Nora was a statue. She stared at the lifeless form of Mira, her face pale, her hands trembling at her sides.

  ?Alicia, however, was a blur of motion.

  ?She checked Oliver first, ripping his pant leg to inspect the spear wound. Then she moved to the injured guards, her hands glowing green, her voice barking orders.

  ?"Nora! Snap out of it! I need bandages! Now!"

  ?Nora blinked. The shout jolted her back to reality. She gasped, wiped her eyes, and ran to her bag. She was a healer’s assistant again.

  ?I watched from my spot behind the well. The immediate danger was over, but the air was heavy with something worse than fear. Grief.

  ?Mira’s mother was rocking back and forth, clutching her daughter’s body. "My fault. It’s my fault. My fault."

  ?Mira’s father stood silently, looking at the ground.

  ?But Elder Harlan was vibrating with rage. He turned on his son and daughter in law, his face purple.

  ?"You killed her!" he screamed, his voice cracking. "Your greed! Your obsession with the city! I told you she belonged here! I have no son! Not after today!"

  ?The father didn't argue. He just wept.

  ?Alicia stood up, wiping blood from her hands. She addressed the group, her voice clinical and cold.

  ?"Everyone who was cut is poisoned," she announced. "It attacks the Aether core. That is why the girl died, she had no rings to filter it. Those of you with one ring will feel weak. Take these."

  ?She tossed three small vials to the patrolmen.

  ?"Those with two rings," she looked at Oliver, "you fought it off better, but you still need the antidote. Come to the Hut."

  ?Elder Harlan stood up. He walked toward Alicia, leaning heavily on his cane.

  ?"You," he spat.

  ?Alicia looked at him, unimpressed. "Me?"

  ?"If you hadn't healed that merchant," Harlan yelled, poking his cane at her chest, "none of this would have happened! You brought this curse on us!"

  ?Oliver stepped between them, limping but massive. "Back off, Harlan."

  ?"Defending her?" Harlan scoffed. "Did you see her? Did you see what she did? What kind of healer fights like that? She’s a monster!"

  ?"She saved your life, you old fool!" Oliver roared, his patience snapping. "She fought to protect you! You ungrateful..."

  ?"Enough," Alicia said. She put a hand on Oliver’s chest. "Let him talk. Grief makes men stupid."

  ?Harlan turned his glare to the village patrol. "And you! Useless! How did an army walk into our village without you knowing? I will have answers!"

  ?Doors began to creak open. Villagers who had been hiding, watching through the cracks, spilled out.

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  ?The children ran first.

  ?"Did you see the sword?!"

  ?"Miss Alicia made the ground go boom!"

  ?They swarmed Oliver and Alicia, eyes shining with hero worship. But their parents held back. They pulled their children away, looking at Alicia not with gratitude, but with terror. They looked at her like she was a bomb that hadn't finished exploding.

  ?I watched it all.

  ?'Distraction acquired.'

  ?I channeled mana to the bracelet. Vwoom.

  ?The world distorted. The sounds muffled. I slipped out from behind the well and began the long walk back to the barrel where Nora had left me.

  ?As I passed Elder Harlan, I saw his lips moving. Through the muffled audio of the stealth bubble, I heard him clearly.

  ?"...expose her. I know what she is. I will tell the city..."

  ?I didn't have time to ponder. I reached the barrel, deactivated the bracelet, and sat down.

  ?"Vivian!"

  ?Nora was there seconds later. She scooped me up, burying her face in my hair. She squeezed so hard it hurt, but I didn't complain.

  ?"I'm here, Mama," I whispered.

  ?She didn't let go. She carried me all the way to the Hut. We didn't go home. We slept in the guest room again, Nora holding me like I would disappear if she relaxed her grip.

  ?I lay there, listening to her heartbeat, feeling the warmth of my family.

  ?'This world is cruel,' I thought, remembering Mira’s purple neck. 'It has no rules. But I have this family. And I will burn down the world to keep it.'

  ?The next day at noon, we buried Mira.

  ?It was simple. A hole in the earth, a stone marker, and wildflowers planted by the other children. The whole village stood in silence.

  ?The bandits did not get a burial.

  ?They were piled onto a mountain of firewood outside the village limits. The surviving bandits , the ones bound for the City of dwarves and a lifetime of slavery, were forced to watch, gagged and bound.

  ?Oliver lit the fire.

  ?The smoke was black and thick. People prayed, but not for the bandits' souls. They prayed for justice.

  ?The weeks that followed were a blur of awkward tension.

  ?The children played "Bandit War" in the hut. Finn pretended to be Oliver, swinging a stick. Freya pretended to be Alicia, waving a twig. They cheered for Nora’s bravery.

  ?But the adults?

  ?The Hut was empty. Patients stopped coming. When they did, they looked at Alicia with shifty, fearful eyes, flinching whenever she moved her hand.

  ?'Idiots,' I thought, watching a farmer tremble as Alicia bandaged his hand. 'She saved you. Why fear the shield?'

  ?My mind kept drifting back to the Masked Woman.

  ?The green robes. The silent magic. The way she freed the bandit boss and then vanished.

  ?'Who was she?'

  ?She had to be with the bandits. But why run? Why not help them fight?

  ?I wanted to tell Alicia. I wanted to say, "Hey, there’s a druid ninja running around."

  ?But I couldn't. To tell her meant admitting I was watching.

  ?I couldn't risk it. I kept my mouth shut.

  ?Instead, I focused on work.

  ?I trained my mana flow during the day, pushing my core until it ached. At night, I continued my secret project: scribing the Temperature Regulation runes under the floorboards of the house.

  ?Life settled into a new, strange rhythm.

  ?Alicia became quiet. The banter was gone. She taught me, she read her books, but the spark was dim. I hated it. I missed the snarky elf.

  ?Nora went the other direction. She hovered. She hugged me constantly. For three nights, she refused to let me sleep alone, sandwiching me between her and Oliver until I thought I would suffocate from love and body heat.

  ?Eventually, Oliver intervened. "He needs space, Nora. He’s a growing boy."

  ?I was free.

  ?Oliver was busy too. He spent days "reinforcing the perimeter," but I knew what he was doing. He was digging. He was looking for the source of the explosion that killed the bandit boss.

  ?He was looking for "blast beetles."

  ?Autumn arrived, painting the village in gold and red.

  ?My room was finally finished.

  ?It was small, attached to the side of the house, but it was mine. A bed. A small desk. A window overlooking the woods.

  ?And most importantly: privacy.

  ?As the first frost of winter threatened the air, I hit the Wall again.

  ?The fever came at night.

  ?This time, I didn't suffer in silence.

  ?"Mama," I groaned, faking a tummy ache. "Potion."

  ?Nora grabbed the bottle Alicia had left for my "condition." I downed it. The pain vanished, replaced by a cool, soothing wave.

  ?I stood in the center of my new room. The floor was bare wood.

  ?'Perfect.'

  ?I pulled out my stylus and the magic ink.

  ?I spent the next week crawling under my bed, scribing the runes directly into the support beams.

  ?By the time the first snow fell, I was done.

  ?I sat in the middle of the room.

  ?'Time to test.'

  ?And now, with Gloss, I could do more than just copy it.

  ?I could understand it.

  ?I pulled out my notebook.

  ?'Dictionary Entry: Temperature Regulation.'

  ?Let's begin.