I wander the markets, but my allowances and earnings from my work with my masters were not in the range of any fish suitable for training. The low-level fish were prized for their ease of control, and the higher-level fish were likely to grow too big to be used in a matter of weeks. I would ask my family, but Dad had only recently returned to work, and I still owed my master a sizable amount for lending us materials for the nonwooden parts of our house.

  Recently it has been made quite clear to me that using wooden structures with runes comes with a risk. I had made a tank to empty all our waste into the void with ease and hadn’t maintained it sufficiently while I was sick. The rage from Sis was all I needed to know that materials that are consumed with an enchantment shouldn’t be touching other materials, especially when it results in all the remaining vomit and waste raining down on an unsuspecting sister. Honestly, I’m a little scared for my life from the sheer rage I had felt from her.

  Shaking away that thought, I focus back on my current objective. I need a low-level animal to begin learning the fundamentals. Starting with trying to practice on myself or my family is far too likely to accidentally give the recipient turbo cancer. The memory of the fish swelling up and exploding from cancerous growth from amateur healing was all the warning I needed.

  I sit on a root by a tree near Sis’s favorite spot (the waterfall emptying out into the ocean from the river). I look off into the distance where the Wither tree rests and notice the tree swaying unnaturally. On the horizon several V formations of black dots are flying toward land from the ocean. Maybe seagulls or some flying birds seem to be agitating the tree.

  DUANG DUANG In town the warning bell begins chiming. It’s the shadows of people rapidly taking shelter in town that remind me animals are monsters. I had never seen a flock of birds before, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous. I look back at the shadows, but they have already reached the Wither Tree and are coming up to town fast.

  I’m way too far to make it home or to Masters workshop. Instead, I dive into the woods next to me and run straight for Nightshade’s tower. I try to open her door, and a glance behind me lets me see a grotesque, monstrous parody of a bird diving straight for me. I try to force Nightshade’s door, but it's locked tight. It’s coming way too fast, and I barely close my eyes, bracing for its impact.

  Then nothing. I open my eyes cautiously and find the vines around the tower reaching up, snaring the bird. It struggles like a fly in a web briefly before its eyes bulge and it begins to convulse in a seizure. I try to take a deep breath as the apparent danger passes, but I wheeze as my heart races, refusing to calm itself.

  Poison

  My vision blurs and nausea hits. I drop to a knee, trying desperately to take a deep breath, but it’s like a panic attack is setting in, and my rationality frays dimly. I’m aware of my body beginning to convulse.

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  ‘No.’ I recenter my thoughts, ignoring my body's condition. I close myself into meditation and repeat the steps for healing. First, connect with what it means to be healthy. Second, connect that meaning to my mana. Third, trace the power of the body and restrain rampancy. Finally, maintain firm control at all times; do not let the variance of others bleed into treatment.

  I try to connect to the unconscious, understanding the will of humanity and the understanding of healthy. I’m not sure what to reach for, but I connect to something, and I feel my body, my erratic mana, and convulsions as my body reaches a critical stage. I bridge the connection into my body and let the will of something outside shape me. I struggle to hold back my instinct to resist and lose track of time. I’m not sure how long I hold onto that state, but at some point I fall unconscious.

  A surge of energy rushes into me, and soon I’m not alone in my dream. I stand in a vast field with clouds lazily floating by and no sign of danger anywhere nearby. I wander in the field until I find the other accompanying me in my dream. It’s a familiar flower, but here it doesn’t feel quite as dangerous. I lay beside it and quietly reminisced about how nature had been so different on earth. This world was a pit of lethality and survivability optimized beyond reason, but Earth's nature was a place of peace for me.

  As the sentiment passes, I feel something realign in myself. I drift into a peaceful slumber in the field beside the flower that makes this place feel a little less lonely. However, that moment is disturbed when a voice on the wind reaches me.

  “Callen! You're not allowed to die until I kill you!” It confuses me, and I sit up looking at my companion, the flower. It’s sitting there peacefully, but I can also feel someone else here.

  “Get up!” Callia, Sis, I get up and look for her voice.

  ‘It’s Time,’ a familiar being whispers to me.

  I snap up, gasping in a deep breath, and around me I see Mom, Dad, Grandpa, and Sis. My head is ringing, and I can’t make out any of their words, but tears and hugs convey their feelings. I feel a tug, and my attention shifts back to the tower beside me, and I see a single flower sprouting from the side of the tower. I feel a sense of connection reaching into the depths of my being just as deep as that of my sister. From that I can feel acknowledgement and understanding that on some level I have been forever changed.

  Idiot

  Callia was still figuring out what the town bells meant when across town vines surged from the ground. It was at this point Callia realized the town was just attacked by a flock of birds. However, that didn’t ease her concern at all, as the pain and fear of Callen poured through their bond.

  Callia had never met or even sought out Callen’s Enchantment teacher because he had mentioned even learning about her afflicted people with poison. Just as described, learning this made Callia sick. Honestly, Callia didn’t know why he insisted on learning from the living biohazard, but at this moment Callia didn’t need to know as she followed their fading bond.

  There he was lying on the steps of some mossy tower with flower vines growing all over him. Callia ran forward, intent on freeing Callen and taking him away to a healer. However, the moment before she reached him, a hand stopped her. Nightshade stood beside her and whispered to Callia.

  “If he is to survive, you must not move him; support him as only you can.”

  Callia felt nausea but held back. If Nightshade wanted Callen dead, it wouldn’t be this complicated. Looking over Callen, she could see his body swollen in a grotesque manner beneath the vines and his veins bulging as his pulse raced out of control.

  Callia wasn’t sure what to do, but she felt her connection to him beginning to slip. She held on with all her might, feeding in her life affinity to pull him back to hold her bond to him. Callia wasn’t sure when, but at some point her family joined her at his side, and they all waited anxiously for something. Then she felt he had responded. She knew at this moment her idiot would be ok. Tears came to her eyes in relief, and the vines wrapped around Callen quietly unwove as he woke up.