“Let’s heal your dragon,” I said.

Aiden frowned. “He’s not a dragon. He’s a wy—”

“He’s a dragon,” I declared with all the bluster of a 16th-century Spanish sailor calling a Native American an Indian two years after clearly determining that America was not, in fact, India. When he shot his hands up in surrender, I exhaled slowly, shoulders slouching as I looked away. “I know, okay? I gotta book so I can clearly read that he’s a ‘Vraxle.’ But… I’ve been dealin’ with so much bullshit that all I want is for the world to be whole. For wyverns to be dragons and alchemic herbs to be magic. Just let me dream.”

“Hey, I’m not sayin’ you shouldn’t. In fact, I was just gonna say that he wasn’t just a dragon. He was a wylin’ out dragon.”

I stared at him with the driest expression I could muster. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

Aiden raised an eyebrow mockingly. “If you wanna win, you gotta meet people half way when they roll back their statements… Especially when you’re asking people to lie.”

My cheeks heated, and I thrust a pail into Aiden’s hand as the lurvines cackled. “Let’s go,” I said.

“Yes, mam.”

Healing Halten was easier now that he wasn’t in the river. He lay down silently as I mixed the paste and helped Aiden apply it. We smoothly traced the outside of the holes in Halten’s wings with one hand above and one another. The wings healed centimeter by centimeter in real-time, filling in the wings.

It was nerve-wracking because there were so many holes, but we discovered that we could make the paste with a fraction of the herbs, and it would still create a healing membrane that the Diktyo water would fix.

It took most of the day, but Aiden and I chatted about his role working in a zoo and about my love for plants. It was pleasant.

“You ready to fly again?” I asked Halten at sunset.

Halten nodded. Yes, human Mira. I am ready. The wyvern looked humbled beyond reckoning and he still hadn’t gotten over his lethal outburst. So I decided to even the score.

“Thank you for saving me.”

What?

“I hear you saved me. That’s why you were injured to begin with… wasn’t it?”

He looked away.

“So thank you.” I looked at his healing wings. “This’s what I can do to repay you.”

It’s too much.

“It…” I almost mentioned that Emael was helping him, but I wisely stopped myself. “Just take it, okay?”

As you wish.

“See this? This’s what it’s all about,” Aiden said, wiping his brow as he looked at the jaslos that Kline had stacked up. “If the world didn’t turn into a dumpster fire, could we enjoy all this food and company?”

“God you’re insufferable,” I said.

“Wait. What was that? I couldn’t hear your sass over the sound of you smiling.”

“Smiling doesn’t have a…” I touched my lips and realized that I was smiling.

Aiden jumped off Halten and stretched his body. “See? It’s better than the alternative.”

My smile faded.

Suddenly, Kline meowed as he dragged one of the jaslos to Aiden.

“What’s this?” Aiden asked. Then he frowned. It was technically still alive. “Do you know how many attacks I’d have to land to kill that thing?”

I unsheathed my machete and said. “I’ll count.”

He smiled wryly and took it and activated the runes on it. “How sinister… well. I’ve done nothing but thread and eat burnt meat all week. So let’s see how many it’ll take.”

It took thirty-three—hacking in a wound.

When he was done, I eyed his bloody body head to foot and said, “Now you look like you belong here.” He didn’t find that funny. “I’ll cook.”

The red sun crested the horizon as we set up camp and set the campfire. I cooked second-generation steaks, and then we enjoyed the fire as the stars overtook the sky.

“Hey,” Aiden said beside the fire that night.

Kline walked between us in his tiny form and lay down, clearly designating me as off-limits for almost everything before licking himself.

I smiled at my little warrior and then looked up. “Yeah?”

His face turned serious, and he looked me in the eye and then away, searching for words. “Sorry… I just don’t know how to…”

“Take your time.” I didn’t want to hear anything I expected him to say, but he surprised me.

“Do you… think you have a chance? With Thorvel?”

“I think…” I paused cautiously. “I can. I’d rather not talk about it, but… I think I can.”

“Think…” Aiden picked up a stick to throw in the fire but dropped it. “You don’t gotta risk it… Mira…” He turned to me. “I talked to Halten, and he says that you’re still weak. They may be willing to let you leave with us. Take you out… away from… this.”

I fell silent.

“There’s a forest out there, you know? There’s three rings beyond that gate and they're really big and full of colorful plants. And from what I hear… there’s massive forests and lakes and islands… I mean… this is an entire world. And now…” He collected his thoughts and said, “You said you wanted to escape all this violent neophyte shit, right? Well…” He turned to the pile of corpses. “Is this any better?”

A syringe full of ice water pumped through my circulatory system, making me shiver. How many times had I thought about the irony? The injustice of my situation?

I liked living in Areswood—I did—but… I was also scared… feeling very lonely, and I was scared to die alone—but things didn’t need to be that way.

From the get-go, all I wanted was to live life on my own terms. Well, I earned that right. The Oracle wouldn’t take my class from me, and, hell, if I left now, I would probably be lauded as a genius. Twenty-three, sure, but… I had two cores… almost a pure core, for fuck’s sake. I had seventh-tier magic!

My life was bright on the outside. I had family, career opportunities, and a job. Once a year, I could become rich by running Harvest tours to obtain herbs, and that would satisfy Elana’s requirements. If I kept the Harvesters in check, I could probably even keep Brindle’s legacy.

But…

“I can’t,” I said.

Aiden grimaced and turned to me. “Mira…”

“I know it’s stupid. It’s rational, but… there are some things in life that’re precious. And this forest has become of them for me. And… I bought a book on this place. On sec…”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

I opened up my Guide and went to the book tab and searched for it to make sure they couldn’t figure out that I was lying. I found a book called “The History of the Last Conquer” for a bronze request. I would buy it later.

“It’s called History of the Last Conquer. It’s… the history of the forest. And… I read that whenever people think they have a chance of surviving here, they end up slashing and burning it to the ground.”

Aiden’s eyes widened. “So what? You’re going to fight these people?”

I fell silent and thought about what I was signing up for by staying. War. Outside, I’d have an illustrious career. Here, I was condemned to war. This year… next year… the next decade. I didn’t know when it was coming—but I knew I’d be fighting this Harvest, at least to a degree.

Still, there are things in life worth fighting for. Things that you believe in. Things that define who you are.

“I have an idea…” I said. I pulled out my backpack and pulled out a container. “And I’ll need your help.”

Aiden listened carefully and nodded, agreeing that it was, in fact, a decent plan for how to avoid war. Then, I pulled out the sunrise core that Nethralis gave me.

“And then there’s this.”

Aiden’s body trembled as he rolled the core in his fingers, holding a palm under his hand out of fear of dropping it. “Mira… Do you even understand what this is? If you sold this, you could live like a queen for the rest of your—”

“Take that and negotiate for Halten’s freedom.”

“What?” His eyes welled with tears for the tenth time that day, it seemed, and he fell silent.

“If you can’t, negotiate with someone else. If not… sell it. And if you do sell it, remember what I told you.”

Aiden trembled and held it. I grabbed the core and put it in a tiny preservation chamber and placed it into the bag he brought on his back. “Okay.”

“Good.”

I stood and looked at Aiden and thought of some things that I shouldn’t have. But I turned away quietly and said, “Goodnight, Aiden,” leaving him in silence with nothing but the crackling fire to keep him going. Tomorrow I would be leaving for the crypt, so there wasn’t much use prolonging our relationship more than necessary. So I practiced my Mental Shielding training that night to clear my mind, then slowly drifted into sleep.

I awoke to the sound of loud birds and growling. Kline and I jumped out of the tent, only to find second-evolution beasts staring at us from the forest. There were fifty we could see—God knows how many there really were. They were nervous, with the lurvines growling at them, preparing to fight.

I grabbed my machete. “Kline.”

Aiden suddenly flew out of his tent. “Wait! They’re just scared.”

“No offense,” I said, “but most of the people that say things like that about wild animals get eaten.”

“Just… hold up.” He walked forward nervously, closing his eyes. Then he released Dominion.

I knew because I could feel it. It wasn’t even directed at me, but I could feel souls clinging to my skin and could even see a membrane leaving him. It made my skin crawl.

The beasts had it worse. The soul of the third evolution beast Aiden sniped at the end wrapped them like a blanket, and they backed away, tails tucked and growling.

“Continue your migration,” Aiden ordered. “We will not move for an hour. Stay… and we’ll kill you. All of you.”

To my surprise, they barked and yapped and then backed away, leaving the area.

Aiden turned to me with a jubilant expression.

Kline rolled his eyes as if to say, You have me and seven third-evolution beasts, human. Your petty magic didn’t do shit. But I saw the way Kline raised his hackles that it bothered him. He was just brushing it off.

I found it all amusing. “Wow… mere moments before the end and you were finally useful.”

Aiden’s face blushed, and he turned away. Then he forced a proud expression and turned to me. “I went from completely useless to scaring off a tribe of second evs in a week. I’m pretty sure that makes me a god.”

I studied his stiff expression that looked like it would break any second and cracked, giggling and shaking my head. “Yeah. It’s something else. I… Actually. I’m sure out there you’ll be one.” I looked toward the gate.

“Huh… yeah, you’re right. I wonder if Skia will respect me…”

“Who’s Skia?”

Aiden’s body went into full lockdown. “Oh… um… she’s someone special.”

“Uh huh…” I could tell he was uncomfortable about the subject, but there wasn’t a trace of the guilt that I had seen on his face before, so I let it go. “I gotta get ready.”

I packed up my gear as usual, something they had grown accustomed to. Ever since I got separated from my backpack, I kept it on my back even during dinner time, so he didn’t question why I packed up my tent and gear so soon. But I knew he could tell. It was in the air.

When I came out, Aiden met me with a stoic face wrapped with minor despair. “You gotta get out of here, don’t you?”

I took a deep breath. “That obvious?”

“Well… you’re not going to ‘prove yourself’ sitting around here.”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well, I’m not gonna ask questions. Halten’s got barriers and he can fly, so…” He turned to the ward rod. “That’s yours and… we already decided. The lurvine and I are gonna pack up your stuff and it up the mountain. Not sure it’ll help, but at least it’s not on the river.”

His words stabbed my heart. “Really?”

“It’s the least we can do. I owe you my life.”

“Never say that again. It’s so dross and… we helped each other.”

“Then thanks for saving Halten.”

“He saved my li… No what? Sure.” I smiled. “You owe me. So live a long ass life, ya hear?”

He smiled slightly. “Sure.”

I looked at Halten and the lurvine. “What about you? You leavin’ immediately?”

Aiden turned to Halten, who had a pile of corpses, including third evs, in front of him. It was enough food to feed me for a year. “No…” he said. “Halten didn’t eat while you were gone, so he’s super weak. I’m gonna let him gorge himself and fly around a bit. We needa go back, but we still got time.”

I swallowed and nodded. “Good. I’ll give you some jerky.”

“I’d appreciate it. That meat doesn’t cook.”

“Tell me about it.”

We shared smiles, feeling awkward and unwilling to be the first to leave.

“Anyway,” Aiden coughed. “Well, I’ll let everyone else say goodbye.”

The lurvine walked up, and they bowed their heads nobly.

“There’s no need to do that,” I sighed.

“They’re saying thank you… for healing them and helping them evolve. Not showing gratitude would be offensive in their culture. They’re an honorable race.”

“Oh… Well in that case,” I bowed, too. “Thank you for taking us to get my stuff and for saving our lives. We’re all alive—”

Sina growled, and I looked up and found her nose bunched up, dark lines cutting through her white snout.

“The fuck did I do?” I cried.

Aiden snorted and cupped his mouth. “She says,” he grabbed his hips sassily. “Don’t bow to those bowing, you idiot!” He turned to Sina after hearing her growl and turned back with a surprised smile. “Or to those weaker than you. That’s also against their culture.”

“Weaker?” I cried. “I know it’s rude to bring up a woman’s size, but…”

They were large wolves before. Now they were the size of horses!

Aiden shrugged. “Strange. For reasons that I can’t quite remember or speak of, I do recall hearing that you killed a third ev. In fact…” He looked at the pile of corpses and saw the bloody mess.

I frowned.

“Anyway… you’ve earned their respect. They’re even willing to join you…”

“I wish… but. I can’t. It’s a personal test. Like… to prove myself. That said…” I turned to the lurvine. “Please join me during the Harvest. I’ll need your help.”

Sina walked forward, allowing me to pet her snout while Kael turned to the mountaintop and then back.

“Kael says they’ll be on the mountain with your stuff in two weeks,” Aiden said. “If they see you, they’ll join you.”

“Thank you guys…”

Human Mira.

My intestines shifted when I heard Halten initiate a conversation for the first time in what felt like days. I turned and found him looking at me thoughtfully. “Yes?”

Thank you… for staying.

I nodded at his noble thanks. “Of course.”

Halten nodded and fell silent, turning away. I swept my gaze on my companions one last time and suddenly felt very, very emotional. “I need to pack up.”

Ten minutes later, I returned with my backpack clipped on and everything ready. Aiden walked up.

“I guess this is it,” Aiden said.

“For now,” I said.

“For now,” he repeated.

“I’m… really bad at this, so… take care everyone.” I loaded up on Kline’s ethereal form. He was decidedly okay with being bad at this because he started trotting away the second I loaded on.

“Bye Kline!” Aiden yelled.

I could feel Kline’s reluctance or disbelief.

“From all of us!”

Kline blushed. I could feel it in his energy, and he turned back for a moment, blinking twice before turning away and running faster. I laughed and brushed his fur and turned back, waving to Aiden, Halten, and the lurvines. I was starting my next journey, but I was glad that I had the fortune to enjoy that one.

In only a few weeks, I had gotten stronger, obtained allies, and even made a friend, as sketchy and weird as he was. I had met Elana and Brindle and visited a mythical city of fairies. I even got a drunken mentor-teacher or something or other that was waiting for me, doubtlessly hung over in the early morning air.

It was a good life—and I planned to make it as long as possible. With those parting thoughts, we rode on to Kyro, our modern-day Cheron, who would ferry us into the underworld.