Tonight was a bit colder than Addie was used to, reminding her that fall would be starting soon. They were all sitting up cozy next to the fireplace. Addie and Nettal were snuggled together under a blanket on the couch, and Auntie was sitting in a single comfy chair just off to the left side. Christena sat in the other comfy chair on the right. No one was talking, they were all just enjoying the warm glow of the fire. Addie liked indoor fires even better than outdoor ones since the smoke never got in her face.
To her left, Nettal uncrossed her legs and instead tucked them against her chest forming into a ball. Her sudden motion forced Addie to lean forward momentarily while adjusting. Once she finally settled, Addie leaned back against Nettal’s side with her legs splayed out over the other side of the couch. Addie had to pull the blanket back a little bit over to the right since it had been disturbed. She could feel Squishy reposition his scaly body near her feet, producing a constant warmth.
Christena sat up out of her chair and wandered closer to the fire. Hanging next to the fireplace, she grabbed one of the pokers and took it off its hook. She used it to topple over the top most log, which looked more like charcoal than wood. A spray of ashes and sparks flew up into the chimney for a moment. Then, she placed a fresh log on the fire.
Still kneeling next to the fire, she splayed her hands out for warmth, then spoke up, “You know how I got to be so strong, Addie?”
Out of reflex, Addie shook her head but realized a second later that Christena wasn’t looking at her. “No,” she said.
“It’s the same reason why I put so much effort into training you girls— if I’m being honest.” She stood up and dusted her hands off on the lower apron part of her uniform. She turned around and sat back in her cushioned seat, causing it to squeak and deflate a bit as it adjusted to the sudden weight. Fluffy scuttled up the chair and settled into her lap. “I’ll never be an Area Lord.”
Her sudden change in demeanor demanded silence from the room, and even Auntie paused her reading to look up and listen.
“I was a rebellious child. I loved my dad—I still do—but at the time I just loved to get into trouble.” She laughed at herself for a moment. “You remind me of myself, Addie. Always running off and finding danger. That’s how I met Fluffy, here.” She scratched Fluffy under the chin causing her to preen in happiness. “You can imagine my dad’s frustration when he found out his little prankster bonded to a Slyfox. You should have seen his face.
“Those were good times. Did I ever tell you I’m the seventh child? Little Lily is his eleventh. But that’s a tangent. Well, it does matter though,” she doubled back, “My older brother was often in charge of keeping me in line. But I started pulling ahead of him in everything. Magic, training, martial arts. He couldn’t keep up. It felt great to be better than him! At least, at first.”
She looked Addie in the eye, “Do you know what the most magical part of it all was, Addie?”
“What?”
“He never once resented me for it. Here I was, surpassing him in everything, and yet, somehow, he remained my biggest supporter. He loved me more than I even know, I think.” Christena let out a long sigh. “It’s not a great story, to be honest. I got overconfident, complacent. Fluffy and I were going on hunts with our father and brother, to protect the village and bring back game at the same time.” Christena looked up at the ceiling. “It should have been simple, just another Cywolf hunt. But, I wasn’t paying attention. Fluffy and I were too focused on blinding a Cywolf sitting in front of us, we weren’t bothering to think about the rest of our surroundings. The pack leader, an Aurwolf lunged at me, teeth bared and saliva hitting the side of my face. My brother jumped in the way— stabbed the wolf right in the heart. At first, I was just glad we were all ok. I’d made it out of a near-death experience and was just catching my breath— getting my bearings. Then my brother collapsed right in front of me. The wolf’s claws had swiped him. I couldn’t see it until after he was already on the floor, bleeding out. I don’t remember how it happened, or the steps it took to get there, but I do remember cradling his head in my lap, listening to his last words. ‘Be great,’ he wheezed out. His next words, ‘I’m sorry,’ is what he said. I still remember that. Despite everything, he was apologizing to me.”
The room descended into silence, the crackling of the fire its only company.
“Why did he apologize?” Addie asked.
“You tell me, Addie,” Christena replied simply. “Think on it. Maybe you’ll figure out the same answer I did.”
“That still doesn’t answer why you can’t be an Area Lord,” Nettal pointed out.
Addie nodded her head; that was true.
From the other side of the room, Auntie gasped and then spoke up, “You didn’t.”
“I did, or, at least, I tried. Unsuccessfully, obviously.” Christena waved it off.
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“What? Tried what?” Addie moved her head rapidly between the two older women.
“I think, Christena tried to bond to her brother’s soul.” Auntie guessed.
“I tried to bond his soul, to keep him from passing on. I wanted to save him, I wanted to keep away his death.” Christena sighed. “The only thing my ‘genius’ talent managed to do was cripple myself. Didn’t even save my brother, either. He’s gone.” Fluffy perked up and started licking Christena’s face, causing her to smile and pet the vulpine. “It’s alright, I’ve still got you!”
After Fluffy settled down a bit, Christena continued, “I can’t get any stronger than I am right now. This is my limit. But you two girls, Addie, Nettal. I see so much potential in you two. I think that potential is something even that ancient dragon saw in both of you, too.”
Addie absently reached up to touch her ribbon at the reminder.
“I will make you both strong. Strong enough you’ll never have to lose anyone.”
“Does that mean I have to do more burpees?”
Christena’s eyebrow twitched.
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Everyone was eating breakfast when Violet, Auntie’s Viollow, flew into the room and dropped a small bit of purple feather fuzz on the way in. She perched on the counter next to Auntie’s position by the stove. Addie noticed a tiny curled-up piece of paper attached to her leg, which Auntie quickly untied and began to read.
“Tom has agreed to let Nettal stay for a few weeks. He also thinks he has some ideas on Addie’s fragmented memories.”
“Really?” That was great news! “But who’s Tom?”
“That’s precisely why we need to get your memories looked at. Tom is your father’s name, remember?” Auntie prompted.
“Oh, that. Right.” Addie moved the food around on her plate with her fork. She just listlessly pushed it around without actually eating anything.
“It’s ok,” Nettal said from right next to Addie, “I’ll help you get your memories back. I’m going to be the best healer on the planet, after all,” she declared as she puffed out her chest.
Auntie offered the bit of paper back to Violet, who grabbed it in her beak and flew it over to the trash. “The three of you will be heading out tomorrow.”
“This will be our last day of training before travel. Let’s make it count.” Christena said.
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Addie was really starting to get tired of all this sand. Tomorrow, they’d be setting back out to Addie’s home, but today was dedicated to magic practice.
Christena sat in the sand just a couple of feet away from Addie, and both of them were focusing on their layers of transcendent loop. Addie had managed to keep it active during all the sparring sessions, but it always collapsed when she fell asleep for the night.
Apparently, the best way for Nettal to focus on her magic was to go to the clinic and heal people for real there. Today, it would only be Addie and Christena in the sand field behind Auntie’s mansion.
Standing up, Christena gestured for Addie to stand as well. “Good work, Addie. We’ll do more endurance and muscle training once we get back to Mr. Lomain’s Area. I don’t want you to be too exhausted before traveling, so let’s get to our magic.
“Addie, I know it might be hard for you, but I think we need to start working with your Soul Hunter.”
Addie started to protest, but Christena quickly interrupted her before she could get a word out.
“I’m serious, Addie! I know you probably don’t think of her this way, but right now you basically have an untested weapon sitting dormant within you.”
Indignant anger rose up with Addie as she said, “It’s not my fault! It just happened to me.”
“I know it’s not your fault, sweetie.” Christena sighed, “Maybe that was too harsh, but this is reality. Reality as it is— there is a creature capable of directly attacking souls sitting within you, and you have to learn how to control that power before someone gets hurt. You wouldn’t want to accidentally hurt Nettal during sparring, right?
“She wouldn’t hurt Nettal.” Addie denied with a frown.”
“That’s good, Addie! Can you ask your Soul Hunter to come out? Maybe we can start small. Have you been thinking about a name for her?”
Addie just turned her head away from Christena. She hadn’t been thinking about a name for the bird. It still felt so odd just feeling her sitting within the cracks inside her soul.
“Addie,” Christena sighed, “In some ways, you are lucky. You didn’t lose any pieces of your soul shell, even if they are fragmented. This means your memories can be restored.”
That grabbed Addie’s attention, “Really?”
“Yes. And you will be stronger for it. You are already stronger. Bring her out, let’s give your new birdie a name.” Christena smiled.
Taking a deep breath in, Addie let the breath go and finally nodded her head in agreement.
She used her soul bond with the birdie and sent her images and thoughts of coming out from her place in Addie’s soul shell.
Perhaps it was the small level of acceptance Addie attached to the message, or maybe it had been the way Addie latched onto those words from Christena— that together, they could be stronger. Whatever it had been, the message pushed through Addie’s soul shell, getting past both the bird’s and Addie’s flightiness over the situation.
The bird peeked her head out from Addie’s chest. With feelings of warmth, Addie cupped her hands up to her chest and petted the bird’s head with a single finger. Then, the bird fully jumped out of her chest and landed in the palms of Addie’s cupped hands.
Those ever-familiar ghostly flames revealed themselves in the bird’s eyes, making them a whitish, pale purple color without pupils. The bird was light enough that Addie had no trouble holding her aloft, and smaller than even Auntie’s Viollow.
Addie saw herself in the reflection of those pale eyes. For once, the flames didn’t bother Addie. Some of the flames spread from the bird’s wingtips and slowly spread over to Addie’s fingers, letting off a gentle warmth. She didn’t even need to bother protecting her soul, these flames were Addie’s. They couldn’t hurt her by nature.
She gently placed the bird down onto her lap and petted the bird’s head as the flames continued to spread across Addie’s body. She looked up to Christena and saw a gentle smile on her face. Addie watched the flames spread across her body, and stop completely before spreading any further. The grass remained untouched, as did Christena. Addie knew the flames wouldn’t spread and cause chaos since she was controlling them alongside the bird.
Finally, Addie looked down at her birdie with at least the beginning of acceptance in her heart. “Ember. Your name is Ember, for warmth and strength.”
The book that had been dormant until this moment ejected from Addie’s soul and rapidly began to ruffle through its own pages.