The wind was an exuberant playmate, weaving around Nason as he walked.

"Won't you cut it out?" Nason muttered, though he wasn't truly annoyed.

In all honesty, Nason was focused on Cedric's cottage.

The small structure had been overtaken by nature in the last eighty years. Vines had grown on the outer walls, curling around the chimney. The cottage's cobblestone path was cracked, stones shoved aside by various flowering plants.

Nason shoved the door open with his shoulder, coughing into his fist from the force exerted on his chest. He gasped softly when he'd fully entered.

In the center of the cottage, a tree was growing. This tree was unlike the other in Ehfinia, its bark completely free of ridges and bumps. The branches had grown and woven to form the roof, its leaves a dull silver.

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Nason had re-lit his lantern, but now he blew out the flame. Plunged into darkness, Nason sat at the base of the tree of his tree, his back against the smooth trunk. Not for the first (or even second), time that day, Nason's heart hurt.

No matter how beautiful the place was, it wasn't his home. It didn't have any of his memories. It didn't have his brother.

Nason was dimly aware of a leaf that was fluttering down, and he ignored it, until it landed on his knee. When Nason touched the leaf, his eyes shut unwillingly and he drifted off.

At first, Nason was unsure what had awoken him. It was still dark within the cottage, and silent. Too silent. He could almost make out a figure standing above him. That was impossible, for no normal human could survive the constant the surges of Power Ehfinia produced. Despite that, there was definitely someone leaning over him.

With a swift kick to the strangers legs, Nason toppled them. Instead of falling, the stranger dragged him flat to the ground, pinning his wrists to the ground.

"Your fighting skills are rusty, Nason." Laughed a female voice.

Nason's struggle paused, his anger rekindled.

"How do you know my name?" He snarled.

"I'm your new protector."