Sunbeam Lair It feels good today

There was something special and right about walking side-by-side with Asterr. Not in terms of equality, for both thought and instinct had made her his leader without question, but in terms of companionship. Noctura had never felt so comfortable around another living being, which wasn't saying much given that the recluse had never had much in the way of companions, but he still knew that she was no ordinary friend. Talking with her felt similar to howling beneath the northern lights or walking by a serene shore whose ocean whispered to him. Their connection was magical, and while Noctura was aware he was very much a romantic who saw magic in many things, he did not feel this conclusion was an exaggeration.

He believed in her confidence that this was their final home, of course, but was beginning to realise that dragons could not manifest in the physical sense (not that she had claimed otherwise). Had he been a young boy, Noctura would have wondered why the dragons had not come to protect the Thunder Dome, but he knew now that they were deities, and they worked through their vessels, not with wing and flame. "I will not allow for us to be driven out of this place." That wasn't a dragon at work, that was Asterr. "I will not allow it." In that moment, Noctura marvelled that she did not have a thousand wolves at her paws. Perhaps one day she would.

Your promise moves me, and I believe in it entirely. And if violence rears its head once more, you can rest assured that I'll fight for you and for Ryūjin. But I... he hesitated. I wish I could be rid of my brutal instincts entirely. At the battle on the borders it shamed me. I was no civilised mediator, I was a beast and no more.