Two days! Papa will be back in two days!

  An entire month had passed since the surprise. Where did it go? It passed too fast!

  After saying Twilight’s lines to Cain, he hadn’t come to find me ever since. If I knew it, I would had done it the day I returned, not after an entire week of running!

  The first days passed weirdly quietly, but it was only after returning home one night, only to find Theodore and Cain missing from their beds, that I got worried. The next morning, Papa explained they went to the mountain and would be back in three. It didn’t make me feel better, and my tummy hurt the whole time, but when they returned, it went away.

  They had bandages everywhere on them, but they said they were fine. I didn’t think that though. They were different than before. Cain, I didn’t ask, but saw him a few times punching the air. Poor Cain had lost it after our talk. Maybe I was too hard on him.

  Theodore was also weird. He wasn’t asking to play with me anymore. Instead, every time I saw him, he was holding books with him, reaching for Mr. Orion’s house when I was at Mr. Herbert buying cake. Papa said that Theodore wanted to learn more because he was a little behind me in our lessons. I just hoped those extra lessons were enough for him because in two days we would be starting again.

  ‘So exciting!’

  Papa was finally coming back! I missed him so much! Seeing him only a little in the morning wasn’t enough!

  When I learned of the news, I yelled so loud people gathered around Mr. Orion’s house to see if everything was okay.

  ‘Oops, sorry, Mr. Orion.’

  Thankfully, he laughed at it and didn’t mind.

  I usually didn’t scream so loudly, but it wasn’t my fault! It was about Papa coming back, how could I not react like that!? And, Papa coming back wasn’t the only good news!

  Today was the day. I could feel it. While Cain was punching the air, Theodore studied, and Papa was getting better, I did my own little training.

  Every day, I went to the forest, played checkpoints, and watched the quint in the trees, the flowers, the rocks, the air, everywhere! Even inside me! At first, they were like ten or twelve light dots but every day I looked, more and more were there, and by now there were so much I couldn’t count them! The more of them that went into my tummy, the faster the rest of them traveled. What looked like it would take forever took only three weeks! Almost all the lights were together now, and I could feel the quint. It was a very weak feeling, but it was there and that’s what mattered!

  Sweeping away the leaves, I found my usual spot. Winter was close, but the sun beamed at it for hours, so the place was warm. Sitting nicely, I knew what I had to do.

  ‘Alright, let’s do this.’

  Holding my pendant tightly, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The feeling in my tummy increased, and the darkness filled with lights.

  This time was different. It felt different. More closed, more complete, more… whole. There were so many more lights than before, and they all shone brilliantly, nothing like the dim-gloomy color they once had. And then, there was another, much, much further than the rest. The biggest and brightest of them all. The Last One.

  I waited for a moment, then the counting began.

  One, two... fifty... ninety-nine, one hundred, one, two...

  I didn’t know what came after one hundred. Papa hadn’t taught me yet, so I started again, raising one finger to remind myself I had already passed the big one.

  Each time I thought I was close to the final light, another two appeared ahead of me.

  I kept going, kept counting. Eventually, all ten of my fingers were raised, and the numbers made no sense anymore, but I still reached forward, believing I was getting closer. Until I wasn’t.

  I turned back. My mouth dropped.

  All that counting, all that moving, and I was still nowhere. The lights stretched endlessly around me—above, below, behind, ahead. What I had crossed so far was just a drop in an ocean of lights, an ocean swallowed by darkness.

  “I... I will never reach the end...”

  I squeezed my hands into fists and forced myself forward. It didn’t matter how long it took—I would get there.

  ‘I just have to keep going.’

  I pushed through. But something clung to me, dragging me down. My mind felt slow, heavy. Thoughts tangled together, and for the first time, I hesitated.

  ‘What if I don’t reach it?’

  ‘It’s so dark…’

  ‘N-no, I can do it, one at a time. I can do it. I can do it! I can... do it... I can...'

  'I can't...’

  Everything felt distant. The lights blurred. I didn’t know where I was, or why I was still moving. The thought of reaching the end no longer excited me. It only made my chest feel tighter.

  I didn’t want to reach the light anymore. I wanted it to stop. I wanted it to end.

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  But...

  I didn’t stop. I didn’t give up. I didn’t know why.

  I stumbled. Fell. But I got back up, even though I wasn’t sure how. I kept moving.

  ‘What is Theodore doing now? What about Papa? Even Cain… is he still punching the air?’ The thought made me chuckle weakly. But something lingered, something I didn’t want to think about.

  ‘Why am I even doing this?’

  I stopped.

  ...

  I didn't think anymore.

  ...

  I didn’t have an answer.

  ...

  I just stood there in silence.

  ...

  Turning back, I couldn’t see the beginning. There was only this vast, endless space full of dots of light.

  ‘Beautiful...’

  Maybe... maybe the goal wasn’t reaching the last one. Maybe it was this—the lights themselves, shining together. It was peaceful, quiet, and perfect.

  Almost.

  Something blocked them, dimming their glow. A shadow. I hadn’t noticed it before, but now that I had, I couldn’t ignore it. It stretched across the lights, keeping them from shining as brightly as they could.

  I followed it. I had to know where it came from.

  The closer I got, the larger it became, swallowing more and more light. The itch in my chest grew stronger.

  And then I saw it.

  I had known all along but hadn’t wanted to believe it.

  It was my shadow.

  The pain in my tummy twisted deeper than anything before. My shadow was the reason the lights weren’t shining.

  ‘I... I did this...’

  If I hadn’t been here, the lights wouldn’t have been blocked.

  If I hadn't been here, this wouldn't have happened! The lights would be shining!

  I wanted to cry.

  How? How did it get so big? There wasn't any light stro—

  Every thought-every emotion paused. My hair stood on end as I slowly turned.

  Furthest away of every light. Brightest of them all.

  There it was.

  The Last One.

  It stood apart from the rest, distant, unreachable. But I had done it. I reached it.

  My breath caught. My heart pounded. My hands trembled as I reached forward, and with every bit of strength left in me, I jumped.

  “I SAID TOUCH!”

  The lights behind me moved at my command. They rushed forward, combining into something greater than the Last One itself. And from them, a shadow rose—massive, overwhelming. It stretched with me, reaching for the light.

  My finger brushed against its surface.

  Everything froze.

  No pain. No weight. No presence. No nothing.

  The lights. The shadow. Me.

  Everything shrank back as a blinding light filled it all.

  ***

  A loud boom sounded, and my eyes snapped open.

  I gasped and felt it immediately. The air had a different taste, my body felt lighter, and the crispy sound of the river fell softly on my ears as if it were next to me. Most of all, my eyes. Everything around me looked different, more beautiful, more colorful, more alive.

  That being said... I didn’t remember sitting on dirt.

  ‘Where did the grass go?’

  Taking a look around, it wasn’t only the grass missing, but the flowers as well. Surrounding me was mud and dirt with some fallen trees and some half-bend one’s a little further away from me.

  ‘And why do I feel shorter?’

  The earth beneath me seemed like it had a... dent?

  “What hap—” Stopping me was a wave of leaves from my right.

  Spinning around, a beast jumped out of some bushes and my heart skipped a thump. Big claws, sharp fangs… It looked exactly like an Emberfang only instead of fiery red fur, it was silver.

  “A Silverfang,” I whispered.

  It walked slowly, licking its mouth. Growling, its maw opened wide, all of its teeth revealing. Suddenly, it dashed in, its claws looking straight at me.

  The corners of my mouth rose, and I reached my hand to hide it.

  ‘A Silverfang is running straight at me, so… why am I getting excited?’

  The closer it got, the more excited I became. Before even realizing it, I was moving. I was an Elemancer now. Of course I could deal with a small Silverfang!

  As we closed in and the excitement reached its top, a small detail slipped me, pausing me on the spot.

  ‘I don’t know how to fight.’

  The Silverfang jumped and slashed my way.

  Panicked, I ducked down, its claws waving my hair.

  ‘What do I do? What do I do?’

  The silvery beast didn’t give me room to think. It slashed, bit, and clawed at me angrily. After the first duck, I somehow was able to dodge most of its attacks, but not all of them. My shirt was ripped, and my hands and chest were full of red, painful scratches.

  ‘I need to do something, but what? What? Ah! that’s it!’

  It flashed on me just as the beast was about to attack again. Papa! Papa was the answer! He dealt with three Emberfangs like it was nothing!

  Dodging the following bite, I tried mimicking what Papa did back then. Sadly, my slap to the head wasn’t as effective as one of Papa’s punches. The Silverfang waved his head around, growled, and rushed in again.

  Even worse, the beast was very close to me, and I didn’t have time to dodge its bite. I screamed in pain when its teeth bit me a little lower than my neck.

  “Ouch! Stupid Silverfang!” I yelled, punching at its nose, stunning it for a moment.

  ‘What was that?’ My focus turned from the pain to my attack. ‘How did I do that? No, wait. What did I do?’

  Looking at my punch, the lights were gathered around it. My eyes widened a little, but before I could finish that thought, the Silverfang was already attacking.

  I began running. I had to steal as much time as I could if I wanted to figure out how to fight back. Thankfully, not far from me, there was a fallen tree, and it gave me an idea.

  I had just enough time to reach the tree before the Silverfang could attack. Upon reaching in front of the tree, I stopped, and the Silverfang jumped, trying to bite my head off. Ducking down, the Silverfang hadn’t noticed the tree and so, instead of landing softly on the ground, it slipped to the uneven tree body and fell.

  ‘Now!’

  Just as it was standing up, I jumped and grabbed it by the neck. It barked and gnarled, thrashing around, trying to shake me off.

  I held on, trying to figure out what I did.

  ‘It was Quint, that’s for sure, but… how did I do it?’

  The Silverfang did all it could to escape. At first, it was barking and wiggling around, then trying to bite me off, and now was rolling around the mud. The ground hurt, but not enough so that I would let go. What I had enough of, however, was this Silverfang.

  Next, I did something I never expected myself to do.

  The Silverfang’s eyes widened fully, and a loud howl cried in pain as blood spilled all over my face like a fountain. For a moment it froze in place and then started trying to bite me off even fiercer than before.

  Angry, I bit it again, the same howl echoing once more. Tired and in pain, it didn’t fight back with the same strength.

  Focusing on the feeling a little over my tummy, I tried to move it to the rest of my body. It was a weird feeling as if it was always there, but at the same time, was not.

  Suddenly, the Silverfang jolted and freed itself. With a roar full of anger and hate, it spilled blood and saliva all over the place. Not wasting a second, it jumped straight in. Caught by surprise, I was barely able to jump out of the attack.

  There was a small pause from the Silverfang. It looked at me, and I looked back. We were both huffing, puffing, hurting, and tired. The next attack was going to be the last for both of us.

  Holding my breath, I moved first, tightening my fist. The Silverfang was only a second late, its claws open, ready to slice me down.

  ...

  ...

  Thud!

  The sound of my punch repeated in my ears as the Silverfang hit the tree right behind it.

  Huff... Huff...

  ‘I did it! I did it!’ I screamed inside me, too tired to do so out loud.

  “W-Wha...” A familiar voice came from behind me, cutting my breath short. “L-Lyon?”

  Blinking, I quickly wiped the blood off my face before turning to Theodore.

  “I did it, Theodore. I am an Elemancer.”