Alaric landed, his hands shivering with a multitude of emotions. He was breathing funny and his eyes wouldn’t focus right. His heart beat heavily in his chest and he staggered.

  The great alpha of the Mudhounds lay on the ground not far from him. Frozen monoliths of earth stood all around him, silent like an eerie graveyard.

  The once-active woods had grown silent and the stench of death lingered.

  Alaric was angry, shocked, bewildered and so many other emotions at the same time. Why had Scarlett killed the beast? Hadn’t she said she would only step in when Alaric was in a bind? So why had she stepped in?

  The former assassin hadn’t just stopped at killing the Alpha Mudhound. She’d proceeded to storm the den of the Mudhounds, killing every last aether beast hiding inside as Alaric stood outside, waiting.

  Alaric never allowed himself the authority of judgment. He was young… which meant he lacked experience and he knew this. Surely, his companion had a perfectly sane reason for killing a creature that had given up on fighting him.

  Moments like these suffocated Alaric the most. He was young and always ready to seek guidance, yet he wasn’t supposed to seem like someone’s puppet. Trying to appear mature while knowing he was anything but put him under a lot of pressure.

  So far, dealing with Scarlett was proving to be the hardest thing he’d ever done. She was a loose cannon that did whatever it wanted. She’d shared her seemingly humble ambitions with him only the night before… and yet, Alaric still didn’t believe he knew what she was like.

  [ Do I need to remind you about Crystal? ] his guardian’s voice thundered in his head.

  [ No… ] the boy sighed, taking a deep breath to calm himself, [ We said she’d be the last. ]

  He swayed, then put his back against a large tree. He needed to relax. He needed to breathe… Closing his eyes, he took in a deep breath and started circulating essence out of habit. It always helped him calm down so he was fond of doing it.

  The girl came out moments later, blood covering her hands and blades. She threw the blades into the ground and sat before Alaric, “So… whatchu doing?”

  “I’m circulating essence. It helps calm my nerves,” Alaric responded indifferently. It wasn’t enough that she’d suspect he was trying to contain his anger. He wanted an answer, “Why did you kill it?”

  “Because you’ve been hiding things from me, Alistair,” she answered.

  Alaric’s eyes flashed open, barely containing his storm of emotions. Gritting his teeth, he bit back, “Everyone has their secrets. Even you didn’t tell me you were an assassin before we went to the Sisters of Fragrance… but I looked past that.”

  She pulled herself back a bit, then looked to the side in annoyance, “Oh… and what about you, Alistair? You act like a grown-up one moment, then act like a child in the next. What were you doing in that fight anyway? You were struggling at the beginning but then suddenly, you were more powerful than any kid I’ve ever met.”

  Alaric sighed.

  Scarlett was trying to throw him off the subject. This was not about him. It was about Scarlett and why she’d decided to kill the Alpha Mudhound. His voice nearly cracked as he spoke again, “We had an agreement, Scarlett.”

  Scarlett remained quiet for a bit before speaking in a low tone, “I’m sorry, Alistair.”

  Alaric’s eyes widened. Scarlett was extremely unpredictable but this topped everything Alaric had witnessed so far.

  She was… apologizing.

  His heartbeat became even more uneven. Circulating essence wasn’t helping. An apology wasn’t going to bring the Mudhounds back. Alaric had seen the look in the beast’s eyes as he neutralized its magic… It was the closest he’d ever seen an Aether Beast to giving up…

  There were things he’d wanted to ask the alpha mudhound. He wanted to know if it would have left if he’d told it to at that moment. So many opportunities… gone. The boy was on the verge of tears but he held them, not allowing them to well up in his eyes.

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  The only people he allowed to see his tears were far away from here so he would wait for when he was alone or when he met them again.

  Steeling his voice, he asked, “Why?”

  Scarlett remained quiet for a bit before taking on a sombre tone, “I quit being an assassin… and ran away from home. But I’m still an assassin deep in my bones. I was trained to kill from the moment I could hold a knife. It’s all I’ve ever known.

  Back home, hunting MudHounds, Ice Bears, Three-horned Panthers and any other low-grade Aether Beast is just a pass-time. I have never met someone who would even consider negotiating with an Aether Beast.

  When I saw you cast Earth Magic, I knew you didn’t want to kill that MudHound. I saw the look on your face. You were done fighting. Assassins don’t let go of their marks until they’re dead.

  The assassin in me wouldn’t allow it. Before I could even think, my body was moving,” she explained.

  “So… you lost control of yourself?” Alaric asked. He was already leaning into forgiving her though. Telling him this much about her life wasn’t something he’d expected. It had probably taken a lot of courage for someone like her. Trust was not a trait assassins just gave out.

  “I wouldn’t say I lost control…” the girl responded, “How old are you anyway? I’ve never seen anyone negotiate with a MudHound… or any Aether Beast for that matter,” Scarlett asked.

  “I’m fifteen…”

  There was a short silence during which Scarlett turned as white as a sheet before launching herself away from the boy, “YOU’RE A BABY!”

  “I’m not a baby,” Alaric responded sternly.

  “You’re a baby that just hatched,” she yelled back at him.

  “I’m not…”

  “This explains everything. The naiveté, the over-thinking, the uncertainty, the indecisiveness. You haven’t even had your guardian for a year. How did you improve your Temper Rank so fast?” the girl was ranting.

  “You can’t be that much older than me,” Alaric wanted to yell, “How old are you?”

  “Oh, I’m seventeen,” the girl responded with a smug smile, “Though with what I’ve seen, you might as well start calling me your big sister.”

  Alaric ran a hand through his hair. This was getting him nowhere. Part of why he was never comfortable around Scarlett was the internal battle with his gut instincts and logic.

  Scarlett could be scary if she wanted to but his gut instincts hadn’t told him she was dangerous… at least not yet. Knowing Alia, she’d tell him to go with his gut.

  Unfortunately, his gut wasn’t responsible for communication. How the hell was he supposed to communicate with such a wild card?

  [ Try sincerity ]

  Alia’s words sent shivers down Alaric’s spine. Sincerity was the epitome of naiveté, wasn’t it? Alaric’s only source of assurance was his gut. If he felt he could trust Scarlett, odds were she was okay—that’s if he believed what his guardian and Master Jack had said about his gut instincts.

  Going with that logic, even if she did end up betraying him in the future, Alaric was probably at least, ninety-nine percent sure it would be because she had no choice… and he would try to save her from whatever made her betray him.

  The boy sighed, “My guardian told me to try talking to Aether Beasts before fighting them. She’s taught me everything I know about magic, the Old Tongue and fighting so I have to go along with it if I want to get stronger.

  I wasn’t necessarily trying to negotiate with the MudHound. I don’t even know what I was supposed to be saying. Negotiating didn’t work though. So I guess I can say it was just practice. That was my first time talking to an Aether Beast, you know.” He chuckled at the end, “I didn’t even think those mudhounds would respond to me.”

  Alaric’s shift in mood had just the right tone to bring Scarlett down as well. Her default curious gleam returned to her eyes, “So, what was it like? The MudHound. Did it get to tell you how much it wanted to bite your head off? That’s just what I think every Aether Beast would tell a human if they got the chance. Something like ‘I’m going to bite your head off and feed your liver to my cubs’.”

  Alaric laughed at her response, “Surprisingly, that’s not what it said. It did mention something about thinking I was a Tamer when I called out to them. I’ve never heard the word used that way before though, so I’m not sure what it meant.”

  “A Tamer, huh?” Scarlett thought to herself before shrugging, “Never heard of tamers that talk to animals. So, are you going to just sit there pondering or will you help me fish the Aether Cores out of these bastards?”

  “Wouldn’t we get more money if we just took all the corpses? I’m sure their hides cost something,” Alaric tried.

  “You don’t see me lugging around some fancy Storage Item that can fit more than thirty MudHounds now, do you? Honestly, Alistair! For someone so bright, you ask some weird questions,” the girl shook her head as she walked away with a knife ready.

  Alaric stared at his bracelet… “How can you tell how much space is in a Storage Item?”

  “That bracelet of yours doesn’t look expensive enough to hold all these mudhounds,” the girl responded absentmindedly… but Alaric wasn’t done.

  “What if…”

  “For the love of the Thirteen Constellations…”

  “Hear me out, Scarlett,” Alaric chuckled.

  “I’m listening, Alistair. What’s your idea now?” she fumed.

  “We stuff the big guy inside my Storage Bracelet along with whichever other mudhounds can fit inside, especially the ones with most of their hides still intact, then when my bracelet is full, we fish the aether cores out of the rest,” Alaric finished with a smile.

  “That’s…” Scarlett froze, “…not a bad idea, actually. Let’s do that.” When silence met her reply, she turned to see the mother of smug expressions on Alaric’s face. Her shoulders dropped, “It was one idea.”

  “I’m smart!” Alaric piped up.

  “I hate you.”

  “You’re lying,” he continued.

  “Ugh! You’re a pain.”

  “You love me!”