A Burning Candle

"I am not sure that I caught that," Oriole took off his goggles as the fumes rose. Arthur pulled a stool beside him and sat down. "Are you certain that you want to take such a leap?"

"Are you too attached to Jerano?" asked Arthur with a smile as he watched the beaker start to shake. As he tapped the liquid, it began to stabilize. "You don't have to tag along with me, Ori," he said. "In this life, you are not dying, and that means you can do whatever you want. My path is dangerous."

"I am not dying thanks to the leap that you did," said Oriole as he stared at the beaker with a smile. "I will choose your side even if everything else falls apart."

Arthur smiled while looking down, feeling relieved that Oriole was in Alka at that time and not someone else. The runemaster was one of the few people Arthur could trust without using his Art of Creator.