Deep in the heart of Lornton’s Black Forest, the orange light of the sunset was bouncing all over the leaves as night time crept up on them. It was so pretty that even as a child, Ashton Selwyn decided he would never forget that day. Not that the day in question ever gave him a good reason to ever forget.


    Ashton wasn’t from the Black Forest. He lived in Seagull Village, a suburb in the Lornton Metropolitan Area, where a small clock tower was the most interesting thing until you reached the metro station connecting it to the rest of the city. His parents didn’t know their two sons were out playing in the woods, nor did they need to know such things.


    They didn’t need to know, because the Black Forest wasn’t a normal park with swings and slides: it was on the smaller side of a national park. It had ominous dark trees that were older than any building in the city, which reached outward and made a foreboding skyline. The ground was quite easy to get lost in since it became more like a maze of boughs roots the closer one went to its centre.


    Parents banned their children from going there, but that just made the forest more alluring to them. Even adults like joggers and adventure seekers would come back and describe wondrous and terrible things within, but there was no proof that supernatural things actually existed here. Ashton’s classmate swore he saw a unicorn roaming the woods, and one of his brother’s ex-girlfriends testified that she saw the ghost of Lord Randolph Carter at one point. If any of it was true, Ashton decided, they’d bring some proof. Ashton listened on the radio for news about supernatural things but found none. So as far as Ashton knew, the forest was safe. At least from supernatural beings.


    The Selwyn brothers, with hair white as snow, had found a nice clearing by the fast-flowing creek. Water trickled over smooth pebbles, while Ashton sat on a big tree stump. A tree had collapsed some time ago, the trunk became a hollow bridge leading people to the dark, innermost parts of the forest which were all beyond the creek.


    Zayn sat on the hollow trunk-bridge above the creek, fiddling with his stylish birthday gift. Grandma had given him a brand new watch. The watch was quite nice, and since it had quartz inside, it didn’t need to be synced with the big clock towers across the city. Dad’s friend, Niall, tried to explain to them that the quartz was linked to a battery, so it would vibrate and turn the clock hands. Ashton half-way understood it, while Zayn understood perfectly but didn’t seem to care. Ashton wanted to look cool by sitting on the log as well, but Zayn forbade it since Zayn had a feeling Ashton would fall in the water.


    “Why can’t I sit with you on top of the log?” Ashton pouted.


    “Because I didn’t bring a fishing rod, that’s why.” Zayn said.


    “Eh? What would you need a fishing rod for?”


    “To catch you when you fall in!” Zayn said in his typical exasperated style, as if he were too good for Ashton.


    The Summer light was starting to fade into darkness, so they knew home time was coming. Ashton didn’t bother bargaining for more time. Zayn was too bossy for that to work.


    “Special reconnaissance! Complete!” Ashton said, dancing with his toy dinosaur on a rock. He shook the silver dinosaur until it fell out of his hands. It landed with a clank.


    “What the hell are you doing?” Zayn asked, suddenly on alert. “You’ll break it!”


    “Nuh-uh!” Ashton said. “He’s invisible, it said so on the radio.”


    “Invincible, not invisible.” Zayn grumbled, jumping down from the log. “And no, he isn’t. Look!”


    Zayn quickly seized the expensive toy from his little brother’s hands and held it close. His lips made a scowl.


    “You scratched the light!” Zayn exclaimed, inspecting the small bulb on Robo-Saurus’ head. Indeed, there was a nasty scratch on it.


    “No I did not!” Ashton denied.


    “You always break my toys.” Zayn sulked, turning around, holding the dinosaur away from his brother, who was fighting for it.


    “Give him back! Today is my turn: mum said so! We had a deal! And I didn’t break it!” Ashton shouted at his elder brother.


    “Grandma bought him for me, it’s my toy, so you can’t go around breaking it! I told you not to bring him here!” Zayn told him.


    “He wanted to come! It’s for a special mission! We’re looking for other dinosaurs!”


    “Are the dinosaurs in the forest with us? Or are they in your imagination, just like all your friends?” Zayn snapped at him. There was a tense moment of silence between them.


    “Give him back!” Ashton squeaked.


    “So you can break the rest of him?”


    “You’re horrid, Zayn, and I’m telling mum!”


    “Are you actually going to mum because I wouldn’t let you smash up my birthday gift? Are you really that stupid?” Zayn asked, in a much louder and more threatening voice.


    “You always overreact!” Ashton sulked.


    “You’ve been breaking my stuff since you were born, you rat. You always do this! You kept trying to sit over there, knowing you’d probably fall in, now you’re breaking my stuff because you’re angry I looked out for you. God forbid I stop you from getting hurt. I’m sick of it, and I’m sick of you too. Why did you have to be born, anyway?”


    Zayn shook his head and turned his head away. Zayn folded his arms and Ashton’s body became rigid, from the look on his face to the way he held his fists. Ashton began to squeak again, but they sounded different. His cheeks had gone fully red and his fists were tightly balled before he hid his face and ran away.


    “Oh, come back here!” Zayn cried out, now beyond exasperated with his brother and himself.


    “Leave me alone!” Ashton tried shouting, but it was more like a weepy whine.


    “You’ll get lost, come back now!” Zayn ordered, now running after him.


    “Go away!” Ashton screamed, running across the log bridge into the deepest parts of the forest.


    “Ashton, there’s nettles and spiders in there, and God only knows what else! You’ll get hurt!” Zayn yelled out. But by that point, Ashton had become nothing more than a silhouette and was invisible past the log bridge.


    “Why can’t anything be easy with a little brother?” Zayn huffed, as he chased Ashton through the fallen log. Zayn looked around, but he couldn’t see Ashton on the other side.


    There was a rush of cold air that sent a chill down Zayn’s back. Zayn looked up, wondering if there was a giant bird overhead casting the shadow. He grimaced. It was no bird: that was the sunlight fading, because it was almost dark now.


    “This isn’t funny anymore! Where are you?” He cried out, suddenly nervous.


    Ashton hadn’t stopped running for nearly five minutes after he’d started, and reached a place so dense and dark that it was hardly suitable for human feet. All sorts of thorns and bushes and prickly things were around, and there were leaves in his eyes.


    “Stupid brother! It’s not like I asked to be born!” Ashton thought as he pushed through the jungle. He tripped over a bramble, and wondered how he missed it before noticing how dark the sky had suddenly gotten.


    If there were any sunlight, he would have seen the top of the trees. He would have seen the leaves swaying in the wind, and he could count the branches. But as the wave of darkness washed over the forest, Ashton thought the silhouette of the trees on the skyline had turned into gigantic, gangly fingers, and the branches could have been any sinister thing that roamed the night. There wasn’t so much as an owl: the only sound he heard was the wind, and he didn''t know how to handle that twisting sensation in his gut anymore.


    “Um…” He whined. “Where should I go?”


    Ashton folded his arms and shivered, since it was getting cold. It got to the point where he decided to turn around and go back to Zayn.


    He steeled himself for another telling off. Ashton and Zayn were famous for never getting along, and this would give Zayn more reason to make fun of him.


    “I don’t understand why he has to be so mean. How does he have so many friends while being such a meanie? I don’t get it.” Ashton thought.


    Ashton scowled to himself, mulling everything over.


    “What does Zayn have that I don’t…Well, I suppose he’s good at things I’m not. He’s way better than I am.” He thought glumly.


    “Mum and dad might not even miss me.” He told himself. “They might for a bit, but they already have Zayn. He’s way better than me.” Ashton quickly realised it was too cold and scary to joke like that since there was a growing chance he was lost forever. But deep down, Ashton wondered if anyone would actually miss him if he never went home.


    Ashton often wished life was just collecting toy robots and comic books, and that it wasn’t about always getting shown up by Zayn, or doing boring things at school. He wished it could just be the things he was good at. But the more he thought about it, Ashton couldn’t think of anything he was good at. Zayn seemed to have inherited the talent in the family, as grandma was quick to say.


    He sighed in frustration, thinking about what he’d tell Zayn. There was something about that terrifying, empty forest that was a million times scarier than getting yelled at in a nice warm house. He’d rather get teased by Zayn for being a scaredy-cat than have to live in the woods forever because he got lost, so he kept searching for the old log bridge where he hoped Zayn would be waiting for him. Maybe he wasn’t. Maybe Zayn finally abandoned him so he could become an only child who got a whole room to himself.


    “I’m just a stupid rat, after all. Zayn the genius says so.” Ashton mumbled, arms wrapped around himself because it was getting cold. He distracted himself by thinking of what they could tell mum and dad when they got home. All they had to do was hurry back and say they ran into a friend and that made them late from the playground. All would be forgiven in the name of manners.


    He heard the sound of the creek again, and could just about make out the shape of the log bridge. He could hear the water flowing, and it was quite loud. He stopped in place before taking another step forward.


    “It’s so dark, I almost fell in.” He thought, peering over the edge.


    “Ashton?” He heard Zayn calling. He went to respond, but he felt something squirm and escape under his foot. A mouse found itself under his shoe and startled him, and as it ran away, Ashton stumbled forward and tripped over the same bramble as before. He stumbled exactly once, before running into more brambles.


    These brambles weren’t like the others. They were thin and not built to hold anything back. Ashton slipped and tripped through all of them, and Zayn heard the crack as Ashton fell towards the river.


    “Zayn, help!”


    “Ashton!” Zayn yelled. “Ashton, don’t tell me you fell in!”


    “Help!” Ashton cried out, thrashing in the fast-flowing river. “Help me!”


    “This is bad, this is bad…” Zayn cried out, hands on his head. He looked around for some way to save his brother.


    “Wait there, I’ll follow the creek and get you!” Zayn shouted in panic.


    Ashton felt the heavy water sweeping him away. He didn’t hear a word, and he felt weightless as he was tossed around by the river. His little legs could not kick the bottom of the creek, so quickly he became dizzy and breathless as he struggled to stay awake. He closed his eyes because they were starting to ache as the water irritated them, and after a moment, he felt the calling of a deeper sleep than he’d ever known.


    He felt ill, disturbed by the way the creek rocked him around, causing the memories to all merge together. He saw many different memories, but they were all saying the same thing to him.


    He remembered getting into a fight with Zayn, the earliest he could remember. He remembered the way dad spoke to him after.


    “You need to toughen up.” Dad had told him that day. Ashton remembered the stern tone and hint of irritation. So he steeled himself and tried swimming to the top. But it was so difficult.


    “Do you always give up? I didn’t know you were a quitter. You’re not like your brother, are you?” He remembered. It was grandpa who teased him that time.


    “I’m not a quitter, I’m just not as strong as Zayn.” Ashton thought, trying to put his nose or hair above the rushing current at least. “Please… Please let me out.”


    He remembered all the times he broke things or caused problems and couldn’t be who he was meant to be. The surface wasn’t far off, but the memories had a way of reaching into his head and pulling him down, only this time he truly cursed them and tried to push through.


    Ashton wondered again why he’d been unable to escape the water so far, before the realisation hit him like a thunderbolt. For the first time, it felt like a missing piece had been put into place. When people asked him what he was good at, it wasn’t that he had no answer: it was that the answer was nothing.


    “Life is a constant battle.” Dad had explained to Zayn one day, when Ashton had been listening. “You either get good enough to make it big, or you can sit there and cry about it. You choose.”


    In that case, the struggle was pointless. Ashton wasn’t good enough to get out of the river.


    “Maybe I am too weak.” Ashton thought. “Maybe I’m not strong enough to live in this world, and it just doesn’t want me anymore. Maybe that’s why this is happening.” He realised. He felt horrible, empty, but also like he was whole with the realisation of what he was. At this point, he closed his eyes and the river swept him into the darkness.


    Ashton didn’t quite realise what was happening till it was too late. He landed on the ground with a thud, coughing quite terribly. His eyes ached, and his throat swelled up even more, but he finally got the water out of his stomach. He spluttered and made hacking coughs like an old man until he could breathe again, but he couldn’t stop that horrible shivering. His clothes were soaked through.


    There were strange and colourful lamps hanging from the trees across this part of the forest, and as a result, it didn’t seem so dark and lonely. The river’s bank looked like it had been used enough by people as it had fresh footprints and a small fishing basket.


    “Am I dead?” Ashton asked.


    “Did you fall in the river?” He heard. Ashton turned his neck and saw a worried face.


    Standing over him was a girl holding a very bright lantern. The lantern had a big, comforting flame inside. Even though she was on her feet, and he was on the ground, he could still feel its warming rays against his skin through the distance between them. It was like the sun was in her hands. The young woman had jet black hair with sideswept bangs and emerald coloured eyes. Her skin, even in the firelight, seemed a touch pale. She also looked very worried. Her hair wasn’t tied back in any way, yet seemed very neat and shiny, as though she’d been well looked after.


    Ashton noticed she must’ve been around his age. She was wearing a thin coat, and had it zipped all the way up. He wondered how cold it must have been that night, and just how cold the water must have been.


    “Y-yeah… I fe-fe-fell.” He said with chattering teeth.


    “I rescued you. You aren’t dead, but I think you might have been close.” She told him.


    She kneeled down and gave him the lantern to hold. He held the lantern like it was worth its weight in gold.


    “It should warm you up. Is it too hot?”


    “It’s perfect,” He noted. It really was: he could barely move his fingers and they ached badly, yet the flame was washing the ache away. The flame danced inside the lantern at just the right temperature, and it was eerily perfect, as if it was being throttled and held back at the right intensity. But eerie or not, the flickering flames seemed to melt his cold away like it was butter.


    “My name is Alex. My house is around the corner. We can walk there, but when we do, you need to do something about those clothes. It’s far too cold, and you are soaking wet. You can get ill that way, you know. You will contract pneumonia and such. I can dry them for you.”


    “New-moan-ia?”


    “Yes. Do you know it? It’s when your lungs get inflamed.” She told him. Ashton looked terrified, imagining himself walking around with his chest inflamed like a balloon.


    “Do you have Spell Patches that can dry them quickly?” Ashton asked. It sometimes took hours and hours for their clothes to dry in the Summer, and there wasn''t even a sun right now.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    “Er- yes. That’s it.” She said, hesitantly. “Can you walk? Follow me.”


    “Is that not your house?” Ashton wondered, pointing the lantern at something about ten feet away.


    “What?” Alex asked, sounding confused.


    “That gate.” He said, finding it quite obvious. It was very faint, but the bars had a slight ivory glow. The gates were sealed shut. He wondered what could be behind them if it wasn’t her house.


    “Oh.” Alex said. Ashton thought it odd that she seemed surprised by the gate.


    “There’s nothing there. Come on, you must be tired.” She insisted firmly. It was a lie, but she seemed determined to cling to it. Ashton decided he did not want to press her further. Ashton noticed that not a part of her was cold or drenched, which it should have been from pulling someone out of a river. He could see her hands clearly, and there wasn’t a hint of dampness on her sleeve. He didn’t see any kind of tool like a buoy or a float that she would have used either. Was it possible she’d done it with Magic? No, that was impossible.


    “Okay, and, erm… Thank you.”


    “Did someone send you here, by the way?” Alex asked cautiously.


    “What? No.” Ashton said, trying to shake the water out of his shoe.


    “I see.” Alex said.


    “But, I’m here with my big brother. We were out playing when I fell in.” Ashton explained, holding the lantern as close as he could without dropping it. He would have swallowed it whole if he could.


    Alex stared at him quite invasively before deciding he wasn’t a liar.


    “I see. My dad is out, too: he heard people shouting and went to investigate. He might find your friend. But now, we should get you to safety.”


    Ashton gave one more passing glance at the mysterious gate.


    “It’s all in your head,” Alex said, not turning back. “There’s nothing there. I promise.”


    “Okay. My name is…” He introduced himself with a smile. She nodded.


    “It’s nice to meet you. My name is Alex, like I said. If you''re ever lost in the woods again, you know where to find me.” Alex said with a smile.


    At the top of the hill was something that on any other day he would’ve called a funny looking cottage, but on that night, it looked better than the finest palace in the world. Something about the freezing cold of that river made him more grateful for every small thing. Ashton was so cold and afraid that it made the cottage look more welcoming than a holiday resort in the tropics with a pool. Long rays of light poured out of the rustic paned windows, and the nice cobble walls looked like they’d keep in so much precious heat. The cottage had two stories and a slanted, stone roof. He saw a puff of smoke coming from the chimney and felt immense relief he’d survived.


    Her hand rustled through her coat pocket for the key, and she quickly opened it. The heavy looking door opened up, and he glimpsed the inside. Alex’s cottage had a living room and kitchen in one, with a rustic wooden floor, a warm-looking fireplace, and in front of the fireplace was a cosy carpet. It looked like it was from a completely different era than Ashton’s house. He didn’t know people still used fireplaces: most modern houses used Spell Patches to warm up, or they were connected to the nearest Arcane Generator.


    Though there were many sophisticated trinkets and extravagant items in the cottage, it all seemed a bit messy. Alex had a wooden model of a dinosaur on the table, and a few of what appeared to be her school books were scattered about. She must have been exactly one year younger than him based on the books she had.


    “What school do you go to?”


    “I’m homeschooled.” She told him. “But I read the same books as everyone else.”


    “So you would be in fourth grade now?” He said, checking one of the books. She nodded.


    “I’m in fifth grade. My parents want me to get into Ashguard Academy in seventh grade.” Ashton said.


    Her eyes seemed to light up at this.


    “Really?” She asked. “I might go there when I''m in ninth grade. It sounds so fun.”


    Ashton wanted to disagree, since nothing about school was fun to him, but he thought not to. Alex was very excited to talk about this. They talked a bit longer while he looked around. Ashton noted that she seemed very eager to talk about her home life and how it compared to Ashton’s life at school. Maybe she had been stuck at home for so long and had no clue what school was actually like.


    “Do people who are homeschooled have friends?” Ashton blurted out.


    “Huh?” Alex asked in return.


    Ashton blinked, then shook his head. What a rude thing he’d asked her!


    “Sorry, I meant… Do you meet other kids often?”


    “No, I just stay here most of the time.” She said simply.


    Ashton was about to frown. He wondered for a minute if that meant Alex had never met someone her own age.


    “...But I suppose most homeschooled people don’t live in the middle of nowhere, like I do. They would get to make friends with their neighbours seeing them and going outside. I guess there are many factors at play. Schools didn’t always exist, but people have always made friends somehow. But I suppose you’d make more friends at school than you could alone.” She answered.


    Ashton blinked. She was intelligent, made good points, and she explained them quite well. Ashton decided she could probably give Zayn a run for his money in a debate, and Zayn was the smartest person he knew.


    “I guess so.” Ashton agreed.


    “Do you have many friends, Ashton?”


    “Me? Um… Yeah, loads.” He lied.


    “I’m jealous of you, then.” She sulked.


    Ashton glanced at the wooden dinosaur on her table and noticed it seemed more like a model you’d see in a classroom than in a toy shop. Everything was proportional and it seemed realistic compared to his Robosaurus toy, which was covered in plastic and electronic parts. She had a diagram on the table next to it, with simple and amateurish drawings labelling the different parts: he knew from the writing that it wasn’t an old person doing it for her.


    Apart from these things, there were large towers of tomes and books that he didn’t think a child should have any place reading because the volumes were so thick and complex-looking. They looked dusty and untouched, so he assumed she wasn’t reading them.


    They got bored waiting and fiddled around with whatever they could find in the cottage’s living room.


    “He must still be out,” Alex said, staring at the door.


    Ashton tried to say something but instead, by accident, he sneezed quite loudly, with so much force it startled her. He took care not to drop the lantern.


    “Oh, I forgot. You need to change out of those clothes soon.” She warned him.


    “Do you have anything I can wear? Like, for a boy, I mean.” He asked.


    “Can’t you wear mine?” She frowned.


    “N-No!” He said frantically. “I mean… I’ll stretch them out! They won’t fit if I wear them!”


    “Good point.” She realised.


    “Boy clothes? Hmm… none of dad’s would fit you as they are.” She said, before looking around. She peeked out of the window briefly before biting her lip.


    “Here. Hold still.”


    “Huh?”


    Ashton felt her warm fingertip on his forehead, and he saw a scarlet light radiate outwards in a circular shape. To his immense relief, a flood of warmth entered his body. His heavy and wet sleeves were rippling despite the added weight, and he felt the comforting warmth under his clothes too. He felt like he was being kissed by the sun.


    “Hold still, there’s a lot of water to dry out.” She requested.


    “How are you doing that?” He wondered.


    Alex put her other finger to her lips without moving the finger on his forehead, and he silently understood.


    “You must be a witch or something…” He whispered.


    “I’m not a witch!” She said indignantly. “Just because a girl can use Magic, that does not make her a witch!”


    “Sorry…” Ashton said. “I didn’t know that. I don’t know anything about Magic. Isn’t Magic dangerous? My mum always taught me that.” He whispered.


    “No.” Alex said simply. “What’s dangerous is people. Magic is just Magic. Magic is much more than just a weapon.”


    They must’ve been there for about five minutes, but by the end, he felt like a freshly ironed top. A gentle warmth kept him comfortable, and he was almost completely dry from head to toe. His hair and shoes felt a bit damp, but that was it. The cold was gone. She’d melted it away.


    “Thank goodness, I was worried I’d burn you.” She said, wiping a bead of sweat off her head.


    “There we go. Hang your coat up so it looks like it dried itself. Socks too.” She instructed.


    “Maybe we should go back out and look for my brother?” Ashton suggested.


    “They’ll come here. Dad knows the forest too well to not find him.” Alex said. “Do you like animals?”


    “Yeah, why?” He asked.


    He put his coat on the rack. She snapped her fingers and the coat rack slid on its own from near the wall to near the fireplace, just far enough away for it to soak up the warmth without smelling like smoke.


    “Do you have any pets?”


    “We have a cat at home. Someone at school didn’t want her, so my brother adopted her. What about you?” He asked. He guessed that she couldn’t have a dog because it would have shown up by now to lick him all over. So it must’ve been a small one like a bird or something quiet, like a cat of her own. Ashton remembered his own cat, Selene, was probably waiting for him at home.


    “Up here,” She said, pointing at the stairs.


    Alex took her shoes off, and darted around the corner, while he hurriedly followed suit after taking his socks off and hanging them up. She clamoured up the stairs.


    “Just here. This is my room.” She explained, opening the door.


    In her room, although truthfully she only seemed to occupy a fraction of it, were several glass tanks containing fascinating looking animals. It was clear she’d gone through some trouble to make them happy. He squinted and saw in one of them was a snake with shiny scales like a rainbow. For some reason he struggled to see the snake in its entirety, when he focused on its tail its head would disappear. And if he focused on its tail, his head would disappear.


    “Don’t stare at him for too long!” Alex warned.


    “How come?” Ashton wondered.


    “He, er,” Alex struggled with her words for once. “He’s very shy.”


    “Okay.” He said. That snake was giving him a headache, so he looked elsewhere.


    “Wow, what’s that?”


    He couldn’t believe it when he saw what looked like a tiny dragon mixed with a prawn floating in her fish tank, looking happy as could be while surrounded by funny looking sea plants.


    “That’s a seahorse.” She explained. “They’re usually found in the ocean. But this one is ours. We found him at a shop, you see. They didn’t have a very big tank, and the temperature was wrong, so I brought him here instead.”


    “I didn’t know such a thing existed…” Ashton awed.


    “Nature is truly wonderful.” Alex said.


    Alex retrieved a little jar from a drawer and opened the tank. The jar had a dry fishy smell.


    “Would you like to feed him?”


    “Can I?” He asked. Alex noticed how happy that seemed to make him.


    They took it in turns to feed the seahorse. It seemed to gallop in the water chasing the shrimp-flavoured pellets. It was so persistent and greedy that he thought it was like a real horse. The blue light from the fish tank’s light was very soft and gentle.


    “Does he have a name?” Ashton asked.


    “His name is Charon.” Alex explained. “Dad named him after an old friend.”


    “Hey, Alex?” Ashton asked.


    “Yes?”


    “How come you live in the forest? And how come you''re home-schooled?”


    “I like animals a lot.” She said calmly, without looking at him. “This forest is full of them. So we stay here.”


    Ashton wanted to raise his eyebrows at this since it didn’t make much sense.


    “How long have you lived here?”


    “Not very long.” She said.


    “Did you come from somewhere far away?”


    The question seemed to startle her a little bit, and she shook her head.


    “Closer than you might think… I know, I talk differently, but I’m from Ashguard, just like you. My father grew up in the countryside, so I picked up his accent.” She explained. But it was another lie.


    Ashton thought to ask more questions but then the door creaked open, so she led him back to the living room. They heard a clacking sound against the floor, and from the rhythm of the footsteps, this man was walking at a very odd pace, as if he had a limp.


    “Is that your dad?” He whispered.


    “Yeah.” Alex whispered back.


    Somehow the door shut itself behind the entrant even though he hadn’t closed it.


    Ashton and Alex darted around the corner to go and see him. Ashton saw a tall, imposing man with long black hair that had begun to grey, lowering the hood of his cloak when he entered. The more Ashton thought about that man, the more chills he got down his spine. The old man’s face wasn’t too smooth, he had a few wrinkles and he had sharp, unkempt facial hair.


    Alex’s father was wearing a long, expensive looking cloak that had been sown from some black and red coloured material. He carried himself in a very noble and regal way: Ashton sometimes saw such people exiting cars and avoiding commoners in the city centre. They were the aristocrats of Lornton whose ancestors founded the nation. But what would someone dressed like a nobleman be doing out here?


    When Alex’s dad walked, Ashton noticed one of his legs was weaker than the other. That gave him a slight but noticeable limp. Next to Alex’s dad, looking quite small by comparison, was Zayn with his white messy hair. His cheeks had gone red and he didn’t look happy. But Zayn perked up quickly and all worry was removed when he saw his brother.


    “Oh, thank goodness you’re alive! I thought you’d drowned or something, I was so scared. Who told you to run off like that?” Zayn told him.


    “I’m okay, Zayn, I’m not hurt anymore.” Ashton said.


    “Thank God. I thought you died or something… Ashton, man… I’m gonna pray till my knees fall off…” Zayn groaned, sounding relieved and scared all in one, rushing in for a hug.


    The old man stared down at the Selwyn brothers without a word before turning to his daughter.


    “Have you been taking care of this boy, Lexi?”


    “Yes, father.” She answered politely.


    “Very good,” He said.


    “I suppose your parents must be worried.” He said, kneeling to meet Ashton at eye level. Still, he needed to slouch in order to look him in the eye.


    “Now tell me. Are you well?”


    “Yes. I’m fine.” He said, suddenly feeling more confident and honest.


    Ashton turned his head before sneezing into his elbow. The old man gave a mighty laugh before patting him on the head.


    “In my day, I knew this one idiot: you couldn’t keep him away from the water. Rivers, lakes, even hot springs: I swear he was half fish. Ah, but it never hurt him. Even when he got a cold, or jumped into a piranha stream, he’d come out of it in one piece. You’ll be fine too, lad.”


    Ashton and Zayn stared at each other, silently reminded of someone they knew by that description.


    “Lexi, go to bed. I will walk them home. It’s unsafe to let them walk home unsupervised at this hour. Get your things: I will fetch some water before we go. Make yourselves at home, boys, but be prepared to leave soon.” He ordered.


    “But dad! I wanna go!” She said.


    “Why?” He demanded.


    Alex made a determined stare, while balling up her fists.


    “It’s probably scary being here alone.” Ashton whispered to Zayn. The old man seemed to have heard this, and looked at Alex, who looked ready to cry from being excluded.


    “Can Alex come with us, please?” Ashton asked. Zayn didn’t know what to say, but he confidently took Ashton’s side.


    “...Fine.” The old man said. “But behave yourself, Lexi. I won’t tolerate deviation from our normal routine, and do not expect this to become a habit.”


    Alex looked happy enough to do a backflip. She ran to get her shoes and coat.


    The old man went to the kitchen, and they heard water running. He was filling a flask of hot water.


    “He talks like he’s really old.” Ashton mumbled.


    “Well, what did you expect?...Sorry, that was mean, wasn’t it?”


    “A little.” Ashton grunted.


    “I’m sorry for everything,” Ashton said to Zayn, but much to his surprise, Zayn had beaten him to it. They interrupted each other, which usually only ever happened when they argued.


    “I’m sorry I overreacted and ran away,” Ashton quickly said, wanting to go first.


    “Oh. Well, I’m sorry I wasn’t a good older brother.” Zayn admitted.


    The two sat there quietly for a moment, unsure of what to say. Zayn shook his head.


    “You can’t run away like that again though.” He warned.


    “I know.” Ashton sulked. “I’m stupid.”


    Zayn smacked him on the knee and Ashton yelped.


    “What was that for?” Ashton cried out.


    “Look, we’re family. If you’re stupid, then I’m probably stupid too. It might be genetic. Because we’re brothers. And that means we look after each other. No matter what. But that means I gotta take better care of you. And you gotta learn to take care of yourself, starting now. We’re stuck together, so that means I always have to be there for you.”


    “What exactly did that old man say to you?” Ashton wondered.


    Zayn went from an embarrassed red to ghastly and pale in a single moment. He leaned in close to prevent anyone from hearing.


    “I think he must have been in the Holy Army or something.” Zayn whispered. “He told me this really bad story about how one of his friends was killed in battle because of him! He kept going on about how he wouldn’t let me make the same mistake with you… Aw man, I’m gonna have nightmares for weeks remembering that story. It was something else.” Zayn said, scratching his head as if he were trying to scratch out the memory.


    “But it’s okay: as long as I’ve got my brother I’ll be fine.” Zayn said.


    “As long as mum and dad don’t kill us,” Ashton said quietly.


    The two groaned thinking about it, but Ashton smiled afterwards, because that day marked the first time Ashton realised Zayn was his friend.


    It wasn’t long before they left the cottage and walked home. The old man took them back to Seagull Village via the bus. Ashton couldn’t help but think Alex’s dad looked out of place and even the driver gave her father a funny look. They stopped in Seagull Village near the train station, where Zayn said they’d find their own way home. The village centre had something Alex found interesting. When they reached a round plaza surrounded by lamp posts, she awed at the sight of the city.


    “A clock tower!” Alex said. “Look, dad, it’s a clock tower!”


    “Have you never seen one before?” Zayn wondered.


    “No.” She said. “It’s so cool!”


    “The city’s full of them.” Ashton explained. “The best one’s on Queen Street.”


    “Queen Street…” Alex mumbled.


    “That’s enough.” Her dad briskly said. “We must head home now. Come, Lexi.”


    “Really? Okay. Goodbye, Mister. And thank you for looking after my brother.” Zayn said, looking at Alex.


    “Yeah, thanks for everything!” Ashton said.


    Alex gave him a broad smile, before they turned around and walked back. Alex turned around and put her finger to her lips again, gesturing at Ashton.


    “What’s she doing?” Zayn asked, suddenly very interested. “What happened while you were at her house?”


    “It’s a secret.” Ashton said.


    “Eh? No way… Do you like her?”


    “No!” Ashton said, turning red. “It was something else.”


    “Don’t lie!” Zayn shouted at him. “You’ve got a girlfriend, haven’t you?”


    “No!” Ashton said.


    “Yeah, that makes more sense. No one’s sheltered enough to find you handsome.” Zayn teased.


    “Hey!” Ashton glared at him.


    “Sorry. Why was she telling you to shut up, though? And how do you live in this city and never see a clock tower? There’s one at every train stop.”


    “Well, um… How do you think my clothes got dry?” Ashton asked.


    Zayn stopped to think about it for a moment before going wide-eyed.


    “No way… She must have used a Spell Patch, right? But that’s crazy. They won’t even let me near those things in the shop. She’s way too young.”


    Ashton shook his head.


    “There was no patch. That girl knew how to use Magic with her own two hands.” He whispered in a low voice, even though there was no one around to hear. Such things were better left unheard, even these days.


    “Really?” Zayn said. “Don’t tell mum that, she’ll freak out.”


    “I know, she hates Magic.” Ashton sulked. “Zayn?”


    “Yeah?”


    “I want to learn how to do Magic now too,”


    “You can tell mum that, just let me watch her reaction.” Zayn joked.