I’ve told everyone time and time again, don’t make me angry. But what do they do? They make me angry. I sat alone in my temporary holding cell, tapping my toe claw against the wood floor. The wooden bench wasn’t comfortable to sit on, but since I was already in trouble, I decided not to make things worse for myself. I heard a familiar set of footsteps, ones I knew would come eventually.

“What did she do this time?” My mom asked the warden, who greeted her at the door. Her voice was flat since this was the third time this season she had to pick me up from here. And we are only three weeks into the ice season.

“She broke both of Tanyl’s arms and threw him through a door. He has only just recently regained consciousness.” Philibert, the warden, said as he led Mom to my particular cell, one renovated for me specifically. “Something’s wrong. This is three times this week. She even dragged him here, put him in a cell, and went to her cell on her own. I’ve almost come to expect this once a week, but now?“

“She is just going through a phase.” Mom interrupted. “She is still young, even though she doesn’t look like it.” I heard the footsteps stop short. “But I know my daughter. What did this Tanyl say or do to her to provoke her? My guess is he called her something.“ You know me so well, Mom.

Philibert sighed. “She says that he called her a mutt.”

“Will someone get me out of this miserable cell? I'm Tanyl Green Agate, and I'm not a criminal!” A high-pitched, whiny voice called out. I can let you out; I just won’t use the door. Also, I might not let you live! “I demand to speak to someone in charge. Preferably someone with enough sense not to let mongrels run rampant through the streets.“

“Sweetie, please be patient. I will be back.” I hear Mom storm off to another cell. She didn’t even say ‘hi?’ Whatever. “Please wait by Lucia until I finish speaking to this Tanyl.”

“Why do these things always happen when I’m on shift?” The warden grumbled under his breath.

“Finally, someone worth talking to.” That whiny voice is going to drive me to kill him. I know I shouldn't kill people for such petty reasons, but he has it coming. Nobody will miss him. I promise I will make it quick. Messy, but quick. “Hurry up and get me out of here. I don’t belong here.”

“Hello, my name is Nora Stormleaf.” Mom paused for a moment. I would love to see that man’s face right now. “Before I can have you released, I ask that you answer a few questions for me.”

“Whatever it takes to help you catch that beastkin who did this to me.” Tanyl sighed. “So, what do you want to know?”

“You don’t have to worry about us catching the girl. She turned herself in. I’m more interested in why you decided to call my daughter both a mutt and a mongrel.” I wagged my tail as I imagined the look of terror on his stupid face.

“What? I didn’t say that to any elves, just that white-haired beastkin.” It’s silver, you jerk.

“She is my daughter. And she’s listening to this conversation right now.” Mom used the same voice she used whenever I did anything wrong.

“Impossible. How could you ever do that with an animal?” Why is that where his mind goes first? I rolled my eyes as I stood up.

I stared at the metal bars that glowed a gentle blue hue. I feel so special that they created magically enhanced bars to hold me. Unfortunately, they still won’t hold me. I’m too strong. Breaking his arms was easier than snapping toothpicks. I walked over to the magically enhanced bars and looked down at Philibert as he moved to stand next to the door of my cell.

“Hey Phil, please let me out.” I leaned against the bars. “If I have to hear any more of this, I will kill him.”

“Please don’t.” Philibert, who always tells people to call him Phil, looked at me with pity in his eyes. “I know you’re really a good girl, just a little overzealous. But you need to stop this acting out. You’re causing me so many headaches with all the paperwork I need to fill out because of you. I know you don’t deserve to be treated like that, but I can’t let you out. Not until your fine is paid. Just plug your ears or something.”

I glared at the human. He flinched when I wiggled my ears. “I won’t leave, I promise. Let’s make a deal.” Phil raised an eyebrow. “If you let me out, I will stand right next to you and use my ice magic to seal my ears. Then I swear I won’t cause any trouble and never step foot in this building for two weeks.”

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I learned my lesson. Never use magic in this cell because, since everyone knows I use ice magic, this room gets absurdly hot once I start channeling any magic.

“For two entire weeks?” He said under his breath. I grinned and nodded. “You swear?” I nodded again. “And if you renege?”

“Then you can clip my claws,” I said with a grimace.

I have to make it worth his time, but why did I have to go there? Sure, it isn’t permanent, but I can’t go hunting for almost a week. Maybe it will go down another day. Not like I plan on failing, anyway. I’m not even going to be in town all next week. Mom’s taking me on another fishing trip. But he doesn’t need to know that.

The warden pulled a ring of keys from a pouch hanging off the back of his belt and opened my cell doors. “I adopted her. But I have heard enough. The moment you have paid your fine, I want you out of this city.” Mom’s voice was full of venom.

“I guess Mom is done with him already. That was quick,“ I said as I stepped out and shrugged at Phil.

I watch a tall, curvy elf woman dressed in a thick fur dress and heavy boots march towards me. Her long green hair flowed freely behind her as she glared at me.

“Hi, Mom,” I said sheepishly.

Mom shoved a small sack of coins into the hands of the warden. “This should cover her fine. I will pay for the damage when I return.” She is in a bad mood. “Let’s go.” Mom placed a hand on my shoulder and led me towards the door. I’m in a lot of trouble now.

I hunched my shoulders as I trudged out to the street. Even though I’m now two inches taller than my mother and fully grown, she still makes me feel small whenever she wants. Even though I turned fifteen this last wind season, some things will never change.“I’m sorry. I got carried away… again.” We walked out into the street as we left the courthouse. Light flurries of snow danced to the ground. Mom shivered as I basked in the cold. Everyone wore extra layers of clothes to ward off the unusually cold ice season we were having.

Nora sighed. “I know you don’t mean it all the time.” She wrapped her arm around me. “I know you have a general disregard for others, but do you want to tell me the whole story?”

That’s because people almost always say something to annoy me. Why should I care about those who don’t care about me? Society has nothing to offer me, so I’ll play nice enough. I have to up hold the laws afterall.

I shrugged. “You know how I get after combat training, right?” Mom nodded. “I told Captain Aenwyn I needed to calm down, and that I needed to be done for the day. As I walked around, trying not to snap at anyone who even looked at me funny, I started daydreaming about our fishing vacation we are going on tomorrow. All this combat training has been making it harder for me to calm down. But when I was in the middle of fantasizing about a nice pike between my fangs, that elf yelled at me for standing in the middle of the road.”

Mom sighed. “You were caught daydreaming again?” She cracked a slight smile. “And about food. It’s always about food with you. But you know the middle of the street isn’t the place for daydreaming.”

As I stared at the ground, I drooped my ears and tail. “I know. I was just so worked up that I had to calm down. And thinking about food is a great way to calm down. If he had asked nicely, I would have moved. But he had to say something like: ‘This is why mutts don’t belong in cities.’” I growled as I recalled the memory. I looked at Mom with my teeth bared. “That is why I grabbed his arms and snapped them in two. And while he screamed in pain, he said some very unflattering things. So I shut him up by throwing him through the door of the closest house. I said sorry to the lady who owned it.”

Mom tapped my nose with her finger. The tingle of magic caused me to flinch. “Don’t growl at me. And yes, what he did was wrong to treat you like that, but…” Her voice dropped drastically. “You need to stop answering with violence. We know that his life was never in danger. Not every problem can, or should, be solved with violence.”

I took a step away from my mother and presented my body to her. “Do you see what I'm? I was literally born to kill! I'm very good at violence. Half of me says that I should eliminate all problems as soon as possible. It is really hard to disagree with her.” I relaxed and headed towards home, growling. “Can we just move on from this? I want to go fishing.”

“I guess this is the part where I give you the bad news.” I turned around to see Mom standing with her shoulders slumped.

I stopped in mid-stride. “Bad news?” I bolted towards her. “No. You promised me you wouldn't accept any jobs so we could go on this vacation together. You promised!”

Nora lowered her gaze as she pulled a folded piece of paper out of a pocket and handed it to me. “It isn’t me who has a job to do.”

I held the folded paper and noticed that the seal was broken. Of course, she would read it. I unfolded it and read it.

Lucia Silverbreeze,

I have revoked your request for leave.

You are required to report for your orders as soon as you receive this letter.

This is not a request, this is an order.

Captain Aenwyn.

PS: I’m sorry.

I tore the paper in two. “I’m…” Mom started to say as she reached for my head.

I shook my head and waved her hand away. “No. Just don’t.“ I stormed off towards the base of operations for The Maidens in Aquittemia. The building they moved to in this city was so that I could continue to live with Mom. This was supposed to be my vacation. Aenwyn said that if I was good... We agreed that I needed some time off, and this was for everyone’s benefit.

While the thin layer of snow crunched under my feet, my rage reached a boiling point. I closed my eyes and let loose a wail into the sky. And as my cry neared its end, I turned it into a growl. Everyone in the street quickly distanced themselves from me. I bared my fangs at the cowering citizens as they stood at the edges of the streets, leaving most of the road open to me. See, people here know not to mess with me. I need to have another talk with the captain. I really wanted to rip something apart now.