The rest of summer went by quickly, everyone busy with building the food stores for winter, preparing vegetables and meat for cold storage or for salting and fermentation. A’nallia stayed occupied since there were many little things to do - things even she couldn’t mess up. And as always, she spent her nights with the master, and practiced her magic little by little.

It was slow at first. She didn’t have the urgency caused by a malicious prank or a bleeding arm, and she was tired from long days of work. Instead, she focused on her senses, separating living things by their spirit and distinguishing between life and magical energies.

She insisted that the others not know of her increasing magic, worried it would change the relationships she had built between them. She didn’t want to be viewed any differently than the shy, quiet, and mostly obedient girl she was. Her master complied, not sure why it mattered but respectful of her wishes. So she practiced only at night in his bed chambers, carrying little potted plants in with his tea or hanging out his window to the bushes below.

“Come to bed,” he mumbled sleepily, rolling onto his stomach under the single sheet.

A’nallia ran her fingers one last time through the thin branches of leaves, letting the warmth radiate into her hand, then straightened herself onto the windowsill.

“Window open or closed?”

“Open.” His response was even softer than before and she knew he would be out within seconds. She slid off the sill and crawled carefully into bed, not wanting to wake him.

She frequently stayed awake longer than her master, resting a hand on his back or chest to slowly channel warm life from her body to his. No matter how much stronger she became, she could not prevent some hair from turning white, but she felt the draining effects less and less.

His back was already warm to the touch, a light layer of sweat forming from the humid summer heat. She closed her eyes and searched for his spirit, the thing that gave him life, and for the magic that swirled among it. The two intertwined, one feeding off of the other. With magical creatures like demons and witches, she could sense this spirit without touch now, but her range was limited.

At this rate, someday I will be able to sense all life energy without any contact.

It would be a useful talent to have, of course, but it would also mean that she would never truly be alone again. Until now, her greatest fear was loneliness. To have nothing and no one in her life. But to never be alone, to always be surrounded by the spirits of plants and animals and people? That was an equally frightening thought.

Her master twitched, something happening in his dream to make him jump, and A’nallia smiled. She couldn’t help remembering the stray dogs she knew as a small child, running and growling in their sleep, chasing prey or perhaps playing with other dogs.

Is he also dreaming of chasing prey? Do wolf demons miss their wolf form? Miss giving in to their animal instincts?

A’nallia gradually fell asleep to visions of grey wolves, racing through the forest, playfully tackling and wrestling each other.