Wyn woke up peacefully to the light of the afternoon sun streaming in through his windows. He recognized the familiar look of his ceiling—so, he was in his home then. The spirit fire in his body had retreated to a small ember, though he felt he could stoke it again if needed. How long had he been asleep? The last thing he remembered was that night when the village had been attacked. They’d defeated the leviathan, and then…

He had been too weak, again.

“So, you’re finally awake?” A soft, yet harsh feminine voice jolted him from his thoughts, “Took you long enough!”

A semi-transparent girl, the size of a mouse, glared up at him from his nightstand. She had long—well, long for a being no taller than 6 inches—flowing lavender hair, which bobbed as if underwater, and purple eyes to match. She wore a white, sleeveless dress which draped down to just below her knees. In all other ways, she appeared to be an ordinary young woman, beautiful in a delicate sort of way, and not much older than Wyn.

“Did Iillia send you?” He asked. It was clear the girl was some kind of spirit. He wasn’t sure why she could talk, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. “If so, just leave. I’m not in the mood right now.”

That seemed to set her off, and she hopped into the air, completely ignoring gravity as she flew up towards him. Once she was just in front of his face, she reached out with both hands and touched his cheek. A shock, like a tiny bolt of lightning, pricked him and he jumped slightly.

“What the hell?” Wyn tried to swat her away, but she nimbly dodged as though he were moving in slow motion, looking quite smug for some reason.

Her smugness morphed to annoyance again though. “I watched over you for eight years Wyn! Waiting for you to manifest enough spirit fire that I could incarnate as something other than a stupid ball of light. I knew it would be a few years after the start, so I kept waiting, ‘Surely today will be the day Eia, mother promised it would be soon!’ Haha! But no! Your dream got all mucked up, and it took you six years to put it back together!”

“Wait, hang on—” Wyn tried.

“But that’s fine! I stayed, waiting the whole time, trying my best to guide you even when you couldn’t even see me. And then, when you finally do summon forth the fire, you go and get yourself almost killed immediately after, and then pass out for almost two weeks! How was I supposed to know what was going on? I thought you might die! Then what would I have done?” She’d worked herself up into a frenzy at this point, pacing around in the air as she gesticulated wildly.

Wyn could only watch in bemusement, hardly comprehending a word she was saying. He’d passed out for almost two weeks? That shouldn’t have even been possible.

The spirit turned back to him, pouting as she stomped her foot in the air. “And after all that, you finally wake up and see me for the first time in eight years, and you tell me to leave! The nerve!”

“I’m sorry?”

“You should be! How could you have ignored your blessing for so long? W-why did you give up?”

Wyn stared at the spirit—tears were now welling in her eyes—trying to parse her meaning. What in the hell was she talking about?

“What in the hell are you talking about?”

She visibly deflated, falling slowly through the air. She lost some of her ethereal luster as she sighed deeply and wiped her eyes dry.

“I chose you as my bond all those years ago. I convinced my mother to give you the blessing of spirit fire because I knew it would help you…”

“I see,” Wyn said carefully, “Look, Eia, was it? I’m grateful, and I promise we can talk more about our ‘bond’ later, but right now, I need some time. Please?”

Eia’s face softened. “I understand. Just, please call on me soon. I don’t want to wait another eight years.”

“I promise.”

The spirit flew underneath Wyn’s door and out into his home. He wanted to lay back down and just forget everything, but he forced himself up. The odd exchange had energized him, weirdly, and if what Eia had said was true, he'd slept for long enough. As he stood, dull pain throbbed in his side, and he looked down to realize that most of his body was bandaged or being treated in one way or another. He didn’t want to disturb them, so he decided to throw on a loose robe overtop.

Wyn’s room was simple enough, though he understood that in Straetum, having a whole room to himself, with a desk, window and privacy was quite the luxury, he tried to remember that as he walked out the door and downstairs, towards the smell of cooking food.

His mother was in the kitchen, hunched over the stone oven as she placed some sort of pastry inside.

“Mom…”

She looked up with a start and froze, her eyes beginning to water as she clasped her hands together. “Wyn, welcome back.”

Wyn strode across the room and wrapped her in a tight embrace, shocked by how small she felt in his arms. She seemed unsure of what to do, but after a brief hesitation, she returned the hug.

“Sorry for worrying you,” Wyn said. His vision blurred as his eyes filled with gentle tears of their own. “I’m glad you’re alright. Where’s Elry?”

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“He’s out playing with his friends. He’s fine Wyn. Most of the town is, thanks to you.”

Wyn smiled, but thinking back on that night brought more pain than he could handle right now. “Elder Terris, he…” He didn’t know what to say.

“Oh Wyn,” Wyn’s mother pulled him close again, “It’s not your fault. No one would blame you for what happened, least of all him.”

There was a tender silence as Wyn swallowed the lump in his throat, drawing himself back up. There was something he needed to tell her. Something he was afraid to say again.

“Mom, I’m going to Taravast with Corrin. I want to become a spirit knight.”

She held him out at arm’s reach, searching his expression before her gaze softened and she smiled. “Good. That’s what you’ve always wanted to do right?”

“Good?” Wyn asked, “That’s it? I thought you’d be worried, or try to tell me to stay or—”

“Wyn, I want you to be happy, and no one knows better than me how much this dream meant to you. Of course I’m going to worry, it’s my job, but since the day you first told me and your father, I always knew this might come. If you really want to do it, you have my full support.”

Wyn felt a lump in his throat, “Thanks mom, I—I’m going to go out for a bit now if that’s ok.”

His mother smiled. “Go check on your friend. Just try to be back before dinner.”

“It’s a promise.”

***

Wyn walked through town towards the church, certain Corrin would be waiting for him. Considering how recent the disaster had been, the people of Straetum seemed in good spirits; Young and old, the townsfolk had banded together towards the reconstruction, so even though there wasn’t a single street that seemed to be in good condition, reconstruction was already underway.

It was hard to ignore the looks on some people’s faces, the way they looked down at the ground as they carried planks of lumber or tarps down the streets, no doubt thinking about loved ones lost, those that Wyn hadn’t been strong enough to save. But there was hope, and from what he remembered of the last flood, they’d been very, very lucky this time.

He passed the home of Eldress Selene. One of the walls had caved in, but apparently her small oven still worked, as she was handing out baked goods to the workers, a warm smile on her face.

He passed the Garrison, which had been restructured so that the villagers whose houses had been destroyed would have a place to sleep with a roof over their heads, it was almost entirely empty during the day, with most of the people out and about helping with things around town.

Meanwhile, Doctor Rylin’s practice had been overloaded with patients, so a tent had been pitched outside as Jeth ran around helping with the less serious injuries and tending to all the people he could. Wyn was somewhat shocked to hear that they were providing all of their services for free, as they must be basically hemorrhaging medicinal herbs and supplies, which were worth their weight in gold this far away from any city.

As he approached the orphanage, Wyn noticed a group of children playing in the streets, one of them was acting as the “monster” while the others were heroes that were fighting them to save the town. Even in the face of disaster, he was happy to see so many people had made it out alright, at least he hadn’t entirely failed.

Though he was in a hurry, he still took the time to knock on the door of the orphanage. Eventually it was opened by one of Corrin’s siblings and he filtered in.

The door to Corrin’s room was closed, but at the assurance of the younger children, Wyn walked up and knocked, greeted by a tired voice from the other side.

“Come on in.”

He walked into the small room, smaller than his own. The wood was old and textured, with dust accumulating in the corners, like the occupant didn’t clean it very thoroughly. There were several bookshelves stacked on the wall, but no books filled them. Instead, there were a few maps, along with various trinkets and trophies. On the other side of the room, by a small circular window, Corrin rested in bed.

“When did you wake up?” Corrin asked.

“Today.”

“I woke up two days ago. I win.” Corrin weakly pumped a fist into the air.

“Ah, but I’m actually up and about,” Wyn countered, “Thus I am the true winner.”

“Unfair competition. I had to survive the depths of the tomb for the last week, I had it way harder.”

“Conceded,” Wyn allowed.

There was silence for a moment as they took it all in. Then, Wyn burst into laughter, and Corrin quickly followed suit, clutching his side as the laughter apparently caused pain.

“So, what happened down there? You seemed fine during the fight, how’d you end up here?”

They exchanged stories, Corrin’s struggles in the bottom of the chasm, Wyn’s on the first floor and in the forest. Wyn was fascinated by the idea of mana, especially however Corrin had gone about harnessing it. But the part about the demon living beneath the founder’s tomb was deeply concerning, and he suspected it had something to do with what had seemed to spook Iillia that night. Corrin was similarly interested in the mechanics of Wyn’s spirit fire, and asked endless questions about the spirit glades, how it worked, and what he remembered about the great spirit herself. In the end though, Wyn really only had one question for him.

“But if you were healing so easily before, why are you stuck in bed now?”

“I’m not actually sure,” Corrin shrugged, “From what I’ve been told, physically I’m alright. Some minor scrapes and bruises, but nothing major at this point. I’m healing slower though, now that I’m not past capacity on mana. I just feel sore, but it’s not in my body, it's more like it’s in my mana channels themselves.”

“That is so weird to think about,” Wyn rubbed his forehead.

Corrin laughed, “Hey I’m not the one that can apparently control magic fire and talk to spirits. Maybe you and the old man can start some sort of cult.”

“Oh yeah, speaking of,” Wyn said, “How is Elder Fenfreth? I take it he’s alright?”

“Yeah, he hunkered down in a shelter with the rest of the kids, thank the spirits. For them of course.”

Wyn raised an eyebrow.

“By the way, did you hear Khaeli stopped by almost every day to check on me?” Corrin smirked, but Wyn merely rolled his eyes and glanced out the window.

The glass faced to the southeast, a lonely dirt road stretching off into the rolling hills, heading towards the edge of the great northern plateau. Towards Taravast. How often had Corrin sat in his room, or lay in bed at night, staring out this window? How much further than Wyn did he see? Somewhere out there lay monsters beyond even the leviathan, and opportunities the likes of which they couldn’t imagine. Somewhere down that road…

“Hey Corrin, should you really be worried about Khaeli? When we leave for Taravast you’re going to have to leave her behind either way.” Wyn asked.

“I mean, I’ve still got a couple months right? If things go well, I mean it’s not like I can’t come back. Maybe once I’m a knight I can convince her to—” Corrin froze, his mouth opening and closing slowly before he found the words, “Wait. We?”

Wyn smiled slyly.

“Well, you wouldn’t last a day on the road without me, so I figure it’s probably for the best. Besides, we made a promise, didn’t we?” He got up to walk out of the room, “Hurry up and get better Corrin, we’ve got a lot of work to do if we want to leave on time.”

As Wyn reached the door, he heard the sheets rustling behind him, followed by hurried footsteps, the sound of Corrin getting dressed.

“Took you long enough.”

Despite everything, Wyn smiled.