After hearing this voice, I walked back into the wooden resort as it got dark.
I felt I'd have to tell anything that bothered me to maintain the trust Seris, Rowan and I built.
As I walked in, the embers glowed low on my fingertips, and my mark lost its luminosity.
"Ah, there you are Silas. Don't you think its time for your sleep?" Rowan stated as I walked through the door.
"I need to say something", I thought. However, I was hesitant and followed the old man's orders.
Seris and Rowan were halfway to the door to collect the rabbit meat from the campfire they had built outside until I said:
"Wait!"
Seris paused, turning back at me and replied, "Silas, go to sleep. You have a long day ahead of you. You're going to need a lot of energy if you want to beat me tomorrow.
"No. I can move things."
Rowan turned to me.
"With your hands?"
"No. With… something."
Seris sighed as if she hadn't believed me.
"Show us what you mean Silas."
I pointed at the pebble near the firepit inside the house.
"Watch."
Nothing moved.
"It worked before," I whispered.
"Dreams are more alive when you're tired. Especially at your age." Seris said.
"I wasn't dreaming!" I exclaimed, as I was frustrated as to why the pebble wasn't moving.
Rowan's voice softened.
"Rest Silas. We'll talk about this to-"
The pebble trembled.
Seris straightened and Rowan froze.
"See!?" I shouted in joy.
"Perhaps its late for all of us." said Seris.
Internally I thought, "Is she a moron? I literally just moved that dumb pebble. What do you want me to do, blow up the house?"
"But you saw me move it."
"Silas, we'll discuss this tomorrow. It's getting extremely late." said Rowan finishing off his sentence from earlier.
They then carried on walking out of the house towards the campfire just outside to collect the rabbit meat.
I was absolutely fuming.
"How the hell did it not move?" I questioned myself angrily.
With this same anger, I attempted once more, putting all my energy into this one.
I closed my eyes and started manifesting. I felt the mana pouring through my body as my mark started shining purple again. My head started pounding and my ears started ringing. My fingertips began burning and that's when it happened.
The pebble started floating. Dust and ash rose from the surface of the floorboard. The blankets lifted by the edges and the firepit roared with ferocity, turning into a bright pink colour.
The clay plated and metal utensils rose from the table. At that moment, my heart thumped and I collapsed. Everything dropped.
CRACK!
Some of the plates broke and the sound let off was like lightning had struck the house. The bowl on the shelf split clean down the middle.
Silence.
Rowan and Seris came rushing in with the rabbit meat in they're hand.
"SILAS!? WHAT HAPPENED!?" exclaimed Seris in a shocked voice.
"Here I thought you didn't care for me" I chuckled to myself.
"Fetch a cup of water Seris. Quickly!" Rowan commanded.
"…see? I didn't lie." I said with a shaky voice.
Rowan knelt. "Your safe now."
"I don't feel too good."
Seris came storming back in. She touched the broken bowl that was split in half.
"I'm guessing that wasn't luck."
"I didn't try to break it," I whispered back.
We'll talk in the morning," Rowan murmured.
Seris could sense that I wasn't comfortable falling asleep after what had just happened.
"Next time, warn the walls." she said jokingly.
I lay down. My fingers still hummed however Seris's words relieved some tension in me.
Rowan and Seris cleaned up the mess and the house breathed quiet again.
The next morning it felt slightly eerie, however the morning light warmed the mood.
Steam curled from the porridge bowls.
"You look like someone who fought a pillow." Seris said.
"I didn't fight it. It attacked first."
Rowan smiled. "Eat. Today we're going to the market to buy some nails."
"For the bowls?" I asked.
"For the shelves. Bowls are philosophical problems now."
Seris muttered, "Bowls are victims."
I poked the porridge. "What if I float the spoons today?"
"Then you're washing dishes," Seris replied.
Rowan served the food. "After breakfast, market."
"Do I hide my arm?" I said, whilst tugging my sleeve.
"For now, yes."
"Are we scared?"
"No," Rowan replied. "Cautious."
Seris grabbed her leather cloak. "Same thing."
I held my sleeve tight. "I liked bowls better when they stayed whole."
"You and me both," she replied.
The village yawned awake. The chickens strutted like confused warriors.
Mira waved at us from her stall. "Well, if it isn't my favourite trio!"
"Your only trio," Seris replied.
"I don't count cloth merchants; they ruin the fun."
I stared at the fruit. "Do apples float?"
"Only if you bend the rules of physics," Mira winked.
Rowan greeted her with a rise smile. "Good morning."
Mira leaned over to me. "Sleep well, little storm?"
"Not really."
"Nightmares?"
"Bowls."
Mira blinked. "Terrifying."
"Very." Jumped in Seris.
Mira was one of the first people I met at Grayrock village. She was friends with Seris since childhood and therefore they had a strong bond.
She had bright orange short hair with fair skin. Her eyes glowed green and she was quite tall. Well, compared to me of course.
She was a fruit merchant in the local market and was respected by many in the village.
Back when the war broke out many years ago against the voids, Grayrock village became collateral as the Pyro soldiers found the earth elementals protecting voids.
After the war, loads became homeless and lacked food.
Mira helped the entire village and supplied free food to those who need it most.
Seris inspected the apples Mira was selling. "These aren't rotten?"
"Only emotionally." Mira optimistically replied.
I pointed. "That one looks bruised."
"That one is artistic."
Rowan chuckled. "We'll return later."
Mira gave a playful salute. "Try not to destroy geometry while you walk stormy."
"What's geometry?" I asked.
"Math that doesn't support the idea of joy," Seris answered.
Near the well stood a tall figure. Fur-lined cloak. Silver coloured wolf ears. Golden eyes that saw everything without rushing.
Mira called out, "Zanny! Come here before you intimidate the livestock."
"They get intimidated easily," Zanny responded, with a voice as calm as an autumn breeze.
He joined us.
Rowan nodded. "Morning, Zanny."
Seris folded her arms. "Wolf trouble ay?"
Wolves migrating," Zanny said. "You'd be surprised what hunger can do to you."
"And you?" I asked. "Do you migrate?"
"Only when the stories are over."
Mira elbowed him in a friendly manner.
I pointed at his ears. "Can you hear farther than me?"
"Yes."
"How far?"
"Far enough."
"That's not an answer."
"It is for wolves."
Mira whispered to me, "He gets cryptic when there's danger around."
"I get cryptic when cold actually," Zanny corrected.
"That too."
Seris eyed him. "Any threats?"
"Moving past us. But hunger does travel."
Zanny was the leader of a wolf pack. They were also earth elementals who just happened to be migrating due to an increase of monsters in the area.
Rowan exhaled. "How close?"
"Close enough. I smell snow in their fur."
"There's no snow," I whispered.
"There is where they came from."
Mira softened. "They won't bother us, will they?"
"They shouldn't."
Ever since Devourers came driving into this world, the monsters had been driven out of the forests out of fear.
At the herb stall, Rowan bartered.
I tugged Seris's sleeve. "Are bowls expensive?"
"Not when they're whole."
Rowan argued with the market seller.
"2 bronze shards for 3 bowls. No more no less."
The seller replied saying, "1 silver for 3 bowls."
I could feel that Rowan knew he couldn't afford to buy this.
That's when Mira stepped in. "Give the man 3 bowls for the 2 bronzes will ya. I'm calling my favour."
"Whatever you say Mira. I'm only doing this since you looked out for me all those years back." Replied the merchant.
"I'm grateful Mira. Truly." Rowan said.
"It's no biggie. At the end of the day, we're all looking out for each other."
Seris and Mira exchanged nods.
Mira leaned over towards me, "you look less haunted today, Silas."
"That's because I didn't break anything," I smiled back.
"High bar. I'm proud of you," She smiled back.
I heard the quacks of a duck behind me.
A child chasing the geese yelled, "RUN, YOU FEATHERED DEMONS!"
Mira clapped. "The wisdom of youth."
Zanny murmured back, "No, it's the chaos of youth."
"Chaos is a wisdom in disguise."
Zanny blinked. "Then disguise is confusing."
"That is the complexity of fashion," Seris muttered.
"Come to think of it, Silas is quite mature for his age," said Zanny.
Seris replied, "He did learn from Rowan."
Shortly after, we arrived at the tool smiths stand. His name was Arel. His shed creaked like old bones.
He squinted. "Child. Small"
"I'm growing."
Rowan raised a brow. "We need nails Arel."
Arel poured some. "Don't waste."
"We never waste," Rowan promised.
Seris whispered, "We waste patience."
"You waste sarcasm," Rowan whispered back.
I whispered louder, "I waste bowls."
They all went quiet for a split second.
Rowan cleared his throat. "We'll fix shelves."
Arel shrugged. "Shelves fear nails. Bowls fear children."
Back home, Rowan spread some tools across the floor.
"Hold the nail."
"I'll float it."
"No."
Seris places the hammer in the palm. "Gentle. Like tapping a sleepy chicken."
"I've never tapped a chicken."
"Then start with wood."
I tapped the nail, and it sank cleanly into the wood.
Rowan nodded. "Again."
Tap. Tap. Tap.
We fixed the shelf. Seris had then placed the broken bowl on it like it still mattered. Perhaps she was testing the durability and if it could support the weight I thought.
"Great job Silas. Seris, can you go grab some firewood for the firepit?" asked Rowan.
Seris nodded.
Just as Seris stepped outside to fetch more wood, she froze.
"Rowan," she said quietly.
He followed her gaze.
On the northern clifftop of the mountain, that was a mile or two away, black smoke curled upwards – not from a hearth, but from something moving.
"The beasts," Rowan murmured. "They've reached the valley."
My heart sank as the ground trembled once beneath my feet.
Grayrock was no longer safe, and we could hear the growls of the monsters that awaited nightfall.