The gentle lowing of cows awakened Piper from a deep slumber, and when she opened her eyes, she saw sunlight pouring in through the smoke hole in the roof. A surge of excitement shot through her veins as she realized today was the day.

  She was finally going to awaken.

  Piper rolled over to see Alfred and Ethel lying together in a gentle embrace. Then the sound of snoring made her turn the other way; Ophelia was lying on her back next to Piper with her head tilted back and her mouth wide open.

  Piper was still getting used to everyone sleeping together on a bed of hay like a giant hamster pile. Some days, she really missed her old spot in the barn. Especially when Ophelia started snoring. But apparently this was how families kept warm during the bitterly cold winters in the mountains.

  Already, the nights had grown chillier. Only a week earlier, she had helped Alfred move the animals into the longhouse. And every day, they were busy from dawn until dusk harvesting the fields and the herb garden. Most of the vegetables they harvested were hung from the roof and walls, where the smoke from the fire would preserve them.

  Sitting up, she did her best to pat down her wild hair. After stifling a yawn, she looked around the room, already making a mental checklist of what she needed to do. She had to feed and water the animals, collect the eggs, and milk the goats.

  A grin split her face as she realized how much she loved being a farmer. She couldn’t believe how much she enjoyed doing physical work with a family who truly cared about each other. While she still hoped to receive a powerful class from her awakening, she wouldn’t be terribly upset if she got a farming class instead. She could see herself happily spending the rest of her life here.

  But then I would never see my family again.

  That thought soured Piper’s mood, as she remembered her pledge to learn magic so she could see her parents once more. It had been half a year since she’d been reincarnated, and her old life almost felt like a dream now. However, she would take any class that gave her a chance to return home. If one even existed. Neither Alfred nor Ethel had ever heard of such a thing.

  She let out a yawn and then rose to her feet. As she did, Ophelia’s eyes fluttered open. The girl jumped to her feet and grabbed Piper’s hands.

  “Today’s your birthday!” Ophelia squealed. “You have to become a warrior. Promise me you’ll become a warrior if you have the chance.”

  “I think it’s my birthday,” she said, correcting her friend. “We don’t know for sure.” She’d been marking off the days since she arrived, but the year was longer on this world. And she couldn’t be sure she hadn’t missed a day here and there. Today was only her best estimate of her birthday.

  Alfred sat up with a grunt, running a hand through his hair. “Piper will do no such thing. The last thing we need is to bring the Crimson Guard down on our heads.”

  His daughter screwed up her face. “Why would she be worried about the Crimson Guard if she were a warrior? She could just kick them through the wall.”

  “Firstly,” Alfred replied. “With winter approaching, we need our walls. And secondly, do you really think a level 1 warrior would stand a chance against an immortal knight?”

  “A level 1 demoness warrior,” Ophelia shot back.

  “Still level 1.” Alfred clambered to his feet and headed over to the wash basin. “Might as well send a mouse into battle against a mammoth.”

  As Piper listened to them argue, she reached down and grabbed her blanket. Wrapping it around herself, she shivered slightly. If this were early autumn weather, then she wasn’t looking forward to winter. The longhouse was freezing inside.

  Ethel had told her recently that during the depths of winter they sometimes woke up with frost on their eyebrows. To be honest, that sounded horrible to her. Before winter arrived, she had to figure out a way to invent central heating. Even though she had no idea how it worked.

  That was the problem with being reincarnated without any useful skills. She had all sorts of knowledge about technology, but she had no idea how any of it worked. Like gunpowder, for example. She had a general idea of how to build a gun, but what was in the powder itself?

  Maybe she could choose a class that would help her build some Earth technology. Padding across the cold earthen floor, she changed her mind about what she would invent first. It would definitely be heated floors.

  Piper slipped a foot into her boot but grimaced as her toes struck something hard. Lifting her boot, she peered inside to see a carved statue near the toe box. She spun around to see Alfred guffawing at her reaction. Apparently, she was being included in the family game of ‘hide the figure’ now.

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  She raised an eyebrow at Alfred and pretended to throw it at him. His eyes widened, and he jerked forward to catch it. Then she revealed it was still in her hand, which received a dirty look from the big man.

  “That’s not funny,” he said gruffly. “We’ve been hiding that thing for almost 20 years. Don’t you dare break it.”

  Pocketing the statue, she winked at him. “Just wait and see where you find it.”

  Alfred grinned at her. “You’ll never get me.”

  “Oh, just you wait.”

  While they’d been speaking, Ethel had moved over to the kitchen, where she began bustling around. She added some logs to the fire that had burned low through the night, then began to gather up buckets to fetch water from the nearby spring.

  The blond-haired woman turned and pointed at Piper with her spoon. “I want you to have a big breakfast in case you awaken today.”

  Piper nodded her head, though she suspected the butterflies in her stomach would make it impossible for her to eat.

  “What was your awakening like?” she asked for what must be the twentieth time this week. She’d almost memorized the older woman’s experience, but she liked hearing about it. And Ethel was more than happy to keep repeating the story.

  “As you know, my affinity was to the spirit realm.” Ethel stoked the fire as she talked. “When I arrived, I had a wonderful meeting with my guide. Together, we spent the day baking and laughing. I’ve enjoyed every time I’ve gone back to see her. You should have a guide as well when you arrive.”

  “What realm do you think I’ll have an affinity for?” Piper perched herself on a bench, watching Ethel intently. “Do you think I’ll get spirit affinity as well?”

  Ethel shrugged. “It all depends on the person. Most illusionists come from the spirit realm. Though mind you, I’ve heard legends of people using light affinity to cast illusions. However, no one from the village in my lifetime has travelled to the upper realms during their awakening.”

  Piper rested her chin on her hands, thinking furiously. It would probably be a good thing if she went to the Spirit Realm. After listening to Alfred, Ethel, and Beatrice’s stories about that realm, it sounded like a fun place. But she worried her race might send her to another, much hotter place.

  “What if I go to the Infernal Realm?” Piper asked softly.

  Her words made Ethel pause. The woman placed her hands on her hips. “I wouldn’t worry about such things. It’s not like you’ve been doing demon-y things for your deeds, right? Unless you've been sneaking out to terrorize the village at night.”

  “I would never do that!” Piper exclaimed. “You know that.”

  “I was only teasing you,” Ethel replied with a grin. “We don’t really know how awakenings work, but I suspect you’ll go to the spirit realm to start.”

  Ethel’s words helped to ease her concerns, and she continued to watch while the blond-haired woman went about her morning routine. When she stood up to help fetch water, Ethel shook her head.

  “I spoke to Alfred last night. This is your awakening, so neither of us wants you to lift a finger today.”

  “I don’t mind helping,” Piper said earnestly. “Really.”

  “We know and you do more than your fair share normally. Why don’t you just enjoy your day until the time comes?”

  A poke to the back caught Piper off guard, and she rolled her eyes as she realized she’d missed another of Ophelia’s attacks. Spinning around, her hand shot out just as the girl was drawing her stick back. She missed grabbing her friend’s makeshift weapon by a hair’s breadth.

  “Got you, foul demon,” Ophelia said with a laugh. “I’m getting faster, and you’re becoming an old lady.”

  “I’m only 13!” Piper said as she rubbed her back, pretending the attack had hurt. Her friend wasn’t wrong, though. Ophelia was getting faster. She knew it would cause all sorts of problems for her parents, but she almost hoped her friend got a warrior class when she awakened. If anyone deserved it, she did.

  Piper watched as Alfred lumbered over to the door, grabbed his cloak, and then strode outside. The instant he was gone, she hurried over to his sleeping area and grabbed his pillow. Once she had it, she dropped the carved figure inside. When he went to bed tonight, there would be a hard lump in his pillow. She looked up to see Ophelia and Ethel grinning at her.

  “Good spot!” Ophelia said.

  Her mother nodded in agreement.

  Fighting down her own smile, she returned to the kitchen and watched Ethel and Ophelia head out in the direction of the spring. Left alone, she glanced around the room, committing everything to memory. While it was exceedingly rare, sometimes people’s spirits didn’t return from their awakening. No one knew what went wrong, but if it happened to her, she wanted to remember this place.

  A few minutes later, Ethel and Ophelia returned. As they stepped through the door, they dropped their buckets and rushed over to Piper’s side.

  Her eyes widened with alarm at their reaction. What was going on? Then she looked down to see burning spheres spinning around her body. When had that started?

  “Definitely not the spirit realm,” Ethel muttered as she examined Piper. “Maybe the fire realm?”

  Piper swallowed, watching the spheres crackle with intense heat. She knew almost immediately that it wasn’t the fire realm. That had to be hellfire circling her body. She was going to the infernal realm.

  “What should I do?” she asked, trying to keep the panic from her voice.

  “There’s nothing to worry about,” Ethel said, patting her hand. “Just trust your guide, and they’ll help you choose your class. I’m sure the Infernal Realm isn’t much different from the Spirit Realm.

  Nodding her head, she tried to steady her breathing. While she wasn’t sure if she believed Ethel, there was no point worrying before she got there. And all she had to do was choose her class. How bad could it possibly be in the Infernal Realm?

  A second later, the door banged open and Alfred strode inside. He quickly appraised the situation as he stroked his beard. “Fire realm, eh? Might be handy to have someone who could clear the land easily. Remember, don’t choose a combat class.”

  Piper continued to bob her head as more advice came her way. Though at this point she wasn’t even listening. The edges of her vision were fraying, and she felt a terrible weariness coming over her. She knew she could probably resist the urge to sleep, but a part of her soul was telling her it was time.

  Ethel took Piper’s hand and escorted her to the communal bed. She helped her lie down in the center of the pile of hay.

  Once Piper was on her back, she stared up at the soot-covered ceiling.

  “We’ll watch over you while your soul is gone,” Ethel said. “I promise nothing will happen to you.”

  Piper took one last look at the faces of her adopted family and then closed her eyes. As she did, she felt this world fade away, and an intense heat blasted her soul. Wherever she was going, it wasn’t going to be chilly like here.