epilogue

Just like in any world, everyone would be at a loss without healers. Sometimes for sickness, sometimes for the wounds that make you bleed, and sometimes for the insanity that has been dripping into your brain.

And most of the time, these healers are never repaid for what they do.

Long ago, a former apothecary rose to power under the blessing of the sun god. Once he was in power, he was allowed one wish by the gods to change the world for better.

He chose to make all the pain and hurt in the world a never ending constant. Only a certain number of people could feel hurt at a time.

But the one to grant his wish, to unleash the magic into the world, was the moon goddess, who disapproved of his wish, for it seemed to disrupt everything stabilizing in the world. But the council had voted, and she granted the wish. With a catch.

When the pain was upon someone, anyone who helped them would permanently obtain the pain they healed until their death.

It took a while for everyone to learn the catch, then everything spiraled.

People would simply ignore those bleeding out onto the street only worrying about the mess it would cause. If you grieved a person you cared for, it was tricky. Nobody could tell you, or you would be stuck with that pain. You simply had to find out for yourself so eventually the pain would go away.

But over the years, people forgot empathy for their own sake. Feeling pain on behalf of anyone else meant permeating pain. People could still be kind, but never could you voice or show your pains.

Some hid themselves away and drove themselves to inanity, some pushed their pain onto others in their desperation.

Very few healers lived to continue their craft, but they passed down their magic as much as they could. Though gifting it to others, though having children, through teaching anyone who would listen. But they always suffered the most pain in the world.

Pain just had to be forgotten.

Chapter one, life . . . hardly

The sunlight danced lazily through the glass panes of the window, landing on the eyes of a child, no older than 6, sleeping on top of a pile of hay half-hazardly.

The girl was nothing you wouldn’t expect in this world. Stubbly blue horns peaking out from a mess of short black hair, splayed out on the hay. Her skin was a pale blue, and her tail flicked lazily, like a cat sunbathing. She had freckles across her face like stars, and soft purple eyes that were beginning to flicker open.

She sat up with a yawn in a sleep-strained voice, hay clinging to her and her clothes as she did. She blinked a few times to get her vision to focus, her eyelashes tangling in themselves as she blinked.

She kicked herself off the hay and stretched her hands above her head, realising the tension in her body as energy surged back.

She was surrounded by a small stable of riding drakes, which are basically small dragons with no back spikes or wings. Each had a stall catered to them, food and water in each for them. Outside their stalls was some tack for riding them, hay littered the floor.

Why was she even in here?

She looked around for May, her older sister, who was usually in here muttering to herself in some language nobody else could speak.

She herself wasn’t in here, but her drake and its tack was gone, and her riding shoes had been replaced with her work shoes, covered in mud and manure from work and having no time to clean them.

Memories rushed back to her in a blink. She had come in here to go out riding with May in search for some cooking herbs. But when had she fallen asleep?

The last thing she remembered was going to grab May a new bit for her drake, but she never remembered even reaching the tack room.

Oh.

It must have happened again.

Fae, the little girl, had what her mother called a terrible “habit”. Sometimes she would burst into shakes, and fall asleep immediately afterwards. Everyone had always brushed it off as attention seeking, but her sister always stepped in when it happened. She would take her and lay her down somewhere safe.

Although her version of “safe” was rather questionable.

May would sometimes wake up alone in the forest, or in the pasture, once on the roof of a hut surrounded by grass.

Lucky enough for May today, her sister had chosen the hay.

Speaking of her sister . . .

Clop clop clop

Fea’s eyes lit up at the sight of her sister returning on her drake. Her sister looked like her in terms of skin, eyes, and horns, but took after her father in places Fea didn’t. Her frame was boxy, and her eyes weren’t nearly as soft as Fea’s, but that may have just been the age gap between them. May was sweet, but firm. Everyone in this world had to be firm.

“May!” Fea said happily as May dismounted and opened her arms for a hug. Fea ran straight into May's arms, and May lifted her up off the ground for just a moment before Fea touched ground again and giggled.

“Hey there, bug. Feeling better?” May asked as she led her drake back to its stall.

Fea nodded “yup! Nothing to be fixed about me!”

May chuckled just enough to make sure Fea knew May had heard her words. “You don't have to phrase it like that, don’t scare yourself!”

Fea just giggled, and went to go closer to her sister. Thats when she saw the blood dripping from a large cut on the drakes leg. “What happened?” Fea whispered as the saddle and bridle was taken off the drake without a second thought.

May shrugged. “He got hurt.”

“And are you going to do anything about it?”

“I can’t. You know I can’t!” May snapped as her drake was put into its stall. Fea never knew how much it hurt her sister to watch those in pain and be able to not do anything unless she hurt herself doing it. It tore her apart.

May sighed and locked the stall door. “Just drop it, Fea. He’ll be fine. Eventually"

Fea fidgeted and looked down. “Your sure?”

“100%”

“But dad always said–”

“Fea! Don’t think about it.” May snapped as she began to storm to the tack room to put up the tack used and to change into her work shoes again.

Fea’s face fell and she kicked some of the hay on the ground. She walked out without a word, but May was close behind her.

“You know, Fea? You're too sweet for your own good.” May said, softer now.

“Mom says that too.” Fea said. There was a long science as they walked the gravel back to their tiny home, an old, beat down hut at the front of their property.

The property itself was mostly forest aside from the pastures, a few paths worn down from trips in and out of the forest for varying reasons. They had lost a drake there once due to a snake bite. May had watched it. She couldn’t tell anyone, and had to leave the body to rot.

May sighed gently, now next to Fea. ”shes just trying to look out for you. We all are.”

Fea’s tail flicked sharply in a small fit of annoyance. She had heard that one too many times.

“Thats not what I want to hear!”

“I know, but I can’t help you.”

“You could.”

“Not without putting myself into more danger than I will allow for myself to be in.”

There was another long silence. Then Fea stopped walking and looked up at her sister with hope in her eyes. “Do you ever wish you could help people?” she asked, her voice a mere whisper.

May stopped and grabbed her sister's hand “you ask too many deep questions for your age. Shut it.” she said firmly. Fea knew her sister didn’t mean to be rude, but even having a deep conversation could mean healing mental pain. And that meant permanent pain. “Just keep walking.” May let go of Fea’s hand and kept on walking, and Fea followed like a scolded puppy.

Fea grasped her arms tightly with her chubby hands. She was much too young for this, she didn’t deserve it. This world was twisted, vile, cruel. Wanting to help someone was an eternal punishment. No child should have to be in this world, and yet, there was no way out of it.

When they reached home that night, nothing was out of the ordinary. Their parents were cold and distant from each other, only having married for the purpose of having children. Marrying for love was far too dangerous, because divorce tended to cause pain both ways, and it could be hard to recover from, sending them into spirals of loss and panic. Many things in this world could be dangerous.

There was cold food on the table, May ignored it while Fea grabbed the sweetest thing she could find. She ended up with a cold strawberry muffin that had been licked once or twice by the dog, but Fea couldn’t seem to care. Nothing was ever perfect, and everyone came to prefer it that way.

May stepped into her room and locked the door. She waited, ears flicking as she listened to the retreating footsteps. Once she was sure nobody was out and about anywhere other than their bedrooms, she crouched down in the far corner of her room. She pressed hard against a slightly off board in the floor. With a quiet creak, it lifted away and revealed a pillow case, clearly filled with something. She carefully grabbed the pillowcase and tossed it over her shoulder. She threw her pillows under her blanket to give the illusion that she was still there before slipping out her window soundlessly.

It was night by the time May reached the stables, she navigated her way through the darkness, stopping when she reached her drakes stall. She stepped inside and sat down, pulling a lantern from the pillow case and lit it with a flick of her fingers. The light illuminated the stall, her gray drake laying down, huffing out breaths of air, but not moving their body.

May reached over and scratched the drakes neck comfortingly “There There, you’ll be better in no time.” she said in a soft voice only one person had heard before. She pulled out an old, worn down book from the pillow case and opened it carefully to the page labeled “cuts: paper cuts to gashes.” in a bubbly font, as if teaching a toddler the alphabet.

She set the book down, reviewing the text before pulling a stack of herbs from her pocket and gently placing it on the now festering cut.

The drake screamed out in irritation, and May sh-ed it gently. Before it could make a move to get away, May chanted in an unknown language, and a burst of magic wrapped carefully around the cut and absorbed it in a burst of light, then the light dashed too Mays leg. The second it touched May yelped out it pain as a gashed of equal intensity was transferred on to her skin. And just as soon as it settled, more wounds began to fester and pop out. One of her eyes became gouged, two fingers disappeared in a bloody mess, her side became tattered in scars, and immense grief flooded into her mind.

She shook out of pain and collapsed out of the seer intensity of everything crashing together.

“Damn it” she huffed out. “I should have calculated this better. . .” she took a deep breath and with a scream of pain, managed to get herself sitting up right again. That's about when faint footsteps entered the barn. Steps that barley touched the ground, then the calm voice of an old lady.

“May, dearest, you must stop with this. You have to visit me before this happens.” the voice said, a puff of mist heading into the stall and forming the shape of a tired old lady. Healer robes and hair tied back in a bun, and a pleasant yet tired expression on her face.

May sighed, then immediately winced in pain. “I know, Wise One.”

the old lady chuckled, handing May a canteen. “You may call me Ashma.” she said gently.

May took the canteen eagerly and immediately chugged it without a second thought, some dripping down her mouth before she wiped it.

“Thank you, Wise One.” May said gratefully as her wounds began to close up, the relief clear on her face.

“Ashma.” the old women corrected gently as she examined the scar on the drake.

“Sorry, it is just odd to call you by your name after all these years.”

“We have to get on a first name basis at some point.”

May chuckled

“Well,” Ashma continued “your work is showing significant improvement, you're doing much better than last time you practised.”

“Do you think I'm ready for elicers?”

“Not yet.”

“When will I be?‘

“May, this is not something to rush on.”

“But I need to rush! Fea gets worse every day. We have to get her on the elicers at some point.”

“I know you want to help, but we can’t rush into this.”

“But-”

“I know. But some things are better left untouched. She may just be fated to die.”

Chapter two, Ashma

A four-year-old girl ran through the forest, giggling without a care in the world. Her hair had fallen out of its pigtails and had leaves and moss mixed into it. She had blue hair, stubby horns and a tail that kept getting caught on everything.

Her laughter echoed through the forest as she took a leap over a log. She made it over, then turned around in astonishment.

"Wow! I can do that?!" she said in a squeaky voice, looking down at herself in amazement. "Mom was right, I am a strong girl!"

She took a few steps back and tried the jump again, overshooting a little but still safely covering it. She giggled again, pleased with herself.

She walked up to the log and stood triumphantly on top of it.

"Look here, forest goers! I, May StillWater, have won the forest, by jumping this log!" she said, her eyes sparkling as she imagined a crowd cheering for her. "A crowd of squirrels!" she amended in her mind before jumping down and continuing her make-believe. "Watch as I bravely jump this here 'wall'!"

She kicked off again, but this time her foot caught on the edge and she was sent tumbling towards the ground.

She let out a cry as blood leaked from . . . from where? She could see the blood falling, but as she looked over her body she couldn't sense where. That's when adrenalin left, and the searing pain all came directly from her eye.

She fell back in pain, moving a trembling hand to her eye. It was bleeding, the crimson liquid falling into her hand in an oozing pattern. She began to panic, pain making everything seem blurry.

That's when a cold, chilling mist surrounded her, swirling around as something approached.

May looked at it with her good eye, all she could see was something old and misty towering over her. Maybe it was the ghost mom and dad had warned her about. Maybe the true protector of the forest. Had she offended it? Was this its doing?

"Get back!" She yelled as she stumbled to her feet, a hand still over her bad eye "Stranger danger!" Still, as she said it, the blood trickled down her arm, leaving terrible red lines that smelled strongly of iron.

The misted figure let out a chuckle, although its voice was cracked and strained. "Young one, I bring no harm."

May shivered as the mist carefully held her in place. "No, go away!"

"I would, but you are hurt."

May paused. Nobody had ever acknowledged her pain before, it was unheard of. "So what?"

"If you go back, you will continue to be in pain."

"And what's wrong with that?"

The figure shook her head. "Everything. Nobody in this world should have to live with pain."

May looked down as best she could. "Just go away, I won't cause you pain."

"What if I told you I could help without hurting myself?"

May turned her head up to the mist. Then, without a word, stood and ran into her arms "please" she whispered.

The mist gently scooped May into her arms, and May immediately curled up in her arms.

The mist carried her through the brush of the forest, never seeming to touch the ground to risk jostling the poor girl. May started to cry, then immediately cried harder. Crying hurt so bad, but the pain only made her cry more.

"Make it stop! Make it stop!" she cried, squirming around in the mist's arms.

"Be calm, child. Squirming will make it worse."

It took ten minutes of unbearable pain and sobbing for the mist to set her down inside a small hut. Lights twinkled around, soft, comforting colors. The walls were lined with shelves upon shelves of flasks full of what seemed to be colored drinks in stained glass vials. There was a caldron in the middle, not a witch cauldron, but one that was well kept and preserved. It had a shimmering blue liquid inside, and it seemed to be stirring itself.

May was carefully set on the ground, and she vomited on the wood floor as the mist glided over to one of the shelves and took down a sparkling blue liquid and a basket full of charms.

The mist slid the liquid into May's hand. "Drink."

May leaned away from it. With the pain and nausea she was in, drinking was the last thing she wanted to do. Besides, the liquid looked like nothing she had ever seen before, and she was sure that this was something her parents must have warned her about. What was it they said?

'Never follow any stranger home', already broke that one. 'Never take food, water, or coin from a stranger' she could still follow that one. The other ones seemed irrelevant now.

The mist gently grabbed May's wrist and moved the vial closer to her mouth.

"Drink. If you don't drink, you won't get better." The mist said, putting a freezing hand on May's back.

May shivered and stared at the jar in doubt. Every bone in her body screamed at her not to take it, but desperation came as she felt the dried blood crust on her arm and hand, and the sharp pain that was usually gone by now. May snatched the vile and chugged it, just hoping it didn't make her throw up again. But it didn't

Instead a warm feeling surrounded her, a ticklish one, that washed away her pain and nausea. She watched as her vision shifted, stopped, then snapped back into perfect. In fact, better vision than what she previously had.

Her hands shook as she pressed her palm to her face, pushing to see if pain would flair. Then, gently, she rubbed her eye. It was perfectly fine.

May's eyes flew to the mist, and realized that she was in fact not mist. It was an old lady in a dress. Her skin was ghostly white and she had a beautiful dress with a scarf draped around her. She was a little misty, but she was a human. May couldn't remember the last time she had seen a human, they were so rare now, since most had had kids with monsters at the change that hit many years ago. It was easier to let go of monsters than let go of a human, surely. That surely was the reason, right? Oh well, May couldn't dwell on that fact. The mist was already talking again.

"That was a concoction I like to call elicers. Magical drinks that steal any pain held by the drinker." The mist said proudly. "Nobody ever said that a liquid couldn't hold the pain, you can take advantage of the system."

May looked up in amazement. "Wow. Is that possible? So cool!"

The mist chucked and stood, letting May scrub the blood off herself using her hands. "Child, you should properly clean yourself. Grab yourself a rag, then we must talk."

May looked around. Where were the rags? She spotted a fun purple rag and happily took it, scrubbing at her arm until the blood fell off in dried flakes.

The mist nodded in approval and sat down on the floor next to May.

"Listen, child, you must come back to me." the mist said

May raised an eyebrow "Why? I'm better now."

"Only temporarily. By this time tomorrow, the effects will have worn off and all the pain will come back."

"Oh. I don't like that. Is there a way to make it not wear off?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Why can't I just take some with me?"

The mist paused, fidgeted then looked at the floor. "I am known as 'The Wise One'. I am much older than I appear, child. I was born while the world still knew empathy, when everything was normal." She sat up straighter, proud "I was part of a coven of many, many healers who still believed in helping the word. But they all perished, from all the pain they internally consumed, there was no way out for them. I hate to say it, but only the cowards of us made it out. I am a coward. But I didn't want to stay one, so I invented these elicers." Then her shoulders slumped and she looked longingly at the drawings on the wall that were supposed to resemble people. "The elicers require a very small part of the soul to make correctly, and for a while, I gave away the souls of my coven, the ones who no longer needed their soul. But I've ran out,"

May's eyes widened in shock as the mist showed her her hands, the ends of her fingers dissipating into mist.

"I used my own and now? I am fading away. Soon I will be nothing. But that is not my point, child, my point is that if these elicers leave the hand or home of whoever's soul made it for too long, they dissipate. And my soul does with it."

May nodded along, pretending to understand what The Wise One was telling her.

Take fancy liquid out of the hut? Big no no.

May nodded, hoping to talk to her parents who could translate the big words for her.

"Why are you called 'The Wise One'?"

"Because I was once wise."

"So it's a nickname?"

"It's the name you will call me until you are an equal, which may not even happen in your lifetime."

The Wise One stood, and May did the same. May expected more story, a hug, something, but The Wise One simply opened the door and beckoned her out.

"Go home." Wise One said, and May left. She paused at the door.

"What happens when–" The door slammed shut in her face, unlike the kind woman she had just met. May jolted back but didn't freak out.

She began to navigate home through the forest, stumbling through the brush as she got through. She eventually made it out of the forest and started making her way back home.

Her home was full of silence, well, for a moment.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Screamed her father. "HOW DARE YOU ASSUME I WOULD EVER BELIEVE YOU!" May flinched and went to hide behind a seat, even though the screaming was coming from another room.

"No, please! I swear I'm telling you the truth, why would I lie?!" came her mothers shrill voice, panicked and trembling.

"Because you're afraid of the truth!"

"No, I–"

"Stop! Just stop! Explain it to me, how are you with child?"

"You know how, now why are you fighting me on this?"

"I. am. Steril. Can't have children."

There was a long silence.

"Why did you not tell me?" her mothers voice said, now soft, but it was laced with fake worry May knew all too well.

"No, you answer my questions: May. how?" May covered her mouth, wrapping an arm around her legs as she curled up.

"... a miracle? Just like now?" It sounded more like a question than anything else. May decided she was done listening. She bolted for the door.

Chapter three, La mort artia

Fea shifted and found herself on the roof again, surrounded by hastily picked poppies, withering petals scattered elsewhere.

Ug, May. May always did this.

Fea loved her sister dearly, but couldn't her mom deal with her? Fea didn't like waking up on the roof.

She slid down with a practiced ease, although her legs were shaky, placing a foot on the first stack of hay she could reach. She tumbled down onto the ground with a thud, accidentally hitting her head against the side of the stables.

"OW!" She yelped, turning to put a hand on her head.

It wasn't long after she yelled that May turned the corner and stood over her.

"Good morning, Fea. Come on, get up, we have work to do today." May was dressed in her usually work clothes, an overused pair of boots she hadn't cleaned in close to a year and denim jeans paired with a plain T shirt.

Fea didn't like to dress like that, she likes fun dresses with colors that made her head hurt, although it often hurt. May said it wasn't normal, but Fea thought it was just fine. Sometimes it would distract her from things she didn't like to think about, which was nice.

Fea stumbled up to her feet, slightly wobbly as she usually was after May's odd rituals. "What do we have to get done today? I thought mom and dad gave us the day off."

May shrugged "You know mom and dad don't do any work outside of the house, all the other stuff won't get done if we take the day off."

"But I was really hoping to take a rest day, my head really hurts, and it doesn't help when you move me around!"

May crossed her arms and shook her head. "Your head hurts because you bumped it, now get up, we have too much that needs to get done."

Fea flicked her tail, annoyance rushed through her before she quickly began regulating, any type of anger made her head hurt worse, and that was the last thing she wanted right now.

May and Fea quickly began work, May took care of most of the larger animals, getting each and every one of them fed and their areas cleaned. Fea began to sweep up the floors, even though the floors were still very dirty underneath. The floors were stained from lack of care, sometimes the stains were from mud, while other times they were dark crimson blood stains that they couldn't wash out. Fea didn't like seeing them, but she didn't exactly have a choice unless May did the floors. She didn't want May doing everything anyways.

Fea always knew that May was the more responsible sibling out of the two of them, always doing her work to a tee, always getting on people's good side. Fea always thought she was doing it for some kind of reward or validation, but no matter what she was given, she kept going. It was like she was trying to prove something to someone who wasn't even listening. But her parents love the work she did, so they never truly had her rest. Besides, that was a form of helping, which would make them permanently suffer May's pain. She wasn't quite sure what pain her sister was in, but Fea knew it was something.

She was sure that May had felt physical pain, she had seen her cuts, but Fea couldn't see into her sister's mind. Part of her truly wanted too, but she couldn't. May never opened up in the first place, which was a smart move on her part.

Once the floors were swept, Fea went to help out May in moving some hay bales around, holding the flakes of hay together with her short arms while May handled it easily, she did this everyday regardless of who was helping her.

Fea finally broke the silence as May began to rest. "May? Can I ask you something?"

May squinted at her suspiciously "only if it's not anything deep."

"Well, it's not 'deep' but it's something I need to be helped with."

"I can't help you, you know this."

"I'm not asking you to help, I'm asking to tell you something."

"Would it help if you said something?"

"I don't know."

"Then don't say it."

"But–"

"No, Fea, shut up. I can't help you."

"May! Just listen–"

May spun on her heel and looked firmly away from Fea "Fea, I can't do anything to help you. So stop asking." There was a long silence, maybe Fea was finally stopping to think about her words, or maybe she was trying not to cry. May's harsh words always hurt, even though May never wanted to hurt others, she just wanted to protect herself.

There was a soft thud against the hay, and May assumed Fea was sulking. She always did this to get her way, May was so tired of it. She wouldn't reward Fea for being like that.

May took her sweet time moving the hay to the drakes feeling barrels, all while never looking back at Fea.

"Fea, you can't keep doing this. Really, it's ridiculous." May was about to say more when she turned around to be faced with her horror.

Fea was laying limb on the stack of hay, face blue and eyes wide as she stared directly in front of her like a fish. May stood frozen as she watched her sister choke on her own air, tail flicking wildly, the only part of her body she could still control. But that too quickly fell limp.

Color drained from May's face as she watched, if she tried to help, that would all go to her.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Fea choked in a breath and her body began to move again.

"Fea! You're alive, oh thank the stars!" May said, running over and crouching by her without actually helping her stop the tremors in her body. Once Fea was breathing normally again, Mat gently propped her up on the hay bales.

Fea choked out barely coherent words "May, I don't feel good. I tried to tell you."

May strained to hear every word, but nodded along. "I understand now. Look, we know what comes after this, let me fetch you a trashcan while you go lay where there's nothing around."

"But you could get my–"

"Only if I tried to heal you, I can help as long as it doesn't make you better. I can keep you from getting worse."

Fea nodded, then stumbled to her feet as May bolted for the trashcan in the tack room. They had dealt with these attacks before, but they were becoming much more frequent and severe.

First Fea would stop breathing, then she would vomit up blood, then she would pass out and shake until everything bubbled over. When she was younger, it happened maybe once a month, but year by year they happened more. Now it was almost every other day, they were lucky if it only happened once a week. Even Fea didn't know how she was still alive, or why May kept trying to make her feel better about it.

Fea knew she wasn't normal, that one day soon it would kill her, but at the same time May kept a hope in her life that she didn't dare loose, even if May was a jerk sometimes.

May returned with the trash can, set it in front of Fea and immediately went to the corner, shutting her eyes and plugging her ears. May hated vomit with a fiery passion, refusing to look when her sister threw up, and refusing to hear. Fea wasn't sure why, but she never pressed the issue. In these attacks she couldn't control, she at least liked that May had the decency to give her a bit of privacy.

As the metallic taste of blood slipped from Fea's senses, she pushed the trash can away with her last bit of energy, just so she wouldn't knock it over as she seized.

May unplugged her ears and listened to Fea gasp for air as her body began to tremor, entering the all too familiar state of unconsciousness. May just stood for a while, listening to Fea's unconscious body shake on the cold ground.

Images flashed in her mind of Fea, sweet innocent Fea, hunched up on the ground trying to choke in air unsuccessfully. Fea didn't deserve that, she was hardly six.

May knew she was six, but her body was only to the same point as a four year olds body would be. Her growth was slow and painful. May knew she was one of the most mentally strong people she had ever met, but poor Fea didn't know how to use it.

May remembered back to when they were toddlers, back when they had their fun red ball. It was the only thing they could agree on doing, being stubborn toddlers with an age gap, they only really played "catch". It was rare Fea's arms could even handle catching the ball back then, although she was a bit better now.

With a deep breath, May turned to find her sister still and unconscious. Without saying a word she moved the trash can aside to be taken to The Wise One later for testing, then she scooped Fea into her arms and began looking for a new spot to put her, somewhere where she would get shade and yet be off the ground.

May managed to hoist her up onto the roof of the barn, dragging her into a starfish position on the flat part of the roof. She sat there for a minute before reaching into her pocket and carefully distributing them around her, and for a moment, nothing happened.

Then an awful sound came from below, like nails on a chalk board. May balled her hands into fists and prepared for the horrible trickery of those death monsters. La morte attira, as The Wise One called them, serpent shadow dragons meant to lure some into death so it could feast.

May sat silently as the sound crept closer, eventually hitting the tin roof of the barn.

"May," It said in the horrible, creaky voice, that only meant time listening to its words. May couldn't fight it, it wasn't after her anyways, but one drop of that thing's venom and you would walk right into its mouth. "You continue to fight, why?" It creaked out.

May turned to face it, her hands clenched into fists. "Fea is my sister, and I won't let her go easy."

The La morte attira made a tsk noise of disapproval. "But she is so close to letting go, wouldn't it make things easier?"

"No," May said firmly "In fact, it would make things harder. Now go, The Wise One will be here any second and you will go, you might as well go on your own terms."

The La morte attira slithered its head closer, the rest of its limbless body wrapping itself around the barn. "Sixty feet long" The Wise One had once told her.

"May, sweet May," It cooed, "Your sister's essence is so close to death, teetering on the edge. If you continue this her death will be slow and painful, and you will follow suit. Giving her up now is a mercy."

"Mercy? That's what you call mercy?" May said, voice cracking slightly as she fought the urge to kick it in the nose. If only The Wise One would show up and deal with this. "Killing my sister is not mercy, it's cruelty!"

"The line between mercy and cruelty is a small one. Give her up." May shut her eyes tight, and finally, a rush of cold air came, and the searching nose of the La morte attira was gone with it.

"May," The Wise One's voice rang out as her misty footsteps landed on the tin. "Are you–"

May threw herself at her, wrapping her arms around her and sobbing into her shoulder. "I'm getting worse at this! What if it takes her, like –hic– like it took him?"

Chapter four, are you sure?

The Wise One paced the floor of her home, the wood creaking slightly, but not under her misty, shallow, steps. May ran around with that childish joy that had little time left in her eyes. She was 12 now, but Wise One always had a way of bringing lots of joy to her, even with her parents always making her sacrifice her time for Fea.

Fea was hardly three, and she still took everything from May.

Her time, interests, and sleep. All of it, she wasn't even sure how. Maybe that's why she loved being with Wise One so much.

Speaking of Wise One, she gathered up a basket in her misty hands and handed it to May.

"Here, child, go fetch me some herbs" Wise One said as she stumbled her way back to the shelves.

May raised an eyebrow and looked at the overflowing herb buckets, the buckets Wise One had woven back when the coven had just formed, they had been overflowing for a week. "But, Wise One, we already have more than enough–"

"Just get out of the hut!" The Wise One snapped "Stay in the forest, my elicers will wear off in a moment and I don't want you to see it." She said, pushing May out with her feeble arms, hands trembling slightly.

May nodded. "Ok, ok, I'm going!"

May stumbled out onto the damp forest floor that squished under her feet, watching as The Wise One slammed the door one more time. She always did this, the second May left the hut The Wise One slammed the door and the windows would go black.

She never questioned it, she had no reason to, she trusted The Wise One.

May did her careful walk around the forest, carefully plucking herbs and placing them in their own corner of the basket.

She liked basil the best, even though it wasn't good with healing pastes, it smelled amazing. Mint was good too because it made a good refresher, but its texture and use in healing pastes was awful. It was only ever used for its scent. Oregano was great in everything for healing, even made stuff taste better, but too much of it could ruin a batch of anything that they made, so it was tedious. Thyme wasn't bad, but it wasn't good at the same time. When she and Wise One were making new things, they used thyme for the base.

May paused her task, finding herself in an odd place. She often spaced out and forgot her surroundings, and today she found herself standing in a circle of mushrooms. Not threatening, just there, like an odd pattern that asked her to stay.

She thought it was cool, and giggled a little, crocheting down to look at the mushrooms surrounding her.

They were crown mushrooms, May could tell by their shape and speckles. They were relatively rare in these woods, but were quite useful in healing pastes and even good for making bandaids work better.

"The Wise One will be thrilled!" May thought, carefully plucking just one from its spot in the circle and placing it into her basket with a gentle care.

But then a voice called out from behind her. "Stop!" it called at her. "Don't move!" May didn't listen, turning to face the voice.

It was a boy, about her age by the looks of it, who wasn't like any of the people she had ever seen before. He had a tail and horns like she did, but his skin was a purple shade she had never seen before. He has freckles, and two pairs of eyes, one almost black while the other held gorgeous green eyes. His hair resembled leaves in a way, but his clothes and other features were normal enough to be looked over. The one thing that really stood out about him was the bright white markings on his arm, it looked like a vine but all the leaves were glowing except for three out of the five she could see.

May tensed and froze, clutching the basket tight. "Who are you? And why can't I move?!" She demanded, but the boy put a finger to his lips.

"Sh, just stay still for a moment longer." He said, pausing to pay attention to the silence before dropping to his knees and shoving his fingers into the dirt.

"What–"

"SH!"

One of the leaves on his arm dimmed, the glowing magic flowing into his fingertips and into the ground. His eyes flashed with a bright light for a moment, then everything dimmed and the mushrooms began to sink back into the ground.

May sat back and stared at him for a moment before speaking. "What was that? Why did you do that? How can you do that? Can you teach me? Can you bring them back so I can–" she stopped herself, seeing the boy stand again and brush the dirt off him.

"Look, I don't know you, I don't need to know you." He said, and May shot him a look.

"Wait! You have to tell me why you did that!"

"I don't 'have' to tell you anything."

"But what if it happens again? Will something happen to me?"

The boy sighed and turned back to face her. "Sit, let's talk." he instructed, and May quickly sat on the forest floor and the boy followed suit.

"Ok," May began, "I have a million questions."

The boy frowned "You get three."

May nodded and started with her questions. "Who are you?"

The boy sighed, "That's very broad."

"You never said how specific my questions had to be."

"True," he sat up straight, "I am Atlas, I am part of the rebuilding coven of healers that lives within these woods."

Coven? Like the one The Wise One was once in? Is she rebuilding it?

May nodded, deciding not to change the questions she had prepared in her mind. "How did you do that, and why?"

"Thats two."

"No."

"Yes–"

"That was one sentence."

"... fine." Atlas nodded to himself then continued. "I got rid of that circle using The Wise One's magic" I knew it! "And I did it because it was a trap from the La morte attira."

May raised an eyebrow "Whats–" she cut herself off, deciding to save that question for The Wise One. "Why are you here, in this forest?"

Atlas shrugged "I was just born here, but my family is always somewhere different in the forest and it's rare I see them."

May nodded. "Does it get lonely?"

"Yeah."

There was a pause, then May smiled "How would you like it if I visited? I'm here every day anyway, I want somebody to hang out with."

Atlas's eyes lit up "You would do that? Yeah!"

From that day on, they had their pact. Both of them worked with The Wise One at different times, but they would always hang out together afterwords.

May helped Atlas build a shelter for himself, Atlas made forest food for them to eat, and May even brought Atlas a baby drake so he could have a pet.

Their bond became stronger over time, relying on each other. By the time May was almost fourteen, she and Atlas had grown a deeper bond than before.

Now they greeted each other with a kiss instead of a hug, spent time together instead of going off on their own, and their worlds slowly shifted to revolve around each other.

Until it all shattered.

It was a rainy day, the rain heavy and demanding on the roof of Atlas's shelter as May navigated the familiar space. Atlas was out fetching more seasonings for the soup May had brought for them. Even May could admit it was painfully bland.

Atlas was obviously the better chief of the two of them.

Atlas stumbled onto the makeshift floor of his shelter, but he didn't have anything in his hands. Before May could even say anything Atlas crashed to the ground with a sickening thud.

"Atlas!" May screamed in a shrill, panicked voice. She practically tripped over herself reaching him, finally getting him propped up against the supports of the cozy shelter that now seemed to mock her.

Atlas groaned and finally cracked his eyes open, and he squinted. "May?" he managed to say in his weak voice "where are you?"

May's face paled, "I'm right here, I'm in front of you." She tried to keep her voice calm, hoping it would steady his shaking fingers

"Then why can't I see you?" Atlas said, his own head turning around for a glimpse of something, his eyes blinking and squinting to try and fix his vision.

May choked back a panicked sob as she tried to remember anything that would help her. The Wise One was too far away for elicers to work, healing paste would do no good if she didn't know what was causing it, and Atlas couldn't use his magic to heal stuff like this as he normally would.

I'm out of options

She realized, her heart beating loud in her own ears as she thought through everything that had helped before.

She decided to see if he was in a state where she could bring him to The Wise One. She pressed her fingers into his wrist, trying to find the pulse that was typically strong and easy to find. But she didn't find it, so she tried pressing against his neck. She found it, fast and weak, all the things she wanted it not to be.

"Atlas? Say something!" May demanded, but Atlas could hardly take in enough air to breath.

It was at that point that a horrible noise filled the air. That horrible scratching sound that made May's hair stand up on the back of her neck.

"What is that?!" May shrieked, snapping her hands over her ears just as shadow crowded her vision. Shadow with scales.

That horrible creature's head reached May's vision, and that dragon just smiled before speaking in that terrible voice. "Hello," It squeaked as May dropped her hands from her ears to hold one of Atlas's still hands. He had frozen up completely now, heart beat gone.

"Who are you?" May choked out, and the La Morte Attira simply tilted its head.

"My name is not something you should be burdened with." It hissed in that painfully high voice. "I am not here to hurt you, I am here to help."

May paused and let it continue with a slight nod of its head. "Atlas, Your Atlas is in terrible pain. He has already made it halfway to death, and yet he has been tethered here for you."

May nodded, that made sense. She wanted to curl up with Atlas and weep, but it would do no good for him. He was in pain, seeing her hurt would only cause more.

"How can I help him?" she said, her voice cracking as his body went limp and he slumped over.

"Give him to me."

May hesitated, holding his body close "What will you do?"

"I will give him a drop of my venom, it will reset his blood and heal him instantaneously. Of course, I will need you to let go of him, mentally as well."

May loosened her grip slightly, but still needed closure that he would be ok. "Show me your fangs." The creature obeyed, showing her its two, twin fangs. May immediately stiffened again, the fangs were as large as her arms.

"Fear not," It said, retracting its fangs. "I won't bite him, He will drink my venom."

"And you're sure it won't kill him?"

"Yes, My job is to heal the forest dwelling."

"Are you sure he'll be ok?"

"Yes, now please, let go."

May loosened her grip and let him stay propped up. Ever so carefully, she tilted his head back and opened his mouth. Then she removed her hands, watching as it watched her.

"He is still tethered to you. Let go, you need to let go for this to work."

May finally let tears of panic slip down her cheeks as she looked at Atlas. "I can't," she choked out.

"You must," the creature insisted. "Or he will perish."

May covered her mouth with her hand and shut her eyes, refusing to watch. She heard it, the venom dripping from the creature's fangs into Atlas's mouth, and for a moment, that's all there was. Until a terrible, sickening, crunching sound filled the air.

May's eyes shot open in horror as she saw the creature slithering away, leaving a trail of crimson blood. She frantically looked around for Atlas, but when the creature turned around to look at her one last time, the Arm of her beloved was dangling from its mouth.