Holding back tears, unsure when she’d see her mother again, Lara made her way to the field on the edge of Finchingfield town. It was lined by trees, large green bushes and was well secluded. There was a campsite North from her position and she knew how to navigate there without using roads. Her backpack had her survival kit, compass, binoculars, a fresh set of clothes, dried food and her trusty kindle (filled with survival books).

After the first ‘event’, friends and colleagues had laughed at her eagerness to learn how to better survive in the wild. She knew this would happen again, in fact, there was a whole global community of people that knew this day would come. Sure, they didn’t think about the possibility of magic being introduced, but the plan didn’t change.

Lara had connected with thousands of people around the globe over the last year, primarily through the internet but there was a tight community of five in Essex, the county she lived in. There was Wilton the chatty librarian, Christian the soldier and a wonderful elderly couple, Bob and Maureen. They were the owners of the campsite, which would be her next destination.

First, she had to wait it out. There were numerous helicopters now circling above, vans and hundreds of vehicles, armed military personnel and buses surrounding the town. It was too dangerous to head back in towards the houses where she felt the surge of energy coming from. The energy that brought her back from the brink and helped her survive.

As time went on, ropes came down from the helicopters and Lara saw the team were extracting the bodies of the goblins, wrapped in oversized black body bags. It made her feel sick. The military were setting up some semi-permanent structures, she would have to wait until dark to leave her secluded spot. “Keep to the shadows”, she told herself.

After about 5 hours, it seemed as if the residents had been rounded up and accounted for. They were being gently shuttled into buses, vans, other vehicles and being driven away methodically.

There was a defence base just ten minutes drive east, it had become much more active after the last event and quadrupled in physical size, with up to fifty times more personnel presence than it had previously. It acted as a sort of hub over the last year.

Lara’s original plan was to hang tight with her mother and wait for the inevitable military response to take them both to safety. She knew now that her life would never be the same. She had to figure things out and then when safe or at least with less risk, she would return for her. Right this second, though, she was an undocumented government experimental subject just waiting to be examined and it filled her with fear. Too many people had seen what she was now capable of.

A bright red jacket caught Lara’s eye. “Perfect” she said, as her heart fluttered. It was her mother, being evacuated to safety with her friends and neighbours around her. She was going to be ok, they were good people, a good community and they loved each other. Lara watched in silence, never slipping in focus. From the moment she saw her, through to finding her seat on the coach, the thirty minute wait as it loaded and then as it slowly drove out of sight - she didn’t take her eyes off her. Slowly, Lara put the binoculars down. It was time to rest until dark and then she’d make her way north.

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Unsure how, but she had managed to sleep for an hour - those breathing techniques actually came in handy, Lara thought to herself. It was dark now and time for her to make her move. She re-packed her bag and secured the hunting knife to her belt. A quick glance at her watch told her it was 9:30, she should make the campsite by around 10:15. Maureen was a night owl, Lara would make the journey with plenty of time to spare; worst case - she had a spare key.

Monitoring the area, Lara patiently waited to see if there were any routines, sounds or repetitive checks she would have to be aware of when making her way out into the open fields. Most focus, however, was on the village, specifically the green where the events took place earlier that day. The flash of some glasses caught her eye, a man in a white shirt and metal glasses seemed to be dictating orders on the ground, sending vehicles off to other sites or locations as the government presence began to thin in Finchingfield, now its residents had been safely evacuated.

As the number of personnel continued to reduce on the north side of the village, it was the perfect time to move. Lara slipped her backpack on and without looking back headed north. Compass in hand, knife at the ready.

Eventually Lara found the stream which she knew would fork, she’d then follow the right path and it would take her straight to Bob and Maureen. They had planned for something like this, with Wilton and Christian too. Lara wondered if they would also make their way to the campsite. It had supplies to last at least a year, Bob had a gun, Maureen was wise and most importantly there was a HAM radio that was connected to others across the country. She needed intelligence, what was happening, what had people seen, was she unique or were there others out there like her too?

Lara’s light brown, usually frizzy hair was matted with sweat. She walked at pace across the fields, uneasy with the flame that burned inside of her. This was unusual, she was so used to being naturally timid and shy, now she was boldly walking in the darkness towards the campsite, not for her own protection but to give her protection to others. Lara could feel that she was meant to give more to this world than she had ever imagined.

The night was largely silent, except for the occasional jets that cracked the sky like lightning, making trips to and from the capital.

Between the jets, her silent peace was interrupted by a wolf’s howl, Lara paused in her tracks. That’s not possible, she thought. Waiting and about to take a step forward, she heard another. Then another and another.

“Oh” Lara gasped, the flame inside her flickering.

“You can’t just stand here, move” she commanded herself and pressed on.

Lara found the fork in the stream and navigated onwards, she was only ten minutes away now. Her heart skipped a beat, she had so much to share and discuss.

Another wolf’s howl and then four more in unison. It came from up ahead, the campsite. She needed pace, turning on her flashlight she began to run towards the noise. Gun fire began to ring out ahead.