I was calmly trying to connect to magic when I heard and felt it. Firstly was this sort of fulfilled feeling like eating a good meal, second was this music, I think? It was hard to put it in a genre as it was all muffled but it when sorta like this: bum bum sash bum ching ra ra. I really couldn’t put my finger on it which was very frustrating.

I know that is some sort of dance music as Momma is moving it. Like, seriously calm down woman, don’t you know you have a baby? She is swinging back-and-forth and side-to-side at a ferocious speed that was making me feel queasy.

It was then that I felt it: as a mix of a dog liking your tail bone and jumping into the snow with no clothes on, the feeling crept around my body inside and out until it suddenly disappeared. At first, I was spooked by the thought of it, like having insects crawling through your digestive tract and on top of your skin. Fortunately, after a bit of self reasoning, I was able to produce that feeling again, although less pronounced. A whole array of colors flooded into my eyes for the first time in what felt like months: splotches of red showing off its ferocity, thin strips of green like grass expressing its elegance, bodies of blue slowly dancing their way across my sight, and many more colors! It was so beautiful and heart-wrenching that I would most definitely cry if I had tear ducts grown yet!

I held back my emotions and hardened my heart for now. Limb stretched I could now see the inherent magic in my body, it was a white and gray mass that conformed to the insides of my skin. I performed what motion I could to try and throw it out of my body to start my training but it was seemingly impossible. I had to think about how I could get it out... In a normal, boring novel the answer would be to just try and imagine pushing itself out but that would not work.

It had to be something more physical-like than mental! Yet, even seeing the mana or whatever had taken a stroke of luck to get that feeling. Darn...

WHY COULD THIS NOT BE LIKE EVERY OTHER NOVEL’S MAGIC SYSTEM!?

“Sho’ I was lik, ‘Why are my boobs so sensitive today?’ you uys’ have any ‘deas?” Kerue drunkenly questioned Debra, Sophie, and Marie. Sophie was the first to respond.

“I have to say, that sounds reeeally like your pregnant.” Sophie shot a glance at the cup in her hand nearly empty except for the cups worth of liquor still left at the bottom. Kerue seemingly did not understand what she meant finished off her liquor with one gulp and released a large belch.

“Hehe...” Marie chuckled softly before breaking out into hysterical laughter “HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH, heehaHHAAAAHA!”

Debra joined in on Maries fit, “HAHAAHAHAHHAHAAH, You! -HAAH- and Felix howl like wolves at night -AHAHHA- and now -HA- you're gonna have little dog pups! AHAHAHAHAHAH”

Flustered Kerue responded, “Wha-!, You and Philip sound like Ducks, and we can hear you from all the way down the street, you-you, duck woman!”

But Debra was not listening she was still laughing without restraint even as Kerue when off to find Felix to settle their intoxicated debate on who sounded like what. As she made her way through the dancing crowd she tripped on some drunkard passed out on the floor.

“Watch where you lie as- Felix?” Her husband lay on the floor drooling. Kerue flipped Felix over and hopped on top jolting him awake.

“Sunshine!” Felix opened his arms for a hug and beamed a smile at Kerue. She snuggled into his embrace as people made their way around them, still sober enough to not trip over the couple.

“Hey” Kerue and Felix both interrupted each other and laughed a bit.

“You first!” Felix quickly said.

“Mmmmm, Ok. Two questions! Do I really sound like a wolf when we do it, and secondly...” Kerue closed her eyes and tried to think what her second question was again but couldn’t remember. “Y’know, just answer the first question first!”

“Yeah, sure.” Drunkenly Felix just turned his brain to auto-pilot.

“WHA-! You too!” Kerue growled in frustration, “Whatever! I remember my first question...! Do I look pregnant to you?”

“Yeah, sure.” And still, Felix was on auto-pilot.

“Nows you. What's your question?” Kerue asked with a loving voice.

“My question?” Felix was not even sure what he was going to say for a few seconds before remembering. “Our house, I left something at our house.”

Both drunkenly stumbled onto their feet and began walking to their little straw house.

“It wouldn’t happen to be your shirt, would it?” Sometime between carving the Dire wolf up and now Felix had lost his shirt showing off his toned body which Kerue was greedily stroking.

“Naw, Grandma Sharol said she wash the blood out of it ‘cause all them guts we handled.”

Felix stumbled on froward into their house and started to search the pantry. After fumbling around for a few minutes He finally found what he was looking for in a small beat-up teapot made of metal. From it, Felix pulled out earrings with long strands of raven black hair that seemed to glow brilliantly.

Kerue gasped, “Felix, That’s so beautiful!” She leaped into His warm and loving arms. “I -urp- bla- I need to vomit.”

Felix escorted Kerue outside to empty her stomach and smiled, Somehow He just felt that the future was bright from Him and His beautiful bride.

“Where did they take the Noxenvoul!” The Duke commanded.

“I- you’ll never find them!” The maid said barely propping herself up but head down. Starvation and dehydration made her weak. “They will defeat you! I know they will!”

“Those Revolutionaries lied to you Mary, they are going to kill everyone you know.”

The girl, Mary, gulped and summed up what courage she had to talk back to the imposing man. “They said that you would say that. That you would tell me they didn’t care! Well, let me tell you, Duke. You are afraid,”, Mary looked up at the duke with his back tuned several steps away from her. “You think you can suppress the people forever, but you CANNOT! You kept it away from us because you are a fool and too arrogant to give way to the future. You- You are a COWARD DUKE!”

The Duke whipped around and picked her up y the neck like she was nothing and began squeezing.

“Respect. Respect. Respect.” The Duke took a deep breath, “You, those Revolutionary friends of yours, and the common folk lack that. You all lack respect for such power! You see victory today, but I see nothing except loss. It is not for the reasons you might think though!”

Mary was desperately swinging her legs back and forth looking for any footing to give her neck slack, but she found none. Her whole body burned and her lungs felt like they would pop from the pressure building up.

“That Book brings nothing but death and collapse!”

Mary stuck her tongue out hoping -just hoping- that she could somehow breathe through her swelling tongue.

The Duke shook his head, “Well travels on River Stix, Mary.”

Her eyes glazed over and everything slowly faded to black until she was no more.

The Ironwood door to the duke's office gently swung open followed by his butler walking in.

“Garry, What did I say about knocking!” The Duke dropped the maids’ corpse and when to sit at his desk.

“Preferably when you are not choking out the Maids, Milord?” Garry said humorously before hardening his face. “The Lady has requested your presence immediately at the summer house, Milord.”

“Did she say what she wanted?” The Duke waved in a couple of maids to remove the body. “She doesn’t want me to hire another pasty chief from Frehna, does she?”

“No Sir, She has become pregnant and wants you to be there when Doctor Mevil arrives.” The Maids had shuffled out of the room and would return to get the blood out in a couple of minutes.

“How long till the Doctor visits?” The Duke put on his reading glasses and began to work through tax reports.

“A fortnight, Sire.”

“Why must she be so inconvenient?” The Duke groaned loudly and glanced up at Garry for support.

“I have readied the coach for immediate departure, Milord.” The butler said with a smug look on his face knowing how the Duke would want to move out immediately.

“Great,” He said sarcastically, “Let us go.”

The Duke and Garry walked past the maids who came to clean the still settling blood of Mary.

She was neither the first nor last Revolutionary sympathizer to die in that room. That room where the Duke resides. That room where their hope dies. That room where… the end -it did not wait, it hunted.