The New Bond

[Each living creature has mana they are born with. The amount varies, but no one in the realm we are in is born manaless. The mana type you have is altered with your classes. It is recommended that people focus on what they are naturally attuned to. This can be found out in the class options you are given. More information on page 87. - Review of Mana, by JL Altman]

Aster

I stared at Umbra, having to look up now, only slightly, but still up. I knew the day was coming soon, but I still didn't know how to feel about her being taller than me and only two and a half months old.

"You know you don't have to. We can wait a while. It doesn't need to be immediate ." I rubbed my hand against her side, speaking to Umbra reassuringly.

There was uncertainty but determination in the bond from Umbra. Still, her wings fluttered as she looked down. We were on the top of the cave, a good forty feet off the ground, and I could see over some of the trees, but most of them still stretched quite a bit higher.

Her claws clacked as she moved side to side. A few minutes ago, she had a feeling that ran through her body and into her wings. I had no idea what it meant, but I’d also felt it in the bond.

She had started climbing the cliff before I could even ask if it was a good idea. It seemed now that we were at the top with her about to jump off the side of a cliff. She had come to her senses.

“I can do it; I know I can.” She said, and I didn’t hesitate to smile at her as reassuringly as I could.

“Take your time. I know you can do it,” I said, ignoring the worry I felt pushing it down.

Umbra wanted and needed to be able to fly. The thought of meeting other dragons before she could do so made her nervous. If her senses told her it was time to fly, I believed she could. Birds threw themselves out of the nest, and she was a dragon throwing herself off a rock. It was the same thing in practice, to my understanding.

I took a step away, giving her room to spread her wings, and she flapped them a few times, inhaling a deep breath.

I watched as she backed up, then as she froze for a second before she bunched her legs under her and took a bounding leap forward. She flung herself clear of the stone, and it looked like she hung in the air for a moment before she dropped downward.

My heart skipped a beat as the stone obscured my view of her, and I scrambled to the edge, looking down, just in time to see Umbra, with her wings out, disappear into the trees only a dozen feet from the ground. There was a moment of panic, and I felt pain from the bond before it faded, joy replacing it.

She appeared above the closest trees in front of me, angled upwards, her wings beating hard as she gained height. Sticks and leaves followed in her path, falling behind. I could see scratches on the membrane but no holes, thankfully.

I let out a long breath as I sat back. My head craned as I watched her make a circle, then a loop. She was flying, making it look natural and easy to her, which, now that I thought about it, it must have been.

"I did it! I'm doing it!" she sounded so happy through the bond that I let out a cheer, waving my hands. I knew she couldn't hear it that high up, but how could I not when seeing her in the air? It made me so happy.

My voice was drowned out as a howl sounded, then a second, and more as the wolves below joined in. My smile turned even bigger at the noise.

While Umbra hadn't spent much time with the wolves, she had still grown up, played with the pups, and hunted for them. The wolves celebrating meant they considered her part of the pack.

All the howls were drowned out by a roar that sounded above them. The leaves on the trees shook slightly as Umbra passed inches above them.

While the noise was loud, it still held the sound of a child, cutting off much sooner than I would have thought was expected, but It had been impressive for a first roar.

Umbra was only in the air for a few minutes before she landed on the ground in front of the cave. The landing wasn't as graceful as she had been in the air. She looked tired but happy as the dust cleared around her.

I started to make my way down to her side, the stones providing a good grip.

"Do you think you'll be able to get off the ground without jumping?" I asked after we had made it to the river together so she could get a drink and wash the dust off. It seemed the first flight had worn her out quite a bit by how long she had her snout in the river.

She responded while she was still drinking, and I found it funny to watch her but still able to hear her voice.

"I think so, but it'll take a lot more effort. Maybe I’ll try later."

I stretched out, sitting against her side near her neck as she got out of the water laying down. Not minding the still-drying water, I relaxed into the scales. I waved my hand next to me after a moment had passed. The motion was still new, and I had to focus on what I wanted, but it worked.

The body of a long boar with multiple heads appeared. It was the one we had hunted yesterday, and with the storage gem keeping it almost frozen in time, it still was fresh enough that the blood hadn't thickened yet.

Umbra arched her neck, settling in as she started to eat. I had a portion of the boar appear in my hand, one I had cut off and cooked already, seasoned with garlic and pepper, from what the identify said.

I had pounds of dried meat sitting in my storage like the piece I held, an idea Kulni had recommended that had taken a few weeks to get sorted. It was a good idea to have food always available, even if it wasn't fresh.

I'd even done the same with water, but to do so, it had taken Umbra's help to find trees, peel the bark off, and carve out the inside. For a reason I didn't understand, to store any liquid, even blood, it had to be surrounded by something solid on at least three sides. Still, it worked in the end.

"Are you still upset about having to leave soon?" Umbra asked, the sound of cracking bone and tearing muscle following her words.

"No, not really. The books did show that there's a lot out there that I want to see, but I guess I'm just nervous. Meeting my own race has never occurred to me." I slumped back, chewing on the meat. Everything was ready to go. I'd already packed the clothes, gathered the shelf worth of books I had, and cleaned my room out, only really leaving the bed sheets and items I didn't think would be needed.

I let out a billow of air and rolled over to look at the river. I was nervous, worried, anxious. Every possible emotion I could think of had passed through me, but the taste of the world outside of the forest was tempting more than ever because of those emotions. I wished for a second that I could somehow stay and go, but that was a thought only.

“Is there anything we should do before we leave?” Umbra asked into the silence.

Shaking my head, I paused midway through the motion. There was one last thing I wanted to do. I stood up and started to pace as I thought about it. Maybe it could work, and It would be a perfect way to say goodbye to my oldest friend, but I was missing one key part.

My mind raced with the idea until Umbra’s tail swayed into my path, nearly tripping me.

“Well, what is it?”

I looked into her eyes. “There is one thing we need to do still, something extremely important.”

It took the rest of the afternoon to prepare everything that was needed, but we had the time with the hunting part set to return after the stars had started to come out.

I was sitting at the edge of the clearing under a Claw Wood tree with a trunk that would take four of me to wrap around it. The wind rustled the tree slightly, and I had to resist looking up as I watched the target walk into the clearing. I waved to Sandath, who was dragging a white and black creature with long claws that Identify told me was a Root Burrow Badger.

I could spot missing tufts of his fur, showing that it hadn't gone down as easy as most prey tended to do.

He flicked one of his ears, letting me know he saw me as he dropped his catch down before sniffing around and picking up his favorite food, which had changed to the squirrels in the past month before he made his way over his tail wagging.

I gave him a rub on the head as he sat down next to me, although I had to half-stand to do it.

“You’re leaving soon?” He asked as he bit into his prey.

Nodding, I kept looking forward, watching the wolves around the clearing move to pick their prey as I spoke.

“We’ll set out tomorrow from what Mother said. She’s going to take us to the outer forest to avoid problems, and a person should be there waiting, and after that, I don’t know. Go to the capital and then the academy, I guess.” I looked down at the tail that had moved around and into my lap. I was running my hand through it, something I hadn't known I’d started, but I kept doing it, finding the motion soothing.

Sandath licked his lips, looking around before turning to nuzzle into my side. “I want you to bring me something good back, like a big bird.”

I laughed, taping his nose and feeling my shoulder relax. “You’re thinking with your stomach, but I will, if not a bird, then something tasty.”

Out of the top converter of my eye, I could see the movement. Everything was going to plan. I just had to keep him talking. “Though I think, you’ll be too busy with Nomi to think much about me.” I teased

I would have bet at that moment that if his fur wasn't so dark or the sun hadn’t almost entirely set, I could have seen him flushing.

“I..she..do you think…” He sputtered, and I laughed as I spotted said wolf across the clearing just now getting back from her hunt.

“I think you two are perfect together, and your pups will be amazingly adorable.” I continued to tease him, and he nearly let the food fall out of his mouth.

“She’ll hear you!” He whined as his eyes flicked between me and her, and I playfully leaned over, shoving him.

“There’s one other thing I needed to say before I left,” I said, changing the subject. The timing was perfect.

He tilted his head, obviously confused at the sudden change but relieved. “What is it?”

“I’m going to be ahead the entire time I'm gone,” I said, pointing up. Sandath looked up, and his eyes widened, his nose twitching, telling me the plan had worked perfectly.

I backed away at a dash, using Stalker’s Movement for the extra speed, narrowly avoiding a paw from him as he reached out to try to snag me.

Umbra dropped like a stone, her wings tucked in. She was covered in mud, leaves, and twigs, covering her scent and scales that would have been obvious otherwise. It had taken some convincing to get her to do it and a few promises about bed space, but in the end, she had let me cover her up.

Now she was squishing Sandath even with her smaller size, pinning him to the ground, and I was laughing.

“It’s not fair!” He whined, looking up at the dragon who had her mouth open in a draconic grin, frost flowing out from her nose.

“She’s my bond. It’s completely fair, like how you had Nomi trick me last time!” I countered once I had my breath back.

It had been on one of the last hunts when she had led me through a thicket, only to be met with Sandath waiting on the other side to pounce. “And with this, I believe the new count is..” I tapped my side with my finger, pretending to have to think.

“Ninety to eighty-nine,” Umbra said helpfully to both of us. She had learned to speak to the wolves mentally, picking up a skill called Draconic Speech in the process that allowed her to speak to any willing sentient creature mentally.

Sandath slumped, giving up his struggle. “Fine, but you have to give me a chance to get even when you come back.”

Umbra got up, shaking herself off, not doing much besides splattering mud, before she started to the river to wash up for the second time.

“I will, and I’ll miss you, but I’ll see you when I come back,” I promised, hugging him, ignoring the mud that Umbra had left on his pelt.

I’d miss him more than any other wolf here. He’d been the first wolf to speak to and play with me when I was little. I would always love him for it.

“I’ll miss you too.” He wined

We shared a moment of silence, and then he licked my face, and I gagged at the smell, backing away. He then proceeded to shake his pelt out, spraying me with mud before he nuzzled me one last time, probably to make sure he’d gotten the mud off his face, and rubbed it into me before he trotted off to a waiting Nomi. I rolled my eyes. Wolves had the best and worst goodbyes.

Turning, I made my way to wash off with Umbra. There was no way I would sleep or meet my first other race while looking like a mud monster.

I was sitting outside the house the next morning, yawing. I hadn't gotten much sleep over the last night, and I’d probably kept Umbra up with my emotions. I was full of jitters, but she had taken the entire bed, so we were even. We were both waiting on Kulni, who was speaking to a rather large wolf with a gray muzzle. He was at least ten feet tall and someone I recognized from a few years ago. He spent most of his time in the outer forest to the east nowadays, from Kulni said.

She was speaking to him about the northern part of the forest, which she had sent him to watch for whoever was waiting on us. He had come back last night saying that there was someone who was waiting outside of the forest. We were about to set out.

He trotted off with a final respectful bob of his head and probably some mental words, and then Kulni turned to us.

“It seems like Arilion is ready and waiting. Are you two ready?” She asked. I shook my head, yawing once more before standing with Umbra as we made our way over to her. There was no way I was ready to leave the forest, but I was prepared as well as I could be.

“That’s good. I don’t think anyone could be ready for such a big change, but let's get going; we can speak while we walk. I can only be gone from the inner forest for so long.” She said, and I followed her out of the clearing, only pausing to take one last look at the cave and the house. I would miss it.

A gentle, reassuring nudge from the bond had me turn around and give Umbra a smile and a nod to her unasked question. I was fine, dressed in a newer long-sleeved tunic, pants, belt, and arrows strapped to my back. I couldn't have needed anything else I could think of. I rubbed the leather around my neck. Most of my belongings were stored in such a small item. Shrugging my shoulders, I forced my tail to stop twitching before I started to walk again.

Mother didn’t speak much as we moved out of the inner forest and into the mid-forest, which had a considerable drop in ambient mana that only seemed to grow lower. Umbra and I looked around. The melted snow had every creature out trying to find nuts or hunt, but the creatures we saw were noticeably smaller and had lower levels, staying out of our path.

That changed slightly as the mana raised only fractionally, but the beast level jumped a massive margin, going from an average mid-thirties to the high eighties. I Identified one of them as they flashed by on a branch above, startled by our passing.

[Twin-tailed Vixen- Monarch - Level 89]

I looked to Kulni, who had to be the reason they were staying away, and she looked back, noticing my look even from behind, and raised an eyebrow.

“Why did you think I kept you in the inner forest for so long? I want you to grow, but I’m not going to throw you out here to be eaten by some beast.” She said

“Are all of the beasts outside of the forest this high?” If so, would I be the weakest person in the capital? I looked at my charter sheet. I thought I was progressing faster than usual, but now I wasn't so sure.

[Name: Aster]

[Grade: 1]

[Level: 32][Titles: True Daughter of Kulni , Bonded]

[Mana: 391/391]

[Stamina: 695/695]

[Race Class: Daughter Of Kulni - Level 32]

[Class Skills: Stalker’s Movement, Pack Bond, Pack Formation]

[Second Class: Bonded Ranger - Level 25]

[Class Skills: Bond Speech, Frosted Arrow, Ranger's Aim, Night Eye]

[Passive Class Skills: Stealth - Rank One, Balance - Rank One.]

[Attributes]

[Available Attribute Points - 4]

[Constitution - 49]

[Strength - 73]

[Endurance - 109]

[Dexterity -135]

[Charisma - 68]

[Intelligence - 50]

[Wisdom - 71]

I’d already broken over a hundred in two of the attributes and was making good progress to have two more break a hundred in the next dozen levels. Still, maybe I could have gone out more. Umbra was only sitting at level eighteen, after all.

“No, the outer forest has a lot of treasures and relics that increase mana in certain areas even more so than the inner forest. They cause fights over the regions, and some creatures stand out and grow quite fast in level.”

My shoulders relaxed at that, and I tilted my head, watching the trees as we walked past. The forest was less tame than the inner portion and lacked a lot of details, like the absence of the Claw Wood trees. You could spot one occasionally, but they were few in number, and the vines that grew on almost every tree were also missing.

The biggest difference was a lack of a deeper shade of green that made the forest feel less alive. Still, the area was beautiful. I watched as the sun flickered between the leaves, making the area seemingly glow as I put one foot in front of the other. A nudge from Umbra's tail had me look over in her direction, and she gestured forward with her snout, a sparkle in her eyes that showed excitement I could have noticed even without the bond.

“Look, we’re almost out. I can’t see any trees after those!” Her words had me squinting my eyes, and sure enough, as I looked closely, I could spot a place where the trees seemed to come to a complete stop. They didn’t slowly space out more. The ending was abrupt. Beyond that was just grass that didn't even rise to my knees. As far I could see, the only other feature was some distant mountains and a tree that sat by itself near a long stretch of dirt that died out into grass as it reached the forest.

I watched as Kulni stopped and turned to me with a smile on her face, and I looked up at her wordlessly. I hadn’t really spoken to her, but we were already at the edge.

The trip felt so fast it made the forest feel small, but now it was time to leave it and Kulni.

“I’ll miss you,” I said, a bit of a hitch to my voice that I didn't want. The words felt like they were tucked in my throat, and I tried to clear it, looking away and blinking a few times. My eyes weren't watering. A piece of dust had just gotten in them.

I felt Kulni ruffle the top of my head, squishing my ears and messing up my hair as she chuckled.

“You know this will be over before you know it. Take the time to get to know people, and after it’s over, you can come back to the forest if you want.”

I gave her a hug. I’d always want to come back, but I didn’t say it outright to her, only nodding slowly. She let me hug her for a long moment before she patted my back and spoke.

“I think it’s time. I can tell that someone is waiting for you. I’ll be here untill you leave, but there's no reason to keep someone else waiting.”

Reluctantly pulling myself away, I stood beside Umbra, looking out into the fields, wiping my eyes. “Ok, let’s go and meet them.”