Cipher001's The Highblood Strain (Original Fiction)

The Highblood Strain: Chapter One

Lisanna the Frey hovered over the edge of the smooth wooden staircase that connected her bedroom floor to the kitchen downstairs. Her eyes were screwed tightly shut as she concentrated on the labored breathing coming from beyond her parents' door a few feet to her right. She had just picked the bolt barring her from straying too far beyond her own room and was not eager to find out what they thought of her newfound lock-picking skills.

Through the two windows at either end of the hallway, the dim light of early morning lit up the faded white walls that adjoined their two rooms. They were chipped in places and bore the marks of many colorful scribbles made during Lisanna's earlier years, when she had discovered the wonderful shapes and letters that could be made with colored pencils.

Though her father had done his best to erase most of Lisanna's artistic scrawls, if she strained hard enough, she could still make out a rainbow smudge that once depicted a colorful battle between a dragon and her mother. Both of them had been breathing fire.

She put a gentle foot on the first of the floorboards, hoping that her father had not replaced one of them recently. Lisanna had already memorized which steps held the danger of letting loose the telltale scgg-rack! of strained wood, and new planks of wood meant another series of trial-and-error and the memorizing of which places were safe to cross.

Lisanna froze as the loud snorf of her mother's snoring could be heard above the rustling of covers. She held her breath, leaning stock-still against the long handrail that ran down the side of the wall and stopped just short of the kitchen.

She seized a fervent hope that the still night air would not soon be filled with her mother's nagging. It would not be the first time she would have been caught, after all; her mother had an almost-supernatural instinct for when she was about to get into trouble. But after the short, terrifying groan of weight being shifted over the bedframe in the room beyond, the atmosphere settled back into a conspiratory tranquility once more.

The thick iron padlock separating Isha the Siv's seven-year-old daughter from the outside world had been a recent innovation, some last-ditch attempt at reining Lisanna and her all-too adventurous impulses in. As hard as she and her husband tried, nothing had managed to quell the incessant urge to wander that had strummed a rebellious chord in their vivacious daughter.

Not even when she came home one evening with a waggling and equally excitable mass of fur did Lisanna's compulsion to rove dissolve itself; Lisanna and her new dog seemed to share an infinite reservoir of nervous energy as they tore down the hallways, screaming or barking after one another. Though Lisanna loved Roofus and her parents very dearly, only the inexplicable allure of adventure could satisfy her craving.

It had been some time after night had fallen over the sleepy village named Ruumor in the Tassel, but Lisanna did not want to wait for the approach of day to conclude its routine heist of the midnight stars. She wanted to go outside, where she could race through tall waves of wheat and feel the gentle prick of their spindly hair or the slick dew of morning as she tore through it all.

The foot of the steps bore the sight of the kitchen, whose dark-gray cabinets and sleek metal sink appeared scarier than Lisanna remembered in the gloom of early morning. A mottled apple, bruised the color brown, lay on the side of a blue cutting board, and Lisanna hoped that it would not become her breakfast come her return. Lisanna had already come up with a plan in order to escape the inevitable scolding and added chores that followed her being discovered missing.

Over the past few nights, she had been watching the sky outside, gauging how long it took for dawn to bleed color back into the heavens, where the tenebrous sky would be replaced by soft, creamy clouds that drifted past two bright orange stars over a backdrop of baby-blue. She estimated that she still had half an hour's time left to be the solitary master of her morning's activities before surrendering to her parents' whims.

There was a thump coming from the gray cabinet to the corner on her far left, where it lay flattened against the side of the wall that led to the den. It was soon followed by several more of the whump-whump motions of a furry brown tail smacking the side of the cabinet, where the plates inside rattled with each smack of Roofus' tail.

"Hush, Roofus," Lisanna said in what she thought was a muffled tone. "You'll wake Mom and Pop up." She took three short strides across the glossy surface of the kitchen's tile floor, past the large, humming block that kept their food cool, and to where Roofus was stirring. Roofus stood to be at about Lisanna's elbow, with broad shoulders and a wide muzzle that opened up in a happy grin when Lisanna gave it a rub.

Lisanna could see the muscles in her dog's body tense just before it leapt at her and Lisanna had to duck into the opening that led to the den in order to escape being pinned to the floor and being subject to many slobbery kisses.

The den was a simple room, with two couches and a table that held an old family hand-me-down, a board g        ame with many small, bronze figurines that waved at Lisanna as she entered the room. The side of the game depicted a word that Lisanna didn't recognize - Regicide - and her parents wouldn't tell her what it meant.

Next to the board game was a glass ball the size of a grapefruit held on a clawed podium that kept it in place. Lisanna knew that it would glow a pale peach color if she held it and if she turned it a certain way, it would reflect a collection of important memories, like her parents' commitment vows or Lisanna's first words, each captured and stored forever inside by Aggian magic.

The steady click-clack of claws over tile and a long, low pitched whine reminded Lisanna of her current dilemma; there was a groaning sound of some heavy weight moving about upstairs and the sound of a door opening. Roofus let out a loud bark and Lisanna eyed the door that led outside and the hallway that concealed the stairway that led back upstairs.

She took a quick moment to weigh her options. On one hand, she was already up. The door, and by extension, freedom, was tantalizingly close, but her mother was already awake by now and sure to discover the open padlock with a bobby pin run through it, and she doubted she could convince her mother      that wanting to play with Roofus had been its inspiration.

She could make out Roofus leaping against the frame of the door, scratching it with a frantic swipe of his paws. He looked at her expectantly and she gave him a conspiratory nod; she had made up her mind.

The moment Lisanna heard the high-pitched bellow of her mother's shouting "LISANNA THE FREY, YOU GET BACK IN BED RIGHT THIS INSTANT," she let out a yelp and dashed down the small corridor beyond the kitchen that led to the door, twisting its knob to the side and thrusting it open.

She and Roofus wasted no time in running outside, where it was already half-light and the creatures of their farm had begun rousing themselves. A spindly wood spirit had stepped out from a tall strand of wheat and Roofus tore after it with a howl.

Lisanna's farm was, as far as she knew, the biggest place in all of Ishvar. She felt like she could run through the sea of grains that towered over the long fields that stretched on, row after row, forever. Once, she had devoted an entire day to doing just that, but her father caught her before she could get very far.

Three unpainted sheds were placed a little ways to the right of the fields and the white-and-blue house that Lisanna's family called home. She knew by now that the smallest shed was home to several species of fowl, where their ill-tempered rooster lorded over the more docile birds of the coop.

It was Lisanna's least favorite creature on the farm, whose aggravated pecks could be expected every time she went to clean out the ducks' water bowls.

The larger sheds' occupants she could recognize by the stink alone. While she enjoyed her pigs' company, shoveling their manure with her mother and father was a hot and unbearably odorous exercise. It also happened to be the chore that most often coincided with her frequent excursions, far away from their watchful gaze.

Roofus had already vanished inside the solid wall of grass that separated their territory from the slight slope of a hill that led into a surrounding forest, whose massive trees cast long shadows that even Lisanna dared not pass through on most occasions.

She had been expressly forbidden to do as such on a day not unlike today, where the amber light trickled down from the sky and colored her skin a gentle pink, and the sounds of her dog chasing after wood spirits or the distant clamor of her parents' voices could be heard.

But today was a day for rule-breaking, and Lisanna was not going to let such an opportunity pass her by. She had read that spirits did not actually like to eat misbehaving little girls, as her mother had once told her after the first time she braved the dark entrance to the forest, and that sometimes fickle spirits made of light would come out to play with you if you stayed long enough.

Lisanna waded through the grass, pushing aside clumps of the many slender stalks that composed the wheat field. She knew that if she made too much motion, her parents would see the places where grass trembled and catch her, but she hoped that the head start she gave herself had been enough to propel herself deeply enough through the field where they might not notice any shaking patches.

There was a sound nearby from where Lisanna had watched Roofus chase after the wood spirit. She recalled seeing its long, spindly legs had almost been overcome by Roofus' squat, but fast limbs before it sunk into the ground, like the spirits always did in the moment just before Roofus could catch up to them.

Lisanna grasped several thick strands in front of her and made a space through which she could peep a probing eye through the grass. She hoped to catch sight of another wood spirit before it, too, sank back into the earth.

But it was her father she saw through the knot she wove in the grass, not one of the many spirits that roamed the farm. He held Lisanna's favorite stuffed bear to Roofus' nose. Lisanna waggled a disapproving finger in her traitorous dog's direction before she cut a path through the field in the direction of the chicken coop.

Even though the smell wasn't nearly as strong as the pigpen's was, she hoped that it would hide her scent well enough from Roofus' sleuthful nose. By the time the grass around her grew thin and more sparsely spread apart, she was already moving her eyes back and forth, looking for any sign of her mother.

Lisanna knew that, while her father liked to call for her and would sometimes enlist Roofus' help in finding her, her mother was much trickier and would sometimes hide in waiting where she might expect Lisanna to turn up before springing out and holding her arm in a tight grip.

Luckily for Lisanna, her mother was not there, waiting for her when she slid the coop's mesh-wire door open and stepped inside. Four rows of boxes, each held together with a similar mesh coating, separated the birds from each other. The first row Lisanna tread down held a cluster of fat, white ducks and one of the cages held a brood of yellow fuzz that let out a soft cheep-cheep as Lisanna passed it by.

There was a hole in the farmost box in the aisle and Lisanna felt herself go on the lookout for the flash of bright green feathers that so often followed a surprise attack at the hands of a foul-mannered rooster she named Ben the Bad. She made a furtive glance in the direction of the hens, but she could not make out the fleshy red crown that she would recognize the truant bird by.

There was a loud squawk before a loud clang split through the otherwise placid chatter of birds, followed by a large, clear puddle spreading out toward Lisanna's feet. When she stepped back to avoid it, the puddle kept moving, as though directed by some intelligent design.

A water spirit must have gotten into the coop, Lisanna thought. I bet Ben has something to do with why it's upset. Sure enough, there was jilted strut of the cantankerous bird as it dashed toward the amorphous blob of water, which had begun to take shape above the small pool at Lisanna's feet.

"No!" Lisanna shouted. She stood between Ben and the spirit and grabbed a nearby bag of grain from atop a divet between two cages, wielding it menacingly. Kernels of some sort of seed spilled out of the open end, but Lisanna paid it no mind, too intent on breaking up the fight happening right in front of her.

"Don't you know we're supposed to share the farm?" Lisanna asked the rooster, which appeared to be having a difficult time deciding between chasing after the retreating trail of moisture or the young girl who swung a bag half-full of Kenny's Bargain Seed in front of it.

The threat of being pelted with a sack of its own food was apparently enough to dissuade any further conflict. Ben gave Lisanna a look of what she interpreted to be deepest loathing before it decided that it would much rather rip another hole into the side of the nearest henhouse than deal with her.

The spirit which with Ben had quarreled with was gone. A faint trail of water led outside and when Lisanna bent down, it was warm to the touch. Lisanna shook her head; even Ben should know better than to get a spirit angry.

She hoped that the coop would not later bear the spirit's retribution. While most nature spirits let go of such disputes freely, the water spirits of Ruumor in the Tassel were known to hold grudges.

Whatever the outcome, Lisanna decided that it was no longer her problem. She had done her good deed of the day and no longer felt even that small pang of unease when she disobeyed a direct order from her parents and felt as though her father should have given up searching by now and returned home with Roofus in tow.

Her mother was the one she was more concerned about. Lisanna stood on tiptoe to get a better look out through the mesh of the door, but found no trace of her mother's long, brown hair. The other villagers of Ruumor in the Tassel liked to tell Lisanna that she mostly took after her mother, but that she had her father's hazel eyes.

When no trace of her mother or her father could be found, she took a tentative step outside that turned into a jittery race for the thick swath of trees that lay beyond the chicken coup and the fields. She did not know if she could refuse her parents if they caught her and she still felt the need to make the most of her day.

Lisanna allowed her legs to slow down as she approached the first gnarled mass of roots and bark and stopped just beyond the first line of trees that marked the entrance to the forest. She held out a hand against the rough grooves of a nearby trunk, her ragged breath slowing into a more comfortable pace as she allowed herself to rest.

Lisanna took a moment to look deeper into the forest. The many branches above created a sort of veil from which the light above could only pierce in parts, and she could almost make out the harsh wail of child-eating wood spirits. Maybe, she thought, this was a bad idea after all. Perhaps her mother and father had been right this time and she had gone too far.

If she went back willingly, her punishment would be much less severe than if she were caught and forced back inside. Her mother would act very angry for a little while, but then she would calm down and ask if she was hurt, or if she wanted something to eat.

Her stomach grumbled and even the thought of the apple on the kitchen counter made her want to go back, where her mother would have something cooking on the stove and be talking with her father about some weird adult thing, like the funnily-named people who lived in the compound at the heart of town, crop parasites, or taxes.

After a little while, they would all sit down together and eat. Lisanna would get to ask them what story she would like read to her that night.

But, Lisanna thought, that would mean having to do everything they say. No more exploring. No more running or hiding or looking for light-spirits.

No more of what Lisanna liked best about life on her small farm, where only apple pie or the occasional visit from the compound-people, who liked to use big words like "The Machine Orthodoxy," made life exciting.

And sometimes the compound-people would tell her mother and father that they couldn't grow something and they would be angry. Lisanna wasn't allowed outside at all those days, when her mother and father talked in hushed voices with their neighbors outside.

No, Lisanna thought determinedly, she was seeing this through - even if there were child-eating spirits in the forest. She forced her feet forward, hoping that the chiir-up! of the trees came from a redbird's mating calls, and not from some hungry, fantastical horror that might be imitating it.

As Lisanna's feet took her deeper and deeper into the forest, she had to walk around a large knot of conjoined trees. A squirrel fixed her with beady eyes, and she grew increasingly paranoid. Didn't her mother tell her once that she could shapeshift?

She would tell Lisanna that she had eyes in the back of her head, despite Lisanna's never having been able to make them out through her hair. They were definitely there though, Lisanna knew. How else was she always able to tell when she was reaching down the cookie jar, despite her mother's back being turned to her?

The possibility of shapeshifting was not too far out of the question. Her mother could have been talking about the red-skinned, horned people that lived outside Ruumor in the Tassel, Lisanna reasoned, however.

She was pretty sure her mother did not have horns or red skin, even if she did have a pair of eyes just for catching her doing things she wasn't supposed to be doing. There was the crackling sound of someone walking over sticks and Lisanna let out a gasp.

Maybe that squirrel really was her mother, and she had no use for being a squirrel anymore, so she was coming to force her back to their house, where she would be grounded for forever. Lisanna had never disobeyed her parents for this long before and dreaded the harsh scolding that she was no doubt about to receive.

But what came out of the bushes, trampling wildflowers underneath a golden foot, was not her mother, nor a squirrel, nor anything she expected to be living in a forest at all.

It was a metal man, with shiny, bronze plating for skin. It stood just short of her father's height. Where a face would ordinarily be, there was a visor and two glass protrusions not unlike her mother's glasses.

The metal man's eyes - for surely that was what they were - appeared much thicker and larger than any glasses Lisanna had ever seen before, however. The visor had three small slits in it that would glow red for a second as it looked right past her. Lisanna was reminded faintly of the waving pieces of her Regicide board game.

"Hello?" Lisanna was not sure what to make of the strange, metal man. If this was her mother, why had she bothered with taking so much trouble to appear different when she was there, within arm's reach?

The metal man appeared not to have heard her, even when she asked it why it wasn't wearing any clothes. Even poking it with a stick only served to aggravate it enough for it to reach for the stick, pluck it from Lisanna's tender hands, and snap it into a number of small pieces.

Lisanna watched the pieces fall to the ground with wide eyes. She was almost positive that this thing was not her mother. Her mother would not ignore her like that or take something out of her hands, only to crush it into splinterwood.

"That wasn't very nice," Lisanna said. Now she was upset with it. Just because she was small, that didn't mean she should be ignored. "Who are you? What are you doing on my farm? Do you know my Mom and Pop?"

Another crackling of sticks startled Lisanna, and a woman with silvery hair stepped into sight. She appeared to be a little older than her mother and wore a black coat. She appeared to be as surprised to see Lisanna as she did her.

"Hello there," the woman said. "Are you lost?"

"No, ma'am," Lisanna said. "I was hiding from my parents. Is that your metal man?" she said, pointing. "I don't think it likes me very much."

The woman's eyebrows shot up above her hairline. "You've never seen an automaton before? It wasn't ignoring you, if that's what you're thinking. It can't talk."

"What's an auto-mitten?" Lisanna said. "I've never seen a person made of metal before."

"It's not a person," the woman said. The thought seemed to amuse her and the corners of her mouth folded into a smile. "It's my helper. What's a little girl doing all the way out here?" she asked. "I'm sure your parents must be terribly worried about you."

"I was exploring," Lisanna said. "My parents don't like it when I do that. If I go back, then they'll be mad at me. I won't be able to go outside again."

"I imagine it's only because they care about you," the woman said. "I would be out of my mind with worry if I lost my daughter to the woods."

"I don't want them to worry," Lisanna said. "But their rules don't make any sense. What's the point of staying in bed if I'm already up? I want to go outside and play."

The woman regarded Lisanna with warm, patient eyes as her automaton propped up a large log for her to sit on. She tested the makeshift seat before making space for Lisanna to join her. "Sit," she said.

The way the woman looked at her reminded Lisanna of the nights when she and her mother would carve holes into hardened fruit shells and hang them out for light-spirits to play in. Lisanna would make a jagged, goofy grin with hers and her mother would take her hands and trace over the design when she asked how her mother did hers.

It made Lisanna feel a little less worried about how upset her parents would be with her upon her return. Lisanna did as she was told and swung her legs over the side of the log bench, looking up at the strange woman with warm eyes and silvery hair and a metal man that did chores for her.

"When I was a little older than you are now," she said, "I would often ask questions like that, too. I couldn't understand why things were done the way they were and no one was willing to answer any of my questions. But when I grew older, I grew out of it. I learned that the only way we can get along is if we all follow the rules. We all must play our part."

"That's dumb," Lisanna said, then put her fist in front of her mouth for having swore. She was glad that her parents were not around to have heard her. "Sorry," she said.

"There's no need to apologize, young miss... Tell me," the woman said. "What is your name?"

"My name's Lisanna the Frey!" Lisanna said. "What's yours?" She watched the woman's automaton from behind it, practicing her words. She could just spell out the words 'mana' and 'project' and 'inhibition' inscribed into its bronze-gold plating before the woman spoke in turn.

"You may call me Lady Xeera," she said. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lisanna the Frey. What do you say we head back to your parents before it gets to be too late?"

"Not yet," Lisanna said. "I don't want them to be mad at me. And where's the rest of your name? Are you Lady the Xeera?"

Lady Xeera let out a chuckle. "No, Lisanna the Frey," she said. "Unlike the Alatarn people, I was born with my full name. I didn't earn it, like you did with 'the Frey.'"

"Oh," Lisanna said. "That's really odd. I didn't know people could have their full name right away."

"We do in Argea," Lady Xeera said. "It's where I was born, on the seventh floor. But I'm not a part of the Argean Empire," she added quickly. "I'm from the Ten Families. You don't have to worry about my invading or anything of the sort."

"So do I call you Lady or Xeera?" Lisanna said. "I know I'm a young lady, but I don't know what that means."

"That's not really my name," Lady Xeera admitted. "It's a title. It means that I'm important, just like you are very important to your parents."

"Oh," Lisanna said. She felt sad as the thought of her mother and father, frantically combing through waves of grass or checking empty storehouses, came to mind. "I never knew that."

"Ignorance is not necessarily a vice," Lady Xeera said, "so long as you are prepared to learn and grow when the opportunity presents itself, like with this little misadventure of yours. Please do remember that your parents are only doing what's best for you, Lisanna the Frey."

"But good things can come out of breaking the rules, too!" Lisanna said. "If I hadn't, then I would never have seen a metal man before. And I wouldn't have met you," she said.

Lady Xeera gave her another warm look as she said so. "I'm happy to have met you as well," she said. "Why don't you introduce me to your parents, so that I might come over sometime? I can bring another automaton if you would like."

"No..." Lisanna said. She dug her feet in the ground as she wrestled with the conflicting desire to see her parents and the fear of being chastised by them. "If I go back, then they might say that I can't have lunch or they won't read me a story at bedtime." She traced the same short arc in the dirt that she had been digging. "We're just getting to the good part."

"What if I tell you a story instead?" Lady Xeera asked. "That way, you get a story no matter what."

"You know stories?" Lisanna asked. "Did you bring a book with you?"

"I don't need one," Lady Xeera said. "I can recite a tale from Ishvar's history, if you'd like."

"Does it have sparkly stuff or princess-knights or dragons in it?" Lisanna asked. "My Mom's story had a princess-knight that saved another princess from a great, big dragon. I think they were going to unite their kingdoms or something, but we haven't finished it yet."

"There have been a few princess-knights," Lady Xeera said carefully. "But not many dragons, I'm afraid. It does have magic," she added. "But I don't suppose you want to hear about that."

"No!" Lisanna said. "I want to hear the story. Mom and Pop can't do magic stuff. I want to know more."

"Very well," Lady Xeera said. "I shall tell you about the beginnings of this tower we call Ishvar, and how it was created." Lisanna sat patiently as Lady Xeera began her story:

"A long time ago, the world had begun to break apart. There had been many wars and the people had used too much magic for it to handle. Plants would not grow and the earth was split where magicians would exercise their magics upon rival kingdoms and their armies. The land was failing.

"Ten mages, led by a sage named Amata, sought an end to the bitter feuding that led to the Mist Wars, and united their people under the banner of peace. Their reputation for great wisdom and power brought them all together, in the very last place where life yet still grew.

"Their names were Xeron, Oracia and Cress. Spirit, Lehk, and Aggia. Rin Veil, Kaita, Isseria. And of course, the sage, Amata."

"Wait," Lisanna said. "Why are they important again? I think I missed something."

"They founded our world," Lady Xeera said. "Don't you want to hear how?"

"Okay," Lisanna said. "I won't interrupt you again. Sorry."

"Thank you," Lady Xeera said, and cleared her throat. "The ten most gifted mages of their time gathered their people and sung the seed of their dying world from the bud of a single lotus flower. Amata took the seed and planted it, where it grew and grew and grew until it was as tall and wide as their old world had ever been.

"They named the tree Yggdrasil and built their new home around it. The ten founders wove their magics and constructed a great tower that would protect and shelter the tree and named the tower Ishvar. At the base of the great tree, the ten made a pact to never again let the world fall to greed or envy. Yggdrasil was a magical tree, you see," Lady Xeera said, "and exuded magic as freely as a fire exudes warmth.

"The people had no need to fight over mana anymore. But the threat of war lingered, and the ten founders and their children agreed to govern the people of Ishvar kindly, to never again allow what had happened to their first world to take place.

"Their children's children and all those that came after agreed to serve as the people of Ishvar's guidance, until the Ten Families as we know them today came to be." Lady Xeera gave a small cough and Lisanna knew that she had finished.

"I like your story," Lisanna said. "But I think it would be better if you demonstrated it like my Pop does." She made a slicing motion with her hand, as her father had done last night, when the dragon had been felled by the mighty swing of the heroine's blade. "But you make it sound a lot more interesting than the dusty old books in the attic do. Who made it?"

"That's the beauty of history," Lady Xeera said. "We all make it together, some way or another. I am a Xeroxian - that is to say, my ancestors are descended from Xeroxis. They would have us all understand our place in the world, so that we might be happy. It is my hope that we learn from our mistakes." She gave Lisanna a pointed look.

"I know," Lisanna said as her belly rumbled and she envisioned a warm meal waiting for her. "We can go back now." She took Lady Xeera's offered hand and pointed in the direction of her farm. As they made their way back, Lisanna asked her if she had any children.

"I get lonely sometimes," Lisanna said. "There aren't many other children my age and most of them don't like doing the stuff that I like to do. I wish I had somebody to play with besides Roofus. He's my dog," she explained.

"Well I don't have a family in the traditional sense," Lady Xeera said, "but I am a part of Xeroxis' family. But that's rather different than what you're talking about, I find."

"You don't have a family?" Lisanna had a hard time imagining what life would be like without her parents or Roofus around. She didn't know what she would do if she couldn't wrestle with her father or listen to her mother as she read her stories before bedtime.

"I know!" Lisanna said as a thought struck her. "You can be my Aunty Xeera. I don't have an Aunty," she explained. "That way, I get to have an Aunty and you get to have a family!"

Lady Xeera was quiet for a moment before saying, "That would be lovely. I would be honored to be your Aunty, Lisanna the Frey."

"It's just 'Lisanna' now," Lisanna said. "You don't have to use my second name now that we're family and stuff."

"Well, 'just Lisanna,'" Lady Xeera said as dappled patterns of light cascaded from the thinning foliage above and the exit of the forest came into view, "it looks as though your parents are waiting for you."

Sure enough, Lisanna's parents were running toward the forest. Her father let out a cry of relief and her mother kept marching up the hill with a stormy expression stuck on her face. They stopped just short of Lady Xeera, where her mother took in the sight of Lady Xeera's black coat and short, silvery hair. Lisanna had the impression that they knew who she was already.

"Hi Mom," Lisanna said nervously. "Hi Pop. This is my new friend. She's a Zee-ro-sand."

"Lady Xeera," her father said. "I'm so sorry to have bothered you. Our daughter, she-"

"It's quite alright," Lady Xeera said, before he could finish. "Lisanna is a wonderful girl. You should be proud to have her as your daughter, Baltor the Vane."

"Yes," her father said, "of course. How did you find her?"

"I happened across her while I was taking a stroll through the woods," Lady Xeera said. "She is unharmed. A little hungry, I think, but nothing that can't be easily fixed."

"Oh Lisanna," her mother said. "What did I tell you about going into the forest?" She licked a pointed finger and started dabbing at the flecks of dirt on Lisanna's face.

"Ooph - Mom - stop," Lisanna said. "Not in front of Aunty Xeera."

"Aunty Xeera?" Her father gave Lady Xeera an uncertain glance. "Lisanna, you can't simply go around adopting strangers."

"No, it's alright," Lady Xeera said. She gave the small family a crisp nod. "I agreed to it. Now why don't we make ourselves more comfortable down by that lovely house of yours? I daresay that would be more pleasant than out underneath the sunlight."

"Yes, of course," Lisanna's mother said. "Come along Lisanna. And don't try to escape." She seized Lisanna's hand and locked it in place, even though Lisanna had no intention of escaping this time. The four of them traveled down the slight rise that separated the forest from the fields, past the chicken coop, and stopped at the house, where Lady Xeera ordered her automaton still.

Lisanna was allowed a slight bit of freedom when Roofus came bounding over and was given orders to follow Lisanna around. The adults talked amongst themselves, discussing something that had to do with her, but she didn't quite know what it was. She took the opportunity to look around while they were still distracted.

There was a trail of damp ground that lead from the fields. The sight struck her as odd, for it had not rained for several days now. Lisanna followed the trail as far as it would go, careful to stay well within view of her mother, who she knew would come chasing after her the moment she left her sight.

The ground at Lisanna's feet was slick, despite it having not rained in several days. When she placed her palms against the damp ground, the water steamed at her touch and she yanked her hands back at the sudden flash of pain. Soon, Roofus was barking and the water rose to be above Lisanna's height.

Lisanna opened her mouth to shout for her parents, but before she could react, Lady Xeera's automaton stood in front of her. Lady Xeera strode forth with a fiery expression and her hands glowed a ghostly white before her automaton pushed against the volatile spirit, which wobbled and then collapsed to the ground. It burst like a balloon, showering the area in boiling rain.

"Ow," Lisanna said. Despite Lady Xeera's automaton having taken the brunt of the blow, her right arm had been caught in the violent spirit's spray.

"Are you alright?" her mother ran her gaze down Lisanna's arm, which now bore splotchy red marks. "Baltor," she said, "grab an ice pack from the freezer."

"Of course," her father said. He took off toward the door, which he flung open. A moment later, he was inside, where the distant thunder of his footsteps could be heard as they stomped over wood and tile.

"A water spirit?" Lady Xeera said, once the immediate danger had died down. "What was a water spirit doing all the way down here?"

Lisanna's father had already returned before anyone could answer her, pressing the cold patch to Lisanna's skin. It was unbearably cold at first, but after a moment, the redness of her skin seemed to die down a little. Lisanna pressed the pack deeper into her skin, eager for the relief that the frosty numbness would bring.

"I've never seen a spirit come out this far before," her mother said worriedly. "They always stop at the fields. Is there something we should know about?" she asked Lady Xeera, who appeared thunderstruck.

"No," she said after a long moment. "If there is, I will let you know." The question seemed to bother her, and she was soon examining her automaton for reasons that Lisanna could not quite fathom.

"It's not your fault, Aunty," Lisanna said. "Our rooster got into a fight with it earlier. I think it wanted revenge."

"Lisanna," her mother said exasperatedly. "When something like that happens, you let us know, okay?"

"Yes, Mom." Lisanna's eyes faced south and she had the dignity to look ashamed. "I'll let you know next time. I promise."

"Good," her mother said. "Now come inside, dear. You must be starving." She gave Lady Xeera a furtive glance.

"Is it alright if I come by?" Lady Xeera asked Lisanna. "Your parents and I have been talking. I don't think it right that a girl like you should be so restrained, and your parents are of the same mind. If you promise not to run away again, I will help exercise that free spirit of yours."

"On the farm," her mother added quickly. "Close by the house."

"Yes, of course." Lady Xeera nodded. "How does that sound?"

Lisanna's heart swelled up at the notion of parent-sanctioned adventures. She loved the idea of going out with her Aunty Xeera, far away from the too-familiar walls of her house or from the filthy muck of the pigpens. "Yes!" she said happily. "Thank you, Aunty Xeera!"

"You're welcome," Lady Xeera said. She stooped down to squeeze Lisanna by the back. "How does this weekend sound?"

Lisanna watched as her parents finalized the details of her extended freedoms, patting Roofus' broad muzzle as the two of them basked in the warm sunlight. This had been the best adventure Lisanna had yet, she realized, and she wondered what else lay beyond her quiet little village named Ruumor in the Tassel.

She let her mind roam and dreamed of fighting shapeshifting pirates along an army of gleaming bronze automatons, the chaotic froth of the ocean spray that her books so vividly described, and all the rest that her world had for her to discover. There were even greater adventures to be had.