Reincarnated As An Archmage’s Daughter

The eyes blinked.

Hania's heart stopped. Then started again, twice as fast.

Don't move. Don't breathe. Maybe it only sees movement.

The eyes drifted closer through the darkness. The growl came again. Louder.

Okay. Okay. Think. What would Lusha do? Lusha would have webbed it to the ceiling and asked if it wanted tea.

What would Kofery do? Kofery would have calmly assessed the threat, identified the optimal attack vector, and then—wait, no. That was combat mage Kofery. She kept forgetting because he panicked about milk temperature. But Kofery wasn't here. She was alone.

The creature stepped into the dim light.

It was a big bear. Its head was the size of her entire torso. Its fur was black. And its teeth—oh boy, its teeth.

Hania's mind was running at full speed, but her body was doing something else entirely. Her lower lip trembled. Her eyes went huge and wet. Her tiny hands shook uncontrollably.

Stop that. Stop looking scared. Predators sense fear. You're making it worse.

But she couldn't stop.

The bear lowered its massive head. Its nostrils flared, tracking the scent of honey that clung to her clothes, her hair and skin.

Oh… It wants the honey. Give it ALL the honey.

She pulled out the chunk of honeycomb. It was still dripping. "Nice bear," she whispered. "Good bear. Pwetty bear. I have... I have honey. Do you want honey?"

The bear took a step forward. "Bears like honey, right?" She was babbling now. "In the stories, bears always eat honey and then they get fat and happy and go to sleep. You look like you could use a nap. A long nap. Maybe forever— No, not that… that’s not what I meant— I"

The bear lunged.

She threw herself sideways. The bear's paw slammed into the floor where she had been standing, cracking the rock.

"WAH!"

She scrambled to her feet and hurled the honeycomb away from her, toward the cave entrance. The golden chunk bounced across the stone. "Go get it! It's yummy! It's the best honey ever!"

The bear's head snapped toward the honey. Its nostrils flared. Then it turned back to her.

Oh no. That's not normal bear behavior.

The bear took another step toward her. Fight, her mind screamed. You have to fight.

She raised her shaking hands.

"Fire Lance!" A tiny spark. It fizzled against the bear's hide. "Force Bolt!" A puff of air. "Silk!" Thin strands shot from her fingertips and wrapped around the bear's front leg.

The bear looked down at the silk. Back at her. Then it shook its leg once, and the silk snapped. "That's not fair," she whimpered. "That's Lusha's silk. That's supposed to be strong."

The bear took another step.

She threw everything she had. Every spell she knew, even though it's weak now. The bear shrugged them all off.

"GO AWAY!" she screamed. "I'M FIVE! I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE! I HAVEN'T EVEN HAD A PROPER ROMANCE ARC YET! NO ONE HAS EVEN HELD MY HAND ROMANTICALLY! THIS IS SO UNFAIR!"

The bear did not care about her romance arc. It raised one paw. Hania's back hit the cave wall. There was nowhere else to go.

This is how I die… Eaten by a bear… My past self would be so embarrassed.

Suddenly the temperature dropped so fast her breath turned to fog. Frost spiderwebbed across the stone floor. Ice crystals formed on the walls.

The bear froze.

One moment it was there, its paw raised to strike. The next moment it was a statue. Black ice shimmered in the dim light, preserving every detail: the ridge of its spine, the curve of its claws, the frozen snarl on its muzzle.

Hania stared at the frozen bear. Then she looked past it.

Dravin stood at the cave entrance.

"Ursus Crassus Noctivagus," he said. "The Night Stalker Bear. Highly dangerous and incredibly rare. Their fur is prized for its mana-conductive properties."

He stepped over the frozen bear. His boots crunched against the ice.

"Hunters spend months tracking a single specimen."

He crouched down in front of her.

"You," he said, "were supposed to be drawing circles."

Hania stared at him. Then she burst into tears.

"I THOUGHT YOU WEREN'T COMING!" she wailed. "I THOUGHT—THE SPELL DIDN'T LEAVE A TRACE—I THOUGHT YOU COULDN'T FIND ME—"

She grabbed fistfuls of his coat and buried her face in his chest, soaking his robes with snot and tears and probably honey.

Dravin's hands hovered at his sides. He had no idea what to do.

Slowly, awkwardly, one hand came up. It rested on the back of her head. His fingers didn't move.

She cried until she couldn't cry anymore. He held her the whole time.

When her sobs quieted to hiccups, she pulled back and looked up at him. Her face was blotchy. Her nose was running. There was honey in her hair.

"How did you find me?"

He reached out and touched the silver thread on her belt loop. "I put this on you when you were a year old. You were not supposed to know about it."

"I saw it when I was three."

"I know."

"You knew I knew?"

"You are not as subtle as you think."

She sniffled. "Then why didn't you come sooner?"

He was quiet for a moment. "Because you needed to learn that actions have consequences."

"I almost got eaten by a bear!"

"I was never going to let you get eaten."

"But—"

"But you needed to believe that you might."

She stared at him. "That's mean," she said. "You're mean."

"Hmm."

"...I'm still mad at you."

She sniffled again. Then she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him as hard as her body could manage. "I'm glad you came," she mumbled into his shoulder.

His hand came up again, resting on her back. "Hmm."

★★★

A whine came from the back of the cave. Dravin's hand tightened on her back.

Two small shapes emerged. Cubs. One white. One black.

They were the size of large dogs, their fur matted and dirty. The white one was limping badly, its paw bent at an awkward angle. The black one stayed pressed against it, nudging it forward with its nose every few steps.

Hania slipped from Dravin's arms and took a step toward them. The black cub immediately positioned itself between her and the white one, a low growl rumbling in its throat. It was terrified. It was also ready to fight her.

"They're babies," Hania whispered.

"The mother was protecting them. That's why she was so aggressive." Dravin's voice was quiet. "You were between her and her den."

Hania looked at the frozen bear. The cloudy yellow eyes. The snarl frozen on its muzzle. Then at the white cub, which had collapsed onto its side, its ribs visible through its matted fur. The black cub curled around its sibling, still trying to guard it from the predators that had already won.

The white cub lifted its head. It looked at the frozen bear. It tried to stand, took one limping step toward its mother, and fell.

Hania's chest hurt.

"I killed their mother," she whispered.

"No you didn't."

"But because of me you—"

"She was corrupted. Look at her eyes. She would have turned on them eventually." Dravin paused. "I did them a mercy.”

It didn't feel like mercy. She crouched down. The black cub tensed. The white cub lifted its head again. Its eyes were pale blue. It looked at Hania. Then, very slowly, it dragged itself toward her, its limp paw scraping against the floor.

The black cub whined in alarm. But it followed.

The white cub reached her. It sniffed her honey-sticky fingers. Then it pressed its nose into her palm and let out an exhausted sigh.

Hania looked up at Dravin. Her eyes were still wet.

"Can I keep them?"

He looked at the cubs. Looked at her. Looked at the frozen mother.

"They will need to be examined."

“So ‘YES’?”

“...Fine.”

She named them Snow and Ember.

Snow was the white one, the one who limped, who pressed against Hania's side and refused to leave. Ember was the black one, always positioned between Snow and anything that might be a threat.

Dravin carried them through the portal. Hania walked beside him, her hand tucked into his coat. When they stepped out into the Tower's main hall, Kofery was waiting. His face went pale.

"Where have you BEEN?!" he shouted. "Do you have any idea—we searched—Lusha sent her spiders—I thought—" He stopped. Stared at the cubs. "Are those BEARS?!"

"Snow and Ember," Hania said, her voice tired. "They're mine. Dada said yes."

"I did not say yes."

"You said fine."

"Fine is not yes."

"It's fine-adjacent."

Kofery's hand instinctively went to the blade at his hip, combat mage reflex, even when he was panicking.

Lusha appeared in the doorway behind him. She smiled.

"Well," she said. "Welcome back."

★★★

Three months later, Snow and Ember had grown.

They slept in Hania's room. They ate Kofery's shoes. They had been webbed to the ceiling by Lusha twice and had learned not to chase the spiders. Snow's limp was better. Ember still shadowed her, still positioned itself between her and every open door.

Hania sat in the training room, looking at the domain spell still drawn on the floor. She hadn't erased it. Snow limped into the room, followed by Ember. They curled up at her feet. She petted their heads.

"Next time," she told them, "we're bringing backup."

The cubs whuffed in agreement.

Somewhere in the Tower, Dravin watched through a scrying mirror. His expression was unreadable, but the corner of his mouth twitched.

End of Side Story