<24 August 2024, GRAND MESA OF SUMMER, A+> [Ordus and Kreldar] "I don't care how you detain him. Break every bone in his body if you have to. I will be back." Julia said and turned to face the direction that Theo had been launched.

"Wait!" Ordus cried out, trying to make sense of what had happened. But suddenly Julia was gone.

Kreldar rounded on Yordo, shouting in Dwarvish, and Ordus heard what they said thanks to the staff. "What did you do!?"

Yordo smiled; "I secured a water source for us, and I fulfilled the request of my mother, who you may remember is the current leader of our clan."

"You damned fool! We were asked to help by Lord Gurndin! He..." Kreldar said, and Yordo laughed.

"Why would I want to follow that false god. He even admits that he is not a god. Why would anyone listen to him when Lady Hammersring is there for all to love and worship." Yordo sounded reverent as he said the name. He smiled. "What I have done is nothing more or less than what any proud dwarf and member of clan Molbrak should have done!"

Ordus was tired and had been hoping to get some rest, allowing Julia and Theo to take their time in the Mana Convergence Array and then work on taking care of whatever they would need in the morning. Now, he had a problem to deal with. A problem where Theo was launched into the storm of Primordial Flight, and Julia teleported after him. He grabbed Yordo and spoke in fluent Dwarvish. "You have ten seconds to tell me what you did, or I am going to use a skill to fill your lungs with dirt via your nostrils in the most painful way I can possibly manage. Ten... Nine... "

Yordo looked panicked; "I used an item to launch him into the storm so that Clan Molbrak can claim this place and secure the Deepwell."

Ordus quickly trussed the dwarf up in a contortionist position using the rope that Julia had tossed him. As he did so, He gave directions in English. "Sylvi, I know that you can't do the same thing that Julia can, but I want you to go check the wards and then verify that Julia's temporary Wards around the Arthintry are still there. Kreldar, I need you to go to our other dwarves and see who else needs to be dealt with. If none of them, dig a cell to hold this one in."

"What will you do?" Sylvi asked.

"I must speak to our guests and ensure that they are taken care of and see if we are going to have any other issues," Ordus said and moved to do just that.

An hour later, Ordus was content; most of the guests were asleep. One pair had snuck off for a clandestine meetup in one corner of the Thronehold, and the rest were all sitting around a fire drinking and socializing. Sylvi walked up to Ordus. "Ordus."

"Lady Sylvi, please, how are the Ward runes?" Ordus asked.

"Just call me Sylvi, and they are fine; they are changing, but they are fine," Sylvi said.

"They are changing?" Ordus asked, confused. Sylvi nodded and moved towards the nearest Ward rune.

"See." She said, pointing to the stones of the rune, "They are changing."

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Ordus looked and saw that the general shape of the Ward runes was not changing, but each rune was receiving a layer of small, engraved circles inside it. Each circle held a rune and faded after it was complete. Sylvi nodded, "The temporary wards are doing the same. But the Arthintry lady said that she is feeling even less mana now, so she is happy."

Ordus nodded, "Okay, well Sylvi, if you would please keep an eye on it and let me know, I would appreciate it. I guess I am going to do another round."

Sylvi nodded, and then walked off. Ordus moved over to the Homestead Core and placed his hand on it. Rather than Hestia's voice, he was greeted by the voice that usually spoke to him from the System; Theo had called it cold and robotic.

"Homestead Core Currently Unavailable. Please return in five hours. All Homestead Core Functions are operational."

Ordus was confused but shrugged and turned to check on everyone. As he was about to start a round, a column of Cherenkov blue light slammed into the ground from the eye of the massive dragon at the other end of the Overlook, gaining the attention of everyone who was still awake.

[Theo and Julia] After emerging from whatever strange hallucination they had been trapped in, the first thing that Julia did was lay down as many temporary Ward runes as she possibly could. They both took a breath, feeling the incredible pressure from the power raging around them. They both received a message.

> Private Message: Temporary Suppression of Notifications due to area instability. Return to a safe area to see your notifications.

"Are you okay?" Theo asked, looking at Julia, who was crying.

"I... I am now." Julia said and hugged Theo tightly. "I... I had to go through a test that was something I was not prepared for."

"I was tested too. But I am not sure what was tested or why it was tested the way that it was." Theo said, holding Julia close to him.

They both gave each other a quick rundown of what had taken place in their respective tests. Julia laughed and then teased Theo. "A man's lust is focused on me! Oh, the shame!"

Theo chuckled, then got a serious look. "So would you say that what you went through steeled your resolve?"

Julia shrugged and then nodded. "I think so?"

Theo nodded as if settling something for himself in his head. "Very well then, Julia Brahmin, I want you to be with me. I don't know what the future holds, and I am unsure what will happen to the both of us, but I do know that now that I have met you, I don't want to be with anyone else. Let's do this Family thing."

"I... You... Okay..." Julia said, a little out of breath.

Theo chuckled. "I mean, I can get down on one knee and ask you if you want? I don't have a ring or anything, but if you want that."

Julia, whose cheeks were on fire, raised both of her hands up to cover her face and then nodded. "I... would like that."

So Theo dropped to one knee and gently poked Julia in the side playfully. "Alright, Julia, I need to see your face and hold your hand, please."

Julia offered her hand to Theo and stared at him, with the storm seeming to hold still in that moment. Theo smiled up at her. "Julia Brahmin. We have not known each other long, and we have been tossed into a world that is unlike anything we knew before. But you are who I belong with, and I believe that you belong with me. So forever more until we die, will you stay with me as part of our Family?"

Julia nodded and smiled, a nervous blush still glowing on her cheeks, "I will."

Theo stood up and swept her into a passionate kiss. Then he pulled back from her. Julia looked up at him. "You still have to ask me to marry you someday."

Theo chuckled and looked mockingly shocked. "One step at a time. Quit trying to take advantage of little old me."

They had a laugh, and Julia refreshed the temporary Ward runes. Then, he thought for a moment and looked up at the massive dragon that was flying so slowly across the sky that it defied logic and reason. Theo took a breath and called out as loud as he could. "I don't know how to do this! But I want to invoke a contract with the System!"

The head of the dragon, which was nearly a mile past them at this point, whipped around with such speed that it probably would have created a sonic boom under normal conditions. One of its eyes locked onto them, and a beam of blue light slammed into the ground around them.

Suddenly, Theo and Julia heard a voice that was cold and pitiless; it said only one word and nearly caused their eardrums to explode as they heard it. "SPEAK."

Theo and Julia looked at each other and began to speak.

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