“But do you really think this is good enough?” Marianne fretted in the study room they’d more or less commandeered.

“Mari, for the last time, it’s good. I translated enough of those books for you that I doubt anyone else is going to have the same information,” Liliana said, her voice patient but with an undertone of irritation.

Unlike the rest of their classmates, the two of them had been prepared for this essay, so it was really just a matter of writing down everything they’d uncovered. Well, mostly Liliana did the uncovering, after Marianne had held her bestiaries hostage until she’d read and translated some of the Astrati books. Since they’d already had the research part handled, all they had to do was spend a few hours doing the writing and citing sources.

“I just don’t want to fail the first assignment,” Marianne murmured as she looked over her essay again, the sixth draft, in fact.

Liliana had done hers in two, but she supposed she had a slight advantage over Marianne. Until she got too sick that even schoolwork was too much for her, she’d been enrolled in online school, back on Earth, and she’d had plenty of experience writing up essays. She just hadn’t expected her teacher’s assurances that they’d ‘use these skills in the future’ to translate into speeding through her magical school homework.

Liliana started to gather her things after checking the time. She had a few hours before curfew and she wanted some time in the forest. Liliana could practice her skills in a training room. She had, in fact, leveled up a few during her grueling fights with the automatons. [Wind Surge], and [Invisibility] had risen by a level. [Threads of Control], [Dance of The Tempest], and [Wind Blade] had jumped two.

It was good progress for a day, but she wanted to see if she could push them a bit further by practicing in the forest during the same day. The Mana density was something she wanted to take advantage of, and the forest relaxed her in a way nothing else quite could anymore.

“Where are you going?” Marianne asked as Liliana finished placing everything in her storage.

“More practice,” Liliana explained. Marianne looked up at her with a raised brow before shaking her head and bending back over her essay.

“Insane.” Marianne murmured, barely loud enough for Liliana to hear it and apparently unaware of the hypocrisy of her statement.

Liliana rolled her eyes and bid her friend goodbye, slipping out of the study room and library and making her way towards the forest. She didn’t rush, taking in the sights of students moving about with interest. She’d never really had this before, the chance to be around so many others her age. To just be… a school girl. While she was a schoolgirl at a magical boarding school that had a chief focus on combat, she still reveled in the feeling of normalcy that suffused her as she watched groups of students chatting. She was a part of this; she realized with a small, warm smile.

Liliana shoved her hands in her pocket as she walked, people watching as she strolled along. She could see older students gathered in groups, laughing and playing around. People she assumed to be couples, holding hands and leaning towards each other as they meandered around the grounds. Even one couple, who were badly hidden in one of the decorative gatherings of flowering trees, kissing rather passionately. Liliana averted her eyes with a furious blush when she realized what she was looking at. Her steps picked up a little to get her further away from that.

“Rosengarde.” A voice called out.

Liliana’s face twisted into a scowl before she banished the expression from her face, assuming a cool mask she was familiar with as she turned to face the boy who was approaching her. He strutted towards her, head high and chest puffed out, and inwardly she sighed.

“Kastrioti.” Liliana greeted, her voice cool but not rude.

“Alone for once?” Zir’elon asked with a sniff.

“I’m a tamer, Kastrioti. I’m never alone.” Liliana said blandly, but the comment did what she wanted.

Kastrioti flinched back, almost imperceptibly, at the not-so-subtle reminder of Polaris. Almost immediately, she saw anger flash in his eyes at the involuntary show of fear. He took a step closer, as if to prove he wasn’t afraid.

“Look, the only reason you won is because you threw me off. It wasn’t a fair match.” Zir’elon said, his tone bordering on disdainful but not quite.

“You seemed fine during the match,” Liliana said as her hands slipped out of her pockets and her legs slowly shifted into a fighting stance, balancing her better. She didn’t want to fight Zir’elon in the middle of the school grounds, but if he started something, she was going to finish it.

“I’m just mentioning it because you wouldn’t want people to think you won because your opponent wasn’t at their best,” Zir’elon insisted and Liliana couldn’t help raising a brow, or letting a small smile spread over her lips.

Pride. That’s his fatal flaw, and he thinks it’s mine. Liliana thought with amusement as she listened to him, trying to goad her into issuing a challenge. Something they weren’t even allowed to do yet, as he should well know. This was nothing more than an attempt to get her in trouble.

“A win is a win, Kastrioti. I don’t much care how I achieve it as long as I’m the winner.” Liliana said easily, her smile widening slightly when the prince seemed thrown by her words, unable to comprehend for a moment that someone didn’t much care about something as useless as pride. What was pride on a battlefield except for something that could get you killed? Liliana had little use for it.

“But-that’s. Don’t you care if people think you cheated?” Zir’elon asked her, aghast.

“Professor Rauk would’ve called me out if he thought I was cheating. I played by the rules and won the match. What more is there to it?” Liliana asked simply, internally giggling as Zir’elon’s mouth opened and shut a few times.

“If that’s all, I’ll be going.” Liliana said, turning slightly.

“Next time I won’t lose no matter what tricks you pull out, Rosengarde.” Zir’elon found his voice, and there was anger there, licking at the edges of his words.

“We’ll see.” Liliana threw over her shoulder as she turned and walked off. She wasn’t afraid of him attacking her back, not now that she knew his game. Zir’elon wasn’t angry enough, not yet, to do something so reckless. He’d wanted her to issue the challenge, so he could claim the first match had been invalid, if she’d accepted on the basis of him accusing her of cheating. Then he’d likely turn around and get her in trouble with the professors for trying to start a duel when they were banned for first years right now.

Liliana was rather entertained by his attempt, but mentally she did mark him to watch. More so than she already was. That pride of his, and his temper, could be dangerous. He’d ever be an ally, not as long as she was a half blood who was stronger than him, and she’d never let herself be weaker just to appease him. And he’d figure that out soon enough, and likely resent her for it. It would make him into an enemy, sooner or later.

Liliana picked up her pace as she walked towards the forest, not wanting to be stopped by any more classmates looking to challenge her for some inane reason or another. She doubted that would happen, not yet, but she didn’t feel like tempting fate that much. When she got to the first trees marking the start of the forest, she paused and released Polaris from his stone. The Kitsune formed quickly, his wings stretching out as he looked around.

“More training?” Polaris asked, and Liliana sent an assent to him. As they began to walk deeper into the woods, she mentally relayed the interaction with Zir’elon to her Bond.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

“He’s going to be a problem,” Polaris echoed her own thoughts.

“One day, yes. We knew that was a possibility, though.” Liliana said with a shrug.

It was no skin off her back if Zir’elon ended up hating her. It’d be annoying to have an enemy, but she suspected such things weren’t uncommon at this school, where they so fiercely encouraged competition.

“It’s a shame you can’t do things the sensible way and just kill him.” Polaris said with a sigh.

He understood humans better than nemesis or Lelantos did, but some things simply didn’t make sense to a beast, no matter how smart they were. Thins like leaving a threat alive was inconceivable.

“If I kill him, it would just make more problems than solve them, you know this.” Liliana reminded him as she paused and crouched down to look at an oddly colored rose, an Azure Bloom.

It was a beautiful thing and her fingers gently stroked its silky petals for a moment before she rose and continued on, her footsteps quiet on the forest floor. Despite the fact that she’d yet to see another student in the forest, except Koth’talan, the trails were well maintained, far from the deer paths she was used to following in the forests of Rosengarde territory.

Liliana closed her eyes for a moment as she walked. Taking in a deep breath, she let the scent of the forest flood her and wash away the stress of the day. The sweet scent of pine, the delicate fragrance of countless spring flowers, the strong earthy aroma all forests had carried away the stress and irritation that had been hanging onto her. She always felt more grounded when she was surrounded by nature. Perhaps it resulted from her three soul bonds. Bonding with beasts changed your soul, and it had quite obviously changed Liliana physically and mentally. She wondered how many bonds she had to make before she was more beast than human anymore.

Or maybe the reason forested and wild places felt like home to her was something more simple than even that. Maybe it was because the forest had been her first, and constant, refuge from the manor she couldn’t ever really bring herself to call home.

Liliana opened her eyes and blinked slightly at the light, thin though it was filtered through the canopy above. It was still more than the darkness of her lids. Shaking her head, Liliana picked up her pace a little. Beside her, Polaris said nothing. If anyone would understand the way she felt in the forest, it would be him. No words needed to be spoken, no judgment was held between them.

When they came upon the small pond surrounded by cherry blossom trees, Liliana was glad to see it was empty. Polaris darted off to run between the trees, jumping up just enough that the petals of the trees shook off, falling on his fur and sticking in some places. His yips of happiness drew a warm smile from Liliana as she watched her bond frolic.

Liliana settled down on the large rock that Koth’talan had been on when she’d seen him here. The stone was warm from the sun and Liliana leaned back until she was lying on the rock, her eyes half closed as she just took in the feelings. Wind brushing softly against her skin, late sunlight trickling through and warming her skin, the heat of the stone behind her, the gentle sound of the pond rippling and splashing as whatever creatures lived in it moved around. Stronger than all of that was the feeling of Mana, heavy in the air she breathed and pressing into her. Wild, untamed, but oh so comforting all the same.

Liliana let herself slip into a half meditative state, her mind focused in a detached way on what she wanted to do. Her hand lifted slightly and her eyes slowly moved to stare at it as she focused on the feeling of wind slipping over her skin, through her fingers. She reached out, slowly letting Mana course through her body, pooling beneath the skin of her palm as she reached out to the wind. It brushed against her own Mana and paused, swirling in circles around her palm as she fed it more, taking control of the wild element and gently encouraging it to listen to her. It twisted and turned, a small, barely seen tornado forming on her palm as it whipped around. She watched for a few minutes, simply basking in the control she had of such a wild, free thing as the wind.

The sound of footsteps on the ground alerted Liliana to a visitor, but she didn’t loosen her concentration as she shifted the tornado into a ribbon of wind that swirled around her arm, ruffling her loose sleeve. An image of a face she was beginning to become familiar with flitted through her mind, courtesy of Polaris.

“I can send him off,” Polaris offered from wherever he was at.

“No, it’s fine.” Liliana lazily responded.

“Should we work out some sort of schedule? A custody arrangement?” Liliana asked out loud, her voice soft but still enough to be heard. She didn’t turn her head to look, or even move at all. She felt relaxed, and she didn’t want that to shatter.

“Doesn’t sound fair. I found this place first.” Koth’talan’s low voice responded.

Liliana raised her other hand slowly, carefully, to not break her concentration, directing the wind to swirl between her hands. She pushed a bit more Mana into it, drawing more strands of the playful element to her as it circled her two hands in a figure eight that few would even see.

“Did you?” Liliana asked, her voice still soft while she mentally continued to float in that weird, almost dissociative haze where she didn’t feel entirely connected to her body, but was so strongly tethered to her Mana and how it moved. She heard Koth’talan shift, move closer. Still, she didn’t turn to look at him.

“No one has disabused me of the assumption,” Koth’talan said.

A soft, dreamy smile widened Liliana’s lips as the wind shifted, winding between her fingers, down her arms, then back up to repeat the cycle.

“You’ll find assumptions are dangerous things to make,” Liliana mused quietly.

The wind was shifting through her hair now, what bits that weren’t held down by her body laying against the rock. It tickled a little, and she didn’t much mind that her hair would be a mess when she went back.

“So I’ve seen.” Koth’talan said, almost as quietly as Liliana had, but he was closer now and it was no trouble at all to hear him.

“How strange. First, I’m approached by your brother, now you. Do let me know if you have any more siblings hiding around who aim to approach me.” Liliana said, her soft voice tinged with amusement as Polaris dropped down next to her.

The wind shifted again, flowing through his fur and picking up the petals left there, returning to her to swirl above her hands, petals dancing in the winds.

“He challenged you then? He never could take his pride being bruised,” Koth’talan responded, no surprise in his tone but with plenty of vindictive glee in his voice.

“He tried to get me to challenge him, didn’t work as he thought it would. Those who let pride rule them are baffled by those who don’t.” Liliana said simply, though her smile twitched a bit at Koth’talan’s snort.

“So you have the measure of him, then.” Koth’talan said and Liliana heard him settling down somewhere close by to sit.

Liliana wondered if perhaps there was something about this clearing that made others more calm, more comfortable, for she could hardly imagine why Koth’talan hadn’t left as soon as he saw her here. Or perhaps the show she’d put on that had embarrassed his brother had endeared her to him in some way.

“Perhaps. I know enough, I think.” Liliana said with a small shrug of her shoulders as the wind twisted high above her now before diving back down to flow over her, the petals still held tightly amongst the wind. It really was quite lovely.

They didn’t say anything else as Liliana continued to play with her wind. Eventually, Polaris got back up to resume his romp around the clearing. She could sense Koth’talan watching her, watching Polaris, but he didn’t speak again. That was fine with her, she had come out here for a reason and as she continued to gather more wind, continued to push her [Wind Manipulation] skill she settled deeper into that not-quite-there state of mind and she wasn’t sure she’d even be able to respond.

[Wind Manipulation] has reached level 6!

[Wind Manipulation] has reached level 7!

[Wind Manipulation] has reached level 8!

Each notification came and was brushed off as time passed. The last one came as the sun finished its descent, dropping them into twilight. Liliana slowly let herself sink back into her body. The wind that had been playing around her brushed once more against her before disappearing into the woods as she released her control of it. She slowly sat up, eyes blinking tiredly as she took in the darker vista around her. [Night Vision] activated on its own and she could still see perfectly fine, even if colors were washed away.

Liliana stood and stretched out before turning for the first time to Koth’talan, who was staring out at the water with a contemplative expression.

“Be sure to get back before curfew,” Liliana advised as she jumped off the rock, Polaris materializing from the shadows as she began to walk off.

“Be careful. There’s a lot that lurks in the night.” Koth’talan called out as she reached the border of trees.

“I know. I’m one of them.” Liliana called back with a grin over her shoulder before she stepped into the forest, melting into the darkness and making her way back to the dorms. A feeling of peace and satisfaction filled her, and she kept her smile on her face as she walked.

It had been a good day.