Several days of utter boredom have passed since that mind-numbingly memorable day. I’d love to say things improved with the presence of a less sleep-inducing man giving speeches from time to time, however I will vehemently deny such a thing! I refuse to accept Anders as being a positive influence among the children. Every day he has promulgated propagandic prose of the utmost despicable mental outlooks towards how the world should work!

Oh, how I wish I could have his mouth sealed so he doesn’t share his thoughts on how the weak should serve the strong, or how the weak don’t deserve protection, or how the weak are doomed to a fate of suffering! “I hate him! I hate him! I hate him!” With said complaints voiced, I suppose I should also focus on the benefits he has brought. For one, he suggested having sparring matches more often, to promote growth and allow more experience in combat. I wasn’t against such a thing due to believing the indoor classes to be completely useless and worthless.

As such, within a day of him announcing an alteration to the curriculum, Teacher arranged a spar session every two weeks – so basically doubling the sessions per month. Although I saw this as only a minor improvement from the drivel Teacher often expounded, I was still in support of the length between the sessions. My reasoning behind this was because it would allow enough time to actually contemplate what to improve, then act on it with the constant pressure of knowing you’ll have to show your development soon.

Once the two weeks passed, our first sparring session since Anders’ arrival approached. My opponent was the horned crystal beast, that I later found out was known as a crystal rhino. It was considerably larger in both mass and size than me, which somewhat made me wary of how to handle it. The grey crystal horn over its nose was long, sturdy and sharp – and the speed at which it charged was quite surprising when considering its hefty bulk.

At one point, I didn’t analyse the situation well enough, thus got rammed into and pummelled by the crystal rhino’s horn. Luckily, due to my smaller stature, I didn’t get pierced and instead ended up kind of lodged in-between its horn and its face. Wiggling out of my position, I was told to dig by Teival, and immediately excavated the soil with my glowing claws – resulting in both myself and the rhino falling into a pit. Teival then commanded me to fill the hole in before the rhino could attack me, so I gracefully jumped out before pushing some soil in.

Anders came over and praised Teival for my agility, before singing a single line of a chant – releasing the rhino from its terrestrial trap. I padded over to my master and lay at his feet, not bothering to listen to the Clan-man’s pointers he was sharing with our opponent. As I finished licking my beautiful claws and paws clean, I noticed him come over before giving some advice on how to improve. “How dare you say I’m a one-trick pony?! I am a proud aardwolf pup and I deserve the respect that garners!” I turned my head in a huff and began pawing at Teival’s leg to encourage him to leave.

I’d love to say that my master listened to me, however – if anything – he seemed to spend even more time with Anders than before. I hate to admit it, but it seemed that Teival really enjoyed listening to the Clan-man’s advice and lessons on spellcasting. I’m not entirely certain if Anders did this with all the other children, or with Dinara, Tabitha and Michael, but he appeared to be exceptionally enthusiastic over sharing his own composed songspells.

Each time the two had a lesson, I would saunter off and do personal training and playing, since I couldn’t stand being near Anders. After all, I unfortunately continued to experience migraines whenever I looked at him and had not discovered the cause yet. “Better to maintain a safe distance.” I concluded after the third one-on-one lesson from Anders. I mean…master didn’t pay attention to me at all whenever Anders was teaching him about spellcasting! “I want my strokes and scratches back! I want my hugs! Most importantly, give me my tasty treats!”

That reminds me, the other reason why I deliberately avoided being in close proximity to Anders was because of his crystal beast. I mean, I don’t know if it’s me but – from my perspective – that crystal honey badger seemed to take great delight in teasing me! I would go and chase a butterfly: he’d catch and eat it. I would go and dig a hole: he’d immediately fill it in. I would stealthily sneak into Teival’s bag and take out the treats: he ‘d push me out of the way and snack on them himself! “Give me back my peaceful times! Give me back my food!”

After a few days of me constantly complaining, I finally caught some respite when Teival decided to spend our day off at home. I lay on the bed and relaxed as my master channelled his mana through my body. “Ah, I love this sensation!” I wagged my fluffy tail in delight as I established a deeper connection to the land and air around me. Well, that was until I picked up on an all too familiar and unwelcome scent!

“Oh? This is where you sleep, Teival?”

I immediately sensed the disconnection to my surroundings as the calming energy from Teival ceased. I tugged at Teival’s sleeve in a bid to beg him to continue channelling, however he just stared in shock at the man before brushing me off and standing up.

“Anders! Um, I prefer being here than in the main house…I can focus better on my training this way.”

I tugged at his sleeve again, feeling antsy from Anders’ presence before deciding I’d just vacate the room. “Eh? Why am I airborne?” I discovered I had learned the art of levitation! As if. I had been picked up by Anders who turned my body so I was facing him.

“Your crystal aardwolf is such an interesting girl. Will you let me inspect her to see how she’s developing?”

“No! Unhand me at once! How dare you lay your disgusting mitts on me?!”

“Sure.”

“Master!” I writhed and wriggled within Anders’ arms, scratching him with my sharp claws and making him bleed. “I don’t want to be examined by you! Let me go! Let me go! Argh! My head hurts! Let me go!” I bit his hand, hoping it would get him to instinctively release me but my ploy failed as he laughed.

“Kia, stop moving so much and let Anders look you over.”

“Argh! A double dose of disorienting discomfort! How could you betray me, Teival?!” I was assaulted by the nausea I associated with disobeying Teival’s requests, even though I never really understood why that occurred. Not being a masochist, I promptly stopped moving, though I gave my best at glaring at Anders as he examined me. “Just because I have deigned to allow your touch on my precious self, does not mean I like you! I hate you! Now get this over with so I can remove your scent from my fur!”

I heard him laugh again, “She’s so amusing. I’ve never seen a crystal beast act as if they abhor me so ferociously. Makes me wonder if you harbour malicious intentions, Teival.”

“I would never! I honestly don’t know why she acts like this with you. Maybe it’s because you might smell different?”

“Hahaha! Perhaps. Well, looking at her, she seems to be developing well. If anything, I like this ferocity of hers – it shows she’s a fighter. Anyway, I’ll see you in class tomorrow.” He placed me on the bed and roughly stroked my head – messing up my fur – before leaving.

“Don’t you dare touch me again! Never come back! Begone with you!” I raised my hackles and growled in Anders’ direction before feeling the soothing strokes of Teival. “Hmm?” I forgot about being hostile and tilted my head at him. My master then gently picked me up and placed me on his lap before smoothing down my hackles.

“Why do you hate him so much, Kia?”

“Because he is despicable and holds himself to deplorable ideals that are detrimental to a healthy society!” I barked in response, before snuggling into Teival’s lap and enjoying the stroking.

“Well, whatever your reasons are…he might be a chance for me to leave this place, so please try and be nicer to him…”

“Humph! As if! Ah, scratch behind my ear, will you?” I swished my tail along Teival’s leg as I rested my head on my paws and closed my eyes. “There are better places than with him, you know…?” I slipped into slumber at Teival’s slow strokes and scratches, not bothering to explain myself anymore.