Angel Monarch

While he flew in the sky Sera just watched him with the same grin. Eventually she turned around and looked at her group. She was a bit startled by their weird expressions.

"What is it?" She asked cluelessly. From her point of view everything that happened was perfectly normal.

"Seriously?! What did you do? All we saw is you slowly approaching the hippogriff, then spreading your wings and it becoming obedient. Then you slowly approached it and when you touched it you screamed! After that you started hugging its head!... So I ask you again...

What did you do?"

Bea was really angry and worried. She didn\'t know what happened, but it seemed to be very painful.

\'Oh... Yeah, that must have looked strange from an outsider\'s perspective...\'

A bit awkwardly she scratched the back of her head and while not looking at anyone said, "I made him my \'Eternal mount\', whatever that means..."

The group just stared at her with blank expressions. They were so speechless that their faces couldn\'t even show the emotion.

"I don\'t know what an Eternal mount is, but when I look at you and the hippogriff I see a golden white cord connecting your souls."

What Vicky said shocked even Sera, but she quickly realized that it made sense and explained the pain she felt.

\'So that\'s what it was... My soul connecting with another being, but I don\'t think its just simply connected... Hmm, maybe my Watch will know more...\'

She opened her status window to see if anything changed and soon she found something new right below her list of items.

Items: <Midnight Crown> <Dragon Pendant>

Eternal Mount:

Name: Kastral

Title: King of Hippogryphs

Rank: Ascended

Bond type: <Soulbond>

\'Huh... He isn\'t an evolved, but an ascended... Clockwork\'s scan was wrong... And what is this <Soulbond>...\'

She tried and learn more about it and soon a new window opened.

<Soulbond>

Description: <This bond type is the strongest to ever exist. The mount inherits all of the owner\'s powers, it can also be summoned and dismissed into the owner\'s soul. The mount will rank up as owner increases their rank. The mount can only fully die if the owner dies. The bond also allows communication between souls.>

\'Well... I definitely should\'ve thought more about this decision... This seems way too serious to do it on a whim... Anyway, it doesn\'t matter now...\'

The group finally started to return to reality. They had a lot of questions, but Kastral just came back with the rest of his people. When the hippogryphs saw Sera\'s angelic wings each bowed their head and body in submission.

She just absently began petting Kastral, which he very much enjoyed. And while everyone was still confused about what was going on, she was having a conversation with her new mount.

"So Kastral, King of Hippogryhps... I don\'t think I introduced myself yet... My name is Seraphine, Angel Monarch..."

Kastral screeched and shook its head, he was excited. In Sera\'s mind a voice appeared it was very deep and strong, but also non threatening and kind...

Like a leader\'s voice...

Like her own voice, but in male form...

"It is nice to meet you Queen Seraphine. You can just call me Kastral by the way. Behind me these are my people, since I became your mount they are now your responsibility as well! I hope you find this acceptable..."

Sera just smiled at him and began scratching behind his ear. He seemed to really like that spot.

"Of course, and don\'t forget the eggs either. You are all my people now! And don\'t call me Queen, if you really want to use honorifics just call me Lady Seraphine!"

Kastral looked a bit surprised, but the pets swiftly calmed him down.

"Yes... My Lady... I do have to ask, where are we planning to go from here? And how do we transport the eggs?"

Sera stopped the petting as she became thoughtful. The eggs had to be handled carefully and they couldn\'t be left behind. They also had to move fast, they still had a lot of ground to cover.

"I have an idea about the eggs. And we are currently on a hunting trip, trying to rank up. Our next destination is farther up north, so my group could use the rest of our people for mounts."

Kastral turned his huge head and looked at every individual in her group. Then he looked at Sera and nodded.

"I understand. I will assign hippogryphs to each personal, but we can\'t leave without the eggs. We are the rest of our race... Those eggs are our most precious treasure after our own lives of course... There is only 12 of us left, seven mare and five stallion..."

With pity Sera looked at Kastral and sent a few images through the bond. They were her journey from Newber to Havel. She picked the ones that showed how she suffered and thought there was no hope, but everything got better.

His white hawk head snuggled close to her. Sera could feel his emotions through the bond, respect and admiration.

"Okay everyone, we will continue our journey on these mounts! But we can\'t go until we have a way to transport the eggs! So while you get familiar with your new rides, me and Kastral here will go on a hunt to get leather. Is that clear?"

The group was stunned yet again, but Sera didn\'t leave them time to object. Quickly she flew up and landed on Kastral\'s back. His back was very fluffy and created a perfect seat for her, only problem was the lack of anything to hold onto... But soon that was fixed as well.

"My Lady... Just hold onto my feathers, they were designed to withstand the pulling of a rider."

\'If you say so.\'

Without reservation she held onto the large feathers of Kastral, they were more rough than the seating and gave her hand a perfect grip. Seemingly satisfied with he spread his wings and with a few wingbeats they were already flying through the air.

As the wind hit her in the face she felt amazing. With her wings she could fly anytime she wanted to, but this felt different... Kastral\'s speed was much faster, than anything she felt before. The wind seemed to bend to his will as every movement of his body was perfect for flying.

By her judgement they were going at least 200 km/h, it was more than twice what she was capable of. But she could feel that this wasn\'t his max speed... He was moving slower for her sake.

"Don\'t slow down for me! The faster we move the sooner we can continue to our next destination."

Kastral looked back at her, he had no facial expressions since his hawk head couldn\'t really make any, but through her bond she could feel his doubt. It annoyed her a bit, but also made her a bit warm... It always felt good if someone cares about you.

"Just show me! If I can\'t take it, than you can return to this speed."

Throughout her life she will always remember this moment... This was the single stupidest thing she had ever done and will do.

As Kastral increased his speed she slowly discovered her stupidity and naivity. After more than half a year of being an Evolved and she still hadn\'t adjusted to this world\'s creatures. Sera thought that her mount will go at like 300 km/h or maybe 400, but his speed just kept increasing.

She held onto him as long as possible, but when they were about to break the sound barrier she lost her grip and fell off. Quickly she summoned her wings and began adjusting her speed to a standstill. When Kastral returned to pick her up, he was screeching mockingly.

"Ha, Ha, Ha... Very funny! Just you watch, when I become an Ascended we will see what\'s your max speed!"

She climbed back into her seat with a bit of shame. Kastral was an Ascended already, much stronger than her, but her hubris got the better of her. After a couple of minutes of flying at bearable speeds she even apologized, which made her mount very confused.

While flying they both looked at the ground, trying to find some prey that had enough skin for making saddlebags for the eggs. Eventually she got bored and started talking to Kastral again.

"What are your abilities anyway? I know that the soulbond makes you inherit my abilities, but you had to have ones from before becoming my mount."

He screeched again, this time a bit offended.

"Of course I have! Why do you think I can fly so fast? The rest of my people can\'t move even remotely close to these speeds, they are much weaker... If you are really curious check that device on your hand, it should be able to show what my abilities are."

She petted his feathered back apologetically, then opened her status again, but this time she concentrated on Kastrel\'s name. It turns out he was right and soon she was reading everything there was to now about him.