I needed to leave tomorrow. Last night had been full of planning, planning, and more planning. Today everyone was preparing weapons, provisions and other stuff. A lot went into fighting a war, even before and after.

Logistics is freaking complicated, I’m glad they don’t need me for that.

...What? I am a bug, how am I supposed to help?

Either way, I would be headed out in the morning along with everyone else. I had to get a good distance away from the forest before the enemy got close.

I was honestly looking forward to it.

But right now Astera was coming home from school, so I should take care of her before I leave. She wasn’t as clingy anymore but that was no excuse to neglect her.

When she got home she immediately ran to the the kitchen for a snack. Then she headed to the playroom. There was a lot of stuff there, like a ridiculous amount. Generations of toys were here.

Piled up were stuffed animals of all types. Some were worn and frayed, repaired repeatedly till none of the original parts of the plushy still existed. There were new ones as well, still relatively clean and fluffy.

There were books made out of tough materials like vellum and thick parchment on a bookshelf in the corner. They were childrens books, but of a variety of topics. Some were mostly pictures and an alphabet. Others were simple, but full sized, novels of stories.

Enough colored blocks to build a full sized house were scattered about in one corner of the room. Other toys like model horses and carts were lying in the middle of a half completed model of the city.

There were other things as well: small chairs, a chalkboard, a costume closet, props, finger puppets, full sized puppets, and more. The elves didn’t throw away anything they could repair, so the collection had grown steadily over the years.

It wasn’t just the Greenbul’s children that played here. The workers often brought their kids to work so they could have help looking after them. Mero was often seen with one of the maid’s boys and the cook’s daughter. Right now it was just me and Astera here though.

She was pulling the chairs into rows and placing stuffed toys into them. I shrank down and took my seat between a droopy rabbit and an overly fluffy wolf.

She ran behind a room divider and began putting on her ‘teacher’s’ outfit. Aside from the shoes she just slipped everything over her clothes. It looked silly, but most of it was still way too big for her.

It was funny, since the rest of the costumes were kid size. I can only guess that Mellina gave a set of her own clothes to Astera. Astera’s teacher doted on her as much as she did the rest of her students. I could see Mellina feeling flattered enough to give Astera a full outfit so she could play teacher.

...I know I can’t resist the kid’s puppy dog eyes.

*clop clop clop*

The weird sound like a cross between heels and flip flops sounded out. Astera walked out from behind the room barrier. She was decked out in an outfit identical to Mellina’s. Since she was so much smaller than her teacher it looked kind of ridiculous. I would never say that to her face though, this was too adorable.

She wobbled over to the front of the ‘class’ in the heels much too large for her. The sleeves of her button up shirt covered her hands. Her ‘skirt’ was as almost as long as a dress as well. All in all it was always cute to watch. Her high voice called out as she put on an ‘adult’ expression.

“Alright class: settle down!”

One sleeve was rolled up far enough to let her hold a ruler. She waved it around a bit too enthusiastically, but otherwise kept her serious ‘adult’ expression on her face. She took ‘attendance’ and pretended to hear the response of each plushy. Each stuffed toy had a name.

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After taking attendance she marched back and forth in front of the classroom. The lecture she was parroting today was on alchemy. Her memory seemed to be amazing, at least according to people who attended both her ‘class’ and the original one that Mellina taught.

“-Mother bee honey can be used as the base ingredient in most types of healing potions. It’s neutral reaction and nourishing qualities boost the metabolism of the person taking it and support the effect of the active ingredients.”

I kinda miss the old days when she stuttered a bit. It was hard to understand but adorable when she tried to use the big words. Her voice still had that prepubescent squeak and she still looked like a tiny, cute animal though.

“The Ceylon Verum tree is the best source for one of the active ingredients in common healing potions. Its inner bark has properties that are perfect for potion making and has been cultivated for countless millennia. Nearly every country has a grove of them in their alchemical gardens or greenhouses.”

Her little button nose is wrinkled as she tries her hardest to remember the difficult words. I can hear squeaking sounds, but they are behind me. A few maids are peeking through the door, making muffled ‘squee’ noises at how adorable the kid is being. I have to agree.

“The Planifolia orchid is the second ingredient in the modern healing potions. Pods harvested from the vine have recently replaced other ingredients in the common recipes. You have to be careful though, since the sap causes bad rashes…”

The neat thing about all these ingredients is they could be found in the Honeywood forest. The quality was head and shoulders above other potions of the same type. Honeywood healing potions were known to be nearly as effective as greater healing potions while costing a great deal less. I guess that isn’t a surprise since there are hardly any other places on earth where you can find mother bees. Normal honey just doesn’t compare…

That’s why Macedor and other countries wanted to own the Honeywood forest so bad. As far as they were concerned, this place was a goose that laid diamond studded, platinum eggs.

Eventually Astera finished her lecture and clop clop clopped behind the room divider and stripped off the outfit she had draped over her clothes. I helped her clean up, although calling it that was a stretch.

Eventually we all gathered together to have dinner. I was lucky enough to be treated like a family member. I suppose that had to do with the contract. A beastmaster’s contract was a shortcut to becoming close as family.

It took me awhile to understand how contracts work. It wasn’t really mind control or enslavement. It was empathy and communication. A contract gives both the beastmaster and the beast the ability to interact at a deeper level. It’s like a shortcut to reach the level of communication that family members and close friends have.

When Astera had contracted me she hadn’t been trying to control me, she had tried to understand me. As soon as I woke up we both understood one another like we had known each other all our lives. That is the biggest reason I hadn’t wanted to escape and been so willing to act as her guardian.

In some ways it could be considered a type of mind control, but I didn’t believe that anymore. The thing was, if she had been a selfish brat I wouldn’t have been so willing to deal with her. I had come to that realization eventually. It was because I knew she was a good kid that I agreed to stay.

I do sometimes think that the Empress would have enslaved me if I hadn’t agreed though, she was kind of calculating and coldly pragmatic that way.

Anyway, that little contract had basically made me as close as family member to the Greenbul’s youngest child. Since the whole family was naturally empathetic they accepted me quite quickly. I guess this was the reason they made such good beastmasters: other people just couldn’t form such deep connections with their contracts. The Greenbul's Natural empathy was practically a superpower.

For a bug like me to actually get a family like this was quite lucky. I know who to thank for that, though I feel like the bad luck balances it out somewhat.

Tssk Tsk, So Ungrateful.

If I never hear from her again it’ll be too soon.

The parents did a good job explaining the war to the kids. Good thing too since I was not looking forward to trying to explain that to Astera. ‘Hey kiddo, I’m going to go fight an army by myself!’ Yeah, like that’ll go well.

“Okay! Go beat the bad guys up Manto!”

As it turns out I didn’t need to worry.

The kid thinks of me as some kind of superhero. It’s quite something to live up to, since I am just a bug. Still, I’m faster than a car, bulletproof, strong enough to throw boulders, and can transform. If that isn’t at a superhero level then I don’t know what is.

After Mero and Astera understood the situation we finished up and handed the kids of to the maids. The Greenbuls were pretty close and usually didn’t rely on the maids to take care of the kids. But occasionally business or important matters meant that the parents were too busy.

A war definitely counted as too busy.

The three of us, the parents and I, walked out to a balcony. One the ledge perched Periphas and Phene. Periphas was eating the carcass of a deer, and offering the bones to Phene. Periphas would pin a piece of the carcass, and strip off and eat most of the meat with a few quick movements of his beak. Then he would lift up the meaty bone in his beak and hand it off to Phene.

It would be sorta romantic if it wasn’t so gory. I mean, there was blood everywhere.

Raphina was leaning against the balcony, staring off into the distant sky. Arizel leaned his back against the balcony, his elbow barely touching his wife’s. It was interesting, but the two elves seemed to be intimate as well. Compared to the birds of prey who were being very lovey dovey, the elves who weren’t even looking at each other seemed just as loving.

I nodded to them as I widened my stance and spread my wings. Phene and Periphas paused to nod back and Arizel just gave me a quiet smile. It only took a small push to shoot into the air. I flapped my wings and a deep thrum shook the air as I flew off for the battlefield.

Flying high over the trees with the sun so low gives a view like no other. The differing heights of the trees zooming underneath and the sheer size of the forest made me feel like I was soaring over a green, leafy sea. The lighting of the sun creating long shadow made things look very surreal as well.

Once again I found myself musing over this places beauty. I could see this a thousand times and never get tired of it. Nature’s beauty was just that compelling. It made me understand how painters must feel.

The wind against my exoskeleton was invigorating. For now I simply basked in the sights, sounds, and smells. I wanted to enjoy this as much as possible before I reached my destination.

I had an army to fight, people to kill. Maybe I would eat their horses? I don’t know, I’ll just work that out when the time comes.

Even now, as zen and peaceful as I felt ...I was looking forward to it.