The enthralled minorat dropped back to all four paws and bounded towards Elsie.
Amos reached for his astral connection and activated his Master of Projectiles skill: True Aim. He visualized throwing the axe in his right hand directly into the face of the minorat at the entrance to the mill. He moved his muscles in the way his astra guided him and released the axe. It flew smoothly between the twins, the air making a few strands of Elsie’s red curls dance in its wake.
The axe met its target, sinking blade first into the giant rat’s gaping maw. Its skull split in two, but the momentum of its body carried it forward into Elsie. She fell backwards onto the rain-soaked ground. Minorat blood and raindrops mixed together on her face.
“Aeric!” Amos shouted. “Block the door with your shield!” He held out the hand that had just thrown the axe and channeled his summoning spell. After five seconds of channeling, the axe he had thrown disappeared from the minorat’s corpse and appeared fresh as new in his outstretched hand.
During the brief time when Amos was summoning his axe, a shrieking howl erupted from the mill. First one then another, then the whole air was filled with the high pitched shrieks of the enthralled rodents.
Aeric bent to one knee and slammed the shield in front of the broken doorway, bracing the shield with his shoulder. Its square base met the ground with a solid thunk, followed immediately by a thud as a minorat collided with it on the other side.
Lyric dropped the umbrellas, then ran over and pushed the giant rat’s corpse off of Elsie. She helped her to her feet, then handed her the spear she had dropped.
“You’ve gone and stained another outfit all red, Elsie,” Lyric said.
“Technically you were the one who stained my outfit yesterday,” Elsie replied.
“I have an idea, but I’ll need my wand back,” Lyric said. Elsie handed it over right away. “Try to help the boys while I channel a spell,” Lyric said.
Elsie turned towards the mill to see Amos launch both of his throwing axes at once. They flew true due to his skill mastery. A minorat that had been climbing over Aeric’s shield suddenly found an axe in its neck, while a squeal of pain from the darkened hallway behind it suggested that the other axe had found its mark. Amos immediately began summoning the weapons again.
Aeric saw arcs of astra crackling into existence as visible light from the rodent’s partially severed neck. He reached up with his sword and used it to push the dying minorat away. The next minorat climbed over top of the corpse to reach the top of the shield. Aeric stabbed the tip of his sword straight up through the underside of the minorat’s jaw, ending its life.
The press of the horde was relentless. As soon as Aeric finished pulling his sword out of the dead minorat, another one was already climbing over top of the now growing pile of corpses.
Amos’s next axe volley was ready. He unleashed the first axe with True Aim immediately. The rat that was about to make it over the shield instead collapsed over the top of it, crashing into Aeric’s head and destabilizing him. The swarm of minorats wasted no time capitalizing on his imbalance and surged forward, knocking him onto his back in the mud. A minorat crawled over Aeric’s shield and snapped its jaws towards his neck.
But Elsie was there. She pushed her spear into the creature’s face, stabbing it and causing its attack to miss. Amos’s second axe made contact with another minorat that was scampering out of the doorway directly towards Elsie. The axe’s handle ended with a spiked tip which pierced straight through one of the monster’s eyes: the minorat fell still.
Amos began his next round of summoning, but two more minorats had already arrived. These two were standing on their hand legs, each of them holding crude spears. They shrieked in rage as they saw the slaughter the humans had already wrought upon their brethren.
Both of the walking minorats ran for Elsie, who was the closest vulnerable target. They raised their spears to strike, but Lyric finally finished her spell. While pointing her brightly glowing Sylvan wand towards the chaos, she shouted “Greater Muddle!”
A dark red light flashed from the wand, enveloping everyone in the area. Confusion reigned.
The minorats fell to the ground, then lumbered about as if they were drunk. They made no attempts to attack. Lyric ran forward, stowing her wand in her pocket, and grabbed Aeric out from under the shield. It was weighed down by a minorat corpse, which added slightly to the difficulty, but nothing she couldn’t handle.
Her companions had also been affected by the spell. Elsie and Aeric were spasming on the ground, their eyes rolling around wildly. Amos was kneeling on the ground holding his head. Lyric examined the twins. She shook Aeric. He did not respond. She slapped his cheek hard, but he continued his seizure.
Lyric turned to Amos instead. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him roughly. He regained a small amount of clarity in his expression.
“Lyric?” He said. “What’s… why is the world spinning? What is…”
“We need to get to the farmhouse,” Lyric said. “Can you carry Aeric?”
“The farmhouse?” Amos mumbled. Lyric slapped him hard across the cheek.
“I’m sorry for hitting you, but physical pain counteracts a muddle spell. If we tried to attack the rats they would snap out of it.”
“Ow,” Amos said. He glared at Lyric. “You’re a terrible teammate to have.”
“Carry Aeric to the farmhouse, now. The confusion won’t last forever.” Lyric walked over and wrapped Elsie’s arms around the spear, forcing her to hug it securely, then lifted her up in a princess carry. Amos followed suit, quickly placing Aeric’s sword and shield over his body before picking him up as well.
They took the twins as fast as they could to the farmhouse, leaving the confused minorats crawling around aimlessly in the mud, making terrible groaning noises. Lyric glanced back once, looking wistfully at the umbrellas they had left behind.
---
Amos stood just inside the door of the farmhouse, out of the rain. They hadn’t bothered knocking, and the door was unlocked. Amos had dropped Aeric off in front of the fireplace before coming back to the door to watch for an attack. He dropped to one knee and opened his bag while trying to keep an eye on the watermill at the same time.
He pulled out his recurve bow: a very expensive piece of equipment that was his pride and joy: Eagle’s Wing. Almost all of his savings since being summoned had gone to this one tool in his arsenal. He admired its gleaming blue and gold paint for a moment, appreciating the way it curved at each tip mimicking a great bird’s talons. He had strung the Eagle’s Wing before setting out on the hunt, as he usually did. It was better to be prepared than to be dead.
He pulled out his quiver of arrows, then not sure how many he’d need he decided to summon more. He channeled astra into his class skill: Summon Weapon. A secondary quiver of arrows formed out of light blue mist into physical existence. It was the same color as his summoned axes: a bright shining unreal color that would be difficult to find in any naturally occurring plant, animal, or mineral.
Before long a dozen minorats had come to their senses and were scurrying across the two hundred yard open field towards the farmhouse. Amos activated another class skill: Long Shot. He changed how we would normally aim: instead of aiming above his target, he pointed the arrow directly towards it.
Astra flowed from the leyline, through the connection to Amos’s own channels, and into the weapon as he fired the bow. The arrow flew in an unrealistic straight line, only barely affected by gravity. It hit a rat’s hind leg, causing it to collapse onto the ground in a writhing heap of wet fur. The creature’s keening grunts sounded throughout the grassy field, muted slightly by the downpour.
Amos wasted no time, releasing shot after shot. One enemy fell, and then another: some of them dead and others simply too injured to continue their charge. When the beasts got close enough Amos switched to using his True Aim skill. These rats died instantly from perfectly placed headshots.
The final minorat reached Amos before he was ready. It was running on two legs with a crude spear in hand. Amos grabbed an arrow, but had no time to string it. Instead he jammed it forward, aiming for the minorat’s eyes. The beast’s forward momentum prevented it from dodging, and its weight skewered itself onto the arrow’s shaft. Amos was not without damage himself, as his thigh was pierced with the minorat’s spear.
He swore and held on to the door frame with his free hand. “Lyric!” He cried out, seeing blood soak into his pants leg. “I need a heal!”
“Coming!” She called back.
In the distance, Amos could see another group of minorats emerging from the watermill. The open field was clear enough that they could see their fellow nestmates lying on the ground. Amos loaded up an arrow, but found it difficult to aim properly. He fired an arrow at random with Long Shot, hoping to hit anything within the general mass of minorats. A minorat fell, and the rest of the group turned back and ran into the safety of the watermill’s interior.
Lyric arrived at his side. Her wand was already glowing with pink energy as she approached. She knelt down next to him and inspected the wound through the tear in his pants leg while Amos kept watch towards the watermill. When she was ready, she traced the tip of her wand around his wound and released just the right amount of energy. Light pink mist flowed into the skin. She watched as the wound closed up, leaving barely a scratch on the surface of his skin.
Lyric looked up at him and he nodded in appreciation. The pain was gone. She stood up and looked out over the field. Some of the minorats were still squirming around out there.
The next minute was spent with Amos firing arrows at anything that moved on the field. He finished off any of the minorats that were still making any sounds or movements, putting them out of their misery with well placed arrows now that he had time to steady himself between shots.
Lyric left him to his grisly work and returned to building up the fire.
At last the only sound Amos could hear was the pelting rain on the roof of the farmhouse. His breath made small puffs of steam in the air that had now grown chilly as the rainy cold front had fully arrived.
---
Lyric was sitting cross legged by the fireplace. She had rested Aeric's head in her lap. Elsie was also laid out on the floor near them with her head resting on a soft pillow, which was now wet from her hair. They were all warming up with the roaring fire that Lyric had built.
The twins hadn’t woken up yet, and Amos was busy watching the watermill for signs of movement. Lyric had moved a coat rack near the fire, then arranged her battle robes to dry next to Elsie’s jacket and Aeric’s school uniform coat. They could at least get some of their clothes dry after the brief skirmish in the rain.
“I told you drying off in the farmhouse was a possible option today,” Lyric said to Amos.
He glared at her in anger. “Yeah, well you didn’t flashing tell us that the minorats would be enthralled now did you?” Amos said. “What was it you said? We weren’t going to see any Enthralled for months?
“No need to swear about it,” Lyric said sheepishly. “And the minorats being enthralled was not something I’ve seen in any of the past four months leading up to this hunt. Something big must have changed since my last divination in order for this to happen or else I would have seen it.”
“How long ago was that?” Amos asked.
“The same day these two arrived,” she said. “I went to the meadow that same afternoon.”
“And you saw this hunt proceed without the Enthralled?”
“Well, no,” Lyric admitted. “I had seen the hunt a few times before so I didn’t look into it this time. I was too busy looking for information about… other things.” Her hand absentmindedly brushed against Aeric’s cheek.
Amos thought for a moment. “You have a strong class skill, but you use it all wrong. You’re so focused on pointless social things that you don’t even pay attention to what you should. Why not focus on the future that matters instead of trying to figure out who would ever want to be your boyfriend or whatever it is you’ve been doing.”
“There is no the future to see, Amos. What I see are possibilities. Some are pretty much guaranteed to happen.” She looked down at Aeric’s closed eyes and brushed her fingers through his wet, blue hair. “And some are possibilities that require very specific events to make reality. Those are the ones I focus on.”
Amos glanced over at her again. “You've been wrong about your predictions before. You could be wrong about your luckiest boy in school too, you know.”
“Then I'll just have to try again, won't I?”
“Is there any way you could see the future now? Can you tell if there's a reliable way out of here: do something useful for once?”
She glared at him for a moment, then relented. “I could try, but… to be honest I'm not all that great at doing it on my own. I'd need to be in the academy's divination meadow to have any confidence in my predictions.”
“So you really are useless,” Amos muttered. He almost wished the minorats would attack again so he could take some of his frustration out.
“I'm not useless,” Lyric said quietly, more to herself than to Amos. “I kept us all alive, didn’t I?”
Amos sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Thank you for casting that spell. It was quick thinking on your part, and I appreciate it.”
Lyric nodded, accepting his apology.
“Can you wake them up though? I’d really like to get back to the academy to report this Enthralled incursion,” Amos said.
She looked back down at Aeric resting in her lap. His eyes were closed, and his breathing had calmed down. He and his twin sister were no longer convulsing randomly. “Maybe we could just give them a moment longer,” she said.
---
Aeric?
You are Aeric.
I’m Elsie. No, I’m… both of us.
As am I.
I can remember everything I’ve done as Elsie. And everything I’ve done as Aeric.
Of course you can. You did them.
But so did you.
Hush now. Rest. Recover our mental strength for a moment. Let this spell wear off.
The spell. That’s right. Lyric tried to kill us.
She did not try to kill us. Just rest.
She attacked us right there in plain sight.
She used an area of effect spell. I don’t think she realized it would affect us so much.
I hate her. When I see her again I’ll--
Rest, Aeric. Rest.
---
Elsie and Aeric stirred at the same time. Aeric's eyes looked around, confused for a moment. He finally focused on Lyric's face directly above him. She smiled gently at him; her face full of hope.
Aeric snarled at her and sat up from her lap, scooting away from her. He raised a hand with an accusatory finger.
“You! You backstabber! You could have killed me! I should--”. Aeric stopped speaking. He began twitching back and forth, his muscles moving at random. Lyric stared wide-eyed at Aeric's odd motions.
“Stop it,” Aeric said. “You stop,” he said in response to himself.
“Don't you dare--” Elsie said. Her body began twitching one way and then another as well. She half stood up, then fell back down to the floor again. “It's only fair,” she said to herself. The twins’s movements looked similar to the spasms they had experienced immediately after the muddle spell.
“Truce,” both siblings said at once, then collapsed back onto the floor, breathing heavily.
“What in the world?” Amos asked.
Aeric put both of his hands over his face and groaned. Elsie grabbed the pillow and put it under her head again, closing her eyes.
We looked like idiots. I can't believe you tried to control my body like that.
Same to you! We have boundaries for a reason, Aeric.
Take your own advice then. You're the one who controlled me first.
Because you were going to do something you would really regret. She doesn't deserve that!
In your opinion. But now they're going to realize something's up about us. There's no way to cover up something like that.
Sure there is.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Apparently,” Elsie said slowly with her eyes still closed. “My brother and I are vulnerable to cognitive magic attacks.”
Aeric opened his eyes and stared daggers at Lyric. She had a teardrop rolling down one of her cheeks.
“I’m so sorry,” she said quietly. “I’m so sorry that I did this to you. I had no idea that would happen.”
Aeric’s expression remained hard as he sat up, crossing his hands over his knees. “That experience was worse than you can imagine,” he mumbled.
“You should be thanking her,” Amos said sternly. “She probably saved our lives with that spell.”
“What happened to calling me useless?” Lyric said.
“I already apologized, alright? I’m not apologizing again,” Amos said.
“Where are we?” Elsie asked.
“We’re in the farmhouse,” Lyric said.
“And the minorats?” Aeric asked.
“They’re out there still,” Amos said, looking out the window again. The field was still strewn with their bodies, though they had not made another assault. He briefly explained the attack to the twins and how they had retreated to the watermill.
“Maybe we can just sneak away.” Aeric suggested. “This is clearly more dangerous than we anticipated. We should go back.”
“I think we should stay here,” Lyric said. “We can defend this house pretty well, and the Slayer Office will eventually realize we’ve been gone too long and send someone to find us. We did say we’d be back by tonight, remember?”
“There’s no guarantee anyone will be coming to help right away,” Amos said. “It could be a day or more. If we’re going to leave then we should do it soon. There’s no reason to be staying here this close to danger.”
“And what happens if we get swarmed by their full force once we step foot out of this house?” Lyric countered.
“Then we’ll thin down their numbers at range before they can reach us,” Amos said matter-of-factly. “If worse comes to worst then we run.”
“Are you willing to risk having to run the full distance back to the academy? That’s eleven miles through the mud. Not all of us are as keen on running as you are, Amos. We’re better off waiting here.” Lyric said.
“I feel like you are proving that you haven’t paid attention to a single one of our combat lectures. The first priority in this situation is safety,” Amos said.
“And we have achieved that priority. We would be putting ourselves at worse risk by going out in the open where they can attack us. If we stay here we could establish a chokepoint, set up barricades, and stay comfortable while we wait for the Slayer Office to investigate.”
“Tell me honestly: have you seen any future possibilities where staying at this farmhouse is the best option?” Amos demanded.
“I have seen possibilities where we choose to stay here overnight, yes.” Lyric confirmed.
“But I’m assuming none of those futures involved the minorats being enthralled,” Amos said.
“That’s true. It was usually because of the weather. The storm is only going to get worse and Shaun and his wife were usually so kind to offer us shelter during it.”
Amos returned his attention to the watermill. “So it’s different then.”
Elsie cleared her throat, joining the discussion. “I think we’re all in agreement that we shouldn’t be trying to take on a nest of enthralled minorats on our own. So that means we either hide out or get out,” she said.
“I vote we hide out here,” Lyric said immediately.
“I vote we go back for help,” Amos replied. They both turned to look at the twins.
It’s up to us then. I think we should leave.
Lyric might have a point: I don’t know how well we’d do running through miles of muddy terrain while being chased by some sort of chaos vermin. I think we should stay.
It’s really weird that we have two different opinions once again.
“We’ll stay,” Elsie said abruptly.
“What? No!” Aeric said. “We should leave now. Forget the rain, let’s just get back to the academy.”
“What if we barricaded the house like Lyric suggested?” Elsie said. “Put furniture against the doors, and windows; made it more defensible.”
“Yeah!” Lyric said. “We can totally take them if we have a suitable chokepoint to keep them at bay. And that’s if they even bother attacking us at all.”
“I don’t know,” Aeric said. “I was getting overrun with just a single door opening at the watermill.”
“That’s because it wasn’t properly fortified. You don’t have any sort of shield mastery skills to do it properly,” Elsie pointed out.
Please, Aeric?
This is ridiculous. It shouldn’t even be a question.
I’ll owe you a favor.
How can someone owe a favor to their own self?
I’ll think of a way.
That’s basically like saying I’ll be the one to think of a way.
Not exactly. Our thoughts are distinctly different from one another, no matter what else we share.
“I still think we should just leave now, but fine,” Aeric said with a sigh. “I’ll side with the girls on this one.”
“Yay!” Lyric said.
Thanks, Aeric.
We are absolutely going to talk about this whole differing opinions thing though.
Amos was silent for a moment. “I’m disappointed, but it would be irresponsible for me to leave you all alone here. If you all want to stay then let’s stay.”
“We can start by having lunch,” Lyric said. She turned to Aeric. “Want to help me?”
He responded with a glare. “I’m still not over what you did to my brain,” he said. Lyric’s expression fell.
“You should come here and practice archery anyway,” Amos said. “I can summon pretty much unlimited arrows without exhausting my astra when we’re this close to the leyline. At least at the rate we’ll be shooting at anyway.”
“I’ll help you with lunch,” Elsie said. “I don’t think… I don’t think the Westmans are around anymore to care if we help ourselves to a bit of their food.”
The atmosphere in the room grew grim at that realization.
---
A few hours later, the group had moved into the larger of the two bedrooms in the farmhouse. Amos had made one last push to convince everyone to go back now, but was ultimately shot down. It was still raining, growing darker from the heavy storm, and they had already made so much progress on their fortifications. The sharpshooter didn’t help much with the process, but instead sat on a stool they had placed next to one of the bedroom windows to keep a lookout for the enemy’s next assault.
“My class actually has above-average eyesight,” Amos said. “So unless these are the first minorats in history to have stealth skills we shouldn’t need to worry about a surprise attack while I’m on watch.”
“Yes, very important,” Elsie said while straining at moving a dresser. “I can see why you’d want to use your special eyes to maintain watch and leave the heavy lifting to the rest of us mortals.”
“It’s kind of like building a fort,” Lyric said whimsically as she came over and helped Elsie push the dresser all the way against the only other window in the room. The master bedroom would be easier to block off than the main area of the house. This bedroom also had the benefit of an attached bathroom with running water in case it was needed.
Aeric arrived with a loosely bundled mattress filled with straw. “This is the only thing I could find.”
“I’m fine sleeping on the straw mattress,” Elsie said. “That still only leaves the bigger bed. If we have two people on watch then it won’t matter though.”
“The feather bed is big enough to share,” Lyric said happily. “We can stick with having one person on watch, put Aeric on the straw mattress, and Elsie and I on the feather bed. How does that sound?”
“Fine by me,” Aeric said.
“I’m fine with it too,” Elsie said, looking with concern at Lyric. She added in a quieter voice, “I didn’t think you’d want to do that though.”
“It’s okay,” Lyric said. “I sometimes slept in the same bed as my friends during sleepovers in middle school back on Earth. This will be no different.”
Elsie raised an eyebrow, thinking back to the conversation they had when Lyric accused her of being a boy before being summoned. “If you’re comfortable with it then I am too,” she finally said.
“What is wrong with you people?” Amos asked, irritated. “We could literally die tonight if those things decided to attack, and you’re talking about organizing sleeping arrangements and building forts as if this is some sort of slumber party.”
The group looked at him.
“Do you really think a flimsy dresser is going to stop the Enthralled from breaking in if they really wanted to? And who cares what bed you’re laying on, we’re not kids spending the night at a friend’s house. Grow up.”
The other three exchanged a few quiet glances while Amos went back to glaring out the window.
“What do you expect us to do?” Elsie asked indignantly. “Each pick a window to stare out of and get no sleep at all?”
“Maybe that’s not such a bad idea,” Amos said. “The more people we have watching for danger, the better. Not to mention that the sooner I can see the Enthralled, the sooner I can start shooting them full of arrows.”
“That’s assuming they will even attack us again,” Lyric said.
“They will,” Amos insisted.
“Look,” Aeric said, “I was also on your side for voting to go straight home. But now that we’re here, we might as well make our time useful. If barricading the windows and door makes them even a little bit slower when they attack then it will be worth it. It’s not like we have anything better to do until tomorrow.”
Amos considered this point silently for a moment. “Fine,” he said. “Build your forts. I’ll keep watch.”
---
Amos continued his post into the beginning of the night as well. They didn’t light any flames in the bedroom, and the fire in the main room had long since gone out. They didn’t want to bring any more attention to the house if they could avoid it.
Elsie and Lyric were asleep on the feather mattress on the floor. It was slightly smaller than a queen size bed from Earth. They had broken down the bedframe and propped the wood against the door frame. The door would be difficult to open, but they would be able to dislodge the wood from this side if needed.
The lookout window was the only one not fully covered up. They had still pulled the curtains over it, except for a small portion to see out of, in case that helped avoid detection. The rain had stopped now; though the sky was still mostly filled with clouds. Every now and then two moons could be seen through breaks in the clouds, slowly making their way across the sky.
When the moons looked like they had traveled about a quarter of the distance across the sky, Amos walked over and gently nudged Aeric awake. Elsie also stirred, but soon went back to sleep. Amos didn’t notice her movements.
“Anything happen?” Aeric said in a whisper.
“All quiet. No movement as far as I could see. It’s dark though. Still too many clouds in the sky.”
“Get some rest then. I’ll keep watch.”
Amos laid down on the straw mattress and Aeric took his spot at the window. There was nothing interesting to see. Just the grass moving gently in the breeze.
I bet night watches are easier with a Sylvan on your team because of their biphasic sleep patterns, Aeric thought to himself. He could tell that Elsie’s portion of their shared mind had gone back to sleep. It felt strange being alone. He was growing used to having the other half of his mind respond to himself as if it were a different person.
He sighed to himself as he looked out at the darkness. How did I get here? There I was just doodling in math class and the next thing I know I’m a magic user summoned to a new world, hiding in a farmhouse playing Night of the Living Dead with two people I barely know and some sort of female half of my brain and body.
Aeric stared up at the moons. They were both light gray, though as he stared at them for a while he realized that the smaller one was a slightly darker shade of gray than the other. It was following in the larger, lighter moon’s path.
After a while Aeric realized the smaller, darker moon wasn’t following in the lighter moon’s path. It was orbiting its larger counterpart which was itself orbiting the planet.
That’s incredible, he thought. I remember reading that it’s theoretically possible for a planet-moon-submoon system like this to exist, but none were ever confirmed by astronomers back on Earth. I bet I could get a PhD on this if I could make some good observations and bring them back home.
He felt confused by his own thoughts for a moment.
But this is my home now. This world. This life. Isn’t it?
The wind picked up slightly, making a soft whistling sound as it passed by the house.
I told the headmaster I wouldn’t return to Earth even if I could. But is that actually true? Or did I only say that because my female half said it first? She didn’t even exist back on Earth. Not physically at least. I… mostly did. Just as my old self. My old body. Eric Smith.
He glanced over at his sister sleeping serenely next to her roommate.
She doesn’t even have a body to go back to on Earth. I guess I don’t know if I do anymore either to be honest. Not to mention our shared mind might not work at all if we went back. If going back was even a possibility anyway.
Aeric watched the two moons drift lazily across the cloudy night sky: neither one ever able to leave the others’ side.
---
Well crap. We didn’t think this through, did we?
Aeric was standing between Amos, who was softly snoring on the straw mattress, and the two girls who were sleeping next to each other on the feather bed. The night was halfway over, and it was time for the next watch. He didn’t want to wake up Amos since he had already done his duty. He looked at the girls.
It would be weirder for me to voluntarily try to sleep next to Lyric, Aeric decided. So I’ll wake her up and sleep next to Elsie.
He knelt down and gently shook Lyric’s shoulder. She had slept in her battle robes, just in case. It made Aeric wish he had something that looked as comfortable to sleep in. Especially something that was also magically enhanced for battle. Taylor the Tailor probably hadn’t intended these robes to be pajamas though.
Lyric’s eyes remained closed, but she sleepily reached up and took Aeric’s hand from her shoulder, trying to pull him closer.
“Lyric!” he whispered. “It’s your turn to take watch.” When he tried pulling his hand away she tightened her grip. He used his other hand to gently flick her on the forehead.
Her eyes shot open, unfocused at first. She finally realized what was going on and sat up quickly, slightly disturbing Elsie on the other side of the bed. She looked down at their hands and spent a brief moment trying to figure out what she was looking at. With a soft gasp she dropped his hand and stood up.
“Sorry,” she said in a whisper. “I’m awake. ”
“Good luck with the watch,” Aeric said.
He watched her for a moment as she sat on the kitchen barstool they had placed next to the window. She had her legs up on the stool with her, resting her chin on her knees with her arms wrapped around her shins. She glanced over at him and saw that he was looking up at her. She gave a small, hesitant smile, then turned back to watch out the window.
“Lyric?” He said softly. She looked his way again. “I’m sorry for how mad I got about the whole brain muddling thing. I didn’t like being collateral damage in your attack, but I realize I’m probably alive because of it. So… thank you.”
The hesitation left her smile as she beamed down at him, her long emerald hair catching the glow of the light from the two moons. “You’re welcome. Get some rest, Aeric.”
Aeric was asleep moments later, his breathing subconsciously slowing down to match that of his sister: the rise and fall of their chests keeping the same rhythm as one another.
---
Eric Smith woke up to the sound of his doorbell ringing. He lay in his bed for a moment, trying to remember his dreams. He sat up and dangled his feet over the edge of the bed, sitting far enough back that his feet did not touch the ground. His alarm clock was blinking 12:00 over and over.
No idea what time it is, I guess, Eric thought to himself. His bedroom window only indicated that it must be late at night, as there was no light coming from it at all.
The doorbell rang again. Then a third time immediately after that.
Eric yawned and stood up, reaching for his glasses. They weren’t on his nightstand where he usually kept them.
Oh that’s right, he thought. I don’t need them anymore, do I?
He stepped out of his bedroom and absentmindedly closed his sister's open door as walked towards the stairs.
He paused and turned around. His own door was closed, just like he thought.
Eric stood at the top of the stairs and looked down at the front door of his family’s house. Green light poured through the window.
He walked down the stairs. Out of his peripheral vision he saw his family portraits hanging on the wall. They were all bathed in the pale green glow. His father. His mother. His sister.
Uncertainty halted his step. He looked back at the last portrait again, adjusting his glasses to see it better. His own face looked back at him.
His vision blurred as the doorbell rang again.
Eric found himself in front of the door, staring at the doorknob. He did not know what was waiting for him on the other side. He only knew it was something that wanted to come in. Something that could not enter without his permission.
He placed a hand on the doorknob.
---
Aeric. What are you doing?
Aeric was still asleep, but he felt different. His astra was flowing through his channels more forcefully than normal. And it felt atypical. Sweeter somehow. Like a pleasant floral scent he could detect inside his body. He liked it. He liked the way this astra felt as it pulsed through his core and reached every aspect of his being.
Aeric stop. This is not appropriate. I can’t… I don’t want to feel this.
He didn’t understand at first. He was still too deeply asleep. For some reason his mind was filled with thoughts of his sister’s new roommate. He could see her. Sitting on the stool with her emerald green hair illuminated by the moonlight, looking out the window. Resting his head on her lap in front of the fireplace. Holding his arm while they shared an umbrella in the rain.
Aeric! Wake up!
He stirred slightly, though he was still mostly asleep. He vaguely recognized the feeling of cycling astra with Elsie like they had done in the medical ward right after being summoned.
What are you doing, Elsie?
I’m not doing anything, you weirdo. Open your eyes already.
It was lighter in the room. Daybreak was fast approaching. Aeric looked up at the stool by the window only to find Elsie doubled over on the floor next to it. She had one arm up on the stool, gripping it so hard her knuckles were white. That didn't make sense to him for some reason, but he couldn't figure out why.
Another wave of the flowery astra coursed through him, and his eyes closed on their own as his head fell back onto his pillow, relaxed. He felt a combination of both comfort and attachment: a feeling of belonging, of attachment. A feeling that everything would be okay. A feeling of hope.
This newest pulse of astra brought more visions to his mind: Lyric laughing at his jokes as they sat eating lunch together on the steps of the castle. Holding her hand as they walked through the streets of Brightglen. Dancing together in a grand ballroom in the warm summer air, the skirt of her ball gown flaring out in the air like flower petals as he twirled her. The feeling of her lips pressed against his as he held her close.
“Aeric!” Elsie said in a harsh whisper. “Let go of her hand. Please.”
Aeric’s eyes shot open again as he finally realized what was happening. Lyric lay right next to him, still asleep. She had snuggled up against him and was cradling his arm in both of hers, hugging it against her chest. Aeric snapped back to reality and rolled away, yanking his arm out from her grasp.
Lyric yelped and woke up, breathing hard.
“Aeric!” She said breathlessly, staring up at him with her wide purple eyes. “What did--! Did you just--?! What just happened?”
“Whazzat?” Amos said as he woke up from the noise. “Attack?” The other three people in the room were too out of breath to respond.
Aeric, something’s wrong. Look at the floor beneath Lyric. Use your trace sense, NOW.
Aeric knelt on the floor and took the few dozen seconds he required to establish his astral connection to the leyline beneath the nearby river while Lyric caught her breath. She held a hand over her chest as she continued lying on the bed, feeling her own racing heartbeat. Amos was sitting up now, trying to figure out what was going on.
As the world of magical lines and connections came into view, Aeric could see astra pulsing between himself and Lyric, moving in both directions. The connection was growing weaker as he watched. Soon he could barely even trace the path between himself and the emerald haired girl on the mattress in front of him.
What was that? It's like I was directly connected to her on an astral level for a moment there, right?
Not your connection with Lyric, dummy. Look beneath her. What is that?!
As Aeric looked with his trace sense he saw a faint glow beneath the floor. It continued off into the distance, under the ground. Towards the watermill.
“What is--?” Aeric said.
He was interrupted by an explosion beneath the bedroom itself. The floor collapsed beneath the bed that Lyric was resting on, forming a ramp several feet down into a dirt tunnel below. An arrangement of crude spears had been placed in the ground beneath the floor to catch anyone who fell into the trap. Most of the spikes were knocked to the side ineffectually by the debris.
One spear happened to be in just the right spot: piercing through the floorboards, mattress, and finally Lyric’s back. The tip of the spear protruded out of her chest, skewering her in the air just above the mattress.
She stared at the bloodied tip of the spear poking out from her body, a few inches below the left side of her collarbone.
“What…?” She said in shock, as the pain from the wound hit her.
She looked up at Aeric with a terrified expression, then coughed up blood.