The next morning was strange. It was still dark and Mother and Father were still asleep when I was ready to leave and heard a knock on the door. I practically flew to it after grabbing my bag and found Elouan waiting, as I expected.

He saw I was ready and smiled. “Didn’t sleep well, I’m guessing?”

I nodded. “That doesn’t mean I’m tired, though. Let’s go. The sooner we’re out of town the better.” He nodded with a conflicted look in his eyes. Estel was asleep on his shoulder, her face tucked into her wings with her feathers all fluffed up against the cold. I had to stop myself from petting her, because she looked so cute.

As we began to walk through town to the path that would lead us out, I saw a little face peeking from a window.

Of course, Lorcan had to be up. I’d often heard his mother complain about how loud he was in the mornings, sometimes.

I just hoped we would be out of sight before he could follow us. I doubted it, though. Children could be so energetic sometimes, and that often led them on tireless chases with each other. There were many times that I had almost been knocked over by one of them running around.

Quietly, I urged Elouan to be quick. He sent me a puzzled look at my strange request, but didn’t ask questions.

Still, my efforts proved futile. Before we could finally set on the path to the next town, I heard a little voice call out to us.

“Calli, wait!”

I stopped and turned around to see Lorcan, who looked crushed. “Are you leaving?” He asked me.

I nodded and he rushed over to me. I crouched down and caught him in a hug. Children were so precious and pure, really. Once they grew up, however, they turned bitter and worried about the world. It hurt me inside, knowing I had once been so innocent. Elouan stopped and watched me.

“It’s okay,” I told him. “I bet you won’t even miss me. Now, run along home before your mother wakes up and finds you gone.” He nodded against my shoulder.

“But can’t I come with you?” he asked me. I shook my head.

“The road is no place for children. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I’d better get going, now.” I started to stand and turn to walk away, but he still tugged on my dress.

I sighed. “Lorcan, I really have to go. It’ll be okay, just stay safe so I can see you when I come back.” I patted his shoulder and he finally fled, glancing over his shoulder at me. I waved him off, realizing how much I would miss the children.

They didn’t care about how much I chattered. It was nice, knowing that at least a few people were okay with me. As Elouan and I started along the path again, this time making it out of town, he looked over at me.

“I had no idea that kids liked you so much,” he said with a sly grin.

I giggled. “They think I’m interesting, I suppose. I don’t tell them off for doing anything, though, so that might be it. It’s just not my place to do that though, so I don’t.”

He nodded, and we both found we had nothing to say after that. So we walked in a comfortable silence for several minutes before I spotted a flash of color in the trees. It was too dark to discern it, though I suspected it must have been pink or purple.

“Did you just see that?” I asked Elouan.

“Hmm?”

“The pink thing in the trees. I swear it was there just a moment ago.”

“I didn’t see anything, but I think I saw something like that a few days ago. Yesterday, too. Perhaps it’s a bird or something.”

I hadn’t been intending to mention it to anyone, but it was nice that he didn’t call me crazy. Anyone else would have. Then again, most people I knew didn’t seem to like me. Did that mean that Elouan liked me? I didn’t know. I figured he wouldn’t anymore by the time we reached the ‘Elders’, whatever those happened to be.

Speaking of which, I might as well know what I was getting myself into.

“What are the Elders?”

“Oh, them? They’re the old Bards who accept new ones into their ranks. Speaking of which, we should probably get you learning a few songs pretty soon. Maybe we’ll start tomorrow.” He trailed off, looking thoughtful.

“Oh. Do you think I’ll be a good Bard? Will they accept me?”

“Anyone with the gift can be a good Bard if they try hard enough. As for the Elders, I can’t say for certain. They’ve been known to be picky but they should accept you. If anything, they’ll find you interesting because we’ve never had anyone blessed by Clíodhna before.

“How did you find her, anyway? I’ve heard she’s quite reclusive.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

I swallowed. Of course, I had to get myself into embarrassing situations like this. He’d probably laugh at me for getting lost. But oh well, he asked and I supposed I should answer properly.

“I got lost and then a magical creature started chasing me. She found me and brought me to that grove you found me in.”

We continued talking like this for several hours. At some point, Estel woke up and kept making little noises similar to the words I was saying. I found it quite fascinating, how accurate she was with the sounds. Apparently, she did that quite often.

As the sky began getting lighter, I saw more creatures in the distance. At some point, I swore I saw a bear of some kind, but it was gone the next moment.

Most of the day was relatively quiet, with no strange encounters despite our breaks. My legs, which I had not been expecting much from, were complaining constantly. I stayed quiet, though, unwilling to complain. I didn’t want to seem needy or soft.

But apparently, I couldn’t go a day without trouble this week.

Late in the afternoon, while we were close to the edge of another forest, a wolf came limping out. It looked as though it had been severely wounded, with its fur matted and crusted with dry blood.

Immediately, Elouan unslung his lute and struck a few cords, causing it to collapse before I had time to think.

“What did you do?” I practically shouted at him, rushing over to the wounded creature. Thankfully, it was still breathing, but it was very shallow. “It didn’t do anything to us!”

He raised his hands in self defense. “It looked like it wanted to be put out of its misery! I only put it to sleep to make the process easier.”

I felt like glaring at him, but his explanation made sense. Slowly, I pressed a hand against its throat, a small part of me hoping it was okay. Still, I doubted it wanted to survive whatever it was that had happened to it. There was only so long before it would get sick, anyway. Those wounds looked bad.

Suddenly, I felt Elouan’s hand on my shoulder and flinched. He looked serious.

“It’s okay if you want me to find a way to help it. I don’t know how much I would do, but I can certainly try.” I shook my head.

“No, it’s okay. It just . . . it hurts to see something in so much pain. I don’t know.”

He nodded before plucking a few more notes and the wolf stilled completely. Even though I knew it was for the best, I still felt like I should have done something. But what? I wasn’t sure. It was too late, anyway, and though I didn’t like it, death was an important balance to life.

All things that live must die, after all. And honestly, who would want to live forever? I felt that would be painful, really. Watching everything and everyone you know change before your eyes . . . that wouldn’t be pleasant. I’d get much too sad and lonely.

And I’d had enough of death, no matter how important it was.

Before my mind could go to even darker places, I quickly occupied myself with moving the dead wolf away from the road. I didn’t know how many predators ate carrion, but I didn’t want to risk the lives of travelers, even if it was unlikely.

“Let’s go,” Elouan said after I was done.

I nodded, but as we began walking again, a screech filled the air. I jumped, startled, and watched as a streak of pink flashed toward us. Before it could crash into us or the ground, however, it slowed down and flapped its wings to safely land on the path. Estel, who had been strangely silent until now, suddenly flew toward the somewhat bedraggled bird.

“Er, that’s strange,” I said to no one in particular. In the corner of my eye I saw Elouan nod.

Now that I had a chance to properly examine the bird in front of me, it was gorgeous. Rosy feathers in different shades toned down to a dark lavender at the edges of its wings, and its cheeks were a peachy color. Though its feathers were quite ruffled from its hasty flight, they still looked silken and as Estel hopped closer, its crest rose, revealing more purple.

Its eyes were what captivated me the most, though. They were a bright gold that seemed to twinkle lightly. And I felt a sort of kinship with the creature.

Elouan breathed out a gasp and walked forward to inspect the new arrival.

“This is a phoenix,” he told me. It hopped away as he slowly reached out to touch it. In the process, it ended up closer to me, but didn’t shy away. “I’ve heard so much about them but never actually seen one until now. They are most commonly attuned to Fire magic, though I’ve heard they have been found with Life and Astral powers as well.”

As he finished speaking, the phoenix hopped even closer to me, until its beak was almost touching my dress. It looked up at me before flapping its wings and landing on my shoulder.

I almost jumped and screamed and stepped away, but I stopped myself from startling the creature just in time. Elouan stood up quickly and looked at me, an amused expression on his face.

“Looks like you’ve made a new friend,” he said. I weakly nodded, still disbelieving as the phoenix began playing with my hair.

Suddenly, it stopped and a light, feminine voice spoke in my mind.

Hello, Calliope. I’ve been waiting for a chance to speak to you.

At that moment, I decided I’d had enough. I immediately freaked out, causing the phoenix to flap away from my shoulder and into a nearby tree, though it still spoke.

Rude, it huffed. I’ll let it go this time, though.

I turned to my companion, who was looking both amused and concerned.

“It spoke to me,” I told him. “In my head. I’m truly going mad, aren’t I? I’d ask if this has happened to you, but I’m sure it’s just me. I don’t know.”

He chuckled. “No, it just means you’ve found a familiar. I didn’t think you would for a while, and some Bards never find a creature willing to spend their lives with them. But apparently you are a strange, lucky, young maiden.”

I stared at him in disbelief. “A familiar? Like you with Estel? I . . . I might need a moment.”

Are you just going to ignore me? The bird told me, looking just as amused as Elouan. If you aren’t going to tell me anything, I suppose I should introduce myself. I am Bláithín, a phoenix of Life. I already know who you are, but I suppose we’ll get better acquainted in the future.

Shakily, I held out an arm and Bláithín quickly flew over to land on it. She was lighter than I had expected for her size. She wasn’t large by any means, but I had no clue how heavy birds were. Until now, at least.

“Er, this is Bláithín. I suppose she’ll be accompanying us for a very long time,” I told Elouan. He smiled.

“I had no idea you were such a magnet for strange circumstances. At any rate, we should probably go a bit further before setting up camp. Now, let’s go.”