I felt so useless compared to Eshanai, being able to show her wich mushrooms and berries were edible had helped, but not by much. At first, when I had heard that her home was full of women who made it just fine without any men I had rejoiced, this would prove that women also could do the jobs that were traditionally seen as men’s work. Then she had pulled that arrow, that was halfway buried, out of the tree like it was nothing, and I had begun to suspect that it was a species thing and not a gender thing. They made it just fine without men because they were Naga, this didn’t prove that women could be just as capable as men. Perhaps I was being silly, I was only a child, after all, maybe a grown woman would have an easier time? Bah, why was I getting so hung up on this anyway? I didn’t want to become some great warrior anyway, men might be naturally stronger, but that didn’t mean that women should be barred from living our lives how we wanted. I shouldn’t be forbidden from attending a university just because I had something different between my legs, and I wouldn’t be if I could make it there. My village was a bit backward was all, but that would be hard now that I had a bounty on my head. I would have to lay low for a while, come back when I’m older when I have learned about magic. The mages recruited from both genders I was pretty sure, magic didn’t discriminate after all. Yes, that was the answer, I would learn as much as I could about my new powers, and once I have mastered them no one can question me any longer.

Could I do it? Could I embrace my new powers, even master them? I had killed my father using them, even if it wasn’t my intention it had still happened. When he had hit mom, all I had wanted was for him to stop, but something snapped within me. It was like he had become this other person that I didn’t recognize, this monster that had to be stopped. Where had that come from? I had seen him drink before, sure he could become a bit unruly, but he had never been violent, I had never feared him. He was gone now, and there was nothing I could do about it, but move forward. Tears threatened to well up again for what felt like the hundredth time in just a couple of days, but I stomped down ruthlessly on my emotions until the feeling passed. I would not be some useless cry-baby for this entire trip.

By the time we made it to the river, the sun was high in the sky, at its zenith. What must have been two waterskins appeared in Eshanai’s hands and she bent down to the water to fill them before she handed on to me. I took a few sips and stoppered it to let it hang from my waist by a strap passing by the quiver of arrows on my back, the water was slightly cold even though it was the middle of summer, and tasted fresh. The river was fed from snowmelt and the great lakes up north so it was no wonder the water would be cold. I watched as Eshanai held out her hands towards the river, and a torrent of liquid shot out of the water to be absorbed into her gem. This continued for a while until she let down her hands and the flow of water stopped entering her gem.

“Water for our journey, it will be a long one, and you never know when you will get a chance to drink again.” She said as she turned around to look at me, my mouth hung open in surprise at her feet, and I closed it promptly as I noticed it.

“That must be very convenient, how many things can you have in that little thing?” I asked, it was a bit strange how things just seemed to pop into existence around her from such a small thing, but I guess stranger things were possible with magic.

“Convenient it is, so far I haven’t found a limit to how many things it can hold actually. I’ll find out eventually I guess,” she said and winked at me. Eshanai then closed her eyes as she faced the sun, and just stood there as if she was sunning herself or something. Naga’s were weird, was every one of them like Eshanai? They didn’t get married, she hadn’t even known of the concept before coming here. That was the weirdest thing of all to me, everyone married eventually. Not that I wanted to hitch myself just yet, and I had been angry when I found out my hand had basically been promised in marriage. I had a lot of things I wanted to do with my life first, but I had envisioned that I would get to that soon enough as everyone else. How did that even work? She said she loved everyone back on the island, did she mean like how a sister loves their sibling or something more? In that case wouldn’t that lead to a lot of jealousy, if you had multiple partners and nothing binding you to them? Eshanai seemed happy though and talked about her home and her people fondly, it was just so foreign to me. Everyone got married, it seemed to be the end goal in life, but what if it wasn’t? At least people wouldn’t force their children to be with someone they didn’t like for the rest of their lives.

“Is something wrong?” Eshanai said having come out of her trance, she must have noticed me scowling to myself for she looked very concerned.

“Oh no, it was nothing,” I said as I relaxed my face into a neutral expression. “Why do you do that, with the sun I mean. I remember you did something similar when we were on our way back from the spider cave?”

“Oh that, well I do it because I enjoy it, we Naga are coldblooded creatures you know meaning we need heat from the environment around us, although I don’t need it as much anymore. It also helps me restore and grow my mana, is there anything else you want to know?” She asked at the end of her explanation, a smile in her voice.

“That must have been what you did in my dream with the fire, you know the blargh,” I said trying to mimic her and show how she had shot flames out of her mouth like some dragon, how cool was that? Eshanai laughed at my antics before I continued, “so what is that affinity called? Fire affinity, no wait, you take energy from the sun, maybe heat affinity.”

“It’s called sun affinity,” Eshanai chuckled as she answered, “and yes that is what I did back in your dream. I had both hands full, so it just sort of came out, that was not how I had planned it, but it worked.” She said, looking a bit sheepish. “Anyway, let’s continue moving towards the coast, then we can set up camp and have something to eat before we get started on your lessons,” I jumped up and down in excitement at the news, and not wanting to waste more time I set of into the woods. “Hold on there, don’t be in such a hurry,” Came Eshanai’s voice from behind me. “Here, walk beside, me, so we don’t lose each other, I could find you easily by your smell, but still it’s best not to take unnecessary risks.”

“But, I want to get started as soon as possible,” I said with urgency.

“You need to calm down, the sun isn’t going to move any faster on your account, and you might be too exhausted to learn anything by the time we make camp,” Eshanai answered.

“No, but if we move fast, we might find a good campsite with plenty of light left in the day for my lessons,” Eshanai considered that for a minute before she answered me, a twinkle in her eye.

“Ok then Lilian, you’ve convinced me, but to make really good time you need to ride on my back,” she said and lowered herself, making it easier for me to climb on. I shrugged, thinking that at least I wouldn’t have to stumble over roots anymore. Eshanai’s bow and arrow got absorbed as I settled myself on her back, my legs around her waist and my hand on her shoulders. I shrieked as Eshanai sped through the underbrush, she could really move when she wanted to. We were going at least as fast as a human doing a full sprint if not faster, it was hard to tell with the trees whipping past us to blur in my vision. I laughed as Eshanai jumped over fallen trees with ease and dodged nimbly around large boulders.

By the time the sun started making its way towards the horizon Eshanai had found a nice glade for us to settle in. I was currently finishing the mushroom stew with deer meat mixed in, I had helped Eshanai gather wood for the fire in hopes of getting to my lessons, but Eshanai had taken her time saying that it was no point rushing things and that we would get to it eventually. Now we had eaten our fill, we had made camp, and I had taken care of my bladder, there was only one more thing left to do today.

“Ok, ok, you can stop staring holes in the side of my head, it’s time for your lessons.” I had been staring at her I realized as she meticulously ate her stew.

“But, you eat so slowly, I can’t help but be impatient, it’s like you do it on purpose. Eshanai gave me a level look before saying.

“You are right that I did it on purpose,” she said to my shock.

“But what’s the point of-” I started, but Eshanai interrupted me.

“If you’d listen and let me finish you would know by this point,” she smirked at me as I started to say something but decided to keep my mouth shut and listen to her. “I’ve spoken to Lubus about how we should go about this, he wanted me to test your patience a bit first,” realization dawned on me and I could feel my cheeks redden as I looked down at the ground in shame, my first test and I have already failed. The tip of Eshanai’s tail came to rest under my chin, and she pushed up so she could look me in the eyes. “He thought that you had managed very well up until now, but you are new at this so some eagerness can be understood. You must be aware however that magic needs to be approached with much cation and respect, If your too eager not only you will be at risk, but you risk hurting those around you as well.”

“Yes Eshanai, I understand,” I said, my voice humble as I nodded, Eshanai’s tail still holding me.

“Good,” she said as she released me. “We don’t want you to blow yourself up in some experiment accidentally.” She brought a bundle of flowers out from behind her back, “now before we get started you should know that Lubus has told me that the best way for a dream mage to learn about her powers is in her dreams. Therefore you must learn to control them. These will help you bring you out of the experience and for you to realize that you are dreaming, place them beside your head as you sleep. If you need any help, or if you succeed, summon me as you did before and we can start practicing.” This was not what I had expected, I wasn’t so sure I could recognize that I was dreaming. I took the flowers from Eshanai’s outstretched hands, they were Lavender flowers, and their smell was very distinct, just remember the smell Lilian, and everything will be alright. Plus, Eshanai would be there, she could wake me if she noticed anything weird. I laid down on the blanket provided and put the flowers next to the little pillow beside where my head would be resting, and pulled the animal skin over myself. Laying down I closed my eyes and tried to sleep.