When I wake up the next day, I'm confused. I know I was with Yone and Yasuo. I'm pretty sure that I would still be with them. I wouldn't… Memories come flying back. I wipe a few stray tears from my cheeks and get up. My precious scarf and a spare change of clothes sit on a chair next to the patient's bed I have momentarily claimed as mine. Doing my best to forget exactly what happened, I yank on the tunic and legging they gave me. Surprisingly, my magic doesn't change my clothes that much. If anything all that happened was that they shrank. With that in mind. I take a seat on the floor and close my eyes, choosing to meditate and speak with the beings that have all the answers I could ever want...
Oh yes, Daamien. Right there! Aurora moans.
"WHAT THE SHADOW ISLES IS GOING ON HERE?" I scream and close my eyes. I swear I just saw a red-cracked black back hunched over a glowing being.
"LEILAH?" Daamien jumps. I can hear a quick shuffle of clothes being put on. "What are you doing here?"
"I had an innocent question I wanted to ask! I didn't need to know that you guys were… coitusing in my core!" I scream.
"Maybe use a warning next time?" Daamien demands.
"How do I do that?"
Everyone, calm down! Aurora barks. I click my mouth shut while keeping my eyes closed. Apologies, Leilah. We were…
"I know what you two were doing, I don't need you to try to excuse yourselves!" I yelp, trying to stop her from continuing.
"Fair enough. What are you doing here so early in the morning then?" Daamien grumbles. I can practically hear the aggravation at being interrupted.
"I was wondering why my clothes remained as they were, changing to fit me better. Usually when I wear something it morphs into the sky blue dress and black leggings." I mention.
"Starshadow's been changing your clothes, wanting you to wear what is fitting an Aspect and a Darkin in one… We should really give you a different title. It's getting tiring to repeat that all the time." Daamien explains shortly before getting distracted. "Perhaps… no, that sounds stupid. We want you to be amazing, not blah."
"Well… um, I'm going to get back to my own form of training… You guys… can… do-"
We were trying to figure out-
"I don't want to know!" I shriek and close my eyes.
"Nope, never doing that again without announcing out loud exactly what I'm doing, or Starshadow can do that." I yelp, rubbing at my temples. I really hope I can forget about that little instance… forever.
"Uh, miss?" The man from last night knocks on my door. I scramble to my feet and open the door while rubbing my eyes.
"Yes?" I ask. I think I can get through the day now that I've wiped… nope. It's still there…
"Uh, I told the owners here that you were staying. They said that unless you were able to help out around the place, you have to leave. I said that you were a sort of healer in training and they want to assess you before accepting you in… Oh, I don't think I've ever introduced myself. It's Yan." He offers a hand.
"Leilah." I introduce myself, shaking his hand.
"The owners want to talk with you as soon as possible." Yan shrugs apologetically.
"That's fine. After all, they are kind enough to let me be here. Lead the way." I wave my hand forward.
"Alright, so you should know, our clinic is really small. It's mostly a place for new apprentices or aspiring doctors. The doctors here are very kind and gentle. They teach the younger generation how to heal. Most of our patients are those that suffer an accidental scratch from a rake or a broken bone. We have unusual cases, but they are rare." Yan explains.
"It must be pretty quiet here. From what I recall, you were in a hospital in Navori. What made you come to the clinic?" I ask.
"Oh… The hospital I was working at fired me." Yan fiddles with his hands.
"Why?" I don't understand. He was kind and tried to help.
"The hospital I worked at, I ignored a lot of problems they had. That hospital, they mostly took in patients that could afford it. People like the gladiators of the colosseum. They didn't treat normal people's injuries, like broken bones or loss of limbs, but they would tend to the gladiators' scratches. I used to be like that. I thought that that was how doctors were supposed to act. You… you looked like you were going to pass out, but you put your hands on that dying man and didn't give up. Even when I told you he was going to pass, you didn't stop. I actually saw his injuries start to heal, but I guess it was too much for you. Even then, you didn't stop. You helped him find peace. That… that day changed everything. I stopped tending to scratches and trying to save the badly injured. I was fired because I said no when a giant gladiator came in with a papercut while a child came in with a broken bone." Yan tells me his story.
"How did you find your way here?" I ask.
"Turns out, the owners of this place heard what happened. It's not hard when the colosseum is the biggest thing here, and I didn't help fix Goliath. They found me moping in my apartment, depressed that I will never have a job in the medical field, and offered me a place to work. I've been working here ever since." Yan explains.
"They sound like nice people." I murmur uncertainly, play with my scarf.
"They are. Here's their door." Yan knocks on a rather worn looking door. A soft 'enter' is barely heard. Yan opens it. "This is the girl I found. I'm pretty sure you will want to keep her around."
"Thank you, Yan. You may go." An elderly woman, smartly dressed in a kimono with her hair tied up, waves off my friend. Yan nods his head. Before he leaves, he gently squeezes my shoulder, offering a little comfort. He closes the door behind him, leaving me with the owners.
The woman is sitting on the left with her own desk. A balding elderly man is writing at his desk, little ink splotches getting onto his white tunic. He finishes scribbling something down before looking up at me. The woman holds her hands together and leans forward. I really want to play with my scarf right now. It's a little unnerving to be in this kind of scenario.
"What's your name?" The woman starts. She dips a quill into an inkwell and prepares to write down whatever answers I give her.
"It's Leilah." I mumble.
"You'll have to speak up, miss. We aren't able to hear as well as we once did." The man tries to help calm my nerves. I take a deep breath in.
"It's Leilah. My name is Leilah."
"Where are you from?" The woman asks the next question.
"A village on the east side of Mount Targon." I answer truthfully. That peaks both their interests.
"You are far away from home. I can understand why Yan told us you didn't have a place to stay. I'm going to assume that you have no family members here, nor anyone we can contact if you are in need of assistance?" The woman starts to write down something.
"There's two men in the city right now. Yone and Yasuo. They're my closest friends in Ionia." I correct them. The man's posture straightens in surprise.
"The men sent here to help Navori's vulkodalk problem?" He asks.
"That's them." I shiver a little bit. A little bit of sweat drips down my back.
"Now, Yan told us a little bit about you. He said that you were what inspired him to be the doctor he is today. He seems to think that you are the kind of healer everyone would want. So, why our clinic?" The man asks.
"I… I just happened to arrive here. I just need a place to stay. Being in Navori… The man in charge there scares me. Just something about him creeps me out. He forced me into a meeting and demanded I work there, but I didn't want to so I just ran and-" I'm struggling to breath.
"Slow down, Leilah." The woman states calmly. I clamp my mouth shut. She finishes writing down something before putting it in a folder. "Start from the beginning."
"I arrived here in Navori, and was mauled by a vulkodalk. My… Yone brought me to a hospital, frozen over by my own magic. Overnight, my magic healed me and I was released. A day later, there was a huge attack in the square. While everyone else was focusing on the vulkodalks, I was rescuing people. After that, this man, Deviago, he found me and practically demanded I work at the colosseum. I didn't want to. Yone and Yasuo attempted to interfere, but I had to use magic and I couldn't stay there and I just ran and found myself outside your business and Yan took me in." I ramble a bit at the end, my nerves feeling a little shot. The people interviewing me look at each other before nodding.
"You're welcome to stay here if you can pull your own weight. We can always use another healer." The woman smiles at me. I almost collapse to the ground in relief. She walks over and pats me on my shoulder. "Besides, I can't let a teenager be all by themselves. Especially one as magically powerful as you."
"I'm not a teenager. I think I'm twenty at this point." I mention. The woman raises her eyebrows, surprised.
"Twenty? But you look so young." She murmurs surprised.
"I'm… sort of… timeless, but I'm still capable of dying." I try to answer. Personally, I'm not sure how I would be able to explain what I am. Starshadow would be able to make sense of it…
"Interesting… How good are you at healing?" The man stands up.
"Uh, too good?"
"Can you explain that?" The woman asks kindly. More than likely they sense my unease at being in the center of attention.
"I heal, but I've been told I use too much magic. Sometimes, healing a small cut is exhausting. Thing is, I've never had that issue before. Well, I get tired easily, but I used to be able to control my magic to the point where I could stop healing if I wanted to. Ever since I got here, my magic has been… wild." I explain to the best of my ability.
"Oh. Well, I'm sure I can get you a mentor to help you. I know someone who is just as timeless as you, though he's rather… hard to reach these days." The man walks over to me and offers me a hand. I warily shake it.
"Welcome to the Farmer's Clinic at the edge of Navori City. You're hired." The woman smiles.
"My name is Haru, my wife Luna. This clinic has been passed down from Father to son since my ancestor founded it." The man introduces themselves. "Our clinic is especially for the students that want a quick, hands on experience while also being mentored. It's hard to find good help in the city, especially with this Deviago person in charge. We're too far out of his grasp, so you can consider yourself safe here. Let me take you to our nurse's quarters. You can rest there with the rest of the students. Do you have anything you'd like to grab before I take you there?"
"T-t-that's it?" I stammer.
"That's it. Yan told us about you and we've been hoping to meet you, though I was hoping you would have had better control over your magic that you seem to display." Luna answers me.
"I… I wish I could too. Uh, no. I don't have anything else on me." I stammer when I realise that they are taking me back to where I woke up. The couple looks at each other in surprise before back at me, trying to mask sympathy, but fail a little bit. Doctors, healers, and nurses are bustling around us, taking patients one at a time. The room never seems to lose patients, as more constantly come in.
"That's alright. Let's just go- Charles!" Haru calls out. This man is different. He doesn't wear the uniforms of others here. He carries a bag full of paper. Must be a mailman. Maybe I can send a letter to Mother and Father soon.
"Haru! Luna! How are you two doing? Deviago hasn't reached his claws out here yet, has he?" The young man, Charles, warmly greets the two, hugging them both.
"Not at all, though we recently had a refugee. This is-" Haru starts to introduce me, only for Charles' eyes to go wide.
"Leilah?" He asks. I jolt a little bit.
"Uh, how do you know me?" I ask. Charles grips the front of his hair tightly.
"Deviago's already put a bounty on your head, hoping to find you. He claims you were going to meet him, but got lost. Two swordsmen have been going around, asking if you were found, to let them know and to keep your location quiet." he explains.
"Deviago… wants me? Why?" I want to curl into a ball now.
"They said something about your magic being extremely powerful and you needed someone to mentor you. That they didn't want to risk your magic going to harm others." Charles looks a bit mad. "Haru and Luna always said that they were possessive bastards. Anything of interest, they'll go for it. You, with your two-toned eyes and magical hair, are certainly someone of interest."
"Charles, would you stay quiet about her location? Including the two men that have been searching for her? Just let them know that she's safe?" Haru asks, a sense of desperation in his voice.
"Of course. Deviago needs to go." Charles readily agrees. He jumps slightly and digs into his bag, pulling out a package of tied up letters. He hands them over to Haru. "The most recent newspaper and letters from the humble places of Navori."
"Why are there so many letters? I don't think there were nearly half this many last time." Haru's face drops when he holds it.
"More vulkodalks. They're small, so most farmers just deal with a small scratch or a bite, but they're starting to eat the crops. A few are saying they can't leave, but they won't have enough food to last too much longer." Charles sounds angry and resigned. Haru sighs and presses his wife's hand.
"Go get him." Luna murmurs. She gently kisses his cheek. Haru nods and leaves his wife in the room. Charles has an odd look in his eyes, like he doesn't like what's happening, but he's resigned. Luna rests her hand on my shoulder. "Go listen to what Yan wants you to do. Keep busy. I need to speak with Charles for a moment."
I know when someone is dismissing me. Starshadow does it enough times to me. Besides, I still have a few anxiety jitters, so I do as she asks. I feel like I blink and it seems like my magic is responding to me, conjuring a white light. I didn't consciously ask for it. Still, it's nice to know where to go. I quickly follow it to a room where a lot of screams and wails seem to be. I open the door and am immediately greeted with the sight of a heavily pregnant woman crying and screaming. Her partner holds her hand tightly, pressing a wet cloth on her forehead. Yan is off to the side, snapping on gloves.
"Yan!" I call out.
"Leilah! What are you doing here?" Yan doesn't spare me a second glance. The woman lets out another loud shriek. The nurses attending to her pale a little bit.
"Doctor Yan! There's too much blood loss!" One yells. Yan curses before waving his hand towards me. I hurry over to his side.
"Doctor? What's wrong with my sister?" The man demands. Yan checks her. I do my best to be respectful of her body and not see.
"She's bleeding too much. Leilah?"
"What do you-"
"Your magic, can it keep her stable?" Yan asks. I blanch a little bit. Can my magic even do that? That seems like a very tall demand. Still, the woman's cries seem to be getting quieter. I don't have much of a choice.
"For as long as I can." I promise and go to her left. Yan takes his position between her legs. I press my hand into hers. My magic is reluctant to hold back, to stop itself from curing every single thing that's going wrong with her, though I force it to. I don't know how long it'll be until she gives birth, but I have to try.
"Can I… push yet?" The woman pleads quietly, finally catching her breath. Her brother clutches her hand into his forehead, almost like he wants to pray for his family's safety.
"You haven't dilated enough yet. Just keep breathing." Yan remains calm. The woman whimpers. I'm starting to pant, struggling to keep supplying magic. The man on the other side looks up finally and notices my glowing state.
"What are you-"
"She is keeping your sister stable. I would advise that you do not distract her. Eight centimeters. You're almost there." Yan states clearly. A few nurses move nearby, prepared for when the child would be born. Out of nowhere, my magic rips out of my control. My vision blurs a little bit from it, though I think it's a good thing.
"What the…" A nurse monitoring her heart mutters to herself.
"Nurse?" Yan demands.
"Just… a blip on the stethoscope. I thought I lost her heart for a moment." The nurse answers. Yan's head snaps up and looks right at me. I don't let go of her hand for a moment, though I really want to. At some point, the amount of magic I'm forcing out is making me sore. My head keeps bobbing, even if my magic is constantly flowing through the woman. Thankfully, I have a great wake up call in the form of a tightly squeezed hand breaking my palm. The sharp pain snaps me back into attention. With that, I grit my teeth a little bit harder.
"Keep it up, Leilah." Yan calls through. I blink open to see the sun has set quite a bit. I don't know if I fell asleep.
"How long have I been here?" I mumble, my legs numb as well as my hand.
"Seven hours. You are doing great. Both of you. It's time." Yan comforts the two of us, the soon-to-be mother and my exhausted self. We both grit out teeth and push ourselves to our limit. The woman screams in my ear, a piercing cry of agony. Her brother presses his head against her hand, trying to take some of the pain she feels into him. I take a deep breath and remain quiet, though I wish I could yell with her. I feel the last of my magic rush out and into the room. A bright borealis floods the room, filling our world with all different colors. Butterflies, eagles, horses, all sorts of animals fly around us. I don't need to see it to know. That magic, it's a part of me. I know what it is, I know where it is. And all that free magic rushes into the mom each time she pushes. When she has to breath, it returns to a sedate swirl. Nurses around us mutter something, but I can't hear it. I'm too focused on making sure that these two live.
Another scream, another rush of magic, another pause and comfort. This feels even longer than before. I'm not sure if I'm passing out, though someone starts to wipe my own forehead. I blink through fuzzy eyes to see another nurse. She offers me some water. I struggle to drink it, though it tastes so good in my mouth. I wince and choke a little bit when she starts to cry and push again, but I just close my eyes and let my magic run wild.
Another cry, but it's not from her. A high-pitched cry of a baby enters the air. Now, when my magic attempts to heal her, it's sedate. There isn't a rush to do anything. It's content, happy. I can finally take my shattered hand away, though even the agony of it isn't enough to keep me alert. The child crying is though. Yan cradles the still bloody child connected to it's mother in his arms. He wipes the baby's face, much to its displeasure. It wails and squirms, protesting being in the world. Yan hands the child off to another nurse, one with a blanket in his arms. The baby is gently swaddled, though it's tummy is still visible. He brings the newborn to the new mom and uncle.
"Congratulations. It's a boy." The nurse rests the baby against his mother's chest. The mother just cries and gently clutches her son to her chest. The baby keeps crying. The uncle looks like he's in tears and rests a huge hand on his back.
"Hi, there. I'm your uncle." The man introduces himself. The woman makes an uncomfortable movement. My magic mimics the feel, almost as if it's trying to convince me to get back to her side and help her. I don't need too much prompting, touching her thigh as the nurse brings me out. Her shifting ends, just as my discomfort fades away.
The nurse brings me outside, though lets me look through the window to the room. The mother cries and gently kisses her son. The uncle is offered a pair of scissors, to disconnect the child from his mother. He does so. Yan then walks out, wiping his hands clear of the blood from the mother.
"Are they-"
"They're fine. You did a great job, especially for so long. You have a healer's path ahead of you, Leilah. Rest up. You look like you could sleep for a century." Yan pats my shoulder as he passes. The nurse helping me offers to get me some food and water, leaving me to stand outside alone, looking into a private moment.
The mother, she's cuddling the small boy with her nose. She nuzzles him so tenderly. His little hands reach up and grab her nose. His uncle laughs and offers his hand as a replacement. The boy tightly grips a finger. The adult male looks at his sister with pride. They talk quietly to themselves, probably wondering what to name him. The mother looks over and notices me standing there. She says something to her brother. The man notices me and comes to step outside. I'm too shaky to try to pretend I wasn't looking.
"Would you like to meet him, miss?" The uncle asks. I blink slowly a couple of times.
"...What?" I feel my mouth numb a little bit.
"Doctor Yan told us that without you, my sister could have died. Her heart stopped, but you kept her alive. You looked like you were as tired as she is, but you didn't stop. She thinks that you deserve to meet the people you were working so hard to save." The man smiles softly. I find myself nodding. He helps grab me by my elbows and brings me back inside, where the mother looks up with large bags under her eyes.
"What's your name?" She asks. Her baby coos in her arms.
"Leilah." I think I answer. Her furrowed eyebrows tells me that she didn't understand, so I clear my dry throat as best as I can. "It's Leilah."
"You saved my sister, Leilah. Thank you. Thank you so much for saving my sister and nephew." The man gives me a quick hug before helping me sit next to the woman. My vision is starting to look better, and I can make out the baby's face. It looks more like a potato to me, but I know just how beautiful that baby will be. I feel the same trance that the boy's family feels, unable to speak or look at anything else, just wondering at the beauty of life
"You remember how I was going to name him after his father, brother?" The woman suddenly says.
"I told you that I didn't like that idea." The man says neutrally.
"I change my mind. I'd like to name him… Hoshi." She lifts a hand and gently presses a finger against her son's cheek. The boy shifts a little bit, but goes to sleep.
"Hoshi… I like that a lot better. Hello, Hoshi." The man tears up again. I smile at the sight and try to stand up, not wanting to ruin the family moment. "Where are you going?"
"It seemed like a private moment. I don't want to interrupt…" I yawn. The man shakes his head.
"Do not worry so much, Leilah. Hoshi, in our language, is another word for star." The uncle reveals. A few tears slip from my eyes. I'm about to say something when there's a knock on the wall. We all turn to see the nurse that was taking care of me bring back a bunch of food and a few bags of water. I force myself to stand and excuse myself. Halfway through the walk, my legs just give out on me… as well as my consciousness.
When I wake up again, I find myself on a bed in a small room, with plenty of food and water nearby. I'm not as sore as I thought I would be. My stomach growls loudly, so I eat up the meal and gulp down the water offered. A soft knock on my door gets me up and out of bed quickly, though I don't forget to wrap my scarf around my neck. When I open it, Haru stands outside. He has a bright smile on his face as he straightens.
"Mother and son are safe and sound. Now, I brought an old friend. He's a master of magic. He's waiting for you outside." Haru states.
"O-o-ok." I mumble. Haru gestures for me to follow. I trot along the back of his heels. He's moving rather fast for an old… man… Wait, how are his knees backwards? I slow down when I notice the balding head is covered in… feathers? "Uh, sir?"
"Keep up." Haru definitely hears the wariness in my voice, but he acts like he doesn't. I remain quiet as we leave the place. It's still rather dark out. The sun hasn't yet come up. A yawn escapes my throat, though I'm practically running to keep up with Haru. Somehow, the man's gotten taller, his stride getting longer. I have to call on my magic to keep up when he breaks into a fast run. The sun is just starting to wake up when we slide to a stop. Here, there are trees. Soft lights seem to brighten the area. I'm resting my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath. Like in Demacia, I feel alive running with my magic helping… but this time, I'm not tired… That's odd.
"Haru! My good friend! You came back!" A random voice in the trees calls out. It's male, warm like the rising sun, and I try to find the source, though the glowing light of the sun makes this task considerably harder. I think I see a flash of gold, but it's really hard to see.
"Miele, you shouldn't talk. There's a human with him." Another, a female one, speaks up. It comes from behind me. I snap around, trying to find her.
"Honey, let me handle this. You know Haru. He wouldn't ask me here unless there was something important." The male responds.
"He's around humans all the time, claiming that some are good. Why would you answer his call?" The female demands. A soft thump lands behind us. I turn around to see a man with a very large feathered cloak land behind us. The top of his shoulders are covered in a red sort of cover, with a bird's skull attached to purple feathers. His hair is so blonde it's white, with a few locks of hair red as the rising sun. As he rises, his feet step forward. They're like Haru's, with the knees bending backwards and his feet bird's claws. His lower half is covered with green pants, tied with red cords. Three larger skulls hang from them. His wrists are wrapped with red cuffs, with golden feathers plumed out to his elbows. His ears… they're like Sett's, only on the side instead of on top. I gasp in shock and trip over myself, falling backwards. Haru, an older looking version of the man, greets his friend happily.
"Haru's always been our healer since we started our thing. We owe him a favor. Oooh, what's this little human? Is this why you called us?" The man shakes Haru's hand. I blink and he's already in my face. I yelp and throw a hand forward. He's seemingly blown backwards… or did he just dodge my magic? I know that all I wanted was a little space, so he shouldn't have gone right back next to Haru. Crystals around us shine a little bit brighter. Another thump of someone landing on the ground alerts me. I twist around to see a dark purple figure. Her hands glow purple as they summon… Are those quills? Either way, I can't make out most of her, except her yellow eyes.
"The girl here, she's absolutely blessed by magic. Completely gifted. The nurses in my place won't stop talking about how she helped birth a child, who's mother started bleeding badly. For several hours, she kept healing the poor woman, bringing her back from nearly dying, though she looked like she was going to die herself." Haru explains quickly, a little worried about the woman. His clawed feet walk between the two of us. My hand automatically reaches for my scarf for comfort.
"So what if the girl has magic that's that strong? She's a lowly human. She'd turn on us as soon as she promises anything." The girl snaps, stepping into view. Like the brightly colored male vastaya, she has bird's feet, only hers are more spread out. There's red on her cheeks, and her ears are straight up. More similar to Sett's ears than the male's is. Where the male's is gold and bright, she is dark and purple.
"Ah, come on, Miella, Haru wouldn't bring her to us if he didn't think she had potential." The slick vastaya darts over to her and scoops her up in… a dance? She looks decidedly unamused as she glares at me.
"I don't like it." The girl maintains. I gulp and rise to my feet.
"You… wouldn't happen to know how to help me, would you?" I whisper. The male looks over his shoulder and bounces back to me. Part of his winged cloak detaches… no, that's a tail... I don't have much time to focus on it when the male is in my face again.
"Amazing. Can you tell me how you manage to make your eyes look so different? Wouldn't that look good on me, Miella? I think having multiple shades of blues would really brighten me up, make me look even better." The male gently lifts my chin up. "Of course, I would do without the sparkling hair. Yeesh, what are you supposed to be, the night sky?"
"That's… kinda the point?" I try to pull my face away. The male jerks back, surprised.
"Huh. A fair dame that doesn't fall over me. She's got one hell of a magic there. Honey, can we? Can we?" I'm a little dizzy from the male's bouncing around. The female's posture relaxes. She walks towards me, hunch over, still a little wary. I gulp and try to stand still. Haru trusts them, and he was kind enough to give me a room for little work…
"Whatever magic she's got, it's odd, for sure. Never met someone with multiple types and is able to resist the Mist... Even if I was open to teaching her, are we even sure she can be taught? Or that she won't use it against us?" The woman scoffs. The man's eyes brighten considerably.
"I didn't hear a 'no'." He sing-songs. I almost see the woman change her mind just from that, so I interrupt.
"I need to try. I can't… I can't let my magic do whatever it wants, and I don't know how to train it. Please. I need help. I can't hurt even if I want to. Part of my magic is that if I harm another, I get hurt as well." I plead quietly. The woman raises an eyebrow, looking at me carefully. She pulls out a quill and hands it to me while baring her hand up.
"Show me." I nick her finger obediently while making sure that my hand is in view. Identical injuries appear. I close the new wound as quickly as I caused it. She seems rather intrigued by that. I sense the white-haired boy lean over my shoulder with an excited face. She sighs and places a hand on her forehead.
"Fine. Fine, but you're teaching her." The woman snaps. She almost seems to disappear into the tree. The man-child next to me does this weird… movement, where he bunches his fist and yanks it down. That's when he extends a hand out.
"Aye am R-R-Rakan." He says in this weird accent.
"Rakan…" The woman's voice is distant.
"What? I'm trying a new accent. Don't like it?"
"No."
Ya know, I really want to give her a break, but gosh darn it it never ends. She's definitely getting worn out by it, but she doesn't stop. You ever have that friend that almost seems to never stop? That's Leilah. I will say this. I'm not going to go too far into this training period, but this is going to be her grace period, where all she does is train and heal. It's basically Rakan and his Miella training Leilah. Not the most fun, so I'm just going to jump straight to another action scene. I promise, she's getting her break here. (Finally confirmed that Daamien and Aurora are a couple, though it's definitely not the way one imagines. XD I needed a bit of a laugh, and I hope you guys had one too.)
She's pretty powerful, ensuring that a childbirth doesn't end in death. It's amazing to think of how much she's grown. And she still isn't done with her magic! We don't have Starshadow to really judge just how powerful she's become, but he's definitely going to be in for a shock.
I finally go a review commenting that the beginning is a little disjointed, so I'm just gonna address it. Those first chapters were meant to be a sort of: This is Leilah, the human. A sweet girl that has always tried a peaceful approach. She was chosen, and she accomplished that task, showing just how stubborn she can be. I wanted those chapters to be where she came from, and you, as the reader, can see how her interactions with champions and events change a normal person. It's enough to change anyone, especially over time. Some events she can stay distant because it isn't close to her, so she's still the same and doesn't want to murder anyone, but with a war coming, I wonder what kind of thoughts and feelings Leilah is going to have.
Alright, my rant is over. Thank you guys for continuing to read. May you guys have the strength of Aatrox to get through your day. I hope you guys are going to have an amazingly extraordinary day. You already make mine that much better.