The first day felt more like his training than Bubblegum’s. Cyrille stayed on him. He’d chased down Bubblegum, which the bird had enjoyed far too much, tried to lead her around, to differing success, then released her to start the entire cycle again. Plantfolk didn’t have muscles to get sore, but they still needed energy. Even with the constant sunshine of the grasslands, his body couldn’t keep up with the demand, and by the time the sun set and Cyrille finally let him stop, Namu felt every pound of his wooden frame. He didn’t even notice the human until he almost ran him over.

  The man was short by Plantfolk standards, only coming up to Namu’s chest, but looked average for the humans Namu had seen. He was also a bit on the thin side, although not to the point of being unhealthy. With his long-sleeved plaid shirt, loose jeans, thick belt, and wide-brimmed cowboy hat, he certainly looked the part of a rancher.

  The rancher tipped his hat. “Hi, fellow rancher. Sorry if I startled you.”

  Namu’s tired mind had a hard time following. All he wanted was to root on the spot. He glanced back at Cyrille, who shrugged, took Bubblegum’s lead, and walked off. Namu glared at the Beastfolk’s receding back.

  “I couldn’t help but notice your rather striking MaGriff,” the man said.

  His voice was slightly deep and gravelly, with an edge of insistence to it. Namu stifled a sigh. It looked like rooting was still a way off.

  “Uh, yeah,” Namu said. “It just…uh…happened.”

  The man nodded as if he’d said something profound. “Uh-huh. Mutation. Not many lucky enough to get one of those so soon. Even fewer to get two. But hey, where are my manners? I’m Warren, owner of Thornbush Ranch.”

  Warren stuck a hand out in a typical human greeting. Namu shook his hand, careful not to squeeze too hard.

  “I’m Namu…of Apex Ranch.”

  Warren pulled his hand back and nodded. “Apex Ranch, huh? I’ll keep the name in mind. I have a gut feeling you’ll be an interesting one to watch, and my gut’s rarely wrong. But…it’s late, isn’t it? I should get back to my ranch and rest up. Tomorrow’s another busy day, after all.”

  Warren turned on his heel and trotted off toward another human holding onto a blue MaGriff juvenile. Or, human-like Rebirth, anyway. The fading light had hit Warren’s eyes as he turned. It reflected silver back, a telltale sign of a nocturnal Werefolk. Many believed Werefolk instincts bordered on precognition, although Namu never put much stock in such things.

  *****

  Everything merged. Early mornings, grueling days, exhausted nights where Namu stayed so deeply rooted he couldn’t even feel the surrounding soil. Warren didn’t come around again. Likely, he was embroiled in training his own MaGriff. That suited Namu just fine. By the end of the first week, he’d devolved into grunts, anyway. Conversation was well beyond him.

  Cyrille, however, seemed to have an endless supply of stamina. That fact boggled Namu more than anything else. Not much shook the crocodilian Beastfolk’s calm, but going too long without an hours-long laze in the grass, or better yet, in water, was a surefire way to unlock his snappish side. Usually. He’d become more curt as the days wore on, but he never lost his patience. Namu hoped some of that was because he was getting better at handling Bubblegum, but Namu was realistic enough to know that couldn’t be the only reason.

  As the last days of Bubblegum’s training counted down, Namu finally understood. While he could barely put one foot in front of the other, Cyrille was practically bouncing. The old horse trainer was alive and well in his friend.

  The red and gold of evening deepened, gaining bits of blue and purple. Namu called Bubblegum. She’d been running sprints up one side of their hill and down the other side. It took her a few seconds to stop. Not bad, considering when they’d started, he would have had to chase her down.

  Bubblegum trilled as she trotted over. A big screen covered her up.

  Namu closed the screen to admire his MaGriff. While she had grown steadily since hatching, she’d transformed when she hit the juvenile stage. She lost the last of her baby characteristics, like overly large eyes, stubby beak, and claws. A similar transformation had just happened in a puff of glitter.

  She’d gained muscle at last, and she’d lost the snake-like look to her neck. Even so, she was far from bulky. She remained thinner and longer-legged than her parents. Namu was even more glad Arinae didn’t consider his weight when he rode. If it did, there’d be no way he could climb onto the sleek MaGriff’s back. But as it stood, the smell of strawberries mixed with the glitter. Her speed had nearly doubled, and now he could race her. All the fatigue weighing him down shifted into a feeling of floating.

  Cyrille chuckled. “Amazing, isn’t it? To see all the effort you put in come to fruition.”

  Namu nodded, his head trying to convey what his tired tongue could not.

  WARNING: JUVENILE TRAINING FOR MAGRIFF “BUBBLEGUM” IS COMPLETE

  MAGRIFF “BUBBLEGUM” NO LONGER MEETS THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE JUVENILE TRAINING AREA “GRASSLAND HILLS”

  PLEASE REMOVE MAGRIFF WITHIN TWENTY MINUTES TO AVOID A FORCED TELEPORT

  Namu didn’t want to see what a forced teleport entailed, so he gladly turned to open a portal to Apex Ranch.

  Warren trotted up the hill. Namu stifled a groan. Having a conversation at the moment was so far down Namu’s list of priorities it was nonexistent. Warren seemed plucky, though. Perhaps the other person Namu had seen was the Werefolk’s trainer. Or maybe the Werefolk simply had insane amounts of energy.

  “Hey,” Warren called out as he came to a stop. “Namu, wasn’t it? I couldn’t help but notice your MaGriff grew up. How’d its training go?”

  Namu could almost hear Mira raving in his ear about giving sensitive information to strangers. He was pretty sure MaGriff stats counted, and his fatigue kept his usual desire to share well in check.

  “Good enough,” he mumbled. Namu shrugged half-heartedly, hoping to get his unwillingness to talk across.

  Warren grinned, maybe a little too wide. “Is that so? Ours is going quite nicely, if my gut is right. Of course, we have a couple of days yet on this MaGriff, so I can’t know for sure, but I’ve no reason to doubt it.”

  Namu remembered their first conversation going similarly. The Werefolk put a lot of faith in his gut.

  “Great!” Cyrille said.

  Namu jumped. Cyrille had come up beside him without a sound, and now stood closer to Warren than was polite, a toothy grin on his face.

  “Training sure is hard work,” Cyrille continued. “We need to stay focused every second. It really takes it out of you, wouldn’t you agree?”

  Warren frowned. “Of course, of course. A bit of friendly talk can help ease the pain of the grind, though.”

  Cyrille nodded enthusiastically. “Quite so. But talks are nicer when one is relaxed. Unfortunately, we haven’t had a lot of time to do that lately, so if you’ll excuse us, our ranch is calling.”

  Warren’s expression darkened, but Namu’s view was cut off when Cyrille opened a portal and ushered him and Bubblegum through. Namu caught Warren’s complaint about wanting to exchange guest keys before the training area flicked out of existence.

  *****

  It wasn’t until the evening of the next day that Namu felt slightly normal. He'd rooted more than he ever remembered doing before. He came to his senses when the sun hung low on the horizon.

  Now, he, Mira, and Cyrille were lounging in the ranch house, enjoying some tea Yinying had left for them. With Bubblegum’s training complete, the Nightfolk wouldn’t be coming by for a while, although Yinying made it clear they’d enjoyed every minute on Apex Ranch. Even Mira acknowledged Yinying’s hard work and dependability. Cyrille hadn’t said the same of Warren.

  “He was digging,” Cyrille said. His lips pulled back in a snarl. It was an expression Namu rarely saw from his laid-back friend.

  “He knew we were tired and tried to use that to get info he shouldn’t have.”

  Mira snorted. “Yeah, I bet he’d have loved to know exactly what he was up against. That way he’d know whether we were an easy win. That’s why we don’t open up to strangers.”

  She stared at Namu as she said the last part, as if she were a mother chastising her kid.

  Namu frowned. “I wasn’t planning on giving stats to a competitor.”

  “You don’t typically plan when it comes to talking to others. That’s the issue.”

  “Nothing happened,” Cyrille said. “Now we know he’s someone to look out for.”

  “All other ranchers are others to look out for,” Mira shot back.

  Namu noted that she didn’t exclude Yinying. As expected. Yinying would have to prove their innocence many times over before Mira would consider trusting them. Her distrust bred caution, though, so Namu couldn’t argue. Instead, after vowing to take care in his social endeavors, he steered the conversation to the future of Apex Ranch.

  *****

  The now-familiar clay-red track stretched into the distance. Rebirths roared their support of their favored racers from high atop the cliffs, held back by the flimsy wooden fence. Namu had followed Mira’s advice and stayed quiet around the other jockeys.

  He nearly came unseated as Bubblegum lurched under him, coming up on her toes and slamming back down in annoyance at the gate keeping her from the track. He’d only had a week to ride her at the ranch, and she’d proven to be far more of a spitfire than her father. Namu had hit the ground more times than in his first days on Mangrove, but he didn’t intend to today. Not after all the jumps Bubblegum had trained on.

  The countdown hit zero, and the gates flew open. Bubblegum launched like a feathered rocket. He’d worked on speed and agility, and it had paid off. She ran abreast of the frontrunner by the first turn.

  The rock jump loomed ahead. Namu gathered Bubblegum’s reins and tucked lower. Her steps stuttered. Her speed had brought her too close too fast, but the spitfire hesitated only a second. The landing sent vibrations through Namu’s core. A number flashed in the corner of Namu’s eye. He barely caught it before it vanished, but he knew what it was. Her health. The landing had hurt her, although not seriously. He’s almost forgotten about the health stat. The first race, understandably, had few dangers. Future races weren’t likely to be so kind.

  Namu left that concern for later as he and Bubblegum rounded the next corner and entered the pillar obstacles. Bubblegum flowed between them like water. She was fast and agile, but she was not the only one. Two other MaGriffs had passed her on the jumps and still held a small lead.

  They took the third turn. Here, the track curved up, then down before a tight turn, which led to the finish line. They didn’t have much time, yet Bubblegum ran all out. Even so, she wasn’t closing the gap between her and the lead MaGriffs.

  A shimmer. It rippled up the cliff face. Just as Yinying had said it would. Namu pulled Bubblegum close to the wall, and just as it curved outward, he yanked her reins hard to the right. The crowd gasped. To onlookers, it looked like he’d just run his MaGriff into a wall, yet instead of splatting against the rock, he and Bubblegum slipped through. The illusion gave way without even a tingle.

  A tunnel carved right through the cliff opened up before them. Unlike the main track, the path was straight. Bubblegum lengthened her stride, devouring the distance until a sharp left loomed. Much like with the jump, she didn’t slow. She barreled toward the wall until Namu pulled back on the reins.

  She squawked in annoyance, but slowed enough to take the turn without doing more than scraping Namu’s leg on the rock as they passed. The illusory cliff face ripped open in front of them. It was see-through from the inside, and it showed a clear shot to the finish line with no other MaGriffs in sight.

  Namu let the reins go slack. She needed no encouragement. Bubblegum’s muscles bunched and extended under Namu, carrying them into the finishing stretch. The crowd’s yells grew deafening. The previous leading MaGriffs came into view and gave chase. Just as Bubblegum couldn’t catch up to them, they had no chance of catching up to her now that she was in the lead. She passed the finish line with a full six feet between her and second place.

  MAGRIFF ABILITY: FRONTRUNNER UNLOCKED

  Namu had just enough presence of mind to appreciate that the Goddess hadn’t popped a screen up in front of his face before the screams of the crowd drowned out all but pure exhilaration. Some screams sounded ecstatic, while others certainly did not. Namu didn’t care either way. He rode the crashing waves of sound, letting them shake his core.