This'll be the last chapter of this story! I have had a lot of fun with this one, and I hope you've enjoyed it.

-owl

"Never have I ever seen anything like that!" Wallace exclaimed.

The rest of the room laughed even harder as Jhi just rolled over to get more comfortable. It was as though she was saying that she didn't care.

"Oh!" Meilin exclaimed, "We should play never have I ever!"

"How do you know that game?" Abeke asked, incredulous.

At the same time, Rollan also spoke. "You need to rhyme, Meilin."

With a withering glare for the boy, Meilin spoke again. "We should play never have I ever. Can I please stop rhyming, or one of your throats I will sever."

Rollan gulped, and turned to Conor. "You issued the dare in the first place," he said, "if she gets to stop it has to be you saying she can."

Conor nodded. "You don't need to rhyme anymore, Meilin. You can start the game if you want."

Meilin gave him a smile. "Thanks, Conor. Abeke, I know the game because it was what my father's associates' daughters and I would play while our fathers were in meetings. Does anyone here not know how to play?"

When no one shook their heads, Meilin nodded. "Good, now, normally we'd play with some penalty for having done the thing, but we can just play with keeping count on our fingers. We can go in the order of the circle."

Once everyone had put up all ten fingers, Meilin started. "Never have I ever had a sibling."

Wallace, Garrin, Conor, and Abeke all put one finger down.

Then it was Conor's turn. "Never have I ever kissed anyone. On the lips."

With sheepish blushes, Rollan and Meilin each put down a finger, followed by Wallace and Garrin.

Wallace raised an eyebrow at the pair's faces, and he was about to say something when Meilin gave him a look and he looked away.

"Never have I ever built a snowman." Abeke was sure of herself as she spoke, and smiled as Wallace, Garrin, and Conor all put down a finger.

Garrin spoke next. "Never have I ever summoned a spirit animal."

"That's a cheap move!" Conor exclaimed, even as he followed suit and put down a finger.

"Never have I ever been put in jail." Wallace said, looking straight at Rollan.

With a pair of grimaces, Rollan and Conor both put down a finger.

"Does being held by the conquerors count?" Meilin asked.

After a moment of thought, Wallace nodded, and Meilin and Abeke also put down a finger each.

"Never have I ever," Rollan started, an evil grin on his face as he looked directly at Conor, "worn a kilt."

"How am I already down to only five?" Conor asked in surprise.

Then it was Meilin's turn. "Never have I ever herded or hunted animals."

She smiled as everyone but Rollan put down a finger. Conor looked around at what everybody had left. He only had four, Abeke six, Garrin six, Wallace the same, Rollan seven, and Meilin also seven.

"Herding or hunting?" Garrin asked Abeke.

"Hunting. Dad hated it. Especially when I returned on the day of my Nectar ceremony, dusty and covered in the blood of the antelope I had caught for my 'gift.'"

Garrin nodded. "I'm sure Conor has told you guys that we're shepherds.

"Yes, I have. Never have I ever had to babysit a younger sibling," Conor said, looking at his brothers.

Once the two of them had put down their fingers, Abeke spoke up. "Never have I ever not worn a talisman."

Wallace and Garrin both put a finger down.

"Never have I ever been to Amaya," Garrin declared, shifting his sitting position.

Everyone other than Conor's brothers put down a finger. Then it was Wallace's turn. "Never have I ever seen a full-sized Great Beast."

Exchanging looks, the four summoners put down their fingers.

"Never have I ever grown up with a parent."

Though Rollan got some pitying looks, he smiled as he watched everyone else put down a finger.

"Never have I ever drank the Nectar."

Everyone but her each put down a finger, and though it looked like Garrin was going to say something about Meilin's statement, he didn't get the chance.

"I'm out already!" Conor exclaimed, annoyance and disbelief in his tone.

Wallace burst out laughing. "That's too bad, Conor!"

In response he got a withering glare.

Garrin, though, took the chance to ask Meilin. "You didn't get the Nectar?" he asked. "You must be one of the lucky ones to not get bonding sickness."

She shook her head. "No. My father tricked me and I was given the Bile instead."

Wallace had a confused look on his face. "The Bile?"

Meilin nodded. "While Ninani's talisman, the Marble Swan, creates the Nectar to facilitate the bond, Gerathon's talisman, the Jade Serpent, creates and controls the Bile. Until the final battle that we just returned from, my mind could be taken and controlled by Gerathon or whoever had the talisman."

"Well, that got depressing quickly."

The whole group turned to Rollan, and he raised his hands in defense.

"What?" he asked. "Am I wrong?"

Sighs whispered throughout the room, but no one got the chance to respond because the three animals that had run down the stairs earlier came running through the door. There was a little bit of mud on Briggian and Uraza's paws, but nothing major.

Essix then came, shrieking, through the open window, talons outstretched to try to catch either the wolf or the leopard. She didn't get the chance, though, because with two flashes of light, Briggian and Uraza had already become marks on Conor and Abeke's forearms.

Jhi rolled over and looked around the room for a second, before shoving her head into Meilin's hand. With a flash, the panda was also not in the room, and Conor could see the mark on her hand.

Rollan looked up to Essix, now perched in the rafters. "You too?" he asked.

The bird made no move to leave her perch, and tucked her head under her wing, more than likely falling asleep.

"Why won't she go into passive state?" Garrin asked.

"She's independent. Honestly, it wasn't until we were returning from trying to find Suka's talisman that she even did it for the first time."

"Which of you got it first?" Wallace asked.

"I did," Meilin said, a look of guilt on her face. "The other thing, with the Bile, is that it could facilitate a bond where there was none before, to the animal of your choice. If you were going to get one, you still got it, but in either case, the 'summoner' had all the control, it wasn't a partnership, but a servant and master."

Garrin looked like he was mulling something over in his head. "When did you realize? About the Bile."

"When we were cornered by the Conquers, trying to get the Coral Octopus. I kidnapped myself and Abeke."

"What does it feel like for them to go into passive state?" Garrin asked.

"It tinges a little, but it's mostly the flash of light." Abeke offered. "They chose their place on our bodies. Uraza is always under my elbow."

Meilin held up her hand, showing the mark on it. Conor also held up his arm, the mark on the back of his forearm clear for the others to see.

"What about you?" Wallace asked Rollan, noticing the boy hadn't said anything.

Rollan touched a hand to his chest. "Right over my heart," he said.

They all talked for a while more, before Briggian, Uraza, and Jhi were let out of passive state again, and the six of them fell asleep in piles. Conor and his brothers were resting with their heads on Briggian. Abeke was curled with Uraza. Meilin and Rollan were pressed together, leaning against Jhi's side, Essix still perched on her rafter.

And if the next morning Lucette, Conor's parents, and Abeke's father and sister found them like that in the morning, no one said anything about it.