The wolf paced back and forth and howled its defiance, always remaining just beyond her reach. She called out to it, encouraging it to come closer, but always it refused. Today was no different. Feeling her strength ebbing, she withdrew, releasing the spirit once more. It gazed at her for a long moment before bounding off and dissolving in the wind. She'd lost the battle.

“Still won't give you her power?” Sadi twirled a card between his fingers, watching her with interest. “I almost saw her this time. You must be close to her heart.”

“I just don't understand this.” Kaida said with a sigh. “The fox accepted me so easily but still the wolf eludes me.”

“You just haven't proven yourself to her yet. Keep at it and you'll win her over.” He held the card so she could clearly see the outline of a canine with bright yellow eyes.

She snorted and knocked his hand away. Undaunted, Sadi merely watched the card drift away in the breeze as Kaida stood up, brushing the grass from her pants. She gazed at the sky.

“That's enough training for today. I'm going to fly.” She called the eagle-spirit to her, feeling the familiar rush in her veins as the magic sang in her blood. The spirit answered and flew down, merging mind and body. A golden eagle stood where she'd been just a moment before.

“I won't wait up for you,” Sadi grinned and waved, knowing she could be gone for a day or more. It didn't bother him, of course. Kaida was often plagued by the feral spirits she could not yet tame and only the solitude of the wild soothed the tattered edges of her soul. A small price to pay to see her find happiness, if only for a time.

She leaped to the wind, spiraling upward on the invisible staircase of thermals, balanced as gracefully as a real eagle. Kaida's favorite from the beginning. She circled once above him and with a warbling shriek, disappeared.