by Hana Steven
“This is well done,” Dad says as we approach. “I rewrote a few bits to make it easier to understand, but that’s something you will get better with over time.”
“So we can give it to Billy?” I ask.
“Yes,” Dad chuckles, handing the notebook back.
“Awesome!” Gale exclaims, taking the book and heading over to her pack.
“There’s still some time before you need to go to sleep,” Dad informs us. “You girls can talk or read or whatever.”
“Sweet!” Gale cheers. Turning to me she asks, “Will you read me some of my new book?”
“Sure,” I agree, crawling up onto the bed.
Gale fishes out a book and crawls up beside me.
Taking the book from her I see it is the first volume of Star Monk’s Disciple. “Get comfy,” I tell her, flipping to the first page.
We read for a while by spell light before marking the page and turning in for the night. Gale drops her transformation and shimmies out of the loose fitting shirt she was wearing before curling up on the pillow beside me.
The next morning we gather up our things before going to meet Erik and Poseidon for breakfast. Once we’ve stuffed ourselves with bacon and eggs, we head off to the Adventurer Shop to claim our reward for clearing out the bandits.
“Sylphy, why don’t you and Erik wait out here,” Dad suggests. “I’ll get Gale a pack then send her out here with you.”
“Okay,” I agree, sitting down on the curb of the street.
Erik sits down beside me as I slip my pack off. Rummaging through my pack, I pull out Gale’s things—mostly clothes and books at this point. With Gale’s stuff taken out, I redistribute my own gear so it will sit more comfortably on my back.
Several minutes pass before I hear the door thud shut and Gale sits down beside me, setting her new pack and basic gear down before her.
“Here’s your stuff,” I say, handing her the bundles.
Taking them with a smile, she carefully places the books at the bottom, except the Star Monk’s Disciple book, with her clothes and gear on top of them. “I hope this isn’t too heavy,” she says.
“You’ll get used to the weight,” I assure her. “It was a little weird at first for me, but now I don’t even really notice it.”
Gale gives me a smile before her focus shifts and a frown forms on her face.
“Gah,” Erik cries out.
I turn around in time to see him hit the ground, unconscious. Looking past his limp form I see something that makes my stomach twist up in a knot—the sorcerer, Sauron, is marching down the road, a nasty glare on his face and a Fireball in his hand.
Gale, having more time to shake off her shock, gives me a shake. “Now’s not the time to be freezing up! Dad said we can beat him, so stop spacing out!”
Shaking my head to throw off the shock, I grab my staff and follow Gale out into the street; it won’t do to get Erik caught up in this. Knowing that he can take it, I cast my Kitsune spell and ready a full power Wind Blast.
“I’ll keep him distracted, you just focus on hitting him as hard as you can,” Gale suggests before dropping her own transformation. After freeing herself from her clothes, she rushes toward the bandit leader, darting this way and that while peppering him with small but quick spells.
Waiting for a clear shot so I won’t catch Gale in the blast, I fire my spell at the man. I hit him square in the chest, knocking him back several feet and drawing his attention.
He fires a large fire bolt at me, but I dodge to the side, escaping all but the heat radiating from it. As I ready myself for another attack, Sauron is once again assaulted by a spray of spells from Gale. Growling in fury, Sauron sends a spray of fire toward Gale, but she manages to dart through his legs, avoiding the fire and his grasping hands.
I send another Blast at him but he manages to avoid it; the spell crashes into the road further down. Gale takes the opportunity to launch a lot of small Fireballs of her own at the man, scorching his already worn clothes and drawing his anger back toward her.
Suddenly Sauron’s gaze returns to me, flinging a swirling ball of fire in my direction. I lose my focus on the spell I was casting as I duck out of the way. As I ready myself again, I see Gale darting toward him with a flurry of spells flying from her tail.
Right in front of me, Sauron raises a hand toward Gale and fires off a bolt of lightning. Moving too fast for Gale to avoid at that distance, it impacts her side, sending her flying backwards into the gutter. She struggles to stand but then falls limp.
I stare in shock at my unmoving friend, familiar, and sister.
An evil laugh breaks through my shock.
Turning my attention back to the man responsible for Gale’s current state, I cast another Wind Blast. It hits the man square in the chest, sending him sprawling on the ground. Before he can recover, I rush toward him, summoning a ball of swirling air at the end of my staff, and swing down at his head.
He manages to roll out of the way, but the blast from my spell causes him to roll uncontrollably for a while. Aiming my staff, I launch another spell before rushing at him again. Bringing my staff down toward him again, I summon the most powerful straight up fire spell I know.
He blocks my staff with his arms but takes the full brunt of the fire spell. Not missing a beat, I swing my right foot toward his side, connecting and causing him to grunt in pain.
I give him another kick before pouring everything I have into a Vine Snare, focusing on wanting him tied up as tight as possible.
Vines erupt from the cracks in the street and begin to wrap around him. He yells out as the vines begin to restrict his movements before wrapping tighter and tighter around him until all that I can see is a single eye looking around franticly before it, too, is obscured by vines.
I stand there for a moment before heading over to Gale. My staff clatters to the ground as I drop to my knees before her limp form. Carefully, I wrap my arms around her and pull her into a hug as I become aware of a commotion around me.
Worried that Sauron has broken free, I turn toward the noise only to see a group of enforcers rushing my way, weapons drawn.
Ignoring them, I use the only healing spell I know on Gale, hoping that it will be enough.
“What is going on out here?” I hear Dad exclaim.
“Erik!” follows Poseidon’s cry.
More and more voices begin to appear before a hand falls on my shoulder.
“Are you two okay?” asks Dad.
I shake my head then look down to Gale, tears blurring my vision.
Something rough and wet brushes my cheek. I…I’m okay, Gale’s voice echoes in my head right before everything starts to fade.
As I stir, a gentle bobbing sensation works to pull me back to sleep. I am snuggled up to something warm and wrap my arms more snugly around it. As I do, I am shifted further up the warm form by whatever it is I’m sitting on.
The jostle helps me wake further and I realize I am being carried. Opening my eyes as I lift my head, I see a reddish brown fabric stretched across the back that I’m resting on; my arms draped over the shoulders.
“Finally awake again?” Dad asks, turning his head a bit to look at me out of the corner of his eye.
“Yeah,” I nod. “What happened?”
‘’You kids got ambushed by that sorcerer fellow,” Poseidon answers. “By the time we arrived he was wrapped up in vines and you were holding an unconscious Gale.”
I jerk upright. “Is Gale alright?”
“I came to while you were holding me,” Gale answers from my right. “I’m quite sore, but otherwise okay.”
“You pushed yourself rather hard, apparently,” Dad says. “You passed out right after Gale came to.”
“Sauron?” I ask, uneasy.
“Recaptured,” Erik says.
I let out a sigh. “Good. I really don’t want to fight him again.”
“Me neither,” Gale agrees.
Leaning forward into Dad’s back, I rest
my head on his shoulder and ask, “Where are we going?”
“While you were out we got our reward for the bandits and the enforcer chief gave us a new quest,” Dad informs me. “We are heading to the pet store before heading off on the new quest.”
“How long was I out?” I ask, surprised at how much seems to have happened.
“‘Bout an hour,” Poseidon answers. “We thought we should let you rest.”
I nod and then just enjoy the ride. Several comforting minutes later, we arrive outside Jenna’s shop.
“Okay, munchkin,” Dad says. “Ready to walk?”
“Uh-huh,” I reply.
Dad kneels down and I slide off his back. Taking my bag from Erik, I remove the spell primer and turn to the store’s door. Entering the store, I look around and spot Billy and Frost at the counter.
“Welcome to Jenna’s Pet Shop,” he greets, looking up to us. “Oh! Hi!”
“Hi, Billy,” Gale replies.
I head over and hold my hand out to Frost; he gives it a wary sniff then nuzzles into it.
“You sure seem more comfortable,” I observe.
“Jenna let him sleep with me last night,” Billy explains. “She gave us a bed to use and even read us a bedtime story!”
“That sounds cool,” Poseidon says.
“I take it you like staying with her, then?” asks Dad.
“Yeah!” Billy replies. “It was lots of fun. She even let me help with dinner!”
“Cooking’s pretty fun, isn’t it?” I chuckle.
“Yep!” he agrees.
“Billy, didn’t I ask you to get me if someone shows…” Jenna begins, coming down an aisle. “Oh, it’s you guys. Heading out of town, are you?”
“Yeah,” Gale answers. “We wanted to say goodbye, and to give this to you.”
I hand over the primer. “This explains how our magic works as well as some basic spells. Gale and I made it for them.”
“You girls made this? How nice,” she says, taking the book. “I’ll make sure they take a good look at it.”
“It’s possible that you can still learn our style yourself,” Dad informs her. “If you already know some magic then it becomes more difficult, but there’s no reason you can’t try.”
The door opens and I turn to see who enters. Stepping in, Mari looks around the store, her eyes eventually landing on us.
“Hey! I wasn’t expecting to see you girls here,” she says, a big smile on her face.
“Hi, Mari,” I say, happy to see the waitress again.
Looking up from me, her eyes go wide and she hurries over to the counter.
“So adorable,” she coos, moving right up to Frost.
Frost, understandably, shies away from the excited girl.
Holding a hand out to him she says, “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.”
Frost makes no move to get closer, but I notice he looks down at her hand briefly.
“That’s Frost,” Gale tells her. “And this is Billy. They’re familiars like Sylphy and me.”
“Does that mean this little one is a Kitsune, too?” she asks.
“You know about that?” Jenna asks, surprised.
“Educated guess,” Mari replies. “I met these two last night, and you don’t see many blue foxes.”
“Mari here is interested in learning magic,” Dad says, getting back to our earlier discussion. “I told her we would be leaving the primer with you for the boys and to talk to you about using it.”
“I don’t see why not,” Jenna says. “I don’t really have an interest in magic, so having someone who does to help them learn would be very helpful.”
“Looks like we’ll be getting to know each other,” Mari says to Frost. Looking over to Billy she adds, “If you like magic and the like, I think we will get along pretty well.”
Billy nods with a big smile. “Magic is cool!”
“Yes, it is,” Mari agrees.
“As much as I think the kids would like to talk,” Dad interrupts, “we have a new quest and really need to get going.”
“That’s too bad,” Mari says.
“You’re going already?” Billy whines sadly.
“Sorry,” Gale replies. “But adventure calls.”
“Hopefully we can come see you guys again,” I say.
“You better,” Mari demands. “I’ll make sure to let you know about the next con, too.”
Handing Jenna a paper Dad says, “You can get a hold of us here. We’ll be back there by fall, so don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions about magic.”
“I will,” Jenna replies, taking the paper. “And you guys be safe. There are rumors of bandits in the area.”
“We will,” I promise. “But the bandits should be scared of us.”
I wave to my new friends as Dad herds us toward the door.
Chapter 12
A New Adventure
We stop at a few farmer stalls on our way out of town, stocking up on eggs and produce. Soon, though, we leave the city behind us and are once again walking down the forested road.
“Now that we are on our way,” Poseidon begins, “why don’t we fill you kids in on our new quest.”
“Yes, please,” Gale and I respond.
Dad chuckles, then explains, “The enforcer chief asked us to deliver a message to Fort Marshal. It’s only a couple days from here and the chief said that the commanding officer would want to talk to us.”
“So it’s an easy job?” Erik asks.
“Looks that way,” his sister answers. “But I’m curious why a military base would be interested in talking to a couple of adventurers.”
“It’s probably about the bandits,” Dad says. “We’re the ones who took out that group that had been causing trouble.”
The rest of the day is spent discussing the fight this morning and how we could have done things differently. Gale and I aren’t being chewed out, they just want to make us better prepared if something like that happens again.
By the time we stop for the night, the two of us are quite tired and eat our dinner in silence. I pop the last bite of bread into my mouth as I feel Gale leaning into me. Looking over at her I see she is already asleep. Stifling a yawn, I put both our plates on the ground.
Why don’t you get your bed roll out,” Dad suggests, picking Gale up in his arms.
I do as he says, more than ready for sleep. Once everything is set up, I lie down and get comfortable. To my surprise, Dad lays Gale down beside me rather than waking her up to change back into a fox.
“She’s earned a good night’s sleep,” he whispers in response to my unasked question.
I nod and then snuggle closer to her as Dad drapes my cloak over us.
I am awoken by a sudden pressure in my cheek; in the faint morning light I see it is a black furred and padded foot. Flipping my cloak off, I see that Gale somehow twisted herself around and is now hugging my right leg while her left foot is jammed in my face.
Removing her foot from my face and carefully freeing my leg from her grasp, I get up and head off into the woods to relieve myself before joining Dad and Poseidon at the remains of last night’s fire.
“Mornin’,” I mumble, not quite awake yet.
“You’re up rather early,” Dad comments. “Couldn’t sleep?”
“I was until Gale stuck her foot in my face.”
Poseidon snickers, “Sorry, but how did that happen?”
“I don’t know,” I reply. “She’s never tossed and turned before.”
“You guys are loud,” Erik complains, joining us at the fire.
“Sorry,” Poseidon apologizes. Holding up a pot she asks, “Want some cider?”
Erik nods.
“That sounds good,” I agree.
As Poseidon goes about preparing the cider, I give the smoldering coals of our fire some more wood and a little fire magic nudge. The formerly glowing coals suddenly flare up, throwing more light out and catching the new kindling aflame.
I sp
end the next few minutes absently poking the fire with a stick. A short time later a cup of yummy smelling apple cider is held in front of my nose. Taking the offered cup, I take in the delicious smell for a moment as I let the warmth seep into my hands. Taking a careful sip so I don’t burn my tongue, I let the taste wash over my senses; the spice of the cinnamon helps to wake me up.
“Mornin’,” a sleepy-looking Gale greets as she sits down beside me.
“Here,” Poseidon says, offering her a cup.
Gale takes the cider and gives it a sip. After that first sip she drinks much more eagerly, finishing her cup in just a few minutes.
With a satisfied sigh she looks down at the cup. Her previously droopy ears perk straight up as she looks up at us.
“When did I transform?”
“Yesterday,” Dad answers. “You fell asleep during dinner last night. After yesterday morning I figured you needed your sleep, so I let you be.”
“Really?” Gale asks excitedly. “I didn’t cause any problems by staying transformed?”
“Not as far as we can tell,” Poseidon answers. “Though your sister might argue otherwise.”
“Huh?” she asks. “Why?”
“’Cause you shoved your foot in my face this morning,” I reply.
She stares at me for a moment then lunges at me, wrapping both arms around my waist.
“I’m sorry,” she whines. “I didn’t mean to!”
After a moment I pat her on the head. “I know. But try not to do it again, okay?”
“Promise,” she agrees with a nod.
“Now that you two have made up,” Dad begins, “let’s get breakfast and hit the road.”
“Yeah, breakfast!” Gale cheers.
“And then you change back for the morning,” Dad adds, pointing to Gale.
“Awww,” Gale whines.
“I’ll let you sleep like that since nothing bad happened,” Dad offers, “but you have to change back for a few hours each day. Deal?”
“Deal,” Gale happily agrees.
“Can we eat now?” Erik asks irritably.
“If you want to eat that badly you could help cook,” Poseidon chastises.