15 years and 11 months later.

Marko

Rain. Always this rain.

The young wolf looked grumpily out of the window. His father, alpha of the pack, was hunting with some wolves and Marko's three older brothers. Marko was left behind. 16 years old and at home, like a toddler. House arrest was the reason. House arrest for a few stolen apples!

 Marko saw some soldiers walking through his home village. Witches and wizards on patrol. Their barracks were only an hour away from the village. Every day they wandered through the surrounding villages. They were scary to Marko. Once a wolf had tried to drive her out of the village. They had cut off his air with magic and only let him breathe again when he was about to suffocate. After that, they arrested him.

Marko's gaze wandered to the house opposite. He had spotted someone at a window. No. Not just anyone; Finn. He had seen Finn. The son of the beta wolf. The only child of the beta wolf.

The younger wolf also looked bored out of the window. Their eyes met briefly. Marko looked into two frightened eyes, then Finn was gone. The shy boy rarely left the house and Marko had never seen him in wolf form. He was sickly. Glass bones and a sensitive immune system, Marko's mother had called it. That's probably why he couldn't turn into a wolf. His bones were too weak.

Marko sighed. House arrest, because of a few tiny apples.

"Marko? Are you coming, please?" he heard his mother call. "I need help peeling potatoes."

"I'm coming," he called back. He had no desire to peel potatoes. He would rather chase many through the mountains with his siblings.

Julia

Rain. Always this rain!

Julia was lying on her bed in her half-sister's guest room. Like every summer, she spent a few weeks there.  She heard the healer singing in the kitchen and chopping vegetables. Lea had asked Julia if she wanted to help her, but Julia indulged in the rain frustration. In a month she would be 16 years old. Only one more month, if no magic shows in her during this time, she would remain mortal like Paul, Ingrid, and Peter.

There was a knock at the door. Julia sighed in frustration.

"Are you hungry?" asked Lea as she sat down on the bed next to her sister.

"Not really." Julia's stomach growled treacherously.

Lea grinned. "Are you excited? Or is something bothering you?" Worry mingled with her amused look. "Is it about your birthday? I'm sure Her Majesty has a huge party to throw for you... On my 16th birthday, she exaggerated excessively."

"She didn't celebrate Paul's, Peter's, and Ingried's birthdays... There was cake, but no big party," Julia murmured.

"The three are mortals. They have been given titles of nobility, but they will never be part of our community."

"And if I am mortal? You got your magic at 14, Fritz at 12, and Cleo at 13."

"That's what you're worried about? You still have time. A whole month. Maybe you'll become a healer, like me? Then you go to the academy for three years, like all young witches and wizards, make new friends and then you can work in a hospital, or support Fritz? He is in charge of all hospitals... Or you help me with the finances of the hospitals?"

"Math? No thanks," Julia laughed softly, "The later magic appears, the lower the gift. I'm not going to be a big witch... Or I remain mortal."

"Or you become a very strong witch." Lea threw one of the pillows at her younger sister. "The magic of the strongest witches and wizards shows up very late, and unlike the low, normal, or highly gifted, the magic can still grow after the age of 16 and only stops between the ages of 25 and 30, just when the person stops aging."

"Neither my father nor mother nor any of my teachers ever mentioned that...", Julia pouted and pressed the pillow to her. " Only that there are very strong witches and wizards. But totally rare. And more rarely, witches and wizards who show all three kinds of magic."

"Didn't they? Maybe because it's so rare. But we'll see! You still have a month to become a witch!"

"Maybe I want to remain mortal?" Would Mom be disappointed?

"Mortal? Are you sure? That's what it's all about, so really?"

"As a mortal, I can do whatever I want. Paul and Ingrid have left all this behind, married other mortals, commoners... Paul is a baker.  Ingried is a lawyer."

"And they broke off contact with Mother, threw away their titles of nobility... Do they still write you letters?"

"Every now and then, yes... If I'm mortal, I can become a baker, like Paul. I can work in his bakery," Julia whispered, looking wide-eyed at her older sister. "I don't want to go to the academy. I don't want to be a princess, I don't want to be a witch. I don't want to take responsibility for the country. I want to be free."

Leah sighed. "In two days we will go to the castle. Mother will surely miss you. And the rest will fall into place. I hope my little sister is a healer. Then we can both work together. Manipulative magic, 'combat magic' like Cleo has, doesn't suit you."

Julia grinned. "I definitely don't want to become a soldier."

Lea threw the pillow at her sister again: "Not everyone will be soldiers!"

Finn

Rain. It's always raining. Always this rain. I would like sunshine. May I make a wish? Does the rain fulfill wishes? Finn pulled the duvet over his head.  Dear rain, I wish for a different life.

Leopold

Slavery. Leopold hated nothing more than slavery. The nobles, the rulers, called it servants, but he knew what it really was: SLAVERY!

Frustrated, he tore at some wild herbs that he collected for his mother in the forest. He angrily threw the unpleasantly torn herbs into a basket of dark willow. The rulers called it a great honor to work in the palace, but those who ended up there never returned home. Were these servants paid? No, definitely not. Were they able to quit? No. They were servants and slaves.

Today would be his uncle's birthday, but his uncle worked in some nobleman's house. Leopold picked up the basket and hurried along the narrow forest path, dark clouds he could see through the treetops. Rain. Always this rain.  He could do without wet wings.

A few people came to meet him. Happy fools. They did not suffer under the rule of witches. They were free citizens. Some even had titles of nobility. Happy fools.  Whoever can marry a witch, who can have witch children with her, is free. Children between witches and elves, or even werewolves, were not possible... Surely this was the reason, they were still enslaved. Witches loved power!

Marie

Drops of water rolled over Marie's right hand in pretty patterns. She smiled contentedly. In less than a month, her first year at the Academy would finally begin, like all witches and wizards between the ages of 15 and 16.

Finally gone. Finally alone among witches and wizards.

 She was the only witch in her class and she was tired of being among mortals.

Marie looked out the window. Outside, her servant Theo played with his four-year-old sister while his father hung up laundry. Marie smiled. The academy allowed servants to be brought. Would Theo like it there?

Not all witches and wizards had servants. Especially if they did not come from noble families. Marie was very lucky that her parents were successful merchants and could afford servants.

Theo's parents had brought her into their household 16 years ago, and Theo was now Marie's servant. His little sister might one day stand by Marie's one-year-old little sister. Yes, Marie was happy.

She couldn't wait to start at the academy. Would she make many new friends? What would it be like to live in a boarding school? Were the teachers strict? Did the students play pranks on each other? And what would the lessons be like?

At the academy there were three different subjects in magic, depending on the talent of the students: healing magic, manipulative magic also called combat magic, and visionary magic. In addition, there were subjects such as politics, science, sports, fencing and sword fighting, archery, medicine, horseback riding, economics, mathematics, philosophy, and literature.

She saw grey clouds gathering on the horizon. Rain clouds? Rain won't spoil my mood. And in less than a month I'll be gone from here! Three exciting years. Freedom!