Chapter 11

I turned to find Theresa looking in wonder at the creatures standing in front of her and glancing over Cassandra, and she was even a little shocked. I smiled and enjoyed spending some time interacting with them, while we couldn’t go up to their roost at the moment. Since they had grown, they needed to be moved to a larger one and explained that the new one would have the means for us to reach it directly. I inspected them both at their behest, though I didn’t know that much about what would deem them healthy or not. I made a mental note to learn what I could from the knowledge center to ensure I could be the best caretaker for my dragons. They had grown in size and mass. Their scales were becoming less like snakeskin and more pronounced as one would see with a dragon. I did notice that both Draco and Saphira seemed curious about Theresa.

“Who is this new person, father?” asked Draco as he walked up to them. “Her scent is unique and is unknown to me.”

“The new member is Theresa,” I answered. “She, like me, is from another world, as you know from our bond. She has decided to become a beast tamer and I figured interacting with some would be educational for her.”

“If she is a beast tamer, she needs to visit the Tyr beast pen,” announced the Red Dragon. “That is reachable by the tubes, like this place is. There hasn’t been a beast tamer in the Tyr pact house for nearly three centuries.”

I gave a slight bow, “Thank you for that information, because we were assuming that she could only spend time with them in the dungeon. Pardon me, but I do not know your name.”

“You may call me Shatterstar,” announced the dragon, sitting more proudly. “The pens have spots for land, sea, and air-based creatures. Even dragons that could be tamed, would wind up there, as this roost is only for natural dragons that are soul bonded with someone.”

I turned back to see Theresa running her hands over Saphira’s scales, inspecting everything the young dragon would allow her to.

“Theresa. I would hate to spoil your fun, but would you like to go meet your wolf?” I asked, pulling her attention back to me.

“Huh?” she asked, before the question registered and a smile appeared on her face. “I would love to meet my Wolfie.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle from her childlike term that she used for her first pet, and we bade goodbye to Draco, Saphira and Shatterstar. I promised that I would visit again in a few days with Entivala, so the three of us could spend time with them. We entered the transit tube and found ourselves in a valley, but glancing around I couldn’t see any sign of the town nearby. There was a jingle that filled the air and a moment later a middle-aged half orc came out of a building a few feet from the tube.

“Hello there,” he called out with a gruff voice. “Can I help you people with something?”

I glanced over at Theresa and nudged my head towards the man, hinting for her to step forwards and answer.

She took a few steps and said, “Hello there. I am Theresa and I am a new beast trainer. I came to see the wolf that I tamed earlier today.”

A big smile appeared on his face, “Ah, so that was you, was it? I was surprised when the big guy appeared. It has been a while since any one from the pact house visited here, but we are always prepared just in case. Come along then, young lady, let me take your new companion.”

He turned to walk down a dirt pathway and gestured for us to follow. We passed a few buildings that looked like they could hold a few animals in each but were all empty at that moment. He then turned down into another path heading to a secluded wooded area and as the trees became more frequent, they gave way to rocky outcroppings that were perfect for a wolf den. A few minutes later we came across the entrance of a den that had her wolf, and it was busy gnawing on the leg of some large animal.

It looked up from its meal and locked eyes with us. The wolf cleaned its snout and got up from the leg to walk over to us. The orc didn’t seem to be worried, but I was still a bit on edge as I was uncertain as to what happened next. Theresa surprised me by slowly walking towards the beast until there was an arm length between her and the wolf. They silently looked at one another for a few moments, before Theresa took another two steps forward. She closed her eyes and outstretched her hand, and I began to move towards her, but Katie, Amenthia and even Cassandra stopped me from interfering.

After a few tense moments, the wolf stepped forward and pressed its forehead into her palm. Realizing the beast accepted her, she flung her arms around the creature’s neck and began to cry tears of joy.

“Thank you so much, guys,” she said between sobs. “I always wanted an animal to care for and you have helped me to do that. Thank you too Wolfie, I will make sure you never regret it.”

The wolf let out a mixture of growls and howls that reminded me of those Husky videos that people would post online. Theresa smiled and hugged the creature tighter, Fand I knew that the circlet was indeed working.

“I am going to spend time with you every day when we aren’t in the dungeon,” Theresa told the large beast. “Would you like that Wolfie?”

The dire wolf lay on the ground and proceeded to allow Theresa to rub his belly. It was slightly odd to see such a large and usual fearsome beast turn into a large docile puppy from the collar. Checking the time we were hitting, two hours total and we needed to head back.

“Pardon me sir, I don’t think that I got your name,” I said to the half-orc. “I just want to make sure we all know your name for the future.”

He let out a little laugh, “I am sorry I thought I gave it to you. You can call me Kevar. I am the caretaker of the Tyr creature pens.”

“Will she be okay to pop in whenever she wants? Or would you like a heads up before anyone visits?” I asked.

Kevar shrugged, “It doesn’t matter to me which way you wish to do it. I am usually here by myself most of the time, so I don’t mind visitors, even ones that aren’t creatures from time to time. Now I do have Wolfie, as she calls him, to talk to, which is nice. I will say that I am hoping that we may get some more beast tamers in time, as this place isn’t the same without creatures to take care of.”

I gave him an encouraging smile, “I can’t promise anything, but there is always a chance. I will say that we will make sure to get another four creatures to keep you company soon enough.”

“I know about you Pathios,” he replied. “I saw the beating you took in regard to Jonta, what you dealt with in the Champion’s Challenge. You are on the lips of the people, so if she is with you, it will put it back out there. How did you come to learn about beast taming? It’s a bit of a niche specialization that has lost favor with most adventurers now a days.”

“We came across someone who was a beast tamer on the first floor when we were showing Theresa how it works in there,” I explained. “He has a regular wolf as his partner, and I could see a look on Theresa’s face that this would be the thing that would work for her. When we went out to help her collect her first companion, we lucked out that there was a dire wolf in the group and as for us to try to get that instead. She is inexperienced with fighting still and as such, I wanted her to have something that would be able to protect her well as she continued to learn what to do.”

“It was a good choice for her first companion, but be careful, it may not be so easy the next time you go to catch one. The fact that she is so fresh will help her and the wolf,” Kevar explained as he thought on my answer. “The beasts paired with a beast tamer will grow in strength as their partner does, but there will still be beasts in the dungeon that are far stronger. That is why tamers tend to switch out their beasts over time.”

“What happens to the beasts that are released from the service of a beast trainer?” asked Theresa as she came back over to the group.

Kevar turned to face her, “It’s no different than if they were killed in a dungeon, they are released into the real world to live their life naturally. It is in their natural, non-magical form, so he would only be a regular wolf, living as a regular wolf.”

I could see the worry on Theresa’s face dissipate a little at his explanation and wasn’t surprised that she wanted to make sure that the wolf would be okay should she choose to set him free. We thanked him for his help and his wisdom before heading back to the transit tube. We returned to the pact house and guided her from the atrium back to the dorms. It was nice to be back, and we were all happy with the events of the day. We figured we could show her how to hand in the orbs tomorrow and headed back to the pact house.

As we walked back to the dorm, I turned to Theresa and said, “Tomorrow we will try to see how you feel in medium armor, and how your wolf will do in battle.”

“I thought I was supposed to wear the armor you had me wear today,” She asked, slightly confused.

“Usually when someone joins a pact house, they pick a profession and train in that up to a certain age before heading into the dungeons,” Amenthia explained. “When we pick what we want to be, we are given limitations that match our skills. I was only able to wear light armor, but at level five, I was able to choose the ability to wear medium armor. That was the dragon scale armor you saw us wearing. People like you and Pathios do not have that restriction, so it is more about what you prefer to wear for protection.”

“Oh okay,” Theresa replied, with a smile. “I look forward to working with you all and Wolfie tomorrow.”

When we got to the door, we found the others putting the items they had bought into the cupboards. Ilthvana was humming a tune as she was using the stove and looked to be cooking a delicious smelling meal. Theresa hurried over to the others, and I watched as she excitedly told the others about how our day went. It was amazing to see her so happy and excited, given how shy and withdrawn she had been since we met. I could only imagine just how much more she could come into her own in the weeks and months to come. We popped into the Armory to drop off our gear, and when we came back, Amenthia went over to help with food. Katie went to go check her potions, while Cassandra told us she would be back later and asked us to set some food aside for her. She was so hard on herself lately, but it was her way of dealing with things and I wasn’t going to say anything about it until it became a serious problem.

Dinner was fantastic, and it was much more enjoyable than usual because of the lack of background noise that came from the other pact members we would usually be having sit around us in the dining hall. It was great to be able to not have to try and talk over the ambient noise of many people without being too loud. While their day was less eventful, with no real dangers other than spending too much, Enti, Dilbar and Ilthvana recounted their day of shopping. When they were done, we gave them our account of the day. Entivala was happy to hear that Saphira and Draco were doing well. Everyone was impressed that Theresa was now a beast tamer and had a pet to help her adjustment to being in the dungeon.

“So how do you feel about your new role?” Ilthvana asked between bites. “Will you be comfortable partaking in the dungeon in this way? I know that you were hesitant when we first talked to you about it.”

Theresa thought for a few minutes before replying, “I am not sure yet, I mean the explanation that killing them in the dungeon, rebirths them into the real world makes it seem not as bad. Still, I am not sure what I will do until I get into that situation. Is it weird to say that if it is my wolf, instead of me, it doesn’t seem to be too bad.”