Tala was a bit in awe of how much she was able to witness of Terry’s re-experiencing of his own life.

She was seeing a bit more now that he was reliving the time with her, but that made sense to her, because she already had a basis of understanding into which she could slot the bits she was seeing.Visjt novelbin(.)com for new updates

There wasn’t much to see from when she’d first gone to the endingberry groves near Alefast, but once she left the city again, things started to get interesting.

Terry had been a bit irritated at first when another, much bigger human began spending more time near his little human, and that made things harder, but Terry was able to figure out how to stay close regardless.

Strangely, the big human seemed to exasperate the young female in ways that Terry found quite amusing. He also brought out different sides of the girl, so Terry did what he could to keep him around.

I don’t remember Terry doing anything to keep Rane around… did I just miss it?

Then, the girl had gotten herself snatched by the massive flying birds.

Terry had almost called the whole thing off then, but he had been coming to like the bits of jerky she gave him.

And he was already rather invested in her, so…

He’d gone after her, and it had turned out well that he had.

She’d killed most of that hostile flock on her own, showing him a whole other side to her. She had demonstrated the potential for quite a bit of lethality when pressed. She’d been hurt doing it, but that just stood to reason. She was basically a hatchling after all.

Well, I guess that was fair…

There, on the frozen mountain side, Terry and the young woman had encountered a Mage who could restrain him, actually restrain him.

Even in just the small flashes of the reliving, Tala was able to see just how much that had rattled Terry’s understanding of existence and his place in it.

He’d known that some humans were more powerful than him—and that he had needed to be careful to avoid their attention—but he had never encountered one who could directly beat him at his own game, let alone directly counter his dimensional magics so effectively.

His eyes had been opened to just how utterly futile his own crusade against humanity had been.

He’d known for a long time that not every human was the same—that they made choices and acted as they wished rather than strictly as a collective. At a basic level, he knew that he shouldn’t have blamed them all—that had been part of why he had not continued to attack humans as persistently, after his rage had begun to dull—but it wasn’t until this looking back that he finally saw just how true that was.

The encounter with Mistress had solidified that there could actually be things to learn from humans as well.

He had needed to change his mindset, and the resilient human female seemed willing to bring him along, to feed him, and spend time near him. That was worth a lot.

The very next day, that new-found desire for human connection was tested when a flock of terror birds came to eat the human. That had put him into the position of choosing a human life over a flock of terror birds.

Sure, they hadn’t been his flock, but it put the humans’ actions against his own mate into an entirely different perspective, at least when looking back.

In the moment though, Terry had simply seen Tala as a burgeoning member of his flock, and that was all that had mattered.

His flock’s safety was paramount, and he would not let anything attack them with impunity ever again.

Terry’s choice had resulted in her survival and their return to a human city. This time, however, he was able to enter safely. That had only been possible because of the collar they’d gotten for him from the strangely obsessive human. Thankfully, he hadn’t been too much of an issue.

Once again, Terry found himself embarrassed, and Tala was truly startled.

In that first venture into Bandfast, Terry had stolen a lot of food, flickering out and back when she had been distracted, making sure to return in the exact orientation he’d been in previously.

Tala had had no idea at all.

In truth, Terry hadn’t taken much from any one place. Because of that, really no one had noticed, but some had briefly suspected that something had reduced the food on their plate, in their stand, or wherever Terry had taken his bits from.

Still, it had never caused trouble, despite Terry now realizing just how much of that was purely happenstance, likely influenced by his need. He did, after all, restrain himself when his need indicated that he should.

They had stayed in the city longer than he’d have preferred, but his human had grown much stronger while there.

She’d gone into a chamber without him, leaving him to wait outside, but shortly after, she’d called him with a true franticness to her voice.

Something within her tone had reminded him of the desperation he’d imagined in his mate’s cries oh so long before.

He had flickered in without hesitation, his power on full display.

When he’d arrived and seen their opponents—the sheer number and power of the Mages—he’d understood.

This was his chance at redemption.

He hadn’t been there for her. He hadn’t died by her side, and this was his chance to do as had been his duty.

He would finally die fighting beside his flock.

He would finally be able to lay this burden down.

He would finally know peace.

Oh, Terry… Tala squeezed him tightly once again within the Bonding Void.

In retrospect, Terry understood that other things had been going on, but in the moment, he’d been utterly baffled when no fight had occurred.

He’d remained with his new, fledgling flock-mate watching in fascinated confusion as she cut herself open and pulled a magical working into her own chest.

That was when her power had first magnified many-fold.

Terry was proud of her for seizing such power, both then and now.

He was also proud of himself for having now—finally—consumed a similar working.

Tala detected a deep interest within Terry to see just how much he would grow from the working.

She felt her manifestation’s eyes widen as she also contemplated that. She could finally fully understand the danger posed by bonding such an ancient arcanous creature. With this reframing of his experiences, it would be incredibly easy for one like Terry to wreak untold havoc with his newfound power.

Tala was very grateful for this look into Terry’s mentality, reassuring her that that wouldn’t happen.

Time flickered by as Terry stayed by Tala’s side, until the disjointment of his own actions began to catch up with him.

He was treating her as his flock, but she wasn’t actually.

He was reacting to her as if she were under his wing, without actually solidifying that connection.

He was holding her at a flicker’s distance.

And so, he gave himself an ultimatum. He would fight her and test her.

After that, they would either part ways or be a true flock. One way or another, he had felt ready for their last match as traveling companions.

In looking back, it was such a foolish thought to have passed through his avian head. He had long since stopped treating her in that way, and they both knew it.

Tala felt a smile pull at her lips at Terry’s realization.

The next fragment to come to her attention was the upland tiger.

It had been a feline of monstrous proportions, a Magical Beast that had utterly outclassed Tala—Terry even more so—but when she’d called for Terry’s aid, he’d come.

His need had immediately begun to scream at him to retreat, but he had ignored it, helping her as he could.

At the time, he’d been willing to die with her, even if he didn’t understand why they were fighting the big cat. It hadn’t made sense to him at all, but she’d asked for his help, so…

Still, he’d done his best to get her to leave, and to his utter shock, she had listened.

The memory of that seemed to warm Terry to his core.

Tala had listened to his promptings, and fled from the fight—the pointless fight… his hatchling really had a lot to learn about picking her opponents.

That was fine, he could help her.

After that, she had surrounded herself with other powerful humans, and Terry had felt a bit unneeded for a time, though he had still enjoyed being with her when he could. He still enjoyed watching her continue to grow in strength and wisdom.

Then, finally, a predator of equal ferocity and cunning to himself had challenged his hatchling.

They’d tried to keep him from the battle, but he’d put that to rest.

He and she had clashed against the canine, and Terry had once more found himself outclassed.

The sireling could have slain him in their first exchange, but Terry had felt respect from the young pup. They’d both known who was the better combatant, and the pup had held nothing but honor in his heart for Terry’s willingness to fight anyway.

Tala… had not known that. She’d thought that Terry and the sireling were roughly matched, and in comparison to many other creatures, they were, but the sireling had just been too advanced for Terry to overcome.

Terry had been more skilled, but skill only counted for so much when he couldn’t have landed a damaging blow even if the sireling had stood still and let him attack, uncontested.

When she’d tossed Flow to Terry, that had changed, but it had also meant the end of the fight for Terry.

Terry had felt deep self-recrimination when he’d had to retreat. He’d hated watching Tala fight alone, but he had been immensely proud when she’d pulled out a victory, quite literally from the jaws of defeat.

After the fight, Terry watched as Tala and Rane decided to begin courting, and Tala felt a bit embarrassed, seeing how it had looked from the outside.

Terry had been happy for them, even if he didn’t understand human mating rituals.

Seeing Terry classify their interactions in that way caused Tala’s embarrassment to magnify, but she couldn’t truthfully say he was wrong.

That made it worse.

They both witnessed Terry decide that he should accept Tala’s offer for a Bond… soon.

He told himself that she wasn’t ready, and looking back, he understood that even then, he hadn’t known which she he’d meant.

Tala had continued to grow, and together, Tala and Terry had moved ever closer to this moment.

Finally, they’d gone to his old nest, and the humans had acted with compassion and honor, helping him to lay his fallen flock to rest.

He hadn’t needed such—that was a human custom—but it still showed that these two saw him as one of them, and they saw those he cared for as worthy of their own caring.

It had been time. He had delayed long enough.

She was laid to rest, and she would have wanted him to move on.

As if Reality itself had known that he’d come to that decision, terror birds had come, responding to his farewell cry, his final send-off for his mate.

He’d initially prepared himself for a massive clash—fighting beside his human companions—but they hadn’t come for that.

Their alpha had come for him. She had recognized him as worthy of her, where none other ever had been.

The foolish bird.

He had proven to her that such wasn’t what mattered. It hadn’t been the right question to begin with.

She wasn’t worthy of him.

Still… he’d been tempted. She was by far the most capable terror bird he’d come across in his long life since her passing.

He’d been away from his own kind for so long…

But even so, in the end, his choice had been relatively easy.

He would not abandon his flock.

Not ever again.

He was here.