In the shifting shadows of my unconscious mind, I heard a young and excited voice,
"Do you think they have what it takes? Should we make a wager?"  
"No, they don't." Came the curt response,
"They are far too stubborn, violent, and short-sighted."
"They have good qualities too, Geo. They strive for their beliefs and are quite resourceful, after all, they have shown a good knack for ingenuity." Pondered a female, her voice reminiscent of the whispers from cracking glass.
"That won't help them when it comes to will bending Finele, you know the..." The young voice cut in,
"We seem to have a visitor."
"Aarill! After we finished attuning it, I told you to be more careful with the mind weave!" Shouted Geo
"I was!" said Aarill, aggrieved,
"He seems to be almost actively reaching out to the weave!"
"That's ridiculous! Do you even understand the sheer Oma potential needed for such a..."
"Let's put the brakes on this discussion, boys. First, lull his mind back to sleep; we have already contravened at least 5 of the collective's rules. I'll obscure his memories whilst I'm at it. We already have to...." The last whispers of Finele's soft voice trailed off before I woke with a jolt, covered in sweat. 

The sun was peeping through the sleet, and icicles formed on the windowpane, forming little rays of eye-watering pain as I struggled to find my bearings. Looking down, I saw my mother, Adeline, slumped over my legs with exhaustion, where she had clearly fallen asleep sitting next to my bedside. I was in my room, still stuffy with the residual heat of the family forge wafting up from the floor below, the hot throbbing of my left hand an all too clear reminder of my unfortunate and foolish foray with danger. My movements had caused my mother to stir, and noticing I was awake, she pinned me with such an intense glare that even the shame bubbling up in my chest would not allow me to look away. 
"Elmund Everlast, Do you know how much trouble you are in? If I'm lucky enough to have any left, you will turn my hair grey with worry! The Bright family brought you home near-dead, and I'd have more than half a mind to tan your hide red if it wouldn't potentially finish the bloody job!" her eyes were red. Tears started to well up in the corners of her eyes, betraying her fear. I knew that I had worried her. 

"I'm sorry, Mum, but we both know business hasn't been good this year. With the king's war levy demanded every month, we are stretched thin, forging horseshoes, nails, rivets, and whatever else they ask for at a measly 30% of our regular fee. We are different from the sword and armour smiths, who are paid significantly more! Additionally, the prices of even scrap iron have tripled over the past year!" I looked into her brown eyes, and they again betrayed her as I saw they were filled with motherly care, worry, and love.
"Mum, we both know we won't make it through this winter without this meat and the hide to sell. Dad hasn't been conscious for a week now, and without his medicine... well, feeding him broth will only delay the inevitable." I reached out and took her hand in mine, finding out that it was trembling,
"I'm fine, well, mostly fine", I added hastily, noticing her accusatory glance at my hand,
"And now we will have what we need to feed ourselves and to afford Dad's medicine."  

"It still shouldn't be you paying the price, Elmund."
"We are all paying the price, Mum", I cut in. Sniffing from outside my bedroom door stalled further discussion as my mother, and I sighed in unison,
"Lilae, Sokin, you can come in." There was only a brief pause before the door was kicked open as my little sister came barrelling in at full speed, jumping onto the bed and hugging me.
"Where did you go, L? You missed our tea party!" Ignoring the protests of my body, I hugged her back tightly.
"I'm sorry, Lil, I had to beat up a deer for us, but he wasn't too happy about it!" 
"Yeah, he sure got you good, didn't he?" My younger brother Sokin had entered more quietly and was hovering by the door, looking awkward. Smirking, I said,
"Yeah, I'd definitely say that he didn't make it easy for me, but your big bro isn't a pushover either, is he?" I could see Sorkin visibly trying to suppress a smile before it eventually won out, and it spread over his face revealing his dimples. Rising, my mother said,
"Well, we should get upstairs for breakfast. We have guests, after all!" Looking at my mother in a panic, I spurted out,
"Guests?? You mean the Bright family stayed here?"
"We couldn't just send them away after they brought you home, could we? They live 2 hours away!"
"So *all* the Brights stayed here?"
"Yes Elmund, Ombra is here too" Looking down at myself, I could see the bruises, cuts, and scrapes all over my blotchy red skin, a clear sign of exposure to the snow for too long. Looking up at my mother, I said,
"I suddenly feel faint. I should probably stay here in bed." Giggling, Sokin teased,
"Yeah, real good thing my big bro isn't a pushover at all, isn't it?"

My mother left my room with Sorkin to prepare breakfast as Lil grabbed me a bowl of water and a rag to wash with. Giving my left hand an exploratory poke, I immediately felt intense pain radiate out and up my arm making me grit my teeth and curl my toes to keep from screaming. I could tell right away that the next few weeks would suck.
"You okay, L?"
"yeah, I'm okay, Lil. Did you bring the last of the soap as well?" Sticking her tongue out in disgust, she said,
"Nah, Mum used it on me yesterday after I finished making Mr Snowman, she was pretty mad when I bought him into the house, but I mean, how was I supposed to know that snowmen and fireplaces don't get along?" Laughing, I said,
"Bet you won't do that again. Did you have to clean it up too?"
"No, but now I have to wash the dishes for a week!" with a cute little wave, she left to help upstairs. She really never stops getting into trouble, does she? Shaking my head as I laughed, I started to get undressed to wash. I was just pulling on my shirt, finally feeling presentable enough to make my own way upstairs, when Sokin called out through my door,
"Mum sent me to get you, are you finally ready? Or do you need some more time to hyperventilate over a girl?"
"Oh, I'm fine", and seeing him peek inside, I paused, glancing out of my window,
"Oh, is that Mandy outside? Did you know she was coming over as well?" Sorkin looked like a cat that just had water poured on it, bolting inside my room and to the window before discovering my deception and turning beet red,
"Elmund! That's not fair!" he whined before throwing a few playful punches at my good arm.
"Okay, okay, that's enough. Let's go upstairs before Mum gets angry." Together we threw my arm over his shoulders and made our way up the creaky wooden stairs.

"Ahh, there he is! The man of the day, how are you feeling, Elmund? You gave us quite the scare!" said Lucan Bright.
"I'm okay, Mr. Bright. Thank you for helping me!" I stammered.
"It's just lucky Ombra saw you when she did, otherwise, who knows what might have happened, eh?" Smiling, I looked at Ombra seated beside him,
"Yeah, she clearly is never late", rousing some good-natured laughter from everyone.
"But seriously, thank you for.."  

Suddenly, the conversation halted as a voice echoed throughout the room, 
"Hello, residents of planet Earth. We are The Unbound"