When Amrydor dropped into his ready stance, Fuyuko felt a strange, quiet stillness settle around the area.

  There wasn't an actual ge in how loud things were, everything just felt more still and quiet. Despite the feeling of pea that stillness, Fuyuko became abruptly anxious.

  At the starting signal, Fuyuko burst forward. She deflected the war scythe far enough to slip past the bde and start to close on Amrydor, but then she had to block the return swing of the polearm.

  The impact drove her in a straight lio the side, but Amrydor's swipe was an arc, so her straight line brought her closer to the e of that arc where the bde awaited, as she had been warned.

  Her test now plete, she twisted and ducked, using her bdes to force the war scythe up at the same time. Fuyuko slipped uhe shaft and mao shorten the distance a small amount before the on came swinging back. Fuyuko's oppo had the power, trol, and reflexes to reverse his swing almost as fast as she could dodge past it, and he'd be expeg her maneuvers better now.

  So she let the swing push her this time, moving with it to build up momentum until she crossed a shadow cast by one of the nearby trees.

  Fuyuko erupted from another shadow about five feet behind Amrydor, leaping into an attack that brought both of her falcatas down in a heavy attack at his back.

  He reacted to her attack almost as quickly as if he could see her, twisting to cate of her swords on the bad of his polearm. The other wooden bde impacted against his side hard enough to make the wood explode and leave a small dent ie of his armor.

  Part of her mind hat she really shouldn't be hitting that hard during a spar. However, that voice seemed isoted from the part of her that was taking a.

  She snarled a back as she tossed the broken hilt of her sword at Amrydor's hand which had just started to lift off the shaft of his war scythe. The pte on the back of his gloves cracked from the impad Amrydor was forced to step away from her while he pulled his on into a shrip that let him wield it in one hand. The one she had hit didn't look like it was w properly, though from the way he was flexing his fihat was only temporary.

  Fuyuko was already ba the attack, a fresh falcata summoned from her bracers. Amrydor fell back, fog on defleg her blows as he frowned and shook his head before saying something. She couldn't make se of the noise.

  Something was very wrong, why was she ag like this?

  All she could do was desperately attad sh out in a panicked fury whearted to reach for her again with his injured hand. Something was tugging at a part of her, trying to take something art of her.

  It was a differeion thahe peryton had tried to take over her shadow, but it was close enough to make everything worse.

  She'd already shattered all her ons, breaking the shaft of the war scythe in the process with every following strike denting or crag metal, so now she cwed at him as she drove him to the ground. That was much more effective than wood had been and she tore away his helmet before trying to pin him down long enough to cmp her jaws onto his throat.

  The part of Fuyuko's mind that had not lost itself to this sudden berserk rage desperately wrested back trol and Fuyuko froze in pce for a brief instant, notig for the first time that the tip of Amrydor's broken on was dripping with her blood from where it was thrust just below her colr bone.

  Fuyuko's mindless fury had been driving the on deeper itempt to tear out his throat.

  She threw herself away from him with a sudden cry, fusion and fear clouding her mind as she reverted back to her normal form. What was wrong with her?

  Arms ed around her and picked her up, causing Fuyuko to flinch before she reized Mordecai. Instead, she turo g to him and started sobbing. Why had she dohat?

  "It's alright, everything's fine, I've got you and you will be alright," Papa murmured as he cradled her. A soft wave of soothing energy flowed through her body and Fuyuko felt her wounds knit together faster than her natural healing would have done.

  Nearby, metal creaked and then cracked before falling to the ground. How badly had she damaged his armor that Amrydor had to break it to take it off?

  After Fuyuko had calmed down enough to st, she felt Mordecai shift to look away from her before he said. "Now, tell us what happeo set her off like that. It's been months since she could be forced into an untrolled transformation and I've never seen her be that savage."

  "Um, yes sir," Amrydor replied, "but perhaps it would be best if we all went somewhere more private first? Ah, maybe Yugo should e too? I am guessing it would be best if Priestess Helena stayed with everyone else, aher of them verify anything I say."

  "That's fine, but you wouldn't be able to lie to me anyway." Mordecai's statement was calm aain, but Fuyuko heard a strange ess to his tone. Oh. He was mad. A tiny part of her worried for a moment that he was mad at her for losing trol again, but she was able to crush that stupid voice. Her papa wouldn't be mad at her for that, he'd be worried. Being worried was why he was mad.

  Heh, it was like all that stuff Mama M and Mama K had been teag her had sunk in after all. She could practically hear Moriko's lessons on how people reacted to their emotions.

  For now, Fuyuko stayed curled up in Mordecai's arms. She didn't want to know who 'all' included yet, though she could tell that Moriko and Kazue were there.

  Even when she felt Mordecai sit down, Fuyuko didn't look up and g tighter. Right now, she just o be held.

  When everyone had settled in, Amrydan. "Well, I am irely certain what happened, but maybe I should begin with expining something I know that I think is reted." He paused for a moment before saying, "I tell that she's killed a person before and that she's been very close to experieng a violeh. Probably at the same time."

  "Mostly correct," Mordecai said. "Fuyuko had to fight to the death against a peryton that attacked her while she traveling at night. I do not know if I would quite call them 'people', given how driven by murderous instinct they are, but they are teically sapient. Also, she helped defend the dungeon during the sed invasion, though her kills there were mitigated by our boon."

  "I don't think those t if they didn't actually die," Amrydor replied. "I 't tell what she felt about them, I only feel things reted to death, and thus to life. Like, those wooden ons you gave us. Normal ones would have felt dead to me, but these ones were her dead nor alive, no more than a rock would be. I always tell what's alive, dead, her, or, um, other."

  He paused a moment before answering an unasked question. "And no, I don't know why I feel this. But refining that sense is how I tell that she has killed and has almost died. This also seems to be where things started to g. I only get details like that if I my aura touches someone while I am focused, and she started to act weird right after I settled into my stance, which is when I also extended my aura." She couldn't see him right now, but it sounded like he was used to answering that sort of question a lot.

  Fuyuko was beginning to figure out what had caused her to panic like that, and it was embarrassing. She'd felt his aura and the aura of death had reminded her of the fight with the peryton.

  She had also calmed enough that curiosity was beginning to surface. "What did you say?" she asked, only to realize her voice was muffled. She shifted enough t her head up and look at Amrydor and asked again, "After I had hurt your hand, you shook your head and said something, but I, um, couldn't hear the words. What did you say?"

  Mordecai was the one who responded and Papa sounded amused as he said, "He was askio not interfere. I was directly behind you, but you were blind to my presence."

  Oh. She frowned in thought for a moment, then squirmed out of her father's embrace to stand up. Now that she was feelier Fuyuko had bee self-scious about being curled up in his arms like a child.

  That was whe a good look at who was there, and it was mostly whom she expected: Her parents, Carmil, Amrydor and 'Yugo', the princesses, and Paltira. Fuyuko was not surprised that Orchid and Bridgette followed their little brother in this sario, and Paltira was usually where Orchid was.

  The person she wasn't expeg was Cliodhna, the pale dy who was ag as an envoy for the Lord and Lady of Death. Though giveopic, she shouldn't be surprised.

  Also, she felt a little sorry for Amrydor. There were three displeased-looking little dragons surrounding his chair.

  As for where they were, it took Fuyuko a moment t, but it was the private room where she and Gil had gone when they had first arrived. Where she'd first met Papa and Mama K, and first seen a shard of Li.

  Mama M had stood with her and was now pulling Fuyuko into that chair. Moriko kissed Fuyuko on the forehead and then stood behind her and scritched the back of Fuyuko's ears. It was a little embarrassing, but it felt good and she was still on edge. Though she thought Amrydor looked a little bit jealous, and the idea that he might want to get head petting but couldn't gave Fuyuko a small bit of petty satisfa.

  Which she reized as being really petty. It wasn't actually his fault. Fuyuko did her best to ighat lingering feeling of rese and asked Amrydor, "Why did ya do that?"

  He shrugged a little and gnced around before saying, "It has to do with some of our shared background. I don't think you'd have been allowed to stay as long as you did if you were being that sort of person, so I was hoping that drawing it out would give you a ce to recover. But, um, well, while I am gd you did, I thought I was going to be able to fend you off better."

  So, he trusted her to stop because they had both been in a Sanctuary? That might make sense, but Fuyuko wasn't sure about that yet.

  Amrydor smiled and added, "It was a little scary I admit, but I still thought you were magnifit. I've never seen someone move like that."

  Fuyuko wasn't sure how she felt about that pliment and ig as she said, "Well, I am gd I didn't seriously hurt you. Er, did someone help you? Oh, and did I hear you breaking your armor off?"

  "Yes, Lady Moriko checked out my wounds, and yes, your strikes had damaged the metal enough that I could use the cracks as oints."

  That was good. Now to deal with another idea she'd been sidering. It had taken a bit of mental probing to make sure it was just her own idea and no instincts were pushing her. "I am gd to hear that you are well."

  Seeing the surprised looks on Amrydor's and Yugo's faces was amusing, but there was a reason she was shifting into 'prialk', which also had the be of pletely suppressireet at. Fuyuko's shift also had her parents and sister suddenly trying to ask her what she to over their link.

  She asked them to just watd not interfere before she tinued, "However, I am a princess of the Azeria court, and I have unduly threatened and harmed one of uests. Because of this, I have decided that I owe you a small favor."

  Faerie magic immediately bouo that decred debt. It didn't pel her to satisfy any favor he might ask for, but there would be a pressure to oblige any request that did not seem outsized.

  Amrydor's eyes widened in surprise, but then his posture and voice ged too. "Lady Fuyuko, I am humbled by your offer, but I do not feel it was necessary. I prom-"

  "STOP!" three voices called out. It was bad enough for Fuyuko, who felt her body stiffen ahoughts stumble in the backsh, but poor Amrydor briefly looked like a living statue uhe weight of her parents' bined and.

  The three of them g each other and then Mordecai spoke. "I'm sorry we had to do that, but all things sidered, perhaps it is best if you do not decre any hasty promises or oaths, yes?"

  Motion slowly returo Amrydor, though he looked a little disoriented for a moment. "Yes sir, you are correct. That was ill-advised of me. If you would give me a moment?"

  While he was thinking, Kazue tacted Fuyuko over the dungeon link. "Are you sure you wao offer that favor? It's not a rge burden, but it was not necessary."

  "Yes Mama," she replied, "it's fine and you tell Papa and Mama M that too. I feel like I failed something, and this makes me feel less bad."

  "Lady Fuyuko," Amrydor said, waiting for her attention before tinuing, "while I would like to have your favor in general, I find that I do not wish for you to feel obligated to me that way, and thus I would like to discharge that favor soon in a way that we both find satisfying. Reted, I suspect that you do not like havied this way to my aura. So I would like you to sider doihe favor of letting me help you overe this, and be your trainer in this matter."

  That was, well, something. Fuyuko stared at him for a moment as she sidered this. "What would be involved?"

  He shrugged, looking a bit uain as he did so, and said "This will require trolled exposure to my aura. It will be simple enough, but distanfluences trol. So, um, it would be best if we were toug during your training. Just having you touch my hand or arm would do and that way you could break tact easily."

  Fuyuko could feel part of herself panic at just the idea of toug him, the source of that serene aura of death. She hated that sensation, but it firmed that she did have a weakness here. Fuyuko used the weight of her owed favor to help trol that fear, but it still took her a few deep breaths to pletely trol her reas.

  Then she replied, "It appears that you are correct, I do need aid in this matter. I am not certain how much of a favor this truly is for you, but it is difficult enough for me to it to your pn that it makes up the difference. So yes, I accept your request and aowledge myself as your student until I learn to overe this weakness." As soon as she finished speaking, everything inside of her rexed a little.

  He didn't reply and Fuyuko realized that he was sweating profusely. No longer distracted by her internal struggles, she realized that everyone in the room was staring at Amrydor and that her family's gazes were pressing him with their will.

  Before she could ask what was going on, Mordecai asked, "Iions?"

  Amrydasped at the weight behind that single word, then slowly said, "To aid Princess Fuyuko in overing her fears, as I am uniq-", he broke off with a choking sound and g Cliodhna with fusion before tinuing, "Um, unusually well qualified to do so; it is my duty to help others as part of my devotion to Lord Zagaroth, and I desire to help Lady Fuyuko as someone who would like to bee her friend."

  She wasn't quite sure why he sounded sort of defiant with that st part, but it seemed to satisfy her family as the weight of their attention lifted. Fuyuko had to admit she was a little impressed; her parents and sister had been very focused on him, though she didn't quite uand why they felt it necessary.

  There was no way he could have lied either, not in front of all of them. It would be o make a new friend. Fuyuko smiled and said, "Well, if you want to be friends, then I should introduce you to my other friends. Um, I think they are all delving right now, but they 't get very deep yet, so it should only be a couple more days."

  "I think we're about done here," Kazue said, "but I do have a couple of things I'd like to ask about first. Amrydor, what did you mean when you said 'other', when you were talking about what you could sense?"

  He looked tired after dealing with her family, but he gathered himself together and replied, "I would have previously said 'undead' instead, but today has shown me I don't uand enough yet. First, Fuyuko's armor is somehow only slightly alive, but not in an almost-dead way. Sed," he paused and g Cliodhna again, "the Lady there feels like shes both, but in no way undead. I don't uaher of these things."

  "Mm, my husband teach you about the armor, and I think he should. Anything that helps you here should in turn help our daughter. But that brings us to my sed question. Lady Cliodhna, what is your particur i here? I do not think it is just because death magic was involved."

  Cliodhna smiled and ined her head. "You are correct." She rose from her seat and walked toward Amrydor slowly, examining him thhly. "I am gd you came here while I was visiting, child. I know much about you, but it is not yet time to tell you everything." She stroked her fihrough his hair tenderly and said, "For now, I tell you this. There is a reason for the powers you have, but that reason also ends there. Reasons to use your powers are up to you. There is iny, duty, or obligation. Your life is yours to live."

  Amrydor's eyes opened wide, but she interrupted him with a shake of her head. "No, you are no blood or desdant of mine, nor have you lived a previous life. Still, I have known who you are since you first drew breath. I ot tell you more, nor I help you any more than I help any other mortal-born person. If you wish to know more, you will o be patient. Growth is needed before you are ready, and power is only a small slice of that growth. When you are ready, I or another will guide you to where that knowledge ys."

  She gnced over toward Kazue's family with an amused look and added, "But thanks to certais, that will be easier than it once would have been. Still, it will be years and perhaps decades before you are ready. For now, simply lead your life whilst being true to yourself. That is what we sider important."

  "Now," Cliodhna said as she stepped away and turoward the door, "I believe it is time for the rest of us to take our leave. I bid everyone farewell for now."

  As everyo her family started filtering out, Moriko gave Fuyuko a hug from behind. "e on love, let me put you to bed for a nap. That had to have been exhausting."

  She was right of course, but Fuyuko shook her head. "No, I don't think I sleep. Not yet. I don't know what I need yet. But, um, well, I don't want to be alone for a bit I think."

  "Why don't we start with food?" Mordecai said with a smile. "We're in a good pce for it, and we just talk for a while."

  Yeah, that sounded good.

  Zagaroth