The simplified Friend of Animals potion would let someone understand animal sounds for fifteen minutes.
That was a little short, but it would do.
Annan prepared a Memory Thread Extraction Magic Scroll, drank the potion, and tore open the scroll.
As he deliberately recalled it, the cat's meows from the night before last came back with perfect clarity.
Annan finally understood what the cat had said, but it was hardly good news.
It could barely even be called news:
"Wonderful, great kitty, I offer you my nuzzles..."
"Great kitty!"
"Nuzzles! Snuggles! Licks!"
Annan opened his eyes. It looked like he couldn't sleep holding Lily anymore. At least, he couldn't meditate while doing it.
Telling people that a cat could pray would certainly be interesting. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell anyone about Divinity.
Leaving the Garden, Annan arrived just as the Blue Dragons gathered before the Portal, ready to depart.
Illymoyas was there too, not to see them off, but to go with them.
She would never let her family go to the front line while she stayed in the Crystal Lair. The Three Little Ones, meanwhile, had come to watch the excitement, though they would have to return to class soon.
"Grandpa, Father-in-Law, Mother-in-Law, Uncle, Auntie..."
Annan greeted each Dragon in turn. The Blue Dragons, all maintaining their Transformation Spells, looked at him with affection, as though he were one of their own. Once they had learned the full extent of Annan's power and wealth, they had stopped objecting. If anything, they now thought Illymoyas was marrying above herself.
At last, he looked at Illymoyas. Knowing the "young couple" wanted a private word, the Blue Dragons filed through the Portal.
"What is it?" Illymoyas kept up her frosty facade.
"Do you remember how we met?"
Illymoyas couldn't help recalling their first