For the past year I have been strictly mentored over the course of countless hours. Learning has changed my perspective on a great deal of things, for instance, humans. It had taken a long time to accept that I was a human. It didn’t change much of how I treated them. Father’s lesson mainly focused on interaction with my subordinates and extensive combat trials. I liked the fighting. However, he insisted I understand how humans interact with each other. I didn’t originally cooperate with him until he had three weaklings work together to beat me down.
Since then I have learned the language and how to read someone’s intentions. Father didn’t care for the details of how his domain was run, but he could identify anyone who sought to take advantage of his delegative leadership style. I had made great progress in this respect, and Father had finally decided it was time for me to assemble my own underlings. To prove myself in society, he set three rules.
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I am forbidden from using my noble status to compel servitude. (Until I return, I am only Lexia, not Lexia Harlanou.)
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I will not return until I find a peer who I deem worthy as my hand. (Father used his hand, Sir Darius, as an example.)
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I will not return until my stats unlock again. (While learning, my status was relocked. Father suspects it was because I hadn’t proven myself in my new community.
With the rules set, he threw me out the gate with a map and a last piece of advice. Reports of a promising girl that Sir Darius had seen in Port Town. It was better than any other lead I had prior, so I pulled out my map.
The map inconveniently didn’t actually name any of the towns. The Port Town father mentioned likely was based somewhere along the water, but that left six potential locations. Two to the north along the Great Boundary River, four to the northeast with three based along the edges of Glassy Shallows Lake, and then the furthest was next to the ocean in the distant northeast.
I should’ve known Father wouldn’t have any actually useful advice; instead, he wanted to send me on a wild chase. How would I even know I found this talented child? My interactions with Torin Grimmark showed me just how worthless humans are before we get our stats. I actually managed to crush every bone in his hand with a simple handshake when I was practicing greetings.
As I set off north, the changes in demeanor after the last year became apparent. Vague memories of my childhood resurfaced. The memory as a little girl being left in a cave in the woods. The hunger and desperation of my first kill, a bat, and the gradual adaptation that I took on as I did everything in my power to survive. Before Father took me from the woods, I had tried to forget my origins. Trying to understand why I had to survive distracted me from surviving.
Now I was being abandoned to survive on my own again, but I wasn’t the naive child I was before. Inside, a piece of me snapped back into place as I set off on a light jog northward. My experience in Father’s care expanded my perspectives, but deep inside I was still a predator. This time it wasn’t a wild hunt for food or driving out competition; this time I was hunting a young human I deemed worthy. My predatory instincts took control, and animals that harassed travelers fled before I could rip them into pieces.
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I would visit the northern towns first, then the lakeside towns, and then the oceanside town. I expected many delays searching each town without Father's authority, but within 3 months I should be done. The problem of convincing the human to follow me should be easy enough once I assert my natural dominance. Simple bipeds were easy to rip and tear to bits. My thoughts faded, and I felt my stats unlock once I fully shifted back into a predator.
-Callen-
Why did I think scattering the army would be the end of the problem? Well, the town was safe, but now the surviving soldiers had scattered. Those who left weren’t really a problem, but there were now small bands of bandits and raiders threatening the roads. To make matters worse, the biggest band had the support of one of the knight-level fighters. They only knew about this Ralf because of the survivors of the team sent by Sir Portten to rescue those who had fallen into Nixie’s traps.
I barely got to spend any time with Crescent these days because that raid had cost us nearly half the healers Madam Laina had taught before her untimely demise. Even worse was how much Sir Eira’s death had impacted Callia. I could feel the underlying pit of anxiousness, powerlessness, and a suffocating feeling of resentment. I would help her work through those emotions, but I’m not sure how.
For now I decided it would be best to give her space and reassure her I would always be there for her. I left the mayor, Reesia, and Sir Torulf to work out how we would address the bandit problem. I needed time to recenter myself before I got lost in all the chaos. I entered Nightshade's tower and eventually reached her garden. Nearly half the flowers had withered during the battle with the bear, but the garden was still as tranquil as ever.
I sat down and immersed myself in the world. Memories of the battle and the people I killed came forth. Like ghosts haunting my soul, I acknowledged each and let my heart process the grief. Killing someone in person with a weapon. The feeling of bones snapping and organs collapsing. I remember each face whom I saw fall in that battle, and I apologize.
Night has fallen by the time I shake free of my meditation, but I feel much lighter. I knew in my heart I would never be much of a warrior. Fighting people was something I would never choose to seek out, but protecting was something I could justify. I’m not sure if this stance was the influence of Nightshade’s pacifistic nature or just how I genuinely felt, but it was me. I walk back home and prepare myself for the busy days to come. Before I went to sleep, I remembered that Callia might not know about the bandits and passed a warning to her.
Mayor troubles
Mayor Hew tugged at his beard, sighing in frustration. As mayor of a royal town, incident reports and annual check-ins were mandatory. The Hive Worm’s could be explained by the unusual visitation of a high-ranking Earthkin leading to a rush of guests overwhelming the checkpoints. Then the attack of a great monster like The Great Bear was something normal, even if uncommon.
However, the debacle regarding Baron Eldraine was a whole different beast. How was he supposed to say the man went crazy trying to pillage his own towns when he had in fact not pillaged any! Callen and Callia’s trick to save Portten had made his report so much more complicated. If the Baron had actually done some kind of unforgivable crime like looting his subjects without cause, it would be reasonable for their towns to band together, but he didn’t, and his demands had been interrupted by Callia attacking.
The more Hew stared at the letter, the less certain he was how to write it. The town was already in a sensitive place regarding the joining of an Earthkin Clan. Killing a noble and the knights in his service looked like open rebellion regardless of how he tried to spin it. If he offloaded the blame to Sir Portten, who had killed the man, then it was likely Sir Portten and his family would be sent to death for defying noble mandate.
Not answering would be even worse! If news reached the capital of Baron Eldraine's death before he sent a letter, then who knows how bad the punishment would be! There wasn’t any logical explanation, and no crime was successfully committed by the baron. Mayor Hew groaned in frustration, looking up to the ceiling. He had once been planning to sip wine while his son ran the town, but now he was stuck writing incident report after incident report. Then an idea struck him. What if he tricked Callen into making the report? He could say it was Callen's fault for making it so complicated and guilt him!