The next day, I wake up with Wolf curled around me on the floor. It’s still dark, but I can see the first rays of the sun filtering in through the window.

I slip away from the dog, who lifts his head to watch me. Once he realizes I’m not leaving the room, he goes back to sleep.

I light the lantern, then bring it over to the desk that Sarah had prepared for me. On it sits my lessons on Imperial Common. I sit down and start reading.

The sun continues to slowly rise and I feel the house moving as Sarah starts working her magic.

A soft hand on my shoulder makes me look up. Launa, the death spirit looks over my work. She reaches down, takes the quill and corrects one of the letters I had gotten wrong. Her hand ruffles my hair, then she disappears again.

A small smile spreads across my face. Launa has been quiet ever since I bound her to me, but every once in a while I can fell her presence.

It’s always a kind and caring feeling.

I continue to work on my letters, then once I feel like I understand enough, I move to the small book Mr. Leverton had given me to help me practice.

I read out loud, happy when I connect a written word to one I’ve only spoken. Occasionally I’ll come across a word I don’t know, and I’ll write it down to ask Mr. Leverton or Sarah later. The nature spirit in the book meets a lonely young child and plays with them in a magical forest, teaching them lessons about kindness.

It’s simple, but I find myself falling in love with the words.

Eventually, the morning light fully enters the room. Wolf growls at the door a few seconds before I hear a knock.

I get up and open the door to see Mr. Leverton waiting for me. “I’m glad to see that you’re awake. Sarah has made us some breakfast, and you’ll want to eat plenty before we start on today’s adventure.”

I nod, then hurry over to the table, grabbing the notes on words I didn’t know. Mr. Leverton looks at me curiously as I bring him the list.

“I- I didn’t know what these mean. Could you tell me?”

Mr. Leverton takes the list with a small smile. “Ah, this first word is rarely used. The word is ‘ephemeral’, it means lasting for a very short time…” He continues to explain each word as we walk to breakfast and I listen closely.

Sarah greets us, having prepared rice with eggs poured over it and vegetables mixed in. I enjoy the food as Mr. Leverton continues to talk about every word, occasional talking about similar words in other languages or how the word has changed over the years.

It brings back buried memories of how my father would talk to my mother in the mornings. He was a record keeper for our tribe, and wrote down our histories, he loved language in the same way that Mr. Leverton does.

Mr. Leverton trails off, looking at me. I blink, realizing that a tear is falling down my cheek. I wipe it away quickly. “So that’s the symbol for loyalty?” I say, talking about the last picture-word that I hadn’t understood.

Leverton studies me with a soft expression before continuing, “Yes. It had very serious meaning back when the book was written. It referred to a very important vow of trust and love.”

The conversation continues on as normal, but I can feel both him and Sarah looking at me every once in a while in a way they didn’t before.

Breakfast finishes quickly after that. Mr. Leverton and I leave the house again with my staff in hand. We follow a different path this time, it’s more of an incline, and I can feel my legs aching as we hike.

We arrive at a rocky area next to a lazily flowing river, a waterfall just a little bit up the stream.

Mr. Leverton stands next to a tree, his blue cloak billowing slightly. “Yesterday, the trees gave you quite the gift.” He motions to the staff in my hands. “That staff is a focus. It isn’t as good as a spirit in translating your will to mana, but it will still help direct and focus you. With it’s help, you can cast spells.”

Mr. Leverton flicks his hand and a tree root whips out of the ground in the direction his hand moved. The root then moves back to its position.

“Spells are set magical affects that mana has learned to interpret without a spirit mediator. Every time a spell is cast, its result will be exactly the same, and its effects will be less than what a spirit might translate for you. The spell I just cast is a simple one, and one of the first that the book you can’t read would have taught you.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

I shuffle my feet in frustration.

“Come here, and I will show you how to channel the mana through your focus. Like I said, this spell is a simple one.”

He shows me how to move my mana through the staff, then leaves me to practice on my own while he meditates next to the river.

I fail a surprising number of times before I manage to make the root respond. Even then, it just waves lazily through the air.

The rest of the hour passes before I manage to make it whip through the air like it’s supposed to, and then it’s only in one direction.

“Well done.” Mr. Leverton says after I get it correct for the fourth time in a row.

I brush my hair to the side and behind my ear, sweating from my mana usage. “It took a long time.” It’s so easy, it shouldn’t have taken me that long to get it right.

Mr. Leverton stands up and walks up to me, looking at the root I’d managed to move. “You just cast your first spell ever, and you managed to do it consistently in just an hour’s time. That’s worthy of some praise.”

I look away from the mage and towards the running water, “Thank you.”

“Of course.” Mr. Leverton walks back down the path. “Let’s get back to the house, I think Sarah wants you to help her weed the garden.”

I call out to Wolf, who had been playing in the water. He runs over to me, his tongue hanging out.

He shakes himself as we start to walk, drenching me, and I start laughing. I grab onto the mangy animal, dropping my staff and start play fighting with him on the path.

I roll over on the ground, my clothes wet and dirty and see Mr. Leverton smiling over at us, my staff in his hands.

I hurry back to my feet, embarrassed that I’d delayed the mage. He just shakes his head with a laugh. “Come on. It looks like you’ll need another bath too.”

Wolf starts running back down the path. I look over at Mr. Leverton, who nods at me, then run after Wolf towards home.

We arrive back at the house to find Sarah waiting next to the garden. She smiles as she sees us. Wolf’s tail wags as he prances over to the spirit. I stop to catch my breath, holding my knees. It’s hard to keep up with the energetic dog, and he’d never been able to run this much before we got here.

Sarah hands me a wooden cup filled with water. I gulp it down while Wolf walks over to a bowl of water that had been prepared for him.

“You look happy.” Sarah says. She takes the empty cup of water from my hand and sets it down next to her.

I look at her, then away. “Yeah. I’ve never seen Wolf so filled with energy.”

“It’s good to see.” Sarah waves me towards her. I walk over, following as she heads into her garden.

I look over at Wolf to see him lying on his side with his tongue out, breathing heavily with exhaustion. He watches us with that smile that dogs have.

Mr. Leverton gets back then, my staff still with him. Sarah greets him, and he places my staff against one of the trees.

With a quick nod to the both of us, he heads inside.

Sarah shakes her head as he leaves. She motions for me to follow her and leads me over to one of the patches of garden and hands me a small trowel. “Do you know what makes a plant a weed?”

I shake my head.

She kneels down next to a leafy plant with small berries on it. “A weed is a plant that ruins the harmony of the garden.” She points to a tiny sprout next to the leafy plant. “Do you see how this little one ruins the energy of the plants around it?”

I kneel down, looking at the small sprout. And I feel it, the slight disturbance of the air around it, the false vitality that flows through it. I study the feeling, trying to understand the energy of all the plants around. “Is it hurting the other plant?” I ask.

Sarah nods, “Weeds steal their water and feed off their roots.” She places her hand down and pulls the weed out of the ground. “Life and death are two sides of nature. And for some reason, we are gifted with the power to control it, to choose what we want to live and what we want to die.” The leafy plant that we are protecting glows with relief.

She motions towards another sprout with the same darker energy. “You are making a choice, every time you take a life. And it is an important one.”

I reach over and take the weed out of the ground, feeling as the energy of the whole garden relaxes from the removal of the weed. Then I feel the pain of the weed in my hand. It isn’t on the same level as a human, or even an animal, but I hear it.

Sarah closes her hand around mine and the weed. “Do not feel guilty, for it is the way of life.” She smiles, “And you know well that death is not the end.” She touches my shoulder where the tattoo of Launa rests. Launa’s comforting presence surrounds me for a moment before disappearing.

I spend another hour weeding the garden with Sarah. With each weed removed, I understand the energy of the garden, the way that the different plants support each other and even enjoy each other's company. What could be a weed in one spot, works symbiotically in another. It is an artful masterpiece of arrangement that Sarah cultivates every day.

I start to hear it, ever so faintly.

It’s a song.

A harmony that the plants share.

I still can’t pick out the individual voices in the song, but on the edge of my hearing is the music that they all share.

It’s beautiful.

After we’re finished weeding, I sit by the edge of the garden, Wolf’s head in my lap, my staff to my side and I listen to the song. Even the trees outside share the song.

I scratch Wolf’s ears, feeling a sensation unlike anything I’ve ever felt. My heart beats rhythmically, my mind drifts with the music and comfort fills me with Wolf in my lap.

I’m content.

I enjoy the feeling, letting it flow through me.

A soft hand on my shoulder brings me out of my thoughts and I look up to see Sarah.

“You should take your bath, Max is expecting you soon for your lesson.”

I nod and stretch.