Lily’s hands were going numb. Her magic was running out. She had already tried lighting a tree on fire directly and it hadn’t worked because she couldn’t sustain the fire long enough to get it started.

In desperation, she had started gathering smaller pieces as quickly as she could to start a fire, but the heat in her body was dwindling and with it her life itself.

She didn’t even know what would burn and what wouldn’t. Lily wasn’t prepared for this, and the small bundle of twigs, bark, and leaves she had gotten together might still be too wet to light up, but she couldn’t find anything drier to use and her hands were going to be useless soon. She gathered her fire starting kit beneath the tree for some extra shelter from the wind.

This was her last chance. She had to stop herself from just pouring all of her magic into the flame spell. If she incinerated this pile of fuel too quickly for the fire to build that would be a whole new problem.

She found the spot that looked easiest to light up, and applied the heat and convergence glyphs, and focused with all her might. If she could just focus heat in that spot for long enough for it to light up–

Fwoosh

The fire came to life. It was tiny, but her tinder was ignited. Lily got down and blew softly on it, adding some more fuel.

“Please, please!”

The fire grew agonizingly slowly, but it was growing. She split her focus between adding more fuel and trying to warm her hands enough to retain dexterity. Visible smoke began to rise, and the flames blossomed across more of her little pile of fuel. The desperate girl breathed a sigh of relief, and eyed her surroundings for more burnable items to add.

Lily’s teeth were chattering, and the wind and snowflakes felt like knives on her skin, but her hands were finally starting to gain a little bit of feeling back from being near the fire. If she could just grow it until she had a little bubble of warm safe space she could figure out what to do from here!

A sudden noise from overhead caught her attention, as the tree shifted slightly. She put the pieces together one second too late. The heat from her fire, the snow resting in the branches of the tree above her. There was a frighteningly gentle sound as the snow fell from above, directly onto the fire that had heated it enough to shift, snuffing it instantly. Darkness enveloped her again.

“No!”

Lily cried out loudly, and dove, digging with her bare hands in the hopes that there would be even a cinder left. There was nothing but a soggy pile of half burned tinder to be found.

That was it. Her last hope, snuffed out because of a tiny little mistake. She was going to die here. She couldn’t build a fire like that a second time. She didn’t have the time left. She knew it. Tears rose to her eyes and froze before they had finished making it down her face.

Why? Hadn’t Entity B called this a gift? What had she done wrong? Packed the wrong items? Cast the spell wrong? She was going to die and she didn’t even know where she had messed up. Of course that was how her life was going to end. Of course her incompetence would catch up with her eventually. She didn’t know why she had ever thought for a second that she could do this. She was–

She thought she might have heard a sound. It was quiet, and off in the distance. But she could have sworn. Maybe it was Star? She mustered her remaining energy and stood, turning towards the noise and trying to see something. Anything. Anyone.

Off in the distance, shining through the trees, she saw a light. She managed a couple steps in that direction. But whatever was causing it was so far off. Deep in the trees. She opened her mouth to cry out, and to her horror found that with the snow fall and her being nearly frozen already, she couldn’t make her voice carry at all.

She thought she heard the sound again. A voice. Not Star, but a voice! It was a voice! Lily did her best to yell, but it might as well have been a mumble! She had to make herself seen. This was her last chance. She might still die even if someone found her, but it was the only thing she could do!

Lily gathered all of the magic she could inside of her, and cast her last hope. It was her light spell, with the remainder of her energy. It faded into being over about a second, gathering into an orb the size of a basketball, that immediately started shrinking when she ran out of energy. But it was shrinking slowly enough. It would last a minute. Maybe two.

The desperate frozen girl fell forward into the snow. Suddenly, it didn’t feel so cold. The snow felt like a blanket as it covered her, shielding her from the wind. She could hardly keep her eyes open.

Lily blinked.

She was being dragged through the snow on her back. Someone had wrapped her in a little more clothing, and was dragging her. She tried to say thank you, but her mouth wouldn’t open. Maybe it was Star after all? Somehow?

Lily tried to communicate, but nothing worked. She raised her hand up. Her scars were glowing, shining in the dark of the night. Wasn’t she out of mana? That was weird. She almost laughed. But the Star shapes reminded her of her missing companion.

Behind her raised hand, the clouds parted slightly and she caught a glimpse of the night sky and– Stars. A clear night’s sky with Stars. That wasn’t right, but she was too tired to consider it right now.

Lily blinked again.

She was in a bed. It was warm. Hot even. Her skin felt like it was burning all over, but she couldn’t move or speak. She wasn’t even sure she was awake. From another room, she thought she heard a deep but feminine voice speaking to itself, but she couldn’t make out any of the words. Lily tried one last time to call out, but nothing came out.

She floated down into herself. Darkness enveloped her.

---

The lost girl had a dream. In the place where sleep and death meet, she met a woman. The strange woman stood much taller than Lily, although the form of her body seemed to shift and change so that the details never quite coalesced into a form Lily could make sense of. One detail always remained the same though. The woman was mutilated. A horrific scar, if such a word could do it justice. It was as if a great beast had reached into the woman’s chest, and gripped her very heart in its claws.

To Lily’s surprise, the woman spoke to her, after a time. Though she could not tell if it had been minutes or hours they had spent together in silence.

“You should not have come here, [Fragment]. I will not tolerate your presence.”

“I don’t even know where ‘here’ is. I don’t want to be here. I just want to go home.”

Lily withered from the revulsion in the woman’s eyes.

“Pathetic.”

“I- I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. I really never should have come here. I’ll leave as soon as I can.”

The woman approached Lily, as she shrank back in fear. The strange woman towered over her. Effortlessly, the huge figure reached out a hand and plunged it into Lily’s chest. The woman was screaming. Lily was screaming. The pain was immeasurable. She could feel the woman’s hand clasp around her heart. She couldn’t think, couldn’t breath, couldn’t–

---

Lily sat up in a cold sweat, breathing raggedly. Her head was swimming, and she felt like an elephant had been sleeping on her chest. She was in bed. Light was shining in through the window, and she could see the snowy boughs of a tree outside. The room itself was sparsely decorated. It looked straight out of a movie cabin in the forest with it’s plain wood textures on everything and clearly hand made items.

Sitting was getting tiring, so Lily laid back down and stared at the unfamiliar ceiling. She was alive. Barely. Again. Someone had come to her rescue. Again. Some stranger? Entity B?

Probably not Star. Star? He had to be nearby, right? Had he been rescued too? He had to be okay. Lily wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she had gotten him killed.

“Star? Are you here?”

Lily croaked. Her voice barely made it past her lips. Her throat was so dry. She craved water--but that wasn't the most important thing right now.

She waited, but there was no response. Lily cursed silently. She had to find him. How could she manage that though? A spell? She didn’t have a spell for talking to him at a distance! How stupid could she be! It was an obvious thing to have created before coming here. Why hadn't she considered that they might get split up? Why hadn't she thought to prepare for that, or even the damn snow? Now she had failed him, and if he was hurt or lost or worse it would be her fault. No. No. Lily tried to get her mind under control.

This would be okay. Whoever had rescued her had probably found him. So, where was he? Maybe he was less hurt, so he was up and around? No, it was unlikely he wouldn’t have been waiting nearby.

Lily got herself together to go look for him. She staggered out of the bed, only to find that someone had undressed her in her sleep. Great. She fashioned the blanket around her like a robe, covering the important bits, and made her way out of the room.

The main house was a small cabin full of the same kind of handmade furnishings. It was a combination living space and kitchen in an L shape around what seemed to be the only room. It was quite cozy, although whoever lived here had a very low tech existence. If Entity B was a master of magic as Lily suspected though, maybe it was less important. Looking around she didn’t see any spell circles though. Curious.

Lily spotted her clothes hanging up by a wood furnace in the center of the room that seemed to be heating the place. It was quite warm, even a little uncomfortably hot for her. She ditched the blanket in favor of her clothes. She shrugged on her simple black T-shirt with a purple heart on the chest, jeans, and her jacket. Her jacket was great for a windy beach town and not at all suited for the snow. But it’s not like she had other options. She’d take the blankets if she had to, but she had to find Star. Maybe she could work a couple spells to help keep her warm before she left?

This was taking too much time. He could be in trouble! It was already daytime. She suspected he wouldn’t freeze to death in this weather, but he could still be alone in a strange place. Or have run into Entity B, and who knows how that would go. Lily was racking her brain trying to come up with a spell that could reach him, but she had no way to reference him in a spell that she could think of. The basement spell had to have some kind of long distance targeting, maybe she could dig out her notes and find a promising glyph?

Her body was not in any condition for magical experiments, and it would take too much time. No. No. No. She wasn’t thinking of anything useful. Lily wanted to hit herself. Think, damn you! Think!

It was no use. Her brain was full of fog and cotton. He was lost and she was to blame. This was her fault. She was lucky she hadn’t died. What had she been thinking? She hadn’t been thinking. Just like always. Otherwise she’d have made a spell to talk to Star from a distance before coming here. Now he was–

Lily heard the sound of footsteps approaching the front door to the cabin. Her heart froze in her chest. Another person. There really was another person here. A stranger. Years of agoraphobia reared its head in an instant. As though it had never changed, never left. She was transformed into the girl shaking as she had to make a phone call she had put off for months. Hiding in her bathroom when the groceries were delivered. Just about pissing herself over a 'meat madness' announcement.

She had never faced this demon of hers. There had been no other people, after all. Just her, and her dog.

“Oh shit.”

Lily ran for the bedroom and shut the door behind her, hyperventilating. What was she doing? She was going to have to confront whoever this was no matter what! It’s not like she could hide! Instinct took over. She was scared. So scared it was overriding her other fears for now.

She heard the front door open, and some heavy footsteps entered. The door closed. Oh god, what was she going to say? What if this person demanded something in return for saving her? She didn’t have anything to give. Was this Entity B? Her mind raced, and then she heard the voice. A deep resonant female voice.

“Miss Outsider? Are you up? Did you find your clothes?”

Lily opened her mouth and tried to croak out an answer but words wouldn’t come. She couldn’t talk to this person! How could she? She wanted to crawl under the bed and die. She forced the feelings down and tried to make herself breathe.

“Uh, Miss Outsider? You are awake right? I’m sorry about undressing you. Your clothes were wet from the melted snow, so they had to come off.”

Say words. She had to say words. Otherwise they were just going to come in to look for her. Any words. This was so stupid. She didn’t even know what she was afraid of! A little voice in her heart responded. “You know what you are afraid of. You’re afraid they will take one look at you and see you for what you are. Failure. Scum. Not worth saving. They should throw you out into the snow.” Lily swallowed nervously. Yes. That is what she was afraid of.

“You are in there, right Miss? Please tell me you didn’t wake up after days just to run off into the snow again...”

Like a hot knife into Lily’s heart, she heard the word ‘days’. She inhaled sharply, and realized then that she had been holding her breath this whole time.

In the battle of her soul, her terror for her friend had won out in an instant. She seized the momentum of this new fear and threw open the door. She faced her savior with wide eyes, her words stammering out of her in a deluge.

“Days!? What do you mean days? Have you seen Star? Please tell me you found him. He’s a dog. He– He’s this tall. White with long fur, kind of puppy shaped, black mark on his forehead, super smart. Did you find him with me?”

The strange girl was wrapped head to toe in snow gear that oddly seemed to include ornamental horns and a pretty realistic scaled tail. She gave Lily the impression of some kind of overly-dedicated viking cosplayer, and she was also quite tall. About six and a half feet by Lily’s guess, counting the horned hat. Her snow gear was mostly layers and layers of wool cloth and fur. It didn’t matter right now. Lily swallowed her fear and advanced. The strange girl seemed too stunned to speak.

“Please! Answer me. Is he okay? He’s all I have and it’s my fault he’s here.”

The girl cleared her throat and answered, after hesitating a moment.

“I’m sorry Miss Outsider, I only found you.”

Lily bolted toward the door, ready to run out looking for him. The new girl grabbed her by the collar of her shirt as she tried to run past, and stopped her. Whoever she was, she was strong, and Lily froze when she realized what had caught her.

“Wait, wait. I can’t let you just run out. You’ll freeze to death.”

Lily tried desperately to keep herself from crying, but the tears spilled over.

“Please. I have to find him. He’s all I have in the world, and if he died because of my failure, I– I can’t. I can’t do this. It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault.”

Lily slumped onto the floor and curled up. She couldn’t breathe. Her heart was racing. She felt like she was dying. A cold sweat started on her skin. He was going to be dead, because of her. She knew it. She couldn’t handle this. She shouldn’t have messed with magic. She should have just enjoyed their life together. How could she be so careless? It was one thing with her own life, but his? It should have been her that died. She didn’t deserve to–

The strange girl had gotten on the floor and was gently shaking Lily.

“Miss. Miss. Miss!”

Lily looked up at her, and froze. The girl with the horns spoke again.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but he’s a dog right? He probably didn’t freeze. Let’s try to find him, okay? But first, you need to calm down. You’re going to get yourself killed if you just run out into the snow, and then where will your friend be?”

Lily nodded slowly, and tried very hard to speak normally.

“Y-yeah. Thank you. You’ll help me look?”

The stranger reached up and removed the snow gear covering her face, revealing bright red hair, and a smattering of red scales like a lizard across her face. The horns were in fact, not a hat.

“Of course Miss Human. Now let’s sit down and–”

Lily’s head was spinning. Lily’s head was spinning. Not human. This person was not a human. Which meant… Where was she? What had happened?

“Miss Human? Miss Outsider? Are you okay, you look like you’re about to–”

Lily promptly fainted. The last thing she heard before fully losing herself to the darkness was a voice. It sounded like her own voice?

[Fragment] - Class Obtained

[Fragment] - Level 1

Skill - [Heretical Mana] Obtained

 

---

1.38 > 0.038

In the ruins of a mansion, on the coast of California, dust was slowly settling. The entire house had fallen in on itself, crumpling into the basement. Bits of it were entirely consumed and transformed into mana. The rest was now a heap of broken detritus. All was still.

But, that could not last. A spell activated, and a piece of rubble shot high into the sky, falling a couple hundred feet from the ruins. A hole from the sky all the way down into the ruined basement was left in the path of the projectile, and in the center of that hole lay a girl and a dog.

Star rose and approached Lily, licking her face free of tears. She hugged him fiercely.

“Everything’s gone. I failed. What did I do wrong?”

He leaned down onto her, and spoke softly.

“We are still alive. That’s all that matters.”

He was right.

 

---

Author's Note:

So uh, fancy meeting you here. This marks the end of volume one of Growing Lilies. I wrote a book. My first book! I'm actually still somewhat in awe. I've worked really hard, but I guess I just never really thought of myself as capable enough to finish a book. Then I sat down and did nothing but write for uh... how long have I been writing? It's been incredibly rewarding, and I'm really energized to continue! But for now, I have a few small announcements. 

You may have noticed the change in how chapters are numbered. That will be consistent from now on. I hope it wasn't too jarring. Changing it was a small detail for the narrative that I hope was fun to be a part of. If not, rest assured that it won't get any more confusing than this!

Anyone who has made it this far and is concerned about the shift in tone, rest assured that the tone, themes, and premise I've worked hard to establish are not going anywhere! If you've been enjoying this story so far, please place your trust in me. I think you'll like where we are going as well.

To anyone who has read my book, thank you so much. From the bottom of my heart. In my wildest dreams I did not expect this story to be loved so much. I promise I'll continue doing my best to give you a good one from here on out.

As always, if you want to help out without spending a dime, please send this story to your friends, follow, leave a review, etc. All of these things help get more eyes on my work and are greatly appreciated!

On a final note: Posting will likely continue to be more than normal but less scheduled until the end of this writathon! Since I have no intention of backing out. So, look forward to more content than normal, but like, more sporadically too!