"Wife! I'm home!" Safia announced, entering the room from the hallway.

In her hand was a tree branch representing a bow or a spear and in other hand a toy rabbit made of rags.

"Welcome home... husband." Tao responded, holding a rag toy, that looked like girl, in booth arms.

"Here's what I hunted!" Safia beamed, raising the bunny toy higher.

"So great!" The boy tried to show the joy and delight in his voice.

"Come, give me a kiss!" Sister demanded.

What the... father never asked mother that! Tao protested in his mind.

However, he obediently stepped closer to Safia and lightly touched his lips to the girl's cheek.

"Take and cook dinner!" Smiling contentedly, the sister gave the bunny to Tao.

How can I do that? You didn't give me the dishes! He wanted to protest the poor game planning, but just sighed.

"Aye." The boy walked over to the chair and put the toy on it, pretending to bake.

"You fed the baby?" Safia stood next to him and asked the question, crossing her arms on chest.

"Yes, I did."

"Give him to me!" the girl demanded.

Tao watched as his sister began to nurse the rag doll, moving even further away from father's role as hunter.

"She says she hasn't eaten!" Safia suddenly announced, putting her ear to the doll's mouth.

She is saying what now? Tao could only wonder at his sister's imagination and willingness to improvise.

"I'm sorry." He decided to continue sister's game.

"The baby needs to be fed! With milk!" the girl said and gave the doll back to Tao.

And what do you expect from me? Tao's eyes expressed a firm refusal.

He put the doll closer to his chest, without taking off his shirt, of course.

“Good baby...” the boy stroked the doll's head, hoping that sister would now be satisfied.

"Hey! Dinner's burning!" Safia exclaimed and pointed at the bunny.

I want a divorce! Tao lamented in mind about this domestic abuse.

He hoped that this behavior of Safia was just a phase in childhood. If she was so overbearing as an adult... Tao could only sympathies with the girl's husband in the future.

There were no real mirrors in the house, just small, metal ones with a polished surface. When the boy had the chance to look at himself in one of them, he felt a kind of identity crisis. Tao had expected his appearance to resemble father and maybe also mother, but boy had not been prepared for how... androgynous the child's face was. Apart from his tiny genitals, he didn't look much different from Safia, especially now that his hair was longer. The fact that boy’s sister insisted he play the role of mother didn't help his self-confidence.

But she seemed to be doing better... in his heart Tao felt happy.

Safia slept more soundly at night, back in the children's bedroom. Although she sometimes woke up in the middle of the night from a bad dream, usually Tao was able to calm sister down on his own, without having to disturb parents. Mother, however, still tended to leave a candle lit in the children's bedroom until Safia fell asleep. The darkness still frightened the girl.

Apart from his social duties of playing with elder sister and helping mother with small chores, Tao could devote most of day to his studies. Mostly he just concentrated on creating the spirit barrier, even if it meant many hours of exhausting mental concentration. For someone who had studied to get into one of Japan's top universities, this was standard routine...

True, that experience also taught him something else: sometimes willpower alone is not enough.

***

Breath in, breath out...

Breath in, breath out...

"Yes, the barrier is getting stronger. Go on, make it thicker and smoother..."

Breath in, breath out...

"No, don't use more force, the excess will seep through. You use enough, learn to control it better."

Breath in, breath out...

Tao tried to relax his mind while maintaining this process, but unfortunately it always failed. Although he was able to synchronize maintaining the barrier around him at the same time as breathing, it only worked if the boy consciously used his spirit power.

"Maybe I was wrong." Tao murmured softly.

He was outside the house, watching his mother plant seeds in the vegetable garden with Safia's help. Tao also counted as helping, although in reality he was only guarding the cups of seeds from the birds.

"Wrong about what?" the spirit asked in his ear.

Breath in, breath out...

"Maybe it's impossible to combine the barrier with breathing... unconscious breathing, that is."

"The child's body is malleable." Eleya retorted.

"In that way too? I don't think so... You said you can't make flowers into vegetables, right?"

"It's different. I don't have to change your being, just connect the physical part of the mind responsible for breathing with this technique."

Breath in, breath out...

Tao had to think a little to understand what the spirit of the forest was saying.

"You mean you're planning to affect my brain... The part of my brain that's responsible for breathing?" he tried to understand with a kind of disbelief.

"I think that would be the simplest solution. Of course, it would also be good to be able to stop the technique when you don't want to... but the barrier doesn't require much force, so I don't think it will be a problem even if it becomes a permanent part of your breathing." The spirit spoke calmly, as if discussing the weather or whatever else forest spirits tend to gossip about at their leisure.

"Won't that be dangerous?" Tao didn't hide his anxiety.

"In what way?" Eleya didn't understand.

"Affect my brain. What if you... accidentally affect my ability to breathe? Make me unable to breathe unconsciously or breathe in general?"

"I don't think that's going to happen. You're already trying to link the two things, right? I'm just going to use my power and skills to... cultivate this process, if I may put it that way. Your brain tissue will get used to linking these two things together, like moving your mouth when you want to talk."

Tao didn't answer. He also realized he had stopped building the barrier when started thinking about Elayne's offer. His breathing continued, but mind had stopped focusing the spirit power.

"Still, it seems risky." The boy didn't feel sure about that.

"Not just you. I will have to get into your body with my spirit power, overcome your natural aura. It will take a lot of strength from me. I will need at least a week beforehand to prepare. And it has to take place outside the village."

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"How much time will it take?" Tao asked.

"I don't know, maybe hours."

"You know it's not easy for me to get out for long."

"It's the only option. I won't be able to do something that important here, under their domain." Eleya sounded implacable.

"You said the aura of the light spirits is getting weaker."

"Yes, they haven't restored it for some time, but that power still affects me. I can only talk to you here, nothing more."

Apparently, the village had been blessed with the power of the light spirits to protect them from the spirits. This area, under the influence of the blessing, emitted a kind of aura that was unpleasant to all spirits except the those of the light. People wanted to protect themselves from evil spirits, but were also suspicious of others, such as forest spirits.

"But the lesser spirits, why doesn't this aura affect them?" Tao asked.

"They have no consciousness; their minds cannot be influenced only their nature. And even then, only some ignore the aura to get closer to you. They feed on your leaking power to become stronger, but in reality, they lose their strength fighting this aura. Foolish creatures."

"But didn't you say that spirits can only take in the power that suits their nature?"

"That's usually the case for intelligent spirits... Tao, our time is limited, it doesn't matter now."

The boy made face in frustration, but said nothing.

Tao craved to know more about the world around him, human society, history, magic and fighting skills, but his parents and other people said little or were difficult to understand without explanation. Eleya was an inexhaustible source of knowledge for the boy, especially about things that most people did not seem to know - the spirit power and spiritual beings. Unfortunately, the meetings of the two in the village were mostly short and focused only on Tao training. Only outside the village was Eleya ready to talk about other topics.

"I have to think. Maybe there will be an opportunity." Tao said.

"Find it. In the meantime, you keep training."

"Yes, I know."

"Do you train your body too?"

"A little... so as not to attract attention."

"Soon we'll get your barrier stable. Then you can get down to training properly." Eleya seemed motivated.

"Thank you for your guidance." Tao decided to be polite as he said goodbye.

"Stay well."

There was no sound of the spirit of the forest somehow leaving, disappearing from physical reality or otherwise suggesting that Tao was alone, just silence. He could not look in his own ear to search for the small air vibration there, nor otherwise ascertain that the spirit was indeed gone. A similar feeling might be when someone says they are leaving, but you don't hear the door close.

Tao, however, did not think to question the forest spirit's statement that she felt bad in the village area. Eleya made it clear that she wanted to make the boy stronger. There was no point in making up something that would interfere with that.

Not that I was planning to say anything rude behind her back, Tao decided not to worry too much about it.

***

"I'm ready." Tao heard Eleya's voice in his ear.

It had been eight days since their last meeting.

The boy was in front of his house, as if to play, but in reality, to get in touch with the spirit of the forest.

"I thought of something. Wait in the meadows west of the river. I'll make sure it works today. If not, tomorrow." Tao whispered back.

"You want me to wait all day?" The voice didn't sound satisfied.

"Are you in a hurry?"

"I'm making special preparations... it would be good if you could make it today."

"I'll try. But I can't promise."

When Eleya was gone, Tao drew a breath and returned home. His mother was working in the kitchen and used magic to dry the wild flowers the woman had picked in the meadows a few days earlier. The flowers and leaves were used in remedial teas and as ingredients for other things. Safia was not at home; the girl was playing with children her age outside the house. Father was in the forest, as usual. The boy took his toys and started to play in the corner, although he was actually cautiously studying his mother. And waited.

Sofra regularly stopped work to take care of Inya, or just to rest, but didn't leave the kitchen until lunchtime, when she made fire in the stove and went to the well for water.

Time to attack, Tao immediately stood up and rushed to his mother's desk. At the age of two, he was tall enough to be able to push a pile of dry flowers off the table and into the ground.

It will be unnecessary work for the mother, but... it is for the good of everyone, Tao told himself to quell the guilt.

Grabbing the pile of dry flowers, the boy carried it to the stove, opened the metal door with a piece of wood and threw the result of Sofra's hard work inside. The dry plants quickly burst into flames, only a few that fell on the floor in front of the stove escaped the fire.

When the mother returned, she panicked, realizing that her two-year-old son had managed to open the hot metal door of stove. Sofra made sure that the child's hands were not burnt. After that Tao had to listen for several minutes to warnings never, ever to touch the stove, which he promised to do. After grasping what her son had burnt, Sofra also tried to impress on him that he should not touch the things on the table.

"Holy Ones are my witnesses, you are sometimes a rascal as big as Safia." mother finally shook her head and sighed.

"I'm sorry, mammy. I won't do it again..." Tao tried to express the regret in his voice and on face.

"All right, I forgive you. But listen to me from now on, yes?" The woman's face brightened and she caressed the boy's cheek.

Too soft... Children don't learn to be obedient this way, Tao questioned in his mind the correctness of mother's parenting methods.

True, he was counting on getting away with it, or he wouldn't have done it. The manipulation of his mother was upsetting, so the boy had to remind himself that it was necessary, that his training would benefit the whole family.

After lunch, Sofra called Reyte to look after the children for a few hours.

"Mommy, I want to come with you!" Tao announced, clinging to mother's skirt.

"I'm not going to play, son. Stay with aunty." Sofra objected.

"Mommy... angry?" The boy made eyes at the crying.

He was about to take full advantage of his mother's tender heart.

And it worked. Sighing, Sofra left her friend to take care of younger daughter, while she left the village with Tao, who was behaving rather strangely today. When they reached the meadow, the boy's mood changed again: instead of following his mother every step of the way, or wandering off, Tao sat down on the ground and stayed there for a long time without moving much, as if he had fallen asleep, except for his mouth, which opened every now and then as if he were saying something quietly. It was true that the boy used to behave like that a lot at home, so Sofra decided not to dwell on it too much. Having her son in one place also made it easier to keep an eye on him.

"You came today. Great." Eleya was delighted.

"I don't know for how long. We'd better get started." Today Tao was the one who rushed the other side.

"So be it. Concentrate your power to create a barrier as best you can. You'll feel something strange, I think, but it shouldn't hurt or give you any other bad feelings. Above all, concentrate your will on the technique." The spirit of the forest gave instructions.

Taking a deep breath, the boy tried to let go of his worries and did as Eleya asked. The spirit power from his center spread over his skin, forming a smooth layer that kept the spirit power inside of his body. With daily practice, Tao had reached a level that satisfied the spirit of the forest, the only problem remaining was maintaining this skill without constant concentration.

Tao sensed something in his mind. It was not another mind like the forest spirit, nor was it the strange artificial construct when the boy summoned magic. It wasn't even the alien force that had appeared to him in the dream. Tao felt confusion and fear, but... vague, animalistic.

"Eleya, what is that?" the boy opened his lips to ask.

"I told you that you would feel something strange. Concentrate." The voice at his side said.

"Is it... the lesser spirit?"

Eleya didn't answer right away.

"I feel fear, it is afraid." Tao spoke again.

"I tried to calm it, but failed. Ignore it, concentrate on the barrier."

"No, I'll stop if you don't explain!" The boy expressed stubbornness and raised voice.

The spirit of the forest did not do anything so human as groaning, but Tao got the impression that she would have done it now.

"I can't access your mind without exposing myself to the power of your spirit. I need... a shield." Eleya confessed.

"Is that... painful? You said they have no consciousness."

"They don't have consciousness as intelligent beings, but they are like animals and can feel emotions, albeit on a primitive level. I tried to make it understand that there is no reason to be afraid, but I failed."

"Why is it afraid? Does it hurt? What is happening to it?"

"Not the pain, but your spirit power affects it, changes it."

Fear of change? Yes, Tao could feel it, but also something else. The fear of losing strength, the desire to get away, to stop draining it...

"You take his spirit power?"

"I use it for your benefit, to develop, to cultivate the part of your mind that will allow you to maintain the barrier. Concentrate, or it will all be for nothing. This is the only way."

Tao didn't really know what to do, Eleya's explanation seemed plausible, but this procedure was not pleasant, even more it seemed wrong. But if he aborted, what then?

I need to learn this skill. The lesser spirits are like animals... Sorry... the boy convinced himself and continued to concentrate on the barrier.

The feeling of despair and fear gradually grew weaker in his mind until Tao could barely feel it.

"It's done." Eleya announced after some time.

It probably took about an hour, but the boy wasn't sure. His mother was still walking around the meadow, occasionally glancing back to where her son was sitting.

Tao no longer felt the other presence in his mind. Contact with this lesser spirit didn't seem to be breaking, though, but fading.

"Eleya, what happened to this spirit?" He asked immediately.

"Unfortunately, it continued to resist, spending its powers unnecessarily. It diminished." She explained.

"And what does that really mean?"

"Its powers are spent, it can no longer think, feel, do anything... well, the lesser spirits don't think much to begin with. In time it will take back into itself the spirit power from its surroundings, begin to exist and function again."

"It's not dead?"

"Death is a part of mortals. You will be long gone and forgotten, but some of these lesser spirits will continue to exist ages later."

It was not easy for Tao to grasp this, harder even to accept. He still couldn't help thinking that he had done something wrong.

"You should have told me exactly what you wanted to do." The boy said.

“I did.”

“You didn't say you were going to use the lesser spirit as... as a sacrifice.” Tao didn't care that his voice was harsh.

“Strange… you seem upset. Don’t mortals kill and use all kind of animals and plants for their own benefit?” Eleya asked.

Tao did not have an answer. He still thought what had happened was wrong.

"If I had told you, what difference would it make?" spirit continued to talk.

"I could prepare better."

"Maybe. I was hoping it would stay calm and then things would have been easier. But are you focusing your will on the barrier now?"

Tao realized that his skin was still covered by the protective layer, even though the boy's mind was focused on reflecting on what had just happened. True, once he started thinking about his breathing, he could no longer do it unconsciously. Also, to maintain the barrier, the mind had to be concentrated again.

"I think it worked, but now I'm thinking about breathing again... I need a distraction." Tao said thoughtfully.

"How do I do that?"

"Well, I have a lot of questions... "

"About what?"

"Everything." The boy smiled involuntarily.

What happened was disturbing, but he wanted to take full advantage of the opportunity to question the spirit of the forest.

***