A few hours had passed since the initial group up, and a lot of the dynamics stayed the same. Sheena would take a forefront position with Milla, circling them and making sure they didn't run into any ambushes or dangerous scenarios. Lloyd found that incredibly helpful and wished that she had been along with the group from the very beginning. He wondered if that would have made the difference between Cassius living and dying. He was certain of it. Colette and Regal had been chatting most of the day about the respective towns and families. It sounded like Colette and Sheena came from a town a dozen miles north of the southern shore. They started their journey a week or so ago and were making their way north when they met up with Lloyd and Regal.

Sheena had not talked much throughout the last few hours. She kept her stalwart position in the front of the group, leading everyone on trial or off. Milla would patrol in large circles around their position, but sometimes, she would cut in and walk with Lloyd for a bit. That was where she was currently, and Lloyd found her presence to be very calming. He absent mindedly was petting and scratching the top of the fox's head. He was a bit nervous about it at first, but the flames on her body seemed to be just for show. They didn’t burn, but they did put off a nice warmth.

Lloyd had been a real nuisance to the group within the last few hours. He would periodically look off into the forest and try to pick up something with his mind. The objects were getting larger each time. This time, he had spotted a rock the size of the Regal's chest. With his right hand still placed on top of the fox's head, he smiled and reached his left hand, focusing on gripping the stone. Lloyd was rapidly beginning to feel more comfortable with his newfound powers. He could feel the tendrils of his magic wrap around the rock. Through his power, he could feel every crevice and crack in the stone. Gripping the boulder, he heaved the hefty boulder with his mind. This was the first object that really fought back against his powers. He scrunched up his face and tightened his focus on the rock. After a few moments of struggle, he began to feel it slowly free itself from the ground.

Exhaustion rapidly set in, and the boulder grew heavier with each passing second. With a last-ditch effort, he put all his power into throwing the rock forward. It managed only to fly a few feet forward, but the mass of rock collided and splintered a tiny tree. Both Colette and Regal jumped at the noise, acquiring the location rapidly. They shook their heads while looking back at Lloyd, quickly continuing their conversation. Lloyd smiled as he wiped the sweat off his brow and as his breath came in ragged. I should give my telekinesis a rest. He wondered if this is what it felt like to run out of Mana, if this is what it felt like for Regal when the animals and people finally got past his defenses. Milla left Lloyd's side and began to patrol their flanks, leaving Lloyd to ponder about his abilities alone.

Sheena rejoined the group as the sun began to disappear into the horizon. Lloyd hadn't seen Milla in a while but knew that she must be fine.

“We should set up camp for the night. Milla is out grabbing dinner for us and herself. She should be back soon,” Sheena said as she looked at Colette, a weird smile flashing across her face. If Lloyd wasn't looking directly at her, he swore he would have missed it, as a smile was replaced by the neutral tone that she usually wore. “We will need some firewood, but otherwise, I think we have everything else,” Sheena said.

“Oh, yeah, I volunteer. I can definitely do that,” Lloyd said excitedly.

He stopped using his powers for the last few hours and finally felt fresh and full of Mana. It was hard for Lloyd to tell exactly how much Mana he had. The feeling was like the difference between getting a full night's rest when he assumed his Mana was full and only getting a couple of hours when his Mana was low. He began to think of all the different lessons that he could teach himself, much like when he taught himself to fight with the swords and the bow. He finally had the powers that he dreamed about his entire life, he wasn't going to let them go to waste. Lloyd dropped his pack next to Regal, where Sheena suggested they set up camp and sprinted off into the forest and search of appropriate size sticks and logs.

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Within about ten minutes, Lloyd returned with a human-sized pile of firewood that floated behind him, not all of them appropriately sized. The initial few minutes of carrying the small sticks felt burdenless. As the time grew and the weight was added on, he could feel his powers being strained. By the time Lloyd returned to the campsite, all of the humans sat around in a circle. The only member of their party missing was Milla.

The group saw the massive quantity of wood, and they all shook their heads. Lloyd tried to gently set the wood down near them. A few sticks started to fall, and he tried to shift his powers to catch them, which opened up a gap in his mental hold. This cascaded back and forth a few times before the wood crashed into the ground, splaying the sticks everywhere. Lloyd, not wanting to embarrass himself more, walked over to pick up a few sticks the old-fashioned way, by hand, to start the fire.

“So is Milla able to start the fire with her powers?” Lloyd asked as he looked at Sheena.

Lloyd was intrigued to see what sort of powers the fox had. If it was anything like the wolf they fought a few days earlier, she would be an incredibly powerful member of the party.

Sheena smiled for maybe only the second or third time that Lloyd had seen. “No, she won't be able to help us with the fire I'll have to start it myself,” Sheena said as she reached into a bag and retrieved flint.

Lloyd could not hide the disappointment that was plastered on his face. If Milla wasn't able to start a fire, that likely meant that the fox, although made of whispery fire, didn’t have fire attacks.

“Does she not have any fire abilities?” He asked.

“Oh no, she definitely does,” Sheena said.

“But…I'm so confused,” Lloyd's train of thought was interrupted as the rustling from the forest became clear.

Out from the thick vegetation, slowly walked a fox with what looked like a flowing obsidian river of fur. That was the only way that Lloyd could describe what he was seeing. Lloyd and Regal shot to their feet while the women laughed. Lloyd was ready to attack but stopped when he felt a familiar calm that he had previously felt with Milla.

The fox looked very similar to Milla and even seemed to be about the same size. In fact, this fox seemed to be the exact same size. Lloyd cocked his head to the side as he focused on the newcomer. After a few brief moments and after the fox settled at Sheena’s side, the reality hit Lloyd. This, in fact, was not a newcomer, but was Milla. It’s just completely and utterly different. What the hell?

“Yeah, this is Milla, Sheena said as she caressed the flowing fur of the fox. “She changes form depending on the time of day. When the sun is out, her Firefox form is what you get. As the sun fades away, the flames extinguish and the darkness descends. Her abilities change depending on the time of day, which is why I mentioned that we wouldn’t be able to use her to start a fire,” Sheena said.

Lloyd looked over to Regal, who was mouth agape and wide-eyed.

“Holy shit, that is awesome. What kind of abilities does she have at night?” Lloyd asked.

“Nothing too flashy. She regenerates much faster in the darkness, and she doesn't need sleep. In fact, staying awake at night seems to recharge her energy. She only has active abilities in her fire form. Well, just one ability, really. She can inflame her body, which burns anything immediately around her. The ability drains through her mana pretty quickly, though, so usually she just fights with tooth and claw,” said Sheena.

“Just? Still, that's freaking awesome,” Lloyd said as he looked over at Milla, who had crouched into a pouncing stance.

She leaped across the still unlit fire and right into Lloyd's body, tackling him off of his seated position. The fox nuzzled her head and face into Lloyd's neck as she licked the side of his cheek. He chuckled and began to wrestle around with Milla. Lloyd hadn’t noticed that Milla had brought back food when she came back. Sheena got to work, quickly cooking up the poor family of giant rabbits that Milla was able to catch and kill for them. The group quickly ate the meat and headed off the bed. With Milla being able to night patrol for the whole group, it would allow everyone to get solid sleep.