I enter the Village expecting people to be waiting for our return… Instead I find everyone running around frantically. The river overflowed because of the storm, scaring everyone to death. Sylvar looks ready to help but I stop him.

“No. You and Sylvie will only confuse them. Take her inside your place. I will help them.”

“But-”

“Go.” I say, running towards my house.

My parents are carrying barrels filled with herbs and other valuable resources. Kianel is helping them, using a shovel to move dirt against the current of the water that has overflowed. The fierce winds make it hard to keep our eyes open for long periods of time.

“I need someone here, there is too much wa- Volter. Help me.” Kianel says, throwing me a shovel.

The constant rain made it difficult for him to see that I have both my eyes again. That is for the better. No time to explain things.

“What are we doing?” I say, imitating Kianel’s movements.

“The water is gonna reach your houses. We need to get as much ground between the river and your place as possible. So we make multiple terraces. Helps sort the flow of water.” Kianel explains.

“Great day to lose Modesta’s powers.” I say.

“Here you go.” Ean says, covering me with a coat.

“Hey dad.” I say, bumping his shoulder.

“What is that?” Ean says, pointing at my eye.

“Explain later.” I say, shoveling dirt.

“Got you.” Dariy says, using a shovel “Hey, is that-”

“Explain later.” Ean says, walking away.

We work over the fields for a few minutes before I notice Alayne talking to a group on the other side of the bridge. I walk over to them, careful not to lose my footing. Thankfully, Eadwald is somewhat shielding the bridge with magic, keeping the water level just slightly above the wooden bridge.

“The whole Village will fill with water. You have to bring everyone to my house.” Alayne says.

“Why?” Rena asks, Kianel’s wife.

“I will raise the ground from the side. We need to limit the damage to the fields.” Alayne explains.

“What about our homes?” Brinout asks. She is sort of the one who cooks for the kids.

“If we lose the fields, we will not be able to feed anyone. It is for the best. Move.” Alayne says.

“No.” I interrupt.

Everyone turns their attention to me, shocked. I feel like the shock comes from both my eye recovery and the sudden move against the Leader.

“Turn the water towards us. The kids should stay inside. Everyone from my side will want to take the risk.”

“That is foolish. Heroism will not keep them from starving, boy.”

“I am no boy. I am Volter, a Hunter and everyone from that side of the Village will agree with me.” I say.

The cold I feel, combined with the constant irritation that the rain causes me. These are apparently enough to make me want to lash out.

“I cannot keep this up for long. Choose now.” Eadwald says.

“I get that the food is important but I do not feel comfortable taking the kids outside.” Brinout says.

Murat must be one of the people keeping an eye over the kids. Alayne seems to be lost in deep thought. This is not the moment to do that.

“Do it. My parents are already working on keeping the water at bay.” I say, then quickly walk away. I have to go help my parents.

“Give me the shield.” Meuko shouts at Eadwald.

Meuko grows larger once more, using Eadwald’s large shield as a makeshift shovel. She makes more progress than Kianel and I combined.

“Where were you?” I ask.

“Helping Julie. Modesta is fine.”

“Both arms?”

“Just one. He said he has no need of a paralyzed arm. It would only hinder his life.”

“That is Modesta, all right.”

Alayne starts his spell, raising a thick wall of mud and stone. This causes the water to overflow from only one side, completely flooding the fields that my parents worked on. At least the work we did helps keep the houses safe from being toppled over by the force of the water.

“Kianel.” Rena shouts from the other side of the bridge, worried about her husband.

“Stay there, Rena.” Kianel tries to calm his wife, moving towards her.

The ground starts collapsing where the bridge is, breaking the wooden parts of its foundation.

“Kianel.” Rena screams, drawing our attention towards Kianel who lost his footing.

“No.” I scream, jumping in action.

The ground gives away, being consumed by endless water. The only reason I do not get swept away is all the leg training I have been doing. Mud hinders my movements but I must know of something I can do.

Think.

Use that eye. Kianel is under the water, being carried away. Use magic. My eye glows and I see the winds… They carry magical energy with them. I do not know if that is good or bad but I can use it.

“Kianel.” Rena keeps screaming, over and over again.

Can I do it? Meuko is not there. She is helping my parents with other problems. Eadwald is on the other side, holding Rena and everyone else back. Alayne cannot stop his spell.

The image of Ana making her wooden daggers comes to mind.

I have to do it. I run down the river, trying to catch Kianel’s body that I can barely see with my powers. I have powers. Wind gathers around my feet, keeping the water at bay. My movement is no longer hindered. I shout, trying to imitate Meuko’s strength. I dive inside the river where Kianel’s body is. The water is not just cold. It feels like knives cutting me all over. The river is filled with fragments of wood and rock traveling at dangerous speeds.

Do not focus on that. Focus on finding Kianel. All the dirt makes it hard to see in the water. I think I my head is bleeding. Something cut me.

There. Is he unconscious?

As soon as I grab him, I focus all my power at my legs, jumping with everything I have. We emerge from the water and I roll as soon as I hit the ground, making sure that Kianel does not get hurt from the impact. Kianel lands badly. In no way controlling his fall. We are further away from the Village than I anticipated. Did the river carry us this far? We are almost at the outer edge of it, where the fences are used as a natural marker for the kids to stay away from.

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I look at his face.

His neck is purple and he is not moving.

“Kianel.” I pump his chest. Julie explained how that helps. Move the heart, it keeps moving blood. Gives time.

“Kianel.”

I need time.

“Kianel.”

Why is he not moving.

“Stop.” Meuko places her hand on my shoulder.

“No. Get Julie.”

“Vol.” Julie’s voice.

What is this? Why is no one helping? My tears barely leave my eyes before being mixed with rain.

“Julie, help.”

“He is gone. Vol...”

“No, he-” My desperate words are interrupted by two loud cracking noises. My legs.

I scream in pain. I cannot get up.

“Vol. Get him inside. Now.” Julie says.

Meuko picks me up.

“No, Kianel.”

“I have him, son.” Dariy says, carrying Kianel from the legs.

Why are they treating him like it is just a body? Why?

All the pain, the exhaustion, the shock of using magic… It has to be for something. Kianel… I cannot help but cry.

Meuko takes me inside the care house. It is surprisingly rather well. There is water leaking through some cracks but buckets are enough for now and the floor is barely present with water. All the candles are already lit, probably because they were taking care of Modesta before we arrived. I need to focus on anything other than my pain. And...

“At least we managed to control the flood a bit.” I growl.

“I need Eadwald in here, Meuko.” Julie says.

“Right… The bridge is gone.” Meuko responds.

“What? I need ice.”

“Just help Kianel.” I shout.

“He is dead, Volt.”

“Meuko, stop...” Julie says.

“No. His neck snapped and he tumbled all over the river.”

“No...” I cry.

“She is right, Vol. Kianel was already gone. You need help now.”

“I can help with that.” Modesta comes out of his room, stumbling towards the table I am at.

“You should be sleeping.” Julie scoffs.

“Need ice?”

“That does not mea-”

“Shhh, my head hurts.” Modesta interrupts Julie.

“Are you gonna cut open my legs? I am so not ready for that.” I say.

“We should make sure that your upper body is safe as well. Do not worry… Julie is here. I am sure your chest will look good with a few cuts.” Meuko smirks.

“What?”

“Shut up, Meuko. I got a bit stronger. No longer need to see the wound to treat it.”

“That is… Strong.” I say.

“I know.” Julie says with an air of pride.

She places her hands on my legs. Now that she got stronger and I got this magical eye, maybe it will not hurt as mu-

My bones burn with the wrath of a flaming troll. I scream to the point my voice cracks. Being held down by Meuko and Modesta’s binding magic is the only reason I probably do not kick Julie away from me. If this is healing, I would rather choke on Alayne’s ice magic.

“Why are you not surprised by my new eye?” I shout, trying to take my mind off things. Specifically… The searing pain that runs through my whole body.

“Meuko already told me. I tried to play it off like it was not much. Worked?” Julie grunts, focusing on fixing my legs.

“Yeah. Now, please… Please, stop.”

“Done. Modesta… If you could.” Julie rests on a chair.

“Need cold water? I got buckets.” Meuko chuckles, pointing at the various items filled with water.

“You should empty them. Wait… There are no more leaks.” Julie says.

“The rain stopped.” I say.

“More like drowning onslaught of water.” Modesta says.

“That was… Surprisingly not refined of you.” I say.

“He also screamed about his fucking arm.” Meuko chuckles once more, sitting on the floor. The water does not seem to bother her much.

“Losing an arm tends to make me...”

“Expressive?” I interrupt Modesta.

“Prickly?” Meuko supports my mocking endeavors.

“Shut it.” Modesta says, placing his hand on my head.

“Woah, that is cold.”

“It is supposed to be. Will help with the headache.”

“It does, actually.”

Silence fills the room. The sound of wood creaking and candles flickering only heightens the feeling of sudden silence. It definitely contradicts the constant tending of my wounds, people running around grabbing herbs and the injured screaming. Not me, of course.

“Rena must be devastated.” Julie reminds us that things outside are horrible.

“I could not save him.” I say.

“You got there faster than anyone could. You even used magic. Nothing could have stopped it.”

“No… But we could have prevented it. Alayne… He wanted to flood the other side. He wanted to take the kids out of safety and carry them over the bridge. Instead of Kianel, we would-” I find myself unable to finish my sentence, fearing that whatever I say will somehow happen. Idiotic fears.

“When we wake up tomorrow… I will fix the bridge. For now… I got… To rest.” Modesta collapses next to me.

“We should sleep.” Meuko says, picking Modesta up.

“Guessing we take the beds here?” I point at the three beds that we occupied after our first outing.

“Somebody cannot sleep?” Meuko jokes.

“I would like that too. This place is probably safer than our home.” Julie says.

“Me too.” Meuko responds.

“Thanks. I appreciate the company, given I cannot walk yet. My legs are still numb.” I say.

“I will get you herbs for the headache and some paste for your legs.” Julie says.

As soon as Meuko puts Modesta to bed, we get swarmed by Sylvar, Dariy, Sylvie and Ean.

“Why are we pretending that this is fine?” Ean says, pointing at Sylvie.

“Where is Kianel?” I ask, ignoring my parents’ worries.

“We left him at our house.” Dariy says “You did your best kid.”

“The rest of the Village is separated from us. Rena is… Devastated. I could not control myself. Needed to come here, see if I could help Julie.” Sylvar says.

“You can get the rest of the rooms. They are all available, unless they are taken by water.” I say.

“Do you need any healing? I can still use some magic.” Julie says, giving me water with… I do not know, something in it to help. The taste is horrible.

“Just a few scratches and bruises. Nothing serious.” Ean says “But… How can we sleep with this.” Ean points at Sylvie, quickly drawing his hand away as she approaches him.

“Just pet her already.” Meuko says.

“Oh, just stop worrying for a second.” Dariy says, grabbing Ean’s hand and basically forcing him to pet Sylvie.

I love my parents.

“Why are you laughing?” Meuko asks.

“Sorry… I just- There was the battle, the running, the storm, the… Death. It felt good to feel that we can just relax here together. Worrying about a cute two headed beast is the best worry we could have now.” My laughter turns to tears. “I am sorry.”

Everyone looks at me, probably worried and all that. Even Sylvie turns her heads, realizing that everyone is acting weird.

“These past few months have been crazy.” Meuko says.

“And things are about to get weirder.” Julie says.

“Why is that?” Dariy asks.

“Oh… Nothing much, just-”

“Hunter stuff. Nothing to worry about.” I interrupt Julie.

“Kid...” Ean says, his voice trailing off in worry.

“We really need to rest. Morning will come sooner than we think and then… There is much work to do.” Dariy says.

Dariy, Ean and Sylvar walk away for a bit, converse quietly and then just… Drop on the floor, their backs against the wall. Sylvie quickly joins Sylvar and rests on his lap, much to Ean’s discomfort.

“What are you doing? There are beds.” Meuko says.

“We wanted to stay together.” Sylvar says.

“Today was hard for all of us.” Ean says.

“No.” I intervene.

“Vol?” Julie asks, worried.

“It is hard for Rena. She had to watch as Kianel got dragged underwater. Ana- Their kid will not see Kianel again. She will have to go through another Remembrance this soon. First Travlon, now Kianel. How am I supposed to sleep knowing th-”

A slap shocks me to a halt. I was expecting Meuko yet it is Julie with tears running down her eyes.

“You were the one that said I am heal everyone alone. That things would be worse without me. You said that for me, knowing I am the only healer here. Why are these words not reaching you, then? This is horrible but we cry, we laugh, we cry again and we sleep. Tomorrow… We do better. Things would be worse without you.” Julie says.

“When did I say that?” I mutter.

She really let everything out.

“Could not have expressed it better myself.” Sylvar says.

She did not hold back on that slap either. I can still feel the burning.

“What do we have on our list for tomorrow?” Meuko asks.

“Repairing, cleaning… Lots of cleaning. The Remembrance will probably happen early and the feasts will be postponed.” Dariy says.

My parents look at me with a worry that reminds me of the day the Hunters came at our house. They have to watch me get bloodied every time I go out there. They probably saw me over Kianel’s body, crying and shouting. Yet… They remain silent. Is it that they do not know what to say? They throw each other a look and without even talking, just a nod between them, they understand each other. They get up and walk over to my bed then each take a side of the bed, resting on a chair next to me.

“Kid” Ean says, hugging me “I wish I had good advice or any words of advice, now that I think about it. But… The truth is, you are already plenty strong on your own.”

“Maybe not enough to take us on.” Dariy chuckles.

“You are fighters?” I ask.

The sisters gesture with their hands, expressing their desire to know the answer.

“He could probably take each of us.” Ean says.

“But...” Dariy says.

“Definitely not the both of us. We work too well for that to happen.” Ean responds.

“So many questions.” Julie says.

“I know, right? And they are my parents.” I say.

“Go to sleep already.” Sylvar says.

“Someone got uncharacteristically angry.” Meuko says.

“You are disrupting my sleep.” Sylvar responds.

“Fair enough. Goodnight.” I say.

Everyone says goodnight, too tired to put the candles out. I have so many things to do, training, talking…

Sleep really does come unannounced.