“Ooo, mail. Delivery via the Network, no less,” Cyren said as Shaya returned home, arms occupied with a large, long crate. “Looooover? Family?”

“The latter,” Shaya replied with a giddy grin. She nodded at the sigil of a rampant, red gryphon gripping three golden arrows with purple fletching painted on the side of the crate, marred only slightly by a green wax seal affixed over it, sporting the Teleportation Network’s winged sandals. “I can’t wait to see what I got!”

She rushed up to her room, depositing the wooden crate on her bed. In her enthusiasm, she simply ripped the first plank of wood off with her bare hands, the sound of cracking wood causing Bri to poke her head into Shaya’s room.

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready for Foundations?” She asked in between brushing her teeth, “I thought you wanted to chat with Auric before class started.”

“I have a bit of time,” Shaya said, levering off the other planks with ease now that she could get a good grip on them. She changed the subject, “Are you free later tonight?”

Bri blinked, her toothbrushing stalling, “Yeah, sure. Why?”

“I want to hang out and chat,” Shaya replied.

“Cool,” Bri spat her cinnamon-smelling tooth powder into a cup, “What about?”

“Proper etiquette,” Shaya wrinkled her nose.

“Heh, you’re one to talk,” Bri gestured at Shaya as she ripped the last plank off the crate.

“Hey now,” Shaya warned, holding up the board, “don’t sass a person wielding a nail-ridden plank of wood.”

Her friend rolled her eyes, “How do you do it Shay?”

“Do what?”

“Keep your chin up, given what you’re enduring here?”

Shaya shrugged, “There’s hundreds of mages on campus, so what if a few dozen of the most well-bred ones are rotten with power? I’m not going to let a few shitbags ruin me, Bri. That would be letting them win.”

“I guess,” she said, eyes flicking to the room across from Shaya’s – where Oraeus sat studying, “I’ll catch you at class.”

“See ya, Bri,” Shaya said, sighing as she left.

I hope she’s okay. The thing with Oraeus is just getting worse.

Shaya exercised immense restraint and pulled an envelope out of the crate rather than the goodies she spied beneath a blanket. She broke Lumir’s seal and pulled out a sheaf of papers, reading the one on top.

+++++

Heya Sis,

I bet Krebo that you managed to piss off a powerful noble by now, did I win?

“You did bro,” Shaya shook her head with a chuckle, “thanks for believing in me Krebo.”

I’m sure your life there is hell, like I said it’d be. But, being a wonderful brother, I’m here to remind you that the world is a bigger place than the nobles you’re interacting with, you have friends and family that care (somewhat) about you back home, and that crime was always a successful strategy against the nobility.

Shaya laughed. “Definitely under consideration, Rel...”

You’re probably feel like a fish out of water, what with having to tolerate people, solve your problems with words, and rebuild your reputation as a monster hunter or whatever, but I know you’ve been able to adapt to worse. You'll get through this, learn how to blow stuff up with your mind, and come home where I can tell you “I told you so” in person, for the rest of our lives.

“You would,” she murmured, but her eyes were wet with restrained tears.

Krebo, Tarron, and some of the others have sent letters as well, including Dad – yes, you should probably try calling him that, he’s done right by us and he misses you greatly – but I’m going to steal their thunder a bit. We packed some sweet stuff for you in this crate, which I had a hand in making.

“Oh gods,” Shaya sighed, “it’s probably going to blow up in my face.”

It’s not going to blow up in your face, don’t worry. I got to practice my thaumaturgy using some special parts that your friends brought back from your hunt. They thought it fitting you get to keep the best parts, since you’re the one who had a direct hand in slaying the Ur.

I know you’re going to be too impatient to read this immediately, but the Ur’s alignment with Cindrahl gives the items in the crate fire resistant properties-

Shaya launched to her feet, yanking the blanket out of the crate to reveal the contents beneath. The first item she pulled out was a long cloak, made of the Ur-Cinwolf's tanned hide, all mottled greys and browns. With a gleeful squeal, she threw it over her shoulders and clasped itaround her neck with two thick cords attached to a brooch carved from ash-coloured bone. She was amazed at how light it was, the cloak billowing around her as if it was made of fabric and not the blade-turning hide of a monster.

With a strong tug, the brooch disengaged and Shaya tore the cloak off herself. “That’s something, but I’m not sure it would be safe to use in combat anyway...”

She picked up the letter again.

- as well as some devious abilities that I’m quite proud of. If you channel a bit of Jade into the cloak, you’ll be able to extend or retract the Ur’s quills along an aethercyte circuit I embedded in it. Pelark tested it and confirmed they’re as prickly as ever, though the cloak you have doesn’t eject the bristles. On the bright side, this does mean anyone stuck on them will experience a bit of ripping and tearing, which I’m sure you won’t mind at all.

Now I know it’s not your style, but Krebo insisted that we make you a shield to use as a sympathetic implement for all your Amber magic. But don’t worry, I think you’ll like this one – we've weaponized it to the best of our abilities.

Shaya pulled out the shield in question. It was heavy for a kite shield, forged of bronze and covered with more of the Ur-Cinwolf's hide, which was also used for the shield’s straps. Unlike a normal kite shield, the shape was almost reminiscent of a double-bladed axe and the tip extended almost to a broadsword, with the edges sharpened.

“Gods,” Shaya said, testing its heft, “it’s a good thing I've actually been working out. Even still, it might be too heavy to wield effectively.”

“Impressive,” Ralus complimented from her doorway, “but didn’t you say you wanted to speak to Auric before class?”

“Titan spit, you’re right!” Shaya said, removing the shield and cloak, “I gotta go!”

She turned and saw her Lancemates watching her, with even Oraeus having at least turned in his chair to look from across the hall.

“You owe us a showing later,” Samorn smiled.

“Of course,” Shaya said, blushing as she slung her pack of books over a shoulder, “but later.”

Pack bouncing against her back, she ran towards Foundations.

+++++

Shaya wiped sweat off her brow as she skidded to a stop on the sandy ground where Foundations took place, cursing how insulated her gambeson was. Auric was already present, inspecting weapons in their racks and setting aside those that didn’t seem to make his cut. She bee-lined towards him, still breathing heavily from her run.

“Excuse me,” she panted, “can I speak with you, sir?”

Shaya still wasn’t used to someone being taller than her by a full head, or stronger than her by such a wide margin. His sleeveless tunic showed off bronze arms with Titanic, chiseled muscles that made him look like a heroic statue. His tunic and pants were just black, with no indication of heraldry or family colours that everyone else seemed to wear proudly. It’s all she saw him wear, giving her no hint as to his ancestry – or perhaps suggesting that he was a bastard?

Auric’s metallic features suggested he was descended from Astoria – and not far removed from Her at that – but at eight feet tall his ancestor must have bred with a full tahbolg. Shaya was pretty sure all of her full-blooded giant ancestors had been driven out of the Empire a millennia ago.

The bronze giant turned and looked down at her, a rust-red eyebrow rising in concern at her state. His gaze lifted, eyes like pearls with crushed ruby embedded around an onyx pupil scanning the area for hostiles. Seeing none, he returned his attention to Shaya, “What can I help you with, Shaya?”

“I was hoping I can ask you for a favour, actually,” she blushed, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment as she realized he thought her current state meant she was being harassed and because she had no idea how to go about this. “Uhh...”

Gods, why didn’t I practice this?

“Go on,” he encouraged, picking up a staff and tossing it to her, “Humour me while we chat.”

She caught it on reflex, blinking, then parried Auric’s incoming attack as he swung towards her with a wooden longsword.

Even with deflecting most of the attack, her arms ached from the contact. It was the first time Shaya sparred against someone larger than her – and so much stronger. Krebo was strong for his size, probably as dense as a gorilla, but Auric was in a different league entirely – his one-handed swing stronger than anything Krebo had thrown at her.

“You mentioned a favour?” He asked, shifting into the dueling stance favoured by Azreon and prodding at her defenses with long reaching thrusts.

“Yes,” Shaya said, grunting with the effort of parrying his blows.

In his current stance and with his height advantage, she didn’t actually have the reach advantage even with the staff. Another first for her to consider, and her mind worked to remember all the tricks smaller people had used against her in their sparring. She choked up on the staff, much like Ralus had, and rushed Auric to close the distance, blocking his slash and grunting from the force of it.

She lashed out with both ends of her staff, forcing Auric on the backfoot as he dodged and brought his sword into a closer defensive grip. “I’d like you to train me, sir.”

“Call me Auric,” he said, parrying her next blow and driving her staff away from her center.

Left exposed, there was nothing she could do as Auric twisted his body and shoved her. She allowed herself to get thrown by his strength rather than resist it, skidding back several feet and using the space to bring her staff up to parry his follow up – a heavy downward slash that she had no doubt would have shattered her staff and her skull if she tried to block it.

Gods, I should have cast invigorate before talking to him...what is with all the professors here!?

“Auric,” she grunted, arms numb from parrying his two-handed strike, “I want you to teach me Amber magic.”

“Aren’t you already taking classes for that?”

She dodged an upward slash at her face by a hair’s breadth.

We didn’t even put helmets on!

“I only got into one and it’s not working,” she said, adopting a defensive stance that left her vulnerable to future overhead attacks, “Basillo is the worst teacher imaginable and, to be honest, a prick. I need someone who is skilled and cares enough about their students. That’s you, from what I’ve seen.”

Auric cocked his head, and she wasn’t sure if it was at her honesty or her poor chance of stance. He snorted in amusement a moment later, sounding like a bull.

“It won’t be cheap,” he replied, settling into an aggressive stance with two hands on his sword, “One gold a month.”

Titan spit.

“I can’t afford that,” she sighed, “I’m sorry to have wasted your time.”

“Fortunately for you,” he said, testing her defenses with a few swings, “I’m in need of an apprentice smith at my forge. It pays one electrum an evening. It’s not the best pay a mage could earn, but a decent one and my forge is open every weeknight.”

“I’ll take it!” Shaya replied, elated, “I’m more than happy to earn my keep!”

“I can tell,” he said, then he lunged at her with another overhand swing.

She blocked it head on, but stepped back as her staff split in two to avoid the killing blow.

Before the splinters even hit the ground, Shaya lunged back in, wielding the broken halves of her staff like clubs and lashing out with repeated blows. He parried the first wave of attacks, but she caught him with two glancing blows before he could backslide out of her reach again.

“Well done,” he said, nodding, “my forge is in the military quarter – can you start tonight?”

She thought about her commitment to chat with Bri, then shook her head. “I have another commitment, how about tomorrow?”

“It’s a deal,” he said, smiling.

It took all of Shaya’s willpower not to whoop in triumph.