As the 16th minute approached the old man’s piercing, amethyst eyes opened, staring into the sky in nervous anticipation. Just as he turned his face toward the sun, the pillar of light returned. He was instantly blinded, light searing through his pupils. He lay there stunned, eyes wide open, as flare after flare of spell enhanced light filled his eyes. Eventually, the flares subsided and, despite his blindness, he could see two discs of light separating out from the centre of the sun. One, a deep glowing red, was moving to the south. The second, a stark shining white, was moving to the north. The man felt fear blossom in his chest. “What have we done.” He whispered.

That night, Felix took Mico's bed, and he was stuck on the floor. He didn't mind that much though, Cutter had a accumulated a good range of furs at this point so he was cosily wrapped up on the floor. He was pretty sure he'd slept better that way than if he'd tried to share the bed with Felix. The few times he woke up they were thrashing around in their sleep pretty violently. The next morning, he made sure to be up and about before the sun was fully up, knowing Cutter would be irate if he was up late twice in a row. He maintained a similar pace to yesterday, despite some lingering aches from the stint carrying Felix, and was back at the same cliff line before the sun had fully risen. Before taking a break to cool down and draw, he looked around, stunned to see a Morphwhale off shore once more. Could it be the same Morphwhale? he wondered. But that made no sense. "Unless..." he mused aloud, tapping at his small chin. After thinking for a minute, he shrugged and began his morning ritual of deep breaths accompanied by consciously drawing. He took one last look at the agitated Morphwhale before heading back to the hut. Setting a slightly slower pace on the return, seeming distracted, he still made it back to the hut and completed the remainder of his exercises before Cutter called him in for breakfast.

After they finished eating, Cutter said "Well then Felix, what brings you to our bright shores?" Mico squinted at the odd expression. "He means, how did you get this far down the coast? You must've come from a village right? Surely not as far up as the city? How would you come that far though? Did you ride the Morphwhale?" Both Cutter and Felix were stunned by the torrent of words. Cutter scowled at Mico as Felix shrank back. "Ease up boy. Let Felix here speak." Cheeks reddening, Mico nodded, both of them turning to Felix. Felix shrank further into his seat at the scrutiny. "Well, I... couldn't be at home any longer. So I left. After that, I didn't really have any plans." Face drawn, he looked down at the table. "Anyway, what's it got to do with you. I appreciate the help but, I can look after myself." Rolling his eyes, Cutter just gestured to the door. With an awkward glance at Mico, Felix stood up and headed out of the hut.

Mico just stared at Cutter. Once Felix was gone, he hissed. "What are you thinking? I just saved his life and now you're going to let him wander off in the middle of the forest? For Bright's sake he wasn't even wearing shoes!" Cutter's eyes grew sharp at Mico's tone. "We're going to be needing more firewood. I'll leave that in your hands then shall I? Perhaps you'll have remembered how to speak with respect once you finish filling the shelter out back." Feeling his frustration bubbling up, Mico got out of the hut before he found himself drowning in a sea of 'suddenly urgent' tasks. As he was getting started on chopping, he spotted Cutter heading into the forest. Mico, full aware that Cutter actually wasn't a terrible person, assumed he'd be making sure Felix didn't get himself into trouble. Feeling somewhat relieved, he put his head down and got working. The day went by pretty quickly, with the occasional break for water and food letting him keep working. It wasn't all chopping, as there was already plenty of large wood under the shelter, so he was mostly just collecting suitable smaller branches. Still, he was well and truly exhausted by the time the shelter area was full. Heading inside, he decided to start making food for the evening meal. Feeling hopeful, he set out three plates for the grilled meat and root vegetables he'd made. The root vegetables were surprisingly prolific in the forest, once you knew how to find them. Even better, as long as you were careful to leave a good portion still in the ground they would grow back within a season.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Just as he was finishing, Cutter returned. As he entered the hut he stooped and Mico spotted a very pale looking Felix hanging onto his back. Mico grinned, "Welcome back! I've got food ready for everyone." Felix looked a bit awkward but Cutter unceremoniously deposited him on a chair before taking a seat and digging in. Felix glanced at the food a few times, obviously hungry. "Go on. It's good. I cook all the time!" said Mico before digging in himself. Felix let out a quiet sigh before pulling his chair in and tasting the meat, eyes widening in appreciation at the juicy, flavoursome bite. "What kind of meat is this?" "It's called a Giant Sciura. They're about half your size with a furred coat and a big bushy tail. You can find them all over the forest, up in the trees. If you can spot one, a well placed stone or stick can knock them out of the tree for some easy meat. By far the safest thing you can hunt in this forest." Mico chuckled at Cutter immediately falling into his lecturing mode. Felix was fascinated though, "Wow! That sounds like pretty easy meat." Mico laughed, "You're vastly underestimating what Cutter means by a 'well placed rock'. Even with my sling I can barely get a rock high enough into the canopy to clip one, let alone bring it down." Felix's face fell, so Mico quickly piped up again. "There's heaps of other food that's much easier to get though. Like these tubers. You can find them anywhere." The boys stayed up for a few more hours, Mico telling Felix about all of the easiest things to forage in the area while Cutter did his own thing. Eventually, Cutter told them to go to sleep, Mico having failed to notice that Felix had trailed off a while back and was looking pretty pale again.

The next morning found all three at the table eating once more, Mico having completed his morning routine. Both Cutter and Mico avoided pressing Felix on his story and the meal passed peacefully. "Alright then Mico, let's try and get through a few rounds shall we." They both headed outside, Felix trailing behind. Once they were both seated and facing each other, Mico put his right hand out, palm up. Cutter mirrored him, pausing before their palms made contact, "We're practicing Willfighting Felix. Do you know what that is?" Felix just nodded. Once their palms were in contact Cutter gave a short countdown and fell silent. The peaceful sounds of the forest clearing contrasted with the visible strain on Mico's face. The light around both of them changed as they drew heavily. Felix could see Mico gradually getting paler and, after about 20 seconds, Cutter pulled his hand back. "Ok that's one round, you held out pretty well there. Make sure you can maintain it though." Exactly 10 seconds later Cutter's hand again made contact with Mico's. This time was pretty similar to the first and Cutter nodded approvingly. Three more rounds later and it was clear that Mico was struggling to maintain his posture. About fifteen seconds into the round, something changed. A wave of heat rolled off of Mico before Felix was blinded by a burst of light. When his eyes cleared, Cutter was somehow on the other side of the clearing, casually stretching out his back. Felix looked incredulously at the distance between Mico and Cutter, "What on earth was that? That's not supposed to happen in Willfighting!"