and angular with a long central horn pointing forward, short jaw horns, and two longer back-pointing horns above them; neck and head have mane (as above); body is sturdy and sleek, tail thin and very long with no adornment; no pernese/xeno/weird shit; usually features fade 2 gens unless reinforced *guesswork on powers of this type psionics can mean so many things but 'teleport, telepathy, telekinesis is common enough these days
Powers: Winged Flight
*Psionic Teleportation
*Psionic Telepathy
Healing Magic
Elemental Magic
Spirit Walking
Shapeshifting (humanoid only) *not particularly well practiced at this but everyone else gets to shapeshift why not try??
Parentage: Silver-White Alemia + Copper-White-Blue Jerenji
Origin: Ring of Fire as above
Other Info: *redone info 2025 to reflect obvious lacking bits prior

Partner/Location: Ryslen Flurry 2005 / Koiri Syaess (white Ryslen Flurry)
Offspring: Amori Syaess, Izasia Syaess, Mehari Syaess (Ktrenal), Nehasia Syaess