The sun rose just above the city wall, blinding me through my eyelids. Finally, with a good night of sleep, I could feel some of my strength returning to my legs. Like before I pulled the cover away and sat upright. I let out a roaring yawn and was thankful for how comfortable I was.

  Climbing out of the bed I saw a set of clothes on the table. I was sure they weren’t there the night before, but I figured Emilie dropped them off for me at some point. After all, I’ve been wearing the same pair of pants for several days, and I was walking around shirtless covered in bloody bandages.

  I grabbed the dark green shirt and held it just in front of my body. It seemed it would fit just fine. Just slightly looser than I was accustomed to.

  I threw the shirt over my head and guided my wounded arm through the sleeve. I continued changing into the dark blue pants I was provided.

  For a moment I checked myself in the new outfit. Eyeing the legs and sleeve the best I could with no mirror.

  “I look like a drunken farmer,” I said to myself disappointed with the look.

  I stepped outside and peered into Emilie’s room. She had left the door open, but she wasn’t there. Continuing around the corner into the dining area I found David leaning over the fireplace cooking some eggs in a small pan.

  “Erm, David?” I mumbled, “where could I find your sister?”

  He looked at me for a moment, but his eyes quickly darted back to his soon-to-be meal.

  “She’s getting firewood in the forest,” he said with his eyes locked onto the sizzling eggs, “east of here.”

  Feeling unwelcome around David I set outside for the first time in search of Emilie. I never properly thanked her.

  I listened to David’s instructions and followed the sun towards the east. Holding my left arm to my side to prevent it from swaying. I felt healthier than the night before, but I was still injured.

  The loosely packed trees of the nearby forest grew larger. As I entered the first wall of smaller shrubs I heard an echoing, repetitive, thud of wood in the far distance.

  I followed the sound but the echoes grew louder as well. Soon I found myself surrounded by the sounds of an ax against wood.

  The thundering was then replaced by the splintering of the tree and rustling of leaves. In the far distance, a narrow tree fell to one side.

  “Guess I found her,” I said aloud.

  Zig zagging through the ever-growing density of trees I came across an opening. The ground littered with small stumps, and in the center was Emilie. She was dragging the small tree onto a small sled with another tree she had cut down before my arrival. After she did so she saw me standing between the trees.

  “Oh!” She yelled, placing one hand over her heart, “I didn’t realize you were there.”

  “Sorry,” I said apologetically, “I was just looking for you.”

  “What for?”

  “I…,” I mumbled, “I just never got a chance to thank you before.”

  “No need to thank me.” She said with her enthusiastic voice. She took a few steps forward and threw herself onto one of the tree stumps, using it as a stool.

  Following her lead, I did the same.

  “Well…,” I mumbled again, “the truth is I’m not entirely sure how I got here, but judging by the wound on my arm you must have saved my life.”

  I looked into her eyes to see Emilie leaning off the edge of her stump. It was clear she was in shock by this statement.

  “You mean you don’t know?” She said.

  “Er, no?”

  She collected herself for a moment before saying, “Eric, I didn’t want to bring it up before, but you have to know.”

  “What are you—“

  “You fell from the sky!” She interrupted, “the sky cracked open and spit you out.”

  I froze.

  How could this be? I didn’t understand, but the hazy memory of the wind on my face just after my escape from the demons suddenly made sense.

  Emilie must have seen straight through me instantly.

  “You know what happened don’t you,” she accused.

  “What no!” I lied, “I don’t understand, how could that have happened?”

  “Eric, tell me what happened.”

  “I can’t,” I said under my breath.

  She stood on her feet, looked down on me, and pointed towards the sky.

  “You fell from the sky,” she said, “That isn’t normal. Tell me what you are.”

  “I CAN’T!” I screamed with tears building in my eyes.

  Damnit, I really am pathetic aren’t I.

  She sighed as she gave up. Throwing herself back onto her stump in the process.

  “Just promise me you aren’t putting me or David in any more danger,” she said calmly.

  “I promise. I’d protect the two of you if it ever came to that!”

  She smiled.

  “Good luck with that in your condition,” she said, hinting at my arm, “you can stay for as long as you need. It does get lonely here after a while.”

  “Thank you so much,” I whimpered.

  “Come on, I’d like to get this wood to the house sooner than later.”

  I stood upright and said, “Right, I’d be happy to cook some for you if you’d like. To repay you for last-“

  She interrupted by shoving her hand in my face and squatting into a low stance.

  “Quiet,” she hushed. She slowly stepped towards a bow and quiver resting against the sled.

  I then realized why. In the far distance, trees were swaying and the leaves were rustling. A demon’s boney spine was barely visible from where I was standing.

  Fear once again welcomed itself back into my body. Flooding every corner of my soul. Flashbacks of the demon’s den blinded my sight. My knees collapsed and I tripped over my own feet.

  Crawling backward, away from the demon. I was unconsciously mumbling in fear.

  “No no no no, please not again.”

  A soft hand found its way onto mine. Realizing it was Emilie I somehow felt more comfortable. Or at least as comfortable as I could near a demon.

  “Shh,” she whispered, “just watch.”

  She pulled an arrow from the quiver and drew the bowstring back as far as she could manage. However, it was not aimed towards the demon at all. Rather, it was aimed just above it.

  She released the string and the arrow disappeared into the treetops. Disturbing the leaves and cracking the branches. Then I heard the loud thud of the arrow against solid wood.

  The demon grunted as it lifted its head above its body. Without thinking it charged the source of the sounds.

  “Hurry,” Emilie called as she began pulling her wood sled at a slow walking pace.

  Nervously, I walked by her side.

  “Shouldn’t we go faster?” I asked.

  “The demons are vicious, but they aren’t the most intelligent creatures,” she clarified, “and besides, this thing is heavy.”

  “I see,” I whispered to myself.

  She looked at me with a smile and said, “yeah, that one won’t even know we were there.”

  This was a relief. Emilie clearly knew much more about the demons than I did, but I suppose that makes sense. I grew up within the walls after all.

  We exited the forest and walked the rest of the way in peace. Emilie wheezed as sweat poured down her face. I felt helpless, but I knew it was best I rest before I put in too much work.

  Soon we arrived at the house. Emile set the wood by the side of the house to be chopped later, and I opened the door to be greeted by David cleaning off his plate from earlier.

  “You’re back early,” he said as Emilie followed me in, “did anything happen?”

Emilie smiled and said, “not much, Vincent here just wanted to help me out.”

  At first, I wondered why she didn’t tell him about the demon, but I assumed she didn’t want to worry him with the issue. Still, seeing a demon this close made me reconsider the safety of this place.

  From that day forward I spent every night casting spells in my room. Trying to sharpen my skills and stamina. However, with two others in the house, I had to keep it small.

  No elemental spells such as fire, ice, or lightning. Due to the risk of damaging the surroundings.

No spells that would create any loud sounds or vibrations such as the barrier spell.

  And finally, no spells would create unnatural or unfamiliar odors such as healing spells. Which meant I had to deal with my pain until I healed naturally.

  Every night I would rearrange the words in my book so I could practice the simple spells. Most of my arsenal was off-limits, but I worked with what I had.

  I would collect small objects like sticks or leaves. Using these I would work dissipation or levitation. For levitation, I would sometimes throw in Beatles or Garden Snakes for an added challenge.

  I worked on both stamina and range in this time. By the end, I was comfortably capable of dissipating multiple objects back to back from across the room, so long as I had a line of sight of the object in mind.

  On top of that, I was able to levitate objects under twenty pounds. One night I even managed to unlock my door using this ability.

  A few months had passed and I was able to use my arm once again. As soon as I was able Emilie put me to work chopping wood. Unlike Emilie, I chose to chop the firewood in the forest rather than take the tree back.

  When Emilie asked why I did this I told her I liked to meditate surrounded by nature. Which wasn’t a lie. From time to time I would meditate to collect my thoughts, but the truth is I spent most of this time training my spells.

  Using magic I was able to collect a full sled’s worth of firewood in a matter of minutes, which gave me plenty of extra time.

  Just simply focusing pure energy at the end of one hand and concentrating it into a flat disk I could throw it towards the base of a tree, which would tear through it easily. Sometimes the energy disk would cut into a second tree behind the first.

  With a similar process I would make a fist and focus the energy into the shape of a blade and shave off all of the branches, then I would cut the tree into evenly spaced segments. Lastly, I chopped each segment into four pieces down its length.

  I repeated this process three or four times before I could continue with anything else. The area was clear of any witnesses, so I could perform even the flashiest spells I could manage without worry.

  Many spells, especially combat spells, are elemental. Ice, fire, lightning, and wind are all examples of these elements. Each of these elements represents the mental state of the user.

  Theoretically, any person can master any element, but the element that is most compatible with the user will be the most powerful. I’ve never been very interested in combat before now, and of the four elements I’ve only ever attempted to use fire, so I had no way to be sure which element was meant for me.

  To compare to the rest I tried a simple fire spell. Representing wisdom and knowledge, I focused the energy into my arm and converted it into a flammable source for a fire to start. As I concentrated it into a ball at the palm of my hand I threw it with all of my force towards a helpless tree, creating a spark just as I released it.

  The ball erupted into flames. It caused the temperature of the air to rise to an almost unbearable heat but died out just as quickly. Leaving scattered flames in the grass leading towards the tree, and the tree itself unharmed. Perhaps it would be useful for close-range attacks, but it wasn’t what I was looking for.

  Next, I tried ice. Since I’ve represented the coldness of one’s heart I had little hope for this. With the same tactic, I threw the charged spell in the same path as the first. It only left a few particles of ice and a chilly breeze.

  Wind was next, representing pride and spirit. I charged the spell and threw just as before. Unlike the previous attempts, this one brought high hopes. Winds at the speed of a low-level hurricane rushed through the forest, causing branches to crack and roots to pull off the ground.

  After the wind cleared I inspected the damage I had caused. It wasn’t much, but dozens of trees now rested at an angle. I truly believed this was the one. I thought if I worked on it enough I could improve my skills in wind spells, but I had yet to try the last of the elements.

  To respect the tests I calmed myself and focused on a lightning spell. Unlike fire and ice, I couldn’t just focus lightning into a ball, and unlike wind, I couldn’t manipulate anything in my surroundings. Lightning was unique.

  With lightning, I had to focus and contain an electric charge in my body, and release it all in an instant. The higher the collected charge the more powerful the spell.

  Representing clarity and creativity, but most importantly fear. I stretched out one arm and built up the charge. The hair on my body began to lift and small amounts of electricity found its way through my pores, causing small flashes of lightning arcing from my skin.

  I tried to release the spell as I had with the others, but nothing happened. The electric charge is still stored in my body. I tried again and again but the spell wouldn’t cast. With every passing second, I could feel the charge getting stronger within me, and I began to panic.

  Soon my skin started to burn, and it felt as if my blood was boiling. In a pathetic attempt to release the power I started flapping my arm like a madman, or possibly a chicken.

  Although I’m not sure why I thought it would work, I stopped flapping for a moment and snapped my fingers in the direction of the tree instead. This was the trick I needed.

  A roaring explosion erupted from the tip of my index finger. The unexpected burst of energy lifted me off my feet and threw me into the dirt flat on my back.

  My hair was standing straight on its tips and my ears rang, but I managed to get back onto my two feet just in time to see three trees fall one after the other with dark black burn marks at their bases.

  The targeted tree was completely unharmed, but it was clear that the lightning strike zig-zagged around it. This was my element.