Misha the Beast Tamer.

I slipped out of the dining hall, just as dinner was being served. I skulked through the hallway's until I reached the main entrance to the academy. I gently opened the door.

As soon as I was out of the main building I sprinted along the uneven, pot hole filled road, praying I wouldn't break my ankle. I breathed a sigh of relief as reached the boundary of the academy grounds and waited for Emrick to show. My heart was beating so quickly I struggled to regulate my breathing. The nervousness and excitement pulsed through me. It took a while, but I finally settled myself.

There sound of bushes rustling in the distance grabbed my attention. Soon the rustling became louder and the trees and bushes swayed. Emrick appeared before me, he was wearing a heavy hooded cloak that hid his face.

"We can't talk here Princess, too risky. Let's go into town."

"But town is a forty minute walk from here. How do you know it will be safer than here?"

Emrick sighed,

"Fine, I'll take you to a town further away, where the existence of the academy is not common knowledge and where no-one will know you, Would that be satisfactory, your highness?"

I was confused,

"And, where may that be, Emrick? And all the towns in this area are very aware of the academy's existence." I answered.

He paused,

"I know a perfect place. How does white river sound?"

I laughed,

"White river is on the other side of the land. It's a four week ride on horseback and longer by carriage to get to Port Guyam then it takes another five months via sea travel when its perfect sailing condition's longer if its not to get to Rest bay, then another four weeks on horseback to finally get there. How do you intend on getting us there? Do you have a Pegasus under your heavy hooded cloak, Emrick?"

I answered, genuinely annoyed by his suggestion.

"I may not have a Pegasus under my cloak. But you've forgotten one thing, you are in the presence of a very special and gifted vampire. If you hold onto me. I can get us there in two hours, Princess. White river has a very beautiful garden. We go there then we can talk."

Emrick answered, a confident smile on his face.

"Don't be so humble Emrick." I replied as I grabbed a hold of him.

"Close your eyes, and hold on tight." He paused for a second smiled and whispered,

" Also, do you think I won Ronin's heart by being humble, your highness? Just to add, I had very attractive and strong competition." He answered smiling to himself as he started on his way at very high speeds, while I clung onto him for life, the wind stinging my face and whipping my hair.

With chapped lips, aching muscles, and my hair now nothing more than a big knotty birds nest with bits of leaves sticking out, we finally arrived to White river. It was early morning here, the sun was just starting to rise above the sleepy town. Emrick led me to the garden and motioned for me to sit on an ancient crumbling bench.

We sat in silence, I was itching for Emrick to tell me what blood ran through my veins. My impatience got the better of me, so I bombarded Emrick with a mouthful of questions,

"Emrick, What type of blood runs through my veins? Am I human? Am I part beast? What am I?"

"Sheesh, Princess. You're straight to the point. No small talk for you it seems."

Emrick paused, took in a deep breath and and tried to answer my question with a methodotic approach.

" You're human..."

I let out a sigh of relief I was going to thank Emrick, but he cut me off.

"....But Princess, the blood of an ancient beast runs through your veins."

I sat motionless, on the bench shocked by the news, the heavy silence hung between us like a curtain, all I could hear was my own breathing and the gentle rustle of tree's that surrounded us.

Even though I was shocked and confused I managed to ask,

"What type of beast am I?"

He sighed again and tried to choose his answer wisely.

" The blood that runs through your veins is that of a very rare and very ancient type of beast. Ronin believes you are a wolf. But not a white wolf warrior, they are shapeshifters. You my dear, have the blood of a werewolf running through your veins.

Werewolves were hunted like vampires were. Except, they were hunted to near extinction, even worse than us, the vampires . We survived because we came to an agreement with humankind, the werewolves were stubborn and refused to make any agreements with human's and because of this, they were massacred. We all believed that werewolves were massacred into extinction, or so we thought, but you have proven that werewolves are not extinct."

I had a problem

"But I'm only half werewolf though. So how do you know that there are in fact any pure blood werewolves left. Obviously, Sir Tristan was the contributer to my mixed blood, my mother is not a werewolf, Emrick."

Emrick nodded slowly

"That's the conclusion we've come to as well, Princess. Speaking of, when your next break from school comes around I wish to take you to Primeva Island. We want to delve into your family tree a bit more, we are curious what werewolf bloodline you are a descendent from. Also, Rose is very curious about you and wishes to meet you."

We stayed in White River for another hour before we headed back to the academy. I arrived back to the academy around one thirty in the morning. I snuck back into my room and crawled under my blankets, and listened to Aqila snore softly before I too fell asleep.

I was woken by Aqila violently shaking me.

"Misha, wake up. You've slept in. You have exactly ten minutes to get ready and get to class. Also, you have to do the test you missed after classes."

I groaned in reply, it took a few seconds for the word's she spoke to sink in. Once they did I jumped out of my bed, my legs got caught in the blankets and I fell flat on my face with a loud and very painful thump. Aqila stiffled a giggle as she helped me out of the blankets.

I barely had enough time to tidy my hair or straighten my uniform as I arrived to class. I was impressed by my ability to get to the class only a mere 5 minutes late.

The teacher sighed as I apologised profusely for my tardiness. She handed me the paper and pointed to a solitary desk in the corner of the classroom. I had my back to the class as I started on my test. Luckily, I finished it seconds before the class ended.

The following day I was told that I was successful and had passed my test and surprisingly, one of the top scorers. I was satisfied with that.

The term passed again in a flurry of faces, assignments, more tests, and less letters from Zac. I would get a letter from Zac at least once a month and they were pages and pages long. Now, it seemed the letters were a page long, sometimes even half a page. Now, Months would pass between letters. I suspected he had lost interest in me and another girl held his heart. I hoped she would be as accepting of him as I was.

I got so mad at his crappy attempts and minimal effort that he now put into his letters, that I decided I would no longer reply. I guessed that from now onwards, I would no longer receive letters from him. If by some miracle he did write. I decided that I'd put them in a box hidden away in my wardrobe. My necklace will also join the dusty, unopened, forgotten letters.

I felt a new kind of freedom stem from my decision. I was no longer held down by a glass necklace, crappy no effort letters, and a near non-existent beau. I felt as though I could breath once again. I had better things to focus on anyway, I will become a beast tamer. Now nothing will hold me back. I felt free.