Galen stared, surprised, at Aria’s sleeping form.

  “Is she… is she actually…” he muttered in disbelief.

  “Asleep? Hmmm… Oh, yeah! She totally is! HA! Didn’t expect that,” Redian hollered in his mind.

  “Neither did I,” he whispered.

  Given her clear animosity towards humans, he didn’t think she’d ever be able to relax around him and Aleksi. And certainly not enough to be able to take a nap. The last few nights, she made sure she slept as far out as his mentor allowed her. And even then, she made sure to sleep so that her front faced them. As if so she could be prepared to strike at a moment’s notice should one of them try to sneak up on her.

  And he had no doubt in his mind that she’d be able to react quickly enough to attack. Every time either he or Aleksi had gone to wake her up, the moment they were within a certain distance, she would open her eyes as though she’d never been asleep in the first place.

  A smile suddenly came to his face as he recalled one time when he’d been the one going to wake her up. He could have sworn that he’d seen her long elf ears twitching before her eyes snapped open.

  He glanced out to the cave’s entrance, wondering how Aleksi was doing.

  I wonder if he found anything, he thought, I sure hope not. If he did, then that’d mean trouble for us.

  The possibility made the unease he’d been feeling worsen. He suddenly felt anxious at being reminded of it, and squirmed where he sat.

  For some reason, he’d been feeling jittery, anxious, and stressed the past few days. He chalked it up to his worries about the Dominion finding them, as well as recent events.

  He sat in silence, trying not to make much noise whenever he adjusted himself, to allow Aria to sleep. He glanced in her direction every now and again to make sure she was still napping. After maybe half an hour or so, he caught her eyes fluttering open.

  They quickly snapped open, and she turned to the cave’s entrance, alert.

  This made Galen perk up, as he too shifted his attention. It took a few moments for the sounds of footsteps on dry, hard ground to reach his ears. He raised his brows as he thought, That must be what woke Aria up. Damn, just how good is her hearing?!

  A few more moments later, Aleksi’s head popped in. He smiled at them both, “Hey! Get some good rest while I was out patrolling?”

  Galen returned the smile, “We did. Well, one of us more than the other.”

  He glanced to Aria as he said that. She actually blushed before giving him a glare. His smile only widened at that.

  Cute… he couldn’t help but think, causing his own blush to form faintly on his cheeks as he realized what he’d thought.

  “Well, that’s good,” his mentor eyed them both, “are you both ready to move?”

  That made them both perk up, and Galen asked, “Did you find something out there? The Dominion, maybe?!”

  “Not them, lad,” Aleksi was quick to assure, “but I did notice tracks of some kind. Wild animals perhaps. If we’re lucky, it will have only been wild animals.”

  “What does that mean?” Galen questioned.

  “He means that if we’re unlucky,” Aria answered, “that there’s a chance we’ll encounter an Ether Beast.”

  She shuddered as she finished.

  “Correct, lass,” Aleksi confirmed.

  Galen frowned, “Ether Beast?”

  Aria gave him a flat look.

  Aleksi simply shook his head and chuckled, “Come on, lad. We went over this back when I was your tutor at the castle, didn’t we?”

  “No,” Galen pointed out, “we didn’t.”

  Aleksi frowned, “Surely we did. I had to have at least touched upon the subject at some point. And even if I hadn’t, you mean to tell me whomever my replacement was didn’t ever teach you about them?”

  “Well, to start with, I think you might have made a passing mention of them,” Galen huffed, “but you said we’d ‘get to it eventually.’ As for the Dominion… Milton, who’d been placed in charge of my studies, thought it was more important that I study about Athurai and the application of Ether.”

  Aleksi scratched at his beard, “Huh… well, now’s as good a time as any to teach you, lad. Come, both of you. I’ll explain it as we walk.”

  “I already know what an Ether Beast is,” Aria growled.

  “A refresher can’t hurt,” Aleksi responded, “and who knows? Perhaps you’ll learn something new. Or perhaps you’ll be the one to teach us something we don’t know. Either way, can’t hurt to review what you know.”

  Aria huffed, “Fine.”

  Aleksi smiled, and gestured them to follow him.

  It was currently nearing dusk, with the sun about to set. They’d stuck to traveling during the night to avoid being spotted, as well as to avoid the relentless heat of the day. Something Galen certainly wasn’t going to complain about. It was far cooler at night, after all. Though even then the temperature had to be around the mid 70’s in Fahrenheit (20’s in Celsius).

  “Ether Beasts,” Aleksi began as they walked across the dry plains, “is a term we use for animals that, curiously, have the ability to use Ether.”

  “Animals can use Ether too?” Galen asked, surprised.

  Aria rolled her eyes at him, “Of course they can. They’re living creatures just like us. Why wouldn’t they be able to?”

  “You make it sound as though EVERY animal can use it,” Galen grumbled.

  “Well, no,” Aleksi chuckled, “not every creature can. If that was the case, we wouldn’t need to bother with the term, ‘Ether Beast’. Every animal has the potential to be able to learn how to use Ether. Just as with people. However, just as not every person is an Etherean, not every animal is an Ether Beast.”

  “Okay…” Galen pondered aloud, “if that’s the case, then how do animals even learn how to use it? I mean, when you trained me, Aleksi, you had to explain the process and guide me through it. Since animals can’t talk, I imagine that’s not how they learn.”

  He froze on the spot, eliciting stares from the other two, “Wait, can animals talk in this world?!”

  Aria gave him an incredulous look, while Aleksi burst into laughter.

  He felt his face light up red in embarrassment.

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  “Sorry, lad,” Aleksi wiped a humorous tear from his eye, “but every time I forget you’re from another world, you go and ask something like that.”

  He sulked in response.

  “Now, now. Don’t be like that,” his mentor patted him on the shoulder, “it was funny, lad!”

  “Uh huh,” he grumbled.

  “Anyway,” his mentor continued, “to answer your question, no. Animals can’t talk. Well, most of them.”

  Galen raised a brow.

  “Some can, I imagine,” he scratched at his beard, “theoretically anyway.”

  “Theoretically…” Galen repeated.

  “Yes,” Aleksi shielded his eyes from the setting sun, “tell me, lad. Did your world have animals that possessed the ability to mimic human speech?”

  “Well, yeah,” he answered, “parrots are the first thing that come to mind. Does Avani have those too?”

  “Squawking featherball?” his mentor asked, “usually rainbow-hued? Tiny beak, but big personality? Has a tendency to be a bit of a chatterbox?”

  Galen nodded.

  “Yes, we have those too. At least, something similar. I suppose they’ll serve as a fine enough example. Should a parrot figure out how to use Ether and become proficient enough at it, due to the power’s ability to enhance the mind as well as the body, an Ether Beast parrot could, theoretically, become intelligent enough to be able to hold conversation with a person.”

  “That sounds… weird,” Galen muttered.

  “It certainly would be an experience to remember,” Aleksi chuckled, “but, we’re getting off track. An animal becomes an Ether Beast the moment they learn how to use Ether. Though, unlike for a lot of people, using Ether and training with it for them is purely instinctual. As is the way they cast Arts, which they can do by the way. Though, they don’t require an Invocation due to the instinctual way they use the power. I imagine if one were to become powerful, and therefore intelligent, enough, they would then grow in a manner more akin to Ethereans.”

  Galen was quiet as he digested the information. It was certainly unlike a lot of fantasy stories he’d read and watched where magic was a thing. Usually you only saw humans making use of the magic systems displayed in those forms of entertainment. Animals being able to make use of Ether… he didn’t know how he felt about that.

  A thought crossed his mind. One that excited his inner nerd, “Are there any legends of Ether Beasts? Like, did there exist any that became legendary and left a mark on history?”

  Aleksi looked thoughtful as he responded, “Yes, we have quite a few of those. Granted, there are tales that might be more myth than fact.”

  “Can you tell me one?!” Galen asked excitedly.

  His mentor chuckled, “I don’t see why not. We have a bit to go before reach our destination. Tell me, lad. Would you rather learn about the Elder of Dreams or the Patriarch of Death? Or perhaps you’d want to hear the tale of the Dark Omen?”

  “How about all of the above?” Galen asked.

  Aleksi laughed for a good bit. And then laughed even harder when he realized he was being completely serious. Aria turned to look at Galen with an unreadable look.

  “W-what?” he asked her.

  “I didn’t realize,” she began, “that you were such a child.”

  “Hey!” he protested, “excuse me for wanting to learn more about the world I was brought to against my will.”

  He readied himself for another jab. However, it never came. He turned back to look at Aria, and saw that her stoic expression had been broken briefly by surprise.

  “You… you were brought against your will?” she asked.

  “Yes… you didn’t know?” he asked back.

  She shook her head, “All I knew was that you were summoned to this world from another. I… I never thought…”

  She trailed off, looking conflicted about the revelation.

  “Why does that matter to you?” he asked.

  Aria didn’t respond.

  He raised a brow, but didn’t push any further. Instead, he turned his attention back to Aleksi.

  His mentor chuckled, “Unfortunately we only have time for one of the stories I offered, lad.”

  Galen sighed with disappointment, “Alright, fine. In that case I choose the Dark Omen.”

  “Ah…” Aleksi grinned, “now that is a fine choice, lad. Very well. Let us begin.”

  His mentor cleared his throat before telling the tale, “Legends have it that the Dark Omen was a creature not of this world.”

  Galen perked up at that, “Really?”

  “Hush, lad,” Aleksi chastised, “listen to the story. You have two ears and one mouth for a reason.”

  He snapped his mouth close, earning an approving nod from his mentor and an eye roll from Aria.

  “As I was saying,” the man continued, “myths and legends say that the Dark Omen was something not of this world. Whether that was meant literally or metaphorically is unknown. Some tales say it came to Avani riding a meteor that fell from the heavens. Others say it was born on this world. Or that it had once been something else entirely before being corrupted. However, all accounts agree on one thing. And that was the sense of wrongness the Dark Omen invoked in those that saw it. As though some deep, instinctual part of them knew that it was a being that should not be.”

  Aleksi paused for dramatic effect, “Legends say that the beast had a… corrupting effect on life around it. People and animals touched by it would become twisted, evil monsters. Those whom the creature transformed would gain the ability to corrupt those around them just as it could. Some tales even go as far as to say that those altered by it had actually died, with a piece of the original beast inhabiting the corpse like some parasitic hivemind.”

  Galen shuddered at the thought, I didn’t realize this would be a horror story.

  “As you can imagine,” his mentor raised a finger, “such a being could very quickly bring about world-wide devastation and ruin. Thankfully, the Dark Omen and its creations were able to be somewhat quarantined to a section of Avani. And a group of brave heroes rose up to try and vanquish the beast, hoping that slaying it as the origin of this calamity would end the havoc it wrought.”

  Aleksi stayed quiet for a long moment, long enough for Galen to lose patience and ask, “Well? What happened next?!”

  Before his mentor could continue, Aria suddenly cut in, “The would be heroes failed to slay the Bringer of Corruption.”

  Both Galen and Aleksi turned to Aria, who continued, “They realized the beast was too powerful for them to slay. So, they instead opted to seal the foul creature away.”

  She turned to look Galen in the eye, “And they succeeded.”

  Is that pride in her expression? Why? he wondered.

  “So,” Aleksi smiled at her, “you’ve heard the story too?”

  “A few years ago. I was told it by my… my…” her expression darkened, eyes looking sorrowful.

  Aleksi coughed into his hand and tried to steer the topic away, “Yes, well, I can’t say I’m surprised. The tale of the Dark Omen allegedly took place centuries before even the Human-Elf war. I believe some variation of the tale exists in all the Realms. Dark Omen is just one name that Ether Beast was called. Bringer of Corruption was another.”

  Galen looked to Aria, who still looked crestfallen. Hoping to help distract her from whatever was causing her sadness, he asked her, “Was it elves who sealed the Bringer away?”

  That seemed to snap her out of her thoughts. She nodded, a hint of the earlier pride returning, “Yes, it was.”

  Galen turned to Aleksi for confirmation. His mentor just shrugged, “Perhaps, lad. As I stated earlier, there exists many different versions and variations of the tale. With the story itself being several millennia old.”

  “Can you give me some examples? Of the different versions, I mean,” he asked.

  “Well… one version states that the heroes who sealed away the Dark Omen were all comprised of humans,” Aleksi explained.

  Galen could hear Aria snorting. He couldn’t say he blamed her necessarily, for his own eyes glazed over as he asked, “Let me guess… that version-”

  “Is the one widely told in the Dominion, yes,” Aleksi chuckled, “you can probably imagine what some of the other versions say. My personal favorite is the one that says that the heroes were a diverse group, comprised of several of the races that banded together to stop the beast that threatened the world. This specific version tells that the elf of the group, a hero by the name of Lethonel Morcan the Sage, was the one who contributed the most to the Art that eventually sealed the creature away.”

  Galen smiled, “I like that one too.”

  “Tch,” Aria clicked her tongue, “as if the other races would work with humes.”

  Way to bring down the mood, he thought with a drop of sweat.

  Aleksi, however, simply smiled, “It was a different time, lass. The relations between the races hadn’t deteriorated to the point it has now.”

  Aria, surprisingly, didn’t dispute that.

  “Anyway,” his mentor stretched his arms up, “that was simply one such tale. I’ll tell you more if you’d like at a later time, lad. For now, we’re almost there, so we should start to move more quietly.”

  “Why?” Galen and Aria asked at the same time.

  They looked at one another. He chuckled, while she turned her head with a huff.

  “That’s because we’re going to be hunting,” Aleksi answered.

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