We ran for nearly an hour without stopping. I slowed down to catch my breath. Nix caught me as my legs gave out. I winced as she grabbed my wrist where the burn was. I had almost forgotten about it as we ran.

“Hey, Are you alright?” She asked, moving her hand off the burn. 

I nodded and pointed to a house in the distance. It was hard to see in the dark but I noticed it as Nix lifted me to my feet. It looked run down and there were boards on the windows. 

“You think anyone’s home?” I asked over my breaths. 

“I don’t know,” Nix replied.

“Let’s check it out. Maybe they can help if there is someone there, or at least use it as a shelter for the rest of the night.”

 I tried to take a step but my legs gave out again. 

“Careful,” Nix said, catching me again. 

She took the bag and put it on her back then scooped me up. My face turned red.

“Let’s go,” she made her way to the little house.

Nix set me down, keeping her arm around me for support. I knocked on the wooden door. After a few minutes, a small girl opened the door. From behind the door, I could see she had large horns sprouting from her head and a pair of leathery wings with a few tears. Her eyes were glazed over with white, I could barely make out the iris of her eyes.

"Hello?" She asked. Her voice was quiet and raspy like she hadn't used it in a while.

"Hi," I said.

"What do you want?" She asked.

Nix responded, "We need a place to stay."

She looked flustered, like she didn't want to let us in, but didn't want us to leave either.

"Fine," she finally said, opening the door all the way to let us in. 

She was wearing a simple white dress. Her legs and feet were covered in cuts and bruises. 

"How'd you get these cuts?" I asked, taking a step through the door. 

I stumbled and Nix caught me. again. 

"From hunting," she replied.

"Why don’t you just go to the market?" Nix asked as we walked in.

"It's a long walk, and it makes me nervous," she said. "Too many people. It's sensory overload."

The house was small and only contained one other room, which was the bathroom. It was also incredibly dark. I performed a simple light spell. I could only manage a small orb of light, but it was enough. There was a small bed in the corner, a couch against the far wall, and books cluttered the floor.

"How do you read?" Nix asked.

"Oh," she pulled a wand out of the pocket her dress, apparently, had. 

Wands are used by people who can't naturally perform magic or as an aid for those who are weak. They are also extremely expensive and hard to make, making them pretty rare.

"It was a gift, "she said, picking up on the question I was about to ask. "You can take a seat on the couch."

"How old are you?" Nix asked.

The couch squeaked as we sat down. Nix set the bag at her feet.

"Thirteen," she said, "or maybe fourteen. I've lost track."

"How long have you been out here?"

"Since I was six," she said with a sigh. "My mom dropped me off here and said she'd come back for me." 

She fidgeted with her hands.

She finished, "That was the last time I saw her."

It made sense now. She and her mom were probably being hunted. Her mom dropped her off to lead the hunters away. Dragons were often hunted for their bones for wand making. This was grossly ironic because her wand was most likely made out of dragon bone.

I grabbed the bag and pulled out my spellbook. As I flipped through the pages searching for an anti-tracking spell, my gem started to glow blue. The pages flipped to the page I needed.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Alex," she responded.

"Thank you, Alex," I said.

She nodded. And went to an icebox in the other corner of the room.

I started the spell. My gem started to glow a dull blue. I got a headache from the distance of the spell, but it wasn't as bad as it normally would be.

"You okay?" Nix asked, gently putting her hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah,  I'm fine," I replied, "but it's weird, my gem is reacting to me."

"What do you mean?"

"It's enhancing my magic," I turned to her, crossing my legs on the couch. "Like with the ice. It was supposed to be a simple tight bubble to cushion our fall, not completely encase us in ice."

"Oh so you didn't mean to almost suffocate us," she laughed.

"No, of course not. It also reacted when I didn't do any magic."

"Is that why it keeps glowing?"

I nodded.

Alex came over and handed us each a plate with cooked rabbit.

My stomach grumbled as I realized I hadn't eaten a proper meal in three days.

We take it and thank her, eating quietly for a while before Alex asked us a question.

"How'd you find this place? There have been a few hunters that got close to the place but they never seem to see it."

"From the sound of it there was a cloaking spell on the place," I said. "It might be weakening either from time, the caster's death, or if there were runes, from them being destroyed."

"What should I do?" She fidgeted with her hands. "If people find me what will they do?"

"Well," I started, "I can try to reset the spell."

She lit up, "would you really do that?"

"Of course. I could also teach you some protection spells."

Tears started welling up in her eyes as she smiled, "thank you."

"It's the least I could do for you letting us stay."

"It's nice having you," she said, wiping away her tears.

We finished our meal in comfortable silence.

The rabbit slipped from my fingers as I stumbled onto the ground.

So close.

I sit up wiping dirt off my cheek.

"You suck at this," Alex giggled.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I said, brushing dirt off my knees.

I had agreed to help Alex catch food for the day. She only caught what she needed because she had no way of preserving mass amounts of meat. She also refused to eat any berries or plants due to her blindness.

“Catching rabbits is easy,” She said. “And I’m blind.”

“Yeah, Lunette, She’s blind,” Nix butted in.

“Shut it,” I said jabbing my finger into her shoulder, “You’re not helping.”

“Hey, I’m looking for useful spells,” She waved the spellbook in my face.

I gave her an unamused look.

“Here, like this,” Alex said as a convenient rabbit hopped by. 

She got low to the ground and waited. After a few seconds of silence, the rabbit moved. Alex pounced. The rabbit wriggled under her grip.

“Must be nice to have predator reflexes,” I said.

“Yeah. Anyway, I would suggest looking away. I hate this part.”

She took her claws and jabbed them into the rabbit’s neck, killing it instantly. 

I grimaced, “Yeah I can see why.”

“Now we have to clean and skin it.”

I stuck my tongue out in disgust, “You don’t need to tell me the gruesome details.”

“How do you clean the rabbit?” Nix asked, “You don’t have a well or running water.”

“There’s a pond not too far from here.” She grabbed two empty buckets and handed them to me.

“Pond? We’re on the side of a volcano.”

“Could’ve been a water nymph,” I said, taking the buckets. 

She grabbed two more. One still had water. She dumped it out.

“Well either way,” she gestured for us to follow.

It was only a five-minute walk but it was breathtaking. The sun bounced off the water making it sparkle like diamonds. The trees were various shades of reds and oranges. Some trees didn’t even have leaves. 

“It’s pretty,” I said. 

Nix muttered something under her breath.

“What?” I asked.

Her face turned red, “Oh, nothing, I just agreed with you.”

“It is beautiful, though I can only go on smells and sounds,” Alex said dipping a bucket into the water.

I closed my eyes and listened. I heard birds singing. I felt a gentle breeze on my face and heard the leaves rustle as the breeze passed through them. I opened my eyes and dipped one of the buckets I had into the water. It was cold. I looked at the burn. The ice had made it worse. There would probably be a scar around my wrist.

We finished filling the buckets and headed back.