Morning came quicker that she anticipated. Isabelle arose from her slumber with a new realization.

I want to see the world, she thought. But where should I go? How will I blend in? She got up out of bed and pushed open the doors to her room. Inside the hall was a crowd of her creatures laying about.

“Awww, what are you guys doing here?” she said and petted a few of them. “Don’t worry, I’m okay.”

I wonder… Isabelle thought. What if I could make my own special creature to fly me places? Or even a new normal body? Realizing this might be her only option to explore the world, she went back into her room and put her plan into motion. She laid on her bed and attempted to design a body for herself that looked normal, and not so alien. It took her hours of intense thought, but she felt like she finally pulled it off. The unpleasant part came later, after a healthy meal.

The next day, Isabelle attempted to craft a bird-like body for something that could support her. Various pictures and thoughts streamed into her mind about creatures that could work, and when they didn’t she instantly knew. She just didn’t know how. Eventually, she settled on a creature that resembled a giant reptilian bird with horns. The horns were unnecessary and forced her to make it bigger than it had to be, but she thought they were cool. After eating like a ferocious carnivore and further unpleasantness, she just had to wait.

Isabelle took it easy for the next month while waiting for the big bird and clone egg of her to hatch. The clone egg hatched first, but this time Isabelle didn’t feel the pull of her consciousness into it. Instead, she felt when it was ready and manually pulled her consciousness into the new body in order to make sure it escaped from the egg. It was a weird feeling.

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After hatching, the tiny clone of her looked like a baby. Quite a strong baby, though. However, it didn’t have a mind of its own. After Isabelle returned to her main body it collapsed to the ground, limp.

Maybe it’ll grow up fast? Isabelle thought. As she waited for her flying steed to hatch, she noticed that it was growing quite quickly. By the time her mount had hatched, her clone had tripled in size.

Woah. This thing’s so cool, Isabelle thought as she stared at her newly hatched flying mount. It looked like a mythical beast, straight out of legend. Ugh. Now I’ve got to wait for it to grow up. As she waited for the two to grow up, Isabelle received word from a messenger on horseback. He approached the towering monolith with caution as Isabelle came out to greet him in the fancy clothes that were specially made for her.

“Hello!” she called out as she approached him on his horse.

“Hello, are you Isabelle?” he asked.

“Yes, that’s me,” she said and he pulled out an impressive letter from his bag. He handed it to her. She noticed the wax seal holding it in place.

“Uh, is it okay for me to break this?” she asked.

“Yes, that’s fine. The seal is to indicate who it’s from as well as proof it wasn’t tampered with,” the messenger explained. She pulled the seal off and read the letter.

From the royal council of Orelia,

Your assistance is greatly appreciated by the royal court. As such, we have decided to grant your request. The forest and its territories now belong to you and as such, you will be subject to taxes. An exemption has been made and you have two years of exemption before this applies.

“Taxes? Well, I guess that’s fair,” Isabelle said out loud.

“Would you need to be making a reply?” the messenger asked.

“No, I think this sums it up,” Isabelle said.

“Very well. I will be on my way,” the messenger explained and turned his horse around, leaving the area quicker than was strictly necessary.