Chapter 143 – The Calm of Claws.

Training in the runic gravity matrix only concluded when the coppery sun began touching the ridges of the western mountains.

Kael took a heavy step out of the gravel circle, leaning the Volcanic Shield against the manor wall with a dull thud, blowing out a long gust of hot air. The metal face of the shield was covered in black soot marks and small circular dents hammered in by Mai's black fire fists.

Mai collapsed sitting on the gravel, her gray tunic drenched with sweat across her back, black and gold hair plastered to her forehead, and her knuckles red and swollen from the continuous impact against steel. Yet the girl's amber eyes shone with clean, feral satisfaction, pointed fangs bared in a wide grin.

Diana turned the stone dial with the tip of her claw, shutting off the courtyard's triple gravity.

Kael snatched up an entire pitcher of cool water from the porch and drained it in a single pull, wiping his mouth with his forearm:

“That girl hits with the weight of a catapult, Commander... My shoulders are still vibrating.”

“Her technique is unpolished, but the impact density is exceptional,” Diana said, picking up the basin of cold water and the jar of magical arnica ointment she had left on the low wall.

She walked over to the wooden porch bench and gestured with her head toward Mai:

“Come here, Mai. Sit on this bench.”

Mai got up from the gravel, shaking out her wobbly legs, padded over to the porch, and sat beside Diana without the slightest hesitation, holding out both calloused hands with palms open facing up.

***

Diana pulled up a low stool and sat down facing the tiger girl.

She took Mai's right hand with her gloved left hand, dipped a clean cloth into the basin's cold water, and began wiping away the dirt and soot from the brawler's knuckles.

Mai did not pull her arm back. She made no faces at the cold water.

The girl merely released a heavy sigh of relief as the stinging in her knuckles began to subside, slowly lowered her head, and rested her forehead against Diana's left shoulder, letting out a low, rhythmic purr that vibrated softly against the Commander's leather coat.

Diana applied the Level 20 Alchemy arnica ointment over Mai's swollen joints, smoothing the greenish salve with her fingertips. Then she took a roll of linen wrap and began binding the girl's wrists and fingers in firm, precise layers.

As she wound the cloth through Mai's knuckles, Diana caught herself taking in the feeling of that moment.

On Earth, she had always detested any kind of physical proximity. Contact with other people had felt like an intrusive breach that tripped her alarms of suspicion. She used to believe that anyone drawing too close was merely searching for a weakness to exploit or pitying her solitude.

With Mai, however, the equation was different.

The tiger girl had no hidden motives. She harbored no secret power schemes, had no capacity to feign polite manners, and carried no social masks.

The weight of Mai's forehead resting against her shoulder and the warm, gentle breath against her collarbone brought a sense of simple, clean, disarmed security that Diana had never experienced prior to her transformation.

Diana finished tying off the end of the linen binding at Mai's wrist.

Almost without thinking, guided by a soft impulse of her new Archdemon biology, Diana lifted her left hand and ran the tips of her black claws behind Mai's round tiger ear, gently stroking the base of the golden fur.

Mai squeezed her eyes shut, letting out a sweet, spoiled whimper of pure delight, tilting her head to press her ear harder into Diana's palm.

Diana caught herself in the motion, felt her face warm slightly, and pulled her hand back with a brisk clearing of her throat, adjusting the collar of her gray shirt:

“All done. The wraps are secure. Don't hit anything for the next two hours until the ointment absorbs.”

Mai opened her eyes slowly, looking down at her neatly wrapped hands with a wide, sharp-toothed grin:

“Thank you, Diana. Your touch is so cool... it takes the burning away right away.”

***

Rhea emerged from the kitchen carrying a tray of deep bowls with hot meat soup and slices of toasted bread prepared by Aurelia-Elysia.

The wolf girl approached the porch with the light strides of 124 Agility, observing Mai seated on the bench beside Diana with her hands bound.

Diana expected Rhea to snap with another jealous reprimand or make some caustic remark about bench space.

But Rhea merely set the tray on the porch table, pulled up a chair, and sat down on the other side of Diana.

The wolf girl took a bowl of soup and offered it straight toward Mai, her silver ears lifted in a calm posture:

“Eat while it's hot, Mai. You burned way too much mana against that shield.”

Mai blinked her amber eyes, surprised by the absence of growling, but took the bowl with her wrapped hands and an open smile:

“Thanks, wolf. It smells great.”

Rhea drew her own bowl close, picked up a slice of bread, and leaned her shoulder against Diana's left arm, eating in silence. The wolf girl did not need constant spats. She understood that the manor had room for Mai's raw brawn, so long as her position as scout and primary partner remained untouched at the Commander's side.

***

Night descended over the Lower Cauldrons Estate with a warm wind that rustled the purple leaves of the willow in the courtyard.

In the living room lit by the pine lamp, Kael slept seated in the armchair with his legs stretched out, snoring softly with a belly full of stew. Seraphina and Aurelia sat on the wool rug finishing transcriptions of botanical notes onto clean parchment.

Zarek sat on the sill of the open window, one leg dangling outside and his secondary hands busy wiping the edges of his lunar swords.

Diana sat in her cedar armchair near the low table, the map of the Third Circle spread over her lap and a cup of tea resting in her right hand.

On the rug at her feet, Mai lay curled on her side, bundled in a thick linen blanket with her head resting on the wooden floor and her striped tail draped across Diana's leather boot.

The Commander felt the warm weight of the tail over her foot.

She did not push the tiger girl away. She did not order Mai to sleep in the guest room.

Diana took a sip of the hot tea in silence, feeling the calm pulse of her Possessor's Aura circulate through the stone beams of the manor, nourishing the recovery and rest of every warrior sleeping beneath her roof.

Diana folded the corner of the map carefully, breathing in the clean air of the house.

She had an iron rampart on the front line, an invisible assassin in the shadows, two high-tier support mages, a legendary swordsman on the roof, and a flame-fisted brawler at her feet.

The Arcane Greed Faction was ready to take whatever it desired in this world.