<h4>Chapter 15:</h4>


    Sigh, why did I still have my hopes up? Didn''t I learn it the first time? How could amit the same mistake twice!


    That mother... is not fit to be a teacher!


    I was exhrating after discovering that she knows how to read a little, even if she does not practice a lot, mostly just recognizing shop names on the boards, but still, to be this bad at teaching... she should earn a prize for that, is not an easy feat.


    "I told you, the snaky letter says like Sssss, like in ssssnake."


    "Please mother, give up, it won''t work." I sigh, resting my head at the edge of the nest as she tries to exin things to me.


    Now what to do? How can I learn how to read? After so much trouble to get a book and learn magic, it would be a shame to waste it just because I couldn''t read!


    Also is really uncool to be like this!


    My tail swings back and forth in annoyance, differently from the rest of my body that remains still from thinking too hard about the subject.


    Ok, let''s not get hasty now, there must be a way that does not involve my mother teaching me... Wait, hold on, I turn to look at mother, head tilted a little sideways as I inquire:


    "Mother, how did you learn to read?"


    "Well, I used the rune to change to human when I was little and got inside a few sses, and once I knew the basics I got bored and stop going. Why hon?"


    I don''t know if I feel happy for finding a solution or mad at mother for not telling me.


    I chose to remain calm... somehow.


    "Can I use that too? That magical thingy that changed you back at the store?"


    "Oh, hon, I don''t know, it consumes a lot of mana to keep it up, and I have only one too..."


    "Mana?"


    "Is... uhm... magic fuel?"


    First time her exnation makes some sense, so MP is not Magic Point but Mana? Uhm...


    "Can''t we find another one of those? And buy it?"


    "They are not easy to find like that hon, here, look." At that she takes it off to show me, giving me time to inspect it close up for the first time, and I see that the artifact has nothing grand in it, it is merely a wooden tablet with some strange engraving in it.


    And yet I can feel some buzzing strange energy resonating from it, the numbing sensation that electricity gives.


    "Want to know about it?" I nod, curious now.


    "This is a rune. It has ancient knowledge in it. There is quite the legend surrounding it too, for there was a time that such magic had been almost wiped out from existence, but after a great magical beast the Terror came and changed the order of things and with his elvenpanion brought this knowledge back to life, and many, seeing the strength it held with new eyes, went after it, somehow a few books of the subject came to be, some being disciples of the master elf himself, so many were able to learn, the only rule for that was that they had to use that information to grant magical beast fair treatment, and thatsted for a while, at first at least, and that''s how these magical runes like this were created for our use, to help us have an easier life." She nods in satisfaction after looking so knowledgeable.


    "What happened to them? Are they still around? Perhaps there is more of these for us to find too..."


    "Well, it may, but it has been a long time since I went to the continent, and I have no intention of going down there for the next few years, at least until you have grown up enough to take care of yourself, we can even travel out and discover new ces then if you like, like a family vacation, what do you think?"


    "Sounds interesting." I say, trying to get the childish glimmering of excitement out of my eyes, which only makes her giggle and bump her beak at my side.


    But I know that smile, that sad smile that does not reach her eyes.


    "... He is there too, right? Father..." She doesn''t answer, looking down on the ground. "Why he is not here with us mother? Why did he leave us?"


    "He... he did not leave us hon... he just had... bigger things to deal with."


    "Bigger things than his own family? What can be more important than family?" I can feel a hot angry sensation wanting to grown and burst out against this reckless father of mine, but as always, every time I bring him up, mother starts getting sad, and no pointing venting out on the only family I have with me, distressing the most important person in my life.


    So I close my beak before all my thoughts can leak out, and stay quiet, even if, in my heart, I had already regarded that father of mine as a degenerated man.


    Still she doesn''t want to let it go like that, and for the first time starts talking about my father, probably thinking that I deserved to know by now.


    "He is different from us, you and I are wild beasts, grown to be free, and he is... a contracted magical beast from the cultivating realm. He has a master, a humanpanion to follow, and many obligations alongside him."


    "I just... don''t want you to get the wrong impression hon. After all, I was the one who left him, not the other way around." Well, that''s new, but I could not bring myself to hate mother, never would be, so I chose to stick with ming my father for it. " I could not raise you there, I barely could live there, and such strong intelligent creatures as ourselves are in high demand on the continent. It was too dangerous to have you there, only to end up as someone''s pet. I could not have that, even if he did not think it bad... that''s when we greatly disagreed, so I left."


    "But still he should have followed you."


    "Seraph..."


    "No, he should have supported you! Instead he just... left. He chose to stay. No, I won''t have it." I wanted to rabble about it, to shout at him, but not only it would be too uncool but would be very childish on my part, so I take a deep breath and say: "Mother, is alright, we don''t need him, we will do just fine by ourselves, then we can fly the entire world together, discover new sweet fruits, gaze at beautifulndscapes, so many things to do that he will be a far thought at the back of your minds by then."


    She smiles at me, this time with a glimmer in her eyes at the perspective, but she cannot help but joke around:


    "Only if you haven''t found your other half by then and wants to travel with her instead of me, leaving your poor old mother behind that is...." She fakes a sob, covering her eyes with her bird paw, while I''m d that my fur covers my blushing cheeks.


    "Mother!"


    "Hahaha!" Sheughs at me, making me attack her and jump at her side,nding on her fluffy fur feathery side.


    "I just wanted you to know love that no matter what happens and what is toe, I''m d for having you in my life, even if that means I had to let go of your father. You mean the world to me."


    We exchange looks, and I couldn''t be happier than this.


    "You mean the world to me too momma." I realize my mistake toote as she turns around to fuzz my fur.


    "O, you said momma! Such a sweet cute little boy! I want to squish you!"


    "I-I''m not cute! Mother, stop! Ah!"