he winged horse snorted loudly as I entered the stables. I could feel his impatience and excitement through our bond.

  "There you are," he said through our mental link. "I've been waiting for you...I think I figured something out today and I want to try it."

  "What is it?" I asked eagerly.

  "Well, after I woke up this morning I kept thinking about that new special I have, you know, 'shrink'. I figured it was pretty obvious I could make myself smaller, but I just couldn't figure out how to make it work. So, we were taking our long break after doing some wing work and I was eating some oats when it hit me. Since the special appeared when we bonded, it must involve you somehow."

  "Yeah, I could see that," I answered after a moment, "but I didn't get any new specials, so you'll probably have to figure out how to start the process on your own."

  Ronaldo suddenly tensed up for a moment.

  "I did it!" he cried. "For just a second I felt myself getting smaller."

  "Well, try it again," I said, not really believing him.

  He tensed up again and this time I could feel something surge through our bond before rebounding back to him.

  "Hey! I think it's working!" I shouted. The feeling vanished.

  "Oops," I apologized. "I'll try not to break your concentration next time."

  Once more Ronaldo focused and I felt the new magic through our bond. Suddenly there was a flash of light so intense I was worried for a moment that my friend had injured himself. My vision cleared quickly, allowing me to see a very confused and very tiny Ronaldo hovering in place in his stall.

  I am not proud of what I did next. I giggled. And then I did something even worse: I squeed. Because I had a flying horse the size of a hummingbird and it was the cutest thing ever.

  "What? What's wrong!" Ronaldo shouted through our link. Despite his new diminutive stature, he sounded exactly the same as he did before.

  "Nothing," I giggled. "Congratulations! How do you feel?"

  "Like everything suddenly grew a thousandfold."

  "Any other changes?" I asked him, wondering if there was anything useful about the ability.

  "Not that I can tell," he admitted. Although it seems a bit easier to stay in the air than before."

  That sounded right for some reason I couldn't quite put my finger on, as if there was a logical reason why a smaller creature would find it easier to stay airborne.

  "Okay well, can you try changing back? You should probably land first though."

  "Yeah, hold on."

  I watched as Ronaldo fluttered out of sight. After a few seconds, there was another flash of light (although not as blinding as the first) and a full-sized Pegasus was once again standing in the stall.

  "What a rush!" the winged horse exclaimed. "Growing was so much cooler than shrinking! I wonder if I can get even bigger!"

  "If you got any larger we'd have to build new stables," I objected. "Besides, you're already like ten times my size."

  "Well, I guess I would need a special called 'grow' for that one to work."

  "If you get a special that lets you grow, you can only practice it outdoors. As far as I know, we don't have any other stables."

  Ronaldo stopped biting at one of his wings long enough to give me a low whinny. "Of course you do! You have a few dozen horses here on your estate."

  That was news to me, but I hadn't looked around all that much. I wondered if maybe Ronaldo would like some of them stabled here.

  "Would you like a few of them to live here?"

  The Pegasus snorted. "Of course not! do you think that Pesagi and horses are buddies or something?"

  "Uh, I don't...I mean, I hadn't really considered that."

  "Of course you didn't, because you're such an arrogant species! What if I surrounded you with creatures that looked like humans but weren't. Who couldn't walk, talk, or think? Does that sound fun to you?"

  "It doesn't," I admitted. "Sorry."

  "You're forgiven. After all, it's not entirely your fault. You're only human."

  I laughed. "Thanks, I think. So how was your training today?"

  "It was fine. The water and grass are amazing at the Pegadrome, and if we do well they give us some apples. Do you know what an apple is? They are amazing!"

  "Yes, I have had them before," I laughed. First the Glimmerhay and now apples. It seemed that feeding Ronaldo was the way to his heart. "I am sure we have some here. You can have a bunch if you want."

  "Yes, yes, please!"

  "Ok, ok, you'll get them. Now tell me what the Pegadrome is. I've never heard of it."

  "Oh, it's a big metal sphere where humans ride on Pegasi to play polo."

  "Polo?"

  "It's a game you humans like to play. We carry you around and do all the hard work. You hit magic balls around and try to get them into a box. Hold on, let me try something."

  I could feel Ronaldo straining through our link. All of a sudden I was there. The air rushing past my face (actually Ronaldo's face) as my massive onyx wings (ditto on the wings) beat the air. The scent of animal sweat and magic permeated the massive field in the center of the structure, while thousands of seats ringed the outer edge. The curved metal walls of the Pegadrome seemed to stretch to the sky, and I followed them with my gaze until I was staring up at the domed metal ceiling studded with glowing lights. Then the vision faded and I found myself once again firmly fixed to the floor in the stables.

  "Did it work?" Ronaldo asked.

  "Uhhh..." was all the answer I was able to give at that moment.

  "It worked!" he cried.

  "Changes detected to both attributes and specials," Mia interjected.

  "Hold on for a second," I said to Ronaldo as I hastily pulled up the information.

  Arabella (Arabella Unbound)

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Insights: 4

  Epiphanies: 1 (2 available)

  Revelations: 0

  Current Path: Sensate (novice)

  Metagift: Tactile Magic

  Specials: Delayed Metamorphosis, Soulbond (stage 1), Spiritbond (stage 2), Heat Resistance (hands), Natural Telepathy, Unknown

  Physical Attributes

  Strength 28

  Reflexes 27

  Durability 35

  Mental Attributes

  Charisma 29

  Intelligence 34

  Willpower 40

  Spiritual Attributes

  Cycle 42

  Density 39

  Homogeneity 42

  Derived Attributes

  Resistance 147

  Mana Reserve 260 (theoretical maximum)

  Hourly Mana Recovery 29.4 (estimated)

  My Spiritbond with Ronaldo had increased to stage two, which appeared to double the physical benefits that I received from Ronaldo. I also gained another insight from the experience.

  "Mia, can you pull up Ronaldo's physical attributes again?"

  "Yes, Arabella."

  After a moment my attributes faded were replaced with Ronaldo's.

  Ronaldo (Ronaldo Ignacio Albora Perez Loscaros)

  Specials: Shrink, Spiritbond (stage 2), Unknown, Unknown

  Physical Attributes

  Strength 61

  Reflexes 53

  Durability 60

  Spells Demonstrated

  Soulbind

  "It looks like you finally got some benefit out of our Spiritbond," I said to Ronaldo. "I mean, not as much as I am, but still it's something."

  "That's funny because I can barely flap my wings right now. Between hitting the 'drome for a workout and figuring out how to shrink, I'm wiped."

  "Do you need anything?" I asked with some concern. Although Ronaldo's body was a good deal tougher than mine, he didn't have the same reserves of magic to draw from.

  "No, the stableboy has already seen to it. Although I wouldn't turn down a couple of apples."

  "I'll see if we can get you some right away," I replied and bent my will towards summoning Clemencia. She must have been right outside because it wasn't ten seconds before she entered the stables.

  "Yes, Madame Arabella?" she asked.

  "Can you please see if we have any apples in the pantry? If so, bring Ronaldo a few dozen, please."

  "Yes, of course. I'll make a note of it for the trainer."

  "What do you mean? Is his diet that regulated?"

  "Of course. Your Pegasus is a very valuable beast. He needs to be kept in top shape."

  "Not this time, please. I am sure some apples aren't going to ruin his appetite."

  "As you wish, Madame Arabella."

  "Thank you."

  I turned back to say something to Ronaldo before I realized that Clemencia was still waiting. Of course. I had forgotten to dismiss her.

  "You can go, Clemencia. Thank you for coming so quickly. And please, I am still full from lunch. I couldn't possibly eat a full dinner, but maybe something light? Could you have it delivered to my room?"

  My steward curtseyed and showed herself out.

  "She looked like a banana today, you know," Ronaldo laughed. "What with the yellow dress and the black hat."

  I giggled.

  "She totally did! How did I not catch that sooner?"

  "I guess I should be nicer since she's going to get me some apples," the Pegasus mused.

  "I don't know, there's something about her that rubs me the wrong way," I said. "I know it's not fair to her...after all, she's just doing her job. But it's hard."

  Ronaldo just stared at me.

  "Anyways," I continued, "I am doing some research hopefully in the next few days on improving our telepathic link. Should make communication easier. Until then I think we should wait to discuss our career aspirations."

  I tried to act normal, hopeful that Ronaldo understood what I meant but fearing that bringing the subject up, even in code, was the wrong move.

  My heart pounded as I waited for him to respond.

  "Yeah, it's a bit harder to coordinate during flight than you'd think," he said, apparently having got the message.

  "Perfect," I said, giving him a broad smile. "We're on the same page."

  Ronaldo yawned and shook out his feathers.

  "Listen, I can barely keep my eyes open. They can just leave the apples in my food bucket here, okay?"

  "Sure thing," I chuckled. "Good night."

  "Night."

  I walked outside to find the sun setting. I stood for a moment watching the orange disk slip below the horizon, leaving a warm afterglow among the purple clouds. When I was a slave, I rarely got to see the sunset, but it had been there nonetheless. My transformation hadn't changed the world. It had just changed me.

  I returned to my room and drew a hot bath, but this time I didn't bother activating the intelligence boost. My brain already felt like it was going to burst with all the new knowledge I had crammed into it today. Two epiphanies in one day weren't too shabby, though. I drowsed in the water for a while before climbing out and changing (literally) into my nightclothes.

  Dinner had been delivered while I was out, and I noticed that everything was made to be eaten by hand, which was an interesting touch. There were crackers with a shredded chicken mixture, carrots and bell peppers cut up into strips, olives with the pits removed, and fresh fruit transfixed by round sticks. I nibbled at the food and sipped some chilled wine while staring out into the night sky. My new Senate abilities did nothing when it came to the stars: no matter how hard I tried to focus on one point of light, they seemed to get any clearer. Maybe there was a book that could tell me about what stars were made of. If not, I wanted to write it.

  I eventually grew tired of staring out into the darkness. With any luck, I'd be spending most of the night with my mysterious friend from the void anyways. It annoyed me that I had no idea who she was, why she was helping me, and why I could only talk to her when I was asleep. I reminded myself to ask if I could process my Epiphanies while I was awake. I didn't want to be completely dependent on someone I only saw in my dreams.

  My body on autopilot, I climbed into the bed and somehow made it under the covers. I turned over a few times to get into a comfortable position as drowsiness set in.

  "Back so soon?"

  The transition from being awake, to being asleep, to finding myself in the void was smoother than the previous night. I could feel a dim presence in the void with me this time, although I couldn't make out any other details about my companion.

  "I have gained two Epiphanies since last night. Can you teach me how to process them on my own?"

  The voice's laugh was warm and welcoming.

  "The proper term is to 'unleash'. But yes, I can show you how to do it on your own, although your spirit was initially modified to rely on the other within your soul."

  I couldn't help but be impressed when I considered how effective a control method Empress Vashti had developed. Not only could she keep tabs on how many Epiphanies each of her subjects had obtained, but she could also prevent anyone she wanted from growing more powerful. There was much I could learn from her about being paranoid.

  "Do you mean that everyone has to rely on their melded assistants to unleash their potential?"

  "That I cannot answer for you. You must discover the truth on your own."

  "But why?"

  "Because I honestly do not know. I have spoken to so few recently."

  "Well thank you anyway for making me self-sufficient. Even if Mia is a faithful servant, I don't want to have to rely on her."

  "I would not put too much faith in a tool of the empress, even one that appears docile."

  My companion had a point, but if I disabled Mia I was more likely to be found out than if I did nothing. But I didn't want to seem ungrateful for the warning.

  "Your words are wise. I will do my best to heed them," was my actual reply.

  "Uh-huh," the voice did not seem convinced. "Well, let's unleash those two Epiphanies. If you want help from that bonded soul, you'll need to communicate with it directly. I can't help you there."

  "Let's try doing it without her," I answered confidently. "I'm sure I can figure it out.

  It did not take long for me to completely reverse that sentence.

  "Let's try doing it with her. I'm sure she can figure it out," I panted, somehow out of breath in a place where there wasn't even air.

  "Call to her, then, my dear."

  "Mia, I need your help to unleash these two Epiphanies."

  The response was faint but clear.

  "Acknowledged. Stand by. Increasing transmission strength. Please allow access to mana reserves."

  I felt a strange tugging sensation in my chest but did my best to relax and allow the mana to flow. After a moment the sensation faded.

  "Transmission boosted. Unleashing in five, four, three, two, one..."

  I spasmed as power flowed from Mia into my spirit, triggering a torrent of energy that flooded through my entire being: spirit, soul, and body. There was so much power bouncing around that I thought for a moment I'd be torn apart, but before the surges swelled to the point of causing actual pain, the two Epiphanies whirling around inside me crystalized and I gave voice to a pair of fundamental truths.

  The first Epiphany sounded more like a primal warcry than anything else. If it contained words, they did not seem formed to be uttered by a human mouth. The second sounded very much like the Epiphany from yesterday: arcane gibberish with a touch of mystique.

  As the words faded away, the flood of power came to rest, nourishing my body, soul, and spirit. The feeling was incredible. While I was still processing the changes, Mia's voice cut in again, quiet as a whisper.

  "Unleashing complete."

  "It seems that the soul inside you proved useful, young one. For now, at least."

  "Yes, I was able to unleash both Epiphanies at once. Should I go ahead and assign my attribute points, or is there anything we should discuss first?"

  The voice laughed, but the sound was not pleasant at all.

  "You are not ready for my next lesson. By all means, my child, go ahead and assign your points now."

  "Have I offended you?"

  "No, no. Nothing like that. Go on now, you've got work to do."

  Birds chirped in the distance as my eyes fluttered open to find the first rays of dawn peeking through the window. I sprang out of bed and headed for the library.

  "Come on, Mia," I said. "Let's get to it."