I sat at the table while inhaling the last chunk of bacon I had prepared for myself. It tasted alright, but it was bland. I could never reach Emilie’s level in cooking, but I hated asking her to cook for me. I’ve just always wanted to be the one people could depend on, not the other way around.

  I grabbed my plate and brought it to the sink to wash it. I wanted to hurry and leave before Emilie or David woke up but I must have made too much commotion with my dishwashing. A drowsy David opened his door and stepped into the kitchen as he rubbed his eyes.

  He saw how I had already eaten and how I was fully dressed.

  “You’re leaving already?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I replied,” winter will be coming soon, and I’d like to be sure we had plenty of wood stockpiled before then. I don’t want anyone to freeze to death.”

  He chuckled at this

  My relationship with David has changed a lot in the past few months. Sure, being forced to live in the same house played its role, and of course, our daily Chess battles strengthened our bond as well. But oddly enough, the thing that really made him warm up to me was when he walked in on me levitating a rabbit I had caught. I played it off by tossing it towards him and saying it had jumped through the window.

  “You’ll overwork yourself,” he said, “you don't need to do this much for us.”

  I silently thanked him, but he was aware that I did more than what was asked.

  “David,” I said, “I’m not doing it because I think I have to. I’m doing it because you guys are the only people to treat me like family in a very long time.

  “Just... stay safe,” he said as he turned back to his room.

“I will,” I promised as I set the dish away and headed out the door for my daily chore.

  Stepping outside I took a deep breath of fresh air. In doing so a cold chill filled my body. It was getting colder. I walked past the nearly eight-foot pile of wood stacked neatly at the side of the house and towards the wood sled I use every day, and with each use getting more worn down. I grabbed the ax that was resting against the sled as well, even though I was sure I wouldn't use it.

  I dragged the sled back to my usual spot. It was much farther away than I used to be, but I had to be absolutely sure no one heard my lightning. It would be a dead giveaway that what I'm doing isn't normal.

  First, I set the sled a safe distance away so I could begin my work. I had done this so many times now that I was able to follow the rhythm without thinking. It was always the same after all. Find a couple of good-sized trees, chop them up, and collect the pieces.

  By this time I had been doing this every day for two months. Carrying a sled full of wood was no easy task, but it turned out to be a great workout, and I was able to carry much more than when I started. Same with my magic. The excessive usage gave me much more stamina than before.

  I continued to deforest the immediate area until I felt I had enough. After the chore was finished I could continue with my magic training. I left my chopping area and continued to my training area, which consisted of a single tree with a circular ring dung around it and surrounded by destruction.

  My training was made up of only one goal; hit the target.

  At first, it seemed simple enough, But after hundreds of tries, I could never hit the target, which was the tree in the center. After over one hundred attempts, it seemed like I had hit every tree besides the one I targeted. It didn’t help that I could only manage three snaps a day.

  I stood at the line and faced my target. I was completely alone, but every time I stood here it felt as if I was being watched by a live audience. I stood with one foot in front of the other and my chest facing ninety degrees from the target. This was the best stance I found to dampen the knockback from the spell.

  I remembered my previous attempts and tried to learn from my past mistakes. When I started, each bolt would split or change direction three or four times before it ever reached the target. With trial and error, I can now consistently fire with only one break, but this change in direction always threw the shot off course, and I had no way to know which way it would split.

  Air rushed into my lungs, and the high-pitched click of my fingers was amplified by the magic. The electricity that had collected in my body rushed to my fingertip and blasted straight for the tree ahead, only to break and crash into the dirt to the left of the tree.

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  With my second attempt, I tried to focus more on the exact location of the break. I snapped my fingers again, but this time the bolt broke farther in the back. The bold curved upwards and into the leaves above.

  Now feeling drained and out of energy, I tried a third. With the snap of my fingers, The bolt rushed for the tree again. This time the spell had two breaks and managed to hit directly behind the tree. My arm dropped to my side in utter disappointment.

  I felt light-headed now, but I couldn't leave it there. Without thinking of my own wellbeing I raised my arm for a fourth attempt. The snap was louder than ever before, and Without a single break in its path, it landed in the center of the tree. However, it was here I saw a major issue.

  The tree was relatively undamaged. I had focused far too much on focus and not at all on power. This was the best I could manage. I did not have the brain capacity to succeed in both aspects of this spell. I didn’t know what to do, but I couldn’t manage another spell even if I tried.

  “I have time for a break.”

  This was my last thought before collapsing to the ground. Perhaps I overdid it.

  I had a dream while I was laying alone in the woods, or more likely a nightmare. I dreamt of demons roaming through the trees. The dream jumped from one demon to the next. They were searching for something. Some looked in caves while others looked in open fields. It felt incredibly real.

  Still, I was sure it was a dream. I saw animals living peacefully in the background. Any demon who saw a living creature would kill it instantly.

  As my dream flickered from demon to demon, an image appeared that seemed out of place. A wooden house, my house, in a blazing fire. I could see it happen with no detail missed. The roof caved in and the walls started to topple over.

  “Find it,” said an ominous voice as I jerked awake.

My eyes shot open and I scanned my surroundings. It had to have been part of the dream, but I was sure I felt it speak in my left ear.

  I saw that the sun had traveled nearly the full length of the sky, and returned to my wood sled now paranoid. It was just a dream, right?

  I made my way back towards the house while hauling the large stack of firewood behind me. The house came into view, fully intact. It was still standing, and there was no fire. I was relieved to see that it was just a dream after all.

  Once I had arrived I pulled the sled along the backside of the house and began unloading each piece of wood while still thinking of the voice, but my hands ached and I was completely exhausted, so I was glad to be back home. I decided it was best to push the thoughts away and think about something else.

  I admired my stack for a moment and turned to enter the front door. As I opened it, I was greeted by a smiling Emilie cooking an already mouthwatering meal, and David sitting at the table. Anticipating my return, he had set up a slightly rugged Chess table ready to play just as always.

  ¨Let's play one game before we eat,¨ he said with a smile almost as big as his sister´s, gesturing to the white pieces across from him.

  He always let me play as white, even though he knew the player who goes first has the advantage. On top of that, of the hundreds of times we´ve played, David has never beaten me. I once asked him why he doesn't choose white, and he told me it was because he believed the only way he could be sure he surpassed me was to win while at the disadvantage.

  ¨Fine,¨ I laughed, ¨just one.¨

  Now with the sun setting, and winning three games to zero, I moved my knight from b5 to c7, putting David in check. He retreated his king from e8 to f7, unknowingly putting himself in my trap. I ambushed the king with my rook. h8 to f8.

  Checkmate.

  ¨I´ll beat you one day,¨ he grunted as he crossed his arms.

  I admired his ambition.

  ¨I know you will,¨ I said trying to sound encouraging, ¨just remember chess is all about strategy, you have to see the full picture in order to win, and you can´t win by charging in head first, or by putting too much pressure on one piece.

  ¨How are you able to see all of that?¨ he asked.

  ¨It just takes a little practice and some knowledge.¨

  ¨You must have played with Chess masters back home,¨ he said.

  ¨No, not at all,¨ I said, ¨the truth is I´ve only ever played with myself.”

  ¨You played Chess alone?” he asked with suspicion, “how?”

  “Well,” I started, “I played one side, and then the other.”

David let out a deep breath and stared at the board for a moment. His eyes jumped from one piece to the next. It was clear he was learning from his mistakes to take me on in a later game.

  “Foods ready!” Emilie called out as she set down her knife.

  Every day I looked forward to eating Emilie’s cooking. No matter what mood I was in, somehow her food managed to fix everything, But what I saw when she came to give us our meal was less than flattering.

  “Is that a snake?!” I asked just trying to keep myself from gagging.

  “Is that an issue? You should be thankful. You eat what I catch and today this is all I’ve got. It tastes like chicken,” she said.

  I couldn’t argue with her too much. Emilie set a rather large sliver of snake meat on my plate and handed it to me. The idea of eating a snake was disgusting to me, but I had to admit it smelt delicious, which somehow disgusted me even more. I do have to say that it most certainly did not taste like chicken. It was more like an over-salted pork chop. I looked at the snake for longer than I would have liked before I eventually peeled off the outer layer of skin from the meat, and David followed my example. I grabbed a fork and carefully lifted it to my mouth and hesitantly took a bite.

  I smiled and said, “it's good!”

With all my fears of this food faded I dug in, but before I could finish even half of my meal, a low rumbling thud began to shake the house, and each thud soon began to resemble footsteps. Footsteps from a beast I knew all too well.

  I looked towards the window and said, “demons.”