Biff and the four members of the City Watch escorted me back the short distance down the western branch of St. Michael’s Way to the store of my former master, Master Sundance.

  Waiting outside the familiar-looking building was my other master, Master Glimmerblade of the Enchanter’s Guild. He was leaning on a new sign at the end of the sidewalk leading from the street to the jewelry shop’s front porch.

  As I approached more closely and could read the lettering, my tears clouded my vision. The sign stated simply:

  SUNDANCE MEMORY

  Jewelry, Gems, Enchantments

  Patron Gwydion Istari, Shoppe Proprietor

  Master Glimmerblade saw my reaction, of course, and he had a wide, sad smile for me. He gave me a warm hug and said, “I really haven’t had much time to tell you how truly sorry I am for your loss. Sundance was an amazing master, a loyal friend, and he will be missed by a great many people. In fact, some of his friends have something inside to share with you.”

  “I am not really in the mood for a party, Master,” I said. My head was full of all the work I had to do, and releasing some of the emotions I had carefully bottled up right now might not be a good idea.

  “Trust your former master. Come inside. If you wish others to leave thereafter, this is your home, and no one will try to stop you.”

  I sighed deeply and followed him to the door. A brawny man I did not recognize bowed to me and said, “Patron.” And he opened the door for us both.

  Walking inside was like entering an entirely new world. The ceilings soared thirty feet above me, and white marble lined the floors with veins of gold, silver, copper, and even platinum in places. Two columns of floor-to-ceiling seven-foot-wide marble pillars, seemingly smooth to the touch, ran down the entire length of the open room, dividing the space into thirds. And the interior space itself was three times the length of my former master’s entire building.

  The building was larger on the inside than it was on the outside. Much larger. The main floor was an extradimensional space three times the width, length, and ceiling height of the original.

  Music was being played by a slightly transparent four-piece string quartet on a slightly elevated stage partway down to my right, just beyond a shallow alcove with luxurious chairs and couches and a raised bar serving herbal teas, breads, and cheeses. The players appeared as a human, elf, dwarf, and even a halfling. I knew it was an illusion, but it was masterfully done.

  Spread around the room were viewing cases with a wide assortment of jewelry pieces, although the cabinets were mostly bare. I also spotted levitating colored satin pillows above mini pedestals, where especially valuable items could be displayed.

  “I’m overwhelmed, master.” That was all I was able to get out. I was looking corner to corner, from display to display, and noticed we were not alone.

  A group of mages was clustered together in discussion with a striking young woman dressed in a long, jade colored dress. She had deep red hair and a single jade necklace that seemed to be attached to the collar of her dress. The light jade had veins of gold running through it, much like the veins in the nearby marble pillars.

  “Let’s walk over, shall we?” My master said, having seen that my eyes finally discovered his colleagues. “They have been waiting for a while to see your reaction, but they all need to get back to tasks set by the Mage Council and the Duke.”

  This came as no surprise since his colleagues were none other than many of the same masters I had seen earlier in the council chambers. In fact, now that time had passed, these were the same masters I was sent to meet in preparation for my journeyman's trials, and I came to find out they are all War Mages in their respective guilds, just like my own master. A role I never knew existed, let alone that he held.

  I bowed to the assemblage when I got near, and they all made noises for me to “stop that nonsense.”

  “We appreciate the respect, of course,” my master explained, “but this is your demesne and here you are the master. In the future, you may greet guests and clients as you like, but you could be an apprentice and protocol would not demand you bow even to the archmage in this place.”

  Master Draconis smirked. “But it might not be a bad idea to do that just in case the Archmage decides to pay you a visit.”

  All the other masters laughed.

  The spookiest mage present, the grandmaster of the sorcerers guild herself, Emeritus Guildmistress Ilyana Farseer, crooked her finger at me in a manner I remembered vividly. She was famous for never speaking. She had me sit beside her and read an acolyte’s primer on sorcery for over three hours. I never saw her look away from me, and I never saw her blink. I respected her power and discipline.

  And she terrified me.

  I walked over to where she stood, off a bit from the others. All the mage masters grew silent. I glanced briefly at the woman who seemed to be staring at me as intently as I recalled the old sorceress doing. It was like they peered into my very soul.

  The sorceress pointed at me and then at the woman. And then she did something that made chills flow down my spine. The old grand sorceress spoke. It was only six words, but they drew the breath out of me.

  “Your Spirit of Hospitality awaits bonding.”

  I’d like to say that her voice grated like the timbers of an old, creaking sailing ship. Or that her voice was as dry as the winds of a winter breeze across the sandy Wastelands. Or her voice screeched like fingernails down an old, slate chalkboard.

  But I would be lying.

  Her voice was as beautiful as the notes of a flute, violin, and harp all at once. My eyes filled once more with tears, but this time with the utter joy of hearing her voice.

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  I blinked the tears away, and when my eyes cleared, she had started walking across the room and out the door.

  The looks on the other mages' faces told me that either they had never heard her speak or that they were simply as moved emotionally as I had been. All were wiping at their eyes. Only the woman remained unmoved, and she continued to stare into my eyes.

  She crooked her finger at me, and I began walking toward her without realizing it.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my master trying to reach me. He had something he wanted to tell me, but I knew it was already too late.

  The moment I realized that I was walking toward her against my will, I asserted control and stopped myself. I smiled at her and said, “Please come here to me.”

  Our eyes met. They truly met. And suddenly I was in another place. I realized, to my horror, that this was the Spirit Realm and that I was in a state of spiritual combat with her. I didn’t know a lot about spiritual battles except what I had read in the book given to me at the sorcerers' guild. But I knew enough to know that if I failed this battle, I would cease to exist as surely as any sword stroke or death magic cast upon me.

  I also knew that there were protocols in these cases. She brought me here, which means that I was permitted the first attack. Failure to attack would send me back to where I was called from. In this case, it would be the floor of my new store.

  Conversations happened at the speed of thought, and epic battles could take place in mere moments of time in the material realm.

  She moved toward me slowly, like a predator eyeing a tasty morsel. It was both feline and serpentine in nature. But either way you viewed it, the movement was predatory. And if she considered herself the predator here, that meant in her eyes that I was the prey.

  “You wish for a Spirit of Hospitality as a servant in your new demesne?” She asked. She drew out her “s” sounds, and there was a near musical quality to her voice. But not one that was gentle and pure like the sorceress. It was cold, tinny, and had a slight echo to it.

  “No,” I replied simply.

  She blinked and stopped walking. “What?” she said, her voice sounding more normal.

  “I just found out about my new shoppe about three minutes ago. I never asked for it or for a servant. In fact, I generally oppose servitude of any kind.”

  “You don’t wish for my protection?” She asked, amazed.

  I tilted my head. “Well, could you protect me like you intended, but not as a servant, more as a friend or colleague?” I asked.

  Her eyes grew large, and she appeared even more surprised than before. “You do not wish to challenge me for supremacy of will, to dominate and control, to ensure your very safety and those to whom you are obligated?”

  I actually scratched my head. I understood on an academic level that this was not my mortal body. It was more like my immortal body, my spirit. But my head felt real, and I did feel like I had an itch.

  “Well, the way I see it, you way overpower me, and there is no way a spirit of your immense power would submit to a mere mortal. And frankly, an unimpressive young mortal at that. I would like your friendship, but I don’t want to die for it. And if I proved far more capable than either of us estimated, I would not hurt you to get what I want. So it might be for the best if we returned to my shoppe with my apologies.”

  She stared at me again. This time with a little less hostility, but still brimming with power.

  “Is this a trick?”

  I scratched my forehead.

  “Stop that. It is unnecessary and distracting.” She snapped at me.

  “Sorry,” I said by reflex.

  Her eyes went wide again, and then she smiled a warm, relaxed smile.

  “You really are as you appear.” She stated it as fact rather than a question.

  I smiled back. “I’m afraid so.”

  She tilted her head in the same manner I had previously done myself. “There is another way. It is not unprecedented, but it is highly unorthodox and frowned on by my kind.”

  I smiled more widely and said, “I tend toward the unorthodox.”

  “He once said those very words.” She whispered.

  “Umm, who said what?” I asked.

  “You wish to bond, not as master and slave, but freely and equally?” She asked.

  “Is that like a friendship? We help each other when needed, but still use our own best judgment at times according to our own wills?”

  “Even so.” She replied.

  “Then yes, if it is permitted. What do we need to do?” I asked. “Umm, no blood or anything, right?”

  She began walking toward me, and suddenly we were both back in the normal realm.

  And she was still walking toward me.

  My master was still trying to get to me, but his motion was slowed.

  She walked right up to me, bent down because she was a few inches taller, and kissed me on the lips.

  Now, she is a beautiful woman. Ok, actually, she was a crazy, powerful spirit in the form of a beautiful woman. But the kiss was not romantic. It was gentle and kind, but almost innocent in its lack of raw emotions. I was surprised but felt nothing emotionally in the kiss from her.

  Until the lightning bolt that erupted between us sent me flying backwards at least twenty feet. I slid to a stop after spinning in the air for one full rotation.

  I lost half my health points, and my shirt and robes were actually smoking.

  In my mind, I heard, We are bonded according to the ancient ways.

  Whatever had held my master back was released, and he came running over to me. The other mages had wands or staves in their hands and had a look of panic in their eyes.

  Half a dozen of the most powerful War Mages in the city looked afraid.

  “Gwydion, are you alright? What have you done, boy?”

  I stood up with his help. I was a little shaky, but I said that I was fine. Ok, I was not fine, but I would be, and I was not losing more health.

  “Apparently, we bonded,” I said to his second question.

  She smiled and nodded to me.

  I thought to her almost by second nature. Do you have a name?

  Not that you could comprehend. She replied.

  Well, I can’t just go around calling you “Spirit.” I said.

  What do you suggest?

  My first impression of you was that you were very pretty. My second impression was that you were pretty deadly, pretty dangerous. But I think I will settle on just the “pretty” part. And not just because of the form you chose or because you are dangerous. How about Bella? I asked.

  She smiled again. I like that very much. It is not far removed from his name for me as well.

  Him? I asked.

  She tsk’d tsk’d and wagged her finger. That is my memory, and I will not share it. At least, not at this time. And then she walked away.

  My master could hear none of this. To him, I had just stared off into space and gone glassy-eyed, and the spirit walked away from me.

  “Gwydian, are you sure you are okay?” He asked urgently.

  “Couldn’t be better. I do wish you had told me about the legendary Spirit of Hospitality you dropped off into my shoppe, though.”

  “Legendary?” He asked, his face draining of color. “Ilyana hinted that it was powerful, but gestures are a poor substitute for language, and you got to witness what her conversations could be like.”

  “Yeah, and that was just six words.”

  “If stories are to be believed, you are very lucky she did not utter seven. It could have killed you or placed a geas on you, or who knows what.”

  The other mages were by my side, their weapons away and instincts of fight or flight subdued.

  I looked at all of them. “First, thank you for your actions. I appreciate that you did not attack Bella, but also that you were willing to defend me. Second, she and I bonded.”

  Master Draconis said, “We saw.”

  That got a round of chuckles.

  Master Gimmerblade asked, “What happened, exactly? That was an…unorthodox bonding.”

  “Well, I picked up pretty quickly when we went into the Spirit Realm that if we battled, I would have ended up a puddle.”

  Mistress Longbrow, the wife of the summoner I had met with in his guild hall, said, “If you were lucky, there might have been that much left behind.”

  “Ilyana has a tendency to overreach, but that spirit is heavy-duty.” She commented dryly.

  “Yes, I am pretty sure she is a legendary spirit. And not a lightweight one at that.” I said.

  Glimmerblade said, “Son, there is no such thing as a lightweight legendary spirit. Are you sure about that?”

  Bella said from behind the mages, “Would you care to find out?”