[Dawn]

 

"Woah." I say as I take in the view from up the mountains we’re currently scaling. It's just a little past sunrise as I see the sun just a little bit above a huge mountain range way off in the distance. It's like someone took mount Everest and duplicated it to build a wall.

 

We've made great progress over the days,according to Taleah we should be halfway to the city. The elven party left at some point to hurry back quicker, even though I'm pretty sure once we get to flat open land then we'd be faster than them just running back.

 

"Why didn't we do this back home?" Rosa asks, looking up at me, ears twitching from the wind blowing around us. 

 

Thankfully Arya isn't watching, and I don’t want her pitching in every other hour about wanting to pet Rosa again. "Well, we never had the time." I point out, before whispering to myself, "I wish we had the time to do these things with pops and grandma." 

 

Ehh, better to forget about that and just take in the view for now. I think we're only a quarter of the way up the mountain range, towards a valley. 

 

"You should really learn to control your tail more." Taleah says walking towards me as she points at my tail. I swear I can feel my tail going faster after being called out on it.

 

"I probably won't." I say, getting a confused look from her.

 

"Why's that?" She asked.

 

"Since I’ve found myself here in this world, I've been able to experience more and feel my emotions stronger than ever in the last few weeks than I have in years." I replied, looking down at my armored hand, "I honestly think it has to do with my soul being repaired, it just makes sense. Hell, my sisters and I don't even know everything that's been affected by that."

 

"I couldn’t tell you really." Taleah says before laughing a little bit, "Though, I wonder how your family will feel knowing they have two more daughters than before." 

 

Her words getting a small flinch from me, "I think it will be fine." I say with a yawn.

 

"Tired? You’ve been yawning a lot, not getting enough sleep?" Taleah asked.

 

"What?" I ask, not catching what she said.

 

"I asked if you didn't get enough sleep." She says again, glaring at me.

 

"Oh." I say, "Did Arya tell you about that too?" 

 

"About not getting sleep?" She replied.  

 

"Come on, it's just sleep." I say, trying to get her to stop.

 

"And the nightmares?" She points out.

 

I quickly turn to stare at her, "How do you know about that?"

 

"Is that a rhetorical question?" She asks.

 

As I continue to stare, I try to figure out how she knows, I haven't told Stella or Arya about them and neither have brought it up. I don't think I move much in my sleep either, only during some of the worst ones could you actually see me move in my sleep. 

 

"You're serious." Taleah sighs, "I thought they would have told you by now. I follow the teachings for the goddess of dreams, moon, and death, a priest for goddess Sehanine Moonbow. I kind of just passively sense the state of dreams around me. And whenever you're the one in control, you have the worst time sleeping, so tell me what's wrong." She says, poking my cheek to get me to confess.

 

"It’s personal so I'd rather you stop digging into my past." I say before pointing out, "Don't forget I've only known you for less than a month now, I'm sure you wouldn't tell personal history to someone you just met either would you?"

 

"Mmmh, maybe?" She says innocently. 

 

"What do you mean maybe?" I say.

 

"I mean, I'm a good judge for people, so if I meet someone I feel won't do me wrong then I just might start saying things ehehe." She replied.

 

"I just can't even deal with you." I complain while throwing my arms into the air.

 

"What's the problem with that?" Rosa says, head tilted and her ears falling to the side.

 

"You just don't tell personal information to strangers!" I yell, "Why do you both find that okay?"

 

"I like meeting new people, are we gonna meet new people?" Rosa says, tail wagging happily behind her. 

 

Feeling her emotions filled with innocence makes me feel like she stabbed me with cuteness along with her current appearance. I mutter to myself before giving up and scooping Rosa up into a hug, "Why are you so cute that it hurts." 

 

"I really need to look into getting a brush, it's been a while since I last did that for you huh." I say.

 

"Brush?" Rosa says, making her head jump up. "Brush! Brush!" She says excitedly, making me laugh even more.

 

"Sorry to put an end to your fun time with each other, but we gotta get going." Taleah says. "There are a lot of creatures in this valley, and we can't afford the time to take every fight."

 

"What creatures live here?" I ask

 

"A whole range of them, towards the peaks you have rocs and wyverns. Though it’s mainly just a lot of birds. Further down there are some sightings of manticores and griffins having turf battles here and there." She stops before a huge grin covers her face, "Those are fun to watch. Down in the valley, which we're currently entering, is where some orc and goblin tribes live, goblins, while a danger, can be easily avoided as they don't look for conflict most of the time. Orcs are an issue, they're extremely bloodthirsty and will chase us if spotted." 

 

"How strong are the orcs?" I ask, wondering if I could take on some of them.

 

"Really? I just said we don’t have the time to fight." She says facepalming.

 

"What?" I ask, "Why are you looking at me like a disappointed parent whose looking at their child for saying a stupid question."

 

"Why was that so detailed?" She says looking taken aback.

 

"Experience." I shrug. "Now answer the question."

 

Taleah finally gives in after a moment of silence, "If you really want to know, you could probably take on a couple of the weaker warrior orcs." 

 

I can feel my ears twitch as I start to imagine fighting the orcs, oblivious to the looks Taleah is giving me.

 

~~~~~

 

"You know, this ride has been a lot smoother than I expected going through this valley." I call out to Taleah.

 

"Did I do something to you, or do you just normally want to attract as much trouble to yourself as possible?" Taleah asked.

 

"I spent the last few years before coming to this world learning how to control my body and just building strength. I wouldn’t lie to you and say I haven’t been itching to push myself in a few fights." I say.

 

Before I could continue, Taleah grabs my head before pushing it down suddenly. Shortly after, I hear something quickly flying towards us. Looking up I see the object flying towards me as  I try to block the object with a shield made of Ice, only for it to be shattered as the object continues heading towards us.

 

"It's fine." Taleah says as I watch her catch the spear in its flightpath with her mana, locking it in place. 

 

"It was only a warning shot, that's weird. " She muttered.

 

"Warning shot?" I ask.

 

"Yes, normally they go for a killing blow on the weakest person when they fight another group. But the flightpath for this arrow was only meant to go overheard." She adds to her last statement.

 

As we talk, a figure walks out of the tree line, tall and built body, a light green and gray skin color with tusks coming from both sides of his mouth, wearing furs all over their body, but unable to hide the scars littered across their body. He holds a massive greataxe in his left hand, spears strapped to his back.

 

"Moon Elf" The orc says, looking at Taleah before turning his attention to me, his deep voice heard clearly even with the distance between us. "Young Wolf." He says before walking closer towards us. At this point I only notice the rest of the orcs showing behind him, all armed with their own weapons. 

 

The orc, who looks to be the leader, stops about twenty yards from us. "Why have you entered our territory?" The orc says.

 

Taleah gets out of the carriage to talk with the orc, "We mean no harm, only to pass through to the other side to head towards the elven capital further south." She motions with her hand, letting the spear float back towards the orc.

 

The orc grabs ahold of his spear, putting it back on his back. "You wish to pass?" 

 

"That is all." Taleah says.

 

Whoa, wait, what is she doing? I wanted to at least fight one of them, just one of them, what’s so wrong with that? "Taleah wait, you're not gonna let me fight at least one of them?" 

 

Taleah quickly turns her head, "What do you think you're doing!?" 

 

"What I said I wanted to do originally, fight." I say.

 

"This isn’t just a fight you can take and win you fool!" She rebukes. 

 

"HAHAHA! You entertain me young wolf, not many see my kind and wish to fight so openly." The orc laughs loudly, "I see you two mean no harm. Hmmm, very well, we shall fight young wolf, prove your strength and entertain me. Do that and you can pass through our territory. Will this be fine?" He says towards Taleah. 

 

Each word he says makes me more and more excited, feeling the hair on my tail starting to stand in anticipation of the fight in front of me. My blood boiling as I grab my ax before jumping out of the carriage. The orc's eyebrows slightly raise as he takes in my weapon. 

 

"I- uhhh, *sigh*, just don't kill her." Taleah says, before moving the carriage away from the two of us.

 

"You have my word elf, no fatal harm shall befall onto her." The orc said as he turned towards me again. “Before we begin, young wolf, let me hear your name”

 

"Dawn, but young wolf is fine, and thank you for accepting my challenge. I haven’t had a chance to really move my body much and this trip has been filled with boredom." I say, as a savage smile grows across my face, getting ready, I raise my greataxe. 

 

Getting closer I realize how much larger he is than me, standing almost two heads taller than me and probably weighing way more than me. I start thinking of how I'm supposed to move him or take control in this fight as I recall lessons from my trainer. 

 

"Very well young wolf, Dawn." The orc says, the air around him growing tense as a pressure starts to flow out of him, once ready he screams out, "Following the traditions of the Grorka Tribe, may our ancestors honor this fight between Dawn, the young wolf, and I, the war chief Rakgu, on this day! None shall interfere, any who defies this shall be branded and casted out!"

 

The orcs that stayed back start to yell out as their leader finishes his words. Once ready, I channel mana through my body to propel myself towards Rakgu, who swings his ax towards me as I approach. *BANG* Both axes meet as a wave of air pressure explodes out. 

 

The sound of the impact makes me flinch as I didn't expect it to be so loud. Rakgu moved, having noticed the pause in my movements allowing for him to kick at my gut. 

 

Rolling out of the way, I kick off the ground, gaining distance after the short clash. In this short time, I  use my eyes to observe Rakgu for any weaknesses or openings I could use to my advantage. 

 

"Hmm, decent speed, and your strength is bigger than I thought." The orc hums to himself as I gain distance. "You know how to handle your body well and control yourself, but not so much with your weapon. Tell me, when did you take up the ax?"

 

The question takes me off guard, not expecting him to talk during the fight. "Not even a month ago, I don't know if I would have done so if I didn't become soul-bound to my ax." 

 

"I see." Rakgu replies before immediately dashing towards me. "When using the ax, the position of your hands matter. It gives you more control over your aim, and you can even acquire more speed with the hand near the base." He says, swinging the ax towards my leg, probably aiming to limit my speed and options to retaliate.

 

Using my ax, I try to vault over his attack only to get my support knocked out from below me, allowing for Rakgu to land a punch. 

 

I feel myself flying quickly through the air before striking a tree, the breath I was holding quickly released in pain. "Gahh!" 

 

"Dawn!" I hear Rosa yell through our link. 

 

Not feeling anything break, I knew I was ultimately fine, just going to feel some pain for a while there. I get up, motioning for Rosa to stand down so as to not get in the middle of the fight. Even with mana strengthening, I can see the gap in strength between me and Rakgu. Not wanting to be done in, I stand up feeling angry at myself for falling for such an attack. Picturing my coach would be disappointed at such a sight. 

 

I look for Rakgu, noticing he was not staying still while I gathered myself. Not letting myself get flustered until I suddenly feel him in my perception to my left.

 

"Another thing to note, the handle of the ax is great for disrupting your opponent's movements. Allowing you to catch them off guard as they'll usually be paying attention to the more deadly part of the weapon." Rakgu speaks as he sweeps my legs out from me using just the handle of his ax. Kicking me in the stomach in the process, making me skid across the ground and making me lose a hold of my ax. 

 

My anger, quickly growing as I find myself being humiliated from his attacks. I'm not only being pushed around like a toy, but he's trying to teach me in the process? Unacceptable.

 

As that thought passes through my head, I feel my mana start to lose control of itself, as if screaming out to everything around me. Tearing up the ground around me, as a result of my mana going wild, the area around me starts to change. Showing signs of burns and freezing through the grass, the trees closest to me being covered in ice, or catching on fire. Even some areas seem to distort, as if space is being forcefully constricted. 

 

But almost as suddenly as its emergence, it stops, any sign of mana being out of control gone as I picked myself up, remembering a lesson my coach always said. 

 

~~~~~

 

"Get up." My coach says after throwing me to the ground. "In a fight no one is going to wait for you to get yourself situated. Especially not when you move like a drunk." He says, as I get up, legs shaking from stress and exhaustion. Glaring at my coach in the process. 

 

"You are too ambitious, leaving yourself open all over your stance, might as well put on a sign that says 'Hit me, I can't fight back'. You think you can protect yourself like this? That just because you've had troubles in life and decide to gain strength you can suddenly protect yourself?" He says, his words mocking me as I feel my anger build up. "You've told me some of the things that's happened to you before. But all I see now is that you were lying to yourself all this time. A fraud is what you are, saying you're gonna do this or that, not letting anyone tell you what you can or can't do. But you don't even show the effort to control your own body, let alone your life."

 

Having had enough I swing my fists at him in anger, trying to get back at everything he has said. "Like you're one to talk, all you ever teach me is just how to properly lift weights and move, that's it! Nothing on how to fight, no techniques, only footwork and proper stance." I keep swinging at him, hoping for something to hit as he dodges or deflects everything I throw at him. "You expect me to do anything for myself without the proper strength needed?"

 

"Because you aren't ready, I'm pushing you to train your strength and endurance, your stability of the mind as well. But those lessons don't seem to stick." He says, catching my fist and throwing me over his shoulder, slamming me into the mat on the ground inside the ring. Everyone else in the gym is quiet as we fight, taking the time to watch. 

 

"Just a few words and you let anger consume you." He scoffs, as if spitting on my actions. "You'll never be ready if you can't even face your own problems and control your emotions. You do a good job hiding it from people you just meet but I've known you long enough now.”

 

He stands over me, "Now, get up, and do it again." Putting distance between us, "And control yourself this time, you lose sight of everything around you in your anger, forgetting everything I ever taught you. At least you have some decency to use your footwork, even if only out of habit."  

 

I stop to think over what he said, slowly calming down, trying to regain control over myself. I eventually get up and take my spot on the other side of the ring. "Good" He says, "You have a long list of exercises to do today."

 

~~~~~

 

Seeing myself getting control over myself, only this time my excitement changed to focus as I felt something inside me awaken, like a pride I didn't know I had radiated off myself to push me. 

 

Rakgu starts to viscously smile. "Very nice, while it would be best to never lose control over yourself like just now, you did better than some of the younger orcs in my tribe." He says, relaxing himself, "I've seen enough, you might not be strong, but I can see you have the right attitude to advance. Don't think of lying to me, I can see it in your eyes, the many emotions you don't show, but one speaks out more than most, and an unending drive to better yourself." 

 

He brings me my ax then turns toward Taleah, leaving his back open to me as I stand there, dumbfounded at what's happening. "Next time we meet, let's have a proper fight when you are both stronger and can handle yourself better. We will allow you to pass through, you should not expect anything to obstruct you on the rest of your journey until you leave these mountains.." 

 

As he starts to leave, I feel myself drop to my knees as a pressure I didn't know was hanging over me is now gone. Rosa rushes towards me to check up on me as I try to figure out what went wrong in the fight.

 

“No, that wasn't a fight, it was a beatdown.” I say to myself.