“You don’t appear to have rested well,” Bel said in her usual soft, sad tone. “I apologize that the accommodations aren’t quite like the Mintas Lodge.”
“That’s hardly your fault,” Kre replied, snapping out of his strange funk, “just some bad dreams.” He forced a smile and tried to turn the conversation to a more pleasant topic, “When did you last visit the Lodge?”
Bel smiled and rose to her feet in a graceful, fluid motion. Watching her, Kre was certain that if the woman were launched unconscious from a catapult, she would still find a way to land as smoothly and as lithely as a cat leaps from the table to the floor.
“I was around more than you realize. Among our abilities is being able to fade into the background. We can, essentially, remove any trace of ourselves from the senses of most creatures. Eyes will glide right over us as if we were camouflaged, and even if we speak, people tend to remember the words only as a faint half-memory without ever recalling who spoke. There are some though, with enhanced senses, that our obfuscation technique does not work. Dogs, for instance, though they cannot see us, they can still smell us and detect our presence that way.”
“Is it something that you could teach another to do? Same with the glowing lights that follow us? Can you teach me how to make those?”
“Hmm…” Bel seemed to be chewing over the questions in her head. “It is not unheard of for your kind to have powers of this nature, but it usually comes from one of two sources. One, some are naturally born with access to these powers, but it is exceptionally rare and requires extensive training to control… training that I cannot provide. Dragons manifest our powers differently and so it would not be possible for you to learn from our methods.
“The second source of these powers is through symbiotic bonding with supernatural creatures. When bonded in this way, the two creatures share elements of themselves with the other. Each partner, of course, can control what and how much they share of themselves, like in any relationship, so generally only the most deeply bonded partnerships ever reach the level where these powers are shared.”
“Makes sense, I guess,” Kre replied weakly, still trying to wrap his brain around all the words she had just thrown at him. “So, basically, it’s a no?”
Bel nodded, “Yes dear, basically it’s a no.”
“Wait,” Kre said slowly, trying to verbalize the question that was forming in his mind. “Does that mean… did Ser Terync have access to these powers through you? I mean, you two were bonded, right?”
Bel’s face shifted slightly. For a brief moment, her gaze was less warm, less congenial towards Kre, but it lasted less than a heartbeat before shifting back to her normal, sweet self. “Yes, Terync and I were bonded. As for the rest, we do not discuss the nature of our bonds with anyone else.”
Kre shifted uncomfortably, still recalling the subtle shift in her gaze. “That makes sense. I mean, you mentioned it before, so I knew that, but I guess I just didn’t think it applied… well, I mean, I thought that since he and I… you know what, never mind. Are you… uh… bonded now?”
She shook her head sadly, though it was hard to tell whether it was because she had to witness Kre’s feeble attempt at recovering from his word stumbles, or because of his last question. “I don’t believe that I am welcome to work alongside Dragon Knights any longer.”