I woke up to a yelp. I shot up and pulled the knife out of my boot. 

I looked over to see a girl maybe a year older than me examining her finger. I looked around to make sure all my stuff was in the circle. 

"Who are you?" I asked, tightening my grip on the knife. 

Her amber eyes met mine, “Nix."

"What were you doing?" 

Her face turned slightly red. She glanced at my knife, "you have no fighting skill do you?" 

"I-"

"That's just a kitchen knife, not a dagger, and you’re not holding it right."

I felt my face go red, “It’s still a knife, and it still cuts.” 

She looked back up at me, a strand of her short blonde hair fell in her face. 

“What are you doing in the forest?” She asked ignoring my mild threat, “Not many use the trail you’re using.”

“I could ask you the same question.” 

I took a moment to assess her. She wore a red shirt, jeans, and ankle-high boots. She wasn’t carrying any weapon and looked a little thin. Her golden blonde hair was close-cut and hung in her face.

She opened her mouth to speak but her stomach spoke for her. Her face turned a darker shade of red.

"When was the last time you ate?" I asked loosening my grip on the knife. 

“Umm… well… about two days.” 

I grabbed my bag and pulled out an apple. I held it out to her. She reached for it but got shocked by the spell. 

“Sorry,” I said and wiped the circle to break the spell.

“It’s okay.” 

She took the apple gingerly as I held it out.

“Thank you,” She said before taking a bite.

“Where are you going?” I asked. I got up and shoved the spellbook back into the bag. 

“I don’t know. Anywhere away from Dragon’s Creek,” She looked away. 

“Hmm, well that’s where I need to go. Do you have anywhere to go?”

“No. I have no living relatives that I know of, so I’m on my own.”

“Oh, Well, umm I’m sorry?” I felt my face turn red. I didn’t know what to say. 

“You don’t need to apologize. It’s not your fault.” She smiled. “Why are you going to Dragon’s creek?” 

“Umm…” I felt my face turn an even darker shade of red.

I suddenly felt embarrassed. What if she thought I was childish? The spell was supposed to be a myth, but the symbol on my chest would say otherwise. 

“I’m looking for someone,” I finally said.

“Is there a possibility that this person isn’t in Dragon’s Creek?”

“Umm yeah maybe,” Replied, walking in the direction of the town. “But I’m going there regardless. Dragon’s Creek is the only lead I have on this person.” 

“Can I ask who it is you're looking for?” Nix asked, getting up to walk alongside me.

I turned to her, “Why? Do you want to come with me?”

“I-” She sighed, “It’s just that you're the first person in a while who hasn’t looked at me with pity.” 

“Well, nothing's stopping you.”

“But I don’t want to go back to Dragon’s creek.” 

“Well then just walk with me to the town entrance. You don’t have to go in.” 

What am I doing? I should just tell her to go her separate way. I don’t need her to follow me.

Her face turned red, “Really?”

I nodded and continued walking. We walked for a while in silence. 

I looked up at the pink sky. We had been walking for hours with barely any rest. I had only eaten one apple all day only because Nix insisted I eat. 

“We should stop here,” I said.

“Okay,” Nix said. She turned to me, “What are we going to do about the food. We only have one apple left, And you only ate one apple all day.”

“You eat it. I’ll be fine,” I said, looking at the map. We still had at least half a day left to travel.

“No, you need to eat more than one apple.” 

I ignored her and looked for a stick to draw the spells I needed. 

“Are you ignoring me?” 

Yup, good job you figured it out. 

I sat my bag down in the circle. Then walked over to Nix taking off the canteen to hand to her. She takes it and makes a face at me. I grabbed her shoulders and gently steered her into the circle. 

“Hey! What are you doing?” She asked, shaking me off her. 

I continued to ignore her and started on the verbal part of the protection spell. 

“Hey, are you okay?” I heard over my ragged breathing. 

I nodded. I felt dizzy.

Suddenly my body felt like it was on fire. I could hear the muffled voice of Nix but I couldn’t make out what she was saying.

Then everything went black.