The first step to training my first student was to make sure she couldn't accidentally lose control of her powers and literally self-destruct. To that effort, I followed my own master's methods and crafted a limiter in the form of a choker.

Before gathering what I needed, I made sure my new protege was busy for the day so I could do what I needed to while making sure she was productive, so after giving Beatrix an adequate change of clothes and showing her around the tower, I took her into the training room.

"Are we starting now?" she said.

"Yes, and no." I gestured to the wall lined with a plethora of different training weapons. "Do you know how to use any of those?"

"No. I had a dagger, but I lost it. Never really knew how to use that, either."

"Well, now it's time to learn. Pick some up and swing them around. Try to get a feel for them and see what clicks with you." I went for the stairs. "I'll leave you with that for a while."

"Wait, what do you mean by 'a while'?"

"About a day."

"A day?"

"I have stuff to do, so I'll be back in a bit. Get to it." I started up the steps.

"Wait, you never told me your name," She called frantically behind me.

"It's Oscar."

It turned out the ingredients were either expensive or hard to come by, but I was still able to do it in a day since there was a large strip of workable sky-rat leather in the cellar and I hadn't gone through the batch of pure silver I bought for experiments yet. The only problem was getting a single golden fleece, blood blackened with regret, and a symbol of power.

The golden fleece wasn't too hard to find on short notice, but it was really expensive since only two shops in town had any and one was only in a display piece while the other asked for an exorbitant price. I was only able to get it marked down after I imbued a bundle of thread the size of a car with my magic.

The symbol of power would hopefully take care of itself, but the real problem was the blood. After searching through Zeta's notes, I came upon a dead end. There were a few pages scribbled with notes about how important the blood was, but once it seemed to be close to some sort of conclusion, the writing suddenly stopped.

Remembering how I was looking through a wizard's notes I ran some magic through my fingertips into the paper and uncovered a message that started glowing under the ink. It read; YOU, in large, almost spatter-like handwriting.

This would have had to have been a message to themself, but... Of course, it was. Regardless, I knew what I had to do.

I sat and meditated, thinking of my past and the grievances I had with my own decisions. It didn't take long for a rarely-forgotten feeling to wash over me, seeping down to my bones from my head to toe.

Swiftly, I drew a dagger, resisted the urge to plunge it into my own throat, and slid it along my palm, drawing blood turned black as pitch and allowed it to flow into a small glass jar awaiting at my side.

Once I had all the ingredients together, I started by boiling a strip of sky-rat leather in water mixed with some of the black blood until it was soft. Next, I stitched the gold thread into the back of the leather and hung it to dry. While I waited, I boiled some of the blood by itself until it thickened enough to be applied as a lacquer onto the drying leather, turning it completely black. I also melted some silver and fashioned it into a blank medallion. Once all the pieces were together, I went to Beatrix in the training room.

She was beating on a wooden dummy with a tonfa in each hand. Not too far from her was another dummy splintered in two with a wooden greatsword sticking out of it.

"You seem to have made progress," I said, looking around for more carnage.

Startled, she jumped and turned around when she heard my voice. "Oh! Um, sorry for the dummy. I think I broke it... And I couldn't get the sword out."

"It's fine." I went to the dummy and yanked the sword from it. "I left you here unsupervised for a day. I'd be surprised if you didn't break anything." I leaned the sword against the broken dummy. "So, find anything you like?"

"Well, the big sword felt nice to swing until I couldn't and I really like these things." She held up the tonfas. "Then there's these." She turned her wrists to show a pair of leather gauntlets covering her hands. "I like these, too."

"Good, you found something."

"But what does this have to do with magic?" She seemed apprehensive to ask.

"We'll get to that but for now, it's better to have some way to protect yourself outside from magic since you've learned nothing yet. That being said, follow me." I went back up the stairs while she put down the weapons and followed me up a floor to the cellar. Picking up the strip of leather, I showed it to her. "Tilt your head up, I'm going to put this on you."

She looked at it hesitantly for a second and lurched backward. "N-no!" She started trembling slightly.

"What's wrong?" Whatever it was, it seemed like she was scarred from something.

"Nothing, it's just..." She seemed to calm down. "What is it for?"

"It's a limiter to make sure you don't literally explode if you lose control of your powers. A choker, if you will."

She nodded shakily and whispered, "Okay." Slowly, she tilted her head up.

I sat the strip around her neck and pinched the ends together where they fused to make a continuous circle.

"Next, is this." I picked up the medallion and placed it below the strip in the front before letting go and a short length of a chain appeared on its own to connect the two. "Last, but not least, I need you to focus on that medallion. Can you do that?"

She nodded and held it firmly between her fingertips with her eyes closed and a deep breath. Not too long after, it began glowing almost golden yellow for a second before stopping. On it, a dragon with stars for eyes surrounded by a circle of stars was now engraved. Her eyes opened. "Did I... do it?"

"Yep, here's a good look at it." I reached for a mirror and held it up so she could see.

"A dragon..."

"Not unexpected. After all, mine was similar." I went for the stairs. "Next, is this way."

She followed me to the ritual room on the third floor where I already put together an array of diamond dust in a series of circles with a space in the center. "Step into the center."

Cautiously, she tip-toed to the circle into the middle and stood holding her hands.

I placed my palms on the ground in front of her outside the array and cast the spell. "Elemental resonance."

Almost immediately, the dust began shifting both pattern and color until it settled on a white star shape in the middle around Beatrix and a yellow pattern of circles with tails trailing behind them going around the outer edge.

"Umm..." she said, nervously.

I reached for a nearby book open to the correct page and let it levitate off my hand to hers. "It's very straightforward, but this is essentially what your elemental attunement amounts to."

She looked between the images for a moment and said, "Celestial gravity? Does that mean I control stars?"

"Okay, maybe not that simple, but you'll get it eventually." I locked my fingers together and popped my knuckles. "That's enough for the day, it's time to rest." I went for the door to the room.

"Wait, this is all?" said Beatrix.

"Well, you need that choker to properly attune to you. Can't have it breaking because we're careless. That, and it's nighttime and I'm hungry." I went out into the hallway. "To the kitchen."

I made my way to the kitchen and gathered ingredients to start cooking a pot of snake and rice which I started on the stove and stirred periodically while adding in the other ingredients.

Beatrix watched curiously until I was done and helped me prepare the table where we ate in silence. I sensed my new protege had a few questions swimming around her head but refused to ask any of them. She just looked around awkwardly while eating.

"What is it?" I said.

"Ah- nothing... I just..." Her surprised response saw bits of rice fly out of her mouth.

"Never be afraid to ask a question. Sometimes a question can wait, but it shouldn't be ignored."

"Um, well... I just wanted to know... Were you an outcast like me?"

"You said you grew up in a village where everyone could use magic, right?"

"Yeah. Even the other kids could do it..."

"I understand." Looking up at the ceiling, I began to reminisce. "I guess you can say I was an outcast of sorts. I only had a couple of friends and no one aside from them really socialized with me. I wasn't exactly ostracized or anything, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a rough go of it."

"So... What did you do before you were all magic and stuff in your tower?"

"Oh." I couldn't help but smile. "I was an adventurer. My partner and I could take on pretty much anything. Even killed a golem once. Those were good days."

"Really? What was your partner like?"

"She was insanely strong and used an axe as big as her. Swung it around like a pillow and hit like a truck."

"Where is she now?"

I couldn't help but fall silent while I tried not to dwell on the answer. "Alright, I know I said never to be afraid to ask a question, but that's enough for the day."

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't be. You're just curious. That's good, but... I have no idea where she is, really. It's been a long time since I've seen her..."

"Did you break up?"

I couldn't suppress a laugh. "Nah, we were never dating. She was into girls."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she'd be flirting you up right now if..." I sighed. "Good times..."

"Um- I didn't mean, like, dating, but that's surprising too I guess..."

"Oh, sorry..." I looked back down at my food. "We didn't break up per se, we just kinda... I don't know. It happened just after we became a guild..." I sighed. "Sorry I can't really answer your questions."

"It's okay. Sorry, I asked."

We went back to eating silently. Afterward, I washed the dishes while Beatrix took a shower, and I had time to think with the backdrop of rushing water and repetitive motion to help soothe my thoughts.

I thought about where my life would be if it wasn't for magic and my ambition to learn it. What other foolish ambition I could have taken and how far I would have followed it? My thoughts were interrupted by the sudden lack of objects to clean. There weren't that many dishes, but I still somehow expected it to take longer.

Backing away from the sink, I went to the bathroom and knocked to no response. Opening the door, I found a mess on the floor. There was a shelf next to the open shower door that held a series of different liquid soaps that was empty as everything on it was seemingly flung across the floor and many of the bottles burst open or outright exploded. The most concerning part of this scene was the woman unconscious under them.

She looked like she just stepped out of the shower and her arm was stretched out as if she was reaching for something. It looked like she didn't even have time to react as she was face down with a foot in the air.

Immediately worried, I rushed to her side, careful not to slip, and turned her over. She was still breathing but unconscious and her nose was bleeding. I picked her up and took her to her room where I put her under a blanket, treated her nosebleed with a bit of magic, and sat her change of clothes on her desk.

Before going to sleep, I checked in on the blink dogs. It took a few days to tame them, but once they realized I was not a danger to them, they had no problem listening to me. While the cleanup was always a chore, I didn't mind having them around. Even so, I had to get rid of them eventually.

I wrote a note and attached it to the collar of one and released two of them out through the front door. I decided to keep the one that was the most obedient as a pet. I named him Borf because it was funny and sounded close to the sound he made.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The next day, I realized I never considered a method to get Beatrix to realize her very first spell. It had to come naturally, or nothing would come of it. I wasn't like my own teacher and couldn't just attack her until she retaliated. Even if I did, she was no fighter and would likely not recover from the experience enough to grow from it. Regardless, I had to break her down to build her up. The question was; how to do it without making her shatter completely? Since she had no foundation to fall upon, would she really be able to bounce back and muster any level of control over herself?

Those questions seemed absurd as soon as I thought them, but they did remind me of something I forgot.

I found Beatrix in the dining room with her head on the table and her arms outstretched towards the other side. In front of her were two plates of omelets and half a baked potato each.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said in a defeated tone. "What happened last night?"

"Looked like you fell getting out of the shower."

"Oh." She seemed to shiver. "I'm sorry, I'm a clutz."

"Guess that just means I have to keep a close eye on you, huh?"

"Uh... Yeah... D- Did you?"

"I only picked you up and laid you down. Cleaned that nosebleed as well."

"I mean when I landed... Did you hear it?"

"Oh. Nope. I didn't even know anything happened until I found you under a pile of soap."

She seemed to relax a little. "I made breakfast as thanks..."

I sat down in front of the plate across from her. "So, do you remember how you fell?"

After a moment, her shoulders started jumping and a high-pitched whine came from her.

"Are you okay?"

Sniffling, she said, "I pulled on the choker and- and then I couldn't breathe and I slipped and then I woke up..."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Don't worry, I did the same when I got mine."

"Really?" She seemed to calm down a little.

"Yeah, I just didn't do it where I could accidentally kill myself. Instead, I did it in front of my master and embarrassed myself."

She looked up with tears still in her eyes and an almost forced smile. "That makes me feel better."

"Speaking of masters." I sat the book I was holding on the table. "Mine gave me this and I'm giving it to you."

I slid it across the table and she read the title before holding it close to her chest. The tears went away almost immediately.

I said, "Open it to the bookmark," and she did.

"You're a Wizard?" she said, looking back at me.

"Yep, and you're a Wizard's apprentice."

"Most of the people I knew were Wielders."

"That's because most people who live in Roland are Wielders. To them, it's a natural turning point to awaken as one. Here, even though this country was founded by Wizards, we're few and far between since it's partially a learned craft even if you're born with it and most wizards frankly don't like teaching."

"What about you?"

"I'm indifferent, but I'll be honest, I was going to refuse you if you didn't have those eyes."

Her gaze dropped back down to the page. "There are different types here, which one are you?"

"Article."

She read for a bit and said, "You don't like company?"

I shrugged. "You could say I'm an introvert."

"I guess... You live here by yourself. Ancient Wizard looks fun."

"My master was that before graduating to Silent. I think before that, they were Tandem."

She looked back up at me. "Wait, you can change what type you are?"

"Well, it just depends on how you work, kinda. I recently got some help from a faery in potion making, but I only store my magic within objects."

"I get it. How do I figure out what kind I am?"

I shrugged again. "You just feel it out and what feels right is usually what you are. That's just how magic seems to work."

"How do I do that?"

"We'll get around to that eventually." I smiled.

She looked back down and said, "Food's getting cold."

"Oh yeah, food." I took a bite of the omelet. "By the way, how long did it take you to find the eggs?"

Her face seemed to drain of all emotion as if she was reminded of an event that scarred her for life. In a soft, yet flat voice, she said, "Who keeps their fridge under the floor? I woke up at around twelve. It was seven by the time I found it. It took me hours just to find a cold box under the floor. I wasn't even going to make eggs at first. Everything I thought about making was under the floor. Everything. I was too tired to make anything other than this..."

Halfway through the omelet, I said, "Believe it or not, this place is very straightforward for a Wizard's tower. You'd probably lose your mind in almost any other Wizard's place."

"I'm not going to any other Wizard's tower. Ever."

"Don't be like that, you'll get used to it."

"Okay..." She sat her book aside and started eating.

As soon as I was done, I stood and went down the hall to the dog room. On the door, I cast 'illusory voice' and then headed for the front door.

"I'll be gone for a while, so make sure you don't go insane looking for another common house appliance."

Closing the door, I made myself invisible and hovered around the outside of the tower. Looking through the windows, I saw Beatrix washing the dishes and then lying across a sofa while clutching the book I gave her. Soon enough, she opened it again and read through quite a few pages. After that, she stood and started dancing in circles with the book in excitement, nearly falling over twice and falling once. She landed hard and stood holding her elbow.

Sitting with the book on her lap, she nursed her elbow by rubbing it with her hand for a while. Eventually, she looked up as if she suddenly noticed something. Looking left and right, she zeroed in on it, sat the book down, and stood before making her way to the hallway. Once there, she looked around again and then went to the dog room. By this time, I could no longer see her through the windows, but after a couple of minutes, my illusion broke. She opened the door and let Borf out.

A surprised scream followed by barking resounded through the hall as my cue. I teleported back to the front door and entered silently. Down the hall, Beatrix's foot was being gnawed at while she tried to scurry in my direction unsuccessfully. Her struggle only became more intense as Borf began dragging her into the room he came from while I followed.

Once she realized she couldn't crawl away, she struggled onto her back and pointed her palms at the dog's snout "Gravity ball!" a bright yellow orb shot from between her hands and slammed into him, carrying him into a wall and dazing him on impact.

Before either of them could take another action, I dispelled my invisibility and walked into the room. As soon as he saw me, Borf retreated to a corner and started nosing a ball around with his snout.

"Having a good time, Beatrix?"

The hyperventilating woman looked up and when she saw me, her face twisted into a grimace and tears began streaming almost directly to the floor like twin waterfalls. She reached for me and held onto my leg for dear life.

"Why- why- why-" She gave it a good try at speaking between her rapid sniffling.

I placed my hand on her head and said, "I'm sorry for scaring you like that. Let me see your leg."

Hesitantly, she turned and held her leg up toward me and I bent down to examine it. There were a series of shallow cuts across her foot but most of the damage was to her pant leg which had very well-defined tooth holes punctured through it.

"It's not bleeding. This should heal up fine on its own, we just need to clean it."

I reached out and picked her up before making my way to the living room and sitting her down on the sofa, making sure to close the door to the dog room on the way. She cried the whole way and my shirt was more than a little wet as a result. Soon enough, I cleaned and lightly bandaged her foot so she could stand and move immediately.

Once she was all cried out, she sat in silence with a cold gaze directed at the wall. She looked like she regretted her life decisions.

After watching her sit there for what felt like too long, I said, "How did it feel to cast your first spell?"

She just shrugged.

"I guess you've had too many traumatizing events over the past few days, huh?"

Another shrug.

"Well, that's just the start, to be honest. It does get easier, though."

"Can I take back wanting to be a Wizard?" I couldn't tell if her question was rhetorical or not, but it didn't matter.

"Nope. As soon as I saw those eyes light up like the night sky, you lost that choice just as I had."

"What do you mean, I don't have a choice?" After her question, everything seemed to fall unusually silent.

I sighed and said, "These eyes are special. They allow us to peer just past the veil of what makes the universe work. Just that alone makes us targets for those who would seek to use them for nefarious purposes. When I was just learning magic, I was almost kidnapped by a group of people who would have done just that had the person on the job not been afraid of my eyes. Eventually, someone unswayed by fear may appear to do the same and I don't want you to be unprepared to defend yourself if I can't."

"So, I have to do this so I can protect myself?"

"I can't protect you forever." A moment of silence passed. "But I'll tell you what. You don't need to become a master at it. You really just need to learn enough to protect yourself."

"How long will that take?"

"Depends on you. It takes most Wizards a few years at least."

"How long did it take you?"

"It took around six months to wield magic by itself in a high enough capacity to really protect myself, but I already had experience with a sword. That cut down the time to around two months give or take a few days."

The look in her eye changed. "Two months... I'll do it." She looked me straight in the eye. "Then I can go out on my own, right?"

"If you can really do it in two months, I'll be impressed." I patted her on the back. "With that said, let's get started." I stood and went to the hallway.

"Wait, now?" She hopped up and followed as if she was never wounded.

"Of course, now. You just cast your first spell, there's literally no better time than now."

We entered the training room and I opened the stone door guarding the magic training room before walking in with Beatrix behind me. I stopped and she continued a bit farther in.

"This was here the whole time?" Beatrix looked around in wonder.

"Yep" I gestured across the room. "You'll be training in magic here from now on."

"Magic... I cast a spell."

"You did. How did it feel?"

"Terrifying. Also, what's up with the dog?"

"Borf? He was one of the dogs that attacked you but I'm keeping him for now."

"You're keeping him?" She sounded surprised.

"For now," I said. "Concentrate on how you felt when you cast that spell earlier and try doing it again before you forget."

"Okay." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Slowly, she cupped her hands together. "Gravity ball." A dim yellow light appeared in them and grew to the size of a ping-pong ball. She opened her eyes and looked at it. "What now?" Before she even got the words out, the little ball buckled in on itself like a cracked egg under pressure and fizzled away in seconds.

"Like I thought, you're a natural." I folded my arms and prepared to stand for a while. "Now, if you can do that without it dying out so fast, we can move on to the next step."

"Alright," she said with a look of conviction.

I watched as she cast the spell many times over with similar results every time. I figured she'd get it eventually, so I left to get the targets. When I came back, she was maintaining a yellow orb in her hand that wobbled slightly as she guided it forward off her palm and into the air where it popped like a bubble.

"Good job so fa-"

"Ah!" Her piercing shriek cut me off and a look of embarrassment crossed her face. "Sorry, you surprised me."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "It's fine." I tossed a few of the yellow targets into the air where they stopped and levitated on their own. "Try to hit one."

Still determined, Beatrix began attempting to throw the balls she created at the targets where they fizzled out before reaching halfway. Each projectile took her over ten minutes to create and they hovered slowly as she kept her concentration on them while they glided through the air. She continued this for over an hour before suddenly collapsing to the floor and passing out from exhaustion. Once she was down, I picked her up and put her in her bed.

I spent the rest of the day on my experiments until someone knocked on the front door. The enchantment on the door made the sound reverberate through the tower so it was audible from anywhere. Making my way to the door, I sensed who was on the other side and opened it immediately.

"What are you guys doing here?" I said to the trio of visitors.

"What do you mean, what are we doing here?" said the woman. She had straight white hair and purple highlights in a purple cloak with a cat-sized winged lizard on her shoulder. Belial was a Tandem Wizard and a friend. The dragon on her shoulder was Mira, her partner. "We were supposed to meet at my place yesterday, did you forget?"

"I'm here because she dragged me along," said the disheveled man next to Belial. He had short black hair and blue horns in a messy casual suit under a blue cloak. Shuten Doji, or Doji, was an Artifact Wizard, like me, but not by choice. His predisposition to alcohol made most creatures he tried to befriend either run away or attempt to take advantage of him, so he flies solo.

Both of them were friends of Zeta, my master, but also became close friends of mine.

"Huh, I guess I forgot." I let them in and closed the door behind them. "What exactly were we meeting for?"

"Same as always," said Doji, "Whatever the hell it is we do."

Belial seemed to take offense to that statement. "Well, I for one, have been working to find the final resting place of the dragons."

"Okay?" Doji responded with a smirk. "I've just been finding out how much alcohol I can introduce to the human body without over-intoxication."

"How are you still alive?" asked Belial, seemingly surprised.

"I don't know," he said on top of a laugh.

"Alright, let's get out of the hallway," I said, leading the way.

Once we were in a room with enough seats for each of us, I closed the door, and we sat in a circle around the table.

"So, what have you been up to, Azrael?" said Belial. "Still looking into the mysteries behind your eyes?"

"Kinda," I said. "I decided to try to find a way to nullify the abilities afforded to me by my eyes."

"Why would you want to do that?" With her question, a shift in the conversation occurred. It suddenly became much more serious than I anticipated. "With all due respect, you need those eyes."

"I'm not getting rid of my eyes, that would be too easy. I just want to remove the passive effects given by them."

"That's what I mean." Her voice was unusually cold. "Those passive effects are why you're still alive today. I don't think you can afford to get rid of them. To be honest, the same could be said for the rest of us. Our magical traits are part of why we could even live this long."

"You ever stopped to think of how these traits have also caused us all so much hardship?"

She slammed her hands on the table and stood. "Don't you fucking-!"

Doji put his hand on hers. "Stop. All he's saying is that we should be able to understand his reasoning." He looked at me with a sober glare. Something especially rare for him. "Isn't that right, Azrael?"

"Yeah," I said. "This is actually something I've been working on for a few years now."

"Then, why are you telling us this now?"

"I found a protege, or more like, she found me. Her eyes are like mine, but she has yet to mature in the ways of magic. If I can find any clues by monitoring her growth, then I might actually achieve something for once in my life."

Belial sat back down. "And that's why you missed our meeting yesterday?"

"No, I just forgot." I scratched my head and chuckled.

"You little... Even the drunkard can remember."

"Hey, I forgot, too..." said Doji. "I just happened to catch a glimpse of a calendar yesterday."

"You two suck."

Our meeting continued like normal from there. We caught each other up on our research and experiments then talked idly for a while about whatever came to mind. Belial seemed relieved to hear that my experiments went nowhere, but was also interested in Beatrix. After a lengthy interrogation, she finally got off the subject.

Doji gave both of us a pill that contained enough alcohol to kill three people that he assured us would have no such effect. Instead of ingesting them, Belial and I set them aside so we wouldn't get drunk and do anything we'd regret in each other's presence so instead, we promised to try them later.

By the time we ran out of conversation topics, it was far past nightfall. Doji was the first to go.

"Alright, it's about time I get going." He stood. "My next hangover is around the corner and I want to be home when it comes."

Silently, I saw him out the front door. His reason for leaving clarified just how much the revelation of what I was researching rattled him. He only got hungover after sobering up and he was most definitely as drunk as normal when he entered. As he left, he disappeared into the ground through a blue puddle that appeared at his feet.

As I was closing the door, Belial spoke up from behind me. "Hold the door."

"You're leaving, too?"

"It's no fun with just the two of us."

"I guess." I glanced at Mira on her shoulder. "I have something to ask you."

"What is it?" She folded her arms.

"Can I borrow Mira for a bit? Like a week?"

"No. She wouldn't tell me what happened during the last time you 'borrowed' her. Mind clearing that up first?"

"It was for the research on my eyes. I was trying to see if draconic magic had any effect on them."

She scoffed. "And here I thought you were fucking, but it's arguably worse. You want to use her just to cripple yourself and I won't stand for it."

"Please-"

"No. If you can't get over the past, fine. Just don't expect me to help you kill yourself."

"This isn't about the past-"

She slammed her hand on the door and forced it shut. "This is all about the past and don't you fucking pretend it isn't." Her face was inches away from mine. "Losing Pan was a given, I can live with that, but don't stand here and pretend like you going away is okay too." She was trying hard to keep eye contact with me, but I could see her gaze shifting to the side periodically.

As reassuringly as possible, I said, "I'll still be here."

"No, you won't." She took her hand from the door and backed off. "No, you won't."

"I will. Even if I lose my title and my power. Then I'll just be Oscar, the swordsman who happens to live in a Wizard's tower. I promise."

"You better not be a liar." She extended her arm and looked at the purple-scaled and feathered creature sitting idly on her shoulder. "Do you want to?"

Mira opened her mouth and spoke. "I'll keep an eye on him to make sure he does nothing foolish." She traveled on all fours down Belial's arm then hopped over to my shoulder. "I'll keep him in check."

"At least I can count on you." She opened the door and I moved aside. "One week, remember that." She walked down the path and then disappeared into a purple mist.

After closing the door, I made something to eat and went to sleep. I fed Mira and she slept on a pillow next to me.