Denny rested his shovel against the side of the hole he had been digging for the last two hours. Looking up, he saw a small flock of drakes wheeling high up in the cloudless sky.

“Lucky buggers.” He sighed. The tiny drakes reveled in the long, cloudless days of high summer. Of course, they did. This unremitting sun and heat was precisely what they thrived on.

Also, they weren’t being made to dig a new privy in the mid-day sun.

He heard wagon wheels creaking and his father’s voice egging the cart horses into motion.

Looking over, Denny smiled and waved as his family rode off in the run-down old covered wagon.

Only his sister waved back, laughing as she swung her legs off the back of the cart.

“Have fun digging the privy!” She called as the cart started to pick up speed.

Carefully checking his parents couldn’t see him from the front of the cart, Denny flipped her off with both hands.

She acted shocked but returned the gesture before vanishing back into the welcome shade.

Shaking his head, Denny returned to his digging.

His family was going to be gone for two nights, taking his sister to the nearest city to go dress shopping. She had somehow convinced someone to marry her, and Denny felt great pity for the man involved.

Poor guy thought he was getting a wife.

If Denny’s experience of his sister in his eighteen years was anything to go by, the man would find himself with an Overlord instead.

He could feel the sun burning the back of his neck as he worked. It didn’t seem to matter how many years his parents had him out in the sun all hours; his neck always burned.

After an hour and a half, Denny was confident they would not be returning due to any forgotten trinkets or supplies.

Denny’s father was a hard man, and if you were more than a half hour from home, he was not going back.

He was alone on the farm for only the second time in his life!

And unlike the last time, some three years ago, he had more important things to deal with than a sick cow.

Although udders, Denny snickered to himself, would hopefully be involved.

He quickly glanced around, waiting to be struck down for such thoughts, and then straightened and strode purposefully into the farmhouse.

It would be hours before Magda arrived, but he had a lot to do. Three weeks of planning for this event, his family had to go and leave an hour late.

He would have sworn they did it on purpose if he hadn't known better.

“A big night tonight, Denny!” He told his reflection in the murky bronze mirror. All the silvered mirrors had been collected and sent to the capital. “Today you are but a boy, but tomorrow you will be a man!” He grinned, giddy with excitement as he washed off the grime and sweat of the morning’s work.

Once he was done, he walked naked through the house, feeling freer than he had done in his entire life.

Back in his room, he dug into the chest at the foot of his bed, pulling all his work clothes out until his hand reached the bare wood.

Looking around guiltily, out of habit rather than any real worry of being caught, he lifted the false bottom away and revealed his treasures.

A pair of brand new pants, their baggy folds apparently the latest fashion in the city, and a wide silk shirt with golden buttons lay wrapped in delicate tissue paper.

They were his clothes for the night. A pair of smooth leather boots hidden under his mattress would complete the look.

But they were for later, not now.

Now, he needed to prepare himself.

“You only get one chance to make a good impression on a gal,” The old farmhand had said, leaning against the side of their barn. “You mess up that first time, and I swear she’ll never remember another thing about you.” He chuckled knowingly and swigged from the bottle Denny had snuck him from his Dad’s stash behind the old milking shed.

His parents had hired the passing farmhand to help with the planting a few months back, and Denny had discovered the man was surprisingly loose-lipped if he was given a bottle of brew.

Denny had just turned eighteen, but his eyes had been a little ahead of him. The folks around here said he was of marrying age at eighteen, but Denny had felt ready at thirteen. He didn’t know what he wanted to do, but he sure wanted to do something.

Thanks to the Priests of the Eternal Light, there was no chance anyone would tell Denny what it was he wanted to do or how to do it. That had all gone by the way when the last lot of Paladins had seen to the Mages in the City.

It had saved their souls, apparently.

Which was nice, Denny supposed.

But what was a clean soul when a girl looked like water to a very parched teenager?

“You take my advice, boy,” The farmhand went on. “When the time comes, make sure you’ve taken care of yourself afore you get anywhere near her. You hear me?” The older man took a big drink, “Else, all she’ll remember is how quick ya were. Get me?”

Now, it wasn’t difficult to take care of yourself, even out here in the boonies with nothing to look at while you did; Denny was a healthy boy, after all.

But the viewing crystal full of illicit visions sure helped.

Any regret he had about filching it from the traveling Farmhand’s goods vanished the moment he opened the crystal for the first time.

It proved to be quite the inspiration, especially when he shared it with his best friend, well, only friend, Magda.

================

Denny rushed around his room, grabbing everything that even remotely looked comfy and dragging it through to the main room.

How had he fallen asleep? It was incredible; every time he took care of himself, he fell asleep. And now look.

Less than an hour until Magda arrived, and he was naked, needed another wash, and had accomplished nothing!

He frantically threw the logs into the fireplace, then took them out again and put the kindling in first. Then he put the logs on and jabbed the tinderbox until it caught.

A fire was romantic, right? He was sure it was. Magda had told him that all the best books had romance happening by a fireplace.

Grinning to himself, he stood, catching a soot-stained face staring back at him from the bronzed mantle.

“Shit!” He danced back as a spark from the fire landed somewhere too close for comfort and stomped back to the washroom to clean up again.

A minute later, he dashed back to the living room and stamped out a few sparks on the wooden boards before dragging the screen in front of the fire.

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“Third wash of the day; I won’t be washing this much on my wedding day!” He laughed at himself before wondering if his wedding day would be with Magda.

Probably. After all, she was the only single woman around for miles.

Denny ran back to his room, dragging on the expensive clothes he had saved all year to buy and shoving his feet into the boots as quickly as possible.

The new leather hurt his feet when he stood, but with any luck, he would be out of them again soon enough.

The rest of his rapidly diminishing prep time was spent arranging every blanket sheet and pillow from his room, the linen closet, and the main room on the floor in front of the fire.

He added a bottle of his father’s brew as a final touch.

Denny looked at everything, called it good, and dashed out onto the porch.

His butt had barely touched the wooden bench before he heard the crunch of approaching boots on their gravel-strewn drive.

Denny took a deep breath, trying to catch his breath and calm his nerves all in one go.

“Well, don’t you look nice!” Magda said as she rounded the corner of the house.

“Thought I should make an effort,” Denny said airily, “considering I’m gonna get to see your tits and all.” He blanched, “I mean, I just wanted to look nice.” He brushed his hair down nervously and tried to smile.

His mouth didn’t seem to work right.

How the fuck do you smile again?

“Smooth as sandpaper nickers as usual,” Magda laughed. “And how do I look?” She waved her hands down her front, indicating her traveling cloak and blouse over her usual long skirt.

“Uh,” Denny tried to think of some way to say that she looked just like usual without saying just the same as usual. “You look great.”

Magda laughed and winked. “You’re learning!” Magda leaned against the corner of the porch and smiled in the failing light, “The difference is, today, I ain’t got a stitch on underneath all this!”

Denny was trying to imagine what that looked like when he realized he didn’t have to; that was why she was here.

He smiled.

“Yeah, I thought you’d like that,” Magda smiled back.

“Did you get everything sorted as we discussed?” She asked.

Denny swallowed hard and waved her inside, not trusting himself to speak. She tried to swing her hips a bit like the girls in the crystal, but her sturdy traveling boots were not designed for that.

She just kind of looked silly.

Denny decided not to mention it, as he had many things since she came up with this idea a month ago.

“How’d you get away?” Denny had asked Magda when he saw her walking up to the boundary fence. The two farms were neighbors, but with miles of land per farm out here, it was still a trip to see each other. Luckily, his Dad had sent him out to mend the fences along here to keep the cattle from roaming.

“I didn’t have to,” Magda said happily. “My Ma asked me to come over to yours and see about getting a bolt or two of wool off of your Dad.”

“Did you bring it?” Denny asked. He hadn’t seen Magda in almost three weeks, and she had taken the crystal with her!

“Of course,” Magda grinned. “I’m just deciding if I should give it back to you or not.”

“Magda!” Denny growled. “You promised.”

“I did,” Magda said, leaning over the fence and grinning at him, “But that was afore I saw it.” She tossed the crystal back and forth between her hands. “How am I supposed to do without it now I’ve seen it?”

“Same way I did,” Denny laughed. “Miserably.”

“What if I have a better idea?” Magda asked.

“Magda,” Denny warned.

“Just listen!” Magda got that stubborn look on her face again, and Denny shut up. If he didn’t, she might smash the thing out of spite.

“Well, we been friends a long time, right?” Magda asked, staring into the distance.

“All our lives, given we are the only young ones out this way,” Denny said simply, “I’m pretty much stuck with ya.”

“Same here, bull-brains,” Magda said before looking away again, “So we are pretty much guaranteed to get married off to each other, aren’t we?”

“Yup,” Denny said. He wasn’t opposed to the idea. It would be weird with them being friends and all, but Magda had certainly got a body the girls in the crystals couldn’t match.

Healthy farm life being what it is.

“So we’ll be wed one day, so why not start having the relations now? With each other, I mean.” She looked down, examining the fence's wood and picking at it. “It wouldn’t be a real sin after all; we are just starting early, so where’s the harm.”

“I, uh, I guess.” Denny had muttered.

And that was it. Before he knew what happened, he was watching her walk away while he tried to remember the list of things she wanted for their ‘first night.’

Over the next couple of weeks, it got easier and easier to think of his friend Magda that way.

“It’s perfect!” Magda said happily. “Just what I wanted.”

“Thanks,” Denny muttered. “I tried to remember everything.”

“Come on then,” She grinned at him.

“What, now?” Denny heard his voice break and flushed. “Didn’t you want to eat or something first?”

“Eat later,” Magda threw off her cloak and unbuttoned her shirt. “I want what I’ve been waiting years for. Unless you’ve changed your mind?” She asked, pulling open her top.

“No!” Denny started to struggle with his pants. They tangled around his feet, and he fell onto the couch.

“Take your boots off first!” Madga laughed.

While he struggled with his pants, he heard the cows in the barn start to moo loudly.

“What’s that?” Magda asked, leaning back and looking out the door. “They are in the barn, right?”

“Yes!” Denny exclaimed, freeing his feet at last. He turned to find himself in a direct eyeline with her chest. “Wow, Magda, you’re amazing.”

“Thanks,” Magda said. “So, how do we start?”

“We could kiss a bit, maybe?” Denny said uncertainly.

“As good a place as any,” Madga said, sitting down next to him.

Denny leaned in, feeling her lips on his, and crept his hands over her body.

This was the best night of his life!

==============

“That ain’t normal!” Magda yelled an hour or so later.

“I only bit the nipple a little!” Denny complained. “It ain’t weird or nothing. We both saw it in the crystal!”

They had been slowly moving closer to the actual event, both of them getting sidetracked as it turned out that the steps along the way were more fun than they ever imagined.

“I didn’t mean that,” Magda said distractedly. “Listen to the cattle!”

Now that she mentioned it, they were making a hell of a racket. In fact, they sounded almost panicked.

“Shit!” Denny swore and pulled Magda off his lap. “I better go check on ‘em.”

“I’m coming with you!” Magda said quickly. “If there’s trouble, I can help.”

Denny didn’t argue. If truth be told, she was probably a better fighter than him most days. He’d also seen her take a drake out of the air with that sling of hers.

Speaking of which, where had she been hiding it? She was holding it now, but he could swear it wasn’t on her a minute ago. Of course, he hadn’t gotten her skirt off just yet. She must have had it on there.

Denny grabbed the old wood axe as they headed out the farmhouse's front door.

Out here in the Rangelands, there was always something that could end a farm. Wildfires, flash floods, even the occasional bandit. That was why you never left a farm empty, even for a few hours.

The barn shook slightly as the cattle moved around, and the few left in the fields overnight were all pushing at the fence to the yards.

“Can you see anything?” Magda yelled over the mooing.

“No fire anywhere,” Denny said as he scanned. “What about you?”

“Nothing,” Magda said. “It’s creeping me out!” She covered her bare chest with her arms.

Denny most definitely did not want her feeling the urge to cover up tonight.

Quite the opposite.

“I’ll handle it!” He said confidently. Raising his hand in the air, he prepared to use the family spell. It had been passed down to him and his sister from their grandfather. Not many farmers had magic, so it was a matter of pride that had a great side effect.

If it was bandits, they’d run from magic.

No one messed with a mage.

“Wow,” Magda said as light began to gather on his outstretched hand. “I’ve never seen a spell cast before!”

Denny grinned as she stared wide-eyed at him. Oh yeah, he was definitely getting it tonight!

“Flare!” He yelled as he pointed his arm straight up, releasing the gathered magic in a rush that left him light-headed.

The ball of light shot high into the sky and hovered there for a few scant moments.

“Look away from it!” Denny warned, and the night turned into day.

“Ow!” Magda blinked her eyes frantically as Denny chuckled.

“I told you to look away!” He said smugly.

Magda just gave him the finger and asked if he could see anything.

At first, he saw nothing as his eyes searched the nearby field and barn for any sign of trouble.

It was when he looked into the distance that he saw something.

Lots of somethings.

“Undead!” Magda said breathlessly. “Thousands of ‘em!”

“Where’d they all come from?” Denny asked, seeing the shambling horde of dead bodies shuffling closer. Were they wearing old armor?

“Denny, we need to go!” Magda hissed, grabbing his hand and pulling him back just as the light went out.

In a moment, they were in the dark, and those undead, so seemingly distant in the light, felt a LOT closer.

“We gotta run!” Denny said, pulling Magda after him as he turned and sprinted up the pathway to the great passway to the city.

His parents had gone that way, and right now, he could really use his parents. Not to mention that his dad had the family weapons with him.

“Denny, wait!” Magda tried to pull him back. “We can’t just go like this!”

“Magda, we have to go now!” He snarled and pulled her along, ignoring her protestations as the gravel bit into his feet.

He tuned Magda out as he focused on guiding them through the dark. Anyone else might have wandered off the path or tripped. But Denny was born and raised on this land. He could walk the entire thing blind and never put a foot wrong.

All they had to do was get away.