Claws rapped against Rift's door. Not wanting to talk to whoever it was outside, be it Gill or Angler, Rift didn't answer. The claws rapped against it again. After a third rap, the door slowly opened, revealing Gill as the knocker. The humongous king lumbered in.

Rift glared at his father. What do you want? he flashed in Aquatic.

Gill sighed. I thought a little bit about what you said earlier, and I decided to let you join the war. A conflicted grimace was plastered onto his face.

An expression of surprise washed over Rift's snout. He hadn't expected his father to change his mind. Why? he asked, confused.

You are right in that being a prince, your place is leading the army, if you so choose that path.

Rift smiled, pushing back a smug grin. He hadn't his father to show reason, but he was grateful that he had. Gill was right. Rift was a SeaWing prince, and leading the SeaWing forces into war to protect his kingdom was not only his birthright, but his duty. If Angler wanted to help his kingdom in other ways, then good for him, but he had no right to try and stop Rift from performing his purpose. When do I start? Rift asked apprehensively.

Your mother is meeting with Queen Moorhen and Queen Blister in a week for war planning. You can join us in the meetings and we can discuss your role with the queens there, if you still want to.

Gill appeared to think that this was some passing whim of Rift's. Rift felt slighted, he had been wanting to join the army for years now, but he knew his father wouldn't even consider it until he was of age. And I will, he flashed back.

Gill frowned, with a look that said, "We'll see," then abruptly turned and left the room. Rift shut the door after his father left. It might do him good to find out a little more about Queen Moorhen and Blister, if he was going to join them.

Torrent worriedly glanced at Orca. Although he and Orca had thought she'd completely recovered from her overuse of animus magic, now Torrent wasn't so sure. For the past few days, Orca had been lethargically resting in her room, too tired to leave, or basically do anything other than rest and read. The two weren't sure if it was the animus magic, or just a common sickness, but either way Orca was completely exhausted. Torrent had been getting her scrolls from the library on request, but most of the time she just wanted to sleep. Fortunately, this allowed him to spend more time getting to know Griffin.

Griffin appeared to have recovered from his creation and then near death, and instead of being anxious and frightened, he had changed to being joyful and curious. He was constantly asking Torrent about the world they lived in, and although he desperately wanted to leave Torrent's room, Torrent wouldn't let him, telling Griffin that the other dragons might try and hurt him and Orca if they found out about him.

Torrent liked Griffin, but found him a bit confusing. It surprised him how much of what Torrent knew he took for granted. Some of the things Torrent told Griffin were considered basic, such as having to explain that all the tribes were all dragons, and could breed with each other, but they looked very different. Other of Griffin's questions were stranger, such as when he asked Torrent if he just disappeared whenever Griffin blinked.

Yet, the hardest question Torrent had been forced to answer was when Griffin asked him where the other gryphons were.

Oh, gryphons don't exist, Torrent replied naïvely.

"I thought I was a gryphon?" Griffin asked. "Don't I exist?"

Well, Torrent said, you're not really a real gryphon. You're just a statue that Orca enchanted.

Griffin found this alarming, unsurprisingly, making Torrent wish Orca had explained it to Griffin instead of him. I mean, Torrent corrected himself, you're a real gryphon sort of, since Orca made you one, but you're not a normal gryphon.

Torrent and Griffin had more conversations like this at first, but they slowly started to decrease in frequency. They started talking more about Orca, or the scrolls on the Lost Continent Torrent had been reading. It was nice, having a friend Torrent could talk to. With Orca, Torrent felt like he was somehow below her, and not just in age. It occasionally seemed like he was talking to a superior. With Griffin, things were different.

At this moment, Griffin was alone in Torrent's room, and Torrent was bringing Orca another batch of scrolls. He glanced at her in concern. Are you alright? he asked.

Orca nodded. Yeah, I think I'm getting better, she said with a faint smile. You don't need to worry about me, I'll be fine.

Torrent sighed. This was all his fault. If he hadn't asked Orca his stupid selfish wish about bringing Griffin to life, none of this ever would have happened. Is there anything else I can get you?

Orca shook her head. I'm good, thank you.

Torrent looked around the room uncomfortably. His eyes landed on a scroll on Orca's desk. He went over to it, and scanned it. It appeared to be a guide on animuses and animus magic. He wondered how old the scroll was. It didn't look too old, but it might have been a copy of an older scroll.

Don't read that! Orca suddenly flashed, seeing Torrent. Torrent frowned, and backed away from the scroll, just more curious than before. It's . . . not very good, Orca explained, her lie clearly showing through her lethargy. Torrent nodded, pretending to believe her.

Torrent swam over to Orca, and looked down on her again. Are you sure there's nothing I can get you? Do you need food?

Orca smiled thankfully. I'm not very hungry, but thank you. She attempted to stifle a yawn, before succumbing to it, closing her eyes to rest. Within a few moments, Orca was fast asleep, her gills slowly closing and opening.

Torrent glanced back at the scroll and frowned. He wondered what Orca had wanted to hide in it. His curiosity getting the better of him, Torrent took the chance Orca's sleep had caused and swam over to the scroll. He read a small portion of it:

"The usage of animus magic is known to have multiple effects on the user, which we will later explain in more detail. The first is a kind of exhaustion, especially common among young or inexperienced animus dragons. The second, and more well-known effect, is a slow and creeping paranoia which grows each time the animus uses their powers. This accompanies a greater reliance on the animus's powers, and a greater willingness to use them for violent and immoral means that the animus might not otherwise use their powers for. The effect is more commonly known as 'losing one's soul,' the phrase stemming from ancient theories and legends of animuses 'bargaining' their souls to a higher power in order to enchant objects. Whether or not the phrase should be taken literally, there have been numerous accounts of animus dragons experiencing this effect, the most well known case being the Royal SeaWing Massacre caused by Albatross."

Torrent gulped in fear, and glanced back at Orca. He knew about the Royal SeaWing Massacre, all royal SeaWings did. He had just thought that Albatross had gone power-crazed, not that he had lost his soul, or whatever. What if the same thing was happening to Orca? He had made her overuse her powers, what if she was going to kill his family now? No, that couldn't happen, Orca seemed completely normal. Maybe the scroll was wrong?

Torrent rolled up the scroll. He would read more about the subject back in his room, this was important. He opened Orca's door, and shut it gently behind him, so not to wake her.

After the long swim back to his room, he opened it. Griffin was inside, sitting happily on Torrent's bed. He waved happily to the young SeaWing, grinning. Torrent smiled back politely, then swam to his bed and rolled open the scroll, being careful not to rip the paper with his claws. He set some small reading stones on each corner to keep the scroll from rolling up or floating.

"What's that?" Griffin asked.

A scroll, Torrent replied, not knowing if Griffin knew what scrolls were or not. It's for writing down and preserving information or stories.

"Huh," Griffin mused. "What's on the scroll?"

I'm not sure yet, Torrent flashed, but I think it's about animus dragons. Orca didn't want me to read it.

Griffin thought for a moment. "Why did you read it then?"
Torrent thought for a moment. I thought it might teach us how to make Orca well again.

"That makes sense!" Griffin squawked. Torrent was still unsure how Griffin was able to talk underwater, but he guessed it was just the power of animus magic.

Torrent dragged a claw along the scroll, to focus in on what he thought was the relevant section. He frowned. The scroll says that animus dragons lose their souls and go insane the more they use magic.

"What if that's why Orca didn't want you to read the scroll? She didn't want you to know she had lost her soul and gone all crazy."

No, she wouldn't do that! Torrent replied. At least, that was what he hoped. Yet, a snaking strand of suspicion had burrowed its way to his heart. What if Orca had already gone insane?

Griffin shrugged and ruffled the feathers on his neck. He didn't seem convinced.

Torrent bared his fangs at the scroll. It doesn't say how to cure it! he flashed in frustration.

"Is there a way to cure it?" Griffin asked skeptically.

Of course there is! There had to be, or else Orca would go insane! Orca wasn't the first animus, there had to be others who had found a way to prevent the insanity.

I'm going to the library, Torrent notified Griffin. I'm going to find some more scrolls with more information.

"Oh," Griffin replied, disappointed that Torrent was leaving him so soon. "Well, good luck."

Torrent nodded, and left the room in a flash, swimming towards the library. He needed to fix this. What if it was already too late, and Orca had already lost her soul? No, that couldn't have happened. She hadn't used that much magic, had she?

Torrent got to the library, and looked around the area. He wasn't sure where to start. The section on magic and the paranormal looked like a good place. He swam up to the shelves, and pulled off a few of the scrolls in a hurry. Eventually, he found one that looked relevant, it was a compilation of a few legends, some of them with animus dragons in them. He looked through the scroll, reading through the relevant legends. No luck. All of the legends either had the animus lose their soul at the end, not use animus magic, or the story ignored the whole soul thing altogether. Torrent didn't care that the ancient IceWings only used their magic once, Orca had already used it multiple times.

The pattern continued in the other scrolls Torrent read, and Torrent couldn't find anything helpful. There were a few cases in which the animus had created some sort of charm to prevent them from losing their soul, but all of them ended up insane anyways. Torrent didn't know if these were just stories or actual events, but either way, it wasn't helpful. After reading through what he felt like was all the scrolls in the library, Torrent remembered the time. It had been hours, and Orca was probably awake by now. He needed to go check up on her, and get her food if she was hungry.

Torrent left the library in defeat, heading towards Orca's room. What if Griffin was right, and Orca had tried to prevent Torrent from reading the scroll because she had already lost her soul? The scroll! Torrent had left it in his room with Griffin. He thought about turning back to go get it, but he was already at Orca's door. She'd probably still be in her bed anyways, and wouldn't have noticed. Torrent slowly opened the door to Orca's room.

Orca was standing, wide awake, in the middle of the room. She saw Torrent, and glanced back at the empty desk where the scroll was. She clearly had noticed. Orca sighed and ground her pointed teeth together. She rubbed her wing up against her gills in discomfort.

Did you take the scroll? she asked Torrent.

Torrent nodded and gulped a lump down his throat. He glanced behind him nervously before turning back to Orca.

Orca groaned. Look, don't worry, my soul is fine. I'm fine. I haven't used anywhere near enough magic to get to the point where I would hurt you, or anyone else.

Torrent relaxed a little bit. She looked and sounded fine. Her soul was still intact. Why didn't you want me to know? he asked.

I just wanted to explain it to you myself. I didn't want you to be scared of me or anything.

Torrent nodded. It still felt like Orca wasn't telling him something, but that made sense. So, do you know how to stop it?

No, Orca replied matter-of-factly. There isn't a way, I just have to not use a ton of animus magic, and it will be fine.

Torrent wondered how much animus magic Orca had already used before she told him. There was her sculpting tools, of course, but he didn't know of any other enchantments she had made. Are you sure there's no way? Maybe you could enchant something to protect your soul? Torrent really doubted that would work, and he could tell from the look on Orca's face that she felt the same. If couldn't just be that easy, could it?

Orca shrugged, flashed, Well, it's worth a try, I suppose, and pulled off the golden amethyst-inlaid bracelet that she wore. Torrent couldn't really make out what she next said through the water, but he guessed it was something along the lines of enchanting the bracelet to keep the wearer's soul intact. Orca put the bracelet back on.

Torrent smiled, feigning content. Well, hopefully that does the trick.

Orca smiled in return. I'm going to go to the kitchens to find some food to eat now. I don't think I've eaten in awhile, I've felt so bad. Do you want to join me?

Sure! Torrent flashed back. Even with all this soul business, the SeaWing prince was still grateful that his sister was feeling better.

Pretending as if the situation was over, the two dragonets left Orca's room to head to the kitchens, swimming side by side.