We kept flying, leaving the mountains and the Council of Thirteen behind. Inside me, that “second me” still churned—this invisible conversationalist who felt more like a schizophrenic voice than common sense. But I’d learned to ignore him. I had more important things to do—like raising a future monster.

  When the sun began to tilt toward sunset, we stopped to rest. I raised a shelter out of habit, but this time I didn’t stop there.

  “Riza, watch,” I stomped my foot, and the ground in front of me obediently split open, forming a deep, wide pit—like an empty pool. “Your assignment. Fill it to the brim.”

  She nodded silently. Her small hands tensed, and a stream of water poured into the pit. It took about twenty minutes before the pool filled. Riza was breathing hard, her shoulders sagging with exhaustion.

  “Good mages fill a volume like that in under ten minutes,” I remarked, leaning against a rock.

  She lifted a foggy gaze and narrowed her eyes slyly. “And you, Zen? How long would you take?”

  “Me?” I smirked. “Well… let’s check. First, pull the water out.”

  Riza focused. The water in the pool trembled, rippled—and then, with a jerk, the entire mass lifted at once. A huge cube of water hung in the air. I expected her to move it aside.

  Instead, the girl snapped her hands—and dumped the whole thing straight on me.

  “Why?!” I shouted, spitting and wiping droplets off my nose.

  “So you don’t get lazy!” Riza laughed, bright as a bell, staring at my soaked face.

  I wiped my face with my sleeve. For a second, irritation flared inside me, and I felt my heart sting. That same cold fear: the seal. I realized control over my power now depended not so much on how much mana I spent, but on my emotional state. The moment I got angry or scared—the seal cracked. That was bad news.

  “Well? What are you standing there for, Zen?” Riza teased.

  I sighed and stretched my hand over the empty pit. At first it was a thin trickle, but I quickly ramped it up. The stream became dense, roaring like a waterfall. I felt the energy flow through me, balancing on the edge of what I was allowed. Exactly one minute later, the pool was full.

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  “You were holding back,” Riza stated, stepping up to the edge. “You can do it faster, but you’re scared.”

  “I’m not scared, I’m saving strength,” I lied, even though I knew she could see right through me. “For a first try, it’ll do. One minute—that’s the bar you have to aim for.”

  She nodded stubbornly and held her hands out over the water again. “I’ll do it faster. You’ll see.”

  I watched her try again and again to bend the element to her will. Talent, stubbornness, and a complete lack of fear of the world. If I didn’t get her to Mira and teach her to control that flame inside her, she really could become the one everyone feared. And it would be my fault.

  The road to the border wasn’t a sprint. Every time we stopped for the night, I obediently punched a new “pool” into the ground. On the second day, Riza filled it in fifteen minutes. On the third—in twelve. Her progress was frightening, but deep down I was proud of this little winged girl.

  When we flew past the place where I’d left the black spear, I hovered for a moment. The artifact’s sinister aura was still seeping through the stone. Whatever, let it rot, I thought at first. But, deciding to be safe, I went down and drove it even deeper into the earth, sealing it under a layer of compressed basalt. Now, to retrieve it, you’d have to be either me—or have the power of a god.

  At last, we reached the boars’ village.

  They met us not with axes, but with happy grunting. The village had come alive: real houses of cut stone were going up between the huts, and the apple trees I’d planted were already beginning to set their first fruit. The chief came out to meet us and bowed his head again in thanks. He stared at Riza for a long time—hatred and fear still wrestling in his one eye—then, in the end, he just nodded silently and walked away. Acceptance takes time.

  We moved on. And then, when we were almost to the border, I felt them—a group of travelers.

  I squinted into the horizon. Those silhouettes—I’d recognize them out of a thousand.

  “Hm.” I couldn’t help smiling. “Looks like our old acquaintances.”

  Liara. Ineya. Dorwood… and some unfamiliar elf with them. Seems that while I’d been gone, they’d decided the company needed one more “pointy-eared” member.

  Riza, thrilled, shot upward to get a better look. “Zen! There are people!” she shouted.

  But the people below reacted faster. A flash of mana—and a massive fireball whistled toward the “flying demon.” Looks like the newbie elf wanted to show off.

  “Riza, down!” I yelled.

  I snapped my hand up, instantly dispersing the чужое spell—the flame simply broke into sparks before it could reach her. But, to my surprise, Riza didn’t just scream in fear. While I was killing the fire, she thrust her own hands forward, and for a moment a water dome flared around her—the very shield we’d only talked about in theory.

  She landed next to me, breathing hard, but with steel in her eyes. I stepped closer and gently patted her head, feeling her shake from adrenaline.

  “Good,” I said honestly. “That was a good shield. And good on you for not relying only on me.”

  I turned toward the frozen travelers. In the distance I could see Dorwood grab his axe, and Liara draw her bow. They clearly hadn’t expected to see a “kid” who’d just dispelled battle magic from their new companion with a flick of his hand.

  “Hey, idiots!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. “It’s me!”