“You got me a mount?” I still couldn’t wrap my mind around it. That beautiful Raindeer in the paddock was mine to keep?

I drifted over to her as if I was on a cloud. I didn’t even remember jumping the fence. My fingers trembled as I reached out and touched the pale blue stripe that blazed from Shiva’s silver nose up to the sharp antlers crowning her head.

The relationship between humans and monsters was an odd one. When the monsters first came out of the Gates, they hunted down and attacked humans, as if they were driven to. It almost led to humanity’s extinction, until Hunters finally figured out how to kill monsters with weapons made with monster parts. After the Gates disappeared, monsters didn’t actively hunt down humans – but they still killed any human stupid enough to get close to them. Some monsters even changed from carnivores to herbivores overnight – like the Raindeers.

Humans changed too, mainly because their food sources changed. Most natural animals were killed off by the monsters over the years. No matter how fierce a tiger was, it couldn’t beat a hungry dragon. The ones that weren’t killed off were protected by humans – like cows. In the last couple decades, there’d been a big push to cross breed a lot of the remaining animals so they could survive with the monsters around. AKA, fire breathing cows – best steaks ever.

The recent cloning technology had greatly helped with that. Now that the technology and energy source problems had finally been unraveled, scientists were finally able to make use of the DNA samples humanity collected when they noticed all the animals were dying out. Of course, most of the cloning tech involved magic, so almost all of those scientists were mages.

It was cool and all, and it would be neat to see more animals than just the small sample in the zoo. But my favorite human-monster developments were the mounts.

Now that monsters aren’t so bloodthirsty, some had been tamed and trained to be the rides of Hunters. Most vehicles were too noisy. The target monsters usually heard or smelled the Hunters coming, and either prepared for the fight or left before the Hunters got there. But mounts could go nearly anywhere and could even be considered another member of the team, if trained right. Most successful Hunters had a mount. It was common enough, riding common-type mounts was taught in Hunter classes. Now if you got an exotic mount, like a flying- or slithering-type, you had to learn that on your own.

As soon as I touched Shiva, her blue eyes widened and her pupils contracted. She shivered then leaned her head into my hand, eyes half-closed with contentment.

She was trained to recognize my scent, I realized. I glanced at Dad, leaning on the white fence next to Uncle Maveric. It finally dawned on me why several of my articles of clothing went missing in the last eight months. I’d thought I was going crazy or just being forgetful. It turns out, Dad was probably mailing them here so the trainer could bond Shiva to my scent. He might not want me to be a Hunter, but he really did help Uncle Maveric with my mount.

When I looked away, Shiva gently bumped me with her nose.

My heart melted into a puddle. “You’re so gorgeous,” I moaned and wrapped my arms around her neck. Her body was slightly cool to the touch. Not in a gross, it feels dead, kinda way. But enough to remind myself that she was an ice attribute monster.

Shiva leaned her chin on my shoulder and grunted. I wasn’t a pro in monster talk, but I swear that was a happy grunt.

“Aw, when do I get my mount?” Micah whined, still petting Shiva’s shoulders.

“When you get your driver’s license,” Dad said. “Ria needs a ride to and from work when hers and my schedule doesn’t add up. You can still take the school bus there and back, Micah. Besides, until you're better trained in defense, I don’t want you spending time outside the city walls. And it’s not just me. It’s a common rule for all youth in the area, so you don’t even need a mount right now.”

Micah’s jaw dropped and he turned to Uncle Maveric for backup.

“It’s true,” Uncle Maveric shrugged.

Micah moaned and walked over to Dad to start the prelude of an adolescent tantrum.

I ignored him and kept cooing to my new favorite. Her flat coat was neither silky nor coarse, but somewhere in between. Just enough to add interest when I pressed my cheek against her neck.

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Uncle Maveric jumped the fence, gave Micah a sympathy shoulder pat, then limped over to me. He patted Shiva’s shoulder. “You can keep her here. It’s a short bike ride from your house, and if she stays here, my people will take care of her with Chuck and Targe.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder to the steel stable not far away.

Targe, a black Nightmare with a bright red mane, had his horse-like head hanging out. He let out a harsh whinny. Along with the sound, a puff of fire came out of his mouth before it dissolved in the air. Targe was my uncle’s personal mount. A couple stalls away, another monster paced back and forth in front of the window. Chuck the Cluckatrice was, for lack of a better description, a seven-foot tall chicken with nothing but fluff in his head. He was all blue from head to toe, couldn’t fly and had nearly no fighting ability, but he ran really fast. He was kept for the general transportation use of Uncle’s staff.

Dad drew my attention to him. “If you want to keep Shiva at home, that’s okay too. I bought the lot behind our house. I just haven’t taken the trees down between the two lots yet. It was going to be our family project this summer.”

Uncle Maveric nodded. “I had a small stable with a good AC unit built there. Raindeer mounts are pretty easy to keep, for the most part. As long as you give Shiva a bucket of ice every couple of days, she can survive on just the trees and plants around the lot. Her favorite treat is frozen alfalfa.”

I hugged Shiva tight, never wanting to let go. I appreciated my uncle’s offer to take care of her for me, but that was way too far away. She was too big to keep in my room – I doubt her antlers could fit through my door – but I guessed having her in the backyard wasn’t too bad. I grinned at Uncle Maveric and Dad. “Thank you. So, so much.”

Guilt tinged my heart when I looked at Dad. He really did give me one of the best presents, right after I threw his future dreams for me in his face. But I still couldn’t give up yet. I couldn’t give up on myself. That guilt kept building until I could barely look at him.

It was time to go, before I caved into Dad’s desires.

With a small jump, I settled into Shiva’s saddle. Just like everything that Uncle Maveric made, it was comfortable, despite being the first time it was used. In other words – miraculous. I had confidence that the saddle wouldn’t rub like a new one normally did. As soon as I sat down, Shiva’s muscles tensed in excitement, but she didn’t budge without my lead.

I grinned and patted her shoulder. “Good girl.”

She tossed her head and looked at me out of the corner of her eye. She looked like she was ready to run.

“Not yet.” Uncle Maveric walked around Shiva and checked the saddle’s buckles and the length of the leg straps for a minute. Then he rested his hand on the back of the saddle. A pack appeared from his Items Bag and he attached it to the saddle behind me. “There’s food, water and snacks in here. And a small first aid kit – I hope you don’t need to use that.” He opened the flap and pointed to a large metal canister, the size of my thigh, inside. “This is to put the Fire Marten in. The canister will preserve the carcass so it doesn’t get damaged in transportation. Just push the red button on top” – he pointed to it – “and put the whole monster inside. Most clients might want you to only deliver the part they want, but I’ll take the whole thing.”

I nodded. “Okay.” I didn’t know if Shiva's emotion was bleeding into mine, but excitement started to bubble in my chest. This was really happening. My first taste of being a Hunter. And after today, I was going to be a real one. No more playing around.

Uncle Maveric closed the pack and tugged on it, to make sure it was secure. Then he paused and sighed. He looked up at me, for the first time showing a troubled expression.

My heart sank and half of the excited bubbles in my stomach popped. Please don’t regret it, I thought. Without his backing, I’d never have the guts or resources to do this on my own. At least, not for a while. I forced a bright smile, refusing to show my rollercoaster of nerves. “Any more instructions or tips?” Was that gentle enough to push him in the right direction without coming across as bossy?

He gave a bitter smile. “Just one more.” He handed me a large red oval gemstone with a silver back. Magic gleamed in the red stone, like stars in a sunset. “This is an emergency shield. If something happens that you can’t handle, squeeze it in your hand. Once the silver bends, it will activate an A rank magic shield around you. And send out a distress signal to me, so I can come and get you. Keep it in your pocket. It only responds to human touch, so it won’t accidentally break in the fight.”

I stared at the gemstone in my hand. He meant well, but I didn’t have any intention of using it. Instinctively I knew that if I used it today, I would never be Hunter. If I couldn’t even get an E ranked Fire Marten without being rescued, I really didn’t have the right to be a Hunter.

I slipped it into a small pocket at my hip and grinned brightly. “Thank you! For everything. Really.” I snuck a glance at Dad then I tapped Shiva’s sides, signaling her to go.

She gave an excited grunt and lunged forward in a straight out run. Her movements were so smooth, it didn’t feel like we were going over sixty miles per hour, but we were. The wind blasted into my face and my body rocked to her graceful gait.

This was it. The start of my new life. My time to prove to myself there was a reason why I was still breathing.