Someone dressed entirely in black entered. He held a curved sword which gleamed in the light. His spirit animal, a wild dog, was right behind him. The door closed and locked behind him. Then he charged.

Whatever happened is still a mystery to me. One moment there was nothing under the tree, then there was Braca. She snarled and tackled the wild dog, leaving me to fend off the large man with the pointy metal thing. Awesome.

I grabbed the hilt of my sword and leapt down from the tree. Somehow I felt a strange calm as I faced my opponent. I could almost see what his moves were. He swung forward and I dodged, cutting down on his weapon with my own. Mine glowed white and sliced through his like a knife through bread, effectively cutting it in half. We stared at it as it started smoking. I struck first, kicking his ribs as hard as I could with a little extra strength from Braca. I lashed out over and over again until I felt something grab my arm. I whirled on that, too, until I saw it was only Zerif. He looked pleased. "Good job, Irena."

"What?" I looked back at the man wearing black, who was taking off his mask.

Zerif replied, "That was a test to see how you would react if you were attacked, and you passed."

I guess that must be good. "How did Braca get here randomly? She wasn't even in the room then then she was here." The jaguar came over and nudged my hand with her cold, wet nose.

"That I do not know." Zerif stroked his chin, deep in thought. "Well, why don't you go bond with her again. I've heard she almost goes into the passive state."

I smiled. "Almost, but not quite. Come on, Braca." When we got back to our room, I asked, "So, what would you like us to do today? Play with your ball? Sing? Play fight?"

Braca nudged a little flute buried under a lot of other things. It was the only thing I still had from when I still lived with my parents; it was made solely for Amayan tunes. "You know I don't know know anything that that thing would work with that." Still, she nudged it and looked at me. I picked it up, glaring at her. "Fine. I'll try it."

I put it to my lips. Unlike the other times I'd attempted it, my fingers seemed to know exactly where to go. I immediately recognized the tune as The Jumpy Jaguar, a song for children.

The jumpy jaguar, bouncing so high, the jumpy jaguar, will learn to fly, the jumpy jaguar, above the trees, the jumpy jaguar, does what he please.

When the last few notes faded and I put the flute down again. Braca was staring up at me with her beautiful golden eyes. "What?" She nudged my arm again and I immediately understood. I held out my arm. With a searing flash, she became a spotted golden mark on my forearm.

Greenhaven. . . .

Lenori woke with a start, panting from her dream. Well, it was more of a nightmare. Myriam was still asleep, her head tucked under her rainbow feathers. The Seer ran her hand through her hair, adjusted a feather, and raced out of the room. Olvan must know!

"Olvan, I had a vision! It's urgent." Lenori ran up to the Greencloak leader, who was drinking his coffee.

He finished his mug. "Let's talk somewhere where there aren't curious ears." They walked out of the dining hall where more and more Greencloaks were entering. "So, what is it?"

Lenori glanced around to make sure they hadn't been followed. "I had a vision of animals, so many animals, attacking Greenhaven. They weren't normal, too big and glowing to be normal. The amount should've flattened everything, but something was holding them back. I looked down and saw a girl with hair as red as flame fighting them. With each one she touched, it was cured and ran off. A jaguar was by her side and a voice named her Keeper. We get records everywhere of everyone who summons a spirit animal, even from Stetriol. The only one who has a jaguar is Irena Cadly."

"Where is this girl?"

Lenori closed her eyes, her face grave. "She lives is Stetriol, though she was born in Amaya to Euran parents. She also has taken Nectar. Stolen Nectar, but Nectar all the same."

Olvan blinked, then turned to the window, his hands clasped behind his back. "Could you find Kieth for me? I have a mission for him. Send for Desta as well; her skills will be needed."

That is just a random song I made up. It could be a children's song.

Question: So, what do you think of Braca so far?