Friendships are like wildflowers. I never see them grow alone, and I never see the same pairings. It is fascinating that not all people recognize the difference between a wildflower and a weed.

~Blodeuwedd, Goddess of Flowers and Wisdom

Black flames roasted his sleeping mind for an entire week. Lucid moments came sparingly, but it was through those that he knew how much time passed. No matter how much he suffered, his consciousness wouldn’t change. Several times he tried to force himself awake, but it amounted to more suffering.

The Druid bloodline was the only thing that prevented his memories from being perverted. Twisted into the nightmares of places and things he couldn’t recognize. Without the bloodline, he would have had no refuge against the torment.

One step at a time, he figured out methods to cope with whatever the black fire threw at him. Each issue solved lessened the pressure on his mind and body. It was only occurring to him why he couldn’t wake—his body was still going through the tempering process. The stress on his body was too much, and his mind refused to wake.

Otto’s face hovered in the haze, another nightmare—

“Brother, wake?” Otto asked.

Crow’s eyes shook, and he wasn’t sure how long it took for him to wake from his fugue. It wasn’t a nightmare or a memory.

“W-wah-ter,” he called out. His voice was so weak and hoarse that it sounded like the rattling of dead leaves. Otto nodded and disappeared from view. When next he appeared, his massive hand gently lifted Crow’s head and body so he could pour water into Crow’s mouth. The cool liquid soothed his parched throat and lowered his body temperature. “More.”

Once the entire pitcher was inside Crow, Otto left the room to tell the others. And to get more water.

Song Xue arrived first, but Crow was certain it wasn’t her first time in here. He could smell her scent on him and wondered if she’d crawled into bed with him. It was the crisp, pure scent of spring snow. Whether snow had a smell, Crow couldn’t care less, but he knew it was her smell.

“Little bird?” She asked softly.

Crow’s mouth twitched. He’d never admit he enjoyed her pet name for him. “You asking for a beating?”

Song Xue flew across the room and dove onto the bed. Her arms wrapped around Crow, and she held on so tightly he felt the bones in his body creaking. Reactively, Crow flinched, but holding her caused all the tension to leave his body. Absently, his hand stroked her long black hair.

“Why do you always act like I’m going to bite you?” Song Xue asked after pulling her face away from his chest.

“Are you saying you aren’t?” Crow quipped, and she gave him a toothy smile that was neither a confirmation nor a denial.

“Fine, I’ll be like that Teonet girl, uptight and bothersome.”

“Why?” Crow asked, his face scrunched up into an uncontained sneer, and Song Xue laughed.

“Arrgghh! You are so infuriating, little bird,” she growled and tried to pull away, but Crow clamped onto her waist and didn’t let her go. “Pervert, let go!”

“You better stop calling me ‘little bird,’ or I’ll give you a pet name too.”

“Let go—what pet name?” Song Xue stopped and then realized her mistake before struggling even harder. “And y-you can’t give me a pet name. Your threats are meaningless, little bird.”

“I think you shall be my Faelan from now on.”

A dagger appeared in Song Xue’s hand, and its edge pressed against Crow’s throat.

“Let me go,” she said through clenched teeth, but her hand pulled back slightly as if she finally heard what he had said. “Faelan? What’s that?”

Crow finally realized why she was struggling so hard and had suddenly become angry. His face flushed because he could not control his lower body’s reaction to having her pressed against him. Song Xue’s struggling had only made the situation worse. No matter what happened, he couldn’t let her go now because she’d know he knew.

“Oh, it’s only the best pet name.” Crow laughed, partly to hide his embarrassment and partly because of the situation. “You are my Faelan.”

Lightening his grip, she finally escaped, but the blade of her dagger still hovered against Crow’s throat. He knew she wouldn’t hurt him, not like this. So he just stared back at her.

“Perverted little bird! No one claims me. What. Does. It. Mean?” She hissed out that last four words.

Crow could feel her anger and decided not to keep pushing his luck. Despite trusting that she wouldn’t harm him, he also knew she was prone to lash out in anger.

“It means… little wolf—” before he finished speaking, her dagger moved away from him and slammed into his bedpost. The tip of the blade exploded out the other side, and the post splintered. Song Xue’s eyes widened at her sudden burst of anger. Awkwardly, she wiggled the dagger back and forth while trying to extract it.

“This pet name is acceptable, little bird.” Her words didn’t have time to fade before she disappeared out the door.

“Damn, why is she so scary?” Crow shook his head. Were girls all this strange? He realized his only experience was with Mara, and she wasn’t exactly sane either. Talking to girls was like abandoning all rational thought. Ugh, was his luck really that bad?

Song Lin walked in, hand over her mouth and clearly trying not to laugh.

“You heard all that?”

“I did. I don’t know if I should interfere, but you should know in our language, little bird also means…” Song Lin pointed as his crotch, which thankfully had already lost its excitement from earlier.

“What?” He sputtered. “W-why would she call me that?”

“Because she—” Song Lin’s head turned as the wall rattled behind her. “Maybe I spoke too much.” But even as Song Lin said that, her body shook, and she was clearly laughing.

“At least you are somewhat normal,” Crow grumbled low enough that only Song Lin could hear, and this time she couldn’t control her beautiful laugh.

“Alright, let’s talk about you for a second. Congratulations, you opened the Root Chakra, and now the rest should go smoother, but it’ll take time. Not that you have much time before the testing. I can do nothing that will speed any of this up to give you a good result. Especially with your curse.”

“What else? Why am I so weak?”

“Your body went through some massive changes and expelled a lot of impurities. For the first three days, we had to have the servants bathe you every few hours. Your bones, muscles, tendons, and joints are much stronger than they were before. When you get back to your martial training, go slow. You will also notice a sizable increase in your endurance. You’ll need to relearn your body.”

“And techniques?”

“Not yet. You need to solidify your cultivation. Your foundation is solid, as solid as I’ve ever seen. Its energy is as pure as Xue’er and mine—probably purer, if I’m honest. Because of your condition, you weren’t able to accumulate a lot. It means your growth is going to be much slower until we can resolve Soul Burn. No way around that.”

“But I can use… mana? Qi? Something?”

“Qi is possible, but mana is still affected by the curse.”

“How long before I’m able to get out of bed?”

“Now, if you want. Your body isn’t hurt; you are just exhausted. You need food, probably a lot. In fact, you’ll find your appetite has increased tremendously. Until you can actively use your Source, you’ll need to increase your food intake. You lost a lot of mass, so you look emaciated, and you’ve burned all the hair off your body.”

Crow rubbed his bare scalp, feeling the soft stubble of newly grown hair. He sighed, thinking it might be useful to keep it short for now. Most fire practitioners shaved their heads regularly.

“Song Lin, thank you for this.”

“Don’t. I-you don’t know what you suffered through. Niall, Luthais, and Gavin had to intervene. I was told even Mugna appeared. I’m sorry. If I had known, I wouldn’t—”

“Stop. Song Lin, no matter how rough it was, I’d have made the same choice. It’s not on you. I needed this. Don’t blame yourself for my choices, got it?”

“Mmm,” Song Lin smiled, but Crow saw the red eyes and exhausted look on her face and knew she suffered. Not physically, but whatever happened, she blamed herself.

“I succeeded, right? Stop fretting and blaming yourself. You saved me, gave me hope, and that is a debt I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to repay.”

Tears ran down Song Lin’s face. She dove onto him and wrapped him in a hug. His ribs were definitely feeling bruised. He hugged her back. But when they both heard a harrumph from the hallway, they looked at each other and burst out laughing. Song Lin pulled away after that.

“Okay, rest today. Tomorrow we start again. If you are feeling restless, you may do your Qi Gong but nothing else.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You call me that again, and I’ll let Faelan stab you.” Song Lin winked and left.

“Ah, my boy. Not even fifteen and already lining the women up. You are in for a world of hurt,” Gavin chuckled. “Your grandpa said he’d come to see you before the testing, and Luthais is busy running things, so he can’t stop over just now.”

“Thank you. Song Lin told me you assisted me.”

“Well, not really. We watched as you burned up the courtyard and made a mess of things,” Gavin laughed. “Go see Mugna when you are up to it.”

“I will.”

“Good, now we need to talk about your training. You chose to accept me as a teacher, don’t go reneging on our deal. I talked to Song Lin, and we’ll work on the same schedule we had before they cursed you. In the evenings, you are to join me below. I’ve been thinking about your condition and researching ways to help you cope. I have a few ideas. Plus, most learning doesn’t require cultivation. You are ready for more access, and you’ll love what you see. Cultivation or not, you still have the rank of a Bard in our society. That comes with certain privileges.”

“That… was a lot to take in all at once.”

“I know, but I had to rush before time was up. Sorry,” Gavin grinned and pointed over his shoulder before lowering his voice. “Song Xue didn’t give me much time. She can be quite scary.”

Gavin’s eyes twinkled with mirth. Crow wanted to ask him about the Sluagh, but feared the consequences of speaking their name aloud. The fear was instinctive.

“Rest, kid. We’ll talk tomorrow night.”