He carried me to what I guessed was the edge of the clearing and set me down. Almost instantly I felt feathers on my face. Wanting to brush them away, but finding myself unable to lift my arms, I opened my eyes, and realised I was tied to something.

“Oh hey, I thought you passed out.” Phoenix said from behind me. “Don’t worry we’re almost at my place.” Looking around, I could see I was on some sort of doly being pulled as Tiara was close to my face hanging off some rope that was around my chest.

“Well now you guys know I can’t fight.” I felt myself feeling a bit disappointed at the fact that I hadn’t picked up fighting skills from my shows. ‘They make it look so easy to learn.’ Thinking back and remembering how Ember and Phoenix beat me to a pulp so easily.

“That might be the case, though it’s not like we expected much,” Phoenix seemed to be trying to make me feel better, while very much missing the mark, “besides if you and I are around the same age, then it makes sense that you can’t fight.” Tilting my head back towards him, as if it would help me hear him better. “I’ve been doing this since I could walk,  the same goes for Ember. You don’t seem like you’ve ever needed to fight, so I can see why it’d be so hard for you to pick up.” He said, while abruptly stopping. “Here we are.” He let go of the thing I was on and came to untie me. Being freed I was getting ready to walk off into the house, when I found myself stopped by Phoenix. Standing confused, I felt him picking me up again. 

“Uhhh…” was all I managed to get out before I was being held against his chest again. Then the fatigue in my body came rushing back.

“You remind me of a girl.” he whispered, before starting to walk, and I felt myself blush. “Oh! No, uh, no no that’s not what I meant!” Phoenix dropped me where he had taken his last step, the impact of the floor hurting even more than the training earlier. “Sorry, I meant you’re just so frail you’re like a house animal or something. Not that girls are house pets!” He seemed flustered trying to backtrack and figure out what to say. “Ah, forget it.” He picked me up again while grumbling and opening the front door. Tiara flew behind us seeming more comfortable with Phoenix.

“If it isn’t the newly weds.” Ember said teasingly as we walked through the door. I felt my face go pink again and I could hear something like a growl coming from Phoenix. “I didn’t realise beating you completely broke you.” She said sneering at me as Boulder came up behind her, making her freeze which stopped her from saying anything more.

“Ember, drop it.” Boulder said almost defensively, a hint of a growl in his voice. “Amari, that was utterly pitiful.” he spat the last word out like venom and I felt once again, like I was a burden. “But this just shows us that it’s as Kyumi says,” she walked out from behind Boulder as he mentioned her name, her ears lying flat on her head, “you can’t be from here.” He looked at her as she kept her head looking away, refusing to look at me. “Go put him down,” he nodded towards us, “you’ll leave tomorrow.” Feeling Phoenix nod as he headed to the stairs, I saw the surprise on Ember’s face while she processed the words.

“Tomorrow? With that? You’ve got to be kidding! He’s going to get us killed!” She yelled as I slowly got out of earshot.

“Tomorrow? But I just started training…” I whispered to myself, feeling as if I would never be useful. Finding myself about to cry, I just sniffled, trying to hide it from Phoenix.

“Jeez, you really are pretty much like some princess.” Phoenix said while opening the door with a hand while still holding me. “Like Buddy I just met you, can you calm down a little? I’m not exactly sure what you’re feeling but this is making things weird.” Then the next thing I knew, he threw me onto the bed. “Rest up and meet me at the training circle before sunrise.” He turned to the door, leaving me confused. “Oh, don’t forget to eat the food over there.” He said as he pointed to a tray next to the bed, then he headed out of the room closing the door behind him, Tiara just managing to sneak in before the door closed.

Looking over, I could see there was in fact a tray next to the bed. ‘Must be cold by now.’ I went for the fork, taking a bite, I felt it was still slightly warm, continuing to eat hoping I would finish it before it went cold. ‘So I leave to meet him before sunrise? I guess that’s because Boulder is making us leave tomorrow and Phoenix wanted to train me before we left.’ I couldn’t help but look out the window as I finished my food, that’s when I noticed the window looked out towards the training grounds. ‘Oh, so it’s just straight through.’ I relaxed, now that I knew where I was  meeting him later, and that the chances of me getting lost were pretty much zero. Tiara sat by my legs, looking worried as I just sat. She had stopped asking for my food and started to just follow me, her eyes always giving a look as if she was going to try speaking to me at any moment.

-----

Finally evening came and I felt myself relaxing knowing Phoenix was going to train me properly this time. Taking one last look around the room I could see Tiara still curled up on the bed sound asleep, unaware of my leaving. Sneaking around I walked out the front door, surprised nobody came to stop me or question me, heading to where I thought I had seen the training ground from the window. As I walked I noticed just how calm the village was at night, and how it felt safe compared to the night where I lived, in which crime was fairly high. Looking up at the stars and the moon, I just walked blindly, until sand under my feet was the only hint to tell me where I was.

“Glad you could make it.” The familiar voice of Phoenix called out, but I couldn’t see him. “I’m right here.” He said, walking out into the open in his wolf form. “So let’s begin.” He walked closer to me and I could now see the two wooden swords on his back. “Grab one,” he stopped at my feet, “and then show me what you’ve learnt from this morning, if you’ve even picked up anything from it.” Doing as I was told, I reached for the sword. Keeping an eye on him as I grabbed it, getting a good hold of it, I jumped back, not trusting him. Not taking the time to overthink, I charged at him and swung the sword, feeling excited as I hit something. “Good job, but it still .” He said, holding the other sword in his bare hand. ‘When did he change back?’ Giving me no time to process what happened he took the sword I was holding and spun it and at the same time twisted my wrist. Screaming out as the pain shot up my arm. As this was happening he then used the back of his sword to throw me to the ground. “This is the thing you seem to forget-” he said as he hit my back, pushing me forward, at this point I couldn’t scream let alone breath, “-this isn’t a dream,” I found myself falling to the ground, “this isn’t playtime and this world isn’t a joke, if you die here it’s forever.” He ended up behind me digging his foot in my back, so I was face first in the sand again. I stayed there unable to move, catching my breath as pain took over my whole body as I felt every nerve firing up, I could feel every grain of sand that touched my face. ‘Maybe I’ll do some sort of epic come back and be super strong! Like in the movies!’ “Face it, Amari,” he removed his foot from my back, “you aren’t meant to be here.” Phoenix was now kneeling next to my face. “Sorry to beat you up again, but I wanted to see if you might’ve improved.” He put his hand on my head, rubbing it playfully. “I’ll vow to keep you safe.” My eyes flew wide with that statement. “Just don’t cause too much trouble.” I felt like a girl in a movie meeting the big bodyguard. “Don't go getting the wrong idea here, I just can’t stand leaving the helpless unguarded.” He smiled, picking me up by the arm, draping my arm over his shoulders, he half carried and half dragged me back to the house.

“Amari!” I heard Kyumi yell as we got closer to the door, lifting my head, I looked at her. “Phoenix, what did you do?” She growled, her ears back as she ran to my side taking me from Phoenix, the height difference making me trip.

“Relax foxy.” Ember said, almost seeming to come out of nowhere. “Your pet just went for a walk.” I felt Kyumi stiffen at those words.

“Ember, that’s enough, I don’t want to tell you again.” Boulder called from the stairs as he made his way down. “We agreed to help them, so you will do just that.” He sounded once again like the big leader of the Wolf-shifters. “We can’t risk the fox dying to protect something so pathetic.” I flinched at his words, realising they didn’t agree to help for my sake, but to keep Kyumi safe. “If word got out that we let her leave alone and then she never came back, they would be after us and would start another war.” He finished, now standing close to us.

We all stood silent for a while, nobody moving, or caring to speak, almost as if an understanding was reached. Phoenix, Ember, and Boulder walked out of the front door, leaving Kyumi and I alone. ‘I guess they're getting ready.’ I felt tired as I closed my eyes for a bit.

“I’ll get you home, I promise to, even if it takes forever, I’ll bring you to where you belong.” Kyumi whispered to herself, sounding as though the promise the Wolf-shifters made to protect her, fueled her to protect me. “Now, let's get you in bed.” She half dragged me, half carried me up the stairs, due to her being shorter than me. Gently she placed me on the bed. Opening my eyes slightly, I could see her looking out the window. As she started to turn back I closed my eyes. Feeling the bed dip beside me I felt Kyumi change to her fox as she rested her head on my stomach. Tiara, seemingly never noticing I left was coming to lie on my chest, making me feel comfortable and relaxed. Deciding to give into my fatigue, I let myself fall into sleep.

-----

“Do you want power?” I heard a strange but familiar voice whisper into my ears, sending shivers down my spine. “I can give it to you.” The voice was echoing all around me, making it hard to tell where it was coming from, let alone the gender of them. “I’ll let you think about it.” Fading away, I felt as if I was falling into nothingness. I could never see nor feel what was around me, just blackness.