Two Is Company (The Ancient Magus Bride)

Chapter 3: Apprentice of Three

Akise's P.O.V

'Wait wait wait, what exactly are you people planning on doing with me?" I asked sharply, no one has asked me what I was willing to do.
"Akise, is it?" The tall man asked, and I nodded.
"My name is Elias Ainsworth, I'm a mage. This is my apprentice, Chise Hatori, and her familiar, Ruth." Chise nodded to me with a small smile.
"You're mages? As in magic?"
"Yes, and you are a sleigh beggy, someone with superior magic ability, just like Chise. We will have to speak on the matter more beforehand, but I believe Lindel would like the three of us to train you collectively to become a mage as well."
"So I would learn to use magic?" I asked, I felt excitement grow in my stomach for the first time in so long, but I repressed it.
"Yes, that would be the goal." Lindel replied.
"Akise, there is one thing we should probably mention to you about being a sleigh beggy." Chise spoke up, and Lindel gave her a look.
"I don't think she needs to know about that right now Chise." Lindel said, trying to stop Chise from continuing.
"Better than her finding out from someone else." She looked at Elias.
"Sleigh beggys have powerful souls and strong magic abilities, but our bodies are weak in comparison. You probably get sick a lot, or you can hurt yourself easily, that's why. Your body can't keep up with your magic, so you have to be careful. Sleigh beggys have very short lifespans on average, and the more you use magic without a way to control it, you'll die that much sooner." Chise explained. So I was going to die? That didn't phase me much.
"I'm a sleigh beggy too, and we've found a way to keep me alive for as long as any other mage. I'm sure we can find a way for you too." I nodded, I didn't really care either way. I'd always had fantasies of something like this when I was little, but stopped hoping when I was put on the streets. But I was really here, even if it meant I would die twice as soon, I wanted to do it.
"I would like to learn magic under the three of you, if you'd allow me to." I said, making my decision clear.
"Excellent. You must be wary, Akise. There are many people who would love to get their hands on a sleigh beggy such as yourself. You must always be cautious, and we will do everything we can to protect you." Lindel added.
This really was the best day of my life.

- - - - -

The plan was for me to learn alongside Chise, who would be able to help me figure out what I was doing wrong and still have someone on a student level. I was to assist Elias and Chise on their errands, and stay at their home more often than at the Dragon Aeire, since it was more suitable for people. I would also stay with Lindel for some of the time and learn to care for the dragons, along with song magic, if I showed any talent for it. I did always like singing, so it was possible.
I still wasn't quite sure how I felt about having a home again, or if these people would turn me away if I couldn't keep up. It would likely take me more than a few days to settle into this new idea, but I sincerely hoped it would be worth it in the end. I did have some small sense of trust in Lindel, something about him felt nostalgic and safe, but I wasn't ready to have him covering my back.
I stayed with Lindel for the first few days, both out of convenience and giving me time to settle down. I didn't get much sleep for a while, I was too busy observing Lindel. I was paranoid he would attack me, which was an instinct I picked up on the street. You couldn't trust anyone out there, and I wasn't ready to let that go. Lindel started to catch on, and so he would go out for a patrol when I went to bed so I could get to sleep before he got back, and I wouldn't be worried. I also didn't let the food he cooked out of my sight, and I took careful notice of what ingredients he used. He caught on to that too, and soon started to let me help prepare it so that I would feel more comfortable eating it. The dragons seemed to like me more or less, the little ones always wanted me to play with them, but I rarely went willingly. I was always busy watching Lindel's actions, being reclusive and hiding in the tent. I always felt safer in small spaces with closed in walls so that I could be sure I was alone. I was scared most of the time, because everything was new and I didn't know how to let old habits go. I knew Lindel understood, but the dragon hatchlings didn't. I didn't want to risk laughing or smiling or letting my guard down at any time, but after a few weeks, I started to trust Lindel and the dragons enough wander outside of the tent for a while. I sat under a large tree that he told me was once a dragon named Nevin, and read books about basic magic and fundamentals. They were books Chise had used to start with and gave them to me to read.
Lindel showed me his song magic last night, it was pretty impressive. The entire ground lit up, and the neighbours were everywhere, even elves of the forest came out to dance. They wanted me to join them, I did, but it took a lot of convincing and dragging. The Dragon Aerie is a really nice place, nothing like I've ever seen before. I'm glad I'm here, but I don't know how long this will last.
"Akise." Lindel called as I was sitting under Nevin's tree, reading a book about herbs. I looked up, acknowledging him.
"Come over here for a minute, I need your help with something." I marked the page of my book and stood up, leaving it behind. I walked over to where Lindel stood by the fire he was lighting for dinner. The sun was dipping over the hills as it always did when we were about to prepare dinner. "Could you go find me some more fire wood? It seems we've run out." I nodded, looking at the fire that had been lit. Lindel must not have realized we were so low on wood, there were only a couple of logs not in the fire pit. "Thank you, Akise, try to be as quick as you can so this fire doesn't go out, you know where to get wood."
"Right." I said, turning on one heel and walking in the direction of the woods. It wasn't exactly close, so I jogged out there. By the time I came to the tree line, it had gotten a little difficult to see with the light. I've never been out here by myself this late in the evening, I wonder if it's safe. Probably, I don't think Lindel would send me out here on my own if it wasn't. I thought. I wandered around the forest, searching and picking up sizeable sticks as quickly as I could. I was pretty skinny and weak, so I couldn't hold that many at a time, but firewood turned out to be hard to find. The sticks in the first we're all very small, there weren't a lot of good branches.
Before I could even get half an armful of wood, I heard rustling in the trees behind me. It had gotten too dark to see very far away, so I was trying to hurry and ignore the rustling. That was a mistake. Before I knew it, a giant dog-like creature slowly crawled out from the shadows and into my view. It was growling fiercely, and there was white foam dripping from its mouth. It had hellish red eyes, and it was easily three or four feet taller than me. Despite my fear, I dropped the wood and took out my knife from the sheath on my leg. I drew it on the creature, knowing full well I looked like a pathetic snack to it with a toothpick in my hand. What do I do? I backed up slowly as it advanced a few paces, trying to find some sort of escape. As I glanced around, the monster leapt onto me, pinning me to the ground. The knife flew out of my hand, and I was completely defenceless as it tried to decide what part of me to eat first. I clenched my eyes shut and turned my head away, not able to convince my voice to escape my throat and call for help. I hoped Lindel would find some way to know I'm in danger and help me, but he was fairly far away. The creature roared and spit foam into my face, which made me squeeze my eyes shut even tighter. And suddenly, there was a searing pain in my forearm, like thousands of knives were piercing through it in every direction. I screamed louder than I thought possible, snapping into action and trying to use my other pinned arm to get the creature's teeth off me. I continued to yell once I had found my voice, both in pain and growing desperation. It was only seconds before I felt the dog's fangs being pried off of me by another force.
"Get off of her you beast!" Lindel exclaimed, pulling off with incredible strength and flinging it to the side. I quickly got up into a sitting position and cradled my mangled, bloody arm. Lindel glanced at the damage and cringed for a moment before the dog jumped on his back and forced him down.
"Lindel!" Called, reaching for my knife. I got to my feet and ran to the dog, swinging my weapons up with the functioning arm.
"Akise, stay away!" He ordered, but I was already only a few inches away, and I stabbed the dog in the shoulder before it could sink it's teeth into him. It cried out in pain and swiped at me with one paw. It's claws grazed my stomach in a long slash as it threw me into a tree. I gasped as my back made contact with the tree and I lost my breath. I tried to breath in, but I couldn't get any air. I started to panic when I couldn't breath, until I got one gulp as if it were a hiccup. I wasn't paying much attention to Lindel battling off the dog, but before I knew it, the creature was nowhere to be seen, and Lindel raced over to me.
"Akise, what happened?" He asked, crouching down to me and placing a hand on my shoulder. By that time I had managed to get my breath back.
"I don't know, I didn't provoke it, I was just collecting wood and it came out from the trees and attacked me." I replied, still holding my arm.
"It was starving and desperate for food, it attacked you because there was nothing else. Food has been scarce this year, I should have seen it coming. I'm so sorry I sent you out here. I don't think my healing hands can do much for you, but your arm is barely hanging on. I'll be able to save it, but it will take time to heal." I nodded, and he began to work. I could feel some of the nerves and muscles in my body reattaching themselves, which was painful. He had my arm in saveable condition within a minute, and then picked me up. I protested that I could walk myself, but I was dizzy from losing so much blood, it was obvious he could tell. The scratch on my stomach wasn't too deep, but it was long, and bleeding enough for concern. Before we even got out of the tree line, I had passed out cold.

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Sorry about any extra weird typos, my iPad had auto correct and I'm not used to it, I broke my phone (water damage) so now I'm stuck with this, which may cause updates to be less frequent