Ella woke, refreshed with sleep, ready for a new day. She let out a yawn and stretched as she sat up in bed. Glancing across the room, she noticed that Soren was already awake and stretched out on their bed, fully dressed for the day.

“You’re up before me, as usual,” Ella chuckled, her voice heavy as she wasn’t fully awake yet.

Soren handed her a damp washcloth. Ella took it from them and wiped her face with it. Upon finishing with it, she tossed it back to Soren who draped it on a rack to dry, next to their own washcloth.

Soren jumped off their bed, their face glazed with excitement. “Come on! It’s our big day!” 

“Right,” Ella frowned, staring at the wall. “Training?”

“Yes,” Soren responded, nodding their head.

Ella fiddled with her hair and stared at her feet.

Soren looked up and noticed this. “Nervous?”

“No, I just can’t decide what to wear,” Ella deadpanned.

This drew a laugh out of Soren. A smile lit up their features as if the sun were radiating out of their face.

“Yes, I’m nervous,” Ella admitted, fiddling with the drawstrings on her pajama bottoms. “Very much so.”

“You have nothing to be nervous about,” Soren assured her. “You’re not doing this alone.”

“I know, I know,” Ella teased. Her expression darkened shortly thereafter. “What if I’m no use? What if I fail?”

“Then we all fail together until we figure things out,” Soren promised. “It’s going to be a learning experience for all of us. If you allow yourself to fail, you’ll learn more than you ever will by not failing. Besides, the more you fail, the higher you’ll jump when you do succeed.”

Ella gave a slow nod. “I guess you’re right.”

Soren arched an eyebrow, a teasing look crossing their face. “You guess?”

“You’re right,” Ella confessed. “It’s hard for me to admit people are right sometimes.”

Soren patted Ella’s hand. “I’m not always right. Nobody is but it feels good to know you are right sometimes, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Ella proclaimed. “When did you get so wise?”

Soren shook their head. “I don’t know. I guess I’ve always been this way. Besides, I’ve got wise parents. I probably learned from them.”

Ella laughed, letting her gaze meet Soren’s. “I always thought of you as a wise one, even when you were five.”

Soren cracked a smile. “You learn a lot at that age.”

“You do,” Ella agreed, nodding her head.

Soren motioned towards a pile of clothes on a chair next to Ella’s bed. “You don’t need to pick out your clothes today. I set them out for you as soon as I got up. You should get dressed. Lucca and Andrew are expecting us after breakfast.”

Ella made no response. Instead, lifted her nightgown over her head in one swift motion. Soren looked away so as not to make Ella uncomfortable. Ella quickly finished getting changed then she and Soren headed down to the kitchen for breakfast to find Ailish, Jasper and Victor already seated at the table.

Jasper lifted his head in greeting as Ella and Soren joined everyone at the table. “Morning, Ella, morning Soren.” 

“Good morning,” Ella and Soren chorused.

Victor slid a plate of muffins across the table towards the spot where Ella and Soren are sitting.

“I made my apple cinnamon power muffins as I thought you all would need them today,” Victor remarked. “I made extra so you can take some of them over for Lucca and Andrew.”

“Brilliant!” Soren exclaimed, sliding the plate of muffins closer to where they and Ella are sitting.

Ella caught a whiff of cinnamon as she took a couple muffins from the plate. She let the smell waft into her nostrils as the fresh muffins cool. When she took her first bite, she tasted immediate heaven.

“Victor!’ she marveled. “These are amazing!”

“I put a bunch of different types of seeds in them,” Victor divulged. “You’d think they wouldn’t go together but somehow they do.”

Ella took another bite. “You’re a genius!” her voice was garbled with muffin yet Victor still understood her. “They do go together.”

Soren took a bite of one of their muffins. “We’re definitely taking some of these over to Andrew and Lucca.”

Victor beamed from ear to ear. “Be my guest.”

Ella and Soren fell into silence as they continued eating. The conversation turned over to Jasper, Ailish and Victor.

“Training today?” Jasper prompted.

Ailish nodded her head. “Yep,” was her clipped reply.

Victor scrutinized her face. “How are you feeling about that?” 

Ailish pushed a stray curl behind her ear. “I'm a little nervous but I think I’m ready.”

“I’m glad,” Jasper stated, his face taking on an illuminated look. “I’m sorry our methods didn’t work for you.”

“You two did nothing wrong,” Ailish reassured her parents. “There’s just so much to learn.”

Victor accepted this.“It’s probably for the best,” his voice rumbling as he nodded his head. “Sometimes it’s better to learn from someone closer to you in age.”

Ailish glanced at Ella and Soren through the corner of her eye. “Or multiple someones.” 

Jasper grinned at her. “Exactly.”

Once breakfast had finished, Ella packed some muffins for Andrew and Lucca and ushered Ailish and Soren to the front hall. “Let’s get going.”

Ailish and Soren nodded in agreement. The two girls and Soren put their shoes on and headed out the door. As they walked, Ella carried the container of muffins. She didn’t trust the Rivershore siblings not to eat the muffins she had packed for Andrew and Lucca.

Ailish and Soren each put an arm around Ella with Ella in between the two of them. Ella tensed up a bit. The spot where Ailish’s arm rested warmed with her touch and Ella’s heart gave a leap then settled down to a steady fluttering.

Ella did not understand what this feeling was nor did she know where it came from. She therefore chose to ignore it.

They won’t like me anymore when they see how messy I really am. If I don’t protect myself, my feelings and the darkest parts of myself, it won’t end well.

When they arrived at Lucca’s house, Lucca and Andrew were waiting for them on the front porch. The two boys stood up to greet them.

Andrew tapped his watch. “About time you got here.” His brow furrowed when he noticed the container Ella was holding. “Are those muffins?”

“Yes,” Ella replied, putting a hand up to stop Andrew as he moved toward her to take the container from her. “They’re for later. Jasper and Victor sent them over with us for you and Lucca.”

“Brilliant! I love muffins,” Lucca babbled. His face softened as he looked at Ella, Ailish and Soren. “I’m so glad you could make it.”

“Me too,” Ailish murmured.

“Same,” Soren agreed.

Andrew glanced at the muffins again.“What kind of muffins are they?” Andrew grinned with an evil glint in his eye.  “They may be a dealbreaker for our friendship.”

“They’re apple cinnamon power muffins, to quote Victor Rivershore,” Ella returned. “He made them, not I, if it helps any.”

Andrew chuckled. “You’re so easy to fool.”

Ella shook her head. “You didn’t fool me. I merely played along.”

“My Dads put various kinds of seeds in them,” Ailish explained.

“Seeds give you brain power and energy so that’s what makes the cinnamon apple power muffins,” Soren continued.

“They sound delicious,” Lucca sighed. “My mouth’s watering already!”

Ella handed the container that held the muffins to Lucca with a groan. “I suppose you two can get into them now.” She waved her hands around her head in a motion that meant ‘Whatever.’ “They’re meant to give you energy, after all. Besides, we wouldn’t want to make a mess of your training room.”

Ailish and Soren copied Ella’s indifferent gesture. “Indeed.”

“Lucca sat down on the steps once more. “Yeah.” He shrugged his shoulders. “My family doesn’t use the room much but still, I don’t think my parents would be thrilled over a messy training room.”

Everyone broke down into laughter as Lucca opened the container of muffins. He took one out and handed the container over to Andrew.

Andrew sat down beside Lucca, bouncing in anticipation. “Finally!”

He took a muffin out of the container and set the container down.

Ella, Ailish and Soren watched in amusement as Andrew and Lucca took the first bites out of their muffins.

Lucca finished his first muffin and grabbed a second. “These are amazing.”

“Exquisite,” Andrew agreed, wiping the crumbs off of his face and reaching for a second muffin. He turned to look at Ella. “I’m sure you’re already aware that I was joking earlier. To be clear, I wouldn’t end our friendship over a bad batch of muffins. It would take a lot more than that for our friendship to end.”

Ella nodded in understanding and as did Ailish and Soren. The three of them watched in silence as Andrew and Lucca polished off the remaining muffins. When the muffins were all eaten, Lucca brusheed the crumbs out of the container and put the lid on it, snapping it shut.

“I’ll have this washed and returned at the soonest possible convenience,” Lucca vowed.

Ailish and Soren clasped their hands in satisfaction. 

Ella’s mouth turned up into a smile. “I’ll let Victor and Jasper know.”

Andrew grinned. “Send my compliments to Victor. He makes the best muffins.” 

Ailish smiled as well. ‘I will.”

“You got it.” Soren gave a smug smile.“He deserves to know that his muffins were praised.”

Lucca glanced from one person to another. “We had best get into the training room before we waste all the daylight hours.”

He picked up the container and put it under his arm. He opened the door to the house and Ella, Andrew, Ailish and Soren followed Lucca inside. They made a quick detour through the kitchen where Lucca took the opportunity to set the empty muffin container down by the sink to be washed later.

Lucca led the group through the house, through the back door, through the backyard and into the training room. A light flickered on when they entered the training room, emitting a warm glow and brightening the room.

The crew sat down on the floor, in a circle. 

A circle is an excellent formation for a team and for learning, Ella thought to herself. We’re both learning and becoming a team. The circle formation will be quite useful.

Everyone turned to Ella, waiting for her to take the lead.

Ella clasped her hands over her lap. “Thanks for letting us use this space, Lucca.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Lucca replied. “As I said before, my family doesn’t really use this space much. It’s high time it was used again.”

Ella gave a faint smile. Moving on, she prepared to lay down the groundwork. “I think we should work on the physicality of things today. Being able to use magic is important but it’s important to be able to defend oneself physically when one’s magic isn’t in use. Using magic takes a lot out of you and you need to be prepared with a backup plan.”

This was acknowledged with a nod. Soren winced a bit, uncomfortable with the idea of combat.

Ella observed this and gave Soren a reassuring look. “Of course, violence should be a last resort. Resorting to violence first will turn us into the monstrous beings and people we are up against.”

“Hear, hear!” Relief passed over Soren’s face. “It’s important to try and solve things peacefully at first if at all possible.”

Andrew looked at Soren, his face grim. “Unfortunately, it’s not always possible and we need to be prepared for that. Sometimes you have to fight for what is right and for what you believe in.”

Lucca put his hands on the floor behind him. “As much as I hate to say it, I agree with Andrew on this one. But I agree with Soren on this point: Violence should be used as a last resort if at all possible.”

“So what are we going to do today?” Ailish prompted.

“We are going to spar the way Aunt Mabel and I used to during my eight years on the run,” was Ella’s answer. “We’re going to work together to get stronger with our fighting techniques so that we can get stronger with our powers and get as close to mastering them as we can.”

The friends got up from where they were seated.

Lucca glanced over at a closet on the other side of the room.“Do we need practice swords?”

Ella followed Lucca’s gaze. “Yes.”

Lucca dashed over to the other side of the room and dug around in the closet until he produced four practice swords. He brought them over to where the rest of the group stood and handed one each to Ella, to Ailish and to Andrew.

“I’ll referee.” Soren stepped aside and went over to the back wall. “You need to be in pairs to spar.”

Soren counted everyone in and the sparring commenced. Ella sparred with Ailish while Lucca sparred with Andrew. As Ella and Ailish sparred, Ella corrected her stance and her technique. Their sparring went on until Ella defeated her.

Ella raised her voice so everyone could hear her. “It’s time to switch pairs.” 

Andrew came over to work with Ailish.

Ella patted Andrew on the back. “Can you work with her on her blocking technique?”

“Sure thing,” Andrew replied, his voice full of kindness. “Everyone has weak spots. She needs to know where hers are.”

Ella gave Ailish a warm smile. “You did great.”

Ailish smiled wryly. “I did? I thought I failed, I mean you defeated me.”

Ella patted her shoulder.“The best way to learn is by failing.” Ella says.

“I don’t like failing,” Ailish said with a grimace.

“No one does,” Ella consoled. “It reminds us to try our best. You’re going to get better each time. Do you trust me?”

Ailish met her gaze. “Yes, I do.”

Ella gestured towards Andrew. “What about Andrew, do you trust him?”

Ailish pressed her lips into a tight smile. “Yeah.”

Ella patted her shoulder again. “Excellent. You’re working with him next. Andrew’s going to help you with your defense. Okay?”

Ailish blinked a couple of times. “Okay.”

Ella patted Ailish’s shoulder one last time before returning it to her side.“I’ll leave you to it. While you two work on defense, it’s my turn to spar with Lucca.”

Ailish gave a final nod as Andrew took Ella’s place. Ella walked over Lucca, holding her practice sword aloft. 

Lucca met her gaze. “Ready?”

“Ready,” Ella replied.