The raptorcats are not outside the village. Instead, there is a welcoming party of all four Pathwalkers accompanied by twelve Warriors. It's a sizeable force. Of course, it could just be them showing their respect, but they didn’t do so last night and I doubt that the presence of the raptorcat matriarch would be sufficient prompting to do so now. I have to wonder if they're intending on resisting.

  Everyone get ready, I say in the Bond network. Since the matriarch is now part of an alliance with me, she is also included in the silent message. Both sides practically bristling, we approach each other slowly.

  Do you sense any trace of your packmates? I ask the matriarch. She sniffs at the air and then I feel her domain expand. The samurans facing us flinch and one of the Warriors even takes a step back.

  They are here, answers the matriarch grimly. I can sense them. They are changed – they do not react to me in the way they should and they refuse to hear my call.

  I have a nasty feeling I know what that means. I step forward to face the samurans. They look at me with anger in their eyes and spikes.

  "Earth-former, did you receive my message? Or did Beast-tamer just tell you to come with your Warriors to meet us?" I ask. I want to know if this is just Beast-tamer's idea or if they are all on it.

  Traitor, spits the Pathwalker. You said you were here to help us but you have turned against us and joined our enemy!

  "I haven't turned against you in the slightest," I reply angrily. "I said that I would do my best to resolve the situation peacefully and I have. It is not my fault that your colleague decided that she wanted to have a few powerful tames and went and poked a hornets' nest!"

  What are you talking about? snaps the Pathwalker. Perhaps she is not aware, or perhaps this is just a good front that she's putting up.

  "So, Beast-tamer didn't tell you about what she did then? About how she enraged this Great beast by taking some of her pack from her?"

  I know nothing of which you speak, declares the Pathwalker.

  Although I have no Bond with her, I get the sudden sensation that she's lying. Perhaps this is my Wisdom or my Management Skill kicking in, but I know I'm being fed BS.

  And thinking about it, how would Beast-tamer have succeeded all by herself? The villagers here didn't even come to the Festival because they were worried about travelling through the forest with so few numbers. How could Beast-tamer have snuck off to the matriarch's territory with enough Warriors to capture the three raptorcats without losing anyone and without being noticed by the other Pathwalkers?

  No, the only explanation was that all of the Pathwalkers worked together. Which means they're all trying to cover this up. That’s exasperating and makes me more than a little angry. Was this whole thing just a way of trying to pit another village against one of their enemies?

  I regret getting involved, given the amount of deceit I realise I’ve been subjected to. But I’m here now and have a promise to the matriarch to fulfil. And then I’m washing my hands of this matter.

  "Don't bother lying," I tell them. "I know they're here. Bring them out now, or we will go and get them."

  And you'll kill us if we stand in the way will you? the Pathwalker asks with deep red flashing through her spikes to join the mustard yellow colour of fear.

  "I never talked about killing you," I say with more than a little exasperation. "All you have to do is bring out the three raptorcats, get Beast-tamer to release their Bonds, and then to let them go with a promise to never walk on the matriarch's territory again. That's it. Your village is safe. The Tier three is gone. And we'll be happy to leave! Though I do expect some sort of gesture of apology for all the lies. But if you resist, if you refuse to bring the raptorcats out, then yes we will go through you to find them."

  The Pathwalkers look between each other with uncertainty in their spikes. But despite that, none of them steps forward. Instead, it's one of the Warriors who takes a step forward, looking me firmly in the eye.

  Do you promise? That if we give you what you want, you will leave without extracting any further reparations from this situation or any linked to it, as long as we offer you a gesture of apology?

  About to agree, I hesitate. Some instinct, or perhaps Skill, is telling me that there is still something wrong. And considering how accurate it was when I felt it last night, I'm not inclined to ignore it. Scanning the crowd of samurans in front of me carefully, I see more signs to be cautious. The red of anger is fading a little but I can still see quite a lot of fear there. Among the fear is the deep blue of desperate hope. While those emotions are not necessarily inappropriate for the situation, I find their deep tones to be suspicious.

  This whole situation is odd. If they are so scared of the matriarch, why are they putting up such a fight about returning her packmates to her, when she is standing in front of them? But if they're not scared of the matriarch, what are they scared about?

  I think through the words the Warrior used. He wasn't just talking about this situation, I realise. He mentioned situations linked to it. Which means there's more to this than I thought. And I'm determined to find out what.

  "I promise that there will be no further repercussions on your village from the matriarch as long as you bring out her packmates now and do not invade her territory again."

  And from you? asks the Warrior shrewdly.

  "I promise that as long as the raptorcats are restored to the matriarch in good condition and with no Bond remaining, I will not help her to seek revenge against you."

  And revenge for yourself? pursues the Warrior. My eyes narrow.

  "I want a gesture of apology due to having been lured here under false pretences, but otherwise I have no reason to pursue revenge for myself. Or do you think that I do?" I throw the ball back into his court. I see the Warrior wanting to say something but he doesn't dare. My alarm bells are now ringing very strongly. This conversation is so strange, an air of desperation to it that doesn’t match the measured tones the words are being spoken with.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  I'm suddenly possessed of the desire to leave this village as quickly as I can. I don't know what's coming, but I am almost certain that something is.

  "You have until I count to ten to bring the raptorcats out," I order the villagers. I can't forget that I have promised the matriarch to retrieve her packmates for her. If I don't, then I will potentially lose Bastet, Storm, and Ninja – or at least earn the enmity of a powerful Tier three since I know that my companions will do all they can to return to me.

  I start counting slowly. My Bound and the matriarch tense and crouch, ready to act. A flurry of clicks and grunts emerge from the group of samurans ahead of us. They're too quiet for me to be able to understand everything they're saying, but I understand enough to know that they are arguing over whether they should continue to 'carry out the plan' or not. Tension coils in my stomach. I don't like the sound of that. What plan are they talking about?

  I keep counting. As I get down to two, sudden movement from the village catches my attention.

  The matriarch tenses even further and growls in outrage as her three packmates approach. I can see in their body language that they are miserable. They are aware of who she is and who they are. But they are unable to go to her. I see the stiff, puppet-like movements of their limbs as they are pulled inexorably towards Beast-tamer.

  I am abruptly glad that I never took the puppet Skill that I was offered. I would never want any of my Bound to look like this.

  The three raptorcats, Tier ones all, stop right in front of Beast-tamer. They face us, their lips drawn back to reveal their bared teeth. They are ready to attack us. But I see in their eyes that they want nothing less.

  Let's have a competition, suggests Beast-tamer. One tamer to another. If you can wrest my beasts away from me, then you can have them.

  I eye her warily. I stopped my counting when I saw the raptorcats coming towards us as I demanded. But I have a feeling that this is not going to be as simple as she wants me to believe it.

  "What's the catch?" I ask her.

  No catch, she replies, then gapes her jaws open to reveal her teeth. But if you're not quick enough then at least one of you will die.

  She hasn't even finished speaking when the three raptorcats leap forward, their teeth ready to bite, their wings ready to buffet, and their talons ready to rend.

  I sigh. Of course.

  My own preparations for the fight have fortunately put me into a decent position to counter this move. While I wasn't expecting exactly this, I was expecting something. I've therefore already been spending the last few minutes of conversation sending magic into the ground to prepare it for my commands. Though I sense that I can’t push my influence much closer to the village due to Earth-former’s presence already settled there, the couple of metres between me and the other Pathwalkers is fair game.

  The earth sinks underneath the raptorcats’ feet. Robbed of their momentum they slow, their wings beating frantically forwards to help them keep their balance. Their pace reduced so significantly, they sink further. Soon, they are encased up to the top of their leg joints in thick, clinging soil.

  I don't know how to 'wrest control of the beasts', but I do know how to establish a Bond. I can only hope that one Bond replaces the other. I strongly suspect that if Beast-tamer is only capable of Binding Tier ones, or perhaps the odd Tier two, her powers will not be strong enough to resist my own which is capable of holding a Tier three. Ultimately I have to try.

  I'm savagely pleased by the disappointment in Beast-tamer's spikes at the fact that I'm not having to fend off the raptorcats at the same time as trying to Bond with them. By this point, the claylike soil has wound its way further up each of their bodies and is now starting to impede their wings from moving too. After all, I don't want them to be hurt by this.

  Watch my back, I ask my Bound. They agree willingly, all of them either outraged, disturbed, or a mixture of the two.

  Meeting the eyes of the raptorcat to the furthest right I invoke Dominate. I fall into the grey space as usual. However the differences are immediately obvious. The pressure against me is almost nil from the raptorcat itself. However there is a different kind of pressure. One which I recognise from the battles I had with my own Pathwalkers.

  It's odd to think that species have a certain type of mental pressure, but they do. With the samurans there is a certain kind of sense of superiority, particularly among the Evolved. It's a different sense of superiority than that I felt from Pride, for example, or the kiinas. One which perhaps stems from their sense of self or from their position in the community. Either way it's very clear that the pressure I feel is not from the raptorcat but from the samuran who holds it bound.

  The Bond itself is actually visible, like chains that wrap around the raptorcat's limbs, throat, wings, and head. They glow with a faintly ghostly light and are not entirely opaque.

  I push forwards, each step propelling me further towards the raptorcat. The pressure against me is stronger than my most recent battles with samurans, but it is far from the strongest. In fact, I would tentatively say that it is one of the weakest pressures I have felt from an Evolved samuran. I wonder how much of that is the Pathwalker herself and how much is because she's working through a medium. I also idly wonder why this is the first time someone has challenged me. I hadn't known that this was possible, but it surprises me that no one decided to challenge me for one of my Bound at the Festival. I dismiss the thought a moment later – it's irrelevant for now.

  Reaching the raptorcat doesn't take very long, but when I'm within arms length of it, I wonder what exactly I'm supposed to do here. The only thing I can think of is to treat the chains like literal chains.

  I reach out and pull at the bindings. The raptorcat, who has been remarkably quiet with its emotions up until now, radiates both misery and hope. Unfortunately, it's difficult to grasp the chains at all. My fingers slip right through them as if they do not exist. Then I remember. We are in some sort of soul space, so it's logical that perhaps I can affect something which exists only in the soul when I am here. But maybe I have to treat it slightly differently from just reaching out for it.

  Remembering what I do when I am in my Challenge space, extending my soul outwards and increasing my willpower, I stop reaching out with my hands and instead reach out with my mind. Or perhaps mind is not the correct word to use. Perhaps it is indeed my soul.

  It's hard, like using a muscle in a different way for the first time. But my practice in my Challenge space serves me well. This time, the chain reacts. I grip it with my will, and I pull.

  The chain is brittle. Not only is Beast-tamer not as strong as I am, but I sense that the raptorcat is working with me to destroy its bindings. It's not long before I have burst through the chain around its neck and then even less time than that before the raptorcat is standing before me with no chains at all. With the release of the chains its emotions are released too. Her emotions. She is relieved, thankful, and ashamed. I send her a wordless feeling of comfort and of promise that she will rejoin her pack. The experience has not left her unscathed.

  Aside from the emotional damage, there are wounds on her representation here, something I suspect is her soul or a projection of it. Cuts and bruises where the chains have dug in, broken feathers on her wings. However, none of the injuries cripple her in any sort of way, not when the chains were so loose around her, perhaps because of the newness of the Bond. I think that that is the best we can hope for, and I hope that she will recover in time.

  I sense that I can establish a Bond here and now, but I don't. Instead, I step backwards and let myself fall out of the Dominate space.

  The raptorcat has stopped fighting to free herself in the real world. I carefully pull the earth back from her and release her. She steps slowly out of the hole I have made for her and pads towards her matriarch. They reunite, the joy I can feel from the matriarch side of the Alliance Bond probably no less than the joy the evolved raptorcat displayed earlier.

  I'm grateful for the fact that in my upgrade to Master in Dominate, I was relieved of the paralysis penalty when failing a Battle of Wills – when I do so willingly, that is. It allows me to immediately get started on getting the second raptorcat out of her entrapment.

  Within a relatively short space of time, the three raptorcats are once more with the matriarch. I look at the samurans of the other village who wisely didn’t try anything while I was occupied even if their tension just seems to have increased. Beast-tamer looks a little put out but not nearly as much as I was expecting considering that I have just essentially stolen three of her Bound from her. Once more, I'm hit by an uneasy feeling.

  And as if in answer, alarm suddenly rings out from most of the Warriors who stayed behind in my home village.

  here!

  here!

  here